Belenismo sa Tarlac

Belenismo sa Tarlac is a yearly spectacle and competition in the province of Tarlac that showcases colorful and artistically-made belens (or nativity scenes). Across the whole province, government office, commercial shops, schools and malls have installed belens of different themes, sizes, shapes and materials. The use of environmentally-friendly and biodegradable materials.

The PNP Station based in Gerona is the perennial winner but the belen in Capas grabbed the 1st prize for 2009. I myself was amazed how dried corns have been assembled to create human-like images of the characters in the nativity scene.

Here are some photos taken around the Tarlac city:

A post in Maria Cristina Park, Tarlac City


A belen in SSS Tarlac City



Dulaang Tarlac

Microsoft's Bing is doing a Google

First, it was the search engine. now Bing is replicating another Google effort this time via the StreetSide. That goes to show how the Seattle-based company is trying to beat the prominent resident Mountain View, California. Google has the Street View. Enumerating other Google apps like google docs, google earth, google analytics and others, it might just be a matter of time before MS come-up with counterparts. It's funny that there seems to be a reversal of roles. Before, closed source systems are matched with open source counterpart. Now, open source-oriented Google are being matched with an MS products.

One of the things i am hoping is that MS will match Google's adsense with the earning on ad clicks and page impressions twice or thrice more. Share the bills Bill!

Family Planning .... I am done!

It's been a good three month stint so far here in Tarlac for the Wireless Reach Project. Got to do many stuffs that i love doing but certainly new things to learn are sprouting along the way as well. I am in mood to discuss the development of the Family Planning module in CHITS.

The FP module in FHSIS is composed of around 11 modules (7 are natural methods, 4 are artifcial / 9 are for females,2 are for males). Guided by the original (readme: full of corrections) FHSIS manual, FP record sheet and the knowledge of PHO people, the FP module development is up for cooking. well, i am talking 3 months ago. now, i am almost done doing the programming part and starting to pull and demonstrate data via reports. Nonetheless, here are my learnings about FP in general.

1. there are 3 pop shops in Tarlac. Pop shop is a stall placed by a certain NGO in RHU's to sell pills and condoms. Pop shop caters FP clients. It promotes Frenzy over Trust condoms. Hehe.

2. A person cannot apply for an FP method if he/she does not have an identified spouse.They call it MAWRA or married women in reproductive age. But i understand that even unmarried couples can also apply.

3. FP is multi-factorial program. It involves social, physical, logistics and economic factors. And i forgot, spritual as well.

4. IUD is small 'T' wire inserted inside uterus. The aim is to block charging sperm cell entering in the danger zone. yet, i know one who uses IUD yet still got pregnant. whew, super-charged and adrenaline high sperm cells!

5. The derivation of contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) is done by deriving Current User, MaWra,etc. all we wanted to know is how well the population is using the FP in general.Phils has national rate of 55% of CPR. 55 out of 100 FP clients are religiously using the methods. the other 45 must be doing something natural to man.

6. when a condom was re-supplied with 10 packs of condoms and returns after 2 days to get another set, that would mean two things: 1. He's on his way to Guiness Book of Records for having most sex within a week OR 2. Earning something by selling the condoms.

Aside from typical reports that would show numbers, FP also involves logistics. the pho would want to have monitoring system of contraceptives and at the same time, a means to count the source of contraceptives.

FP, i believe, can be an advantage or disadvantage. If used properly, it can limit population growth and as such, lessens the demand for scarce resources. a disadvantage because it can be abused and might encourage pre-marital sex. Above anything else, the real essence of family planning is making sure that a family is living decently regardless of size. This is demonstrated with children going to school and well-nourished, husband and wife working hand-in-hand to support the family and the family itself has a good moral foundation.

Above the contraceptives, i think this is what the country needs more.

PS: I am thinking of doing a survey soon on the quality of various condoms in the market. Back to work.