Sorsogon mourns death of cultural worker, artist

SORSOGON CITY, March 16 (PIA)  —  After a bout with paralysis due to a stroke, Reynaldo “Tootsie” Jamoralin died past 4:00 p.m. of March 12, 2012 at the age of 66.

 

Founder and President of the Sorsogon Arts Council (SAC), he is considered as one of Sorsogon’s “Provincial” artists. His body lies in state at their residence  in Sorsogon City.

 

Jamoralin was the editor and writer of the two editions of the book ‘Tracing: from Solsogon to Sorsogon,’ published by the SAC and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) in 1994. He also edited and co-wrote Pulang Hamtik, a collection of biographical sketches, of Bikolano youth martyrs during the Martial Law years up to 1990s, published by the Bikol Agency for Nationalist and Human Initiatives, Inc. (BANHI).

 

As a member of the Kapisanan ng Mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas, he co-anchored the public affairs program “Damayan” over DZGN-FM during the late 80s till early 90s. A long-time journalist from the 1970s, he edited several local weekly community newspapers, notably the Sorsogon Times, Balangibog, and Sorsogon News Service including Sentro Sorsogon, which he himself published.

 

For a time he was correspondent and feature writer for the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) and credited for exposing the slaughter of whalesharks in Donsol popularly known locally as Butanding that initiated the advocacy for its protection in his front page article on March 23, 1998. He was a member of the board of editors of letra, a bikol magazine, the first regional cultural and literary magazine and Centro, a Bikol magazine.

 

A playwright and folklorist, he wrote the dance-drama in the Bikol dialect, Si Bulusan nan si Agingay, based on the local legend of Lakes Bulusan and Agingay, which received several production and tour grants from the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and NCCA, and Kantada ni Daragang Magayon, Mandirigma, adopted from Bikolano artist Merlinda Bobis’ epic poetry of the same title, which was toured around the country and presented at the CCP Little Theater in 2000. He also rewrote, revised, and adapted Sorsogon Sarswelista Asisclo Jimenez’s Pagkamoot sa Banuang Tinoboan, under a production and tour grant from the NCCA in 1994.

 

A long-time cultural worker, he was a founding member of the Kasanggayahan Foundation, Inc. and responsible for the institutionalization of Pantomina sa Tinampo every Kasanggayahan Festival in October. He was also a member of Sorsogon Heritage Society chaired by PDI Founder Eugenio Duran-Apostol, the publisher of Sarabihon, a journal of Sorsogon studies where he wrote several articles. He was also one of the organizers of Pagsurat, the first gathering of Bikol writers in 2000 at the Aquinas University of Legaspi attended by over a hundred participants including a septuagenarian chanter from Albay and New York-based poet Luis Cabalquinto.

 

He was the brains behind the establishment of the Sorsogon Museum and Heritage Center which involves the adaptive re-use and restoration of the old Sorsogon Provincial Hospital building built during the American occupation in the 1920s.

 

He earned his academic degree from the University of Santo Tomas, B.S. Major in Psychology. He taught at the Mass Communications Department of the Aemilianum College, Inc. in Sorsogon City.

 

He is survived by his wife Ella, sisters Mercia and Millet, daughter Suyin, adopted son Ian, and grandson CJ. (MAL/JJPerez/PIA Sorsogon)

Filed under: Sorsogon News Updates, Sorsogon Outstanding Achievers, Sorsogon Success Stories, We will make you SHINE!, What's Happening Here?, Inc, Kasanggayahan Festival, Kasanggayahan Foundation, Pantomina sa Tinampo, Reynaldo “Tootsie” Jamoralin, Reynaldo Jamoralin, Sorsogon arts council, Sorsogon Heritage Society, Sorsogon Museum and Heritage Center, Sorsogon Provincial artists

Pablo D. Ayo- At 85, inventor keeps creative mind active

SORSOGON CITY, Philippines—Pablo D. Ayo Sr., who at 85 has survived two major strokes, is still inventing and designing devices that perform functions ordinary people would think impossible. One of these is a gadget that makes burnt out fluorescent bulbs light.

Ayo, who earned his doctorate in astrophysics at Princeton University in New Jersey and is a former student of world-renowned genius-scientist Albert Einstein in 1949, still possesses the scientific creativity to invent a gadget called the EAD or electro activator device, which virtually makes an electric bulb last even with its filament broken.

Half the size of the ballast of a fluorescent bulb, the EAD increases the voltage, allowing it to jump from end to end of the broken filament and make an unbroken bulb light again.

A patent holder, Ayo has invented several gadgets, including prototypes of a rocket, voice-activated phonograph, household mini hydro generators, solar panel, tidal electric generators and photon-run car.

He was born to a poor family from the former town of Bacon, Sorsogon (now a district of Sorsogon City).

Self-supported

His parents died when he was young so he supported himself to school until he earned a scholarship to study at Princeton.

He said he had read articles on electronics and automotive when he was a teenager and learned by himself the principles and laws that govern mechanical and electronic devices.

Ayo went to Manila when he was a teenager and landed a job in an engineering company at Port Area. This allowed him to continue his college education at Arellano University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree, major in Physics.

While studying, he remembered that he had befriended a man who shared his interest in electronics and automotive. “In tandem, we won in a competition of flying miniature airplanes that we assembled. This became our ticket to study in the United States, which brought me to Princeton University in 1945,” Ayo said.

After he finished his doctorate, Ayo came home but went back to the United States to serve as a consultant of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the central civilian agency for direction of the US space exploration program established in 1958.

By late 1960s, he was back again in Sorsogon, married Raquel Diokino, a school teacher, and established his own business called Prama Electronic Center that provided electronic services and sold electronic and scientific gadgets and equipment.

Mini hydro plant

Ayo developed the first mini hydro plant in Bacon that produced 20 kilowatts of electricity.

He developed a rocket with a remote control that traveled 20 miles per hour.

Lawrence, the second eldest among Ayo’s five children, said he was amazed at how his father created in 1972 a phonograph that played music on voice command using the jukebox mechanism.

“That was before the information technology. What fascinated me was not only how he developed that phonograph but also how it responded when you say ‘Please,’” said Lawrence, a civil and electronic engineer.

Photo-run car

Ayo also developed a prototype car that runs on photon, an elementary particle that is the quantum of the electromagnetic field and basic unit of light.

The detailed design of the photon-run car shows a battery-like gadget that traps photons triggered by solar energy and produces electric power.

Ayo said a Japanese investor got interested with his invention but the deal did not push through because the latter would only pay him if he would go to Japan.

In 1982, Ayo developed his tidal electric generator but this did not push through on the issue of sharing even as he said the project could have been profitable using clean energy source from tidal water on Kalintaan Island in Matnog.

The $5-billion project can produce one gigawatt (GW) of electricity with 10 turbines producing 100 megawatts. It surpasses the combined power production of the Bacman geothermal plant at 150 MW and the Tiwi geothermal plant at 300 MW, according to Lawrence, who works as electronic engineer at the Bacman plant.

He said 1,000 MW is equivalent to 1 GW or one billion watts of electricity.

Ayo said his project could have made the country an exporter of electric power if it was implemented and replicated in other areas.

By Juan Escandor Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20100224-255167/At-85-inventor-keeps-creative-mind-active

Filed under: Education, Encouragement, Inspiration, Natatanging Sorsoganon, People who inspired Us, Show your pride, Sorsogon News Updates, Sorsogon Success Stories, We will make you SHINE!, Mini hydro plant, Pablo D. Ayo, Photo-run car, Sorsoganon inventor, Sorsogon's best

Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines 2009 from Sorsogon

From rice to riches

Eduarda V. Ayo Owner and Manager E.V. Ayo Enterprises Farming has always been a male-dominated industry. That’s why the success story of woman farmer Eduarda V. Ayo is indeed very remarkable. Starting with a five-hectare rice farm in Capuy, Sorsogon in 1975, she was able to expand it to 150 hectares, most of which is devoted to seed production. This made her the largest palay seed grower in the Bicol Region as certified by the Bureau of Plant Industry. But the road to success was not all smooth. It took optimism and perseverance to strike gold from golden rice grains.

Upon graduation in 1975, Ms. Ayo decided to go full-time into farming. Knowing that she had to support her 11 younger siblings upon the death of their father, she took on the challenge of managing the family’s rice farm. This came as no surprise to the family since she had shown an innate interest in farming from an early age and was a keen observer of how their father ran the operation while he was still alive.

“My hands-on exposure started at an early age, assisting my father in drying palay seeds under the extreme heat of the sun. This and other farm activities, molded and refined by my father’s guidance and advice, got me started as an entrepreneur,” she recalls.

She expanded the family business and put up E.V. Ayo Ricemill. To augment the family income, she ventured into allied businesses to include rice, palay and copra trading, fertilizers and pesticides, palay seed growing and hog breeding. Seeing how diverse the business had become, she renamed it E.V. Ayo Enterprises.

By making sound business decisions, she now has 150 hectares of land; 50 hectares is owned by the family and the rest are being leased from other landowners in the adjoining barangays of Capuy. These are all devoted to the production of registered seeds.

However, a chief concern for Ms. Ayo is that Sorsogon is situated along the typhoon belt. Weather disturbances and natural calamities are common occurrences. But she never allows anything to go to waste. Whatever harvested seeds are not bought by her clients are turned into rice grains and sold. This practice is part of her natural optimism amidst business challenges.

In addition, people management proves to be a challenge for Ms. Ayo as she considers her employees the most important resource in business growth. “Managing my employees is the most challenging because I have to deal with them individually. Each has distinct personalities and characteristics. Being honest and sincere to them and listening to them keeps me in harmonious relationship with my employees,” she shares.

During harvest season, she employs a total of 3,000 farmers. On a regular basis, she has eight personnel in her rice mill and trading businesses. Ms. Ayo puts a premium on the welfare of her people. She sees to it that their salaries are given on time. She even extends financial assistance to those in dire need. Some of her loyal employees have been given free housing, water, and electricity.

 Mastering the technology behind seed production has earned Ms. Ayo the trust of the government; the Department of Agriculture markets and subsidizes the payment of her certified seeds. Such is her success that she now holds the prestige of being certified as the biggest accredited palay seed grower in Region V by the Bureau of Plant Industry. The accreditation is well-deserved because she is trained on the latest rice production technologies and improved production practices such as the use of balanced fertilization, which is a combination of commercial and organic fertilizer.

She also strongly advocates synchronous planting to prevent infestation and pest population buildup. Ms. Ayo’s plans for the company include the expansion of her hog farm in Batangas supervised by her only son, Aldin. Another 1,500 sow-level breeder in Sorsogon is in the works. She is also planning on starting an integrated farm which will breed goats, cows, and other poultry animals.

Ms. Ayo’s hard work inevitably earned her numerous accolades. She holds the record of being the certified highest producing seed grower in Bicol from 2006 to 2008 as awarded by the Department of Agriculture.

In recognition of her business acumen, she was a finalist in the 2008 Bicolano Businessman of the Year award for the province of Sorsogon, and a recipient of the SME Gabay at Patnubay Award for Landbank’s National Search for 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year. She is also the SME Kayamanan ng Pamayanan awardee, a special citation in recognition of exemplary individuals.

Ms. Ayo’s personal strength and knowledge of the business are vital to the company’s growth and progress through the years. She firmly believes in the value of hard work.

Her advice to fellow entrepreneurs: “Do not be afraid of failures and never dwell on them. Instead, consider failures as stepping stones to success. Also, manage your people by heart. They are the most important resources of your business. Establish a good personal relationship with them. Put yourself in their shoes and do hear what they say.”

In the same light, she encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to be strong and prepared. She imparts, “Study hard and persevere to reach your goal. It is really advantageous to have a related degree as compared to relying on experiences only. Engage in business that is familiar to you and within your resources.” In spite of her successful endeavors, Ms. Ayo remains very simple and modest. She could have opted to live in a mansion but chose to stay at her small house in Capuy, which also doubles as her office, and tend to her garden. That is Eduarda Ayo, the epitome of humility and success.

 Sponsors of Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines 2009 are SAP Philippines, William J. Shaw Foundation, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, and Universal Motors Corporation. The official airline is KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, operating on behalf of the Air-France KLM Group in the Philippines. Media sponsors are BusinessWorld and the ABS-CBN News Channel. The winners of the Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines 2009 will be announced on October 15, 2009 in an awards banquet at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel. The Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines will represent the country in the World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010 in Monte Carlo, Monaco in June 2010. The Entrepreneur Of The Year is produced globally by Ernst & Young. The Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines 2009 has concluded its search for the country’s most successful and inspiring entrepreneurs. It is a program of the SGV Foundation, Inc. with the participation of the Department of Trade and Industry, Ateneo Graduate School of Business, Development Bank of the Philippines, Philippine Business for Social Progress, Philippine Stock Exchange and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship. In the following days,

 

source: BusinessWorld 

Filed under: Encouragement, Inspiration, Sorsogon Success Stories, Entrepreneur Of The Year Philippines 2009 from Sorsogon

Care for a cup of coffee? (The Francisco Aranda story)

Care for a cup of coffee?

By Mabelle R. Ilan

As more and more Filipinos are born, the demand for coffee also increases. Filipinos cannot do away with coffee and drinking coffee is a favorite pastime and an engaging social activity. Coffee shop nowadays is a thriving business and for coffee lovers no coffee can taste good without sending a sweet aroma to the nostrils. Aside from this, many people could not start their day without a cup of coffee to perk up their morning. That’s why Francisco Aranda “Frank” to friends and relatives invested in coffee production because coffee will never lose its market.

Determined to have a coffee plantation, Mang Frank settled in Sorsogon City in 1984. He started from scratch. He is popular among the Sorsogueños as the peddler of vinegar and soy sauce. Daily he would roam around the city carrying bottles of vinegar and soy sauce on his shoulder. His industry and perseverance paid off. He was able to buy five hectares farmland in Bgy. Cabid-an Sorsogon City.

How he started-

With the help of his children, Mang Frank cleared the area and started to make a layout. He brought a sack of coffee berries from their farm in Batangas and produced his own seedlings. “Producing seedlings before quite tedious” says Mang Frank. You have to prepare a raised seedbed because there were no plastic bags for use in propagation. He painstakingly planted the berries and was able to produce the seedlings needed for his farm. then removed the pulp by hand and soaked the beans for 24 hours to remove the mucilage. He removed the floaters as these are not good ones. He prepared a germination bed with 1 meter width and of convenient length. He sow the seeds at ¾ inch deep and covered with fine soil. After 7 to 8 months he was able to produce thousands of seedlings.

“Kapeng barako”or Liberica is well adopted in Sorsogon” says Mang Frank. The berries are plump, big and rounded. It is known for its distinct taste, aroma and flavor. It is tolerant to drought and could be grown in a wider type of soil.

Planting/Fertilizer Application

Transplanting of seedling was done during the onset of the rainy season. He chose coffee seedlings with six pairs of leaves. He followed the 3 x 3 meters distance of planting. Mang Frank explains that he has to dig bigger and wider holes to accommodate the ball of soil attached to the seedlings to keep the roots intact. He also added compost and chicken manure. After a year he applied complete fertilizer (14-14-14) at 250 grams per tree.

Regular pruning is one technology he adopted. This is to ensure that the trees are shorter for easy harvesting and to facilitate other farm operations. Likewise, pruning shoots helps produce more branches, more flowers and berries. It also promotes better light penetration and aeration.

Harvesting/Processing

With a total of 4,500 trees he is now harvesting berries every 8 months. In Sorsogon harvest starts in October until March. Coffee is picked / harvested individually to avoid presence of pedicels. To maintain quality coffee, berries must be matured. Oftentimes it is colored red. He harvests an average of 147 sacks of coffee berries. He is happy because he is now providing jobs to his neighbors especially during harvest. Coffee is dried for 8 to 9 days in concrete drying pavement. The secret to quality coffee is the roasting process. Roasting is the process of applying heat to transform the chemical and physical properties of coffee beans into roasted coffee products. The right amount of heat, the right timing in a uniform manner are required to achieve the desired flavor from the beans. He said that coffee roasting involves proper heat application, and the common problems encountered include uneven distribution of heat inside the roasting chamber and the lack of insulating materials which results to excessive heat loss. Poorly roasted beans would yield poor tasting coffee drink. With the absence of hauler and roasting equipment Mang Frank has to bring dried coffee beans to Lipa City in Batangas to have the outermost cover removed and then roasted. He has to pay P8 per kilo for de-hauling and Ps 9 per kilo for roasting. Likewise, an added cost is incurred for transportation of the coffee berries to Batangas then back to Sorsogon.

Marketing

Mang Frank emphasized that pricing depends on the quality of the beans and the variety. But coffee always commands a good price in the market. A sack of roasted coffee costs Ps 8,900. Mang Frank sells milled coffee at Ps 260 per kilo.With the help of the Department of Trade and Industry he already has his brand name “Uncle Franks roasted coffee”. His packaging was improved and he now sells coffee in 250 grams, 500 grams, and 1 kilogram packaging.

Mang Frank has a bit of advice to those who want to venture into coffee production: “Make sure that you get good quality product to make it big in business. Once you hit the market, make sure it attracts buyers”. That is why during exhibits, he displays his products and even provided free taste to visitors.

He readily offers his area for techno demo because he wants to learn new technologies and techniques. In return he also teaches his fellow coffee growers of the techniques he learned. He also hosted field days for them to see the crop stand and the effects or the impact of the technologies adopted.

As president of the Para Café’ kan Sorsogon City Association, Mang Frank shares his technologies to its members so that they too could produce quality coffee. They envisioned to place Sorsogon in the map of those leading provinces producing coffee in the country. The group is determined to realize their vision by producing coffee not only for its aroma and taste but as source of livelihood for the Sorsogueños.

When all these things happen, a brighter future will surely await the coffee growers of Sorsogon and no one will no longer say no to coffee growing. As Mang Frank’s slogan goes “May pera sa kape….tanim na!”.

 

via Care for a cup of coffee? (The Francisco Aranda story).

Filed under: Inspiration, Negosyo Tips, Show your pride, Sorsogon Success Stories, Care for a cup of coffee? (The Francisco Aranda story), Sorsogon Success Stories