I Support RAFI! Thanks to Madam Nancy Cudis, RAFI’s Communications Consultant for providing me this press release. Expect that Semidoppel’s Reports will bring you all valuable press releases from the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. and now please take a moment in reading this article titled “Seed collection, propagation to perpetuate forests urged“, which is about the need to collect and germinate seeds for the continuous growth of our forests.

Seed collection, propagation to perpetuate forests urged

 Since most native trees grow from seeds, a non-government organization called on the public to collect seeds and propagate them to contribute to the creation of native tree forests.

            Rowena Bandola-Alensonorin, executive director of the Integrated Development unit of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) pointed out the urgent need to replace trees cut down for construction purposes after some parts of the country experienced the tragic effects of flashfloods and landslides.

            “The primary importance of trees in the ecosystem is to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and prevent soil erosion. For many people, they see trees as beneficial for building houses, furniture, tools, and for firewood; hence, these demands have significantly reduced the number of trees in the forests,” she noted.

            One way to address this is to collect and propagate seeds, which are considered “the next generation of forests.”

            Alensonorin said that it is equally important for the people to know not only the names of the native trees but also how to collect the seeds and germinate them.

“The scarcity of this knowledge might have led to the proliferation of exotic tree species, such as mahogany, gmelina, and ipil-ipil that are now growing in our forests. If this will continue, we will not only lose these animals, but also our highly valued trees such as narra, lauan, and mangkono that have been valued here and abroad for their toughness and strength. Our forests should be mainly composed of indigenous trees to provide food and habitat to our native animals,” she explained.

Producing quality trees starts from the quality of seeds germinated. These seeds must only come from healthy mother trees or those trees that bear fruits and produce seeds. Germinated seeds should be nurtured in a well-managed tree nursery that provides a suitable area for these seeds to grow into plantable seedlings for use in reforestation initiatives.

The RAFI Native Trees Nursery collects seeds and wildlings (seeds that germinated underneath or near the mother tree) all over the Visayas region. The nursery is also willing to receive seeds and seedlings from people who would like to donate. The nursery has an existing 150,000 seedlings of 212 native tree species and is located in Barangay Busay, Cebu City.

The RAFI Native Trees Nursery is a mechanism of the GREENIN Philippines Program of RAFI to create forests composed of native trees.

For more information, contact:

HAIDEE EMMIE K. PALAPAR                                                       ROWENA BANDOLA-ALENSONORIN

Communications Officer                                                 Executive Director, Integrated Development unit

Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.                                                                 Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. 

tel. no. (63 32) 418-7234 local 504                                                         tel. no. (63 32) 418-7234 local 514  

email: Haidee.Emmie.Palapar@rafi.org.ph                                   email: Rowena.Alensonorin@rafi.org.ph

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What are the common things you observed when reading Yahoo news comment or feedback section? Well to hit straight on my point, let’s specify the Yahoo Philippines News – Yes, you’ll be annoyed just like what happen every time I open my web browser though I can’t help not to read the comment section since there’s like a magnet that pulls me through (and very forceful I guess) and read it anyway possible.

Usually you’ll get this feeling you read something good happen to a certain personality and you’ll feel aloof for them – for their success then suddenly annoyed when you read most of the comments are all negative towards certain individuality. I’m not going to say it since I feel ashamed though I should – They call it “Crab Mentality.”

Crab Mentality is a way of thinking best described by the phrase….”If I can’t have it, neither can you”. It’s a metaphor referring to a pot of crabs in which one of them tries to escape and instead is pulled down by the rest of them. The point in referring crabs in the pot – it has to do with the fact that if you’re in a situation like don’t try to squeeze your way out of it because everyone else will just pull you back into the problem but even deeper than before.

Let’s dig in a much deeper accounts, I did research online on the idea and line of crab mentality and it is so repulsive that “crab mentality” is often associated with Filipinos worldwide. Yes, if it’s twitter – we Filipinos are the undisputed top trending worldwide for the hash tag #CrabMentality.

The term “crab mentality” is used to describe a kind of selfish, short-sighted thinking which runs along the lines of “if I can’t have it, neither can you (referred to previous phrase).” This term is especially widely used among Filipinos, who use it specifically to refer to people who pull other people down, denigrating them rather than letting them get ahead or pursue their dreams.

“As a general rule, an accusation of having a crab mentality is a poor reflection on someone’s personality.”

This concept references an interesting occurrence which happens in buckets of crabs. If one crab attempts to escape from a bucket of live crabs, the other crabs will pull it back down, rather than allowing it to get free. Sometimes, the crabs seem almost malicious, waiting until the crab has almost escaped before yanking it back into the pot. All of the crabs are undoubtedly aware of the fact that their fate is probably not going to be very pleasurable, so people are led to wonder why they pull each other back into the bucket, instead of congratulating the clever escape artist.

Factors proximity to being a Crab Mentality State

1 – Envy and Jealousy – These is the major factor I guess so I don’t have to explain it.
2 – Redefining Individuality – in a way that somebody negates others in order to define h/she is different from that certain individual.
3 – Resentment – planting hatred to somebody and never have the time to forgive, that’s certainly a not lost cause.
4 – Greediness – This explains “if I can’t have it, neither can you!” in a worst way.
5 – Selfishness and Self-indulgence – it’s just that there are people who just feel happy and indulge when they pull someone downward.

Achievement equals pride, and pride involves pleasure on the part of the achiever. Self-actualization is a human necessity – accordingly, it is normal. The questions that must be involved with these behaviour or way of thinking: How happy are you scrutinizing others achieve their goals? How do you sense seeing people thrive in their deeds? Do you appreciate the accomplishments of people around you? Are you glad with someone else’s success?

Whether we agree to it or not, if we self-assess today and reflect that we actually or secretly feel sorry about seeing nice things happening to people, chances are, we are guilty of the loathsome trait of crab mentality!

THIS IS A GUEST POST BY JESUS RICARDO BUHAN OF ALWAYS10 – TOP TEN LIST COLLECTION|TOP TEN LISTS

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As I checked my Facebook wall this morning, I saw another celebrity video posted, some categorize it as a scandal… and it is now going viral. I don’t know what exactly I felt, but one thing’s for sure… I don’t like it, so I didn’t share it, I won’t repost it. Am I pissed off because of the video? NO! What made me feel angry is I can’t see any importance of sharing to public someone’s disgrace.

After seeing the video, I posted this on my FB wall:

“Sana tigilan na ang pagsi-share sa FB ng mga scandals/videos ng mga celebrities… kahit na may mali sa ginawa nila isipin natin ang pakiramdam ng isang taong nilulugmok dahil sa pagkakamali. Kahit tayo ay nagkakamali rin naman, anu bang dinudulot nito sa atin? Anu bang uri ng tao ang sumasaya para sa ikalulungkot ng iba? Buhay nila iyon…wag na natin dagdagan pa ang paglaganap ng ikasisira ng iba…hindi na nakakatuwa kasi.”

I’m not perfect, I’m not religious but I know the feeling of getting hurt… the feeling of being disgraced.

-       I tried putting myself on the situation. Of course I will be ashamed of what I did, but that’s not important at all, what’s more important is my partner’s feelings. What if that video was mine and the one involved is my present girlfriend? Also think if the one involved is your brother or sister? How hurtful it might be to them? It just caused them the most embarrassing moment of their life, a nightmare has been brought.

-       I know you are familiar with this certain Biblical story when Jesus saved Mary Magdalene from being stoned to death by the townspeople, it was stated in the book of John 8:7 “So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” We all commit mistakes, nobody is perfect… so we don’t have the right to make someone dishonorable.

It’s their fault…really?

-       Yes it is, but not totally. Come to think of this, let’s say that the video was uploaded by either one of the two persons involved, I can say that it’s their fault if someone saw/watch it. But the time you get involved by means of sharing it publicly, you just worsen the situation. You are now part of the fault…and when that video you shared was reposted… it’s like detonating a bomb making someone’s life miserable.

Why share such types of videos?

-       I can’t see any good logic why there are people who are happy seeing and making other people’s life miserable. We always say “Think before we click”, but are we really practicing it? What’s the essence of sharing it publicly? To gain attention? To gain Facebook Likes? To be in vogue?

Hey, Mr. Semidoppel, you’ve seen it right? Why say such things?  

-       To tell you frankly, I just watched few seconds of the video and didn’t finish it because the moment I start watching it there’s this feeling telling me that something is not right. Also to tell you honestly, I didn’t watch the first video about the abortion thingy. I just knew that there’s a viral video about it, that’s all.

Here’s what I suggest:

DELETE IT.

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“Find a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life”

Have you ever encountered the feeling when you lack enthusiasm in your work? How about every Sunday night, that certain instance when you suddenly got depressed when you realized that tomorrow is Monday and you have to go to work again. How about the instance when you arrived in the office, you feel that you’re entering the gates of agony. If you encountered any of them, do you think you’re just BURNED-OUT?

 
 
Burnout is the feeling of exhaustion (mentally, physically, emotionally) due to different types of stress, you feel worn out, helpless and lose focus towards work. So… when and why do employees feel burned-out?

• Peer Factor – this pertains to co-workers, terror bosses, bullies at work. One cannot focus on a task if he always is too conscious about the people around him. Also, it is hard to work if your boss is too demanding, giving you lots of deadlines and when this happens you will really feel worn out because of the “overloading” that your boss did. The most difficult types of person to cope with are the so-called “bullies”, those who try to demoralize you, acting like a boss.

• Work not related to Field of Study – I consider this as a hindrance to gain enthusiasm at work (maybe at first). Why? In some instances or probably in most instances, it is really hard to be enthusiastic to a work which is really not familiar with you. “Back to zero”, this is how I define it, you have to learn from the start. Though you will be familiar with it there’s still a disadvantage, you cannot practice your expertise.

• Overworked…Underpaid – this is the most common reason why employees get burned-out so easily. I know you will agree with me when I say “The load of worked should always be compensated by the salary or even with the benefits.” You are working, you’re not doing charity as a volunteer. This principle is just the reciprocal of the company’s “I pay you to work, do your job”. But, I think as an employee, you can evaluate if your salary is really worth the job you are doing.

• Disregarded Scope of Work – When the “scope of work” was neglected, employees start to ask questions such as: Do I really have to do this? Is this really part of my job? Remember it is our right as employees to ask if the task given is part of our scope of work. If both parties are professional enough to talk about that matter, I am sure that no overloading of work will be experienced (because the task not included in the scope of work will never be performed).

• Work Schedule – the normal working hours is 8:00 a.m. up to 5:00 p.m. I know that some types of work are on a shifting type of schedules and though employees will work for eight (8) hours it is really hard to adjust if you will work at night. The feeling and effect of sleeping at night is different from sleeping at daytime, I myself can prove the difference between them.

• Work Days – the usual working days (e.g. government agencies) is only five (5) days which starts on Monday and ends on Friday. But it is different to semi-private and private companies, they usually have six working days and Sunday is the only time to rest which I think is not sufficient enough to recharge. Also, some companies (e.g. servicing companies) are mostly in demand during holidays, where plant sites and customers usually held shutdowns and preventive maintenance. Those perfect instances to be with our families are replaced by work and employees on that field of work usually did not enjoy that certain opportunity. They have no choice.

• Work Place and Traffic – you can’t start the day right if you encountered traffic jam, yes I know it pisses you off. The same situation won’t let you  end the day with a smile because of the same traffic jam you encounter after work. Well, I think there are really some places where traffic cannot be avoided. To avoid it you have to go VERY EARLY and if you don’t want to be late you have to adjust for few minutes or even for few hours.

• Safety Issues – Employees under  construction, servicing, maintenance (and other fields with the same nature)  are the most prone to accidents. That’s why companies should be aware of the hazards their employees might encounter. Employees got burnout if they can’t perform well on the work area. Safety is an investment and not a company’s expense.

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This started when my Pagerank dropped, from PR4 it went down to PR2 and as of now my blog is on PR3. My obsession on Pagerank became my depression when it went 2 ranks down…in an instant. I really can’t get over with it, so I decided that I should divert my attention and set a new goal. But first, I’ll share something very significant. This might answer your question if Alexa is really important? This doubt was answered when I received good replies from my blogmates from “Pinoy Proudly Bloggers” group in Facebook after I posted this…

”Liwanagan nyo ako…gaano kaimportante ang Alexa at importante nga ba? If may post kayo about dito, kindly share po salamat po mga idol”

Here are some opinions from my blogger friends (all in Tagalog):

According to Jhong Medina…

• On my personal opinion pare… Alexa reflects your sites activities.
• Kahit walang alexa toolbar it will still measure yung metrics ng site mo
• some pay per post site measures activities thru alexa ratings too well it’s my 2 cent thoughts lang pre
• I also use alexa for a snapshot ng competitors ko it’s like google analytics
• One benefit nun is you can analyze mo ang keywords ng competitors mo

According to Iam Herbert…

• Alexa is one way to measure your blog/site’s activity/traffic, the lower the better
• If firefox gamit nyong browser, install the addon SearchStatus, it will be placed sa right status bar nyo, it will display PR, mozrank, complete rank at alexa.. hinahighlight dn nya yung mga nofollow na links
• Walang exception sa alexa, may toolbar or wala.. basta may traffic towards any blog/site, nirarank nila yun accordingly
• Malaki kasi impact kpag organic ung search… organic, yung tipong nag search ako tapos nkita ko yung link mo sa pghahanap ko

According to Manuel Garcia…

• At the most basic level, Alexa rank is simply social proof that your blog has an audience. How you will use it to make money is up to you.

According to Fitz Gerard Villafuerte…

• Higher Alexa rank (lower number) means you have a lot of visitors from US and EU – no effect on SERP – but sometimes used by advertisers as metric. It’s important if you want to get direct advertisers for US and EU companies. It’s also considered by TLA companies but they still consider PR as more important. At the most basic level, Alexa rank is simply social proof that your blog has an audience. How you will use it to make money is up to you. Lastly, no way to increase Alexa rank except to just get more US and EU visitors. Believe me, I’ve tried.

Then back to my Alexa Ranking Challenge. As of now there are 16 million sites which were tracked by Alexa. So last September 4, I started monitoring my Alexa Rankings, tracking how long will it take to be on the top 500,000. By the way, my blog site’s stats are not that impressive that’s why it took me a long time to reach my goal, the good part is that the rankings are improving each day.

Here’s some statistics:

What did I do? I really don’t know exactly how it happened. Maybe because of the following:

• Link exchange between bloggers
• Blog hopping plus commenting
• Social bookmarking
• Blogroll cleaning
• RSS Feed Modification
• Unique Content Posting

I hope that I inspire you and also I am challenging you to try it. There’s no harm in trying and besides the one who will benefit from it is you. I think this time I can balance PR and Alexa, I am just hoping that the improvement will be consistent even though I am only posting two articles a week. Next goal… top 250k! Wish me luck!

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I seldom go to church and attend a mass, and sometimes if I go alone I make sure that I’ll be there before the homily starts and after that I’ll go home. Aside from the teachings or interpretations they make on the Bible readings, I am really fond of hearing stories told by priests. Here are some of the best stories I’ve heard:

FIRST STORY:

This story according to a priest was told to him by an American missionary.

One day a priest told his seminarians that they have to prepare for their mission so he told them that each one of them will share in front of the altar, just like a priest. There’s this seminarian who has stage fright and he was afraid to be called in front, but he have no other choice but to do what the priests asked them to do. When it was his turn he asked his fellow seminarians “Brothers, do you know what I am going to share with you?”, then they nodded and answered “yes we do!” So he told them, “Therefore I have nothing to say”. The priest scolded him and told him that he will give him another week to prepare.

After a week, it was his turn again so he went up the altar and asked, “Brothers, do you know what I am going to share with you?” His fellow seminarians shook their head because they thought that if they nodded, that fellow will just make the same excuse. After they shook their heads as sign of telling him that they don’t know what he might share he said “Neither do I”. The priest scolded him again and gave him another week to prepare.

After a week, he went up the altar and asked the same question, “Brothers, do you know what I am going to share with you?”. Some seminarians nodded and some shook their heads, this time they have mixed replies so he said “Those who nodded please tell those who shook their heads because they don’t know.”

What’s the lesson from this story? Those who know the word of God should spread it, teach those who didn’t know it yet. That’s the essence of the noble deeds by missionaries.

SECOND STORY:

A woman went to church and started whining when she reached the church’s door…

“Bakit ako? Ako na lang palagi!” then she walked on the isle, going nearer to the altar.

“Binigyan mo ako ng asawang lasenggo, sugalero at babaero! Mga anak na walang kwenta, walang galang at sakit ng ulo!”

“Mga kapitbahay na puro chismosa’t chismoso, biyenan na pakialamero!” Then when she reached the altar, Jesus told her, “Pasalamat ka…” The woman asked Him, “Bakit kailangan ko pa magpasalamat?” Jesus replied, “Anak, pasalamat ka at nakapako Ako dito, kung hindi eh babatukan kita. Ako nga hindi Ako umaangal na Ako ang nagdusa sa mga kasalanang hindi Ko naman ginawa. Ginawa ko lahat ng iyon para sa inyo dahil mahal Ko kayo ganun din ang Ama.”

Lesson from the story: We keep on whining about the things that happened to us, we have taken for granted a certain fact that there is someone out there who gave His life to us, to redeem the world.

THIRD STORY:

There’s a man who died and sent to Heaven’s gate, there he met “Tagabantay”. Tagabantay asked his name and told him that he has to wait because he will check his records. Tagabantay left and while he was gone this man wander along Heaven’s gate. There he saw lots of “ears”, mountainous ears are in Heaven. When Tagabantay came back, he asked, “Tagabantay, bakit po puro tenga ang nakikita kong nasa loob at ang dami dami pa?” Then Tagabantay told him, “Ah yan ba? Kasi ‘yan kasi eh galling dun sa mga taong nakikinig sa mga salita ng Diyos tuwing misa, pero pagkatapos eh hindi naman ibinahagi ang salita ng Diyos na kanilang narinig. Nagsimula lamang sa tenga at natapos sa tenga (natapos lang sa pagkakarinig) kaya ngayon ‘ung tenga lamang nila ang napunta sa langit.”

Lesson from this story: We should spread the Good News that we heard, it is every Christian’s responsibility to tell those people who didn’t know about it. Let us be the missionaries of today.

I hope these stories inspire you and I wish that you learned something from this article. Have a nice day!

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It took me months to come up with a list amidst a blogosphere that thrives on making them to keep points succinct and succulent for the readers who have to do their massive blog hops. No, this is not a single approach that applies to all, but a humble observation of some obscurely relationship-obsessed, overworked, and possibly biased Pinay proletarian who, deep in her heart, believes that Pinoy men are the best lovers. Aside from the common reason of “loving my own”, here are six other reasons why I think a Pinoy man is the best in romance:

1. He loves not just you, but also your family, too.
   One of the things I noticed (based from direct experience and stories from my girl pals) is that a serious Pinoy lover wants to meet my parents as early as the first month of a dating relationship. I just find it awesome that the Pinoy man makes room to try to love my relatives. In fact, sometimes I feel that my Pinoy lover loves my own family better than I love them. LOL. He extends his canopy of love for me to include the umbrella that is my family tree. <3
2. A Pinoy lover is easily adaptable in so many aspects.
   Flexibility is not really something you find anywhere. In some cultures, women are not allowed to show off anything beyond their eyes, or go to malls freely with their girl pals. But if you have a Pinoy man for a lover, you do not worry about these things, because he lived in the 17^th best place in the world for women to live in.
3. Except when after a major body workout, the Pinoy lover smells really good.
   This is third on my list, but I believe this is one of the best reasons. All those home economics classes that drill the boys and girls to brush their teeth after every meal and take a bath everyday must have paid off somehow. Despite water shortages, dirty floods, and dam overflow issues, hygiene is something that many Pinoy men invest in. There are even some who exceed women’s hygienic rituals to the point of questionable masculinity, but that’s already a topic for another blog post.
4. The Pinoy lover is inclined to observe traditions and tend to respect others’ traditions, too.
   Living in a place as colourful and diverse as the Philippines, the ability to maintain tradition and have a healthy respect for others’ traditions is something that a Pinoy man can consider as an additional pogi point locally and globally.
5. Culturally, historically, and presently, the Pinoy man is devoted to the lady love of his life.
   As a predominantly Catholic country, the devotion to Mama Mary extends as some form of respect for the beloved woman of a Pinoy man’s love life. But that does not just apply to Pinoy Catholics. Even in the Muslim-dominated regions, the patriarchal system is hinged on the fact that it is the man who pampers and provides. Wife battering cases notwithstanding, this still holds true if you find the right man. In any nationality, there are always rotten apples in a bunch that fortunately does not really infect the entire barrel.
6. The provision for unparalleled lambing is a given when you have a Pinoy loverboy.
   Ah, this one is the best! I find stories of sweetness from men all over the world. But if you want those stories of sweetness to be almost common fare for you, you might want to try engaging romantically with a Pinoy man. You will not have experienced true romance if you have not felt the kilig over harana sessions, regularly given bouquets of flowers, pasalubong from his travels, etc. etc.

This is not to say that other nationalities are inferior to the Pinoy man. But man, oh, man, a genuine Mahal kita spoken by a true blue Pinoy loverboy and backed with actions is really something. And it’s a something that’s  worth trying by every woman who thinks she deserves the best love life that this world has to give.

This post was contributed by my good friend “Mommy Helen Mary Labao” of Helena. This is the very first guest post accepted by Semidoppel’s Reports. Thanks Mommy Helen!

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