While it was clear that Marcos was the strongman and calling the shots, Imelda was never out of the equation. She travelled extensively, domestically and overseas, every other public appearance, or so it seemed, was marked by a different couture terno - paid for by public money, of course- that did not belie the innate features and the growing vanity of the former Muse of Manila, a title given to the young Imelda Romualdez by the city mayor as a consolation prize after she, allegedly, protested her second place finish in the Miss Manila contest in tears.

"Kalayaan, tagumpay ng Bayan", this year's theme for the 112th Philippine Independence Day celebration, aptly captures the essence of this year's commemoration of every Filipinos' much treasured freedom. In honor of this historical moment, the University of Northeastern Philippines ' Center for Culture and the Arts ((UNEP-CCA) rendered a soul-warming interpretation of "Lupang Hinirang" through their dance and magnificent movements.

This Red Lauan  (Shorea negrosensis) "Mother Tree" is considered as the oldest and largest tree in the Bikol region. It has a height of 27 meters with a diameter (at breast height) of 220 centimeters. The tree is estimated to be 440 years old, some DENR Bikol foresters say.

Sorsogon City- At least six municipalities and one city in the province of Sorsogon are in danger of losing its power supply anytime this coming months if the local electric cooperative would not be able to settle its accounts with the National Power Corporation. Officers of the Sorsogon II Electric Cooperative (SORECO II) was compelled to reveal this at the special session of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan after information leaked out that the electric cooperative was heavily indebted to the power agency.

Sorsogon City- At least six municipalities and one city in the province of Sorsogon are in danger of losing its power supply anytime this coming months if the local electric cooperative would not be able to settle its accounts with the National Power Corporation.

LEGAZPI CITY, June 17 - The Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) has approved a P700-million loan package to Albay province to finance its technical and tertiary education scholarship program designed to produce "a college graduate for every family." Albay Governor Joey Salceda signed the loan agreement with LBP president and Chief Executive Officer Gilda Pico to formalize the multi-million loan package that would finance a first-in-the country education strategy.

Sorsogon City- Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan asked the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office to immediately stop the operation of the Small Town Lottery (STL) in the province for lack of endorsement from the council. In its session held Tuesday afternoon the council members grilled representatives of the PCSO on the STL operations being run by Oceania Sur Gaming Corporation headed by its president identified as Rodolfo Luna.

CALAMBA CITY, Laguna, June 15 -- The Philippine National Railways (PNR) is set to resume regular trips to the Bikol Region by Friday next week, PNR officials told President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Tuesday. The PNR halted its daily train trips to the Bikol province after the San Cristobal bridge here was destroyed when typhoons "Milenyo" and "Reming" battered Southern Luzon one after the other in 2006.

I AM WRITING THIS, very quietly, inside the technician's pit of the SFX, the state-of-the-art recording studio of Jesuit Communications housed in the lush campus of the Ateneo de Manila University. In this room, I'm keeping company to Robbie Grande, one of the country's top sound engineers. Before him, the record button flashes bright red and the sliding controls are seemingly in disarray to provide the necessary sound quality. On the flat-screen monitor, a row of audio tracks running, creating several wave bars of different colors.

The efforts of CASURECO II member-consumers, following the June 1 General Assembly attended by around 5,000 members, to follow protocol by seeking the intervention of the National Electrification Administration (NEA) in the uproar created by the unjustified and unannounced power rate increase of the cooperative's management went for naught. The response of NEA Deputy Administrator Eduardo Piamonte last June 11 to the complaints and consequent resolutions of CASURECO II member-consumers against the cooperative's leadership was disheartening. Worse, it elicited the impression that NEA tolerates-if not, is inutile against-CASURECO II management led by OIC General Manager Jane Barrameda and Board President Atty. Perfecto Nixon Tabora.