The Bogo Times Blog

Kung Hei Fat Choi! President Benigno Aquino III  has declared January 31, 2014 as a national special non-working holiday in celebration of the Chinese New Year by virtue  Proclamation No. 655 series of 2013 . The infographic below shows the pay difference  between a Regular Holiday and a Special Non-Working Day.  Click here to zoom image. source: www.gov.ph Below is a list of holidays for 2014 unless otherwise specified (source: www.gov.ph ): January 1, 2014, Wednesday – New Year’s Day (Regular Holiday) January 31, 2014, Friday – Chinese New Year (Special non-working day) February 25, 2014, Tuesday – EDSA Revolution anniversary (Holiday for all schools) April 9, 2014, Wednesday – Araw ng Kagitingan (Regular Holiday) April 17, 2014 – Maundy Thursday (Regular Holiday) April 18, 2014 – Good Friday (Regular Holiday) April 19, 2014 – Black Saturday (Special non-working day) May 1, 2014, Thursday – Labor Day (Regular Holiday) June 12, 2014, Thur...

Mark your calendar as the City of Bogo will host the 8080 Triathlon on May 11, 2014. SunStar reported that the race will also serve as a fund- raising activity for the rebuilding of Bogo after Super Typhoon Yolanda devastated the city. Bogo 8080 Triathlon © Aktib.ph The race will feature 2 categories: Individual and Relay. There will be a distance of 1.8 km for swimming , 65 km for cycling and 14km for running. The other route will feature a 900-meter swim, 32.5 km cycling and 7 km run.  Registration fee and inclusives will be updated soon on this blog. Ripples Faelnar, a member of  Cornestone which organized  Run to Rebuild Bogo , said that aside from organizing races, they will also be conducting sports clinics not only in Bogo City  but in also in Negros, Cebu, Bohol and Davao. Resources:  http://aktib.ph/854-bogo-8080-triathlon http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/sports/2014/01/29/bogo-host-8080-triathlon-325601

Bogo City which was one of the areas in northern Cebu heavily affected by Yolanda, earned a slot in the grand parade after winning fourth place in the Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Dakbayan last Saturday. The group’s contingent head Liza Orongon told Sun.Star Cebu they decided to join the Sinulog to also give thanks to the Sto. Niño for sparing their lives from the typhoon. “Win or lose, offering lang gyud ni amoa ug agi pasalamat kang Señor Sto. Niño (it’s an offering of gratitude to the Sto. Niño),” she said. Orongon said their group, which is composed of 64 dancers and 96 props men, will arrive in the city tomorrow. Panglao and Bogo will be among the 36 contingents that are joining Sunday’s grand parade. source:  Panglao, Bogo join Sinulog  By Princess Dawn H. Felicitas

Some of the country's most hardcore runners will gear up in Bogo City for the 2014 Hardcore Hundred Ultramarathon - Cebu.  Miles The race will start at 12:01 AM, January 31, 2014 (Chinese Lunar New Year’s Day-Special Non-working Holiday) and will end at 6:01 AM, February 1, 2014.  Participants are required to have finished  at least one 100-kilometer race (trail or road) within the official cutoff time and whose results can be verified through the internet.  Multi-sport finishes regardless of distance covered are NOT acceptable. Start/Finish: Don Celestino Martinez, Sr. Cultural and Sports Complex, Bogo City Cutoff  Time 1: 80 Kilometers (Celestino Martinez Sports Complex/Fifteen hours. Runners not able to make it in 15:00:00 hours / 3:01 PM JANUARY 31 will be declared DID NOT FINISH and will NO longer be allowed to continue) Cutoff  Time 2: 112 Kilometers (Borbon Municipal Hall)/ Twenty hours. Runners not able to make it...

The Philippine Basketball Association is making Bogo City, Cebu its next destination as part of its ongoing mission to assist communities affected by super typhoon Yolanda. PBA players Arwind Santos and Alex Cabagnot of Petron Blaze, Willie Miller of Barako Bull, and Sol Mercado of GlobalPort will personally participate in the relief effort. They will be joining PBA commissioner Chito Salud and chairman Mon Segismundo during their visit to Bogo on Friday. Also part of the delegation are actress Shaina Magdayao, who hails from Bogo, and Excite Inc. COO Icel Palomares Argana, both bringing their own relief goods to support the initiative under the Alagang PBA program. Beyond distributing relief packages, the PBA will also donate basketball backboards, goals, and balls to the people of Bogo, one of the areas most heavily impacted by Yolanda. Salud’s team is coordinating closely with Cebu Board Member Yayoy Alcoseba, travel and tours expert Andrew Teh, and Celestino Martinez (not sur...

Despite the devastation brought by super typhoon Yolanda, students from the City of Bogo division will join this year's Sinulog sa Kabataan sa Lalawigan parade on the 11th and maybe the Grand Parade itself on  the 19th. Cebu Daily News reported that 65 high school dancers, instrumentalists and propsmen have been practicing for the competition since December 15, 2013. They relied mainly on the P200,000 cash aid from the Bogo City government.  Sinulog 2013 (photo: basilicasantonino.org.ph) “Our recovery is ongoing. Many supported us. We just can’t turn our back on the Sinulog,” Ursal told Cebu Daily News in Cebuano. Bonifacio Ursal, the MAPEH coordinator of the Bogo City Schools Division, said they were hesitant at first about joining the Sinulog this year because of budget and time constraints but later agreed to join to show their thanksgiving to the Sto. Nino for keeping them safe and alive. Bogo's entry will show how Yolanda devastated the city and h...

The SM Group, through SM Cares , will build 200 houses in Barangay Polambato, Bogo City for the families who were affected by super typhoon Yolanda. SM Prime Holdings Inc. president Hans T. Sy led the groundbreaking ceremony with Cebu Vice Governor Agnes Magpale, Bogo City Mayor Celestino Martinez Jr., and SM Prime Holdings Inc vice president for Visayas and Mindanao Marissa Fernan last Saturday. Bogo City Mayor Celestino Martinez Jr. and SM Prime Holdings Inc. president Hans T. Sy A one-hectare property was donated by the heirs of Wenceslao and Margarita Briones Fernan, where the  SM Cares Village will soon stand. Each unit will cost P250,000 amounting up to P50 million for the whole project. Each unit will be built with concrete roofing, high ceiling, proper ventilation and utility-ready provision. The settlement are will have a 5-meter wide road network, a concrete perimeter fence, community center and a basketball court. Click here for more ph...

Former Bogo City mayor Celestino “Tining” Martinez III , now serving as barangay captain of Cayang, has been elected as the new president of the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) for Cebu province. Martinez secured the position unopposed in yesterday’s elections, giving him a seat on the Provincial Board as the ex‑officio member. He takes over the role previously held by Jose Ribomapil Holganza Jr., the ABC president of Bantayan, who now moves into one of the eight seats on the board of directors. Emerito Calderon , ABC president of Samboan, retains his post as vice president — a role he has held since 2010. Addressing his fellow ABC members, Martinez expressed gratitude and optimism: I hope I can live up to the expectation sa tanan, and most especially, I hope and I look forward to a very fruitful and successful league sa umaabot nga mga tuig. Martinez shared that one of his main priorities is partnering with the Capitol to extend aid to typhoon‑hit communities in northern C...

by Celestino Martinez Jr. Thursday, 05 December 2013 | cityofbogocebu.gov.ph Yolanda left a great devastation in her wake. But if there is a lesson the super typhoon has taught us, it is that life is one unpredictable road and that we are living in an increasingly dangerous world. Our preparations can be a helpless, useless armor against the fury of Mother Nature. Yet, if there is another lesson Yolanda has taught us, it is that this world is still filled with people who are what all human beings ought to be: Kind, selfless, full of sympathies & generous impulses, people who never tire giving, people who even cross continents in order to bring healing and hope . Because of them, what could have been a monumental tragedy, has become a monumental triumph of humanity... To all those who, in one way or the other,have given us a helping hand when we were down on our knees, we have no signature big enough to mark our gratitude for what you have done for us. As "Padayon ...

By Peter L. Romanillos 27 Nov 2013 | Cebu Daily News After staging three successful concerts to raise funds for the victims of the recent calamities in Central and Eastern Visayas, the fourth edition is set on Saturday, this time for the typhoon-stricken city of Bogo in northern Cebu by a group that now calls itself Bangon SugBogo. It is actually the same group that launched the #BangonSugBohol benefit shows to raise funds for relief and rehabilitation of communities devastated by the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Cebu and Bohol last Oct. 15 . Organizers said the objective of the concert is not just raise funds but also to "uplift the spirits of residents in north Cebu who were ravaged by Yolanda." "They don't have a roof, they don't have food and they don't have entertainment so we saw the opportunity to go there and stage the concert. Everyone is free to attend," said Wilson Ng, one of the event organizers. "We expect more than 5,000 ...

© IDF Blog After two weeks of extending medical relief to about two thousand residents in the City of  Bogo and  its neighboring municipalities, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday turned over its field hospital (mobile hospital) to two foreign non-government organizations -  LandsAid , a German NGO and Workers' Samaritan Federation Austria (ASBÖ) , an Austrian NGO. The two NGO's will assume and take over the medical assistance that was extended by the Israeli medical crew.    "The cooperation between LandsAid and ASBÖ has been agreed in consultation with the local authorities and the hospital to make sure the resulting gap in health care in the next few weeks,"  -  LandsAid CEO Hans Musswessels  The turnover of the mobile hospital was witnessed by Ambassador of Israel to the Philippines Menashe Bar On, Bogo City Mayor Celestino Martinez Jr., and IDF Col. Yoram Laredo. ...

Major power lines have now been restored two weeks after super typhoon Yolanda (International name: Haiyan) ravaged the northern part of Cebu.  The Freeman reported that all municipalities in northern Cebu including the cities of Bogo and Danao have been energized except for some mountain barangays and places where restoration of the lateral lines are still ongoing.  Restoration of power lines in Bogo City © City Government of Bogo The backbone lines of Cebu Electric Cooperative II (CEBECO II) serving Compostela, Borbon, Tabogon, Tabuelan, Tuburan, Carmen, City of Danao and City of Bogo were already restored. The backbone lines are also partially serving Catmon, Sogod and San Remigio.