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THE APOSTOLIC NUNCIO & THE NEW BISHOP OF ILAGAN Dr. Troy Alexander Gozum Miano 12 February 2019 Busy as a bee preparing for the Bambanti Festival 2019, I received an instruction from the Governor to attend a meeting with the clergy, the province’ first lady and other concerned focal persons for the preparation of the Province of Isabela’s hosting of a welcome dinner for the Apostolic Nuncio, His Most Reverend Excellency Gabriele Giordano Caccia, D.D. Eventually, all department heads led by the Provincial Administrator including Hon. Rolando L. Tugade who acted as the event’s director-general, held a follow-up meeting at the Capitol. A final coordination meeting was held at the residence of the Governor in Cauayan City two days before the event. Included in the groundwork is the security preparation in the Saint Michael the Archangel Cathedral compound in Barangay Upi in Gamu town, the seat of the Diocese of Ilagan, which was the site of the canonical installation o...

ISABELA & BAMBANTI STREETDANCE IN GUINNESS Dr. Troy Alexander Gozum Miano 25 January 2019 I was teary eyed when our beloved province was officially recorded in the Guinness World Records as home of “the largest gathering of people dressed as scarecrows”. Being the head of the Secretariat for Bambanti Festival 2019, I was a witness how difficult and gruelling the process to secure a record in the world’s primary authority on the cataloguing and verification of a huge number of international records. The new world record was initiated by the father of the province, Governor Faustino G. Dy III together with Vice Governor Antonio T. Albano, the festival director Sangguniang Panlalawigan Member Rolando L. Tugade, consultant on cultural and the arts affairs Leonilo D. Agustin, the provincial department heads and employees led by Atty. Noel Manuel R. Lopez, the mayors, cultural officers and production team of the 23 municipalities and two cities which participated in the ...

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano 15 December 2018 President Rodrigo R. Duterte witnessed today the turnover of the Transfer Certificate of the historic Balangiga Bells from United States (U.S.) Deputy Chief of Mission John Law to Philippine Department of National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in Balangiga town in Eastern Samar province. The certificate was then handed over to Balangiga Mayor Randy Graza. In his speech, Duterte said that the return of the bells was possible due to "several efforts made by both Americans and the Philippines." For the past years, I have been doing research and documentation on Spanish-era Roman Catholic bells of Isabela. I have been very particular on the inscriptions on the campanas which include: the date of casting, its weight, name of the saint to whom it was dedicated, name of the town for which it was commissioned, name of the cura parroco when it was casted and even the name of the bell caster or foundry. Most...

THE RETURN OF LAS CAMPANAS DE BALANGIGA Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano 11 December 2018 This morning, Bombo Radio Cauayan gave me a ring and made a phone interview regarding the arrival of the Balangiga Bells today in Villamor Airbase after being away from its home for 117 years serving as war trophies by the Unites States (U.S.) soldiers after their retaliation as a result of the infamous Balangiga Massacre on September 28, 1901. Before the capture, the San Lorenzo de Martir Church housed the three Spanish-Era Roman Catholic Bells with the biggest forged in 1863, the second in 1889 and the smallest in 1895. The first two bells’ second home was at the 11 th Infantry Regiment at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, U.S.A. while the smallest, believed to be the one used to signal the attack, was housed in the 9th Infantry Regiment at Camp Red Cloud, the U.S. base in South Korea in Asia. The effort to bring them back the campanas was a work in progress t...

Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano 23 November 2018 Together with my appointment as Provincial Tourism Officer of Isabela was a designation as head of the Isabela Museum and Library (IML). I got the chance to attend the Annual National Congress of the Philippine Librarians Associations, Inc. (PLAI) this year. The national gathering, in partnership with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) through the National Committee on Libraries and Information Services (NCLIS), was held from November 20 to 23 at the Novotel Manila, Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City. With the theme “Connected Actions, Collective Vision: Libraries Transforming Society”, PLAI envisions to lead the country’s library community in a collective call to connected actions towards transforming society. Libraries have the capacity to transform societies, thereby, contributing to the development of a nation. The PLAI Congress 2018 aims to understand the role of libraries and information cent...

BORDERS en KIMCHI Dr. Troy Alexander G. Miano 04 November 2018 Twelve years ago, the Philippine Government through the National Youth Commission (NYC) headed by Chairman Richard Alvin M. Nalupta sent me to lead a four-man official Philippine delegation to the 17 th International Youth Forum (IYF) held from July 20 to 27, 2006 at Seoul and Gyeong-ju, South Korea. With the theme “A World Without Borders: United Nations Millennium Development Goals and Youth Participation”, 74 participants from 22 ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) countries assembled and discussed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), youth challenges to achieving MDGs and solidarity for global sustainability in MDGs. The forum consisted of lectures, group discussions, activities to facilitate group development, cultural exchanges, and study trips in Seoul and Gyeong-ju introducing us to Korean history and culture. We were able to explore the theme of MDGs; expand our awareness on global issues such as poverty a...