Athena Blanche Oropesa, niece of Arwel Relampagos Oropesa is a contestant for Miss Nursing '07 in her school in Davao City. This is the email that I got on the mechanics of the voting selection...

" hi tito chito.. ask sana ako small favor..sumali po kase ako ng miss nursing sa school namin..tapos may net surfer's choice na award.. punta ka lang sa http://www.friendster.com/mmn07 (kailangan nka log in ka as friendster) then view photos. then click my photo and grab it. pwde na man i-delete sa profile mo after mo na grab ung photo. one vote po per grab..thank you po".

So, start grabbing Blanche's photo now, and support her in this endeavor!

Labels: Relampagos News

Quoted, as posted on Sunstar Davao dated July 20, 2007.

A BUSINESSWOMAN was killed by alleged robbers right in front of her residence in Juna Subdivision in Davao City Sunday morning.

The former common-law wife of slain Monkayo Mayor Joel Brillantes, who is the victim's close friend, however, believes it was not robbery but a murder plot because the victim has been involved in the legal battle between the common-law wife and the Brillantes family.

Read the rest of the story.

Labels: Relampagos News

The message was relayed by Arwel Oropesa that Leticia Relampagos Palaruan has been shot. No further details yet have emerged on the incident.

I tried digging up the Net and these are the information found on Sunstar Davao issue dated January 17 2005 & Sunstar Davao issue dated July 09, 2004. We don't know if this is related to the incident.

Let's pray for her soul, may she find eternal rest despite the incident.

You can visit the Family Tree for additional information

Labels: Relampagos News

Anyone interested in having Relampagos.Org (http://yourname.relampagos.org) as a domain, please let me know so I could add an entry on the DNS. I could assist you as well in setting it up, if need be.

Just a heads-up. Thanks!

Labels: Site Updates

My Lakbayan grade is D!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

Also posted on Oropesa Bustamante Blogs

Labels: Miscellaneous

By: Dennis Santos
Mindanao Bureau
Last updated 03:03pm (Mla time) 07/05/2007

DAVAO CITY, Philippines -- A six-year-old girl was killed when a section of the concrete wall of a small church built on a hilly portion of Ma-a village here collapsed during a heavy downpour Wednesday night.

Chenelyn Menor was attending Bible service at the Grace Christian Community Church with her parents when the incident occurred around 7:45 p.m., survivors and neighbors said.

Alfredo Bangcuang, a resident in the area, said he was among those who tried but failed to save the girl.

Rose Amacna, one of the survivors, her daughter Apple Grace, 11, and their neighbor Elsie Relampagos, sustained minor injuries in the incident.

Labels: Relampagos News

Posted on ricojr blog

A Filipina has been recognized as Independent School District Elementary Teacher of the Year in Houston, Texas.

Marie Alexis “Jinky” Relampagos, a second-grade English as a Second Language teacher from Briargrove Elementary, was presented with the award on May 9, 2007, at the annual HISD Teacher Recognition Banquet at the George R. Brown Convention Center. She is an immigrant from Davao City.

Relampagos and Hafedh Azaiez, the secondary school winner, were chosen from among 268 nominees, according to the HISD website. Both won a prize of $5,000 each plus $1,000 gift certificate from I. W. Marks Jewelers.

With more than 300 schools and serving some 210,000 students, the HISD is the biggest school district in Texas and the seventh in the United States.

“I felt very surprised when my name was called as Teacher of the Year,” Relampagos said. “It has never crossed my mind that this kind of recognition would ever happen in my life. I am both honored and humbled by the whole experience.”

Relampagos, who attended the Ateneo de Davao University, didn’t plan on becoming a teacher. Instead, with her degree in mass communication, she wanted to become a journalist.

Upon graduating, however, she accepted a teaching job at the Ateneo de Davao Grade School and forever reconsidered her path in life.

“I think teaching is my calling,” she said. “The opportunity came and I grabbed it and here I am enjoying it.”

She began taking education courses and eventually earned her teaching license in 1999.

With the help of a recruiting agency, Relampagos and 53 other Filipino teachers were hired by the HISD from the Philippines in 2000.

In Houston, she began teaching at Edward Blackshear Elementary, a school in the third ward where she taught second-grade ESL classes.

“The first year was very challenging, but the Blackshear faculty and staff were very helpful,” Relampagos said.

“I also had my Filipino teacher friends who served as my support group. I had to go through a lot of adjustments, but at the end of the year, I was very fulfilled with the progress I saw in my students and I learned to love my new environment.”

By adapting to that environment and overcoming her trials, Relampagos earned the Blackshear Teacher of the Year award in 2002 and the HISD South Central District ESL Teacher of the Year award in 2003.

After three years, Relampagos decided to find work closer to home.

She began teaching at Briargrove Elementary where her colleagues’ nominations led to her district win.

Fellow second-grade teacher Susan Simpson fondly recalls her first days of teaching at Briargrove where Relampagos served as both a mentor and a friend.

“With her, what you see is what you get,” Simpson said. “If you had a seven-year-old, you would want her to be their teacher.”

Martin Garza, the principal, believes that Relampagos’s teaching ability and personality benefit the school.

“Not only does she embody the ideal teacher, but she also boosts our moral by confirming what a good teacher should be,” Garza said.

Although she is now eligible to win the Region 4 Teacher of the Year Award, Relampagos continues to focus on her students and her family—who are proud of her accomplishments.

“When I called my dad in the Philippines to tell him that I had won, he couldn’t stop crying,” Relampagos said. “My mom had to take the phone away from him because she was afraid that he would have a heart attack.”

Her husband, Pablo, a former teacher in the Philippines, was even inspired to begin taking U.S. teacher certification classes.

The biggest surprise, however, came in the form of e-mails from strangers who wrote to congratulate her on her win.

“It is very touching to receive emails from people I don’t know—both from Filipinos and other immigrants who express their joy in seeing a “kapwa Pilipino” or another immigrant being recognized in such a wonderful way,” Relampagos said.

“And my response to them is, ‘I am just the representative, this recognition goes to all of us who put our heart and dedication into the teaching profession every day.’”

- Harmony Reforma/ Souie C. Mercado, Fil-Am Press

Labels: Relampagos News

Copied from a forwarded spam mail

Dagohoy in the States... Mabuhay Ang Filipino!

It was the first day of school in Washington, DC and a new student named Dagohoy, the son of a Filipino immigrant, entered the fourth grade.

The teacher began, "Let's review some American history, class. Who said, "Give me liberty or give me death?"

She saw a sea of blank faces, except for Dagohoy's who had his hand up, "Patrick Henry, 1775."

"Very good," said the teacher.

"Who said, "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth?"

Again, no response except from Dagohoy: "Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg, 1863," he said.

The teacher snaps at the class, "Class, you should be ashamed, Dagohoy who is new to our country knows more about our history than you do."

She hears a loud whisper from the back: "Screw the Filipinos."

"Who said that?" she demanded. Dagohoy put his hand up. "General John Pershing, Manila, 1896."

At that point, Jack, another student says, "I'm going to puke." The teacher glares and asks, "All right! Now who said that?"

Again Dagohoy answers, "George Bush, Sr. to the Japanese Prime Minister during the state dinner, Tokyo, 1991."

Now furious, another student yells, "Oh yeah? Suck this!!"

"Dagohoy jumps out of his chair waving his hand and shouts to the teacher at the top of his voice, "Bill Clinton to Monica Lewinsky, the Oval Office, 1997!!"

Someone shouts, "You little shit if you say anything else, I'll kill you."

Dagohoy yells, "Congressman Gary Condit to Chandra Levy, Washington, D.C., 2001!"

The teacher faints.

"I'm outta here!" mutters one student as he sidles to the door.

"President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Baguio City, December 30, 2002!!" Dagohoy responds.

As the class gathers around her on the floor, someone says, "Oh shit, now we're really in big trouble!"

"Saddam Hussein, on the Iraq invasion, Baghdad, May 2003!" Dagohoy bellowed.

"Now, I really have to run," Jack mutters, heading for the exit.

"Gloria Macapagal Arroyo again, Pampanga, October 4, 2003!!!" Dagohoy shouts triumphantly jumping with glee.

Then a burly African-American boy grabbed Dagohoy and strangled him, about to give a fistful to a frightened Dagohoy.

Then an Asian boy stood up and shouted, "Hey easy on him. I'm a FILIPINO!"

Dagohoy then blurted out before he got socked out, "Fernando Poe, Jr. Manila, January 2004!!!"

Labels: Miscellaneous