It’s great to be back!

As the fishman has promised before his week-long break to transfer to a new Web Host and Domain Name Server; and, to all who have written asking for this, Bariles is proud to announce a contest among bloggers for the upcoming and much-anticipated “Side A” Concert in General Santos City in July at the midst of the Yaman GenSan month.

Ladies and gents, presenting to you GenSan News Online Mag’s “Side A All Hits Live in GenSan” SEO Contest for Bloggers!

Side A All Hits Live in GenSan Poster

Here are the mechanics of the “Side A All Hits Live in GenSan” SEO Contest for Bloggers

1. The contest will run from June 25, 2009 until July 14, 2009.
2. It is open to all subscribers of GenSan News Online Mag who have functioning BLOGS.
3. A blogger participant is limited to one blog post entry.
4. The blog post must talk about Yaman GenSan 2009 and the Side A Band Concert, which is an official activity.
5. The objective of the contest is to top the Google Search Engine Results Pages on the keywords “YAMAN GENSAN 2009” at exactly 12:01AM, Philippine Time, July 14, 2009.  The TOP 5 blog posts on Google SERPS will be declared as the winners.
6. To qualify for the contest you should have the following TEXT LINKS on your entry post:
   1. YAMAN GENSAN – http://www.gensantos.com/2009/06/02/7th-yaman-gensan-2009-promises-to-be-the-biggest-in-its-history/
   2. YAMAN AWARDS – http://www.gensantos.com/2009/06/09/5th-annual-yaman-awards-2009-slated-on-18-july/
   3. SIDE A ALL HITS LIVE IN GENSAN – http://www.gensantos.com/2009/06/01/side-a-band-to-rock-gensan-city-at-yaman-gensan/
   4. GRAB A CRAB RESTAURANT and COFFEE CLUB 101 – http://www.gensantos.com/2009/04/15/gensans-twinbill-diners-grab-a-crab-and-coffee-club-101/
7. Contest updates will be published here at GenSan News Online Mag on July 3, 2009 and July 10, 2009.
8. SEO Contest participants must leave a comment below specifying the URL of their blog post entries.

PRIZES:

• The authors of  Top 5 Ranking Blog Posts on Google SERPs will each receive the following prizes:
  • 2 Gold Tickets worth P1,000 each from Dreamwork Ventures, owned by Mr. Michael Wee.
  • One P1,000 Gift Certificate each from Grab A Crab and Coffee Club 101.

• The first among the Top 5 will receive a Bonus Prize of a free Overnight Stay at the all-new Tierra Montana Hotel.  This comes with a Complimentary Breakfast.

Now, how’s that for a COMEBACK POST from Bariles?  Now go blog about it and make the Fishman proud.

Good luck! 

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This morning, at exactly 1:00 AM, and after more than six hours of fixing, tweaking and fiddling it , Bariles is proud to present the NEW LOOK of his blog to the public, now simply called GenSan News Online Magazine!

This time, General Santos City’s #1 Blog  is sporting the Tribune Theme, a magazine theme developed by web2feel.com.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Bariles Republic is proud to announce the winners to the “Pooh-K Laugh-Out-Loud Concert” which will happen on Sunday, April 19, 2009 at the General Santos Gym, Lagao, GenSan.

Mainly because of their well-written informative posts and the extra efforts to feature videos of either Pooh and Kay Brosas, here are the TOP 5 Winners who will each receive a GOLD TICKET.

1. Tanchi – Pooh and K Live in GenSan;
2. Rammyboi – Total Laugh Out Loud;
3. Lito – Pooh-K Live in GenSan… You’ll Laugh Until You Drop;
4. RainCidy – Pooh and K will be in GenSan;
5. Anika -  Laugh Till U Drop

As for the rest of the entries, their blog authors will each receive a Bronze ticket.   Here they are:

• Kyra Sofya - Laugh Til U Drop
• Jinky – A Wacky Evening with Pooh and K in GenSan
• Dimple – Pooh-K
• Gheltac – Two Comedians Unite
• Ikang – Pooh and K, Live on Stage
• IanStar – Let’s escape the reality with Pooh and K
• Payatot – Pooh & K invades my hometown
• Daxi Weida – Pooh-K is coming to town
  

Directions on how to get your tickets have been emailed to you by Bariles himself.

To the winners and participants, congratulations and many thanks for joining.  Watch out for our future contests. 

For more information about the Pooh-K Laugh-Out-Loud in GenSan, CLICK HERE

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Never in my life have I ever come across a blog post as racist as this one written by supposedly “best-selling author and columnist” Chip Tsao of Hong Kong.

Entitled “The War at Home” and featured in the news blog, HK Online published yesterday, March 29, 2009, (but nowhere to be found now amidst calls for the editors to apologize together with the author) the write-up deals mainly on the Philippines’ opposition to China’s continued presence in the Spratlys” and his bitterly scathing remarks about the country which he calls a “nation of servants“.

Hong Kong’s author & award-winning columnist Chip Tsao: Philippines’ Public Enemy #1 for his racial slur on the country, “nation of servants”

He then related how he “summoned Louisa, my domestic assistant who holds a degree in international politics from the University of Manila, hung a map on the wall, and gave her a harsh lecture. I sternly warned her that if she wants her wages increased next year, she had better tell every one of her compatriots in Statue Square on Sunday that the entirety of the Spratly Islands belongs to China.”

I won’t want to say much about Chip Tsao’s article and let you, my dear readers react to his remarks.  I am supposed to be sleeping now but after reading about it, I knew that I had to share it with you.

Although this post is not particularly about GenSan which this blog Bariles Republic is all about after all, still it pertains to the hundreds, no, make that thousands of OFW’s from Soccsksargen who are slaving it out not only in Hong Kong but all over the world, for the future of their families back home.

UPDATE:  4:30PM, March 30, 2009. As of this writing, Chip Tsao’s article on the “nation of servants” has been taken off the HK Online site but Bariles Republic has managed to save it.  You can view and read it in its entirety by CLICKING HERE

UPDATE 2: HK Online Magazine has publicly apologized but Chip Tsao himself remained defiant and unapologetic. Below is a SCREEN SHOT of the article.

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As a sign of gratitude to all the readers, visitors and subscribers of GenSan News Online Mag, Bariles has come up with a Fun Page where they can test their knowledge about General Santos City. This is through a Top FREE Internet Game called Hangaroo, and its General Santos City Edition

.

If you know the Hangman’s Game where the object is to guess all the letters of a mystery word to avoid the Hangman’s noose around your neck, then this top free Internet game Hangaroo has basically the same concept. This time, however, Bariles with the help of his SEO teacher Lyle Santos, did a few adjustments to be able to come up with an exclusive GenSan edition.

In this GenSan edition, a player needs to guess the words associated with General Santos City, most of which came out in Bariles Republic’s GenSan News Online Mag. Hangaroo GenSan Edition’s initial set of mystery words have been divided into categories which serve as the words’ clues – STREETS, RESTAURANTS, LEADERS – POLITICAL, LEADERS – BUSINESS, LEADERS- RELIGION, TOURIST SPOTs, FESTIVALS, COFFEE SHOPS and a few more.

These will be updated later on and more words/categories will be added. So what are you waiting for?  Play on the board below or you can go to Hangaroo-GenSan Edition’s own page by CLICKING HERE.

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We have finally come up with your winner to the Blog Readers Choice Award among the 34 qualifiers to the “Tahanan ni Maria Photo Exhibit” slated this month in one of GenSan’s malls.

Since 27 readers made it their TOP CHOICE, “God is Watching” by Divino Rex Kintanar will receive P2,500 from the Our Lady of Peace Good Voyage Parish Commemorative Book commitee and a token from Bariles Republic.

The Blog Readers Choice Awardee: Divino Rex Kintanar’s “God is Watching” (Please click on the picture to enlarge it)

Here are some of the comments of the readers who favored it:

From Weng:  my vote goes to “God is Watching”… great concept…!!! Congrats!

From Kritiko:  more meaning by clearly showing the situation and reflecting the feeling of the occasion.

From Minda Ponce: the perspective is very good.

From Norma Canda:  Love this photo.  May mysterious effect siya.

From Alfred John Michael C. Yap:  Why? dun sa God is watching sa una una mo lang makita yung picture may malaking impact na talaga sya kahit simple lang yung angle ng shot sa likod lang ng bakod mapapa isip ka talaga and may connection din sya sa title na God is watching. Talagang may tumitingin talaga sa atin na hindi natin nakikita.

The next top photos are Alfonso B. Pading, Jr.’s “Chandeliers” and tying for 3rd top choice are Ronald Velasquez’s “A Child’s Prayer” and (again!) Alfonso B. Pading’s “Spirits“.

#2 – “Chandeliers” by Alfonso B. Pading, Jr.

# 3 – Ronald Velasquez’s “A Child’s Prayer”

“Spirits” by Alfonso B. Pading, Jr.

To the winner, Dino Kintanar, congratulations from Bariles Republic! Your prize will be given during the Opening Program of the “OLPGV Commemorative Book Launching and Tahanan ni Maria Photo Exhibit” by the end of this month.

To all the rest of the participants, thank you and congratulations too for making it into the Magic 34. See you at the Exhibit.

And to our readers who voted and left their comments, a million thank yous. May God continue to bless us all with the gift of discernment for what is true, good, and beautiful.

And thanks to Sheng Dumalay, for being the official tabulator of this contest.  Mwah!

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Today, February 28, 2009 is the final day for voting for your top choice as “BEST PHOTO” among the 30 +4 qualifiers to the “Tahanan ni Maria” Photo Exhibit which will be held in March.

Our Ladyof Peace and GoodVoyage Parish, circa 1965

A project of Bariles Republic and the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Parish together with the GenSan Camera Club, the Blog Viewer’s Choice Award contest has gathered so much participation and votes already which is  another show of  overwhelming support from GenSan News Online Mag’s readers from all over the world again!  Whew!  Thanks so much.

I have to clarify however that we will only be counting ONE ENTRY PER VOTER and if you submitted more than one, the rest of your choices will not be tabulated.

Watch out for the results Monday, March 2, 2009.  The photographer of the winning photo will receive P2,500 from the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage and a token from Bariles Republic during the launch of the Tahanan ni Maria Photo Exhibit next month (March).

Salamat uli sa lahat ng mga sumali.  I love you all.  Promise. 

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Bariles is happy to announce that this blog, GenSan News Online Magazine already has more than 300 subcsribers as of today, February 25, 2009!  Not a large number compared to A-list bloggers, but hey!  The blog is only 1 year and 3 months old.

Here is a screenshot of his Google Feedburner Account which you may want to click to enlarge the image.

Just over a year ago, his subscribers consisted of just a few family members, office mates and close friends who have access to the Internet and who were coaxed, threatened, bribed and if those didn’t work, blackmailed the rest to subscribe to his feeds.

Being a place blog focusing on General Santos City, he also started targetting the “generals” and promoted it on his Friendster, Multiply, Hi5, Tagged and Facebook accounts.  And as advised by one of his mentors, Blogie Robillo, he also joined forums and mailing lists in case, a “general” who lurks there somewhere may be “misled” into checking out Bariles Republic.

He also optimized his blog title, changing it from purely Bariles Republic, to Bariles Republic’s GenSantos.Com to the current Bariles Republic’s GenSan News Online Mag, thus upping its standing in Google searches.  This definitely attracted a good number of “generals” who were looking for news about home.

Bariles started giving away freebies, spearheaded eyeballs (MBS2), sponsored contests to make his presence felt in his own turf in Soccsksargen.  In a big way, these too helped increase awareness of his little blog’s presence and subsequently, his subscriber base increased and increased to what it is now.

Now his goal is for Bariles’ email readers to grow to 500 subscribers by yearend, a feat which could be easier to achieve if readers like you tell your friends about this little blog and enjoin them to subscribe, just like you did.

Or if not, you can join my 300+ intelligent subscribers by entering your email address below.

And yes, once you have done that, make sure that YOU ACTIVATE YOUR SUBSCRIPTION by opening the ACTIVATION EMAIL sent to your email address and clicking the ACTIVATION LINK on it. Thanks a lot!

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With the  succesful conduct of the 2nd Mindanao Bloggers Summit or MBS2 last year, spearheaded by a small group of bloggers from GenSan headed by Bariles, under the leadership of the Mindanao Bloggers network, the clamor to organize the “generals” and their regional neighbors formally began.

Since the Soccsksargen-based bloggers who attended that summit barely had time to bond with each other, Bariles thought of emulating the Cagayan de Oro-based bloggers who opened a GROUP blog ala Facebook using the Social Network site named Ning and have been active lately with various get-together events and projects.

And so, on November 11, 2008, the SOCCSKSARGEN BLOGGERS Social Network was born.

Bariles invited another GenSan-based blogger, Hector Minoza to be his co-administrator.  Hector immediately went to work and developed the group badges which could be imbedded in the members’ blogs.  Unfortunately, while others began used it, I was so busy with a lot of things that I forgot about it.

It was easy at first to invite people since I have the email addresses of all the MBS 2 participants.  Hector and I also went hopping from blog to blog, whether it’s  hosted by Wordpress, Blogger, Live Journal, I.ph, Friendster or Multiply, informing everyone of the new group.

After a month, membership has ballooned to 50 members.  Then it stopped.

That was when I remembered to embed the Soccsksargen Badge in Bariles Republic’s homepage knowing that a good number of new bloggers or bloggers who have not been to MBS2 drop by there from time to time.

I was not mistaken.  On a daily basis, new bloggers we have not encountered before started applying for membership.  We had to choose well however since the requirement for acceptance in the Social Network is that he should have a functioning Blog.  Some applicants who did not know this have to be turned down.

On my last check, SOCCSKSARGEN BLOGGERS now has 83 members, mostly from General Santos and South Cotabato.  We still have to work on getting more membership applications from North Cotabato although I have high hopes that Bro. Vince Celeste, FMS who now teaches at Notre Dame of Kidapawan could help us on this matter.

With this, we have been trying to meet in small groups.  Later we plan come up with a set of officers who could help run this fledgling organization.  From my talks with the members, most are excited on the making our presence felt even stronger not only here in Mindanao but althroughout the country.

Individually, we might not be able to effect much positive change within our locality, but together, we could be a formidable force to reckon with in our desire to bring about a truly Magandang SOCCSKSARGEN.

Some of the SOCCSKSARGEN Bloggers during the Bloggers Night courtesy of Genee’s Restaurant at the GenSan Oval Plaza. Watch out for a separate post on this event soon.  Photo courtesy of Kyawster. (Click on the photo to enlarge it.)

IF YOU HAVE A BLOG AND WANT TO APPLY FOR MEMBERSHIP, GO TO http://www.soccsksargenbloggers.ning.com .

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Good news to all Mindanao-based bloggers, especially those from SOCCSKSARGEN (South Cotabato-North Cotabato-Sultan Kudarat-Sarangani-General Santos) and Davao!

Bariles Republic is running a blog contest on the forthcoming and most awaited concert of the “King of Love Songs” in General Santos City on February 14, 2008, the “A Valentine’s Affair with David Pomeranz“, which I blogged about in an earlier article.  Click here to read it.

Five VIP Passes worth P1,500 each and five Gift Certificates worth P1,000 each for Grab-A-Crab Restaurant and Coffee Club 101 will be up for grabs for the TOP 5 bLogs!  Plus, they will have the chance to have their pictures taken with David Pomeranz himself!!!!  How’s that?

The MECHANICS for interested participants are simple, and they are, as follows:

1. You should be a Mindanao-based blogger with your blogs hosted by either Wordpress or Blogger.
2. Just write a post of the upcoming “David Pomeranz Concert in GenSan” while mentioning this Blog Contest .
3. Feature the official concert poster which you can grab from this post.
4. You can dress up your blog post with photos or videos of David Pomeranz.
5. Put the Links of this blog post and a previous blog post about  Grab-A-Crab/Coffee Club 101.
6. And lastly, subscribe to Bariles Republic’s feeds. You can subscribe by CLICKING HERE.
7. Submit your blog post entry link by leaving a message below.
8. Deadline of submission of blog entries is on January 31, 2009.
9. The winners of the 5 Best-written blog posts of the “David Pomeranz Concert in GenSan” Blog Contest will be announced on February 6, 2009.

Again, each of the 5 winners will receive a VIP Pass worth P1,500 and a Gift Certificate worth P1,000 at Grab-A-Crab Restaurant and Coffee Club 101, and a chance to have their pictures taken with the “King of Love Songs” himself.

Tickets to “A Valentine’s Affair with David Pomeranz” are available at Coffee Dream KCC, Grab A Crab Restaurant, Coffee Club 101, MISO, East Asia Royale Hotel and ABS-CBN Office at Purok Malakas.  For inquiries, please contact telephone #s (083) 303-0060, 0919-8912259 or 0917-3639191. Or log on at http://www.ticketbox.com.ph.

Here are the blog post entries as of January 31, 2009, 7:42 pm.  Please click on each title to access the blog post or article. Let us see what you think are the best-written posts.  Go!  :)

1. David Pomeranz Live in GenSan
2. David Pomeranz’ Magic Lingers On
3. The Magic of David, A Special Date
4. Crossing My Fingers in Trying to Get the Feeling Again..
5. Limited Chance to be with the “King of Love”
6. Les Chansons de Pomeranz, live in GenSan, this Valentines
7. David Pomeranz  Live in GenSan
8. David Pomeranz to Serenade the South on Valentine’s
9. I Will Sing My Heart Out Loud for David Pomeranz
10. A Night to Remember:  The David Pomeranz Valentine Concert in GenSan
11. Libretto of an Artist
12. David Pomeranz Serenades the Generals
    
13. That I was Born for You, It is written in the Stars
14. David Pomeranz: Songs that Serenade the Soul
15. An Ear-satisfying Night with David Pomeranz
16. Songs of the Heart

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