Art Auction for Verge and Why We're Going Back to Bohol

Our friend and cultural hero Johnny Danganan along with artist Lui Antonio and the KOMIKERO Artist Group have organized an art auction for the continued treatment of Vergil Espinosa who still needs four rounds of dialysis daily. Part of the proceeds of the auction will also be donated to the earthquake relief efforts in Bohol. For a chance help and own an original work of art by some of the best comic book artists in the local and international scene today, please attend the 2013 KOMIKON on Nov. 16, 2013 at the Bayanihan Center in Pasig City. Do spread the word!

UPDATE, 27.10.13: Some of the artwork up for auction can be seen from Johnny's Facebook album Para kay VERGIL ESPINOSA at mga biktima ng lindol. Featured are all original work by Karl Comendador, Norby Ela, Lui Antonio, and an 11 X 17 penciled page from X-TREME X-MEN Issue 6 by Stephen Jorge Segovia.

Invite! Bid! And go help a good cause! :D

Still Our Bohol

Since the 15th of October, Myke and I have been constantly talking about Bohol, a place that's dear to us for so many reasons.

Today, 12 days after a 7.2-magnitude quake tore up our beautiful island and shattered its many churches, burying memories, and history and people alike, we feel no different. If we could, we'd go back this very moment and help the people of Bohol rebuild. Although, from the news reports we've seen, it seems the Boholanos have wasted no time in shaking off the dust of the earth and standing firm on soil of their birth.

Days after the quake, people were already talking about how Bohol's tourism industry was coping with the disaster. This article, Quake-hit Bohol looking to lure back tourists is heartening, as is this article, I will lift up mine eyes: Project Kisame captures the church ceilings of Bohol on the concerted efforts to preserve what remains of the province's heritage structures.

Recently, our favorite Amarela Resort on Panglao Island updated its Facebook page and cheered us with this news, "We are happy to inform you that most of the resorts in Panglao Island including Amarela, did not suffer any significant damage and remain fully operational. Our staff and their families are all safe." Browsing through TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet, I learned that the Bohol Bee Farm on Panglao Island was operational too; and now a newly released article confirms that the Loboc River cruises have resumed (Loboc river cruise kick-starts Bohol tourism revival; new viewing deck for Chocolate Hills opens)

We've been going to Bohol yearly since 2011 and we're planning to stay longer next year to better see the island how the island has transformed. There’s ‘opportunity in tragedy’ in Bohol, reads the Inquirer's banner headline today and we would like to do our part in helping the people fully seize that opportunity.

We aren't going back just to be tourists all over again though. Bohol will always be at that part of our own little narrative where we found ourselves suddenly on the same path... White shores seen in clear light with the same feeling of contentment. We visited the island for the first time nine years apart, yet we both found ourselves home.

Til the next story...

This one by the way is already five years in the making, so allow us to indulge ourselves in another round of Bohol-themed nostalgia ^_^

Clawie and Ida on Panglao Island from 2011-2012