Noble Press Issue 43

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE MAHARLIKA TOASTMASTERS CLUB

Midcon To Push Through on Halloween

OCTOBER 20, 2009

flooded most of Pangasinan and Bulacan. The economic impact of the damage has affected everyone in the nation. With the new date, the theme for the fellowship night is now Halloween. Delegates are expected to don their best Halloween outfits because there will still be prizes for the best Halloween attire. Only a few minor changes were made to the program and it promises to be as exciting as originally conceived.

Midcon Committee members met at the Edsa Shangrila and tried to convince Christian Bautista (center) to sing the National Anthem at the Midcon in Antipolo.

There’s no stopping the Midyear Convention now. The Midcon will push through on Oct. 30 – 31 (Friday and Saturday). The venue will still be the Meralco Development Center (MMLDC). Originally scheduled on Oct 10-11, the Midcon had to be moved after Ondoy submerged most of Metro Manila and the Rizal province in water. In a letter given by Midcon Chair Eliza Paylago, she cited the damage to the roads leading to the convention site as well as the fact that many Toastmasters were severely affected by the Typhoon, as the reason for the postponement. At the same time, the choice of the new date was the result of their being the only vacant slot in the schedule of MMLDC. The postponement seemed just as timely and not a week too soon. Because a week after Ondoy, Pepeng struck northern Luzon and

The twin typhoons also affected many Toastmasters activities. Many clubs cancelled their meeting on the week immediately after Ondoy. Maharlika skipped a meeting on September 9 and the Area 12 Joint MidAutumn meeting was moved from Oct. 3 to Oct. 10.

Area 12 Celebrates Moon Festival By Arthur Bhenedict King

Manila Bay Prexy Jimmy Uy tests his luck at the dice.

To know more about us, visit our site at http://maharlika.freetoasthost.info. Or be our guest at our club meetings, every Tuesdays, 7pm at the Jade Vine Restaurant, U.N. Ave. cor. Bocobo St, Manila. Just walk in. You will be welcome.

Issue No. 43 Page 1

Last Saturday, October 10, Area 12 celebrated a most auspicious event, the Mid-Autumn Festival (also known as the Moon Festival), and fittingly so as this is the first Area event of the year! The Mid-autumn festival is a Chinese feast of bounty and harvest, it is a thanksgiving of sorts for the blessings received last year and the bounty we are looking forward this year. All 5 clubs came heavily represented with Manila Bay and Maharlika fielding the most with 9 and 10 each respectively. Area Governor Rudy Reyes was there to welcome everybody as did immediate past Area Governor Ed Fabonan.

you the grand prize which in the end went to Maharlika's Lloyd Cabildo and UEC's Zarah Sy. All in all a fun night for everybody. Bonds were strengthened and new friends made. I hope you were to share this with us. If you weren't, stop missing out! The next Area event happens in 2 weeks, don't miss out on the fun again! Attendees: Maharlika Manila Bay UEC U Belt UP Manila

10 9 7 5 5

What’s Happening October 6, Poetry Night

Jing looking really serious in glasses.

Attendees were divided into two tables, each group playing for separate pots.

Everyone gorged themselves with traditional Chinese food at SaLido Restaurant right in the heart of Chinatown. There to provide entertainment were the Manila Bay orchestra who serenaded us with the "Area 12 Song" and Arthur King’s retelling of the classic Moon Festival tale, "The Lady in the Moon." Then we played the traditional Moon Festival Dice Game. This game is a game of chance where fortune changes with the throw of the dice. A single 4 grants you a small price, but six 4's gives

Jing Kanapi hosted an evening of rhyme, rhythm and song. The full theme of the meeting was ‘Poems That Set Us Free, Poems That Soothe Us is Times of Grief.” It was Jing’s way of allowing everyone to express their remorse in the aftermath of Ondoy. For the first time, speeches in Maharlika were per verse, as each were required to recite poetry. Boom in fact composed a poem on the spot, entitled, “The Day They Blocked The Sun.” Boom apparently lost their roof during the typhoon. Sept 23, Tea Time Aida decided that it’s time to share with everyone her favorite beverage and made use of the

To know more about us, visit our site at http://maharlika.freetoasthost.info. Or be our guest at our club meetings, every Tuesdays, 7pm at the Jade Vine Restaurant, U.N. Ave. cor. Bocobo St, Manila. Just walk in. You will be welcome.

Issue No. 43 Page 2

Maharlika meeting for the opportunity. Tea bags and boxes of all brands were on display. Everyone had to go to the bathroom every so often as the tea got into their bladder. It was enough for Jess to be emboldened to deliver his Advanced speech project. Peter Guzman shared the voyeur in him in a speech entitled, “I peeked.” Everyone was pleasantly surprised by the arrival of a very young Ilocana beauty who is studying in De La Salle. The beauty immediately signed up. Let’s all welcome new member Regine Go. David Lai was appeared after more than a year’s hiatus to announce his wedding. He made sure to bring his bride so we will believe him. Nonalyn Hermogenes, Area 5 Governor, was there as the evening’s GE.

Annual Milo National Finals, the longest running and most prestigious amateur running competition in the country. The route is thru historic Roxas boulevard from kilometer zero (Luneta park) southbound to Uniwide coastal mall until the first u-turn (first 10kms) then, northbound under the two flyovers then, a right to Buendia until the second u-turn at PS Bank Buendia (roughly 8kms). Then back to Roxas until the finish line in Quirino grandstand (last 3 kms). Wheew, that got me winded just talking about that route. It’s such a miracle I got thru all those pavement, and flyovers, hehe!

Members and guests after ‘Tea Time.’

The Running Man By Peter Guzman

Two hours and thirty seven minutes. This is by far, the longest time I spent running (or walking) in my life! Why would I impose on myself such an arduous ordeal? To finish a half marathon! I have been running for five months now and I have grown such an insatiable appetite for it that I get upset if I don’t get to run in a week. I regularly join weekly runs posted in takbo.ph, a local community of running bloggers. (Yes there’s a lot of running addicts out there). My distance increased gradually from 5kms to 10kms in a span of four months. In the first week of October, after finishing a 16 km run, I decided I was ready for a half marathon. I signed up for the Thirty-Third

Peter showing the proper way to wear tights.

Gun start was 5:30 am so I woke up before the sun to troop with my friend Maharlika President Bong Pestañas. (Special mention since he was my official driver to Luneta) Donned in my “transition one” leg warmers and “I am Ninoy” shirt, I warmed up with an estimated 2,000 runners at the starting line. A sea of green funneled thru at the sound of a bang. First 10kms I got into a good rhythm by following a runner wearing a yellow jersey. I was taking three little sips of water each two kilometers to avoid

To know more about us, visit our site at http://maharlika.freetoasthost.info. Or be our guest at our club meetings, every Tuesdays, 7pm at the Jade Vine Restaurant, U.N. Ave. cor. Bocobo St, Manila. Just walk in. You will be welcome.

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becoming too full too early in the race. In the first turn around I clocked an hour fifteen minutes. “Not bad” I said to myself, since my personal best for 10kms is an hour five minutes. I needed all my reserves for the last 6kms since my last long run before this half marathon is only 16kms. When I reached the right turn to Buendia, this was about 7am the sun is getting hotter and my pace is getting slower. I needed to recharge so I took my fuel gel (food supplement) and slowed down. I got upset because traffic is already heavy at this time and policemen had to let cars go thru the intersections if there are a few runners passing thru. I had to stop twice for this and this broke my rhythm. By the time I got to Makati CBD, Takbo.ph volunteers were there to provide bananas, apples and oranges to feed starved runners. I quickly gobbled up a banana and wore a smile while passing by. Aside from this they provided encouraging words and a resounding applause to all passing runners. This made me feel invigorated. Words like “good job”, “kaya mo yan!” , and “good form” fed me more than the bananas.

“Good job.”

By quarter 8 am I was back to Roxas Boulevard, I can feel the bottom of knees hurt now. By this time I can see seasoned runners walking back from the Quirino grandstand cooling down. This made me feel more tired. I was walking longer and running shorter distances. I maintained a run and walk interval for the last 3 kms. I was accompanied by the same people; we were in an unending race of over taking and getting overtaken by each other. At the last kilometer a disastrous sight, a runner sitting down with cramps. I wanted

to stop but bystanders were already massaging his foot. I saw the last kilometer mark and mustered all my strength to just keep on running, beyond the bend the big sign reading FINISH. The crowd yelling, a sea of green, it was a festive mood. I reached the finished and stomped on the mat with a triumphant thud. At McDonald’s along UN Avenue I had a big breakfast. Next up, I’ll try to beat my old time half marathon time in the first run thru SCTEX in the Subic international marathon. Pain is temporary, glory is forever…

Weather You Like It or Not By Ed Fabonan

The past few weeks have been really tough on the country. Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng dumped an unprecedented volume of rain, sinking Pangasinan, Bulacan, Metro Manila and Rizal in waters often more than 2 storeys deep. Homes were ravaged. Cars were turned into useless wreck. Telephone services were disrupted for more than a week. When one of our employees tried to withdraw his payroll, he found to his dismay that the ATM network was down and asked me “Sir, pano pag ang mga banco nalubog sa baha?” I had to say, “Eh di magkakaroon sila ng maraming liquid assets” to ease his fears. According to PAGASA, the last time this much rain fell was during the time of Noah. Experts estimate that some parts of Rizal will stay flooded for at least 3 months. Now, you can travel from Manila to Cainta by boat. Pagasa received so much flak for not being able to report the weather acurately that, these days, their weather forecast sounds like this “Today’s weather will be partly sunny, partly cloudy with occasional typhoons.” That should cover everything. Due to these events, frightening words like landfall, spillway, and super typhoons are now part of our casual conversation. I was prompted to research on how PAGASA estimates typhoon destructiveness and this is what I found: PAGASA classifies weather disturbances based on the maximum sustained wind velocity as follows:

Tropical Depression Tropical Storm

To know more about us, visit our site at http://maharlika.freetoasthost.info. Or be our guest at our club meetings, every Tuesdays, 7pm at the Jade Vine Restaurant, U.N. Ave. cor. Bocobo St, Manila. Just walk in. You will be welcome.

Less than 62 kph 62 – 117 kph Issue No. 43 Page 4

Typhoon Super Typhoon

118 – 239 kph 240 kph and above

Deadliest Typhoons Typhoon

Pepeng had maximum winds of only 195 kph. It is not a super typhoon. But it turned Pangasinan into a lake. And caused damage to crops and property in billions of pesos.

Uring

1991 Nov 2-6

3 successive typhoons: Unding, Violeta, Winnie and Yoyong Amy

2004 Nov 14 - Dec 3

Sisang Rosing

Under the PAGASA scale, Ondoy (max wind, 85kph) is just a “tropical storm”, two rungs lower than a “super typhoon.” And yet Ondoy might just rank as one of the most destructive in terms of the extent of property damage. This fact prompted me to also make a research on the historical correlation between the strength of the winds brought by a typhoon and the extent of its destructiveness. This is what learned.

December 619, 1951 November 23-27, 1987 1995 Oct 31 - Nov 3

Max Wind Velocity 95kph

Casualties

240kph

991

240kph

979

260kph

936

5,101 (Some estimates reach up to 8,000+) 1,068

Although the worst storms in Philippine history do have the strongest winds, the deadliest, Uring, which struck Leyte in 1991 was only a Tropical Storm. Uring had winds of only 95 kilometers per hour, but it brought a lot of rain with it and caused a landslide in Ormoc, drowning a lot of people in the flood or burying them in mud. The estimated death toll exceeded 8,000.

Most Destructive Typhoons Typhoon

Date

Frank

2008 June 1822 1990 Nov 1014 1995 Oct 31 - Nov 3 1993 Sep 30 Oct 4 2004 Nov 14 Dec 3

Ruping Rosing Kadiang

Path of Ondoy (PAGASA)

Date

3 successive typhoons: Unding, Violeta, Winnie and Yoyong

To know more about us, visit our site at http://maharlika.freetoasthost.info. Or be our guest at our club meetings, every Tuesdays, 7pm at the Jade Vine Restaurant, U.N. Ave. cor. Bocobo St, Manila. Just walk in. You will be welcome.

Max Wind Velocity 120kph

Damages in Billions of Pesos 13.525

220kph

10.846

260kph

10.829

130kph

8.752 7.452

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Typhoon Frank which ravaged the Philippines in June 2008, is considered the most destructive typhoon in Philippine history (property damage estimate for Ondoy and Pepeng is not yet available) , causing P13.5 Billion worth of damage. Frank had maximum winds of only 120 kph but it flooded 80% of Iloilo City and affected Northern Mindanao, Visayas and the southern half of Luzon. It displaced and affected almost 5 million people. It caused more than 1,000 deaths, including those who perished from the ship “Princess of the Stars” which sank off the seas of Romblon at the height of storm. Before Pepeng, Frank was also the one which was most unpredictable, changing direction several times (the captain of the Princess of the Stars blamed the incorrect weather forecast for the decision to sail.) Initially discovered west of Mindanao and predicted to hit the Bicol region, it veered east towards central Visayas, seemingly going towards Mindoro. Then it made an almost 90 degree turn towards Metro Manila.

Most Disruptive Typhoons

the wind velocity is the only basis for setting the typhoon signal warnings. Signal No 1 2 3 4

Wind Speed, Kph 30-60 60-100 100-135 >135

Expected time of occurrence At least 36 hours At least 24 hours At least 18 hour At least 12 hours

Thus it is not surprising that some typhoons for which strong typhoon signal warnings were given did not have the expected impact, while those for which mild to moderate typhoon warnings (like the case of Ondoy) were given, surprised us with their destructiveness. Combined with the degree of uncertainty in predicting the exact path of a typhoon, the seeming inconsistencies created the boy-who cried-wolf effect, so that for some typhoon warnings, people don’t pay attention (specially if it followed an inaccurate one). Nobody paid attention to Ondoy because it was bringing in only 85 kph wind even though the radius of its influence was big. According to PAGASA, what made rainfall bad for Ondoy was because it converged with the southwesterly winds (habagat) contributing to its releasing the highest recorded amount of rainfall in one day.

Typhoon

Date

Max Wind Velocity

Ruping

1990 Nov 10-14 2008 June 1822 1995 Oct 31 - Nov 3 1993 Sep 30 - Oct 4 1998 Oct 15-25

220kph

Number of People Affected 5,498,290

120kph

4,776,778

260kph

4,583,615

130kph

4,160,677

The PAGASA maintains a website (http://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/) where they have a satellite images of weather disturbances which gets updated up to 4 times a day during a storm. If you need to see how weather will affect your planned activity, you may want to check it out in the future.

250kph

3,901,673

Maharlika Toastmasters Club Officers, 2009-2010

Frank Rosing Kadiang Loleng

There were many typhoons which packed winds much stronger than Frank’s, Uring’s or Ondoy’s. The typhoon with the strongest winds to hit the country was Reming (November 2006), with maximum winds of up to 320 kph. Reming caused 724 deaths and P5B in damages. But it’s not even in the top 5 in any of the above tables (it is actually number 6). Clearly, the destructive potential of a typhoon does not lie solely on the wind it carries. And yet

President VP Education VP Membership VP PR Secretary

Bong Pestañas TC Chua Mimosa Maghanoy Cecille Azarcon Maricarl Alix

Treasurer Sgt. At Arms

Peter Guzman Jing Kanapi

917 2722177 917 8178273 916 4512681 921 4211915 905 2960644

917 8310606 906 4634308 Photos in these Newsletter were provided by Bong Pestañas except where otherwise noted. The names "Toastmasters International", "Toastmasters" and the Toastmasters International emblem are trademarks protected in the United States, Canada, Philippines and other countries where Toastmasters Clubs exist. Unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.

To know more about us, visit our site at http://maharlika.freetoasthost.info. Or be our guest at our club meetings, every Tuesdays, 7pm at the Jade Vine Restaurant, U.N. Ave. cor. Bocobo St, Manila. Just walk in. You will be welcome.

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