May Updates

I made a little change in the description of this blog. It now reads, "A Guide to Kulaman Plateau and Its Manobo People, Lost Burial Jars, and Hundred Caves." Before, it was "A Research Guide to Kulaman, Its Manobo People, and the Lost Burial Jars." I dropped the word research because, lately, I've been posting more travel write-ups than academic texts, and I added the phrase about caves because I realized that Kulaman means caves mean Kulaman. The natural wonders are probably what's going to put the plateau in the Philippine tourism map. As I've said before, this blog will never stop evolving.

With the changes mentioned above, I felt that the page "About This Blog" had become unnecessary, so I deleted it. For nostalgic and record-keeping reasons, I'm keeping here a copy of its short content:

If you are conducting a research on the Manobo people of the Cotabato Region, this is probably the best place to start. This not-for-profit site provides links to available resources online, downloadable documents gathered by the author (none yet), and some original write-ups. Feel free to use materials and data provided in this blog, but kindly observe proper citation of sources. Furthermore, check with the original source for copyright concerns. For your comments and corrections, or if you want to contribute relevant information, contact rj2ortega@gmail.com.

Furthermore, "News" is now "Kulaman in the News," and "Bibliography" is now "Webliography." The latter, though, still has five items only, and the latest title is dated 2002. Sultan Kudarat State University has quite a number of theses on the Dulangan Manobo, conducted just for the past few years, but copies are not available online.

Starting this month, I'm including original fiction in this blog. The first such story is "Gods of Yore." It's composed of more than four thousand words, so I decided to divide it in three parts. The installments will run on May 20, May 27, and June 3. So Portal to the Plateau can also be categorized now as a literary blog.

Meanwhile, I'm not sure how to classify my May 13 post, "The Hidden Treasure of Kulaman." The main character, Charito Santiago, is an actual person, and he only told me the barest of facts about the events narrated in the article. I just made up the rest. I guess I can call it semifiction. I want to post the second part next week, but recently I can't find enough time to write. I've been employed again, and I'm on adjustment period. By June, hopefully, I will be able to continue writing and finally reveal to you what really the hidden treasure is.

Thank you, friends and readers! My stats shows Portal to the Plateau has been visited for more than 1,900 times. I think it's not a bad performance, considering that, aside from occasionally posting on my Facebook timeline, I don't promote this blog. Don't get me wrong. I don't practice SEO and stuff not because I don't know how to but because I want to keep this blog low-profile. All I want is for this blog to serve a special, specific community.