World's Largest and Smallest Shells
Both Tridacna gigas, one of the world's largest shells, and Pisidum, the world's tiniest shell, can be found under Philippine waters. Tridacna gigas grows as large as one meter in length and weighs 600 pounds while Pisidum is less than 1 millimeter long. A shell called glory of the sea (Connus gloriamaris) is also found in the Philippines and considered as one of the most expensive shells in the world.
World's Largest and Smallest Bats
The Philippines has at least 56 species of bats. It is home to the smallest and the largest bats among the 1,000 known species in the world.
The smallest bat in the world is the Philippine bamboo bat (vespertilionid), which belongs to the vespertilionid family. This bat measures about four centimeters (1 1/2 inches) in length and has a wingspan of 15 cm. Approximately, it weighs 1.5 grams (1/20 ounce).
The three-layered virgin forest of Subic Bay and Bataan is home to the world's largest bats: the giant flying fox (Acerodon jubatus) and the golden crown flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus). Over the years, these two species of giant fruit bats have roamed around the 10,000-hectare Subic Forest National Protected Area, which is considered the biggest roosting site of bats in the world.
An ordinary giant flying fox weighs up to 2.5 pounds (1.1 kilograms), heavier than a golden crown flying fox. The golden crown measures six feet in wingspan, the largest among all bats. The giant flying fox and the golden crown are just two of the 15 species of fruit bats in the country.
In other parts of the country, several bat species are now believed extinct. Among them were bare-backed fruit bat or Dobsonia chapmani, which reportedly disappeared from the forests of Negros and Cebu in 1964 and the Panay fruit bat or Acerodon Lucifer which was last seen in 1892. The Philippine tube-nosed bat, Nyctimene rabori of Negros is considered highly endangered. Scientists warned that this breed would disappear before 2015 unless action is taken to protect its remaining population.
bnp dude... so are you really a Filipino?
Langya ka 😄 the first time i saw your pic in the members' picture thread... i suspect you're a filipino coz you really look like one. 🙂
So, naalala mo ang Omega Red FanArt ko noon? 🙄
Btw, were you born here in the Philippines or what?
Ako taga-Iloilo City ako.. Ikaw?
😎
yeah... dyan ako pinanganak.. taga olongapo ako (luzon)... pero hulaan mo!! lolz... yung mothers side ko ilongo! wakekekekekekekek
maayo gab- i sa imo! bilat sang karne.. madamo sang panulay diri sa kmc!
hehe... nagbibisaya kasi sila lola dun sa bahay dati eh kaya mejo nakakaintindi ako... (for fun lang ba)
😆 ti ma-Ilonggohanay na lang kita eh... ugaling budlay mag-type sang Ilonggo kay kabalik-awot... Tagalog pa lang gani budlay na... Ilonggo pa. 😂
I hope you understand that. 😄 Pangit nga lang basahin pero masarap pakinggan di ba?
❌ About your arts? Those were really good! Lahat ng marunong magdrawing.. MAGALING... Nasa tao yan kung paano siya mag-appreciate. ✅
hehehehe... oo naintindihan ko... lolz.. nde ko nga almg i-spell yung mga salitang yon eh... hay nako... hehe.. salamat pre.. hehe.. antagal ko na ngang nde nakapasok dito eh... nabad trip kase ako.. may nakaaway akong mga taga dito.. hehe... nde ako pwedeng mag salitang banyaga.. maiintindihan nila ko eh... hehehehe
ako iwas gulo lang... kahit alam kong hindi na tama ang ginagawa nila... bahala sila sa buhay nila... pkialam ko, di ba? 😄
meron din namang mangilan ngilan diyan na mabuti rin... gaya ni Paola, alam ko kilala mo yan... Clovie, DezW, flavio, Kol, Vampiree, kofmaster...ikaw... dito sa Filipino club thread... at halos lahat ng nasa X-Men Forum gusto ko maging best buddies... pag wala lng akong ginagawa dito kaagad tambayan ko... paminsan minsan na rin ang punta ko dito sa KMC kasi ang ibang buddies ko pminsanminsan na rin.
😎
yun nga masaklap dun eh... si kofmaster yung nakaaway ko.. kase nagchachat kame sa msn ayun.. naasar saken.. sinimulan nya kaseng asarin ako eh... ayon inasar ko ren sha... napikon.. kaya nde kame naguusap ngayon... pero yung iba ok lang... nde nga lang ako natutuwa sa karamihan sa xmen thread.. nung una kong punta dito ok lang... pero nung tumagal lumabas mga ugali nila... kaya nde nalang ako nagpupupunta dito... asar talaga
thats actually it.. they are the same.. we juz spell it the way we pronounce it.. and if i aint mistaken u also pronounce it "comusta"
we filos use alotta spanish words in the philippines.. (basically sum of us are half spanish or sumfin)
lamesa, banyo, mangas and sum other words that im sure u know... hehe
JURY= PUTANG INA!! NAIINIS NA KO DITO!! BUSET! musta na ba? nawala ka bigla nung isang gabi ah...
BNP -> pasensya na kung di ako nkapagreply kaagad... sira lng talaga computer ko 🙁 ... pero, wala na akong macomment sa huli mong sinabi... kasi pareho namang kayong naging mabuti sa kin ni kof... kaya wala akong magagawa sa kung ano man ang nararamdaman mo sa kanya, di ba. Normal lng yan siguro.. kasi iba-iba ang ugali ng mga tao... I know you understand that. Ako, kapag hindi na maganda ang sinasabi sa kin ng kausap ko... no comment na lng ako... no big deal... para pag-aksayahan ko pa sya ng panahon... ba't naman ako magpapaapekto.. bakit, kilala ba niya ako? kilala ko ba siya? So parang ganun lng.
One thing, though... hindi ko gusto ang sinabi mo sa last post mo... nakaaddress pa naman sa kin... actually in my entire life... just to be honest... hindi pa ako nagsalita nang nagmumura...
But, don't worry, it's okay... I can accept that as an expression...
pero.. SANA.. h'wag nang maulit.
😎
INGAT
Additional Info about...
Patricia Evangelista - a pure Filipino
Champion in recently held ESU International Publc Speaking Contest in London.
Patricia Evangelista, an 18-year-old speech communication sophomore at UP Diliman, won the 2004 Best Speaker award in the International Public Speaking competition conducted yearly by the English-Speaking Union (ESU) in London.
The petite, poised, pretty and formidable Filipina emerged triumphant in a field of 60 contestants representing 37 countries who are members of the prestigious international British institution dedicated to the idea of “Creating Global Understanding through English”.
Evangelista won her place in the finals after clinching one of two slots in her heat during the tension-filled, hotly contested morning preliminaries held at the ESU headquarters in London on May 14. With the eight finalists known by lunchtime, the action shifted to the Kinema theatre hall of the imposing South Africa House on Trafalgar Square for the decisive showdown in the afternoon. The seven other speakers came from Malaysia, Pakistan, Czech Republic, Argentina, Brazil, Morocco and Mongolia. The ‘native speakers’ of English – from the USA, England and Wales, and Australia – had earlier been eliminated in the heats. South Africa, always a strong contender, also failed to make it to the finals.
The theme of the competition this year was “A Borderless World”, with as many interpretations coming out as there were speakers, which added excitement to the event.
There was a hushed silence as the chairman of the board of judges – BBC veteran journalist Brian Hanrahan – announced their “unanimous decision”. He first read out the names of the winners of the ‘Best Non-Native English Speaker’ prize – Malaysia – and the runner-up prize – Mongolia. At the mention of Patricia Evangelista’s name as Best Speaker of the competition, thunderous applause erupted. Ambassador and Mrs. Edgardo Espiritu and the rest of the Embassy delegation congratulated the winner, who was in tears as she called up her parents in Manila on her cell phone.
Patricia was easily a crowd favorite even during the preliminaries. Her speech was praised by one of her heat’s judges as “very well crafted”. Her subject matter was the Filipino diaspora and the contributions of the global Filipino, as well as her own dreams of travelling abroad but coming back to help her country. This, plus the confident, relaxed and engaging manner with which she delivered her piece, and the way she responded to questions from the floor afterwards, won the judges’ nod, and for herself the honor of being the best in a field of outstanding young communicators from all over the English-speaking world.
Evangelista accepted her prizes as Best Speaker from Lady Dean of ESU’s Board of Governors and Dame Mary Richardson, Chief Executive of the HSBC Education Trust and member of the board of judges representing her bank which is this year’s major sponsor of the competition. The Best Speaker received a salver, a certificate, a dictionary and an encyclopedia – and will return to London in November to formally accept her prize at the Buckingham Palace from HRH Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh who is also the President of the English-Speaking Union.
A few hours after winning the ESU speechfest, Tricia had to fly back to Manila to join up with the UP debating team that leaves for Bangkok on Sunday to compete in the All-Asians Inter-Varsity Debating Championships this week. She had spent almost two weeks in London, staying for a few days with her host, Loline Lualhati-Reed, who first broached the idea of the Philippines joining ESU several years ago.
Evangelista was chosen earlier this year as the country's representative by the ESU-Philippines applicant chapter after she won the competition held last March at the Ateneo de Manila University, featuring the best debaters among college organizations. The Philippine selection process was coordinated by former Philippine Ambassador to the Court of St. James Hon. Cesar Bautista, assisted by ESU chapter president Prof. Jose Dalisay who is also UP vice president, writer and columnist Alfredo ‘Krip’ Yuson, Nicole Curato of the UP Debating Society, Camille Ng of the Ateneo Debating Team who was last year's Philippine contestant in London, and UP Prof. Dr. Jimmy Abad. The team helped Patricia prepare for the tough public speaking competition.
Her participation in the annual contest was supported by Shell Philippines and the British Council headed by Gill Westaway.
This was her winning peace...
BL0NDE AND BLUE EYES
- Patricia Evangelista
When I was little, I wanted what many Filipino children all over the country wanted. I wanted to be blond, blue-eyed, and white.
I thought -- if I just wished hard enough and was good enough, I'd wake up on Christmas morning with snow outside my window and freckles across my nose!
More than four centuries under western domination does that to you. I have sixteen cousins. In a couple of years, there will just be five of us left in the Philippines; the rest have gone abroad in search of " greener pastures." It's not just an anomaly; it's a trend; the Filipino Diaspora.
Today, about eight million Filipinos are scattered around the world.
There are those who disapprove of Filipinos who choose to leave. I used to. Maybe this is a natural reaction of someone who was left behind, smiling for family pictures that get emptier with each succeeding year. Desertion, I called it. My country is a land that has perpetually fought for freedom to be itself. Our heroes offered their lives in the struggle against the Spanish, the Japanese, the Americans. To pack up and deny that identity is tantamount to spitting on that sacrifice.
Or is it? I don't think so, not anymore. True, there is no denying this phenomenon, aided by the fact that what was once the other side of the world is now a twelve-hour plane ride away. But this is a borderless world, where no individual can claim to be purely from where he is now. My mother is of Chinese descent, my father is a quarter Spanish, and I call myself a pure Filipino- a hybrid of sorts resulting form a combination of cultures.
Each square mile anywhere in the world is made up of people of different ethnicities, with national identities and individual personalities. Because of this, each square mile is already a microcosm of the world. In as much as this blessed spot that is England is the world, so is my neighborhood back home.
Seen this way, the Filipino Diaspora, or any sort of dispersal of populations, is not as ominous as so many claim. It must be understood. I come from a Third World country, one that is still trying mightily to get back on its feet after many years of dictatorship. But we shall make it, given more time. Especially now, when we have thousands of eager young minds who graduate from college every year.
They have skills. They need jobs. We cannot absorb them all.
A borderless world presents a bigger opportunity, yet one that is not so much abandonment, but an extension of identity. Even as we take, we give. We are the 40,000 skilled nurses who support the UK's National Health Service. We are the quarter-of-a million seafarers manning most of the world's commercial ships. We are your software engineers in Ireland, your construction workers in the Middle East, your doctors and caregivers in North America, and, your musical artists in London's West End.
Nationalism isn't bound by time or place. People from nations migrate to create new nations, yet still remain essentially who they are. British Society is itself an example of a multi-cultural nation, a melting pot of races, religions, arts and cultures. We are, indeed, in a borderless world!
Leaving sometimes isn't a matter of choice. It's coming back that is. The Hobbits of the shire traveled all over Middle-Earth, but they chose to come home, richer in every sense of the word. We call people like these balik-bayans or the 'returnees' -- those who followed their dream, yet choose to return and share their mature talents and good fortune.
In a few years, I may take advantage of whatever opportunities come my way.
But I will come home. A borderless world doesn't preclude the idea of a home.
I'm a Filipino, and I'll always be one. It isn't about just geography; it isn't about boundaries. It's about giving back to the country that shaped me.
And that's going to be more important to me than seeing snow outside my windows on a bright Christmas morning.
MABUHAY. And Thank you.