Philippine Islands – Discover the beauty of its 7,107 islands

“Migration is probably the most awe-inspiring natural phenomenon.”—COLLINS ATLAS OF BIRD MIGRATION.

ON December 9, 1967, an airline pilot spotted a flock of about 30 whooper swans flying toward Ireland at the amazing altitude of 27,000 feet. Why were they flying so high, where the air temperature was about 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit? Besides escaping the persistent snow squalls at lower altitudes, they were riding a wind current that gave them a ground speed of about 125 miles an hour. It was estimated that the birds completed their 800-mile flight from Iceland to Ireland in just seven hours.

The world champion migrator—the arctic tern—breeds north of the Arctic Circle yet spends the northern winter in the Antarctic. In a typical year, this small seabird travels between 25,000 and 30,000 miles —the equivalent of circling the globe!

White storks breed in Northern Europe and winter in South Africa, making a round trip of 15,000 miles. Thousands of

Long ago in a city located in what is today the land of Turkey, there lived a girl named Leah. Leah was plain in appearance, but her younger sister, Rachel, was beautiful.

RACHEL met a man who loved her so much that he agreed to work for her father for seven years to gain her hand in marriage. On the wedding night, however, the father of the girls substituted Leah for her sister. We do not know how Leah felt about her father’s scheme, but she must have known that this was hardly an ideal entry into marriage.

Upon discovering what had happened, the new husband protested. The father explained that it was customary to give the older daughter first in marriage. Hence, Leah now found herself married by deceit to a man whose first love was for her younger sister, whom he also married. How sad Leah must

MANY people the world over seem to believe that the keys to happiness are a fancy car, a fat bank account, a prestigious career, a big house, and the latest electronic gadgets, along with an attractive figure or muscular physique. Yet, does happiness really depend upon such material and physical assets?

There has been “an explosion of research on happiness, optimism, positive emotions and healthy character traits,” says a special report in Time magazine. The results of such studies have been surprising to many. With remarkable consistency the evidence shows that people who are governed by the premise that money, fame, or beauty will make them happy are deceiving themselves. In fact, they are building their lives on a foundation that may be detrimental to their mental health and may even lead to their suffering depression.

In the United

The Philippines is one of only two majority Roman Catholic countries in Asia (the other being East Timor). About 90% of Filipinos are Christians, where 81% belong to the Roman Catholic Church, and the 9% composed of Protestant denominations, the Philippine Independent Church, and Iglesia ni Cristo.[34] While Christianity is a major force in the culture of the Filipinos, indigenous traditions and rituals still influence religious practice.

Approximately 5% of Filipinos are Muslims,and are locally known as “Moros”, having been dubbed this by the Spanish due to their sharing Islam with the Moors of North Africa. They primarily settle in parts of Mindanao, Palawan and the Sulu archipelago, but are now found in most urban areas of the country. Most lowland Muslim Filipinos practice normative Islam, although the practices of some Mindanao’s hill tribe Muslims reflect a fusion with animism. There are also small populations of Buddhists, Jews and animists, which,

The Cathedral
Baguio City

Baguio City suffered heavy bombing and shelling during its liberation in 1945. The Cathedral sheltered 5,000 people for two months. Its grounds contain the graves of bombing victims.

Vigan Cathedral
Vigan Park, Ilocos Sur

The first Vigan Cathedral was ordered built in 1574 by Juan de Salcedo. Another version of the church was again constructed in 1641. The persent baroque-style building was completed in 1800. The Cathedral has a main altar with beaten-silver panels. Its bell tower stands separately in Plaza Burgos. The Fu dogs design carved above its outermost doors is testament to Vigan’s strong Chinese heritage.