The highlight of this year’s Summit was the involvement of the Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy, Ms. Leslie Bassett, who delivered an eye-opening and inspiring presentation about the contributions her government has made to the progress of Mindanao. Ambassador Kristie Kenney, who is a blogger herself, graciously sent in a video greeting as well.

There were only about 80 Summiteers who attended MBS3 (not counting the members of the core group, organizers and speakers); however, it was good to see first-timers and bloggers from never-before-represented cities such as Ozamis and Dipolog. It is one of the objectives of Mindanao Bloggers to see more and more places in Mindanao become part of the Community.

Friends from Metro Manila graced the 3rd Summit, as resource speakers and as guests. We are ever grateful to Aileen Apolo and Janette Toral for the high-value content that they have been contributing to the Summit ever since its inception.

In behalf of the Community, we would like to express our grateful appreciation of the warm welcome extended to the bloggers of Mindanao by Mayor Tinnex Jaraula. The good mayor delivered a rousing speech about what bloggers could accomplish towards addressing issues affecting the Philippine South.

There were quite a few politicians who joined the bloggers at MBS3 — this was expected, owing to the upcoming elections early next year. It was good for the bloggers to hear directly from the candidates about their political platforms and advocacies. However, it should be reiterated that the Mindanao Bloggers Community is a non-partisan entity and does not endorse any candidate or political party.

PBA’09 – Mindanao

What made MBS3 unique was the hosting of the Philippine Blog Awards 2009 – Mindanao Region on the same day. This was the first time that the PBA has held a regional awards effort, and we would like to give honor to the Awardees:

• Uniquely Mindanao Blog: Hola Zamboanga!
• Mindanao Destination Blog: GenSan Online News Mag
• Mindanao Advocacy Blog: SOCSARGEN Peace Initiatives
• Mindanao Bloggers’ Choice Award: DavaoBase

Present during the Awards Night were PBA President Juned Sonido, and Coy Caballes, who directed all three Awards Nights (the main event in Quezon City, and the ones in Cebu and Cagayan de Oro). Also attending MBS3 and PBA’09-Mindanao was Jay De Jesus of TitikPilipino.com.

The next Summit

In order to apprise the assembled participants of the latest developments in established blogging communities across the island, four speakers presented the highlights of the past year’s activities in their localities. Dr. Jaime Haw Jr. did the presentation for Davao City; Avel Manansala for General Santos City; Ryann Elumba for the Zamboanga Peninsula; and Edu Ragpala for the host city.

At the conclusion of MBS 2009, the next host city for the 4th Mindanao Bloggers Summit was announced to a cheering audience. Zamboanga City will be the destination of the bloggers of Mindanao (and friends) in October 2010.

Kudos to the bloggers of Cagayan de Oro! And see you all in Zamboanga next year!

The theme of this year’s PBA is One Blogging Nation.

For us in the South, it was decided by the MBC core group, along with the bloggers of CDO, to hold PBA-Mindanao in Cagayan de Oro City, on the same day as the 3rd Mindanao Bloggers Summit. What this means is, there will be special awards exclusively for Mindanaoan blogs (the same is true for Visayas blogs). There are four special awards for Mindanao:

Mindanao Advocacy Blog

In line with the objectives of the Mindanao Bloggers Community, the Best Advocacy Blog is a blog that exemplifies how an online publication can bring a worthy cause to the consciousness of a broad audience. It is a blog that inspires its readers to take action and participate in an ongoing discussion of the issues at hand. Special points go to blogs that promote the best and true images of Mindanao.

Mindanao PhotoBlog

The Best PhotoBlog is one that brings the most beautiful images of Mindanao to the fore. It is a blog that evokes passion and inspiration, and clearly shows the blogger’s love for Mindanao. However, it must not be a site that harbors untrue or doctored images that lie about the true nature of Mindanao’s land and people.

Uniquely Mindanao Blog

This blog, as soon as it is viewed, is clearly identifiable as being from and about Mindanao. It evokes a feeling of belongingness among Mindanao readers, and an appreciation and understanding of what Mindanao truly is among non-Mindanaoan readers. The Uniquely Mindanao Blog champions the objectives of the Mindanao Bloggers Community, and contributes to the realization of these goals.

Mindanao Destination Blog

Beyond being merely a blog geared towards tourism, the Best Destination Blog strongly represents the locale (city, town, region) that the bloggers writes about. This blog is passionate about the promotion of his or her chosen locale for tourism and/or business, and publishes news and opinion articles for a well-rounded view of the destination.

To be considered for the PBA, you must nominate your own blog; or, you can recommend a blog for nomination. The process is quick and painless. Just submit your blog and follow the instructions. (There is one glitch, though: if you want to nominate more than one blog, you must use a different email address for each submission.)

There are many, many deserving blogs out there. Mindanao bloggers can certainly win in the PBA Major Categories, too, but let’s nominate blogs that deserve to win in the special Mindanao Awards categories. This is very much in line with the MBC’s objectives: to bring out blog content from Mindanao out into the open.

The deadline for submission of nominations for Mindanao and Visayas special awards has been extended to the 27th of August 2009.