Welcome

DATELINE IBALON is an online magazine that features blog articles, personal stories, historical works, book reviews, social enterprises, culture, art, music, technology, tourism, and current events. We offer a fresh perspective on many topical events or issues that Filipinos, in general, experience, and not just by Bicolanos.

Beginnings

The idea to create this online magazine sprung from an online conversation in early August 2022 between Greg Castilla, Jojo De Jesus and Rolly Borjal. After assessing the opportunities that we saw in Bicol media, discussing the justification for its publication, and determining its scope and target audience, we decided to go ahead with the project. Jojo De Jesus registered the domain, created the website, and started to work on the site structure and build content. Rolly Borjal handled the required documentations in the Philippines.

Our First Edition

The magazine centerpiece is the Editors’ Picks page, with Greg as lead writer. His essay about his martial law experience as a young man, one of the essays from his 2021 Magis book, is his first contribution. Just weeks away from the 2022 September celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Bicol, we have decided our maiden edition would feature articles, images and weblinks about this time-honored religious and cultural tradition. We have added Manny Aureus to our core contributors with his feature article on the Voyadores of Peñafrancia. Next, we have Dennis Marpuri with his article on his Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage experience – in time for his Camino de Peñafrancia initiative launch, long delayed by the pandemic. Alenn Nidea completes the initial collection of blogs with his article partly written in the Bicol language. The magazine, art and journal pages are based on content about artists, artisans, climate change, technology and Bicolano organizations known to Jojo with Greg and Rolly doing the editorial work.

Guidance and Connections

To support our core contributors, we have assembled friends from diverse disciplines to serve as our advisory board: Manny Aureus, Telly Hidalgo How, Vic Magdaraog (see note below), Dennis Marpuri, Manny Occiano, Vic Ramirez, and Doods Santos. Since the project inception, we had met weekly online and communicated daily on chat as needed to discuss guidance on the formation of a corporate vehicle for DATELINE IBALON, develop strategy and direction, as well as to share information on topics and writers and connect with established networks in Bicol engaged in culture, education, and social activities. We acknowledge with deep gratitude Doods Santos for her invaluable help in connecting us with writers and contributors: Danny Gerona about the Magellan-Elcano Center; Dennis Gonzaga about the Heritage District project, The 416 Art Space and Museo de Isarog; Raffi Banzuela about his book Bikol in the Galleon Times; and many more. We also thank Manny Aureus for his contributions: the Voyadores of Peñafrancia, Ma’am Tels of Bombon, Aklatan sa Kostal, the legacy of Dr. Ma. Lilia Realubit, foremost Bikol folklorist.

Note: Because of Vic Magdaraog’s untimely passing, his brother Yoyong Magdaraog has accepted our invitation to serve in our advisory board. We acknowledge with gratitude Vic’s brother Jonee Magdaraog’s generous donation to DATELINE IBALON which he made in Vic’s name.

Curated Content

We know that the success of DATELINE IBALON will depend largely on the quality and relevance of its content. We will, therefore, endeavor to publish carefully curated content that we hope will appeal to our readers, Bicolanos and non-Bicolanos alike, throughout the whole demographic spectrum. We invite all Bicolanos to share their talents and knowledge on any subject or topic by joining as contributors.

Our Advocacy for Bicol

To promote and assist fundraising activities for scholarship, community development and disaster relief.

Trademark & SEC Registrations

DATELINE IBALON is the registered trademark of the online magazine published by Ibalon Heritage Association Inc., a non-profit corporation registered with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission.

Writers and contributors

We thank the authors and writers who have contributed articles to Dateline Ibalon since we began publishing online in September 2022. Their generous support has enabled us to feature more than 500 articles about Bikol and its people, highlighting their art, culture, history, livelihoods, and stories.

Version

The original version was written September 1, 2022, updated October 3, 2022 and published on the WordPress platform December 1. 2022. This current revision is dated March 17, 2026.