So manga wata iyo, manga pagari tano ago manga tonganay tano in Southern California, USA have banded together and formed a non-profit organization. They named the organization MAPIA, which stands for Maranaos in America for Peace, Integration and Advancement.
There will be a formal induction of officers this Sunday, June 17, 2007 at Mark's residence in downtown Los Angeles, CA. The elected President is Alex Amer (1st on right, standing).
The picture was taken after an orderly election of officers at Arby's residence in Burbank, CA. There was no vote buying or dagdag-bawas. Canvassing of votes and confirmation of elected candidates were instantaneous. There was no election protest. It was almost like the [s]election in Maguindanao last May, 2007.
What I heard from Charlie, Arby, Susan and Maida during their visit to Northern California on Memorial Day week-end, are real good plans to help the Maranao community here and in Ranao.
Invitation is extended to all NRPs (Non-Resident Pilandok) in Northern America to join MAPIA antano makaogop sa kapaka piya a Ranao.
Click here to download MAPIA Registration Form.
Ooops. K'na oba tano rorod sa bangsa a gito a miyaka poti poti on.
ReplyDeleteGioto a sisi iron sa diyowang a tomitind'g na gioto so bai a labi sa panoroganan a Los Angeles a si Faridah. O kadadag kano sa Southern California na s'kanian bo i telegram i niyo. S'kanian i "411" sa Los Angeles area.
It is a good start for Maranaos who are here in the USofA to come up with an OPAKAT to help our kababayans, I just hope that you guys can sustain this nice sounding name MAPIA, keep up the good work kababayan Maranaos.
ReplyDeleteThe last election in Lanao was so disappointng to all those honest maranaos that mass voted. The media coverage of people buying votes portrays Maranaos as trouble makers and dishonest people. I think that if we want to improve the quality of life in our province we have to stop receiving money from the politicians so that we can confront the elected official if there is no improvement during his term of office.Unless we do something about this problem then our province is always at loss. Elections are so costly to enter so a candidate is just like a business man that is always looking to profit at the expense of the people. So please wake up and take the necessary steps to ensure that the candidate that we elect has the proper qualifications and morals that will do the right thing for the people instead of their own personal benefit.
ReplyDeleteProfessor Raul:
ReplyDeleteWe are going to need your help for anything like this. You are the computer "gig" so we count on you... Hopefully, we can have our website as well once everything is in place.
We are finalizing the MAPIA logo. There are three designs so far that Mark showed us... One is a sarimanok, the other one is agong (agong ba yon), the other one is also sarimanok (for this one, kunaba madakuli ikog). They all look representative of who we are and what is MAPIA.
Anyways, we are getting there. The induction of the officers will actully take place on September 2 (Sunday, 3PM) in a clubhouse where Arbie and Susan live. This is in Burbank, California. Some of us visited the place last Thursday to see how and what can we make out of this place utilizing everyone's expertise on Maranao culture. We wanted to bring to America through this gathering the culture of Maranaos. Instead of wearing gowns and suits, we will be wearing landap and gora. On that day, we hope to raise in america our Sambolayan for the first time (?) side by side with the American flag (kung pwede). We wanted to showcase our origin.
We will be sending out invitations very soon. We hope to invite all Maranaos in america to come to our induction and also be listed as members. The organization is mainly for the benefit of the Maranao community in America so we would be happy to hear from you.
Okay... I will bring it up with the group that you will not be here on September 2.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, i would suggest that on the MAPIA heading, you spell out right next to it its meaning so it would come out like this:
MAPIA (Maranaos in America for Peace, Integration and Advancement)
The moment you see it, you know immediately what is stands for... just a suggestion, Professor.
Bai Aminah, asar bo man a mailay so ipoy a gioto a manok (sarimanok) na katokawan d'n a gioto siki Pilandok. But I will mention on the title, as you suggested. Kakalalagan kano san, ow?
ReplyDeleteActually, now that you mentioned about authentic Maranaw presentation, ie. landap, sambolayan, sarimanok, etc. I want to say that I have reservation on the choosen name, MAPIA.
ReplyDeleteI don't like it because first of all, it's very similar to the "dreaded" Ompia party. Everybody knows who these people are and what they did. Secondly, it's very formal. In the internet age, you do away with formalities. Look at the name, etrade, ebay, etc. Much simpler and easier to pronounce.
But I am not suggesting a English technical name. I'd rather have something very authentic Maranaw name without English acronym. That way, we can have our leader called Sulutan instead of President. Other titles could be, Kabugatan, Radiamoda, etc. That would be very authentic. It goes nicely with our presentation.
That's just my idea.