MAY 2012

3rd Year of Promoting CommUNITY
libret
MAKING WAVES FOR THE GLOBAL FILIPINO
ROCK & RULE over Scarborough Shoal
a.k.a. Huangyan Island
No. 33, MAY 2012, ONTARIO, CANADA
INQUIRIES: 647-718-1360; 647-707-7201; [email protected]
Legal issues on Scarborough Shoal should not be left to charlatans to explain
T
We love our country too
JOE RIVERA, http://anuncomplicatedmind.blogspot.ca
HE May 11 “global protest” by Filipinos at home and expat Pinoys abroad
against China’s bullying tactics in the
South China Sea turned out to be more
“local” than widespread judging by the measly number of people who attended.
Even the “hakot” crowd of President
NOYNOY AQUINO’s Akbayan Party-list supporters could only muster close to 300 souls in
what was expected to be a big protest before
the Chinese consulate in Makati City.
Abroad, the one-hour noon protest in the
U.S. and Canada was so disappointing that
organizers were quick to blame those who
did not participate for their lack of patriotism,
prompting an organizer from Toronto to say
that he’ll “puke” the next time he sees mem-
bers of so-called nationalist groups in Toronto
show their allegiance to the Philippine flag
during the annual Independence Day (June
12) ceremonies.
The protests in the U.S. and Canada were
organized by the U.S. Pinoys for Good Governance (USP4GG), a group closely identified
with President Aquino and known supporters
of U.S. State Secretary HILLARY CLINTON.
One of the leaders of the USP4GG, FilAm lawyer LOIDA NICOLAS is an older sister of
IMELDA NICOLAS, chairperson with the rank
of a cabinet secretary of the Commission for
Filipinos Overseas, a state agency responsible
for promoting the interests of expatriate Filipinos abroad and strengthening their ties with
Filipino communities overseas.
Philippine Independence Day Council (PIDC) president
NORMA CARPIO (2nd
from left, seated)
and ABS-CBN managing director MARCO AMORANTO (3rd
from left, seated) sign
partnership papers
naming ABS-CBN as
the official presenting sponsor of PIDC’s
July 28 Mabuhay
Festival at the Metro
Toronto Convention
Centre’s Hall D. Witnessing the signing are (seated, from left) MIKE APRIETO, PIDC executive
vice president for marketing and promotions; LYRA FAJARIT, The Filipino Channel (TFC) Canada
regional finance officer; (standing, from left) RIZZA FLORES, TFC regional marketing head; ROSARY ESCANO, regional marketing specialist; PIDC’s MINDA NERI; and MARIO MARASIGAN, TFC
sales manager. Photo: libreto
PIDC, ABS-CBN
ink partnership
Philippine Independence Day
Council’s Beauty Pageants
Candidates and story on page 23
Recently crowned Binibining Pilipinas 2012 winners at the Smart Araneta
Coliseum in Quezon City, the Philippines are (from left) Bb. Pilipinas 2nd
runner-up ANNALIE FORBES, Bb. Pilipinas International NICOLE SCHMITZ, Bb.
Pilipinas Universe JANINE TUGONON, Bb. Pilipinas Tourism KATRINA JAYNE
DIMARANAN, and Bb. Pilipinas 2nd runner up ELAINE KAY MOLL.
The Department of Foreign Affairs clarified
that the protests were a purely private undertaking and not state-sanctioned.
There were reports of heated exchanges
among the Filipino-Americans who attended
the protests in the U.S., decrying the low turnout and blaming their fellow Filipino countrymen for being cowards in willing to give up
their territories without a fight.
Similarly, in Toronto, the few people who
showed up were disgusted and questioned
why the protest was so poorly organized.
The protest organizers, however, put the
blame on the failure of the community to meet
the test of nationalism when it really counted.
The Toronto spectacle was a dud for obvious reasons.
First, the Scarborough Shoal issue or the
bigger dispute in the South China Sea between the Philippines and China, to begin
with, was a non-starter and the attempt to
draw the attention of the international community to alleged Chinese aggression and
“creeping invasion” was misguided.
At the heart of the ongoing row between
the two countries is ownership of the disputed
rocks or islands. The question then is who has
sovereign title and this issue is unresolved, yet
the Philippines claims that China has invaded
its territories.
The Philippines has asked the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea to intervene
as an arbiter, but China made it known to the
Philippines that it will not agree to U.N. arbitration on the ground that the Philippines’ claim
has no legal basis.
Parties to an international dispute have
the right to decline arbitration.
To page 38, please
Papasin gets shot at Ms. U Canada
S
TATUESQUE 5’7” beauty KESIAH
KATHLEEN LIANE PAPASIN, 21, will
vie for the honour to represent
Canada in the 61st Miss Universe
beauty pageant to be staged later this
year.
But first, Kesiah has to win in the
pageant’s prefinals at the St. Lawrence
Theatre on May 17, when she hopes to
be chosen one of ten ladies who will
advance to the Miss Universe Canada
2012 finals in June.
Newspapering colleague TESS CUSIPAG told libreto that Kesiah is an alumnus of Miss Manila with
which she became a personality development coordinator inn this
year’s pageant (see page 25), that she joined joined Turismo Pilipino in the Philippines, and that she has participated and earned
experience in other pageants.
A resident of Etobicoke, Kesiah was born of Filipino heritage
and raised in Toronto.
To page 18, please
BE THERE.
Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn, hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn, but only one mother the wide world over. GEORGE COOPER
MAY 2012
Pacquiao nixes retirement
M
ANNY PACQUIAO, the boxing
world’s only eight-division
champion, expects to
pick up more fights and
spend more time in the ring.
“I have no plans to retire. I still
love what I’m doing,” Pacquiao (543-2, 38 KOs) told media, as soon as he
set up training camp in Los Angeles for
his title defense against junior welterweight titlist TIMOTHY BRADLEY JR. (28-0,
12 KOs) at the MGM Grand Las Vegas on
June 9.
Pacquiao’s thoughts on his boxing
future come amid a comment on “possible retirement” undefeated FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR. made after his May 5 win
over MIGUEL COTTO for the junior middleweight belt.
The boxing world still drools with anticipation for an elusive Pacquiao-Mayweather
rendezvous, expecting it to happen after the
Filipino fighter gets over Bradley and when
the American pugilist serves 87 days, to start
on June 1, behind prison bars.
“I saw the Mayweather-Cotto fight,” said
Pacquiao, adding that it was a good fight
that made fans happy.
He, however, reserved his take on Mayweather’s plans to retire. “That’s his decision.
A very personal decision,” he said.
Back at the Wild Card gym of world-renowned coach-trainer FREDDIE ROACH, Pacquiao said he needed to work real hard for his
upcoming fight.
“Bradley is strong, undefeated and young.
I have a great deal of respect for his talents
and his accomplishments,” he admitted.
“We are on a steady pace to get Manny
to where he will peak on June 9,” Roach said.
“We built a good base to build on in our training in the Philippines. Now it’s time for the hard
work and the strategy.”
Roach wanted to see a Pacquiao- Mayweather faceoff, but said that Floyd is ducking Manny.
He predicted that if the megafight ever
happened, Manny would beat Floyd.
“The way to beat Floyd is to outwork him
every minute of every round. Manny is the
only fighter capable of executing that game
3
plan,” he noted.
“Activity kills Mayweather. You
need to stay busy against him and
not let him dictate the pace by slowing down the fight,” he added.
“Southpaws are his other weakness.
Manny is just a bad combination for Floyd
to fight. If it would bring Floyd into the ring,
I’d agree to have Manny fight him righthanded,” Roach pointed out.
Meanwhile, boxing analysts see the
Pacquiao-Bradley 12-rounder as a tougher
thriller and hotly contested fight.
Bradley’s class, speed and skill may
give him that chance to loosen and wrest
the title belt from Manny’s waist.
If it is worth the gauge, Pacquiao’s unimpressive and controversial majority decision
win over rival JUAN MANUEL MARQUEZ (54-6-1,
39 KOs) made the world see how vulnerable
and susceptible Pacquiao was to Marquez’s
crisp and precise counterpunching and
straight shots.
Bradley is strong effective with his straight
right hand, known as a southpaw’s fear.
Bradley will have to wait for all the chances to land his right against Pacquiao.
Bradley’s jabs and left hooks are with
purpose and he lands them well, as seen in
his triumphs over LAMONT PETERSON and LUIS
CARLOS ABREGU.
Lastly, Bradley is still undefeated. He will
be highly motivated to preserve his unblemished record.
With a possible clash with Mayweather in
the horizon, Bradley wants to win.
On the other hand, after Mayweather
cashed in on higher PPVs in his victory over
Cotto, Pacquiao trains harder to beat Bradley
to get that fat chance to trash Floyd.
Patuloy na itinatanong at isinisigaw ng maraming kababayang nawalan na ng tiwala!
KATARUNGAN, buhay ka pa ba? KATARUNGAN, nasaan ka?
Jun Enverga to receive
Queen’s anniv’y medal
E
LECTED Toronto School
Board Trustee TOBIAS
‘Jun’ ENVERGA JR. is set
to receive a commemorative medal highlighting the
Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty QUEEN ELIZABETH II’s accession to the throne as Queen of
Canada.
Known for his active part in community
group Philippine Canadian Charitable Foundation (PCCF), Jun Enverga will join as awardee kababayan and Vancouver community
leader TOM AVENDANO who received the
medal at Ottawa’s Rideau Hall on February 6.
Enverga and Avendano are among the
few Canadians of Filipino roots and among
the 60,000 Canadians who will have been
conferred the medal when the jubilee ends.
In a press release, PCCF publicist GLORIA
RAFANAN said the medal cited Enverga for
“advocating for the community and charity”.
Rafanan said Enverga told her “the honour is not his alone” but also for the PCCF and
other groups and persons who supported him
through the years.
Rafanan said Enverga likewise dedicated
the medal to wife ROSEMER ENVERGA and
three daughters. PR
What’s up this issue?
PHL
Flag Day,
May 28
Wakeboarding @ the
Camarines Sur
Watersports Complex
page 8
Global study ranks
PHL top nation in
biz English
proficiency
page 18
Be cool in Bicol
page 11
Pops-Martin TO gig
page 34
Beauty pageants: Shameless Subculture, page 12
HIT THE DIRT -- PR 911: Comedy of presscon errors, page 13
FCT Young Entrepreneurs, Professionals awardees, page 28
SINGHITS, page 35
4
MAY 2012
Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn, hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn, but only one mother the wide world over. GEORGE COOPER
A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes
the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens
around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds
of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. WASHINGTON IRVING
MAY 2012
5
Canada’s sinister immigration backlog solution
W
ITH a clear majority in Parliament after
leading two minority
governments, nothing
can now stop the ruling Conservative Party in having its way over
the next four years.
This is why Canada’s Minister
for Citizenship and Immigration
JASON KENNEY appears to be in
a hurry to overhaul the country’s
immigration system every time he
announces new policy changes.
Kenney is in fact dismantling
Canada’s immigration system at
will. Public consultations which
he himself has initiated will never
change his position.
People are being encouraged to speak up but only for the
sake of token participation.
It’s only a matter of time before we witness a virtually new
program for selecting immigrants
in this country.
Nixing 280,000 applicants
Under the pretext of eliminating the backlog in the main federal economic immigration program, Minister Kenney recently
announced that he is cancelling
all applications submitted prior to
February 27, 2008, for which an
immigration officer has not made
a decision based on selection criteria by March 29, 2012.
Close to 280,000 applicants
will be affected by this decision.
“The Federal Skilled Worker
JOE RIVERA
Program backlog is a major roadblock to Canada’s ability to respond to rapidly changing labour
market needs,” says Kenney.
“Having to process applications that are as many as eight
years out of date reduces our
ability to focus on new applicants
with skills and talents that our
economy needs today.”
Tories -- immigrants’ party?
Before being elected as majority government, the Conservative Party had been singing a
different tune over the last four
years.
They were the political party
of immigrants, the Tories claimed.
The Tories were praising immigrants for being essential to
Canada’s prosperity.
There was no mistake in Kenney’s appeal to Canada’s newcomers when he portrayed himself as hero to new immigrants.
That was before.
Alas, the federal elections
are over, and the Conservative
Party has suddenly been afflicted
with mega-amnesia.
For four years as a minority
government, the Tories could not
cut back the flow of immigration
applicants to this country so they
had to maintain or increase the
projected number of immigrants
to Canada every year.
Canada’s minority population is getting larger due to immigrants from non-Western nations
and all the political parties are
after their support.
Who created the backlog?
Well, things are different now.
The immigration minister doesn’t
have to worry about the minority
population vote anymore.
That’s why it so easy for Kenney to put the blame squarely on
the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSW) as the main reason
for the immigration backlog.
As he is fond of saying, the
backlog is simply a mathematical problem. “When total applications exceed total admissions,
you get a backlog.”
Of course, the minister is right.
But who made this happen in the
first place?
Wasn’t it Kenney himself who
smugly boasted that the backlog
issue reflects well on Canada—
that it is the Number 1 choice
destination of immigrants in the
world?
Because Canada, according
to Kenney, is a land “of opportunity, prosperity and democracy.”
When you keep opening up
the application process, it is only
logical that you create a line-up.
And when there are only a
few applicants you can accept
to come to Canada, then you
create a backlog.
If you keep doing this every
year, the line-up grows longer
and longer.
In short, the backlog issue is
never a function of the number
of applications accepted or the
government is willing to entertain, but the number of applications actually processed and approved.
So, is the culprit the FSW program or the federal government
and its bureaucrats?
Unfair treatment
It is fairly reasonable to expect the federal government to
close the door to new applications, but not to eliminate those
applications made earlier.
Because these early applicants will be reimbursed for their
fees, the federal government
deems this is fair treatment.
It would never be fair. The Canadian government has dashed
their hopes and dreams.
They gave up other options,
and for some, opportunities for
personal advancement which
are no longer available after
waiting so long.
Others have postponed marriage or raising their families.
So how can you be fair to
these people?
To page 30, please
Your Filipino Friends
Ready At Your Service!
Gani Gregorio
Assistant Sales
Manager
Rafael Nebres
General Manager
Kit Santos
Sales & Leasing
Consultant
Tony Paragas
Used Car
Manager
To All My Kababayans: Feel free to come
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talk to a Kababayan.
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myactionhonda.com
[email protected]
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6
MAY 2012
A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces
she never did care for pie. TENNEVA JORDAN
On May 3, World Press Freedom Day
UN: Free, pluralistic, independent media essential
“F
REEDOM of expression is one of our most
precious rights. It underpins every other
freedom and provides a foundation for human dignity. Free, pluralistic and independent media is
essential for its exercise.”
This On World Press Freedom
Day on May 3, United Nations
Secretary-General BAN KI-MOON
and UNESCO Director-General
IRINA BOKOVA said in a joint
statement issued on World Press
Freedom Day on May 3.
Ban and Bokovas said “media freedom entails the freedom
to hold opinions and to seek, receive and impart information and
ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers, as stated in
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
“This freedom is essential for
healthy and vibrant societies,”
they said.
Both added that the prevail-
ing mix of new and old media
“is promising to transform societies through greater transparency
and accountability”.
“It is opening new ways to
communicate and to share information and knowledge.”
Media killings
Ban and Bokova said “media
freedom also faces severe pressures across the world”.
Last year, UNESCO condemned the killing of 62 journalists
who died as a result of their work.
“These journalists must not be
forgotten and these crimes should
not remain unpunished.”
The UN officials noted that as
media moves online, more online
journalists, including bloggers, are
being harassed, attacked, and
killed for their work.
“They must receive the same
protection as traditional media
workers,” they said.
The two said they would call
on States, professional media and
non-governmental organisations
everywhere to join forces with the
United Nations to promote online
and offline freedom of expression
in accordance with internationally accepted principles.
“This is a pillar of individual
rights, a foundation for healthy
societies and a force for social
transformation,” they said.
Little reason to celebrate
On the same World Press
Freedom Day, National Union of
Journalists of the Philippines chair
NESTOR BURGOS JR. said “there is
precious little reason to celebrate
this day ... not when all over the
world, governments of all stripes
and ideologies continue to try to
suppress this freedom along with
the freedom of expression; not
when media workers continue to
be murdered, assaulted, threatened, harassed even as they see
their rights to welfare and safe
working conditions violated by
media owners seeking more ways
PHL ratifies antitorture protocol
Graders to use
native tongue
B
T
HE Philippines has ratified
the Optional Protocol to
the Convention against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment, a move the Brussels-based European Union (EU)
welcomed.
The EU Delegation in Manila
has supported and funded Philippine human rights programs.
CATHERINE ASHTON, EU High
Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said “the
Philippines has further reinforced
its commitment to the complete
eradication of torture.”
The April 17 ratification came
after the Philippines acceded to
the Rome Statute on August 30,
2011.
Ashton said it “demonstrated the Philippine government’s
strong commitment in favour of
promoting human rights.” PNA
E
World War II veteran ALFONSO FABROS (seated with cap), 111 years
old, is among those honoured during the observance of Araw ng Kagitingan and Philippine Veterans Week at the Capas National Shrine in
Capas, Tarlac. Photo: ROLAND NABLO/PNA
New finds boost the Philippines’
status as biodiversity powerhouse
XPERTS discovered in Southern Leyte province two
non-poisonous frog species
that are new to science,
further reinforcing the Philippines’
standing as a world haven for
biodiversity and bolstering calls
for more efforts to conserve such
natural resource.
The species are temporarily
called “platymantis 1” and “platymantis 2” and were found in Mt.
Nacolod during a biodiversity assessment, said TERESA MUNDITA
LIM of the Protected Areas and
Wildlife Bureau (PAWB), which
conducted the activity with Fau-
to cut costs and maximize profits.
“The Philippines continues
to mock its claim to being a democracy, unable to shake off the
infamy of being the third most
dangerous country for journalists,
next to conflict-ridden Iraq and
Somalia where most victims are
casualties of war,” Burgos said.
This has earned the Philippines the title of “global poster
boy” for impunity, not least because of government inaction
and apathy on media murders.
He noted that “not a single
mastermind in any of the 151 media murders since 1986 is arrested,
prosecuted and convicted.”
The murders of media workers and all other extrajudicial
killings are a matter of State accountability, Burgos added.
“If the Philippine press remains free despite all the threats
against it, it is not because of government but because the press
insists on being free,” he ended.
CATHERINE TEVES
na and Flora International.
“We keep on discovering new
species in our country but that’s
not enough -- we must conserve
and protect what we have,” Lim
said during the species’ unveiling
at the National Museum.
PAWB said the Philippines is
among the world’s 18 top megadiverse nations and the country
hosts about 70 to 80 percent of
biodiversity on earth.
Aside from climate change,
PAWB cited illegal logging, land
conversion, overharvesting of
resources, indiscriminate mining
and infrastructure development
as among threats to Philippine
biodiversity.
The Southern Leyte find enhanced the variety of the Philippines’ frog population, covering
about 180 frog species.
“Several of the species are
endemic to our country while
others are invasive,” Lim noted.
The government will announce the final names of both
frogs after the discovery is published in a scientific journal.
To page 29, please
EGINNING in June, schoolchildren attending kindergarten to grade 3 in the
Philippines will get lessons
in their mother tongue.
Education official ALBERTO
MUYOT said the mother tonguebased multilingual education
MTB-MLE) system would enable
children-starters to read and write
by the time they reach grade 1.
The system is done as a learning or subject area and as a medium of instruction.
As a subject area, it will focus on developing the children’s
reading skills and fluency in their
mother tongue.
Except for Filipino and English,
the native tongue will be used as
the medium of instruction in all
learning areas.
Filipino will be introduced in
the first semester of grade 1, while
English will be taught in the second semester.
Twelve Philippine languages
will be used as a medium of instruction.
The languages are Tagalog,
Kapampangan, Pangasinense,
Iloko, Bikol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon,
Waray, Tausug, Maguindanaoan,
Maranao and Chabacano.
The MTB-MLE aims to enhance language, cognitive and
academic development of the
child; as it creates socio-cultural
awareness among children by
promoting their local heritage,
language and culture.
The Philippine government’s
K+12 Enhanced Basic Education
Program comprises mandatory
kindergarten, six years of elementary education, four years of junior high school and two years of
senior high school. PNA
It’s more fun in the Philippines
T
MAY 2012
7
CIDA allots P43-M for Mindanao peace efforts
HE Canadian International
Development
Agency
(CIDA) is providing some
P43 million (C$1 million)
for conflict-displaced persons in
Central Mindanao.
The CIDA funding is part of the
World Food Programme’s (WFP)
Protracted Relief and Recovery
Operations (PRRO) project.
The funds will also indirectly
support peace-building efforts
in strife-torn communities in
Mindanao, southern Philippines.
Canadian Ambassador to
Manila CHRISTOPHER THORNLEY
said he was “hopeful that
Canada’s partnership with the
WFP will positively impact those
living in conflict-affected areas.”
This is “especially since
indicators on poverty, nutrition,
and basic education suggest
these communities are far below
the Philippines’ national average,”
Thornley said.
Canada’s support will enable
WFP to complement the Philippine
government’s rehabilitation efforts
in Mindanao.
The project will be carried
out through food-and cash-forwork activities and other training
initiatives targeted at livelihood
opportunities,
and
through
feeding programs directed at
pregnant women, young mothers
and children under five years old.
Relatedly, the Canadian
Embassy in Manila has organized
THE PHILIPPINES
a roundtable
discussion for
members of
the Armed
Forces of the
Philippines,
and representatives
from civil society and the
Commission
on
Human
THORNLEY
Rights.
The embassy partnered with
Pinoy Equitas, a group of human
rights workers and advocates who
received training in Canada.
“The enhancement of International Humanitarian Law (IHL)
culture in the military can be
achieved through education and
training, advocacy campaigns
and engagement with stakeholders,” said Ambassador Thornley.
“Through supporting events
like the roundtable discussion, we
aim to assist in the compliance
and awareness of IHL among military personnel,” he added.
Canada recommended human rights education for the uniformed services in the Philippines
during the universal periodic review of the United Nations Human
Rights Council in 2008.
Thornley
said
“Canada
will continue to make human
rights protection and promotion
a priority of our work in the
Philippines.” PNA
2nd Ministerial Meeting, Abu Dhabi Dialogue
IN A GLOBAL COMMUNITY
Free Czech language lessons offered
THE CZECH REPUBLIC Embassy in Manila has offered this month a free
Introductory Czech Language and Culture Course, the country’s contribution to Viva Europa 2012, the European Union’s cultural showcase
in the Philippines. The course provided basic insights on the Czech
language focused on conversational skills, and on the Czech culture,
arts, and lifestyle, particularly on Czech food, history, geography, and
literature. PNA
Kurdistan region safe for OFWs
THE IRAQI KURDISTAN REGION (IKR) is safe for overseas Filipino workers,
said Philippine Labour and Employment Secretary ROSALINDA BALDOZ.
“Kurdistan is now recognized internationally because of the relative
safety that led to its economic growth, which in turn, gives greater
incentive for the Kurdistan Regional Government to maintain the
satisfactory level of peace and security of the region,” Baldoz said.
There are 24 representatives from as many countries in the IKR. “The
presence of multinational companies, a growing expatriate community,
and the existence of a vibrant international tourism industry also attest
to its congeniality,” Baldoz said. Of the 452 OFWs in Iraq, 178 are in
the Kurdistan region and most are working in the oil and petroleum,
telecoms and hotel industries. PNA
US, PHL troopers build school in N. Ecija
FILIPINO AND AMERICAN troopers participating in the Balikatan civilmilitary exercises helped build an elementary school in a remote village in Peñaranda town, Nueva Ecija province in the Philippines. LEONOR RAMOSO-MADLA, principal of Callos Elementary School, said
the help of the troopers was in time for the opening of classes in June.
The school has some 400 pupils, mostly from poor families. “They provided the materials in cooperation with private groups like REACT Philippines. Madla said the troopers also taught male villagers carpentry
and related skills. The soldiers also gave out school needs and toys to
children in the village. PNA
Japanese NGO gives out wheelchairs
JAPANESE non-government organization (NGO) The Volunteers Group
to Send Wheelchairs to Overseas Children recently turned over 80
wheelchairs to five facilities for children with disabilities in Metro Manila, the Philippines. The NGO gathers used wheelchairs in Japan, refurbishes them and sends them to beneficiaries abroad. The Japanese
government funds the cost of refurbishing and transporting the wheelchairs through the Grant Assistance for Japanese NGO projects. Japanese Embassy Minister for Economic Affairs AKIO ISOMATA led guests in
the turnover. The Japanese grant aid started in the Philippines in 2002,
and has since disbursed some P165 million for 27 projects in the Philippines. PNA
Philippine President BENIGNO SIMEON AQUINO III exchange pleasantries with guests during the recent 2nd Ministerial Meeting of the Abu
Dhabi Dialogue at the Cultural Center of the Philippines complex in Pasay City. The dialogue is a regional consultation among Asian countries
of labour origin and destination on the administration of the temporary
contract employment cycle. It brings together the labour ministers of
the Colombo Process Countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and
Vietnam) and the Gulf Cooperation Council states (Bahrain, Kuwait,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Singapore and Malaysia). Korea and Japan participate as observers. Photo:
ROBERT VIÑAS, Malacañang Photo Bureau, PNA
Baguio’s honest taxi driver returns
C$8,020 to Canadian passenger
H
ECTOR BALDO, 50, a hardworking taxi driver in Baguio City, said he was
briefly tempted.
But goodness and honesty
took over him, and he never wavered to return a fat wallet a passenger left in his taxi.
His passenger, a Canadian
citizen, received the wallet with
all its contents intact.
Among the contents were
C$8,020, a few thousand of Philippine pesos and a credit card.
Its return to the Canadian
citizen, who was in the city to observe the Holy Week, was facilitated through the authorities.
“I just did a simple thing -- to
return to passengers what they
inadvertently left in our vehicles,”
Baldo told the Philippines News
Agency when asked of his honest
and remarkable deed.
“The thought of my family,
especially my children whom I
also want to cultivate good moral
values, immediately changed my
mind,” he said.
Baldo said there were more
people like him in the taxi transport industry.
For his honesty, Baldo was
guest honoree of Baguio City
mayor MAURICIO DOMOGAN
during a recent Monday flag ceremony at city hall.
Domogan said Baldo epitomized the honesty and trustworthiness of Filipinos, adding that
city residents and those in the rest
of the country should be proud of
the taxi driver’s honesty.
The city council commended
Baldo.
Baguio City is the summer
capital of the Philippines because
of its cool climate.
8
Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever. AUTHOR UNKNOWN
MAY 2012
PHL tricolours: Symbol of Filipino unity
O
N May 28, Filipinos will once more
start displaying the flag of the Philippines conspicuously in homes and
other public buildings for 16 days -as it has been in recent years.
Displaying the country’s tricolours has become part of a revered tradition and culture
of nearly 100 million multi-ethnic and multi-lingual people from Batanes to Tawi-Tawi.
But many ask: How many of the population are familiar with the flag’s specifics, despite the display on National Flag days?
The flag is a horizontal bicolour with equal
bands of royal blue and scarlet red, with a
white equilateral triangle at the hoist side.
The blue field is displayed on top in times
of peace; the red field on top in times of war.
At the center of the triangle is a golden
yellow sun with eight primary rays, each containing three individual rays.
At every corner of the triangle is a fivepointed golden yellow star, each oriented
such that it points towards the tip of the vertex
at which it is located.
The flag is horizontally divided into two
basic colours -- royal blue and scarlet red -with a white equilateral triangle based at the
hoist side.
The flag’s length is twice its width. The
sides of the white triangle are equal to the
width of the flag.
The Philippine flag was designed in 1897
by EMILIO AGUINALDO while in exile in Hong
Kong.
Official sources say the white triangle
stands for equality and fraternity; the blue
field for peace, truth, and justice; and the red
field for patriotism and valour.
The eight primary rays of the sun represent the eight provinces that declared a state
of war, as soon as the first armed uprising was
initiated in the 1896 Revolution of independence from Spain, and the country placed
under martial law by the colonial state.
The eight provinces were Manila, Cavite,
Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Laguna, and Batangas.
The three stars represent the three major
geographical divisions of the Philippines: Lu-
HONOR BLANCO CABIE
The Philippine flag (right) flies with the Canadian flag and the Toronto Police Service flag
during the summer Filipinos Making Waves
Festival post-parade program at downtown
Yonge-Dundas Square. Flaglets, compliments
of the Philippine Consul General in Toronto,
also adorn all booths and every nook and
cranny of the square. Photo: libreto
zon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
Some note the symbolism given in the 1898
Proclamation of Philippine Independence differs from current official explanations.
A school of thought says the white triangle
signifies the emblem of the Katipunan, the secret society that opposed Spanish rule, which
was ushered in by FERNANDO MAGALLANES
in 1521 until the Spanish armada was beaten
by the troops of US Admiral GEORGE DEWEY
in 1898.
Another school of thought says the flag’s
colours celebrate the flag of the United States
as a manifestation of Philippine gratitude for
Waling-waling orchid joins
Sampaguita as nat’l flower
P
HILIPPINE Congress has
approved a bill declaring
the waling-waling (Vanda
Sanderiana) orchid as another national flower.
Reps. MYLENE GARCIA-ALBANO (Davao City) and MARLYN
PRIMICIAS-AGABAS (Pangasinan), authors of House
Bill 5655, said walingwaling orchids have
grown popular worldwide as an endemic
Philippine flower that
epitomized the trait
and character of Filipinos as a people.
Waling-waling,
called as the queen of
Philippine flowers, abound in the
tropical forest of Mount Apo in
Davao and Zamboanga del Sur.
Garcia-Albano noted the ornamental value of waling-waling,
which has become popular in
Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong
and Hawaii.
Producing waling-waling hybrids has also evolved into one of
the world’s multi-billion dollar orchid and cutflower industries.
She said the waling-waling
would bear the same status as the
sampaguita (Jasminum Sambac)
that was declared the country’s
national flower by Governor FRANK MURPHY
in 1934.
Sampaguita
is
also one of the three
national flowers of Indonesia.
In approving the
measure,
PrimiciasAgabas, chair of the
House committee on
revision of laws, also gave credence to the cultural importance
of the sampaguita on the intangible cultural heritage of the Filipino
people that remained relevant,
valid and widely held, particularly among the current generation.
PNA
American protection against the Spaniards
during the Philippine Revolution.
Still another says that one of the three
stars represents the island of Panay, not the
entire Visayan islands.
Historians say it has been common since
the 1960s to trace the development of the
Philippine flag to the various war standards of
the individual leaders of the Katipunan.
But while some symbols common to the
Katipunan flags are adopted into the iconography of the Revolution, historians say it is inconclusive whether these war standards can
be considered precursors to the present Philippine flag.
The first Philippine flag was sewn by MARCELA MARINO DE AGONCILLO with the help
of her daughter LORENZA and DELFINA HERBOSA DE NATIVIDAD, niece of reformist leader
JOSE RIZAL.
The flag, although flown in battle on May
28, 1898, was formally unfurled during the
proclamation of Philippine independence on
June 12, 1898 in Kawit, Cavite.
The flag was first flown with the red field
up on Feb. 4, 1899 to show that a state of war
existed.
Aguinaldo was captured by the Americans two years later in Palanan, Isabela. He
swore allegiance to the United States.
The defeat of the Philippine Republic ushered in American colonial rule, which made
the display of the Philippine flag an illegal
move by the Sedition Act of 1907.
This law was repealed on Oct. 30, 1919.
With the legalization of the Philippine flag,
the cloth available in most stores was the red
and blue of the flag of the United States, so
the flag from 1919 onwards adopted the navy
blue color.
The Philippine Legislature passed Act. No
2928 on March 26, 1920, which legally adopted the Philippine flag as the official flag of the
Philippine Islands.
Up until the eve of World War II, Flag Day
was celebrated each year on Oct. 30, commemorating the date the ban on the flag was
lifted. Eventually, Flag Day was marked every
May 28. PNA
Cagayan: Vault of Asia’s past
F
MARYLOU FORONDA
INALLY, archaeologists have settled their own disputes. It
was in Cagayan province in northern Philippines where the
first Asian lived; and Cagayan is believed to be a repository
of Asia’s past.
“Cagayanos should be proud of their province’s wealth of
wonders and discoveries not found elsewhere in the country,” said
National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA) consultant Dr.
JESUS PERALTA during a recent seminar.
“The oldest man in Asia existed in your very own backyard,”
said Peralta, himself a researcher who joined archaeologists.
It was in the 2007 excavations that a multi-national team of
archaeologists discovered the Callao Man (MT3), confirmed as the
oldest man in the Philippines, the East and Southeast Asia.
The team of Dr. ARMAND MIJARES found a human bone, the
third bone on the right foot, that “indicated human presence in
the island of Luzon for about 76,000 years ago. It is older by 26,000
years to previous discoveries”.
The MT3 was discovered in Barangay Nabotuan, Solana, Cagayan; a find that challenged the Tabon Man of Palawan then
believed to be the country’s oldest.
Mijares said the Callao Man was similar to the Agta of Luzon.
It is older than the Man of Flores, discovered in the island of Flores
in Indonesia.
Acclaimed as one of the richest reservoirs of the past, Cagayan has also played host to a wide variety of flora and fauna that
To page 30, please
9
This heart, my own dear mother, bends, with love’s true instinct, back to thee! THOMAS MOORE
MAY 2012
Simple life, basic learning, big dreams
PROUDLY FILIPINO
dakila
An asphalt sidestreet for a school. A straw mat for a chair. An acacia tree for a roof. Chalk and blackboards, charts, pencils, paper for use. In an era when education has become a costly commodity, these young student-volunteers share
basic knowledge with streetchildren in a learning atmosphere all their own. They are the future graduates of the School of
Hard Knocks, whose battle cry is ‘Make do and do without!’. Who knows? One of them may be a future president. PNA
Achievers in New
Zealand lauded
A
Bulacan’s youth wave
PHL flag in world Legofest
MBASSADOR VIRGINIA
BENAVIDEZ of the Philippine Embassy in WelULACAN’S Blue Ocean 10
lington honoured seven
is the Philippines’ lean but
Filipinos in New Zealand “for their
mean contribution to the
steadfast efforts to promote the
world of robotics.
best of what the Filipino is”.
From April 25 to 28, the tenBenavidez commended SYLVIA SHIRIN ZONOOBI, ANTONIO member team represented the
NOBLEJAS, ANITA MANSELL, OS- country in its first participation to
CAR and MIRIAM BATUCAN, IVY the FIRST Lego League (FLL) World
ROSE PADILLA, and JOSEPHINE Festival in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
The Philippine flag flew with
GARCIA-JOWETT.
Zonoobi is the first Filipino appointed as Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for Services to
Refugees and Migrant Communities in the 2003 New Year Honors List.
Noblejas was a Queen’s Service Medal (QSM) awardee for Services to the Filipino community in the 2008 New Year Honors List. He received the Banaag Award in the 2008 Philippine Presidential Awards.
B
To page 28, please
the colours of 35 other countries
and 40 U.S. states that joined the
competitions.
The FLL is a competition revolving around designing and
programming Lego robots to
complete tasks that may suggest
solutions to real world problems.
Blue Ocean 10 is composed
GLADYS LEIGH MALANA, TRISHA
CARMELA SANTOS, RAMKERT DEL
PRADO, LADY ALEIN GOLENG,
KEIGHT DELA CRUZ, DAVE ADRIAN
BIEN, MICHELLE ALCANAR, JULES
MARTIN AGSAOAY, JONATHAN
ALEJANDRO and TIM JHARMAL
FABILION.
Team coach is BERYL CRUZ.
Fr. EDWIN GARIGUEZ receives
Goldman Environmental Award
“P
ROTECTING the rights of the poor
should take precedence over
corporate greed.”
This Fr. EDWIN GARIGUEZ said
after receiving the Goldman Environmental
Award at the San Francisco Opera House in
the U.S. on April 16.
“Genuine development must prioritize the
need to ensure ecological sustainability over
market profitability,” Gariguez said.
“We must never sacrifice people and the
environment for short-term benefit of the few,”
he added.
Gariguez offered his award to the Mangyan community, with whom he made an 11day hunger strike to protest large-scale mining
in Mindoro province, the Philippines.
The award is annually given to grassroots
environmental heroes from each of the world’s
six inhabited continental regions.
People in Mindoro knew Gariguez as a
humble priest, an anti-mining advocate and
a facilitator of change and social justice.
The award, they said, recognized the
priest’s active involvement in the 13-year
struggle of Alyansa Laban sa Mina (Alliance
Against Mining), a broad coalition of Mindoreños fighting against the presence of the
Intex Resources nickel project in a Mangyan
inhabited locale.
Gariguez is the Secretary-General of the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines
- National Secretariat for Social Action-Justice
and Peace since 2010.
He is regarded as a champion advocate
for the passage of a new minerals management policy in the Philippine legislative assembly, thereby ensuring that the rights of the
people are respected and that Philippine natural resources are protected. PNA
Team members are all high
school students of the Dr. Yanga’s
Colleges Inc. in Bulacan.
The team recently invented
an innovative solution that could
address food contamination problems, particularly in meat.
Named MAGISv2 or Meat’s
Anti-Germ and Infection Solution,
the invention could check if meat
is safe or unsafe for human consumption.
In February, the DCYI Blue
Ocean 10 bested 15 other schools
in the FLL Philippines competitions, winning three of five major
awards -- the champion, project,
and core values awards. PNA
Fr. EDWIN GARIGUEZ
with his Mangyan flock
10
The one thing children wear out faster than shoes is parents. JOHN PLOMP
MAY 2012
Aquino cites boxing champs
Nominations on for overseas
Filipino, group Pres’l awardees
S
Philippine President BENIGNO SIMEON AQUINO III congratulates World
Boxing Council flyweight champ SONNY BOY VILLALUZ JARO, International Boxing Federation flyweight champ JOHN RIEL ‘Quadro Alas’ REPONTE CASIMERO and World Boxing Organization light flyweight champ
DONNIE ‘Ahas’ LIBOON NIETES during a courtesy call at Malacañang.
Jaro became the country’s newest world champ after knocking out Thai
PONGSAKLEK WONJONGKAM. Casimero won a TKO against Argentinian LUIS LAZARTE. Nietes won by unanimous decision against Mexican
RAMON HIRALES GARCIA. Malacañang Photo: ROBERT VIÑAS,
Zambo tutor to
represent PHL in
world leadership tilt
Z
AMBOANGA City’s Taluksangay National High
School (TNHS) teacher SHATEEN SERAÑA is set to represent the Philippines in the 2012
Innovative Teachers Leadership
Award finals in Athens, Greece in
November.
Seraña returned from Auckland, New Zealand where she
bagged a coveted finalist’s spot
in the Asia Pacific regional competitions from March 20 to 22.
She was one of three Philippine representatives to the regional competitions Microsoft Partners
in Learning organize yearly.
Seraña’s teaching strategy
on mangrove planting was adjudged the best presentation on
project-based learning activity.
The project had multipronged goals, but ultimately intended to develop the communication skills of students, engaging
them to do community extension
activities that addressed the relevant issue of rampant disregard
for the environment, specifically
cutting down of mangrove trees.
The project involved parents
and students, all members of the
Samal, Yakan, Tausug and Badjao populace.
Despite limited resources, students did community seminars on
mangrove planting, leading to
greater awareness on coastline
rehabilitation.
The project’s impact on the
lives and values of people earned
the judges’ nod.
City mayor CELSO LOBREGAT
commended Seraña for her feat
and for bringing honour to Zamboanga City and the country.
Lobregat said Seraña’s initiative had tremendous impact to
efforts on environmental protection. PNA
TAND to be recognized.
The Philippine Commission on Filipinos Overseas
(CFO) has begun its search
for the 2012 Presidential Awards
for overseas Filipino individuals
and organizations.
The deadline for the submission of nominations is on June 15.
The Presidential Awards is
a biennial search to recognize
exceptional individuals and organizations for their outstanding
contribution to Philippine progress
and development.
The awards are also conferred on overseas Filipinos who
have shown excellence and distinction in their work or profession.
Instituted in 1991, it has been
conferred on 338 overseas-based
individuals and organizations from
44 countries and territories.
dakila
U
P
noy Championships in Naga City.
Rillera says he is very excited
with the “once-in-a-lifetime experience”.
This is the first time the Philippines had a slot in the scholarship
grant from the British Council of
the Philippines and the British Embassy of Manila, provided in cooperation with the Philippine Sports
Commission and the Manuel V.
Pangilinan Sports Foundation.
In a press launch, British Council country director AMANDA
BURRELL welcomed the athletes.
British Ambassador to Manila
STEPHEN LILLIE gave a message
about the 2012 London Olympics.
JUSTINE GILLIE, assistant-principal of St. Bede’s, talked about
the high-level athletic and English
language training the young athletes would enjoy. PNA
Tolentino was born in Balanga
City but grew up in Orani town.
Three years ago, he became
the first Philippine-based fashion
designer to expand to the U.S.,
when he opened a boutique on
Melrose Ave. near Beverly Hills.
He has dressed people for the
Oscars, Golden Globes, Grammys, Emmys and American Billboard awards.
He has presented clothes
promoting Philippine fabrics in
Los Angeles, New York, San Fran-
cisco, Palm Springs, San Diego,
Hongkong, Switzerland, Bali, the
Bahamas and soon in Barbados.
At the Galing Bataan Trade
Fair, Tolentino displayed 65 gowns
worn by celebrities like AMBER
RILEY and MICHELLE TRACHTENBERG.
“Dreaming is free. But we
should be focused on what we
do. We should study hard to attain
goals,” said Tolentino who began
his career at Slim’s Fashion School
in Manila. PNA
London training set for
11 Batang Pinoy athletes
A
Aquino hails
Fukushima heroes
HILIPPINE President BENIGNO SIMEON AQUINO III cited four Filipino caregivers
for their compassion, dedication to work and for opting to
remain and take care of patients
at the height of the nuclear scare
after the 9.1 magnitude temblor
and tsunami that devastated Japan on March 11, 2011.
Before attendees in the Abu
Dhabi Dialogue in Pasay City,
Aquino hailed the caregivers for
showing to the world that “wherever Filipinos have work, they
have been a force for good.”
Filipinos have had a positive effect on their host countries,
Aquino said.
At the height of the Fukushima tragedy, “brave and compassionate Filipino caregivers and
nurses refused to abandon their
patients”, he said.
The Fukushima Heroes are
GEMMA JUANAY, JULIET TOBAY,
SANDRA OTACAN and MERCEDES
JOIE AQUINO.
They worked in an institution
for the elderly in Fukushima Prefecture, near the no-go zone the
government earlier declared as
such.
Despite imminent danger
and risk of nuclear radiation, the
four chose to stay on duty. PNA
PROUDLY FILIPINO
ZORAYDA DEE DADIS
two-week summer workshop at the St. Bede’s
International
School
in London awaits 11
Batang Pinoy athletes.
The training will prepare them
for their attendance to the 2012
London Olympics.
The athletes are boxer ROBERTO MIGUEL JARNAIZ, triathlete
GABRIELLE ALLEN SANTIAGO, taekwondo jin IRENE THERESE BERMEJO, swimmer ARIANA CARAOS
HERRANZ, judoka FLOYD DEREK
RILLERA, badminton’s JOHN EDGARD REYES and JOELLA GEVA DE
VERA, discus thrower GARRY SANTIAGO, runner MARY ANTHONY
DIESTO, archer BIANCA CRISTINA
GOTUACO, and weightlifter JOHN
KYLE MACROHON.
They all are multiple gold
medalists in the 2011 Batang Pi-
The completed nomination
and endorsement forms with supporting documents may be submitted:
♥ Online through www.2012pr
esidentialawards.cfo.gov.ph.
♥ By mail addressed to CFO at
Citigold Center, 1345 Pres. Quirino
Avenue cor. South Superhighway,
Manila, 1007 Philippines.
CFO said all nominations by
mail or online must be received
by CFO on or before June 15.
Non-submission of required
documents may cause the disqualification of a nominee.
For more information, one
may reach the Awards Secretariat at tel. nos. 632-561-8291 or 632552-4700 locals 761-767; fax no.
632-561-8291, or email jramos@
cfo.gov.ph and npangilinan@cfo.
gov.ph. PR
Bataan honours int’l fashion designer
NITED States-based Hollywood fashion designer
OLIVER TOLENTINO received honours for being
one among the new breed of
heroes who maximized the use of
talent to bring glory to country.
Tolentino was guest of honor
during the commemoration of
Bataan Day and Araw ng Kagitingan, when Allied troops surrendered to the Japanese Army, and
suffered and died in the infamous
Bataan Death March.
Insanity is hereditary; you get it from your children. SAM LEVENSON
MAY 2012
11
Surfing at Puraran Beach
Mayon Volcano &
Legazpi City
Cavorting with butanding in Donsol
IT’S MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES
Be cool in Bicol!
T
DANNY CALLEJA
IRED of the city’s rat race and packing
up for a summer vacation?
Try the Bicol region in the Philippines
and discover with awe its array of hidden natural and historical treasures.
Bicol bestows upon every visitor its natural and century-old man-made wonders distributed among its provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes,
Masbate and Sorsogon.
Bicol is a peninsula famous for its majestic
mountains and volcanoes like Mount Mayon,
Isarog and Bulusan.
Apart from hospitality that Bicolanos offer as a priceless present, the region has a
lot of “must visit” places for vacationers -- hot
springs in Sorsogon, waterfalls in Albay and
Catanduanes and world-class resorts making
it the preferred destination of those who love
a cool, relaxing and adventurous vacation.
Legazpi City, Bicol’s centre
From Manila or elsewhere, vacationers
may come directly to Legazpi City, the regional centre of government, transportation,
communication, commerce, hospital services
and education.
The city is served by at least five commercial flights daily. Land trips are available 24/7.
City hotels, lodging houses and restaurants offer a fantastic view of Mayon Volcano, dubbed as the world’s mountain with the
most perfect cone.
Shopping is not a problem in the city,
where giant department stores, food shops
and souvenir stores abound.
From the city, the regional Philippine tourism would be so glad to guide visitors where
to go first and stay last to complete a once
in a lifetime journey through the wilds, islands,
deeps and heights of the region.
Albay’s tourism stops
Those taking a luxurious option may go to
and stay at the Misibis Bay Resort and Spa, a
private tropical hideaway built on a pristine
stretch of beach along the southern tip of Cagraray island in Bacacay, Albay.
The five-hectare island resort boasts of lavishly furnished villas and world-class amenities,
reachable from Legazpi City in 45 minutes of
scenic travel by land, 15 minutes by a private
helicopter, or 30 minutes by fast watercraft.
Vacationers can experience the diversity
of Misibis Island, the country’s leading luxury
island playground.
Tourism regional director MARIA RAVANILLA says that visitors to Albay, besides getting
up close with Mt. Mayon, cool down at the
waterfalls, explore caves and the wild of offshore islands, feast on local cuisine, bury their
feet in the volcanic black sand beaches, hike
up Ligñon Hill, and visit century-old churches
including the Cagsawa Ruins.
Catanduanes’ eco treasures
From Legazpi City, the Pacific Ocean-located island province of Catanduanes invites
tourists to its virtually still untouched ecologi-
cal treasures.
The island is two-and-a-half hours by ferry
boats with regular daily trips from Tabaco City,
30 minutes away from Legazpi City.
Catanduanes prides itself of Puraran
Beach in Baras town, site of the “Majestic”
waves prized by surfers.
The island has yet-unspoiled white beaches, diving spots for snorkelers and scuba enthusiasts, and cascading waterfalls farther inland -- a paradise waiting to be discovered.
Sorsogon’s ocean gentle giants
Another destination is Sorsogon, famous
for Donsol’s butanding (whale sharks) or gentle giants of the ocean, with which swimmers
may interact with, specially in May.
Staying in Donsol overnight at any of the
dozens of resorts and lodging houses is as exciting, as visitors may watch swarms of fireflies
lighting up the beach and river banks right off
the sanctuary of the whale sharks.
Down southeast of Sorsogon are clean
beaches lining the coastlines of the Pacific
Ocean and San Bernardino Strait.
Also in sight is the vast virgin forest of the
Bulusan Volcano Natural Park lying down the
slopes of restive Mt. Bulusan and rimming Bulusan Lake and the mangrove forest of Prieto
Diaz town that serves as sanctuary of hundreds
of bird species including migratory ones.
Nearby is Barcelona town, home of Sorsogon’s oldest church built in 1874 out of corals that formed its walls. Enchanting carvings
on the coral façade make it a priceless relic.
Matnog town at Sorsogon’s southern tip
serves as the jumping board between Bicol
and the Visayas.
Matnog is gifted with preserved nature,
immaculate white to pinkish powdery sand
beaches kissed by crystalline waters, uphill
caves, fish and lobster farms, fish and marine
turtle sanctuaries and an amazing view of
sunrise and sunset.
The larger part of the town’s mainland is
rimmed by high mountains teeming with coconut palms and lush green growth that offer a soothing feeling of relief from the air pollution in urban cities. Accommodation and
food in these areas are less expensive.
Masbate’s cultural, historical treat
From Sorsogon, Ticao Island in Masbate
province is ideal for sea diving in the Manta
Ray Bowl down Ticao Pass off Fernando and
San Jacinto towns.
The island, an hour boat trip from Bulan
town, offers accommodations and fine dining
in beach resorts along the Pass.
From Ticao, access is easy to the Burias
Island for a visit to historic Claveria town that
offers a lot of cultural experiences, beautiful
sceneries, religious antiquity, superb cuisine
and impressive hospitality.
Claveria has an underground cave where
stone caskets with human remains believed to
be more than 500 years old exist. The cave is
accessible through an underwater entrance
Kayaking at Bulusan
Natural Park
Hideaway at Misibis Bay
R & R at San Isidro Beach
called Boca Engaño.
It is also home to the San Isidro Beach
that is being compared to the Miami Beach
of Florida, USA and Cancun of Mexico.
The beach laces the southern strip of
Burias Island and spans more than 10 kilometers of pure white sand and turquoise water .
It boasts of diverse marine ecosystem
that houses endemic species of sea plants
and animals.
For introverts avoiding the din of bars and
entertainment houses in the cities, the beach
length is an enchanting paradise of coral reefs
and crustaceans that outnumber the people
residing alongside its shores.
Camarines Sur’s watersports complex
Nearly three hours from Legazpi City is the
Camarines Sur Watersports Complex (CWC).
Located in Pili, Camarines Sur, the CWC
is the wake boarding playground of Bicol for
those who are looking for real water sports
adventure.
The place could be a take-off point to
the Gota Village Resort in Caramoan town,
another world-class vacation and eco-tourism spot of Camarines Sur.
Be cool in Bicol
Completing this vacay island hopping in
Bicol shows a vacationer that the region is a
combination of the old and the new.
Old churches, untouched natural wonders, rich history and culture and the picture
of modern Bicol never ceases to impress.
Come and experience the wonderful
destinations in the region and feel the real
meaning of vacation and relaxation. It’s cool
to be spending summer in Bicol. PNA
12
S
MAY 2012
Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs ... since the payment is pure love. MILDRED
VERMONT
UMMER is almost around the corner and
Filipino community organizations in the
Greater Toronto Area are once again
soaked in unabashed excitement over
their so-called cultural offerings to more than
250,000 Filipino-Canadians in the area.
This is usually the time of the year when
these organizations wake up from their winter
hibernation to prepare for the parade of Filipino beauties -- young and old, Mr. and Miss
or Mrs. -- along with the retinue of roast pigs
or lechons that vie with the frenzy and revelry
of the entertainment festivals that go with the
celebration of Philippine Independence Day
on June 12.
Transparency, accountability
Two major organizations are currently embroiled in a simmering feud about transparency and accountability in financial reporting of
the monies raised by their respective beauty
pageants.
The Philippine Independence Day Council (PIDC), the “mother” of all these so-called
organizations, has raised some questions on
the way its beauty pageants were run before
by a former officer who now sits as a ranking
official of the Philippine Canadian Charitable
Foundation (PCCF), a rival and spin-off group.
At the centre of the feud is the allegation
made by former PIDC president MINDA NERI
that ROSEMER ENVERGA, now an official of the
PCCF, did not make a full financial disclosure
with regard to the beauty pageants she managed when she was with the PIDC.
Enverga, in a press conference she called
recently, denied any wrongdoing with her previous running of the PIDC beauty pageants.
Becoming a bad habit
This kind of bickering between organizations within the Filipino community is neither
unusual nor unheard of.
With hundreds of groups organized and
motivated to cater to the entertainment of Filipino residents in the metropolitan area, it is almost natural to expect that rival groups would
eventually clash and even hurl allegations of
improprieties against each other.
That has been the practice among Filipinos
everywhere, whether at home or overseas.
It is as if without the in-fighting, everything
becomes lifeless and dull, a habit that does not
speak well of Filipinos, a baggage they have
not done away with even in the Diaspora.
Best there is?
But it’s not the feuding among Filipinos in
Toronto that is really depressing.
Rather, it is the subculture that these socalled leaders have brought to this metropolis.
It is their penchant for crowning Filipino
women and girls as beauty queens that has
become a shameless exercise, not to mention
the appetite for showcasing “bakya” entertainment for the masses, as if this is the best of
Filipino culture that one can offer.
Brazen cultural celebration
During her press conference, Enverga
said that with more than 250,000 Filipinos in
the Greater Toronto Area, “we can have as
much fiestas and festivals every year, yet we
cannot be able to accommodate” all our Filipino kababayans.”
“This goes also true to beauty pageants;
we can have as much beauty pageants. The
more, the merrier. So much the better if we
can have a lot of choices,” she added.
Who are these beauty queens?
Let us just mention the titles: Miss PIDCPhilippines, Miss Philippines-Canada, Little Miss
Philippines-Canada, Mrs. Philippines-Canada,
Paraluman, Miss Carassauga, Miss Caregiver,
Miss Manila, Miss Santacruzan, Reyna Elena,
Miss Photogenic, Miss Congeniality, Miss (insert
name of town or city in the Philippines), etcetera, etcetera.
Why do the likes of Enverga and other so-
Shameless subculture
JOE RIVERA
http://anuncomplicatedmind.blogspot.ca
called Filipino leaders in the community keep
on celebrating our culture in this brazen way?
Fleeting entertainment, a stoop so low
Beauty queens do not represent Filipino
culture, and putting these women on the
pedestal shows an utter misunderstanding of
cultivated behaviour that underlies the fabric
of one’s culture.
In holding these beauty contests every
year, these so-called leaders are entrenching
this tradition as a subculture, no matter how
useless and insignificant to our lives and struggles in this foreign city.
Sure enough, they offer us fleeting entertainment and diversion from the humdrum struggle of survival that most of us go
through.
But we are stooping so low in the estimation of other people who think that Filipinos
are a beauty pageant-crazy nation.
Much ado over ‘Miss-whatever’
To say that we can hardly accommodate
the hundreds of thousands of Filipinos living in
the Greater Toronto Area only blows up our
collective low self-esteem, that there’s really
nothing we can be proud of except for our
“Miss-whatever” contests.
A young Muslim woman replying to an
opinion survey whether beauty contests are
degrading wrote the following response: “I
agree that beauty contests are degrading.
They degrade women to mere objects. The
sponsors exploit women by requiring them to
parade in swimsuits or even lingerie. They are
judged mainly on their physical appearance
rather than on any other qualities they may
possess.
“When the women parade themselves
on stage, the judges will look at a number
of things, but the most important criteria will
probably be poise. To achieve proper poise,
a woman’s body should be well proportioned
-- having a neck proportionate to her height,
lanky legs, and so on. This process of evaluating poise can be compared to dog shows
where golden retrievers of the wrong bodily
proportions are kicked out of the competition.
I feel judging women primarily on their looks
degrade womanhood.”
Indeed, beauty contests project an unrealistic image of the ideal woman in the eyes
of the public.
We are already inundated with silly standards of beauty by the mass media; we don’t
need beauty pageants to further aggravate
such situation.
Lessons from history
Just consider this as a thought.
The first modern beauty pageant was held
in 1854 by P.T. BARNUM of the renowned circus
called the Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus, but his beauty contest was closed
down by public protest.
Barnum also held dog, baby and bird
beauty contests, quite an unpleasant category in which we can lump our present-day
beauty contests.
Including young children in beauty competitions further degrades this tradition.
Like the American reality show, “Toddlers
and Tiaras,” a search for Miss Little Philippines
is totally disgusting, an excuse for physical and
emotional abuse of the child.
Most psychologists are unanimous in finding that children’s beauty pageants are not
in the best interests of healthy child development.
There is enough undue, exaggerated focus on superficial beauty in our culture without children being pitted against each other
in a contest of looks.
Our so-called leaders in the community
like Enverga and company pay no apparent
regard to considerable body of research that
demonstrates why beauty contests are harmful to kids.
Shrugging away insecurities
This Filipino passion for beauty queens is a
mere extension of our collective appetite for
shallow entertainment as a panacea for our
shortcomings as a people.
We tend to hide under the veneer of popular songs, dances and other forms of amusement in order to distract others from seeing
our borrowed and western-oriented culture.
Because we are good entertainers, we
keep others amused and somehow forget our
insecurities.
As a people, we tend to be easily distracted by the more mundane and ordinary
pursuits in life.
Take the case of the Gawad Kalinga (GK)
Global Summit which is going to be held in Toronto this coming June 8 and 9.
This GK summit is about GK’s role in eradicating poverty and their thrust on learning social enterprises as a platform for liberating the
poor from the vicious cycle of poverty.
Yet, the Toronto organizers have focused
on promoting a gala concert by Philippine
musician RYAN CAYABYAB and his ensemble
of singers on the eve of the summit, instead of
giving play to GK founder TONY MELOTO who
is scheduled to give the keynote speech the
following day.
This much shows our priorities and scale
of values: singing and hobnobbing with the
community’s rich and famous trump the substance of the GK Summit.
Inane, shallow pursuits
Just like the celebration of our national
independence, the significance of the day
is lost and buried in the various festivals and
beauty pageants which people would rather
see in droves.
But the shameless part of all this preoccupation with the commonplace and banal
is obviously the role played by our so-called
community leaders in promoting this heritage
of trumpeting our biggest shame: our penchant for celebrating the inane, our propensity for embracing shallow pursuits over substantive issues that truly affect us as a community.
[email protected]
The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed,
but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new. RAJNEESH
BUTCH GALICIA
Hit the
Dirt
P
OPINION
PR 911: Comedy of presscon errors
the Philippines at the Shangri-la EDSA Plaza on
September 26, 1997.
Thinking about it today, I find it pretty
scary yet funny to be telling PR aces what PR
basically is and why, perhaps, PR continues to
be the most pro-active mode to get people,
products and services in the public eye and
mind.
♥♥♥♥♥
FYI, my mentor Tony V. is not, definitely
not, the TONY TARUNGAN who has lately
been making quite
Columnists/Writers/Contributors:
a big buzz in mainELEONITA MENDOZA ♥ JEANETTE RICASIO
stream and commuROSANNA JAVIER ♥ AMOR GABORNO
nity boards lately.
TINA RADIMISIS ♥ TED MICHALOS
Trust T (Tony). It’s
Images: MIKE APRIETO ♥ STUDIO 75
not about good PR.
MON TORRALBA
TERESA TORRALBA
It’s the antithesis of
Director, Creative
Director, Advertising & Promotions
PR, the nemesis of
goodness.
BUTCH
GALICIA
MIKE APRIETO
Editor/Writer
Account Executive
Some call it DDT
(Department
of Dirty
ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: Call 647-718-1360 and 647-707-7201 or e-mail
Tricks or pamatay [email protected]; EDITORIALS: e-mail [email protected]
ot), a sinister plot carREAD libreto’s full-colour issues ONLINE at www.filipinosmakingwaves.com
ried out by those who
Publisher: MENTOR PRODUCTIONS
hide behind aliases
1002-650 Queens Quay West, Toronto, Ontario M5V 3N2
to spread lies, smear
reputations,
divide
Unless otherwise specifically noted as belonging to libreto, all articles, photographs, logos, slogans and everything else subject to copyright laws remain the sole intellectual
loyalties in organizawork and property of its individual owners. All submissions are edited.
tions, and craft un-
UBLIC RELATIONS (PR) is public responsibility.
With these five words, I echoed
what PR guru TONY VASQUEZ impessed
on me as the cardinal definition of PR.
That was when -- as his senior manager
for PR -- he asked me to write and deliver a
case study presentation for the Metro Rail
Transit Development Corp. before Philippine
PR practitioners gathered for the 5th National
PR Congress of the Public Relations Society of
C
ERTAIN accomplishments, accolades, awards and possessions do
make us proud.
Having a dog coming from a
good breed and being able to show them for
all the world to see is something to definitely
crow about; and more so if they are registered
with the Philippine Canine Club Incorporated
(PCCI).
The Canine Club of Southern Mindanao
(CCSMI), a local organization under PCCI,
hosted recently the 63rd, 64th, 65th and 66th
All Breed Championship Dog Shows at the
Victoria Plaza Mall.
A host of dog owners, dog breeders, vets,
dog trainers, dog enthusiasts and dog lovers
were treated with the joy of seeing beautiful
dogs.
For this self-confessed dog digger, all 102
registered show dogs coming from 19 breeds
belonging to nine dog groups were a sight to
behold.
To say that I was dog intoxicated would
have been an understatement.
Where else can you find a venue or an
event with a wide assortment of beautiful
dogs in one place?
I went gaga over three French bulldogs
– one of which was “Dime” who is blue-eyed,
beagles, and a single entry dachshund which
is my all-time favorite breed.
Awesome were the Siberian huskies …
makes one feel that seeing them is an oddity
considering that this is tropical Philippines and
they are originally from the freezing cold Siberian Peninsula.
These huskies plus chow chows, Pomeranians, Australian Shepherd and a whippet
were breeds I saw for the first time.
It was my first to witness a conformation
dog show after my first German shepherd
show in Baguio 15 years ago.
13
pananaw
MAY 2012
ROSANNA JAVIER
On My
Toes
Barking rights
My friend PAUL RAINIER and his vet friend
Dr. RUSSEL CELIS were gracious to fill my knowledge gaps in dog shows.
These conformation dog shows are for
evaluating breeding stock.
The dog’s conformation (overall appearance and structure) shows its ability to produce quality puppies and this is what is being
judged in the show.
All the 102 dogs were qualified to compete because they are registered with PCCI
and they met eligibility requirements for their
breed.
Spayed or neutered dogs are out.
In the show, each dog was presented to
the judge by a handler – professional, owner
founded scandals.
They excel in public intrigue and deception to either build a rosy image of their masters or get the latter out of a stinking rut.
Tarungan’s saga is just another can of
worms one may unlid when the time is ripe.
Smell something fishy?
♥♥♥♥♥
Ever heard of the three monkeys? One
that cannot see, one that ... I thought so.
♥♥♥♥♥
On April 19, I got an invite from a certain
Rosemer to a press conference “to shed light
and for clarification with the ongoing issues
regarding the ‘allegations’ of the Pageants’
Financial Documents.” (sic)
The presscon would be on April 22, 1 to 3
p.m., at the Blessed John XX111 Church Hall.
♥♥♥♥♥
I like the time, between lunch and snacks
when folks like to have a power nap.
I like the place -- a church revered as an
edifice of truth, civility and serenity.
Above all, the presscon’s time and venue
-- which organizers said is linked to an alleged
financial mess -- churns out an image that the
organizers lacked financial resources.
Great planning! I rate the timing and
placing as a ten.
♥♥♥♥♥
To page 14, please
or breeder.
The judge examined the dogs, and then
gave awards to how closely the dog approached the image of the “perfect dog” in
the breed’s standards.
These standards include specifications for
temperament, movement and structure.
The judges checked the teeth, muscles,
bones and coat texture according to the
breed’s standard.
They even often even held the testicles
of the dogs to check if there are indeed two,
otherwise the dog would be disqualified.
Most dogs in these conformation shows
compete for points.
It takes fifteen points to become a “Champion of Record”.
The number of points awarded at a show
depends on the number of males (dogs) and
females (bitches) of the breed.
Five points is the maximum that can be
awarded to a dog in any show.
Males and females competed in these
classes: Sheep Dogs & Cattle Dogs – e.g. German Shepherd; Pinscher & Schauzer-Mossoid
– e.g. Boxer, Dobermann; Jack Russele TerTo page 32, please
14
MAY 2012
PR 911: Comedy of ...
The sweetest sounds to mortals given are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven. WILLIAM GOLDSMITH
BROWN
From page 13
Immediately, I replied my regrets, but
said: “However, if you are going to give a
press statement, I would love to have an emailed copy.
“Would it be okay if I send you a couple of
questions that you may answer by e-mail?”
I never received even a . (as in dot) for an
answer to this day.
♥♥♥♥♥
Then on April 21, I got another alleged
Rosemer invite to a presscon that said she invited others:
♦ “So they will be on hand to hear what I
have to say and will not accuse me of stabbing them in the back, something that they
have done to me during a press conference
that they have called on March 14, 2012;”
♣ “So they can clarify to me (Rosemer)
and the media their public allegations of impropriety which not only lack specifics but
also have not been substantiated;” and
♠ “So they will be available to respond to
any questions the media may ask with respect
to their false accusations of impropriety.”
The sender “hoped to get to the bottom
of the issues”.
♥♥♥♥♥
On first and final reading, I saw the invite
as honest and honourable.
But I also feared that it could spark unnecessary public confrontation as interesting
as a Pacquiao-Mayweather word war on who
gets a bigger part of pay-per-view receipts.
It’s been said. In propaganda, good or
bad publicity is still publicity.
♥♥♥♥♥
Many of those invited to the presscon, I
learned, sent regrets.
Maybe, they had a valid reason, like being busy reading Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or
watching Les Miserables.
Or busy writing a spoof cookbook sequel
Grater Expectations that is all about chewing
and eating one’s own potty-trained words.
♥♥♥♥♥
On April 19, I was also invited by Philippine
Independence Day Council’s (PIDC) AURORA
ELEFANO for a press presentation of the organization’s beauty pageant candidates on
April 22 from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
I sent Elefano my regrets. I likewise asked
for press materials for libreto.
She promptly sent the PIDC pageants information and materials, most of which are
published in this issue.
Along the way, I reflected: The presscon
and the presentation were on the same day,
at almost the same time.
Was it coincidence? Or was there somehow an attempt to derail a perceived competitor’s legitimate activity and event?
Out of the blue, I remembered a similar act that happened nearly six years ago
played by a similar cast.
♥♥♥♥♥
Rudeness and evil intent has its own way
of exacting on and getting back at itself.
♥♥♥♥♥
A press conference is a very effective PR
tool to clarify issues.
But when a presscon surfs the twists and
turns of utter denial and selective amnesia, it
may totally destroy credibility and integrity.
(Watch edited parts of the presscon at
ROMY MARQUEZ’s The Filipino Web Channel
newsblog at http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=h0BAxCQYRoc&feature=channel&list=UL)
♥♥♥♥♥
After that kind of presscon, no matter
how smiles looked in post-event photos, I can
imagine everyone coming out of a church
with a million imaginary knives in their backs.
♥♥♥♥♥
Hey! Haven’t you heard?
The Avengers are making a name again!
♥♥♥♥♥
I watched the video. No, not The Avengers, but the one on the presscon.
Honestly, I give ROSEMER ENVERGA high
grades for publicly disclosing the programs
and projects the Philippine-Canadian Charitable Foundation (PCCF) undertook last year.
Her confident disclosure of how much
went to a program or project, without eye
blinkers or space stares but with a big smile,
should earn her heaploads and truckloads of
jackpot points.
She scored, believe it or not, a PR coup.
♥♥♥♥♥
Random musings: Can competitor PIDC
officials ably do the same?
Refreshments, please. When was the last
time PIDC officially declared how much they
netted and where the earnings went?
Never? Ever? C’mon.
♥♥♥♥♥
I recall CARLOS PADILLA’s essay on the
moral need for organizations to open up their
books, in the ennobling spirit of transparency
and accountability.
I agree, Mr. Padilla.
But is it also legal?
Really? Do I have to open the book and
read CHARLES DICKENS’ Great Expectations?
♥♥♥♥♥
More queries:
Did PIDC ex-prexy MINDA NERI, in an earlier press conference, really refer to 2010 PIDC
pageantry documents as financial in nature?
What is the only word in the English language that has three consecutive double letters? Bookkeeper!
Are these documents the ones submitted
to PIDC in a top secret meeting of PIDC past
and present officials in early April, as a tabloid
so pre-emptively published?
What Bond flick do I like best? Doc No!
Are these the documents said to be going under the PIDC’s audit scalpel?
Yes, no, whatever, maybe. May I suggest
that responsible people should say pointblank
that the documents are not even about funds,
the documents were non-issues, and the documents do not merit public concern.
This way, people dragged into the mess
could start focusing on more important matters, forget a family feud between and among
PIDC formers and incumbents, strike this pretty
petty issue out, and move on.
♥♥♥♥♥
Yehey!!! Talipapa habitues and nginutuhan queuemates can now concentrate on Ka
Tarungan. Whatever, we need Agent 007.
♥♥♥♥♥
Tylenol, please, I’m dizzy with TMI (Too
Much Information). So are you?
♥♥♥♥♥
Wetaminit, kapeng mainit!
I was told that publisher-editor RAMON
DATOL suggested a cordial dialogue of the
‘presscon protagonists’ with community media, which a respected media organization
should call and supervise.
The Philippine Press Club-Ontario (PPC-O),
then under the leadership of TENNY SORIANO,
had been doing that before; and positive results have been obtained, Datol said.
I highly agree with Mon. This may work.
Can the PPC-O or any other community
media group make the arrangements?
I’m sure PPC-O president ROSE TIJAM can
facilitate such, with the help of her officers.
♥♥♥♥♥
Wandering thought: If you heard an animal talk, will you not run?
Being a Disney fan, I’d dare face an animal that has the gift of glib gab.
I hope it’s not Alvin. I like that chipmunk.
♥♥♥♥♥
ACE ALVAREZ did well in the April 22 press
conference Enverga called to clarify a reported mess surrounding her handling of PIDC
beauty pageants.
At the time in question, PIDC prided itself
of cultural and charitable aims and gains.
Alvarez is publisher of the lightswitch Manila Media Monitor. He produces local TV’s
highly-rated Front Page Philippines.
With these credentials, he surely is a welcome presence in any press conference.
♥♥♥♥♥
However, when he admitted on-mike his
“closeness” to Toronto school board trustee
TOBIAS ENVERGA JR. and wife Rosemer, and
went to the latter’s defense, he could have
been misconstrued to have become the Envergas’ publicist, spokesman or lawyer.
In that presscon, he might have honestly
shed off some skin as a mediaman.
Alvarez might have also committed a
classic PR blooper when he grilled Balita’s
TESSIE CUSIPAG, wife of community media
icon RUBEN CUSIPAG, whose paper’s editorial
handling and reportage of the issue was at its
best, in terms of investigative journalism.
(See ROMY MARQUEZ’s The Filipino Web
Channel newsblog at http://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=IQko9JP6-CI&feature=channe
l&list=UL)
♥♥♥♥♥
Unsolicited advice: When one flashes you
the finger, wave back in royal fashion and
smile. You trashed the ugly act with five upright fingers and you had the last grin.
♥♥♥♥♥
In an ideal PR presscon, the host is supposed to get media to his/her side; not be adversarial and confrontational with media.
In an ideal PR presscon, the media ask
the questions; not the host or a spokesman
grilling the media.
To make PR efficient and effective, it
should respect and co-exist with media.
Above all, it should be professional.
What transpired, however, might have
only muddled what could have been a cordial meeting of the minds through dialogue
-- exactly what an ideal presscon pursues.
♥♥♥♥♥
Ssshhhh! I’m reading Great Expectations
... and checking on my facts and figures.
♥♥♥♥♥
Is the so-called community media partly
to blame for kowtowing to the whims of and
for allowing their noses to be ringed in and
pulled by so-called leaders?
Someone quipped: Pera-pera lang ‘yan
(It’s all about money).
Another shouted: Meron ba ako diyan
(Where’s my share)?
One more interjected: May envelope ba
(Is my bribe in an envelope)?
When will artificial behaviourists in community leadership and media stop insulting
the intelligence of the public?
On the other hand, when will the public
stop praising so-called leaders and media as
shining beacons in the wide sea of stupidity?
♥♥♥♥♥
When things go from bad to worse, I always say: “Pards, dahan-dahan lang. Nakakasira na sa ating bad image (Buddy, take it
slow. It’s starting to ruin our bad image).”
♥♥♥♥♥
Pasingit lang. My idol social blogger JOE
RIVERA seems to be on top of big-ticket beauty tilts that community groups put up. He must
have named every single one there is.
To Joe’s Missisology, I add my own set of
Misses: MissAccount, MissBehave, MissConTo page 15, please
If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been.
ROBERT BRAULT
NITZ MENDOZA
Open
Line
Mary’s Fertility
Relic Belt
‘P
RAY the Rosary, practice the
first Saturday Devotion to Mary
and consecrate Russia to her
Immaculate Heart’.
This admonition was in connection to Our
Lady’s apparition at Fatima in 1917. That was
how we were always almost told by the sisters
in school when were young.
Why not, with Russia an equally leading
power as America at that time.
Russia is one of the largest countries in the
world located in Northern Eurasia covering
about a1/8th of the Earth’s inhabited area.
It shares boundaries with Norway and
Finland, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, North
Korea, Mongolia and China.
It is the greatest constituent of the Soviet
Union and the world’s first constitutionally
socialist state, widely recognized for its decisive role in World War II.
Today, Russia’s population has declined
to only 143 million, with life expectancy for
male at 62 years, and women at 74 years.
The population crisis is attributed to
socio-economic factors and instances of
decadence related to alcohol, smoking and
violent crimes.
This is a threatening issue with quite a
PR 911: Comedy of ...
From page 14
duct, MissDeed, MissEducate, MissFit, MissGuide, MissInform, MissJudge, MissLead, MissManage, MissNomer, MissPlace, MissQuote,
MissRepresent, and MissTrust.
Nyek! Sorry, Joe. I am not referring to
beauty queen titles. Those were preferential
titles for some of our so-called community
leaders and dealers.
♥♥♥♥♥
I know that PCCF president JIMMY MARASIGAN, PIDC president NORMA CARPIO and
Filipino Centre Toronto (FCT) head LYNDA JAVIER have praised them for a job well done.
But I’d like to further commend PCCF’s
GLORIA RAFANAN, PIDC’s RORY ELEFANO and
FCT’s AIDA D’ORAZIO for great PR work.
May I add FAYE ARELLANO, a veteran
journalist herself in the Philippines, who has
done a lot of excellent press and public relations work for the Our Lady of Assumption
Church and its ministry for caregivers.
They have regularly and adequately promoted what their respective organizations
have been doing for the community’s good.
To all of you, I doff my hat.
♥♥♥♥♥
I believe that there are more good PR
writers and practitioners in the community,
who would rather talk and write about the
good than harp on the bad and the ugly.
PR is Public Responsibility.
PR is Public Response-ability.
PR is Public Respect.
Your most sane interpretation of the
above is always better than mine.
♥♥♥♥♥
BTW, PR911 is not a short course about an
American Airlines flight from Tarungan to Liar’s
Lair, somewhere. [email protected]
15
pananaw
MAY 2012
OPINION
number of its aging population.
Relatedly, State Highways coordinated
with the Orthodox Church of Greece and
organized a trip for the visit of Mary’s Belt to
Russia.
The relic, believed to have been worn
by Mary, is associated with the miraculous
restoration of fertility.
With a birth rate of 1.4 children per
couple way below a target of 2.1, the Russian
Parliament voted on restricted abortion to
address a thinning population.
The visit of the miraculous Belt of Mary is
believed to stimulate the people’s interest in
the spiritual revival of their society and family
values.
It is said that it is much easier to control
the demographic trend by curtailing births
through contraceptives and birth control
means, but it is very difficult to raise the birth
rate once it has diminished.
Regaining fertility is not that easy especially
when control pills and abortifacients have long
been taken to suppress women’s fertility.
This will naturally create a crisis further
exacerbated by men’s longevity.
When the able, working and contributing
sector of a country diminishes in number, a
domino effect will possibly bear unwelcome
results on the privileges and benefits to
be enjoyed by the receiving and aging
population.
A reduced workforce will affect the
economy. The financial source cannot evenly
compensate financial need and demand.
The show of people’s faith was very overwhelming with Prime Minister VLADIMIR PUTIN,
who at that time was a vying candidate for
prime minister, heading the group to meet
and receive the relic at the airport.
Some 400,000 devotees, mostly women,
stood in line, stretched to about four kilometres
from the Central Orthodox Church to
Moscow’s outskirts at subzero temperature.
It took almost 24 hours of waiting for one
to be able to get near to kiss the relic.
It stayed in St. Petersburg for four days
and had a monthlong tour of the country.
It was also brought to the pregnancy
centres where women considering abortions
went to receive counseling.
This was how boiling their faith was in
contrast to the freezing cold weather. at the
time of that visit.
The relic was brought from Orthodox
Vatoped Monastery of Mount Athos, Greece,
the first time it ever left the place since it was
deposited on its altar.
According to tradition, this cincture of
Mary was taken at her grave by St. THOMAS
the Apostles.
Marked for his always being tardy, the
Blessed Mother had been dead and buried
when the good apostle came back from
his mission. He hurried to the graveyard and
asked the tomb to be opened.
To page 32, please
JEANETTE RICASIO
Youthful
Times
C
May Day!
ONGRATULATIONS! To those who’ve
successfully finished exams. Even
if you haven’t gone through that/
failed... Still, awesome job for makin’ it that far! To those taking summer school
... yeah have fun.
As for the inscription above right... How
true is that? I just wanted to share a different
perspective to, I thought, most of us accept
as a common statement. Even if you really
knew about it, allow it to serve as a reminder.
I guess the start of summer would be an
awesome time to reflect on your past year’s
actions/decisions. If ya didn’t like it. Obviously,
change wouldn’t be a bad thing for ya. You
might even become a Youtube celeb when
you finally find the confidence in something
you believe in.
Haha! From ‘personal reflection’ to becoming a Youtube celeb. Horrible transition
but this month’s article’s got me askin’ ma
Facebook council who their fave Youtube
people are:
MATT: Kipkay, www.youtube.com/user/
kipkay. If you’re into science/ technology/
creating gadgets, this an awesome channel
devoted to hacks, pranks and how-to videos.
I’ve seen the guy transform lighters into ‘laser’
lighters. Kind’a geeky, but fun!
VERNOON: (The) Philip DeFranco (Show),
- Random Facebook Image from my News Feeds
http://www.youtube.com/sxephil. If you’re
bored of CNN type of news, why not see what
goes down with pop culture? Similar to RAY
WILLIAM JOHNSON, PHILIP DEFRANCO shares
whatever fun facts within the ‘popular community/issues/occurences/common interests
(could be gaming, viral videos ... viral things
really) have to offer. Comments are encouraged once the video ends with the ‘question
of the day’. I think ... he talks fast. haha
AL QUINN: Onision, http://www.youtube.
com/user/Onision. Along the lines of Smosh,
Cyr, NigaHiga randomness. Onision is ... another random/funny blogger full of dumb/genius fun. I would check out his Chibi videos.
Actually, all Youtube celebs make really random videos LOL.
DENISE: Alex Goot, http://www.youtube.
com/user/gootmusic. Pop/rock/punk/acoustic cover/original filled channel by a talented
To page 18, please
16
A
MAY 2012
When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think
twice, once for herself and once for her child. SOPHIA LOREN, Women and Beauty
T some point in their life, everyone
gets into financial difficulty - they
simply have too much debt to deal
with.
The truly frustrating part for most people
is that they also don’t know where to turn to
for help, or even who to ask if they have questions.
The purpose of this column is to provide answers to some of the more common
questions and to help people deal with their
debts.
If you have a question about how to deal
with your debts you may send them to libreto@
hoyes.com and we’ll do our best to respond
to them quickly.
The most common and/or most interesting questions may be used as the basis for future articles in this paper.
I’m going to go back to a topic I discussed
briefly in both the January and February issues
of libreto – debt settlement companies.
On May 4, 2012 the Ontario Ministry of
Consumer Services issued a Consumer Alert
on Debt Settement. (For a copy of the Alert
go to: http://www.sse.gov.on.ca/mcs/en/
Pages/alert_debt_settlement.aspx)
The Ministry of Consumer Services is warning consumers to exercise caution when considering a contract for debt settlement services.
TED MICHALOS
Dealing
with debt
Debt settlement
Complaints about companies offering
debt settlement services are increasing.
Most complaints are about unclear or misleading contracts, excessive fees, and failure
to reduce debts as promised.
Services may be marketed as “debt
settlement”, “debt management”; “debt arrangement”; “debt reduction”; or “debt consolidation”.
Companies may tell you that they can
reduce the amount of debt you owe to your
creditors.
If you’ve been following my articles in libreto, you’ll recall that I have been warning
people about these businesses for a very long
time.
They prey upon the fact that you are looking for ways to reduce your debt and you just
don’t know how to go about it.
business
KALAKAL
TINA RADIMISIS
Legal Help
On The Go
FSCO delays haunt
car accident victims
T
HERE are still delays getting a mediation
date with Ontario’s mandatory accident benefit dispute process.
Despite hiring outside mediating
companies, the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has failed to provide a
timely process for resolving disputes over accident benefits.
There is still a minimum one year waiting
period to get a mediation scheduled.
This is a great concern, as victims of car
accidents must first go to mediation through
the FSCO before they can sue or arbitrate
and then receive the benefits they so desparately need.
It sometimes leads one to wonder if these
delays are done on purpose.
By the time a mediation is scheduled, a
victim of a car accident is left with no treatment, no income, and unpaid housekeeping,
caregiving, and attendant care expenses.
The bills continue to grow and victims
look to social assistance or take loans from
friends, family members, or banks, or get another mortgage on their home.
By the end of the minimum one year waiting period, these vulnerable accident victims
just want to compromise their rights to benefits to avoid the drawn-out battle.
This, of course, works to the insurance
company’s benefit.
Given these ridiculous delays, many lawyers have decided to bypass its mediation
process altogether by commencing lawsuits
in the courts after 60 days have passed since
they filed an application for mediation.
Unfortunately, for some reason, FSCO
doesn’t allow arbitrations to be scheduled
despite the legislation advising that it can,
and despite recent arbitration decisions.
The problem with commencing a lawsuit
is that the legal process does take longer before a victim of a car accident will receive
any compensation for benefits.
With an arbitration, the process is usually
quicker.
This, therefore, causes concern as to
whether FSCO is really an impartial institution
government regulated body.
There are serious concerns about FSCO.
Plaintiff personal injury lawyers have been
advocating and pressuring FSCO to make the
changes needed to help victims of car accidents obtain justice in a more expeditious
manner.
It has been a long battle.
It seems that only when there is a public
outcry does the government listen, especially
when it is an elections year.
I urge you to contact your local MPP’s to
express your demand for the crucial changes
needed to balance the justice scale.
In the meantime, if in the unfortunate
event that you are involved in a motor vehicle accident, please remember that JEWELL
RADIMISIS JORGE LL.P. specializes in personal
injury and has over 60 years of cumulative experience in the field.
We are extremely knowledgeable in personal injury law, including motor vehicle accident cases. Our firm can build your case to be
the strongest that it can be and ensure that
you get the best legal help possible.
If you have any questions or need any legal help, please do not hesitate to contact
me at our 24 Hour Hotline at (416) 917-2597.
The problem is, since you’ve probably
never done anything like this before in your
life, how do you know who is legitimate?
Who can you trust?
A warning sign that works pretty well is to
ask about fees.
Everyone will give you a free consultation.
But if they ask you to start paying them
fees before they work out an agreement with
your creditors or before they even speak to
your creditors, then they probably aren’t legitimate.
You should never have to pay up-front
fees.
A second equally good warning sign involves referring you elsewhere.
If the person you are dealing with has to
send you to another company or person to
actually make the deal, then why did you
have to pay the first person?
What exactly did they do?
If you have any doubts, do some more
homework.
Check the internet, ask if and how they
are licenced by the government, ask them
how many of their “clients” successfully complete their programs.
If they can’t or won’t answer your questions, then you should probably find someone
else to deal with.
Dealing with financial problems is never
easy, but the last thing you need is to be “taken to the cleaners” by someone you turned
to for help.
TED MICHALOS CA Trustee, co-founder
and president of Hoyes, Michalos& Associates
Inc. Trustees in Bankruptcy, www.hoyes.com,
310-PLAN (310—7526).
Sutherland to pour
US$50M for Cavite
facility expansion
B
BERNIE CAHILES
USINESS process outsourcing (BPO)
firm Sutherland Global Services disclosed a US$50-million expansion plan
in the Philippines that would hire 8,000
people for its Integrated Technology and BPO
Campus to be set up in Carmona, Cavite.
DILIP VELLODI, Sutherland’s chairman
and chief executive, said: “A favourable economic environment, availability of high quality talents, a robust infrastructure and business
friendly government policies have been prime
drivers for our rapid expansion in the (Philippines). The Carmona campus will be an integrated delivery center for our global clients.”
In the Philippines since 2005, Sutherland
employs some 13,000 people. Over 70 percent of its services are delivered out of Philippine New Wave cities.
Globally, Sutherland is one of the world’s
largest pure-play BPO companies with over
30,000 people working out of its 35 operations
centers and 10 countries -- the United States,
the Philippines, India, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom,
Canada, Mexico, and Colombia.
Established in 1986, Sutherland offers an
integrated set of back-office and customer
facing front-office services that support the
entire customer life cycle. PNA
ADVERTISE: Call 647-718-1360, 647-707-7201
[email protected]
Editorials: 647-706-4902
[email protected]
READ THE ONLINE EDITION AT
www.filipinosmakingwaves.com
All mothers are working mothers. AUTHOR UNKNOWN
MAY 2012
17
An Open Letter
to the
Filipino Commu
nity
Recently we w
ere given the o
pportunity to h
your communi
elp a member
ty sort out thei
of
r
finances – they
debt!
had too much
They met with
one of our pro
fessionals and
to:
worked out a p
lan
• Stop credito
r calls
• Stop collecti
on actions
• Stop new in
terest charges
• In short, to d
eal with their d
ebts
We will treat y
ou professiona
lly, politely an
We understand
d with respect
the anxiety yo
.
u
are feeling – y
where to turn o
ou don’t know
r what to do.
Before you sig
n any contract
with a debt co
settlement com
nsultant or
pany please gi
ve us a call. T
is free and the
he initial meet
re are no up-fr
ing
ont charges.
Call us at 310
-PLAN (3107526) or 1
Visit our web
si
We’d like the
op
te at www.ho
-866-747-0660
yes.com
portunity to h
elp you deal w
ith your
debts!
Ted Michalos
,
CA Trustee
18
A
MAY 2012
Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible. MARION GARRETTY,
A Little Spoonful of Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul
Study ranks PHL top nation in biz English proficiency
GlobalEnglish Corp. study has ranked
the Philippines as the world’s best
country in business English proficiency, even beating the United States.
Released early May, the results of GlobalEnglish’s annual Business English Index (BEI)
showed that only the Philippines attained a
score above 7.0.
This level of BEI, the only index that measures business English proficiency in the workplace, was within range of a high proficiency
that indicated an ability to take an active role
in business discussions and perform relatively
complex tasks, the study said.
Hub for call centres
“This is particularly interesting because the
Philippines, a country with one-tenth of the
population of India, recently overtook India as
a hub for call centres,” the study noted.
Over 400,000 Filipinos are employed in call
centres, roughly 50,000 more than in India.
Of the 76 represented countries in the
study, the Philippines -- scoring 7.11 and the
May Day
From page 15
individual who collaborates with other Youtube
artists such as DAVE DAYS
and CHAD SUGG. His covers include RIHANNA’s We
Found Love, It Girl by JASON DERULO, and What
Makes You Beautiful by
One Direction.
TIMOTHY: Peter Chao,
http://www.youtube.
com/user/pyrobooby.
Haaaha. Get ready for
racist (but funny) jokes, explicit dialogue, and thick
accents. He’s a comedian.
DARSH: Ryan Higa,
http://www.youtube.
com/user/nigahiga. Funny/creative videos ... safe
humour. Lots of rhymes
and jokes ... especially
parodies. Just the team to
make anyone laugh. One
of the early bloggers todate (they started making
videos in 2006). They were
lone country in the intermediate level, was
joined by Norway (6.54), Estonia (6.45), Serbia
(6.38) and Slovenia (6.19) in the top five.
Rounding up the leaders are Australia,
Malaysia, India, Lithuania, Singapore, and
Canada.
The ten worst are Armenia, Cote d’Ivoire,
Taiwan, Honduras, Columbia, Chile, El Salvador, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Brazil.
Economic growth, success
GlobalEnglish noted that a country’s business English capability indicated its economic
growth and business success.
“It is not surprising that both the Philippines
and Norway --the only two countries in the
top five in both 2011 and 2012 -- are improving their economies, based on the latest GDP
data from the World Bank,” the study said.
Meanwhile, struggling economic powers Japan, Italy and Mexico and fast-growth
emerging markets Brazil, Columbia and Chile
scored below a 4.0 in business English proficiency.
probably most known for
How to be Ninja, How to
be Gangster, Human Ipod.
Has done collaborations
with KEV JUMBA, who also
collaborated with HAPPYSLIP.
JEANETTE: I have a lot.
I’m just listing down those
who haven’t been mentioned yet.
♥
Jenna
Marbles,
http://www.youtube.
com/user/JennaMarbles.
Probably most popular for
How to trick people into
thinking you’re good looking and How to avoid talking to people you don’t
want to talk to. She is beyond hilarious, and makes
genius vlogs. It’s her personality that shines through
the videos, making her addictive to watch.
♥ Petrilude, http://
www.youtube.com/user/
petrilude/featured.
Although there’s MICHELLE
PHAN and a bunch of
other awesome makeup
artists, Petrilude is really interesting. Not only does he
cater to both male/female
sexes, he’s a visual effects
makeup artists. He makes
complex makeup procedures look easy and canbe-done. He has a pretty
good eye! Very creative
costume ideas.
♥ Jolene Sugarbaker,
www.youtube.com/user/
JoleneSugarbaker/featured. I’ve been addicted
to his/her videos lately,
particularly because I love
cooking and craft shows.
He is a comedian who is
popular for his persona
as The Trailer Park Queen.
Cookin’ With Joelene is not
your ordinary funny, over
the top cooking show. He
knows how to cook and
he explains everything
thoroughly. His most popular video is probably baking chocolate cake with
mayonnaise.
♥ RRcherrypie, http://
www.youtube.com/user/
Papasin gets shot at Miss U Canada
From page 1
While at the 2004 Canadian Model and Talent
Convention in Toronto,
then 13-year old Kesiah
met NATALIE GLOBOVA,
Miss Universe 2005.
She recalls Glebova
say: “You should join pageants and if you lose, try
again till you win”. Kesiah
has since won pageant
awards and titles.
Kesiah was born with
unilateral clubfoot and
moderate hearing loss.
She had to wear corrective braces for a year and
both ears are aided.
Kesiah did not let her
physical challenges hinder her dreams and goals
in life.
She registered her-
self in the Eleanor Fulcher
International
modeling
workshop to boost self
confidence.
She took ballet, tap,
jazz and modern dance
classes, and private lessons in Tahitian dancing.
She joined local swimming competitions till age
16; and got gold and silver
medals.
In high school, she
excelled in school sports,
coming out first and broke
school records in women
high jump junior.
Kesiah is in her 3rd year
in Health Studies at York
University aspiring to be
a physician’s Assistant; inspired by her parents and
older brother, who are all
nurses.
She works every summer at a bank to help finance her dreams.
Raised in a close knit
and religious family, Kesiah
learned at an early age
not to be judgmental, as
she dislikes stereotyping.
She believes in equal opportunity and treatment
for everyone.
She also believes in
sharing her blessings by
volunteering in fund raising activities for the underprivileged.
She remains a good
role model and a proud
mentor for aspiring young
models.
www.filipinosmakingwaves.com
This has placed these countries at a disadvantage when competing in a global marketplace.
Beginner, basic level ranks
The study pointed out that shifts in global
talent have put even English-speaking countries at risk.
“Surprisingly the BEI score for global workers in the U.S. declined from 6.9 to 5.09 since
the original 2011 BEI benchmark, which is attributed to a majority of test takers being foreign-born engineers and scientists,” it said.
The rest of the world ranked beginner and
basic level.
On a scale of one to ten, the average
2012 BEI score across 108,000 test takers
around the world is 4.15, which is lower than
last year’s 4.46.
Nearly four out of ten global workers were
ranked as business English beginners, meaning
that on average, they can not understand or
To page 28, please
SEAN S. (Bboy Speedz) bustin’ a breaker move in Chinatown. Photo: ME!
RRcherrypie/featured.
Probably most popular
with the use of Konapun
and other miniature foodrelated items/toys/models. RRcherrypie is one of
the most adorable channels ever! It showcases
Japanese products, particularly DIY (Do-It-Yourself)
candies, as well as ridiculously step-by-step miniature cooking. Apparently,
some viewers find pleasure listening to the sounds
of his cooking videos.
♥
EpicMealTime,
http://www.youtube.
com/user/EpicMealTime.
Food. An explosion of junk
food. In your face calorie
count ... Experimental and
deadly if consumed ... that
is all.
And that’s that for
Youtube madness (sort’ve)
folks :) You will get addicted to some of these.
Also, these are awesome
to kill time while waiting for
the next anime episode
or something. Although I
must admit ... Youtube is
one of the worst distractions ever if you plan to
use it for study breaks.
Hokay! So what goes
down in the GTA under my
watch?
The Juan Tomas Show
Band featuring master gui-
tarist JUAN TOMAS, vocalist ARABEL CASTILLO and a
talented flamenco/bolero
band, and local talents
like me and guitar protege
TISA SPARKS playing Paganini and Albeniz. Catch us
at the Scarborough Civic
Centre on June 3 around
1 p.m. for FREE.
Talent
competition
Pinoy Showdown 2012 is
on. Winner receives $1,000
cash prize. The finals is on
August 18 at 5 p.m. at the
Korean Cultural Centre.
Auditions will be conducted at the TriCare
Academy School on July 7
from 3 to 7 p.m.; Kalayaan
Cultural Community Centre, July 14, 12 to 4 p.m.;
and Warden Hilltop Community Centre, July 21, 12
to 5 p.m.
Before ending, I would
like to say Happy Birthday
to KEVIN JEE! and TERRY
ALICE!!! Happy 20th you
too! :)
Also, welcome to Ontario to one of my close
buddies from Saudi Arabia, SEAN SAVARES.
You have $20. CHUCK
NORRIS has $10. He’s still
richer than you. - Anonymous
La-La-Listening to Personal Jesus by Depeche
Mode
Mother - that was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries. T. DEWITT TALMAGE
MAY 2012
19
20
MAY 2012
The real religion of the world comes from women much more than from men - from mothers most
of all, who carry the key of our souls in their bosoms. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES
ANITA DIAZ
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Tel.: 905-896-0759 ext. 1140; Cell: 647-818-9331
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