In the News: Proudly Pinoy [Archive] - Page 5

Animo

March 4th, 2007, 06:58 PM

THE OTHER VIEW
By Elmer A. Ordoñez

FROM Cavite my wife and I make occasional forays to Metro Manila to sample the cultural fare offered at places like the CCP complex in Pasay, the new PETA home and the UP campus in Quezon City. Last month we watched three plays, each with its own particular evocation for us, and Fiesta Musika featuring the music of Lucio San Pedro as part of the Bamboo Organ Festival in Las Piñas.

At the CCP, Tanghalang Pilipino presented Ang Mga Huwad, an ingenious adaptation (by Rody Vera) of National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose’s first novel The Pretenders, where the Faustian character Tony Samson (who could no longer abide the corruption in Manila’s society and live with his own betrayal and complicity) chooses to throw himself before a train in Sampaloc. The novel came out in the early 60s when existentialism was in vogue—hence, the ending. Quite unlike the ending of the sequel, Mass (first published abroad because of martial law censorship) where Tony Samson’s bastard son, Pepe Samson, transformed from a carefree student to an activist, joins his comrades in the hills.

What the producers (from playwriting to acting and directing) have done with the novel to come up with a new creation Ang Mga Huwad (directed by Chris Millado) is admirable—given the constraints/conventions of the theater. In about three hours, we get the essence of the novel and the timelessness of the message, suggesting that bourgeois society crushes idealism and raising the question as to how the alienated individual responds to an apparent impasse. The novelist has of course followed a different nonexistentialist tack in Mass.

Belong Puti, produced by PETA (Philippine Educational Theater Association) founded in late sixties and nurtured during the years of repression as an alternative theater group by dedicated artists, is also an adaptation of the Filipino translation of National Artist for Drama Wilfredo Ma. Guerrero.
The last play of Guerrero (whose first controversial prewar play Half an Hour in the Convent is embedded in Nonong Padilla’s adaptation) portrays the playwright struggling with failing creativity in finishing a play about an aging society matron consumed by her own vanity and amorous desires.
Guerrero is in his element depicting the sosyal and largely middle-class characters in his plays. His UP Mobile Theater has brought serious drama throughout the archipelago.

In his early years as resident playwright/director in UP Padre Faura, his plays were panned by a Collegian writer. But starting 1950-51, our literary editor SV Epistola began his regular review of the productions of Guerrero—whose choice of four plays a year enabled the students to watch the classics and modern plays in the Little Theater (named after the playwright when he was still alive) in what is now Palma Hall.

But while he was well-loved by his former students, the administration and the arts community at large were slow in acknowledging his achievement. I would occasionally see him in the Diliman shopping center and we would chat briefly, usually about housing (he was being evicted from his cottage) and financial need. He could have used the stipend and health care given to a National Artist—a posthumous award for him. He must have written The White Veil during his last destitute years in his cottage in Area I. Last performances of Belong Puti are tomorrow 10 p.m. and 3 p.m.

At the Guerrero Theater in UP, we watched Basilia ng Malolos, a zarzuela written by Nick Tiongson and directed by Jose Estrella, about the “women of Malolos” (inexplicably called “girls” in a history book) who wrote a letter petitioning the Spanish governor general for a school where they could learn Spanish and European subjects. They were praised by Jose Rizal and Graciano Lopez Jaena in La Solidaridad for their audacity—given the fact that Spanish colonizers particularly the friars wanted to keep the natives ignorant so they would be susceptible to religious dogma and superstition.

In his book, The Women of Malolos, Tiongson traced the history of the women and the roles they played before, during and after the Revolution. Basilia, played by Jenny Jamora, became the founder of what would be the first feminist association in the country at the turn of the century. The author himself is related to some of the women and had direct knowledge of their families and offspring. The play can still be seen tomorrow at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Attending Fiesta Musika was a double treat. Aside from seeing how St. Joseph’s Church in Las Pinas with its famous bamboo organ was restored, the churchyard festively lit up, and gracious usherettes in turn of the century attire, we were treated to organ, instrumental and vocal renditions of the music of another National Artist Lucio San Pedro. As with the play performances, it was a feel good experience that has kept us thinking that our artists are excellent curators of our cultural heritage.

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/mar/03/yehey/opinion/20070303opi2.html

Animo

March 4th, 2007, 07:08 PM

I pay tribute to amazing and exceptional Filipinas who bravely continue to carve a name for themselves not only here but globally as well. These women who are highly accomplished in their respective fields have the perfect combination of tenacity, determination, creativity, intelligence and a sense of humor that is uniquely Pinay.

Loida Nicolas Lewis is the chairman and CEO of TLC Beatrice International Holdings, Inc., a conglomerate of 64 companies in 31 countries. Loida was the first Asian-American woman to pass the New York State bar without having studied law in the US. She assumed the leadership after her husband, Reginald Lewis, the first chairman and CEO, died in 1993. By the time of his untimely demise, TLC Beatrice had made Reginald the wealthiest African-American in the US. His death left the board of directors, officers, employees and shareholders in great turmoil because the business was in trouble. Armed with entrepreneurial skills, legal acumen, negotiating abilities and a keen interest in people, Loida confronted the obstacles and skepticism ignited by her appointment as new chairman and proved that she can steer the course of one of the most successful business enterprises in the US. She is also the national chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations, the largest advocacy group for Filipino Americans in the US.

What do famous celebrities like Pink, Emilie de Ravin, Natalie Imbruglia, Christine Baumgartner and Britney Spears have in common? Their wedding dresses were made by Filipino fashion designer Monique Lhuillier who is now based in the US. With French and Spanish-Filipino descent, Monique was born and raised in Cebu. A prominent name in Philippine high society, her family owns a chain of pawnshops operating in several cities across the nation. Her dresses are often seen on the red carpets and in editorial spreads of international magazines. Monique also added evening wear to her line and for the Fall 2007 season, she branched into more typical runway collections.

As founder and CEO of Natori Company, Josie Natori is a successful businesswoman in fashion. Born in the Philippines, she left Manila for New York in 1964 to study economics at Manhattanville College. After working as an investment banker, Natori started a line of women's intimate apparel. Her apparel is known for its vibrant colors, bold patterns and designs. The signature detailing, embroidery, and appliqué work of the Philippines remain integral in Natori's designs. Besides lingerie items, the company manufactures fragrances, home furnishings, accessories, jewelry and evening wear. Natori received numerous awards like the Galleon Award given by former Pres. Cory Aquino. She was a delegate to the Clinton Economic Summit Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1992 and a commissioner to the White House Conference on Small Business in 1993.

In the field of musical theater, Lea Salonga is a remarkable Filipina when it comes to international recognitions. She was the first to win various international awards for a single role. Lea's excellent portrayal of Kim in Miss Saigon earned her numerous awards like the Lawrence Olivier Award in London and the Tony, Drama Desk, Theater World and Outer Critics Circle Awards in Broadway. In 1993, Lea played Eponine in the Broadway production of Les Miserables and she is slated to portray Fantine this March also on Broadway. She was invited by Sir Cameron Mackintosh to join the Les Miserables dream cast as Eponine in the musical's 10th Anniversary concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 1995. In 2002, Lea returned to Broadway in the revival of the Flower Drum Song as the female lead Mei Li.

Magnificent Bulan

Imagine an old colonial house made of solid wood and stone, cathedral ceiling and adorned with exquisite carvings by skilled Filipino artisans. This old mansion located in the quaint neighborhood of Little Baguio in San Juan has been carefully renovated and restored to become the beautiful setting for a restaurant called Bulan. Bulan offers the finest European cuisine. Bulan features exotic Asian décor and furnishing. Hardwood flooring along with stone walls and magnificent chandeliers from India supply the warm setting that showcases the finest, most exquisite Asian art and furniture. Bulan is an object of art in its own right. The main entrance reminds one of an old church door, six inches thick and some 100 years of age. Others furnishings of the restaurant are of antique Chinese, Balinese and Tibetan origin. The bathroom door is customized from Tibet painted with dragons. The bathroom sink is made of fine Philippine marble. All furniture is Asian hardwood, of varied designs while some are antique pieces.

Bulan features a bar made of antique hardwood, while the counter is inlayed with a pattern of alternating ebony and ivory at its perimeter. The center of the counter is inlayed with bird and butterfly designs made of ebony and bone. The eyes of the birds and butterflies are set with amethyst, peridot and ruby.

Bulan's chefs offer a whole new perspective in European fine dining. Master Chef Aguilar is a Filipino who has lived and worked as master chef in Europe for over 15 years. He holds European culinary awards and has taught European cuisine in Sweden. Bulan is also home of culinary skills training and chef exchange programs that bring students from Europe to the country to be trained by Chef Aguilar and to experience Asia and the Philippines. Culinary exchange, art exhibits, antique displays and the consistent exotic fine dining atmosphere enable major functions to be held at Bulan at least every quarter. One of Bulan's constant diners, Gareth Davies, former owner of Glass House in New Zealand, one of the top 50 hotels in the world says, "There is only one word that I can use to describe the interior of this restaurant -- magnificent! Also, the aioli is excellent, the starter marvelous and the pasta is great."

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=68872

Animo

March 6th, 2007, 03:27 AM

You know what besides the corruption and everything Imelda Marcos really is iconic. She looks lovely by the way on those videos and If I remember she's probably the most beautiful spouse of a Philippine president.

cheersmate

March 7th, 2007, 06:34 AM

^^ He should have stayed in college until he finish his degree. I just wonder what happened to his "Full scholarship" at Rice University. What he did is a major turnaround in battle. Kung baga sa labanan, pumunta siya sa giyera na kulang ang bala. I really hope that his dedication to his fellow Filipinos are true to form:
He said :

BANZAI! :lol:

leaving everything in the states is very admirable indeed!but have he achieved his so called soul-searching about life,happiness,etc..
if before,he didnt have any responsibility but his own..he cant do this now having a partner & a child..
i dont think he have achieve anything yet..the purpose of leaving everything behind.
forgetting this fact..how different is he from other youths who have impregnated their gfs..w/out any means?he have this feedme fund in his website..if i have a 1000bucks..will i give it to him?or would it be much better to give it to those kids who cant look after themselves,let alone feed themselves?
is this too cynical? or just being practical..

schaner

March 9th, 2007, 04:46 AM

Students discover use for tilapia scales, rambutan vs radiation

By Ben Serrano
The Philippine Star 03/09/2007

BUTUAN CITY – The next time you throw away scales from tilapia or peelings from the rambutan fruit, think of the Agusan del Sur high school science students and their science advisers who have found a use for these waste materials to shield people from harmful electromagnetic radiation and gamma rays.

In the near future, as the ozone layer thins due to harmful emissions from motor vehicles and the world’s forests get depleted, tilapia scales may be used to shield people from intensified sun rays.

High school senior Anton Mark Jay Rivas of Bayugan National Comprehensive High School in Agusan del Sur was declared the champion in the individual category of the recently concluded 18th Intel Philippines Science Fair, which took place at the Tagaytay International Convention Center in Tagaytay City from Feb. 13 to 17.

Rivas’ win in the contest sponsored by micro chip manufacturer Intel Philippines has given him the distinction of being an international qualifier for the 58th Intel International Science and Engineering Fair to be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the United States, on May 13 to 19.

He was among 10 young science students selected from the Philippines to compete against the best of the world’s best young scientists and test their mettle for the benefit of mankind.

read more here (http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200703090404.htm)

Impressive. It's definitely nice to hear more about kids like him. And the good thing with his discovery is that it's something that can easily be accomplished. Who knows? It may be a key to propel the Philippines forward more.

Francis20

March 9th, 2007, 10:05 AM

^^ I might start training my gradeschool siblings to discover extraordinary inventions out of ordinary stuff like rambutan and tilapia scales. :) sounds ordinary to me and yet very clever discoveries. iskul is cool talaga.

kiretoce

March 10th, 2007, 04:00 AM

DIVA TALK: Chatting with Les Miz Star Lea Salonga
By Andrew Gans 09 Mar 2007

http://www.playbill.com/images/photos/DC582540B4CD474E8BEE789DF6F5D726.jpg

Lea Salonga, who boasts one of the purest voices in the musical theatre today, burst onto the international theatre scene in 1989 when she created the role of Kim in the original London production of Miss Saigon. Salonga would later repeat her success in the 1991 Broadway production of that Alain Boublil/Claude Michel Schönberg musical. In fact, Salonga won both Olivier and Tony awards for her heartbreaking performance of a young mother who sacrifices her own life for that of her child. This writer was lucky enough to catch Salonga's performance several times — both during her original Broadway run and when she returned to the show nearly a decade later — and she was never less than thrilling, giving a haunting, moving and beautifully sung performance that was one of the theatregoing highlights of the '90s. In fact, Salonga possessed such a perfect mix of wide-eyed innocence and steely determination that one never questioned that this young woman would go to any length for her child's welfare.

At the time she was playing mom Kim to young son Tam in Saigon, the Philippines-born actress was single; now, Salonga is married to Robert Chien, and the couple welcomed daughter Nicole into the world this past May. Last week Salonga told me, "I wish I had [experienced motherhood] when I did Miss Saigon, all of the experiences and emotions that go with it."

The recent birth of her daughter, however, has greatly informed her performance in her latest Broadway outing — Les Misérables' Fantine, another ill-fated mother who sells her locket, her hair and eventually her body to help care for her young daughter Cosette. Salonga has succeeded former Renter Daphne Rubin-Vega in the role that was created for London audiences by Tony and Olivier winner Patti LuPone and for New York theatregoers by Tony winner Randy Graff.

Salonga, who joined the cast of the Broadway revival of Les Miz at the Broadhurst Theatre March 2, spoke with me during her brief rehearsal period. "I first sang [for the role of Fantine] for Claude-Michel Schönberg when I was eight months pregnant," the singing actress laughs. "Later on, way after I gave birth I sang again for John Robertson, who is in Cameron Mackintosh's office in Australia. I guess he gave Cameron a positive assessment and reported back saying that I would be good for the part. The wheels started going in motion, and here I am."

Fantine, Salonga admits, was actually not a role that she had particularly coveted. "I was always obsessed about [playing] Eponine, and then I got to play her [on Broadway and in the West End], and [the producers] made my dream come true. Fantine never really entered my mind until people started talking that perhaps it would be a good idea, and then I started thinking about it."

Fred Hanson, an associate director and executive producer of the current production of Les Miz, guided Salonga during rehearsals. "The great thing about how he's been steering me along," she explains, "is that given the constraints and the context of the show, we're trying to be as faithful to the original novel as we can be. I read the Fantine pages of the novel I don't know how many times . . . . It's just gut-wrenching to read . . . [and] jarring to read, and it's also a little jarring to play. I'm trying to stay as close to how Victor Hugo painted her and envisioned her and created her, and sometimes that means going to an emotional place that isn't always comfortable or pleasant or sweet or lovely. Sometimes it's going to some of the darker places of one's mind and heart and trying to get all of that out."

Salonga says she regrets not having read the Hugo novel before she played Eponine during the musical's original Broadway run, so "[for] Fantine I really wanted to get back to read the original material and see exactly who she is. I've seen so many Fantines — I've seen it played so many different ways, so in my mind I'm thinking, 'Okay, I really should read the book' so that I really know how this person lived and breathed in the pages of this novel, rather than going by how Patti LuPone created her or how Randy Graff created her, and the many, many Fantines that have come and gone throughout the 20 or 21 years of the show's existence.

"I wanted to read the book and figure out who she was from reading it. It's really been interesting, and the great thing also is . . . [I'm] not married to any staging that has been created in the past by anybody. I'm not a peg that's being put into any of the holes. It's been like, 'Do what you feel. Do what your instincts tell you. Do what your gut tells you. . .' Obviously, there are certain spots and certain areas on the stage where I have to stay in for either lighting purposes or the sets, but for the most part, I've been given a lot of free rein to create this part. So, in a way, I'm sort of starting from scratch, which is really nice."

When asked to describe Fantine, Salonga says, "She can be a bit of a dreamer. She can be somebody who finds herself in her own little world from time to time, and she keeps going back to the good experiences of her life, even though her life is turning into a hell of sorts. She's somebody who's just fiercely devoted to her daughter and will do anything [for her]. As we all know in the story, she sometimes does the unthinkable just in order to send money to her daughter — and in the novel she sells her teeth. It's something that nobody in this day and age can relate to, but if you've got to grasp onto the blade of a knife, you will. And, in that case, she did in order to send 40 francs to her daughter."

As Fantine, Salonga also gets to wrap her beautiful and powerful voice around one of the rich score's best offerings, "I Dreamed a Dream," which has been recorded by dozens of performers. Like the role, the Tony-winning performer also approached the song by reading the Hugo novel. "I spent many nights crying into my bed and into my pillow [after reading the Fantine pages], and once I opened my mouth to sing 'I Dreamed a Dream,' it was just never the same. It didn't feel the same, and it became more interesting for me to do."

Salonga also recently released her latest solo recording, "Inspired," which is available as an import on amazon.com. The CD, she says, features "ballads, certainly — not a whole lot of musical theatre, but they're all richly orchestrated songs. A lot of them are covers, a couple of originals. The album is in English, and [we had] a really good time recording it." The recording — which features such tunes as "When October Goes," "My Foolish Heart," "Brian's Song," "Sing" and "Waiting for Love" — has already gone gold in her native country.

When asked about her solo Carnegie Hall concert debut in November 2005 — a superb evening where Salonga proved her mettle singing nearly three hours' worth of tunes mostly drawn from the musical theatre's past few decades — the singer says, "Oh my God, it was nuts! It was absolutely nuts, but boy, it was an incredible, incredible experience. I couldn't believe I had done it — and three months pregnant."

The moment that most stands out in her mind from that evening, which was directed by Richard Jay-Alexander, was "singing 'I Still Believe' with Liz Callaway. . . . I think the audience reaction was something that neither of us expected. It was just something special because it had been maybe 13 or 14 years since we sang it together [in Miss Saigon], and when we did, it was as if we were just transported back to 1991. It was as if no time had passed. It was incredibly emotional and really wonderful."

Salonga and Callaway, in fact, will reprise that tune for the upcoming Nothing Like a Dame benefit concert March 19 at the Marquis Theatre. "We're re-creating, I guess, that moment, but I won't be pregnant anymore, so it'll be easier for me to sing," she says with a laugh.

Future plans for the multitalented actress include the title role in an Asian tour of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella and, Salonga says, "once Nicole is a little older, maybe we'll start working on another child."

kiretoce

March 15th, 2007, 03:24 PM

Young Pinoy robot designers eye NIC status for RP
Thursday, March 15 2007

Young Filipino engineering students have shown their great potentials in robotics technology, which is seen to propel the Philippines towards the acquisition of a newly industrialized country (NIC) status in the next few years.

They demonstrated their capability in the development of robotics at the opening of the two-day Robotic Mini-Olympics at the De La Salle University (DLSU) on Thursday.

Three graduating Electronics Communications Engineering (ECE) students from Holy Angel University (HAU) in Angeles City won the first prize in the national competition. Their entry was a pair of synchronized dancing robots, which they designed by themselves, including the software that enables the robots to perform in the manner they are being told.

The first prize winner went to Hernani Catacutan, 21, Alvin Calma, 21, and Jerick Penano, 21, all ECE graduating students of HAU.

HAU Prof. Arnold Santos, advisor of the group, supervised the design of software.

It took the HAU students two months to design their winning entry.

Prof. Ioan Marinescu, director of the Precision Micro-Machining Center, College of Engineering of the Unversity of Toledo, U.S.A., one of the judges of the robotics competition, was impressed by the design made by the three Pampango engineering graduates.

The HAU bet bested the three entries of DLSU.

The second winning entry went to DSLU first year Manufacturing Engineering & Management students Joshua Aragon, 18, Samantha Ang, 18, and Anton Valencia, 18, for their dancing robot design.

Another DSLU students taking up Bachelor of Computer Science in Software Technology - Christian Chiu, 17, Irene Tan, 17, and Peter John Lee, 18, copped the third prize with their dancing robotics entry.

Engr. Jimmy Itao, president of Industrial Control Corporation of the Philippines, who co-sponsored the robotics competition, together with DSLU, said Filipinos are learning fast in robotics.

Itao said the first place winner will be sent to Tokyo for the international robotics competition sometime this year.

Dr. Elmer P. Dadios, DSLU director, product and design innovation, cited the capability of Filipino engineers to produce robotics designs that are comparable to the world's best.

Dadios showed Marinescu a robot designed and developed by DSLU engineering students. This robot stops automatically when it gets blocked.

DLSU students also demonstrated their mini-basketball robot that can shoot the ball - into the ring - from a distance.

As this developed, Dadios urged the government to allocate more funds for research and development (R&D), in a bid to hasten the industrialization of the Philippines.

kiretoce

March 15th, 2007, 03:39 PM

Pinoy named Harvard Scientist of 2007
By Doreen Yu The Philippine Star

A Filipino molecular biologist has been named by the Harvard Foundation as 2007 Scientist of the Year.

Dr. Baldomero Olivera, son and namesake of a former STAR columnist, will receive the distinction at an honorary luncheon on Friday at Harvard’s Pforzheimer House, which opens the annual Albert Einstein Science Conference sponsored by the Harvard Foundation. The foundation is observing its 25th anniversary this year.

Olivera, who was nominated by the Harvard Foundation’s Student/Faculty Advisory Committee, is being honored for his contributions in the field of biology, in particular for his groundbreaking research on neurotoxins produced by venomous cone snails found in Philippine waters. The toxins that he and his team identified are now widely used in neuroscience research.

He is a leading figure in the emerging field of neuropharmacology. Although based in the US, Olivera maintains a laboratory in the Philippines that continues research work on neurotoxins that target specific ion channels in the central nervous system. His work has led to the development of a drug, now in clinical trails, that appears to be more effective against chronic pain than morphine. Knowledge provided by his basic research studies may also shed light on conditions, such as schizophrenia and epilepsy, which involve the function of receptors and ion channels in the nervous system.

"Dr. Olivera is widely respected as a biological scientist for his excellent work in neurotoxicology and his dedication to students in the field," said Dr. S. Allen Counter, director of the Harvard Foundation and associate professor of neurology and neurophysiology.

"In his research, teaching, and social commitments, he is a distinguished role model whom we honor for his fine example," Counter added. Olivera is Distinguished Professor of Biology at the University of Utah. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry, summa cum laude, from the University of the Philippines and a doctorate in biochemistry from the California Institute of Technology. He did postdoctoral work at Stanford University with Dr. I Robert Lehman.

Last year, he was appointed a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor. Olivera has published over 250 scientific papers on the biological sciences.

Each year, the Harvard Foundation and members of the science community present a special award to an internationally acclaimed scientist for his or her contributions and achievements in the biological and physical sciences, and particularly their efforts to advance minorities and women in the sciences.

Olivera will receive the award from the dean of Harvard College and the president of Harvard University.

Olivera will speak about his life as a scientist and deliver remarks to encourage college students to pursue careers in the sciences.

On Saturday Olivera will join some 30 Harvard undergraduate students and a hundred boys and girls from Boston and Cambridge public schools for the foundation’s annual Partners in Science program, which features lectures and demonstrations by Harvard science faculty at the Science Center for inner city junior high school students, and interactive science experiments with Harvard College students.

Last year’s Harvard Foundation Scientist of the Year awardee was Dr. P. Uri Treisman, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Texas in Austin, who was recognized for his efforts to improve math and science education, particularly for minorities.

Past Harvard Foundations honorees include Nobel Laureate in chemistry Dr. Mario Molina, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, former chair of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, astronauts Dr. Ellen Ochoa and Dr. Mae Jamison, mathematician Dr. Jonathan David Farley, and distinguished mathematics teacher Jaime Escalante of the Stand and Deliver project.

The annual Harvard Foundation Albert Einstein Science Conference: Advancing Minorities and Women in Science, Engineering and Mathematics aims to bring together a diverse group of professors and students with interest in the basic, applied, natural and biological sciences. It is named after the distinguished scientist who visited historically black colleges to demonstrate his commitment to equal education and civil rights, and who spoke out against racism and anti-Semitism in American and around the world.

kiretoce

March 15th, 2007, 03:42 PM

For the 3rd time, woman tops PMA graduating class
By Artemio Dumlao The Philippine Star

Fort Del Pilar, Baguio City – For the third time since women were admitted into the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) a decade ago, a woman has topped the graduating class.

Soon-to-be Navy Ensign Andrelee Samson Mojica said she never dreamed of becoming a sailor, much less besting her 281 mistahs or classmates in the "Maragtas" Class 2007.

"I only dreamed of getting an education," said the 23-year-old native of Cavite, who failed the PMA entrance exam the first time she took it.

PMA officials led by superintendent Maj. Leopoldo Maligalig take pride in the fact that about 11 percent of the more than 1,000-member Cadet Corps of the PMA are women.

And it’s not only in academics where the women are excelling but also in the field, Maligalig said.

A study of women entering various professions in the Philippines shows that they reach top management levels, said assistant PMA superintendent Brig. Gen. Nicomedes Corpuz.

There have been 148 female graduates of the PMA since 1997. All are doing good work in the military, Maligalig said.

There are 23 female cadets, or 10 percent of the class, who will graduate on Monday before President Arroyo, the second woman president of the republic.

It was in 1994 when the tradition of male dominance at the PMA was broken by virtue of Republic Act 7192, the Equal Opportunity Act.

In 1999, now Navy Ensign Arlene dela Cruz became the first female valedictorian of the PMA. Dela Cruz, who hails from Camiling, Tarlac, was formerly a math major at the University of the Philippines in this city.

Female power again came to fore in 2003 when Marikina lass Tara Velasco, now a second lieutenant, topped the graduating class.

Another 23-year-old, Cadet Jonelle Diego Beltran of Sta. Maria in Zamboanga City, was cum laude this year. He will receive the Vice Presidential Saber and the Philippine Air Force Saber for being the No. 1 cadet joining the Philippine Air Force.

The third top cadet to graduate this year is Arnold Santos Enriquez, 22, of San Roque, Zamboanga City. For being No. 3 in the Military Precedence List, Enriquez will receive the Secretary of National Defense (SND) Saber.

From business to military life

Born in Indang town, Cavite, Mojica is the youngest of seven siblings. She said she first dreamt of venturing into business. She enrolled at the Cavite State University and was already a sophomore when she tried taking the PMA entrance examinations.

Failing for first time, Mojica challenged herself to apply again and finished all the requirements.

On April 1, 2002, her determination found her marching with hundreds more of her mistahs (classmates) at the Borromeo Field during the summer incorporation of new plebes.

Mojica will receive from President Arroyo the Presidential Saber and the PGMA Achievement Award. She will also receive in Monday’s graduation rites the Philippine Navy Sword and the JUSMAG award.

"I only tried my very best," Mojica said. "I challenge all women in the world to do the same. And I hope to bring pride to women."

Fourth placer Cadet Emil Gaspar Leyba, 21, of Acop, Tublay, Benguet will receive the Philippine Army Saber and the Army Professional Courses Plaque, plus the JUSMAG Award for being the top graduate joining the Philippine Army.

Only one cadet is graduating magna cum laude – James Lowell Andaya of Dumaguete City.

The other cadets who made it to the top 10 are: Judyline Badana Canoneo, 26, of Talisay City, Cebu; Cyrus Angelo Alon Castillo, 23, of Muntinlupa City; Reuben Sancho Bolivar Zate, 22, of Nabua, Camarines Sur; Lemuel Rae Ancheta Antonio II, 22, of Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

The other awardees are: Cadets Frederick Tagabuan (Tactics Group Award); JD Ibay (Mathematics Plaque, Natural Sciences Plaque, Engineering Sciences Plaque & Tambuli Award); AB Soria (Humanities Plaque); JD Cabayacruz (History & Strategy Plaque); JE Constantino (Leadership Development Award & Aguinaldo Saber); JN Zulueta (Air Force Professional Courses Plaque); ML de Jesus (Sports & Physical Development Plaque); and Bryan Velasco, editor-in-chief of the Corps Magazine (Journalism Award).

Women’s world

Fifth and sixth in this year’s PMA honor and merit roll are also women. Gemilyn Ardo Mendoza, 23, from San Quintin town in Pangasinan, who will receive the Australian Defense Best overall Performance Award is only four notches behind Mojica, while Judyline Badana Cañoneo, 26, of Talisay in Cebu is number six.

Like Mojica, Mendoza, also repeated PMA entrance exams. She said she enjoyed her four-year cadet life, adding she was "inspired" by her cousin, who was also a PMAyer, to join.

"I only thought of entering the PMA to become better. Now, I am one of the best," she said.

Mendoza, too, is "proud of bringing honor to women of the world" with her feat.

Cañoneo said she also did not expect to be in the top ten of their class, even as she admitted that she "gives the best of herself always."

Raised by a single parent, the sixth placer said she was discouraged by her mother to become a soldier because she is a girl. But she was persistent.

"Magiging military ako, ma (I will be with the military, ma)," she vowed then to her mom. When she took the entrance examinations with her male friends, she was the only one who passed.

Cañoneo said she thought she would only be her mom’s "savior," not the country’s, as signified by the meaning of her class name "Maragtas," or Marangal na Tagapagligtas.

tigidig14

March 15th, 2007, 05:12 PM

kiretoce

March 17th, 2007, 04:51 AM

Premier Filipino Supermarket Prepares for Entry to Las Vegas
March 16th, 2007

Shoppers will experience the difference the minute they enter Seafood City, scheduled to open soon along Maryland Parkway in Las Vegas. The premier Filipino full-service supermarket is designed to evoke a feeling of home with the use of ethnic accents, earth tones and Asian / Filipino themes throughout the store.

Just imagine shopping among rows and rows of familiar products such as rice cakes, dried sea-herring, Filipino sausages – to name a few. Indeed, one will find a vast array of Filipino and Oriental grocery items as well as the American products that commonly found in Filipinos homes. Walk-around fish display tables provide the added feel of being in a “talipapa” setting. It will surely make shoppers feel as if they were right back home!

Seafood City will also offer the freshest produce, USDA-approved meat and the widest range of seafood at everyday low prices. Another unique service that the supermarket will offer is fish cleaning and frying.

Shoppers will definitely feel the convenience and ease of shopping at Seafood City, with its wide, spacious aisles, state-of-the-art check out system and ample parking space. The supermarket also maintains one of strictest standards of sanitation, health and safety in the industry. Its operating standards are in a class of its own, setting it apart from other Filipino and oriental stores.

Seafood City is intended to become a hub for Filipinos. In front of the supermarket will open a multitude of popular Filipino establishments such as Jollibee, ChowKing, Red Ribbon, Valerio’s Tropical Bakeshop, PNB Remittance and Atlas Padala.

Seafood City promises to live up to its tagline, “Higit sa Lahat, Pilipino!” by becoming a destination for the Filipino community in the area and reaching out to as many Filipinos as possible. Seafood City is located at 3890 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89119 (adjacent to The Boulevard Mall), a mere stone’s throw from the famous Las Vegas Strip.

Espma

March 17th, 2007, 12:18 PM

Pinoy named Harvard Scientist of 2007
By Doreen Yu The Philippine Star

He is a leading figure in the emerging field of neuropharmacology. Although based in the US, Olivera maintains a laboratory in the Philippines that continues research work on neurotoxins that target specific ion channels in the central nervous system. His work has led to the development of a drug, now in clinical trails, that appears to be more effective against chronic pain than morphine. Knowledge provided by his basic research studies may also shed light on conditions, such as schizophrenia and epilepsy, which involve the function of receptors and ion channels in the nervous system.

Whoa..more effective than morphine?!!..very very interesting indeed, I hope when the time comes for mass production the main production facility will be in the Philippines.

jbkayaker12

March 17th, 2007, 08:49 PM

bitoy

March 18th, 2007, 03:55 AM

^^ along Maryland Parkway in Vegas are some more famous Filipino eateries like Goldilocks and DJ's Bibingkahan and I believe another Asian store.
It will really depend on the customer's appetite or situation as in pag puno sa Goldilocks, tatawid sa tapat yung iba to eat at DJ's and Vice Versa.
Even in Henderson, there are some Filipino Turo-Turo stores already.
It would be nice if Filipino dishes would be added in some Vegas Casino Buffet menus.

demented_pigeon

March 18th, 2007, 02:40 PM

bitoy

March 19th, 2007, 12:01 PM

Filipino gets top prize at Asian reg'l teacher conference

First posted 16:39:15 (Mla time) 2007-03-18
Alexander Villafania

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/4396/itilwinners2zc7.jpg

A FILIPINO teacher of English, Warren Ambat, has been named Innovative Teacher of the Year at the 2007 Microsoft Regional Innovative Teachers’ Awards.

Ambat, who was also a winner at the Philippine Innovative Teachers Leadership Awards (ITLA), was accompanied at the awards ceremony in Siem Reap, Cambodia by his ITLA co-winners: Donald Dungog, who teaches at the Science and Technology Education Center in Lapu-Lapu City; and Evelyn Waperi from Iligan City National High School.

Ambat, who teaches English literature at the Baguio City National High School-Main, bested 250 other teachers from 23 countries for the award, which recognizes teachers who use innovative methods in their instruction programs.

His project, “Localization and Digitization: An Approach to Appreciating Shakespearean Plays,” aims to instill an appreciation for literature and culture in the students by using the Internet as a resource for materials on the works of English playwright William Shakespeare.

Eventually, students would be asked to produce short films that interpret some of Shakespeare’s works in a Filipino setting.

“It’s not easy to integrate ICT in lessons, especially in a public school. I experienced opposition from traditionalists. Discovering this community of teachers who were also dedicated to tapping technology to improve their teaching encouraged me,” said Ambat.

ITLA is a program of Microsoft Philippines Partners in Learning (PiL) that recognizes high school teachers who have effectively integrated technology into classroom teaching.

Michelle Casio, Microsoft Philippines' academic programs manager, said the recent gathering in Siem Reap was one of the biggest and most successful Microsoft regional innovative conferences staged since the launch of PiL.

“The attendees were selected from more than 22,000 educators and represented over 7,500 schools,” she said.

cheersmate

March 24th, 2007, 11:35 PM

Whoa..more effective than morphine?!!..very very interesting indeed, I hope when the time comes for mass production the main production facility will be in the Philippines.

in our trust..we've run out of morphine.
great!! way to go pinoy!!:applause:

kiretoce

March 29th, 2007, 10:34 PM

Apl.de.ap, another Fil-Am to be proud of (http://www.mb.com.ph/ENTR2007033090766.html)

We have another Fil-American talent to really be proud of. He is APL.de.ap (real name, Allan who’s originally from Pampanga but who’s been living in Los Angeles, California since he was 14), one of the four members of the phenomenally successful Black Eyed Peas, a three-time Grammy awardwinning hip-hop group.

APL, who’s the composer of Black Eyed Peas (he put Filipino lyrics and street slang straight into the Billboard charts through the hits "Bebot" and "The APL Song"), came to town recently for his launch as the newest endorser of the local fashion label Human. APL met the media at the Manila Peninsula Hotel upon his arrival. Yes, he came to his press conference (hosted by Joey Mead) donning cool Human apparel. APL is one guy that kids look up to and maybe this was the reason he was signed up as celebrity endorser for Human. The music star was launched in a grand event held at the SM Mall of Asia, and he was also seen visiting the latest Human concept store in Glorietta, Makati City.

Soon Human will be coming out with a new collection of shirts that are inspired by Apl.de.ap. and his talent for turning old Tagalog slangs into cool, catchy songs. These new shirts carry an image of the Philippine flag together with words that will soon be catchphrases such as Humanila,""Hey Bebot" and "Groove with the Kelot." This season, Human is proud to launch its new denim line, "Human Genes," as featured in APLs latest campaign.

Said Suyen Lim of Human: "We love the fact that APL is a popular and talented artist yet remains humble to his roots and true to his Filipino genes. He stands out in the crowd, he has his own style and he’s confident about who he is. His style, like his music, is a mix of the new and the old, a playful meeting of the hip-hop fabulousness and vintage flair. Hip and very universal. We wanted someone who is fun, confident and not afraid of being different. Apl.de-ap is perfect for the brand because the young consumers know him and his style."

APLs trek towards music stardom wasn’t easy but arduous. His story was told on ABS-CBN’s prime drama anthology "Maalaala Mo Kaya." His father, who was with the US Navy stationed in Clark Air Base, abandoned the family shortly after Allan was born. His mother, a Filipina, raised him and his four brothers and two sisters on her own. He was adopted by an American couple when he was 14 and moved to LA, leaving his family behind. Like anyone else, Allan felt lonely in his new country, as he, expectedly, experienced culture shock. It was a good thing, his mother and adoptive parents raised him well, otherwise, he could have easily joined the gangs in the streets in his LA neighborhood.

Luckily, APL was thrown into music and in 2003, together with his group apl.de.ap released the phenomenal album "Elephunk" which made Black Eyed Peas a name to reckon with in the international music scene, winning to this date three Grammy Awards, the most coveted of recognitions in world music. This year, the honor they got was for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the hit "My Humps."

APL, who claims that he is greatly inspired by Stevie Wonder and The Beatles among others, said he feels proud to be a Grammy winner. "I feel honored and real proud for who I am, I’m very proud of being Filipino, and I thank the Filipino people for their support. Of course, I’m also very proud of being with the Human family."

Soon, APL will be releasing his solo album, and to preserve his ethnic identity, he’d like to put more Tagalog songs into it. He’d also like to collaborate with Filipino artists. "I’m really looking forward to collaborate with Filipino artists," he said with enthusiasm.

Asked what he missed in the Philippines, APLs answer was: "The chicken adobo, fishballs, halo-halo, kalamay, and Filipino reunions, which are always happy occasions." He recalled: "Although we were poor, I didn’t feel it because we were happy most of the time, Filipinos are a happy people."

His message to the Filipino youth is this: "Pursue your dreams, don/t get discouraged by bumps in the road, keep working, just keep on..."

episteme

March 30th, 2007, 01:57 AM

Between Poverty and Paradise
Paolo Mangahas

LAST night, I had dinner with a German friend to talk about her planned trip
to the Philippines . She had just completed an internship program in one of
the law firms here in Malaysia and wanted to take a short holiday in a
nearby country before heading off to Australia to finish her studies. She
wanted to know more about the Philippines and asked me for tips on making
the most of the two-and-a-half weeks that she had allotted for this
vacation.

We planned her trip between bites, armed only with a faded map of the
Philippines that we had downloaded from the Internet. My goal was to
identify all the "must-see" places in the country (her criteria being
beaches and volcanoes), plot them according to distance and flight routes,
and then cram them all in 17 days. A tall order indeed, especially for
someone like me who has never had a sense of direction even in my own
neighborhood. For the life of me, I could not spot where Boracay was on her
map.

So I took the easy way out and told her to go to Palawan instead.

I carried on with the task like a diligent student trying to remember my
geography, starting from the rice terraces in Banaue up north, moving down
south to the Mayon Volcano in Bicol and the Chocolate Hills in Bohol . It
was an embarrassing ordeal nonetheless as she could see that I was
struggling to find all the other attractive destinations on the map, which
in turn made me realize how little I truly knew about my own country. She
was very excited about the trip and was eager to learn more about the
country and its people. She imagined the Philippines to be an eternal fiesta

of Spanish and Chinese Third-World flair, filled with warm and accommodating
people who all speak with a clear American accent, where all men have the
handsome earthy appeal of Jericho Rosales and women the heavenly mestiza
charms of Kristine Hermosa (thanks to Filipino soap operas that have become
so popular here in Malaysia ). It was certainly one of the most honest
cultural impressions that I have ever heard and quite amusingly, one shared
by many. In my German friend's opinion, the Philippines is one of the most
open-minded countries in Southeast Asia . I found this view rather
interesting, especially since it came from a European who has never stepped
foot in the Philippines and whose only direct exposure to the country, was
me.

The funny thing about cultural impressions is that they often come from a
place of both acute perception and blatant ignorance, split in the middle by
what is painfully true. But they are what they are ~ impressions. Quite
naturally, my friend and I have come to build our own impressions about
Malaysia in the several months that we have been here. Malaysia is a
beautiful country that seems to be in a hurry to develop economically, but
is hampered by a palpable trace of social reluctance. It seems grounded on
an age-old culture that simply does not mix well with progress, or at least
the kind dictated and exemplified by the Western world. I find this true for
most developing Asian countries, including the Philippines.

My friend pointed out that she has never seen a beggar in the streets of
Kuala Lumpur since she moved here and asked me if it is the same in the
Philippines . As a matter of fact, she admitted that she has never seen a
beggar up close in her whole life and asked me to explain how it is to live
in a poor country like mine.

She wanted to know more about poverty. Her question struck a chord in me
because I realized that apart from Jericho Rosales, this woman had
absolutely no idea about the country where she was going and how it was out
there. Here was someone who came to me wanting to know more about my country
and the best I could offer was a geographical representation of scenic
destinations, which I hardly even knew myself.

By this time, I had put down the pen I was holding, set aside the map, and
got ready to explain to her details about my country. I did not know where
to begin. After all, how does one explain poverty to someone who has never
experienced it before? To make things more relevant to her, I started by
comparing the Philippines to Malaysia. I told her that blue-collar workers
in the Philippines did not have the same opportunities as the ones in
Malaysia, who can afford to eat in the same restaurants where executives eat

or even shop in stores where their own bosses shop. I told her that unlike
the ones I have met in Malaysia, secretaries and administrative clerks in
the Philippines will eat in posh restaurants only on very special occasions
and can barely afford to travel to other countries. I then told her about
the beggars, young and old, who parade the streets of Manila , the children
who knock on car windows selling sampaguita, the mothers who have to forage
for food in garbage landfills, and the unemployed fathers who waste their
lives on drugs and alcohol. I told her about the shanties that bedeck
highways and railroads, the unproductive traffic jams, the garbage-infested
streets and sewers, and the regular typhoons that flood the country and
exacerbate already poor living conditions. I told her that poverty in the
Philippines unapologetically hits you in the face the very moment you step
in. It is an open wound just waiting to be healed.

My friend looked shaken, as if experiencing for the first time a world she
has seen only on TV. That was when my tears started to fall. I could not
help it. I have never cried in front of a semi-stranger before but for some
reason, I cried this time because she was still not immune to these things.
Her unawareness taught me to see poverty as if for the first time myself,
which brought out a lot of pain. I have become so used to the pain that I
have forgotten how it felt until I painted for her the sad face of poverty.

I then found myself having to explain to her that despite all these, the
Philippines is still a beautiful country and this you will also feel the
very moment you get there. It is a beauty characterized by the indomitable
human spirit of a people who have seen better days and yet still have the
capacity to find a piece of heaven in their lives. It is a beauty defined
by the untiring faith of a people who have learned to acknowledge their
plight with reverence and yet have never lost the courage to dream big
dreams. It is a beauty characterized by the painful history of a people who
have been abused and pillaged through the years and yet still have so much
of themselves to give.

Now her tears were falling, smearing the map that I had earlier vandalized
with circles and arrows. But I knew it did not matter anymore at this point.

I realized that my friend had learned all she needed to know about my
country and my people. She thanked me profusely, saying that she came to me
wanting to know more about how poor the Philippines is but in the end, she
learned how abundantly blessed Filipinos truly are.

A beach is a beach and a volcano is a volcano anywhere in the world, but it
is the people who make the difference. I learned in that moment that I may
not know the geographical features of my country all too well, but I sure
know its heart and its soul because it is who I am. The real poverty lies in
not knowing this.

j-pol

March 30th, 2007, 05:34 AM

^^ inspiring.:)

crappypants

March 30th, 2007, 06:18 AM

i think that was already posted. but just as well. there was also a pinoy kid who won a spelling bee in florida.

zeejay

March 30th, 2007, 07:53 AM

The Philippines ranks 8th among countries with super-growth companies.

In a survey conducted by accounting and consultancy firm Grant Thornton International, 21% of the Philippine companies surveyed qualified as super growth companies. A super-growth company is one that has grown considerably more than the average growth, measured against key indicators including turnover and employment. These ranking shows that Filipino companies have the potential of turning into big companies which would mean additional employment to our countrymen. http://businessmirror.com.ph/0330&312007/headlines02.html

beads_strawberries

March 30th, 2007, 09:12 AM

^^ I wouldn't be surprised. :)

After all, the historic 24 months of continuous economic growth puts us in the limelight in terms of economic development. Surely, the heightened economic growth helped these companies step up to have their individual growth.

But I think the government is now encouraging those small and medium size enterprises this year. Maybe in time, they'll become big companies of their own.

heathcliff

March 30th, 2007, 11:12 AM

This is a good read. It's about the need for Filipinos to regain our self confidence and self respect. Filipinos have contributed a lot to the economies of the world but continue to be experts in putting ourselves and our country down.

_________________________________________

A Day Without Filipinos
By: Fr. Jess E. Briones

Let's imagine then, not just California, but the entire world, waking up one day to discover Filipinos have disappeared. I'm talking here about the six or seven million Filipinos currently working overseas in countries with names that run the entire alphabet, from Angola to Zimbabwe.

Let's not worry first about why or how the Filipinos disappeared; in fact, it becomes academic whether it's a day or a week. Just imagine a world without Filipinos.

Think of the homes that are dependent on Filipino housekeepers, nannies, caregivers. The homes would be chaotic as kids cry out for their nannies. Hong Kong and Singaporean and Taiwanese yuppie couples are now forced to stay home and realizing, goodness, there's so much of housework that has to be handled and how demanding their kids can be and hey, what's this strange language they're babbling in?

It's not just the children that are affected. The problems are even more serious with the elderly in homes and nursing institutions, because Filipino caregivers have provided so much of the critical services they need. When temporary contractual workers are brought in from among non-Filipinos, the elderly complain. They want their Filipino caregivers back because they have that special touch, that extra patience and willingness to stay an hour more when needed.

Hospitals, too, are adversely affected because so many of the disappeared Filipinos were physicians, nurses and other health professionals. All appointments for rehabilitation services, from children with speech problems to stroke survivors, are indefinitely postponed because of disappeared speech pathologists, occupational and physical therapists!

Eventually, the hospital administrators announce they won't take in any more patients unless the conditions are serious. Patients are told to follow their doctors' written orders and, if they have questions, to seek advice on several Internet medical sites. But within two days, the hospitals are swamped with new complaints. The web sites aren't working because of missing Filipino web designers and web site managers.

Service establishments throughout the world -- restaurants, supermarkets, hotels -- all close down because of their missing key staff involved in management and maintenance. In Asia, hotels complain about the missing bands and singers.

In the United States, many commercial establishments have to close shop, not just because of the missing Filipino sales staff but because their suppliers have all been sending in notices about delays in shipments. Yup, the shipping industry has gone into a crisis because of missing Filipino seafarers.

The shipping firms begin to look into the emergency recruitment of non-Filipino seafarers but then declare another crisis: They're running out of supplies of oil for their ships because the Middle Eastern countries have come to a standstill without their Filipino workers, including quite a few working for the oil industry.

Frantic presidents and prime ministers call on the United Nations to convene a special session of the Security Council but Kofi Annan says he can't do that because the UN system itself is on the edge, with so many of their secretarial and clerical staff, as well as translators, having disappeared from their main headquarters in New York and Geneva, as well as their regional offices throughout the world. Quite a number of UN services, especially refugee camps, are also in danger of closing down because of missing Filipino health professionals and teachers.

Annan also explains that he can't convene UN meetings because the airports in New York, Washington and other major US cities have been shut down. The reason? The disappeared Filipinos included quite a few airport security personnel who used to check passengers and their baggage.

Annan calls on the World Bank and international private foundations for assistance but they're crippled, too, because their Filipino consultants and staff are nowhere to be seen. Funds can't be remitted and projects can't run without the technical assistance provided for by Filipinos.

An exasperated Annan calls on religious leaders to pray, and pray hard. But when he phones the Pope, he is told the Catholic Church, too, is in crisis because the disappeared include the many Filipino priests and nuns in Rome who help run day-to-day activities, as well as missionaries in the front lines of remote posts, often the only ones providing basic social services.

As they converse, Annan and the Pope agree on one thing: the world has become a quieter place since the Filipinos disappeared. It isn't just the silencing of work and office equipment formerly handled by Filipinos; no, it seems there's much less laughter now that the Filipinos aren't around, both the laughter of the Filipinos and those they served.

I know, I know, I'm exaggerating the contributions of Filipinos to the world but I'm doing what the producers of "A Day without Mexicans" had in mind: using a bit of hyperbole to shake people up.

As their blurb for the film goes: "How do you make the invisible, visible? Make them invisible."

As I wrote this column, I did realize I was doing this not so much for the Hong Kong Chinese and Taiwanese and Singaporeans and Americans who don't appreciate us enough, than for us, who as Filipinos, are pretty good at putting ourselves down, at making ourselves invisible.

DoggMann

March 30th, 2007, 04:54 PM

The Filipino Spirit is Rising

By Antonio Meloto

2007 Commencement Exercises
Ateneo de Davao University

Today I feel intelligent. Not only am I addressing some of the brightest minds in Mindanao, but I am also being honored by this prestigious university with a Doctorate in Humanities, Honoris Causa. This is the first doctorate I have received and I am accepting it in all humility and pride as a recognition of the nobility of the cause and the heroism of the thousands of Gawad Kalinga workers that I represent.

Thank you Fr. Ting Samson and Ateneo de Davao for bestowing the highest academic degree on a man who was born without a pedigree- the "askal" (asong kalye) who went to Ateneo and came back to the slums to help those he left behind.

To a person like myself who did not excel in Ateneo in my pursuit of a college degree, receiving this Ph. D. is extremely flattering, being fully conscious that my principal role in this movement is to be the storyteller of the many who put in the sacrifice and the hard work and yet have remained mostly unrecognized.

It is also exhilarating because it builds on the growing global awareness, triggered by Gawad Kalinga and other movements that have not given up on our country, that the Filipinos can and will build a squatter-free, slum- free and hunger- free Philippines by committing their collective genius, passion and strength towards restoring the dignity and the potential for excellence of the poor, the weak and the powerless.

Wherever the Filipino is in the world

The Filipino spirit today is rising wherever he is in the world. He is starting to discover that he has the power to liberate himself from being a slave of the past… that he can remove the label stuck to his soul – second class people from a third world country… that he can correct the scandal of history of being the most corrupt in Asia despite being the only Christian nation, until East Timor, in the region.

In the right setting the Filipino has proven that he can be law- abiding, hardworking, honest and excellent.

Over the years, I have not met a Filipino beggar in my travels to the US, Canada and Australia…not a single beggar have I seen or have heard of out of more than 2 million Filipinos in the US; many Caucasians, Afro- Americans and Latinos,-yes,- but no Filipinos. Clearly, it is not the nature of Filipinos to beg if he is in the right home and community environment. The mendicant culture in his native land is man- made and artificial and can therefore be unmade and corrected if we give him back his dignity which is his birthright as a son of God.

In the same vein, we know that the Filipino is not lazy. Time Magazine in its 2006 article on Happiness identifies the Filipino as one of the ethnic groups in America least likely to go on welfare. How many of us know of friends and relatives who would take on two or even three jobs in pursuit of their dreams for a better life? Hardworking when motivated, resilient when tested – that is the Filipino…that is us. It is no surprise therefore that the average income of the Filipino- Americans is higher that the US national average; the former slave is now richer than the master in his master's home country.

We must believe that we were designed for excellence. World-class Filipino doctors and nurses are healing the sick of America and Europe. Our sailors dominate the seas in every mode of marine transport for commerce and pleasure, providing every imaginable form of service- and often, always, they are the best navigators, the best chefs, the best entertainers. Thriving economies in Asia carry the mark of Filipino managerial expertise in their start-up stage. Filipino CEOs, CFOs, COOs, captains of top multinational corporations carrying on the proud expat tradition of SGV's Washington Sycip, PLDT-SMART's Manny Pagnilinan, P&G's Manny Pacis and many others.

Sadly we are top of the line, crème de la crème, the best of the best elsewhere in the world except in our homeland. While the Jews and the Arabs were busy building abundance out of their desert, we were busy creating a desert out of our abundance.

Let us put a stop to our inanity and hypocrisy. Let us stop cracking jokes about our shame and misery. Instead let us celebrate with our hard work and integrity the return of our honor and pride as a gifted people, blessed by God with this beautiful land. Let us honor every great deed, every sacrifice, and every kindness that we extend to our disadvantaged and needy countrymen.

Let us put an end to our lamentation. We have suffered long enough. For 400 years, we have been gnashing our teeth, blaming one another, stepping on each other and yet, at the end of the day have the temerity to ask God why this is happening as if it was His fault. It is now time to hope, to care, to work together and to rejoice.

Yes, we will rise as a nation if we nurture this emerging beautiful spirit of the Filipino and cultivate an intelligent heart. How? When we show our love for God by being our brother's keeper- giving land to the landless, homes to the homeless and food to the hungry. This is about love and justice in a country where the majority of our people are landless, millions of them living in shanties and slums and 17% of them experiencing hunger in a rich and fertile land. This is not about charity but about authentic Christian stewardship and nation- building.

We will rise as a nation when rich Filipinos will consider the poor as an heir, like our youngest child, equal in worth and dignity with our own children, deserving an equal share in our children's inheritance. A beautiful spirit and an intelligent heart consider the poor as family, see the face of Christ in them, and see the paradise that every slum community can become. That is why every GK home is beautifully painted and the standard of landscaping of every GK village is Ayala Alabang or Ladislawa in the case of Davao.

When we build first-world communities for the poorest Filipino, we give them dignity and first world aspirations that will motivate them to dream bigger and work harder with support and nurturing. A recent study of GK Brookside, Payatas conducted by the UP Diliman College of Economics revealed an amazing result – the confidence and self- respect of the residents, many of them former scavengers, rose from 17% before GK to 99% after GK; 93% consider themselves better off in terms of quality of life and 96% believe that their economic situation will improve in the future. Clearly the spirit of the poor is rising because those with the most share their best with the least.

This nation will rise if her sons and daughters abroad will see wisdom in helping not just their relatives, which is an admirable Filipino trait, but also the poor they do not know who need help the most.

Last night, I arrived from a week in the U.S. for the world premiere in Chicago of "Paraiso", the Gawad Kalinga movie, and GK events in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The movie was a big hit but the bigger hit for me was the phenomenal response of our patriots in America to help the motherland by building self-reliant and sustainable GK communities. The UST Medical Alumni Association of America Board was planning not just building more houses but also hospitals and community health programs through Gawad Kalusugan. USTMAA president Dr. Primo Andres is building a beautiful GK Village for his wife, Sylvia in Panabo, Davao where she comes from as an expression of his deep affection for her. Another Davaoeno, former Cabinet Secretary Cito Lorenzo, joined me in booming Las Vegas to honor Filipino entertainers and realtors who are investing in the rebuilding of their home country.

Passion for the Philippines was evident everywhere I went. From successful young San Diego businessman Tony Olaes, who spoke about sleepless nights in his excitement to help fund 20 new GK villages with his Filipino business partners, to the SouthCal Ancop Sikad Bikers pedaling to build Sibol Schools and the Bayanihan Builders who are retired professionals in Los Angeles repairing homes of neighbors to raise resources to build homes in Bicol, to the 8 nurses in NorCal working extra shifts to fund their individual GK villages. The Filipino exile is waking up and starting to unleash a stream of Patriot Funds that will augment the OFW flow in fuelling the Philippine economy.

Today I am here to salute the beautiful spirit and the intelligent heart of the people of Mindanao. Many of our volunteers here, like many in other parts of the country, build homes for the poor when they themselves do not own land or home. Christians here, starting with caretakers from Couples for Christ, set aside fear and comfort to serve our fellow Filipinos in Camp Abubakar and other Moslem GK communities.

Your students are going out of the classrooms to learn about life and love of God and country by serving in poor communities. The LGU of Davao led by Mayor Duterte and many throughout Mindanao are doing massive land banking in solidarity with our conviction that no Filipino deserves to be a squatter in his own country. And many families here are starting to understand that giving a part of their land to give dignity and security to the landless and homeless poor is not only right with God but also builds peace, triggers economic activity, improves land values- creates a win- win situation for all.

And to you my dear graduates, what can I say? Congratulations of course for finishing what you began and for joining the ranks of the elite few of the Filipinos with a college degree. I thank your parents for their sacrifice and for giving us sons and daughters who will steward this country better than us.

You are entering adult life equipped with a degree from a respected university at an auspicious time in the life of our country. It is your destiny to reach maturity during this great season of hope, this exciting time of awakening, this period of great challenge and heroism.

You have the choice and the opportunity to correct the mistakes of our generation and build a future full of hope in this country. You can be the new breed of political leaders who will gain your mandate through visible and quantifiable performance, rather than mastery of the art of winning elections through cheating and corruption. You can be the new captains of business and industry who will work for profit with a conscience, expanding the market base by wisely investing in developing the potential of the poor for productivity. You can be the new elite of this country who will not be happy to send your children to exclusive schools and live in exclusive subdivisions if out of school street children are ignored and Lazarus continues to live as a squatter outside your gates.

Who can stop us from claiming our Promised Land? Spain is not our master anymore. America is not our master anymore. Japan is not our master anymore. Our enemies are not the corrupt politicians, the greedy rich, the lazy poor, the religious hypocrites and other convenient scapegoats. Our enemies are not out there anymore. Our enemies are now within us.

We have compromised our values and tolerated corruption. We have lowered our standard and tolerated poverty. We have sacrificed the truth for hypocrisy. We have chosen convenience for vision, popularity for leadership…and have chosen despair over hope.

Do we fight or do we run? Is there a King Leonides among you who will fight for honor and freedom? Are there 300 Spartans among you who will confront our enemies with extraordinary courage and love? Can you be the army who will lead our people to victory following the path of peace? Are you the generation of patriots who can shout to the world that no Filipino will remain poor because you will not allow it; that no Filipino will remain a squatter because you will not allow it; that no politician will remain corrupt because you will not allow it?

If you are, join us in Gawad Kalinga. Together, we can build a great nation, first world in the eyes of God and respected by other great nations.

Godspeed to you our patriots and heroes. God bless our beloved Philippines.

Animo

March 30th, 2007, 05:15 PM

TAKIN’ CARE OF BUSINESS By Babe Romualdez
The Philippine Star 03/27/2007
Email: babe_tcb@yahoo.com

Conchitina Sevilla-Bernardo, wife of our Philippine Ambassador to Spain Lani Bernardo, wrote a book entitled Being Truly Filipino: Expressions of an Identity, recounting her experiences as the wife of the Ambassador to the Kingdom of Spain. The book embodies what being a Filipino truly is, even while Conchitina strikes a balance between the acceptable norms of the country they were in with that which is distinctly Filipino.

She sent me an advance copy of her book, which she is launching tomorrow at the Manila Polo Club. Breezing through it, I couldn’t stop reading because it reminds me of our Spanish roots. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Conchitina achieves what most academics and historians fail to do — evoke interest from the reader about this country’s shared history with Spain, a topic that most Filipinos take for granted. She writes the book in an easy, conversational manner and presents history without the heavy and convoluted language that is typical of history books.

It was fitting for historian Ambeth Ocampo to have written the foreword, articulating quite well the initial impressions I myself had about the book. Ocampo notes the effortless manner by which Conchitina writes on food, fashion and style, showing that it is possible to place Filipino elements in an international setting. "That she could write a short survey of Philippine history based on Spanish materials was surprising, more so because it is made accessible to a general interested reader, and is mercifully free of the incomprehensible prose and jargon that pass for academic history these days," Ocampo says. I totally agree with him, especially since one could see both the passion and the pleasure Conchitina had during her voyage of "discovery." This was obvious in every chapter, even from the preface alone where one could already have a sense of things to come, as she skillfully weaves in personal sentiments with historical information. The author speaks of writing the book in the sunset of her life, a period she describes as truly enriching and stimulating.

Conchitina eloquently expresses it when she invokes the old saying, "Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan, hindi makakarating sa paroroonan" (translated in English as "One who does not look back from where he started will not get to where he is going") and uses it as a fitting context for the Filipino’s search for his roots, and his quest for his national identity. I believe that when one finds his roots, only then will he begin to understand his identity. Conchitina makes a compelling argument about who the Filipino is, citing historical and anthropological data to prove that way before any European contact, the Philippines already had interaction with various races like the Malays, Chinese, Indonesians, Arabs and Indians. Even prehistoric Filipinos already had culture and expressions of artistic creativity, seen through ordinary objects that feature Basque and Polynesian designs. Knowing all these makes us realize that even before the word "globalization" became a byword, the Filipino has been truly global — a point that should bring pride to every Filipino.

What also makes the book truly fascinating are the illustrations that accompany each chapter, especially those that detail the Philippine Embassy and Residence, where every effort was made by Ambassador Lani and Conchitina to evoke all things Filipino. Her husband, the author reveals, wanted a Filipino house, but he also wanted it to be contemporary as he feels that modern Filipino furniture (made by Filipino designers) is world class. Beautifully photographed dining tables, eye catching presentation of Filipino dishes contribute in making the book visually interesting as well. Perhaps what would also be most appreciated by readers are the personal memories and experiences of Conchitina during her five-year stay in Madrid, as they serve as a guide for Filipinos on how they can project the Philippines wherever they may be, and whether they are OFWs, diplomats or exchange students.

Being Truly Filipino is a must-read for all of us, and it should be included in the required list of readings for students of Philippine history and culture. Congratulations to Conchitina for this well written, excellent book. She is indeed the epitome of a well-bred, classy Filipina lady — a perfect match to our Ambassador to Spain.

crappypants

March 30th, 2007, 08:00 PM

that's a beautiful speech by Maloto.

Insanedriver

March 30th, 2007, 08:44 PM

PaoloMig

March 30th, 2007, 08:51 PM

^^ that was a tear jerker

tigidig14

March 31st, 2007, 01:17 AM

i read that whole thing
well thats life not everyone is rich in pnas

bitoy

April 2nd, 2007, 11:09 PM

http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/1841/picgal00yy4.jpg

HILMARIE Nimo poses with her medals and her siblings’ awards
that adorn the unpainted walls of the sparse Nimo home in the village
of Talbak, Doña Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan. RUDY ESPERAS

Charcoal maker’s daughter bags New York scholarship (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=58482)
By Margaux Ortiz
Inquirer
Last updated 11:22pm (Mla time) 04/02/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- She dreamed about it, she acted it, and now she will live it.

The 15-year-old girl, who grew up in a small mountain town in Bulacan, has been given a chance to study in a New York City college after her story of hope touched its president.

Soft-spoken Hilmarie Nimo learned of the New York scholarship a day before her school’s recognition ceremony on March 30, where she reaped almost all the medals in her junior high school class.

Hilmarie now looks forward to taking up political science at Manhattanville College in three years after she graduates at the Talbak High School and undergoes a two-year “transition period” at a local university in preparation for her life in the Big Apple.

OtAkAw

April 3rd, 2007, 07:07 AM

^^What an inspiring young lady. Sana marami sa ating mga kababayan na mahirap ang makaranas ng biyayang natanggap niya. She deserves it very much.

beads_strawberries

April 3rd, 2007, 08:02 AM

^^ Congratulations to that young girl.

May she be an added inspiration to the youth. Unfortunately, some of the youth today doesn't think much of the importance of education in their lives. Currently, they are addicted to technology and vanity that they tend to forget education, even if their parents are working hard so that they can provide their children the education they need.

This just shows that because you're not rich, you cannot pursue your dream of studying at best universities.

Lili

April 3rd, 2007, 06:32 PM

-TC-

April 3rd, 2007, 07:49 PM

Nice, inspirational story. I wonder how she was able to get that scholarship in Manhatttanville College. Did she write the president of the college? Was there a contest?

@tsinoy's post was cut... below is the rest of the story....

A few hours before Hilmarie heard the good news, she had taken part in a rehearsal for their class performance of Marcelino Agana Jr.’s “New Yorker in Tondo.”

“I feel like I can relate to my role,” Hilmarie told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, although she had never been to either New York or Tondo. She used her imagination. In fact, the only time she left her native Talbak at Doña Remedios Trinidad in Bulacan was when she once accompanied her grandmother to Malabon.

“I read about all these places and dream about going there,” Hilmarie, who again topped her class this year, said in Filipino.

Born to charcoal makers who barely make enough money to survive, Hilmarie, the eldest of seven children, takes care of her siblings whenever her parents are out to work.

“I’ve been doing this since I was in the third grade,” she said. She hurries home from school to prepare dinner -- usually ginisang kalabasa or sitaw (sauteed squash and string beans). “Meat is rare and expensive here,” she added.

After putting her siblings to sleep around 8 p.m., Hilmarie studies until midnight.

“My parents were not able to reach high school because they were so poor,” she said. “They have taught us that for as long as there is an opportunity, we should finish school.”

Hilmarie has taken her parents’ advice to heart. Her medals and her younger siblings’ awards adorn the unpainted walls of the sparse Nimo household.

“I am very proud of her. I knew she was talented the moment I heard her recite the lines from a poem I taught her when she was three,” Hilmarie’s father Enrique, 41, said in Filipino.

Enrique said his only regret was not being able to adequately guide his gifted daughter in her homework.

“My parents, who worked as house help all their lives, could not send me to school when I finished grade six,” Enrique said, wiping his tears and apologizing.

Enrique once told Hilmarie to stop going to school to give way to her younger siblings. He said he could not afford her annual P200 tuition fee and P2 daily allowance, which Hilmarie spent buying fish crackers to eat with her rice for lunch.

“I lost hope then. I had just graduated valedictorian from Talbak Elementary School, something I did not expect to achieve because I was always absent from class,” said Hilmarie.

Two out of five days a week, Hilmarie had to stay home to help her father make charcoal. She had a hard time catching up with her lessons.

Fate had other plans for her. During her final exams, she was able to answer a particularly difficult math question after having seen it in her school’s recently installed Knowledge Channel. That earned her highest honors in her class.

“I was very happy then, but the joy I felt soon turned to sadness when my father told me that I should also give my sisters and brother a chance to finish elementary school,” Hilmarie said.

It was during this difficult time, when she was 12, that Knowledge Channel again played a crucial role in Hilmarie’s life. During an interview with Knowledge Channel staff, she talked about her situation and a director came to her rescue.

Doris Nuval offered her a scholarship and a chance to finish school here.

But Hilmarie’s story reached New York City late last year through Knowledge Channel’s president and executive director, Rina Lopez-Bautista, who often traveled to spread the good things that her educational television was doing in poor schools in the Philippines.

Bautista’s presentation last September before a UN forum in New York recounted Hilmarie’s story of hope. It touched the president of Manhattanville College in New York City who offered Hilmarie a scholarship to study there.

“A number of individuals and private institutions have offered to help Hilmarie in academic and personality development,” said program manager Riza Muñoz.

While Hilmarie’s mother Vilma and grandmother Jovita were supportive of the New York scholarship, Enrique expressed apprehension.

“As parents we could only advise Hilmarie; the choice to follow her dreams and future is hers,” Enrique said.

“I have always dreamed of going abroad, but I have only read about other countries in books or seen them on television,” Hilmarie said, her tears belying her clear, unwavering voice.

Earlier in the day, she had rehearsed her role in the “New Yorker in Tondo.” Now, she smiled at the thought of being a “Bulakenya in New York.”

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=58482

Lili

April 3rd, 2007, 08:57 PM

^^ Oh my. That lass has a lucky star. There are other talented people who are not given the same breaks and opportunities.

It would be interesting to read her astrological chart. This is not to say that she is not smart and brilliant, but there is some sort of luck indicators in that story.

First, the fact that she became valedictorian notwithstanding missing a lot of classes. Then, chancing upon the Math question which she remembered in the Knowledge Channel. Then, being interviewed by Knowledge Channel and the director there coming to her rescue. Then, being showcased in a UN meet and capturing the attention and sense of magnanimity of Manhattanville college president.

The fact that she was rehearsing for A New Yorker in Tondo was somehow a sign of things to come. Serendipity at work.

bitoy

April 3rd, 2007, 09:06 PM

^^ Ganoon ata talaga ang buhay, kung sino pa ang malayo siya pa ang matalas ang paningin para makatulong sa nangangailangan.

But there are some deserving high-school students from the low income areas also that were given scholarships to colleges and universities in Manila.
Medyo hindi lang na feature dahil the media focus more on political EK EKs. :cheers:

Sinjin P.

April 4th, 2007, 11:17 AM

Kelan ba tatangkaing akyatin ng isang babaeng Pinoy ang tuktok ng Everest?

bitoy

April 4th, 2007, 04:34 PM

Kelan ba tatangkaing akyatin ng isang babaeng Pinoy ang tuktok ng Everest?

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=55573

3 Filipinas leave for their Everest climb
By Tarra Quismundo
Inquirer

Posted date: March 18, 2007

MANILA, Philippines--In their backpacks were mountain gear, winter clothes and prayers.
Out to prove that the Filipino woman can do it, the trio of Carina Dayondon, Janet Belarmino, and Noelle Wenceslao flew on Sunday to Thailand enroute to Nepal for the most challenging expedition of their lives -- climbing the 29,035-foot Mt. Everest, the world’s tallest peak (8,849.868 m).

"Kaya ng Pinay. Hindi tayo pahuhuli. Pwede tayo makasabay [The Pinay can do it. We won’t be left behind. We can do what they can do]," the 28-year-old Belarmino said. "We may be different from men, but we are equal."

Insanedriver

April 4th, 2007, 11:30 PM

:gaah: Ang galing naman niya!
I was never absent in school last school year...
I listen to my trigonometry teacher very seriously
And study them...
all of a sudden... mali mali parin ako sa test and exam :lol:

anu ba naman ako... tatanga tanga

kiretoce

April 12th, 2007, 01:35 AM

Asteroid named after Filipino (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=73199)
The Philippine Star

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts – An asteroid circling the sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter and measuring four to nine kilometers in diameter has recently been named after a 77-year-old Filipino scientist and former director of the Philippine weather service.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) last week officially christened minor planet No. 6636 as "Kintanar" in honor of Dr. Roman Kintanar, who headed the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) for nearly 36 years before retiring in 1994.

Asteroids are solid chunks of metal-rich rocks left over from the formation of our solar system some 4.5 billion years ago. They range from small pebbles and boulders to the size of islands hundreds of kilometers across.

"This is such a big honor for me," says Dr. Kintanar, a physicist by training. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas in 1958. "I feel that my efforts in the past are well compensated by this unique accolade."

Kintanar’s name was proposed to the IAU in recognition of his long service and innumerable contributions to the advancement and modernization of weather forecasting in the Philippines.

The IAU, through its 16-member Committee on Small Body Nomenclature, is the sole scientific organization with the authority and responsibility of naming bodies in the solar system, such as planets, satellites, asteroids, and comets.

In the case of minor planets, for centuries they have traditionally been named after mythological figures and geographical places, as well as renowned scientists, poets, composers, artists, novelists, and other prominent personalities.

The official citation for asteroid 6636 Kintanar, published in Minor Planet Center Circular No. 59384 on April 2, reads: "Roman Lucero Kintanar (b. 1929) directed the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration from 1958 to 1994. A dedicated public servant and distinguished scientist, he was president of the UN World Meteorological Organization during 1979-1987."

According to the MPC Circular, the asteroid was discovered on Sept. 11, 1988, by Bulgarian astronomer Vladimir Georgiev Shkodrov at Rozhen Observatory, and was given the preliminary designation 1988 RK8.

It revolves around the sun at an average distance of 338 million kilometers and takes 3.4 years to complete one orbit.

Asteroid 6636 Kintanar is currently about 261 million kilometers from Earth, shining very dimly at magnitude 18 near the ecliptic, in the constellation Leo.

One would need a fairly large telescope and a sensitive CCD camera in order to record its tiny, star-like image.

Kintanar joins a growing constellation of minor planets that have been named after Filipinos. It began in 1995, when the IAU named asteroid 6282 Edwelda in honor of the writers of this article.

Edwelda, which is a combination of the authors’ first names, was bestowed in recognition of their accomplishments in the field of astronomy, including the book they wrote on Halley’s Comet, which was published in 1985 by the National Research Council of the Philippines.

American astronomer Carolyn S. Shoemaker discovered asteroid 6282 in 1980 from Palomar Observatory near San Diego, California.

Seven years later, high school teacher Josette Biyo and students Allan Noriel Estrella, Jeric Valles Macalintal, and Prem Vilas Fortran M. Rara were each honored with a minor planet for winning the 2002 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Louisville, Kentucky.

Their asteroids – christened 13241 Biyo, 11697 Estrella, 12088 Macalintal, and 12522 Rara, respectively – were all discovered in 1998 by LINEAR, a robotic telescope in Socorro, New Mexico, operated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory.

Then in 2005, asteroid 4866 became known as Badillo, after Father Victor L. Badillo, the former director of the Jesuit-run Manila Observatory in Quezon City and one of the founders of the Philippine Astronomical Society.

Edwin Aguirre and Imelda Joson are honorary members of the Astronomical League of the Philippines (www.astroleaguephils.org).

garzland

April 12th, 2007, 03:11 PM

Anino Mobile's Anima Wars wins a major award in the International Mobile Gaming Awards (IMGA) in Barcelona, Spain.

The Filipino mobile game development firm became one of the six top winners in the prestigious competition.

The company's game Anima Wars won IMGA's Best Use of Connectivity Award, as well as a corresponding $5,000 in cash.
Thumbnail: Anima Wars

Anima Wars is a turn-based battle strategy game based on the classic board game Risk. The main goal is for players to use their armies to take over the stronghold of their enemies.

What gave the victory to Anima Wars in the category is its unique "ghosting system," which is a wireless connection capability that allows four other players to cooperate and fight another four players in a battle.

Anino Games co-founder Niel Dagondon said their achievement hopes to spark opportunities not just for their company but also for the entire fledgling game development industry in the Philippines.

"Our company's foundation is based on the belief that the Filipino talent is world-class, and this award is a testament to that belief. We truly are world-class and the rest of the world is taking notice," he said.

Anino Mobile is the mobile applications division of Anino Games, a full-scale game development company co-founded by Dagondon.

garzland

April 12th, 2007, 03:13 PM

Filipino singer-actor Jericho Rosales is a big hit in one of Africa's largest countries, after months of watching Pangako Sa 'Yo and Sana'y Wala Nang Wakas dubbed in English.

The locals of Ghana finally had the thrill of seeing Jericho Rosales live in the flesh when he performed as the main act in the 50th Independence Anniversary festivities at the National Theatre last March 6.

"Their reaction to his visit was nothing short of wild hysteria, matching the excitement of the visits of Thalia, Pope John Paul II and F4," enthused Jericho's Management Associate, Marinez Elizalde of Manila Genesis Entertainment and Management.

"People showed up at the airport, along the streets, en route to the hotel and every place that Jericho would go. We were both so shocked. Even little kids would run to him and give him hugs and handshakes. It was amazing!" she added.

The alternate chanting and shrieking of "Christian!" and "Angelo!" (the characters Jericho played on Sana'y Wala Nang Wakas and Pangako Sa 'Yo respectively) by the frenzied mob clearly certified the 2 teleseryes as smash hits in Ghana.

"People would drop everything just to watch these shows, and have clamored for more Jericho's shows to be aired!", reported Janet Carboo-Danquah, Manager for Public Relations of Ghana's local TV3 Network.

Arranged by the promoter, Dzigbodi Attotey of N.A.G. Media Ltd., Jericho appeared on Ghana local television programs Music Music and Start where he promoted his album, and talked about the Philippines in interviews. Local radio stations committed to airplay songs from his album: Jeans Loose Fit (distributed by EMI Records). Jericho wrote all the songs in the album.

At showtime, which also featured Ghanaian award winners Batman Samini, Ofori Amposnsah and Ebo, pandemonium broke out at Jericho's initial appearance on stage rendering Nightsky, a cut from his album. Displaying his versatility as a singer apart from being an actor, Jericho's energy soared higher with his dynamic performance of MR. MART, yet another cut from the same album, as the cheering African audience rocked the theater. The only cover in his repertoire that night was John Legend's Ordinary People, which he dedicated to the appreciative crowd with which he exhorted the appreciative crowd not to act rashly but to think things through, just "take it slow, _cause you and I are all ordinary people."

garzland

April 12th, 2007, 03:21 PM

Elisea "Bebet" Gozun was recently named one of seven Champions of the Earth for 2007 by the United Nations Environment Program.

The UNEP award now on its third year has been naming six individuals representing each continent for the award, plus one special prize for a total of seven champions of the earth per year.

Of the 21 named so far, Gozun, who was environment secretary from 2002-2004, is the first Filipina in the list that includes former US Vice President Al Gore (co-winner this year) and former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev (2006). Other winners this year include Cherif Rahmani of Algeria, Viveka Bohn of Sweden, Marina Silva of Brazil, Prince Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan, Gore of the United States, and Jacques Rogge and the International Olympic Committee as UNEP special prize awardee.

Since leaving the government, Gozun has returned to her job as consultant for the World Bank in its City Development Strategy Project, which works closely with the local government on geo-hazard assessment in the layout of cities.

She says Marikina has been taking the lead in the strategic development of its urban landscape, with Davao and Cebu cities also showing room for improvement, unlike other cities in the metropolis whose design may be beyond repair in terms of environmental makeover.

OtAkAw

April 12th, 2007, 05:36 PM

^^As I read that article, nagsisink in yung fact na that is a BIG AWARD! Congratulations to Ms. Gozun for a jobe well done and for receiving such a prestigious award!

sandrn

April 12th, 2007, 06:01 PM

Imelda in Bloomberg News Again, doh!

Take note of the apple powerpoint presentation

Imelda Marcos Giggles Over Castro, Sighs for Saddam, Noriega
By Yvette Ferreol
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=afgYkH05qbLU&refer=exclusive
April 12 (Bloomberg) -- Imelda Marcos, former First Lady of the Philippines, glides into the living room of her Manila apartment in a black pantsuit attended by four servants.
At 77, the widow of the ousted President Ferdinand Marcos retains the regal bearing of her years in power as well as her trademark bouffant. ``My hair goes down to my knees,'' she says. ``I have an expert girl who combs my hair. She's been with me for 42 years, so she does it quickly.''
On the feet of the woman once known for the thousands of shoes in her palace closets? I saw plain black leather slippers.
In the course of two days, three venues and about eight hours of conversation, Marcos talks about her husband's gold hoard, her grandson's jewelry line, her encounters with world leaders, exile in Hawaii, notoriety in New York, the concept of ``Imeldific'' and a personal philosophy that blends math, mothering and the Bible.
Marcos still has the power to charm even Filipinos who deride her. I grew up in the Philippines under martial law and moved to New York in 1992. Few of my generation and older have forgotten how our country was ground into poverty under her husband's rule while the rest of Asia bred vibrant Tiger economies.
Ferdinand Marcos was overthrown in 1986 and died in exile in Hawaii in 1989. Imelda Marcos returned to Manila in 1991 and has been involved in numerous court cases in the U.S. and the Philippines over allegations of corruption, amassing illegal wealth and illegally maintaining Swiss bank accounts holding more than $500 million.
Jesus in Headdress
Our first talk takes place in her apartment on the 34th floor of a luxury high-rise in the capital's Makati financial district. Chinese warrior statues stand guard at the front door. On the head of a porcelain baby Jesus sits a headdress with faux jewels and heart-shaped frames holding pictures of the First Couple. Another Jesus statue wears as a necklace a reproduction of a piece of jewelry given to Marcos by Burmese ruler Ne Win, she says.
The maize-colored walls are hung with gold-framed paintings by Pissarro, Grandma Moses, Picasso, Miro, Bonnard, Fragonard, and a mother and child that she says is by Michelangelo. A marble head that she says is also by the Renaissance master rests on a black-lacquered grand piano.
Castro's Mother
These are among the artworks the Marcoses held on to when the Philippine government confiscated their property, Marcos says. The state sold the bulk of their paintings for a total of ``$15 million, 186 of them,'' she says. ``Can you imagine? Botticellis, Canalettos. Gone. One painting alone cost $25 million.''
Everywhere there are photos of the Marcoses with world leaders, including Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, Pope Paul VI, Emperor Hirohito, Indira Gandhi, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles. Prominently displayed atop her piano are Saddam Hussein, Muammar Qaddafi and Mao Zedong. Fidel Castro sits in the driver's seat of a car in one photo, with Marcos as his passenger.
``Fidel Castro has said in his whole life, he has only driven for two people: his mother and Imelda Marcos,'' she says, giggling.
At her signal, a man dressed in black (as are all her male servants) fetches a biography of Mao. She takes it from him and flips to a marked page.
``Look at this photo. It says, `Mao flirting with Imelda Marcos,''' she says, pointing to a photo of Mao kissing her hand.
Death Sentence
She sighs when asked about Saddam Hussein. ``I don't believe in the death sentence. Saddam was a friend of the Philippines. He was the first leader in the Arab world who welcomed Philippine labor,'' she says, her face a mask of sorrow. ``When I was on trial, he sent his people to me in New York. If there was anything he could do for me, he was ready to help.
``The same was true of Panama's Manuel Noriega,'' she says. ``When we were forced into exile in 1986, he was the one who was about to give us a place for asylum. Some time ago, he sent me his book and a letter. I was so touched because I could not do anything to help him.''
She points out a glass case holding a bejeweled necklace she says was a gift from King Hassan II of Morocco. ``These are real. This is ruby, this is jade,'' she says.
`Be Imeldific'
``Now my kids, my grandson, look what they did,'' she says of a necklace sitting in a box outside the glass case. It's a reproduction of the Hassan piece, but with a cameo embossed with her likeness. The copy is part of ``The Imelda Collection,'' a new accessories line created by one of her grandsons, Martin ``Borgy'' Marcos Manotoc, a fashion model.
``Be Imeldific,'' is the advertising slogan. ``People have ridiculed me and called me Imeldific,'' Marcos says. The term is defined in a Merriam-Webster online open dictionary: ``characterized by ostentatious extravagance to a point of vulgarity.''
``What I did not like was the word `vulgar.' A group of my friends started looking into the meaning of `vulgar.' Apparently vulgar comes from a Greek word, `bulgaris.' And `bulgaris' means overly, overly beautiful. So I didn't have a problem with that.'' Etymologists might differ on the origins of ``vulgar.''
She laughs at reports of her excessive taste in shoes. ``I love beautiful shoes, but only if they go with my dresses,'' she says. ``You cannot wear leather shoes if you have a pina (pineapple fiber) gown. You have to get them made in the same material. And very often, if it was a beautiful terno (Philippine gown), the shoes I would have made for here were only one-inch high because Marcos was not too tall and I did not want to overshoot him. So I'd have another pair four inches high when I went abroad without him.''
VIPs and Outfits
Two female servants dressed in white pantsuits appear with a stack of ternos that they lay across the dining-room chairs. She has a staff of about 20 for her Manila apartment, ``with a small room downstairs for the security staff.''
She changes outfits less frequently than in the old days. ``An average change of clothing for me then was about seven a day'' to accommodate the many VIPs with whom she was photographed for the newspapers. ``Can you imagine if you see all the VIPs there and you are wearing the same dress? They would feel like they were nobody special.''
Now, she says, ``I just do two or three changes a day.''
Red Carpet
The interview breaks so we can ride in her chauffeur-driven BMW to her family home half an hour north of Makati. Her entourage -- ``not so big, maybe 10 only'' -- follows in a white van.
At the Marcos villa a red carpet leads from the entranceway into a plant-filled courtyard, where a stone image of a bare- chested Ferdinand Marcos stands between a Buddha and a large metal flamingo in a fish pond.
Paintings and photographs of the former First Couple line the walls of the villa, which also serves as a repository for framed newspaper clippings and copies of the 350,000 documents that she says New York prosecutors put together in their legal actions against her.
``I was persecuted not by individuals but by governments and superpowers. They spent millions,'' Marcos says. She often cries poverty during our meeting. The Philippine government estimates that the Marcoses took as much as $5 billion out of the country.
Lavish Parties
We move on to a large party room filled with more paintings of the First Couple. Men in black scurry about, turning on air conditioners.
``The only reason people said my parties were lavish was because they were always beautifully done,'' she says, showing off large centerpieces she designed. They resemble bonsai trees made of shell.
In the dining room, we sit on high-backed chairs at the long table beneath a crystal chandelier. She picks at a late lunch of takeout Japanese.
It's been about three hours since we met, and Marcos chatters on like an Energizer bunny. She says she sleeps only two hours a night.
She talks about beauty as the source of her energy, the reason why people always turn to look at her when she enters a room.
``I will convert anything to beauty,'' she says, noting that when Marcos bought the Crown Building on Fifth Avenue in New York, she was the one who ``had it gold-leafed and then lighted up so that it would be beautiful into the dark of night.''
Mothering PowerPoint
She orders one of her men in black to get the documentaries of her visit to China, ``when millions lined the streets,'' and the one called ``The Conquest of Iraq by Imelda Marcos.'' She also reminds him of the ``Mothering PowerPoint presentation.''
Using a laser pointer in the shape of a small revolver, Marcos says the foreword of ``Mothering'' was written by Igor R. Shafarevich, whom she calls the ``greatest mathematician'' of the 20th century. She says that he calls her thinking ``mathematically perfect.
``I can articulate my life in 1 and 0 and infinity. Mothering is infinity, as the Lord said: `Call my mother blessed because she is the instrument of the humanity.'''
There are charts and drawings, graphics of happy and sad hearts, stars and even an appearance by Pacman.
Seven Pillars
``The seven pillars to moral regeneration,'' Marcos says. ``Ecological order. If you have one tree and a child grows another, it brings it to infinity. Human order. If you have male and female, you have man and woman toward infinity. Economic order. Money was made to go in circles for people and not for people to go in circles for money. Man is in the center, and money goes around man so that it will flourish. Then it becomes a flower and is beautiful and has seeds. And the seed is another seedling and forever, and infinity.
``There are many gods, but only one creator,'' she says. ``Computer 0101 bite, cosmos 0101 bite, then Adam and Eve 01, see, then the creator 1 and 0 is apple. Isn't that nice?''
The next day I receive several calls from Berna Lomotan, the woman who'd arranged the original interview. Marcos wants to meet again.
I'm having dinner with my family, I say, and seeing friends afterwards. Can she join you? Lomotan asks.
Marcos and her entourage breeze into the cafe where I am seated. The room grows quiet. I introduce her to my siblings and the rest of my companions as she takes a seat in the center of the table.
`I Love Her'
``What a gifted group. I'm so sorry to gate-crash, but it's worth it,'' she says disarmingly, to the delight of everyone. You must be so proud of your children, she says, smiling at my giddy mother seated next to me.
``I love her!'' whispers my best childhood friend, an activist who had always bristled with anger when referring to the Marcos family.
The rest of the table, including my brother-in-law, who was tear-gassed during the 1986 people's uprising that led to the fall of the Marcos regime, is entranced as she goes on about Philippine pride, her childhood, her experiences with world leaders and celebrities, and her fashion sense amid legal travails.
``The New York media went crazy because I was wearing a terno, an evening gown made of flimsy chiffon, instead of an overcoat in the winter,'' she says of the day she was indicted in Manhattan. Then she catalogs the faux pas of other high- profile women.
`My Own Flag'
``Before me there was (Leona) Helmsley, bitching away, and she was ugly,'' she says, as her audience laughs. ``Then there was Zsa Zsa Gabor slapping the policeman. After that was Mrs. (Tammy Faye) Bakker, the evangelist's wife. When she would cry, her eye makeup would run and it was so ugly. I had been watching all this from Hawaii, so when my day came, I was indicted, I wanted to make a statement. I wanted to tell the world, `Why am I here? I have my own flag, laws, courts, why I am here?' I was trying to say it with as much beauty and dignity as I could muster. That's how Imeldific came to the fore.''
So how does she react to accusations that she and her husband emptied the coffers of the Philippine government, impoverishing her beloved Filipino people?
``That's crazy, you know,'' she says, her eyes widening.
She says her husband had legitimately accrued the gold before he entered politics, by working as a lawyer representing major gold companies. At one point, she says, Marcos owned 7,500 tons of gold.
Legacy of Marcos
She tells how Marcos decided to use his gold to run for president, and to bolster the Philippine currency and make the nation powerful. That is the legacy of Marcos, she says.
If all this is true, how does she feel about being vilified and reviled by so many? Ten thousand Filipinos claim they were victims of human-rights abuses during the Marcos regime.
``Initially, I sort of got irritated, but now no more. Why be angry when the truth is still with you? If the truth is still with you, you are at peace,'' she says. ``After we left (the Philippines), I saw pictures of myself on toilet paper with fangs and horns. I looked at myself in the mirror. I have no fangs, and no horns. My face does not seem to belong on toilet paper, I'm sorry.
``In one of the history books, it says I ordered the killing of Ninoy,'' she says sorrowfully.
The 1983 assassination of Benigno ``Ninoy'' Aquino Jr., a critic of the Marcos government, sparked the protests that eventually led to its downfall. Aquino's widow, Corazon, became president in 1986.
``Why would I have him killed?'' Marcos asks. ``Why would I send him abroad when he could have died naturally? That's why he even wrote a beautiful letter, thanking me for saving his life. The truth will out.''
Around the table there is silence.
(Yvette Ferreol is a reporter for Bloomberg Muse. The opinions expressed are her own.)
To contact the writer of this story: Yvette Ferreol at yferreol@bloomberg.net .

smokingunmanila

April 12th, 2007, 07:05 PM

Enrile knows who killed Ninoy....There was a power struggle before Ninoy died....Marcos was getting sickly and always having a dialysis....Marcos has to declare an election for his own men to shut up and prove to them that he is in control and nobody can replace him...

Ninoy and Marcos talked on the phone....nobody listened...but everybody knew and suspected what it was....to be continued.

le Reine

April 13th, 2007, 12:27 AM

Gosh, parang telenovela...

kiretoce

April 13th, 2007, 02:15 AM

2 Filipinos compete for Miss Universe crown in Mexico (http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=187&a=19460)
April 12th, 2007

MANILA, Philippines -- As though proof were needed that the Filipino presence is now global, two Filipino women will compete in the Miss Universe pageant to be held in Mexico City in May.

Binibining Pilipinas Anna Theresa Licaros will represent the Philippines and Mutya ng Pilipinas Kirby Ann Basken, the newly crowned Miss Norway, will carry the colors of her "other" country at the 55-year-old pageant.

Basken, 21, was born in Oslo to a Norwegian father and a Filipino mother. She was crowned Fröken Norge-Universe on Monday.

She first joined the annual search for Miss Norway in January 2006, and finished first runner-up. In June of that year, she flew to her mother's native land to represent Europe's Filipino community in the Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant, and bagged the title.

The Miss Asia Pacific Quest Inc. (MAPQI), owner of the Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant, subsequently sent her to represent the Philippines in the Miss Intercontinental pageant in the Bahamas, where she emerged among the top 12 contenders.

Bitten by bug

Sources from the MAPQI had earlier confirmed Basken's intention to take another crack at the Miss Norway title. They said she had been "bitten by the pageant bug."

On hearing the news of Basken's coronation at the Fröken Norge pageant, MAPQI director and founder Leandro Enriquez said: "We are elated. We are proud that she is a Mutya ng Pilipinas winner; it only proves that Mutya ng Pilipinas deserves international recognition."

Enriquez also said the MAPQI would not strip Basken of her local title despite her new crown.

But the Filipino-Norwegian beauty will not be able to personally relinquish her Mutya ng Pilipinas crown to her successor next month because the Miss Universe pageant requires her to be in Mexico for three weeks in May.

Basken's triumph in Norway was confirmed in Internet reports.

Lisa-Marie Moen Jünge was proclaimed Fröken Norge-World and will compete in the Miss World pageant in Poland. Anna-Marie Augustin from Fredrikstad was first runner-up.

Public votes

The winners were determined using judges' scores and public votes via SMS and the Internet.

This year's quest for Miss Norway spanned four months and had an initial 100 contestants. The roster was gradually trimmed to 40, then to 20 semifinalists, among whom 10 were selected for the final competition on April 9.

IsaRic

April 13th, 2007, 04:18 AM

She's Purty
http://mud.mm-a6.yimg.com/image/3649246846

She has a blog by the way, but its in Norweigan.

j-pol

April 13th, 2007, 04:35 AM

^^ I'm sure she's got brains, coz there are prettier ladies in the pageant.

garzland

April 13th, 2007, 10:18 AM

For three consecutive years now 2004, 2005 and 2006, the Philippines has emerged the winner in JCI's 'Best Business Plan of the World' competition, besting thousands of entries from some 100 countries. Thus, Manila Jaycees and all its sponsors take pride in helping bring out the best in budding Filipino entrepreneurs through its flagship project, the 'Best Business Plan' competition.

The contest is held yearly by Manila Jaycees as part of its search for Philippine entries to the JCI's 'Best Business Plan of the World' competition ( www.bestbusinessplan.ph) Now on its 4th year, the 2007 contest aims to sustain the Philippines' strong performance in the international competition.

More importantly, Manila Jaycees hopes to inspire more of our young breed of entrepreneurs to come up with the best among the best business plans that are not only feasible but are capable of creating a positive impact on society.
Success Stories

2004 Winner: X-Tal Farms, Inc. by Christian Guerrero of Thames Business School

In 2004, a 27-year-old student-farmer- entrepreneur, Christian Guerrero of Thames Business School in Quezon City, became the first Filipino champion in the world congress held in Fukuoka, Japan for his franchise farming business, X-Tal Farms, Inc. Guerrero won US$5,000 as seed money for his cause-oriented venture, which aimed at helping his fellow farmers in Zambales to adopt modern farming techniques and be able to market their produce profitably. Photo shows Guerrero receiving a replica of his US$5,000 check prize from JCI President Fernando Sanchez-Arias and JCI Interim Secretary General Edson Kodama at the awarding ceremony in Fukuoka.

2005 Winner: Xilworx by Ruth Michelle Ariem, Alexis Lozano, Michael Estorninos of Far Eastern University

The following year, a group of business students from Far Eastern University (FEU) called Xilworx won world acclaim in the same contest held in Vienna, Austria for their "clean" technology of extracting silver from spent X-ray solutions. Using appropriate technology to collect and process these highly toxic waste materials, Xilworx hopes to augment the local supply of silver and assist industries such as the jewelry sector while still protecting the environment. The FEU team was composed of Ruth Michelle Ariem, Alexis Lozano, Michael Estorninos and their adviser, Prof. Ramon Adviento. Photo shows Alexis Lozano and Ruth Michelle Ariem posing for posterity with a replica of their US$5,000 check prize. With them is 2005 JCI WP Kevin Cullinane.

2006 Winner: MedCorp by Mark Steven King, Ma. Cecilia Mahilum, Faye Zarate, Dhan Morris Samson, and Palarca of Ateneo de Manila University

Last 2006, the Filipino excellence continues to shine abroad, this time gaining recognition for endeavoring to market a product that can have significant impact on lowering the cost of health care for developing countries. A group of students from the Ateneo de Manila University, under the name of MedCorp, bagged the grand prize in the Best Business Plan competition sponsored by the Junior Chamber International (JCI) and held in Seoul, South Korea. MedCorp intends to market a product called Carragel. This substance is derived from carrageenan, a red seaweed extract, and is designed as a hemostatic agent, something that stops the flow of blood during operations. The Philippines supplies 80% of the global demand for carrageenan, hence Carragel can be priced over 60% lower than the other absorbable gel and foam variety of hemostats currently used in hospitals. In addition, Carragel is completely safe to use, has a faster absorption time, exhibits much more versatility, and even has the ability to inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

MedCorp was formed as part of a marketing course assignment in college, which required students to come up with a business plan to market a new or little know product or service. The team members stumbled upon Carragel through its original developer, Dr. Lucille Abad, a senior science research specialist at the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute. Now, the team composed of Mark Steven King, Ma. Cecilia Mahilum, Faye Zarate, Dhan Morris Samson, and Palarca " has plans of partnering with Zuellig Pharmaceuticals to tap its distribution network, starting with Southeast Asia and on to the Pacific rim countries within five to six years.

garzland

April 13th, 2007, 10:23 AM

Lili Adele Campos Mesenas has accomplished a feat that no other Filipino has achieved in the city-state.

The Filipino-Singaporean has made it to the finals of Singapore Post's STAMP design contest.
Thumbnail: Swordfish mailbox

Training to be an art teacher at Singapore's Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Lili Adele's drawing of a swordfish made it to the top 40 list out of 1,095 entries in the city state's most prestigious philatelic art design competition.

Her design and those of the other finalists now appear on Singapore's post boxes. The winner of the competition will be announced in May.

If you are visiting Singapore or live on the island, you can check out Lili Adele's swordfish artwork on the post box outside Tanjong Pagar MRT Station, Exit A.

To all our Kababayan's everywhere around the world, you can help Lili Adele win the contest on the strength of e-votes.

Go to www.stamp.sg to register your votes. Online voting will take place from April 2-29.

Vote for: Lili Adele Campos Mesenas

STAMP Title: "SWORDFISH" BO8

Venue: Tanjong Pagar MRT Station

garzland

April 13th, 2007, 10:26 AM

A Filipina is making waves in Chicago as a song writer, singer and head of a famous country rock band under her name called “Anna Fermin's Trigger Gospel.”

In fact, the band bearing the name of the San Carlos lass was described by Greg Kof, a columnist of the Chicago Tribune, as "one of Chicago's most treasured voices".

Ms. Fermin was only a year old when her parents Renato and Nida Peralta- Fermin immigrated to the U.S. Her family settled and laid their roots in America's dairy land at Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Although she studied classical piano and violin and performed in choirs throughout her childhood and adolescence, it wasn't after her graduation from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1993 that she wrote her first song.

She set aside her profession as a graphic designer and embarked on a career closest to her heart—singing and song writing.

The San Carlos City-borne Ms. Fermin names Patsy Cline, Nancy Wilson and Nina Simone—among many of the music world's big names—who have influenced her music and singing style, but admits her father, Renato, must have had the strongest influence on her.

Ms. Fermin recalls how her father, a self-proclaimed Filipino Elvis, used to embarrass her as he sang songs on his karaoke at parties. But she admits that it was this early exposure to his father's songs that instilled in her a love for music.

Having taught herself how to play the guitar, using a borrowed classical guitar from her 'tita" (aunt), Fermin started attending local open mikes.

There, she impressed other musicians, including her now long-time drummer Paul Bivans, who, among others, encouraged her to form her first band "Anaboy". That was the beginning of what has emerged today as "Anna Fermin's Trigger Gospel".

The other members of the band include Scott Ligon on electric guitar and keyboards, Bivans on drums, and Michael Krayniak on bass. They become the perfect complement to Ms. Fermin's stunning voice.

With her band's diverse influences and varied experiences, Fermin's music has taken on its own distinctive style. The band, incidentally, was named after an old Western novel.

Formed in 1997, "Anna Fermin's Trigger Gospel" has garnered the attention and respect of critics and music fans alike, hooking audiences with their eclectic songs and rousing live shows.

Their latest release as of October 31, 2006 were "Where My Heart Begins", "Further Along", "Softly", "Romance, "That kind of Love", "I know You", "Heaven in My New Shoes", and "Yellow Rose of Texas".

Rob Thomas of the Capital Times and of Wisconsn State Journal, wrote: "This Chicago country-rock band evokes the emotions and honesty of classic country while keeping its sounds fresh and original. And Fermin's voice is just phenomenal".

le Reine

April 13th, 2007, 04:37 PM

Wow, now we're flooded with good news.

garzland

April 14th, 2007, 05:05 AM

Internationally-renowned innovator and inventor Bonifacio Comandante is set to represent the country in a global competitin after creating another scientific breakthrough.

Comandante, the marine biology graduate student of Silliman University is a finalist in the 2007 Global Development Marketplace competition of the World Bank in Washington, DC, in May for his study of vitamin-enriched seafood through micronutrient capsules.

He famously known as the man who invented the technology whereby live fish may be transported without water.

Comandante is one of 104 finalists from 43 countries from which about 30 winning proposals will receive grants from the World Bank.

His entry which he called “Seafood Vi.a.gr.a,” an acronym for “Vitamins and Green Algae,” survived two rounds of assessment that brought together roughly 250 health and development experts from inside and outside the World Bank. Some 224 assessors volunteered in the first round in early January, and 56 returned to participate in the second round a month later, along with nine newcomers, according to the World Bank.

In 2005, Comandante bested over 150 contestants from 18 countries at the University of San Francisco international business plan competition for his technology of transporting live fish without water.

The vitamin-enriched seafood won second place in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Philippine Emerging Startups Open (MIT-Peso) Challenge, considered the playoffs in technology in the Philippines.

The Development Marketplace is a competitive grant program of the World Bank that funds creative, small-scale development projects that deliver results and have the potential to be expanded or replicated.

This annual contest, which pairs up with the World Bank Health, Nutrition and Population (NHP) units focuses on improving health, nutrition and population services for the poor.

garzland

April 14th, 2007, 05:06 AM

The films made by three Filipino directors made it to the most prestigious online film competition ON THE LOT produced by Mark Burnett (American Idol, Survivor) & Steven Spielberg (E.T., Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List).

The three short films that made the finals after weeks of competition are: "Qwerty", "Sitak" and "Lolo's Present".

This worldwide search for the next great film director on the FOX network attracted a sea of aspiring film makers for a chance to be recognized in Hollywood.

The TV reality show executive produced by Burnett and Spielberg created a show where after selecting 16 finalists, will make them compete on the cutting floor from scratch to create short films in different genres each week. Experts and acclaimed critics in the film & TV industry will share their insights and wisdom about the film makers and their work, but the TV audience will ultimately decide who remains on the show. The last film maker standing after the finals will be awarded a $1 million development deal with DreamWorks Studios.

Presently you can view the short film submissions online and decide to choose if you want to be a part of the experience. By making reviews & comments about the films as well as rating them, your voices will be heard around the world. Although popularity will not guarantee a film maker to be catapulted to finalist row, your participation in any way (spreading the word, giving a review), can still make a difference.

The Season Premiere of ON THE LOT will be May 22nd, 2007 on FOX network.

tigidig14

April 14th, 2007, 06:43 AM

kiretoce

April 14th, 2007, 07:04 AM

The films made by three Filipino directors made it to the most prestigious online film competition ON THE LOT produced by Mark Burnett (American Idol, Survivor) & Steven Spielberg (E.T., Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List).

Someone should get their facts straight. Mark Burnett does not produce American Idol. :ohno:

Espma

April 15th, 2007, 02:56 PM

^^Survivor right?!! not American Idol..

smokingunmanila

April 15th, 2007, 07:39 PM

Siguro Pinoy Idol

kiretoce

April 20th, 2007, 04:05 PM

Philippines Wins in Quran Reading Competition (http://davaotoday.com/2007/04/20/philippines-wins-in-quran-reading-competition/)

MANILA — Philippine Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam Virginia H. Benavidez reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs that two Filipinos won prizes at the 4th Southeast Asian Youth Al-Quran Reading Competition on 11-13 April 2007 at Brunei Darussalam.

Ms. Monaifah Amen Alawi and Mr. Javier Minalang were declared 1st Runner-Up and 3rd Runner-Up respectively.

Indonesians Robiyah Al Adawiyah and M. Rokkhani topped the Qari (Male Readers) and Qariah (Female Readers) competition participated in by contestants from nine member-countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The three-day event, hosted by the Brunei’s Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, was aimed at promoting and enhancing ties between youth in the ASEAN region, and raising the quality of Al-Quran recital among the youth.

His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam attended the awarding ceremonies and personally presented the prizes to the winners of the competition. His Majesty’s Government generously sponsored the airfare and hotel accommodations of all competitors in the biennial event.

Ambassador Benavidez hosted a high-tea in honor of the Filipino winners at the Ang Bahay Philippine Ambassador’s Residence on 14 April, with Atty. Metalicop Domado, Director of the Bureau of Muslim Cultural Affairs, Office of Muslim Affairs; Madrasah scholars from Mindanao, and representatives from the Filipino Muslim community in Brunei.

In her message, the Ambassador thanked the competitors for raising the profile of Filipino Muslims in Brunei through their excellent and commendable performance during the competition.

Animo

April 20th, 2007, 05:52 PM

By Antonio Meloto

Antonio "Tony" Meloto, the visionary and driving force behind the Gawad Kalinga movement, was conferred a Doctorate of Humanities, Honoris Causa, by the Ateneo de Davao. He delivered the following address to the graduates of the university, a challenge actually, for patriotism and heroism. The same message will be given to eight other colleges and universities who have asked Tony Meloto to be their commencement speaker for 2007 -- The publisher

TODAY, I feel intelligent. Not only am I addressing some of the brightest minds in Mindanao, but I am also being honored by this prestigious university with a Doctorate in Humanities, Honoris Causa.

This is the first doctorate that I have received and I am accepting it in all humility and pride as recognition of the nobility of the cause and the heroism of the thousands of Gawad Kalinga workers that I represent.

Thank you Fr. Ting Samson and Ateneo de Davao for bestowing the highest academic degree on a man who was born without a pedigree- the "askal" (asong kalye) who went to Ateneo and came back to the slums to help those he left behind.

To a person like myself who did not excel in Ateneo in my pursuit of a college degree, receiving this Ph. D. is extremely flattering being fully conscious that my principal role in this movement is to be the storyteller of the many who put in the sacrifice and the hard work and yet have remained mostly unrecognized.

It is also exhilarating because it builds on the growing global awareness, triggered by Gawad Kalinga and other movements that have not given up on our country, that the Filipinos can and will build a squatter-free, slum- free and hunger- free Philippines by committing their collective genius, passion and strength towards restoring the dignity and the potential for excellence of the poor, the weak and the powerless.

The Filipino spirit today is rising wherever he is in the world. He is starting to discover that he has the power to liberate himself from being a slave of the past - that he can remove the label stuck to his soul as a second class people from a third world country - that he can correct the scandal of history of being the most corrupt in Asia despite being the only Christian nation, until East Timor, in the region.

In the right setting the Filipino has proven that he can be law-abiding, hardworking, honest and excellent.

Over the years, I have not met a Filipino beggar in my travel to the US, Canada and Australia...not a single beggar that I have seen or have heard of out of more than 2 million Filipinos in the US; many Caucasians, Afro-Americans and Latinos -- yes but no Filipinos. Clearly, it is not the nature of Filipinos to beg if he is in the right home and community environment.

The mendicant culture in his native land is man- made and artificial and can therefore be unmade and corrected if we give him back his dignity which is his birthright as a son of God.

In the same vein, we know that the Filipino is not lazy. Time Magazine in its 2006 article on Happiness identifies the Filipino as one of the ethnic groups in America least likely to go on welfare. How many of us know of friends and relatives who would take on two or even three jobs in pursuit of their dreams for a better life. Hardworking when motivated, resilient when tested - that is the Filipino...that is us. It is no surprise therefore that the average income of the Filipino- Americans is higher that the US national average; the former slave is now richer than the master in his master's home country.

We must believe that we were designed for excellence. World- class Filipino doctors and nurses are healing the sick of America and Europe. Our sailors dominate the seas in every mode of marine transport for commerce and pleasure providing every imaginable form of service - and often always, they are the best navigators, the best chefs, the best entertainers.

Thriving economies in Asia carry the mark of Filipino managerial expertise in their start-up stage. Filipino CEOs, CFOs, COOs captain top multinational corporations carrying on the proud expat tradition of SGV's Washington Sycip, PLDT-SMART's Manny Pagnilinan, P&G's Manny Pacis and many others.

Sadly, we are top of the line, crème de la crème, the best of the best elsewhere in the world except in our homeland. While the Jews and the Arabs were busy building abundance out of their desert, we were busy creating a desert out of our abundance.

Let us put a stop to our inanity and hypocrisy. Let us stop cracking jokes about our shame and misery. Instead let us celebrate with our hard work and integrity the return of our honor and pride as a gifted people, blessed by God with this beautiful land. Let us honor every great deed, every sacrifice, and every kindness that we extend to our disadvantaged and needy countrymen.

Let us put an end to our lamentation. We have suffered long enough. For 400 years, we have been gnashing our teeth, blaming one another, stepping on each other and yet have the temerity at the end of the day to ask God why this is happening as if it was His fault. It is now time to hope, to care, to work together and to rejoice.

Yes, we will rise as a nation if we nurture this emerging beautiful spirit of the Filipino and cultivate an intelligent heart. How? When we show our love for God by being our brother's keeper- giving land to the landless, homes to the homeless and food to the hungry. This is about love and justice in a country where the majority of our people are landless, millions of them living in shanties and slums and 17% of them experiencing hunger in a rich and fertile land. This is not about charity but about authentic Christian stewardship and nation building.

We will rise as a nation when rich Filipinos will consider the poor as an heir, like our youngest child, equal in worth and dignity with our own children, deserving an equal share in our children's inheritance. A beautiful spirit and an intelligent heart consider the poor as family, see the face of Christ in them, and see the paradise that every slum community can become. That is why every GK home is beautifully painted and the standard of landscaping of every GK village is Ayala Alabang or Ladislawa in the case of Davao.

When we build first world communities for the poorest Filipino, we give them dignity and first world aspirations that will motivate them to dream bigger and work harder with support and nurturing. A recent study of GK Brookside,
Payatas conducted by the UP Diliman College of Economics revealed an amazing result - the confidence and self-respect of the residents, many of them former scavengers, rose from 17 percent before GK to 99 percent after GK; 93 percent consider themselves better off in terms of quality of life and 96 percent believe that their economic situation will improve in the future. Clearly the spirit of the poor is rising because those with the most share their best with the least.

This nation will rise if her sons and daughters abroad will see wisdom in helping not just their relatives, which is an admirable Filipino trait, but also the poor they do not know who need help the most.

Last night, I arrived from a one-week trip to the US for the world premiere in Chicago of "Paraiso," the Gawad Kalinga movie, and to attend GK events in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The movie was a big hit but the bigger hit for me was the phenomenal response of our patriots in America to help the motherland by building self-reliant and sustainable GK communities.

The UST Medical Alumni Association of America Board was planning not just building more houses but also hospitals and community health programs through Gawad Kalusugan. USTMAA president Dr. Primo Andres is building a beautiful GK Village for his wife, Sylvia in Panabo, Davao where she comes from as an expression of his deep affection for her. Another Davaoeno, former Cabinet Secretary Cito Lorenzo, joined me in booming Las Vegas to honor Filipino entertainers and realtors who are investing in the rebuilding of their home country.

Passion for the Philippines was evident everywhere I went. From successful young San Diego businessman Tony Olaes who spoke about sleepless nights in his excitement to help fund 20 new GK villages with his Filipino business partners to the SouthCal Ancop Sikad Bikers pedaling to build Sibol Schools and the Bayanihan Builders who are retired professionals in Los Angeles repairing homes of neighbors to raise resources to build homes in Bicol, to the 8 nurses in NorCal working extra shifts to fund their individual GK villages. The Filipino exile is waking up and starting to unleash a stream of Patriot Funds that will augment the OFW flow in fuelling the Philippine economy.

Today, I am here to salute the beautiful spirit and the intelligent heart of the people of Mindanao. Many of our volunteers here, like many in other parts of the country, build homes for the poor when they themselves do not own land or home. Christians here, starting with caretakers from Couples for Christ set aside fear and comfort to serve our fellow Filipinos in Camp Abubakar and other Moslem GK communities. Your students are going out of the classrooms to learn about life and love of God and country by serving in poor communities.

The LGU of Davao led by Mayor Duterte and many throughout Mindanao are doing massive land banking in solidarity with our conviction that no Filipino deserves to be a squatter in his own country. And many families here are starting to understand that giving a part of their land to give dignity and security to the landless and homeless poor is not only right with God but also builds peace, triggers economic activity, improves land values- creates a win- win situation for all.

And to you my dear graduates, what can I say? Congratulations of course for finishing what you began and for joining the ranks of the elite few of the Filipinos with a college degree. I thank your parents for their sacrifice and for giving us sons and daughters who will steward this country better than us.

You are entering adult life equipped with a degree from a respected university at an auspicious time in the life of our country. It is your destiny to reach maturity during this great season of hope, this exciting time of awakening, this period of great challenge and heroism.

You have the choice and the opportunity to correct the mistakes of our generation and build a future full of hope in this country. You can be the new breed of political leaders who will gain your mandate through visible and quantifiable performance, rather than mastery of the art of winning elections through cheating and corruption. You can be the new captains of business and industry who will work for profit with a conscience, expanding the market base by wisely investing in developing the potential of the poor for productivity.

You can be the new elite of this country who will not be happy to send your children to exclusive schools and live in exclusive subdivisions if out of school street children are ignored and Lazarus continues to live as a squatter outside your gates.

Who can stop us from claiming our Promised Land? Spain is not our master anymore. America is not our master anymore. Japan is not our master anymore. Our enemies are not the corrupt politicians, the greedy rich, the lazy poor, the religious hypocrites and other convenient scapegoats. Our enemies are not out there anymore. Our enemies are now within us.

We have compromised our values and tolerated corruption. We have lowered our standard and tolerated poverty. We have sacrificed the truth for hypocrisy.
We have chosen convenience for vision, popularity for leadership -and have chosen despair over hope.

Do we fight or do we run? Is there a King Leonides among you who will fight for honor and freedom? Are there 300 Spartans among you who will confront our enemies with extraordinary courage and love? Can you be the army who will lead our people to victory following the path of peace? Are you the generation of patriots who can shout to the world that no Filipino will remain poor because you will not allow it; that no Filipino will remain a squatter because you will not allow it; that no politician will remain corrupt because you will not allow it?

If you are, then join us in Gawad Kalinga. Together, we can build a great nation, first world in the eyes of God and respected by other great nations.
Godspeed to you our patriots and heroes. God bless our beloved Philippines.

(Speech delivered during the Commencement Exercises at the Ateneo de Davao University, March 31, 2007)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/dav/2007/04/20/oped/antonio.meloto.html

OtAkAw

April 20th, 2007, 06:35 PM

^^That man came to AUF too last February, he was invited as guest speaker to our version of ASEAN Summit, Student Leaders style. His speech was the best among the rest, eclipsing even those of a Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister and a Miss Singapore-turned-socio-entrepreneur.

Even though many of the foreign delegates did not understand his video presentation because some parts were in Tagalog, I could clearly see in their faces that they were struck by the Gawad Kalinga project of Mr. Meloto, the finest, modern-day testimony to the unique Filipino trait "Bayanihan".

garzland

April 22nd, 2007, 04:22 AM

A Filipino seaman has been honoured for bravery by the Swedish King for saving the life of a Swedish co-worker on board a cargo ship in Helsingborg, Sweden, last year.

In ceremonies at the labor department's main office, Jesus Sumook, 35, received a plaque of recognition from Christer Themner, chairman of the Swedish Mercantile Marine Foundation, for rescuing the man aboard the Saga Spray on Nov. 16.

He also received about P170,000 in ceremonies witnessed by Labor Secretary Arturo Brion and Swedish Ambassador Annika Markovic.

"I didn't expect the reward. What's important is that I helped someone so he might live," said Sumook who has been a seaman for 10 years.
Thumbnail: DOLE

He didn't know the name of the man he had rescued, but he recalled that on Nov. 16, he heard of an emergency at the cargo hold of the Saga Spray, so he grabbed a breathing apparatus and went down a shaft to check.

There, he saw a fellow Filipino lying on the floor, killed after inhaling carbon monoxide, and then the Swede who was gasping for air. He gave him his oxygen mask.

"I tried to lift him to safety to the upper deck, but he was too big and too heavy for me," Sumook said, so he stayed with the Swede until rescuers arrived.

He fainted eventually from inhaling carbon monoxide, but the rescuers found him and the Swede eventually and took them to a hospital.

Sumook is now resting and enjoying his three-month vacation with his family in Eastern Samar.

le Reine

April 22nd, 2007, 08:49 AM

New Pearl Masterpieces

By Kitty Go
Inquirer
Last updated 02:41pm (Mla time) 04/20/2007

THREE FILIPINO DEsigns stood out among 700 global jewelry design entries at the Sixth International South Sea Pearl Jewellery Design Competition held in Hong Kong.

The annual competition is organized by the South Sea Pearl Consortium, a nonprofit organization created to educate jewelry designers, retailers and consumers on the special qualities of South Sea pearls.
The consortium classifies South Sea Pearls as those that range in color from white to champagne.

The awards ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Convention Center and was sponsored by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

Philippine design talent

Filipinos take pride in their design talent, but very few have consistently won design awards and even fewer have made a living out of design-driven jewelry. Knoi Esmane, Ivan Co and Fai Co are designers at Hoseki Jewelry Art (The Podium and SM Mall of Asia), a fine jewelry house that has been in business since 1996 and has consistently been winning South Sea Pearl design competitions since 1998. Hoseki means “precious jewel” in Japanese.

Esmane considers Hoseki owner and head designer Co his mentor. His “Phoenix Rising” garnered a bronze under the “Others” category, a division that encompasses nontraditional jewelry pieces such as the other winning entries of a hand Henna piece from Turkey and a shoulder and chest piece from Hong Kong.

Esmane’s piece is what fashion industry lingo would classify as having “no hanger appeal,” meaning it doesn’t look good until you put it on. The dramatic piece, which took five months to make, is a choker of gold and oxidized sterling silver sprinkled with diamonds.

Suspended from this choker are eight pieces of baroque pearls. Peacock feathers anchor both ends of the choker while a trail of burgundy ostrich feathers curve around the torso ending in a gold pendant and three more dangling baroque pearls.

Ivan Co is Fai’s son and was second runner-up for the student category. Part of the prize is a nine-week course in jewelry design at the Gemology Institute of America (HK). Although his style is very different from his father’s, he is clearly his father’s son. Barely out of the College of St. Benilde, he already works for his dad as a designer and digital artist. His entry “Force Bangle” took four months to develop and is part of the streamlined and minimalist Uber collection that Hoseki targets to young men. The bangle is a futuristic design of four South Sea siopao/button-shape pearls on a setting of sterling silver, 14k gold and kamagong wood.

The believer

Owner and head designer Fai Co won a bronze award for his work “Fantasy” in the “Necklace and Pendant” category. Trained as an architect but raised in a family of pearl traders (today they own their own farms that supply pearls internationally and to their own shops), the senior Co is an active member of the Guild of Philippine Jewellers. He has not only won the South Sea Pearl Design competition three times but has had the honor of being one of 17 worldwide designers to be included in “White Magic,” a 2005 exhibition organized by The South Sea Pearl Consortium. The exhibit, which has an accompanying book, traveled to New York (Cooper-Hewitt Museum), Dubai, Moscow, London (Royal Opera House), Milan, Nagoya, Sydney, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

“Sarimanok,” his dramatic necklace of gold, mother-of-pearl and teardrop baroques, was exhibited next to works by top names such as Tiffany, Henry Dunay, Stephen Webster, David Yurman.

“Fantasy,” this year’s labor of love, actually took a year and a half to make. The development of the design involved even more years than Co cares to remember. Inspired by the Buddhist myth of the seven goddesses, the necklace has seven intricately and individually carved fairies (no two have the same face!) of white and rose gold and 14 champagne-colored pearls from 10-12 mm.

Co is a staunch supporter of local design talent and jewelry as art and has had his share of criticism from more commercial and stone-driven jewelry retailers (those who base jewelry prices on intrinsic value of stones and gold settings) of the local Guild.

Speaking to the Inquirer in Hong Kong after his awards presentation, he said: “I want to develop jewelry design in my business and through Guild competitions because I really believe that there is no future for us as jewelry subcontractors in the Philippines. We cannot compete on labor cost alone with China, Thailand and India. The Philippines cannot play this game but what we have is design. It is in our culture—furniture, architecture, textiles—and I have confidence in it for the future.”

The Asian market is generally driven by intrinsic values of pieces—the one-, two- or three-carat diamond solitaire ring or the simple 18k gold bangle. For Asians, jewelry is an investment more than an art form. And yet, international jewelry sales for vintage pieces and contemporary ones from major design houses have been sky-rocketing. For 15 years Co has been harping about Philippine design and selling pieces along the way. But this time, he may have the last laugh. “Fantasy” sold to a Chinoy buyer for P700,000 before it was entered into competition.

The fact that the buyer was of the Chinese diaspora, known more for their value judgments than aesthetics, is an even bigger surprise (or in this case, also a financial plus).

“The customer is changing,” explains Co. “They are buying art, particularly sculpture and painting. This customer will increase in number. The person who bought this piece or who will buy such a piece would already have been an art collector. For him there is no need to explain values. Pinoys are really artistic and anyone who lives here is influenced by that.”

le Reine

April 22nd, 2007, 08:55 AM

In college at 11, she’s UP summa cum laude at 16

By Margaux Ortiz
Inquirer
Last updated 03:59am (Mla time) 04/22/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- She was shielded from public view as an undergraduate student at the University of the Philippines.

Today, at the UP commencement exercise in Diliman, Quezon City, 16-year-old Mikaela Irene Fudolig triumphantly steps into the spotlight as she delivers a speech as the valedictorian of the graduating class.

The summa cum laude with a general weighted average of 1.099 will also receive the Best BS Physics Student award and the Dean’s Medallion for Excellence in Undergraduate Studies at the UP College of Science. (She earlier qualified as a regional finalist for the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines.)

Mikaela was only 11 when she became a college student as part of an experimental program that would test the possibility of gifted children entering university without compromising their emotional and social development.

The conditions of the program required that Mikaela be hidden from public scrutiny and the unforgiving glare of the media.

And she told the Inquirer in an interview marked with much laughter that more than her awards and achievements, she was proud that the Early College Placement Program (ECPP) originally designed for her had succeeded.

“It was a great thing that I was able to show people that it can be done,” she said. Now, she added with a hopeful smile, similar programs to help gifted people like herself could be conceived and implemented.

According to Mikaela, many gifted children end up discouraged or unproductive because of a dearth of programs to guide them and maximize their abilities.

They sometimes refuse to take required courses, claiming early mastery in these areas, or are simply interested in other things.

Happy experience

“I know one brilliant classmate who was very promising. But for some reason, he did not attend many of his classes and even retook some subjects,” she said.

Mikaela did not undergo such a dilemma. She thinks of her academic life at the Philippines’ premier state university as “a happy experience.”

“Many people think that a child, even if equipped with the mental abilities, is not emotionally prepared to enter college. I am glad to have proven them wrong,” she said cheerfully.

Tony Fudolig and Lyn Dimaano apparently took pains to have their eldest child grow up a balanced individual. Lyn made Mikaela join her nursery class in the afternoons even if she was already enrolled in the first grade at the age of four.

“Mikaela could read and write English and Filipino at three years old,” Lyn recalled. But she said she made sure that the child still had her share of playmates and nursery games.

Mikaela said that at three, she already had a keen interest in science. She recalled enjoying the times her mother would take her to the UP Botanical Garden and point out to her the different plant families.

“We also grew mongo seedlings and conducted small experiments. I was fascinated with how nature and science worked even back then,” she said.

Science appears to be a family passion. Tony is an industrial engineering graduate, and Lyn used to teach biology courses at UP. (They are now managing the family-owned Brains Review Center.)

Their second child, Miguel, 13, is an incoming senior at the Quezon City Science High School. The youngest, 9-year-old Raphael, is in sixth grade at the Jose Abad Santos Memorial School.

Best option

After grade school at Saint Mary’s College, Mikaela was accepted at Quezon City Science High. It was, she said, the best option for her at that time.

“I enjoyed my first year in high school. I had very nice classmates, good teachers and a challenging environment,” she said.

She was elected first-year-level council president and spearheaded many projects, including a scholarship program for underprivileged classmates.

The family decision for her to enroll at UP for a summer class marked a critical turning point in the 11-year-old’s life.

When Mikaela formally sought permission to register for a Mathematics 11 class in UP, her case was referred to Dr. Leticia Penano Ho, then dean of the College of Education.

Ho, also the president of the Philippine Association for the Gifted, noted the child’s potential to survive in the university at the end of the summer course, and later designed the ECPP for her.

Baby doll shoes

Mikaela recalled how intimidated she was on the first day of her Math 11 class.

Comparing her high school and college classmates, she said laughingly: “It was one thing to have your classmates stare at you because you are three years younger, and another for them to strangely appraise you because of the way you dress.”

She recalled in particular how her Math 11 classmates stared at her baby doll shoes, which she wore in high school: “They were all so quiet, choosing to remain silent in their seats, wearing their college get-ups. And there I was, wearing a skirt and a blouse, squirming uncomfortably in my seat.”

Then on the verge of adolescence, Mikaela was shocked at the fast pace of the summer lessons. She was disheartened when she got a grade of 72 in the first exam, which was held a week after classes started.

“I was feeling low, but when I saw that my seat mate got a score of 71, I felt that there was still hope,” she said, still laughing.

The following week, after days of intensive study, Mikaela took the second exam along with the rest of the class. The professor later announced that the 11-year-old got the highest score.

“I felt very happy that I could fit in,” Mikaela said.

She got a grade of 1 in that Math 11 class.

Philippine Daily Inquirer (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=61741)

paek

April 22nd, 2007, 01:02 PM

Last picture is so bad!

le Reine

April 22nd, 2007, 01:05 PM

^what do you mean?

cHemon

April 22nd, 2007, 01:51 PM

I'm reporting to mods to ban paek.

Lili

April 22nd, 2007, 02:31 PM

^ Why?

Anyway, I wonder what is up next in Mikaela's life. I remember finishing college and post-grad early (well, not as early as her. I finished college at 18.), I felt a bit lost. When I read her account, I think she also thought she felt too young among her peers then.

le Reine

April 22nd, 2007, 02:36 PM

^gosh, that's too early. kahiya naman 19 na ako 3rd year pa lang...wahehehe...

OtAkAw

April 22nd, 2007, 04:52 PM

^^Well, I would consider that as normal. I'm 19 too and I'm in my Junior year in college also, well, atleast this coming academic year. About 70-80% in my class have the same age as mine so it's perfectly ok. If you follow the regular age pattern for schooling Filipinos, 19 talaga kapag 3rd year college na. Sina ate lili and yung featured sa article, we call them prodigies, naks!

IsaRic

April 23rd, 2007, 04:46 AM

im 17 and just about to graduate highschool.

venntro

April 23rd, 2007, 09:04 AM

Pinay hosts popular LA TV program

Jannelle So, a broadcast journalist who worked for six years in the Philippines before moving to Los Angeles is the host of the very popular "Kababayan LA." It is the only weekday program of its kind in the US that focuses exclusively on the Filipino-American community.

Jannelle, a cum laude graduate of Miriam College, multi-tasks in this highly regarded Los Angeles program. She hosts, produces, invites the guests and writes the script. She features community leaders, newsmakers and celebrities in her show.

"Kababayan LA" is aired on LA 18 KSCI-TV, Southern California's preeminent Asian language TV station carried by all Los Angeles cable stations, DirecTV, and DISH network.

Shown on weekdays at 4:45 p.m. right after the Philippine news program "TV Patrol," "Kababayan LA" has a devoted following in the large Fil-Am community in Los Angeles. Jannelle said her "baby," which debuted a year ago, has expanded from its current brisk, engaging 15-minute format to a 30-minute show last Sept. 18.

"So what else does she do for the show? "we asked Jannelle. As though her current chores for the show and her other job with the Asian Journal, don't keep her busy enough, she's training to learn a new skill.

"I am now learning how to edit some videos, like clips from the CNN data base that we can use for the show, perhaps a news story that might be interesting to the Fil-Am community. It's quite fun. I never really liked editing much. But with this new editing system, I'm actually starting to enjoy it. This is really a one-woman show. But I enjoy the creative control so I labor and do most of the dirty work," she replied.

Her most memorable segment so far has been with Martin Nievera. "It was the first time on TV that he admitted his girlfriend was on the family way," Jannelle explained. "During that show, I also got to sing with him. I'm a frustrated singer."

Also memorable were other 'firsts' on the show. "The first time Giselle Toengi introduced her daughter Sakura to the public was on 'Kababayan.' It was also on the show that I introduced Emmy Award winner Charles Klapow to the Fil-Am community. He made an effort to prepare a dance for the show. I'm so proud of him. He's really good."

Her most stressful experience? "I had scheduled Mikee Cojuangco with her father, former Congressman Jose Cojuangco, on the show. They were in LA doing the rounds to raise funds for the Philippine athletes who are training for the Asian Games and the Olympics. I built the show around them. I was going to interview each one of them for the two segments on the show.

"On the morning of the taping, about an hour before we were supposed to tape, they called to say they couldn't make it because the house they were staying at here in LA got raided by the FBI or something. I was so stressed-out! I had to come up with a backup plan. Fortunately, they both understood my situation and agreed to do a phone patch interview. But I had to scramble to look for photos to show on the screen while they were talking to me on the phone."

Her most amusing experience? That would be when she danced the tinikling in three-inch heels. "It was not planned. I was supposed to close the show after a dance number from the Sampaguita Youth Dance Troupe. But I was under time by about three minutes so I had to stretch the program. I tried to interview the dancers but they couldn't talk much. They were still catching their breath after their number. So I asked them to dance again. And they asked me to dance with them in my heels."

Asked for her wish list of guests, Jannelle says, "These are my dream guests and the questions that I will ask them: Katie Couricâ€”how I could be like her; Barbara Waltersâ€”how to ask the right questions; Oprah Winfreyâ€”how to build an empire while staying grounded and charitable; Angelina Jolieâ€”how to snag Brad Pitt (my ultimate crush). In short, mainstream artists, of course! The ones you get to rub elbows with, have breakfast with, etc

venntro

April 23rd, 2007, 10:25 AM

First Mangyan priest ordained

By Madonna Virola
Southern Luzon Bureau

CITY OF CALAPAN— As a typical Mangyan kid, he went from one tree to another using forest vines, or bartered mangoes and cassavas for a notebook, with lowlanders.

He dreamed of becoming an agriculturist or engineer, for he was good in math. But Hanunuo Mangyan Gabayno Calinog Oybad ended up being the first Mangyan priest after he was ordained on April 17 at the Sto. Nino parish Cathedral here, to the delight of the community.

“I’m a proof that a Mangyan, when given the opportunity and support, and despite poverty, can succeed in any undertaking with perseverance. We’re all equal before God, anyway,” he said.

Although Father Oybad wanted a simple ordination, he could not prevent the people from flocking as they felt proud of the historic event.

Volunteers, Mangyans and non-Mangyans, pitched in.

“This is an event for the whole Catholic church,” said Fr. Ewald Dinter, director of the Mangyan Mission-Oriental Mindoro.

Dinter was beaming with happiness.

“This is important for the enculturation of the message of Jesus,” he said, adding a quote from John Paul II: ‘A faith that does not become culture is a faith which has not been fully received, not fully lived.’”

Less than a hundred priests concelebrated the Mass, all of them with a red piece of cloth wrapped around their forehead, in special solidarity with the Mangyan.

athan

April 23rd, 2007, 01:22 PM

talk about assimilation to mainstream Filipino culture and religion. As much as i am glad that the few natives are being converted and invited to participate in our "community', I also feel for their loss of ethnic identity. But it just happens and societies naturally evolve..

garzland

April 25th, 2007, 05:09 AM

Filipino cuemaster Lee Van Corteza placed second the recent 2007 Guinness 9-Ball Tour at the Sultan Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Corteza was very resilient throughout the tournament but just came up short against Taiwanese Chang Jun-lin in the finals losing 11-5.

The win was worth $15,000 for Chang, who slipped past 2005 World Pool champion and compatriot Wu Chia-ching in the semifinals, 11-9. Chang also nosed out Indonesian Jimmy Usman, 9-8, in the quarterfinals.

Corteza, who turned back compatriot Dennis Orcollo, 13-11, in the other semifinal duel, settled for $6,000.

The runner-up finish was still a tremendous feat for Corteza, winner of the BSCP National Championship last month.

Formerly the Asian 9-Ball Tour, the event has been made bigger and better for players and fans alike with the new partnership between ESPN STAR Sports and Guinness Beer.

Total prize money has doubled to $320,000, from $160,000 last year, with the Tour ending in a grand final in Bali for the Top 10 players. Winners of each leg will win $15,000 with the Grand Final Champion winning $36,000.

The Guinness 9-Ball Tour remains the only ranking tour in Asia for players to qualify for the WPA World Pool Championship. The top 10 finishers in the Guinness 9-Ball Tour Order of Merit will automatically qualify for this year's edition slated for a second straight staging for Manila in November.

garzland

April 25th, 2007, 05:10 AM

Former Philippine Olympic Committee president Celso Dayrit was honored with the prestigious Golden Merit Award by the Olympic Council of Asia.

The award was given during its 26th General Assembly in Kuwait last April 16.

This is the highest recognition given by the OCA to a Filipino sports leader. Dayrit has the distinction of having occupied the highest position in the Asian continental sports body, having served as its vice president.

He had the privilege of representing Asia and OCA President Shiehk Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah in various important events, and was named chairman of the OCA Evaluation Committee for the 2010 and 2014 Asian Games, the OCA Coordination Committee for the 2005 Asian Indoor Games, and the OCA Disciplinary Committee for the 2005 West Asian Games.

garzland

April 25th, 2007, 05:12 AM

Victories by Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao and the Harbour Centre-RP basketball team brought pride and glory to the country.

Pacman stopped previously unbeaten Jorge Solis in the eighth round of their scheduled 12-round super featherweight bout. While the RP team walloped SM Britama-Indonesia in the finals, 85-67, to top the Southeast Asia Basketball Association Champions Cup and claim its first international title in two years.

Pacquiao, Ring magazine's 2006 fighter of the year, was having some trouble solving Mexico's Solis in the early rounds, but was galvanized by an accidental head butt that left him cut over the left eye in the sixth. Pacquiao landed a series of hard punches in the sixth and seventh before sending Solis to the canvas in the eighth with a right uppercut that punctuated another series of brutal blows.

Solis got to his feet but was immediately dropped again and couldn't beat the count of referee Vic Drakulich.

Pacquiao, who holds the World Boxing Council's "international" super featherweight title, and is the WBC's no. 1 contender to the super flyweight world title held by Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico, improved to 43-3-1 with 35 wins inside the distance. Solis fell to 32-1-2.

A world title fight between Pacquiao and Marquez would seem a logical next step. The two met in a classic featherweight bout in May 2004 that ended in a draw.
Thumbnail: The Harbour Centre-RP team

The Harbour Centre-RP team

The Harbour Centre-RP team brought home an international crown, its first one in two years.

Playmaker Marvin Cruz erased the stigma of the two-year suspension on the country by FIBA lifted recently as he delivered for a team-high 20 points for the RP team, which qualified for the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup in Tehran, Iran with the victory.

Now, the RP five under coach Chot Reyes takes over, as the all-pro unit is the one bound to see action in the tournament set next month.

Reyes is currently in the thick of preparing the nationals in their bid of earning a berth in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, with the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup, won by the country twice in the past, included as part of the team's calendar of events.

Coach Junel Baculi, architect of RP's championship runs in the 1996 and '97 Champions Cup, considered his latest conquest the sweetest of all his international feats.

Mabuhay ang Philippines sports! More pride and glory!

bitoy

April 26th, 2007, 06:22 PM

Rizal C.K. Yuyitung: Tribute to ideal Filipino

By Joker P. Arroyo
Inquirer
Last updated 02:04am (Mla time) 04/26/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- HOW does a man become a citizen of a country? The easiest and least creditable way is by the accident of birth to nationals of the country or the accident of place where jus soli is the rule. The more time- and money-consuming way is by naturalization through judicial or legislative processes.

And finally there is the third way taken by an extraordinary few who set out first to deserve citizenship, and thereby acquire, whether or not they succeed, the far more exalted dual citizenship of "fatherland of courage," as Andre Malraux called it. That was Rizal Chang Keng Yuyitung and his brother Quintin.

Rizal was born in the Philippines during the American Occupation and named by his immigrant father after the national hero. It was a clear indication of the patriotic commitment that father and sons would make with their lives and liberty. His father would die in the anti-Japanese resistance. Rizal was the editor of the Chinese Commercial News, a Philippine daily.

Last week, Rizal passed away in yet another country--Canada--after sacrificing, along with his brother Quintin, the best years of a life and at the greatest loss of liberty and property in the service of a country that has forgotten him and the critical lesson of his and his brother's ordeal at the hands of arbitrary governments.

Rizal and Quintin Yuyitung, through their newspaper, vigorously espoused before the imposition of martial law the priority of a genuine Chinese assimilation into Philippine life and culture over an expensive, time-consuming, occasionally dishonest and ultimately superficial legal naturalization.

This angered the Nationalist Chinese community, which regarded Philippine citizenship as a regrettable convenience while awaiting return to Mainland China.

Recognition of People's China
On top of that, Rizal and Quintin also urged diplomatic recognition by the Philippines of the People's Republic of China as the real and legitimate government of the Chinese people contrary to American Cold War propaganda.

In the last years of Philippine democracy, Rizal and Quintin Yuyitung were snatched in 1970 by military men from their offices on the orders of President Ferdinand Marcos, illegally detained, and clandestinely deported to face trial and conviction in the military garrison state of Taiwan for crimes they had not committed whether in the Philippines, Taiwan or China.

The brothers spent many years in prison.

Ironically, it was during the Yuyitungs' incarceration in Taiwan that Marcos adopted the quicker process of administrative naturalization that the Yuyitungs had espoused. He and his wife Imelda famously extended to the communist government in China the diplomatic relations the Yuyitungs had also campaigned for. Thus were the very advocacies of Yuyitungs swiftly and openly adopted by the very government that had made the brothers suffer for them.
A handful of perceptive Filipino journalists at the time witnessed the Yuyitungs' ordeal with foreboding as a foretaste of a presidential conspiracy against Philippine democracy, particularly freedom of the press. Within two years, all Filipinos would realize the piercing truth of that prognostication as the country was forced under the military yoke over the next 13 years.

It is not certain if Rizal Yuyitung was technically speaking a Philippine citizen though he was born during the American Occupation when place of birth dictated citizenship. But in a far more important sense, he was the ideal Filipino, fighting as he did and giving his all for ideals to which his chosen profession of Philippine journalism continues to give mostly lip service.

But it is thanks to the Yuyitung brothers, as the tandem came to be famously known, that Filipino-Chinese have come to be regarded unstintingly by all Filipinos as true brothers beneath their differing complexions and accents. For these two ethnic Chinese brothers had demonstrated their indisputable fraternity with Filipinos less by a superficial commonality of blood as by their profound willingness to sacrifice everything for the freedom of all Filipinos.

Ashes over the Pacific Ocean
Rizal died in Canada, where he and his family had found a warm refuge after his release, as well as opportunities to start anew that his adopted country never accorded him. In his hard life, Rizal was blessed in at least one respect, his wife Veronica, who stood steadfast by him and during his enforced absence gave a brave new face and an eloquent voice to his struggle.

His family have aptly decided to hold no funeral services other than a quiet one later this year when, on the west coast of Canada, they will gather to scatter his ashes over the Pacific Ocean for the tides to bring them hopefully to the shores of the country of his race that has yet to taste freedom, and the country of his singular devotion which continues to waste freedom's gifts.

I was deeply honored to be Rizal's defense attorney, though I could not save him from the rancor and retribution of his enemies and the injustice of our state at the time. Goodbye my friend. Enjoy the complete and blissful rest so few of your adopted countrymen deserve.

Memorial service for Rizal CK Yuyitung (http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2007/apr/26/yehey/metro/20070426met7.html)

A memorial service for Rizal CK Yuyitung organized by the Chinese Commercial News will be held at the Kachina Room, Century Park Hotel, Pablo Ocampo Street (formerly Vito Cruz), Malate, Manila, on April 27, Friday at 3 p.m. The Yuyitung family and the Chinese Commercial News are inviting colleagues, friends and relatives to attend.

Animo

April 27th, 2007, 08:42 PM

By Kathy M. Villalon

http://www.thenewstoday.info/2007/04/25/misola1.jpg
Atty. Agustin Misola with his wife Corazon at the library at home

It is always an honor to have an audience with a person who has contributed so much to society. Take the case of Atty. Agustin Misola, a novelist and poet who has written 50 books in English, Hiligaynon and Spanish.

It was in 1948 when he started his first novel, "Cries From The Furrows." He was just a high school graduate then. Simultaneous with his Composition and Political Science studies at the University of the Philippines, he labored on this novel until he finished it in 1954.

Misola considers the said novel as his best piece so far. "As far as the message is concerned, my greatest work is Cries From The Furrows," he said.

The book portrayed the painful transition from the pre-World War II feudal land system to the real reform and maturing national status of the Philippines, according to Camoman Newberry, managing editor of Little, Brown and Company. "He drew a vivid picture not only of the conditions of the farms, the Japanese occupation and Huk movement, but also of the character and spirit of the people. There is nothing contrived or fake in his book. He has a story to tell and he has told it the way it should be told," he added.

http://www.thenewstoday.info/2007/04/25/misola2.jpg

Former President of the United Nations General Assembly Dr. Carlos Romulo also lauded him for that book. "He has really represented a condition of life that is relevant to our politics and to present day social interest," Romulo said.

He also released his autobiography, "The House on the Plains." Some of his works are Angels in Bataan, Ang Hibi Sang Panay, Raindrops In the Night, We Can Survive, Call Up To Heaven, Natalie: The Russian Girl I Love, My Heart is Forgiving, The Bridge to China, Pray for Tomorrow, Portrait of Yesterday, Wavelets, Beautiful Land, Beyond the Roar of Silence, The Native Soul, Wild Flowers for Cielo, The Petaled Cross, Let the Hills Be Green Again, Virgin Roses, Beautiful Hands, Beautiful Life, Sa Likud sang Karabaw, Bulak nga Ilahas, Mga Hiya sang Gugma, Mga Handumanan and Latagon sang Gugma, among others.

Misola's passion for writing has never waned. In fact, this year, he released Poesia De Tres Lenguajes, a book of poems in Spanish, English and Hiligaynon.

This is his first attempt to write a book of poetry in three languages and he is confident on the richness of these as vehicles of literature.

Misola reveals that writing is not for a lukewarm heart. "There must be the lure of the heights --- the desire to create and accomplish. Success in writing is not usually the result of hurried work. There must be patience and a high degree of devotion and faith. This means working for long hours without minding the result or how long it will take. For then, in a sense, writing is a mistress and for her you must suffer without regret," he said when asked for his advise to writers.

He also advised that one should have the ability to use language and imagination. "Read a lot. Take notes a lot. And think a lot. Express yourself a lot in what you write. Don't be afraid that your creative endeavors will be criticized or dumped into a waste can. Whose work has not been criticized? Every work is a candidate. Some great writers had been judged as failures before."

MORE ON MISOLA

* He is married to Corazon Deocampo and their children are Edgar, Arvin, Christian, Agustin Jr, Manuel and Agnes

* Misola is a retired Assistant Fiscal of Iloilo City

* His book "Angels in Bataan" was published in New York, United States

* He was a recipient in 1991 of the Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas, a national achievement award for literature

* In 2004, under the category of Culture and Arts, he became an Outstanding Augustinian of the Century

http://www.thenewstoday.info/2007/04/25/atty.agustin.misola.a.writer.of.all.time.html

Animo

April 27th, 2007, 08:56 PM

A truly fine woman we know is former Inquirer Elan editor Conchitina Sevilla Bernardo, whose recent book launch at Manila Golf was an A-list event.

Conchitina, known for her writings and talks on etiquette, has been living in Madrid the past five years, where her husband, Lani Bernardo, is Philippine Ambassador to Spain.

Conchitina didn't waste those years. She scoured Madrid's libraries and archives for material on the Philippines, dating back to the pre-Hispanic era; turned the Philippine Embassy and ambassador's residence into a showcase of Philippine culture and arts; and has just published a coffee-table book titled "Being Truly Filipino: Personal Expressions of An Identity."

All this time in Spain, her goal has been to project and promote our national identity.

"I was astounded by the wealth of material on the Philippines in Spain," she told us. "If only I was younger and could work on the computer for hours, I could have done more."

In fact, Conchitina—a mother of three adults—is ageless where charm and thirst for knowledge and growth are concerned. Her book covers a broad span, from the pre-Hispanic period to this day. Apart from historic accounts, she has good archival finds, including images of things made by pre-Westernized natives showing their creativity.

In the contemporary era portion, she has elegant hostesses (Lizzie Zobel, Ching Escaler, to name a few) photographed in their modern and chic Filipiniana with their lovely table settings.

In another chapter, she has Gen-X and -Y Filipinas like Audrey Tan Zubiri and Mika Lagdameo fusing the terno, ethnic blouses and other native ensembles with jeans, tanks, denim.

The book's cover is eye-catching—detailed shots of hand-embroidered piña depicting Amorsolo-like rural scenes. They're from the prized collection of Socorro Chuidian vda. de Araneta.

How you wish wives of public servants in general could take the cue from Conchitina. Hers has been a stint well used. She is a woman with a sense of purpose; in this case, to instill a sense of pride in what's Filipino.

Unfortunately, most public officials' wives are good at scouring, not the museums or libraries, but the LV and Gucci stores.

http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=53&a=19830

[dx]

April 28th, 2007, 11:47 AM

A Spankin' New Myx, Not of the MTV Variety (http://news.asianweek.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=bd6a8c34d15b92b3405c07553b73e033)
Eunice Lee

With the demise of MTV Global and its music channels catered to Asian American tastes, MYX, "the first music lifestyle channel for Asian Americans," is making its debut in America. Already the number 1 music channel in the Philippines, Raffy Lopez, the brainpower behind MYX and Chief Operating Officer of media company ABS-CBN GLOBAL, said, "We’ve seen explosive growth in the ethnic programming market, and we’re excited to pave the way for Asian-inspired entertainment. MYX is an exciting and powerful media platform that reflects the diverse tastes of today’s Asian American community."

ABS-CBN is the biggest media company in the Philippines, with a 15-year track record in successful ethnic programming in the U.S. MYX is the company’s seventh Asian programming channel. Available via DIRECTV, MYX hopes to provide a fusion of music targeting the young, affluent, media-savvy Asian American demographic ranging from ages 15-34. It is designed to appeal to second and third-generation Asian Americans, "showcasing mainstream hits, the biggest jams from Asians, and a healthy dose of independent music 24 hours a day, seven days a week."

Lopez has divided the programming into three sectors, saying that about 50 percent is comprised of mainstream music, 20 percent Asian, 10 percent Filipino, with the rest being independent. "Overtime, the independent artists should grow and dominate," Lopez stated. Currently, MYX offers smart programming and various avenues to music. With such shows like Backspin, featuring classic, "old-school" music videos, Loveable, featuring the hottest pop hits from the U.S. and Asia, and My MYX, a viewer-driven program where the host approaches the public on the streets and asks for music requests, MYX TV is ready to satisfy a broad range of musical interests.

MYX TV desires to be different from its counterparts by simply providing more music to its viewers. There is a desire to be less like MTV, with its programming now consisting mostly of reality shows, and more like a regular music-access channel, with music as its primary focus. "Feed your music monster," MYX’s slogan reads. Its PR agency, GolinHarris, is hoping to have monster silhouettes around town. "We are pleased to offer this new music channel on DIRECTV," said John A. de Armas, vice president, DIRECTV, Inc. "… We believe that MYX will resonate strongly with Asian Americans and a broader audience hungry for music fusion."

Animo

April 29th, 2007, 07:15 PM

By Chit Roces
Inquirer
Last updated 01:11am (Mla time) 04/29/2007

MANILA, Philippines - Charlie has his angels, Lola Enchay had her tres Marias - her first granddaughters from the oldest three of nine boys of the Roces-Reyes line. Not one was actually named Maria; it was just an affectionate way of bunching the three of us.

There was, first, Sylvia, from the eldest son, Liling; then Regina, arriving two years later, from the second son, Tuting; then me, Teresita, a year later, from the third son, Titong. Every one in the family thought us the luckiest grandchildren, and we did feel special: the daughters Lolo and Lola never had. There had been a daughter after Regina's dad, but she had died at age four, a few months before my own father was born. Poor Lola must have gone through a hell of a postpartum.

Formative years

I don't know exactly how it all came about, but we tres Marias continued to live our formative years with Lolo and Lola long after our parents, except for Sylvia's widowed mom, had moved out of the ancestral home. We became closer than sisters - we were each other's best friend, something that made Lola expressly especially happy, and others in the family happy for us and her.

"Hasta ahora, siempre juntas, las tres Marias de Enchay," older aunts would remark when they saw us together, even when we had all become wives ourselves.

It seemed a lifetime ago that we had frolicked in Lola's front garden, which, in our minds, no doubt made fertile by comic books, had been transformed into a jungle, full of dangers and challenges. The old white Kalachuchi tree was the garden's centerpiece and itself our own tree house. It's thick base was framed by three rows of the biggest rectangular piedra china. Numerous others formed broken lines of stepping stones along the borders of the front lawn.

The rules were clear: Once we stepped onto the piedra china, we were safe from the monsters of the perilous waters that were actually the expanse of bermuda grass. Regina chose to be Tarzan's Jane, Sylvia was Camille, the jungle girl, and I Sheena, Queen of the Jungle. As a triumvirate, we ruled the territory and protected it from intruders. We never walked on grass; we swam. Lola always got a laugh watching us through the jalousies of the lanai, and she would pull Lolo from his French audio lessons or some book of poetry to watch us play out our fantasies.

When it came time for us to climb into the big drums by the adobe garden walls, Lola would pretend not to see. She knew it signaled the closing of the day's adventures: bath before supper. The world was still dengue-free, and we felt safer in the neck-deep mix of water from tap and rain than the shark-infested green sea around the tree. Submerged, we conferred about plans, strategies, and other matters of jungle state. After decisions had been reached (we ruled by consensus), we closed our eyes and surrendered to the pleasures of jungle spa.

We spent summers in Palawan, where our grandparents had farms and mining interests. We sailed on the General Malvar and slept in the captain's cabin. Well, it was that or on the tejeras on deck! It was a treat to watch the "lumba-lumba," the dolphin show by ship side. It was so easy to love nature growing up with our grandparents and uncles who were knowledgeable about animals and plants. Regina's father loved tree-planting. Sylvia's dad was an agriculture graduate, and had practiced for a while before going into journalism. My own dad loved flowering plants; he also fished and hunted, as did all his brothers. Vacations always brought us close to nature.

Alfresco classroom

Lola's garden was an open-air classroom. By having us watch and sometimes help as she tended it, she taught us respect for nature. She spoke to plants, flowers, caterpillars, bees, even pests.

She knew her plants. The calamansi doesn't want too much water, the flowering plants need full sun. She never wore gloves, removing aphids and stains from leaves with her bare fingers. As lush as it was, her garden was neat and organized.

It seemed only natural, I suppose, for us Lola's tres Marias, after we were done with our own private gardening, to get ourselves involved in the creation of a forest park in the heart of Manila, where our family originally come from. Lola did not simply tell us stories about beautiful old Manila; she instilled in us a certain sense of responsibility for it. To a city choking from heat and pollution, our own native city, a forest, we thought, was a perfect legacy.

Today, as happens, we the tres Marias are responding to a 911 call from the caretaker of the forest, now 12 years old with more than 8,000 trees and countless crawling and flying things in residence. The mayor has seized it, and his henchmen have begun to cut the trees to make way for a building. Where are the young people, I wondered.

What a sorry cavalry we tres Marias matronas make. Regina, headstrong and determined, has become the leader and proved worthy, standing up to the mayor during the entire controversy. I myself stand unshaken, though in another sense, in the conviction that everything happens for the best. Sylvia, though not much older, has always been the mature one: responsible, reliable. According to our Spanish literature professor in Madrid, Sylvia was the philosopher, Regina the no-nonsense type who gets things done, and I the happy romantic, the cheerful poet.

Alas, the occasion calls for Charlie's Angels. Our early jungle training was too illusory to be practically useful now. Arriving at the scene of the massacre - cut trees, trenches dug up revealing shards turned up from the historic earth - we tres Marias dolorosas are silenced by grief. Sylvia speaks of Lola, as one or all of us do in moments like this. Inspired and emboldened, Regina goes over to confront the men responsible.

Lola always had something to say to lighten things up without trivializing the situation. "If she saw this," Sylvia says, she would most likely say in exasperation, "Esto no cabe en ninguna cabeza!'" Or, "I add, 'Que barbaridad!î'" Sylvia and I begin to chuckle, prompting Regina to throw us that Mother Superior glare. But once told what it was all about, she herself manages a smile through angry tears.

"Stupid and senseless!" Regina says. But we are grateful for small mercies, able as we are yet to save the badly pruned century-old narra tree from complete destruction. "No hay mal que por bien no venga." Trust Lola's words to lift our spirits. She always believed that something good is bound to come out of a bad situation.

Riding home, we feel energized again as we look forward to our next move, perhaps a forest park in Quezon City.

We tres Marias abuelas know there are battles we can't win, but this one isn't lost yet. We may need fresh troops, but we can't quit.

What would Lola say! She herself didn't call it quits until she was 92.

http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view_article.php?article_id=63042

Sinjin P.

May 1st, 2007, 04:41 AM

BPI to spend P2B for new UK branch (http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/05012007/companies01.html)
By Dennis D. Estopace
Reporter

BANK of the Philippine Islands, a publicly-listed bank majority-owned by the Ayala family, would be spending £2 million, or about P2 billion, for a new branch it will open in London, United Kingdom.

“We want more presence in Europe, so rather than just open a remittance center, we think a bank would be able to give more services to Filipinos there,” Ed Drilejo told BusinessMirror on Monday.

Drilejo was appointed chief executive officer and managing director of Bank of the Philippine Islands (Europe) Plc. The unit was recently given the go ahead by Financial Services Authority (FSA) in London to open the BPI’s wholly-owned subsidiary.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, the bank said that it received official FSA approval on April 26.

Drilejo said that BPI’s investment would finance equity, start up operations and reserves.

A soft opening is scheduled this July and a formal launch is likely in September.

Drilejo spoke to BusinessMirror a week before he flies off to lead BPI’s first overseas branch in Europe.

When asked why not in the United States, Drilejo said: “It’s a question of timing.”

He explained that based on a BPI study, opening a branch in London would cater most to Filipinos that have plans of returning home rather than focusing on a market in the United States, where most are already immigrants or American citizens.

We could offer Filipinos in London other products like homes or condominium units in the Philippines so that when they return, they would have assets, Drilejo added.

Drilejo also explained that they decided on UK because of the language.

BPI would follow Philippine National Bank and Allied Bank in opening branches in the UK, which according to 2005 government estimates, hosts some 52,977 immigrant Filipinos, 72,638 contract workers and 7,480 undocumented Filipinos.

Drilejo said the plan to open a branch in London was crafted and put to work a year ago.

“It would also take us about such amount of time if we open up another branch in another country in Europe,” he added when asked if BPI is eyeing other countries near UK or within the European Union.

OtAkAw

May 1st, 2007, 09:49 AM

^^About time! We see foreign banks here and there in our country.

Sinjin P.

May 2nd, 2007, 05:48 AM

Filipino values shine in high-end gathering (http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2007/05/02/bus/filipino.values.shine.in.high.end.gathering.html)

Sinjin P.

May 4th, 2007, 01:02 PM

1 of 4 seamen around the globe is a Filipino (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/40987/1-of-4-seamen-around-the-globe-is-a-Filipino)

One of four seafarers around the globe today is a Filipino, putting the Philippines in the big league of the world’s maritime industry, according to Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Chairman Feliciano G. Salonga.

Salonga, who has been considered as one of the pillars in the Philippine maritime industry, noted statistics showing that remittances of Filipino seamen into the country have reached US$3.5 billion, helping stabilize the country's economy for the last 25 years.

"Last year alone, these remittances comprised 3.5% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is no mean feat considering that we only have 300,000 seamen of 82 million population," Salonga explained.

Speaking before this year's graduates of Bachelor of Science in Maritime Transportation and Marine Engineering at the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA), Salonga challenged the SBMA to rally the maritime sector towards competitiveness and productivity.

"What is now happening in the Subic Bay, especially given the huge personality of Hanjin and the modern container port, should convince everyone that the Philippines has now become a great maritime nation and power," Salonga said.

Based on records, he said, the principal avenues of transportation in the Philippines are the inter-island sea lanes, connecting the more than 300,000 ports and harbors [in the world] where 90 percent of commercial goods are being ferried.

Salonga said, “When you sail under foreign flags, work with sense of pride and obligation as Filipinos serve in a global context, not only for your loved ones but for the entire profession and the industry, so that the stamp excellence of Filipino mariners will remain our reputation."

The SBMA has urged the Global Maritime and Transportation School of the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, to study the possibility of putting up a similar school in San Narciso, Zambales.

If the school materializes, it would be the first of its kind in Asia, which could provide opportunities for PMMA graduates to hone further their maritime skills.

The Philippine maritime industry is expected to contribute about US$2-3 billion to the country's annual export earnings starting next year with its unprecedented growth in terms of productivity and job generation, Salonga earlier said.

Salonga cited the entry of South Korea's Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction (HHIC) (KSE:003480) with its US$1 billion shipbuilding facilities inside the Subic Bay Freeport and which is scheduled to produce 12 ships by June next year.

"Hanjin is not only the Philippines' biggest single foreign direct investments of 2006 but its entry can also be regarded as the single most dramatic development in our country's growth as the Asias new maritime powerhouse," he said.

As of March, Hanjin has already generated 6,900 direct and indirect jobs compared to just about 2,400 workers during the early stage of its construction in September last year.

It is projected to create as high as 30,000 jobs in a span of three years.

"That is why, we at the SBMA continue to push the development of the freeport zone not only as a tourist destination and logistics hub but also as a maritime industrial base," Salonga said.

He added that enormous maritime resources with highly knowledgeable and skilled human resources are needed to create wealth in maritime industry.

In addition to shipbuilding and ship repair, Salonga said, the country also has vast potential in the area of regional transshipment hub for Asia-Pacific operations.

"Singapore and Hong Kong with their lesser ports, earn US$20 billion a year from transshipments alone. Given our many well-endowed natural harbors like Subic Bay, the Philippines can do well or even better," Salonga said.

He noted that the Subic Port development project is about 92 percent complete.

"The time has come for us in the maritime sector to help shape the future of our country and the Filipinos by pushing the maritime industry to live up to its role as the new major contributor to Philippine growth and progress," he stressed.

garzland

May 5th, 2007, 03:24 AM

Bowling legend Paeng Nepomuceno of the Philippines is the new USBC (United States Bowling Congress) ambassador and certified coach.

Widely regarded as the greatest international bowler in the sport's history, Nepomuceno has teamed up with the USBC to promote bowling around the world.

Nepomuceno, six-time world champion and only four-time winner of the prestigious World Cup, trained and earned his certification as a USBC Level 1 and Bronze instructor recently at the USBC headquarters in Greendale, Wisconsin.

As a USBC instructor, Nepomuceno will teach Level 1 and Bronze classes in the Philippines and Asia. The coaches Nepomuceno trains and certifies through the USBC program will develop bowlers in the region.
Thumbnail: Bowl.com

"It's a big honor to be invited by the United States Bowling Congress to teach the program and certify coaches in the Philippines and Asia," said the 50-year-old Nepomuceno. "I'm very excited and I'll do my best to promote bowling."

"With more coaches, we can develop more bowlers," said Nepomuceno. "It will revive the sport in the Philippines and Asia. We can teach bowling in schools, to youth associations and others. I'd like to teach the youth and certify their coaches."

Nepomuceno's training is part of the USBC effort to create an international coach training program and bolster the strength of the sport within the world's governing body, FIQ. The USBC program is the only coaching program for bowling recognized by the US Olympic Committee.

Nepomuceno has received countless awards in his storied career. Among these: FIQ Bowling Athlete of the Millennium, World Bowler of the Year, induction to World Bowling Hall of Fame, IOC President's Trophy awardee, Filipino Athlete of the Century, Philippine Legion of Honor and Presidential Medal of Merit.

Animo

May 7th, 2007, 01:59 AM

http://www.malaya.com.ph/may07/images/liv1.jpg

Internationally renowned Filipino artist Juvenal Sanso was recently awarded the distinguished Cross of Isa-bela for his outstanding accomplishments in the arts by the Spanish King Juan Carlos.

The special award was also conferred in recognition of Sanso’s exemplary work across national boundaries and is akin to a knighthood or to the Member of the British Empire (MBE) given by the Queen of England. This is the second award of this nature that Sanso has received. In June 2006, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

To celebrate this milestone, Galerie Raphael (at the 2nd floor of Serendra Piazza mall, Fort Bonifacio Global City) is holding a special exhibit of Sanso’s works until May 18. Entitled Summer, the exhibit features 40 of his paintings in acrylic on canvas and acrylic on paper.

Summer is a subject very close to Sanso’s heart. As a child growing up in pre-war Manila, he spent several memorable summers swimming in the Pasig River or in the mountain creeks of Montalban during family outings.

The violence and horror of the second World War traumatized the young painter, and his earlier paintings reflect his own struggle with dark emotions and overwhelming grief. It was during this period of grotesque and almost hostile imagery that Sanso became the country’s first expressionist.

But eventually, the dark shades gradually gave way to light in the works of Sanso in the early 1960’s when, upon the invitation of Yves Le Dantec and Isabelle Roualt, he spent summers in the Le Dantec family’s summer villa in the seacoast of Brittany, France.

The seaside sojourns with the Le Dantec family proved to be such a tranquil and healing time for the young artist, and has inspired many of his most enduring works. The visits to Brittany, which spanned over two decades – the artist spent a total of 24 summers by the sea in Northwest France – have also stirred in him a deeper and lasting passion for the season "of plenty, of maturity, of fruitful completeness…" This is evident in the serene landscapes, lush blooms, and bursts of colors that mark his current works.

Among the paintings included in the ongoing Summer exhibit are: The Warmth of Summer, Golden Reflections, With Generous Sunlight, As Afternoon Advances and Celestial Fire.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/may07/livi1.htm

sandrn

May 8th, 2007, 03:26 AM

Be proud of Monique Lhuillier!

Alyson Hannigan who plays Lily in the CBS TV show “How I Met Your Mother" wore a Monique Lhuillier dress in tonight’s episode. This was the dress she was flaunting in most parts of the show:

http://www.moniquelhuillier.com/webcollection/bridal/runway/2007sp/06.jpg

The Monique Lhuillier dress made her looked so pretty.

Wedding Dress Shopping with 'Willow'!
(ET Online)

Just one more episode before Lily weds Marshall on TV's "How I Met Your Mother," and star ALYSON HANNIGAN -- who also played Willow on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" -- is psyched to try on wedding dresses!

We joined Alyson as she visited the famed MONIQUE LHUILLIER bridal salon in Beverly Hills to give some of Monique's gorgeous creations a test drive.

"It's exciting!" Alyson says. "There's so many beautiful dresses to choose from."

In real life, Alyson is married to actor ALEXIS DENISOF, whom she met when both starred on "Buffy." But Alyson was certainly game to slip on dresses handmade by Monique, who has dressed BRITNEY SPEARS and more celebs for their wedding days.

Ruffled gowns were all the rage at this month's Bridal Fashion Show in New York, and the first dress Alyson tries on is made from delicate layers of chiffon.

"I want to sleep in this, it's just so lovely!" she says.

Alyson also gets to model another popular trend, a strapless, empire-waisted dress with a gray silk taffeta ribbon just under the bustline.

"This is more of an empire silhouette, so it's right up under the bustline," Monique explains. "It gives you a longer line."

Making the dress even more spectacular is the fact that it's sprinkled with crystals and silk chiffon rosette flowers down the skirt.

"I think it's amazing!" Alyson gushes. "It's so very soft."

But she's not done yet! There is still a princess-y gown with silver ribbons, beading, and even a bustle and train in the back!

"The back is always so important," Monique explains. "I always tell the brides, 'This is what your guests are going to see for 45 minutes during the ceremony.'"

So which dress did Alyson choose? Tune in to CBS at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, May 7th, and May 14th for the two-part wedding episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" to find out!

OtAkAw

May 8th, 2007, 10:49 AM

^^Apart from wedding couture, I hope Monique Lhuillier goes into mainstream fashion. You know, just like Valentino, Stella McCarthney and the like. We should all be happy that a Pinay like her is making huge waves in an industry that is dominated by Westerners.

athan

May 8th, 2007, 09:41 PM

^ i saw this news on ET last night. Je suis tres fier d'avoir une paysanne comme Monique Lhuillier. :)

@Otakaw If you go to her website, you'll see her other collections apart from bridal. www.moniquelhuillier.com

smokingunmanila

May 9th, 2007, 04:06 AM

le même ici athan, j'ai vu que ses collections et eux étaient très fantastiques

OtAkAw

May 9th, 2007, 08:08 AM

^^I wish I could understand that. French is lovely isn't it?

@athan, so I see, she makes designer apparel other than wedding gowns. It's just a matter of exposure for her collections...

kiretoce

May 10th, 2007, 12:27 AM

A character in Hong Kong (http://www.philippinenews.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=cf0481d40a7782057486b5f606178812)

HONG KONG – Talk about lending color to a story. Clad in light grayish seersucker trousers, pink socks, brown penny loafers, a canary yellow knitted tie on an off-white fine cotton shirt, a denim blazer, and black-rimmed owl specs, Ramon Pascual is dressed for work.

No, he’s not in showbiz, though he might as well be. He is in property development, a business where a modicum of theatrical talent is surely not going to hurt.

In the high-octane economy that is this former British colony, Pascual, 48, a University of the Philippines economics graduate, would be just one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of sharp-elbowed real estate traders here. But in a place where Filipinos are known more for their “domestic” abilities, he stands out, and not because he is a son-in-law of Lucio Tan, the top of the trio of Filipinos in Forbes magazine’s list of billionaires, which he is.

Such is a dubious distinction because it would detract from what he has. Ramon himself comes from one of the old distinguished and very conservative Chinese Filipino families. And, from what I saw, Lucio Tan, who has pretty extensive interests here and other parts of China, is mighty lucky to have such an in-law as the overlord of his properties. I mean, he could have been a deadbeat who could have just wallowed in his wife’s share of her family’s bounty.

But, no. A gaggle of recent and ongoing projects indicate the kind of savvy he has. He oversaw the transformation of the second floor of the storied Charterhouse hotel from a warren of high-end karaoke rooms into a clutch of cozy, sleek, state-of-the-art suites for corporate travelers, called the Signature suites.

Around the corner, still within a premium block of dirt Tan owns and which straddles Wan Chai and Causeway Bay, is a four-storey building with a modest but still striking façade. Step inside and step back in time. It’s a set of meticulously reconstructed theme apartments offering an experience of what it was like to live in the lap of luxury in Old Shanghai and Old Beijing.

“Each suite has a story to tell,” Ramon told me on the day we met. He was then in khakis mottled with tiny green crossed tennis rackets all over with, um, matching yellow socks. “For instance, the design of this room (with walls of red on one side and turquoise on another) was premised on what kind of retirement home a Shanghai governor would want.”

True enough, the room had a no-expense-spared feel to it.

Each suite is unique, with original 18th-19th-century Chinese interior design and artworks setting each apart. Only the linen and the plumbing and, of course, the air-conditioning is modern.

The building is simply called Apartment 0 (as in “oh”), and lease start at HK$80 a month. For expats, Ramon said. Americans would lap this up, I said. He nods, as if to say, yup, you got that right.

Then it what seemed like a rhetorical afterthought, he said, “You know what? There are so many buildings like this in Manila. Sayang…” And his words trailed off. I didn’t pursue. We were thinking the same thing.

He would know what Occidentals want because before he and his wife Sheila moved to Hong Kong, he lived on North America’s West Coast, in Vancouver, Canada, and in the San Francisco Bay Area.

On the day we left, we went across town, or more accurately perhaps, under the tunnel, to Kowloon where he showed us around the grandest of his current babies, the Dragon Centre, a nine-story mall that specializes in small things you don’t really need but could make you a ton of money.

It’s a takeoff from the tiangges (flea markets) of Greenhills and Harrison Plaza in Manila, but on a grander scale and more powerful air-conditioning. Each stall, measuring about four square meters, is encased in what seemed like clear glass. The rent: HK$4000 each. Do the numbers and you’d figure that this would be just about among the priciest pieces of real estate in space-starved Hong Kong.

“It’s all about cash flow,” Ramon explained.

In business, certainly. But the fact is while Dragon Centre is his biggest baby, his most precious by far is a real one, a gem of a toddler he and his wife named China Lisa. Actually China Lisa is their fourth child, who is more than a decade younger than their last son.

Having become empty nesters at such a relatively young age, Ramon told Sheila he wanted another child, so much so that he wanted to adopt one.

“I’ve seen so many poor children that I felt adopting would be a way of giving back,” he said. Sheila would give him that “are-you-kidding-me?” look. Instead she bore him another one.

On this afternoon, in their condominium from where one could see a generous slice of city, Ramon is making faces, performing antics and mouthing strange sounds in a futile effort to make China smile for the camera. Making cash – lots of it – flow seemed easier.

Then China’s yaya – Pinay, of course – stepped in, and sure enough the baby flashed a keeper with enough wattage to light up Hong Kong during Lunar New Year.

Ramon sheepishly but gratefully steps aside, on his face a sheen that said, it can’t get any better than this.

kiretoce

May 17th, 2007, 03:41 PM

A Pinoy in Pirates 3: At World’s End (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=77472)

When you watch Pirates 3: At World’s End (again with Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, along with new cast member Chow Yun Fat as a Chinese pirate complete with long nails and a foot-long beard), opening next Wednesday (May 23), take note of the guy who’s playing the villainous Tai Huang. He plays a Chinese, all right but, if you look closely, you will notice that he has mixed Chinese and Pinoy features. Well, he is — Fil-Chinese, that is. His name is Reggie Lee.

As you read this, I should be face-to-face with Reggie in Beverly Hills for the press junket of Pirates 3. No, Reggie isn’t participating in the junket, and neither are Johnny and Keira who are somewhere else promoting the movie. But Buena Vista International (which is releasing the movie) has arranged an interview for Funfare with Reggie at the coffee shop of the Beverly Hilton where the "international press" is billeted.

I won’t preempt my interview with Reggie, coming out next week, but I’m giving you a brief background (courtesy of Buena Vista) of this talented guy who is in, among other TV shows, the popular Fox drama Prison Break (as Special Secret Service Agent Bill Kim) and in, among other movies, The Fast and The Furious (with Vin Diesel).

Born in Quezon City, Reggie is the oldest of three sons. He speaks fluent Tagalog, his native tongue, and Cantonese. Reggie was a kid when the Lees migrated to Cleveland, Ohio, where he graduated from a Franciscan high school. In the 1990s, Reggie relocated to Los Angeles and became an actor. He went on a nationwide tour with the musical Heartstrings and, later, with Miss Saigon. Next stop: Broadway where he was cast in the original company of the Tony Award-winning musical Carousel. In 1997, Reggie received a Dramalogue Critics Award for his performance in F.O.B. at East West Players. He also starred in the Players’ production of Carry the Tiger to the Mountain.

Then came television. In the past decade, Reggie has guest-starred in TV shows like ER, Ellen Again, Strong Medicine, Mad About You, Walker Texas Ranger, Diagnosis Murder, Chicago Hope, Beverly Hills 90210, Babylon 5, Party of Five, Blind Justice, and Night Stalker.

He’s an athlete at heart, a huge sports and fitness fanatic.

"I can spot a good right hook when I see one," Reggie was quoted as saying, recalling Michelle Rodriguez’s punch that knocked him out in one of the scenes from The Fast and The Furious. "That was definitely an excellent right hook."

Memories of Manila, 1986

Meanwhile, here’s an interesting item I came upon in one of the recent issues of the US magazine Premiere. It’s about Oliver Stone’s Platoon (about the Vietnam War) which was shot in the Philippines (in Laguna) in 1986 during the historic People Power revolt. In that movie, guess who played one of the "extras"? Yes, Johnny Depp, who is now one of Hollywood’s megabuck superstars.

Here are quotes pertinent to the Philippines by Stone and some of the stars of Platoon:

Willem Dafoe: I went to the Philippines (where the boot camp and production occurred) a couple of weeks early. It was obviously a long flight from New York, so after I arrived, I took a nap in my Manila hotel room. When I woke up, I opened my windows and there were tanks in the streets. The revolution (to replace Filipino dictator Ferdinand Marcos) was happening.

Arnold Kopelson: I got a call, I think, from my line producer saying that there are tanks in the streets. I said, "Great, they’re our tanks (that were arranged for filming)." He said, "No, no. There’s a coup d’etat going on." At that moment I thought it was all over.

Forest Whitaker: My agents didn’t want me to do the movie because of the coup. I got convinced that it could be too dangerous, and actually at one point, I wasn’t going to. But ultimately I talked to Oliver, and it worked out.

Tom Berenger: I was staying at the Sheraton Universal hotel in Los Angeles waiting to go, and the doormen and the bellmen were all Filipinos, so they were calling home to Manila every night and would give me reports.

Dale Dye: Fortunately, it was a relatively bloodless coup, but I think it scared the s---it out of Oliver and his line producer because they had made a lot of deals with defense officials who may no longer be in power.

Oliver Stone: A lot of bribes went out with different departments, and then this thing happens, and we of course had to make new deals.

Whitaker: When we got off the plane in Manila, they drove us by bus out to the jungle, gave us shovels, and said, "Dig a hole." So we dug a hole. And then they said, "That’s where you are going to be living for the next two weeks."

===========================================================================

Sidenote: My friend from church, he's Pinoy too, is also in the new "Pirates" movie, as an extra though. But he's prominently featured in the scenes. If you stay for the end credits watch out for the name Ernie Mariquit Jr. (or EJ Mariquit).

kiretoce

May 17th, 2007, 04:09 PM

She gives mom the credit for her honors (http://www.jamestownpress.com/news/2007/0516/News/027.html)

http://www.jamestownpress.com/news/2007/0516/News/027p1_xlg.jpg

Local resident and recent state award winner Gemma Guinguing seems to have become the role model she says is needed for "the future success of our society."

Deaf since birth, Guinguing has used her many talents to their fullest.

Most recently, she was honored by the Rhode Island Women's Center for her volunteer advocacy and efforts to promote fair treatment of the deaf and disabled.

She credits her own achievements and work ethic to the positive attitude of her mother, Mamerta Guinguing of Middletown.

Guinguing said she was sad when she first realized what it meant to be deaf. Then she saw children and adults who could not move. "But I could walk and run, and especially, dance." She has known ever since, "I'm okay," she said.

Her mother cried at first about Gemma's deafness, but soon realized her daughter was smart and able to deal with the disadvantages. Before migrating to the United States, Gemma was class valedictorian at the Philippine School for the Deaf and Blind.

When Guinguing won the 2004-05 title of Miss Deaf Rhode Island, her mother read about it in the newspaper while at work. "I did not know she was doing this. But I was not surprised. I read it. I read it aloud. This very okay, I say. She is very okay."

Guinguing said she feels blessed with the strong, positive maternal traits she needed to overcome her own challenges. She was born deaf in the Philippines, a country that trailed in many modern advances, including education and socialization. She also suffered from widespread health problems there as a result of poor water quality.

Guinguing overcame her own health deficits there. Now, in the United States, she is giving thousands of volunteer hours with hundreds of people to teach sign language and compassion, communication and commitment. She says her disability is a springboard for mutual benefit. "God did not make a mistake by making me deaf. I believe I was born deaf so other people can see me and appreciate being able to hear and talk."

She helps others, such as police and firefighters in learning how to communicate with deaf people needing emergency help, Boy and Girl Scouts to "talk" with deaf friends, and teens and others to learn sign language. She even enjoys being a "guinea pig" for college students training to be sign language teachers and interpreters.

She is also launching a plan for persons with hearing and speaking problems to meet for mall food court lunches, to promote socialization and to demonstrate such interaction for passersby.

A larger project is visiting all the deaf schools in America, with an immediate goal of gathering data for the new RI School for the Deaf to be built in Lincoln. Guinguing believes Rhode Island programs are far behind facilities in some other states. So far, she has toured schools in 45 states, she said.

Guinguing gave an acceptance speech at last month's Rhode Island Women's Center Awards event. The center annually honors five women and one organization for "excellence and making a difference" on behalf of women and against domestic violence, abuse and other barriers to fullness of personhood. Guinguing was one of this year's honorees.

The award noted her advocating and volunteering on behalf of the deaf and disabled. She works 60 hours a week with deaf and mentally challenged persons at the Corliss Institute in Warren. She keeps in touch by email with all other women who have won Miss Deaf contests. She passes along their information to state officials, to encourage improved programs.

In her speech, Guinguing said, "I volunteer because it is my obligation to be a good American. I contact politicians when I see disabled people not being treated fairly. I vote in every election since I became a US citizen. For women to be paid and treated fairly we must be active and vote. With a strong role model like my mother I was blessed. The future success of our society is up to strong role models," she said.

garzland

May 20th, 2007, 03:08 PM

Millions of music fanatics worldwide know him simply as Apl.De.Ap - singer, composer and pioneering member of one of the more successful pop groups of today, the Black Eyed Peas.

But for most Pinoys, he is more than that. He is our brother who continues to do us proud by celebrating all things Filipino in song and in rhyme.

Born Allan Pineda Lindo, APL grew up in the lahar-filled streets of Pampanga. As he recounts in the popular Black Eyed Peas tune "Bebot:" "Hoy pare pakinggan niyo ako, Ito ang tunay na Pilipino, Galing sa Baryo Sapang Bato, Pumunta ng LA nagtrabaho, Para makatulong sa nanay, Dahil sa hirap ng buhay""

Well, not a few knows APL's life story of course as it was shown a few years ago in the local TV show Maalala Mo Kaya.
A hard life

"Those years were hard. Having almost nothing... my mother raised us all by her lonesome. My brothers, sisters, me" it was quite an experience," APL recalled recently during a get together at the Peninsula.

APL's father was a United States serviceman who was then stationed at Clark Air Base. He abandoned the family shortly after Allan was born.

During those lean years, APL sought refuge in music. Among those that he listened to growing up were the music of Stevie Wonder, The Eagles, The Beatles and local folk legend Asin.

"Me and my friends would listen to music all day memorizing the words"" he laughed.

He was adopted by an American family when he was 14 and moved to Los Angeles, leaving his family behind.
Thumbnail: Black Eyed Peas

Black Eyed Peas
New beginning

"I would get chased from school to my house every day," he recounts. "All these kids are like, 'Where [are] you from?' And I was like, 'From the Philippines'."

Moving to LA was a big adjustment for the young APL. He felt, isolated, lonely. If not for the promise he made to his mother and siblings, APL said he could have simply chosen to join the many gangs that thrived in their community in LA

"I wanted to belong so badly," he remembered.

Just like before, music became his ally and savior.

"I met Will.I.Am and we became friends and musical partners. And it made a big difference right there."
Lady Luck smiles

Forming Atban Klann with Will.I.Am [and another member] turned APL's life around. "Music gave me something to focus on. Instead of being always negative, I became confident. I found my direction."

Eventually Atban Klann became Black Eyed Peas and the rest, as the clichÈ goes, is history. To date, the group earned for themselves three Grammy Awards with over 29 million albums and singles sold worldwide.

All along, APL never forgot his promise to his family. Just last year, he brought his mother to America. He plans to bring his siblings to the US this year.

"I just finished petitioning my mom. My mom is in America now. Now I'm working to get my siblings, my brothers and sisters. I'm working on their papers," said Allan.

garzland

May 24th, 2007, 07:40 AM

Alexandar Ramos, a computer forensic analyst from the Philippines, has been given the 2007 Timothy Fidel Memorial Award for his outstanding role and analysis of digital evidences in a multi-jurisdictional investigation involving 7,000 hacked PBX's/voicemail systems worldwide. The award is given in memoriam of Special Agent Tim Fidel, a pioneer and tireless advocate of cyber forensics.

Ramos, who led the Philippine National Police team to uncover the hacking activities of a syndicate preying on the vulnerability of telecommunication networks around the world, was awarded on May 7 during the sixth annual Computer Enterprise Investigations Conference (CEIC) at the Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort.

"I'm happy that the all my hard work is being recognized by the international community," Ramos told Computerworld Philippines. "Our country needs a lot of maturity to appreciate my work." Ramos said he wouldn't have reached his current level of competency without the open support of Philippine General Edgar Aglipay and the late General Reynaldo Wycoco.

Ramos has been a practicing computer crime investigator for the last 10 years and has received various advance training in computer crime investigations and telecom fraud investigations. He figured in several successful transnational crime investigations in a global effort to keep the cyberspace safe. "Competency is a key factor for a successful investigation," Ramos said.

He is a key figure in the campaign to fight the spread of child pornography in the Asia Pacific Region and has successfully operated against organized crime groups preying on youth victims.

The Timothy Fidel Memorial Award Committee consists of a wide range of leaders in computer forensics, including: Steven Bullitt, program manager for the US Secret Service Electronic Crimes Special Agent Program (ECSAP); Andrew R. Feldman, director of the Technology and Support Center for the IRS Criminal Investigation; William S. Fortuno, associate special agent in charge for the Criminal Investigation Division of the US Environmental Protection Agency; Gary Probert, manager for the Gwent Police Hi-tech Crime Unit; and Gail Thackeray, assistant attorney general at the Arizona Attorney General's Office.

The Committee evaluated nominations from around the world for individuals who completed a computer forensic investigation during calendar year 2006. Submissions were reviewed by the Committee and judged on several factors including: the use of best practices, industry standards or other innovative techniques; complexity or notoriety of investigation; and the impact of the investigation - financial, organizational, procedural or societal. To show the industry's gratitude, the winner's charity of choice will receive a $10,000 donation in their name.

"We at Guidance Software are proud to continue to pay tribute to the Timothy Fidel legacy with this award that honors the best digital investigators in the world," said John Colbert, CEO of Guidance Software Inc., a leader in digital investigations . "Tim's tireless efforts to modernize and standardize forensics have made our industry what it is today, and through CEIC and this award we hope to recognize and carry on that tradition."

CEIC 2007 will bring the world's pre-eminent law enforcement, government and business leaders together to explore the latest techniques and best practices utilized by organizations around the world to secure and protect their IT networks from both external and internal threats. Guidance Software will be joined by Vericept in hosting the event, which continues to serve as the industry's flagship gathering and premier event for training and presenting cutting edge solutions in computer and enterprise investigations.

Timothy Fidel passed away on Oct. 29, 2004 at the age of 50. Fidel was a Special Agent with the United States Secret Service and the Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division. He was a major participant in the design of the Secret Service's Electronic Crimes Special Agents Program, and he was a certified computer forensic examiner, as well as a respected member of the International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists. Fidel's last post of duty with the Secret Service was with the Ronald Reagan Protective Division for then-retired President Ronald Reagan and former first lady Nancy Reagan.

In 2006, the Timothy Fidel Memorial award was presented to Army Investigator Brent Pack for his Groundbreaking Work on the Abu Ghraib Detention Facility Investigation.

Previous winners include Lydell Wall of the Stanislaus County Sheriff's office for his work on the Laci Peterson Investigation; and Corporal Jeff Owen of the Missouri State Highway Patrol on behalf of the Heart of America Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory and Mark Johnson of the U.S. Attorney General's Office for their work on the Bobbie Jo Stinnett Investigation.

garzland

May 24th, 2007, 07:42 AM

"Naiwagayway muli ang bandilang Pilipino"

These are the words of Noelle Wenceslao, the first Filipina woman to summit Mt. Everest, when she called the Philippine base camp announcing her successful summit of the Mt. Everest. Wenceslao summitted 6:10AM Nepal time (8:10 Mla. Time) as she became the first Filipina and the first ASEAN female to summit the treacherous Mt. Everest.

Kaya ng Pinay teammate Carina Dayondon followed at 6:20AM (8:20AM Mla. Time). Dayondon, a native of Bukidnon, was followed by Janet Belarmino who started a slow accent but upon reaching the summit made a strong recovery.

The three Filipina climbers made Philippine history as the first Asean females to successfully traverse the peak of the mystic Mount Everest (8,848 meters or 29,028 feet high).

They are also the first lady climbers to negotiate the Everest from the Tibet to Nepal side ñ a feat not done even by Leo Oracion and Pastour Emata, the first Filipino Mt. Everest summiteers.

It is a bigger triumph for the Pinay Everest summiteers after surmounting setbacks that threatened to stall the attempt. Belarmino took a break from training to give birth five months ago, while Wenceslao suffered from altitude sickness during her ascent.

The three women, supported all the way by media partner ABS-CBN, will descend to the Nepalese base camp on the North side after climbing the steep South side from Tibet.

beads_strawberries

May 24th, 2007, 08:49 AM

kiretoce

May 24th, 2007, 05:27 PM

6 Filipino students win in international science fair (http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=186&a=20444)

MANILA, Philippines -- Fresh out of high school, they were clad in casual wear, and were giggling when they faced the press Wednesday, belying the depth of their campus researches, which could lead to breakthroughs in science and math someday.

For their novel studies, the six students from science high schools around the Philippines won individual and team awards from a field of more than 1,500 participants from 51 countries at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).

The Intel ISEF, held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from May 14 to 19, is the world's largest pre-college science competition that brings together young scientists, who want to showcase "cutting-edge science" every year.

"They're the ones who bannered the Philippines during the program," Joselito Tulao, Intel Technology Philippines Inc.'s higher education manager, said while presenting the young awardees to the press at a restaurant in Makati City.

Melvyn Carlo Barroa, 16, won a Fourth Grand Award in the microbiology category for his study that explored the potential of fish mucus as antibiotic.

Hester Mana Umayam, 16, for her part, also bagged a Fourth Grand Award in the behavioral and social sciences for her research that delved into Kalinga natives' use of mathematics in their woven fabrics.

The team of Ivy Razel Ventura, Janine Cindy Santiago and Mara Elaine Villaverde, all 16, also won a Fourth Award in Team Projects for their study that explored the potential of Nudibranchs, or sea slugs, in tumor research.

Barroa and Umayam, and the team each received a $500 prize.

Luiji John Karlo Suarez, 17, won a scholarship award from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance-The Lemelson Foundation for his study of the potential of a type of bacteria in controlling pests in plants.

7,000 entries

All are incoming college freshmen. Most of them did the researches to fulfill a prerequisite for graduation, but little did they know they would reap awards for their efforts.

Their entries were among 7,000 that vied for awards at the Intel ISEF.

"We feel blessed, and happy. But until now it has not sunk in," Ventura said of her team's award. All three members of the team graduated from the Philippine Science High School in Quezon City.

Ventura's teammate, Villaverde considered the award a sign of the country's bright prospects in science research.

"I feel very inspired and thankful because we Filipinos can compete with other countries. We can be on the same level with them," she said.

Philippine Science Fair

The six students were among those who won the top prizes in the Intel Philippine Science Fair, a nationwide search for excellent science projects.

Intel and the Department of Education have been organizing the fair, which is designed mainly to encourage research and development among young students, since 1998.

Tulao said the entries to the local Intel science fair were improving in quality through the years.

"They were able to maintain a level of being competitive with other countries. From the Philippine perspective, we're keeping up with the trend of the researches and the results that have been generated," he said.

Prawns and tilapia

Barroa, a graduate of Capiz National High School in Roxas City, said he got his idea for his study from the school alumni who said that if prawns were cultured with Nile tilapia, they do not contract any disease.

"But they did not know what's causing that. So I researched about it on the Internet and in libraries, even in Manila, and made the experiment. With the help of my parents and teachers, I was able to do it," said the incoming political science student at the Ateneo de Manila University.

This is the first study about the potential of fish mucus as possible antibiotic, according to Barroa.

German institute's offer

A German research institute found Barroa's study, "Fish Mucus: Its Potential Antimicrobial Effects on Human Pathogens and Possible Role in Innate Immunity," so novel that it offered to buy it, but he refused.

"If they buy it, then the Philippines would not gain anything from it. So I merely agreed to a collaborative further study on it," Barroa said.

Kalinga's sense of symmetry

Umayam, a graduate of the Philippine Science High School in Cagayan Valley, said the indigenous people of Kalinga Apayao inspired her to do the study "Ethnomathematics in the Geomatric Patterns in Woven Fabrics of the Indigenous Kalingas of the Philippines."

She said that her major finding was that the Kalinga people used math, as can be seen in the order and symmetry in their woven fabrics.

"The Kalingas had no formal education but it (study) implies they have a sense of mathematics, specifically order, regularity and symmetry. They were unaware that they were applying math until I told them," said the incoming B.S. Statistics student at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

Ventura, Santiago and Villaverde said they conducted the study, "Screening, Isolation and Characterization of Fluorescent Proteins from Nudibranchs (sea slugs)," to fulfill a school requirement, but drew inspiration from researches about the topic.

"We were required to come up with this research to graduate," Ventura, an incoming Chemistry student at UP Diliman, said, eliciting chuckles. "But eventually, we learned to love what we were doing."

"There was a research on proteins present in marine organisms. That's where we got the idea. So we thought, 'Why not try sea slugs?"' said Villaverde, an incoming Management Engineering student at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Anti-bacterial agents

Their teammate, Santiago, is an incoming Electronics and Communications Engineering student at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Suarez, a graduate of the Doña Hortencia Salas Benedicto National High School in La Carlota City, said his mother, a Science teacher, and advisers had egged him on to do his study, titled "The potential of marine bioluminescent bacteria as anti-bacterial agents against two major rice diseases caused by xanthomonas orzyzae pv. Oryzicola."

With his study, he introduced a new way of controlling bacteria infection in plants to help farmers in the production of infection-free rice, Intel officials said.

Animo

May 25th, 2007, 12:28 AM

^ Congratulations to these women. :)

Their triumph just shows that Filipino women are determined to finish what they have started. It's quite an achievement that these women are the first Asian women who have conquered Mt. Everest.

Now, who says we're not good at anything?

Speaking of Filipina women. :)

http://www.philippinenews.com/directory/getdata.asp?about_id=8a26dde7bb8ad44b0584b66e28f25c2a-2

BEFORE the month of May becomes a thing of the past, nostalgia seeks a return. The month of May brings back memories of festivals; what stands out is the Flores de Mayo, translated as flowers of May.

The festival is a showcase of a time-nurtured Filipino tradition. Its highlight is in the Santacruzan, which is celebrated from the very humble barangays – or barrios of Philippine towns – to big cities drawing cosmopolitan crowds because of the festival’s unique character.

Having been kept alive as part of Philippine culture, the Santacruzan is ageless. It is a reminder of true Filipino character. Faith and religion are intertwined.

Each year when the Santacruzan is recreated, it defines what the Philippines has been to the rest of mankind, “the only Christian country in our part of the world.”

For its central theme, the devotion to the Blessed Mother as the “Protector and Patroness of the Philippines,” is portrayed most eloquently. It was a legacy that came from Spain and dates back to the Galleon Trade era. During that epoch, from 1564 to 1815, history tells us that Spanish galleons, numbers built by Filipinos were known to ferry oriental goods from the Philippines and elsewhere in Asia to the New World. Galleon ships plied the seas from Manila to Spain’s Sevilla and Mexico’s Acapulco.

The 250-year Galleon Trade between Manila and Acapulco brought European dances and art songs that were assimilated and transformed into today’s regional dances performed during the Flores de Mayo festivals staged in various parts of the Philippines.

Such well-known Philippine dances have taken their place in Philippine history and still thrill their audiences: Polkabal, a fusion of the polka and the waltz. The incorporation of the movements came from the steps seen as illustrating those of the jumping crow (luksong uwak), the German Contretanz (contraganza), and the paseo or leisurely walk. All these are but a few of the dance entertainment numbers that draw crowds to the annual regional celebrations of Flores de Mayo and those that take place in many towns nationwide.

What must not be ignored is the manner by which Flores de Mayo and Santacruzan participants do their best to render justice to their roles. They are beautifully dressed for the occasion. Even just to view the participants against the backdrop of their floral scenery replete with the sights and sounds of music coming from many ensembles trained for the occasion, their vast assemblies remain enthralled and will continue to look forward with much anticipation to the next annual celebration.

Records obtained from accounts made by the very early voyagers depict how they attributed their safety to the icon of the Blessed Mother accompanying them during all those peril-laden journeys from the Old World to the New World. While making all those journeys, the same records mentioned that the voyagers “entrusted” their families to the Blessed Mother’s protection as she guided their sailors to worlds still unknown.

The Santacruzan likewise celebrates a legendary theme. It is about the holy cross, “santa” for holy and “cruz” for cross. Legend has it that Christ’s cross was handed down as a testimonial to Rome’s ruler, Constantine, whose triumphs as a conqueror were unparalleled during his reign. The unification of the church and the Holy Roman Empire has been attributed to the work of Constantine named Constantine the Great in the annals of religious history.

In all of the Philippine Maytime festivals, Santacruzan is considered the most regal. The processions, held over nine evenings to reenact St. Helena’s search for the “True Cruz,” feature the locale’s loveliest women, all in the garb of queens, wearing their most beautiful native terno (the term given to the Filipina national attire that symbolizes elegance at its height.) Therefore, it is little wonder why the most highly sought roles in the festivals are the Reyna Elena (named after St. Helena) in the Santacruzan and the sagala in the Flores de Mayo.

Over time, since the Philippine Commonwealth received its independence from the United States on July 4, 1946, the role of the Filipina has been viewed as one who is an equal partner in life, endowed with the same intellectual attributes of men.

Hence, Filipino women have been privileged to partake of the equal opportunities that have come their way, thanks to education and training.

That all participants of the Santacruzan are women, is a paradigm of life as it is lived, that Filipino women have assumed and will continue to assume meaningful roles as they continue to take their place in the sun.

http://www.philippinenews.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=8a26dde7bb8ad44b0584b66e28f25c2a

tigidig14

May 25th, 2007, 02:22 AM

garzland

May 28th, 2007, 06:27 AM

The host of CNN's brand new monthly TV program Myleene Klass is happy to reveal that she is a proud Filipino.

The 28-year-old host said, "If there's one thing I want to tell the Filipinos in Manila, it's that I am waving our flag here and I'm happy and honored to be doing so."

Myleene Angela Klass is a former member of the UK pop group Hear'Say. Born in Gorleston, Norfolk on April 6, 1978 to a Filipino mother and an Austrian father, Klass comes from six generations of classical musicians, thus, the decorated career from doing back up vocals for K.D. Lang, Cliff Richard and Robbie Williams to West End's "Miss Saigon" and the 2001 the ITV1 show "Popstars," a reality show that paved the way for two things:

The group Hear'Say and mainstream celebrity fame for Klass who finds herself out of the back-up line and into the front with co-members Kym Marsh, Suzanne Shaw, Danny Foster and Noel Sullivan. For a slot at the British pop five, Klass had to beat 4,000 others who auditioned for the show.

Hear'Say went on to achieve two No.1 singles, a No.3 single and a #6 single in the British charts before the group disbanded in 2002.

Klass then moved on to "Moving On," her solo CD released a year after the Hear'Say break-up in 2003. Like her album title, Klass did pass the acid test of going solo with raved reworked versions of Fauré's "Pavane," Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" and Satie's "Gymnopedie No.2."

Also in the album are cuts from the movies "Gladiator" ("Now We Are Free") and the theme from "The Piano." Not leaving pop far behind, Klass did versions of Linkin Park's "Crawling" and Daniel Bedingfield's "If You're Not The One."

"Moving On" carved success when it achieved Gold six months after release and since reached Double Platinum.

However, pay-off for her hard work did not come with an easy price. Klass worked her way to become the top of her class during her school days. She also learned piano by four and harp by 12. Whilst at school, she received an A grade in A-level music, and became a Norfolk County scholar.

Klass said she has been to Manila when she was about seven years old and back again when she was 11. The last time she's here though was when she was 15. "I miss being in the Philippines. I miss the people, the beach and the food there!"

Currently based in London and expecting a baby boy in August, Klass almost palpably described her favorite Filipino dishes like Lechon and Adobo and would like to try Halo-halo again soon. "If we can arrange a segment in ‘The Screening Room' about the Filipino film industry then maybe I can travel back there," Klass hoped.
CNN'S CALLS SHOTS

In "The Screening Room," Klass country-hops on location of movies-in-the-making, interviews the people in front and behind the camera, covers world film events, and presents thought-provoking insights on one of the biggest industry in the world. All that, aside from hosting the monthly show which airs every third Saturday of the month (today, May 26 at 1:30, 3:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.).

The show premiered only last month and Klass confessed to a ton of work she and the people behind the show so painstakingly works for in order to achieve an all-angle exploring monthly movie program. "Even if the show only airs once a month, the work itself takes a lot more than what it looks on TV. We still work for each show for almost an entire month to get the segments done. I work for three to four days a week for the show but it's a fun job! It's an opportunity I would be crazy not to accept. My days are filled with premieres, interviews and filming we are doing for the upcoming programs, to give you an exclusive insight from the other side of the camera."

Klass said in her CNN blog, "From the moment I landed the job presenting this show, my feet haven't touched the ground; and I mean that literally! All the travel that's been involved has been so exciting. I've visited Africa before, so it was fascinating to discover how the film industry there has been affected by the success of movies like ‘The Last King of Scotland' and ‘Blood Diamond,' I've been in France looking at advancements in animation there, and I've hit the red carpet for some top premieres."

What makes "The Screening Room" easier for Klass despite the jostling schedule is the fact that she is a big fan of motion pictures. "I'm a huge movie fan! The show gives me that privilege of not only enjoying the movies as they are but get deeper into how they're done. I'm very much fascinated being privy to how people behind the scenes make it work, how actors become their characters and how directors' minds work."

For "The Screening Room's" pilot, Klass related a clash and co-existence of Hollywood pop movies and independent productions. When told that Manila has its own version of Hollywood versus Indie productions going on, Klass was happy to take note of it. "My mother has told me of movies during the 70s in the Philippines and it would be such an interesting sidelight to feature what's happening there today. I would definitely go for that given the opportunity."

Klass also found the fascinating CGI secrets of "300." She told of the movie, "I got to meet up with the people behind the new blockbuster "300." It was fascinating -- I'm so intrigued by the CGI process. As an actor in front of a blue screen, the concentration and added effort that's involved is so impressive, and to learn about the degree people go to when making these kinds of movies is extraordinary. I've never been to a press screening at 7 a.m. before, so to watch "300" before breakfast, with decapitated heads rolling towards me, was actually quite exciting!"

In its latest episode "The Screening Room," Klass will celebrate Cannes Film Festival's 60th anniversary and goes in-depth with Johnny Depp. The show is also loaded with Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Matt Damon at the premiere of "Ocean's 13;" Angelina Jolie launching her new film "A Mighty Heart," Michael Moore's new documentary "Sicko," Jude Law, and Natalie Portman.

Hollywood top directors Roman Polanski, Stephen Frears, Ken Loach, Wim Wenders and Wong Kar Wei are also featured in "The Screening Room's" second episode.

OtAkAw

May 28th, 2007, 09:30 AM

^^I always admire people with Filipino ancestry declaring abroad their appreciation and reverence for being Filipino simply because it's not what most of our foreign-based Kabababayans would do. Kung sino pa ang bahagi lang ng pagkatao ang Pilipino sila pa ang masaya at proud maging Pinoy. Remember stories of OFW's actinga s though they're not Pinoy?

garzland

May 29th, 2007, 02:02 AM

Six students from science high schools around the Philippines won individual and team awards from a field of more than 1,500 participants from 51 countries at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).

The Intel ISEF, held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from May 14 to 19, is the world's largest pre-college science competition that brings together young scientists, who want to showcase "cutting-edge science" every year.

Melvyn Carlo Barroa, 16, won a Fourth Grand Award in the microbiology category for his study that explored the potential of fish mucus as antibiotic.

Hester Mana Umayam, 16, for her part, also bagged a Fourth Grand Award in the behavioral and social sciences for her research that delved into Kalinga natives' use of mathematics in their woven fabrics.

The team of Ivy Razel Ventura, Janine Cindy Santiago and Mara Elaine Villaverde, all 16, also won a Fourth Award in Team Projects for their study that explored the potential of Nudibranchs, or sea slugs, in tumor research.

Barroa and Umayam, and the team each received a $500 prize.

Luiji John Karlo Suarez, 17, won a scholarship award from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance-The Lemelson Foundation for his study of the potential of a type of bacteria in controlling pests in plants.
7,000 entries

All are incoming college freshmen. Most of them did the researches to fulfill a prerequisite for graduation, but little did they know they would reap awards for their efforts.

Their entries were among 7,000 that vied for awards at the Intel ISEF.

"We feel blessed, and happy. But until now it has not sunk in," Ventura said of her team's award. All three members of the team graduated from the Philippine Science High School in Quezon City.

Ventura's teammate, Villaverde considered the award a sign of the country's bright prospects in science research.

"I feel very inspired and thankful because we Filipinos can compete with other countries. We can be on the same level with them," she said.
Philippine Science Fair

The six students were among those who won the top prizes in the Intel Philippine Science Fair, a nationwide search for excellent science projects.

Intel and the Department of Education have been organizing the fair, which is designed mainly to encourage research and development among young students, since 1998.

Tulao said the entries to the local Intel science fair were improving in quality through the years.

"They were able to maintain a level of being competitive with other countries. From the Philippine perspective, we're keeping up with the trend of the researches and the results that have been generated," he said.
Prawns and tilapia

Barroa, a graduate of Capiz National High School in Roxas City, said he got his idea for his study from the school alumni who said that if prawns were cultured with Nile tilapia, they do not contract any disease.

"But they did not know what's causing that. So I researched about it on the Internet and in libraries, even in Manila, and made the experiment. With the help of my parents and teachers, I was able to do it," said the incoming political science student at the Ateneo de Manila University.

This is the first study about the potential of fish mucus as possible antibiotic, according to Barroa.
Thumbnail: ISEF Floor

ISEF Floor
German institute's offer

A German research institute found Barroa's study, "Fish Mucus: Its Potential Antimicrobial Effects on Human Pathogens and Possible Role in Innate Immunity," so novel that it offered to buy it, but he refused.

"If they buy it, then the Philippines would not gain anything from it. So I merely agreed to a collaborative further study on it," Barroa said.
Kalinga's sense of symmetry

Umayam, a graduate of the Philippine Science High School in Cagayan Valley, said the indigenous people of Kalinga Apayao inspired her to do the study "Ethnomathematics in the Geomatric Patterns in Woven Fabrics of the Indigenous Kalingas of the Philippines."

She said that her major finding was that the Kalinga people used math, as can be seen in the order and symmetry in their woven fabrics.

"The Kalingas had no formal education but it (study) implies they have a sense of mathematics, specifically order, regularity and symmetry. They were unaware that they were applying math until I told them," said the incoming B.S. Statistics student at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

Ventura, Santiago and Villaverde said they conducted the study, "Screening, Isolation and Characterization of Fluorescent Proteins from Nudibranchs (sea slugs)," to fulfill a school requirement, but drew inspiration from researches about the topic.

"We were required to come up with this research to graduate," Ventura, an incoming Chemistry student at UP Diliman, said, eliciting chuckles. "But eventually, we learned to love what we were doing."

"There was a research on proteins present in marine organisms. That's where we got the idea. So we thought, 'Why not try sea slugs?"' said Villaverde, an incoming Management Engineering student at the Ateneo de Manila University.
Anti-bacterial agents
Their teammate, Santiago, is an incoming Electronics and Communications Engineering student at the Ateneo de Manila University.

Suarez, a graduate of the Doña Hortencia Salas Benedicto National High School in La Carlota City, said his mother, a Science teacher, and advisers had egged him on to do his study, titled "The potential of marine bioluminescent bacteria as anti-bacterial agents against two major rice diseases caused by xanthomonas orzyzae pv. Oryzicola."

With his study, he introduced a new way of controlling bacteria infection in plants to help farmers in the production of infection-free rice, Intel officials said.

Lili

May 30th, 2007, 03:30 AM

ravenhawk

May 30th, 2007, 03:57 AM

^^ wow may pinoy pala sa pirates!:banana: :cheers:

Lili

May 30th, 2007, 04:46 AM

^^ Yeah, and he is PROUDLY Pinoy. He proclaims it in all his press releases.

waketrex

May 30th, 2007, 07:06 AM

While we are talking about films/actors in general I want to put this post in thats in my blog:
QWERTY - The film (On the Lot) (http://waketrex.i.ph/blogs/waketrex/2007/05/30/qwerty-the-film-on-the-lot/)
Have you seen QWERTY? This film was made by Paolo Dy (http://www.paolody.com/), one of the new breed of Filipino filmmakers out there.

Well On the Lot (http://www.thelot.com/) premiered but he was not included in one of the contestants, I was shocked and frustrated. Actually it’s surprising to see that most of the filmmakers are actually around the Americas, and Europe. Seems that Africa, Oceania and Asia were left out.

Nevertheless, Paolo Dy will have my full patronage for his works.
With 494+ ratings around the world with an average of 5 stars, the chance you will like QWERTY is pretty high.
Watch QWERTY:
Quicktime High RES (http://www.paolody.com/qwerty_hires.mov) (51 mb)
On the Lot (http://films.thelot.com/films/19175)

(http://films.thelot.com/films/19175)
Youtube embed:
http://waketrex.i.ph/calliope/rte/images/video_youtube.jpg

An interview with Paolo Dy, will be posted tomorrow!

bariQ

May 31st, 2007, 08:55 AM

i dunno kung d2 ko ba2 ilalagay pero napangiti talaga ako nang nakakita ako ng royal, sarsi, rccola, pop cola at marami pang ibang pinoy products sa isang chinese grocery store!

bitoy

May 31st, 2007, 05:28 PM

Dr. Andrew Prieto is the recipient of the 2007 College of Human Medicine Outstanding Community Faculty Award of the Michican State University. He was one of three faculty members who were given recognition in the MSU College of Human Medicine annual faculty awards on May 16.

Thomasian!

MNL

May 31st, 2007, 06:40 PM

Did you guys know that Enrique Iglesias is half-Pinoy? His mom is a Filipino-mestiza.:)

Rolls-Royce

May 31st, 2007, 08:44 PM

OtAkAw

June 1st, 2007, 09:38 AM

^^Sad, really sad.

And if you watched Philippine TV recently, they raved about this Filipino gay who became an Assistant Accessories Editor in Oprah Magazine. The persons who interviewed him were just you know, raving, ecstatic and that. I'm not trying to tell that what he accomplished is just small, it's just that, just like what you've said, other Filipinos abroad other than the US who are making really huge waves deserve the attention of their Kababayans. Kasi mga testimonya ang buhay nila sa galing ng Pilipino.

jmok

June 1st, 2007, 11:06 AM

Did you guys know that Enrique Iglesias is half-Pinoy? His mom is a Filipino-mestiza.:)

yup ..PROOUD PINOY.......:) :) :) :)

portludlow

June 2nd, 2007, 04:05 PM

Apl.de.ap is ‘kuya’ to Amerasians

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=69181
By Tonette Orejas
Central Luzon Desk
Last updated 07:27pm (Mla time) 06/02/2007

ANGELES CITY -- Allan Pineda -- more popularly known as Apl.de.ap of the three-time Grammy Award-winning quartet Black Eyed Peas -- is now kuya (elder brother) to Filipino Amerasians.

"Samasan yu ing pamag-aral yu (You should do well in your studies)," Pineda said in Kapampangan, which he spoke fluently as though he had not been away for 18 years.

"Yes, Kuya Allan! We love you, Kuya Allan!" the 50 or so young Amerasians, aged five to 20, chorused back at the end of his speech during a forum here on Friday.

In their first encounter at the auditorium of the Angeles University Foundation here on Friday, the children asked Pineda to sing, dance, and share life lessons he gathered as he struggled to attain fame.

With no air of celebrity and still shaking off the jet lag from Thursday's plane trip from Los Angeles, Pineda, 32, gave in to their requests. He also accommodated children who wanted to be photographed with him.

Dressed in a black suit and sneakers, Pineda made it known he remained a Filipino at heart. He displayed a small metal pin of the Philippine flag on his left collar.

He also committed to do two more tasks: Hold a benefit concert, possibly in December this year after the Black Eyed Peas' "Black Blue & You World Tour" of 13 countries, and work as endorser for the educational scholarship program of the Pearl S. Buck Foundation Philippines (PSBP) among Filipino-Americans in the United States.

All these he would do, he told the Inquirer, through the PeaPod Foundation, the charity arm of the Black Eyed Peas.

He earlier did benefit concerts for landslide victims in Leyte and tsunami victims in Indonesia.

The ties of Pineda with PSBP go way, way back.

Pineda's Filipino mother, Cristina, 52, said in the forum that PSBP found her son a "sponsor" in the person of California-based lawyer Joe Ben Hedgens when he was two-and-half-years old.

In 1989, when Pineda was 14 years old, Hedgens took him to Los Angeles and supported his studies there, she said.

"It is amazing to be back… I owe majority of that success to the Pearl S. Buck Foundation," Pineda told his audience.

He greeted them with "Mayap a bengi kikuyu (Good evening to you all)" that, matched with a wide smile, thawed the somewhat edgy audience who came face-to-face with an international music celebrity.

The plight of Amerasians, his mother said, was close to Pineda's heart because like many of them, he never got to see his father, an American soldier. She said Pineda tried to survive the hard life by working early in life in Sapang Bato, a farming village just outside the iron fence of Clark Air Base, an American military base then.

Erlinda De Ungria-Tagle, PSBP executive director, said Pineda renewed ties with the foundation when one of their coordinators called him three months ago to ask him if he could help find ways to send more kids to school.

"He gave a casual 'yes' and we thought he was not so interested. So we did not take him seriously. Then he called us last month to say he was really coming over and we were shocked by his sense of generosity," Tagle told the Inquirer.

"Without Pearl S. Buck, my parents, and adopted parents, I would not have the opportunities to go up in life," Pineda said.

In the program, Dr. Leticia Yap, PSBP local board member, called Pineda a "very good model" and threw the Amerasians a challenge.

"Kung kaya ni Allan ay kaya mo rin (If Allan made it, you too can make it)," Yap said.

Regina Diaz, a black Amerasian, dedicated the song "I'll Be There" to Pineda, which made the singer teary eyed. Three groups took turns dancing.

Pineda said he would take them in as front acts for the benefit concert. He gave his share of the fun, singing parts of his group's chart-busting songs.

In the forum, he answered all sorts of questions.

To Eugene Nacine's query on why Black Eyed Peas took such name, Pineda said: "Because it is food for the soul."

In answer to Diaz's question, he said the group started when he and William James Adams Jr. (or Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas) "started dancing together and became best friends and hit it big in 1995."

How he got to the US, he said, was a result of constant communication with Hedgens.

Pineda's advice went: "Write your sponsor. Tell them what's happening to you. Study hard. Be enthusiastic."

Replying to Christopher Villaruz, Pineda said he overcame the difficulties by "surrounding myself with good friends, staying close to family, studying hard, praying a lot."

"I did not take ‘no’ for an answer," Pineda said.

Success, according to him, "took a lot of hard work."

"We practiced every day, bonded by friendship and love for music. We keep performing in colleges, doing also benefit concerts," he said.

Pineda promised to find ways to support his fellow Amerasians.

"I am finding out ways how to support my Amerasian brothers and sisters. Don't be ashamed to ask how I could help. I will be one of your endorsers," he said, drawing the loudest applause that night.

He considers the Philippines his home because the Kapampangan are the "best cooks," Christmas in the country is great, and it is where his family is.

His being an Amerasian, he said, "did not matter to me."

"All I know is that I am a Filipino. And I live Filipino values. And they received me for who I am," Pineda said.

Cristina said her son, the eldest in a brood of seven (six children by her second husband), endured discrimination as he was growing up.

"When he was small our neighbors called him '******.' I advised him to ignore the teasing. 'You shouldn't be ashamed. You're also a person like them,'" Cristina recalled telling her son.

She raised him by planting gabi (yam) and vegetables, selling native snacks, and tending a small grocery store. Pineda's grandmother, Virginia, helped raise him.

Starting at five years old, Pineda helped pack yams in sacks or repacked charcoal in small plastic bags and delivered these to his mother's suki (loyal customers) at the Pampanga market in Angeles City.

After classes and on weekends, Pineda sold suman and palitaw (rice cakes) in the village. Cristina gave him P2 for every P20 of sales.

Hedgens sent Pineda money through a PSBP-managed savings account so he could stay in school. The money went to books, uniforms, school projects, and his daily allowance. Pineda received gifts from Hedgens every Christmas.

He said he regards Hedgens like his true father. Hedgens never fails to invite him to family occasions, he said.

The search for his biological father has been futile, though. But Cristina said her son has never been resentful about being abandoned.

"He's kind," she said.

Tagle said Pineda picked up the cause of Amerasians as the PBSP celebrates its 39th year.

"He's like coming full circle. He's been helped and he's been helping others," she said.

What is "amazing" in Pineda, Tagle said, is despite the distance, he never ceased ties with his mother and relatives in the Philippines.

OtAkAw

June 3rd, 2007, 10:35 AM

^^Nakakabilib talaga yang si Allan Pineda.

Sinjin P.

June 4th, 2007, 01:19 PM

RP bags top prize in Taiwan paintball tourney
(http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=79588)
The Philippines won big at the Taiwan International Paintball Championship after copping the top prize by beating four other Asian countries during the four-day tournament, ABS-CBN News reported.

The Global Pinoy Philippine Paintball Team arrived in Manila on board Philippine Airlines flight PR 897 Monday.

The group, led by team captain Antonio Mayo Tuano, bested paintball competitors from Japan, Thailand, Malaysia and host Taiwan.

Tuano attributed their success to rigorous training. He also thanked those who supported their campaign.

The Global Pinoy Philippine Team is composed of Tuano, Britz Benedict Torres, Francis Lucena, Donald Girado and Cristoper John Joquico and team owner and trainor Sonny Torres.

The team is managed and trained by businessman Sonny Torres.

le Reine

June 8th, 2007, 05:38 PM

This made me cry:

Filipino recounts surviving in Harvard on leftover food (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view_article.php?article_id=70303)

By Volt Contreras
Inquirer
Last updated 10:23pm (Mla time) 06/08/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- Before Oscar Franklin Tan drew raves for his commencement address at the elite Harvard Law School the other day, this young Filipino lawyer had his share of silent, awkward moments when basic things like meals became ''an issue.''

In a candid, light-hearted exchange with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Tan shared how campus life could be tough even for excelling foreign students like him in one of the world's premier institutions.

He managed to stretch his limited food budget, for example, by improvising his menu and even collecting ''leftovers'' at school functions.

He also took advantage of his professor's habit of bringing two baskets of apples to class each Friday. Tan saw an opportunity when he noticed that most of his classmates, especially the Americans, ''just ignored'' the treat.

''There was usually at least one basket left. I would bring an extra backpack every Friday and waited until everyone left and had free fruit half the year, thanks to Professor Lawrence Tribe,'' he said.

Tan fondly recalled all these ''embarrassing'' episodes in his e-mail to the Inquirer on Thursday, the day before he stood proud and tall as the commencement speaker at the 2007 HLS graduation rites, an honor bestowed upon him by his class.

The 27-year-old bachelor and 2005 law alumnus of the University of the Philippines completed his master's degree at the premier institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was chosen to speak at the ceremony in behalf of some 700 American and foreign graduates.

''Food was really an issue because I was on a tight budget, having entered Harvard Law practically a fresh graduate,'' said Tan, whose studies were shouldered in part by the HLS, the Ayala Scholarship Fund, his law firm (Angara, Abello, Concepcion, Regala and Cruz law office) where he is an associate, and with a little help from his father, fellow lawyer Edmund Tan.

''Some of the Asian and African students have become notorious for trying to save on food, and looking for free food. I became one of them after I learned that Harvard threw away uneaten food from all the functions and talks (which shocked the Africans in particular), and I just brought the food back to the dorm.''

Chow time in his fourth-floor unit at the Gropius dormitories, ''the ugliest but cheapest'' lodging on campus, often had him ''experimenting with many combinations to save food, such as making sandwiches and buying microwaveable chicken strips.'' He also stocked up on canned soup and tuna whenever there was a sale.

But while his cupboard was almost bare, Tan apparently had in abundance memorable campus experiences, especially with classmates of diverse cultural backgrounds.

Being Filipino with Chinese lineage gave him a ready affinity with East and Southeast Asians. Coming from a former Spanish and then US colony like the Philippines made it easy for him to relate to Americans, Latinos and Europeans, he noted.

''That leaves the Africans. I also had a ready affinity with them because I was from a developing country with postcolonial issues. I'd like to think that each of my classmates identified with me one way or another,'' he said.

A Thai classmate was kind enough to help carry Tan's refrigerator to his fourth-floor unit, since the dormitory had no elevator. A Saudi classmate, apparently familiar with the many Filipino workers in his oil-rich state, could understand most of Tan's sentences in Filipino.

But his international relations were not always that smooth.

''There was one embarrassing moment where a French classmate and I almost had a fight until we sat down and compared our cultures. Our Nigerian classmate had lost a close relative and was feeling very sad, so I e-mailed the class requesting the religious students to pray for him and console him.''

The French classmate then sent Tan an e-mail, expressing "shock that I would violate someone's privacy in such a public manner.''

''We discussed it, and he realized that grief is treated as a community issue in the Philippines (and in other developing countries), where public wakes are held and everyone tries to pass by to pay their respects. It was very new to him,'' Tan recalled.

dave_m

June 8th, 2007, 06:05 PM

Lili

June 8th, 2007, 09:01 PM

^ Sa tingin mo magtatayo ng Harvard University sa Pilipinas? Baka Harvardian University pa.

Harvard 'yan kaya talagang ubos ang pera niya.

Rajah_Soliman

June 8th, 2007, 09:35 PM

^^ i read that article before it was posted here... he didn't beg for the food, nor did he scavenge for it... that's what all filipinos do after parties, TAKE HOME...
i will do the same as well, because I hate cooking....
the writer should find something more worthy to tell his or her readers.... btw, my dormitory closet then was also full of tuna and sardine cans, add to that my imported "payless" noodles from the philippines .... i never realized that I did something "mendicant" ... :lol: :cheers:

papi_chulo

June 9th, 2007, 06:54 AM

Did you guys know that Enrique Iglesias is half-Pinoy? His mom is a Filipino-mestiza.:)
yes ages go

amigo32

June 9th, 2007, 07:16 AM

Rajah_Soliman

June 9th, 2007, 11:47 AM

At sayang yun 'no, tinatapon na lang. :lol:

yeah.. and they boast themselves "the best university" in the world... hhmmmm they should be ashamed of themselves.... throwing precious food while people are dying in many poor countries...

smokingunmanila

June 9th, 2007, 01:50 PM

do you know how much the US is throwing away agricultural products and meat products...just to keep the prices stable in the market? ayan mag research kayo...because they subsidize their farmers and animal raisers.

Do you know which country kills the most number of dogs every year?

amigo32

June 9th, 2007, 02:32 PM

ano ka ba, i post mo na lang, hehehe siguro hindi mo rin alam, hehehe

smokingunmanila

June 9th, 2007, 02:51 PM

how did you know? hahahaha...pero nabasa ko na yan dati..at galit na galit ako sa US...kasi sabi ko sa teacher ko..bakit hindi nalang export yun sa africa or to the third world countries..ang sagot ba naman ehh..eh para ma stablize ang price sa world market....

Rajah_Soliman

June 9th, 2007, 06:16 PM

^^ :yes: that's why we should stop imitating the US capitalistic system ... tanong: binabalatan nyo ba ang pepino pagkinakain nyo ito?

j.r.

June 9th, 2007, 06:30 PM

he he. sirit. bakit mo natanong?? :lol: (ayy, wala pa yung sagot, LOL na ko!!):)

Rajah_Soliman

June 9th, 2007, 06:38 PM

^^ hintayin natin ang sagot ni smokingun :lol:

smokingunmanila

June 9th, 2007, 06:42 PM

Dapat hindi..dahil masustansya din yung balat...ayan nasagot na..next!

j.r.

June 9th, 2007, 07:14 PM

:lol:

Rajah_Soliman

June 9th, 2007, 07:50 PM

bilib talaga ako sa iyo don smokingunmanila, tumpak ang gasagutan... :lol:

next: ano ang kabuluhan ng balat ng pepino sa ekonomiya ng bayan.. :lol:

Dapat hindi..dahil masustansya din yung balat...ayan nasagot na..next!

smokingunmanila

June 9th, 2007, 08:05 PM

Ang balat ay si GMA..sya ang sustansya ng bayan bow!

Oh walang aangal ok!

DaimosLA

June 16th, 2007, 12:27 AM

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7113144

NOVO ECIJANO

June 16th, 2007, 06:45 PM

:banana: :banana: :banana: Hollywood actor Jesse Bradford gets Richard Gutierrez’s role

Jesse Bradford, the Hollywood actor recently picked to star in the US remake of Yam Laranas’ acclaimed thriller in Tagalog, “Sigaw.”

Jesse, whom we interviewed last October when he played one of the leads in Clint Eastwood’s World War II drama, “Flags of Our Fathers,” tackles the role played by Richard Gutierrez in the original movie. The photo was taken during our press con with him at the Warner Bros. lot.

Our congratulations to Yam — he gets to direct the American version, “The Echo,” as well. It’s a tribute to the filmmaking talent he displayed in “Sigaw.” An American director could have been chosen to helm “The Echo.” For Hollywood to give him the job, that’s a significant achievement.

Yam, way to go! For a change, it is nice to hear that Hollywood is doing a remake of a Filipino film and not the other way around. Let’s hope the American film industry taps more Pinoy stories and talents.

waketrex

June 16th, 2007, 07:34 PM

[FONT="Arial Black"][SIZE="4"]:banana: :banana: :banana:
Our congratulations to Yam — he gets to direct the American version, “The Echo,” as well. It’s a tribute to the filmmaking talent he displayed in “Sigaw.” An American director could have been chosen to helm “The Echo.” For Hollywood to give him the job, that’s a significant achievement.

Yam, way to go! For a change, it is nice to hear that Hollywood is doing a remake of a Filipino film and not the other way around. Let’s hope the American film industry taps more Pinoy stories and talents.

And I thought Sam Raimi will direct it... maybe he's the producer with tons of cash he got from Spidey. Nevertheless this is a good thing at least its the same director who already has the idea of what he wants.

Horror flicks are becoming more common in the US, meaning that mainstream media are now accepting it. Now with tons of horror stories/supernatural stories in the Philippines that's not the same as the west, there's a great potential here.

wynngd

June 17th, 2007, 05:36 AM

^^ According to IMDB.com Iza Calzado is rumored to be one of the casts. This is a very good news for Philippine entertainment Industry!

amigo32

June 17th, 2007, 06:38 AM

^^ According to IMDB.com Iza Calzado is rumored to be one of the casts. This is a very good news for Philippine entertainment Industry!

I've tried googling for reviews of the movie and found tons of great reviews. Now, I want to get a copy of the movie. I am not really a fan of pinoy movie, unless it gets international awards like, Magnifico, and Small voices. I'm gonna get a copy tomorrow.

diz

June 17th, 2007, 07:10 AM

kewl! We've gone international! Similar to The Ring and The Grudge. Now, The Echo. See the pattern?

waketrex

June 17th, 2007, 07:49 AM

I've tried googling for reviews of the movie and found tons of great reviews. Now, I want to get a copy of the movie. I am not really a fan of pinoy movie, unless it gets international awards like, Magnifico, and Small voices. I'm gonna get a copy tomorrow.

I saw it quite awhile back, here's an advice, watch it at night lights turned down. And the volume up. It has better sound mix than other Philippine films.

From what I read awhile back Sam Raimi (The Grudge, Spiderman director) jumped at a few scenes and enjoyed it so much. And I guess this has paved way to import the movie to the US.

Butanding

June 17th, 2007, 09:44 AM

A FILIPINO lawyer taking up his LLM or master’s degree in law at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will deliver the school’s commencement address on June 7.

Oscar Franklin Barcelona Tan, a graduate of UP Law Class 2005 will address about 700 graduates. He is an associate, on study leave, at the ACCRA law office.

His father, lawyer Edmundo L. Tan of the Tan Acut & Lopez Law firm, had no comment on Franklin’s selection by a select committee, but said, “I will be there in Harvard on June 7 to congratulate personally my son and to share the moment with him.”

His mother, Dr. Jesusa Barcelona Tan, is a dermatology consultant at the Hospital of the Infant Jesus in Sampaloc, head of the photo-dermatology unit, and former chair of the Department of Dermatology at the Jose R.Reyes Medical Center of the Department of Health.

In his draft speech, Oscar urges his 700 fellow graduates to transcend narrow nationalism. “My friends and this includes our American classmates who will soon lead the world’s lone superpower let us transcend our individual nationalities and affirm that we are citizens of the world,” he says.

http://sesantos.com.ph/2007/06/05/filipino-to-address-harvard-law-graduation/#more-491

wynngd

June 17th, 2007, 02:39 PM

I saw it quite awhile back, here's an advice, watch it at night lights turned down. And the volume up. It has better sound mix than other Philippine films.

From what I read awhile back Sam Raimi (The Grudge, Spiderman director) jumped at a few scenes and enjoyed it so much. And I guess this has paved way to import the movie to the US.

I'm so happy about this news. Look what I found, a blog spot of Yam Laranas where he puts updates on his project:

http://yamlaranas.blogspot.com/

I'm looking forward for 2008. Congrats to Him!

Animo

June 18th, 2007, 06:36 AM

Rene Villaroman/Asianjournal.com
LOS ANGELES -- A Filipino American tenor is in the supporting cast of the Placido Domingo-directed zarzuela, 'Luisa Fernanda' at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles until June 16. The two-act zarzuela, with roots in Madrid, Spain, also stars Placido Domingo and has a cast of more than 150 singers, actors and dancers.

Sal Malaki, a resident of Glendale, California, is one of the most seasoned artists of the Los Angeles Opera Company, the fourth largest opera house in the U.S., under the direction of tenor and conductor Maestro Placido Domingo. He plays a supporting role in â€˜Luisa Fernanda.â€™ â€œIt is like a dream come true, being part of a Placido Domingo production,â€ Sal said.

Sal has had singing parts in another Domingo-directed opera, but not as big as in this opera, where he got an opportunity to sing solo for about one minute during the last scene of the first act. Sal also had worked with Domingo in the most recent production of Verdiâ€™s â€˜La Traviata,â€™ playing the role of Giuseppe.

Sal said that he and Domingo had known each other professionally for 12 years, having worked together in at least 15 operas in LA. â€œWe are not friends in the usual sense, but he knows that I have been with LA Opera and the LA Master Chorale for 12 years; maybe he liked my work,â€ Sal said. Two other Fil-Am artists join him in â€˜Luisa Fernanda,â€™ Joseph Pantaleon, a dancer, and Kenji Rodriguez, an actor.

â€œThis zarzuela, which by the way is very popular in the Philippines, is very close to our cultural experience,â€ Sal said. â€œIt has the religious procession, the fiesta, and the Catholicism that we all know about.â€

â€œLuisa Fernanda is a favorite in my native Spain,â€ Domingo wrote in LA Operaâ€™s Performances Magazine. â€œIn fact, this was one of the works that brought my parents from Madrid to Mexico City when I was a child,â€ Domingo said, in his â€˜Welcome to LA Opera column. Domingo was born in Spain and moved to Mexico City when he was a young boy.

â€˜Luisa Fernandaâ€™ is a masterpiece by Federico Moreno Torraba, one of the most popular zarzuela composers in Spain. â€œâ€˜Luisa Fernandaâ€™ is without a doubt one of the most romantic zarzuelas, and one can hardly think about doing a season of zarzuela without having this work in the repertoire,â€ Domingo wrote. It opened to a full house on Sunday, June 3.

Domingo inherited the role from his father, who played the Vidal Hernando role when Placido was a young boy. Madrid-born Maria Jose Montiel, a mezzo-soprano, plays Luisa Fernanda; and Spanish tenor Antonio Gandia, plays Javier Moreno.Â â€œToday, the Luisa Fernanda cast includes a fourth generation Domingo,â€ Sal said, referring to Nicole Domingo, the little girl pulling the secondary curtain and the girl that had her portrait taken while holding a balloon in the fiesta scene.

Although Sal Malaki has been a 12-year member of the LA Opera Company and the LA Master Chorale, he is relatively unknown in the Fil-Am community here and in other US cities. Sal has performed in prestigious venues like the Carnegie Hall and the Merkin Concert Hall in New York, the UCLA Royce Hall and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in L.A., as well as the Macomb Center for the Arts in Detroit, St. Johnâ€™s University in Minnesota, and the Morristown Museum in New Jersey.

He has appeared in over 66 opera productions in LA Opera Companyâ€™s recent productions of â€˜La Traviata,â€™ â€˜Madame Butterfly,â€™ â€˜Der Rosenkavalier,â€™ â€˜La Rondine,â€™ and â€˜Fantastic Mr. Fox.â€™ Next month, he will perform at a concert in Singapore. Sal has played the role of Lt. Pinkerton in Pucciniâ€™s â€˜Madame Butterflyâ€™ in March 2006 at the Philippine Cultural Center. Critics describe him as â€œan exceptional artist whose voice has gained the reputation as an expressive and versatile tenor.â€

But the road to success and recognition was not easy. â€œI worked my way through college,â€ he revealed. â€œI sang with the Madrigal Singers in performances at â€˜Maynila,â€™ a tourist restaurant lounge at the Manila Hotel that former First Lady Imelda Marcos had built.â€ He worked late into the night and attended classes at the University of the Philippines College of Music at eight a.m. next morning. â€œIt was rough.â€

Born and raised in Southern Leyte province in the Philippinesâ€™ Visayas region, Sal was a high school valedictorian. That qualified him for a scholarship at the University of the East, where he initially majored in Accounting.

â€œBut it was not for me,â€ he said. â€œI was not into accounting. I knew that I loved music and singing.â€ Transferring to UP, he found his niche. â€œI have always been a singer and a musician, playing the flute and the guitar,â€ he said. He and his wife moved to California in the early 1990s.

On the advice of a community-based organization, Sal sought to join the LA Master Chorale, but before he did, he reviewed his knowledge of French, German, Italian and Latin, requisites of membership. He passed the audition without missing a beat, and was awarded the classification â€œpaid singerâ€ by then conductor Paul Salamunovich.

The LA Opera Company similarly welcomed him with open arms, immediately awarding him parts in â€˜Flying Dutchmanâ€™, â€˜Stiffelioâ€™, and â€˜The Elixir of Loveâ€™. The crowning jewel in Salâ€™s journey also arrived during 1995 when the INS accorded him a green card â€œas an alien of extraordinary abilityâ€ based on recommendations made by LA Master Chorale and LA Opera Company. (www.asianjournal.com)

http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=124&a=20836

tigidig14

June 18th, 2007, 06:50 AM

wow very proud, great stories and achievements. i havent even seen that sigaw movie either

kiretoce

June 21st, 2007, 05:20 PM

Karaoke unites the world (http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1009/1009647_karaoke_unites_the_world.html)

It's that karaoke moment - when even the most musically-challenged of us feels they've got the X Factor and takes to the stage.

We may not always do it well as we belt out those old favourites like "My Way" and "I Will Survive," but we're apparently taking part in a craze that helps to unite the world and even makes the sick feel better.

Dr Francesca Tarocco is a world-expert on karaoke. She's seen it done nude in Toronto and in a taxi in Bangkok.

She has toured the world to find out why millions love to take to the spotlight. And after watching thousands of singers in hundreds of clubs, pubs, cinemas and even churches from New York to Beijing, Manchester lecturer Dr Tarocco, 36, has produced a book exploring the cultural and social history of the craze.

Co-authored by London-based Chinese lecturer Dr Dr Xun Zhou, Karaoke The Global Phenomenon concludes it bridges not only generations but social and cultural divides.

Dr Tarocco, who is based at Manchester University's school of arts histories and cultures, said: "Karaoke is enjoyed by millions of people across the planet. It's often a force for good - it brings people together, encourages egalitarianism and is, in many cases, much more cross-generational than many other forms of entertainment.

"It's used as a way of teaching languages, improving literacy, and even in the treatment of various ailments.

"It creates the illusion that you have achieved something that you can feel good about.

"Even in Britain, thousands of us are as passionate about karaoke as we are about football. The first two world karaoke champions in 2003 were British."

Dr Tarocco, originally from Italy, said she is a late convert to karaoke.

"The Filipinos are among the best singers but I wouldn't want to say who are the worst," she said. "My Way and I Will Survive are two of the songs that are generally done least well."

amigo32

June 22nd, 2007, 09:55 AM

Cannes Film Festival panalo na naman ang Pinoy:

The haircut:
http://www.niceshorts.com.au/watch.asp?video=105

kiretoce

June 22nd, 2007, 11:40 AM

Hmm....would a "Best Foreign Film" award from the Oscar's be not far behind? :okay:

waketrex

June 22nd, 2007, 04:33 PM

Cannes Film Festival panalo na naman ang Pinoy:

The haircut:
http://www.niceshorts.com.au/watch.asp?video=105

Even though I felt that this short is kinda odd, i find it enjoyable.

amigo32

June 22nd, 2007, 04:45 PM

all about cutting a non-existent hair. hehehe. That's the reason why it's garnering awards.

OtAkAw

June 22nd, 2007, 06:29 PM

Hmm....would a "Best Foreign Film" award from the Oscar's be not far behind? :okay:

It's just a short film. Not much of a pessimist but it's not even making headlines. Pinoy filmmakers should target the big guns like the Palme D'Or. But congratulations nevertheless.

kiretoce

June 22nd, 2007, 11:54 PM

^^ Actually, I believe there's a "Short Film" category at the Oscars. The Academy Awards (AMPAS) are hardly peanuts either. :wink2:

kiretoce

June 27th, 2007, 08:14 PM

Lea’s voice at Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=82494)

The voice of Tony winner Lea Salonga, backed by the world famous New York Pops, will be featured in the annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular in New York City, the biggest annual display of fireworks across the US celebrating the American independence from Britain.

This piece of good news was relayed to me by Funfare’s New York correspondent Edmund Silvestre (news editor of The Filipino Reporter).

Lea, who currently appears as Fantine in the smash-hit musical Les Miserables, will be joined by fellow Tony winners Anika Noni Rose (Change, Dreamgirls film) and John Lloyd Young (Jersey Boys).

According to Edmund, although viewers will not see Lea and company during the live telecast nationwide on NBC, their pre-recorded voices will be heard as the fireworks are exploding in the background before hundreds of thousands of spectators. The 2007 fireworks show will feature more than 120,000 bursts of pyrotechnic color and a display of “nautical fireworks” during a pirate battle scene.

The musical score for this year’s event will include patriotic standards, American classics, familiar movie music and two original songs. Lea will be interpreting Just Beyond the Dream, an original by Macy’s creative director William Schermerhorn and Brian Besterman.

Anika will sing In Our Children’s Eyes, with lyrics by William Schermerhorn and music by Tony Award-winner Stephen Flaherty. John Lloyd will perform What A Wonderful World.

The event will also feature the New York Pops, under the direction of Rob Fisher, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, and the Colonial Williamsburg Fifes and Drums.

There will also be new fireworks displays this year, including colored rain, golden palm fronds, kaleidoscope shells, multi-colored poinsettias, Cracker Jack shells and large aqua jellyfish.

Added Edmund, “Filipino-American couple Oliver and Chona Cajanding of Society Hill, Jersey City, New Jersey, who will be watching this year’s 4th of July fireworks with their son Gerard, said they expect to get goosebumps when they hear Lea’s singing voice as they watch the fireworks spectacle.”

Chona, who works at Empire Diamond Jewelry based at the Empire State Building (where the office of The Reporter is also located), is ecstatic, “This is one of the biggest celebrations in America and to see or hear a fellow Filipino participate honoring this nation should definitely be a proud moment for us Filipinos in America.”

Animo

June 29th, 2007, 07:58 PM

By: T. Maya Teague

There are moments in time that we tuck away with tenderness in the sacred places of our soul. They are nestled among painful, as well as joyous pieces of our personal history.

One such moment happened 22 years ago when I boarded a flight out of the Philippines , the final step in my legal migration. As the plane hurtled past hangars and over city streets, I shifted in my seat a few times, disquieted by heavy thoughts. A spate of emotions came over me as I glanced one last time at the fading outlines and busy arteries below. Manila at its peak hours was a crisscross of bustle and brio, its darting jeepneys and belching buses a picture of kinetic animation from above.

In mere seconds, my country would become invisible and I would leave behind splinters of a half-lived life. I felt a tug in my heart. There was this momentary stab of regret, a fog of dread and disbelief, a sense of wanting to bolt, go back and try to make the grass greener in my native backyard. A solitary teardrop streaked my face while I mouthed a somber "Fare thee well, dear Fatherland!"

In the meantime, I have become America 's daughter - a dutiful, thoroughly assimilated citizen of the First World , wanting to make my mark, make lots of money and make memories I can regale my progeny with. I have become a symbol of model immigrant behavior here, happy with the status quo, laden with trappings of ease. Like my colonial sisters, I am quite capable of independent thinking, aware of my individual power, possessed of an evolving worldview and ever cognizant of the human condition.

While I have embraced this culture, its liberties and its generous gifts, I think that I may have misplaced my soul. During periods of reflection, I would pine for my Pilipinas, my country, the one that saw me awaken to the world fifty-some years ago.

My Filipino heritage is an inalienable, branded birthright that is burned into my consciousness and my core, no matter where I reside. It is my passport to a priceless, sacred past filled with warm remembrances and benevolent ghosts. My birth, my childhood, my kindred and my ancestors are all locked away in this capsule that is known as a heritage.

It is my slice of history, my rightful share of a legacy carved from my forefathers’ blood, sweat and triumphs. My Filipino heritage is my nexus to a time and place where the heart never grows old, where children remain innocent, where life was meant to be lived for a higher purpose. It is a scrapbook of timeless and time-honored traditions that make us who we are, wherever we are.

Superficially, it is also my darker complexion, my pancit and adobo, the urge to connect with my kind out here, my balikbayan trips, my monthly remittances. It is a label I wear proudly. I may have been refined or touched up here, but make no mistake: This product is “Made in the Philippines .”

In other words, my Filipino heritage is right here in my heart of hearts, in the seat of my truest feelings. I take it everywhere with me.

I implore the heavens: Give me my country’s oppressive heat, its smog and infinite traffic snarls! Give me its imperfect leaders and its hungry families who feed on improbable dreams. Give me its sweltering masses that swarm the streets and air-conditioned malls of every city. Give me my people’s struggles, their small victories, their catastrophic losses; the country’s charm with its volcanoes, mountains and twinkling bodies of water. And yes, let me have those predictable typhoons, earthquakes and eruptions as well.

Above all, give me a history steeped in victories as well as vicissitudes, loss and liberty, pain and progress, sacrifice hand-in-wounded-hand with sovereignty.

I have nothing, and I am nothing without my Filipino heritage. Knowing that I have one frees me from the coldness of my surroundings. Sometimes, it can get dark and desolate in another country. While I am America ’s grateful adopted daughter, I am forever my country’s beholden love child. At the end of the day, when thoughts are most pure and unsullied, I am naked and I can only cling to this magnificent piece of myself.

Ms. T. Maya Teague

Copyright 2007

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anais Nin

T. Maya Teague
Executive Editor

KAPITBAHAY
A Professional Filipino-American Publication
E-Mail: maya.teague@yahoo.com

garzland

July 4th, 2007, 03:50 PM

Former world No. 1 Francisco "Django" Bustamante and Dennis Orcollo dominated the US pool circuit in one weekend.
Thumbnail: Dennis Orcollo

Dennis Orcollo

Bustamante won his third crown this year with a victory in the Hard Times Summer Jamboree One Pocket Division at the Hard Times Billiards in Sacramento, California.

Over in Virginia, Dennis Orcollo bounced back from a second round setback to John Morra and defeated Shin Park in the final to capture the Bill Staton Memorial at the Q Masters Billiards in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Bustamante, who won the Hard Times Summer Jamboree 9-ball crown, nipped Tony Chohan in their rematch in the final to top the event which drew 57 players.

On his way to the crown, Bustamante, 44, defeated Rafael Martinez, 3-1, blanked Trevor Smith, 3-0, whipped Frank Nordmann, 3-1, Ross Webster, 3-1, and David Gross, 3-1, and nipped Chohan, 3-2, for the hot seat match.

Bustamante completed an undefeated run through the field as he thumped reigning US Open champion John Schmidt, 11-8, in their rematch in the finals to bag the top prize of $3,500 in the Hard Times Summer Jamboree 9-ball.

Dennis Orcollo scored an 11-6 victory over the Korean Shin Park to bag the Q Masters Billiards crown worth $3,000.

source (http://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/docs/sporting_gold/current/bustamante_orcollo.html)

shyaman

July 5th, 2007, 01:25 PM

The Australian production of Miss Saigon currently running at Melbourne and soon at Brisbane and Sydney again features Filipino artists.

Leo Valdez as The Engineer
Laurie Cadevida and Jennifer Trijo as Kim
RJ Rosales as Thuy

and a load of other Filipino cast

Here's the link: http://www.miss-saigonaustralia.com.au/Cast.aspx

jonno

July 5th, 2007, 01:27 PM

The Australian production of Miss Saigon currently running at Melbourne and soon at Brisbane and Sydney again features Filipino artists.

Leo Valdez as The Engineer
Laurie Cadevida and Jennifer Trijo as Kim
RJ Rosales as Thuy

and loads of other Filipino cast

Here's the link: http://www.miss-saigonaustralia.com.au/Cast.aspx

how was it?

kiretoce

July 5th, 2007, 04:13 PM

Did anyone watch (live or on TV)) the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks spectacular in New York City last night? Lea Salonga was there singing, well....just her voice, it was used in one segment of the fireworks show. :colgate:

crappypants

July 6th, 2007, 04:35 AM

that's too bad i missed it. she's not a power belter but she's got a lovely sweet voice.

shyaman

July 6th, 2007, 11:47 AM

how was it?

Haven't watch it yet. Sydney playdates are on September pa.

3cr

July 8th, 2007, 07:14 AM

Pinoy engineer among 50 top Asian Americans in business
The Philippine Star
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=83885

A Filipino engineer was named among the 50 outstanding Asian Americans in Business for 2007, according to a report of the Philippine Consulate General in New York.

Rodolfo Quiambao, president and CEO of Rudell & Associates, Inc., and active Filipino community leader in the northeast US, was among the 50 recipients of the Outstanding Asian Americans in Business award given by the prestigious Asian American Business Development Center (AABDC).

The AABDC, established in 1994, is a non-profit organization created to assist Asian-owned businesses to compete in the mainstream marketplace.

The group designed the “Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business Award program” to highlight the role of Asian-Americans in entrepreneurship, their achievements and contributions in American society.

Quiambao became the third Filipino-American to be recognized with an Outstanding Asian American in Business award, after Lilia Clemente of Clemente Capital in 2002 and Isabelita Abele of US Lumber, Inc. in 2005.

Quiambao is the president and CEO of Rudell & Associates, Inc., engineering consultancy firm that provides engineering, design, and project management services for nuclear and fossil generating plants, sub-stations, transmission, distribution, commercial facilities and infrastructure projects since 1988.

The company has been involved in prestigious projects among them the JFK International Airport Terminal 4.

An active Filipino community leader, Quiambao co-founded the Filipino American Association of Engineers (FAAE) that assists Filipino engineers through mentoring and accreditation.

Quiambao is one of the recipients of the “Pamana ng Pilipino” Award in 2002 conferred by President Arroyo on outstanding Filipino individuals and organizations overseas who have brought honor and recognition to the country through their distinguished achievements.

Sinjin P.

July 8th, 2007, 08:24 AM

that's too bad i missed it. she's not a power belter but she's got a lovely sweet voice.

Yeah I love her voice. She hits those high notes but she doesn't seem to shout it like the others :okay:

Animo

July 15th, 2007, 06:13 PM

DAVAO CITY — Rome-based sculptor Tomas Concepcion comes home to bring his art to his fellow artists and patrons in Mindanao.

The artist whose works include sculptures of Pope Paul VI, on display at the Vatican University, a monument of Pope John Paul II displayed in Guam, and a two meter statue of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino, Jr at the EDSA Shrine, will unveil works spanning fifty years at the Ground Floor, NCCC Mall Davao from July 1 to 31, 2007.

His return not only marks a lifetime of works in bronze and paint, but a renewed hope of interfaith unity. His statements on Father Bossi’s kidnapping in the Philippine Daily Inquirer rings true when he says “…every little effort should help…” for the safe return of a person who has done a lot of good. He is bringing with him an 80cm by 100cm of the kidnapped priest, a portrait he rushed to make using felt tip pens in sepia and black, to arouse “collective indignation” and action.

Concepcion, who is of true Maranaw lineage, traces his roots from Sultan Q’udarat on his mother’s side. Sultan Q’udarat is the legendary Maguindanao chief who lived from 1611 to 1671, and defeated Spanish armies in 1642. On his own right, he has been involved in various movements leading to the EDA Revolt in 1986. While in Rome, he founded the Associazione Filippini Lavoratori in Italia which is credited for legalizing 30,000 Filipino workers in Italy. His speech titled “A New Generation of Heroes,” coined the name Overseas Filipino Worker, when he served as sectoral representative in the House of Representatives during its 9th Congress.

At 17, he studied at the San Francisco State College in the US, where he completed Painting and Theater Design. The degree led him to the Warwick Theaters of New England as set designer, later moving to Montreal, Canada to pursue studies at the Ecole des Bueaux Arts. He toured Europe before settling in Italy where he has a studio.

Tomas Concepcion’s Golden Homecoming Exhibit is presented by the Italian Embassy and Salida Filipina together with Ad and Promo Management, Alchemy of Vision and Light Film Productions, and NCCC Mall Davao. This exhibit is also made possible by media partners’ The Mindanao Times, The Mindanao Insider, GTV Asia, APM TV, 92.3 Wild FM with the special participation of the Helena Z Benitez School of Fine Arts and Culture-Philippine Women’s College.

http://davaotoday.com/2007/07/14/rome-based-mindanao-protest-artist-sets-davao-exhibit/

kiretoce

July 18th, 2007, 12:17 AM

RP students dominate Math tilt (http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=84933)

Filipino high school students harvested three team awards and nine individual awards, including a first honor medal for a Philippine Science High School student, at the Po Leung Kuk 11th Primary Mathematics World Contest in Hong Kong last Monday.

Dr. Simon Chua, president of the Mathematics Trainers Guild-Philippines, announced that Amiel Sy, a student of the Philippine Science High School, got a perfect score to become one of the first honor winners in the math quiz.

Chua said that the Philippines last won a first honor award in the Po Leung Kuk contest eight years ago.

Other individual winners were Carmela Antonette Lao and Vance Go of St. Jude Catholic School; Matthew Ng of Chiang Kai Shek College; Miguel Sebastian Santos of Paref Southridge School, and Niel Benjamin Kho of San Beda College-Alabang who won second honors.

Geovin Dexter Uy and Henry Jefferson Morco of Chiang Kai Shek College, and Arvin Wilson Alba of Philippine Science High School won third honors.

In the group competition, the Philippines-Luzon team composed of Audrey Lao, Kenneth Co, Morco and Santos, won first runner-up in their grouping.

The Philippines-Metro Manila team composed of Lao, Go, Ng and Alba also won second runner-up in their grouping.

Participating teams from all countries were grouped into four. This team also won a merit award for overall performance.

The team leaders and deputy team leaders of the Philippine delegation are Richelda Villame, supervisor Adoracion Villanueva from the Department of Education-Region 9, Carlo Nerecena, Vergel Rebuta, and Eugenia Guerra.

“We are very proud that these students have brought honor to our country. This only means that Filipino students can compete and win in world competitions,” said Chua, the lone Filipino recipient of the Paul Erdos Award, conferred on him last year.

Other students in the Philippine team are Keefe Tan, Joanna Santelices, Sarah Jane Cua, Neil Jordan Chua Goy and Cathlyna Saavedra.

The contest drew 44 teams from 12 countries and territories. Aside from the Philippines, teams from the United States, Mexico, India, China, Macau, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, Malaysia, Thailand, South Africa, Singapore, Taiwan and Australia also competed.

Po Leung Kuk, a welfare and education sponsoring body in Hong Kong that runs 105 educational units from kindergarten to college, Hong Kong Institute of Education, and Panda Hotel in Tsuen Wan, sponsored the contest.

The advisors of the contest are Angel Chan Lau, chairman of the board of PLK Schools; and Dr. Eric Poon Kin Keung, Chan Kong and Han Ngai Sze of the Hong Kong Institute of Education; and Ping Ng Chun, former organizing committee member.

The members of the organizing committee are Clifton Yeung Kin Chung, Fu Mak Cheung, Ki Shek Yat, Ying ng Kit, Kin Cheung Ping, Kuen Lui Cheuk, Sing Lam Heung and Meng Yeung Veng.

kiretoce

July 18th, 2007, 12:58 AM

Imelda Marcos Is Talking a Bit Too Much Garbage (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_pesek&sid=aMPuabN08ews)

Imelda Marcos has many passions: shoes, jewels, food, fashion and, of course, defending her husband's legacy as dictator of the Philippines. But garbage?

"I see beauty in everything, even garbage,'' the former first lady said earlier this month.

In many ways, Marcos personifies why many foreign correspondents are drawn to the Philippines. It's an unpredictable, lively and often surreal place. That's quite a feat in a region boasting quirky reporting locales from Mumbai to Shanghai and from Tokyo to Jakarta.

The wife of Ferdinand Marcos is popping up in the international media with alarming frequency these days. It's not because her husband, who died in 1989, bears responsibility for the Philippines' woes -- it's because the Marcoses are making a comeback. Part of the effort is arguing Ferdinand wasn't so bad.

Even if Imelda Marcos finds beauty in garbage, her nation's 91 million people shouldn't find any beauty in hers. The revisionist history she's dishing out is complete and utter rubbish. And her return to the headlines says more about the country's economy than investors may appreciate.

Earlier this month, she celebrated her 78th birthday at one of the former dictator's mansions near Manila. What made the choice of venue so odd is that the building is among those confiscated by the government, which has been trying for years to recoup as much as $10 billion, the amount it says the Marcos family stole.

Stranger Than Fiction

The Marcoses' return to public consciousness reflects bungled efforts to prosecute them on corruption charges. Twenty- one years after President Marcos was unseated in a coup, the government claims to have recovered only $1.7 billion from the family and its associates.

Reflecting the life-is-stranger-than-fiction dynamic that often courses through Manila, the Marcos family is escaping justice even though officials say they have vast amounts of evidence. Imelda Marcos once faced more than 900 civil and criminal cases. Now, she's increasingly breathing easily.

With each passing year, there seems to be less urgency to make the Marcos family accountable, and that's a shame. The Philippines, where half of the population lives on less than $2 a day, could use those billions of dollars. It sure would help President Gloria Arroyo plug a budget deficit that may swell to 100 billion pesos ($2.2 billion) this year.

Revisionist History

Instead, the Marcoses are back on the society pages and one senses little outrage in the Philippines. Late last year, the family launched "The Imelda Connection'' of jewelry. Court victories have emboldened the family to step up its fight to regain some assets from the government -- and to argue that President Marcos did more good than harm to the nation.

Ask the average Filipino about all this, and many will roll their eyes. "The Marcos family is part of our history and part of our culture, but it doesn't mean anything to me,'' says Jose Calapre, 29, an accountant at a Manila-based insurance company. "I just view them as celebrities.''

The interest of Talking Heads lead singer David Byrne shows the extent to which Imelda Marcos is, for better or worse, a global icon. Earlier this year, he collaborated with Fatboy Slim on a musical production about her life titled "Here Lies Love'' -- the words she intends to have on her gravestone.

Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in Hawaii almost two decades ago, yet all too much of the political and financial system he created between 1965 and 1986 remains to perpetuate poverty in Asia's 14th-biggest economy.

Garbage

In the early 1960s, the Philippines was destined to be the Japan of Southeast Asia. Then Marcos drove the nation into the poverty that even today means more than 10 percent of the population must work overseas, often doing menial tasks, to support families at home.

If Imelda Marcos really does find beauty in garbage, she should pop by one of Manila's shantytowns where many Filipinos dig through reeking trash dumps in search of salvageable junk and even food. Politicians claiming to work to help the nation's poor rarely visit these places.

The Philippines has huge potential. It's a thriving democracy and Arroyo is making progress in stabilizing things. The economy grew 6.9 percent in the first quarter and Arroyo is pledging to increase tax receipts and balance the budget.

The private sector is moving forward, too. Call centers and other back-office services are now among the biggest growth areas. Kelly Lim-Bate, head of research at J.P. Morgan Securities Philippines Inc., expects them to employ 1 million Filipinos directly and an additional 2 million indirectly in white-collar jobs by 2010.

Hijacked Future

Yet two decades after Marcos, Transparency International still puts the Philippines on par with Rwanda and Honduras in its Corruption Perceptions Index. That explains why even as the Philippines grows faster, the benefits remain concentrated among the political elite.

In Asia, "the capture of political, economic and legal institutions by an elite group which then bends the rules of the game for their own benefit is resulting in growing disparities within and among countries,'' says Ifzal Ali, chief economist at the Manila-based Asian Development Bank. "Basically, the democratic process has been hijacked to serve the interests of a very few.''

The nostalgic lens through which the Philippine media often view Imelda Marcos dovetails with a lack of political will to address and bury the past once and for all. The economy hasn't yet had a cathartic break with the mismanagement and corruption of the past. It needs that to truly move forward.

kiretoce

July 18th, 2007, 01:46 AM

Filipino Scientist Behind $700M Pain Breakthrough (http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=124&a=21570)

After years of tedious research, Filipino scientist Dr. Baldomero Olivera and his team at the University of Utah discovered a major breakthrough in pain management. Now, deadly pain might have finally met its match in Ziconotide (trade name Prialt).

The breakthrough research was presented by none other than Olivera himself to doctors, scientists, investors, students and the media gathered at the Filipinas Heritage Museum on July 6. His talk, “Turning Killers into Pain Killers”, was part of Innovation Forum, a series of bi-monthly forums on various technologies sponsored by the Ayala Foundation and InfoDev.
Seaside discovery

This major discovery opens a new drug pipeline for pain and other serious diseases. Olivera is among the few scientists who have chosen to tap animal wildlife as a pharmacological source of treatment.

Olivera developed a keen interest in seashells as a young boy in the Philippines. He would gather and bring them home so he could compare them with the diagrams in the pages of his books on marine life.

One particular seashell, the cone snail, became the focus of Olivares and his team. Studying them had been like second nature to Olivares since cone snails are abundant in tropical countries like the Philippines. The team’s curiosity was particularly aroused by the duality of the seashell being exquisite on the outside but highly lethal on the inside. After further research, they found out that the cone snail’s venom which contains conotoxins has an equally antidotal effect. Conotoxins is now being considered to yield new drugs for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other brain disorders aside from pain.

Moreover, Olivares’ interest in sea cone snails became instrumental in his discovery of a new pharmaceutical class called conopeptides, the active ingredient in Ziconotide. And in 1992, Olivera’s team was able to determine the analgesic-like qualities of conopeptide. From there, Ziconotide was made available to the public via Prialt.

Non-narcotic pain relief

Before Prialt, there was morphine, a highly potent opiate analgesic drug that effectively relieves severe pain. Morphine, however, is a narcotic - a controlled substance and therefore not readily accessible to those who need urgent relief from extreme pain.

Prialt, on the other hand, has none of the habit-forming qualities of morphine. Administered via a spinal pump, patients now have a safer pain-killing alternative. Prialt is believed to be more powerful than morphine. In recent years, Prialt has been the better choice for the treatment or management of pain caused by a variety of diseases such as AIDS, cancer, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s.

The US Food & Drug Administration approved Prialt for severe chronic pain in December 2004. Formerly known as Neurex, it was bought in 1998 by Ireland’s Elan Pharmaceuticals for $700 million. In 2005, sales reached $6.1 million, and then doubled in the succeeding year.
The science of pain

Olivera’s three decades of dedication to developing drugs from animal wildlife earned him this year’s “Scientist of the Year” award from the Harvard Foundation. In that span of time he had already published 158 medical abstracts on conotoxins. He had been teaching Biology in the University of Utah since the 1970s where he is currently associate professor and, of course, a renowned scientist.

His colorful career began after finishing Summa Cum Laude at the University of the Philippines in 1960. He then went on to graduate school and earned his PhD in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology. He furthered his specialization doing postdoctoral work at Stanford University.

Olivera then returned to the Philippines and became a research associate professor of Biochemistry at the UP College of Medicine. In 1970, he returned to the US to start teaching in Utah where he has been consistently awarded the title of “Distinguished Professor of Biology” since 1992.

Upended patent

Sadly, Olivera wasn’t able to patent his research. Consequently, he never profited from the sales of Prialt. But Olivera saw that as a challenge. To recoup his investment, in 1996 he founded the Utah-based startup group Cognetix. This pharmaceutical and research company had been developing four conopeptide compounds to treat pain and myocardial infarction.

Olivera now serves as director of the Olivera Lab and has since been leading the way in further research and development of conotoxins – a technological advancement that will definitely benefit mankind.

xednanx

July 18th, 2007, 03:14 AM

TheAvenger

July 18th, 2007, 04:02 PM

for lovers of Imelda ... I wish to share this video, just click the web link.

http://www.gmanews.tv/video/9223/Saksi-Imelda-Marcos-defends-grandson-Borgy

http://www.gmanews.tv/video/9253/Imelda-Marcos-speaks-up-for-grandson-Borgy

Insanedriver

July 18th, 2007, 06:47 PM

kiretoce

July 18th, 2007, 07:24 PM

^^ You don't even know the name of your own grandfather? Are you sure you're even related? :lol:

Insanedriver

July 18th, 2007, 07:34 PM

^^ :)

Animo

July 18th, 2007, 08:03 PM

MANILA, Philippines -- If you're 81 and feeling like you need a lark to lift you into the next 81 years of your life, what to do?
Ask someone to join you for two weeks in a far-away place, away from family and familiarity, like two weeks away from Dasmari?as Village, up and away to New York City, there to indulge in a cultural, musical binge… or disaster.

That someone to join you must be like your dearest friend; like Doreen Gamboa Fernandez, who was your sparring partner for 40 years, but who unfortunately died five years ago. But Doreen's younger sister Della Gamboa Besa, who is so like Doreen and also a friend and at age 71, will she be willing? Able, you know.

She's a pianist and cultural administrator, with an extensive musical background gained as one of the officers of the Cultural Center after Edsa I; first heading the Musical Arts division, and eventually the Performing Arts department.

But does her present schedule allow her the two-week "vacation?" One call and she says yes. She, too, had seen the June 11 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer about the zarzuela to be presented by Cecile Guidote Alvarez, presidential assistant for culture, at La Mama Experimental Theater in New York.

We decided that the best date to leave for New York would be June 18 or 19 because the zarzuela was scheduled for its first performance on June 21.

Della had a valid visa, but when I looked at my passport, I saw that mine had expired! So an SOS call to the editor in chief of the PDI was in order. Letty J. Magsanoc made the right connection and in one day my visa was miraculously granted.

So off we went on June 18 via Northwest Airlines on the 17-hour trip to New York City with a short stopover in Detroit.

Thanks to the Internet and Della's daughter Tina, who lives and works in San Francisco, we were booked for 10 days at the Best Western President Hotel at 234 W 48th St.

We could not have found a more convenient location. The hotel was within a six-block radius of all of the Broadway theaters showing the musicals we were hoping to watch.

Wheelchair-bound

Because of a bum left knee, I had to hire a wheelchair, which Della cheerfully pushed to all our eating places and target theaters. The wheelchair turned out to be a blessing, not only for the respect shown it by most ticket sellers, practically half-price for the occupant and companion at some shows, and about 15-20 percent off on others, but also we got to the head of the queues at all the theaters, to be seated ahead of everybody else.

For those theaters without these special prices for the disabled, we used corporate-discount offers given us by Bee Monzon, Della's cousin who works as assistant to the president of Takashimaya, an upscale department store on Fifth Avenue. These afforded us substantial discounts as well.

Then, no matter what price we paid, we always got aisle seats in the orchestra: some in special rows where the regular seats had been removed to accommodate a wheel chair, and others in a regular aisle seat to which I would transfer while my wheelchair would be stowed nearby.

Della and I agreed to watch only musicals, because we figured that Manila's theater talents could put on straight plays quite on par with New York's, but would find musicals much more difficult to do as capably. Our total expense for theater tickets was:

"Grey Gardens" $ 130.00 "Spring Awakening" 203.00 "110 in the Shade" 72.50 "Les Miserables" 132.50 "Company" 130.00 "A Chorus Line" 158.50 "Curtains" 112.00 "The Drowsy Chaperone" 50.00 "Monty Python's Spamalot" 72.50 "The Color Purple" 53.00 $ 1,114.00
Della will be giving you a professional assessment of the 10 musicals we saw. But I can't ,help sharing my nonexpert opinion on some. The singer who impressed me most was Audra McDonald in "110 in the Shade." I don't remember ever hearing someone so powerfully expressive.

Moreover, female singers have a tendency to own expansive waistlines, this gal, how does she keep hers trim?

The play that really grabbed me was "Company," with its unusual presentation of characters with hardly any stage props. The stage was mostly bare, and the characters each played on different musical instruments to accompany themselves while singing. The lead played the percussion; another, orchestra bells, a third the trumpet and trombone, and so on.

Late bloomer

Not all of our time was spent watching the musicals, there were late mornings and after lunches when we would drop into stores for a look-see. It was at one such store, Virgin Megastore, only a block away from our hotel, that I was able to buy my sister Ella a recording of her requested "Un Sospiro" by Liszt, Della's expert eyes found it on a CD played by Van Cliburn titled "My Favorite Liszt."

I succumbed to buying all kinds of other CDs at discounted prices: "Beethoven's Greatest Hits," "Bizet's Greatest Hits," "Guitar Greatest Hits," "Mad about Chopin," and, for my granddaughter, "Mad About Cartoons." As we left, the Filipino-American security guard bade us farewell in typical Pinoy fashion: "Ingat po kayo!" albeit with an American accent.

Another nearby shop was Colony, billed as the world's largest sheet music dealer, a favorite of ours where Della got some classical scores for piano and guitar, and I could not resist the Tony Bennett and Nat King Cole original songbooks, both of which totaled $50.89 of sheet music.

One morning at Colony, who should we meet but George Yang, the owner of the McDonald's Philippine franchise, who played the very important role of the Supreme Court Justice in the zarzuela we saw at La Mama Experimental Theater a few days earlier. We all know that he is a late bloomer as a tenor, but that encourages many others who have been too busy earning a living to realize that they could have an artistic life as well.

Meet the philosopher

At the premier showing of "Something to Crow about," we were seated just one chair away from the author of the play, National Artist for Literature Alejandro R. Roces. To appreciate the zarzuela we hope the reader will not mind the quotation from Anding himself:

"During the Spanish times, chickens had a religious connotation. In every church, there was a weathercock that told the direction of the wind and reminded the faithful of the Biblical phrase, 'Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me thrice.' The only Mass that was allowed during midnight was the one celebrated at the very start of Christmas. It was called 'Misa de Gallo,' meaning the 'Mass of the Rooster.' The legend was that it was so called because a rooster was the first creature to announce the birth of Christ by crowing 'Christus natus est.' When the Americans came, the cock's image deteriorated into a vulgar phallic symbol, so much so that the Americans had to invent another word for cock. It is only in American dictionaries where you find the word 'rooster' meaning the male chicken. It is a very inappropriate name because the hen also roosts. In fact, all birds roost. Wallace Stegner expressed well the Filipino cocker's elation with his fighting rooster. He said 'You don't know Filipinos until you have seen some little fellow who has trained a chicken for months put it into the ring against another's rooster. He bets everything he owns, steals his wife's savings, sells his children's shirts to raise a peso. If he wins, glorious; if in one pass his rooster gets its throat cut, then you will see how a philosopher takes disaster. You should come along and meet this philosopher."

"The presentation of 'Something to Crow about' is the first Filipino modern zarzuela with music by Ferdinand Dimadura to be performed in New York City and takes me one step closer toward the realization of my 'Impossible Dream.' This is made possible through the invitation of US theater doyenne Ellen Stewart, founder of La Mama Experimental Theater Club, the launching stage of many world-renowned artists; and Cecile Guidote Alvarez, the show's director, whose perseverance and creative genius made possible this Filipino zarzuela to be performed off-Broadway. The classic choreography on cockfighting by National Artist for Dance Leonor Orosa Goquingco is reprised by her son Benjie Goquingco."

Speaking of secrets

Seated beside Anding at the post-performance reception was a young girl who turned out to be Carissa Villacorta, author of "Surreality," a UST Publishing House book which compiles essays she has written monthly for Philippine News. She's 27 years old and worth reading and watching. On the cover of the book, which I gladly bought, she is quoted: "In New York dreams come true on a daily basis."

Going back to the zarzuela itself, I leave it to Della to give you her expert review on it. I was just too overjoyed to see a Philippine performance of it in New York.

I was even more overjoyed a week later to attend "A Night of Music" at the chapel of San Lorenzo Ruiz at 378 Broome St. which is run by Filipino priest Fr. Erno Diaz. What made it memorable, of course, was pianist Raul Sunico's renditions of "Usahay," "Matud Nila," Saranggola ni Pepe," "Rhapsody in Blue." Raul, who is now dean of the UST Conservatory of Music, has always been my secret crush, but that's no secret anymore, is it?

Speaking of secrets, have you been to the church where actors go to confess their secrets? We went there on foot since it was just one block away from our hotel, it is the Church of St. Malachy, also known as the Actors' Chapel. It's a small church surrounded by skyscrapers founded a hundred years ago.

According to the book I bought, the first mass-media event there was Rudolf Valentino's funeral. It was there that Douglas Fairbanks Jr. married Joan Crawford; where Don Ameche was altar server; and where Spencer Tracy attended Mass. We went to an anticipated Mass on Saturday, June 23, and Della was able to have three Masses said the next day, June 24, to commemorate Doreen's fifth death anniversary. And as Edward Morrow said: "New York isn't New York without St. Malachy's."

http://www.asianjournal.com/?c=53&a=21581

wynngd

July 19th, 2007, 06:11 AM

http://www.gmanews.tv/story/51671/Iza-Calzado-bags-original-role-in-Hollywoods-The-Echo

Iza Calzado bags original role in Hollywood's 'The Echo'
07/19/2007 | 08:27 AM

Tuwang-tuwa si Iza Calzado habang ibinabalita sa PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) na siya pa rin ang gaganap sa original role niya para sa Hollywood remake ng Sigaw. Sinigurado na sa kanya ni direktor Yam Laranas na siya ang napiling gumanap sa multong character sa The Echo, the same character na ginampanan niya sa Sigaw.

Tuesday ng tanghali, July 17, wala pang kaalam-alam si Iza—na humarap sa mga publicists ng kanilang soap ni Sunshine Dizon sa GMA-7 na Impostora—na napasakanya na pala ang role na inaasam-asam niyang gawin.

Sa pakikipag-usap ng PEP sa kanya, Iza stressed what she said during the presscon of Ouija last week, na hindi niya sinabing mag-a-audition siya for the role. But since wala pa rin naman daw naka-cast, ang sinabi niya ay sana mapag-audition siya.

Tanghali ng Miyerkules, July 18, nalaman ni Iza ang balita na siya ang napili ng Hollywood producers ng The Echo na gumanap sa dati niyang role.

Mismong si Direk Yam, who will also direct the Hollywood version starring Jesse Bradford, ang nagsabi kay Iza ng napakagandang balita.

"Sure na po," sagot ni Iza sa tanong ng PEP sa kanya sa text kung nakuha na niya nga ang role.

"Direk Yam was the first one who told me," pahabol niya.

Mid-August aalis si Iza patungong Toronto, Canada, para sa shooting ng The Echo.

"I still have Impostora. Salamat naman po, pinayagan akong umalis ng GMA. Napakabait ni God," sabi pa ni Iza.

Umaasa rin si Iza na maayos ang schedule niya dahil bukod sa Impostora ay mayroon pa siyang isang committment for Regal Entertainment's Desperadas na entry sa 207 Metro Manila Film Festival. Nakapagsimula na ring mag-shoot ni Iza for the said movie.

"Wala pa pong details but I'll be back in time to finish Desperadas. I think maayos naman po lahat 'yan," sabi ni Iza.

Nag-promise siya that when she gets the final details of her schedule ay ibabalita niya rin sa PEP. - Philippine Entertainment Portal

bariQ

July 19th, 2007, 06:54 AM

hmm... im wondering if that echo movie will be able to achieve cult status or flop like many others

j.r.

July 19th, 2007, 10:09 AM

ahh... :lol:

Wind Shear

July 20th, 2007, 06:41 AM

umm...
the marcoses grabbed some of our properties during his reign.
that includes the Lealda electric company in bicol which was owned by my grandfather Benjamin Benito (Benitez? wtvr) -.-
now it is government owned :doh:

Same case for the former National Steel Corporation (now Global Steelworks) in Iligan. Originally it is called Iligan Integrated Steel Mill Incorporated (IISMI) owned by Jacintos.

[dx]

July 21st, 2007, 04:18 AM

http://www.proudlypinoy.org/proudlypinoy.jpg

What's This Logo?

Mabuhay! This "Proudly Pinoy" logo expresses pride in being Filipino. It is available for all Filipino designed or owned websites. If you are a Filipino or have a Filipino site, please support this project and express your pride of being Pinoy by posting this logo on your Pinoy site or blog!

Who May Use It?

Anyone who is proud to be Pinoy may use this logo on their website. It is free to use for both personal and business websites. The only requirements are (1) do not modify the logo except resizing, and (2) link the logo back to this site, so that when someone clicks on the logo, they can see this website.

How To Use the Logo?

Just download the logo image file to your computer. Then use your usual software to add the logo to your website or blog. As of now, we have the large size (http://www.proudlypinoy.org/proudlypinoy.jpg) and the small size (http://www.proudlypinoy.org/proudlypinoysmall.png). Versions with transparent backgrounds are coming soon.

How Did This Come About?

This logo, created by Joe Talisic, and now owned by www.ProudlyPinoy.org, was one of the entries in a hugely successful competition which ran from Independence Day thru July 19, 2007. Read about the judging (http://www.proudlypinoy.org/judging.html), or browse the competition archive (http://www.proudlypinoy.org/competition.html) with 297 entries.

dattebayo

July 23rd, 2007, 06:05 AM

I always feel proud whenever I see this: :)

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/2320/jmfs7.jpg

bloodyred

July 25th, 2007, 12:21 PM

Only in the Philippines, dancing inmates! :nuts: :nuts:

Dancing Cebu inmates rock the planet on Youtube
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryID=85849

Nearly a thousand inmates at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) have gained a global audience for their impressive synchronized dancing after videos of their routines were uploaded in the Youtube website.

The inmates’ latest Youtube hit is their version of the “algorithm march” a dance first popularized in the Japanese children’s television show “Pitagorean Switch”.

There are several videos of other groups doing the “algorithm march” but the Filipino version is unique in featuring prison inmates. The Cebuano prisoners’ “algorithm” video has been viewed more than 400,000 times.

Other Youtube videos that feature the CPDRC inmates show them dancing en masse to other songs including “Radio Gaga” by British rock band Queen; “Dayang Dayang” the popular Muslim hit song; the “I Will Follow Him” theme from the film “Sister Act” and the Michael Jackson hit, “Thriller.”

The inmates’ rendition of the zombie-dance from “Thriller” is their biggest Youtube hit, scoring a total of more than 1 million views.

Their videos can be viewed through these links:

Algorithm (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjMd2Vabcv8)

Radio Gaga (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAVVVMcTShQ&NR=1)

Dayang Dayang and Sister Act (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fptZ3FY-AwY&mode=related&search=)

Thriller (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o)

hMnk7lh9M3o&mode=related&search=
^^ Their version of "Thriller"

tigidig14

July 25th, 2007, 02:13 PM

^:lol:
kakatawa rin yung bading

DaimosLA

July 26th, 2007, 06:34 PM

It's even on BBC now:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6917318.stm

mememe

July 26th, 2007, 07:20 PM

lol the clip is so cool :), Fil people are so cool

dattebayo

July 26th, 2007, 09:58 PM

aaay kawawa naman yung bading, rereypin ng napakaraming zombies. :lol: :lol:

dodong

July 26th, 2007, 11:22 PM

It's also on AOL's homepage.

noob_saibot

July 28th, 2007, 11:23 AM

hehehehe
nakaka enjoy naman panoorin
paradoxically, they are very disciplined inside

amigo32

July 28th, 2007, 11:57 AM

hehehehe
nakaka enjoy naman panoorin
paradoxically, they are very disciplined inside

binabartolina kasi pag ayaw sumayaw:lol:

OtAkAw

July 28th, 2007, 06:07 PM

Tignan niyo nga naman, magaling talaga ang mga Pinoy sa Performing Arts. Pati mga inmates natin mga dancers!

Askal82

July 28th, 2007, 08:58 PM

^^ Is it nice that their dignity as human beings are restored when the world watches them perform like pros? Tatalunin pa nito mga broadway shows sa arts. :lol:

It's also a big break for the reputation of the Philippines.

dancethingy

July 28th, 2007, 10:35 PM

Well at least we know they aren't tortured. Go CEBU!

bloodyred

July 29th, 2007, 02:00 PM

now hitting almost 2.5 million views!
it's also featured on best week ever http://www.bestweekever.tv/2007/07/20/icymi-the-best-fully-choreographed-thriller-reenactment-by-prison-inmates-youll-ever-see/

normandb

July 29th, 2007, 06:35 PM

Ph Man

July 30th, 2007, 11:11 AM

from the BBC article

"The inmates are very happy at the interest, they are always talking about it, and they ask how many people have watched it on YouTube," Mr Garcia.

kakatuwa naman sila. baka nga maengganyo ang mga tambay na gumawa ng crime. pero i hope this will not end up here. pano pag wala nang dancing session. baka magtitirahan na lang sila sa selda.

Maxxclip

July 31st, 2007, 06:20 AM

Lea Salonga-Chien
(born Maria Ligaya Carmen Imutan Salonga on February 22, 1971 in Angeles City) is a Tony, Olivier, Drama Desk, and Theatre World award-winning Filipino singer and actress who is best known for her portrayal of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon. In the field of musical theater, no other Filipino has achieved the same international recognition as Salonga. She has been the first to win various international awards for a single role.

Source: Cyberbook a.k.a. Wikipedia

Maxxclip

July 31st, 2007, 06:22 AM

María Corazón Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (born January 25, 1933), widely known as 'Cory Aquino', was President of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the first female President of The Philippines. She was Asia's first female President and world-renowned advocate of democracy, peace, women empowerment, and religious piety.

Aquino drew praise for her support for democracy, and was selected as Time Magazine's Woman of the Year in 1986.

n 2002, Aquino was Chairwoman of the Board of Trustees of the Asian Institute of Management, a leading graduate business school and think tank in the Asia Pacific region.

In 2005, Aquino condemned Arroyo, the current president, for allegedly rigging the 2004 electoral process. In February 2006, Aquino joined protestors demonstrating against Arroyo on EDSA, after an alleged coup attempt by members of the Filipino military.

In October 2005, she was awarded one of the World's Elite Women Who Make a Difference by the International Women's Forum Hall of Fame of 2005.

In November 2006, she was hailed by Time Magazine as one of the great Asian Heroes.

Maxxclip

July 31st, 2007, 06:26 AM

Carlos Peña Rómulo (b. 14 January 1899, Camiling, Tarlac, Philippines - d. 15 December 1985, Manila, Philippines) was a Filipino diplomat, politician, soldier, journalist and author. He was a reporter at 16, a newspaper editor by the age of 20, and a publisher at 32. He is the co-founder of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.

He served eight Philippine presidents from President Manuel Quezon to President Ferdinand Marcos as a cabinet member or as the country’s representative to the United States and to the United Nations.

He served as the President of the Fourth Session of United Nations General Assembly from 1949-1950, and chairman of the United Nations Security Council. He had served with General Douglas MacArthur in the Pacific, was Ambassador to the United States, and became the first Asian to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism in 1942.

He served as Resident Commissioner of the Philippines to the United States Congress from 1944 to 1946. He was the signatory for the Philippines to the United Nations Charter when it was founded in 1946. He was the Philippines' Secretary (Minister from 1973 to 1984) of Foreign Affairs under President Elpidio Quirino from 1950 to 1952, under President Diosdado Macapagal from 1963 to 1964 and under President Ferdinand Marcos from 1968 to 1984.

Alo

July 31st, 2007, 06:27 AM

Fidel Valdez Ramos (born March 18, 1928) was the 12th President of the Philippines. He succeeded Corazon Aquino and governed until 1998, when he was succeeded by Joseph Estrada. He was the first and only (to date) non-Roman Catholic president.

During the authoritarian regime of President Ferdinand Marcos, Ramos was head of the Philippine Constabulary, implementing Marcos' declaration of martial law. In the 1986 People Power Revolution, Ramos defected from the government and was a key figure in the civilian demonstrations that forced Marcos into exile.

The first half of Ramos' six-year term as President was characterized by rapid economic growth and political stability in the country despite facing communist insurgencies, an Islamic separatist movement in Mindanao, and the onslaught of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

crappypants

July 31st, 2007, 06:29 AM

isn't there a thread simlar to this already, proudly pinoy.
it would seem we have a self esteem issue if we keep making threads of similar nature.

Alo

July 31st, 2007, 06:29 AM

Benjamin Jerome "Ben" Cayetano (born November 14, 1939) served as the fifth Governor of the State of Hawaiʻi from 1994 to 2002. He is the first Filipino American to serve as a state governor in the United States.

Maxxclip

July 31st, 2007, 06:31 AM

Leandro V. Locsin (1928-1994) was a Filipino Architect, Artist, and Interior Designer, known for his use of concrete, floating volume and simplistic design in his various projects. An avid collector, he was fond of modern painting and Chinese ceramics. He was proclaimed a National Artist of the Philippines for Architecture in 1990 by President Corazon C. Aquino.

Works

This is an incomplete list. Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.

* Ayala Museum (Demolished)
* Complex of Social Welfare Agencies
o Population Center
o Nutrition Center of the Philippines
o Asian Center for Training and Research for Social Welfare
* Cultural Center of the Philippines - Folk Arts Theater
* Cultural Center of the Philippines - National Arts Center, Mt. Makiling, Los Baños, Laguna
* Cultural Center of the Philippines - Philippine Center for International Trade and Exhibitions
* Cultural Center of the Philippines - Philippine International Convention Center
* Cultural Center of the Philippines - Theatre of Performing Arts
* Expo '70 - Philippine Pavilion
* First National City Bank of New York Makati
* Hyatt Regency Hotel
* Istana Nurul Iman, Brunei Darussalam
* Mandarin Oriental Makati
* Manila Hotel (New Building)
* Makati Stock Exchange Building
* Ninoy Aquino International Airport - Terminal 1
* Philippine Plaza Hotel
* University of the Philippines Diliman - UP Film Institute
* University of the Philippines Diliman - Church of the Holy Sacrifice
* University of the Philippines Los Baños - Rizal Memorial Centenary Carillon
* University of the Philippines Los Baños - Continuing Education Center
* University of the Philippines Los Baños - Dioscoro L. Umali Hall
* University of the Philippines Los Baños - Main Library
* University of the Philippines Los Baños - SEARCA Dormitory and Hotel
* University of the Philippines Los Baños - Student Union Building

Maxxclip

July 31st, 2007, 06:35 AM

isn't there a thread simlar to this already, proudly pinoy.
it would seem we have a self esteem issue if we keep making threads of similar nature.

Forgive my ignorance and laziness...

If this thread is similar to any existing thread...I ask the moderator to merge this to that thread...:)

kiretoce

July 31st, 2007, 06:37 AM

^^ Threads merged. :okay:

Maxxclip

July 31st, 2007, 06:38 AM

^^ Threads merged. :okay:

Thanks alot!:) Wow! that was fast!

kiretoce

July 31st, 2007, 06:40 AM

^^ You're welcome! :colgate:

crappypants

July 31st, 2007, 06:41 AM

galeng galeng talaga ni Kiretoce at ang bilis pa. proudly pinoy mod talaga. haha
kiss ass.

kiretoce

July 31st, 2007, 06:46 AM

^^ :lol: You flatter me Marites.

Askal82

August 1st, 2007, 06:06 AM

wow ang galing nakakaenganyo gumawa ng krimen sa Cebu :lol:

Sarap ata magpakulong doon. :lol:

bitoy

August 1st, 2007, 07:35 PM

MARCOS SIBAL FROM ANGELES CITY PAMPANGA AS COMMAND MASTER CHIEF OF THE 7TH US FLEET,

Master Chief Petty Officer Marcos Sibal
(http://www.pinoybee.com/story.php?title=MARCOS_SIBAL_FROM_ANGELES_CITY_PAMPANGA_AS_COMMAND_MASTER_CHIEF_OF_THE_7TH_US_FLEET)

http://www.cfas.navy.mil/leader/Images/CMC-Sibal.jpg
Master Chief Petty Officer Marcos Sibal was born in Angeles City, Pampanga province in the Republic of the Philippines. In 1977 he attended college at the University of the Philippines and on September 1983 he entered the United States Navy at the former U.S. Naval Station at Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines as part of the United States and Philippine Navy Recruitment Program. He attended basic training at Recruit Training Command San Diego, California.

http://www.cfas.navy.mil/leader/CMC.htm

Navy officials at the Pentagon last week could not confirm whether Sibal might be the first Filipino to hold the rank of command master chief at the fleet level.

He could be the first Filipino to hold that rank, there are some Officers with Filipino descent but this position is hard to come by.

dancethingy

August 4th, 2007, 05:47 AM

WOW, this dancing mania in a cebu prison is A HIT!

Man, if Filipino prisoners can dance in unison and discipline why can't congress?!?!?!?! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!

Dancing jailbirds in Philippines become YouTube hit Sat Jul 28, 9:02 PM ET

CEBU, Philippines (AFP) - A video of Filipino prisoners dancing to hits like Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in bright orange uniforms has become an instant worldwide hit on the video sharing website YouTube.

The video shot in a provincial jail on the central Philippine island of Cebu show some of the 1,600 inmates dancing in a routine to the Jackson classic and has attracted more than 1.9 million views on YouTube.

The website also shows routines for Queen's "Radio Gaga" and music from the hit move "Sister Act."

The success of the videos, which see dozens of orange-suited men lined up in neat rows, dancing in synchronised fashion, has surprised the men who started the practice as a form of physical exercise.

The dancing, held twice daily in jail, was the brainchild of special security consultant Byron Garcia who also put the videos on YouTube.

He said they began the dancing routines last year after he noticed that very few of the 1,600 prisoners were taking part in the callisthenics and push-ups that the jail was offering for their exercise.

Garcia was also looking for something to inculcate discipline in the prisoners who had been jailed for crimes ranging from murder to drug trafficking.

Garcia said they first started off by having the prisoners do military marches -- but to the tune of the Village People's disco hits, "YMCA" and "In the Navy" and Pink Floyd's "the Wall."

"I thought it would be easier to communicate with them using music," said Garcia.

"When they perfected the marching, we started the more difficult routines," even hiring a choreographer for them, says Garcia.

Vince Rosales, a former provincial capital employee who also manages a dance group, recalls that "I was really scared during my first week there. The inmates would not listen to me. They even threw slippers at me. They complained that they do not like to dance."

Garcia however laid down the law and compelled the prisoners to take part and eventually, they accepted it.

Rosales says he has even received thanks from elderly and infirm inmates for devising dance exercises for them.

The "Thriller" dance that has become so popular on YouTube actually took a month to perfect, he recalls. They also have dance routines based on local pop songs which have also been added to YouTube.

Garcia however says the real benefits of the programme are not its popularity but its effect on the prisoners.

"Do you see discipline, coordination, synchronisation? The high morale and high self esteem. If you watch the video, you can see discipline at work," he said.

Filipino prison inmates performing on YouTube