Maligayang Pasko

Maligayang Pasko
Why Christmas is a very
Filipino celebration
CELEBRITY
HEALTH
Study links
smoking to
increased risk
of diabetes
across all ages
24
28
Filipino Australian
singer MiG Ayesa
set to rock Hong
Kong in
limited run
32
filipino globe
Volume 2 Issue 2
hong kong / manila edition
www.filglobe.com
December 2007
Prisoner transfer bill filed in wake of Ranario pardon
The House Committee on Justice and
Foreign Affairs has approved in principle a bill that will give opportunity
for a detained person abroad to serve
his sentence in his home country.
The proposed measure by Cebu
congressman Antonio Cuenco seeks
to authorise the Secretary of Justice
to receive custody of a Filipino sentenced abroad or cause the transfer of
an alien serving time in the country’s
prisons
Cuenco said this is in accordance
with the provisions of the transfer of
sentenced persons treaties between
the Philippines, Hong Kong and Thailand.
He said officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Justice have held talks
POEA
cuts fees
amid rise
in peso
with their counterparts from the two
countries.
At the same time, House members
have sought an increase to the P15
million budget for legal assistance to
overseas Filipino workers on death
row. The move comes after efforts
to save Dubai-based Filipina maid
Marilou Ranario bore fruit, when
President Arroyo took up her case at
the highest levels during a lightning
visit to the country.
Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber
Al-Sabah commuted her death sentence to life for the murder of her
employer. She is one step away from
a full pardon as forgiveness has been
obtained from most of the victim’s
family members.
Hope and despair – Page 6
TRAVEL
Mt Pinatubo has
scarred people’s
lives but the land has
healed itself through
an unshakable
faith
25
SPORTS
Change in conversion rate for US$25
membership dues ‘first of many steps’
Raul Acedre in Manila
The government has cut fees it collects from overseas Filipino workers
amid pressure from migrant groups
for immediate relief in the face of a
surging peso.
In an emergency meeting, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration agreed
to reduce the conversion rate for the
US$25 OWWA membership fee.
From January 1, the rate will be
changed from P51 to P42 per US$1.
This means that instead of paying
the equivalent of P1,275, OFWs will
pay P1,050, saving P225. The peso
closed yesterday at P41.142 to the
greenback.
The move drew calls for its immediate implementation, with Senate
President Manuel Villar in the forefront.
He called for an “immediate ac-
Kailangan patunayan
ng higanteng FilTongan na si Asi
Taulava na hindi
nagkamali ang Coca
Cola Tigers sa
pagkuha sa kanya
INSIDE
Here’s a piece of good news.
Overseas employment certificates
now cost less, but getting them
2
remains a hassle
DBP backs fixed exchange rate 2
20
Editorial
counting of all excess collection”
even as expressed elation at the decision.
“I am pushing for a Senate inquiry
into the propriety and rationality of
other similar fees imposed on OFWs,”
he said.
Earlier, Villar asked the POEA to
explain the “excessive collection of
OWWA membership fees” from Filipinos working abroad.
The reduction came as the government launched a three-point program
aimed at easing the impact of the
strong peso on OFWs.
AT A GLANCE
36
A Filipina calls on her mobile phone.
Remittances of OFWs have fallen in value
as a result of a surging peso.
The program calls for incomeboosting livelihood projects, access
to low-cost basic commodities and
local training and employment in the
communities of marginal OFWs.
OWWA administrator Marianito
Roque, architect of the program, said
these measures would benefit mar-
ginal OFWs, those earning less than
US$200 a month.
As soon as the program was announced, however, it was criticised
by migrant groups as being “too little
and too late”.
Both the POEA and OWWA could
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
OFW families get that sinking feeling Page 2
BIG PICTURE
Israel is home to 30,000
Filipinos working mostly
in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv
and Haifa. In Tel Aviv,
they live mostly near
the world-famous
Carmel Market
40
2
the city
filipino globe
December 2007
ANGBANSA
OEC now
cheaper but
still hard
to get for
most of us
Iloilo
Iloilo’s Dinagyang festival
captivated the crowd during its
recent national launching and
series of performances in Metro
Manila.
After a successful
presentation at the SM City
Mall of Asia of the 18-man
contingent of “Tribu Atub-Atub”,
which represented Dinagyang,
the performers wowed the
audience with their succeeding
shows in Greenhills,
Tiendesitas and at the Global
Peace Parade at the Quirino
Grandstand.
Iloilo Dinagyang Foundation
Inc executive director Benito
Jimena said the holding of
a national festival plus the
performances created a lot
of awareness with the Metro
Manila market. “People
everywhere got a sample of
what Dinagyang is all about,”
he said.
Jose Marcelo in Hong Kong
First the good news: Overseas
Employment Certificates now cost $7
less at $25.
The bad news? Getting hold of one
remains the ultimate test of a migrant
worker’s patience.
“Salamat at natapos din, nanakit na
ang binti ko sa kakapila,” said Adel,
a 34-year-old domestic helper who
had to wait in line for two hours at
the consulate to secure a certificate
required of all overseas workers at
Philippine airports for documentation
purposes as well as airport tax
exemptions.
For all her troubles, Adel, who had
made it a point to be at the consulate
very early, can consider herself
lucky. Others had to stand in line
for over four hours in a queue that
snakes all the way to the emergency
stairs several floors down.
Worse, the turnover of personnel
at the labor office coincided with
the mad holiday rush for OECs.
Seven labor officers were recalled to
Manila in December and only five
have come in so far, with most of the
replacements still learning the ropes
of the work.
Labor attaché Romy Salud refused
to blame the turnover for the long
queues – “Marami lang talaga
ang volume ng tao,” he said – but
admitted that his staffers often had
to work until close to midnight to
wrap up the more tedious process of
balancing the books.
Efforts to speed up the issuance of
OECs have also been stymied by red
tape.
Salud said he thought of hiring
emergency workers to help in the
process but dropped the plan upon
learning that an allocation for the
staffers’ wages will have to be
approved by the Manila head office.
Another plan to tap volunteers
from among the many migrant
groups in the territory was scuttled
since the process involves money and
therefore requires accountability on
the part of the issuing officers. “Pera
kasi ‘yan, so maselan,” he said.
Salud had also hoped to put up
an electronic numbering system
at the consulate to do away with
the queues and ease the agony of
overseas workers. But funds for its
procurement have not been released
in time for the holiday rush.
Cebu
Shoppers walk through a shopping mall in Makati. With the strong peso, big-spening OFW families are lying low.
OFW families get
that sinking feeling
Strong peso means less money from remittances
M
anila’s malls are abuzz with
Christmas carols and glitzy
decorations but Marlene Isleta has little festive cheer.
A strong Philippine peso and a
weak US dollar means that Isleta has
less cash in her pocket after receiving
the remittance money her husband, a
waiter on a cruise ship, sends her every month.
“The money is really tight. Christmas is just another day for me. I’ll
be hiding from my godchildren that
day,” she said, on a break from her office job in Manila’s financial district.
Isleta’s husband is one of an estimated eight million Filipinos, or
around 10 per cent of the population,
who work overseas due to a lack of
opportunities at home and whose remittances have driven the domestic
economy to a 20-year high.
The Philippines is the fourth-largest
recipient of remittances in the world
after India, Mexico and China.
The overseas workforce has fueled
The money is
really tight.
Christmas is
just another day
for me
MARLENE ISLETA
OFW wife
a local spending boom through its
payments, estimated to hit a new record of US$14.7 billion this year, 15
per cent higher than last year’s peak.
The monthly inflows have also
made the peso Asia’s best-performing
currency this year, up nearly 15 percent against the dollar.
But this means that overseas workers’ foreign currency salaries are
translating into fewer pesos and these
workers are having to send home
more money every month to provide
the same amount of pesos for their
families’ fixed monthly budgets. The
peso has also risen over 8 per cent
against sterling since the start of the
year and 2 per cent against the euro.
To make ends meet, Filipinos based
overseas are taking on second jobs,
working overtime or getting loans.
The central bank has tried to temper the peso’s rise but it has run up its
biggest loss in over a decade doing so
and the cost of keeping the currency
in check is now too expensive.
Investors are not worried about
Philippine inflows because Filipinos
are scattered around the world in a
broad variety of jobs.
Frederic Neumann, economist with
HSBC in Hong Kong, said the tough
exchange rate might discourage some
overseas Filipinos from remitting
while they wait for it to improve but
they would be in the minority.
Economists estimate the peso will
hit 41 against the dollar by next year
and stabilise at that level before hitting another cycle of fluctuations.
Government cuts OWWA membership fee
FROM PAGE 1
not be reached last night for comment,
but labor sources said other fees are
also now subject to review.
Already, placement fees have been
abolished and training is essentially
free under a new policy on household
service workers, introduced in March
last year.
But migrant groups say employ-
More Pag-IBIG memberbeneficiaries across Cebu and
its neighboring provinces in
Central Visayas are building
houses because of the low
interest rate of 6 per cent for
housing loans.
Rio Teves, Pag-IBIG Fund
Cebu City assistant department
manager, said that as of
November, the branch already
ment agencies flout the new policy
with impunity, leading to calls for
stricter policing by the the POEA.
Meanwhile, Labor Secretary Arturo
Brion (right) said other measures to
mitigate the effect of the runaway
peso are gaining ground, including a
form of “forward contracts”.
He said former labor secretary and
now DBP chairman Patricia Sto Tomas backs the idea.
Under the proposal,
dollar deposits within
a given period, “perhaps a year,” will be
entitled to a fixed exchange rate, he said.
Brion also asked
employers to “find
ways to isolate OFW remittances to
the vagaries and uncertainties of the
currency exchange rate”, saying they,
too, must do their part.
“The value of the dollar has been
going down over the past several
months, and OFWs and their families
have asked the government to intervene on their behalf.” he said.
Dollar remittances from more than
eight million Filipinos abroad have
lost about 25 per cent of their value
since last year as a result of the surging peso.
surpassed the 1,199 housing
unit target.
”A total of 1,469 units were
delivered to Pag-IBIG members
which is an excess of 23 per
cent against our target. This
is the effect of the low interest
rate,” Teves said.
The units were worth a
combined P909 million.
The Cebu City branch covers
members who are residents
in Cebu City, cities and
municipalities in southern Cebu
and the provinces of Negros
Oriental and Siquijor.
Davao
Scientists from the University
of Michigan analysed DNA
isolated from blood samples
of the Philippine Eagle and
those of the Harpy Eagle
and Crested Eagles of the
Americas and the New Guinea
Harpy Eagle, according to
Dennis Salvador, Philippine
Eagle Foundation executive
director.
Salvador said the recent
study of the Philippine
Eagle’s DNA conducted by
US scientists led by Dr David
Mindell of the University of
Michigan, all have equal
weights of the birds. All of the
last three giants named are
close relatives as revealed
by DNA sequences, but
only remotely related to the
Philippine Eagle.
The country’s national bird
is one of a kind, with a unique
evolutionary history.
filipino globe
December 2007
3
4
the city
filipino globe
December 2007
Authorities winning fight to save women
Filipina recruiters face trial as officials
widen crackdown on human trafficking
Jose Marcelo in Hong Kong
Right on his first night in Hong Kong,
after stepping out of a budget hotel in
Wanchai where new officers of the
consulate are billeted, Val Roque got
a first-hand glimpse of the enormity
of the problem of human trafficking
involving Filipino women in the territory.
On Lockhart Road were heavily
made-up women in fancy clothes who
he recognised as Filipinas, seemingly
in perpetual motion as they hopped
from one bar to the next.
“My first night was really a realization that this is a big problem. You see
all your kababayans milling around,
looking around for customers and at
that time, there were so many of them
walking the streets of Lockhart,”
Roque said.
“Initially, I wondered where they
were going, and only after talking to
people here [at the consulate] did I
learn that they were out bar-hopping,
looking for customers.”
Roque’s first foreign posting as
head of the Hong Kong consulate’s
Assistance to Nationals section would
soon have him coming face-to-face
with the menace, as women regularly
stepped in and out of his office – all
with the same story to tell.
They had been lured into coming
over to Hong Kong by recruiters who
would provide them free tickets, a
place to stay and of course the promise of earning big money by doing the
simple task of sitting down with customers in Wanchai bars.
Of course, recruiters would conveniently leave out details: the women
would be under their bondage by
being made to pay a $5,000 fee for
their recruitment, and another $85
to $100 a day for board and lodging
– an amount they had no way of settling unless they did more than just
get commissions on drinks offered by
customers.
“My first few months here we were
deluged with cases of human trafficking. They would go here after escaping from the flats of the traffickers
and would ask for the consulate’s assistance for their repatriation,” Roque
said.
“But there came a point, when I
realized this cannot go on, that we
cannot just be funding their return
to the Philippines. I felt there needs
to be something more that should be
done.”
The big break came in August when
six Filipino women went to the consulate after escaping from their recruiters. They not only agreed to file
complaints before the police but also
testify in court against the traffickers,
Somewhere under
Wanchai’s bright lights
lurk predators in the
illegal trade in humans.
if need be. The alleged traffickers,
both Filipinas, are now being tried
at District Court in Wanchai in what
prosecution lawyers said is the first
human trafficking case involving Filipinas in the territory. A decision is due
in the third week of December.
“I always say it’s a landmark case
because now the police are going after the traffickers themselves. In the
past, they only focused on what we
call the ‘victims.’ Of course, some do
it freelance but some who are really
victims of human trafficking also get
arrested and charged with soliciting
for immoral purpose,” Roque said.
“Now they are arresting and prosecuting the traffickers so that gives a
new dimension to the fight against human trafficking.”
Officials are not stopping there. A
corresponding case has also been filed
against a recruiter from Nueva Ecija
who had led the six women to the traffickers. The case is being pursued by
the Presidential Task Force Against
Human Trafficking.
The Hong Kong police have also
been doing their part. Last month,
they sent two officials to the Philippines to meet with Department of Justice and NBI officials.
“Things happened very fast and
we were surprised because the Hong
Kong police really worked quickly.
Just 48 hours after these women filed
a complaint before police, arrests
were made,” Roque said.
Roque has become so committed
to the cause that he has even become
part of the real-life rescue of two victims who had sought the consulate’s
help through Father Robert Reyes and
the Filcomsin network.
With a van and a driver, Roque
waited until the early hours of the
morning of November 23 to fetch the
two who took four suspenseful hours
before they could get their passports
and some belongings from the flat
they had shared with freelancers.
stayed overnight at the Catholic Center shelter and were on a plane home
later that same day.
“Wala nga kaming tulog at nakakakaba rin dahil hindi mo alam kung
ano ang mangyayari. Kapag nalaman
kasi ng mga sindikato baka mapaano
pa kami,” he said.
the city
filipino globe
December 2007
ANGBANSA
Tuguegarao
The Cagayan provincial
government has asked the
Department of Agrarian Reform
in Region II to help it shore up
falling land tax collection.
Governor Alvaro Antonio
said collection of real property
taxes in the province has fallen
by hundreds of thousands of
pesos monthly as a result of the
implementation of the agrarian
reform program.
“It is saddening to note that
pioneers of land subjected to
land reform and the tenantbeneficiaries of the program
now point at each other for
the responsibility of paying
land taxes to the government,”
Antonio said.
He has ordered the provincial
treasurer and assessor to look
into the matter.
DAR regional director Araceli
Follante assured him of her
agency’s cooperation.
Cebu
Officials from other local
government units in the country
have expressed interest in
replicating Cebu City’s solid
waste management program.
Grace Garcia, conference
director of the two-day First
Solid and Hazardous Summit
held last week in Cebu City,
said several officials became
interested after the Cebu City
government presented its newly
inaugurated 100-kilowatt biogas
power plant project.
The summit was attended
by representatives of various
agencies and local officials.
Ricky Beltran, Philippine BioSciences Corp Inc manager for
Cebu, made the presentation.
The private firm is the city’s
partner in operating the wasteto-energy biogas power plant at
the Inayawan sanitary landfill.
Launched last week, the plant
treats organic wastes to produce
electricity.
Aklan
The provincial government
is drawing up a tourism code
to boost Aklan’s tourism
potential. The code is
expected to make the province
even more tourist-friendly
with the involvement of all the
stakeholders.
“Our efforts start in Boracay
then from there we will
reach out to all 17 local
government units to prepare
their communities, police,
transport and other sectors to
become tourist-friendly service
providers,” Rossel QuimpoRuiz, the provincial tourism
officer, said.
The code includes
mandatory accreditation
of service providers by the
Department of Tourism. “If
all service providers are
accredited, tourists would
know that services have gone
through a thorough review,”
he said.
Funds readied for repatriation of dead tourist
A Filipino’s quest for better life
opportunities in Hong Kong ended in
tragedy when he suffered a massive
stroke on December 2 at the Sham
Shui Po station of the Metro Transit
System.
According to consulate officials,
Gilbert Madayag, a 35-year-old
father of three from Tarlac, had been
jobless for the past three years and
had come to Hong Kong to take the
licensure examination for drivers.
Madayag’s sister, who is working
in the territory as a domestic
helper, had facilitated the former
seminarian’s arrival while another
sister working as a nurse in Saudi
Arabia had paid for his airfare.
Vice consul Val Roque, head of the
consulate’s Assistance to Nationals
section, said Madayag was already
in a coma when he visited him on
December 3 at the Caritas Medical
Center. He died the next day.
“It was really unfortunate, but I’ve
nonetheless assured [the family] that
the consulate will assist them in any
way we can,” said Roque.
Roque said the consulate will
help in the repatriation of Madaya’s
remains – an assistance rarely
extended to tourists – upon the
request of the family.
“I told them not to worry dahil
mga deserving naman ng tulong
ang mga ito,” Roque said. “So
we’ve requested the Manila office to
provide financial assistance for the
repatriation.”
Jose Marcelo
Val Roque ... help is at hand.
5
6
the city
filipino globe
December 2007
filipino globe
December 2007
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Hope and despair over prisoner transfer
B
efore the tragic story of
the “milkshake murderer”
Nancy Kissel riveted Hong
Kong, it had a taste of bitter drama
in a sensational case involving
Remedios Coady, the socialite
Filipina who killed her lover.
“But that was a long time ago.
I have paid my dues and I am free
now,” says Coady in a telephone
interview with Filipino Globe.
“I am happy where I am now,
here in the Philippines, which is my
home,” she adds.
Coady was deported to Manila
in August 2005 after more than
seven years in prison at the Tai
Lam Centre for Women on Lantau
Island.
She was first charged with
murder for the death of her Swiss
lover Gregoire Weil in 1997.
After she appealed her case and
claimed to have acted in selfdefense, the charge was lowered to
manslaughter.
Her prison sentence was reduced
from life to 10 years. She was
released before she could finish her
full sentence.
She had lived a glamorous life
as a former model and socialite,
dressed in signature clothes
and flashy jewelry, and enjoyed
the company of politicians and
businessmen. But the events of
1998 changed all that when Coady
became the primary suspect in the
killing.
She was incarcerated. She lived
day to day wearing prisoners’
clothes, ate rationed food, worked
inside the centre to buy stamps and
envelopes and slept on bunk beds
surrounded by concrete walls with
no windows.
Suddenly, there were no parties
to attend anymore. There were only
strict curfews to follow.
“I remember Tai Lam clearly. I
remember the madames [prison
officers] and my co-prisoners and
how much I have learned from
them,” she relates.
“Being in prison really opened
my eyes to another world and I
was often reduced to tears when
I compare my life back then and
when I was in prison. It was then
that I decided to make a difference
and do something for others.”
While in prison, Coady wasted no
time in writing letters to authorities
and the media in Hong Kong and
the Philippines, appealing her case,
reporting human rights abuses and
requesting better treatment for
prisoners.
She also pushed for the creation
of the Transfer of Sentenced
Persons Agreement between Hong
Five years after treaty was ratified,
inmates can do nothing but wait
Jose Marcelo in Hong Kong
Remedios Coady now runs a family-owned resort in Zambales.
‘I’m getting old,
but I’ll help out’
Remedios Coady has not forsaken the dream
of prisoners to be sent home, writes Gal Roma
Kong and the Philippines. “I have
been out of prison for more than
two years but there are still no
implementing rules and guidelines,”
Coady says.
Coady told this writer back in
2005, before she was released
from prison that she will make it
a lifetime commitment to have the
TSPA implemented. “I don’t want
any Filipino to be languishing in
Hong Kong jails anymore,” she said
then.
Several Filipino prisoners
in Hong Kong are serving life
sentences and have expressed a
desire to be transferred to prisons in
their home country.
“I am growing old but I remain
strong. I will help our kababayans
there in Hong Kong,” Coady, who
is now in her 60s, says.
Coady expressed her wish to
come back to Hong Kong because
When the sun
she said “I love the city” but
sets, I take a
is quick to add that life in the
Philippines is better.
walk along the
“I am running a family-owned
resort
in Zambales. Every
seashore and I
afternoon, when the sun is about to
say thanks to God set, I take a walk along the seashore
and I say thanks to God for the
REMEDIOS COADY experience and for the life He gave
Former Hong Kong inmate me,” Coady says.
“I am happy to be free and I am
happy to be around my family and
the people who love me.”
Father Gary Thurman has spent a
good part of the past two years trying
to bring hope and cheer to Filipinos
serving time in Hong Kong prisons,
yet the kindly American priest is the
first to admit he can only do so much.
There’s nothing like a visit from
family to brighten up a prisoner’s day,
he insists.
“Hong Kong is doing it’s best for
them, and the conditions here are
probably better than in prisons back
[in the Philippines],” he said. “But it’s
difficult to duplicate the happiness
these people feel when they get visits
from their loved ones.”
Distance and financial constraints
have made visits from families rare
for these convicts, while a treaty that
would have allowed Filipinos to serve
long sentences in jails back home has
been left to gather dust on the desks of
Department of Justice officials for the
past five years.
A Transfer of Sentenced Persons
Agreement between the Philippines
and Hong Kong was ratified by the
Senate and approved by the SAR Executive Council in June 2002, but the
absence of implementing rules and
regulations has kept prisoners from
both sides from availing of the program.
The DOJ, tasked by the Senate to
draft the implementing guidelines,
has dragged its feet for so long that
Remedios Coady, a convicted Filipino
businesswoman who was among the
first to express a desire to avail of the
program, has completed her sentence
and has since gone back home.
“Papaano naman ang mga cases
ng mga ibang Filipino nationals who
have no chance of being freed and
now are hoping for the chance to serve
their sentences in the Philippines to
be closer to their families. The problem is, wala tayong mechanism to go
about this,” said consul Vic Dimagiba
(above), head of the consulate’s legal
division.
Consulate records put the number of
Filipinos serving time in Hong Kong
prisons at 115 as of October, with 10
serving long sentences and therefore
qualified to avail of the TSP program.
Two are serving life terms for murder,
according to vice consul Val Roque.
Seven prisoners, Dimagiba said,
have expressed interest in joining the
program when the treaty was ratified
in 2002. But all they could do now
is wait – and wait. “It’s an irritating problem because nandiyan na
[ang agreement] and yet hindi natin
BY THE NUMBERS
115
Filipinos serving time for various offenses
in Hong Kong prisons
ma-implement. Nag-promise na ang
gobyerno na this will be implemented
as far back as 2002 and yet up to now
there’s no movement at all,” Dimagiba said.
There has been no problem from the
Hong Kong end, Dimagiba said, since
its Executive Council has already put
a mechanism in place to bring home
its nationals languishing in Philippine
jails.
But a good part of the past five years
has been wasted while the task of
drafting the implementing guidelines
has been thrown
back and forth
between the Senate and the DOJ,
which eventually
was handed the
task.
Father Gary, of
the International
Communion of the Charismatic Episcopal Church, said the treaty would
go a long way in easing the anguish
of imprisoned nationals who he visits twice a month as part of his prison
ministry.
“At the top of my head, I can name
five to seven prisoners who have
served five to 10 years in Hong Kong
prisons and who would be very much
interested in being moved to a prison
closer to home,” he said. “So I’m sure
it would definitely help.”
Over the past two years alone, Father Gary said he had encountered
about seven Filipinos who lost loved
ones while in prison, including one
whose two-year-old child died in an
accident. “These are tragedies that,
they feel, could have been avoided
if they were back home. Some feel
things could have been different had
they not been imprisoned. So for
them it brings a lot of guilt into their
heads,” he said.
But most of them, he added, simply
long for the opportunity to see their
children and grandchildren grow up,
even if they spend their lives behind
bars.
“Serving their sentences here, they
never would see their grandchildren
or children growing up. That’s their
biggest regret,” Father Gary said.
western union
(film)
7
8
the city
filipino globe
December 2007
All systems go for Macau consulate
Government putting finishing touches after AIA Tower is picked to house the mission’s new offices
Jose Marcelo in Hong Kong
A consulate is set to rise in Macau
early next year in a development that
came like an answered Christmas
wish for thousands of migrants.
Department of Foreign Affairs
sources said a Macau post to serve the
needs of a rapidly growing Filipino
population, placed conservatively at
11,000 at last count, should be operational as early as January or March at
the latest.
The future home of the consulate
will be a modestly sized space on the
14th floor of the upscale AIA Tower
in the heart of Macau’s business district, they added.
“Masaya na ang mga tao rito.
They’ve been waiting for this for a
long time,” said labor attaché Carlos
Sta Ana, who for years had manned
a Philippine labor extension office
bereft of official recognition from the
Macau government.
Sta Ana has confirmed receiving a
copy of an official communication
from the DFA advising the Department of Labor and Employment to
draw up plans to integrate a labor office into a career consulate.
Consul General Al Vicente, who
has backed the clamor for an official
presence in Macau separate from the
Hong Kong head office, has also informed Macau’s Director of Protocol
that the consulate will be in place
“very soon”.
“Officially my term there will soon
end,” said Vicente.
Gilbert Asuque, a former spokesperson at the DFA home office in Ma-
nila and charge d’affaires of the Philippine embassy in Tel Aviv, is being
groomed to become the first consul
general to Macau, sources said.
The Philippines, Vicente said, will
be only the third country to put up a
foreign post in the enclave after Portugal, Macau’s former colonial master, and Angola. Indonesia set up a
consular extension office there early
this year.
It will also become the fifth Philippine consulate in greater China.
“We’re waiting for instructions
from Manila,” said Vicente. “Once
it comes, we’ll proceed with turning
over the functions to a new consulate.”
Sta Ana said the establishment of a
full consulate will enable officials to
aggressively pursue opportunities for
Filipinos and make the process of securing jobs easier.
Official recognition of the labor
office, he added, will also enable
Philippine officials to assist Filipinos
in labor talks since Macau’s laws on
migrant workers are not clear-cut and
terms are often forged on the negotiation table.
“We can now start bilateral talks
with the Macau government and we
can be more aggressive with our marketing thrust,” said Sta Ana. “We can
even hold job fairs.”
At present, most of the Filipinos
who enter Macau on tourist visas are
required to return to the Philippines
even if they have successfully applied
for one of the limited number of job
orders available to non-locals.
Only upon the arrival of a First
easymaid.net
online job posting
Letter of Approval from the Macau
government can the applicant return
to the territory and secure a working visa. The process is expected to
be streamlined with the help of a full
consulate, Sta Ana said.
An Assistance to Nationals section will also be a major boost to migrants.
In the past. Macau-based migrants
also had to cross over to Hong Kong
or wait for monthly missions held by
Vicente’s staff in the territory for the
renewal of their passports and the processing of other pertinent documents.
Vicente said the Macau post would
need about 10 officials – a consul general, a consul, an administrative officer, a records and property officer, a
passports division and a support staff
as well as a separate labor office.
ANGBANSA
Zamboanga
City Health Officer Rodel
Agbulos said Zamboanga
City has recorded a 97 per
cent completion rate in the
“Knockout Tigdas” campaign,
making it the top achiever in
Region 9.
Agbulos said the city overshot
the 95 per cent target set by the
Department of Health.
The nationwide anti-measles
campaign started in October 15
and ended on November 30.
Agbulos said the city’s
performance set a precedent in
the region.
Baguio
The City Veterinary Office
said several teams of roving
inspectors have started to
monitor the quality of all meat
sold in this mountain resort to
fully safeguard the health of
consumers.
Dr Brigitte Piok, city
veterinarian, said meat
consumption usually increase
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during the Christmas season,
the reason “we have to fully
safeguard the health of all those
who consume meat.”
She urged consumers to
“buy only meat which bears our
stamp in order to assure them of
the best quality of both livestock
and poultry products which are
bought in several tons by the
consumers here.”
Masbate
Coastal communities in 14
towns and one city in Masbate
are expected to benefit from
a foreign-assisted special
project spearheaded by the
Department of Environment
and Natural Resources.
It will be carried out by six
government agencies with the
local government units. The
project will make coastal areas
regenerate depleted marine
resources.
news & views from home
filipino globe
national
Land reform
struggling as
beneficiaries
sell back land
Study blames lack of government
support for implementation problems
Many farmer-beneficiaries of the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program of the government are forced
to sell back their land to their former
owners or other individuals due to inadequate government support.
This was revealed in a study conducted by the Department of Agrarian
Reform and GTZ, the Federal Republic of Germany’s program for sustainable development agency.
The study, completed in 2006 but
not made public until now, observed
that a high number of beneficiaries,
especially in Luzon and in the Visayas, “have been forced to sell back
their land or mortgaged them” because they could not develop or even
maintain them due to the absence of
assistance from the government.
The report said about 26 per cent of
all FBs have already disposed of their
holdings.
DAR records show it has distributed about 3.639 million hectares of
private agricultural land, while another 2.937 million hectares of alienable
and disposable land have been given
In Nueva Ecija alone, 41 per cent
of beneficiaries have sold their
land. The figure was 53 per cent
for Laguna province.
or awarded by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The study said that in Nueva Ecija
alone, about 41 per cent of the beneficiaries had sold their land, while
another 53 per cent did the same in
Laguna. The trend is no different in
Iloilo and Quezon, where 35 and 26
per cent of recipients, respectively,
have opted to dispose of their land.
Recent surveys by the Center for
Peasant Education and Services in
H A P P Y H O L I D A Y S
December 2007
9
Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon
showed that three out of five holders
of the Certificate of Land Ownership
Agreement have sold their rights over
their properties or mortgaged them
and abandoned these properties without paying.
According to the study, inadequate
support services and credit technology accorded to beneficiaries were
principally among the reasons CARP
was not successful.
“In fact, DAR admits that about
three million beneficiaries out of the
four million did not receive any support services,” it said.
The report also said that those who
managed to secure loans, even with
an interest as high as 24.7 per cent,
collection of their amortisations had
been “dismal” as it was pegged at
only 17.8 per cent.
The report also dismissed perceptions that CARP was failing because
of the resistance of landowners to sell
their land.
“Contrary to the general perception,
there is really no landowner resistance
because voluntary offer to sell accounted for 120 per cent accomplishment of DAR target while the voluntary land transfers scheme accounted
for 180 per cent accomplishment.
As to total land area, the voluntary
scheme accounted for 30 per cent
while compulsory acquisition by
DAR accounted for only 16 per cent.
The study blamed the country’s
membership in the World Trade Organization as another factor behind the
difficulties of beneficiaries.
10
national
filipino globe
December 2007
Government calls Yule truce
Rebels give no response to suspension of military offensive over Christmas
The government will declare a 27-day
ceasefire with communist rebels for
the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, a senior official said.
The “suspension of offensive military operations” against the New People’s Army will start on December 16
and end on January 6, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.
There was no immediate response
from the rebels, who have refused to
declare a similar truce for the past two
years.
Military chief of staff General Hermogenes Esperon (above) said he expects the rebel force will be reduced
to 3,000 fighters from 7,000 by 2009.
The government has been criticised
for heavy-handed counterinsurgency
tactics that, according to a UN human
rights expert and advocacy groups,
BY THE NUMBERS
3,000
Figure rebel forces will be reduced to from
their present ranks by 2009
include extrajudicial killings and disappearances of left-wing activists,
farmers and other critics.
The left-wing human rights group
Karapatan says more than 800 people
have been killed and nearly 200 others “disappeared” since 2001.
The rebels quit peace talks in 2004
over Manila’s refusal to lobby for
their removal from US and European
lists of terrorist organizations.
Military leaders are
pushing for tougher
laws to help crush
nearly 40 years of communist rebellion, favoring legislation similar
to the internal security
acts enforced elsewhere in Southeast
Asia.
Esperon said the Philippines had a
weak legal system that allowed communists and other dissident groups
to take advantage of the democratic
space.
“We need a kind of law that would
approximate the internal security acts
of other countries who have availed
of this tool in defeating insurgencies
in their homeland,” Esperon said in a
media briefing.
“I support a new anti-subversion
law. It is the duty of the government
to protect its citizens and if, indeed,
they are only after political reforms,
then, they can go to the negotiating
table.”
In 1992, the Philippines repealed
an anti-subversion law used to fight
Maoist-led rebels inspired by the
communist victories in China and Indochina.
On Thursday, President Arroyo said
she was supporting moves in Congress to revive an anti-subversion law
that, among other provisions, would
punish mere membership of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Arroyo was apparently trying all
possible tools to defeat the 6,000member communist New People’s
Army rebels before she steps down in
June 2010.
Sayyaf 14
sentenced to
life for 2001
murders
A Manila court sentenced 14 members of a Muslim militant group to
life in prison for the kidnapping of 20
people from a luxury beach resort in
2001 and the decapitation of three of
them, including an American.
Guillermo Sobero was beheaded a
few weeks after he was snatched at
gunpoint from the Dos Palmas resort
in Palawan in the western Philippines by members of the Abu Sayyaf
group.
Another American, missionary
Martin Burnham, and a Filipino nurse
were killed in an army rescue operation after the hostages had spent a
year in captivity in the jungles of the
southern Philippines.
Burnham’s wife Gracia was shot in
the leg but survived and wrote two
books about the ordeal.
The judge at the trial court handed
down 20 life sentences to each of the
guilty men and ordered them to pay
damages of between P50,000 and
P300,000 to each of the victims.
“There’s no justice in this country,”
Toting Hannoh, one of those convicted, said as he was being led by security officers to a police van.
“The Abu Sayyaf will grow stronger. We will be back.”
Four other people, including one
woman, were acquitted of the charges,
a court official said. The Abu Sayyaf
is the smallest but deadliest Muslim
rebel group operating in the south of
the country.
Kalinga
The Regional Tripartite Wage
Productivity Board said the
recommended minimum daily
wage in the province of Kalinga
will be increased from P229 to
P275.
Regional board secretary
Teodoro Delson said the
proposal was reached after
a group of capitalists and
employers were shown the
statistics that majority of the
businesses in the province had
achieved higher productivity
during the past three years.
“The workers themselves
have also proven how their
present wages can hardly be
stretched to cover their dayto-day ordinary expenses of
food, transportation, education,
medicines and others as a
result of the effects of the
increased oil and other prices,”
Delson told a media briefing
yesterday.
Baguio
The city administrator of Baguio
said the city government is
optimistic about settling the
claims of alleged landowners
affected by the operation of
Baguio Asin Hydroelectric Dam
so that the facility’s operations
will not again be disrupted.
Lawyer Peter Fianza said
the two-day non-operation of
the facility due to acts of the
land claimants rendered some
Officials from Eastern Samar, led by congressman Teodulo Coquilla and Governor Ben Evardone (center), pose with
members of the Federation of Eastern Samar OFWs in Hong Kong during their visit to the territory. The delegation
was in Hong Kong to promote Eastern Samar and update their constituents on developments in the province.
Martial law victims may get payout
Victims of martial law may soon
benefit from the P10 billion
compensation now that the Senate
has passed on third and final reading
the proposed bill to indemnify them,
according to Senate President Manny
Villar.
“This is a long-overdue obligation
of the government to the victims of
human rights violations in pursuit
of justice and redress, and the
sustenance of their basic needs,
especially of those in their twilight
years,” he said.
The Human Rights Compensation
Act, which was jointly sponsored
by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino
Pimentel Jr and Senator Francis
Escudero, primarily aims to
compensate victims of human rights
violations during 20 years of the
Marcos regime.
Under the bill, the victims
may file their indemnity claims
with the Human Rights Victims
Compensation Board.
It directs the Commission on
Human Rights and the Presidential
Commission on Good Government to
implement the measure.
The fund will be placed in a
separate trust account of the Bureau
of Treasury, according to Villar.
Poll finds Arroyo nation’s most corrupt leader in history
President Arroyo is seen as the
“most corrupt” leader in Philippine
history, eclipsing the late dictator
Ferdinand Marcos from the top
of the list, according to a new
survey.
About 47 per cent of
respondents polled by
independent polling company
Pulse Asia picked Arroyo as the
ANGBANSA
“most corrupt among Philippine
presidents.”
Thirty-five per cent picked
Marcos as the second most
corrupt. Marcos, who was ousted
by a popular revolt in 1986 that
ended his 20-year dictatorship,
is believed to have stolen some
US$10 billion from government
coffers.
Arroyo’s predecessor, Joseph
Estrada, who became the first
president convicted of massive
corruption but was subsequently
pardoned, came in third with 16
per cent, according to the survey.
Malacanang dismissed the poll,
saying it was the handiwork of her
opponents.
Her allies belittled its
methodology and questioned the
number of respondents.
The poll was conducted from
October 20 to 31 using face-toface interviews of 1,200 adult
respondents representing various
social classes nationwide.
Arroyo has survived many
attempts to oust her from power,
the latest coming last month.
P70,000 income loss for the city
“but we have to settle amicably
the matter.”
He said that now the facility is
back to normal operations, “our
officials are set to sit down with
the claimants in order to know
their demands.”
Initial consultations between
Baguio representatives and
the land claimants resulted in
demands for land compensation
by cash payment as a
consideration of sale or monthly
rentals.
Zamboanga
Local health officials have
strengthened monitoring and
surveillance in establishments
to identify freelance sex
workers and prevent the
spread of sexually transmitted
diseases in this city.
Included in the surveillance
are city streets, malls, night
clubs and other establishments
where freelance sex workers
frequently look for customers.
Officials have expressed
alarm over the recent reports
of high incidence of syphilis
cases among freelance sex
workers.
Dr Kibtiya Uddin, head
of City Health Office
Reproductive Health and
Wellness Center, said that 19
of 204 freelance sex workers
were found positive for
syphilis.
Syphilis is more potent than
gonorrhea since it infects the
bloodstream,” Uddin said,
filipino globe
Senate probe
set into media
arrests during
failed mutiny
Revilla committee gets things going
as senators call for a wider inquiry
Raul Acedre in Manila
A multipartisan Senate investigation
is being launched into the arrest
of journalists during a short-lived
mutiny by renegade soldiers led by
Senator Antonio Trillanes.
No date has been set for the
inquiry, but sources said senators had
agreed to begin proceedings before
the December 22 Christmas break.
The moved followed a raft of
resolutions filed by Loren Legarda
(right), Manuel Roxas II, and
Benigno Aquino III.
Senate President Manuel Villar
Jr., Senate Majority Leader Francis
Pangilinan, Senate Minority Leader
Aquilino Pimentel Jr., and Senators
Richard Gordon and Pia Cayetano
all expressed concern over the
media arrests and urged a Senate
investigation in aid of legislation.
Earlier, Senator Ramon Revilla
Jr, chairman of the mass media
committee, said his committee will
investigate the matter.
In her resolution, Legarda, a former
broadcast journalist, said “legislation
may be needed to guide actions of
law enforcers in crisis situations
to ensure that the rights of media
enforcers to responsibly inform
the public on events of national
significance are not abridged.”
She said the police explanation
that journalists were arrested as part
of standard operating procedure was
questionable because no journalist
had been taken to a police station for
processing.
Roxas and Aquino said the arrest of
journalists and the seizure of media
equipment “strike at the very core
of Philippine democracy of which
media is a primary component”.
“An inquiry in aid of legislation
is both essential and
necessary to ensure
clarification and
transparency on the
rules of engagement
between the media
and law enforcers
to avoid confusion
should similar incidents happen
again in the future,” they added.
Revilla said the reasons for the
arrest should be clarified, and
stressed the need for police and
media to work together.
He said he would invite Director
General Avelino Razon Jr of the
Philippine National Police, Metro
Manila police chief Geary Barias and
the arrested media practitioners to
the committee hearing.
The National Press Club,
National Union of Journalists of
the Philippines and other media
organizations have denounced the
arrests.
Press club raises human rights
‘atrocities’ against journalists
The Commission on Human Rights is
seeking documentation on the roundup of journalists who covered the November 29 siege of the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City.
This will enable the agency to better assess the claims of the National
Press Club that authorities violated
journalists’ rights by handcuffing
them when they refused to vacate the
hotel as ordered.
“There’s nothing better than coming together to resolve important
cases,” CHR chairpeson Purificacion
Quisumbing said.
Quisumbing asked the PNP to submit the names of journalists whom it
rounded up for processing.
She also requested copies of its
post-mission report, action taken
during the siege and a description of
processing conducted on journalists
concerned.
CHR asked NPC to submit affidavits of journalists who were handcuffed and processed.
“We intend to have these affidavits
identified by persons concerned,”
Quisumbing said.
Mabasa raised a number of human
rights issues against the PNP.
These are:
• Arbitrary arrest and detention of
journalists who covered the event
• Abusive and inhumane manner in
which such arrests were carried out
• Violation of Republic Act 7438
concerning Miranda rights
• Violation of press freedom under
Article 32 of the Civil Code and Section 4 of Article III of the Philippine
Constitution’s Bill of Rights
• Grave misconduct as well as arresting authorities’ abuse of authority
and discretion.
NPC also cited illegal confiscation
of videotapes, cameras and photographs as it said this violates the right
against unreasonable searches and
seizures.
Mabasa filed his own affidavit. He
noted the Journal group’s Ed Reyes
and Daily Mirror’s Paul Atienza had
filed their respective statements.
national
December 2007
11
Military presses manhunt for rest of Trillanes group
The military is stepping up its
search for members of a mutinous
band still at large after the Manila
Peninsula siege.
Among them is Marine captain
Nicanor Faeldon, who managed to
escape before police stormed the
hotel to end the six-hour standoff.
His superiors have sent him an
ultimatum to surrender.
The military pressed the manhunt
after rebellion charges were filed
against the leaders of the failed
uprising, including Senator Antonio
Trillanes (right) and 34 others.
AFP public
information office
chief Lt Col
Bartolome Bacarro
urged Faeldon and
former soldiers
Elmer Colon and
Sonny Madarang
to turn themselves in, saying the
long arm of the law would soon
catch up with them.
Faeldon is also facing trial, along
with Trillanes, before civilian and
military courts in connection with
a similarly abortive coup attempt
in 2003. Colon and Madarang
have been convicted by a military
court for that incident after a pleabargain agreement.
“Our message to them is that for
the meantime, they can run but
they cannot hide forever,” Bacarro
said.
“They have another option to
take. The other option is for them
to surrender voluntarily.”
Faeldon first escaped from
military custody sometime in
December 2005 but was rearrested
this year.
filipino globe
12 December 2007
Hong Kong Jumbo Tours
global news & views
filipino globe
Top Lebanese
diplomat says
Filipinos safe
despite turmoil
Beirut is safe, as well as
areas around it where most
Filipinos work, according
to a Lebanese diplomat.
Envoy gives assurance as ban stays
on deployment to Middle East country
A senior Lebanese diplomat has asBY THE NUMBERS
sured that the more than 25,000 Filipino workers in Lebanon are relatively safe and not subject to any danger
despite the tense political situation in
the country.
Consul-General Joseph Assad, honorary consul of Lebanon to the Philippines gave the assurance when queried
on the political situation in the Middle
East country and its implications for
the safety of Filipinos there.
A ban on deployment to Lebanon
remains in force due to the peace and
order situation in that country.
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25,000
Filipinos in Lebanon whose safety has
been assured by a senior diplomat
Assad said that the capital Beirut is
“very safe” as well as other parts of
the area where most Filipino domestic helpers work in a large number of
Christian families, in homes of diplo-
matic missions and in foreign households.
The political vacuum left by former
President Emile Lahoud last month
found the country without a president.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora had put
the army into the streets of Beirut
to preserve order during the lull this
week.
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world
December 2007
13
political factions in Lebanon with a
slim majority of Christians and the
oppositionist Hizbollah was to select
a president that would complete the
democratic set-up in that country.
Meanwhile, Abdul Kader Al Jadid,
president of the Philippine-Lebanese
Friendship Community, is optimistic
that the political factions in his country would come to an understanding
to preserve the peace.
This would allow continued development pledged by the international
community after the Israel-Lebanon
conflict in 2006.
“Filipino domestic helpers are very
much welcome in Lebanon and some
of our families are ready to accept the
new wage policies of US$400 in view
of the very good service given by
OFWs to their employers,” he said.
However, Al Jadid admitted that
other countries have taken over the
market of Filipino domestic helpers.
He said this is because many families could not afford the US$400 minimum salary mandated by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.
Some Lebanese have turned to Sri
Lankans, Indonesians and Bangladeshi nationals who are willing to accept US$125 to US$150 a month.
Since the new POEA policy on
household service workers took effect
in March last year, very few Filipinos have found their way to Lebanon
as documented workers under the
US$400 salary. The government has
been selective in approving requests
for HSWs despite the new salary.
14
world
filipino globe
December 2007
Jennifer makes time for work and more
In Japan, juggling
multiple jobs and family
is the norm. As Aileen
Gabutina writes, this
hardworking Pinay
mother is no exception
I
f not for the Christmas
decorations in Tokyo, Jennifer
Iglesias would not have realised
the holiday season was drawing near.
Jennifer, 40, has been working in
Japan for 22 years now and, most
years, she spends Christmas away
from her family.
“Hindi ko nalang iniisip na Pasko
na, parang mga ordinary days pa lang
para hindi masyadong nakakalungkot
dahil hindi ko kasama ang buong
pamilya ko. Mas magastos kasi
kapag umuwi pa ako kaysa
magpadala nalang sa Pilipinas,’’ she
said. “Saka kahit hindi considered na
holiday dito ang Pasko – kaunti lang
kasi ang katoliko dito – may dagdag
kaming sahod kapag pumasok kami
ng Pasko at New Year. Mahaba
celebration ng New Year dito.
[December] 28 palang wala ng pasok
ang mga opisina, hanggang [January]
5.”
Jennifer is a single mother of
A rare free day
for Jennifer
Iglesias
with mother,
Concepcion,
and daughter
Aya at Ueno
Park.
three – her eldest, Jhan Carlo, 18,
is a second-year college student
at Mapua Institute of Technology
in Manila, while Steve Paulo,
15, is a high school junior at St.
James College in Quezon City. The
youngest, Aya, four, currently stays
with her in Nippori district.
Not wallowing during the holiday
season could be fairly easy for
Jennifer, considering she has to look
after her daughter – and keep three
jobs: as kitchen crew, hotel room
maker and house cleaner.
Jennifer starts her day at 8am
by preparing her daughter for
kindergarten that starts at 9am. She
then grooms up for her 10am job at
the Ginza International Hotel, where
her shift ends at 3pm. After that, she
fetches her daughter, picks up a few
items at the local market and fixes
dinner.
If she’s lucky, she catches a nap
Sa dami na ng
naging trabaho
ko, nakalimutan
ko na ‘yung iba
JENNIFER IGLESIAS
On her life and times in Japan
before she heads to the Casablanca
Fantasy bar in Ueno district, where
her kitchen duties start at 8pm and
end at 3am, leaving her barely five
hours of sleep.
She leaves her daughter with a
neighbor – also a Filipino – and
picks her up when she gets home
from work.
There’s even no rest for her on the
weekend, as that is when she does
house-cleaning jobs at apartments in
her district.
“Sa Ginza, sosyal ang mga tao at
mas elegante ang mga establishment,
parang Makati sa Pilipinas na
pinalaki. Sa Ueno district naman,
yun ang medyo pang-masa, doon
ka makakabili ng mga bargain dahil
maraming tiangge at saka maraming
Pinoy doon, y’un ang tambayan ng
mga Pinoy sa Tokyo. Mayroong
market doon na puro Filipino food
ang tinitinda.”
Her years of hard work have paid
off. She bought a two-bedroom
bungalow in Novaliches in 2000
which has been expanded into a
three-story home, where her two sons
live with her 72-year-old mother,
Concepcion.“Hangga’t kaya kong
magtrabaho siguro hindi ako titigil.
Marami pa kasi akong pangarap para
sa mga anak ko at sa nanay at mga
kapatid ko,” she said.
Jennifer earns about 400,000 yen
(P160,000) a month. She sends
home 100,000 yen a month, and
allots 130,000 yen for her and her
daughter’s expenses in Tokyo,
including 70,000 yen for rent of a 50
sqm, one-bedroom flat at the Shimizu
Mansions, a five-story building
where all occupants are Filipinos.
Jennifer, the seventh in a brood
of 10, started working overseas in
1985 after her father, Eladio, was
diagnosed with colon cancer.
To help pay for her father’s
chemotherapy, she dropped out of
high school and joined a cultural
group that toured Japanese provinces.
But two years later, her father died.
“Naka-kontrata pa ako nuong
namatay si tatay. Nag-penalty ako
ng 20 kalapad [200,000 yen] para
makauwi lang.’’
After burying her father, she tried
other jobs.
“Unang trabaho ko sa Tokyo ay
sa McDo. Tapos nagpalipat-lipat
na ako – pati pagpa-pack ng gulay
sa Tsukiji [Tokyo metropolitan
central wholesale market] at later on
pagtatanggal ng balahibo ng manok
sa Osaka [city] pinasok ko. Sa dami
ng napasukan kong trabaho dito sa
Japan, nakalimutan ko na yung iba.’’
Jennifer has read or heard of
many sob stories of overseas foreign
workers. But she says she’s one of
the lucky ones.
“Mababait ang mga nagiging
amo ko dito, basta matiyaga ka
at kumporme sila sa trabaho mo
maganda ang pakisama nila sa ’yo.
Dito kasi basta masipag ka, hindi ka
magugutom. Y’ung boss nga namin
sa Ueno [Casablanca Fantasy bar],
hinahatid pa kami pauwi dahil wala
ng train ng alas tres ng umaga.”
She dreams of one day owning her
own business in the Philippines. To
achieve that, she’s even willing to get
an additional job.
“Common sa mga Pilipino dito
ang maraming trabaho dahil sa taas
ng cost of living – ang mahal ng
bilihin. At saka madali makakuha ng
trabaho ang mga kababayan natin
kasi, usually, gusto ng mga employer
ang mga Pilipino dahil masisipag,
maabilidad at mabibilis kumilos.”
It may be hard to imagine but
Jennifer gets some free time, which
she wisely spends by taking her
daughter out.
Lately she also uses that time
to hunt for bargains that will be
sent home to her sons, mother,
and brothers and sisters and their
children.
She may not – again – be home
this Christmas, but her family will
definitely feel her presence.
Woman wins priest sex case
A woman who was sexually
abused by seven Roman
Catholic priests and had a
baby by one of them received
a US$500,000 settlement from
America’s largest archdiocese.
Rita Milla, now 46, first filed her
case in 1984, claiming she was
abused as a teenager by priests
in the Los Angeles area.
A state court found in 2003
that Valentine Tugade fathered
Milla’s daughter, now 25. Another
priest, Filipino Santiago Tamayo,
admitted he had sex with Milla
and publicly apologised years
before his death in 1999.
The whereabouts of the
remaining priests were unclear.
Milla has maintained that she
was molested by Tamayo at a
church in Carson when she was
16. After she turned 18, she said
she had sex with Tamayo and
he introduced her to six other
priests.
world
filipino globe
December 2007
15
Norway affirms preference for RP seamen
Norwegian shipping companies
prefer Filipino seafarers and
have remained confident about
the quality of Cebuano maritime
students and professionals, a
Norwegian maritime trainer said.
“We give high priority to Filipino
seafarers on board Norwegianowned, controlled, managed, or
operated vessels,” Odd Magne
Skei (right), director of the
Norwegian training Center said.
“Filipinos are known in the
industry to be highly skilled
professionals and for their loyalty.
That’s why we need them,” he said,
NTC is the operating arm of the
Norwegian Maritime Foundation
PREMIUM 24 x 14 x 14
of the Philippines,
which recently
signed a deal
for an exclusive
partnership with
the University of
Cebu-Lapulapu
and Mandaue
campus to train local cadets for
high quality ship officers.
UC-LM will supply the manpower
requirement of its partner, the
Norwegian Shipowners Association
by providing full scholarship
grants to 300 nautical or marine
engineering students.
The training program, which will
begin in June next year, allows UC-
JUMBO BOX 24 x 24 x 30
LM maritime students to avail of
full scholarships, including tuition,
board and lodging, and book
allowances.
It also allows scholars to take
advantage of 10 months to 12
months shipboard training aboard
interocean NSA vessels during
which they will get a monthly
allowance of US$450 and job
opportunities on board Norwegiancontrolled vessels.
Deck cadets Khirsty Mae Acre
and Jose Mari Geraldo, NSA
scholars, said the program has
strengthened their commitment
to meet the stringent demands of
Norwegian shipowners.
MILLENNIUM 24 x 18 x 20
Foreign migrant groups and labor leaders say the new wage policy is
aimed at protecting local jobs in the British care home industry.
Higher wage
bad news for
Pinoy carers
in Britain
Work permits threatened as employers
are unable to afford new minimum pay
Matt Saban in London
A new policy on hourly wage is
threatening thousands of Filipino
care workers in Britain, media
reports say.
In Wales, where hundreds of
Filipinos work in care homes, many
have been told to leave before
Christmas after being denied work
permits.
The deportations stem from a
new wage policy setting the hourly
minimum at £7.02 (P590), which
employers must pay staff to gain
work permits.
But the care homes say they cannot
afford to pay that much – so families
would have to leave Wales and return
to the Philippines.
Many Filipinos have moved to
Wales to work as senior care workers
in homes looking after elderly and
vulnerable people.
Lorina Mison, a worker in a care
home in Rhyl, Denbighshire, is due
to fly back to the Philippines on
Sunday.
A single mother who supports her
two children in the Philippines, she
told the BBC she felt hopeless. “I
feel homeless – I have nothing,” she
said. “I didn’t save anything because
I support my kids back home to give
them all the best and to send them to
a good school.”
BY THE NUMBERS
20,000
Estimated number of senior carers affected
by the new minimum wage policy
Father Charles Ramsey, a Catholic
priest in Rhyl, said three Filipino
families in his congregation would
have to leave before Christmas, with
11 others due to go before Easter.
It is believed that the Home Office
ruling over work permits is designed
to protect employment opportunities
for UK resident workers .
It is estimated that more than
20,000 senior care workers in the UK
are affected.
Gemma Domingo, a nurse with
over 20 years’ experience has to
leave in January. She fears her job
prospects in the Philippines are
bleak. “I’m going to be 50 soon,”
she said. “In the Philippines they
like new graduates and younger
generation to take jobs ... going back,
to me, is frustrating, disgusting and
we don’t know what to do to get
income.”
For care home operators, however,
its a question of commercial
viability.
• Free cable charge of remittance
transaction for every box
• Packed-in clients will get a HK$20 rebate
for Jumbo and HK$10 for Millennium
• Clients picking up their empty box will get
a rebate of HK$10 for Jumbo and HK$5
for Millennium
Hotline No. 2877 4395 / 2877 4391
SMS No. 6933 1687 / 6704 0196
16
world
filipino globe
December 2007
Stronger Saudi labor relations emerge
Employers more aware of workers’ rights in wake of new policy and information campaign, says POLO
Chito Manuel in Jeddah
Saudi employers are now more likely
to settle than fight any labor case filed
against them in court in a “momentum of positive change”, labor attaché
Resty dela Fuente said.
“I believe employers now have
more respect for workers’ rights,”
dela Fuente told Filipino Globe in an
interview from Riyadh.
He said the thrust of the Philippine
Overseas Labor Office in Riyadh is to
not at once file a case but educate the
workers and strengthen the negotiating team of his office.
The change in the attitudes of employers has partly to do with the
implementation of the New Saudi
Labor Law and a campaign in the
Arab media for fair treatment of the
Kingdom’s guest workers.
Also, dela Fuente noted the high
level of professionalism of people in
the Saudi labor office.
Majority of the employers are coop-
BY THE NUMBERS
400
Saudi agency representatives that support
Manila’s new policy on household workers
erative in settling disputes and labor
problems with their workers, he said.
“Of course there still are cases of
abuse and non-payment of salaries
but on the whole, the situation is
much better than, say two or three
years ago,” dela Fuente said.
He said he was surprised there was
not a surge of runaway housemaids
during the last Ramadan. “The problem of runaways has been with us
through the years. But this time, wala.
This was something unusual and we
would like to equate this to the policy
of quality workers’ education.”
On the issue of maids running
Catching up with a Filipina and friend in Brunei
Therese Necio-Ortega
I
t’s the eternal question, and
one that often draws cynical
answers. But if you put it to
Anyati, you get a candid, matter-offact reply.
So here it is, in three points:
• Education is not learned in the
classroom. You learn it from life
and even the streets.
• Giving is only meaningful if
you don’t expect anything in return.
• Do things not just for the money
but for the sheer pleasure of doing
them.
The question later.
I hadn’t seen Anyati for
the longest time, so when the
opportunity to spend a few days in
Brunei presented itself, I jumped at
the chance.
It was a trip of many firsts.
Brunei was virgin territory for
me. I got to spend quality time with
my mother, home on a holiday from
New York, who traveled farthest
from her side of the world for the
first time. There was the welcome
whiff of pure air in a green and
pleasant land. And then there was
Anyati’s extended family, whom I
met for the first time.
Anyati Abdullah Orcullo is
married to a prominent Bruneian
businessman, Haji Basar. Moving
there in 1995, she stitched two
cultures seamlessly together to
create a harmonious and delightful
home for her 11 stepchildren and
adopted six-year-old daughter
Amali (translation: my hope and my
dream).
Anyati’s journey to a new life in
the sultanate happened two years
after she graduated from university
in 1993.
She had taught English at the
Mindanao Western State University.
At the time, she was managing
Anyati, with my
mother Dolores,
Melissa Ang and
yours truly.
For me, it was a
trip of many firsts
When the opportunity to spend a
few days in Brunei presented itself,
I jumped at the chance
student teachers and getting
immersed in strategy to teach
English as a second language. When
she married Haji Basar in 1994,
she not only moved to Brunei,
she embraced it – history, culture,
religion, food and all.
While she supplied the
willingness, much of that was the
work of her husband. She learned
about the historical roots of Old
Malay and the Malay Islamic
monarchy, its rituals and daily
life. It helped that while Brunei
is a devoutly Muslim country, it
practises respectful religious and
social tolerance. None of Anyati’s
new circumstances got in the way
of her Filipino upbringing, and vice
versa.
Spontaneous, fun-loving, creative
and business-minded, she dabbled
in businesses that her husband had
set up.
Among the many early
partnerships were a laundry and
dry-cleaning service and private
power distribution.
In 2002, she started a fashion
business. The idea to create
Filipino-Brunei-inspired wedding
and evening gowns was broached
by a friend, the former managing
director of the Empire Hotel and
Country Club, a six-star hotel, in
Jerudong Park.
Anyati developed the idea
into a full-blown fashion show.
Attendance was strictly by
invitation, but even then, there was
a long list of people wishing to get
on.
She took the unprecedented step
of teaching young lovely ladies the
concept of a fashion show, unheard
of in Brunei at the time.
The show was successful, with
numerous orders for her evening
gowns.
It was also a confidence-building
exercise for her 10 models (six
Bruneians and four Filipinos). A
foray into handicraft was not far
behind.
After a three-month stint to learn
baking and cooking in Manila,
Anyati came back with a new way
to fill friends and family. Baking
and cooking for family and friends
eventually became baking and
cooking for the royal family and the
diplomatic circle.
And ... oops, the question: What’s
your philosophy in life?
away from their sponsors, he said:
“We could only impose preventive
measures and the quality selection of
HSWs being deployed would mitigate
the problem.”
Dela Fuente, however, made it clear
that while they use dialogue and negotiation, they are also prepared to
pursue cases in labor courts.
POLO Riyadh is to meet with 400
representatives of local recruitment
agencies that support Manila’s new
policy on household service workers.
Pinays press
Malaysia
sex slavery
charges
Three Filipino women allegedly made
to work at a sex den in Malaysia have
filed charges of illegal recruitment
and trafficking against their recruiter.
In documents filed with the Department of Justice, the complainants said
they were recruited by an unnamed
Filipina who claimed to have connections with Malaysian immigration
authorities.
They were offered jobs as waitresses and were deployed without going
through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.
They ended up
working as sex
slaves and held in
safehouses against
their will, they said
in their complaint.
Vice President
and
Presidential
Adviser on Overseas Filipino Workers Noli De Castro
(above) accompanied the three women in filing the charges.
More than 40 other Filipinas are
trapped in the same sex den and more
are being recruited, the complainants
said.
De Castro renewed his warning to
would-be OFWs to go through the
legal process of recruitment through
the Overseas Welfare Workers Administration and POEA.
He said only by using official and
legal channels can they be assured of
protection against unscrupulous individuals
Earlier, De Castro accompanied
a group of workers illegally sent to
Mauritius in filing charges against
their recruiters and employers.
filipino globe
December 2007 17
18
lingkod-bayan
filipino globe
KNOW YOUR NEW PASSPORT
CONSULAR FEES AND CHARGES
Passport services
New/renewal 32 pages
$425 New/renewal 64 pages
Replacement of lost passport 32 pages
Replacement of lost passport 64 pages
Issuance of travel document
Amendment of passport entries
Visa services
Single entry (3 months) $212.50
Multiple Entry (3 months) $425
Special investors resident visa
Special resident retiree’s visa
Affidavit of support/consent
Acknowledgment of instruments (deeds, powers of attorney)
Authentication of documents
Jurat (sworn statements, letters)
Original Seen
Seen and noted
Contracts (authentication and verification)
Issuance of certified true copy of document
Taking of deposition
Report/registration of marriage/birth/death
Any other certification
$510
$765
$1,190
$255
$170
$212.50
$212.50
$212.50
$212.50
$212.50
$212.50
$297.50
$212.50
$212.50
$212.50
$212.50
SSS CONTRIBUTION SCHEDULE
Salary
bracket
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Compensation
range
(pesos)
4,750 – 5,249.99 5,250 – 5,749.99 5,750 – 6,249.99
6,250 – 6,749.99 6,750 – 7,249.99 7,250 – 7,749.99
7,750 – 8,249.99
8,250 – 8,749.99
8,750 – 9,249.99
9,250 – 9,749.99
9,750 – 10,249.99
10,250 – 10,749.99
10,750 – 11,249.99
11,250 – 11,749.99
11,750 – 12,249.99
12,250 – 12,749.99
12,750 – 13,249.99
13,250 – 13,749.99
13,750 – 14,249.99
14,250 – 14,749.99
14,750 and over
Comparative schedule
Before Now
Before
Now
Monthly
salary
credit
(pesos)
5,000
5,500
6,000
6,500
7,000
7,500
8,000
8,500
9,000
9,500
10,000
10,500
11,000
11,500
12,000
12,500
13,000
13,500
14,000
14,500
15,000
Before
Now
470
520
705
780
940
1,040
517
572
752
832
987
1,092
564
624
799
884
1,034 1,144
611
676
846
936
1,081 1,196
658
728
893
988
1,128 1,248
Flexi Fund
What is a machine-readable
passport (MRP)?
It is a passport where the personal
details of the bearer is printed in
such a way that it can be read by
the naked eye and at the same
time, it contains a “machine
readable zone” containing the
personal data of the passport
holder that can be read by a
machine or computer.
Multiple Entry (6 months) $680
Multiple entry (1 year)
$1,020
$3,400
$3,400
Notarial services
All OFW members
Contributions must not be less than P200 a month
December 2007
New
monthly
contributions
(pesos)
520
572
624
676
728
780
832
884
936
988
1,040
1,092
1,144
1,196
1,248
1,300
1,352
1,404
1,456
1,508
1,560
PHILIPPINE
CONSULATE
14/F UNITED CENTRE, 95
QUEENSWAY, ADMIRALTY
Hotlines: 9155 4023 (Consular), 608
08323 (Labor), 6345 9324 (OWWA),
Trunkline: 2823 8501 Fax: 2866 9885
The Consulate is open from 9 am
to 4 pm, Sundays to Thursdays,
except during the following
holidays:
1 July Hong Kong SAR
Establishment Day
26 September Chinese
Mid-Autumn Festival
1 October China National Day
19 October Chung Yeung
Festival
1-2 November All Saints’
and All Souls’ Day
30 November Bonifacio Day
22 December Chinese Winter
Solstice Festival
24-25 December Christmas Day
30 December Rizal Day
Note:
Other holidays may be declared
by the Philippine government
STATUTORY
HOLIDAYS
Before
Now
1,175
1,222
1,269
1,316
1,363
1,410
1,300
1,352
1,404
1,456
1,508
1,560
• The first day of January
• Lunar New Year’s Day
• The second day of Lunar New
Year
• The third day of Lunar New Year
• Ching Ming Festival
• The first day of May
• Tuen Ng Festival
• The day following the Chinese
Mid-Autumn Festival
• Chung Yeung Festival
• Chinese Winter Solstice Festival
or Christmas Day (at the option of
the employer)
• The first day of July
• The first day of October
If an employer needs the services of a
worker during a statutory holiday, the
employer has to give the worker prior
notice of not less than 48 hours and an
alternative holiday within 60 days of the
statutory holiday.
Why did the Philippines shift to
the MRP?
We shifted to MRP to comply
with international standards set
by the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO), which
requires all countries to issue only
machine-readable passports not
later than 01 April 2010.
from any means of photo or data
substitution.
How long is the validity of the
MRP?
Like the green passport, the new
MRP has a validity period of five
years.
What is the fee for the MRP?
The Philippine MRP will still cost
HK$425.
What are the requirements to
apply for the MRP?
The requirements to apply for
the MRP – whether it is a new
application, a renewal or a
replacement for a lost passport
– remain the same except for the
following:
What are the benefits of the
MRP?
The MRP complies with
international standards. It provides
basic safety and security of the
Philippine passport by minimising,
if not eradicating, instances of
tampering of the personal details
of the passport holder (photo/
data-substitution). As such, the
MRP also acts as a deterrent to
international crime and terrorism.
• Photos – submit three passportsize (4.5x3.5cm) photos with royal
blue (instead of the customary
white background) matte
background
• Personal appearance of the
applicant.
What are the features of the
Philippine MRP and how does it
differ from the current Philippine
passport?
The Philippine MRP has the
following features:
• It has a maroon cover (the current
Philippine passport has a green
cover);
• It has 44 pages (the green
passport has either 32 pages or 64
pages);
• The text in the data page is
electronically printed (the data in
the green passport is manually
scripted); and
• The photo is printed on the data
page (in the green passport, the
photo is pasted on the data page).
Step 1: Processing. Go to the
Processing Window at Window
10. Submit the following a duly
accomplished application form; ·
old passport; photocopy of the data
page of the passport and the page
where the visa is stamped; photos
with royal blue background (please
see attached specifications);
original and photocopy of the
applicant’s Hong Kong ID; other
supporting documents.
Step 2: Payment. Go the Cashier
and pay HK$425.00.
Step 3: Encoding. Go the
Encoding waiting area and wait for
your name to be called.
Step 4: Releasing and cancelling
of old passport. On the release
date, go to the Releasing Window
and present your old passport and
receipt. For any further inquiries
please call 2823-8501.
The new Philippine MRP also
has other security features that
render it tamper-proof and immune
What are the steps to apply for
the MRP?
There are four steps to apply for
the MRP:
CONCERT IN THE PARK
The Philippine Consulate General has had another successful staging
of Concert in the Park, which drew thousands to the Hong Kong Cultural
Centre Piazza in Tsim Sha Tsui.
The free concert was co-organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services
Department of Hong Kong and the Philippine Consulate General in
cooperation with the Hong Kong Musicians Union.
The program showcased Colin Aitchison and the China Coast Jazzmen,
Age of Play, Ice Box, Tony Carpio’s Big Band, Brown Sugar Band with
Paul Sapiera and Bert Amparado HKMU Latin Band.
This year’s event was sponsored by Barkadahan sa SmarTone,
Philippine Products Store, Jollibee Hong Kong, A-Freight (Asia Pacific)
Ltd, and Mr and Mrs Rubin Benny Dollano.
Free registration
Orders being accepted
Visit us at Filipino Globe
Center, Shop 75 B&C
ground floor, City Garden
Shopping Arcade
233 Electric Road, North Point
Tel: 2982 0221
filipino globe center, city garden, north point
editorial & community
filipino globe
focus
December 2007
19
Never too late to save our planet Despite all the stories,
PRESSBOX
Pinoy suicides are
few and far between
comment
I
FT
Ocampo
n these our days of debilitating
national discontent, now comes
the direst forecast from the
United Nations Inter-governmental
Panel on Climate Change which
shared the Nobel Peace Prize with
former United States Vice President
Al Gore this year.
In its latest and admittedly most
authoritative report, the panel said
global warming is “unequivocal
and carbon dioxide already in the
atmosphere commits the world to an
eventual rise in sea levels of up to
4-6 feet” by the year 2020.
That is about a dozen years from
now.
This means that if global warming
is not halted in time – and it might
already be too late – “it will spread
hunger and disease, put further stress
on water resources, cause fierce
storms and more frequent droughts,
and could drive up to 70 per cent
of plant and animal species to
extinction”.
Offhand, one may be led to believe
the above prognosis was lifted from
the Book of Revelation. But almost
the whole world is now painfully
aware of the impact of climate
change on the planet.
Riding on the crest of this
doomsday scenario, a book entitled
The World Without Us rolled off
the press recently. In it, the author,
a former journalist, proposes a
worldwide covenant “to limit each
human couple to only one child”.
According to his calculations, the
human population could stabilise at
1.6 billion by the end of this century.
At the moment, the earth’s
population is roughly estimated at
6.2 billion – and counting.
The author has relented somewhat.
Before his change of heart, he
was intrigued with the thought of
“whisking people off in spaceships or
killing them with a virus that spares
the rest of the biosphere’’.
And hear this: there is now
Mother Nature
exists only for
man’s benefits
and creature
comforts and
therefore must
be dominated and
tamed in all its
moods
reportedly a group calling itself
the Voluntary Human Extinction
Movement with its own website, too.
I recall a small group of savants
who met years ago to discuss – in
levity, perhaps – the then popular
theory of reincarnation. After
voicing their choices, they turned
to the last group member who had
remained quiet all this time, and
waited patiently for his reply. Silence
reigned in the room when he said,
softly and seriously: “I should like to
come back as an oak tree.”
I thought then, as I do so now, that
he was the wisest of them all.
There was a time when Nature
was preceded by the tender word
Mother. In our physical world, God
has ordained Mother Nature as the
common law to govern His creations.
It has worked perfectly well
according to the divine purpose
all these past millennia (Earth is
estimated to be more than five billion
years old) until modern man became
smugly prideful and arrogant with his
mind-boggling discoveries in globegirding information technologies
and amazing advances in outer space
explorations.
Henry Ford never dreamed how
far into the future his horseless
carriage would travel in less than
a century. Glitzy vehicles of all
makes and shapes and sizes have
emerged off the assembly lines and
hit the roads yearly, spewing toxic
carbon dioxide every millisecond
that saturate and choke our healthy
and life-giving atmosphere. Mother
Nature exists only for man’s benefits
and creature comforts and therefore
must be dominated and tamed in all
its moods.
In the process, man has taken the
divine law in his own hands.
A renowned natural philosopher
once observed that trees are “ a noble
race”.
If global warming has truly become
an apocalyptic scenario hovering
over Planet Earth, it might yet be this
noble race – not ignoble man – that
shall inherit eternity.
I
t gladdens this aging heart to know
that Taguig City, where I have
resided for quite some time, has
been adjudged as one of the most
conducive places for children in the
National Capital Region.
At present, the city has some
130 Day Care Centers that service
at least 100,000 children with
free vaccinations and vitamin
supplementations.
The Taguig High School and
Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Taguig
will soon be complemented by a
joint venture the city contracted with
Everest School, an international
Catholic school in Fort Bonifacio, to
build another institution.
Children playing soldiers and real-life roles
Extreme poverty is driving Filipino
children to the insurgency and
secessionist movements that are
sowing death and destruction in
the country, according to a Unicefcommissioned study released last
week.
Fear of the military and a lack of
education opportunities and other
social services are also pushing
children to join the communist New
People’s Army and the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front, the study said.
It turns out, according to the
Unicef-sponsored study, that
guerrilla life has begun to attract
them as well. But we have questions
about the study.
Its conclusion runs counter to
findings of the Department of Social
OTHERVOICES
what they say
The
Manila
Times
Welfare and Development, the
Armed Forces of the Philippines
and media reports. A Department
of Labor study has described active
recruitment of children by the NPA,
the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf Group.
It cited claims by the NPA
and the MILF that their recruits
performed mostly non-combat
roles, but findings have shown
that the communist rebels and the
Abu terrorists use minors on the
battlefield. We find it strange that
the report would call the enlistment
of children “volunteerism”. This is
“premised on the credibility these
groups have in the communities,
which seems to be genuine and does
not merely derive from sheer military
control,” the study said.
While we concede “push” factors
like poverty and the search for
adventure as reasons for enlistment,
active recruitment by the insurgents
cannot be discounted. Armand
Alamon, a consultant with Ibon
Foundation, has said that the NPA
and the MILF used child recruits,
or youths younger than 18 in noncombat roles.
T
he recent tragedy in Hong
Kong of a mainland mother
who jumped to her death
after hurling her two young children
from the 24th floor of their tenement
building highlights the miserable
lives of some people existing on the
margins of this prosperous Chinese
city. It gave most people in the
territory pause, setting off a spate
of recriminations and government
initiatives to try to cope with this
growing problem.
At about the same time, we had
our own suicide tragedy when a
12-year-old Davao girl hanged
herself. Marianet Amper came from
a destitute family of seven children
subsisting on the earnings of a father
who did occasional construction
work.
Apparently a sensitive child, she
kept a diary in which she recorded
aspects of her joyless existence,
words reflecting a common theme
among millions of Filipinos who live
in utter poverty.
According to the World Bank,
14.8 million Filipinos live on less
than US$1 a day, while 43 million
live on less than US$2. The Social
Weather Station in Manila has given
an estimate of 3.4 million households
experiencing what’s known as
“involuntary hunger” during three
months in early 2007.
PINOYDIMSUM
observations
Isabel T
Escoda
suicide was obviously written by the
man who raped and murdered her.”
It’s a striking thought, and quite
plausible. And if one thinks of the
poorest African countries and places
like Bangladesh and India where
one doesn’t hear of high suicide
rates, it seems ironic that the highest
numbers of suicides are in the
Scandinavian countries and Japan,
and probably also Hong Kong – all
of them prosperous entities.
The Hong Kong youngsters
who’ve been killing themselves
lately are known victims of stress
from family and school, not poverty.
The matter of suicide brings to
mind a piece I once wrote for a
Manila newspaper titled “Suicide,
Filipino style” in which I said that
Pinoys, as a rule, do not commit
suicide. I dissected the murky case
of Michael de Guzman, who worked
for the failed Canadian mining
company Bre-X in Indonesia. De
It’s ironic that the highest numbers
of suicides are in Scandinavia and
Japan, and probably also Hong Kong
– all of them prosperous entities
Besides hunger, deep despondency
and sheer despair obviously drove
Marianet to suicide. A suicide
note was found, besides her diary,
poignant testimonies to her life
of deprivation. There was also
an unmailed letter written to a
TV program, “Wish Ko Lang,”
expressing a desire to finish her
schooling, acquire a bicycle and new
shoes, and for her parents to find
jobs.
Marianet had hanged herself after
learning that her father could not
provide P100 which she needed
for a school project. The heartwrenching episode made Filipinos
and the media zero in on the present
administration’s inability to tackle
poverty in the country.
Some drew conclusions that
Filipinos might soon match the
high suicide rates as those of the
Japanese and Scandinavians. But
one person reacted to the column
of a well-known analyst. Writing
to commentator Antonio Abaya,
a certain R. Stager posited the
following theory: “There’s no pattern
or correlation between poverty
and suicide, or at least half the
world’s population would vanish.
I specifically refer to the ‘suicide’
of 12-year-old Marianet. The note
giving poverty as the reason for her
Guzman, who had a family in Manila
and other wives and children in
Indonesia, reportedly jumped from a
helicopter into the Indonesian jungles
when the company was exposed as
fraudulent. Some years later, one of
his wives reported receiving a call
from him and a large deposit into her
bank account.
I had also written about Jaime
Ongpin, one of Cory Aquino’s
cabinet members, who shot himself,
and Homero Veloso, a Cebuano
intellectual who slit his wrists and
bled to death in his bathtub back in
the 1950s.
My point was that Pinoy suicides
are few and far between.
Records on the numbers of
female migrant workers committing
suicide due to derangement or
unbearable conditions in the Middle
East and here in Hong Kong have
been documented. But they don’t
match the suicide rates in the rest
of the world – underdeveloped and
otherwise.
One sidebar to Marianet’s death
was the report that certain church
authorities remain rooted in the
antiquated edict refusing Christian
burials for persons who commit
suicide. Such an unChristian
attitude deserves the contempt of all
civilised Filipinos.
20
forum
filipino globe
TINGINNAMIN
December 2007
Pangungulila ng ama
sa anak tuwing Pasko
P
It’s small change, but it’s good for a start
At last, here’s something to sink our
teeth into.
Strip out the math and the resulting
number, we find that the change in
the conversion rate for the US$25
OWWA membership fee is better
than a broadly defined program to
ease the burden of a surging peso on
OFWs.
Here’s how it works: instead of
paying at the rate of P51 to US$1, we
will pay at P42 to US$1, starting next
month.
We save P225 on the deal, not a
lot of money but plenty of peace of
mind. That is because this small step
could lead to reductions in other fees
that will make their collective effect
significant enough.
Never mind that at this time,
the reduction is actually just an
adjustment in the exchange rate to
bring it into line with the market.
What is worth noting is that, as
a result of this, we now have the
momentum to push for reforms in the
way that fees are levied and collected
by the government.
Senate President Manny Villar
sees it as a chance to examine the
“propriety and rationality” of certain
fees.
And he wants an accounting of
“excessive fees” imposed on OFWs.
Few will argue with him on that
point. The POEA and OWWA have
both complied with his request for an
explanation.
And while we wait for these
initiatives to show results, we could
use immediate relief such as this
small change in the conversion rate.
SULATLETTERS
I doubt if we have the discipline
and resources to replicate
Singapore’s Central Provident
Fund with regards to plans to set
up a fund to stabilise the pesodollar exchange rate.
I wonder how many of us
would like to contribute a
significant sum of money as
an obligation to keep the fund
afloat.
A voluntary scheme might
work for us, but mandatory
contributions are just not
appealing.
Lourdes Semana
Hong Kong
It would be good to hear
the POEA taking over from
recruitment agencies.
Instead, it assured them
that there is no such plan and
that the present practice of
processing applications from
employers directly is limited to
its role in bilateral agreements.
Think of the results if indeed
the POEA was to compete with
agencies. The fraudulent ones
would be the first to go.
Santos Pareno
Manila
Hindi na tayo nagtanda. Itong
scam sa e-tickets ay matagal
nang nabunyag at ganunpaman,
patuloy ang mga paalala ng mga
awtoridad tungkol dito.
Dapat sana natigil na ang
may pakana nito, ngunit patuloy
ang kanilang pambibiktima
dahil na rin sa marami ang
nagpapabiktima.
Tulad na lamang ng nangyari
sa Singapore kung saan gamit
ng sindikato ang mga pekeng
tickets para magpalusot ng tao.
Marami pa rin sa atin ang
nahuhulog sa bitag dahil ayaw
nating magtanda.
Name and address
supplied
Dapat lang na panatilihin ang
ban sa Nigeria at Lebanon.
Kahit may palatandaan na safe
na ang OFWs doon, hindi ito
patunay na walang karahasang
mangyayari sa hindi kalaunan.
Ingat tayo.
Name and address
supplied
ag nag-uusap kami
sa telepono ng aking
anak na si Gat, isang
registered nurse sa California,
ay nararamdaman namin ang
pangungulila sa isa’t isa.
Naikuwento niyang pag
sumasapit ang Pasko at Bagong
Taon ay lungkot na lungkot
siya.Kung minsa’y gusto
pa niyang nasa ospital na
pinagtratrabahuhan upang lumipas
ang lungkot na dinaranas.
Lumaki ang aking anak sa piling
na malaking pamilya ng aking
kabyak at pamilya ko.
Pag may “reunion” ang pamilya
ni Misis sa Cabiao,Nueva Ecija ay
tunay na masayang-masaya ang
angkan.
May kanya-kanyang toka
ng putaheng inihahanda bawat
pamilya ng magkakapatid pati na
ang inuming pamatid-uhaw o aqua
de pataranta.
May programa at palaro bukod
sa premyo na ipinagkakaloob
sa magwawaging mga bata na
kalahok. Naroroon ang pagkakaisa
at pag-iisa ng pamilya tuwing
Pasko.Hindi lamang sa handa at
palitan ng regalo sumasaya ang
lahat kundi sa pagdadaop-palad at
pagyayakapan ng magkakadugo.
Kaya’t ang isang bahagi ng
angkan na nagtrabaho sa ibang
bansa ay tunay na makararanas ng
labis ng lungkot at pangungulila
ITAASMO
kabayan
Teo
Antonio
namumuno kundi unahin ang
sariling kapakanan. Pabayaan ang
hampas-lupang kababayang walang
inaasahan kundi ang salaping
ipagkakaloob tuwing eleksyon.
Iyong ang bayang kinagisnan,
bayang nilisan na kung bakit pilit
mang limutin ay naroroon ang
masayang alaalang humubog sa
musmos na isipan.
Naroroon ang mapagamahal na
magulang, kamag-anak, kaibigan,
kababata.
Unti-unting binubura ng
nakasisilaw na kinang ng limpaklimpak na dolyar na noo’y wala sa
isipang mararating ang pangarap.
Ang mamahaling
damit,gamit,sapatos, kotse at
magarang bahay na mahirap
maabot sa maikling panahon sa
sariling bayan.
Pero may kapalit ang bawat
pag-unlad ng sarili kahit ito’y
materyal(o mas mahalaga ang pagunlad ng pananaw sa buhay.)
Dumarating ang sandali ng
Tuwing Pasko, alalahanin natin ang
mga lumisang anak ng bayan upang
maghanap ng masagana at maunlad
na kinabukasan
pag sumasapit ang Pasko at
Bagong Taon sa banyagang lupa.
Iba ang kulturang kinagisnan ng
mga Filipino sa kulturang kanilang
dinatnang bansa.Muli’t muling
pumupukaw sa kanilang puso’t isip
ang kinagisnang kaugalian nasaan
man panig sila ng mundo.
Ang usapan nga ng mga
nagtratrabaho sa ibang bansa
ay bakit masarap ang adobo at
sinigang ni Nanay, ang karekare ni Lola, ang puto’t dinuguan
ni Tita, ang bibingka at putobumbong ng Nanang Ebeng, ang
suman, kutsinta at halaya ng Lola
Nena.
Iba’t ibang makulay na alaala ng
kamusmusan sa pinanggalingang
bayan. Isang bayang gusgusin at
lugmok noon na nilisan upang
humanap ng pagbabago at
kaunlaran.
Isang bayang kung minsa’y
tinatadtad ng tuligsa at alipusta
kung bakit hindi ito umuunlad
at sumasagana tulad ng bansang
napuntahan. Isang bayang ang
mga naninirahan ay ayaw yatang
umusad at gumalaw upang maabot
ang naiibang kapalaran. Isang
bayang walang ipinagbago ang
pangungulila at matinding lungkot
sa paggunita at pag-alaala sa mga
minamahal at nagmamahal sa
tinubuang lupa.
Gayunman, tuwing Pasko,
alalahanin natin ang mga lumisang
anak ng bayan upang maghanap
ng masagana at maunlad na
kinabukasan.
Hindi nila kasalanan na
pinagkaitan sila ng dapat nilang
matamasa sa sariling lupa.Damahin
natin ang kanilang kalungkutan at
pangungulila.
Sa mga naiwan sa sariling
bayan,ipagdiwang natin tuwing
Pasko ang kahulugan ng handog
na Sanggol ng Lumikha upang
maging Tagapagligtas at umiral
ang Kapayapaan.
Dakilain natin ang maraming
lumilisang kababayan, dahil
naghahanap sila ng katubusan
sa patong-patong na hirap at
pagdurusa ng maraming kababayan
sa dagat ng walang katapusang
pag-asa laban sa pag-asa.
Sana’y sumaating lahat ang
makabuluhang Pasko na lilipol sa
mga mapagsamantala sa yaman
ng bansa at nagpapahirap sa mga
mamamayan nito.
PUBLISHER Reggie Amigo Executive EDITOR Rex Aguado PUBLISHING CONSULTANT Philip Evardone ADVISERs Therese Necio-Ortega, Prof Dr Maurice Teo
CORRespondents Eddie Alinea (Manila), Celeste Terrenal (Manila), Terrie Fucanan (Manila), Chito Manuel (Jeddah). Rick Sumallo (New Jersey), Loi Liwanag (Los Angeles)
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Bernie Domantay, AccessPoint (Philippines) Josephine Miranda (Philippines), TJ Badon-Doble (Philippines), Bob Waterfield (Hong Kong)
EDITORIAL BOARD Reggie Amigo, Rex Aguado, Philip Evardone, Prof Dr Maurice Teo CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Beting Laygo Dolor, Teo Antonio, Chito Manuel, Danny Vibas, Dante Vino
Filipino Globe is published once a month by Apex Services (HK) Ltd, Suite 1905, Lippo Centre Tower 2, Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong, telephone (852) 2918 8248, email info@filglobe.com. No part of this publication
may be reproduced without the written permission of the publishers. Printed by Premier Printing Group, Yuen Long, New Terrories, Hong Kong
community
filipino globe
December 2007
21
An unlikely pilgrimage turns into a touching experience
C
hina is quite an unlikely
place to go on a pilgrimage.
Most often, we associate
pilgrimages with countries like Italy,
Spain or the Philippines. However,
during our first few months of stay
here, I had the splendid chance
to visit the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Catholic Church and Our Lady of
Lourdes Marian Shrine in Hou Sang
Yu Village, Men Tou Gou district,
southwest of Beijing.
On our way to Men Tou Gou,
we marveled at the beauty of the
countryside as we traveled through
winding roads reminiscent of a trip
to Baguio. Breathtaking sites of
apple, peach and orange orchards and
traditional Chinese houses nestled in
the valleys made for a truly relaxing
two-hour journey.
CHINAHAND
letter from beijing
Doris
Novicio
Upon arrival, we walked uphill to
the quaint and peaceful community
of Hou San Yu Village. The
Sacred Heart of Jesus Church lies
imposingly amidst courtyard houses
while the Marian Shrine rests on a
mountain behind the church.
We were told that the 200 or so
villagers are all Catholics and daily
masses are celebrated at 5:30 pm and
4:30 pm. Aside from daily masses,
the more pious residents also find
time to pray the rosary in the Our
Lady of Lourdes Marian Shrine
anytime during the day.
The village became a Catholic
community as early as the Yuan
Dynasty (1334) through foreign
missionaries who provided medical
missions and preached the gospel.
The number of Catholics increased
in 1543 during the Ming Dynasty and
it was then that a large church was
built. Around 1896, during the reign
of Emperor Guang Xu, the number
of Catholics continued to increase
and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church
was likewise expanded.
It is also believed that during
the Boxer Rebellion, there were
sightings of “people in white robes
and horses” who protected the
village and the people who took
refuge inside the church. Although
the church was ruined during the
Cultural Revolution, the advent of
new religious policies in 1987 paved
the way for the rebuilding of the
church in 1988.
The Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine
behind the Sacred Heart Church
stands as a testament to the villagers’
faith and thanksgiving to Our Lady,
who, they believe, safeguarded them
over several years of war and unrest.
The shrine located on top of
the mountain was built in 1902,
was destroyed during the Cultural
Revolution and was rebuilt in 1993.
The rebuilding of the shrine – which
took about three months – was in
itself a work of wonder and devotion.
In the absence of pathways to the
mountain, the villagers had to
painstakingly carry construction
materials to the top by hand. It is
in this holy site where pilgrims and
devotees pray the rosary and pay
homage to the Lady. Pilgrims usually
flock during the months of May and
October and they not only come from
China but from other countries, as
well.
During that visit, I was not only
impressed by the magnificence of
the place and its interesting history.
Beyond the awesome vista of lush
trees and a resplendent countryside
overlooking the shrine, I was
particularly touched by the courage
and dedication of the people, who,
through the years, have remained
undaunted and have continued to
keep the faith.
If it’s in the box, it’s being sent home
Gilda Medina Bernal does the rounds of Pinays rushing to get goodies shipped to their families in time for Christmas
F
or many families of overseas
Filipino workers, Christmas
doesn’t come in small
packages. It comes in big boxes
– door-to-door boxes to be very
precise.
As early as June, many workers in
Hong Kong start buying or
collecting items to put in their doorto-door boxes to send for
Christmas. From gift items, to
discounted shirts, soaps and
toothpastes, noodles, canned goods
and used kitchenware, the list grows
until the day they pack everything
and seal the box.
The amount of items determines
which box to use – small, regular or
jumbo.
Of course, there are the “requested
expensive items” such as a new pair
of shoes, or a compact DVD player,
or an iPod or game console. They
are often packed with care – first,
they are removed from their boxes
then they are wrapped in towels
(so they won’t break), wrapped
again in plastic (so they won’t get
wet) placed in the door-to-door box
surrounded by more towels (so they
remain in place) all throughout their
long journey from Hong Kong to the
Philippines.
“It’s hard to pack but it feels good
to send the items I see and eat here,
so my family can also see and taste
them,” Elizabeth Sanut, from Tung
Chung, tells Filipino Globe.
Sanut says she has sent several
boxes in her 14 years of working in
Hong Kong. “I don’t buy expensive
items. I just buy those that are
cheaper here like the toothpaste.
I also send them money because
there are things they want to buy
themselves.”
Honeylet Domingo, meanwhile, is
still single and has been working in
Hong Kong for more than two years.
“I am sending a box full of gifts for
my nephews and nieces,” she says. “I
am excited to pack but they are more
excited to receive the box.”
It did not take months for Domingo
to collect all the items to be sent.
“During my day off, I would look
out for sales. I only buy items that
are on sale,” she says.
Domingo says she decided to
send a box for Christmas because
that way, she can choose which gift
or items to give to everyone in her
Rina Sabado (red
sweater) gets a
little help from
friends. Honeylet
Domingo (bottom
left) tapes up her
box and Elizabeth
Sanut (left,
bottom) puts the
finishing touches
to another labor
of love.
family in Nueva Vizcaya. “I noticed
that if I send money, they don’t really
buy the items they say they will buy
for Christmas,” she says.
Sending a box or sending
money can be very expensive for
the overseas worker. Some would
even get a loan or go overboard
and buy things they connot afford.
Cargo companies, meanwhile, offer
packages to meet the needs of their
clients.
Big door-to-door companies
such as AFreight, GenEx and LBC
have established a brand in Hong
I am excited to
pack but they are
more excited to
receive the box
HONEYLET DOMINGO
Sending box to nephews and nieces
Kong. While other companies sprout
only during peak seasons, these
companies remain open all-year
round, providing the same services
they have been known for since the
industry began here in the 1980s.
For many, the practice of sending a
box is a genuine Filipino trademark.
It was known to have started
in the US, when Filipinos living
there would go home and bring
a “balikbayan” box laden with
“pasalubong” (gift or token).
Rina Sabado is following that
same trademark, with a twist. She is
bringing home, for the last time, two
big boxes of things she collected in
her eight years of working in Hong
Kong.
“I’ve decided to go home for good.
Of course, I need to send my door-todoor boxes first,” Sabado says.
Before her flight on December 14,
Sabado went to Central to pack and
seal the boxes – one jumbo and one
regular. “The other box is full of
curtains while the other one is full of
clothes, kitchenware and other old
stuff my employer gave me,” she
adds.
While Sabado is sad to leave Hong
Kong, she is looking forward to
going home to be with her husband
and start a business.
She says: “I will sell the curtains
and I will start a small restaurant
... so the boxes are very important
and I expect them to arrive in good
condition.”
Sabado’s box of goodies will surely
warm her family’s heart, but her
presence there during Christmas will
warm his husband’s heart the most.
“We’ve been planning to have a
baby. We can’t do that if I am here so
I am going home,” Sabado says.
“That’s the best package my
husband will receive this Christmas.”
22
community
filipino globe
December 2007
IDT Asia launches mobile top-up service
IDT Asia, the regional operating
arm of IDT Telecom, has launched
VersaLoad, a mobile top-up service
for Overseas Filipino Workers in the
region.
The service is available through
a collaboration with Communigate
Technologies Inc (CTI), a
Philippines-based communications
services aggregator.
IDT has served the
telecommunications needs of
a growing number of OFWs in
the region with its Tawag Na
phonecard, which allows OFWs
to enjoy low 24-hour international
direct dialling flat rates to the
Philippines and elsewhere.
At the same time, they enjoy crisp
and crystal-clear voice quality.
IDT’s collaboration with CTI
complements the functionality of
IDT’s prepaid calling cards.
With VersaLoad, OFWs can
benefit from the mobile top-up
feature available through their IDT
Tawag Na phonecard.
The service allows IDT Tawag Na
phonecard users to use their prepaid
balance to transfer load credits to
their loved ones in the Philippines,
sending prepaid top-up credit in
various denominations to Globe,
Smart, Sun, Talk & Text, and TM
subscribers.
“IDT Asia strives to help Filipinos
worldwide communicate with their
friends and loved ones in new and
better ways,” said Chip Barton, IDT
Asia’s managing director.
“Through the years, IDT has
consistently delivered reliable,
cost-efficient international
calling services to our customers
worldwide,” he added.
“By teaming with CTI on
VersaLoad, we further strengthen
our commitment to bringing more
value-added services to the evergrowing population of Overseas
Filipinos.”
IDT Telecom is a subsidiary
of IDT Corp, a New York-listed
multinational holding company
with operations that span several
industries.
IDT Asia, formed in 2003, is
headquartered in Hong Kong, with
branch offices throughout the AsiaPacific region.
CTI president Mario Lazaro and IDT Asia managing director Chip Barton
are shown at the contract signing for the mobile top-up service.
It’s real life for women of Wisteria
Move over Desperate
Housewives, these ladies
have more than their share
of hopes and dreams, trials
and tribulations in their
own neighborhood, writes
Gabby Alvarado
L
ong before Wisteria Lane
became the fictional setting for
a suburban world of sex, saucy
gossip and intrigue, inhabited by
American vixens collectively known
as the Desperate Housewives, there
was a Wisteria Mansion – in Hong
Kong.
Tucked at the heart of Taikoo
Shing, alongside rows of mansions
that go by the names Marigold,
Begonia, Lotus and Primrose,
Wisteria Mansion has existed long
before TV viewers discovered the
physical charms of Eva Longoria,
one of five lead stars of the global
ABC comedy-drama hit series.
Thirty storeys in all, and completed
in 1983 for Swire Properties,
Wisteria Mansion is separated from
Quarry Bay Park by a small fence,
with several flats offering a view
of the harbour. Such prime address
– No 4 Taikoo Wan Road – is home
to well-heeled Hong Kong and
expatriate families. And that means
a platoon of Filipinas who keep their
flats in order, prepare their kids for
school, do their laundry, cook their
dinner and run various errands for
them.
Not quite the glamorous life the
Desperate Housewives of Wisteria
Lane are known to lead, but this is
real life. Neither fantasy nor makebelieve. They’re always ready for
action; forget the lights and the
camera. Throw away the script too;
they have their own interesting
stories – and obsessions.
One of the domestic helpers at
Wisteria Mansion is Hazel Nolasco,
a 37-year-old mother of one from
Sapang Palay, Bulacan. Some days
she can be seen carrying a pair of
red buckets on her way to wash her
employer’s car. Hazel has only been
half a year here after spending her
first four years caring for a family in
Fan Ling. She hopes to accomplish
just two things before she returns to
the country for good.
“Gusto lang naming makabili ng
Gusto lang
naming makabili
ng sasakyang
pampasada
para di na
mamasukang
company driver
ang asawa ko sa
Maynila at saka
mapag-aral sa
kolehiyo ang anak
kong dalaga
Not quite the
fictional TV
neighborhood that
bears its name,
Wisteria Mansion
is home to real-life
heroines who play
out real-life roles
every day. Wisteria
Mansion sits in
the heart of Taikoo
Shing.
HAZEL NOLASCO
On her modest dream
sasakyang pampasada para di na
mamasukang company driver ang
asawa ko sa Maynila at saka mapagaral sa kolehiyo ang anak kong
dalaga,’’ she says. Being an OFW,
for Hazel, means missing out on her
daughter Sheila’s adolescent years.
“Minsan pinapauwi na niya ako,
nagtatampo,” she says.
Grace Dinglasan, of Ibaan,
home, health & beauty, money, travel, stars & sports
filipino globe
Batangas, is another newcomer to
Wisteria Mansion. She came to
Hong Kong when she was 19 and
spent eight years in households in
Lam Tin and Tuen Mun. During that
time, Grace helped brother Jinnuel
Ian become an electronic computer
technician and sister Rachel become
a nurse.
The family’s youngest, Princess
May, plans to take up information
technology – the latest project for
this amazing Grace.
“Matatagalan pa ako dito,
hanggang may Hong Kong pa yata,’’
she laughs.
Hazel used to work as a packing
inspector for Epson products at the
company’s plant in Lipa City, but
the pay was not enough to support
her family. “Kahit mag-OT pa ako
nang mag-OT kulang pa rin ang
income,’’ she says. “Mahal ang
bilihin, kailangan pang magbayad ng
boarding house.”
So Hong Kong was her next
logical destination. And here, Hazel
managed to find relevant activities
apart from earning OFW money.
She studied to become a certified
nursing aide in Wan Chai and was
once a volunteer for a care home for
the elderly in Kowloon Tong. “Para
ma-improve ko ang sarili ko,” Hazel
says. “Hindi lang yung hanggang
katulong lang ako.”
For Davao City’s Teresa Tripoli,
46, working at Wisteria Mansion is
like coming home. She lived here 13
years ago when she was just starting
as a domestic helper. Her original
employer rented a flat at Wisteria
Mansion before moving to four other
addresses, the last at South Horizon.
But once the children under her
care had all grown up, her services
were no longer required. Their
parting, after 12 years, was sudden
but amicable. And they made sure
Teresa was in good hands: They
recommended her services to a
family friend at Wisteria Mansion.
But it is also like being in strange
surroundings. Teresa, for example,
had to learn to buy meat, fish and
vegetables at nearby Sai Wan Ho
market.
She had never ventured there
before because her previous
employer took care of this task while
Teresa looked after the kids.
“Para din akong nag-umpisa uli.
Na-homesick bigla,” says Teresa.
“Malaki ang adjustment. Iba ang
ways nila sa dati kong amo. Pero
naka-adjust din ako at nakuha ko
ang standard nila. Nadaan sa dasal
at tiyaga. Wala nga lang akong alaga
kaya minsan boring.”
So real-life drama continues for the
women of Wisteria Mansion. And
now you wonder: But where are the
hunks? Certainly not in the bushes or
the gardens.
Otherwise, our women would have
found them.
life
December 2007
23
Don’t plan to
overspend on
your very own
dream home
Keep it simple and build with an eye on the
future, as Tom Arguelles finds out from
experts in home design and construction
T
rying to hold down the price
of building your new home?
There are many hidden costs
that you can avoid, if you plan ahead.
For instance, do you really
need that expensive full basement
foundation? Or would a slab
foundation serve just as well? Full
basements are expensive to excavate,
add time to the building cycle, and
should be waterproofed to insure
they remain dry and comfortable.
You may not be aware that you can
choose 2x4 or 2x6 construction for
your home. This refers to the framing
members that make up the skeleton
of the structure.
Choosing 2x6 construction will add
a bit to the actual building costs, but
will allow you to increase the amount
of insulation in the outer walls (6
inches instead of 4), thereby making
your home more energy efficient.
This may be your dream home,
and the dream may include a bath
and a half-bath near the living areas.
But remember, areas with plumbing
runs and fixtures are perhaps the
most expensive spaces in the
home-building process. “Keep it a
minimum and you’ll help hold down
costs,” says contractor Mario Rama.
“Besides, do you really want to clean
that many bathrooms?”
The style today is to combine
living areas into one large, allpurpose room. Make it an open
area near the kitchen for easy
entertaining.
The same is true for dining space.
If you really don’t use a formal
dining room, why have one? By
eliminating the formal rooms, you
cut down on square footage at the
The simpler and
more regular
your home plan,
the easier it is to
build and the less
cost you’ll incur
MARIO RAMA
Contractor
Costs are hidden
in the most
obvious places
such as your
roofline, doors and
bathrooms. The
good thing about
this is that you also
know where these
can be cut.
building stage and an area that must
be heated and cooled once the home
is built.
Plan for the future and only build
as much as you need right now. By
choosing a plan that includes bonus
space, you can finish the area later.
Volume roofs with lots of peaks
and valleys are a fashion statement.
However, roofing and its support
structure are among the biggest costs
in construction. By keeping your
rooflines simple and the roof area
smaller, you’ll realise considerable
savings.
“The simpler and more regular
your home plan, the easier it is to
build and the less cost you’ll incur,”
Rama says.
Bay windows, multiple roof peaks,
dormers, recessed entries, pop outs,
and other intrusions and extrusions
all add their burden to the building
budget.
This doesn’t mean you must have
a plain rectangular house with no
adornments. Just be judicious in what
you want and don’t go overboard
with a home plan that is overly
complicated. A few well-placed
features can add great appeal without
putting your home over budget.
Speaking again of pets, what to do during a cat emergency?
Q
While we’re at it, is there
anything I can do during
a cat emergency? What to do
when a cat (my employer has
two which I look after) chokes on
its food?
Grace Togonon
Hong Kong
A
Choking can be life
threatening for your cat.
The harder a choking cat tries to
breathe, the more panicky it can
become. A cat owner’s goal is to
open the airway without being
bitten.
If you are uncertain whether
your cat is choking, some signs
to look for include the cat pawing
at its mouth, a pale or blue cat
DIYBOB
do it yourself
ROBERT
LUNARIA
tongue, obvious distress, and
unconsciousness. If your cat is
choking, use the following cat
care tips.
Step 1: Approach the cat
carefully. If your cat is nervous or
anxious, restrain it if necessary.
Step 2: Clear the cat’s airway.
Step 2a: Place one hand over
the cat’s head so that your thumb
and index finger fall just behind
the long canines (fang teeth), the
head resting against your palm.
If the cat is struggling too much,
proceed to Step 2e.
Step 2b: Gently tilt the cat’s
head back so its nose is pointing
upward. Push your thumb toward
your finger; the mouth will open.
Step 2c: Gently pull the tongue
out. If you can see the object, try
to remove it with your fingers or
needle-nose pliers (unless the
object is a needle).
Step 2d: If the object is a
needle and it is embedded deeply
in the roof of the mouth, stop.
Bring the cat immediately to the
veterinarian. Keep the tongue
gently pulled out of the mouth if
the cat is in distress.
Step 2e: If you cannot remove
the object (other than a needle),
pick up the cat by grasping its
back legs; turn it upside down and
shake vigorously. Slapping the
back while shaking may help to
dislodge the object.
Step 2f: If the object is still not
dislodged, lay the cat on its side,
place your palms behind the last
rib on both sides of the abdomen,
and press your palms together
quickly three or four times. If the
object is still caught, repeat this
procedure.
Step 3: If you cannot dislodge
the object, bring the cat to the
veterinarian immediately.
Step 4: If you dislodge the
object but the cat is not breathing,
feel for a heartbeat by placing
your fingers about one inch
behind the cat’s elbow and in the
center of its chest.
Send your questions or comments
to diybob@filglobe.com
24
filipino globe
lakbayan
December 2007
lakbayan
filipino globe
Pasko, Pasko, Pasko na naman muli
T
25
Zambales launches drive to spark tourist boom
Tess Mauricio revisits
a tradition that makes
Christmas a uniquely
Filipino celebration.
Never mind what the
rest of the world does
he celebration of Christmas
is reputed to be the longest in
the Philippines. As early as
September, the onset of the “-ber” or
brrr months, Christmas jingles are
hitting the airwaves and organised
folk as well as many corporations
prepare their budgets for some
serious shopping ahead.
By October, multi-colored lights,
parols or star lanterns, Christmas
trees and related décor begin to
mostly done by children. The
(ball-shaped Edam cheese). Unique
fill the streets, homes and office
kids
move
from
house
to
house
to the occasion is the 12 kinds of
buildings, enchanting kids and adults
singing
Yule
tunes,
accompanied
by
round-shaped fruits believed to bring
alike with joyous sight.
improvised tambourines made out
luck and prosperity to the household
It sounds exaggerated but this is
of
wired
bottle
caps,
in
exchange
for
for each month of the coming year.
how far we Filipinos go in showing
some
coins
or
holiday
treats.
“Ang
Post-New Year fiestas 2 or 3
our delight for the season. Everyone
Pasko
ay
Sumapit,”
“Jingle
Bells”
days
later have emerged from
is obviously excited for this is the
and
“Pasko
na
naman
are
the
norm.
fireworks-making
towns, such as
best time to reunite with old friends
A week after Christmas is New
Bocaue, Bulacan. Starting out as
and relatives, when many of those
Year, the wilder and noisier festivity.
competitions aimed at exhausting
who have ventured overseas or
We
Filipinos
have
gained
the
the remaining fireworks supply, and
elsewhere in the archipelago return
belief
from
the
Chinese
that
loud
keeping the gun powder within from
home to be with their loved ones.
merriment
at
the
start
of
the
year
going stale and becoming duds,
The atmosphere is light, cordial
drives away evil spirits. Hence, the
the events have evolved with the
and fun, and for a span of about
four months, the season is filled
with numerous feasts and priceless
For a glorious display of Christmas
celebrations.
spirit, some families and friends flock
What makes Philippine Christmas
unique is our fine traditions such
to certain sections of Metro Manila
as the “Misa De Gallo” or rooster’s
mass, the 4 am daily church service
to be enthralled
starting on the 16th of December
culminating into the midnight mass
use of firecrackers for the celebration increase of patrons wishing to view
of Christmas Eve.
has been taken up as well. Nearing
the brilliant and loud display over the
As the Philippines is predominantly
midnight,
the
sky
is
ablaze
with
years.
Catholic, many of the devotees
colorful
pyrotechnics,
many
filling
Christmas formally ends with the
continue to observe the custom not
the
air
with
deafening
bangs
and
Feast
of the Three Kings.
only for the religious practice but
familiar noises.
Initially celebrated every sixth of
also for the delectable Yule treats
The superstitious wearing of
January, new Christian teachings
available in the church vicinity.
In San Fernando, Pampanga, the
the Noche Buena, the main feast
clothes
with
circular
patterns,
have moved this occasion to the
Approaching the places of worship
annual “parol” competition has
of the occasion. The exchange of
representing
coins
or
money,
for
first Sunday of January, marking the
in most parts of the archipelago in
turned into a parade and festival for
gifts often follows although some
good
fortune
in
the
upcoming
year
presentation of Jesus Christ in the
the cool, crisp morning air of the
the provincial capital. Significant
families opt to move the practice in
is also of Chinese origin. So is,
temple.
period, one would immediately get
prizes are at stake for making the
the morning.
perhaps,
the
jump
at
the
stroke
of
In present times, the date signifies
a whiff of the holiday favorites,
largest of the kaleidoscopic lanterns,
This is one of the main sources
midnight
to
grow
taller.
the
last chance to bring holiday
bibingka and puto bumbong.
the most colorful, the most creative
of excitement for children as new
After
the
boisterous
revelry,
the
gifts
to friends and relatives, and
Both of the customary foodstuffs
patterns or the most unique designs
toys, clothes and related goodies are
banquet
called
Media
Noche
ensues.
the
time
to start packing the holiday
are made of rice and cooked in a
and materials.
received. Of course, the presence of
It is another huge reunion for the
decorations. Unofficially speaking,
unique way. The bibingka, a rice
The spectacular entries average
cousins means more playmates to
family ushering in the New Year.
the season extends until the last of
cake, is usually spread with butter
about 40 feet in diameter, each
share in the fun.
Like
the
Noche
Buena
of
Christmas,
the family members and guests, who
and sprinkled with sugar, topped by
containing thousands of light bulbs.
Although not necessarily a Filipino the dining table is usually filled with
have arrived late availing of cheaper
cheese or salted eggs, and flavoured
Following the midnight mass of
tradition, caroling is a very common
the
best
of
the
season
to
include
the
airfares in the latter part of January,
with dry coconut meat shavings.
Christmas Eve, families gather for
occurrence in the Philippines,
staples of ham and queso de bola
have left.
Puto bumbong on the other hand
is sausage-shaped and the more
colourful and sweeter of the treats,
with local flavour such as ube (
purple yum) in its mix.
For a glorious display of
Christmas spirit, some families and
friends flock to certain sections of
Metro Manila to be enthralled.
Policarpio Street in Mandaluyong
City is a fairly recent favorite as
most of the homes of this now
popular thoroughfare are literally
filled with Christmas lights, Nativity
scenes, Santa Claus décor and other
ornaments that onlookers often
wonder about their Meralco bill.
In contrast, the exhibits in some
shopping malls to entice customers
have created a following, such as
those at the Greenhills Shopping
Center and the defunct COD in
Cubao, Quezon City.
Who knows what spectacle is in
store at the newer facilities?
As early as September, the Christmas season kicks in and festive trimmings go up (top). This culminates in a feast featuring the most sumptuous spreads (above).
February 2007
December
San Antonio beach in Zambales will be among the first to benefit.
In an effort to boost tourism in
Zambales, the local government
and tourism-related business
owners have formed the San
Antonio Municipal Tourism Council.
Its main thrust is to develop
tourism-related plans and
programs to showcase San
Antonio as a primary tourist
destination.
“San Antonio is blessed with
clean, white sandy beaches,
crystal blue sea dotted with rich
corals and shipwrecks, hidden
waterfalls, sculptured mountains,
and the historical lighthouse tower
operated by a solar system,”
Virginia Harvey, Megan’s Beach
Resort owner and president of the
Municipal Tourism Council said.
A three-hour drive from Manila,
San Antonio, Zambales is an ideal
surfing spot and boasts an array
of recreational activities from,
mountain-climbing, trekking, island
hopping, snorkeling and camping.
Meanwhile, tourist arrivals in
the country increased in the third
quarter this year compared with
the same period last year, the
Bells of San
Guillermo toll
for town’s
glory years
latest figures from the Department
of Tourism show. A total of 212,
415 tourists arrived in September,
a sharp increase on the 192, 661
in the same period last year.
Korea accounted for the biggest
number of arrivals with 43,061,
followed by the United States
(33,732), Japan (33,507) and
China (13,416). Of the total, 9,401
were overseas Filipino workers.
Milagros Say, head of the
DOT’s research unit, attributed
the increase to the department’s
relentless campaign.
Photos: Jean Alvarado
Pinatubo’s fury has scarred people’s lives but the
land has healed itself, writes Gabby Alvarado
N
ot even one of the most
devastating volcanic
eruptions in the 1990s can
silence the bells of the old San
Guillermo Church in Pampanga.
Lahar, which for a decade flowed
with menacing regularity from the
slopes of Mt Pinatubo during the
rainy seasons following its big bang
in 1991, has transformed Bacolor
town’s once majestic temple of
worship into a dishevelled, halfburied edifice – kept standing only
by Divine Providence and the
unshakeable faith of its parishioners.
But the antique bells of the 16th
century Agustinian church keep
tolling to this day like they had done
during Bacolor’s glory years. To
celebrate a feast, to announce the
arrival of a newborn, to accompany
the dead to their resting place, to
remind people to pray the oracion
and to signal the start of every Holy
Mass. During the dark days of the
1990s, their peals have brought
terror and safety in equal measure for
they carried the warning of another
vicious mudflow from a volcano
Bacolorenos never even knew
existed until 1991.
Today the bells and the San
Guillermo Church, rebuilt in
1886 after it was destroyed by
an earthquake, not only stand as
reminders of the town’s old glory but
also signify the hopes for a future
when sons, daughters, families and
neighbors can be finally reunited in
the land dearest to their hearts.
Bacolor is slowly struggling back
to its feet. Rebuilding from the
ashes what was once the country’s
capital during Spanish colonial
times is no easy task, but the work
has started. Families driven to the
safety of resettlement villages in San
Fernando, Mexico and Mabalacat
towns have begun returning to join
the few souls who had defiantly
stayed throughout the grim seasons.
Modest houses that stand on concrete
stilts now exist together with huge,
shiny abodes. A new town hall
sits on the very spot where the old
municipio was leveled by lahar, a
roofed basketball court and multipurpose center in front of it and
a new market just nearby. A short
walk from the the church, rows of
shops selling wooden and antique
furnitures line both sides of the wellpaved Olongapo-Gapan road, once
rendered unpassable by lahar.
The Don Honorio Ventura College
of Arts and Trade, which had trained
a long line of craftsmen from all over
Central Luzon and become a training
ground for many an OFW, has
resumed its operations in the town
proper. Only three kilometers away
stand the new Queen Mary School,
which has replaced the Don Bosco
Academy and the Salesian Juniorate,
breeding ground of missionary and
youth-oriented priests.
Gone is the Benedictine-run St
Mary’s Academy. Only the roof of its
original building juts just alongside
Apung Gemong’s church. What
is left of the private rooms of the
school’s nuns is now a museum of
sorts where faded photos of the town
and the church in all its glory are
displayed on silent brick walls.
Gone too are most of the Spanishstyle ancestral houses, home to
generations of wealthy landlords and
Pampanga elite like the De Leons,
Panlilios, Gonzalezes, Valdezes and
Buysons. The San Guillermo Church
is designated now as a must-see for
travellers on their way to Subic or
the north – a tourist spot for some,
an object of curiosity for many but
always an anchor for its displaced
people who dream of one day
returning to the old town.
The belfry (top) stands as a monument to the parishioners’ unbreakable
faith. Above, peace and quiet reigns inside San Guillermo Church.
Hopefully, the
town’s visitors
will remember to
pause and say a
prayer, not just
for the thousands
who perished as
a result of Mt
Pinatubo’s fury
but also for a way
of life forever lost
In years past, the church, the
abandoned houses nearby and the
baked mud from Mt Pinatubo served
as backdrops to local movies like
Lahar starring Dawn Zulueta and
Tikoy Aguiluz’s critically acclaimed
Segurista. The San Guillermo Church
also found its way to Hong Kong
cinema as the setting for the final
scene of the Troublesome Night 4
horror movie topbilled by Louis Koo
and Pauline Suen.
Not that filmmaking is alien to the
town. In 1974 several scenes of the
period movie Sunugin ang Samar,
about a rebellion against American
occupation forces who retaliated
by turning a whole town into a
bonfire and taking the Balangiga
bells, were shot there. In the ‘80s,
the San Guillermo Church and its
patio featured prominently in the
Rudy Fernandez starrer Sumuko ka,
Ronquillo.
Hopefully the next cast and crew
who shoot a movie there, and the
town’s visitors, remember to pause
and say a prayer. Not just for the
thousands who perished as a result
of Mt Pinatubo’s fury but also for a
way of life forever lost.
To this land, known as the Athens
of Pampanga, were born poets,
statesmen, actors and philanthropists.
Pampanga cuisine at its best
was once abundant in Bacolor,
particularly in Barrio Cabalantian,
which used to produce mouthwatering tamales, suman, puto
seko and espasol. The Hizons and
Olalias whose tocino and longganiza,
marketed as Pampanga’s Best, are
now part of everyday Pinoy menu,
also hail from the town.
And while it may not have the
bloody re-enactment of Christ’s
crucifixion that lures tourists to San
Fernando every summer, Bacolor’s
traditional Lenten rites are also
known far and wide – for their
solemnity, dignity and adherence to
old customs.
So pardon this homesick pilgrim
for longing for the good old days.
For 30 blissful years, he had known
no other home but Bacolor. But
because of one violent outburst from
Mt Pinatubo, his children, born long
after the mudflow had dried up, will
never know the joy of traipsing on
the streets of this quaint sanctuary.
Maybe this piece will help them
understand. And set them on the road
home.
26
money matters
filipino globe
December 2007
Coming home for Christmas?
Bring something you can sell
F
irst of all, seasons greetings.
By the time this issue hits the
streets, the Christmas spirit will
have been very much alive in all of
us. I am sure some of you are looking
forward to going home for a short
vacation and enjoy the traditional
noche buena and simbang gabi.
And I am certain you are drawing
up your gift list as we speak. But
wait. Do you really have to spend
all that hard-earned money in one
occasion?
From my earlier article regarding
the shrinking value of remittances
because of the strong peso, I would
suggest that you spend only a small
amount of your dollars on gifts.
Once you’re back in the country,
it will be a good idea to study what
options are available for further
growing your money.
For P50,000 or more, you could
buy a treasury bill or T-bill from your
local bank. It earns slightly more
interest for the applicable period
and is tax-free. Best of all, being
a negotiable instrument, it can be
used as a collateral if you decide to
borrow money from the bank. You
are also helping the country grow
economically stronger.
If a T-bill does not excite you,
OFWWISE
be your own boss
Herbie
Sancianco
why not buy goods from your host
country that you will be able to
sell for a profit when you return to
the Philippines? That way, the cost
of your travel ticket and vacation
expenses will be partially covered.
I would strongly recommend that
you look into the easy stuff to buy
and sell. Gold earrings, bracelets,
necklaces and rings are best sellers.
Children’s jewelries are fast-moving
items among them. Cheap watch
brands have a strong interest among
adults. Cheap perfumes that have a
good scent, particularly those that
come in small bottles and can sell
under a hundred pesos each, are
favorites among female adults.
Look into the export overruns of
garment manufacturers who sell them
very cheap at their factory outlets.
The Philippines has signed an
agreement with the Basque
Country in northern Spain that
aims to boost cooperation
in fisheries development,
aquaculture and marine
biotechnology.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur
Yap, who was with President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on
official visit to Spain last week,
said the agreement covers
joint activities in biotechnology,
food technology, marine
management, aquaculture and
Tuyo and tinapa are making inroads on markets beyond our shores. Served with steaming rice, they’re an unbeatable staple on the breakfast table.
Look no farther for the best tuyo
If you’re an OFW, chances are you have bought some of Amanda’s best sellers
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December 2007
27
Philippines, Spain sign landmark agriculture deal
Some of these items have been
rejected more for the mislabeling of
the brand marks, and not for their
product quality.
Women’s undergarments, by the
way, are popular items to consider,
given their popularity and the
impulsive buying nature of women.
Don’t consider investing in pirated
music and video CDs or DVDs. In all
likelihood, they are often bad copies
of the original and many could be
returned to you for a refund. Neither
should you consider electronic
gadgets such as audio boomboxes
or video camcorders. They are highvalue items which may not be sold in
the end. Cheap digital cameras can
be an attractive item, particularly if
it will be at least 20 per cent cheaper
than what is locally sold in Manila.
By the way, just make sure that you
do not overdo it because the airlines
will charge you for excess baggage.
If it happens, make sure that the
amount you pay is part of your
puhunan for those items.
Most of all, stay safe.
Herbie Sancianco is a professor in
the graduate school for continuing
education, De La Salle College of
St Benilde, Manila
money matters
filipino globe
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I
t’s official. The best tuyo and
tinapa north of Manila can be
found in Balanga, Bataan – and
the sleepy port city has something to
show for it.
A Balanga-based fish processor,
one of 13 in the region, bagged this
year’s most outstanding SME (small
and medium-sized enterprise) award
for Central Luzon.
The award was given by the
Department of Trade and Industry
under its One Town, One Product
Program.
Amanda’s Marine Products
of the seaside village of Puerto
Rivas, outshone other entries in the
competition.
The company produces daing na
bangus and bagoong alamang besides
tuyo and tinapa.
It is the first awardee of the
program, introduced in 2005 to
boost SME competitiveness, DTI
provincial director Yay Lasam said.
“Their products are not only best
sellers in this part of the country
but also in places around the world
where Filipinos live,” Lasam said.
Amanda’s tinapa and tuyo are
widely sold in the US, Canada, the
Middle East and Australia.
The company is owned by
husband and wife Danny and
Amanda Battad. It has 30 employees
and gets its supply from local
fishermen.
Two other awards were given to
two local government units. The
city government of San Fernando,
Pampanga received an award as the
most supportive local government
unit to the program
Their products
are not only best
sellers in the
country but also
in places around
the world where
Filipinos live
YAY LASAM
DTI provincial director
The Pampanga office of the
Department of Science and
Technology was cited as the most
supportive program partner.
The One Town, One Product
Program aims to promote the
unique and competitive products
or services of towns and cities. It
is part of a wider program aimed
at fighting poverty by promoting
entrepreneurship.
This, in turn, will create jobs in the
countryside, said Gilda Lames of the
Philippine Information Agency.
Other agencies involved in the
program are the Department of
Science and Technology, Department
of Interior and Local Government,
Agrarian Reform, Agriculture and
Health; National Economic and
Development Authority.
Also involved are the Technical
Education and Skills Development
Authority, Bureau of Fisheries and
Aquatic Resources, National Meat
Inspection Service, Land Bank of the
Philippines, Development Bank of
the Philippines and PIA
Bagac eyed for US$400m steel mill
filipino globe
the OFW newspaper
A Xiamen City-based firm is eyeing
Bagac, Bataan for a US$400 million
steel mill that would generate 6,000
local jobs.
Bagac mayor Ramil Del Rosario
said the Chinese firm will initially
use 200 to 300 hectares of land as the
site of the plant, capable of produc-
ing 600,000 to 800,000 metric tons of
steel.
When the mill is fully operational,
the plant site could increase to 1,000
hectares.
It will be capable of providing the
steel needs of the country, Del Rosario said.
responsible fishing. A committee
for cooperation composed of
representatives from both sides
will be established to oversee the
agreement.
Yap said the agreement also
provides for an exchange of
researchers, trainers and experts
and coordination of research
activities with the Basque
government. “This unprecedented
agreement is a welcome initiative
to bring agricultural cooperation
and development between Manila
and Madrid to the regional level,”
he said. Among the activities
covered by the agreement, is a
proposed P103 million project
to develop a mariculture park
in Casiguran, Baler, Aurora
province.
Last year, the Philippines
exported US$20 million worth of
agricultural products to Spain.
Topping the list were coconut oil
(US$7.9 million), carageenan
(US$2.18 million), canned
pineapple (US$2.6 million),
tobacco (US$1.06 million) and
tuna (US$1.3 million).
28
health matters
filipino globe
December 2007
celebrity
filipino globe
Knowing diabetes is coping with it more effectively
D
iabetes is becoming a global
threat and a growing number
of Filipinos are among its
victims.
Thanks to growing public
awareness, sufferers have been
taking steps to cope with the
condition.
One such sufferer is Emma
Lobigas of Pasay City. She says
people like her could always use any
information about diabetes.
We asked Dr Allan Acosta, a
fellow of the Philippine College of
Physicians, for more input.
Dr Acosta is also a medical
specialist in the department of
medicine of the Mandaluyong City
Medical Center.
He writes:
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic
HEALTHTALK
what the doctor says
Dr Jun
Amigo
state that begins when the pancreas
stops producing insulin, partly or
completely.
Insulin is a hormone which acts
as a key, opening the doors on cells
and allowing them to take in sugar
(which is used by the body as an
energy source) from the blood.
When there is inefficient insulin
metabolism, sugar in the blood
increases instead of going into the
cells.
The two broad categories of
diabetes are type 1 and type 2.
Type 1 is sometimes called insulindependent type in which it is
necessary to inject insulin into the
body.
children and teenagers but can also
happen to adults.
Type 2 diabetes is usually
characterised by insulin resistance,
impaired insulin secretion, and
increased glucose production.
Nowadays, the term non-insulindependent diabetes is not often used
Although there is no cure for diabetes,
it can be managed successfully and a
sufferer can live a productive life
In this type of diabetes, the
immune system stops recognising
that part of the pancreas which
produces and extracts insulin as part
of the body.
It occurs more frequently in
to designate Type 2 because many
individuals with this type eventually
require insulin treatment for control
of sugar.
The classic symptoms and signs of
diabetes are the following:
Manny had
nothing to do
with my new
house: Ara
Raul Acedre in Manila
Swiss researchers have discovered
that smokers also face increased risk
of developing diabetes besides lung
cancer and heart disease.
Those who light up regularly face
a 44 per cent increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared with
non-smokers, according to a report.
“We knew a few studies had already
assessed this link, but we didn’t expect to find so many – we found 25
studies and all except one showed that
smokers faced an increased risk of diabetes, “ Carole Willi from Lausanne
University.
Willi and colleagues conducted a
review and analysis of studies describing the association between active smoking and the incidence of
type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes – the form of the
disease often associated with excess
body weight, poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle – is becoming increasingly common in many countries,
including Switzerland.
Willi found that the risk of developing this type of diabetes was even
higher for heavy smokers. Those who
sparked up at least 20 times a day had
a 61 per cent higher risk for diabetes
than non-smokers.
She also found that quitting smoking reduced the danger, with former
smokers seeing a 23 per cent higher
risk than non-smokers.
“On a public health level, this is
very important because diabetes incidence is dramatically increasing. The
After the defection of Angel Locsin
(right) from GMA 7 to ABS-CBN
2, other Kapuso network stars
became the subject of speculation.
Ara Mina and younger sister
Cristine Reyes were among them.
In Ara’s case, the rumors began
when she had guest appearances
one after the other on the
Kapamilya network’s That’s My
Doc (topbilled by Aga Muhlach)
and the daily morning talk show
Boy and Kris.
As for Cristine, the rumor started
soon after she had an encounter
with actor Dennis Trillo’s supposed
Manny Pacquiao and Ara Mina have been
a gossip item for some time. Inset, Jinky
Pacquiao and daughter Princess.
Smokers are 44pc more likely to suffer
the medical condition than non-smokers
Actress does tearful accounting of assets,
springs to Valerie Concepcion’s defense
The Philippines is one of 23 countries which contribute 80 per cent of the world’s health burden.
World medicine alliance picks RP
On a public health
level, this is
very important
because diabetes
incidence is
dramatically
increasing
CAROLE WILLI
Lausanne University
avoidance of diabetes would then be
another good reason for smokers to
quit or for non-smokers not to begin,”
Willi said.
She said the studies used for the
review could not prove smoking was
a cause of diabetes, but she said they
did meet several recommended criteria to suggest this.
An international alliance
to improve access, quality
and rational use of drugs in
developing countries has chosen
the Philippines as a pilot country.
Health Secretary Fracisco
Duque said the alliance’s
Philippine officials are “veterans
of the war” for cheap and quality
medicines.
Called the Medicines
Transparency Alliance
Philippines (MeTA), the group is
a timely boost to the coiuntry’s
efforts to make quality drugs
affordable and reachable to the
poor.
“At a time when we face a
disproportionate burden of
infectious diseases, and in
light of new findings that we
are one of the 23 developing
countries which contribute to 80
per cent of the global burden
of heart disease, strokes and
diabetes, making high quality
and inexpensive drugs available
for those who need them is an
urgent measure,” he said.
MeTA was launched during the
three-day First National Forum
on Medicines Transparency.
The forum tackled wideranging health issues and heard
updates on initiatives in the drug
industry.
Duterte’s Davao wins Asean anti-smoking award
Davao mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s vigorous smoking ban is only a puff short
of sensational. You could call it outstanding.
In fact, that’s what organisers of
this year’s Asean Smoke-Free Awards
think it is.
They presented Davao City with an
award as one of the region’s outstanding smoke-free cities.
The award was given at the recent
Asean Workshop on the implemen-
tation of the Framework Convention
on Tobacco Control, the world’s first
global health treaty, in Bangkok.
Domilyn Villareiz of the World
Health Organization in Manila received the award on behalf of
Duterte.
In her presentation during the workshop, Villareiz said that even before
the Philippine national tobacco control legislation was enacted in 2004,
Davao City was already implementing
its own comprehensive anti-smoking
ordinance.
The ordinance prohibits smoking in
public transport, public accommodations, entertainment establishments
and other public places.
Villareiz said that Duterte, known
for his no-nonsense, tough style of
governance has publicly declared: “It
is politically insulting and incorrect to
smoke in front of people.”
Raul Acedre
27
29
More defection rumors sweep network
• Dry mouth and thirst
• Continuous urination
• Blurred sight
• Itchiness on skin and mucous
membranes
• Numbness in extremities
• Weight loss despite increased
appetite
The main weapon against diabetes
complications is better control of
blood sugar. Although there is no
cure for diabetes, it can be managed
successfully (and a sufferer can live a
productive life) with the following:
• Healthy, balanced diet
• Regular exercise
• Controlling sugar levels in the
blood
• Taking pills and/or insulin if needed
• Avoiding of stress
Send queries to health@filglobe.com
Study links
smoking to
increased
diabetes risk
December 2007
Danny Vibas in Manila
W
hen Ara Mina inaugurated
her new multimillion-peso
house in Quezon City in
September, talk had it that it was
a gift from the billionaire Manny
Pacquiao.
Three months later, Ara is still
fighting off the allegations – and
shedding a few tears.
Both Manny and Ara deny having
any romantic relationship, but the
rumors persist, even as Pacquiao
is being linked to another actress,
Valerie Concepcion.
Ara has come out in defense of
Valerie, but she has found herself
having to set her own record straight
by making a tearful accounting of her
resources.
Firstly, she says she was able to
buy a house and have it renovated
after she sold one of her old houses.
Also, she took out a bank loan and
did shows in the US and in other
countries for more than a month.
Last year, she did a solo concert at
the Araneta Coliseum.
She may not know the story
intimately, but Ara sprang to the
defense when Valerie started being
linked to Pacquiao.
Apparently, it started when
Pacquiao and Valerie did a movie
together, complete with a torrid
kissing scene.
Valerie later complained that the
scene was not in the original script.
Reports later went out that Valerie
looking to buy a new house for
her family – and for her lovechild
(whose father is a nephew of actressturned-broadcaster Ali Sotto).
“May daily show si Valerie as one
of Willie Revillame’s co-hosts on
ABS-CBN 2’s noontime gameshow
Wowowee,” Ara says.
“Kung simpleng bahay lang
naman ang binibili niya, siguradong
nakaipon na siya ng pangdownpayment. At madali lang magloan sa bangko ngayon, mababa pa
ang interest.
“Hindi ako naniniwalang papatol
si Valerie kay Manny, dahil alam
n’yang may asawa yon, para lang
magkabagong bahay siya.
“Hindi rin ako naniniwalang
babaero si Manny, lalo pa’t laging
maraming matang nakatingin sa
kanya, at lahat yata ng tao ay alam
ang cellphone number ng misis
n’yang si Jinky kaya naite-text agad
kung may milagrong ginagawa si
Manny.”
ex-girlfriend
Carlene Aguilar
inside a GMA
7 studio while
she was taping
a show there. At
that time, Dennis
was Cristine’s
secret boyfriend. Ara admits she is
entertaining offers from ABS-CBN
2. At present, though, she is very
much in the cast of the 12-year-old
gag show Bubble Gang.
“Hindi talaga paglipat. Wala
naman akong exclusive contract sa
GMA 7 kaya nakakapag-guest ako
sa ABS-CBN. Hindi rin ako pipirma
if ever ng exclusive contract sa
ABS-CBN, pero mayroon talaga
silang offer na kinu-consider ko,”
Ara said.
Ara all but confirmed that the
offer is a major role on the ABSCBN 2 afternoon soap opera
Prisensa ng Banyera. However,
she denies that her character will
be the one played by Angelika
de la Cruz who has moved back
to GMA 7. “Hindi ako kapalit ni
Angelika doon. Kumbaga, may
papasok na bagong character,” she
said.
Danny Vibas
30
celebrity
filipino globe
Decemberr 2007
Marimar transforms
Marian to major star
Danny Vibas in Manila
Marian Rivera knows she has to
strike while the iron is hot.
If we go by TV ratings, she
is the country’s hottest lead
actress as the title roler in GMA
7’s adaptation of the Mexican
telenovela Marimar, which first
became a phenomenal hit in
Manila when its Filipino-dubbed
version was aired by RPN 9 in
the 90s.
Today’s GMA 7 adaptation
rates almost 50 per cent in Mega
Manila (Metro Manila plus
some towns and cities in Cavite,
Bulacan, and Pampanga).
Marimar airs across two shows
of rival network ABS-CBN,
namely the second half of the
reality show Pinoy Big BrotherCelebrity Edition 2 and the first
half of the soap opera Ysabella
topbilled by real-life sweethearts
Judy Ann Santos and Ryan
Agoncillo.
The latter was rating high until
Marimar came along.
Marian, who used to play
support roles (or second lead, at
the most) now keeps a very hectic
schedule and sleeps only a few
hours.
Looks like her long-haired gay
manager Popoy Corotativo, does
not turn down profitable offers to
his now suddenly very in-demand
client.
There was one day, which
happened to be a Sunday,
when she had to go from the
location set of the Valentine
movie (A Very Special Love)
she was shooting with Richard
Gutierrez in Tandang Sora to
the press conference of the
movie Desperadas in Timog. In
heavy traffic, the short distance
kilometers is taxing and nerve-
wrecking. She arrived late for
the press con for Desperadas,
which is among the entries of
producer Lily Monteverde in the
forthcoming 2007 Metro Manila
Film Festival (and which is but
one of Marian’s two entries, the
other being Bahay Kubo, also
produced by Mother Lily).
From the press con, Marian
had to go to the Marikina
Riverbank commercial complex
to participate in a GMA 7 early
Christmas show there before she
was driven back to Tandang Sora
so she can resume shooting A
Very Special Love with Richard.
“I may not have
time to get a decent
sleep anymore.
I will have to
content myself with
sleeping in the car
while traveling
because as far as I know I have
a 6 am. call time for a taping of
Marimar which is almost always
done out of town,” Marian said.
Meanwhile, she has begun to
be sought for live performances
abroad.
Although she can’t sing like
Thalia (above), the original
Mexican Marimar (who was
thrown into opulent oblivion
when she married Motown
Records owner Sonny Mottola),
Marian dances well with the
flirtatious seductiveness of
an Española. She was born in
Barcelona, of a Spaniard father
and Filipino mother.
She and Marimar leading man
Dingdong Dantes were on a show
in Las Vegas, where a sequence
was rudely interrupted because
the largely Pinoy audience
kept screaming for Marian and
Dingdong while other stars were
doing their thing on stage.
Marian Rivera finds time for herself and her pet amid the grind.
Australia. With Ogie’s daughters
– and their mom who is now Ogie’s
ex-wife for all intents and purposes.
(Oh, yes, Ogie and Regine had
spent two or three Christmases in
Australia – all with Ogie’s ex-wife’s
blessings.)
“Kung maaayos ang schedule,
gusto naming makapagbakasyon
sa Australia,” beams Ogie. “Ang
original plan ko ay dalawin talaga
ang mga anak ko doon nang nagiisa, pero kung okay kay Reg [his
December 2007
31
Juday and Ryan: No secret marriage
Sweethearts rule out live-in relationship, insist they’ll wait for the right time
Danny Vibas in Manila
W
ould lovers Judy Ann
Santos and Ryan Agoncillo
care to live in first before
they eventually get married?
No, they don’t.
Both said they come from
conservative families who expect
them to get married before they take
up under one roof – and they have
decided to live up to their families’
expectations.
But then they seem to have not
decided when to tie the knot.
“Basta, when we feel that we’re
already well prepared financially,
Kris and James relax in their new home. Below is Kris’ prized kitchen, which James likes to call expensive.
Let’s see what’s cooking
in Kris’ pricey kitchen
Couple lets television viewers in on their best-kept secret
Danny Vibas in Manila
J
ames Yap and Kris Aquino
have moved to their own house
somewhere in the Ortigas area in
Pasig. They used to rent a spacious
three-bedroom unit at Oakwood
Hotel in Makati.
It was there that Kris had most of
her pregnancy with their firstborn,
Baby James, who may also be their
last – since Kris’ pregnancy had
been a very delicate one, almost
costing her life. (It was a pregnancy
endangered by beauty center
receptionist Hope Centeno’s claim
that she had an affair with James,
remember?)
It was also there that Kris brought
home Baby James from the Makati
Medical Center (papa James had
some exhibition games abroad
with his Purefoods cage team, so
he couldn’t fetch the baby and the
mom).
The Yaps’ new abode is a threestory structure designed by architect
Ramon Antonio. With Kris’ charm
and power of persuasion, James
allowed their new place to be
featured in Kris’ morning show with
Boy Abunda on ABS-CBN.
James has ruled that it was the first
and last time that they would allow
media cameras inside their house.
The Yaps’ new
abode is a threestory structure
designed by
architect Ramon
Antonio
James allowed every nook and
cranny of the surely multi-million
peso house – except the couple’s
bedroom.
There’s a bedroom already for
Baby James and its motif is red.
(We hope Kris would consult a
progressive pediatrician who could
tell her that red is too strong and an
unsettling color for a kid.)
Joshua’s room is orange,
according to his mom – who seems
to be not aware that it is not a very
pacifying color for a special child
like Joshua.
The couple’s bedroom is brown,
with touches of orange, which is
okay, as it is a calming color.
Kris reveals that it’s the curtains
that are in orange and it was her idea
to have orange curtains. She had the
fabrics for the curtains bought while
James was abroad again for some
exhibition games.
The kids’ playroom is on the third
floor, beside the roof deck, where
the family can hang out for coffee or
hold barbecue parties with friends
and relatives.
James likes to say his wife has had
a very expensive kitchen built.
Kris readily tells everyone that she
herself personally chose and bought
all the things that went into the
kitchen.
Regine may spend Christmas with Ogie and ex-wife in Australia
No, Regine Velasquez (right) is
not pregnant. She just has to lose
weight. And while she hasn’t, she
had better stop wearing those
gowns that don’t flatter her figure
at all.
But, yes, she’still very much on
with Ogie Alcasid (right). They’re
still very much in love with each
other.
And what do you know, if nothing
and no one gets in the way, they
will spend Christmas again in
celebrity
filipino globe
pet name for Regine], isasama ko
siya.
“Sasama siya dahil alam niyang
welcome naman siya doon.
Nag-uusap sila ni Michelle [Van
Eimeren, Ogie’s ex-wife].
“May kanya-kanya na kaming
buhay, at maayos ang sitwasyon.
Naiintindihan lahat ‘yon ni Michelle,
kahit ang ibang mga tao ang hindi
makaintindi.”
Ogie admits this is his happiest
Christmas, so far. All because he
and Regine are no longer in hiding
as lovers.
“Hindi ko naman puwedeng
sisihin yung mga taong hindi
makaintindi, o ayaw talagang
maunawaan ang aming sitwasyon.
Okey rin lang ‘yon. May opinyon
sila, and that’s just fine.
“Pero mas nararamdaman ko
ngayon ang pagtanggap. Hindi ko
iniisip na may negative effect sa
career namin ang nangyayari.”
Ogie says Pinoys in Australia
still like him despite his admission
of having long separated with
Michelle, a former Miss Australia.
Danny Vibas
mentally, emotionally and spiritually,
we will surely get married na,” Juday
said.
No one knows why mentioned
“financially”, perhaps in deference to
Ryan who is believed to be earning
less than his girlfriend.
Aside from taping for their ABSCBN 2 soap opera Ysabella, the
couple may be spending a lot of
time promoting their 2007 Metro
Manila Film Fest entry Sakal, Sakali,
Saklolo, produced by Star Cinema.
The couple shot some scenes in
Barcelona, Spain for more than a
week, making some wags suspect
that they must have found time
We’re already
sure we would
like to be married
to each other,
so we’re not in a
hurry to do it
RYAN AGONCILLO
On his relationship with Juday
to marry there secretly. But the
sweethearts insisted no secret
marriage had taken place,
“We’re not teenagers anymore.
Everybody knows we’re in our late
20s, so by now we’re pretty sure
about what we would like to do with
our lives.
“We’re already sure we would like
to be married to each other, so we’re
not in a hurry to do it,” Ryan said.
Both expect to be busy individually
next year – they are slated to do one
movie together for Mother Lily’s
Regal Entertertainment.
As usual, Juday is booked for more
commitments next year than Ryan.
Juday and Ryan ... marriage can wait.
32
celebrity
filipino globe
Ayesa set to rock Hong Kong
Australia-based Pinoy performer stars
in hit musical for limited engagement
Gilda M Bernal in Hong Kong
Philippine-born MiG Ayesa is set to
rock Hong Kong next year.
The finalist in the Rockstar INXS
reality show on CBS a few years ago
will play the lead role in the famous
musical “We Will Rock You,”
starting May 16.
“This is a great show and we
guarantee to blow your minds with
some of the greatest songs ever,” he
said. He was in Hong Kong for the
launch of the musical, held at the
Grand Hyatt hotel.
The musical has been watched by
more than six million people all over
the world and has been running in
London’s West End for the past five
years.
It has been staged in Las Vegas,
Australia, New Zealand, Japan,
South Africa, Germany, Spain and
Canada. It features 26 hit songs of
one of the greatest rock bands in
history, Queen, including the title
song We Will Rock You, Bohemian
Rhapsody, We Are the Champions,
Radio Ga Ga, Another One Bites the
Dust and Crazy Thing Called Love.
Ayesa has more than 750
performances as Galileo on the West
End stage to his credit. He will come
to Hong Kong directly from seasons
in Singapore, Seoul and Auckland.
During the launch, Ayesa wowed
the audience with his heart-stopping
performance of selected songs from
the musical, especially the Bohemian
Rhapsody.
“MiG is a wonderfully talented
person,” said James Cundall, the
founder and chief executive of
Lunchbox Theatrical Productions,
the producer of the musical in Hong
Kong.
This is a great
show and we
guarantee to
blow your minds
with some of the
greatest songs
MIG AYESA
Giving a glimpse of the musical
“He was a runner-up in Rockstar,
he did not win but that meant he
would come here to reprise the role
of Galileo,” Cundall added.
Ayesa joined the worldwide search
to replace the frontman of Australian
band INXS (pronounced “in excess”)
in 2005 and ended as a top 3 finalist.
He received millions of votes from
all over the world but many said the
bulk came from the Philippines. He
became an instant hit in his country
TAKEFIVE
Born in the Philippines, MiG Ayesa moved to Australia with his parents when
he was just seven years old. He keeps his ties with the home country.
Buddy and was chosen to join the
London cast, including a Royal
Variety Performance for Her Majesty,
the Queen. He released his self-titled
CD early this year under Decca/
Universal Records.
The show will open at Lyric
Theatre, Hong Kong Academy for
Performing Arts in Wanchai for a
limited season.
Tickets are priced from HK$350 to
HK$795.
your guide to products & services
filipino globe
Photog sues ex-Bond
Pierce Brosnan has been
hit with a lawsuit by the
photographer who claims he
was beaten up by the James
Bond star earlier this year.
Brosnan is alleged to have
attacked Robert
Rosen in Malibu,
California, in
October, but Los
Angeles County
prosecutors
decided not to
press criminal
charges against
the 54-year-old last month,
citing lack of evidence.
However, Rosen is now suing
Brosnan for assault and battery,
according to legal documents.
Jodie Foster is facing fresh
speculation over her sexuality
after paying tribute to “my
beautiful Cydney” at a recent
Hollywood awards ceremony.
The Oscar winner, 44,
appeared to confess her love for
film producer Cydney Bernard
in her acceptance speech after
being presented with the Sherry
Lansing Leadership Award at
the Women In Entertainment in
Los Angeles last week.
She told the crowd at the
Beverly Hills Hotel, “(Thank you
to) my beautiful Cydney, who
sticks with me through all the
rotten and the bliss.”
Foster normally refuses to talk
about her personal life.
Hollywood roundup
December 2007
33
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Foster caught flat
of birth who eagerly anticipated
his weekly performances on the
program. “I did not win. I definitely
did not lose,” Ayesa said. “For me
this [playing Galileo] is the best I
have ever done and I jumped at the
chance to do it.”
Ayesa’s family moved to Australia
when he was only seven years
old. He has starred in several TV
programs, commercials and musicals
there. He played Ritchie Valens in
classified globe
December 2007
Janet
&
Grace
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Filipina
• Filipino food products
• Print, copy or fax
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Users of the online auction site eBay wanted more of Britney Spears than
Paris Hilton this year. The number of Spears-related items sold at the
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with Hilton, eBay said this week.
Among the Hilton-related items sold: a toothbrush claimed to have been
found in the hotel heiress’s trash.
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After performing for 25 years in dimly lighted bars in the Philippines, Arnel
Pineda, 40, has been hired as the new singer for the 1980s rock band
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Pineda performing Journey covers on YouTube and flew him to California
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Will Smith’s new sci-fi thriller “I Am Legend” is hitting movie theaters
across Asia later this month – but not in China. “We struggled very, very
hard to try to get it to work out, but there are only a certain amount of
foreign films that are allowed in,” Smith said.
Internet Cafefe
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A doctor researching an ancient
society deep in the Himalayan
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34
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your guide to products & services
December 2007
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car central
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December 2007
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palakasan
filipino globe
Bagong simula
para kay Asi
Taulava sa
Coke Tigers
December 2007
Mahirap hindi mapansin si Asi
Taulava anumang anggulo. Pero tila
hindi masyadong kapansin-pansin
ang nilalaro ngayon ng 6-foot-9 na
Filipino-Tongan.
Jobs and travel
made easy ...
License No. 100-LB-060507-R
Kailangan patunayan ng higanteng
Fil-Tongan ang halaga nito sa koponan
Celeste Maring in Manila
Matapos na mabigong iangat ang
powerhouse na Talk ‘N Text sa itaas,
nahaharap si Asi Taulava sa mas
mahirap na misyon – ang hilahin
pataas ang tila nasa kumunoy na
Coca Cola Tigers.
Naglalaro na ang 6-foot-9 na si
Taulava para sa Tigers makaraang
ilipat ito ng Talk ‘N Text sa Coca
Cola kapalit ni Ali Peek. Ito ay kahit
pa may natitirang dalawang taon pa
sa P8.4 milyong kontrata.
Kinakailangan ngayon ni Taulava
na tulungang umahon ang Tigers at
iangat ang imahe ng Coca Cola team.
“It was a difficult trade,” sabi ni
Talk ‘N Text governor Ricky Vargas.
“The franchise fought side by
side with Asi during the most trying
times,” paliwanag pa nito.
“Asi was always Talk ‘N Text but
we had to do it for a bigger purpose.
I will personally miss him and he
will always be a friend,” wika ni
Vargas.
Umaasa naman si Coach Binky
Favis ng Tigers na ang pagkakasama
ni Taulava sa kanilang lineup ay
magpapalakas pa sa kanila.
Limang taon na ang nakakaraan,
ang posibilidad na i-trade si Taulava
ay tila isang bagay na imposible
para sa Talk N Text na nakawalong
season sa PBA. Ang higante ay isa
sa kinukunsiderang haligi ng TNT
franchise.
Subalit ang pagdating nina Harvey
Carey, Jay Washington, Yancy de
Ocampo at Don Allado – pawang
mga masisipag at may mahusay na
good perimeter shooting – na bawat
taon ay umaangat ang laro sa bawat
season ay tila nagselyo ng walking
papers ng Fil-Tongan.
Hindi naman ikinakaila ni Favis na
excited siya na makasama si Taulava
sa koponan. Idinagdag nito na ang
height ni Taulava ay magpapa-angat
sa Coca Cola Tigers bukod pa sa
papasak sa kakulangan ng manlalaro.
“I’m very excited, but, we really
haven’t played with a complete
lineup yet,” ani Favis,.
Ang mga injured players ng Coca
Cola Tigers ay sina John Arigo
(kamay), rookie Ronjay Buenafe
(bruised foot bone) at Cesar Catli
(strained calf).
“But as long as we have five guys,
and as long as our remaining guys
Asi was always Talk ‘N Text but we
had to do it for a bigger purpose. I
will personally miss him and he will
always be a friend
RICKY VARGAS
Talk ‘N Text governor
play with big hearts, good things will
happen,” wika ni Favis.
Ayon naman kay Vargas, hindi sila
dehado sa pagkakuha kay Peek.
“Although he is five inches shorter
than Taulava, the 6-4 Peek is a
certified monster off the boards and
an excellent defender with a soft
shooting touch – exactly the kind of
middleman TNT needs badly,” wika
nito.
Sa edad na 32 at nasa ikasiyam
Donaire, hangad ang tatlong sabay na titulo
Celeste Maring in Manila
Maniniwala ba kayo na ang
pinakasikat na flyweight champion
sa ngayon na si Nonito Donaire ay
“lampa” noong siya ay bata pa?
Mahirap man na isipin pero ito
ang naging buhay ni Donaire noong
siya ay bata pa at habang nakatira sa
kanyang lola.
Ayon pa sa kanya, minsan ay
naranasan na niyang magising
sa gabi at umiyak dahil sa takot
pagtutulungan na naman siya ng mga
siga sa kanilang lugar.
Tatlong taon itong tiniis ni Donaire
hanggang sa pumunta siya sa San
Leandro, California sa Estados
Unidos. Noon niya nadiskubre ang
boksing.
“I was always being picked on,”
sabi ni Donaire. “I still think I have
that [meek] personality outside the
ring but boxing gave me confidence.”
Noong 11-taong gulang pa lamang
si Donaire, dinala siya ng kanyang
ama sa gym dahil ayaw nito na
mapasama siya at ang kanyang
kapatid na si Glenn sa mga gang.
“If he’d joined I would have
followed his path,” Nonito says, “but
he boxed so I followed that path.
I think it helped us become better
Taglay ni Nonito Donaire ang
kumpiyansan na nagpataob
ng maraming kalaban.
kids. Once we got serious it was all
about being in the gym every day. It
made me disciplined. It was like my
home.”
Pagkatapos ng 14 na taon, ang
daang ito ay nagbunsod sa kanya sa
pandaigdigang kampeon makaraan
ang 19 na laban lamang.
Ang bata na dating umiiyak sa
gabi at takot na natutulog, ang
siyang nagpapatulog ngayon ng mga
kalaban sa boksing.
Ito ang naging kapalaran ng
magiting na boksingero na si Luis
Maldonado ng Mexico.
palakasan
filipino globe
Sa ring pinatunayan ng IBF
flyweight champion na isa siya sa
pinakamahusay na boksingero
ngayon ng bansa.
Pinabagsak niya sa ikawalong
round si Maldonado.
Ipinamalas ng 25-anyos na si
Donaire (19-1, 12 KOs) ang husay
na nagbigay sa kanya ng korona
upang tapusin ang duguang si
Maldonado (37-2-1, 28 KOs) sa
counter left hook na sumalpok sa
baba ng challenger.
“I couldn’t move very well
tonight,” wika ni Donaire makaraan
ang panalo. “My legs just weren’t
there. So I relied on upper body
movement and counter punching.
I knew Maldonado was tough.
He’s a great fighter and he has a lot
of courage. I respect him and his
effort.”
Ngayon pa lamang ay malayo na
ang tanaw ni Donaire.
Hawak ni Takefumi Sakata ng
Japan ang WBA flyweight crown
habang si Daisuke Naito ang
nagsusuot ng WBC belt, pero, ayon
kay Donaire hangad niyang hawakan
lahat ang korona sa 112-pound.
“I would like to unify,” sabi ni
Donaire. “I respect Manny Pacquiao.
He’s a great champion. But I want
to be the first fighter from the
Philippines to unify titles.”
“That will be great feeling,”
aniya.
“Everybody poses a threat,”
dagdag nito. “I can’t let anybody try
and take it [the title] away from me.”
Ayon sa mga nakapanood ng
laban ni Donaire, ang Filipino
champion ang posibleng magbigay
ng panibagong “buhay” sa flyweight
division.
“I’m looking to validate that I’m a
world champion,” buong pag-asang
wika ni Donaire.
na season sa propesyunal na liga,
si Peek ay maglalaro sa ikaapat na
koponan niya sa liga. Nagsimula ang
kanyang career sa Pop Cola noong
1998 bago na-trade sa Alaska at
pagkatapos ay sa Coca Cola.
“Hopefully, it [trade] could change
the complexion of how the team
plays,” sabi ni Favis.
Pero, tiyak na kakailanganin ni
Taulava ng dobleng ganansiya.
Sa unang araw ng asignatura
ni Taulava sa Coca Cola Tigers,
gumawa ito ng 33 points at 17
rebounds pero hindi ito nakasapat
para tulungan ang Tigers na lalo pang
lumapit sa exit ng komperensya.
Saludo pa rin
ang Pinoy kay
‘Superman’
Kahit pa nagdurugo ang puso ng
mga Pinoy dahil sa pagkatalo ni
Roberto “Superman” Gomez sa
kamay ni Daryl Peach, lahat ay
bumilib pa rin sa performance ng
Filipino player.
Siya ang kauna-unahang
manlalarong qualifier na nakapasok
sa finals ng US$400,000 World Pool
championship.
Bukod dito, siya rin ang unang
manlalaro mula sa timog na bahagi
ng Pilipinas na nakapasok sa titular
match bilang isang qualifier.
Kulang pa ang karanasan at
exposure ni Gomez sa internasyunal
na mga torneo kung kaya di siya
awtomatikong naimbitahang
lumahok sa kampeonato.
“Grabe ang kaba ko noong
championship, noong unang mga
laban sa qualifying, sabi ko laban
lang, pero noong title match na,
iba na ang pakiramdam,” wika ni
Gomez.
Kinailangan pa ni Gomez dumaan
sa sampung qualifying tournament
sa loob ng isang buwan bago
pinayagang maglaro sa torneo.
Celeste Maring
December 2007
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Employment and Travel Services
Boxing drama
as RP officials
tell fighters to
retire in finals
We came here to
compete not only
for the gold but
to compete in the
spirit of fair play
MONICO PUENTEVELLA
Explaining the ‘retirement’ of the team
Veiled sanctions force reversal of grand
plan to dramatise protest over bias
Philippine sports officials defended
the decision to “retire” the boxing
team in the Southeast Asian Games
finals.
Bacolod lawmaker and chef de
mission Monico Puentevella, said
the move just might save the sport
in this meet that has been tainted by
cheating for so long.
“We came here to compete not
only for the gold but to compete in
the spirit of fair play. But this is too
much. We have to put a stop to it
[cheating],” Puentevella said.
“This is going to destroy boxing in
the SEA Games.”
Had tiny Annie Albania not
knocked out Hansa Kadeewong to
retain the flyweight title she won
in Bacolod two years ago, all six of
them that saw action that night would
have wound up with silver, victims
of hometown decisions.
An angry Puentevella said
Philippine team officials would meet
and come up with an official stand’ to
express the contingent’s displeasure
over the bum calls.
In the men’s finals, featuring seven
RP-Thai showdowns, there was
neither a walkout nor protest from
the Philippine camp.
And then the grand plan, hatched
overnight, began to unfold: Filipino
boxers were to retire one by one as
they entered the ring, touching mitts
with their rivals first, take off their
gear and no longer fight inside the
packed Tumbon Mueanpug gym.
By the time the second fighter
bantamweight Junel Cantancio had
done his thing, Taiwanese CK Wu,
the world amateur boxing chief,
was already rising from his VIP seat
to meet with the RP officials and
prevent a possible ring fiasco.
Under the veiled threat of sanctions
that could endanger the country’s
Beijing Olympics prospects and light
flyweight Harry Tanamor, the first
Olympic qualifier, Puentevella and
his group relented and allowed the
rest of the RP charges to compete.
“Mr. Wu assured us that we
would not be sanctioned if the boys
resumed fighting. We might also be
37
Thai students show the best of
the nation’s culture during the
opening ceremonies.
in trouble with the world amateur
boxing body,” Puentevella said later.
“But we were able to deliver our
message loud and clear. Hindi na
dapat masaktan ang mga bata natin
dito na alam naman nating matatalo
rin naman.”
Even Lopez, who kept mum while
his women’s wards were taking a
beating in officiating, also broke his
silence and issued a statement.
“We do not want our boxers to
be maltreated. At the same time,
we do not want our country to be
dishonored. This is why our boys lost
their spirit to fight and courage after
they witnessed what happened to the
women’s squad,” Lopez added.
Meanwhile, The Blu Boys and
Blu Girls preserved the Philippines’
winning tradition in softball by
coming up with another double
victory.
The Blu Girls keyed the Filipino
batters’ pair of crown jewels with a
masterful 7-0 blanking of surprise
finalist Singapore in a game that only
lasted six innings.
The Blu Boys followed the feat
with a more emphatic five-inning
regulation 11-2 overpowering of
Indonesia that further asserted the
Filipinos’ supremacy in the sport.
Syrel Ramos, a 26-year-old right
hand specialist from Lantapan town
in south Bukidnon played without
relief and restricted the Singaporeans
to a measly four hits in a superb
display of pitching prowess.
The Philippines ended up with a
pair of silvers in traditional boat race
as both its men’s and women’s teams
lost narrowly to surprisingly tough
Myanmar teams at the close of the
competition.
Both teams went neck-and-neck
with their Myanmar rivals, but they
failed to overcome the odds in the
finals of the 500-meter event for men
and women in the wind-swept waters
of the big reservoir
The Filipino paddlers, skippered by
Usman Anterola, got hobbled by the
big waves in the homestretch and lost
by three-fourths of a second in the
men’s final.
‘Hindi pwedeng mabalewala ang pangarap ni mommy para sa akin’
Celeste Maring in Manila
Kahit na nagluluksa ang puso
dahil sa pagkamatay ng kanyang
ina, hindi pa rin ito sagabal kay
Kaissa Saguisag (kanan) upang
sumali sa Southeast Asian Games
sa Thailand.
Sa halip na lumuha, buong
tapang na sinabi ni Kaissa na
gagawin niya ang kanyang
pinakamahusay upang ialay sa
yumaong ina na si Dulce ang
tagumpay sa biennial meet.
Nasawi ang ina ni Kaissa na
si Dulce Saguisag makaraang
mabundol ng truck ang van na
sinasakyan noong nakaraang
buwan. Si Saguisag ay naging
secretary-general ng Gymanstics
Association of the Philippines.
“Tuloy pa rin ako sa SEAG dahil
’yun naman po talaga ang gusto
ni Mommy [Dulce] ever since,”
naiiyak na sabi ni Kaissa. “Hindi
po ako papayag na mabalewala
ang lahat ng pangarap ni Mommy
para sa akin.”
Habang isinusulat ang artikulong
ito, ang ama ni Kaissa na si dating
senator Rene Saguisag ay nakaconfine pa rin sa Makati Medical
Center at nagpapagaling.
Ang batang Saguisag ay
isa sa dalawag gymnasts na
kakatawanin ang bansa sa
Thailand Games.
Nakaentra siya sa
women’s artistic
event habang
ang isa pang
gymnast na si
Nikka Calapatan
ay magpapakitangaksyon sa rhythmic event.
Kung tutuusin ay aksidente
lamang na nadiskubre ng magasawang Saguisag ang talento
ng bunsong anak na si Kaissa sa
gymnastics.
Noong bata pa, prinoblema nina
Rene at Dulce si Kaissa dahil
sa hyperactive ito. Maysakit din
itong dyslexia, isang neurological
disorder na ang pangunahing
ekpresyon ay ang paghina ng
isang tao sa pagbabasa at
pagsusulat, salungat sa antas
ng talino niya. “Very hyper siya
noong bata. Sobrang likot. One
time, may bisita si Dulce na may
anak na gymnast. Noong makita
niya kung gaano kalikot si Kaissa,
tinawag niya. Tapos, inunat niya
’yung kamay niya at sinabi niya
kay Kaissa na abutin ang paa.
Nagawa naman ni Kaissa. Iyon
ang nag-udyok sa kanila para
ipasok si Kaissa sa gymnastics,”
ayon sa malapit na kaibigan ng
mga Saguisag.
Agad na ini-enrol ni Dulce
ang anak sa isang special
school na tumulong kay Kaissa
na maalpasan ang mga sakit
kasabay nang pagsikat nito sa
gymnastics.
Noong 2005, nagwagi si Kaissa
ng bronze medal sa SEA Games.
“Gagawin ko po ang lahat ng
aking makakaya. Alam ko na
hindi ako pababayaan ni mommy,
ito ang gusto niya para sa akin,”
wika ni Kaissa na hindi tumigil sa
pag-eensayo bilang paraan upang
maiwasan ang pagkalungkot.
“Nami-miss ko si mommy, lalo
na ngayon na may competition
ako. Siya ang cheerleader ko,
coach, lahat-lahat na” aniya.
38
palakasan
filipino globe
December 2007
Ticket sales launched
as system passes test
Lakers fans whoop it up while waiting in line for tickets. They will see Phil Jackson back at the helm.
Lakers’ US$24m man
throws his hat back in
LA bags Phil Jackson again, never mind the cost, writes Tom Almazan
I
t just keeps soaring, and as far
as coach salaries go, this one for
Phil Jackson has the look of a
rocket blasting off.
Not that strastospheric pay hasn’t
been paid before to a prized mentor.
And you guessed it right – it was
also Jackson.
Last week, the Lakers veteran
agreed to terms of a two-year
extension worth about US$24
million, putting him under contract
through the 2009-10 season.
A person with knowledge of the
situation, speaking on condition of
anonymity because the Lakers hadn’t
made an announcement, confirmed
the agreement.
“Phil discussed his contract
situation before Los Angeles hosted
the Denver Nuggets,” Lakers
spokesman John Black said last
week.
Jackson’s decision to return was
first reported by the Los Angeles
Times on its website.
In June 1999, the 62-year-old
Jackson signed a five-year, US$30
million contract with the Lakers.
He coached them to three
championships before they lost
to San Antonio in the Western
Phil discussed
his contract
situation before
Los Angeles
hosted the
Denver Nuggets
JOHN BLACK
Lakers spokesman
Phil Jackson has won nine
championships as head coach.
Conference semifinals in 2003 and
were beaten by Detroit in the NBA
finals in 2004.
Jackson and the team parted ways
in June 2004, and he took a year
off before signing a three-year, $30
million contract – the richest deal for
an NBA coach – on June 14, 2005.
Rudy Tomjanovich had signed a
five-year deal with the Lakers after
Jackson left, but stepped down after
a half-season on the job.
Jackson put off his decision to
return twice before meeting with
Lakers owner Jerry Buss. Jackson
said in training camp he would
decide before the start of the season,
then said earlier this month he would
do so before Thanksgiving.
He had expressed uncertainty
because he’s undergone two hip
replacement operations since 2006
– the second one last June. He used
a cane throughout the preseason.
Jackson and former Boston Celtics
coach Red Auerbach each have
earned nine championship rings as
a head coach. Jackson guided the
Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls to
six titles in the 1990s before taking a
year off and then joining the Lakers
before the 1999-2000 season.
The second phase of ticket sales
began on December 10 and will
end on December 30. A lottery
system similar to that used in the
first phase will also apply for this
phase, ticketing center director
Zhu Yan said.
Mainlanders can submit
applications through the official
ticketing website (www.tickets.
beijing2008.cn) or through 1,000
Bank of China outlets designated
by organising commitee.
The public may contact the
ticket call center to obtain relevant
information, but the center will not
accept applications, he added. After
the deadline, the ticketing center will
randomly select buyers based on the
pool of tickets available.
Zhu said organisers considered
suggestions from various circles
and decided to adopt a sales policy
similar to that of the first phase
following the events of October 30.
The ticketing service supplier,
Beijing Gehua Ticketmaster
Ticketing Co Ltd, has upgraded its
system and conducted to ensure its
smooth operation.
Top-end Velodrome
Occupying 33,320 square meters, the
Laoshan Velodrome shines as a brand
new venue for the track cycling
event.
The three-story building is 33.8
meters tall, capable of seating 6,000
including 3,000 temporary seats.
It is capped with a dish-shaped
dome where more than 200 lights are
installed. A 250-meter all-weather
wooden cycle track lies on the floor,
surrounded by rows of blue spectator
chairs.
The velodrome has a lattice-framed
steel structure, with a horizontal
shadow spanning 133.06 meters, and
150 meters in diameter.
To put 1,400 tones of steel
structure in place, the engineers and
workers displayed their “weaving”
skills on and above ground. A 500
meter round steel rail was set up
to lift the beams and gradually
expanded the surface on which the
supportive structures are erected.
At one point, it took four hours for
OLYMPICUPDATE
countdown continues
700 workers to use 64 capstan
engines to put the dome’s skeleton
in place.
Focus of the world
The first ever Olympic Expo is to be
held in Beijing from August 8 to 18.
Jointly sponsored by the
International Olympic Committee,
the Olympic Organising Committee,
the Chinese Olympic Committee, and
the China Post Group, it will be an
international Olympic cultural event
of the largest scope, widest coverage,
and highest level in Olympic history.
The exhibits will include IOC
collections,
highlighted
by the stamp
collections of
former IOC
president
Juan Antonio
Samaranch;
special Olympic-themed stamps
from the China Stamp Museum;
special Olympic-themed coins
from the China Coin Museum;
special Olympic-themed stamps of
international collectors; international
Olympic memorabilia collections;
and international Olympic art works.
At the launching ceremony,
representatives of the sponsoring
organisations unveiled the emblem
of the expo, which symbolises a
piece of red jade transmuted from
auspicious clouds.
They also launched the official
website (www.2008expo.org)
and issued invitation letters to
representatives of the participating
countries. Organising committee
executive vice-president Jiang
Xiaoyu said that in August 2008,
Beijing will be a focal point of the
world.
on respect in the workplace including
the prohibition of sexual harassment,”
Stern said in statement.
On Monday, Thomas and MSG settled the case brought by former team
executive Anucha Browne Sanders
for US$11.5 million. A jury awarded
her US$11.6 million in punitive damages in October – a trial Stern wanted
the Knicks to avoid.
The deal came as Browne Sanders prepared to return to US District
Court in Manhattan this week for the
compensatory damages phase of her
civil trial.
In October, Stern said he was waiting to take action, because he didn’t
want to issue a penalty he would potentially have to take back if the decision was overturned by appeal.
ARIES Mar 21-Apr 19
LIBRA
So many places to
see, and so little time.
This month, however,
somehow you’ll need
to find the time. Five heavenly
bodies will be brightening your
long-distance travel sector, all in fire
signs like yours, and you will have
the enthusiasm, time, and even the
money to pack and go.
Get ready for a flurry
of communication and
more than just a few
visits from friends,
neighbors, and family. Quick,
short travel will certainly be part
of the picture too this month, so to
maximise your holiday experience,
you’ll need to be super-organised
and doubly quick-footed.
TAURUS
SCORPIO
Apr 21-May 20
The Olympic Stadium, housed in a controversial ‘bird’s nest’ structure,
has become a talking point among architects, designers and sportsmen.
Oct 23-Nov 22
Scorpio is known to be
savvy about money,
but this month, you
prove the point in a big
way. Five celestial bodies will crowd
in your earned income sector, so
it’s clear you’ll be raking in cash
faster than a blackjack dealer in Las
Vegas. The difference is that you
won’t win your stash but will get it
the old fashioned way.
GEMINI May 21-Jun 20
SAGITTARIUS
One relationship
may turn out to
be downright life
changing. With a
plethora of planets building in
your seventh house of serious
commitments, you are about to
have a “coming together” of major
proportions. You may get engaged
or married, or you may sign papers
with a business partner.
Sometimes everything
comes together to
create a near-perfect
set of conditions for
achieving a dream – this is precisely
that kind of month for you.
The headline news this month is
Jupiter will conjoin Pluto, a rare,
once-in-13-year event that always
spells wild financial success.
Remarkably so this time.
CANCER
CAPRICORN
Nov 23-Dec 22
Dec 21-Jan 19
This will be a busy
month at your
workplace, perhaps
because the nature
of your job is seasonal. Whatever
you do for a living, it appears that
throngs of customers will appear
at your door or that your boss will
have piles of work for you to do or
manage.
Have you ever
watched a gold medal
Olympic athlete just
prior to putting on her
performance? Winners are never
distracted. They tend to spend
time alone, centering themselves,
going through their upcoming
performance in their mind. This
could be you.
LEO Jul 21-Aug 21
AQUARIUS
With five power planets
filling your house of
true love, you are
about to embark on an
enchanting phase, much like the
Owl and the Pussycat who alighted
their own love boat. Jupiter, the
planet of happiness and expansion,
will see to it that you have a
sensational phase to remember.
Do wishes come true
at this magical time of
the year? I say yes,
especially if you are
an Aquarian. If you could only see
your chart at the start of the month!
Jupiter, the giver of gifts and luck,
is about to leave Sagittarius after
a year’s visit to your 11th house of
your deeply held hopes and wishes.
VIRGO Aug 22-Sep 22
PISCES
Even though the
holidays are upon you,
this month shines for
all sorts of favorable
domestic and real estate decisions.
You may buy or sell property,
acquire beautiful new furniture, or
decide to remodel the kitchen. It
will be a period of exciting decisionmaking.
In this magical month,
you will see your
career explode with
all kinds of amazingly
good news. You’ve worked long
and hard, and now, as reward,
everything appears to reach critical
mass, allowing you to rise to a
whole new level of influence and
satisfaction.
Philippine Consulate
2823 8501
9155 4023
Labour Hotline
6080 8323
Immigration
2824 6111
Police/Fire/Hospital
999
Labour Department
2717 1771
Labour Tribunal
2717 1771
Airport assistance
2861 3980
Int’l Social Services
2836 3598
Caritas Filipino Serv
2526 4249
2147 5988
Bethune House
2721 3119
Bayanihan Center
2817 8928
Asian Migrant Center
2312 0031
Mission for Fil Mig
2522 8264
Unifil Hong Kong
2522 8264
Race Relations Unit
2835 1579
Fil Mig Work Union
2915 9468
ANGSISTE
Sep 23-Oct 22
You have sharpened
your pencil and have
a good idea of the
money you need to
make certain dreams come true.
What would that be? Do you want
to buy a house or condo? Pay for
school? Start or expand your own
business? Live abroad? This month,
the world is your oyster. If you can
dream it, you can do it.
Jun 20-Jul 21
39
filipino globe
BUHAYPALAD
USEFUL NUMBERS
Isiah Thomas pays US$11.5m to settle sex case
NBA commissioner David Stern
won’t punish Isiah Thomas or Madison Square Garden for their role in a
sexual harassment trial that embarrassed the Knicks and the league.
“Instead, we are going to continue to
focus our attention on a league-wide
program ensuring that all teams have
appropriate policies, clearly communicated to their employees, focusing
dibersyon
December 2007
KATUWAANLANG
Comedy catches up with Peninsula mutineers
Top 10 reasons
Trillanes and Co
packed up
Top reasons they
should have gone to
Victoria Court instead
1) Not even his mother joined
them
2) Oakwood had a better lobby
3) CNN was not there to cover it
(Okay, CNN did cover it)
4) The hotel had run out of halohalo
5) The APCs were parked in the
lobby and not the parking lot
6) Trillanes realised being
teargassed was not part of his
mandate as senator.
7) Guingona thought it was an
anti-Erap, or pro-Erap pardon
rally, whatever ...
8) Surrender was better than the
company of Fr Robert Reyes.
9) Trillanes noticed people were
crying not because of the tear gas
but because of him
10) Even GMA was beginning to
look good the longer they stayed
1) They were only gonna stay for
a “short time” anyway
2) Free parking at Victoria Court
3) They could have wet the
towels in the jacuzzi to combat
tear gas
4) There are no wedding
receptions in Victoria Court (only
honeymoons)
5) It always has more people than
Manila Pen
6) The APC won’t know which
garage to park
7) The ceiling mirrors would
have thrown off the raiding party
8) ABS-CBN could have done
an episode of XXX and The Buzz
while covering the coup
9) “What happens in Victoria
Court stays in Victoria court”
10) It’s a better place to get
screwed
LARONGSUDOKU
Jan 20-Feb 18
Feb 19-Mar 20
Pinakamainit na laro ngayon, hamon sa kakayahang mag-isip at magbilang. Punuin ang mga square ng
numero mula 1 hanggang 9 na hindi umuuulit. May dalawa kayong tsansa para hamunin ang sarili. Suko?
Tingnan ang sagot sa aming internet edition (www.filglobe.com).
YOURDIARY
December 15
All Filipino Adventist Youth
Federation Christmas party,
9am - 6.30pm, Disneyland
Inspirational Lake. Cathy
Ligan 9242 7277.
December 16
Galing Manggagawa Pinoy
Abroad Int’l Filipino fiesta,
9am - 9pm, Chater Road.
Jojo 2849 2201.
December 23
Leyte/Samar Association
Street, Sai Ying Pun.
Christmas party, 12 - 5pm,
Admiralty Park. Tess 9469
4172.
January 6
Kowloon City Association
first anniversary, 1 - 6pm,
3/F Sai Ying Pun
Community Hall, 3 High
Ongoing activities
Licensure Examination
for Teachers registration,
Philippine Consulate,
Sunday to Thursday,
9 am - 5pm, Metro Bank,
15/F United Center, Friday,
9 am - 5pm. Saturday
9am - 12pm (half day).
Registration fee: US$40
(overseas examination).
Until January 31. Gemma
9208 2568, Edna 9760
EXCHANGE RATES
4962, Minerva 9535 5671,
Josie 96065140.
Hong Kong dollar
Filipino Nurses AssociationHK signature campaign
to introduce professional
licensure examination for
nurses in Hong Kong. Call
6438 4464 or 9518 0835 for
details.
Saudi riyal
11.4898
Canadian dollar
44.4122
Euro
62.9036
Send your activities and
programs for publication
to info@filglobe.com
British pound
change
Australian dollar
Japanese yen*
5.5106
88.1405
39.7132
0.3852
Singapore dollar
29.6634
US dollar
42.9200
*per 100 yen
Above rates are for reference only. Please
check with your bank for the actual rates.
shoot, show & tell
filipino globe
the big picture
December 2007
40
HOLY LAND
The holy city of Jerusalem has been the Israeli capital since 1950 but most governments maintain their official representation in Tel Aviv. Israel is home to an estimated 30,000 Filipinos, mostly migrant
workers who began arriving in significant numbers in the 1980s. They work mostly in Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv, where they tend to live near the Carmel Market, a short walk from the Philippine embassy.
Now serving in Malacañang: Happy Meals
A
fter a year full of political
crisis, corruption scandals,
bombings and coup
attempts, what does everyone in the
Philippines look forward to?
No, not medication: Christmas!
Christmas matters a lot in this
country. It’s the festive, happy season
when – should you make the mistake
of going near the airport – you risk
being trampled flat by the millions of
overseas workers desperately rushing
home to spend the holiday with their
families.
And why shouldn’t they be frantic?
They’re trying to get to the nearest
money changers before the dollar
sinks again.
Yes, Christmas is important. After
all, this joyous occasion of giving
comes only once a year (except
in Congress, where it’s Christmas
everyday) and we all save up to
enjoy and make the most of it.
That’s why we’re devoting this
column to dealing with some of the
problems you might encounter on the
way to maximising your Philippine
Christmas experience.
LIGHTERSIDE
view from home
Alan C Robles
in Manila
alan.robles@filglobe.com
Hi! We just arrived in Manila
and look forward to spending
a nice, quiet, peaceful and calm
Christmas and New Year’s here
then visit another mall. And after
that, visit another mall. Then there’s
that other mall. And did we say you
can visit a mall?
Seriously, are there any other
places we can see?
If you can successfully pretend
to be a governor or a congressman,
you can meet the President in
Malacañang Palace. As you leave
you will receive the traditional
Palace giveaway: a brown bag with
half a mil.
Did you say “half a mil”? Don’t
This joyous occasion of giving comes
only once a year (except in Congress,
where it’s Christmas everyday)
in your beautiful, clean and
unpolluted city.
You landed in the wrong city.
What are the things we can
do during Christmas holiday in
Manila?
Well you can visit the mall. And
you realise that’s an unfounded
libelous accusation?
Did we say that? No, no we
actually meant “Happy Meal”.
We decided to splurge a little,
check into a five-star hotel and
enjoy ourselves. It’s wonderful.
There’s only one problem: there’s
an Armored Personnel Carrier in
the lobby.
Either coup plotters have taken
over your hotel, or they’ve run out
of space in the parking area. Act
nonchalant.
Help! This Christmas traffic is
terrible. We’re stuck on Edsa and
haven’t been moving at all. What
should we do?
How long have you been there?
Since 2004.
Call up Fidel Ramos and ask him
to tell you about his vision for the
Philippines. Soon you’ll fall asleep
and time will pass by rapidly and
before you know it, when you wake
up you’ll still be stuck in traffic. But
at least you’ll feel refreshed.
Will Ramos really talk to me?
Why not? Nobody else is listening
to him anyway.
Can you help me clean my room?
It’s a mess.
We’re not that kind of column.
My room is inside Malacañang
Palace.
We’ll be there in 15 minutes.
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