Mission Marines: HUNTING DOWN THE CULPRITS

Hunt down the culprits. This is the mission of the company of Marines detailed with the Presidential Security Group, which was sent off by no less than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Saturday.

This is in line with the earlier directive of the President for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) "to hunt down and arrest those who treacherously killed and beheaded the soldiers," stressing "there can be no excuses or alibis for these acts of savagery."

It would be recalled that the Moro Islamic Liberation Army fighters mercilessly killed on July 10 in Basilan, fourteen members of the Marines, beheading and mutilating ten of them, while on a mission to rescue kidnapped Italian priest Gian Carlo Bossi.

The President’s action of sacrificing her own personal security by sending a part of the Presidential Security Group to help in the manhunt, only shows that the Philippine Government values the life of the 14 marines and the it will never allow any one to trample on the rule of law and put a threat on the peace and security of the people, by sowing terrorist acts.

As aptly stated in the invocation of PSG Chaplain Col. Pelagio Namocatcat, Jr. when he called on the Almighty God to make the marines lovers of peace but ever prepared to defend it.
The barbaric killing and mutilation of the 14 Marines also led the Association of Generals and Flag Officers (AGFO) to announce its support for any "punitive action" by the military against the group that perpetrated the "cruel and animalistic conduct of decapitating and chopping off private parts, ears, arms and legs of the dead Marines (that) cannot but evoke anger as it is horrifying."

In a statement, the AGFO, headed by retired Brig. Gen. Jaime Echevarria, said justice has to be "meted against the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf for perpetrating such hideous and dreadful crimes."

The government continues its search for lasting peace in Mindanao to ensure that the Filipino people will continue to live in an atmosphere of security and development.

WHEN EDUCATED WORKING WOMEN ALLOW THEMSELVES TO BE BATTERED

When women from the far-flung areas become battered wives, we are not surprised. We readily assume that these are not educated, they do not know their rights, and hence, they cannot defend themselves.

So the government targets the women in the rural areas, educating them on their rights and responsibilities, arming them with the necessary skills so that they will not fall prey to battering husbands.

What a shocking surprise it is then to know that educated women, working women, women who are in the government service allow themselves to be battered, physically, emotionally, psychologically!

Read this. Belle (not her real name) is a frontline staff in a government agency in Tacloban City. She is a smart staff, otherwise, she will not be assigned as a front liner. But what was described to the writer last night, is far from the Belle she used to know. Belle is lost, confused, disoriented.
Late yesterday afternoon, two social worker friends, answered to a call for help from a college student whose mother sent her a text message asking the daughter to save her because she has been lacked in her house for days.

Belle, the mother, was living with a partner in one of the housing villages in Tacloban City. Her live-in partner lacked her up and did not allow her to leave their abode as a punishment for giving him only P1,500.00 from her winning of P10,000.00. Belle gave the lot of the winning to her daughter and son, who are both studying and who needed the money for their tuition fees.
When the composite team together with the daughter to the abode of her mother, they practically had to pull her out of her abode. The live-in partner who was leaving the abode when the team arrived, came back to sweetly ask Belle to eat first. He was told by the social workers to just talk to her at the women's desk of the Tacloban City Police Station.

Why did Belle not seek help earlier? She said that her live-in partner threatened to show her delicate video to her office mates and that she was afraid he might harm her children as well.
Belle and her daughter are now in the custody of the Haven. What a shock that she has never heard of RA 9262.

There are many other faceless Belles in the bureaucracy. Several of them, we know. The story of Belle is an eye opener that even educated women, women in the government service, are themselves victims of wife battering.

For another government worker, Thel, it was just a slap. He apologized. He said he'd never do it again. But he did do it again and the next time he hurt her. He was contrite. She was confused. In the years after the first slap, the violence escalated. She was hospitalized twice. But she didn't leave. She loved him. He said he loved her. And he was always so sorry afterwards. It's so difficult but it is very important to understand why she stayed and what she can do to break the cycle of battering.

Most of us have a need to see only the good in people, especially the people we love. When the 'love' signal is mixed with the "violence' signal, it's very difficult to see the violence for what it is. This is especially true if the violence has gone on for long periods of time, or if there is a long period between violent episodes.

Indeed, it is true that for every effect, there is a cause. Battered women often feel, or are made to feel, that they are to blame for their battering. It is very difficult for them to place the responsibility where it belongs, to the batterer. Some people have said that a battered woman is very much like a prisoner of war because she is often dependent on her batterer emotionally and physically.

A batterer is often verbally as well as physically abusive. He may tell his victim that she is worthless and that he is the only one who will ever love her. At the same time, he tells her that she doesn't deserve his love. The batterer might also try to isolate his victim from the friendship of others, from participating in social activities or from holding a job. He wants total control. And one way he gets it is by beating down his victim's sense of self.
Many women feel that they would not be able to make it on their own if they left the batterer, or if the batterer were jailed. A woman may worry that, without a mate, she won't be able to support herself or her children. These are very real concerns and must be addressed by any intervention.

A battered woman needs to talk to people who can help. Friends and relatives can be supportive and helpful, sometimes providing emotional stamina, which the victim does not have, for herself.
It is about time, the plight of the women in government service be looked into. It is time the women in government create women's advocacy groups to help the battered woman leave her battering relationship and turn her life and the lives of her children around.

THIS IS TO HAVE SUCCEEDED

Lately, I have been reading old notes and this note writen in an old sheet of pink paper struck my attention -- it was among the remnants of my high school things, imagine!

Reading it, I guess, it reflects my thoughts and my sentiments exactly. Here it goes...

"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch ... to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!"

FINDING A MORE MEANINGFUL LIFE BY HELPING PEOPLE MAKE THEIR LIFE MORE MEANINGFUL

There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life -- happiness, freedom, and peace of mind -- are always attained by giving them to someone else.

Happiness, freedom and peace of mind are what we get when we love someone even without expecting reciprocation, without expecting to be loved in return.

These are the same feelings we get when we help other people make their life more meaningful by our little acts of love.

Who would ever believe that merely giving $50.00 every six months, will already make a difference in a life of a poor little child in the remote villages of the Philippines, and that $100 or $200. per six months could send a high school graduate to pursue his or her college education and have the opportunity to improve the life of his family?

This is what several Tanauananons who are now residing in the United States have been doing the past years. It is hoped that they will continue what they have been doing-- making their lives more meaningful by making the life of other people more meaningful.

Some of those they sent to school thru their meager contributions have already graduated as teachers, computer engineers, nurses. There are still many children who are hopefully waiting for Good Samaritans to give them a break and the chance to make their lives more meaningful.

This is therefore a call not only to the Tanauananons in the United States and other parts of the world, but to all whose generous hearts are waiting for a chance to pour out the generosity of their good heart and to make the lives of young Tanauananons more meaningful.

It is about time, you achieve happiness, freedom and peace of mind. Find the subject of your generosity. More than 80 young poor students who really wanted to continue their studies have been beneficiaries of these acts of love thru this blogger.

Act fast...Feel free to contact this blogger... your generosity will be properly acknowledged and receipted..

FREE AT LAST, FR. BOSSINI HARBORS NO ANGER AT HIS CAPTORS

"I am not angry with them(kidnappers). I pray for them. I hope one day they can go home to their families,” Fr. Gian Carlo Bossi who was released by his captors in the evening of July 19, tearfully pronounced when presented to media this morning in Zamboanga City .

Looking lean and weary, in his black suit, Fr. Bossi said that he felt very sentimental about his release last night as it was the birthday of his father, a proof that despite the terrible situation he was in, he remained sane and at his best wits. Asked where he was brought by his captors, he said that it was always clear to him that it was Lanao; it has always been from Payao to Lanao.

DILG Secretary Ricardo Puno, in a press briefing at Camp Batalla , made in clear that no ramsom money was involved though there was demand for ransom from the kidnappers in the beginning.

He said that 2000 AFP and PNP were involved in the operation which lead to the successful recovery of Fr. Bossi, who was “dropped” by his captors at the Karumatan National Highway, Lanao del Norte where he was picked up and recovered by government troopers and brought to Zamboanga.

Although Secretary Puno refused to go into details about the negotiation and recovery operations, he explained that after the kidnappers were warned that "should anything happen to Fr. Bossi, it will be a different kind of operation for them", the kidnappers became more interested in releasing Fr. Bossi.

"Maybe it was because of the intense pressure from the AFP", Secretary Puno said. The recovery of Father Bossi was made possible with the constricting movements of the AFP lead by Western Mindanao Command Chief Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo and intermediary of the PNP thru P/Chief Supt. Jaime Caringal and City Police Chief Manuel Barcena.

Secretary Puno also made it clear that the recovery of Fr. Bossi was not a "friendly separation," hot pursuit operation is still being conducted against the kidnappers

PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES SING OUT THEIR WOES IN SEVERAL TACLOBAN CITY BUSINESS ESTABLISHMENTS

In line with the nation-wide observance of the Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation Week, several visually impaired persons with singing talents will sing out their woes as they tour several Tacloban business establishments on July 19 and July 20, 2007.

Accompanied by the DSWD Field Office 8 and with the support of the members of the Regional Council for the Welfare of Disable Persons, the visually impaired persons with singing talents will tour a number of business establishments in the City to campaign for the cause of the persons with disabilities.

The team is set to do a round of the business district composed of Bo’s Coffee Shop, Leyte Park Hotel, Lion’s Clubhouse and Cue Balls to belt out the woes of persons with disabilities for the public to have a feel and awareness of their current state.

This activity is but a part of the Region’s activities as its contribution to the nation’s observance of the prevention and rehabilitation week which has as this year’s theme “Kung may Access, May Success,” a call for everyone to give persons with disabilities a chance to be part of the developmental efforts by extending to them equal opportunities in all aspects of human endeavor.

Miss Vina P. Aquino, Public Information of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in the Region informed that inter-agency lectures were conducted at the Bethany Hospital Social Hall, on July 18, 2007.

Among the topics were on the General Aspects of the Rehabilitation of the Disabled which was discussed by orthopedic surgeon Raymund Balverde who is the president of the Eastern Visayas Rehabilitation Medicine Organization.

Department of Labor and Employment Regional Office 8 Director Forter Pugoon thoroughly discussed the Emplyees Compensation Program particularly that of the employment of the people with disability.

The Department of Health representative discussed the early detection of disability through pre-natal care and newborn screening while in the afternoon of the same day, a lay forum was conducted with Doctor Joey Andrade as the resource speaker. (PIA 8)

WHEN YOUNG FILIPINO WOMEN MAKES THEMSELVES EASY PREYS OF ILLEGAL RECRUITMENT

Something has to be done about many of young Filipino women who makes themselves easy preys of illegal recruiters.

Waiting for their flight from Kuala Lumpur to Manila were two young Filipino ladies, one was only seventeen years old, and the other one was in her twenties.

The two Filipinas were supposed to go to Qatar via Kuala Lumpur , to work as domestic helpers, they said. However, their tickets were fake, so they were not allowed to leave.

The two alleged that they arrived in Kuala Lumpur on July 9 but since they were not allowed to leave, a Malaysian taxi driver was good enough to bring them to a Chinatown boarding house where Filipinas are staying. There they stayed until their “aunt” sent them e-tickets.

One trembles thinking what would have happened to these Filipinas if no Good Samaritan was around?

On further questioning, it appeared that the Filipino girls from South Cotabato didn’t have working papers for Qatar . Their passports were tourist passports.

Their “aunt” used to be a domestic helper in Qatar . Her former employer needed domestic helpers and the two girls were recruited to go. Asked what their aunt’s name was, the girls couldn’t or wouldn’t give the name.

The girls were supposed to receive $300.00 salary if they were able to reach Qatar . Asked whether they underwent any training before they left, they said no because they have been to Qatar as domestic helpers in the past.

So they have been illegal workers in Qatar in the past. This would have been their second time to work there if they didn’t have a problem with their tickets.

To think that many times, it is the relatives, the very ones who are supposed to protect these Filipinas, are the ones who push and endanger these young girls.

How many more young Filipino girls have similar experiences? How many Filipino young ladies put themselves in danger just for the sake of being able to find job in other countries. Surely, something must be done about this. Hopefully, there is an agency of the government that can do something about these situations.

The need for more advocacies and information dissemination about illegal recruitment and its hazards, can never be more emphasized.

THE VERSATILE FILIPINO FRUIT CALLED CALAMANSI

Many Filipinos call it calamansi, others call it calamondin, others call it suter. This is citrofortunella microcarpa, a round greenish to yellow in color, 2 cm to 4.5 cm fruit which is normally found in the kitchen of Filipino homes since it does wonders of wonders as a sour flavoring to a variety of dishes from the sautéed rice noodles called bihon to pancit palabok; from the arroz caldo to beefsteak Filipino style.

Calamansi is the secret ingredient to many mouthwatering Filipino delicacies. This writer remembers that the juice of the calamansi leaves are extracted and added to the leche plan to give it an exotic taste. How would the famous Leyte kinilaw taste without the secret ingredient called calamansi? What would dieters do without the calamansi to make the grapelike seeweeds called lato? And what is more refreshing than a glass of calamansi juice or iced tea laced with calamansi on a weather unusually unbearable because of global warming?

The versatile calamansi is even use for personal hygiene as a deodorant and a whitening agent. Others use it as detergents, removing the grease from the hands, and as a cleansing scrub to pans and dirty or stained clothes. This writer even remembers that calamansi leaves are crumbled and are used by people to recover from dizzy spells.

But how many calamansi growers have thought that calamansi can be processed into commercial food products such as ready-to-drink juice, juice concentrate, jelly, and jam, and marmalade to name a few?

Indeed, there are many calamansi-based products which are potential sources of sustainable livelihood.

The Department of Science and Technology Industrial Technology Development Institute has developed business concepts involving calamansi processing technologies particularly on Calamansi Concentrate, Calamansi Juice Drink, and Calamansi Jelly.

If your interest has been aroused and now you want to graduate from being just a user or planter of calamansi, just contact DOST or browse at the DOST website at www.dost.gov.ph.

Promoting proper nutrition and healthy lifestyles among adolescents

We can not just sit down in our own comfort zones, knowing and realizing that much is wanting in the Filipino adolescents' nutrition and lifestyles. It is the responsibility of the home, the school, the government and all the stakeholders (including us) to make a collective effort and do something lest we wake up one day to see that the country is being ran by unhealthy leaders.
For one, the adolescents must be provided with a supportive family environment where nutritious meals are available with special attention to nutritious breakfast. The parents must be the role models of good nutrition and where physical activities among family members are encouraged.

There is a need for nutrition-friendly schools where the school canteens provide a variety of options of nutritious but affordable meals and snacks. The schools can help a lot in promoting safe and nutritious foods among vendors in the vicinity of the school. The schools should integrate good nutrition in the secondary school curriculum and conduct nutrition assessment among the young students. Weighing scales and height charts should be available for students to determine their weight and height regularly. The nutritional status of adolescents is determined using the body mass index which is computed by dividing the body weight in kilograms by the square of the height in meters.

The school administrators and teachers, when making the school schedules, must ensure that students have enough time for snacks in the morning and afternoon. They may also conduct for a, discussions, seminars on nutrition and healthy lifestyles to increase awareness and to clarify misconceptions about nutrition. This is also a good opportunity for adolescents to express their ideas and opinions.

The community and local government support for adolescent nutrition and healthy lifestyle is also very important. To start with, the local government must make this issue on the adolescent a priority concern. Perhaps it would be good to provide iron supplements especially among female adolescents. Community assemblies on proper nutrition and healthy lifestyles must be conducted. Sports activities must be promoted.

The local lawmaking bodies could enforce an ordinance banning children from purchasing cigarettes and alcoholic beverages or perhaps one that would regulate the sale of junk foods.
Engaging adolescents in community nutrition programs such as Operation Timbang, nutrition education, food production programs are good ways of making them good-nutrition oriented.
The media and civil society can also help by promoting a healthy body image of adolescents as not being too thin but that of having normal weight. They can also make a big difference in the lives of the adolescents by providing correct information especially about fad diets which adolescents are likely to experiment with.

We can think of all the good things that every stakeholder must do to help the adolescents, but in the end, the decision whether to listen and do something to improve their lifestyles and nutrition, lies in the adolescents themselves.

Human Security Act, Filipinos’ Armor Against Terrorism

The Human Security Act or the Anti-Terrorism Law which will be implemented starting July 15, is the armor that would shield the Filipinos against terrorism.

There is no reason to be afraid of the Human Security Act as it has been enacted by Congress for the protection of human rights, not for human rights violation. The only ones who should be afraid of the implementation are those who are planning something illegal.
The public has nothing to fear about the law especially if they are not engaged in terrorism. No less than Anti-Terrorism Task Force spokesman Ricardo Blancaflor said that the law is needed in order to address the threat of terrorism which is a reality in the Philippines.
Blancaflor cited that one of the suspects in the Valentines Day bombing in Makati City had been previously arrested only to be released on bail after being charged with a mere illegal possession of explosives.

"We previously arrested him but the charge against him was merely illegal possession. So he was able to go out (on bail). When he went out, he returned to Mindanao and went back to Manila and bombed the bus (in Makati City)," he said. The attack was perpetrated jointly by the radical Rajah Solaiman Movement and the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group. It was reportedly funded by Southeast Asian regional terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah.
Under the new law, however, a mere possession could be classified as a terrorist act. “Now, he cannot do that (jump bail) because if you are arrested even for illegal possession (of explosives), you cannot be allowed to post bail,” Blancaflor said.

The law provides that any person who commits an act punishable under any of the provisions of the Revised Penal Code to wit: piracy in general and mutiny in the high seas or in the Philippine waters; rebellion or insurrection; coup d’etat; murder, kidnapping and serious illegal detention; crimes involving destruction; or those under the laws on arson; toxic substances and hazardous and nuclear waste control; atomic energy; anti-hijacking; anti-piracy and anti-highway robbery; illegal and unlawful possession, manufacture, dealing in, acquisition or disposition of firearms, ammunitions or explosives, thereby sowing and creating a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear or panic among the populace, in order to coerce the government to give in to unlawful demand, shall be guilty of the crime of terrorism and shall suffer the penalty of forty years imprisonment, without the benefit of parole as provided for under the Indeterminate Sentence Law.

The Human Security Act is the missing link in the government’s fight against terrorists who continue to sow havoc in the country.

Region 8's First Mariculture Park Congress 2007 beckons

The clarion call has been sounded for the First Mariculture Park Congress 2007 which is expected to be held on October 17-20, 2007 at the Tacloban City Convention Center, Philippines.

With the theme "Mariculture Parks: New Frontier to Economic Development", the Mariculture Congress in Eastern Visayas, is expected to draw about 1,000 participants composed of investors/private sector, government agencies, research institutions, foreign lecturers and investors.

Spearheaded by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in cooperation with various government agencies and private sector groups, the First Mariculture Park Congress 2007 hopes to serve as a venue for investors from the private sectors, research experts and government agencies to discuss modern technologies and current issues to promote a modernized, profitable and sustainable mariculture industry.

The Mariculture Park Congress will also tackle technical and social aspects and issues of mariculture park or mariculture zone establishment.

Various activities which are being planned in order maximize the learnings of the participants, include technical sessions on Mariculture technologies like bangus cages, grouper grow-out in cages, mussel and oyster culture, mudcrab culture, high-value species, pearl culture, abalone culture, tridacna culture and hatchery, sea urchin culture and sea cucumber culture.
Other technical sessions are on Post-Harvest and Processing, HACCP, Marketing, Hatchery, Pollution and Credit and Micro-Financing.

Mariculture Industry Exhibits will also be staged by feed dealers, cage fabricators, product exhibits, net suppliers, fingerling suppliers and hatchery operators.
Field Trips and Tours will also be conducted to the Mariculture Parks in San Juanico Strait, to the Mariculture Zone at Quinapondan, Samar, to Mariculture Projects such as seeweeds farms, aquasilviculture, pearl culture, hatcheries, oyster culture, sea urchin culture and fish sanctuaries at Lawaan, Samar and Leyte, Leyte, and visit to MacArthur Park and other historical sites in Leyte .

Indeed, the attendance to the Mariculture Congress is worth the travel, with a very minimal registration fee of P3,000.00 for the kit, lunch and 2 snacks for two days. The local participants will only pay P1,500.00 while for the small fisherfolk, attendance to the Congress is free.
It is but fitting that Eastern Visayas be the venue of the first Mariculture Park Congress considering that Leyte and Samar host a total of 12 Mariculture Parks which have already been in operation for the past few years, out of the total of 19 Mariculture Parks in storm-sheltered and environmental laws-compliant coastal areas nationwide, which the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in partnership with the respective local government units has already set up.
The MP concept is similar to an industrial estate where an area in the sea is subdivided into different plots for the farming of fish and other aquatic life using only approved and environmentally sound culture systems. Important facilities that entail a large capital outlay such as storm-resistant mooring systems and other support structures are set up by the government to encourage investors.

The fish cage operators, in turn, would lease an area from their local government where they will hook up their cages and proceed to fish farming. The operators are also required to train local residents for employment as caretakers, this way the local fish industry is boost up and additional incomes and jobs are generated.

The Mariculture Parks are managed by the concerned local government units with technical and financial assistance provided by the BFAR.

Ode to Environment

When Elizabeth Barret Browning mused many years ago…"The Face of all the World is Changed, I Think," it is as if she was referring to global warming, et al. If the dire threats to the country's staggering natural bounties are anything to go by, the poetry of land, sea and mountain may have already given way to the prosaic.

How aptly another poet Robert Frost wrote "The birds' song will never be the same again." For somewhere in the archipelago, the environment takes a constant beating. We are all too familiar with the litany of ecological devastation: a paltry 800,000 hectares of virgin forest today, compared to over 10 million hectares of sheer abundance and biodiversity before World War II; our coral reefs, once billed as the richest on earth, now down to five percent in pristine state; our topsoil, the very source of food security, severely eroded in over half of our provinces; over half of 450 rivers now declared dead or dying; our urban air quality ranked among the most polluted in the world.

Ours is still an ecology-dependent economy. Forty million people are directly tied to agriculture, to irrigation and watersheds for rice and corn production. Thirty million rely on fisheries and coastal resources for sustenance and livelihood. The environment is the only social security system of our country's vast numbers of poor, but it is the first casualty in the unconcern for the God-given natural resources.

It should not take cursory references to this and that celebration on the Environment to remind us of how much damage we have wrought on our fragile ecosystems - and the pressing need for action on various fronts.

With this year's theme, "Beat the Heat! Let Us Work Towards a Safer Climate," the observance of June as Environment Month is commemorated annually pursuant to Proclamation No. 237 issued by former President Corazon C. Aquino.

As we regularly feel the force of nature like rising sea temperature, floods, drought, depletion of flora and fauna, all triggered by global climate change, we resort to unified action which is the best way to effectively deal with natural disasters.

These program advocacies include land management, forest development, biodiversity, marine and coastal resources management, responsible mining, solid waste management, watershed and river rehabilitation, air quality management and partnerships and social mobilization concerns.

The poetry of the earth, John Keats mused, is never dead. Keats' poetry of land, air and water that Providence has bestowed on this land - that alone will guarantee our country's future and sustainability.

Let each and every Filipino unite and work like passionate environmentalists in their respective communities. Armed with novel and noble initiatives, let every Filipino's initiative to save the environment, serve to inspire and educate.

Empowering Filipino adolescents to make nutritionally-correct decisions

It is the responsibility of the adult Filipinos to enable the Filipino adolescents to attain their full potentials in adulthood by empowering them to make nutritionally-correct decisions in their lives.

There are many things and many different ways of enabling and empowering the youth who are supposed to be the future leaders of the land. The nutrition month pledge says it all.

Talk regularly about the importance of proper nutrition and healthy lifestyle to inspire every adolescent to think and take the right way of nutrition and help move the country to peace and progress. Parents must do these things to their children. Keeping the communication lines open, talking to the adolescents as if they are already adults will help them acquire self confidence and develop the spirit of being responsible and answerable to their own selves.

Adult Filipinos must Ensure and maintain their being models of appropriate behavior for health and nutrition of the children. The children imitate what they see from their elders. The best way of teaching the adolescents healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition, is through example. Adults must show the adolescents the way to healthy living and proper nutrition. One, as it is, can not credibly teach what he or she does not practice.

Adults must Encourage families, schools and communities to engage in productive activities aligned with the promotion of good nutrition. They must Network with health, nutrition and allied workers to be abreast of the developments in nutrition and health.

Finally, adults must Stimulate and steer into action children and adolescents for them to share in their own way, in the task of nation-building for a better and brighter future.

This may be done by sowing in their young hearts and minds that whatever they will become in the future will depend on the lifestyle and nutrition-habits they develop while they are still young. Healthy lifestyle, after all, is the way to a healthy and productive future.

THE LONGINGS OF THE SOUL

Beyond the hassles and bustles of days
Beyond the merry child-like ways
There is an emptiness, no one can fool
Caused by the longings of my soul.

Where one had treaded and ran
Where eyes once met and then began
The mind doth know and the heart is full
With none but the longings of my soul.

Amid the tears and smiles
Amid goodbyes and wait a whiles
Here in the heart there lies a hole
Which bear the longings of my soul.

And yet as sure as the sun rises

Together with the moon and the stars

With Hope, the heart is full

Because God knows you alone

Can fill the longings of my soul.

WELCOME INTO YOUR HOMES THE POPULATION CENSUS ENUMERATORS

Starting August 1, when someone knocks on your door, with a bag on his or her shoulders and papers on his or her hand, you don’t shut the door right away, she or he is not a sales or a promo person!

Wait a while as he or she identifies herself as an enumerator for the 2007 Census of Population. Make sure she or he presents his or her identification card. Welcome him or her into your home. This enumerator is including you and your household members, including overseas workers, in the complete count of all residents, both Filipinos and foreigners who have stayed or are expected to stay for at least a year in the Philippines .

The census enumerators will gather population data through house-to-house visits and personal interview of the household head or any responsible member of the household.

Special areas such as exclusive subdivisions and condominiums shall be enumerated using a self-administered questionnaire to be filled out by the respondent. To make sure that every body is counted, institutional populations such as those living in hospitals, sanitaria, penitentiaries, military camps, convents, seminaries and others, shall also be covered.

Do not worry that the information you will give to the enumerators will be used for other purposes. Section 4 of Commonwealth Act No. 591 guarantees that any information obtained during enumeration shall be held in strict confidentiality and that it must not be communicated to any person except bona fide employees of the National Statistics Office.

Mind you! There is a penalty for refusing to give information or for providing false information to census enumerators. Section 3 of Commonwealth Act No. 591 provides penalty, upon conviction, a fine of not more than P600 or imprisonment for not more than 3 months, or both, to any person who unjustifiably refuses to furnish the information called for in the census questionnaire, or to any person who knowingly gives data or information which shall be proven to be materially untrue.

The 2007 Census of Population shall be undertaken to provide current data on population counts, which shall be the basis for the Internal Revenue Allotment and the creation of new local government units or conversion of some of the existing local government units to higher level, pursuant to the provisions of the 1991 Local Government Code.

The statistics derived from the Census of Population will be used in the formulation of policies, preparation of plans and programs concerning population; restricting and apportionment of congressional seats, allocation of resources and revenues and creation of political and administrative units.

In business and industry, the statistics will be helpful in determining sites for establishing business, determining consumer demands for various goods and services and for determining supply of labor for the production of goods and services.

The statistics derived from the Census of Population will also be useful for research and academic institutions particularly in the conduct of researches on population and other disciplines, study and design of small area statistics and study of population growth and distribution as basis in preparing projections.

The enumeration will start on August 1, 2007 and will last for about 25 days only. So, welcome the enumerators into your homes and be counted.

STRENGTHENING TECH-VOC PROGRAM TO PROVIDE RELEVANT SKILLS DEMANDED BY INDUSTRY

The Department of Education is more resolute than ever to continue pushing for the strengthening of the Department’s Vocational Education Program.

With the belief that there is a need to provide relevant foundation skills for higher learning, employment or entrepreneurship among the youth, the Department of Education has initially targeted some 140 high schools where the strengthened tech-voc education program is currently being implemented. The number is expected to increase to about 261 tech-voc schools nationwide by school year 2009 to 2010.

Among the criteria used to determine which of the 261 technical-vocational schools in the Philippines will pilot the tech-voc curriculum include the existence of community linkages, leadership and advocacy level of the school administrator or principal, existence of a school improvement plan, local government support, quality of manpower and existing facilities. The relevance to the existing industry in the locality of the tech-voc high schools will also guide the department in establishing or strengthening specific skills and programs.

Tech-voc high schools are special schools and are treated differently due to unique needs of its students, academic requirements and curricular offerings, eared or dovetailed to a ladderized education program.

The decision to really put great stress on the technical-vocational program was heightened by the result of this year’s National Career Assessment Exam (NCAE), no less than Secretary Jesli Lapus confirmed.

Secretary Lapus said that part of the plan is to equip Filipino high school students with technical-vocational skills that can empower them to find meaningful employment, whether or not they pursue college education.

Based on the NCAE last January 17, out of the 1.3 million fourth year high school students who took the test, more than half of them have inclinations in courses that require Technical-Vocational (Tech-Voc) aptitude.Right after learning the results of the NCAE, the Department of Education (DepEd) has initiated the profiling of technical-vocational (tech-voc) high schools nationwide in order to assess their capability to implement the Technical-Vocational Education Curriculum for this school year.

ALLOW NOT POLITICS TO ALTER THE COURSE OF THE ECONOMY

If there is one lesson that must be learned on the just concluded May 14 synchronized national and local elections, it is this—the Administration will not allow politics to alter the course of the economy that has reached a new level of maturity and stability.

Amid the feverish political atmosphere during the political campaign, the Administration continued to pursue pro-growth, pro-trade and pro-investment strategies which are meant to uplift the Filipinos from poverty and hunger and which will make the country a real investment haven.

Indeed, through the Administration’s fiscal discipline and reforms like the implementation of the new value-added tax has boosted revenues and has shown that the Administration is serious in moving the economy forward, particularly towards a balanced budget.

The Administration’s efforts to completely focus on the economy and the development of human and physical infrastructure despite political noise and several attempts to destabilize the government, are now paying off.

The payback is seen in the strengthening of the peso, robust stock market, inflow of foreign investments and the generation of six million jobs in the last six years. The coming back to the Philippines of JP Morgan and the recent $1 billion investment project of the United States-based Texas Instrument are signs that the world is taking notice of the country’s growing economy.

At the same time, the government has committed billions in pesos for education, health care, training and infrastructure such as bridges, roads and ports to upgrade the country’s competitiveness as an investment destination.

The focus of all these developments are the Filipinos themselves, to lower if not totally eradicate poverty and hunger, to uplift the living condition of the Filipinos.

The Administration has made remarkable success, but much more can and will be done if the Filipino people and the newly elected leaders all over the country will join hands and support the good developments strategies the Arroyo Administration has started and continuous to pursue with much ardor, dedication and commitment.

WHOLE SLATE SNUBS PPCRV “KNOW YOUR CANDIDATE” FORUM?

How could and what does it mean when a whole slate snubs the Know Your Candidate Forum organized by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voters, the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Commission on Elections and the Philippine National Police?

The Know Your Candidate Forum is a venue where all the candidates are able to present their platform of government to the people. The electorate is entitled to know each candidate and what he stands for, in a way that the electorate will be able decide who the right candidate to vote.

Not attending the Know Your Candidates Forum is tantamount to depriving the electorate the right to become informed and properly guided voters in whose hands lie the destiny of the municipality, the province and the country as a whole.

For whatever reason, when a political slate accepts the invitation of the organizers, not making good its commitment to attend, is reflective of the kind of leaders the members of the slate will turn out to be once they are already in power.

One can understand the disappointment of the populace when the very chance they have been waiting for to compare the platforms of the opposing political slates, is not fulfilled because one slate does not appear as promised.

The disappointment of the organizers, the Pastoral Parish Council for Responsible Voters, is also understandable. It is not easy to organize something only to be snubbed. To think that most of the organizers are young volunteers. More so, this is the Church this whole slate snubbed. If this slate can snub the representative of God here on earth, how much more the poor and disadvantage people in the municipality?

Several cases of political slates snubbing the PPCRV Know Your Candidates Forum have been noted in the municipalities of the province of Leyte.

With just a few days left before the electorate march to the voting centers to cast their votes, it is hoped that they will remember to vote for the candidates whose platform is pro-people, development oriented and in accordance with the true Christian values and servant leadership.
God bless the members of the PPCRVs concerned for their patience and statesmanship. God bless the candidates who submit themselves to the people through the PPCRVs Know Your Candidates Forum. God bless the electorate and whole entire Filipino nation.

PRESS FREEDOM EXISTS IN RP, IN REGION 8

There exists press freedom in Eastern Visayas and in the whole of the Philippines . This is the general contention of the members of the Eastern Visayas Tri Media Association who attended the activities in commemoration of the World Press Freedom Day, Sunday.

The media practitioners agreed that they are free to cover every nook and cranny of the political, economic, social, and security situations every hour of the day without fear that they will be killed or detained. No journalist is in jail for the practice of his or her profession, they observed.

The Eastern Visayas Media started the World Freedom Day by attending the 8:00 o’clock in the morning Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at the Sto. Nino Church , Tacloban City .

After the mass, a wreath-laying rite was held at the Noblejas Junction in honor of Ramon “Monching” Noblejas who is remembered as a principled person, a good friend and a media man who sacrificed his life in the exercise of his profession. He was assassinated by an identified man in 1987 while hosting a show just outside the DYVL Radio Station. His funeral will long be remembered because of the more than 10,000 people who marched from the Sto. Nino Church going to the public cemetery.

Present to offer the wreaths were Vice Governor Mimyet Bagulaya for the Province of Leyte and Hon. Tita Pedrosa of the city Government of Tacloban; PIA Director Olive Tiu and NLRC Commissioner Aurel Menzon; Mr. Roland Hidalgo in behalf of the Noblejas Family; Mr. Nestor Abrematea, President of the EV Tri Media Association, and Mr. Neil Glova in behalf of Manila Broadcasting Company DYVL.

The motorcade to Asia Stars Hotel where the commemorative program was held followed. During the short program and fellowship at the Asia Stars Hotel, Mr. Nestor Abrematea welcomed the members of the media to the first ever commemoration of the World Press Freedom Day in Region 8.

Eastern Times editor and publisher Carolina Montilla who is the current National Union of Journalists of the Philippines Chapter in the Region called the attention to the killings of journalists and the threats being received by several members who are now in hiding. She said that the families and the officers of NUJP in the Region are also concerned.

Director Olive Tiu informed the media participants that the United Nations declared May 3 as the World Press Freedom Day in order to remind the world on the importance of protecting the fundamental human right of freedom of expression enshrined in Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

This year’s celebration is focused on the safety and impunity of journalist safety and impunity considering that 2006 recorded the most number of killing of journalists all over the world which according to Reporters without Boarders numbered to about 75 journalists and 32 media staff.

Aside from encouraging the government to develop initiatives in favor of press freedom, the public is also reminded of its responsibility to support and cooperated with the government in order to solve the killings of media practitioners.

Director Tiu underscored that World Press Day should serve as a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. Words can save lives, she said but on the other hand, words like swords can also kill people. She urged the media practitioners to reflect on ways to propagate values that respect the media’s vital role in promoting sustainable peace, democracy and development.

General Armando Cunanan, commanding general of the 8th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, in his message read by Captain Mario Jose Chico, the Information Officer, discussed the role of the AFP in protecting press people. He said that President Arroyo has directed the AFP to solve the killings of journalists by working closely with the Philippine National Police and the media groups to once and for all find lasting solution to the problem.

Fortunately, he said, in Eastern Visayas , there is an environment conducive for the press people to do their job with very minimal security concerns. This he said can be attributed to the high degree of professionalism and observance of work ethics from among the members of the Eastern Visayas Tri-Media.
Hon. Mimyet Bagulaya and Hon. Tita Pedrosa also gave their good wishes to the media in connection with the activity on World Press Freedom Day.

SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES PHILIPPINES, UPLIFTING THE LIVES OF FILIPINO YOUTH

Filipinos are grateful people. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s gesture of awarding a Presidential Citation to the SOS Children’s Villages Philippines in recognition of its contribution in uplifting the lives of Filipino youth, is a tangible manifestation of this trait.

President Arroyo cited the SOS Community for transforming and changing the lives of the 964 SOS integrated and independent children making them productive citizens and active members of society. Stories of hope which springs from the SOS Community’s unconditional love and inspiration, abounds.

She said that the SOS community has faithfully and ceaselessly pursuing its goals in the last 40 years that benefited Filipino children in various villages and supporting youth facilities located in Calbayog, Cebu., Davao, Iloilo, Lipa, Manila and Tacloban.

The President handed the Presidential Citation for SOS, to no less than the President of the Kinderdolf International Mr. Helmut Kutin, for effectively carrying out its vision and mission of providing love and care to more Filipino children in need.

Mr. Kutin, who came to the Philippines to attend the SOS Children’s Villages Philippines’ 40th anniversary, told the President that it is their mission to help orphaned, abandoned children worldwide, including the Philippines.

He was accompanied by Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, chairman of SOS Children’s Villages Philippines, and its national board of directors and Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral.

SOS Children’s Village is a place for orphaned, abandoned and neglected children in extreme difficult circumstances. Competent and responsible SOS mothers and co-workers provide unconditional love and inspiration, support and encouragement for these children to make them feel they belong.

While several of the children were turned over to the SOS Children’s Villages by their impoverished families, many of them have been left at the doorsteps of the villages, without a name or a family. Many times, the children are given names and baptized right in the SOS Children’s Villages.

The children are placed in a home setting and given all his or her needs, food, shelter, clothing, education. recreation, but most specially love and affection as only a true family could give.

SOS also offers livelihood skills and vocational training programs, counseling and day care centers, educational programs and scholarships to less privileged families living near the children’s villages.

The SOS Children’s Village originated in Austria in 1949. It was founded by Professor Dr. Hermann Gmeiner who was born on June 23, 1919 in Vorarlberg, Austria into a farmer's family. His mother died when he was very young and his 16-year-old sister Elsa took the mother's place for her younger brothers and sisters. As destiny would have it, she became the role model for Hermann Gmeiner's idea of an ideal SOS mother.

While Dr. Gmeiner began his studies in medicine with the goal of becoming a pediatrician, at the same time, he was also engaged in youth welfare work and was exposed to the plight of the youth and children in a war-ravaged world. He was particularly moved by the condition of destitute children, and realized that providing them with just the basic needs was not enough.

He felt only a proper home with a caring mother and company of siblings could ensure the vital physical, mental and emotional growth of a child. The SOS concept was thus born with the simple idea of providing abandoned and orphaned children, a valuable substitute for their lost families.

SOS counterpart in the Philippines was established on Feb. 29, 1964 with the first SOS Children’s Village in Lipa City, Batangas. To date, there are seven SOS Children’s Villages and 17 attached facilities being managed in the Philippines.

Mr. Helmut Kutin grew up in an SOS Children's Village himself. Helmut Kutin was born in Bolzano (Italy) in 1941. Following a family tragedy he was admitted to the world's first SOS Children's Village in Imst (Austria) in 1953. Later he moved to the SOS Youth House in Innsbruck. and later on played a substantial role in organising the work of SOS Children's Villages in Asia.
One of Hermann Gmeiner's closest co-workers, he was elected to succeed him as President of SOS-Kinderdorf International in 1985.

REFLECTIONS ON WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY: WORDS CAN SAVE LIVES BUT WORDS LIKE SWORDS CAN KILL PEOPLE

World Press Freedom Day which is celebrated every 3rd day of May, is an occasion to remind the world of the importance of protecting the fundamental human right of freedom of expression enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The 3rd of May was proclaimed World Press Freedom Day the UN General Assembly in 1993 following a Recommendation adopted at the twenty-sixth session of UNESCO's General Conference in 1991.

It is a date which celebrates the fundamental principles of press freedom; to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.

It serves as an occasion to inform citizens of violations of press freedom - a reminder that in dozens of countries around the world, publications are censored, fined, suspended and closed down, while journalists, editors and publishers are harassed, attacked, detained and even murdered.

It is also a date to encourage and develop initiatives in favor of press freedom, and to assess the state of press freedom worldwide.

With violence against media professionals constituting today one of the greatest threats to freedom of expression, it is indeed fitting to dedicate World Press Freedom Day 2007 to the theme of journalist safety and impunity.

Over the past decade, we have witnessed a dramatic escalation of violence against journalists, media professionals and associated personnel. In many countries around the world, media professionals are harassed, attacked, detained and even murdered.

About 75 journalists and 32 media staff were killed last year, according to Reporters without Borders, making 2006 the deadliest year on record.

According to professional organizations, 2006 was the bloodiest year on record with over 150 media killings. Hundreds more media workers were arrested, threatened or attacked because of their work.

Being a journalist has never been more dangerous. Never in recorded history has there been such a large-scale killing of journalists.
World Press Freedom Day is a day of reflection among media professionals about issues of press freedom and professional ethics. Words can save lives but words like swords can also kill people. It is hoped that the media practitioners will opt the first. As the celebrate World Press Freedom Day, it is hoped that the media practitioners will reflect on ways to propagate values that respect the media’s vital role in promoting sustainable peace, democracy and development.

It is also a day of remembrance for those journalists who lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.
Those who risk their lives to provide independent and reliable information deserve our admiration, respect and support. They understand better than anyone that media contributes significantly to processes of accountability, reconstruction and reconciliation. Indeed, the growth in violence against journalist is telling, if tragic, testimony to the importance of the media to modern democracies.

On this day, Region 8 remembers Monching Noblejas as a person, a media man who sacrificed his life in the exercise of his profession. The onus is on the judiciary and those concerned, to prove their value and worth for this day, by bringing those responsible for Noblejas’ murder to justice. Otherwise, the significance of the day will be ever-elusive for this island Region.

This day serves as a reminder to governments of the need to respect their commitment to press freedom.

The safety of journalists is an issue that affects us all. Every aggression against a journalist is an attack on our most fundamental freedoms. Press freedom and freedom of expression cannot be enjoyed without basic security.
On World Press Freedom Day, therefore, everyone must pledge to strengthen the efforts to secure journalist safety.

In particular, this is a call on each and everyone to help the governments and public authorities to end the pervasive culture of impunity that surrounds violence against journalists.

The Governments must fulfill their responsibility to ensure that crimes against media professionals are investigated and prosecuted, but without the cooperation and support of the people, the relatives and all sectors of the community, this government’s thrust will always be an elusive dream. Above all, let everyone appreciate the intimate relationship between securing the safety of journalists and realizing our own freedoms. The ability to act as informed citizens of the world depends on a media that can work freely and safely.

Lastly, despite the tagging of the Philippines and Afghanistan as the most dangerous places in Asia in 2006, the Philippines a free and untrammeled press. We have Reporters who can cover every nook and cranny of the political, economic, social, and security every hour of the day.

Though a number of media men has been slain in the conduct of their profession but the Government has investigated these cases, and in many instances, suspects have been identified and cases filed and no journalist is in jail for the practice of his or her profession.

INT’L CONFERENCE TACKLES RP BIOFUELS, FEEDSTOCKS

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s major thrust of looking for alternative sources of fuel will get a much-needed boost as an international conference dubbed as Biofuels and Feedstocks Philippines, will be conducted on May 23-24 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel and is expected to bring together the most influential people in the biofuels industry to discuss the development and growth of biofuels.

No less than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will deliver the opening address on May 23, Ms. Theresa Trinidad Gapaz, a communications specialist of PNOC-Alternative Fuels Corporation, bared.

PNOC-Alternative Fuels Corporation is the official host sponsor with the support of the Department of Energy, of the conference which is being organized by Singaporean-based Centre for Management Technology.

The highlights of the conference are: Biofuels framework and fiscal incentives in the Philippines; Global biofuels markets policies, markets, challenges and barriers; Price, supply, economics and quality analysis of various biofuels feedstocks; Biofuels supply chain blending, storage and handling; Ethanol and its feedstock options and supply; and Round table discussion by oil companies on their strategies in Biofuels.

There will be a half-day focus on Jatropha Cultivation and Processing. Jatropha experts from India, Myanmar and the Philippines will highlight important issues concerning the non-edible oil derived from Jatropha.

The PNOC Alternative Fuels Corporation (PNOC-AFC), formerly PNOC Petrochemical Development Corporation, was established in July 2006. Its primary mandate is to explore, develop and accelerate the utilization and commercialization of alternative fuels in the country.
As a secondary mandate, the PNOC-AFC shall also pursue the development, operation and management of a petrochemical industrial estate. The complex, located in Limay and Mariveles, Bataan, which is approximately 530 hectares, is to be developed in phases. The PNOC-Alternative Fuels Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the state-owned Philippine National Oil Company with the mandate to explore, develop and accelerate the utilization and commercialization of existing and emerging alternative sources of energy and technologies and carry on the business of alternative fuels and other related activities.

Another mandate is to engage in and carry the business of petrochemicals in any and /or all its activities and to become one of the most prominent alternative energy-producing companies in the region.

PNOC AFC is led by Secretary Renato S. Velasco as chairman and President and CEO Peter Anthony Abaya.
For further information, interested parties and media practitioners may contact Ms. Theresa Gapaz at 0919-5844798 (mobile) or 812-6209 local 5003.

NEW LEASE OF HOPE FOR GOVT WORKERS

Labor Day brought good news for the more than one million government service providers, thanks to no less than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Aside from giving the government workers the assurance that a ten percent wage increase will take effect in July, President Arroyo gave them the once elusive dream of putting up their own business to augment their income through a livelihood lending facility for government employees.

President Arroyo urged the government employees to avail of the “second income” opportunities through the Puhunang Pangnegosyo Para sa Kawani ng Gobyerno program of the government.

To make good her Labor Day statement, President Arroyo lost no time and launched on May 2 the “Go Negosyo, Go Gobyerno” livelihood lending facility for government employees, enticing all government employees whom she called the new pillars of power in the community to become micro-entrepreneurs and put up their own businesses by availing themselves of this new credit window.

The President allotted some P1 billion in funding for the Puhunang Pangnegosyo Para sa Kawani ng Gobyerno aimed at providing collateral-free livelihood loans to government employees, through employee cooperatives and employee associations.

The President said those interested may apply for the loan as an individual where they alone reap all the benefits of their business as well as all the debts, or as a group or association and share in the profit and the cost of their business.

The President expressed favor for the latter which she said "encapsulates the essence of micro-finance and directed the Philippine Government Employees Association (PGEA) to immediately organize their member organizations so as to facilitate their loan applications.

The loans will be in the form of wholesale lending by government financing institutions namely: the PCFC, the Development Bank of the Philippines, the Land Bank of the Philippines, Quedan Corporation, National Livelihood Support Fund and Small Business Guarantee Finance Corporation with government employee cooperatives and associations as their retail institutions.

The facility offers livelihood loans starting at P5,000 given in cycles of three to six months with gradual increases in loan size based on repayment record, group or individual liability and bimonthly or monthly repayments.

Truly, the new loan facility is part of the "social payback" to the people after the government implemented radical revenue reform measures that have contributed to the lofty standing the Philippine economy is experiencing right now. (PIA 8)

ALL ABOUT e-TESDA AND PGMA-FAST

Before Labor Day, TESDA launched a pair of new programs – the e-TESDA and PGMA Fast. The two projects open the doors to TESDA courses not just for high school graduates, but to other sectors as well like the Overseas Filipino Workers, the out of school youth and the persons with disabilities, among others.

Indeed, the Technical Education Skills Development Authority under the leadership of Secretary Boboy Syjuco, does not get tired in its quest for ways to improve the quality of technical vocational education in the country and to make technical vocational education accessible to the people especially the poor and the disadvantaged.

This of course is in answer to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s 8 by ’08 agenda which include among others, quality education and job creation.

TESDA goes cyber with the e-TESDA, a web portal that carries TESDA’s training, in full online and blended learning modes and other services electronically. The cyber student just clicks through his lessons guided by virtual facilitators. After every lesson, the online infrastructure immediately gives feedback on tests and interaction with fellow students is still present through emails, chats and forum.

The e-services which are initially offered are career profiling, registration of training programs, job matching and referral and e-information that leads to databases of certified trainers and assessors, sea-based and land-based registry of workers, employment data of graduates, registered programs and assessment centers.

Full on-line e-TESDA training is made possible for people who are interested to acquire skills in call center services, software development, programming, networking and even computer accountancy, among others.

Another form of e-TESDA training is blended learning where trainees learn the theoretical aspects of the job competencies on-line and proceed to the affiliated training laboratory for the indispensable hands-on experience. Consumer electronics, automotive servicing, welding, machining, slaughtering operation, medical transcription and call center services are just some of the blended learning areas available now.

Indeed, this is a remarkable improvement in instruction delivery. The students can study at their own time and pace. This system is also very convenient for those currently employed but would like to take technical vocational courses to further enhance their knowledge and skills.

The other special project dubbed as PGMA-FAST (Free Assessment Services by TESDA), gives free assessment and certification in an effort to provide TESDA courses to more people.

It has been observed that before one can avail of TESDA courses, he has to go through assessment of credentials and qualifications. Assessment is an important step to determine the student’s level of qualifications and eliminates unnecessary subjects and gauges what higher courses the student can be enrolled.

Furthermore, assessment and certification makes job-ready individuals formally recognized. This is very useful when the student enrolls in advance courses or when he applies for work.

PGMA-FAST, therefore, widens the number of beneficiaries. Even poor but deserving students and workers may avail of TESDA courses.

Kudos to TESDA leaders and staff, for these two wonderful innovations toward quality education.

WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE IN RP, 70 YEARS AFTER ITS GRANTING

The women of the Philippines must not let this day pass without a prayer of thanksgiving and jubilation. Seventy years ago today, on April 30, 1937, the women of the Philippines were granted the right to vote and to be voted upon.

The significance of the occasion is highlighted with the fact that because of the granting of women’s rights of suffrage in 1937, the country has a woman, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as its President today.

Today, the women of the Philippines should take a real serious assessment on how relevant the women’s right of suffrage is especially as this year is an election year. Is the women’s vote’s significant enough to let the candidates take a second look at the women sector especially the disadvantaged and those in the hinterlands?

For the young women and for those who do not know it, the 1935 Constitutional Convention denied women the right to vote and limited the right of suffrage to male citizens allegedly because “there was no popular demand for the right of suffrage by Filipino women themselves” and that the granting of the right of suffrage to women will only disrupt family unity as the women will plunge into the swamp of politics.

To make the long story short, the final version of the Constitution of 1935 stipulated that the right of suffrage would be extended to women, only if 300,000 women voted in its favor during a national plebiscite.

Commonwealth Act No. 34 was passed setting the plebiscite on April 30, 1937. For the first time female voters registered on April 10 and 17, 1937.

On April 30, 1937, women from all over the country numbering to 447,725 voted yes and in the 1939 elections, the women and men voters of the Philippines, voted the first woman Senator of the country in the person of the late Senator Geronima Pecson.

What followed was a colorful history of women’s venture into the various levels of electoral victories highlighted by the emerging of two women presidents in the person of former President Corazon Aquino and current President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Inching ahead, is how many observers describe the women’s vote in the country. In the 2001 elections for example, the women sector lost its representation with the failure of any women party to reach the 2% threshold of the party-list elections.

The “women working for women” cannot be seen in the result of the elections. As the study conducted by the Ateneo School of Government and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung concluded, “there still exists no sectoral vote. Groups representing sectors cannot rely on their sectoral constituencies to win them seats.”

The absence of a women’s vote is really a wonder considering that there are more women registered voters than men and considering that there is always a higher female voters’ turnout than the male counterpart.

The consolation is that there an incremental increase of women in the various fields of public service. Moreover, women’s expressions of involvement in civil society could be through organizing along gender-specific issues and formation of all-women groups within broad coalitions as power-enhancing mechanisms. Women’s agenda are also integrated in party platforms and even in legislative hearing and consultation. In short, all these are efforts to uplift the status of the Filipina.

As the women of the Philippines remember the granting of the women’s right of suffrage 70 years ago, it is good to pay tribute to the more than 44,000 Filipinas who voted Yes to amend the Constitution and to give women the right to vote.

Recognition is more than ever due to the women leaders of the feminist and women’s groups circa 1900 who banded together and really worked hard so that the women of today will enjoy equally with men, the right of suffrage.

And what better way for the women of today, to show gratitude for the right of suffrage the women are enjoying now than renewing their advocacy and support for clean, honest and orderly May 14 elections.

Big-hearted women of RP, India find empowerment by helping fellow women

For both the Philippines and India, the silent revolution in the rural areas, of women helping in the community development efforts, is spreading its wings slowly but surely.

India and the Philippines have many things in common-the fight against hunger and poverty, uneducation and illiteracy, restlessness of the people and terrorism.

There is one similarity however, which is not readily identified - both have kind and rich-hearted women who in the Philippines have found empowerment; while those in India, have found new prosperity mantra, helping their fellow women and in so doing, their countrymen.

Unknown and unnoticed (if not deliberately ignored) by some sectors, both women rose from the bondage of poverty and are now enjoining and inspiring other people to follow suit.

In Hyderabad in the southern part of India, there is Pakiramna, a former scavenger; Mahammadbi who is wife of a former bonded laborer; Rameswarame, a fruit vendor who along with twelve other women have been invited by the government to teach rural women of the State ;how to believe in themselves and to leave behind poverty.

Coming from several tiny villages in the Kurnool district, these women will travel to the other districts in Decemberto motivate women there to make the government's Livelihood Promotion Project, a success.

These women who are called Community Resource Persons, the women have been given the mandate to study the conditions of the poor, conduct a survey to identify the poorest of the poor, form them into self-help groups and finally teach the mantra of Orvakal that enabled them to banish poverty through self-help.

For the past ten years, these group of women save every rupee everyday, from their earnings. Small groups of women then pooled their savings and set up a bank from which they lend money for purchasing land, small business and other self-employment activities. The rest is history.

In the Philippines, these stories are replicated everyday. What is reassuring is that these Indian women just like their countless Filipino counterparts, have taught women lessons of their fight against poverty through teamwork.

Unhesitatingly, these two groups of women from the two different countries of the world, will tell their inspiring success stories and narrate to the people how to pool in their resources because what they cannot do alone, they can do if they will as a team act with one vision and one mission.

GOVT VOWS TO COOL DOWN ANY BREWING POLITICAL VIOLENCE

Political tensions are never justification for the use of force or arms. More condemnable, are the unscrupulous persons who are taking advantage of the current election climate. They are the scourges of a democratic society.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, treating the escalating violence as a real cause of concern, has ordered the Philippine National Police to keep a tight watch on potential trouble spots.
The government is closely taking note of the reported potential trouble spots which are recommended under election control even as it directed the Philippine National Police to cool down any brewing election violence in the areas of concern.

Although, the Philippine National Police has already noted a down-trend in election related violence in the country, it does not waver a bit in its vigilance and intensive campaign against private armed groups which have been reduced to 38 from the 90 groups recorded in 2001.

The government is determined to have a peaceful and orderly May elections. This resolve is shown by the fielding of 89,000 police personnel to secure polling places, the assigning of two cops per voting center, the deployment of the elite Special Action Force in critical areas, and the deployment of soldiers in areas with serious armed threats.

The forthcoming May election is an indication that democracy is alive in the country. It is an occasion when the Filipino people are able to exercise their sacred right of suffrage and so the government must really see to it that they are able to fulfill this right without threat and fear.

The electoral process will be a show window that will tell the world that democracy continues to reign, to mature in the Philippines and that the Filipino people can be trusted to make the right choices at the polls.

TRAVAILS AND JOYS OF A FILIPINA OFW ANSWERING THE ALLURE OF JOB IN CALGARY

The afternoon sun cuts through the chilly Calgary air and casts light through the glass walls, as Filipina cook, Fely Romero took a short breather from the kitchen of the Shifters, to accommodate this short overseas interview.

The enthusiastic and vibrant young voice which answered the phone gave it all. It was a very much welcomed interview because as 39 year old Fely exclaimed, it is always good to talk to a fellow Filipina and speak in the country’s national language. It never fails to ease the pain of being away from home sweet home.

Indeed, for a wife and a mother like Fely, leaving three beautiful and doting sons ages 2, 10 and 13, is not that easy. Her only consolation is that she left her children under the able and loving care of her mother in law in Cavite. Besides, she is able to talk to her husband and children every day through the telephone.

Moreover, her husband who used to work as cook in a cruise ship, is now with the children, awaiting for his deployment as cook in Calgary by the same company, Exultant Human Resource Canada, which deployed her to Canada. For now, she is eagerly looking forward to the day when her husband will be with her in Calgary.

Fely is a graduate of Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics from one of the universities in Manila. After graduation, she saw an ad for job openings in a classy hotel in Manila, so she applied. Unfortunately, however, because she is among the late applicants, the only job available was that of a door opener.

As a fresh graduate with no work experience then, Fely said she didn’t think twice and accepted the job right away. For 14 years, she worked in the same hotel rising from the ranks. From being a door opener, she was promoted as a reservations clerk, secretary to the executive chef and later, she was appointed as cook, the position she really wanted.

To the Filipino fresh graduates, Fely has only one advice to give, for them not to be so choosy in getting their first job. Even if it is not in line with the course they took for as long as it is decent, grab it as a stepping stone towards the job they are eyeing for, Fely said.

When Fely learned about the job opening in Calgary, she applied at Skyworld, the business intermediary of Exultant in the Philippines. Fortunately, Fely was accepted but then she had to face the problem of more than P200,000., for her placement fee, round trip ticket to Calgary in Alberta, Canada.

While her other companions borrowed from financing companies, Fely was able to borrow the money needed, from her brother. She was among the 30 Filipino cooks who were deployed to Calgary in February.

Fely is now receiving a salary triple times more than what she was receiving in her previous employment. With that, she is able to pay her brother, send money for her children’s schooling and for her mother-in-law.

At Shifters, Fely is able to show the ingenuity of a Filipino cook. She said that employers in Canada have high regards for Filipino workers who are known for their diligence, industry and trustworthiness.

The working condition at Shifters is good and the relationship of the staff is very cordial and so she and her fellow Filipino cooks enjoy their jobs. Besides, her agency, the Exultant has been very supportive, Fely intimated.

The Filipino Community in Calgary, a very cohesive group, has been supportive to the Filipino cooks, too, Fely bared, giving them food, clothing and seeing to it that they are able to adjust in their new environment.

Indeed, working abroad is not that easy at all. The Filipino Overseas Worker has to make sacrifices and suffer homesickness in exchange for a better economic condition for her family especially her children. Every single cent sent to the family in the Philippines is hard-earned, standing 8 hours a day in front of the stove and missing the love ones 24 hours a day.

Importing workers from the Philippines will answer the void left open by the insatiable demands on the human resource market, Mr. Leo Casuga of Exultant Human Resources of Canada, who arranged for the interview informed.

There are thousands of jobs needed to be filled and there’s nobody in Canada available to do the job. Filipinos are regarded as strong and solid, trustworthy, highly motivated, educated and acclimatized overseas workforce are very much welcomed in Canada, Mr. Casuga who moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada when he was 17, said.

In 2006, documented OFW employment to Canada grew from 3,629 to 6,413, This means an increase of 2,784, making Canada the 17th top destination of Overseas Filipino Workers among more than 180 host countries worldwide.
The initial growth in OFW deployment to Canada is attributed to the recent accord forged by the Department of Labor and Employment with the Ministry of Advanced Education and Employment in Saskatchewan for "Cooperation in the Fields of Labor, Employment, and Human Resource Development."

NO TO CHARACTER ASSASSINATION, GOONS AND GUNS; YES TO ENHANCED SOCIO-ECONOMIC AGENDA FOR THE PEOPLE

It is about time that the Filipino electorate know that candidates who resort to character assassination and mudslinging, are not worth voting for.

First of all, these candidates are supposed to have signed, in most cases in their respective Parish Churches, infront of the people of God and before God Himself represented by the Parish Priests and the government represented by the COMELEC officers, to work for clean and honest elections, not to resort to violence, to vote buying and intimidation, not to resort to political mudslinging and character assassination and not to tell lies to the people.

Electorate, take note and be wary of the candidates who right after signing the Peace Covenant before God and men, immediately forget the significance of his signature and immediately character assassinate his opponent. Remember, this candidate has short memory, it will not be remote that he will forget his promises to the people as well.

Candidates are supposed to present themselves and what they propose to do for their respective localities and the people. If the candidate cannot say anything good about his or her political opponent, there is a high possibility that he or she will surely not be able to see something good to do for his or her locality.

While, the candidates have the freedom of expression, they should not forget that their rights end where the right of the other begins. It is the right of the electorate to know the truth, not lies and half-truths.

If the reason or the purpose of the candidates in running, is to be in power so that they will be able to put down somebody, electorates, beware. These candidates are running on the wrong premise—they want to do something that will harm another. What makes this more evil is that the person they want to put down is not even a candidate.

Those who will vote for these candidates, without their knowing are being made as accessories to a crime, to an injustice that is about to be staged. So electorates, beware lest you become accessories to a crime you do not even know about, much less you will not gain from.

It is about time the electorate show, that gone are the days when mudslinging and character assassination are the names of the game. The Filipino people must show that money will no longer blind them on Election Day and that the Filipino electorate has emerged into an educated and empowered voters.

Together, the Filipino electorate will say no to disunity and political bickering and vote Yes to continued economic and political reforms, the fruits of which are already starting to be felt by the people.

CANADA NEEDS HIGHLY MOTIVATED FILIPINO WORKERS

Importing workers from the Philippines will answer the void left open by the insatiable demands on the human resource market, Mr. Leo Casuga of Exultant Human Resources of Canada, who was in the country recently, informed.

There are thousands of jobs needed to be filled and there’s nobody in Canada available to do the job, Mr. Casuga revealed. Filipinos who are regarded as strong and solid, trustworthy, highly motivated, educated and acclimatized overseas workforce are very much welcomed in Canada, Mr. Casuga who moved to Calgary, Alberta, Canada when he was 17, said.

“There are obviously a lot of marketable traits of Filipino workers and zooming in on a few negative aspects should not deter us from convincing the prospective employers," Mr. Casuga enthused.

With his counterpart in the Philippines, the SkyWorld Business, Mr. Casuga and his older brother Henry, recently interviewed applicants for hotel staff, from the frontline service providers, housekeeping, including bellboys and boiler operators. He is amazed at the presence of rich human resource in the Philippines.

There is a move to bridge contact with everyone involve in this program so that there will be a better chance that these jobs will be offered to our countrymen in the Philippines, Mr. Casuga said.

The Filipino workers are charged with a very minimal placement fee. However, there is a plan, Mr. Casuga said, which involves an almost hassle free process for the would-be employee from the Philippines. Rather than charging them an upfront placement fee, the employee pays the same only once they start working here in Canada , which is normally equivalent to a month's salary.

Furthermore, Mr. Casuga said, the temporary work visa legally carries a two-year contract duration with a required return trip ticket. However, the employer has the option to retain, sponsor and renew the employee's work permit in cases he sees fit. Some sectors are working to extend the regular one-year work visa to a minimum of two years, arguing that a one-year contract isn't really worth the effort of processing and expenses in the first place.

What is good is that the would-be employee will be assisted in looking for housing facilities by the recruiter in Canada. Calgary 's housing boom has also put a dent in this effort. Human Resources Canada expects employers to assist with settling the temporary foreign workers into the community and, likewise, confirm the availability of affordable and suitable housing and accommodations.
Mr. Casuga bared the unprecedented boom of Alberta has presented a new avenue of opportunities for thousands of Filipinos from home willing to fill the labor shortfall the province is currently experiencing.

Since the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Monte Solberg announced the creation of the Temporary Worker Unit in Calgary in July 2006, a steady number of hiring and recruitment agencies aiming to recruit Filipino workers directly from the Philippines is steadily gaining popularity, Mr. Casuga added.

The Temporary Foreign Worker initiative is lauded as a great effort to aggressively address the labor market shortage threatening to hold up the continued economic growth of the province.

However, with the influx of these opportunities it is advised that prospective applicants must be wary and cautious about falling prey to bogus and unscrupulous recruiters, Mr. Casuga warned. It is up to the applicants to figure out legitimate fees before embarking on a contract, he said.

A Glimpse into the OFWs in Canada :FILIPINO COOKS MAKING WAVES, GETTING RAVES IN CALGARY

Filipinos are indeed world class service providers. They can proudly stand side by side with other workers from all over the world and they will always shine.

Regie Mendoza, a young cook at 26, arrived in the City of Calgary in Alberta , Canada on February 15, 2006. One week after, Regie was crossed trained as server and after two days, he was promoted as supervisor.

Thirty-one years old Marlon Cabsaban, another cook who was deployed on the same date, made waves and brought honor to the Filipino workforce when he was promoted as Kitchen Manager, in just two weeks after his arrival.

Eduardo Ferrer, a 36 years old cook, is getting raves after he introduced the Filipino dinner buffet in the restaurant he is working for. He was the first in the batch of 30 cooks who was featured in the local newspaper as the singing and dancing cook.

Elmer Cruz, 37, is also one of the Filipino cooks who are making waves in Calgary because of their work ethics and work attitudes. He said that the first thing they did when they arrived was to thoroughly clean and to sanitize their place of work.

Elmer, Ed, Marlon and Regie are four of the thirty cooks, who were deployed to Calgary in February, 2006. They were recruited by Calgary ’s Exultant Human Resources Canada through its local intermediary Skyworld, to work as cooks in Smitty’s, chain of family restaurants numbering to more than 20 in Calgary alone.

These cooks without their knowing are doing great for the image of the Philippines as provider of world-class workforce. Marlon, for one has worked in Saipan as chief cook, in Northern Ireland as chef de parte and in London as chef de parte. He said that wherever he goes, he never forgets that he is a Filipino and that he must help the country by endeavoring to give a good image for the Filipino worker.

Obviously, Marlon is very happy with his job. He said he is lucky he has employers who trust and appreciate the ingenuity of the Filipino service provider. Now receiving a monthly salary of Canadian $3,000.00, or about P120,000.00 per month, after his promotion, Marlon is looking forward to the day when he is able to bring his wife and his four-year old child to Calgary which he described as a beautiful, peaceful and one of the 10 safest cities to live in, all over the world.

Marlon intimated that he has worked in three different countries but it is only in Calgary where the human resource agency has been very supportive, finding for him and his fellow cooks, housing facilities which is only walking distance to where they work. Not only that, Exultant assisted them in opening a bank account and in getting their SII which is equivalent to SSS in the Philippines.

Regie, on the other hand, worked in Dubai as a cook for one year; has been a manager of a local food chain and has had a one-year stint as a call center agent before he applied as cook for deployment to Calgary.

He revealed that he learned about the job opening from a former co-employee and friend in Dubai , who, he accidentally met in Manila, one day. His friend informed him that he read from the newspaper ad about the opening for cooks in Calgary . Reggie and his friend (who was a server) applied together. Unfortunately, his friend was not taken in because there was no opening for servers.

Regie, whose wife is a factory worker in Taiwan, enthused that the Filipino community in Calgary is very friendly and supportive, giving them clothes and groceries especially when they just arrived. In fact, Regie and four of his companions from the Philippines have been placed by Exultant, in a house owned by a Filipino family who treat them as one of the family. “We are indeed lucky in the choice of our agency, the Exultant Human Resources of Canada,” Regie quipped.

Ed, whose teacher-wife and three children ages 11, 4 and 6 months, live in Mapandan, Pangasinan, is now a cook at Shifters, a sister company of Smitty’s. Prior to his going to Calgary, Ed worked as a cook in a Hotel, went to Dubai and Riyad to work in sales and tried his hand in business, particularly in the buy and sell of cars.

Ed epitomizes the Filipino worker who loves his work. In fact, he was featured in one of the Calgary local papers as the singing and dancing cool. But that is not all, he is happy that his introduction of the Filipino Dinner Buffet at the Shifters, has been accepted not only by the management but also by the customers.

Although, most of his salary goes to the financing company which lent him the money needed for his trip to Canada, he is more secured than ever because he is able to send money to his family and still pay for his personal needs in Calgary . He revealed that his salary in Calgary is eight to ten times more than what he was receiving in his former employment.

His feeling of home sickness, he intimated, is eased by the fact that he is able to call his family every so often because phone cards in Calgary costs only Canadian $5 and this is good for a one hour call already.

Elmer on the other hand, was working as cook in two hotels in Manila before he saw the newspaper ads for cooks in Calgary. Luckily, after his interview with Skyworld and Exultant, he was accepted and he now sees a better future for his wife and his four children who are in Quezon City.

Elmer, who had a formal training in culinary arts, said, that in Canada, he is able to put to good use his expertise because of the trust and confidence of the management. He said that the coming to Smitty’s of the Filipino cook, somehow saved the management extra expense because the Filipino cooks do not mind cleaning their work area and washing the dishes.

The Filipino cooks who were brought to Calgary by the Exultant Human Resources of Canada had to borrow money from the lending agencies recommended by Skyworld. They are obliged to pay this within six months but they don’t mind this at all, because after six months, they will already enjoy their entire salary.

The cooks have one year contract, with option to renew the contract for another year. What is good is that the Filipino workers have the option to apply for open visa and for permanent residency.

Elmer, Eduard, Regie and Marlon have the same advice to their fellow countrymen who would like to work in Calgary – to have the industry, patience and the values of honesty and integrity which are trademarks of a Filipino worker. They must strive to sustain if not enhance the good image of the globally competitive Filipino worker.

The cooks who were interviewed via phone patch, while they are having some socialization at the residence of Mr. Leo Casuga in Calgary, said that the cost of living in Calgary is somewhat high but Exultant helped by putting them in the houses of Filipinos where they have a fully furnished accommodation for Canadian $ 300. per month only. Since they are usually five in one house, their contribution for their food is only Canadian $35, and this is good for two to three weeks already.

Mr. Leo Casuga who is the director of the Exultant Human Resources Canada, said that the company is meticulous in hiring the best Filipino workforce because it wishes to highlight the innovative, hardworking and persevering Filipino skilled workers.

Mr. Casuga informed that Calgary is the largest city in the province of Alberta in Canada and with its population of about 1 million in 2006, it is the third largest municipality in Canada in terms of population.

There are more than 16,000 Filipinos in Calgary , Mr. Casuga added. This accounts to 1.9% of the total population of Calgary. With the gas and oil industry and the tourism industry employing a large number of people, the economy of Calgary is now booming, Mr. Casuga bared.

Mr. Casuga further informed that in 2006, Calgary had the lowest unemployment rate (3.2%) among major cities in Canada , and as a result, there is an extreme shortage of workers, both skilled and unskilled. Downtown hotels have had to shut down floors due to a lack of staff to clean all the rooms. Calgary's housing boom, combined with large road construction projects and competition from oil fields with high wages to the north, has created a strain on the labor force, he said.

“This is the opportunity Exultant saw,” Mr. Casuga said. Exultant in its own little way, can help in the fulfillment of the Arroyo Administration’s thrust of providing 10 million jobs by the year 2010. In a way, the company also helps improve the economy of the country and the living condition of the families of the OFWs they deploy.

Exultant believes in the industry and integrity of the world class Filipino workers, Mr. Casuga said, and it is determined to promoting the excellence of the Filipino workers by bringing them to Calgary. He added that although, more than 6,000 workers are needed nowadays all over Calgary, the Filipino workers must be vigilant and selective in their choice of agency so that they will not end up crying.

Exultant Human Resources Canada is owned by the Philippine-born Casuga brothers, Henry and Leo, together with their sons Alex and Leo Jr. Mr. Casuga said he left the Philippines to join his family when he was 17 years old and he also worked hard through life. In a way, he understands the situation of the OFWs and so the company tries hard to assist and support the OFWs they hire. (olive_tiu)