filipino globe

CoRREGIDOR 

War was fought and peace was 

won on this little island. Tourism 

gives way to history 

LAKBAYAN 31 

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BALIK-TANAW 24-25 

hong kong / manila edition 

filipino globe 

Volume 1 Issue 9 www.filglobe.com July 2007 

MJ says 

thank you 

for all your 

kind help 

Grateful family overwhelmed by the 

outpouring of support during ordeal 

Jose Marcelo in Hong Kong 

BY THE NUMBERS 

Amount needed for the lifesaving transplant 

on liver patients and to cover recovery costs 

Sally Sultan scanned the long, long 

list of people her family wants to 

thank now that her son, liver transplant 

patient MJ, is on the road to 

recovery, and found just one word to 

sum it all up. 

“Milagro po ang nangyari kay MJ,” 

she said, choking back tears. 

From Dr Vanessa de Villa, who facilitated 

the family’s arrival in Hong 

Kong and was part of the team that 

performed the liver transplant on MJ, 

to anonymous donors who pitched in 

with whatever they could, the torrent 

of support was enough to overwhelm 

the Sultans. 

Donations, big and small, as well 

as moral support and prayers have 

poured in over the past three months, 

helping tide MJ over through three 

operations and hand the three-yearold 

a new lease on life. 

“Ang dami po naming gustong pasalamatan,” 

said Sally. 

“Mula po sa mga taong mataimtim 

na nagdasal para kay MJ. Doon rin 

po sa mga tumulong, malaki man o 

maliit, at marami po sa kanila hindi 

man nagpakilala, gusto ko po kayong 

pasalamatan.” 

Diagnosed with biliary atresia just 

six months after he was born, requiring 

a delicate and expensive procedure 

not yet performed in the Philippines, 

MJ underwent liver transplant 

at Queen Mary Hospital on May 15 

and has since shown steady progress. 

The full hospital bill has yet to be 

settled and a large sum is still needed 

for MJ’s post-surgery care, but more 

importantly all signs indicate the 

toughest part is over for the third Fili- 

$1m 

pino patient from an indigent family 

to receive the lifesaving procedure in 

Hong Kong with the help of De Villa. 

“We still have to perform some 

follow-up tests on MJ in the coming 

days, but we’re optimistic,” said De 

Villa, a clinical assistant professor at 

Queen Mary’s Department of Surgery. 

De Villa was at the top of the Sultans’ 

list, along with Sally’s sister Rowena 

Barcelo who donated a part of 

her liver to MJ. 

“Actually makakita lang po iyan ng 

dugo ninenerbiyos na, parang gusto 

nang himatayin. Pero nagsakripisyo 

po s’ya para kay MJ,” said Sally of 

Barcelo. “Hindi pa po s’ya pinapalad 

na magkaanak, pero ginawa po n’ya 

ang responsibilidad ng isang ina.” 

The bulk of the $1 million required 

for the surgery was raised with the 

help of charity institutions like the 

PCSO, Pal Foundation, American 

Foundation and the Bantay Bata 163. 

The Filipino community in Hong 

Kong has once again helped fill the 

shortfall. 

Among those who helped in a big 

way were members of the Islamic 

Union of Hong Kong and the Trustees’ 

Fund of Hong Kong, Sister Madina 

Molina, the Catholic Center and 

the Kabacan Overseas Workers. 

The date on the print is significant because it was when MJ Sultan was pronounced out of danger and well on his way to 

recovery. The smile is that of a child feeling well and playful. Gone is the pained expression of the recent past (inset). 

Donations in amounts ranging 

from $50 to $100 have poured into 

a bank account set up by Hong 

Kong-based Filipino philanthropists 

for MJ Sultan. 

“If you can see by the amounts 

given, these obviously came from 

domestic helpers who gave from 

the bottom of their hearts,” said 

migrant advocate Daphne Ceniza- 

Kuok, among those who helped 

raise funds for MJ’s transplant 

Big or small, everything counts 

in the territory. “We do not know 

who they are, but I just want 

them to know that their donations 

have been received and greatly 

appreciated.” 

Dr Vanessa De Villa 

acknowledged that the huge 

amount required for liver 

transplants in Hong Kong has been 

a major obstacle in their desire 

to offer a lifeline to many more 

indigent patients back home. 

But even as a plan to put up a 

foundation for Filipino liver patients 

has stalled, De Villa said she would 

always be more than willing to do 

what she can. 

“There are a lot more patients 

in need of liver transplantation 

back home,” she said. “If there are 

patients who have the resources 

and want to come here, we will 

always be there to help.” 

Jose Marcelo

2 filipino globe news 

filipino globe July 2007 3 

July 2007 

Official urges checks amid 

rise in ‘dud’ property deals 

Warning follows justice department crackdown on unscrupulous developers 


Thinking of buying your dream 

house? Attracted by a flyer handed 

to you in a Central sidewalk offering 

knockdown prices and zero interest 

for a charming, soon-to-rise townhouse 

in the middle of paradise? 

Think a hundred times before buying. 

The Department of Justice has started 

a campaign to go after unscrupulous 

developers preying on Filipino 

migrant workers by pre-selling properties 

in the Philippines they have no 

plan of finishing. 

Prominent developers in the Philippines 

have in recent years shifted 

their marketing campaigns overseas, 

targeting migrant workers who usually 

have the final say on how money 

sent back home would be spent. 

But along with the reputable developers, 

officials warn, came fraudulent 

agents who lure OFWs into buying 

condominium units or townhouses 

that remain unfinished long after the 

full payment has been made. 

“Our main concern in this matter is 

that innocent Filipino workers, many 

of whom work abroad in the hope of 

buying a decent living area, end up 

losing their shirts to unscrupulous 

subdivision and condominium developers,” 

said Justice Secretary Raul 

Gonzales. 

“These developers entice buyers by 

doing initial work on real estate projects, 

put up props to convey a sense 

of urgency, then (after pre-selling the 

properties) suddenly stop the construction 

without giving any reason, 

and nobody is around to answer your 

queries.” 

Worse, Gonzales said, the task of 

collecting refunds from bogus agents 

often end up as an exercise in futility. 

The Hong Kong market has long 

been a rich source of potential clients 

for Philippine developers, but not all 

agents marketing real estate properties 

in the territory are legitimate, officials 

warn. 

Last year, the consulate received 

complaints from two migrant workers 

over transactions with developers 

that went awry, officials said. 

“Our advice to our kababayans is to 

do the necessary checks before entering 

into such transactions,” said vice 

“ 

Our advice to our 

kababayans is to 

do the necessary 

checks before entering 

into such 

transaction 

VAL ROQUE 

Vice consul 

Property buyers are advised to deal only 

with reputable developers and to do 

background checks before 

making a decision. 

consul Val Roque. 

Roque, who before assuming his 

Hong Kong post was part of the Department 

of Foreign Affairs team that 

promoted the sale of Philippine properties 

to US-based Filipinos under 

the “Bayan Ko, Bahay Ko” program, 

said the safest route is to deal with 

reputable real estate companies. 

“It’s better to stick with legit companies 

and not deal with this so-called 

fly-by-night developers,” he said. 

“You’re really taking a risk when 

you deal with these developers.” 

Roque said migrant workers planning 

to buy properties back home can 

do the necessary background checks 

through two entities – the Housing 

and Land Use Regulatory Board, 

which is the government regulator on 

real estate matters, and the Chamber 

of Real Estate Builders Associations, 

an organization of Philippine developers. 

“Both the HLURB and the Creba 

have lists of reputable developers in 

the Philippines,” he said. 

Salud seeks Canada help over job ‘schemes’ 


The Philippine labor attache has 

urged Filipinos to exercise prudence 

with regards to orientation seminars 

being held in Hong Kong by companies 

that collect fees while offering 

job opportunities in Canada. 

Reports reaching the consulate said 

more and more Canadian groups, 

working with local recruitment agencies, 

are staging functions billed as 

orientation seminars in plush Hong 

Kong hotels. 

These groups, according to labor 

attache Romy Salud, collect a $180 

attendance fee and at the end of the 

gathering accept a $2,600 reservation 

fee from applicants in exchange for a 

chance at job openings in Canada. 

“Ang sa akin lang, there’s nothing 

like investigating first before parting 

with your hard-earned money,” 

said Salud. “Legitimate [company] 

ba ‘yan? May lisensiya ba iyan? 

Mayroon ba talagang trabaho na 


Interest rate sometimes offered by brokers 

to entice buyers into doing a deal 

0% 

Labbat Romy Salud: If in doubt, 

don’t pay. 

naghihintay sa Canada para sa mga 

applicants? These are things we need 

to establish.” 

Salud said he and Consul General 

Al Vicente are in the process of drafting 

a letter to the Canadian embassy 

inquiring about these schemes as 

well as the legitimacy of the groups 

involved. 

Until the Canadian embassy issues 

an endorsement, Salud advises potential 

applicants to be cautious. 

“A Filipina who attended one of the 

orientation seminars went to the consulate, 

asking us what she should do. 

Tinanong ko kung ano ang assurance 

[na makakaalis sila]. Just in case, 

what will happen to you? 

“Tinanong ko kung may memorandum 

of agreement? Or perhaps an 

undertaking or an authority. Hindi naman 

nila alam. So I advised them, in 

case of doubt, don’t pay.” 

Salud said reports reaching his office 

revealed that participants were 

enticed with jobs in Canadian factories. 

“Mayroon naman daw mga local 

agencies na binibigyan talaga ng job 

quota at legal na nakakapagpadala 

ng tao sa Canada,” Salud said. “Pero 

ang sabi ko nga, mas maganda na ang 

mag-ingat kaysa magsisi sa huli.” 

Salud has also been at the forefront 

of a campaign to put curbs on 

exorbitant fees being collected by 

Hong Kong-based agencies sending 

caregivers to Canada and the United 

Kingdom. 

There have also been several cases 

where applicants are duped into 

coughing up large sums of money by 

crooked agents claiming to work for 

these agencies. 

Salud could not hide his disappointment 

with the response of Hong 

Kong’s Labor Department which said 

the dealings of these agencies do not 

fall under its jurisdiction. 

“We were told that it’s not under 

their jurisdiction, except for their 

regulation that no more than 10 per 

ent of the applicant’s salary should be 

collected as placement fee,” he said. 

The Hong Kong stand has left a 

gray area with regards to the policing 

of these agencies. The Philippine 

government only has control on agencies 

sending Filipino migrant workers 

to Hong Kong, but not on HK-based 

agencies sending OFWs from the 

SAR to third countries. 

Agusan 

Seven people were seriously 

injured in a road accident along 

the national highway in Sta. 

Ana, Nasipit, Agusan del Norte, 

police said. 

Sketchy reports reaching 

the Northeastern Mindanao 

Police Regional Office 13 at 

Camp Rafael C Rodriguez 

said that the accident occurred 

when a tricycle passenger was 

accidentally bumped by an 

Isuzu pickup. 

As of press time, traffic 

police are still investigating the 

cause of the accident and the 

two vehicles’ route when the 

incident took place. 

A flash report received by 

chief supt Antonio D Nanas, 

regional police director, said 

the seven injured passengers, 

including the tricycle driver, 

were brought to Nasipit 

District Hospital and Butuan’s 

Provincial Hospital. 

Davao 

Eight female minors rescued 

early this week by authorities 

while working at various 

nightspots here have been 

reunited with their respective 

families. 

The City Social Welfare and 

Development Office turned 

over the minors, whose ages 

range from 15-17 years, to 

their parents after undergoing 

psychosocial intervention and 

counselling as facilitated by the 

agency. 

Acting on a tip, the City 

Health Office, backed by 

members of the local Criminal 

Investigation and Detection 

Group, simultaneously raided 

the nightspots on July. 

They rescued the minors, who 

were working as servers-cumentertainers, 

according to the 

police. 

The minors are stowaways 

from Digos City, Davao del Sur 

and Davao City. 

Iloilo 

ANGBANSA 

Agriculture Secretary Arthur 

Yap launched a five-year 

program spearheaded by the 

Southeast Asian Fisheries 

Development Center and 

Bureau of Fisheries and 

Agriculture Research to 

address shortage of abalone 

in the world market. 

There is an estimated 

shortage of about 4,000-6,000 

metric tons of abalone in the 

world market. 

Yap said the P15 million 

investment of DA-BFAR in 

the national abalone breeding 

and culture program, “is well 

worth it”. 

In the first year alone, the 

six abalone hatcheries and 

six grow-out farms to be 

built under this initiative are 

projected to produce more 

than 100,000 kilos, worth 

more than P36 million.

4 

filipino globe news 

July 2007 


Racial slur draws fighting words 

Mother and daughter take cudgels for all domestic helpers over English skills 


When Theresa Cunanan went 

to her daughter’s school 

one day and confronted 

a teacher who had made remarks 

discriminatory to Filipino domestic 

helpers, all she ever wanted was to 

do the right thing. 

Unwittingly, she had picked up the 

cudgels for thousands of domestic 

helpers – and South Asians in general 

– in Hong Kong. 

“I’m very conscious of my identity 

here in Hong Kong,” said Cunanan, a 

full-blooded Filipina born and raised 

in the territory. “I’ve always strongly 

felt that you mustn’t judge people by 

the color of their skin.” 

Thanks to the interest their small 

story has generated, mother and 

daughter have helped raise awareness 

of the discrimination South Asians, 

especially domestic helpers, continue 

to face in a society striving to be a 

global city like Hong Kong. 

If they had made a difference, 

Cunanan said, the credit should go to 

her daughter Celeste Joelle, who, at 

nine years old, was mature enough to 

know something had to be done after 

her Hong Kong teacher, addressing 

her whole Grade 4 class, said: 

“Be careful who you speak English 

with, especially those of you with 

Filipino domestic helpers. Their 

accents are not good, and you may 

pick up bad or wrong accents.” 

Celeste, who is half-Chinese, 

casually brought up the topic over 

dinner days later, and told her 

mother: “Mom, we can’t let her get 

away with it.” 

“She wasn’t very happy, and 

you can see she was disturbed by 

it,” said Cunanan, a lecturer at the 

Hong Kong Baptist University in 

Kowloon with a bachelor’s degree 

in comparative literature from Hong 

Kong University and a master’s 

degree in literary studies. 

“So I owed it to my daughter, 

really, for doing what I did.” 

The 40-year-old mother of two 

soon paid the teacher a visit and let 

her know that what she had told the 

class was politically incorrect. Better 

yet she wrote a stirring letter to the 

South China Morning Post that, 

subtly but compellingly, reminded 

readers of the discrimination that still 

exists in a modern society like Hong 

Kong. 

“I approached the teacher in a 

very nice way one day after class,” 

Cunanan said. “At first she denied 

it. She said, ‘That’s not what I said.’ 

Then she said, ‘I only meant some 


The consulate has started the process 

of repatriating the body of a Filipina 

whose death last month remains 

shrouded in mystery. 

The body of Aurora Capucao, 

47, from Naguilian, La Union, was 

already in a decomposing state when 

it was found by the Hong Kong 

police inside her flat in Mong Kok on 

June 18. 

Except for travel documents 

Filipinos’ … I mean, that’s the same 

thing. It doesn’t make any difference. 

“I didn’t make her apologise for 

what she said, but I made sure I let 

her know how we felt about the 

whole thing.” 

Cunanan’s letter to the Post drew 

sympathetic reactions from educators 

and other migrant workers in the 

territory and soon found its way 

into blogs and other newspapers in 

Manila. 

One such reaction came from Dr 

Mary Tabarsi Tsang, a professor 

at Community College of City 

University who said a research she 

found inside her 

apartment that 

enabled police 

to establish her 

identity, not much 

else has been 

known about the 

Filipina or the 

circumstances 

surrounding her death. 

Police found “nothing suspicious” 

about Capucao’s death to pursue a 

murder investigation, vice consul Val 

Celeste Joelle 

and her brother 

are being 

helped with 

their school 

work by their 

Filipino yaya. 

Their mother, 

Theresa 

Cunanan, won’t 

have it any 

other way. 

made years ago about the influence 

of domestic helpers on Hong Kong 

Chinese homes revealed, among 

other things, that: 

One, majority of Hong Kong 

parents admitted that Filipina 

domestic helpers had taught their 

child some English and assisted 

with their homework, and, two, that 

the parents felt uncomfortable with 

this due to the worry about the child 

picking up errors or speaking ‘like 

the maid.’ 

Tsang concluded: “I believe that a 

domestic helper assuming what are 

typically considered parental duties, 

such as assisting with school work 

and language learning, can cause 

unacknowledged feelings of guilt and 

anger on the part of busy parents. 

“If we add into the brew cultural 

stereotypes … and even the parents’ 

insecurity about their own Englishlanguage 

abilities, we are left with a 

thick and dangerous potion. 

“The results are negative 

stereotypes, ethnic slurs and a 

hostility so debilitating that it 

cripples Hong Kong’s growth and 

development.” 

Whatever the underlying reasons 

for the discriminatory attitude some 

locals continue to harbor toward 

their maids, Cunanan insists it has no 

place in modern society, more so in 

Hong Kong. 

“You have to fight it, and not be 

complacent,” she said. 

It was easy for her to empathise. 

Born and raised by Filipino parents 

who took up residence in Hong Kong 

in 1964, Cunanan said she – as successful 

and as deeply rooted as she 

is in the territory – continues to deal 

with the same issue. 

“I deal with it every day. Growing 

up in Hong Kong, you have to demand 

a certain respect. So when that 

incident with my daughter’s teacher 

happened, I just put myself in my 

daughter’s shoes,” she said. 

Cunanan said she feels fortunate 

to have her Filipina helper, Thelma 

Belleza, a former math teacher back 

home, helping out her children with 

their school work and would not have 

it any other way. 

“I have a lot of respect for domestic 

helpers,” Cunanan said. “They came 

here for the same reasons my parents 

came here for, which was to give their 

families a better life, so I can empathise 

with them.” 

Pinay in ‘mysterious’ death to be repatriated 

Roque (left) said, although they are 

still waiting for the final coroner’s 

report set to come out in two months. 

Police said Capucao was a resident 

of the territory. 

A Filipina, who said she was 

no more than an acquaintance of 

Capucao, told consulate officials the 

deceased was a single mother with a 

21-year-old son back home. But the 

information is still being verified, 

said Roque. 

It also took weeks of appeal 

“ 

You have to fight 

it, and not be 

complacent ... 

Growing up in 

Hong Kong, you 

have to demand a 

certain respect 

THERESA CUNANAN 

Mother, employer and academic 

made by consulate officials through 

Filipino radio programs in the 

territory before contact was finally 

established with Capucao’s family in 

La Union. “We’ve finally gotten in 

touch with a cousin in La Union who 

said she was told about Capucao’s 

death by a friend in Hong Kong who 

heard about it in the radio,” said 

Roque. 

Roque said the consulate has 

authorised the release of funds for 

the repatriation of Capucao’s body. 

Negros 

President Arroyo met with a 

potential ethanol investor in 

Negros Occidental. 

Presidential assistant for 

Western Visayas Rafael 

Coscolluela said the investor, 

whose identity he did not 

disclose, is the fourth interested 

party in establishing an ethanol 

plant in Negros Occidental. 

He said an ethanol plant is 

being put up in San Carlos City. 

Coscolluela added that the 

construction of another ethanol 

plant in Negros Occidental 

would boost Arroyo’s programs 

to use renewable source of 

energy. 

The additional investment 

would in turn place this part 

of the country in the “Ethanol 

Highway” of the national 

government. 

This is part of a plan to 

accelerate economic 

development in the countryside. 

Cebu 

Cebu governor Gwendolyn 

Garcia has urged businessmen 

to “make the countryside a 

viable investment alternative 

to the overburdened and 

congested city.” 

Garcia made the statement 

in her speech on the official 

launching of the small and 

medium enterprise industrial 

park at the New Cebu Township 

One special economic zone 

area in barangay Cantao-ang, 

Naga, a southern Cebu town 

which is on its final stages of 

conversion into a city. 

The first of its kind in the 

country, the park is envisioned 

to become a center for worldclass 

SMEs showcasing the 

country’s export products. 

With the presence of the 

industrial park initiated by 

Planters Development Bank, 

Garcia said economic growth 

is moving “from the city to the 

countryside that feeds it.” 

Pampanga 

ANGBANSA 

The clamor for the return of 

the Department of Foreign 

Affairs Consular office 3 

from Clark to San Fernando 

continues to mount. 

Members of the Rotary Club 

of San Fernando asked city 

mayor Oscar Rodriguez to 

intervene in the request of 

various groups for the DFA 

to reconsider relocating its 

consular office here. 

The DFA, like the National 

Bureau of Investigation 

regional office in Central 

Luzon, has been transferred to 

the Clark Freeport Zone due 

to less ideal location of San 

Fernando City. 

Rodriguez said he is willing 

to be the conduit of requests 

for the DFA’s transfer back 

to the city where most 

government regional offices 

are located.

6 


July 2007 

news 


Lucena girl, 14, gets right royal stamp of approval 

Iloilo 

ANGBANSA 

Sometime last year, a high school 

student from Lucena City wrote 

Queen Elizabeth II (Elizabeth 

Alexandra Mary Windsor) of the 

United Kingdom and told her of her 

stamp collection that portrays Her 

Royal Highness. 

A few weeks later, to her surprise, 

Queen Elizabeth II answered her 

letter. 

“The Queen even sent me photos 

of herself inside the Windsor 

Palace,” said Alyasah Xeniah Alcala, 

14, a second year high school student 

at the Sacred Heart College in 

Lucena City. 

After completing her Queen 

Elizabeth II stamp collection, she 

sent it to Royal 2006 Royale, a 

national stamp collection exhibit 

in Canada, where it won the Youth 

Grand Award. 

Last month, the same collection 

won a Vermeil Medal in the 

Rochester National Philtelic 

Exhibition held at the Monreal 

Community College in New York. 

Last week, Alcala’s stamp 

collection titled “Her Majesty, Queen 

Elizabeth II” was proclaimed the 

2007 AAPE Youth Champion of 

Champions in the National Topical 

Stamp Exhibition at the Sheraton 

Grand Hotel in Irving, Texas. 

The exhibit was sponsored by the 

American Association of Philatelix 

Exhibitors. 

The winners of the AAPE 

Youth Grand Awards from various 

stamp shows in the United States 

and Canada competed in the 

youth Champion of Champions 

competition. 

The young Alcala is a member of 

the Quezon Philatelic Club. 

Lebanon-bound OFWs 

intercepted in Mactan 

The Metro Iloilo Water District 

has finally completed a 

P3 million potable water project 

that will benefit hundreds of 

relocated residents in barangay 

Sooc, Arevalo district. 

The utility signed an 

agreement with the Iloilo 

City government on the 

implementation of the 

counterpart project. 

The city government has 

shelled out P2 million for 

the project while the MIWD 

shouldered the remaining 

amount. 

Iloilo City mayor Jerry Treñas 

said nearby residents of 

barangay Sooc can also avail 

of the project provided they 

apply for water connection. 

Treñas assured the city will 

again push the puting up of 

pipe water connections at the 

Gawad Kalinga site, also in 

barangay Sooc. 

Malolos 

Today’s toxic environment 

coupled with the high-fat, highsugar 

diets that are so common 

among most people combine to 

make it very difficult to achieve 

optimal health, slow aging and 

prevent chronic illness. 

In many ways, conventional 

medicine has failed to fully 

address the problems we face in 

today’s world. 

www.xocaipinoy.com 

email rsumallo@yahoo.com 

mobile +63917 5390486 

MXI Corp Philippines pick-up and training 

center: (632) 637 5279 

fax (632) 634 7909 

Group trying to defy ban on travel to the war-torn country 

Several Filipinos bound for Lebanon 

have been stopped at the Mactan Cebu 

International Airport amid indications 

of human trafficking to the war-torn 

country, an overseas employment official 

said. 

Evilia Durato, Philippine Overseas 

Employment Administration in Central 

Visayas regional director, said 

there had been two separate incidents 

wherein groups of Filipinos bound for 

Lebanon were stopped at the MCIA. 

In May, a group of 14 Filipinos 

claiming to have found employment 

in Lebanon were barred from boarding 

their planes after airport officials 

learned of their destination. 

On July 2, a group of eight Filipinos 

were also prevented from boarding 

their Qatar Air Lines flight when 

airline officials learned that the group 

were to be employed as domestic 

helpers in Lebanon. 

The Philippine government earlier 

issued a travel ban to Lebanon due to 

the ongoing conflict there. 

Durato said the government should 

investigate the increasing traffic to 

Lebanon despite the travel ban, especially 

since the Philippine embassy 

in Beirut and Lebanese labor attache 

Annie Israel had raised reports about 

the alleged smuggling of Filipinos 

into the country. 

Some of these Filipinos, embassy 

officials said, exited the country 

through the MCIA. 

Durato said she did not know how 

these groups acquired plane tickets to 

Lebanon. 

“Insofar as those two cases are concerned, 

perhaps there are really irresponsible 

persons involved in this 

kind of trade,” Durato said. 

“We should look into this because 

this involves a lot of workers, and 

we should also see how these people 

manage to sneak out despite the presence 

of authorities at the airport.” 

Geronimo Rosas, Bureau of Immigration 

regional director, said he has 

created a team to investigate the allegation 

raised by the Lebanese labor 

attache. 

Rosas said he ordered his investigations 

to retrieve the flight manifests 

of all flights leaving the MCIA since 

January. 

Rosas earlier denied that immigration 

officials at the airport were involved 

in human trafficking. 

Lebanon remains a no-go zone for Filipinos because of the conflict. 


Filipinos barred from leaving in May after 

officials discovered their destination 

14 

Anyone suspected of being engaged 

in the activity would immediately be 

charged in court. 

Angel Espiritu, Department of Foreign 

Affairs regional director, said his 

office had yet to receive any official 

reports from the Philippine embassy 

in Beirut about human trafficking. 

“But we’ve heard the news. I can’t 

really comment on that because I 

don’t really know what’s happening,” 

Espiritu said. 

“We issue passports here and when 

they arrive in the airport, immigration 

officials take over.” 

Reynaldo Jacalan, an officer of the 

Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, 

said Filipinos who wanted to 

work in a country where travel was 

banned such as Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan 

could simply fly to neighboring 

country and enter Lebanon 

from there. 

Jacalan said the OWWA would have 

no record of the employment details 

of these workers. 

Despite the arrival of the rainy 

season, an impending water 

crisis looms as water levels 

continue to drop to critical point 

at the Angat Dam reservoir, 

officials said. 

Rodolfo German, manager of 

the Angat River Hydro Electric 

Power Plant of the National 

Power Corp that manages the 

Angat Dam said: “We need at 

least one typhoon to hit the 

Angat Dam in order for water 

levels to climb again.” 

German said water levels 

at the giant reservoir dropped 

to 179.51 meters last week. 

This means the critical level of 

180 meters has already been 

breached. 

He added that they will still 

need a miracle despite the 

forecast of Pagasa that three 

typhoons will hit the country this 

month and another three next 

month, bringing rainfall enough 

to create water reserves. 

Oras 

The municipality of Oras, 

Eastern Samar recently 

received new classrooms, 

courtesy of Philip Morris 

Manufacturing Corp and 

the Philippine Army 546 

Engineering Construction 

Brigade. 

Geraldine Banadora, a 

teacher at the Oras National 

High School in Barangay San 

Roque (also known as Calauit) 

said the new building cost 

some P490,000. 

The building, along with 

some 50 plastic chairs 

and some furniture, was 

turned over to local school 

authorities. Philip Morris was 

represented by Amy Eisma, 

community relations officer. 

Oras mayor Neil Alvarez, 

said the students will make 

sure that the classrooms 

will last longer so that more 

Orasnons could use the new 

facility. 

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8 


July 2007 

news 


Army widens search for Bossi 

Rescue operations for kidnapped Italian priest extended to two Mindanao provinces 

The military’s Western Mindanao 

Command has extended its search 

and rescue efforts for abducted Italian 

priest Fr Giancarlo Bossi (right) in 

two provinces in Western Mindanao. 

Wesmincom chief Lt Gen Eugenio 

Cedo said Basilan will now be included 

in the focus of the search and 

rescue operations. 

But Cedo said this will not mean 

that they will stop the operations in 

Zamboanga Sibugay province. 

Fr Bossi 57, of 

the Pontificio Istituto 

Missioni Estere 

and the parish 

priest of Payao 

town in Zamboanga 

Sibugay, was 

seized on June 10 

while on his way to celebrate a mass 

in Barangay Bulawan in the said municipality. 

The search and rescue efforts in 

Zamboanga Sibugay will be handled 

by the army’s first infantry division 

under Maj Gen Nehemias Pajarito 

and the first marine brigade under 

Col.Ramiro Alivio in Basilan. 

Cedo said they will deploy the marine 

battalion landing team-1 from 

Sulu to Basilan to help in the search 

and rescue operations. 

He said they will concentrate the 

search and rescue operations in the 

provinces of Basilan and Zamboanga 

Sibugay as there is persistent information 

about Fr Bossi and his abductors’ 

presence in the two provinces. 

Alivio said they have received information 

about the arrival of a group 

of gunmen in Basilan bringing along 

with them the abducted Italian priest. 

The search and rescue efforts continue 

in a bid to locate the whereabouts 

of Fr Bossi since no group has 

claimed responsibility for the abduction 

until now. 

Dumaguete 

Following the successful 

staging of the second biennial 

Terra Cotta Art Festival and 

Competition, foreign and 

national artists led by famed 

sculptor Napoleon Abueva are 

pushing for wider promotions to 

make Dumaguete City the “clay 

capital” of the country. 

The festival is the only one 

of its kind in the Philippines, 

said Sid Hildawa, department 

manager on visual, literary, 

and media arts of the Cultural 

Center of the Philippines. 

“It is unique in the world and 

is something to be proud of,” 

said Hildawa. He said terra 

cotta art from Dumaguete was 

exhibited last year at the CCP. 

Hildawa said that while the 

festival is still in its infancy, 

there is potential for it to 

become an event that would 

draw the attention of foreign 

artists. 

Legazpi 

ANGBANSA 

The Commission on Human 

Rights (CHR) regional office in 

Bicol is conducting a forum on 

the draft international convention 

for the protection of all persons 

from enforced disappearance. 

CHR Bicol regional director 

Pelagio Señar said the forum 

would include discussions on 

the rationale of the convention, 

its provisions and implications 

Warning on 

indiscriminate 

fogging in 

dengue alert 

Officials urge concerted effort to stop 

disease from becoming an epidemic 

Edgar Serrano in Manila 

A nationwide fogging operation 

will be conducted after 401 cases 

of dengue were reported last week 

breaching the 378 cases in a week 

that was set by health officials as 

the level at which to declare an 

epidemic. 

The number of cases is expected to 

rise further to a peak in mid-August 

or September due to changes in the 

virus strain. 

The virus came all the way from 

Singapore which has declared a 

dengue epidemic. Thailand has 

already had more than 11,000 

reported cases so far this year, with 

14 deaths 

In Malysia, 48 people have died 

among more than 20,000 dengue 

cases. 

Dr Eric Tayag, officer-in-charge of 

the National Epidemiology Center, 

warned that if the national and local 

government units fail to make a 

concerted effort to prevent its spread, 

a dengue epidemic may be declared 

in the country. 

Patients stricken with the 

mosquito-borne disease have reached 

the 7,000 mark between January to 

June, surpassing the number of cases 

reported last year. 

Dengue hemorrhagic fever is an 

acute infectious disease manifested 

initially with fever. It is transmitted 

by aedes aegypti, a day-biting 

mosquito which lays eggs in clear 

and stagnant water found in flower 

A pest control 

worker cleans 

an open drain in 

Singapore, where 

the Philippine strain 

of the dengue virus 

originated. 

vases, cans, rain barrels, old rubber 

tires, etc. The adult mosquitoes rest 

in dark places of the house. 

The signs and symptoms of dengue 

are sudden onset of high fever ,which 

may last 2 to 7 days, joint and muscle 

pain and pain behind the eyes, 

weakness, skin rashes or red tiny 

spots on the skin called petechiae, 

nose bleeding when fever starts to 

subside, abdominal pain, vomiting 

of coffee-colored matter and darkcolored 

stools. 

The public has been advised to take 

the following precautions to help 

stop the spread of the disease: 

• Cover water drums and water 

pails at all times to prevent 

mosquitoes from breeding 

• Replace water in flower vases 

once a week 

• Clean all water containers once 

a week 

• Scrub the sides well to remove 

eggs of mosquitoes sticking to the 

sides of water containers 

• Clean gutters of leaves and 

debris so that rain water will not 

collect serving as breeding places 

of mosquitoes; old tires used as roof 

support should be punctured or cut to 

avoid accumulation of water 

• Collect and dispose all unusable 

tin cans, jars, bottles and other items 

that can collect and hold water. 

Dr Tayag also advised the 

public not to allow indiscriminate 

fogging which only drives dengue 

carrying mosquitoes to the adjacent 

barangays. 

The insecticide used in fogging 

machines only kills full-grown 

mosquitoes but not the millions of 

eggs left by them to hatch. 

Fogging should only be done 

with the approval and assistance by 

the Department of Health and only 

in areas where there is already an 

outbreak of the disease. 

He said the public should follow 

the Four S in the prevention and 

control of dengue: 

• Search and Destroy the breeding 

places used by dengue mosquitoes 

• Self Protection Measures like 

wearing long sleeves shirts and 

long pants and the use of mosquito 

repellant during the day 

• Seek Early consultation if you are 

suffering from a fever for more than 

two days accompanied by skin rashes 

• Say No to Indiscriminate 

Fogging. 

LINIS KAMPEON 

Quezon City mayor Feliciano “SB” Belmonte Jr (center) leads city officials in awarding the winners of the just-concluded ‘Name the Bawas Basura 

Mascots’ at the City Hall grounds. The contest was launched in February by the city Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department 

headed by Frederika C. Rentoy (4th from left), in an effort to integrate the youth in environmentally sustainable projects that promote proper solid 

waste management. The three student winners Alyssandra S Moje (6th from left) of Esteban Abada Elementary School for her entry ‘Dodong 

Masinop’; Mhon Jeus Millon (4th from right) for ‘Cristina Compostina’ and Paul John Argatin (not in photo) for ‘Tin-tin Kutingting, both of Project 

6 Elementary School. Also in photo from left are councilors Bayani Hipol and Jorge Banal Jr, vice mayor Herbert Bautista and councilors Edcel 

Lagman Jr (3rd from right) and Bernadette Herrera-Dy (extreme right). 

NHA seeks 

extra P5.9b for 

rail ‘clearing’ 

The National Housing Authority 

needs about P5.9 billion more to finish 

resettling in southern Luzon this 

year 36,454 households of informal 

settlers remaining along Metro Manila’s 

railroad tracks. 

NHA plans and programs division 

manager Isabel Arceo said this 

amount will boost the P940 million 

the government allocated from its 

P2.5 billion subsidy fund. 

The agency estimated the clearing 

activity for the Southrail project 

needs some P6.9 billion. 

The funding will be for transportation 

and housing accommodation cost 

as well as start-up light and water expenses 

of beneficiaries. 

Arceo said the NHA is seeking additional 

subsidy from the government 

to save on interest payments for its 

debt. 

Borongan becomes newest city 

Less than 10 years ago, Eastern Samar 

was listed among the “poorest of 

the poor” provinces of the country. 

As its provincial capital, Borongan 

bore the stigma more than most of the 

towns in the province. 

So when this town off the Pacific 

coast was elevated to a city last week, 

residents turned out in numbers to 

celebrate. 

“This is a historic moment. This is 

the moment we’ve been waiting for. 

The people voted for progress,” Borongan 

mayor Fidel Anacta Jr said. 

The Commission on Elections said 

10,176 residents voted “yes” in a 

plebiscite to ratify the bill transforming 

the municipality into a city. 

On the other hand, 3,426 residents 

voted “no.” 

Comelec election officer Raymund 

Gunda said 40 per cent of the voting 

population of 30,870 cast their ballots. 

Gunda said the plebiscite was orderly 

and peaceful however. 

Comelec lawyer Genevieve Velicaria, 

who oversaw the referendum, 

said Borongan spent P2.7 million for 

the exercise. 

Velicaria said the “no” percentage 

was much higher in Borongan than in 

the other newly created cities. 

Those who want Borongan to remain 

a municipality have expressed 

concerns about its readiness to meet 

the basic conditions of cityhood. 

Lawyer Esminie Tomeño-Azul said 

the signs of readiness – such as good 

roads, airport or access to airport, 

stable power supply and good governance, 

were not yet visible in Borongan. 

But Junie Quilitano, the Department 

of Interior and Local Government’s 

provincial director, said cityhood 

would be a catalyst for growth 

and development as Borongan will be 

entitled to a bigger share in the Internal 

Revenue allotment that could be 

spent to improve basic services and 

infrastructure and invest in livelihood 

programs. 

With the ratification of Borongan’s 

cityhood, its IRA will increase from 

the present P70 million to P240 million 

or more annually. 

Days after the May polls, cityhood 

advocates put up streamers and campaigned 

intensively in the 61 villages 

of Borongan. 

on the Philippines. The draft 

convention imposes on the 

state the obligation to prevent 

disappearances and punish 

those responsible, among 

others. 

The CHR, a national human 

rights institution mandated to 

promote and protect human 

rights in the Philippines, is at 

the forefront of a campaign to 

promote the draft convention. 

The convention aims 

to eradicate the growing 

phenomenon of involuntary 

disappearance. 

Quezon 

The Quezon provincial board 

has approved a supplemental 

budget amounting to P146.43 

million. 

Among the expenses 

approved by the board 

covered office supplies of 

the offices in the executive 

department of the Quezon 

provincial government. 

The office of the provincial 

governor gets P2.5 million; 

office of the provincial 

administrator P4.5 million; 

governor’s mansion P1.5 

million; and Quezon 

Convention Center P1 million. 

For capital outlays, the 

provincial board approved P30 

million for the Quezon Medical 

Center office building, P18 

million for hospital equipment 

and P22 million for technical 

and scientific equipment. 

Three months ago, the 

province sought a P150 million 

loan from the Land Bank.

10 


July 2007 


‘Hot’ jobs up for grabs: survey 

Large firms in Metro Manila experiencing shortage of workers across all sectors 

Large enterprises in Metro Manila 

are experiencing a shortage of skills, 

ranging from high-end positions to 

blue-collar jobs. 

Citing a survey by the Bureau of 

Labor and Employment Statistics Labor 

Secretary Arturo D Brion said the 

situation has persisted over the past 

three years. 

Brion said the survey identified the 

hot jobs in the talent shortage list in 

Metro Manila. 

Hot jobs are those that are highly in 

demand and hard-to-fill due to lack or 

shortage in qualified applicants. 

Brion advised students and young 

workers to acquire the necessary skills 

to fill the hot jobs immediately. 

Banks urged 

to go easy on 

layoffs amid 

mergers 

The Trade Union Congress of the 

Philippines has cautioned against 

massive labor retrenchments in 

the banking industry as a result of 

heightened merger and acquisition 

activity. 

“We are appealing to the banks 

concerned to go slow in laying off 

workers. As much as possible, extra 

care must be exercised to ease, if not 

totally avoid temporary or permanent 

loss of employment and income 

on the part of affected bank staff,” 

TUCP spokesperson Alex Aguilar 

said. 

Aguilar made the appeal shortly 

after yet another lender, China 

Banking Corp, said that it is 

acquiring 87.51 per cent of Manila 

Banking Corp for P1.8 billion. 

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas 

said it was expecting up to five more 

bank combinations in the years ahead 

as the industry landscape shifted 

toward further consolidation. 

BSP governor Amando Tetangco 

Jr said that for reasons of size, 

competition and strategic footing, 

regulators were expecting four to 

five more bank mergers over the next 

three to five years. “We definitely 

expect further consolidation in the 

system,” Tetangco said. 

Aguilar stressed the need for the 

surviving entities in the mergers 

“to unconditionally honor all 

existing labor contracts or collective 

bargaining agreements with existing 

unions.” 

Aguilar urged the Bankers 

Association of the Philippines to 

link up with the Business Processing 

Association of the Philippines, 

Contact Center Association of the 

Philippines and other industry groups 

so that displaced bank employees 

may find new jobs. 

“The BAP should help find ways 

to transition affected bank personnel 

either to other lenders that are hiring, 

or to other industries,” he said. 

“BPO providers are hiring not just 

call center agents and transcribers, 

but also administrative support 

staff for human resources as well as 

finance and accounting,” he said. 

The survey covered 448 large enterprises 

in Metro Manila. The samples 

were drawn from a list of the 

country’s top 5,000 enterprises. 

The survey indicated that nearly 

one in three enterprises experienced 

talent or skill shortage. About 136, or 

30.3 per cent, of the 448 respondents 

experienced shortage of qualified applicants 

in certain occupations in the 

past three years. 

Majority of them were engaged in 

wholesale and retail trade (31.1 per 

cent) and manufacturing (28.2 per 

cent). The rest were spread out thinly 

across sectors. 

Shortage was acute for accountant, 

computer programmer, engineer, financial 

analyst, HRD manager, IT 

technician, lawyer, manager, nurse, 

and sales/marketing representative. 

Some hot jobs are: 

• Mining and quarrying – geologist, 

and mining engineer 

• Manufacturing – assembler, autocad 

designer, engineer, machinist, 

welder, safety officer 

• Electricity, gas, and water – electrical 

engineer, lineman, plant operator 

• Construction – engineer, fitter, 

plumber, skilled laborer, TIG pipe/ 

place welder, tinsmith 

• Wholesale, retail – administrative 

assistant, artist, baking technician, 

pharmacist, sales clothing technician, 

product planning and pricing officer, 

technical support specialist 

• Hotels, restaurants – HR manager, 

operation board position, restaurant 

manager 

• Transport, storage, communications 

– account manager, mechanics, 

IT specialist 

• Financial intermediation – actuarian, 

auditor, bookkeeper, programmer, 

underwriter 

• Real estate, renting, business services 

– architect, engineer, environmental 

scientist, trainer 

• Education – clinical instructor. 

• Health, social work – medical 

technician, nurse, technician, respiratory 

therapist. 

Makati’s burgeoning call centers should be able to absorb bank staff made redundant by mergers, says TUCP. 

You can now find financing by SMS 

President Arroyo pushed the green 

button on the latest government 

project that now makes the 

location and contact numbers of 

government financing agencies just 

a text away. 

“Micro Asenso!” text facility 

will make it easier for small and 

medium-sized businessmen to find 

micro-financing centers right in 

their areas. 

The service is envisioned by 

the government to enhance and 

sustain public awareness on 

micro finance. It is an offshoot of 

the government’s launch of the 

“Go Negosyo” entrepreneurship 

program last year. 

A national competitiveness 

summit in Malacañang last year 

helped lay the ground work for the 

new service. 

The summit hoped to provide 

effective financing access by 

developing a financial system that 

is “accessible, facilitative, and costeffective 

for MSMEs … through 

active partnership and continuous 

commitment between government 

and the private sector.” 

Eligible borrowers are nongovernment 

organizations, 

cooperatives and financial 

institutions “duly organised, 

with either a track record of 

lending operations or with proven 

capabilities in implementing microfinance 

programs for the poor.” 

Zamboanga 

The 14 fallen Philippine 

Marines Corps members were 

given full military honors after 

their remains were brought to 

this city from nearby Basilan 

province. 

Philippine Marine 

Commandant major general 

Nelson Allaga pinned medals 

on nine wounded marine troops 

at Camp Navarro General 

Hospital. 

Allaga also gave P100,000 

financial assistance and 

grocery items to the families of 

the slain and wounded marine 

troops. 

The marines belong to the 

First Marine Brigade under Col 

Ramiro Alivio that engaged in 

a gun battle for several hours 

after they were ambushed by 

Abu Sayyaf bandits. 

The attackers were allegedly 

backed by Moro Islamic 

Liberation Front rebels. 

Bacolod 

Bacolod City mayor Evelio 

Leonardia is in conflict with 

members of the Metro Bacolod 

Chamber of Commerce and 

Industry over the disposal of 

Bacolod airport. 

Mayor Leonardia stood firm 

on his decision to retain the old 

airport despite the opening of a 

new facility in Silay City, about 

20 kilometers from Bacolod. 

Leonardia created a 

committee to study the proposal. 

The Metro Bacolod Chamber 

of Commerce and Industry is 

looking forward to the Silay 

airport operations to begin. 

Transportation and 

Communication Assistant 

Secretary Ricardo Tan said 

the national government is 

determined to dispose of the 

old Bacolod airport. Proceeds 

from the sale will be used to 

defray the loan that was used for 

the construction of the modern 

facility in Silay City. 

Palawan 

ANGBANSA 

A total of 45,000 bags of 

National Food Authority rice 

will arrive in Palawan from 

Batangas to ensure buffer 

stock for the lean months from 

July to September this year. 

This was disclosed by NFA 

assistant provincial manager 

Roberto Bunag. 

Out of 45,000 bags, Bunag 

said 25,000 bags are intended 

for Puerto Princesa City, 

while the towns of Narra and 

Brooke’s Point will get 10,000 

sacks each. 

He said the NFA shipment 

will further stabilise the price 

of commercial rice during the 

lean months. 

Bunag said another 45,000 

sacks are also set to arrive in 

the province from Batangas in 

the mid-August. 

He assured that NFA 

Palawan has sufficient stock 

of rice and has continued to 

buy palay at P10 per kilogram.

12 


July 2007 


PAL boosts services to the Gulf 

Airline executive sees more code-share agreements with Mideast partners 

Philippine Airlines, the national flagcarrier, 

has a plan to strengthen its 

presence in the Gulf region by expanding 

its code-share agreements 

with Middle East carrier-partners. 

Jose E L Perez de Tagle, PAL assistant 

vice-president, government 

affairs, said that the airline management 

was “constantly reviewing viable 

market options” and will decide 

accordingly. 

PAL suspended flights to major destinations 

in the Middle East in 1998 

following a major economic slump 

Short cut 

to Bicol 

nearing 

completion 

Repair works on the shortest 

route between Manila and Bicol is 

expected to be completed before the 

peak of the travel season this year. 

Major holidays, such as the 

Penafrancia festival, All Souls Day 

and Christmas, spark a surge in travel 

across Southern Luzon to the Visayas 

and Mindanao. 

Completion of the Andaya 

Highway repair work will meet 

any rise in travel demand, the 

Department of Highways said. 

In a report to Highways Secretary 

Hermogenes Ebdane Jr, regional 

director Orlando Roces said that the 

rehabilitation work is almost 70 per 

cent complete. 

“We have been able to accomplish 

much of the scheduled works 

because of strict project monitoring 

and prevailing good weather 

condition” Roces said. 

A total of P510 million has been 

released by the national government 

for the rehabilitation of 20 road 

sections on the highway. 

“We know the importance of this 

road, especially among the truck 

owners who are affected by the rerouting 

scheme, that’s why we are 

fast tracking the implementation of 

the project” Roces added. 

Roces said that the project is 

expected to be completed before 

the start of Peñafrancia Festival in 

September this year in Naga City. 

The project includes the 

rehabilitation and reblocking of 

25.98 kilometers of road with slope 

protection and drainage works in 

some road sections. 

The Rolando Andaya Highway was 

formerly part of the Manila South 

Road (Quirino highway), a diversion 

road that passes through the province 

of Camarines Norte. 

This route lessens by about three 

hours the traveling time compared 

with the Daet-Camarines Norte route. 

The project is part of a nationwide 

program to upgrade infrastructure, 

such as roads, ports and bridges to 

stimulate the economy. 

Airports are also being built or 

upgraded under this program at a 

cost of billions. 

resulting from the 1997 Asian financial 

crisis. 

The airline entered a full-scale 10- 

year rehabilitation plan in June 1999 

and signed a code-share agreement 

with Emirates Airline in September of 

the same year, paving the way for seat 

allocation on Emirates’ Dubai-Manila 

route. 

However, in March last year, it altogether 

pulled the plug on its Middle 

East operations by suspending flights 

to and from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 

where most of the more than two million 

overseas Filipino workers in the 

region live. 

PAL cited the rising cost of aviation 

fuel prices and gross overcapacity, 

or an influx of carriers, mostly from 

the Middle East and Far East offering 

flights to Southeast Asia at reduced 

air fares, as reasons for the Middle 

East operation pull-out. 

De Tagle said the code-share agreement 

of PAL with Emirates, in effect 

for the past eight years, has been successful. 

“The code-share agreement has always 

been flexible. Seat allocation 

may increase or decrease depending 

on market demand. But so far it has 

been doing well and we’re considering 

expanding the agreement,” de 

Tagle said. 

He said PAL may fly to the Middle 

East again in the near future as its rehabilitation 

plan nears completion. 

“We’ve ordered a new fleet of Airbus 

A320 aircraft for our regional and 

domestic flights and Boeing 777-300 

ER planes for our long-haul flights,” 

he said. 

The port modernisation program is expected to attract increased cargo traffic to and from the Subic Freeport. 

New Subic port enters regional fray 

Subic joins the fray as a major player 

in the region’s container port industry 

with the completion of a US$215 million 

modernisation program. 

The project, under the auspices of 

the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, 

has already made Subic a 

major container port in the country. 

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority 

chairman Feliciano Salonga said the 

port project is part of a plan to make 

Subic Bay and Clark Freeport zones 

growth corridors for new investments. 

These are in turn expected to spur 

economic growth in these areas by 

promoting them as regional logistics 

hubs. 

He said that the alliance between 

Subic Bay and Clark will also receive 

a boost from a planned US$425 million 

toll road between the two ports. 

The Subic port’s modernisation 

began in 2004. It included the installation 

of four gantry cranes, two of 

which were installed in May last year 

and the other two this yeyar. 

Subic Bay administrator Armand 

Arreza said the completion of the 

first phase of the port modernization 

project will accelerate the completion 

of other projects being implemented 

under the Subic Bay Freeport, such as 

the US$1.6 billion Hanjin shipbuilding 

facility. 

“This boosts our confidence that 

the Subic Bay Freeport will soon be 

a key player in the containerised and 

non-containerized cargo handling 

business in the entire Asia-Pacific region,” 

he said. “This will attract more 

shipping companies worldwide to use 

the Subic port, while helping decongest 

the traffic in the Port of Manila. 

Operation of the port is expected to 

be awarded to the globally competitive 

Subic Bay International Terminal 

Corp. 

Baguio 

The Department of Agriculture 

assured residents that the 

dreaded avian flu virus has 

not reached the country due 

to the exhaustive efforts of the 

government in protecting the 

country’s agriculture industry as 

well as the people’s health. 

Cordillera regional information 

officer Robert Domoguen 

said among the measures 

taken is the strict operation of 

checkpoints and quarantine 

facilities especially in the entry 

points of landlocked regions. 

He said that the Cordillera 

Administrative Region, a great 

contributor to the economy, has 

been taking steps to protect its 

agricultural industries. 

He said other Asian countries 

such as Vietnam and Cambodia 

have confirmed that the 

dreaded virus not only affects 

poultry but also of humans, 

making it a major health 

concern. 

Dagupan 

ANGBANSA 

The Philippines has shown 

remarkable success in its fight 

against tuberculosis during the 

past few years although the 

country is still one of 22 nations 

of the world with high incidence 

of TB. 

This was disclosed by Roberto 

Ilagan, regional manager of the 

Linking Initiative and Networking 

to Control Tuberculosis, 

commissioned by the Philippine 

Business for Social Progress to 

assist the Department of Health 

and local government units in 

monitoring TB incidence in the 

country. 

TB Link is involved in a fiveyear 

project in the control of 

tuberculosis. 

The project started in October 

last year and will be completed 

in 2011. 

It is being funded by the 

United States Agency for 

International Development. 

Albay 

In a country regularly visited 

by typhoons, the plight of Tiwi, 

a rich geothermal town in 

Albay, one of the areas hardest 

hit by Typhoon Reming last 

year, seemed typical: vital 

infrastructure and facilities were 

destroyed, and school buildings 

were among the most severely 

damaged. 

So the town is building 

schools that can withstand 

typhoons. 

They have been specially 

designed to withstand up to 300 

kilometer per hour winds load 

(Typhoon Reming packed 265 

kph). 

These school buildings will 

serve as showcase for public 

infrastructure in the Bicol 

region. 

Of the town’s 23 public 

elementary schools, the school 

buildings in barangays Misibis, 

Cale and Libjo suffered the 

most damage in the wake of 

Reming.

14 


July 2007 

news 


12 dead as Quezon ferry sinks 

Rescue teams step up search as 100 passengers remain missing from tragedy 

Rescue teams are scouring the waters 

off Quezon province for more than 

100 missing people after a passenger 

ferry capsized in bad weather, leaving 

12 dead. 

The disaster occured near the town 

of San Francisco, military and relief 

officials said. 

Southern Luzon military command 

spokesman Lt Col Rhoderick Parayno 

said eight bodies were recovered near 

the site of the accident, in the village 

of Pagsangahan. 

Parayno said six of the dead are 

female. He identified two of the female 

fatalities as Welcen Perlas and 

ENVOYS DIVE 

129 

Lourdes Rizablanca, both of Lucena 

City. 

Parayno said the four other fatalities 

were swept away and recovered at the 

nearby town of San Andres, also in 

Quezon province. 

He said the ill-fated ship, MV Blue 

Water Princess, capsized about 500 

meters from the shore of Pagsangahan 

village, an hour after it left the port of 

Dalahican in Lucena City. 

The ship, carrying 256 passengers, 

was on its way to Masbate. 

Parayno said 129 passengers have 

been rescued. He said various government 

agencies, led by the military 

and the Philippine Coast Guard, and 

volunteers are working double time to 

account for the missing passengers. 

He said Solcom leaders have ordered 

the dispatch of two search and 

rescue helicopters to help in the search 

but were hampered by bad weather 

and returned to port. A Philippine 

Navy ship left Batangas port to help 

in the search and rescue operation. 

It was expected to arrive after a few 

hours, Navy spokesman commander 

Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said. 

A call to the Office of Civil Defense 

in the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Quezon 

region revealed that only four 

dead have so far been accounted for 

and 18 remained missing. 

The agency listed 50 survivors so 

far. Regional director Vicente Tomasar 

said the number of fatalities may 

increase as the search continues. 

Department of Tourism Assistant Secretary Cynthia Carrion and dive instructor Alfie Diola brief participants in the Diplomats’ Dive held at the 

Bahura Resorts and Spa and Apo Island Diving Site in Dumaguete. The dive was sponsored by the DOT and Philippines Commission on Sports 

Scuba Diving. Some of the participants shown in photo are Ambassadors Gerard Chennel of France, Adnan Basaga of Turkey, Ryuichiro Yamasaki 

of Japan, Cosetta Cassin Fedele, wife of the Italian ambassador and Kayo Mar Noble, country resident of the United Nations Development Program. 

13 party-list 

poll winners 

proclaimed, 

some deferred 

Thirteen party-list groups were partially 

proclaimed winners for sectoral 

representatives in the May elections. 

The Constitution provides that 20 

percent of congressional seats shall be 

for sectoral representatives. For the 

14th Congress, 55 seats are allotted. 

Partially proclaimed were Buhay, 

Bayan Muna, Cibac, Gabriela, Apec, 

A Teacher, Akbayan, Alagad, Butil, 

Coop-Nattco, Anak-Pawis, Arc and 

Abono. 

The national board of canvassers 

said the proclamation is without prejudice 

to runners-up who may have obtained 

at least 2 per cent of votes cast 

for sectoral representatives but have 

pending disqualification disputes. 

E-Batas is among the winners 

whose proclamation was deferred 

over disqualification issues. 


Passengers rescued so far from among the 

256 on board MV Water Princess 

Comelec tries internet voting again 

– this time to prove critics wrong 

After pulling the plug on the idea at 

the height of preparations for the last 

election, Comelec is turning internet 

voting on again. 

It’s scheduled for pilot testing from 

July 20 to August 8 in Singapore. 

Comelec is describing it as a 

“major step forward” towards the 

full modernization of Philippine 

elections. 

Comelec chose Singapore because 

the highly wired city-state hosts over 

15,000 registered Filipino overseas 

absentee voters, said Comelec 

commissioner Florentino Tuason Jr, 

who heads OAV. 

Through the remote electronic 

system, voters can cast their ballots 

from their homes, workplaces, cyber 

cafes and voting stations to be set 

up inside the Philippine embassy in 

Singapore, Tuason said. 

The testing aims to evaluate the 

advantages, usability, security and 

reliability of internet voting, which 

Comelec looks forward to adopting 

beginning with the 2010 presidential 

election. 

All absentee voters registered in 

Singapore, even if they are elsewhere 

during the testing period, have been 

asked to participate in the test, which 

opens at 8 am on July 20 and ends at 

3 pm on August 8. 

“This is a rare opportunity for 

Filipinos in Singapore to make 

history by being the first to tread the 

path of modernised elections,” he 

said. 

Internet voting in Singapore was 

first set up just before the May 14 

elections but was cancelled due to 

objections as to its reliability. 

There were fears of the system 

being hacked, tainting the election 

process. 

The dismal turnout in only the 

second time that absentee voting was 

held, has alarmed OAV proponents 

and led to calls for its scrapping by 

certain politicians. 

Tuason defended the scheme and 

said it could be made to work and 

become successful by introducing 

high technology into the process. 

He said the future of OAV now lies 

in internet voting. 

Tuason believes the internet offers 

a brighter future for the OAV since 

online voting can lure more overseas 

Filipinos to the election process with 

its decided edge in terms of accessibility 

over the current systems in 

place – precinct balloting and voting 

by mail. 

Metro Manila 

The Department of Health 

is closely monitoring several 

areas in the country where 

there are reported clustering 

and more than the usual 

number of dengue fever cases, 

particularly those with deaths. 

This, as Health Secretary 

Francisco Duque III brought to 

the schools and the community 

the department’s anti-dengue 

campaign to further increase 

public awareness about the 

prevention of the fatal viral 

disease. 

Duque said the areas 

reporting an increase in dengue 

cases include Sipalay in Negros 

Occidental with reported 90 

cases and Talisay, Batangas 

with 54 cases and three deaths, 

Mandaue City; Minglanila in 

Cebu and Hinobaan, Negros 

Occidental. 

These areas have increased 

risk of a bigger outbreak, 

Duque said. 

Cebu 

ANGBANSA 

A five-minute fire at the Ayala 

Center Cebu destroyed P5.5 

million worth of stocks of two 

tenants, Olympic Village and 

Audionet, located on the second 

level. 

Investigator Felix Romero said 

the fire started at 3.42 am at 

the sports gear outlet Olympic 

Village and spread to the store 

beside it, , a cellular phone 

distributor. 

No one was reported injured, 

but a policeman who responded 

to the fire, Romero Birao Sr, 

suffered an injured hand. 

Romero said that when they 

arrived at the establishment, 

it was dark and firefighters 

were not able to go inside 

immediately. 

Ismael Codilla, Cebu City fire 

marshal, said they were still 

investigating the cause of the 

fire. 

The mall opened for business 

a few hours later. 

Pangasinan 

A woman illegal labor recruiter 

who allegedly swindled 18 

people for non-existent jobs 

abroad was arrested by the 

police. 

Arrested by the police led 

by Supt Rhode Espero, chief 

of police, on the complaint 

of concerned citizens, was 

Julieta Victoria, 39, of Project 3, 

Quezon City. 

She was caught in the act of 

recruiting prospective overseas 

workers in barangay Zone IV. 

Police said the suspect 

collected P7,500 from each of 

the 21 applicants, who she was 

recruiting to work abroad. 

However, she had no 

licence nor permit to recruit 

from the Philippine Overseas 

Employment Office, police said. 

Among her alleged victims 

were Khoury Ang, Roberto 

Sebastian, Bryan Bungar, Mary 

Jane Bungar, Joanna Marie 

Metro, Antonio Ferrer Jr and 

Darwin Mata. 

Education gets 

P29b boost to 

lift quality 

of graduates 

Government also launches internet 

initiative for public schools nationwide 

The government is raising the budget 

for education to P29 billion to ensure 

that students in public schools become 

competitive in the workforce 

after graduation. 

The Technical Education Skills Development 

Authority (Tesda) will receive 

an additional P3 million on top 

of a P1 billion budget for its training 

and scholarship program. 

President Arroyo said the government 

will give top priority to education 

from pre-school, elementary, 

high school, vocational-technical, 

college, master’s degree and doctorate 

degree, stressing that engineering 

is vital in development of the nation 

in the 21st century, 

The government is also promoting 

ladderized education to enable graduates 

to find work when they get their 

diplomas. 

Various government agencies have 

allocated more than P4 billion for 

education loans. 

These include the Government Service 

Insurance System and the Land 

Bank of the Philippines. 

The government has implemented 

the National Career Examinations 

since January this year to serve as career 

guidance for students. 

Meanwhile, the Department of Education 

is aiming to reach wider scope 

of public school students through its 

recently launched Cyber Education 

Project. 

“Cyber Ed is the best response to 

the challenges of basic education,” 

Education Secretary Lapus (above) 

said. 

“It is the quickest and most costeffective 

way of delivering the same 

quality education to all learners 

throughout the country.” 

Cyber Ed is a satellite-based distance 

education program which provides 

real-time interactivity to public 

schools. 

The project will link all DepEd administrative 

units in the country, including 

the central office, 17 regional 

offices, 187 division offices and 

37,792 public schools. 

It will also provide 12 video channels, 

wireless wide-area networking, 

local area networking and wireless 

internet to even the 

remotest area of the 

country. 

“Cyber Ed is a solution 

package that will 

provide educational 

content and administrative 

communication 

requirements,” 

Lapus said. 

“At the same time, it provides 

unprecedented connectivity for all 

DepEd administrative units.” 

Through Cyber Ed, the government 

sees an improvement in the quality 

and efficiency of management information 

systems. 

Data and reports will be received at 

a faster rate, monitoring can be done 

even without leaving the office, and 

issues can be addressed almost immediately. 

The department also anticipates 

the enhancement of school-based 

management and internal controls in 

the department. The interconnectivity 

will open new doors not just for 

teaching and training but also for the 

general management of schools. 

Palace backs regional push 

Malacañang has thrown its 

support behind a plan to make the 

Philippines a hub for education in 

the region. 

The initiative the Commission on 

Higher Education aims to position 

the Philippines as an alternative 

destination for students in the 

region. 

Press Secretary and presidential 

spokesman Ignacio Bunye said if the 

education tourism strategy catches 

on, “we have CHED chair Lito Puno 

to thank.” 

Puno said the program would 

initially target students from China, 

Russia and Korea. This would 

complement the government’s 

tourist promotion efforts, he added. 

Manila is an “attractive 

alternative” destination for Korean 

students because of three main 

factors – the short distance between 

Seoul and Manila, the affordability 

of Philippine education, and the 

Filipinos’ fluency in English. 

Already, an estimated 100,000 

South Korean students are enrolled 

in various private and state-run 

colleges and universities in the 

country. 

The government and China’s 

Ministry of Education recently 

signed an agreement allowing 

Chinese students who could not 

be accommodated in China’s 

universities to study in the 

Philippines. 

For advertising inquiries 

Bob Waterfield (Hong Kong) 9470 2764 

Ricky Sumallo (Philippines) 0917 539 0486 

TJ Badon-Doble (Philippines) 0928 502 0379 

Josephine Miranda (Philippines) 0920 951 6917 


the OFW newspaper 

1905 Lippo Centre Tower 2 


(852) 2918 8248, email: info@filglobe.com

16 


July 2007 


TNTs can only dream on again 

As the hopes of 

many Filipinos in 

the US fade, their 

compatriots press 

on with the fight 

Laura G Perez in Sacramento 

The Comprehensive Immigration 

Reform bill recently defeated 

in the US Senate was 

doomed from the start. 

There was no way the American 

public would make things easy for 

12 million illegal immigrants seen as 

stealing their jobs. 

What does this mean for Filipinos 

staying illegally in the US? 

The National Alliance for Filipino 

Concerns (Nafcon), the national network 

of Filipino organizations in the 

United States, said the Senate proposal 

would drive the approximately 

one million undocumented Filipino 

immigrants underground because it 

would be nearly impossible for them 

to obtain greencards. 

The greencard is the key to living 

the American dream. To illegals, it 

is greencard or nothing. And so they 

get nothing. As the illegals are driven 

back to the shadows (the Filipinos to 

care homes, the Latinos to agricultural 

plantations) American politicians prepare 

a new game that will court voters 

in next year’s election. 

Under the proposed measure, those 

who have been in the US since January 

1, 2007 can obtain a Z visa that 

is good for four years and renewable 

indefinitely. Filipino overstayers or 

TNTs (Tago Nang Tago) will have 

to pass a background check, pay the 

steep fine and wait for the eight-year 

backlog to clear up. 

Then they leave the US to apply for 

the greencard. Nobody knows when 

it will get approved, perhaps after 10 

years. In the meantime, they are kept 

outside the United States . 

It is interesting to note that illegal 

immigrants seem to demand a law that 

will not only legalize their stay but 

ensure they get the coveted American 

citizenship. A leader of a Filipino organization 

said that immigrants come 

here because the US economic policy 

has made poor countries poorer. 

And after all, the Philippines was 

once a US colony, right? A Mexican 

columnist, on the other hand, said that 

America desperately needs cheap labor 

which Latinos can well provide. 

And wasn’t California a part of Mexico 

before? 

It is not so much the lack of job opportunities 

in their home country that 

drive them to America as the mindblowing 

dollar to a peso exchange 

rate. They ask: why would a dollar 

Here’s another look at the fabled American Dream 

The American dream is essentially 

the freedom of each individual to 

rise as far as his abilities take him. 

It’s a beacon, and also a mirage, 

because of its state-imposed 

hurdles. 

The goal is to become a US 

citizen in one way or another. 

In1996 the United States 

conferred honorary citizenship 

on Mother Theresa (right, whose 

real name was Agnes Gonxha 

Filipino groups have 

vowed to join mass 

protests to force 

the US to revive the 

immigration bill. 

buy so much more than a peso when 

workers in both countries devote the 

same time and energy to the required 

task? 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates 

the May 2007 unemployment 

rate at 4.5 percent, with over 7 million 

unemployed workers in 2006. 

Already, the locals are fuming over 

newcomers who run into all kinds of 

road accidents with their phony driver’s 

license. 

Americans resent the illegals in 

public hospital’s emergency rooms 

because the supposedly rightful heirs 

of the nation’s resources themselves 

are not getting enough healthcare and 

welfare benefits. 

Senators could only introduce 

amendments to the bill that would 

appear humane, if not fair. President 

Bush, hounded by the spectre of Iraq, 

endorsed the legislation thinking it 

could win him a place in history, but 

even his fellow Republicans dashed 

his hopes. 

Conservatives from his own party 

believed the government must secure 

the borders before giving aliens legal 

status. 

As dust settles, there seems to be 

no resolution in sight, and we are left 

only with losers. 

Mexican undocumented workers, 

the most likely to benefit from the 

bill, were largely unmoved by the 

bill’s demise. To them, paying a steep 

fine of five thousand as well as back 

taxes was unacceptable. 

Being required to go home after 

four years was viewed suspiciously. 

They believed that it was the US government’s 

way of having it both ways 

Bojaxhiu) for 

providing comfort 

to the world’s 

neediest. 

These include 

people in the 

US, where the 

Missionaries of Charity runs soup 

kitchens, emergency shelters 

for abused women and unwed 

mothers, shelters for men, 

after-school and summer camp 


Estimated number of Filipino illegals in the 

US, also known as Tago ng Tago (TNT) 

1,000,000 

How the Naturalization 

Act of 1790 has evolved 

1882 The Chinese Exclusion 

Act prohibited the immigration 

certain laborers 

1907 The US immigration Act 

of 1907 reorganised the states 

bordering Mexico to stem the 

flow of immigrants 

1917-1924 A series of laws 

established the quota 

system and imposed passport 

requirements to further 

limit the number of new 

immigrants 

programs for children, homes for 

the dying and hospitals. 

If you’re curious, there were five 

other foreigners of exceptional 

merit who were declared honorary 

US citizens: Winston Churchill 

(British Prime Minister,1963), Raoul 

Wallenberg (Swedish diplomat and 

Holocaust hero, 1981), William 

Penn (governor of the American 

colony of Pennsylvania, 1984) 

and his wife Hannah Callowhill 

in the long run – getting rid of them 

and bleeding them dry of their hard 

earned money from agricultural plantations 

and construction work. 

Critics said that far from being an 

amnesty bill, it was an attempt to create 

a “permanent indentured servant 

class with no real hope for upward 

mobility.” 

A few months ago, thousands of minority 

groups rallied against a provision 

in the bill that would make it a 

crime for illegal immigrants to stay in 

the US. 

The Filipino community was no 

less skeptical. Many advocacy groups 

and labor unions called the bill antifamily 

because it would cut preference 

categories for adult children 

and siblings of US citizens and limit 

petitions for parents of US citizens. 

Brothers and sisters of American citizens 

have languished in line for more 

than 20 years. 

However, the National Federation 

on Filipino American Associations 

(NaFFAA) said the bill would have 

benefited the children of Filipino war 

veterans. Members said they would 

probably join demonstrations to revive 

the immigration bill. 

In the meantime, the Homeland 

Security promises more raids and deportations 

while cities vow to restrict 

housing, jobs, education and mobility 

(through a driver’s license) by requiring 

the magic number that can open 

all doors – the Social Security number. 

Businesses that cater to the growing 

Mexican population think the US 

is not living up to its tradition of equal 

opportunities for all. Software giants 

like Oracle Corporation have threatened 

to move more high-tech jobs out 

of the US if they could not get more 

migrant labor. 

The local residents had the last 

laugh. They see the construction of 

the 2,000-mile security fence along 

the US-Mexico border as the “Great 

Wall of Mexico” which they think will 

not stem the flow of around 400,000 

illegals a year despite ground-based 

radar and camera towers. 

In a strange twist of events, some 

1.5-mile fence was recently found to 

have been built on Mexican soil. Embarrassed 

border officials said that it 

would take US$3 million to fix it. 

Penn, and Marquis de la Fayette 

(French supporter of the American 

Revolution, 2002). 

The US has granted asylum to 

thousands of political refugees 

aside from opening its arms 

to overachievers in science, 

technology, sports, and the arts. 

It has the prerogative to limit the 

number of immigrants and set the 

standards for those it will allow to 

stay. 

Davao 

The problem concerning rude, 

abusive and reckless taxi 

drivers came up anew as mayor 

Rodrigo Duterte responded to 

public complaints, prompting 

him to come up with another 

list of people who gives him 

constant headache. 

Saying he has received 

complaints about taxi drivers 

who have allegedly duped, 

and harassed passengers or 

even caused death, the feisty 

mayor identified them as 

Rolando “Ungo” Reponte, Loloy 

Orquillas/Lutgardo Orquillas, 

Sol Cuaresma, Tomas Tagbar, 

Rex Tagbar alias Balanghoy 

and alias Ryan. 

Duterte said the taxi drivers 

have forced their passengers to 

disembark when they refused to 

settle for a fixed rate instead of 

a metered travel, or who have 

victimized their passengers with 

rigged taxi meters. 

Cebu 

The Department of Agriculture 

has pledged to help boost the 

productivity of the country’s half 

a million seaweed farmers. 

Undersecretary Jesus 

Emmanuel Paras said some 

of the national government’s 

fisheries programs next year will 

include the investment of P700 

million for post harvest facilities 

and the establishment of five to 

seven more mari-culture parks 

in the country. 

”And the seaweeds will help 

enhance the whole mari-culture 

parks,” he added. 

In a press conference 

during the National Seaweed 

Summit in Cebu City, Malcolm 

Sarmiento Jr, director of the 

Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic 

Resources, said post-harvest 

facilities like semi-processing, 

cold storage and drying plants 

would increase the seaweed 

farmers’ productivity. 

Zamboanga 

ANGBANSA 

The Bureau of Fire Protection 

has organized a Special 

Rescue Unit, the first of its kind 

in Mindanao, that has capability 

to rescue people in high rise 

building in time of conflagration. 

City Fire Marshal major Jaime 

Ramirez said that 40 personnel 

who are undergoing training 

would comprise the special 

rescue unit. 

Ramirez said the 20-day 

basic rescue technique course 

is being conducted at the 

Philippine Public Safety College 

in Barangay Pasonanca. 

Ramirez said the training 

started on July 4 and will end 

on July 24. 

The trainees, including 

firewomen, have showed their 

capability to rescue people from 

a five-storey building. 

He said there is a need for the 

unit because of the presence 

of several high-rise building in 

this city.

18 filipino globe news 


July 2007 

NCLEX pass enough to gain entry into Michigan workforce 

Doing well in UK, but then ... 

Michael Duque is a nurse in 

the accident and emergency 

department at a London 

hospital. Six years ago, he left his 

home in the Philippines to seek his 

fortune abroad. 

As a nurse in Britain he earns about 

£24,000 (US$47,000) a year; doing a 

similar job in one of the top hospitals 

in Manila, the Philippines capital, 

he would be earning just £1,800 

(US$3,500). 

But there’s a substantial cost 

involved as well, for Philippine 

society and for the individuals 

involved. 

The personal cost lies in longdistance 

family separation, 

something familiar to generations of 

Filipinos. 

Every month Michael (below) 

sends up to £600 home to his family: 

wife Glenda (below), daughter Ella, 

aged 7, and son CG, aged 4. They 

live well on it, in a house in Manila’s 

suburbs. 

Glenda, who trained as a nurse 

herself, is now a full-time mother. 

And Michael, like many exiled 

Filipinos, is paying not only to 

support his family but to educate the 

next generation of overseas workers: 

Ella goes to a local private school. 

But Michael has worked abroad 

ever since his daughter was born, 

originally in the Gulf and for the past 

four years in Britain 

He keeps in touch by phone and 

e-mail and via the videophone on the 

computer and he gets home perhaps 

once a year to see the children. 

But he misses his kids growing up 

and he misses being a father to them, 

he said. His absence puts a strain on 

his relationship with his wife as well: 

“It makes her crazy and stressed; she 

gets jealous,” he said. The children 

miss their father too. “Sometimes 

they say: ‘I want my Dad,” Glenda 

said. “Especially her, because she is 

the favourite of her father.” 

The Duques’ story is a familiar 

one. Everywhere you go in Manila 

you meet people with relatives 

abroad – hardly surprising when 10 

per cent of the population count as 

OFWs. 

But this haemorrhage of talent is 

bleeding the Philippines dry of badly 

needed skills. 

Dr Delen dela Paz, a community 

health physician attached to one of 

Manila’s top hospitals, claims that 

11 government hospitals and about 

1,000 private clinics have closed 

in the past few years thanks to the 

shortage of nurses and doctors. 

It’s a challenge for the Philippine 

government, which gives every 

appearance of encouraging overseas 

workers. Special courses are laid 

on for those hoping to work abroad 

and they enjoy fast-track status at 

airports. 

Labor Secretary Arturo Brion 

denies there is a shortage of nurses 

–although he concedes that many of 

the more experienced have left. 

It’s a problem the government is 

trying to address. How? 

Through incentives, he says, before 

adding that it would be premature to 

discuss the details. 

The country, once among South- 

East Asia’s richest, missed out on the 

economic boom enjoyed by regional 

neighbours like South Korea, 

Malaysia and Taiwan, not to mention 

China. While they have attracted 

inward investment on the strength 

partly of their low labour costs, the 

Philippines has failed to develop 

enough attractive, well-paid jobs at 

home and has ended up exporting its 

cheap labour to other countries. 

Enterprising Filipinos will continue 

to seek work abroad – even lowstatus 

work in domestic service or as 

carers – for as long as that remains 

the case. 

Ex-Guam workers receive P2.4m back wages 

The US state of Michigan has 

eased entry rules for nurses, giving 

potential Filipino applicants a boost. 

A new law, signed by Michigan 

governor Jennifer Ganholm, would 

no longer require Filipino and other 

foreign nursing graduates who 

wish to work in the state to take the 

Commission on Graduates of Foreign 

Nursing Schools (CGFNS) once 

they passed the National Council 

Licensing Exam (NCLEX). 

This development was relayed to 

A story of anxiety and family separation highlights exodus of Filipino nurses 

An increasing number 

of Filipino health 

workers are employed 

in UK hospitals amid a 

shortage of personnel. 

Twenty-five overseas Filipino workers 

who had worked in Guam received 

more than P2.4 million in back 

wages after the US labor office established 

that the OFWs’ employer failed 

to pay them full wages for overtime 

work. 

Labor Secretary Arturo D Brion 

(right) said Saipan-based Labor 

Attache Lourdes Lavilla received 

25 checks totaling US$ 53,123.87 

(P2.4 million) from senior investigator 

Richard Hamilton of the 

United States Department of 

Labor’s Wage and Hour Division 

office in Saipan. 

Brion said the amount represented 

the back wages of 25 

OFWs who were employed by 

Bascon Corp and Orion Construction 

Corp in Guam. 

He said the American labor personnel 

in Guam conducted investigations 

and found that Bascon and Orion 

the Department of Foreign Affairs 

office in Manila by Consul General 

Blesila Cabrera of the Philippine 

consulate general in Chicago. 

“The new law on nursing in the 

state of Michigan is welcome news 

to thousands of Filipino nursing 

graduates in the Philippines who 

wish to apply for work as registered 

professional nurses in the United 

States,” she said. 

“It has made it easier for foreign 

graduates of nursing, including the 

Filipino nurses, to apply and take the 

licensure exams for nursing in the 

state of Michigan without taking the 

usually required CGFNS qualifying 

examination.” 

She said the new law was the 

result of the efforts of the Philippine 

Nurses Association of Michigan. 

“The success of the PNAM in 

having the bill signed into law 

indicates the growing empowerment 

of Filipino-Americans in the 

American Midwest, especially on 

failed to fully pay the OFWs 

for their overtime work. 

Brion expressed appreciation 

for the US investigations 

that resulted in the payments, 

saying it is a very encouraging 

indication of the kind 

of support a host country gives to 

OFWs. 

Hawaii-based US assistant district 

director Terrence J Trotter has requested 

the assistance of the Philippine 

Overseas Labor Office in the US 

and the Philippine Overseas Employment 

Administration for the distribution 

of the back wages. 

Brion said the US labor office in 

Hawaii has been working with the 

POEA on similar undertakings and 

also would like to course the distribution 

of the OFWs’ back wages through 

the agency. 

The checks are scheduled to reach 

the POEA by third week of July. 

issues affecting the interests of the 

Filipino-American community,” she 

said. 

House Bill 4207 was signed into 

law last month. 

PNAM president Ellen Dioso, 

witnessed the signing, along with 

task force chairperson Remedios 

Solarte, and Representative Y. Hoon 

Hopgood. 

Rep Hopgood introduced the Bill 

in the Michigan State House of 

Representatives (left). 

Britain renews 

warning after 

RP arrest of 

scam artists 

Britain has warned the public 

against cunning individuals who 

promise approval of their British visa 

application for a fee. 

This follows the arrest of eight 

suspects in separate operations over 

the past two weeks. 

“We have not authorised, or ever 

will authorise, anyone to collect fees 

from applicants outside of the regular 

process,” British Charge d’ Affaires 

Colin Crorkin said in a statement. 

He said guidelines on 

visa application process and 

corresponding fees are readily 

available at their website. 

Oya Arriola, spokesperson for the 

British embassy in the Philippines, 

said the first entrapment operation 

took place last June 22, when three 

poeple posing as embassy employees 

were arrested after a would-be victim 

approached the embassy and checked 

for the requirements. 

She said the tipster approached the 

embassy and asked if 200 pounds 

(about P20,000) was indeed needed 

for the visa; the subsequent sting 

operation resulted in the arrest of the 

three. 

Arriola said the second operation 

occurred on June 27, where the 

British embassy and the NBI 

Interpol Division arrested five people 

applying for British visas using false 

information or forged documents. 

In both cases, she said the NBI 

will follow due legal process in the 

disposition of the cases. 

“We hope that this exercise 

demonstrates to those who would 

attempt to use forged documents 

to obtain UK visas that the United 

Kingdom has zero tolerance for 

fraud,” she said. 

“We want to stress our commitment 

to preventing entry into the UK of 

those who would do so on fraudulent 

grounds.” 

London ... no place for visa scam.

20 


July 2007 

Saudi boosts hiring of nurses 

Employers warm to US$400 salary as demand for OFWs in kingdom grows 

Chito Manuel in Jeddah 

Saudi employers are warming to the 

new policy on household service 

workers, snapping up the salary cap 

of US$400 and driving demand for 

Filipino workers in the kingdom. 

This as Labor Attache Rustico dela 

Fuente of the Philippine Overseas Labor 

Office in Riyadh expressed confidence 

Filipinos will always be preferred 

in the highly competitive labor 

export market because of their skills 

and attitude. 

He said there is a continuing demand 

for nurses from both government 

and private hospitals and that 

OFWs flood 

into Bharain, 

Qatar amid 

jobs boom 

Despite the wage issue that has put 

their government and Gulf countries 

recruiters on a war path, more and 

more Filipinos are taking jobs in 

Bahrain and Qatar in various sectors 

that continue to absorb expatriate 

workforce. 

Philippine Ambassador Eduardo 

Pablo Maglaya said hundreds of 

Filipino medical workers would 

be arriving in Bahrain in the next 

six months to fill vacancies in the 

expanding medical services sector. 

Recruits are also expected to fill in 

expected vacancies in the expanding 

hotels, tourism and retail sectors. 

Maglaya would not specify the 

number but said: “There could be 

hundreds of medical workers coming 

in within the next six months.” 

Bahrain and the Philippines 

recently signed a memorandum 

of understanding in the health and 

medical field. 

The programme involves sharing 

of expertise through training. 

Manila will add manpower to 

areas in the local health sector that 

could not be filled in by the local 

manpower. 

An estimated 4,000 Filipinos are 

working in the medical sector. The 

increasing demand for Filipino 

professionals has been felt in the 

other GCC countries. 

In Qatar, Filipino workers 

are being tapped to work in the 

hospitality, oil and gas sectors. About 

2,500 Filipinos have taken up jobs in 

Doha in the past three months. 

Three Filipino workers were killed in 

a vehicular accident along King Road 

in Jeddah early yesterday, an official 

said. 

Welfare Officer Abdurajik Samain 

of the Philippine consulate general 

identified the fatalities as Robert 

Bautista, Angel Nixon Sy, and Amiel 

Bantasan, all employed by the Saudi 

Airconditioning and Manufacturing 

Company. 

Samain said the bodies were 


Nursing vacancies to be filled in Saudi 

government and public hospitals 

5,000 

collective job orders go straight to 

the POEA. He was speaking in reaction 

to a Manila newspaper report 

that at least 5,000 jobs await Filipino 

nurses. 

The POEA and the Saudi Ministry 

of Health have launched a nationwide 

search for nurses who will fill about 

5,000 vacancies in the Kingdom. 

Also, Dela Fuente denied there was 

a move from Philippine recruiters to 

recommend a ban on hiring of Filipinos 

for jobs in the Middle East. 

He said they have not seen any indication, 

notice, or complaints from 

stakeholders about such a move. 

“It was just an unverified news item. 

There was no decision to adopt such a 

recommendation,” he said. 

“Many employers come directly to 

POLO for processing of documents. 

From a setback in the earlier months 

the demand is now increasing though 

not as high compared to the past years 

when the supermaid policy was not 

yet in place,” Dela Fuente told Filipino 

Globe in a phone interview from 

Riyadh. 

“The supermaid policy is gaining 

momentum. There is initial resistance, 

but employers open up once 

they realise the merits of the policy,” 

he said. 

The measure, implemented early 

this year, is meant not only for the 

sake of Filipinos deployed overseas 

but for employers as well, according 

to Dela Fuente. “With the supermaid 

policy employers will enjoy the 

services of highly qualified Filipino 

Household Service Workers.” 

An explosion in demand in Bahrain’s service sector is attracting thousands of OFWs into the Gulf country. 

Three Filipinos die as car overturns on Jeddah highway 

brought to the King Abdulaziz Hospital 

morgue. 

A fourth victim identified as Dondon 

Alcantara was under treatment at 

Baksh Hospital in Al Mina district, 

said Samain. 

He said two others were discharged 

after being treated for minor injuries. 

A community member who talked 

with one of the survivors said the victims 

were on board an Isuzu Camper 

Shell on their way to Jeddah proper 

from a night out in Obhur beach when 

the accident happened between 6 and 

7 am. 

He said there were eight people in 

the car. The driver, who was unhurt, 

was reportedly taken by the police for 

questioning. 

“I was told that the vehicle overturned 

and rolled just before a roundabout 

on King Road after hitting a 

road shoulder,” said the source, who 

asked not to be named. 

He said three of the car’s passengers 

were thrown out of the car. 

“These were the three who died,” he 

added. 

On May 24 last year, a Filipino civil 

engineer, who had just returned to the 

kingdom from an emergency leave, 

was also killed in a road accident in 

Jeddah. 

Diosdado Bautista Santiago was 

driving the car when the accident occurred. 

DFA confirms 

Pinoy killed 

in latest Iraq 

mortar attack 

A Filipino worker was confirmed 

killed along with three foreigners 

in an air strike on the Greenzone 

compound in Baghdad, the 

Department of Foreign Affairs said. 

DFA Spokesman Claro Cristobal 

identified the victim as Cirilo 

Borgonia, 33, from Cebu City as one 

of three fatalities of the mortar attack 

in Baghdad’s Greenzone on the 

evening of July 10. 

“The remains is now in Kuwait and 

is scheduled for repatriation on July 

16,” Cristobal said in a text message. 

He said that Philippine Ambassador 

to Kuwait Ricardo Endaya warned 

that the deployment ban to Iraq is 

still in force and strongly suggests 

enhancing the campaign against 

crossing over to the boundaries of the 

war-torn country. 

“Secretary [Alberto] Romulo 

(left) had instructed Philippine 

ambassadors to 

countries neighboring 

Iraq to intensify 

cooperation with their 

host governments 

to enforce the ban,” 

Cristobal said. 

Reports indicated that a huge 

mortar and rocket were released in 

Greenzone compound killing three 

people. 

The Greenzone compound houses 

the base of the Iraqi government as 

well as the British and the American 

embassies. 

Since the war broke out in 2003, 

the Philippine government has 

banned the entry of Filipino workers 

to Iraq. 

However, the DFA has discovered 

that a number of Filipinos apparently 

came from Kuwait, have been 

working inside American and Iraqi 

camps. 

Iraq has two entry points – the Iraqi 

immigration authorities are guarding 

one while the American forces are 

controlling the other one. 

However, Filipino workers usually 

based in neighboring countries 

around Iraq are tempted to risk 

their lives in exchange for high 

compensation reaching US$10,000 

a month. 

The DFA renewed its appeal 

to Filipino workers to follow the 

legitimate process so the government 

could easily trace their whereabouts 

in the war-torn countries, not only 

in Iraq. 

“Let us go to normal process so 

that we can protect you,” said DFA 

Undersecretary for Migrant Workers 

Esteban Conejos. 

focus 

filipino globe editorial, community & features 

July 2007 21 

The economy should be able to create enough jobs so that migration would become a matter of choice, not necessity. 

You could be home again – soon 

Surfing through the television 

channels one evening, I came 

across Edith Burgos. There 

she was, accusing the military for 

the disappearance of her son Jonas 

and pleading for his safe return. Her 

usually handsome face was wracked 

with a mother’s pain. 

Edith is the widow of Jose Burgos 

Jr, the internationally awarded press 

freedom fighter who dared the might 

of the Marcos dictatorship at the risk 

of life and limb. His unwavering 

commitment and singular devotion to 

the cause was manifested in a brief 

response to a query on Pahayagang 

Malaya’s sacred cows: “Nobody, 

except Papa. You may even hit me if 

you wish.” 

A publisher’s publisher to the core. 

Those words defined the template 

that would guide the men and women 

who worked for the publication 

during those hazardous years. 

I believe most of the staff 

intuitively knew that they were 

undergoing a transcendental 

experience in the annals of the 

journalism profession. 

Somehow, they felt that Malaya 

would someday provide an authentic 

and vital resource and a reliable 

handmaiden for the future recorders 

of Philippine history circa the 

Marcos era. 

Unless, of course, the disciplines 

in the writing of history are distorted 

FT 

Ocampo 

PRESSBOX 

comment 

by its ultra nationalistic practitioners 

under the spell of their delusions, 

in which case, they might as well 

worship at the altar of the Roman 

poet and his condescending rhetoric: 

What is history, but the glorification 

of Rome. 

But I could be digressing. 

I think Joe, wherever he is now, 

would have wanted Edith to be 

strong during this personal crisis 

that now overshadows the promised 

serenity of her sunset years. 

But I am fully convinced she got 

the message. Somewhere in the 

wellsprings of her inner faith, she 

found the grace to forgive. 

The age of migration is upon us, 

according to a New York Times 

report. 

And it does not discriminate 

between rich and poor countries. 

Last year, 3,200 British nurses flew 

to Australia to work in that continent, 

while over 165,000 Malaysians 

cross the Johore bridge monthly 

for jobs in Singapore. There are but 

two instances in migration history 

that had begun to ring alarm bells in 

some parts of the globe. 

Overall, the Times report placed 

at 200 million the number of 

migrant workers worldwide. Their 

remittances power the economic 

upsurge in their respective countries 

against the social costs involved in 

sundered families. 

Incidentally, President Arroyo 

voiced a yearning for Overseas 

Filipino Workers to come home 

during the World Economic Forum 

for East Asia held in Singapore last 

month. “We long for a time when 

working abroad will be an option 

rather than a necessity,” she said. 

Although most OFWs work as 

domestic helpers in the city-state, 

a good number are also employed 

in the service-sector establishments 

and a handful are executives in 

multinational corporations and 

banks. Last year, Filipinos working 

in more than 100 countries remitted a 

total of US$12.8 billion, according to 

the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas. 

But with the continuing internal 

economic growth, Mrs Arroyo is 

confident the time is not far off 

when a majority of Filipinos could 

find gainful occupations in the 

home country. We like to hope her 

confidence is well-placed. 

It’s sad to imagine that 

workers should be paid 

according to nationality 

Lately, Hong Kong newspapers 

have featured reports on the 

growing gap between the 

territory’s haves and have-nots. 

This fact is being cited these days, 

particularly regarding China, which 

has taken the late Deng Xiao-ping’s 

dictum, “to be rich is glorious”, to 

heart as it charges ahead in its pursuit 

of wealth and power. 

In prosperous Hong Kong, which 

styles itself as “Asia’s World City”, 

it seems quite acceptable for about a 

quarter of the population to live it up 

in great luxury, while about half of 

the citizens, known as the “sandwich 

class”, lives fairly well, compared 

with other middle-class folks around 

Asia. 

And it’s generally seen as a normal 

fact of life that the lower percentile, 

composed of the “worker ants”, who 

do the dirty menial jobs, remains at 

the bottom of the pile, struggling 

to survive amidst the burgeoning 

wealth. 

In this latter group are the garbage 

collectors, street sweepers, road 

workers, public toilet cleaners and, 

of course, the domestic helpers 

– a large majority of whom have 

traditionally been Filipino women. 

The fact that pockets of poverty 

exist in Hong Kong brings to mind 

the biblical saying that “the poor will 

always be with us”. 

There may be some irony in the 

fact that Filipinos, the first to flood 

into the territory to toil as domestics, 

have produced a proliferation of 

some Christian religions, and also 

a few cults purporting to provide 

solace to the territory’s underclass. 

Most are connected to genuine 

churches, but some are outright 

commercial ventures preying on 

credulous probinsyanos. 

It brings to mind writer Julian 

Barnes’ statement that “(Many) 

humans have an existence in which 

the consolations of religion come to 

make up for the desolations of life” 

– which certainly rings true in an 

affluent enclave which displays little 

charity towards its menial class. 

Deng had prefaced his maxim 

about the glory of wealth with 

the statement that “poverty is not 

socialism”. 

Indeed, capitalist Hong Kong has 

never considered practising socialism 

in any form. 

This is surely the result of the 

colonial legacy of the British, who 

themselves derive from a classridden 

society and who planted the 

seeds of capitalism into the fertile 

soil of Chinese feudalism. 

Those seeds didn’t flourish at first 

in the hard ground of communism, 

but they have lately been sprouting in 

large swathes on the mainland, where 

high-flying tycoons are revelling in 

capitalist ventures, and find the need 

for servants (or slaves – the term is 

interchangeable). 

When I sent a letter to the South 

China Morning Post pointing to the 

injustice foisted on Hong Kong’s 

foreign domestic workers whose 

PINOYDIMSUM 

observations 

Isabel T 

Escoda 

wages were slashed during the 

financial crisis in 2003 and not fully 

restored now that the territory’s 

economy is booming, a local resident 

penned a blatantly racist rebuttal. 

Declaring that civil servants like 

himself have received only small 

pay rises from the government, he 

claimed that domestic helpers get a 

good deal, coming as they do from 

impoverished circumstances. 

Because these migrant workers 

from poor countries earn low wages 

at home, he said the current low 

salary for them is justified because 

it allows them to build houses after 

only a few years’ toil abroad. 

His reasoning was that their wages 

should be based, not on the type of 

labor done, but on the cost of living 

in their countries of origin. 

“ 

The fact that 

pockets of 

poverty exist 

in Hong Kong 

brings to mind 

the biblical 

saying that ‘the 

poor will always 

be with us’ 

That sort of skewed thinking in 

this day and age (paying people 

based on their nationality, not their 

labor) is totally offensive, as is 

the widespread discrimination and 

racism too often practised against 

migrant workers. 

In the New Territories town where 

I live, well-off locals often have 

servants, some of whom are worked 

like horses. 

Pedicabs to cart people around are 

pedalled by these Southeast Asian 

girls as in old coolie days in the 

colony. 

It’s an outrageously feudal practice, 

blithely tolerated by the community. 

Will too many Filipinos, 

Indonesians, Sri Lankans, Nepalis, 

etc remain in Asia’s underclass? 

Will their countries of origin 

mainly be known for what’s called a 

“service economy?” 

Sadly, in this the 21st century, the 

wealth gap looks like a permanent 

feature.

22 

filipino globe forum 

July 2007 

Malaking tulong ang paglalabas 

ninyo ng pahinang Lingkod- 

Bayan. 

Sa wakas, madaling mahanap 

na ang kasagutan sa ilang 

simpleng bagay na di sana’y 

kailangan pang tumawag o 

magsadya sa Konsulado para 

makuha. 

Napansin ko po na nakasaad 

doon ang mga bayarin sa 

Konsulado at ang hulog sa SSS. 

Meron po ba kayong balak na 

maglabas naman ng “table” ukol 

sa Pag-IBIG? 

Ronel Trino 

Discovery Bay 

I was in NAIA on my way back 

to Hong Kong when a group of 

Filipinos were escorted out of the 

immigration area for questioning. 

Later, I learned that there had 

been a crackdown on would-be 

OFWs posing as tourists. 

I assumed some of those I saw 

in NAIA were bound for Hong 

Kong. Reports said most were 

bound for Dubai and Singapore. 

I wonder if the Bureau of 

Immigration is doing this for real. 

Not too long ago, their own 

agents were implicated in a 

scam involving the smuggling of 

illegal workers. 

Name and address supplied 

Tila hindi tayo makapaghintay 

na mahusgahan nang maayos si 

dating pangulong Estrada. 

Maging ang Malakanyang 

TINGINNAMIN 

All we need is a kind word or two 

Insensitive remarks directed at 

certain people are either just 

that – insensitive – or downright 

discriminatory. 

But in a society that prides itself 

on rule of law and claims to be more 

enlightened than most, Hong Kong 

has some way to go before it can 

effectively tackle discrimination. 

That the government is trying to 

address the issue is a good start, but 

in the end, it is people that determine 

whether a society is fair, just and 

sensitive to others. 

Scratch the surface and you’re 

likely to find people embarrassed 

by their own kind because of their 

prejudices. 

These are the people on whom 

hopes for harmony rest because 

they have taken the first step in 

confronting the ogre – by being 

ashamed of themselves. 

Yet, many others will ignore the 

moral burden of a biased society and 

leave it to others to bear. 

These are the people on whom the 

seeds of disharmony will grow. 

Whether we are one or the other 

is not only a matter of choice. It is 

a matter of morals. We have been 

raised to respect our parents and 

elders, to be kind to animals, to 

protect nature. 

Surely, we can spare a kind word to 

the next person, or at least say or do 

nothing out of prejudice. 

There is always enough goodwill 

to go around, and it takes very little 

to spread it. 

You know what we are talking 

about. 

SULATLETTERS 

ay nakilahok na rin sa mga 

haka-haka tungkol sa magiging 

sentensya sa kanya. 

May mga naglabas pa ng mga 

anunsyo sa diyaryo na tila baga 

kinukondisyon ang tao sa “guilty 

verdict”. 

Ito ang masasabi ko: 

Ipaubaya natin sa hustisya ang 

kahihinatnan ng paglilitis at 

pagsentensya kay Erap. 

Salome Buena 

Makati 

Kahit hindi tayo sang-ayon sa 

kakapirasong dagdag sa ating 

suweldo, wala tayong magagawa 

kundi maghintay na magbigay 

uli ng umento ang gobyerno ng 

Hong Kong. 

Hindi natin makukuha ‘yan sa 

pag-iingay at kung anu-anong 

protesta. 

Lovely Bergonia 

City One 

Bigo sa Brunei: pait ng 

kuwento ng taxi driver 

Aksidenteng kuwento ang 

nasagap nang sumakay 

ng taxi mula Megamall 

patungong Senator Gil Puyat 

Avenue (dating Buendia), 

bandang alas-otso ng gabi. 

Katatapos magkarga ng beer sa 

Dencio’s kasama ang dating kaopisina 

sa TLRC. 

Napansin kong bata pa ang 

drayber. Naitanong ko tuloy: 

“Di ka ba mag-aabroad?” 

Nasa unahang upuan ako’t katabi 

ko lang siya. Bahagyang nangiti at 

walang sigla, “Nag-abroad na po 

ako sa Brunei, pero nabulilyaso,” 

sagot niya. 

Doon nagsimula ang kuwento 

ng drayber. May sakay siya noong 

isang matandang babae na nagamuki 

sa kanya na mag-abroad 

sa Brunei. Inayos ang kanyang 

mga papeles, nagbayad siya at 

walo silang naaprubahan ang mga 

papeles. 

Apat na babae at apat na lalaki 

na pawang drayber din. Mas may 

pinag-aralan ang mga babae sa 

kanilang mga lalaki. 

Sa madaling sabi, nakarating 

sila ng Brunei at kasama pa mismo 

ang matandang babae. Pinatira sila 

sa isang hotel at masaya naman 

silang lahat. Maayos naman ang 

kanilang tinitirhan pansamantala. 

Pero nahiwatigan nila na hindi yata 

nagkasundo ang matandang babae 

at ang kausap sa Brunei. Umalis 

sila sa hotel. Isinakay sa barko 

patungong Sabah, Malaysia at 

doon ay iniwan na sila. 

May mga kababayang 

Pilipino na nagpatira sa kanila 

at tumulong upang makauwi sa 

Pilipinas. Biyaheng Zamboanga 

ang nasakyang malaking bangka 

ng apat na lalaki. Nagpaiwan 

ang apat na babae sa Sabah. 

Makikipagsapalaran daw sila dahil 

nagbenta ng kalabaw at nagsanla 

ng lupa ang mga magulang. 

Nahihiya silang umuwi na walang 

dalang perang pambayad ng utang 

ng magulang. 

Pagdating ng Zamboanga ay 

tumawag kaagad si Eliseo (di 

tunay na pangalan), ang drayber 

na nakilala ko. Nagpadala naman 

ang pamilya ng perang pamasahe 

pauwi. Gayundin ang isa niyang 

kasamahan. Dalawang kasamahang 

lalaki ang naiwan sa Zamboanga 

Teo 

Antonio 

ITAASMO 

kabayan 

dahil di pa dumarating ang 

pamasahe pauwi. 

Maraming naniniwala na ang 

ating bansa ay isang kahig, isang 

tuka. Kahit tumatlong kahig ay 

isang tuka lamang ang makakamit. 

Sa ibang bansa, doble ang 

suweldong kikitain kahit drayber 

ng taxi, kaya nakakatukso ang 

magtrabaho sa abroad. 

Pero may suwerte at malas sa 

paghahanap ng trabaho sa ibang 

bansa. Hindi lahat ay nakakatagpo 

ng gintong gusi sa dulo ng 

bahaghari. Pero tuloy pa rin ang 

maraming Pilipino na mangarap 

nang mangarap at magbakasakali 

upang umasenso ang buhay. Si 

Eliseo, ay nagbalik, sa gusto man 

niya o hindi, sa ating bansa. Mula 

sa mapait na karanasan patungo 

sa Brunei ay bumuong muli ng 

bagong pangarap. 

Napaso man sa unang 

pagtatangkang magtrabaho sa 

abroad, ang lupang tinubuan pa rin 

ang huling sandigan ng pag-asa 

laban sa pag-asa. Naisip lang niya 

ang apat na babaeng kababayan na 

naiwan sa Sabah. May mga pinagaralan 

naman, ay naglakas-loob 

ding lumaban at makipagsapalaran 

upang hindi umuwi na luhaan. 

Dalawang mukha ito ng 

pakikipagsapalaran. May 

nagpaiwan upang makidigma sa 

ibang bansa. May bumalik upang 

sa sariling bayan ipagpatuloy ang 

laban sa buhay. Isang aksidente 

ang kuwentong ito na hindi 

nalathala sa iba’t ibang pahayagan 

sa bansa. Isang pangyayaring 

laging nagyayari at di nabubunyag. 

Kay Eliseo, ang taxi driver sa 

Brunei at sa maraming katulad 

niya na di sumusuko at patuloy na 

nakikipagsapalan sa maalong dagat 

ng buhay, itaas mo kabayan. 

Ang pagkabigo sa paghahanap 

ng trabaho sa ibang bansa ay di pa 

katapusan ng mundo. 

Kung hanggang airport ka lamang, hindi ka nag-iisa. Marami ang 

bigo sa pag-aabroad. Marami rin ang umaasa at nagtatagumpay. 

Executive EDITOR: Rex Aguado PUBLISHING CONSULTANT Philip Evardone ADVISERs Therese Necio-Ortega, Prof Dr Maurice Teo BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Ricky Sumallo 

CORRespondents Eddie Alinea (Manila), Celeste Terrenal (Manila), Terrie Fucanan (Manila), Chito Manuel (Jeddah). Rick Sumallo (New Jersey), Loi Liwanag (Los Angeles) 

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Bernie Domantay, AccessPoint (Philippines) Josephine Miranda (Philippines), TJ Badon-Doble (Philippines), Bob Waterfield (Hong Kong) 

EDITORIAL BOARD Rex Aguado, Philip Evardone, Prof Dr Maurice Teo CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Beting Laygo Dolor, Teo Antonio, Chito Manuel, Danny Vibas, Dante Vino 

Filipino Globe is published once a month by Apex Services (HK) Ltd, Suite 1905, Lippo Centre Tower 2, Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong, telephone (852) 2918 8248, email info@filglobe.com. No part of this publication 

may be reproduced without the written permission of the publishers. Printed by Premier Printing Group, Yuen Long, New Terrories, Hong Kong 

filipino globe lingkod-bayan 

July 2007 23 

ASK OUR CONSULATE 

Q: The consulate piloted a 

scheme last year in which 

certain applications could be 

sent by mail and the applicants 

would be notified of the result 

of these applications also by 

mail. 

Is this service still available? 

If so, are there any plans to 

expand it? 

It would be a great help if all 

applications could be handled 

in this way. Also, it would 

ease congestion at the service 

counters and cut the long 

queues. 

A: The scheme that was 

implemented middle of last year 

in which applications for renewal 

of employment contracts could 

be sent by mail after paying the 

processing fee at any HSBC 

branch has been revised since 

August 2006. 

The new scheme, called 

Express Processing, requires 

applicants to proceed directly 

to the Cashier’s Counter at the 

Philippine Consulate to submit all 

contract-related documents and 

pay the HK$297.50 fee. 

Under this scheme, applicants 

are informed of any problems 

with their applications within 24 

hours of filing. 

Contracts that are in order are 

released three working days after 

the filing date. 

Another scheme that aims to 

minimise queues and waiting 

time is called File Easy. 

Under File Easy, applicants 

can submit their contracts to a 

placement agency, which files 

the applications on their behalf 

with the POLO. Please visit www. 

philcongen-hk.com/labor/main. 

htm for more details. 

ANNOUNCEMENTS 

Education placement test 

The Consulate General wishes to announce that the 

acceptance of applications for the Philippine Educational 

Placement Test is still ongoing. On matters 

concerning Filipino organizations and associations 

in Hong Kong, all are requested to register or update 

their records with the Cultural Section for inclusion 

in the list of accredited organizations. 

Finally, organizations and associations that participated 

in the Independence Day Celebration at 

Chater Garden last 03 June are invited to contact 

the Cultural Section regarding the possibility of creating 

permanent committees or core groups that will 

assist in carrying out cultural projects for the Filipino 

community. 

For any inquiries on the foregoing, please contact 

Cultural Officer Eric Derupe or Ms Marie Docas at 

2823-8513 or 2823-8536. 

Pag-IBIG slashes rates 

The Pag-IBIG Fund is pleased to announce the reduction 

in the loan rate it charges for housing loans 

ranging from P300,000 to P750,000. 

The rate for such loans is now seven percent (7 

per cent), a significant reduction from the previous 

loan rate of 10.5 per cent. According to Vice President 

Noli De Castro, who is also the chairman of the 

Pag-IBIG Fund Board of Trustees, the latest round 

in the interest rate reduction is “aimed at the middleincome 

bracket earning an estimated P16,000 to 

P20,000 per month, and which constitutes 23 per 

cent of the labor work force, according to the National 

Statistics Office. This is the next logical step 

to take.” 

Q: Is an endorsement from 

the Consulate required for 

applying for a permit to stage a 

public event? 

In events in which the 

Consulate is directly involved, 

would it be right to say the 

Consulate itself files the 

application? 

How about for community 

groups? 

A: An endorsement from the 

Consulate is not necessary. 

Organizations, associations and 

community groups can apply for 

a permit directly with the 

Leisure and Cultural Services 

Department. For official functions 

carried out with the community’s 

support, it is the Consulate itself 

that applies for a permit with the 

LCSD. 

Permits for events organized by 

the Consulate in partnership with 

Hong Kong government agencies 

are usually secured by 

these agencies. 

Send your questions to Filipino Globe, 

Suite 1905, Lippo Centre Tower 2, 

Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong or 

send an e-mail to info@filglobe.com 

Filipinos in Hong Kong who wish to avail of Pag- 

IBIG housing loans and other services can contact 

Mr Michael Azucena or Mr Raymond Francis Ramos 

at 2823-8501 for more information. 

New venues, times for OEC 

The Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Hong Kong 

wishes to inform all OFWs of its new schedule and 

venues where Overseas Employment Certificates 

can be secured. Please refer to the table below: 

DAY TIME PLACE 

Sundays 9am-4pm Bayanihan Centre 

Tel: 2817-8928 

Mon-Thu 9am-4pm Philippine Consulate 

Tel: 6080-8323 

Fri-Sat 10am-3pm Filipino Workers 

Resource Centre 

Cheung Sha Wan, 

Kowloon 

Tel: 2546-1441 

Requirements for OEC application: 

1) Passport with valid work visa. If you renewed the 

passport containing your work visa, bring it along 

with your new passport. 

2) Completely filled-out OFWInformation Sheet, 

which can be obtained from the abovementioned 

venues. 

Note: 

Overseas Employment Certificates are valid for 60 

days from the date of issuance. 

OFWs who have changed their employers and 

consequently must return to the Philippines before 

starting their new contracts must obtain their OEC at 

any POEA office in the Philippines. 

CONSULAR FEES AND CHARGES 

Passport services 

New/renewal 32 pages $425 New/renewal 64 pages 

Replacement of lost passport 32 pages 

$510 

$765 

Replacement of lost passport 64 pages $1,190 

Issuance of travel document $255 

Amendment of passport entries $170 

Visa services 

Single entry (3 months) $212.50 Multiple Entry (6 months) $680 

Multiple Entry (3 months) $425 Multiple entry (1 year) $1,020 

Special investors resident visa $3,400 

Special resident retiree’s visa $3,400 

Notarial services 

Affidavit of support/consent $212.50 

Acknowledgment of instruments (deeds, powers of attorney) $212.50 

Authentication of documents $212.50 

Jurat (sworn statements, letters) $212.50 

Original Seen $212.50 

Seen and noted 

Contracts (authentication and verification) 

$212.50 

$297.50 

Issuance of certified true copy of document $212.50 

Taking of deposition $212.50 

Report/registration of marriage/birth/death $212.50 

Any other certification $212.50 

SSS CONTRIBUTION SCHEDULE 

All OFW members 

Salary 

bracket 

Compensation 

range 

(pesos) 

Monthly 

salary 

credit 

(pesos) 

New 

monthly 

contributions 

(pesos) 

1 4,750 – 5,249.99 5,000 520 

2 5,250 – 5,749.99 5,500 572 

3 5,750 – 6,249.99 6,000 624 

4 6,250 – 6,749.99 6,500 676 

5 6,750 – 7,249.99 7,000 728 

6 7,250 – 7,749.99 7,500 780 

7 7,750 – 8,249.99 8,000 832 

8 8,250 – 8,749.99 8,500 884 

9 8,750 – 9,249.99 9,000 936 

10 9,250 – 9,749.99 9,500 988 

11 9,750 – 10,249.99 10,000 1,040 

12 10,250 – 10,749.99 10,500 1,092 

13 10,750 – 11,249.99 11,000 1,144 

14 11,250 – 11,749.99 11,500 1,196 

15 11,750 – 12,249.99 12,000 1,248 

16 12,250 – 12,749.99 12,500 1,300 

17 12,750 – 13,249.99 13,000 1,352 

18 13,250 – 13,749.99 13,500 1,404 

19 13,750 – 14,249.99 14,000 1,456 

20 14,250 – 14,749.99 14,500 1,508 

21 14,750 and over 15,000 1,560 

Comparative schedule 

Before Now Before Now Before Now Before Now 

470 520 705 780 940 1,040 1,175 1,300 

517 572 752 832 987 1,092 1,222 1,352 

564 624 799 884 1,034 1,144 1,269 1,404 

611 676 846 936 1,081 1,196 1,316 1,456 

658 728 893 988 1,128 1,248 1,363 1,508 

1,410 1,560 

Flexi Fund 

Contributions must not be less than P200 a month 

PHILIPPINE CONSULATE GENERAL 

14/F UNITED CENTRE, 95 QUEENSWAY, ADMIRALTY 

Hotlines: 9155-4023 (Consular), 6080 8323 (Labor), 6345 9324 (OWWA), 

Trunkline: 2823 8501 Fax: 2866 9885 

Working hours and statutory holidays 

The Consulate is open from 9 am to 4 pm, Sundays to Thursdays, 

except during the following holidays: 

1 July Hong Kong SAR 

Establishment Day 

26 September Chinese 

Mid-Autumn Festival 

1 October China National Day 

19 October Chung Yeung 

Festival 

1-2 November All Saints’ 

and All Souls’ Day 

30 November Bonifacio Day 

22 December Chinese Winter 

Solstice Festival 

24-25 December Christmas Day 

30 December Rizal Day 

Note: 

Other holidays may be declared 

by the Philippine government

24 filipino globe 

balik-tanaw 

July 2007 25 

ALAM MO BA KUNG SAAN O SINO ANG MGA ITO? 

MANALO NG ROUND-TRIP PLANE TICKETS, IPOD NANO O TICKETS TO DISNEYLAND SA TAMANG SAGOT. BASAHIN SA PAGE 41 ANG DETALYE 

Internet cafe, Mall of 

Asia, Edsa Shrine, condo, 

MRT, Gloria Arroyo – ang 

bagong anyo ng Maynila 

ay ibang-iba kaysa noong 

dekada-70. 

Mahigit 37 taon nang 

hindi natin nakikita ang 

tanawing ito: mula sa bellbottom 

pants, hanggang 

sa isang gasolinahan 

sa Cubao at ang Delta 

Theater. 

Minsan, may halong 

lungkot na binabalikan 

natin ang nakaraan, 

ngunit higit dito, maalab 

ang ating panalig sa ating 

patutunguhan. 

Sagutin kung saan o sino 

ang mga nasa larawan at 

magkamit ng premyo mula 

sa Filipino Globe. 

Ang entry form ay nasa 

page 41. 

1 

2 

4 

3 

7 

6 

5

26 July 2007 filipino globe 

community 


In keeping with tradition, 

Prime Gold Plus 

observed the lucky 

practice of offering a 

roast pig at the opening 

of its new branch in 

Shatin. Shown during 

the ceremony are PGP 

Shatin branch staff Ma 

Luisa Marcelino (branch 

head), Babette Quizada 

(assistant branch head), 

Carrie Padua, RM Pineda, 

Polo Vistan with Aristotle 

Ong (Prime Gold Plus 

business manager). 

At right, Michael Vincent 

of MetroPlus and 

Therese Necio-Ortega of 

Peninsula Hotels do the 

honours of cutting the 

ribbon to officially open 

Prime Gold Plus 

Shatin branch. 

PICTUREGALLERY 

And so, the journey continues 

Gabby Alvarado 

finds that a friendship 

forged on a short tram 

ride can last longer 

than a railway 

The cheapest way to travel 

on Hong Kong Island is by 

tram. For HK$2 you can go 

from Kennedy Town in the west 

to Shau Kei Wan in the east. It is 

approximately a 1 ½-hour ride 

along busy roads and market places, 

shopping malls, parks, gleaming high 

rises and architectural landmarks. 

Some stops are just five minutes 

from the next. It takes less than that 

to form lasting friendships. 

I have two vivid memories of my 

rides on this lumbering relic from the 

city’s British colonial past. 

On July 1, 2002, the tram I was 

on was stopped dead in its tracks 

near the Legco building by a sea of 

men and women in black. I had just 

gotten in from the station in front 

of Worldwide House on my way to 

Causeway Bay. 

For someone who spends 

interminable hours in a newsroom, I 

somehow forgot it was the Handover 

anniversary – Hong Kong’s return 

to China. Hong Kong people 

disenchanted with the policies of 

Tung Chee-hwa and opposed to a 

security measure he and his cabinet 

were pushing were to march in 

protest on the streets in the boiling 

heat of summer. 

There were a million of them, and 

this bustling city for once stood still. 

So there was our poor tram, caught in 

the middle of this defiant but orderly 

crowd, unable to move an inch for 

hours on. 

Another time, I had to alight in 

Wan Chai, on my way to Central 

on what should have been a lazy 

Saturday. A reckless driver somehow 

managed to crash his van into the 

railway, just ahead of the tram I 

was on. Keeping me company on 

the short walk to the nearest MTR 

station was a couple of cheerful 

pear-shaped ladies who could pass 

for my kindly aunts. We had talked 

casually while on the tram, I initially 

mistaking them for tourists instead 

of domestic helpers, dressed as they 

were in their holiday best. 

One chance encounter led to 

another. 

And so started a friendship that to 

this day lives on; it has even become 

a chain, though not as long as that 

tram track where we first met. They 

would introduce me to their relatives, 

friends and neighbors here. All 

would become my friends, too. 

By coincidence, those two kindly 

ladies from Naic, Cavite, who I have 

taken to calling Golden Girls, go by 

the name Lita – one is short-haired, 

the other wears hers extraordinarily 

long. Each has worked for just one 

employer – short-haired Lita for 17 

years, the other for 22. 

They love to whip up a sumptuous 

feast for the entire barkada and have 

a good time; they’re both funny and 

chatty but, unlike most domestic 

helpers, they hardly complain 

about the perpetual struggles and 

drudgeries of an OFW’s life. 

They could not escape the one 

irony that has seemed to afflict most 

OFWs, though. They eke a living 

abroad in hopes their kids do not end 

up like them and leave for far-flung 

areas for employment, only to see 

their family members inevitably join 

the growing diaspora in quest of a 

better life. 

Short-haired Lita’s son Rheson 

works as an auto mechanic 

supervisor in Abu Dhabi and has his 

own family there. Her only daughter 

Mileth has since followed to the 

gulf region. Long-haired Lita, on 

the other hand, has a son Joseph 

who is just on his first voyage as a 

seafarer, while his eldest Percy found 

greener pastures in the US until a 

recent tragedy struck him down in 

his prime. 

Thanks to the wonders of 

technology these two devoted 

mothers are able to keep in touch 

with their offspring, wherever and 

whenever possible. 

Lita Catimon, the one with short 

hair, has helped two sisters-inlaw 

get jobs in Hong Kong while 

another in-law, a former housemate 

in Repulse Bay, has since returned 

home after 22 years here. She has a 

cousin named Lolit, a tireless 19-year 

veteran of the trade, whose sister 

until recently also used to work in 

the SAR. 

Lita Hinalog, she with the long 

hair, also managed to recruit her 

Lita Catimon (left) and Lita 

Hinalog have a combined 

39 years working in Hong 

Kong. They have had only 

one employer. 

“ By choice, 

luck or pure 

necessity, 

migration has 

become a family 

affair 

younger sister Susan to work for the 

Choy household in Fo Shan and has 

cousins in Mid-Levels and Taikoo 

Shing on top of a sister-in-law in Sai 

Kung and several inaanaks scattered 

in the territory. 

Oh, and did I say their husbands 

used to work abroad, too? Toto 

Catimon is a former navyman who 

once was stationed in Diego Garcia, 

a US territory. Later, he found 

employment as a construction 

worker in Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi 

Arabia. Nesty Hinalog, on the other 

hand, worked in a Korean plastic 

factory for seven years in the `90s. 

Ah, the life of an OFW. By choice, 

luck or pure necessity, migration has 

become a family affair. Working odd 

jobs abroad has replaced earning a 

college degree or a PhD as a personal 

ambition for most. It is a national 

obsession even – or desperation. For 

better or worse. 

And so their journey, just like 

mine, continues. 

PAHK sets 

fourth legal 

workshop for 

September 

You have left your ID card in the flat 

and have suddenly realised you don’t 

have it as you emerge from the MTR 

station. 

And as you fumble for your wallet 

hoping to find any identification 

papers, a policeman appears and 

asks you the question you have been 

afraid to hear. 

“May I see your ID, miss?” 

If you don’t know what to say, or 

what to do, you’re not alone. 

Hundreds face similar tight 

situations with the law every 

day through sheer negligence or 

forgetfulness. 

And yet, while negligence maybe a 

crime, forgetfulness is not. 

With that premise, the Philippine 

Association of Hong Kong is 

extending its free legal workshop 

into a fourth edition. 

It will be held on September 23, 

from 11 am to 6 pm, at Grappa’s 

Cellar on the 

basement of Jardine 

House in Central. 

The workshop 

will feature 

legal experts, 

who will cover 

topics ranging from police powers, 

sentencing options of the courts and 

financial settlements for divorces to 

separations and media law on print, 

online and broadcast. 

PAHK chairman Mike Ranola 

(above) is inviting community 

organizations, and business and civic 

leaders to participate. 

“This is an excellent opportunity 

to be a part of a worthwhile project,” 

he said. 

Ranola said the first three 

workshops drew a strong and 

positive feedback from the 

community. 

The workshops are being 

spearheaded by PAHK legal adviser 

Ody Lai, with the support of Hong 

Kong solicitors and barristers. 

“Actual attendance was more than 

the number of registered participants 

with standing room only for some 

attendees,” Ranola said. He said 

participants cited the workshops for 

being informative, educational and 

interesting in terms of presentation.

28 

filipino globe community 

July 2007 

Josephine 

Tubera won a 

Nokia 2626 for 

scoring 97 per 

cent, the highest 

on record, in my 

connecting tone 

Videoke Singing 

Contest. Her 

winning piece 

was Sana’y Wala 

Ng Wakas. With 

Josephine in the 

photo are Miss 

My Connecting 

Tone Mylene 

Dacpano and 

GEK DJs Stan 

and Mel. 

Ring back tone service 

gets videoke treatment 

Barkadahan sa SmarTone is 

promoting its my connecting tone 

or ring back tone service via a 

videoke singing contest. 

Handsets, recharge vouchers and 

other special prizes are at stake 

every third and fourth Sunday 

of the month, from April to 

December 2007, at the Barkadahan 

Clubhouse. 

My connecting tone Videoke 

Singing Contest is open to 

all Barkadahan sa SmarTone 

members with my connecting 

tone subscription and at least $50 

recharge. 

Contestants have a wide selection 

of Pinoy and international hit 

songs, all of course, can be 

downloaded as their my connecting 

tone. 

Because of the Pinoys’ love for 

music and fun, my connecting 

tone Videoke Singing Contest has 

become a popular event among the 

Barkadahan sa SmarTone members. 

Barkadahan sa SmarTone is 

a SIM brand under SmarTone- 

Vodafone, preferred by OFWs in 

Hong Kong because of its excellent 

rates, network quality, service and 

offers. 

Battad serves up a tennis lesson or two 

life 

filipino globe home, health & beauty, money, travel, stars & sports 

July 2007 29 

Accident-free bedrooms, but how about fire-proof kitchens? 

QWe often hear about 

accident-proof rooms and 

burglar-proof homes. But can 

you fire-proof a kitchen? 

Jackie Sarmenta 

Macau 

AYes, you can, to a certain 

degree. Remember that it 

is in the kitchen where people 

deliberately make a fire. 

Let me rephrase that. While you 

cannot completely rule out fire 

in the kitchen, you can prevent 

it from happening. And if it does 

happen, there are ways to deal 

with it safely and quickly. 

But first, let’s look at prevention. 

Along with installing smoke 

detectors in your home, you 

ROBERT 

LUNARIA 

DIYBOB 

do it yourself 

should have a fire extinguisher 

in the kitchen. Walk your family 

through a fire drill so everyone 

knows what to do and where to go 

in case of fire. 

Make sure children know where 

the family will reunite if they have 

to leave the house in case of fire. 

Assign a special closet for 

combustible materials and 

dangerous tools that you don’t 

want your children to touch. Put a 

good lock on the door and a heat 

detector inside to alert you to any 

fire danger. 

Don’t overload electrical circuits 

with too many appliances. If your 

fuses are blowing or your circuit 

breakers are popping, hire an 

electrician to look at your system. 

Don’t run extension cords under 

rugs or carpets. The cords wear 

easily and may short out, causing 

a fire. 

Nails or staples used to attach 

electrical cords to the walls or 

baseboards can damage the 

cords and cause fire or shock 

hazards. Tape cords to walls or 

floors instead of using nails or 

staples. 

Replace frayed electrical cords 

before they burn or cause a fire. 

Certain simple tips go a long 

way in dealing with kitchen fires. 

First, never use water on 

electric, oil, or grease fires. Turn 

off the heat immediately, and use 

a lid or a large piece of metal 

bakeware to smother the flames. 

If you can’t shut off the gas 

before fighting a gas fire, get out 

of the house immediately. 

If you can’t remove the fuel 

from a wood, paper, or fabric 

fire, cut off its air by smothering 

the fire with a coat or heavy 

woolen blanket. You might also 

cool the fire with water or a fire 

extinguisher. 

Even if a fire is confined to a 

frying pan or wastebasket, never 

spend more than 30 seconds 

fighting the fire. Small fires can 

grow with frightening speed. 

Send your questions or comments to 

diybob@filglobe.com 

The perks of the job can 

be exciting, such as a 

chance encounter with 

Maria Sharapova, writes 

Gabby Alvarado 

Fancy a date with the glamorous 

Maria Sharapova? Bong Battad 

was lucky to get one – if hitting 

out tennis balls for two sweaty hours 

with the blonde Russian is your idea 

of a romantic liaison. 

Sharapova was 15 years old, a 

volley away from stardom and Grand 

Slam glory, and in Hong Kong 

for the annual Watsons women’s 

exhibition tournament at Victoria 

Park, when Battad got his chance to 

meet the statuesque beauty up close 

and personal. 

Like most males, Bong was 

dazzled by Sharapova – but for a 

different reason. 

“Noon pa lang, ibang-iba na ang 

palo. Power game talaga,” says the 

former top-ranked Filipino pro and 

veteran of several Davis Cup battles. 

But Battad is not here for the 

Sharapovas, Dementievas, Henins or 

Williamses. 

Now a full-time instructor, he runs 

a tennis academy at the Hong Kong 

Tennis Centre in Wong Nai Chung 

Gap Road. Together with trusted 

lieutenants Mau Buhia and Bernardo 

Valleramos, both oldtimers in the 

game, their goal is to groom Hong 

Kong youngsters into world-class 

players. 

They have been at it since 1991, 

when Bong retired from active 

competition at age 26 and linked 

up in the territory with Austrian 

Gebhart Grists, once the coach of 

the Philippine team. He spent two 

months training Taiwanese Wang 

Shi-ting, at the time the world’s 

second-ranked junior player, and fell 

in love with the job. 

Together with a group of Filipinos, 

and with the urging of Hong Kong 

businessman and tennis fanatic Cris 

Ng, Bong formed the Pro Classic 

training academy in 1993. 

By 1996, though, the dusky 

Cotabato-born, Pampanga-raised 

racket-wielding trainer was on his 

own as director of Racket Head Ltd 

Tennis Development Program. He 

has his own team of instructors and, 

of course, Buhia and Valleramos, 

Maria Sharapova was 15 years old 

and already showing signs of a world 

beater when Bong Battad met her 

in Hong Kong. Below, Battad (left) 

is shown with Eric Taino as he gets 

ready to start the coaching day. 

“ Magandang 

trabaho. Pero 

malakas ang 

competition 

BONG BATTAD 

On the local coaching scene 

who had helped him hone his game 

when he was 10 years old. 

“Tatay ko na ang mga iyan. Sila 

lang ang nakakasermon sa akin,” 

Bong says. 

Battad is part of the growing 

number of retired Filipino athletes 

who have been exporting their 

expertise and skill – out of a genuine 

love for the game and the generous 

pay that goes with the job. 

“Magandang trabaho. Pero malakas 

ang competition. Merong at least 40 

Australian coaches dito. Mabibigat 

iyan. Kasama pa si Mark Kratzmann 

(ATP veteran and 1984 Australian, 

Wimbledon and US Open Juniors 

champion),” he says. 

“Maganda dito sa Hong Kong 

kasi open. Established ang tennis 

coaching. Almost 1,000 ang 

registered coaches. Di tulad sa atin, 

di man maalagaan ang coaches.” 

Bong’s group is fortunate to have 

a tie-up with the Hong Kong Tennis 

Association, whose promising 

players are still sent to Racket Head 

for training. 

One of their wards is Justin To, 

Asia’s No 3 in the under-14 age 

group who recently was chosen as 

one of only four players in the region 

to join a European tour. 

One particular Hong Kong girl who 

is a product of Philippine coaching, 

Bong proudly says, is 18-year-old 

Venise Chan Wing-yau. She is now 

campaigning on the women’s tour 

after being ranked world No 18 in 

the juniors last year. 

Bong was born to a tennisplaying 

family, led by the patriarch 

Fortunato, who used to head the 

Pampanga Agricultural College in 

the foothills of Mount Arayat. His 

brothers Boyet and Zosimo were 

champions in their own right. 

For a time in the ‘80s, he was the 

local No 1, as the vaunted Felix 

Barrientos and Roland So took their 

game to US colleges. He came on 

the heels of Rod Rafael and Roland 

Suarez, followed by Barrientos, 

So and the equally talented Manny 

Tolentino. 

The Castillejo sisters Dyan and 

Jackie were also his teammates 

on the national team. Battad won 

a singles silver medal in the 1987 

Southeast Asian Games, losing to 

Indonesian Titus Wibowo in the 

final. Two years later, he was part 

of the SEA Games team that took 

silver in Kuala Lumpur, although 

their heroics were overshadowed by 

controversy when then Philippine 

Tennis Association president Buddy 

Andrada ordered them home over a 

dispute with organizers. 

In his prime, in 1986, the softspoken 

Battad was ranked No 774 by 

the ATP. 

Now 43, and sporting a paunch, 

Bong devotes his time sharing his 

knowledge of the game with Hong 

Kong’s youth. 

But he never forgets the people 

back home. He often invites Manilabased 

coaches to the SAR to observe 

new training techniques and provides 

additional training to Filipino junior 

campaigners in need of tournament 

experience here. 

Bong believes the future is bright 

for Philippine tennis, especially 

with the availability of US-trained 

Cecil Mamiit and Eric Taino and 

the presence of a vigorous juniors 

program supported by the Asian 

Tennis Federation. 

“May time na bumaba ang level 

ng Philippine tennis pero ngayon 

lumalakas na uli,” he says. 

As for that once-in-a-lifetime 

“date” with Sharapova? 

“Hindi siya suplada, low profile 

lang. Pero makikita mo na magaling 

talaga noon pa man.” 

Go on, splash 

out on your 

bathroom 

and enjoy it 

Tom Arguelles looks at a proven formula for 

making kitchens that are both practical and 

elegant without overshooting the budget 

Bathrooms are a lot like 

kitchens, both areas are 

necessities in every home, 

but can vary greatly in how they 

function. Basic models can be 

utilitarian, combining the basic 

functions with the most economical 

means. 

All bathrooms are a combination 

of planning and products. On the 

planning side, you may not have 

room for a large bath but perhaps you 

can find the few extra feet you need 

to be more comfortable. In the same 

way, your budget may preclude some 

of the nicer amenities, but standard 

equipment when well chosen can 

turn your bath from ordinary to 

extraordinary. 

Whether you build your bath 

within the existing dimensions of the 

plan, steal some adjacent space from 

other rooms or and outside wall, 

or start from scratch by converting 

another room, the bathroom’s overall 

shape and size will likely fall into 

one of three categories: 

• A standard-size bath is a 

rectangle starting at approximately 

5 x 7 or 5 x 9 feet and ranging to 

perhaps 7 x 9 or 8 x 10 feet. In this 

rectangle, there’s room for a sink 

with vanity, toilet, tub, and perhaps a 

small separate shower. This could be 

a home’s main bath or a guest bath. 

“ 

The arrangement 

of elements ... 

determines how 

big or small the 

room feels 

LORDI SALVADOR 

Interior designer 

• A powder room or half bath is 

generally 15-32 square feet, and 

including just the basic essentials, a 

sink and toilet. 

• A master bath is large and roomy, 

often 100 square feet or more and 

normally adjacent to or opening into 

the master bedroom. 

The extra space allows for luxury 

such as furniture pieces, storage, and 

windows or skylights. The shape 

may vary. 

“The arrangement of elements 

within the bathroom will, in the end, 

determine how big or small the room 

feels,” says interior designer Lordi 

Salvador. 

A modest-size bath neatly 

configured can feel spacious, while 

a large bath poorly planned can feel 

cramped. Following are guidelines 

for placing the essential bath fixtures. 

Try to allow at least 16 inches 

of clearance from the center of the 

fixture to a wall or adjacent fixture 

on either side. 

Leave an area of clear floor space 

in front of the fixture, at least 30x48 

inches. Up to 12 inches can extend 

under an adjacent lavatory when 

knee space is provided. 

Private toilet compartments should 

measure at least 36x66 inches. 

Allow at least 15 inches of side 

clearance from the center of the sink 

to a wall or other obstruction. 

Knee space should be provided at 

a lavatory. 

A mirror over the lavatory should 

be a maximum of 40 inches above 

the floor. 

Leave at least a 30x48-inch area 

of clear floor space either parallel or 

perpendicular to the lavatory. 

Starting with 

a simple plan 

(above), you 

can build a 

bathroom 

to your 

specifications, 

from wooden 

(left) to elegant 

tile finishes. At 

the same time, 

you can stay 

within your 

budget.

30 

filipino globe health matters 

July 2007 

lakbayan 

filipino globe February July 2007 31 

Infants have better chances of survival when breastfed exclusively in the first five months, says a UN study. 

Breastfeeding decline 

in RP alarms Unicef 

Regional trend responsible for death of 160,000 infants 

in Asia-Pacific each year, says study by health experts 

About 160,000 infants die 

each year in the Asia-Pacific 

region due to a decline in 

breastfeeding, according to a Unicef 

expert. 

There are “roughly 160,000 

children dying annually in Eastern 

and Southeastern Asia whose 

deaths are attributed to something 

as preventable and as imminently 

correctable as sub-optimal 

breastfeeding,” said UN children’s 

agency (Unicef) regional adviser 

Stephen Atwood. 

The World Health Organization 

warned that babies less than five 

months old who were not exclusively 

breastfed were at much higher risk of 

diarrhea and pneumonia, which often 

prove deadly in developing countries. 

The joint WHO and Unicef 

conference to promote breastfeeding 

said just 35 per cent of babies in the 

region were exclusively breastfed in 

the first four months of their lives. 

This was “an alarming threat 

to child survival,” and called on 

countries in the region to invest more 

in promoting breastfeeding and to 

warn people of “the dangers of breast 

milk substitutes.” 

WHO regional director Shigeru 

Omi warned that “breastfeeding 

“ 

Just 35 per 

cent of babies 

in the region 

are exclusively 

breastfed 

UNICEF-WHO STUDY 

On regional health trends 

rates declined in most developing 

countries in East Asia and the Pacific 

where just over one-third of mothers 

exclusively breastfeed their babies 

for up to six months.” 

He cited the Philippines as an 

example, where the rate of exclusive 

breastfeeding in the first five months 

fell from 20 per cent in 1998 to 16 

per cent in 2003. 

The rate of exclusive breastfeeding 

of babies six months old varied 

widely in the region with Thailand 

at 5.4 per cent and North Korea at 

65.1 per cent, the WHO said in a 

statement. 

The WHO said an increase in 

breastfeeding in Cambodia had 

contributed to a sharp fall in child 

mortality. 

In 2000, just 11 per cent of 

Cambodian mothers breastfed their 

babies for the first six months. By 

2005, 60 per cent were breastfeeding 

which the WHO said contributed to a 

steep fall in child mortality rates over 

the same period. 

Omi called for legislation to ban 

“the inappropriate promotion of 

breast milk substitutes,” especially 

those which say these products can 

increase the health and intelligence 

of children. 

He noted only the Philippines and 

Palau had laws explicitly barring the 

promotion of infant formula as breast 

milk substitutes for babies below the 

age of one. 

Milk firms file lawsuit over extended formula ban 

A debate over breast-feeding 

versus bottle feeding has reached 

the the Philippine Supreme Court, 

with health officials arguing that 

aggressive advertising by foreign 

companies has some women 

believing formula is better than their 

own milk. 

The health department last year 

proposed regulations to strengthen 

its national milk code, which already 

bans formula companies from 

advertising products made for babies 

less than a year old. New rules would 

extend that ban to formula made for 

children up to two years old. 

The Pharmaceutical and Healthcare 

Association of the Philippines has 

sued the Health Department, arguing 

only Congress has the power to 

change the regulations. 

The Supreme Court ordered a 

temporary halt to the stiffer rules 

while the case is pending. 

Watch your lower back 

if you feel discomfort 

One of the most common 

conditions encountered by 

a physician is lower-back 

pain. It afflicts primarily adults but 

may occasionally be encountered 

in adolescents and children. The 

lifetime incidence of lower-back pain 

is 50-70 per cent. 

It can happen to anyone and I am 

sure you may have experienced this 

in one way or another. 

Patricia Docena, writing in from 

Hong Kong, wonders whether her 

condition requires some form of 

intervention. 

We asked a colleague, Dr Antonio 

de Castro, to comment. 

Dr De Castro is a diplomate, 

Philippine Orthopedic Association, 

and an orthopedic surgeon at the 

Mandaluyong City Medical Center, 

Victor R Potenciano Medical Center 

and Veterans Memorial Medical 

Center. 

He writes: 

Pain in the lower back can come 

from any of the anatomic structures 

in this area – bones, joints and 

ligaments, nerves and muscles. No 

genetic predispositions are known. 

Risk factors include jobs that require 

heavy and repetitive lifting, use of 

jackhammers and machine tools, and 

operation of motor vehicles. 

Smokers are at greater risk for low 

back pain. Individuals above their 

normal body weight are more likely 

to report back pain than their lighter 

counterparts. 

There are many possible causes 

of back pain, broadly classified into 

traumatic and atraumatic conditions. 

Under traumatic conditions the 

following are the possible etiologies: 

fractures, fracture-dislocations, 

slipped disc and ligament tears. 

Atraumatic causes may include 

degenerative disc disease, 

inflammatory arthritis, osteoporosis, 

tumors, or spine misalignments. 

Sufferers of this ailment may 

feel discomfort in the lower back, 

stiffness or numbness. This may be 

confined only to the lower back but 

may radiate down to one’s buttocks 

further down to the foot. The pain 

can be tolerable, but for others, it can 

be very debilitating, affecting their 

daily chores, or worse, undermine 

their ability to function at work. 

A number of physical examinations 

may be done to test motor and 

sensory functions, reflexes and 

range of motion. There is no specific 

laboratory test for low back pain. 

If one suspects infection, 

a complete blood count and 

erythrocyte sedimentation rate is 

performed. Urine analysis may be 

needed to rule out urinary tract 

infection. X-rays are not always 

necessary in patients who have their 

HEALTHTALK 

what the doctor says 

Dr Jun 

Amigo 

first episode of back pain, especially 

if it is caused by minor trauma (such 

as lifting). 

If the back pain persists for 

more than six weeks, radiographs 

should be done. Other ancillary 

procedures may also be done such 

as the computed tomography or CT 

scan, which is useful in detecting 

bone abnormalities and magnetic 

resonance imaging (MRI) to detect 

the soft tissue defects and nerve 

compressions. 

How do we treat this condition? 

Most patients with low back pain 

can be treated conservatively 

(non-operative) with rest, antiinflammatory 

medications, and 

physical therapy. Prolonged bed rest 

is usually not beneficial. 

The good news is 90 per cent 

of the time, conservative relief is 

successful and only 10 per cent 

usually end up under the knife 

(surgery). 

The different operative procedures 

for back pain are based on the 

“ Smokers are at 

greater risk for 

low back pain, as 

well as individuals 

above their normal 

body weight 

nature of the individual’s problem. 

Decompression procedures, removal 

of arthritic joints, fusion with or 

without spinal instrumentation are 

just some of the more common 

procedures done, but this entails a lot 

of expense. 

Prevention is still a key in 

avoiding low back pain. Several 

reminders that may go a long way. 

Avoid carrying heavy loads. If you 

are trying to pick up something on 

the floor, bend your knees ,not your 

back. Carry loads near your body. 

Do back and abdominal exercises 

and aerobic conditioning. If you are 

driving, place a lumbar support. If 

you do a lot of sitting, stand up and 

stretch once in a while. 

health@filglobe.com 

If you have questions about health, send them to us and we 

will try our best to answer them with expert opinion. With 

Dr Jun Amigo, chief surgical resident at the Mandaluyong 

City Medical Center, as moderator, this forum will feature 

specialists on the chosen topic. Please note that this is not 

intended as a medical consultation and readers are strongly 

advised to see their doctor for proper advice. To contact 

us, please visit our website www.filglobe.com and click on 

“health@filglobe.com” to send your queries. 

You enter the island through a concrete jetty (above) and hop on a tram bus (below) for a quick tour. The massive guns fell silent more than 50 years ago, but images of the war remain 

fresh in the memory, such as the Malinta Tunnel and a Spanish lighthouse (below, right), which survived the bombings. A high-speed catamaran (bottom) will take you to Corregidor. 

Peace was won on this little island 

More than a tourist 

attraction, Corregidor is 

a revered piece of our 

national history, writes 

Gilda Medina Bernal 

The voices of about 15 Filipino 

high school students went up 

several decibels while they 

scampered for their seats on the front 

row of the Sun Cruise catamaran. A 

few minutes later, several Japanese 

men in their 60s quietly settled 

comfortably in one corner. 

Three American men shortly 

followed. Wearing jersey shirts and 

hunting huts, they were bragging 

about their travels in Asia. 

A female voice on the PA system 

announcing the tour’s guidelines was 

engulfed by the frenetic mood inside 

the ship, along with shrieks from 

kids running around. 

It was a warm Sunday morning, a 

perfect day for a cruise, and a history 

tour. At exactly 8:15, the ship started 

to sail slowly towards its destination 

– Corregidor Island. It was a onehour 

journey and the tourists were all 

probably thinking of the same thing 

– what’s on this island? 

“It’s a rock and a fun place,” says 

a travel program shown on television 

during the trip. But according to 

historians, this solitary piece of rock 

shaped like a tadpole is more than 

just that. 

The island lies between Cavite 

and Bataan, with a land area of 

only nine square kilometers. It is 

known by many as the place where 

General Douglas MacArthur was 

stationed during World War II. It 

was a key military defense station 

of the Allied Forces. But not too 

many knew it also became the seat 

of the Philippine Commonwealth 

government under President Manuel 

Quezon. This was also where 

General Jonathan Wainwright 

surrendered the entire Philippines to 

the Japanese invaders in May 1942. 

Before this, MacArthur was pulled 

out of Corregidor and travelled to 

Australia where he vowed to return 

to the Philippines. 

Corregidor was ravaged by the 

Japanese, earning its place on the 

map as one of the most bombed 

fortresses in the world in proportion 

to its size. “Corregidor Island was at 

the center of the war,” says Richard 

Andrada, a tour guide. 

“When the Japanese were starting 

to fortify the island, they did not 

realise that the Allied Forces were 

also getting ready to recapture 

Corregidor, bringing back its glory as 

a bastion of defense”. 

MacArthur returned to the 

Philippines following the recapture 

of Corregidor in March 1945. 

The war has long been over. 

MacArthur and Quezon are long 

gone but their statues stand on the 

island, and memories of the war 

remain. 

After more than 50 years, 

“ After more than 50 

years, Corregidor 

the defense shield 

is now an island of 

tranquility 

Corregidor the defense shield is 

now an island of tranquility. It is 

populated by only 200 people, who 

work as guides and employees of 

tour groups. 

“It is very peaceful on the island. 

Thousands of lives were taken here 

– Filipinos, Americans and Japanese 

– and we remember them everytime 

we pass by the ruins, by the roads, 

and by the foxholes that have became 

witness to the war,” Andrada adds as 

our tram bus passed by a pit where 

more than 200 bodies of Japanese 

were found after the war. 

The Japanese, believing that to 

surrender was an act of disgrace, 

performed a ritual suicide by striking 

their stomach with a sword or 

bayonet. Some would use grenades 

or jump from a cliff. 

Suddenly the frenzied mood of the 

tourists turned somber. The feeling 

of being surrounded by the souls of 

the soldiers killed in battle was eerie. 

We moved on to the next landmark 

and reached the massive guns of 

Corregidor. 

“We’ve been asking people to 

take one of the barrels as a souvenir 

but there are no takers,” Andrada 

jokes of the mortar guns in front of 

us. Several batteries, consisting of 

mortar guns and ammunition, were 

set up during the war. The barrel 

length of one rifle was about 10 feet 

and at least 14 men were needed to 

maneuver the entire gun. 

Just looking at the weaponry was 

enough for tourists to stand still, 

perhaps wondering how these guns 

became instrumental in bringing 

down the enemy. 

The tourists were as silent as 

the guns, which will not see the 

destruction of another war ever 

again. 

As we ended our tour of the 

island, it was apparent that there 

was more to Philippine history than 

what we learned in textbooks. For 

the Japanese and the Americans, 

Corregidor was as much a part of 

their history as ours. 

War was fought and peace was 

won on Corregidor Island and 

because of that, it has remained a 

formidable piece of rock.

32 filipino globe lakbayan 


July 2007 

Davao puts 

its best foot 

forward for 

Kadayawan 

During August, Davaoeños celebrate their 

cultural heritage. Tess Mauricio visits her 

native city ahead of the ‘festival of festivals’ 

Rainy season in the Philippines, 

which lasts from June to 

November, doesn’t always 

come with waters and flood. In 

Davao, this season of rain also means 

a season of smiles and merriment. It 

is a time of celebration and a sign of 

unity for Davaoeños. 

A weeklong celebration in Davao, 

known as “Kadayawan sa Dabaw,” is 

held every third week of August and 

has been touted as the “festival of 

Festivals”. 

Every year, the city comes alive 

when it holds this annual festivity. 

It is highlighted by a fresh flower 

and fruit float parade. The streets 

are decked with native fruits and 

vegetables as the people hold street 

dances for four days. 

An array of ethnic tribes parade in 

their tribal costumes and jewelry. The 

tribes also showcase their musical 

abilities through purely indigenous 

musical performances to emphasise 

the need to preserve Mindanao’s 

cultural wealth 

The Kadayawan is a celebration of 

harvest. According to myth, ethnic 

tribes assembled around Mount Apo 

at harvest time to give thanks to their 

gods especially to Bathala for the 

bountiful harvest. 

Kadayawan came from the word 

madayaw, which stands for anything 

that is “valuable, good or profitable”. 

In the ethnic tribe of Mandaya, 

this means “a celebration of life, a 

thanksgiving for the gifts of nature, 

the wealth of culture, the bounties of 

harvest and the serenity of living”. 

In 1986, this thanksgiving 

celebration was established to unite 

the Davaoeños. It was formerly 

called Apo Duwaling from the three 

famous icons of Davao – Mount. 

Apo, the highest peak in the country; 

durian, an exotic fruit and walingwaling, 

a rare specie of orchids. 

It was renamed “Kadayawan sa 

Dabaw” in 1988 by mayor Rodrigo 

Duterte to commemorate the unique 

wealth of the City of Flowers, fruits 

and ethnic culture. 

This has evolved into a festival that 

honors Davao’s heritage, its past, 

present and the future. 

Coinciding with the festival is 

the harvest time of Davao’s exotic 

fruits and the blooming of one of 

the rarest species of orchids – the 

waling-waling or vanda sanderana. 

Called the “City of Bloom”, Davao 

has vast plantations of exotic orchids 

and ornamentals including, walingwaling. 

Davao is also known as the “fruit 

basket of the Philippines” and a 

large producer of the exotic fruit 

durian (aka fruit of the gods). Davao 

likewise produces different exotic 

fruits like the hairy red rambutan, 

mangosteen, green mandarin, 

sweet pomelo, lanzones, pineapple, 

avocado, jack fruit, young coconut 

and banana. 

Davao is also home to the 

Philippine Eagle, one of the largest 

eagles in the world. This majestic 

creature, at times called the monkeyeating 

eagle, is being bred in the 

Philippine Eagle Research and 

Nature Center in Calinan to prevent 

its extinction. 

For the past 10 years, Davao has 

achieved many international citations 

and awards. 

The city was among the world’s 

largest in land area, occupying 

more than 2,444 square kilometers. 

Just recently, the Asian Institute of 

Management and the Department 

of Trade and Industry cited Davao 

City as the “Most Competitive Metro 

Davao turns out in its festive best for Kadayawan, held during August. Below, the majestic Philippine Eagle. 

“ 

It is highlighted by a 

fresh flower and fruit 

float parade. The 

streets are decked 

with native fruits and 

vegetables as the 

people hold street 

dances for four days 

City”, the highest ranking in terms 

of indicators like cost of living, 

quality of life, infrastructure, quality 

of human resources, linkages and 

accessibility, dynamism of local 

economy, and responsiveness of the 

local government units. 

Davao, the country’s cultural 

melting pot, offers a number of urban 

amenities, such as shopping malls 

and an active nightlife that readily 

complements its accessible beaches 

and abundant supply of fresh seafood 

and fruits. 

Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak, takes tourism in Davao to new heights, as it has for many years. At right, the Pearl Farm has become one of Davao’s biggest attractions.

34 filipino globe money matters 

July 2007 

filipino globe money matters 

July 2007 35 

Take note: marketing lies at the 

heart of every business venture 

For the longest time that I have 

been a business coach for small 

and medium-sized companies, 

I have seen failures that were caused 

by a poor, if not non-existent, 

marketing program. 

Many entrepreneurs believe that 

they have a good product or service, 

and a shop sign will mostly do the 

trick in generating customers. Others 

believe that by just putting them on 

the shelf in a leading supermarket 

chain, the business will thus be 

successful over time. What they 

do not realise is that their target 

customer is a very complex sort of 

person with a lot of choices on what 

to buy in the marketplace. 

A good entrepreneur should first 

identify who is the customer and 

their needs where your product 

will be important to them. A simple 

backyard survey will provide the 

information that will be crucial in 

planning the business strategy. 

There is a need to find out how 

much the target customer is willing 

to pay and where they usually shop 

for goods like yours and how often 

they purchase such goods. 

You also need to know who 

your competitors are and how you 

compare against them. Learning that, 

Herbie 

Sancianco 

OFWWISE 

be your own boss 

you then prepare the advertising 

materials that will generate 

awareness for your product. 

The advertisements need not 

immediately use the mainstream 

media of television, print or radio 

to communicate to your target 

customer. You can start with 

brochures and leaflets that you can 

freely give away in many public 

forums. 

Given the advances in information 

technology and through the 

worldwide web, you can create your 

own website that will broadcast what 

you are selling. Many entrepreneurs 

make millions just by selling through 

the internet. If you are not that 

computer-literate, it is time that 

you took some lessons, or asked a 

conversant friend or relative for help. 

I know of many young people who 

use the internet to maintain a second 

source of income. They operate from 

their homes after they leave their 

regular day jobs. 

The right marketing moves include 

making sure that the product is 

highly visible where the target 

customer is shopping. 

You must have a good display 

that will attract the shopper. If it 

is a food product, a free sampling 

program should be implemented for 

a good period of time. Hire a product 

demonstrator or promo girl for this 

purpose. If you have the time to 

spare, then why not be that product 

promoter instead so that you can also 

talk to your customers. 

Recently, I read that the world 

famous fashion designer Liz 

Claiborne who just passed away 

attributed her multimillion-dollar 

business success by just listening to 

the customers who came to her first 

shop. Their feedback enabled her to 

design the right products and stamp 

her mark on them. 

Herbie Sancianco is a professor in 

the graduate school for continuing 

education, De La Salle College of 

St Benilde, Manila 

Customers should demand pawn receipt that shows the interest rate and its duration. Pawnshops have been warned that auctions without the proper notices are no joke. 

BSP warns on erring pawnshops 

Central bank issues guidelines and advisory amid rising complaints from the public 

New Zealand food group eyes RP exports 

The government is linking 

Filipino suppliers to a health food 

company in New Zealand. 

Agriculture Secretary Arthur 

Yap said the New Zealand Health 

Association Ltd has expressed 

interest in importing food products 

from the Philippines. 

Yap said New Zealand 

businessmen want to import 

fresh mangoes, banana chips 

and dessicated coconut from the 

Philippines. 

Also drawing their interest are 

sardines, dried anchovies, squid, 

ready-to-mix sauces, pili nuts and 

coco and fruit juices. 

“We will link [them] with 

Filipino suppliers who can meet 

the market and production 

requirements of the health food 

company,” he said. 

The company employs 1,700 

workers, including those in the 

production of cereals, bread 

spreads, soy milk products, and 

a variety of chilled and canned 

vegetable products. 

It also operates health food 

shops and vegetarian cafes. 

The company has a global 

reputation as a maker of quality 

health and plant-based foods and 

is the leading provider of health 

and nutrition information in the 

food industry. 

Among its most popular food 

brands is Weet-Bix, the topselling 

breakfast cereal in New 

Zealand for almost 40 years. 

The company is a not-forprofit 

organization and uses 

its earnings to support the 

community and its products for 

humanitarian aid. 

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t h e O F W n e w s p a p e r 

“ It’s best to know if 

the interest rate is 

yearly, monthly or 

daily. Pawnshops 

may also collect a 

service charge 

NESTOR ESPENILLA 

BSP deputy governor 

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has 

warned the public about erring pawnshops 

after receiving numerous complaints. 

BSP deputy governor Nestor Espenilla 

said the warning did not necessarily 

mean a rise in complaints 

against all pawnshops. 

“We are in receipt of complaints 

about the sad experiences of people in 

some pawnshops, he said. 

“As a result of that, we thought it 

best to issue a warning to the public 

to be more vigilant because the public 

also has a responsibility to take care 

of its own interest,” he said. 

Among the complaints that the central 

bank received concern interest 

rates and auction of pawned items. 

Espenilla said the central bank 

does not regulate the interest rate for 

pawned items, but it should be indicated 

in the pawn receipt. 

On the auction of pawned articles, 

the BSP official said such auctions 

should only be done 90 days after the 

maturity of the loan. 

Registration papers of pawnshops 

found to have violated rules will be 

cancelled, he said. 

The central bank advised the public 

to deal only with pawnshops that 

have current business/mayor’s permits 

issued by the city or municipality 

where it is located and are registered 

with the BSP. 

“A pawnshop that has no business/ 

mayor’s permit and that is not registered 

with the BSP is operating illegally,” 

he said. 

He added that clients should transact 

business only inside the premises 

of the pawnshop and that they should 

be aware of the interest rate and other 

charges, if any. 

“It’s best to know if the interest rate 

is yearly, monthly or daily. In addition 

to the interest, pawnshops may collect 

a service charge equivalent to 1 percent 

of the principal but should not 

exceed P5,” he said 

“However, other charges such as 

insurance and storage fees in the safekeeping 

of pawned items should not 

be collected from the pawners,” Espenilla 

said. 

He also advised the public to do the 

following: 

• Demand a pawn ticket which contains 

the terms and conditions of the 

loan. 

• Bear in mind the date of maturity 

of the obligation. A pawner has 90 

days from the maturity of the loan to 

redeem the pawned item. The pawner 

should be notified before a pawned 

item will be sold in a public auction 

within the 90-day period, after which 

the public auction of the pawned item 

can take place. 

• If the pawnshop fails to return 

the pawned item when redeemed for 

certain reasons, e.g., it was lost due 

to robbery or hold-up, the pawnshop 

should have a police report on the incident 

that includes an inventory of 

all lost pawned items. 

• If the pawn is lost, destroyed or 

becomes defective due to a fortuitous 

event and through no fault of 

the pawnshop, the pawnshop may 

not be held accountable for the loss. 

However, if the loss, destruction or 

damage to the pawn was through the 

negligence or fault of the pawnshop, 

the pawner can file a claim against the 

pawnshop or file a case in court if he/ 

she so desires. 

Inquiries may be made to the BSP supervision 

and examination department 

on (632) 523 1706, 524 6929, 523-2582, 

and 524-7011.


36 filipino globe celebrity 

July 2007 

celebrity 


27 

Ricky Davao, dinibdib ang pagkakaaresto ng kapatid sa shabu 

Danny Vibas in Manila 

Mukhang apektado si Ricky 

Davao (kanan) sa napabalitang 

pagkakaaresto ng nakatatandang. 

kapatid niyang character actor na si 

Bing Davao sa umano’y isang shabu 

session sa isang apartment sa Taguig, 

Sina Ricky at Bing ay parehong 

anak.ng beteranong aktor na si 

Charlie Davao. 

Parang umiiwas si Ricky na 

humarap sa showbiz press nitong 

mga nagdaang araw. Kamakailan, 

dapat ay nasa isang intimate press 

conference si Ricky para sa tatlong 

directors ng trilogy film na Paraiso 

na may kinalaman sa organisasyong 

Gawad Kalinga. 

Hindi nakapunta si Ricky. 

Nagpasabi na lang siya sa publicist 

ng pelikula na masama ang 

pakiramdam niya at hindi siya 

makakapag-drive. Wala namang 

reputasyon si Ricky na sakitin. 

Pero totoo namang sa ngayon, 

tuwing maririnig ng tao ang 

pangalang Ricky Davao, agad 

ding pumapasok sa isipan nila ang 

pagkaaresto ng kapatid niya. 

Mukhang mas nakakaapekto kay 

Ricky ang balita tungkol kay Bing 

kesa sa mas matagal nang bulungbulungang 

hiwalay na sila nang 

tuluyan ng misis niyang si Jackie 

Lou Blanco bagama’t nagsasama pa 

rin sila sa ilalim ng isang bubong 

para sa kapakanan ng mga anak nila. 

Si Ricky ang direktor ng 

pangatlong episode ng Paraiso na 

nagtatampok kay Cesar Montano. 

Ang episode ay kuwento ng isang 

Pinoy na New Yorker na ang misis 

na Amerikana ay kabilang sa mga 

nasawi sa pagbomba sa World Trade 

Center na binansagan ng mga Kano 

na 9/11 tragedy. Ilang buwan bago 

naganap ang trahedyang yon ay 

nakarating pa sa Pilipinas ang magasawa. 

Sa pagbisita nilang ‘yun ay 

naantig ang damdamin ng misis na 

Kana sa nasaksihan niyang kahirapan 

sa bansa, lalo na sa mga batang 

namamalimos. 

Ipinangako niya sa mister niya 

na isang araw ay babalik siya sa 

Pilipinas at makikisangkot sa buhay 

ng mga naghihikahos. 

Hindi na siya nakabalik. Ang 

mister niyang Pinoy ang tumupad sa 

pangarap niya sa pamamagitan ng 

pakikisangkot sa Gawad Kalinga. 

‘Yun nga palang Amerikanang 

misis ni Cesar ay ginampanan ni 

Lexie Schultze na pinsang buo nina 

Bernard at Mico Palanca. Anak 

siya ng isa sa mga naggagandahang 

Revilla sisters, tulad din ng ina nina 

Bernard at Mico na as of now ay siya 

pa ring boyfriend ni Bea Alonzo. 

First movie directorial job ni Ricky 

ang episode na yon ng Paraiso. 

Dahil sa maraming beses na rin 

siyang nakapagdirek sa TV, matagal 

na niyang pangarap na magawa rin 

‘yun sa pelikula. 

Maayos naman ang pagkakadirek 

niya sa episode na ‘yun at wala 

naman siyang dapat ikahiya, 

kaya’t nakakapagtakang hindi siya 

dumalo sa napaka-special na press 

conference na ‘yun kung saan limang 

reporters lang naman ang kinumbida. 

Samantala nung Hulyo 4 

nagsimulang ipalabas sa Pilipinas 

ang Paraiso na naipalabas na sa 

Estados Unidos at sa iba pang 

bansa bilang fundraising project ng 

volunteer organization na Gawad 

Kalinga. 

Tampok si Maricel Soriano sa 

unang episode at sina Carmi Martin 

at Michael V naman sa pangalawa. 

Sina Jun Lana at Joel Ruiz, 

respectively, ang nagdirek ng una at 

pangalawang episodes. 

Aguilera’s Manila gig the best attended worldwide 

Make no mistake about it. US 

pop superstar Christina Aguilera 

(right) may have the most number 

of fans in the Philippines. 

Christina’s concert at the Fort 

Bonifacio Global City in Taguig 

last week was cited in an Internet 

report as having the biggest 

number of concert attendees in 

the artist’s worldwide “Back to 

Basics” tour, which kicked off 

in Sheffield, United Kingdom in 

November last year. 

An article posted in Wikipedia. 

said that over 30,000 attended 

the Taguig 

concert, her 

eighth Asia- 

Pacific stop 

since her first 

concert in the 

region in Osaka, 

Japan on June 

18. The crowd at The Palace in 

Auburn Hills, Michigan, on April 9 

was at second place, with 24,500 

concert-goers. 

In third place was Christina’s 

audience at the St Pete Times 

Forum in Tampa, Florida, on 

May 4, which registered 21,500 

attendees. 

Coming in fourth place was 

the Grammy Award winner’s 

performance at the Bell Centre in 

Montreal, Canada on March 28 

which drew 21,273 attendees. 

Rounding out the top five was 

the concert at the RBC Center 

in Raleigh, North Carolina, with 

20,522 attendees. 

The international pop sensation 

waxed hot with her electrifying 

dance moves and powerful 

renditions of her hit songs. 

Kris soars as 

network’s 

biggest star 

– here’s why 

While some ABS-CBN talents don’t 

have regular shows, she has three 


Kris Aquino is back and practically 

lording it over all the stars and talents 

of the media and entertainment 

empire of the Lopez family simply 

known as ABS-CBN. 

Kris has two daily shows as of 

press time. She has gone back to the 

Monday-to-Friday night gameshow 

Kapamilya: Deal or No Deal? whose 

first season ended shortly before she 

went on a maternity leave to give 

birth to her son by Purefood star 

cager James Yap. The show is now 

on its second season. 

Boy Abunda’s morning show, 

Homeboy, has gone into reformat 

and it is now known as Kris and 

Boy. Yes, as in Kris Aquino and Boy 

Abunda. 

It’s reminiscent of Kris’ former 

morning show with Korina Sanchez 

then known as Today With Kris 

and Korina, which was eventualy 

replaced with Homeboy. (When the 

Kris and Korina show was cancelled, 

Kris got Game KNB and Korina 

was given the weekly Sunday night 

magazine show Rated K.) 

Kris has practically bragged that 

she would have a third show yet. No, 

it is neither Pilipinas: Game KNB 

nor The Buzz. The former, she has 

actually given up to Edu Manzano 

who pinch-hit for her while she was 

on a leave. 

The latter, she gave up in favor of 

Ruffa Gutierrez who began to proxy 

for her shortly before the actressbeauty 

queen announced to the world 

that she was separating from her 

husband of four years, the wealthy 

Turkish Muslim businessman Yilmas 

Bektas. 

Kris’ forthcoming show is of the 

lifestyle genre which will be aired on 

Saturdays startìng next month. 

Why does she have to have three 

shows when many other stars and 

talents managed by the network 

through its Star Magic talent center 

hardly have regular shows? 

Well, a Kapamilya Network insider 

says Kris’ contract stipulates three 

shows for her. And the contract also 

seems to stipulate that whether she 

does one or two shows, she will have 

to be paid a total talent fee equivalent 

to three shows. 

But didn’t she once say that she 

did not want to work on weekends, 

which is why she did not want to go 

back to The Buzz which airs live on 

Sundays? 

Well, the smart Kris has also seen 

to it that she works only on weekdays 

and only up to 8 pm. That means her 

forthcoming Saturday lifestyle show 

will be taped on a weekday. 

She recently confided to the press 

that she has learned to go to bed 

early and rise early the next day. 

Kris may not say it but she mìght 

be earning several hundred thousand 

a month, maybe so much more than 

any executive of the network. Maybe 

more than what Charo Santos-Concio 

earns as channel head. 

On top of her regular income as 

ABS-CBN talent, she earns a lot, 

too, from her endorsements, which 

Kris Aquino gave up a couple of hit shows, including Pilipinas Game KNB?, when she gave birth. But now, she has 

more than enough on her plate and she cuts deals on her own terms. Her weekends, for instance, are sacred. 

seem to have outnumbered those of 

megastar Sharon Cuneta and ever 

youthful actor Aga Muhlach. 

The daughter of former President 

Cory Aquino and youngest sister of 

newly elected opposition Senator 

Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has 

also announced that she has already 

received three movie offers – none 

of which she can accept until her 

Baby James is one year old. And, oh, 

yes, even her baby, she says, already 

has offers to appear in commercials 

– “for a fee of one million pesos”. 

When a showbiz scribe arched 

a brow at her revelation of onemillion-peso 

talent fee for Baby 

James, Kris sweetly snapped: “O, 

bakit? He’s even worth more than 

that.” 

Kris herself once announced that 

her hospital bill when she gave birth 

to Baby James totalled close to a 

million – “most of which was paid 

by James, in fairness to him”. 

But the bill included not only 

her giving birth to the baby boy by 

caesarian section but also two other 

operations for Kris herself, including 

one to remove embolisms in her 

lungs. 

It’s Kris’ willingness to open much 

of her life to the public that prompts 

ABS-CBN executives to make her 

“ She snarls, 

she cries, she 

denounces and 

washes dirty linen 

in public when 

she has to 

practically the network’s flag-carrier 

and biggest star. And it is a life that 

is easily susceptible to controversies, 

which, with her seemingly inborn 

spunk, she is able to overcome 

sooner or later. 

She snarls, she cries, she 

denounces and washes dirty linen 

in public when she has to. Her 

Colegio de San Agustin and Ateneo 

de Manila University education has 

made her very articulate. 

Her being the youngest daughter 

of the martyred Ninoy Aquino and 

housewife-turned-Phlippine president 

has endowed her with more than 

enough self-confidence to face the 

camera anytime of the day and come 

hell or high water. 

Pops Fernandez and Martin Nievera have moved on but remain the best of friends. 

Guess who’s 

on Pops’ cell 

phone? It’s not 

Martin for sure 

Estranged couple looking forward to 

reunion after missing each other in US 


Pops Fernandez keeps a picture of 

Santino, the infant son of her exhusband 

Martin Nievera by his livein 

girlfriend Katrina Ojeda, in her 

mobile phone. 

The photo was sent to her by 

Martin himself. “Many people may 

not believe that I actually keep 

Santino’s photo in my cell phone,” 

said Pops a few days after she came 

back from Las Vegas, where she had 

several concerts with Kuh Ledesma. 

Pops never had the chance though 

to meet Martin and Santino, with 

partner Katrina Ojeda. 

“Kuh and I had a hectic schedule 

and during our free time, all we did 

was sleep and sleep,” Pops said. 

However, their teenage son Ram 

found time to visit his father in Las 

Vegas for a short vacation, and to 

have bonding time with his baby 

stepbrother. 

Despite his personal and business 

problems, Martin made sure to 

fulfill his fatherly duties by spending 

quality time with his kids. 

Martin came to the Philippines 

all by himself about third week of 

last month and told the press: “Ram 

was so happy to have finally met his 

baby brother. Ram enjoyed his new 

role as a kuya. I took them both to 

Disneyland. It was beyond magical. 

“Santino loved Mickey Mouse but 

only second to his kuya Ram.” 

Meanwhile, Pops hopes to meet 

Santino soon after Martin announced 

that he will come home again this 

August to attend to some personal 

matters, which he refused say. 

“It’s all up to Martin. If ever, it 

will be the first time I and Robin will 

see Santino,” said Pops about the 

possibility of spending some time 

with Martin and his new family. 

Martin has had some financial 

setbacks in Las Vegas when the 

Filipino producer of a series of 

solo concerts he was scheduled 

to do mysteriously disappeared, 

thus forcing Martin to shoulder the 

concerts’ financial obligations. 

Thankfully, other people turned up 

later to invest in the shows. 

Meanwhile, Pops is still very much 

an item with Jomari Yllana who is 

busier now as a businessman than 

as an actor. He is younger than her 

by at least five years. Jomari is the 

ex-husband of actress-turned-Quezon 

City councilor Aiko Melendez and 

also ex-boyfriend of sexy actress Ara 

Mina.


July 2007 

filipino globe celebrity 

July 2007 39 

Cheating allegations 

hound Big Brother 


The recently concluded Pinoy Big 

Brother, Season 2 has to be the 

most controversial edition in the 

history of ABS-CBN’s hit reality 

show so far. 

Aside from catching the 

attention of the Movie and 

Television Review and 

Classification Board, it was only 

in Season 2 that the management 

was forced to issue a statement 

disproving allegations that the 

text votes were rigged in order to 

favor one contestant. 

E-mails and text messages 

swamped ABS-CBN when 

housemates Wendy Valdez, Maria 

Beatriz “Bea” Saw (below) 

and Gianina Maria “Gee-Ann” 

Abrahan were caught bickering 

after a face-to-face nomination 

before the contest’s finale, 

dubbed the Big Night. 

Will all the hoopla yield a big 

star for the network and its sister 

movie company Star 

Cinema? Can Wendy, 24, 

turn out the bigger and 

more interesting star than 

Bea even if the latter is 

the reality show’s Big 

Winner and Wendy a 

mere second runner-up? 

If being easily 

controversial also means 

having a greater potential 

for stardom, then Wendy may 

be said to be a better bet for 

stardom than Bea. At the Araneta 

Coliseum where the ABS-CBN 

2 reality show had its grand 

finale, Wendy was booed by the 

audience about 10 times. A spoof 

of her character in a skit that 

night was also booed. 

Worse, even her poor mother 

was similarly hooted at when she 

went on stage to meet Wendy 

after she was called out as the 

“Big Placer”. 

Moreover, there were also 

people in the audience who 

carried fan-size pictures of 

Wendy – but had at its back in 

bold letters “LAYAS!” 

When Wendy and boyfriend 

Bruce Quebral – they became 

sweethearts while still inside Big 

Brother’s house in front of ABS- 

CBN studios in South Triangle, 

QC – sang on the ABS-CBN 2 

Sunday noontime show ASAP, 

both were jeered by the studio 

audience. 

Wendy began to become 

controversial even while she 

was still inside Big Brother’s 

house. Viewers began to dislike 

her as soon as she castigated 

housemates Bea and Gee-Anne 

because both of them openly 

voted her for eviction. 

Later, while doing household 

chores, she behaved very rudely 

towards both girls and practically 

provoked them into a fight. 

Happily, the two girls showed 

their fine breeding by ignoring 

Wendy’s rudeness. 

Viewers also reacted negatively 

to her uncontrolled show 

of affection (flirtation?) for 

housemate Bruce. 

As far as we can remember, she 

was the first ever housemate to 

be treated rudely by the audience. 

(And a lot of people insist to this 

day that she deserved it.) 

“Wendy, labas. Wendy, layas,” 

the crowd chanted as soon 

as she was flashed on 

screen while still inside 

Big Brother’s house. 

When she wasn’t evicted 

during the first of the last 

three evictions (it was 

Nel Rapiz of Iloilo who 

was booted out instead), 

word went around that the 

voting was rigged and that Big 

Brother himself favored her. 

Someone who claims to be a 

former PBB staffer even sent out 

an e-mail to some press people 

and tattled that the voting was 

rigged in favor of Wendy. 

PBB director Laurenti Dyogi, 

who has long been suspected to 

be Big Brother himself, had to 

call a press conference to deny 

that the voting can be rigged. 

He was joined by Paolo Pineda, 

director of ABS-CBN Interactive 

which is in charge of receiving 

and tabulating the text votes. 

Wendy was among the four 

housemates who were earlier 

evicted but mysteriously asked 

by Big Brother to smuggle 

themselves into his house. The 

others were Jasmine, Kian, 

and Zeke who were eventually 

evicted one at a time due to the 

low votes they received after they 

were re-nominated for eviction 

by their housemates. 

The house that Big Brother built has seen its share of scandals, 

including allegations of vote rigging in the last episode. 

Annabelle, balik-pelikula 

sa Regal kasama ni Ruffa 

Pampa-renovate daw ng bahay ang two-picture contract 


Hindi lang si Ruffa Gutierrez ang 

pinapirma ni Mother Lily ng kontrata 

para gumawa ng pelikula sa Regal 

Entertainment kundi pati na ang 

binansagang gererang ina nito na si 

Annabelle Rama. 

Isang sexy starlet si Annabelle 

bago siya napangasawa ng matinee 

idol na si Eddie Gutierrez halos 35 

taon na ang nakararaan. (Nag-33 na 

ang panganay nilang si Ruffa noong 

June 24.) 

“Noong una talaga, ayoko 

ng movie,” sabi ni Annabelle. 

“Hanggang commercial lang ako, 

kasama ng kambal [Richard and 

Raymond Gutierrez, na nakasama ng 

kanilang ina sa Advil commercial]. 

“Actually, ayaw nina Richard 

and Raymond na mag-movie ako,” 

pagtatapat pa ng pamosang ina. 

Pumirma raw siya para makaipon 

ng pampa-renovate ng eight-bedroom 

house sa sosyal na Dasmariñas 

Village sa Makati na binili ni Richard 

kamakailan para sa pamilya. 

Two-picture deal ang pinirmahan 

ni Annabelle, tatlo naman kay Ruffa. 

Magkasama sila sa unang pelikula, 

na ang titulo ay My Monster Mom na 

isang comedy sa panulat at direksyon 

ni Joey Reyes. 

“Isa lang actually ang pinirmahan 

ko, kasi sa isa, extra lang ako,” sabi 

ni Annabelle. 

Sa Desperadas voice-over lang 

daw kasi si Annabelle. Ito ang 

matagal nang naantalang comeback 

movie sanang lahat nina Ruffa, 

Gretchen Barretto, Dawn Zulueta, at 

Pops Fernandez. Ang paggawa nila 

ng Desperadas ay mauuna pa sana 

sa paggawa ni Gretchen last year ng 

Matakot Ka Sa Karma at ni Pops ng 

Zsazsa Zaturnnah Ze Moveeh last 

year din. 

May nagtanong kay Ruffa na with 

the controversy sa kanila, hindi ba 

dapat drama muna ang ginawa nilang 

Nagpaunlak sa isang fan si Ruffa Gutierrez kasama ang anak sa 

eroplano. Naging sanhi ng kontrobersyal na banggaan nina Ruffa at 

ang inang si Annabelle Rama ang paghiwalay ni Ruffa kay Yilmaz 

Bektas. Kinasal sila (ibaba) may apat na taon na ang nakararaan. 

“ Hindi na 

matandaan ni 

Annabelle kung 

ano at kailan ang 

huling pelikula 

niyang ginawa 

mag-ina. Okay lang ito kay Ruffa, 

pero hindi kay Annabelle. 

“Ruffa, comedy lang ako,” paalala 

niya sa anak niya in her stern 

motherly voice. 

Hindi rin daw siguro kailangang 

ikabit ang kontrobersiyang 

kinasangkutan ng mag-ina para 

kumita ang pelikula. At ang 

kontrobersyang yon ay ang 

pakikipaghiwalay ni Ruffa sa mister 

niyang milyonaryong Turkong 

Muslim na si Yilmaz Bektas. 

“Ang pelikula kikita kung maganda 

ang kuwento at bida,” giit ni 

Annabelle. 

Hindi na matandaan ni Annabelle 

kung ano at kailan ang huling 

pelikula niyang ginawa. 

“Matagal na ‘yun, wala akong 

boses doon, pipi ang papel ko,” sagot 

ni Annabelle na nakatawa kaya’t 

walang nakakaalam kung totoo ba ito 

o nagpapatawa lang. 

“Basta mula ngayon hanggang 

ipalabas ang pelikula, araw-araw 

akong magsisimba para kumita ito,” 

pangako niya. 

Adam and Eve ang titulo ng 

film debut ni Annabelle kung saan 

katambal niya raw ang dating aktor 

na si Roldan Rodrigo. Kagagaling 

niya lang daw sa Cebu nung 

panahong yon at Bisaya lang ang 

alam niya kaya hindi siya binigyan 

ng dayalog sa pelikula. 

Dahil role ni Eba ang ginampanan 

niya, natural na wala siyang saplot. 

Ang mahabang buhok niya lang daw 

ang tumatakip sa kanyang boobs 

at mga dahon-dahon lang ang suot 

niyang pang-ibaba. 

Sarah transformation peaks at concert 

Sarah Geronimo (right) continues to 

reinvent herself. Her recent television 

appearances are evidence of this 

transformation. 

The giggly girl is now a charming 

young lady who keeps her legs 

together in a mannequin-like walk, 

and crashes the stage in quick 

footwork, body jiggles, shoulder 

pops like a pro street dancer. 

But most of all, she has become the 

young woman many other Filipinas 

her age want to be like. No wonder 

Film industry 

seeks cut in 

cinema tax to 

10 per cent 

Raul Acedre in Manila 

The film industry has asked the 

government for help in reviving 

public interest in local movies. 

Representatives to a recent industry 

meeting proposed a cut in cinema 

taxes from 30 per cent to 10 per 

cent nationwide to boost theater 

attendance. 

They also asked for wider 

government initiatives to protect 

intellectual property rights, 

particularly those of artists in the film 

industry. 

At the same time, they proposed 

more sweeping powers for the 

Optical Media Board to make it 

more responsive to the needs of its 

constituents. 

The movie summit was called by 

Secretary Cerge M Remonde of 

the Presidential 

Management Staff. 

It was attended 

by Presidential 

Consultant on 

Entertainment 

Vicente del Rosario, 

Film Development 

Council of the Philippines chairman 

Rolando Atienza, and National 

Commission for Culture and the Arts 

executive director and Presidential 

Assistant on Culture Cecille Guidote- 

Alvarez. 

Remonde asked the film 

stakeholders to formalise their 

request with a resolution to be 

presented to President Arroyo 

(above). 

He assured OMB chairman Edu 

Manzano, who reported a shortage of 

funds and logistics in carrying out its 

mandate, that the Philippine National 

Police and the DOJ will give full 

support to OMB to help curb film 

piracy in the country. 

He also directed the PMS to help, 

through the budget process, secure 

more funds for OMB. 

The committee thanked President 

Arroyo for her commitment to the 

film industry. 

Meanwhile, Mowelfund executive 

director Boots Anson Roa thanked 

the PMS for supporting the 

foundation. 

“We have been able to rise above 

the many challenges to deliver the 

benefits to our members and we 

hope that whatever gains may come 

the way of the producers, leaders 

and stalwarts of the industry would 

trickle down to the members,” Roa 

said. 

bloggers on the Web have voted her 

the “third most beautiful Filipina” 

last year. 

“She’s also a role model for our 

youth,” a blogger posted. “She has 

the traits that must make her parents 

proud.” 

Sarah will be in full flight on July 

14, when she rocks the Araneta 

Coliseum in the concert, Sarah 

Geronimo in Motion. 

“My fans will be seeing a different 

me. I’ll be dancing. And my 

costumes will 

be—how would I 

describe it—daring 

and sexy?” Sarah 

says. 

Sarah has proven 

herself to be the 

total performer 

many times over. 

Aside from her TV shows, she’s a 

successful commercial endorser. 

Last December she was voted the 

Most Popular Household Favorite 

on Philippine Television by the Anak 

TV Seal. Singing engagements not 

only here but also abroad have made 

her an international celebrity. 

And here’s a special treat to fans 

of Sarah who will be trooping to the 

Big Dome: they get a chance to win a 

Magic Sing videoke kit. Three Magic 

Sing kits will be raffled off during 

the concert. 

There’s also that golden 

opportunity to be a part of Sarah’s 

next music video. Join the In Motion 

TV online dance zone. Dance to the 

groove and upload your video or 

visit sarahgeronimoinmotion.com for 

more details. 

Special friends of Sarah’s will be 

joining her in the concert. Among 

them are Gary Valenciano, Jericho 

Rosales, Sam Milby, Mark Bautista, 

John Prats, Louie Ocampo and Ai-Ai 

delas Alas. 

Sarah follows up her Big Dome gig 

with a birthday concert at the Clark 

Expo in Pampanga on July 21.


July 2007 

filipino globe balik-tanaw 

July 2007 41 

Ano nga ba 

ang score 

kina Dennis 

at Carlene? 

Inamin ng dalaga na buntis siya pero ayaw 

nilang aminin na ang aktor ang ama 


Alam n’yo bang Filipino-Chinese 

ang napakaguwapo at mahusay na 

aktor na si Dennis Trillo? 

Ho ang tunay na apelyido ng actor. 

At di ba sabi ng beauty queen na si 

Carlene Aguilar, na itinatago ang 

pagbubuntis niya sa US, hindi raw si 

Dennis ang ama ng nasa sinapupunan 

niya kundi isang Chinese-Filipino 

businessman? 

Sa Pilipinas ay napabalita nang 

buntis si Carlene, dahil isang araw 

ay may nakakita sa kanya sa isang 

mall na nagsusukat ng maternity 

dresses sa isa sa mga shop doon. 

Pero itinanggi niyang nagdadalantao 

siya. Aniya ay nakatuwaan lang 

niya na magsukat ng mga kasuotang 

pambuntis. Ilang linggo pagkatapos 

ng insidenteng yon ay naiulat nang 

nasa US si Carlene at buntis na nga. 

Natulikap siya roon ng GMA 7 

news reporter na si Lhar Santiago 

na sinundan doon and noon ay 

nagbabakasyon na si Ruffa Gutierrez. 

Inamin ni Carlene kay Lhar offcamera 

na buntis nga siya. Pero 

ayaw naman niyang banggitin nang 

tahasan ang pangalan ng nakabuntis 

sa kanya, kaya marami pa rin 

ang nagsususpetsang si Dennis 

nga ang ama ng isisìlang niya at 

pandidisimula lang ang pagsasabi 

niyang isang Chinese businessman 

ang may kagagawan noon. 

Itinanggi na ni Dennis na siya 

ang nakabuntis kay Carlene na dati 

niyang girlfriend. 

Sa US nakatira ngayon si Carlene kaya noong nagpunta roon si Dennis, 

kamakailan, lalong lumakas ang ugong tungkol sa kanyang pagbubuntis. 

May mga nagsasabing never 

namang nag-break sina Carlene at 

Dennis, pero nakaugalian na lang 

ni Dennis na ilihim ang lovelife 

niya kaya ayaw niyang aminin ang 

relasyon niya kay Carlene. 

Sa kalaunan, walang ipinakilala si 

Dennis sa madla na girlfriend niya. 

Pero minsan nga ay may tsumika 

sa press people na may relasyon ang 

aktor sa dating Binibining Pilipinas 

kaya parang napilitan siyang aminin 

na nagkaroon siya ng relasyon kay 

Carlene. Pero noon pa raw ‘yon, 

noong pareho pa silang unknown. 

Sa ngayon, may press people nga 

palang nagsasabing isusumpa nila si 

Dennìs kung bigla niyang aminin na 

siya talaga ang ama ng isisilang ni 

Carlene. Ituturing daw nila si Dennis 

na kasing bading ng manager niyang 

si Popoy Caratativo sa sandaling 

aminin ng aktor na siya nga ang 

nakabuntìs sa beauty queen. 

Kamakailan, pumunta si Dennis 

sa US para mag-perform sa ilang 

syudad doon. 

Sa Los Angeles, California 

naka-base si Carlene, at may mga 

nagsususpetsang posibleng nagkita 

sila nang lihim ni Dennis. 

Pero pagbalik ni Dennis sa 

Pilipinas, ang ikinuwento lang 

niya ay ang panonood niya ng play 

na Les Miserables sa Broadway, 

New York at pagkamangha niya 

kay Lea Salonga bilang isa sa 

mga pangunahing gumaganap sa 

produksyon. 

Touched na touched din umano 

siya na noong pumila siya backstage 

para magpa-autograph kay Lea, 

nakilala siya nito, pati na rin ng 

maraming Pinoy na kasabay niyang 

pumipila. 

Handog ng Filipino Globe 

Sagutin at manalo 

Two round-trip tickets (HKG-MNL-HKG or MNL-HKG-MNL) 

Three iPod Nano 

Five tickets to Hong Kong Disneyland 

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July 2007 

filipino globe palakasan 

July 2007 43 

Hollywood elite raise a toast to enduring film legend 

“He’s probably the perfect example 

of why we should move the senior 

citizen age from 65 to 85,” Dustin 

Hoffman mused as he glanced at 

one of the few people on the planet 

even more famous than he is: Clint 

Eastwood (right). 

Hoffman was one of a group 

of Hollywood A-listers that paid 

tribute to the iconic 

77-year-old actor 

and Academy 

Award-winning 

director at a 

ceremony which 

honored Eastwood 

as both a huge Hollywood star and 

uncompromising artist. 

Singer Tony Bennett, the subject 

of the forthcoming Eastwoodproduced 

documentary Tony 

Bennett: The Music Never 

Ends, said it was more than just 

Eastwood’s magnetic physicality 

that made him a star. 

“Each film that he does is getting 

better and better – he’s amazing,” 

Bennett said of Eastwood, who is 

four years his junior 

Kevin Bacon recalled being a 

degree of separation from Eastwood 

when Eastwood directed him in 

Mystic River. 

“There, he demonstrated that he 

still understood the perspective of 

working class actors,” Bacon said. 

Stars salute People’s Princess 

Diana remembered in jampacked London concert 10 years after her tragic death 

It was the least they could do for 

their mother. 

As rock stars paid tribute to her 

memory at a jampacked Wembley 

Stadium in London, Prince William 

put it all in perspective. “There’s 

been a rumbling of people bringing 

up the bad, and over time people 

seem to forget – or have forgotten 

– all the amazing things she did 

and what an amazing person she 

was,” William said in an interview 

recorded earlier and broadcast during 

the show. 

William and his younger brother 

Harry organised the concert and 

got rock royalty – from Elton John 

to Duran Duran and Andrew Lloyd 

Webber – aboard. 

Diana died in a Paris car crash with 

her Egyptian boyfriend Dodi al- 

Fayed 10 years ago, but the concert 

was a memorial to her life. She 

would have been 46 this year. 

William and Harry greeted singer 

Nelly Furtado and 1980s charttoppers 

Duran Duran, two of the acts 

taking the stage to remember Diana 

almost 10 years after her death in a 

Paris car crash. 

The princess died August 31, 1997, 

along with her boyfriend Dodi Fayed 

and their driver when their Mercedes 

crashed inside the Pont d’Alma 

tunnel, while media photographers 

pursued them. 

The concert featured music from 

some of Diana’s favorite acts, 

including Tom Jones, but also 

showcased younger performers 

including Kanye West, P. Diddy, Joss 

Stone and Lily Allen. 

The two princes addressed the 

65,000-strong crowd from the stage 

during the show. 

Security for the event was 

increased after the discovery of two 

unexploded car bombs in central 

London and an attack on Glasgow 

airport that involved a Jeep Cherokee 

slamming into the main terminal and 

bursting into flames. 

Police said they believed the 

attack was linked to the car bombs, 

and Britain raised its terror alert to 

“critical” – the highest possible level. 

At least 450 officers were on duty 

to secure the concert. 

The star-studded show also 

featured performances by the English 

National Ballet and songs by Andrew 

Lloyd Webber in honor of Diana’s 

love of dance and theater. 

A family of fans from Portsmouth 

in southern England said they had 

come to sample the wide variety of 

acts all playing under the same roof 

— but that the memory of Diana’s 

death was also in their minds. 

“I was devastated,” Karen Moore, 

50, a restaurateur, said of Diana’s 

American rapper Pharrell Willams work up the crowd. Below, Elton John performs one of his hit songs in the 

show’s finale. Ten years ago, at Diana’s funeral, he sang ‘Candle in the Wind’ which promptly became a hit. 

death. Her husband, David, 52, and 

the couples’ daughters, Lucy, 23, and 

Katie, 21, said they were there for 

the music, but also wanted to express 

their sympathy for the princes. 

“William and Harry are the same 

age as us,” Lucy said. 

Diana is remembered for her 

glamour, for her extensive charity 

work – and for her tempestuous 

marriage to Prince Charles, heir to 

the British throne. 

The pair married in 1981 in a 

ceremony watched on televisions 

by millions around the world. They 

divorced as spectacularly in 1996 

after admissions of adultery on both 

sides. 

William said the concert was a 

chance for people to “remember all 

the good things about her because 

she’s not here to defend herself when 

she gets criticised.” 

“After 10 years, there’s been a 

rumbling of people bringing up the 

bad, and over time people seem to 

forget – or have forgotten – all the 

amazing things she did and what an 

“ People seem 

to forget – or 

have forgotten 

– all the amazing 

things she did 

and what an 

amazing person 

she was 

PRINCE WILLIAM 

Paying tribute to his mother 

amazing person she was,” William 

said. 

Tickets for the concert cost US$90 

with proceeds going to causes Diana 

supported, including land mine and 

AIDS charities. 

Harry, 22, said the brothers had 

asked Elton John to play “Candle 

in the Wind,” the song he played 

at Diana’s funeral in Westminster 

Abbey. Originally about Marilyn 

Monroe, its lyrics were reworked 

in tribute to Diana, and it became a 

worldwide No 1 hit in 1997. 

TAKEFIVE 

Irony for O.J. book 

The rights to O.J. Simpson’s 

controversial book If I Did It 

have been snapped up by the 

family of Ron Goldman, whose 

murder the star was infamously 

cleared of. 

The former football star 

was due to release the book 

– in which he hypothetically 

places himself at the scene of 

the murders of his wife Nicole 

Brown and her friend Goldman 

in 1994 – last year, but it was 

withdrawn by its publisher 10 

days before its launch. 

A court-appointed bankruptcy 

trustee sold the media rights, 

movie rights and copyright to 

the family after a settlement was 

reached on last week. 

Paris eyes teen plum 

Newly released former jailbird 

Paris Hilton is celebrating after 

receiving two nominations for 

the 2007 Teen Choice Awards, 

including Best Female Reality/ 

Variety Star for TV show The 

Simple Life. 

The awards ceremony will be 

held next month. 

Among the others are Jessica 

Alba, who is up for awards 

including Best Movie Actress: 

Action Adventure for the role 

in Fantastic Four: Rise of the 

Silver Surfer and Female Hottie, 

and Justin Timberlake, whose 

nominations include Best Male 

Artist. 

Others are Jessica Biel, Shia 

LaBeouf, Katherine Heigl, Steve 

Carell and Orlando Bloom. 

Lindsay turns 21 

It may not have been the bright 

lights of Las Vegas, but Lindsay 

Lohan (below) celebrated her 

21st birthday in Malibu during a 

brief leave from rehab. 

Mom Dina, sister Ali, brother 

Dakota, and on-again, off-again 

beau Calum Best 

joined Lindsay 

and her guests for 

a day of sun and 

fun. While many 

of the partygoers 

soaked up the 

sun, a bikini-clad 

Lindsay stayed 

indoors for most of the day. 

Lindsay checked into a 

treatment facility in Malibu on 

May 28 following an arrest 

on suspicion of drunk driving 

after she drove her Mercedes 

convertible into a tree. 

Aguilera pregnant 

Christina Aguilera’s estranged 

father has confirmed the pop 

star is pregnant with her first 

child. 

The “Fighter” singer has yet 

to talk publicly about reports 

that she’s with child and her 

representatives are refusing 

to deny the news, but proud 

grandfather-to-be Fausto 

Aguilera is all smiles. 

He tells Life & Style magazine, 

“I’m so excited. I want Christina 

to achieve all her goals. I wish 

her all the happiness in the 

world.” 

Insiders say the pregnancy 

is not a big surprise for the 

26-year-old singer and husband 

Jordan Bratman. One source 

says, “She’s thrilled. She’s 

feeling wonderful.” 

Bagong salta 

pero sabak 

na sa laro ng 

Ginera Kings 

Pinatunayan ni Ronald Tubid na kaya 

niyang gampanan ang bagong role 

Celeste Maring in Manila 

Unti-unti, pinatutunayan ni 

Ronald Tubid (kanan) na 

kaya niyang gamayin ang 

kakaibang sistema ng Ginebra Kings 

kahit pa marami na siyang koponang 

pinanggalingan. 

Mahirap turuan ang isang player na 

nanggaling na sa iba’t ibang sistema, 

pero para kay Tubid isa itong hamon 

na unti-unti na niyang nalalagpasan. 

“Mahirap talaga noong una, iba 

kasi ang role ko rito at iba rin ang 

system ng team. Pero unti-unti 

naman natutunan ko na, nagiging 

effective naman ako, nakakatulong,” 

sabi ni Tubid. 

Maging si coach Jong Uichico ay 

humanga rin sa determinasyon ni 

Tubid na matutunan ang sistema ng 

Ginebra Kings. 

“Okey si Ronald. We’ve been 

trying to make him understand 

what his role is in the team and he’s 

slowly but surely getting there,” 

sabi ni Uichico. Ang mga natutunan 

ni Tubid ay sapat na upang maging 

epektibo siya sa Ginebra Kings. 

At bakit hindi, ginagawa ng 6-2 

off guard ang lahat ng iniuutos ni 

coach Uichico – at higit pa. 

“Marami akong natutunan kay 

coach Jong, matiyaga niya akong 

tinuturuan, kaya naman determinado 

akong matuto,” wika ni Tubid na 

tinanghal noon sa PBL na 2002 MVP 

(finals). 

Pero para kay Uichico, ang 

importante ay ang pagpapakita 

ni Tubid ng kaagresibuhan at 

determinasyon sa kanyang depensa. 

“If he has a good offensive night, 

bonus na yon. What we’re really 

trying to do is make him realize 

what his role is first, which is to be a 

defender. Konti-konti, nakukuha na 

niya iyon,” pahayag ni Uichico. 

“Mahusay siyang player, nakita 

naman iyan kahit noon pa man,” 

wika pa nito 

Noong nasa amateur league pa 

lamang si Tubid, ang kanyang laro 

ay maihahalintulad sa pamosong si 

Samboy Lim na bigay-todo kung 

maglaro. Sa paglalaro ni Tubid noon 

sa Philippine Basketball League, 

Kung saan koponan na 

namayagpag si Ronald 

Tubid, at sa Ginebra, dala 

niya ang kanyang 

mala-Samboy Lim 

na kakayahan sa laro. 

walang humpay ang paghanga sa 

kanya ng fans sa kanyang mahuhusay 

na shots at kagila-gilalas na aerial 

stunts tulad ni Lim na tinagurian sa 

PBA na Skywalker. Pero may mga 

bagay pa ring kinakailangang pagaralan 

at ayusin sa kanyang laro si 

Tubid na unang napunta sa Shell at 

Air21 bago naging bahagi ng pre- 

“ 

Marami akong 

natutunan kay 

coach Jong, 

matiyaga niya 

akong tinuturuan 

RONALD TUBID 

On melding with the Kings 

New Year trade na naglagay sa kanya 

sa crowd favorite na Ginebra. 

“Kung minsan kasi, sobrang 

dribble siya. He should realize na 

kapag walang sitwasyon, he must 

give up the ball,” paliwanag ni 

Uichico. 

“Those are the small things we’re 

trying to correct,” dagdag niya. 

“Once he completely understands 

that, he’ll be the perfect fit for us.” 

May magagandang senyales na 

nang nakikita si Uichico. 

“Tubid is known to be 

hardworking and intense, an 

interesting prospect which scouts are 

raving about. 

“He plays in a warrior-like 

determination and usually does highflying 

acts -- virtues that endeared 

him to the fans,” wika ni Uichico 

Si Tubid ay may average na 13.6 

points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists 

kada laro. At sa pagkawala nga ng 

mga key players ng Gins tulad nina 

Rudy Hatfield (on leave), Johnny 

Abarrientos (groin injury), Eric 

Menk (calf injury) at Rafi Reavis 

(shoulder injury), nabibigyan si 

Tubid ng mas malaking oras sa court. 

Sa harap ng krisis, buhay ang pangarap ni Toni Leviste 


Sa gitna ng itinuturing niyang saglit 

na bangungot sa kanyang buhay sa 

ngayon, nanatiling nangangarap 

para sa Olympic gold si Toni Leviste 

(kaliwa). 

“I never stopped dreaming, hoping 

for an Olympic gold even now 

that my family is experiencing a crisis,” 

wika ni Leviste. 

“What drives me is my love and 

passion for this sport,” sabi ni Leviste. 

“Nothing can stop passion. 

It’s unlimited. The day the burning 

desire to ride for the country and to 

continue in the sport dies, is the day 

I don’t get up to ride.” 

Inamin ni Leviste na isang therapy 

sa kanya ang kanyang pagsakay 

sa kabayo upang makalimutan 

ang problema na kinahaharap ng 

kanilang pamilya sa ngayon. Ang 

kanyang ama na si Tony Boy Leviste 

ay akusado sa pagpatay sa isa niyang 

kaibigan. 

“My only fear is not trying,” dagdag 

ni Leviste. “Because that’s when 

you really fail. That’s why my prayer 

is for God to give me the strength to 

rise to the challenge every day. The 

day I don’t want to try is the day I 

stop riding.” 

Musmos pa lamang ay nakaukit 

na kay Leviste ang pagmamahal sa 

sport. Katunayan sa edad na walong 

taong gulang, sa halip na maglaro ng 

manika ay mas nais nito na sumakay 

sa kabayo. 

Mas pinili niya ang magsanay sa 

halip na dumalo sa mga parties at 

hindi siya nakaakyat ng entablado 

upang tanggapin ang kanyang diploma 

sa Ateneo de Manila dahil kasalukuyan 

siyang nasa Manila Polo 

Club Annual Horse Show upang 

idepensa ang kanyang titulo bilang 

Rider of the Year. “Every time you 

get up and try, even if you have a setback, 

I don’t consider that a failure,” 

dagdag nito. “Obstacles are there for 

a reason. God wants to teach you a 

lesson, for you to find your path, for 

you to see something.” 

Kamakailan ay namatay ang 

paboritong kabayo ni Leviste na 

Maktub. Hindi rin siya makakasali 

sa 2008 Beijing Olympics, pero nananatiling 

positibo ang kanyang pananaw. 

Nagkampeon na si Leviste ng ilang 

beses sa Southeast Asian Games, 

Asian Games at World Cup Southeast 

Asian Jumping League noong 

1999 at 2005. 

“Representing the Philippines is 

what makes me proud,” wika ni Leviste. 

“I feel I was born to do that. At 

10, I was fifth in a field of six riders 

in a competition in Clark Airbase. I 

thought to myself: From this prize, I 

am going to the Olympics one day.”

44 


July 2007 

Joseph Yeo, pakitang-gilas kaagad pagkatuntong sa PBA 


Pang-matinee idol ang kanyang 

itsura at cool na cool ang kanyang 

kilos. 

Iyan ang madalas na marinig 

sa mga tagahanga ni Joseph Yeo 

(kanan) na isa sa pinakamahusay 

sa depensa sa mga baguhang 

manlalaro sa Philippine Basketball 

Association. 

Kaya nga’t hindi nakapagtataka 

na noon pa mang naglalaro siya 

sa University Athletic Association 

of the Philippines ay tinagurian na 

siyang “The Ninja.” 

Unang lumikha ng ingay si Yeo 

nang mapasama ito sa rambol 

na kinasasangkutan din ni Enrico 

Villanueva noong nakaraang taon. 

Ayon sa ilan, nakita lamang kung 

gaano ang intensidad ni Yeo sa 

paglalaro. 

Ang pag-entra ni Yeo sa liga ay 

tunay na inabangan ng marami 

lalo na nang magkomento si Asi 

Taulava na babaguhin ni Yeo ang 

liga sa sandaling tumuntong ito sa 

PBA. 

“May nagsabi lang na lumabas 

nga daw sa dyaryo yun. S’yempre, 

sarap ng feeling na pinupuri ka 

ng isang sikat at magaling. Natalo 

na nga kami, tapos may magcomment 

pa ng positive sa iyo 

na ganun. Pero s’yempre, ayaw 

ko naman makontento dun, dahil 

alam ko madami pang kailangang 

i-improve sa game ko,” wika nito. 

“Hindi ka naman titigil sa 

pagpapakita ng maganda di ba? 

Kahit may nai-prove ka na. Two 

years pa ako maglalaro di ba? 

Yung two games na yun, bale wala 

lang yun kapag next year hindi 

ako magperform ng maganda. 

“Kailangan maging 

consistent and 

syempre, magstrive 

para mas 

gumaling pa 

lalo,” sabi pa ni 

Yeo na mula sa 

prominenteng pamilya na Filipino- 

Chinese. 

Kasama sa mga 

ipinagmamalaking bala ni Yeo 

ay ang mahusay na mid-range 

jumper at galaw na tila nagpapalito 

sa dumedepensa sa kanya. 

Kadalasan, kapag nababad siya sa 

court, pinapayagan siya ni coach 

Binky Favis na ipakita ang husay 

sa ball handling. 

Sa pagpasok ni Yeo noong 

nakaraang taon sa professional 

league makaraang ma-draft bilang 

No 3 sa overall ng Coca Cola 

Tigers, naresolba ang problema 

ng koponan sa opensa. Ang Coca 

Cola ay ang pinakamababa sa 

scoring sa siyam na koponan sa 

liga sa 82.8 per game 

Sa kaagahan pa lamang ng 

kanyang career, marami na 

ang nagsasabi na maaaring 

kunsiderahin sa Yeo bilang spark 

plug ng koponan dahil sa kanyang 

husay at kaagresibuhan. 

Sa UAAP noon, madalas na 

tinitilian ng mga kababaihan ang 

kanyang galaw sa court, pero 

pinahahanga din ni Yeo ang mga 

technical fans ng UAAP – at 

ngayon sa PBA – kahit pa may 

ilang nagsasabi na tila nagbago 

ang ugali ni Yeo sa labas at loob 

ng court. 

Sa kanyang rookie year ay 

nagtala na si Yeo ng average 

na 3.4 points, 1.5 rebounds, 1.5 

assists, at 9.5 minutes per game. 

Sa ngayon ay aminado si Yeo 

na marami pa siyang dapat na 

gamayin at pag-aralan. “Alam 

ko naman na marami pa kong 

dapat pag-aralan. Iba noong nasa 

collegiate basketball, mas mahirap 

itong sa PBA, talahang you really 

have to mprove your worth and the 

competition is so intense,” wika ni 

Yeo na idolo sina Vergel Meneses 

at Samboy Lim. 

Maging si coach Favis ay 

hinuhulaang magiging isa sa mga 

basketball superstar si Yeo. 

“Yeo was always a winner 

wherever he went, and we expect 

him to provide us with the same 

energy he gave those teams,” 

dagdag ni Favis. 

Celeste Maring 

Markado na 

ang Harbour 

Centre ng mga 

katunggali 

Inaasam ng mga kalaban na pigilin 

ang rumaragasang koponan sa PBL 


Harbour Center. Ito ang target 

talunin ng lahat ng koponan 

sa Philippine Basketball 

League. 

At bakit hindi, dalawang 

magkasunod na titulo ang kanilang 

hawak bukod pa sa internasyunal 

na kampeonato ng Southeast Asian 

Basketball Association. 

Dalawang taon na ang nakararaan 

nang buuin ni Mike Romero, may-ari 

ng Harbour Centre, ang koponan. 

Kung sisipatin sa papel ay tila 

napakalakas ng Harbour Centre, pero 

ito ay hanggang sa salita lamang. 

Gayunman, hindi ito naging 

sagabal kay Romero na sa halip na 

mag-alsa balutan sa amateur league 

ay nagpatuloy sa pagpapalakas sa 

koponan. “I used to think that if you 

have a strong team, winning is easy. 

But, now I know it’s not true, you 

have to give the team a common goal 

to win,” wika ni Romero. 

Ngayon, makaraan ang dalawang 

korona sa PBL kasama na ang PBL 

Silver Cup, naghahabol na naman 

sa ikatlong sunod na titulo ang 

koponang tinagurian ding “Batang 

Pier.” 

Sa nakaraang Silver Cup, 

winalis ng Batang Pier ang Hapee 

Toothpaste sa finals. Sa idinaraos 

ngayong Unity Cup, ang Harbour 

Centre ang batayan kung gaano 

kalakas at kahanda ang ibang 

koponan. 

“We’re on the right track in 

the PBL Unity Cup. We expect to 

surpass our performance in the last 

conference,” sabi ni Romero. Ang 

Batang Pier – ikaanim ang ranggo 

noon – ang pinakamababang ranking 

na koponan na nanalo ng korona sa 

PBL. 

At kayang-kayang gawin ito 

ng Harbour Centre players sa 

pangunguna nina Edwin Asoro, Ryan 

Arana, Jason Castro at Chico Lanete. 

Sa pangunguna ng apat na players 

nasa unahan ng standings ang Batang 

Pier sa Unity Cup kahit na wala ang 

ipinagmamalaki noon na sina LA 

Tenorio at Joseph Yeo. 

“I did not think that we’d achieve 

our goal this fast,” wika ni Romero 

na humanga rin sa lakas ng kanyang 

players na sina Jonathan Fernandez, 

Al Vergara, Marvin Ortiguerra, Ron 

Capati at Allan Gamboa. 

“Meron kaming pitong players 

na bago, kaya medyo back to basics 

kami, pero look at us, maganda 

ang ipinapakita ng mga bata. 

Nagtutulungan kaya maganda rin ang 

standings naming,” wika ni Romero. 

Habang isinusulat ito ay humahabi 

na naman ng kuwentong pangkampeonato 

ang Harbour Centre, 

pero walang agam-agam o takot na 

nadarama ang mga player nito. 

Maging ang Most Valuable Player 

ng nakaraang PBL Silver Cup na si 

Jason Castro ay nasisiyahan din sa 

kooperasyong ibinibigay ng kanyang 

teammates. 

“We feel confident, we know 

we can rely on each other. My 

teammates are all very good. 

Everyone is stepping up, the 

blending, the camaraderie, the focus 

are there,” wika nito. 

Aminado naman si Arana na lahat 

ng koponan sa PBL ay hangad na 

talunin sila. “All the teams want to 

beat us especially now. I think the 

team is very strong. We have a deep 

bench, we can field in anyone,” wika 

nito. 

Bagama’t ayaw isipin ng Batang 

Pier ang paghahabol sa ikatlong 

sunod na titulo, walang dudang ito 

rin ang direksyong patutunguhan ng 

koponan. “We don’t want to think 

about it right now, it’s still early. But 

the team is very focused and after 

two titles, we still want more,” wika 

ni Romero. 

“ 

Meron kaming 

pitong players 

na bago, kaya 

medyo back to 

basics kami, 

pero look at us, 

maganda ang 

ipinapakita ng 

mga bata 

Sunod-sunod ang 

kampeonato ng 

Harbour Centre, 

mula sa Silver 

Cup ng PBL 

(itaas) hanggang 

sa Seaba 

championship. 

Sa kabila ng 

pagkawala ng 

tatlong mabibigat 

na players, 

hindi natinag 

ang koponan 

sa hangaring 

mapabuti pa ang 

laro (kaliwa). 

MIKE ROMERO 

Team owner


July 2007 

46 filipino globe 

Muhammad 

Ali, in their 

own Venus words, rising is 

the from greatest the water 

Reggie Amigo in Hong Kong 

In my heart, he will always be the 

greatest. 

George Foreman 

on Muhammad Ali 

That line struck me like a punch. And 

as I flipped the cover of the latest 

book on the former world champion, 

I found myself thumbing through 

some of the greatest tributes to any 

man, page after page. 

“Lawdy, lawdy [Lord, O Lord], 

he’s a great champion,” came off a 

battered – and humbled – Joe Frazier 

after Thrilla in Manila, an epic third 

fight in their head-to-head contests 

against which future boxers would 

measure themselves. 

And Larry Holmes, who would 

be remembered more for who he 

fought than what he did on the night 

he predictably defended his world 

title against an aging, tired Ali, saved 

his best for a parting shot, telling his 

fallen hero: “You’re the greatest. I 

love you.” 

In the outpouring of generosity 

over Ali’s failing health, it’s hard 

to find an unkind word. In fairness, 

however, the man had earned the 

accolades long before Parkinson’s 

Disease began to ravage his body 

into a shell of his former self. 

Even so, that’s only part of the 

great story that is Muhammad Ali, 

and the world may never know the 

half of it. 

But thanks to people like 

Alan Goldstein, a long-serving 

sportswriter on the Baltimore Sun, 

we get to relive the Ali legend. His 

book is an honest portrait of the 

man not from the reams of copy he 

inspired but from the fighters who 

were at the receiving end of his 

greatness. 

In their own words, each one of 

them – from Sonny Liston to Floyd 

Patterson, Leon Spinks and little 

known Jean-Pierre Coopman (whom 

Ali called “a gentleman” ) – helped 

put together Muhammad Ali, the 

Story of a Boxing Legend (Carlton 

Books, 178 pages, $272). 

The Muhammad Ali Center 

(right), a tribute to the man 

and his values, is located in 

Louisville, Kentucky’s “Museum 

Row” in the West Main District 

of downtown. 

The six-story, 96,750 sq ft 

museum opened on November 

19, 2005 at a cost of US$80 

million. 

It also includes a 40,000 sq 

Goldstein keeps it simple by 

not getting in the way, except 

to introduce a chapter in the 

chronology, drawing on the many 

years he spent covering Ali’s fights. 

One such fight, which took Ali and 

Foreman to darkest, deepest Africa, 

almost leaps out of the pages. 

And here I was, transfixed on the 

images, knocked back to a summer 

afternoon 34 years ago, lost in 

a crowd of grown men shouting 

themselves silly around a black and 

white TV at the sight of Foreman 

Center carries on legacy and life’s work 

ft two-level amphitheater and 

plaza that is currently under 

construction and will connect 

being cut from his legs, crashing 

down and out. 

I had to skip my UP zoology class 

for that. I remember telling my 

laboratory teammates the story the 

next day only to find out they had 

done what I did. 

By the time Thrilla in Manila 

rolled around, I had started a small 

collection of things Ali, from stickers 

to newspaper clippings and some of 

the earlier books on him. 

I was a visitor in my mother’s 

Grade 3 class sleeping away boring 

Foreman slugs Ali in Africa (top). Ali rocks Frazier in Manila (above). 

to Museum Plaza. The plaza is 

expected to be completed this 

year. 

The cultural center features 

exhibitions regarding 

Muhammad Ali’s core values 

on respect, confidence, 

conviction, dedication, giving 

and spirituality. 

An orientation theater helps 

present Ali’s life from birth to the 

afternoons under her desk when Ali 

won his first professional fight. I 

had not heard him proclaim himself 

“The Greatest”, but now we know 

how it became a currency. Now 

we also know why he liked to call 

his opponents names, and why TV 

executives lapped up the one-liners 

he used to sell his fights. 

In a time when internet marketing 

was not even a sound bite, Ali was 

a brand. He pitched himself like 

so much stuff off a store shelf and 

earned handsomely. When asked why 

he came out to take on Holmes, the 

reigning world champion, his former 

sparring partner and 12 years his 

junior, Ali said: “I got it made for 

life financially and every other way. I 

don’t need to beat Larry Holmes.” 

The following year, Ali fought 

Trevor Berbick and lost a painful 10- 

round decision, but even as he was 

being put to shame, Ali was thinking 

of a grand comeback. Six months 

later, he put the question to manager 

Angelo Dundee. “You can’t do it 

anymore,” came the reply. “There 

isn’t any water left in the well.” 

So Ali closed his career in defeat, 

but he hadn’t hit bottom. And so, the 

story continues ... 

Like the man that inspired it, the 

book takes some doing to put down. 

I’m reading it a third time, reliving 

the moment in each word. If you 

have not read about Ali or heard of 

him, you’ll never know what I mean. 

present, and a mock-boxing ring 

recreated after what was in his 

Deer Lake Training Camp. 

A two-level pavilion, housed 

within a large elliptical room, 

features his boxing memorabilia 

and history. 

A large projector displays “The 

Greatest”, Muhammad Ali’s 

signature fight, onto a full-sized 

boxing ring. 

Beckham 

shifts from 

soccer to 

... er, football 

Before David Beckham can convert 

America into a soccer nation, he’ll 

need to learn the lingo. 

After saying his family came first, 

he said the second most important 

thing “is the foot... is the soccer.” 

“I’ll get used to that at some point. 

I’m sorry,” Beckham said. 

The sports superstar and pop 

culture “it” guy was officially 

introduced at his home stadium amid 

a cannon of confetti and a roar of 

cheers. 

Beckham quickly recognised his 

move to the Los Angeles Galaxy will 

take some adjusting. Even simple 

things, as in what to call his sport 

– it’s football in the rest of the world. 

His brief slip drew some scattered 

boos, which turned into laughs. 

An estimated 5,000 soccer 

enthusiasts – and new Beckham fans 

– sat in the stands as “Becks” was 

introduced and held up his new No 

23 jersey. 

“My family have now moved 

to Los Angeles, something we’re 

looking forward to, something 

we’re very proud of, and in our life 

everything’s perfect,” Beckham said 

from a stage set up on the playing 

field. 

“So, on to my new challenge. This 

is one of the biggest challenges I 

have ever taken on in my career, to 

move to a different country, the other 

side of the world, something that I’m 

looking forward to.” 

Wearing a crisp gray suit and 

sporting a buzz cut and a stubbly 

chin, Beckham smiled as he walked 

onto the field as the loudspeakers 

blared the refrain, “Hello, America.” 

His wife Victoria, aka Posh 

Spice, wore a stylish fuchsia dress 

with matching color alligator bag 

and posed for photos, turning and 

preening, before the presentation 

began. 

The crowd consisted mostly 

of youngsters, with teenage girls 

the most prominent group. Their 

scattered screams gave the welcome 

party a rock star vibe. 

“He’s a celebrity and a great soccer 

player,” 15-year-old Taylor Markham 

said. 

Her friend Alyssa Bricker, also a 

15-year-old soccer player, said, “I 

can’t wait to see him start playing.” 

Asked if she thought Beckham was 

handsome, Bricker said, “Oh, yeah. 

He’s hot.” 

And his wife? 

“She’s pretty,” Bricker said. “And 

very lucky.” 

The Galaxy has switched team 

colors to coincide with Beckham’s 

arrival, going from the familiar green 

to navy, white and gold. 

David Beckham ... American ‘boy’. 

July 2007 47 

ARIES Mar 21-Apr 19 LIBRA Sep 23-Oct 22 

This month will bring 

up a brand-new trend 

concerning a change 

in your living situation. 

Just after the new moon, you 

may decide to move, or you may 

renovate, redecorate, reorganise 

closets, and change furniture 

placement, making you feel as 

through you have moved. 

This will be a big 

month, but to make it 

work for you, you can’t 

be too rambunctious. 

Try not to be too much like a little 

bull in a china shop. Mars in Taurus 

will make you impatient and anxious 

to see progress, but with all other 

planets in retrograde, you won’t see 

a lot of progress. 

You may have been 

told about a generous 

commission, court 

settlement, licensing 

fee, signing bonus, or other windfall, 

but if not, that news may still arrive 

in the first days of July. Often, a 

full moon of this type will help you 

pay off a large obligation or settle a 

question about property. 

You have every reason 

to be optimistic about 

your year to come. 

Life will be brighter 

than it has been in a long time, for 

stubborn planetary placements 

that have held you down are about 

to move on. You’ve been through 

many cosmic storms, particularly in 

regard to money. 

You could be on 

vacation, but if you’re 

smart, you’ll stay back 

and interview for a 

new and better position. You may 

find your new dream job in a new 

environment, or, in your present 

company. In fact, you may already 

know the offer before you come to 

the table. 

When you decide to 

duck out of the office 

to take a long trip, 

that’s news. So what 

if it should be for business? It looks 

like the locale you’re headed to 

will be special, filled with incredibly 

sensuous sights, sounds, and 

flavors. You’ll be excited about your 

trip and that’s what counts. 

BUHAYPALAD 

If you are excited and 

happy about getting 

to work, it sounds like 

you love your job. If 

you dread going in at the end of 

a glorious weekend, it’s probably 

time for a new job. Even if you love 

what you do, it’s a rare person who 

isn’t excited about the prospect of a 

new job. 

TAURUS Apr 21-May 20 SCORPIO Oct 23-Nov 22 

You will find a million 

reasons to travel 

this month, so you’ll 

probably head out of 

town more than once. As a Scorpio, 

you tend to like being holed up in 

your own space, but with so many 

good reasons to leave, there’s little 

chance that you’ll be able to hide 

inside. 

GEMINI May 21-Jun 20 SAGITTARIUS Nov 23-Dec 22 

There will be a strong 

emphasis on finances 

this month, in terms 

of paying bills and in 

seeing about getting a raise. Later 

in the month, raising important 

capital to fund an endeavor 

important to you will become a huge 

focus and will begin a major theme 

that will likely last for months. 

CANCER Jun 20-Jul 21 CAPRICORN Dec 21-Jan 19 

You should be feeling 

fantastic. The month 

will begin with a full 

moon in Capricorn 

that had reached its fullest point on 

June 30, hours before July dawned. 

You only get one full moon a year 

in Capricorn, and this one is an 

exceptionally generous and kind 

one. 

LEO Jul 21-Aug 21 AQUARIUS Jan 20-Feb 18 

Your work life will 

become unusually 

active, with phones 

ringing and coworkers 

darting here and there in a 

frantic rush. It may be dead quiet 

outside due to the fact that it’s the 

height of summer in the northern 

hemisphere, but inside it’s an active 

beehive. 

VIRGO Aug 22-Sep 22 PISCES Feb 19-Mar 20 

USEFUL NUMBERS 

Philippine Consulate 

2823 8500 

2866 6975 

Labour Hotline 

9102 0840 

Immigration 

2824 6111 

Police/Fire/Hospital 

999 

Labour Department 

2717 1771 

Labour Tribunal 

2717 1771 

Airport assistance 

2861 3980 

Int’l Social Services 

2836 3598 

Caritas Filipino Serv 

2526 4249 

2147 5988 

Bethune House 

2721 3119 

Bayanihan Center 

2817 8928 

Asian Migrant Center 

2312 0031 

Mission for Fil Mig 

2522 8264 

Unifil Hong Kong 

2522 8264 

Race Relations Unit 

2835 1579 

Fil Mig Work Union 

2915 9468 

Your time has finally 

come. All year, you’ve 

had dazzling aspects 

for your career, and 

you must be gratified by certain 

victories. It is clear you’ve been 

making all the right moves. 

Nevertheless, you’ve been trying to 

find away to have a more balanced, 

enjoyable private life, too. 

July 15 

Leaders’ Kapihan, United 

Filipinos in Hong Kong, 2-5 

pm, St John’s Cathedral, 

4 Garden Road, Central. 

Dolo 9747 2986 or Eman 

9758 5935. 

July 15 

Search for Miss Fitness 

2007, 1-6 pm, Capiznon 

Association of Hong Kong, 

Grappa’s Cellar, Central. 

Chona 9451 6494. Arman 

9767 6280 

July 29 

Summer festival and fair, 

Bethune House Migrant 

Women Refuge, State 

of the Nation Address 

program, whole day. 

Edwina 9488 9044. 

dibersyon 

Fathers, mothers, sons and daughters 

A father and his son happen upon 

the condom aisle. The son asks 

his father why there are so many 

different boxes of condoms. 

The father replies, “Well, you 

see that 3 pack? That’s for when 

you’re in high school. You have 

2 for Friday night and 1 for 

Saturday night.” 

“Then what’s the 6 pack for?” 

the son asks. 

“That’s for when you’re in 

college,” the father says. “You 

have 2 for Friday night, 2 for 

Saturday night, and 2 for Sunday 

morning.” 

“So, what’s the 12 pack for?” 

the son goes on. 

“That’s for when you’re 

married, son. You have one for 

January, one for February, one for 

March...” 

A young woman brings home her 

fiancée to meet her parents. After 

dinner, her mother tells her father 

YOURDIARY 

ANGSISTE 

KATUWAANLANG 

LARONGSUDOKU 

Pinakamainit na laro ngayon, hamon sa kakayahang mag-isip at magbilang. Punuin ang mga square ng 

numero mula 1 hanggang 9 na hindi umuuulit. May dalawa kayong tsansa para hamunin ang sarili. Suko? 

Tingnan ang sagot sa aming internet edition (www.filglobe.com). 

Ongoing activities 

Free cooking class. First 

and second Sundays, 3-5 

pm. Southorn Mansion, 

1 Luard Road, Wanchai. 

Riza 6159 7177 or 2732 

7337. 

Free Cantonese lessons. 

First, second and fourth 

Sundays, 2.30 - 4 pm, 

Evangelical Community 

Church Ministry Centre, 3/F 

Hong Kong Pacific 

Centre, 28 Hankow Road, 

Tsimshatsui. Fe 9145 1937 

or 2732 7311. 

Tacfil Tuklas Talino 

registration.Gemma 9546 

4686 or Len Len 9270 

5271. 

Laguna Achievers Miss 

Beauty Fat pageant 

registration. 6335 2837. 

Send your activities and 

programs for publication 

to info@filglobe.com 

to find out about the young man. 

“So what do you do?” the father 

asks the young man. 

“I am a scholar,” he replies. 

“Admirable,” the father says, “but 

what will you do to provide a nice 

house for my daughter to live in, as 

she’s accustomed to?” 

“I will study,” the young man 

replies, “and God will provide for 

us.” 

“And how will you buy her a 

beautiful engagement ring, such as 

she deserves?” asks the father. 

“I will concentrate on my 

studies,” comes the reply. “God will 

provide for us.” 

“And children?” asks the father. 

“How will you support children?” 

“Don’t worry, sir, God will 

provide,” replies the fiancée. 

Later, the mother asks, “How did 

it go, Honey?” 

The father answers, “He has no 

job and no plans, but the good news 

is he thinks I’m God.” 

EXCHANGE RATES 

Hong Kong dollar 5.90 

British pound 91.20 

Saudi riyal 12.29 

Canadian dollar 43.33 

Euro 61.93 

Australian dollar 38.94 

Japanese yen 38.15* 

Singapore dollar 30.01 

US dollar 46.11 

*per 100 yen 

Above rates are for reference purposes only. 

Please check with your bank for actual rates.

the big picture 

filipino globe shoot, show & tell 

July 2007 48 

JAPAN TREASURE 

Rising nearly 4,000 meters into the sky, Mount Fuji looms over Yamanashi prefecture just west of Tokyo. The mountain and the temple in the foreground are among the most recognisable landmarks 

in Japan. The country has a large population of Filipino expatriates, mostly entertainers, whose numbers peaked at just under 100,000 before Tokyo tightened its immigration rules three years ago. 

Think about it – a booming spa business on Taal 

The Philippines is a great place 

for building luxury spas. 

The Philippines has many scenic 

volcanoes. So what’s more logical 

than to build a luxury spa on a scenic 

volcano? 

This could be the reasoning behind 

a Filipino-Korean company’s project 

to construct a resort right on the 

crater edge of Taal volcano – which 

happens to be on an island in the 

middle of a large lake that itself 

used to be an enormous volcano. 

Did I forget to mention? Taal is 

the country’s deadliest exploding 

mountain. 

You’d think only two kinds 

of people would want to build 

installations on volcanoes: (a) 

demented super villains in secret 

agent movies; (b) individuals who’ve 

been ingesting too many forbidden 

substances. 

But this group seems to be serious. 

In fact it had gotten permits and 

was already busy building a road on 

the island before it was ordered to 

suspend its work. 

LIGHTERSIDE 

view from home 

Alan C Robles 

in Manila 

alan.robles@filglobe.com 

“ Volcano crater 

edges should be 

reserved for vital 

installations. Like 

Congress 

Oh yes, the company had also 

driven away some residents living on 

the island. 

Don’t ask me what the residents 

were doing on Taal. Perhaps they 

were hiding ballot boxes from the 

Comelec. The reports didn’t’ say if 

any super villains were evicted. 

Before we rush to condemn a 

project like this, we should stop. We 

should think. We should – perhaps 

– ingest a few forbidden substances. 

We could then try to think of the 

idea’s good points. 

First, would be location. A spa 

perched on the edge of a volcano has 

an unbeatable view. Of course, guests 

would probably have to be carefully 

briefed about the floor plan: 

Guest in bathrobe: Excuse 

me, does this door lead to the 

saunaaaaaaa….. 

Attendant: Watch your step, sir 

But think of the possibilities. What 

could be more relaxing than looking 

down a crater full of sulphurous, 

smoking water, a vista guaranteed to 

induce a peaceful frame of mind that 

can calmly contemplate questions 

such as: “I wonder if I’m going to die 

now?” 

Second, tourist agencies could 

go to town marketing the concept. 

Imagine the slogans: “The mudbath 

of your dreams!” “Philippine spas 

are booming!” 

Third, the spa could offer unique 

services: steam rooms, hot water 

pools, lava-heated cooking. Guests 

who can’t settle their bills would get 

extended time in the steam rooms. 

Families could go boating on 

the lake. There might even be a 

special boat race called “Paddle For 

Your Life As Tremendous Flaming 

Boulders Come Flying In Your 

Direction.” A screaming contest 

would be optional. 

Actually it’s perfectly safe. Taal 

hasn’t erupted since, oh I don’t know, 

1977? 

And the fact that it’s been on alert 

level 1 for seven years now and 

there’ve been earthquakes in the area 

are just minor disturbances. 

But government authorities now 

say they will scuttle the project. 

When I think about it, I agree. 

Volcano crater edges shouldn’t be 

given to trivial businesses like spas. 

They should be reserved for vital 

installations. Like Congress. 

PHOTOESSAY 

Show us your flash for 

photography by giving us 

the big picture of the Filipino 

expat’s life. Photos must be 

accompanied by a caption 

of not more than 100 words, 

describing the event or 

circumstances behind them. 

Or tell us an interesting 

anecdote or observation in 

not more than 500 words and 

share them with the world. 

Each photo or essay entitles 

its owner HK$200 and 

becomes the property of 

Filipino Globe. Photos should 

have a minimum resolution 

of three megapixels. We 

reserve the right to make 

changes in line with house 

style. Entries should be sent 

to info@filglobe.com

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