Santa Rosa City Laguna
Philippines - attracting investors from all
over Asia and the world.
BUSINESS SOLUTION TOUTED BY PBSP TO END POVERTY
THE COUNTRY'S FIRST AND LARGEST CORPORATE-LED SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION is touting a new platform of collective effort among private sector, government, and other investors and stakeholders as an innovative business solution to eradicate poverty in the country.
The corporate-led Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) dubbed this strategy as "Platforms for Collective Engagements" or PlaCEs, with the aim of scaling up successful private-public partnership (PPP) models primarily in the areas of health, education, livelihood, and the environment.
Rafael C. Lopa, PBSP executive director, said a concrete translation of PlaCEs strategy was already demonstrated in the launch of the Bayanihang Pampaaralan (BP) campaign, a collaboration of PBSP, League of Corporate Foundations (LCF), Philippine Business for Education (PBEd), and other advocates of education reform in the country.
Lopa said this collective effort had set the goal of building 10,000 classrooms nationwide to help bridge the classroom backlog of over 66,000 classrooms of the Department of Education (DepEd).
"It is in these PlaCEs where we hope to mobilize strategic financing from our members and donor agencies that can pave the way to more dynamic and coordinated multi-stakeholders partnerships," Lopa said.
Given the positive response in the education-related PlaCE, the establishment of other PlaCEs is being pursued in the other PBSP focus areas of health, environment protection, and livelihood and jobs generation, Lopa added.
"Beyond our collective action strategy, we will keep on working closely with companies to take social development at the heart of their businesses by integrating core business solutions to development efforts, and providing policy and advocacy platforms for social change," Lopa stressed.
Moreover, he said the PlaCES strategy will underscore efforts to establish PPP models, specifically in the delivery of public services and the development of infrastructure that would spur social development and improve climate change adaptation.
On the recent commemoration of its 41st year, PBSP has further strengthened its efforts with the business sector in reaching out to the country's marginalized sectors.
"To truly effect collective impact, we saw the need to ensure that every program must have a common goal, cohesive strategy, and a uniform parameter that synchronizes all the efforts of the business sector and other development stakeholders. Certainly, the sum is greater than the parts," Lopa said. - Joyce Franzly Racoma and Mitch Confesor
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AUSSIES ARE TAKING THE LEAD IN HELPING TO ERADICATE PHILIPPINE POVERTY
THE AUSTRALIAN AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (AusAID) recently developed a television series called "Changing Lives", paying testament to the work of dedicated Australians doing extraordinary jobs around the world.
One episode features Mark Daniels, the Aussie Director of Opportunity East Asia (see above video). Mark and his family moved to the Philippines more than two years ago to support Opportunity's microfinance programs in the Philippines.
You can find out more by visiting the Opportunity website, and scroll down this page to see the Australian Ambassador doing more for our environment than all other foreign ambassadors put together.
Bottom of the diplomatic pile are the Americans, who destroyed 95 percent of our coral reefs when they occupied the Philippines and have now fobbed us off with two brain-dead ambassadors in succession.
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MARKETING GOES MALLING AS SM MARKETMALL OPENS IN DASMARINAS, CAVITE
Cavite Congressman Pidi Barzaga and Vice Governor Recto Cantimbuan share honors at the Marketmall’s opening ceremonies together with Mrs. Felicidad Sy and SM Food Retail President Herbert Sy. Also in photo are officiating Priest Reverend Father Leoben Peregrino, SM Prime Holdings’s Hans Christian Sy, Jr., SM Supermalls President Annie Garcia, and SM Hypermarket President Robert Kwee.
AN INNOVATIVE NEW SHOPPING CONCEPT RECEIVED A WARM AND ENTHUSIASTIC WELCOME from residents of the City of Dasmariñas, Cavite, when SM Marketmall opened its doors to the public.
In the SM tradition, SM executives led by SM Food Retail President Herbert Sy personally greeted the first wave of shoppers, as the eager and excited crowds quickly packed this mall of firsts.
This 5-storey, more than 10,000 square meter Marketmall is the first public-private partnership between a City Government and SM Prime Holdings, and is envisioned to be a destination for foodies in search for fresh products and homegrown cuisine.
It is housed in a modern, well lighted and well ventilated building, is open 24 hours, and is the first vertical wet market development with a Hypermarket, 1,073 wet and dry market stalls, restaurants, services, and a bagsakan area. Shopping in the Marketmall is easy, because the stainless steel stalls in the wet and dry areas are properly zoned and color-coded.
And then, there is the convenience of the multi-level parking area with provisions for 252 vehicles, as well as accessible transportation for commuters.
During opening day, customers had a glimpse of Cavite’s homegrown food offerings at the Tiendas de Dasmariñas where foods like the famous Imus Kutsinta, Tinapang Salinas, Seaweed Crackers, Gatas ng General Trias, Cafe Amadeo, Paella Negra, Marinara, and other Cavite products were showcased.
Earlier in the day, no less than Cavite Vice Governor Recto Cantimbuhan, Dasmariñas City Congressman Pidi Barzaga, and Dasmariñas City Mayor Jenny Barzaga shared honors in the ribbon cutting ceremonies with Mrs. Felicidad Sy and SM Food Retail President Herbert Sy.
SM Prime Holdings’ Hans Christian Sy, Jr., SM Hypermarket's Robert Kwee, SM Supermalls President Annie Garcia, and Reverend Father Leoben Peregrino also joined them.
The first wave of shoppers gathers outside, excited to experience the
first one stop mall in Cavite with Hypermarket,
wet and dry market stalls, restaurants, services and bagsakan area.
Located along Dasmariñas Bagong Bayan Congressional Road, Dasmariñas, City, Cavite, the SM Marketmall serves customers from Dasmariñas City and nearby towns such as Imus, GMA, Carmona, General Trias and even some part of Trece Martirez City.
Apart from the SM Hypermarket and the wet and dry market, it also has food tenants like Jollibee, Mang Inasal, and Chowking; as well as services like BDO, Test Point, Mr. Quickie, Dermcare, LBC, Inkrite, APD Travel, M. H Burton, A-1 Driving and Lucky Circle.
The SM Marketmall is not only clean, well maintained, and secure, but also has PWD friendly facilities. Furthermore, it showcases environmentally sustainable practices with a sewage treatment plant that recycles water, and also has proper garbage segregation and disposal.
The SM Marketmall’s design and construction team includes Jose Siao Ling and
Associates, Architects and Designers; and R. M. Cabanela Construction and ManagementCorp, General Contractor. Pamela Peters-Baun (Photos courtesy of SM Prime Holdings.)
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Click on the above graphic to see the video of President Obama's 2012 State Of The Union Address on this page or click here to watch it on YouTube.
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BILL BEFORE US CONGRESS
PROPOSES TO CENSOR AND STRANGLE THE INTERNET
America did not invent the World Wide Web and does not own it.
It does not have most users. China has the most with 485 million.
Globally there were 2.1 billion internet users in 2011, and the
USA has no right to enslave and control the whole planet.
Join the resistance and make your views heard. Even
President Obama is against this latest example of
political lunacy that would kill global freedom.
WATCH THE ABOVE VIDEO OF CNN'S INTERVIEW WITH JIMMY WALES, THE FOUNDER OF WIKIPEDIA. The free non-profit online encyclopedia is one of the busiest sites on the internet, and Wales is protesting because the proposed laws would make it very difficult or even impossible to operate. He says they would force American laws on foreigners without representation, as the English language Wikipedia is referred to by people all over the world.
President Obama's statement said "Proposed laws must not tamper with the technical architecture of the Internet." His opposition was immediately attacked by one of the bill's backers, Rupert Murdoch, the tycoon who is under investigation for alleged authorization of illegal tapping of private phones by some of his newspapers to obtain "inside stories".
The internet does not belong to the USA. It was not even invented by an American. The rest of the world needs to unite in response to this attempted hijack of our global community by the US Congress in complete disregard of other nations' human rights. Do ordinary tax paying honest Americans really want the planet to be controlled by corporate thugs buying their congressmen and senators in order to manipulate the internet and evade even more US taxes than they do already?
You can see the video interview with Jimmy Wales on CNN's website. See also Angel Tugado's comments on our Opinion page.
Watch also the video below.
WHAT DOES A BILL LIKE PIPA/SOPA MEAN TO OUR SHAREABLE WORLD?Clay Shirky delivers a proper manifesto -- a call to defend our freedom to create, discuss, link and share, rather than passively consume. He believes that new technologies enabling loose collaboration and taking advantage of "spare" brainpower - will change the way society works.
Shirky's work focuses on the rising usefulness of decentralized technologies such as peer-to-peer, wireless networks, social software and open-source development. New technologies are enabling new kinds of cooperative structures to flourish as a way of getting things done in business, science, the arts and elsewhere, as an alternative to centralized and institutional structures, which he sees as self-limiting.
In his writings and speeches he has argued that "a group is its own worst enemy". His clients have included Nokia, the Library of Congress and the BBC. Shirky is an adjunct professor in New York University's graduate Interactive Telecommunications Program, where he teaches a course named "Social Weather".
He's the author of "Here Comes Everybody", about the power of crowds, and "Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age". WIRED magazine said about him: "Shirky is one of the handful of people with justifiable claim to the digerati moniker. He's become a consistently prescient voice on networks, social software, and technology's effects on society."
(Video and write-up courtesy ofTED.) - Sarina Fernandez
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Aside from giving birth to male heroes, the amazing historical role of women in their own right has been for too long circumvented, ignored, neglected and suppressed. Click on the above graphic to see for yourselves how women are willing and able to speak for themselves on subjects that make a difference to everyone in the world today. - Sarina Fernandez, Editor of Santa Rosa Magazine.
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GOOGLE SCIENCE FAIR 2012
Aged 13 - 18? Submit your entry by April 1, 2012,
to win some life changing prizes.
"HAVE YOU ASKED A QUESTION TODAY? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH IT? Did it take you somewhere new? Did it bring you here? The Google Science Fair is an online science competition seeking curious minds from the four corners of the globe. Anybody and everybody between 13 and 18 can enter. All you need is an idea. Geniuses are not always A-grade students. We welcome all mavericks, square-pegs and everybody who likes to ask questions. The video below from last year gives you more of the competition's background.
Simply upload your project to win some life changing prizes. Everyone has a question. What’s yours? All entries must be submitted by 1 April 2012. Get up and running by registering today. The first Google Science Fair was held in 2011, when three young women beat allcomers to win the three top prizes.
Shree Bose was last year's grand prize winner, Lauren Hodge was last year's winner in the age 13-14 category, and Naomi Shah was last year's winner in the age 15-16 category. Above, courtesy of TED, they describe their extraordinary winning projects -- and their route to a passion for science at a time when science was still considered by many to be dominated by men.
PBSP'S WORK TO IMPROVE LIFE NEVER STOPS AT CHRISTMAS!
In Photo are Mr. Klaas Oreel, PBSP Chief Executive Advisor (center) and PBSP management.
PHILIPPINE BUSINESS FOR SOCIAL PROGRESS (PBSP) unites with Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (PDRF) in saving the Marikina Watershed.
To rehabilitate the watershed and mitigate the threat of future flooding, PDRF launched a multi-sectoral campaign that aims to reforest additional 34 per cent or 9,520 hectares of the degraded areas.
Since 2010, PBSP has been spearheading the livelihood component of the project by providing income-generating activities to sustain the livelihood of the communities and assure that no economic activities could harm the watershed. Apart from this, PBSP has been tapping its member companies to participate by adopting their own hectare in the watershed.
PBSP member companies who are already part of the Adopt-a-Hectare program include Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., All Transport Network, and Brother International Philippines Corporation. - Joyce Racoma (Photo courtesy of PBSP.)
1600 PUBLIC SHOOL STUDENTS RECEIVE FREE SLIPPERS
(Left to Right): Cecile Loretizo, ELRO Commercial and Industrial Corporation Marketing Manager; Roland Salazar, ELRO Commercial
and Industrial Corporation Human Resources Manager, and Rafael Lopa, PBSP Executive Director.
ELRO COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CORPORATION donated 1M pesos worth of slippers to the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) to benefit underprivileged children in Mindanao. The slippers were distributed by PBSP's Mindanao Regional Operations (PBSP - MRO) to schools in the Island Municipality of Hadji Muhtamad, Basilan.
A total of 1,600 Grade 3 to 6 students from Baluk-Baluk Elementary School, Lukbungsod Elementary School, Lubukan Elementary School, Tausan Elementary School, Panducan Elementary School, Palahangan Elementary School, Sangbay Big Elementary School, Sangbay Small Elemetary School, Mananggal Elementary School, Dansalan Elementary School, Salisa Primary School received a pair of slippers. - Joyce Racoma (Photo courtesy of PBSP.)
PBSP CORPORATE PARTNERS COLLECT P3.6M FOR SENDONG RELIEF EFFORTS. Member companies and other corporate partners of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) were able to collect as of January 6 at least P3.63 million in cash and goods for victims of typhoon Sendong in Northern Mindanao.
Philex Mining and EPSON Precision Phils. each donated P1 million, while Megaworld Corp. poured in P600,000.
PBSP itself together with Global Fund, an international organization that fights AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis, contributed P249,000, while NEH Phils. added P200,000.
Brother International, the Angelo King Foundation, and the Salome Tan Foundation each gave P100,000. The Phil. Associated Smelting and Refining Corp. (PASAR) contributed P65,270.
TSM Shipping and the Marriage Encounter Foundation each shared P50,000, while Aboitiz Co. and The Bookmark also shared P25,000 each.
Flour gave P20,000 and IBM gave P15,000, while Apostolic Beloved of Christ shared P12,000.
Medicard Phils. gave out cash and goods amounting to P11,350 while Garces Royal Garden and Biotech each had P10,000.
Asalus Corp. and Hersheys contributed various food and non-food items, while employees from Abbott Phils. shared boxes of canned sardines, used clothing, new shirts, and mosquito nets.
Companies that have also expressed their intentions to help Sendong victims include Cathay Pacific, Manila Water, and Nesic Phils.
- Report by Mitch Confesor
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LAST CHRISTMAS, MILLIONS OF PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD
-- INCLUDING MANY WHO ARE NOT CHRISTIAN -- JOINED
THE SPIRIT OF GOODWILL IN WHICH CHRISTIANS CELEBRATED THE BIRTH
OF BABY JESUS IN A POOR BETHLEHEM STABLE
SO
HERE'S AN ADVANCE WARNING IN THE INTERESTS OF PARENTAL,
RELIGIOUS AND HUMAN GUIDANCE:
For all misguided people who may think that abortion
is acceptable and okay when it's the result of premarital
or extramarital sex, the video below made by a Professor
at Yale University illustrates graphically the divine
miracle of conception, pregnancy, birth and beyond.
If this video might offend your sensibilities, then
don't watch it.
Only you made the
decision to watch it, so don't complain afterwards that
the images upset you. You'll get no apology or sympathy
from me, because I sincerely believe from the bottom
of my heart that the knowledge they impart is of extreme
importance to the future of the human race. To my mind,
abortion -- under any circumstances other than to save
the mother's life -- is MURDER.
If you disagree,
watch this video to see for yourself that 24 hours after
conception, God's creation of a new human life is already
in progress. Even to a mathematician and scientist as
accomplished and acclaimed as Alexander Tsiaras,
what's happening inside the mother's womb is a miracle
beyond human comprehension. No multi-billion dollar global
corporation's production technology and no elite university's
state and industry funded scientific or mathematical
research can begin to understand or emulate its awesome
complexity.
And if you don't
believe in any divine intelligence or creation, who
are we anyway to kill an innocent human baby before
she or he even has a chance to leave the womb and enter
the world? -
Angel Tugado (Video courtesy of TED.)
Arlene receives medallion representing the highest award of the Civil Service Commission and the Office of President Benigno Aquino.
SANTA ROSA MAGAZINE WARMLY CONGRATULATES CITY MAYOR ARLENE ARCILLAS ON RECEIVING THE PRESIDENTIAL LINGKOD BAYAN AWARD!
ADDING TO HER GROWING COLLECTION OF HONORS, OUR EXEMPLARY CITY MAYOR WAS PRESENTED WITH THE VERY SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL LINGKOD BAYAN AWARD AT MALACANANG PALACE.
This is the highest possible award given to government officials and employees by the Civil Service Commission and the Office of the President, and it conveys a great honor to the City Government of Santa Rosa as well as to Mayor Arlene, whose leadership earned it.
CSC Memorandum Circular No. 3 Series of 2011 states: "The conferment of the awards form part of the Commission's advocacy of promoting a culture of excellence and of recognizing and rewarding women and men for outstanding work performance, contribution and superior accomplishments or for consistent manifestation of exemplary ethical behavior in the public service." It means that Santa Rosa City Mayor Arlene Arcillas is now officially included in the list of public servants who are "models of honor, excellence and integrity in public service".
Radiant with joy at achieving the Malacanang award, and enhanced by her own natural beauty, Arlene proudly displays her certificate.
In the interview that followed, Arlene said she felt very honored to receive this distinction, not only because it recognized her hard work in the performance of her duties as City Mayor, but because it was fellow Rosenians who nominated her for the award and supported her through the whole process. She said: "As I always say, whatever award that I received or any accomplishment achieved, I offer and share with the people of Santa Rosa because if not for them, I would not be here, I would not be a public servant."
Evaluation of nominees for the award were based on outstanding impact, reliability, effectiveness and consistency of contribution or performance. What does this say about our city? It says that we, the voters, have made the right decisions and that collectively the city officials we voted for - Mayor Arlene Arcillas, Vice Mayor Arnel Gomez, and Councilors Dr. Luisito Algabre, Mythor Cenda?a, Laudemer Carta, Teresa Aala, Petronio Factoriza, Raymond Carvajal, Antonia Tatlonghari-Laserna, Eric Puzon, Paulino Camaclang and Edward Tiongcoe - are the very best in the whole country.
The official Presidential Award certificate displayed so deservedly and proudly by Mayor Arlene.
Let's face it with
true honesty to ourselves. Whoever our past preferred
candidates might have been -- whether they were relatives,
cronies, friends, colleagues, neighbors, acquaintances
or people who offered money for our vote, would they
ever have done so much for our city? Would their work
for the people of Santa Rosa City Laguna Philippines
have been so dedicated and devoted that they would ever
achieve national recognition and distinction?
Or would
our preferred candidates have been interested only in
personal glorification and enrichment -- like the deplorably
corrupt previous vice mayor and gangster Manuel Manoy
Alipon whose greed and lust were such that he would
do nothing for anyone but himself? We must never make
the same mistake again by wasting our votes on someone
so despicably destructive, so dishonorable, so immoral,
so desperate to divert our public funds into his or
her personal bank accounts.
The competition from other
provinces and other cities is always powerful and focused.
With Arlene Arcillas and Arnel Gomez at the helm of
a supportive team, it was ours that won. YES,
it was our Mayor representing our city, with the backing
of all our city officials, who won this award, and every
voter needs to remember this at the next election. The
majority of city voters never really know what goes
on behind closed doors after an election, but the
Civil Service Commission and the Office of the President
know every detail, because ultimately it's their
responsibility. The buck can't continue to be be passed
to someone else. It stops with them, and they are
inescapably accountable to the electorate. Personally,
I'm more than willing to put my trust in President Aquino
and the Civil Service Commission. I believe in them.
And I'm more than willing to put my trust in Mayor Arlene Arcillas and Vice Mayor Arnel Gomez. I believe in them too, and I also know how hard they both work for us - as do our city councilors. Sta Rosa. is so lucky to have such a great winning team.
- Angel Tugado (Photos courtesy of the Philippine Civil Service Commission.)
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More than 250 underprivileged Santa Rosa children received brand new toys from SM Foundation's Make A Child Happy Program.
SM FOUNDATION BRINGS JOY TO 450 DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN
SM FOUNDATION WAS SUPPORTED BY THE SANTA ROSA CITY SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL AND THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION THROUGH ITS "MAKE A CHILD HAPPY" PROJECT. SM Foundation together with SM City Sta. Rosa gave away both old and new toys which were donated by its mall shoppers via their Share A Toy program.
A picture tells a thousand words: this little girl's smile says it all.
200 kids from different barangays in Sta. Rosa City converged at the basketball court of Central III Elementary School to receive the toys while more than 250 children with their parents trooped to SM City Sta. Rosa's Exhibit Area to attend the Make a Child Happy Christmas Party organized by the SM Foundation.
The whole afternoon was filled with laughter as the children excitedly participated in the parlor games. Their excitement intensified when the host introduced McDonalds' ever lovable mascot Kid McDonald as the afternoon's special guest.
Employees of SM Sta. Rosa and SM Foundation participated in distributing the gifts.
Brand new toys were given away as well as snacks and treats from the event sponsors namely Mr. Donuts, Dunkin Donuts, Go Nuts Donuts, Quantum, Tom's World, Fruits and Waffles, Potato Corner, Potato Madness, Ice Breaker, Pick & Mix, Do Eat Cotton Candy, Whippy Soft Ice Cream, Grizzly Bear Ice Cream, Frost Bites, Milo Soft Serve Ice Cream, Purefoods TJ Hotdog, Magic Pop, Plato Wraps, Coco Fresco and Popperroo.
- Pamela Peters-Baun (Photos courtesy of SM Foundation)
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AQUABEST SUPPORTS WORLD TELEVISION WEEK
"WHETHER TO ENTERTAIN OR INFORM, television plays an important role in our society and our company is proud to partner with TV networks by supporting and sponsoring their shows," says Carson Tan CEO of GQWEST Inc Aquabest's mother company. The company has credited television with helping it grow from a single store to a store network of over 700 stores.
Tan recounts that as a minor player in the industry more than a decade ago they simply did not have the resources to advertise. Still he realized the importance of advertising to build the brand which compelled him to come up with a creative solution. "I realized that what we had plenty of water so I went to the TV networks and offered to sponsor their water in return for mileage." This pioneering strategy reaped great rewards for the company by raising its brand awareness helping it grow.
Since then, the company has not only continued supporting television shows it has expanded its efforts to supporting the outreach efforts of the networks. These include supplying water during events or during charitable efforts. The company says it plans to further expand its support to the networks as it sees this partnership as vital to its continued growth.
That's real dedication to a good cause and just for the record, here's what Rod Smith missed
in order to help clean up our mess: hundreds of Australian beauties gathering on sparkling
clean Surfers Paradise Beach at Gold Coast City to break the Guinness World Record for
the longest ever bikini parade. Good on yer, Rod! Let's make all our beaches look just as
clean and then let's beat the Aussie record with a parade of beautiful bikini clad Filipinas...
Hagonoy Creek is connected to Laguna de Bay and, despite the devastation of flooding caused by typhoon Ondoy, there are similar garbage dumps around the lake including many in Laguna province. We can't expect plane loads of foreigners like Rod Smith to come and clean up every polluted community in the Philippines. We need to get our acts together and clean up our own local environments wherever we live, whether it's lake or creek or beach or city streets.
Scroll down this page for Grace Muncada's report of the positive action that some people are already taking. More is desperately needed, and everyone living near the lake can help.
The garbage-filled creek is a hazard to health in the community that would be worsened by flooding from typhoon or tropical storm.
Luguna De Bay could be a beautiful attraction as well as a haven for nature and a rich source of food, but it badly needs help.
WE APPLAUD OUR PROVINCIAL GOVERNOR FOR HIS EFFORTS TO MAKE LAGUNA GREAT. He's already doing great things to improve housing, medical care and education for the poor, and has launched high profile campaigns and initiatives to clean up pollution, nurture the environment, and attract the wide range of investments needed for future development and growth.
Visit the Laguna Province official website for a free Investor's Guide and details of the Save Laguna Lake campaign. Also see the lead story on our Opinion Page. - Sarina Fernandez (Photos courtesy of Laguna Provincial Government).
Luguna Governor Jeorge "ER" Ejercito-Estregan has made it a top priority to clean up our lake's pollution and restore its natural beauty.
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SRM SALUTES EACH AND EVERY PHILIPPINE TEACHER
"It is no secret that teachers in the Philippines are the most affected by the economic hardship," - Rep. Maria Carmen Zamora-Apsay
TEACHERS ARE THE FRONT LINE OF OUR NATION'S FUTURE. Every parent knows that as well as a joy it's also very hard work to bring up children. From birth they have minds of their own which quickly develop, giving each a distinctive character and personality.
Some are quiet and docile, others are noisy and hyperactive. Some are focused and eager to learn, others have shorter attention spans and are not interested in learning. The differences are infinite, and no two children are the same.
Yet some public school teachers have classes of up to 60 children to control and teach. It's a daunting prospect even for the most dedicated, devoted and patient teacher, and a teacher's salary should reflect the importance of the job and the qualities required to do it.
Scroll down this page for the informative report by Joyce Franzly Racoma. - Sarina Fernandez (Graphic courtesy of PBSP).
Support the stand of Wikipedia, US President Obama, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Boing Boing, Reddit, Flickr, Cheezburger network,
and many others against the draconian bid by computer-illiterate American lawmakers to destroy the international freedom of the internet. Voting on the offensive proposed bills has now been postponed pending further consultation, but to combat the continuous lobbying and bribing of corrupt congressmen and senators by lawless corporations we will need to maintain our global pressure. To find out more and to stay updated on this issue just click anywhere on the above graphic.
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WHY ARE BILL AND MELINDA GATES
SALMAN KHAN'S GREATEST FANS?
(Because they know
his online tutorials make
world-class math education free to
anyone anywhere.)
PHILIPPINE
STUDENTS CURRENTLY REBELLING AGAINST
HIKES IN TUITION AND OTHER FEES
may take heart in the fact that rich and
powerful people in other countries are
doing a lot to assist them. The Khan
Academy (www.khanacademy.org)
is a a not-for-profit organization with
the mission of providing FREE
WORLD-CLASS EDUCATION TO ANYONE
ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD VIA THE INTERNET. It started with
math and over 30 million lessons have
been delivered to-date. More than 2000
free online video tutorials cover
everything from basic addition to
advanced calculus, physics, chemistry
and biology. The founder, Salman Khan,
holds an MBA from Harvard Business
School (www.hbs.edu), an M.Eng and B.S. in electrical
engineering and computer science from
MIT (web.mit.edu), and a B.S. in mathematics from MIT. Bill Gates in the above video describes what Salman Khan is doing as "the start of a revolution".
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (www.gatesfoundation.org)
is now helping to fund Khan Academy's
expansion to embrace other subjects than
math, and to develop analytical software
that will be an enormous boon to
students and teachers alike. The Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation is also
helping to fund other empowering
educational work such as The Big History
Project (www.bighistoryproject.com), which has already proved to be of
tremendous benefit to high school and
university students. Read
and view more on our special Education Revolution page.
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Support the stand of Wikipedia, US President Obama, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Boing Boing, Reddit, Flickr, Cheezburger network,
and many others against the draconian bid by computer-illiterate American lawmakers to destroy the international freedom of the internet. Voting on the offensive proposed bills has now been postponed pending further consultation, but to combat the continuous lobbying and bribing of corrupt congressmen and senators by lawless corporations we will need to maintain our global pressure. To find out more and to stay updated on this issue just click anywhere on the above graphic.
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"WHAT
WE HAVE IS A
PLANETARY EMERGENCY.
WHAT WE NEED IS A
GENERATION OF HEROES.
A hero generation
brought democracy to the planet.
Another hero generation ended
slavery. Another hero generation
brought women the right to vote.
We
now need a generation of heroes with
a generational mission to save our
planet. If we had just one week's
worth of what the USA spends on the
Iraq war, we would be well on the
way to doing this."
In the
above TED
video, Al Gore presents
evidence that the speed of climate
change is much faster than
previously predicted, and he warns
of the urgency to act NOW.
Once the
US Vice President, then star of "An
Inconvenient Truth", now Nobel Peace
Prize winner, Gore found a way to focus
the world's attention on climate change.
In doing so, he invented a new medium --
the Keynote movie -- and reinvented
himself. Unlike most people in public
office, Gore always intended to get
things done and, since leaving
Washington in 2000, he's still at it.
His campaign for alerting the world to
the dangers of climate change is gaining
momentum. His Oscar-winning "An
Inconvenient Truth" is the third
most successful documentary ever
released at the box office. It is being
used by governments around the world to
inform the local public, and the UK
government even sent a copy of the film
to every high school in England, Wales
and Scotland. Gore's famed PowerPoint
presentation, with its meticulously
researched content and lucid style, has
energized rapidly increasing numbers of
worldwide activists -- both young and
old. Meanwhile, Gore has transformed his
image as a communicator. The once
'wooden' style has given way to a warmth
and humor that reveal the depth of his
experience as a soldier, congressman,
senator, Vice President, TV executive,
teacher and author. Arguably, he is
better positioned today than ever before
to affect the future of our environment
and world. Along with the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in
2007 he was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize "for efforts to build
up and disseminate greater knowledge
about man-made climate change, and to
lay the foundations for the measures
that are needed to counteract such
change". Rolling Stone magazine has
commented: "The only Vice President ever
to mock his own stiff image by imitating
a wax-museum figure, Gore turns out to
be the best professor that you never had
-- easygoing, knowledgeable and funny."
To find out how you can get involved,
visit The
Climate Project official website.
Al Gore has written an article published
in the June 22, 2011, issue of Rolling
Stone that you may read
online. Also read the report in USA
Today's online edition of June 22
confirming that "97
percent of scientific experts agree
that climate change is very likely
caused mainly by human activity" based on Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences,
and USA Today includes an excellent interactive
graphic that explains clearly how
global warming occurs.
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FILIPINA IS DECLARED HERO
BY HILLARY CLINTON
Darlene Pajarito from Zamboanga receives the
2011 Hero Acting to End Modern Day
Slavery Award.
CONGRATULATIONS
TO DARLENE PAJARITO ON HER AWARD
from the
US Secretary of State, and
congratulations to everyone else in the
Philippines and Singapore whose
dedication, hard work and persistence
resulted in the removal of both nations
from the American blacklist of countries
most heavily involved with human
trafficking. They are all heroes too, and it is more
heroes like them that we now need to
save all Asia from the scourge of
political corruption, and our entire
planet from the ravages of man-made
climate change (for which
paradoxically the worst offender by
far is the USA.)
To
provide our viewers with more
information about the human trafficking
in Asia, below is the video of a talk
given by Somaly Mam. She is Cambodian,
was sold into sexual slavery as a child,
and during her several years of
captivity was repeatedly tortured and
raped every day before eventually
managing to make her escape.
For
women in other countries who have never
experienced anything remotely similar
themselves, such a situation is
extremely difficult to imagine. But for
girls abruptly caught up in human
trafficking as innocent young children,
the trauma is soul-destroying and its
effects last a lifetime.
Which makes it all the more amazing that Mam
later set up AFESIP (Agir Pour les
Femmes en Situation Précaire -
English translation: Acting for Women in
Distressing Circumstances), a nonprofit
non-government organization that
rescues, rehabilitates and reintegrates
victims of human trafficking, and that
she still works tirelessly to increase
awareness and support in the rest of the
world.
She
has received innumerable international
accolades for her work, including being
named one of the world's most
influential women by Time magazine.
Visit the AFESIP
official website to find out
more. (Courtesy of DLDwomen.)
Support the stand of Wikipedia, US President Obama, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Boing Boing, Reddit, Flickr, Cheezburger network,
and many others against the draconian bid by computer-illiterate American lawmakers to destroy the international freedom of the internet. Voting on the offensive proposed bills has now been postponed pending further consultation, but to combat the continuous lobbying and bribing of corrupt congressmen and senators by lawless corporations we will need to maintain our global pressure. To find out more and to stay updated on this issue just click anywhere on the above graphic.
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WHAT IS THE GLOBAL SUMMIT
OF WOMEN?
IRENE
NATIVIDAD, President of the
Washington USA based Global Summit of Women, explains what the
Summit is all about to Daljit Dhaliwal
on PBS' Foreign Exchange.
An
acclaimed participant in southeast Asia
is the Women, Family and Community
Development Minister of Malaysia,
Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. After
the Malaysian corporate sector was recently given
a five-year transitional period to
increase the number of women in high
positions or on the board of directors
of companies, she said this was because
many women had the qualifications,
potential, talent and experience needed
to be at the decision-making level.
"Based on studies done by other
countries which practise the same
policy, having women on the board of
directors or as chairmen has been found
to have raised productivity of the
companies," she announced. "It also does
not threaten the security market, the
corporate field or businesses in
Malaysia. In fact, we've seen growth in
the companies." Shahrizat added that her
ministry would soon start a training
program to prepare women with the
potential to sit on boards of directors.
"Women represent half of the nation's
population and we are a critical
consumer mass, so I don't see why women
should be left out in the
decision-making process," she said. Why
does the Philippines lag so far
behind? Is it because there are no
successful Filipina corporate leaders?
No. There are many. Is it because
there are no successful Filipinas
already running their own established
businesses? No. There are many. Is it
because there are no talented and
ambitious Filipina entrepreneurs eager
to create their own new startups? No.
There are many.
In
our situation, which stems from all
kinds of historical factors, SRM cannot
and does not apportion blame. What we
say is that the time has come for
change. It is our considered belief that
Philippine women must be fully
recognized, appreciated and rewarded for
their contribution not only to family
but to society. For too long their
contribution has been taken for granted
and continuously neglected.
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Aside from giving birth to male heroes, the amazing historical role of women in their own right has been for too long circumvented, ignored, neglected and suppressed. Click on the above graphic to see for yourselves how women are willing and able to speak for themselves on subjects that make a difference to everyone in the world today. - Sarina Fernandez, Editor of Santa Rosa Magazine.
Welcome to Santa Rosa
Magazine - the
accessible open e-magazine of Santa Rosa
City, Laguna, Philippines. No payment, no
registration, no login required.
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Protesters outside the US Embassy in Poland demonstrate against the bid to pass laws in America that would remove freedoms their grand- parents and parents fought the Nazis and the Russians to obtain. See the Yahoo Slideshow for a few examples of people around the globe whose lives would be directly affected by these laws.
Watch the above Yahoo Slideshow to see its enlarged photos of people around the world of all ages, including President Obama, and US servicemen on active duty overseas, using laptops to connect with their home, their office or their global social network. More than 2 billion people, most of which are not Americans, would be adversely affected if bills to control the internet are ever passed by the US Congress and Senate to become American law. The internet gives us all the freedom to communicate and learn and help others. It is not owned by the USA, and our need to protest is not over. Postponement pending consultation isn't the end. The world must keep up its global pressure. (Screenshot courtesy of Yahoo). Also see Angel Tugado's comments on our Opinion page.
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Forget the negative attitudes of stick-in-the-mud critics and do a Google search to see the creativity of Filipinos who have posted on the internet their own versions of DOT's inspiring
new tourism slogan. Who cares what the Swiss did in 1951? They didn't invent the English
language and they didn't coin the "it's more fun" phrase. Positive-thinking Filipinos like the
new slogan and are having lots of fun proving the truth in it. DOT deserves congratulations!
(See Angel Tugado's comments on our Opinion page.
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COMPUTER GAMERS' DREAM MACHINE
External and internal views of the Alienware Area-51 ALX personal gaming computer.
FORWARDED TO US BY ANGEL TUGADO, WHOSE TWO MAIN LOVES IN LIFE ARE APPLE AND ALIENWARE COMPUTERS, SRM CAN ONLY GAPE IN ENVIOUS WONDER AND QUOTE FREELY FROM DELL (THE MANUFACTURER OF ALIENWARE COMPUTERS):
"The new Area-51 ALX is Alienware's most powerful desktop, giving you the most bone-shaking, body-quaking performance in the universe. With the highest overclocked CPUs, the most extreme graphics and new aggressive design, you'll be the deadliest force that's known and feared by all other gamers. Go ahead -- the bragging rights are now yours.
Accelerate your gaming speed to heart-stopping levels with Intel Core i7 975 Extreme processors, pre-overclocked by Alienware's experts for ultimate power. Get the advantage of CPUs pushed up to two or three additional bin speeds -- as high as 3.86GHz. With the highest overclocked speeds around, you'll be amazed by what you can do.
Conquer and destroy any competition with the most powerful graphics in the universe. ATI CrossFireX™ and NVIDIA® SLI graphics deliver higher frame rates at HD resolutions, all while maxing out game settings. Choose the GPU brand that best fits your needs. Then add a second graphics card to experience a new level of spectacular performance -- all of it cooler and quieter, thanks to the liquid-cooled configuration.
ATI CrossFireX - Dominate any game with the ultimate multi-GPU performance gaming platform, enhanced by the latest Microsoft DirectX technology.
NVIDIA SLI - Don't dial back game settings; crank 'em up. With NVIDIA SLI graphics and Microsoft DirectX technology, you will experience your digital media like never before.
Multi-GPU Support - Add a second graphics card to increase your gaming performance by up to 100%, while enjoying more vivid images and faster transitions. With dual graphics cards, you can power up to four independent digital displays. Stay deep within your game on a main monitor and still keep up with your other tasks.
Build your system with the best gaming GPUs and still have room for the other essentials of an immersive experience, including crystal clear sound and optimized networking.
Alienware Command Center provides intuitive, user-friendly access to exclusive applications, including AlienFX® lighting effects, Alienware thermal controls and AlienFusion power management. Updates and new releases download directly into Command Center, creating a constantly evolving tool for personalizing your system.
AlienFX Lighting -- Choose from an array of 20 colors -- up to an amazing 64 million lighting color combinations -- to customize the effects across several distinct zones.
The Alienware Area-51 ALX Desktop is designed for Total Domination. Its power is undeniable -- inside and out. Take command immediately with Alienware's all-new, anodized aluminum case design that includes motorized vents for managing your thermals and intimidating the competition.
Active Venting -- This Alienware-exclusive feature helps your system stay cooler in the heat of battle. Controlled through Alienware's Command Center, the series of motorized vents can be programmed to allow greater airflow in high-performance situations.
Easy, Lighted Access - Look inside the Alienware Area-51 ALX, and you'll see why it's easier than ever to make this desktop your own. You can access most of the core components without any tools for faster upgrades. And the chassis includes two-zone, internal theater lighting -- powered by rechargeable batteries -- so you can service the system even when the A/C cord is unplugged.
Liquid Cooling - Eliminate distractions with high-performance CPU liquid cooling, which is more than twice as quiet as the standard heatsink and fans on other PCs. The efficient cooling also increases the reliability of your overclocked settings."
(Drop by the Alienware website to see more about gaming computers, and read Angel Tugado's compliments about the educational value of gaming and the ingenuity of gamers on our Opinion page.)
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"unique role and service in guiding families, strengthening communities, and building the nation"
-- President Benigno Aquino
TEACHERS ARE HEROES AND WE MUST REWARD THEM ACCORDINGLY
TEACHERS DESERVE MORE THAN JUST OUR THANKS, since they should be emulated as heroes who risk their lives time and time again even beyond the call of duty.
This global homage to educators came from a business membership-led organization and development foundation involved in corporate citizenship and social responsibility projects involving education, health, livelihood, and the environment.
The corporate-led Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) is currently a partner of the Department of Education (DepEd) in its Ten Moves--Bayanihang Pampaaralan program and the 57-75 Reverse the Education Crisis movement.
In commemoration of the World Teachers' Day on Wednesday and the country's very own National Teachers' Month, PBSP also expressed its support for the Metrobank Foundation and its My Teacher My Hero project (see video below).
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) earlier designated October 5 of every year as World Teachers' Day to celebrate the central role that teachers have played in guiding the children, youth, and adults through life-long learning process, according to a recent proclamation of President Benigno Aquino III.
In his Presidential Proclamation No. 242 signed last August 24, the President declared the period from September 5 to October 5 of every year as National Teachers' Month to generate widespread awareness and support for World Teachers' Day here in the country.
Earlier, in his Presidential Proclamation No. 41 last year, President Aquino declared the first Friday of September to 05 October 2010 as National Teachers' Month.
"It is essential to revitalize the image of teaching as a vocation by increasing public awareness on the value of teachers in Philippine society and national development," the President said in his August proclamation.
He said National Teachers' Month would be an occasion to celebrate among Filipinos "the unique role and service that teachers play in guiding families, strengthening communities, and building the nation."
In two bills pending before the Lower House of Congress, brother-representatives Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City and Maximo Rodriguez Jr. of the Abante Mindanao party-list group filed House Bill No. 3409, while fellow congressman Antonio Tinio of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) party-list group authored H.B. No. 4097 seeking to declare October 5 of every year as National Teachers' Day.
Bills co-author Rep. Maria Carmen Zamora-Apsay of Compostela Valley said this piece of legislation was earlier approved on second reading before the House Committee on Basic Education during its recent hearing on September 26.
"It is no secret that teachers in the Philippines are the most affected by the economic hardship," Rep. Apsay said in a press statement, adding she is herself the daughter of a teacher.
The ComVal congresswoman added: "We all know that they are not only overworked, they are also underpaid. They risk life and limb just to teach deserving students in far-flung areas, and even serve selflessly during census duties and elections -- despite meager benefits, difficult working conditions and minimal protection."
- Joyce Franzly Racoma (Graphic courtesy of PBSP).
Red Gonzaga from PBSP-CRTD explains vermicomposting as a waste management solution.
ORGANIC AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY GETS RID OF GARBAGE
TWO YEARS HAVE GONE BY, and the memories of typhoon Ondoy still stir up fear among the people, especially those living near bodies of water. For citizens residing near the Hagonoy Creek in Taguig, the threat of another killer flood is resurfacing as tons of garbage pile up like islands on the stinking creek connected to Laguna de Bay.
Recently, a new organic process called vermicomposting, which turns biodegradable wastes into an eco-friendly fertilizer, was developed by the Philippine Business for Social Progress - Center for Rural Technology Development (PBSP-CRTD), making it possible to get rid of garbage in a resourceful way.
PBSP-CRTD introduced this process to the Waste Management Unit of Taguig during the Clean-up Drive led by the Australian Embassy in partnership with the City Government of Taguig and Clean Up the Philippines Movement.
During his explanatory talk, Gonzaga demonstrates the process of making vermicasts.
Vermicomposting is the process of making texturized, sanitized, and deodorized form of castings made up of organic matters excreted by earthworms.
Prior to putting the worms, the biodegradable trash is crushed and left to decompose for about two weeks. Earthworms then feed on decomposed materials and their excreted substance called vermicast is eventually mixed with the fertilized soil as organic fertilizer and soil conditioner.
Vermicompost provides plants with complete essential nutrition, hastening seed germination, plant growth, flowering, and fruiting. It contains beneficial microorganisms and is a proven effective solution to waste management problems, like the case in Taguig.
CRTD is PBSP's demo farm located in Calauan, Laguna. It is a laboratory for developing, testing, validating, and disseminating appropriate farming technologies. It also has an improved farming system and agricultural technology designed to optimize the use of land, providing ample yield for the farmer's economic advantage.
PBSP-CRTD with the Waste Management Unit of Taguig City during the turnover of vermicomposting materials at the Australian Embassy's Clean Up Drive in Barangay Hagonoy.
The BUKHAY or Bukid ng Buhay (Farm of Life) is the name of the farm developed by CRTD to serve as venue for integrated farming systems. CRTD conducts study tour in BUKHAY and other community development and project sites in the country. They give trainings in vermiculture, aquaculture, livestock, tilapia hatchery and production, and lowland agroforestry.
Other courses offered are fruit crops production, ornamental plant production and management, food processing, demo-farm establishment, and solid waste management.
Individuals or organizations interested in agricultural technology may contact PBSP-CRTD at (049) 568-0168 or email crtd.pbsp@gmail.com.
Taguig waste management workers take up their oars to row across the garbage-filled creek.
Cleaning up is not just one day. Vermicomposting is just one of the ways to reduce the garbage in the Hagonoy Creek. Waste management is a shared responsibility, as pointed out by Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano during the Clean Up Drive.
Mayor Cayetano reminded the residents to check their waste disposal habits. "Mas gagaan po kung tulong-tulong. Huwag natin ipasa lahat sa gobyerno ang problema. Hindi naman sila ang nagtatapon ng basura (It would be lighter if everyone's participating. Let's not pass all the problems to the government. After all, it's not the government that dumps the garbage)."
Australian Ambassador Rod Smith reiterated that natural disasters (like typhoon Ondoy) cannot be stopped, but people can strengthen the community resilience against calamities.
Roald Arcangel, chairman of Clean Up the Philippines said that cleaning is not just done in one day. "All of us must start doing our share for the environment," he added.
The Clean Up Drive is an activity to promote environmental awareness and community action to reduce vulnerability to natural disaster.
"Let us
end the culture of negativism; let us
uplift our fellow Filipinos at every
opportunity. Why are there people who
enjoy finding fault in our country,
who find it so hard - as though it
were a sin - to say something nice?
Can we even remember the last time we
praised a fellow Filipino?"
"Let us
stop pulling our fellow man down. Let
us put an end to our crab mentality.
Let us make the effort to recognize
the good that is being done."
"If you
see something right, do not think
twice - praise it. If you see a
policeman directing traffic, coatless
beneath the rain - go to him and say,
"Thank you.""
"If you
fall sick, and you see your nurse
caring for you, when she could easily
be treating foreigners for a higher
salary - say, "Thank you.""
"Before
you leave school for home, approach
your teacher who chose to invest in
your future - say, "Thank you.""
"If you
chance upon your local leader on a
road that was once riddled with holes,
but is now smooth and sturdy - go to
him and say, "Thank you, for the
change you have brought.""
Thank you PNoy for winning against all robber
politicians and giving our nation
back to its lawful owners: the
Filipino people.
"Do you
want the corrupt held accountable? So
do I. Do you want to see the end of
wang-wang, both on the streets and in
the sense of entitlement that has led
to the abuse that we have lived with
for so long? So do I. Do you want to
give everyone a fair chance to improve
their lot in life? So do I."
"I say to
those who would lead us astray: if you
will further disadvantage the poor, do
not even think about it. If all you
would do is to fill your own pockets,
do not even think about it. If it is
not for the benefit of the Filipino
people, do not even think about it."
"If we
ignore the crimes of the past, they
will continue to haunt us. And if we
do not hold people accountable, then
they will do it again and again."
"To those
of you who would turn back the tide of
reform: you will not succeed."
Congratulations to Miss Universe 2011 (above right), Leila Lopes from Angola,
and to our own Shamcey Supsup (above left), who was placed 3rd Runner Up,
one position higher than Venus Raj last year. Editorial photos courtesy of Miss Universe Organization. (More...)
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You don't need to live in Manila to get
superfast internet. Now you can apply online in
Santa Rosa.
Globe continues to lead the way in Sta. Rosa with its innovative customizable broadband plans.
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Filipinos are making their presence felt
abroad!
MESSAGE FROM CESAR GUARIN
AND ISPORT BOTAK
WE AS FILIPINOS HAVE SO MANY THINGS TO
BE PROUD OF. Today, more than
ever, we are growing as an important
part of the international community.
Slowly, but surely, our presence is
being felt abroad, from the unanimous
recognition of Many Pacquiao as the
world's current best boxer to the
massive expansion of local brands such
as Jollibee, SM, and Bench. We are
proving that indeed, the Filipino is
world-class.
Products
include high quality custom-made
Filipino sportswear.
Given
these exciting new opportunities for us
to show the world our talents, we would
like to solicit your support in helping
us raise awareness for our homegrown
brand, Isport BOTAK. We are the
trademark for Filipinos who are
passionate about their sports and
require high quality custom-made sports
apparel and competition wear. By
supporting us, you are not only helping
local brands to flourish, you are
declaring that anything foreigners can
do, we can do also!
Kabayan, thank you for your time, and we
sincerely hope to make you a part of our
effort to promote what is truly
Filipino! You can find out more on the Botak Philippines website.
Mabuhay
ang Pilipino! Ipagmalaki ang galing
ng Pinoy!
Bob and Jenny Rippy are Enchanted by the Philippines!
Bob and Jenny are warmly welcomed by
Mario and Cynthia.
THE
CHAIRMAN OF IAAPA (International
Association of Amusement Parks and
Attractions) Robert "Bob" Rippy and his
beautiful wife Jenny on arriving in
Manila were given a very warm welcome by
Mario O. Mamon, Chairman and President
of Enchanted Kingdom and Third
Vice-Chairman of IAAPA, and his
beautiful wife Cynthia.
A
former Wall Street Executive as well as
licensed pilot, the gifted Bob Rippy was
able to walk through almost every corner
of America and travel through different
parts of the globe. While working for
this glamorous citadel of money,
prestige and power, he was only able to
find fulfilment in the world of family
entertainment, specifically the Family
Entertainment Center (FEC) business.
He
left Wall Street to create the famous
Wilmington, North Carolina, attraction
known as the Jungle Rapids Family Fun
Park, as its president and owner. This
expansive family entertainment site
hosts an array of wholesome, enjoyable
and captivating amenities that will make
each member of the family happy. It
features a miniature golf course, a
full-scale waterpark as well as a
go-kart track. It also boasts of the Sky
Tower, a ride very similar to the
EKSTREME Tower Ride at Enchanted Kingdom
in Sta. Rosa Laguna. With its
ever-changing, always exciting amenities
and features, park goers not only in
North Carolina, but all along the US
eastern seaboard can always look forward
to visiting Mr. Rippy's Rapids.
Following
the phenomenal success of Jungle Rapids,
Mr. Rippy went out of his way to give
back to the industry he loves by being a
very active volunteer member of IAAPA,
especially in its Family Entertainment
Center constituency. He became one of
the most highly respected leaders in the
industry and was elevated to Chairman of
the Board for 2011 at the IAAPA Annual
Trade Show & Convention held in
Orlando, Florida, USA, last November
2010. This makes him the first Family
Entertainment Center (FEC) operator and
sole proprietor to hold that position
throughout the 92-year history of IAAPA,
a significant new record for the
industry and for history.
Rippy
manages IAAPA through a Board of
Directors and Staff, and with the help
of the incumbent officers composed of
First Vice-Chairman Roland Mack,
Managing Director of Europa Park in
Rust, Germany, Second Vice-Chairman Will
Morey, President and CEO of Morey's
Piers located at Wildwood, New Jersey,
USA, and Third Vice-Chairman Mario O.
Mamon, Chairman & President of
Enchanted Kingdom in the Philippines. Mr
Mamon is the first Asian, and proudly
the first Filipino, to be elected as a
Vice-Chairman of IAAPA and will become
its Chairman in 2014.
While in the Philippines Rippy met with
personalities from the private and
public sectors that work in the
amusement and attractions industry and
tourism. DOT Secretary Alberto A. Lim
welcomed him during a courtesy call at
his office where he was briefed about
the renewed thrusts and priorities of
the tourism sector and how the amusement
and attractions industry can play a key
role in these future plans. Rippy also
delivered a message and inducted new
members of PhilAAPA (Philippine
Association of Amusement Parks &
Attractions), the local national
industry association that is aligned
with IAAPA, during an afternoon
networking activity. Other highlights of
his trip included visits to various
IAAPA member institutions in the country
led by Enchanted Kingdom, the country's
first and only world-class theme park,
SM Family Entertainment Centers Inc,
Star City, Manila Ocean Park, and
Zoomanity Group.
Indeed,
Bob and Jenny Rippy were enchanted by
what the Philippines can offer, from its
array of world class family amusement,
attractions and entertainment sites to
the warmth and hospitality of the
Filipino people. To this end, he can be
certain that all the programs that he is
espousing and envisioning through the
IAAPA will reach fruition and beyond in
our country.
See
more news in our special Enchanted Kingdom section.
Flores de Laguna flourishes in Santa
Rosa, sustaining and enriching our
local culture.
FLORES DE LAGUNA CELEBRATION
AT ENCHANTED KINGDOM FOSTERS
CREATIVITY, ENVIRONMENTAL
AWARENESS AND LOVE FOR FILIPINO
CULTURE
Designers,
models and sponsors are celebrated
in a profusion
of elegant and stunningly
beautiful Philippine formal wear,
with tradition ingeniously
enhanced by modern flair.
DONNING
ECO-FRIENDLY TERNOS AND BARONGS
specially
designed by the most renowned
designers from Laguna, these
good-looking ladies and gentlemen
flashed their best smiles and exuded
the grace and confidence that made the
park guests bow down in their
presence.
Of
course, those who stood out were able
to take home awards and fabulous
prizes courtesy of Eldar the Wiz and
his sponsors. This year's top awards
include the Reyna Delos Flores, who
was awarded to the same lovely lady
who bagged the special sponsor award,
Ms. Pink Water, Ms. Ymarie Larios. She
is joined by Mr. Flores de Laguna, who
also took home the Mr. Black Water
award, Mr. Darius Bayron. This year's
Reyna Elena who is also the winner of
the Best in Cultural Gown award went
to Ms. Ria Catrina Barquin.
The
awardees of the special prizes are Ms.
Neisel Anne Cabangbang , who won Ms.
Photogenic, with Mr. Paulo De La
Merced who was awarded Mr. Photogenic.
The Ms. Slimmer's World award went to
Nicole Villabros while Mr. Aficionado
went to Carlo Solarte. And the lady
who carried her gown the best is no
less than the winner of the Best in
Gown award, Ms. Jaira Estrella.
The
creative designers behind the fabulous
gowns also took home prizes from
pageant sponsors. The winner of the
Best Designer award is Mr. Luisito
Pangilinan, who competed in the best
designer for bridal, burda and
indigenous attire category. Mr. Cris
De Leon won Best designer under the
industrial category. A special
citation for the indubitable support
to the annual flores de Laguna and
winner of Best Designer for three
straight years (from 2008-2010) was
given to Mr. Chico Estiva.
Enchanted
Kingdom also honoured the prestigious
HACO of Laguna, led by Mr. Tony
Bernardo and Ms. Rodalyn Delgado for
their valuable support through the
years, along with the many other new
designers who participated in the
event, namely Jose Mondido, Romeo
Oracion, Naneth Orajay, Leo Romero,
Mon Panganiban and Obet de Keisha.
This
year's Flores de Laguna is made
possible through the support of Yushi
production, Slimmer's World, Trans
Ocean, Careline and Ever Bilena.
This
parade of beauty, art and culture is a
testament the dedication of the
citizens of Laguna and Enchanted
Kingdom, in fostering creativity,
environmental awareness and love for
our own rich Filipino culture.
For more information, visit the official Enchanted Kingdom website.
Stories by Beth Gokauchi (Photos courtesy of Enchanted Kingdom.)
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Visitors absorbed and impressed by the practical, informative exhibits and the friendly, helpful team.
AQUABEST TEAMWORK SCORES AGAIN AT FRANCHISE ASIA
HOT ON THE HEELS OF THEIR SUCCESS AT THE FILIPINO FRANCHISE SHOW, team Aquabest, led by CEO Carson Tan with his crowdpulling celebrities and mascot Aquabuzz, made it two in a row at Franchise Asia.
The company, a long time member of the Philippine Franchise Association (PFA), which organizes Franchise Asia, has a nationwide network of around 500 stores, making it a leading player in the water franchising industry.
Aquabuzz and celebrities entertained the crowds and led the exciting activities, games and raffles.
Being the one of the top crowd drawers in the show, the company's booth generated a large number of inquiries from interested franchisees whilst its lively activities games and raffles created public interest and awareness. Aquabest also launched the second leg of its Shift Happens Campaign at the show, focusing on its new Combostore concept as the future of the water refilling industry.
"We see the Combostore as comprising a majority of new franchisees in the coming years. Since we introduced it in April, there are already several Combostores opening. This confirms our belief that the industry is moving away from price driven to value driven," said Carson Tan, adding that he sees more combostores opening in the next few months especially from applicants from the show.
The Combostore franchise integrates three tried, tested, and successful concepts into one. Bundled in the package are GQWEST's Aquabest, Laundrybest, and Oxyplus brands. Aquabest is the company's flagship brand, which is shifting to offer structured water. Laundrybest is the company's Laundromat franchise, while Oxyplus is their oxygenated alkaline water brand. Individually, the brands are all very successful and widely known; together they form a revolutionary and holistic way of looking at the water franchise industry.
Exhausted by their efforts and thrilled with their success, team Aquabest bids goodbye till next year.
Franchisees of the Combostore stand to benefit from the expanded target market and synergies resulting from the fusion of the three brands. This triples their opportunities and chances for success without spending to individually invest in the three brands. The concepts offer a faster return period and better margins. Compared to other water franchising concepts, it is more efficient and sustainable. It does this by maximizing the use of every resource from the water to the manpower of each store.
- Almira Antiporda (Photos courtesy of Aquabest.)
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Aside from giving birth to male heroes, the amazing historical role of women in their own right has been for too long circumvented, ignored, neglected and suppressed. Click on the above graphic to see for yourselves how women are willing and able to speak for themselves on subjects that make a difference to everyone in the world today. - Sarina Fernandez, Editor of Santa Rosa Magazine.
LG
is one of the global companies
leading the world with its
eco-friendly corporate mission.
See what LG products are available in the
Philippines.
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Prize winning photographer Yen Baet grew
up in Laguna.
YEN BAET'S STUNNING SUCCESS
AT HER VERY FIRST ATTEMPT
IT'S NEVER
EASY TO GAIN ENTRY TO THE WORLD OF
PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS,
no
matter what your nationality. The
technical standards are astronomical,
the physical stamina is equal to an
Olympic marathon runner, the mental
focus beats any rottweiler or pit bull
terrier, and the international
competition is sharp and fierce as Manny
Pacquiao's split-second punch that
knocked out the weight division's
reigning world champion Ricky Hatton. That is, if you're a man....
If you're a woman, forget it. No way.
Top professional photography is a macho
profession, right? You've no chance
whatever, anywhere, anytime. WRONG!
Our own
brave and brilliant Yen Baet has now
convincingly proved this to the whole
world. If a woman can conquer the
supreme male bastion of National
Geographic, then truly women can conquer
anything....
Above is Yen's winning photo of a rainy
night at Hallstadt in Austria. To local
Austrians the general scenario is part
of their everyday lives, but it takes a
true photographer's creativity and
patience to envision, wait for and
combine the right weather, right time,
right angle, right camera, right lens,
right filter, right tweaks and
adjustments and finally to produce this
deeply moving 3-D effect of a peaceful
scenic alpine lakeside village in
central Europe at twilight.
Based at present in England both for its own
photographic attractions and for its
easy access to all parts of Europe and
the world, more than anything else Yen
would like to spend some time taking
photos in the land of her birth and
upbringing. In confirmation of this
ambition she quotes Philippine hero Dr.
Jose Rizal: "Don't be a stranger to your
own country." We look forward to her
photos of the Philippines.
You
can see more on the competition at National Geographic and find out more about
Yen on her official website.
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October's 25th Anniversary Performance sold out within minutes, but it's now available on DVD.
"PHANTOM OF THE OPERA" IS THE LONGEST RUNNING LIVE MUSICAL EVER TO BE STAGED IN BOTH LONDON'S WEST END AND NEW YORK'S BROADWAY.
ALL SEATS FOR THE 25th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT WERE SOLD OUT WITHIN MINUTES WHEN THE DATE AND VENUE WERE ANNOUNCED. Not even the immensely popular "Les Misérables" has achieved such incredible worldwide success, although the French musical based on Victor Hugo's novel is undoubtedtly the first and closest runner-up.
Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer of "Phantom Of The Opera" and of many many other successful musicals, has received so many international awards that he would need a museum to display them all.
But it wasn't plain sailing. Just like other new enterprises there were never any guarantees, and the original production needed total self-belief combined with total belief in the cast and production team.
If you are an entrepreneur here in the Philippines, never be deterred by the size of competitors. The bigger the enterprise the higher the risk, and the greater the losses if it should fail. It's the same all over the world. When you start small you have less to lose, and in many situations this is a big advantage.
A small enterprise can respond much faster to changing situations, because a big enterprise has a hierarchy of management that delays response and often diverts it round and round the organization to avoid responsibility for making a decision.
Lloyd Webber as creator and Cameron Mackintosh as his producer both started small. They went through all the same ups and downs of managing money and people that everybody starting a business anywhere in the world has to go through. They proved that with talent and determination it's possible to start from nothing and achieve international success.
In doing so they paved the way for performers too, including our eternally beloved Lea Salonga, who starred in several Mackintosh productions in both London and New York and is now a highly respected United Nations Ambassador.
BEWARE!!! BEWARE!!!
"FUN TOUR" PROMOS
OF CEBU PACIFIC AIR
CEBU PACIFIC'S ONLINE CHEAP FLIGHT PROMOS ARE GENERALLY FINE BUT IF YOU BOOK A "FUN TOUR" PACKAGE TO INCLUDE A HOTEL STAY, YOUR TRIP CAN BECOME A NIGHTMARE.
Some friends of mine booked a 5 day 4 night "Fun Tour" with Cebu Pacific and paid in full online 3 months in advance including the 4 night stay at a hotel chosen from the recommended list on the Cebu Pacific website.
Before their trip, on searching for the hotel's website to print out a location map, they discovered to their astonishment that the hotel had closed down almost 2 weeks previously, yet no word of this had been communicated to them by Cebu Pacific.
Then came the serious problem with CP's online bookings: contacting anyone about them is almost impossible. Their website gives no email address. Just "Hotline" telephone numbers in Manila and Cebu that are permanently busy.
My friends spent nearly a whole day repeatedly dialling before at last getting through. But these "Hotlines" are not to Cebu Pacific. They are to a Call Center with the function of filtering, taking notes, and passing queries to a supervisor who decides whether or not to pass them on to Cebu Pacific. It's a slow, laborious, frustrating, inconvenient, costly (you're paying for phone call) process.
In this case my friends' message was considered serious enough to pass on, and some hours later they received a call from Cebu Pacific saying they had contacted the destination hotel which informed them it had only been closed for a single day and there was no problem with it.
My friends questioned this because it contradicted the notice on the hotel's own official website, and were asked to hold while Cebu Pacific double-checked. The caller, who gave no name or direct line for future contact, returned to say the hotel had confirmed it was open and there would be no problem. "Just go there." So they did.
"Fun Tour" was Nightmare Trip for vacationers who booked Cebu Pacific online promo.
Upon late night arrival at the destination airport and clearance through immigration and customs, they encountered another regular difficulty with "Fun Tour" promos. No transportation to hotel is included. After trying unsuccessfully to find a bus going in the right direction, they were finally forced to take a taxi, which cost them as much as a night at the hotel, which they reached at about 2am.
When they got there, the door was open but the reception desk was unattended. Calling out and knocking on the counter a few times eventually resulted in the appearance of someone clearly irritated at being disturbed. She looked at the reservation details on the Cebu Pacific e-ticket, brought a man out from inside and told my friends to follow him.
The man, whose manner was equally disinterested and offhand, made no attempt to help carry their baggage and walked out of the hotel into the street, where it had started to rain. Carrying their own baggage and struggling to keep up, my friends followed him in the rain through narrow dimly lit streets, then up some stairs, through an empty building, down the stairs on the other side and further along another dark and wet street to end up at a different hotel.
This hotel was part of the same group of budget hotels, but it was not the one my friends had chosen and did not provide the same room facilities. The hotel receptionist was aggressively rude on being questioned about the one they had booked, confirming that it had permanently closed and adding that if my friends did not like this one they could get out and go somewhere else.
They pointed out that they had paid for 4 nights in advance, had already lost half of the first night, and asked if they could get their money back. The receptionist replied that they had paid the owner, not him, and there would be no refund if they did not stay there. He then demanded a substantial deposit for the room key, although no such deposit was mentioned on the Cebu Pacific website.
The Cebu Pacific e-ticket shows 4 nights' stay with checkout on Friday September 30.
By then it was too late and my friends were too tired to search for another hotel, and without refund they did not have enough spare cash to pay another hotel for the same 4 nights they had already paid Cebu Pacific for. Reluctantly they paid the room key deposit and stayed there 4 nights.
On the positive side, next morning their included American breakfast was fine, and the hotel's eatery staff were efficient and friendly. When they wandered out to walk around, they found that the location was in a tourist area largely frequented by backpackers so there was plenty of cheap transportation for sightseeing and a pickup point nearby for the airport shuttle bus.
However, my friends' "Fun Tour" package vacation nightmare was by no means over. The worst part was yet to come...
- Edu Garcia (Story of Cebu Pacific customers' ongoing nightmare to be continued.)
See also www.ThePhilippineWay.org
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Protesters outside the US Embassy in Poland demonstrate against the bid to pass laws in America that would remove freedoms their grand- parents and parents fought the Nazis and the Russians to obtain. See the Yahoo Slideshow for a few examples of people around the globe whose lives would be directly affected by these laws.
Watch the above Yahoo Slideshow to see its enlarged photos of people around the world of all ages, including President Obama, and US servicemen on active duty overseas, using laptops to connect with their home, their office or their global social network. More than 2 billion people, most of which are not Americans, would be adversely affected if bills to control the internet are ever passed by the US Congress and Senate to become American law. The internet gives us all the freedom to communicate and learn and help others. It is not owned by the USA, and our need to protest is not over. Postponement pending consultation isn't the end. The world must keep up its global pressure. (Screenshot courtesy of Yahoo). Also see Angel Tugado's comments on our Opinion page.
