Philippine Canadian Inquirer Issue #69

CANADA’S FIRST AND ONLY NATIONWIDE FILIPINO-CANADIAN NEWSPAPER www.canadianinquirer.net

VOL. 6 NO. 69

JUNE 21, 2013

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PH, Taiwan shun force

Canada against online child sexual abuse

Google launches Internet beaming balloons

Filipino Canadian in Focus: Jose Amor “Jampy” Flores

PH stocks plunge 6.8%

A Flair for Fashion: Filipino style

Against a backdrop of peaceful doves PRESIDENT Aquino administers the oath of office to five newly elected senators from the administration coalition—Loren Legarda, Grace Poe, Francis Escudero, Aquilino Pimentel III and Juan Edgardo Angara—during an omnibus swearing-in on June 13 of victorious national and local candidates of the Liberal Party-led alliance in the May elections.

PHOTO BY LYN RILLON

Aquino: We will not back down

A BEAUTY pageant. The Oscars. Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Lady Gaga’s newest monstrosity of a dress. We can’t help it—we’re glued to the tube. We browse through the glossies and society pages eyeing the cut and color of cloth, the shade of lipstick, the style of hair.

We love every bit of it. Ukay-ukays from makeshift stalls that sell accessories to full-fledged flea markets dot the sidewalks of Metro Manila. We invite fashion icons from Sarah Jessica Parker to Top Model Allison Harvard to open shopping malls and don on local collections.

Filipinos love fashion, all the glitz and glamor (or grit and OMG! factor) that come with it. In this issue, we revisit the first ever CANADA PHILIPPINE FASHION WEEK in photos; we delve into the Filipiniana and what Home it says about us as - canadianinquirer.net - Powered by Discuz http://www.canadianinquirer.ne a people; we dip into the joy of that one great find at Divisoria or Cubao X. (On pp.30-33)

PRESIDENT Aquino last week vowed that the Philippines “will not back down from any challenge” to its sovereignty amid a territorial dispute with China.

In a speech marking the 115th anniversary of Philippine independence

from Spain, Aquino said the country had not claimed territory that clearly belonged to another nation, but only asked that “our territory, rights and dignity be respected.”

“Aggression does not run in our veins, but neither will we back down from any challenge,” the President told govern❱❱ PAGE 11 Aquino: We will

MILF: Talks deadlocked ❱❱ PAGE 10

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Philippine News

3 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III says the bitter rivalry between him and Juan Miguel Zubiri is now “water under the bridge.”

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Pimentel reaches out to Zubiri

BY CATHY YAMSUAN Philippine Daily Inquirer WITH the senatorial elections over and done with, reelected Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III is now looking to “patch things up” with rival Juan Miguel Zubiri after their bitter quarrel during the campaign.

Pimentel also hopes to reconnect with Vice President Jejomar Binay, from whom he has been estranged following his quarrel with Zubiri.

Right after being proclaimed the eighth winner in the recent senatorial contest, Pimentel announced his plan to have lunch with Zubiri.

But three weeks after, the two gentlemen from Mindanao have yet to break bread with each other.

“It’s my fault,” Pimentel admitted.

“I only announced it to media, then through Twitter, but never did I tell him directly of my plan… I should do it personally, either through text or call. But I should, I should,” the senator said in a mixture of English and Filipino.

“Maybe next week? Next week is a good time. I’ll invite (Zubiri). I will look for his number. The elders taught us to be magnanimous in victory,” he said.

The rift between the two began in 2007 when Zubiri, a Bukidnon representative and candidate of the Arroyo administration’s Lakas-NUCD, was proclaimed 12th-place winner in the senatorial elections that year, edging out Pimentel.

Pimentel claimed fraud, specifically in Maguindanao province where the Arroyo administration had supposedly concentrated its dagdag-bawas (voteshaving and -padding) operations.

The Senate Electoral Tribunal eventually declared Pimentel the winner of the 2007 elections in 2011, but not before Zubiri had announced his resignation out of delicadeza, delivering an emotional privilege speech.

The cold war between the two lasted until the following year when Pimentel left the opposition United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) after one of the coalition leaders, deposed President Joseph Estrada, said Zubiri would be drafted as a senatorial candidate.

Pimentel told reporters then he would not be able to stand on the same stage as Zubiri, raise his hand and endorse his senatorial bid after what transpired between them.

With all the drama concluded, Pimentel said he remains optimistic that Zubiri would respond favorably to his invitation.

He recalled how Zubiri was quite amiable when they met by chance at the El Shaddai rally just before the May 13 election. The two had attended the rally at the invitation of El Shaddai leader Mike Velarde who endorsed their senatorial bids.

“We had a good meeting at El Shaddai the Saturday before the election.

We shook hands, we were seated next to

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❱❱ PAGE 13 Pimentel reaches

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Philippine News

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 4

BI: Chinese poachers won’t be deported yet BYJOCELYN R. UY Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, Philippines—The 12 Chinese nationals arrested for alleged poaching at Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park in April will not be deported until after their case has been terminated or they have served their sentence, according to the Bureau of Immigration.

Ma. Antonette Mangrobang, spokesperson for the immigration bureau, said last week that a deportation order had been issued for the 12 Chinese, who were “undocumented,” but they must “remain detained” until the order could be implemented.

Mangrobang said the suspected poachers would be turned over to the immigration bureau only if they would be released on bail.

Marine park rangers arrested the 12 Chinese when their vessel ran aground on an atoll at Tubbataha in early April.

A search of the vessel yielded a large cargo of frozen pangolin meat, believed bound for Chi-

na’s exotic-food market.

The pangolin, or anteater, is an endangered species. It is protected by Philippine and international laws.

The authorities seized the pangolin meat, and the Tubbataha Reefs management brought poaching charges against the 12 Chinese nationals in Puerto Princesa City in Palawan province, from where the World Heritage Site in the middle of the Sulu Sea is administered.

Palawan Provincial Prosecutor Allen Ross Rodriguez said his office had received an order from the immigration bureau for the turnover of the suspected poachers for deportation proceedings.

Rodriguez said the order was received at his office on Tuesday.

In a letter dated June 6, Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. advised Judge Ambrosio de Luna of the 51st Branch of the Regional Trial Court in Puerto Princesa that the immigration board had issued a summary deportation order for the 12 Chinese nationals.

A copy of the letter was provided to the Inquirer.

“Accordingly, in the event that the 12 Chinese nationals [are] ordered released on bail for whatever reason, we are respectfully requesting that they be turned over to the Bureau of Immigration,” David said.

David made it clear that while the immigration bureau was requesting to be given legal custody of the suspected poachers, physical custody of them should remain with the provincial jail pending resolution of their case.

Prior to the immigration bureau’s clarification, environmental lawyers collaborating in the prosecution of the 12 Chinese opposed the turnover of the suspected poachers, as charges had already been filed against them in the Puerto Princesa court.

Rodriguez said the prosecution moved for a hold-departure order when it brought poaching charges against the 12 Chinese.

The court, however, has yet to resolve the motion.

Mangrobang clarified that

famous the world over for its vast biodiversity, rivaling even Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.

Second grounding

Pangolins get their name from the Malay word “pengguling,” meaning “something that rolls up.” The mammals are also known as “scaly anteaters.” Pangolins

are endangered, but their meat is considered a delicacy in China. About 10,000 kg of pangolin meat was seized from the Chinese ship.

PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

the 12 Chinese would not be deported during the pendency of their case.

“They will not be deported unless the case against them is terminated or after they have served their sentence,” Mangrobang said.

If convicted, the 12 Chinese face 12 to 20 years’ imprisonment.

The grounding of their vessel at Tubbataha damaged corals in the protected marine park,

It was the second destructive grounding at Tubbataha this year, coming three months after a US Navy minesweeper, the USS Guardian, ran aground on an atoll there in January.

The Guardian had to be broken up and removed piece by piece to save the reef from further damage.

The US Navy is paying compensation for damage to nearly 3,000 square meters of the corals and is helping Philippine environmental authorities and scientists in the rehabilitation of the reef.

In the case of the 12 suspected poachers, however, it is not clear who will be held accountable for the damage to the reef, as the vessel is owned by a private operator.

There are no reports from Beijing on whether China has identified or located the vessel’s owner. ■ With a report from Redempto Anda, Inquirer Southern Luzon

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Philippine News

5 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

New UP college name questioned

BY JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE Philippine Daily Inquirer TWO months after the College of Business Administration (CBA) of the University of the Philippines, regarded as the birthplace of the movement against the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship, was renamed the Cesar EA Virata School of Business, questions are being raised about its morality and legality.

But UP vice president for public affairs Prospero de Vera clarified that the student body unanimously endorsed the renaming of the CBA after the former prime minister and finance minister in the Marcos martial law regime.

This was later affirmed by the university’s Board of Regents, he said.

“The college unanimously endorsed it. There was no opposition. How can anyone criticize their academic program? It is their college,” De Vera said.

Former Sen. Rene Saguisag, in a statement, questioned the renaming on ethical and legal grounds, citing Republic Act No. 1059 prohibiting the naming of public places, crafts, vessels and institutions after persons still alive.

“UP should not be above or below the law. If I understand the factual situation correctly, UP is committing an illegal act in renaming any of its colleges after a LIVING (sic) person.

As far as I know Cesar Emilio Aguinaldo Virata is still with us in this vale of tears, a scofflaw nation, and despite PNoy’s herculean efforts, by and large, remains the home of the bribe and the land of the fee,” Saguisag said.

He suggested that UP either

abide by the law or Virata turn down the honor. “Becoming a stiff first before getting honored is rather stiff but only proper. Delicadeza aside from intellectual honesty,” he said.

In response, De Vera said he did not think that two elements of the issue—the alleged violation of law and whether it is moral or ethical to name the school after Virata—should be put together.

“My take on this is no law was violated. It is not a building or a facility, it was the educational component that was named after Virata,” he said, adding that the members of the board were well aware of RA 1059.

Dean’s recommendation

De Vera told the Inquirer that the Board of Regents approved the renaming of the CBA on April 12 based on the March 15 recommendation of dean Ben Paul Gutierrez, who cited Virata’s contributions to the university and the country. He likewise mentioned the practice of American universities of naming a business school after a distinguished person.

An announcement of the renaming in the UP-CBA Alumni online news quoted an excerpt of the Board of Regents’ minutes of the meeting, saying “Virata has served UP, the Philippine government and the country for many years and with clear distinction.”

According to the UP-CBA website history page, Virata served as dean of the CBA from 1960 to 1967.

“During his term, the Master of Business Administration was instituted, and the MBA (part-time program) was first offered in UP Diliman. During the term of Dean Virata, the first group of fac-

The University of the Philippines’ College of Business Administration in Diliman, QC, now the Cesar EA Virata School of Business. The college was founded in 1916.

PHOTO BY RAMON F. VELASQUEZ

ulty was sent to the US for further studies. These included Manuel S. Alba, Magdaleno B. Albarracin, Jaime C. Laya Jr., Rafael A. Rodriguez, Emanuel V. Soriano (who became UP president in 1979), and Emmanuel T. Velasco for advanced studies.”

Virata is also the country’s only prime minister, serving from 1981 to 1986, when the dictator was ousted in the Edsa People Power Revolution. Virata was appointed finance secretary in 1970 and held the post until 1986.

Virata earned two bachelor’s degrees in engineering and business administration from UP in 1952, completed his master of business administration major in industrial management from the Wharton Graduate School of the

University of Pennsylvania in 1953, and was conferred by UP an honorary degree of doctor of laws in 1976.

Rebranding moves

An issue of Guilder Institute, the official student publication of the UP-CBA, carried the “rebranding” as its banner story.

The article written by Diana Marie Peralta stated that Gutierrez announced the proposal to rename the college in an assembly held on Aug. 30 last year.

Peralta wrote that the announcement “caught everyone by surprise.” She said that the dean had explained it was based on the trend of universities “naming their schools of specialization after famous personalities” and that com-

pared to a multidisciplinary college, it was more appropriate to call the CBA a school based on its focus on business.

“Mixed reactions resonated from the CBAers. However, the No. 1 question that surfaced was ‘Who is Cesar Virata?’ To this the dean gave a lengthy speech to support the suggestion,” Peralta said.

Included in the dean’s explanation, she reported, was a mention that Virata is a grand nephew of President Emilio Aguinaldo and his citation

by Wharton as among 125 influential people as well as his introduction of reforms in the country’s taxation and revenue systems.

Peralta said that the CBA launched a signature campaign and distributed sign-up sheets to support the proposal. ■

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Philippine News

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 6

West Point-bound scholar owes success to OFW pa

BY JAYMEE T. GAMIL Philippine Daily Inquirer EVER since he was a boy, Don Stanley Castillo-Dalisay would only see his father at home every three or four months, whenever the seafaring breadwinner of the family was on vacation.

But for Dalisay, 22, his old man’s absence was never a letdown but a testament to a parent’s love that he hopes to repay soon.

And the grateful son is on a march toward fulfilling that mission, quite literally.

A UP Manila graduate and a current plebe at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), Dalisay is the only Filipino out of the 20 international cadets admitted this year to the elite US Military Academy in West Point, New York. He is set to fly to the US on June 26.

Dalisay earned a degree in public health in UP Manila in 2011 thanks to a scholarship program of the Overseas Worker’s Welfare Administration (Owwa) that supports children

of migrant workers. He made it to the PMA in Baguio City the following year.

The agency announced Dalisay’s West Point admission and presented him to the media at its Pasay City main office on Friday, with Owwa administrator Carmelita Dimzon hailing him as “the pride of the entire country.”

Speaking to reporters, Dalisay recalled that since he was 4, his father Armando, a ship captain, would be at sea most of the year. But the lack of a father figure at home was only physical, for Dalisay maintained that his old man still “raised us well. I never felt less loved just because he was always away.”

“If my father didn’t work hard abroad, after my [UP Manila] course, I would have been forced to work instead of pursuing higher studies. He gave me this opportunity,” Dalisay pointed out.”

Dalisay heaped equal praise on his mother, Merian, who studied engineering but chose to be a housewife so she could

“focus on me and my younger brother.”

“Even if my father wasn’t there, my mother always was.

I never felt alienated,” Dalisay said.

Mixed emotions

Merian said she had “mixed emotions” about missing her eldest son in the next four years. “I am happy because it’s a rare opportunity, but sad because my eldest is joining a field we all know is dangerous,” she said.

Dalisay’s decision to enter PMA surprised her, she said, and more so when he passed the entrance exams. He grew up excelling in academics but not really in sports and other physical activities. “I always thought he was inclined toward medicine, so I was shocked when he suddenly entered the military,” the mother said.

She and Armando, who constantly kept in touch on the phone, initially tried to dissuade Dalisay, but eventually let him go after their son pointed out: “What plans do you have

for me? To just keep me by your side?”

“My husband and I talked and decided to just support him and entrust his fate to God. I realized that serving the country is a higher calling from God,” Merian said.

Ironically, it was from his mother that Dalisay, who was born and raised in Bolbok, Batangas province, first heard of the prestigious American military school. “When I was a child and Fidel Ramos was president, whenever we watched the news my mother would say: ‘President Ramos is great, he’s from West Point,’” he recalled.

Becoming president

“Of course, being children, we had big dreams—and I was dreaming of becoming president,” Dalisay said, breaking into a laugh. “So I thought that to become one, I should enter West Point. I didn’t even know at that time that it was a military academy.”

But that childhood wish indeed led him to various lead-

ership roles growing up. He became a high-school valedictorian, a campus debater and journalist. His PMA classmates elected him president. He also gained work experience in the health sector and in the local government.

He remains singularly focused going on a higher level: “What I want to learn from West Point is leadership. Their (American) graduates went on to really lead the nation, like Dwight Eisenhower.”

After all, he said, “if you can lead men to die for your country, you can easily lead them to live for it.” Dalisay vowed to return to the Philippines after West Point and “teach my fellow soldiers here the strategies, technologies and skills that I will learn.”

On a more personal note, he said, by then his younger brother would have already graduated and their father Armado could already retire from the high seas, spend more time with the family, and watch a faithful son reciprocate his sacrifices. ■

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Philippine News

7 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

Visayas, Luzon sightings offer new hope for Philippine eagle

BY DJ YAP Philippine Daily Inquirer THE critically endangered Philippine eagle, the national bird, may be soaring across mountain ranges not only in Mindanao but also in Luzon and the Visayas, conservationists said Thursday.

Described by American aviator Charles Lindbergh as the world’s “noblest flier,” the Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) has been sighted as far north as Apayao province in the Cordilleras in northern Luzon and “rediscovered” in Leyte in Central Visayas, where it had been thought extinct since the 1980s, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said.

“For the first time, we’re having sightings of the Philippine eagle out of Mindanao… That’s a big leap,” said Perry Ong, a professor at the University of the Philippines’ (UP) Institute of Biology in Diliman, Quezon City.

Only 340 pairs of the species—among the largest raptors in the world—are estimated to be left in the wild based on a 2003 study of the Mindanao eagle population.

Despite the new sightings, environment officials, conservationists and academics remained guarded in making any claims or conclusions about the Philippine eagle’s survival.

Cautious remarks

“There is no scientific basis to say whether the number of Philippine eagles is rising or falling,” Environment Undersecretary Demetrio Ignacio told a press briefing. “But the fact is there are more eagles out

in Barangay (village) Lydia, Pudtol, on Nov. 18, 2012, and Mt. Asi, Baliwanan, in Kabugao on Nov. 26, 2012.

Another sighting was reported at Mt. Gabunan Range in Rogongon, Iligan City, on Oct. 25, 2012.

In March, the Philippine eagle was found again in Upper Marabong Kagbana in Burauen town and other places in Leyte, Lim said.

Surprise in Leyte

The Philippine eagle is the largest eagle in the world in terms of length. Known as the “monkey-eating eagle,” it is the Philippines’ national bird. The species is critically endangered due to poaching and deforestation. Only 340 pairs are left in the wild according to a 2003 study of the population in Mindanao.

PHOTO BY KLAUS STIEFEL

there than we know.”

The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) was even more cautious, saying the discoveries indicated only the improving capabilities of conservationists in spotting the eagles but not necessarily an increase in their number.

“The fact that we saw these birds doesn’t mean what we saw was a healthy and stable population. We don’t know if they belong to a healthy population or are just the remnants of a healthy population,” said Dennis Salvador, PEF executive director.

“For all we know, these are just one or two remaining

pairs,” Salvador said.

Still exciting news

Yet, he said he still considered “very exciting news” the finding of a Philippine eagle nest in Apayao, the “second nest ever found on Luzon island.”

“As far as conservation is concerned, nests are very important because they will allow us to study the species and how it behaves in its territory,” Salvador said.

According to Director Ma. Theresa Mundita Lim of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB), the Philippine eagle was sighted in at least two areas in Apayao—Mt. Lambayo The Associated Press

7 still missing from Philippine ferry sinking that killed 2; search continuing

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine coast guard said Saturday that seven people remain missing in a ferry sinking that killed two people in the country's central region.

All 22 crew members and 39 of the passengers were rescued after the ferry sank early Friday in calm waters off Burias island, said Chief Petty Officer Bayani Belesario, deputy coast www.canadianinquirer.net

The Leyte discoveries were unexpected, Ong said. “Our impression was Leyte is gone… It’s really surprising that there’s an intact forest in Leyte.”

He noted that the Philippine eagle would only thrive in pristine habitats.

Ong said a team of researchers and conservationists was determining whether Philippine eagles were still in Leyte, as part of a continuing study on the viability of reintroducing the species to the province.

“Because there are Philippine eagles in the area, then there might be no more need to reintroduce them,” he said. But he added that reintroducing the raptor in places other than Mindanao remained a good bet, considering the threat of bird flu.

In a statement, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said the new sightings offered “new beacons of hope” for the survival of the species.

cally endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and BirdLife International for its diminishing numbers in the wild, mostly due to habitat destruction and poaching.

Through the Philippine Raptors Conservation Program of the PAWB, the DENR has allied with organizations such as the PEF, UP and Haribon Foundation in protecting the remaining population of the Philippine eagle and raising public awareness about it.

The conservation program is implemented in 10 regions nationwide. Survey and monitoring activities document the locations of breeding pairs and nests in the wild.

More than a bird

The Philippine eagle replaced the maya (black-headed or chestnut munia) as the country’s national bird in 1995.

First discovered on Bonga Island in Samar by John Whitehead in 1896, it was once called

by Lindbergh as the world’s noblest flier. It is listed as criti-

Lim said the fresh discoveries of the eagle underscored the urgency of preserving the country’s remaining forest habitats.

“The Philippine eagle’s presence in the forest speaks of a healthy and sustainable environment,” she said.

As a natural predator, the eagle upholds the ecological balance in the forests by regulating the population of smaller animals, like rodents and snakes, that can destroy agricultural crops and pose danger to humans, she said.

Filipinos should stop looking at the Philippine eagle as just another bird, Ignacio said. The species possesses ecological, sociocultural, economic and political value, he pointed out.

As a charismatic species, the Philippine eagle could serve as a “rallying point for unity” in advancing the conservation of the environment, he added.

The DENR celebrates Philippine Eagle Week from June 4 to 10. ■

guard chief of Masbate province.

The cause of the sinking is under investigation, he said.

Some passengers told local media the ferry tilted toward its front right side and quickly capsized more than halfway through its voyage from nearby Albay province.

The coast guard initially reported that 57 people, including 35 manifested passengers, were on board. Belesario said at least 70 are now known to have been on the ferry.

He said a search continues for seven missing passengers, including six who were not on the manifest.

Accidents at sea are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, badly maintained boats and weak enforcement of safety regulations.

In 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker in the Philippines, killing more than 4,341 people in the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster. ■

Conservation plan

Philippine News

PHOTO BY THE US NAVY

Coast Guard to wait for final NBI report

BY JERRY E. ESPLANADA Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Coast Guard on Wednesday shrugged off an Inquirer report that the National Bureau of Investigation had recommended the filing of criminal charges against its personnel who were involved in the shooting death of a Taiwanese fisherman in northern Philippine waters last month.

“It’s not yet final,” Cmdr. Armand Balilo, spokesman for the Coast Guard, said, adding that the Inquirer report, based on an interview with a source who had knowledge of the NBI investigation of fisherman Hung Shih-chen’s death, “is not official.”

The source, who asked not to be identified because he had no authority to talk to the press on the matter, said the NBI had submitted its report on the investigation to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

Balilo said the Coast Guard would “wait for the official communication on the matter from the NBI.” Seventeen coast guards have been interviewed by the NBI and by a team of investigators from Taiwan on the fatal shooting of Hung during a high-speed chase off Balintang Island on May 9.

Shooter identified

The Inquirer source said the

NBI investigative report contained the names of the coast guards who fired at Hung’s boat, the Guan Ta Hsin 28.

The report also names the coast guard who fired the 7.62mm bullet that killed Hung, the source said.

The shooter was identified through ballistic tests on his M-14 rifle matching the weapon’s signature with the gun signature on the slug recovered from Hung’s body during the autopsy.

The Inquirer source did not say what criminal charges would be brought against the coast guards, just saying that the investigators considered murder, because of the use of superior force against an unarmed civilian.

But the investigators also considered homicide, the source said, because the killing of the fisherman was not premeditated.

Last week, Rear Adm. Rodolfo Isorena, Coast Guard commandant, said his command was waiting for the results of the NBI investigation.

Isorena said the Coast Guard would respect the NBI’s findings.

Charge poachers, too

“If our men are found to have violated the Coast Guard rules of engagement, then they would have to face the consequences of their actions,” Isorena said.

But Sen. Gregorio Honasan warned Malacañang about the

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 8

implications of prosecuting the coast guards.

Honasan said the government should also press Taiwan to hold liable its citizens who encroached on Philippine waters, leading to the shooting death of Hung.

“If we’re going to hold our own personnel liable, what’s the culpability of the Taiwanese poaching in our own waters?” he said.

“We’re treading dangerous waters here. We might set a bad precedent. What about our own interests?” he said.

Honasan said the incident that led to Hung’s death could happen again if Taiwanese poaching in Philippine waters continued.

“If Filipinos are caught poaching in Taiwanese waters and are shot at, do you think we will be given reciprocal treatment?” Honasan asked.

Fisheries deal

The Philippines cooperated with Taiwan in the investigation of Hung’s death, which sparked a major diplomatic row between Manila and Taipei.

Taiwan demanded an apology from the Philippine government, compensation for Hung’s family, the arrest and punishment of the shooters and the initiation of fisheries talks between the two countries.

To pressure Manila to comply, Taipei froze new jobs in Taiwan for Filipino migrant workers and suspended tourist travel to the Philippines and economic and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

Honasan said a fisheries agreement was a way of legally dealing with poaching in each side’s territory.

“That is a positive and practical solution,” he said.

But the NBI’s recommending the prosecution of the coast guards involved in the May 9 incident could affect the morale of Coast Guard personnel.

The vessel involved in the shooting death of Hung, the MCS-3001, joined other Coast Guard vessels in Independence Day ceremonies at Manila’s South Harbor on Wednesday.

The vessels blew their horns to “symbolize their commitment to the command’s mandate to protect our coasts and marine resources,” Balilo said. ■ With reports from Norman Bordadora and Kristine Felisse Mangunay www.canadianinquirer.net

Miriam College gears for empty classrooms in 2016

BY LEILA B. SALAVERRIA Philippine Daily Inquirer MIRIAM College in Quezon City is gearing up to meet the challenge of 2016 when colleges and universities expect empty classrooms.

Because of the additional two years added to high school as part of the government’s K to 12 education reform program, very few incoming freshmen are expected by then with some college professors left with little to do.

Under the 12-year basic education cycle—kindergarten plus six years of elementary, four years of junior high school and two years of senior high—the high school seniors would not be moving on to college for two years beginning in 2016.

In Miriam College, a private, multilevel school, officials have formed a task force to map out plans for 2016 when college enrollment is expected to drop by 35 to 40 percent.

Rosario Oreta Lapus, Miriam College president, said the school was working on effective strategies to help address this expected drop in the number of new students.

Since the nonprofit school offers pre-school, elementary and high school education, and is not fully dependent on the college for income, Lapus said she hoped it would not be that heavily burdened by the temporary absence of freshmen.

“It’s a matter of coming up with a sufficient number of

strategies that will allow us to survive and do well during those lean years,” Lapus said in a phone interview.

One strategy of the school is fielding college faculty to teach high school subjects.

Miriam’s high school is geared toward preparing students well for college courses, and it has college-standard electives that could earn students credit at the tertiary level, Lapus said.

The college faculty would teach these courses, she said.

But this strategy would not cover all of the college faculty, which is why the school is considering offering alternative programs to entice more people to enroll, she explained.

“We are trying to develop more continuing education programs that will, in effect, make up for the loss of the college frehsmen income,” she said.

The school is also considering certificate programs on certain courses, as well as collaborating and teaming up with other schools in the Southeast Asian Region for exchange programs, she said.

“We’re trying to find ways of bringing in nontraditional students,” she said.

Despite these changes, Miriam College is supportive of the K to 12 program and believes it is a good move, Lapus said.

“This is a reform that we really think is a very valid reform, something that will bring value and benefits to the country and schools because it makes us globally competitive,” she said. ■

PHOTO BY MIRIAM COLLEGE ON FACEBOOK

Philippine News

9 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

Another Cebu Pacific plane skids

BY JAYMEE T. GAMIL Philippine Daily Inquirer A CEBU Pacific Airways plane skidded on the runway at Ninoy Aquino International Airport and damaged edge lights last week, less than two weeks after another airplane belonging to the airline veered off the runway and fell into a ditch at Davao International Airport, leaving 165 passengers shaken.

None of the 95 passengers of Flight 5J-448 was hurt when the plane, an Airbus A320, skidded on Naia’s runway 06/24 after landing in heavy rain that afternoon.

But Capt. John Andrews, deputy director of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), said Flight 5J-448’s pilot, Capt. Joseph Palomillo, was “automatically grounded” for a medical examination after the incident.

A report from the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), operator of Naia, said Flight 5J-488 from Iloilo City landed at 4:16 p.m. on Thursday, June 13, but as the plane was taxiing down runway 06/24, it skidded to the right and hit five edge lights.

Andrews said the Airbus A320 swerved to the runway’s shoulder, but remained on the tarmac.

The plane ran over the runway lights, he said.

The pilot managed to correct the Airbus A320’s direction and proceeded to bring the plane toward the Terminal 3 ramp, where the passengers disembarked.

CAAP chief financial officer Rodante Joya said the CAAP would “conduct an investigation.”

“I offer that since all involved in the accident have been interviewed and the black box recovered immediately, the investigation can be done relatively faster,” Joya said.

The investigation of the runway incident at Davao International Airport on June 2, also involving an Airbus A320, is still going on.

Cebu Pacific’s Flight 5J-971 landed in heavy rain just after 7 p.m. that Sunday when the plane veered from the runway’s center and ended up nose down in the grass off the runway.

The plane’s front landing gear was damaged, and it took two days to remove the Airbus from the runway, disrupting

operations at Davao International Airport.

Airlines operating into Davao had to bus their passengers to and from General Santos City at no extra charge because of the closure of the runway at Davao International Airport.

Malacañang was quiet on calls for the grounding of Cebu Pacific following the second incident involving the airline this month.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte told reporters about the CAAP’s initial action, including the grounding of Flight 5J-448’s pilots and the inspection of the aircraft.

Plane not damaged

Despite his perceived failure to deal with aviation safety and improve airport conditions in the country, Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya does not seem to be on the way out.

Valte said Abaya still had the trust of President Aquino.

In Thursday’s incident, Andrews said there was no “outward damage” to the Airbus 320, but “certain parts” of the plane were inspected to “assess the incident’s impact.”

Cebu Pacific said that the air-

PHOTO BY FLORENT_PERAUDEAU (FLICKR)

craft was undergoing a “thorough check, while all other flights continued to run as scheduled.

Andrews said it was Cebu Pacific that requested the CAAP to conduct a “hard landing inspection” of the plane as a precaution.

He said the plane would be released once the inspection was finished, expected within the day.

Andrews said pilot Palomillo remained grounded yesterday.

He had undergone a routine medical exam, but the CAAP had yet to get his statement,

Andrews said.

Heavy rain

He said the heavy rain might have been a factor in the incident, though he noted that the plane landed normally despite the bad weather.

“We’ll see where the accountability lies, and if this correlates with the Davao accident,” Andrews said.

The MIAA said it would assess the “extent of damage for possible claims with Cebu Pacific.” ■ With reports from Michael Lim Ubac and Miguel R. Camus

Gov’t mulls purchase of missiles for defense

BY MICHAEL LIM UBAC Philippine Daily Inquirer THE Department of National Defense (DND) plans to acquire anti-aircraft guided missiles, which will be positioned in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) as part of the country’s first-ever missile defense system.

Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang disclosed late Saturday that this proposal had reached Malacañang and had been the subject of many discussions among Cabinet members.

“It’s (the missile acquisition) been talked about but I don’t know if we’ve made a decision (yet),” said Carandang, who regularly attends meetings of the Cabinet cluster on national security.

Amid fresh Chinese incursions into Philippine waters, Carandang said that what the

The US Navy firing missiles.

PHOTO BY THE US NAVY

Navy needed was “sea vessels.”

He did not elaborate.

A Palace spokesperson, Undersecretary Abigail Valte, neither confirmed nor denied when asked in a radio inter-

view on Saturday if the defense establishment was about to purchase missiles to bolster its firepower amid tensions in the Scarborough Shoal.

“I will defer comment on the www.canadianinquirer.net

particular system that is being mentioned and I will coordinate with the DND,” said Valte, who also declined to confirm if Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin was set to fly to Israel next week to look for missile suppliers.

Valte, however, mentioned the DND’s plan to upgrade the military’s hardware as part of the long-delayed modernization program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“But as far as procuring equipment is concerned, we all know that we are in the process of getting—of upgrading—or at least leveling up on the hardware that we currently have in order to meet the needs of our soldiers,” said Valte.

She promised to look into the military’s “wish list for procurement before commenting” on the reported missile defense plan of the AFP. Since last month, Palace

spokespersons have been talking about the military achieving a “minimum credible defense” to defend the country’s territory, especially in the West Philippine Sea where China has staked a claim on disputed islands and waters.

In his speech on Independence Day, President Aquino vowed to defend the country’s sovereignty in a veiled message to China whose military firepower—whether conventional or nonconventional weapons— could easily smash the antiquated hardware of the AFP. During the 115th anniversary of the Philippine Navy in May, the President announced that the P75-billion modernization budget for the AFP—approved last year—was being pursued by his administration.

He said the military upgrade would help defend the country’s maritime territory against “bullies.” ■

Philippine News

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 10

MILF: Talks deadlocked Palace: Aquino exercising due diligence

BY NIKKO DIZON AND MICHAEL LIM UBAC Philippine Daily Inquirer PEACE TALKS between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have reached deadlock, but leaders of the secessionist group are urging their ground commanders to be patient to avoid a resurgence of violence in Mindanao.

“It’s a stalemate,” MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal told the Inquirer by phone Saturday when asked how he would describe the current status of the negotiations.

On Friday, Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF vice chairman for political affairs, told reporters that the group was “frustrated” at the slow progress of the negotiations and that the ground commanders had started to lose faith that the four-decadelong Bangsamoro insurgency would be resolved peacefully.

Jaafar said the MILF had informed the government about how his group felt through the Malaysian facilitator of the negotiations, Datuk Abdul Ghafar Tengku.

Responding for the government yesterday, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said ending the MILF insurgency remained a top priority of President Aquino.

Roxas said Aquino met last week with his Cabinet officials involved in the peace process.

“Many of the items have generational and very broad impli-

PHOTOS BY KEITH BACONGCO

cations, and accordingly, ‘unintended consequences’ are not good. Thus, P-Noy (the President’s nickname) is exercising due care and utmost diligence on these matters,” Roxas said, referring to wealth and power sharing, and normalization, the last three unresolved points in the annexes to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro signed by the government and MILF last year.

The MILF’s frustration stems from the delay in the conclusion of a final peace agreement, which appeared to be “deliberate,” according to Jaafar.

MILF ground commanders “are angry because they have been waiting for a long time,” Jaafar said. “As far as I am concerned, this is not a very good situation.”

Prevent fighting

Iqbal said on Saturday the MILF leadership was talking with the ground commanders, “telling them to be patient.”

“We should not be rash,” Iqbal said in Filipino. “We’re telling them that we should manage our frustrations. Our hope is that we will be able to prevent fighting from erupting again.”

Sought for comment on Iqbal’s statement that the talks

have reached a stalemate, government chief negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer told the Inquirer in a text message: “The [Malaysian] facilitator is on board; channels are open in order for us to discuss and settle contentious issues.”

But for Iqbal, the recent exchange of notes between the two peace panels through Datu Tengku does not translate to progress in the talks.

The panels last met in Kuala Lumpur in April, but they only signed guidelines for the Mindanao sociodevelopment program called Sajahatra Bangsamoro.

“There is an exchange of notes but we don’t see it working. Nothing will happen with the exchange of notes. The government is diluting the initialed wealth sharing annex. It is downgrading [the annex],” Iqbal said.

He emphasized that the MILF will not agree to any changes to the annex that the government might propose.

Stick to it

Ferrer said earlier that the government was only exercising prudence with President Aquino’s review of the wealth sharing annex, but for Iqbal, the panels should “focus on what www.canadianinquirer.net

has been initialed.”

“The government is changing its position. How can we be sure that it won’t do the same with the two other annexes (power sharing and normalization)?”

Iqbal said.

Iqbal stressed that “time is running out” on the peace negotiations.

The MILF earlier said that a peace agreement with the government must be sealed before President Aquino’s term ends in 2016.

Stretching the negotiations beyond that date would jeopardize the chances of having lasting peace in Mindanao, the MILF said.

Any delay in the peace talks could lead to a resumption of fighting in Mindanao, it said.

Bangsamoro law

The Transition Commission, which will write the Bangsamoro legislation, has been convened, but it needs the annexes to the framework agreement to be able to put together the bill and submit it to Congress.

Sen. Francis Escudero, an ally of President Aquino, said Satruday that the Bangsamoro law must conform to the framework agreement, so it must not be rushed despite its urgency.

“It’s an urgent matter, but it

must be done right this time,” Escudero said in a text message Sen. Franklin Drilon, who is expected to be the next Senate president, said in a recent interview that the Bangsamoro law was among the priorities of the 16th Congress.

He said Congress needs to amend the charter of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) to make it conform to the Bangsamoro framework agreement.

But “how the framework agreement will come up with the annexes, we still do not know,” he said.

The Bangsamoro will replace the ARMM, which President Aquino described as a “failed experiment,” as it did not end the Mindanao conflict.

Aquino’s communications secretary, Ricky Carandang, said in a text message that the administration was doing its best to iron out the differences between the government and the MILF. Carandang, however, declined to disclose the MILF position and the government’s proposed amendments to the annexes, saying the talks had reached a “sensitive phase.”

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte, speaking on state-run radio on Saturday, said Malacañang found nothing wrong with the two sides missing the target date for signing a final peace agreement.

Both sides, she said, need more time to thresh out the annexes on wealth and power sharing, and normalization, which she described as “sensitive” issues.

“We’re hoping to see a resolution to this and we’re hoping to find a way to move forward the last three annexes,” Valte said ■ With a report from Norman Bordadora

Philippine News

11 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

Aquino: We will...

strength we need to search out the evil that reigns in our nation. This is the time for the light of truth to dawn; this is the time for us to show that we have our own sentiments, our own honor, our own shame and solidarity,” he said.

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ment workers, diplomats and supporters at Liwasang Bonifacio, where he led a flag-raising ceremony.

Aquino laid a wreath at the monument to Andres Bonifacio, the working-class leader of the secret society Katipunan that launched the Philippine Revolution against Spain in 1896.

The President vowed to safeguard the independence that the country gained at the cost of Filipino revolutionaries’ lives 115 years ago amid present-day threats to its sovereignty, but at the same time, challenged Filipinos to act now to protect their freedom.

Aquino did not mention China by name, but the two countries have a worsening territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

Panatag, Spratlys

From early April to mid-June last year, Philippine and Chinese patrol vessels faced off with each other at Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal), a rich fishing ground 230 kilometers west of Zambales province.

The Philippine vessels withdrew to ease tensions at the shoal, but the Chinese ships never left, roping off the entrance to the shoal’s vast fishing lagoon.

The Philippines brought the dispute to the United Nations in January for arbitration.

Last month, the Philippines protested the presence of a Chinese frigate, two patrol vessels and a fleet of fishing boats off Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal), another rich fishing ground 196 km west of Palawan province, from which the country administers five islands in the Spratly archipelago.

Beijing did not respond to the Philippine protest, but withdrew the fishing boats, leaving the frigate and patrol vessels at the shoal.

The Philippines maintains a presence in the area with a rusty ship that flies the national flag and is manned by Marines.

Besides the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan claim parts of the West Philippine Sea against China’s claim to almost the entire waterway that is home to major sea-lanes through which a third of the globe’s cargo passes.

Regional stability

Aquino said the Philippines would always stand up for its rights but works with other nations to preserve peace and stability in the region. “[W]e have always stood up for our rights as a country with its own sovereignty, as a nation that spilled its blood in the name of freedom, as a Philippines with its own flag, equal to all others,” Aquino said.

But while the country protects its rights and continues to “build consensus with all

One nation

The President in his Independence Day address at Liwasang Bonifacio, Manila: “Aggression does not run in our veins, but neither will we back down from any challenge.”

PHOTO FROM MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU

parties to promote calm and understanding,” Aquino said “we must also increase the capabilities of our Armed Forces.”

The President said that in the next five years, P75 billion would be spent to modernize the military.

The government is acquiring a second cutter from the United States next month to patrol its seas.

In a conciliatory tone, Aquino explained the country’s actions to assert its sovereignty over the disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea, including bringing the Panatag Shoal dispute to the United Nations for arbitration.

“We have no other desire than to take care of what is rightfully ours. We have never trampled upon the rights of others. We have not claimed or demanded territory that clearly belongs to another.

We have neither condescended upon nor oppressed others. Harming others or sowing discord with other countries is not in our history,” he said.

Bonifacio’s challenge

Aquino called the crowd’s attention to Bonifacio’s statue behind him, which he said appeared to be posing a challenge to present-day Filipinos.

“It is clear what his statue represents: that it is an honor to risk one’s life for one’s country; that those who have contributed to our freedom can hold their heads high. At the same time, Bonifacio’s stern gaze seems to pose a challenge to all of us: Filipino, what have you done for your flag and for your fellowmen?” he said.

Aquino said Bonifacio himself spoke of the necessity of banding together to overcome challenges.

“It was Andres Bonifacio himself who said: ‘Reason teaches us that we must be of one will and one mind to gain the

Dialogue for peace

The Philippines, he said, has never espoused a policy of taking advantage of other countries, “but on the contrary, has always been open to holding a dialogue in a peaceful manner.”

“The only thing we have asked is that our territory, rights and dignity be respected, in the same way that we have respected the territory, rights and dignity of other peoples. We are doing this precisely because we know that this is the key to maintaining stability, and by doing so, to continue the journey toward widespread and lasting progress, not only in our country, but also in our region and in the whole world,” he said.

The President also urged Filipinos to act now to protect the country’s sovereignty because—as Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio and other Katipuneros had shown—only the people could liberate themselves.

“The time of revolt against the oppression of colonizers has come and gone: Rizal and Bonifacio, the Katipuneros and other Filipino heroes had already done their part. They did this firm in the knowledge that no one else was going to fight for our rights; no one else was going to work for the future of our country; no one else would push for our freedom—no one but we Filipinos. No one else,” he said. www.canadianinquirer.net

But now is the time to act to free the country from any kind of oppression, the President said.

“Let us not wait 300 years, or three decades, or even three years, before we resolve to come together and gain freedom from hunger, poverty or whatever threatens our sovereignty and security,” Aquino said.

“This is the time for our spirits, minds and voices to become one. This is the time for us to offer our time and our strength.

This is the time for us to act as one nation, so that we can realize our collective aspirations for the Motherland,” he said.

“I know that we can do this because we have the blood of heroes, and if Rizal, or Bonifacio, or even Ninoy (the President’s father Benigno Aquino Jr.) or Cory (his mother, President Corazon Aquino) asks, ‘Filipino, what have you done for your flag and your countrymen?’ we will meet their gaze, unafraid, and say, ‘This is what I have done for my country: I have given my heart and soul to uplift my nation,’” he said. ■ With a report from AP

Philippine News

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 12

Gov’t mulls nationwide flood summit

BY MICHAEL LIM UBAC Philippine Daily Inquirer THE perennial flooding in Metro Manila is back on the agenda of President Benigno Aquino III following June 14’s downpour that triggered flash floods and snarled traffic for hours across the capital.

In a briefing at the Palace last week, Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang said that the government was planning to call a flood summit to synchronize flood-control efforts at the local and national levels and those by concerned agencies, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

“The agencies have actually been discussing this (flood summit). And next week there will be a meeting, elevated to the Cabinet level, to discuss (it),” Carandang said.

He added that a Cabinet-level discussion on the flood-control plan is underway to prepare the country for the expected onslaught of torrential rains and more floods at the onset of the rainy season.

Carandang later told the Inquirer that the Cabinet-level discussion would have to suffice for now instead of a nationwide flood summit that would

require the participation of major stakeholders in affected areas across the country.

The Cabinet meeting to be presided over by President Aquino himself would “assess” the measures taken so far by the national government, the concerned agencies and local government units following last year’s habagat (southwestern monsoon) that paralyzed the capital for about a week, Carandang said.

“I was just talking to (DPWH) Secretary (Rogelio) Singson (Friday) morning, and the masterplan on flood control is underway. But you have to understand, it’s going to take several years to implement and it’s an interagency thing,” he added.

The communications secretary said the DPWH was tasked to draft the masterplan, but that its implementation would be farmed out to several agencies: the MMDA, DPWH and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), for the relocation of informal settlers.

“They’re all doing their part, and one of the components of that is the cleaning of the esteros (creeks)—and that’s already happening,” Carandang said, adding that “the plans of the DPWH to create containment basins, (is also) being done.”

The agency had also widened, to some extent, the banks of the

Pasig River to increase its water-holding capacity, he added.

But, Carandang cautioned, “…

Be aware that this is not going to happen overnight. The work, as we announced last year, will take a few years to complete and you will see the improvement, vast improvement, only in a few years. But the public can rest assured that the floodcontrol program continues.”

The Palace official also reminded the public of the need “to be responsible citizens.”

“I think we all have a responsibility—national government, local government, citizens. It’s something that we’re taking the lead on, trying to fix. We need cooperation from the public; you can’t assign responsibility to an agency or one person (alone). It’s the responsibility of many different agencies, and I can assure you they are working on it.”

Informal settlers

On informal settlers, whom MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino has blamed for garbagechoked esteros that, he said, caused the flooding, Carandang said the problem of relocating them was not that easy.

“If you’re going to move them away from where they’re working, then you’d have to find some way for them to have livelihood; otherwise, they’ll just return, and it’s not going to

Residents of an urban poor area in Manila try to sort out their homes following Typhoon Ondoy.

PHOTO BY JÖRG DIETZE

solve the problem,” he said.

The MMDA, DPWH, DILG and the National Housing Authority have been tasked to relocate from creeks, canals and riverbanks some 500,000 informal settler families in Metro Manila through a “multiyear, multibillion peso project,” Carandang said.

But it will take some time, he added.

Tolentino meanwhile blamed the ongoing road repair work throughout Metro Manila for the flash floods and traffic that crippled the capital that night.

“Their purpose is to prevent floods, but they’ve become contributing factors to (the flooding) while [the repair work is] ongoing,” Tolentino said after sifting through a four-page list of ongoing road rehabilitation work by the DPWH and drainage improvement work by water utilities.

In the list are 70 such projects across the metropolis, mostly in Quezon City, Manila, Caloocan and Pasay. ■ With a report by Jaymee T. Gamil

Japan now issuing multiple-entry visas to Filipinos

BY TARRA QUISMUNDO Philippine Daily Inquirer MANILA, Philippines—Filipinos who wish to visit Japan may now apply for multipleentry tourist visas, a privilege the Japanese government extending to Philippine citizens for the first time as part of the relaxation of its visa policies toward Southeast Asians.

The Japanese Embassy in Manila this week confirmed that the cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe eased its visa policy for citizens of Southeast Asian countries as Japan aims to boost tourist visits to Japan by citizens of the fast-growing region.

“The cabinet of Prime Min-

ister Abe decided to allow the issuance of multiple-entry visas from the Philippines,” said Kenji Hirai, embassy press officer.

Previously, multiple-entry visas to Japan were issued to three categories of travelers, Hirai said: those visiting Japan for commercial purposes, artists and specialists (athletes, professors and government officials) and immediate family members of Japan residents.

The Japanese visa is known to be among the toughest to get for Filipino tourists in light of Japan’s strict requirements and screening process. Japan offers other types of visas for Filipinos, including single-entry visas for spouses, relatives or

Tokyo Tower PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

www.canadianinquirer.net

friends of Japanese residents and visas for medical stay.

“We welcome the decision of the Japanese government to take important steps to further boost tourism between Japan and the countries in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines,” said Assistant Secretary Raul Hernandez, spokesperson at the Department of Foreign Affairs.

“We expect that the relaxation of their visa policies will encourage more Filipinos to travel to Japan and will create more opportunities for people to people exchanges between our two countries,” he added in a statement issued Saturday.

The Japanese government adopted its new visa policy for Southeast Asian tourists on

June 11 in hopes of increasing arrivals from the region.

Apart from the Philippines, Vietnam was also granted multiple-entry visas for tourists.

Visa requirements were altogether waived for visitors from Thailand and Malaysia.

In asking his cabinet to approve the new policy, Abe said the relaxed requirements aim to “let many people from around the world directly experience beautiful Japan,” the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported.

The news agency said Southeast Asian tourists account for barely a tenth of arrivals in Japan, with 780,000 visitors from the region out of the 8.37 million tourists who traveled to Japan last year. ■

Philippine News

13 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

PH, Taiwan shun force

Pimentel reaches...

Talks to resolve fishing disputes start

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BY JAYMEE T. GAMIL Philippine Daily Inquirer THE Philippines and Taiwan have “agreed in principle” to avoid the use of force in fishing disputes, as they begin to resolve a row over the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman in overlapping waters last month.

Officials of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (Meco) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (Teco) reached the agreement during their preparatory meeting on fishery cooperation held in Manila on Friday, Meco Chairman Amadeo Perez said on Sunday.

The meeting came as both Manila and Taipei concluded their cooperative investigation of the fatal shooting of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-chen, 65,

by Filipino coast guards.

The National Bureau of Investigation, after examining evidence and witnesses here and in Taiwan, resolved the case last week, with a recommendation to bring criminal and administrative charges against coast guards who fired on the Taiwanese fishing boat Guan Ta Hsin 28 off Balintang Island on May 9.

Taiwanese investigators who also looked at evidence and examined witnesses here and in their country have not yet announced their conclusions, but Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Thursday said she expected the Taiwanese findings not to be too far from the results of the NBI probe.

De Lima submitted the NBI investigative report to President Aquino on Tuesday.

The shooting death of Hung sparked public anger in Taiwan. Taipei demanded an apology from the Philippine government, compensation for Hung’s family, the arrest and punishment of the shooters, and initiation of fishery talks between the two countries.

To pressure the Philippines to comply, Taiwan froze new jobs for Filipino workers and suspended trade and cultural exchanges with the Philippines.

The NBI resolution of the case is understood to be the start of the restoration of good relations between the two countries.

In a phone interview on Sunday, Perez said the Taiwanese government requested to hold talks last week on how the two sides could peacefully enforce their fisheries laws.

Aquino clearance

The meeting was held on Friday with clearance from President Aquino, Perez said.

Those who attended the meeting from the Philippine side were Perez and technical people from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

The Taiwanese side was represented

by Samson Wang of Teco, an official from the Taiwanese Ministry of Justice and another from Taiwan’s fisheries department.

Perez said the talks reached an agreement “in principle” not to use force in the implementation of fishery laws in waters between the two countries.

“It’s all right to arrest violators, but there should be no use of unnecessary force,” he explained.

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement issued late Saturday that the agreement was aimed at avoiding a recurrence of incidents, such as the death of Hung.

Avoiding recurrence

“Both sides have guaranteed to avoid the use of armed force or violence in the implementation of fisheries laws,” it said.

The two sides agreed to share their maritime law enforcement procedures and establish means of notifying each other without delay whenever actions are taken against vessels and crews of the other party, it said.

They also agreed to develop a mechanism for the prompt release of detained fishing vessels and their crews, in line with international practice.

Further meetings would be held on fisheries cooperation, including management and conservation plans, the ministry said.

Perez said the talks went well and he hoped these would lead to a formal agreement on peaceful enforcement of fishery laws by both countries.

He said no date had been set for the next meeting, which would again require clearance from President Aquino.

A formal fisheries agreement between Taiwan and the Philippines would take some time, Perez said.

Territorial boundaries

“There are so many considerations to take into account,” he said. These included discussions of territorial boundaries, an issue he described as “ticklish” and requiring “careful study by both sides.”

The shooting of Hung happened during a high-speed chase between a Philippine Coast Guard patrol vessel and the Guan Ta Hsin 28 on the Philippine side of the two countries’ overlapping exclusive economic zones.

The NBI probe found that the coast guards involved were criminally liable for Hung’s death.

The Taiwanese investigators found that two rifles were used in the shooting, including an M14 from which the fatal shot was fired. ■

each other and we talked,” Pimentel said.

The senator said Zubiri might bring along his wife, Audrey, to their planned reconciliation luncheon, while he himself would bring his campaign managers and closest supporters.

Obviously, Pimentel would not be bringing his estranged wife, Jewel, who became an issue during the campaign.

At one point, Zubiri revealed in a live television interview that Jewel had claimed that she was a battered wife.

He later took back the statement after Jewel e-mailed major media entities denying that she was a battered wife.

“I think that’s all water under the bridge. The (lunch) offer stands and I will pursue the offer,” Pimentel said.

He said that Zubiri had been mistakenly told that Pimentel was attacking him in the speeches he delivered during the campaign. “(Zubiri) was misled when he… thought and said that I was attacking him in my speeches. I never mentioned him,” Pimentel explained.

He explained that what he did was sing John Lennon’s “Imagine,” changing the lyrics to convey a warning against electoral fraud.

But wouldn’t their date be awkward considering everything that has hap-

Juan Miguel Zubiri PHOTO FROM MIGZZUBIRI COM PH

pened?

“Why should it? I have been saying for a long time that I have forgiven him, why should it be awkward? My point then was, I cannot run with him, I cannot raise his hand, I cannot endorse his candidacy. By having lunch with him, I am not doing those three things,” Pimentel said. ■

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With a report from AFP www.canadianinquirer.net

Philippine News

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 14

NY, Va. 7 Eleven stores raided as US accuses owners and managers of exploiting immigrants

BY LARRY NEUMEISTER AND TOM HAYS The Associated Press NEW YORK—Nine owners and managers of 7-Eleven stores across Long Island and in Virginia were charged Monday with making tens of millions of dollars by exploiting immigrants from Pakistan and the Philippines, in part by paying them using the stolen Social Security numbers of a child and three dead people while stealing most of their wages.

Most of the defendants were arrested early Monday as federal authorities raided 14 franchise stores. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were executing search warrants at more than 40 other stores across the country suspected of similar infractions, authorities said at a Brooklyn news conference.

“These nine defendants created a modern-day plantation system, with themselves as overseers, with the immigrant workers as subjects, living in their version of a company town,’’ U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch told a news conference in Brooklyn.

Four defendants who hold both U.S. and Pakistani citizenship belong to a family that has participated in social events with Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, prosecutors said in court papers as they highlighted foreign ties while successfully arguing against bail for most defendants. Another defendant is a citizen of the Philippines. The government said the defendants pocketed tens of millions of dollars in the scheme, hiding some money.

Federal indictments naming eight men and one woman allege that since 2000 they employed more than 50 immigrants who didn’t have permission to be in the U.S. They tried to conceal the immigrants’ employment by stealing the identities of about two dozen people—including those of the child, the dead and a Coast Guard cadet—and submitting

the information to the 7-Eleven payroll department.

When 7-Eleven’s headquarters sent the wages for distribution, the employers stole up to 75 per cent of the workers’ pay, authorities said. The defendants also forced the workers to live in houses they owned and pay them rent in cash, they added.

“This case came to light because some of these defendants, despite their lack of legal status, came forward to report the exploitation,’’ Lynch said.

Lynch said stolen identifications were “recycled from store to store and state to state’’ in a case driven by greed among defendants who bought big houses.

The government seized the franchise rights of 10 stores in New York and four stores in Virginia. The stores will remain open under the parent company’s operation. Authorities said the stores had generated $182 million in profits shared by the defendants and 7-Eleven.

In a statement, 7-Eleven, Inc. said it has co-operated with the investigation and will take “aggressive actions’’ to audit the employment status of all its franchisees’ employees. It said it was also taking steps to assume corporate operation of the stores involved in the action.

Immigration officials detained 18 workers, including some who first notified authorities about the alleged fraud in 2010. Lynch said the workers would be processed through the system, with some who served as whistleblowers being able to remain in the country while the case is prosecuted.

The defendants appeared in court on Long Island and Norfolk, Va., facing wire fraud conspiracy, identity theft and alien harbouring charges. They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of conspiracy and other charges.

Three men arrested in Virginia were ordered held until a Thursday bail hearing.

Robert Del Col, attorney for Malik Yousaf, the general manager for 14 7-11 stores on Long Island, said his client denies the charges.

“To allege this systematic conspiracy, I don’t think it’s borne out in the documentary evidence,’’ he said after his client pleaded not guilty and was detained after an appearance in federal court in Central Islip.

“These people came in looking for jobs.’’

Those arrested also included a married Long Island couple who owned, co-owned or controlled a more than dozen 7-Eleven franchise stores on Long Island and Virginia. The www.canadianinquirer.net

PHOTOS FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

couple bought their first franchise license in 1988. Attorney Steve Politi, who represents Bushra Baig, said his client is a 49-year-old mother. “It’s nonsense,’’ he said of the charges against her. “I would be surprised if they can prove that she had any knowledge of enslavement. She doesn’t run anything.’’

Jennifer Kwiecinski, 36, who lives across the street from an Islip Terrace store that’s part of the investigation, said she’s known the “always nice’’ owners since she was a child.

The government said the franchises were licensed by Dallas-based 7-Eleven Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Seven & I Holdings, which operates, licenses or franchises 49,000 convenience stores worldwide, including 7-Eleven stores in 16 countries.

The case reflects stepped-up enforcement against employers using bogus documentation for immigrant workers. In the past two years, federal authorities have brought similar charges against more than 500 business-owners and managers, said James Hayes, head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s New York office.

“There’s real teeth to these

laws, and we’re using them now more than ever before,’’ Hayes said.

Hayes said the workers in the 7-Eleven cases were not innocent victims in the scheme but also were exploited by bosses who paid them a fraction of what they were owed for working up to 100 hours a week.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. also came under investigation in recent years for hiring workers who were in the country illegally. Last year, federal prosecutors charged a Minneapolis man who ran a company that provides labour to large poultry farms with transporting and harbouring illegal immigrants.

Haeyoung Yoon, senior staff attorney for the National Employment Law Project, said that low-wage employers are more prone to not having the proper documentation for their workers. Once the fraud is exposed, the workers typically end up getting fired on the spot and sometimes deported, Yoon said. ■ Associated Press writers Frank Eltman on Long Island, Brock Vergakis in Norfolk, Va. and Candice Choi in New York contributed to this report, as well as AP video journalist Jon Gerberg.

Philippine News

15 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

Retired general ordered to pay gov’t P11.2M

BY CYNTHIA D. BALANA Philippine Daily Inquirer

Supreme Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno: “Quezon City courts are waiting to be transparent and aboveboard.”

Sereno: ‘e-Court’ to enhance transparency in justice system

BY JULIE M. AURELIO Philippine Daily Inquirer CHECKING the status of court cases in Quezon City is now as easy as a click or two.

The Quezon City Hall of Justice on Friday launched the “e-Court” or electronic court system which aims to speed up the assignment and verification of cases, while eliminating possible sources of corruption.

Leading the inaugural rites, Supreme Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno explained that with the electronic raffle, for example, “human intermediation” will now be removed from the process by which cases are assigned to trial court judges.

“So all of those rumors circulating— that money is being made from the system that way, that fees are set and collected—are also gone,” the chief magistrate said.

The city’s regional and metropolitan trial courts were a chosen as pilot areas for the project. Also gracing the occasion were Justice Teresita de Castro, Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte, Executive Judge Fernando Sagun and other Quezon City judges.

Sereno added: “Quezon City will no longer be a source of collection of court fees. This is not only a major challenge in your ability to handle technology.

Quezon City courts are waiting to be transparent and aboveboard. In other words, you are willing to put the seal of transparency and good governance on

the courts.”

She said the new system would help erase perceptions that “money is leaking in the court system” because the cases will now be raffled off electronically and the fees will to be determined by the system.

Apart from the e-Court project, the Chief Justice said, the high tribunal also plans to computerize the notification system for litigants and lawyers regarding court schedules and subpoenas, and start the digital archiving and retrieval system for court records.

Quezon City Judge Bernelito Fernandez said the new system could help the public monitor the status of cases more closely. An e-Court kiosk will be set up for this purpose.

“The e-Court system will provide quality justice within reasonable time.

There will be instantaneous information retrieval for judges and court personnel,” he added.

The electronic raffle will also guarantee the random assignment of cases to judges, Fernandez said.

Sereno lauded the court employees for their efforts in encoding the voluminous case records.

She also demonstrated the use of the e-Court kiosk by making a few clicks to retrieve records of cases involving prominent personalities, like broadcaster Erwin Tulfo and former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Chair Manuel Morato.

Before Friday’s launch, the Quezon City courts conducted a month-long dry run to test the e-Court system’s accuracy and security features. ■

FORMER Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Lisandro Abadia and his wife have been ordered by the Sandiganbayan to pay the government P11.26 million, which the court declared as ill-gotten wealth, or face forfeiture of their assets equivalent to the amount.

The antigraft court’s 3rd Division, in a decision issued on June 13, ruled in favor of the Ombudsman which had filed the forfeiture petition and accused the Abadias of amassing unexplained wealth during the retired general’s term as head of the AFP. The court said Abadia failed to explain convincingly to the court how his declared net worth in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN) rose from P3.77 million in 1991 to P6.476 million in 1992, and to P13.61 million in 1993.

Abadia, a four-star general, served in the AFP for 36 years. He started his military service in 1958, retiring in 1994. He served as chief of staff from 1991 under President Corazon Aquino, until 1994 under President Fidel Ramos.

www.canadianinquirer.net

In 2005, then Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio filed a forfeiture petition against Abadia, noting the discrepancies in his SALN. According to the evidence submitted to the court, Abadia’s total disposable income from 1987 to 1993 was only P2.63 million while family expenditures over the same period amounted to P2.77 million.

The court took into account the sum of P280,000 raised from the sale of Abadia’s property in Bicutan, Parañaque, saying this should have brought his net worth in 1993 to P2.35 million, not P13.61 million as declared in his 1993 SALN, or a difference of P11.26 million.

In his defense, Abadia claimed his 1992 income went up because he sold a piece of property for P2.55 million.

The prosecution, however, presented a deed of sale showing the selling price was only P200,000 although both documents—the prosecution’s and Abadia’s— pertained to the same lot with “the same area, metes and bounds.”

For 1993, Abadia said he received P3.275 million representing full payment for 10,000 shares of Antipolo Properties Inc. which he sold that year to a certain “V. Takai.” ■

Opinion

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 16

THERE’S THE RUB

Still, leave it to the artists

By Conrado De Quiros Philippine Daily Inquirer “IF I had the choice,” says Edgardo Angara, chair of the Senate education committee and board member of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, “I would have given the title to Dolphy while he was still alive, if only to show appreciation for the unique talent he possessed. Dolphy is really more than deserving of the National Artist award…. What he did was an extraordinary thing—making the entire Filipino people laugh.”

But that’s precisely the point: You don’t have the choice. No government official does, not even the President. Art is not a province of public administration, art is not a subject for legislation.

Thankfully, the Supreme Court showed enough wisdom to side with Bienvenido Lumbera, Virgilio Almario, and other National Artists in their protest against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo elevating Carlo Caparas and Cecile Guidote-Alvarez to that station. The point was not the choice of awardees—which in this case sucked—the point was the right of the President, fake or not, to name anybody National Artist. She, or he, has none.

Government does not lack for ways to honor people it considers as having contributed enormously to society. I

applaud Bernadette Herrera-Dy for filing a resolution for Congress to bestow the Congressional Medal of Distinction to Dolphy, the same award it gave to Manny Pacquiao in 2010. I applaud the Manila council for passing a resolution to mourn the passing of a favorite son. And I applaud P-Noy for awarding Dolphy the Grand Collar of the Order of the Golden Heart when he was still very much alive.

But I do not applaud public officials cajoling the NCCA and the Cultural Center of the Philippines to give the National Artist award to Dolphy because of the depth of public grief at his passing. I do not applaud family and friends importuning the President to declare Dolphy outright National Artist. I do not even applaud the public clamor, however much of it is spontaneous, demanding that Dolphy be made so because he spent a lifetime making the country laugh.

I myself think Dolphy should be seriously considered for the honor, and, barring somebody else whose artistic accomplishments are far more formidable, should be one of its strongest contenders. Paradoxically, not the least of reasons for my believing this is precisely the spontaneous outpouring of grief and love shown for him when he died, notwithstanding that it wasn’t altogether sudden or unexpected.

He was already knocking on heaven’s door—Filipinos can have no doubt about which door it was—a week or so before he went. I’m one of those, courtesy of an activist background, who believe that art entails a dialogue between the artist and an audience. That audience may be a nascent one, the one that exists in the future rather than the present, which is the unhappy lot of visionary artists, but an audience nonetheless. Art cannot exist in a vacuum,

I do not applaud public officials cajoling the NCCA and the Cultural Center of the Philippines to give the National Artist award to Dolphy because of the depth of public grief at his passing. like blast-frozen canned meat.

I don’t buy elitist snobbery, “in the room the women come and go, talking of Michelangelo,” which equates popularity with commerce and effectively bars the popular performer from the ranks of great artists, if not artists per se. Which comedians in particular are heir to. Even the Oscars are not immune to that, which was why it introduced the “Lifetime

Achievement” award at some point to make up for the rarity with which it hands out the statuette to comedians. Charlie Chaplin was one of the victims of the monstrous oversight.

Not incidentally, though he was a far cry from Chaplin, Bob Hope received that award in 1952 for “contribution to the laughter of the world.”

Maybe Dolphy can get the same thing from the CCP or NCCA, if he fails to get the National Artist award this year.

But making people laugh is by itself not a natural claim to the National Artist award. Nor indeed dying, however copious the tears it induces. Tito, Vic and Joey have spent a lifetime making people laugh, too.

In their lifetimes, so did Pugo, Chiquito, Dolphy’s partner Panchito, and a host of others. What made Dolphy stand out among them is not just his longevity. It is that he improved on what he found, raising comedy from slapstick to wit, from hitting people in the head with a folded newspaper when comedians ran out of things to say (much of the dialogue was improvised banter with the barest outline of a script to keep things together) to dishing out quips on the ironies of life. Behind real comedy, as all the great comedians have said, is real tragedy. Behind the laughter is

the tears. Dolphy was an exponent of that, Dolphy was past master of that.

That is what entitles him to become National Artist.

But that is not my choice either. I can only press my point with a view to contributing to the discussion.

The choice belongs to the NCCA and CCP, the choice belongs to the artists.

Are artists vulnerable to politics themselves? Are artists capable of being petty themselves? Well, the history of awards for artists by artists in this country is not very mute testimony to it. I still recall how “Burlesk Queen,” a movie of great merit, caused a furor when it swept all the awards except two, forcing the Manila Film Festival judges to void all the awards afterward.

And I remember that the Free Press then, to dispel the suspicion of politics or favoritism in literary awards, asked the judges to explain their decisions in an issue of the magazine.

Yes, artists are prey to politics, too, artists can be petty, too. But it’s as Winston Churchill said of democracy: It’s a horrible system, except that all the others are worse. Ask the politicians to rule on it, and that’s worse. Ask the public to vote on it, and that’s just as worse. It’s not perfect, asking the artists to judge art. It’s, well, tragicomic.

But, still, leave it to them. ■

of published articles in peer-reviewed journals or books to merit appointment to a tenured faculty position.

“As long as your son can still look to the future with hope and yearning, you do not have to worry about him,” I tried to assure his mother. “In immersing himself in local community affairs, he may be pursuing what he thinks will give him a handle to the world. Right now, he may not need a college degree. In the future, he may be asked by employers to produce one.

But that depends on what he wants to do. In politics, you don’t need a college degree. But if one day he decides to teach, he will be told that he needs to have a degree, preferably a graduate degree. For now, what is important is that he doesn’t lose his sense of wonder, and that he keeps reading and writing to develop his mind.”

I was so focused on this parent’s problem of how to persuade her son to resume his studies that I forgot to share what to me were the more crucial lessons about parenting I have learned over the years. Letting go of one’s child is perhaps a parent’s most difficult achievement. Having grown up in a traditional family, I was myself inclined to be an authoritarian parent. The parenting style I imbibed was heavy on fear and obedience.

My wife, in contrast, always believed that parental trust was a more effective builder of responsibility than fear. As long as the rules are clear, she said, the sooner we trust and let go of them, the more self-reliant they would be. She was right. Trusting our children did not mean we were sure they would not make mistakes. Indeed, they made mistakes, but they quickly learned from them. Our readiness to trust boosted their self-confidence. They made their own decisions early in life, yet they were not afraid to seek advice or to discuss the consequences of bad decisions.

There is probably no other way to go in a complex world. More than at any other time, Filipino parents today have only a tenuous grip on the values of their children. Friends at school, their teachers, the mass media and now the social media, all have a formidable claim on their children’s time and attention. It is easy to lose them completely to the seductive pluralism, instantaneity, and novelty of global communications. The only way to neutralize these influences is by helping our children cultivate self-reflection and personal discipline—the ability to subject oneself to the regulation of selfchosen virtues. These are traits formed in the course of long conversations. ■

PUBLIC LIVES

Parenting

By Randy David Philippine Daily Inquirer A PARENT whose biggest goal in life is to see all her children graduate from the University of the Philippines wrote me the other day to ask what advice to give her son who had taken a leave of absence from his studies in UP in order to work in their town’s local government. The young man seems to be enjoying his part-time job so much that he has not talked of going back to finish his course. She says her son needs just a few more units and a thesis to graduate. As if to remind everyone that time is slipping by, his younger sister recently just graduated from UP. Reacting to my recent column on “Generations” (Opinion, 6/2/13) in which I wrote that, as parents, my wife and I explicitly refrained from telling our children what careers to pursue, or from pressuring them to excel in school, the concerned parent says that she, too, always gropes for a reasonable balance between parental dictation and gentle advice. “What I did and continue to do is to guide and support them in all their endeavors. I tell them I will be a miron (kibitzer). But sometimes, like in chess, I feel a strong urge to make a move for them to get the things they need for their careers.

I stop myself, realizing they have their own diskarte (style), and that I should only comment when asked.” Still, she says, she can’t help wondering what is happening to her son.

I am always hesitant to offer any opinion or advice about concrete situations or problems where I am not aware of the essential facts. We don’t know why the young man took an academic leave of absence. There’s no indication here of a financial issue.

He might have incurred academic deficiencies or piled up “incompletes,” or ran into some difficult teachers.

Whatever it is, something made him lose interest in his course. The saving grace is that he has not said he is no longer interested in studying.

In my reply, I suggested that he should explore other courses, for which he could get most of the units he has earned credited. He could choose a course directly relevant to the work he is doing now—like community development or public administration.

Because they finish high school at a very young age, our students usually find themselves trapped in courses for which they have neither aptitude nor talent nor interest. They should not fear shifting to other courses, and indeed should be encouraged to take subjects outside of their prescribed

curriculum.

At the same time, we must make room for restless minds that altogether resist being strait-jacketed by standard curricula. They come to the university not so much to get a degree as to develop their minds.

Typically self-supporting, they get part-time jobs and are content to audit classes. They never graduate.

Learning becomes a lifelong passion for them. Steve Jobs was such a mind.

Trusting our children did not mean we were sure they would not make mistakes. Indeed, they made mistakes, but they quickly learned from them.

The world of work, however, particularly in our society, still demands college degrees and diplomas as proof of possession of competencies. Degrees will likely remain as entrance requirements for jobs for a long time. But in the future, they will become less and less a gauge or proof of what one can do.

Employers will instead be demanding portfolios of past projects or works—in short, palpable records of one’s abilities and achievements—just as today one has to have a minimum number

www.canadianinquirer.net

Opinion

17 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

AS I SEE IT

Please don’t cut trees; plant them

By Neal H. Cruz Philippine Daily Inquirer SEN. Juan Ponce Enrile’s resignation as Senate President was a surprise even to his closest allies, Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Tito Sotto. The best thing in JPE’s privilege speech that day was not the resignation itself but his call for a transparent audit of Senate finances.

Enrile said his irrevocable resignation was intended to make it very clear that he wants all senators, himself included, to be put under a microscopic scrutiny on how they utilized their fund allocations.

There were those who dismissed Enrile’s resignation as an empty gesture because it came on the second to the last day of the 15th Congress. As I see it, however, his resignation was such an important precedent that it should henceforth be the standard practice in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Senators and congressmen will be much more cautious in using their fund allocations if at the end of each Congress they know that a full and transparent audit is coming. I believe that by resigning, Enrile raised the bar of public accountability.

The puzzler in all of this is that those senators who have been asking for En-

rile’s head by raising a howl over his disbursement of Senate funds to individual senators are now the ones who seem to be opposing a full-blown audit of the utilization of Senate funds.

Why are some senators moving heaven and earth to prevent such an audit? Why, indeed? Are they afraid that the Senate funds that they received will be found to have been diverted to buy pricey mansions in expensive addresses?

Who among the senators are afraid of the transparent audit Enrile has pushed by resigning? Let’s look at the noisy ones in the Senate to determine who they are.

As Senate President, JPE repeatedly stressed that he would be able to account for every centavo that his office had disbursed. This is something that many of his colleagues may find difficult to do because they have merely issued certifications on how their allocations were used.

For ordinary citizens and taxpayers, the real issue is what happens to the funds disbursed by the Office of the Senate President to the individual senators. After all, the end-users of the funds—in this case the individual senators—are the ones who should account for the money.

As Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago

once said, “Ang sarap maging senador (It’s nice to be a senator).” Maybe not anymore, if the transparent liquidation and audit of Senate funds that Enrile called for is institutionalized.

In his speech, Enrile said he and Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chair of the committee on accounts, had taken “the position that if we (senators and congressmen) were to be sensitive to the public pulse and with the agreement of both houses of Congress, we should

We should plant more trees instead of cutting them. We have a National Greening Program that aims to plant 1.5 million trees. But here is the DPWH cutting grown trees instead. revert back to the old system of liquidation and accounting for each centavo of public money entrusted to us.”

To that statement of Enrile, I say: By all means, let’s return to the old system and refuse to vote back into office any senator or congressman who will refuse to properly liquidate taxpayer money.

Pay special attention to the pork barrel, which is deodorized as the Priority

Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

Some contractors claim that some legislators demand at least 30-percent kickback on projects. Include the bribe money given to engineers, treasurers, cashiers, local government officials, etc., and the loss can easily go up to 50 percent or more. That is why we have substandard public works projects: The contractors have to finish the projects with what is left to them after paying off government officials.

The PDAF amounts to several billions of pesos every year. Half of that is lost to corruption. Imagine how that lost fund could have contributed to improving the lives of all Filipinos—in terms of housing for the homeless, for example, or creating jobs for the jobless. *** A reader, Moises Norman Z. Garcia, a professor at the University of Santo Tomas, reported in a letter that 350 mature trees along Lacson (formerly Governor Forbes) Avenue will be cut by the Department of Public Works and Highways to give way to an underpass intended to ease traffic at the intersection of España and Lacson avenues.

According to Garcia, the loss to the environment far outweighs the benefits of an underpass there. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and

provide oxygen, filter the pollutants from the air, and serve as shelter from the heat of the sun. Trees also moderate the hot microclimate in the urban jungle that Metro Manila has become.

“The cooling effect of a single tree is equivalent to 20 air conditioners,” Garcia said. Imagine how much electricity we would all save simply by planting more trees.

And why an underpass? Why not a flyover, which would require less excavation and therefore save the trees?

The DPWH (and the Metro Manila Development Authority) are quick to cut trees as it is the easy way to do things. We should plant more trees instead of cutting them. We have a National Greening Program that aims to plant 1.5 million trees. But here is the DPWH cutting grown trees instead. *** KAPIHAN NOTES: In celebration of Father’s Day on Sunday, the Kapihan sa Manila at the Diamond Hotel will have as guests two sets of prominent fathers and sons: JPE and JPE Jr. (aka Jackie Enrile) and Rep. Rodolfo Biazon and Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon.

Next week we hope to have Manila Mayor-elect Joseph Estrada and his two feuding sons: Sen. Jinggoy Estrada and Senator-elect JV Ejercito Estrada. ■

ignoring others who were eagerly soliciting it. It does seem that they are trying to grant our family all the favor within their power to give.

Knowing this, it behooves us to refrain from displeasing them in the least with our behavior, in view of the needlessness of our services. If sometime you get to talk to Father Martínez, assure him that these are the sentiments that animate us.”

When Rizal returned to Calamba in August 1887 after studying abroad, he was by then the celebrated—or should we say notorious—author of “Noli Me Tangere.”

What we are not told is that on Dec. 30, 1887 (significant because this date is nine years to the day he would be shot), the government wanted to check on taxes by asking the Calamba tenants about rental paid to the Dominican hacienda.

In January 1888 they replied with a petition drafted by Rizal and signed by the principales of the town challenging the legitimacy of the land titles supposedly held by the Dominicans. By February 1888, the Calamba tenants had refused to pay rent. A year later, after trying in vain to collect rentals due, the Dominicans brought the case to the Justice of the Peace in Calamba and

lost, allegedly because the justice was in the pocket of Paciano Rizal who allegedly dictated the decision favorable to the tenants.

The Dominicans appealed to the Provincial Court of Santa Cruz and won. The court then ordered the nonpaying tenants to vacate the lands owned by the hacienda. When they refused, agents of court, with 50 soldiers standing by to keep the peace, effected the order of eviction, which resulted in the burning of some houses and injury to some tenants. After a while the evicted tenants began to return to the land, prompting Governor- General Valeriano Wyler in 1891 to order the deportation of 25 individuals to Mindoro. The 25 included Paciano Rizal and his brothers-in-law Antonio Lopez (husband of Narcisa) and Silvestre Ubaldo (widower of Olimpia). Another brother-in-law, Manuel Hidalgo (husband of Saturnina), was later exiled to Bohol.

To cut the long story short, the Dominicans won the case in a higher court in Manila as well as the Supreme Court in Madrid. Rizal’s heroism is rooted not just in his subversive novels but also in an agrarian dispute that resonates in our times. ■

LOOKING BACK

Rizal’s agrarian dispute

By Ambeth R. Ocampo Philippine Daily Inquirer ONE week from Independence Day, June 12, we commemorate the birthday of Jose Rizal, one of the founding fathers of the nation. It is a holiday in his birthplace, and the house in Calamba, Laguna, that I once painted green will be the focus of attention for a while—the focus of teachers who will advise their students to study hard and get good grades like Rizal.

The Calamba home should teach us about the surname rooted in the Spanish word “ricial,” which means “a green field ready for harvest.” Being an urban ignoramus, I presumed that rice fields ready for harvest are green when in fact these turn golden when the stalks bend from the weight of the rice. The reconstructed Rizal house in Calamba should remind us of the agrarian roots of the Rizal story that teach us of the agrarian roots of Philippine social problems.

Textbook history has led us to believe that the Rizal-Mercado family was one of wealth and importance.

While the family was prosperous enough to send their daughters and two sons to school in Manila, and prosperous enough to send Jose to

Europe to study, Rizal’s letters to his family prove that unlike truly wealthy contemporaries like Pedro Paterno and Trinidad H. Pardo de Tavera, who never wanted for financial support, he had to cope with a subsistence (and often irregular) allowance.

Textbook history also fails to mention that the Mercados drew their fortune not only from the industry of Rizal’s elder brother Paciano and the business sense of their mother Teodora Alonso but also from working the land—that is, plots of land not theirs but part of the vast Dominican hacienda that covered many parts of Laguna and Batangas. It is odd that Rizal’s father Francisco Mercado does not jump out of the documents, and it is clear from Paciano’s letters that he was in charge of the land planted with rice and sugar.

What is conveniently swept under the rug in our anti-Spanish and antifriar textbook histories is the fact that the Mercado family was initially on good terms with the Dominicans, or at least with the lay brothers who administered the hacienda. Rizal’s family was given preferential treatment and were leased land in Pansol, for which Paciano reminded his

brother in 1883 to be grateful to the Dominicans: “The object of the present letter is to speak to you a little about our family interests and a little about yours in particular. I’ll begin with the first. The land in Pansol is improving and much can be expected from it in the future, provided I enjoy good health. The land is good and extensive. This land, which did not cost us anything and was ceded

Rizal’s heroism is rooted not just in his subversive novels but also in an agrarian dispute that resonates in our times. by the Corporation to us in preference to anybody else, deserves to be appreciated a little. We ought to be a little grateful to the Corporation that, without owing us anything, desires the welfare of our family.

Undoubtedly you will tell me that I overlook the work involved and the rent paid. I agree with you, but you will also agree with me that these priests have no obligation to give us the Pansol land exclusively,

www.canadianinquirer.net

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

18

Canada News

Canadian real estate industry says 2013 sales off to better start than expected

BY LINDA NGUYEN AND DAVID PADDON The Canadian Press

The Canadian Press Canada's housing market continues to show signs of stability as the number of homes sold so far this year has come in slightly higher than projected, a possible signal that the market is set for a rebound in 2014, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

The industry group representing Canadian realtors reported Monday that although it still expects fewer sales to be logged this year than in 2012, the decline will be smaller than what was predicted in March.

Overall, it forecasts that there will be more sales next year than in 2013 and 2012.

Douglas Porter, chief economist with BMO Capital Markets, said the figures show that the doom and gloom that has been anticipated for the Canadian housing sector looks like it's been delayed—at least for the near future.

“Overall, this is relatively encouraging news,” he said. “If anything, the surprise has been how healthy the housing market has been.”

CREA is now estimating that 443,400 units will be sold in 2013 , a decline of 2.5 per cent from 454,573 in 2012. It had previously projected a decline of 2.9 per cent from 2012.

The group reported that sales activity began to pick up at the end of the first quarter and accelerated in the second quarter.

It projects that 2014 will see a strong rebound, with 464,300 housing units sold—about 9,700 more than last year.

It said the drop in transactions in the second half of 2012 can be attributed to stricter mortgage rules for lenders and buyers introduced by the federal government last summer.

Canada joining global alliance against online child sexual abuse: Nicholson

PHOTO BY FANATIC STUDIO

“It affected a lot of first-time homebuyers, particularly in some of Canada's more expensive markets,” said Gregory Klump, CREA's chief economist. “We had a pretty substantial decline in sales activity.”

CREA also reported that last month, there were 51,764 residential properties sold across Canada, down 2.6 per cent from May 2012.

On a month-to-month basis, May showed a 3.6 per cent increase from April with 37,792 units and 36,473 units sold on a seasonally adjusted basis in the first two months of the second quarter—the largest month-tomonth gain in more than two years.

Porter said the strongerthan-expected figures are another indicator that the Canadian economy is faring well.

“The overall message is that there is still some strength in the economy. This has gone hand in hand with better job news and some more encourag-

ing reports generally,” he said.

“I wouldn't say the economy is booming by any stretch of the imagination but I think the main point is that it's holding up better than many had expected as recently as a couple of months ago.”

The association also reported that its home price index was up 2.3 per cent in May, compared with a year earlier. That was slightly better than April's HPI of 2.2 per cent but still near two-year lows.

The May national average price, for all types of property in major markets across Canada, was $388,910—up 3.7 per cent from a year earlier. Almost all of the local markets that make up the average saw year-to-year increases.

The group noted that it expects Alberta and Prince Edward Island to see a rise in the number of home sales this year, while other provinces will continue to see declines compared to last year. ■

TORONTO—Canada is joining a group fighting online child sexual abuse around the world, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Monday, calling it the next step in the government's crackdown on child sex predators.

The Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online, which includes the United States, the European Union and other countries, was started last December to help authorities better identify and assist victims of abuse and prosecute culprits.

The international nature of online abuse requires co-operation between countries to bring criminals to justice and rescue victims, Nicholson said.

While much is already being done to combat child sex abuse on Canadian soil, working closely with investigators abroad is a necessity given that child pornography rings often span several countries, he added.

“This is just a recognition of what is taking place on the Internet,” the minister said at a news conference in Toronto.

“What this will do is formalize with a whole new range of countries with the intention to share information and to co-operate with each other in these investigations.”

The alliance also wants to raise global awareness of the scope of the problem.

In Canada, sexual violations against children—including instances of online luring—were among the few types of violent crime to rise between 2010 and 2011, according to the latest data provided by Statistics Canada.

Increasingly sophisticated technology makes it easier for predators to obtain pornographic material—and to keep their activities underground, said Det.-Sgt. Kim Gross, who heads Toronto police's child exploitation investigations unit.

Those who work in that field already trade tips, techniques and other information to keep up with the evolving methods abusers use to hide their tracks, she said.

But cementing those networks will help investigators take action more quickly in cases where a child may be in danger of being harmed, she added.

“Often when we're talking about children who are young and vulnerable, you may want to act faster than normal because you certainly want to protect that child,” she said.

Monday's announcement comes months after the Conservative government vowed to stiffen penalties for sex predators who prey on children and give victims a formal role in the country's criminal justice system.

Nicholson also made a series of funding announcements in the last week of January geared toward child-assault victims. ■

Canada News

19 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

NEWS BRIEFS SASKATCHEWAN PREMIER SAYS TRUDEAU SHOULD RETURN $20K SPEAKING FEE TO LITERACY GROUP

PHOTO BY SHANNON PATRICK

No info from government, so Albertans to query U.S. expert on pipeline safety

BY BOB WEBER The Canadian Press EDMONTON—Some Albertans have turned to a vocal U.S. environmental group for information on pipeline safety they say they can’t get from their own government.

Four conservation and landowners organizations have asked an expert from the Washington-based Natural Resources Defense Council to talk to them about what Albertans should be concerned about regarding the province’s aging pipeline network.

“Maybe we better have somebody from the outside telling us how to run our own show,” Don Bester of the Alberta Surface Rights Group said Friday. “We’re not getting it from our government.”

Bester’s group, along with Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and the Council of Canadians, is sponsoring workshops led by Anthony Swift in three communities next week.

Swift is a staff lawyer for the Natural Resources Defense Council. He has expertise in fossil fuel subsidies, energy markets and pipeline safety and has worked as a policy analyst at the U.S. Department of Transportation. He testified before Congress against TransCanada Corp.’s

(TSX:TRP) proposed Keystone XL project, which would bring northern Alberta oilsands bitumen to refineries on the Gulf Coast.

“What we’ll be talking about is what we’ve learned in the United States with pipelines spills of various types—the risks to pipeline integrity (and) unique risks that we’re running into with pipeline spill hitting watersheds when heavier types of crude are involved,” Swift said from Washington, D.C. “We’re going to talk about the risks that are being dealt with, current industry practice in dealing with that risk and things (landowners) can do to mitigate those risks as we see an expansion of pipeline infrastructure.”

Swift’s group has been working in Alberta for nearly a decade, he said, and has examined the province’s pipeline infrastructure.

He won’t be the only council staff in Alberta this month. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the group’s senior attorney, is to visit the oilsands region on the Canada Day long weekend.

“Is everything (Swift) says going to be taken as the gospel? No,” said Bester. “But we may gain knowledge enough that we can convince our own government that we need some answers.”

He hopes the visit will pressure Alberta Energy Minister Ken Hughes to release a report on pipeline safety that was completed last year.

“It is to put public pressure on our own government to find out what is actually in the report that we paid for.”

Alberta Energy spokesman Mike Feenstra said the government didn’t receive analysis of the report from the Energy Resources Conservation Board until the end of March.

“The department’s taking some time to look over the initial report as well as the analysis and then we will be releasing that this summer,” he said. “(We’ll be) looking for public feedback as well.”

Feenstra said Alberta regulators are highly experienced in pipeline safety, but will take Swift’s comments into account.

There have been a number of pipeline leaks in Alberta in the last year.

The latest is a 9.5-million litre spill of waste water from oil and natural gas operations. Officials say it covered 42 hectares in a remote area around Zama City.

Aboriginal groups have said the spill is so large it raises questions about how long the pipeline carrying the water contaminated with salt, oil and minerals had been leaking. ■

REGINA—Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall says he won’t apologize for saying federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau should return $20,000 he charged for speaking at a literacy conference in Saskatoon. Wall says it’s inappropriate for an elected official to accept a fee to talk at such an event, so Trudeau should pay back the money. The Saskatchewan premier says the conference, held in April 2012, was left with only a $7,000 surplus for its next event. Jennifer Graham, The Canadian Press

QUEBEC SOCCER FEDERATION SCRAPS CONTROVERSIAL TURBAN BAN AFTER FIFA RULING MONTREAL—The Beautiful Game shed an ugly debate on Saturday as the Quebec Soccer Federation ended its internationally criticized turban ban and the Canadian Soccer Association welcomed it back into the fold. The Quebec Soccer Federation announced the end of its ban Saturday morning, saying it was relieved to receive clear instructions from FIFA on what has become a contentious issue. FIFA announced on Friday that it was authorizing the wearing of male head covers at all levels of Canadian soccer. Nelson Wyatt, The Canadian Press

‘YOU ROBBED ME OF MY SON,’ MOTHER OF CHAINED TEEN TELLS TORMENTOR BRIDGEWATER, N.S.—A 16-year-old boy who was chained inside a Nova Scotia cabin where he was ] raped for a week still suffers the physical and emotional wounds from the horror, his mother said Friday as his tormentor was sentenced to 11 years in prison. “You have robbed me of my son ... and made a hole in my heart,” she said. An agreed statement of facts says David James LeBlanc, 48, offered the boy a painting job and drove him in a van on the pretext of picking up supplies.

Instead, the boy was taken to a cabin where his clothes were taken and he was repeatedly sexually assaulted, the statement says.

LeBlanc was given credit for 258 days he has served in custody prior to his trial, meaning he has about 10 years, 3 1/2 months left on his sentence. Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press

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World News

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 20

UN: World population to hit 8.1B in 2025 The Associated Press UNITED NATIONS—The United Nations has forecast that the world’s population will increase from 7.2 billion today to 8.1 billion in 2025 and 9.6 billion in 2050, with most growth in developing countries and more than half in Africa.

The report said much of the overall increase between now and 2050 is expected to take place in Africa and countries with large populations such as India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United States.

(As of the May 2010 census, the Philippines’ population stood at 92,337,852. The Commission on Population projected the country’s population as of June 14, 2013 at 97,898,948, based on the 1.98 population percent change.)

The UN report, “World Population Prospects,” released on Thursday, June 13, said most of the population growth will occur in developing regions which are projected to increase from 5.9 billion in 2013 to 8.2 billion in 2050.

During that same period, it said, the population of developed countries is expected to remain largely unchanged at around 1.3 billion people.

India to surpass China

India’s population is expected to surpass China’s around 2028 when both countries will have populations of around 1.45 billion, according to the report.

While India’s population is forecast to grow to around 1.6 billion and then slowly decline to 1.5 billion in 2100, China’s is expected to start decreasing after 2030, possibly falling to 1.1 billion in 2100, it said.

The report found global fertility rates are falling rapidly, though not nearly fast enough to avoid a significant population jump over the next decades. In fact, the UN revised its population projection upward since its last report two years ago, mostly due to higher fertility projections in the countries with the most children per women. The previous projection had the global population reaching 9.3 billion people in 2050.

No cause for alarm

John Wilmoth, director of

the Population Division in the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said the projected population increase will pose challenges but is not necessarily cause for alarm.

Rather, he said, the worry is for countries on opposite sides of two extremes: Countries, mostly poor ones, whose populations are growing too quickly, and wealthier ones where the populations are aging and decreasing.

“The world has had a great experience of dealing with rapid population growth,” Wilmoth said at a news conference.

“World population doubled between 1960 and 2000, roughly.

World food supply more than doubled over that time period.”

“The problem is more one of extremes,” he added. “The main story is to avoid the extreme of either rapid growth due to high fertility or rapid population aging and potential decline due to very low fertility.”

Fastest growing

Among the fastest growing countries is Nigeria, whose population is expected to surpass the US population before the middle of the century and could start to rival China as the second most populous country in the world by the end of the century, according to the report.

By 2050, Nigeria’s population is expected to reach more than 440 million people, compared to about 400 million for the US. The oil-rich African country’s population is forecast to be nearly 914 million by 2100.

The report found that most countries with very high levels of fertility—more than 5 children per woman—are on the UN list of least developed countries. Most are in Africa, but they also include Afghanistan and East Timor.

But the average number of children per woman has swiftly declined in several large countries, including China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Brazil and South Africa, leading to a reduction in population growth rates in much of the developing world.

Low fertility levels

In contrast, many European and eastern Asia countries have very low fertility levels.

“As a result, these popula-

TOP: A street in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. ABOVE: A street in Kathmandu, Nepal PHOTO BY NGÔ TRUNG, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

tions are aging rapidly and face challenges in providing care and support to their growing ranks of older persons,” Wilmoth said.

Wilmoth cautioned that “there is a great deal of uncertainty about population trends.” He said projections could change based on the trajectories of three major components—fertility, mortality and migration.

Still, population growth until 2050 is all but inevitable.

The UN uses the “mediumvariant” projection, which assumes a substantial reduction in the fertility levels of intermediate- and high-fertility countries in the coming years.

In the “high-variant”—if women on average had an extra half of a child—the world population would reach 10.9 billion in 2050. In the “low-variant”—if women on average had half a child fewer—the population would be 8.3 billion in 2050. www.canadianinquirer.net

Among the notable findings in the report: • The population in developing regions is projected to increase from 5.9 billion in 2013 to 8.2 billion in 2050. In contrast, the population of developed countries is expected to remain largely unchanged during that period, at around 1.3 billion people.

• Africa’s population could increase from 1.1 billion today to 2.4 billion in 2050, and potentially to 4.2 billion by 2100.

• The number of children in less developed regions is at all-time high at 1.7 billion. In those regions, children under age 15 account for 26 percent of the population. In the poorest countries, children constitute 40 percent of their populations, posing huge challenges for providing education and employment.

• In wealthier regions, by contrast, children account for

16 percent of the population. In developed countries as a whole, the number of older people has already surpassed the number of children, and by 2050 the number of older people will be nearly twice the number of children.

• Low-fertility countries now include all of Europe except Iceland, plus 19 countries in Asia, 17 in the Americas, two in Africa and one in Oceania.

• The populations of several countries are expected to decline by more than 15 percent by 2050, including Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cuba, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine.

• Life expectancy at birth for the world as a whole rose from 47 years in 1950-1955 to 69 years in 2005-2010 and is projected to reach 76 years in 2045-2050 and 82 years in 2095-2100. ■

World News

21 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

Google launching Internet beaming balloons to bring the Web to remote corners of the earth

BY MARTHA MENDOZA AND NICK PERRY The Associated Press CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand—Google is launching Internet-beaming antennas into the stratosphere aboard giant, jellyfish-shaped balloons with the lofty goal of getting the entire planet online.

Eighteen months in the works, the top-secret project was announced Saturday in New Zealand, where up to 50 volunteer households are already beginning to receive the Internet briefly on their home computers via translucent helium balloons that sail by on the wind 12 miles above Earth.

While the project is still in the very early testing stages, Google hopes eventually to launch thousands of the thin, polyethylene-film inflatables and bring the Internet to some of the more remote parts of the globe, narrowing the digital divide between the 2.2 billion people who are online and the 4.8 billion who aren’t.

If successful, the technology might allow countries to leapfrog the expense of installing fiber-optic cable, dramatically increasing Internet usage in places such as Africa and

Southeast Asia.

“It’s a huge moonshot, a really big goal to go after,” said project leader Mike Cassidy.

“The power of the Internet is probably one of the most transformative technologies of our time.”

The so-called Project Loon was developed in the clandestine Google X lab that also came up with a driverless car and Google’s Web-surfing eyeglasses.

Google would not say how much it is investing in the project or how much customers will be charged when it is up and running.

The first person to get Google Balloon Internet access this week was Charles Nimmo, a farmer and entrepreneur in the small town of Leeston who signed up for the experiment.

Technicians attached a bright red, basketball-size receiver resembling a giant Google map pin to the outside of his home.

In a successful preliminary test, Nimmo received the Internet for about 15 minutes before the 49-foot-wide transmitting balloon he was relying on floated out of range. The first thing he did was check the weather forecast because he wanted to find out if it was a good time for “crutching” his sheep, or re-

moving the wool around their rear ends.

Nimmo is among the many rural folk, even in developed countries, who can’t get broadband access. After ditching his dial-up four years ago in favour of satellite Internet service, he has gotten stuck with bills that sometimes exceed $1,000 a month.

“It’s been weird,” Nimmo said of the Google Balloon Internet experience. “But it’s been exciting to be part of something new.”

In recent years, military and aeronautical researchers have used tethered balloons to beam Internet signals back to bases on Earth. Google’s balloons would be untethered and out of sight, strung out in a line around the globe. They would ride the winds around the world while Google ground controllers adjusted their altitude to keep them moving along the desired route.

Ground stations about 60 miles apart would bounce Internet signals up to the balloons. The signals would hop backward from one balloon to the next to keep people continuously connected. Solar panels attached to the inflatables would generate electricity to power the Internet circuit www.canadianinquirer.net

boards, radios and antennas, as well as the onboard flight-control equipment.

Each balloon would provide Internet service for an area twice the size of New York City, or about 780 square miles, and because of their high altitude, rugged terrain is not a problem.

The balloons could even beam the Internet into Afghanistan’s steep and winding Khyber Pass.

“Whole segments of the population would reap enormous benefits, from social inclusion to educational and economic opportunities,” said DePauw University media studies professor Kevin Howley.

Once in place, the light but durable balloons wouldn’t interfere with aviation because they fly twice as high as airplanes and well below satellites, said Richard DeVaul, an MITtrained scientist who founded Project Loon and helped develop Google Glass, eyeglasses with a tiny, voice controlled computer display.

In the U.S., however, Google would have to notify the Federal Aviation Administration when the balloons are on their way up or down. The company is talking with regulators in other countries about meeting their requirements.

The Internet signals travel in the unlicensed spectrum, which means Google doesn’t have to go through the onerous regulatory processes required for Internet providers using wireless communications networks or satellites.

At this stage, the company is putting a few dozen balloons up over New Zealand and then bringing them down after a short period. Later this year, Google hopes to have as many as 300 of them circling the globe continuously along the 40th parallel, on a path that takes them over New Zealand, Australia, Chile and Argentina.

Covering the whole world would require thousands of the balloons. No timetable has been set for that.

Google chose New Zealand in part because of its remoteness.

Some Christchurch residents were cut off from the Internet

for weeks after a 2011 earthquake that killed 185 people.

Google said balloon access could help places suffering natural disasters get back online quickly.

“The potential of a system that can restore connectivity within hours of a crisis hitting is tremendously exciting,” said Imogen Wall at the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, although she warned that the service must be robust. “If the service fails in a crisis, then lives are lost.”

Temple University communications professor Patrick Murphy warned of mixed consequences, pointing to China and Brazil as places where Internet service promoted democratic principles but also contributed to a surge in consumerism that has resulted in environmental and health problems.

“The nutritional and medical information, farming techniques, democratic principles those are the wonderful parts of it,” he said. “But you also have everyone wanting to drive a car, eat a steak, drink a Coke.”

Already the world’s largest advertising network, Google stands to expand its own empire by bringing the Internet to more corners of the Earth.

More users means more potential Google searchers, which in turn translates into more chances for the company to display ads.

Richard Bennett, a fellow with the non-profit Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, was skeptical of the project, noting that smartphones are increasingly being used in developing countries.

“I’m really glad that Google is doing this kind of speculative research,” he said. “But it remains to be seen how practical any of these things are.”

Before heading to New Zealand, Google spent a few months secretly launching two to five flights a week in California’s Central Valley.

“People were calling in reports about UFOs,” DeVaul said. ■

Immigration

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 22

Doctors say public purse and public health at risk because of government cuts

BY STEPHANIE LEVITZ The Canadian Press OTTAWA—Public health and the public purse are in danger because of cuts to refugee health funding, doctors and refugee advocates said Monday as they protested the cuts across the country.

The federal government overhauled the health care coverage it provides to refugees and refugee claimants one year ago as part of a cost-cutting measure it also said was designed to make Canada less vulnerable to fake asylum claims by curbing access to free health care.

But the changes have thrown the health care support system for refugees into chaos, creating uncertainty for health care providers and refugees alike, advocates said.

The result has been a patchwork approach to treating refugees and refugee claimants that's hurting some of the most vulnerable people in Canada, said Dr. Doug Gruner of Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care.

“If they've got a cough, it

could be tuberculosis but we're never going to know because they're not going to the doctor,” Gruner said Monday.

“But they are going to the playgrounds, the schoolyards and the shopping centres, putting the rest of us at risk.”

Until the changes to the interim health care program last year, all refugees and refugee claimants received the same amount of supplemental health care coverage from the federal government.

The program was meant to bridge the gap between a refugee's arrival in Canada and their ability to qualify for provincial coverage, including for items such as dental, vision and drug costs.

In 2006-2007, coverage cost taxpayers $48.3 million, but in 2011-2012 those costs grew to $82.9 million as the number of refugee claims soared, statistics provided Monday by Citizenship and Immigration show.

Now, coverage is determined by criteria such as where claimants are from and whether their claim is pending, accepted or rejected.

For example, those seeking

asylum from one of 37 countries considered safe by the federal government have coverage that's limited to situations that pose a risk to public health or conditions that are of a public safety concern.

Those applying from other countries also have their benefits limited to services deemed essential or urgent.

In both cases, if applications are accepted, claimants receive limited extra benefits— but only for situations that pose a risk to public health or conditions that constitute a public safety concern.

That means many refugees are left without coverage for dental or vision care, and no access to prescription drugs until their provincial benefits kick in.

“This is a bad policy. This is bad for the health of refugees, this is bad for the health of Canadians for our own public health and this is bad for the taxpayer,” said Gruner.

“This will cost taxpayers dramatically more money.”

The changes were billed as saving the government $100 million over five years, but the

department said Monday it couldn't provide figures yet for how much was saved in 20122013; health care providers have six months to submit claims.

But there have been obvious impacts, said Gruner.

In Ottawa alone, there used to be more than 30 clinics that would accept refugee patients.

Only nine remain, and they require payment up front, he said—a cost often beyond the means of refugees.

“This is not the way Canadians would imagine welcoming some of its newest citizens and arguably some of the most vulnerable to our society by preventing them from accessing health care,” Gruner said.

Rather than seeking primary care, refugees are showing up at emergency rooms, which adds to the burden of provincial medical systems and costs taxpayers even more, he added.

While he couldn't provide exact statistics, Gruner said research continues to document the effect of program changes on hospitals and refugee populations.

The government has no heart, opposition critics cried.

BC HAPPY HOMES IMMIGRATION SERVICES

“Only a Conservative minister bereft of emotion would think that children and pregnant women are abusing the health care system,” said NDP MP Sadia Groguhe.

Some provinces have said they won't be turning down requests for coverage, but have asked the federal government to rethink the changes.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney insisted Monday the policy makes sense.

“If you come here as a visitor, a student, as a worker, as a new resident, you have to pay your own medical fees before becoming a permanent resident,” he said.

“Why does the NDP want to force taxpayers to pick up the tab universally for illegal migrants? That makes no sense.”

Initially, even those refugees who were resettled by the government were to have seen their benefits curtailed, although that was eventually changed.

The new policy is currently being challenged in Federal Court as an affront to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. ■

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Filipino-Canadian in Focus

23 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

FILIPINO-CANADIAN IN FOCUS

Jose Amor “Jampy” Flores

BY MELISSA REMULLA-BRIONES Philippine Canadian Inquirer Circa early 80's. A short trip to the airport. A long flight northwest. A beach ball.

Jampy's memory was a jumble of striated images and feelings, some poignant, some painful. The beach ball in particular was a focal point. It was his sister's sole possession when he and his family unceremoniously left their house in Cebu 32 years ago. It symbolized the little—literally and figuratively—that they were allowed to take with them. Looking back, he remembered thinking it was a pretty long flight for a beach getaway.

A series of unfortunate events precipitated that flight. Win or perish were his choices. Jampy chose to grow up.

It was a long, hard, satisfying climb.

Past Life

"Vancouver in the early 80s was quite a sleepy place and having flown up from San Francisco, the comparisons were literally night and day. I remember my mom saying when we arrived, ’looks like we went to the boondocks'. We arrived during the night but what we saw next morning was a beautiful city with mountains as its backdrop," he recalls.

Vancouver was the family's obvious choice for a next home, Jampy’s grandparents having settled in Canada earlier on. He fell in love with Vancouver and unwittingly, he wove his life into the fabric that was the Pinoy Diaspora.

However, the romance of the mountainous backdrop sometimes did not cut it. Jampy says, "It was a trying period looking to find comfort for the four of us." He adds, "It was my grandparents who made the adjustments bearable.

They were leaders and pioneers in the community. My Dad’s brother (Monching) and sister (Baby Faelnar), along with my cousins, brought us to movies, parks….learning the 'Canadian' experience along the way."

But during those times when forgetting the Philippines was the more logical choice, his parents ingrained in them love for the Philippines, stressing (every way that they can) that their children should be proud to be Filipinos.

Top Pinoy

And so before Manny Pacquiao, American Idol, Black Eyed Peas, The Filipino Channel and being Pinoy were fashionable, Jampy, through his Filipino Student Association in Simon Fraser University (SFU), led the pack in embracing the Filipino heritage and uplifting the Pinoy image.

What he did, in a show of bravado, was to run as a member of the mostly white student council. He won, becoming SFU's first (proudly) Pinoy member.

He was then elected to the University Senate.

He applied the same tenacity, hard work and dedication to his career and became an investment/corporate banker like his father before him. He describes the experience as "ironic" not only because he thought he would steer clear of that life but also because it was after waiting for a friend at a Merrill Lynch office (who was working there) that he found the interest to enroll in the Canadian Securities Course.

He went on to pursue his studies at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

After graduation, he worked for RBC's Corporate Banking team. Today, he is working for Bank of America Merrill Lynch, one of the largest global corporate banks, handling relationships and balances in the millions for its clients.

The experience has been an eye opener of sorts for Jampy especially after working with his counterparts from Europe, Japan and the United States. He says, "Canada’s Banks are large but we never had projects with these large scopes, sophistication, and often deals were just confined within our borders." He is fascinated, and knows he is where he should be.

A believer in continuous learning, he is currently taking post-graduate courses at Stanford University.

Relationships

Above all else, what Jampy has valued, and what has paid off both in his personal life and career, are good relationships.

"It’s all about relationships. I remember being trained going through the Merrill Lynch training courses at CIBC World Markets (Merrill Lynch had been purchased by CIBC the year before) and one of the first things mentioned by the trainer was that a client/customer is buying you, not the Company you work for, or the business card you’ve given them.”

"You have to be genuinely interested in your client. You genuinely care for them." He advises, "Ask them how they started, what makes them tick". He says, “For me it all started when I was a young boy borrowing books on how companies like Coca Cola started. Everyone has a story and they want to share it.”

He adds, "The best compliment a large corporate client ever gave me was when their Controller mentioned that they decided to leave when I stopped being their Relationship Manager. When I covered them, I managed about $250 Million of their investments at that time, one of the largest cash positions of any corporation in Canada’s West Coast."

Advice you can bank on

"Build your network with people in

JAMPY'S TOP 5 RECOMMENDED BOOKS

Kellogg on Marketing by Dr. Phil Kotler, who is considered the guru of Marketing. It is the first book every student of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management is introduced to.

The Notebook,

by Nicholas Sparks. An example of enduring love. I love the movie. I'm a romantic at heart.

Good Night Moon, a children's book by Margaret Wise Brown. The story of a baby rabbit going to bed. One of my favorite bedtime stories.

the industry, ask them for their opinions. Take the courses and certifications to allow you to gain knowledge of the industry. If you are a Pinoy coming from a major bank in the Philippines, apply for a position that allows you to get your feet in the door. When I started, you could count how many bankers who were Pinoys were in Vancouver, now you see many working at the branch, commercial, corporate levels as managers. Canadian banks are now cognizant of the talent and know-how of the Pinoy banker.

They are still a long way from American Banks that see Filipinos occupy positions as Managing Directors, SVP, or VPs, but we’ll get there eventually."

As someone who speaks from experience, Jampy says, "A career will never love you back. I learned this the hard way.

I’ve got a few things on my bucket list

www.canadianinquirer.net

Game of Thrones anthology, written by Northwestern University alumnus, George R.R. Martin. I'm hooked due to the HBO Series.

Eleven Rings

by Phil Jackson, who led the Chicago Bulls and L.A. Lakers. An excellent book on the insights of a champion coach and his philosophies.

such as l would like to learn Spanish fluently (waiting for a sale on Rosetta Stone CDs) and to fly an airplane as a hobby."

Also in the horizon is a plan to settle with his loved ones in Oceanside, California, or the Bay Area. Jampy says he wants "to grow old in either of those places, walk in the sand in the mornings, and feel the ocean breeze." ■ The Philippine Canadian Inquirer turns its focus on Filipino-Canadian entrepreneurs, top honchos, connectors, community leaders and movers and shakers who are willing to mentor fellow Filipinos in a series of entrepreneurship workshops to culminate in “The Philippine Canadian Inquirer” Appreciation and Awards Night and Gala. If you have someone in mind who fits the bill, please e-mail editor@canadianinquirer.net.

Seen & Scenes

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 24

CEFA - EDMONTON INDEPENDENCE 115th Philippine Independence Day Anniversary Party of the Council of Edmonton Filipino Associations (CEFA) at the Chateau Louis Hotel, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on June 8, 2013.

(Photos by Marino Hidalgo)

CIRCULO CAGAYANO ASSOCIATION OF BC The Circulo Cagayano Association of BC celebrates Kalayaan 2013 at a Dinner Dance at Holiday Inn on West Broadway with Dra. Lorene Balmaceda Lederer as the keynote speaker.

PAG

FILIPINO SENIORS CLUB Filipino Senior’s Club of B.C. Birthday Celebration and Coronation of Ms. Philippine Independence Day 2013 Goldie Castro on June 16. This event was spearheaded by Mr. Freddie Bagunu and attended by the winners of Miss World Canada, Madame Cecilia De Feudis Ampeso, Juan TV’s Babes Newland and members and friends of the Filipino Seniors Club of B.C.. Photos by Freddie Bagunu and Angelo Siglos.

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Seen & Scenes

25 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

CELEBRATION OF PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE DAY ON THE HILL Minister Jason Kenney, Philippine Ambassador to Canada Leslie Gatan, Sen. Tobias Enverga, Sen. Yonah Martin, MP Andrew Saxton, MP Don Davies and the co-chairs of the Canada-Philippines Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group were all in attendance at the Parliament Hill ceremony. After the flag-raising and speeches, the Scarborough Ontario Seniors group performed to the delight of the various Senators, MPs and dignitaries in attendance.

The ceremony was followed by a lunch reception in the East Block courtyard.

GDIRIWANG 2013 SA RICHMOND Pagdiriwang 2013 celebration of the Philippine Independence Day celebration at Lansdowne Mall on June 15, 2013 spearheaded by community leader, Lita Nuguid and attended by government officials and the Filipino community.

KALAYAAN 2013 GALA NIGHT Kalayaan 2013 Gala Night for the 115th celebration of Philippine Independence organized by the Philippines Cultural Pista ng Bayan Society thru the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver and attended by several Filipino organizations and associations in B.C.

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The Global Filipino

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 26

Binalot, A Brand That’s Proudly Filipino Philippine Canadian Inquirer “BINALOT”—a Filipino word meaning “something that is wrapped.” A gift. A package. Or in this case—a meal.

Binalot Fiesta Foods takes a leaf, literally, out of the Filipino tradition of eating on banana leaves. They serve their offerings—Filipino favorites like adobo, bistek, daing, and more—on banana leaves that serve as the “package” or plate.

Rommel Juan is the man behind this idea. He jumpstarted the business in 1996 with no more than 50,000 pesos as the initial investment. He had just finished college (he took up Marketing Management at De LaSalle University, Manila) and Rommel admits as much: that they “did it just for fun”—they meaning him, his brother, and a friend, when they hatched the idea and got it going for real.

But things got “serious”—that is, things started going real well. “A few years later, we realized that we were employing more people than we could have ever imagined,” says Rommel. “We were responsible for almost 200 jobs and families were starting to depend on us.”

Family

Rommel himself is a family man—a “proud father,” he says, “to three beautiful daughters” with his wife, Christine, a preschool teacher.

Business runs in his blood. Rommel’s old man is an entrepreneur. His family is a brood of entrepreneurs. His brother has a truck manufacturing business. His older sister franchises an after-school enrichment program. His younger sister owns a social media consultancy.

“Talking about business was never taboo during dinnertime or any other ‘family time,’” as Rommel puts it.

It was his father who led the way—his father who urged him to “go into business,” as he says.

“He taught us the importance of good old fashioned hard work,” says Rommel.

“My father used to make us repaint school chairs for my mom’s elementary school in Malabon . . . [he made us] pick up used nails, then straighten them and sell them back to my him just to teach us the value of money.”

“Madali naman yumaman, magbenta ka lang ng drugs,” his dad used to say. (It’s easy to get rich—you can sell drugs!) “But where will that get you?” he would ask.

Integrity, credibility, responsibility and discipline—the virtues were instilled in Rommel at a tender age. “He never showed us that work was hard,” he says. “He showed us that work was fun and enjoyable.”

Packaging

But it was thanks to his mom that

Rommel came to the idea of Binalot.

“Binalot was inspired from my childhood memories,” shares the CEO. “My mom used to wrap our food in banana leaves during family picnics.”

Rommel describes the “food scene” then as “boring”—“the usual hamburger, hotdog, siopao, siomai, and pizza fast food fare.”

Thus, Binalot took shape. The idea was to go “back to the basics” of Filipino cuisine. Rommel and co. reintroduced the traditional and “packaged it in a modern fast food setting.” By that, they mean that they paired it up with natural, organic, and biodegradable packaging.

“We started to champion the use of biodegradable packaging especially since typhoon Ondoy wrecked Manila a few years back. We wanted to make sure that we contribute to the ‘go green’ campaigns in our own little ways,” says Rommel. “We even went further and started promoting eco bags, washable utensils as opposed to disposables in our stores, and we even use e-bikes for deliveries.”

Binalot has a corporate social responsibility program called DAHON (LEAF)—Dangal at Hanapbuhay para sa Nayon (meaning “respect and work for the nation”). The advocacy supports thirty families in Nagcarlan, Laguna by employing the community to supply Binalot with their trademark banana leaves. Binalot has also branched out to Zambales to support the indigenous Aeta communities, and then to Legaspi, Albay, for a community of women.

Binalot has won the Centennial Prize for the UPS Out of the Box Small Business Competition; the Anvil Award from the PR Association; the Best Retailer Award from the Phil Retailer Association; a special citation from Entrepreneur Magazine; the BID challenge and

the Intel Aim Corporate Responsibility Awards (IACRA).

A thousand fold

“If you give, it comes back a thousand fold,” observes Rommel.

A success story, he seems the perfect subject to ask that timeless (tireless?) question: what’s the secret to success?

To Rommel, “success is finding contentment and happiness in life and in all your endeavors.” He shares his holy trinity: A positive attitude—“to help you get through some rough spots in life which will mold and strengthen your character.”

To be passionate—“I cannot stress enough that you have to enjoy what you’re doing in order for you to succeed.”

To be morally balanced—“so that everything you do is guided by the Lord.”

He cites his family as his inspiration and backbone. Family is numero uno on his list. “I tend to judge people’s successes by looking at their family lives,” he confesses—“not their material gains.”

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“I always say that business is like a rubber ball. If it falls, it bounces back.

But family is like a crystal ball, if it falls, it shatters,” imparts Rommel.

He doesn’t care about the figures in his bank account. Rommel says that “business is a tool to improve your family life, your employees’ lives and to help the community around you.”

Apart from his parents and siblings who were supportive of “whatever endeavor I chose to pursue,” says Rommel, it was his wife who inspired and encouraged him further out into the field.

“She became my compass in things that I wanted to achieve in life,” admits the businessman. His kids, too, continue to inspire him—“The things I do are for their future.”

Of course, he doesn’t fail to mention the people of Binalot, calling them “our true gems.” Selfless and dedicated to the company, the staff from top to bottom are the “secrets to Binalot’s success.” ■ With reports from Alpha Miguel-Sanford.

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28

Filipino Fashion

CANADA PHILIPPINE FASHION WEEK: in photos Philippine Canadian Inquirer CANADA PHILIPPINE FASHION WEEK—the four words were written down on a chance piece of napkin one fine day, so the story goes. Jeff Rustia, TV host, branding visionary, fashionista and philanthropist hatched the idea on a visit to his homeland, the Philippines, following his son's passing in 2011. On a retreat, it occurred to Rustia how much Philippine fashion had—for lack of a better way to put it—turned the definition of “fabulous” on its head.

It was new, it was vibrant—it was something special.

And this went hand-in-hand with a mission most special to his heart: Kol Hope Foundation (www.kolhope.com), the charity he had put up with his family to help children with disabilities in Canada and in the Philippines. Named after his late son, who was diagnosed with Trisomy 13 (the genetic disorder left Kol Rustia unable to do the most basic of functions to survive—like walk, breathe, and eat), the foundation is set to receive thousands of dollars of proceeds from this week-long extravaganza.

“Extravaganza.” Indeed it was. The first of its kind, CANADA PHILIPPINE FASHION WEEK boasted of Filipino and Filipino-Canadian designers who tapped into their roots as

fashion-forward Pinoys. Designers, models, collections, fashionistas of all stripes were flown in from Manila to Toronto. A showcase was made: haute couture, style, innovation, culture and creativity from the motherland.

It began with a party at the Thompson Hotel. That snazzy mastermind, Rustia, kicked off the event with designers, models, and a slew of other welldressed people in tow, replete with red carpet and press. Then it was party after party, runway after runway, exhibits, retrospectives, screenings—stars-inyour-eyes kind of glitz ‘n glam.

It became much more than just fashion, too. The event featured the international premier, no less, of “Jose Rizal: The First Hero,” a documentary by Paolo Abella. The screening coincided with the Philippines’ 115th Independence Day anniversary. The historic date was also marked by a tribute to the national hero through a fashion show and exhibit dubbed “A Fashionable Evening with Jose Rizal.” On sight: personal belongings of the Philippine hero; then, a Rizalian fashion show by the film’s costume designer, John Ablaza.

The featured designers

• Amina Ranaz—a top bag designer, Ranaz uses indigenous and eco-friendly materials sourced in the Philippines

for her creations.

• Brian Maristela—the Filipino-Canadian Creative Director of the House of Lizares and winner of Canada’s 3M Brand Award.

• Francis Libiran—He’s got “America’s Next Top Model” on his resume as a featured designer on the show. Libiran showed off his 70-piece 2013 Collection and 30-piece Retro Collection, dubbed “100.”

• John Ablaza—costume designer for “Jose Rizal: The First Hero” and author of “RAMP DIVA FILIPINA,” a coffee table book on the divas of Philippine Runway.

• Jon de Porter—Canada’s very own, a jewelry designer whose trademark is pearls and semiprecious stones.

• Leonard Co—based in Manila, and famous for beadwork and detailed craftsmanship.

Co’s creations were worn by Canadian luminaries at the show.

• Noel Crisostomo—Crisostomo has straddled both countries. The Filipino-Canadian is renowned for the “sleek” and “architectural” elegance in his classic-meets-modern work.

• Norman Noriega—“dark” and “edgy,” Noriega’s work evokes “chiaroscuro,” or the contrast/play between shadow and light.

• Roland Alzate—Look of Style’s 2012 winner. A rookie, a protégé designer who’s fast becoming the new star in the Manila scene. ■

Filipino-Canadian Riza Santos, 2013’s Miss Universe Canada.

THE CREATIVE MASTERMIND. Jeff Rustia was born in Quezon City, Philippines.

He grew up in Toronto where he took to the arts in the University of Toronto, where he got a bachelor’s degree. Rustia has done work for Channel [V] (formerly MTV Asia), HBO, Cinemax, Nickelodeon, and StarTV’s SIGAW MANILA, to name a few. He founded broadcast design agency FRONT TV and hosts his own fashion segment, “CLUB Fashion,” on Canada’s BPM:TV. Rustia received the Philippine Presidential Pamana Award in 2006. He has seen 120 cities in over 38 countries.

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29 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

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Philippine-Canadian Fashion GALA NIGHT

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 30

PHOTOS BY SOLON LICAS

CPFW presents GALA PREMIERE: PHILIPPINE FASHION’S BIGGEST NIGHT Featuring the Philippines and Canada’s most iconic designers starring John Ablaza, Francis Libiran, Noel Crisostomo, Roland Alzate, Leonard Co, Brian Maristela and Norman Noriega. Plus 14 top Philippine fashion designers in Pistahan De Couture. The night also saw Project Terno, as Canadian designers put their spin on the famous butterfly-sleeved dress.

Venue: Roy Thomson Hall

OPENING NIGHT

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CPFW Official Opening Night Party Hosted by Lexus Downtown, in partnership with Kapisanan Philippine Center for Arts & Culture with Maylee Todd (Solo Performance) DATU and Fly Lady Di. With the Sounds of DJ Barbi. Kapisanan’s VINTA Filipiniana clothing line was unveiled.

Venue: Lexus Downtown Showroom, 740 Dundas Street East, Toronto, Canada

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Philippine-Canadian Fashion

31 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

Filipiniana with ‘love and passion’

BY KATHERINE MARFALTEVES Philippine Canadian Inquirer A PRODUCT of and from the heart: Filipiniana. Mila Imson, fashion designer, describes it as such.

If no one had “promoted the Filipiniana attire throughout the centuries,” muses the designer, “we would have to visit museums to appreciate the effort of our ancestors.” It’s all thanks to their passion, says Mila.

This artist, businesswoman, and industry veteran allin-one is set to hold a show themed “love with passion.”

The fashion bonanza will boast of the evolution of the Filipiniana.

Mila says, “We aim to pique the interest of those who are not regularly exposed to the Filipiniana like foreign ambassadors. We also want to rekindle the interest of government officials who grudgingly wear the Filipiniana in special events. We want to tell them that what they’re wearing or seeing is a testament to our creativity as a people and it should not be trivialized.”

But first: the research.

It ought to have been a nobrainer: Filipiniana was every-

where, and easily accessible, or so one would think. But the task proved to be “daunting,” says Mila. “There is a dearth of books and documents that delve on the Filipiniana attire,” bemoans the designer.

Thankfully, there is a book by Eric Cruz that served as her reference.

“After the research, we had to copy and refine the look of the dress based on some extant, black-and-white illustrations,” Mila shares. “That required a lot of imagination.”

Journey

Mila took to fashion design as a fish to water.

“I grew up in Meycauayan, a town known in the jewellery trade,” shares the designer. “I started designing jewellery in high school. But I had always wanted to design attires that would match the accessories I created.”

“I find it hard to conjure designs for accessories without thinking of what my clients would wear. It was natural for me to dabble in fashion design since it is inseparable with the art of designing accessories.”

Mila opened her jewellery business in 1982, which saw her with only three workers under her fold. Eight years after, the headcount was at 60.

Hard work and creativity paid off when her work was pronounced Best Product Design in Katha Awards in March 2012.

“I would say that I had a fairly successful run as a jewellery designer because I recognized early on that I had to be flexible in order to survive,” says Mila. “I try to harmonize metals with the natural environment and so you would often see leaves, feathers, tree bark, in my designs. I had to constantly refine my designs and innovate just so I can compete.

This would also entail investing in machinery. I believe that technology is vital to my art. In the jewellery business, stagnation means death.”

She admires Juls Dizon, Mila Dayrit and Nina Ricci for being geniuses in integrating the natural environment into their works.

What is Filipiniana?

To Mila, Filipiniana manifests Filipinos’ response to the challenges of their turbulent history. “We can glean from it the resilience and the adaptive spirit of the Filipino. In fact, I view the Filipiniana as a statement that dispels the notion that we are a country of great imitators.”

“Of course, there’s no deny-

FILM SHOWING

ing that we love to copy and assimilate foreign influences.

But all cultures borrow from every other culture. We Filipinos have mastered the art of Filipinizing foreign influence.

From this tendency, we’ve created the Filipino identity. Our irrepressible spirit that is an amalgam of influences pulsates in the things we’ve created, from woven materials

PHOTOS BY SOLON LICAS

CPFW presents AN EVENING WITH JOSE RIZAL: Fashion + Film + Exhibit In partnership with the Philippine Consulate General of Toronto, CPFW presented the world premiere of docu-film, “Jose Rizal: The First Hero” VIP Screening and the special Jose Rizal fashion collection on exhibit.

Venue: Tiff Bell LightBox Theatre, Cinema 1

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to the pieces of jewellery and dresses.”

Mila is keen to showcase the elegance of the patadyong, malong, saya, tapis and the camisa or baro in her show. Set on June 26, 6 p.m. at the Multipurpose Hall of the Philippine National Police Headquarters in Camp Crame, the show aims to raise funds to help gifted indigent students go to school. ■

Philippine-Canadian Fashion

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 32

The Thrifty Alternative

BY ANGIE DUARTE Philippine Canadian Inquirer IN A WORLD where many have seemingly become infected with the modern-day plague that is mindless consumerism, there are those that have chosen an alternate lifestyle. A counter-culture, if you will, of re-purposing; f finding gems in what others have discarded;of new love for the pre-loved.

Enter: The thrift shop. A haven for this thrift-seeking counter-culture.

My introduction to the world of the thrift-shop came in my early teenage years. Although we were raised comfortably, my dad was always especially conscious of instilling within us the value of money and importance of good, honest work. As such, we were always given “just enough” allowance, which we had to save, stretch and spend wisely throughout the month.

I learned the art of re-purposing old things like accessories, fabric, buttons, and the like. Broken trinkets became embellishments for old jackets. Pretty ribbons and a bit of garter became fashion-forward hair bands. Scrimping taught me to be resourceful; creative.

Scrimping also taught me to buy stuff only when necessary or on sale. Most of the time, anyway. Besides, I had quickly grown tired of the “generic” run-of-the-mill (overpriced) fashion sold off the rack.

Then I discovered two magic words: ukay-ukay; the Filipino thrift-shop. Taken from the Tagalog word, halukay—literally, to dig—these stores were a wonderland alternative for people such as me: on a limited budget, with a penchant for things out of the ordinary.

Bins and bins overflowing with all manner of clothing through which to dig. Never mind the oft dusty, musky ambience; there were gems in the rough which would sparkle once more after a good washing. At a price tag that could not be beat.

As I grew into my mid-teens, I ventured into the world of commercial modeling, and found myself on the receiving end of a regular supply of samples from top-designers. Still, I could not shake the thrift-shop bug, and my prowl for a good find continued.

Just as well, for although the years of modeling lasted 17 in all, I have since retired to become a writer. And we all know what writers make (insert chuckle here).

My penchant for the preloved, coupled with a keen eye for a good find, has led me to Paul Smith for P75 (not even $2, for a pretty blouse), Hugo Boss (handsome tailored shirt, brand new with all tags intact) for P150 (about $3.50), and other such crazy bargains.

Thrift-shopping is fun, stimulating, great on the pocket, and loaded with adventure. And oh! The joy of a great find!!!

A few tips to developing the thrift-shopping savvies: 1. Have a list of items, if you have specifics in mind. It is so easy to get lost in thrift-wonderland. It is also advisable to have a gift-list: for upcoming birthdays and special events.

2. Check all items well for quality and damages. Although small damages and irregularities are often negligible. A very important step for semi-OC people like me!

3. Know your size, if possible.

Fitting an item is—of course— still the best. But it is wise to be prepared for the (unlikely, in Canada; likely, in Manila) event of the absence of a proper fitting room. Or (and this is what I do) wear body-fit clothing, like leggings and a tee, so that you can slip the items on over your clothes. Oh, and dress comfortably when on a thrift-shop adventure!

4. Train your eye for awesome finds. Leaf through fashion mags, play around with separates, mix and match to your heart’s content.

5. Know what looks good on you, and keep an eye out for these.

6. Use your imagination: repurposing items can be loads of fun!

7. Bring some baby wipes or hand sanitizer along, if you are not particularly used to handling pre-loved stuff.

8. Shop with a friend or two in tow! Makes the experience that much more fun.

9. Check-out other items: trinkets, curios, books; you never know what you will find.

10. Vintage doesn’t necessarily mean thrift. Some vintage items can be quite costly de-

pending on the history, condition, age, uniqueness of the item.

In Manila, ukay-ukays are just around every city corner these days. Although certain areas still have the upper hand: Cubao, Guadalupe, Baguio City, to name a few. Thrift-shopping has, in fact, spread like wildfire; made popular and en vogue by blogging fashion savants with a considerable sphere of influence.

Some current ukay (or, as some jokingly pronounce it, U.K.—with the pun most definitely intended) faves of mine are Urban Closet on P. Ocampo street in Makati (the shop has a good airconditioning system!

A very rare treat, as ukays go.)

The stores at the Ayala MRT Station in Makati. Magarbo stores, which are located in some malls (the one I go to is at the Alphaland mall on Pasong Tamo Ext.), although this is a more “sanitized” version of the ukay, and finds may not be so varied. Anonas street in Cubao has ukay after ukay. Loads more stores all over the Metro, and beyond!

In and around the BC area, these stores are the emergent favorites of those in the thrifty know: CABERET VINTAGE www.cabaretvintage.com DUCHESSE VINTAGE AND SUCH www.duchesse.ca DISCOUNT THRIFT STORE 9528 - 163 Street Edmonton, AB T5P 3M7 THE FROCK SHOPPE 331 Carrall Street Vancouver, BC V6B DELUXE JUNK COMPANY www.deluxejunk.com 69 VINTAGE COLLECTIVE www.69vintage.com www.canadianinquirer.net

FUNKY JUNKY 168 Baldwin Street Toronto, ON M5T 1L8 VESPUCCI LADIES CONSIGNMENT www.vespucciconsignment. com

RAGPICKERS ANTIFASHION EMPORIUM 216 McDermot Ave Winnipeg, MB R3B 0S3 Thrifty is nifty! Venture in to the world of thrift shopping. ■

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

33

Entertainment

Psy, Swift, Lavigne, Kevin Rahm on the ‘life and Drake, Bieber all limb’ secrecy of ‘Mad Men’ and take home MMVAs his characters’ moment to shine at outdoor bash

BY NICOLE EVATT The Associated Press

TORONTO—South Korean rapper Psy hosted in style, Drake dropped by for an unannounced visit and soon-tobe-wed Canadian music power couple Avril Lavigne and Chad Kroeger took a bow at the MuchMusic Video Awards on Sunday.

Flanked by eight white-clad dancers, Psy—who was also acting as the show's co-host— opened the festivities with his galloping viral smash “Gangnam Style” wearing a white sequined tuxedo vest and roundrimmed sunglasses as he went through the familiar paces of the international hit.

“Let me see you bounce, Canada!” he implored, later scolding the crowd for staring into their smartphones: “Stop taking pictures and bounce!”

Psy then won the viral video of the year award for “Gangnam Style”—surely one of the evening's least-contested categories, given that the video racked up more than 1.65 billion YouTube views.

Meanwhile, Lavigne sent a buzz through the crowd when she walked the red carpet with Nickelback's Kroeger. The soon-to-be-wed punk princess wore a black-leather crown covered in metal spikes atop her head, and the couple was

mutually clad head-to-toe in black.

It wasn't long before she'd claimed her first award, for international video of the year by a Canadian.

“Hi everybody. Happy Father's Day,” said Lavigne, who later performed her aptly titled pop hit “Here's to Never Growing Up” while dancers waved smoking flares.

“My dad's here today. So of course, I want to say thank you to my dad for supporting me throughout the years. And of course, all the fans.”

Grammy-winning Toronto rapper Drake was the evening's big surprise guest, strolling onstage unannounced to give a brief speech after winning hip hop video of the year for his origin-story boast “Started From the Bottom” (which also brought home the award for director of the year).

“Obviously I want to thank the city of Toronto first and foremost,” he said. “It's great to be home.”

And former Disney star Demi Lovato was among the nonhomegrown winners in claiming international video of the year, which the “X-Factor” judge grabbed after navigating

LOS ANGELES—No one is more surprised than Kevin Rahm that his “Mad Men” character Ted Chaough has become a major player in the AMC drama’s sixth season.

“I’m always surprised,” Rahm said of the series’ many twists and turns. “It wasn’t until Don said, ‘Do you want to get in some trouble?’ that I was like ‘Oh, oh!’ The first time I read (the script) I was like ‘Oh, yes!

Yes, we should merge!’ And you know Matt (Weiner) had told me that there were big things coming for the character, but I didn’t see it.”

Rahm’s character appeared in a handful episodes in past seasons as the boss of a competing advertising firm. But the recent merger of his and Don Draper’s companies—along with a shocking kiss with Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss)—has thrust Ted to the forefront of the 1960s ad world drama.

In a recent interview, the one-time “Desperate Housewives” actor compared leading man Jon Hamm to Hollywood megastar George Clooney and discussed why he’s staying tight-lipped about that Ted/ Peggy lip lock.

❱❱ PAGE 35 Psy, Swift

AP: Initially you wanted to be a

PHOTO BY MICHAEL YARISH/AMC

lawyer?

Kevin Rahm: My intent was to go to law school. ... And then what I realized quickly is what I wanted was to be on ‘L.A. Law.’ And ironically now I get to work with Mr. (Harry) Hamlin.

AP: You also share the screen with Jon Hamm. What’s that like?

Rahm: The first scene two years ago when we met in the Benihana on the Honda episode—it was daunting. I mean Jon’s the nicest guy, a genuinely good guy and so he makes it easier. ... He’s just a good guy. I call it the ‘Clooney effect,’ when you don’t get famous till you’re ❱❱ PAGE 36 Kevin Rahm

Entertainment

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 34

Men behind steel bars take on ‘Man of Steel’ Only Cebu’s dancing inmates dared pick a play date that pits their movie vs a giant Hollywood franchise

BY MARINEL R. CRUZ Philippine Daily Inquirer “DANCE of the Steel Bars,” inspired by the life stories of Cebu’s dancing prison inmates, was screened on June 7 at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC).

“Everyone had a positive reaction,” reported actor Dingdong Dantes, who first visited the facility in 2011 to shoot for a week. “They laughed at the funny sequences and fell silent during the sad scenes. They were all glad to see their stories on the big screen.”

Goose bumps

Film director Cesar Apolinario said this gave him goose bumps. He recounted, “Their response was overwhelming.

They cried, laughed, applauded… One inmate thanked me and said, ‘Kung kailan pa ako nakulong, saka pa ako naging artista.’”

Apolinario noted that the film definitely boosted the inmates’ morale: “Most people think negatively of them. Through the film, we’d like to make the public see that prisoners also need care and protection. We shouldn’t have to put them in a filthy and constricting environment. This only pushes them to do worse things.”

The producers’ very limited budget kept them from doing another version of the inmates’ YouTube hit, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” said Apolinario.

“The royalty was way too big.”

The CPDRC’s 1,600 prisoners perform dance routines as part of their daily exercise and rehabilitation. Several such performances were filmed and uploaded to YouTube, and became extremely popular.

Dantes said the CPDRC was nothing he imagined. “It’s surprisingly very organized and systematic. The facility I pictured in my mind was chaotic and depressing. Too bad I didn’t get to really talk with any of the

Review: 'Bling Ring' is chilling—and cold, too

BY JOCELYN NOVECK The Associated Press EVERYTHING’S relative. And so, given that the film currently ruling the box office is about Americans encouraged by their own government to indulge their homicidal urges one night a year—we’re talking about “The Purge”—it’s tempting to hail the clueless young burglars in “The Bling Ring,” by comparison, as veritable humanitarians.

After all, they’re not out to kill or even hurt anyone. All they want is your designer

shoes, your cute tops, your Rolex watches, jewelry, credit cards and cash.

And unless you’re a fashionable young Hollywood celebrity, they'll probably leave you alone anyway, because you’re not cool enough to rip off.

Not that Sofia Coppola’s latest film, based on a true story about a band of affluent, celebrity-obsessed teen burglars in suburban Los Angeles, isn’t chilling. It is, and not only because it displays the soulless nature of our fame-obsessed youth culture. It’s also the fact that Coppola doesn’t judge these kids. It’s an intentional

Apolinario said it took only eight days to shoot the entire

film, which he codirected with Marnie Manicad, but three years to finish postproduction.

He cited problems in story development and the cast members’ hectic schedules. “Major script changes had to be made.

In the end, we decided to focus on the character Mando, a former dance instructor. He introduced dance to the inmates.”

“Steel Bars” is battling “Man of Steel,” latest installment of the Hollywood “Superman” franchise, at the box office this week. Dantes didn’t seem too happy about this, but remained

undaunted. “We took time to release the movie, partly because we wanted a date that had meaning to Filipinos—Independence Day. I’m a Superman fan, but I’ll watch that some other day.”

Apolinario said the film was initially scheduled for screening in May. “We moved the play date because it was election time. We didn’t want politics read into it,” he elaborated. “But aside from this week, there were no more available slots for local films. It seems no other film project is courageous enough to go against a Hollywood giant.”

He added: “We did everything we could for ‘Steel Bars.’ It is the result of our blood, sweat and tears. We hope Filipinos will embrace it.”

“Steel Bars,” a coproduction of GMA Films and Portfolio Films, also features Hollywood actor Patrick Bergin, as well as local thespians Joey Paras, Mon Confiado, Ricky Davao, Thou Reyes, Gabe Mercado and Kathleen Hermosa. ■

choice, and perhaps an artful one, but it makes the whole enterprise a little depressing. You think, couldn’t we have had just a BIT of condemnation here?

Coppola bases her movie on a 2010 Vanity Fair article about the so-called Bling Ring, a group of mostly 19-year-olds who between October 2008 and August 2009 stole some $3 million in jewelry and designer goods (plus a semi-automatic handgun) from the homes of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Megan Fox, Orlando Bloom and others.

Besides these kids’ stunning lack of awareness that they were actually, like, committing crimes, and might actually, like, get caught, and go to, like, jail (which they eventually did), what’s stunning about the story is how easy the crimes were to commit. The burglars used sites like TMZ to determine whether celebs were away from home.

Addresses were readily available, and Google Earth showed the gates and doors. And many people, it seems, leave doors open—or as Hilton did, leave keys under the mat.

The film unfolds almost like a documentary, with scene after scene of the burglaries, hewing

close to the facts. It gets a little repetitive, and we see little real character development.

On the plus side, it’s obvious that Coppola knows this milieu, what these kids wear and the way they speak. Friends are “homies” and “bitches,” and everything is “chill.” Unless it’s “sick.” As in, that fur vest is “so sick.” “I know, right?”

Coppola has chosen newcomers for her leads: Israel Broussard as Marc, the new-kid-at-school who needs friends, and Katie Chang as Rebecca, a danger-loving hottie who lures him into crime (names have been changed.)

And she gives her most famous cast member, Emma Watson, a supporting role—at least until the last third of the film, when she takes center stage. She’s by far the most fun to watch. What happened to the brainy and earnest Hermione?

She’s gone, and Watson gives a smart performance here, whether pole-dancing in Hilton’s “nightclub room” or uttering, in perfect Valleyspeak, lines that depict her character’s moral vapidity better than any screenwriter could—because they’re authentic.

More good news: the cinema-

tography (Harris Savides, who sadly died just after making this film, is credited along with Christopher Blauvelt.) A lovely, long shot from afar of a house being ransacked at night, lights blinking on and off in windows, darkened figures running from room to room, is the most haunting in the film—a sudden pause, giving us time to realize that this stuff isn’t really funny, and to imagine how violated we'd feel if this were our own home and closets.

And speaking of closets: Hilton allowed Coppola to film in hers, and they’re something to see, from kitschy pillows emblazoned with Hilton’s own image to the almost cartoonish piles of glittering jewelry and racks of clothes and shoes. Kudos to Coppola for this touch of reality: Hilton’s home looks just like you'd imagine, only so much more so.

In fact, it’s totally sick. I know, right?

“The Bling Ring,” an A24 Films release, is rated R for teen drug and alcohol use, and for language including some brief sexual references. Running time: 90 minutes. Three stars out of four. ■

DingDong Dantes, who plays an inmate in “Dance of the Steel Bars.”.

PHOTO FROM DANCEOFTHESTEELBARS.COM

inmates because we were busy the whole week we were there.”

The actor’s experience totally changed his perspective on people. “I now believe that anyone can change for the better,” he said.

“Steel Bars” is Dantes’ first indie movie. “And I’m very proud of it,” he said. “I thoroughly enjoyed working with Direk Cesar and I hope to work with him again.”

Super adversary

www.canadianinquirer.net

Entertainment

35 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

Is 'Game of Thrones' better as a TV show or books?

BY MICHAEL OLIVEIRA The Canadian Press NOW that “Game of Thrones” fans have nearly a year to wait for the next season, some might be thinking about picking up George R. R. Martin's books that the series is based on. But will fans of the show become fans of the books? Writers at Grantland debate whether “Game of Thrones” is one of the few works that's actually improved onscreen, or if the books are still the best way to take on the story. (http://es.pn/11aoIj6) Wired runs through seven characters and key moments from the show's third season and opines on what the series did better and what was cut

from the books. (http://bit. ly/19vucJy) For those who want a cheat sheet about the next season without reading the books, New York magazine's Vulture blog has a relatively spoiler-free look at what could be coming. (http://vult.re/13Yu4fM) *** There's hope for TV fans bored during the summer doldrums, according to an early review of a new Stephen King miniseries that premieres on June 24. Trailers for “Under The Dome” show it's slickly produced and has potential — but it also looks like it has the potential to be a little hokey.

The 13-part series is focused on a small U.S. town that mysteriously becomes engulfed by a

clear, impenetrable dome. No one can get out or in. The Hollywood Reporter has seen the first episode and says it's “intriguing as hell and filled with a lot of storytelling promise.” (http://bit.ly/19rEJpl) *** Coming next week from the makers of the reality teen series “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County” is the new show “@SummerBreak,” but don't turn on your TV looking for it. As the at-sign in the title hints, it's an online reality show that will tell characters' stories via Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter and YouTube, in near real-time as they happen. “I don't think (teens) watch television. I think they'll consume media if it's cool wherever it is,” says one of the show's backers to Entertainment Weekly's Inside TV blog. (http://bit. ly/12GNkTx) *** If you're at a loss finding something new to watch you

might want to give the Canadian hospital drama “Hard Rock Medical” a try. The show is set at the fictional Northern Ontario School of Medicine, where medical students learn how to save lives way, way outside the big city. While some viewers are reluctant to give Canadian

shows a shot, TV critic James Bawden calls the series “entirely professional and watchable. And completely Canadian.” (http://bit.ly/13Yww6a) The first two episodes of “Hard Rock Medical” are available to stream at: http://bit. ly/11KreMy ■

Psy, Swift... ❰❰ 33

the stage's steps gingerly in her skyscraper heels.

“It's so heavy—it's SO heavy,” said Lovato, who later performed a high-energy medley of “Heart Attack” and “Give Your Heart a Break,” indeed displaying reality show-worthy vocal acrobatics. “This is amazing!”

Although the show lacked a headline-hoarding signature surprise moment—such as when Lady Gaga set her bustier ablaze or when Lavigne herself decided to scrawl “MMVA” across her backside a full decade ago—Psy was, if nothing else, a game host.

The 35-year-old worried beforehand about his stilldeveloping English but ably delivered some physical humour. After shouting “DJ, hit me, anything you want!” he launched into a furious dance routine set to Beyonce's “Single Ladies,” unsmiling and un-selfconscious.

“If you liked that, you better put a ring on it,” he cracked afterward, finally relaxing into a broad grin.

He closed the show with a gyrating, pyro-packed performance of his new single “Gentleman,” while a gigantic inflatable Psy hovered in the background—stuck in a con-

Psy.

templative position, hand on chin, before eventually dancing as streamers rained down.

In other performances, husky-voiced howler Serena Ryder performed a medley of her primal hit “Stompa” and “What I Wouldn't Do,” Classified rapped “Inner Ninja” with two risers full of swaying children joining him and Sheeran brought a touch of elegance, strumming his gentle “Lego House” on an acoustic guitar while clad in a Toronto Blue Jays T-shirt and suit jacket.

At the other end of the elegance spectrum, pop video of the year winners Marianas Trench performed “Desperate Measures” pantless, with “MMVA” scrawled across the

VIDEO GRAB FROM CTV.CA

backs of their tight white undies. They went on to win a second trophy, the fan-voted Your Fave video for “Stutter.”

Along with that Vancouver band, Classified was a rare double winner on the evening— including video of the year for his uplifting David Myles collaboration “Inner Ninja”— while Deadmau5 and conspicuously absent teen heart-throb Justin Bieber also nabbed awards.

The MMVAs are famous for inventive red-carpet arrivals, and while this year's show was slightly more muted in that respect, there were still splashy entrances. YouTube comedy group Janoskians arrived in a school bus painted black with fangs scribbled on the fender, www.canadianinquirer.net

“American Idol” champ Phillip Phillips showed up in a vintage forest-green pickup truck (later delivering a slightly outof-key take on his “Home”) and—again, not to be outdone— Marianas Trench cruised down the carpet in a trunk containing two dunk tanks, with each of the quartet's members wearing leg-binding mermaid costumes (frontman Josh Ramsay and drummer Ian Casselman did indeed get sent under).

Fans camped out by Much's downtown Toronto headquarters for days leading up to the show, and they were ready when it was here—wearing headbands proclaiming their love for such in-attendance heart-throbs as Austin Mahone

and Brit crooner Sheeran.

“So passionate,” marvelled “Pretty Little Liars” star Lucy Hale at the fans shouting her name behind her.

Presenter Taylor Swift was similarly impressed, though she'd been in the city all weekend with two stadium show's at the cavernous Rogers Centre—shows that were so wellattended they inspired a bit of gridlock.

“I know, I'm sorry about the traffic—I was caught in the same traffic,” said Swift, clad in a white-and-black minidress from Canadian designer Vawk, while interviewed on the red carpet.

Later, she won the fans' choice “Your Fave” trophy for international artist. Swift, whose gobsmacked responses to winning awards have become Internet meme material, was thus in character as she lifted what she said was her first MMVA. “This is amazing. Thank you so much,” she said. “I just want to thank MuchMusic for playing music videos, and for giving us a reason to put a visual element to the music. To the fans, I've had an amazing weekend with you—two sold-out shows.

You're the reason we keep coming back to Canada. So thank you so much for everything.” ■

Entertainment

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 36

Review: The leaden 'Man of Steel' doesn't soar

BY JAKE COYLE The Associated Press IT HAS been a black eye to Hollywood that throughout this, the unending and increasingly repetitive age of the superhero blockbuster, the comics’ most iconic son has eluded its grasp like a bird or, if you will, a plane.

New hopes of box-office riches and franchise serials rests on Zac Snyder’s 3-D “Man of Steel,” the latest attempt to put Superman back into flight.

But Snyder’s joyless film, laden as if composed of the stuff of its hero’s metallic nickname, has nothing soaring about it.

Flying men in capes is grave business in Snyder’s solemn Superman. “Man of Steel,” an origin tale of the DC Comics hero, goes more than two hours before the slightest joke or smirk.

This is not your Superman of red tights, phone booth changes, or fortresses of solitude, but one of Christ imagery, Krypton politics and spaceships. Who would want to have fun at the movies, anyway, when you could instead be taught a lesson about identity from a guy who can shoot laser beams out of his eyes?

“Man of Steel” opens with the pains of childbirth, as Lara LorVan (Ayelet Zurer) and husband Jor-El (Russell Crowe) see the birth of Kal-El, the first naturally born child in years on Krypton. The planet—a giant bronze ball of pewter, as far as I can tell—is in apocalyptic tumult (the disaster film has gone intergalactic), and General Zod (Michael Shannon) attempts to take over power, fighting in bulky costumes with Jor-El. His coup is thwarted (though not before killing Jor-El, who continues on in the film in an Obi-Won-like presence), and he and his followers are locked away, frozen until Krypton’s implosion frees them. Baby Kal-El has been rocketed away with Krypton’s precious Codex, an energy-radiating skull.

Kal-El rockets to Earth, setting up not a Midwest reprieve to the lengthy Krypton fallout, but a flash-forward to more explosions. Our next glimpse of Kal-El is as a young adult Clark Kent (the beefy Brit Henry Cavill) aboard a fishing vessel on

stormy seas, where he—shirtless and aflame—saves the crew of a burning oil rig.

At this point, your Codex may be spinning. Working from a script by “Blade” scribe David S. Goyer and a story by Goyer and “Dark Knight” director Christopher Nolan, Snyder has clearly sought to avoid some of the expected plot lines and rhythms of the familiar Superman tale.

There’s a constant urge to push the story to greater scale—a desperate propulsion that will surely excite some fans but tire others.

The film hops back and forth from Clark’s grown-up life and his Smallville, Kansas, upbringing with Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha Kent (Diane Lane). Costner, back among the corn stalks, makes the strongest impression of the cast as a severe father urging Kent to hide his gifts.

We’re meanwhile introduced to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lois Lane (Amy Adams), fresh off a stint embedded with the military for the Daily Planet.

Adams, as she usually does, helps animate the film, as she plunges into a bulldog investigating of Clark and spars with her editor (Laurence Fishburne).

Snyder brings to the film a sure hand for overly dramatic compositions that take after comic strip panels. He has a clearly sincere reverence for the source material (originally created in 1938 by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster).

He’s a filmmaker who, even with his last film, the abysmal “Sucker Punch,” seems to precisely make the movie he intended.

Eager fans will likely thrall to the film’s many overlong action set pieces, as Superman battles with Zod and his minions.

There’s little creativity to the

fight sequences, though, which plow across countless building facades. Much of New York is, of course, laid to rubble, presumably a contractually obligated element at this point.

But Snyder doesn’t have the material or the inclination to make “Man of Steel” as thoughtprovoking as Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy. Superman wrestles with his allegiance to humans or his home planet, but the quandaries of a super-powered man betwixt worlds doesn’t have any real resonance. The gravity that cloaks “Man of Steel” is merely an en vogue costume.

While Snyder has succeeded in turning out a Superman that isn’t silly (not a small feat) and will likely lay enough of a bedrock for further sequels, it’s a missed opportunity—particularly with a bright cast of Shannon, Adams and Lane—for a more fun-loving spirit.

Cavill’s performance is less memorable for his introspective brooding than for his sixpack (a fetish for Snyder, the director of “300”). He’s handsome and capable, but one can’t help missing Christopher Reeve’s twinkle. At least he smiled.

The awkward acrobatics to modernize “Man of Steel” are most evident with its new explanation of Superman’s shield. The “S,” we are told, doesn’t stand for Superman, but is a Krypton glyph meaning hope. But if “S” doesn’t stand for “Superman,” ”Man of Steel” is the one with the identity issues—not to mention a spelling problem.

“Man of Steel,” a Warner Bros. release, is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence, action and destruction, and for some language. Running time: 144 minutes. Two stars out of four. ■ www.canadianinquirer.net

Kevin Rahm... ❰❰ 33

30 or in your mid-30s.

Adam Carolla said in his podcast last week that he thinks of us (men) like cement and if it’s still wet you can write into it, but once it hardens you’re going to be the guy you are.

AP: What do fans usually want to talk about?

Rahm: It’s weird. I had someone yesterday stop me from (my role on) ‘Friends.’ So I think it depends on whatever their milieu is, but more and more ‘Mad Men.’ ... They all want to know what is going to happen (with Peggy and Ted), if something is going to happen and if it does— when. I got to meet a lot of the ‘Downton Abbey’ cast last night and I’m a huge fan of ‘Downton.’ So I’m like ‘Oh my god! I love your show!’ And they in turn (ask about ‘Mad Men’) and I’m like ‘Oh my god that’s right.

I’m on a show, too!’

AP: So you have fan moments too?

Rahm: Oh absolutely. I’m a fan first and foremost. I watch way too much television and like a lot of shows so I’m always excited to meet those people and hope they’re not douchey.

AP: So what exactly was the deal with the Ted-Peggy kiss?

Rahm: You can argue that it’s out of gratitude. You could argue that he’s completely in love with her and he’s fighting it.

That’s the other thing that is ex-

citing about the show is that we don’t know. It’s not handed to you—or us—on a silver platter.

AP: It is impossible to get spoilers from ‘Mad Men’ actors. Why is that?

Rahm: For threat of life and limb! It’s been pounded into us.

Matt (Weiner) gives a speech before every table read and he says ‘Welcome. We’re really happy to have you here. You’re part of the family now and if you say anything we will destroy you.’ So yeah, he explains the commercial viability of the show is that no one knows. And that’s rare these days. ... That’s what creates the buzz about Bob Benson and Ted and Peggy and Don. What’s going to happen to Don? Megan wears a shirt with a star and everyone all of a sudden goes to the (Sharon) Tate killings. But that’s what can happen because of the secrecy.

AP: I understand you recently celebrated your one year anniversary with your wife Amy Lonkar, a cardiothoracic surgeon. How has married life been?

Rahm: It’s the best decision I ever made. She grounds me in a great way. ... She puts my job in perspective real quick. You know any time people are talking about Emmys or something like that and you start to think ‘Oh, I’m pretty cool’ and then I talk to her about her day and I go ‘Yeah, we (actors) play. We play.’ ■

PHOTO BY MICHAEL YARISH/AMC

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

37

Lifestyle

Dutch fashion house now in Manila: Classic, timeless, left of center

Mexx is known for the quality of its fabric as well as its fine detailing

BY ALEX Y. VERGARA Philippine Daily Inquirer RICHIE Santos Doug Diemoz and Julia Hanson lead the formal opening of Mexx’s main store at Shangri-La Plaza mall.

“We hope to set trends rather than chase them.”

That, in essence, sets Mexx— the latest ready-to-wear brand to hit the Philippines—apart from the competition, said Julia Hanson, Mexx’s chief creative officer, during the formal opening of Mexx’s main store at Shangri-La Plaza mall.

For one, the brand originated not in the usual fashion capitals such as Paris, Milan, New York and Tokyo, but in quirky and vibrant Amsterdam.

“Mexx is about taking something that’s classic and timeless left of center. We have a little fun with it. If you look at our clothes, we have little things that make it very Dutch,” said Hanson.

Fashion may be the overriding come-on that would make people buy clothes, but Mexx’s designers, composed of three teams—youth, men’s and women’s—also have functionality in

mind when designing their respective collections.

“We don’t forget to make our clothes functional and breathable because our girls love to bike,” Hanson said.

Cinderella Marketing Corp. exclusively represents the brand in the Philippines.Richie Santos, the company’s VP for international brands, discovered Mexx during a trip to Amsterdam five years ago. He had since set his sight on bringing Mexx to the Philippines and adding it to Cinderella’s stable of growing brands such as Esprit, British India, Nafnaf and Clark’s.

Mexx’s other branches are located at Alabang Town Center and at the newly opened SM Aura in Bonifacio Global City.

“I instantly fell in love with it because it’s so my style,” Santos said. “I’m a very detailed person, and Mexx’s styles are very detailed. They’re not made from ordinary fabrics, but rich, interesting prints made specially for Mexx.”

No wonder, the company creates its own prints and has the bulk of its fabrics manufacture in China.

The clothes are also made in India, Bangladesh, Portugal,

Turkey and Eastern Europe.

Mexx, which broke into the scene in 1986, is present in some 30 countries.

Vision

“It starts with a vision for the brand, and that’s ultimately reflected on the finished product,” Hanson said. “But before we can have a product, it always starts with the quality of the fabric.”

In Asia, its presence is limited to Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Philippines and, before the year ends, Australia. Mexx has yet to open a store in the US. “We’re very careful about our global expansion,” said Hanson.

“We’re only as good as all of our global selves or partners.”

Although Mexx, like its competitors, is attuned with trends, it tries to maintain an “individual point of view.” It delivers to stores a new batch of clothes every 30 days as opposed to not a few fast-fashion brands, which deliver every week.

“We touch on trends, but we’re never trendy,” said Hanson. “It’s important for us to set our own trends. We’re definitely not a fast-fashion brand.”

Its target market, consisting of people in their late 20s to early 30s, is quite old by fastfashion standards. But the age range could go lower or higher depending on the person.

“It could be older like someone who’s still body conscious and has a nonconformist point of view,” she said. “Mexx is also about not necessarily dressing your age, but not trying to look like 18 or dressing like your daughter.” ■

PHOTO BY MEXX PHILIPPINES ON FACEBOOK

Ceri Naz as she receives her award

Filipina Poet Gains Int’l Recognition

BY JOBB GOSAMO We, Filipinos, have another reason to celebrate; one of our own has been recognized for poetry. Caroline Nazareno, Ceri Naz to her friends and numerous followers, is a poet, journalist, public speaker, linguist and educator. Noticed for having raised the bar of her art, she was invited as a featured poet at Vancouver Word On The Street and World Poetry Canada and International. She was likewise an active participant in Poetry Reading at World Poetry Night Out New Westminster, in British Columbia, Canada.

Two years ago, World Poetry Canada and International (WPCI) honored Ceri Naz with the “Certificate of Appreciation for the International Peace Festival 2011”. WCPI was founded by Ariadne Sawyer, a distinguished published poet and author whose advocacy of promoting world peace

through poetry has fostered brotherhood among peoples of all colors, creeds, and races. In the same year, Poetry Around The Globe, an organization headed by Lucia Gorea, Ph.D., an award-winning poet, widely published writer, literary translator and English/ESL professor, presented Ceri Naz with the “Certificate of Outstanding Achievement in Poetry” as a World Poet.

Her poems enraptured World Poetry Canada and International Peace Festival 2013, a prestigious gathering of poets from across all continents.

Bolstering her already strong credentials, the convention adjudged her “World Poetry EmpoweredPoet 2013”.

Graduating cum laude with the degree of Bachelor of Elementary Education, major in General Science, at Pangasinan State University, Ceri Naz pursued higher studies in journal❱❱ PAGE 38 Filipina poet

Lifestyle

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 38

Stefanel’s solid colors, chic prints to complement buoyant Philippine mood Italian RTW house is set to introduce locally its brand of fashion consisting of mid-priced women’s dresses and separates made of knit, linen, cotton blend and silk

BY ALEX Y. VERGARA Philippine Daily Inquirer WHEN Giuseppe Stefanel, chair of the family-owned Italian ready-to-wear brand Stefanel, first came to the Philippines 15 years ago, he felt that the country wasn’t ready yet for his products.

“I came to Asia on a swing to see how things were in the region,” he said. “I like to see things for myself, and the Philippine market at that time was too early for us.”

Although Stefanel was carried by one of the country’s leading retailers then as part of its multi-brand offerings, it didn’t have a single standalone store to showcase the full range of its collections. But in less than two decades, the businessman noticed a number of welcome changes in the Philippines.

“Manila is a totally different place from the one I saw before,” he said. “It has changed completely. And the people’s standard of living in the Philippines has improved a great deal.”

In short, the market is now ready for Stefanel, a company that was established by Giuseppe’s late father in the early 1950s, and its brand of fashion consisting of mid-priced women’s dresses and separates made of such materials as knits,

linen, cotton blend and silk. To complete the look, it also carries a select line of accessories such as shoes, bags, belts, necklaces and scarves.

“Our DNA can be traced to knitwear,” said Giuseppe. “My father started sourcing and manufacturing materials produced by the region’s artisans. Over the years, the look and materials used have evolved. We’re still using a considerable amount of knitwear using imported cashmere and special yarns, which we created ourselves.”

Stefanel also uses a great deal of linen materials for warmer seasons. Its shirting materials are made of high-quality fabrics in silk and cotton. Cuts and silhouettes either skim or are close to the body.

To help realize the brand’s vision in Asia, it partnered with Nouvo Moda Concept, a subsidiary of the SM Group, sometime last year. The deal resulted in the opening of Stefanel’s first exclusive store in the Philippines at SM Aura in Taguig.

Giuseppe was also pleased to note upon his return to Manila that a certain positive vibe is in the air. And just as he suspected, Filipinos were in a buoyant mood, which is reflected in the way they dress up. He’s confi-

dent that the “Stefanel look,” consisting of pieces in attractive solid colors and chic prints, has a place in the Philippines.

“I can see that women here are equally comfortable wearing solid colors as well as prints,” he said. “And that’s good for us.”

After all these years, the com-

Calpito’s Hulahok and OTUSA. TV, an internet television. As co-founder of Doc PenPen B. Takipsilim’s “2011 “i” Inspire The World Friendship Poetry Event” held in Cloud 9, Antipolo City, Ceri Naz was instrumental in the success of said event.

On 2012, her stirring poem, “where peace can be”, was published at the New York-based blogsite of well-known poet, Romeo Dela Valle, and on March 2013 the same poem saw print on World Poetry E-Anthology.

Her poem, “pandora escapes unto my hands”, so impressed Haris Adhikari, editor of Misty Mountain Review, an e-mag-

azine based in Nepal, that the latter featured it on May 2012.

Another poem, “the song my heart sings”, invited the attention of the publisher of KIRAZ HABERTRAK Magazine, the cultural oasis of elite Turkish poets, writers, filmmakers, musicians, and art lovers, and published it on its July 2011 issue.

At the “Leaders & Writers Convergence 2013, Boracay”, an event for practising and wannabe writers, Ceri Naz was one of the resource speakers.

Currently, she writes for the Philippine Canadian Inquirer, Manila Bulletin and Philippine Star. ■

Positive vibe

Filipina poet... ❰❰ 37

ism, public speaking and leadership. She earned her postgraduate studies in Administration and Supervision at Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology, gained her creative writing workshops and trainings at University of the Philippines-Diliman, and storytelling at Philippine Normal University in coordination with the Philippine National Library. She has been a member of Division of Quezon City Schools Press and School Paper Advisers Association.

At Glendale, California, Ceri Naz was co-anchor of Manny

www.canadianinquirer.net

pany, which has its headquarters and factory just outside Venice, has remained a family business.

When Giuseppe’s father passed away almost 30 years ago, he assumed leadership of the company. His sister used to help him run the company, but she has since left Italy for Germany.

Giuseppe’s two adult chil-

dren have yet to join him in the business, but they seem to have started their careers on the right track. His daughter works in Gucci’s marketing department in New York, while his son is paying his dues as chief merchandiser and product manager of several duty free shops in Hong Kong.

“We are a family with a strong tradition for fashion and business,” he said. “I guess it runs in our blood.”

Despite the brand’s use of knits in many of its pieces, Giuseppe said that Stefanel is totally different from Missoni, another iconic Italian brand also famous for using knits.

“While Missoni is only focused on knitwear, we also use other materials,” he said. “It doesn’t have that many shops as Stefanel does. And Missoni is more of a designer brand, while ours is purely a ready-to-wear brand that’s more affordable to consumers.”

Stefanel has more than 40 stores all over Asia, the bulk of which are located in China, Japan and Korea. In China alone, Stefanel has 15 stores. He sees the number growing dramatically to 50 stores in the next three years.

Although he wants to have a bigger presence in the Philippines, Giuseppe is careful not to expand too fast and too soon. Apart from the market’s response, expansion would depend on the region’s actual growth, he said.

“I think opening four or five more shops in the Philippines would be okay. After that, we will see. With a population of 100 million, there’s definitely a big market in the Philippines.

The potentials are great.” ■

Lifestyle

39 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

MHHS: Helping Senior Immigrants

BY KATHERINE MARFALTEVES Philippine Canadian Inquirer TO KEEP them from spending their twilight years in isolation, to help them socialize, and to inspire them to lead—these three comprise the thrust of the Multicultural Helping House Society’s Newcomer Resource Centre (MHHS-NRC) in their program for senior immigrants.

The program provides access to government and community services for immigrants 55 years and older. Through the program, seniors are given information on medical services, recreation, immigration, housing, transportation, caregiving, citizenship, family relationships, employment, Wills and Estate planning, and finances.

The MHHS recently held their third annual fundraising event: Ms. MHHS 2013, of which one Clarita Tanagon Corpuz is a candidate.

Clarita Tanagon Corpuz

Clarita, a senior immigrant, has been in Canada since 2002, thanks to her daughter’s petition. Though far from her homeland, Clarita enjoys living in North America. “Masaya dito lalo na pag nagsasama-sama ang mga Pilipino.” (It’s fun here, especially when Filipinos come together.)

Clarita keeps herself busy by spending time with her friends.

Among MHHS-NRC’s activities for senior immigrants, what she loves most is playing bingo. She also loves to sing, dance, cook, and swap stories among her fellows. And it was all thanks for this venue, this community.

Among one of their regular get-togethers is “Kapihan.”As a venue to swap stories among fellows, “Kapihan” also introduces activities such as dancing, singing, cooking, cultural exchange, partnering with the youth, and celebrating personal milestones.

Speaking for his wife, Ashok says that Aida was excited to perform and entertain the seniors in Ms. MHHS 2013. This father’s day, Ashok will celebrate his special day with the whole family.

Debit Garcia

Another senior immigrant, Debit Garcia takes a keen interest in their projects . Aside from being a folk dance teacher for the “Sampaguita Seniors,” she enjoys cooking for her fellow members. She loves sewing in her free time.

Debit is also a fulfilled mother—her children are all professionals now. Debit has 12 grandchildren.

Mila Schulze

Mila Schulze is another candidate in Ms. MHHS 2013. She loves dancing with the seniors.

As a candidate, she admits that she’s nervous. She looks after her two grandchildren in her free time. She loves gardening and doing other household chores.

Evangeline Martinez

Though not (yet) a senior, Evangeline Martinez loves going to workshops for live-

in caregivers and temporary workers. “Okay yung mga projects ng MMHS. Madaming natutulungan.” (MHHS has great projects—they help a lot of people.)

Evangeline is also one of the candidates, and she’s elated that she was permitted to join the fundraising activity.

MHHS-NRC holds workshops and special events centered on training and providing useful information on a wide variety of topics.

But learning and fun don’t stop there as the program also allows senior immigrants to celebrate special events such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentines, Easter, Halloween and many more through various activities.

On a potluck basis, excursions, picnics and field trips are also held regularly.

The program doesn’t limit their activities within the community as they are also invited to perform in festivals, community events and cultural shows. ■ Watch out for PCI’s interviews with Yette Parilas and Cristina Lee in the next issue.

With reports from Melissa Remulla-Briones.

Aida Bhagrava

For Aida Bhagrava, MHHS becomes a place where people who speak the same language and come from the same background bond. Her husband, Ashok, says, “They (MHHS) empower my wife to practice her culture, and perform with fellow seniors.” www.canadianinquirer.net

Liwanag Caldito with author Athena Szabo

DREAMING OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Getting to know Liwanag Caldito

BY ATHENA SZABO Special to Philippine Canadian Inquirer WHEN I get rich, I’m going to give all my money to a woman named Liwanag Caldito.

Once in your lifetime, I hope you get the opportunity to meet someone that makes you feel like there is hope for our fickle and feuding human race.

The wife of the pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Manila, Mrs. Caldito has faced many hardships but still spends every minute of her day in the pursuit of protecting the lives of others.

She has dedicated her life to rehabilitating sexually abused deaf women and children, and has led several initiatives to help these most marginalized citizens of the Philippines. In our interview, she only wistfully wished for more funding in order to sustain her programs. I was touched by the fact that her humble soul prefers to perform miracles in obscurity… so please Mrs. Caldito, take my millions.

Saying goodbye to Mrs. Caldito was poignant and for some reason, painful. Like my dear father, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease many years ago- the limp in her step and tremor in her hand are all too familiar to me. As we rushed together through the church

grounds to escape the Manila rainstorm, she leaped over a puddle with sudden, surprising agility. “Just to prove I can still do it,” she said with a wink, and I had to laugh as I remembered that my father often does the exact same thing. My memories are filled with moments where he and I will be strolling to the store- and then he’ll burst forward with youthful energy, sprinting for a few metres before turning to me with a smile to show that he’s not ready to let the disease overtake him just yet. This is what real strength and youth looks like.

I was soaked with rain as I slid into the taxi. The door closed with a dull thud and I was trapped in silence. I looked to Mrs. Caldito for the last time, and our gazes locked. Suddenly, I was overcome with anxious emotions as I realized that I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to jump back out and tell her that we must have met before, that she is so familiar to me for reasons I was unsure, that I wanted to hear her speak for hours and that I would do anything to help her accomplish her mission here on earth. As the taxi began to pull away from the curb, Mrs. Caldito quickly formed her left hand into a sign language gesture and pressed it against the streaked glass. It was the only sign I recognized- mahal kita- I love you. ■

Business

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 40

PH stocks plunge 6.8% Foreign investors pull out on US worries

BY DORIS C. DUMLAO AND MICHELLE V. REMO Philippine Daily Inquirer LOCAL shares suffered another day of sharp losses last week as foreign funds stepped up their pullout from the region amid investor worries the US Federal Reserve would scale back its huge bond-buying program that have propped up global stock markets.

The main Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) plunged 6.8 percent, or 442.57 points, to close at 6,114.08, one of the worst bloodbaths in local history in which decliners swamped gainers 10-1. Value turnover was heavy at P16.1 billion.

Manny Cruz, chief strategist at Asiasec Equities, said foreign-managed exchangetraded funds (ETFs) have been dumping local stocks since Tuesday when the PSEi fell 4.6 percent, or 318.95 points. The market was closed on Wednesday as the nation observed Independence Day. “They are converting into US dollars and moving out,” Cruz said, noting that the most battered markets were those under the Thailand-Indonesia-Philippines (TIP) bloc of emerging markets as well as Japan.

“TIP as an emerging market group spearheaded the uptrend in the region in the last three years. These markets were the best-performing and so they are also now being hit by the hardest profit-taking,” Cruz said.

“Foreign investors are rushing out the door to secure whatever gains they still have,” said April Lee-Tan, research head at COL Financial.

The PSEi has now given up 1,289.57 points, or 17.4 percent, since hitting an intraday peak of 7,403.65 on May 15. Since the

start of the year, however, the index is still up 5 percent, or 301.35 points.

The biggest index losers were San Miguel Corp. (-11.58 percent), Bloomberry Resorts (-9.86 percent), Alliance Global Group (-8.86 percent), Jollibee Foods Corp. (-8.77 percent), Aboitiz Equity Ventures (-8.65 percent), Banco de Oro Unibank (-8.61 percent), Megaworld Corp. (-8.45 percent), SM Prime Holdings (-8.39 percent), Ayala Land Inc. (-8.33 percent) and International Container Terminal Services Inc. (-8.14 percent).

Peso falls

The withdrawal of foreign funds has pulled the peso down to the 43-level against the US dollar. On June 13, the peso closed at 43.10 against the greenback. Volume of trade at the Philippine Dealing System amounted to $947.615 million.

Even so, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) sees no need to intervene in the financial markets, saying the stock market fluctuations and peso volatility were no cause for alarm.

“What we saw was just a healthy correction in the equities market. People were thinking that the price-earnings ratio was becoming high, although there are fundamental bases supporting the expensive equities given the strength of the Philippine economy,” BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo told reporters.

Before the sharp declines, Philippine equities had been trading an average of 22 times price-earnings ratio, making local stocks relatively expensive.

“The movement of the peso is not unique as other currencies in the [Asian] region also are falling [against the dollar]. The peso’s volatility, in fact, is lower than those of other regional

currencies,” Guinigundo added.

Fundamentals

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. expected the pullout of foreign funds to be shortlived, saying the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals remained strong and attractive to investors.

“Underlying fundamentals remain sound,” Tetangco said in a text message to reporters.

He cited the still benign inflation and the robust pace of economic growth.

The Philippine economy grew by 7.8 percent year on year in the first quarter, the fastest growth rate in Asia for the period that surpassed even that of China’s 7.7 percent. Inflation averaged at 3 percent in the first five months of this year, the low end of the government’s target of 3-5 percent for this year and next.

The Philippines has also been given an investment grade rating by two major global credit watchers—Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor’s.

Global markets

Local stocks tracked losses in global markets as worries about a surging yen and a tightening of US monetary policies fueled gyrations on the Tokyo market, the Asian region’s biggest.

Investor skepticism about the economic strategies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for extricating Japan from two decades of stagnation also figured high in the Nikkei 225’s big drop.

Japanese media reports said overseas hedge funds may be dumping Japan’s equities following disappointment over the Bank of Japan’s decision earlier in the week to refrain from additional monetary easing measures.

The Nikkei 225 index plunged 6.4 percent to close at

www.canadianinquirer.net

PHOTO BY IVAN BLIZNETSOV

12,445.38. Adding to the woes was the dollar’s recent fall, trading at about 94 yen, slipping momentarily to 93-yen levels. A cheap yen is a boon for Japan because it helps the nation’s giant exporters by raising their overseas revenue when translated into yen.

In early European trading, Britain’s FSTE 100 fell 1.2 percent, Germany’s DAX slid 1.9 percent, while France’s CAC-40 shed 1.2 percent.

Ahead of the opening bell, Wall Street likewise appeared headed for losses.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 2.2 percent, South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.4 percent and Thailand’s SET slipped 3.8 percent.

Stocks in mainland China were pummeled as accumulating signs of a slowdown in growth in the world’s No. 2 economy caused investors to retreat. The Shanghai Composite Index slid 2.8 percent to 2,148.36, its lowest close in six months.

Gloomy outlook

“Investors are gloomy over the future economic outlook. It

would be hard for the market to go up in the long term,” said Cai Jing, an analyst at Shanghaibased Yintai Securities.

A major driver in markets has been the uncertainty over the future course of US monetary policy following a solid, if unspectacular, improvement in US economic data.

The markets now expect some reduction in the US Federal Reserve’s monthly asset purchases sometime this year.

The stimulus has been one of the main reasons why many assets, such as global stock markets and emerging markets, have bounced back.

Analysts said markets would likely remain on edge until next week’s Fed policy meeting for greater clarity on the timing and extend of any tapering.

“Risk appetite continues to shrink as the ongoing nervousness over Fed tapering continues to provoke significant position adjustments across markets,” Mitul Kotecha of Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said in a market commentary. ■ With a report from AP

Sports/Horoscope

41 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

Philippine Football Federation files complaint of racist abuse against Hong Kong fans

BY HRVOJE HRANJSKI The Associated Press MANILA, Philippines—The Philippine Football Federation has asked FIFA to investigate allegations that Filipino supporters and players were subject to racist abuse during last week’s friendly in Hong Kong, officials said Thursday.

The complaint was filed Tuesday after reports of “physical and racist abuse against Philippine players and supporters,” the federation’s General Secretary Ed Gastanes said in a statement.

A representative of the Asian Football Confederation in Kuala Lumpur said Thursday that it had not received any formal complaint and would only be able to investigate or take ac-

tion if asked to do so by the Philippines or FIFA. The official declined to be identified, citing protocol.

He said he did not have information of any previous racism complaints in Asia. The latest incident comes as FIFA has toughening punishments for racial abuse.

The complaint contains statements from Filipino fans who said they were called “slaves” and that Hong Kong fans threw bottles at them and booed the Philippine national anthem.

The Hong Kong Football Association last week condemned inappropriate behaviour and said it was investigating the incidents. Spokesman Benny Chan said that the HKFA has a “zero-tolerance” approach to racism.

PHOTO BY ISHNEAK (DEVIANTART)

A reporter for the Philippine Daily Inquirer who covered the June 4 match, Cedelf Tupas, said last week that Hong Kong fans were jeering and taunting the Filipinos, including calling

their country a “slave nation.”

He said that the hostility intensified after the Philippines scored in the second half. By then, spectators were throwing bottles and juice cartons

at the Filipino fans and later the players, Tupas said, adding that others made obscene gestures.

The Filipino fans, who were mostly women and children, made up about 10 per cent of the crowd of 4,500.

Some in the southern Chinese city still hold a grudge against the Philippines since a Manila hostage-taking incident in 2010, in which eight Hong Kong tourists were killed in a bungled police rescue. The Hong Kong government has maintained a travel warning for the Philippines since the incident.

Filipinos are also looked down upon in Hong Kong because more than 100,000 of them work as domestic helpers, toiling long hours, taking care of children and doing chores for middle-class families for low pay. ■ Associated Press writers Teresa Cerojano in Manila and Sean Yoong in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, contributed to this report.

HOROSCOPE ARIES

(MARCH 21 - APRIL 19) You may have some trouble communicating today, Aries.

It’s as though something is distorting your perception. Don’t be surprised if once evening comes you feel like forgetting about everything and traveling to the other side of the world.

Tomorrow you will see clearly again. Without a doubt, there are adventures in store for you!

TAURUS

(APRIL 20 - MAY 20) You are radiant and glowing with happiness today, Taurus!

This is a refreshing change after the gloom of the past few weeks. Apparently, the decisions you made worked out for the best. Or even better, perhaps you’re in love? In any case, it will be even easier than usual for you to communicate with others and share your joy. Let the good times roll!

GEMINI

(MAY 21 - JUNE 21) Your goal for today is to enchant your mate. There’s no reason not to try. Indeed, it’s an excellent day for love. But don’t exaggerate your seductive wiles, Gemini. Since the day’s aspects tend to distort your perception of things, you may be deceived by what you see in the mirror. Be careful about what you do and how you do it!

CANCER

LIBRA

(JUNE 22 - JULY 22) You’re in splendid shape today, Cancer! Did a fairy godmother brandish a magic wand to dispel all the little difficulties of the past few weeks? Enjoy this moment of relief from worries. As for your love life, some exciting opportunities may arise.

Be on the lookout for them. Whatever you do, don’t let them pass you by!

(SEPT 23 - OCT 22) You may be a bit unclear about your professional direction today, Libra. Your motivation has disappeared without warning. What happened? It may be that you need to become involved in projects that have more universal resonance. Projects that concern only your interests or that are of narrow scope no longer hold your attention.

LEO

SCORPIO

(JULY 23 - AUGUST 22) It’s certainly clear that you have faith in your actions, Leo! You feel no fear or doubt as you progress toward your goals at a fast clip, cruising along on calm seas under clear skies. This new atmosphere is likely the product of your renewed commitment. Reward yourself for your accomplishments, but you should wait a few days before launching an all-out celebration.

(OCT 23 - NOV 21) You could be seeing mirages at the moment, Scorpio, most notably in the environment around you. You may have the impression that people are lying to you or that they’re hiding something from you. Or it may be that you’re the one who lies about certain things or hides what you do. Why are you making it all so complicated? Don’t be afraid to express your feelings.

VIRGO

SAGITTARIUS

(AUG 23 - SEPT 22) This is a moment to start being creative and stop worrying that you don’t have talent, Virgo. Who’s to say what “talent” is? In the romance department, the love of your life might be right under your nose. Try lifting your eyes from the romance novels and look around. The perfect mate could be any number of people in your daily life. You just have to open your eyes.

CAPRICORN

(DEC 22 - JAN 19) Today isn’t a good day to sign contracts or make any substantial purchases, Capricorn. Go to the grocery store, by all means, but buy hamburger, not tenderloin. Keep your money at home and safeguard your reserves. Don’t negotiate about anything. No matter how good the offer sounds or how compelling the deal, walk away.

AQUARIUS

(JAN 20 - FEB 18) Are you certain you can’t modify your current situation, Aquarius? Are you a prisoner of a lifestyle that isn’t of your own making or is a throwback to the past? People have been asking you to take on too many responsibilities and this is weighing you down. Don’t be afraid to distance yourself from these situations. Learn to say no.

PISCES

(FEB 19 - MAR 20)

(NOV 22 - DEC 21) Hold on to your wallet, Sagittarius, because you may have some strange (though noble) impulses to give away your money or spend a large amount on something useless. You should think about spending your money in a better way or not at all. Why not consider donating some of your time rather than money to those in need?

www.canadianinquirer.net

The forecast for you is excellent, Pisces. You can rely on today’s aspects to restore your self-confidence, which has been sorely tried during the past few days. The charismatic seducer in you can swagger forth, certain of conquest. However, don’t go too far. Wait a while for reality to dispel the cloud of ecstasy and you will be able to see the future more clearly.

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

42

Travel

More and more travellers taking a spin on bicycle tourism in Montreal

BY MELANIE MARQUIS The Canadian Press MONTREAL—Not everyone coming to Montreal is jumping aboard the city’s famed horsedrawn carriages to see the sights. A lot of people are taking a spin at seeing Canada’s second-largest city from behind the handlebars of a bike.

“I see a real demand and growth in bicycle tourism for sure,” says Shea Mayer, owner of Fitz & Follwell, one of the city’s bike tour operators.

“We’re doubling up our business every single year.”

Mayer started his business in 2009. His is one of several such outfits in Montreal and offers guided bicycle and walking tours as well as bike sales and repairs.

Bicycle tourism has long been popular in Europe in cities such as Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Berlin where there has been a solid infrastructure for bikes and a burgeoning cycling culture for years.

Montreal’s reputation as a destination of choice for bicycle tourism has been growing for the last five years.

Its 600 kilometres of bike paths and the arrival of the Bixi rent-a-bike system put Montreal in first place for bike-friendly cities in North America, according to rankings by the Copenhagenize consulting firm.

It’s in 11th place worldwide behind such places as Munich, Tokyo and Berlin, the firm adds.

Hugo Leclerc, a spokesman for Tourism Montreal, adds that more and more tour operators around the world are looking at the city’s bike-tourism options.

“The city’s reputation means that sometimes when people approach us, they are already talking about it,” he said.

Bruno Lajeunesse, head of the bike section of Montreal’s professional tourist guide association, says more than 450 bike tours were conducted by

certified guides in Montreal in 2012, compared with 386 in 2011 and 190 in 2010.

The demand is so strong that it has resulted in a shortage of personnel.

“This year we were sorely lacking in guides,” said Lajeunesse.

“The course wasn’t even finished . . . and the agencies were coming to recruit, to meet the graduates.”

Training is done at the Quebec hotel and tourism institute in Montreal.

“If the trend continues—and Mother Nature co-operates— we should break a record this year,” Lajeunesse predicted.

Business has already started rolling along at Fitz & Follwell, which charges $75 or $89 for a four-hour tour and $65 or $75 for a three-hour tour.

“The bike tours are a brilliant idea,” said Amanda Lawrence, who hails from Leeds in England.

“Everywhere I went in the past, I used to do bus tours or go on foot. But cycling is a great way to discover and understand the city.

The popularity is no surprise to Mayer, who got turned on to bike tourism while visiting Europe several years ago.

“When you’re on a guided tour, especially a bike tour, you can cover so much ground in one day,” said Mayer, explaining that the four-hour tours offered by his company cover a wide variety of neighbourhoods and sights.

“You’re so much more involved in all the senses around you when you’re on a bike and not on a bus.”

While many British residents like Lawrence opt for the tours when they visit, along with Australians and German, the cycling tours are especially popular with North Americans, says Tourism Montreal’s Leclerc.

“There is a little higher demand with Canadians and Americans because they are familiar with the city and they’re

PHOTO BY ANIRUDH KOUL AND JACOB-UPTOWN (FLICKR)

looking for new ways to visit it,” Leclerc said.

“For someone from Toronto who comes once a year and who knows the city, for example, this is the type of thing that can make for an attractive change.”

Mayer said expansions to the scenic Route verte, comprised of 5,000 kilometres of bike paths criss-crossing Quebec, are also getting attention and

that many people come to Montreal as the starting point to a bicycle tour of the province.

All the possibilities clearly have Mayer thinking of exporting the bike-tourism concept to other cities in Canada and beyond.

For example, he said many customers visit Montreal and Quebec City on the same trip and ask if the provincial capi-

tal has similar tours. As well, he said certain areas of Toronto could prove amenable to the service although downtown is unlikely. Vancouver is a market that clearly has his interest.

“We have better climate, longer seasons,” he said of the coast city. “That’s the only challenge in Montreal, that your season is shortened.” ■ If you go:

Fitz & Follwell offers tours upon demand seven days a week from April to October.

Telephone: 514 840-0739 Website: www.fitzandfollwell.co/tour/montreal-highlights/

Environment

43 FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

Sanitary Landfill in Bgy. Salambao

How Climate Change and Urbanization Have Affected Obando, Bulacan and its Culture

BY JOSEPHINE C. SANCHEZ Obando, Bulacan, north of Manila is widely known for its Fertility Dance ritual. Every year during summer the town celebrates its town fiesta with three days of merrymaking in honor of its three patron saints—the first on May 17 for San Pascual Baylon, May 18 for Santa Clara and May 19 for Our Lady of Salambao.

All three are patron saints of childless couples. Santa Clara is also the patron saint of good weather, while Our Lady of Salambao is also the patron saint of fishermen. The story goes that 250 years ago on June 19, 1763 an image of the Immaculate Conception was fished out by three fishermen in their net called salambao, thus the monicker.

The traditional activities attract pilgrims from far and wide, mostly childless couples to soak up the vibes and sashay in abandon to the tune of the famous song Santa Clara Pinung Pino, sang in fandanggo fashion, the lyrics of which express their wish to have good health and the childless couples to have a baby. Huge statues of the three saints in gaily decorated carrozzas are borne by the merrymakers and their effervescence resonates deeply with expectation, mirth and joy.

A prominent Obandenian, the late Romulo “Ting” delos Reyes, had put Obando on the

map as tourist attraction when he became Director of the Department of Tourism. He authored the first documentation of Obando’s history in “Obando. Alamat ng Isang Sayaw" (Obando, Legend of a Dance).

In early 1970s Rev. Fr. Romeo Fernandez, then Obando’s parish priest who later became a Monsignor, collaborated with Ting to revive the dance festival tradition which was then banned by the Archbishop of Manila a few years after the war because of its pagan origin.

After WWII Bulacan parishes were under the Archdiocese of Manila. The Diocese of Malolos was established in1961 after which it gained jurisdiction over parishes in Bulacan.

But this beautiful tradition may soon see its demise because of climate change and rapid urbanization. In recent years, the flood problem in Obando, like Navotas, had worsened. Flood occurs not only during the rainy season but also in the summertime, especially during high tide. If this happens, how could the traditional dance be held if the streets are inundated?

A recent article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer describes the disaster in its headline “Large Areas of Metro Manila Sinking” especially in the CAMANAVA region where Obando is in its periphery.

(CAMANAVA is Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela).

Dr. Alfredo Lagmay, an expert on geology and volcanology

cited man-made causes of calamitous flooding as rapid but poorly planned urbanization and ground subsidence where water in the ground is extracted by humans faster than it is replenished by nature.

Another threat to Obando’s traditional culture are landfills.

The municipal governments of both Obando and Navotas, with the national government's (DENR) imprimatur have approved the landfills to boost income and manage waste.

These are not bad reasons, if implemented and managed properly according to environmental laws. Government officials should also bear in mind that the income generated from landfills is not worth the havoc and devastation it can cause on Obando's environment and its gilded lore.

The Tanza-Navotas dumpsite, which is along the coast and closer to Obando than the town center of Tanza, is seen as the major cause of water pollution in Obando. An investigative report by GMA 7 in its program “Imbestigador” in 2003 proved correct the claim of residents and fishermen that fish, crustacean and oysters are disappearing from Obando's fishponds or floating on the river. Water sampling conducted inside and in the vicinity of the dumpsite confirmed pollution. Barges transporting trash to Navotas are allowed to pass by Obando. Trash falling off the barges in transit or upon www.canadianinquirer.net

Obando church inundated by flood

delivery is unavoidable but this, along with daily trash that finds its way into the river, aggravate pollution. The foul odor from the dumpsite has permeated the air in surrounding areas all year round to the anger of residents and travelers, including merrymakers during the fiesta season.

To make matters worse, the municipality of Obando with the sanction of the provincial government and DENR approved on January 24, 2011 a 44.4-hectare sanitary landfill to be built on abandoned fishponds surrounded by the only remaining mangrove forest in Bgy. Salambao. Site criteria for building a sanitary landfill as stipulated in RA 9003 were violated and no public hearing was made to air grievances and concerns despite the fact that this area along Manila Bay is the focal point of the religious festival of Obando and there is a major concern of the dangers this sanitary landfill may cause.

In a CBCP article in November 2011, Philvocs Director Renato Solidum Jr. stated that Obando is highly vulnerable to flooding, storm surges and other environmental risks and the low and flat altitude of Obando is susceptible to liquefaction.

On Oct. 24, 2011 a motley group of public interest advocates with a wide-angle view of the issues, who call themselves Concerned Citizens of Obando led by a lawyer and wholeheartedly supported by Obandenian

associations all over the world, filed a Petition for Writ of Kalikasan in the Supreme Court to stop all activities that harm the environment and adverse to the cultural and economic well-being of Obando. The writ was issued on Feb. 2, 2012. This did not stop the construction of the sanitary landfill, however, because as of this writing one cell is almost finished. The Supreme Court sent the case to the Court of Appeals where it has been pending for over a year now.

These environmental issues are affecting the value of the Obando tradition, in the sense that the river, once abundant with life, is practically dead to pollution.

Obandenyos have faithfully kept the tradition reflecting their unwavering dedication and they will keep it no matter what. The only thing that can stop them is when the flood comes during the week of festivities in the summertime.

It's a thought and scenario difficult to fathom and the three Obando saints forbid it to happen. For a community to lose its ability to express its identity through cultural pursuits is akin to losing identity itself.

Culture defines a community and its expression enriches life beyond the daily acts of toiling and survival. ■ This article is written in commemoration of the 250th year of Our Lady of Salambao

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013

44

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Canada

FRIDAY JUNE 21, 2013 46

BCAS CAN BE

UPAA BC’s First Seminar for Temporary Foreign Workers Publisher Philippine Canadian Inquirer

BY FRANCES GRACE QUIDDAOEN Last May, the University of the Philippines Alumni Association in British Columbia (UPAABC), in partnership with the Philippine Consulate General in Vancouver and Vancity had its first outreach program for 2013 by holding a free seminar for temporary foreign workers (TFWs) titled "Options and Opportunities for Becoming a Permanent Resident".

The function room at the Holiday Inn, Burnaby, the event’s venue, was packed with 70 or so attendees - live-in caregivers, food service, hospitality, IT and other TFWs - all eager to find out the ways and means by which they could make their stay in Canada a permanent one and eventually bring their families over.

The seminar's topics were a wealth of information for a TFW: immigration updates and programs, labour market trends and information; job search strategies as well as labour and employment standards and foreign credential recognition and certification.

Immigrating to Canada

Four Filipino licensed immigration consultants - Jose Angelo Ledesma, Rene Bahena, Agatha Roldan and myself, delivered the seminar topics on immigration trends and the current programs for becoming a permanent resident or PR in Canada and how TFWs could build on their language and other skills or acquire professional/ trades certifications to improve their chances of qualifying for PR status.

The moderator, Agnes Tecson, a Human Resource practitioner and UP alumna who headed UPAA's committee on TFW gamely challenged the participants to count the ways to make sure the consultants would come up with a hundred and one options as stated in the poster blurb.

Changes

Recently, many changes in immigration laws and policies were implemented to make it consistent with the Canadian government's priorities of jobs, economic growth and long-term prosperity. Thus, currently, selections of immigrants are geared toward improvement of economic outcomes by selecting those who are

Editor Melissa Remulla-Briones editor@canadianinquirer.net Associate Editor Laarni de Paula Editorial Assistant April Sescon

"best positioned" for success or are able to integrate more rapidly and successfully into Canada's economy. Therefore, we see language proficiency and age becoming 2 of the most important factors in the selection process and foreign credentials are evaluated based on their true value in Canada so that newcomers are able to make informed decision before migrating. The improved selection grid for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the new priority list of eligible occupations and the cap on applications are designed to meet Canada's economic goals. As well, the introduction of the Federal Skills Trades Program, the Parent and Grand Parent Supervisa Program which was launched in December 2011 were aimed at eliminating the backlog on immigration applications and speeding up the application process.

The consultants outlined and discussed the ways by which a TFW could become an immigrant to Canada through the following: Canadian Experience, Federal Skills Trades and Federal Skilled Worker Programs; Business Class (Investor, Selfemployed, Entrepreneur); Provincial Nominee Program (PNP); Live-in Caregiver Program and Family Sponsorship.

Indeed, there are 101 ways and more, if we count each of the categories under the PNP for every one of Canada's 10 provinces and 3 territories.

Personal Stories

Two Filipinos - Cherry Bajamundo, whose pathway to immigration to Canada had been as a TFW and who is now a manager at Burger King, and Needa Queano, a social worker who moved to Canada as a Live-in Caregiver and is now a manager at Crius Financial Services, an insurance brokerage company, shared their interesting and colourful adventures and gave the audience an insight into Filipino tenacity, dedication, hard work and creativity – fac-

tors that make for a successful life as an immigrant.

Options and Opportunities

The participants were given an overview of the many employment opportunities available in BC as well as tips on job search strategies by Tiana Vekic, facilitator and Edith Magtibay, employment counselor, both from the Settlement and Integration Program at ISSofBC, a non-profit organization that focuses on providing services to new immigrants including live-in caregivers. On the other hand, Rod Bianchini, Regional Manager of the Employment Standards Branch of the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training made an enlightening presentation regarding a worker’s rights under the Employment Standards Act, the prevailing minimum wages, overtime, hours of work and the complaint process.

The Philippine Consulate, represented

by Deputy Consul General Anthony Mandap also discussed the various services offered by their office such as passport and visa services, notarization, authentication of documents and application for dual citizenship, one or all of which would be needed by a Filipino TFW. In closing, Labour Attache Bernie Julve, whose office, the Philippine Overseas Labour Office or POLO is in charge of authenticating jobs before a Filipino contract worker could depart from the Philippines to take on a job in Canada, informed the audience of POLO’s efforts towards recognition of professionals in Canada and how our training facilities in the Philippines are being upgraded and the skills trades programs improved to make them world class and to meet Canadian standards so that Filipino workers could get the necessary Canadian certifications.

Judging by the participants’ eagerness to pose their questions, the long line to the immigration consultants’ tables for a brief one-on-one consultation on immigration issues and the fact that the participants stayed on up to the end of the 4-hour seminar, I can say they took home valuable information and insights and that the UPAA-BC had done well in community service by putting together the seminar. ■ For UPAABC community events or registration information, please check www.upaabc.org

www.canadianinquirer.net

Correspondents Lizette Lofranco-Aba Gigi Astudillo Angie Duarte Maria Ramona Ledesma Katherine Marfal Frances Grace Quiddaoen Agnes Tecson Graphic Designer Victoria Yong Illustration Danvic Briones Photographers Solon Licas Ryan Ferrer Angelo Siglos Operations and Marketing Head Laarni de Paula (604) 551-3360 laarni.liwanag@canadianinquirer.net Advertising Sales Alice Yong (778) 889-3518 alice.yong@canadianinquirer.net PHILIPPINE PUBLISHING GROUP Editorial Assistant Phoebe Casin Graphic Designer Shanice Garcia Association Publisher Lurisa Villanueva In cooperation with the Philippine Daily Inquirer digital edition Philippine Canadian Inquirer is located at Suite 400, North Tower | 5811 Cooney Road, Richmond, B.C., Canada Tel. No.: 1-888-668-6059 or 778-8893518 | Email: info@canadianinquirer. net, inquirerinc@gmail.com, sales@ canadianinquirer.net Philippine Canadian Inquirer is published weekly every Friday.

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