Riza Santos, Ariella Arida, and Ruth Jennifer Ondo Mouchita.
Connecting Global News & Views For The Community
UK & Europe Edition
June 2013
3 Filipinas to compete for Miss Universe 2013 crown Story on page 30
Volume 4 - Number 11
Celeb Scoop
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4 Filipino businessmen on Forbes list of Asian philanthropists Eat less saturated fat
EATING a diet that is high in saturated fat can raise the level of cholesterol in the blood. Having high cholesterol increases the risk of heart disease. These practical tips can help you cut down on saturated fat. Saturated fat is the kind of fat found in butter and lard, pies, cakes and biscuits, fatty cuts of meat, sausages and bacon, and cheese and cream. Most of us eat too much saturated fat – about 20% more than the recommended maximum amount. • The average man should eat no more than 30g of saturated fat a day. • The average woman should eat no more than 20g of saturated fat a day. Continued on page 26
PHL Embassy Organizes “Across Asia Film Festival 2013: Focus Filipino New Wave” in Sardegna, Italy AS part of the year-long commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the establishment of Philippine-Italian diplomatic relations, the Philippine Embassy in Rome, in collaboration with Associazione Culturale ZEIT, successfully organized the “Across Asia Film Festival: Focus Filipino New Wave,” from May 15 to 18 in Cagliari, Sardegna. Continued on page 34
MANILA - For sharing their fortune, four Filipinos made it to Forbes magazine’s 48 Heroes of Philanthropy in Asia. The magazine defined true philanthropists as people who give their own money, not their company’s, unless they own most of the company. Henry Sy Sr., the country’s richest man, and John L. Gokongwei Jr. were included in the magazine’s annual Asia’s list of top philanthropists. The other two Filipinos who were included in the list were architect Felino “Jun” A. Palafox Jr. and perfume manufacturer Joel. S. Cruz. Gokongwei Jr., 85, the founder and chairman emeritus of JG Summit Holdings Inc., is the chairman of one of the country’s most generously funded foundations, the
Gokongwei Brothers Foundation, launched in 1992 with his three siblings. In 2006, Gokongwei gave half of his JG Summit shares, a donation now worth more than $1 billion, after a four-year bull run on the stock. The foundation is the conglomerate’s largest shareholder, with a 29.4 percent stake worth $2.3 billion. “Disbursements are funded out of company dividends and focus on education, such as a $6 million gift made over the past two years to De La Salle University’s College of Engineering, now renamed the Gokongwei College of Engineering. Money goes to scholarships, faculty development, facilities and research,” Forbes said.
Sy, 88, a founder and chairman of the SM Group, continues to disburse chunks of his fortune. According to Forbes, Sy gave $7 million to De La Salle University last year to help build the Henry Sy Sr. Hall as part of the school’s revamp for its 100th anniversary. The 14-floor, eco-friendly building is based on the concept of a tree that can be inhabited. In December he donated $112 million to an unnamed foundation. Cruz, 48, the founder and chief executive of Central Affirmative Co, focuses most of his donations on helping children and teenagers who are abandoned, troubled or sick, as well as the elderly and disabled. “Each year his company—the manufacturer of Aficionado Germany, the country’s leading mass-market perfume bran—celebrates its anniversary by giving cash to charities and paying employees to volunteer for a day. Nicknamed the ‘Lord of Scents,’ he plans to launch the Joel S. Cruz Aficionado Foundation in the next year,” Forbes said. The last Filipino on the list was Palafox, 63, the founder and managing partner of Palafox Associates. His internationally recognized architecture and urban design firm offer its services for free to low-income housing projects. One 12-hectare project was for the Smokey Mountain, a dumpsite community
in Manila that was the symbol of Philippine poverty during the terms of Presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino, the later mother of President Benigno Aquino III. A former Catholic seminary student, Palafox gives money to a program helping needy churches and in the last five years, his firm has done pro bono architectural and interior design or master planning for six church-related projects. This is Forbes’ seventh annual list of Asia’s Philantrophists, highlighting the generous and often innovative efforts of the Asia-Pacific region’s most notable givers. “The selections are subjective: Figures for contributions aren’t always available so a ranking by size of donations isn’t possible. Instead we aim for a mix of people and causes. We also try to identify an entirely new group of philanthropists each year, though a few people here are returning to the list because of a newsworthy donation or project announced in the past year. And we pick only true philanthropists–people who are giving their own money, not their company’s (unless they own most of the company), because donating shareholder funds isn’t charity,” Forbes said. Forbes also doesn’t list people who work in philanthropy as foundation heads, volunteers and fundraisers but aren’t able to donate sizable sums themselves. ■ Darwin G. Amojelar / InterAksyon.com / May 31, 2013 / 10:12 AM