Domjullian's Playlist 040: Pilipinas Tara Na!!! version 1

for the love of country, tara na byahe tayo!!!






PS: Congrats the Philippine Dragon Boat Team!!! You guys rock!!! Never mind those low life bitches collectively called PSC.

Why I Love Manila

Nabasa ko sa Philstar. At gagayahin ko

Top 5 reasons why I love Manila:

1. Its an urban jungle. There's always an adventure waiting to be discovered. Everyday is a journey worth taking.

2. Food, food, food. You can never go hungry here. There's always a food stall near where you are. Mura na masarap pa!

3. Mass transportation. Tricycle, pedicab, padyak, kuliglig, MRT, LRT, FX, taxi and the world famous jeepney. So many options when you wanted to go anywhere and everywhere.

4. Night life. Albeit, I'm not really into it. Literal na gising ang Manila 24 hours a day, seven days a week, non-stop!

5. The people. The variety and vitality of people living here. Mix of idealism and realism.

You're the man!!!

Happy, happy birthday Sir Pepe!!!

source here

May Celebrations

Happy Mother's Day to my mom, sisters, lola, Cairo's mom, titas and to all the mommies and wannabe mommies out there.

God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.

Congrats kay Pacman for another victory!!!

Though the fight for poverty will take much more than wearing yellow.

Leroy's son (Pepito Abelardo) will turn 1 on May 24; my 2nd eldest brother (Kuya Andre) just turned turned 42 last May 5, his son (Cholo) will turn 13 this May 14; another nephew (JC - my eldest sister's son) will turn 13 as well on May 26.

Happy birthday guys!!!

Edsa People Power @ 25

Huwag natin kalimutan kung ano ang ipanaglaban nila at kung papaano sila nakipag laban. 
God bless the Philippines and the Filipino people.

Pasig's Pride: Dimasalang Bakery

Finally, an article about Pasig's famous Dimasalang bakery



Have a bite of ‘hindi ko akalain’ - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

Election 2010

Para sa akin generally OK naman ang 2010 first automated election. Albeit maraming glitches, naayos naman kahit papaano. Kung baga hindi kasing palpak ng inaasahan ng marami ang nangyari kahit alam natin na konti na lang ay aatakihin na sa puso sa kaba ang mga taga Comelec at Smartmatic. Pero hindi pa rin sila lusot dahil for sure, may magrerequest ng audit sa performance nila lalo na ang Smartmatic na sa tingin ko ay malulugi sa dami ng aberyang nangyari. 

Dito sa amin, the usual ang reklamo. Mga di tinatanggap na balota, vote buying, wala sa listahan na pangalan, etc. Nakakainis din naman yung mga tao dahil masyado sila hyper pag may nangyaring aberya sa kanila. Pinagbubuntungan ng galit yung mga kawawang teachers na wala naman kinalaman. Yung kapitbahay namin na teacher ang nanay e nagspeech sa precint para ipagtanggol ang nanay nya kasi konti na lang e magugulpi na nanay nya ng mga dukha. Hayyy! Maraming tao pa rin ang salat sa common courtesy at respeto. Kudos sa lahat ng teachers at volunteers ng election para sa kanilang sakripisyo at dedication towards a peaceful election and hopefully, a new, better and well defined government. I lab you all!!! 

Sa precint kung saan ako bumoto ayus naman. Almost 1 hour din ako pumila kahit maaga akong dumating sa precint ko. Para lang kaming may family reunion sa dami ng mga kamag anak ko na nandoon. Nagrequest din ako na sa daliri sa paa na lang ilagay yung ink kasi ang pangit tignan, request not granted pero sabi kontian lang ang lagay dahil hindi naman ako mag fa flying voter. Muntik na rin akong mag-amok dahil hindi ko sinasadyang makita yung balota ng katabi ko. Kitang-kita ko na binoto nya si Jajajajamby. Ang sarap lang kutusan ni ate kasi di naman cya mukhang tumatanggap ng 500 pesos at isang kilong bigas. Sabagay, seeing the unofficial results ng election ay makikita natin na ubod pa rin ng dami ang mga tatanga tangang tao. As of this writing, 8 million plus ang boto ni Estrada, 8 million plus ang mga kinulang sa tamang pag iisip. Imagine, kung di tumakbo si Ngoyngoy, lo and behold! Hello Erap ulit ang Pilipinas. Kanina pa pag gising ko sabi agad ng daddy ko na panalo si GMA at si Pacman. WTF x 10 to the 20th power!

Nakaka awa din yung ibang lugar na dumanas pa rin ng karahasan sa botohan lalo na sa Mindanao area. I pity the candidates na gagawin ang lahat para lang manalo at magkamal ng kapangyarihan. Shame on you! Buhay pa kayo, nakasanla na ang mga kaluluwa nyo kay taning. 

I voted for Gordon and Mar. Kahit hindi mananalo si Gordon ok lang sa akin. Alam ko na balang araw ay hindi ko sisisihin ang sarili ko dahil hindi ko ibinoto yung sa tingin ko ay tama at nararapat na kandidato. Masaya ako dahil alam kong I made the right decision. Kesa naman sa iba dyan na nagpabayad o hindi bumoto for no valid reason kahit registered naman. Bawal mag-react, ok? 

Iba-iba rin ang binoto ng mga tao sa bahay, pero mostly pro-Ngoyngoy sila (may ugating dahilan kung bakit pero hindi ko pwedeng sabihin dito, top secret). Ako at yung isang kuya ko lang ang bumoto kay Gordon. Sa VP lang kami nagkapare-parehas. Most ng mga senador na binoto ko ay nasa top 12. Nakalimutan ko na actually kung sino mga binoto ko dahil wala akong listahan, on the spot ang pagpili ko. Natatandaan ko lang ay sina Revilla, Defensor, Drilon, Enrile, Hontiveros, Osmena, Cayetano. The rest second choice lang. Nilagay ko lang sila para hindi sayang yung slots. 

Kung merong isang taong pinakamasaya sa amin, yun ay si Rosaleee. Aside from pagrampa nya sa school kung saan kami bumoto, nag watcher ang hitad. Sayang din ang 2,500 na bayad sa kanya na may bonus pa dahil nanalo ang mayor na pinag watcheran nya. Kung ano ano pang freebies ang nakuha nya gaya ng food (adobo at chopseuy na may kanin at banana tsaka juice, sandwich na may palamang egg salad), libreng t-shirt, pamaypay, etc. Naaliw din cya sa mga kalalakihang naglabas masok sa precint na binabantayan nya. Pansamantalang nawaglit sa isipan nya ang kanyang newest crush – si Bret ng PBB Teen Clash na galit sa bangs! Sulit naman daw kahit hindi nya napanood ang walang kamatayang malapit ng mamatay na Tanging Yaman. 


Domjullian: Sinong binoto mo?
Rosaleee: Si Gordon at si Benay
Domjullian: Ako Gordon-Roxas
Rosaleee: Ha? Si Roxas din dapat ako pero wala dun sa balota ang pangalan nya koya.
Domjullian: Tanga, pwede ba yon.
Rosaleee: Hindi ko nakita. Wala talaga.
Domjullian: Manuel Roxas cya! Ano ba yan bingi ka na bulag ka pa.
Rosaleee: Ha? Ano koya?
Domjullian: Wala. Sino binoto mo sa mga senators?
Rosaleee: Si Estrada, si Miriam, si Jun Lozada. Di ko binoto si Bong wala naman nagawa yun.
Domjullian: Tanga mo talaga bakit mo binoto si Jun Lozada???
Rosaleee: Magaling kaya yun, cya yung sa ZPE (sepe-e) diba?
Domjullian: Hindi kapangalan nya lang yun. Tanga-tanga mo talaga. Tsaka ZTE yun hindi ZPE.
Rosaleee: Malay ko ba e magkapangalan sila. Wala naman kasing pecture. Sa susunod di ko na iboboto.
Domjullian: Libre mo ko tutal dami mong pera.
Rosaleee: Koya pambaon ko to sa pasukan.
Domjullian: Walking distance lang ang school kailangan mo ng baon?
Rosaleee: Cge na nga. Pero logaw lang, dun sa Alex.
Domjullian: Cge! Lugaw yon hindi LOGAW! Sumasakit ang bangs ko sayo!
*Tinitigan ako ni Rosaleee. Akala ko katapusan ko na!
Rosaleee: Koya wala ka namang bangs!


Weird talaga tong si Rosaleee pero atleast nagiisip cya, di lang basta bumoto. Good thing e nagshare cya ng blessing pero dapat lang kasi ako nagpasok sa kanya bilang watcher. Hehehe.

I used to be a Namfrel volunteer pero not this election kasi nakisabay ang trabaho. Gustuhin ko man ay may obligasyon akong dapat tapusin para sa mga kliyente ko, otherwise walang pantuition ang anak ko na miss na miss ko na at malapit ng umuwi.Yehey! May iba pa namang pagkakataon at panahon. 

Sa ngayon nasa 69% na ang pumapasok na boto sa buong Pilipinas. Sana lang maging transparent ang Comelec at ipakita yung breakdown ng mga votes per place or what ever is convenient sa kanila. May point din kahit papano si Erap sa reklamo nya kahit feeling ko dapat masaya na cya sa dami ng botong nakuha nya. Kakapalan na ng mukha kung magrereklamo cya ng pandaraya. By this time siguro, ngumangalngal na si Manny Villar sa sure defeat nya at sa dami ng nawalang pera sa kanya. Hindi na ako magugulat kung mag rereklamo cyang election fraud along with Legarda o kung sabay sila mag suicide. Partly blame Willie Revillame, may kinalaman cya sa pag bagsak mo dahil sa pinagsasasabi at pinaggagagawa nya. Partly lang ha.

Bantayan pa rin natin ang bilangan ng boto sa election hanggang matapos at maki-isa sa pamahalaan ng bagong mamumuno para sa mas magandang Pilipinas.


Yet another history.

Kudos to Efren Penaflorida!

Do read his story and vote for him here.

World Vision in the Philippines

World Vision started in the Philippines in 1957 through three orphanages in Visayas and Mindanao. In its almost 50 years of existence in the country, it has sent more than 200,000 poor Filipino children to school. Currently, it assists about 122,000 children in 34 provinces and 22 cities across the country through Child Sponsorship and community-based programs.

Today, 16,000 Filipinos are engaged in giving a life-changing investment to 22,000 children through child sponsorship. For only P20 a day or P600 a month, a child’s life is transformed every time; his/her future is secured.

The regular contributions are pooled together with other resources so the children, families, and communities may enjoy access to education, good health and nutrition; value formation; child rights protection; children’s participation; skills and leadership training; and community development projects.

World Vision believes that the pursuit of its mission requires integrated and holistic commitment to: transformational development that is community-based and sustainable, focused especially on the needs of children; emergency relief that assists people afflicted by conflict or disaster; promotion of justice that seeks to change unjust structures affecting the poor; partnership with churches to contribute to spiritual and social transformation; public awareness that leads to informed understanding, giving, involvement, and prayers; and witness to Jesus Christ by life, deed, word, and sign that encourages people to respond to the Gospel.

World Vision responds to life-threatening situations where its involvement is needed and appropriate. They are responsive in a deeper sense where complex economic and social deprivation calls for long-term and sustainable development.

Aside from its child sponsorship advocacy, World Vision also organizes, implements and actively promotes health initiatives in partnership with international organizations, government agencies, non-government organizations, private agencies and communities.

World Vision is constantly in search of the best ways to help children. Hence, it is actively involved in community development. Its Area Development Programs (ADP) seek to partner with children, their families and their communities in order to rebuild or make improvements in their environment.

World Vision Philippines is headed by the able leadership of Executive Director Elnora Avarientos.

“World Vision in the Philippines continues to be committed with children. In so doing we also want to equip their families and communities. We would like to strengthen our service to children by ensuring that their pains are addressed. We will strengthen our efforts towards economic sustainability, providing opportunities for entrepreneurship and business ventures for communities that we serve so that families can support and resource the needs for their children”. For more info click here

Hooray!

Hooray to the 4 honor guards at Cory Aquino's funeral cortage for enduring more than 8 hours atop Cory's hearse:

Pfc. Antonio Cadiente
Airman 2nd Class Gener Laguindam
Petty Officer 3 Edgardo Rodriguez
Police Officer 1 Danilo Maalab


Sana lahat ng kabaro nyo ay maging katulad nyo, mas masarap maging Pilipino!

At sa libo-libong tao na hindi ininda ang ulan, pagod at tagal ng libing, mabuhay din kayo! Nawa'y bumalik ang pagmamahal natin sa Pilipinas at sa kapwa Pilipino! Ibangon natin ng sabay-sabay at kapit kamay ang Pilipinas!

I lab u ol!

Prayers Please

Please pray for the immediate recovery of former president Cory Aquino. May God bless her.

Please also include stupidorkris' son (Liloboy)in our prayers. Sana gumaling na anak nya para maka sali na cya sa next season ng Survivor.

Cheers to Nanay Socorro!

Laking National Bookstore ako. One of my cousins work for NBS kaya nakakapag basa ako ng books ng libre. I thank Nanay for allowing us book lovers to enjoy what we like most-reading, at no cost. And did I say Powerbooks is awesome? Thanks Nanay, the world is a better place because of people like you! May the young generation continue to read and learn...
___________________________________________________________________

Socorro Ramos: Nanay, Super Tindera, and everyone’s minister of education

EMOTIONAL WEATHER REPORT

By Jessica Zafra Monday, September 22, 2008


Everybody calls her Nanay. Educators, writers, leaders of industry, the employees, suppliers, and clients of National Book Store, the readers of this paper, in which her column appears every week, and several generations of schoolchildren — the “laking-National” (raised on National). In seven decades of business, Socorro Cancio Ramos, founder and general manager of National Book Store, has won many awards and titles, but “Nanay” (Mother) is the one she likes best. In our matriarchal Filipino society it’s a term of endearment; in the highly competitive business environment it’s an honorific, or even an expression of surrender (Nanay!). It just fits.

At the NBS head office, I only have to say “Nanay” and I am immediately ushered into a small conference room lined with bookshelves. One of the managers asks me what I’d like to drink. It’s a large, bustling office with stacks of books everywhere, but it lacks the air of formal efficiency that most corporate headquarters aspire to. This one has a friendly, homey feel, kind of like a faculty lounge at a grade school: you half-expect small children to come running down the hallways. Books are crammed willy-nilly into the shelves — classics, best sellers, coloring books, art books, coffee-table books.

Five minutes later, Nanay slowly walks into the room with her arm in a sling. “Andito na pala siya, bakit hindi ako tinawag?” (Why didn’t someone call me earlier?) she gently admonishes her staff. Her granddaughter Trina Alindogan hands her a cup of hydrite — Nanay’s stomach has been acting up all day. Most people with a broken arm and a bum stomach would probably take the day off. Here we have a demonstration of one not-so-secret secret of her success: Nothing can stop her from going to work.

“It happened during the typhoon,” she sighs. “I was inspecting the warehouse when I slipped and fell.” Her arm was broken in two places. Doctors said they could surgically repair the bone, but it would take a maximum of two hours to operate, and require nine screws in her arm. She declined; she has better things to do, and the arm will heal in time. For now she signs documents with her other hand. “Pakialamera kasi!” (That’s what happens to busybodies!) she laughs. “Habit na, eh. Pag hindi ko nakita ang bodega, para akong nawawala.” (When I don’t visit the warehouse, I feel lost.)

She nods at her assistant, who presents me with three books the size of coffee tables: a thesaurus, a 2008 almanac, and a Bible Atlas. I am silently skipping with glee. “Ano ba yan?” She indicates the Bible Atlas. “Hindi ko maintindihan, tiningnan ko lang yung pictures.” (I don’t understand it; I only looked at the pictures.) Either Nanay is psychic or somebody did her research, because how could she know that at age 10, my hobbies were reading the Old Testament for accounts of wars and apocalypses, and memorizing the capitals of countries?
Which brings us to another of Nanay’s winning secrets: She makes you feel important. She’s down-to-earth and genuinely curious about people and their interests. And anyone who assumes from her ingenuous air that she’s a softie is in for a tough time. Socorro Ramos is legendary for her skills as a negotiator; she has made captains of industry squeal like little girls. Let’s not forget that the woman built National Book Store from scratch, beginning just before World War II. Today National is the undisputed market leader, with 103 branches all over the country.

Put it another way: There were other bookstores while I was growing up, but today National is the one left standing. By default, we are all “laking-National.” A former competitor, Lory Tan of Bookmark, notes: “Mrs. Ramos is a master of loss-leader pricing, and knew that if you have the scale, you should use it in every way possible — whether it meant obtaining better discounts from publishing houses, more favorable terms of payment, or pricing down (even at a loss) to neutralize competition and eventually gain market dominance for a new book line.”

Or, as Nanay herself puts it: “Magaling lang akong tumawad.” (I’m just good at haggling.) Incidentally, she has been to every one of their 103 branches. Recently she visited the newest store in Marikina, and spoke to the manager about displaying books on tables to make them more appetizing.

I ask her if she’d ever imagined that the five-square-meter stall she opened in Escolta in 1939 would become this retail giant. She shakes her head. “Mapaaral ko lang ang mga anak ko, at kumain kami ng tatlong beses isang araw, tama na. Noong Japanese time, mabuhay ka lang, okay na.” (It was enough that I could send my children to school and we could have three meals a day. During the war, it was enough to just survive.)
Two years after she opened her little bookshop, World War II broke out in the Pacific and the Japanese invaded the Philippines. All books had to be submitted to Japanese censors, who cut out any mention of America. All their stocks were mutilated. “What will we sell?”

Socorro asked her husband, Jose. The answer: Anything and everything the customers needed. They sold candy, school supplies, cigarettes. She found a maker of tsinelas (rubber slippers), bought six pairs, discovered that the Japanese wanted tsinelas, and was soon selling hundreds of pairs. National Book Store might very well have been National Tsinelas.

She found a supplier of Easterbrook fountain pens and went from door to door in the Japanese bazaars to sell them. She got yelled at a couple of times and burst into tears, but eventually made a sale. “Tell me what you need,” she told her client. He ordered 3,000 reams of typewriting paper for the Japanese military. “Hindi ako nagpahalatang di ko kaya!” (I didn’t let on that I couldn’t handle the order!) she gleefully recalls. Somehow, in the middle of a war and all its restrictions, she found the 3,000 reams of paper. Gas was strictly rationed, so she delivered the stock by karetela (horse-drawn cart).

So we have another cornerstone of Nanay’s business philosophy: Find out exactly what your customers need, and sell it to them. Know your market inside and out. Do your research.

In 1944, the young businesswoman gave birth prematurely to her twin sons, Alfredo and Benjamin. Socorro and Jose were riding home in a karetela when the horse backed up into a creek. The other passengers jumped out, but the pregnant Socorro couldn’t. Jose held on to her, letting go of the basket of “Mickey Mouse” money (hyper-inflated Japanese Occupation currency) they had earned that day. Fortunately neither of them was hurt, and the basket of money was recovered from under the horse’s belly. Soon afterwards Socorro went into labor and was taken to the Philippine General Hospital. “The hospital was full, but they found room for me in the eclampsia room,” Nanay remembers.

The twins, born at seven months, weighed 3.2 pounds each and their chances of survival were slight. She breastfed them and they gradually achieved normal weight. “We had six chickens that we raised in our window box, and the eggs that they laid fed the boys,” Nanay says.

When the Liberation began, she kept a bag of emergency supplies ready in case they had to evacuate. The bag contained baby clothes, a mosquito net, some expired antibiotics, and three cans of expired baby formula.
Just before the Americans returned to the Philippines, one of her clients unloaded an entire warehouse of whiskey. “I knew that when the Americans arrived, they would want whiskey,” she says. She couldn’t afford her client’s asking price, but he didn’t want to lose his stocks to looters. So Nanay ended up with a whole lot of whiskey, which she stored in her mother’s house. During the Liberation, Escolta was destroyed by bombs and fire. Her little bookshop and its stocks were razed to the ground, but her mother’s house was safe.

Jose and Socorro sold the whiskey in a barong-barong (shack) on the corner of Soler and Avenida. The merchandise was laid out on a ping-pong table that also served as a door every night. The American soldiers paid in dollars.That whiskey kept the Ramoses’ business going until the couple could rebuild their bookstore.
The Nanay book of business says: Be alert to opportunity, and grab it.

After the war, National Book Store reopened in a small rented space in Avenue Theatre. In Super Salesgirl, Nick Joaquin’s short biography of Socorro Ramos, he writes that “National opened in time for the first postwar school year: one of the few places in ruined Manila where you could get textbooks, notebooks, pad paper, pencils, and so forth.”

“Then Typhoon Gene struck in 1948, ripped off the roof of our store, and ruined all our stocks,” Nanay says. “We were back to zero.” The Ramoses had to start all over again. Their stratagem for dealing with adversity: Work harder. They slept just three hours a day, and spent all their waking hours at the store.
Nanay’s business rulebook says: Don’t let anything get you down. Work, work, work.

In 1955 they acquired a prime piece of property on Soler Street, the future site of their nine-story building. The bookstore was doing well, thanks to Nanay’s brilliant idea: they started producing greeting cards and postcards with Philippine views. By then, their youngest child, Cecilia, had been born and the twins were enrolled at the Ateneo. “As I tutored my boys, they would often correct my pronunciation and were eventually teaching me many things I did not know. So I felt we were all attending the Ateneo together,” Nanay said when she accepted her honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from the Ateneo de Manila in 2006.
National Book Store expanded steadily from the 1970s onwards. We all know the rest — who doesn’t have that red-and-white plastic bag in the house? (Incidentally, National now encourages shoppers to carry their reusable cloth bags instead of plastic.)

“Mrs. Ramos is the perfect entrepreneur — hands-on, steadily focused on the business, always alert for opportunities, unfailingly sensitive to market needs,” writes banker, former Minister of Education, and former chair of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, Jaime Laya. “She is conservative, opting for slow and steady expansion financed by earnings reinvestment. This allowed her to manage the company personally while her children were growing up. As soon as the children were able to play a greater role, then National began opening more branches, adding to its product line.”

Nanay’s achievements as an entrepreneur have been recognized by institutions such as the Ateneo and SGV & Co, which named her Entrepreneur of the Year in 2005. The award is “bestowed to an individual that best embodies entrepreneurial spirit, financial performance, strategic direction, community/global impact, innovation, and personal integrity/influence.” The honorary degree was given by the Ateneo “in recognition of her outstanding contribution to building literacy among the Filipinos and her total commitment to helping make education affordable, especially to those who have little in life.”

“I was born to a poor family and only completed high school,” Nanay said in her brief acceptance speech. “Unable to attend college, I only had one dream in my life, an impossible dream, to finish school and get my degree.” Although she succeeded in business without the benefit of a college degree, she always stresses the importance of education. “I want Filipinos to remember that National Book Store has always been there and will always be there to provide them books and supplies at low prices,” she told Laya. “I understand their plight and know how difficult it can be because once upon a time, I was in their shoes. Books are sources of wisdom, knowledge and truth and should be priced so that persons with average and below-average income s can afford to buy.

“Gusto kong makasilbi sa mga estudyante (I want to serve the students),” she says. She remembers attending Soler Elementary School, then Arellano High School, with no baon, no money for snacks or school supplies. To save up for notebooks, she would work in a factory every summer, where she earned 50 centavos a day. “At the time, a kilo of pork cost 45 centavos, so you could actually feed a small family on that.” There isn’t a smidgen of bitterness or regret when she talks about the difficult times she and her husband (he died in 1992) went through — the scrimping, saving, and hard labor. On the contrary, she looks back with fondness on those tough times.

“The advantage of starting small,” she declares, “is that you know all the problems that can arise. You can deal with them one by one.”

I suspect that she looks forward to facing the little day-to-day crises and solving them. Beneath the child-like curiosity and sense of wonder is a steely businesswoman, a tough negotiator, a survivor. Nanay has worked every day of her life since she was five. You think she’ll let up just because the going is great?

Philippine All Stars Wins Gold in 2008 World Hip Hop Championships

Philippine All Stars bested more than 1,000 dancers from 33 countries by winning the title in the 2008 World Hip-Hop Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada Sunday, August 3, 2008.

Three judges gave the Philippine All Stars an aggregate score of 8.94. A large part of the score (5.35) was earned by way of the group’s infusion of artistic steps in their choreography.

And to that, competition judge and multi-Gramy awardee MC Hammer said: “The Filipino artists…they continue to evolve in a global basis. They take art and dance seriously.I am very proud of the level that the Philippines over all have developed into.”

Judge Shane Sparks of the hit tv show So You Think You Can Dance also had high praises for the group.

Source: Starmometer.com

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNRR9rdIcag (semi-final round)

Pinoy beyond Pilipinas (from Philstar)

because I can't paste it properly, i'll just link it instead. it sure is a good read.

http://www.philstar.com/index.php?Business%20Life&p=49&type=2&sec=43&aid=20080722105

Catherine Loria is Grand Winner in the 2008 World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA)

The Philippines is on top of the world of performing arts for the third time! Our very own Catherine Loria was declared Grand Champion Performer of the World in the recently concluded “Talent Olympics” in Hollywood.

13-year-old Catherine Loria, from Tiaong, Quezon Province, was proclaimed Grand Champion Performer of the World, a major feat which was won by Jed Madela in 2005 and Aria Clemente in 2007. She sang Yolanda Adam’s version of “I Believe I Can Fly” at the finals. She bested fellow junior contestants Tippy dos Santos and Rachel Razon, junior vocalists also from the Philippines, Courtney Mary Janssen from New Zealand, and Oleksandr Chernenko from Ukraine.

On the other hand, Andrew Clarke from Jamaica was proclaimed Grand Champion Performer of the World in the senior edition beating our very own Marielle Corpuz.

More than 40 countries participated in the annual event which is patterned after the Olympics.
The national directors for Team Philippines this year are Carlo Orosa and Oliver Oliveros.

Source: Starmometer.com
Photo Credits: Oliver Oliveros via PEP
Video Link: Catherine Loria - When You Believe - WCOPA 2008

Keeping the Pinoy Spirit Alive, Always!

Laman ng balita si Pacman kagabi with his recent win and history made. I was never a boxing fan but I always look forward sa lahat ng laban ng mga pinoy boxers.

I was watching TV Patrol Linggo last night, and again medyo naluha ako. Saan? Well, sa response ng mga pinoy sa pagkakapanalo ni Pacman.

Natuwa ako with matching luha sa pinakita ng mga Pinoy. Despite what is happening sa bansa natin with the recent tragedy and the never ending price hikes, Pinoys are still proud to be Pinoy. Na sa kabila ng pahirap na pahirap na pamumuhay ng mga Pinoy, mayroon paring puwang sa puso natin ang pagiging Pilipino. Na sa kabila ng mga problema, may baon paring ngiti na mula sa puso ng isang Juan Dela Cruz. Iba talaga ang Pinoy, bilib na bilib ako! Mga taong may simpleng pangarap sa buhay na hinahaluan ng sipag, tiyaga, determinasyon at pananalig sa Maykapal at pinatitibay ng mga pagsubok at dagok sa buhay. Dahil dito, taas noo at ipinagmamalaki ko na ako ay may lahing kayumanggi. Pilipino sa lahat ng panahon at pagkakataon!

Sa pinakita nating pagkakaisa sa pagkapanalo ni Pacman, naway ipakita natin parati. Ito marahil ang kailangan natin tungo sa pag papaunlad ng buhay! Sana.

Gaya nga ng slogan ng ABS-CBN – WALANG IWANAN SA BAYAN NI JUAN! Yey!

The PACMAN Fever!

History made again! Pacquio won! Yehey!

My so excited dad called me (I was in the middle of a worth dreaming dream!) to tell Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao won! Dad is a boxing fan along with my late grandfather.

Congrats Manny!

Mabuhay ang lahing kayumanggi!

Imagine a world without Filipinos

Got this from a local Arab newspaper. Filipinos will be always be the best worker anywhere, indeed!

Proud to be Filipino!

Imagine a world without Filipinos

Abdullah Al-Maghlooth Al-Watan, almaghlooth@alwatan.com.sa

Muhammad Al-Maghrabi became handicapped and shut down his flower and gifts shop business in Jeddah after his Filipino workers insisted on leaving and returning home. He says: “When they left, I felt as if I had lost my arms. I was so sad that I lost my appetite.”

Al-Maghrabi then flew to Manila to look for two other Filipino workers to replace the ones who had left. Previously, he had tried workers of different nationalities but they did not impress him. “There is no comparison between Filipinos and others,” he says. Whenever I see Filipinos working in the Kingdom, I wonder what our life would be without them.

Saudi Arabia has the largest number of Filipino workers — 1,019,577 — outside the Philippines. In 2006 alone, the Kingdom recruited more than 223,000 workers from the Philippines and their numbers are still increasing. Filipinos not only play an important and effective role in the Kingdom, they also perform different jobs in countries across the world, including working as sailors. They are known for their professionalism and the quality of their work.

Nobody here can think of a life without Filipinos, who make up around 20 percent of the world’s seafarers. There are 1.2 million Filipino sailors.

So if Filipinos decided one day to stop working or go on strike for any reason, who would transport oil, food and heavy equipment across the world? We can only imagine the disaster that would happen.

What makes Filipinos unique is their ability to speak very good English and the technical training they receive in the early stages of their education. There are several specialized training institutes in the Philippines, including those specializing in engineering and road maintenance. This training background makes them highly competent in these vital areas.

When speaking about the Philippines, we should not forget Filipino nurses. They are some 23 percent of the world’s total number of nurses. The Philippines is home to over 190 accredited nursing colleges and institutes, from which some 9,000 nurses graduate each year. Many of them work abroad in countries such as the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore.

Cathy Ann, a 35-year-old Filipino nurse who has been working in the Kingdom for the last five years and before that in Singapore, said she does not feel homesick abroad because “I am surrounded by my compatriots everywhere.” Ann thinks that early training allows Filipinos to excel in nursing and other vocations. She started learning this profession at the age of four as her aunt, a nurse, used to take her to hospital and ask her to watch the work. “She used to kiss me whenever I learned a new thing. At the age of 11, I could do a lot. I began doing things like measuring my grandfather’s blood pressure and giving my mother her insulin injections,” she said.

This type of early education system is lacking in the Kingdom. Many of our children reach the university stage without learning anything except boredom.

The Philippines, which you can barely see on the map, is a very effective country thanks to its people. It has the ability to influence the entire world economy.

We should pay respect to Filipino workers, not only by employing them but also by learning from their valuable experiences.

We should learn and educate our children on how to operate and maintain ships and oil tankers, as well as planning and nursing and how to achieve perfection in our work. This is a must so that we do not become like Muhammad Al-Maghrabi who lost his interest and appetite when Filipino workers left his flower shop.

We have to remember that we are very much dependent on the Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if they chose to leave us.

Araw ng Kalayaan

Isang mapagpalayang araw ng kalayaan sa ating lahat!

Nawa’y maging tunay na tayong maging malaya sa hinaharap.

Maging malaya sa kahirapan, karahasan, katiwalian at kawalang paki-alam sa bayan at sa kapwa.

Huwag sana natin sayangin ang mga pakikipag laban na ginawa ng ating mga bayani at ninuno upang makamit ang minimithing kasarinlan.

At sana ay isabuhay natin ang pagiging Pilipino nasaan man tayo, sa lahat ng oras at pagkakataon, sa isip, sa salita at lalong lalo na sa gawa!

Ipinagmamalaki ko na ako’y Pilipino!


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