amendoza

Joseph Calata gets so far so fast

 Economy
Jun 212014
 
Joseph Calata gets so far so fast

CALATA style: Gelled pompadour, Armani jacket with pocket square and the movie-star smile. RENE GUIDOTE Entrepreneur Joseph Calata is the proverbial young man in a hurry.  Pushing 34, he is making a bid to have a huge stake in the country’s food supply chain. The chair and CEO of the agribusiness company, Calata Corporation, initially made news by becoming the country’s youngest self-made billionaire before he was 30 years old. He modernized the family’s mom-and-pop store into the country’s largest distributor of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides. When Calata Corp. was listed for initial public offering (IPO) in May 2012, its stocks gained a total market value of P4.3 billion. As if selling agrochemicals, feeds and seeds wasn’t enough, Calata created his own brands, opened retail stores, went into joint venture with foreign companies and acquired a meat processing company. “My business is literally going from the farm to the table,” says Calata. Own brands He was inspired by the richest man in Southeast Asia, Dhanin Chearavanont, whose business is CP Group, the biggest agricultural company in the region. One of the Thai billionaire’s businesses is Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company which produces animal feeds, breeds animals and processes them. The end products are sold in the fastfoods and 7-11 stores. Chearavanont owns 6,800 of the 24-hour stores all over Thailand. Calata says he’s now covering the entire food chain. In the initial phase of raw materials and planting, Calata possesses the technology, the seeds and the preparations to ward off pests. Read More …

Thank God, we have copy editors

 General
Jun 212014
 
Thank God, we have copy editors

“YES, I could care less” By Bill Walsh St. Martin’s Griffin, 2013 Language is a dynamic part of a culture. The English language, for example, continues to change. Even its usage rules change. So, if you think you’ve got it made in mastering the rules of the English language, think again. The book titled “Yes, I could care less” gives you second thoughts about grammar rules made by Strunk and White in the “Elements of Style”—or prescriptions by American Heritage, Webster’s New Word, and Merriam-Webster. On many occasions, as shown in this book, they do agree on certain rules. The author, Bill Walsh, is copy editor of the Washington Post, a job he has held since 1997. In the United States, there is an annual conference of the American Copy Editors Society, and Walsh is a regular presenter in such an elite assembly. Reading the book feels like you are being treated to a long-running discussion of the many acceptable rules of usage of a word or phrase. In a manner of speaking, it is like consulting four or five manuals of style of different publications, if not two or three generally accepted English usage reference books. It begins with a long debate on the use of two phrases—which have found acceptability. The phrases are: “could care less” or “couldn’t care less.” Walsh first introduces the special class to which it belongs: “We are the copy editors. English teachers, usage mavens, armchair grammarians and others who revel in do’s and Read More …

Imagine the arts uniting 6 rivals for Spratlys on one stage

 News
Jun 212014
 
Imagine the arts uniting 6 rivals for Spratlys on one stage

Map showing the disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea (south China Sea), including the Spratlys Islands and Scarborough Shoal.  AFP Imagine some of the music greats of all six claimants to territories in the South China Sea—the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei—on one stage and taking part in a concert that aims to promote camaraderie and friendly relations among these nations and ease rising tensions in the disputed waters. Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, head of Artists for Peace, a group affiliated with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), was talking on Saturday about the “very relevant Music for Peace concert.” She said “the first lady of China, Madame Peng Liyuan, has just been named a Unesco envoy for education.” “She is a well-known singer. We hope that she can be a part of this process and even take the lead in the successful implementation of a music theater gathering that can heal like a ‘balm in Gilead’ to fertilize the ground for more conciliatory political rhetoric in determining a reasonable and ethical resolution of clashing interests,” Alvarez said. “We’ll formally propose to the Unesco the country’s hosting of the event during its next meeting of goodwill ambassadors, scheduled for June 30 in Paris,” where the United Nations body has its headquarters, Alvarez told the Inquirer. Alvarez, wife of former Sen. Heherson Alvarez, now a climate change commissioner, described as “doable” what she called a “cultural diplomacy initiative.” “From Manila, the other claimants—Beijing, Hanoi, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur Read More …

I don’t feel like an OFW, just a girl with a camera’ shooting HK’s street life

 News
Jun 212014
 
I don’t feel like an OFW, just a girl with a camera’ shooting HK’s street life

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BACANI A man prepares to open his stall for the night market on Temple Street in Mongkok District in Hong Kong. Her stunning B&W photos have brought acclaim to the Filipino domestic worker. XYZA CRUZ BACANI HONG KONG—On weekdays, domestic worker Xyza Cruz Bacani uses a sturdy, white mop to clean her elderly employer’s flat, if she’s not taking care of the latter’s seven grandchildren who visit every day. But whenever she gets the chance to go out—even if it’s just for a quick trip to the neighborhood grocery store—Bacani grabs her camera and takes dramatic snapshots of this city’s vibrant street life. Her stunning black-and-white photos have been featured by the New York Times and used by the Vogue Italia website. For the past three years, Bacani’s work has also been a finalist in National Geographic magazine’s competition in Hong Kong for best open documentary photo. She has even been called a modern-day Vivian Maier, the legendary American photographer/nanny. “I feel naked when I go out and I don’t have my camera with me,” said Bacani, a 27-year-old from Bambang town, Nueva Vizcaya province, who joined her mother here nine years ago to work as a nanny for the latter’s employer. “You know, when I’m told to buy something at ParknShop (a supermarket chain), I bring along my camera. It looks stupid but I do it,” she said. “My favorite pictures are those that I took when I didn’t go out on purpose to do a photo Read More …

Saving refugees in South Sudan

 News
Jun 212014
 
Saving refugees in South Sudan

MABAN, South Sudan—I wanted to go where few doctors dared to go.  So here I am at the Doro refugee camp in Maban, South Sudan. In 2011, a conflict in the Blue Nile State in Sudan sent tens of thousands of refugees fleeing to this inhospitable land near the border of South Sudan. Two years later, over 40,000 refugees still live in this tent community. This is my first assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), also known by its English name, Doctors Without Borders. I admit I was a bit scared when I was sent off, even if I had already worked in East Africa and South America as an HIV/AIDS doctor with volunteering organizations like VSO and UNV. I have also had my share of harrowing scrapes on board a boat that served as an ambulance servicing the Balut Islands, Davao del Sur, when I was part of the Doctors to the Barrios program of the Philippine Department of Health. But I also felt I was ready. And as always, my parents, brothers and friends supported me. Working with MSF has been a longtime dream. I have known MSF since I was a child, watching their volunteer doctors on television with admiration as they were often at the forefront of many disaster relief and rescue operations, even in my own country. I had told myself, one day I will be part of MSF. Straight after predeparture training in Denmark, my  work began in the Doro camp. It is a Read More …

Convicted sex offenders are not qualified to file family petitions

 News
Jun 212014
 
Convicted sex offenders are not qualified to file family petitions

Deportations from the United States usually arise in cases of non-US citizens committing crimes or violations of immigration law. However, in certain instances, deportation may also arise when it is discovered that the petitioning fiancé or spouse had been convicted of a sexual offense against a minor. John, a US citizen, petitioned Jenna as his fiancé in 2007. Jenna is a single parent who has a minor child from a prior relationship. The fiancé visa petition filed by John on behalf of Jenna was approved. The consular officer issued proper visas for Jenna and her minor child. Upon  arrival in the United States, Jenna immediately married John in a simple civil wedding ceremony. After the marriage, an application for adjustment of status was filed with the US Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) so that Jenna and her daughter could become green card holders. John and Jenna have a genuine relationship. They  are a happy couple. They live together as husband and wife, and have plans to have a child of their own. While applying for the change of immigrant visas,  an unexpected problem arose that shattered the couple’s family dreams.  Instead of a green card, Jenna received a Notice to Appear for a deportation hearing. Unbeknownst to Jenna, John had a  criminal conviction in 1979 and was sentenced to a prison term for committing a sexual offense against a minor.  This offense made him incapable under the Adam Walsh Act of filing a petition on behalf of a foreign national. Read More …

A story of survival and surprise blessings

 News
Jun 212014
 
A story of survival and surprise blessings

A cheerful Beatriz showed up for the Bantay OCW program at the Inquirer Radio studio early this month, seven years since she escaped harrowing abuse in a household in Saudi Arabia. In 2007, Beatriz’ mother went to Bantay OCW to plead for assistance to rescue her daughter, who had secretly phoned the family in the Philippines and told them she was being raped by her employer’s husband and son. They threatened to kill her if she told anyone. When Bantay OCW learned about the problem, it immediately informed the Philippine Embassy. A rescue operation was set up. Beatriz was rescued. But when embassy officials called and requested her to appear at the embassy, Beatriz was overcome with fear and denied the charges against her male employee and the son. She said  nothing happened to her,  even adding that her mother was only making up the story.  But she pleaded with her employer to let her go home. If she was not being molested and sexually abused, there was no reason to send her home, countered her employer.  If she wanted to leave, she would have to pay them back P100,000 to refund what was paid to the agency when they hired her and covered her airfare to return  home. Beatriz later explained that she could not tell the truth because she feared for her life. Upon hearing that, Bantay OCW pleaded with the recruitment agency to immediately send Beatriz a plane ticket. The Philippine Embassy agreed to prepare the documents Read More …

China claiming another reef; PH files new protest

 News
Jun 132014
 
China claiming another reef; PH files new protest

FLAG FLIES HIGH on Philippine territory as troops proudly salute at flag-raising rites on Pagasa Island during the country’s 116th Independence Day celebration on Thursday.  PHOTO COURTESY OF THE PHILIPPINE NAVY The Philippines has filed a new diplomatic protest against China over its land reclamation on McKennan (Hughes) Reef in the Spratly group of islands, which is indisputably within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Assistant Secretary Charles Jose, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesperson, said the foreign office lodged the protest sometime last week. But he could not say how China responded to the latest note verbale. The Chinese Embassy in Manila had immediately rejected all previous Philippine protests in relation to the South China Sea dispute. Filed last week “We filed the protest last week. The reclamation there was confirmed first,” said Jose. He said the Philippines continues monitoring to confirm what appeared to be similar Chinese activities on  Gavin (Gaven) Reefs and Calderon (Cuarteron) Reef, also in the Spratlys, which President Aquino and Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario bared on Thursday last week, expressing concern over Beijing’s “aggressive expansion agenda” in the disputed waters. China is also known to be undertaking similar activities on Malvar (Eldad) Reef. Jose said the Philippines would “definitely lodge a similar protest” against China once it is confirmed that it was reclaiming land in these territories. Jose could not say whether last week’s diplomatic protest was filed before or after the top officials made public the surveillance information on Chinese activities Read More …

Tacloban now part of USAID’s Cities Development Initiative

 News
Jun 102014
 
Tacloban now part of USAID’s Cities Development Initiative

AP FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Tacloban City in Leyte, an area badly hit by Super Typhoon “Yolanda,” (Haiyan) is now part of the Cities Development Initiative (CDI) of United States Agency for International Aid (USAID). “I am proud we can come in and work with the city. It wasn’t originally part of the CDI but now it will be to help them rebuild.  I’m proud that after the humanitarian side, we’re now talking about rebuilding and rehabilitating,” said Denise Rolins, USAID’s Acting Assistant Administrator for Asia on Tuesday. Rollins is in the country for a six-day visit from June 6 to 11, and from Manila she toured areas in Mindanao and Tacloban City. Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo and Batangas were originally the pilot cities under CDI, which seeks to “ignite secondary cities as engines of economic growth.” “You have a mayor who is very committed to development the city… If you partner with leadership that wants to get something done, you begin to see results,” she said of Cagayan de Oro. In Tacloban, she led the launch of USAID Rebuild, the US government’s rehabilitation program in Typhoon Yolanda-affected areas. Overall, the US government support is estimated at approximately $142.5 million in response to Yolanda. “I’m coming seven months after the typhoon hit, so I didn’t see the initial effects. But you can see that people are starting to recover. You see housing that’s going back up, housing and office buildings that are being renovated. You can see a lot of improvement,”  Read More …

PH-Vietnam games not meant to pick on China

 News
Jun 102014
 
PH-Vietnam games not meant to pick on China

MANILA, Philippines—After China called the games between the Philippines and Vietnam a farce, one Philippine Navy official said that the sports festival between the two nations was not meant to provoke any actions from the mighty Asian nation. “Definitely it’s not meant to pick on China,” Colonel Edgard Arevalo, Philippine Navy spokesman, said Tuesday afternoon. He said that the sole purpose of the games, which involved football, volleyball, and tug of war, which was conducted at Southwest Cay, a Vietnamese-occupied island in the South China Sea, was to create a fellowship between the Philippines and Vietnam. On Monday, China called the game a “clumsy farce” and demanded that the two smaller countries “stop causing trouble.” Arevalo said that even though the Philippines and Vietnam are co-claimants of the Southwest Cay, they want to have good relations with each other. “What we want to maintain is the friendly relations, we can show that we can interact with each other without fighting, without the disputes,” Arevalo said Tuesday. “Fellowship can still develop, notwithstanding the claims for the islands, the least of our intention is to pick quarrels with anyone.” Arevalo added that there would be another installment of the games between the Naval forces of the Philippines and Vietnam, this time with the Filipinos playing as hosts. He added that other claimants to the disputed islands, like Taiwan and Malaysia, could also join the games in 2015. “Our friendly relations with other countries has been ongoing through joint training,” Arevalo said. “Promoting Read More …

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