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Going back to school abroad

 News
Jun 012013
 
Going back to school abroad

By Rene PastorThe FilAm 1:24 am | Sunday, June 2nd, 2013 LEVELLING UP The author recently completed his requirements for a Master of Science in International Relations. Contributed photo/The FilAm When American whiz statistician Nate Silver, who was our commencement speaker, urged the millennials not to stop “being weird,” I felt oddly out of place, coming from Ray Romano’s league of Men of a Certain Age. It was the kind of raw, gusty and rainy day which made for a miserable go in New York City. My wife and I struggled under one umbrella that couldn’t shield my suit from the rain nor her green dress, but you cannot choose a graduation day. Mine fell on an afternoon that resembled slushy winter more than spring. We got off at Penn Station and began walking toward the Jacob K. Javitz Convention Center on 11th Avenue and 39th Street where The New School was holding its commencement ceremony. I was a candidate for a degree in Master of Science in International Relations. More than 30 years after getting a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from the Ateneo, I would be marching again. Sitting on a bench, waiting for us to line up so the 77th commencement of The New School could start, I looked around at faces I did not know. I was surrounded by complete strangers, not by people I had schooled with for four years. Millennials’ graduation Although we were told to put away our phones after putting on our Read More …

Relief group to run marathon for PH out-of-school kids

 News
May 312013
 
Relief group to run marathon for PH out-of-school kids

INQUIRER.net US Bureau 2:45 am | Saturday, June 1st, 2013 SAN FRANCISCO—Christian relief organization World Vision Philippines will participate in the San Francisco Marathon (26.2 miles) on June 16 to raise funds for out-of-school kids in the Philippines. The group’s “We Run So They Can Go to School” project is seeking sponsors and donations to help send ten children to school as its initial goal. It cites a Philippine Department of Education and National Statistical Coordination Board that one in every six Filipino children is not in schooling because of poverty. Many families in the marginalized sectors cannot afford to send kids to school, and many children can be seen selling newspapers, street foods and even cigarettes to help their families and are at risk of criminal activity. World Vision Philippines   “We Run So They Can Go to School” project was “conceptualized to address the increasing statistics of out of school youth in the Philippines,” said the group’s statement. http://werunsotheycangotoschool.com/ Follow Us Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines. Tags: education , Fundraising , marathon , street children Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Contact the Inquirer’s Reader’s Advocate. Or write The Readers’ Advocate:

U.S. Immigration bill–what happens now?

 News
May 312013
 
U.S. Immigration bill–what happens now?

By Harvey I. BarkinINQUIRER.net US Bureau 1:44 am | Saturday, June 1st, 2013 From left, Myisha Areloano, Adrian James, Jahel Campos, David Vuenrostro, and Antonio Cabrera camp outside of the Obama Campaign Headquarters in Culver City, Calif. in protest of President Obama’s immigration policies and in hopes of getting him to pass an executive order to halt discretionary deportation on Friday, June 16, 2012. AP FILE PHOTO SAN JOSE, California—The U.S. immigration reform bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee last week and slated for the Senate floor in June is still getting mixed reviews from immigrant rights supporters. For Filipinos directly affected by the U.S. immigration reform bill, family reunification is the big question. How long will the wait be for petitioned siblings, who are not undocumented students and not agricultural workers? Of the more than 200 proposed amendments to the U.S. immigration reform bill, 141 passed in almost 30 hours of debate in the Judiciary Committee  Analysts say if the Republican-controlled House passes the bill by July, legislation may occur in early August this year. “There are both good and bad consequences” as the bill stands now, Pramila Jayapal, co-chair of women’s rights campaign We Belong Together and founder-executive director of the biggest immigrants advocacy movement in Washington state OneAmerica, told INQUIRER.net. “One positive thing is that there’s a major concern to wipe out the backlog (of petitions) so Filipino families can be together. We need to get rid of a 4.3 million backlog.” The wait for relative-sponsored Read More …

No Filipinos hurt in Beyonce butt slap incident

 News
May 292013
 
No Filipinos hurt in Beyonce butt slap incident

Outtakes By Rene Ciria-CruzINQUIRER.net 7:27 am | Thursday, May 30th, 2013 But there could have been. Considering we’re now everywhere, why not near the stage in Denmark where an out-of-control fan slapped Beyonce’s behind? And considering further that our news media often run reports like “No Pinoys Hurt in Massive Haiti Quake,” or “No Filipinos Hurt in Devastating Tsunami,” or “No Pinoys Injured in Boston Marathon Bombing,” why not report that none our compatriots was elbowed in the face or whatnot when guards threw out Beyonce’s offending Dane? If Filipinos could be found in Burundi, it’s within the realm of possibility that they’d be found in Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson’s kitchen staff, where they theoretically ran the risk of being beaned by a flying dish had a down-and- dirty fight occurred during the couple’s recent breakup. Just like Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni’s Filipina nanny stands to be an innocent bystander in any serious domestic quarrel. (Disclosure: I follow TMZ, People, and the Kardashians very closely for purposes of anthropological research.) The curious point is, we do like knowing if Filipinos figured in some tragic event elsewhere, blithely ignoring the fact that thousands of non-compatriots may have sadly perished in one of God’s mysterious ways. We like reading and reporting that no Pinoy died in the Oklahoma twister that flattened an entire town and killed dozens of other residents. Let’s give this behavior a serious thought, shall we? Okay, that’s enough. Some will say the predilection shows our love Read More …

Fil-Am staffers and students join UC Medical Center strike frontline

 News
May 242013
 
Fil-Am staffers and students join UC Medical Center strike frontline

By Hiyasmin QuijanoINQUIRER.net US Bureau 5:55 am | Saturday, May 25th, 2013 Filipino hospital staffers at strike picket line in front of the University of California Ronald Reagan Medical Center in Los Angeles. Photo by Hiyasmin Quijano LOS ANGELES, California–Filipino-American workers and students joined a two-day strike in front of the University of California Ronald Reagan Medical Center to “get priorities straight.” After ten months of negotiations, UC patient technical workers continue to bargain for enforceable safe staffing standards to protect patient care, a stop to outsourcing frontline care to less-experienced workers, fair wages to afford sending their own children to the University of California and a stop to oversized executive entitlements. Medical center works say hundreds are being laid off, schedules reduced and less-experienced providers being hired. Thousands of UC Medical patient care workers voted 97 percent in favor of the May 21-22 job stoppage. The strikers included respiratory therapists, nursing aides, radiologists, certified nursing assistants, MRI technologists, licensed vocational nurses, surgical technicians, diagnostic sonographers, pathology lab technicians, pharmacy technicians, or technicians and others staff members. UC Medical Centers serve approximately four million people annually. “I’m here for my patient. A lot of us are overworked because we’re also given on-call assignments. So sometimes we are working all week. We also never get released on time because there’s not enough staff to relieve us,” states Jing Ulamgkang. Staffers complain that over-scheduling, causes stress and exhaustion for care providers and delays for patients. “It all boils down to patient safety and Read More …

Kids make art to help rescue other kids from neglect

 News
May 242013
 
Kids make art to help rescue other kids from neglect

1:01 am | Saturday, May 25th, 2013 Children of The Filipino Channel (TFC) create art to support programs for child rescue and rehabilitation in the Philippines. Photo by Bryan Reynoso REDWOOD CITY, California—Art classes attended by children of the employees of The Filipino Channel are producing works that will help raise funds for the rehabilitation of neglected or abused children in the Philippines. The art program, Kids heART Bantay Bata, is hosted by the ABS CBN Foundation International in partnership with Filipino-American artist Paolo Mejia, whose work and advocacy supports emerging artists and designers to raise awareness and support for the foundation’s flagship program, Bantay Bata (Child Watch Philippines). The foundation is the corporate social responsibility arm of ABS-CBN International and The Filipino Channel (TFC). “Our philanthropy starts at our home, at TFC,” says Jo Ann Kyle, managing director for the foundation. “The children are deeply engaged and understand that they paint for a purpose. Knowing that kids as young as four years old create art with the less fortunate in mind gives a more layered and solemn beauty to their raw talent,” Kyle adds. Art for charity   The classes create original art that will be reproduced on cards and made available with minimum donations to the charity. Proceeds will support the multi-awarded initiative that rescues and rehabilitates impoverished, abused, and neglected children in the Philippines. Notecard reproductions will be available at the Philippine Independence Day Council, Inc. (PIDCI) parade in New York on June 2, 2013 and online Read More …

Envoys to visit Filipino victims of alleged human trafficking in US

 News
May 042013
 
Envoys to visit Filipino victims of alleged human trafficking in US

Philippine Daily Inquirer 4:11 am | Sunday, May 5th, 2013 Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Philippine officials in the United States will visit this week the two Filipino women rescued from a Saudi diplomat’s house in Virginia in a suspected human trafficking case, the Philippine embassy in Washington D.C. said on Saturday. In a statement to the Inquirer, the embassy said Consul General Ariel Peñaranda asked the “US agencies concerned” on Friday (Saturday in Manila) to allow a consular visit to the rescued women. “US authorities immediately acted on the request and arrangements are being made to allow Consul General Peñaranda, labor attaché Luzviminda Padilla and welfare officer Saul de Vries to visit the two Filipinos on Monday,” said the embassy statement. Acting on a tip, US immigration officers last Tuesday swooped down on a home in McLean, Virginia, owned by the Saudi government and took custody of the women who were reportedly working for a Saudi attaché under “circumstances that amounted to human trafficking,” a US official had said. CNN reported the women complained of maltreatment and being forced to work long hours without pay. Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia Jr. said the embassy was prepared to “extend the necessary assistance” to the two. The embassy declined to provide further details given the ongoing US investigation. It also did not say which US agency was currently looking after the women or their location. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), meanwhile, said it Read More …

Binay to meet Yao Ming May 6

 News
May 012013
 
Binay to meet Yao Ming May 6

By Christian V. Esguerra Philippine Daily Inquirer 9:39 pm | Wednesday, May 1st, 2013 Vice President Jejomar Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO BUTUAN CITY, Agusan del Norte, Philippines — A tall order for Vice President Jejomar Binay? This Monday (May 6), the 5’0″ Binay will come face-to-face with Yao Ming, the 7’6″ retired Chinese basketball superstar who will pay him a courtesy call at the Coconut Palace. Binay confirmed the affair on Wednesday, saying he would in fact take a break from a provincial campaign sortie to accommodate Yao, a former NBA All-Star who last played for the Houston Rockets in 2011. A foot injury cut short his professional career and he is now part-owner of the Shanghai Sharks in the Chinese Basketball Association. The Sharks will be in Manila for a couple of exhibition games with the Philippine national team and a selection from the Philippine Basketball Association. “Yes, he will come that’s why I will cancel my visit in the province,” he told reporters in Filipino after leading the distribution of land titles and certificates at the Almont Inland Resort here. But Binay immediately turned defensive, saying he would continue working despite his campaign obligations for the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA). “Dito sa kinaroroonan n’yo nagtatrabaho ako ha? Hindi porke ako ay nag-iikot para sa kampanya eh nagpapabaya ako sa aking trabaho (Here, I’m still working, okay?  I may be campaigning here but I’m not neglecting my work),” he said.

Unesco sending marine experts to Tubbataha to assess damage

 News
Apr 292013
 
Unesco sending marine experts to Tubbataha to assess damage

By Jerry E. EsplanadaPhilippine Daily Inquirer 7:25 pm | Monday, April 29th, 2013 Tubbataha Reefs. YVETTE LEE/CONTRIBUTOR MANILA, Philippines — The Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is sending a team of experts to Tubbataha Reef to assess the damage wrought by the grounding of the USS Guardian, a US Navy minesweeper, in January. This was confirmed to the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Monday by Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, director of the Unesco Dream Center in Manila and wife of Heherson Alvarez, head of the Climate Change Commission, an agency attached to the Office of the President. Guidote-Alvarez said Unesco’s World Heritage Center was also organizing a “five-day meeting of marine experts aimed at strengthening conservation and management practices at Tubbataha Reef National Park.” “The meeting will be held in Puerto Princesa City from May 20 to 24,” she said, quoting Dr. Hubert Gijzen, director of the Unesco Regional Science Board for Asia and the Pacific and Unesco representative to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Timor Leste and Brunei. Gijzen apparently responded to Heherzon Alvarez’s call for an “independent assessment” by Unesco of the damage caused by the Guardian after it got stuck on the reef for over two months. Tubbataha Reef is located in the Sulu Sea 98 nautical miles southeast of Palawan. Alvarez, a former senator, early this year said Unesco “would be in the best position to estimate the required amount for the total recovery of the damaged reef and the amount of work and time this will Read More …

Japanese national arrested for fake visa extension stamps on passport

 News
Apr 292013
 
Japanese national arrested for fake visa extension stamps on passport

By Tetch Torres-Tupas INQUIRER.net 6:51 pm | Monday, April 29th, 2013 Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines–The Bureau of Immigration arrested Monday a Japanese national after he was caught with fake visa extension on his passport. Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. identified the Japanese national as Hidenobu Yuzawa, 38. Yuzawa went to the bureau’s main office in Intramuros, Manila to have his stay extended. Yuzawa’s application for extension of stay was, however, rejected after personnel at the BI visa extension section discovered two fake visa extension stamps on his passport. He was then endorsed to the BI intelligence division, charged with immigration law violation at the legal division and committed to the BI detention center in Bicutan, Taguig. Yuzawa, meanwhile, explained that a travel agent helped him extend his visa. David said foreigners can avoid the scheme by personally extending their visas at the BI or by engaging travel agencies accredited by the bureau.  The list of the agencies can be viewed at www.immigration.gov.ph. According to lawyer Ma. Antonette Mangrobang, BI acting intelligence chief, Yuzawa identified a tour operator at the Robinson’s Mall in Dasmariñas, Cavite as responsible for faking his visa extensions.

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