LJ Reyes advocates for healthier food choices.
Nov 302014
Nov 302014
Ruffa Gutierrez gives tips on how to save more when grocery shopping.
Nov 292014
Four Israeli news and travel companies have featured the Philippines in their websites as the next new destination for Israeli travelers to visit. The feature articles on the Philippines, simultaneously published in Hebrew in late October, highlighted the country’s beautiful nature, especially the inclusion of Palawan and Boracay in Condé Nast Traveler’s “30 Best Islands in the World” this year. At the conclusion of the online poll, Palawan emerged as the winner with more than 76,000 votes, while Boracay got the 12th place. Because of Palawan, Boracay and other natural wonders found across the Philippines, the articles released by News1 (http://www.news1.co.il), Walla (http://travel.walla.co.il), Terminal (http://www.terminal.org.il), and International Air Services (http://www.ias.co.il) said that the country is becoming a “favorite destination among Israelis.” The significant increase in the number of Israeli tourists to the Philippines is partly attributed to the collaborative efforts of the Philippine embassy in Tel Aviv and the Israel-Philippine Tourism Chamber in promoting Philippine tourism in Israel. Since the chamber’s establishment during the Philippines’ inaugural participation in the 2013 International Mediterranean Tourism Market (IMTM) – which is Israel’s flagship and biggest annual tourism fair – he Philippine embassy and the chamber have partnered in several promotional activities to boost the number of Israeli tourists who are becoming more interested to visit the Philippines. In 2013 alone, the number of Israelis traveling to the Philippines reached 7,675, marking a 30-percent increase on the full 2012 figure of 5,895.
Nov 292014
MANILA, Philippines–Actress Boots Anson-Roa Rodrigo got a call one Sunday in September from Fr. Jun Sescon, who is part of the papal visit committee, informing her about the role the Rodrigo family would be playing in the meeting of families during the much-anticipated visit of the Holy Father. “I was initially speechless upon receiving that call. I think I said, ‘Wow, we’re so blessed,’” she said. She was told that the Rodrigos were chosen upon the recommendation of Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas and Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, another close friend of the family. Boots said what makes the privilege of meeting the Pope a real blessing was the fact that they neither expected nor asked for it. “I think that’s the most gratifying thing. It was offered to us, we did not lobby for it. We are very grateful for this wonderful blessing,” she said. In her 100 years, Remedios Enriquez Rodrigo, mother of Boots’ husband Francisco “King” Jr., has personally met two Roman Catholic saints: John Paul II and Padre Pio. She also had up-close encounters with Blessed Mother Teresa during the few times the latter was in the country for her works of charity. And yet the widow of the distinguished late Sen. Francisco “Soc” Rodrigo Sr. still feels “unworthy” to present a garland to Pope Francis when he visits the Philippines this January. “Maybe I’m not worthy. Why me?” Rodrigo was quoted as saying by her daughter-in-law Boots, when she learned about the special role Read More …
Nov 292014
By Niki Yarte — More than a decade since his big break in Mel Chonglo’s Lagarista, Piolo Pascual is still making waves and headlines in Philippine entertainment. His latest film, Starting Over Again with Toni Gonzaga, was a certified box office hit, raking in around P400 million at the box office. Currently he can be seen opposite Nikki Gil and Iza Calzado on prime time soap opera Hawak Kamay. He also just recently signed on to do a romantic Valentine’s Day feature with pop star Sarah Geronimo. His face and persona is still used to launch new products or promote old ones – from vitamin supplements to financial plans – and he still attends to his recurring gig as host and performer on ASAP. However, when his 2013 self-produced film On the Job opened to critical acclaim but struggled commercially, raking in only P11 million, doubts were raised about his continued credibility to fill theaters. The film was the latest in a string of projects that counted on his bankability but performed less stellarly than expected, including his team-ups with Angelica Panganiban (Every Breath U Take), Angel Locsin (Love Me Again), Regine Velazquez (Paano Kita Iibigin), and Bea Alonzo (Dream Boy). Last year, the 37-year old actor opened up about feeling “used up”, empathizing with fellow actor John Lloyd Cruz, who had earlier expressed his own intentions for early retirement, citing “being married to the industry” for practically half his life as his primary reasoning. Piolo added that he wanted Read More …
Nov 292014
LEAH Doysabas (fourth from right) with other Filipino teachers during Asean Day at the Chalermkwansatree School in Pithsanulok province, Thailand. It is not certain when the Filipinos learned about the lucrative teaching jobs in Thailand. But there have been Filipinos living in Thailand for many years now. These are former missionaries or development workers or married to Thais. Leah Doysabas, a secondary grade teacher in the Philippines has a master’s of science degree in biology. She went to Thailand in July 26, 2003 upon the invitation of a friend who worked as teacher assistant in a school in Bangkok. She was one of the hundreds of Filipinos who went to the kingdom as tourists but were actually jobseekers in the early 2000. As of December 2012, there are approximately 16,203 Filipinos in Thailand, according to the Commission on Filipinos Overseas. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administartion (POEA) data shows that the country deployed 8,659 overseas Filipino workers (OFW) to Thailand in 2013, mostly teachers, engineers, production and related workers, composers, musicians and singers. The 2012 data also show that 3,000 are permanent migrants or married to Thai citizens and more than 11,000 are temporary migrants or workers. However, the numbers could be higher because majority of the Filipinos going there to work entered as tourists. ‘No Filipinos, please’ Doysabas posted her curriculum vitae (CV) on Ajarn.com, a popular site for jobs in Thailand. Ajarn means teacher in Thai. She also applied personally in schools but all she got was either a Read More …
Nov 292014
“Felons and not families should be deported,” this is the clear message of President Obama last week during his speech on his executive actions relating to immigration. While the immigration policies coming from the President is expected to benefit an estimated five million undocumented immigrants, there is doubt on whether majority will indeed come out of the shadows to take advantage of the proposed benefits. One of the many undocumented Filipinos who will apparently benefit is Jane. She arrived in the United States in 2003 on a visitor visa and has been overstaying since then. Jane met Dan, who was her coworker at a care home facility. After a few months of courtship, Dan married Jane. Unknown to Jane, Dan also has immigration issues because of a prior deportation order rendered against him 10 years ago. The marriage of the couple was entered into in good faith and it did not matter whether Jane remains undocumented. Jane gave birth to two beautiful daughters, now ages 7 and 5. When Jane heard about President Obama’s policies, she got excited and was hoping to file for employment authorization document so she can obtain temporary legal status. However, she raised valid concerns. What will happen to her status after three years and will she eventually be deported if President Obama is no longer in office? Executive actions The new immigration policies are very temporary in nature. Obama signed the memorandum to prevent certain undocumented immigrants from deportation and allow them to apply Read More …
Nov 292014
CONSUL Jerome Castro with the Hiroshima Filipino Association chair Jade Limatog and HFA volunteers on the first consular mission in Hiroshima, Japan HIROSHIMA—The very first consular mission in Hiroshima, Japan, was successfully held recently through the able partnership between the Philippine Consulate General in Osaka, Japan, and the Hiroshima Filipino Association (HFA), a nonprofit volunteer group. Before the consular mission, thousands of Filipinos residing in Hiroshima have had to travel over 300 kilometers to Osaka City costing them about P8,000 for a round-trip bullet train ride to be able to renew their passport or avail of other consular services. “We wanted to bring our kababayan together while undertaking something very productive. OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) and immigrants here are always eager to gather together because we feel a sense of belonging. Our association provided the venue for that and more,” said Jade Limatog, HFA chair. The outreach, headed by Consul Jerome Castro, was organized by the HFA with the support of the Hiroshima City Office that provided free use of the venue. The HFA is an association of Filipino volunteers organized in 2008 with the support of the Hiroshima Memorial Cathedral for World Peace. It has recently delivered financial aid donated by friends in Hiroshima to hard-hit areas during Supertyphoon “Yolanda.” The HFA website is at https://hfagallery.shutterfly.com. (The author is a Filipino lawyer in Hiroshima. She is an adviser and founding member of HFA in 2008. She is also an English teacher. Connect with her on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/chatseki.) Disclaimer: Read More …
Nov 292014
A Filipino-American was named recently as the new director of the prestigious and influential Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. Jose “Oying” Rimon was named recently after an eight-month international search for a new director. In his announcement, Dean Michael Klag lauded Rimon for his outstanding work serving as interim director during the search process and identified him as a visionary leader. He is also a senior scientist in the faculty of the Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health. Rimon is the most senior Filipino to serve in a major leadership position in the international population and reproductive health community since the days of Rafael Salas, the first executive director of the United Nations Population Fund. Prior to joining Hopkins he was a senior officer at the Global Health Policy and advocacy group of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, based in Seattle, Washington. He led the development and management of a global portfolio of policy and advocacy grants and partnerships covering family planning and reproductive health; maternal, neonatal and child health; and nutrition. He was a key planner and core member (with special responsibility for foundations and civil society engagement) of the highly successful London Summit on Family Planning team which raised $2.6 billion of new money from donors. He was the cochair of the Social and Behavioral Change Working Group of the foundation. He received a “Wall of Fame” recognition award Read More …
Nov 292014
MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) will meet with Taiwanese and Japanese seafood processors to encourage them to invest in eel processing in the country. Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said he would be meeting with Taiwanese and Japanese seafood firms in Taiwan on Dec. 2 – 5 to encourage them to put up processing plants for eel in the Philippines. “I also want to observe their trading system. These are private investors,” Alcala told reporters. “We already have small eel processing businesses here but I want the industry to be big because we have the source of elvers and we are already seeing results from the export prohibition that we imposed two years ago,” he added. In 2012, the DA reinstated the ban on the export of elvers (juvenile eel) to stop the rapid decline of the specie. The ban on the export of elvers is enforced under Fisheries Administrative Order 242, signed by Alcala on April 10 2012. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Violation of the ban carries a penalty of eight years imprisonment, confiscation of catch or a fine equivalent to double the export value of the same, and revocation of fishing or export permit. Elvers are gathered in riverbanks and shores through the use of nets. These are then shipped to Manila for export to various Asian countries such as Japan and Korea where these are enjoyed as a delicacy. Smoked eel fillets, for instance, sell for P500 to P1,000 per Read More …