YEAR 12, No. 3 SEPTEMBER 2008 Home Paper of the 1999 Canadian Ethnic Journalists’ and Writers’ Club Winner for Best Editorial Toronto, Ontario

DOUBLE TREATDOUBLE TREAT

1212

Dancing To Be A Star - 33

INSIDEOoops & Bloops

Classic Classic PRPR

stupiditystupidity- 7- 7

Front Page Philippines TV debuts in Alberta

Less able to send Less able to send money home - 11money home - 11

Sarakiki-HadangSarakiki-HadangFestival - Festival - 2626

Ace Alvarez is new CEMA president

CharlynCharlyngets intogets intothe groovethe groove- - 3636

Filipino-Canadian community gets media

The community and its media sector got a big boost with the acclamation of Manila Media Monitor managing editor Ace Alva-rez as new president of the Canadian Ethnic Media Association. Alvarez took over from noted multicul-turalism proponent Ben Viccari. (Story on page 5)

Relatedly, long-running community television show Front Page Philippines has premiered in Alberta. (Sto-ry on page 4)

Outgoing Canadian Ethnic Medeia Association president Ben Viccari (right) to incom-ing president Ace Alvarez (left): “Ace, we don’t have a gavel to hand over as a symbol but here from the heart is a sincere handshake.” MANILA MEDIA MONITOR Photo

EDITORIAL

VOTE WISELY!On October 14, over 50 percent of Canada’s some 33 mil-

lion people are expected to trek to polling booths nation-wide to exercise their right to elect members to the Cana-dian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament.

Of these likely voters, over 250,000 are of Philippine heri-tage, members of a vibrant hardworking community that has grown across Canada to some 430,000.

Notwithstanding their status in Canadian life, their Philip-pine regions of origin, their religion, their sex, their voting ages, bad weather, multiple working schedules, anything and everything that may come their way, they will responsi-bly go to their precincts and cheerfully cast their ballots as one caring community eager to have their voices matter in molding a greater, stronger Canadian nation.

When they march to the polls, they are inspired by a re-sounding cry: VOTE WISELY!

(To page 9)

MANILA - The fate of gigantic New York-based Lehman Broth-ers would have minor effects on the Philip-pines, whose “economy is on solid footing.”

This was the com-ment of U.S. Ambas-sador to Manila Kristie Kenney, who added that the Philippine government should use this footing to its advantage by maintaining an investor-friendly en-vironment.

Lehman Brothers is a global lend-ing company, with the AIG among its associates. AIG has a major op-eration in the Philippines.

Lehman Brothers declared bank-

ruptcy mid-September, and the U.S. govern-ment moved quickly to rescue AIG.

Kenney said this move helped stabilize the situation for AIG and, by extension, the Philippine market.

Philippine giants Banco de Oro and Me-

Kenney: RP economy on solid footing

KENNEY

trobank are among those that de-clared having “exposure” to Lehm-an.

Due to the ripple effect U.S. firms have on US-dependent econo-mies such as the Philippines, U.S. Congress has started “looking to improve regulations on banking” in the U.S., she added. PNA

Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 20082

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3► SEPT. 20: Philippine Press Club-On-tario Casino Rama Fundraiser.► SEPT. 20: Our Lady of Penafrancia Celebration, Centre Island Park► SEPT. 20: Ontario Filipino Women’s Club 27th Anniversary Partry, Royal Ca-nadian Legion Hall, 6 p.m.► SEPT. 20: Polytechnic University of the Philippines Alumni Association of Canada Gala Night, Alex Manoogian Cultural Centre.► SEPT. 20: Abranian Club of Ontario Dinner-Dance, Garnett Community Centre.► SEPT. 20: Kalayaan Filipino Cultural Organization Silver Jubilee Gala Night and Coronation, Capitol Centre, Missis-sauga.► SEPT. 21: DEE Entertainment Group’s Lani Misalucha-Regine Velas-quez Duel of the Divas Concert, Roy Thompson Hall, 7 p.m.► SEPT. 26: Philippine Chamber of Commerce-Toronto Appreciation Night, Ellesmere Community Recreation Cen-tre, 6:30 p.m.► SEPT. 27: Filipino Parents Associa-tion 36th Anniversary, Royal Canadian Legion Hall, 6 p.m.► SEPT. 27: Januaynos Dinner Dance, Garnet Williams, Vaughan.► SEPT. 27: Filipino-Canadian Associ-ation of Niagara 40th Anniversary, Qual-ity Hotel Parkway Convention Centre, St. Catharines.► SEPT. 27: Camarines Norte Associa-tion of Canada-Ontario Offi cers’ Induc-tion, Our Lady of Assumption Church.► OCT. 11: Featinian Association of Toronto Dinner Dance, Rembrandt Ban-quet Hall, 7 p,m.

Visit www.pakulo.com to view the calendar of public events in Ontar-io and the rest of North America.

(To page 18)

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Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 20084 NEWSNEWS

Several members of the community media, on Sept. 6, availed themselves of helpful and relevant in-formation from newspaper technology expert Kevin Slimp of the Institute of Newspaper Technology, University of Tennessee.

Among them are Manila Media Monitor managing editor Ace Alvarez, Philip-pine Courier’s Mon Datol and Mike Caducio, Taliba’s Rolly Cabrera, Filipini-ana’s Paz, and Peryodiko Radikal’s Rodel Garcia.

Alvarez, president of the Canadian Ethnic Media Association and vice presi-dent of the Philippine Press Club-Ontario (PPC-O), fa-

Publishers,designers get

Slimp tips

(To page 18)

The Philippine Consulate General’s Office in Toronto and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce-Toronto (PCCT) jointly hosted a reception in Toronto recently for the visiting 30-person delegation from Cagayan Valley and Isa-bela, Philippines. From left, Antonio Miro, Jr., municipal mayor of San Pablo, Isabela; Rafael Nebres, PCCT president; Hanz Binks, Canadian Executive Services Organization volunteer and business practices counsellor; Chris-topher Mamauag, municipal mayor of Cabagan, Isabela and head of delega-tion; ConGen Alejandro Mosquera; Roberto Agcaoili, municipal mayor of San Mateo, Isabela; and, Esperanza Banares, regional director of the Department of Trade and Industry, Region II. The mission aims to promote the agri-busi-ness industry from the Philippines’ Region II. PCCT photo

ConGen, PCCT fete Cag. Valley, Isabela visitorsFront Page Philippines

– the weekly TV program aimed at the Filipino-Cana-dian community in Ontario debuts in Alberta, Sunday, September 21.

The first airing of the program in Calgary and Ed-monton, Alberta coincides with the sixth anniversary of the program in continu-ously providing bits and pieces of news, cultural events and entertainment to Ontario viewers.

Ace Alvarez, producer of the program, recalled that it was on September 21, 2002 that the Front Page Philippines first aired in Ontario.

In Alberta, the program will be aired through the two recently-acquired tele-vision stations of Rogers OMNI Television in that province, namely, OMNI Calgary (CJCO) which airs on cable channel 4 and over-the-air on channel 38; and, OMNI Edmonton (CJEO), airing on cable channel 11 and over-the-air on channel 56.

Canadian broadcast his-tory unfolds anew when Rogers OMNI Television launched the two landmark ethnic programming tele-vision stations in Alberta

on Monday, September 15, to serve and reflect the in-creasingly diverse popula-tion of that province.

“We’re clearly happy to be a pioneering language television in two previously underserved areas at the same time,” Al Thorgeirson, Regional Vice President of Television for Rogers Me-dia said..

“While we are breaking new ground with Rogers OMNI Alberta we are also providing a long-overdue service by offering commu-nity-focused programming in 20 languages to ethnocul-tural audiences we feel will be highly receptive.”

“Rogers OMNI Alberta is pleased and privileged to bring much-needed

broadcast reflection to the ethnocultural communities of the province -- this is a huge victory on both sides of the camera,” says Mad-eline Ziniak, National Vice President of Rogers OMNI

Television.“Each OMNI station

will have a strong focus on local news with a balance of local, regional and national perspectives as well as the opportunity to share ethno-

cultural issues and stories throughout our evolving national television system – something we’ve never been able to offer before,” Ziniak said.

While Front Page Phil-

Front Page Philippines TV debuts in Alberta

ippines could be viewed across Canada on OMNI 2 Television through the sat-ellite facilities of Bell Ex-pressVu on Channel 216 and StarChoice on Channel 395,

(To page 24)

GIE ALVAREZ

5NEWSNEWSSEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor

Manila Media Monitor managing editor and Front Page Philippines TV pro-ducer Ace Alvarez became president of the 30-year old Canadian Ethnic Me-dia Association (CEMA) by members’ acclamation during the organization’s General Biennial Meeting and Elections on Septem-ber 11, 2008, following an announcement by CEMA chair Madeline Ziniak that no slate, nor nominations for candidates had been submitted by deadline date of September 1, 2008.

The occcasion was a poignant one for everybody who saw long-time presi-dent Ben Viccari retired from the post.

Members at the same time applauded their in-coming president as Viccari handed over the helm of the organization to Alvarez.

Alvarez’s term of office took effect immediately.

CEMA is a national professional association composed of journalists and writers in the print, radio, television and the new me-dia from various communi-

ties across Canada.Acclaimed with Alvarez

were officers Dat Nguyen, 1st vice president; Bill Yan-coff, 2nd vice-president; Doreen Vanini, secretary; and Irene Chu, treasurer.

Serving with them in the board are Madeline Ziniak, executive chair; Ben Vicca-ri, Jules Elder, Zuhair Kash-meri, Hyo Kim, Kati Rekai, Kiumars Rezvanifar, Gina Valle and Elena Zolotko.

Arnim Joop, publisher of The Albertaner, a Ger-man language monthly and an upcoming multicultural English-language monthly and a multiple CEMA award winner, and Nick Noorani, publisher of the English lan-guage Canadian Immigrant and a 2008 award winner, became, respectively, spe-cial representatives for the Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.

After thanking members for attending and voting, Ziniak congratulated Alva-rez and stated her pride in the organization - founded by her father - that has so successfully reached its 30th anniversary.

She called on past presi-dent Viccari to review CE-MA’s activities during the past two years.

In his speech, Viccari cited his work with Alvarez, saying, “In those two years, my work with Ace stepped up to almost daily contacts and I can assure you that Ace’s are high!”

Viccari recalled that it was Alvarez - who prior to his presidency, served as CEMA corporate secre-tary for the last eight years and 1st vice president in a concurrent position for the last two years - who put together and wrote the con-stitution and by-laws of the organization.

Before this, CEMA (then known as the Canadian Eth-nic Journalists’ and Writers’ Club) had an unwritten con-stitution, meaning the by-laws, rules and regulations governing the organization were not embodied in one single document.

Long-time member Al-exander Gerhstein – a news correspondent in Toronto for the international Rus-sian-language television

network RTVI, with studios in Moscow, New York and Tel Aviv, noted that it was when Alvarez got closely involved with CEMA as secretary that processes be-came faster within the orga-nization.

As secretary, Alvarez gathered, maintained and constantly updated the elec-tronic data system of CEMA for use in the speedy distri-bution of all communication and information to members across the country and the organization’s stakeholders.

Alvarez assured mem-bers that he would do his best for some of the next 30 years.

He said he was happy to have such a distinguished and efficient Board of Di-rectors to assist him in man-aging CEMA’s affairs.

He thanked all mem-bers, his fellow officers and board members for their support, at the same time thanking Ziniak and Viccari for their kind words and good wishes for him, as he looked forward to the time

Manila Media Monitor managing editoracclaimed to CEMA presidency

ahead.In 2000, Alvarez gave

the Filipino community honor when he was listed in Canadian Who’s Who for his contribution to Cana-dian journalism.

The publication is the only reference book of its kind, compiled and pub-lished annually by the Uni-versity of Toronto, contain-ing names of distinguished Canadians where listing is by invitation only and based on merit. Manila Media Monitor

Outgoing president Ben Viccari (right) delivers his biennial report. MANILA MEDIA MONITOR Photo

NEWSNEWS Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 20086

GK’s Wilks: Join fight vs poverty“You are the new heroes of your coun-

try because you sacrifice for the sake of providing a better future to your country.”

This, English millionaire Dylan Wilks told hundreds of people who joined the Sept. 6 GK (as in Gawad Kalinga or Giving Care) Walk along major streets of Toronto and who later converged at the Nathan Phil-ips Square for a short program.

Wilks, a prime GK supporter, joined a battery of speakers who stressed on mes-sages of hope for the Philippines and most

of its people who have less in life.Wilks had sold his BMW to bankroll the

construction of a GK village.He called on Filipino-Canadians to join

the battle to fight poverty in the Philippines by actively participating in GK’s rebuilding programs.

Heroic sacrificeReferring to Filipinos as modern day

bayani (hero), Wilks likened the Filipino expats to Philippine national hero Jose Rizal, who made sacrifices while in exile

to pave the way for positive changes in his beloved mother-land.

He said the suc-cess of GK shelter programs in the Phil-ippines was in part courtesy of generous Filipino-Canadians.

Wilks added that across Canada, peo-ple had gladly part-ing with cherished antique collections and luxury cars to make substantial contributions to build GK homes.

Todate, Filipino-Canadians have helped build some 80 GK villages in various re-gions of the Philippines. A village com-prised 30 homes.

Change people? Love them.He narrated the story of three young

girls who chose to give their money to build houses for the poor instead of having lavish debut parties.

Wilks emphasized that the success of GK never depended solely on generous contributions from donors, but more so on the caring relationship and partnership be-tween supporters and beneficiaries.

“We change people by loving them,” he stressed.

He called on GK Walk participants to come and visit GK communities and im-merse themselves in the programs.

Wilks said helping the poor reclaim their dignity and providing them with hope

DYLAN WILKS

for a better future had been a “life chang-ing process” for many GK beneficiaries and volunteers alike.

Amid bad weatherBad weather did not dampen the zeal

and spirit of more than 1,000 GK support-ers from all over the GTA and as far as Wa-terloo and Kitchener area who completed the five-kilometer walk for a worthy cause.

Among the groups that joined the two-hour charity walk were Canada Post, Couples for Christ, Circulo Ilonggo, Bukas Loob sa Diyos.

GK walkers wore light blue shirts with the message “Less for self, more for others, enough for all” emblazoned on the back.

Jointly sponsored by the Philippine Independence Day Council, the GK Walk also promoted Filipino culture, by way of a culminating entertainment fare at Nathan

(To page 16)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper (center, 2nd row) joins leaders of various communities in Toronto after meeting with them on Sept. 16. The leaders included Philippine Independence Day Council president and Filipino com-munity civic leader Jun Enverga (standing, 4th from left). Photo: JASON RANSOM

PM Harper and Toronto community leaders

SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor 7VIEWSVIEWS

(To page 24)

ACE ALVAREZ

As I was about to start writing this item, I got an e-mail for pub-lication of a press release from a volunteer probably of the Progres-sive Conservatives.

At the bottom of the e-mail, it states: “Confidentiality Warn-ing: This message and any attach-ments are intended only for the use of the intended recipient(s), are confidential, and may be privi-leged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, retransmission, conversion to hard copy, copy-ing, circulation or other use of this message and any attachments is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail, and delete this mes-sage and any attachments from your system. Thank you.”

What was the press release about? I’m sorry readers, but I am not at liberty to divulge its con-tents, neither do I have the liberty to “retransmit” it and its attach-ments to Manila Media Monitor editor Butch Galicia, much more, to circulate it with this publica-tion.

Stupid request for press re-

lease!*****

My wife Gie and I thank the board members, officers and members of the Tanza, Cavite Association of Canada, includ-ing our close friends Myrna and Antero Soriano (rightmost, first row in photo below) – president of the Philippine Press Club-

Ontario (PPC-O), for having us over at the celebration of the feast of St. Augustine – Tanza, Cavite’s patron saint on Satur-day, August 23, at Earl Bales Park in North York.

One very prominent son of Tanza, Cavite is Antero Soria-no.

What? …. No … no … no

… not that guy in photo, but his grandfather – Governor of Cavite at the age of 26, sena-tor at 34 and representative of Cavite’s lone district at 39, and whose death thereafter was described by Philippine Com-monwealth President Manuel L. Quezon as a loss to the country of a devoted and loyal public servant.

*****I was busy on the computer

one evening early this month catching up with my work, while my wife Gie was watching the CTV evening newscast, when she commented, ”First it was Gustav; now it’s Ike.”

I replied, “Talagang ang mag-kapatid na ‘yan, oo! What’s next, Antero?”

She said, “What were you talking about? I was referring to the hurricanes.”

“Oh, I thought you were talk-ing about the Sorianos; PPCO President Antero ‘Tenny’ Soriano, and his brothers, Gustav and Ike.”

*****Myrna Soriano tipped us

off that GMA7 is giving a free preview in the GTA of the net-work’s programming through Rogers Cable 646.

Exchanging notes later on GMA7’s newscast and report-ing, as well as that of TFC’s before this - and those of Philip-pine news reporting in general, we noticed that everybody was yelling their news delivery.

Many of the news items were also about alleged anomalies and corruption in the govern-ment.

Hhhmmm …. I remember that when I was in high school, I use to see that school on F.B. Harrison in Pasay City – the School for the Deaf and the Blind. I guess, the Philippines should have more of this kind of school with newsreaders and re-porters yelling, as if their view-ers and listeners would not be able to hear them if they speak normally, and with Filipinos not seeing what continues gravely in the government.

*****Citing CBC Television’s stats,

the daily update of Marketing Magazine for August 27 said that more than 24 million view-ers tuned in to the coverage of

Classic PR stupidity

Members and officers of the Tanza, Cavite Association of Canada, led by its president, Edgar Torres (5th from left with his son), celebrate the feast of their town’s patron, St. Augustine -- whom they fondly call “Tata Uste”, Saturday, August 23, at Earl Bales Park in North York. Among those hailing from the town is Antero Soriano (rightmost, 1st row), president of the Philippine Press Club-Ontario. MANILA MEDIA MONITOR Photo

Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 20088 VIEWSVIEWS

Managing EditorACE ALVAREZ

EditorBUTCH GALICIA

Associate EditorGIE ALVAREZ

Contributing EditorsGrace P. FreiresManny Freires

Ben ViccariMag Cruz Hatol

Pete LacabaMel Tobias

Editorial AssistantsLennart Leigh Alvarez-Mahoney

Dods Andrada

ContributorsEdwin AcunaBien Garcia

Jeannie PilapilEva Agpaoa

Mario DimainNoel PeradaLarry Torres

Chito Sarabia

Account ExecutiveMYRNA SORIANO

GraphicsIDTech Solutions

416-875-2541projects@idtechsolutuionsnetwork.com

Philippine Communication FacilityGRACE MEDIA SERVICES

974 Metrica Street1008 Manila, PhilippinesTel/Fax: (632) 742-1484

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(To page 30)

MWF is Making Waves Festival; not

Music With Fee?

RoundaboutMAG CRUZ-HATOL

From TheMonitor’s Desk

ACE ALVAREZ

What Pinoy teachers (and parents) should heed today

Pity the poor Filpino teacher or parent unable to cope with the changes around them, tim-idly groping around as their young wards nimbly swing from branch to branch of the technol-ogy tree.

Philippine public school teach-ers unanimously decry their gen-eral inability to compete with the speed with which many Filipino children are now accustomed.

They cannot keep in step with the blitzkrieg pace of the way me-dia transmit messages, with the way television encapsulizes the most sophisticated thought or idea in under 30 seconds.

We have met scores of local teachers ready to throw in the towel.

These are the instructors whose yellowing notes, frayed charts and outdated visuals are better thrown into the bonfire of oblivion.

The most common plaint one hears from them is that mod-ern media have made robots and tech wizards out of their pupils and bungling ignoramuses out of themselves.

“We cannot catch up!”Many teachers (and parents)

in the provinces can’t even begin to fiddle with a mobile phone, much less boot a computer or un-derstand what an MP3 is.

Like their decades-old in-structional materials, these teach-ers refuse to face modern reality squarely.

With noses raised, they snob-bishly refer to everything they cannot fathom as “works of the devil” and “not worth their time”.

They cannot accept the fact that technology today has empow-ered children.

It has put kids in the editor’s chair, zapping out messages deemed boring (TV and DVDs), sometimes fashioning entertain-ment that suits their tastes (MP3s and iPods), even creating their own media (digital and video-cams, synthesizers).

It is funny that the very same teachers who scorn trendy kids also flick TV channels mercilessly

when a program they watch be-gins to disintegrate or when they start yawning.

They, however, refuse to ac-cept that they are themselves crea-tures of media.

It is this same group of teach-ers (and parents) who, after learn-ing the most basic maneuvers in VCR technology, are as aggres-sive in slowing down or replaying scenes of choice, fast forwarding portions that slacken.

The very same teachers, who after having discovered the won-ders of computers, become the most passionate users of YouTube and the most rabid subscribers to Friendster and Multiply.

It is as though the world has flipped over; where the child, of-ten by example, sometimes by

tutoring, teaches the adult new things: how to cut and paste, how to send messages to multiple re-cipients, how to burn their favor-ite tunes into discs.

Only then does that same Pi-noy teacher (or parent) understand the magic that went into a 60-sec-ond Coke ad that features 1,600 cuts or almost one cut per frame of film.

But he still catches his breath while the child has easily found nuances in every second of the said ad.

The very same teachers (and parents) should wake up to the fact that it was the computer that was named Time’s Machine of the Year in the early 80s.

The same American news-weekly did not name any military bigshot of the Gulf War as its Man of the Year in 1991 but instead picked the Prince of the Global Village, Ted Turner who brought the war to our living rooms at the very precise moment that it was unfolding.

Young kids we deal with at Anak TV have added one more thing to their wish lists: that their teachers (and parents) realize and accept that modern technology is not a monster.

And that understanding media can be beneficial.

I don’t understand what’s go-ing on with the two camps in-volved in the Making Waves Fes-tival, staged from August 15 to 17, 2008 at the Ontario Place.

According to Filipino-Cana-dian talents and workers who per-formed their side of the agreement at the festival, they have not been paid by the corporation which or-ganized the event, Show Philip-pines-Festivals of the Arts, which - judging from the negotiation with talents - is apparently headed by Teresa Torralba.

The talents and some of those who worked for the festival did not get their fees because Torralba claimed there’s no money.

Some publications likewise, to this writing, have not been paid the advertising placed with them.

I was wondering what ever happened to the money given by Remit X in the amount of $50,000 as major sponsor of the event - which Remit X executive Virgil Ignacio even confirmed with me in passing during our telephone conversation, Tuesday, July 8 - a few days before the installation of officers and board of directors of the Philippine Press Club-Ontario (PPC-O).

Nonetheless, this situation has been similarly happening repeat-edly, as experienced by even the most veteran entertainers and per-formers in the Filipino-Canadian community; and yes, even those entertainers who are (in PPC-O president Tenny Soriano’s jargon) in “recycling mode”.

In July last year, I was invited by Studio Six Productions to speak at their event where they unveiled their plans for a concert tandem of their Class A talents, Josie de Leon and Karen Tan.

At this event, I called on com-munity leaders to please pay their talents when the latter perform at

their ticketed functions - if only to pay for gas, clothing, and in some instances, parking for our Filipino-Canadian talents for their appearances and performances at those events.

In the meantime, just shortly after the staging of the Making Waves Festival, another enter-tainer came to me and the PPC-O president, narrating how he was asked to perform at a recent con-cert in consideration for a fee.

The entertainer appeared and performed.

The fee, however,.never ap-peared and the verbal contract not performed.

Our counsel: when concert producers approach you to per-form, ask for a 50 percent down upon signing of contract (yes, contract) and full payment IN CASH before you step on the stage, otherwise, if the latter part is not handed over to you before your performance, you might as well tell the producer that you’re having a migraine attack (which will only diminish after receiving the balance to the full payment).

Anyway, going back to the Making Waves Festival … for those entertainers who said they have not been paid by Show Phil-

ippines, probably – just probably, the payment of your fees were just delayed.

If you haven’t been able to col-lect yet, you may probably inquire with the public relations and pub-licity people of Show Philippines, when their cameras will be rolling to photograph you receiving your talent fees (they’re quick at this, you know?).

*****Talking about entertainment, I

happen to chance upon Karl Haab of the New Conservatory of Mu-sic (NCM) at his office recently when I dropped off something for his company.

During my conversation with the NCM president, I asked Karl - out of curiosity - how many years usually do his students stay at his music school.

Karl said that his students stay for as long as they could. He said some of his students started when they were three years old and, even when they were in high school, continued to advance their talents in music.

The next question from me was “why” it was so, if those stu-dents after all were not pursuing a career in music.

Karl’s response was that it was

unarguably true that those who have talents and love for music were able to focus and concentrate more, and stressed that many of the students of NCM are now pro-fessionals, among others, lawyers, doctors and accountants.

One NCM brochure declares this, too, stating, “Our students range from ages 3 to 93, and many of our students between the ages of 60 and 80 are still learning very well.”

Karl himself is a perfect model of the statement immediately stat-ed above.

Karl plays the accordion very well, and back in the 70s was a travelling music lesson salesman for one company, later realizing that he could do it as a business for himself, and which he did.

Later, he thought of putting up a school to continue doing what he loves to be engaged in: music!

To make the long story short, Karl still is into music, and built NCM into what it is today - one of the largest contemporary music schools in North America.

Karl said that some of his em-ployees have been with the school for 20 years.

*****As you may have known be-

fore you got to this page - and this column in particular, I was recently acclaimed into the presi-dency of the Canadian Ethnic Me-dia Association (CEMA) - an all inclusive national organization of professionals working in print, ra-dio, television and the new media (the internet).

My predecessor in the post is my neighbor to my left, Ben Vicc-ari – who, last July 2nd celebrated his 90th birth anniversary.

I anticipate that in succeed-ing Ben as the president of such prestigious and big organization

PM’s authoritarian stance challenged

SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor 9VIEWSVIEWS

ADVERTISE withManila Media Monitor

Call 416-285-8583

CommentaryBEN VICCARI

Our JourneyEVA AGPAOA

Drizzles of life

(To page 35)

(To page 24)

When it rains it pours. Or so the saying goes. For me, that’s been the case this past month.

Where to start? My car finally gave up the ghost (as I knew it would) and had to be towed. Its been rumbling and grumbling at me for weeks now but I chose to ignore the obvious signs.

My trusty green VW, which I love and which I’m loath to part with, sits at my mechanic’s garage awaiting my pronouncement.

I dither. I don’t want to make this choice. But alas, even I have to face the facts.

What else? Oh yeah, my com-puter blew up. I never really liked it that much. And I have to admit that I’ve wanted its death many times (every time it did something wrong).

But, now that it’s gone, I re-ally really miss it. It’s amazing how crippled I feel without it. The doctors are looking at it now and so I wait their prognosis.

What else? Oh yeah, my base-ment is leaking. I really don’t want to relive the details.

My poor house is in so much agony that I want to cry. There has been major construction going on trying to mend my leaking house.

Every day brings a new drizzle that just adds to my discomfort.

This is the rainy season for me. I’m soaked to the bones with troubles and it feels like they will never be dry again.

I think that if I’m not careful this downpour can drag me down and eventually drown me.

But there’s a point here and it is this: I have to admit that it rains troubles in my life everyday.

Rainy season, dry season, ev-ery season. That’s a fundamental part of being alive.

One can find problems ev-erywhere without to much effort. And the problems can seem insur-mountable.

Sometimes they are. But in most cases the problems are solv-able. And often they present op-portunities that open new doors.

But it’s easy to be over-whelmed and allow each problem to take over the day.

Suddenly, all plans are out the window because a fresh problem has just arrived like an unplanned guest from hell.

It sits there demanding atten-tion, refusing to leave.

And then another arrives. Then another and another …..

Soon an entire house is packed with unwanted guests.

Then we go a little crazy be-

cause at one point, we actually wonder: Do I have enough food to feed them? Enough drinks? I mean, we have been raised to take proper care of your guests after all.

By the end of the day, we think: What has just happened here? I’ve been so busy entertain-ing my problems I’ve done and resolved nothing. Will tomorrow be any different?

We don’t spend enough time rejoicing in the positive. Why is that?

Why do we always choose to focus on the bad things?

Is it because the positive things are not worthy?

It always baffles me. I told about my car, computer and house.

These are bad things which happened to me last month.

I’m sure next month I can come up with a list just as bad or even worse.

According to a recent Cana-dian Press dispatch, Peter Rus-sell, political scientist and profes-sor emeritus of the University of Toronto, Prime Minister Harper’s lawsuit against the Liberal Party of Canada is “characteristic of au-

thoritarian governments.”The Liberals have filed an af-

fidavit of defence against the $3.5 million suite Harper launched last year, claiming that the Liberals had accused Harper of attempted bribery of former Tory MP the late

Chuck Cadman. The Liberals claim the lawsuit

is unconstitutiomal.The first hearing of the case

begins September 22 in Ottawa.***

Friend Bill Andersen and his wife took in the Canadian Nation-al Exhibition with visiting brother and family.

Bill told me of his amazement at the splendor of this tribute to Canadians.

The Quilt of Belonging proj-ect was begun in the fall of 1998 by artist Esther Bryan.

In 1995, she had gone on a life-changing journey to Slovakia with her parents to find the family and home her father had left be-

Photo of the Quilt of belonging at the inaugural exhibition at the Canadian Museum of Civi-lization, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. Photo: NICK WOLOCHATIUK

EDITORIAL

VOTE WISELY!(From page 1)

In voting wisely, Filipino-Canadians will place the valid and legal interests and welfare of the community up front.

They will vote only for candidates, regardless of political affinity, who openly and sincerely subscribe to these interests and work on these without fear or favor.

***** Most adult members of the Filipino-Canadian

community can only recount the repeated rape of the electoral processes back in the Philip-pines. They have learned their lessons well.

In voting wisely, Filipino-Canadians will give their nods only to politicians who love peace and dislike violence, in any form.

They will never approve of politicians who grandstand, blabbermouth and saber-rattle and those who waste taxpayers’ hard-earned cash by shrugging off or paying lip service to com-munity issues and concerns.

They will veer away from candidates who make promises that are trashed or are gone with the wind as soon as the polls are over.

*****Yearly, some 20,000 to 25,000 highly-educat-

ed Filipinos are being admitted into Canada, yet they end up in sweatshops as minimum-wage earners despite the wealth of education and ex-perience they possess.

In voting wisely, Filipino-Canadians will elect only those who are brave enough to dismiss political peer pressure to fight and push for laws that will provide fair and better treatment of immigrants -- in terms of getting jobs suited to their academic proficiencies and work expe-riences before they came to Canada.

***** Moreover, thousands of Filipinos, most of

them females, are yearly lured to Canada, prom-ised good jobs and the chance to someday be a Canadian citizen.

In voting wisely, Filipino-Canadians will cast their ballots only for those unafraid to amend very old and discriminating laws that sub-ject workers to abuse, maltreatment and even death.

Filipino-Canadian electors will seek only those who will pursue the physical and finan-cial well-being and security of these workers.

The days are over for politicians flagrantly flaunting and making a mockery of Canadian benevolence to impress the global wilderness.

*****In voting wisely, Filipino-Canadians will put

into office only those who believe in equality and fraternity, and those who can honestly say that productive communities are not just eth-nological props that make up the internation-ally-renowned Canadian montage.

Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 200810 VIEWSVIEWS

The unwelcomed friend

The 3rd EyeMARIO DIMAIN

The Un-ComfortZone

with ROBERT WILSON

What drivesyour desire?

(To page 23)

Opportune time?

OmertaBUTCH GALICIA

Inside the Light Armoured Ve-hicle (LAV3), a young Canadian soldier was catering to the curi-osity of the two boys who were bombarding him with rapid-fire queries.

His answers were direct and well calculated but never failed to amuse the two youngsters who probably thought that war is just as fun as video games.

The scenario was captured in my camcorder as I videotaped the simulated military base put on display by the Canadian Armed Forces at the Canadian National Exhibition.

The forest-green camouflage made the Canadian flag emblem standout on his uniform.

With the matching beret, he looked very sharp.

“I have been in the service for two years and I am going to

Afghanistan next month,” he said without hesitation.

His voice echoed the discipline and valour of a trained soldier.

His thorough knowledge of operating the armoured vehicle and its firepower was quite re-markable.

But inside the uniform stood an inexperienced young man whose military training would soon be tested for the first time in a real volatile battlefield.

He is only twenty three years old. Young enough to be my son.

His youthful smile assured me that he is confident and ready for combat.

His family must be hurting to see him go, but I know that they are proud of him.

With a firm handshake, I looked straight into his eyes and

A Canadian soldier and two curious boys. MARIO DIMAIN

It was love at first sight. I was a 15-year old working as a park-ing lot cashier, when a brand new car pulled up to the booth.

I’d never seen anything like it; it was a new model from Toyota called Celica.

Approaching the legal driving age, I dreamed of owning a car.

Now my dream had a form. For the next two years, I saved

all my money and during that time a Celica couldn’t come within my peripheral vision without my no-ticing it.

It was the only car I wanted.I went to the showroom doz-

ens of times to sit in it, feel it, smell it.

I talked with every owner of one who passed through my park-ing lot.

I was driven. Unfortunately, a new one was

too expensive, so I looked in the newspaper every day for a used one, but I was always more than $1,000 short.

At 17 and half years old, bor-rowing my parents’ car was pain-ful.

The desire and the peer pres-sure to own a car – any car – was nearly overwhelming, and my dream was wavering.

My friends began suggesting cars that I could afford.

Then my Dad introduced me to a car wholesaler.

When I met with him, I re-luctantly gave him a list of cars I thought I could afford.

As we talked about them, he seemed to sense my lack of enthu-siasm.

He pressed me, “Are there any others you’re interested in?” “Well... there’s the Toyota Celi-ca,” I replied, “but I know I can’t afford it.”

He jotted it down and said, “You let me worry about that.”

My eyes lit up as he asked me about colors and options.

Then he drew a big circle around the word Celica.

Less than a week later, he phoned me.

He found one I could afford. It had a small dent in the fender

which I could fix for under $100. Cha-ching Desire satisfied.

When was the last time you were obsessed with something?

Desire is a powerful motiva-tor, but unlike Fear it cannot be easily triggered.

Oh, sure, I can create a tele-vision ad depicting a thick juicy steak sizzling on a grill and make your mouth water.

Maybe I can even get you off the couch and into your car to go get one.

As a marketer, an employer, or even as a parent, I can plant the seeds of desire, but in order for it to blossom, it must develop from within.

Once it takes root, Desire has the amazing ability to drive itself.

When it becomes very power-ful, we call it Ambition.

So few people reach this level that we use the word Hunger to describe it because that is a Desire that everyone can understand.

When you observe the world’s most successful people - - in busi-ness, sports, or politics - - you see that Desire takes precedence over every other aspect of their lives,

As Frank Sinatra sings in I’ve Got You Under My Skin: “I’d sacri-fice anything come what might.”

Most us have many things we are unwilling to sacrifice.

Family and friends are two of the most common.

Winners give their Desire complete attention, focus and en-ergy.

Michael Jordan is an excel-lent example; he became one of the greatest basketball players by making 2000 practice shots every-day.

Are you that dedicated to your dream?

On the other hand, perhaps you gain more satisfaction from your hobbies than your work.

In that case, you probably wish you could spend more time pursu-ing them instead of your job.

That is because pleasure is the force that fans the flames of De-sire.

Marsha Sinetar in her book Do What You Love the Money Will Follow writes: “When you study people who are successful...it is abundantly clear that their achievements are directly related to the enjoyment they derive from their work.”

Are you ready to give up ev-erything for your Desire?

(Robert Evans Wilson, Jr. is a motivational speaker and humor-ist. He works with companies that want to be more competi-tive and with people who want to think like innovators.

For more information on Robert’s programs please visit www.jumpstartyourmeeting.com.)

I recently got an e-mail from a friend in Manila, asking me if this was an opportune time for her son and his wife to come to Canada as immigrants under Manitoba’s pro-vincial nominee program.

They were wary of the seem-ing recession in the US and asked how it has been impacting on Canada, and how it might impact on them as newcomers.

I wrote back: “Is it an oppor-tune time to come here? Anytime is an opportune time. The earlier they could come here, the earlier they would be citizens. The bridge can only be crossed when it is reached.”

“Just tell them not to expect too much out of Canada, but ask them to expect the most of them-selves so they could make the best out of their life here.

“Please do tell them not to be-lieve too much on what they see on various literary propaganda about getting jobs in Canada they used to do in the Philippines.

“Every immigrant here has been chronically brainwashed to work himself from bottom to top, whatever bottom and top means.

“Even with a recession in the US, which incidentally is Cana-

da’s largest trading partner, I think Canada can stand alone. (I sent my friend the news item on Fla-herty and Canada’s economy on page 32.)

“Canada has been through a recession before. But the govern-ment says it is more prepared to deal with one because of its very high reserves.

“It has a Winter Olympics to host in Vancouver in 2010 and the oil sands in Alberta, somewhat close to Manitoba, are starting to operate.

“Please also do tell the chil-dren to keep on reading news and other information about Canada and its socio-economic standing through the Internet.

“We have elections here on October 14. Prime Minister Ste-phen Harper called for it, as he asked the Crown to dissolve Par-liament.

“This may mean a lot when it comes to handling the economic affairs of Canada and prevent the country from being heavily affect-ed by a seeming US recession.”

*****The fear (some call it excite-

ment) of many people trying to land in North America believing

it’s a land of milk and honey (not a few call it a land of snow and tax-es) are not at all that unfounded.

Modern technology and cy-berspace have made people aware of heaps and piles of tales of woe newcomers to Canada get to know in time and have learned to live with, albeit tears they almost always keep to themselves. Tiis lang, kabayan. Ngiti ka naman diyan.

But the fear of squarely fac-ing and enduring the Philippine social, economic and political rut seems stronger than the worries of finding good jobs and living in a strange land.

Recent Philippine data show that more than 75 percent of Fili-pinos, if they had the resources,

would want to get out of the Phil-ippines and go elsewhere, ideally to work and stay for good.

Nagbabaka-sakali, some 2,000 persons line up the Philip-pine foreign affairs department’s passport processing center daily to get passports, even if they have no immediate use for it, except as identification.

*****Philippine President Gloria

Macapagal-Arroyo, who is on a working visit in New York until near-end September, is expected to harp again on the economic gains of the country, whatever figures could mean for political edge.

It is also expected that Mrs. Arroyo will never admit - before the United Nations General As-

sembly and before a global audi-ence - the stark reality that more than 70 percent of the Philippines’ close to 89 million people are poorly fed, poorly clothed, poorly sheltered and poorly served by her unpopular government.

She will never admit that she has waged an all-out war - which her master spinners branded as all-out peace - against elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, (MILF), shortly after negating a document signed by a peace ne-gotiating panel she so set up, that could have moved the peace talks between her government and the MILF forward.

She will never admit to so many things her government has miserably failed to do or has so brazenly dismissed as political nuances, even if she had vowed to do so when she took her oath of office.

Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo must be keeping many things to herself and her legions, who must be wait-ing for the opportune time too.

Why not? The year 2010, the year when she is supposed to end her term of office, is just around the corner. butchgalicia@yahoo.com

11FEATUREFEATURE

Crisis stretching OFWs’ ability to send moneySEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor

MANILA - A US-generated financial crisis is testing overseas Filipino workers’ (OFW) ability to send cash home, an economist said using government data on re-mittances. (Related item on page 12)

“If OFWs persist in sending more money, it will not be physi-cally sustainable for them,” Al-vin Ang told the OFW Journalism Consortium before monetary authori-ties reported on Aug. 15 that OFWs sent home a record US$1.5 billion in June.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipi-nas (BSP) linked the 30-percent year-on-year remittance growth rate to an increase in the number of Filipinos who left for work abroad from January to June.

The BSP cited state data that recorded that more than 600,000 Filipino workers left the country using official channels during the first six months of the year.

The figure was just above the total number of overseas contract workers deployed in 1991, or 615,019.

While acknowledging the in-creasing rate of remittances from

these Filipinos, Ang warned that remittance flows, especially from the United States and the King-dom of Saudi Arabia, were enter-ing a “plateau.”

Using year-on-year total for-mally-sent cash remittances on a six-month period ending May, Ang said if the growth rate of remittances was below and up to

three percent, “that for me is a pla-teau.”

He cited, as example, cash from land-based OFWs in the US that grew by less than a percent (0.66) to US$2.462 billion in the first six months ending May as against the same six-month period in 2007 of US$2.446 billion.

Likewise, Ang noted money credited as coming from land-based OFWs in Saudi Arabia in the five-month period ending May hit US$528.013 million.

The amount represented a 1.12 percent growth rate from the US$522.156 million sent from Saudi Arabia in the first five

WORKING TO SEND MORE, BUT FOR HOW LONG? Filipina babysitters like this one in France’s bustling capital of Paris continue to work harder to send more money back home. But given a US-generated financial crisis whose economic effects are felt both in the Philippines and in the countries where Filipinos work, an economist worries that the desire by OFWs to send more money ‘will not be physically sus-tainable to them. Photo by JEREMAIAH M. OPINIANO

By JEREMAIAH M. OPINIANOwww.ofwjournalism.net

Filipinos in Canada sent US$0.46 bil-lion from January to May 2008, for a year-on-year 70.65% growth rate.

months of last year.While remittances from land-

based Filipino workers in major host countries still rose, Ang said growth rates year-on-year were “not significant increases.”

BorderlineEven the Philippines’ total

monthly remittances were either touching plateau levels or were

e x p e r i e n c i n g negative growth rates, according to Ang.

The coun-try received US$1.396 billion

in December 2007 but the follow-ing month’s remittance declined by 9.52 percent to US$1.264 bil-lion and to US$1.258 billion in February this year.

Ang said the declining rates might be due to several factors, including US inflation and higher oil and commodities prices.

He, however, said the effects on remittances from these eco-nomic aberrations were not im-mediate.

“Give it one to one-and-a-half years before we really feel the full effect,” he said.

He noted that cash from OFWs (To page 14)

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Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 2008 12

GENERAL DENTISTRYDr. Gilbert ChanDr. Daphne ChienDr. Janet HoDr. Janet WongDr. Michael Chin

FEATUREFEATURE

OTOP brings RP’s best town products to world marts

(To page 13)

DAVAO CITY - Name any Philippine town, chanc-es are there’s a unique and exciting product behind it.

From the bottled spicy sardines of Dipolog, the sparkling lanterns of San Fernando, Pampanga, to the aromatic roasted cof-fee of Tabuk, Kalinga to the crunchy banana chips of Davao, OTOP or “One Town, One Product” has been putting Philippines provinces and regions on the world trading map.

Japanese beginnings Japan’s original idea of

“One Village, One Product” or OVOP founded by entre-preneur Morihiko Hiramat-su some 20 years ago, has gone a long way in touching the lives of small entrepre-neurs in the backyards and little factories of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Paki-stan, India, Bangladesh, China and Indonesia.

This small business concept has been so suc-cessful in all these countries that adopted Hiramatsu’s OVOP that the Philippines lost no time in jumping into the bandwagon a few years ago.

For the Philippines,

its own adaptation called OTOP fitted perfectly into the ten-point agenda of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to create six mil-lion jobs for jobless Pinoys before her term ended in 2010.

Only the bestMost Filipinos, howev-

er, are still wondering what OTOP is all about.

“Simply put, townfolk try to find out what they do best in their town and then make the best out of it. They identify a product they’re very good at, devel-op it, package it very well and market it,” says Trade Undersecretary Merly Cruz who has been going around the country’s regions spreading and promot-ing the OTOP concept and making sure the idea keeps catching fire in every town and city of the Philippines.

Business vs povertyOTOP is one govern-

ment program that promotes Filipino entrepreneurship.

Through OTOP, may-ors and governors of towns and regions try to pinpoint a unique product or services specialized by their local

By AURELIO A. PEÑA

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SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor 13

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folks and help propagate it with funding, pro-motions and marketing to domestic and foreign markets.

In one town for instance, a town mayor will identify, develop and promote just one specific product that has the best chances of succeeding in the market.

“One can clearly see,” says Cruz, “that OTOP can help reduce poverty since it helps the small vendors, small manufacturers, small pro-ducers in the countryside, capitalizing on their unique skills and talents in turning out products that are needed both by local and global mar-kets.”

SME roleFalling neatly into place are the small and

medium enterprises (SMEs) which the govern-ment sees as the backbone of the Philippine economy.

Comprising about 99.6 percent of all the country’s registered firms, SMEs employ about 70 percent of the labor force and contributes 32 percent of overall revenues to the economy.

Cruz says there are almost a million SMEs in the Philippines and two out of every three workers in the country are employed by SMEs.

Worth the pushAn emerging new product identified and de-

veloped through the OTOP easily finds its place in the sun.

With the help of the SME Development Group under the Department of Trade and In-dustry (DTI), a new OTOP entrepreneur can grow into a successful SME after going thru a series of training workshops, seminars, confer-ences and market exposure in trade fairs.

“It’s grinding work for all of us but we’ve never rested in pushing the OTOP program be-cause we believe in it and the results over the years show it’s all worth it,” Cruz said.

Growth = jobs, moneyThere are about 2,375 OTOP products in

the country churned out by 22,445 SMEs which have generated 246,420 jobs with investments worth P6.8 billion todate, since it started some-time in 2004.

These small entrepreneurs racked up total export sales of US$314 million and total do-mestic sales of P7.4 billion from 2,513 OTOP market outlets nationwide and 406 Pasalubong (homecoming gift) Centers in airports, bus ter-minals, seaports, train stations, etc.

From wok to workOne of the best examples of OTOP’s suc-

cess is Davao entrepreneur Ruben See who started a small snack food manufacturing way back in 1996, turning cardaba bananas into ba-nana chips using only a big crude cooking pot called a kawa (wok).

With OTOP’s help, Ruben got all the help he needed to produce a world-class snack food - lots of technical support, sources of funding, branding and package design, business skills and access to foreign markets.

From a handful of workers when he started, Ruben’s factories in Davao and Manila today employs around 300 workers, producing 50 to 60 metric tons of Gold Chips brand banana chips for the world’s markets.

Backyard no moreAnother good example is Bicol entrepre-

neur Lydia Lomibao who started her Emmanuel Pastries as a hobby in 1993, then expanding it to a backyard pili nut factory in 1997.

Lydia and her husband were the only work-ers when she started with only a small capital of P500 pesos.

With OTOP’s help, her business grew brisk-ly over the years, employing around 25 work-ers and total assets topping around P10 million pesos.

Lydia’s popular pili nuts are shipped regu-larly to growing markets in Manila, Cebu and Japan.

Market promoOne of the biggest boosts Ruben and Lydia

got from OTOP was market promotions thru the OTOP Island Fairs conducted in major cit-

ies and linked their products directly to domestic and foreign buyers.

Most SME entrepreneurs look for-ward to the yearly national trade fair called Best of the Islands which show-cases the best products of SMEs na-tionwide.

In the OTOP Mindanao Island Fair in Cagayan de Oro City on Aug. 22 to 25, all the best OTOP products from this bustling southern island shared the limelight as thousands of buyers, sell-ers, traders, retailers, exporters, etc. from all over the country and the world converged and jampacked the sprawl-ing trade fair site.

Direct visits by wholesale buy-ers who inspected every product from booth to booth and business matching sessions for buyers and sellers usually

ended up in closing sales deals on the spot. Higher sales

“We expect this island trade fair in Ca-gayan de Oro to rake in more sales than in 2006 and 2007,” said Cruz who is oversee-ing DTI regional operations.

Total sales racked up by OTOP Mind-anao Island Trade Fair in 2006 was P39.6 million.

The following year, sales surged to P46.8 million, giving trade officials “a good reason to hope that sales this year will be higher.”

Think globalJapanese founder Hiramatsu has been

deeply impressed with the way OTOP Phil-ippines has succeeded over the years with solid results - fast-growing number of new entrepreneurs generating thousands of jobs and big domestic and export sales.

To really succeed, Hiramatsu has called on Filipino entrepreneurs “to think global” when designing and developing products.

He shared his delight at seeing many Fil-ipino SMEs that ventured into new OTOP products and turned these into world-class products sought by many foreign buyers.

Gospel for the bestPerhaps this was what Hiramatsu had

in mind when he started tinkering with his wild idea of challenging villages in his hometown of Oita to focus only in making what they do best and package it very well for world markets.

With the world embracing his little gos-pel of one village, one product, little did he realize at that time in 1924 about the tremendous impact his idea has - for to us today, it has become a powerful weapon to fight poverty. PNA Features

OTOP brings RP’s ...(From page 12)

NIAGARA FALLS - For four days, from Aug. 6 to 9, it was “yes-terday once more” for close to 100 alumni of Union High School of Manila (UHSM) from the Philip-pines, the U.S. and other parts of the globe, as they gathered for a Grand Reunion at the Crowne Plaza Hotel here.

The reunion, organized by Ontario-based UHSM alumni, was the first ever in the Philippine high school’s 61-year history to be conducted in Canada.

For more than three decades, UHSM grand reunions were done in Manila and in U.S. cities.

Reunion participants, aside from rekindling relationships with former classmates, were treated to various opportunities to expe-rience, first-hand, the Canadian way of life through tours around Niagara and neighboring commu-nities, barbeque picnics and other outdoor activities.

Nightly programs and activi-ties allowed reunion participants to let their hair down and be high school students again, partying and dancing the night away like the memorable prom nights of days gone by.

A highlight of the reunion had alumni participants dressed in rep-licas of their old high school uni-forms or the clothes of their era.

Reviving experiences of the past gave the participants a new sense of belonging and camara-derie.

The affair was coordinated by

Olivia Galang-Daantos of Class ’67, and assisted by Elsa Igna-cio-Gamelo (Class ’71), James Chanco (Class ’70) and Joel Caes (Class ’67).

The Presbyterian Church in the Philippines first established Union High School of Manila in 1919.

In 1947, both the Methodist and Presbyterian churches jointly

UHSM alumni gather in Niagara

establish the Philippine Christian College (PCC), and integrated Union High School, its high school department.

Today, PCC has become a top university and is known as the Philippine Christian University.

It has its main campus in Ma-late, Manila. A second campus is located in Dasmarinas, Cavite. JAY JAINGA

in countries other than the US and Saudi Arabia have been contributing more to the growth rates and help-ing arrest the decline in cash flow.

Land-based OFWs in Singapore, for example, sent home US$0.175 bil-lion during the first five months, or an 81.98-per-cent growth year-on-year from US$95.985 million in the same period last year.

Filipinos in Canada sent US$0.46 billion during the first six months, achieving a year-on-year 70.65-per-cent growth rate.

Per BSP data, Fili-pinos in Canada sent US$62.386 million in 2001, US$52.49 million in 2002, US$27.072 million in 2003, US$67.338 million in 2004, US$117.061 million in 2005, US$590.627 million in 2006, and US$595.079 million in 2007.

For the first half of 2008, Filipinos in Canada sent US$90.875 million in Jan-uary, US$85.545 million in February, US$67.523 mil-lion in March, US$100.491 million in April, and

Crisis stretching ...(From page 11)

US$124.105 in May.Filipinos in Europe,

such as Italy (22.11 per-cent growth rate), Germany (27.22 percent), and the United Kingdom (19.01), also saw their year-on-year five month remittance vol-umes grow.

ReturnsAng said his prognosis

on the Philippines’ plateau-level remittance growth rates recalled a basic eco-nomic concept: the law of diminishing returns.

There would come a time that remittances from OFWs, whether it’s the overall total or the per-con-tinent or per-country totals, “will go down somewhere,” he said.

Given the weakening dollar, World Bank econo-mists Dilip Ratha and San-ket Mohapatra said rising inflation rate and oil and commodities prices “fur-ther (eroded) the purchas-ing power of remittances” received by Mexico, India, and the Philippines.

In particular, Ratha and Mohapatra noted that while Philippine remittances in-

creased by nearly 50 per-cent between 2004 and 2007, “[a] large part of this increase has been simply to preserve the purchasing power of recipients since the Philippine peso appreci-ated by 33 percent against the US dollar.”

OFW remittance to the Philippines hit roughly US$14.5 billion last year. It was at US$8.5 billion in 2004.

After accounting for the peso’s appreciation and domestic inflation, Philip-pine remittances increased by only three percent [in the three years beginning 2004],” Ratha and Mohap-tra wrote in Remittances Dispatch.

India’s and Mexico’s remittance growth rates af-ter accounting for inflation were 13 and 19 percent, re-spectively.

While the effects of the world price adjustments are yet to sink in, Ang said he expected that Filipinos in many countries would be sending lower amounts of money home. OFW Jour-nalism Consortium

Romy Sager (right), a newswriter-reporter with the then Voice of the Philippines (VOP) under the Philippines’ Na-tional Media Production Center (NMPC) catches up with media colleagues in Toronto (from left) Front Page Philip-pines TV host Gie Alvarez (NMPC-VOP), Manila Media Moni-tor Account Executive Myrna Soriano (NMPC-Graphics) and Philippine Press Club-Ontario president and Balita colum-nist Tenny Soriano (NMPC-Public Relations). Not in photo is veteran print and broadcast journalist Jojo Taduran (NMPC-VOP). Sager is based in Chicago and writes a column for The Philippine Weekly. MANILA MEDIA MONITOR Photo

Sager visits Toronto

The Featinean Association of Toronto (FAT) has slated its Gala Night at the Rembrandt Banquet Hall on Oct. 11. The FAT (members in photo above) was formed in July 1989 as a non-profit socio-professional organization aimed at reaching out to individuals who have studied at or worked with Feati University. FAT, led by president Oliver Rey, has a scholarship program and an Academic Excellence Award partnership with FUAA. It has sent aid to worthy initiatives in Toronto and in the Philippines.

Featinians Gala Night

Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 200814 PEOPLE & EVENTSPEOPLE & EVENTS

SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor 15PEOPLE & EVENTSPEOPLE & EVENTS

It’s back to school. Across Canada, students of all ages will be marching to various institu-tions of learning to get that much-avowed education.

Statistics Canada has pre-pared a package of information that would help this paper’s read-ers know and understand the vital numbers that make up Canadian education.

Back to the booksIn the last census, some 5.2

million students attended public elementary and secondary schools in Canada during the school year 2005-2006.

The number was down nearly one percent from the previous school year and down three per-cent from 1999/2000.

Of the latest enrollment num-ber, 2,118,544 were in public ele-mentary and secondary schools in Ontario and 1,216,293 in Quebec.

At least 551,740 were enrolled in Alberta, 589,388 in British Co-lumbia and 5,459 in Yukon.

(Data source: The Daily, July 28, 2008.)

Teaching professionThere are about 692,000 teach-

ers and professors in Canada as of June 2008.

Of the number, 33 percent are men and 67 percent, women.

Some 560,000 or 81 percent are teaching full-time.

These teachers and professors earn an average hourly salary of $30.03.

(Data source: CANSIM, table 282-0069, Labour Force Survey.)

School busThere were some 35,000

school buses in Canada in 2006. (Related item on top of page)

These buses were also used to transport employees.

(Data source: CANSIM, table 408-0010, Canadian Passenger Bus and Urban Transit Indus-tries.)

Early learningGirls and boys differed in

ways in their readiness to learn as they entered school at the age of five, with girls outperforming their male counterparts in several areas.

The child’s sex was only one dimension on which children’s readiness to learn varied.

Two other key dimensions were the level of income of the child’s family and the home envi-ronment.

In general, girls were more ready than boys to learn at age five.

Girls scored higher than boys in communication skill, attention and self-control of behavior, and were rated higher in independence in dressing.

Boys were rated above girls on only one measure: curiosity.

(Data source: The Daily, Nov. 27, 2006.)

Cost of educationThe average cost of educating

a student during the school year 2005-2006 was $9.704.

This was up nearly 32 percent from 1999-2000, when the cost was $7,357.

In comparison, inflation went up 15.2 percent during the same time frame.

Among the provinces, the an-nual cost per student in 2005-2006 ranged from more than $10,000 in Manitoba and Alberta to $7,650 in Prince Edward Island.

In the territories, spending per student was about $18,500 in the Yukon and more than $13,500 in the Northwest Territories and

Nunavut.(Data source: Summary of

Public School Indicators for the Provinces and Territories, 1999/2000 to 2005/2006.)

Global learningCanadian 15-year-old students

are among the best in the world when it comes to science, reading and mathematics.

In science, only students from Hong Kong and Finland outper-formed Canadian 15-year-olds among 57 participating countries.

In both reading and math-ematics, only Korea, Finland and Hong Kong performed better than Canada.

In mathematics, Chinese Tai-pei performed better than Canada.

(Data source: The Daily, Dec. 5, 2007.)

University enrolmentEnrolment in Canadian univer-

sities hit a record high for the fifth consecutive year during academic year 2005-2006, in the wake of on-going growth in the number of foreign students and young Cana-dian adults.

The total number of students enrolled in Canadian universities in 2005/2006 reached 1.01 mil-lion, up three percent from 2004-2005.

The gain, however, was the second slowest growth rate this decade.

The number of full-time stu-dents enrolled in Canadian uni-

Canadian education statistics

University of Toronto students help graders with their school work in a novel program, The Homework Club, initiated by the Filipino Centre Toronto. The program has been regularly going on for years now. FCT File Photo

(To page 16)

The Filipino Center of Toronto (FCT) led the cel-ebrations of the 32nd Cab-bagetown Festival on Sept. 6 and 7.

People celebrated the festival in the neighborhood covering Ontario St. in the west, Don Valley in the east, Wellesley in the north, and down to Gerrard in the south.

Despite the light rains, many watched the parade go by from the sidelines.

FCT led the parade of 14 Filipino-Canadian groups and of convertibles that car-ried FCT board chair Dr. Victoria Santiago, FCT president Rosalinda Cer-rudo-Javier, directors Dr. Mario Andres, Irene Turner, Julie Corpuz, Luchi Sivil-lia, Mercy Maliglig and Nita Rejdik.

Liberal MP Bob Rae and representatives of MPP George Smitherman were also in attendance.

Among the Filipino or-ganizations that participat-ed in the parade were The Pillars Association with president Frank Maralag, Canadian Ladies Auxiliary for Rizal with president Baby Pulumbarit, Daugh-ters of Isabela with Regent Rose Letrondo, The Aspira-

tions of Rizal with president Azun Ramos, Fil-Par Asso-ciation with president Alex Parucha, Canadian/Asian Dance Troupe with presi-dent Lina Brown, Knights of Columbus with Grand

Knight Jun Lopez, Ameri-can Legion with president Effied Dorotheo, American Legion Auxiliaries with Anita Dorotheo, Knights of Rizal Toronto Chapter with Commander Doug Ord, The

FCT a hit in 32nd Cabbagetown FestivalBy REY TOLENTINO

Philippine Canadian Seniors Association with president Bernie Carreon, The FCT Koolbhutz with Odie Arena and the Ontario Filipino Women’s Club with Elsie Maranan.

The Falun Dafa group, which has participated in FCT’s Pistahan the past two summers, also joined in.

Parliament St. was closed off and tents were erected in front of the FCT building where perform-ers entertained a growing crowd that moved through the festivities.

The fashion show The Evolution of the Filipino Dress choreographed by Wendy Arena and Mercy Maliglig drew applause from the audience.

Among the dance groups that entertained the crowd were The Canasian Danc-ers of Toronto, the Lian Hua Dance Group, FCT’s Koolbhutz/Kayumanggi Dance Group, Folklorico Filipino, The Cash Town/Hip Hop group and the Ha-waiian Dance Group led by Linda Etzkorn.

Musical bands that per-formed over the two-day presentations for FCT in-cluded Araconcept, The A.R. Band, The Folklorico Rondalla, Explicit Faith, Drop Dead, and the Inter-

state 5 Band.The great Filipino tal-

ent for singing was again enjoyed through the per-formances of Lolita de la Rosa, Josie de Leon and Nick Alo.

It started to drizzle when Zeny “Lady Elvis” Zagala took the mike to sing. But

as soon as Zagala started her first song, the rains stopped and the sun came out.

Nine-year old Edessa Andrada, the FCT’s 2008 Filipino singing idol cham-pion was also well-applaud-ed. The audience loved her performance that money

(To page 16)

16 PEOPLE & EVENTSPEOPLE & EVENTS Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 2008

versities in 2005-2006 was 781,300, a record.

Of the number, 7.7 per-cent were foreign students, nearly double of that a de-cade earlier.

Half were from Asia, and those from China ac-counted for 46 percent of the Asian students.

Canadian universities also continued to register significant numbers of stu-dents from India, South Ko-rea, Japan and Hong Kong, all of which increased in 2005-2006.

(Data source: The Daily, Feb. 7, 2008 and CANSIM, table 477-0013, Postsec-ondary Student Information System.)

Undergrad tuition fees$4,524 — The average

amount paid in tuition fees by Canadian full-time un-dergraduate students in the 2006-2007 was $4,524.

This was up from $4,400 the year before.

In 1998-1999, they paid $3,064 on average; and in 1988-1989, they paid $1,185.

(Data source: The Dai-ly, Oct. 18, 2007.)

Top of the classCanada ranks first

among the top 10 Organi-zation of Economic Co-op-eration and Development (OECD) nations when it comes to the proportion of 25 to 64 year olds having a college diploma or univer-sity degree.

Canada ranks seventh when it comes to the pro-portion of 25 to 64 year olds

holding only a university degree.

Statistics show that near-ly half of residents having a doctorate and 40 percent having a master’s degree were not born in Canada.

Recent immigrants have higher levels of attainment than both immigrants who arrived prior to 2001 and those born in Canada.

(Data source: Educa-tional portrait of Canada, Media Room’s)

Where to?Alberta was the prime

beneficiary of interprovin-cial migration among high-ly educated adults.

Overall, Alberta had the biggest net inflow of post-secondary graduates while Ontario recorded the big-gest net outflows.

(Data source: 2006 Census: Educational Por-trait of Canada, 2006.)

Education spending Expenditures on school

supplies, textbooks, tuition fees, other courses and les-sons and educational ser-vices were reported by some 5.5 million households in Canada in 2006.

There were an estimated 12.8 million households in Canada at that time.

The median expenditure on education by households reached $800.

Expenses on school sup-plies for kindergarten, nurs-ery, elementary, secondary and post-secondary use av-eraged $100.

On postsecondary tu-ition fees, the average re-

ported expense was $2,500.At least four percent of

Canadian households re-ported having spent an av-erage of $408 on driving lessons in 2006.

(Data source: CANSIM, table 203-0012, Survey of Household Spending.)

School shoppingFor some children,

“back to school” may mean it is time to get outfitted with an entire new ward-robe, or it may mean replac-ing clothes they have out-grown or worn out during the summer months.

Here are the total sales across Canada in the third quarter of 2007 for selected categories:

► $245.4 million - The total value of sales of girls’ clothing and accessories.

► $227.6 million - The total value of sales of boys’ clothing and accessories.

► $125.7 million - The total value of sales of uni-sex clothing.

► $935.1 million - The total value of sales of statio-nery, office supplies, cards, gift wrap and party sup-plies.

(Data source: CANSIM, table 080-0018, Quarterly Retail Commodity Survey.)

Reading vs obesityResearchers have found

an association between watching TV, using a com-puter and obesity in both

male and female adults. But a third sedentary

activity - reading - was not associated with obesity for either sex.

(Data source: The Dai-ly, June 18, 2008.)

Outside gamesThe most frequently re-

ported sport for both boys and girls in 2005 was soc-cer. It replaced swimming, which was most frequent in 1992.

Some 2 million children from five to 14 years old, or 51 percent in the age group, regularly took part in orga-nized sports in 2005.

But this proportion was down from 57 percent in 1992.

Canadian education statistics(From page 15)

Another Filipino Centre Toronto (FCT) regular program is its conduct of Ta-galog classes at its downtown facilities. Tagalog has become a subject in some Toronto public and Catholic schools. In photo, former teacher and FCT president Lynda Javier manages FCT’s Tagalog lessons. FCT File Photo

About half participated in more than one organized sport.

Active children played on average about 2.6 times per week per sport during their sport’s season.

About 55 percent of boys were into sports in 2005, down from 59 per-cent in 1998.

Some 44 percent of girls were active in sports in 2005, the same as in 1998.

(Data source: The Daily, June 3 and Feb. 7, 2008.)

Busy bodiesDespite the stereotypical

image of nonchalant, loung-ing teenagers, a Statistics Canada study shows that many teens carry a heavier load than one may think.

The study notes that, when compared with nine other OECD countries, Ca-nadian teens ranked first in terms of average hours spent on unpaid and paid la-bor during the school week.

After school attendance, homework was the most time-consuming unpaid activity for teens, with 60 percent doing an average of two hours and 20 minutes daily.

Teenagers devoted an average of 9.2 hours to school work, homework, paid work and housework on school days in Canada in 2005.

On weekends, teens gave and average of 3.5 hours of their time to work, paid or unpaid, in 2005.

(Data source: The Daily, May 23, 2007.) - Through the courtesy of Statis-tics Canada

SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAY CELEBRATORS

MIKE CADUCIOSeptember 1

JAZMYN CALNIAKSeptember 6

MON DATOLSeptember 13

GENE LARA

Philips Square.On a makeshift stage, a fiesta at-

mosphere ensued, as Zena ‘Lady El-vis’ Zagala and Darius Ciria, among others, belted out Original Pilipino Music and popular English tunes.

Heavy applause came with the powerful choral rendition of the song Ako Ay Pilipino (I am a Filipino).

Similar GK walks were simultane-ously conducted in eight cities across Canada and in 30 U.S. locations.

Sources from Ancop, the GK Walk organizer in Canada, said the number of participants in this year’s trek near-ly doubled those of last year’s.

They expected to raise more funds as a result. Article contributed by FAYE ARELLANO

GK’s Wilks: ...(From page 6)Shielded by caps and umbrellas (photos above and below), some

1,000 people braved bad weather to join the Sept. 6 PIDC-GK five-kilometer two-hour walk for a worthy cause. Funds raised in the walk is expected to help fund the construction of homes for poor Filipinos. Photos: FAYE ARELLANO

was tossed on the stage to show sincere appreciation.

Food concessionaire Ilo-candia dished out familiar Filipino fare and delicacies that folks enjoyed while watching the show.

Efren De Villa, FCT’s vice-chairman of the board, led the FCT’s participation in the annual Cabbagetown Festival for the fifth con-secutive year.

Cabbagetown is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city of Toronto.

According to the Cab-bagetown Preservation As-sociation, the neighborhood

comprised “the largest con-tinuous area of preserved Victorian housing in North America.”

As of 2004, Cabbag-etown has become a Heri-tage Conservation District, protected by municipal by-law.

Within the district are the St. James Cemetery, Necropolis Cemetery, the Riverdale Park and Farm, and Wellesley Park.

FCT’s participation in the festival has drawn the appreciation and praise of the Cabbagetown organiz-ers and participants.

FCT a hit in 32nd ...(From page 15)

17SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor

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PEOPLE & EVENTSPEOPLE & EVENTS

Some 325 members and friends of the Lucena City Association of Ontario marked the group’s 10th year of community service here and in the Philippines at the Sts. Peter and Paul Banquet Hall on Aug. 23.

Always referring to the association’s slogan “The Mission is the Reason”, president Jun Enverga re-called the various projects the association had com-pleted, mostly for indigents in the Philippines, namely:

► Donation and deliv-ery of some $500,000 worth of medical equipment and supplies to hospitals in Lu-

cena City, Quezon Province and Manila.

► Medical and dental missions that brought in doctors and dentists from North America to give free medical and dental treat-ment and medicines to over 1,000 families.

► Donation of grocer-ies and vitamins to over 1,000 families.

► Funding for a live-lihood program for calamity victims in Infanta, Quezon.

► Help to build the Mt. Carmel Convents in Lucena City and Infanta, Quezon .

► Donation of over $3,000 worth of brand new

shoes.► Distribution of over

30 boxes of relief goods.► Help in funding the

education of a seminarian. ► Funding for a Gawad

Kalinga House for the Ca-lamity-Stricken in Bicol.

► Funding for the in-stallation of artesian wells in Quezon.

► Assistance in funding and building the San Rafael Church in Lucena City.

► Aid in the construc-tion of schoolbuildings in Quezon.

Enverga thanked indi-viduals and other groups that helped the association

succeed in attaining its goals and mission-vision.

He also thanked event chair Manny Abellanosa, co-chair Rosemer Enverga, and Enrico Palillo, Obet and Cris Reyes who made the celebration a success.

During the program, special presentations were made by the friends of Lu-cena, rigodon dancers cho-reographed by Aida and Jun Villaruz.

The dancers included Jun and Rosemer Enverga, Joe and Rachel Eramo, Jim-my and Bing Marasigan, Pors and Mitz Canlas, Tony Suarez and Gene Elamparo,

Romy Olit and Marita En-riquez and Abel Paulite and Sena Flores.

Belinda Corpuz com-pleted the memorable night with the heartwarming ren-dition of Hero. PR

Lucena City group marks 10-year community service success

(To page 24)

Beato Amiel dela Cruz was voted president of the United Aklanon Association of Toronto (UAAT) during the group’s elections-an-nual picnic at the Earl Bales Park on Aug. 16.

Elected with Dela Cruz for the 2007 to 2009 term were Rudy Molina, first vice president; Betsy Re-lente-Naipul, second vice president; Vicky Icatar-Ab-barin, secretary; Norlyn Relente, assistant secretary; Aida Amancio-Magnabijon, treasurer; Michel Mirto-Mauleon, assistant treasur-er; and Julio Buiza, auditor.

Dela Cruz and the new set of officers would be in-ducted to office at the Ka-layaan Cultural Community Centre on Oct. 18.

The association has been known for its annual

Dela Cruzleads Aklanons

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven.”

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18 Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 2008PEOPLE & EVENTSPEOPLE & EVENTS

cilitated the participation of Filipino publishers and newspaper designers in the seminar.

Alvarez described the Webnews Printing-spon-sored seminar as “so in-structive ... will save mate-rial time both for newspaper designers and publishers, and their printers, especial-ly considering the industry is deadline-driven.”

“(Slimp’s) talk on Me-dia Convergence also gave new and fresh ideas to par-ticipants on new develop-ments in print journalism,”

he said.A top newspaper indus-

try trainor, Slimp is best known for developing re-mote printing utilizing the PDF fi le in the early 1990s, which is now the industry standard for fi le creation.

Alvarez thanked Web-news Printing for opening the seminar to Filipino me-dia professionals.

PPC-O president Tenny Soriano thanked Alvarez for initiating PPC-O mem-bership attendance in the seminar.

“I’m sure there will be

an immense benefi t and learning experience to those who attended this one-day seminar.I thank all of the PPCO members who took advantage of this rare op-portunity . Lets have more of this in the near future for the development of our members,” Soriano said.

The seminar covered Photoshop Tips and Tricks, Creating the Perfect PDF File, Finding and Correct-ing Problems in PDF Files, and Converging Media On-line Journalism.

While the seminar was intended for clients of Web-news Printing, the organiz-

Publishers, designers ...(From page 4)

ers, led by Dave Nguyen, decided to open the seminar to all Filipino newspaper publishers and their respec-tive graphics/newspaper de-signers to thank the group for its assistance, through the PPC-O, in the Save Our Voice Coalition.

Nguyen is one of the leaders of the Save Our Voice campaign late 2007 against the Ontario govern-ment in pursuing its plan to slap all community papers with the Provincial Sales Tax retroactive to fi ve years. The campaign succeeded.

Nguyen guested at a PPC-O 2007 Kapihan.

The Magnificent Eight of Batch 58, Camarines Norte High School reunite in Stouffville on Aug. 21 to 26. They are (foreground) Dodo Sismundo, (seated, from left) Victor Ricafrente, Eddie Alegre, (standing, from left) Alex Bertillo, Minda Sayoc Mendoza, Augusto Asis, Sonia San Juan de la Cruz and Romy Octa. The eight, who have not seen each other in 50 years, came with their spouses (left photo). Guests were Al and Iday Duckett. PR

CNHS alumni in Stouffville reunionCNHS alumni in Stouffville reunion

► OCT. 12: Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila Cof-fee Hour, Golden Valley Restaurant.► OCT. 17: Circulo Ilonggo Hawaian Night, Rem-brandt Banquet Hall.► OCT. 17 & 18: Pinoy Fiesta ‘08 Pahiyas Festival, The Gateway Centre for New Canadians. ► OCT. 18: United Aklanon Association of Toronto Induction of Offi cers, Kalayaan Cultural Community Centre, Mississauga.► OCT. 18: The Pillars Halloween and Masquerade Ball, Our Lady of Assumption Church.► OCT. 25: University of the Philippines Alumni Asso-ciation Toronto, Centennial Ball, Marriott Hotel Eaton Centre.► OCT. 25: Canadian Magsingal Association Induc-tion of Offi cers, Garnett Community Center, 8:30 p.m.

Calendar ...(From page 3)

The stork has deliv-ered a boy to Philippine Press Club-Ontario member and Talakayan Radio reporter Karen Pascual-Binaday, and her husband, Manny. Tyler (above) was born on Aug. 8. PR

Tyler BinadayTyler Binaday

Mark Zetazate (baby in photo below) celebrates his first birthday on Aug. 16 with father Fiel (hold-ing him), mother Jannete, and brother John Fiel. They came from Dublin, Ireland to join the 65th birthday bash of Mark’s grand father Romeo Ay-son Zetazate, a Philippine Press Club-Ontario member. Photo: LEIMARIE ZETAZATE

Mark ZetazateMark Zetazate

SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor 19

Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 2008Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 200820

SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media MonitorSEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor 21

Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 200822

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23SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor PEOPLE & EVENTSPEOPLE & EVENTS

Philippine Consul General in To-ronto Alejandro Mosquera is set to induct the new set of officers of the Camarines Norte Association Can-ada-Ontario (CNAC-O) at the Our Lady of Assumption Church social hall on Sept. 27.

Mosquera, also the guest speaker during CNAC-O’s first foundation anniversary celebration, will admin-ister the oath of office to:

CNAC-O officers Tony San Juan, president; Willie Na-bus, first vice president; Larry Bercasio, second vice presi-dent; Lida Muguerza, secretary; Kambz Silvio, assistant secretary; Pong Ostonal, Jr., treasurer; Rommel Yanto, au-ditor; and Susan Llanera, PRO;

Directors Mariecris Agoston, Salvador Gumabao, Elisa Maesa and Shey Silvio.

Town representatives Carlito Cruz for Basud, Randy Fermo for Capalonga, Eva San Andres for Daet, Milvin Sirvidad for Labo, Minda Alban for Paracale, Liwanag Na-bus for Mercedes, Shirley Rosales for San Lorenzo Ruiz, Virgie San Juan for Santa Elena, Salve Aquino for San Vicente, and Lourdes Balce for Vinzons. Adviser is Jojo Taduran.

CNAC-O, which membership has grown to over 100, was founded by 26 charter members at the Filipino Centre Toronto on April 21, 2007. PR

MOSQUERA

Mosquera to induct CNAC-O leaders

expressed my thanks and admiration for his valuable service to the country.

To this day, the number of fallen Canadian soldiers is still climbing to an alarm-ing rate.

It is the hefty price Canada pays for the sake of freedom.

Whose freedom? Other country’s freedom!

The unwelcomed friend ...(From page 10)

Is it even worth it? To the young soldier I have just met, it is worth risking his life.

He does not have to go to Afghanistan, but volun-teered to join his comrades in standing for what they believe in.

He knew the conse-quences of his decision.

Most of the people he

will be fighting for will not welcome him.

They will despise his presence.

And yet he will still sub-ject himself to extreme dan-ger and constant fear of the unknown, whether he could make it back alive to his family or not.

Is it stupidity? Or is it love for humanity?

The answer depends on whom the question is di-rected to.

The mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, spouses, sons, daughters, friends and loved ones of these brave men and women would say a thundering “No to war!”

And to the Canadian Armed Forces, it would mean the medals of hon-our; the salute of respect; the congratulatory applause for their heroism and some-times Canadian flags hoist-ed half-mast for those who came home in boxes.

There was a man who was also not welcomed by the people he served and saved.

They mocked him, be-trayed him and crucified him. His name is . . . . . . . Jesus. The Son of God.

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Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 200824 PEOPLE & EVENTSPEOPLE & EVENTS

the Beijing Olympic Games on CBC Television, CBC Newsworld and the CBC’s bold channel between Au-gust 8 and 24.

This was true, but what was noticeable was that viewership of the games declined on the Sundays of August 10, 17 and 24 at 11 a.m. when Front Page Philippines was airing on OMNI 2.

Hhhhmmm … Great work, Ace! Ooops! I’m sor-ry the news update did not mention the last part.

*****On August 19, Leonie

Manzanarez, chair of the PIDC 2008 Dancing to be a Star at the Metro Toron-to Convention submitted a tape of the the event to me, requesting if it can be shown on Front Page Phil-ippines.

I viewed the material and am impressed with the classy and glamorous atmosphere at the venue, and saw many beautiful people present, among others Dr. Trenholm, Dr. Gamo, and if I’m not mis-taken, Dr. Virey.

After viewing the ma-terial, I e-mailed Leonie, saying that the video ma-

terial, however, might not meet broadcast quality standards, but assuring her that I’ll have my vid-eo editor see if he may do something about it.

Leonie returned to me, saying, “I thank you in ad-vance if you can do some-thing to doctor the sickly DSTARS video.”

I responded back, say-ing, “Why, what happened to all those doctors I saw in the video? Dr. Tren-holm, Dr. Gamo, and Dr. Virey -- if I’m right?”

*****From a forwarded mes-

sage by Myrna Soriano:A Mexican maid asked

for a pay increase.The wife was very upset

about this and asked: ‘Now Maria, why do you want a pay increase?’

Maria: ‘Well Señora, there are three reasons why I want an increase.

The first is that I iron better than you.’

Wife: ‘Who said you iron better than me?’

Maria: ‘Your husband said so.’

Wife: ‘Oh.’Maria: ‘The second

reason is that I am a better cook than you.’

Wife: ‘Nonsense, who said you were a better cook than me?’

Maria: ‘Your husband did.’

Wife: ‘Oh.’Maria: ‘My third reason

is that I am a better lover than you.’

Wife (really furious now): ‘Did my husband say that as well?’

Maria: ‘No Señora, the gardener did.’

SHE GOT THE RAISE. *****

From a forwarded e-mail by Maribel Mon-temayor:

An Arab Sheikh was admitted to the Philippine Heart Center in Manila for a heart transplant, but prior to the surgery, the doctors needed to store his blood in case the need arises. As the gentleman had a rare type of blood, it couldn’t be found locally, so, the call went out to a number of provinces.

Finally, an Ilocano was located who had a similar type of blood. The Iloca-no willingly donated his blood for the Arab.

After the surgery, the Arab sent the Ilocano a new Toyota Prado, dia-

monds, jewelry and a million US dollars – all in appreciation for giving his blood.

Once again, the Arab had to go through a cor-rective surgery. His doctor phoned the Ilocano who was more than happy to donate his blood again.

After the second sur-gery, the Arab sent the Ilocano a “thank you” card and a jar of almond sweets.

The Ilocano was shocked that the Arab this time did not reciprocate his gesture as he had an-ticipated. He phoned the Arab and asked him: “I thought that you would be generous again, that you would again give me a Toyota Prado, money, dia-monds and jewelry ... but you only gave me a ‘thank you’ card and a jar of al-mond sweets!”

To this, the Arab re-plied, “Manong, I now have Ilocano blood in my veins.”

Note: No offense in-tended to our compatriots as the contributing source, Maribel Montemayor, comes from the region herself.

Classic PR stupidity ...(From page 7)

McDonald’s Employee Scholar Venez Elipse (3rd from left) receives a $5,000 check from McDonald’s Canada Restaurant Manager Rob Rachella and Op-erations Consultant Christine Atkinson (2nd and 4th from left, respectively) as Elipse’s family (from left) Teresita Abuyuan, grandmother; Angelito, fa-ther; Imleda, mother; and Rodolfo Abuyuan, grandfather look on. Manager Rachella says: “(Venez) is a great person to work with.” Venez, the eldest of six children, strives to set an example for her siblings. Her sister also works at McDonald’s. The family thanks McDonald’s for rewarding Venez for her hard work and for supporting her studies as she enters her second year at the University of Toronto. PR

Elipse is McDonald’s Employee Scholar

subscribers of cable televi-sion in Edmonton and Cal-gary will likewise enjoy the multilingual/multicultural programming of OMNI Television .

For local advertisers in Toronto whose products and services are likewise targetting consumers in Al-berta, advertising on Front Page Philippines in Cal-gary and Edmonton can be arranged by calling (416) 285-8583, or by e-mail, frontpagephilippines@rog-

Front Page Philippines ...(From page 4)

ers.com. Meanwhile, Russell In-

ternational - the production arm of Front Page Philip-pines, announced that the alternative viewing day of the program on Thursdays has been moved from 12 noon to 3 PM, resulting from the fall re-program-ming of OMNI 2 TV.

The Sunday original air-ings continues to be at 11 AM. RUSSELL INTER-NATIONAL with files from OMNI Television

Ati-atihan party celebrated yearly in January.

The organization is sup-porting a scholarship pro-gram for deserving college students in Aklan.

Recently, it donated funds to the victims of Ty-phoon Frank that ravaged Aklan and most of Western Visayas in June.

The association hoped to sponsor more commu-nity-based projects in all of Aklan’s municipalities. PR

Dela Cruz ...(From page 17)

hind 43 years earlier. The dream of making

this artwork was born from Esther’s experiences as she recognized that everyone has a story to tell and that the experiences and values of our past inform who we are today.

Each culture has a unique beauty that enhances our national identity.

Each person can experi-ence a sense of belonging and find an equal place in a global family.

The massive quilt is a 120-foot long by 10.5-foot high (36 metres by 3.5 me-tres) tapestry.

The rich, cultural lega-cies portrayed in the 263 blocks include all the First Peoples in Canada and ev-ery nation of the world.

The CNE (August 15 to September 1) visit was the one location planned for Toronto.

***Like “organic” foods,

the alleged omnipresence of Angus beef puzzles me.

I always understood that Aberdeen Angus meat was derived from a breed of black or red cattle with a low set body, producing well-marbled meat and bred for this purpose rather than as dairy cattle.

Today, one encounters the use of the word “An-gus” at meat sections of su-permarkets, in independent butchers, in steakhouse menus and even in fast food joints.

Even in the knowledge that Angus cattle have been bred and butchered in Cana-da for years, one wonders at the now widespread claims being made.

There’s a Canadian An-gus Association to whose public relations officer I wrote some weeks ago, ask-ing how claims were certi-fied. I received no reply.

In one supermarket chain, self -standing dis-plays claiming the virtues of Angus beef merely in-dicate that it’s top quality beef without any mention of breeding or provenance.

It would be interesting to see an independent report on how widely standards set by associations such as the CAA are observed.

***Some months ago, I

published a letter from friend and collegue Lalita Krishna, award winning documentarian.

It was written from Peru where she was filming Shift Focus, a documentary which aired in Spanish on OMNI 1 last August 9 and is set for English-language screening some time this fall.

Shift Focus is the story of Chilean-born Toronto-nian Rodrigo Moreno who is first seen making a living as a wedding photographer.

Rodrigo answers an in-ner call to help city kids at risk by involving them in a photography project that leaves them with the urge to face a more creative fu-ture with their proud new possessions - the cameras Rodrigo has given them to keep.

PM’s authoritarian stance ...(From page 9)

Rodrigo is invited to Peru to teach kids photog-raphy at URUKU, a centre founded by young environ-mental activist Carlos Dan-iel.

URUKU, close to the Amazon embracing an ani-mal sanctuary and a school for youngsters is at the heart of the so-called reforesation development which threat-ens the entire ecological system.

Lalita’s documentary conveys the joys of indig-enous children discovering photography as well as the menace to the lives of peo-ple like Carlos Daniel who has received several death threats.

The Peruvian sequences which make up most of he film are shot by Zoe Durse with a fine regard for the natural beauty of the Ama-zon region, making all the more poignant the plight of the local people and the menacing times in which they live.

The children learn how to use cameras to good effect and their sense of stunned delight when Ro-drigo tells them they’re the owners of the cameras they’ve been working with is a joy to behold.

Lalita Krishna has once again captured the essential goodness in projects like Rodrigo’s and the young people who become in-volved in them.

I recall her Ryan’s Well, Jambo Kenya!, Shooting for Change, Chaos, Chords and Karma and of course, Move Your World which, shown at the 2006 Sprockets Chil-dren’s film festival, won the audience choice award over two hyped Hollywood pro-ductions. (Used with per-mission. Ben Viccari is the President of the Canadian Ethnic Media Associa-tion [CEMA] and makes frequent appearances on OMNI TV Commentary. Some of his commentar-ies are republished in this publication and slightly ex-panded in some cases from their 70-second broadcast originals. For more of his work, please visit Ben’s website at: http://canscene.ripple.ca)

Cirila Sanchez Cruz (standing, 5th from left) is flanked by her grandchildren during her 80th birthday bash on Aug. 9. ROMY ZETAZATE

25SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor The PHILIPPINESThe PHILIPPINES

MANILA - Philippine President Gloria Maca-pagal-Arroyo’s relentless efforts to improve gover-nance has placed her again in Forbes magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women” for 2008.

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said the President’s

continuing efforts for good governance and her resil-iency amid political and economic problems made the international audience view her as a powerful woman.

Executive Secretary Ed-uardo Ermita, on the other hand, said the President’s

GMA in Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women

POWERFUL WOMEN. President Gloria Macapa-gal-Arroyo receives a warm embrace from former First Lady Imelda Marcos upon her arrival at the Fort Ilocandia Resort Hotel in Barangay Calayab, Laoag City on aug. 26. Arroyo presided over a National Diasaster Coordinating Council Cabinet meeting. In Laoag City, Arroyo led in providing re-lief goods and other services to victims of typhoon Karen. Photo: MARCELINO PASCUAL/OPS-NIB

MANILA - The British embassy has warned its citizens against traveling to Mindanao, due to clashes between government troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels.

“We advise against all travel to mainland Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago because of the ongoing terrorist and insurgent activities,” the United Kingdom Foreign Common-wealth Office said in its website on Sept. 7.

Earlier, the Australian government also issued a warning to its citizens from traveling to the Southern Philippines due to threats of a terrorist attack. PNA

UK issues Mindanao travel advisory

BUTUAN CITY - In a spirit of goodwill and mu-tual respect, peace nego-tiators of the Moro Islamic

MILF lauds government negotiating panel

determination to push for economic reforms amid de-stabilization attempts have earned her the distinction of being a strong leader.

Late August, Forbes magazine announced that Mrs. Arroyo was the 41st most powerful woman in the world.

The President ranked ninth in 2004, the year she was reelected.

She placed fifth in 2005. This was her best ranking so far.

The magazine’s World’s 100 Most Powerful Wom-en list for this year saw the President jumping 10 notches from last year’s 51st spot.

Topping the list was German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

President Arroyo is joined in the Top 100 by Hollywood talk show host and Harpo chairman Oprah Winfrey, who is at the 36th spot; United States Senator Hilary Clinton, 28; United States Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, 7; and Nobel peace laureate and former Myanmar prime minister Aung San Suu Kyi, No. 38.

Forbes magazine said its annual listing of the 100 most powerful women in the world is “based on a power ranking that is the compos-ite of visibility (measured by press citations) and eco-nomic impact. PNA

Liberation Front (MILF) paid tribute to the integrity, capability, and dedication of their counterparts from the

Philippine gov-ernment headed by Secretary Ro-dolfo Garcia.

In a statement, Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief peace negotiator, de-scribed the gov-ernment peace panel as “wor-thy partners in peace.”

“We will not forget you (refer-ring to Secretary Garcia) and your wonderful team and we hope that in some future time and occa-sion we meet and cross paths for the sake of peace and humanity,” Iqbal

said in his press statement. “We will always trea-

sure the fruits of our hard work, sleepless nights and sometimes our construc-tive disagreements to fi-nally thread together the two far ends (very far when we started) into the realiza-tion of the Memorandum of Agreement on the Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD)…,” he continued.

President Gloria Maca-pagal-Arroyo disbanded the Philippine peace negotiat-ing panel on Sept. 3, after the Supreme Court blocked the signing of the MOA-AD, resulting in military of-fensives from both the gov-ernment and rebel forces.

The resumption of hos-tilities has resulted in about 70 conflict casulaties and the displacement of more than 300.000 people in Co-tabato and Lanao del Norte. PNA

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26 TRAVEL & TOURISMTRAVEL & TOURISM Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 2008

They flap their wings, scratch the ground and wig-gle their tails as they dance and romp through Cal-bayog City’s main streets in a parade full of colorful pageantry on the eve of the celebration of the city’s fi-esta in honor of Our Lady of Nativity.

Thus act a legion of skilled dancers as they dress and act like roosters and hens performing an an-cient dance and a pre-colo-nial ritual - the Sarakiki and Hadang - in a festival that shows the Calbayognons’ rich tradition, history, race, religion, arts and culture.

Vicente Labro, in an Inquirer News Service dis-patch, says the Sarakiki-Ha-dang Festival has become the joy and pride of locals who never tire of crowing about it.

Sarakiki legendThe Sarakiki Festival is

said to be based on the story of Ilahas and Mahusay (lo-cal terms for Wildlife and Beautiful).

Legend had it that Ilahas came up with new dance steps - patterned after those of a cock - that he and Ma-husay performed before their tribe in Ibatan (now Calbayog).

The dance was widely applauded and accepted by

In September of every year since over a decade ago, people of and visitors to Calbayog City flock to the streets and parks to perform, if not witness, the vibrant colorful Sarakiki-Hadang Festival. Sarakiki depicts the frenzied movements of a rooster (right photo) trying to court a hen or dare another rooster to a fight. Sarakiki is meant to allure, to draw with, to attract or exercise attraction, to entice or to win. Its pre-colonial denotation means to praise, extol or eulogize spirits of gods. The word does not only ascribe to the ritual or hadang to gratify the gods (left photo), but likewise to hadang as the offering or the sacrifice. Participants perform the rhythmic dance during the festival, which is thought to cure the sick and bring a good harvest. Websites on Calbayog/Photos: JOVAS33, Flickr

the tribal leaders.In dance, song

The dance is known since as the Sarakiki, a Waray term that describes a rooster’s movement as it courts a hen or provokes another rooster to a fight.

Sarakiki refers to pre-meditated or frenzied movements meant to allure, to draw with, to attract or exercise attraction, to entice or to win.

The cock spreads one of its wings down and moves fast with one leg up, around the object of his love or en-emy.

Imitating the rooster, the dancers clench their fists with the thumbs out,

to represent the fowl’s gaff (tadi in Waray and tari in Tagalog).

The body movements, uproar and shouting come with the rhythmic beatings of talutangs and the pealing of church bells.

Sarakiki movements can also be seen in the kuratsa, a popular Waray courtship dance that hogs the limelight in celebrations, particularly in wedding jovialities.

Sarakiki also has its place in songs local bards croon during a sada-sada, or the merriment in the eve of a wedding; much like the pamalaye or pamamanhikan (asking for the blessings of the bride’s parents).

September in Calbayog City

Sarakiki-Hadang Festival: Crowing

about chicken joy, pride

Religious-culturalBut more than the roost-

er’s intents, Sarakiki’s pre-colonial denotation is of a religious-cultural context, that of praising, extolling or eulogizing spirits of gods.

Sarakiki is founded on pre-Magellanic beliefs.

Calbayognons held that spirits occupied a position of command over the power of nature which could inflict harm or do good in society.

Indubitably, Sarakiki has manifested itself in Hadang (rituals) to please spirits.

Ancient ritualsThe Hadang is per-

formed during feasts and other occasions like the planting and harvest sea-sons, drought and in times of dreadful epidemics.

The ceremony could last a couple of days.

It involved all villagers who offered manok (chick-en) sacrifices to venerate the anitos (spirits).

Traditionally, the fore-fathers made use of patani ug ugis nga manok (black feather and white feather chicken) as the offering.

The Daragangans (Sa-mare warriors) of yore, headed by Babaylan (high priest) used to perform ritu-als involving body move-ments and gesticulations before going to war.

This was to ask the ani-tos to protect them.

A manok served as an offering. The warriors paint chicken blood on their bod-ies to assure invincibility.

Birth of a festivalThe idea of putting up a

festival that instilled pride and sense of identity among Calbayognons and to unify them as one community was hatched in the mid-1990s.

The Sarakiki Festival thus came to be.

In 2001, the festival was temporarily cancelled, but was revived the following year as the Sarakiki-Hadang Festival.

Since its first public appearance, the city gov-ernment, through the City Arts and Culture Office, has sponsored the festival.

Living a faithModern-day Calbayo-

gnons look at the Sarakiki as a dance of a people liv-ing a faith without shedding off their close attachment to their culture.

For them, Sarakiki is a contemporary artistic cre-ation to empower the re-lation and equanimity of culture and religion; not by being in processions and hearing masses but by in-culturation, through a ritual dance, the Sarakiki. From various websites

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union - Tour-ist arrivals in the Ilocos Region for the first half of 2008 increased by 56.4 per-cent, compared to the same period last year.

A Philippine Informa-tion Agency (PIA) report said 290,787 visitors arrived in Pangasinan, La Union, Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte from January to June.

The visitors included 265,186 domestic tour-ists, 25,327 foreign tourists and 266 Overseas Filipino Workers.

Last year, there were 165,988 domestic tourists, 19,470 foreign tourists and 520 OFWs who visited var-ious spots in the region.

The peak time of arriv-als this year was in April, when 68,262 tourists came.

Last year, the biggest arrival was in June, when tourists numbered 37,733.

The report quoted offi-cials as saying more tourists were expected in the region with the completion of the upgrading and rehabilitation of the San Fernando Airport before the yearend.

More touristsvisit Ilocos

MANILA - Philip-pine tourism officials have drawn up a plan, hoping to get back a dwindling num-ber of Japanese vacation-ers to consider visiting the country.

Tourism data noted that fewer Japanese tourists came to the Philippines, dipping nine percent to some 28,000 from January to June compared to 30,389 in the same period last year.

Until 2007, the Philip-

pines was a preferred travel destination for Japanese, with some 422,000 arrivals.

Officials, however, re-mained optimistic that more female Japanese visitors, about five percent of total Japanese tourists who ar-rived in Manila from Janu-ary to June, would continue patronizing the country.

Eyeing female JapsWith female Japanese

visitors expected to spend more for food and shop-

ping, the Department of Tourism has promoted ideal shopping and spa sites in the country.

It also launched pro-grams encouraging older Japanese males to visit and play at the country’s finest golf facilities.

Officials said adventure tourism, to include white water rafting, surfing, wake-boarding, wild bird watch-ing, and treetop climbing,

RP: A vacation, shopping site - DOT

(To page 28)

Pinoy Fiesta will cel-ebrate the Pahiyas Festi-val at The Gateway Cen-tre for New Canadians in Mississauga on Oct. 17 and 18.

The Pahiyas Festival is one of the many Phil-ippine fiestas originating in Lucban, the summer capital of Quezon prov-ince and is referred to by many as a fiesta to end all fiestas.

During the festival, each household tries to outdo each other in friend-ly competition as they vie

for the honor of being rec-ognized for their creativity by decorating houses with colorful Kiping and other agricultural harvest.

Something different Pinoy Fiesta, on its sec-

ond year, is an event or-ganized by The Gateway Centre for New Canadians to raise funds for its settle-ment programs, as well as to showcase Filipino cultures and traditions in Canada.

Promising to be differ-ent from similar events, Pi-noy Fiesta includes:

► A Pahiyas mini-ex-

hibit to give a historical in-sight of the Pahiyas Festival and Quezon, with a Pahi-yas Heritage Plaza where houses are set up in Pahiyas tradition with live cultural presentations.

► Bazaar booths offer-ing a variety of items plus free local cuisines for visi-tors.

► Game booths fea-turing traditional Filipino parlor games like palosebo, pabitin, and others in which visitors may participate in.

► Entertainment: A Celebrate Pinoy, Celebrate

Pahiyas! show starts at 6:30 p.m. and dance rock party at 9 p.m. on Oct. 17;

Starting at 12 noon of Oct. 18 are:

► The search for the first Dancestruck, Dance Crew Competitions joined in by dancers 15 to 25 years old and grouped into five or seven members.The winner takes home $700; the run-ner-up, $300.

► Gaya-gaya Puto Maya, a sing-and-look alike contest. Contestants are 18 years old above who can impersonate a famous

personality or group. Win-ner gets $300, and runner-up, $200 plus trophies.

► Super Laff-In, a search for stand-up comedi-an. Contestants are 18 years old and above. Winner gets $300; the runner-up, $200 plus trophies.

► Variety and game show Fiesta Bulaga, where local talents will perform and various games will be played onstage. Gamers will come from the audi-ence. Cash and other prizes are at stake.

► Do You Want to

Become a TV Star is a contest for 15- to 20-year olds with a passion for performing.

Elimination rounds for the various contests have been conducted, in preparation for the grand finals on Oct. 18.

The Oct. 18 entertain-ment fete will be capped by a martial arts demo and the restaging of the concert Sine ... Sine Musi-ka, starring local talents performing theme songs from popular Filipino movie hits. PR

Toronto’s Pinoy Fiesta celebrates with Pahiyas Festival, Oct. 17-18

SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor 27The PHILIPPINESThe PHILIPPINES

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PASIG CITY - The Department of Education (DepEd) has signed on Sept. 5 an agreement with the World Vision Develop-ment Foundation (WVDF) to step up efforts in bringing more than 800,000 Filipino children toiling as laborers back to the classroom.

Through the ABK2 Ini-tiative, or Pag-aaral ng mga Bata Para sa Kinabukasan, DepEd and WVDF would jointly raise public aware-ness and mobilize resources to combat child labor and promote school attendance.

“Our children are sup-posed to be in school and not on the streets or in sweatshops working under horrible conditions,” said Education Secretary Jesli Lapus.

ABK2 is a United States labor department-funded four-year project seeking to help reduce exploitative child labor in the Philip-pines.

Elnora Avarientos, WVDF executive direc-tor, said the six identified sectors where child labor was noted as particularly rampant were in commer-cial agriculture (sugarcane plantation), domestic work, pyrotechnics business, min-ing, quarrying, sex trade and scavenging.

DepEd would back the

project in the form of policy and technical support pro-viding child laborers access to quality and relevant edu-cation programs.

A 2007 sub-regional multiple indicator cluster survey by the National Sta-tistic Office and the United Nation Children’s Emer-gency Fund showed some 830,000 children in the Philippines, or 16 percent of all children, were classi-fied as child laborers.

Of the number, about 670,000 children both at-tend school and work as child laborers.

Lapus said that even if poverty was a major cause for such a sorry situation, the children remained the

responsibility of DepEd. “We are accountable to

them in terms of their edu-cation. This is one of our major concerns,” Lapus said.

DepEd has been pur-suing non-traditional pro-grams to raise the participa-tion and retention rates of school children, especially those burdened by difficult circumstances.

This included the Child Find program focused on reaching the unreached out-of-school.

DepEd has also been conducting multi-grade classes, with 24,882 such classes all over the country.

In a multi-grade class, students of different grade

levels are being handled by a single teacher.

“It not only provides ac-cess to education for chil-dren who are otherwise out of school. It also addresses the quality of education we provide to this sector,” said DepEd Assistant Secretary Teresita Inciong.

DepEd has also been implementing the Accredi-tation and Equivalency Test and the Philippine Education Placement Test to give learners outside of the classroom a chance to return to the educational mainstream.

Lapus said offerings in its 261 Tech-Voc schools have been strengthened. PR

End child labor, bring children back to school

MANILA - The House committee on foreign af-fairs has branded as “uncon-stitutional” the proposal of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to increase the age limit for overseas household workers from 23 to 30.

“I do not subscribe to that proposal because it shall restrict or hinder one’s right to travel which is unconsti-tutional,” said Rep. Antonio Cuenco (2nd District, Cebu City, Lakas), chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

He said the right to travel was explicitly written in the Bill of Rights of the 1987 Constitution, under Article 3, Section 6.

“The liberty of abode and of changing the same within the limits prescribed by law shall not be impaired except upon lawful order of

the court. Neither shall the right to travel be impaired except in the interest of national security, public safety, or public health, as may be provided by law,” he said.

Cuenco reacted to Labor Undersecretary Rosalinda Baldoz who said the DFA had asked the Philippine Overseas Employment Ad-ministration to raise the age limit for domestic helpers overseas due to alarming rates of suicides and run-aways.

State agencies should instead expand support sys-tems for overseas Filipino workers during their stay abroad, Cuenco said.

“If our OFWs are as-sured of adequate assis-tance and protection, then their minds will always be at ease during and after work,” he said. PNA

House junks DFA bid to raise minimum age for DH overseas

Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 200828

among others, would be promoted.

This would attract a part of the 17.2 million Japanese travellers who vacation abroad yearly.

“Japan remains one of the most important markets for the Philippines,” Tour-ism Secretary Joseph Du-rano said.

“While arrivals of Japa-nese tourists are slightly de-creasing, the expenditures of these tourists in the coun-try are actually growing, providing bigger opportuni-ties for the domestic travel industry,” Durano said.

To maximize opportu-nities in Japan’s growing outbound travel market,

the tourism department also invited hotels, resorts, tour operators, transport services, and other local stakeholders to participate in the Japan Association for Travel Agents World Travel Fair at the East Exhibition Hall of the Tokyo Big Sight from Sept. 19 to 21.

Shopping meccaMeanwhile, the Tour-

ism Department has started selling the Philippines as an international shopping des-tination.

Secretary Durano said tourists preferred Filipino brands to foreign ones when shopping here.

Durano said the depart-ment has booked ad place-

ments in local and foreign publications to promote its month-long September ShopFest.

He said the promotions were made in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and other parts of the Asia-Pacific, includ-ing India and Spain.

He said Filipino clothes and clothing accessories would be the festival’s big-gest draw, describing them as value for money because of their superior design and high quality.

“These are locally made but world-class products that both foreigners and Filipinos buy in popular shopping centers,” Durano said. PNA

RP: A vacation, shopping site - DOT(From page 26)

NEWS ROUNDUPNEWS ROUNDUP

CAPIZ - The government recently launched its Western Visayas Gulayan sa Paaralan (vegetable gardens in schools) program at the Angub Elementary School in Cuartero, Capiz. The school, a consistent awardee for bio-intensive gardening for several years, was the first program recipient of the project in the region. The Department of Education has targetted at least 500 grade schools for the program. Recipients included 127 grade schools in Antique; 37 in Capiz; 423 in Cadiz City, 110 in Iloilo and 26 in Negros Occidental. The Department of Agriculture would distribute vegetable seeds in 500-square meter plots the schools would each allot. The seeds included those of ampalaya, eggplant, okra, pole sitao, squash and kangkong. Organic fertilizer would complement the seeds. The initiative is expected to help ease malnutrition among grade school pupils. PNA

Capiz: School to raise vegetables

BANGUED, Abra - The government’s fertilizer subsidy program is set to benefit farm-ers tilling some 19,000 hectares of ricelands in Abra. Linda Burton, of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist, said P250 coupons would be given to farmers who availed them-selves of the hybrid and certified seeds public program. In addition, the province would provide its one fertilizer bag counterpart to every participant-farmer. PIA

Abra: Farmers get fertilizer subsidy

CAMIGUIN ISLAND - Governor Jurdin Jesus Romualdo opened and turned-over two newly-built barangay health stations in Barangay Hubangon in Mahinog town and in Ba-rangay Alanginan in Sagay town. Romualdo did similarly to a day care center in Alangi-nan. The buildings were erected under the province’s Early Childhood Care and Develop-ment project. The health stations were built at P200,000 each,. The day care center was worth P150,000. PIA

Camiguin: Health, daycare centers up

TAGUM CITY - Human excreta could be foul-smelling; but could be soil enriching and a readily and inexpensive available substitute to costly imported urea fertilizer. Alma Uy, tourism council officer, said the city council is expected to pass a resolution that would seek for the processing of feces and urine as orchard and agricultural plantation fertilizers. Uy said prices of imported fertilizer have soared to over P1,000 per sack, as urea supply worldwide dwindled.. Plans, which might be started early 2009, included setting up sepa-rate feces and urine ponds, where excreta is treated to get rid of the foul-smell and bacterial contamination. Public school and market administrators would be required to put up novel toilets whereby excreta could be easily retrieved. Uy boasted of a good durian harvest, thanks to human excreta fertilizer, making her produce “100 percent organic.” PIA

Tagum: Excreta as urea substitute

SULU - Seven military-initiated projects under the development program of the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines Task Force-Sulu (JSOTF-P) were inaugurated here. The four deep well projects in barangays Timpook, Taung, Tanum, and Liang of Patikul town were turned over to the residents represented by their public officials. Other inaugurated projects included a schoolbuilding for the Bon-bon Elementary School, the Liang circumferential road, and the Bud Datu road. PR/PIA

Sulu: Military completes 7 pro-poor projects

Bangko Sentral ng Pili-pinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. and Cavite Governor Ayong Maliksi (2nd and 3rd from left, respectively) lead the launching of the Credit Surety Fund Program that will enable micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Cavite to ac-cess bank loans without collateral. PNA Photo

Cavite: SMEs get credit surety help

SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor

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Connie Sorio, interim spokesperson for the Inde-pendent Workers Association-Home Workers Sec-tion (IWA-HWS), will lead a battery of speakers to discuss caregiver and home care provider issues and concerns during the Philippine Press Club-Ontario (PPC-O) Breakfast Forum at Casa Manila on Sept. 27 at 10:30 a.m. PPC-O forum chair Tony Sicat says IWA-HWS is a collaboration between the Steelwork-ers trade union and Migrante-Ontario, which are or-ganizing caregivers and home care providers into a self-help, self sustaining group, primarily to protect and promote caregivers’ rights, particularly those still on temporary foreign worker visa. They will also also share information on the proposed Juana Tejada Law, launched on Aug. 24.

Officers, members and guests of the Philippine Press Club-Ontario strike a pose after the successful Sept. 20 Casino Rama fundraising trip coordinated by Myrna Soriano and Chuchi Punsalan. Photo: MIKE CADUCIO & MOGI MOGADO

PPC-O Casino Rama fundraising tripPPC-O Casino Rama fundraising trip

as CEMA will pose big challenges ahead for me, especially taking into con-sideration the record and experience of Ben - who, for the last nine years was uncontested in the post.

Ben is everything that CEMA stands for: an immi-grant to this country, a print, broadcast and new media journalist, a staunch propo-nent of diversity (leading people to dub him as Mr. Multiculturalism himself). His work and achievements will be a very tough act to follow.

But how can the humble me decline the CEMA presi-dency when it was Ben him-self - my “father” in the aim of propagating the objec-tives of ethnic media, and who coached me leading to the helm of CEMA, who molded me into this role during the last two years.

Of course, all these were with the concurrence of Madeline Ziniak, CE-MA’S Executive Chair and daughter of Sierhey Khma-ra Ziniak , who founded the organization then known as the Canadian Ethnic Jour-nalists’ and Writers’ Club, in 1978.

At the launching of OMNI 2 TV in September 2002, Ted Rogers described a young producer over at

MWF is Making Waves ...(From page 8)

Rogers Community Chan-nel 10, whose program made a mark in the Toronto community - the very core of diversity in Canada.

The formula for the pro-gram did not go unnoticed by the executives of Rogers Television, with top man Ted Rogers himself awake, hence - together with Rog-ers’ Executive Vice Presi-dent for Television now, Leslie Sole, summoned Madeline to bring the con-cept into the provincial level for CFMT Television (now OMNI 1 TV).

The rest is history, where lately, Ontario’s OMNI 1 & 2 Television have expand-ed in the west to include OMNI TV British Columbia (launched last September 1) and OMNI TV Alberta (Cal-gary & Edmonton (launched last September 15).

Why propagate ethnic media (diversity, or multi-cultural media, if you will)? I reserve the answer in my next column.

*****In the meantime, this

month of September, as de-scribed in the front page by Manila Media Monitor edi-tor Butch Galicia, has been a double treat in media for the Filipino-Canadian com-munity; first, with a Fili-pino-Canadian acclaimed

to the presidency of the multicultural media group that CEMA is; and, second-ly, with your long-running humble Filipino-Canadian television program, Front Page Philippines, opted by OMNI Television to air in its two newly-acquired stations in Edmonton and in Calgary in Alberta.

Ever grateful for all these blessings, there’s a third treat in that I was just sitting and participating at a finance committee meeting in my parish two days before

the CEMA Biennial General Meeting and Elections, and just before the submission of the requirements from us by the Archdiocese of To-ronto, I found myself sign-ing all the documents as the vice-chair of the committee (loud laughter).

In the meantime, in be-tween the performance of all things expected of me from these roles, I have to do what I do for a living so I can sustain my, and my family’s, needs (loud laugh-ter again!).

Sorio at PPC-O forum

SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor 31CANADIAN HISTORYCANADIAN HISTORY

2008 2009 2010 2011 New Year’s Day Jan. 1 Jan. 1 Jan. 1 Good Friday April 10 April 2 April 22 Easter Monday April 13 April 5 April 25 Victoria Day (Monday preceding May 25) May 18 May 24 May 23 Canada Day* July 1 July 1 July 1 Labour Day (first Monday of September) Sept. 7 Sept. 6 Sept. 5 Thanksgiving Day (second Monday of October) Oct. 13 Oct. 12 Oct. 11 Oct. 10 Remembrance Day Nov. 11 Nov. 11 Nov. 11 Nov. 11 Christmas Dec. 25 Dec. 25 Dec. 25 Dec. 25 Boxing Day Dec. 26 Dec. 26 Dec. 26 Dec. 26

LABOUR DAY PARADE, Toronto, early 1900s. Photo: Toronto City Archives, Fonds 1568, Item 314

In Canada, Labour Day is celebrated on the first Monday in September.

This year, the national holiday falls on Sept. 1. (See related item below)

The Canadian labour movement can justly claim the title of originator of La-bour Day.

Peter J. McGuire, one of the founders of the Ameri-can Federation of Labour, has traditionally been known as the Father of La-bour Day.

But historical evidence indicates that McGuire ob-tained his idea for the es-tablishment of an annual demonstration and public holiday from the Canadian trade unionist.

9-hour working dayThe origins of Labour

Day can be traced back to April 15, 1872, when the Toronto Trades Assembly (TTA) organized Canada’s first significant demonstra-tion for worker’s rights.

The beribboned parade, made on what was then Thanksgiving Day, marched smartly in martial tread ac-companied by four bands.

The marchers called for

Labour Dayhas origins

from Canadianlabour movement

First Monday of September

the release of 24 leaders of the Toronto Typographical Union imprisoned for going on a strike, since March 25, in a campaign for a nine-hour working day.

At that time, trade unions were still illegal and striking was considered as a criminal conspiracy to dis-rupt trade.

The law, however, was earlier seen as outdated and abolished in Great Britain.

The TTA, a significant group to contend with, en-couraged workers to form trade unions, mediated in disputes between employers and employees and signaled the end of the mistreatment of workers.

About 10,000 Toron-tonians came to see the parade and listen to the speeches advocating for the repeal of laws against trade unionism.

Workers upheldOn Sept. 3, 1872, mem-

bers of seven unions in Ot-tawa organized a similar parade.

More than a mile long, it was led by the Garrison Artillery band and flanked by city firemen carrying

torches.The Ottawa parade

wound its way to the home of Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald where the marchers hoisted him into a carriage nd drew him to city hall by torchlight.

MacDonald, dubbed The Old Chieftan, was aware of the discontent of workers with the laws which made unions illegal.

In a ringing declaration from the steps of city hall, he promised the march-ers that his party would “sweep away all such bar-barous laws from the statute books.”

Parliament passed the Trade Union Act on June 14 the following year, and soon all unions were demanding a 54-hour work-week.

Ten years laterThe tradition established

by the Toronto Trades As-sembly was continued through the seventies and

into the early 1880’s.In 1882, the Toronto

Trades and Labour Council, succesor to the TTA, de-cided to organize the annual demonstration and picnic for July 22.

The council invited Pe-ter J. McGuire of New York, requesting his services as a speaker for the occasion.

McGuire was the found-er and general secretary of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters which organized the previous year.

It was in the same year, that McGuire proposed at a meeting of the New York Central Labour Union that a festive day be set aside for a demonstration and picnic.

National holidayLabour Day was first

celebrated in New York on September 5,1882.

It was apparent that the custom developed in Can-ada and the invitation sent to McGuire prompted his

suggestion to the New York labour body.

Soon pressure for legis-lation to declare a national holiday for Labour Day was exerted in both Canada and the United States.

On July 23, 1894, Ca-nadian Prime Minister John Thompson and his govern-ment made Labour Day, to be held in September, an of-ficial holiday.

Thompson piloted the bill through Parliament against the opposition of some of his Conservative followers.

Canadian trade unnion-ists have celebrated this day ‘set aside to honour those who labour’ from the 1870’s on.

The first Labour Day pa-rade in Winnipeg, in 1894, was two miles long.

CelebrationLabour Day is original-

ly an opportunity for work-ers to campaign for better

working conditions or pay. They later marked their

achievements on this day.Today, many Canadians

see the first Monday in Sep-tember as an chance to take a late summer trip, perhaps to their country cottage, or enjoy the company of fam-ily or friends at picnics, fairs, festivals and fireworks displays.

For teenagers and stu-dents, the Labour Day weekend is the last chance to ‘be free’ before school re-opens for a new academic year.

On the first Monday in September, post offices and most other businesses and organizations are closed.

Most public transport services run to a reduced or “Sunday” service, although others may not run at all.

Most other countries have a holiday to celebrate workers’ rights on or around May 1. Internet sources

National Public HolidaysONTARIO: Family Day (third Monday of February) and Civic Holiday (first

Monday of August).QUEBEC: National Day (June 24). NOVA SCOTIA: Natal Day (first Monday of August, except in Halifax where it

varies from year to year, usually August or July).NEW BRUNSWICK: New Brunswick Day (first Monday of August).MANITOBA: Civic Holiday (first Monday of August) and Louis Riel Day (third

Monday of February).BRITISH COLUMBIA: British Columbia Day (first Monday of August).PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND: Natal Day (by proclamation, usually on first Mon-

day of August).SASKATCHEWAN: Family Day (third Monday of February) and Civic Holiday

(first Monday of August).ALBERTA: Alberta Family Day (third Monday of February) and Heritage Day

(first Monday of August).NEWFOUNDLAND and LABRADOR: Celebrated on nearest Monday - St. Pat-

rick’s Day (March 17), St. George’s Day (April 23), Discovery Day (June 24), Me-morial Day (July 1), Orangemen’s Day (July 12), and Regatta Day/Civic Holiday (fixed by municipal council orders).

NORTHWWEST TERRITORIES: National Aboriginal Day (June 21) and Civic Holiday (first Monday of August).

YUKON: Discovery Day (third Monday of August).NUNAVUT: Nunavut Day (July 9).

* The Holidays Act provides that July 2 is Canada Day when July 1 is a Sunday.

Although not public holidays, Commonwealth Day and the Anniversary of the Statute of Westminster are marked in Canada by flying, where physical arrangements allow (i.e. two flagpoles), the Royal Union Flag, also know as the “Union Jack” along with the National Flag at federal buildings, airports, military bases and other federal buildings and establishments, from sunrise until sunset.

Physical arrangements means the existence of at least two flag poles; the Canadian flag always takes precedence and is never replaced by the Union Jack. Where only one pole exists, no special steps should be taken to erect an additional pole to fly the Union Jack for this special day.

Provincial Holidays

Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 200832 MONEYMONEY

OTTAWA - Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he expected the real Gross Domestic Product of Can-ada (GDP) “to increase by one percent” this year.

Flaherty made the fore-cast following a Statistics Canada report that real GDP was up slightly in the sec-ond quarter.

But he admitted that “the pace of economic ac-tivity remains weak as a result of the U.S. slowdown and its impact on our export sector.”

Flaherty said solid growth in income and em-ployment in the second quarter should help support economic activity to move forward.

Resilient, stableOn Sept. 17, Flaherty

said Canada, as an open trading economy, was not immune to the “consider-able stress” financial mar-kets worldwide have been going through.

“I am in close contact with US Treasury Secre-tary Henry Paulson, other

G7 Finance Ministers, and with the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and the Governor of the Bank of Canada, and I will continue to monitor the situation closely,” he said.

Flaherty assured that the Bank of Canada has taken action to ensure the liquid-ity of the banking system, and indicated that it stood ready to provide further li-quidity to Canadian markets as required.

“Canada continues to weather the global financial market turbulence better than many other countries,” he said.

“Canada’s banking and insurance industries are well capitalized and our financial system is sound. The Inter-national Monetary Fund has determined that Canada’s financial system is resilient and that the stability of our system is well supported by sound macroeconomic poli-cies and strong prudential regulation and supervision,” he stressed.

Flaherty said Canada’s

economic fundamentals re-mained solid, as:

► “Our unemployment rate remained near a 33-year low;

► “Our budget is bal-anced and in fact there was a budgetary surplus of $1.7 billion in the month of June;

► “In addition, real in-come has increased by more

than four per cent at an an-nual rate over the first half of this year. This is income available to Canadians for consumption or investment;

► “Canada’s house-hold, business and financial sectors are strong;

► “Canada’s housing market is sound and interest rates are low; and

► “Core inflation is low

and stable.” Economic stimulusFlaherty said the gov-

ernment has provided “sig-nificant economic stimulus in Canada.”

Since 2006, economic measures included the pro-vision of $21 billion in in-cremental tax relief - equiv-alent to 1.4 percent of GDP - to Canadians and Canadian businesses this year alone, when it was needed most. This was a permanent struc-tural tax change, unlike the temporary measures in the United States, he noted.

“In fact, federal person-al income tax refunds this year were almost $200 or 14 percent higher than last year, thanks to our tax relief measures,” Flaherty said.

In addition, business tax reductions through 2012 are expected, he added.

“Canada is the only member of the G7 with con-tinued surpluses and a fall-ing debt burden,” he said.

Global phenomenonBut he admitted that Ca-

nadians have been feeling

the impact of global eco-nomic factors, including a struggling economy of the U.S., which has been Cana-da’s largest trading partner.

These factors included:► The U.S. housing cri-

sis and its far-reaching eco-nomic implications;

► Record increases in the price of oil; and

► The ongoing volatil-ity in global financial mar-kets.

Canadian responseAmong the responses

the government has taken were:

► The introduction of permanent broad-based tax reductions;

► The prioritization of programs involving post-secondary education, in-frastructure and worker re-training; and

► The creation of cen-ters of excellence in science and technology.

“We believe in long-term initiatives that will improve Canada’s competi-tiveness and productivity,” Flaherty said. PR

Flaherty expects Canadian economy toweather global economic uncertainty

FLAHERTY

VANCOUVER - Can-ada’s western province of Alberta has maintained its distinction as the best per-forming labor market in North America, for the past five years.

“For the past five years Alberta has enjoyed strong employment growth, high levels of worker produc-tivity, and low durations of unemployment, making it the best performing labor market overall,” said Niels Veldhuis, Director of Fis-cal Studies at The Fraser Institute, an independent research group.

Veldhuis is co-author of the Fraser study Measuring Labour Markets in Canada and the United States: 2008 Report released on Aug. 28.

Besides Alberta, the rest of the top 10 rated jurisdic-tions are U.S. states, led by Nevada, Utah, and Alaska.

Canadian rankingBritish Columbia was

rated second-best labor mar-ket in Canada, but ranked 11th in North America.

Saskatchewan was third in Canada and 14th among all ten Canadian provinces and 50 U.S. states.

Ontario and Quebec, Canada’s most populous

provinces, ranked 25th and 50th respectively.

Newfoundland was the lowest-rated at 51st with the other Atlantic provinces, all ranked in the bottom half on labor market performance.

Low job growth“The research highlights

the diverging labour mar-kets within Canada. West-ern provinces are enjoying strong labor markets while the rest of Canada lags be-hind,” said Keith Godin, study co-author and Fraser senior policy analyst.

Ontario and Quebec have relatively low rates of private sector job growth.

The two provinces were noted to be suffering from high average unemploy-ment rates.

Both regressed in the 2008 report, compared to 2007 when they were ranked 21st and 41st.

The Atlantic provinces also suffered from high av-erage unemployment rates and low labor productivity.

“The highest unemploy-ment rates in North Ameri-ca are found in the Atlantic provinces,” Godin said.

“Despite Newfound-land’s burgeoning resource sector, it continues to strug-

gle with an average unem-ployment rate of 15.2 per cent, more than three times the unemployment rate found in Alberta,” he said.

Public sector jobsThe study examined

four aspects of labor mar-kets directly affecting labor market performance: public sector employment, union-ization, minimum wages, and labor relations laws.

The study showed a gap emerged between Canadian provinces and U.S. states when public sector employ-ment was considered.

Canadian provinces consistently maintained higher levels of public-sec-tor employment.

Seven of the bottom 10 jurisdictions were Canadian provinces: Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Mani-toba, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatch-ewan.

Saskatchewan had the highest rate of public-sec-tor employment in North America at 27.4 percent of total employment; almost double that of neighboring Alberta (15.5 percent).

“The split between pri-vate and public sector em-

ployment is an important aspect of labor market per-formance since the incen-tives, productivity, and per-formance of labor activity in the private sector is dif-ferent from that in the pub-lic sector,” Veldhuis said.

“Lower labor produc-tivity in the public sector is particularly problematic given that workers in the public sector tend to receive a wage premium compared to their private sector coun-terparts,” he added.

Pro-laborUnionization is another

aspect of the labor market

where Canadian provinces and U.S. states diverged.

From 2003 to 2007, Canada’s average unioniza-tion rate was 31.8 percent, compared with 13.6 percent for the U.S.

Quebec has the highest rate of unionization in North America with 40.2 percent of its workers unionized, ranking it 60 out of 60.

A reason for the diver-gence in unionization rates was Canada’s relatively pro-union labor relation laws.

Evidence showed that labor relations laws biasing one group at the expense

Alberta cited as best performing labor market in North America

of another, or which were overly prescriptive, reduced labor market performance.

High wagesAll provinces, except

Alberta, also maintained relatively high minimum wages that have been prov-en to reduce employment and on-the-job training.

“Canadian provinces should reduce public sector employment, pursue more balanced and less prescrip-tive labor laws, and avoid increasing minimum wages to improve the function-ing of their labor markets,” Veldhuis said. PR

Jobs in the tar sands, like the Mildred Lake mine site and plant at the Atha-basca Oil Sands, have been luring both domestic and foreign workers to fill a labor shortage. Canada’s development of its huge oil reserves has also opened employment windows in manufacturing and services. Photo: TASTY CAKES in Public Domain

SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor 33MONEYMONEY

US$ Cdn$Sept. 15 46.99219 44.03865Sept. 12 46.65582 44.01235Sept. 11 47.18728 43.72970Sept. 10 46.97204 43.77445Sept. 9 46.83998 43.89597Sept. 8 46.58271 43.57328Sept. 5 46.83813 44.18383Sept. 4 46.61681 43.81007Sept. 3 46.29295 43.67053Sept. 2 46.30632 43.27418August 29 46.02098 43.33156August 28 45.58823 43.33214August 27 45.73208 43.63477August 26 46.04127 43.93058August 25 45.57291 43.56679August 22 45.56302 43.59889August 21 45.66187 43.90345August 20 45.71306 43.04152August 19 45.40299 42.83030August 18 45.32298 42.75466

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Members of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce-To-ronto (PCCT) will have another oppor-tunity to network and get acquainted with their fellow mem-bers when the orga-nization hosts an Ap-preciation Night and Dinner at the Elles-mere Community Recreation Centre on

PCCT networking, acquaintance night on Sept. 26

NEBRES and TUGADI

Sept. 26 at 6:30 p.m.Rafael Nebres and Oswald Tugadi,

president and 2008 Trade Show Chair, re-spectively, of the PCCT, say the gathering is likewise an appreciation event for all sponsors and vendors who participated in the recent PCCT Trade Show at the Metro Toronto Convention Center.

Nebres and Tug-adi add that the din-ner is aimed at rec-ognizing those who made the trade show another huge success in introducing Fili-pino products and/or their services before mainstream consum-ers in the GTA.

The trade show, conducted at the same time and venue

of the Mabuhay Philippines Toronto Sum-mer Festival on July 19 drew an estimated 15,000 visitors.

The Appreciation Night will likewise serve as a networking and an acquaintance evening among the new and old members of the PCCT. PR, PCCT Corporate Com-munications

MANILA - President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Sept. 15 sounded an ur-gent call for every Filipino to make a commitment to continue working together in creating a stronger and more competitive Philip-pines amid external threats to the local economy.

Addressing the National Competitiveness Council (NCC), Arroyo said she convened the NCC “to make sure we remain on track to improve our business and investment climate and to continue to improve our global competitiveness.”

“I called this meeting also to reassure the invest-ment community, domestic and foreign, that the gov-ernment is acting responsi-bly, will stay the course and has plan for the future,” she said.

In her 2006 State-of-the-Nation Address, Arroyo outlined five comprehen-sive strategies for global competitiveness, namely:

► Plentiful and afford-able food to keep labor cost globally competitive;

► Reduced cost of elec-

tricity to make factories re-gionally competitive;

► Modernized infra-structure to efficiently trans-port goods and people;

► Upgraded knowledge and technology disseminat-ed for productivity; and,

► Reduced red tape to cut business cost.

She commended the NCC, which would be two years in October, for its ini-tiatives on competitiveness that have influenced indus-trial and government deci-sions.

The President said the Philippines’ five-notch im-provement in its ranking in the Institute for Inter-national Management and Development survey and the four-rank improvement for competitiveness in the World Economic Forum could be attributed partly to the efforts of the council.

But Arroyo stressed the need to reassess the Philip-pines’ strategies for global competitiveness, as there have been challenges in the global economic front.

These challenges in-cluded high food and fuel prices and the slowdown of the US economy.

She said these seeming growth barriers were cush-ioned by increased revenue collections to fund govern-ment programs and proj-ects.

“While the economic picture has been challeng-ing, thankfully we had the foresight to plan for this day through our tough choices to reform our tax system,”

Gov’t on track in creating more competitive RP

FURNITURE MAKING FACTORY IN THE PHILIPPINES

(To page 34)

Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 200834

SEOUL DRIVING SCHOOLYELLOWBIRD

4862 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontarioshe said.

“It is important to remind ourselves of the ... successes of the revenue collection which is allowing for great-er investment in the people during this tough time,” the President said.

She stressed that the best buffer to external vulner-ability would be domestic and internal strength.

“Building a stronger, healthier economy driven by

Gov’t on track in creating ...(From page 33)

domestic consumption and investment and relying less on external markets is exact-ly what our reform agenda is about,” she said.

“We are doing every-thing in our power to focus on the fundamentals, keep the economy steady, and to provide relief for those most in need,” she said.

NCC working groups presented their concerns and recommendations. OPS

Chief Justice Reynato Puno (left) shakes hands with Court of Appeals Pre-siding Justice Conrado Vasquez, Jr. following the ceremonial signing of a covenant by CA Justices, as part of the judiciary’s Moral Recovery Enhance-ment Program launched on Sept. 15. Part of the covenant reads: “We, with one heart and one mind, solemnly make a covenant to dispense justice with honor, independence, impartiality, and integrity; to be subservient only to the truth; to give our utmost in everything that we do; to continue doing good; and to hold oursevles accountable to the Supreme Judge so that our Court may be a haven of fairness and righteousness.”

Judiciary’s MREP covenantThe PHILIPPINESThe PHILIPPINES

Filipino businessmen in Bathurst and Wilson areas will meet at the Our Lady of Assump-tion Church parish hall on Oct. 26 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss better coordi-nation and mutual help beneficial to them. The meeting may take up the formation of the Toronto Filipino Businessmen Improvement Area. JT

BUSINESSMEETING

SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor 35The PHILIPPINESThe PHILIPPINES

Veteran Filipino journalist Glenda Glo-ria was recently named the Marshall McLu-han Fellow for 2008 during the awards cer-emonies of the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism organized by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsi-bility.

Gloria won the Plaque of Distinction, the top prize in this year’s competition, for her article Trapped in a Web of Lives pub-lished in Newsbreak in December, 2007.

The Marshall McLuhan Prize, named after the world-renowned Canadian com-munication scholar, is the Embassy of Can-ada’s flagship public diplomacy initiative.

Launched in 1997 to encourage inves-tigative journalism in the Philippines, the Prize underlines Canada’s belief that a strong media is essential to a free demo-cratic society.

The program, with financial support from Sun Life of Canada, provides the win-ner with a study tour to Canada.

This will be an opportunity to interact with media counterparts and to discuss

Filipino journalist Glenda Gloria (left) receives the Marshall McLuhan Prize from Canadian Ambassador to Ma-nila Robert Desjardins.

current governance issues with Canadian government officials and members of civil society.

The winner will also have the chance to sit as a fellow at the McLuhan Institute in Toronto. Embassy PR

Glenda Gloria wins McLuhan Prize

What I didn’t tell is that I really enjoyed my summer with my daughter.

I didn’t tell that I was elected as the media spokes-person for the Isabella As-sociation (and by the way, readers may want to think about joining).

I didn’t tell that my new business continues to grow.

I could have. But I didn’t.

Like most people I fo-cused on my problems as

Drizzles of ...(From page 9)

the more important events in my life. It’s a bad habit. I let them overwhelm me.

It’s a habit I have to work hard to overcome.

There are always going to be problems.

But there are always many good things that can balance out one’s day.

It’s a choice of which is the more worthy of one’s focus.

info@thenannyexpert.com

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ADVERTISE with

416-285-8583

Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 200836 ENTERTAINMENTENTERTAINMENTA look into Filipino-Canadian folksingers, bands, musicians and other performers in Canada by CHITO SARABIAThe GIG

What’s in a name? Everything that is Vultocazhe, the brand that makes a unique-ly good band out of five talented Filipino youngsters who have begun to make it big in Toronto’s entertainment circuit.

Vultocazhe is composed of vocalist Vlad Manalastas, guitarist and vocalist Eu-mir Cabatino and Adrian Perlas, bassist and vocalist Edwin Rama, and drummer Don Lunaria.

According to the band’s website, Vulto-cazhe emerged in 2004 through the vision of bassist, Edwin Rama.

Hard and heavy power riffs, melodic

“I was only seven years old when my parents brought me to an amateur singing contest for children at DXMS, a local radio sta-tion in Cotabato City. I did not win, but I brought home the consolation price of one pack of biscuits. It was the sweetest I ever tasted, be-cause it sparked my pas-sion for singing,” enthused Charlyn Marundan, whose star in Toronto’s entertain-ment arena is fast rising.

“My parents motivated me to believe in myself. Hence, I chanced upon ev-ery amateur singing contest in school, in our village and at CTV-12, the local TV sta-tion. I won some; lost a lot, but losing became a chal-lenge to hone my talent,” Charlyn said.

In between studies of veterinary medicine at the University of South-ern Mindanao in Kabacan, North Cotabato, Charlyn nurtured her talent as lead vocalist of the University Music Band, playing on- and off-campus.

She had her first big win during an Inter-Organiza-tion singing tilt at Notre Dame University in Co-tabato City, where she later transferred. She topped 18

others and was adjudged the champion.

In Canada? “I never thought that I’d still pur-sue my singing in this huge country, a place that doesn’t sleep and people are always busy,” she confided.

It took two years of keeping her talent to herself before she she joined and won the 2007 Filipino sing-ing Idol contest, belting out New York, New York to an audience at Nathan Philips Sqaure.

She was also chosen to perform for a Filipino fes-tival.

“My love for music and my passion to sing led me to pursue my dreams. These dreams are not only for me but for others as well - that in my own simple way, I can make people smile each time I sing for people,” Charlys mused.

Charlyn has lately been practicing with a band nee Banda Ni Kuya, and would soon be onstage.

Filipino film Pag-asa sa Paglaya in Commfest Pagasa sa Paglaya, a

71-minute film by Philip-pine director Cornelio Tor-rijos, is among 39 commu-nity films to be screened during the Community Film Festival (Commffest) at 110 The Esplanade in toronto from Sept. 26 to 28.

Pag-asa ..., according to a submission from Cielito Torrijos, shows the big difference between the hu-mane treatment of jailbirds aimed to prepare them for after-prison life as against the threats of punishment and the death penalty.

Jail opportunitiesThe film must have taken

its inspiration from PSP or

Pag-asa sa Paglaya (Hope Upon Release), a prisoner rehabilitation cooperative the Philippine Jesuit Prison Service (PJPS) has been running since 1994.

PJPS is a foundation that is part of the social aposto-late of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines.

A report from Sunstar News Service quotes PSP founder priest Victor La-bao S.J: “PSP started as the Light a Hope project for renewed ex-prisoners and their families, and depen-dents of inmates in the New Bilibid Prison, Muntinlupa, Manila. The project in-volves manufacturing hand-

made liturgical, novelty and all-occasion scented candles.”

PSP has since grown, getting a P1-million grant from the World Bank in 2004, after being chosen as one of the winners of the bank-sponsored competi-tion First Philippine Devel-opment Innovation Market Place, with the theme Pani-bagong Paraan: Making Services Work for the Poor.

Labao brought PSP to the Cebu penal system that year, and in a matter of days, was working on the opera-tions of a new 1.6-hectare candle-making facility in Busay.

Film entriesBasides Pag-asa sa

Paglaya, Commffest orga-nizers say 38 other films are entered into the event launched at primary spon-sor Hotel Novotel Terrace on the Patio on Sept. 15.

Of the 39 films, nine are produced by Canadians.

The other films come from producers and direc-tors from the United states, Germany, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Greece, Ire-land, China, United King-dom, France, the Philip-pines, Hungary, Rwanda, Spain and Cambodia,.

UnderstandingCommffest, a charitable

The Magnificat Char-ismatic Prayer community is set to present a gala con-cert The Gift of Christmas: Pasko ng Pilipino at the Im-perial Oil Auditorium of the Ontario Science Centre on Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m.

Performers Lilac Caña, Marc Ballesteros and Emilio Zarris will sing tunes rang-ing from Broadway to jazz, traditional to modern in-terwoven into a Christmas story. Also in the repertoire are popular folk songs and the singers’ original compo-sitions.

Caña, a recording artist, is known for her exception-al operatic soprano voice.

Ballesteros, who comes from a musical family, has gained a name with his charm and heart-warming rendition of ballads and pop hits, including his very own songs.

Zarris, who made his performing debut as mem-ber of the cast member of the Canadian production of Miss Saigon, has sang on boat cruises and social func-tions, concerts and cultural events in North America.

An added show feature is the internationally-ac-claimed Fiesta Filipina Dance Troupe, which has made waves worldwide for their sensational execution of Philippine folk dances.

Pasko ng Pilipino will also be a venue to enjoy Chritmas carols and get a glimpse of Philippine Yule-tide traditions.

Joe and Annie Lapid, presiding elders of the Mag-nificat Community, hope the concert can raise funds to upgrade the community’s retreat facilities, Regina-Mundi, in Queensville.

The center is open year round to individuals and or-ganizations for workshops, retreats, prayer services, other events and activities. PR

Vultocazhe: Alternative bandtunes, soul searching lyrics and deep drum grooves have all been part of the band’s musical tradition.

Having the most experience among the roster of artist under Minerva Records, Vultocazhe boasts of a legion of loyal sup-porters who follow all their shows and ap-pearances.

Their own rendition of the Hit song The Promise by When in Rome, has been a pop-ular request in most of their performances.

Their first album entitled VULTO has been released under Minerva Records, fea-

(To page 37) VULTOCAZHE BAND MEMBERS

Jason Nunez, City of Toronto Social Services em-ployee, has been adjudged this year’s winner of City Singers 2008 conducted at the Nthan Philips Square, during the launch of United Way Toronto’s 2008 cam-paign on Sept. 9.

Jason effortlessly sang, with his own style and ren-dition, Lionel Richie’s bal-lad Hello.

Celebrity guest judges were Jennifer Valentyne of Breakfast Television, Cana-dian Idol judge Farley Flez, Canadian jazz and pop diva Molly Johnson, and Nation-al Hockey League retired pro Peter Zezel.

Jacqueline John of Parks and Recreation placed sec-ond with her rendition of Natural Woman, while Ron Morissette of Toronto Water sang the Garth Brooks Two of a Kind and bagged third place.

Twelve talented city em-ployees participated in City Singers 2008.

The crowd was also treated to performances of the TKO urban dancers and former City Singers winner, Jassette Forbes.

Erin Davis and Mike

Cooper of CHFI 98.1 hosted the contest and the United Way campaign launch.

United Way driveAlso at the United Way

city campaign were Mayor David Miller, City Manag-er Shirley Hoy and United Way’s Frances Lankin.

At the event, United Way officials announced a 2008 overall goal of $110 million.

The city’s goal for the United Way drive is $1.1 million.

Many city staffmembers have taken part in summer events that supported divi-sional United Way efforts. SUZY LLANERA

Jason Nuñez tops City Singers ‘08

NUÑEZS

group, presents a wide va-riety of local, national, and international films in a bid to bring communities to-gether, with each film rep-resenting a voice to share experiences, educate others, and be a forum to discover common ties of solidarity.

After every screening, Commffest conducts panel discussions to engage in-dividuals and communities in a dialogue of social and cultural issues.

Commffest provides film workshops for youth and adults as a commu-nity outreach program with funding from sponsor part-ners. IMELDA SUZARA

Pasko ng Pilipino tohit Toronto

CHARLYN MARUNDAN

IN PURSUIT OF A PASSION FOR SINGING

Charlyn gets into the groove

SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor 37ENTERTAINMENTENTERTAINMENT

Fidela ‘Tiya Dely’ Mag-payo, one of Philippine broadcasting’s most endur-ing personalities, passed away at 6:10 p.m. on Sept. 1 after suffering a stroke two days earlier.

Magpayo was 87 years old. She would have turned 88 on Oct. 29.

Tiya Dely’s daughter Delia Reyes said her moth-er died peacefully with her family by her side at the Intensive Care Unit of the Manila Doctors’ Hospital.

Magpayo was brought to the hospital on the night of Aug. 30, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage due to a stroke while anchoring her long-running program Serenata Kolektibista over radio station dzRH in Pasay City.

Philippine Star’s enter-tainment columnist Ricky Lo wrote: “She died with her boots on, so to speak,” said her good friend Danny Dolor, philanthropist, bank-er and Star’s Remember When? columnist.

“She had just played Bella Filipina, the intro mu-sic to the program, when she began stuttering. And then, she backed away from the microphone which had been her inseparable companion for many, many years. She slipped into coma.”

‘Tiya Dely’, who started her broadcasting career in the 1940s, was among the first people in radio who popularized Filipino music.

In her years in radio,

she became a newscaster, a commentator, radio dra-matist, and a singer, but her work as an on-air counselor, coupled with her gentle on-air persona, endeared her to generations of listeners.

With her long service in the broadcasting industry, her voice came to be recog-nized as the “First Lady of Philippine Radio.”

‘Tiya Dely’ was sup-posed to receive a Gawad Saguisag Quezon award on Aug. 31 together with a few

‘Tiya Dely’, First Lady ofRP radio, passes away

others including Komiks King Carlo J. Caparas.

Her relatives received the award on her behalf.

The Gawad Saguisag Quezon was given in honor of her more than 60 years in broadcasting and for propa-gating the Filipino Lan-guage.

She was buried yester-day at the Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina City, her home until she died. With reports from ABS-CBN and Internet sources

Sometime in 1957, ‘Tiya Dely’s’ radio program Mga Liham Kay Tiya Dely, was made into a movie by Larry Santiago Productions. The movie (poster above), a five-episode drama, launched Chiquito and Joseph Estrada’s movie careers.

Veteran Filipino actress Anita Linda (center) joins (from left) Alisha, Eugene, Anagaile and Rico in a photoshoot during a promotional lull of the movie Adela, one of three Filipino entries in the Toronto International Film Festival from Sept. 4 to 13. According to Manila Media Monitor contributor Anagaile Soriano, Adela, although a low-budget film shot in one week, stood out by sending a strong message about aging and loneliness. The story unfolded in a typical day in the life of Adela - played by Anita Linda who is in her first in-ternational film festvial. Adela needed not say much. Her facial expressions depicted her true feelings. Adela was directed by Adolfo Alix Jr., who wanted to portray a grandmother living alone, was celebrating her 80th birthday but was rejected by her children. Adela lived in poverty, among those who tried making ends meet in the Bernardo dumpsite near the Manila expressway. Director Alix said the film touched on current Philippine situations. Although the film revolved around the life of Adela in a day, Alix also paralleled the life of Adela to the Philippines.

Anita Linda at the TIFF

Hairdresser & make-up artist Tonnie Furto applies final touch to dynamic songstress Jennifer Camacho for her re-cent concert.

Fourteen artists, 11 of them members of the Phil-ippine Artists Group (PAG) in Toronto, recently con-ducted a live sketching ses-sion, during the monthly

turing the hit song Ode.Vultocazhe has played

with various independent local bands and has shown their talents in numerous prestigious events all over Toronto. The band opened for Bamboo at the Massey Hall in 2007.

Vultocazhe continues to amaze their audience with their catchy original materi-als and their energetic live performances.

Each member of Vul-tocazhe has been creating passionate, gut wrenching music all their lives.

Everyone is equal, ideas shared, and bonds made to never break.

This group’s down to earth attitude has easily placed them on the map as inspiration and mentor to newer independent bands trying to make it in the To-ronto music scene.

Vultocazhe: Alternative band(From page 36)

University of the Philip-pines Alumni Association Toronto (UPAA) Kapihan at the home of Oswald and Mila Magno.

The artists included

PAG’s Rol Lampitoc, Toots Quiatchon, Omel Masalun-ga, Frank and Nelia Tonido, Frank Cruzet, Cobie Cruz, Jun Afable, Rolly Abari-lla, Celia Correa and Romi MananQuil and guests Ar-lene Lampitoc, Andrea Fer-nandez and Mark Sperber.

MananQuil coordinated Sketching for Life for the UPAA Kapihan series.

Part of the proceeds of art works done at Sketching for Life would go to an ac-count for UP scholarships.

Framed sketches bought by UPAA members would be presented to them at the next Kapihan fellowship.

Follow-up events on arts and culture are being planned. ROSE TIJAM

UPAA-PAG in Sketching for Life

PAG artists, professional model and UPAA members

Manila Media Monitor SEPTEMBER 20083838R

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Lahat ng problema may solusyon. ‘Pag walang solusyon, huwag problemahin.***

Always remember: Kung kaya ng iba, ipagawa mo sa kanila. Don’t force yourself. Make life easy.

***Hindi lahat ng guwapo, may girlfriend. Ang iba sa kanila, may boyfriend.

***Don’t face your problem if the problem is your face.

***Practice makes perfect, but nobody is perfect. So, don’t practice.

***Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not

follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me alone. ***

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt or a leaky tire.***

It’s always darkest before dawn, so if you’re going to steal your neighbor’s newspaper, that’s the time to do it.

***Don’t be irreplaceable. If you can’t be replaced, you can’t be promoted.

***Always remember that you’re unique. Just like everyone else.

***Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

***If you think nobody cares if you ‘re alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

***Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when

you criticize them, you’re a mile away and you have their shoes.***

If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.***

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

***If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.

***Some days you’re the bug, some days you’re the windshield.

***Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

***The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your

pocket.***

A closed mouth gathers no food.***

Duct tape is like ‘The Force’. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds a nagger’s lips together.

***There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works.

***Generally speaking, you aren’t learning much when your lips are moving.

***Experience is something you don’t get until just after you need it.

Inspired ka ba?

SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor 39

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40 SEPTEMBER 2008 Manila Media Monitor