shattering easter start - filipinos making...

APRIL 2019 VOL. 8, NO. 04 TORONTO, CANADA

www.filipinosmakingwaves.com

STRONG EARTHQUAKES HIT THE PHILIPPINES

Earth-Shattering Easter Start A pair of strong earth-quakes have left at least 16 dead in the Philippines this week as search and rescue efforts continue.

A powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the northern Philippine island of Luzon on Monday and was followed by a 6.4 mag-nitude earthquake on the central Philippine island of Samar on Tuesday.

Monday's earthquake was centered about 60 km (37 miles) northwest of the capital city of Manila, which is home to more than 12 million people. Its magni-tude was initially rated as

strong as 6.4.

At least 16 fatalities have been confirmed so far, with most of these in Pampanga province, according to Pampanga governor Lilia Pineda. Dozens of other people were injured due to collapsed buildings and walls in the province.

Search and rescue opera-tions are ongoing for at least 24 missing individu-als, according to the Philip-pine Red Cross.

The earthquake damaged a church in northern Pam-panga province and also

(Continued on page 4)

Philippine News

Duterte threatens to

ship garbage back to

Canada

Page 4

Canadian News

Statement by the PM

on the Terrorist

Attack in Sri Lanka

Page 3

Religious Inspiration

Focus on the Humor Not the Tumor

3

Canada Ranked As Having One Of The Most Powerful Passports In The World In 2019

By Nicole Hui

Henley & Partners' annual Passport Index for 2019 ranks Canada as having one of the most powerful pass-ports in the world.

Here is yet another reason to be proud to be Canadian – Canada has been ranked as having one of the most powerful passports in the world in 2019. Canadians are fortunate to be holding a passport that is among the most powerful in the whole world, and this means that Canadians are

able to easily travel to many countries without needing to obtain a visa be-forehand.

Henley & Partners released their annual Passport Index for 2019 earlier this week on March 26. The list exam-ines 199 passports and 227 different travel destinations in order to determine which are countries hold the most powerful pass-ports in the whole world.

Canada was ranked as num-


It’s election fever once again in the Philippines as the May 13 vote draws closer.

It is a mid-term election where 12 seats in the Sen-ate are contested, as well as, all seats in the House of Representative.

Also, up for grabs are posi-tions in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Mus-lim Mindanao (BARMM) . Come election day, citizens in BARMM are voting for municipal officials in their respective local govern-ment units, including the cities, municipalities and provincial government units. The regional govern-ment officials are not yet

up for elections, as they are currently filled by the ap-pointed members of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), who will be serving for a 3-year in-terim period until the regu-lar elections in 2022.

Voters get to elect their chosen representatives for positions in the provincial, city and municipal levels of government.

As the campaigns heat up, lots of money are spent to drum up support. Candi-dates come up with elec-tion a myriad of parapher-nalia and eloquent speech-es to lure the constituents to put that “X” mark beside their name on the official ballots. Some even come up with celebrity endorse-ments that may be very influential to their showbiz-crazed voters.

For the May 13 election, EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT. VOTE WISELY.

The Heat is On as PHL Election Nears

A resident looks at the rubble of St. Catherine church on Tuesday, including the toppled head of a statue, following a 6.1 magnitude earthquake in Pampanga province northwest of Manila the previous day. AP

Travel

“Love Bus”

is in the air

Page 5

Entertainment

Ice & Juris: Sooo

Good Two-gether By BeeKay Jimenez

Page 15

APRIL 2019

Filipinos Making WAV ES

APRIL 2019

Filipinos Making WAV ES CANADA ~ PHILIPPINE NEWS WAVES

OPEN LETTER TO PRES. RODRIGO DUTERTE ON THE MASSACRE OF 14 AGRICULTURAL WORKERS IN NEGROS ORIENTAL

March 30, 2019

Dear Mr. President,

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines - Canada (ICHRP - Canada) con-demns the heinous murder of fourteen agricultural workers by the Philippine National Police (PNP) yes-terday in Negros Oriental. The 14 people killed in an alleged anti-criminality campaign in Negros Orien-tal were farmers who were massacred by the police on March 29, 2019.

According to Provincial Police Director, Colonel Raul Tacaca, eight suspects were killed in Canlaon City, four in Manjuyod town, and two in Sta. Catalina town. Tacaca claimed that the victims were resisting arrest during police opera-tions against "hard-core criminals." A similar re-frain has been sounded in the tens of thousands of deaths attributed to police in Duterte’s War on Drugs.

Human rights and farmers’ groups contend the police allegations. They maintain that the operations target-ed political activists and government critics. Ac-cording to them, leaders of local peasant organizations who had long been tagged by government forces as “legal fronts” of the com-munist rebel movement were among those killed and arrested.

The killings happened Fri-day night at around mid-night, when more than 10 uniformed personnel en-tered the home.The known victims who were all farm-ers from different villages near Canlaon City include:

Ismael Avelino, 53 habal-habal driver, and a member of Hukom (Hugpong Kusog Mag-uuma sa Can-laon);

Edgardo Avelino, 59, farmer and Chair-person of Hukom (Hugpong Kusog Mag-uuma sa Can-laon);

Melchor Pañares, 67, farmer,

Mario Pañares, 46, farmer (son of Mel-chor Pañares)

Rogelio Ricomuno, 52, farmer,

Ricky Ricomuno, 28, farmer;

Gonzalo Rosales, 47, far-mer

Genes Palmares, 54, farmer, and peasant leader

Franklen Lariosa

Anoj Enojo Rapada

Velentin Acabal

Sonny Palagtiw, Village captain

Steve Arapoc

Manulo Martin

Two of the dead were re-portedly local village lead-ers. Catholic Bishop Gerar-do Alminaza of the Diocese of Canlaon reports that one of those killed was a lay minister in Canlaon Parish and the parish vouches for his moral character”

The ages of the victims also belay the military’s claims that those killed were par-tisans of the New People’s Army. Most of the victims were killed as they slept which belie the claim of the police that they were fight-ers who died in a firefight with government forces.

This is not an isolated inci-dent. Twelve other individ-uals were arrested, as the police operations contin-ued as of this filing. One of the arrested was Azucena Garubat, chairperson of a local farmers' group, who was earlier reported miss-ing in Canlaon.

These shocking events are the brutal result of the Duterte Regime’s ill-advised policy of impunity for the Philippine police and military in its ongoing crack down of progressive and activist organizations following Duterte’s deci-sion to end peace talks with the National Demo-cratic Front in November 2017. Since then, govern-ment forces have escalated its brutal campaign of in-timidation against oppo-nents of the regime espe-

cially farmers, indigenous peoples and environmental activists. Aleast 180 farm-ers have been killed under the Duterte administration, 40 of which were from Ne-gros. The Duterte regime is transforming Negros Island into a killing field.

The massacre and arrests on March 29 come in the wake of the October 2018 Sagay Massacre where 9 sugarcane farmers in Sagay City, Negros Occidental were shot by 5 to 6 gun-men while eating dinner. In a similar police opera-tion in December 2018, six people were killed and 31 were arrested. Military op-erations and killings have intensified since last No-vember when Duterte de-ployed more troops to Ne-gros Oriental and Occi-dental in order to crush dissent.

We call on the Philippine government to end the senseless war on the Filipi-no people, and stop the killing of children, farm-ers, indigenous peoples, and human rights de-fenders.

We call on you Mr. Presi-dent, as the Commander-in-Chief to end impunity and prosecute the human rights perpetrators in the Philippines.

We call on you Mr. Presi-dent to resume the peace process and address the roots of the problems of poverty and inequality in the Philippines!

WE CALL FOR JUSTICE FOR THE FOURTEEN FARMERS KILLED BY THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL POLICE!

Douglas Booker

International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines – Canada 2852 Grandeur Ave. Follow our Blog https://wordpress.com/posts/my/ochrp.wordpress.com Follow us on Twitter @OCHRPOttawa

Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos up 1.5 pct in February

MANILA - Cash remittances from overseas Filipinos reached $2.3 billion in Feb-ruary, up 1.5 percent com-pared to the same month in 2018, the central bank said Monday.

This brought total remit-tances for the first 2 months of the year to $4.78 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said.

The remittance growth in February was the slowest since the 0.9 percent con-traction in August last year.

Meanwhile, personal remit-tances, which include non-cash items, amounted to $2.56 billion in February, higher by 1.2 percent from February 2018.

"By country source, the United States registered the highest share of overall re-mittances for the period at 35.5 percent. It was fol-lowed by Saudi Arabia, Sin-gapore, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Ja-pan, Canada, Qatar, Hong Kong, and Germany," the BSP said.

The combined remittances from these countries ac-counted for 77.3 percent of total cash remittances for January to February 2019, the central bank added.

Remittances power domes-tic consumption, which is

an engine of economic growth in the Philippines.

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, on Sunday (April 21, 2019) issued the following statement on the terrorist at-tacks in Sri Lanka:

“I was shocked and saddened to hear of the devastating terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, which have claimed the lives of more than two hundred people and injured many hun-dreds more. On behalf of the Government of Canada and all Canadians, I offer my heartfelt condolences to all those who have lost loved ones and my hope for a full recovery to those injured.

“Canada strongly condemns these heinous attacks on ho-tels and Christians at prayer in churches. Places of worship are sacred, where all should feel safe and secure. No one should be targeted because of their faith.

“For millions of people around the world, Easter is a time to reflect on Jesus’ message of compassion and kindness—a time to come together with friends and family. We cannot let attacks like these weaken the hope we share.

“To the people of Sri Lanka and other communities affected by today’s attacks: Canada stands with you. We will contin-ue to work with you and other international partners to combat terrorism and violent extremism and to promote greater peace and stability around the world.

“To date, we have no reports of any Canadian citizens being affected. Due to the current situation, our High Commission in Colombo will be closed on April 22. However, Canadians in need of emergency consular assistance should contact [email protected] or call +1 613 996 8885.”

Statement by the Prime Minister on

the terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka

APRIL 2019

Filipinos Making WAV ES PHILIPPINES ~ CANADA NEWS WAVES

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For Editorial Submissions: [email protected] 647 707-7201

Waves News is published monthly by Mentor Productions and distributed free in the Greater Toronto Area and vicinities. Editorial or advertising inquiries may be sent directly to [email protected]. Articles are copyrighted by their authors. Any re-posting or re-publication online or in print is prohibited without the written permission by Waves News and its editors. While submissions are welcome, the editors reserve the right to refuse and/or edit unsolicited materials. Any publication included in this newspaper and/or opinions expressed therein do not necessarily reflect the views of WAVES News and its publishers, but remain solely those of the author(s).

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ber sixth for having the most powerful passport in the world! With their pass-port, Canadians are able to visit a total of 184 coun-tries visa-free, according to the rankings.

Both Canada and the U.S.'s passport ranked sixth on the Passport Index. Just like Canadians, Americans can also visit 184 countries without obtaining a prior visa. A few other countries also shared the number sixth spot with Canada – Greece, Ireland and Bel-gium.

Canada's passport has maintained the same rank-ing for the past few years. Since 2016, Canada has been ranked sixth on Hen-ley & Partner's annual Passport Index. It even held the number two spot on the ranking back in 2014.

So which country was named as having the most powerful passport in the whole world? Three coun-tries in Asia shared the number one spot on the list – Japan, Singapore and South Korea. Their pass-port holders are able to visit 189 countries without needing a prior visa.

The annual Henley Pass-port Index ranks passports based on how many coun-tries they can enter with-out needing to obtain a pri-or visa. "Boasting cutting-edge expert commentary and historical data span-ning 14 years, the Henley Passport Index is the origi-nal ranking of all the world’s passports accord-ing to the number of desti-nations their holders can access without a prior vi-sa," reads the rankings.

"The ranking is based on exclusive data from the In-ternational Air Transport Association (IATA), which maintains the world’s larg-est and most accurate data-base of travel information, and it is enhanced by ex-tensive, ongoing research by the Henley & Partners Research Department."

(Continued from page 1)

Canada ranked as having one of the most powerful passport in the..

Duterte threatens to ship garbage back to Canada By Azer Parrocha

MANILA -- President Ro-drigo Duterte on Tuesday renewed his call to Canada to pull out tons of garbage which was dumped in the Philippines from 2013 to 2014.

Duterte, in a situation briefing in San Fernando Pampanga, threatened to set sail to Canada and dump the garbage back there if they refused to re-solve the issue.

“I want a boat prepared. I'll give a warning to Canada maybe next week that they better pull that thing out or I will set sail, doon sa Cana-da ibuhos ko 'yang basura nila doon (in Canda and dump the trash there),” Duterte said.

Duterte said he would no longer allow Canada to turn the Philippines into a “dumpsite”, urging them to prepare for “a grand recep-tion” to welcome their trash back home.

“I cannot understand why they are making us a dumpsite, and that is not the only case on point. Pa-pasunod-sunod 'yan na pin-apadala yung basura sa atin (They keep sending their trash here). Well, not this time,” he said.

He also threatened to de-clare war against Canada over the garbage issue.

“Awayin natin ang Canada (Let’s fight with Canada). We'll declare war against them, kaya man natin 'yan


caused boulders to roll down a mountain, blocking a highway in the region, ac-cording to the Associated Press.

At least 10 people have so far been reported injured during the 6.5-magnitude earthquake that rocked Eastern Samar and nearby provinces in the Eastern Visayas region on Tuesday.

Initial reports from the Of-fice of the Civil Defense (OCD) released Wednesday disclosed that those hurt are from Samar, Eastern Samar and Northern Samar prov-inces.

No death related to the earthquake has been report-ed.

Meanwhile, minor cracks

were seen in 35 government office buildings, schools, road sections and bridges in the region, according to OCD.

The agency is still waiting for additional reports from local government units in the region affected by the tremor.

In a report from San Julian, Eastern Samar, the location of the earthquake’s epicen-ter, there were damages on roads and bridges, masonry cracks and slight structural cracks in public school buildings and rural health units. Two houses were re-ported to be severely dam-aged.

The town’s church also sus-tained cracks during the earthquake.

Tacloban City disaster risk reduction and management council chief, Ildebrando Bernadas, said they will con-

tinue checking the structur-al integrity of buildings af-fected by the earthquake to ensure public safety.

In their initial assessment, most of the city buildings were found to have suffered minor damages, such as cracks and broken glass walls.

“As a whole, Tacloban City is safe but we do not discount the possibility of delayed impact until the 24-hour period is over,” Bernadas said.

“Let us be watchful, let us be vigilant, let us be safe and pray that nothing else will happen,” he added.

The magnitude 6.5 earth-quake rocked Eastern Sa-mar at 1:37 p.m. on Tues-day, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismol-ogy (Phivolcs) said.—Eric Liester, Accuweather


serve other points like Chiang Mai," he remarked. There were 236 passengers

onboard at Love Bus first commercial flight.

The Airbus A350 has a 295-seating capacity (30 on business class, 24 on premi-um economy and 241 on regular economy). The busi-ness class and premium

economy sections are more spacious and offer a wider legroom. "Our 6th A350 will be arriving soon and this will also carry the Love Bus theme," Villaluna said. (PNA)


“Love Bus” is in the air...

Earth-Shattering Easter Start

APRIL 2019

Filipinos Making WAV ES PHILIPPINES ~ CANADA NEWS WAVES

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC

Overseas Voting for Senators and Party-List Representatives for the 2019 Philippine National Election

The Philippine Consulate General in Toronto informs all Filipino Overseas Voters in the Great-er Toronto Area, Manitoba and other areas under its Consular jurisdiction, that the VOTING PERIOD for overseas voting in the 2019 National Elections for Senators and Party-List Repre-sentatives shall be from 13 April 2019 to 13 May 2019. The mode of voting for registered Filipino overseas voters residing in the abovementioned are-as is POSTAL voting as approved by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in its Meeting held on 14 November 2018 and through Resolution No. 18-1124. Official ballots, instructions for voting and other election materials shall be mailed to all registered Filipino overseas voters before 13 April 2019. Ballots must be correctly filled up in accordance with instructions issued by the COMELEC. Overseas voters must either MAIL or HAND CARRY their ballots to the Consulate. The Consulate must receive these ballots ON OR BEFORE 5 o’clock in the morning of 13 May 2019, Toronto time (5 o’clock in the afternoon of 13 May 2019, Philippine time) in order to be counted at the Consulate. For questions, overseas voters may send an email to the Consulate through [email protected] or may call Ms. Fatima Muallam at telephone number 416-355-2782 or through the Consulate’s trunkline: 416-922-7181.

sila. Isaoli ko talaga. Tingnan mo(We can han-dle them. I’ll return the trash. Just wait and see),” Duterte said.

“Load the containers to a ship, and I will advise Cana-da that your garbage is on the way. Prepare a grand reception. Eat it if you want to,” he added.

Duterte also asked Customs Commissioner Rey Guerre-ro to prohibit Canada from sending in any more trash to the country.

“Sabihin ko kay (I’ll tell) Jagger, send them back or do not allow them to drop anchor here. Just tell them go back to where you came from. I will not allow that kind of shit sa ating bayan (here in our country),” he added.

From 2013 to 2014, a total of 103 container vans from Canada reportedly arrived in batches at the Port of Manila.

The garbage was initially declared to contain only plastic scraps. However, it was found to have non-recyclable plastics, house-hold wastes and used adult diapers.

During his visit to the Phil-ippines to attend the Asso-ciation of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in 2017, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed to cooperate with the Philippine government in resolving the shipment of tons of garbage.

Trudeau, however, said the Philippine and Canadian governments need to settle issues including who will pay for the shipment of the illegal trash to the country. (PNA)


Duterte threatens to ship garbage ...

Sri Lanka Easter attacks draw international condem-nation, prayer for victims

Religious and civil leaders have responded with condo-lences, prayer, and calls for justice after several explo-sions at churches and hotels in Sri Lanka killed more than 200 people and injured hun-dreds more on Easter Sun-day.

Calling it “a very, very sad day for all of us,” Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, canceled all re-maining Easter Masses for the day in the Colombo dis-trict.

He expressed his “deepest sorrow and sympathy to all those innocent families that

have lost someone, and also to those who have been in-jured and rendered desti-tute,” Vatican News report-ed.

“I condemn – to the utmost of my capacity – this act that has caused so much death and suffering to the people,” Ranjith said. He called for a strong and impartial inquiry to find those responsible for the attacks.

At the conclusion of his Urbi et Orbi address on Easter Sunday, Pope Francis said the violence in Sri Lanka has brought “grief and sorrow” to the people there.

“I wish to express my affec-tionate closeness to the Christian community, struck while it was gathered in prayer, and to all the victims of such cruel violence,” he said.

“I entrust to the Lord all those who have tragically perished,” he said, adding his prayers for those who are injured and suffering from the attacks.

Shortly before 9 a.m., explo-sions were detonated during Easter Mass at Catholic churches in the Sri Lankan capital, Colombo, and in Ne-


Sri Lankan hospital workers transport a body to a hospital morgue after several bomb blasts on Easter Sunday. Credit: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi / AFP / Getty Images

'Love Bus' is in the air

By Ma. Cristina Arayata

MANILA-- Have you been on the Philippine Air-lines' (PAL) Love Bus?

Forty years ago, the flag car-rier unveiled the Love Bus logo (a kiss mark) on an Air-bus A300B4, a wide-body plane designed for short to medium range routes. At that time, PAL used this unit in its prime routes. For those who have not seen or rode the plane, worry no more as PAL has just brought back "Love Bus" in the air.

"We are celebrating our strong partnership with Air-bus. The strong working re-lationship is now on its 40th year. When the first delivery by Airbus happened in 1979, the aircraft delivery was sealed with a 'kiss mark'. We are doing exactly that 40 years later with the delivery of the Airbus A350 - which we consider outstanding in terms of engine capability, aircraft range as well as cab-in design," PAL spokesper-son Cielo Villaluna told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) on Monday.

PAL's fifth Airbus A350 has a Love Bus logo, and it ar-rived in Manila last Febru-ary. PAL has dedicated the A350s for long-haul flights to New York, London and Toronto.

This will also be occasional-ly utilized for PAL's regional flights, according to Villalu-na.

Last April 8, PAL used the brand-new Love Bus for a commercial flight for the first time, to Bangkok.

"We had Bangkok, Singapore and Hong Kong as options. We actually wanted to fly (this) to London, but people may not be able to get a rushed visa. So we flew this to a place not too far from Manila, so it could still fly other destination later in the evening," PAL vice president for Corporate Communica-tions Jose Perez de Tagle told the PNA. He said PAL serves Manila-Bangkok route 25 times a week. Cebu-Bangkok, on the other hand, is thrice a week. "Now we have a partnership with Thai Airways so we could


APRIL 2019

Filipinos Making WAV ES COMMUNITY

A N N O U N C E M E N T

The Central Philippine Uni-versity Alumni Association Greater Toronto Area ( CPUAAGTA) will be spon-soring a night of music on May 25, 2019 (Saturday) at 7 pm at the North York Me-morial Community Hall (Burgundy Room), high-lighting well loved Filipino songs and the Easter Dra-matic Musical entitled “Lead me to the Cross” ar-ranged by David T. Clydes-dale.

The concert features the Bahandi Singers, a Chris-tian choir formed at Central Philippine University, Iloilo City in 1978. The group has performed a variety of rep-ertoire including gospel, folk song, classical orato-

ries and contemporary pieces and has performed in different countries in Asia and the United States.

In the late 2010, some of its members together with their families migrated to Canada which gave birth to Bahandi Singers- Canada. The group has evolved into a family choir composed of 25-28 people with parents singing with their children.

For the last few years, the choir has done several con-certs and singing engage-ments in Toronto and other parts of Ontario in partner-ship with organizations and churches in the many events and fund raising ef-forts for ministry.

Last year, July 2018, the group celebrated their 40th Anniversary where mem-bers, who are mainly in Ilo-ilo City, USA, Canada and different parts of Asia and the Philippines, gathered together at CPU for a Grand Reunion Concert entitled “The Anchor Holds”.

On May 25, 2019 at 7 pm, we are inviting everyone to join the Bahandi Singers-Canada in a fundraising concert for the benefit of the CPUAAGTA Scholarship Program of deserving stu-dents at Central Philippine University.

Save the date and see you there!

See poster for details.

BAHANDI SINGERS May 25 Concert

gombo, a city 20 miles to its north. At the same time, a bomb exploded at a service at the evangelical Zion Church in Batticaolo, on Sri Lanka’s east coast.

Pews were shattered by the blast at St. Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo, and floors and ceilings were covered in blood. The Catholic shrine is the most well-known church in Sri Lanka, and is designat-ed the country’s national shrine. The first chapel on the Church property was built during Sri Lanka’s Dutch colonial period, when

Catholicism was mostly for-bidden on the island.

There were also explosions Sunday morning at three lux-ury hotels in Colombo, and explosions outside a zoo and a private home Sunday after-noon.

In a post on Twitter, U.S. Sec-retary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the attacks “in the strongest terms.”

“These attacks demonstrate the brutal nature of terror-ists whose sole aim is to threaten peace & security,” he said. “We offer our deep-est condolences and stand with the government & peo-ple of #SriLanka.”

A spokesperson for UN Sec-

retary General Anto nio Gu-terres voiced outrage at the attacks and calls for justice for perpetrators.

“The Secretary-General ex-presses his deepest condo-lences to the families of the victims, the people and the Government of Sri Lanka, and wishes a speedy recov-ery to the injured. He com-mends the leadership demonstrated by the author-ities and unity of the people of Sri Lanka in the wake of the attacks,” the spokesper-son said, adding that Gu-

terres “reiterates the support and solidarity of the United Nations with the people and the Government of Sri Lanka in this difficult moment for the nation.”

No group has claimed re-sponsibility for the attacks, but a police spokesman said seven people have been ar-rested in connection with them, according to the AP. Some reports suggested that an additional six suspects were later arrested.

The island nation, which is home to a population of more than 21 million, has been plagued with periodic violence since its 26-year civil war concluded in 2009. More than 70% of Sri Lankans are Buddhists, roughly 13% are Hindus, almost 10% are Muslims, and fewer than 8% are Christians. There are 1.5 million Catholics in the country, constituting the overwhelming majority of the Sri Lanka’s Christians.


The Filipino Centre, Toron-to is pleased to announce it has received $100,000.00 grant funded by the Gov-ernment of Canada’s 2018 Enabling Accessibility Fund (EAF) program – small pro-jects component. The Ena-bling Accessibility Fund (EAF) provides funding for eligible projects that in-crease accessibility for peo-ple with disabilities in Ca-nadian communities and workplaces, creating more opportunities for people with disabilities to partici-pate in community activi-ties, programs and services, or access employment op-portunities.

These funds will support creating a fully accessible community space for the

Filipino Canadian commu-nity, the multicultural, new immigrants Toronto area residents and new emerg-ing young mixed Filipino-Canadian families repre-senting about half of the 350,000 Filipinos living in Toronto and to create a ful-ly accessible community space for others to rent to increase programming for individuals with mobility, visual and hearing issues.

The Filipino Centre, Toron-to (FCT) is a non-profit or-ganization, operated by volunteers, a community centre helping Filipinos preserve their identity and individuality while at the same time making their presence felt in their new country. Founded in 2000

and formerly located at 597 Parliament St. in Toronto, the Centre now occupies a new facility at 4395 Shep-pard Ave. East in Scar-borough. FCT provides pro-grams and services to the Filipino community and the whole community in the Toronto area.

The Honorable Shaun Chen, Member of Parliament for Scarborough North in his support letter for FCT’s grant application stated that “by providing this funding, the Filipino Cen-tre, Toronto will be accessi-ble to all members of our community and will go a long way toward meeting the needs of individuals with disabilities in Scar-borough”. ∎

Sri Lanka Easter attacks draw int’l..

APRIL 2019

Filipinos Making WAV ES COMMUNITY

YOU ARE ALL INVITED

DEVOTION TO OUR LADY OF PENAFRANCIA

2019 Our Lady of Penafrancia Novena

Our Lady of the Assumption Church 2565 Bathurst St., Toronto ON

The 4th month Novena Devotions to the Virgin of Penafrancia will be on

April 28, 2019 (4th Sunday of April 2019) Starts at 1:30 pm

Rosary and Novena prayers Followed by the Holy Mass

Refreshments, Kumustahan at the Church Hall

Feast Day Saturday Sept 21, 2019

Fluvial Parade, Mass & Fellowship at Bluffer’s Park Lake

SPONSORS FOR THIS MONTH

Devotees of the Virgin of Penafrancia

from CAMARINES SUR

c/o Cabaltera Family & Friends

905 416-8928

We encourage all Bicolanos to attend and participate in the spon-sorship of this novena to the Virgin, for abundant blessings for all the provinces of the Bicol Region, especially for the province of Camarines Sur. Our Lady of the Virgin of Penafrancia is the Patroness of the BICOL region. SHE listens and loves us all ! Viva la Virgen !

For more information, please call:

Jenifer Amaranto 416 781-3105 Genie Tejolan 905 417-8928 Paeng Nebres 416 618-1362

FCT Reveals Outstanding Seniors of the Year 2019 Awardees By Tony A. San Juan, OCT

True to its commitment and desire to recognise and hon-our senior members of the Filipino Canadian commu-nity in Ontario, the Filipino Centre Toronto - FCT, through its Outstanding Filipino Canadian Seniors Awards board of judges, selects and names 7 active seniors to receive the "Most Outstanding Senior of the Year-2019" awards. These still-engaged seniors who have made invaluable con-tributions, exemplary ser-vice, and magnanimous en-gagement into the quality of life and living in their communities, were chosen via a 5 -month competitive search. The seven deserving recipi-ents will be honoured and presented with a "Plaque of Recognition" at the FCT- Filipino Centre Toronto's Bi-annual Gala Event on April 13, 2019, Saturday, 7:00 pm. at Grand Cinnamon Banquet and Convention Centre in Scarborough, To-ronto, Ontario.

The winners of this first-ever top recognition are: Caroline Banez, Norma Car-pio, Teodorico "Ted" Dayno, Agnes P. Miranda, Rafael "Paeng" Nebres, George Poblete, and Arturo T. Viola. Three other sen-iors, namely Erlinda Insig-ne, Rolando M. Dela Cruz and Joel Recla will be pre-sented with "Certificates of Recognition" as well. Introducing briefly, Carol Banez, a registered nurse, is president of Scarborough Ontario Seniors Association & ex-president of Philip-pine Heritage Band; Norma Carpio, a travel agency owner, is chair emerita of Mabuhay Philippines Festi-val & former president of Philippine Independence Day Council; Ted Dayno, a CPA, is an entrepreneur & president of UMAC & FOREX; Agnes Miranda, a supporter of community organizations, is the senior executive vice-chair of World Financial Group; Ra-fael Nebres, a community & faith-based leader, is the

general manager of Action Honda; George Poblete, a retired engineer, is a top officer of the Knights of Co-lumbus & the Knights of Rizal; and Arturo T. Viola, a retired medical technology manager, is former politi-cian and Lord Mayor of the Niagara- on- the- Lake township. Erlinda Insigne, a real estate broker is long-serving president of Filipi-no Canadian Assn. of Vaughan; Rolando Dela Cruz, a Lion & former dis-trict governor, is an optical lab technician; and Joel Recla, a Kof C Maharlika member, is a multicultural TV-Radio producer, creator & host. Organised in 1990 as a not for profit, volunteer-run,

community-based organi-sation, the Filipino Centre

Toronto-FCT operates and offers its many well- estab-

lished programs and ser-vices to the community

from its newly owned site at 4395 Sheppard Avenue

East, Scarborough, Toronto.

APRIL 2019

Filipinos Making WAV ES MILESTONES

Evelyn Carlos 65th Birthday Surprise!

NICO CASTRO’s 2nd Birthday (March 25) A Disneyland treat with Mom Cassie, Dad Joey and Ate Riley

The RAHS (Ramon Avancena High School) Batch 73 and 77, Toronto Committee, headed by Gene Pardo Elamparo, is in full swing for the preparation of their upcoming 5-day Canada International Reunion on May 5 to 9, 2019. Participants are coming from different parts of the world

Miyen Carlos was in awe as what was

supposed to be a simple dinner turned out

to a big surprise dinner among relatives

and friends who took turns in greeting her

a happy 65th birthday!

APRIL 15 Birthday Twins

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Miss Manila 2019 Candidates

Meet some of the candidates for Miss Manila 2019. Sitting (L-R) Ashley Omo, Agnes Cachuela, Angelie Galvez, Shelby Laine. Standing (L-R) Bernadette Koussa, Patricia Cobarrubias, Janine Macado, Fran-cene Albarillo, Coronation will be held on Sunday, June 2 at 5 pm at Korean Cultural Centre –1133 Leslie St., Toronto. Proceeds to go to the Fiesta Centre for the Arts in Mississauga. PHOTO BY RENE SEVILLA

APRIL 2019


EMAIL [email protected]

WEBSITE

tasteofmanilacanada.com

LET’S BE ONE IN CELEBRATING US

LOTS OF FOOD, FUN & LIVE

ENTERTAINMENT

featuring our very talented cultural dance groups, musical performers, live bands and special guest entertainers.

Saturday, June 1, 2019 10am - 11pm

Albert Campbell Square

Scarborough Civic Centre

150 Borough Drive, Scarborough

FILIPINO HERITAGE

ABS-CBN TFC CANADA Hosts Community Kwentuhan Dinner By: Tony A. San Juan, OCT

Committed to its mission to reach out and connect progressively with the Filipino Canadian commun-ity in the Greater Toronto Area, the ABS -CBN The Filipino Channel senior executives and staff in North America hosted a "Kwentuhan cum Meet-and-Greet" session in Toronto on April 4, 2019. A good number of invited members of the Filipino media and leaders of the community attended the dinner meeting at the Islas Filipino BBQ & Bar at 1690 Queen Street West, Toron-to. In attendance, likewise, were top executives and staff of ABS-CBN TFC Canada led by the new Country Manager for Canada Kerwin Du, Eastern Canada sales & distribution head Mario Marasigan, and Regional Marketing head for North & Latin America Pamela Castillo.

Presided by Rosary Escano, ABS-CBN TFC marketing head in Canada, the unique and special gathering was conducted to start an infor-mal but significant conversa-tion aimed at eliciting infor-mation for the Philippine leading media company "to understand better the Filipi-no community in Toronto". This way, R. Escano hoped that ABS-CBN, the largest Filipino television & broad-cast company in the world can offer good products and

"other ways to better serve" their North American cus-tomers. In the after dinner 3-hour kwentuhan session, the en-gaged attendees shared their personal experiences, back-ground and stories as new and established immigrants in their adopted country. Some guests also shared their insights and wisdom on how the hosts will be able to provide and deliver excellent broadcast content and pro-gramming in Canada. ∎

ABS-CBN TFC CANADA executives L-R: Rosary Escano, Kerwin

Du, Pamela Castillo and Mario Marasigan

APRIL 2019


CONCERT DANCE DISCO FUN

SATURDAY, June 8, 2019 7pm

Korean Canadian Cultural Centre 1133 Leslie Street, Toronto ON

APRIL 2019


2019

APRIL 2019


APRIL 2019


By Isay Reyes

MANILA - How does a priest face a fight with lung cancer?

For Father Jerry Orbos, fighting cancer meant "focusing on the humor and not the tumor."

A smoker during the early years of his vocation, Fa-ther Jerry was diagnosed with stage 2 lung cancer in 2018 and went through 4

cycles of chemotherapy.

In January 2019, he was declared 'cancer free with no recurrence' by his oncol-ogist.

"I never thought that I would be in this journey but the Lord has plans," Fa-ther Jerry said during the first Cancer Congress for Patients and Survivors at the AFP Theater.

Cancer came as a surprise for Father Jerry who found out about the illness after a CT scan, which he under-went after figuring in a ve-hicular accident in Febru-ary 2018.

The CT scan showed a 1 1/2 cm nodule in his upper left lobe, which was con-firmed to be malignant.

He underwent chemothera-py, which cut down his weight from 220 lbs to 180 lbs.

He never questioned God and never allowed his faith to waver. He saw God's wis-dom in everything, saying he would not have found out about the cancer if not for the vehicular accident.

He also realized the im-portance of maintaining the 3 Hs of life: Be Healthy; Be Happy and Be Holy.

To have a long and healthy life, the key is to eat

healthy, walk doubly, laugh triple, and love without measure.

Father Jerry Orbos, SV showcase in his health and happier state after surviv-ing lung cancer.

"Eat half, kung dati isang lechon ang kinakain mo, ngayon kalahati na lang ng lechon," he jokingly said to the audience.

To be happy is to focus on the humor.

"Kung mamamatay kang malungkot, malungkot kang namatay. Don't blame the situation, don't blame God. Don't make others misera-ble," Father Jerry said.

And to be holy? Father Jerry said a major part of it is to be thankful in life. He added that his journey made him more prayerful and more patient; and to treat each day as a gift.

"To be grateful, that's all. Marami tayong hindi nai-intindihan, mag tiwala lang tayo sa Panginoon," he told the audience, which he called "cansmates" or can-cer classmates.

"Inspire before you expire. Don't forget prayer and hu-mor and you'll be alright." - ABS CBN News ∎

National Shrine of our Mother of Perpetual Help

St. Patrick’s Catholic Church

131 McCaul St, Toronto

(416) 598-3269

WEEKLY WEDNESDAY MASS & DEVOTIONS: 7:30 am * 9:30am * 12 noon, * 2:30pm * 5:05pm * 7:00pm

Even the WAVES obey Him...

Religious Inspirations

IN LOVING MEMORY

Eufrocina "Mama" A Narciso 90 years, of Victoria, BC, and the Philippines, has joined her Creator on April 5, 2019 and now shares the joy of Eternal Life promised by our Lord Jesus, with the loving intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary.

Beloved wife of Jesus “Jess”. Loving mother (& mother-in-law) of Jessica (Harry), Marlon (Leila), Babette (Cesar). Dear grandmother of Kristen (Matt), Alyssa, Ryan, CJ, Rea, Matthew, Melanie. Born to late par-ents, Mariano and Amparo Adriano, on September 26, 1928, in Parañaque, Rizal, Philippines. Beloved sister (& sister-in-law) to Edgar (†Aurora), Norma (Fred), Marianito (Luz), Romelia (†Alejandro), Francecelia (Richard). She was a teach-er at Aurora A. Quezon Ele-mentary School in Manila, Philippines, and a Geriatric Nurse Assistant at Glengar-

ry Hospital and the Sisters of Saint Anne in Victoria, BC, Canada. She and her husband were active in the Victoria Filipino Canadian Association and Bayanihan Housing Society. She was a devoted and loving wife, mother and grandmother.

She will be missed by her relatives and friends, in-cluding all who affection-ately call her “Mama Sen”. The family would like to express their gratitude to the wonderful staff at Sel-kirk Care Home facility (Fenton Unit) and the car-ing nurses and doctors at 8N PCC Royal Jubilee Hospi-tal.

All services will be in Victo-ria, BC, Canada. Visiting and prayers on April 11, Thurs-day 5-8PM at FIRST MEMO-RIAL SOCIETY 4725 Falaise Drive Victoria, BC 250-658-5244

On Friday, April 12, 2019, family and friends are invit-ed to meet at Holy Cross Parish (4049 Gordon Head Rd., Victoria, BC) for Funer-al Mass at 10:00 am. Inter-ment Royal Oak Burial Park (4673 Falaise Dr, Victoria BC). Reception to follow at Holy Cross Parish Hall.

Benigno Agamata

Eternal rest grant unto Benigno Agamata, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and all the souls of the faithful

departed rest in peace. Amen

October 10

1944

April 3

2019

Funeral Details

York Cemetery & Funeral Centre 160 Beecroft, Toronto On

Visitation: April 9 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm Chapel Service: April 10 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Burial: April 10 11:15 am - 11:45 am

'Focus on the humor, not the tumor': Priest shares battle with lung cancer

Father Jerry Orbos, SV shares his own battle against cancer at the Cancer Congress 2019

APRIL 2019

Filipinos Making WAV ES Religious Inspirations

IN MEMORIAM

Our dear sister, aunt, daughter and good friend Edith passed away last Tuesday March 26, 2019 at her home in Richmond, BC. She was 63.

She was born February 7, 1956 in Meycauayan, Bulacan Philip-pines to Constancia and Rizalino Casaje. Lovingly called "Bunso" meaning youngest, by her 5 other siblings, Erlinda, Carmelita, Teresita, Ricardo and Corazon.

To her 13 nieces and nephews, she was the cool mom and a great friend. She would treat each of her nieces and nephew as her own. She would always consider herself part of the "kabataan", meaning the younger generation and would make herself available if someone needs a listening ear. She was al-ways jolly and generous. She also had the chance to spend some time with her 6 great grand nieces and nephews, who she would spoil with lots of gifts.

She will be dearly missed and will be always be remembered for her kind heart, generosity and genuine love for others espe-cially her family and friends.

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” – Mother Teresa Joaquin “Jojo” Taduran

loving father, husband and a dear friend to many Filipinos around the globe, passed away peacefully in Toronto, Canada on March 31, 2019 at the age of 77 years.

Jojo , a print and broadcast journalist in the prime of his life, was a contributor to many filipino community newspapers in Toronto and in the Philippines. He was the voice in the popu-lar radio program, Pulong-pulong sa Kaunlaran (1971-1986).

The filipino community you served will miss you. Rest in peace.

Funeral Mass & Service

April 6, 2019 Our Lady of the Assumption Church

Photo by Cha Dacara

It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of Fely sur-rounded by her family. She is gone to be with the Lord on April 14, 2019 age of 77 years. Adored wife of Renato for 48

years. Loving mother of Row-ena Bautista (Emmanuel), and Rainier Villas (Jaclyn). Cher-ished Lola of Kendall (Ann), Brendan, Laila Rae, Riley Ja-cob, and Spencer. Great grand-mother of Aiden, Noah, and Aria. Dear sister of Aquilino Balagot (Bernie), Arturo Balagot (Jesusa), Fe Centeno (Yolanda), Felisa Gregorio (Howard), Rosario Gregorio (Marvin), Artemio Balagot (Edith), Alex Balagot

(Rowena), Ericson Balagot (Sheryl), and reunited with her late sisters Flora Wilson, Florentina Bartolata (Jaime), Terisita Venerascion (Enrique), and Marilou Orence (David). Fely will be dearly missed by her brothers and sisters in law Helen Villas, An-nalie Jarencio (Medardo), Norlito Villas (Romula), Anna-belle Lopez (Theodore), Caro-lina Villas, Eddie Villas (Anselma), and Servando Vil-

las and the late Danilo Villas (Severina). Survived by count-less nieces and nephews. She was a devote Catholic and an active parishioner and Filipino choir member at Holy Name of Mary Church A special thanks to our sup-port circle including all of the medical professionals who through their efforts gave us 3 more months with Fely. Thank you to the family and friends

who offered respite, and kept her company. Visiting Wednesday from 2-5 pm and 6-9 pm with Parish Prayers at 4:30 pm and Filipi-no Prayers in the evening at Families First 3260 Dougall Ave. South Windsor, 519-969-5841. On Thursday, all are invited to continue visiting at Holy Name of Mary Church (711 McEwan) from 10 am until the Liturgy of the Word at 11 am. Burial to follow at Heavenly Rest Cemetery. Share memories, photos or make a donation at www.FamiliesFirst.ca

Felicitas nee Balagot “Fely” Villas April 27, 1941 – April 14, 2019

The resurrection is the most shocking event in human history By Courtney Grogan

Pope Francis said Monday that the resurrection of Christ is the most shocking event in human history.

“What was humanly unthink-able happened,” Pope Fran-cis said April 22. “‘Christ, my hope, is risen!’ And in Him we too are resurrected, pass-ing from death to life, from the slavery of sin to the free-dom of love.”

The pope spoke from the window of the Vatican Apos-tolic Palace before leading those gathered in St. Peter’s Square in the traditional Easter prayer, the Regina

Coeli.

“After the rites of the Easter Triduum, which made us relive the mystery of death and resurrection of our Lord, now with the eyes of faith we contemplate him risen and alive,” he said.

Pope Francis said “the risen Jesus walks beside us. He manifests himself to those who invoke and love him. First of all in prayer, but also in simple joys lived with faith and gratitude.”

The pope pointed to the im-portant role that women played in announcing Christ’s resurrection.

“It is women who are the first to meet the Risen One and bring the announcement that he is alive,” Pope Francis said.

“All the Gospels highlight the role of women, Mary Magda-lene and the others, as the first witnesses of the resur-rection,” he said.

Pope Francis said that the words Jesus addressed to the women must also resound in our lives today, “Do not be afraid; go and announce …”

“We ask the Virgin Mary to allow us to receive full peace and serenity, gifts from the Risen One, to share with our

brothers, especially those who need comfort and hope the most,” Pope Francis said.

“Let us allow ourselves, therefore, to reach out from the consoling message of Easter and wrap ourselves in its glorious light, which dissi-pates the darkness of fear and sadness,” he said.

The pope again expressed his spiritual closeness with the people of Sri Lanka, where explosions in Catholic churches killed more than

200 people on Easter morn-ing.

Pope Francis condemned the acts of terrorism and said that the Sri Lankan people continue to be in his prayers.

“I pray for the many victims and wounded, and I ask eve-ryone not to hesitate to offer this dear nation all the help that is necessary. I also hope that everyone condemns these acts of terrorism, inhu-man acts, never justifiable,” Pope Francis said. ∎

Pope Francis in St. Peter's Sqaure March 14, 2018. Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA.

APRIL 2019

Filipinos Making WAV ES ENTERTAINMENT

By BABY K. JIMENEZ

ICE and JURIS are not a love team but they’re two of a kind - each gifted with a distinctive vocal prowess that merges as one as they curb more road tours. In their recent Toronto show billed as ALL HEART, the duo displayed rhythm, mel-ody and all that jazz elicit-

ing shrieks of joy and adula-tion from their devotees. For their starter, Ice and Juris did a blend of As Long As You Love Me, Stop and Waterfalls - vibrant songs that promised a happy evening. As I sat there, I was totally swept away. Up close - it is interesting to note that

when Ice performs, he seems not to be daunted by anything, doesn’t matter if the venue were a large are-na or just a tiny private room… He is both so candid and splendid, so unguarded and clearly aware that his voice, songs and presence are the real show. He’d be in his favorite sneakers, a casual pair of pants, a plain tee but is so aware that

when his joy or pain comes through his vocal chords, it meets an immediate instant approval. Talk about emo-tional precision. Like tonight. A big Wow Factor. ICE strummed, plucked, jammed. The gui-tar dominated the stage - each string vibrated to tones that captured every-body’s heart - and when he started to hum and sing, the audience roared decibels of wild clamor. “Pagdating ng panahon, Baka ikaw rin at ako, Baka tibok ng puso ko'y maging tibok ng puso mo…” Look at Juris. The LADY! The female crooner. She seems to smile through her hits. What caught my atten-tion was her link to her au-dience, and my impression went on a higher gear when her adulators joined in and sang with her, knowing the lyrics by heart. When she did Paano Kung jointly penned by France and Carla Concio, I was speechless, oh wow she takes your breath away. Ice confessed that they did not have any actual re-hearsals at the venue, “We just needed a soundcheck and it was fine, I am so comfortable with Juris and we know our numbers so well we can perform smoothly.” Sharing here some ques-tions and answers with Ju-ris and Ice.

When does a song become your favorite - the lyrics, the tune or the story behind it? Juris: Sometimes the lyrics, sometimes the tune. i think liking the tune for me hap-pens most of time with up-beat or happy tunes, and with lyrics would be in love/heartbreak songs and songs.

Your favorite songs and what made them your favor-ite. Juris: At the top of my head, 'Now that i have you" by the Company. Ive always liked the song but i loved it more when i met my husband that it became my wedding march song. Now that i have kids, i real-ly like "Remember me"(acoustic) from movie Coco. My son esp can sing it with/for me at night before sleeping. It makes me think of times that i have to be away for work or thinking of my husband and i getting older and our kids growing up but way younger than us. It's a very sentimental song. When singing a famous song, do you favor singing it as faithful to the original as possible or giving it your personal interpretation? Juris: when singing a fa-mous song, it's important not to change too much the

original melody. With any song, i sing it the way i know how and how i under-stand it. Sometimes what can be done is to have a dif-ferent arrangement in mu-sic to help with dynamics in singing.


Tune in to 1610 AM Radio Dial for new Filipino weekly programs ORAS NA (WED 8-9pm); PATROLYA (WED 9-10PM), TSIKAHAN TAYO (THURS 9-10PM)

and KUYA ROMANTIKO (FRI 9-10pm)

ICE & JURIS: SOOO GOOD TWO-GETHER!

Talakayan Radyo Filipino broadcast staff posed with Filipino Canadian Permanent Catholic Deacon Rob-erto "Bob" Rosales on April 20, 2019( Black Saturday) at MCBN TV Pinoy Radio Station. Shown L-R : Nelson Galvez, Tony A. San Juan, Jess Cabrias, R. Rosales and Bobby Achacon( Photo by B. Acha-con).

Ice and Juris selfie with the audience.

Writer BK Jimenez with celebrity

singer, Ice Seguerra

APRIL 2019

Filipinos Making WAV ES ENTERTAINMENT

Sposored by the Agtarap family, the first fundraising for the youth dancers of FFDT (Fiesta Filipina Dance Troupe) was held recently for the group’s upcoming trip to Madrid, Spain. (Inset Photo: Helen Agtarap, FFDT Board of Director) PHOTOS BY RENE SEVILLA.

Fiesta Filipina Dance Troupe fundraising event

L-R: IMELDA CONCEPCION, JOSEPHINE ARTUZ (2nd runner up), LEONOR ABAD-POIZNER (Mrs/Ms. Philippines PIDC 2019) SALLY MAANO TANINGCO (1st runner up), GENOVEVA ASUNCION-JUBILO, JAN BENOZA, AMETHYST SALAS

L-R: Ramon Estaris, Ben Corpuz, Helen Pico-Lao, Gisele Mirasol (GK Canada Direc-tor), Jose Quirubin (GK Canada Vice-Chairman), Norma Carpio, Karen Pascual-Binaday, PIDC President, Agnes Miranda, Suzy Llanera, Melinda Manlapaz, Aurora Ticzon Elefano, Ophelia Santiago and Gene Pardo-Elamparo

PIDC Mrs/Ms Philippines 2019

KUYA ROMAN WITH SPECIAL GUESTS. L-R: Nellie Marasco, Kuya Roman Carretas, Italian Songwriter Mario Marasco and Genia Carretas

RADIO FILIPINO TORONTO HOSTS AND FRIENDS. L-R: John Policarpio, Diona Joyce (Kanto Foods Owner), Odette Montelibano, K. Roman, Faye Hangdaan, Faye’s friend and Estela Ng.

CAST AND PRODUCTION CREW. L-R) Ricky

Quitay, Sheng Maglisay, Jun Alapan, (standing) Mon

Torralba, Katharine Reyes, Maria Panaligan, Terry

Barter,and Chyrell Samson-Ronquillo.

ROMANTIC RHYTHMS of Poem, Song and Dance

Describe ICE Ice: sleepyhead, couch potato, foodie. Name 3 songs that are always part of your playlist for concerts/peformances. Ice: Pagdating ng Panahon - this is a must in every show. Most re-quested song. Araw Gabi - theme-song namin ni misis. Huling El Bim-bo - always good to end the show with a bang.

how big is music in your life?

Ice: It’s a big part of my life. It feeds me (literally and figuratively), it's my release.

Your favorite singers, have they in-spired you? in what way? Ice: Sarah McLachlan - i love every-thing about her. Her voice, her mu-sic and poetry, everything!!! and the Beatles!!! What will they be 10 years from now? Ice: Maybe doing more music, do-ing production, scores. I could be doing business but still linked to music. Juris: Hard to tell but our kids will be teenagers by that time so, probably be into serious parent-ing hahaha…∎


Ice and Juris: SOOO GOOD TWO-GETHER

Ice and Juris with producers and production and technical staff.

APRIL 2019

Filipinos Making WAV ES SPORTS

Philippines' Ernest John Obiena wins gold in pole vault

Ibraheem Al Omari, Reuters

MANILA, Philippines – Ern-est John Obiena earned the Philippines its first gold in the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar following a record-breaking performance in the pole vault.

Obiena, 23, set a new na-tional record when he cleared 5.71-meters in his first try.

It was also a new record for the Asian Champion-ships, as Obiena shattered the mark set by Kazkahstan's Grigoriy Yer-

gov (5.70-meters) all the way back in 1993.

Zhang Wei (5.66-meters) and Huang Bokai (5.66-meters), both from China, took silver and bronze, re-spectively.

This marks the first gold medal won by a Filipino in the continental meet since Marestella Torres (long jump) in 2009. In the pro-cess, Obiena also qualified to the World Champion-ships in September.

Speaking to the Varsitari-an, Obiena said: "This one is sweet, because I have not yet won in this competi-tion, and after my injury, I didn't even think that it is possible."

Obiena suffered an ACL tear ahead of the Southeast Asian Games in 2017. ∎

EJ Obiena marked a new tournament record with his gold medal win in the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar.

Always flying but eternally grounded”

“Always flying but

eternally grounded”

- EJ Obiena (capped in his

social media post)

Obiena a broke 26 -year record

Leonard in top shape as Raptors win first series

By Ian Harrison, Associated Press

TORONTO (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 27 points, Pascal Siakam added 24 and the Toronto Raptors used an-other stifling defensive effort to beat the Orlando Magic 115-96 on Tuesday night (Wednesday, PHL time), win-ning their first-round playoff series in five games.

Kyle Lowry scored 14 points as the Raptors finished off the Magic with ease, bouncing back from a Game 1 defeat to win by double-digits in three of the next four. Toronto led by as many as 37 in the clincher, their biggest-ever margin in a playoff game.

It's the fourth straight year the Raptors have reached the second round.

Leonard made 8-of-11 shots, including 5-of-5 from three-point range, as the Raptors jumped on Orlando early and never trailed. Leonard also made all six of his free throws. He checked out to cheers of "MVP, MVP" with 8:05 to play and Toronto up 105-75.

Orlando made 32-of-83 shots, including 9-of-34 from three-

point range.

Lowry scored Toronto's first nine points and had 12 in the opening quarter. Orlando missed 10 of its first 11 shots and went 0-for-7 from three-point range in the first. Toron-to was up 35-19 after one.

Raptors held a 67-47 lead at the intermission.

Toronto took a commanding 99-70 lead into the fourth.

Toronto had 10 assists on 13 made baskets in the first quarter, and 19 on 23 baskets in the first half. The 19 assists set a Raptors record for a sin-gle half of a postseason game. ... G Fred VanVleet led Toron-to with 10 assists while Low-ry had nine. ... Five games is the quickest Toronto has ever won a seven-game series. ... F Chris Boucher (back) was not available.

UP NEXT

Toronto will host Philadelphia or Brooklyn in Game 1 of the second round ∎

APRIL 2019


Mon Torralba

MUSIC STAND

(Waves of our Lives)

www.pinoyradio.com

Every Friday 8pm on FTV

Channel 869

Watch TV host

Joel Recla with his guests

Host: KUYA NESTOR

Sundays 8:30 pm - 9:00pm

Let the WAVES herald your advertisement

Email

[email protected]

Romantic

Rhythms At the onset of year 2019, veteran

radio broadcaster and our dear

friend, Kuya Roman Caretas, ap-

proached us about a project to

showcase his passion for poetry

reading or spoken words.

A trilogy of 3 art disciplines: spo-

ken words, song and dance is what

was in his mind. This is uncharted

territory for me. But I took the

challenge.

I know I was in a mission that may

be impossible without much pa-

tience. It was such an arduous task

to create a program flow that will

match each poem with either a

song or dance (or both). A couple

of rehearsals with the singers, plus

2 run-thru’s with Kuya Roman was

all it took.

The show was presented to a very

appreciative audience on April 5 in

this beautiful 200-seat Maja Pren-

tice Theatre in Mississauga.

The young tech at Maja Prentice

was very cooperative as we re-

hearsed and programmed the

lighting sequences for the show.

Then came the real test—

showtime.

The program flowed smoothly.

Thanks to the professionalism of

the technical team—Ricky Quitay

& Sheng Maglisay of RSAV produc-

tion and ever-dependable Jun

Alapan. Teresa Torralba and Terry

Barker for taking care of the cues ,

performers and the stage during

the show. The performances of

Chyrell Samson, Maria Panaligan

and Katharine Reyes were com-

mendable. They definitely made

us all look good.

Such as breeze if you get profes-

sionals to execute the script.

Last, but definitely not the least,

Kuya Roman Carretas. It was his

idea to do this kind of unique show.

During the program, you elicited

your passion for poetry when you

read the very nice selection of po-

ems. You kept the audience in awe

and riveted to their seats.. Con-

gratulations and thank you .

Mission accomplished. (MT)

Photo Credit: Romy Marquez

Mon-Sat 11 am—10 pm

168 Eglinton Ave E, Toronto, ON (a few steps from Philippine Consulate building)

It was a pleasure to meet Juris and Ice Seguerra

Intro: E - Am/E – E - Am/E Verse 1 E C#m7 Alam kong hindi mo pansin A B E B/D# Narito lang ako C#m7 F#sus-F# Naghihintay na mahalin A D C Bsus-B Umaasa kahit di man ngayon F#m F#/A# Mapapansin mo rin, Bsus Am/B-B Mapapansin mo rin Verse 2 E C#m7 Alam kong di mo makita A B E B/D# Narito lang ako C#m7 F#sus-F# Hinihintay lagi kita A D C Bsus-B Umaasa kahit di man ngayon F#m F#/A# Am/B B7b9 Hahanapin mo rin, hahanapin din Chorus E B/D# Pagdating ng panahon G#sus7 G#/C C#m Baka ikaw rin at ako A B G#m7 Baka tibok ng puso ko'y C#m F#m F#/A# B Maging tibok ng puso mo E B/D# Sana nga’y mangyari yun

G#sus G#/C C#m Kahit di palang ngayon A B G#m7 C#m Sana ay mahalin mo rin F#m Am/ B E Pagdating ng panahon Interlude: E - Am/E – E - Am/E Verse 3 E C#m7 Alam kong hindi mo alam A B E-B/D# Narito lang ako C#m7 F#sus-F# Naghihintay kahit kailan A D C Bsus-B Nangangarap kahit di man ngayon F#m F#/A# Bsus B7 Mamahalin mo rin, mamahalin mo rin (Repeat Chorus) Coda AM7 Am Di pa siguro bukas G#m7 C#m Di pa rin ngayon F#m F#/A# Malay mo balang araw B13sus B7-C9sus Dumating din yun (Repeat Chorus 1/2 step higher (F), except last word) F Bbm/F - F- Bbm/F - F ... panahon

Pagdating ng Panahon Composers: Moy Ortiz/Edith Gallardo

Recording Artist: Ice Seguerra

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