manila media monitor -- april 2010

April 2010 Toronto, Canada

The photo is a still from a video taken by Front Page Philippines TV at the Philippine Chamber of Commerce-Toronto Mini Trade Show, March 27, in Scar-borough, Ontario, where J. Ramon ‘Chito’ Gonzales (left) and Jun Miranda, ex-ecutives of money remittance companies Western Union and PNB Rapid Remit, respectively, are engaged in a friendly conversation. Front Page Philippines producer and Manila Media Monitor managing editor Ace Alvarez was inspired to make a still of the video shot to show the good example that the executives of two competing businesses exemplify. As Jun Miranda said in a conversation with Ace Alvarez at another occasion when they were discussing Filipino atti-tude in Toronto on business competition, “We must learn how to compete and still keep our friendship; live and let live!” (See related story, From The Moni-tor’s Desk, page 8)

COMMUNITYcontinued on p. 13

By Ace Alvarez

The eyes of the interna-tional community are directed to the Philippines on the coun-try’s May 10, 2010 presidential elections.

Both government and non-governmental organizations from various parts of the world are sending teams of represen-tatives to the Philippines to ob-serve the conduct of this year’s presidential elections. Elec-tions in the Philippines have a long reputation for election fraud and violence.

According to Basics, a pro-working class and people’s community media organization based in Toronto, 22 Canadian citizens, including represen-tatives from churches, labor unions, academics, lawyers and a sitting member of parliament, Don Davies (NDP, Vancouver Kingsway), are preparing to

head to the Philippines as part of an international observers mission.

More than 17,000 offices will be contested across the Philippines, including the key posts of President, Vice Presi-dent along with representatives to the House of Representa-tives, the Senate, and a range of provincial, municipal, and local offices.

The People’s International Observers Mission (PIOM), was organized by civil soci-ety groups in the Philippines, including churches, human rights advocates, lawyers and other non-governmental orga-nizations.

Basics News quoted Mis-sion member Randall Garri-son - an elected City Councilor from Esquimalt, B.C.as saying, “the way Canadians have an-

swered the call for this mission shows our strong concern for the deterioration of democracy and human rights in the Philip-pines.”

The trip, taking place from May 7 to 15, will monitor and investigate electoral fraud and violence, particularly since this is the first nationwide automat-ed election in the Philippines. The goal is to assure that voters are protected and free to vote according to their conscience and that democratic processes are fully respected.

Garrison said, “The role of the Mission is to help ensure and to assess whether the con-ditions exist for the conduct of a free, fair and credible elec-tion in which Philippine citi-zens fully exercise their right to vote.”

Basics News further quoted

Int’l community watches RP May 10 elections

PHILIPPINE ELECTIONS

In photo is the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine that will be used for the first nationwide automated election in the Philippines. According to one analyst who observed the use of a similar machine in the recount of the 2008 Min-nesota Senate Race, the core technology in the scanning of ballots proved to be extremely accurate. Andrew Appel’s analysis showed that “net” accuracy of optical-scan voting was 99.99%; “gross” accuracy was 99.91%; and, the rate of ambiguous ballots was low, 99.99% unambiguous. Appel is a professor and chair at the Department of Computer Sci-ence, Princeton University.

the Esquimalt BC city council-or, “The Philippines has a long history of election fraud, ma-nipulation and violence, exem-plified by the horrific massacre near the town of Ampatuan on the island of Mindanao late last year in which 52 people were killed in cold blood, including a record 30 journalists.”

An eight-member delega-tion from British Columbia also includes Professor Valerie Raoul and health worker Ron Jeffries. Six delegates from

five provinces are active with the United Church of Canada (UCC), including Omega Bula, Executive Minister of the UCC-Justice, Global and Ecumeni-cal Relations Unit and Shaun E. Fryday, ordained Minister at Beaconsfield United Church in Quebec. Priscillia Lefebvre will attend as a member of the Canadian Union of Public Em-ployees, local 4600 in Ottawa.

2 Manila Media Monitor April 2010

3April 2010 Manila Media Monitor

Get on the Voters’ ListElection Day is Monday, October 25, 2010.

NEWS

In order to make vot-ing a quick and easy ex-perience, voters are en-couraged to make sure that they are included in the Voters’ List.

Being in the Voters’ List ensures that voters receive important elec-tion messaging, such as their voter information card. The voter informa-tion card details where and when to vote, and also speeds up the time spent at the voting loca-tion.

The Municipal Prop-erty Assessment Corpo-ration (MPAC) is respon-sible for preparing the preliminary list of electors. This is an initial list of in-dividuals who are eligible to vote in a municipal and school board elec-tion and this list is used by the City of Toronto to create the final Voters’ List.

Information about prop-erty owners and tenants is included in MPAC’s database and the database is kept up to date with the help of residents.

MPAC will mail Municipal Enumeration Forms later this month to specific households where it needs to confirm or update the occupant information currently on file. Residents are asked to review the informa-tion, confirm and/or make any necessary changes. Once the form has been completed, please sign and return it to MPAC in

the envelope provided no later than June 1, 2010.

Residents who do not receive a Municipal Enumeration Form in the mail are asked to contact MPAC directly before June 1, 2010 to find out if they are currently in MPAC’s database, to update or change their information, or to have their name added. Doing so will make voting day easy.

MPAC can be reached directly:

Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Toll free: 1-866-296-

MPAC (6722) Website: http://www.

mpac.ca Access for the Deaf

or Hard of Hearing is available by call-ing 1-877-TTY-MPAC (6722) or through the Bell Relay service.

Toronto is Canada’s largest city and sixth largest government, and

home to a diverse popu-lation of about 2.6 mil-lion people. It is the eco-nomic engine of Canada and one of the greenest and most creative cities in North America. To-ronto has won numerous awards for quality, inno-vation and efficiency in delivering public servic-es. Toronto’s government

is dedicated to prosperity, opportunity and liveabili-ty for all its residents. For information about non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can dial 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. (City of Toronto Information Office)

‘‘You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements.

- Norman Douglas

4 Manila Media Monitor April 2010 NEWS

Entrepreneurs wantedfor Canadianhomebased business.

HOSPICIOcontinued on p. 5

Hospicio de San Jose appeals for financial helpBy Rudy Viernes

NOVATO, CALI-FORNIA – Hospicio de San Jose in Manila is ap-pealing for financial as-sistance.

The Hospicio de San Jose is a Catholic charita-ble institution, managed since 1865 by the Daugh-ters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. It is the foster home of orphans, children and adolescents abandoned or surren-dered by their parents due to poverty. Some of these children have spe-cial needs. There are also elderly residents with no-where to stay. At present there are nearly 300 resi-dents to be fed and cared for, a monumental task the Sisters are undergo-ing daily, a consumate and enduring act indeed for such a long period of time.

There is a Crisis Cen-ter that caters to all types of clients in crisis situa-

tions -- pregnant single mothers, street fami-lies, vagrants, victims of abuse and violence, and those displaced by natu-ral disasters and calami-ties.

In the past there were newborn infants aban-doned by their anony-mous parents, especially at night, at the legendary “Turning Cradle” at the gate of Hospicio. This was discontinued because of the emphasis placed on the need for moth-ers/parents to surrender their children personally in order to facilitate the speedy process of find-ing alternative families for them. So the parents, especially the mothers, directly surrender their babies to to Hospicio and sign a Deed of Volun-tary Commitment which means that the child is being surrendered to the care of Hospicio de San

Jose.In some cases babies

born in hospitals aban-doned by the mother af-ter birth were turned over to Hospicio by the social worker of the said hospi-tal. Other children are admitted for temporary shelter only which nor-mally lasts for half a year or a year. But most often this arrangement is ex-tended when the mother could not afford to have her child back because of extreme penury.

Other residents are for long-term care. This is brought about when the mother brings her child to Hospicio to be safe from harm’s way from an abu-sive step-father, and there are many of such cases. In this situation they stay at Hospicio where they are brought up and provided with education so that they may have a brighter future after

which they can be released or are old enougrh to fend for them-selves. This is

the case of a young girl this writer is helping for her education in partner-ship with a group he calls Magnificent 15 whose members are willing to be part of a worthy cause.

As earlier stated Hos-picio de San Jose is a charitable institution that operates through the be-nevolence of people with kind hearts. Indeed it needs outside help in or-der to continue its phil-anthropic commitment to provide residents their very basic needs. Or it needs sponsors for the education of children of school age, or children with acute physical and mental infirmities who are harder to take care of and whose stay at the institution is fore life.

Hospicio is cel-ebrating its bicen-tennial this year (1810-2010!). The

celebration has for its theme: “Hospicio de San Jose Celebrates 200 Years of Witnessing to Char-ity and Mission...Nur-turing Hope.” It started last Dec. 28,2009 with a grand motorcade through the streets of Manila with Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim in the entourage, and the laying down of a marker where Hospicio had its beginnings.

Last March 13, bene-factors were honored during a “Tribute to Our Benefactors” night held in honor of St, Joseph, its patron saint. The personnel, children and elderly presented a two-hour show entitled “Pa-sinaya: Hospico de San Jose Through the Years”

consisting of plays, songs and dances from the Spanish era to contem-peroary times. (Pasinaya means tribute).

A “Cradle of Hope” coffe-table book was pre-pared that includes Hos-picio’s history and 101 testimonies from “adop-tees” and “alumni” all over the world, some of them have already fami-lies of their own.

Taj Hamad, Secretary General of the World As-sociation of Non-Govern-ment Organizations ar-rived from New York on time to present the pres-tigious WANGO award to the Sisters for Services to Humanity. He lauded


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HOSPICIO from p. 4Hospicio for performing such laudatory and he-roic acts of the Daughters of Charity to the helpless, hopeless, homeless and those in abject circum-stances who are no less God’s children for for such a very long period of time.

Sr. Maria Socorro Evi-dente of the Daughters of Charity and the Adminis-trator is inviting Hospi-cio alumni and adoptees in the United States and elsewhere, and there are thousands of them, to go home and visit their “roots” during this bicen-tennial year which ends in December 2010.

During last year’s back-to-back flood that devastated the Metro-Manila area Hospicio was not spared. It is lo-cated at a small islet in the middle of the Pasig River at the fringe of the Ayala Bridge in Quiapo. . The entire first floor was inundated. You can just imagine the material hav-oc (appliances, furnitures, books, etc.) the deluge had wrought. Thank God

no life was lost because of the timely evacuation of all the residents to the second and third floors of the main building.

If there are kind souls out there who like to be benefactors or collabo-rators of a philantropic cause they can email Sr. Maria Socorro Evidente at [email protected] who will give them Hospicio’s bank account number, or call her in Manila at 734-2367/68 and 734-9184 (dial first

011632 then the num-ber), Fax No. 734-2366, or send your checques to this address: Hospicio de San Jose, Ayala Bridge, Quiapo, Manila, 1099.

When we radiate light that makes a difference in the life of others I re-member the golden nug-get which says: “It’s only when you share your life with others that life be-gins to have meaning and purpose, the time you touch others is the time you really live.

Civic leader Jun Enverga (4th from left) presents a photo-history of the Jua-na Tejada law to the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multicultur-alism Jason Kenney (3rd from left). Present at the presentation are, from left, Consul General Minerva Jean A. Falcon, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Cooperation Jim Abbott; Caregiver Advocate Joe Oliver; Amb. Jose Brillantes, Rosemer Enverga and Maria Guiao. the cel-ebration for caregivers was hosted by Caregivers Resource Centre, headed by Terry Olayta, at the Mt. Zion Chuch, March 21.

‘‘It’s easier to quote

poets than to read them.

- Allison Barrows

6 Manila Media Monitor April 2010 VIEWS

The next RP Tourism Secretary…

A C E A L V A R E Z

OOOPS continued on p. 7

BELLA’S LECHON: THE NEWEST TAKE-OUT AND CATERING FACILITY TO SATISFY THE FILIPINO TASTE BUD IN TORONTO formally opened on Saturday, April 10. On hand at the event are officers and members of the Philip-pine Chamber of Commerce-Toronto (PCCT). In photo, (L-R) VP for Membership Oswald Tugadi; Secretary Sonny Montojo; President Rafael Nebres - who does the honors on the ceremonial ribbon-cutting; Isa Tugadi; Gina Montojo; Joycie Ingeniero -- the proprietor and head chef at Bella’s Lechon; and PCCT Director Steve Pagao. Bella’s Lechon is lo-cated at 1139 Morningside Avenue, Unit 23 in Scarborough. For inquiries, please call (416) 282-3288. (Manila Media Monitor Photo)

During his stint as the Phil-ippines’ Secretary of Tourism, Richard Gordon -- a Philip-pine presidential candidate in the May 10, 2010 elections, appointed Atin Ito publisher Eddie Lee as Special Philip-pine Tourism Representative in Canada.

If Gordon eventually wins the presidency, my good friend Eddie Lee might get an ap-pointment as the Philippines Secretary of Tourism. Aba, okay na okay! For the last fourteen years, Eddie has been a very good friend of mine.

At bilang pagpapatunay, mga kaibigan, you will see in one photo in this page na mag-kasama kami ni Eddie. Re-member that photo, Eddie?

Eddie, when you get an appointment, bahala ka na sa akin ha? Basta galit natin ang presidente ng Philippine Press

Club-Ontario, si Tenny Sori-ano, at iyong publisher/editor ng Philippine Courier, si Mon Datol.

‘dangan naman kasi itong si Tenny at si Mon, e! Mga Cor-rigenda subjects!

***And because, Eddie and

Philippine Labor Attache in Canada Frank Luna are good friends, too, hindi malayo na ma-appoint si Frank Luna as

Secretary of Labor.

Wow! Bigat naming tatlo! Eddie, Frank and, last but not the least, Ace.

***On the oth-

er hand, what I can do is that, if Mar Roxas wins the race, I can conect Ed-die and Frank with my distant relative Mar.

Only one problem remains. Mar doesn’t know me person-ally; nor do I know him, too. Kaya, bahala na si Ted Dayno – president of Forex Parcel Service dito. I think Ted knows Mar Roxas personally.

***Back to Richard Gordon …In a GMA TV news dis-

patch, the presidential

bet sometime April dared all presidential bets to take psychiatric test to to prove that they are men-tally fit to run the country.

Mr. Gor-don, I think the psychiat-ric test must be done after the elections, especially on those who lost the elec-tions. Ahhh, it would always be mind-bog-gling how to figure out how to recover the money spent during the campaign sortie.

***See the other photo in this

page? The one cutting the rib-bon at the opening of Bella’s Lechon – a food catering and take-out in Scarborough? That’s Rafael Nebres, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce-Toronto (PCCT).

Even as the president of the PCCT, Mr. Nebres is closely protected by those two guys to his right: one looks like the 1930s’ big fellow and the other from the U.S. Secret Service. You can’t just imagine, how much more, had Sir Paeng been the … president of the

Ace Alvarez and Eddie Lee


Bawat patak ng pawis at pagod mo........buong pusong ihahatid ng Forex sa

pamilya mo.....kahit saan....... kahit kailan

VIEWS

OOOPS continued on p. 10

OOOPS from p. 6

Manila Media MonitorTel. (416) 285-8583

United States. ***Of course, all of us know

that Mr. Nebres is the general manager of Action Honda.

That dealership has a very good record for customer ser-vice … that when I happened to drop by one day, I had no-where to park my car. Reason was that I visited as a media supplier and not as a customer, and all signs at available park-ing spaces states what you read in photo number 3.

***From a forwarded mes-

sage in my inbox coming from Chuchi Punsalan:

‘My name is Dan,When I grow up to be a

man,I want to go to India and Ja-

pan,If I can, If I can, If I can. ‘ ‘Very good’, the teacher

said to Dan. She then asked Sally that it

was now her turn. ‘My name is Sally,When I grow up to be a

lady,I want to have a baby,If I can, if I can, if I can.’ ‘That is good Sally,’ the

teacher said. ‘But maybe one day you will change your mind.’

Next up was Little Johnny.

He was the naughty one in the class. Here is his rhyme:

‘My name is Johnny,When I grow up to be a

man,Never mind India and Ja-

pan,I’m going to help Sally with

her plan,I know I can, I can, I can. ***From Edgar Morada, for-

merly of the Philippines’ Na-tional Media Production Cen-tre:

Morris and his wife Esther went to the state fair every year, and every year Morris would ask, Esther, I’d like to ride in that helicopter.’

Esther always replied, ‘I know, Morris, but that helicop-ter ride is fifty dollars, and fifty dollars is fifty dollars.’

One year Esther and Mor-

ris went to the fair, and Morris said, ‘Esther, I’m 85 years old.

If I don’t ride that helicopter, I might never get another chance.’

To this, Esther replied, ‘Morris that helicopter ride is fifty dollars, and fifty dollars is fifty dollars.’ The pilot overheard the cou-

ple and said, ‘Folks I’ll make you a deal. I’ll take the both of you for a ride. If you can stay

quiet for the entire ride and not say a word, I won’t charge you!

But if you say one word, it’s fifty dollars.’ Morris and Es-ther agreed and up they went. The pilot did all kinds of fancy maneuvers, but not a word was heard. He did his daredevil tricks over and over again, but still not a word.

When they landed, the pilot turned to Morris and said, ‘By golly, I did everything I could

to get you to yell out, but you didn’t. I’m impressed!’

Morris replied, ‘Well, to tell you the truth, I almost said something when Esther fell out, but you know, fifty dollars is fifty dollars!’

***From Myrna Riley this time,

some quotes:When a man steals your

wife, there is no better revenge Photo 3


From the Monitor’s Desk

A C E A L V A R E Z

Speak no ill will, but of your strengths, accomplishments

and track record

Harvesting the benefits of educational TV

RoundaboutM A G C R U Z - H A T O L

13 years of dedicatedcommunity service

Managing EditorACE ALVAREZ

Associate EditorGIE ALVAREZ

Contributing EditorsRICKY CALUENMARIO DIMAIN

MAG CRUZ HATOLGRACE P. FREIRESMANNY FREIRES

BEN VICCARI

Editorial AssistantLEN ALVAREZ-MAHONEY

ContributorsEVA AGPAOA

NOEL PERADALARRY TORRES

Account ExecutivesMYRNA SORIANO

JOHN TAN

GraphicsCOBIE CRUZ

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SPEAK cont’d on p.15

HARVESTINGcontinued on p.17

VIEWS

If there is anything on vari-ous events and programs being organized and offered by the Philippine Chamber of Com-merce-Toronto (PCCT) that Filipino-owned businesses and more so, by members of the PCCT, must avail of, it should be the seminars.

Officers and directors of the PCCT spend time and resourc-es in organizing the seminars, but from what I have observed so far in the past and these re-cent times, attendance is at a cheerless rate.

As a member of the PCCT myself, I knew that the officers of the Filipino business organi-zation do notify the members way in advance of the date of the seminars, hence, members must have reserved the date and time in their calendars and made arrangements in lieu of what they happen to have in their calendars. By having done this, they might have gained additional refined skills on what they already knew on the general principles in the operation of their businesses.

For example, the last semi-nar conducted by the Centen-nial College Centre for Busi-ness Entrepreneurship – in partnership with the PCCT on Wednesday evening, April 21, was so informative that had PCCT members and the gener-al Filipino business sector par-ticipated in, they would have gained new insights in the fast evolving world affecting the business environment.

From a personal perspec-tive for example, I had one of the best trainings in sales and marketing having worked with a world leader in the pharma-

ceutical industry back in the mid 70s and 80s. This, in addi-tion to the courses I took in the graduate school during those times, leading to an MBA de-gree – but which I did not pur-sue too seriously, hence, un-able to complete it. Since those times, however, the business environment has changed so much that business gurus con-stantly rethink practical ways to manage constantly evolv-ing issues facing each and ev-ery one of us daily in this 21st century, that even in my case, those I learned more than 20 years ago are passe.

Those gained by 10 per cent of the PCCT members who at-tended the April 21 business planning seminar on “What Do We Do After The Storm?” was a loss to the 90 per cent of the members and their businesses who chose to ignore their no-tices.

The points raised by seminar facilitator Bob Lane during the session were fascinating that if only business people would fix their attention on minor things around them, and which they continually ignored, would have made a great difference in their operation.

The PCCT incumbents

anticipated that their mem-bers need such training and/or re-training such as the one described here. They knew it from experience, the president of the PCCT himself, Rafael Nebres, being a veteran survi-vor in several industry distur-bances in the car business as the general manager of Action Honda in Scarborough -- of which one of the worst to hit was last year’s. Not a lot of people know that Paeng is an accountant by training in the Philippines and a CPA, hence, always on guard on the corpo-rate bottom line.

Meanwhile, in her remark at the conclusion of the semi-nar, Cori Naron – Vice Presi-dent for Public Relations of the PCCT, summed it up simply by saying that PCCT members must make use of the benefits that they are entitled to enjoy as members. Well said, Cori!

***Having mentioned Paeng

Nebres … one who engages him in a conversation about Filipino businesses would eas-ily sense his passion for the Filipino organization he loves most -- the PCCT, and its thrust to uplift Filipino businesses ec-onomically.

The PCCT, however, could not do it alone. The Filipino business sector has a lot to do to make PCCT’s vision hap-pen.

One problem, for example, is that when a business ad-vances, or seems to advance, the competition starts destroy-ing the first by idle talk. On this, I like what Jun Miranda – regional head of PNB Rapid Remit said when we were talk-ing about Filipino businesses in general: “It would have been nicer if competing businesses engage only under the terms of friendly competition. Live and let live!, ‘di ba?

Jun Miranda recalled that as a bank executive in Manila, he and his peers were competing for business, but at the end of the day, they were friends, win-ing and dining together.

Let me stress here that Jun and I were not talking about the money remittance busi-ness. As I mentioned earlier, we were talking about Filipino businesses in general.

If only the Filipino busi-ness sector could unlearn and relearn its ways, probably, we could have grown enormously as a community long time ago.

Having personally spent in the past some fourteen years doing business with the Chi-nese community in Binondo, Manila, I observed that the Chinese helps one another; oh yes, even a competing busi-ness.

For example, try inquiring for an automotive part for your car at one store in Binondo.

If the part is not readily

Time and again, we are asked if television can actually help children, especially those in preschool ages.

We know that appropriate media can help develop logi-cal thinking, writing and math skills among kids.

That was proven by earlier studies.

We also know that educa-tional TV and interactive me-dia could indeed enhance kids’ creativity.

Educational television has been proven to yield positive effects on the intellectual and academic development of chil-dren under ten. Now that Bati-bot is returning to the Pinoy TV screen, it is wise to remind parents, who themselves were fed a diet consisting of Bati-bot and Sesame Street, that there is an undeniable link between Sesame Street view-ing and toddlers’ readiness for

the early grades. We know that preschoolers who watched the program with regularity dem-onstrated the highest levels of academic performance, espe-cially when the subjects were related to numbers and letter skills, as well as identifying body parts.

There is no study we could find linking the erstwhile pro-gram Atbp to improved aca-demic performance although considering that it was a clone of the original, it is not far fetched to infer that the results

may have been identical.Sineskwela producers com-

missioned studies to the UP ISMED and its findings were not remote. There was marked improvement in school science performance as well as interest in the subject among students observed who were regularly exposed to the said program.

On the other hand, “partici-patory programs” like Blue’s Clues and Dora the Explorer are known to increase the vo-cabularies of its kiddie view-ers, making them more articu-

late and expressive than those exposed to other preschool programs.

Many characters in Blue’s Clues and Dora the Explorer look into the camera as though speaking directly to the child viewer. This encourages the kid viewer to “participate” in the unfolding story, even if the kids’ responses have nothing to do with the development of the story. The child either responds to questions, or performs an action.

The end effect is that the child is made to believe that he is part of the story because of the said act of participation.

Many pundits claim that kids exposed to outstanding and participatory educational TV do well in school over time, sometimes far into high school. In fact, educational TV


Compounding Confusion

CommentaryB E N V I C C A R I

Landscape Photography

The 3rd EyeM A R I O D I M A I N

LANDSCAPE continued on p.17

VIEWS

A recent poll suggested that Canadians, unlike persons in other countries, are not criti-cal of foreign national citizens flocking here to settle.

Then comes last month’s exhaustive nationwide survey remind us of the growth of vis-ible minorities. For heaven’s sake why, in all these years do we still cling to the term vis-ible minorities? Sure, persons of Chinese, Sikh, Tamil and Vietnamese origins differ from each other, just as they do from the white majority but as we have learned do not particu-larly concern Canadians about their being here.

So why keep rubbing it in to them and to all of us that they are “visible” minorities and de-liberaely single them out for at-tention as such?

***Ms. Ghosh, a poet-novelist

and active in community af-fairs involving immigrants, wrote:

“Listen, there must be a dif-ference. It’s a question of iden-tity. Hey, I know. People from the world over, every color, language, food, every ethnic fight imaginable. They are here and celebrated. It’s called mul-ticulturalism and it’s uniquely ours, ours and ours alone.

“But on a visit to New York, it seemed I had landed in a big-ger Toronto. People from the world over, every color, lan-

guage, food, every ethnic fight imagin-able. In fact, a Ban-gladeshi cab driver announced that had my spoken Bengali not endeared me to him, he would have told me what exactly he thought of those Indian Bengalis who steal water from their rivers.

“The mighty Chinatown. The Korean corner store own-er. The Somali model. Grants handed out generously for classical Indian dance forms; sarod and sitar maestros from India ensconced in prestigious universities; vocal classical and tabla (Indian drums) play-ers performing in concert and harmony. And Sanskrit taught in universities.

“So no ‘official’ multicul-turalism for sure, but I concede in reality it’s very much a part of the urban U.S. landscape. In practice, not much difference there.

“Peace. Yes, we propound brotherhood, eschew wars, and our young men and women are keepers of peace among warring tribes in countries far and wide. Well, not exactly any more. The lines have been blurred.

“I’ve got it. There is a dif-ference. Rights. We have the Charter of Rights and Free-doms. Rights without respon-

sibilities. The very first thing I learn when I come to the coun-try. The right to become a citi-zen.

“Abandon the country soon after and demand rescue from the pickle I find myself in, for I am a Canadian and it’s my right. Return briefly after spending years ‘back home’ and realize with horror and indignation that I have to wait for three months to qualify for treat-ment. Instant treatment is my right. I am a Canadian. Com-plain. ‘Back home I had …’. This, a country of our choice, a country we adopted of our own volition. But complain we must. And I don’t mean about the wicked witch of a weather. I am a Canadian and I have the right to complain. Period. I want my rights.

“We are different after all. Them Americans and us Cana-dians.”

***Médecins Sans Frontières/

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is to stage an extraordi-

nary, free, educational event in Ottawa from May 13-16, 2010 at Confederation Park; Montreal from May 20-23 at Parc Jeanne-Mance; Toronto from May 27-30 at Christie Pits Park and Waterloo from June 3-6 at Wa-terloo Public Square.

More »« LessA Refugee Camp in the

Heart of the City is an outdoor, interactive, educational exhib-it, made up of materials MSF uses in its emergency medical-work around the world.

MSF is an international independent humanitarian or-ganization that delivers emer-gency medical care to people caught in crises in approxi-mately 60 countries.

The exhibit is a field-sized camp made up of materials used by MSF in its work with refugees and internally dis-placed persons (IDPs) around the world.

The camp includes shelters, a food distribution tent, a water and sanitatiion area, a health clinic, a vaccination area, a therapeutic feeding area for malnourished children, and a cholera treatment centre. An experienced MSF field worker will guide each group of 15-20 students through a 45-60 min-ute interactive tour.

A bulletin from MSF

states:”We developed this free exhibit to make tangible to the general public the realities of life for people displaced by armed conflict, the root cause of the majority of crises where MSF works.

In 2008, the exhibit toured eight cities in Canada and the U.S.A. reaching approximately 30,000 visitors.

The exhibit was first launched in France in 1995 and has toured countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America.

*** “Another fine mess,” as Mr

Hardy remarked to Mr Laurel. Well deserving of the label is the OPP report virtually ab-solving all participants in the MSF computer scandal of any wrongdoing.

We are facing similar dith-ering with the question of TTC chief Adam Giambrone. My own slogan for him is: Go along with Giambrone?

I wouldn’t trust him to run the Pony………Express! (Ben Viccari is past president of the Canadian Ethnic Media Asso-ciation and frequently appeared on OMNI TV Commentary, until his retirement September 2009 from the TV commentary series. For more of his work, please visit Ben’s website at http://canscene.ripple.ca)

When nature’s breath-tak-ing landscape captivates us, our eyes could not get enough of it. The grandeur finds its niche in our brain and it trig-gers our imagination to re-live the magnificent view over and over again.

In most cases our biological projector can play it back more vibrantly and panoramically than the photos from our cam-era. Then the frustrating ques-tion pops up: Is it really pos-

sible to shoot landscape that is just as beautiful as you see it? The answer is a definite yes. And if you find it hard to be-lieve, it will surprise you even more to know, that it is also possible to improve your land-scape photos by simply playing

with shad-ows and an-gles in your

composi-tion.

When shooting a

beautiful landscape,

you must remember that the resulting photo will be viewed by your family and friends. (Some call it bragging, I call it shar-

ing.) Imagine that you are getting paid mil-lions of dollars for the shot by a hard-to-please client. This thought will evoke challenge. It will accelerate creativity and will awaken the sleeping art-ist in you. All of the compel-

ling pictures of landscapes that you have seen in the past will flash before your eyes. These images in your head will work

wonders in your photography. They are your inspirations and the driving forces in mastering Landscape Photography.

Allow me to take you to a place on earth that has majes-

tic mountains, rolling hills, lakes, water-falls, rugged rocks and col-orful flowers. This place has all the elements of a captivat-ing landscape.

Together, we will capture it in frame the way it captures our eyes.

From where we stand, we

begin by scanning the horizon in 360 degrees from left to right. By doing so, we get to envision the horizontal frame that isolates the winning shot. If you want to put a three dimensional feel to your land-

scape, a good foreground with exciting details like the rugged rocks, positioned on the side of the frame would be an eye-grabbing idea.

To spice-up the foreground, include a few of the colorful wild flowers. And for the main subject, the waterfalls or the hills would certainly fit the bill. The blue sky and the patches of white clouds in the background would most definitely accentu-ate the shot.

Once the landscape we want has been established, we con-centrate on it. We will keep in mind that the best way to pres-ent any landscape is in a hori-

Grand Canyon

Peggy’s Cove Light Tower, Nova ScotiaScarborough Bluffs


A Balancing Act

You’re Entitledto My Opinion

J U N E N V E R G A

Our JourneyE V A A G P A O A

What is life well lived?

VIEWS

OOPS from p. 7

OOPS continued on p. 15

Life is precious and short. Too often, we get tangled up with stupid, mundane prob-lems that eat away precious moments. Moments we could have spent doing things that are truly meaningful. At your deathbed, there is really only one question worth asking and answer to which can give meaning to your life: Did your life have passion? Or, did the mundane and unimportant drag you down? (The observant reader might jump up at this point and say wait a minute, those are really two questions: But are they really?).

A life well lived. Death will focus you on that like a sin-gularity. But isn’t it a shame we need something as final as

death to get us motivated to question our existence. By then, it’s too late. Do it now. Focus today while you still have the time. And bring pas-sion into your life.

Sure, we all have problems. Some small and trivial, others large and devastating. And they have to be dealt with. But too often, these problems consume our brain until there is no room for anything or anyone else. In the morning, the problem is there, greeting us at the break-fast table. During those spare

moments at work they peek out to say “hello, hope you remem-ber me”. At the dinner table, there is an extra plate for your new companion. After a while, they stop being just problems and become obsessions. They are the filter through which ev-erything else is seen.

Every problem has a solu-tion. What makes a simple

problem into a very difficult problem is usu-ally the fact that we don’t like the solution. It’s too painful, so we keep the problem around, hoping that a dif-ferent solution

might present itself (of course it won’t). Solve your problems quickly. Don’t let them become obsessions.

We let these problems drown out the passion and hope in our lives.

What is a life filled with pas-sion? First and foremost it is a life filled with joy. Joy at be-ing alive and having the privi-

There is always a woman behind the success of every man and I am so lucky that I have four!

During my tenure as the president of PIDC preceding that of incumbent Minda Neri, My family and I oftenly were late going to parties. Most people we know, however, un-derstood our situation, since most of our friends know that we had two or three fundraisers and events that we had to show up on weekends.

We felt that we have to rep-resent the organization and the community as much as we could. We volunteered to do this party hopping, or we were “volun-told or volun-threat-ened” by organizers. Often times, either as a joke or not, event officers would tell us that “if you do not support my party or event, we will not support your events, too.” Othertimes, they would try to touch our lighter side, “Magtatampo na kami niyan!”

Weekends were sometimes a challenge for us, especially when we knew we would not be able to make it to three gath-erings. Oftentimes, my wife and I would go separately to an event to start the night and meet at the third function later in the evening.

Often, people asked us, “How do you do all these things?” Don’t you two ever get tired?, or “Do you ever en-joy what you are doing?” Or, “Is your organization paying for all these tickets?”

The answers to the questions

were plain and simple: “We immensely enjoy the company of our friends and we never get tired of them” and “No, no organization pays for our tickets.”

If you look at the overall picture, parties were just part of the weekly grind; there were pic-nics and family gatherings, too, to attend. How did we balance all these? We always catego-rize the events. We give priori-ties to old

friends, weddings

and special occasions. Charitable events are given spe-cial men-tion in our calendar. Business propos-

als and political meetings

and events were way below in our sched-uling preferences.

Through the years of com-munity service and involve-ment, we met hundreds of good friends along the way. It was somehow very hard to decline invitations from good friends, most especially when their event were fundraisers for worthy and legitimate proj-ects.

Dancing is a good form of

exercise and we always wel-come a good work out. Now that the PIDC responsibilities have diminished, we could do less driving and enjoy more

dancing! Volun-threaten would now be ignored. It is party time!

***More questions always

came up: “Your scheduling was too tight, how about your family?” “How did you man-age to complete your Master’s at York University and Schu-lich School of business with all these activities?” and “You got

a full time work? How about your family?”

I am so blessed to have a family who al-ways supports me and who has the same train of thought as I do. Basi-cally, my activities are the whole family’s ac-tivity. My community

project is my family’s project. Luckily, my wife Rosemer and I share the same values, the dis-cussion between us are often times, “How do we get there?”,

“How do we make it hap-

pen?” Some-

times, our ways are different

…..None-theless,

we even-tually

reach our destina-

tion to-gether, fulfilled

and raring to have a new

way of helping the commu-nity, most especially those who needed help the most in the Philippines.

Our three daughters, name-ly Rystle, Rocel and Reeza, share our passions too. They help every way they could. They immensely enjoyed giv-ing groceries and medicines to poor people during some of our missions. They enjoy mak-

ing posters, brochures, calling contacts, answering inquiries, making and updating websites and so on. Oftenly, they bal-ance their lives, too, between their studies and the commu-nity. Just like what I often say, there is a woman behind the success of every man, I am so lucky I have four!

To add them all up, how did I complete my Masters in Project Management, amidst my wife and I maintaining our full time jobs, do all the organi-zational and catholic responsi-bilities, at the same time grow a responsible and loving fam-ily? How did we make all these work for our lives and others?

We are not exactly sure ourselves. It could have been through our will power or strength in our characters and our extreme passion to help. It could be because we enjoy what we are doing. The rea-sons are boundless; it could be anything. But there is one thing I am sure of; we always have God’s blessings and guidance all the way through. Prayer is the mightiest of all the tools that we utilize to reach our journey.

We balance our life accord-ingly: God, family, job, com-munity, then ourselves…. then we juggle a few things right on top of everything. If we could do it, so could you!

All these are just our stories and my opinions … you are entitled to them. [email protected]

THE GEMS of Rosemer and Jun Enverga, namely, (L-R) Rystle, Rocel and Reeza. (Text and Photo: Manila Media Monitor)

lege to experience the love of the people that mean so much to us: our family, our children, our partners, our friends. It is a life filled with awe and won-der of the world. It is a life of learning and growth. It is a life full of sensual delight, of satis-fied urges (only the legal one’s of course). It’s about loving the things you do and accepting the things you don’t love, but have to do.

A life well lived is one that brings peace and contentment.

Take advantage of your life. Live like a storm, not like a gentle rain. Don’t wait for death to ask the question. Ask it now and live a life well lived. ([email protected])

than to let him keep her. (Da-vid Bissonette)

After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin. They just can’t face each

other but they stay together. (Sacha Guitry)

By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you’ll be happy. If you get a bad wife, you’ll become a philosopher. (Socrates)

The great question which I have not been able to answer is: “What does a woman want?” (Dumas)

I had some words with my wife, and she had some para-graphs with me. (Sigmund

Freud) There’s a way of transfer-

ring funds that’s even faster than electronic banking. It’s called marriage.

(Sam Kinison) I’ve had bad luck with both

my wives. The first one left me and the second one didn’t.

(James Holt McGavra) Two secrets to keep your

marriage brimming: (1) When-


RISE EDuCaTION CENTRE

Rediscovering Intelligence for Sustainable Education

Being in a First World soci-ety, like Toronto, poses so many challenges to a growing child.

While it offers many oppor-tunities, it also opens its doors to a plurality of perspectives, views, orientation, attitudes, and influences.

The child as a learner is engaged with the challeng-ing expectations of a multi-cultural setting; hence, much is expected of the child to be able to navigate effectively and competitively in the society. Parents have to work double time to ensure that all support-ing agencies, like the home, the school, and the church are working well together to equip the learner the capabilities, skills, knowledge, and values needed.

This is where RISE Edu-cation Centre affirms its exis-tence.

A tutoring centre for students from Senior Kindergarten to Grade 12, RISE offers a help-

ing hand to the home and the school to strengthen, not only the academic performance, but also the positive values, and self confidence of every child, thus, ensuring high impact ca-pability to navigate in a First World society like ours.

RISE Education Centre puts premium to the progress and development of each learner through a well-designed in-dividualized educational pro-gram, reinforcing learning from the school and the home. Especially important this com-ing summer vacation where learning loss happens in every learner from all levels, tutor-ing becomes very important to prepare for the coming school year.

Subscribing to the educa-tional principles of Learner-centeredness and Learning by Understanding, RISE Educa-tion Centre develops a well-defined process to help every learner explore all of his, or

her potentials. Dubbed as the ASPIRE process, it presents itself as: •Assessment of the Learn-

er’s Needs•Setting of Educational

Goals with the Learner •Program design and con-

duct of the Learning Program •Identification of Learning

Evidences•Review of the Goals set

with the Learner•Engagement with the Par-

ents for the Progress and De-velopment of the Learner

Operated by a highly ex-perienced educator and school leader from the Philippines, Lily Hope Rasco-Mendoza, an English Teacher who gradu-ated from Philippine Normal University, a holder of a Mas-ter’s Degree in Comparative Literature from the University of the Philippines, and a former De La Salle School Principal is set to pursue a Ph.D. degree in Education here in Canada. Un-

der her care, RISE Education Centre is here to provide every parent a competitive alterna-tive for tutoring a child/learner. Visit the Centre’s website at www.riseeducation.ca to know more about RISE. You may

reach them at 416.466.8918, or visit the facility at 850 Pape Ave. Toronto, On M4K 3T6.

Tutoring packages are of-fered at reasonably low-priced rates. Adult Learning Programs are also available.

Lily Hope Rasco-Mendoza and her husband, Mar, are the Ed-ucation Director and Centre Administrator, respectively, of RISE Education Centre - a tutoring centre for students from Senior Kindergarten to Grade 12, located on Pape Avenue in Toronto.

NEWS


CIMA to highlight the impact of Ontario Bill 158 on foreign qualified immigrants to Ontario

The Chartered Insti-tute of Management Ac-countants (CIMA) will be proposing amend-ments to Ontario Bill 158 at the public hearing of the Standing Committee on

Justice Policy sched-uled for April 22, 2010 at the Ontario Legislature.

Bill 158, The Account-ing Professions Act, was tabled in the Legislature by the Ontario govern-ment with a view to mod-ernizing the accounting

profession in Ontario. CIMA recognizes the importance of this, and supports the elements of the Bill that safeguard consumer protection and increase transparency in the Accountancy profes-sion. However, CIMA has brought to the atten-tion of the Ontario Gov-ernment what it deems to be an overly restric-tive Clause within the Bill, which will place internationally qualified professional accoun-

tants at a disadvantage when they immigrate to Ontario. CIMA believes this Clause will act as an employment barrier, as it proposes a ban on the use of foreign professional designations on docu-ments, including resumes and business cards.

Financial and man-agement services form a vital component of the economy. Moreover, ap-proximately half of To-ronto’s population and a significant proportion of

the Ontario population were not born in Canada. Many of them are inter-nationally trained profes-sionals whose creativity and innovation are need-ed to drive our economy on a global scale.

CIMA will be tabling a number of amendments intended to ensure the Bill will not negatively affect the Ontario gov-ernment’s stated policy of helping foreign trained professionals integrate in to the Ontario economy.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Martin SaxtonTel +905 553 0346


Filipino youth leader Louroz Mercader has for-mally launched his candidacy for Ward 7 City Councillor before the Filipino Community of Mississauga on April 17. The launch with the community has given Filipino voters the op-portunity to learn more about the candidate, his history of struggle and work in Mississau-ga, and his vision and ideas for the future.“I wanted to communicate to them my passion, commitment and love for my city and her peo-ple. Most of all, I hope the launch would in-spire Filipino-Canadians to join my campaign team in our effort to claim Mississauga’s great future” said Mercader. ‘‘

The lessons this life has plant-ed in my heart pertain more to caring than crops, more to Golden Rule than gold, more

to the proper choice than to the popular choice.

- Kirby Larson

13April 2010 Manila Media MonitorNEWS

COMMUNITY from p. 1

COMMUNITYcontinued on p. 17

Elsewhere, the Global Filipino Nation (GFN) -- an international orga-nization of global Fili-pino leaders and organi-zations, is also sending international observers from different countries, including the United States, Australia, and South Korea. Composing the group are dual citi-zens, i.e., foreign citizens who are also Filipino citi-zens.

Global Filipinos Aus-tralia (GFA), which is an integral part of the GFN “family”, has made a special collaborative ar-rangement on the role of the Australian Embassy.

Lolita Farmer, Es-

quire, GFA Chair, said that a number of Austra-lian Embassy staff will be deployed as election observers.

A letter to GFA dated March 31, 2010 from the Rod Smith, Austra-lian Ambassador to the Philippines, underscored the fact that “the deploy-ment of accredited for-eign observers can be an important complement to the efforts of domestic poll watchers, the Philip-pines’ Commission on Elections, and ordinary Filipino citizens who are working to achieve trans-parent, orderly and fair elections in May …. I ap-plaud the commitment of Global Filipinos Austra-lia in joining this effort to support honest and clean

elections.”The privileges and

reportorial responsibil-ity of the International Election Observers un-der Comelec Resolution 8763 are, firstly, conduct reviews, interviews, ob-servations, inspections of the entire election pro-cess before, during and after elections; and, sec-ondly, submit a copy of their Observation Report. An International Election Observer cannot engage in local partisan politics or contribute to any can-didate. That would vio-late the Omnibus Elec-tion Code.

The government of the United Kingdom is like-wise sending a group of observers to the upcom-ing Philippine national

elections, Digital Journal reported.

The United King-dom’s ambassador to the Philippines Stephen Lil-lie said the UK intends to take advantage of the Philippine COMELEC law that allows for for-eign observers to observe elections.

Philippine Defense Secretary Norberto Gon-zales has also invited representatives from the international defense and military community to come to the country to observe the presidential and local elections.

The Manila Bulle-tin said that Gonzales wanted defense and mili-tary observers around the globe to see how the armed forces will behave

in the elections. The de-fense chief has placed the country’s armed forces under the full disposal of the Comelec.

“I want the whole world to see how our armed forces will pro-tect our election which is fundamental to any de-mocracy,” said Gonzales, adding this will be a big challenge that is good for the armed forces.

Gonzales said the presence of the interna-tional observers will frus-trate attempts to discredit defense and military es-tablishment in its efforts to assist the Comelec in ensuring honest, orderly and peaceful elections.

At least 50 million voters are expected to participate in the May 10

national elections. With the new automat-

ed elections, winners will be known in a matter of hours instead of days or months when vote count-ing was done manually.

World Publics Strong-ly Favor International Observers for Elections

A WorldPublicOpin-ion.org poll of seventeen nations last year found that publics in fifteen fa-vor the general practice of having international observers monitor elec-tions. In eleven of the na-tions, most people think that their own country would benefit from inter-national observers moni-toring their elections.


Full national launch of first and only free relief nanny-care service for mothers with breast cancer

Angels provide “relief” in time for Mother’s Day

Facing breast cancer is hard at any time of the year, but it can be worse around Mother’s Day for moms with young chil-dren. This Mother’s Day, with the full launch of its services nationally, the Nanny Angel Network is ensuring that mothers with breast cancer can re-ceive “relief” nanny care during and after this spe-cial time of year.

“A diagnosis of breast cancer is devastating at the best of times, but it’s especially difficult around Mother’s Day when moms that should be getting a break, have the increased burden of dealing with the disease, while still caring for their young children,” said Au-drey Guth, President and CEO of Diamond Per-sonnel, Founder of the

Nanny Angel Network. “During my treatment for breast cancer in 2008, I realized that many moms struggled with childcare. I am thrilled that through our volunteer nannies of the Nanny Angel Net-work we can now offer relief childcare to help moms through this very difficult time.”

The Nanny Angel Net-work is the first and only service of its kind in Can-ada. At no cost to moth-ers diagnosed with breast cancer who are in treat-ment, or in the early stag-es of recovery, the Nanny Angel Network provides professional caregivers, Nanny Angels, to fami-lies in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver. The Nanny Angels pro-vide mothers with the se-curity that their children

are being well looked af-ter, while they get some much needed rest, go to appointments, or sim-ply have time for them-selves.

“In addition to the

emotional distress of be-ing diagnosed with breast cancer – multiple doctor appointments, treatments, surgeries, uncertain fu-ture – I also worried about the impact on my five-month old baby,” said Uzma Imran, recipi-ent of a Nanny Angel in Toronto. “I was reassured that my Nanny Angel was professional and special-

ized since it was the first time I left my child with someone else. Iqra took to her right away – it was a well-needed emotional and physical break for me.”

To date, over 30 families from across the country have benefited from the Nanny Angel Network. The Network began training Nanny Angels in September 2009 through a special-ized program with in-struction in: first-aid and

CPR; breast cancer, its treatment, the recovery process, and understand-ing the psychological and emotional effects the disease may have on the family. To date, 66 nan-nies are participating in the program (38 in To-ronto, 24 in Vancouver, 3 in Calgary, 1 in Ottawa).

“The training I re-ceived from the Nanny

Angel Network really helped me to feel pre-pared as a nanny to go into a household that was dealing with a breast cancer diagnosis,” said Lourdes Banggot, Vol-unteer Nanny Angel. “When I went into Uzma and baby Iqra’s home I saw first-hand how my volunteer work was hav-ing a positive impact. I get so much out of being a nanny and now I’ve had a chance to give back.”

The Nanny Angel

Network was founded in 2009 by Audrey Guth, President and CEO of Di-amond Personnel, to link volunteer professional nannies to mothers with breast cancer. It is gener-ously funded by Rethink Breast Cancer. To be eli-gible, a mother must be newly diagnosed with breast cancer, or in treat-ment, and must have a

child under the age of 12. Nanny Angels are avail-able in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver for up to five hours of re-lief care for free per week. All Nanny Angels are ex-perienced and screened carefully. Nanny Angels bring with them a Nanny Angel Activity Bag filled with resource materials, books, and arts and crafts for children.

People who know of a family requiring relief nanny care, or of a nan-ny interested in volun-teering, may contact the Nanny Angel Network at 416-730-0025, toll-free at 1-877-731-8866, or go to www.nannyangelnet-work.com.

About Rethink Breast Cancer: Rethink Breast Cancer is a bold charity that helps young people affected by and con-cerned about breast can-cer through innovative education, research and support programs. For additional information, visit www.rethinkbreast-cancer.com. (pr)

The Nanny Angels provide mothers with the security that their children are

being well looked after

15April 2010 Manila Media MonitorNEWS

SPEAK from p. 8

available, the clerk tells you that he, or she, does not have it at the mo-ment in the store, but he will phone the ware-house to inquire if the part is available. Friends, that “warehouse” turned out to be the store at the next door, which the lat-ter would readily share with the store you are at. The “warehouse” store earned and sold the good, and the store you are buying it from earned a small commission from the sale.

But that was in Ma-nila; and, in that clustered community.

We are also a cluster community in T.O., but what do we do to our-selves? We destroy one another, especially if one’s business is in com-petition with ours. Try to form an organization of aligned businesses and the bigger ones would say, “What for?”

Those who have aligned themselves with the formed organization

try their best to adhere to the objectives and the agreed norms within the organization. In the meantime, those who have refused to form part of the organization are having the field day de-stroying the organization. Jealousy…jealousy …

***Jealousy; invariably a

symptom of neurotic in-security, as American sci-ence writer Robert Hein-lein said.

What’s lacking with a jealous person is his, or her, competency and self-confidence. So, Buy-ers, Beware! If your sup-plier starts talking ill will against the person of his, or her competitor, then your suppliers’ products and services do not have anything to offer to meet your expectations and re-quirements.

Friends in the busi-ness sector, here’s an advice where we may start from. In marketing your products and ser-vices, talk more on the advantages and benefits of your products, rather

than loose talks attacking the person of your com-petitor. As businessman Dave Nguyen once said during our interview to-gether over “ichannel” – a public and social af-fairs issues specialty tele-vision carried by Rogers Cable on Channel 197 and Bell ExpressVu on 514, “We rely only on our strengths, accomplish-ments and track record.”

Those words from my friend, Dave Nguyen, re-minded me of one story back in the early 80s from a friend of my brother, Nelson Alvarez.

At that time, my brother was the president of the Pepsi Cola Sales and Advertising Union (PSAU) – a local union at Pepsi Cola composed of sales and advertising personnel at all the com-pany’s plants and ware-houses south of Manila to southern Luzon up to Gumaca, Quezon.

Came election time, where during his cam-paign, the only con-tending candidate to the presidency said during

his talk: “The problem with Nelson Alvarez is … (paused), masyadong mabait.”

The contender to the presidency could not say anything of ill will against my brother for the latter was a man of integrity; nor could the contender lie about something on him just to win an elec-tion.

While the contender lost in that election, he earned something big at the same time; and this was his own reputation for “integrity”, so much so that when my brother rose to become the presi-dent of the labor federa-tion where PSAU and two other local unions at Pepsi Cola were affili-ated with, the contender had his time, too, as pres-ident of PSAU, having earned himself likewise a reputation for that one special quality admirable on anyone – integrity!

For all of us, regard-less of what we are up to – as business people, or holding elective posts, in-cluding those in commu-

nity organizations, would you rather be known as a person possessing the quality mentioned imme-diately above, relying on your strenghts, accom-plishments and track re-cord to sell yourself, your

products and services, or one who speaks jealously of ill will on your compe-tition (real or perceived) just to get what you aim for? ([email protected])

ever you’re wrong, admit it; (2) Whenever you’re right, shut up. (Pat Mur-ra)

The most effective way to remember your wife’s birthday is to for-get it once. (Nash)

You know what I did before I married? Any-thing I wanted to. (Anon-ymous)

My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met. (Henry Youngman)

A good wife always forgives her husband when she is wrong. (Rod-ney Dangerfield)

A man put an ad in the classifieds: ‘Wife Wanted’.

The next day he re-ceived a hundred replies.

They all said the same thing: ‘You can have mine.’ (Anonymous)

First Guy (proudly): My wife’s an angel.

Second Guy: You’re lucky, mine’s still alive. (Anonymous)

OOPS from p. 10

‘‘If your parents never had children, chances are

you won’t, either. - Dick Cavett


Millennium Support & Care Group

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

Millennium Support and Care Group extends its sincere thanks to the Government of Canada's

New Horizons for Seniors Program for providing us with a grant to upgrade our seniors’ facility,

and also for supporting our objective of providing the optimum quality of life to seniors in the

community. Through social and recreational activities and promoting health and wellness, we

aim to help seniors feel and live better.

ATTENTION SENIORS/GROUPSWe are encouraging more seniors to come out,

join in our activities, and have fun! Our activities are designed especially for them (bingo games, card games, get-togethers, Latin dancing, line-

dancing, folk dancing, karaoke singing) all in the process of meeting and making new friends. All

activities are free with membership.

416-925-4417 7 Hayden St., Suite 303, Toronto M4Y 2P2

[email protected]

NEWS

RP remains on piracy watchlistThe U.S. government

said recently that inspite of high-profile raids and publicity stints, the Phil-ippines has fallen short of addressing violations of intellectual property rights (IPR) in the coun-try.

In its Special 301 Re-port released recently, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) retained the Philippines on its Watch List, citing Manila’s “ineffective enforcement of IPR,” which “continues to be a concern.”

The Special 301 Re-port recommends trade barriers or sanctions on US trading partners that are perceived lacking in IPR protection.

“Although some agencies continue mak-ing progress to increase raid and seizure activ-ity, these efforts have proven inefficient to ad-dress widespread piracy and counterfeiting in the [Philippines],” the USTR said.

The Philippines has been on the lower-level Watch List of the Special 301 Report since 2005.

The USTR once again cited 168 Mall, Binondo, Greenhills, Makati Cine-ma Square and Quiapo as so-called “notorious mar-kets” or piracy hotspots in the country.

“Street stalls in these areas are a haven for counterfeit clothing, shoes, watches and hand-bags,” the USTR said. “Due to the unwilling-ness of local investigation agencies and government authorities to confront stall owners, trademark owners have a difficult time obtaining meaning-ful government action.”

“[A]lthough a 2006 Executive Order estab-lished landlord liability, reportedly no landlords have yet been prosecuted for IPR violations,” the USTR said.

While the Philippine judiciary made inroads in strengthening IPR protec-tion through the creation

of specialized courts, the USTR said that the legis-lative branch of govern-ment still has much work to do.

“The US encourages the Philippines to com-plete its work on legis-lative reforms needed to strengthen IPR protec-tion, including the imple-mentation of the WIPO [World Intellectual Prop-erty Organization] Inter-net Treaties, which have been pending in Con-gress for years, and the final signing of the Anti-Camcording Bill,” the US agency said.

Washington is also “concerned about amend-ments to the Patent Law that prohibit patents on certain chemical forms unless the applicant dem-onstrates increased effi-cacy.”

“Intellectual property theft in overseas markets is an export killer for American businesses and a job killer for American workers here at home. USTR’s Special 301 re-

port is important because it serves as the foundation for a year-round process used to secure meaning-ful reforms that bolsters our exports and supports American jobs in IPR-in-tensive industries,” Am-bassador Ron Kirk of the USTR said.

The USTR said it would conduct an out-of-cycle review for the Philippines, as well as Thailand, this year, to “monitor progress on specific IPR issues, which will allow us to deepen our IPR dialogue and cooperation with two key trading partners.”

Besides the Philip-

pines, other countries on the Watch List are Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Repub-lic, Ecuador, Egypt, Fin-land, Greece, Guatemala, Italy, Jamaica, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mex-ico, Norway, Peru, Ro-mania, Spain, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

China, Russia, Alge-ria, Argentina, Canada, Chile, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Thailand and Venezuela were placed on the higher-level Prior-ity Watch List this year. The USTR said these 11 nations would be “the subject of particu-larly intense engagement

through bilateral discus-sion during the coming year,” as they “do not provide an adequate level of IPR protection or en-forcement, or market ac-cess for persons relying on intellectual property protection.”

Similar to last year, Paraguay would still be under Section 306 moni-toring through a bilateral memorandum of under-standing.

Czech Republic, Hun-gary and Poland were removed from the Watch List of the 2010 Special 301 Report.

For the 2010 report, the USTR reviewed IPR protection and enforce-ment efforts in 77 coun-tries. (Manila Times)

Consul General Minerva Jean A. Falcon (1st row, 2nd from left) with the officers of the Philippine Chamber of Com-merce Toronto (PCCT) shortly after the opening of the busi-ness organization’s mini trade show held in Scarborough, Ontario recently. To the Con-sul General’s right is PCCT president Rafael Nebres. To her left is Mrs. Sylvia Nebres, and Oswald Tugadi, vice pres-ident for membership of the PCCT. Second row, from left are directors Elizabeth Leg-gett (partly hidden), Edgar Gonzales, Agnes Loshusan, Arlene Martirez and Steve Pa-gao. (Dindo Orbeso)


ABS-CBN president and chief operating officer Charo Santos Concio (left) and ABS-CBN Founda-tion Inc. managing director Gina Lopez honored recently with the 2010 CEO Communication Excel-lence in Organizations (CEO EXCEL) Awards by the prestigious International Association of Busi-ness Communicators (IABC) Philippines. Santos-Concio was recognized in the field of Media, Ad-vertising, PR, Entertainment, Special Events and Sports category while Lopez was honored in the Non-Government Organizations, Corporate Foun-dations, Industry Associations and Civil Society category.

NEWS

‘‘Luck is the residue of design. - Branch Rickey

programs are also known to have a positive influ-ence on young children’s readiness to start school. One study we read about high schoolers cited the obvious, directly related effects of the same kids’ having been exposed to educational TV pro-gramming in their ear-lier years. These kids, the study claimed, enjoyed reading more, showed a higher level of self-con-fidence and consequently were likely to engage in helpful extra-curricular activities.

Parents and teach-ers see children imitate both positive and nega-

tive behaviors they see on television. What is frightening is that a huge number of murders, acts of violence and aggres-sive behavior somehow find their way into the minds and memories of kids and these are carried for years. By age three, children are known to readily imitate what they see on television, and that includes all forms of behavior, including anti-social behaviors.

On that note, Anak TV recommends that Fili-pino kids should not be exposed to any form of non-educational televi-sion until such age, and if unavoidable, should always be guided by a parent.

This is because Anak TV believes that expos-ing children to televi-sion and other interactive technologies too early, without proper guidance, may bring a wide range of developmental hazards. These hazards include obesity and other com-plications of a sedentary lifestyle, social isolation, the lack of self-discipline and self-motivation, emotional detachment from the community and commercial exploitation, poor concentration, at-tention deficits, little pa-tience for the hard work of learning, as well as the usual exposure to vio-lence, bigotry, and other inappropriate material. ([email protected])

HARVESTING from p. 8

LANDSCAPE from p. 9zontal frame, so we try to avoid vertical shots. We will set the lens in the widest angle available and the narrowest aper-ture that the metered light would allow in handheld shot. Then, we emulate the artistic wisdom of the photographers who photographed the beau-tiful landscapes that we admire.

Landscape photogra-phers observe the Rule of Thirds, which means the main subject is not on dead center of the frame. This also means positioning the horizon on the lower third or the upper third of the frame, depending on the back-

ground or the foreground that is shown in the pho-to. These photographers pay close attention to de-tails. They all have selec-tive vision, eliminating distracting elements that ruin the view. Contrast and lighting are also their top priorities

Just like them, we are all capable of achieving postcard-quality shots. The only things that can possibly make it difficult are the weather condi-tions and the time of the day. Being at the right place but at the wrong time can cause grief to any serious photographer. And it is in this situation where patience, can be your greatest asset. Will you wait till the sun is

out? And stay until it is in the right direction? Or will you come back an-other day for the perfect shot? What if you are a tourist who is just visit-ing from the other end of the globe? Today is the only chance you have. The tour bus is leaving in an hour. If you are like me, you will shoot it anyway and artistically manipulate it later with photo editing software. Who knows, maybe the photograph you so ad-mired is also a product of computer magic.

So, my friends, on your next trip whether it is local, across the bor-der or overseas; dazzle us with your amazing land-scape photographs.

Asked whether “when there are concerns about fairness of elections,” nations should be will-ing to have international observers monitor their elections, on average, across all nations polled, 64 percent say that they should. In no nation do most people oppose the idea, though views are divided in Turkey and India. Most of the na-tions favoring election monitors do so by solid majorities, often two-to-one. The highest levels of support are found in Azerbaijan (83%), Kenya (82%) and Britain (81%). In addition, majorities are supportive in Hong Kong (55%), Macau (63%), and Taiwan (61%).

WorldPublicOpin-ion.org conducted the poll among 16,863 re-spondents in seventeen nations. Included were Azerbaijan, Chile, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Iraq, Ke-nya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Palestinian territories, Russia, Tur-key, Ukraine, and the United States. Polling was also conducted in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

WorldPublicOpinion.org, a collaborative proj-ect involving research centers from around the world, is managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Mary-

land. The margins of er-ror range from +/-3 to 4 percentage points. The surveys were conducted across the different na-tions between April 4 and July 9, 2009.

Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org said, “It appears that people around the world are looking to interna-tional observers to help resolve ambiguities in elections. These numbers suggest that international observers could add con-siderably to the perceived legitimacy of election outcomes.”

Overseas Absentee Voting in T.O.

In Toronto, the Philip-pine Consulate General’s office has been inundated by the daily arrival of overseas absentee ballots, either by mail or hand carried by the respective voters themselves.

The office said that phones were always busy with inquiries from vot-ers. Likewise, e-mails also flood the Philippine Consulate General’s of-fice from voters asking about their ballots, prov-ing that there is great interest in the upcoming elections.

The Philippine Con-sulate in Toronto also ad-opted postal voting. Even before the voting period kicked off last April 10, the consular office has already received 447 ac-complished ballots.

According to the Of-fice of Consul General Minerva Falcon, even

members of the local Filipino-Canadian press club were being stopped on the streets by Filipi-nos asking if they can vote in the elections. For those who are aware that they have to be registered in order to vote, people were asking information if they could still regis-ter.

There was also a marked increase in dual citizenship applications. Apparently, this was due to the heightened aware-ness that dual citizens have a chance to exercise the right to vote. During the registration period, some former Filipinos applied to re-acquire their Filipino citizenship purposefully to vote in the coming elections.

ConGen Falcon en-joins overseas voters to beat the deadline for voting

Consul General Fal-con reminds all registered overseas absentee vot-ers to beat the deadline and send their ballots to the Philippine Consulate. The end of voting period will be on May 10 at 6:00 AM, Toronto time. This date and time coincides with the end of voting in the Philippines on May 10, 2010 at 6:00 PM.

“All accomplished ballots must be received by the Consulate before that time, otherwise, bal-lots received after such time will be considered invalid and will not be in-cluded in the counting”, the Consul General said.

COMMUNITYfrom p. 13

“Thus, all voters should make sure that their bal-lots are received by the Consulate either through mail or personal deliv-ery.” she stressed.

“In postal voting, time is of the essence. I wish to remind overseas vot-ers that every single vote counts. Filipinos who are abroad should take own-ership of this exercise. It is our sacred duty as Fili-pino citizens to engage in participatory processes that will allow our voices to be heard and choose the leaders of our coun-try,” she said.

Business hours at PhilConGen during election 2010

The Philippine Con-sulate General has an-nounced that it will be closed on Monday, May 10, 2010 to enable the Consulate to count the votes cast by Overseas Absentee Voters.

For emergency assis-tance, please call either of the following telephone numbers: (416) 922-7181 and leave a message to enable the Consulate to return the call as soon as possible; (647) 929-6992 – Philippine Labor Office- Welfare Officer; and/or, (011632) 831 8874 – Direct Line of the Action Center of the De-partment of Foreign Af-fairs in Manila.

Regular business hours will resume on Tuesday, May 11, 2010. (With files from various news sources)

Rogers brings home TFC, The Filipino Channel

Rogers Cable is add-ing even more great Pinoy entertainment to its line-up of multicultur-al programming. ABS-CBN TFC (The Filipino Channel) is available on Channel 871 in Ontario, as of April 22, 2010.

From now until Tues-day, May 25, 2010, Rog-ers Digital Cable cus-tomers can watch a free preview of TFC on Chan-nel 871 and enjoy top-rated shows like Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo, Kokey@Ako and the ro-mantic extravaganza of

the Precious Hearts Ro-mances, along with other popular dramas, sitcoms, game shows and news from back home.

To further add more excitement, Rogers cus-tomers can now also watch free TFC content on Multicultural On De-mand (Ch 800) and Rog-ers On Demand Online (www.rogersondemand.

com), along with the free channel preview.

For more information, customers can call 1 800 870-9960 or visit www.rogers.com/multicultural

18 Manila Media Monitor April 2010 PEOPLE & EVENTS

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Brampton, Ontario gears up for biggest Filipino fiesta

Brampton Mayor Su-san Fennell will once again proclaim one week in June as Philippine Heritage Week.

The celebration lasts over a 6-week period, in-cluding, the entire month of May.

A photo exhibition by

Federation supporter, Dr. William Rodriguez, will be shown at the Arts in the Atrium program of Brampton City Hall. Over 50 photographs showing various Philippine scen-eries will be on exhibit. This is to coincide with the celebration of Na-

tional Heritage Month in the Philippines.

At the end of May, Mayor Susan Fennell will proclaim Philippine Heritage Week from June 7 to 13, 2010. The proc-lamation will be read in council and presented to the Federation of Filipino

Canadians of Brampton.Philippine Heritage

Week will conclude with one major event – the first-ever Filipino Fiesta in the Square.

Billed as the biggest Filipino Fiesta in Bramp-ton, the event will be held on Sunday, June 13th at the Rose Theatre Gar-den Square at Queen and Main Streets. Non-stop entertainment starts at 12 noon and ends 9 pm.

Also featured are food and beverage vendors, Filipiniana vendors, ex-hibitors, door prizes, raffle draw and audi-ence games. This FREE EVENT is open to all.

The Federation is in-viting all Filipino asso-ciations in Brampton to join the opening parade and ceremonies. There are also many opportuni-ties to participate, includ-ing entertainment, spon-

sorships, and advertising. The Federation of

Filipino Canadians of Brampton is a registered, non-profit organization of Filipino individuals and associations, aimed at the preservation and promo-tion of Filipino culture, traditions, and heritage.

For more information, please call Joyce Rodri-guez at (905) 796-0573. (pr)

Members of the Association of the Filipino Canadian Accountants (AFCA) take time out from their busy tax clinic schedule at the Our Lady of Assumption (OLA) Church on Bathurst Street, Toronto, to pose for the camera. AFCA volunteers came in full force on April 11th to serve newcomers and caregivers parishioners at OLA on Bathurst Street. AFCA makes the rounds of community centres and non-profit agencies throughout the GTA to offer tax return preparation to low income groups free of charge. (Faye Arellano)

Leia Dimain Buan has all the reasons to be happy. After all, it’s her birthday; 2nd birthday! Leia is the first child of proud parents, Ryan and Blessyl Buan.Four thrilled grandparents of Leia, namely, Lolo Phil and Lola Amor from Daddy’s side, and Papo Mario and Nana Gina from Mommy’s side would not pass that special day of March 31 without their presence at the celebration.

The winners and runners-up in the 2nd round of the Filipino Centre Toronto Filipino Singing Idol 2010. From left, Em-manuel Sibal (run-ner-up, Teens), Charlene Dorland (winner, Teens), Nicole Ramos (winner, Children) and Isabelah Lali-con (runner-up, Children). All will compete again at the FSI grand finals at the Pis-tahan in June.


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‘‘If you don’t learn to laugh at trouble, you won’t have anything to laugh at when you’re old.

- Edgar Watson Howe

The Rizal Canada, headed by Region Commander Sir Emiliano R. Silverio, KGCR and Supreme Council Trustee Sir George R. Poblete, KGOR, pre-sented the Gold Service Cross Medal to Region Deputy Commander Sir Dr. Tom Virey at an assembly in Mississauga, April 11. During the same occa-sion, Sir Dr. Maselle Virey of Mississauga Chapter, was promoted to the rank of Knight Commader of Rizal (KCR). Present in the awarding ceremonies are (L.R) Toronto Chapter Commander Sir Noel Lalicon, KCR; Region Pur-suivant Sir Jimmy Marasigan KGOR; Region Chancellor Sir Joe Damasco, KGOR; Sir Dr. Maselle Virey, KCR; Supreme Council Trustee, Sir George R. Poblete, KGOR; Rizal Canada Region Commander Sir Emiliano Silverio, KGCR; Region Trustee Sir Doug Ord, KCR; Region Exchequer Sir Ed Prillo, KGOR; GTA Area Commander Sir Palph Bunag, KCR; Dimasalang Chapter Deputy Commander Sir Jun Enverga, KCR. Seated (L-R) are Region Deputy Commander Sir Dr. Tom Viery, KGOR, and Region Trustee Sir Jess Cabrias, KGOR.



Kaithlyn Samson, 9, is Munting Bb. Pilipinas Kalayaan 2010

Kaithlyn Samson, 9, Munting Bb. Pilipinas Kalayaan 2010 (center) with her court and Kalayaan officers and judges of the pageant. (Photo: Noli Gumapac)

The Kalayaan Cultural Community Centre was transformed into a magic kingdom for the Munting Binibining Pilipinas Ka-layaan 2010 Beauty Pag-eant on Saturday, April 24, 2010 where Kaithlyn Samson was crowned the winner.

Nine-year-old Sam-son was joined by Nelitta Viloria, 6, Christine To-lentino, 8, Geneveive Mendillo, 6, Chloe Ka-rissa Chua, 9, Carmela Duckworth,7, and Trisha Rani Jain, 8. Dressed in gowns fit for a fairy tale, the beautiful little ladies displayed their talents which included sing-ing the latest pop tunes, dancing and reciting a poem in front of an ener-getic audience and panel of five judges.

“It’s interesting to see because the girls ranged in age from seven to 10,” says first time judge Anna Gonzales, who was looking for someone who “stood out among the crowd, had a great per-sonality and wasn’t shy.”

“As judges, we are

looking at beauty and poise, talent, most photo-genic, and best in gown,” said Dr. William A. Ro-driguez. To determine the winner, beauty and poise counted for 50 percent, 30 for popularity and ticket sales, while talent made up the remaining 20.

Viloria, who made a point to tell the audience she hoped for “world peace”, said she joined because “I heard there was a crown and I like crowns. So I said to my mom, PLEASE!”

Samson, who also took home awards for best in gown and best tal-ent, said she was scared in the beginning of the competition. But in the end, she had a lot of fun getting to know the girls and making new friends.

“I’m glad she won because she’s really shy in school,” said proud mom, Ana. “I wanted to expose her to people, to build her self-esteem and confidence.”

Other winners includ-ed Jain as 1st runner up,

Viloria as 2nd runner up, and Chua as most photo-genic. Outgoing Munting Binibining Pilipinas Ka-layaan 2009, Rita-anne Marie Tabago gave the girls encouraging advice saying “competition is not about going against one another but showing the talents and perform-ing to the best of one’s ability while having fun.”

Production coordina-tor and Miss PIDC 2005 Joan Dela Cruz, who taught the girls how to walk with elegance and grace, echoed Tabago’s sentiments. “I hope all the girls take the expe-rience and grow with it- they won’t be as shy as when they started and be more confident,” she said. “They’ve all worked so hard, it takes a lot of

courage to do something like this. They’re all win-ners in my heart.”

Meanwhile, Kalayaan chairperson Linda Carin said pageants like these help motivate kids at an early age to be aware and involved in the Filipino community. The Ka-layaan Filipino Cultural Organization was estab-lished in 1983 to oversee the annual celebration of

By Jackielou Perez

Philippine Independence Day celebrations in Mis-sissauga and to promote and preserve Filipino culture for future genera-tions. The next event will be the Summer Festival Community Picnic on Sunday, June 6, 2010 at the Mississauga Valley Community Park.

BPAC elects new board and officers

The Batangas Provin-cial Association of Can-ada (BPAC) has elected the members of the board of directors and officers for the term 2010-2012. Elected BPAC Gover-

nor is Jimmy Marasigan from the Town of Santo Tomas, Batangas.

A retired federal pub-lic servant from Trans-port Canada, Marasigan is active with several

organizations in Toronto for more than three de-cades.

Currently, Marasigan is also the Region Pur-suivant for the whole Canada Region of the

In photo are the newly elected board members and officers of the Batan-gas Provincial Association of Canada. Standing from left, Roddy Sulit, Erie Guerra, Jimmy Abas, Edwin Aguila, Tony Pasilabban, Ludy Pasilabban, El-sie Altamirano-Villanueva and Florie Siliang. Middle row; Lina Dacillo, Bing Marasigan, Jimmy Marasigan, Ray Dacillo, Nena Abas, Michelle Siliang. Front Row: Marcie Rosos, Emma Aguila, and Perry Villanueva. Not in Photo: Efren and Eva De Villa, Edgar and Nora Adan, Mike and Nellie Lim and Rolly Palma

Order of the Knights of Rizal (KoR) based in To-ronto and was the Com-mander of the Markham Chapter.

Other involvements of the new BPAC Governor were as a Grand Knight of

the Knights of Columbus, Council 9144 in Scarbor-ough, former overall co-ordinator and presently the Communications Director of the 500-fam-ily strong Block Rosary Group, a Sir Knight with the 4th Degree Assembly of the Knights of Colum-bus based at St. Aidan.

Marasigna is an active

member of the Archdi-ocesan Filipino Catholic Mission (AFCM) – Tem-poralities at Our Lady of the Assumption on Bathurst Street in North York, Ontario and pres-ently the vice president for special projects of the Philippine Independence

BPAC cont’d on p.26

25April 2010 Manila Media MonitorPEOPLE & EVENTS

‘‘My poems are hymns of praise to the glory of life. - Edith Sitwell

Inducting officer, Consul General Minerva Falcon, congratulates the new KCCC Board, (L-R) Dr. Romy Sinajon, PRO; Ruffy Romano, Tommy de Guia, Ben Montada, Archie Ayala, Directors; Benny Cuevillas, Auditor; Ching Que-jas, President; Delfin Palileo, Director; Estelita Liwag, Treasurer; Eula Rul-loda, Secretary; Resty del Rosario, VP, Programs Administration; and, Edgar Frondozo, Executive VP. Not in photo are Directors Linda Carin and Minnie Bandayrel.

Day Council. BPAC has been in

operation for more than a decade and has been instrumental in granting financial assistance to needy organizations in

Batangas municipalities, among others, the con-struction of classrooms and provision of relief assistance to victims of floods and typhoons in the Philippines.

The Province of Ba-tangas is a first class

province with its capitol located in Batangas City. The province has 31 mu-nicipalities and three cit-ies namely; Batangas, Lipa and Tanauan. The incumbent provincial governor is Vilma Santos of Lipa City.

BPAC from p. 25

On the first day of the free Income Tax Clinic at the Filipino Centre Toronto on Parliament Street in downtown T.O., seventeen individuals availed of the FCT free service of seven volunteer Certified General Accountants in filing their income tax returns.


Canadian bank launches new products for OFWs

CALGARY – As one of the top five destina-tions for temporary for-eign workers coming to Canada, Calgary was the scene of the recent launch of the Scotiabank StartRight™ Program for Foreign Workers.

The program is a comprehensive banking package designed specif-ically to meet the finan-cial needs of temporary foreign workers who are either planning to come to Canada or have recent-ly arrived.

According to Citi-zenship and Immigra-tion Canada, more than 150,000 temporary for-eign workers enter Can-ada each year from more than 110 source countries around the globe includ-ing the United States, Mexico, the Philippines, India and China.

“As Canada’s most international bank with operations in some 50

countries, Scotiabank has a unique perspective on the needs of temporary foreign workers as they make the transition to

live and work in Canada,” said Rania Llewellyn, Vice-President of Multi-cultural Banking at Sco-tiabank.

“At Scotiabank, we recognize the contribu-tion made by temporary foreign workers to the Canadian economy and cultural mosaic, and have launched a complete fi-nancial package to help them start right.”

The Scotiabank Star-tRight Program for For-

eign Workers is a natural extension of the Scotia-bank StartRight Program for Newcomers launched in 2008 to meet the bank-

ing needs of landed im-migrants, international students and immigrant investors. The Scotiabank StartRight Program for Foreign Workers offers a range of financial solu-tions in one convenient package tailored to meet the banking needs of for-eign workers, including:

• Establishing free Scotiabank day-to-day banking for one year;

• Sending money worldwide quickly and

reliably with Western Union Money Transfer Services;

• Securing valuables with a free Safety De-posit Box;

• Building a credit his-tory with a No-Fee Scotia Moneyback® Visa credit card; and

• Purchasing a home in Cana-da with a mort-gage de-signed

to the needs of tempo-

rary res-idents.

Llewellyn also high-lighted the Scotiabank StartRight Auto Loan Program introduced ear-lier this month, which provides auto financing solutions to new immi-grants and foreign work-ers. The program is ini-tially available through all Canadian new vehicle franchise dealerships.

“When new immi-grants and foreign work-ers first arrive in Canada, buying a car is a major

purchase for many,” said Ron Porter, Senior Vice President, Automotive Finance & Indirect Lend-ing, Scotiabank. “The Scotiabank StartRight Auto Loan Program, a first of its kind in Canada from an automotive fi-nancing provider, is de-signed to provide financ-ing to help them obtain a new vehicle, which is of-ten necessary for work.”

For more information on the Scotiabank Star-tRight Program please visit your nearest Scotia-bank branch, our website

www.startright.scotia-bank.com or call us at 1-866-800-5159.

Scotiabank continues to build on its solid foun-dation of serving Cana-da’s multicultural com-munities with a dedicated Multicultural Banking division. Following the launch of the Scotiabank StartRightTM Program for Newcomers in 2008, the Multicultural Banking group launched a series of innovative partnerships and initiatives designed to offer unique oppor-tunities for newcomers

to Canada. As Canada’s most international bank with a presence in some 50 countries around the world, Scotiabank under-stands the unique needs of Canada’s multicultural communities. For more information on Multicul-tural Banking please visit

www.startright.scotia-bank.com.

Scotiabank is one of North America’s premier financial institutions and Canada’s most interna-tional bank. With close to 68,000 employees, Scotiabank Group and its affiliates serve approxi-mately 14.6 million cus-tomers in some 50 coun-tries around the world. Scotiabank offers a di-verse range of products and services including personal, commercial, corporate and investment banking. With more than $507 billion in assets (as at January 31, 2010), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto (BNS) and New York Exchanges (BNS). For more information please visit www.scotia-bank.com. (Scotiabank Public Affairs)

‘‘As Canada’s most international bank with operations in some 50 countries, Scotiabank

has a unique perspective on the needs of temporary foreign workers as they make the

transition to live and work in Canada. - Rania Llewellyn, Vice-President of Multicultural Banking at Scotiabank


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28 Manila Media Monitor April 2010 MONEY

Economy in critical zone, threats to recovery remain says EDC forecast

Canada’s exports are fore-cast to rise by 11 per cent in 2010 as they begin to rebound from the worst year on recent record, but a number of threats remain before world demand moves beyond the critical zone, according to the Global Export Forecast released recently by Export Development Canada (EDC).

EDC’s forecast also called for Canada’s exports to grow by seven per cent in 2011, when it believes true, sustain-able growth will begin.

“Despite over a year of proclamations to the contrary, global recovery remains elu-sive,” said Peter Hall, Chief Economist at EDC.

“It’s true that growth has re-sumed, and some of the move-ment is eye-catching. But there is a big difference between the end of recession and the start of recovery. Genuine recov-ery requires a much more sus-tained, aggressive growth pace than we have experienced to date, and much higher levels of activity than we currently see. We may have recovery in our sights, but we’re not quite there.”

EDC’s forecast noted that while some of the current growth numbers are posi-tive, they are supported by a heavy dose of public stimulus. The value of total developed-economy stimulus spending is worth nearly four per cent of OECD GDP, a significant im-pact when compared with av-erage annual growth in these economies.

“Essentially, stimulus is buying time until the true re-covery kicks in,” said Mr. Hall. “Are we almost there?

We won’t arrive until the enor-mous excesses that piled up at the end of the boom period are worked down. The good news is that the work-down has been steady and aggressive. The bad news is that we’ll have to wait until year-end before mar-ket balance leads to a typical resurgence of key economic drivers.”

EDC believes that there are four key risks to the economy as it makes its way through recovery towards sustainable growth.

• Fiscal stimulus: This poses a problem to the econ-omy because it will soon stop contributing to bottom-line growth, taking many by sur-prise. If this causes overall growth to falter ahead of the underlying recovery, a resur-gence of uncertainty could harm overall growth.

• Financial markets: Ex-traordinary measures success-fully rescued Western financial institutions following their near-collapse late in 2008, but they still face one more test. Loan defaults are now hitting peak levels, lagging behind the economic cycle as they histori-

cally tend to do. Weathering this phase of the cycle well is critical for the sector, and for the overall economic outlook.

• Soaring commod-ity prices: Crude oil and base metals prices have seen very strong growth recently, but the price increase has been accom-panied by high and still-rising inventory levels, surplus pro-

ductive capacity, and low ag-gregate demand. EDC expects an orderly softening in prices, but there is danger that a sharp-er correction could test overall confidence.

• Inflation: It has be-come an increasingly promi-nent worry in recent weeks, and EDC’s forecast reports that high unemployment and generally low capacity utiliza-tion suggest that core inflation pressures will remain weak for some time, even if growth ac-celerates rapidly. The forecast also noted that the monetary policy challenge will be to un-wind stimulus in a way that doesn’t upset current growth before sustainable recovery oc-curs.

“These risks promise to keep the caution level in the

economy high enough that challenges are likely to be man-aged swiftly and with the same coordination that has made recent measures so effective,” Mr. Hall said.

Accordingly, EDC forecasts that world growth is likely to reach 3.7 per cent this year, a vast improvement over the 1.1 per cent contraction in 2009,

but still not enough to be called a true recovery. Further im-provements in fundamentals will lead to an expected 4.2 per cent expansion in 2011. EDC forecasts that developed econ-omies will be well shy of the average this year but will gain ground in 2011, while emerg-ing markets promise faster and steadier growth.

EDC’s expects Canada’s growth to rise by 2.5 per cent this year and 2.9 per cent in 2011, following a decline of 2.6 per cent in 2009. EDC be-lieves export growth will be stronger, and certain industries like the auto sector will post double-digit gains. However, even for the faster-growth sec-tors, activity levels will still be well below previous peak ac-tivity by year-end.

“The recession pummeled Canadian exporters, but once recovery sets in, growth will rise sharply until the economy returns to normal production levels. That period is in sight, and if we manage well through the critical zone, our next big challenge will be accommo-dating that aggressive growth,’ added Mr. Hall.

EDC’s semi-annual Global Export Forecast addresses the latest global export conditions including perspectives on in-terest rates, exchange rates as well as export strategies to help Canadian companies minimize risk. It also analyzes a range of risks for which exporters should be prepared. The fore-cast is available on EDC’s website at http://www.edc.ca/gef.

EDC is Canada’s export credit agency, offering innova-tive commercial solutions to help Canadian exporters and investors expand their interna-tional business. EDC’s knowl-edge and partnerships are used by more than 8,400 Canadian companies and their global customers in up to 200 markets worldwide each year. EDC is financially self-sustaining, a recognized leader in financial reporting and economic analy-sis, and has been recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Em-ployers for nine consecutive years. (EDC)

‘‘The good news is that the work-down has been

steady and aggressive. The bad news is that we’ll have to wait until year-end before

market balance leads to a typical resurgence of key economic drivers.

- Peter Hall, Chief Economist at EDC.

‘‘The fates have given mankind a

patient soul. - Homer


Overseas Filipino workers Sherie, Teresa and Ha-zel spend their early Saturday evenings by a din-ing out savoring Filipino homecooking just like their mothers back home in the Philippines do it at a Filipino restaurant on Wilson Avenue in Toronto

MONEY

The great tax time roundup – corralling all your tax creditsYou earned ‘em – be

sure to use ‘em. Here’s a list of many commonly missed tax credits.

Spouse or common-law partner federal credit and eligible dependent federal credit – for sup-port of an eligible partner whose net income was less than $10,320.

Pension income amount – claim up to $2,000 if you reported eligible pension, super-annuation, or annuity payments.

Age amount – those 65 or older on December 31, 2009 and with a net income below $75,032 can claim $6,408.

Medical expenses credit – check the ex-tensive list of eligible expenses on the Canada Revenue Agency web-site (www.cra-arc.gc.ca). Remember that personal health insurance plan pre-miums including those for travel insurance may also be eligible.

Charitable donation credit – maximize it by combining donations on one tax return or carry-ing them forward to take advantage of the higher tax rate for contributions

over $200. Children’s fitness

credit – up to $500 per child against eligible fees for a physical activity program.

Child care credit for children born in 1992 or late of $2,089 per child.

Tuition fees, education costs, textbook credit and interest on student loans – the supporting parent or grandparent of a student may be able to claim all or a portion of a child’s tuition education and textbook amounts when transferred to you to a maximum of $5,000.

Adoption expenses – claim up to $10,909 if the adoption was finalized in 2009. This credit can be split between the adop-tive parents.

Disability credit – un-used portion can be trans-ferred to a supporting relative.

Home renovation credit – available only this year on eligible reno-vations undertaken and completed between Janu-ary 28, 2009 and Febru-ary 1, 2010. Claim 15% of eligible expenses over $1,000 but no more than $10,000 for a maximum

credit of $1,350. First-rime home buy-

ers’ credit – a new tax credit for certain home buyers who acquired a qualifying home after January 27, 2009. For 2009, the credit is $750.

Public transit credit – claim the cost of monthly public transit passes/elec-tric payment cards.

By corralling all your eligible tax credits, you’ll definitely reduce your tax bill – but to be sure you trim it to the max, talk to your professional advisor before you file.

This column, written and published by Inves-tors Group Financial Ser-vices Inc. (in Québec – a Financial Services Firm), presents general infor-mation only and is not a solicitation to buy or sell any investments. Con-tact a financial advisor for specific advice about your circumstances. For more information on this topic please contact your Investors Group Consul-tant: Rhowena Adolfo, Direct Line (416) 558-3078 Email: Rhowena.

[email protected]

Consul General Minerva Jean Falcon (center) graces the Knights of Rizal Toronto Chapter on the group’s anniversary. ConGen Falcon high-lighted her extensive exposure to Rizal members in the countries that she was assigned in the past, including Germany, Hawaii, Australia and Spain. She praised Rizal as a great Philippine national hero, and noted his popularity in many countries for his great work. In photo from left, Sir Winford Cameron, KR; Sir Ernie Reyes, KCR; Sir Jimmy Marasigan, KGOR; Sir Lapulapu Cana, KGCR; Sir Noel Lalicon, KCR; Rizal Canada Region Com-mander Sir Emiliano Silverio; KGCR, Sir Levi Vera Cruz, KOR; ConGen Minerva Jean Falcon; Sir George R. Poblete, KGOR of the Supreme Coun-cil; Sir Ed Prillo, KGOR; Sir Mike Murphy, KCR; Sir Jun Enverga, KCR; Sir Manny Bade, KCR; Sir Doug Ord, KCR; Sir Mar Padlan, KCR; Sir Ben Fer-rer, KCR; and Sir Frank Crawford, KCR.

30 Manila Media Monitor April 2010 MONEY

Bob Lane

Seminar on how Canada’s development bank helps to grow business

The next seminar or-ganized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce-Toronto (PCCT) will be hosted by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) at its fa-cilities, 305 Milner Av-enue in Scarborough.

BDC facilitators will talk on how Canada’s development bank helps entrepreneurs grow their

businesses. PCCT president Ra-

fael Nebres said the seminar is part of the organization’s series of educational seminars for members, which likewise is open to non-members and guests for a minimal fee of $10.

To be held at the 3rd floor conference room of BDC, the event is sched-

uled Thursday, May 13. Registration starts at 6:30 PM.

For more information, please call the PCCT of-fice at (416) 850-4966 or visit www.torontopcct.com.

This May 13 follows only three weeks after the PCCT delivered a busi-ness planning seminar on what do entrepreneurs

do “ … after the storm” to inject new marketing and operational ideas on its members aimed at a speedy recovery from the economic crunch.

The seminar was fa-cilitated by Bob Lane, a business advisor with the Centennial College Cen-tre of Entrepreneurship (see related story, From The Monitor’s Desk, page 8, this issue). (MMM)


Gasoline or Electricity?

EarthTalk®

From the Edi tors of E /The Environmenta l Magazine

How Important is it to change the fluids in

your vehicle?

Car OwnershipMade Easy

R A F A E L N E B R E S

ENVIRONMENT


This is another very important, yet understat-ed topic. Most people are under the presumption that the engine oil is the only FLUID that requires replacement. There are a number of other fluids in your car, which are of equal importance.

Today I will focus on the transmission and brake fluids in your ve-hicle.

It is a fact that 90% of all transmission fail-

ures are caused by overheating. Most of these can be blamed on worn out fluid that should have been re-placed. Transmis-sion fluid breaks down over time due to heat. This heat destroys the fluid’s lubricating quali-ties leading to trans-mission slippage, clutch burnout, and other costly damage. It is strongly recommended to

replace the transmission fluid at the recommended

intervals set out by the manufacturer to protect

the transmission.It is also a fact that

brake fluid attracts moisture, which cor-rodes the internal components of your brake system. With today’s anti-lock braking systems, the rust and other debris accumulating in the fluid causes internal damage leading to expensive repairs. It

is strongly recommended to replace the brake fluid

Dear EarthTalk: Isn’t the interest in electric cars and plug-in hybrids going to spur increased reliance on coal as a power source? And is that really any better than gasoline/oil in terms of en-vironmental impact?

-- Graham Rankin, via e-mail

It’s true that the advent of electric cars is not necessarily a boon for the environment if

it means simply trading our reliance on one fos-sil fuel—oil, from which gasoline is distilled—for an even dirtier one: coal, which is burned to create electricity.

The mining of coal is an ugly and environmen-tally destructive process. And, according to the U.S. Environmental Pro-tection Agency (EPA) burning the substance in power plants sends some 48 tons of mercury—a known neurotoxin—into

Americans’ air and water every year (1999 figures, the latest year for which data are available). Fur-thermore, coal burning contributes some 40 per-cent of total U.S. car-bon dioxide emissions. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) es-timates that coal min-ing and burning cause a whopping $62 billion worth of environmental damage every year in the U.S. alone, not to men-tion its profound impact on our health.

Upwards of half of all the electricity in the U.S. is derived from coal, while the figure is estimated to be around

70 percent in China. As for Europe, the United Kingdom gets more than a third of its electric-ity from coal, while Italy plans to double its con-sumption of coal for elec-tricity production within five years to account for some 33 percent of its own electricity needs. Several other countries in Europe, where green sentiment runs deep but economics still rule the roost, are also stockpiling coal and building more power plants to burn it in the face of an ever-in-creasing thirst for cheap and abundant electricity.

On top of this trend, dozens of electric and

plug-in hybrid cars are in the works from the world’s carmakers. It stands to reason that, un-less we start to source significant amounts of electricity from renew-ables (solar, wind, etc.), coal-fired plants will not only continue but may actually increase their discharges of mercury, carbon dioxide and oth-er toxins due to greater numbers of electric cars on the road.

Some analysts expect that existing electric-ity capacity in the U.S. may be enough to power America’s electric cars in the near future, but don’t rule out the possibility of

new coal plants (or new nuclear power plants) coming on line to fill the gap if we don’t make haste in developing alternate sources for generating electrical energy. And while proponents of

energy efficiency believe we can go a long way by making our electric grids “smarter” through the use of monitoring tech-nologies that can dole out power when it is most plentiful and cheap (usu-ally the middle of the night), others doubt that existing capacity will be able to handle the load placed on even an intel-ligent “smart grid” distri-bution network.

Environmentalists—as well as many politi-cians and policymakers—maintain that the only viable, long-term solu-tion is to spur on the de-velopment of renewable energy sources. Not long

ago, the concept of an all-electric car charged up by solar power or some oth-er form of clean renew-able energy was nothing but a pipe dream. Today, though, such a scenario is within the realm of the possible, but only if ev-eryone does their part to demand that our utilities bring more green power on line.

CONTACTS: EPA/mercury emissions;

www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/utility/hgwhitepaperfinal.pdf.

SEND YOUR ENVI-RONMENTAL QUES-TIONS TO: EarthTalk®, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; [email protected]. Read past columns at: www.

emagazine.com/earth-talk/archives.php. Earth-Talk® is now a book! Details and order infor-mation at: www.emaga-zine.com/earthtalkbook.

at the intervals set out by your manufacturer (usu-ally every 3 years) to pro-tect the braking system of your vehicle.

Another prevention tip, “that can make your car ownership easy ” .

Q

A

Theody Corton of Eaufilaire-Quality Inc.points to an illustration of the cross section of what its manufacturer bills as “a truly revolutionary home clean-ing system,” based on the principle that “Wet Dust Can’t Fly”, a trade mark of the Rainbow Cleaning System -- which uses a unique water-based filtra-tion system to effectively remove dirt and airborne particles from homes. Among the system’s users are Oprah, Dr. Phil and NASA, according to the manufacturer’s brochures. The Rainbow Cleaning System can only be pur-chased from an authorized Rainbow dealer, such as Eaufilaire-Quality, Inc. in Scarborough, Tel. (416) 642-0547.

32 Manila Media Monitor April 2010 ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT

GMA Network keeps strong hold of viewer-rich Mega Manila

Philippine broadcast giant GMA Network has kept its stronghold of the TV ratings lead in viewer-rich Mega Ma-nila in 2009, according to data from AGB Nielsen, the recog-nized TV ratings data supplier in the country.

From January to December 2009, GMA Network posted an average total day (6am–12mn) audience share of 40 percent, 8 percentage points higher than ABS-CBN’s 32 percent. In Metro Manila, GMA Network garnered an average audience share of 37%, up by 3 percent-age points compared to ABS-CBN’s 34%. For channel rat-ings, GMA Network averaged 17 percent versus the competi-tion’s 13.7 percent.

From the same period, GMA Network had 23 (includ-ing specials) entries in the list of overall top 30 programs in Mega Manila, with the top 12 slots belonging to the Kapuso Network. Boxing specials fea-turing the bouts of the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter Manny Pacquiao – “Firepow-

er” (versus Miguel Cotto) and “The Battle of the East and the West” (versus Ricky Hatton) – took the top two slots, respec-tively.

Without specials, 21 GMA shows, shown abroad via the Network’s flagship interna-tional channel GMA Pinoy TV, made it to the overall top 30 programs list in Mega Ma-nila, with the top 8 spots swept by “Darna,” “Luna Mystika,” “Zorro,” “Totoy Bato,” “LaLo-la,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “24 Oras,” and “Gagambino.”

Among regular shows, the primetime hit “Darna,” which starred Primetime Queen Mar-ian Rivera came first with 35.5 rating points, compared to competition’s “May Bukas Pa” ranked behind by 8 rating points. In primetime, GMA Network had 15 out of the top 20 most watched shows during the period. GMA shows also occupied the first eight spots in the listing.

In daytime, GMA Network got 14 slots in the list of overall top 20 programs. The phenom-

enal team up of Kris Bernal and Aljur Abrenica in “Dapat Ka Bang Mahalin?” recorded the highest rating of 26 points.

Meanwhile, the country’s longest-running noontime show, “Eat Bulaga,” which celebrated its 30th anniversa-ry in 2009, posted an average rating of 24.2 points, beating “Wowowee” by 7.3 points.

In Total Urban Luzon, which accounts for 77%, or a project-ed number of 6,150,000 urban TV households in the country, GMA Network beat ABS-CBN by 3.3 percentage points with an average audience share of 38.4%.

Based on AGB Nielsen’s 2010 TV household population projections, Mega Manila TV households now comprise 55% of the National Urban Philip-pines TV population and are generated from a bigger panel of 800 TV households. Urban North/Central Luzon, on the other hand, accounts for 21% of the National Urban Philip-pines TV population.

AGB Nielsen supplies TV

ratings data to 19 companies in the Philippines. GMA Network and another media company (ABS-CBN not included), plus

twelve (12) major advertising agencies and five (5) region-al clients subscribe to AGB Nielsen. (GMA-PR)

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Classic Pilipino Puzzle 3

Sagot sa puzzle sa pahina 36


Friends in the entertainment industry hosted a welcome party for Toronto-based broadcaster Joel Recla during his recent visit in the Philippines. From left, Asia’s Queen of Songs’ Pilita Corrales, Annabelle Rama, Eddie Gutier-rez, Joel Recla and Ric Eusebio -- also of Toronto. Joel hosts “Perlas ng Silangan” radio program over CHIN Radio International, 100.7 FM, Tuesdays, 11:00 to 11:30 PM.


“Agua Bendita” sweeps the Country by storm; drowns competition in TV ratings in March

When it comes to en-tertainment, most Filipi-nos watch “Agua Ben-dita.” When it comes to TV election news cover-age, most Filipinos find ABS-CBN as the most credible.

“Agua Bendita,” the heartwarming story of twins Agua and Bendita facing life’s challenges and teaches viewers the value of unconditional love, topped the national TV ratings and drowned competition in March 2010 with an average rat-ing of 39.4 percent, ac-cording to global media specialist TNS (Taylor Nelson Sofres).

The show’s strong performance pushed ABS-CBN’s national audience share to hit 45 percent, higher by 11.9 points than GMA Net-work’s 33.1 percent in March 2010. Year-on-year, ABS-CBN’s audi-ence share grew by 2.1 points from 42.9 percent in March 2009, while GMA’s audience share dwindled by 2.7 points from 35.8 percent in March 2009.

Industry analysts also noted that ABS-CBN has gained ground in Mega Manila with its audience increasing to 36.9 percent in March 2010, up by 3.9 points from 33 percent in March 2009, while GMA Network’s hold in Mega Manila has weakened with audience share tum-bling to 37.8 percent in March 2010, down by 4.9

Julius, Karen and Ted TV Patrol World

points from 42.7 percent in March 2009.

As posted in the TNS website, seven out of the top ten most watched weekday programs in March were ABS-CBN programs. “Kung Tayo’y Magkakalayo” came in second with 34.6 percent, “Habang May Buhay” in fourth (28.3%), “Tang-ing Yaman” in seventh (23.8), “Rubi” in ninth (22.3%), and Wowowee in tenth (22.1%).

“TV Patrol World” ranked third and topped all news programs na-tionwide with an average rating of 32.5 percent. Its leadership is affirmed by a Pulse Asia survey con-ducted between 21-25 February 2010 showing 63 percent of Filipinos believing that ABS-CBN is the most credible TV network in covering the

election campaign. GMA was far second with 55 percent.

ABS-CBN also domi-nated the weekend top ten regular programs. “Pilipi-nas Got Talent” placed first (36.5%), followed by “Rated K” (33%), “Agi-mat: Tonyong Bayawak” (29.5%), “Goin Bulilit” (29.4%), “Maalaala Mo Kaya” (27.4%), “TV Patrol Linggo” (24.9%) and “TV Patrol Sabado” (23.7%).

The network’s Sun-day variety show “ASAP XV” was no match for GMA 7’s newly launched “Party Pilipinas,” which lost by four points. ASAP XV rated 18.5 percent vs Party Pilipinas’ 14.5 per-cent last March 28 when GMA’s new show was launched.

ABS-CBN’s AM radio station DZMM is not only

leading in radio in terms of audience share accord-ing to 2010 Nielsen Mega Manila RAM, but its ca-ble TV channel DZMM TeleRadyo is the num-ber one cable news and information channel in February 2010. DZMM

scored a 22 percent audi-ence share. DZMM Tel-eRadyo climbed to 24th spot among all cable TV channels in the Philip-pines, beating other news channels such as CNN, BBC, Channel News

Asia, Bloomberg, and CNBC.

TNS is a leading mar-ket research group in the world with a proven track record in audience research measurement systems in 32 countries. It started releasing its

Andi Eigenmann

national television au-dience measurement data on February 2009 with panels, composed of 1,370 representative households, covering ur-ban Philippines and re-porting on seven sectors

namely NCR, Suburbs, North Luzon, Central Luzon, South Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

ABS-CBN shifted to TNS after filing a case vs. AGB Nielsen Media Research for failing to comply with its request to inves-tigate alleged cheating and data tampering in TV ratings. The case is still pending in

court. (PR)

ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT


Max Out on Your Promotional and

Marketing Efforts.

Get Combo Ad Rates for Television, Newspaper &

Radio.

Call (416) 285-8583

ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT

WHO’S COMINg TO T.O.?

ARNEL PINEDA WILL ROCK TORONTO!

JREM Entertainment is proud to present a solo concert of Arnel Pineda, singer-song-writer , known as the lead man of the American rock band “Journey” at the Roy Thomson Hall on Friday, July 30, 2010, 7:30 p.m.

Arnel is a talented, musical sensation from the Philippines whose singing career span 25 years in Asia plus 2 years to date in the U.S.

He started as lead singer with Ijos Band in 1982 and since then he had been in-volved with 7 rock bands: Ammo (1986), Intensity Five (1990), New Age (1990), 9mm (2000), South Border (2001), Most@Wanted (2004), Zoo (2006) and in 2007 with the “Journey.”

Among one of the most no-table accomplishments, with Ammo participating the Ya-maha World Band Explosion, Arnel won the Best Vocalist award and the band came in as first runner up.

In 1999 Arnel caught the at-tention of Warner Bros. record label and recorded a solo album self-titled Arnel Pineda. One of the songs, “Iiyak Ka Rin” (You Will Cry Too) became a karaoke favorite in Asia, while another song “Sayang” (Too Bad) become a radio favorite. Arnel wrote and arranged sev-eral songs.

Videos of The Zoo perform-ing cover songs by Journey, Survivor, Aerosmith, Led Zep-pelin, Air Supply, The Eagles,

Kenny Loggins and other popular acts from the 70s, 80s and 90s, began appearing on YouTube.com in Feb-ruary 2007. On June 28, 2007,[7] Neal Schon of Journey contacted Noel Gomez, a long-time fan and friend of Pineda who up-loaded many of these videos, to ask for Pineda’s contact information. Schon sent an e-mail to Pineda inviting the latter to audi-tion for Journey. Pineda initially dis-missed the e-mail as a hoax, but after being per-suaded by Gomez, he finally replied to Schon’s e-mail. Ten minutes later, Pineda received a phone call from Schon. On August 12, Pineda, along with his manager Bert de Leon, flew to Marin County, just north of San Francisco, for a two-day audition. The star-struck Pine-da was welcomed warmly but he described the audition as “nerve-wracking, tense”. On December 5, 2007, Pineda was announced as the lead singer of Journey. CNN Headline News ran the story as part of their “News to Me” segment.

Pineda debuted as the lead singer of Journey on Febru-ary 21, 2008 at the Viña del Mar International Song Festi-val held at the Quinta Vergara Amphitheater in Viña del Mar,

Chile.Chilean media acclaimed

Pineda’s performance (trans-lated to English): “The new vocalist fit very well with the band, his vocal aptitudes shin-ing through, which are very similar to the legendary musi-cian of the band, Steve Perry.” Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain described Pineda’s per-formance in a radio interview: “We went to Chile just recent-ly, where we had never played and they went crazy, they ab-solutely went nuts...Arnel’s first show — talk about a stressful thing — we had a televised concert for 25 million people...Is the guy a winner? Yeah, he’s a winner. He’s a clutch player.

On February 1, 2009

he performed with Journey at the Super Bowl XLIII Pregame Show.

Journey’s first al-bum with Pineda, Rev-elation, debuted at No. 5 in the Billboard Top 200 album charts in the

week following its release (released June 3, 2008), and remained in the Top 20 for six weeks. It was certi-fied gold by RIAA with more than 336,000 units sold within the first few days.[ It achieved platinum status by

October 1, 2008.Jonathan Cain described the

album in an interview: “We re-corded our greatest hits with our brand new singer from the Philippines, Arnel Pineda, and it’s unbelievable when you lis-ten to it. We paid a lot of at-tention to the details because everybody loves those hits and we weren’t about to step all over it. We’ve got that and a brand new CD as well, and then there’s a bonus DVD of what the band looks like now, about an hour of songs... It’s

a 3-disc package... We’re ex-cited because we think Arnel is the future for our franchise... We knew that if we were ever gonna move on, we had to get somebody that was really gonna be our future and sound like Journey is supposed to sound...I think Journey fans are in for a real treat.”

In an interview soon after Pineda joined the band, Neal Schon said, “We feel reborn. I think there’s a lot of chemistry among the five of us. At first we were going to go into the studio and just write 4 songs, but now it’s escalated to a lot of great new and diverse material. The stuff sounds tremendous. Everyone’s so stoked about it. We feel very fortunate to have found Arnel.”

Arnel has three sons, Mat-thew (20 years), Angelo (12 years), and Cherub (3 years). When he’s not on tour with Journey, he returns to Quezon City, Philippines, where he lives with his wife, Cherry, and their children.

Arnel’s special guest, Ra-chelle Ann Go, is a recording artist, model, occasional actress and GMA-7 talent. (JREM En-tertainment)

MELASON, MALAKAS PA RIN! Tuloy ang pag-iibigan ng dating “Pinoy Big Brother” housemates na sina Jason Francisco at Melisa Cantiveros sa pagtata-pos ng realiseryeng “Melason in Love.” Ano kaya ang reaksyon ng dalawa ‘pag malaman na kasabwat pala ang Big 5 at ang Jason’s Angels sa mga hamon at pagsubok na pinagdaanan nila sa kanilang relasyon? Alamin iyan at ang iba pang rebelasyon ng dalawa sa “Melason In Love: The Truth Revealed” sa The Filipino Channel (TFC). Abangan din ang “Prinsipe at Prinsesa ng Masa” sa bago nilang reality show na “Melason in the City”.


Fast Food For Thought

R u d y M . V i e r n e s

A.C.T.S.

A prayer must always be earnest, soulful and forthright.

When we pray, we pray A.C.T.S. -- an acronym for Ad-oration, Contrition, Thankgs-giving, and Supplication. This is a structure of prayer when we start to focus on who God is and exalt and praise Him for that.

ADORATION is giving praise to God as the Creator of Creation. He is an Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent Su-preme Being, Sustainer and Redeemer of mankind.

We go back to Genesis, meaning the beginning.

In the beginning, when God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth had no form and was void; darkness over the deep and the Spirit of God hovered over the earth. And then God gave the “Let there be commmands...”: Let there be light, Let there be sky and earth, Let there be waters, Let there be vegetation, Let there be living creatures in the air and in the waters, Let there be animals roaming on the ground. One by one, God cre-ated these in a systematic order and endowed them with life.

Then God paused and saw that what He had done were good. Everything though

greatly diversified uniting seamlessly each in its own time and space. But who will reign over all these? God got a clay, molded it, and breathed on it to become the first human being. This was Adam. From Adam’s ribs, He formed Eve. They were our first parents. He blessed them and ordered them to rule the earth, to go increase and multiply. That was the rhyth-mic account of Creation. It’s only an infinite divine master, designer, builder and organzier who can do all these. Thus He deserves praise, adoration and adulation. We look up to Him with awe, for He is an “awe”ful Master Creator.

CONTRITION is the act of cleansing the wrongful do-ings -- in thoughts, words and deeds -- that had alienated us from God. This is sin, or the breaking of a moral law: The Commandments are moral laws. Contrition is a sincere and complete remorse for these sins then seek divine forgive-ness through the Sacrament of Confession, called Penance, as we detest the evil wrought and resolve fidelity to the Com-

mandments. When we sin we fall from God’s grace. We go astray like the lost lamb. But it was brought back into the fold by the shepherd. When we confess, and we repent and ac-cept penance, God will bring us back into the fold and restores us to grace at once. This shows man’s imperfections. We have faults. We commit mistakes. “To err is human, to forgive di-vine” says the Proverbs.

Human sin is derived from Original Sin. If our first par-ents had not succumbed to the trickery of the devil they could have stayed put in paradise. But they were human beings. They breached the privilege given them by God to reign over the universe. He vanished them from there, disgraced and shameful. This was the start of man’s sufferings and the pass-ing of the blame.

But God is good. He can-not refuse a contrite heart.

We unburden to Him our past fail-ings with deep regrets, and when that is done we feel good beyond measure.”Come to me those who are heavily laden and I’ll give them rest.”

Like the repentant thief nailed on the Cross beside Christ. He was overcome with remorse that he beseeched Christ to remember him when he goes back to his kingdom. That was a perfect contrition of a sinner. Instantly Jesus merciful heart melted and he promised the penitent thief that he will be with Him in paradise.

THANKSGIVING is the ex-pressing of gratitude for some-thing good given to us. God’s acceptance of our remorse is like having dropped a heavy load off our back. We feel like new and exhilarated after we have been cleansed of our sin-fulness. We therefore express gratitude to God who made us new again with His gift of reconciliation. The Scripture says “When anyone is rejoined to Christ, he is a new being, the old is gone, the new has come.” We are again endowed with a fresh gift of peace in

our heart. We were lost but we were found; we were blind but now we see.

SUPPLICATION (or In-tercession) is an entreaty to God for a need. Having been cleansed of our sins, we again have God’s grace and feel wor-thy and confident that the wish list we ask for in His name will be granted, aware of what He had promised “Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened.”

We ask God to steer us from a rudderless life, to give us strength when burdened by tri-als; to uplift us when weighed down by afflictions; to protect us when persecuted; to be il-lumined when there is doubt, gloom and darkness.

As we go on with our daily life, we hold on to his guiding hands, hold them tight because we couldn’t walk alone. We supplicate that He looks at all these intentions, longings and desires and do what His heart dictates. “For the Lord is my sheperd; I shall not want.

The Lord’s Prayer is the model of all prayers. It is short but it contains A.C.T.S. (Rudy M. Viernes lives in Novato, CA. He may reached at [email protected])

REFLECTIONS

36 Manila Media Monitor April 2010 REFLECTIONS

The Growth of the Devotion to INA By Lorna Achaon

It has been over 35 years since the novena to Our Lady of Penafrancia, a devotion to INA, start-ed in Toronto. The roots have grown branches and the branches leaves and fruits from which seeds could spread to grow more trees of devotion elsewhere.

This year, Ed and Susan Reyes will start the nine-day novena in Guelph with the help of Marlon and Glenn Cor-tes. An image of INA brought from the Philip-pines by Edgar Recon and Antonio Cecilio Jr will be used in Guelph for the novena.

We are still in the pro-cess of confirming the commitment of other hermano and hermana mayors from Kingston, Niagara, Montreal, and other places outside the GTA. Let us all help spread the devotion. Let us help create opportuni-ties for everyone to pray to INA. And let us hope

that devotees from the chap-ters that will be created will join us in To-ronto on INA’s feast day in September.

In the ear-ly 70s, Ch-ing and Ric Reyes, with Helen Sori-ano-Alvarez

(Mila Magno’s mom) started the devotion to the Lady of Penafrancia in Toronto.

With them were the core group composed of Rafael Nebres (cousin of Ching Nebres-Reyes), Ching and Tony Ragos, Paz and Ernie Marasi-gan, May and Fionggoy Amparado, Ely and Aida Vasquez, Annie and Ju-lio Buiza, Boy and Fely Ortega, Fe and Mac Ma-tubis, Monsie Zarris, An-geles Aureus, Eddie Lee , and a long list of other

devotees of INA. They were the roots

that developed from the seed sprinkled and nour-ished by the love for the Our Lady of Penafran-cia that eventually grew branches in the form of several groups who helped spread the devo-tion.

In 2003, the fluvial parade (traslacion) was started by the officers and members of Bicol Canada

Community Association (BCCA) under the lead-ership of Jess Cabrias and Bobby Achacon. Then in 2005, through the intercession of Naty and Toti Gutierrez, Hank and Gidget Borsboom of-fered their boats and ser-vices in coordinating the yearly fluvial parade at the Scarborough Bluffers Park.


On June 6, 2004, the image of INA, donated by the Chicago Confrater-nity of our Lady of Pena-francia, was enshrined at the Annunciation Parish at 3 Combermere Drive, Scarborough, Ontario by then parish priest Fr. Paul Zimmer and Fr. Joe Pena, Penafrancia Group’s main spiritual adviser, with the assistance of Thelma Antazo.

The monthly novena was also initiated in the same year and sponsored by the various Bicol groups like the Iriguenos Sa’di Canada, Nabua As-sociation, Catanduanes Association, Sorsogon and Masbate, Albay and Camarines Norte; and birthday celebrants like Juliet Casaya and Lourdes Bautista.

It was first held at the Annunciation Church, then at the chapel of St. Mary de Leuca and since two years ago, being held at the Assumption Parish at 2565 Bathurst Street.

With the passing away of Ching and Ric Reyes in 2007 and 2008 re-spectively, their images

of INA were bequeathed to cousin Rafael Nebres (president of both the BCCA and the Philippine Chamber of Commerce-Toronto, among his other affiliations) who in turn appointed Felix and May-ette Reyes to continue the daily evening novena from Sept. 2008.

The big image of INA was installed at the As-sumption Parish in 2008 with the blessings of Fr. Joe Pena and Fr. Ben Ebcas, parish priest of the Assumption Church.

In 2009, nine days im-mediately before INA’s feast in September, the nine-day noontime nove-na to the Lady was start-ed (and will continue) at her shrine at the Annun-ciation Church by Myrna and Ely Abraham with the help of Monet and Nemy Betsayda. This will give those who could not at-tend the evening daily novena a chance to do it at noontime. VIVA LA VIRGEN!

Devotees to Our Lady of Penafrancia on their traditional fluvial parade at the Scarborough Bluffs. (Courtesy: Photo Library of Mr. Rafael Nebres)

T A P I K K A S A L

T A L I MA R A L

P G U L A M A NB A L I

K U G O N

P A L A Y

T A P A LB A G

G A S

S A L O K

K I M

O O R AR A Y O NU H A O

A I I D I

T E D

P I R A T A

A M A L I AB O B O T

K A T A P A T N

A S I I

Sagot sa PUZZLE

‘‘The secret of a good

sermon is to have a good

beginning and a good end-

ing, then hav-ing the two as close together as possible.- George Burns

37April 2010 Manila Media MonitorREFLECTIONS

Our Lady of Penafrancia Choir raises funds for Diocese of Naga

The Our Lady of Penafrancia Choir led by Vito and Elizabeth Malan-yaon has just concluded the search for the Little Mr. and Miss Philip-pines-Canada-Bicolandia.

This is a fund raising campaign initiated by Fr. Joe Pena in response to the Diocese of Naga’s request for financial assistance for the forthcom-ing 300 years celebration of the devotion to the Our Lady of Penafrancia in Naga. City

The group was able to raise a total of $4,185.94. and the breakdown is listed below which include:

1st Hannah Jamie S. Arroyo ........................................ $930.00 2nd Queeny M. Bombase............................................. $800.00 3rd Amaya Heiselman.................................................. $618.94 4th Jessa O. Pellosis..................................................... $545.00 5th Jaena David............................................................ $540.00 6th Celine Danganan.................................................... $497.00 7th Jordan Cajayon...................................................... $255.00

Awarding ceremonies were held at the Assumption Church Parish Hall on April 11, 2010 after the monthly novena/mass sponsored by Lourdes Bautista, who was also one of those who presented the awards to the winners.

Among other presentors were Bicol Canada Community Association President Rafael Nebres, Lorna and Bobby Achacon, Jun and Adelle Aureus, Naty and Toti Gutierrez, Vicky Macandog, Noli and Gloria Aquino.

The group extends their profound gratitude to the kids and to their parents, relatives and friends who participated in this activity. (St. Jame-stown News Service)

By Lorna Achaon

WIN ONTARIO: Celebrating 10 Years of God’s Faithfulness!

Word International Ministries, Ontario will be celebrating its tenth anniversary on May 16 at The Assembly Hall (lo-cated at 1 Colonel Sam-uel Smith

Park Drive To-

ronto, ON, M8V 4B6) near

Lake-shore and

Kipling Ave. With the theme

“Cel-ebrating

God’s Faithfulness; Ful-filling God’s Purpose” the celebration aims to look back with gratitude at the

ten fruitful years of WIN Ontario and look to the future with excitement as the church embarks on fulfilling God’s purpose of spread-

ing the Word. “The mem-bership and ministries of WIN Ontario has steadily grown over the years

through the difficulties and victories. This is our way of thanking God for everything” says Se-nior Pastor Jong Duterte.

From a few families

ten years ago, WIN Ontario

now has various

ministries that cater to the whole family and currently has two Sunday congregations located in North York and the Peel Region. Rev. Emerito Paulate, International Di-rector of Word Interna-tional Ministries, will be guest speaker for the event. The celebrations will begin at 3pm.

38 Manila Media Monitor April 2010 REFLECTIONS

Don’t give up…One day I decided to quit ...

I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality. .. I wanted to quit my life.

I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

“God”, I asked, “Can you give me one good reason not to quit?”

His answer surprised me...

“Look around”, He said. “Do you see the fern and the bamboo?”

“Yes”, I replied.

“When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.”

“In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo,” He said.

“In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit.”

“In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit,” He said.

“Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern, it was seemingly small and insignificant. ..But just six months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.”

“I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.”

He asked me. “Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots.”

“I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you.”

“Don’t compare yourself to others,” He said.

“The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet, they both make the forest beautiful.”

“Your time will come”, God said to me.

“You will rise high”

“How high should I rise?” I asked.

“How high will the bamboo rise?” He asked in return.

“As high as it can?” I questioned.

“Yes.” He said, “Give me glory by rising as high as you can.”

I left the forest and brought back this story.

I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you.

Never, Never, Never Give up. For the Christian Prayer is not an option but an opportunity.

Don’t tell the Lord how big the problem is, Tell the problem how Great the Lord is! (A variation of “The Fern and the Bamboo”; Author Unknown)

The Lord’s Flock Prayer Group is appealing for financial assistance. One of our members, Miss Wilma Juanico, passed away on Thursday, April 22.

Wilma was an active member of the Scarborough Chapter of The

Lord’s Flock Prayer Community, serving in the Silver and Gold and In-tercessory ministries.

After working in Jeddah for 17 years, she came to Canada five years ago as a live-in caregiver.

Three years later, Wima was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer and went through a rigorous treatment. She received the gift of healing with God’s grace and mercy.

She acquired her permanent resident status in Canada in February this year and was very excited about it. Ready to move on with her new life, she packed her bags and was moving out from her employer the weekend of April 25.

Around 7:30 a.m. on April 22nd, they found her lifeless body in the washroom. The findings of the medical team that responded to the emer-gency call concluded that her death occurred between 3:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. and that the cause of death was a massive heart attack.

She does not have any relative in Toronto and does not have any life

insurance coverage. It is in this light that we appeal to our brothers and sisters to find it in their hearts to generously help us raise the amount needed to cover funeral costs and in bringing home her remains to Iloilo, Philippines. It is the wish of her relatives to pay their last respects to their loved one.

If you wish to make a donation, please contact Mr. Jun Silva at tele-phone number 416-916-1577 or 647-204-7687.

Thank you and God bless you all for your help. We know that the

Lord will bless your offerings for He said that as you give, gifts shall be given back to you in full measure and overflowing.

JUN SILVAStewardThe Lord’s Flock Prayer GroupScarborough Chapter

A Letter Of Appeal to the Filipino Community

Parishioners and visitors from across the GTA converge at the Our Lady of Assumption (OLA) Church at 2565 Bathurst Street to participate in Filipino religious traditions during the lenten season, such as the “Pabasa” on Holy Thursday, the “Pitong Wika” on Good Friday, and “Salubong” on Easter Sunday. OLA is also the home of the Filipino Chaplaincy in Toronto.(Manila Media Monitor Photo)


PIDC marks 6th season on Front Page Philippines TVThis year’s recent tap-

ings of Front Page Phil-ippines with the Philip-pine Independence Day Council (PIDC) commit-tees tasked with the orga-nization and delivery of the 2010 series of events, under its president Minda Neri, mark the organiza-tion’s 6th season with the program as a tv me-dia sponsor to its annual events.

The PIDC events would be delivered be-fore viewers in a series of segments within the pro-gram’s episodes, which started with the Mrs. Philippines PIDC 2010 pageant aired on April 11 and will conclude with the “Dancing to be a Star” in time for the event’s Octo-ber 2 schedule.

The PIDC came on board Front Page Philip-pines in 2004 during the presidency of Jose ‘Pem-pe’ Saavedra and proved the program an effective tool in the promotion of its events.

Saavedra’s succes-sor, Jun Enverga, like-wise utilized the program in the dissemination of information related to the PIDC’s events, un-der whose term, several more events were added throughout the year and worked with the approval of the board to expand PIDC’s objectives to in-clude charity work.

A magazine-style pro-gram with a community

perspective, Front Page Philippines is hosted by broadcast veteran Gie Alvarez and offers news and current affairs, to-gether with information on culture and entertain-ment. The program airs in English and Filipino.

In Ontario, Front Page Philippines airs every Sunday at 11 AM, with alternative viewing on Thursdays at 4 PM in communities being served by Toronto’s Rog-ers OMNI 2 Television (CJMT-Toronto) and its re-transmission.

OMNI TV-Alberta airs Front Page Philip-pines, Saturdays, 5:30 PM, through the cable distribution facilities of Shaw Cable 4 and Telus TV Channel 5 in Calgary. In Edmonton, the pro-gram is carried by Shaw on Cable 11, and Telus TV on Channel 5.

ROGERS OMNI.2 TELEVISION in South-ern Ontario is on the fol-lowing cable channels:

Rogers Cable (serving Toronto)- Cable 14;

Aurora Cable (serving Aurora)- Cable 23;

COGECO (serving Oakville/ Burlington)- Cable 29;

In Hamilton- and in households being served by COGECO, including Fergus, Georgetown and Grimsby,y, OMNI .2 TV is on Cable 18;

In Hamilton, and in households being served

by Mountain Cable, OMNI 2 is on Cable 20;

In the Niagara and the St. Catherines area, OMNI.2 is on (COGECO) Cable 15;

In Peterborough on COGECO, Channel 19;

In Ottawa, OMNI.2 TV is on Rogers, Cable 14;

In London, Ontario, OMNI.2 is, likewise, on Rogers 14;

In the St. Thomas, Strathroy area- on Rog-ers, Cable 14;

In Tillsonburg and Woodstock, OMNI.2 TV is on Rogers, Cable 14;

In the Georgian Bay area, including Colling-wood, Midland and Owen Sound, OMNI.2 TV is on Rogers 14.

Front Page Philip-pines is the only program aimed at Filipino Cana-dians available on broad-cast over the air.

The program’s car-rying station, OMNI.2, could be accessed over-the-air on Channel 69 by close to one million viewers who rely on an-tenna systems.

In part, Front Page Philippines is brought before viewers twice a

week by companies in the Filipino Canadian business sector, namely PNB Rapid Remit, Forex Parcel Service, Action Honda, Marshayna Trad-ing Company, Inc. and Manila Media Moni-tor. The newest sponsor to come on board Front Page Philippines is Viva Manila Corporation – a door-to-door parcel de-livery service company serving Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Aside from the PIDC, Front Page Philippines is an annual special event

sponsor to Culture Phil-ippines Ontario for its annual Filipino Day at Canada’s Wonderland and ANCOP Internation-al Canada for its annual ANCOP Walk (formerly billed as the GK Walk).

Front Page Philip-pines is produced by Ace Alvarez – who is also managing editor of Ma-nila Media Monitor. The program may be reached at (416) 285-8583, or e-mail [email protected]. (Rus-sell International)

NOW ON AIR: Committees of Philippine Independence Day Council (PIDC) tasked with the organiza-tion and delivery of the various events stored by the PIDC for this year will go on air on tv program Front Page Philippines in a series of segments within the episodes of the program. In photo are some of the PIDC 2010 board members, officers and council of leaders spearheading this years events, and among the segments to air soon in the program. From left, Jun Villaruz, Cesar Manebo, Imie Belanger, Rory Elefano, Estring Aguinaldo, FPP Program host Gie Alvarez, PIDC President Minda Neri, Leonie Manzanares, Josie Consunji, Gene Elamparo and PIDC EVP Bernie Sychangco.

Among the first segments aired on the Front Page Philippines tv-sponsored PIDC events was the presentation to viewers of the Miss Philippines PIDC 2010 candidates. Top photo, from left are Lilly Malloy, Lindsay Anne Farrell, Aileen Gomez, Michelle Amaral, Chanetelle Yumol, Catherine Grace Amaral, Naomi Macapagal, Joannie Mag-bania-Nguyen and Jessica Eusebio

Photo below are also candidates to the pageant, from left, Regine Semira, Kyra Pagsanhan and Renee Jaojoco. The Miss Philip-pines PIDC 2010 pageant is Saturday, May 8 at 7 PM, at the Ko-rean Cultural Centre on Leslie Street in North York, Ontario. In the same venue on the same date, the curtain opens at 2 PM for the Little Miss Philippines 2010 pageant.

manila media monitor -- april 2010

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