The International Filipino June 2015

June 2015 Vol. 4 No. 2 ISSN 2094-3830

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Fil-Am mixed martial artist Mark “The Filipino Wrecking Machine” Muñoz threw hard punches and kicks on opponent Luke Barnatt, who took them all throughout their middleweight match in the UFC Fight Night 66 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on May 16. The 37-year-old Muñoz didn’t have a hard time with Barnatt, 27, and executed his game plan well. His jabs were delivered on time. Left hooks followed overhand right hands. He used his trademark ground and pound, landing power shots standing while Barnatt was laying on the floor. Muñoz failed to put Barnatt away before the end of three rounds, but the decision win was all worth it.

After all, it was the last pro MMA bout of the retiring fighter and it

Continued on page

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Mark Muñoz turns full-time family man

Daddy’s home Mad Marian Capadocia slams tennis politics

Current No. 1 Filipina tennis player Marian Jade Capadocia, 19, did not play in the Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Singapore. The Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) sent Fil-Am Denise Dy, Fil-German Katharina Lehnert, Khim Iglupas and Anna Clarice Patrimonio, daughter

Jimmie48

Continued on page

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Rivalry heats up between star players Marian Jade Capadocia (right) and Katharina Lehnert

FPJ ghost behind the scene in the making of a Poe-resident In a country where the dead can still vote in elections, a departed one winning in the poll is not unthinkable. But for sure, the dead can still sway voters.

The specter of much loved former president Cory Aquino was behind her son in the 2010 presidential election that he won. Now, the late Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ) seems poised to do the same for his daughter, Sen. Grace Poe. When Mrs. Aquino died of colon cancer on Aug. 1, 2009, the nation grieved. Sympathy, which lingered until the following year’s national elections, coupled with her legacy of ending the Marcos dictatorship and restoring democracy during her term from 1986 to 1992, boosted the campaign of then senator and presidential candidate Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. Noynoy’s lackluster performance as a lawmaker was forgotten as he rode on

DA KING RETURNS Continued on page

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Poe (left) ponders presidency with dad (right)

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The public must report rail cutting and selling to prevent injury or loss of life.

JUNE 2015

Rail chopping The engineer was not texting, sleepy or intoxicated when the train derailed somewhere between the Philippine National Railway (PNR) station in Magallanes, Makati City and Nichols station in Pasay City in the afternoon of April 29. The engine and one of two coaches nearly fell to its side. Dozens of passengers were hurt.

Fortunately, the injuries were minor.

Train service was disrupted. The derailed train had to be repaired cutting the number of trains serving passengers and the number of trips per day. PNR used to have eight trains carrying 70,000 passengers at 60 trips per day from Tutuban, Manila to Calamba, Laguna and vice versa.

The PNR management was quickly blamed for the accident. Upon investigation, however, officials learned that parts of the rail track were sawn off and missing. Angle bars that connect rails together, railroad ties that fasten

the railway to its correct width, rail clips that fasten the rails to the underlying railroad tie, and actual rails.

PNR officials suspended operations in Metro Manila for more than a month to inspect rail tracks for missing parts to ensure safety of commuters.

Police tracked down the thieves who stole parts of the rail tracks. Suspected were some informal settlers along the Magallanes-Cupang area from Makati to Muntinlupa, where the train derailed.

Eventually, one thief was caught dismantling ties from its concrete mooring at the Nichols station using a sledgehammer on May 28. The thief was arrested and he admitted selling the parts to a junk shop. He also squealed his cohorts.

Upon inspecting the junk shop in Taguig City, investigators found at least 50 kilos of rail

LIKE PNR General Manager Joseph Allan Dilay (below, 2nd from right) deserve commendation for finding out the cause of the derailment leading to the prosecution of the thieves and for putting the safety of passengers first by suspending service until all rail tracks are inspected for missing parts. The suspension was a huge inconvenience but life-saving.

PNR

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track parts.

The gang of thieves was charged with theft. The owner of the junk shop, which had no business permit, was charged with buying stolen property.

The PNR management event went further by becoming vigilant against rail parts thieves.

The agency will be installing CCTV cameras along railroad tracks to deter theft of its rails or identify thieves.

For the thieves linked to the April 29 accident, they belittled the lives of commuters for the sake of getting a small amount of money.

The junk shop owner didn’t care buying the rail parts or reporting the theft for the same greedy reason. They have either criminal minds or dangerous morons.

So what do we do with rail track parts thieves? We can: a.

Jail them for life as Sen. JV Ejercito proposes in a bill b.

Tie them up on railway tracks to be run over by a train c.

Give them a free ride on a train that will pass on broken tracks We don’t suggest jailing them. They may saw off the prison cell bars and sell it to the junk shop. Before you know it, all inmates would be on the loose.

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POLITEKNIKONG Bata pa lang ako ay gusto ko nang maging Astronaut pero napag-isip-isip kong bobo ako sa Science at sa Math.

Naisip kong mag-abogado na lang pero ayaw ng magulang ko na gugugol ako ng mahabang taon dahil pag-aaralin ko pa ang aking mga kapatid. So ano yun? Mag-aaral ako para magtrabaho? At magtatrabaho ako para magpaaral? Hindi ba pwedeng nag-aaral ako para maging matalino?

Ito seryoso na talaga, ako ay patuloy pa ring nalulunod sa karagatan ng mga manunulat dahil hanggang sa ngayon ‘di ko pa rin makita ang aking sarili sa pagsusulat.

Nung 4th year high school ako, “What is your ambition?” ang isang tanong sa aking isipan na hindi ko masagot-sagot dahil mas mahirap pa ito sa mga math equations, kumbaga pang 2 million question sa game

JUNE 2015

FILIPINOLOHISTA

Ansherina May D. Jazul show na Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

Paghanapin niyo nalang ako ng X kahit wala ako nito.

Sa kasalukuyan ako ay pumapasok sa Politeknikong Unibersidad ng Pilipinas na kumukuha ng degree na Batsilyer ng Artes sa Filipinolohiya. Pinili ko ang kursong ito sapagkat nagsusulat at nagsasalita ako para sa bayan. Ayokong maging masahol pa sa malansang isda.

Sa ngayon, pinagpapatuloy ko pa rin ang pagiging pilingerang manunulat. Pinipilit tapusin ang isinusulat na diary na parang wala namang katapusan. Sa pagiging busy, nauubusan na ako ng oras para magsulat kung saan kailangan nang hasain ng isang milyong beses ang mapurol kong utak. Wala

Wika Saan Man

Meron tayo nito saan mang sulok ng mundo May sariling atin dapat tayong sumaludo Hindi lang ito basta pauso Gamitin natin ng buong puso

akong inspirasyon sa pagsusulat. Basta trip ko lang magsulat. Pero kung genre na horror na ang pag-uusapan, mukha ko ang aking inspirasyon.

Mas pipiliin kong magkulong sa kwarto at makipagbakbakan kasama ang aking pluma at papel. O kaya minsan naman ay nagpapasunog ng mukha sa harap ng laptop.

Sa panahon ng kabiguan ako maraming naisusulat.

Gusto ko maging manunulat.

Pinapasayaw ko lamang ang aking pluma sa ibabaw ng aking papel kasabay ang tunog ng aking ideya. Ganun lang aking gawain habang nabubuhay.

Gitara

Gitara ang maihahalintulad ko Sa aking sarili, di na magbabago Minsan ay magulo at wala sa tono Ngunit ako ay hindi magpapatalo

Gabay

Baliktarin man natin ang mundo Ito’y hinding hindi magbabago Mama, inay; anumang bansag Papa, itay; anumang itawag

Ang wikang Tagalog madaling intindihin Kung ika’y Pilipino wala ng dapat ayusin Bawat bansa’y may wikang dapat tangkilikin Upang lahat tayo’y walang suliranin

Gitara’y talagang masakit sa kamay Katulad ko na walang mga karamay Sa huli nito ikaw rin ay masasanay Makakasunod rin sa takbo ng buhay

Kanilang mga gawain ay sunud-sunod Kami lamang kanilang maitaguyod Yun na lang ang kanilang ikinalulugod Mawawala agad kanilang pagod

Ang ating wika ay hindi kalokohan Bigay sa atin ng kalangitan Dapat ingatan, dapat pahalagahan At alagaan ng sangkatauhan

Bawat kalabit ang mata ay ipikit Lahat ng problema’y kalimutang pilit Ang mga pangarap ay isiping saglit Imulat na ang mata ito’y makakamit

Ang ilaw at haligi ng aming tahanan Alam kong lubos nang nahihirapan Ako palang sakit na ng katawan Lagi nalang nasesermunan

Mapanlinlang na Sistema Bakit nga ba walang tumutulong?

Sa bayan nating natakpan na ng malong Kung ang baya’y paurong ng paurong Paano pa tayo makakasulong?

Gitara na kasama pag nag-iisa Gitarang laging nandyan para sa tropa Halina ang iba sumali sa twina Sabay nating damhin ang aking musika

Sana’y huwag nang mag-akala Sana sakin kayo’y magtiwala Sa aking mga kilos at gawa May limitasyon alam na ang tama

Ang edukasyon ay bumababa Ang pera ng bansa’y kinukuha Dahil sa ating nabubulok na sistema Ang makapangyarihan ay ang pulitika Mabait sila kapag halalan Dahil tayo’y kanilang kailangan Pag sila’y nahalal tayo naman ay tulungan Ngunit tayo’y kanilang pinabayaan Ngayon huwag na tayong magpapaniwala Sa kanilang mapagpanggap na plataporma Puro salita wala sa gawa Magaling lang sa una wala na sa salita Ang pagsisisi ay laging nasa huli Kaya pag-isipan muna bago mahuli Sa pulitika dapat tama ang pinipili Upang maiwasto ang mga dating pagkakamali

Juan dela Cruz

Dito sa bayan ni Juan dela Cruz Ang pag-unlad ay di umaagos Pati mga problema’y di matapos-tapos Paano pa ba natin ito maaayos?

Dito’y walang pantay na pagtingin Ang nasa ibaba’y naaalipin Ang nasa itaas ay laging napapansin Ng mga taong nagpapaalipin Kung sino pa ang mayaman Sila pa ang mga batugan Kung sino naman ang mahirap Sila pa ang nagsusumikap

Una, ako’y humihingi ng paumanhin Sa aking mga maling gawain Sana ako’y inyong patawarin Kayo ay akin nang susundin Ngayon gusto kong magpasalamat Sa inyong mga pangaral na sapat Iingatan at itatatak sa isipan ang lahat Kasama ko kayong mamumuhay nang tapat

Ako Bilang Libro Masaya, makulit at minsan malungkot Huwag husgahan dahil sa balot Sa bawat tanong ay may sagot Dito’y maraming aral na mapupulot

Doon sa mga natamaan Ang pintuan ay aming binubuksan Kami nama’y inyong tulungan Upang makagawa ng magandang paraan

Mayroong iba’t ibang emosyon Naluluma din pagdating ng panahon Ngunit ito’y mananatiling matibay Kung ito’y bibigyan ng saysay

Kaya mga kapwa ko Pilipino Ano pa ang ginagawa ninyo?

Tayo’y magbanat na ng buto Para sa ating pagbabago

Pag may bago ka mang makita Huwag sanang ibibigay sa iba Huwag hahayaang mag-isa Kailangan din ng makakasama Huwag mo itong papabayaan Katulad ko na wag mong iiwan Upang ako’y iyong maasahan Tiyak na mapagkakatiwalaan

JUNE 2015

PILIPINAS

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SC rules DOH can punish ‘decking’ clinics GAMCA stops scheme at the risk of losing GCC accreditation

The Supreme Court (SC) has suspended a lower court’s order barring the Department of Health (DOH) from revoking licenses of medical clinics that practice the decking process of examining workers hired abroad.

Decking involves the registration for preemployment medical examination (PEME) by an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) with the GCC-Accredited Medical Clinics Association (GAMCA), which then assigns which among its member clinic the OFW should go to to have his PEME taken. Only PEME taken in 22 GAMCA clinics are recognized by GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries consisting of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

The Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Pasay City, Branch 108, issued on Aug. 10, 2012 an order permanently barring the DOH from enforcing its August and November 2010

cease and desist orders against GAMCA clinics to stop decking, which another group of OFW clinics not accredited by the GCC claimed burdens the OFW because the PEME under that scheme is costlier and illegal. The DOH again issued an order on Feb. 20 repeating the previous cease and desist orders with a warning that their license would be revoked if they commit decking prompting GAMCA to seek an injunction from the SC. In an en banc resolution issued on April 14, the SC denied GAMCA’s petition on grounds that the Migrant Workers Act provides that OFWs can freely choose the clinics for their PEME, bans PEME monopoly and requires the DOH to stop decking. In its ruling, the SC also said that the permanent injunction by the Pasay RTC did not touch on the constitutionality of the Migrant Workers Act

Job fair links Novo Ecijano nurses with foreign employers A job fair held at the Freedom Park in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija on May 1 helped connect local nurses with prospective foreign employers.

“Madaming job opportunities available for them,” said Dr. Rosemarie Pica, managing director of Rachell Allen Review Services, which co-organized the job fair.

Pica said foreign employees continue to look for and hire Filipino nurses based on the demand for international nursing exams from her company.

The same demand prompted Rachell Allen to put up a branch in Cabanatuan City located at the second floor of Wycoco Building along Burgos Avenue. Like its Manila and U.S. review centers, the new branch will provide review services for exams on NCLEX-RN, NLCEXLVN, HAAD-RN, PROMETRIC-RN, CRNE, NLE and IELTS. A nursing recruitment agency that took part in the job fair confirmed the demand for Filipino nurses.

IKON Solutions Asia (ISA) is filling up 300 nursing positions for hospitals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, said Mary Grace Sampang, the

agency’s recruitment consultant.

Aureaus Manpower & Consultancy Corp.

(AMAC) received job orders for Filipino healthcare professionals from Qatar and the United Kingdom, according to its recruitment officer Joy Natividad.

Hospital positions in the U.S. also await Filipino nurses, said Sharon Belenario, senior director of PNI International.

“Kelangan kumuha ng National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) ang mga nurses dahil sa dami ng opportunity na naghihintay sa kanila kahit dito sa Pilipinas,” said Belenario.

Pica said Rachell Allen helps nurses who want to have a license in the U.S., Saudi Arabia and other countries.

“We fortify the knowledge of nurses. We try to bring out kung ano na ‘yung alam ng nurses para mai-focus into passing the test,” said Pica. “Ang focus ng aming kumpanya ay customer satisfaction.

We guarantee your passing in any of these exams.”

Dr. Remigia Nathanielsz, former Commission on Higher Education director for Central Luzon and former Philippine Nursing Association head, said Rachell Allen instructors are themselves NCLEX passers and came from the best nursing schools in the country.

The job fair was organized and conducted together with the provincial government, its Pubilc Employment Service Office, the Department of Labor and Employment and Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

Also participating in the job fair were Health Carousel Philippines Inc., UnitedHealth Group, NEAC Exam Application Center, E-Square Management Consultancy Services and Eastern Consultancy.

and its implementing guidelines.

Meanwhile, GAMCA clinics complied with the DOH order at the risk of losing their accreditation from the GCC. The SC resolution also divided GAMCA members as to how to comply with the GCC guideline, which requires accredited clinics to implement decking and then upload the medical certificate of the OFW to the website of the embassy of the country where the OFW is hired.

Majority of GAMCA clinics did not implement decking but uploaded the medical certificate to the website in violation of the GCC guideline, according to an industry source.

The embassy and Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia verify through their websites if a PEME was done by an accredited or GAMCA clinic. By uploading the medical

certificate of the OFW to the websites, the worker gets the clearance to be employed abroad, according to the source.

The clinics did not want to create a situation where workers’ deployment are delayed forcing GCC employers to send hires to non-GAMCA clinics for their PEME. The other GAMCA clinics did not implement decking in violation of GCC guideline, but did not upload the medical certificate in the pertinent websites in compliance with the same guideline, the source said. In the absence of their medical certificate from the websites, OFWs demanded the refund of their PEME payments, the source said.

The GCC is aware of the SC resolution but has yet to decide on what action to take and has yet to revoke the accreditation of GAMCA clinics that violated its guidelines, the source said.

UNLIKE Capas, Tarlac Mayor TJ Rodriguez Jr. had his name painted on a casket donated by the local government for the dead of a poor family. The photo of the casket labeled with his name during a wake became viral after it was posted on Facebook. It was a classic case of epalism or the practice of politicians to stamp their name on any government property built or acquired using public funds.

Rodriguez explained that the

name prevents the funeral from charging the family to whom the casket was donated because it was already paid for by the government. He replaced the label with the name of the town program that provided free coffins. The new label, a sticker put over his name on the casket, was removed and photographed by a political opponent to shame him, according to the mayor.

The casket should not have been labeled with his name in the first place.

Mayor Epal

Only POEA recruits nurses, caregivers for Japan; factory workers for South Korea Filipinos can only get jobs as nurses and caregivers in Japan, and factory workers in South Korea, through the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), POEA Administrator Hans Leo J. Cacdac said applicants should simply ignore job offers from private persons and businesses like recruitment agencies, travel agencies, immigration consultants and language training centers.

“We have government-to-government arrangements with the two countries, which means there is no other way that nurses and

careworkers can legally enter Japan, and factory workers can be admitted into South Korea, without submitting to the recruitment and deployment procedure being implemented by the POEA, in collaboration with JICWELS or Japan International Corporation of Welfare Services and South Korea’s Ministry of Labor,” Cacdac said.

He said interested applicants should regularly visit the POEA website (www. poea.gov.ph) for announcements on hiring of nurses and caregivers for Japan and factory workers for South Korea.

PILIPINAS

JUNE 2015

DA KING...

From page

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the name of his assassinated father and reputation of his mother as a trustworthy and no-nonsense chief executive. He eventually won over the more popular former president Joseph Estrada and other well-funded candidates.

Come 2016, the ghost of Da King, FPJ, comes to play as his 46-year-old daughter considers running for president amid growing public demand. It’s likely to be a sequel of the previous presidential election as the child of a dead parent with mass appeal is the potential candidate, and potential winner.

President Aquino was a so-so congressman from Tarlac from 1998 to 2007 with none of 21 bills he authored passed into law. He did not accomplish as much in his short stint in the Senate. For her part, being Movie and Television Review and Classification Board chairman from 2010 to 2012 was Poe’s only public service experience plus at least two bills passed into law.

Like Noynoy, Grace carries the name of a famous person. Her dad was not a former leader but could have been had he won the 2004 presidential elections against Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Many, particularly her mom Susan Roces, believe that FPJ won more votes than Mrs. Arroyo but was cheated in the ballot counting.

FPJ died at age 65 on Dec. 14, 2004, three days after suffering a stroke. Poe permanently returned home from the U.S. and renounced her American citizenship after his death. Seemingly on a quest to right the wrong done to his father,

Power Poe-sturing

she campaigned against electoral fraud.

Then she entered politics. Running as an independent, she topped the senatorial elections in May 2013 with more than 20 million votes. FPJ was dead for nine years already that year but the national artist’s charisma was still there and she basked on it.

Affirming her chance in prevailing in next year’s popularity contest is the Pulse Asia

Wild cards

While Binay and Poe loom as the main protagonists in next year’s presidential election, there are other candidates vying for the top post of the land: Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, 58; Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, 70; Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., 57; Sen. Miriam Santiago, 70; and former Sen. Panfilo Lacson, 67.

Considered President Aquino’s anointed bet, Roxas has a strong public service background. The grandson of former President Manuel Roxas and son of former Sen. Gerry Roxas was a senator, congressman of Capiz and secretary of trade and industry. In the 2004 elections, he garnered 19 million votes. But the coauthor of the unpopular Expanded Value Added Tax Law failed to duplicate the feat in the 2010 vice presidential race and lost to Binay. The result is under protest.

Duterte is surprisingly ahead of Roxas in the latest Pulse Asia Research’s June survey despite saying he would kill all criminals, particularly killers, rapists, drug traffickers and robbers, if he is elected president. He claims that such peace and order policy made Davao City one of the safest cities in the world. Duterte said he is not interested to run as president citing he is already old for the post. But the

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Research survey from May 30 to June 5 showing her as the top choice for president and vice president. The survey asked 1,200 adults 18 years old and above nationwide to name the candidate they will vote for president if the election was conducted during the survey period. Thirty percent of respondents voted for her. Vice President Jejomar Binay got 22%. Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte placed third with 15% followed by Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel A. Roxas II with 10%, and former President and incumbent Manila City Mayor Joseph Estrada, 10%.

In an earlier survey in March by Social Weather Station (SWS), 31% voted for Poe as president. Binay was the top choice with 35%. The same survey, also with 1,200 adult respondents being asked who they would vote for vice president, chose Poe. Binay, 72, himself acknowledged Poe’s strength and mass appeal that he considered her to be her running-mate.

President Aquino talked with her about joining the Liberal Party (LP) for an alliance and running along with Roxas, the likely standard bearer of LP. But she is more inclined to run as an independent candidate.

Even Estrada, a close friend of FPJ, is reportedly throwing his support to Poe. It was Estrada who egged FPJ to run for president in the first place but was unable to campaign for him because he was serving prison time for plunder.

“Helping his daughter become president is the only way I can atone for that shortcoming,” Estrada told Inquirer columnist Neal H. Cruz in an interview in May. “Baka pagmultuhan ako ni FPJ kung hindi ko tulungan si Grace.”

With the controversy over Binay’s unexplained wealth threatening his

Beatable: Roxas

Baka pagmultuhan ako ni FPJ kung hindi ko tulungan si Grace -- Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada credibility, Poe overtook him in the surveys.

Previous Pulse Asia and SWS surveys put Poe only second to Binay as the choice for president.

The support of Estrada, himself a movie icon adored by millions of fans, could increase the number of Poe supporters.

And there is the ghost of Da King silently and invisibly working behind the scene.

Many who miss his gun-slinging and desert goblin-slaying characters in the big screen can look forward to experiencing his presidency in the person of his daughter.

If Poe is his proxy, only one thing is sure: only the living loses in elections; dead ones don’t.

In the Pulse Asia mock presidential election, Duterte got the third most number of votes with 15% followed by Roxas and Estrada, 10%, Santiago, 6%, and Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and Lacson, 2%.

‘Kill them all’: Duterte Cancer survivor: Santiago Dictator’s son: Marcos

latest report said he will run if he tops the July SWS survey.

Marcos is the second child and only son of former president Ferdinand E. Marcos and former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos. He is a former congressman and former governor of Ilocos Norte before he was elected to the Senate in 2010. As of June 19, he has yet to decide if he would run for reelection or for president.

Santiago is the most experienced public servant having served in the judicial, executive, and legislative branches of the government. She ran in the 1992 presidential election but lost to Fidel V. Ramos. Although

7

she ranked sixth in the Pulse Asia survey on choice for president, her health is questionable because she just recovered from lung cancer last year and is performing her duty as senator on a priority basis.

Lacson, also the former chief of the

Partyless: Lacson

Philippine National Police, ran for president in 2004 placing third after FPJ. He said he would run for president as an independent next year if he scores 10 percent in the next SWS survey in July.

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PILIPINAS

theInternational

Filipino

Lizada Korean Red Ginseng Sales Center

JUNE 2015

BULACAN San Gabriela, Malolos, Bulacan Cellphone No.: 0921-7396864

CAVITE Unit B-4, 2nd Flr. Gabriel Union Square Rosario, Cavite (in front of RPZA Main Gate) Room 601 Manufacturers Building Inc. DAVAO Tel. No.: (046)4385236 Plaza Sta. Cruz, Manila RM 2F, Anda Corporate Building Cellphone No.: (+63928)-5019519 F. Iñigo St. (formerly Anda St.) (in front of Sta. Cruz Church) San Pedro, Davao City CEBU Tel No.: 736-7732 / 736-7691 / 736-7895 (in front of Tia Niñas Pizza) RM-211B Jose Martinez Bldg.

Mobile No.: 0928-501-9508 / 0915-852-4446 Tel. No.: (082)221-5037 Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City Tel. No.: (032)266-1985 E-mail Address: digna_lizadakrg@yahoo.com Mobile No.: 0928-5019519 Cellphone No.: 0928-5019519

Ms. Digna C. Lizada

Seven Positive Effects of Korean Red Ginseng 1. Increases stamina and reduces fatigue.

2. Stimulates the formation of red blood cells, thus protecting the body against anemia, hypertension and heart ailments.

3. Improves mental condition and prevents neurosis and nervous breakdown.

4. Increases production of body fluids, quenches thirst and prevents diabetes.

5. Normalizes respiratory functions, thus preventing coughing, tuberculosis and asthma.

6. Strengthens the gastrointestinal system, thus preventing gastroenteritis, diarrhea and constipation.

7. Detoxifies poisons and prevents skin irritations, inflammations and diseases.

Korean Red Ginseng Extract

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POEA cancels licenses of 2 recruiters over fake visa, job placement fee The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) cancelled the licenses of two recruitment agencies for submitting fake job visas and collecting placement fees.

POEA identified the agencies as Crystal FallahVille International Manpower Services and Mid-South Ship and Crew Management in separate announcements made on June 9 and 10.

Crystal Fallah-Ville submitted a visa for a teacher POEA that was found to have been altered and originally issued to another sponsor for the position of a servant or a household service worker, according to POEA chief Hans Leo J. Cacdac.

Crystal Fallah-Ville denied tampering the visa and said the submission to the POEA was an “innocent mistake.”

Crystal FallahVille also committed misrepresentation when it presented a forged request or endorsement for processing of employment documents to the POEA. The liaison officer of Crystal Fallah-Ville said he delivered the said document to the POEA in good faith, not knowing that one signature was falsified.

The third case against Crystal Fallah-Ville was about a visa written in Arabic that the agency submitted to the POEA for processing together with documents of a dressmaker

Livermin Capsules

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Red

Ginseng

bound for Saudi Arabia. The official translator of Arabic visas at the POEA, however, disclosed that the skill category was not for a dressmaker but a domestic helper.

The agency representative claimed it was another “innocent mistake” due to clerical error, considering that the visa was in Arabic. He tried to rectify the alleged error by submitting a dressmaker visa, which the agency claimed was the true position of the worker. However, a careful scrutiny of the two visas revealed that except for the skill category, they bore the same entries such as dates, validity and visa number.

Cacdac said the recruitment agency is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and validity of documents submitted to the POEA. “Honest mistake, oversight or even good faith, assuming they are true, cannot be considered as an exculpating defense.

Such explanation or admission does not change the fact that the recruiter deceived both the government and OFWs, and violated the POEA rules and regulations on misrepresentation,” Cacdac added.

The penalty of cancellation of license is

Extract

Vitaginseng Soft Capsules

imposed on a recruitment agency with three or more misrepresentation offenses.

Crystal Fallah-Ville was also among the 50 recruitment agencies that POEA warned for failing to repatriate distressed overseas Filipino workers.

The POEA also cancelled the license of Mid-South Ship and Crew Management after two jobseekers complained the agency made them pay placement fees of P30,000 and P60,000 and assured them of employment as fishermen for a Taiwan-based fishing vessel. After paying the placement fees, they were not issued corresponding official receipts.

The fishermen allegedly signed employment contracts with duration of two years for a monthly salary of US$250. They were subsequently deployed but returned to the country after working for three and a half months, complaining of maltreatment and unpaid salaries.

Cacdac said there is total prohibition on the charging or collecting placement fees from seafarers as provided in Section 2 (a) of Rule II, Part V of the 2003 POEA Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Seafarers prohibits manning agencies from charging, imposing, or accepting directly or indirectly, any amount of money, goods or services, or any fee or bond for any purpose from an applicant seafarer.

Cacdac said that as a consequence of the penalty of cancellation of license, the officers and directors of the agency at the time of the commission of the offenses were disqualified from recruitment and deployment of overseas Filipino workers.

Cacdac also ordered Mid-South Ship and Crew Management and its surety company to refund to the complainants the amounts representing the fees illegally collected from them.

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Jennifer Dalquez, the new Sarah Balabagan

PTV

JUNE 2015

Jennifer Dalquez (above) and Sarah Balabagan-Serreno.

BOYCOTT CHINA GOODS Some Filipinos from New York City observed Philippine Independence Day by calling for a boycott of China-made goods in a rally in front of the Apple store on Fifth Avenue, Manhattan. The group U.S. Pinoys for Good Governance led by business tycoon Loida Nicolas-Lewis organized the rally to denounce China’s occupation of disputed islands in the West Philippine Sea. Photo from PTV

3 detained Filipino spies in Qatar spared from firing squad, get reduced sentences The Qatar government has reduced the sentences of three Filipinos convicted of espionage in April 2014 sparing one of them from death by firing squad.

One of the convicts, identified by reports as a Philippine police lieutenant who worked at Qatar Petroleum (QP), was re-sentenced on May 31 to life imprisonment. His coaccused, whom reports identified as former technicians for the Qatar Air Force, was resentenced to 15 years imprisonment on the same day. They were originally sentenced to life imprisonment. The Amnesty International identified one of the co-defendants as Ronaldo Lopez Ulep.

The three have been detained since 2010

and were convicted for spying only last year. News reports in Qatar said the three stole information about weaponry, aircrafts, maintenance and servicing records of QP and passed them to intelligence officials in the Philippines between 2009 and 2010.

The Department of Foreign Affairs had denied that the Philippines is engaged in espionage.

Three Filipino Born Again pastors claimed in an interview with ABS-CBN in May 2014 that they were arrested along with the three alleged spies in 2010 probably because of their religion.

Qatari police also arrested and charged an American working as an engineer for

Filipinos had just heaved a sigh of relief from the sparing of Mary Jane Veloso’s life in Indonesia in April when another Filipina was sentenced to die also by firing squad in the United Arab Emirates 20 days later.

Jennifer Dalquez, 28, of General Santos City, was sentenced to death on May 20 by the Al Ain Court of First Instance in Abu Dhabi for stabbing to death her Emirati employer for attempting to rape her at knifepoint.

Hysteria has yet to set in on the family of Dalquez but they have appealed for help from the government to save the life of the domestic helper.

Dalquez’s mother, Rajima, learned the death sentence from her daughter herself when she called her on May 20.

Dalquez was arrested on Dec. 12 after stabbing to death her employer on Dec. 7 using the knife he pointed at her.

Dalquez had been working in the UAE since 2011 and was supposed to return home in January.

The Philippine Embassy in Abu Dhabi hired a lawyer to appeal Dalquez’s sentence and sends staff to visit her in jail to look into her personal needs and inform her of developments on her case.

Dalquez’s case bears similarity to that of Sarah Balabagan, the former domestic helper, who stabbed her employer 38 times in self-defense for trying to rape her at knifepoint about 20 years ago.

Balabagan of Sultan Kudarat was 14 posing as a 28-year-old when she went to Abu Dhabi for work in 1994. The killing happened on July 19, 1994. After a year of trial, she was convicted for manslaughter, sentenced to seven years imprisonment and ordered to pay $40,000 in blood money to the family of her victim, Almas Mohammed

al-Baloushi. The court also found her a victim of rape and awarded $27,000 in compensation.

Prosecutors appealed the verdict and sought the death penalty. On Sept. 6, 1995, a second Islamic court found no evidence of rape, convicted her of premeditated murder and sentenced her to death by firing squad.

The sentence triggered an international outcry. Then UAE President Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan personally appealed for mercy from the family of al-Baloushi. Being their beloved emir, the family agreed to drop their execution demand in exchange for blood money.

On Oct. 30, 1995, the court reduced her sentence to one year imprisonment and ordered her to be caned 100 times and pay the blood money. Filipino plastic businessman William Gatchalian donated money to pay the Baloushi family.

On Aug. 1, 1996, Balabagan was freed and returned home to a heroine’s welcome.

People helped Balabagan recover from her ordeal and she became a singer. She also converted from Islam to Christianity.

Dalquez could also be spared the death penalty like Balabagan as she is a victim and execution of female convicts in the UAE is rare. The current UAE leader, President Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is also as merciful as his predecessor. Last year, al-Nahyan showed his compassion to convicted murderers in death row by staying their execution, so authorities can contact their victims’ parents for the settlement of their cases through blood money.

Of course, let’s not forget diplomacy, which helped in getting Veloso a stay of her execution as punishment for drug smuggling, which is punishable by death in Indonesia.

10 years at QP with espionage in August 2005 for allegedly collecting and selling information about the company’s secret gas project. The American, identified by reports as John Willis Downs, was sentenced to life imprisonment in February 2007. During

the trial of Downs, Qatar’s then Minister of Energy, Abdullah Bin Hamad al-Attiyah, testified that the information being sold would have “endangered Qatar’s economic security” and cost the country several billion riyals.

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Unison Central Sussex Hospital FB page

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Filipino nurses in the U.K. and their supporters protest outside the office of The Daily Mail in London on May 30.

Filipino nurses in UK fight haters The British tabloid headline reads: “NHS STILL hiring Filipino nurses despite Victorino Chua scandal: Recruiters fly out in desperate bid to fill hospital vacancies.”

The title and story appearing in the May 19, 2015 issue of The Daily Mail about the sentencing of a Filipino nurse for poisoning patients at an England hospital sparked discrimination and bullying of Filipino nurses in the U.K., claimed the PNA UK, an organization of Filipino nurses working in the U.K. The report quoted police as saying they were suspicious of Chua’s nursing qualification obtained in the Philippines before he was employed at the Stepping Hill Hospital, where he laced saline with insulin resulting in the death of two patients and serious injury to others.

Report on Pinoy poisoner in England hospital sparks protest vs. tabloid Disrespect and assault both physical and verbal have been reported by nurses, according to PNA UK President Michael Duque.

“The recent fascist and insensitive generalization of the Filipinos resulting from the article of the Daily Mail has incited hatred, mistrust, bullying and abuse from some clearly disillusioned sectors of the public,” PNA UK said in a May 22 advisory posted on its Facebook page.

PNA UK advised members to report

bullying, abuse or threat to their manager and the police. It also advised the public to treat people with respect and decency.

To The Daily Mail’s story questioning why the NHS is still hiring Filipino nurses despite the dubious qualification of Chua, Duque offered the following reasons: • the lack of trained British nurses; • nursing education in the Philippines is completed to a degree level; • nursing graduates need to pass a licensure exam to become a registered nurse; • nursing graduates enhance their competency by taking up Master’s Degree; • they provide the quality service NHS requires; • they are fluent in English; and • they stay on the job “The best reason of all why the NHS is still hiring Filipino Nurses is because we look after the ill, the sick, the dying, the young and the old as if they were our own family member,” Duque said in the letter.

On May 30, PNA UK organized a protest rally outside the newspaper’s office in London. More than 200 Filipino nurses and PNA UK officers with their families and supporters demanded that The Daily Mail apologize for insinuating through the report that Filipino nurses working in the U.K. passed fraudulent papers and cheated on nursing competency exams to be hired in NHS or British government hospitals. The article was based on the Daily Mail reporter’s

alleged interviews with nursing examinees and job applicants in the Philippines plus his experience of buying bogus nursing school diploma and other nursing employment documents in the so-called University of Recto, a downtown Manila street where document and ID forgers openly sell their service.

PNA UK released statements defending the qualifications of Filipino nurses in the U.K. that were put into question by Chua’s deadly crime.

“Generally, the academic background of Victorino Chua and other Filipino nurses, provided he (they) successfully and without malice graduated with a Degree in Nursing and passed the national board examination is categorically sound and indisputable,” said PNA UK Chairman Juliu Labao in the statement.

“Like anything else, Filipino nurses have had its share of inferior and flawed individuals but generally the core of Filipino nurses is as dedicated, committed and professional as always. Filipino Nurses emphatic delivery of the core nursing principles of Tender, Loving & Care to those under their care have resulted in Filipino Nurses being the largest ethnic group of professionals in the UK,” Labao added.

Charles A. Garside, assistant editor at The Daily Mail, wrote back to Duque.

“We are sorry if offense has inadvertently been taken by some Filipino people who read our articles on Victoriano Chua. “We had no wish to cause any offense to Filipino” Garside assured Filipino nurses that the paper will bear the group’s comments in mind in composing headlines for any further articles on Chua.

JUNE 2015

PINOY GOT BUSINESS

Goldxtreme not licensed to solicit money from public, SEC warns The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has advised the public that Goldxtreme Trading Co. is not authorized to solicit funds.

The SEC advisory dated June 4 said the company is registered as a partnership whose business is the wholesale and retail of gold jewelry, fashion accessories, celphone loads, prepaid cards, 3-pin, scents and other related products.

The company has no license to solicit investments from the public, the SEC said.

The advisory was issued after SEC received reports that Goldxtreme is offering investors a high-yield investment program that promises a return of P24,450 net of taxes per P5,000 investment.

The program requires investors to recruit two individuals for every slot bought with the P5,000 investment. The investor allegedly gets the return when he or she exits from the slot in a table. The investor also earns from referring other investors to the program.

The advisory followed an ABS-CBN News Channel report accusing Goldxtreme’s program as an investment scam. Goldxtreme denied it is engaged in scam.

Goldxtreme’s registration with SEC is dated March 6, 2015 and its owner is identified as Rommell Tan, according to www.goldxtremeph.com. The company’s registration number is PG201504394.

The website says Goldxtreme is a 100 percent Filipino-owned company with head office located at Caloocan City. It says the company “is dedicated to buying 14 carat

gold pendant simple, pleasant and above all, financially rewarding.

In a post on goldinvestingstrategies.com on April 27, Goldxtreme is described as another gold pyramiding scheme but different from Emgoldex, which promises members that the money they invest will be used in gold trading to multiply its value.

In the Goldxtreme scheme, an investor joins by paying a P5,000 fee for one Level 1 account. The investor should recruit more investors to fill slots in a table until he or she reaches Level 4.

Upon reaching level 4, the investor can exit the table to receive the 400 percent return on his P5,000 investment equivalent to P25,000 in cash or a gold pendant. The investor proceeds to another table and does the same thing to earn P25,000.

The website says the 400 percent return on investment is unsustainable and an unbelievable rate.

“Without revealing how the company makes money, it can be inferred that their main source of revenue are membership fees. Without members signing up for a new account, they will have no money to pay members and buy the gold pendants they give,” the website says. “Members will deny it is a scam, which is an obvious response especially if they have already invested in it.

But members need to realize that without new recruits, the ‘company’ doesn’t have the means to pay them. And at one point, membership will stop, and so is the business.”

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These peso bills can buy no more If you still have the green five and brown 10 peso paper money in your wallet, spend it before Dec. 31 and don’t give it to your godchildren as Christmas or New Year’s gift.

That’s because together with the 1985-issued 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 peso bills, their use for commercial transactions will expire by the end of the year; they will no longer be acceptable for purchasing goods and services starting Jan. 1, 2016.

The old banknotes should be exchanged in the banks or the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for the equivalent amount in peso bills that the BSP introduced in December 2010. There will no longer be 5 and 10 peso banknotes.

Banks can change the old moneys from Jan. 1, 2016 until Dec. 31, 2016. By 2017, if you

still have those moneys, they are valueless, sorry. The 2010 versions of the 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000 peso bills will be the only legal tender.

For Filipinos who are abroad and could not exchange the old banknotes until the end of 2016, they should register at the BSP website from October 2016 to December 2016. The registration gives them one more year to exchange the old moneys from the day they register with the BSP. BSP wants only the new banknotes to be in circulation because they are more difficult to counterfeit. It is also authorized to replace banknotes that are more than five years old under the New Central Bank Act. The peso bills to be demonatized are the following:

PINOY GOT BUSINESS

JUNE 2015

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What’s in a German coffee shop?

The popularity of coffee shops nowadays makes it a viable business.

Filipina Raquel Erhard and her German husband, Hartmut, recently took over a café in Sinsheim, a town in southwestern Germany, to start a family business. It is named SB-BackCafe. SB is short for “selfservice” in German.

“We decided to go for a cafe business because we saw its potential and we were comfortable with the preliminary talks with the former owner,” says Raquel.

The old café’s staffs, two German ladies and one Eastern European lady, were retained. The Erhards let themselves be trained in the daily flow and management of the business. Hartmut and Raquel run the shop and do the daily hard work,

Windbeutel: Cream puffs

including cleaning and baking.

While a German café would bring to mind a German menu, SB-BackCafe serves international food.

“The typical German café already evolved.

Our menu is not really all-German; there are some American, French and Turkish flavors, too. American would include the muffins and donuts, French would be the Quiche Lorraine, Flammkuchen and croissants, Turkish would be Börek bread, a sort of pastry,” says Raquel.

SB-BackCafe’s lunch selection includes Quiche Lorraine with salad, Flammkuchen with salad, Tarte Flambe, a French pizza, and a lighter meal called Fitness Salad with either ham and cheese or tuna and cheese.

The baked goods consist of an assortment of croissants; bread and rolls; donuts; muffins;

Borek: Turkish pastry with white cheese and Spinach filling.

SB-BackCafe’-made pizza selections, assorted Danish pastries filled with fruits, cheese, tomato sauce and spinach; different flavored Börek, assorted flavored pretzels and pretzel sticks, etc.

The Erhards also plan to add a Filipino flavor to the menu like pandesal and ensaymada.

Raquel says the cafe needs to have a stronger presence in the market and special offers to keep customers coming in.

“I am working closely with the whole team for the marketing push,” says Raquel.

Having an SB-BackCafe branch in the Philippines is not a far-fetched idea if the business succeeds.

“That’s going to be a dream that would only come true when we partner with great people,” she says.

French Roll, Poppy Seed Rolled Bun, and Nut-filled Rolled Bun

Poppy Seed Buns, Sesame Seed Buns

SB-BackCafe in SinSheim, BadenWürttemberg

Pretzel Sticks with sesame, cheese and salt

Japanese e-trike maker to produce electric cars in Philippines The Japanese company that assembles electric tricycles in a Cavite plant will also produce electric cars for the local market.

Bemac Uzushio Electric Co. Ltd., the first company to set up production of e-trikes in the Philippines, is among the Japanese companies that signed letters of intent (LOIs) with Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) officials in Tokyo on June 4 as part of President Benigno Aquino III’s visit to Japan.

Bemac Uzushio is investing P100 million to develop, manufacture and sell four-wheeled electric vehicles by middle of next year in line with the company’s goal of making the Philippines its electric vehicle manufacturing hub.

Bemac’s subsidiary BEMAC Electric Transportation Philippines Inc. (BEETPI) runs the P300-million facility in Cavite that already produces 1,000 units of e-trike each year.

BEETPI opened the plant in 2013 to assemble its 68VM e-tricycle.

The 68VM is powered by an AC motor and lithium-ion rechargeable battery. It can carry seven people, including the driver, and can travel at speeds of up to 50 kph.

Meanwhile, officials of four Japanese printer makers and four Japanese medical devices makers also signed LOIs with PEZA officials in Tokyo to expand production at their Philippine plants.

Brothers Industries Ltd. plans to invest P5.8 billion over five years and employ 5,500 Filipino workers who will manufacture printer-related products and components.

Canon Inc. plans to manufacture a new product with an average export sales volume of 1.3 million pieces, valued at US$133 million per year. Canon has 3,000 workers in the Philippines.

Funai Electric Co. Ltd., which manufactures printers and digital media products, plans to expand its operations in Lipa City, Batangas

with an investment of US$30 million.

Seiko Epson Corp. is planning to increase its operations in the Philippines by building a new facility worth US$160.6 million in Batangas in 2017. Seiko Epson eyes the production of inkjet printers, and projector smart glasses with its new investment and grow its total labor pool in the country to as much as 20,000 workers.

Arkray Inc. intends to invest P300

million in the Philippines by 2016 and P100 million by 2018. Arkray is engaged in in-vitro diagnostics, and in the research, development, manufacture, service and distribution of in-vitro diagnostic products.

Japan’s JMS intends to invest US$38.5 million in a factory that will manufacture and sell medical devices for infusions and transfusion therapy and hemodialysis treatment in 2016. The project will augment

JMS’ export of US$26 million and the company expects to hire 500 workers over a five-year period starting this year.

Terumo, a Japanese manufacturer of medical devices, is planning to enhance its production facility in the country, focusing more on producing high-performance product lines.

Tokai Medical Products has already started the construction of its 400-millionyen facility in the Philippines in the first quarter of this year. The new facility is seen to become a global platform for manufacturing aortic catheters and intraaortic occlusion catheters for heart patients, intended for the Japan and US markets. The company is also interested in promoting research and development programs that will help pediatric cardiac medicine.

Other Japanese companies that will increase investment in the Philippines are clothing company Uniqlo, which plans to beef up its 22 outlets in the country with 200 additional shops.

Tsuneishi Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. has expressed its intention to expand its facility in the Philippines to make it the company’s ASEAN mother shipyard and shipbuilding hub in Asia. Tsuneishi has invested more than US$600 million and has employed 13,000 people since it began operations in 1994.

Japan has consistently been among the top sources of foreign investments in the Philippines and is also its largest trading partner in 2014, with total trade amounting to US$19.1 billion.

The Philippines and Japan will mark the 60th anniversary of their diplomatic relations next year. President Aquino and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said they are looking forward to deepening these relations further to contribute to the stability and prosperity of the region and the international community.

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FIESTA ISLANDS

JUNE 2015

Tagaytay The thrill and taste of

Baguio weather is not necessarily in the City of Pines. Tagaytay gives the same refreshing and cool mountain air with matching dining and recreation choices.

The Skyranch theme park along the Tagaytay-Nasugbu Highway literally elevates the thrill of amusement rides. Its Sky Eye, the tallest ferris wheel in the country, its swinging giant ship Super Viking and Zip Line all overlook Taal Lake and Taal Volcano giving thrill-seekers the extra adrenalin rush. Other children’s rides are available packing the place with enjoyment for the whole family.

Regular visitors with stomachs to feed shaped Tagaytay’s foodie landscape. The highway is lined with dining establishments that also offer breathtaking view of the lake and volcano for a unique gastronomic experience. Worth visiting are Bag of Beans, Antonio’s, Balinsasayaw, Diner’s Bulalo, Bali Seafood Paluto Restaurant, Don Juan Tamad, D’Banquet, and Ka Rey Sa Kubo Seafood

Restaurant.

Inner neighborhoods also host dining getaways like Bawai’s and Memory Lane.

Bawai’s along J. Hernandez St., Purok 5, Brgy. Bucal, Silang, Cavite is a home-resto serving Vietnamese food. Among its favorites is fresh spring rolls made of noodles, shrimp, pork and vegetables wrapped in rice paper and served with special sauce. It also serves Pho Bo noodle soup featuring a mix of herbs and bean sprouts, Com Suon Cha or grilled liempo with mushroom and egg pie, Curry Ga or chicken curry and tamarind iced tea.

Along Magallanes Drive is theme restaurant Memory Lane. The place is decorated with 50s and 60s memorabilia and walls have framed posters of old movies. It serves dishes like sinigang na lechon, grilled boneless chicken, adobong kangkong with chicharon topping, kare-kare, bulalo, pasta, desserts and sandwiches.

Happy touring and eating!

Food tour brings out mall’s delights There are many kinds of tourism. There is cruising, eco-tourism, medical tourism, educational tourism, even “doom tourism” or travel to places that are in danger of extinction. There is also culinary tourism or the exploration of a place’s dining spots.

In the Philippines, food tourism is still new.

Two people promoting it are event host and author RJ Ledesma and food blogger Anton Diaz. The creative tandem once led a group of condo buyers to a food tasting adventure at a Quezon City shopping mall. The tourists not only got to taste the flavors available at the Robinson’s Magnolia but also learned the history of each food business.

The food tour sponsored by a condo developer started at the mall’s food court.

Ledesma and Diaz brought the group to C’Verde by Big Chill. The cafeteria’s owner wants diners to know that eating vegetarian is not only healthy but also enjoyable, according to Ledesma.

Tour participants were treated to a Mozzarella Cheese Roll and Bean and Cheese Taquitos. The first is a herb-coated zucchini with tomato salsa and mozzarella while the second is bean and cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla and fried plus salsa.

The tour proceeded to Zigla!, where pasta, sandwiches and other dishes made from organic ingredients only have 300 calories or less. The food tourists tried its Tuna and

Cheese Sandwich with its high fiber wheat loaf, tuna, celery, egg, pimiento and a special spread.

At the Pad Thai and More, the food tourists sampled authentic Thai dishes like Pad Thai Chicken, which is fried chicken garnished with roast peanuts and bean sprouts.

Ledesma narrated the origin of House of Silvanas Bakeshop. Housewife Mary Ann Sagarbarria popularized the silvanas cake through her bakeshop Sans Rival in Dumaguete City in the 70s, according to Ledesma. She made cookie versions of sans rival in the 90s that started Silvanas.

Vanilla, pandan, ube, chocolate, mango, strawberry and mocha silvanas were served to the food tourists after the talk.

It was Diaz’s turn to speak when the tourists went to the stall of Villa del Conte Cioccolato, which offers Italian chocolates with a Filipino twist.

“Villa del Conte is actually one of the best chocolates in the world,” according to Diaz.

“So they brought in the chocolates here but the brand is Filipino and made in the Philippines.”

Diaz said the shop is named after the Italian city in the Veneto region, where Venice, the St. Anthony de Padua church and the family business making the chocolates are also located. Filipino pilgrims who visited the church and saw the chocolate shop and factory met with the owners and forged a

business deal to sell the chocolates in the Philippines.

The food tourists got a taste of Villa del Conte praline balls and sticks, including one with a watermelon flavor. They also got bags of giveaway chocolates.

The Clubhouse restaurant offers modern Pinoy comfort food. The group feasted on Tuyo Rice Bowl or garlic fried rice with tuyo, olives, mushrooms and capers; Vigan Longganisa Hash, a combination of Hungarian sausage and eggs; and Mushroom Truffle Scramble consisting of eggs and mushroom drizzled with truffle oil.

The food tour’s climax was a second dinner at the only Argentine restaurant in the country, Gaucho. The two-storey restaurant roasts steaks for 3 to 5 hours in the traditional Argentine grill called asador, which is viewable to diners. Served were roast U.S. beef shortplate, Australian young lamb shoulder, garlic rice, assorted pickles and red wine from Argentina.

Concluding the food tour was a dessert trip to the Magnolia Flavor House, a reincarnation of the Magnolia Ice Cream Parlor famous in the 70s and 80s. The foodies were served new and old flavors like Banana Split, Black and White with Chocolate Vanilla, Chocolate Sprinkle and Pretzel, Mighty Thor and Wafer with Strawberry and Chocolate.

The food tour was not only educational but also belly-busting. Burp!

GAUCHO GRILL3

TO

Roasting beef for 3 to 5 hours in an asador.

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y HIGH ADVENTURE

Skyranch’s Zip Line (foreground) and trampoline (left); Bawai’s specialties (clockwise from left) tamarind iced tea, Chicken Ga and salad; and Memory Lane (top, center)

by Saronova

AMERIKANA LOST IN THE ARCHIPELAGO

The Korean Palace located at 1799 M. Adriatico Street, Malate, Manila has been around for many years. I’ve been going there since the 1970’s at least. And as the saying goes, If it isn’t broke don’t fix it. The menu has remained the same authentic Korean food for as long as I can remember. It’s still the best Korean restaurant in town—maybe in the entire Philippines. Ask anyone who loves Korean food. Or ask any Korean!

The menu is extensive. Selections range from standard favorites such as Bulgogi (chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or assorted Korean BBQ), Kalbi (beef short ribs in oh so many variations), Chapchae (Korean Vegetable Mix Sontanghon Noodles) and Bibimbap (raw or cooked beef and vegetables on a bed of rice).

There are so many selections on the menu that there is always something new and exciting to try.

There are more varieties of soups and stews than you can imagine. And Korean cuisine specializes in hot pot type of casserole dishes. Whether it’s meat, seafood, rice, noodles or vegetables you want, Korean Palace Restaurant has a

Best Korean restaurant

Nori rice rolls (top) and Chapchae (above).

Table cooking (left)

wide array of any and all types of foods. The food is never disappointing at this great place and the service is superb and personalized to the point that your every desire is met quickly and efficiently.

The last time I was at Korean Palace I went with a couple who have also been going to this restaurant for many years. However in

all of our cases, it had been years since we ate there. We happily discovered that it was just as we remembered it; bright, clean, spacious and inviting. The menu made us hungrier that we were when we first entered. So we went overboard on ordering three different meats cooked at our table: Lean Pork, Beef and Pork Belly (Liempo). Our server kindly attended to cooking the meat as we caught up on old times and enjoyed the rest of our meal, which aside from the cooked meat included Yukhoe (ice cold seasoned raw beef with a raw egg yolk nestled on the top), Chapchae (Korean Vegetable Mix Sontanghon Noodles), Nori (Wrapped Rice Rolls with Spicy Squid), Korean pancake, and, of course, the variety of Korean Kimchee that we had refilled three times!

The prices border on expensive from Php 100 to Php 450. But such a unique dining experience with superb food warrants such an splurge once in awhile.

If you love Korean dishes, this is the place for you. If you have never tried Korean food, this is also the place for you.

The menu is perfect for the adventurous or the novice who is a little afraid to try new foods. The staff will guide you and make sure your dining experience is great and truly memorable!

16 Filipino Daddy’s...

SUPERSTAR

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happened in front of his countrymen and in his native country.

“It was an amazing experience to be able to win in the Philippines! It was a storybook ending for me! It was a very emotional one as well. All in all I enjoyed every moment of it!!” says Muñoz via e-mail 12 days after the fight.

The decommissioning of the Filipino Wrecking Machine still leaves MMA fans with Filipino and Fil-Am fighters.

Philippe “The Filipino Assassin” Nover

beginners and so they take the classes and depending on how well they are progressing we will promote them. They would have the get clearance from the coaches to let me know they are ready to train with the pros,” says Muñoz.

CARRYING ON His retirement and the closure of the gym doesn’t mean the end of Fil-Am presence in the octagon. There is Brandon Vera still fighting in One FC. Also active are Philippe Nover, Eduard Folayang, Jon Tuck, Mark Eddiva, Jon Delos Reyes, Nolan Ticman, and Roldan SangchaAn. Muñoz says there will be more Filipino fighters coming up. He promised to travel back to the Philippines and help out with the MMA scene to make sure that “our bloodline has representation in the world of MMA.” The Filipino Wrecking Machine has no qualms promoting the sport that is as violent as tackle football, boxing, and hockey. He claims that it is safer than boxing.

Mark Eddiva

Nolan Ticman

Eduard “Landslide” Folayang

fcfighter.com

Brandon Michael “The Truth” Vera

Jon “The Heat” Delos Reyes

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holdovers

Bellator fighters who trained there were Brett Cooper, Kendall Grove, Jonathan Santa Maria, Jonathan Rivera, Keith Berry, Emanuel Newton.

Some top up-and-comers who trained at RTC were Raja Shippen, Matt Lopez, Nick Jordan, Ricardo Sanati, Arian Sharifi, Rachelle Cummins, Damiela Espinosa.

Two Fil-Ams who also trained at the gym were Jonathan Santa Maria, a karate artist currently competing in Bellator, and Justin Polendey, who is awaiting the nod to fight.

Aside from Muñoz, RTC trainers consisted of Jason Manly (jiu-jitsu), Danny Perez and Abel Nunez (boxing), and Raja Shippen andAlex Palma (Muay Thai).

RTC offered a weekday training schedule.

Monday consisted of wrestling, strength and conditioning, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu at night. Tuesday is for sparring, strength and conditioning, and striking. Wednesday is training for jiu-jitsu, striking and strength and conditioning. For Thursday, it’s striking plus strength and conditioning. And Fridays had Muay Thai, sparring with takedowns, and striking.

“Inside my gym, we have quite a few

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BREAKING CAMP With Muñoz retired, MMA not only lost an exciting fighter but an MMA training camp as he is switching business, too.

“I have some opportunities that I will explore that will provide for my family more,” he says.

His Reign Training Center was one of the best MMA gyms in the world because of its talent and trainers, according to Muñoz.

Top fighters trained out of the gym. They included UFC fighters Jake Ellenberger, Michael Bisping, Brendan Schaub, Uriah Hall, Tony Ferguson, Jessica Penne, Kailin Curran, Pat Cummins, Tom Watson and Jay Silva.

Middleweight and light heavyweight MMA Mark Muñoz’s career record consisted of 14 wins with six KOs and 6 losses.

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TAPPING OUT The Lake Forest, California-based Muñoz attributed his 14th victory in 20 career fights spanning eight years not only to his desire to win in his own home soil and the extremely hard training he did before the fight. The victory was inspired by his decision to retire from the sport.

“I promised my wife that when my youngest went into kindergarten that I would retire and she is now in the 1st grade,” he says. “My family is important to me and I want to be intentional with my time that I have with them. Don’t want to miss anymore special moments in the lives of my kids.”

Muñoz made up his mind even before the last fight. He shut down his gym, Reign Training Center, and trained at Pat Tenore’s RVCA gym in Costa Mesa five weeks before the match.

“I was spending long days at the gym and still trying to train and be daddy. I was trying to wear too many hats and I was spreading myself too thin,” explains Muñoz in closing his training center.

Before retirement, Muñoz could hardly give time to his wife Kristi and children Alexa, 15, Trey, 13, Erynn, 10, and Elyse, 7.

He spent 12 to 14 hours a day in the gym.

Travel to fight and do appearances for sponsors would take him away for days and weeks at a time.

“When you get knocked down my a huge punch, you are allowed to get back up with a standing 8-count and if you show that you can continue, you are thrown back in and continue to have brain trauma,” says Muñoz. “In our sport of MMA, if you get hit by a big shot, there are no standing 8-counts. The match is over. So there might be head trauma but it stops. In boxing the trauma continues if they can continue. That is less likely in MMA.” MMA is also safer than tackle football, where players constantly bang their head against another player and suffer some head trauma, he says.

“I believe our sport has implemented a safe protocol to look over the athletes engaging in MMA. You have to get regular checkups and exams to make sure you can compete. If there are an irregular results you are not allowed to compete,” Munoz adds.

Muñoz is not worried about his kids getting into MMA. “I would want my kids to follow their passion and do what they love to do. If my kids would like to follow in my footsteps then that is the cherry on top. I would just want them to work hard at it and be successful,” he says.

For those who want to succeed in MMA, Muñoz has this advice: “Find a gym where you feel comfortable and teaches what you need to improve upon. Not only do they have what you are great at, but target the ones where they have a love to teach and peak their athletes,” he says.

And to become an MMA champion, he says the fighter must have desire, direction, diligence, discipline, dedication, commitment, perseverance, positive attitude and integrity.

Muñoz is grateful to the sport he says had given him so much. He won many friends. Urijah Faber, who got him into the sport, became his “brother from another mother.”

“He’s a great role model and is a great ambassador for the sport of MMA,” he says of the former WEC champion.

His 14 wins made him an accomplished fighter while the six losses and injuries taught him how to conquer adversity.

“I can definitely pass the knowledge I acquired over the span of my career and impact someone’s career in a positive way,’ he says.

True to his attitude, he is not even complaining about the beatings he got in the octagon.

“I have battle scars on my forehead, right elbow and around my eyes,” he says. “But I’m still pretty!! Haha!!”

Roldan Sangcha-An

JUNE 2015

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Thailand tops SEA Games

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Thailand dominated the 28th Southeast Asian Games that ended in Singapore on June 16 while the Philippines placed 6th overall.

Thailand won a total 95 gold medals to rule the biennial sports event. Host Singapore placed second with 84 golds followed by Vietnam with 73 golds, Malaysia with 62 golds and Indonesia with 47 golds.

The Philippines earned 29 gold medals. Philippine sports officials targeted to win 40 to 60 gold medals. More than 700 Filipino athletes joined in the event.

Thailand also topped the 2013 SEA Games held in Myanmar with 107 golds. The Philippines ranked 7th overall with 29 gold medals in that event.

Shore leave sports spree

For seamen, sport is part of the job. At sea, they can play table tennis onboard and even basketball when the weather is calm. Onshore, seamen also engage in different sports to stay fit or pass time while waiting for their next boarding.

For the months that he is on vacation, second mate Dominic Robledo, 33, of Quezon City trains in arnis, capoeira and flag football on the side of bonding with his family, friends and love. That’s how the Interorient Maritime Enterprises recruit spent nearly half of 2013 and 2014 before returning to duty.

Robledo has been training in capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines dance, acrobatics and music, since 2009. He started training in modern arnis, a Filipino martial arts, in 2011, in flag football, a version of American football without the tackling, in 2013, and American football last year.

He is such an avid sportsman that he juggled his time in the three sports last year.

CAPOEIRA FOR BREAKFAST The BSMT graduate of University of Cebu Maritime Education Training Center learned of capoeira in the 1993 martial arts movie “Only The Strong” starring Mark Dacascos.

His interest in capoeira grew because his other colleagues were also into that sport. One vacation in 2009, Robledo searched the web for a local capoeira school and finding one called Sinha Bahia de Capoeira Philippines, enrolled in a class at a Libis gym.

More than learning the Afro-Brazilian martial arts, Robledo said capoeria can also improve one’s personality.

“It will make you fit. You will learn to soften your body because of the graceful movement in capoeira,” he said. “It can eliminate your bad habits. Before, I was impatient and a negative thinker. Through capoeira, I became more patient

Second Mate Dominic Robledo of Interorient Maritime Enterprises doing a capoeira move (right), training under Master Nathan Dominguez (below, left) and practicing catching in flag

and a positive thinker.”

Of course, martial arts, like any other sports, have a holistic effect. Aside from learning skills useful in self-defense and for physical fitness, the trainee also develops self-confidence and good character based on the essence of the art and interaction with the teacher and co-trainees.

The seaman said capoeira is also enjoyable. Sinha Bahia manager, athletic educator and conditioning coach Joseph Pagulayan, describes it as a beautiful game and something so different and so unique that people should try.

“It’s not only about martial arts. It’s about movement, culture, music, energy,” explained Pagulayan. “It is a form of expression. We use our bodies like paint brushes to paint our capoeira movements. The definition of who we are is painted as we move.”

Pagulayan added that people who are in the capoeira group turn up so close that we consider each other as family.

ARNIS FOR DINNER Robledo trained in modern arnis for self-defense. He attended the free training of the Lightning Scientific Arnis International (LSAI) chapter at U.P. Diliman.

While stick is the main weapon in arnis, Robledo said any other weapon can be used in real-life self-defense situation with the same arnis movement applied.

Training in arnis also develops values in trainees, according to Master Nathan Dominguez, co-founder of the LSAI UP chapter and one of Robledo’s trainers.

“By teaching you about positioning yourself in combat, arnis teaches you about positioning yourself in life. How you deal with obstacles and challenges, it will come out,” said Dominguez, who has been teaching the sport for 25 years.

In one session, Dominguez taught students “sagasa” or pushing opponent backwards with fast strikes to prevent a counter attack.

“If you are charging and your opponent is backpedaling, sooner or later you will win because the momentum is with you. The faster the person backpedals, the easier for you to win. Your opponent will lose balance and you will run him over. This technique also teaches one not to backpedal in life.

When you see a challenge, you have to face it,” he explained.

Dominguez said arnis has limitless uses. It can be used for facilitating team building, coaching individuals and as a therapy. The LSAI in UP conducts evening arnis training at the school’s DMST Complex with trainees paying a fee to cover the lighting for the training venue.

FOOTBALL FOR LUNCH In between arnis and capoeira classes, Robledo still found time to practice flag football at the UP Sunken Garden once a week. He was invited to join his capoeira classmates’ flag football team that plays in the local league co-founded by Pagulayan.

“I felt the adrenalin rush in playing flag football,” Robledo said. “It is also exciting and enjoyable.”

For a game that involves a lot of ball catching, running and pushing, Robledo showed speed, agility, grip and strength to play the game.

Not contented with flag football, Robledo leveled up by joining a tackle football team, which also practices at the Sunken Garden every Saturday.

More physical than flag football, Robledo beefed up at the gym to withdstand the body banging usual in the sport.

He also invested in a helmet, mouth guard and other body protective gears that are required for safety and to minimize injury.

At the moment, Robledo is out at sea. But come September., when he returns home, he’ll be playing again and may even add a new sport to get busy with during shore leave.

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of retired basketball star Alvin Patrimonio, to compete in the female singles and doubles tennis games of the biennial sportsfest.

Capadocia, who had been training hard for the SEAG, was looking forward to compete in the regional event only to be denied the chance by her own sports association.

The Philta board of directors unanimously decided on Feb. 26 not to allow Capadocia to play in the SEAG because she decided not to play in the 2015 Fed Cup held April 13 to 19 in Hyderabad, India.

“The PHILTA Board was extremely disappointed with Ms. Capadocia’s decision to skip this prestigious tournament in favor of an unexplained training program reportedly in Europe,” said Philta Secretary General Romeo Magat in a letter to Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Ricardo Garcia dated Feb. 26, 2015.

Capadocia says Magat put words in her mouth.

“I never declined the invitation to join the Fed Cup team 2015 India. In fact, I was looking forward to it but I was never invited nor informed by Philta about it,” says Capadocia.

Capadocia, together with Patrimonio, represented the country in the 2014 Fed Cup held in Kazakhstan. The Philippines placed second overall among 13 countries that competed in the Asia-Oceania Zone Group II Play-offs.

Capadocia was disheartened by Philta’s basis for inclusion in the SEAG. “If that is the case, why did they include Denise Dy and Khim Iglupas in the SEA Games list when they did not represent the country in the recent Fed Cup?” she asked.

Capadocia says she was also originally in the list of athletes to be sent to the Asian Games last year, but Magat and Philta struck her out of the list and gave her slot to Dy, who was unranked.

QUALITY TRAINING The former U.S. Tennis Association under-18 singles champion defended her training abroad.

“The reasons why I undertook a 3-month training program in Amsterdam are that I

SPILLING THE BEANS Capadocia

wanted to improve my game and my skills and I would like to be ready for competitions such as the Fed Cup and SEA Games,” she says. “I have been training at Philta for a few years, but the training they provide is not enough as I practice with players whom I have beaten many times in the past.”

Exposure to international coaching, European players, full-time tennis program, and conditioning training along with mental, physical and dietary coaching in Amsterdam produced good results.

“My training in Amsterdam has improved my game, especially my service,” Capadocia says. “I had played and won the qualifying rounds in ITF Women’s Circuit in Maaseik, Belgium and Hong Kong and made it in the main draw. Last March of this year, I also played in the qualifying rounds of ITF Women’s Circuit–Le Havre, France and won my first match.”

FAVORITISM Capadocia says private individuals and

Dy delivers gold

Denise Dy is another Fil-Am tennis player who is allegedly getting more support from Philta than Marian Capadocia. But Dy’s performance in the just concluded Southeast Asia Games in Singapore somehow vindicated the association’s decision to send her to the biennial games.

Dy, together with Fil-Am partner Treat Conrad Huey, each won a gold medal in the mixed doubles event by beating their Thai opponents, 7-6, 6-4 in the finals at the Kallang Tennis Center on June 14. The duo also won the same finals in the 2011 SEA Games in Palembang Indonesia.

The 26-year-old Dy, who works as an assistant tennis coach at the University of Iowa, also won silvers in the women’s team and doubles events. Her total of three medals make her the most bemedalled Filipino athlete in the Games after Fil-Am sprinter Eric Shauwn Cray, who won two golds in the 100m dash and 400m hurdles. Dy and Huey’s win produced the only gold medal for the Philippine tennis players to rank second overall in the sports after Thailand, which took six golds.

Katharina Lehnert managed to win a silver medal together with Dy in the women’s doubles event after losing to their Thai rivals 6-3, 6-4 in the finals.

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companies contributed funds to cover her training expenses. She claims Philta could not extend to her the same support it gives to Lehnert and Fil-Am Ruben Gonzales.

A copy of the 2014 budget of Philta that Capadocia furnished shows the budget for the international training of Lehnert and Gonzales for the Asian Games as P1.14 million and P665,640, respectively. The corresponding budget for both Capadocia and Patrimonio is P120,000.

Capadocia says that time and again, their request for support, even with the endorsement of Philta president Edwin Olivares to the PSC, was denied them.

“Oftentimes, I am inclined to believe that Philta is playing favorites supporting Fil-foreign players because they don’t have an honest-to-goodness development program and depends on athletes who are based abroad. When it comes to locals, support is almost a pittance,” says Capadocia.

Capadocia claims Magat threatened to suspend her meager allowance after the SEA Games.

“Isn’t this very unfair? I have maintained my no. 1 position the past three to four years because of hard work, yet Mr. Magat does not appreciate this,” she complains.

Columbian Open, beating the likes of Lehnert and Patrimonio, but Philta keeps their eyes closed on this,” according to Capadocia. “I have been a product of Palarong Pambansa and National Games many times, yet they don’t recognize these achievements and me being a homegrown talent and national athlete. In last year’s PSC POC National Games held in Manila, I swept the singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles to win three gold medals.”

HEIGHT IS NOT MIGHT

Capadocia alleges that Magat and PSC Commissioner Salvador Andrada always tell her she would never beat the much taller Europeans. But she proved them wrong.

In the Amstel Park Tennis Academy Weekly Club tournaments in Amsterdam, Capadocia beat taller Dutch players from various clubs.

“The Academy is very proud of me and giving me the much needed exposures in singles matches,” she says.

“It is ridiculous that one of Philta’s bases for choosing players is the height,” says Capadocia.

She says Felicimo “Mighty Might” Ampon was barely 4-11, yet he made it to the semifinals of the 1956 French Open and won several gold medals in the Asian Games during his time.”

Our officials are not interested in honing the skills of athletes but in following their own whims, caprices and self interest -- Capadocia

UNDERESTIMATED Capadocia believes she is entitled to a fair share of support because she is the no. 1 ranked Filipina tennis player.

On its website, Philta ranks Lehnert No. 1 in the Women’s Singles category with 17,700 points, Capadocia at No. 2 with 1,900 points and Patrimonio at No. 3 with 1,700 points.

The three players are ranked in the same order in the Women’s Doubles category.

“I have been a singles’ champion four consecutive times in the country’s most prestigious local tournament, the Philippine Harjanto Sumali

theInternational

FATHER KNOWS BEST Lack of support, favoritism, height; the politics do not stop there. Capadocia says she hears stories that Philta resents the participation of her parents in her training.

“It is only natural for my parents to be concerned about me because they know best. My father, Joenito, is my first coach and he knows how hard I work for my game and knows my potential very well even from my early tennis years in my hometown in San Jose in Antique,” says Capadocia.

She cites the case of two-time Asian Games gold medalist Lydia de VegaMercado, Asia’s sprint queen in the 80s.

De Vega’s father, Francisco “Tatang” de Vega, argued with Michael Keon, head of the Gintong Alay sports program in the 1980s, but the latter respected him and continued to extend government support to Lydia’s international training and competitions, according to Capadocia. Thus, de Vega delivered several gold medals for the country in the Asian Games and Southeast Asian Games.

“It is sad that Philta officials are playing dirty politics to the detriment of players like me, who work hard and continue to sacrifice time and effort to improve my competitiveness. Our officials are not interested in honing the skills of athletes but in following their own whims, caprices and self interest,” says Capadocia.

Capadocia surely can beat good players, even those taller than her. But can she win in the game of politics? We hope for a happy ending.

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starboard

by Jun

G. Garcia

Challenges keep J-Phil Marine legacy alive

Young prexy overcomes crucial crewing crisis, wins shipowners’ confidence Running a manning business takes a lot of courage and patience to face several manning concerns, good leadership and wise decision so as not to aggravate a situation, reliable stance, word of honor, honesty, and absolute knowledge in the crewing trade to keep benefactors’ trust and confidence intact, and unremitting support from industry network, good office personnel and loyal pool of seafarers in order to stay in this kind of business.

For nearly eight years now, Capt. Eulalio “Leo” Candava, president of J-Phil Marine, Incorporated (JPMI) has remarkably kept his father’s legacy alive by surpassing several crewing challenges, with the global scarcity of qualified ship officers sometime between year 2007 to 2009 being his baptism of fire, among other industry crisis crucial to manning businesses.

During the first two years since he took over as president in 2007 after the untimely demise of C/E Jesus Candava, founding president of JPMI, Leo admits enduring difficulties and problems in running the business, including labor-related claims, funding, and addressing in absolute equilibrium the demands of seafarers and requirements of their principals, among others.

“A lot of things to learn in order to survive in the merchant marine industry so I took it one step at a time, kept a positive outlook in resolving cases and problems fair and square, and remained steadfastly focused in my duties and responsibilities as J-Phil Marine President and we were able to overcome those challenges. Now I can say that I am proud and happy that we were able to survive the complexities to stay in this business,” claims the 37-year-old prexy.

Though the young Candava was already a member of the JPMI Board of Directors back in 1999, he confesses having no significant contribution in the business operations and welfare of the office accordingly because “he was more focused on his profession as seafarer.”

“But I am witness to the dedication of my father in running the show for our company, which eventually inspired me to start learning business procedures and approaches even though his very strict instruction to me back then was for me to concentrate and excel in my seafaring career,” admits Leo. “I have incorporated his good leadership, words of wisdom, and valuable virtues with my new learning about the business and continuing professional education as I continue to earn new ranks and mature as a person and as a maritime professional,” scores the young Candava.

Aside from the usual demands for higher salary of seafarers and some crew claims, Leo stresses compliance with mandatory requirements and circulars of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA), Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), shipowners, the Maritime Labor Convention (MLC) 2006, which took effect in the Philippines in 2013, and the 2010 Manila Amendments of the 1978 Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW), which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2017.

While providing competent and reliable ship officers to make it a point to offer compromise agreement based the fleet of their principals is the topmost concern of every on crew’s evaluation and work assessment in complete manning agent, Leo attributes respect for people regardless consideration with his length of service and/or seniority, of rank or status in life, absolute honesty about the real status underscores Leo. and capacity of their company to pay his staff and deployed Fact of the business, for Leo, is to maintain credibility seafarers, commitment to provide quality service coupled and trustworthiness, which are essential components in with hard work and for being responsibly and openly ready developing good business relationship between employers to address the dynamic requirements of their principals, are and employees. among the many reasons which contributed to the stability “Every day is a learning process for me as time goes by. and sustainability of JPMI. I continue to acquire better understanding and absolute “Addressing seafarer issues like demand for higher salary is appreciation in the crewing business and every crucial immediately being discussed with our principals but I always situation did not only challenge my patience but also

Capt. Leo Candava with wife Ma. Caroline Candava.

enables me to develop management skills and ability to plot strategic planning under pressure, which are important basic components needed to run the JPMI show,” says Leo. JPMI, like many other manning agents, also gives cash advances to their seafarers, which is directly forwarded and requested from their principals. They also offer free training but practices screening selection process to identify qualified crew. Promotion onboard is being observed, conducted, and awarded to deserving ship’s crew.

JPMI, likewise, gives consideration to referral of friends

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Room 806, 8th Flr. T.M. Kalaw Center Bldg., 667 T.M. Kalaw Avenue, Ermita, Manila, Philippines Tel.: (632)567-1785; (632)567-1588 and (632)353-7974; Telefax: (632)567-1718 Email addresses: meridiantraining@pldtdsl.net and meridianmaritimetraining@gmail.com Website: www.meridianmaritimetraining.com and www.facebook.com/meridiantraining and/or relatives by their seafarers. It also gives moral and financial support to their employees when the need arise.

However, JPMI works on very low agency fees they acquire from their principals per crew/ head. How he was able to sustain the fixed monthly expenditures including salaries of their office personnel is admirably one of the many good traits of a successful leader.

“It is just a matter of budgeting,” quips Leo. “Seriously, I know it is a blessing from above that enables us to maintain operation of this business. In spite of stiff competition and growing demands from the industry, it is truly a blessing that we are still here, playing it strong against high tides, and braving the sudden heavy downpours we occasionally encounters,” he instills.

According to Leo, the name of the game is flexibility. Being open to constant changes

and keeping yourself abreast with the latest industry roundups will make one humble leader play his cards well. But most of all, sharing your blessings to the less fortunate is indeed being requested.

“We are also very proud to tie-up with one of the our principals to provide scholarship program to students graduating from Lyceum of Batangas, among other Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that JPMI had religiously conducted,” reveals the father of three.

“We may not have a “Big Name” in the Philippine Manning Industry, we may be small, but we continue to make it big by preserving the trust and confidence of our principals. I personally attribute the stability to my late father, C/E Jesus Candava, for paving the way for me, to my mother of course, for her unremitting encouragement and support that guided me, strengthened and inspired me to work it out doubly hard

“We are also very proud to tie-up with one of the our principals to provide scholarship program to students graduating from Lyceum of Batangas.”

Capt. Leo Candava (right, front row) with his staff at J-Phil Marine.

to continue the legacy of his father; And more importantly, to our principals – especially those who have been with us since the time of my dad, who continued to patronize our manning services trusting my humble leadership and supporting our silent partnership with the government by contributing to the economic progression of our country,” reckons the young JPMI stalwart.

Most of all, Leo’s strong determination and absolute inspiration in keeping JPMI alive and

strong: “Of course, it was my gorgeous wife and three beautiful princesses.

“I became more responsible in terms of management – balancing my time between business and family. My wife has been and will always be my inspiration. Our three charming and sweet princesses are my greatest achievement. Life has been happier and meaningful with them. They are truly my medicine when stress strikes and I can say that I am just so blessed to have them in my life.”

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Princess Cruises foundation donates cash for seafarers The Princess Cruises Community Foundation is donating proceeds of its auction of Princess Cruises commemorative nautical chart to seafarers organizations as it joins in celebrating the 5th annual Day of the Seafarer on June 25.

“On every cruise, Princess raises money for charity by conducting an auction of the nautical charts, a one-of-a-kind collector’s item signed by the Captain that details the routes of the voyage. To celebrate the 2015 Day of the Seafarer, Princess guests will have the opportunity to show their support for their favorite crew members and seafarers and

PRACTICING PHYSICIAN

Dr. Dolly Tay One of the visions we held on when we regrouped as Accredited Medical Clinics for OFWs Association (AMECO) was to empower our member physicians - generalists and specialists with the necessary clinical knowledge in their daily clinic practice. This will not only improve the whole industry, but will likewise improve the impression of the public on OFW clinic physicians and the practice. Because unfortunately, most people think that OFW clinics only drain money for unreasonable tests or referrals.

To realize this, AMECO which was born in 2009, began with twice monthly activities of continuing medical education, usually but not always supported by the pharmaceutical industry. Serial lectures on the most

Japan to build 10 Coast Guard ships The Department of Transportation and Communications and the Japan Marine United Corp. (JMU) have signed an agreement for the supply of 10 multi-role response vessels (MRRV) for the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

take home this unique keepsake from their cruise vacation.

Fleetwide, through the month of July, the proceeds from each commemorative nautical chart auction will be collected on behalf of seafarers,” the foundation said in a press statement on June 17.

In an additional show of support, the company will also donate a cruise to the Seattle branch of Mission to Seafarers and will be hosting their annual luncheon aboard Crown Princess on Aug. 22 in the Port of Seattle.

Around the world, there are organizations that support

the well-being of seafaring crew by providing important humanitarian services that directly benefit the shipboard crew at Princess, as well as all international maritime workers.

Princess Cruises actively supports these organizations located in ports of call the cruise line visits often including Seafarers’ House (Ft. Lauderdale, Florida); Seafarers UK (Southampton, England); Mission to Seafarers (Seattle, Washington); and International Seafarer’s Center (Long Beach/Los Angeles, Calif.).

Day of the Seafarer brings awareness to and recognizes the world’s 1.5 million seafarers to thank them for their service and contribution during their career at sea.

Princess Cruises is showing appreciation and gratitude to seafarers everywhere by acknowledging the company’s nearly 18,000 shipboard crew who work aboard Princess cruise ships and come from more than 70 countries, including the Philippines.

The global cruise and tour company is also saluting three long-serving employees who have dedicated themselves to a lifelong career at sea: • Tom Beck (Coventry, United Kingdom), Newbuild Guarantee Engineer, 51 years at sea • Alastair Calder (Genoa, Italy), Fleet Marine Inspector, 48 years at sea • Nigel Stewart (Fortrose, Scotland), Hotel General Manager, 47 years at sea “We are grateful for the commitment and dedication of our seafaring staff - they are truly what makes Princess Cruises special for our guests,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises president. “Because of their choosing to have a career at sea, our guests enjoy a safe, meaningful and memorable cruise vacation.”

One of the visions we held on when we regrouped as AMECO common illnesses seen in the clinics were provided for free for the AMECO members (physicians and nurses) such as Diabetes, Hypertension, Urinary Tract Infections and Stones, Gallbladder Diseases, Lung Infections, Hepatitis B infection, Fatty Liver Disease, Stomach Diseases, Gout, Dermatological Diseases, Vaccination and even lectures on Depression and Anxiety and it’s management.

The international seafarer medical guidelines did not escape our focus. In fact, on Aug. 25, 2012, at the PICC, we held our physician’s forum on the 2012 ILO/IMO updated guidelines on the medical examination of seafarers.

The said forum was a success with the participation of our nationwide membership and our invited specialists themselves highly respected in their own fields and proved to be a first for this power team to be together for a single educational activity, themselves receive seafarer referrals, helped us in the discussions namely: Cardiovascular Illnesses with cardiologists panelists: Dr. Ana Maria Luisa Javier Delos Reyes, Dr. Antonio Pascual and Dr. Jennifer Mendoza, all from the Philippine Heart Center.

Metabolic illnesses were discussed by endocrinologist Dr. Herbert Ho from the Philippine General Hospital.

Vaccination lecture was by no less than Dr. Eric Tayag, who is an infectious disease specialist aside from his job as Department of Health assistant secretary.

Of course, dancing was given an opportunity during the forum.

Eye disorders and the current STCW eyesight standards was guided by Dr. George Co of Chinese General Hospital.

Co manages George optical shops nationwide aside from

seeing hundreds of eye patients daily.

Hearing standards and ear disorders was paneled

by Philippine General Hospital’s most respected ENT surgeons and professors, Dr. Melfred Hernandez and Dr. Jose Lapena.

It was a landmark forum to date and on March 1, 2014, we held our first major activity for the year. This time a workshop for our physicians on the eyesight and hearing standards of the updated ILO/IMO guidelines, which has proved to be a stricter rule to comply with compared to the 2007 version.

In that same event, we have presented our own local fitness criteria on the most common medical conditions, which our seafarer committee has recently completed after 12 months of brainstorming and research. The committee made up of physicians active in seafarers health screening and management for more than 10 years, with the help and guidance of our allies in the different medical specialties, and MCA Medical Director and International Maritime Health Association pioneer Dr. Tim Carter.

All these accomplishments would not have been possible if not for the cohesive goal of the group to be respected and treated fairly. Competition in the industry may be fierce but our professionalism remains our priority.

Good business profits will result in the end.

DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and JMU President Shinjiro Mishima signed the agreement in Tokyo on June 4 in the presence of President Benigno S. Aquino III, who was visiting the country at the time.

Each MRRV is 44 meters long and 7.5 meters wide. The vessels have a standard cruising speed of 15 knots. Each

vessel will be manned by five officers and 20 crewmen.

The MRRVs will be used by the PCG to monitor the country’s coastlines and for search and rescue and maritime law enforcement.

JMU will build the vessels at its Yokohama shipyard. They will be delivered in succession starting August 2016.

Maria Dolores Tay, MD, DFM is the medical director of the International Health Aide Diagnostic Services Inc. (IHADS) and former president of the Accredited Medical Clinics for OFWs Association, Inc. (AMECO).

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SHIPMATE NEWLY-BUILT PROPERTY FOR RUSH SALE AT P75M (NEGOTIABLE)

Commercial building for your company expansion and start a branch in Dasmarinas, Cavite. This brand new building is for sale at PHP75M [negotiable]. It has elevator on it.. It has clean title. Details and more photos will be provided via email. In case you’re interested, you can reach me at 09278544444 - Mr. Medina

JUNE 2015

GANGWAYS TO: MATEO M. PANGANIBAN POSITION: SECOND OFFICER VESSEL: MT CHER HI DADDY, WE MISS YOU SO MUCH. DASAL NAMIN LAGI SA PANGINOON NA SANA’Y BIGYAN KA PARATI NG LAKAS NG PANGANGATAWAN. INGAT KA PALAGI! WE LOVE YOU! LOVE, ANA & PRINCESS ALTHEA (WIFE & DAUGHTER)

Basilio C. Brucal Chief officer Mt.Silva “To my dearest husband.I just want to say thank you for giving me the best of everything. You are such a good husband, a good father, a good son, a good provider. There’s no such thing as perfect but i would say you are closer to perfect. If i will be given a chance to live again ..i still want it to be you..we are miles away but i never felt if that way. you make sure that everything is fine with me,with vanna and with our little one. You are the sweetest person i’ve ever known and for that i could say i am the luckiest.i am a proud wife here.i love you and i will always do.through ups and down i’ll be forever be at your side..together with our children..be safe always in everything that you do..God Bless my hubby.take care and we love you so much.

LOVE; Lyanne, Vanna and Vlad

JUNE 2015

CREW : Petronilo C. Candava AGENCY: J-PHIL MARINE INCORPORATED PRINCIPAL / VSL: AKRON TRADE AND TRANSPORT / M.T SIENE

SHIPMATE

To: Chief Mate Florencio Candava of Ruby IV

Me and baby is very happy and proud that one by one your dreams closely do come true. Your willingness to sacrifice everything for our family is pinned in our hearts to remember how great is your love and loyalty. Miss you so much honey bunchie.. take care always and God Bless… we love you and see you very soon…

I feel proud of having you as my husband who’s full of dreams and never gets tired of accomplishing them. Thank you for being my other half, for being such an amazing husband, a responsible father and a good provider to our family. Thank you for working so hard, for all your sacrifices and for being strong even you’re far away. Always remember how much I love you and it will never change no matter what. I hope you will never get tired of loving me also. May the good Lord Bless you abundantly and bless you with your work.

Mwuah!

From: Mommy Kris and Baby Vincent

From: Dianne, Ian and Anica Kim

MESSAGE: Dear Daddy Capt

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I venture the sea with a weary heart.

To leave my family is the hardest part.

Couldn’t hear my first born talk, Couldn’t even see her walk.

Everyday I work every penny I could.

Everyday I wonder, “Is my family doing good? ” My heart sinks as I remember them, Hoping to be with them as they sleep and dream.

A long voyage before we reach the port, With huge waves slamming us from starboard to port.

Navigating the vast and the tempest of the sea.

Its worst I experienced, its wonders I see.

A seafarers life, A life I have.

But despite the pain, the sea I love.

Despite the winds and the huge waves it carry, I love this life and I will continue my journey.

Poem by: JOEY INFANTE C/E Mike Marasigan and Ms. Len Jante Congratulations to C/E Mike Marasigan, outgoing President of Rotary Club Pasig South and Ms. Len Jante, outgoing President of Rotary Club Fort Bonifacio Global City for their remarkable leaderships and outstanding services rendered to their respective clubs and constituents in spite of their hectic work demands, which requires much of their time.

We look forward to your continuous progression in the Rotary Club so you may be able to inspire more future leaders and new prospective members, who may continue to spread the “Service Above Self” culture and help create a better world.

From: The International Filipino

WHAT’S HAPPENING

OFWs and Seafarers Business Expo and Conferences July 31 to August 1, 2015 SMX Davao / SM Cagayan De Oro

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JUNE 2015