Thursday, January 5, 2012
News Update ‘Sendong’ prompts govt to put P1.6B on DREAM high-tech equipment
The of Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will get P1.6 billion to improve government response to natural disasters in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Sendong, the worst to have hit the Philippines in more than a decade. The money will be given to the DOST program known as the DREAM or Disaster Risk Exposure, Assessment, and Mitigation, Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said Friday. This is part of efforts to boost government capacity on disaster planning and response, Abad noted. “Through the use of the latest technologies, DOST beefing up its capacity to produce weather information, flood maps and other critical data accurately and rapidly,” he said. According to the Department of Budget and Management, the DOST will use the money to buy equipment that use geospatial data gathering technologies and can provide detailed topographic information. Abad said two of the equipment in particular are the Light Intensity Detection and Ranging machine or (LIDAR) and the Airborne Radar Interferometry machine or INSAR. The machine will help government improve and update its flood hazard maps nationwide. Identifying flood prone areas is useful in rescue and relief operations, Abad said. “Furthermore, the resource information to be generated in this DOST project aims to respond to information requirements of development planning, natural resource and environment management, including forestry applications,” the Budget chief noted. “Sendong” ravaged Northern Mindanao on Dec. 16, leaving an estimated 1,500 people dead and damaged over P1.38 billion worth of infrastructure, crops and livestock. — VS,
News Update P438.8B of 2012 budget goes to economic sector, says DBM
The Aquino administration taking P438.8 billion from the 2012 budget to fund a “sustainable economic growth,” the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said Tuesday. Budget and Management Secretary Florencio Abad said the economic sector budget is 24.2 percent of the P1.816 trillion 2012 National Budget. In a statement, Abad said the money will help finance government’s job generation and economic development programs. Sectors that will benefit from economic sector budget are the semi-conductor and electronics, business process outsourcing, tourism, agriculture and fisheries, and general infrastructure. Around P182.2 billion of the P438.8 billion budget will fund government’s infrastructure program, said Abad, The economic sector allotment also includes a P22.1-billion fiscal support program for the public-private partnership program (PPP) to attract the private sector joining critical infrastructure project. The DBM said agriculture projects on rice self-sufficiency by 2013 will also benefit from the economic budget, including P6.2 billion for the National Rice Program, P1.3 billion for the High-Value Crops Program, P951 million for the National Corn Program, P1.9 billion for the National Fisheries Program, P1 billion for the National Livestock Program and P24.5 billion for irrigation development. — VS
News Update How senators spent their 2011 pork barrel funds
Eight of the 23 senators spent at least P100 million each from the Congress’ pork barrel funds in 2011, according to a report of the Department of Budget and Management Wednesday.
Senators Edgardo Angara, Jinggoy Estrada, Gregorio Honasan II, Manuel “Lito” Lapid, Ralph Recto, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Manuel Villar Jr. received and spent P100 million each for their projects, DBM said.
Their expense make up half of the total P1,637,445,000 the DBM released for the Senate's priority development assistance fund or PDAF.
The report showed that the biggest expenses of Angara, Lapid and Recto were for their home provinces in Aurora, Pampanga and Batangas, respectively.
Angara allocated P40 million for the construction of a school building, multi-purpose pathways, and installation of pipes and tanks for water supply in Aurora; Lapid spent P31 million for infrastructure projects including the rehabilitation of a hospital, and construction of a school building and line canal in Pampanga; while Recto set aside P45 million for concreting of roads and purchasing of facilities for police stations in Batangas.
On the other hand, Estrada gave away P50 million in financial assistance to indigent farmers through the Department of Agriculture.
Honasan spent P40 million for the planting of jatropha, a plant touted as a source of biofuel but later discovered that it was not commercially viable. The Arroyo administration reportedly wasted more than P1 billion for this project.
Sotto set aside P28.5 million for infrastructure and educational projects in Pampanga, home province of his wife, actress Helen Gamboa.
Villar meanwhile allocated P39 million for scholarship programs in different provinces.
DBM fixes wrong report
The DBM mistakenly reported on Tuesday that Revilla received a total of P210 million in which he allegedly spent half or P115 million for the acquisition of 529 multicabs in Cavite.
However, Revilla cleared in a statement that the report was false and that only 23 multicabs were acquired which amounted to P5 million and not P115 million.
"The DBM must clear this. It's not right that it appears my PDAF was grossly disproportional to those of my colleagues. They should also correct it because the report implied that my PDAF was padded by 110 million pesos.
"They should be careful with releasing facts. Inaccuracy on sensitive information can damage people," the senator said.
The DBM immediately apologized and corrected its data the day after showing that Revilla only received P100 million and that his biggest allocation (P45 million) was for financial assistance to medical projects all over the country.
Senators who spent less
Meanwhile, senators who spent less than P100 million of their PDAF in 2011 are: Francis “Chiz” Escudero, P99,000,000; Sergio Osmena , P96,675,000; Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., P95,500,000; Loren Legarda, P89,400,000; Juan Ponce Enrile, P83,500,000; Miriam Santiago, P80,000,000; Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, P72,000,000; and Pia Cayetano, P71,170,000.
Senators who spent even less than P50 million are: Teofisto “TG” Guingona III, P46,200,000; Antonio Trillanes IV, P35,400,000; Alan Peter Cayetano, P30,500,000; Franklin Drilon, P19,500,000; and Koko Pimentel, P18,600,000. Pimentel took over the seat of resigned senator Miguel Zubiri.
Only Senators Joker Arroyo and Panfilo Lacson did not request fund releases for their projects under the 2011 budget, the DBM said.
According to DBM, the annual PDAF allocation of each senator must not exceed the amount of P200 million. The amount shall be used to fund both “soft” and “hard” projects.
The “soft” projects are basically non-infrastructure projects like scholarship programs, medical assistance to indigent patients in government hospitals, livelihood support programs, the purchase of IT equipment and financial assistance to local governments while “hard” projects are small infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, footbridges, pathways, multipurpose buildings, school buildings, potable water systems, flood control, drainage systems, irrigation facilities and electrification projects.
DBM Secretary Florencio Abad urged the public to remain vigilant on how the government spend its money.
“Ultimately, we are pleased that the public remains deeply interested in the manner through which we manage the people’s funds. We enjoin all Filipinos—particularly the media and other interested groups—to continue strengthening the feedback mechanism for our processes, so that we can boost efficiency, accuracy, and accountability in all levels of government,” Abad said.
Senators Edgardo Angara, Jinggoy Estrada, Gregorio Honasan II, Manuel “Lito” Lapid, Ralph Recto, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Manuel Villar Jr. received and spent P100 million each for their projects, DBM said.
Their expense make up half of the total P1,637,445,000 the DBM released for the Senate's priority development assistance fund or PDAF.
The report showed that the biggest expenses of Angara, Lapid and Recto were for their home provinces in Aurora, Pampanga and Batangas, respectively.
Angara allocated P40 million for the construction of a school building, multi-purpose pathways, and installation of pipes and tanks for water supply in Aurora; Lapid spent P31 million for infrastructure projects including the rehabilitation of a hospital, and construction of a school building and line canal in Pampanga; while Recto set aside P45 million for concreting of roads and purchasing of facilities for police stations in Batangas.
On the other hand, Estrada gave away P50 million in financial assistance to indigent farmers through the Department of Agriculture.
Honasan spent P40 million for the planting of jatropha, a plant touted as a source of biofuel but later discovered that it was not commercially viable. The Arroyo administration reportedly wasted more than P1 billion for this project.
Sotto set aside P28.5 million for infrastructure and educational projects in Pampanga, home province of his wife, actress Helen Gamboa.
Villar meanwhile allocated P39 million for scholarship programs in different provinces.
DBM fixes wrong report
The DBM mistakenly reported on Tuesday that Revilla received a total of P210 million in which he allegedly spent half or P115 million for the acquisition of 529 multicabs in Cavite.
However, Revilla cleared in a statement that the report was false and that only 23 multicabs were acquired which amounted to P5 million and not P115 million.
"The DBM must clear this. It's not right that it appears my PDAF was grossly disproportional to those of my colleagues. They should also correct it because the report implied that my PDAF was padded by 110 million pesos.
"They should be careful with releasing facts. Inaccuracy on sensitive information can damage people," the senator said.
The DBM immediately apologized and corrected its data the day after showing that Revilla only received P100 million and that his biggest allocation (P45 million) was for financial assistance to medical projects all over the country.
Senators who spent less
Meanwhile, senators who spent less than P100 million of their PDAF in 2011 are: Francis “Chiz” Escudero, P99,000,000; Sergio Osmena , P96,675,000; Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., P95,500,000; Loren Legarda, P89,400,000; Juan Ponce Enrile, P83,500,000; Miriam Santiago, P80,000,000; Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, P72,000,000; and Pia Cayetano, P71,170,000.
Senators who spent even less than P50 million are: Teofisto “TG” Guingona III, P46,200,000; Antonio Trillanes IV, P35,400,000; Alan Peter Cayetano, P30,500,000; Franklin Drilon, P19,500,000; and Koko Pimentel, P18,600,000. Pimentel took over the seat of resigned senator Miguel Zubiri.
Only Senators Joker Arroyo and Panfilo Lacson did not request fund releases for their projects under the 2011 budget, the DBM said.
According to DBM, the annual PDAF allocation of each senator must not exceed the amount of P200 million. The amount shall be used to fund both “soft” and “hard” projects.
The “soft” projects are basically non-infrastructure projects like scholarship programs, medical assistance to indigent patients in government hospitals, livelihood support programs, the purchase of IT equipment and financial assistance to local governments while “hard” projects are small infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, footbridges, pathways, multipurpose buildings, school buildings, potable water systems, flood control, drainage systems, irrigation facilities and electrification projects.
DBM Secretary Florencio Abad urged the public to remain vigilant on how the government spend its money.
“Ultimately, we are pleased that the public remains deeply interested in the manner through which we manage the people’s funds. We enjoin all Filipinos—particularly the media and other interested groups—to continue strengthening the feedback mechanism for our processes, so that we can boost efficiency, accuracy, and accountability in all levels of government,” Abad said.
News Update 16 dead, 100 missing in Philippine landslide
At least 16 people were killed and another 100 were missing in the southern Philippines on Thursday after a landslide struck a community of gold prospectors, officials said.
The landslip struck a remote mountain community near Pantukan town on Mindanao island, and an army unit was digging out buried houses and bodies using shovels and other hand tools, civil defence chief Benito Ramos told AFP.
Pantukan and nearby Monkayo town have drawn thousands of gold prospectors for years, and the largely unregulated mining activities have triggered a series of deadly accidents.
"These are small-scale miners who tunnel into the side of the mountains like rats," Ramos said.
Sixteen bodies were pulled from the debris within the first five hours, but community leaders told rescuers about 100 others remained missing, regional police spokesman Senior Inspector Gretchin Cinco told reporters.
Ramos said the number of missing was an estimate based on figures from village officials.
Arturo Uy, the governor of Compostela Valley province that includes Pantukan, estimated that the population of the stricken village was between 700 and 800 transient residents.
Miners had been warned previously of the danger of landslides after one struck a nearby community of gold prospectors in 2009, he added.
"We had already ordered them out of the area in April and many did leave," Uy told GMA television in a telephone interview.
The landslip struck a remote mountain community near Pantukan town on Mindanao island, and an army unit was digging out buried houses and bodies using shovels and other hand tools, civil defence chief Benito Ramos told AFP.
Pantukan and nearby Monkayo town have drawn thousands of gold prospectors for years, and the largely unregulated mining activities have triggered a series of deadly accidents.
"These are small-scale miners who tunnel into the side of the mountains like rats," Ramos said.
Sixteen bodies were pulled from the debris within the first five hours, but community leaders told rescuers about 100 others remained missing, regional police spokesman Senior Inspector Gretchin Cinco told reporters.
Ramos said the number of missing was an estimate based on figures from village officials.
Arturo Uy, the governor of Compostela Valley province that includes Pantukan, estimated that the population of the stricken village was between 700 and 800 transient residents.
Miners had been warned previously of the danger of landslides after one struck a nearby community of gold prospectors in 2009, he added.
"We had already ordered them out of the area in April and many did leave," Uy told GMA television in a telephone interview.
News Update Man massacres family over 'pulutan'
MANILA, Philippines - A man went on a shooting rampage that claimed the lives of his wife, mother-in-law and sister-in-law in Tondo, Manila Tuesday night after his wife failed to bring him “pulutan,” finger food usually served with alcoholic beverages.
Ronald Cruz, 37, who works as a messenger for the Philippine Reclamation Authority, surrendered to Moriones police station chief Superintendent Jemar Modequillo yesterday afternoon, hours after the killings.
He said he loved his wife and is asking for forgiveness from his victims’ relatives.
Senior Police Officer 1 Gerry Rivera said that at around 7:30 p.m., Cruz came home and confronted his wife, Gina, 36, for refusing to bring him pulutan while he was drinking with his buddies outside the house. Their eldest child, 18-year-old Ralph, tried to intervene but his father turned on him and beat him up.
The commotion was overheard by Cruz’s mother-in-law, Senecia Valencia, 60, and her daughter, Loreta Venturina, 40. The two women, who lived next door, tried to pacify the enraged suspect. Cruz went to the kitchen, took his .9mm pistol, and shot his wife in the forehead in front of his in-laws and his three children. The two younger children are aged 10 and 8.
He then shot at his in-laws as well as Venturina’s fiancée, American serviceman John Walker, 44.
After the shooting, Cruz left their house on Masinop Street, bringing his gun with him. Police recovered four spent .9mm shells at the scene.
Cruz’s mother-in-law died on the spot while his wife and sister-in-law died at the emergency room of the Mary Johnston Hospital. Walker is confined at the same hospital for a bullet wound in the chin.
Rivera said the American serviceman would execute his affidavit on the shooting once his condition stabilizes. - By Nestor Etolle
Ronald Cruz, 37, who works as a messenger for the Philippine Reclamation Authority, surrendered to Moriones police station chief Superintendent Jemar Modequillo yesterday afternoon, hours after the killings.
He said he loved his wife and is asking for forgiveness from his victims’ relatives.
Senior Police Officer 1 Gerry Rivera said that at around 7:30 p.m., Cruz came home and confronted his wife, Gina, 36, for refusing to bring him pulutan while he was drinking with his buddies outside the house. Their eldest child, 18-year-old Ralph, tried to intervene but his father turned on him and beat him up.
The commotion was overheard by Cruz’s mother-in-law, Senecia Valencia, 60, and her daughter, Loreta Venturina, 40. The two women, who lived next door, tried to pacify the enraged suspect. Cruz went to the kitchen, took his .9mm pistol, and shot his wife in the forehead in front of his in-laws and his three children. The two younger children are aged 10 and 8.
He then shot at his in-laws as well as Venturina’s fiancée, American serviceman John Walker, 44.
After the shooting, Cruz left their house on Masinop Street, bringing his gun with him. Police recovered four spent .9mm shells at the scene.
Cruz’s mother-in-law died on the spot while his wife and sister-in-law died at the emergency room of the Mary Johnston Hospital. Walker is confined at the same hospital for a bullet wound in the chin.
Rivera said the American serviceman would execute his affidavit on the shooting once his condition stabilizes. - By Nestor Etolle
News Update Aquino reveals stand on FOI bill, tells Cabinet men send it to Congress
President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday revealed his stand on the Freedom of Information bill — a landmark legislation designed to lift the shroud of secrecy over government dealings and data — and told some of his Cabinet men to finalize the Palace version and send it to congress.
Aquino told administration officials to “push ahead” with the much-delayed Freedom of Information bill during at a two-hour meeting with some members of the Cabinet earlier in the day, said Communications Group Undersecretary Manolo Quezon III at a press briefing on Wednesday.
“The President’s marching order to us was — and these were his words — to push ahead with Freedom of Information,” Quezon said. It means "Finalize [thePalace version] and send it to Congress," presidential spokesperson Edwin Laciera told GMA News Online.
The FOI bill seeks to implement Article III, Section 7 and Article II, Section 28 of the 1987 Constitution and guarantees the rights of people to access information and documents of public interest, “subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law” “Basically, everyone has been asking where does the President stand on this? Does the President have any more reservations or questions or is he getting in the way of this? And I think this is as categorical an answer as everyone has wanted to hear and he is saying ‘push ahead’,” Quezon said.
Also present during the meeting were Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Energy Secretary Rene Almendras, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning head Ricky Carandang, and presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.
Malacañang decided to adopt the version of the bill filed by Deputy House Speaker Lorenzo Tañada. Quezon said the Palace will introduce its proposal as amendments to retain the integrity of the bill and maintain the momentum at the committee level.
“As you know it is pending in committee already and from the very start we were very transparent in saying that the view we were looking at… it will be introduced… instead of a competing bill, it would be introduced as a series of amendments either in the committee or plenary,” Quezon said.
A consolidated version of the FOI bill has been pending before the House committee since February last year. Various versions of the proposed legislation, separately authored by 11 senators, are also pending committee approval at the Senate.
Sen. Tañada acknowledges Aquino directive
Tañada acknowledged Malacañang’s announcement.
“Together with the champions and advocates in the House, I will organize talks with the Speaker and the committee on public information chair for the next concrete steps and definite timeline,” he said in a statement.
“I welcome the announcement of the Palace regarding the FOI bill. It is now incumbent on both chambers of the legislative branch to work for the passage of the FOI in their respective chambers before June 2012,” Tañada said in a text message.
House members will give weight to the Palace proposal in the same manner that they took into consideration the inputs of other stakeholders, former journalist and now Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said in a separate text message. Evardone, chairperson of the House committee on public information, said he sees the smooth passage of the FOI bill at the committee level and at the plenary once the Palace submits its version to Congress.
“We have been very anxious of this development. This will definitely hasten the approval of the FOI bill,” Evardone said. He added, however, that his committee will not automatically adopt the Palace version of the measure.
“It does not mean that we will adopt it hook, line and sinker, but definitely, we will give weight to the Palace proposal in the same manner that we took into consideration the inputs of other stakeholders,” he said.
Another layer of bureaucracy
The only change the President did to the draft bill was remove the proposed Information Commission, Quezon said, because the President felt the commission would just add another layer of bureaucracy.
“The overall intention of this whole exercise, besides making it as democratic and consultative as possible, was precisely because we were all working under the view that we had to make the constitutional injunction making information a right of the public a living reality,” he said.
With the President’s approval, Quezon said the ball is now in the hands of the Congress.
In June 2010, the House of Representatives failed to ratify the bill due to lack of quorum, as well as objections from some congressmen. — KBK/ELR/VS,
Aquino told administration officials to “push ahead” with the much-delayed Freedom of Information bill during at a two-hour meeting with some members of the Cabinet earlier in the day, said Communications Group Undersecretary Manolo Quezon III at a press briefing on Wednesday.
“The President’s marching order to us was — and these were his words — to push ahead with Freedom of Information,” Quezon said. It means "Finalize [thePalace version] and send it to Congress," presidential spokesperson Edwin Laciera told GMA News Online.
The FOI bill seeks to implement Article III, Section 7 and Article II, Section 28 of the 1987 Constitution and guarantees the rights of people to access information and documents of public interest, “subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law” “Basically, everyone has been asking where does the President stand on this? Does the President have any more reservations or questions or is he getting in the way of this? And I think this is as categorical an answer as everyone has wanted to hear and he is saying ‘push ahead’,” Quezon said.
Also present during the meeting were Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Energy Secretary Rene Almendras, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning head Ricky Carandang, and presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.
Malacañang decided to adopt the version of the bill filed by Deputy House Speaker Lorenzo Tañada. Quezon said the Palace will introduce its proposal as amendments to retain the integrity of the bill and maintain the momentum at the committee level.
“As you know it is pending in committee already and from the very start we were very transparent in saying that the view we were looking at… it will be introduced… instead of a competing bill, it would be introduced as a series of amendments either in the committee or plenary,” Quezon said.
A consolidated version of the FOI bill has been pending before the House committee since February last year. Various versions of the proposed legislation, separately authored by 11 senators, are also pending committee approval at the Senate.
Sen. Tañada acknowledges Aquino directive
Tañada acknowledged Malacañang’s announcement.
“Together with the champions and advocates in the House, I will organize talks with the Speaker and the committee on public information chair for the next concrete steps and definite timeline,” he said in a statement.
“I welcome the announcement of the Palace regarding the FOI bill. It is now incumbent on both chambers of the legislative branch to work for the passage of the FOI in their respective chambers before June 2012,” Tañada said in a text message.
House members will give weight to the Palace proposal in the same manner that they took into consideration the inputs of other stakeholders, former journalist and now Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said in a separate text message. Evardone, chairperson of the House committee on public information, said he sees the smooth passage of the FOI bill at the committee level and at the plenary once the Palace submits its version to Congress.
“We have been very anxious of this development. This will definitely hasten the approval of the FOI bill,” Evardone said. He added, however, that his committee will not automatically adopt the Palace version of the measure.
“It does not mean that we will adopt it hook, line and sinker, but definitely, we will give weight to the Palace proposal in the same manner that we took into consideration the inputs of other stakeholders,” he said.
Another layer of bureaucracy
The only change the President did to the draft bill was remove the proposed Information Commission, Quezon said, because the President felt the commission would just add another layer of bureaucracy.
“The overall intention of this whole exercise, besides making it as democratic and consultative as possible, was precisely because we were all working under the view that we had to make the constitutional injunction making information a right of the public a living reality,” he said.
With the President’s approval, Quezon said the ball is now in the hands of the Congress.
In June 2010, the House of Representatives failed to ratify the bill due to lack of quorum, as well as objections from some congressmen. — KBK/ELR/VS,
News Update 6 foreign ambassadors to grace Dinagyang 2012
AT LEAST six foreign ambassadors and officials of Daly City and Stockton City, California, USA are coming over to witness the Dinagyang Festival set on the third week of January 2012.
Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog said the visiting dignitaries composed of the ambassadors of Greece, Czech Republic, France and Italy will be coming to grace the Iloilo International Film Festival on January 19-21, 2012.
The film festival is facilitated by the Pambansang Sining Film Development Council of the Philippines headed by Chairman Briccio Santos.
The American ambassador to the Philippines and the South African ambassador also confirmed attendance to the highlights of the Dinagyang Festival set on January 21-22, 2012.
Mabilog said he is still negotiating with Secretary Mar Roxas of the Department of Transportation and Communications to be the main speaker during the Kasadyahan Festival on January 21.
Ilonggo Senator Franklin M. Drilon, on the other hand, will be the main speaker during the Dinagyang ati-atihan competition on January 22.
Aside from the foreign diplomats, other guests include several congressmen and city mayors, delegations from Guam, Hong Kong, South Korea and China. (Lydia C. Pendon)
Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog said the visiting dignitaries composed of the ambassadors of Greece, Czech Republic, France and Italy will be coming to grace the Iloilo International Film Festival on January 19-21, 2012.
The film festival is facilitated by the Pambansang Sining Film Development Council of the Philippines headed by Chairman Briccio Santos.
The American ambassador to the Philippines and the South African ambassador also confirmed attendance to the highlights of the Dinagyang Festival set on January 21-22, 2012.
Mabilog said he is still negotiating with Secretary Mar Roxas of the Department of Transportation and Communications to be the main speaker during the Kasadyahan Festival on January 21.
Ilonggo Senator Franklin M. Drilon, on the other hand, will be the main speaker during the Dinagyang ati-atihan competition on January 22.
Aside from the foreign diplomats, other guests include several congressmen and city mayors, delegations from Guam, Hong Kong, South Korea and China. (Lydia C. Pendon)
News Update PHL shares post strong gains on positive sentiments overseas
Philippine shares showed their strength Wednesday, driven by positive sentiments in US and Asian markets. The market “is very strong… we’re up more than one percent,” said Jovis Vistan, head of research and senior analyst at AB Capital Securities Inc. The main Philippine Stock Exchange index rose 65.55 points or 1.44 percent to close at 4,487.77. More than 3.230 billion shares valued at P5.828 billion changed hands in the session. Gainers led losers 119 to 49 and 39 issues closed unchanged. The market also got a boost from credit rating agencies, Vistan said, noting that Fitch Ratings affirmed the country’s US dollar global bonds with a “BB+” rating. “Asian stocks rose on Wednesday as investor risk appetite returned after upbeat US and European economic data improved the global growth outlook, but the euro's gains were short-lived due to deep-set worries over the European debt crisis,” according to a Reuters report. “US stock indexes rallied sharply, hitting multi-month highs,” Reuters said in a separate report, adding that “The Dow Jones industrial average climbed as much as 2.15 percent, hitting its highest since July, before paring gains to 1.8 percent.
News Update Leptospirosis death toll rises to 15
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- The Department of Health (DOH) in Northern Mindanao reported that fatalities due to leptospirosis rose to eight in this city and seven in Iligan City.
The DOH declared Monday an outbreak of leptospirosis in Cagayan de Oro after five persons died while more than 200 were infected with the disease.
The outbreak was spurred by flash floods that ravaged villages in the city last December 17 due to Tropical Storm Sendong (international codename: Washi).
The DOH said leptospirosis is acquired not only from absorbing contaminated floodwaters through cuts in the skin but also by swallowing the bacteria directly from water or through food. Although the disease is commonly associated with rat urine, infection can also come from animals like cattle, pigs, horses, dogs, and wild animals.
It added the disease causes a wide range of symptoms that begins with flu-like symptoms (fever, chills, muscle pain, intense headache and may end up in meningitis, liver damage (causing jaundice) and renal failure. Death may also occur.
Dr. David Mendoza, head of the DOH’s Regional Epidemiology, Surveillance and Disaster Response Unit said the increasing number of people infected with leptospirosis could be associated to complacency or indifference of people to take prescribed medicine.
The DOH said many of those affected by the flash floods received Doxycycline, a prophylactic medicine and antibiotic against leptospirosis, but did not take it.
Mendoza said Doxycycline is always available in clinics set up by the DOH and the City Health Office (CHO) at the evacuation centers.
But it seems the people failed to take the medicine because of “inadequacy and insufficient information” on leptospirosis, Mendoza said.
“Many people, especially those living outside the evacuation centers, came only for food and relief goods, but not for medical consultations,” he said.
A nurse at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC), who requested not to be named, said they gave antibiotics and other medicines like pain killers to the infected patients for free.
Among the medicines given to the patients are Penicillin G (Pen G), Omeprazole (40mg) for stomach pain, Doxycycline and Benzylpenicillin.
She said among the symptoms they assess before giving the medicines include fever, malaise, headache, chills, muscle and joint pain, diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea/vomiting, cough, jaundice, hemoptysis (vomiting/coughing of blood), dyspnea (difficulty in breathing), decrease in urine output, hematuria (blood in urine) and discoloration of skin.
DOH regional director Dr. Jaime Bernadas earlier said they are hoping that cases of leptospirosis will go down with the distribution of medicines to affected residents who are staying inside and outside of the evacuation centers.
Councilor Dante Pajo, chairperson of the City Council’s committee on health and sanitation, has called on the public not to be careless and complacent since leptospirosis is fatal.
He also urged the public to visit their health centers for free medicines. (Sunnex)
The DOH declared Monday an outbreak of leptospirosis in Cagayan de Oro after five persons died while more than 200 were infected with the disease.
The outbreak was spurred by flash floods that ravaged villages in the city last December 17 due to Tropical Storm Sendong (international codename: Washi).
The DOH said leptospirosis is acquired not only from absorbing contaminated floodwaters through cuts in the skin but also by swallowing the bacteria directly from water or through food. Although the disease is commonly associated with rat urine, infection can also come from animals like cattle, pigs, horses, dogs, and wild animals.
It added the disease causes a wide range of symptoms that begins with flu-like symptoms (fever, chills, muscle pain, intense headache and may end up in meningitis, liver damage (causing jaundice) and renal failure. Death may also occur.
Dr. David Mendoza, head of the DOH’s Regional Epidemiology, Surveillance and Disaster Response Unit said the increasing number of people infected with leptospirosis could be associated to complacency or indifference of people to take prescribed medicine.
The DOH said many of those affected by the flash floods received Doxycycline, a prophylactic medicine and antibiotic against leptospirosis, but did not take it.
Mendoza said Doxycycline is always available in clinics set up by the DOH and the City Health Office (CHO) at the evacuation centers.
But it seems the people failed to take the medicine because of “inadequacy and insufficient information” on leptospirosis, Mendoza said.
“Many people, especially those living outside the evacuation centers, came only for food and relief goods, but not for medical consultations,” he said.
A nurse at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC), who requested not to be named, said they gave antibiotics and other medicines like pain killers to the infected patients for free.
Among the medicines given to the patients are Penicillin G (Pen G), Omeprazole (40mg) for stomach pain, Doxycycline and Benzylpenicillin.
She said among the symptoms they assess before giving the medicines include fever, malaise, headache, chills, muscle and joint pain, diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea/vomiting, cough, jaundice, hemoptysis (vomiting/coughing of blood), dyspnea (difficulty in breathing), decrease in urine output, hematuria (blood in urine) and discoloration of skin.
DOH regional director Dr. Jaime Bernadas earlier said they are hoping that cases of leptospirosis will go down with the distribution of medicines to affected residents who are staying inside and outside of the evacuation centers.
Councilor Dante Pajo, chairperson of the City Council’s committee on health and sanitation, has called on the public not to be careless and complacent since leptospirosis is fatal.
He also urged the public to visit their health centers for free medicines. (Sunnex)
Kopi Talk The new Mavericks in town
MANILA, Philippines - One of the frustrating things in visiting a large furniture exhibition in Manila is when, upon gazing upon a piece that you would like to buy and inquire about its price, you would be informed by the booth attendee that the items are "for export only." If you have any luck in finding the same piece that is actually for sale, you may have to look for it in an upscale furniture store supplied by, gasp!, a local furniture manufacturer who would want nothing to do with the local market.
Eric Alvin Go Po is familiar with the frustration of local consumers seeking to adorn their spaces with high-quality furniture pieces from Cebu. As a former associate sales executive of Rockwell Land, he saw how homeowners would rather opt for the pricier "Italian" counterparts than say, endure the inconvenience of flying to a Cebu furniture showroom, perusing through old designs (the current, fashionable ones are exported to Western markets), and waiting for months on end for their selected pieces to arrive. He decided to reverse the tide.
Together with his business partners Eric Mendoza, Vincent Sandoval and Yohann Estaniel, Eric founded Home Mavericks in 2007-a furniture shop, as its name suggests, that seeks to bring the best and trendiest Cebu furniture pieces to Manila that are a fraction of the cost of the imported ones (whose origin of their circuitous route around the world may be traced in Cebu). "I want to bring Cebu furniture to the local market so they can be appreciated," Eric says.
Located along Arnaiz Ave. and across New World Hotel, Home Mavericks is a 200-square meter emporium of Cebu furniture hand-crafted with sumptuous materials (mother of pearl, capiz, rattan, synthetic fibers, and all sorts of wood) and arranged into tableaus to evoke an upscale lifestyle. It is also an official dealer of HunterDouglas shades, blinds and other window treatments.
A homegrown Cebuano, Eric traced his passion for furniture when he was a kid. "I always wanted to have something beautiful in my room," he says. This passion was fanned by the spirit of entrepreneurship impressed upon him at a young age. A couple of years after graduation, he broached the idea of a furniture shop carrying solely Cebu pieces in Manila to his college friends. They took the risk and as such, were true mavericks from the start: except for Eric Mendoza, all of them are still in their late 20s.
Home Mavericks' present location is actually its third. It began as a 40 square meter shop "where only two beds can fit in." The climb, as expected, was uphill and there was a point when the partners wanted to give up. The partners' derring-do attitude and the goal to be big (without ever asking their parents for capital) spurred the company forward. Now, Home Mavericks, aside from selling furniture and HunterDouglas products, also offers interior design and customization services.
Part of the reason why they have also ventured into this business is to educate and introduce the local market with au currant design. "The designs that we have now were five six years ago in the States, Europe," Eric says. "It's really sad that the Philippine market is a bit behind. What I want is to set a trend, to be at a level with US, Europe and the Middle East."
Some of the trendy pieces that they have are the outdoor woven furniture that reveal a bold pop of color such as purple and orange; lamps and stools fringed with colorful synthetic fibers; planters and lamps fashioned from a single piece of red wire.
As part of its commitment to environment, Home Mavericks makes use of sustainable and recyclable materials. A wall accent, for example, is made from fallen twigs and branches which were crushed and glued together with a water-based adhesive.
Though Eric is aware that they still have a long way to go, he clearly feels that the furniture shop is in the right path. "Whenever we finish a project, whenever we deliver our stuff to the client, whenever we see beauty in the room,. We gain a sense of satisfaction," he says.
Home Mavericks is located at G/F 926 Arnaiz Ave. (formerly Pasay Road), Makati City 1223 (across New World Hotel). Call 844-9549 or visit www.homemavericks.com for more details.
Eric Alvin Go Po is familiar with the frustration of local consumers seeking to adorn their spaces with high-quality furniture pieces from Cebu. As a former associate sales executive of Rockwell Land, he saw how homeowners would rather opt for the pricier "Italian" counterparts than say, endure the inconvenience of flying to a Cebu furniture showroom, perusing through old designs (the current, fashionable ones are exported to Western markets), and waiting for months on end for their selected pieces to arrive. He decided to reverse the tide.
Together with his business partners Eric Mendoza, Vincent Sandoval and Yohann Estaniel, Eric founded Home Mavericks in 2007-a furniture shop, as its name suggests, that seeks to bring the best and trendiest Cebu furniture pieces to Manila that are a fraction of the cost of the imported ones (whose origin of their circuitous route around the world may be traced in Cebu). "I want to bring Cebu furniture to the local market so they can be appreciated," Eric says.
Located along Arnaiz Ave. and across New World Hotel, Home Mavericks is a 200-square meter emporium of Cebu furniture hand-crafted with sumptuous materials (mother of pearl, capiz, rattan, synthetic fibers, and all sorts of wood) and arranged into tableaus to evoke an upscale lifestyle. It is also an official dealer of HunterDouglas shades, blinds and other window treatments.
A homegrown Cebuano, Eric traced his passion for furniture when he was a kid. "I always wanted to have something beautiful in my room," he says. This passion was fanned by the spirit of entrepreneurship impressed upon him at a young age. A couple of years after graduation, he broached the idea of a furniture shop carrying solely Cebu pieces in Manila to his college friends. They took the risk and as such, were true mavericks from the start: except for Eric Mendoza, all of them are still in their late 20s.
Home Mavericks' present location is actually its third. It began as a 40 square meter shop "where only two beds can fit in." The climb, as expected, was uphill and there was a point when the partners wanted to give up. The partners' derring-do attitude and the goal to be big (without ever asking their parents for capital) spurred the company forward. Now, Home Mavericks, aside from selling furniture and HunterDouglas products, also offers interior design and customization services.
Part of the reason why they have also ventured into this business is to educate and introduce the local market with au currant design. "The designs that we have now were five six years ago in the States, Europe," Eric says. "It's really sad that the Philippine market is a bit behind. What I want is to set a trend, to be at a level with US, Europe and the Middle East."
Some of the trendy pieces that they have are the outdoor woven furniture that reveal a bold pop of color such as purple and orange; lamps and stools fringed with colorful synthetic fibers; planters and lamps fashioned from a single piece of red wire.
As part of its commitment to environment, Home Mavericks makes use of sustainable and recyclable materials. A wall accent, for example, is made from fallen twigs and branches which were crushed and glued together with a water-based adhesive.
Though Eric is aware that they still have a long way to go, he clearly feels that the furniture shop is in the right path. "Whenever we finish a project, whenever we deliver our stuff to the client, whenever we see beauty in the room,. We gain a sense of satisfaction," he says.
Home Mavericks is located at G/F 926 Arnaiz Ave. (formerly Pasay Road), Makati City 1223 (across New World Hotel). Call 844-9549 or visit www.homemavericks.com for more details.
Kopi Talk The new Mavericks in town
MANILA, Philippines - One of the frustrating things in visiting a large furniture exhibition in Manila is when, upon gazing upon a piece that you would like to buy and inquire about its price, you would be informed by the booth attendee that the items are "for export only." If you have any luck in finding the same piece that is actually for sale, you may have to look for it in an upscale furniture store supplied by, gasp!, a local furniture manufacturer who would want nothing to do with the local market.
Eric Alvin Go Po is familiar with the frustration of local consumers seeking to adorn their spaces with high-quality furniture pieces from Cebu. As a former associate sales executive of Rockwell Land, he saw how homeowners would rather opt for the pricier "Italian" counterparts than say, endure the inconvenience of flying to a Cebu furniture showroom, perusing through old designs (the current, fashionable ones are exported to Western markets), and waiting for months on end for their selected pieces to arrive. He decided to reverse the tide.
Together with his business partners Eric Mendoza, Vincent Sandoval and Yohann Estaniel, Eric founded Home Mavericks in 2007-a furniture shop, as its name suggests, that seeks to bring the best and trendiest Cebu furniture pieces to Manila that are a fraction of the cost of the imported ones (whose origin of their circuitous route around the world may be traced in Cebu). "I want to bring Cebu furniture to the local market so they can be appreciated," Eric says.
Located along Arnaiz Ave. and across New World Hotel, Home Mavericks is a 200-square meter emporium of Cebu furniture hand-crafted with sumptuous materials (mother of pearl, capiz, rattan, synthetic fibers, and all sorts of wood) and arranged into tableaus to evoke an upscale lifestyle. It is also an official dealer of HunterDouglas shades, blinds and other window treatments.
A homegrown Cebuano, Eric traced his passion for furniture when he was a kid. "I always wanted to have something beautiful in my room," he says. This passion was fanned by the spirit of entrepreneurship impressed upon him at a young age. A couple of years after graduation, he broached the idea of a furniture shop carrying solely Cebu pieces in Manila to his college friends. They took the risk and as such, were true mavericks from the start: except for Eric Mendoza, all of them are still in their late 20s.
Home Mavericks' present location is actually its third. It began as a 40 square meter shop "where only two beds can fit in." The climb, as expected, was uphill and there was a point when the partners wanted to give up. The partners' derring-do attitude and the goal to be big (without ever asking their parents for capital) spurred the company forward. Now, Home Mavericks, aside from selling furniture and HunterDouglas products, also offers interior design and customization services.
Part of the reason why they have also ventured into this business is to educate and introduce the local market with au currant design. "The designs that we have now were five six years ago in the States, Europe," Eric says. "It's really sad that the Philippine market is a bit behind. What I want is to set a trend, to be at a level with US, Europe and the Middle East."
Some of the trendy pieces that they have are the outdoor woven furniture that reveal a bold pop of color such as purple and orange; lamps and stools fringed with colorful synthetic fibers; planters and lamps fashioned from a single piece of red wire.
As part of its commitment to environment, Home Mavericks makes use of sustainable and recyclable materials. A wall accent, for example, is made from fallen twigs and branches which were crushed and glued together with a water-based adhesive.
Though Eric is aware that they still have a long way to go, he clearly feels that the furniture shop is in the right path. "Whenever we finish a project, whenever we deliver our stuff to the client, whenever we see beauty in the room,. We gain a sense of satisfaction," he says.
Home Mavericks is located at G/F 926 Arnaiz Ave. (formerly Pasay Road), Makati City 1223 (across New World Hotel). Call 844-9549 or visit www.homemavericks.com for more details.
Eric Alvin Go Po is familiar with the frustration of local consumers seeking to adorn their spaces with high-quality furniture pieces from Cebu. As a former associate sales executive of Rockwell Land, he saw how homeowners would rather opt for the pricier "Italian" counterparts than say, endure the inconvenience of flying to a Cebu furniture showroom, perusing through old designs (the current, fashionable ones are exported to Western markets), and waiting for months on end for their selected pieces to arrive. He decided to reverse the tide.
Together with his business partners Eric Mendoza, Vincent Sandoval and Yohann Estaniel, Eric founded Home Mavericks in 2007-a furniture shop, as its name suggests, that seeks to bring the best and trendiest Cebu furniture pieces to Manila that are a fraction of the cost of the imported ones (whose origin of their circuitous route around the world may be traced in Cebu). "I want to bring Cebu furniture to the local market so they can be appreciated," Eric says.
Located along Arnaiz Ave. and across New World Hotel, Home Mavericks is a 200-square meter emporium of Cebu furniture hand-crafted with sumptuous materials (mother of pearl, capiz, rattan, synthetic fibers, and all sorts of wood) and arranged into tableaus to evoke an upscale lifestyle. It is also an official dealer of HunterDouglas shades, blinds and other window treatments.
A homegrown Cebuano, Eric traced his passion for furniture when he was a kid. "I always wanted to have something beautiful in my room," he says. This passion was fanned by the spirit of entrepreneurship impressed upon him at a young age. A couple of years after graduation, he broached the idea of a furniture shop carrying solely Cebu pieces in Manila to his college friends. They took the risk and as such, were true mavericks from the start: except for Eric Mendoza, all of them are still in their late 20s.
Home Mavericks' present location is actually its third. It began as a 40 square meter shop "where only two beds can fit in." The climb, as expected, was uphill and there was a point when the partners wanted to give up. The partners' derring-do attitude and the goal to be big (without ever asking their parents for capital) spurred the company forward. Now, Home Mavericks, aside from selling furniture and HunterDouglas products, also offers interior design and customization services.
Part of the reason why they have also ventured into this business is to educate and introduce the local market with au currant design. "The designs that we have now were five six years ago in the States, Europe," Eric says. "It's really sad that the Philippine market is a bit behind. What I want is to set a trend, to be at a level with US, Europe and the Middle East."
Some of the trendy pieces that they have are the outdoor woven furniture that reveal a bold pop of color such as purple and orange; lamps and stools fringed with colorful synthetic fibers; planters and lamps fashioned from a single piece of red wire.
As part of its commitment to environment, Home Mavericks makes use of sustainable and recyclable materials. A wall accent, for example, is made from fallen twigs and branches which were crushed and glued together with a water-based adhesive.
Though Eric is aware that they still have a long way to go, he clearly feels that the furniture shop is in the right path. "Whenever we finish a project, whenever we deliver our stuff to the client, whenever we see beauty in the room,. We gain a sense of satisfaction," he says.
Home Mavericks is located at G/F 926 Arnaiz Ave. (formerly Pasay Road), Makati City 1223 (across New World Hotel). Call 844-9549 or visit www.homemavericks.com for more details.
News Update Aquino reveals stand on FOI bill, tells Cabinet men send it to Congress
President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday revealed his stand on the Freedom of Information bill — a landmark legislation designed to lift the shroud of secrecy over government dealings and data — and told some of his Cabinet men to finalize the Palace version and send it to congress. Aquino told administration officials to “push ahead” with the much-delayed Freedom of Information bill during at a two-hour meeting with some members of the Cabinet earlier in the day, said Communications Group Undersecretary Manolo Quezon III at a press briefing on Wednesday. “The President’s marching order to us was — and these were his words — to push ahead with Freedom of Information,” Quezon said. It means "Finalize [thePalace version] and send it to Congress," presidential spokesperson Edwin Laciera told GMA News Online. The FOI bill seeks to implement Article III, Section 7 and Article II, Section 28 of the 1987 Constitution and guarantees the rights of people to access information and documents of public interest, “subject to reasonable conditions prescribed by law” “Basically, everyone has been asking where does the President stand on this? Does the President have any more reservations or questions or is he getting in the way of this? And I think this is as categorical an answer as everyone has wanted to hear and he is saying ‘push ahead’,” Quezon said. Also present during the meeting were Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, Energy Secretary Rene Almendras, Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning head Ricky Carandang, and presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda. Malacañang decided to adopt the version of the bill filed by Deputy House Speaker Lorenzo Tañada. Quezon said the Palace will introduce its proposal as amendments to retain the integrity of the bill and maintain the momentum at the committee level. “As you know it is pending in committee already and from the very start we were very transparent in saying that the view we were looking at… it will be introduced… instead of a competing bill, it would be introduced as a series of amendments either in the committee or plenary,” Quezon said. A consolidated version of the FOI bill has been pending before the House committee since February last year. Various versions of the proposed legislation, separately authored by 11 senators, are also pending committee approval at the Senate. Sen. Tañada acknowledges Aquino directive Tañada acknowledged Malacañang’s announcement. “Together with the champions and advocates in the House, I will organize talks with the Speaker and the committee on public information chair for the next concrete steps and definite timeline,” he said in a statement. “I welcome the announcement of the Palace regarding the FOI bill. It is now incumbent on both chambers of the legislative branch to work for the passage of the FOI in their respective chambers before June 2012,” Tañada said in a text message. House members will give weight to the Palace proposal in the same manner that they took into consideration the inputs of other stakeholders, former journalist and now Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said in a separate text message. Evardone, chairperson of the House committee on public information, said he sees the smooth passage of the FOI bill at the committee level and at the plenary once the Palace submits its version to Congress. “We have been very anxious of this development. This will definitely hasten the approval of the FOI bill,” Evardone said. He added, however, that his committee will not automatically adopt the Palace version of the measure. “It does not mean that we will adopt it hook, line and sinker, but definitely, we will give weight to the Palace proposal in the same manner that we took into consideration the inputs of other stakeholders,” he said. Another layer of bureaucracy The only change the President did to the draft bill was remove the proposed Information Commission, Quezon said, because the President felt the commission would just add another layer of bureaucracy. “The overall intention of this whole exercise, besides making it as democratic and consultative as possible, was precisely because we were all working under the view that we had to make the constitutional injunction making information a right of the public a living reality,” he said. With the President’s approval, Quezon said the ball is now in the hands of the Congress. In June 2010, the House of Representatives failed to ratify the bill due to lack of quorum, as well as objections from some congressmen. — KBK/ELR/VS
News Update Australia forms task force for kidnapped citizen
MANILA, Philippines - The Australian government has formed its own task force to secure the release of its citizen, Warren Rodwell, who was kidnapped in Zamboanga Sibugay last Dec. 5, the military has learned.
However, Maj. Gen. Noel Coballes, 1st Infantry Division commander, said the Australian task force is not necessary since a team from the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response is handling the case of the 53-year-old Rodwell.
“It (Australian task force) is not recognized by the (Philippine) government,” Coballes said.
Armed men seized Rodwell, who is married to a Filipina, at his residence in Greenmeadows Subdivision, Barangay Upper Panguil in Ipil town.
The kidnappers, said to be led by renegade Moro Islamic Liberation Front commander Barhama Alih, were seen boarding a pump boat with their Australian victim.
Alih reportedly turned over Rodwell to an Abu Sayyaf group led by Furuji Indama in Basilan.
“He is now being kept in Basilan by his Abu Sayyaf captors but we are having difficulty in pinpointing their exact location because they are always moving,” a military source in Basilan said.
Senior Supertintendent Alex Linesis, Basilan police director, said intelligence reports showed that the Australian captive had been held somewhere in Zamboanga Sibugay since Dec. 22.
Earlier reports said the kidnappers contacted Rodwell’s wife last Dec. 20, sent her a memory card which contained four of his pictures, and demanded a P1-million ransom.
A crisis management committee headed by Sibugay Gov. Rommel Jalosjos neither confirmed nor denied the reports. – With Roel Pareño - By Jaime Laude (
However, Maj. Gen. Noel Coballes, 1st Infantry Division commander, said the Australian task force is not necessary since a team from the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response is handling the case of the 53-year-old Rodwell.
“It (Australian task force) is not recognized by the (Philippine) government,” Coballes said.
Armed men seized Rodwell, who is married to a Filipina, at his residence in Greenmeadows Subdivision, Barangay Upper Panguil in Ipil town.
The kidnappers, said to be led by renegade Moro Islamic Liberation Front commander Barhama Alih, were seen boarding a pump boat with their Australian victim.
Alih reportedly turned over Rodwell to an Abu Sayyaf group led by Furuji Indama in Basilan.
“He is now being kept in Basilan by his Abu Sayyaf captors but we are having difficulty in pinpointing their exact location because they are always moving,” a military source in Basilan said.
Senior Supertintendent Alex Linesis, Basilan police director, said intelligence reports showed that the Australian captive had been held somewhere in Zamboanga Sibugay since Dec. 22.
Earlier reports said the kidnappers contacted Rodwell’s wife last Dec. 20, sent her a memory card which contained four of his pictures, and demanded a P1-million ransom.
A crisis management committee headed by Sibugay Gov. Rommel Jalosjos neither confirmed nor denied the reports. – With Roel Pareño - By Jaime Laude (
News Update Philippines flood victims, children want schools
Flood evacuees and pupils competed for space in southern Philippine schools Wednesday, with both wanting to use the buildings following the Christmas break, officials said.
In some cases, survivors of last month's floods from Tropical Storm Washi were moved to alternative shelters as children returned to schoolhouses that had been used as evacuation centres.
But in other instances, hundreds of the evacuees refused to leave, forcing school officials to find novel ways of conducting classes.
In one school in Cagayan de Oro, it was the students who had to move to tents because the storm victims refused to vacate their classrooms, said district school official Shirley Merida.
"We will have to hold these sessions inside the tents since all of our classrooms still have evacuees living in them. We cannot just drive them away," she said.
Merida, who is in charge of five schools, said the situation was worse in other locations.
"I still do not know how to open two schools since these are still full of waist-deep mud," she said.
Washi caused flash floods and overflowing rivers from December 16-18 that killed almost 1,260 people and displaced more than 429,000, with nearly 37,300 still in makeshift evacuation centres.
The government, international and local charities have been working to provide new shelters for the displaced but it will take months before permanent shelters are finished.
Thousands of people can no longer return home as the government has said the sites of their old communities were too vulnerable to flooding.
In some cases, survivors of last month's floods from Tropical Storm Washi were moved to alternative shelters as children returned to schoolhouses that had been used as evacuation centres.
But in other instances, hundreds of the evacuees refused to leave, forcing school officials to find novel ways of conducting classes.
In one school in Cagayan de Oro, it was the students who had to move to tents because the storm victims refused to vacate their classrooms, said district school official Shirley Merida.
"We will have to hold these sessions inside the tents since all of our classrooms still have evacuees living in them. We cannot just drive them away," she said.
Merida, who is in charge of five schools, said the situation was worse in other locations.
"I still do not know how to open two schools since these are still full of waist-deep mud," she said.
Washi caused flash floods and overflowing rivers from December 16-18 that killed almost 1,260 people and displaced more than 429,000, with nearly 37,300 still in makeshift evacuation centres.
The government, international and local charities have been working to provide new shelters for the displaced but it will take months before permanent shelters are finished.
Thousands of people can no longer return home as the government has said the sites of their old communities were too vulnerable to flooding.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
News Update PHL starts selling 25-yr., US dollar bonds
The Philippines on Wednesday started selling 25-year US dollar bonds to finance its infrastructure projects this year. According to Finance Undersecretary Rosalia de Leon, the offering is of “benchmark size.” National Treasurer Roberto Tan said Tuesday government intends to sell $500 million to $1.5 billion in global bonds. The Aquino administration needs to spend P500 million for infrastructure development to achieve a 5-percent to 6-percent economic growth this year, said former Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno Hired to sell the bonds were Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, Standard Chartered Plc. and UBS AG, according to a Department of Finance statement Wednesday. Government emphasized in a presentation released by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Investor Relations Office that the Philippines has a strong points as a global bond issuer, including “a strong domestic consumer base, effective monetary policy, strong external payments position, prudent fiscal management, stable banking system and a reform minded administration.” In an emailed statement Wednesday, Fitch Ratings noted it “has assigned the Republic of the Philippines' upcoming USD-denominated global bonds due 2037 an expected 'BB+' rating.” “The final rating is contingent on the receipt of final documentation conforming to information already received,” Fitch added. — VS,v>
News Update BSP urges Aquino admin to spend more
MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) urged the Aquino administration to spend more to boost the country’s economic performance amid the uncertainties in the US and the debt crisis in Europe.
In a forum hosted by the Tuesday Club at EDSA Shangri-La, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said the underspending by the government has pulled down economic growth to 3.6 percent in the first three quarters of last year.
“The National Government has room to spend. Weak government spending has been credited as a factor for the recent growth numbers,” Tetangco stressed.
The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by only 3.2 percent in the third quarter of last year from 7.3 percent in the same period in 2010.
The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) lowered the GDP growth target to a range of 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent instead of the revised five percent to six percent last year due to weak global trade and government underspending.
The government has committed to trim the budget deficit to P300 billion or three percent of GDP last year from a record level of P314.4 billion or 3.7 percent of GDP in 2010.
Due to underspending, the government managed to trim the deficit by 64 percent to P96.25 billion in the first 11 months of last year from P267.328 billion in the same period in 2010.
The government’s revenue collections inched up by 13.13 percent during the 11-period to P1.25 trillion while actual expenditures fell two percent to P1.35 trillion.
For November alone, the Aquino administration incurred a budget deficit of P22 billion due to the higher spending as the administration launched a P72 billion stimulus package.
“The national government is reported to have accelerated expenditures,” Tetangco said.
The BSP chief explained that the government needs to be mindful that spending should be targeted at sectors that would lead to greater employment generation and on infrastructure projects.
“Together with an appropriate monetary policy stance, targeted government spending and the participation of the private sector could ensure that all the engines of growth are firing up,” Tetangco said.
The Aquino administration has committed to trim the deficit to two percent of GDP starting 2013 until 2016.
Earlier, multilateral lender International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged the Aquino administration to spend more, attract higher investments, and widen its tax revenue base to survive the turbulence in regional financial markets over the last two months brought about by fragile economic growth in the US and the debt crisis in Europe.
IMF assistant director Vivec Arora earlier said the Philippines needs to raise its spending level, attract more private investors and strengthen its social safety nets.
Arora pointed out that the Aquino administration’s PPP scheme would address the need for higher infrastructure spending.
He cited the need for the Philippines to broaden its tax base and strengthen tax administration by overhauling its excise tax system on sin products and rationalizing its fiscal incentives to raise much needed revenue to bankroll social and infrastructure spending. - By Lawrence Agcaoili
News Update Philippines: 5 foreign terror suspects in south
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — At least five foreign extremists have been hiding on a remote southern Philippine island and could help link Filipino radicals to potential overseas financiers and combat trainers like the al-Qaida terrorist network, a military commander said Tuesday.
The five, who have been roaming the tropical jungles of Jolo island in Sulu province, are led by U.S.-trained Malaysian engineer Zulkifli bin Hir, one of the remaining key terror suspects in Southeast Asia, regional military commander Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer said.
"They seem to be actively moving around Sulu," Ferrer told reporters.
U.S. troops have been providing training, intelligence and other noncombat help to underfunded Filipino troops for years to help crush local Abu Sayyaf militants and the foreign extremists they shelter, including members of the Indonesia-based militant network Jemaah Islamiyah.
U.S.-backed Philippine offensives have been credited for the capture and killing of hundreds of Abu Sayyaf fighters and their foreign allies in Sulu, an impoverished Muslim region about 590 miles (950 kilometers) south of Manila, and in outlying island provinces.
Washington has offered huge rewards for some of the terror suspects, including $5 million for Zulkifli bin Hir, also known as Marwan. The Malaysian has been accused of involvement in past bombings and of helping secure funds and weapons for the Abu Sayyaf from foreign donors.
Ferrer said the other foreign militants are a Singaporean identified as Abdullah Ali who uses the guerrilla name Muawiyah, and an Indonesian identified only as Qayim. The two others are Amin Baco, probably a Malaysian who uses the alias Abu Jihad, and another Indonesian identified as Sa'ad, he said.
Troops have obtained pictures of Marwan and Muawiyah, Ferrer said.
Ferrer, who heads the military's Western Mindanao Command, said he was unaware of other foreign militants outside his command. A government threat assessment report issued last year seen by The Associated Press lists 12 identified foreign terror suspects, including those named by Ferrer.
Aside from a yearslong military manhunt, troops have been launching offensives to kill or capture Abu Sayyaf militants and destroy their strongholds to deny foreign radicals sanctuaries, Ferrer said.
Military officials have accused hard-line commanders of a larger Philippine rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, of harboring Jemaah Islamiyah militants in southern Mindanao region's marshy heartland. The 11,000-strong Moro group, which is engaged in peace talks with the government, has denied any links with foreign terrorist groups.
News Update House: CJ bought P14.5-M condo
Chief Justice Renato Corona and his wife bought a condominium unit and three parking slots at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City for P14.5 million in 2009, documents have revealed.
Kopi Talk Blood, Volcano in Alvarado’s Art
MANILA, Philippines - Negros-based artist Nunelucio Alvarado, who is known for his social realist works, has two items in his must-do list in 2012. First, he wants to revisit 20 black and white drawings that he exhibited in a show entitled "Lust" 10 years ago at the Big & Small Art Co., at Mandaluyong City's SM.
The other item is to look for the families of displaced fishermen from Negros who are now living in Manila's slum areas. The coastal people of Negros are the most endangered of his favourite characters on canvas.
The "lust" pieces include "Makadiyos, Makatao (The Godly and the Humanist)," which shows a man and a woman in dog-style sex, his depiction of sex for power and not for love; "Papa Sam," a well dressed foreigner seated before a dinner of steak and wine, with a small doll-like woman perched on his left shoulder, refers to US post colonialism, a favorite theme of social-realist artists in the Philippines; "Samonay" a tall woman with a bayonet stuck into her private organ, in reference to sexually violated women overseas workers in Japan; "Papikup," depicts a big woman with open belly, her entrails about to be consumed by a snake that rises up from the teeth of a man's face that is horizontally placed on the foreground, the artist's elegy for prostitutes; "Estudyante" has two bodies, one shapely, the other in shapeless school uniform; her one leg has a high-heeled shoe, the other in bobby sox, her handbag has a photo of a nude woman, the artist's depiction of the innocent vamp who earns money as a prostitute to pay for her school tuition; "Tulo" depicts a man with sexually transmitted disease, Alvarado's moral piece for sexual transgressions.
"Lust" as a social comment
"I'll make bigger pieces of my "Lust" series. Originally on 9" x 12" drawing sheets, they will be on 4 x 5 feet canvases. Kukulayan ko sila ng mga dark colors. In 2012, I'll leave Sagay (Negros) and finish these art works in Manila, the center of political power," says Alvarado. His aim is to stretch the sexually graphic visuals of "lust" for them to gain clearer political (or spiritual) statements.
Developing his "lust" pieces into an essay on vice and virtue, or to portray modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah in the Philippines in order to raise social issue by not depicting clash of class struggle on canvas will make Alvarado a firm believer of the notion that social volcano originates from man's own hellish acts, the ramifications of which begin in the bedroom. It might seem a curious approach, but Alvarado's production for this project should make a case for it.
When Alvarado made his psychologically-driven "lust" pieces in 2002, he was also bent on making clear, objective and unmistakable progressive social comments, on mural-sized canvases, about class struggle of the poor and the rich. He has populated his colourful canvases with portraits of sugar cane workers, factory workers, merchants and fishermen in Negros.
Looking for lost fisherfolks of Negros in Manila's slum areas
Talking about the lost coastal people of Negros, Alvarado vows, "Hahanapin ko sila saan man sila napadpad. They are now in squatter areas in Manila. For several years, binigyan sila ng boundary sa dagat ng Negros, pero hindi nila kaya ang lumayo at makipag-compete. Maraming sumuko sa pangingisda. As a result, rich consigners who also own hotels have monopolized the fishing industry in my hometown in Negros," he laments.
Alvarado started edifying the fisherfolks since early 2000. Portraits of fisherfolks were a major part of "Himbis" (scales), a show at Galerie Anna at SM on EDSA in 2010. "Pinakita ko silang nangingisda, namimingwit, nagdadaing,"says Alvarado.
Alvarado is expected to fill his future canvases of fisherfolks with images of pain and suffering - and also of perseverance - of the lost fishermen he will find in Manila's harsh earth-bound life. How to paint his arduous search and the surprising things he will see, is a difficult and challenging theme to handle and translate into images for the less verbal and one dimensional visual art.
For a long time, Alvarado never left behind the social volcano of Negros. Now, his search for the hot and untouchable embers of class struggle (of people from Negros) in Manila, is a journey that could deepen his philosophy of aesthetics.
"I am always based in Sagay where my studio is near the sea. Sometimes I intermittently stay in Manila for one or two years. I rent a place to be by myself and to paint (the concepts that I have developed in my studio, by the sea, in Sagay)," he says. His incessant interaction with the characters he has depicted on canvas, a method he has done since he decided to be a social realist in the late '70s, will help him push through with his new project in 2012.
Interactive creative process
Alvarado is not new in stimulating a sharp palette for the argumentative and dialectical social realist art. Like a journalist, he wants to smell the scene and taste the blood of pain on site. But unlike a parachuting documentarist, he stays longer for the pain to touch his heart and sear his mind. Unlike an anthropologist, he takes in the colors of other lives, breathe them in to a point of dying only to shake them off on canvas, and perhaps cry in the process until he gets a ferment of understanding and deep love for the side he picks from life's eternal ring of struggle.
Talking about his interactive creative process, Alvarado says, "To produce art works on sugar cane farmers, I used to live with sugar planters in different haciendas in Negros."
For six months, Alvarado stayed in a farm owned by Benjie Rodriguez in La Carlota, south Negros and produced art works on men and women sugarcane workers that comprised "Kaupod" (Companion), an art exhibit at Manila's Hiraya Gallery in 1981. He also stayed six months at Hacienda Margarita in Victorias, north Negros, then managed by Arom Sorbito, and produced artworks on women sugarcane farmers, which he presented in a show entitled "Kababayehan sa Uma", at Quezon City's Heritage Art center in 1982.
Since the late '70s, Alvarado has continued portraying stolid-looking, inscrutable, gigantic, muscular and persevering farmers, fishermen and merchants in Negros, a veritable social volcano where rich hacienderos and other powerful sectors, a minority, control 90 percent of the economy. In his canvases where the colors clash as they interact in a sea of possibilities (and they also appear as interesting as rainbows), Alvarado has always placed towering figures of the oppressed at the center stage while their oppressors leer and lurk like mighty animals, at the background.
Struggle-fatigue or class struggle in praise of co existence
It is easy to assess that Alvarado has already reached struggle-fatigue, or has morphed class-struggle on canvas as praise for co-existence, in at least two shows: "Minoro" (Pople in the Community), a project of Galerie Anna at SM's Art Centre in Mandaluying last November 2011; and "Arkabala" (Tax for Flea Market Merchants) at the AyalaMuseum in Makati in 2009.
Defending "Minoro" and his depiction of placid and accepting workers, Alvarado says, "My art works are laughing on the outside, but crying in the inside." He has tried to suppress the so-called poor's pain because, "Damang dama ko and sense of life ng mga tao sa community."
In Arkabala, Alvarado has almost obliterated the evil tax collector by presenting suggestions and not graphic depiction of their animalistic nature.
"Uso sa Negros ang tiangge. A stall in a flea market is not just a space, but a life for merchants. They keep paying taxes, but they do not get anything good in return, like a clean, safe and secure setting," Alvarado complains. But his point in portraying tax collectors who do not give anything in return as animals (with broken teeth) in the "Arkabala" show is, says Alvarado, to portray the oppressed class in a stage of fruition and overcoming their slavery.
"For me, the poor and the oppressed have the courage to stand still; the will and energy to live on despite the decadence, oppression, problems and the presence of animals (and tax collectors) around them," he explains. Prophesying a timely and historical overcoming of the lower class, he says, should not nullify the value of his art.
Art, a colorful teach-in for change
Art-making for Alvarado has always been a colourful and heartfelt teach-in. "Ang pagpipinta hindi lang para sa pera o sa pogi points. May obligasyon ang artist na gumawa ng makabuluhang singing, ang kanyang sining," he lectures.
Justifying four decades of dedication to committed art, and developing his very own expressionistic and powerful forms, Alvarado says, "If I haven't painted the wrong things (that are happening in my country), then nothing will change. While I am alive, I will keep on painting the inequities that I see in my society. I will not stop doing that. I truly hope that my art can help bring about changes."
Alvarado's way of art
The sources of his inspiration are the sources of his strength. "I work early from four to five in the morning until lunch. I usually take a siesta, sa duyan. At night, I don't work. I go out, eat, drink, chat, sing or dance with people in the community. Talking with them is very important for me. I don't just look at them or take photos of them," he says of his life as an artist.
Assessing the works of his hands, heart and mind, Alvarado boasts, "My images are relevant to what is happening in my country - the way I have perceived them. Objectively, they are made in the Philippines."
Reacting to criticism that his style of making towering figures of the oppressed and placing their heads near the top edge of his canvas that seem to damage his favoured class, Alvarado says, "May pasan-pasan ang mga trabahador ko. The ceiling on the head of the workers in my paintings is a symbolic composition. It's a symbol of the limitations imposed on them, na parang nasabihan sila, hanggang dyan ka na lang, nakakahon ka na lang."
Compressing his powerful portraits of poor people with other elements seems to cage them in and not give them a sense of space or liberation. Noting this, Alvarado says, "Gusto ko puno ng tao at iba't ibang elemento ang canvas ko. Gusto ko siksikan sila, or compressed. Otherwise, I'm not happy with my work."
This is also culturally and empirically influenced. "Punong puno ang mga bahay ng mga taong pinupuntahan ko sa community. Iniipon-ipon nila ang mga bagay-bagay sa bahay nila. That is our culture, too. Asians believe that there should be no vacant space in their house, otherwise it will become the nest of bad spirits," he says.
The hard-edged angle and stolid nature of his characters on canvas give them power, not mute resignation, insists Alvarado. "Some critics say my figures are sharp-angled and severe, they don't dance and move, the way the peasants are depicted by Fernando Amorsolo and Botong Francisco. I think their works are not depicting the Asian form," he says.
His mural-sized canvases for little people are clues to his true feelings for the characters he has been depicting for more than 40 years. "My big canvases are symbolic of what I feel about the working class. They work hard. They are exposed to sunlight. They are robust."
Last struggle on canvas, looking for true Negros
Is Alvarado's creative journey bringing him deeper into nuances of purity, of symbolically eradicating evil from good, to see not only himself, the powerful and the oppressed, but the true Negros, the beloved heart of his art, for others to see the deep colors of the origin of its origins?
"In the past, Negros was a forested heaven, or Panilungan (a deep shelter) for everyone. Walang tao sa bundok. The original settlers were black people. They were driven up to the mountains when the Malays came. They hid higher when the Spaniards came; when other foreign business entered Negros, when planters established sugar plantations, when the lowlanders lorded over all of Negros lower areas," narrates Alvarado.
He knows that in a multi-colored pallete, the color white is spread last on canvas for it to remain white because when all colors are mixed, they turn black. How Alvarado will make an allegorical portrait of Negros is worth waiting for.
(filipina.lippi@yahoo.com)
The other item is to look for the families of displaced fishermen from Negros who are now living in Manila's slum areas. The coastal people of Negros are the most endangered of his favourite characters on canvas.
The "lust" pieces include "Makadiyos, Makatao (The Godly and the Humanist)," which shows a man and a woman in dog-style sex, his depiction of sex for power and not for love; "Papa Sam," a well dressed foreigner seated before a dinner of steak and wine, with a small doll-like woman perched on his left shoulder, refers to US post colonialism, a favorite theme of social-realist artists in the Philippines; "Samonay" a tall woman with a bayonet stuck into her private organ, in reference to sexually violated women overseas workers in Japan; "Papikup," depicts a big woman with open belly, her entrails about to be consumed by a snake that rises up from the teeth of a man's face that is horizontally placed on the foreground, the artist's elegy for prostitutes; "Estudyante" has two bodies, one shapely, the other in shapeless school uniform; her one leg has a high-heeled shoe, the other in bobby sox, her handbag has a photo of a nude woman, the artist's depiction of the innocent vamp who earns money as a prostitute to pay for her school tuition; "Tulo" depicts a man with sexually transmitted disease, Alvarado's moral piece for sexual transgressions.
"Lust" as a social comment
"I'll make bigger pieces of my "Lust" series. Originally on 9" x 12" drawing sheets, they will be on 4 x 5 feet canvases. Kukulayan ko sila ng mga dark colors. In 2012, I'll leave Sagay (Negros) and finish these art works in Manila, the center of political power," says Alvarado. His aim is to stretch the sexually graphic visuals of "lust" for them to gain clearer political (or spiritual) statements.
Developing his "lust" pieces into an essay on vice and virtue, or to portray modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah in the Philippines in order to raise social issue by not depicting clash of class struggle on canvas will make Alvarado a firm believer of the notion that social volcano originates from man's own hellish acts, the ramifications of which begin in the bedroom. It might seem a curious approach, but Alvarado's production for this project should make a case for it.
When Alvarado made his psychologically-driven "lust" pieces in 2002, he was also bent on making clear, objective and unmistakable progressive social comments, on mural-sized canvases, about class struggle of the poor and the rich. He has populated his colourful canvases with portraits of sugar cane workers, factory workers, merchants and fishermen in Negros.
Looking for lost fisherfolks of Negros in Manila's slum areas
Talking about the lost coastal people of Negros, Alvarado vows, "Hahanapin ko sila saan man sila napadpad. They are now in squatter areas in Manila. For several years, binigyan sila ng boundary sa dagat ng Negros, pero hindi nila kaya ang lumayo at makipag-compete. Maraming sumuko sa pangingisda. As a result, rich consigners who also own hotels have monopolized the fishing industry in my hometown in Negros," he laments.
Alvarado started edifying the fisherfolks since early 2000. Portraits of fisherfolks were a major part of "Himbis" (scales), a show at Galerie Anna at SM on EDSA in 2010. "Pinakita ko silang nangingisda, namimingwit, nagdadaing,"says Alvarado.
Alvarado is expected to fill his future canvases of fisherfolks with images of pain and suffering - and also of perseverance - of the lost fishermen he will find in Manila's harsh earth-bound life. How to paint his arduous search and the surprising things he will see, is a difficult and challenging theme to handle and translate into images for the less verbal and one dimensional visual art.
For a long time, Alvarado never left behind the social volcano of Negros. Now, his search for the hot and untouchable embers of class struggle (of people from Negros) in Manila, is a journey that could deepen his philosophy of aesthetics.
"I am always based in Sagay where my studio is near the sea. Sometimes I intermittently stay in Manila for one or two years. I rent a place to be by myself and to paint (the concepts that I have developed in my studio, by the sea, in Sagay)," he says. His incessant interaction with the characters he has depicted on canvas, a method he has done since he decided to be a social realist in the late '70s, will help him push through with his new project in 2012.
Interactive creative process
Alvarado is not new in stimulating a sharp palette for the argumentative and dialectical social realist art. Like a journalist, he wants to smell the scene and taste the blood of pain on site. But unlike a parachuting documentarist, he stays longer for the pain to touch his heart and sear his mind. Unlike an anthropologist, he takes in the colors of other lives, breathe them in to a point of dying only to shake them off on canvas, and perhaps cry in the process until he gets a ferment of understanding and deep love for the side he picks from life's eternal ring of struggle.
Talking about his interactive creative process, Alvarado says, "To produce art works on sugar cane farmers, I used to live with sugar planters in different haciendas in Negros."
For six months, Alvarado stayed in a farm owned by Benjie Rodriguez in La Carlota, south Negros and produced art works on men and women sugarcane workers that comprised "Kaupod" (Companion), an art exhibit at Manila's Hiraya Gallery in 1981. He also stayed six months at Hacienda Margarita in Victorias, north Negros, then managed by Arom Sorbito, and produced artworks on women sugarcane farmers, which he presented in a show entitled "Kababayehan sa Uma", at Quezon City's Heritage Art center in 1982.
Since the late '70s, Alvarado has continued portraying stolid-looking, inscrutable, gigantic, muscular and persevering farmers, fishermen and merchants in Negros, a veritable social volcano where rich hacienderos and other powerful sectors, a minority, control 90 percent of the economy. In his canvases where the colors clash as they interact in a sea of possibilities (and they also appear as interesting as rainbows), Alvarado has always placed towering figures of the oppressed at the center stage while their oppressors leer and lurk like mighty animals, at the background.
Struggle-fatigue or class struggle in praise of co existence
It is easy to assess that Alvarado has already reached struggle-fatigue, or has morphed class-struggle on canvas as praise for co-existence, in at least two shows: "Minoro" (Pople in the Community), a project of Galerie Anna at SM's Art Centre in Mandaluying last November 2011; and "Arkabala" (Tax for Flea Market Merchants) at the AyalaMuseum in Makati in 2009.
Defending "Minoro" and his depiction of placid and accepting workers, Alvarado says, "My art works are laughing on the outside, but crying in the inside." He has tried to suppress the so-called poor's pain because, "Damang dama ko and sense of life ng mga tao sa community."
In Arkabala, Alvarado has almost obliterated the evil tax collector by presenting suggestions and not graphic depiction of their animalistic nature.
"Uso sa Negros ang tiangge. A stall in a flea market is not just a space, but a life for merchants. They keep paying taxes, but they do not get anything good in return, like a clean, safe and secure setting," Alvarado complains. But his point in portraying tax collectors who do not give anything in return as animals (with broken teeth) in the "Arkabala" show is, says Alvarado, to portray the oppressed class in a stage of fruition and overcoming their slavery.
"For me, the poor and the oppressed have the courage to stand still; the will and energy to live on despite the decadence, oppression, problems and the presence of animals (and tax collectors) around them," he explains. Prophesying a timely and historical overcoming of the lower class, he says, should not nullify the value of his art.
Art, a colorful teach-in for change
Art-making for Alvarado has always been a colourful and heartfelt teach-in. "Ang pagpipinta hindi lang para sa pera o sa pogi points. May obligasyon ang artist na gumawa ng makabuluhang singing, ang kanyang sining," he lectures.
Justifying four decades of dedication to committed art, and developing his very own expressionistic and powerful forms, Alvarado says, "If I haven't painted the wrong things (that are happening in my country), then nothing will change. While I am alive, I will keep on painting the inequities that I see in my society. I will not stop doing that. I truly hope that my art can help bring about changes."
Alvarado's way of art
The sources of his inspiration are the sources of his strength. "I work early from four to five in the morning until lunch. I usually take a siesta, sa duyan. At night, I don't work. I go out, eat, drink, chat, sing or dance with people in the community. Talking with them is very important for me. I don't just look at them or take photos of them," he says of his life as an artist.
Assessing the works of his hands, heart and mind, Alvarado boasts, "My images are relevant to what is happening in my country - the way I have perceived them. Objectively, they are made in the Philippines."
Reacting to criticism that his style of making towering figures of the oppressed and placing their heads near the top edge of his canvas that seem to damage his favoured class, Alvarado says, "May pasan-pasan ang mga trabahador ko. The ceiling on the head of the workers in my paintings is a symbolic composition. It's a symbol of the limitations imposed on them, na parang nasabihan sila, hanggang dyan ka na lang, nakakahon ka na lang."
Compressing his powerful portraits of poor people with other elements seems to cage them in and not give them a sense of space or liberation. Noting this, Alvarado says, "Gusto ko puno ng tao at iba't ibang elemento ang canvas ko. Gusto ko siksikan sila, or compressed. Otherwise, I'm not happy with my work."
This is also culturally and empirically influenced. "Punong puno ang mga bahay ng mga taong pinupuntahan ko sa community. Iniipon-ipon nila ang mga bagay-bagay sa bahay nila. That is our culture, too. Asians believe that there should be no vacant space in their house, otherwise it will become the nest of bad spirits," he says.
The hard-edged angle and stolid nature of his characters on canvas give them power, not mute resignation, insists Alvarado. "Some critics say my figures are sharp-angled and severe, they don't dance and move, the way the peasants are depicted by Fernando Amorsolo and Botong Francisco. I think their works are not depicting the Asian form," he says.
His mural-sized canvases for little people are clues to his true feelings for the characters he has been depicting for more than 40 years. "My big canvases are symbolic of what I feel about the working class. They work hard. They are exposed to sunlight. They are robust."
Last struggle on canvas, looking for true Negros
Is Alvarado's creative journey bringing him deeper into nuances of purity, of symbolically eradicating evil from good, to see not only himself, the powerful and the oppressed, but the true Negros, the beloved heart of his art, for others to see the deep colors of the origin of its origins?
"In the past, Negros was a forested heaven, or Panilungan (a deep shelter) for everyone. Walang tao sa bundok. The original settlers were black people. They were driven up to the mountains when the Malays came. They hid higher when the Spaniards came; when other foreign business entered Negros, when planters established sugar plantations, when the lowlanders lorded over all of Negros lower areas," narrates Alvarado.
He knows that in a multi-colored pallete, the color white is spread last on canvas for it to remain white because when all colors are mixed, they turn black. How Alvarado will make an allegorical portrait of Negros is worth waiting for.
(filipina.lippi@yahoo.com)
Kopi Talk Who's the better Asiong, Erap or E.R.?
At yesterday’s thanksgiving presscon for his Metro Filmfest entry Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story at Club Filipino, Laguna Gov. E.R. Ejercito (a.k.a. Jeorge Estregan) was asked by Ethel Ramos who played the real-life Tondo gang leader better…he or his uncle former Pres. Joseph “Erap” Estrada (who starred in it back in the early ’60s, with now San Juan City Mayor Guia Gomez as leading lady)?
Without batting an eyelash and in good humor, E.R. answered, “Erap was 21 when he played Asiong Salonga. I’m 47 so mas marami akong pinaghugutan. Palagay ko mas maganda ang performance ko.” (Salonga was about 26 when he was shot dead. He was known as “the Robin Hood of Tondo.”)
I promptly called Erap for his reaction (he was at home just at the back of Club Filipino) and, as usual, it was he himself who answered the phone.
“Tell E.R. congratulations,” started Erap also on a light vein. “Sabihin mo sa kanya, ako marami ng Best Actor award, he has none. Naging presidente na ako, siya governor pa lang. He should thank me. Kung walang original, wala sanang remake.”
In short, without saying so, Erap considered himself the better Asiong Salonga.
Told after the presscon about Erap’s comment, E.R. said still joking, “Naging president na rin ako…ng Actors Guild.” Then, he started laughing.
With the movie earning more at the tills (almost P40M as of yesterday) after bagging 11 awards at the Metrofest’s Gabi ng Parangal, including Best Director for Tikoy Aguiluz who has an issue with E.R and the movie’s producers but with E.R. losing the Best Actor plum to Dingdong Dantes (for Segunda Mano), E.R. felt magnanimous. He expected the movie to gross P60M during the official Metrofest run (until Jan. 7), excluding the P10M ABS-CBN has paid him for the TV rights.
“What’s flattering is that pinipilahan at pinapalakpakan ang pelikula namin, nakapangingilabot,” adding tongue-in-cheek, “maganda rin ang Segunda Mano (so far second grosser after Enteng ng Ina Mo), pero mas maganda ang Asiong Salonga dahil Best Picture kami.”
At the start of the presscon, E.R. said that he was happy for Dingdong, describing him as one of the finest actors of his generation.
“He deserved the award more than I did,” he added, without losing hope. “After all, there are six more award-giving bodies this year, at sana maka-tsamba ako.”
Before the awards night, Kris Aquino (Dingdong’s co-star and co-producer, with Star Cinema) said in a Startalk interview, addressing Dingdong, “Kapag hindi na nanalo, magwawala ka na. Itataya ko ang pangalan ng pamilya ko.” Because she is Kris Aquino, her comment was taken seriously and blown out of proportion, even if I’m sure she said it in her usual tactless style.
“It would have been better if she didn’t say it,” said E.R. who held no hard feelings against Kris. “Ninang siya sa binyag ng anak ko.”
He dismissed the billing (non-)issue involving Phillip Salvador (who lost the Best Supporting Actor award to John Regala, for Asiong) as “biruang-kaibigan,” but was seriously taking the issue with Tikoy who demanded that his name be removed from the credits in the movie and on the billboards/posters/ads and filed a TRO against Scenema Concepts, the movie’s co-producer (with Viva Entertainment).
“He texted me at humingi siya ng dispensa,” disclosed E.R., “at ako naman, mapagpatawad na tao.”
In a text message to Funfare, Tikoy confirmed, “Nag-text na kami n’ung New Year. Now nag-uusap na kami with our lawyers at ng Scenema Concepts. I hope na ma-resolve na at lessons learned na…”
Hopefully, the kinks will be ironed out and both parties will agree to have Tikoy’s name put back where it should be.
Tikoy has shot E.R.’s other starrer, El Presidente for six days. Asked if he’s going to continue with the project, he said, “I’ll answer you kapag na-resolve na ang Asiong issue.”
Let’s hope for a happy ending, especially since E.R. is planning to submit (for competition) Asiong to the Cannes Filmfest and other international film festivals — with Tikoy’s name returned to its credits.
***
Correction: 2012 is the leap year and not 2011 as erroneously mentioned in yesterday’s Funfare.
(E-mail reactions at entphilstar@yahoo.com. You may also send your questions to askrickylo@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.) - FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo
Without batting an eyelash and in good humor, E.R. answered, “Erap was 21 when he played Asiong Salonga. I’m 47 so mas marami akong pinaghugutan. Palagay ko mas maganda ang performance ko.” (Salonga was about 26 when he was shot dead. He was known as “the Robin Hood of Tondo.”)
I promptly called Erap for his reaction (he was at home just at the back of Club Filipino) and, as usual, it was he himself who answered the phone.
“Tell E.R. congratulations,” started Erap also on a light vein. “Sabihin mo sa kanya, ako marami ng Best Actor award, he has none. Naging presidente na ako, siya governor pa lang. He should thank me. Kung walang original, wala sanang remake.”
In short, without saying so, Erap considered himself the better Asiong Salonga.
Told after the presscon about Erap’s comment, E.R. said still joking, “Naging president na rin ako…ng Actors Guild.” Then, he started laughing.
With the movie earning more at the tills (almost P40M as of yesterday) after bagging 11 awards at the Metrofest’s Gabi ng Parangal, including Best Director for Tikoy Aguiluz who has an issue with E.R and the movie’s producers but with E.R. losing the Best Actor plum to Dingdong Dantes (for Segunda Mano), E.R. felt magnanimous. He expected the movie to gross P60M during the official Metrofest run (until Jan. 7), excluding the P10M ABS-CBN has paid him for the TV rights.
“What’s flattering is that pinipilahan at pinapalakpakan ang pelikula namin, nakapangingilabot,” adding tongue-in-cheek, “maganda rin ang Segunda Mano (so far second grosser after Enteng ng Ina Mo), pero mas maganda ang Asiong Salonga dahil Best Picture kami.”
At the start of the presscon, E.R. said that he was happy for Dingdong, describing him as one of the finest actors of his generation.
“He deserved the award more than I did,” he added, without losing hope. “After all, there are six more award-giving bodies this year, at sana maka-tsamba ako.”
Before the awards night, Kris Aquino (Dingdong’s co-star and co-producer, with Star Cinema) said in a Startalk interview, addressing Dingdong, “Kapag hindi na nanalo, magwawala ka na. Itataya ko ang pangalan ng pamilya ko.” Because she is Kris Aquino, her comment was taken seriously and blown out of proportion, even if I’m sure she said it in her usual tactless style.
“It would have been better if she didn’t say it,” said E.R. who held no hard feelings against Kris. “Ninang siya sa binyag ng anak ko.”
He dismissed the billing (non-)issue involving Phillip Salvador (who lost the Best Supporting Actor award to John Regala, for Asiong) as “biruang-kaibigan,” but was seriously taking the issue with Tikoy who demanded that his name be removed from the credits in the movie and on the billboards/posters/ads and filed a TRO against Scenema Concepts, the movie’s co-producer (with Viva Entertainment).
“He texted me at humingi siya ng dispensa,” disclosed E.R., “at ako naman, mapagpatawad na tao.”
In a text message to Funfare, Tikoy confirmed, “Nag-text na kami n’ung New Year. Now nag-uusap na kami with our lawyers at ng Scenema Concepts. I hope na ma-resolve na at lessons learned na…”
Hopefully, the kinks will be ironed out and both parties will agree to have Tikoy’s name put back where it should be.
Tikoy has shot E.R.’s other starrer, El Presidente for six days. Asked if he’s going to continue with the project, he said, “I’ll answer you kapag na-resolve na ang Asiong issue.”
Let’s hope for a happy ending, especially since E.R. is planning to submit (for competition) Asiong to the Cannes Filmfest and other international film festivals — with Tikoy’s name returned to its credits.
***
Correction: 2012 is the leap year and not 2011 as erroneously mentioned in yesterday’s Funfare.
(E-mail reactions at entphilstar@yahoo.com. You may also send your questions to askrickylo@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.) - FUNFARE By Ricardo F. Lo
News Update BSP urges Aquino admin to spend more
MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) urged the Aquino administration to spend more to boost the country’s economic performance amid the uncertainties in the US and the debt crisis in Europe.
In a forum hosted by the Tuesday Club at EDSA Shangri-La, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said the underspending by the government has pulled down economic growth to 3.6 percent in the first three quarters of last year.
“The National Government has room to spend. Weak government spending has been credited as a factor for the recent growth numbers,” Tetangco stressed.
The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by only 3.2 percent in the third quarter of last year from 7.3 percent in the same period in 2010.
The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) lowered the GDP growth target to a range of 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent instead of the revised five percent to six percent last year due to weak global trade and government underspending.
The government has committed to trim the budget deficit to P300 billion or three percent of GDP last year from a record level of P314.4 billion or 3.7 percent of GDP in 2010.
Due to underspending, the government managed to trim the deficit by 64 percent to P96.25 billion in the first 11 months of last year from P267.328 billion in the same period in 2010.
The government’s revenue collections inched up by 13.13 percent during the 11-period to P1.25 trillion while actual expenditures fell two percent to P1.35 trillion.
For November alone, the Aquino administration incurred a budget deficit of P22 billion due to the higher spending as the administration launched a P72 billion stimulus package.
“The national government is reported to have accelerated expenditures,” Tetangco said.
The BSP chief explained that the government needs to be mindful that spending should be targeted at sectors that would lead to greater employment generation and on infrastructure projects.
“Together with an appropriate monetary policy stance, targeted government spending and the participation of the private sector could ensure that all the engines of growth are firing up,” Tetangco said.
The Aquino administration has committed to trim the deficit to two percent of GDP starting 2013 until 2016.
Earlier, multilateral lender International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged the Aquino administration to spend more, attract higher investments, and widen its tax revenue base to survive the turbulence in regional financial markets over the last two months brought about by fragile economic growth in the US and the debt crisis in Europe.
IMF assistant director Vivec Arora earlier said the Philippines needs to raise its spending level, attract more private investors and strengthen its social safety nets.
Arora pointed out that the Aquino administration’s PPP scheme would address the need for higher infrastructure spending.
He cited the need for the Philippines to broaden its tax base and strengthen tax administration by overhauling its excise tax system on sin products and rationalizing its fiscal incentives to raise much needed revenue to bankroll social and infrastructure spending. - By Lawrence Agcaoili
In a forum hosted by the Tuesday Club at EDSA Shangri-La, BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said the underspending by the government has pulled down economic growth to 3.6 percent in the first three quarters of last year.
“The National Government has room to spend. Weak government spending has been credited as a factor for the recent growth numbers,” Tetangco stressed.
The country’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by only 3.2 percent in the third quarter of last year from 7.3 percent in the same period in 2010.
The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) lowered the GDP growth target to a range of 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent instead of the revised five percent to six percent last year due to weak global trade and government underspending.
The government has committed to trim the budget deficit to P300 billion or three percent of GDP last year from a record level of P314.4 billion or 3.7 percent of GDP in 2010.
Due to underspending, the government managed to trim the deficit by 64 percent to P96.25 billion in the first 11 months of last year from P267.328 billion in the same period in 2010.
The government’s revenue collections inched up by 13.13 percent during the 11-period to P1.25 trillion while actual expenditures fell two percent to P1.35 trillion.
For November alone, the Aquino administration incurred a budget deficit of P22 billion due to the higher spending as the administration launched a P72 billion stimulus package.
“The national government is reported to have accelerated expenditures,” Tetangco said.
The BSP chief explained that the government needs to be mindful that spending should be targeted at sectors that would lead to greater employment generation and on infrastructure projects.
“Together with an appropriate monetary policy stance, targeted government spending and the participation of the private sector could ensure that all the engines of growth are firing up,” Tetangco said.
The Aquino administration has committed to trim the deficit to two percent of GDP starting 2013 until 2016.
Earlier, multilateral lender International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged the Aquino administration to spend more, attract higher investments, and widen its tax revenue base to survive the turbulence in regional financial markets over the last two months brought about by fragile economic growth in the US and the debt crisis in Europe.
IMF assistant director Vivec Arora earlier said the Philippines needs to raise its spending level, attract more private investors and strengthen its social safety nets.
Arora pointed out that the Aquino administration’s PPP scheme would address the need for higher infrastructure spending.
He cited the need for the Philippines to broaden its tax base and strengthen tax administration by overhauling its excise tax system on sin products and rationalizing its fiscal incentives to raise much needed revenue to bankroll social and infrastructure spending. - By Lawrence Agcaoili
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