Two Filipinos Sing to OFW Community in Qatar

Two well-known singers from the Philippines, Yeng Constantino and Billy Crawford, held a concert for the Filipino community at the Khalifa International Tennis & Squash Complex in Qatar. The singers performed with the Morning Glory Band, The Links Band and Beats & Bytes Dancers.The concert, which was titled “Yeng Constantino & Billy Crawford Live in Qatar,” was sponsored by The Peninsula, Qatar’s leading English daily, with the participation of Philippine Embassy officials

Click here to read full story in ThePeninsulaQatar.com.

Pag-IBIG, iRemit tie up on OFW contributions

From a BusinessMirror.com news source: (Click Here)

PAG-IBIG Fund members working in 25 countries where iRemit Inc. operates will soon be able to pay their monthly membership contribution and housing loan amortization at any iRemit branches. The new and improved system will be implemented on June 1. About a tenth of the Philippine population of around 90 million work abroad, but only 373,396 of them are Pag-IBIG members.

Mabini Express (Sheppard Centre Mall Ontario) Grand Opening

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Mabini Express is a remittance agency that caters to Filipinos in Canada, US and all over the world who wants to send money back home to their loved ones. Mabini Express, aptly named after one of our nation’s heroes, caters to the unsung heros of today, the overseas workers. Dedicated to quality service and personal touch, we have agents all over Canada to help you with your needs.

To celebrate the grand opening of its Sheppard Centre Mall branch at North York in Ontario, it is holding a luncheon and customer event from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Saturday, May 30, 2009. The new branch’s address is 4841 Yonge St. Unit 133 Sheppard Centre Mall North York ON M2N  5X2. Everyone is invited to attend.

Mabini Express is a remittance agency that caters to filipinos in Canada, US and all over the world who wants to send money back home to their loved ones. Mabini Express, aptly named after one of our nation’s heros, caters to the unsung heros of today, the overseas workers. Dedicated to quality service and personal touch, we have agents all over Canada to help you with your needs.

Lessons from the Puerto Galera Tragedy

My good friend and schoolmate Ramon “Mon” Eugenio lost his mother and his two very young sons in this tragedy. I’d like to re-post the article written by Cathy S. Babao-Guballa for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, first posted on 05/26/2009 at Inquirer.net. Click here to go to the source article.

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MANILA, Philippines – Franco Eugenio, 3, and Anton Eugenio Cruz, 2, slept soundly, cradled in the arms of their yaya (nanny) Tessie and yaya Bambi respectively, as the Commando 6 ploughed its way through choppy waters.

It seemed like a perfect day for everyone on board the vessel. Many of the passengers were families, like the Eugenios who were looking forward to spending time together as they ventured on their first outing as a clan.

Ramon, Franco’s father, sat beside his parents, Franklin and Daisy, while Ramon’s wife Monique sat beside him, and beside her were the children and their yayas. Near the front of the boat sat Ramon’s younger brother, Carl, his wife, and their two children.

From the beginning of the trip, Monique said she had felt antsy about the trip. “I was counting the passengers as they got on board, checked for the safety of the boat. I kept looking around and asked the barker if the waters were going to be calm that day.”

Monique counted 40 passengers that sat across her, in a boat that the Coast Guard would ascertain later in an Inquirer news report was only allowed to carry 42 passengers and five crew members.

“There was just something unsettling about the trip…” Monique adds, “and the ferry’s engine would shut off every time big waves would hit it.”

And then, after about 45 minutes, approximately 20 minutes away from their destination, the passengers heard a loud crack, and the boat keeled over and flipped.

 

Watch STORYLINE video in a Facebook Video Post by Ramon Eugenio.

Worst nightmare

“It was your worst nightmare,” Monique relates. “The bags and the children… everyone just started to slip and then the boat just filled up with water”. Franco’s yaya had tried to hold on to him for dear life as they both sank but the waters were rushing like mad. Still she managed to grab onto a portion of his shirt, until the sheer weight of the water and her need for oxygen forced her to let go of his shirt.

Monique, on the other hand, was able to pull out Anton from the sinking boat, but it seemed like it was too late for the one-and-half-year-old toddler. Meanwhile, someone else had managed to fish Franco’s older brother, Paolo, 9, out of the waters and placed him on top of the boat.

The unidentified man, also a passenger of the boat, kept Paolo company until his mother and father could get to him. On the other side of the boat, Ramon had been trying to save his mother, Daisy, but to no avail.

Agonizing

The rescue boats came after 40 agonizing minutes. Franco’s yaya told this writer that if the rescue boats had come a few minutes later, they would all have been goners.

“The boat had already begun to sink by the time they arrived,” Monique says. Worse, as Ramon narrated in an Inquirer story recently, two boats had passed them by, he had taken off his shirt and waved frantically at them, but the boats did not bother to stop.

What have we come to as a people? Have we become so callous that we don’t help fellow human beings in need? How could those two boats have gone on their journey, having seen the sinking boat and knowing that so many lives were at stake?

And the people on those two boats even had the temerity to take photos and videos of the sinking ferry. I wonder what those people on the boat must be feeling now, knowing they have the blood of three innocent children and nine adults on their hands?

Questions

Many questions beg to be answered. Why have we not learned from the countless tragedies in the past of overloaded vessels, of the total disregard for life and safety? Who regulates the maintenance of the ferries that leave the Batangas port? What safety measures have been implemented after these sea mishaps? How many more lives do we need to lose before we learn our lessons?

Last night, at the wake, a pall of gloom and sadness filled the church as a grandmother and her two grandsons lay in state, one on each side of her. Daisy, a wonderful and caring wife, mother and grandmother, lay in eternal slumber. Franco and Anton, with their favorite toys—bright-colored cars—in their tiny, chubby fingers, looked like they were only sleeping, with smiles on their faces.

One must find consolation and strength in knowing that the boys were not able to feel any pain as they fell into the water, that the Father had safely picked them up and brought them to the shores of heaven, where they now live for all eternity.

Today, as the Eugenios bury, not one, but three family members, we who are left behind mourn their loss, and can only pray that in the wake of this tragedy, a greater meaning to their loss will be found, and that measures to prevent future tragedies from happening will finally be implemented.

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Watch Mon Eugenio’s tribute to his two sons Paolo and Franco.

Warren (Detroit) to Celebrate Philippine Independence

WARREN: Festival to celebrate Philippine independence

The annual Philippine Independence Day Festival is scheduled for June 6 at Halmich Park, 3001 Thirteen Mile.

The theme for the event, — set to run from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. — is Cultural Connections Across the Filipino Community.

There is to be a parade, followed by a picnic, dancing, pig roast, cultural shows, games, sports and more.

For more information, call Willie Dechavez at 586-268-4284, anytime.

Source: Detroit Free Press “Freep.com.”

First Millennium School at Camarines Sur

The province of Camarines Sur achieved another first with the choice of Nato High School of Sagñay as the site of the first ever global millennium school of the country. The millennium school is a product of the Global Millennium School Design Competition initiated by the Be Better Build Better Program advocates whose main objective is to devise a school structural design that utilizes indigenous materials like bamboo that could withstand typhoons and rough monsoon weather.

The ground-breaking event last May 15 was attended by various stakeholders including the officials and members from United Architects of the Philippines (UAP), the Private Sector Disaster Management Network (PSDMN), Petron Foundation, and ABS CBN Bayan Foundation, Department of Education (DepEd), the provincial government and local government of Sagnay.

Sharon Cuneta’s Concert in Las Vegas

The AsianJournal.com posted a great article describing Sharon Cuneta‘s recent May 23 concert held in Paris Las Vegas. Daughter KC and husband Kiko Pangilinan also joined the Megastar on stage. The “MegaThirty” concert tour is also slated for New Jersey, Texas and Los Angeles.

Click here to read the article posted by Dymphna Calica-La Putt.

Flag-raising Ceremonies in Chicago for Philippine Independence

In commemoration of the 111th Anniversary of Philippine Independence, the Philippine Consulate General in Chicago cordially invites the members of the Filipino- American community to participate in the flag-raising ceremony to be held at the Daley Plaza in downtown Chicago (W. Washington and N. Clark Streets) on Friday, 12 June 2009 at 9:00 a.m.

Click here to read the article in Ambibo.com.

New Arrival/Departure Cards in Philippine Airports

The Bureau of Immigration (under the Department of Justice) will soon be implementing machine-readable arrival-and-departure (called A/D) cards at all NAIA terminals. This means hand-written information will now be machine-readable and uploaded directly into the bureau’s network of computers. This new program intends to cut processing time in all the international airports in the Philippine archipelago.

Click here to read Manila Bulletin’s article by Jun Ramirez.

New BPO Center in Cebu

724Care Inc. is a premier provider of business process outsourcing (BPO) services. The US company has reportedly opened a new call center in Cebu Philippines to accommodate increasing demand from a range of international clients. Nikolai Boutvine, CEO of 724Care, says his clients are very pleased with the Cebu talent as it relies on the recruitment and training of qualified call center personnel. Founded in 2006, 724Care is currently focusing on the sales inbound voice support and non-voice based segment of contact center services.