Peace Update: Time to rethink your position, PNP chief tells communist ‘friends’

Time to rethink your position, PNP chief tells communist ‘friends’ - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos: "Taking a more conciliatory tone, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has asked “our friends in the communist movement” to rethink their position and consider laying down their arms following a series of costly skirmishes for the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

“Perhaps this is the time for our friends in the communist movement to take a second look at their position,” PNP chief Director General Raul M. Bacalzo said in a speech before Cagayan Valley troops on Monday.

“Maybe it’s time to think that we can’t forever be killing each other. Both sides get wounded or killed. Even we (the police) get wounded or killed also,” he said.

“Perhaps this is the opportunity to rethink their position and return to the mainstream and continue the peace. This will eventually lead to the development of the nation,” Bacalzo said."

Rotary Update: Rotaract San Pedro East bags 2011 Asia Pacific Regional Award

Rotaract San Pedro East bags 2011 Asia Pacific Regional Award | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online: "The Rotaract Club of San Pedro East, sponsored by the Rotary Club of San Pedro East, RI District 3820 was recently recognized as the Asia Pacific Regional winner for Rotaract Outstanding Projects for its project “GreEnvironment”, March 2011.

The winning project was among the seven outstanding club projects around the world which received the recognition from the Rotary International.

Spearheaded by its current president, Francis Gutierrez, together with their sponsoring Rotary club, the project aims to help solve the wide problem on the conservation of environment through environmental clean-up projects involving a total of 4,000 youth and young adults in and around San Pedro, Laguna."

JCI Update: PMC conducts Medical/Dental in Manicahan and Limpapa

Zamboanga Today Online, the most read newspaper in Zamboanga City | PMC conducts Medical/Dental in Manicahan and Limpapa: "The Medical/Dental activity was a joint project of the Philippine Marine Corps. and the Zamboanga City La Bella Lions Club District 301-E. The other participating Units/LGA's/LGU's & NGO's were Camp Navarro Gen. Hospital WM/1037 AFPDD, JCI Zamboanga City, WMM Foundation Secretariat, AC DI Edwin Andrews Air Base (EAAB) Branch, Barangay Manicahan, Dept. of Health (DOH) Regional Office, RCI Fishing, NFWM Medical Team & 103 PNDD, City Health Office, Human Development Empowerment Service, 3rd Air Division, PAF, AFPSLAI Zamboanga Branch, Southern Philippines (SOPHIL) Deep Sea Fishing Corp. Inc., RGL Aluminum & Glass House and Rotary Club of Zamboanga City - West.

At the end of the day, the Commander of Philippine Marines Corp, La Bella President Jun Jun Santos, the Military Doctors, volunteer Doctors Dr. Paber, Dr. Gregorio Galvez, Dr. Bernadette Chiong - Santiago, nurses and other members of the participating units found fulfillment as 634 medical patients, 437 dental patients and 88 circumcision were served and attended to."

Women Issues Update: Internet and social media – as [new] sites and tools for violence against women

Women Take Back the Tech - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos: "The massively popular social networking website is no longer just a place to connect with friends and family. Socio-civic groups and the police have warned of its growing use in the Philippines as a means to perpetrate violence against women.

Facebook and other information and communication technologies (ICTs) have made women more vulnerable to abuse, reported Terret Balayon, executive director of the Women’s Crisis Center (WCC), during the “Take Back the Tech vs eVAW” forum, held at the UP Diliman on the occasion of International Women’s Month last March.

“We view ICTs – Internet and social media – as [new] sites and tools for violence against women,” she explained."

Balayon said the WCC, the first crisis center in the country that works with women survivors of physical and sexual violence, has begun looking into how electronic media intensify or compound violence against women.

“Abuse happens faster and is more damaging through electronics, because the abusers are protected by anonymity,” she said in Filipino. “There are so many negative effects on the victims, and you can’t just say, ‘then switch it off,” because the Internet is part and parcel of life today.”

Cases of electronic violence against women (eVAW) have ranged from harassment through text messaging to prostitution transacted online.

Emmeline Versoza, acting executive director of the Philippine Commission on Women, explained the various ways eVAW is perpetrated.

“We’ve heard about cyber-mobile harassment, or sending unwanted text messages or multimedia that contain sexual or threatening messages and we do not even know who sends them,” she said.

Cyber-mobile stalking happens through the hacking of personal accounts on social networking sites and using location trackers on cell phones, she added.

Versoza said eVAW was also promoted through some computer games. “There are other indirect forms of eVAW like stereotypes and sexual representations of women in online games. In these games, women are portrayed as prostitutes and sexual objects and players earn points when they kill a prostitute or those depicted as victims.”

Other major issues in the fight against eVAW are “cyber-prostitution, pornography, and unauthorized production and distribution of images,” she said.

Chief Inspector Efren Fernandez II of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) for northern Metro Manila police also cited the use of Facebook and cell phone messaging to set up meetings between sex workers and clients.

“If you’re a regular customer, you can send messages through SMS," he said. "And likewise, women who are trafficked often have Facebook accounts where predators communicate with them using the technology for sexual trade or sexual satisfaction,” he added.

Fernandez, former head of the police’s cybercrime unit, warned of cybersex dens posing as legitimate Internet shops to lure the unwitting, as well as various forms of online fraud such as the use of software to hide or change identities on online dating sites. The software can alter faces and voices, even changing a user’s gender to fool others.

“Are you sure it’s really your friend that you are chatting with online? If not, then you might have a problem,” he said. “This is one of the considerable dangers of online dating.”

Adding to the problem are “gaps” in existing laws to combat eVAW. While laws such as the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children Act (Republic Act No. 9262) exist, the Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau (WLB) said cyberspace is still beyond their reach. The WLB is an NGO that provides legal assistance for women and promotes feminist legal advocacy in the country.

“The laws don’t include ways in which ICTs are used, so how can they be effective?” asked WLB program officer Chang Jordan. She pointed to the recent dismissal of the case against former doctor Hayden Kho as an example of how existing laws can fail in protecting women’s rights. Kho was a key figure in a 2009 controversy along with actress Katrina Halili and several others over sex videos that were distributed online without the women’s consent.

Under RA 9262, only the direct perpetrator can be charged, she noted, and since Kho claimed it was not he who had uploaded the sex videos, no case could be filed against him. The controversy, however, spurred the passage of RA 9995, or the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009 last year.

With government support lacking and legal resolutions absent, women and the youth have learned to use the same technologies to help heal themselves and fight back.

Through grants given by the Association for Progressive Communications and the Foundation for Media Alternatives, various NGOs have launched projects that seek to empower women and children using ICTs. The grant winners were announced last December.

Present during the forum were representatives from the Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA) and the Women’s Education, Development, Productivity and Research Organization Inc. (Wedpro).

Children's Causes Update: UNICEF Philippines, an organization supporting childrens’ causes, will be holding its 1st fund-raising, online auction event

Mind & Body - Mind and Body -: "UNICEF Philippines, an organization supporting childrens’ causes, will be holding its first fund-raising, online auction event entitled ‘Auction for Action’ to benefit children worldwide.

The three-week fund raising event will go live on May 25 on www.ebay.ph/unicef, and will be hosted by Bianca Gonzales, Iza Abeja and Daphne Oseña Paez.

Formerly called United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund, UNICEF has been supporting child health and nutrition, clean water and sanitation, quality basic education for boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS in the Philippines, and all over the world.

In the Philippines, UNICEF has been working closely with the government to ensure that supplies and services can be delivered quickly and efficiently to communities affected by typhoons, floods and other calamities, said UNICEF communications section Chief Angela Travis.

For the auction, UNICEF has partnered with Ayala Malls, Ebay.ph and Cibo and acclaimed artists in various areas of design; from paintings and functional art, to sculpture, furniture, fashion, and fine jewellery.

Bidders from around the world will use E-bay to browse through the items to be auctioned, and make their bids."

Tourism Update: Giant sand images adorn Iloilo shores

Tourism Update: Giant sand images adorn Iloilo shores | ABS-CBN News | Latest Philippine Headlines, Breaking News, Video, Analysis, Features: "Scenic sand artworks adorned the shores of Iloilo in this year’s Porma Balas, the city’s annual sand sculpture competition held at the Arevalo beach recently.

Ten local artists displayed their talent in sculpture by crafting giant sand images of humans, carabaos and tarsiers among others.

Following the Department of Tourism’s “Pilipinas, Tara Na!” slogan, Porma Balas aimed to boost the tourism industry in Iloilo.

The event was also geared to showcase the Ilonggos' talent in the art."

Meanwhile, the Porma Balas organizers, Rotary and Rotaract Club of Iloilo City, said they are pleased with this year's huge audience turnout. – Report from Paul Tarrosa, ABS-CBN News Iloilo

Labor Update: Metro wage board approves P22 ECOLA hike

Metro wage board approves P22 ECOLA hike | The Philippine Star >> News >> Headlines: "The Department of Labor and Employment reported yesterday that the regional wage board of Metro Manila had approved an additional P22 daily emergency cost-of-living allowance (ECOLA).

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the wage board in the National Capital Region (NCR), after “intense” deliberation, approved the granting of additional P22 ECOLA for minimum wage earners in the region.

Baldoz said the additional P22 ECOLA would bring to P426 the daily minimum wage of workers in the region from the current P404.

Baldoz said although the board did not grant an increase in basic pay, the additional allowance would help workers mitigate the continuing increase in prices of essential commodities.

Baldoz added that the newly issued wage order would benefit not only the three million minimum wage earners in the region but also those receiving beyond the floor wage due to wage distortion."

Health Update: P-Noy says Phl economy grew by 7.6%, not 7.3%

P-Noy says Phl economy grew by 7.6%, not 7.3% | Home >> Other Sections >> Breaking News:

President Aquino said the big leap in the country's economy is the reason for higher budget allocations to the government's health and other basic services.

At the inauguration, the President also announced that the Department of Health's efforts to provide cheaper or discounted medicines to poor Philippine communities and improvement of public health facilities.

He said the administration has allocated P3.5 billion for the health Insurance Premiums for poor Filipinos, which will be distributed through the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

Aquino said PhilHealth has approved a P350-million budget for the modernization of its information system.

The government is also widening the scope of the "Diskwento Caravan Project" which provides 5 percent to 75 percent discounts on unaffordable medicines.

He also announced that the government has allotted P7.1 billion to upgrade medical equipment and capability of public health facilities, including hospitals and rural health units.

More health workers, including nurses and doctors, are also being hired by the government because of more available financial resource and deployed to at least 400 rural centers around the country.

"President Benigno Aquino III today clarified that the country's economy grew by 7.6 percent, not 7.3 percent as earlier reported by Malacanang.

The President made the announcement at the inauguration of the new floors of Sta. Ana Hospital in Manila.

'Kahapon, binalita ng ating Secretary of Finance Cesar Purisima, natapos na po ang computation sa nilaki ng ekonomiya natin last year; nagkamali raw po kami noong sinabi naming 7.3 increase in GDP. Ang tama raw ho pala ay 7.6 ang increase ng GDP,' Aquino said in his speech.

The GDP growth is a big leap compared to 2009's 1.1 percent and the biggest in history after the Marcos era.

The President said that the higher growth record of the country under his administration belies his critics' claim that he is not doing anything to solve the country's bigger problems."

DILG Update: P5B for top performing LGUs

P5B for top performing LGUs - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos: "Some 344 towns and cities stand to benefit from half a billion pesos worth of fund subsidies this year for the construction of school buildings, roads and bridges, flood control facilities, and slaughterhouses, among other projects, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) said.

Interior Secretary Jesse M. Robredo said the P500 million Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) would reward high-performing local government units (LGUs) by financing their proposed local development projects.

“We hope that through the PCF, we will be able to motivate LGUs to further enhance their local government systems and procedures and improve their services to their constituents,” he said in a statement.

The PCF is a financial incentive awarded to qualified LGUs to start projects aligned with the national government’s programs for the attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, tourism and local economic development, disaster risk reduction and management and solid waste management.

Projects that may be financed include school buildings, rural health units, water and sanitation system, local roads and bridges, slaughterhouses, flood control, reforestation, post-harvest facilities and cold storage facilities."

Wellness in Science & Technology: Asteroid named after young Pinoy

Asteroid named after young Pinoy | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online: "DoST Merit Scholar Miguel Arnold Reyes, a graduate of the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) Main Campus, took home $1,500 and will have an asteroid to be named after him as an award from the Lincoln Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during the 2011 International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held in Los Angeles, California.

While Angeli Joyce Dy of Capiz National High School also won fourth place and took home a $500 prize.

Reyes’ research outshined other researches with his “Synthesis and Characterization of Composite Plastics from Thermoplastic Starch and Nano-sized Calcium Phosphate for Film Packaging,” which seeks to produce biodegradable plastic for film packaging from a composite of thermoplastics from cornstarch and nano-sized phosphate particles.

Dy’s research titled “Milkfish (Chanos chanos Forsskal) Serum as an Alternative Media Supplement for Culture of A549 (Human Lung) and HCT 116 (Colon) Carcinomas.

Her research showed that milkfish serum is rich in mannose-binding proteins and albumin that are potential replacements of expensive fetal bovine serum (FBS) being used as culture of the lung and colon cancer cells."

Wellness in Business - Philippines to offer 18 sites for oil exploration

Business - PH to offer 18 sites for oil exploration - INQUIRER.net: "To boost the country's energy security, the Department of Energy is set mount road show in Asia, the United States and Europe within the third quarter, offering prospective investors 18 potential oil and gas areas for exploration and development.

“It looks very exciting,' Energy Secretary Jose Rene D. Almendras told reporters Monday night on the sidelines of an oil company marketing event. 'Even in the international scene, there's so much interest in the Philippines' oil exploration... all the large exploration companies, some of which have yet to come here, are now coming.”

Almendras did not disclose the interested parties but noted that some of them were the “usual suspects” including BHP Billiton and Exxon.

According to Almendras, the road show will kick off in July, after the government has announced the areas to be offered under the Philippine Exploration Contracting Round (PECR) for 2011."

Wellness in Education: 'Brigada Eskwela

'Brigada Eskwela' | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online: "To ensure that public elementary and high schools are ready for the school opening on June 6, the Department of Education (DepEd) is all set to kick off with its annual “Brigada Eskwela” campaign.

“The Brigada Eskwela is a school and maintenance program that engages all education stakeholders to contribute their time, effort and resource in ensuring that public schools are set in time for the forthcoming school opening,” said According to Education Secretary Armin Luistro.

This year, DepEd shall conduct Brigada Eskwela or the National Schools Maintenance Week from May 23 to 28. The Central Office and field offices are also set to hold a caravan to launch the first day of Brigada Eskwela. (Ina Hernando Malipot)"

Wellness in Arts & Culture: CCP Art in the time of Internet

Art in the time of Internet | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online: "Being a mecca for the arts and culture in the country, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) knows this all too well. Since it was created in 1966 through Executive Order No. 30, the CCP has been promoting and preserving Filipino arts and culture while continuing to nurture and encourage artistic excellence, Filipino aesthetics and identity, and cultural values towards a humanistic global society. It has also partnered with various international arts and cultural organizations to give Filipinos a glimpse of the beauty of the different cultures from various countries.

And this year, the CCP embarks on another journey to fulfill its mission of protecting and preserving Filipino heritage. The Cultural Center has partnered with EMC Corporation, the world leader in information infrastructure solutions, in a digitization project to convert and integrate CCP’s entire audio-visual collection of Philippines arts and culture into digital and emergent forms.

The first-of-its-kind collaborative project which aims to preserve the nation’s treasures for the use of future generations, it will involve storing, protecting, managing, and making the CCP Library’s vast collection of national, cultural, and historical materials through the EMC information infrastructure systems."

Wellness in Environment: World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines (WWF) Hero for Environment Award

Beloved dolphin warrior | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online: "A recipient of the World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines (WWF) Hero for Environment Award, Amado Guerrero Saño delivers through his art the message to stop the slaughter and captivity of the dolphins around the country and the world.

Breaking point

Watching the clips of Hollywood actresses Hayden Panetierre and Isabel Lucas on CNN about their crusade to stop the people in Taiji, Japan from capturing dolphins and turning them to entertainers, or to meals for children. This became Saño’s wake-up call.

“I’ve been studying dolphins for 11 years. Hindi ko matanggap na ganun lang ‘yung pagpatay sa kanila. Tapos nakita ko ‘yung connection sa mga marine parks, mga dolphin shows sa iba’t ibang parte sa Pilipinas,” he says."