The best traits of Filipinos F


b 2 BY HANNAH JOY GREGORIO AND KHRISTOPHER VINCENT DEFENSOR


ILIPINOS are known for being hospitable, but it’s not only the positive trait that Filipinos possess. Having been colonized


by various countries, the Philippine culture, in effect, is mixed with Asian and Western influences. Thus, the Philippine culture is diverse and can be reflected in the our traits.


Filipinos over the years have proven time and time again that they are a people with an industrious attitude. Sadly, this is seen by others as Filipinos being only useful as domestic helpers, working abroad to help their families in the country. This is also present in the country’s workforce particu- larly the farmers. Even with little support, technological weaknesses and the country’s seasonal typhoons, the Filipino farmer still strives to earn their daily meal. Even though the government provides small support to the country’s workers, many people choose to engage in micro businesses—the so-called sari-sari stores and tiangge, the Filipino version of local markets and ukay-ukay, or


Hard-working second-hand stores.


Some would also pursue engaging in transportation with jeepneys, tricycles and such to offer low-cost transportation to the ever mobile masses.


Though these are some examples on how Filipinos get by with everyday living, these work opportunities offer only minimum pay but Filipinos still pursue them in hopes of giving their children a decent life and proper education so they could elevate themselves to a higher standard of living.


Strong family ties


In the country the people put family ties and relations as one of their top priorities. Filipinos would do all they could to


provide and sustain their respective families. This is present in Filipino festivals where they invite the whole family and in Sundays where they would make time to use it to spend the whole day for their families. You will find that it is common in the country to include the extended members not just the normal nuclear family. It is not unusual that in a single household it would reach up to ten members of a family living under the same roof. They value each other’s company, and everyone strives to provide for the whole and not just for them.


Even grandparents still have an active role in the family. It is now the norm in the society that both parents are out working, leaving the care of their children to the lolos and lolas, especially if the family cannot afford to hire a nanny. Grandparents therefore become responsi- ble for instilling into their grandchildren the values and morals they taught to their own children, further increasing the importance of the elderly in our society.


Honesty


Being a hard-working people, the Filipi- nos are also honest. In general, they would prefer to work hard for an honest day’s pay than to find an easier way like


October 3, 2010


magazine the filipino champion The Sunday Times stealing or cheating.


As in the case of overseas Filipino workers or OFWs, they are mostly domestic helpers and though given a job which requires a lot of trust from the employer as they are left alone with their belongings or children, it is rare that Filipinos would do anything to betray or lose the trust that is given to them. We see so many Filipinos working in the homes of other families precisely because they can be trusted. But even in our own country, Filipinos have displayed honesty in various forms, may it be from a taxi driver returning a dropped phone or wallet. Filipinos would choose to do the right thing, though sometimes this is not necessarily true.


Religious


The Philippines is one the most religious countries in world, particularly in Catholicism and Islam. Families would encourage and strengthen the values of their children and would at least have one day a week for worship and at the same time strengthening family ties.


Religion is the foundation of most of the


country’s morals and values and some- times, the church greatly affects the minds and opinions of the general populace, affecting its decisions. Sadly, this also applies to the government as they


are troubled by whatever the Church’s stand is in every matter, as people see their opinion to be the “right” one. Thus, many of our politicians go with whatever the Church says, fearing that they would lose vote if they go against it.


Resiliency


The Philippines is a hotspot for disasters, natural and otherwise. Couple that with poverty, and one would think that Filipi- nos have the most reason for being a depressed people. However, we have demonstrated time and again that Filipinos can bounce back from a tragedy, emerging stronger and better than before. In the middle of a disaster, Filipinos can still manage to smile and be hopeful that the next morning brings new hope. We have shown the world that by working together as a nation, we have what it takes to recover from a bad situation. This is something that all of us should be proud of, no matter where in the world we are. With all of these good traits (and more!), one would really be proud to say, “I am a Filipino.”


Filipinos have shown the world that by working together, we have what it takes to recover from a bad situation—and this is a trait that we should all be proud of.


Milo Champ Camp nurtures sports champions from the grassroots levels


MILO Philippines’ Champ Camp comes on time in this age of computer and other high-tech gadgets. It’s a call for children to turn into sports. Believing in the power of nurturing sports champions from the grassroots levels, the Champ Camp Team is visiting schools nationwide to teach students the fundamentals in sports, the importance of proper nutrition, and the sports lessons they can use in the bigger


world as they grow up.


The Champ Camp is very timely too, considering that data from the Food and Nutrition Institute (FNRI) show that a growing number of Filipino children are becoming overweight at a younger age and are more likely to be obese (or having 120 percent of the desired body weight vis-à- vis a person’s height), which in turn puts them at a higher risk for cardiovascular


diseases and hypertension, two health issues that rank among the top ten leading causes of death among Filipinos. For the school tour, the students are divided into three batches. Each batch is ushered to the activity area where they will learn the basic skills of three popular sports: basketball, baseball, and soccer from certified Milo coaches. After 15 minutes, the coaches will rotate the


batches so that all the children will get a feel of the three sports.


The camp also has activities for parents who will be given lectures on the benefits of sports and how to prepare meals that provide proper nutrition for a healthy, growing kid. Parents will also be taught to encourage their kids to be active and get into sports to develop values such as confidence, self-esteem, patience,


Emer Rojas and the fight of his life Republic of the Philippines


COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS Intramuros, Manila


Bids and Awards Committee BID BULLETIN NO. 27


BAC Reference Nos. 2010BE-004 The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) hereby issues this Bid Bulletin to clarify


to the public that the submission and opening of bids for the provision of Forwarding Services for the Deployment of Accountable and Non-accountable Forms, Supplies and Paraphernalia for the October 25, 2010 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Elections is scheduled on October 6, 2010 at 10 o’clock in the morning, at the Comelec Session Hall, 8th


Floor, Palacio del Gobernador, Intramuros, Manila. All terms, conditions and instructions to bidders specified in the Bidding Documents


consistent with this Bid Bulletin shall remain in full force and effect. For information and guidance of all prospective bidders. October 2, 2010.


ATTY. FERDINAND T. RAFANAN Chairman


ATTY. MICHAEL D. DIONEDA Vice-Chairman


ATTY. EFRAIM Q. BAG-ID Member


ATTY. REY D. DOMA Member


AIDA C. FERNANDEZ Member


EMER ROJAS’ life was good. After graduat- ing with a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Mapua Institute of Technology, he started a 17-year career with Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) and rose up the ranks. He opted for an early retirement at age 39, and pursued a Master’s Degree in Entrepreneurship from the Asian Institute of Management. With this new degree, Rojas put up his own Internet Service Provider, and like his endeavors in the past, this was met with success. At the peak of his entrepreneurial career, he was tapped to give talks on his numerous fields of expertise, speaking to college students, members of the Information Technol- ogy industry, and fellow entrepreneurs. On top of all of these, he also hosted a show, which was broadcast over the government’s FM radio station, dwBR.


Republic of the Philippines


COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS Intramuros, Manila


Bids and Awards Committee BID BULLETIN NO. 28


BAC Reference Nos. 2010BE-001-003 Prospective bidders for the election forms and supplies, and supplies for the working


committees may offer their bids either per lot or per item, but they must specify their bids per item in case they are bidding for the entire lot.


Bid Security shall be based on the approved budget for the contract per item/


aggregate of items. All terms, conditions and instructions to bidders specified in the Bidding Documents


consistent with this Bid Bulletin shall remain in full force and effect. For information and guidance of all prospective bidders. 01 October 2010


ATTY. FERDINAND T. RAFANAN Chairman


ATTY. MICHAEL D. DIONEDA Vice-Chairman


ATTY. EFRAIM Q. BAG-ID Member


ATTY. REY D. DOMA Member


AIDA C. FERNANDEZ Member


Despite his triumphs in business, Rojas was still very much your average Filipino man. Like 60 percent of the Filipino male popula- tion, Rojas was a smoker. And as “average” as his vice was, it led both his personal and professional life on a downward spiral. Rojas started smoking just two sticks a day when he was 17 years old. But what began as a seemingly innocent way to pass the time slowly took over him. Throughout his college life, in his 17 years in PLDT and during his success as an entrepreneur and radio host, Rojas was smoking more and more. By the time he was in his early 40s, he was smoking a staggering 40 cigarettes a day. Then in 2002, just as many people his age were starting to enjoy the fruits of their hard work, Rojas began to feel that something was amiss with his health. In the same way that his bad habit began, the initial symptoms of his illness seemed harmless enough. For the most part, Rojas suffered nothing more than an irritating hoarseness of his voice, coupled with some throat problems, which, given his many speaking engagements, did not come as a surprise. But come June of that year, his worst fears were confirmed: There was a lump in his throat, and it was malignant. Decades of putting massive amounts of poison in his body had finally caught up with him. Rojas’ first big fight was with laryngeal


cancer. In an effort to keep the cancer from spreading throughout his body, his doctors recommended radical surgery. All the same, he was told that there was no guarantee of a permanent solution, even if the procedure involved the removal of massive amounts of


■ Emer Rojas


healthy tissue. To make sure every bit of the cancer was removed, the surgeons took out Rojas’ larynx, his thyroid gland, and a large portion of his neck, leaving him with no ability to speak and scars that he would bear for life.


For a time, it appeared his life was saved by the surgery, and he had won the match. But sadly, the fight was far from over. In 2003, about a year after the surgery, the cancer returned. It reappeared close to his carotid artery, making another surgery too dangerous to attempt. In his state, chemotherapy, which was the only option left, was far too taxing for Rojas, physically, emotionally and financially. Today, Rojas is unable to speak unassisted. The former radio host has since had to rely on an electronic larynx, which vibrates when held against his throat, allowing him to speak only in a cold, robotic monotone.


Difficult and painful as it is to speak in that


way, Rojas has not kept silent about his experience. Regretting the vice he once loved, he made a vow to save others from his sad fate. “I bargained with the Lord,” he related through his artificial voice. “I said, ‘If You give me more time, I will devote it to help others, and make them realize that it’s not good to abuse your body with harmful substances.” In the blink of an eye, all his success, his hard work, his achievements were lost in his fight against cancer. All he had left was a chance to prevent the same fate from happen- ing to the countless others whom he believes


should be told how smoking poisons the body. It was in 2004 that Rojas began to use what he calls his “limited time” to warn others against smoking. He knew nothing better would drive the message home than his experience as a cancer victim. “Cancer is cancer, and part of my advocacy is to push for the inclusion of graphic health information on cigarette packs, in order to warn people of the life-threatening effects tobacco smoke can cause.”


He believes that this is the best way to curb smoking because written warnings have obviously failed to make an impact on what is still an astonishing number of smokers today. “Honestly, I didn’t care about the written warnings, [but] images are very difficult to ignore. Graphic warnings may have changed everything [for me],” he explained. His efforts are particularly timely, as tobacco producers have been making various attempts in exploiting legal remedies to prevent the implementation of the Department of Health’s administrative order to put graphic health information on cigarette packs starting September this year.


And so, almost a decade after he was diagnosed of cancer, Rojas continues to fight, not just for his health, but for the health of countless others. He continues to fight even with what little time he has left, because he knows that it is the only way he could bring back the good in his life. REN ALCANTARA


‘I Am Cory’ collection supports advocacies of Ninoy and Cory


“EVERYBODY was doing Ninoy and Cory Aquino images so we thought of using some- thing that has not been done or used yet, says Pinky Estrebillo of Bayo. That’s when we arrived at using her paintings as inspiration. The collection is a homage to her and her art.” Former President Corazon Aquino is a universally recognized icon of democracy. But not known to many, aside from being a loving wife, doting mother and a great leader, our first female president considered painting as a way of keeping her mind active and her sense of humanity intact. Under the tutelage of vision-


ary artist, Jeff Consumo, she has done several paintings in oil or acrylic on canvas, exploring subjects such as flowers and women. Although she has never professed to be a professional painter, Mrs. Aquino participated in numerous joint exhibits with friends to raise funds for her advocacies.


Inspired by her colorful floral artwork,


Bayo’s I am Cory Collection features everyday staples such as flower pot shirts, scoop neck shirts, striped tank tops, 1950s-inspired dresses, and chambray and striped polos with floral print and pockets.


Also in this collection are canvas bags which feature iconic prints of one of her landscape paintings and a flowerpot painting, rendered in full and magnified versions.


Part of the proceeds from every purchase of the “I am Cory” products will be donated to the foundation to help support the advocacies of Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundarion and the iamninoy-iamcory movement with its core youth mobilization and empowerment program which seeks to surface a new generation of Filipinos willing to step up as selfless heroes in their own right.


teamwork, leadership, and an overall positive and mature outlook. Of the 700 schools targeted by the MILO Champ Camp, 460 public and private schools have already been reached by the tour. Recently launched is the Champ Camp in Bernardo Pociano Elementary School in Quezon City. The Champ Camp is ongoing in


different schools until December this year.


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