A Father's Day Tibute: To the Man I love

By Bing Mesias

Tall and proud, every inch of him a soldier- a model soldier.  The man I love.

He had eight children, but even if his meagre soldier's salary could hardly feed his brood, let alone send them to school, he never thought he had an option- all of us should get a college degree in a country where only a diploma counted.  And only the best and most expensive university in town would do.

And so we would get home, tired and hungry at 9 pm from school, which began at 4 pm and found him heating the soup so it wouldn't be a cold dinner for us.   And as he spooned out a microscopic looking fish, which he divided among his four eldest "scholars", he would drone about the virtues of vegetables to take our mind off the tiny fish floating in a sea of greens.  "Them veggies have more
vitamins compared to fish which has only Vitamin F", he would say.  It was his
feeble attempt at humour.

Ah, it was only his humour and deep pride in his children, which sustained us in
all those years of deprivation. Money was only enough for our most basic
school needs and nothing else- certainly none for light snacks during breaks. 
And so while everyone hide off to the Canteen, my sister and I stayed in the
Ladies' Lounge "to read" while waiting for classes to resume.

How can I forget his fierce pride in his children?  They were the best as far as
he was concerned.  I was the "writer" in the family and on days when I brought
home an essay or a poem published in the college paper, he would have a
satisfied grin at our breakfast table as he teased my mother that "she took
after me." And the day the local radio station blared the result of the
Teachers' Competitive Exam where I placed 2nd, he made the rounds of the whole camp to make sure that everyone of his soldier friends have heard the good news.

Typically the Asian father, he never trusted any guy near his daughters.  So he
brought home guavas in his pocket because he never allowed us to pick ripe guavas in the sprawling camp with our friends.  And when at 20,  I started to teach, he would be waiting at 5::15pm, because classes ended at 5pm. Yes,  he guarded his girls round the clock, and would sit with my Mom in the living room when boys started calling.

He was my first love- this man who never raised his voice in anger.  Not with
his wife and never with his brood of eight even if the boys misbehaved.  There were no spankings I could remember and we would only know if there was a "lovers quarrel" because we would hear him and my Mom talking in bed softly at dawn, threshing out their differences away from their children's earshot.

How can I forget him?  He died a lonely man, a "broken" man.  He lost my
sickly Mom and a year later asked permission from us to marry an ageing
spinster next door.  "I miss your Mom and you're all away the whole day now,"
he complained.

We never understood his need to remarry, nor tried to.  He "lost" his children
who stopped talking to him and barely 18 days after his marriage, he suffered a
fatal stroke.

His "writer" is now a retired teacher and is herself, a widow.  And what I
dread most days now as he did then, is to face my coming sunsets alone, lonely
and scared.  Only a loving hand in mine, a gentle pat on my back, would erase
those fears I know.  Yes, I understand him now, even as I know deep in my heart
that the man I love understands me too.

HE ALWAYS DID!

(Bing Mesias is a resident writer for Filipino Radio Brisbane. She welcomes comments from readers through the 'leave comments' box below. - Ed)

3 Pinoy sa Dalby Accident Kinilala Na

Mula sa website ng www.bomboradyo.com

(Update) BRISBANE, Australia - Tinukoy na ng embahada ng Pilipinas sa Canberra, Australia ang mga pangalan ng mga Filipino na biktima ng vehicular accident.

Iniulat ni Edwin Cabucos, correspondent ng Bombo Radyo sa Australia, ang mga nasawi ay kinilalang sina Maximo Getutua, Julius Dela Cruz at si Joel Landingin.

Habang ang isa pa nilang kasamahan na tanging nakaligtas na sakay din ng kotse ay si Nelson Leganzon.

Sinasabing si Getuta ay isa ng Australian resident at bago lamang na-approve ang kanyang visa.

Kararating lang din ng kanyang pamilya mula sa Pilipinas na naninirahan na rin bilang permanenteng residente sa Australia.

Sa Melbourne nakatira ang mga kaanak ni Maximo subalit siya naman ay nadestino noon sa Tasmania kabilang ang tatlo niyang kasamahan hanggang sa mailipat sila Chincilla, Queensland ngayong taon.

Matapos ang nangyaring aksidente noong nakaraang Linggo ay agad na lumipad ang kanyang pamilya patungo ng Brisbane para alagaan ito pero binawian din ng buhay.

Ayon sa Brisbane Filipino chaplain, nabigyan pa ng last rite si Maximo noong gabi bago ito pumanaw.

Ang mga Pinoy workers ay nakatira sa Dalby habang pumapasok naman sila sa John Holland Power and Telecommunications Company sa Chincilla, mga 30 kilometro ang layo.

Ang tanging nakaligtas sa trahedya na si Leganzon ay nagpapagaling pa ngayon sa Toowoomba Base Hospital, tinatayang nasa 40 kilometro ang layo mula sa lugar na pinangyarihan ng aksidente.

Ayon sa source ng Bombo Radyo, sasagutin umano ng John Holland ang gastos sa paghatid sa mga bangkay papunta ng Pilipinas.

Sagot din naman ng insurance ng kanilang kompaniya ang pagpapaospital kay Nelson.

Nagkataon pa na nasa proseso ngayon si Leganzon sa kanyang pag-a-apply bilang permanent resident ng Australia.

Pero inihayag ni Mena Edmondston ang vice president ng Filipino communities ng Australia, maaaring hindi ma-cover ng work insurance ang iba pang gastusin dala ng aksidente ito at hindi naman sila papunta ng trabaho nang mangyari ang trahedya.

Noong weekend kasi naganap ang insidente habang papunta sila sa Toowoomba at dumaan sila sa Warrego Highway, isang national highway, para sana bumili ng ticket ng eroplano dahil balak nilang magbakasyon sa Pilipinas sa darating na pasko.

Una rito sa inisyal na paliwanag ng pulisya, nag-drive umano sakay ng Subaru Sedan ang mga OFW sa kabilang daan dahil sa traffic kung saan ang dalawang lane ay naging isa na lamang.

Sa teorya ng pulisya, dahil sa haba raw ng highway sa akala ay dalawang lanes pa rin ay naging salungat na pala ang dinadaanan nila hanggang sa mangyari ang malagim na aksidente at sumalpok sa road train.

Filipino Classics 04 June 2013

Join Ely and Robin for an hour for OPM and Filipino literature.

Filipino Life 03 June 2013

Mar on the panel for Filipino Life joined by Robin for an hour of OPM and current events.

3 Filipinos Dead, 1 critical at a Head-On Collision

The Subaru Sedan at an accident which claimed 2 Filipino Lives last weekend. Photo by Seven News.

 

By Erwin Cabucos

 



Investigations are continuing over what might have happened to the fatal accident in Warrego Highway near Dalby last weekend where 3 Overseas Filipino Workers had died instantly and 1 other left in critical condition.

It was reported yesterday that the Filipino passengers and driver of a Subaru Sedan collided with an   empty B-Double road train some 15km east of Dalby about 2.40pm Sunday.

Two pinoys, including the driver, were killed instantly. The four Filipinos are aging between 38 and 45.

Atty Jalilo dela Torre, the the Philippine labour attaché in Canberra revealed that the family of those involved are now being informed about the tragedy.

"A family was anxious to be able to come to Australia as soon as possible to be able to care for their critically injured father," said dela Torre.

The Chronicle newspaper of Toowoomba reported last weekend: "Sergeant Brett Stevenson of the Dalby police traffic branch said, 'it appeared the sedan travelling west had crossed into the path of the B-Double."

"The silver Subaru was definitely on the wrong side of the road for some reason," Sgt. Stevenson added.

Sgt. Stevenson confirmed the driver had been thrown from the vehicle after impact.

One of the two survivors, 46, was airlifted from the scene to a Brisbane hospital by medical helicopter and remained in a serious condition with multiple fractures to his legs, pelvis, chest and neck.

The 1 survivor was taken by ambulance to Toowoomba Base Hospital where he expects to make a recovery.

"The four were on their way back to Chincilla from Toowoomba where they reported made a purchase of plane ticket to go home to the Philippines this Christmas," said Mena Edmondstone the vice president of the Filipino Communities Association.

"They will be repatriated and hospitalized according to the stipulation of their contracts as workers and 457 Visa holders in Austalia," said dela Torre from the Canberra office of the Philippine embassy.

The four were workers for John Holland Telecommunications and Power Company in the Darling Downs area.

Our Ali Babas Struck Again

Bing Mesias

 By Big Mesias

They're at it again- our very brave and compassionate men and women in the hills who make a favorite pastime of maiming and killing their countrymen.  Oh, it's for love of country and the oppressed, they say, reason why they took to the hills.  It's to curb the evils of the government and the excesses of its officials, they say.  Enough already!

So eight unarmed policemen in their t-shirts and shorts on their way to a physical fitness test and medical checkup were blown to smithereens from a landmine planted by the New People's Army (NPA) in Alacapan, Cagayan very recently.  Earlier, on May 25, seven Marine soldiers were also ambushed by the Abu Sayyaf bandits in Sulu. But that's for another story now.

To be expected, Malacanang as well as countless peace-loving citizens of the country expressed outrage over the incident.  This was clearly a violation of international humanitarian law and treaty and the convention banning the use of explosive devices.  But the NPA's beloved top man, Luis Jalandoni, chief peace negotiator of the communist-led National Democratic Front was quick to counter.  "Not so" - he said. "Using "command-detonated landmines as opposed to "contact-detonated ones was not a violation of the Ottawa Treaty" .  The treaty by the way is formally known as the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction".

That's the good Jalandoni for you.  As if a "command - detonated" something as opposed to "contact- detonated ones" would make a difference to the hapless victims blown to bits by these landmines.  Would that this Jalandoni guy personally tests the two and see the difference himself.  And be able to say it's not a violation of anything when he's cold and finished.

0-0-0

I've said it before and I say it again - while other countries build, we continuously destroy.  While other people have made strides in the medical field to save their kind, we maim and kill.  In mid-May this year, 80+ something Ruth Guingona, former mayor of Gingoog City, was likewise waylaid by the NPAs, her two bodyguards killed while protecting her.  So many Filipino lives senselessly lost for nothing.  And yet the NPAs say they're out for peace, for reforms, for a better country.  They're fighting for the poor and the oppressed, Ting! That's what they say. Such bleeding hearts really.  So magnanimous that no groups here or anywhere in the world can equal.

Incidentally, the NPAs have apologized for the death of the two bodyguards.  As they likewise did when they raided del Monte Phil. and killed a poor security guard of the company whose only fault was trying to make a decent living as opposed to them who mastered the art of extortion and making no exception of it- whether from the farmers who have to give them rice and chickens or cold cash from the country's various companies. Incidentally, how much protection money have they raked in from the politicians who ran in the recent election, I wonder?  It is Christmas every election time for these brave souls who don't have to sweat for a living because there's easy money from extortion.  And note - they make no exception except perhaps from those who avow the same ideology as theirs- everyone who ran for public office has to give.  Or suffer the consequence!

Damn the country's 7+ economic growth!  To hell with the much touted tag "Rising Star of Asia."  If we could not be as one people who share the same land and the same big sky but devoid of compassion for each other,  if we could not even love each other enough not to harm and kill our own brothers, what good is that economic upsurge?

And so, is it too much to ask you now -  "WHAT REALLY IS IT WITH YOU- JALANDONI,  SISON AND COHORTS?" Tell me, are you really Filipinos?  Because I say it now as I'll say it again and again so help me God - "You're a disgrace to my race! "

(Bing Mesias is a resident writer of Filipino Radio Brisbane. She writes from her hometown at Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. We welcome your comments below. - Ed)

Joan Ryther honoured at a Logan Community Service

Cory Ryther and the rest of Logan Community at the memorial service of his Filipino wife Joan. Photo by Erwin Cabucos

 by Erwin Cabucos

Filipinos were among the close to 200 people who attended at the 'Stand Up for Joan' rally at the Centre Against Sexual Violence in Logan Central yesterday.

"We just want to let her family know in the Philipines that Joan had many friends here in Australia. To us, she was like a family. She was loved here," said Maree, a close friend from the Visayan region in the Philippines who used to give Joan a lift to and from work.

"She was a bubbly person, a fun person to be with, and a very nice lady," said Casey who Joan used to work with.

"She loved hanging out with friends and going to the movies," added Maree.

At the rally, Cory Ryther expressed his strong love to his wife.

"I want the Filipino Community to know how much I love my wife and how how much I love the Philippines," Ryther said.

"I will bring Joan back home perhaps next week once funeral arrangements are finalised with the Filipino chaplain Marce Singson," Ryther revealed.

At the rally Police Officer David Hutchinson applauded the public for the tremendous support that they show in the cause for the justice of Joan's death.

"This is one of the strongest of community support I have seen in my policing career... We can stand as a community," Hutchinson said.

"We can work together to overcome this, ensure this doesn't again, and give Joan a voice that she deserves," Hutchinson added.

Cory Ryther, Joan's husband, challenged the perpetrator or a group of perpetrators to come forward to the police and own up for what they have done.

"You will be caught; there will be no place for you to hide," said Ryther.

Support for our Kababayans

A Letter to the Brisbane Filipino Communities from our Chaplain

Good evening kababayans:

I believe most of you if not all of you have already heard of the tragic death of our very own Filipina, Joan Canino Ryther, who was murdered on May 21 at Logan. Joan is 27 years old, 2 months pregnant at her time of death. Two years ago, she was married to Cory Ryther (a Canadian chef, in his late 40s) at her hometown in Baroy, Lanao del Norte in Mindanao. Her body is still at the coroner waiting for the go signal from the police investigators for its release. Cory and Joan’s family in Mindanao wish to repatriate her body, not cremated. This will be very expensive because her body will be flown from Brisbane to Manila, from Manila to Ozamis airport, and from Ozamis airport to Baroy, by boat. Initial information from the funeral service which I scouted yesterday is that the amount might reach $10,000 to $11,000 and this amount is only from Brisbane to Manila and it includes legal paper works. To put you all in the loop:

1. I had a personal talk with Cory (Joan’s husband) in my parish office with Reena of the Philippine Consulate in Brisbane to comfort and console him and at the same time to offer our help to him and Joan’s family in the Phils.

2. I scouted funeral directors that offer overseas repatriation and to get the cheapest quote. And today, I zeroed in with Holy Cross Funerals at Redcliffe.

3. I rang Mrs. Delia Canino, Joan’s mother in Lanao del Norte to condole, comfort and console her and give her our full assurance that we are doing our best to bring Joan’s body back home.

4. I have already contacted and arranged a local funeral parlour in Lanao del Norte to pick up Joan’s body at Ozamis airport.

5. I am in good and frequent communication with Reena, Cory, and Elaine Henderson (head of the Queensland Homicide Victim Support). Transparency and proper coordination is a demand in this enterprise because it involves money and legality.

6. I contacted Grace Garcia-Bulos, the ambassador of Philippine Embassy in Canberra to ask if her office or the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila could help defray expenses. Unfortunately she made it clear to me that the Philippine government cannot give financial assistance. She will only waive the paper works payment at the Philippine Consulate in Brisbane which is around $80.

7. Elaine had spoken to me this afternoon that Joan’s body might be released next week. And while waiting for the release we need to already prepare the money to pay for the funeral service and air transport.

In this regard, I am therefore urging all Filipino communities and individuals to generously open your wallet for this very noble cause. Cory is appealing for our financial help. Perhaps none of us know Joan, but she is part and parcel of our community as she is a Filipina. The repatriation of her body will be a big relief and easing the pain for the whole family of Joan in Mindanao. Reena, Elaine and Cory are fully aware that I am asking financial help from the Filipinos as this is the only where we can bring the body back home. You may deposit your donation to:

Bank: CBA
Name: Filipino Australian Chaplaincy of Brisbane
BSB: 064 159
Acct: 1032 7904

By cheque: Filipino Chaplaincy of Brisbane
Postal address: Fr. Marce Singson
St. Edward’s Church
104 Chatswood Road, Daisy hill Qld 4127

Please indicate your name when you deposit an amount at CBA so that we can make an acknowledgment of the donors. Our Chaplaincy Coordinator Amante Alvaran (Mobile: 0433 027 042) and Treasurer Maricel Tejada (Mobile 0414 738 107) will be the ones to monitor all donations as I refrain to have direct access to our Chaplaincy Bank account.

And by the way, it was only 2 weeks ago when I collected abuloy from some Filipinos for the cremation of the body of Flora Igbalic, a Filipina from Southern Leyte who died during the house fire at Bracken Ridge one month ago. Her ashes is now back home to the Phils.

I would like to anticipate my sincere THANK YOU for your generosity for Joan and her family. And please forward my email to your social networking or facebook.

Rev. Fr. Marce Singson
Chaplain

Filipino Community

Brisbane

Filipino Clasics 28 May 2013

Filipino Classics- Classic OPM and literature.

Filipino Life 27 May 2013

Hosteb by Mar Nur & Robin Wenceslao.

Fiipino Today 22 May 2013

Listen to last week's episode of Filipino Today.

Filipino Groove 22 May 2013

Last weeks episode of Filipino Groove is now uploaded.

Stand Up for Joan Canino Ryther!

The Filipino Community Council of Queensland condemns the violence through which Philippine-Australian mother-to-be and worker Joan Canino Ryther lost her life last Tuesday in Brisbane's South.

"We abhor this sort of criminality done to anybody and sadly to a Filipino-Australian" says Mrs Mena Edmondstone, the Filipino Community Council of Queensland President.

"We appeal to everyone to contact Queensland Police for any clue or lead that would help find the perpetrator," adds Edmondstone. 

Joan, 27 years old, was two months pregnant when she was allegedly sexually assaulted and hit with a blunt material on the head before her body was found several hours later, half-naked, on a front yard at Leichhardt Street, Logan Central.

Her husband, Cory Ryther, appeals to the public for information related to the murder of his wife.

"Any information [about the incident]... please call the police," Cory Ryther said, in tears.

"It's a sad sad thing that this happened just a few hundred meters from her home, and everyone in the community, Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike, should be alarmed by this incident and must all join hands in preventing crimes in our locality," says Eden Rolfs, the president of the Ipswich Filipino-Australian Association, Inc.

"It is hard to imagine that a grim act like this is done to a Filipino lady; Filipinos are known to be soft-natured and peace-loving people," says Erwin Cabucos, the Philippine convenor of Radio 4EB 98.1FM in Brisbane.

A rally has been organised on Thursday 30 May 2013 in the evening at Logan Central to express community's concern against violence and for justice for Joan's death. Participants are requested to wear or bring anything  purple which was Joan's favourite colour.

Filipino Radio Brisbane encourages all Filipino and Australians alike to participate on Thursday's rally. For more information , please call Centre Against Sexual Violence on 3808 3299.

Joan was one of eight children, she  came to Australia as a student and while studying as a hairdresser met Cory at a Cafe in Slacks Creek in 2011 where their romance began.

The couple got married in  Baroy, Lanao Del Norte Province but decided to settle in Australia, Joan joined Cory in February of this year.

Over joyed by her pregnancy Joan  invited her co-workers to join  in a baby shower for a girl she and Cory expected, to be named Baby Camille Gayle Ryther.

Joan's peers from McDonalds in Woodridge comment they will miss her bubbly and likable personality.

Assistant to the Consul Reena Gabutero Gallardo-Johnson from the Philippine Consulate in Brisbane welcomes any assistance extended by the community for Joan's family and  for the big amount needed to repatriate  her remains back to the Philippines after the coroner's investigations are finished. 

"A funeral is being organised  before her body is  flown back to Lanao del Norte as requested by her family" Gallardo-Johnson said.

For more information on this matter and how you can help Joan's last journey to her homeland,  please contact Reena Gallardo-Johnson - 0412 200 525.

Inspector David Hutchinson reveals that at least 40 police officers are investigating in Joan's case. He encourages anybody with knowledge about the killing to come out and cooperate in the investigations. 

Facebook page R.I.P. Joan Canino Ryther publishes online networking messages of sympathy for Joan.

Bagong Bayani Award Calls for Nomination

The Bagong Bayani Award 2013 is now open for nomination until August 31, 2013.

This annual search for the best and fairest Overseas Filipino Worker aims to recognise the invaluable contribution of OFW’s in the economic and civic fields.

From its inception in 2005, the Bagong Bagong Bayani Annual is the Philippines’ most prestigious award that honours the extraordinary and exemplary deeds, acts, life, services and profession of the overseas Filipino workers.

The Bagong Bayani Foundation, Inc, which facilitates the selection and promotion of the nation’s most outstanding foreign workers, in coordination with the POEA and OWWA, hopes to highlight the integrity of the OFWs and the distinct role that they play in the national building of the country.

Five (5) categories are open for nomination this year:

1.     The Bagong Bayani Award for Outstanding Employee

2.     The Bagong Bayani Award for Community and Social Service

3.     The Bagong Bayani Award for Culture and the Arts

4.     Capt Gregorio S Oca Achievement Award

5.     Blas F. Ople Award para sa Natatanging Bagong Bayani

General Pre-Qualifying Criteria:

Any Filipino working overseas, whether land-based or sea-based, and possessing the following qualification, may be nominated:

·      Must have or have been an OFW for at least two (2) years;

·      Has no past or present criminal or derogatory record;

·      Must be of good moral standing or has received recognition from past or present employer for exemplary behaviour or outstanding service; and

·      The employment contract must have been processed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA)

For more information and to obtain nomination forms, please go to: 

http://www.bbfi.com.ph/bagong-bayani-awards-2013/

Filipinos in Diaspora 1001 Stories - 2

Atty Jalilo Dela Torre

By Atty Jalilo Dela Torre

Tess Ponce was a TESDA trainor in Bohol when the opportunity to work in Australia came in the form of the Filipina wife of an Australian construction company owner based in Perth, who wanted the welders of Bohol trained for welding jobs in Australia. Not minding undergoing the same experience with her own trainees who looked up to her as their mentor, she landed as a first-class welder in Perth in 2006. At Perth Airport, she took a moment to reflect: “This is it. All those stories I’ve heard and read about OFWs slaving away and sometimes coming into harm’s way, I will now experience firsthand. Let’s see what this new chapter of my life brings.”

What it brought was a curve ball. Her being a former instructor of the same welders she was now working with brought on some special dynamics, which at first unsettled her. In one instance, she heard them boast, “We are in the same boat now. We get the same pay and suffer the same work conditions. There are no sacred cows now, no mentors, just us on the same level, no special considerations for anybody!” Finding the comments distasteful but not worthy of a reaction, she plodded on with her work, 24/7. But what really got her goat was when she noticed the group had started to fall apart, precipitated by the need of one or two to kowtow to the employer. Then, she noticed them engage in what she thought was particularly galling--badmouthing anybody who happened to be absent. She told them off, “I bet that when I’m not around, you say bad things about me, too!” Nobody had the guts to talk back.

Her journey to permanent residency and eventually Australian citizenship was not a walk in the park, though. Finding her employment becoming untenable, she decided to quietly sever her ties with the person responsible for bringing her to Australia, to whom she still feels grateful. She was able to find a job on her own, but not before going through another bad experience with another employer, who owned a labour-hire company. In retrospect, she is grateful for her experience with the latter because working for an on-hire company meant you get to be assigned in different companies, all with differing work standards, processes and corporate environment. “We went through a lot of training to be able to meet Australian qualification standards in welding,” Tess remembers, “and it also meant you needed to be always fit and ready, physically and mentally, very much like an infantry soldier, ready to be deployed to a different theatre of operations everytime.

Her stint with the on-hire company gave Tess a fuller appreciation of the importance of occupational health and safety. Having started her Australian career past the age of 40, she was aware of the need to be constantly on the lookout for occupational health and safety risks, and this point was driven home when she went through a health scare, going under the knife for bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome.

In 2008, due to the recession, Tess was discharged by her second employer and had to accept a job in Bunbury, 200 kilometres away from Perth. She had no choice because she needed to have an employer who would sponsor her application for permanent residence. She lost no time in asking her Bunbury employer for sponsorship, and it was all she could do while waiting for the employer’s nod. Having gotten the go-signal, she immediately set the wheels in motion for her application. Tess enjoys the distinction of probably being the only Filipino 457 visa holder whose application for permanent residence was approved overnight. She did her own research on immigration rules, did her own documentation and with plenty of advice from successful applicants and from a Filipino source at the DIAC, lodged the application herself. The day after she mailed her application, her case officer called her to tell her the good news, and though unbelieving at first, was overjoyed at her good fortune. Barely a year later, she acquired Australian citizenship. Her joy at finally obtaining what she set out from Bohol in 2006 to achieve was tempered because this was also the time when she underwent surgery for her hand. She finally had to follow the advice of her doctor that she needed to change jobs because if she continued to work as a welder, she was going to lose the use of both hands. Now, Tess is into a brand-new logistics management career, and has set her eyes to a hospital-based logistics-management job but with much better pay.

Tess is my first real resource person for how to reform the Philippine training and qualification system to make it world-class, and thus produce skilled workers whose qualifications are directly recognized by Australia and other developed Western labour markets. The Philippines should adopt the same structured training system adopted by Australia and many advanced economies, the Dual Training System. Extraneous high school curriculum subjects must be eliminated and replaced with subjects directly related to the technical-vocational aptitude of the student. Schools in the Philippines which have successfully adopted this model include Don Bosco and the SITE in Cebu, which have strong partnerships with companies to provide the actual work experience for the apprentice. Our apprenticeship system is a joke, and used only by employers out to cash in on the lower wage rates of apprentices. We have orientated our tech-voc system to produce graduates destined for Middle Eastern labour markets, which have no sophisticated training and qualification systems in place. We have gotten away with it so far but as the Middle East market draws down, we will have to adopt the training and apprenticeship standards of more structured systems of advanced economies like Australia, the UK, the US and Western European economies like Germany, if we are to maximize overseas employment and economic opportunities for our people.

This means, Tess stressed that as early as high school, the education pathways of Filipino students must already be determined. If for example, a student doesn’t show any aptitude for a liberal education, his science or engineering career should already be encouraged and mapped and just before graduating from high school, his choices of a future career should have been further narrowed down. The choice of careers should be determined by a student’s aptitude and ability and not by interest and ambition. By the time he enters a bachelor’s course or a technical-vocational course, no other subjects should clutter his curriculum but those directly related to the course chosen. Then, if the chosen pathway is a technical-vocational area, there should already be waiting apprenticeship arrangements with employers following a national apprenticeship framework which specifies the number of hours of actual apprenticeship training in the company before he is granted a qualification.

Tess concludes, “If we really want to take advantage of the Australian job market, we need to pull our socks up as far as our own training regimen is concerned. We need to modernize and attune ourselves with the training standards of the developed world.”

Bob Fulton of Roma, QLD once told me a story once of his attempt to recruit aviation technicians, who graduated from an aviation training diploma mill in Manila. Not only did they not possess the basic competence of aviation maintenance, Bob complained, they were dangerous from the aviation safety point of view.

(Atty Jalilo dela Torre is a resident writer for Filipino Radio Brisbane. His accounts and commentaries on Filipinos in Diaspora are a testament to his encounters with Filipinos in Australia as a Labor Attache for the Philippine Embassy in Canberra. This is second in the series. -Ed)

Election 2013 - Its Aftermath

Bing Mesias

 An opinion piece by Big Mesias

Dust has settled, the circus is over.  Finally over and done with - the mudslinging, the singing and dancing on stage, the endless debates laced with insults and counter-insults to the delight of the insatiable audience who wanted "more, more!"  And now the aftermath.

I look back to Election 2013 and I heave a sigh of relief that at last, the nation can  now settle back to the serious business of living life again - the normal task of everyday living that is.  But how can't I help feeling sorry too for so much opportunities lost? The opportunity of bringing back sanity to politics and the serious task of nation-building because we voted the right people to office? Of looking forward to better things because up there are capable people we can trust who will lead us because they have the expertise, the good name that are unassailable which can come up to even the closest scrutiny?

What did we get instead?  "The Pacman's"  wife is now vice-governor of Sarangani Isl.- she whose only claim to fame is being wife to a  congressman and a "has been" boxer on top of being a Vicky Belo products model. 

Ugh!  But she did say that she will learn the ropes along the way, did she not, Josefa?  There!  That should assuage the most skeptical among us, she will learn, haha!  As if being the 2nd highest official of a province is a hit or miss method- she can undo matters anytime if she errs.  Simple really now. But there's a comforting thought  and I'm counting the country's blessings-  at least mommy Dionisia confined her talents to dancing and did not think of entering the fray.  "The Pacman" is learning the ropes and learning fast too- he is now creating his own fiefdom - his brother also ran in the last election but don't ask me in what position or if he won.  I don't know, Ting!

Then there's Nancy Binay, the vice president's daughter whose famous line when hit by the cynics that she did not even get to be a barangay captain before being voted senator is - "  I've been on OJT for 20 years at my parent's office."  To those who don't know it yet,  her father was a 3-term Makati mayor and her mother "inherited" her husband's office after him. Her brother incidentally, is today's Makati mayor and her sister Abigail a congresswoman, also of Makati.  A fiefdom, see?  Preparatory to her 'ole daddy's running as president of the country in 2016 as almost everybody knows.  Nancy's a senator now and will continue to be on OJT, methink.  In due time she will graduate into being full-time, no worries really, as the Aussies say.  She will get there alright!

Election 2013 saw the coup plotters- Honasan and Trillanes reelected.  The former even trounced Dick Gordon, a far better man than he is- him who destroyed the country's slowly rise to economic independence by staging coups again and again during Cory's term.  And of course there's Trillanes, who staged his own coup from inside a posh hotel, haha!  At least he knew what better place to mount a mini-rebellion - scared chefs and  waiters were there to serve them the best dishes, courtesy of the place.  What luck!

The Marcoses of Ilocandia of course are back, all of them!  From the grand dame Imelda herself as congresswoman, daughter Imee as Ilocos governor and his daddy's son, Bongbong.  What can I say?  Filipinos are a forgiving lot aside from having a short memory, a very, very short memory.  Because the Romualdezes of Leyte also rule the place and are very much back in harness too, as are the Cayetanos, the Revillas and the Estradas.  And God have mercy!  The last one is the clincher!  A convicted plunderer before given a presidential pardon, Erap is now Manila mayor - the Philippines' premier city his new playground no less!  And all his kins who ran won easily too- JB Ejercito is now senator,  ER Ejercito was reelected Laguna mayor, and his innamorata Guia Gomez also reelected San Juan mayor. Some people indeed have all the luck, the Estradas leading all the rest. No offense meant to Abu Ben Adheim now.

Election 2013 saw a few political dynasties toppled - the Jalosjos' of Zamboanga and the Gordons among them.  But it likewise saw new ones emerging - the Mangudadatus of Maguindanao is one example.  True, the Catholic bishops came out with pastoral letters urging the electorates to shun the political dynasties a few weeks before the election but these came a little too late.  The letters pointed out these dynasties as a source of corruption, there being no more check and balance where an outgoing official is replaced by an incumbent coming from the same family but by then, the electorates have been bombarded by repeated ads so that name recall became the rule rather than the exception.  Because who has heard of a Penson, an Alcantara or a Seneres whose credentials are nothing to scoff at but don't have the family name to back them up?

We have a convicted plunderer, some coup plotters, rapists, movie actors and all other jokers who had the gall to run for public office even when they know that they neither have the credential nor the good name to lead our people.  And yet we even voted some of them, heaven help us!  And we wonder now why the country is going to the dogs?

" WE ONLY DESERVED THE KIND OF LEADERS WE GET!"

(Bing Mesias is a resident writer for Filipino Radio Brisbane.)

Dan Rubio Fights at Fortitude Valley Stadium

Witness the Filipino boxing sensation Michael Dan fights on Saturday 15 June 2013 at the Fortitude Stadium, 12 Kyabra Street, Newstead.

Along with our Michael Dan, watch the combination, covers, punch, jabs, in the ring from Dennis 'Hurricane' Hogan, 'Deadly' Dean Mikeli and Big Josh Robertson.

This is a big event not to be missed for our Mindoro boy. Door opens at 6:30PM

Call  'Rolling Express' Roland on 0448 987 510 for tickets and reservation.

Brisbane Pinoys must come!  

Two tickets to be given away for Filipino Radio 4EB and Global Digital listeners in the next couple of weeks. Keep listening. Courtesy of of Rolling Express, Brisbane.

Filipino Classic Musical Feast in Ipswich

 By Erwin Cabucos

Filipino classic favourites such as 'Manila', 'Anak', 'Sa Ugoy ng Duyan', 'Kalesa' and 'Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika' will be made alive on stage in this delightful glee from the International Goodwill Performers on Saturday, 1 June 2013, from 6:30PM at the QRI Ipswich Club, 4 Bell Street, Ipswich.

These all time Original Pilipino Music favourites will be performed in a theatrical feast of singing and dancing to delight audience with the charms of Filipino heritage and culture.

Aptly called Sa Mahal Kong Bayan: Pagpupugay sa Musikang Pilipino, the much loved vocal ensemble features Koro Bulakeno under the musical direction of internally acclaimed Glenn B de Jesus.

To begin with the song 'Paraisong Pilipinas', this traditional Filipino Concert, presented under the collaboration of Koro Bulakeno, the Provincial Government of Bulakan and the City Government of Malolos, extends its repertoire to the beautiful rendition of 'Mutya ng Pasig', 'May Bukas Pa', 'Gaano Kita Kamahal','Viva Republika', 'Kenkoy' even 'Ispageti', and a whole lot more!

The group performs in Ipswich as part of its 2013 Australian Tour - their 4th in the series.

Tickets are $15.00 per person and $10.00 for concession holders and children age 9-14. To book, please call Ipswich Ticket Seller 0411834437 or  32015849.

It's a wonderful Filipino date!

  

Barrio Fiesta Brisbane 2013

Excitement heightens as the Barrio Fiesta Brisbane 2013 approchaes!

To be held on Sunday June 9, 2013 at 122 Park Road, Yeronga, in Brisbane. The site is accessible by train to Yeronga Station and a short walk to the Yeronga State School Grounds.

See live bands, children amusement, food stalls, arts and crafts stalls, government and corporate product and services stalls, hip hop dance, traditional Filipino games,  and unique to this year's Fiesta: Touch Footy Competition to win a prize of $3,000 sponsored by Full Clip Radio Brisbane.

ATM onsite and Sarah Geronimo raffle tickets to be drawn. Plus there will be heaps of surprises!

Visit facebook/BarrioFiesta Brisbane2013 for more updates and contacts!

Filipino Life 20 May 2013

Pinoy music and Philippine news updates.

Filipino Classics 14 May 2013

Hosted by Ely Lapidez and Robin Wenceslao.

Filipino Life 13 May 2013

The episode will focus on the speech of Ambassador Anota at the recently held Queensland Filipino Australian Women Achievement Awards. Hosted by Mar Nur.

Calling All Filipino Musicians!

 by Belinda Edwards

As you may have heard, Queensland Music Festival has set its sites on not just one, but two Guinness World Records TM this year – assembling the World's Biggest Orchestra AND the Largest Trumpet Ensemble!

To write Queensland's name into the Record Books we need more than 6,000 musicians – woodwind, brass, percussion and strings  - and over 1100 trumpeters to sign up to this challenge. You can find out more, and register online at www.qmf.org.au

 

So far, we have great support from the school community with students all over South East Queensland, even as far as Dalby and Townsville, learning the five-minute medley of songs James Morrison has arranged for the event – Waltzing Matilda, Ode to Joy, and We Will Rock You.

But we need more! Many many more! 

Can you help us? Did you play an instrument at school? Were you ever in a band? Do you parents or siblings play? Did you learn any of these songs, or have memories of hearing them?

Any support you can give us by way of tweets, social media posts, on-air chat or website/blog coverage would be gratefully received. 

Remember, the Recorder is classed as a woodwind instrument, and there is a melody-line written by James Morrison for the recorder for this event. 

We can even supply you with the recorder...

--
Belinda Edwards Publicist Jane Balkin PR 0402020149 belinda@janebalkinpr.com.au

 

Free Computer Training for Filipino Seniors Continues

Computer Use is now made easy for Filipino Senior Citizens in Brisbane

By Erwin Cabucos

Filipino Senior Citizens and and their families are invited to attend free-learn-to-use computers sessions at the Brisbane Square Library every Sunday between 11 and 1 until the end of June, 2013.

The program, initiated and facilitated by the Filipino Community Council of Queensland, has been helping many mature Filipino-Australians in being able to use social networking platforms such as Twitter, the Facebook and the usual email.

The free computer lessons also aim to teach participants how to use Microsoft Word and other hands-on softwares which will help them conduct business and personal affairs today.

"It is an exciting opportunity for all Filipinos, particularly those in the senior category as it may mean for them being able to communicate with their loved ones more readily and frequently in the way that is considered more commonly these days,' says Mr Ely Paez, the computer instructor for the program.

"I feel honoured to be able to teach my students basic skills in computing and helping them making their lives easier and happier through the learning they get,' said Paez who is a qualified teacher from the Philippines.

The tutorials are done in Filipino language.

The president of FCCQ Mena Edmondstone is also proud to announce that those who want their public transport fares reimbursed from attending the sessions can lodge for an application for refund.

"We can offer refunds for your fare to encourage you come and participate in this great learning opportunity," Edmondstone said.

The program comes with funding from the Department of Community Services, Canberra.

For those interested in attending, please contact Mr Ely Paez on 0435 647 863.

On being senior... what bliss!

By Bing Mesias

 
I appear on social media so very often nowadays that I smile to myself remembering what I read once - "If you don't see me on FB for 2 days, call the police!" 

Yes, the peach-blooming years are definitely over and gone, they're now just beautiful memories of what seems like eons ago. Many old friends tried and true have left, so did some dear ones who are sorely missed but have actually stayed because their live presence I carry in my heart. They left a void so deep that nothing and no one can fill, but there too is an acceptance that as they passed, so too, will I.  We are naught but just passing ships in the night, and if they left beautiful memories to remember long after they're gone, I know that there will be many long - lasting footprints that I too shall leave for my little ones that they may or may not follow someday. Their choice really now.

Today, the days are much shorter, the hours tick by so fast there are so many things I want done because for me now, time is of the essence.  And yet, even as I rush, I also tarry.  A contradiction now? It is not, because well though I know that my time is now my very own, to do as a I please, to do what I want. No more work waiting to be done, no immediate tasks to keep me awake during the night, no deadlines to beat, no bosses to please. Nothing!

So I can tarry all I want, there's no hurry.  I needn't even try to please anybody but myself now, and it's a very comforting thought, a happy thought - just myself to please and no other.  Because the kids grew wings, and they have flown!  What's left now is an empty nest, just an empty nest for me to roost and no other. I'm the Lord and Master of my kingdom!

Ah, but don't get me wrong.  Life has been good and I have no complaints.  More years added to one's age is even emancipating, I know now.  Why, I have even become more daring!  I would have cringed seeing the loud- colored outfits that hang in my closet today because though there still are the blues and light pink, many too are the reds and creams that compete with the dark colors.  The reds and yellows that I dared not even try in my youth because I was too conscious of the color of my skin which is very Filipino - a deep brown, are now a-plenty!  The close-necked tops?  Nah!  They have become things of the past as almost everything I have now show more skin even if I must admit, albeit grudgingly, that the skin isn't worth much showing, haha!

But do I even care?  Who sez?  I tell you, maturity has its own rewards, too many rewards in fact, and I'm not even talking now of the 20 per cent discount on groceries and plane fare and the many other privileges given to a senior.  They are just a few bonuses thrown in, insignificant bonuses really because alleluia!  More years also mean being freed from the kids' school fees that kept every parent tossing well into the night, freed from the many bills that one kept subtracting and adding on one's mind because they multiplied so fast that keeping pace with them could drive one nuts.  Maturity brings with it a quiet resignation to WHAT IS and WHAT WILL - none anymore of the rage and seething anger when one is young, many times sans reason, I can see now.  None of the so-many WHYS that nobody could answer anyway. Because there were no answers, they were just the raging hormones of the young.

Today I can see the world more clearly - there aren't anymore the lofty dreams that I know are impossible to achieve because there isn't much time to do them anyway.  None of the crazy hopes that are just wishful cobwebs in my mind, nothing!  Maturity means being realistic, being more patient although be forewarned! That patience doesn't include suffering fools gladly - one's temper now doesn't include tolerating blatant stupidity.  I wonder no more now why an old uncle before just got off his handle, blowing his top without what seemed to me a reason at all because now, I do too.  Age does that, and no apologies!

Oh, but do I still dream?  Of course!  Not doing so is being dead and I know I'm still very much alive, still kicking, as the wise wags say.  But these dreams are within my reach, very doable so to speak - realistic!  Like perhaps meeting someone to guide me and hold my hand so I won't stumble in the dark?  Yes!  Like meeting an old flame as doddering perhaps as I am now but is still capable of dreaming the old dreams?  Why not?

No, just kidding really now!  Have I said that age brings with it too being able to laugh at one's self?  Being more tolerant of one's foibles, knowing that one, though wiser now, is far from being perfect?  But come to think of it, is it not very possible?  Meeting that old fool I mean? Although God forbid, I hope he won't be a not -so- very - promising Romeo anymore whose faltering  steps I'll  guide instead of him guiding me, or I would send him back pronto from whence he came.  And that's a vow I would keep too!

Okay, okay - before I build castles in the sky, let me just go back to pounding these keys, do my Sudoku when I'm done with this and chat with friends on FB while deciding on what red, flowery bare-backed dress to bring to that island for a holiday with the girls.  And I mean Girls, capital G, who though hard of hearing now and diabetics, even perhaps toothless  (a few of them anyway) are still prone to giggling and shhh! even ogling at some young hunks they spy around them.  Between just you and me, I do too, hehe! 

I tell you - being senior is very fulfilling and yes, I'm still into planning, dreaming and endless hoping. But as I've already said, these will be small, realistic, doable plans and dreams - like meeting that ageing Romeo who might be just around the corner, who really knows?  Anything is possible. 

And no,  I don't really think "Senior",  I know I'm still very young.  In my heart and in my mind I know I am.

After all, "AGE IS JUST A NUMBAH," dah'LIN!  

(Bing Mesias is a resident writer of Filipino Radio Brisbane. Please leave your comments below.)