Singer, host, organizer, stylist

Leigh Rioux – singer, host, organizer, stylist

LIFESTYLE

By MARK FRANCISCO

 Cagayan de Oro Times

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Leigh Rioux

NOT everyone here in Cagayan de Oro can be as talented as this woman yet retaining and maintaining that same beauty and poise after all these years.

Meet Leigh Rioux! Leigh’s first love and will ever be is singing. That’s why during her elementary years in the early 1990s, the never-shy-and-always-bubbly Leigh joined amateur contests here in the city everywhere she could. (In the pre-cellphone and Internet era back then, amateur contests were the mainstream. They were usually held at the then City Bandstand, now Kiosko Kagawasan in Plaza Divisoria.)

Just like everyone of us, Leigh grew up and graduated with a degree in Mass Communication in Pilgrim Christian College.

Because of her immense vocal talent, Leigh also had ambitions to use that talent. Her destiny was Japan. For nine years from 2003 to 2011, Leigh became a solo singing performer in the city of Nagoya.

By 2012, Leigh came back to her hometown and settled her for good. For two years, she chose to rest and honed her other emerging talents privately.

In 2015, Leigh was ready to come back to the spotlight. She was invited and has consistently ever since among the beautiful Kagay-anons modeling in the annual Mags on the Catwalk from 2015 to the present which is held every last quarter of the year.

In 2017, Leigh decided to resurrect from her singing hibernation. By then, she started accepting solo gigs in various lounges all over – EBar, Limketkai Luxe, Skybar, etc. Today, Leigh is a regular at Jacko’s Grill in uptown Cagayan de Oro.

She likewise started hosting parties and similar events, even corporate ones like the Cignal series of activities here and in Butuan City that year.

The year after in 2018, Leigh discovered that she had another hidden talent on the side – event organizing. Thus, she started accepting organizing weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, debuts and other corporate events.

At the start of this year in 2019, Leigh also branched out in event styling focusing on such soirees as pre-nuptial, pre-debut and pre-birthday shoots. On the side, she endorses Christine’s Boutique.

That’s Leigh Rioux – a woman not just of diligence but of beauty as well. Whether it be in singing, hosting, event styling or organizing, clients will surely be satisfied.

Deutschland sucht auf den Philippinen nach Pflegekräften

Gesundheitsministerium sucht auch auf den Philippinen nach Pflegekräften.

Deutschland will im Kampf gegen den Pflegenotstand auch verstärkt Personal von den Philippinen anwerben. Die Parlamentarische Staatssekretärin Sabine Weiss (CDU) reiste nach Angaben des Gesundheitsministeriums in das südostasiatische Land, um über die Arbeitsmöglichkeiten dortiger Arbeitskräfte in Deutschland zu beraten. Konkret gehe es um die Frage, wie die Pflegekräfte bereits im Herkunftsland auf die Tätigkeit in Deutschland vorbereitet und die Verfahren erleichtert werden können. Bereits im Juli war mit dem Kosovo eine Zusammenarbeit in der Ausbildung von Pflegefachkräften vereinbart worden.

Coral Reefs rapidly die from marine heat waves

I love swimming and diving. In the Philippines, we have innumerable possibilities to swim and dive. Having fun while doing this wonderful sports. But during the last months, one observed the sad situation: yes, coral reefs rapidly die because of more and more marine heat waves all over the globe.

Scientists have published new findings on the impact of global warming on the world's coral reefs. They found that severe marine heat waves can completely destroy coral and threaten other marine species. Isn't that so very sad?
   
Scientists concluded that increasing sea temperatures can completely destroy coral reefs through a process called bleaching. Marine heat waves are killing coral reefs far quicker than scientists previously believed, this new study has found. From the news agencies AFP and dpa (German) on my desk this morning... .

Researchers from Australia, the UK and the US studied the impact of global warming in Australia's Great Barrier Reef and published their findings on Friday (yesterday, August 9, 2019) in the Current Biology Journal.

The scientists concluded that severe and frequent marine heat waves can destroy corals through a process called "bleaching."

Repeated "bleaching events" kill the colorful algae covering and nourishing the coral, thereby destroying the coral in a matter of months or years. If sea temperatures decrease, bleached corals can be revived.  If sea temperatures decrease. And if not??

The researchers also have evidence that the skeleton of corals, also an animal species, begins to decay within weeks of a marine heat wave. The degradation also puts at risk many other sea creatures that live in the sea coral.

"The severity of these heat wave events is beyond the bleaching process; it's actually a point where the coral animal itself is dying," said Tracy Ainsworth, a co-author of the study from the University of New South Wales.

Funny and discouraging at the same time: Great Barrier Reef: 'Last-chance' tourists flock to wonder as coral disappears. Try to explain it to your children. The size of the Great Barrier Reef covers an area larger than Italy and is one of earth's most bio-diverse ecosystems. Imagine, we are talking about the loss of a World Heritage Site.

The Great Barrier Reef, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the world's biggest coral system. The reef covers an area larger than Italy and is one of earth's most biodiverse ecosystems.

However, the reef's Marine Park Authority predicts that if current greenhouse gas emissions are not curbed, the coral is projected to bleach twice a decade from 2035 and annually after 2044. In the past 20 years, the reef has suffered from four mass bleaching events due to global warming. Mass bleaching in 2016-2017 affected up to half of the coral in the 2,300-kilometer reef.

Stop abusing land now!

My column in MINDANAO DAILY and
BUSINESSWEEK MINDANAO

Scientists are poised to deliver a stark condemnation of the damage we are wreaking on the land surface of the planet. We have degraded soils, expanded deserts, felled forests, driven out wildlife, and drained peat lands. In the process, we have turned the land from an asset that combats climate change into a major source of carbon. The scientists will say we must stop abusing the land if we hope to avoid catastrophic climate heating. That's how BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin expressed his worries. And not only his. Many people think the same way.

I learned it from experts: uncultivated land covered with vegetation protects us from overheating because the plants absorb the warming gas CO2 from the air and fix it in the soil.

But the scientists meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, will say the way we farm and grow timber often actually increases emissions of carbon dioxide.

Between a quarter and a third of all greenhouse gas emissions are now estimated to come from land use.

The scientists will warn of a battle for land between multiple competing demands: bio fuels, plant material for plastics and fibres, timber, wildlife, paper and pulp - and food for a growing population.

Their report will say we need to make hard choices about how we use the world’s soil.

And it will offer another warning that our hunger for red meat is putting huge stress on the land to produce animal feed, as well as contributing to half of the world’s emissions of methane - another greenhouse gas.

Following BBC expert Roger Harrabin the document’s being finalized this week among scientists and government officials on the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It will become the most authoritative report yet on the way we use and abuse the land. Scientists hope it will give the issue of land use greater prominence in negotiations on climate change.

The question is how we use it. But each and every one of us can still (!) help our Mother Earth and its climate.

We need to protect as much natural forest as we can, particularly in the tropics! Change diets to eat less red meat and more vegetables. Safeguard peat lands and restore them where possible. Grow plants and trees to produce energy… but only on a small local scale. Do more agro-forestry, where food crops are mixed in with trees. Improve crop varieties.

Farmers in some parts of the world will be hit harder by climate change - also in the Philippines. There’s still some debate. One option is to concentrate intensive farming into the smallest possible area of land, in order to leave as much natural land as possible to soak up CO2.

Another option is to farm in a less intensive, more climate-friendly way – but that means taking up more natural land to compensate.

Either way, the report will warn that the poorest farmers will be hardest hit by global warming, and they’ll be least able to afford new technologies to change the way they farm.

Kelly Levin, from the US green think tank WRI, told BBC News the report should heap pressure on politicians to cut fossil fuel emissions. She said: “If we consider the climate problem hard now, just think about how much harder it will be without the land serving as a large sink for carbon dioxide emissions.”

Prof Jane Rickson from Cranfield University, UK, voiced out: “Increased temperatures and heavier rainfall will aggravate soil erosion, compaction, loss of organic matter, loss of biodiversity, and landslides… many of which are irreversible. “I hope the final IPCC report will be robust enough to motivate politicians and land managers to implement policies and practices that will reverse, mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis”.

In my opinion: I hope too and pray for it.

Philippinen rufen wegen Dengue den Gesundheitsnotstand aus

Auf den Philippinen hat die Regierung nach mehr als 600 Toten durch das Dengue-Fieber seit Jahresbeginn den Notstand erklärt. Besonders betroffen ist die Hauptstadtregion rund um Manila. Den Behörden zufolge könnte der Anstieg daran liegen, dass aktuell ein besonders aggressiver Virustyp unterwegs sei. Insgesamt wurden auf den Philippinen 2019 bereits mehr als 146.000 Dengue-Fälle registriert. Mit der Erklärung von Dengue zu einer landesweiten Epidemie soll es den Behörden leichter gemacht werden, Maßnahmen gegen die Ausbreitung der Krankheit einzuleiten. Das Virus wird von Mücken übertragen.

(C) Deutsche Welle 2019

War is hell!

Check the news! Everyday, killing in every part of the world is unceasing. This is because of war. Warriors go and fight prepared to kill and to be killed with  no fear. In the forests, in the streets - a lot of them are found dead bodies spread-eagled. Some are even mutilated. In the rivers, in the oceans - a lot of them are found floating if not eaten by the hungry sharks.

Check the global news and allow me to ask the question: but what about those innocent lives who are just victims of war atrocities? Are they prepared to die in such a horrible state? It is sickening to realize that those people a re killed within just a flick of a finger by those war-oriented people - people who are compensated and trained to kill. More often, we can check the news about numbers of people dead and injured caused by building and street bombings, chemical  poisonings and nuclear power testings.

Killings, yes, there will be always be killings. The Super Powers are (again) in a race to put as many weapons as possible into their allies' hands. The Arm producers are urged and more encouraged to make more weapons and explosives. As the Great Powers never stop intervening in these small countries' affairs, there will be more casualties.

Isn't it much better for them to help the Third World Countries economically than supplying them with these weapons and teaching them how to use them and kill each other?

How many more innocent lives shall we find scattered in the streets? How many more of them will be seen floating in the open seas with shattered bodies? And how many more young and old people will be buried innocently leaving their loved-ones to suffer pain and extreme grief?

War is hell! The world has had enough! And it seems, that natural disasters are not yet enough!

Peace be with us!

Vacation from God?

My column in Mindanao Daily, BusinessWeek Mindanao and Cagayan de Oro Times.

I am still staying at my hiding place - just 2 more days. A lonely beach. Just relaxing. Next week: back to school. New enrollees are waiting. Back to the office. Clients are asking for appointments already.

Yes, from to time, I need a refreshing pause. Vacation comes from the Latin word "vacare", which literally means, to be empty, to render oneself inoperative. Vacation is freedom or release from tension and pressure of work. It is the rest from some occupation, business or activities.

Strictly speaking, vacation concerns those who are in school or studying in colleges and universities. For professionals, however, furlough would be the appropriate term. 

Why we take a vacation? "All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy". Remember it? There is always a limit to psychical as well as mental activities. We are not robots nor are we slaves. Neither should we be workaholics, so goes the modern term for those who work themselves to death. We are persons endowed by God with free will and intelligence. The will to work should always be tempered by the intelligence to rest awhile to acquire new energy.

That's what I am doing 4 or 5times a year. 

Speaking about God: Is there a vacation from God? Of course not. There is no such thing as vacation from God of from our religious activities. One of the best known religious poems in English is "The Hound of Heaven". It was written by Francis Thompson who tried to run away from God. He wanted to have a vacation from Him. He compares God to a hound chasing his soul. In reality, it is a story of Thompson's own life.

As a boy, he had in ended to become a priest, but he was lazy. So his father enrolled him in a medical school where the young Francis contracted the opium habit which almost wrecked his mind and body.

He became a beggar, slinking through the slums, his means of survival earned by shining shoes, selling matches and holding horses. Through the kindness of a poor girl, Francis met he couple Meynell, who recognized his talent an inner goodness. Through them, he has "caught" by God's love.

How Thompson tried to run away from God, and how God "hunted" him, how divine love caught up with him - shows clearly the fact that in this world, we can have a vacation from physical and mental activities, but never from God.

ComVal supports Salugpungan Suspension

NABUNTURAN, Compostela Valley, July 19 (PIA) - - Compostela Valley Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy is supporting the order from the Department of Education XI (Deped) suspending schools operated by Salugpungan Ta Tanu Igkanogon.

 According to the Deped Compostela Valley, 15 out of the 55 schools suspended are located in the province.

 In a statement, Governor Uy stressed that for ten years of existence in Compostela Valley, the administration of the Salugpungan schools had not consulted the local government in the province.

“As Governor and former Chair of the Regional Peace and Order Council XI, we also received complaints on the failure of these schools to secure free, prior and informed consents (FPIC) from the communities where they operate, as mandated by the Indigenous People’s Rights Act,” the governor said.

Governor Uy hoped that the issues surrounding the suspension will be cleared up, following a free and unbiased inquiry.

Last July 12, Deped XI Regional Director Evelyn Fetalvero issued a suspension order to the Salugpungan schools and gave them until July 17 to submit to explain why the permit to operate and recognition granted to the school be fully revoked.

 The deadline was later extended to July 22 upon the request of Salugpungan Executive Director Eugenia Nolasco.

Governor Uy also underscored that the provincial government will exert its efforts to ensure that the indigenous peoples (IP) communities have access to quality education.

 In a Bayanihan concept, two schools serving IP children opened last June 3 at sitios Side 4, Barangay Mangayon and Puting Bato, Barangay Ngan, all in Compostela town.

 With a vision of keeping every child in school, the provincial government with the help of public and private stakeholders will construct another five schools in geographically isolated and depressed areas.

 Aside from the governor, the province’s Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, Board Member Datu Felipe Masambo also disclosed that the Provincial Tribal Council has received reports that lessons in the Salugpungan schools include ideologies of the communist group.

 The tribal chieftain also said that parents have expressed concerns that their children will be utilized to fight against government forces.

 “Ang gusto lamang sa mga ginikanan na pagkahuman ug eskwela, makatabang sa ilang panginabuhian; dili kay makig gira na hinuon,” he said. (What the parents wanted is after schooling, their children will help them in their livelihood; instead of them, going to war.)

 Datu Masambo noted that the tribal council’s submitted a resolution to the Provincial Peace and Order Council in a meeting last January 25, 2019 for the closure of the Salugpungan schools. (PIA11, Michael L. Uy)

Photo:

(PPOC pdrmc)

Comval Gov Tyron Uy presides over the joint Peace and Order Council (PPOC) and Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) Meetings on July 17, 2019at the provincial capitol. (maryel lasaca/id comval)

 A school gymnasium is turned over in Brgy. Panibasan, Maco with Comval Gov Tyron Uy gracing the ceremony on July 20, 2019. (maryel lasaca/id comval)

Compassion for Refugees?

My column in Mindanao Daily, BusinessWeek Mindanao and Cagayan de Oro Times

Is the European Union  (EU) choosing self-interest over compassion for refugees? A very interesting question asked by German TV-commentator Bernd Riegert. And it seems, he is already able presenting his answer: In the EU's game of "refugee bingo," far-right Italian Interior Minister Minister Matteo Salvini can only win. He has little reason to give in to states looking for lasting migration policy.

 "Miserable" was the word German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer used to describe the current situation for migrants fleeing to Europe from Libya. It's a reference to "refugee bingo," cynical jargon for the game the European Union plays whenever a private rescue ship saves dozens of migrants on the Mediterranean Sea and brings them to Italian shores. The EU commissioner for migration gets on the phone with interior ministers from around the bloc, cajoling them to take a handful of people. Then the merciless haggling begins - as Bernd Riegert and many others describe the present situation at the south border of Europe.

Yes, being very honest: the process has become a rallying cry for Italy's far-right interior minister, Matteo Salvini, who has achieved domestic political success by stoking anti-refugee sentiment and presenting himself as the unyielding protector of Italian interests. Close the ports, deter the migrants, problem solved — that's Salvini's populist recipe. And several other opinions go into the same direction.

Fact is: refugees sent to Libya under EU deal face 'catastrophic' conditions. A few EU member states, notably France and my home country Germany, have had enough of this game. They want a lasting arrangement that determines which country takes in how many migrants.

We can probably thank the courageous ship captain Carola Rackete for Seehofer's support in finding a solution. Her daring landing on the Italian island of Lampedusa made global headlines. It's even got German Challencor Angela Merkel's feuding government coalition seeing eye to eye.

If we take a closer look to Europe: no one taking responsibility. Really sad to say.

Yet the today's Helsinki meeting has made clear that nothing will change in the near term. An agreement will have to wait at least until September. Until then, the miserable game continues, largely because Italy and those countries ready to do more cannot agree on one point: Other member states are only willing to accept migrants with a good case for asylum. The rest, accounting for at least 70 percent of all migrants, would have to stay in Italy.

Allow me to quote Riegert again: Salvini wants to see all of the migrants sent elsewhere, immediately, and not be left with the hopeless cases. He knows that it can be difficult to deport them back to their countries of origin. Other receiving countries, such as Germany, know that deportation is now off the table for those who don't stand a chance at asylum. That would explain why they are sticking to the rules as they are: Migrants are registered in the arrival country, in this case Italy, which decides who deserves asylum protection and who doesn't. That can take months, then more months until other EU members agree to actually take those asylum-seekers.

Even if a time-limited redistribution of the relatively few people brought in by rescue ships is agreed to, the larger problem remains. The EU's asylum system needs reform that redefines responsibility and quotas — a huge step for a hopelessly divided bloc that has been negotiating for years and remains far from a solution. The EU's eastern states, along with Italy and Austria, have been the biggest obstacles of all.

Incoming German - European Commission President elect Ursula von der Leyen says she wants to untie this Gordian knot. But she'll only enjoy a very, very little  little success so long as Salvini-like populists in Italy, Hungary and Poland are in charge. Migration is the ongoing European crisis they can repeatedly pick up votes with, no matter that, in absolute figures, the number of people coming to European shores keeps dropping dramatically. So why change course? Is it  a matter of putting self-interest before compassion for refugees and migrants? I can't answer this question at this moment now. Future will show.

Vice Governot Maricar Zamora appointed as Adviser for External Affairs

League of Vice Governors of the Philippines appoints Vice-Governor Maricar Zamora as Senior Adviser for External Affairs

 By: Gerne Boja

Vice-Governor Maria Carmen S. Zamora was appointed by her peers as Senior Adviser for External Affairs of the League of Vice-Governors of the Philippines (LVGP) last July 12, 2014 during their 76th National Assembly last July 12-14 at Sofitel Manila.

 “I am very happy to be part of a strong linkage and network with passionate advocacies in policy and legislative reforms.”, Vice-Governor Zamora said.

 During the 3-Day assembly, the LVGP inducted its members, including Vice-Gov. Maricar Zamora into the League’s vision of effecting changes for local and national development.  The legislator’s also underwent series of activities for the continuing refinement of the local legislative process.
“We look forward to enhancing our skills for the office even as the League offers to build the capabilities of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan” Vice-Governor Zamora shared.

 The LVGP is a non-stock, non-profit and non-government organization composed of the heads of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of each province in the country. The League strives to build a strong advocacy group, to be “one voice” in policy and legislative reforms.

Photo Caption: 

Vice-Governor Zamora with the other Vice-Governors of the different Provinces during the 76th National Assembly of the  League of Vice-Governors of the Philippines.