ARE WE LOSING FAITH AND HOPE ALREADY?

When I listen and lock around, I would have to answer this question with a big yes. Several friends of mine started talking with me and mentioned the good old days. Yes, those were the days my friend! Well, we all know: times have changed drastically. More natural disasters, more wars that hardly anyone speaks of anymore, and a pandemic that I have purposely put at the end of this list.

To be or not to be. Sein oder nicht sein. Shakespeare. To say it clearly: without faith and hope, we're really nothing.

Faith is belief; believe in us, in our works, talents and our personalities. We should also believe in our parents - or much better, in our whole family including the black sheep, which can be found everywhere.

We should believe in our friends, even if it seems to become very difficult nowadays. The pandemic kills many friendships.

Please remember, my dear readers: without faith  and hope will we reach the rock bottom. Don't say, it's a likely story.

The German poet Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1815) has mentioned in his drama "Maria Stuart": "Even the word might be dead, but faith keeps it alive!" Chapter I of Second Thessalonians gives encouragement to all Christians, who were undergoing persecution for or because of their faith. Yes, faith is really not everybody's thing, or "not everyone has faith".

"If I have faith, that can move mountains" (First Corinthians 13,2).

Faith is a tantamount to convincing and conviction. Richard Wagner (German classical composer and poet, 1813-1883) found the following lyric: "Blessed are those people, who know how to live their life in humility and faith."

So, let's even continue believing in our governments or the institution church. Faith means also a belief specially in a revealed religion. Faith is trust or reliance. Faith is indeed a pledged word. Yes, I know. Hope too.

People without faith and hope  in themselves cannot or will never survive. Worth to think about it!

‘New normal’ tourism demands it:

DOT chief underscores need for uniform travel protocols

by Alexandria Dennise San Juan, Manila Bulletin

Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat reiterated on Wednesday, Feb. 17 her call for the enforcement of standardized health protocols across all active tourism destinations in the country.

She noted that based on the results of the latest Philippine travel survey, one the top desires of the traveler-respondents was to have standardized travel and safety protocols in the various travel destinations so that the booking process would become easier.

“This is exactly our complaint because we in the DOT, we really go around and we follow all the protocols because we want to see how it is to travel,”

Puyat said in a virtual briefing wherein she discussed the survey findings. 

“Admittedly, kahit na kami, nahihirapan din kasi (even us are having a hard time because) different provinces [have] different protocols and I agree that it is really important to have uniform travel protocols,” she added.

The online travel survey, which was a follow-up to the May 2020 survey, was conducted by the DOT from Nov. 28 to Dec. 30 last year. It was carried out with the Asian Institute of Management (AIM)-Dr. Andrew L. Tan Center and Guide to the Philippines in a bid to support the crafting of the department’s strategy to jumpstart the tourism industry. 

Another common traveler sentiment that authorities learned from the survey is the need to “personalize” travels.Based on the survey, “value-sensitive” travelers prefer trips that are tailored according to their needs and objectives. Meanwhile, simplified trips to tourism destinations with the most relaxed health protocols and reduced cost and are a better fit for “price-sensitive” travelers.

In a bid to help travel agencies and tour operators enhance their packages and services, the tourism chief said that the department will roll out development initiatives such as business-to-business meetings, bench marking, product audit, and familiarization tours featuring new sites and attractions that will entice more people to travel domestically. 

“As always, we shall be taking a multi-lateral approach to address current issues relating to the pandemic, working more closely with local government units, stakeholders, and local communities,” Puyat said.

“Guided by the new survey results, the DOT and its partners will be able to plot the crucial next steps for the recovery of the tourism industry, creating better, more efficient, and effective strategies where there is mutual and inclusive growth for all,” she added.

Titled “The Evolving Landscape of Domestic Travel in the Philippines: A study of travelers and tourism enterprises amidst the pandemic,” the survey gathered responses from a total of 7,243 travelers from all 78 provinces in the country, as well as 108 tourism enterprises to get their views on traveling under the “new normal”.

DOES PAPER REALLY STILL MATTER?

 

The frequent whirring of printers in offices - despite the Internet, Microsoft Word, social media (by the way, I love Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter), scanners, smart phones applications and many much more - attest to that.

It's no longer a secret, I'm writing my biography. You can already read the first chapters online. But, of course, I also have the idea and the wish one day to be able to hold my thoughts in a tightly bound book.

I was - and I am still! - very much old fashioned in many things. While still typing on an old manual typewriter,  my former colleagues in different publishing houses used already electric units. I loved my antique typewriter. I love it till today. Yes, it's still here at my office in Davao City. I can't use it anymore, because no more ribbons are available in the Philippines. It's fine for me. My electric typewriter is also here. Just beside the manual unit. Those were the days, my love... .

It has been sometimes at the end of the 1990's. I worked in an international publishing house in Berlin with branches in Amsterdam and New York. I still used one of those wonderful electric typewriters - and tried to avoid vehemently a personal computer. Already during that time, I needed to hold paper in my hands. Paper, says the productivity expert David Allen, is "in your face". I strongly agree with David. He said, "Its physical presence can be a goal to completing tasks, whereas computer files can easily be hidden and thus forgotten. I am also returning to paper planners for this very reason. Smile ... .

David Allen, the author of "Getting Things Done", does much of his writing on a computer. So do I meanwhile. But, there are still times when writing with a fountain pen on a notepad. It allows "us" to get "our" heads in the right place. When I tried to learn more from David Allen, I really got surprised that we have many things in common. Old fashioned or not? I don't care. Here are some facts:

Paper print outs serve an important function. For long texts, a print out can allow a reader to better understand relationships between sections and writings. Paper handouts are still a presence at meetings partly because they are useful for taking notes. Reading a long document on paper rather than on a computer screen helps people "better understand the geography of the argument contained within, "said Richard H.R. Harper, a principal researcher for Microsoft in Cambridge/England and co-author with Abigail J. Sellen of "The Myth of the Paperless Office," published already in 2001.

I also strongly agree with Sellen, saying that using more than one computer screen can be helpful for all this cognitive juggling. But when workers are going back and forth between points in a longer document, it can be more efficient to read on paper.

How about "e-reading a book"? A novel, a drama, whatever? What do you prefer, my dear reader? You wanna know my opinion? I am sure, you can imagine. Yes guys, I still need a book in my hands for my leisure reading. I need to feel the book as well as I need to smell a fresh-printed newspaper. Environment savers might start yelling at me now, though I am one of them. So, where is the edge and borderline?

Paper can be indeed a luscious and beautiful thing - the way we savor fine food and wine, as Steve Leveen, co-founder and CEO of Levenger, said. People complain that writing by hand is slow (yes I am really!), BUT that can be good for thinking and creating! Here we are again!

Yes, paper matters still: in defense of the power of paper! 

WITH BEETHOVEN UNDER PALMS (V)

Chapter V: Crocodiles, rum and reggae

Jamaica? Did I mention Jamaica earlier? Yes, sure. Somehow, I wanted to be a loner, even though it was travelling. The travel plans between me and my buddy Jürgen became more and more different. Sad to say,

Our last trip together brought us to Gran Canaria in 1978. A wonderful island  belonging to a group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean west of the African coast. A five-hours-flight nonstop from Berlin. Just a little something for Jürgen and me as global travelers. Several years later, I would stay on Gran Canaria more often - even for a second honeymoon. 

Jamaica, yes. An amazing island in the Carribean sea. A German Foreign Aid School Project brought me there. My previous journeys to Canada and the United States of America in 1975 have been mostly projects of the then Organization for International Contacts - back then it was located in the old West German capital Bonn.

Jamaica in 1979. A school project of the German Foreign Aid allowed me to visit this Carribean island.

 It was not really a vacation stay but long enough for some extraordinary experiences. Rum, well... . Rum and Coke, the long drink  Maitai - I am not sure if its origin is really from Jamaica. Here, we tried buko ( fresh coconut juice and Jamaica rum). Jamaica and its Blue Mountains.

Crocodiles? Yes, many. An organized river trip by tour guides up to the Dunn River Waterfalls in Ochos Rios made it possible to encounter many of these breathtaking species. Beethoven and Asia were somehow so very far away... .

Speaking of music. "No woman - no cry"! One of my most spectacular life open air music events was the one with legendary King of Reggae Bob Marley.  He scribbled his name on one of the records I bought there. Unforgettable seconds ... .

1980 became a really great change in my private and business life. The ups and downs pulled my nerves. My job as circulation manager in a publishing house did not satisfy me any more. As a typical risk taker, I followed the recommendation of my very closed office mate and applied to another publisher.

 

In the same year, I took on another challenge and traveled to South Africa, more precisely to Johannesburg. A trip to London and another 11 hours direct flight took me there. Lisa invited me. Lisa, my "oldest friend" ever. We "met" as pen pals in 1972 while she was residing in Vienna, Austria.

(To be continued!)

No case yet of new coronavirus strain in Davao City

 

Photo by Associated Press

By RALPH LAWRENCE G. LLEMIT, SunStar Davao City

THE Davao City Health Office (CHO) has not received any report of infection from a new variant of Covid-19 in the city based on its recent updates from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), acting CHO Head Dr. Ashley Lopez said in a radio interview on Wednesday, February 10, 2021.

Lopez said samples tested from Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) and Davao One World Diagnostic Center were sent to Philippine Genome Center (PGC) in Manila for genome sequencing. However, results have not yet been sent back to them because of technical problems with the machine being used to process the specimen for the confirmatory tests.

"Until now, naa pay adjust na ginabuhat sa machine. So dili pa sila makahatag og results (Adjustments are being made with the machine so we still cannot get the results)," he said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.

Lopez said the city already sent all tested and confirmed specimens in January to determine if the new Covid-19 variant had already reached the city and had contributed to the spike in cases.

"Ingon sa ako naka-istorya, most likely wala pa ang new variant sa Davao [City]. Kay kung naa daw na siya, usually maghatag na sila og alert. Wala man ko nadawat nga alert so far," he said.

(The person I am in contact with said, most likely, the new variant is not in the city yet. If it had reached the city, they would alert us, but for now, they have not alerted us.)

The health official said they are intensifying their biosurveillance to detect and monitor variants of the Sars-CoV-2.

He said the RITM is the only facility in the country that can perform genome sequencing for Covid-19.

He added that it is only through genome sequencing that can detect if the patient was infected with the new variant of the Covid-19.

In a previous interview, National Task Force (NTF) Covid-19 Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez personally suggested to Lopez, through a phone call, that the city should submit its specimens to the national RITM to detect if the new variant had reached the city.

Lopez said Galvez was worried upon seeing the recent uptick of cases in the city.

Lopez had explained to the NTF chief that the case surge was brought about by post-holiday activities.

Since the confirmation of the first case of the B.1.1.7 Sars-Cov-2 variant or the UK variant, the country has at least 25 known cases of the new variant. One of them died. The patient died in the third or fourth week of January, according to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

Davao City, meanwhile, is on heightened alert following the recent discovery of the presence of the new variant of the virus in Sabah, Malaysia, Davao Region's closest foreign neighbor.

Bro. Eli Soriano, founder of ‘Ang Dating Daan,' dies at 73

 

Contributed photo

By RONALD O. REYES, SunStar

BROTHER Eliseo "Eli" Fernando Soriano, the charismatic televangelist and founder of the Members Church of God International who hosted the longest-running religious program in the Philippines, “Ang Dating Daan,” (The Old Path), died on Friday, February 12. He was 73.

“It is with deep sadness, yet with full faith in the Almighty, that we announce the passing of our beloved and one and only Bro. Eliseo ‘Eli’ Soriano — a faithful preacher, brother, father, and grandfather to many,” read an announcement from “Ang Dating Daan’s” social media page.

It did not elaborate on the cause of Soriano’s death.

“While his temporary repose is a loss to many, we in the members Church of God International Inc. would like to assure the public that the programs and projects initiated by Bro. Eli will continue,” it added.

Despite facing controversies and lawsuits, Soriano continued to earn the respect of his followers in the country and around the world.

Soriano reportedly moved to Brazil many years ago.

Amid his controversial life, Malacañang has expressed its sympathy to the bereaved family and church members of Soriano.

“Bro. Eli was a beloved preacher of Ang Dating Daan whose teachings touched the lives and served as guide to many,” said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.

“His dedication to propagate the words of God in the Bible was a clear testament of his steadfast love to serve his brethren and the Almighty,” Roque added. (SunStar Philippines)

Somehow

 

"Somehow", I am a retiree now. As German Consul to Mindanao in example. The Consular German laws are so strict. Actually at the age of 65. Ok "lang". A German proverb goes like this: Who is resting who is rusting. Mmmh. But I keep myself busy. Though, I'll be teaching German language online again. (Thank you Ateneo de Davao!) I'm still doing translations for several institutions. And at the age of "almost" 68, I started writing my biography. As I was writing, I noticed the following: the music has me again. From my first strumming on an old piano up to several radio broadcasts beyond the borders of Davao City of classical music in the Philippines, I was honored to bring on air.

Solo-Parent scholars graduates from TESDA’s skills training

Davao de Oro --- A total of fourteen solo-parent scholars under the Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP) graduated from TESDA’s skills training program on Bread and Pastry Production NC II yesterday at Brgy. Nuevo Iloco, Mawab, Davao de Oro.

The program is part of the agency’s efforts to encourage more women to be empowered through skills training on various courses. Provincial TESDA Director Jasmin Neri congratulated the graduates and thanked them for participating and completing the training that provides a mechanism and will ensure the availability of qualified skilled workers based on the industry’s requirements.

“I’m hoping that these new skills and knowledge you’ve acquired will lead each one of you to become more productive and skillful women of the community,” Neri said.

The graduates underwent eighteen-day skills training and received their Training and National Certificates, and full training allowances during the graduation ceremony.

Ms. Rosa D. Bayani, one of the graduates expressed her gratitude for benefiting the free services of the government that economically empowered women sectors through skills training programs.

“Sulod sa 18-days namu nga training, dako kaayu ang among kalipay ug pagpasamalat lakip na sa amuang mga trainers sa ilahang gipaambit nga kahibalo aron kami makakat-on sama sa pag bake ug mga cakes, breads ug uban pa. Diin magamit namu kini nga additional source of income ug alang usab kini sa ikalambo sa tagsa-tagsa namu ka pamilya,” Bayani stated.

This activity was made successful through collaboration and partnership with DUMPER PTDA Partylist, PLGU Davao de Oro, Provincial Women Development Council (PWDC), Local Government Unit of Mawab, Community Training and Employment Coordinators, and Davao National Agricultural School.

 (Rheafe Hortizano-Provincial Information Division of DdO, Photo courtesy of Jonie Cadiz)

No exact date yet for arrival of COVID-19 vaccines

Vaccination sites should prepare substitute list of vaccinees – DOH

by Analou De Vera 

Manila Bulletin

There is still no confirmed date as to when the vaccines for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) will arrive in the country, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday, Feb. 10.

Health Assistant DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the COVAX facility only told them a “tentative schedule” for the arrival of vaccines here.

“Kailangan natin maintindihan (We need to understand) that the dates that were provided to us were indicative dates. The COVAX facility initially told us that by the second or third week of February. Now, this Feb. 15 is an indicative date,” she said in a media forum.

“Kapag sinabi natin na indicative, yan po ay tentative schedule pa lang, wala pa tayong confirmed dates as to when we are going to start. But definitely, pagdating ng bakuna, after two to three days we will start the deployment already… We will give you the exact date kung kailan dadating ang bakuna once we receive the confirmation from the COVAX facility (When we say indicative, that is just a tentative schedule, we do not have confirmed dates as to when we are going to start. But definitely, when the vaccines arrive, after two to three days we will start the deployment already … We will give you the exact date when the vaccines will arrive once we receive the confirmation from the COVAX facility),” she said.

Vergeire, meanwhile, said that all COVID-19 vaccination sites must come up with a Quick Substitution List (QSL) to minimize vaccine wastage. She said that the list must have  20 percent additional names of the total number of recipients in a specific vaccination site.

“We are pegging it, gusto natin meron tayo at least 20 percent. Wala tayong basehan sa 20 percent, pero gusto lang po natin makasigurado na kung sakali dumating tayo doon sa day of vaccination and we will have refusal, at least we have this reserved 20 percent (We are pegging it, we want to have at least 20 percent. We have no basis for this 20 percent, but we just want to make sure that we have a reserved recipient  in case someone refuses to take the vaccine on the vaccination day),” she said.

“We don’t want to have wastage (of vaccines)  in our program so we have this quick substitution list,” she added.

Vergeire said that the DOH will issue guidelines for the QSL.

“The standards will be finalized on who should be included in the QSL, which is also part of our priority list,” she added.

WITH BEETHOVEN UNDER PALMS (IV)

 

Chapter IV:  FREEZING COLD AND A CAMEL'S KISS

Summer 1977. I resided there for three years in West Berlin, the "free enclave" surrounded by the communist East Germany, the so-called German Democratic Republic. Guarded by the three major powers Great Britain, France and the United States of America. Leaving this enclave by car or train always meant to pass several checkpoints and countless controls. It did not bother me. Such journeys belonged to my adventurism. I saw it as a kind kind of sport. And I really never got problems ... .

Of course, my grandmother was happy to see me so often. Every time I visited her, she had a surprise in store for me. A baked duck, a new bottle of Russian Vodka or a new long play vinyl record with wonderful classical music - mostly from Russian composers such as Rimsky--Korsakoff, Peter Tschaikowky and amazing East German stars such as Peter Schreier. 

The singer, who lives in Dresden and was artistically at home in (East-)Berlin, was one of the most famous artists in his field in East Germany. Ludwig van Beethoven joined our circle too. Even if only in the background and performed by East German or Russian artists.

During the 1970's In the seventies I developed another passion. There were many television show recordings in Berlin. I just attended this chance and tried to look behind the scenes, and they let me. I became a regular guest in one of the most loved TV-shows, the German Hitparade, hosted by the unforgettable Dieter Thomas Heck. Sitting beside famous singers made me even more prominent in my country's home side.  That made it easy for me to join Heck's show PYRAMIDE in 1990 in Munich as a successful contestant.

My new car took me anywhere. To my grandmother in East Germany. To my parents, 500 km away, by getting on the transit routes from West-Berlin, via East Germany and entering again West Germany there. Tiring but enjoying it. A commuter between two different kinds of worlds - East and West! My buddy Jürgen was still with me. "When are you planning to fly to Moscow with me?" he asked me. I replied, "Wait buddy, Tunisia in North Africa is still waiting!". My buddy looked at me in disbelief.

My thirst for knowledge to get to know other peoples and cultures made me very lonely at home in Germany. Today I know that all of these trips have brought me more than any history or geography course in high school or college. The ride on a camel and its kiss was one of my greatest adventures in Tunisia/North Africa.

The Russian propeller plane took an eternity to finally take off. My buddy and I got -as always-  Seat 1 a and b. We were like that too as the first to raise a glass of water after the takeoff. One should have seen our astonished and wide eyes. Yes, it was the "cleanest water in the world". It was Vodka. At 8 o'clock in the morning... . Caviar followed. Airline of friendship. German Democratic Republic and Soviet Union back then.

Our hotel Russia was right on the Red Square. It was really freezing cold. 1977/1978 was a winter of the century across Europe. I know, I wasn't allowed to leave our hotel so easily. But I did. I was already a risk taker at that time. The underground train took me to the station "Nowokusnezkaja". Radio Moscow lay in front of me. Natalia Tschernowa waited already.

The German language program aired the Classical Request Concert. A program, a show that I had listened to on 'Shortwave' (not FM) for years already. And my "life wish" was granted: Ludwig van Beethoven, Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 3 in c-minor, third movement Rondo:Allegro. 

On the return flight to East Berlin, "water" was served again. 

When I got home, I couldn't believe my eyes when I found a letter from the German foreign Aid Project. But it became true. My trip to Jamaica was up next.

(To be continued!)