BORN ON A SUNDAY

If the sky is dark and it pours cats and dogs like yesterday and some days earlier, I try my very best to beat the blues. The taxi drivers tried to make detours, the flights were delayed or cancelled due bad weather conditions - yes, it seems the whole world is against us! I am pretty sure, each one of us experienced similar times.

I was born on a Sunday - a so-called "Sunday Child". There are sayings that those people will live a life of great success without problems, worries, and trials. Many years ago, someone told me, those born on Sunday are truly shining stars like the sun. They are never satisfied with anything ordinary. They want to shine with a distinguished brilliance amidst other people. These are highly creative individuals who wish to place themselves in the first pale in every domain of life

Well, is that really so?

I remember very difficult, problematic and questionable times in my life. A cheating taxi driver or cancelled flight have been just peanuts if I compare. In those difficult times I almost lost all my strength to get down to work on all problems. Life's path became narrow. Fears grew: it's enough. Really enough!

I started becoming awkward and jerky. I struggled against almost everybody around me. I was reluctant to go against other's good ideas. I felt driven into a corner. People with indifference, arrogance and unqualified comments passed my way. Yes, also here in the Philippines... . Suddenly everything can become a problem and our voices  bellow and our groans are getting louder and louder too.

But hey, I learned something. Admittedly groans can lighten our burden! For even a short moment only, I did feel how my inner life - and inside pressure eased off. A short moment only... Suddenly more trials and problems overwhelmed us and our families and friends: illnesses, death, bankruptcy, "war at the working place", efforts giving us a bad name, destroying the reputation, intrigues... .

"You prepare a banquet for me, where all my enemies can see me", (Psalm 23:5). Really? Amazing! We don't know about more and new spitefulness through my next "enemy on duty" in future.  Actually I also don't want to know it, because negativism blocks life and its future plans.

But I know Psalm 23. I read it, every time, if I am having a problem. Not if I meet again a detouring taxi or, if my flight is delayed.... .

Psalm 23 should be printed in each and every one's heart, mind and soul. Psalm 23 was my confirmation saying... .

AFP, PNP officials pay courtesy call on Governor Dorothy Gonzaga

 

Davao de Oro --- Officials of the 10th Infantry AGILA Division and the Provincial Police Office, headed by MGEN Nolasco A Mempin and Officer-In-Charge PCOL Benedicto F Faco, respectively, paid a courtesy call to Governor Dorothy Montejo-Gonzaga on separate dates at the Capitol Building, Activity Hall.

The visit aims to strengthen the cooperation and collaboration between the Provincial Government of Davao de Oro and the government forces in maintaining peace and order in the province. During the visit, MGEN Mempin presented the current security landscape, counterinsurgency campaign, accomplishments, and the 10th ID’s sustainment efforts, especially since the province was recently declared insurgency-free. He also gave input about the status of the people’s organizations and updates on former rebels - who left the communist movement and decided to return to the folds of the law.

Likewise, PCOL Faco also presented the current situation of peace and order in the province and discussed the continuous initiative programs and efforts of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in preventing crimes and maintaining a peaceful atmosphere in Davao de Oro.

In response, Governor Gonzaga and 2nd District Congressman Ruwel Peter Gonzaga expressed their appreciation and gratitude for all the sacrifices and efforts of all the men and women in uniform, which significantly contributed to a peaceful and more progressive province. She also affirmed that under her leadership, the local government will showed full support and unwavering commitment for the implementation of the programs and initiatives of the 10th ID and PNP for the betterment of the people of Davao de Oro. (Rheafe Hortizano –Information Office, Photos by 10th ID and DDOPPO)

Why does the Filipino smile stand out so much compared to other countries?

 

Bisaya

Proud Bisaya Ko

Why does the Filipino smile stand out so much compared to other countries? Aren't the other South East Asian countries also known for their smiles?

Have you ever wondered why the Filipino smile is so famous? There's no doubt that other South East Asian countries are also known for their smiles, but there's something about the Filipino smile that makes it truly unique. For one thing, Filipinos tend to smile genuinely and from the heart. They're not afraid to show their emotions, and their smiles reflect this openness. In addition, Filipinos are quick to laugh and enjoy humor[1] . This light-hearted attitude helps to make everyone around them feel more relaxed and comfortable. Finally, Filipinos are simply friendly and hospitable people, and their warm smiles reflect this generous nature. So the next time you see a Filipino smiling, take a moment to appreciate the beauty of this unique Smile. It is usually genuine, diverse, and full of hope.

Footnotes

[1] Home

AS CONCURRENT DEPED CHIEF VP to produce learners who can achieve their full potential

 

Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio (left) receives the Department of Education official seal as well as a copy of the Basic Education Development Plan 2030 from outgoing Secretary Leonor Briones during the joint farewell and welcoming event at the DepEd headquarters in Pasig City on Monday, July 4, 2022. FACEBOOK PHOTO/VP INDAY SARA DUTERTE

By Kaithreen Cruz, Manila Times

VICE President and concurrent Education Secretary Sara Duterte-Carpio vowed to produce learners who can achieve their full potential when she received the DepEd flag and official seal, as well as a copy of the Basic Education Development Plan (BEDP) 2030 from former Secretary Leonor Briones on July 4 at the DepEd headquarters in Pasig City.

BEDP 2030 is the country's first long-term plan for the education sector, covering formal education from kindergarten, elementary, junior high school to senior high school, as well as non-formal education through the Alternative Learning System (ALS).

Briones said she turned over to Duterte-Carpio a department that had persevered amid the Covid-19 pandemic and developed great initiatives for the Filipino learners.

She highlighted the education gains during her six-year term including the Sulong EduKalidad campaign to improve the quality of education, empowerment of the regions through its regional directors, participation in international assessments such as the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), transformation of the National Educators Academy of the Philippines (NEAP) to capacitate teachers, and salary adjustment and provision of benefits and allowances to teachers, among others.

She also recognized the collective effort of DepEd employees to provide support to learners and teachers.

Briones agreed to stay with DepEd as a consultant after her term in the department.

In her message, Duterte-Carpio said she will take inspiration from Briones — from her courage, dedication, commitment, integrity, selflessness and grace.

"But I will also take on the task with the reminder that we shall continue to find ways to improve basic education in terms of access, equity, resiliency, and governance," Duterte-Carpio said.

Education stakeholders hope for a bright future

"Secretary [Briones] is a force. And I am humbled and honored to follow in the footsteps of a much-admired academic, public servant, social activist and change-maker. I would also like to acknowledge the equally devoted men and women, our undersecretaries and assistant secretaries who supported Ma'am Liling in the last six years. Daghang salamat kaninyo (Thank you very much to all of you)," she said.

Duterte-Carpio said she aims to produce learners who can achieve their full potential as individuals who are responsible, skilled, knowledgeable, productive and determined to achieve their dreams for themselves and for the country.

DepEd gave tribute to Briones and outgoing Undersecretaries Nepomuceno Malaluan, Diosdado San Antonio and Josephine Maribojoc for their service to the department.

Briones also joined the choir during the video presentation and singing of "When You Believe" by Stephen Schwartz for Duterte-Carpio.

Briones turns over DepEd to VP Sara

In a recent Facebook post, the new DepEd chief said she praised and thanked Briones for her untiring service for six years in the department, making sure education for the youth continued despite the challenges of Covid-19. She is likewise happy that her predecessor agreed to continue as consultant in the Education department.

No more lockdowns'

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno. PHOTO BY J. GERARD SEGUIA

By Catherine S. Valente  and Red Mendoza, Manila Times

THE Covid-19 positivity rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) has jumped to 9.3 percent, almost double the ideal positivity rate of 5 percent set by the World Health Organization (WHO), but the government is unlikely to implement community lockdowns despite the sharp rise in cases.

The country's positivity rate also increased to 6.8 percent in the week of June 28 to July 3.

Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno on Wednesday said that lockdowns are no longer needed because the majority of Filipinos have been inoculated against Covid-19.

"I think no country now, except China, will go into general lockdowns. I think we have now graduated from being pandemic to endemic," Diokno said when asked if the Marcos economic team will adopt the previous administration's policy of not imposing any wide lockdowns.

"We have to live with the virus. Most of us are vaccinated anyway, some of us even have boosters. In fact, that (vaccination) is also key to the 100 percent opening or face-to-face opening of classes. The plan is, it will start opening up by August and then 100 percent by November," he added.

On Wednesday, the Department of Health (DoH) said that Cordillera, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) and Western Visayas regions also had positivity rates above the 5 percent threshold set by the WHO.

The department, however, said that health care utilization rates remained low, with a 19 percent total bed utilization rate despite an increase in admissions by around 6.7 percent.

The average daily reported cases increased by 55 percent from June 21 to 27 to 1,103 cases per day across the country, as compared to 711 cases reported from June 21 to 27.

In NCR, cases increased by 57 percent to an average of 537 cases per day from June 28 to July 4, while Mindanao provinces have shown a slight uptick.

Davao bar owners urged to tighten security measures

By Ruth Palo, Manila Times

DAVAO CITY: The Davao City Police Office (DCPO) urged bar owners here to enforce stringent security measures following the shooting incident on Saturday, July 2, where a 21-year-old student was shot dead by non-uniformed personnel of the Davao Police Regional Office.

Maj. Ma. Teresita Gaspan, DCPO spokesman, said the incident started as an altercation among intoxicated men, which could have been avoided had the weapon been barred from the establishment.

"This is included in our investigation because it is prohibited to carry firearms in establishments that serve alcoholic drinks, especially when the person is already intoxicated. We will investigate why this restobar (restaurant and bar) allowed this to happen as it would have been different if this was regulated. Actually, we have been advocating that it is really prohibited to carry firearms inside establishments, especially in bars and clubs," Gaspan said in an interview over Disaster Radio.

She said the police are now looking into the accountability of business owners in providing a secure environment for their patrons by making sure they follow the prohibitions of the existing liquor ban and have competent security personnel.

She said the city police will be talking to business owners regarding the tightening of security measures in their establishments.

"Actually, we will be meeting with owners and operators of the restobars and bistros in the city, especially those patronized by many to capacitate them. They have their own security guard, and bouncers, and their capabilities must be enhanced. Because we have the citizen's arrest, they can make arrests also, especially if they have personal knowledge of the incident. They should not let something like this happen," she said.

She said the case of murder has not yet been filed against the suspect, Dr. Marvin Rey Andrew Pepino, pending the preliminary investigation as requested by the latter.

Meanwhile, the family of the victim, Amierkhan Pulalon Mangacop, who was shot seven times outside Lugar Café and Bar reportedly by Pepino, is now calling for justice for the murder victim.

Despite the incident, Davaoeños have been assured that the DCPO is currently on top of the situation.

"This is an isolated case. There is nothing to worry about. Let us continue our legal work. DCPO is on top of the situation. This is a particularly unprecedented incident that is why there really will be an investigation of the police with jurisdiction over the area so that no similar incident will occur in the future," she added.

Mayor Sebastian "Baste" Duterte, meanwhile, said the implementation of the 2013 Ordinance 004-13, which prohibits the selling of liquor from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. will be enforced more strictly. This is to curb the number of crimes induced by alcohol intoxication.

"I've said this before that we will be implementing the liquor ban because, well the incident did not happen entirely because of the lax implementation of the ban... but I suppose if we implement the ban more strictly, we can avoid these incidents from happening because when people are intoxicated with alcohol, bad things can happen at any point in time," Duterte said.

Beer is good for intestine – study

View of beer made with water collected by fog catchers in Ovalle, Chile, on June 30, 2022. AFP PHOTO

LISBON: Drinking beer is beneficial to the intestine and has the potential to prevent chronic diseases, according to research by the Center for Research in Health Technologies and Services (Cintesis), a nonprofit research and development unit, in the city of Porto in northern Portugal.

"Beer consumption contributes to the improvement of the composition of the intestinal microbiota, a factor that has been associated with the prevention of very common chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases," said Cintesis in a statement on Monday.

During the study, healthy men ages 23 to 58 drank 330 milliliters of beer daily, with or without alcohol, for four weeks. The results obtained by the research pointed out that beer consumption "increases the diversity of the intestinal microbiota, without increasing weight and fat mass."

Drinking beer "does not significantly interfere with cardiometabolic biomarkers" such as glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides, the statement said. The researchers point out that the beneficial effect of beer is linked to the polyphenols present in the drink, as has already been proven in red wine.

The study, published recently in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, revealed that the benefit of beer on gut health "proved to be independent of alcohol content" or absence of this element.

What is the pre-colonial word for "Kumusta" (Hello) in Tagalog?

 By

Dayang Marikit

Philippine History Professor

(Kumusta) is derived from the Spanish phrase (Como Estas?) which translates to (How are you?). In Tagalog this would translate to (Na pa'ano ka na?).

• During pre-colonial times, the earliest type of greeting that was recorded is (Swasti), which was written on the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. This was dated to be from 900AD, or 1,100 years ago. This greeting was adopted from Hinduism.

• The second greeting was (Salamat), which is derived from the Islamic greeting (Salaam). This is also related to (Shalom), which is a Hebrew greeting. However, in modern times (Salamat) simply translates to "Thank You" in Filipino. In our neighboring countries of Malaysia and Indonesia, (Selamat) is still a greeting.

799 views

View 24 upvotes

Answer requested by 

Anne Ariate

Visayas, Mindanao internet to get boost

By Francis Earl Cueto, Manila Times

THE Marcos administration plans to improve the internet connection in Visayas and Mindanao with the help of mega-billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink satellite communications network.

Information and Communications Secretary Ivan John Uy on Monday said Starlink is ideal for such an upgrade because it uses low-orbit satellites.

"The scope of coverage is far greater and can reach areas that can't be reached or are hard to reach," Uy said in a press briefing.

He said telecommunications companies or telcos usually find it hard to set up in "missionary routes" or areas that have few users.

A network of low-orbit satellites like Starlink's is ideal for such a venture, he said.

"So far, the coverages are [in] the northern part of the Philippines and not much in the southern part where we badly need satellite connectivity. That is why a new satellite might be launched that would cover central Philippines," Uy said.

He did not say if the project will be handled by the government or a private firm, but that it is targeted to be done by the end of the year.

Uy said that right now he is reviewing the projects of the agency since there are numerous problems that need to be dealt with first.

Among them is the strengthening or reviving of the free public WiFi.

"We are studying it; we have to sit down and work on it. There are many and different issues that need to be resolved first," he said.

The free WiFi project has been saddled with problems, including the nonpayment to the subscriptions for connectivity, and hardware and contractor issues.

Uy vowed that the DICT "will continue to make the free public WiFi more effective."

DoT chief kicks off listening tour

By Tricia Antido, Manila Times

On her first day in the office, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco personally visited the offices and greeted the employees of the Department of Tourism (DOT). Photo from Facebook page of the Philippines Department of Tourism. 

On her first day in the office, Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco personally visited the offices and greeted the employees of the Department of Tourism (DOT). Photo from Facebook page of the Philippines Department of Tourism.

TOURISM Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco will start her "listening tour" this week to see and hear the concerns and challenges faced by regional offices of the Department of Tourism (DoT) and stakeholders.

She emphasized that the goal of the Department of Tourism is to help the economy rise and recover.

Garcia-Frasco thanked DoT personnel for their warm welcome and gave assurances that all stakeholders will be given equal opportunities through the tourism program that will be made available nationwide.

Speaking before undersecretaries, directors, division chiefs and employees on Monday, July 4, 2022, Garcia-Frasco vowed to address the tourism issues brought on by the pandemic, noting that the sector was one of the hardest-hit industries in the Philippines. She said that under her term, the department will give attention to tourism sites, promotion of local products as well as Filipinos. The Tourism department will also prioritize reaching all regional offices and their partners in local government units.

"I have full trust in the workforce of the Department of Tourism because you have been forged in the fire of the pandemic. We've been through it, we have survived, and we have thrived. There is no other challenge that we could not possibly surmount. And so, I ask for your support, I ask for your unity, I ask for your commitment to the Filipino people, that our brothers and sisters may be given equal economic opportunities through tourism programs that are made available in sites, provinces, cities, municipalities nationwide," she said.