Second-hand smoke victims can fight back

By JENNY F. MANONGDO - Manila Bulletin

Annoyed by inhaling second-hand tobacco smoke? You have the right to tell the smoker to stop smoking or carry his habit elsewhere, antitobacco advocates Monday said.

Some eight million residents of Metro Manila who are exposed to second-hand smoke weekly have expressed their frustration as reflected in a joint survey done by the government and by an international non-government organization committed to empowering governments in preventing and managing lung ailments, resulting from smoking.

However, out of the 8.7 million people living in Manila who admitted they are upset when they inhale second hand smoke weekly, only eight percent have the courage to stand up and make known their frustrations.

This was shown in a comprehensive survey, "Second-hand smoking in Metro Manila," commissioned by the Department of Health (DoH) Center for Health Development-Metro Manila (CHD-MM) and World Lung Foundation and funded by the Bloomberg initiative, a foreign funding agency aiming to reduce tobacco consumption in low and middle income countries.

"You should tell the smoker to stop smoking. Ilugar niya ang paninigarilyo. There are designated smoking areas just as there are areas that smoking is banned," Dr. Irma Asuncion, acting director of CHD-MM told a forum during the launch of the survey in Manila Monday. "For smokers, you should also learn to respect the rights of non-smokers."

Interestingly, the survey also pointed out how smokers comply with the requests of non-smokers.

When the smokers were asked to stop smoking or to smoke somewhere else, 36 percent ignored the request, 10 percent became angry and 54 percent complied with the request.

"As you can see, the rest stopped smoking and carried their smoking somewhere else. This is an eye opener. It's our right for clean air," Dr. Asuncion added.

Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, also an anti-tobacco advocate, said the Filipino culture of “pakikisama” is working against the desire to tell smokers off. "Surveys show that one main reason why smoking is so tolerated in the Philippines is that sense of "pakikisama" and "hiya." It's like the non-smokers are the ones who should be feel ashamed instead of the smokers. Isn't that ironic?"

"Even when we smoke in rooms with open windows or in open air areas, the studies prove that the smoke still reaches other people and do have harmful effects," she added.

The survey gathered 1,000 respondents aged 18 to 55 years old and was carried out from January 29 to February 26 this year.

Eighty-seven percent of them think cigarettes can cause heart disease in non-smokers, and 74 percent admitted they are exposed to second hand smoke one or more times per week. Moreover, 71 percent of non-smokers who were surveyed “strongly agree” that they get upset when they are exposed to second-hand smoke.

In 2006, the air pollution authority of California labeled second hand smoke as a toxin in itself along with fumes from diesel, gasoline and other severe pollutants, Hontiveros said.

Health experts point to second hand smoke as a risk factor for developing breast cancer and lung diseases including pneumonia, cancer, and tuberculosis among others.

"If you look at the case fatality ratio of A (H1N1) it is only 0.5 to 0.6 percent. But if you look into the top 10 leading causes of mortality in Metro Manila, Pneumonia, TB and the rest are non-communicable diseases which are related to smoking," Dr. Asuncion said.

Although the DoH sees the inefficient implementation of existing national laws and local ordinances on tobacco use, Dr. Garcia sees victory in the commitment of nine out of 17 local government units in Metro Manila that have pledged to support the campaigns.

These include the cities of Caloocan, Navotas, Valenzuela, Quezon City, Taguig, City of Manila, Pasig City, Marikina and Muntinlupa.

Comelec delists 6M dubious poll registrants

Nearly 6 million voters were removed from the voters list of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Teopisto Elnas Jr., Comelec director for Election Barangay Affairs Department, said the 5.644 million “deactivated” registration covers only the first four months of the year.

Elnas, in a telephone interview with the Tribune, said for January alone, they removed a total of 3.9 million voters, while in April, about 1.2 million were delisted.

He, though, noted that under the law, the number of delisted voters should be less than a thousand, or 940 to be exact.

Elnas said the bulk of the deactivated voters came from the National Capital Region with more than 1 million.

Voters whose names were stricken from the list were those of persons who failed to vote in the two previous elections – in the May 2007 senatorial polls and the October 2007 barangay elections.

Other reasons for the delisting of voters includes loss of Filipino citizenship, death and double registration, Elnas said.

He said in January, the Comelec removed a total of 162,000 “dead” registrants and another 58,000 of such in the second quarter.

“The basis of our election officers in the delisting of dead voters is the certification coming from local civil registrars,” he said.

But Elnas said they expect the number of those to be stricken off from the voters list to decline in the third and fourth quarter of the year.

“The number has gone down, from 3.9 million in January, it went down to 1.2 million. (So) we expect that in the next two quarters, this will further drop,” he noted.

The Comelec has asked Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno yesterday to direct all judges in the regional and metropolitan trial courts to fast-track the resolution of the petition for inclusion and exclusion of registration to give the commission time to print the names of the qualified voters for the first-ever automated national elections next year.

Citing the Voters Registration Act of 1996, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the court has been given a 15-day reglamentary period to rule on the petition for inclusion and 10 days for the petition for exclusion.

Jimenez said the Comelec, through a resolution it issued last May 28, adjusted the filling of petitions for inclusion and exclusion in order to “cope with the timelines of the commission in the configuration of the machines (PCOS), printing of the elections day computerized list of voters, official ballots and other accountable forms” for the automated elections next year. Marie A. Surbano - Tribune

Lieutenant-Commander Max Shean

X-24, the midget submarine in which Shean tried to attack a floating dock

Shean rendezvoused with the submarine Spearhead and was towed in triumph to Subic Bay, in the Philippines. He was awarded a Bar to his DSO and the US Bronze Star for his gallantry, perseverance and outstanding skill.

Lieutenant-Commander Max Shean, who has died aged 90, was one of the small band of young men who, in the face of extraordinary peril, carried the sea war into enemy harbours; in the process they won a total of 68 awards for bravery, including four VCs; for his own exploits, Shean received a DSO and Bar.

In September 1942 Shean volunteered for special and hazardous service without knowing what this meant. After only 10 days' training, some of the volunteers dropped out; Shean thought that this took a lot of courage, while for him it seemed easier to stand at the back and hope that no one noticed his fear. When he learned soon afterwards that he was to become a diver in a secret, 51ft, four-man submarine known as an X-craft, his knees began to shake. But with his combination of engineering skills and seamanship, it turned out to be a task for which he was well-suited.

As an X-craft diver, Shean had to practise getting in and out of his submarine underwater through a small wet-and-dry chamber, shutting himself off from the rest of the crew before flooding the compartment and opening an external hatch.

Shean practised cutting underwater nets in Scottish lochs, which were always cold and black. There were accidents and deaths during training, but Shean and his fellow Australians always felt sure that they could beat the odds.

His first mission was Operation Source, the attack by a flotilla of X-craft on the German battleship Tirpitz in north Norway in September 1943. The X-craft were manned by passage crews and towed there by parent submarines, while attack crews, including Shean's, prepared themselves in the towing vessels.

Disaster struck, however, when Shean's X-9, behind Syrtis, broke her tow and the passage crew was lost. The towrope became tangled round Syrtis's port propeller, and Shean, whose diving suit was in X-9, plunged over the side into the freezing waters. Wearing overalls weighted with steel bars in the pockets, Shean repeatedly duck-dived until he could free the tangled rope. Knowing that, if attacked from the air, Syrtis would dive and abandon him on the surface, Shean was more frightened than he had ever been; and when he was hauled on board, the submarine's commanding officer rewarded him with a brusque "Well done!"

One of the lessons of Operation Source was the potential for confusion during multiple attacks; so on Operation Guidance, in April 1944, Shean, now in command of X-24, was towed by Sceptre to Bergen, Norway, to make a solo attack on a large floating dock.

Shean successfully penetrated the fjords to reach the harbour, but faulty intelligence caused him to lay X-24's explosive charges under a 7,800-ton German merchant ship, Barenfels, instead of the floating dock. Otherwise it was a model attack, and 24 hours later, sick and suffering from headaches caused by the stale air in the boat, Shean and his crew rendezvoused at sea with Sceptre. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his great courage, skill and determination in a most hazardous enterprise.

Following D-Day, Shean's flotilla was deployed to the Far East in command of an improved craft, XE-4. When Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, and an experienced submariner, saw his first XE-craft he declared it was a "suicide craft" which had no place in the Allies' order of battle. But when orders came from Washington to cut two underwater telegraph cables off Japanese-occupied Saigon, he found that the British midget submarines were the only force capable of achieving this.

The aim of Operation Sabre was to force the Japanese to use wireless communications which could be intercepted and deciphered. Shean designed new grapnels to hook the cables, which Engine Room Artificer Vernon "Ginger" Coles manufactured, and set off under tow from Queensland. En route to Indo-China, Shean nearly drowned. XE-4 was running on the surface, with the hatches closed to prevent the boat flooding, when Shean was swept away by a wave; but after "swimming the fastest strokes of my life" he grabbed the rudder and hauled himself hand-over-hand along the jumping wire and climbed on board again.

Undeterred, with only underwater dead reckoning updated by occasional sightings of Cap St Jacques lighthouse, Shean expertly navigated XE-4 into the shallow mouth of the Mekong river where, on July 31 1945, he began a submarine trawl for the cables. After ploughing the seabed for hours, XE-4 was, at 12.05, suddenly brought to a halt: it had snagged the first cable, and 13 minutes later the diver, fellow-Australian Sub-Lieutenant Ken Briggs, returned with a short length as proof that it had been cut. Resuming his trawl at 13.26, Shean found the second cable, much deeper than the first, and Sub-Lieutenant Adam Bergius made three attempts to cut it.

Shean could only wait until an exhausted Bergius emerged triumphantly from the airlock brandishing a length of cable.

Shortly after midnight, Shean rendezvoused with the submarine Spearhead and was towed in triumph to Subic Bay, in the Philippines. He was awarded a Bar to his DSO and the US Bronze Star for his gallantry, perseverance and outstanding skill. Coles, who was in Shean's crew in X-24 and in XE-4, was awarded a DSM and a mention in despatches.

Maxwell Shean was born on July 6 1918 in Perth, where his father was clerk to the Supreme Court, and the young Max spent his youth "messing about in tin boats on the river". He was studying Engineering at the University of Western Australia when he heard news of Dunkirk. Although strongly advised to finish his studies, he was determined to join the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve.

The Royal Navy needed skilled anti-submarine warfare officers for the Battle of the Atlantic, and eventually one fifth of all ASWOs were trained at HMAS Rushcutter in Sydney, where Shean was sent in late 1940. By the summer of 1941 he was in his first ship, the corvette Bluebell, which he described as "like your first girlfriend, she goes into your heart. I served 14 months in Bluebell, she kept me afloat and gave me three meals a day, made me seasick and she sank a U-boat."

Bluebell was part of the 37th Escort Group escorting convoys between Britain and Gibraltar, and Shean took part in some of the bitterest fighting of the Battle of the Atlantic. His skill as an ASWO and proficiency in using his ASDIC (sonar) earned him the nickname "King Ping".

At the end of 1941 Bluebell took part in the desperate defence of convoy OG77, which was attacked by a wolf pack; but five U-boats were sunk. On the night of December 11/12 Shean heard the high-pitched whine of torpedoes three times through his headset and warned his captain to turn Bluebell, and at midnight he dropped two patterns of depth charges. Shean's postwar research in British and German archives convinced him that he had sunk U-208.

While training in X-craft on the Isle of Bute, Shean travelled to Aberfeldy, Perthshire, to seek his Scottish ancestors. There he was warned that the village shop's pretty assistant was "spoken for". Nevertheless, romance blossomed, and despite wartime security Shean even smuggled her into the builder's yard, where she broke a bottle of Australian champagne on the bows of Shean's boat, XE-4, and gave it its unofficial name, Exciter.

After the war Shean finished his degree and worked for the City of Perth Electricity and Gas Department, and the State Electricity Commission until his retirement in 1978.

In 1979 he celebrated the 150th anniversary of the settlement of Western Australia by winning the open division of the Parmelia Yacht Race from Plymouth to Fremantle. His yacht, Bluebell, is today moored at Fremantle Sailing Club. In May 2005 Shean and his wife joined the Department of Veterans' Affairs VE-Day mission to Europe.

Shean's logical approach to problems and his interest in engineering shine through his modest wartime biography, Corvette and Submarine (1992). Once one of his daughter's boyfriends remarked that he ran his household like a battleship, which Shean took as a great compliment.

Max Shean, who died on June 15, married Mary Golding in 1944. She survives him with their two daughters.

Guam Update 13 Jun 09

Palafox Jr. is one green architect

VIRTUAL REALITY
By Tony Lopez

Architecture: When green is gold

Felino Palafox Jr. is one architect who puts his money where his mouth is.

In December, he gave up a $1-million professional fee because his client, a Korean gaming company, wanted to cut down 366 trees in an urban area inside the Subic Freeport.

Not only did he forgo an impressive fee. He also went on a media offensive to denounce the supposedly $120-million hotel casino entertainment project for its assault on the trees. “The trees were marked like convicts to be executed,” he winced.

Not surprisingly, the project proponent, along with top Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and Subic town officials, began to bad-mouth him. But Palafox got the backing of President Arroyo to whom he complained. The massacre of trees was aborted.

No artist or architect of his generation has embraced environmental protection with more passion and professionalism than Jun Palafox.

While at first blush, green architecture adds to the cost of a project “you can recover your cost in seven years,” Palafox reckons. And of course, green architecture recovers the environment for future generations.

Green architecture came early to Jun Palafox. As a young architect who arrived from a two-year scholarship at Harvard for his master’s degree in the 1970s, he headed the team that made designs for the future megalopolis, Metro Manila.

His design incorporated a walkable, bikeable green city with plenty of greenery and high-rise residential buildings near a mass transit system.

He also proposed charging an extra tax for vehicles for entering the central business district during peak hours—a concept used successfully by cities like Singapore. Palafox thought of the idea 35 years ago. Until now, Metro Manila has not adopted it.

Jun Palafox’s architectural firm—Palafox Associates is perhaps distinguished for its focus on green design.

Palafox Associates combines architecture, interior design, engineering, landscape architecture, environmental planning, urban design, land use planning, and planning management.

Explains Palafox: “We are merely borrowing the environment from future generations; therefore, we endeavor to minimize the impact of our actions, plan and designs, enhance the environment and minimize the negative impact.”

According to Wikipedia, green architecture or sustainable building focuses on efficiency of resource use—energy, water and materials, while reducing building impact on human health and the environment.

The world’s No. 1 polluters are not cars, but buildings. In 2006, in the US and Europe, buildings used up 40 percent of total energy demand. In the US, 54 percent of that 40 percent was consumed by residential buildings, and 46 percent by commercial buildings.

Contractors usually add 17 percent to the cost of construction when incorporating green design. But according to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the additional cost is only 5 percent.

With the passage of the Renewable Energy Law, it is now cheaper for homes and buildings to go green. Raw materials and green products like solar panels come enter the country tax free. Locally produced ones enjoy a tax perk.

Palafox is considered the Philippines’ No. 1 architect and foremost urban planner.

His firm, Palafox Associates, is ranked as the No. 1 architectural firm in Southeast Asia, with 100 architects, work in 32 countries around the world, and 33 years of experience—including a four-year working experience with a multinational and interdisciplinary professional staff and with international consultants in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

His clients are among the largest and most prestigious land developers, building owners, tycoons and taipans, not to mention the sheiks, kings and sultans of the world.

Jun Palafox carved his name in the Middle East planning and designing their buildings, palaces, malls, ports, airports, townships and cities. The biggest structures and projects in that area carry his imprint.

The firm has been involved in the architectural design of more than 10 billion square meters of building area. It has also master-planned over 100 communities covering more than five million square meters of land area in 32 other countries from different continents.

It was in the Middle East where Henry Sy Sr. met the then young architect and enticed him to come to the Philippines, paying him consulting fees higher than what the retailing taipan was paying his executives. Jun Palafox did indeed come back and helped Tatang Henry Sy design some of his shopping palaces, injecting ideas and visioning he learned from abroad.

Later, the Zobels also asked Palafox to join their group. He left Ayala and made a name of his own. He likes the old designers of the old Ayala like Joseph McMicking and the late Enrique Zobel. They fought hard to preserve trees and parks because they are, as Palafox says, “the lungs of the city.”

In July 1989, Jun went on his own putting up what became the largest architectural firm in the Philippines. In 1991, the firm became a partnership.

JC delos Reyes - Kapatiran standard bearer

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Olongapo Councilor JC delos Reyes, Presidential standard bearer of Kapatiran Party in Hot Seat interview at ANC Dateline

Related articles on JC & Ang Kapatiran (follow links)

1. Kapatiran’s lone winner keeps party’s flame burning

2. Kapatiran taps simple man with moral duty, KAYA NATIN!

3. Ang Kapatiran website

4. Ang Kapatiran: Birth of a Political Party

5. Renewing the Filipino Political Culture

Jousting with the windmill

Andress Hagad - SunStar

“JC WHO?” might very well be the question the average Filipino voter will ask when told that JC de los Reyes will be one of the candidates for president during the 2010 national elections. The name will certainly ring no bell in the mind of most voters, and well it should not because prior to his announcement last Saturday Mr. John Carlos “JC” de los Reyes was just a city councilor in Olongapo, Pampanga.

JC is neither a practical joker nor a lunatic. A graduate of the Ateneo de Manila and of De La Salle – Zobel, he is a sober and successful businessman, a nephew of Senator Richard Gordon. By his own description a simple man with a moral duty, JC de los Reyes was nominated to run for the presidency by the Kapatiran Party which, judging from its past record, is hands-down and thumbs-up the most moral political party in the Philippines today.

Founded by Mr. Nandy Pacheco during the 2007 national and local elections, Kapatiran then fielded three senatorial candidates: Dr. Martin Bautista, Atty. Zosimo Paredes and Adrian Sison. All three were devout Roman Catholics, successful professionals and as far from the image of the legendary Don Quixote as black is from white. The Party was formed to be the model of what the ideal political party should be (with clean, law-abiding, moral party members, and with a clearly-defined set of party principles), organized to give the Filipino electorate an alternative choice to the traditional politicians that is our daily fare during elections.

In 2010, Kapatiran will attempt to field candidates in both national and local government positions, the better to make its advocacy more visible to the ordinary voter. It will not be lacking in challenges. Even in the local sphere, in the provinces, cities and municipalities, Kapatiran is relatively unknown.

Ninety-five percent of its candidates will probably be first-timers in politics as traditional politicians, the trapos, will never fit into the mold of principles that it has set for prospective members. But the political face that it will present will certainly be refreshing, candidates who can pass the test of morality, integrity and professionalism that ought to be the trademark of all politicians.

It is a testament to how far we still need to travel to reach political maturity that political parties like Kapatiran and candidates like JC de los Reyes appear like Don Quixotes jousting with the seemingly-impregnable windmill. On the other hand, change will come only if more and more people believe like JC, that the windmill is man-made and can be broken by men and women with the resolve to break it down.

From the bottom of Bottomline’s heart, kudos to KC de los Reyes and to the Kapatiran Party!

Related articles on JC

1. http://subicbaynews.blogspot.com/search/label/jc

2. http://subicbaynews.blogspot.com/search?q=jc+

3. Ang Kapatiran website

Congressman who voted YES for CON-ASS:

and yes, Diaz and Magsaysay are among them

National Capital Region
Vincent P. Crisologo, Quezon City
Matias V. Defensor, Jr., Quezon City
Mary Ann L. Susano, Quezon City
Nanette Castelo-Daza, Quezon City
Bienvenido M. Abante Jr., Manila
Jaime C. Lopez, Manila
Maria Zenaida B. Angping, Manila
Maria Theresa B. David, Manila
Amado S. Bagatsing, Manila
Daniel R. De Guzman, Marikina City
Marcelino R. Teodoro, Marikina City
Eduardo C. Zialcita, Parañaque City
Henry M. Dueñas, Jr., Taguig
Alvin S. Sandoval, Malabon City-Navotas City
Jose Antonio F. Roxas, Pasay City
Oscar G. Malapitan, Caloocan City
Mary Mitzi L. Cajayon, Caloocan City
Roman T. Romulo, Pasig City
Rexlon T. Gatchalian, Valenzuela City
Magtanggol T. Gunigundo I, Valenzuela City

Cordillera Administrative Region
Manuel S. Agyao, Kalinga
Elias C. Bulut, Jr., Apayao
Mauricio G. Domogan, Baguio City
Samuel M. Dangwa, Benguet
Solomon R. Chungalao, Ifugao

Ilocos Region
Thomas M. Dumpit Jr., La Union
Victor Franciso C. Ortega, La Union
Arthur F. Celeste, Pangasinan
Conrado M. Estrella III, Pangasinan
Marcos O. Cojuangco, Pangasinan
Victor F. Agbayani, Pangasinan
Ma. Rachel J. Arenas, Pangasinan
Eric D. Singson, Ilocos Sur
Ronald V. Singson, Ilocos Sur
Roque R. Ablan, Jr., Ilocos Norte
Cecilia S. Luna], Abra

Cagayan Valley
Florencio L. Vargas, Cagayan
Manuel N. Mamba, Cagayan
Junie E. Qua, Quirino
Carlo Oliver D. Diasnes, Batanes
Rodolfo T. Albano, Isabela
Edwin C. Uy, Isabela

Central Luzon
Jose V. Yap, Tarlac
Jeci A. Lapus, Tarlac
Monica Louise Prieto-Teodoro, Tarlac
Lorna C. Silverio, Bulacan
Pedro M. Pancho, Bulacan
Reylina G. Nicolas, Bulacan
Ma. Victoria Sy-Alvarado, Bulacan
Arturo C. Robes, San Jose del Monte City
Albert C. Garcia, Bataan
Herminia B. Roman, Bataan
Joseph Gilbert F. Violago, Nueva Ecija
Ma. Milagros H. Magsaysay, Zambales
Antonio M. Diaz, Zambales
Aurelio D. Gonzales, Jr., Pampanga
Juan Miguel M. Arroyo, Pampanga
Anna York P. Bondoc, Pampanga
Carmelo F. Lazatin, Pampanga

CALABARZON
Danilo E. Suarez, Quezon
Wilfrido Mark C. Enverga, Quezon
Michael John R. Duavit, Rizal
Adeline Rodriguez-Zaldarriaga, Rizal
Angelito C. Gatlabayan, Antipolo City
Roberto V. Puno, Antipolo City
Eileen Ermita-Buhain, Batangas
Mark Llandro L. Mendoza, Batangas
Victoria H. Reyes, Batangas
Jesus Crispin C. Remulla, Cavite
Elpidio F. Barzaga, Jr., Cavite
Maria Evita R. Arago, Laguna
Edgar S. San Luis, Laguna

MIMAROPA
Antonio C. Alvarez, Palawan
Carmencita O. Reyes, Marinduque
Eleandro Jesus F. Madrona, Romblon
Ma. Amelita C. Villarosa, Occidental Mindoro
Rodolfo G. Valencia, Oriental Mindoro

Bicol Region
Rizalina Seachon-Lanete, Masbate
Narciso R. Bravo, Jr., Masbate
Antonio T. Kho, Masbate
Al Francis C. Bichara, Albay
Reno G. Lim, Albay
Luis R. Villafuerte, Camarines Sur
Felix R. Alfelor, Jr., Camarines Sur
Diosdado Ignacio Jose Maria Macapagal-Arroyo, Camarines Sur
Joseph A. Santiago, Catanduanes
Jose G. Solis, Sorsogon

Visayas
Western Visayas
Florencio T. Miraflores, Aklan
Genaro M. Alvarez, Jr., Negros Occidental
Jeffrey P. Ferrer, Negros Occidental
Ignacio T. Arroyo, Jr., Negros Occidental
Jose Carlos V. Lacson, Negros Occidental
Alfredo D. Marañon III, Negros Occidental
Raul T. Gonzalez, Jr., Iloilo City
Niel C. Tupas, Jr., Iloilo
Ferjenel G. Biron, Iloilo
Arthur Defensor, Sr., Iloilo
Judy J. Syjuco, Iloilo
Janette L. Garin, Iloilo
Joaquin Carlos Rahman A. Nava, Guimaras
Fredenil H. Castro, Capiz

Central Visayas
Roberto C. Cajes, Bohol
Edgardo M. Chatto, Bohol
Pryde Henry A. Teves, Negros Oriental
Pablo P. Garcia, Cebu
Pablo John F. Garcia, Cebu
Ramon H. Durano VI, Cebu
Nerissa Corazon Soon-Ruiz, Cebu
Benhur L. Salimbangon, Cebu
Eduardo R. Gullas, Cebu
Antonio V. Cuenco, Cebu City
Raul V. Del Mar, Cebu City

Eastern Visayas
Roger G. Mercado, Southern Leyte
Eufrocino M. Codilla, Sr., Leyte
Carmen L. Cari, Leyte
Andres D. Salvacion Jr., Leyte
Trinidad G. Apostol, Leyte
Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, Leyte
Reynaldo S. Uy, Samar
Sharee Ann T. Tan, Samar
Teodolo M. Coquilla, Eastern Samar
Paul R. Daza, Northern Samar
Emil L. Ong, Northern Samar
Glenn A. Chong, Biliran


Mindanao
Zamboanga Peninsula
Rosendo S. Labadlabad, Zamboanga del Norte
Cecilia G. Jalosjos-Carreon, Zamboanga del Norte
Cesar G. Jalosjos, Zamboanga del Norte
Victor J. Yu, Zamboanga del Sur
Antonio H. Cerilles, Zamboanga del Sur
Dulce Ann K. Hofer, Zamboanga Sibugay

Northern Mindanao
Vicente F. Belmonte, Jr., Lanao del Norte
Abdullah D. Dimaporo, Lanao del Norte
Rolando A. Uy, Cagayan de Oro City
Marina P. Clarete, Misamis Occidental
Herminia M. Ramiro, Misamis Occidental
Yevgeny Vicente B. Emano, Misamis Oriental
Pedro P. Romualdo, Camiguin
Candido P. Pancrudo Jr., Bukidnon

Davao Region
Franklin P. Bautista, Davao del Sur
Marc Douglas C. Cagas IV, Davao del Sur
Arrel R. Olaño, Davao del Norte
Antonio F. Lagdameo, Jr., Davao del Norte
Isidro T. Ungab, Davao City
Vincent J. Garcia, Davao City
Prospero Nograles, Davao City
Thelma Z. Almario, Davao Oriental
Nelson L. Dayanghirang, Davao Oriental
Rommel C. Amatong, Compostela Valley
Manuel E. Zamora, Compostela Valley

SOCCSKSARGEN
Datu Pax S. Mangudadatu, Sultan Kudarat
Arnulfo F. Go, Sultan Kudarat
Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, Cotabato
Bernardo F. Piñol, Jr., Cotabato

Caraga
Glenda B. Ecleo, Dinagat Islands
Philip A. Pichay, Surigao del Sur
Florencio C. Garay, Surigao del Sur
Francisco T. Matugas, Surigao del Norte
Guillermo A. Romarate, Jr., Surigao del Norte
Edelmiro A. Amante, Agusan del Norte
Jose S. Aquino II, Agusan del Norte

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
Pangalian M. Balindong, Lanao del Sur
Faysah Omaira M. Dumarpa, Lanao del Sur
Yusop H. Jikiri, Sulu
Munir M. Arbison, Sulu
Simeon Datumanong, Maguindanao
Nur G. Jaafar, Tawi-Tawi

Party- Lists
Narciso D. Santiago III, Alliance for Rural Concerns
Edgar L. Valdez, Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives
Ernesto C. Pablo, Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives
Robert Raymund M. Estrella, Abono
Nicanor M. Briones, Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines,
Inc.

Keppel Cebu labor woes affect group performance

Written by VG Cabuag - Business Mirror Reporter

SHIPYARD operator Keppel Philippines Marine Inc. said its labor problem in Cebu is affecting the entire company as customers are reportedly canceling their orders for new ships to be built in the facility.

Yeo Chien Sheng Nelson, the company’s chairman, said they have temporarily stopped operations in the Cebu facility, forcing the remaining workers to go on leave until such time a new ship order has been secured.

“It’s not a big order, but it is an order to keep the company going and wait for better times. The current market is terrible. The current [economic situation] also [affected] ship building. Every shipyard is hungry to win [new] projecst,” he told the BusinessMirror at the sidelines of the company’s stockholder’s meeting on Tuesday.

Nelson, however, was stopped short of blaming the labor problem as the main cause of the closure but he said it has made the situation worse in the light of the global economic downturn.

“If you are ship owner with so many yards to choose [from] and you have a one that everyday you read on the newspaper that there’s going to be an impending [labor] strike, would you want to keep the job to the yard when you have such a choice?,” Nelson said.

As of May, the company has 146 senior management officers, 118 management staff, and 558 industrial workers. Both the senior officers and industrial workers are unionized.

In April, Keppel’s subsidiary in Cebu announced redundancy of positions for 70 workers after the company decided to turn its facility from a ship repair to a ship building early in the year.

In its report, Keppel said its net income for last year increased by 78 percent to P908 million from the previous year’s income of P508.57 million.

The subsidiary, Keppel Cebu Shipyard Inc. (KCSI) repaired 69 vessels—40 local and 29 foreign—during the year, from the 77 recorded in 2007.

“The jobs secured were of lower value, thus, resulting in an 18-percent drop in revenue to P563 million. With this, KCSI’s total revenue decreased by 24 percent or about P258 million,” the company said, adding that the subsidiary has shipbuilding projects, which yielded earnings of P255 million.

For the first three months of the year, however, the company reported a lower operating profit of P82.33 million from the previous year’s P87.11 million.

It posted a revenue of P590.1 million for the first quarter, 11-percent lower compared with last year. This was due mainly to lower revenue from shipbuilding and fabrication activities. Ship repair revenues

contributed 63 percent of the total sales earnings while shipbuilding and fabrication contributed 37 percent of the total sales revenues for the period.

Keppel Philippines is 95.79-percent owned by KS Investments Pte. Ltd., a company based in Singapore, and 4.21-percent owned by noncontrolling shareholders, including those held by the public.

Keppel Philippines in its earlier report said its Batangas facility will support the operations of Keppel Group in Singapore, while the Cebu shipyard will serve the international shipping industry.

Subic Shipyard, which Keppel has majority ownership, is expected to be active on ship repair and conversion works for international vessels.

Subic exports rise by half in 1st quarter

Firms at the Subic Freeport exported $359.45-million worth of goods in the first quarter, up 54.8% from year-ago levels, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) said in a statement on Friday.

The top 10 exporters of the freeport accounted for 92% or $332.33 million of export sales in that period.

"This makes us all the more confident that hard work on the part of the SBMA and the business locators here would enable us to pull through these hard times," the statement quoted SBMA Administrator and Chief Executive Officer Armand C. Arreza as saying.

Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries Co.-Philippines led the pack, with sales hitting $179.36 million.

The other nine leading exporters were manufacturers mostly of computers, appliances, and other machinery. They were:

Hong Kong cell phone trader Lets Do Mobile Philippines, $57.43 million;
Taiwanese computer maker Wistron Infocomm (Phils) Corp., $36.13 million;
Japanese ATM-maker Hitachi Terminals, $16.46 million;
Japanese micro-motor manufacturer Sanyo Denki, $16.23 million;
Japanese wood products maker Juken Sangyo $8.73 million;
Danish eyewear manufacturer Lindberg Subic, Inc. ($6.38 million);
Taiwanese lock maker Tong Lung (Phils.) Metal Industry ($4.34 million);
Taiwanese aircon maker Hitachi ($4.48 million); and
Japanese electronics sensor maker Nicera ($2.79 million).
The state agency reported earlier this week that investment pledges to the freeport — mostly in shipping, trading and tourism ventures — grew 13.6% to P1.5 billion in the first quarter from the same period last year. — JADH - BusinessWorld

Adult unemployment at record-high 34.2%:

SWS Media Release / 12 May 2009

First Quarter 2009 Social Weather Survey:

Adult unemployment at record-high 34.2%:

13% of them left old job, 12% were retrenched



Social Weather Stations



The First Quarter 2009 Social Weather Survey, fielded over February 20-23, 2009, found adult unemployment rising to record-high 34.2%, or an estimated 14 million, from 27.9% or estimated 11 million from the previous quarter.

The survey also found that of those unemployed, 13% voluntarily left their old job, while 12% were retrenched, consisting of 9% who were laid off and 3% whose previous contact was not renewed.

Unemployment has been over 20% since 2005

Adult unemployment in the SWS surveys has been 20% and above since May 2005, except for December 2007 when it was 17.5% [Chart 1, Table 1].

In the SWS data series which began in 1993, unemployment was below 15% until March 2004, and then ranged from 16.5% to 19.0% from August 2004 to March 2005.

Job history of the unemployed

Over the past four quarters, adult unemployment is dominated by those who voluntarily left their old work, and those who were retrenched – either by getting laid off or by not having their contracts renewed [Chart 2].

In the latest February 2009 survey, 13% of the unemployed left their old jobs voluntarily, 9% were laid off, 3% had their contracts finished and not renewed, and 3% said their employers closed operation. Six percent never worked before at the time of the survey.

SWS unemployment definition

The SWS data on unemployment refer to the population of adults in the labor force. This is because respondents in the standard SWS surveys are those at least 18 years old. The 1993-2008 figures are consistently based on the traditional definition of unemployment as not working and at the same time looking for work. Those not working but not looking for work are excluded from the labor force; these are housewives, retired, disabled, students, etc.

On the other hand, the official lower boundary of the labor force has always been 15 years of age. Formerly, the official definition of unemployment was not working and looking for work. However, from April 2005 onward, the new official definition has included the concept of availability for work; it subtracts those not available for work, even though looking for work, and adds those available for work but not seeking work for the following reasons: tired/believe no work is available, awaiting results of a job application, temporarily ill/disabled, bad weather, and waiting for rehire/job recall.

If the official definition is applied, the unemployment rate among adults 18 years old is 25.9% in the SWS February 2009 survey. It is lower than when computed using the traditional definition because the correction for those looking for work but ‘not truly available’ is much larger than the correction for those ‘actually available’ though not looking for work at the moment.

Survey Background

The First Quarter of 2009 Social Weather Survey was conducted over February 20 – 23, 2009 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults in Metro Manila, the Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao (sampling error margins of ±2.5% for national percentages, ±6% for area percentages) . The area estimates were weighted by National Statistics Office medium-population projections for 2009 to obtain the national estimates.

The quarterly Social Weather Surveys on unemployment are not commissioned, but are done on SWS's own initiative and released as a public service, with first printing rights assigned to BusinessWorld.

STOP COLLECTING EXIT FEES FROM PINOYS, NAIA-BI MEN TOLD

http://immigration.gov.ph//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=504&Itemid=78

Immigration officers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) have been ordered to stop collecting exit clearance fees from departing Filipino passengers who are holders of foreign passports.

The directive was given by Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Marcelino Libanan in a memorandum order that he issued last April 17 to immigration officials at the NAIA and other international airports and subports nationwide.

Libanan said he issued the order following complaints from Filipino travelers who were required to pay the said exit fees after presenting their foreign passports to immigration departure counters at the NAIA.

The said travelers are either former natural-born Filipinos who reacquired their Philippine citizenship under the dual citizenship act or foreigners who were recognized as Filipinos under the 1987 and 1935 Constitutions.

"It is not right to collect exit fees from these passengers who, even if they are holders of foreign passports, are actually Filipino entitled to all the rights and privileges of a Philippine citizen," Libanan said in explaining his directive.

The exit fee amounts to more than P1,200 for a passenger and is normally collected from departing foreign tourists and holders of immigrant and non-immigrant visas.

In his order, Libanan directed the immigration officers "not to collect exit fees from departing passengers who are holders BI-issued identification certificates even if they are using foreign passports.

An identification certificate is issued by the BI to a foreigner who was granted dual citizenship under Republic Act 9225 or whose petition for recognition as a Philippine citizen was approved by the BI and affirmed by the Department of Justice.

Under RA 9225, former natural-born Filipinos who became naturalized citizens of other countries are deemed not to have lost their Philippine citizenship.

On the other hand, an order of recognition as a Philippine citizen is issued to a foreigner whose father or mother is a Filipino at the time of his or her birth. (BI News)

Signal 3 raised over Zambales

GMANews.TV

Doctorate of Laws - Raul Gonzales

I take this opportunity to thank the Ramon Magsaysay Technological University in Iba, Zambales, for the singular honor it conferred upon me by granting me a honorary Doctorate of Laws on April 3, and for the immediate approval of the grant by the chairman of the Commission on Higher Education. The citation accompanying the conferral said in part:

“The Ramon Magsaysay Technological University, pursuant to its mandate, gives official recognition to individuals for their outstanding contributions in the fields of education, public service, arts, science and technology, business and industry.

“In its commitment to honor exemplary leaders, the University recognizes the outstanding achievements and contributions of Hon. Raul M. Gonzalez, Secretary, Department of Justice, in the fields of law and legislation. Truly, his achievements and contributions in the fields of law and legislation continue to make a difference in the lives of the Filipino people, worthy of emulation and recognition.”

My family and I are deeply honored by this rare and precious recognition of my work, and I am most grateful.

Bloodshed blame on glory seekers

Three Red Cross workers held hostage by Islamic militants in the southern Philippines are believed to have survived deadly clashes between security forces trying to rescue them and their captors.
But Philippine Red Cross chairman Richard Gordon lashed out at the military for what he said was an ill-conceived operation that had led to the deaths of three soldiers and two militants - without freeing the three hostages.

Gordon said "buckeroos" from the military on the ground should be investigated for an "irresponsible effort to attain glory."

Fierce fighting erupted on Monday and Tuesday in remote jungle on the island of Jolo as security forces came up against members of the Abu Sayyaf.

The military later reported finding tents and other equipment belonging to the kidnapped Red Cross workers - Filipina Mary Jean Lacaba, Swiss national Andreas Notter and Italian Eugenio Vagni.

"As far as I know they are alive, but tired," Gordon said.

The military said the Abu Sayyaf commander holding the three had tried to slip through a cordon around a jungle area, which triggered the clashes - though that claim was questioned by Gordon.

It was also said that a leading militant was killed and several other Abu Sayyaf members wounded.

Gordon said he had asked the military to refrain from any rescue attempt at a time when the rebels were already isolated, and talks were continuing to free the captives.

Gordon, a former Olongapo City mayor who is also a Philippine senator, said he had spoken by phone with a man who claimed to be Albader Parad, the presumed leader of the kidnappers.

He had initially been reported killed.

Gordon said that during the conversation the militant had said hostages might be killed or injured in crossfire if troops continued their advance.

"If the military will not stop its operation and pull out there will be no more negotiations," Parad said, adding that his men were prepared to fight.

Armed forces deputy chief Lieutenant General Rodrigo Maclang insisted the fighting could not have been avoided because the rebels were trying to escape.

The Red Cross team was abducted while on a humanitarian mission. Local officials trying to secure their release have cited a ransom demand of US$1 million (HK$7.8 million).

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

Racing legend Ramirez crosses finish line

Jose “Pocholo” Ramirez Jr., long acknowledged as the “Living Legend” of Philippine car racing, died early yesterday after two years of battling cancer. He was 76.

The bearded racecar driver left behind a family of racers in sons Jose Andre (Kookie), Georges, Louie, Miguel and daughter-in-law Menchie. He has a grandson who now races regularly at the Subic International Raceway, a racetrack Ramirez himself built right after the Americans left their Subic Naval Base in the early 1990s.

Ramirez’s remains lie in estate at the Christ The King Church in Green Meadows, Quezon City. According to his son Kookie, there will only be two days of wake for their father. A private ceremony will be held before the remains are cremated on Saturday.

As a young man in the 1950s, he went to New York to work as a hotelier for Waldorf Astoria. It was in the United States that the racing bug bit him. He came back to Manila in the 1960s and met Arsenio “Dodjie” Laurel who lent him a go-kart and influenced him to take racing seriously.

His early career saw him joining the Shell Car Rally which Laurel himself pioneered. He won this on-time-all-the-time rally in 1966 as team captain of the Renault squad.

Unknown to many, Ramirez almost died in a major vehicular accident in the late 1960s. He was trying to overtake a slow-moving bus on Highway 54 (now EDSA) when he hit a parked truck. He sustained a broken jaw and was in coma for two weeks. The long scar on his jaw was the reason why he decided to grow a beard.

Yet despite the accident, Ramirez continued to race. He even holds the distinction of being the first to be issued a Racing Driver’s License by the Philippine Motor Association.

In 1969, Ramirez served as the poster boy for the first circuit race in the country – the first Philippine Grand Prix held in Cebu. He drove for the new Toyota team managed by his neighbor Dante Silverio. It was the start of a partnership that would last for more than 20 years.

In the 1970s, Ramirez ruled the races in newly developed Greenhills subdivision. He was declared Driver of the Year five times. When the races transferred in the BF subdivision area in Las Piñas, south of Manila, Ramirez continued to show his winning ways, until that fateful day in 1977 when he figured in a major crash that killed a spectator and injured dozens.

But Ramirez will forever be remembered for putting up the Subic International Raceway, which, to him, was the perfect and safest place for racing. AAP president Gus Lagman said the entire Philippine racing community mourns the death of Ramirez.== The Philippine Star

RP has dirtiest seas -- Loren

“WE are known as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Now, we are also known as a country with one of the dirtiest and most littered seas. I am ashamed for all of us.”

Thus declared Senator Loren Legarda, one of the Philippines’ fiercest advocates for a clean environment, upon reading a report of the Ocean Conservancy listing the Philippines as one of the countries whose seas are heavily infested with garbage and waste.

Loren appealed to the national government and local governments to take decisive and effective action to clean the Philippine seas by fully implementing environmental laws, such as Republic Act No. 9003, known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, which she authored.

“The just released report from the Ocean Conservancy is very troubling,” Legarda, author of R.A. 9003 and Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Climate Change said yesterday.

The report states that of the 11.4 million items of sea wastes gathered by the Conservancy in a one day clean-up in 104 countries, 1,355,236 items of garbage were gathered from Philippine waters. Of this total, the highest number of garbage items gathered were 679,957 plastic bags and 253,013 paper bags.

Other items gathered from Philippine waters were 103,226 food wrappers and containers, 68,421 straws and stirrers, 38,395 clothes and shoes, 34,154 cigarettes and cigarette filters and 20, 238 beverage bottles.

Loren pointed out that garbage wastes in the seas destroy the marine ecosystem, killing fish, crustaceans and corals, thus damaging the livelihood of thousands of fishermen’s families, ravage the beauty and atmosphere of once emerald shores, and undermine the local and foreign tourist industry, while spreading disease among shore populations and visitors.

“There are laws to prevent this from happening,” Loren fumed. “We just need to implement these laws. I also challenge the National Solid Waste Management Commission (formed under R.A. 9003), the lead agency in the fight against trash, to immediately address this issue. We cannot allow our seas to become trash bins. We are slowly but surely killing our greatest natural resource.”

R.A. 9003 imposes the primary enforcement and responsibility of solid waste management with the local government units in cooperation with the the national government, other local government units, non- government organizations, and the private sector.

It also calls for the proper segregation, collection, transport, storage, treatment and disposal of solid waste through the formulation and adoption of the best environmental practice in ecological waste management excluding incineration.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources should closely oversee the implementation of the law, Loren declared.

“I also challenge every Filipino to help clean up our country’s seas. We as individuals, all have a responsibility towards the environment. The waste which finds its way to our seas come from all of us,” said Legarda. Journal online

Hire displaced workers

Seek out the workers who lost their jobs and hire them.

President Macapagal-Arroyo gave this order to the labor department, saying displaced workers should get priority in the government’s emergency livelihood and employment program.

Press Secretary Serge Remonde said the DoLE was ordered to trace these workers “para makuha yung mga pangalan at addresses ng mga nawawalan ng trabaho.”

He said the government will give priority to displaced workers from the export-related industries, who are taking the brunt of the global crisis.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto earlier said some 800,000 Filipinos are in danger of losing their jobs this year as the global economic slowdown hits the export sector including the key electronics industry.

Remonde said the President also reiterated her directive for the government to tighten its belt to be able to pay subsidies for the poor and provide emergency employment for those who lost their jobs.

The President earlier issued an executive order for all government agencies to reduce by 1.5 percent their respective maintenance, overhead and operating budgets. She said the savings translate to P7 billion that can be used to pay the salaries of workers that can be accommodated in government offices for at least six months.

The government is hiring 180,000 contractual workers for six months. By: Tess Bedico - Journal online

==


Employment program

Journal.ph editorial
MANY quarters fear that more and more members of the Philippine labor force, including overseas Filipino workers, face the specter of losing their jobs this year due to the expected deepening of the international financial crisis.

The fear is not without basis since the hard-pressed working class, the creator of wealth in society, is the major victim of this economic meltdown, which continues to terrorize millions of people in both the industrialized and developing nations across the globe.

This is the problem that United States-educated Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who has reached the apex of her colorful political career, faces as she nears the end of her six-year term as President of the Philippines.

Without doubt, the Arroyo administration is up against one of its major challenges: Meeting the employment needs of the rapidly-expanding population at a time when manpower-importing nations are laying off their migrant workers.

This is where we add our voice to persistent calls that there’s now an urgent need to support the government move to allocate some P10 billion for the country’s emergency employment program.

The public applauded when the House of Representatives expressed its full support to the Arroyo regime’s program to put in place mechanisms to create new jobs because private businesses are now generally holding back their investments.

President Arroyo instructed Cabinet members to fast-track the implementation of government programs designed to strengthen the country’s economic competitiveness and ensure new jobs and livelihood opportunities for workers affected by the economic turmoil.

Whatever her critics say, there’s now this snowballing move to make the Comprehensive Livelihood Emergency Employment Program a permanent fixture of the government’s social reform and poverty alleviation policy with or without the global economic meltdown.

But what is needed to ensure the success of CLEEP, which is being administered by the National Anti-Poverty Commission? It is for concerned government authorities to spend the funding wisely and judiciously.

We are all for this. And we will be drawing the ire of the people, notably the poor and other unfortunate members of society, if we allow the money to end up in the deep pockets of unscrupulous public servants.

Keppel Cebu rationalizing work force to focus on shipbuilding; workers holed up in shipyard

CEBU CITY — Keppel Cebu Shipyard, Inc. is streamlining its work force as part of its new thrust to focus on shipbuilding and divert all ship repair activities to its shipyards in Batangas and Subic, Zambales.

The job rotation scheme, which started this week, and the voluntary reduction program offered to workers are expected to cut the Cebu shipyard’s 414-strong work force by 70%, union President Roger Igot said.

To protect their jobs, Mr. Igot and other members of the Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Baradero at Keppel Cebu have been holed up inside the shipyard in Mactan since Tuesday night.

More union members who reported for work yesterday were also expected to stay inside the compound even after their three-day shift ends.

Under the job rotation scheme, workers were divided and given three-day shifts.

"The management had told us that if we don’t resign voluntarily, our positions will be declared redundant. Any day now, we expect that announcement so we’re not going to leave the shipyard to protect our jobs," Mr. Igot said.

Most of the union’s 279 members were expected to join the group and will stay inside the shipyard, he added.

In a statement, Keppel Cebu said it was rationalizing its work force in preparation for shipbuilding, a thrust announced in the middle of last year because of declining domestic repair demand.

The Keppel Cebu shipyard is being upgraded to prepare it for shipbuilding.

"As certain specialized trades and skills in ship repair are no longer needed for shipbuilding, the company intends to rationalize its work force," the company said.

"Discussions were held with its workers’ union to offer a comprehensive separation package for the affected employees," it added.

Displaced workers will be given the opportunity to join other shipyards under Keppel Philippines Marine, Inc. or Keppel Offshore & Marine.

The workers, however, have not bought the management’s explanation about declining demand for ship repair.

Mr. Igot said there had been ship repair jobs diverted to the Batangas shipyard in January.

Presently, only one ship is drydocked at the Mactan shipyard, which normally can accommodate up to five vessels.

The workers also do not believe that the company is bleeding financially due to the global economic crisis. Mr. Igot said the management had announced the release of their profit-sharing bonuses, an average of P31,000 per employee, on Friday. Their incentive bonuses were also released just recently.

"We have never run out of jobs at the yard. Last year, there was always a ship to work on. We don’t believe there are redundant jobs here," Mr. Igot added.

He accused the management of union busting and of trying to replace regular workers with contractual workers who are paid less.

Regular employees are paid an average of P1,100 daily, including benefits, while contractual workers receive only the daily minimum wage of P250, or less, he added. — Marites S. Villamor - Business World

OFWs: From belly of luxury ship to top deck

By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo - Philippine Daily Inquirer
FROM BOILER room to ballroom, from stage to spa, from poolside to pantry, from bar to fine dining. From the belly of the luxury ship to the topmost deck where one could see forever and behold the azure sea and sky of the Mediterranean.

Overseas Filipino workers (OFW) rule the roost, so to speak, aboard the cruise ship Brilliance of the Seas because of their sheer number and also because of their skills, talent, dependability and graciousness. Filipinos comprise about 60 percent of the 853-strong crew that is composed of 51 nationalities.

“Here I earn the combined salaries of four teachers and three security guards in the Philippines,” reveals Jerry Dioneo, 36, who works in the dining section. Dioneo who hails from Silay City in Negros Occidental has been on the ship for about three years and is on his fourth contract. Only the Filipino nationals, Dioneo adds, are compelled to allot and remit 20 percent of their earnings to their folks back home. This is stipulated in their contracts.

And what is work like on cruise days? “Every day here is a Monday,” Dioneo chirps as he replenishes the cornucopia of food for the guests.

Victoriano Camacho, 46, of Calamba, Laguna, has been with the cruise company for 16 years and is now the sous chef (assistant of the executive chef). He started out at the Nikko Hotel in Makati. Now he earns $2,600 a month.

$1.7 billion of the total $10.8 billion remitted by OFWs in 2005 came from the sea-based OFWs. The number of Filipino seafarers working abroad as of 2005, is about 250,000 or approximately 20 percent of the world’s total.

‘White List’

The rise in the number could be attributed to the inclusion of the Philippines in the International Maritime Organization’s “White List” of 72 accredited countries. Being on the list means the country has continuously complied with the standards required for competent seafarers.

Being a Filipino seaman or seafarer does not necessarily mean working in cargo ships sailing drearily on a gray sea and being cooped up, fighting ennui until land appears on the horizon. A good number of the sea-based OFWs work in cruise ships. These luxury liners cater to vacation-bound, fun-loving, adventure-seeking humans, people who work hard and play hard, or who just want to be out of reach and listen to the music of the ocean, heeding the cruise logo catchphrase that says, “Get out there.” One could also choose to get holed up in the ship’s library.

The three-year-old German-built Brilliance of the Seas belongs to a fleet of cruise ships of the Royal Caribbean International (RCI) that sails in Europe, North America and the Caribbean. It has a passenger capacity of 2,500.

The Filipino seamen and women working on board are there to help make good things happen. The job is demanding as cruises involve service, hospitality, food, fun, travel, safety and, most of all, people.

Earning from tips

Bar server Vergie Mompil, an education course graduate, has spent eight years working on several cruise ships. Her husband, Edwin Vicero also works in another cruise ship, Jewels of the Sea.

Those in food service are not paid the fixed salary rate that workers in other sections receive. Food and drink servers like Vergie receive only $50 per 12-day cruise but the tips (provided for in the bill) earn her about $1,000. Two cruises per month or more than ten cruises in a six-month contract mean a lot when remitted to the Philippines. “After six months, we go on a two-month break,” Vergie adds.

Vergie is stationed at the bar in the main lobby ballroom at the foot of a luminous stairway where guests in formal wear linger to chat or dance to music provided mainly by—you guessed it—Filipino musicians.

Vergie and her husband have a three-year-old child who is being cared for by two aunts. The couple is building a home south of Manila and planning for a hardware store.

Not everyone is in the direct employ of RCI. Hoffman Roscano, 27, married, works as a photographer of a photo agency that operates aboard the ship. He and several photographers have their hands full during formal dinners and evening activities as well as land tours. During special occasions, they set up a mini studio where guests in their glittering “Titanic” finery could go for a formal shoot. Guests snap up the photos the morning after. Roscano also receives commissions from the sales.

‘Better than 5-star salary’

Karen del Carmen, in her 20s, works as a beauty therapist in the Brilliance Day Spa operated by an agency. A tourism graduate of a college in Bacolod, she had a work stint in a hotel in the Philippines after which she applied in a maritime agency. The spa company hired her and sent her to London for training.

“Better than a five-star salary,” is how del Carmen describes what she earns. After every 12-day cruise she gets two days off. “It’s fun working here,” she says as she looks up from her desk in the spa’s lavender-scented receiving area.

Nights are busy for the musicians who play in different venues aboard the ship. John Neri, 24, regales the night owls with violin music. As a child he studied music under a scholarship program for the musically gifted.

Neri met his wife in another cruise ship. Married for four years now, the couple is building a house in Kalookan City.

‘Oye como va’

Although now US-based, Vicky Gallarde of Vicky and The Holding Company band still calls the Philippines home. It’s a rollicking night when the band plays for a crowd with itchy feet.

Vicky switches without a hitch from lusty “Amor, amor, amor” to a staccato “Oye como va” while husband Chris and the rest segue from rhumba to disco beat. The band is a ship mainstay.

The couple has a room for two of their own at the crew quarters. The standard rooms for two for the crew have TVs and computers with e-mail capabilities. The Filipinos also have a daily two-page news digest called “Philippines Today.” There is a bar as well as games and exercise facilities.

Edgardo Villarino, 42, studied music in the University of the Philippines and sang with the UP Concert Chorus. He is married with three kids. The Inquirer chanced upon Villarino playing soothing classic guitar music by the poolside.

He was in the Caribbean several months earlier and he remembers the day a hurricane blew around there. There are less “sea days” in the Mediterranean, he says, meaning, the ship docks often in tourist havens.

Selling the Philippines

On his fifth contract now, Villarino says their own families could enjoy cruise privileges when there is space available. And could the entertainers have some fun during the day? “If there are less than five guests using the pool, we could take a dip,” Villarino says.

He dreams of cruises on Philippine waters that could rival those elsewhere. “We try to advertise the Philippines. Subic is so beautiful.” He talks of an island in Haiti that Royal Caribbean had developed.

Great workers

Bill Brunkhorst, American cruise director who makes sure entertainment is at its peak, has only good words for the Filipinos. “They are so talented and they learn very quickly,” he says. “They’re great workers.”

The Greek ship captain Michael Lachtaridis, a seasoned sea voyager who has been sailing the seas for 33 years says he has been working with Filipinos since the 1980s. “They get along well with other nationalities,” he says. “They are very educated and they are a happy lot.”

Whether it is instructing on wine tasting, giving beauty massages, serving at formal dinners, making omelets at the buffet breakfast, playing music, snapping photos amidst the Greek ruins, ensuring security and swiping cards at entry and exit points, disposing garbage or keeping staterooms clean, Filipino seamen and women are doing their best. And why not a Filipino guest chaplain or morgue attendant?

The least seen

The least seen but perhaps the most important because they make the ship sail the distances are those who work in the belly of the ship or the engine room. The lives of those on board are practically in the hands of these experts in ship engineering.

The Inquirer descended to the grime-free hard hat area and met some of the Filipinos there. Jessie Hervilla, Estefanio Joel, Steve Flores, Ramon Cerio, Percival Dilag and so many more. Chief Junior Engineer Rasmus Norling of Sweden has only high praises for the men who are seldom seen on deck.

But life for the OFWs on board these cruise ships is surely not problem-free, as life anywhere is not. Are the OFWs on these so-called floating four-star, five-star hotels better off than their counterparts in cargo ships and oil tankers? What lies beyond those glittering nights and sunny days at sea? What awaits them in their homeland? What awaits Edward Pampis, Joselito Benito, Cipertino Apil, Arlene Salon, Susan Gatmaitan, Arthur Pernia, Julius, Mijares, Juanito Embolori, Edwin Miranda, Enrico Sabido, Victor Amuyang, Ronaldo Carreon, Ernita Villanueva, George Tardo, Joselito Benito…

Don’t they feel resentful when they see food and drink flowing endlessly, people having so much fun and spending so much money for this kind of voyage, while they work so hard to keep these people thrilled and while the pine for home?

“Oh no,” says a food server without a tinge of resentment. “Many of them have worked hard too. And because of them we have our jobs. Someday we too could enjoy something like this.”

This Inquirer reporter was a regular paying guest on this cruise. The ship sailed from Barcelona and back and stopped in several key places on the Mediterranean coasts of Spain, France, Italy, Greece and Turkey.

400 shipyard workers' jobs on the line

Ship repair firm plans to cut jobs

By Cris Evert Lato - Cebu Daily News
About 400 workers of a ship repair company in Lapu-Lapu City are in danger of losing their jobs as the management decides to focus resources on shipbuilding.

Keppel Cebu Shipyard Inc. president David Loh said in a memorandum to the workers that the company has to reduce its workforce due to continuing market decline.

The company offered an early retirement program for the workers on a voluntary basis. The program could be availed from March 2 to March 14.

But Roger Igot, president of the Nagkahiusang Mamumuo sa Baradero (Keppel Shipyard)-Nation Federation of Labor, said yesterday that the company is “using the global crisis as an alibi to destroy the union and replace regular jobs with contractual workers.”

“The real issue is that management wants to squeeze more profit by making labor costs cheaper. Management pays a regular Keppel worker much higher wages and benefits compared to a contractual laborer who makes do with below minimum wages and no benefits,” said Igot.

Igot and about 280 union members stayed inside the shipyard facilities overnight last Tuesday to protest the firm’s work reduction plans.

In a statement sent to , Keppel Cebu said the company's decision to focus on shipbuilding was reached in mid-2008 due to declining domestic repair demand.

Keppel Cebu said substantial investments were made to enhance its shipbuilding facilities. Facility upgrade is expected to be completed within the year which will enable the company “to build specialized ships for both the local and international markets.”

“As certain specialized trades and skills in ship repair are no longer needed for shipbuilding, the compnay needs to rationalize its workforce,” said Keppel Cebu in the statement.

Igot however said the shipyard management told them during their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations in June 2008 that more workers will be hired as Keppel turns to shipbuilding.

Igot said they do not believe that the company is losing.

He cited the ongoing shipyard development project worth P300 million and the incentive bonus released last February as proof that the company is still earning.

Jennifer Macairan, corporate affairs manager of Keppel Cebu Shipyard Inc., denied accusations that the company is using the crisis as an excuse to remove workers.

Macairan said that the firm has been affected with the global economic crisis.

She said that the company is practicing job rotation and energy conservation as cost cutting measures.

She said the early retirement program offered by the company was triggered by the financial crisis.

Keppel Cebu, formerly the Cebu Shipyard, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Keppel Philippines Marine Inc. (KPMI). It is also a member of the Keppel Group of Singapore, an international marine and offshore services. /With correspondent Jully Venus Cuizon.