Completing a research project while still in high school about determining the sex of Philipine Eagles, this 16 year old boy from Davao City competed in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and won in the competition.

Jovani Tomale traveled to Reno, Nevada in May to present a computer program that detemine the sex of a Philippine Eagle and took home 2nd Special Award from the American Statistical Association (ASA).

Tomale, now an SM Foundaion scholar and studying accountancy freshman of the Ateneo de Davao University, formulated the computer software during his senior year at Davao City National High School with the supervision of Aristoniel Cabonilas, research consultant and Vladimer Jobayashi of the University of the Philippines-Mindanao.

He said he learned during one of their field trips at the conservation breeding facility in Davao that the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) had a problem determining the sex of Philippine Eagles.   

He designed a computer program which systematically determines the sex of a Philippine Eagle using the eagle’s weight, height, age, etc. using the data from the PEF as basis for the program.
 
PEF research coordinator Jayson Ibanez said data from eagles whose sex are already determined were entered into a software and the results were promising as it did not return a single incorrect finding,

Tomale’s software competed against the works of more than 1,500 exceptional high school students from more than 50 countries.
 
He said he hopes that his study helps the Philippine Eagle Foundation on increasing the dwindling number of Philippine Eagles.
 
The software is yet to be adopted by PEF and has not been tested on a newly hatched eaglet even as Ibanez said that Tomale’s work is a welcome addition to the PEF’s variety of tools on its conservation work.
 
PEF biologist Ana Mae Sumaya said the tool is really a big help in their conservation considering that they just estimate whether the eaglet is male or female but failed on many occasions.  The other method is for them to wait for the eagles to reach sexual maturity which is at five years for female and seven for males by then the sex of the eales is easily detemined by observing breeding behavior through males mount while females ift their tail feathers to allow copulation. 
 
Right now there are 35 eagles at the PEF conservation site with 17 females and 18 males. 

PEF communications manager Tatit Quiblat on the other hand said one Philippine Eagle occupies 7,000 hectares of forest but with the status of our forest now there is not enough for everyone because based on data they gathered the country is losing about 270,000 hectares of forest and this is an alarming figure.
 
She also said the Philippine Eagle is in the global list of endangered species and PEF’s aims to get the bird delisted.
 
“This is our indicator for success and we want to increase the population of the eagles,” she said.
 
She said they embark an Adoption Program and right now they have 17 benefactors even as she said that the eagles in the wild also need to be monitored.
 
To adopt an eagle would cost a benefactor P100,000 each year whether in captivity or in the wild saying that they need to monitor also eagle’s nest and put protective measures as well like supporting forest guards and others.
 
She urge the public to help in saving the eagle and the forest as well by reducing the threats in the environment.

With the celebration of Philippine Eagle Week (PEW) on June 4 to 9, 2009, the Philippine Eagle Foundation is leading the celebration that calls for stewardshipn and social responsibility inorder to help save rare eagles.

Tatit Quiblat, PEF communications officer said the stability of the forests, as people’s source of food, livelihood and protection from man-made calamities, can be measured in the number of existing Philippine Eagles found in these areas.

She said an eagle needs 7,000 hectares of forest to live but currently the figure is in an alarming rate and the we are losing the forest to sustain the eagle and human life.

During the PEW, Quiblat said they will be staging a fun-filled activities for kids of all ages to highlight the importance of Philippine Eagle and wildlife conservation.

She said the celebration is a call for stewardship and social responsibility and aims to educate individuals and communities on how they can help this endangered specie.

The PEW encourages Filipinos to recognize the importance of natural resources and respond by contributing to eagle conservation work through donation, volunteerism or by adopting greener lifestyles.

“Big and small, it can help sustain the balance of our ecosystem,” she said.

She said the eagles need vast amount of forest areas to breed and survive and the more eagles present, the larger and healthier our forests, and more secure the food supply available for both human and animals.

She said most Philippine Eagles and other raptors and wildlife that are rehabilitated and being cared for at the Philippine Eagle Centern are victims of cruelty from human hands.

“Many were retrieved with gunshot wounds and embedded bullets, some were confiscated from illegal captivity done out of ignorance and leisure,” she said.

Cutting back on paper and other material waste and utilizing less energy can ease the stress on forest resources immensely. Vigilance against hunting and illegal wildlife trade helps prevent the poaching of eagles and wildlife out of their natural habitats, she said.

“With weeklong activities at the Philippine Eagle Center and at SM City Davao, it will motivate visitors to learn more about Philippine eagle and wildlife conservation apart from the adventure and enjoyment they are bound to get,” she added.

This year’s theme is “Kaligtasan ng Agila at Kalikasan, Kasagaan ng Sambayanan”.

A seven-floor hotel with over a hundred rooms opens early January this year in Davao City.

Uy Ching Siong, owner of My Hotel which is a businessman’s hotel in an interview said the hotel was the former Grand MenSeng Hotel located in one of the city’s major thoroughfares, the San Pedro Street.

With a project cost of over P47 million, he said the renovation was focused more on the rooms and the putting in of new facilities. Nothing was altered with the structures because when they check on the engineering works, it had strong foundation and in good condition.

The invested fund covered the land acquisition, the building renovation and machine and equipment.

He said My Hotel offers affordable rates plus other amenities like free WiFi access in every room, free long distance calls to to the US and Canada, free Globe line to Globe line nationwide call, free Sun to Sun call, free local call, 24 hours security camera, fire alarm system, standby generator, PABX telephone system, color TV with cable in every room, elevator, free newspaper reading, function room and restaurant.

“We wanted to give the best to our clients that is why we also invested on these modern equipment and faciltiies,” he said.

Despite the mushrooming of other small hotels in Davao City, he said they are optimistic of their hotel investment as they bank more of getting more clients with their location just within the heart of the city.

My Hotel is very near the San Pedro Catheral, the City Hall, San Pedro Police Station, banks and major stores.He said occupancy rate is still fluctuating even as he said that they are satisfied with what they have although they need to promote the hotel in either Manila and Cebu.

Panaderia, a local bakeshop in Davao City, is bent on opening new branches in other Mindanao areas this year to be able to achieve a profitable operation.

Samuel M. Abrenilla, owner of CokTek Manufacturing and Panaderia Bakeshop said having multiple outlets means higher revenue.

He said they are looking at the cities of General Santos, Valencia and Cagayan de Oro.

Although he said they would not want to do aggressive steps this year, the additional outlets of at least three to their existing 13 branches would give them better income. This is competitive enough, he said.

“We need to have bigger revenue source to come up with profitable operation,” he said.

But Abrenilla admitted that their operation has been affected by the economic downtrend. Their operation already suffered in 2008 getting an income very much lower compared in 2007.

He said the bakeshop operation is highly dependent on imported products and prices of these commodities have gone high.

But he said they would not compromise the ingredients because they have to maintain the quality of their products.

Despite the current financial crisis, Abrenilla said they will not sacrifice the quality of their products.

Panaderia’s signature product “hot pandesal” will still be available as early as 5:00 am. even as he said that they will still maintain the same ingredients to any of their products.

Abrenilla put up Panaderia Bakeshop after he invented the Coktek Oven where it is known for its distinct feature of equal heat inside the chamber.

With this feature, he said they were able to save substantially on LPG gas of about 20 to 50 percent.

The industrial oven that Abrenilla invented has a capacity of 12 baking pans costing P50,000.

He said his invention is comparable to the product made in Korea and Taiwan of about P150,000.

Here are some useful information that you might be interested as offered by Pag-IBIG Fund or Home Development Mutual Fund ….

As they say …. owning a house is the most practical thing to do given the affordable rates offered by Pag-IBIG Fund … pick a choice now !

AFFORDABLE MONTHLY AMORTIZATIONS (comparative from old to new rate)

Loan Package Monthly Payment Savings

P300,000 P1,798.65 (before P2,413.87) P 615.22

P500,000 P3,326.51 (before P4,38.86) P1,061.35

HAVE YOU THOUGHT OF THIS ? - for those of you still renting a house probably your rental is higher than this amortization rate. REMEMBER : RENTING IS NOT OWNING THE HOUSE. HURRY ! You still have enough time before you reach the age of 70, by then you will no longer qualify … Your time is now so grab this !

INTEREST RATES (Comparative from old to new rates)

Amount New Interest Rates

Up to P300,000 6% (before 9 %)

Over P300,000 to P750,000 10% 7% (before 10%)

Over P750,000 to P2 M 10.5% (before 11-12%)

WHEN YOU APPLY FOR A HOUSING LOAN TAKE NOTE OF THIS PLEASE !

Eligibility requirements

1. A Pag-IBIG member for at least 24 months and has remitted 24 monthly contributions
2. Not more than 70 years old at loan maturity and must be insurable
3. Has no outstanding Pag-IBIG housing loan either as principal or as co-borrower
4. Has legal capacity to acquire and encumber real property
5. Has passed satisfactory background/credit and employment/business checks
6. Has no Pag-IBIG multi-purpose loan in arrears at the time of application
7. Has no Pag-IBIG housing loan that was foreclosed, cancelled, bought back or subjected to dacion en pago

Schedule of Loans

Monthly Member’s Contribution Loan Entitlement

200 Up to P500,000

250 Over P500,000 to P600,000

300 Over P600,000 to P700,000

350 Over P700,000 to P800,000

400 Over P800,000 to P900,000

450 Over P900,000 to P1M

500 Over P1M to P1.1M

550 Over P1.1M to P1.2M

600 Over P1.2M to P1.3M

650 Over P1.3M to P1.4M

700 Over P1.4M to P1.5M

750 Over P1.5M to P1.6M

800 Over P1.6M to P1.7M

850 Over P1.7M to P1.8M

900 Over P1.8M to P1.9M

950 Over P1.9M to P2M

Processing Fee P3,000.00

Pay P1,000.00 upon filing

Pay balance of P2,000.00 upon loan take-out

The government has line up tourism sites up for promotion by a subregional economic group.

In the list is Mt. Apo and 10 other areas in Mindanao and Palawan.

The Mindanao Economic Development Council report showed the other Mindanao sites are Malawi Island and Dapitan in the Zamboanga peninsula, Camiguin Island in Northern Mindanao, Davao Gulf and Samal Island in the Davao Region, Lake Sebu in Central Mindanao, Aguasan Marsh in the Caraga Region and Lake Lanao in the autonomous Muslim region. Identified sites in Palawan are Kayangan and Barracuda lakes in Coron Island.

A domestic helper, if I am to elaborate, helps, assists or does household work for homeowners anywhere in the world and not about sexual acts.  Busy homeowners don’t have time for thorough household chores and for the rich who can afford it, the task is left to the DH.

I’ve known famous and rich families but I have not heard them make fun with their worker and in fact they are grateful as things are easier for them especially with Filipinas who are known to be industrious and hardworking.

But this time that DHs are portrayed as such by influential media network like BBC, the government-owned British Broadcasting Corp for its reportedly “racist and humiliating” portaryal of a Filipina domestic worker is a FOUL, just like what Desperate Housewives did to Filipino doctors in one of their sitcom.

Media is a strong force because it could either make or unmake a person, a country, or a race.

I am a Filipina and I strongly denounced you guys out there making fun of us. You don’t own the universe that you can just make fun of anyone.

I expect those that run the networks as responsible and with ethics.

But as this developed, concerted efforts are being worked out here and in the UK where protest actions are being planned.

An email campaign “condemning” the BBC and a demand for apology are likewise being circulated among the community.

The controversial skit, aired in the September 26 episode of “Harry and Paul,” showed comedian Harry Enfield telling a postman that he is ordering his Filipino maid to mate with his friend Paul Whitehouse.

Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel said the humiliating portrayal of Filipina workers “promotes negative stereotypes that cultivate impunity among those who abuse Filipina workers abroad.”

She added that making overseas Filipinas appear as submissive sex objects reinforces the notion that foreigners could easily hire small and sexy Filipina domestic helpers and turn them into sexual objects.

“By making it a joke, it encourages a consciousness that promotes human trafficking,” Hontiveros said.

BBC stop that dirty game not only among Filipinas but all the women in the world. Your homes too have women that are to be respected by men and everybody ! We do respect men too because we love our fathers, brothers, grandfathers, sons, nephews and male friends all because they have manners. Better be sorry BBC !

Being a member of the Country Program for Children IV of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) I became a child advocate advancing among others the protection on the rights of children and violence against women.

My long exposure to this “labor of love” voluntary work allowed me to see and feel the pain that kids and women got from abusive opposite sex.  I hated them (oppressor) and if only i could embrace those kids everyday, all of them just to lessen the pain.

I learned through the Oprah Winfrey feature of this amazing Filipina girl, Charise, the sad experience she had early in life.

And I salute her mother and Charise for the courage, their determination that led to where they are now.

I admire Charise from the bottom of my heart the confidence she has – very brave, strong, and very natural interacting with famous celebrities.

Watching competitions on TV, especially of kids sporting all their self confidence, kept me wondering where they get all these.

Most of them come from very humble families and others deprive of the chance to have what they want but cannot because resources do not warrant.

With Charise already in the international limelight I believe she can do it till the end.

And with the prodding of her mother to just do the best, the best really came out of her by using to the fullest the talent God gave her.

As a kababayan, me being a Filipina, I salute you young girl Charise – God really is good He allowed you to be in touch with people that will help you bring out your extraordinary talent.  I appreciate your song and in between my day to day work I search for what is new with you – the girl who has a voice that is so powerful yet humble enough to be just the child of God.  (Photo courtesy of Flickr – thank you !)

]]> http://prixbanzon.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/charise-pempengco/feed/ 0 prixbanzon celine-dion charice charise charise2