ISSUE NO. 29 (October 13, 2005)

PGMA to grace Buglasan Festival of Festivals in Oriental Negros

This year's Buglasan Festival of Festivals in Oriental Negros will be opened by no less than Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who will grace the Festival's Opening Ceremonies on October 14, 2005, 4:00 p.m. at the Capitol grounds.

During the ceremonies, the President together with Governor George P. Arnaiz, will witness the "Palihi" Ritual of Thanksgiving by the five cities and 20 municipalities of Oriental Negros, which will signal the opening of Buglasan Festival.

The President is expected to give a message afterwards.

Buglasan is a merged celebration of the different festivals observed in the province, with the name coined from "buglas", a weed that used to grow abundantly in Oriental Negros.

The festivities will be marked with an agri-trade fair, booths, exhibits, garden shows, rodeos, boat and bike race, and other tourism activities bannering this year's theme: "Strengthening Multi-Sectoral Partnership in Tourism Development."

During her visit here, the President will also hold an informal interaction with the delegates and participants to the League of Municipalities (LMP) Session on Health for the Visayas and Mindanao areas at Bethel Guesthouse.
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Buglasan 2005 features the Great Buglasan Balinsasayao Bike & Boat Battles

In the hopes of pushing Oriental Negros as a premier eco-tourism spot and the country's best biking destination, this year's Buglasan Festival of Festivals will showcase The Great Buglasan Balinsasayao Bike & Boat Battle.

This twin-events-in-one starting October 14 promises participants a unique experience through challenging bike and boat rides that will make the province, particularly Lake Balinsasayao, a genuine active and participative eco-tour and recreational destination in Central Visayas.

The Bike and Boat Battle also hopes to foster youthful passion for excellence in biking and kayaking, both of which are Olympic events.

The battle starts with the 3rd Buglasan Bike Challenge will start on October 14 with a soft-opening and followed by the Sikad-Angat sa Lake Balinsasayao, 1 14.5 km mountain bike race on October 15, and a Bike Criterium Race Day on October 16.

The skimboard competition will be on October 23 with registration set at 7:00 a.m. at Agan-An Beach.

The Buglasan Bike Challenge, touted to put the province in the map as one of the country's best biking destinations, is initiated as a community service project of the Oriental Negros Bikers Association in partnership with the Sangguniang Kabataan Federation of Oriental Negros.

Events under this challenge will be scheduled at locations throughout Metro Dumaguete maximizing the use of existing bicycle venues and showcasing the natural beauty of the area.

The Kayak Competition, on the other hand, will be held on October 15, 2005 at Lake Balinsasayao.

Registration starts at 7:00 a.m. followed by a two-hour Kayak Paddling Clinic.

The said competition will be highlighted by a 300-meter sprint for women and men and the Great Balinsasayao Kayak Race to be capped by an awarding ceremony, dinner and socials.

The provincial government of Oriental Negros has been consistently developing Lake Balinsasayao to become an eco-tourism destination over the past five years.

The lake now boasts significant improvements on road access, on-site developments, physical enhancements and the ongoing positioning of control and safety systems.
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Oriental Negros to host GSP national encampment on Oct 23
Around 700 Girl Scouts from across the country will converge in Oriental Negros on October 23 to 30,2005 for the 33rd Girl Scouts of the Philippines National Encampment at Camp Lily Gamo in Sibulan.

Final preparations are already underway as the local steering committee headed by its over-all chairperson and Oriental Negros-Siquijor Council President Atty. Luisa Villegas are priming up for the national encampment.

In its recent committee meeting, GSP Regional Executive Director Aida Salomines said the encampment is timely as it coincides with the province's Buglasan Festival of Festivals. "Participants can join the Buglasan festivities such as the Buglasan Fireworks Competition," says Salomines.

Salomines disclosed that about 10 Girl Scouts councils have already confirmed its troops' attendance to the upcoming encampment.

The steering committee has already requested police personnel from the Provincial Police Office to secure the area at Camp Lily Gamo during the encampment to assure the participants' safety.

Various activities will be conducted during the encampment while awards will be given out for councils and camps such as cleanest camp, biggest delegation, most disciplined camp, best campfire presentation, most artistic arch and the most sociable camp.
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DOST-Siq announces CY '06 search for S&T scholars
The Department of Science and Technology through Science Education Institute (SEI) is now accepting applications to the S&T Scholarship Programs for school year 2006-2007, namely RA 7687 Scholarship Porgram (Program A) and the Merit Scholarship Program (Program B).

Both education grants are open to graduating high school students who wish to pursue post-secondary courses or baccalaureate degree programs in the fields of Basic Sciences, Applied Sciences, Science Teaching and Technician courses.

Program A is specifically meant for the poor, talented and deserving students whose annual family income is P156,000.00 and below while those with higher annual family income may necessarily apply under Program B. All applicants, however, must belong to the upper 5% of the graduating class of a DOST SEI identified or DepEd recognized science high school as certified by the school principal. They must have not taken any college or post secondary course by unit, must be Filipino citizens with no pending application for immigration abroad, must be physically and mentally healthy and morally upright and must be bonafide residents of a local municipality for the past four years.

Qualified students of your school must submit the following two (2) recent and identical 1x1 ID picture, a photo copy of their parent's income tax return for CY 2004 or tax exemption certification from BIR if parents are non-tax filers, a clear copy of applicant's birth certificate and the fully accomplished application form. the application forms will be distributed to the principal of the respective high schools or may send a representative to the DOST-Provincial Science and Technology Center at Siquijor, Siquijor to ask for additional forms if necessary.

Applications with the requirements must be received by DOST-PSTC in Siquijor, Siquijor on or before November 4, 2005. a non-refundable testing fee of P200.00 will be collected from Program B applicants upon submission of applications. The qualifying examination will be administered on December 4, 2005 at Siquijor State College, Larena, Siquijor.

For other details, please contact telephone numbers (035) 480-9018 or (035) 344-2008, look for Mario or Roland.
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Pinoy short film wins in Italy
Aside from boxing and international beauty contests, another heartwarming accomplishment of a Filipino abroad is in the field of filmmaking.
Khavn's "Lata At Tsinelas" ("Can & Slippers") wins the Special Mention Award in the "Spazio Immagini" competition of the Morbegno Film Festival 2005 in Italy.

"Can&Slippers" has been screened in Rotterdam, Berlin, Singapore, Pesaro(Italy), La Palma(Spain), Vila Do Conde(Portugal), and will screen in Sao Paulo (Brazil) next month along with his other "Be Movies" short films. Next year, "Can&Slippers" will be part of the
Arts And Culture Programme of the FIFA World Cup in Germany.

His short film "Barong Brothers" was also screened in Morbegno as part of the Out-Of-Competition section "Around The World In 50 Minutes".
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Filipino seafarers remain in demand in the int'l shipping industry

Competence and skills make the Filipino seafarers still the most sought after in the international shipping industry despite the low labor rates commanded by neighboring seafarers from China, Vietnam, India and Bangladesh.

Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA-7) regional director Atty. Glenn Cabañez bared the statement during the recent Kapihan sa PIA on seafarers' competence as the nation celebrates the National Maritime Week from Sept. 24 to Oct. 1 under the theme "A Globally Competitive Maritime Industry: A Key to a Strong Republic."

Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA-7) officer-in-charge Evelia Durato likewise, agreed with Cabañez that the Philippines remains to be the manning capital of the world in exporting qualified seafarers. In 2002, the country deployed 209,593 seafarers abroad and since then, the number of deployment has increased by 2.3 percent every year, Durato added.

Durato also aired the same concern over the low salary rates particularly by Chinese seafarers. She cited a Chinese seafarer with an OS (ordinary seaman) rank that is paid only US$ 50/month compared to its Filipino counterpart with wages between US $200-300/month.

Capt. Jeffrey Solon, president of the Visayas Association of Ferryboat and Coastwise Services Operators however, claimed that Filipino seafarers continue to have the upper edge over its Asian counterparts because of our ability to speak the English language well. "We are the number one supplier of ratings (rank and file seamen) and nobody in the world could compare with our qualifications," Solon quoted.

Filipino seafarers ranked fourth in the largest number of deployed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) abroad. Skilled workers followed by (medical) professionals and domestic workers are the top three sectors of OFWs.

Solon meanwhile, expressed concerns over the quality of domestic seafarers in the country today, as these are the ones rejected for hiring in the international shipping industry.

Because of the lack of supply of seafarers in the domestic shipping lines, there is no option left but to hire them, Solon lamented.

There is a need to segregate the criteria or qualifications of seafarers in the domestic and international shipping industry as not to compromise the competence of seafarers left behind, Solon further added.

Cabañez assured that the issuance of separate licensures to seafarers in the domestic and international shipping industry under different criteria and qualifications is already in the drawing board.

In order to help the domestic shipping sector hire only qualified and competent seafarers, the MARINA-7 has also come up with the issuance of the qualifying document certificate.
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Cine Europa opens on Oct. 14 in Cebu City

Cine Europa will once more go to Visayas region as it opens on Friday, October 14, 2005 in Ayala Center, Cebu City.

Ambassador Jan de Kok, Delegation of the European Commission and Deputy Head of Mission, Mr. Robert Fitchett of the British Embassy representing the European Union (EU) Presidency and Ms. Elena Young, Arts Council of Cebu Foundation, Inc. will open Cine Europa in Cebu City.

This year's film festival is presented by the EU Member States' Embassies, the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines and is supported by ETC, Duty Free Philippines, DHL, 24/7, Clermont-Ferand, UP Euro.

The films included in Cine Europa 8 continue to celebrate EU's shared film history with the Philippines as the festival goes to Cebu City for its final leg. Cine Europa is also scheduled to open in Davao City from 7 until 9 October 2005.

In addition, Cine Europa will also present a selection of European short films from the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival.

Professor Ed Piano from the University of the Philippines will likewise conduct a film appreciation lecture on European films on 14 October at the University of San Carlos, Cebu City. The conduct of this lecture is in cooperation with the Arts Council of Cebu Foundation, Inc.

Now on its eighth year, Cine Europa continues to be a gift of the EU to the Filipino people as admission to the screenings is free on a first-come, first-served basis.

The film entries for this year's festival come from the EU member-states of Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Portugal.

The festival in Cebu is supported by the Arts Council of Cebu Foundation, Inc., Ayala Cinemas, Ayala Center - Cebu City, Equipment Technical Services, Cebu Holdings, Inc., Firestop Philippine Corp., Bank of Commerce, Directories Philippines Corporation, Seabord Eastern Insurance Co., Inc., Skygo, Tec Industries and UBS. (PIA-7)
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Cebu to host the 4th Asian Forum for Information Technology Oct. 19-21
Gaining prominence as an international convention site, Cebu has been chosen to host the 4th Asian Forum for International Technology (AFIT) on October 19 to 21, 2005 at the Plantation Bay Resort and Spa in Mactan, Lapulapu City where over 70 participants from Asian countries are expected to attend.

The forum aims to promote active information exchange and technological advances in information and communication technology (ICT) in the region among senior officials of government IT organizations from 19 countries in Asia.

This year's theme focuses on "IT Professional Human Resource Development and National IT Promotion Status." Discussion will zero on the qualification and technical ability of IT professionals.

IT participants are expected to share their countries' experiences, trends, problems encountered and best practices. BY exchanging information, the forum also aims to present ways and alternatives of addressing current problems and duplicating best practices.

The AFIT was established by the Center of the International Cooperation for Computerization (CICC), a public-interest organization based in Japan which assists developing nations in their computerization. CICC has been taking initiatives to narrow the digital divide by amplifying the IT infrastructure, promoting IT-related industries, training and utilizing personnel.

This year, the Philippines was given the privilege to host the 4th AFIT. As the lead agencies for ICT, the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) together with the National Computer Center (NCC) was tasked to organize the event.
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