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During the San Jose port Spanish colonial period, the human heart-shaped emerald isle bordered with fine, ivory beaches in the southernmost tip of Tablas Island in Romblon was called Isla de Carabao because during that time it was grazing land for carabaos and cattle.

Now called the town of San Jose, the 29 square-kilometer big island that is divided into five villages retained it sobriquet, Carabao Island. The waters that surround it are the Sibuyan Sea on its eastern coast and Tablas Strait on its western side.

Its downside is that being geographically isolated from the rest of Romblon,san Jose is one of the most depressed municipalities of the island province famous for its world-class marble. Its upside though is, due to its distance from the rest of Romblon, Carabao Island is still inits pristine condition, with powdery, white sand beaches comparable to that of Boracay’s famous west coast.

Its advantage over its world-renowned island neighbor though, is that Carabao Island’s talc-fine sandy beaches are 4.3-km. long on its east coast vis-à-vis 3.5 kilometers in the island “paradise” of Boracay, plus another 2.5-km. of the fine, white stuff on the west side of San Jose aka Carabao Island, whose fine terrain is characterized by lowlands in the northern and eastern sections, and by rolling hills in the central and southern part of the islands. What’s more it is three separated by a 3-km channel south of Carabao.

“I conceptualized an international airport at Carabao Islandd as an alternative to the small Caticlan Airport in the town of Malay in Aklan way back in 1989, but started negotiating for the land acquisition totaling 120 hectares only in 2004,” says Steve Tajanlangit, one of the pioneer resort hotel developers in Boracay Terraces Hotel on the northern end of White Beach.

“The ideal place to develop an international airport to expand the Boracay corridor is at Carabao island,which was mentioned by GMA in her SONA in 2006, as one of her major airport projects, together with Busuanga and San Vicente in Northern Palawan, because Carabao is located between Boracay and Tablas Island in Romblon, which has its own attractions, like a big lagoon, which can be developed into a yacht marina,” explains the Ilonggo tourism visionary who, as early as 1979, saw Boracay as a major tourist destination in the near future when small groups of backpackers descended on the pristine island whose grain of white sand is a mere 500 microns in size, making its 3.5-km white beachcomfortably cool even during high noon.

“From Carabao, a group of beautiful islands in Antique is just 30 minutes away, and beyond them, you’ll reach another new tourist destination, Coron in Northern Palawan.”

The envisioned P5-billion Carabao Island International Airport, with a runway 3.7-km. is long, enough to accommodate wide-bodied jetliners like the A-330. When finished in 2012, it will be much bigger than the present Iloilo airport-already considered the biggest in the Visayas, with the exception of the Mactan Cebu International Airport. The flight from Manila to Carabao Island will only be 40 minutes by plane, and 30 minutes from Cebu.

“Right now, Caticlan airport’s existing runway is only 900 meters, not long enough for even a 72-seater turboprop ATR passenger plane used by Cebu Pacific in its missionary routes,” says the vice chairman of the Boracay Property Holdings, Inc., the main proponent of the Carabao airport project.” Even if you level the hill (blocking the runway’s northeastern tip), you can only have an additional 800 meters or a total of 1.6-km,” points out Tajanlangit.” But, an international airport needs a 3.5-km runway.

“That’s why Carabao is an ideal alternative, considering that the area being considered for an airport development is flat,” avers the swarthy real estate developer. “We can promise, due to its favorable terrain, that we can have an airport by 2012, which comprises the P3-billion phase one, which includes the runway, tarmac and passenger terminal that can accommodate 2 million passengers a year,” he continues. “then, we implement the P2-billion phase 2, that is to expand the terminal further as the need arises.”

Considering that Caticlan can only accommodate 2,000 passengers daily, it can only fill in 1,000 hotel rooms (at twin sharing) in the island. But, Boracay at present has more than 7,000 rooms and this will balloon, with the continous expansion of resort hotels in the island, to 10,000!

“In 2012, we can bring in big planes to Carabao loaded with tourist from China, Korea, Japan, even people from Hongkong, who can have a nice weekend in Boracay,” says tajanlangit. “More tourists will come if we already have Carabao airport because at present, if a foreign tourist is going to Boracay, it’s a big hassle for him to fly in to NAIA then transfer to the Domestic Airport, then fly to kalibo, take a 1-1/2-hour bus trip to Caticlan, then a 15-minute ferry boat transfer before reaching boracay, wasting almost a day of unnecessary travel.

“When the Carabao airport is finished in 2012, we can pump up economic activities not only in Boracay, but also in Aklan, romblon, where Carabao is, Antique, southern Mindoro Oriental, and even Marinduque,” state Tajanlangit, who also operates the 7107 Islands Cruise liner that plies the so-called ‘tourism golden triangle’-that starts from Batangas City to Coron in Busuanga and on to Boracay, and vise versa.

“We can now compete with other major tourist destinations in Southeast Asia like Phuket in Thailand and Bali in Indonesia; which can accommodate one million tourists while we are just dependent on Boracay,” concludes the Ilonggo tourism expert. “So, how can we attract 12 or 15 milllion tourist a year, the Carabao airport when it’s finished will attract that much visitors due to direct flights from their respective countries to our tropical paradise, and beyond.”

The multibillion-peso Carabao International Airport project will be modern and state-of-the-arts as envisioned by its developers. It will be designed by the same company that designed some of the best airports in the world. Fifteen hectares of  the land will be devoted for terminal facilities alone. A component infrastructure of the Carabao airport is a modern port that will serve twin-hulled catamarans and other big, fast craft that will ferry tourists and from Boracay.

“Vietnam is hitting 5 million a year, while we could barely get 3 million,” explains director Reynaldo dela Rosa of the Boracay-based Eminent Persons Group (EPG), a government agency under the Office of the President tasked to oversee the sustainable development of tourism in the island and has the rank of undersecretary in the Department of tourism (DOJ). “With the right tourism master plan for Carabao Island, we can compete with any destination in the region because our beaches here are better than those in Bali.”

So, in 2012, the heart-shaped Carabao Island will start throbbing to give life to the still slumbering and undiscovered scenic islands with alabaster beaches in Northern Panay, Southern Mindoro, Romblon, and northern Palawan, which will complement tourist arrivals in Boracay, the philippines’ diamond in its crown jewels of island tourist destinations. – Randy V. Urlanda – Philippine Panorama – Nov 7 Edition

As a first-time visitor to Iloilo City, my knowledge about the place is practically zero except for the fact that chicken inasal and batchoy are delicious food that supposedly came from that place. So when the Iloilo Economic Development Foundation Inc. invited the media for a 3-day familiarization tour of the city, I was raring to go, eager to discover what Iloilo is all about.

 Iloilo is about food.

Iloilo as I would come to discover is really about food. The Lingoes love to eat, nay they live to eat. For them eating is a way of life. Unlike in Manila where we often wolf down our meals to get on with our other activities, in Iloilo, meals are relished and seen as a social event among family and friends — a time to catch up on each other’s lives over servings of binnacle and nasal. During our lunches and dinners, we (writers from Manila) would already be getting our desserts while our Lingo friends seemed to be just getting warmed up. Our tour guide Eugene Tamerlane shares how it is in their house during weekend lunches — they would linger on the dining table way after lunch sharing stories, that before they realize it, they’d already be having marina, then later after that supper. He adds that in Iloilo they rarely use the sala to entertain guests, instead they just whisk them off into the dining room for a sumptuous meal or maybe a marina of sumac dipped in muscovite and home-made hot chocolate (made from tableau or cocoa tablets and endlessly stirred with a batgirl).

Another thing that makes Lingo cuisine different from other places like Manila became more evident on our third meal. I just realized none of our gracious hosts served us anything that’s fried, only broiled, steamed or grilled. Yes, the Lingoes love their food grilled. While grilling is something we do at home during special occasions, in Iloilo they grill on a daily basis. The grill, whether it’s a Hibachi or just an old chicken wire on top of rocks, is an integral part of the Lingo dirty kitchen. From fish to clams to the ubiquitous chicken inasal that can be found in restaurants on every block, the Ilonggos like them smoked and browned to perfection. Speaking of which, the Ilonggos are crazy about chicken too — more than pork or beef. Stands to reason that while in Manila Andok’s Lechon is but a small kiosk selling take-aways, in Iloilo it’s a huge semi open restaurant that’s always packed with people come dinner time. And not to mention that Mang Inasal, now easily the most popular and biggest grilled chicken restaurant chain in the country originated from Iloilo.

Other original Ilonggo specialties that have gained national popularity are pansit molo from the district of Molo and La Paz batchoy from the district of La Paz. Try Deco’s version of batchoy together with puto for a truly satisfying merienda. While there, you can also get your pasalubong from their store next door where you can choose from a wide array of Ilonggo pastries and delicacies.

For authentic chicken inasal, try Tatoy’s Manukan where they use only native chicken and is one of the more popular restaurants frequented by politicians and celebrities. Just a few meters away is Breakthrough which specializes in seafood specialties such as lobsters, blue crabs and various clams and shellfish that are mostly found in this region. It is situated along the beach so you’ll be dining amidst the sounds of the waves and the scent of the sea breeze, enhancing your tropical dining experience.

If fine dining is more your taste, visit Al Dente restaurant at the Sarabia Hotel for their boneless take on chicken inasal and the hearty Binakol (chicken soup with coconut meat and water) served inside a fresh coconut. On the cheap end, there is a small fast food restaurant called Roberto’s that is famous for its halo-halo and jumbo “King” siopao that is one of Iloilo’s best kept secrets.

They know how to have a good time

If you think Iloilo has nothing to offer like Manila by way of nightlife, you’d be surprised. Though the Ilonggos appear to be simpler and more conservative than the Manila folks, it does not mean that they don’t know how to have a good time.

Head over to Smallville, their smaller version of Eastwood City to sample the food and entertainment provided by the different restaurants and bars that make up this hip and happening complex. From dining, to disco, to videoke or live bands, you only need to walk around to find the place that’s up your alley. The place is crawling with families, students, and employees every night and closes later on weekends.

There is no Starbucks here, but they have their own Iloilo – based Coffeebreak which is not only cheaper but has the ambiance and taste that will give the franchised coffee shops a run for their money. Coffebreak along with the other restaurants in the same area are the brainchild of restaurateur whiz Johnny Que who is also behind Waffle Time which started in Iloilo and is now 423 outlets strong all over the Philippines.

Iloilo is more urban than you think

Iloilo City is a fast – growing metropolis fueled by the increasing number of Business Processing and Outsourcing (BPOs)/ call centers that have set up shop in the city. As the province’s educational hub, with 13 colleges and universities, Iloilo becomes an ideal investment site for skills-required and English-proficient job employments. Though Iloilo City may not have the high-rise buildings of Makati, it is not that far behind in terms of infrastructures, facilities, and standards of living either. In some aspects Iloilo is even better off. Iloilo City seems to have lesser traffic, wider streets, lesser potholes and garbage and a cleaner waterway. I did not find any shanties or squatters within the city either. With better infrastructures and a new coal – powered plant set for completion in 2010, Iloilo is poised to attract even more investors and visitors.

A jump-off point to Guimaras

With a modern airport in Sta. Barbara and the city being strategically located, Iloilo stands as a gateway and jump-off point to other tourist destinations. Just 15 minutes from the Iloilo wharf by boat is the island of Guimaras, known for its export quality mangoes, pristine beaches and scenic landscapes. Alubihod Beach in Nueva Valencia is the more popular resort known for its white sand and clear water ideal for swimming and other water activities. When in Guimaras be sure to drop by the Trappist Monastery where you can ask for the monks’ blessing and you can get dried mangos, jams, jellies made from fruits they grow and harvest themselves.

Iloilo’s rich cultural heritage

Iloilo’s rich cultural heritage can be best gleaned from the old churches, mansions, and buildings that are evidence of the city’s once glorious past of being the textile capital of the Philippines more than a century ago. Architecture students will have a field day studying the old buildings along Calle Real that retained the various design standards of the time: art deco, Spanish, European, etc. Nelly’s garden in Jaro is one of the finest examples of residential mansions owned by the most prominent families of the province. The mansion’s facade looks like it was cut out of a postcard and looks even better when lit up for Christmas. Jaro Cathedral and Molo Church are not only magnificent structures, with Jaro having its Belfry separate and across the street and Molo with its Neo-Gothic style, but they are also unique because Jaro Cathedral only houses male saint sculptures while Molo as its counterpart only has female saints.

While Iloilo is no longer known for weaving, there are still some locals who keep the tradition and art of the loom alive. One such place where you can buy quality sinamays or hablots is in a heritage house in Arevalo where you can find shawls and placemats made from the finest jusi or pinya fibers.

My first Iloilo City experience was a journey of discovery. I look forward to going back to experience the Dinagyang Festival in January as three days are not enough time to really know Iloilo… and there’s a lot more to discover.

(Cebu Pacific flies to Iloilo five times daily from Manila, 18 times weekly from Cebu, and daily from Davao.) – mb.com.ph

There’s a fine line separating hero and martyr.  From a macro view, overseas Filipino workers are indeed “unsung heroes” but look micro, at individuals, and you find silent martyrs.

Some nine million Filipinos work overseas, annually sending home about US$17 billion, just a bit smaller than the value of our agriculture and fishery industries output.  Thanks to worker remittances, Balance of Payments, Gross National Product, income and employment, exchange rate, prices—all economic indicators in fact—are in fine shape.  Our unsung heroes keep the county’s economy afloat.

To be an OFW, one has to have a waiting job, a passport and working visa, and a plane ticket.  These require time, patience, and money.  Think birth certificate; NBI/police/barangay clearance; bio-data; evidence of education, training and work experience; medical exam; trade test; pre-departure orientation.

One could exhaust family (or clan) savings, sell property, borrow at sky-high interest, to raise the P60+ thousand needed to cover recruitment fee (maximum—one month’s salary), health insurance premium and costs supposed to be borne by the prospective employer (but are ultimately charged to the worker anyway), e.g., airfare, working visa fee, POEA processing fee, OWWA membership contribution, etc.

There are circling vultures.  Stories abound of people getting fake passport, visa and plane tickets, of those who find themselves illegal entrants.  Some people supposedly paid US$500 to cross each of three borders only to be caught and deported back to the Philippines.

Many live miserably, work for abusive employers, get little job satisfaction—licensed teachers working as nannies, doctors as nurses, lawyers as clerks, master carpenters as peons—suffering discrimination and daily humiliations.

Earnings are not always that great even with moonlighting.  After paying for board, lodging and incidentals, and after setting aside loan amortization, an OFW could be sending home not much more than US$250 a month.  Savings could be dissipated on pasalubong, balato, good time.

The personal and social costs of family separation are heavy and worrying.  Children grow up fatherless or motherless, undisciplined and unguided.  Lonely spouse, whether overseas or stay-at-home, finds a short-term love.  Special problems arise when both parents leave and children are left with grandparents or other relatives.  A mendicancy mind-set develops, with spouse and children simply waiting for a monthly check, whining with delay.

School administrators report how the relatively rich OFW children seem not to care about learning, content with coasting along and expecting an indefinite flow of support from absent parents.

There is increasing competition from other countries’ workers, but we will no doubt hold our own in terms of total workers deployed, total remittances received.  Many rich countries function smoothly only with workers from elsewhere.  We could therefore be okay from a macroeconomic standpoint, but zoom in on individuals and you could find parents with little income and no savings, untrained and aimless children.

It is sad that there are not enough jobs to keep our best people from leaving, tragic that many in the next generation are growing up in broken homes, growing up dependent. – WALA LANG : mb.com.ph

Of late, we have all witnessed nature’s onslaught – raging floods that killed thousands and left many homeless, tons of mud that buried people alive, catastrophic landslides and erosions, heavy winds that uprooted trees and toppled homes. All of these are Mother Earth’s response to the abuses we have made, and a very portentous and apparent caveat comes with this: We will all perish lest we do something about it.

This seems to be the message that the University of the Philippines (UP) Alumni Centennial Artists are trying to get across in their last exhibit at the Trade Hall of the Gateway Mall. The group exhibit is still part of the continuing art education of the UP Alumni Association. Although not entirely an offshoot of the Ondoy and Pepeng typhoons, the show dubbed as ‘Kalikasan’ hit home and came out very timely.

Poetic, colorful, and alive, the 113 artworks in the show depicted nature at its best. Wielded and rendered in different artistic expressions, the paintings remind us that the environment should be given the utmost attention and care for the very reason that it sustains us.  They tell us that Mother Earth is inherently good to us and gives us a stunning and picturesque escape when not left to man’s destructive devices. Central to the opuses in the exhibit are pristine falls, vast green fields, perennials, blooms, bodies of water, and wildlife among others.

According to group leader Romy Carlos, majority of the works have been made solely for the exhibit while others have been made several years back such as National Artist Jose Joya’s landscape of Zarraga, Iloilo made in 1980 and National Artist Cesar Legaspi’s pastel drawing of a hot summer day in Iloilo that was finished in 1976.

Notable and memorable pieces include Araceli Limcaco-Dans’ painting of a scene in Batanes titled ‘The Carabao,’ where several Igorots are walking an earthy pathway with a carabao in tow; Vincent de Pio’s almost abstract seascape done with thick impastos of black and with hints of fleshy and rosy tones; Roberto Duldulao’s Zen-inspired oeuvre; and Norly Membian’s artwork fashioned with gestural splatters of paint.

Two of the participating artists in the exhibit are Mar Bongalon and Manuel Gamboa. Known for being a figurative artist, Bongalon captured nature using an impressionistic technique. His works ‘Carillon Receding Light’ and ‘Carillon Sunset’ arrest the passage of time and transient light over a scenic view. Gamboa, on the other hand, painted his hideaway from the bustling metropolis for the show.

Billed ‘Secret Coves,’ the diptych has a childlike and effervescent quality. One can tell that it was done with a fervent passion for colors and play rather than with the rigid rudiments of form and structure.
Come December, Carlos said that they are mounting another Mother-and-Child-themed exhibit. The month will also see the core group of the Centennial Artists staging another show titled ‘Sining Saysay.’ It will coincide with the 50th anniversary of Araneta Center. The would-be suite of paintings will put into murals some of the country’s most significant historical events—from pre-colonial period up to Martial Law.

Works from this would-be exhibition will be hung around the Araneta Coliseum. UP Professor for art history and curator Ruben Defeo will be part of the overseeing committee for this project, said Carlos in a previous interview. Slated to participate aside from Carlos are National Artist BenCab, Janice Young, Gig de Pio, Tessie Duldulao, Eileen Lanusa, Cris Cruz, and Ding Hidalgo to mention a few.

So far, the group has produced six shows in just half a year.

For more information about the UP Alumni Association and the UP Centennial Alumni Artists and their works, contact Ang Bahay ng Alumni, Ramon Magsaysay Avenue, UP Diliman, Quezon City; 929-8327, or visit www.upalumni.ph

By Dodong Nemenzo

ALMOST 300 people were killed in the worst flood brought by Typhoon Ondoy (international name: Ketsana). Damage to agriculture and public and private infrastructures has been extensive. Now tens of thousands are homeless, living in packed temporary shelters, dependent on food donations, and with vague ideas of what their future would be, as two more typhoons threaten the Philippines.

Disasters of this magnitude call for a collective response, a demonstration of national solidarity. We in Laban ng Masa (Struggle of the Masses) therefore join the other organizations, schools, religious groups, government agencies, and concerned individuals in helping the survivors. Let us turn this colossal tragedy into an opportunity to unite and thus emerge a stronger nation.

But in the first place, this calamity would not have reached this enormity if the right social system were in place. There would be no shanties on river banks, there would be no housing subdivisions on natural catch basins. There would be adequate shelter for all, there would be comprehensive disaster response plans (given that we are on the path of tropical depressions and are within the so-called Ring of Fire prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions). There would be sufficient social protection to also encompass such natural tragedies, which the human-created social system made more tragic. Because even before this calamity, half of the 90 million Filipinos were already languishing below the poverty line. And the recent devastation is bound to worsen our economic situation.

As we bury our dead, repair the damage, rebuild our homes, pick up our lives, and prepare for the impending typhoons, we also express our deepest sympathy for the peoples of Vietnam, Indonesia, Samoa, and Tonga who have been similarly struck by natural calamities.

We are, of course, aware that these calamities are not entirely of natural causes. They are, to some extent, nature’s revenge against a social system that encourages greed, disrespects nature, and disregards people’s general welfare. Logging, urban congestion, discharge of industrial waste into rivers, clogging esteros, and brazen disregard of land-use plans by the so-called development companies have made Metro Manila and surrounding towns utterly vulnerable to typhoons and floods.

At the heart of it is a government unable to enforce environmental laws and regulate private enterprise. Despite our nation’s location and history with such natural calamities, the government has built no adequate institutional mechanisms for environmental protection and disaster response. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo—and the system she represents—is obsessed with creating an attractive climate for investments while remaining insensitive to the basic needs of our people.

This tragedy should thus push all of us to seriously commit to the realization of a society that is just, equitable, and sustainable. A society that does not allow people to go without decent work or livelihood, without adequate food and shelter, and other social protection measures, especially in these earth-shaking times. A society where people live with dignity, disaster or no disaster.

5000 candidates assembled in a large room. One candidate is MARIO
DIMACULANGAN.

Bill Gates: Thank you for coming. Those who do not know JAVA may leave.

2000 people leave the room.

MARIO says to himself, ‘I do not know JAVA but I have nothing to lose
if I stay. I’ll give it a try’

Bill Gates: Candidates who never had experience of managing more than
100 people may leave.

2000 people leave the room.

Mario says to himself ‘ I never managed anybody by myself but I have
nothing to lose if I stay.
What can happen to me?’ So he stays.

Bill Gates: Candidates who do not have management diplomas may leave.

500 people leave the room.

Mario says to himself, ‘I left school at 15 but what have I got to lose?’
So he stays in the room.

Lastly, Bill Gates asked the candidates who do not speak Serbo – Croat to
leave.
498 people leave the room.

Mario says to himself, ‘ I do not speak one word of Serbo – Croat but
what do I have to lose?’
So he stays and finds himself with one other candidate. Everyone else has
gone.

Bill Gates joined them and said   ‘Apparently you are the only two
candidates who speak
Serbo – Croat, so I’d now like to hear you have a conversation
together in that language.’

Calmly, Mario turns to the other candidate and says  ‘Ano ba yan, pare?’

The other candidate answers  ‘Ewan ko nga ba pare….’

Answer: Many people are looking for “steps to salvation.” People like the idea of an instruction manual with five steps that, if followed, will result in salvation. An example of this is Islam with its Five Pillars. According to Islam, if the Five Pillars are obeyed, salvation will be granted. Because the idea of a step-by-step process to salvation is appealing, many in the Christian community make the mistake of presenting salvation as a result of a step-by-step process. Roman Catholicism has seven sacraments. Various Christian denominations add baptism, public confession, turning from sin, speaking in tongues, etc., as steps to salvation. But the Bible only presents one step to salvation. When the Philippian jailer asked Paul, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul responded, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:30-31).

Faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior is the only “step” to salvation. The message of the Bible is abundantly clear. We have all sinned against God (Romans 3:23). Because of our sin, we deserve to be eternally separated from God (Romans 6:23). Because of His love for us (John 3:16), God took on human form and died in our place, taking the punishment that we deserve (Romans 5:8; 2 Corinthians 5:21). God promises forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven to all who receive, by grace through faith, Jesus Christ as Savior (John 1:12; 3:16; 5:24; Acts 16:31).

Salvation is not about certain steps we must follow to earn salvation. Yes, Christians should be baptized. Yes, Christians should publicly confess Christ as Savior. Yes, Christians should turn from sin. Yes, Christians should commit their lives to obeying God. However, these are not steps to salvation. They are results of salvation. Because of our sin, we cannot in any sense earn salvation. We could follow 1000 steps, and it would not be enough. That is why Jesus had to die in our place. We are absolutely incapable of paying our sin debt to God or cleansing ourselves from sin. Only God could accomplish our salvation, and so He did. God Himself completed the “steps” and thereby offers salvation to anyone who will receive it from Him.

Salvation and forgiveness of sins is not about following steps. It is about receiving Christ as Savior and recognizing that He has done all of the work for us. God requires one step of us—receiving Jesus Christ as Savior and fully trusting in Him alone as the way of salvation. That is what distinguishes the Christian faith from all other world religions, each of which has a list of steps that must be followed in order for salvation to be received. The Christian faith recognizes that God has already completed the steps and simply calls on us to receive Him in faith.

Source: http://www.gotquestions.org/steps-to-salvation.html

It’s true that children on the autism spectrum need a great deal of therapeutic interaction. In fact, many therapeutic experts recommend hours a day of therapy – often provided by parents. TV and videos aren’t interactive…so does that mean they’re forbidden to parents with autistic children?

Actually, TV and videos – in limited amounts and carefully selected – can actually be a boon to parents and autistic children alike!

RESEARCH SHOWS THAT AUTISTIC CHILDREN LEARN FROM VIDEOS. Researchers have looked into the power of video modeling for children with autism. They’ve discovered that videos, which can be viewed over and over again, are actually powerful tools for teaching skills, concepts, and even emotional responses. Some video modeling has been shown to effectively teach life skills like tooth brushing, shoe tying and more!

CAREFULLY SELECTED TV SHOWS CAN HELP YOUR CHILD CONNECT TO HIS PEERS. Children with autism are idiosyncratic enough without being denied the common cultural language of television. Eeven if your child with autism doesn’t fully grasp the humor of Spongebob, his knowledge of the characters and settings will provide him with better tools for connecting with his peers.

TV AND VIDEO CAN PROVIDE PARENT AND CHILD WITH A COMMON LANGUAGE. As you and your child watch videos or TV together, you can establish a common symbolic language. That language can provide the basis for shared imaginative play. Our son became fascinated with one particular Pooh video, and it has led to really meaningful conversation, role play, drawing, even puppet shows.

TV AND VIDEOS CAN OPEN THE WORLD TO YOUR CHILD. Many children on the autism spectrum are fascinated by animals, trains, or other aspects of the real world. Selected TV and videos, such as Animal Planet and the Eeye Witness videos can build on those interests. Next step: a trip to the real zoo to see real crocodiles, a real-life train ride, or just a visit to the pet store.

TV AND VIDEOS CAN CREATE A LINK BETWEEN THE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL WORLDS. At age three, our son’s language consisted largely of memorized scripts. Some of those scripts came from a Canadian TV show called Theodore Tugboat which featured talking boats in a harbor. We had no idea how much he’d learned from the show until we went to a real harbor, where our three-year-old correctly pointed out real research vessels, container ships, tugs and more!

TV PROVIDES A MUCH-NEEDED RESPITE FOR PARENTS. Iit’s easy to feel guilty for plopping your autistic child in front of the TV. The truth is, though, that no one can be physically and emotionally available all day, every day. Eeven parents of special needs kids need a break. And carefully selected TV or videos, offered in a structured and limited manner, can be a sanity-saver.

TV AND VIDEOS CAN BUILD PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS. Eeven if you’re not actively engaging with each other in a therapeutic manner, you can cuddle together on the couch. Those quiet, physically intimate moments together may be just as signficant to your child’s development as high energy interactive
play.

TV AND VIDEOS CAN STIMULATE IDEAS FOR THERAPY. Iif you are a parent who practices developmental therapies like floortime, RDIi or Sonshine, you may simply run out of creative ideas. And very often, children with autism are not much help in that department. TV and Videos can stimulate your imagination with new images, ideas and scenarios.

AUTISTIC CHILDREN RELATE INTENSELY TO TV-RELATED MERCHANDISE AND GAMES. Typical children may tire quickly of Sesame Street toys. Children on the autism spectrum, however, are more likely to find real comfort and pleasure in toys that relate to their favorite videos. And those toys can become a wonderful source for therapeutic play.

AUDITORY AND VISUAL TEACHING IS IDEAL FOR AUTISTIC CHILDREN. Autistic people often learn best with their eyes and ears, while words may not sink in. Our son plays the clarinet, but it was tough to get him to play anything new. That is, until the Disney show Llittle Eeinsteins introduced the Mozart piece Eeine Kleine Nacht Musik. Now, he plays like a whiz! The same goes for Pink Panther: we showed him the animation from the beginning of the Pink Panther movie; now he can play the piece with proper rhythm and intonation.

By LISA JO RUDY

I take full responsibility and express regret over the unfortunate incident that involved me and a PBA fan during the Burger King- SMART Gilas game on 16 October 2009. My action was provoked by the incessant name-calling and cursing uttered by the said fan particularly to me each time I was within hearing distance.

The continuous barrage of invectives and insults towards my person, my family and my team were just too difficult to withstand.

Much to my regret, I lost my composure. I realize that this type of behavior by some PBA fans should be considered by players as part of the game and that these usually challenge the emotional capacity of players and other athletes.

Even as I take this opportunity to apologize to Allain Katigbak and his family, as well as the PBA fans for this unfortunate incident, at the same time, I raise an appeal on behalf of other players to the PBA to recognize that provocations and invectives directed towards specific players unnecessarily test our limitations and that proper behavior must also be expected from the basketball fans.

Such an incident has happened in previous games. There should be ways devised to appeal to both players and the public as to the proper decorum and respect we should accord each other.

Thank you for taking time to hear my apology.

Wynne Arboleda

Burger King Basketball Team

Muhammad Al-Maghrabi became handicapped and shut-down his flower and gift shop in Jeddah after his Filipino workers insisted on leaving and returning home. He said, “When they left, i felt i had lost my arms. I was so sad that I lost my appetite.”

Al-Maghrabi then flew to Manila to look for two other filipino workers to replace the ones who had left. Previously, he had tried workers of different nationalities but they did not impress him. “There’s not comparison between Filipinos and others,” he says. Whenever i see Filipino workers in the kingdom, I wonder what our life would be without them.

Saudi Arabia has the largest numbers of Filipino workers – 1,019,577 – outside the Philippines. In 2006 alone, the Kingdom recruited more then 233,000 workers from the Philippines and their number is still increasing. Filipinos not only play important and effective role in the Kingdom, they also perform different jobs in countries across the world, including working as a sailor. They are known from their professionalism and quality of work.

Nobody here can think of a life without Filipinos, who make up around 20 percent of the world’s seafarers. There are 1.2 million Filipino sailors.

So if Filipinos decided one day to stop working or go on strike for any reason, who would transport oil, food and heavy equipment across the world. We can only imagine the disaster that would happen.

What make Filipino unique is their ability to speak very good English and the technical training they receive in the early stages of their education. There are several specialized training institutes in the Philippines, including those specializing in engineering and road maintenance. This training background makes them highly competitive in these vital areas.

When speaking about the Philippines, we should not forget Filipino nurses. They are some 23 percent of the world’s total number of nurses. The Philippines is home to over 190 accredited nursing colleges and institutes, from which some 9,000 nurses graduates each year. Many of them work abroad in countries such as the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore.

Cathy Ann, a 35-year-old Filipino nurse who has been working in the Kingdom for the last five years and before that in Singapore, said he does not feel homesick abroad because “I’m sorrounded by compatriots everywhere.” Ann thinks that early training allow Filipons to excel in nursing and other vocations. She started learning this profession as her aunt, a nurse, used to take her to the hospital and ask her to watch the work. “She used to kiss me whenever I learned new thing, at the age of 11. I could do a lot. I began doing things like measuring my grandfather’s blood pressure and giving my mother her insulin injections,” she said.

This type of early education is lacking in the Kngdom. Many of our children reach university without learning anything except boredom.

The Philippines, which you can barely see on the map, is very effective country thanks to its people. It has the ability to influence the entire world economy.

We should pay respect to Filipino workers, not only be employing them but also by learning from their valuable experiences.

We should learn and educate our children on how to operate and maintain ships and oil tankers, as well as planning and nursing and how to achieve perfection in our work. This is a must so that we do not become like Muhammad Al-Maghrabi who lost his interest and appetite when his Filipino workers left his flower shop.

We have to remember that we are very much dependent on Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if they leave us.