Leo Sichon: 'Soar High Doña Hortencia'

Doña Hortencia Salas Benedicto National High School (DHSBNHS) formerly La Carlota City High School, my Alma Mater is showered by the blessings beyond expectation from the able-bodied school principal, Dr. Leo Sichon. He is so thankful to the Lord for these blessings in 2016.

"Soar High DHSBNHS," Sir Leo Sichon wrote in his FB timeline.

Those are some lines of Sir Leo Sichon, principal of Doña Hortencia Salas Benedicto National High School for a series of accolades, recognition, awards and accomplishment which the talented, brilliant students of his school have achieved this year.

"Grabe ang blessings ni Lord," said Sir Leo in his Facebook, "2016 is a blessed and a good year for dhsbnhs. thank you Lord God for all of these honors and accolades . thank you people for always trusting, believing and inspiring us...love you all!!!"

Schools Division Superintendent Portia M. Mallorca manifested her congratulations to Sir Leo for the various major awards and recognition which DHSBNHS harvested in 2016 in one or two of her Facebook greetings to Sir Leo's timeline.

Evaluators: 'Job Well Done' Balabag Elementary School

The Division of La Carlota City is on the process of evaluation public elementary and secondary schools for its 2nd Year of Seal of Excellence.

Bronze Seal of Excellence, 2014

Seal of Excellence is a program of the Division to recognize the SBM best practices and outstanding performance of the 24 elementary schools, 1 special education school and 3 high schools of the previous year. Evaulation started on the November 9 until the first week of December 2015.

Balabag Elementary School, one of the 24 complete elementary schools in the Division, through the concerted efforts and cooepration of its teachers had its improvement and facelifting of its school plant and facilities to make itself ready for the on-going evaluation. Last year, the school received the Bronze Seal of Excellence with Php20,000.00 as cash award.

Recently La Carlota Division group of evaluators led by Mam Marcelita Triño, Division Curriculum Chief conducted the Seal of Excellence evaluation.

"Job well done", an unanimous congratulatory statement expressed by the group which is composed of Roselima Figueroa, Marvin Elray R. Paclibar, Ruth P. Convite, Joana Perpetua S. Tamba, Zenaida V. Gahaton, Marcelita D. Triño, Avelino N. Santillan, Mithos V. Hiponia, Analee C. Bartolo, Melgar B. Coronel, Deogracias C. Magan, Jr., and Anna Liza B. Villanueva.

Harvest of Excellence, Teachers' Recognition

Congratulations teachers!

Teachers all over the country need to be recognized and honored in this special day set aside for them, October 5 in collaboration with the celebration of World Teacher Day (WTD).

In our division, we do this through a humble way of awarding them. We call it as "Harvest of Excellence" to recognize the exemplary, meritorious and even outstanding accomplishment of school, teachers, school administrators in academic excellence attained by the teachers concerned.

Just imagine, more than eight hundred teachers, both Elementary and Secondary level, of the small division of La Carlota City are all excited for the honor given them by the division along with the blessings of the city government through Mayor Juliet Marie Ferrer.

Awards given may include the following outstanding National Achievement Test (NAT) in Grade III and Grade VI, consistent division unified test achievers in all subject areas, outstanding principal and department head. Major awards have a corresponding cash award.

Our Son Graduates with Special Awards

Our youngest son, Gilbor Camporazo, Jr., graduated from his Computer Programming NC IV course with three special awards in a recent 18th commencement exercises of La SalTech Training Center at the Garden Royale, Kundutel, Bacolod City.

Gilbor Junior was one of those 258 LaSalTech graduates who had satisfactorily completed their academic requirements prescribed by the vocational technical course of the Department of Education.

He received in a row the 3 awards like the "Best in Programming," "Best in Web Design", and "Best in System Project".

In designing his web and system project, he used the latest programming language which is PHP and JavaScript code.

Readiness Equals Opportunity

Director Lorena T. Yunque, TESDA Provincial Director was the invited inspirational speaker. Addressing the graduates, she checked them whether they are ready.

"Are you ready?" she asked. Readiness, according to her, is concomitant to success. It spells out the opportunity, that is, getting ready to join the world of work.

She believed that LaSalTech graduates are ready. "Our hope, our expectation, our prayer that you are ready for this opportunity," she expressed.

She told some of the guidelines for success which may include a clear vision, discipline and determination coupled with aggressiveness to achieve their "dreams" which consist of series of actions to achieve them.

The Graduates - The Applicants

On the other hand, LaSalTech school administrator Teresita T. Villanueva before she relayed her message on "mother's hand" which is about a young man who applied for a job, then passed the interview and got the job, encouraged every graduate to always be of service to others.

She informed that those who will graduate come from the courses of visual graphic design NC III, Programming NC IV, and Computer Hardware Servicing NC II.They come from the branches of LaSalTech Bacolod, Cadiz, Kabankalan, and La Carlota.

Earlier, a Baccalaureate mass was officiated by Fr. Arnold P. Deletina. In his homily, Fr. Deletina asked the graduates what they are to invest and when to do it. He reminded everyone that the best to do good and to change is now and the greatest investment is love.

"Person of Value"

By the way, TESDA provincial director Yunque in closing urged the graduates to a "person of Value" for it is the character and attitude that really matter.

Words of Appreciation

After their Baccalaureate mass, our son came over to us and turned over his words of appreciation written and put inside in a nice small frame. The content reads as follows: "

"The symbol of love is given to my cherished mama and papa whose unending love, compassion and noble sacrifice ave made possible of what I am now.

"You have willingly offered the path in the walks of my journey to see for knowledge. You have always been a constant guiding light and inspiration to my dreams. Your utmost understanding and support serve as my refuge in times of trouble and frustrations. I shall forever remember this in my heart.

"Your triumph now is complete..."

In Gratefulness Too

In like maner, his mother and I are so much grateful to the Schools Division Superintendent Portia M. Mallorca of the Division of La Carlota City, Department of Education (DepEd) for her support and guidance to our son who conducted his on-the-job training (OJT) at the Division of La Carlota City. Ma'm Mallorca has relied so much upon the programming skill of our son who prepared, designed and encoded the webpage of the La Carlota City Division which is under construction pending the needed contents. That is the first web design made by our son for an educational institution like the DepEd La Carlota City gratis et amore.

We are also thankful to the Division Planning Officer, Francisca "Pakit" Nabor for her support and constant companionship with our son, and also to the other office mates like Ofelia Flores, Sylvana Baldomero, and Sally Senayo for their camaraderie with our son while he was still undergoing an OJT at the Division Office.

Thank you very much!

Sotomil, Iloilo Pride: 2012 Ten COPS Awardee

Senior Police Officer 3 Rhia B. Sotomil, a non-commissioned officer of Pavia Police Station made it as one of the 10 "Country's Outstanding Policemen in Service" (COPS) Search in 2012 spearheaded  by Metrobank Foundation, Inc. (MBFI) and the Rotary Club of New Manila and the PS Bank.

Sotomil, COPS Awardee

She was one of the four policewomen awardees in this "male-dominated competition."

This search is to honor the exemplary members of the Philippine National Police who actively worked with their communities in implementing crime solution and prevention as pointed out by MBFI president Aniceto Sobrepeña.

SPO3 Sotomil was one of the 100 nominees this year, who "have gone through a rigorous screening process which involved documents review and a panel interview by the final board of judges representing different sectors of the society.

She will receive a cash prize of P300,000 and a trophy from the Metrobank Foundation.

Stephanie's First Education

Stephanie Receiving Certificate

Happy was Stephanie as she went up to the stage to receive her certificate of completion from her school principal.

That day marked the completion of Stephanie's kindergarten education from La Carlota South Elementary School 1, Preschool in a simple, austerity moving-up exercises program inside the covered court of the school.

Stephanie Gyn Jaud is the youngest daughter of our 3rd daughter, Gynrey Camporazo-Jaud. Panie as we fondly call her, is a very smart 5-year-old kid. 

Rico Santotome's Gift of Learning To CES Graduates

Police Chief Inspector Rico C. Santotome, Jr., 38, who is currently the Negros Occidental PNP public information officer and Police Community Relations officer will share his thoughts and words of inspirations to the 34-graduating pupils of Cubay Elementary School (CES) in their 46th closing exercises on Wednesday, March 28.

Santotome

Santotome is born in 1974, under the Chinese zodiac sign of Tiger, is soft-spoken, and kindhearted yet hardheaded person so to speak. However, he is a single-parent with two lovely kids.

He is a multitasking and versatile fellow who does the role of ordnance specialist, registered nurse, lawman, PNP spokesman and anti-drug czar. He even writes in various local community newspapers as sports columnist, covering local, national and international sports events.

In his higher educational attainment, he earns his Master in Public Management major in National Security and Law Enforcement from University of St. La Salle, Bacolod with flying color.

My Desire To Start A Blog

My desire to write and start a blog which I titled it as RandomThoughts! was a challenge of my writing skills when Negros Bloggers President H. James Toga added me to Negros Bloggers closed group in Facebook, wherein good writers, good bloggers chatted regularly, especially at night.

Every time I opened my computer to browse the Internet I directly signed in to my Facebook account and visited Negros Bloggers Page. There I saw several links of their blogs, which out of my curiosity, I read them all. Until I became acquainted with the members of NB and befriended with them. And I sensed my belongingness with this group which is composed of students, government employees, freelance writers, businessmen, realtors, legal luminaries, news reporters. They were the pioneers of NB as the core group.

As I regularly followed up their blogs, I said to myself, "This is a challenge of my writing prowess to start a blog of my own. But of course not to compete with them for they'd different fields of expertise and mine is different too. Therefore, doing what I could muster to start a blog is the answer. I started with a unique title, with a controlled contents of various topics which I believe could get the interest of my readers.

Gil Camporazo's RandomThoughts First Blogversary!

It was 3rd of February 2011 when this RandomThoughts! was born.

Finding faults! was the first blog I wrote as a reaction to Juana Change's video satirically "belittling President Aquino's private life."

The Book of Matthew (Matthew 7:1-5) in the Bible is crystal clear why we shouldn't find other's faults, that's the foundation of my premise of support.

One hundred fifty-six articles so far had been written by me and posted them here till RT reaches its first anniversary in this month of February 2012.

As of this writing, 29,537 visitors registered in RandomThought's counter.

At its inception, RandomThoughts' started with an Alexa rank of 15,367,892 till it improved to 2,264,171. And eventually it got its own domain through an invaluable help from C5 Ghosty Writery, a fellow blogger worldwide in December 14,2011. Now its present Alexa Rank is 612,537 with pagerank 1 in Google, which it regains after losing it when RT got its own independent domain. Thus, it took one month and 22 days to retake its pagerank of 1 on February 6, 2012.

Tribu Pan-ay - Dinagyang Festival Champion Anew

Tribu Pan-ay of Fort San Pedro National High School with its astounding performance in January 22 Ati-atihan contest of the Dinagyang Festival this 2012 retained the grand champion title.

Tribu Pan-ay also amassed various special and minor awards like Best in Performance, Best in Choreography, Best in Music, Best Musical Director, Best Costume Designer and Best Choreographer.

While Tribu Lunok of the Iloilo City National High School was the first runner-up, and Tribu Ilonganon of Jalandoni Memorial National High School,  second runner-up.

'Their Works Are Worth To Be Emulated'

2011 Negros Daily Bulletin Awardees

"Their works are worth to be emulated," said the Negros Daily Bulletin editor-in-chief Pert Toga as he concluded his opening remarks in recognizing the works or outstanding performance of this year's NDB awardees for the 5th annual awarding ceremonies held this afternoon at L'Sea restaurant, Lacson Street, Bacolod City.

NDB Honored 6 Negrense and two foreigners to recognize the "unheralded but valued efforts in the field of educational advancement for the now generation."

Low-Profile Elementary School in San Carlos City Won 2011 National Environment Tilt

Iliranan Elementary School of the division of San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, PH was recently adjudged as the top winner in the 2011 Most Sustainable and Eco-Friendly School, Elementary Schools category in a national contest conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Iliranan Elementary School was one of the three city's entries in the regional selection/search and made it to the top. While the other two entries which did not win were Quezon Elementary School and Julio Ledesma National High School.

Negrense Bags Two Regional Blog Awards

La Carlota City-based blogger and Negros Daily Bulletin columnist Gil Camporazo won two of the seven awards adjudged by the Philippine Blog Awards, Inc. - Visayas (PBA-Visayas), in an event held in Silay City last Saturday.

Camporazo's Blog won under two categories - his "Tumandok" under culture and arts and "Random Thoughts" under lifestyle category.

Winners under five other categories are "Flavours of Iloilo" under food and beverage blog category; "The Young Pinoy Blogger" under the personal blog category; "onethirdpoundpatty" under the photo blog category; Technology - Leon Kilat: The CybercafeExperiments under the technology blog; and Blackpack Traveler under travel blog category.

My Blog Receives An Award and a Token as a 'Labor of Love'

Gil Camporazo holds a token as the best blogger.

The "labor of Love" is symbolized by a plow which is the token I received from Negros Bloggers to recognize me as one of the best bloggers in the Visayas in this year 2011.  NB/NDB writer Gil Severino, the program emcee puts it as a "labor of love" and it is very true indeed for my name so suggests it is an acrostic of God Is Love.

The awards I received were the "Best Blog in Culture and Arts" for Tumandok and "Best Blog in Lifestyles" for RandomThoughts!. These were given by the prestigious award-giving body, The Philippine Blog Awards Inc. established in 2007 which aims "to recognize the best in the Filipino Blogging Community."

PETER SOLIS NERY - the Writer Behind Donato Bugtot

Peter Solis Nery, the man who wrote the first prize winning Hiligaynon short story Donato Bugtot and the other 2 awards in 2011 Palanca Awards, was born and reared in the coastal town of Dumangas, Iloilo on the island of Panay, Western Visayas, Philippines. He was the eldest son of the late Cecilino Divinagracia Nery, and the former Thelma Ramirez Solis, both public school teachers.

He got his primary school at the Dumangas Central Elementary School, and at the Dumangas Polytechnic College (now Iloilo State College of Fisheries) for his secondary education. Since he was in grade one until his high school, Peter was a consistent first honor pupil and student.

He earned his degree in Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences at the University of the Philippines in the Visayas (UPV). In 1989 he was named as the Most Outstanding Student, then in the following year upon his graduation he was the Most Outstanding Graduate and received the President’s Award of Merit as Outstanding Student.

Peter also took an Associate in Philosophy degree in 1992-1993 at the SVD Christ the King Mission Seminary in Quezon City. In 2004, he received his Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in the West Negros College (now West Negros University) in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental.

Before he became a multi-awarded Filipino poet, fiction writer, and author, Peter was a consistent editor of a school publications since elementary to college, and he received various awards in news writing, feature writing, editorial writing and editorial cartooning. While he was the editor-in-chief of Pagbutlak, the UPV college publication, the said college organ was named as the region's best in College Press Awards in 1989.

As a versatile writer in English and Filipino, he has authored 14 books, and wrote screenplays that won the Philippine Centennial Literary Prize of 1998, and the 2001 Cinemanila International Film Festival Scriptwriting Competition, and the Film Development Foundation of the Philippines’ Screenwriting Contest. He wrote and edited wide circulation newspapers in Iloilo City before working as an orthopedic nurse in Los Angeles, California. He is still writing in English and Hiligaynon.

As a native Hiligaynon writer, he has won such prestigious literary contests as the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Literary Grant, and the All-Western Visayas Literary Contest of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

Peter has a lot to show how his writing prowess excels in the field of poetry, short story, film making, playwright, among others. He has written a lot of books in local dialect and in English edition. Thus, it makes him as an award-winning "Filipino poet, fiction writer, and author" for that matter.

Randy Graydon has written a comprehensive Peter Solis Nery's biography.

Filipino Nurse - 2011 Palanca Awardee in 3 Categories

A CALIFORNIA-based Filipino orthopedic nurse emerged as the big winner at this year’s Palanca Awards, garnering three prizes in different categories in rites held at the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati City (Metro Manila) on Thursday night.

The thrice-blessed winner, 42-year-old Peter Solis Nery—who came to the ceremony wearing a fedora and all-white suit—clinched first prize for his Hiligaynon short story Donato Bugtot.

He also earned second prize in two other categories: poetry for children for his collection The Shape of Happiness and English full-length play for If the Shoe Fits (Or, The Five Men Imelda Marcos Meets in Heaven).

The Iloilo province-born Nery, who first won in the prestigious literary competition in 1998, is poised for induction into the Palanca Hall of Fame, an honor that a creative writer can earn once he or she scores five first-place wins.

Before winning for Donato Bugtot, the nurse previously garnered first prize for his Hiligaynon short stories Lirio (1998) and Candido (2007), as well as his English full-length play The Passion of Jovita Fuentes (2008).

Twenty-two writers have been elevated to the Hall of Fame, including The Manila Times College president Dr. Isagani R. Cruz.

Other major winners on Thursday were playwright Joshua Lim So, who earned first prize for his English full-length play A Return Home and third prize for his Filipino full-length play Panahon ng Sampung Libong Ilong (A Season of Ten Thousand Noses); Ateneo de Manila University professor Allan Derain for his Filipino novel Ang Banal na Aklat ng mga Kumag (The Holy Book of Lazy Idiots) and US-based Marivi Soliven for her English novel In the Service of Secrets.

Highlights of the awarding ceremony include a staging of Remi Velasco’s winning one-act play Ondoy, a comedy about a married couple bickering on a rooftop at the height of the devastating September 26, 2009 tropical storm; and the presence of National Artist for Literature F. Sionil José, who graced the event as guest of honor.

In a speech he delivered before fellow wordsmiths and heirs of the late La Tondeña Distillery founder Carlos Palanca Sr., José lamented over the continued underappreciation of Filipino writers, whom he described as “the Chaucers, the Cervanteses and the Shakespeares of our country.”

He briefly turned political at one point, however, when he called many of those in power today as “nincompoops.”

Below is the complete list of winners:

Filipino Division
Novel: Allan Derain, Ang Banal na Aklat ng mga Kumag.

Short Story: third prize: Michael Bernaldez, Metro Gwapo.

Short Story for Children: first prize: Segundo Matias, Alamat ng Duhat; second prize: Joachim Emilio Antonio, Sa Tapat ng Tindahan ni Mang Teban; third prize: Christian Tordecillas, Si Inda, ang Manok at ang mga Lamang-Lupa.

Essay: first prize: Bernadette Neri, Ang Pag-uwi ng Alibughang Anak ng Lupa; second prize: Rosario Torres-Yu, Nagbibihis Na ang Nanay; third prize: Nancy Kimuell-Gabriel, Kubeta.

Poetry: first prize: Enrique Villasis, Agua; second prize: Rosmon Tuazon, Mga Nakaw na Linya; third prize: Christopher Nuyles, Ilang Tala Hinggil sa Daangbakal.

Poetry for children: first prize: Marcel Milliam, Ako ang Bida; second prize: Eugene Evasco, Isang Mabalahibong Bugtong; third prize: John Enrico Torralba, Manghuhuli Ako ng Sinag ng Araw.

One-act play: first prize: Remi Velasco, Ondoy; second prize: Layeta Bucoy, El Galeon de Simeon; third prize: Bernardo Aguay Jr., Posporo.

Full-length play: first prize: Rody Vera, Paalam, Sr. Soledad; second prize: Liza Magtoto, Tamala; third prize: Joshua Lim So, Panahon ng Sampung Libong Ilong.

Screenplay: first prize: Lemuel Garcellano, Tru Lab; second prize: T-Jay Medina, Huling Isang Taon; third prize: Helen Lasquite, Emmanuel.

English Division
Novel: Marivi Soliven, In the Service of Secrets.

Short Story: first prize: Asterio Enrico Gutierrez, The Big Man; second prize: Alexis Abola, Disappearances; third prize: Johannes Chua, Prodigal.

Short Story for Children: first prize: Georgina Veronica Alfar, Tom Yum; second prize: Georgianna de Vera, Tatay, Through Wind and Waves; third prize: Benjamin Pimentel, Gagamba, the Spider from the Islands.

Essay: first prize: Jennifer Rebecca Ortuoste, The Turn for Home: Memories of Santa Ana Park; second prize: Jeena Rani Marquez-Manaois, The River of Gold; third prize: Rosario Cruz-Lucero, The Stain of Blackberries.

Poetry: first prize: Eliza Victoria, Maps; second prize: Lourdes Marie La Viña, Stones and Other Poems; third prize: Simeon Dumdum Jr., Maguindanao.

Poetry for Children: first prize: Cynthia Baculi-Condez, The Universe and Other Poems; second prize: Peter Solis Nery, The Shape of Happineess [sic]; third prize: Kris Lanot Lacaba, The Shaggy Brown Chicken and Other Poems for Children (And for Chickens of All Ages).

One-act play: first prize: Floy Quintos, Evening at the Opera.

Full-length play: first prize: Joshua Lim So, A Return Home; second prize: Peter Solis Nery, If the Shoe Fits (Or, The Five Men Imelda Marcos Meets in Heaven); third prize: Jonathan Guillermo, Freshmen.

Regional Division
Short Story, Cebuano: first prize: Richel Dorotan, Ang Tawo sa Punoan sa Nangka sa Hinablayan; second prize: Errol Merquita, Isla Verde; third prize: Macario Tiu, Black Pearl.

Short Story, Hiligaynon: first prize: Peter Solis Nery, Donato Bugtot; second prize: Alice Tan Gonzales, Kahapunanon sa Laguerta ni Alberto; third prize: Kizza Grace Gardoce, Pabalon.

Short Story, Iluko: first prize: Ariel Tabag, Saddam; second prize: Juan Asuncion, Ayuno; third prize: Norberto Bumanglag Jr., Ti Agdamdamili.

Kabataan Division
Essay, Filipino: first prize: Mary Amie Gelina Dumatol, Ang Makulit, ang Mapagtanong, at ang Mundo ng Kasagutan; second prize: Abegail Joy Lee, Nang Maging Mendiola Ko ang Internet Dahil Kay Mama; third prize: Maria Bettina Clare Camacho, Isang Pindot sa Kamalayan.

Essay, English: first prize: Mariah Christelle Reodica, The Golden Mean; second prize: Scott Lee Chua, Of Pixels and Power; third prize: Leo Francis Abot, Gods of the Internet.

Source: Manila Times.Net, September 3, 2011

Related Source:

• Peter Solis Nery's Biography

Bacolod, Seal of Good HouseKeeping Awardee

Leonardia

Bacolod City received the Seal of Good HouseKeeping Award surpassing other cities in the Region 6, after a rigid comprehensive monitoring and evaluation of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the local news said.

Bacolod is one the 43 cities which were awarded the SEAL by DILG for such SEAL AWARD. Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said,"this award as absolutely rewarding and inspiring. This is the latest award of the city that will push us to do more to bolder performance."

The Seal award of DILG recognizes Local Government Units with good governance performance in internal housekeeping in Good Planning, Sound Fiscal Management, Transparency and Accountability; and Valuing of Performance Monitoring. Focus of DILG testing was in key governance areas of planning, budgeting, revenue mobilization, financial management and budget execution, procurement, and resource mobilization.

"The results of the rigid evaluation of the DILG is another validation that indeed Bacolod City is among the LGUs with sound local government practices. While other prestigious and credible agencies and organizations have already recognized the growth and fast development of our city, this time, it is no less than the competent authority in local governance that has officially given us its stamp of approval", Leonardia said.

Bacolod City has been also a recipient of numerous awards and recognition given by the Asian Institute of Management, German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), and the United States Agency for International Development as Number 2 among the "Ten Growth Centers of the Philippines".

Moreover the Commission on Information and Communications Technology, Department of Trade and Industry, and the Business Process Outsourcing Association of the Philippines ranked the city Number 3 of the "Ten Next Wave Cities". Bacolod was also honored as "The Most Business-Friendly City in the Philippines" by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Related Articles:

• La Carlota City: 2011 DILG Awardee Seal of Good Housekeeping for Local Governance

La Carlota Outshines in Good Governance

La Carlota ranks 8th among the 20 component cities in the country in the Local Governance Performance Management System (LGPMS) report for 2010 of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) with the performance score of 4.7553.

La Carlota is a third class city in the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines. It is  composed of 14 barangays: 3 urban and 11 outside the poblacion with a total land area of 13,729 hectares. Its present Mayor is Atty. Juliet Ferrer, the wife of Congressman Jeffrey Ferrer of the 4th District in Negros Occidental.
 
It's another feather on the cap of Mangkas, the ancient historical name of La Carlota. We salute you Mayor Juliet Marie Ferrer for a job well done. Never in the history of La Carlota that this has been awarded or recognized in terms of transparency, good governance, among others.

The LGPMS is a web-based, self-assessment tool that measures the performance of local government units (LGUs) in key governance areas and it managed by the DILG. It assesses the performance of cities and provinces in administrative, social, economic and environmental governance. It also assesses local government units in terms of transparency, participation and financial accountability, the guideposts for good governance.

The LGUs are scored accordingly to the scale of 1 to 5 in which 1 is the lowest and 5 is the highest.

A team composed of representatives from the national and local governments conducted the assessment while civil society organizations validated the results to ensure impartiality.

Thus, the top component city performer went to Ligao with a score of 4.9240; followed by Laoag, 4.9193; San Fernando, 4.9177; Vigan, 4.8617; Gingoog, 4.8568; Cabanatuan, 4.8363; Dipolog, 4.8113; La Carlota, 4.7553; Iriga, 4.7522; and Batac, 4.7430.

“I laud these local governments for their commitment in elevating and maintaining the highest standards of public service delivery in their respective localities. I hope that their shining examples will inspire others to strive hard in the performance of their duties,” Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said.

Recently La Carlota was awarded the Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH) for Local Governance 2011 given by DILG Secretary Jesse M. Robredo. The award was conferred to Mayor Juliet Marie D. Ferrer for City Government of La Carlota, Negros Occidental to recognize of its efforts in advancing the principles of accountability and transparency in local governance.

The SGH for LGUs is a project and commitment of  the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to aggressively scale up interventions in elevating the practice of governance that values transparency, accountability, participation and performance into an institutionalized status.

The project aims to recognize LGUs with good governance performance in internal housekeeping in four (4) areas such as good planning, sound fiscal management, transparency and accountability, and valuing of performance monitoring.

source: Inquirer News Online, September 5, 2011

More Filipinos Excel in China

More Filipinos were recognized as “Outstanding Foreign Experts" in China in different fields of endeavor.

This awarding scheme was launched by the provincial governments in Northeast China "to appreciate foreigners’ contributions to their economic and social development" and in the world of business as well, the news said.

We are proud of you, our fellow Filipinos. Wherever you are, you can be depended upon as a true Filipino indeed. A true blooded-Filipino is hardworking, diligent, industrious, and efficient.

One of the honorees is Frederick Lomibao, who is teaching for six years in a private school in Liaoning Province’s Yingkou City. He received his award from Governor Chen Chenggao in 2010.

Then Ma. Socorro Rodriguez, Arnel Genzola, and Lileth Mesias Reyes who are Filipino English teachers in Jilin province, which borders Russia and North Korea and boasts of China’s ski resorts, were honored in October 2010 in ceremonies to mark the 61st anniversary of the founding of China. They were among the 59 foreigners recognized by provincial government as Outstanding Foreign Experts.

Likewise Roman and Mildred Go who are Filipino educators founded the the Manila Xiamen International School (MXIS), which is the first international school in the province of Fujian in 1993. That school has achieved a remarkable increase in its enrolment by ten fold since its establishment.

In management, Flour Daniel handles over 20 Filipino engineers working in projects in Inner Mongolia, a vast landscape of steppes buffering Mongolia and the Gobi Desert which is benefiting from the Chinese government’s intense drive to develop its central and north/northwestern regions.

In business realm, Lara Tiam and Arlene Bantoto were named as People’s Choice Human Resource Director and Marketing Director of the Year.

Lara Tiam, the Harvard-educated country human resource director of Intel China, managed the company’s HR organization across, which made it on top of the Employee Brand Proposition in a survey conducted by China HR Executive Board.

Arlene Bantoto, a magna cum Laude graduate in Business Economics from Ateneo De Manila, did an excellent job for Nestle’s Mother and Young Child business in China with her 15 years of experience beginning with her first stint as marketing trainee in Nestle Philippines.

In May 2011, another Filipina named Judith Los Baños was recognized as Marketing and Communications Director of the Year by the Third Annual Women in Business Leadership Awards. She, as a graduate of the University of the Philippines, manages the PR and marketing operations of Hilton Beijing Wangfujing. She began her career at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Holiday Inn in Manila before moving to China 13 years ago. She has more appointments in her field at Hilton hotels in Shanghai and Sanya.

And Ma. Theresa Villareal as one of Asian Development bank’s senior executives, oversees the bank’s numerous projects in the country. She heads the portfolio management at the ADB Resident Mission since 2010.

That's Filipino in action! "Taas noo kahit kanino" Again we are proud of you!

International Champion PHL Dragon Boat Rowers Unwelcomed by POC

PHL Cobra Dragon Boat Team

The PHL Dragon Boat Team after winning the championship in the 10th International Dragon Boat Federation World Championship, Sunday, August 7, 2011 in Tampa Bay, Florida was disowned by the Philippine Olympic Committee for alleged cheating due to "technicalities", but yet they were honored by some Filipinos in Florida and will be honored in their own locality too, the news said.

Though "badmouth... unsupported... unloved by Phillipine sports officials", they still got the guts to succeed, the will to survive though no cash incentives, no heroes welcome. They still  excelled at the boat rowing competition, garnered 5 golds, 2 silvers and established a new world record.

Australia placed second in the event and Japan came in third.