planet philippines - calgary edition october 2010 issue

OCTOBER 2010Calgary Edition PLANET PHILIPPINES17

OCTOBER 2010 Calgary EditionPLANET PHILIPPINES18


CELEBR TY

KC, TONI AIR SENTIMENTS VS MARIELKC Concepcion has finally broken her silence on her reported rift with Mariel Rodriguez, saying she has heard from different sources that Mariel had been badmouthing her. KC cited one story in which Mariel allegedly said that KC got her show Simply KC because she was the daughter of Sharon Cuneta.

“Hindi ko narinig ‘yon straight from her, usap-usapan ‘yon. At the same time kung totoo man ‘yon, ma-hal ko ‘yong show ko, mahal ko ‘yong trabaho ko, in the same way na ma-hal niya ang trabaho niya,” KC said on The Buzz. “Ang dami kong narinig. So parang I don’t know what to say to her, (or) where will I start? She’ll deny she said anything pero marami rin akong naririnig from not just one person.”

For her part, Toni Gonzaga, KC’s co-host on The Buzz, refused to add to the numerous reports and rumor about the negative things that Mariel

had allegedly said against her.She said the other people who were

involved in the controversy – among them, Luis Manzano, Anne Curtis and Vice Ganda – have kept their si-lence so as not to aggravate the issue.

Luis earlier said that he and Mariel have a misunder-standing although he did not elaborate. Anne and Vice have been named as those who leaked Mariel’s alleged negative comments against Toni and KC.

When co-host Boy Abun-da suggested a face-to-face confrontation with Mariel to iron out the issue, Toni said, “Okey ‘yong confron-tation, okey ‘yong diret-sahan. Pero ang hirap at hindi ka mananalo kapag ang kausap mo ay hindi na nagsasabi ng totoo. In an ar-gument, ‘pag ang kalaban mo hindi na nagiging totoo sa ‘yo.”

KRIS Aquino has admitted that she regrets not listening to the advice of her mom, the late former president Corazon “Cory” Aquino, to have a pre-nuptial agreement when she married

James Yap.Kris, who filed a

petition seeking to nullify her five-year marriage to the bas-ketball player, said she is “paying the price” for not heed-ing the advice of the late president who advised her to have a pre-nuptial agreement to pro-tect her assets

JUDY Ann Santos gave birth to a baby boy on Oct. 7 at the Asian Hospital in Muntin-lupa City.

Juday’s mother, Carol Santos, said her daughter had a normal delivery.

The baby will be named Juan Luis, and will be called Lucho for short.

Luis is the name of the father of Ryan Agoncillo, Juday’s husband, while Juan comes from Johanna, or Yohan, the name of the couple’s adopted daughter.

JUDAY GIVES BIRTH TO BABY BOY

KRIS REGRETS NOT HAVING PRE-NUP WITH JAMESfor her eldest son, Joshua.

“My mom said to me, ‘I only asked you one thing. Humingi ka ng pre-nup para ma-secure mo si Josh...’ Sana huwag sabihin ng tao na naging matapobre ang pamilya namin or anything like that. My mom was concerned because Josh is an illegitimate. Josh is a special child who has so many needs,” she said.

Joshua is Kris’s child from her previous relationship with actor Phillip Salvador. Kris and James have one child together, three-year-old Baby James.

“One sided po ang settle-ment. Ang settlement galing sa akin... It’s my fault wala kaming pre-nup. So, I’m paying the price for it,” she said.

Knowledgeable observers ex-plain that without a pre-nuptial agreement, all assets of Kris, in-cluding those she earned before her marriage to James, will be shared with him.

AFTER their much-talked about “breakup,” Gerald Anderson and Kim Chiu surprised their fans and supporters when they announced the news that they are doing a project together again, under Star Cinema.

“It’s a feel-good movie. Hindi siya masya-dong mabigat,” Gerald said.

Pressed by reporters about their reported breakup, Gerald explained that like people in any ordinary relationship, they also went through hardship and misunderstanding.

“Lahat naman tayo kahit sa relasyon ng mag-asawa, mag-boyfriend or girlfriend at

magkaibigan hindi healthy ‘yong relationship niyo kung walang tampuhan,” he said.He said that he and Kim are just happy that they

were able to maintain their friendship despite all the intrigues.

“We are very happy and blessed na ‘yong friend-ship namin ay hindi naapektuhan sa lahat ng intriga na nangyayari sa amin sa showbiz at siyempre mara-mi pa in the future,” Gerald said.

Kim, who avoided questions about Gerald before, finally spoke and said she and her longtime partner are really good friends.

“Super friends naman talaga kami ni Gerald. Pa-rang lagi kaming nandiyan para sa isa’t isa. Kapag kailangan niya ako, nandiyan ako. Kapag kailangan ko siya, nandiyan din siya at ‘yon ang mahalaga sa aming dalawa,” she said.

KIM, GERALD HAVE NEW FILM AFTER ‘BREAKUP’

PRESIDENT Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Shalani Soledad, his girlfriend of a little over a year, have called it quits, the Philippine Daily Inquirer report-

PRESIDENT BREAKS UP WITH GIRLFRIEND - REPORTed last Oct. 9, quoting a source close to the President.

The breakup, the Inquirer said, happened sometime in the third week of September at Alfredo’s, the restaurant in Quezon City where the couple first dated.

There is no third party, the pa-per’s sources said.

Asked by the Inquirer last Oct. 8 if the breakup was indeed true, Shalani, a councilor of Valenzuela City, said in a text message, “I’d rather not answer that for the mo-ment.”

Although the breakup was re-cent, speculations have been go-ing on for months about the state of the relationship between the 50-year-old bachelor and the pretty

30-year-old councilor.Their hectic schedules obvious-

ly have kept them apart, their com-munication often limited to text messages. Therefore, the breakup came as no surprise to friends, In-quirer said.

It was these two distinctly sep-arate lives that apparently caused the split, sources said.

The report added that in early October, the President confided to a friend that the breakup was inevi-table “kung hindi na siya (Shalani) masaya.”

The President, sources say, is not seeing anyone seriously.

Another source close to Mr. Aquino said it was the President who ended the relationship.

More Celebrity Files +28


BORGY Manotoc, a son of Ilocos Norte Gov-ernor Imee Marcos, has finally decided to try his luck in show business.

Borgy said he has been managing his own business for quite some time now, and since his business is already established, he wants to try something new.

“I’ve been out of the industry for a few years now pursuing my own business in the retail [industry]. I’m very happy with the way things have gone. Ngayon, may oras na ako. Established na ang business ko. Pwede ko ng tignan kung anong mayroon diyan sa [showbiz] industry. We’ll see what happens,” Manotoc told ABS-CBN in an in-terview.

The grandson of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos said he feels it’s about time to take a step back and pursue other things which he wants to do.

He said he wants to try hosting a life-style show, or probably a travel show for a start. This way, he will be able to feature the beauty of the Philippines and show it to the world.

“Acting? We’ll see. I’m a little bit scared

MARCOS GRANDSON TO TRY SHOWBIZ

of acting. Kasi acting, totoong trabaho iyan. You really have to put work into it. My brother is a theater actor and my mother obviously has a lot of acting experiences, so I have a lot to live up to. Hindi ko gusto na to just jump in. I wanna be prepared if I do it. We’ll see how it goes,” he said.

Borgy is reportedly “exclusively dating” Georgina Wilson, a niece of actress-beauty queen Gloria Diaz and former girlfriend of actor Richard Gutierrez.

ABS-CBN Corporation has filed a petition seeking to prevent Willie Revillame from hosting his much-hyped upcoming show on competitor TV5.

The Kapamilya network asked the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) and a writ of preliminary injunction to stop Wil-lie “from committing further violations to his contract with the network” by launch-ing his new game show, Willing Willie.

The show will reportedly air this month over TV5.

ABS-CBN cited his contract with TV5 and the show, Willing Willie, which, it said, is very similar to the defunct Wowowee on ABS-CBN.

The network also cited TV5’s official statement issued on Sept. 17 confirming that Willie has signed a contract with the network to host a variety and game show.

ABS-CBN asserted that Willie is bound to comply with his current obli-gations under the agreement he signed with the Kapamilya network, which runs up to September 2011.

ABS-CBN SEEKS TO STOP WILLIE’S NEW SHOW

HEART Evangelista answered “Yes” in a heartbeat when asked if Brazilian model-actor Daniel Matsunaga is now her boy-friend.

In an interview on the showbiz show Startalk on Sept. 26, Heart stressed that she had broken off with ex-boyfriend Ian Dy before Daniel came into her life.

“No, I’m very honest person,” said Heart when asked if there was an overlap between her two latest relationships.

She said she’s helping Daniel hone his Tagalong. “Yung mga nakakalurkey, echosera, and yes, I speak to him in Taga-

HEART: MY BF IS LIKE AN ANGEL

CELEBRITYFILES

log para naman matuto siya at saka siya, nire-refresh niya ang Spanish side ko sa mommy ko at Portuguese.”

Queried on what drawn her to him, she replied, “Sobrang bait. Para siyang anghel na sobrang bait.”

She added: “Kasi noong umpisa, akala ko, parang mannequin lang siya. Na yes, he’s guwapo...pero noong na-kilala ko na siya, he’s God-fearing at saka, mahal na mahal niya ang family niya and yung respect niya sa family ko, super. And I’ve met his sister, she’s so nice.”

Earlier, the network filed a P486-million damage suit against Willie after he signed up with rival TV5 for two new shows.

In spite of a pending court case with ABS-CBN, the controversial TV host said he will launch two new shows with TV5 in October -- the game show Willing Willie and the talent search Born to Be a Star.


Robin has been separated for two years now from his wife of 20 years, Liezl Sicangco.

The 25-year-old’s last relationship was with model-actor Zanjoe Marudo.

The real-life whirlwind romance between Robin and Mariel is straight out of a telenovela script. No wonder showbiz

observers and fans alike aren’t quite sure on what to make out of the spectacle. Is it for real or just a publicity stunt?

A PUZZLE OR PLAIN

LOVE STORY?

ROBIN-MARIEL ROMANCE

T IS a whirlwind romance even by showbiz stan-dards, Hollywood or local. It took just three months from the time they became friends on the set of the defunct noontime show Wowowee in May to their eventual marriage in India last August.

Robin Padilla, the erstwhile Bad Boy of Philip-pine Movies, and television host Mariel Rodriguez are the hottest – and, according to them, the happi-est - couple in Tinseltown, titillating fans with their romantic escapades and infuriating their studio

bosses and talent managers with their seemingly devil-may-care attitude.

The 42-year-old actor has been divorced for two years from his wife of 20 years, Liezl Sicangco,

with whom he has four children (She has since

remarried and lives in Australia). Robin also has a son with actress Jobelle Salvador and a daughter with an-other actress, Leah Orosa.

Meanwhile, the 25-year-old TV host

had been involved with model-actor Zan-

joe Marudo u n t i l

last May when they broke up. A few weeks into their new

show, Pilipinas, Win na Win, Robin abruptly left for India on Aug. 9 to observe the Muslim fasting feast of Ramadan. A few days later, Mariel went on an indefinite leave and followed him. As of press time, they have not returned to the noontime show. ABS-CBN is mum on whether the two will return to the show.

Showbiz observers and fans alike aren’t quite sure on what to make out of the spectacle. Is it for real or just a publicity stunt?

Even veteran entertain-ment writer Ricky Lo of The Philippine Star is puzzled. Following is Lo’s column piece last Sept. 23:

“In a scene from The King & I, an exasperated Yul Bryn-ner throws his hands up and ex-claims, ‘It’s a puzzlement!’

Isn’t that what we all want to do with the case of Robin Padilla and Mariel Rodriguez --- throw our collective hands up and roar, ‘They’re a puzzlement!’?

Review the sequence of events:

• On May 15, Robin met Mari-el when he guest-hosted Wowowee while main host Willie Revillame was suspended. They eventually


Place a number from 1-9 in each empty cell. Each row, col-umn and 3x3 block bounded by bold line (9 blocks) contains all the numbers from 1-9

RULES:

SUDOKU

SOLUTION ON PAGE 31

MARIA PERCY JAVELOSA ............................................................ Publisher/Advertising ManagerCARMELA SARILE ...................................................................... Graphic ArtistSTEVE TARZWELL, JULIE PICOC, FERDIE GAYOS .......................... Contributors

CALGARY EDITION

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Planet Philippines is produced globally by Buzzword Media Corporation for its overseas publishing partners under a licensing arrangement. We welcome inquiries from anyone interested in publishing Planet Philippines in any part of the world. We can be contacted at [email protected]. Check out our website at www.planetphilippines.com. Planet Philippines is a registered trademark in the Philippines and overseas.

LEANDRO MILAN .................................................................................. Editor-in-ChiefPEPPER MARCELO ............................................................................... Assistant EditorARNEL RIVAL ........................................................................................ Art DirectorROMY FLORANTE .................................................................................. PhotographerDIANA PAMELA TRISTE ........................................................................ Editorial Assistant

PLANET PHILIPPINES Worldwide

Audiences noticed the flirty interplay between the two Wowowee hosts.

One of the questions put forth to Mariel is whether she is ready to accept and embrace Robin’s religion.

matched. Robin was free from wife Liezel Sicangco who remar-ried two years ago after their di-vorce while Mariel had just bro-ken up with Zanjoe Marudo.

• On Aug. 7, Robin gave Mari-el an engagement ring said to be worth P1.2-M (but jewelry ex-perts said only P750,000) during Mariel’s birthday celebration on the ABS-CBN Saturday show E-Live! in which she’s a co-host.

• On Aug. 9, Robin quit the new ABS-CBN show Pilipinas Win na Win and flew to India for the duration of Ramadan (Aug. 8 to Sept. 15). Mariel also quit.

• On Aug. 17, Mariel followed Robin to India (purposely for Robin to bring her to the Taj Ma-hal in Agra).

• On Sept. 16, the sweethearts were reported to have gotten mar-ried in Ibaloi rites in Baguio.

Controversy ensued. Why would Robin, a devout Muslim, marry in Ibaloi rites?

’There was no wedding at all,’ said Robin.

The Ibaloi man who officiated at the ceremony insisted that it was a wedding with the rituals of an Ibaloi wedding strictly ob-served. Robin’s manager Betchay Vidanes herself said a wedding took place. Mariel’s lola, former LVN starlet May Villarica, said that she and other relatives were the last to know. Mariel’s lolo said that when Mariel asked him if an Irogot wedding was okay, he quoted Mariel as saying, ‘Tapos na po.’

‘Robin just wanted to show me the culture of Igorots of which his mom (Eva Cariño) is a descen-dant,’ said Mariel. ‘He wanted to show me parts of the Igorot cul-ture.’

The film clips showed Robin and Mariel in Igorot costume do-ing the Igorot courtship dance.

‘It was a war dance,’ said Mariel, ‘not a courtship dance. We didn’t tell a lie,’ even if pic-tures and video clips show the opposite.

A pig was slain for the ceremo-ny. Muslims consider pigs dirty that’s why they don’t eat pork.

‘But I didn’t eat the pig,’ said Robin.

Caught in a fix, Robin was forced to confess that, yes, he and Mariel got married in Muslim rites in India on Aug. 19.

Defending Robin, his elderly Ibaloi relative said that there was no wedding and the mambulong (native priest who officiated at the ceremony) was fake. Other rela-tives said that the Ibaloi ceremo-ny was an engagement. But how come the wedding (in India) came before the engagement?

Robin said that a bigger wed-ding, in Catholic rites this time, will happen soon and members of both their families will be duly notified and invited.

Now, is the whole charade part of a reality-TV ABS-CBN is

reportedly preparing for Robin and Mariel? As usual, ABS-CBN guys are tight-lipped as they al-ways are in controversial situa-tions like this.

Anytime now, Robin and Mariel are flying to India --- to continue their ‘interrupted’ hon-eymoon? According to Robin, they had to put it on hold because he had to take care of his children Kylie and Ali (the boy left last Sept. 20 for Australia to join mom Liezel) and Mariel got sick.

Meanwhile, let’s enjoy the ‘joy-ride’ with the ‘newly-weds’ while it lasts.” n

Our next issue will come out on November 19, 2010. For announcements and advertising in-quiries, email us at [email protected] or contact Percy at (403) 667-2645. Booking of ad placement should be sent before November 9 and ad-ready material should be received by us no later than November 12.


ABINI, THE Philippines — Mediter-ranean-inspired, pastel-colored houses dot the coast and hills of this rural town in the Philippines, dwarfing their tradi-tional counterparts made of unpainted concrete blocks under roofs of corru-gated zinc. The larger houses, barely inhabited, many of them empty, belong to overseas workers who plan to return here one day.

Despite their absence, the OFWs have contributed money to help build roads, schools, water grids and other

infrastructure usually handled by local governments. Thanks to their help, Mabini became a “first class”

municipality last year, leaping from “third class.”

TOILING FAR FROM HOME FOR PHILIPPINE

DREAMSBY NORIMITSU ONISHI New York Times

Brightly colored Mediterranean-inspired houses dot Little Italy whose residents help finance local infrastructure projects.

Large houses, barely inhabited, many of them empty, belong to OFWs who plan to return here one day.

Despite their absence, the workers have contributed money to help build roads, schools, wa-ter grids and other infrastructure usually handled by local gov-ernments. They pay for annual fiestas that were traditionally fi-nanced by municipalities, church-es and local businesses. Thanks to their help, Mabini became a “first

class” municipality last year in a government ranking of

towns nationwide, leap-ing from “third class.”

In one village nick-named Little Italy,

where a quarter of the 1,200

residents are working in Italy, the

overseas workers paid 20 percent of the cost to construct a public hall.

“We couldn’t

have finished it without the OFW’s,” the village head, Ray-mundo Magsino, 64, said in an interview inside the building, referring to “overseas Filipino workers.”

Remittances, which the gov-ernment says have been ris-ing sharply — from $7.6 billion in 2003 to $17.3 billion in 2009 — now account for more than 10 percent of the Philippines’ gross domestic product. The payments are also the main factor driving the country’s recent economic growth, which would have other-wise remained stagnant.

But critics, including many overseas workers, say the govern-ment has developed an unhealthy dependence on the remittances, turning a blind eye to their social costs, especially divided families and the reliance on them to pay for services while failing to build a sound economy that produces good jobs at home.

About 15 percent of the 42,000 residents of Mabini, about 80 miles south of Manila, live over-seas — typically working as maids, nurses or service workers — compared with an estimated national average of 10 percent.

One recent morning, Jocelyn Santia, 40, was packing her bags after two months of vacation here to return to her job as a house-keeper in Milan. She and her husband, who died six years ago, began working in Italy 20 years ago after being recruited by an employment agency.

Her grandparents and a broth-er raised her four children here, though the two eldest now attend

+29


Street dancing performers groove it up while parading along selected points of the city.

BEAUTIFULP H I L I P P I N E S T H E

T ALL started in the 1970s when then Mayor Elias B. Lopez initiated tribal fes-tivals featuring the lumad (native) and the Muslim tribes of Davao City where they showcase their dances and rituals of thanksgiving. Lopez

himself was from a Bagobo tribe.

KADAYAWAN: MINDANAO’S

FESTIVAL OF ALL FESTIVALS

BY HENRYLITO D. TACIO

Flowers and fruits are set in colorful floats by business establishments, community assemblies and peoples’ organizations.

The floral float parade, called Pamulak Kadayawan, is a spectacular finale.

In 1986, the government ini-tiated a program called “Unlad Proyekto Davao,” whose main ob-jective was to unite the Dabawe-nyos after the turbulent Martial Law era. The festivity was called Apo Duwaling, in honor of the three royalties for which Davao is famous for.

The word apo was taken from Mount Apo, the king of all moun-tains in the Philippines as it is the country’s tallest peak at 10,311 feet above sea level. Du came from durian, the king of tropical fruits which has been described as having a smell “like hell” but has a taste that can be compared to that of “heaven.”

The term waling was from waling-waling, the queen of or-chids whose ethic term means “graceful movement of a butterfly in flight.” They were once found only in the forests of Davao and Cotabato province. It was dis-covered in Davao around 1880 by Carl Roebellin, a German plant enthusiast for the Orchid House of Sanders.

At that time, Apo Duwaling was meant to showcase Davao City as a peaceful destination for

other people from all over the country to visit and to do busi-ness in. This was post-EDSA Rev-olution.

Two years later, then Mayor Ro-drigo Duterte renamed the festival as “Kadayawan sa Dabaw.” Kaday-awan is derived from the friendly greeting Madayaw, a term taken from a Dabawenyo word dayaw which means “good,” “valuable,” “superior” or “something that brings good fortune.”

Mayor Duterte envisioned the festivity as a way to celebrate the bountiful harvest of Davao’s flowers, fruits, and other produce as well as the wealth of the city’s cultures. Today, the festival con-tinues to honor the city’s richness and diverse artistic, cultural, and

historical heritage in a grand cel-ebration of thanksgiving for all of the city’s blessings.

In the early stage, ethnic tribes lived together harmoniously, in peace and friendship like the Bagobos, Mandayas, Manobos, Mansakas, T’boli, and others. They were the ones who gave the province a name; Davao came from the word daba-daba, which means fire.

According to history, Davao’s ethnic tribes residing at the foot of Mount Apo would converge dur-ing a bountiful harvest. This ritual serves as their thanksgiving to the gods particularly to the Manama (the Supreme Being).

Various farming implements, fruits, flowers, vegetables, rice, and corn grains were displayed on mats as villagers give their respect and thanks for the year’s abundance. Singing, dancing, and offerings to their divine protectors were the highlights of this ritual.

Although times have changed, this practice of thanksgiving (pa-hinungod in local dialect) is still very much practiced by modern day Dabawenyos. This tradition flourished and evolved into an

annual festival of thanksgiving. And that’s how Kadayawan sa Dabaw came into existence.

Today, Kadayawan has trans-formed into a festival of festivals, with a number of spin-off festivals in the region. The festival honors Davao’s artistic, cultural, and his-torical heritage, its past personi-fied by the ancestral lumads, its people as they celebrate on the streets, and its floral indus-try as its representatives parade in full regalia in thanksgiving for the blessings granted on the city.

Actually, the celebration in-terfaces three aspects: Trib-al, industrial, arts and entertain-

ment. It is a week-long celebra-tion which is highlighted by floral floats, street-dancing competi-tions, and exhibits that showcase the island’s tourism products and services.

The two big parades of the fes-tival are often held during week-ends. The street dancing, called Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan, is done on S a t u r -

day


About 15 percent of the 42,000 residents of Mabini live overseas — typically working as maids, nurses or service workers.

college in Italy. Her sacrifice, she hoped, would yield good, white-collar jobs for her children. But with her departure — and yet another separation from her two younger children — looming be-fore her, she expressed bitterness about having to leave her family.

“The economy is bad here, sala-ries are low,” she said. “It’s the fault of the government that so many Filipinos have to go abroad. If there were good jobs here, why would we ever think of going abroad?”

Nilo Villanueva, the mayor of Mabini, said he had often heard this criticism from overseas workers. Mr. Villanueva was elected in 2007 by campaigning in Italy and champion-ing the interests of overseas workers. The mayor connected Little Italy to the water grid last year.

Yet, even as Mr. Villanueva has sought overseas workers’ in-vestments in a feed mill and other projects, he said he worried about the town and country’s reliance on remittances. “Many people have become lazy now because they are overdependent on remit-tances,” he said.

He said the municipality not only counted on investment from its overseas workers, but also had be-come dependent on their earnings in less direct ways. Most overseas workers here, for example, send their children to private elementary

schools, which have smaller class sizes and offer richer educational and extracurricular programs.

“They are helping the munici-pal government because we are spending less on public schools,” Mr. Villanueva said.

At the private Santa Fe Inte-grated School, which charges an annual tuition of $370, 80 percent of the 250 students are children of overseas workers. About half have both parents overseas and are being raised by relatives or housekeepers, said Louella D. de Leon, the principal.

Kate Michele Mendoza, 12, and her sister Christina, 8, are typical cases. With their parents working in Italy since Kate Michele’s birth, they live with their grandparents and two cousins, whose parents work in Oman. The parents re-turn here once a year, staying one to two months.

“We go malling when they are here,” Kate Michele said.

Ms. de Leon said that while the children of overseas work-ers were better off financially, they lacked discipline and scored poorer grades than the children whose parents were present.

“The kids of OFW’s have ev-erything in terms of gadgets — the latest cellphones that you can’t even find in Manila — and they have bigger allowances than even the teachers,” Ms. de Leon

said. “But they have an attitude. They are arrogant.”

The national government has highlighted the positive effects of the OFW economy, calling the workers “heroes” and presenting awards for the model OFW fam-ily of the year.

In an interview in Manila, Viv-ian F. Tornea, a director at the Department of Labor’s Overseas Workers Welfare Administra-tion, said the benefits of the remit-tance economy far outweighed the costs. Ms. Tornea denied that the national and local govern-ments had become dependent on remittances, saying that overseas workers’ contributions to build-

ing public infrastructure were simply “payback” because they did not pay income taxes.

“Just as we get assistance from other funding institutions, why can’t we accept from our own na-tionals who are willing and capa-ble of giving something for their own community?” she asked.

While the government has welcomed the overseas workers’ remittances, it has done too little to ensure their long-term finan-cial health, critics say. Atikha, a private organization here, pro-vides financial literacy programs for overseas workers who, here in Mabini and elsewhere, tend to invest in houses and vehicles that

remain unused for years.In the Pulang Lupa neighbor-

hood, about half of the houses be-long to absent overseas workers. No one answered the doorbell at several houses, but a caretaker, Jovel Bonapos, 16, appeared at the gate of a large pink house.

The house, he said, belonged to a couple and their four children living in Italy. They visited only once every two years, staying up to two months each time. The house had four bedrooms and three bathrooms, and it is “com-pletely furnished,” he said.

In a large house not too far away, Lorena Sawali-Baquillos, 37, lives with her three children while her husband works as a sea-man. Ms. Sawali-Baquillos, who leads a small organization of OFW families, said she understood the motivation behind building the Italian-style houses.

“Filipinos are stuck on status symbols,” she said. “After the sweat and tears of working in Eu-rope for many years, they build a big house to show the fruits of their labor.”

“But it’s weird,” she added. “How can you enjoy your house if you can only see it in photos? The houses have huge beds, even though they may use them only a few weeks a year. They’re fully furnished with plasma televisions and ovens, but there’s no one to bake a cake.” n

TOILING FAR FROM HOME FOR...

SUDOKUANSWER FROM PAGE 25

PHILIPPINESthe BEAUTIFUL

The Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan is wildly popular because of the distinctively Mindanaoan beat and costumes.

while the floral float parade falls on Sunday.

The street dancing has two main components. The first is the street parade, where performers groove it up while parading along selected points of the city (at the streets of CM Recto, San Pedro, Pelayo, Bonifacio, Ponciano, and Roxas Avenue). The second is the showdown, where the very same people perform on the same ven-ue, which has traditionally been San Pedro Street. The parade nor-mally takes place in the morning, the showdown from the afternoon to evening.

One pundit puts it: “The Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan is wildly pop-ular because of the distinctively Mindanaoan beat and costumes. Several tourists come to Davao to watch hundreds of people danc-ing with vigor in the streets, clad in their native attire and carrying extravagant props that would give Hollywood studios a serious run for their money.”

This year’s competition has only one category and is open to any group, organization, institu-tions, or communities. Participat-ing Mindanao-based contingents must showcase the festival of their locality, while participating

Davao City-based contingents must interpret the Kadayawan festival or Mindanao folklores, myths, or legends.

Criteria for judging are as follows: Main showdown, 70% (choreography and creativity, 25%; performance, 30%; musical-ity, 25%; and production design, 20%), and street performance, 30% (choreography and creativ-ity, 25%; performance, 30%; mu-sicality, 25%; and production de-sign, 25%).

Prizes for the competition

are as follows: Grand champion, P300,000; first runner-up, P200,000; second runner-up, P100,000; third runner-up P75,000; fourth runner-up, P50,000; and fifth runner-up P30,000. Nine consolation priz-es, at P10,000 each, will be given and five presentation awards and special awards for best in perfor-mance and best in costumes and parade to receive P50,000 each.

The floral float parade, called Pamulak Kadayawan, is a spec-tacular finale – patterned after the Pasadena Parade of Roses in

the United States – where flowers and fruits are set in colorful floats by business establishments, com-munity assemblies and peoples’ organizations as they promenade on the streets symbolizing all the bounty sustainably enjoyed by the city’s residents. Want to see giant replicas of animals the size of a truck made up of nothing else but flowers? No problem. Go watch the parade and you will see one.

The competition is open to any person, group, organization, in-stitution, or company. It has three categories, namely small (maxi-mum size of 8 feet x 16 feet), big (over 8 feet x 16 feet) and alterna-tive (use of miniature cars, golf carts, mini tractors, push carts, karo, kalesa, pedicabs or similar vehicles, motorized, mechanical, or animal driven).

The competing floral floats will be using at least 80% fresh flowers, plants, fruits, and vegeta-bles as medium, while non-com-peting entries are required to use at least 10%. Judging criteria are symbolism (20%), design (40%) and execution (40%). Prizes are as follows: big category (P500,000 for first, P300,000 for second, and P200,000 for third), small catego-ry (P300,000 for first, P200,000 for

second, and P100,000 for third), and alternative category (P100,000 for first, P75,000 for second, and P50,000.00 for third).

If you have nothing to do this weekend, come to Davao. Here’s what Dabawenyos will tell you about its festivity: “Kadayawan is an art form in itself, a festival per-fectly fit for a local government that tries to position itself as the cultural capital of the Philippines. This is the best time to catch the sights, the sounds, the colors and the scents all mixing together to encapsulate the rich diversity of a place which was long ago described as the garden of the gods.” n

From page 27

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