Thursday, January 26, 2012

Dumping garbage--old habits die hard



Philippine Pres. Noynoy Aquino passed by this area on Jan. 6, 2012. This is at corner of San Miguel St. and Aramis St. in Villa Corrina, Barangay Pasong Tamo, Tandang Sora district, Quezon City, Philippines. Aquino was on his way to the venue where ceremonies were to be held to celebrate the 200th birthday of Melchora Aquino, better known as "Tandang Sora," one of the Philippines's heroes. A day before and on the day itself that Pres. Aquino (no relation to Melchora, I suppose) was to pass by Visayas Ave., Tandang Sora Ave., San Miguel St., Aramis St., Himlayan Rd., etc., on his way to the venue, streetsweepers made this area and surrounding streets sparkling clean. I've never seen the streets so clean before (pity I wasn't able to take photographs of that).

Tarpaulin streamers were even hung on the lightposts leading up to the venue, with inspiring words like "Tandang Sora--Katapatan (Loyalty)," etc., all extolling virtues pertaining to the hero. Well, now, as you can see, things are back to normal at those streets mentioned. Old habits die hard for the residents, it seems. It's really more fun and easy to dump garbage at the sidewalks. And this photo was taken just a day after the garbage truck passed by on its regular schedule. Which is another matter I don't understand. The garbage truck regularly comes on schedule in our neighborhood--Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Although Wednesdays are supposed to be for picking up only recyclable trash. Yet, despite this regular schedule, residents are still impatient and can't wait to get their trash off of their houses. What are sidewalks for anyway? Old habits really die hard. Not even after supertyphoons "Ondoy" and "Sendong" with all the deadly floods that they brought to the Philippines. And not even after just celebrating the birthday of the hero after whom the place was named.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

PAWS, a Philippines animal shelter, seeks help

The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) seeks help from the public for pitbulls it has recently rescued from a dogfight raid in Cavite, Philippines. PAWS needs cleaning agents (towels, soap, mops, and similar items) for the dogs. Of course, PAWS will also welcome other forms of assistance for the pitbulls and other animals that it cares for. Those who want to help can contact PAWS staff Ana +63917831597o or Charlene +639177931097.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Dragon Fireworks a dud

The Philippines is now seriously considering a total fireworks ban because of the increasing number of casualties (injuries and deaths) and amount of pollution happening with each New Year's Eve celebration in the country. I'm all for the total ban, even I myself love fireworks (the beautiful colored ones that light the sky, not the noisy firecrackers). In fact, I have downgraded my purchase and use of fireworks in every passing year, although I'm not really one of those people who spend so much for pyrotechnics. I just enjoy watching in the sky how much money they've burned :)

In New Year's Eve to usher in 2012, I was down to one pack of sparklers with long handles (10 or 12 pieces in a pack) and a fountain. I bought them from a stall of Dragon Fireworks in a mall. Each one cost more than a hundred pesos. Dragon has always been my choice of fireworks. I've trusted no other fireworks manufacturer for beauty and safety. In fact, I almost bought from another fireworks manufacturer in the same mall just for the thought of trying out something different. But I still bought from Dragon in the end.

Well, it was a waste of money certainly. The fountain was alright, although I wished that its lights would have went a bit higher. But the sparklers were a dud! For the first time in years that I've been using Dragon sparklers, only about three or four pieces in the pack lighted up. My mother and sister were certainly disappointed because sparklers were the only ones that they've been lighting up in the past years.

Dragon Fireworks, made in Bulacan province in the Philippines, touts itself as one of the best, if not the best, in the industry. But it really let me down. Because of the fact that I really know I wasted precious money on Dragon's non-lighting sparklers and my guilt that I contribute to pollution however little fireworks I light up, I've decided that this will be the end of my "fireworks days."

New Year's Eve 2013, I'll be a noisy as I can be with various noisemakers, and will bring out bottles of bubble to do some serious bubble-making with the electric fan full blast.

Happy New Year!

Job opening: FAD looks for Project Coordinator, Manila

The Foundation for Adolescent Development (FAD) is looking for a Project Coordinator for its "School Symposium Project" in Metro Manila that will commence in January and end December 31,2012.

They need someone with these qualifications:

1. Graduate of any degree program preferably Psychology, Sociology, Mass Communication, Advertising.
2. Aged 20-30 years old.
3. Excellent communication skills, both in verbal and written form.
4. Organized, resourceful, diligent and passionate in meeting the requirements of the project
5. Personable, can ably represent the organization during meetings.
6. Skilled in the use of the following program applications: MS Word, Excel, Power point.

Those interested, please your CV to:

Ms. Cecilia C. Villa
Executive Director, Foundation for Adolescent Development Inc.
1066 Remedios corner San Bartolome St., Malate,Manila 1004
Telephone: 525-0428; 400-1827,
E-mail: fadinc@pldtdsl.net; besvilla@yahoo.com,
Mobile: 0917-821-5193