(Continued on page 2)

Santo Nino candle maker. Photo by Ferdinand Edralin

Snaphot of Philippine Life

BLATANT POACHING: World Wildlife Fund-Philippines’ RJ dela Calzada measures one of 101 dead Hawksbill turtles seized fromalleged Vietnamese poachers off northern Palawan Aug. 29. AP

By Des Ferriols Philstar, September 12, 2008

The peso plunged to itslowest level in 12 months,closing past the critical 47 to$1 mark as the dollar extend-ed its recent rally to hit a freshone-year high against a basketof currencies as investorsshrugged off concerns over the US banking sector.The peso opened the day’strade at 46.950 to the dol-lar and immediately dropped below the 47 to $1 mark to hitan intraday low of 47.100 tothe dollar.At the end of the tradingsession, the peso settled at47.095, off the day’s low but14.50 centavos lower than

Peso closes at 1-year low of 47 to $1

(Continued on page 24)

Beautiful Philippines

I must admit that I havelearned to admire not onlythe country but also its people. Passing throughMt. Aso on our way toHyuga where our daughter spent the past two years,

we did not nd any space

that had not been plantedwith crops. It seemed thatevery piece of leveledland was planted with rice.The same is true in thecountryside.By

Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.

Publisher & Editor

San Diego Asian JournalSee page 5

Doing Japan

A revealing experience

A Japanese Garden

Senators toPacman:Forget politics

By Christina Mendez Philstar, September 3, 2008

Senators advised boxingchampion Manny Pacquiaoyesterday against going into politics after he was sworn inas a member of President Ar-royo’s Kabalikat ng MalayangPilipino (Kampi).Malacañang, on the other hand, expressed its strongsupport for Pacquiao’s plansto retire from boxing nextyear and pursue his political

(Continued on page 12)

By Charlson Ong PhilStar (Editor’s note: Award-win-ning writer Charlson Ong isthe author of the forthcom-ing book Robert Coyiuto: Filipino Mandarin published by the Coyiuto Foundationin celebration of Robert Coyiuto’s 85th birth-year celebration.)

When Robert Coyiuto passed away at the relativelyyoung age of 58 in 1982 hewas a giant of the Philippineinsurance industry. He hadled various companies tothe pinnacle of the industryand helped found PrudentialGuarantee and Assurance,

Robert Coyiuto

Robert Coyiuto:Filipino Mandarin

Inc. (PGAI), which his heirswould eventually transforminto one of the nation’s topcorporations. Before theterm taipan came into vogueto describe successful

(Continued on page 23)

CONVERSATIONS WITH Ricky Lo Philstar, September 7, 2008 Author’s Note: FidelaMendoza Magpayo, lov-ingly called Tiya Dely byeverybody, died last Mon-day, Sept. 1, at the Manila Doctors Hospital on UN Avenue, Manila, where shewas rushed late Saturdaynight, Aug. 30, after she had a cerebral hemorrhage dueto a stroke while hosting her long-running program Ser-enata Kolektibista on dzRH.“She died with her boots on, so to speak,” said her good friend Danny Dolor, philan-thropist, banker and STAR’s Remember When? colum-nist. “She had just played Bella Filipina, the intro mu- sic to the program, when she

Ito ang inyong... Tiya Dely!

Tiya Dely

began stuttering. And then, she backed away from themicrophone which had beenher inseparable companion for many, many years. She slipped into coma.”On the afternoon of Sun

(Continued on page 22)

By Kap Maceda Aguila Philstar,September 3, 2008

Cutting a slightlyhunched frame anddonned in a pink barong, the man proffers a kind smileand ushers us into his

Makati ofce that is

a veritable museumof memories – chock-full of souvenirs andartifacts. In particular,there is a multitude of turtle-shaped objetsd’art that we can’thelp but ogle as our interviewee speaks.“Maybe because it’s theage,” he begins, respondingto the inevitable questionon what he makes of thefascination with him as anicon. Of course, 88 years of sucking air alone wouldn’tqualify.“I think maybe becauseI’m huge in a certain way. Iam neutral in the sense that Ispeak very objectively and Itry to analyze a complement;not because of some person-ality attribute. Objectivity isthe word.”For all his wisdom, thegreat and brilliant Washing-

Washington SyCip

The candid and brilliantWashington SyCip

ton Sycip still cannot fathomexactly what makes him aninstitution, nay, a legend.That also shows humility.But this much we can sayfor certain: aside from beingthe famous “S” in the SGVGroup, the country’s leadingand most famous auditing(and management consult-

ing) rm, “Wash” is gifted

with a much-sought after mind and acumen. Enrolledin public elementary andhigh school back in the dayswhen they were at par with public schools, the young Sy-Cip had always been too

September 12 - 18, 2008

Msgr. Gutierrez

Ashley Silverio

Entertainment

Medical Tourismin the Philippines

Thirty-nine!

091208 - Limasawa sunrise in Cebu. Photo by Ferdinand Edralin.

Who/What Is TheCross In Your Life?

Page 2September 12 - 18, 2008 Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.com

By Aurea Calica Philstar, September 2, 2008

Senate witness Rodolfo NoelLozada Jr. wishes national broadband network (NBN) dealcontroversy whistleblower Josede Venecia III good luck in thelatter’s plan to enter politicsin 2010 but stresses he cannotfollow suit because of lack of money and mobility.“I am not free, I don’t have themoney. I can’t even plan twodays ahead (as to what) I cando, what more for 2010? Buti pasiya may pera (Good for him hehas the money),” Lozada said,referring to De Venecia, the busi-nessman-son of former Housespeaker Jose de Venecia Jr.Lozada told The STAR he actu-ally could not tell when his “suf-fering” would end and whether

his sacrices in divulging what

he knew about the alleged over- pricing and bribery involved inthe NBN deal would pay off.“All I know is that I found God

in my sacrices. I really can’t

move freely, and neither can themembers of my family up to this

time, plus the cases led against

me are all ongoing,” Lozadasaid.The younger De Venecia saidif politics would propagate hisanti-corruption advocacy, hemight consider running for pub-

lic ofce. He said he might run

for congressman – his father’sthird and last term ends in 2010 – because he has no resources torun for a national post.He also said he was in favor of wrapping up the Senate inves-tigations into the NBN contro-

Lozada toJoey de V:Good luck

versy even if his father does nottestify, as the case was already

with the Ofce of the Ombuds

-man.But Lozada expressed fearsthe pending closure of the NBN probe would make the peopleforget about the issue and put all

his efforts to ght corruption to

waste.“The real danger is that allthese anomalies will already bedisregarded. I am afraid every-thing I did would be buried inhistory,” Lozada lamented.Lozada also revealed he hada meeting with former Presi-dent Joseph Estrada to discussthe botched Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain between the government and theMoro Islamic Liberation Front.He alleged the Arroyo admin-istration committed treason inallowing dismemberment of thecountry for its own interests. Lo-zada said the government must be held responsible for it even if it was not signed.“If you attempted to kill, wouldyou not be charged anymore if you did not get to kill the target?Of course, you should be. Unfor-tunately, people easily forget andI hope the NBN controversy willnot suffer the same fate as theMOA-AD. The government will just say it has been cancelled sono one should be held account-able for it,” Lozada said.Lozada also dismissed the al-

leged conict between him and

the Black and White Movementas mere intrigue. He said therewas no truth that he had a misun-derstanding with the group over Estrada and that people with thesame anti-corruption advocacyshould be able to freely grouptogether for the sake of thecountry.

Senators react

Meanwhile, senators have var-ied reactions over the younger De Venecia’s plan to seek public

ofce.Sen. Panlo Lacson said he

was ready to help campaign for De Venecia because they sharethe same advocacy against cor-ruption.Lacson said he believed that

Joey de Venecia

De Venecia did not have any

intention to run when he testied

on the NBN deal.“I think it’s just a consequenceof his exposure in the Senate.At the time I don’t think he wasthinking of various agenda. Thecost for him was too high, thespeakership of his father, he evenhad a slight misunderstandingwith his father,” Lacson said.Lacson said De Venecia has anadvantage because he is alreadyknown for exposing corruption“no matter what the cost, no mat-ter what the risk.”“He took the risk, he bit the bullet. The anti-corruption advo-cacy must be promoted to reducecorruption in government,”Lacson said.“You can talk of a thousandmotives but I think that for (DeVenecia), at the time he was

testifying, (running for ofce)

was not on his mind,” Lacsonsaid when asked if De Veneciaused the Senate to gain national prominence.Sen. Manuel Roxas II also saidhe would not like to put mal-ice in De Venecia’s decision toexpose the NBN deal because ithelped in aborting the deal thatwould have cost the taxpayers billions of pesos.Wednesday’s close of 46.950 to$1.Traders said the weaknessof the peso was largely due tothe strength of the dollar whichrecovered as US investors liqui-dated their offshore assets andrepatriated money home, thus propping up the dollar.Despite the latest reportsabout troubles faced by LehmanBrothers, analysts said focus hadshifted to dimming economic prospects outside the US whichtook the limelight away from the

nancial troubles in the US.

In the Philippines, share prices closed 1.36 percent lower yesterday as foreign investorsdumped their stocks due to rising

risk-aversion which reected a

generalized malaise over marketsoutside the US.The composite index at thePhilippine Stock Exchange fell36.93 points to 2,672.56 pointswhile the all-share index fell1.04 percent to 1,656.50 points.Analysts said the shift in themarket’s focus toward weaken-ing growth outside of the US andallowed the dollar to withstanddoubts over whether LehmanBrothers could raise capital to pick itself up.“The peso is weaker still onrisk aversion and stronger dollar against regional (currencies),”said Jonathan Ravelas.But Bangko Sentral ngPilipinas (BSP) Deputy Director Diwa Guinigundo said the BSPis keeping an eye on the peso toensure that its movement would“proceed in an orderly fashion.”According to Guinigundo, thevolatility of the peso was so far explainable by technical factors

adding that monetary ofcials

hoped that sentiments in the cur-rency market would go back tofundamentals.If the peso were to trade based on economic fundamen-tals, Guinigundo expressedoptimism that the exchange ratewould not be as gloomy sincethe country’s economy has so far been resilient compared with itsneighbours.“We are still growth at four percent and up, others are goingnegative,” he said.“It only looks bad because2007 was an extraordinary year but if you look at the trendgrowth, we are well within thetrend,” Guinigundo added.

(Continued from page 1)

Peso closesat 1-yr low of47.095 to $1

For your convenience, walk-ins accepted especially between 2:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Business days Monday to Friday

IMMIGRATION LAW * DIVORCE * WILLS & TRUST * CRIMINAL DEFENSEBUSINESS LAW * CREDIT DEBT DISPUTES and PROBLEMS * WAGE &HOUR VIOLATIONS * UNEMPLOYMENT APPEALS * WORK CONRACTS

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We can accept the following on a Contingency Basis(NO ATTORNEY FEES UNLESS WE WIN):

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Page 3 Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.comSeptember 12 - 18, 2008

By Jose Wendell Capili Philstar

I drank my rst cup of coffee atage sixteen. I got curious aboutit because my parents and rela

tives were drinking coffee all thetime. One time, after watching a Nescafé frappe commercial ontelevision during school break, Iran to the kitchen and preparedcoffee for myself.I’ve been drinkingcoffee ever since.What stood outfrom my adolescentmemory is that Idrank Nescafé from aglass that also servedas its packaging. Iremember convinc

ing my mother to buymore of those Nes

café drinking glasses.My family collecteddozens of jars, thediamond-cut onesmost especially, inno time at all. I alsonoticed that familiesof my playmates in Sampaloc,Manila did the same too. Yearslater, my Nescafé jar-collecting playmates grew up to becomeluminaries in various disciplines:Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Tor

res Jr. of the Armed Forces of thePhilippines, Manhattan-basednovelist Bino Realuyo, US-basedentrepreneur Joel Christopher Remandaban, sports broadcaster Mon Liboro, De la Salle-Collegeof St. Benilde’s industrial designdepartment chair Rino Datuin.

Remembering theiconic drinkingglasses of Nescafé

During the 1960s, the Philip

pines did not have Starbucks,Seattle’s Best, Coffee Bean andTea Leaf, and Figaro. But therewas Nescafé. And Filipinos sati

ated their coffee cravings with Nescafé, then all available in jars, the most popular being the50g and the 75g drinking glasses.In those days, powdered prod

ucts were either in cans or glass.Cans were economical but jarshad a special re-use value. Thedecision to pack Nescafé in thereusable drinking glass provedto be providential. The drinkingglass, solid and durable, instantly became a household hit. Whileothers bought them to start acollection (it’s always nice to seea kitchen with uniformed glass

ware), those far wiser boughtthem because they’re gettingmore value for their money.Imagine, you not only get a merecoffee container. You also geta glass which you can use for other things!The rising popularity of thedrinking glass coincided with aseries of momentous events inPhilippine popular culture andhistory: the crowning of Mar

garita Moran as Miss Universe(1973), the victory of Muham

mad Ali over Joe Frazier inThrilla in Manila (1974), thestaging of the Miss Universe pageant in Folk Arts Theater,Manila (1974), the founding of the Philippine Basketball As

sociation (1975), and the rise of Paeng Nepomuceno as a sportshero by winning the BowlingWorld Cup Champion in Tehran,Iran (1976).These triumphs we celebratedwith each diamond-texturedglass jar of Nescafé, oblivious of the behind-the-scenes quandarythe company’s productionteam was goingthrough just todeliver thoseglass jars entireneighborhoodshad been col

lecting.You see, ap

plying the labelson the surfaceof the diamond-textured Nesca

fé glass jars wasquite a chal

lenge. In theearly years, the production teamhad to manually feed tube labelsinto the glass jars. You couldn’t begin to imagine how tedious itwas. But with the introductionof the automated labeler, the process became much easier andsaved the company both timeand money.Looking back, the glass jarssomehow helped iconize Nes

café. For decades, we bought anddrank our Nescafé in these com

pact reusable glass jars. Evenup to this day, walk into anycarinderia in Manila or in rusticCagayan de Oro and you willlikely nd a NESCAFÉ glass jar sitting comfortably with someceramic plates and mismatchedsilverware.Former Nestle Philippines’Communications Director NoyDy-Liacco, who was the GroupProduct Manager for Coffee andBeverages at that time, sharedthat the evolution of the glass jars required the expertise of many people. The marketing,sales, packaging and productionteams worked with the glasscontainer supplier in developingnew designs, a renovation that became a competitive advantage.One experiment was a diamondglass jar with a handle on oneside, resembling a coffee mug.It was truly an innovative design but a nightmare at the lling line.In time, this design had to bediscontinued.By the time I went to collegeduring the late 1980s, technolog

ical advancements in productionallowed Nestle to pack NES

CAFÈ in other formats such asthe now very popular soft packs,a breakthrough that has madethe product more affordable andaccessible.The Nescafe jars of old have become as symbolic of my grow

ing up years as the animatedrobots on television. And theones my mother collected remainkings and queens of our dishrack. Finals were reviewed, andterm papers and thesis writtenwith hot Nescafé in them. Howwonderful to remember the goodold times, and as we know, Nes

café never stops reinventing andimproving on how our favoritecoffee is packaged. I so look forward to the new generation of glass jars.These days, whenever I visitmy parents, I still insist on hav

ing my Nescafe prepared in anyof these glass jars. Yes, I guess Ilove those drinking glasses morethan I dare to admit.

Roses & Thorns By Alejandro R. Roces Philstar, September 4, 2008

The greatest Filipino journalistever known was Marcelo H. delPilar. His 158th birth anniversarywas commemorated last August30. Sadly, few people, much lessthe youth of today, even remember him now, except of course, for thestreets named after him, whichhardly recall his contribu

tion to Philippine history.Del Pilar, whose penname is Plaridel, an ana

gram of his surname, isone of the citizens thatmake the provinceof Bulacan proud.Plaridel estab

lished the rstPhilippine bilingualnewspaper, Diari

ong Tagalog in 1882to publish obser

vations and criti

cisms on how theSpanish government in the Philip

pines was run. He was the fearless propagandist who took over LaSolidaridad, a quarterly political publication initially edited by Gra

ciano Lopez Jaena, that elicited anationalistic spirit among Filipinoilustrados against Spanish impe

rialism. His writings inspired thePhilippine revolution. Del Pilar took advantage of his mastery of the Filipino language to raise theawareness of the masses on theabuses of the powerful Spanishfriars that led to oppression, racialdiscrimination and corruption. Us

ing simple and forceful Tagalog,he parodied Spanish creeds and prayers to expose the abuses of thefriars then, i.e., The Lord’s Prayer â€‘ Our Father (“Amain Namin”),the Hail Mary (“Aba GinoongBarya”), the Apostle’s Creed,the Ten Commandments and thecatechism (spoofed in “Dasalan atTocsohan”). With the help of Pe

Plaridel - a shiningexample for our journalists

dro Serrano Laktaw, he had these published like the Catholic nove

nas, making his propaganda veryeffective. Likewise, he also wrote“La Soberania Moncal en Filipi

nas” (Monastic Sovereignty in thePhilippines) and “La Frailocraciaen Filipinas” (The Priest-ocracy inthe Philippines).Today, Samahang Plaridel, anassociation of veteran journalists,editors, publishers and com

municators, honors Marcelo H.del Pilar as their patron saint, ashis life and works portrayed thevalue of freedom of thoughtand opinion as paramountover any material or personal gain. TheUniversity of thePhilippines (UP)also awards theannual UP GawadPlaridel to outstandingmedia practitioners whohave excelled in print, lm,radio, television and newmedia and who have per

formed with the highest levelof professional integrity in theinterest of public service. Like delPilar, the recipients of this awardmust believe in the vision of aPhilippine society that is egalitar

ian, participative, and progressive,and in media that are sociallyresponsible, critical and vigilant,liberative and transformative, andfree and independent.A British journalist writes of Journalism, “Its primary ofce isthe gathering of news. At the perilof its soul, it must see that the sup

ply is not tainted. Neither in whatit gives nor in what it does notgive, nor in the mode of presenta

tion, must the unclouded face of truth suffer wrong. Comment isfree but facts are sacred.”Likewise, may Del Pilar’s ideol

ogy of truth, fairness and impar

tiality in writing and reportinginspire our journalists of today.