Miss Earth 2007 Jessica Nicole Trisko from Vancouver, Canada(left) poses with Miss Philippines Earth 2008 Karla Paula Henryduring a press conference in Manila recently. Miss Earth 2008 will culminate on Nov. 9 in Pampanga. JONJON VICENCIO

Snaphot of Philippine Life

Beautiful Philippines

Motorcylist in Limasawa Beach in Cebu. Photo by Ferdinand Edralin. A boy's devotion to Sto. Nino. Photo by Ferdinand Edralin.

Their diet of sh andvegetables plus regu

lar doses of green teathroughout the daymake them t. If onevisits an ofce or ahouse in Japan, oneis served iced or coldgreen tea, at any giventime of the day. Greentea is taken during breakfast, lunch anddinner.

Simeon G.Silverio, Jr.

Publisher & Editor

San DiegoAsian Journal

See page 5

Doing Japan

Why the people are healthy asthey enjoy the best diet on earth

Vending machine withhealth drinksSushi dinner withiced green tea.

From Left to Right Jonathan “DOY” Magapon, Jose Vladimir Lumanog and Jerry Freeman. See story on page 12 .

Autotech is a new havenof Pinoy motorists

(Continued on page 18)

By Helen Flores Philstar

Local scientists havediscovered the potential of non-edible parts like stems,leaves and roots of selectedindigenous crops as essentialingredients of cosmetic prod

ucts, medicine and pesticides.“Vegetable crops such asampalaya, singkamas, sitaw, bataw, saluyot, eggplant, gar

lic, onion and tomato can

be sources of phytochemicalsor bioactive substances such as

(Continued on page 12)

New beautysecret: Ampalayain your makeup

Dr. Jaime C. Laya

(Continued on page 12)

Editor’s Note: This piecewas written by the lateMax Soliven, founding chairman of People Asia,in homage to Ninoy onthe latter’s 20th deathanniversary in 2003.(Soliven died in 2006)

First in a series of four articles

PhilStar It is easier, I havealways believed, to become a Saint than aHero. The acquisitionof a Saintly title, admit

tedly, takes much longer than winning a hero’scrown. “Sainthood” isdecreed by the creaky,cumbersome, and slow-moving bureaucracy of theVatican. After a few mira

cles and a few apparitions,and the ritual of joustingwith the scholarly objec

tions of a Church-appointedDevil’s advocate who rakesover a candidate’s frailtiesand sins, one hurdles thewaiting period of beatica

tion and emerges a fully-cer

Max Soliven recallsNinoy Aquino

In The Eye Of Memory

A Ninoy Aquino Statue

tied Saint in the pantheonof heaven, amidst the angelsand arch-angels. Of course,hanging on to Sainthood cansometimes be chancey… ev

ery once in a century or two.Holy Mother Church reviewsthe record and strips a few“Saints” of their halos. Not so with heroes. Thosewho hounded them, hated

(Continued on page 20)

By G. Tagudin Silverio Laya to talk about glo-balization and youth; Intra-muros church restoration in public lecture series in San Diego, CA

SAN DIEGO, CA.09/19/08 - Dr. Jaime C.Laya, former governor of theCentral Bank of the Philip

pines (Banko Sentral ngPilipinas) has been named by the Graduate School of International Relations andPacic Studies (IR/PS) as a

UCSD Grad School names Dr. Jaime Laya as

Pacic Leadership Fellow for 2008-2009

September 19 - 25, 2008

Msgr. Gutierrez

Genny Silverio

Entertainment

Merton for our times

Direk Bobot rollswith the punches

God Is Not Like Us, But We Can Be Like God

Philstar, September 15, 2008

BAY MINETTE, Alabama – The school system in coastalBaldwin County – 60 miles by25 miles of Alabama farmlandframed on two sides by wa

terfront towns – was short onteachers, especially in coursessuch as math and science.So short, in fact, that dis

trict ofcials went around theworld last year, with expenses paid by a teacher recruitingrm, and brought back MichelOlalo of Manila and 11 other Filipinos to teach along theshores of the Gulf Coast andMobile Bay and in the com

munities in between.That raised some eyebrowsin Baldwin County, wherenine out of 10 people arewhite, just one in 50 is for

eign-born and, as the county’steacher recruiter Tom Sisk noted recently, “Many of our

US schools tap Pinoy teachers

Page 2September 19 - 25, 2008 Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.com

CITY SENSE By Paulo Alcazaren Philstar

Stamp collecting may start as achildhood hobby but it can leadto a lifetime of discovery andenjoyment. I started a stamp col-lection before I hit my teens. Myfather traveled widely andsent us postcards. One of my siblings collected the postcards; another collect-ed the matchbooks my dadalso picked up in Europeor the States (he stoppedsmoking decades later). Icollected the stamps.It was a small collection but I was fascinated bythe images and the themesthey carried. My favoritewas the space race withthe rocket ships and astro-nauts who boldly went where noone dared go before. I baggedmy prize with a First Day Cover (FDC) of the manned landing onthe moon in July 1969. That alsospelled the end of my collectingdays since I did not have anyoutside help to egg me on. I hadno stamp clubs to join and therewere no books on stamp collect-ing in the Philippines to guideme.Finally, someone had the greatidea to publish one after 150years of Philippine philately(stamp collecting, to the uniniti-ated) — Dr. Mina Gabor, presi-dent of the Philippine Small andMedium Business DevelopmentFoundation and an indefatigableadvocate of Philippine tourism.The coffee-table book isStamps of the Philippines: His-torical and Topical Collections1854-2004, written by Lisa Ma- pua and edited by Mimi de Jesus.It is a content-packed tome onthe historical and cultural sig-

nicance of Philippine postage

stamps. The book was publishedwith the support of the Depart-ment of Tourism, the PhilippinePostal Corporation, Asya DesignPartners and the Pag-Ibig Fund.The book is made up of 13comprehensive and reader-friendly chapters on the his-tory and evolution of Philippine

Stamp stories

stamps. Philippine stamps aredepicted by era, starting from theSpanish colonial period, whichlooks at the European genesisof stamps, all the way to stampsduring the Aguinaldo Revolu-tionary Government — yes, wedid print our own; another proof

that we were indeed the rst

democratic independent republicin this part of the globe. Next are chapters on theAmerican and Commonwealth periods, the Japanese Occupa-tion and the immediate postwar period. Finally, the currentPhilippine Republic is coveredthrough the pre- and post-martiallaw years.The book also looks at topicalcollections. Key philatelic topics

like historical personages, ora

and fauna, religion, Rizaliana,religion, arts and culture, andmilestones in Philippine institu-tions, business and politics, arecelebrated in stamps.Gabor and her editorial teamhad an immense job of looking atliterally all the stamps issued inthe country until 2004. This is anestimated 4,000 of those, includ-ing posted letters. Their effortsalso took them to Spain for someof the earliest Philippine stamps — hundreds of philatelic gemskept in the vaults of the Museode Madrid.Dr. Gabor notes that shewanted “people to realize thatthe Philippine stamp collectionis sought after worldwide and isone of the oldest … We fea-

tured many signicant rsts and

revealed many facets of Philip- pine stamps — from the colorfuland the historical to stamps that brilliantly capture the differentaspects of Filipino life.”One of the world’s oldest andmost important philatelic ar-tifacts is the Queen Isabella IIissued in 1854, four years after

Spain issued its rst stamp and

14 years before the pricelessQueen Victoria Penny Black,

the world’s rst stamp issued

in London. Today, the QueenIsabella II is estimated at $1million.The book highlights manyhistorical milestones andlittle-known facts aboutPhilippine history and culture.The American period ushered

in many rsts with Jose Rizal becoming the rst Filipino

ever to appear on a stamp(1906). In 1928, the Rizal

stamp became the rst and

only stamp in the country to be sold via vending machine,although it did not last long because the tropical heat keptfusing the rolls of stamps.

The rst basketball stamp

in the world was issued in thePhilippines as part of the 1934Tenth Far Eastern ChampionshipGames Issue. This set of stamps

also happened to be the rst

in the country to carry a sportstheme. A stamp celebrating ten-nis is part of this series — tennishaving been introduced decadesearlier and made more popular by the previous American Gover-nor General Dwight Davis (after whom theDavisCupwasnamed). Noted in the book as a favor-ite series among philatelists isthe 1932 set featuring scenicscenes like Mayon Volcano andthe Ifugao Rice Terraces. I was pleased to note this as I have afew stamps from the series butnot the most valuable one, whichis the stamp with a printing er-ror. The Pagsanjan Falls stampshows the image of Vernal Fallsin Yosemite National Park inCalifornia, not the once popular tourist destination in Laguna.This stamp is one of the mostsought after in the world.Dr. Gabor came up with theidea for the stamp book to honor the legacy of her step-grandfa-ther Dr. Emilio Teotico Licauco,one of the country’s earlieststamp collectors. Dr. Licaucogot her started in the pursuit of these little gems and eventually bequeathed his invaluable collec-tion to her.She kept it in a bank vaultuntil 1986, when she decided toorganize the collection. Trag-edy struck, however, and the priceless collection was almosttotally lost. She recalled, “That

night we had a re in the house

and we lost everything. I wasso depressed because I knewhow important my grandfather’sstamps were. So I decided Ishould do something to make upfor the loss. I told myself thatone day, I would do somethingon the subject of stamps.”Mina hopes “that the book’scolorful, highly visual and infor-mative format will engage themost seasoned philatelists andinspire non-collectors to starttheir very own stamp collection.”The book ends with a short butinformative section on how tostart a stamp collection.Reading the book got medusting my old collection again.I have mostly stamps on build-ings and places. I only have afew of my childhood collectionleft, though, except for the FDCof Apollo 11. I do have stampsof the UP Golden celebrations,a number of prewar series andeven modern architecture byway of the CCP, DBP and theOrtigas building openings.The Internet has changed our way of communicating butI believe that snail mail willmake a comeback. There isnothing like receiving a hand-written letter or postcard. Digitalmedia cannot replicate the expe-rience of handling and reading amessage from someone far away.So long as it’s not a bill.

By Patricia Esteves Philstar

Fifty years after it was established,the Ramon Magsaysay Awardremains the most credible award-giving body in Asia.“The RM awards is not politi-cized, there is no lobbying, and weare credible because of our choices.When they say Ramon Magsay-say, they think of the Nobel PeacePrize,” said Carmencita Abella, president of the Ramon MagsaysayAwards Foundation (RMAF) inThursday’s press conference.“Our 50th anniversary is a mile-stone event and it is no joke to reach50 years. We’ve been building and main-taining our credibil-ity,” Abella said.Since its incep-tion in 1958, theRMAF has honoredevery year men andwomen in Asia whohave served their community, country,and the region with“greatness of spirit,”an award ideal incommemoratingPresident RamonMagsaysay’s inspir-ing leadership.For this year’s50th anniversary,the RMAF has lined up variousactivities, foremost of which is theinternational conference themed “Changing Asia: Forging Partner-ships, Building Sustainability” onAug. 29 and 30 in Manila.The event will bring together for

the rst time Magsaysay laureates

who would discuss important issuesabout Asia and its future.“The conference will discuss atwhere we are today and look at themost important issues, especiallynow that we see a shift, and sud-denly food has become a major issue and at the top of the radar of things,” said Emily Abrera, chair- person of Magsaysay 50th anniver-sary celebrations and vice chairmanof the RMAF Board Trustees.Another highlight is the perfor-mance of the Cloud Gate DanceTheatre of Taiwan, a world-renowned dance company whosefounder Lin Hwai-min received the

‘RM Awards remains themost credible award-giving body in Asia’

Magsaysay award in 1999.Cloud Gate, hailed for fusingdance techniques and theatrical con-cepts from the East and West, has performed throughout Europe, Asia,Australia, North and South America,including engagements at the NewYork’s Next Wave Festival, theSydney 2000 Olympic Arts Festival,Lyon Bienalle De La Danse, andMelbourne International.They will perform “Moon Water”at the Cultural Center of the Philip- pines on Aug. 30 and 31.Dr. Cynthia Bautista, former RMAF board of trustees, will alsotalk on her research and projectstudy on “What has been the ef-fect of the RamonMagsaysay Awardson the awardees andon Asia as a whole,”during the discussionsessions.“Our business isnot just to hand outawards but spread thegood news of Asiaas embodied in thelives of awardees,”Bautista said.Meanwhile, Abellaurged Filipinos to be upbeat about theRMAF and celebrateits 50th anniversary.“ Amidst all the problems in our country today, The Ramon Magsay-say Awards is a source of pride for the Philippines. It was establishedin honor of a Filipino. This has beenone bright light for the past 50years,” Abella said.The sudden and tragic loss of themuch admired third president of the Philippines, Ramon Magsaysay,in 1957 inspired the trustees of theRockefeller Trustees to establishthe Ramon Magsaysay Award, withthe concurrence of the Philippinegovernment.The award sought to honor Mag-saysay’s memory by recognizingother leaders in Asia whose work

in seless service to their societies

mirrors the same values and ideals

he exemplied.

Since its inception in 1958, therehave been 250 inviduals and organi-zations that received the Magsaysayaward.

Ramon Magsaysay

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

FAIR PRICES / COURTEOUS AND FRIENDLY SERVICE

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

AUTO ACCIDENT/PERSONAL INJURY * WRONGFUL TERMINATION SEXUAL HARRASMENT/ HOSTILE WORK PLACE * WORK DISCRIMINATION (Racial, Age, Gender, Disability)

Page 3 Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.comSeptember 19 - 25, 2008

A TASTE OF LIFE By Heny Sison Philstar

I am the latest recruit to a presti-gious society of serious foodies whoswear by the taste and drool-inducingaroma of bagoong alamang... recog-nizing its versatility to bring joy tothe dining experience as a form of relish to main courses like kare-kare,sinigang na bangus belly sa bayabasat bagoong, boneless garlic chickeninasal (a perfect match to mangganghilaw — there can absolutely be nosubstitute!) (Talk about contrasting

avors; opposites do attract!)

And on certain days themain course itself, ladledover steaming white rice....glorious!Finally, the humblesawsawan that has keptPinoy households together for generations gets its due.Bagoong Club is one of the newer restos in townto offer Filipino cuisinewith the menu revolvingaround dishes incorporat-ing bagoong as its vitalingredient... And I alwayscommend entrepreneurs who promote our very own. Situ-ated in Quezon City alongDr. Lazcano St. near Tomas MoratoAvenue, this cozy diner has built a

solid following of patrons in its rst

year of existence and its membership just keeps on growing. Count me inas their latest inductee!Seriously, it takes more than anovel concept to make a business

venture work; when the novelty

fades, what then? That’s where hardwork and dedication come in.For Rosky Sevilla, an investment banker who worked for IFC, theinvestment arm of the World Bank, before becoming the country head of British Investment Bank and CFOof Maynilad, retirement was an op- portunity to pursue a business ideathat had been nagging him for years.True, he had no experience in restau-rant operations, and even less knowl-edge in the nuances of cooking (Ihonestly think that the closest thingto cooking he’s ever done is to reheatleftover food in the microwaveoven). But what the man did have uphis sleeve were the main ingredientsto success: guts and determination plus his expertise in marketing (be-

Welcome to theBagoong Club

ing a graduate of Kellogg Manage-ment School in Chicago, ranked asone of the top marketing schools inthe United States.)With his heart in the right placeand his marketing skills at the ready,he equipped himself the necessarytools to make his dream a reality. Iremember him with fond amusementas one of my most awkward studentsin my knife skills class — one of the

rst lessons he had to master in the

Cooking Essentials course. He re-ally started out clueless, like a baby

learning his rst steps. But that did

not faze Rosky. I remember him asa student who was very enthusiasticin class, asking so many questionsand practicing the techniques until hegot them down perfectly. True to hisvision, he put up Bagoong Club and Iam happy to hear that business is do-ing very well. I myself was intriguedand had long planned to drop by butnever found the time.I love the interiors. It has a Filipini-ana feel to it yet distinguishes itself

from other generic “esta” themed

eateries. Credit goes to Francisco,Rosky’s younger brother.My husband Benny and our friendswere greeted with appetizers of sing-kamas strips to be dipped in a choice

of Bagoong Clubs’ signature avors:

there was Asya, which is ginisang

bagoong; bagoong umaga for thosewith a taste for chili; and Bagoong

Europa, fermented shrimp paste witha Western twist. There was a pleasanthint of basil in this concoction, and Idecided this was my favorite.Too bad there aren’t bottles avail-able for customers to buy and takehome, despite numerous requests.Rosky is afraid the product will notmeet the demand because they donot have enough supply of alamang.At the moment he is still lookingfor more suppliers. And pretty soon bagoong powder is in the works. Igot to sample it that night — and Iwouldn’t mind taking home thesegourmet goodies as soon as they areon the shelf.That night we were treated to in-ventive takes on native classics, andhere are my memorable mentions:

• Okoy which comes in huge

servings is a visual delight and willnot disappoint the taste buds.The medley of sliced kamote,green peppers and carrots iscrisp, sweet and fresh, and theshrimps tasty.

• For me, anything with the

vitamin-rich malunggay is

denitely recommended so I

tried the bulalo sa mongo brothwith malunggay leaves. It wasso delicious!

• I threw caution to the winds

and indulged myself in thediner’s house specialty, crispy pork binagoongan. I totally en- joyed each deep-fried crunchy bite mingling with the tasteof gata (coconut cream)and bagoong guisado as I assuredmyself for the nth time that Iwill start on my diet tomorrow.

• There’s always room for dessert,

and I went for a slice of pastillasde leche cheesecake — one of thedelightful creations of Pixie Sevilla-Santos. Its pristinely white elegance

is deceiving; its exquisite taste will

entice you to go for seconds.It’s good to know that TristanBayani lords over the kitchen as headchef and consultant. I foresaw great-ness in this guy way back when hetook The Essential Cooking Series back in school. His creativity and

passion for his craft is reected in his

culinary creations. He furthered hisskills under the wing of Ed Quimsonwhen he interned at Chef Ed’s.Good food brings on great times.That evening was marked withhearty talk, laughter and warmsmiles all throughout the meal. TheClub that boldly puts the humble bagoong on a pedestal will surelygarner more loyal members to itsgrowing list of gourmet lovers!