redmark: 2009-11

November 27, 2009

Filipino filmmaker Ferdinand Dimadura dishes out biting take on hunger and globalization

This film is about the hunger and poverty brought about by Globalization. There are 10,000 people dying everyday due to hunger and malnutrition. This short film shows a forgotten portion of the society. The people who lives on the refuse of men to survive. What is inspiring is the hope and spirituality that never left this people.

"Chicken a la Carte"
Directed by: Ferdinand Dimadura, 2005

http://www.cultureunplugged.com/festival/previousWinners.php

November 23, 2009

10-month feeding program to instill child care awareness

As the City of Valenzuela embarks on a 10-month long supplementary feeding program for undernourished children, health officials are bent on instilling positive attitude change in terms of child care among parents.

The Valenzuela City Health Council led by Mayor WIN Gatchalian and the City Health Office headed by Dr. Jaime M. Exconde Jr., launched the program Nov. 10 that will address malnutrition affecting some 1,121 children aged three to five chosen from 32 barangays.

Winona Villarueza, City Nutrition Program Coordinator, said the beneficiaries were selected thru health check ups by city health workers, in close coordination with the Center for Social Development and Welfare.

Each child will be allotted roughly P15 worth of milk, fortified biscuits and vitamins per weekday for 10 months to augment their nutrition needs. A monitoring routine will be implemented to track individual progress.

Villarueza noted that the program, nutritionists will also be working closely with the parents citing their role as essentially relevant to the success of the project. The program coordinator explained “parents should also be committed to providing their child proper nutrition and adequate care at home.”

In a report published recently by the World Bank, experts rooted “malnourished children perform poorly in school and are more likely to drop out” and thus have “lower life-time earning potential.” Reversing this trend will benefit not only the individual but also the community.

The City Health Office is placed at the center of development by the city government thru active capacity building strategies with different stakeholders.

The program formally commenced with 52 children joining the ceremonial feeding in First District’s Lawang Bato covered court while another 114 children took part in Second District’s kick off in Mapulang Lupa Day Care Center. Special Projects Office led by Dorothy Evangelista, together with barangay officials, spearheaded the campaign.

Members of the Valenzuela City Health Education and Promotion Office also gave the children lectures on sanitation and performed drills on proper toothbrushing and handwashing.

Mark Lester S. Cayabyab

http://www.valenzuela.gov.ph/press.php?id=200900585&tbl=press

November 16, 2009

Valenzuela confers SoKor mayor honorary Valenzuelano

BROTHERS. Valenzuela City Mayor Sherwin T. Gatchalian confers on Bucheon City Mayor Hong Gun Pyo the Distinction of Honorary Valenzuelano.

In a gesture of admiration and gratitude, Valenzuela City, led by its chief executive, Mayor Sherwin T. Gatchalian, conferred the Distinction of Honorary Valenzuelano to compatriot in diplomacy, Hon. Hong Gun Pyo, Mayor of Bucheon City, South Korea in a rites studded by cultural presentations on Nov. 12.

Mayor Gun Pyo earned his Distinction for his “invaluable contributions to the development and welfare of the people of Valenzuela City.” The occasion fittingly fetes the four-day economic and diplomatic missions of the Bucheon city officials and its business leaders in the country.

Mayor Gatchalian said Valenzuela City is “very fortunate to have a sister city that is “caring and responsive.” He cited the humanitarian action taken in by the people of Bucheon in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Ondoy late September. “Bucheon was among the first to help out the victims,” he said.

The Honorary Valenzuelano laureate was visibly pleased and humbled onstage at the Valenzuela City Center for the Performing Arts as he accepted his plaque of merit from Mayor Gatchalian. In true East Asian tradition, he bowed in appreciation of the honor bequeathed to him.

Mayor Gatchalian also presented to Mayor Gun Pyo a Symbolic Key to The City as a token of sincere welcome to its brothers and sisters from South Korea. They were joined by council members from both cities.

Mayor Gatchalian on the other hand vowed that his city shall be of help to Bucheon City should they need any assistance, thus upholding the treaty of mutually advantageous and practical exchanges in the field of the economy, trade, science, technology, culture, art, sports, youth and education development since 2006.

The ceremony was made more festive with youth presentations of folk and modern dances and theater performances from the Valenzuela City Center for the Performing Arts and the 30-member Bucheon City Performance Troupe.

Bucheon is a progressive but environmentally-conscious city of 850,000 people in Gyeonggi Province, the western central region of the country. It is located between Incheon City and the South Korean capital city of Seoul.

Text and Photos by Mark Lester Cayabyab
Valenzuela City Public Information Office
http://www.valenzuela.gov.ph

November 14, 2009

...Another day?

"BREATHE"
by Telepopmusik

Wikipedia: ""Breathe" is the title of the debut single by the French dance music group Télépopmusik. It features guest vocals by singer Angela McCluskey and appears on the group's 2001 album Genetic World.

The song was reviewed favorably by Chris Long at the BBC, who described McCluskey's vocals as 'breathless' and said the single was 'a deliciously silky track that lolls by a holiday pool and enjoys the sunshine.'"

November 10, 2009

20th Anniversary: The Fall of Iron Curtain

The DigitalJournalist.org, the online magazine for visual journalism presents on its November 2009 issue a photo essay by photojournalist Peter Turnley that provides an in-depth look on tumultous events that transpired the Fall of Iron Curtain 20 years ago.

Also featured is Turnley's exclusive Corbis images of Romanian strongman Nicolae Caeusescu,"one of the most despotic and threacherous dictators in the world since World War II," taken in his summer house in Snagov, Romania just four months before his execution.

To see the "story of not just Berlin and the Wall, but a host of countries, peoples and lives," visit http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0911/turnley-bp.html.

November 7, 2009

Festivities, blessed pandesal mark Pistang Polo 2009 in Valenzuela City

Valenzuela City is once again celebrating the feast of San Diego de Alcala from November 3 to 12.

San Diego de Alcala was a Spanish lay brother in

1500s who would stash loaves of bread under his cloak he meant to share with the poor. The bread miraculously turned into stalks of roses after he was summoned on grounds of suspicion.

This year, the tradition, which is rooted to the more than 300 years of history of Valenzuela, continues with City Mayor Sherwin T. Gatchalian as Hermano Mayor. One of the highlights this year is the blessing and distribution of thousands of pandesal, which are believed to bring miracles in the lives of those who join the celebration.

Pistang Polo is the oldest and the grandest celebration of its kind in the city. The Parish of San Diego de Alcala of the old town of Polo marks the feast day with a tradition of festivities and reverence to its patron saint that made pandesal as an instrument of sharing God’s blessings and of man’s compassion to others.

This slice of life in Polo is even remarkably epitomized by National Hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal in his celebrated classic novel Noli Me Tangere in his fictitious town of San Diego. The chapter was aptly called “The Eve of the Fiesta,” that tells of “space is filled with noise and music, and the air is saturated with rejoicings.”

The City of Valenzuela invites the public to join the festivities.

Nov. 3, 2009

Start of Novena

4:00 P.M. Paseo (City Band) Polo Area

5:00 P.M. Novena/Mass Church

8:00 P.M. Acoustic Band Competition Polo Plaza

Nov. 4, 2009

5:00 P.M. Novena/Mass Church

8:00 P.M. Dance Contest Polo Plaza

Nov. 5, 2009

5:00 P.M. Novena/Mass Church

8:00 P.M. Accoustic Band Competition Polo Plaza

Nov. 6, 2009

5:00 P.M. Novena/Mass Church

8:00 P.M. Dance Contest Polo Plaza

Nov. 7, 2009

8:00 A.M. Jobs Fair Covered Court

Medical Mission Polo Plaza