OFWs: are they really our heroes?

Did you know that SPED (Special Education) was authored by one of the first Mapa High Blue Falcon awardees, Dr. Mati.lde Martin-Valdes , and was first conducted in Mapa High School? Dr. Valdes single-handedly designed the curricula, syllabi and bibliographies for 40 SPED courses including those on giftedness and creativity at the masters and certificate degree levels and the organization, administration and supervision of SPED programs. She was instrumental in the enactment of R.A. 5250 passed in 1968 which provided for a ten-year scholarship program for SPED teachers and administrators all over the country. Her pioneering efforts resulted in the organization of SPED programs and services including those for the gifted and the mentally challenged in Asia.

The downside is that after two years of experience here, SPED teachers leave for gainful employment abroad educating and developing gifted and mentally challenge students instead of helping our own. This is how we deprive our country and ourselves with the talents for becoming a better country with a robust economy. When these special students grow up they are undereducated and become a burden to their family instead of growing up as fully contributing members of our society.

We are not looking far, we want immediate gratification from OFW remittances. Maybe, we need to make more babies who will become our future OFWs. Sad thoughts.

On a happy note, congratulations to the 11 intrepid Blue Falcon Awardees of V. Mapa High School at its Homecoming and Grand Reunion last Sunday at Wack-Wack Golf & Country Club.

The 2008 awardees are:

· Paciencia Villalon-Cruz (Class '35) for education. Besides being a teacher, Ms. Cruz is also a textbook writer for social studies, feature writer and contributor to various publications.
· Democrito Yambao Caparas (Class '57) for diplomatic media. Ambassador Caparas started as a diplomatic editor of The Manila Times; is publisher-editor of the "Ambassador Journal"; established the Malacañang Reference, information kit for Diplomatic Posts.
· Dr. Zenaida Racasa-Alijas ('58) for humanitarian services. She initiated the flu vaccination for Filipino-American senior citizens as well as the uninsured, disenfranchised members of the community in Texas. She volunteered on several medical missions to the Philippines and embarked on various fund raising activities for the construction of a community center in Gawad-Kalinga projects in Camarines Sur.
· Dr. Paulino D. Sambat ('58) for medicine. He has received various awards from various organizations in the USA where he has his practice. He funded the construction of deep wells in Pampanga and Taguig City thru the Gawad Kalinga Program.
· Emmanuel L. Osorio ('59) for community service. He has been involved in peace negotiations for Muslims to return to the fold of the law in Lanao, Maguindanao, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. He initiated the planting of Tuba-tuba to promote clean air along highways, riverbanks and boundaries. Presently he coordinates with farmers of Toledo City for replanting of coconuts and cacao and with seaweed farmers and fishing operators to help uplift their living conditions.
· Victor A. Alisangco ('58) for aviation technology. He initiated the centralization of flight dispatch from Manila, flight planning procedures for efficient fuel management, restructuring of technical stops of trans-Pacific flights among others.
· Dr. Victor T. Valbuena ('63) for mass communication. He wrote the book "Philippine Theater Arts and Development Communication." He was honored by the Government of Singapore for outstanding contribution to education and teaching and by Centro Escolar University for outstanding achievement in teaching Mass Communication.
· This writer ('64) for management consultancy.
· Rear Admiral Edgardo M. Israel (64) for naval service. While in active duty, he received numerous medals and ribbons among them the Bintang Yudha Dharma Nararya from the President of Indonesia. We were both in Section 1 from 2nd to 4th year.
· Dr. Jose Hermes M. Abante ('71) for theology. He holds several distinctions and positions for preaching and spreading the Good News of God under the Bible Baptist Church in USA, Canada and here.
· Demetrio D. Posadas ('71) for entrepreneurship. He is one of the prime movers of socialized housing in the Philippines.

The Blue Falcon Award was given starting 1983 and to date there has only been a total of 232 awardees out of millions of graduates of Mapa (formerly Manila East) High. It is indeed a big honor to be one of the recipients of this singular award.

innovationcamp@yahoo.com; www.learningandinnovation.com

Let sleeping fish lie while you count your profits

LEARNING & INNOVATION – February 23, 2008

By Moje Ramos-Aquino, FPM

Let sleeping fish lie while you count the profits

Leafing through Joey Conception's book Go Negosyo: 50 inspiring
entrepreneurial stories, I found these awesome entrepreneurial lessons. I
will not paraphrase, but will quote verbatim to capture the essence of the
story written by Rafael Ongpin since I don't have primary data.

"Boni Comandante is simply a regular guy with an idea. He wasn't a
scientist, but he made himself into one to refine this idea and take it all
the way. He is someone who sees possibilities and, more importantly, turns
them into realities.

"Boni puts fish to sleep which could be a billion-dollar industry.

"Boni is no snake oil salesman—he is neither glib nor slick. He is shy and
you probably wouldn't be able to pick him out in a crowd. He is simply a
regular guy with an idea.

"Fish is all about freshness. The less fresh a fish is, the less good it
tastes. You can freeze fish, which most commercial fishing operations do,
moments after catching them. But freezing, while preserving some measure of
the taste, can destroy the texture of fish, make it dry and crumbly or slimy
and sludgy, instead of firm and buttery. The best fish to eat, then, is
freshly caught. Many Chinese restaurants specialize in this, with live fish
tanks all over the entrance where you can actually pick out a specific
critter for your dinner. But live fish is expensive. This is because in
order to transport a single live fish, you have to put it in water that is
at least three times its weight. It is a heavy proposition.

"It all started when Boni was born on the island of Siquijor and grew up in
Laguna with a clubfoot. As a child, perhaps because of the extensive
therapy he was required to undergo that excluded him from sports, he read a
great deal, including an entire set of encyclopedias. He looks back, 'I
think being born with that condition was, somehow, a gift. It taught me to
look at everything in a different way. It made me reflective from a very
early age. It taught me that there are possibilities in almost everything.'

"He went to work for a government irrigatiuon office, the Light Rail Transit
and a livelihood-enhancement NGO that posted him to a fishing community in
Palawan where he developed a system for flying fish live from Palawan in
tanks straight to Hongkong via chartered light airplanes.. One night, one
of the fishermen gave him a large, live lapu-lapu. As he was flying out the
next morning, he put the fish on top of an open cooler. There was no water
in the cooler, just a bit of ice. There was something about the conditions
in the cooler, something just right, because the next morning, six hours
later, the fish was still alive. In fact, put back into a tank of water, it
swam vigorously. Boni wondered about this and tried to figure it out, but
he couldn't.

"Returning to Manila, he then spent several years running a successful
network-based merchandising business. Nonetheless, the fish incident still
bothered him. He realized the business opportunity in it if he could the
process.

"He finally decided to go back to fishing and back to school at Siliman
University for a masters degree to add to his agricultural engineering
degree from UP Los Baños, After much research, he found the conditions to
enable fish to sleep up to 12 hours and graduated from the masteral program
with honors.

"Boni quickly applied for local and global patents on the process and he now
is in the verge of a very profitable business, Buhi Corporation.

Read the Joey's book and get inspired 49 times more. Keep your Christmas
lights on.

INVITING all V. Mapa High School alumni to its Grand Reunion & Ballroom
Dancing tomorrow, Sunday, starting at 2 p.m. at Wack-Wack Golf & Country
Club, Mandaluyong City. CONGRATULATIONS to the 11 Blue Falcon Awardees this
year for their outstanding achievements in their chosen field. SPECIAL
INVITATION to members of Class '64 to cheer Rear Adm (Ret.) Edgardo M.
Israel and this columnist for having passed the Screening Committee with
flying colors and being approved unanimously by the Board of Judges to
receive the Blue Falcon Award.

innovationcamp@yahoo.com; www.learningandinnovation.com

Inspirations for budding entrepreneurs

LEARNING & INNOVATION – February 16, 2008

By Moje Ramos-Aquino, FPM

Inspirations for budding entrepreneurs

I found two very engaging book that tells stories of entrepreneurial
greatness. One is ENTREPRENEURSHIP: creating, building and growing your
business published by Center for Small, Entrepreneurs, Inc.

One such story is that of Rommel Juan and the true-Filipino fast food
Binalot. "Binalot started in 1996 as a micro enterprise. It was
conceptualized by Rommel and his brothers who were both inspired by
childhood memories of "binalot," food wrapped in banana leaves prepared by
their mother. Their partners approved the concept and with a capital of
Php10,000.00, they started the business. They began with a guerilla-style
operation. They called their friends and offices in Makati, offered their
products and delivered the orders. In each delivery, a survey form always
came with the product. The brothers gave importance to the comments of
their clients and seriously considered their suggestions.

"On their first day, they had three helpers: a purchaser/rider, a crew
member and one who did the wrapping. On the second day, they needed to hire
another two to help them. They initially offered one menu only adobo with
rice and sidings. Each owner-member was given the responsibility to sell
seven orders everyday. If a partner does not reach his quota, he would be
the one to buy the food he was not able to sell. The initial operation gave
them Php980.00 sales a day. They rented a space in the condominium they
were staying and turned it into a production area.

"After two weeks, their menu included Pinoy meals such as adobo, tocino,
longanisa, tapa and bistek with rice and sidings. The guerilla operation
lasted for two months with the Citibank employees and friends as their
primary clients. During those times, nobody knew where they were because
customers placed their orders through the phone. There were times when they
needed to hang the phone because they could not accommodate all the orders.
After two months, they opened a delivery outlet in Jupiter Street and a
take-out store in Ayala."

From a mjicro enterprise, Binalot had graduated into a medium enterprise
with company owned outlets and franchises employing more than a 100
employees in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces. Rommel says, "Each
new conquest adds up to my confidence. I am thankful for the mistakes
because I learned from them. A decision done quickly is better than a good
decision done slowly."

Another inspiring story is about the bags of Pinky Sebastian. "Pinky likes
to window-shop and one of the favorite things that she regularly shop-hunts
is bags. Since she couldn't always find the bag she liked, an idea to
create her own sparkled. An interior designer by profession, art became a
second nature to her. Before responding to her entrepreneurial calling, she
worked in a pre-school as an art teacher at an upscale subdivision. She
spent several years there until she decided to focus on starting her own
business.

"At first, her customers were her friends. She was then happy to simply
recoup her initial investment of 500 pesos. Later a friend believed in the
potential of her bags and decided to do the marketing for her. After so
many designs and samples, the first order came from Manila COD; then
Landmark, Rustan's, Robinson's and Gaissano.

She also tried other unique products like small pillows with religious and
inspirational prints. When Heartstrings launched bags made of corduroy and
denims, it became so popular among the young generation that it brought back
the bag as the flagship product of her company. From then on, Heartstrings
because a popular brand for quality cloth bags crafted with hip designs.
Presently, she has more than 60 outlets nationwide and several stand alone
boutiques."

Pinky says, "do not be overly concerned with what you can always get but be
sensitive always to what you can possibly give. To her customers, she is
generous by giving the best quality at the friendliest price. With
employees and suppliers, she practices the best possible means to share the
good life because she consider them her partners and stakeholders in her
company.

Next column, let's get more inspired by successful and aspiring
entrepreneurs. Keep your Christmas lights on.

innovationcamp@yahoo.com; www.learningandinnovation.com

We need entrepreneurs to protect our economy

Learning & Innovation – February 9, 2008

By Moje Ramos-Aquino, FPM

We need entrepreneurs to protect our economy

This is the best time to buy those machines, apparatus, materials and others
that you will need to make your products and service while the peso is
strong against other currencies. Now is the time for our government to pay
off our national debts as much as we could afford without sacrificing
essential services.

As businessman Rey Angeles would say, "The Philippine economy is not
entrepreneurial. Our government would rather send abroad our hard-working
and talented people to work as employees and build competitive advantage for
foreign industries and help the burgeoning economy of other countries at the
expense of our local industries and our own economy in the long run." This,
in fact, encourages more importation of even the littlest items that we
need, e.g. undergarments, shoes, garments, and others. The garments and
shoes industries were thriving until those who work there started their
exodus abroad. The mining industry is a big casualty also since almost all
our mining and geodetic engineers are now fully employed abroad. And when
these OFWs come home, there is no job waiting for them because there are not
many viable business operating. So they go back abroad and leave their
children and spouse with all the consequences of "broken homes." And
remember, this strong peso will not hold for long.

What do we need to do? Encourage entrepreneurship among our people, not the
buy-and-sell type of entrepreneurs, though. Entrepreneurship in areas that
will use our people's creativity, talent and diligence and our natural
resources to our advantage. Entrepreneurship where our returning OFWs could
use their newly acquired knowledge skills and money just like those
returning Chinese did for China.

I hope these stories will inspire and guide you to get going with the
business idea percolating in your mind.

Q: How many Japanese businessmen does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Five. One to ask the question why six times. One to make sure the new
bulb is Japanese. One to look into the quality of the new bulb. One to
change the bulb. And one to study the export potential of the old bulb.

__

The town's richest man met with the minister after the Sunday service.

"Why does everyone call me cheap and stingy?" complained the man. "I've
told everyone I'm leaving half my money to the church when I die."

The minister nodded. "It reminds me of the story of the pig and the cow.
The cow was much loved by the farmer and his neighbors, while the pig was
not popular at all. The pig could not understand this and asked the cow
about it."

"How come you are so well-like? People say you're generous and good because
you give milk and butter and cream every day. But I give more than that.
From me they get bacon and ham; they even pickle my feet. Yet I am not
popular and you are. Why do you think that i?

The cow looked down at the pig and answered, "Perhaps it's because I give
while I'm still alive."

__

Woody Allen: If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a
deposit in my name in a Swiss bank account.

----

Benjamin Disraeli: It is well known what a middleman is: He is one who
bamboozles one party and plunders the other.

----

Q: How many creative people does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: Does it have to be a light bulb?

___

An oil prospector died and was met by St. Peter at the Heavenly Gates.

"I have bad news," said St. Peter. "You're certainly qualified for
residence here in Heaven, but the section reserved for oil men is full."

The prospector thought for a moment and then asked if he might just say four
words to the present occupants. St. peter agreed. The prospector cupped
his hands and yelled, "Oil discovered in Hell!" In a split second the gate
opened and the compound emptied as all the oil men scrambled down to hell.

St. Peter, amazed, invited the prospector to move right in.

The prospector shook his head and headed for Hell. "No," he said, "I think
I'll go along with them. There might be some truth to that rumor."

__

Q: How many software programmers does it take to screw in a light bulb.

A: None. It's a hardware problem.

__

Corporation: An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without
individual responsibility.

__

The biggest joke of all? My cable internet provider—it is out of service
more often than it works.

Happy 83rd birthday to my mom, Nanay Ning, today!

innovationcamp@yahoo.com; www.learningandinnovation.com

We need entrepreneurs to protect our economy

Learning & Innovation – February 9, 2008

By Moje Ramos-Aquino, FPM

We need entrepreneurs to protect our economy

This is the best time to buy those machines, apparatus, materials and others
that you will need to make your products and service while the peso is
strong against other currencies. Now is the time for our government to pay
off our national debts as much as we could afford without sacrificing
essential services.

As businessman Rey Angeles would say, "The Philippine economy is not
entrepreneurial. Our government would rather send abroad our hard-working
and talented people to work as employees and build competitive advantage for
foreign industries and help the burgeoning economy of other countries at the
expense of our local industries and our own economy in the long run." This,
in fact, encourages more importation of even the littlest items that we
need, e.g. undergarments, shoes, garments, and others. The garments and
shoes industries were thriving until those who work there started their
exodus abroad. The mining industry is a big casualty also since almost all
our mining and geodetic engineers are now fully employed abroad. And when
these OFWs come home, there is no job waiting for them because there are not
many viable business operating. So they go back abroad and leave their
children and spouse with all the consequences of "broken homes." And
remember, this strong peso will not hold for long.

What do we need to do? Encourage entrepreneurship among our people, not the
buy-and-sell type of entrepreneurs, though. Entrepreneurship in areas that
will use our people's creativity, talent and diligence and our natural
resources to our advantage. Entrepreneurship where our returning OFWs could
use their newly acquired knowledge skills and money just like those
returning Chinese did for China.

I hope these stories will inspire and guide you to get going with the
business idea percolating in your mind.

Q: How many Japanese businessmen does it take to change a light bulb?

A: Five. One to ask the question why six times. One to make sure the new
bulb is Japanese. One to look into the quality of the new bulb. One to
change the bulb. And one to study the export potential of the old bulb.

__

The town's richest man met with the minister after the Sunday service.

"Why does everyone call me cheap and stingy?" complained the man. "I've
told everyone I'm leaving half my money to the church when I die."

The minister nodded. "It reminds me of the story of the pig and the cow.
The cow was much loved by the farmer and his neighbors, while the pig was
not popular at all. The pig could not understand this and asked the cow
about it."

"How come you are so well-like? People say you're generous and good because
you give milk and butter and cream every day. But I give more than that.
From me they get bacon and ham; they even pickle my feet. Yet I am not
popular and you are. Why do you think that i?

The cow looked down at the pig and answered, "Perhaps it's because I give
while I'm still alive."

__

Woody Allen: If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a
deposit in my name in a Swiss bank account.

----

Benjamin Disraeli: It is well known what a middleman is: He is one who
bamboozles one party and plunders the other.

----

Q: How many creative people does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: Does it have to be a light bulb?

___

An oil prospector died and was met by St. Peter at the Heavenly Gates.

"I have bad news," said St. Peter. "You're certainly qualified for
residence here in Heaven, but the section reserved for oil men is full."

The prospector thought for a moment and then asked if he might just say four
words to the present occupants. St. peter agreed. The prospector cupped
his hands and yelled, "Oil discovered in Hell!" In a split second the gate
opened and the compound emptied as all the oil men scrambled down to hell.

St. Peter, amazed, invited the prospector to move right in.

The prospector shook his head and headed for Hell. "No," he said, "I think
I'll go along with them. There might be some truth to that rumor."

__

Q: How many software programmers does it take to screw in a light bulb.

A: None. It's a hardware problem.

__

Corporation: An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without
individual responsibility.

__

The biggest joke of all? My cable internet provider—it is out of service
more often than it works.

Keep your Christmas lights on.

innovationcamp@yahoo.com; www.learningandinnovation.com