Meet the Candidates 2010

Now that the election frenzy in the Philippines is starting to hit its peak. Lets first take step back from all the political mud slinging and just enjoy some spoofs of the candidates.

Embassy Invitation: "Paskong Pinoy sa Dublin"

The Embassy of the Philippines
in cooperation with
The Filipino Community Network (FCN)
invites you to the
“Paskong Pinoy sa Dublin”
Christmas Concert
featuring
Various Filipino Community Chorale Groups

12 December 2009 (Saturday),
at 4 o’clock PM

Venue
Trinity Church Network
The Exchange, 50 Gardiner Street Lower, Dublin 1
(Nearest Landmark: at the back of The Custom’s House)

Free Admission
RSVP: dublin.philembassy@gmail.com

Fr. Sinnott Released by Captors

I really admire Fr. Sinnott's unbreakable spirit. Even after what he went through for whole month in the unforgiving jungles in the Philippines he still wishes to stay and do his duties for the people of Zamboanga, where he is missionary.





By Julie Alipala, Jocelyn UyPhilippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 03:11:00 11/13/2009Filed

ZAMBOANGA CITY — “They were very kind to me. I cannot say anything about them … They were mostly kind,” Fr. Michael Sinnott said of his abductors.
In fact, the abductors of Sinnott twice attempted to set him free before he was finally released early Thursday.
The first time, on Nov. 4, Sinnott and his abductors hiked for 20 minutes in the forest but were later informed by mobile phone that “there is a bagyo (typhoon) in the west” and “the waves are too high.”
They were also told that “we need to hide the boat,” Sinnott said.
The second time, on Nov. 9, “we came back,” he said. “I was told to wait for the signal for my release.”
But it did not come—until Wednesday.
“The signal came, so we came out,” he said. “But I told them that I will not believe them until I am really free. So when we went out [on Wednesday], I was not yet so sure, until early dawn [Thursday].”
“Now I believe I am really free,” he said.
Sinnott, 79, talked with the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a chance interview in Zamboanga City a few hours after Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) officials turned him over to the government and before he was flown to Manila.
Speaking in a mix of Visayan and English, the Irish missionary appeared in good shape and said his abductors had treated him well: “Maayo ang pagtagad nila sa akoa.”

Happy and grateful

Sinnott said he was happy to be free, and grateful “to the people who worked hard for my release and to my friends who prayed for my safety while I was in captivity.”
He said his abductors called themselves a “lost command” and named one of them as “Kikoy.” (He also told reporters in Manila that his kidnappers belonged to a “lost command” and the “original lumad” or indigenous people, of Mindanao.)
“They did their best to make things as easy as possible for me because they are guarding me,” Sinnott said.
Asked what his abductors had wanted, he said: “Apparently, it’s ransom. But I don’t have any idea if ransom was paid.”
After Sinnott was taken by gunmen from the Columban mission compound in Pagadian City on Oct. 11, he was held in a swampy area for 10 days.
He described the conditions there as “primitive,” and said he lived “in the open” where “there was no chance for me to walk.”
The missionary was subsequently moved to a forested area where he got to do a bit of exercise—a daily walk of about “eight to nine meters.”
Sinnott had a quadruple heart bypass years ago and requires maintenance medication.
With humor
But disembarking from a Fokker plane later Thursday at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, he seemed healthy and answered questions from reporters with a touch of humor.
He was dressed in light blue checkered shirt, taupe slacks and black sandals. But the swollen bags under his eyes and the dirt in his toenails hinted of the hard times he had endured.
The first 10 days of his captivity were the hardest, with his movements limited to a hammock that was mounted on a tiny patch of dried mud surrounded by a swamp, he said.
His space was so small that when he moved to the left side of his hammock, his knees would touch that of one of his guards.
“On my right side was stagnant water. So all you could do for exercise was to stand between the two hammocks and stamp your feet, lie or sit on your hammock all day and all night,” he said.
Things improved a bit when the priest and his abductors traveled eight hours into a forested area, where one of his guards cleared a trail so he could have a place to exercise daily, Sinnott said.

The Long Grueling Wait is Over

Alas I can finally breath easy because my Spousal/Dependent Permit which I have been anxiously waiting for five moths has arrived. The wait was so nerve wrecking because in the back of my mind I might end up as another statistic in the unemployment rate in Ireland. We all know the these are tough times and more and more people are loosing their jobs. I am just glad that I least I don't have to worry about my job for the next 2 years because my documentation is valid till then. Another thing I am happy for is my wife got her permanent status in the HSE so we don't have to worry about her job as well. Its comforting to know that amidst the crisis Ireland has never turned its back to its foreign workforce. In these hard times everybody both local and foreign employees both suffer the sting of the recession. I hope once that the crisis is over it will be a far better relationship between the two.

The good news is that the dark cloud of recession seems to be dissipating. As countries such as France, Germany, US, and Japan officially declared that their recession is over, It emanated a spark of hope that there is a brighter future ahead. I guess sleepless nights of thinking that about mortgage repayments will now be a thing of the past. It maybe a good Christmas this year after all.

Autumn 2009

We now feel the winter chill and out goes our warm coats from the closet. November is here and winter is just around the corner. Autum is almost over that is why we need to say goodbye to more sunny weather. But before it all goes here is a last look at Autumn 2009.

My Indoor activity

Its that time of the year again when the sun refuses to shine and the cold bites. Nothing to do much but to stay indoors and work on my guitar chops.

The Irish Government Sent Help For Ondoy Victims

OUTPOURING OF HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE FROM IRELAND
FOR TYPHOON VICTIMS CONTINUES:
GUIDELINES ON NEW/USED CLOTHING DONATION ISSUED

Humanitarian assistance from Ireland for typhoon victims in the Philippines has continued to pour in. Philippine Ambassador to Ireland Ariel Abadilla expressed appreciation to the Irish government as well as to the Filipino community for their continued efforts to support the relief and rehabilitation of the affected communities in the Philippines.
He expressed gratitude to the Irish government for allocating €350,000 ($507,500) recently as Irish aid to the typhoon victims. The amount of €200,000 was coursed through “Plan Ireland,” an NGO with a long history of working with children in the Philippines, while the amount of €150,000, will be coursed through UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund).
In announcing the relief assistance, Minister of State for Overseas Development, Mr. Peter Power, said that he is directing the Irish Government’s support to those agencies/organizations working closely with children as they are the most severely affected by these types of disasters. Plan Ireland is targeting 20,000 children and young people in Rizal Province as beneficiaries. The funds will be used to provide water and sanitation, counselling and education support, in addition to basic social infrastructure.
Various Filipino community groups and individuals have also been actively organizing fund-raising activities such as the following:
“Pinoy Idol - Sagip Kapamilya Charity Gig” A one-night fundraising party event held last 11 October 2009 which raised a total of €2,400 ($3,480).
Relief Goods Collection
The Filipino Community Network (FCN) has been working with various groups in the collection of relief goods. Additional shipment to Manila of assorted clothes/shoes/toys, canned goods & noodles is being arranged by Gawad Kalinga (GK) – Ireland chapter for distribution in the Philippines by GK Philippines & Couples for Christ (CFC) Manila as Pamaskong Handog to typhoon victims.
Street Collection in County Cork, Ireland
A “Filipino Emergency Appeal” street collection is being organized by the United Filipino Ireland Association on 20 October 2009 in the streets of Cork City, south of Ireland. Street collections are common Irish grassroot communities’ response to international disasters.
Remittance Centers
Established remittance centers in Dublin catering to Filipino clients decided to waive processing fees for remittances intended as donations to the typhoon victims.

GUIDELINES ON NEW/USED CLOTHING DONATION
The Philippine Embassy wishes to inform those who intend to donate new/used clothing that according to the Department of Finance, new and/or used clothing may be accepted provided that donations are consigned to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) or any DSWD-accredited non-governmental organization (NGO).
Executive Order 831 was released on 13 October 2009 authorizing the Department of Finance, for the duration of the current emergency, complete discretion in authorizing tax and tariff exemptions for relief goods donated from abroad, provided the donated relief goods, articles, equipment for free distribution to calamity declared areas and victims of calamities and/or disasters shall be for the account of the DSWD or any of the relief organizations, not operated for profit, duly registered with the DSWD.
The said EO also creates the One-Stop Shop in all collection districts of the Bureau of Customs which provides for the duty free and tax free processing of donated relief goods consigned to the DSWD or any DSWD-accredited/registered/licensed NGOs.
All donors who wish to avail of tax and tariff exemptions may submit the following to the Philippine Embassy in Dublin for immediate transmittal to the DFA Typhoon Ondoy Disaster Relief Task Force for monitoring/facilitation purposes:
- deed of donation indicating donor, details of donation (e.g. 40-ft container van containing 300 crates/boxes of antibiotics, 45 pieces of blankets, etc.);
- copy of shipping documents (e.g. bill of lading or airway bill, whichever is appropriate.)