08
THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA
www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 4 Number 8 | May 2014
COMMUNITY ROUND-UP
Samareños unite at Ayuda Samar
A total of $5,230 was raised by the Australian Samareño
Association of NSW (ASAN) at its ‘Ayuda Samar’ charity dinner
held recently to raise funds for communities in Samar who were
hit by Typhoon Yolanda last year.
Consul General Anne Jalando-on Louis
with ASAN president Solina Lapalma
Photo by Mr. Jade Cadeliña
THE amount excluded collectible
pledges, according to ASAN president Solina Lapalma, who thanked
the donors and supporters of the
fundraising event.
“For as long as we are in this
good side of this world and our kababayans remain in a very poor
country that is prone to natural
disasters, events like this will be a
AK in microfilm
ANG
Kalatas Australia is now available
in Microfilm Service Copy at the NSW
State Library in Sydney CBD .
M IC ROF I L M Reader is a
device used for reading documents stored as microform.
The State Library as a digital excellence centre has been
widening its archive of periodicals including reputable ethnic media publications to maximise its service to students, researchers and visitors.
At the State Library, Ang
Kalatas in microfilm can be
accessed via Philippine newspapers – Filipino-Australian
section.
A n g Kalatas Australia
started operations in 2010 with
the aim of bringing into focus
the Filipino presence in Australia.
MARILIE
BOMEDIANO
is a University of
Santo Tomas BS
Tourism graduate.
She pursued her
studies in Linguistics
and is fluent in
Nihongo, advance in
Deutsch, Farsi and
Turkish. She is also
involved in a local
community radio
program.
common happening in our community,” said Ms Lapalma.
“We don’t count what we share
in the past, but rather we count our
graces that we are able to share every time that our help is needed by
our kababayans back home.”
‘Ayuda Samar’ was held at the
Pabico Club 55 in Mt. Druitt. It
featured entertainment from Bri-
an Lorenz, Clarissa Bock, Cynthia
Gorden, and Lalaine Lozano. Other guest performers were Renobato and Noranda Racuyal who sang
‘Dangaw Dangaw’, a Samar song.
“The Haiyan survivors are still
seeking shelter either with a relative
or a friend, most of them are still in
a temporary shelter,” said ConsulGeneral Anne Jalando-on Louis.
“While the Philippine government immediately launched
a rehabilitation plan about three
months ago, there is still a lot of relief work that goes with it because
there are still many affected families that actually need assistance in
terms of the basic needs especially on food and housing and other
basics.”
Retire at 65, not 70 – seniors say
FILIPINO-AUSTRALIAN
seniors from around the state
voiced their opposition to a new government suggestion to raise
the pension age to 70 instead of 65 apparently to cut down on
spending for senior citizens.
CAMPBELLTOWNresident Ms.
Rose Lay, president of ‘Concerned
Citizens Over 50’ and vice president of the Australian Filipino
Women’s Group of NSW said the
proposed measure will be a burden to many senior citizens.
“I feel so disgusted. I strongly
disagree to that concept of retirement age at 70 yrs old especially
for us who has been working, we
need our superannuation and retirement money given to us at the
age of 65 not later at 70 yrs old,”
said Ms. Lay.
“We need to enjoy our own
money as we worked hard for it,
especially in cases of self-funded retirements. The superannuations regulations has already
changed from 55 to 60 previously,” she said.
The sentiments of Ms Lay was
shared by Nita Tingson, an Ingleburn local from Oriental Mindoro and Cleo Baltazar, a Leumeah parishioner from Leyte.
“It’s very hard to find a job especially when you are not a very
Nita Tingson, Rose Lay and Cleo Baltazar voiced their opposition to a new government suggestion to raise the pension age to 75.
skilled person and above the standard age requirements,” said Ms
Tingson, a member of the Sydney Australian Filipino Seniors
Inc (SAFSI).
“I don’t know if I’m still alive
six years from now to enjoy those
benefits, so in that case, I disagree,” said Cleo Baltazar, also a
member of the “Concerned Citizens over 50” and the AFWGNSW.
In Castle Hill, Mr. Anthony Andia, a 70-year old migrant
from Manila, is a self-funded su-
per-annuation recipient senior
who said that the federal government’s chase to save money is unreasonable.
“The biggest economy in the
world is the USA, yet the USA has
never had the surplus. So, why do
we insist in having a surplus?” Mr.
Andia said.
“Australia is not going broke,
let’s not start touching the assets
just like the airports and electricity companies. Increase taxes if we
have to but let’s not touch the assets,” Mr Andia said.
What’s next after “Yolanda”/“Haiyan”
WHEN
the fury of the world’s strongest typhoon “Yolanda”/ “Haiyan” hit the Philippines, it spared
no one, whether rich or poor, powerful or weak, in the affected provinces, particularly the provinces of
Leyte and Samar.
(A report by Erlinda Baisa)
THE impact of the calamity
shocked the world and immense
help flowed in from the international communities and other
NGOs . Countless families lost
lives and properties and means of
livelihood were destroyed.
The brief visit to the typhoon
survivors in Sigma, Capiz on December 27, 2013 that I undertook
with ROD DINGLE gave us a
clear idea of how much devastation there was in the affected areas and how much time it would
take to reb