March 16 - 31, 2018
OPINION
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
Rey Fortaleza - Publisher
Carlito Pablo - Editorial Consultant
Rosette Correa - Senior Editor
Jun Cordero - Associate Editor
Writers - Crisanta Sampang ; Columnists - Geoff Meggs, Ben Berto, Editha Corrales, Mon
Datol, Fr. Jerry Orbos SVD, DeeDee Sytangco, Alan Samuel, Erie Maestro, Sandee M.
Ed Malay, Jayne Anastacio, JJAtencio and Willie J. Uy (Manila Bureau Chief)
Alvin Barrera / Mon Correa - Graphics and Layout ; Rolly Fortaleza - Graphics Design
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Breaking
Point
Spring, Blessings and Rebirth
By Rosette Correa
In Vancouver, the changes in
the season is not as pronounced
and obvious as the season changes
in the Philippines, especially when
you compare four to two. There
has never been a predictable season
change here ever since we moved to
Canada twelve years ago, except for
the beautiful cherry blossoms on the
streets of Vancouver, or the peeking
of the crocuses and daffodils on the
damp flower beds. Spring is signalled
in by commercialism in stores, when
Superstore, Walmart and other
groceries start bringing their carts of
colourful annuals, anticipating the
excitement of gardeners, professional
and amateur alike, waiting for their
chance to till the soil once again.
Once Canadian Tire puts out their
lawn and patio furniture, followed
by humongous grills and outdoor
inflatable pools, you know that
summer will be following quickly.
What makes the seasons in
Vancouver unpredictable is the fall of
rain on days you least expect it to fall.
We’re called Raincouver, after all, but
there is nothing like the soft taps of
water on the streets compared to a
Bulong
Pulungan
By Deedee Siytangco
Reprinted from Manila Bulletin
“A child who reads will become
an adult who thinks.”
* * *
Today marks the last day of the
11 days that Big Bad Wolf that has
been open for the first time in the
Philippines. One last day to hunt for
the titles and deals from the millions
of books brought to the World Trade
Center.
As the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale
comes to a close, I can’t help but think
about the tremendous amount of
amount of work, dedication, and even
the initial challenges that went into
getting not just the World’s Biggest
Book Sale to the Philippines but more
importantly bringing the advocacy of
making reading enjoyable and exciting
to readers and not readers alike. This
mission to the Philippines started with
a meeting between Gawad Kalinga
executive director Luis Oquinena and
the Big Bad Wolf founders Andrew Yap
and Jacquelin Ng in Kuala Lumpur
in July 2017. They talked about how
the advocacy of ending poverty and
making books available to everyone
regardless of stature aligned toward
nation building. That meeting ended
dumping of snow that the East
Coast is still experiencing. Waking up
in the morning with unexpected rain
is what Vancouverites pay big money
for; big money now being compared
to the cost of real estate of Manhattan
in New York. Oh, yes, there’s nothing
like paying big bucks to be drenched
in rain days on end.
Rain has its endearing mark on
Vancouver, just like fog has on London.
While the Philippines celebrates
Cuaresma or Lent and Semana Santa
or Holy Week in sweltering forty-degree
heat, with pasyon or pabasa devotees
belting out the hundred-year-old
chants of a Philippine epic narrative of
the life of Jesus Christ, focused on his
Passion, Death, and Resurrection, we
in Vancouver go to our Visita Iglesia
routes in either thick winter coats, or
rubber boots and umbrellas. Most of
us miss those days in the Philippines,
when we take shifts doing the pasyon,
and partake of the delicious food the
host prepared for the chanters.
We Filipinos believe, though, that
rain is a significant sign of blessing.
Just like Noah and his family on the
ark, we all look forward to the time
that rain subsides,
and the rainbow,
God’s symbol of
promise that He
will never flood the
Earth again, holds
the hope we have for
a brighter day. This
is what we Filipinos
are known for - a
people of great hope
and believer of the
saying, “Look on the
bright side!” Rain is
never a bother for
us. Because most
of us have either
an agricultural or
coastal identity, it is
a gift from God, one
that is necessary for
our survival.
And that is how
we see Spring, the
rain and the rebirth that will follow
after Semana Santa. Nothing is ever
dismal, and we are a lover of life and
the blessings God gives us. This is the
reason why we flock the Churches, and
serve God in the most profound ways,
A howling success
with a handshake where the
goal was to have BBW launched
in the Philippines by 2018.
Luis Oquinena assembled
trusted Gawad Kalinga partners to
help Big Bad Wolf get mounted in
the Philippines. The team of MVM
Philippines, led by chairperson Maria
Montelibano, CFO Jan Co-Chua, and
CEO Mari Oquinena heeded the call.
They quickly assembled a team to
observe and learn from the Big Bad
Wolf Event in Bangkok, Thailand
in August 2017. The Big Bad Wolf
Philippines team was composed of
Lito Nadal, overall head, CJ Sarmiento
for operations, and Miguel Mercado
for marketing, and Allan Capulong of
RTL for digital marketing.
The team came back from the
Big Bad Wolf Bangkok impressed
not only with the operations but more
especially with turnout of Thai families
who came to the sale to buy carts full
of books as they shopped with the
kids and toddlers in tow even late at
night. This was especially impressive
as Thailand is not an English speaking
country.
The team went to work to search
f or a venue that could accommodate
two million books. The only venue
that fit the needs for that time was the
because we know we are truly blessed
and dependent on his kindness and
mercy.
After the rain, there will always be
sunshine and rebirth. Just like Jesus’
Resurrection. Just like Easter. Just
like Spring.
Big Bad Wolf Fair
World Trade Center.
It, however, came
at an expensive
price and the only
availability
was
during the Chinese
New Year festival of
2018. Chinese New
Year is the biggest
festival, especially
for the Malaysian
Chinese, as this is
when family reunions are held. Family
members are expected to go home to
their parents during the festival.
Faced with this, Andrew and
Jacqueline asked their operations
team if they would agree to sacrifice
their Chinese New Year Celebrations to
bring Big Bad Wolf to the Philippines.
Operations head Christine Lim had
no hesitation and the rest of her team
gave their commitment. The cost of
booking the venue was negotiated
lower too but it was still high compared
to other venues in Malaysia, Thailand,
Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. Rather than
increasing the prices of the books,
Andrew and Jacqueline decided to
keep the prices low and took the risk
and decided to sell as many books
as possible to cover the costs. They
stuck to their mission of making
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
books available to all.
So as the doors of Big Bad Wolf
Philippines opened on Feb. 15 for the
preview day, the Filipino people came
in droves to enjoy the multitude of book
offers. The opening ceremony was
graced by special guests, including
senator Joel Villanueva, congressman
Karlo Nogales who gave a keynote
speech about how reading goes hand
in hand with his advocacy for free
public education, congresswoman
Emi Calixto-Rubiano, mayor Antonino
Calixto, MMDA chairman Danny Lim,
Nation Book Development Board
chairperson Neni Sta Romana Cruz,
ABS-CBN broadcasting COO Cory
Vidanes, ABS-CBN Publishing CEO
Ernie Lopez, and Gawad Kalinga
executive director Luis Oquinena.
After the brief
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