Right in the heart of Georgetown in Washington D.C., beside upscale shops and vibrant restaurants, is a salon and spa that bears the name of Erwin Gomez.

Famous among Washington D.C. bigwigs and Hollywood celebrities, not too many know that this 40-something artist is a Filipino.

Allure magazine has named him one of the country’s top make-up artists. He has glammed up Grammy awardees and A-list stars from Eva Longoria to Rosario Dawson to Kate Walsh.

But he knew that US President Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration would be like no other. So, Gomez wrote to First Lady Michelle Obama and offered his services for free.

“Sinulat ko, I am an immigrant. I am a business owner in Georgetown and I voted for you even if I knew my taxes were gonna go up. I didn’t care. I wanna be able to show you the quality of my work. And I don’t wanna charge you because the economy is hurting right now,” he said, reciting the contents of his letter.

“At the Blair House [US President's Guest House], I had the opportunity to massage her [First Lady's] hand. I massaged her hand, Michelle Obama, but I got hired to do Michelle Obama’s sister-in-law and Michelle’s brother.”

Working for the best

Gomez was 17 when he got into the make-up business. And since he wanted to work for the best, Gomez walked into Chanel and insisted he work for the company.

“I wanted to be in the make-up business but they wouldn’t hire me because I was a man. It was very conservative, and I had to prove myself. Within three months I showed them I could really do this and deliver,” he said.

He later worked for other companies like Chevy Chase, Elizabeth Arden, Prescriptives, and others.

Twenty years ago, his dream came true. He moved to Washington where he opened his own salon and spa. Here, he’s known for perfectly-waxed eyebrows that cost $55 on the first visit and make-up that is picture perfect for $155.

“During the inauguration, we were the only salon that was open 24/7. We spent the night here, upstairs, with my staff. We took care of the CNN anchor people at three in the morning, we did the Oprah show, and also we did the Latin ball. But we didn’t raise our prices like everybody did,” he recalled.

His salon is unaffected by the economic slump. And he hopes to keep it that way by not raising prices and giving money-saving tips to his clients.

Gomez has been a make-up artist for almost 27 years. He is the only Filipino business owner in Georgetown, and after his work at the inauguration, more success awaits this Filipino. Abs-CbnNews.com

MANILA, Philippines – Two GMA Network programs won gold medals in the International Television Broadcasting Awards of the 2009 New York Festivals (NYF).

GMA Network bagged a Gold World Medal in the category of Coverage of an Ongoing Story for Jiggy Manicad’s 24 Oras coverage of Cpl. Angelo Abeto, who was killed in a mortar explosion last year.

The network’s primetime news, 24 Oras, also received the Silver World Medal in the Best Newscast Category for the “Lanao Attacks” coverage of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s assault in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, on August 18, 2008.

Reporter’s Notebook’s “Pinays for Export: The Asian Sex Trafficking Trail” took home the Bronze World Medal for Best Public Affairs Program.

The Gold World Medal Award for the Biography/Profiles Category went to QTV-11, the network’s sister station, for its “Inno Sotto: A Special Fashion Documentary.”

QTV-11’s Chef to Go with its “Pesco Vegetarian Meal” episode bagged the Bronze World Medal for the Magazine Format Category. GMANews.tv

MANILA, Philippines—This police officer is only too glad to disappoint those who look down on Filipinos.

Senior Supt. Benigno Durana Jr. seizes every opportunity to disprove the seeming First World impression that the Filipino could not do anything beyond the menial.

And he does so in Caucasia as deputy chief strategist at the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), helping reform the restive nation’s traditionalist police force through lessons he learned back home.

“This is my opportunity to disappoint people who look down on Filipinos. This is the best time for us to prove them wrong,” said 44-year-old Durana, a Philippine Military Academy cum laude graduate, who has spent 18 years in the police force.

Show the best

“It’s an opportunity to show the best in the Filipino, when many foreigners look down on Filipinos. But no, we can do better than you. Let’s not be trapped in the mentality that ‘I am just a Filipino.’ So what if I have this dark skin? I can deliver,” said an impassioned Durana in an interview in Camp Crame’s Program Management Office, the police force’s reform arm he had helped pioneer in 2005.

Durana, once the police chief of crime-plagued Cubao District in Quezon City and the provincial director of tourist haven Aklan, joined UNOMIG in September last year as deputy senior police adviser. The six-month tour followed his stint as chief of strategic information for the UN contingent in East Timor.

Russia-Georgia war

One of three Filipino policemen contracted by UNOMIG, Durana arrived in the former Soviet state when the dust had yet to settle between Russia and Georgia, which engaged in armed conflict over the latter’s breakaway regions—south Ossetia and Abkhazia.

UNOMIG was born 15 years earlier to oversee Georgia and its breakaway regions’ compliance with a 1993 ceasefire agreement.

The observer mission also maintains a ceasefire zone between Georgia and its separatist territories.

Community-oriented police

Arriving on the heels of heavy bombardment in the conflict zone, Durana was assigned to help reform Georgia’s police from brute force to community-oriented policing, a perspective he had introduced in previous assignments in the Philippine National Police.

With Durana on the mission are Supt. Jose Rony Forro, also a police adviser, and Dr. Nerino Daciego, a Russian-speaking superintendent at the PNP Crime Laboratory.

But the Filipino policemen had no worries about their security, citing the UN’s role as a neutral organization in the conflict.

“We are out of harm’s way. We are not there to enforce the law, but we are there to ensure that the peace agreement is observed by both parties,” said Durana, who obtained a doctorate in Peace and Security Administration at the Bicol University.

Problem as opportunity

By “looking at every problem as an opportunity,” Durana is at the frontline of orienting Georgia police to the kind the United Nations wants its member-states to pursue: “Democratic policing, where officers do their job to serve the people, not to impress their bosses.”

“I would like to help them realize that the ultimate goal of policing is to improve quality of life, not just catch criminals, making arrests one after another,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Jan. 16, on the eve of his flight back to Georgia to finish his tour that ends in April.

Citing the PNP’s exposure to training under Western expertise, Durana said: “The PNP has a lot to offer to these emerging law enforcement agencies.”

Public servant

This turnaround from commando to public servant is what the PNP has also been aiming to instill in its 120,000 members through the Integrated Transformation Program (ITP), which Durana helped put together three years ago.

The program encourages the development of leaders at all PNP levels, from the headquarters to the station “because the PNP [head office] can’t provide you with everything,” said Durana, who faced this first-hand as city and provincial police chief.

“The police in Georgia are very mission-oriented, very military, traditionalist in approaching their job because of the security environment. Right now, we’re starting to build rapport first,” he said.

Lessons are packaged as bite-size ideas to avoid overwhelming the usually stern-faced Georgian police officers, who are used to gauging success based on their arrest count.

“They won’t care about what you know unless they know you care,” he said.

Quality circles

Borrowing a PNP practice, Durana also organized “quality circles,” an informal discussion group proven more effective than traditional lectures to translate ideas into “doables.”

He learned this during his years as top cop in the Cubao commercial area, known to be a hub of robbers, pickpockets and illegal trade. Through his campaign “Police Cubao, Love Kayo,” Durana helped improve public perception of cops and encouraged community participation in fighting crime.

Within his term, from 2003 to 2005, Durana also enforced the “No Take” policy, a campaign against bribery known to have been rampant at the Cubao police station at the time.

Bribe offers

And to show that he practiced what he was advocating, Durana said he constantly rejected several bribe offers from business establishments and illegal rings in the area, among them jueteng (illegal numbers game) operators, nightclub owners and illegal vendors.

Monthly offers ranged from P80,000 to P100,000.

In his last year at the station, Durana was among the “Country’s Outstanding Policemen in Service” in the national search of the Metrobank Foundation Inc. and the Rotary Club New Manila East. Also in 2005, Durana was declared Best Senior Police Commissioned Officer for Operations in all of Metro Manila.

Boracay

As police chief in Aklan from January 2007 until early last year, he imposed a centralized port system for commuter boats in Boracay, banning the usual practice of docking straight at the beach.

Despite resistance from stakeholders, Durana said he succeeded in enforcing the scheme and finally cleared the white sand coastline of docking boats.

“We should stop the “tama na yan, OK na yan” thinking,” said Durana, sharing a lesson by which he has been raising his children Miguel Christian, 14, and Kristina Mae, 12.

“Reform will take generations, but the seeds must be sown. Allow it to germinate and think about the future generations that will reap it,” he said. Inquirer.net

ILOILO CITY – Players from Barotac Nuevo town have broken the world record for marathon soccer by playing for over 35 hours.

Organizers and officials of the World Football Marathon (WFM) will meet today to finalize the documentation of the match, including the continuous video coverage of all the games, in order for the event to be certified by the Guinness World Records (GWR), Duffie Botavara, secretary general of the Iloilo Football Association, told The STAR.

“We are preparing the documentation and the records of the game for our efforts to be recognized,” he said, adding that for now, the record is unofficial.

Organizer Elmer Bedia, a former national player and Philippine’s Mr. Football in 1986, explained that a GWR certification in favor of the WFM is required to break the record set in Australia.

The soccer teams of Barotac Nuevo Comprehensive National High School (BNCNHS) and the Iloilo State College of Fisheries (ISCOF) played against each other for 35 hours and 20 minutes at the town’s public plaza.

The match began around 8:40 a.m. Friday and ended at around 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

A total of 19 games were played, each lasting for 45 minutes.

ISCOF prevailed over BNCNHS, 136-133, in what Botavara called “a tight match.”

“It wasn’t a giveaway match. Both teams played tight defense, the reason for the low score, unlike that in Australia,” he said, comparing their match to the one in Armidale, Australia, where Joeys Football Club won with about a hundred point-advantage over its opponent in a game that lasted for 32 hours and 50 minutes.

Of the 19 games played, ISCOF and BNCNHS each won eight matches, and tied in three.

“Although the players were already tired, they could have played one more game, had it not been for the coaches who decided to end the game,” Botavara said.

In fact, he added, the last game was very physical, with one player shoving his opponent at one point.

“Their intensity was so great they were still putting up tight defense up to the last match. It was so intense that the teams nearly got into a fight when one player shoved his opponent during the last game,” he said.

“I expected the players to only last until 8 a.m. Saturday because at around 2 a.m. that day, they were no longer running. Now I believe in the passion and commitment of our players,” Botavara stressed.

After the last game, 4th District Rep. Ferjenel Biron awarded the players from the two teams with cash and medals. Philstar.com

Two fishermen from Puerto Princesa City in Palawan have been chosen as the first recipients of the World Wildlife Fund’s Heroes of the Environment award.

Henry Barlas and Paquito Abia, two fishermen from barangay Maruyogon in Puerto Princesa, were honored for successfully rescuing a trapped dugong early this month. The dugong was named “Enero” and was released.

WWF-Philippines Chairman Vincent S. Pérez, Jr. said the two were awarded plaques during a simple ceremony held at the Puerto Princesa Baywalk on January 18.

“These acts should be made public, for all to emulate. Henry Barlas and Paquito Abia showed everyone what our people are capable of. It is WWF’s privilege to tell the nation – and the world – of their heroism,” he said during the ceremony.

He said subsequent awards will be given by WWF to deserving individuals who do heroic acts to preserve the environment. Abs-CbnNews.com

Finance Secretary Margarito Teves has been honored by the London-based monthly magazine The Banker has named as The Best Finance Minister for Asia in 2008.

The publication cited the efforts of Mr. Teves in handling the negative impact of the global crisis on the Philippines, and rose to the challenge of handling the impact of the global economic turmoil on the country.

“It has been a tumultuous 12 months for the majority of the world’s finance ministers, with the impact of the credit crisis affecting almost every country to some extent. Here The Banker salutes those that have risen to the challenges posed by this financial turmoil,” The Banker said.

The Banker said the decision was the outcome of discussions among editors and staff of the magazine, and a survey of views among bankers and economists.

“In particular, survey respondents mentioned that, thanks to progressive improvements in revenue collection, lower public debt levels and more stable finances at the state-owned enterprises, the Philippines has entered the current global credit crunch in a much less vulnerable position than during past financial crises,” Philip Alexander, The Banker’s Finance editor said.

The Banker also noted Teves’ efforts to reduce the Philippine economy’s vulnerability to the crisis.

These include deferring the balanced budget goal to have more funds to spend and putting in place measures to boost tax collections and to widen the tax base.

Teves, for his part, said more needs to be done.

“If we have support from Congress, we can rationalize taxes and revenue incentives and use the savings to invest more in infrastructure,” he said.

The Banker is the premier monthly magazine on global finance since 1926, and part of the Financial Times group of publications. The finance minister awards are now in their eighth year.

Teves assumed the Finance post in 2005. Prior to this, he was president and chief executive officer of the Land Bank of the Philippines since September 2000.

He also served as Congressional representative of the 3rd District of Negros Oriental in 1987. He took up Bachelor of Arts at the Universidad Central de Madrid, Spain in 1961. He earned his diploma in Higher Education Diploma in Business Studies in 1965 at the City of London College in England. In 1968, he finished his master’s degree in Development Economics from Williams College, Massachusetts, USA. GoodNewsPilipinas.com

GMA News

MANILA, Philippines – Seeing the Chinese collecting gold medals one after the other, Filipino Steven Luis Ngo put on a show of his own en route to the championship in the gold and spear event in the second World Junior Wushu Championship on Tuesday in Bali, Indonesia.

Not minding the Chinese’s 10-gold romp in the tournament, Ngo banked on a combination of grace, speed and power to garner 9.31 points and beat Indonesia’s Erwin Wijayanto.

The 15-year-old’s gold-medal effort in this event that gathered 60 teams from all over the world was the Filipino’s best finish since winning a bronze medal two years ago in Korea.

Ngo’s performance capped his impressive showing in the worlds, emerging as RP’s most bemedalled athlete after also securing a silver medal in straight sword event. Ngo lost the gold to Wijayanto by just a point.

The Nationals also clinched two more silver medals courtesy of Henson See and Francesca Bernasconi.

Bernasconi, a gold medalist in spear two years ago, earned a silver in broadsword. See also settled for second in the same event in the boys’ category.

It was a vindication of sorts for the Pinoy wushu bets, whose campaign was reportedly threatened by a lack of funding.

See was beaten by a Singaporean rival while Bernascono, the most decorated junior player of the country, was upstaged by a Chinese bet.

Philippine Entertainment Portal

The 2008 Cinemalaya entry Jay once again brought honor to the country when it was given the Special Mention Award (New Visions Category) at the 5th Bahamas International Film Festival. The awards night of the 5th BIFF was held at the Atlantis Hotel & Resort on Paradise Island last December 8.

This year’s BIFF, which took place from December 4 to 11, showcased 80 films from 22 different countries. The four competition categories at BIFF are Spirit of Freedom: Narrative; Spirit of Freedom: Documentary; New Vision; and Short Film.

The Filipino film Jay, directed by Francis Xavier Pasion, stars Baron Geisler and Coco Martin. In the official website of the BIFF, they describe Jay as a movie about “a gay schoolteacher, is brutally murdered in an apparent sex-crime. Even before his family hears about it, a TV producer—also named Jay—and his camera crew are inside their house to document their shock and grief.

The TV producer convinces the family to let him shoot the dead man’s wake and funeral for a ‘reality show.’” The indie film shot in Pampanga was screened twice in the Bahamas.

According to Ferdy Lapuz of Ignatius Films Canada, the next stop for Jay will be the Berlin Hotshots (competition), Rotterdam, Goteburg, Black Film Festival (Geneva) and FICCO (Mexico, competition) international film festivals.

During the awards night, the festival honored Academy-Award nominee Laurence Fishburne with the Career Achievement Award while actress/comedian Anna Faris was given the Rising Star Award.

During an interview with Ben Lyons for the show At the Movies, Fishburne recalled his experience with his first film Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Copolla. Fishburne admitted that he was just 14 years old when he came to the Philippines to shoot the said war movie.

After the awarding ceremony, Francis and Ferdy went up to the stage to talk to Laurence, whom Ferdy described as “very accommodating.”

When the Matrix star learned that they were from the Philippines, he hugged both of them. Fishburne then revealed that he stayed in the Philippines for almost two years but although he does not remember exactly where in the Philippines because he was very young then.

He then told Ferdy and Direk Francis that out of all the films that he has made during his career spanning three decades, people best remember his as Morpheus in the Matrix trilogy. However, he hopes that more people will recognize him as Dr. Raymond Langston in the TV series Crime Scene Investigation (CSI).

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines—A hip and energetic rendition of “Lady Marmalade” was what bowled over the judges of the International Choral Festival and Competition held recently in Busan, Korea.

Twenty girls and boys from Cagayan de Oro City’s Capitol University swayed while belting out high notes as the set of foreign judges, all authorities in music, and a largely Korean audience, clapped and rose in standing ovation.

The CU glee club won the gold prize as best in pop in this prestigious competition held yearly by the Korean Choral Institute. It bested 40 other choirs from 12 countries, including the famous choir from the University of Kentucky and the Manado choir from Indonesia.

Conductor Ritchie Asibal, a sleek young man of 30, won as best conductor, the first Filipino ever to get the title.

Two other Filipino entries, the University of the East choral group and the University of the Philippines chorale, won top prizes.

“We were diminutive compared to the other singers. One of the judges said, ‘Look at those Filipinos, they are small, thin and look like high school students, but their voices are so powerful,’” recounts Joseph Espadilla, the glee club’s tour manager.

“Among the other competitors, including the other Filipino choirs, we were the poorest. We had to beg for donations just to get to Korea. When we got there, we didn’t have enough money. It was all pressure at all fronts. So it was such a relief that we won,” Espadilla adds.

The group was awarded US$5,000 and a trophy, while Asibal received US$1,000.

Beyond stereotype

People who have heard and seen the choir describe their performance as beyond stereotype.

“I actually hate competitions. I never like the pressure. But with this performance, I just told the group to enjoy it, have fun,” Asibal says.

For the competition, the choral group sang three pieces—the upbeat “Lady Marmalade,” an ethnic song from the Cordillera titled “Kumala,” and the powerful “This is the Moment,” with Asibal doing the lead vocals.

In performing “Lady Marmalade,” the group had a rock-and-rhythm choreography, something that induced guffaws from the audience.

“This is the Moment” also impressed the judges because Asibal’s singing was not usually done by choir conductors.

Surprise victories

Espadilla says everyone was surprised to win because they knew that the other competitors had extensive experience in the field and had been all well-trained and well-funded.

“The others all had formal education in music, and even had doctorate degrees, major in voice, major in piano, etcetera. What we had are ordinary students taking up business administration, education … what chance did we have against them?” Espadilla says.

The best conductor award given to Asibal was also surprising because the Filipino defeated the Indonesian conductor who is a national artist in music and had won several individual titles in the past.

“We just made sure our performance will be fun, the audience and the judges might have felt that,” explains Asibal. “But the most important is that we always sing from the heart. That’s also the observation of one of the judges, that we sang from the heart, unlike other contestants who were more mechanical and technical.”

Patience, commitment

Local officials recognized the choir’s achievement and took pride in the fact that they defeated other more experienced and well-trained competitors.

Misamis Oriental Gov. Oscar Moreno, one of the choir’s benefactors, lauded the group for not giving up despite the difficulties in gathering enough funds.

Cagayan de Oro Mayor Constantino Jaraula also commended the group and promised to give more support for its future endeavors.

The National Commission on Culture and the Arts extended help, although belatedly, and has recognized the choir’s achievement by committing funding for its next engagements.

After winning, the choir immediately received invitations from other international festivals, including the Montana Music Festival to be held in summer next year in the United States.

“We almost gave up. We had very little time to prepare, barely six months. What made it worse was we also had to go out and sing to solicit money. We almost backed out,” recollects Asibal, hoping that their next competition will not be as stressful.

Asibal attributes their triumph to the patience and commitment of the whole group and the support of parents and the university officials. Inquirer.Net