The United States Department of Labor has awarded a Filipina with the first annual Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labor.

US Ambassador Kristie Kenney presented the award to Maria Cecilia Flores-Oebanda of the non-governmental organization Visayan Forum Foundation (VFF) at a ceremony at the US Embassy in Manila.

“It is a great honor to present the Iqbal Masih Award to Cecille, who is a long-time partner of the US Mission in the Philippines in combating exploitive child labor as well as trafficking of women and children for domestic servitude and commercial sexual exploitation,” Kenney said.

“The award recognizes Cecille’s work that has brought real change to the lives of thousands of children in the Philippines,” she added.

The Iqbal Masih Award was established by Congress to recognize the work of an individual, company, organization or national government to end the worst forms of child labor.

The award reflects the spirit of Iqbal Masih, a Pakistani child enslaved at the age of four who escaped servitude and became an outspoken advocate against child slavery.

Tragically, in 1995 at the age of 13 and a year after receiving the Reebok Human Rights Award, Iqbal was killed in Pakistan. His dedication to ending child slavery, however, continues to inspire individuals around the world.

Like Iqbal Masih, Flores-Oebanda was born into poverty. As a child she helped support her family by scavenging; as a teenager she advocated the rights of youth and farm laborers.

Flores-Oebanda later founded and now leads the VFF, a non-governmental organization that has rescued and provided assistance to more than 32,000 victims and potential victims of trafficking.

The VFF has helped to file more than 65 trafficking cases on behalf of more than 165 victims. Flores-Oebanda serves as the Southeast Asia coordinator for the Global March Against Child Labor and is active with other significant events supporting work against child and exploitive labor.

Kenney said the battle against human trafficking is a high priority of the US Government and the American people. 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

A Filipino professor has received the 2008 Rolex Award for Enterprise for developing a new technology that transforms the waste from rice production into clean, affordable cooking fuel.

Alexis Belonio, associate professor of Agricultural Engineering at the Central Philippine University in Iloilo City, was one of the five Associate Laureates named by Rolex and presented with $50,000. He also received a Rolex chronometer.

He developed a low-cost stove powered by rice husks aimed at reducing fuel costs and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.

In the 48-year-old inventor’s design, a stream of oxygen converts the burning rice husk fuel to a combustible blend of hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane gases, yielding a hot, blue flame similar to that produced by burning natural gas.

Started in 1976, the Rolex Awards for Enterprise have supported pioneering work in science and medicine, technology and innovation, exploration and discovery, the environment and cultural heritage.

“I will spend the Rolex Award money on promoting and sharing the technology with others for free, as widely as I can. I will focus on disseminating it throughout the world. I will produce more publications to show people how to do it,” Belonio said in an interview.

According to reports, Belonio’s early stoves, made in the Philippines, sold at $100 each and were too expensive for poor families. However, further research and development conducted in Indonesia significantly reduced the retail price of the stove to only $25.

“This was achieved by simplifying the design of the stove in terms of operation, materials and fabrication. Thousands of cookers are now being manufactured by companies cooperating with Belonio in the Philippines, Indonesia and Cambodia,” reports said.

By exploiting a freely available waste product at a time of soaring energy prices, the stoves can save a family of rice farmers about $150 a year in fuel bills, a huge benefit for families that live on $2 or $3 a day, Belonio said.

He said a ton of rice husks contains the same energy as 415 liters of petrol or 378 liters of kerosene.

Belonio said his stoves reduce greenhouse gas emissions and eliminate toxic fumes inside houses.

“Even the char left after burning can be recycled to improve farm soils or to form bio-coal briquettes,” he said. Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines – An overseas Filipino teacher has been inducted into one of the most prestigious international awards in the field of adult and continuing education.

Mumbai-based Maria Lourdes Almazan Khan was inducted into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame last December 4 in Budapest, Hungary, becoming the first and only Filipino to be given the honor since it was established in 1995.

According to the Hall of Fames’ website, election into it “acknowledges that these men and women have made distinguished contributions to the field of adult and continuing education.”

Khan is the secretary-general of the Mumbai-based Asian South Pacific Bureau of Adult Education, which she transformed into an important adult education and civil society network in the Asia Pacific region.

The organization is apparently recognized regionally and internationally for its promotion of education work in general, and adult and continuing education work in particular.

Khan has reportedly also been a strong advocate for adult and continuing education by urging governments and private individuals to commit to providing education for all most specifically to the disadvantaged and marginalized.

Khan took her undergraduate studies at the University of the Philippines and her Masters in Rural Development at the University of East Anglia in Norwich in 1990.

She currently lives in Mumbai, India with her husband, Azeez Khan, the principal secretary (Industries) of the Indian state of Maharashtra. GMANews.tv

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).

Philippine Entertainment Portal

Sid Lucero and Emilio Garcia go down in history as the first persons to tie for the Best Actor award in the 49-year history of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. The Filipino actors were recognized in Greece for their outstanding portrayal in the film Selda (international title: The Inmate), which is co-directed by Paolo Villaluna and Ellen Ramos.

This indie film is also credited as the first Filipino movie to compete in the said festival, which took place in Greece from November 14-23, 2008. Both directors attended the film fest but the two lead actors were unable to attend.

Francis Xavier Pasion was also present at the 49th Thessaloniki International Film Festival to present his film Jay, which was screened as part of the Independence Day section.

According to Leo Dominguez, Emilio’s manager, his ward was not able to attend because he has tapings for Gagambino three times a week. Emilio learned about the good news this morning on the set of the said GMA-7 show.

In a text message sent to PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portak) this morning, Emilio said, “I’m shocked and at the same time very happy. This is my fourth award for Selda and I am happy for all the recognition I received for this film.”

It will be recalled that Emilio won as Best Supporting Actor for Selda during the 31st Gawad Urian. He was also the Best Supporting Actor during this year’s Gawad Tanglaw and was named as the Supporting Actor of the Year during the 24th Star Awards for Movies.

In the Gawad Urian, Sid tied with Jason Abalos for the Best Actor award, with Sid being recognized for Selda while Jason performed in Endo.

Selda is about a young man (played by Sid Lucero) who is imprisoned for defending his wife (played by Ara Mina). He then meets a fellow inmate (played by Emilio) who helps him adjust to life inside prison.

According to Ferdy Lapuz of Ignatius Films Canada, the jury president of the Thessaloniki IFF, Michael Ondaatje, liked the film very much and said that Selda is a “powerful film.” Mr. Ondaatje is best known as the writer of The English Patient (1997). Another member of the jury is Diablo Cody, the American screenwriter behind the hit movie Juno (2007).

Selda is represented by Ignatius Films Canada.

ABS – CBN News

Filipina scientist Jurgenne Primavera has landed on the pages of Time Magazine for her contribution to environmental protection.

In its October 6 issue, the international magazine named her one of 30 scientists, activists, celebrities, innovators and financiers all over the world for their noteworthy efforts in preserving the planet.

The magazine cited her campaign for sustainable fish farming, rooted in the protection of mangrove forests, and lauded her “groundbreaking studies” on the life cycle of tiger prawns in the country, which “helped galvanize an aquaculture revolution.”

Primavera, who has done aquaculture research on giant tiger prawns for 15 years, welcomed the citation for helping bring her mangrove and environmental concerns mainstream.

“In history, during Spanish times, the first ponds were built. We had a ratio of half a hectare of mangrove to half a hectare of pond. I’ve chanced upon an ecology paper that said no more than 20% of mangrove should be converted to ponds. As a precautionary principle, there should be four hectares of mangrove to a hectare of pond. As of 1994, there were only 20,000 hectares of mangrove remaining as against 200,000 hectares of pond. We’re in trouble,” she laments, citing how the ratio has dwindled over time.

But, she notes, there have been a number of success stories. She cites a mangrove plantation in Kalibo, Aklan that has generated income for locals since it was opened as an ecotourism destination, and the successful preservation of a natural mangrove plantation in Bais Bay.

Mangrove greenbelts

Today, she hopes to see mangrove greenbelts or buffer zones restored as they should be, as mandated by law.

“I hope to see the enforcement of greenbelt laws which mandate 100-200 meters from shorelines and along rivers. Republic Act 8550 requires fishponds to have a greenbelt, but there isn’t enough enforement. For policy makers, walang pesos and centavos. If you give those figures in black and white, maybe they will be better convinced.”

She adds, practices may be better if locals were made better aware of the function of mangrove ecosystems, not just as spawning grounds for fish and other aquatic life but as coastal protection.

Her advocacy for mangrove, she recalls, began as child’s play.

“I used to climb trees,” she recalls. “We’d eat fruits on trees. When we went into aquaculture, I realized ponds had been replaced by mangrove. I have seen meters of coastlines eroded, communities forced back by waves, because there are no greenbelts to protect them.”

Native tree species

Aside from mangrove, she has also picked up a love for native tree species as her latest advocacy.

She believes in using available native trees, specially the fast growing ones like the Molave, Yakal, Apitong and Dao to replace the exotic trees that line our highways.

Today, there is no stopping Primavera’s dream of having a better environment even in some small way. She recently bought 3 hectares of land in Iloilo City with her retirement pay for a mini-forest of native tree species.

Philippine Daily Inquirer

HONG KONG — A novel by Filipino author Miguel Syjuco, which touches on 150 years of often turbulent Philippines history, has won a major Asian literary prize, organizers said.

Syjuco’s “Ilustrado” was awarded the second annual Man Asian Literary Prize, which is open to novels from the region not yet published in English.

“Ilustrado seems to us to possess formal ambition, linguistic inventiveness and socio-political insight in the most satisfying measure,” the panel of three judges said in a statement, after awarding the $10,000 prize Thursday.

“Brilliantly conceived, and stylishly executed, it covers a large and tumultuous historical period with seemingly effortless skill. It is also ceaselessly entertaining, frequently raunchy, and effervescent with humor.”

The story is a fictional account of a young Filipino investigating the life of his mentor Crispin Salvador, a real-life writer and thinker, after the man’s death.

It examines the disappearance of Salvador’s manuscript about the corruption behind rich Filipino families.

Syjuco beat off competition from fellow Filipino Alfred A. Yuson for “The Music Child,” Indian writers Kavery Nambisan for “The Story that Must Not be Told” and Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi for “The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay.”

Chinese writer Yu Hua was also shortlisted for “Brothers.”

The panel said the shortlist of five novels had shown the “great vitality” of the novel in a region “undergoing hectic and unexpected transformations.”

Last year’s inaugural prize was won by Chinese author Jiang Rong for his novel “Wolf Totem,” which has since been published by Penguin.

The prize is backed by the company that sponsors the prestigious Booker prize, based in Britain.

Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines— A spellbinding victory for Philippine cinema.

Visitors to the Cable News Network entertainment website voted Ishmael Bernal’s “Himala,” which starred Nora Aunor as a simple provincial girl turned faith healer, as the best movie of all time in the Asia-Pacific region, outclassing such greats as Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” and Ang Lee’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”

Others in the top 10 that vied for the honor, in which “Himala” was the only Filipino film, included Andrew Lau and Alan Mak’s “Mou Gaan Dou (Infernal Affairs)” from Hong Kong, Chan-wook Park’s “Old Boy” from South Korea, Hayao Miyazaki’s animated film “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away)” from Japan, Satyajit Ray’s “Pather Panchali” from India, Peter Weir’s “Gallipoli” from Australia, Wong Kar Wai’s “Chung Hing Sam Lam (Chungking Express)” from China, and Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s “Gabbeh” from Iran.

According to the CNN website, critics, industry insiders, Asian film stars, and CNN viewers chose the movies that landed in the shortlist of ten films. The online poll that ran in October determined the winner.

The Filipino classic, which was written by Ricky Lee and originally released in 1982 for the Metro Manila Film Festival, was announced the top vote-getter in the popular vote and named the winner of the CNN-APSA Viewers Choice Award for Best Asia-Pacific Film of All Time on Tuesday at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

Hundreds of film industry luminaries from around the world attended the event.