Break the Silence: Global Run for PWDs at SM Seaside Cebu City

With Rob, Rina and Lea after finishing our 3K run

March 19, Sunday, Cebu City --- I was so glad to have represented SKILLS in the primary run for Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) organized by the Philippine Accessible Disability Services, Inc. (PADS). Dubbed as, "Break the Silence: Global Run," PADS hosted approximately "10,000 global change-makers of all abilities and ages to participate in this fun run, in cities around the world," cited its press release. PADS stated that their goal is not to break world records. Their goal is to generate a wave of awareness across the globe which will contribute to STOP the sexual abuse of Deaf women and children. 

With Lea and Denven (right), our Deaf graduate

       The members of PSC's Runners Club were also present in the event. Denven Verano, one of our Deaf graduates now working as Housekeeping Staff at Quest Hotel, joined the Global Run with his colleagues in their community at Gualandi Mission for the Deaf. I was happy that my Banilad co-resident, Lea, ran with me! We were also delighted to see Rina, one of Banilad's friends, who is now part of SM Seaside's Marketing Department. Rob Gomm, PADS' event organizer, couldn't stop thanking everyone who came and supported the run.

It was an experience to leave so early in the morning, with the stars still out, and travel down south. The South Road Properties (SRP) look really scenic at the break of dawn, as we jogged, walked and ran along the highway, side-by-side the beautiful sea and the mountain ranges of Cebu which form the backdrop of SM Seaside City! Given our condition and capacity, Lea and I managed to finish 3K in less than 30 minutes! It was our full exercise for the day. We were laughing to admit that we suffered the consequences of this early morning run the following day! This is due to not regularly exercising!

The primary run was set here in Cebu City, where Filipinos and international guests took to the streets to show their support. Simultaneously, other cities in the country also hosted runs with the support of SM Malls. Manila also joined the event, with runners converging at McKinley West Park, Chateau Road, The Fort, Taguig City. On the same day, March 19, there had been confirmed runs across North and South America, Europe, Australia, Asia and the Pacific nations. The final run of the day was hosted by Google at the Googleplex  in Mountain View, California, USA.    

The race categories consisted of 3K (Php 350), 6K (Php 450), 12K (Php 550) and 21K (Php 650). For Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) who joined the event, a special 1K category was included. Race proceeds will be used for the awareness campaign of PADS' flagship project, Break the Silence, the prevention of sexual abuse of Deaf women and children in the Philippines.

      

Summer 2017: The Charm of Southern Cebu

At Mantayupan Falls with our Senior HS and  Tech-Voc team

We had loads of fun visiting Southern Cebu's very own Barili, Alegria and Badian municipalities during our teambuilding activity this year! Our first stop was Mantayupan Falls in Barili, Batong Malunhaw in Alegria, and Kawasan Falls in Badian.

Warming up for our first game

There were 4 vans that transported all 55 of us --- the staff of PSEFI-SKILLS along with some family members --- to Barili where you can find the majestic waterfalls of Mantayupan. We stayed there for lunch and afterwards, headed to the beachfront of Batong Malunhaw, which is Cebuano for "Green Stone." This was where we had the first round of games prepared for us by Janice and Mitziel, our HR and Guidance Counselor respectively. The following day, some of us tried going up the picturesque Kawasan Falls, a three-layered waterfall system located at Barangay Matutinao in Badian, Cebu. 

On the way to our location, we saw several tourists converge at a particular point where the passageway for Canyoneering is situated. We have heard so many testimonials about this kind of sport, which is drawing attention from a lot of local and international tourists, and the media. I even met Jen, a young professional from Manila, who came here to Cebu to precisely experience Canyoneering! And she said she loved it so much!

We are very grateful for the support of the Primary Group of Builders for this yearly escapade where we are given an opportunity to bond as a company. We have seen one another in a different light, away from our usual setting in the work place. Rest and recreation is truly a must to have a well-rounded character. It ensures one of preserving good physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health and well-being. And doing so with a bunch of happy and positive people is more than just a plus! It's like winning the jackpot, or the lottery, if you may!

Some quick facts about the tourist attractions we visited:

Tilapia-an in Barili

Barili, Cebu is located 61 km southwest of Cebu City. It borders on Dumanjug to the south, to the north with Aloguinsan; to the east with Carcar and Sibonga; and to the west lies the Tañon Strait. The word barili comes from the name of a local grass called balili. A cross was erected by Spanish conquistadores on their arrival at 1602, and still exists today. Its main tourist attraction is the Matayupan Falls. On the way, you will also get to pass by Tilapia-an and the famous Milk Station of Barili along the national highway.

The scenic beach front of Batong Malunhaw in Alegria

Alegria, Cebu is one of the 44 towns and considered a 4th class municipality of Cebu Province. It is bounded by Badian in the north, and Dalaguete in the east. Farming and fishing are the main sources of livelihood in this municipality, along with handicraft-making primarily using bamboo. No wonder, the town's festival is called Kawayan, a Visayan word for bamboo, celebrated every December 2. Townfolks celebrate this day with street dances and presentations by showing their locally made bamboo products or displaying them everywhere for people to see. Kawayan Festival is celebrated as part of the town's fiesta in honor of St. Francis Xavier, their patron saint.

Canyoneering in Badian

Badian, Cebu is located 98 km southwest of Cebu City. It is bounded to the north by Moalboal, to the south by Alegria, to the east by Dalaguete and Argao, and to the west by Tañon Strait. Its main tourist attraction is the Kawasan Falls, where Canyoneering is offered to tourists who need to go upstream Kawasan's waterfalls in order to experience it. 

Here's hoping we could all go back to this part of Cebu which has so much to offer not just during summer but the whole year round!

Photo credits courtesy of Reylie Bracero, raymondvasquez.com, Merry Grace Villegas, PSEFI official pictures.

PGB Palaro 2016 Closing Ceremonies

We all had an enjoyable afternoon last October 8, 2016, Saturday when we had our sportsfest's closing activity here in the Old Sacred Heart-Ateneo de Cebu Gym, SKILLS Campus. Everyone from the Primary Group of Builders took the time off to cheer for their team in our last event this year, DanceSports. Our company was represented by our young staff, Javic and Grace, who did their very best along with their team dancers from Primary Structures Corporation.

The afternoon kicked off with all of us registering to get our food chits, which served as our payment in all the food stalls that were provided by our Human Resources Department. Everyone was either wearing their Home Run 2016 singlet or their respective team shirts. I formed part of the Maroon Bahi Formworks Team, and was glad to see some of our teammates enjoying the afternoon bringing their small kids along!

Our COO, Ma'am Paulette D. Liu, attended the opening program with daughter Patty, who awarded the team winners per sporting event: Basketball, Badminton, Volleyball, Table Tennis, Chess and other board games. At around 2:00 pm, everyone was enjoined to go to the bleachers and occupy the designated area per team. We witnessed 4 groups vying for the Best DanceSports team of the year. Our team got the 2nd place, which was not so bad, considering that most of our dancers are relatively newbies. Their nights of dance practices paid off somehow.

There were also some fun games situated around the gym, plus a photo exhibit featuring the best shots taken during the different events we had for a period of five months. I went around with Senior High School faculty friends, Rochelle and Annaliza, in taking a look at all the winning photographs.

All in all, the PGB Palaro was a fantastic way to feel that we are part of one big family! We all got to meet again those we coordinate with regularly from the different affiliates, seeing them in a more relaxed setting, far from our usual work atmosphere. Plus, we made new friends and got acquainted with the newbies of the PGB family!

Till next year's PGB Palaro!

Radio Rounds 2016: Cebu City's DYAB, DYKC and Y101 FM

From l-r: With Ma'am Paulette, Mr. Jun Perez, Ms. Michelle and Gladys

Media exposure helps ensure that your services figure in the minds of the people you wish to reach. As we gain ground with our Senior High School offering over at SKILLS, we are grateful to the arrangements we have had the past months to be one of the guests of three radio programs that have a strong following among the Cebuanos: ABS-CBN's DYAB or Abante Bisaya radio, DYIO's Y101 FM, owned by GVM/Radio TV Corporation, and RPN's DYKC-Kusog Cebu.

Ms. Gladys Cabañero of Primary Homes, Inc. (PHI) played an important role in helping us promote SKILLS especially since we cannot really compete with the big universities here in Cebu City, in terms of offering the technical-vocational track of the Senior High School program. Thanks to PHI's big event for the year, Home Run 2016, we were featured several times in selected radio and television stations, with the excuse of being the main beneficiary of this run for a cause. Just recently, we were also glad to be the guest of RPN's DYKC-Kusog Cebu, in Tinubdan Sa Kalamboan, the radio program of Mr. Jeffrey "Ka Jeffrox" Cal. We were able to talk about the tech-voc scholarship programs awarded by TESDA Region VII this year. Guesting at DYKC for the second time is really enriching. Thank you to Sir Jeff and Engr. Berty who made it possible.

With Gladys and Mayline in an early
morning marketing break at Y101 FM 

Our COO, Mrs. Paulette D. Liu, was ever supportive in this marketing endeavor, knowing that we need to keep on working hard to make our advocacies widely recognized and accepted here in Cebu City. The Primary Group of Builders takes pride in the fact that with good people in the company, we can always forge ahead in coming up with different projects for poverty alleviation.

With Sir Bob and Ka Jeffrox at RPN's
Tinubdan sa Kalamboan program

SKILLS continues to be a leading institution that is committed to education as a way to reduce poverty incidence in the province, and consequently, in the entire country.

  

Cordova, Cebu Coastal Clean Up With Alegria Palms Dos Admin Team

With the Admin team of Alegria Palms Dos

April 9, 2016, Cordova, Cebu --- We left early for the Municipality of Cordova, Cebu to meet up with the Admin Team of Primary's project in the north of Cebu: Alegria Palms Dos. We have been anticipating this day, the first initiative of our corporate social responsibility program, with our Foundation as main collaborator. 

Representing SKILLS with me were Mayline and Engr. Teddy Taray. Ma'am Tess, our Executive Director, couldn't come because of a prior commitment. So we took on the responsibility to give the Alegria team all the support they need. We were happy that this has finally pushed through after an apprehension that arose earlier in the planning stage regarding the best date to schedule it.

Our volunteers from Alegria Palms Dos,
getting all the trash they can get their hands on

April 9 is the National Day of Valor (Araw ng Kagitingan) in the country. Being a holiday, people were really expected to troop to the tourist spots, and what better tourist spots to go to this summer than Cebu's beaches? There we were, witnessing loads and loads of pump boats transporting tourists, mostly coming from big families, gathering at the Roro Port where our coastal clean-up will take place. Mayline even met former trainees who were there with their barkada. We first had to assemble at the port and organized ourselves for the clean-up which took place for a little more than an hour.

Alegria was prepared with garbage cans, sacks and metal trash pickers. I wasn't expecting such a huge area where trash was unbelievably abundant! A part of the beach and a huge area where there are big boulders were the places we actually cleaned. On the side, we did some marketing campaign for our tech-voc programs among those in the port terminal and nearby local stores.

Cordova's Roro Port after the coastal clean-up

All in all, this activity was enriching for us. We yet have to give feedback to the municipal officials on the measures that can be done to make tourists refrain from polluting the port's surroundings with plastic trash. As always, we need to go through a deep and patient work of educating our people. I guess we need to somehow live with resistance and hard-headedness, until people get and see the right direction to go.

More power to the Municipality of Cordova, Cebu! More power to Alegria Palms Dos!

The Sirao Flower Garden Tucked in Cebu's Mountains

We had a chance to see a growing attraction here
in Cebu this March --- the Sirao Flower Garden in Brgy. Sirao, one of the mountain barangays of Cebu City. By simply going over the internet, you would discover that the place is now known to be the Little Amsterdam of the Philippines. And the pictures can attest to that!

However, when our group went to take a peek, I must say we weren't really so mesmerized at the place, seeing a very small volume of flowers. There were even patches of land that showed newly transplanted celosia flowers that are yet to bloom for the next couple of weeks. Perhaps it was wrong timing. But then again, it pays to see what many people here in the province are talking about!

The Sirao Flower Farm was featured in Sun Star Cebu last October 2015. Brgy. Sirao is about 17 kilometers uphill from JY Center in Lahug. You will pass by Brgy. Busay going up until the avenue that will lead you further down the mountain slope where Brgy. Sirao is neatly tucked. The flowers you will see there are the flame-like celosia or "burlas" in Cebuano, the brain celosia, known as coxcomb or "tapay" as suggestive of a rooster's comb. There are also deep-hued daisies or gerberas, the solemn white chrysanthemum, and the playful aster or what one flower arranger calls "baby's breath."  

Well, even if it was a bit disappointing, we tried our best to enjoy what we could see and so took some pictures of the place that is Sirao --- a place where the sun is happily shining to bring in joy and nourishment for the equally happy flowers here in the beautiful island of Cebu! You may visit Sirao in May when the flowers are expected to bloom at their very best!


Note: Left photo courtesy of http://www.ourtraveldates.com/, from the Instagram of tonipino.

Loboc Youth Ambassador's Band: Preserving the Culture of Music in Loboc, Bohol

I was so happy to have visited a school that is committed to preserve the culture of music in Loboc, during a recent trip I was grateful to undertake in Bohol province here in Central Visayas. I was not planning to go some place else after being in Tagbilaran City, but special thanks to Dr. Myra Melisimo, one of our friends in Bohol, who insisted that I visit her father's project in their hometown which is famous for the beautiful Loboc River and home to the world-renowned Loboc Childen's Choir.

I did not know that there is another famous group of young boys and girls who sweat it out learning how to play brass instruments, in an effort to preserve their Lobocanon culture and tradition. They call themselves the Loboc Youth Ambassador's Band. I was not expecting to see a school that is much advanced in terms of resources, i.e. with a complete set of brass musical instruments like the trombone, clarinet, trumpet, french horn, tuba, cornet and bugle! It is unimaginable to discover this wonderful school quietly but effectively situated at the heart of Loboc!

The Loboc School of Music is the educational center where the Loboc Youth Ambassador's Band was born. It is a project of the Loboc Youth Education Association, Inc. headed by Mr. Argee Melisimo. I learned directly from Mr. Melisimo that they wanted to preserve the music, songs and dances of Loboc. To do this, they called on all interested children from Grades 3 to 4th year high school to be trained in reading notes and playing musical instruments, which are all provided for free! I am moved to know that there are still people like Mr. Melisimo who is passionate and committed to helping his fellow Lobocanons. To date, there are more than 600 students coming from 28 barangays of Loboc who are benefiting from the Loboc School of Music.

The Loboc Youth Ambassador's Band recently had a concert here in Mandaue City, Cebu, entitled "Rhythm of the Night," organized by Quota International Region 19. This event was a fundraising project for the benefit of various organizations like the Hard of Hearing Scholars of Lipata SPED School, Basak National High School for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing Athletes of Mandaue Central Integrated SPED School, Bantayan Central Elementary and Butuan City SPED Schools, to name a few.

May there be more and more people who could avail of the scholarships that the Loboc School of Music offers to the youth of their town. I also hope that many more groups and individuals can find their sense of fulfillment in supporting this noteworthy endeavor.

More power to the Loboc School of Music and the Loboc Youth Ambassador's Band!