It's not really where you travel but where God wants you to be. I've learned this during my last travel in Thailand in December 2019. It's a good thing we were able to travel abroad before the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted all local and international travels. My daughter Angeline, together with her Ate Melissa, were supposed to visit Osaka and Hiroshima in November 2019. Un fortunately, we were denied the Japanese visa even if Angeline and I already  had travel history in Japan in 2017. Of course, we were saddened when our visa were denied. Angeline wanted to see Osaka again and meet friends, teachers at the Saori training center. Likewise, I was excited to meet my niece and her family again. They were based in Chiba Prefecture during our first trip in 2017 and we would be visiting them in her newfound place in Kure, Hiroshima, where she's currently working as a kindergarten teacher. But really God has other plans. And so we made it in Thailand instead. Just ...

Most industries which are continuously expanding such as construction, infrastructure and development mining find welding process as a vital part of their operation. Moreover, the welding process is also one of the widely used procedures in manufacturing with promising production demands from the automotive, shipbuilding, aerospace, furniture, and agriculture industries, to name a few. Like all other countries, welding in the Philippines continuously serves as a critical enabling technology. Unfortunately, with the existing project of the current administration, the Build, Build, Build (BBB) program, it has been found out that the country is in need of experts among our skilled workers – and that includes reliable tools and the latest technology in the welding industry.   Thus, the recent collaboration between Co Ban Kiat Hardware Inc. (CBK) and Lincoln Electric comes as an answered prayer for the Filipinos, at least in the welding department. Co Ban Kiat, known as...

She walks the talk. Livelihood programs and environmental issues are the closest to her heart. As a private citizen and way before she became chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, Senator Cynthia A. Villar has been very busy and active in implementing her own environmental programs (through Villar SIPAG or Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance). Her livelihood projects have environmental component since all of them use wastes as raw materials. These are water hyacinths for the water lily basket-weaving enterprise and the handmade paper factory; coconut husks for the coconet weaving enterprise and the charcoal-making factory; kitchen and garden wastes for the organic composting facility; and plastic wastes for the plastic recycling factory that produces school chairs.  “With the help of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), we give rotary composters to public markets and areas nationwide, for the people to pr...

With the advent of technology and globalization, no one remains to be just a citizen of his or her own country. He becomes a citizen of the world -- a global citizen—transcending color, creed and culture. The Labor market in the 21st century is in need of global skilled workers who are products of technical vocational education and training (TVET), trained to become  skilled professionals, equipped with practical and soft skills, backed up with professional subjects, and are licensed to perform their duty. Progressive countries are known to excel in the technical vocational (techvoc) industry. For one, Singapore makes headlines for always introducing new methods, new ideas, and new products. While Japan constantly introduces something new, and is always number one in technology innovation. Unfortunately, much has to be desired in the Philippines’ techvoc industry where graduates are looked down as second class citizens and whose products and services are questioned for...

Who doesn’t eat rice? Ask any Filipino and he or she surely loves eating rice and the many variants it is prepared. Unless, of course, he is on a very strict diet either for health or medical reason. But after that, for sure, he’ll turn to rice once again. Rice, after all, is the staple food in the country. It is the meal of most of us three times a day: for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In fact, steamed rice with a simple viand could make up for a meal. Fried rice, on the other hand, a popular meal for breakfast at home, is also served at restaurants with different toppings anytime of the day. With rice as Pinoy’s staple food, business buddies Ronald Allan Callao and Antonio  Atienza, drawn together by their similar passions for Filipino cuisine, came up with Boy Kanin, now a growing Filipino food business managed by MB Flavored Rice Corporation. Boy Kanin offers everyone’s favorite Filipino dish. It is every Juan’s companion for low-budget o...

Japan is trains, subways, bicycles and long walks. The Japanese love walking. I was told they can walk from one to three kilometers. It’s usual in Osaka from morning till night: foreign and local tourists with their luggage and suitcases rolling traverse the sidewalk either on their way to their hotel destination or the train station. Bicycles are also a transportation of choice.  Young and old, man or woman, students or the working class including fashionably-garbed women with makeup ride the bicycle. For longer trips, they take the bus or the trains on scheduled trips. Foreign and local tourists with their luggage in tow all walk to take the train. The Japanese people don’t necessarily need the English language or any other foreign language to survive. It is the guests who need to understand or learn their language. These are some important notes on my recent trip to Japan with my first-timer travel buddy, my 14-year old daughter, Angeline. Angeline is being...