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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and L’Oréal, a cosmetic giant, joined forces 12 years ago to support the cause of women in science and stressed the world’s need for science more than ever in the face of the current economic crisis. On 15 October 2009, UNESCO and L’Oréal announced the names of five exceptional women scientists who were chosen to receive the 2010 L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards in the Life Sciences. The jury composed of 18 eminent members of the scientific community was headed by the 1999 recipient of the Nobel Prize in medicine, Gunter Blobel.
Out of more than a thousand nominees worldwide, the Philippine candidate, Lourdes J. Cruz, Ph.D. was one of the five women scientists chosen to receive the award. National Scientist Lourdes J. Cruz is being honored for the discovery and elucidation of the biochemical and molecular nature of marine snail toxins that have been found to assist in the study of brain function.
Dr. Cruz finished her BS Chemistry at the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1962, and her MS and PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Iowa, USA in 1966 and 1968, respectively.
She started her career as research aide in 1962 at the International Rice Research Institute, where she returned after obtaining her PhD. She taught as assistant professor at the UP Department of Biochemistry in 1970 and became full professor in 1977.
From 1980 to 1986, Dr. Cruz served as chairperson of UP Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. For over 20 years, she also spent one to six months every year as research associate [1976-1986] and as research professor from 1987 to 2004 in University of Utah. She currently does research on neuroactive peptides and other marine toxins at the UP Marine Science Institute.
As a pioneer of Conus venom research, Dr. Cruz has greatly contributed to the isolation and characterization of Conus peptides (conopeptides). The work was started more than three decades ago at the University of the Philippines Manila in collaboration with Dr. Baldomero M. Olivera of the University of Utah. Aside from her studies on conopeptides, Dr. Cruz has been engaged in other researches, such as paralytic shellfish toxins and anti-TB compounds from marine organisms. Her team is currently involved in the development and adaptation of assays for marine toxins in the Philippines particularly the paralytic shellfish toxins, which are responsible for the highly negative impact of toxic algal blooms on the lives and livelihood of many Filipinos. She conceptualized and established the Rural Livelihood Incubator (Rural LINC) in 2001 with the help of volunteers and seed fund from private donor. One of the aims of Rural LINC is to generate employment opportunities and establish sustainable means of livelihood as long-term solutions to poverty and socio-political instability in rural areas.
Dr. Cruz has authored over 130 scientific publications with students, collaborators and staff. In 1981, she was one of recipients of Outstanding Young Scientist award from the National Academy of Science and Technology Philippines, and elected to the Academy in 1986. She is the first OYS awardee to become a National Scientist. In 1993, she received the fourth Sven Brohult Award given by the International Foundation for Science (IFS) every three years to an outstanding IFS grantee. So far, she is the only Filipino Sven Brohult Awardee. In 2001, Dr. Cruz became the second Filipino to receive the ASEAN Outstanding Scientist and Technologist Award.
For her remarkable achievements that are beneficial to the country and the world, and to the cause of women, National Scientist Lourdes J. Cruz truly deserves to be the 1st Filipina to receive a L’Oréal – UNESCO Award for Women in Science. The awards ceremony will take place on 04 March 2010 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, with each of the five laureates receiving a $100,000 prize for their contributions to scientific advancement in the field of Life Sciences.
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Pushcart classes help break gang chain
CAVITE CITY, Philippines (CNN) -- At 16, Rhandolf Fajardo reflects on his former life as a gang member."My gang mates were the most influential thing in my life," says Fajardo, who joined a gang when he was in sixth grade. "We were pressured to join."
He's not alone. In the Philippines, teenage membership in urban gangs has surged to an estimated 130,000 in the past 10 years, according to the Preda Foundation, a local human rights charity.
"I thought I'd get stuck in that situation and that my life would never improve," recalls Fajardo. "I would probably be in jail right now, most likely a drug addict -- if I hadn't met Efren."
Efren Peñaflorida, 28, also was bullied by gangs in high school. Today, he offers Filipino youth an alternative to gang membership through education. Vote now for the CNN Hero of the Year
"Gang members are groomed in the slums as early as 9 years old," says Peñaflorida. "They are all victims of poverty."
For the past 12 years, Peñaflorida and his team of teen volunteers have taught basic reading and writing to children living on the streets. Their main tool: A pushcart classroom.
Stocked with books, pens, tables and chairs, his Dynamic Teen Company recreates a school setting in unconventional locations such as the cemetery and municipal trash dump.
Peñaflorida knows firsthand the adversity faced by these children. Born into a poor family, he lived in a shanty near the city dump site. But he says he refused to allow his circumstances to define his future.
"Instead of being discouraged, I promised myself that I would pursue education," he recalls. "I will strive hard; I will do my best."
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In high school, Peñaflorida faced a new set of challenges. Gang activity was rampant; they terrorized the student body, vandalized the school and inducted members by forcing them to rape young girls, he says.
"I felt the social discrimination. I was afraid to walk down the street."
Peñaflorida remembers standing up to a gang leader, refusing to join his gang. That confrontation proved fateful. At 16, he and his friends "got the idea to divert teenagers like us to be productive," he says.
He created the Dynamic Teen Company to offer his classmates an outlet to lift up themselves and their community. For Peñaflorida, that meant returning to the slums of his childhood to give kids the education he felt they deserved.
"They need education to be successful in life. It's just giving them what others gave to me," he says.
Today, children ranging from ages 2 to 14 flock to the pushcart every Saturday to learn reading, writing, arithmetic and English from Peñaflorida and his trained teen volunteers.
Watch Peñaflorida and his group in action with their push cart classroom »
"Our volunteers serve as an inspiration to other children," he says.
The group also runs a hygiene clinic, where children can get a bath and learn how to brush their teeth.
Since 1997, an estimated 10,000 members have helped teach more than 1,500 children living in the slums. The organization supports its efforts by making and selling crafts and collecting items to recycle.
Through his group, Peñaflorida has successfully mentored former gang members, addicts and dropouts, seeing potential where others see problems.
"Before, I really didn't care for my life," says Michael Advincula, who started doing drugs when he was 7. "But then Efren patiently dug me from where I was buried. It was Efren who pushed me to get my life together."
Today, Advincula is a senior in high school and one of the group's volunteers.
Peñaflorida hopes to expand the pushcart to other areas, giving more children the chance to learn and stay out of gangs.
"I always tell my volunteers that you are the change that you dream and I am the change that I dream. And collectively we are the change that this world needs to be."
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On September 25, 2009, Typhoon Ondoy hit the Philippines, causing massive flooding in many parts of the country. Hundreds of people have died with many more still missing, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced by the destruction to homes and property.
You can help by donating to the Philippine National Red Cross and UNICEF.
For more information, please visit
www.redcross.org.ph
www.unicef.org
www.worldvision.org.ph
All proceeds will go towards rescue efforts and relief goods such as food and drinking water.
Please give whatever you can. Our great nation and our countrymen need you today.
Thank you very much.
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Cristeta Comerford brings such incredible talent to the White House operation and came very highly regarded from the Bush family," Michelle Obama said in a statement released by the transition team. "Also the mom of a young daughter, I appreciate our shared perspective on the importance of healthy eating and healthy families." Comerford is a naturalized U.S. citizen from the Philippines who studied French cooking in Vienna, Austria, and specializes in ethnic and American cuisine
Cristeta Comerford brings such incredible talent to the White House operation and came very highly regarded from the Bush family. Also the mom of a young daughter, I appreciate our shared perspective on the importance of healthy eating and healthy families. I look forward to working with her in the years to come.
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The group brought home a grand prize (Prague, Czech Republic) and several first prizes in prestigious competitions in Torrevieja, Spain and Gorizia, Italy.
Awards include: 1st prize, Polyphony category, Best Interpretation of a Habanera, and Premio del Publico (Prize of Public) at the 51st Certamen Internacional de Habaneras y Polifonia de Torrevieja, Spain; Grand Prize winner (Laureate of the Festival), and 1st prize, both in Mixed Choir and Chamber Choir categories at the 3rd International Choir Competition of Sacred Music (Musica Sacra Praga), Czech Republic;
1st prize, Folkloric category and Best Interpretation of an Obligatory Piece at the 44th "C.A. Seghizzi" International May Choir Competition, Italy; and, 4th place, Chamber Choir category at the 28th "Prof. Georgi Dimitrov" International May Choir Competition, Bulgaria.
The group also performed at various festivals like "Arezzo Sbandieratori Medieval Feast" and the "37th Festival Internazionale del Folklore", in Aviano and Piancavallo, Italy, respectively; and the famous 13th Festival Internazionale de Chant Choral de Nancy in France, where UPSA earned accolades and received standing ovations in all their performances.
Other highlights of the UPSA tour were the visits they made at the Home for the Aged in Luzern, Switzerland and Alsace, France; the Cancer Institute in Aviano, Italy; and, the Regional Prison in Strasburg, France.
The group also visited a few schools in Nancy, France and Athen, Greece and conducted workshops.
In the country, the group is set to hold two "Homecoming Concerts" on Oct. 6, 7 p.m., at the Church of the Risen Lord, UP Diliman, Q.C., and on Oct. 22, 7 p.m., at the Philamlife Auditorium, U.N. Ave., Manila.
These concerts will feature some of their winning songs like Toledo's "Alitaptap", Fuentes/ Sanchez's "Tu" and Guiseppe Bianco's "In Laude."
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Rafael "Paeng" Nepomuceno (born January 30, 1957 in Manila) is a Filipino and is a 6-Time World Bowling Champion and is acknowledged as the greatest international bowler in the history of the sport. He has won the World Cup of Bowling four times in three different decades:
Nepomuceno's two other world titles are from winning the World's Invitational Tournament which was participated by the World's best bowlers and was held in Sam's Town bowling center in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 8, 1984 which was a global event to showcase the sport in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Paeng also won the World Tenpin Masters championship in London, England on March 7, 1999. He is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for three records: 1) for being the only athlete in the world to win world titles in three different decades- 70's,80's and the 90's, 2) for being the youngest ever to win the Bowling World Cup (at 19 years of age), and 3) for having won the most number of career championship titles worldwide. In total, Paeng has won 118 career international championship tournament titles in five continents. Paeng who still actively competes up to this day is the only bowling athlete to have won championship titles in the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Paeng is the Philippines' most decorated athlete. He is the only bowling athlete in the world who has received the prestigious International Olympic Committee President's Trophy which is the highest sports award that can be given to an athlete. Paeng was the first international male bowling athlete to be enshrined in the International Bowling Hall of Fame and Museum based in St. Louis, Missouri in 1993 and his seven foot image is displayed at the entrance of the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame .In November 1999, the Federation Internationale des Quilleurs (FIQ) named Paeng as the "International Bowling Athlete of the Millennium."
In a ceremony held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates during the World Championships, an FIQ official cited Paeng with these words: "No international bowling athlete is more deserving of recognition than Paeng. In addition to his long list of well-known achievements as a world champion in three decades, Paeng truly has been and continues to be an extraordinary ambassador for Filipino sport."
Paeng is the only athlete in the Philippines who has been given the highest award to a Filipino by three Philippine presidents. In 1984, Paeng was awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit by President Ferdinand E. Marcos. In 1999, President Joseph E. Estrada awarded the Philippine Legion of Honor and in 2008, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo awarded Paeng, the Order of Lakandula with Class of Champion for Life and was declared Best Filipino athlete of all time. Both the Philippine Senate and House of Congress has declared Paeng the "Greatest Philippine Athlete of All Time".
In its September 2003 issue, the Prestigious Bowlers Journal International named Paeng as the Greatest International Bowler of All Time.
Paeng was named Athlete of the Century by the Philippine Sportswriters Association in the end of 1999 and Athlete of the Millennium in 2000. He was also named Philippine Athlete of the year 5 times by the Philippine Sportswriters Association which is a record in most number of times named Athlete of the Year. He was the first athlete to be inducted in the PSA (Philippine Sportswriters Association) Hall of Fame in 1993.
Paeng has been honored by being chosen to be the Philippine Flag Bearer of the Philippine Delegation in various World Games, Asian Games and the South East Asian Games.
Paeng was named World Bowler of the Year three times (1984,1985 and 1992) by the World Bowling Writers. He was also a TOYM awardee for sports in 1978 and he is the youngest up to this date to have received this prestigious award given by the Philippine Jaycees.
At present Paeng has been designated by the USBC (United States Bowling Congress) as its International Bowling Ambassador for Bowling and promotes bowling around the world and he also Certifies Coaches for USBC. He is available for clinics and appearances.
(from www.wikipedia.org)
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Charice is the eldest of two children of Ricky and Racquel Pempengco. She has a younger brother named Carl. Her parents separated when she was only a toddler and she stayed with her mother since then. She started singing at age 4 with Racquel acting as her primary voice coach.
At age 7, she started joining amateur singing contests mostly in town fiestas in their province of Laguna. She also had joined several competitions on TV thus making her a veteran in this field at a young age. She had joined over 80 contests in total.
Her favorite singers include Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Regine Velasquez.
In 2007, a series of YouTube videos of Charice's performances posted by an avid fan called FalseVoice brought her to the attention of Ten Songs/Productions based in Sweden. On June 2007, she flew to Stockholm, Sweden and recorded seven songs for them.
Another video performance influential in her internet stardom was her cover of the Dreamgirls' anthem And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going. This particular video became a hit in UCC, Korean's version of YouTube, which gained her an invite to perform on StarKing, a famous talent show in South Korea on October 2007. On the show, she also performed a duet with popular Korean group, Super Junior's member, Kyuhyun, with the song, 'A Whole New World' from Aladdin. She also sang a short rendition of 'U' by Super Junior. She later appeared on another episode of Star King and performed I Will Survive and did another duet with Korean female singer, Lena Park, singing Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You. She also sang a short version of Listen.
In December 2007, she flew to the US for the first time after being personally invited by Ellen DeGeneres to come and guest on her show. She performed Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You and her popular cover of And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going.
Right after she came back from Ellen, she became an instant celebrity in the Philippines becoming one of the most sought-after young singers in the country.
In April 2008, she wowed the UK audience as she guested in London's The Paul O'Grady Show where she performed two songs and earned standing ovations, the first to happen since the show started.
In May 2008, Charice guested on The Oprah Winfrey Show in their World's Most Smartest Kids episode. She sang Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing that left Oprah and the audience in awe.
In the same month, Charice was introduced to the international concert arena by no less, David Foster on his tribute concert called David Foster and Friends at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
In July 2008, she was personally invited by Andrea Bocelli to be one of his guests on his birthday concert titled The Cinema Tribute which was held in Lajatico, Italy. Aside from her solo performances, she also did a soulful duet of the song The Prayer with Andrea Bocelli. On September 6 2008, she performed before more than 50,000 football fans at Feyenoord's Centennial Anniversary titled Festival of the Century in The Netherlands where she sang the team's theme song, You'll Never Walk Alone.
On September 9 2008, she once again guested on The Oprah Winfrey Show on the 'Dream Comes True' episode where Oprah referred to her as 'The Most Talented Girl in the World.' She sang My Heart Will Go On with David Foster on piano. After which, Oprah surprised her when she had the chance to meet Celine Dion via satellite to receive a special proposal to sing a duet with her in Madison Square Garden.
On September 15, 2008, Charice finally sang a duet with Celine Dion. They dedicated the song Because You Loved Me to her mother who was also in the audience. Their duet brought the audience to their feet and received raving applause.
(from www.wikipedia.org)
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