DOT, OPM rally behind balikbayan

We are in "interesting times." Bad times, everyone murmurs. But this is also an opportunity for each one of us to show our worth as Filipinos and human beings who can make this world a better place to live in. Everyone can do his share at making life easier. Our president cannot "micromanage" our individual lives. "Micromanage" has become the "in" word in political conversations.

In an effort to recapture the image of the Philippines as a safe and ideal destination, the Department of Tourism (DOT), in cooperation with the Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-aawit (OPM), is tapping local talents in the entertainment industry to be "ambassadors of goodwill" through a series of road shows abroad that will draw an emotional appeal to overseas Filipinos and tourists as well.

This project also aims to entice our OFWs to come home. A balikbayan can avail of a package of incentives and privileges until December 2001 which includes special rates in accommodation, ticket fare, cargo, telephone calls and inter-island passage. He can also avail of shopping discounts and special arrangements with credit card companies.

The DOT and OPM have signed a memorandum of agreement for this ambitious but very worthy project. The agreement will facilitate for our artists smoother exit procedures and VIP treatment and secure arrivals to their city of destination.

This project is good news for us in the entertainment industry. Of course, we haven’t recovered from the shock inflicted on us by the plan to increase by a 100 percent the withholding tax of entertainers that hangs over our heads like the sword of Damocles. But with the indefatigable DOT Secretary Richard Gordon and the unflappable OPM President Mitch Valdez looking over us, somehow we feel protected.

A wiseman once said "that wisdom is not seeing something new, but seeing something old with new eyes."

True enough, we are often cynical when we view the world, thinking that there is nothing new it can offer, that there is nothing exciting to discover. This cynicism is viral. It is pandemic.

There is a deep hunger in the world for wisdom, and it is never satisfied by the newest, latest and most high-tech gadget. It is precisely this sort of wisdom that we seek, this ability to look upon obvious aspects of our everyday lives with renewed eyes.

In an effort to reclaim this wisdom – the capacity to see with new eyes, Jesuit Communications brings together the reflections and homilies of four insightful people – educator Johnny Go, physicist Jett Villarin, theologian Danny Huang and political scientist Jojo Magadia – all Jesuits and masters in their respective fields, in a humble volume titled With New Eyes: The World As Seen By Preachers of the Word. Selected and edited by Jesuit scholastic Ari Dy, and with a foreword by Fr. Catalino Arevalo, the book gathers the wisdom of these young priests as they strive to lead the people of God towards a deeper understanding of their lives, their loves and their world, to meet themselves again, to stumble into God and gaze upon Him with new eyes.

If wisdom is seeing old things with new eyes, then allow the thoughts and prayers, the visions of a teacher and a physicist, a theologian and a political scientist, shepherds all, to help you experience the world anew.

Centenary Reader

The Supreme Court of the Philippines continued its Centennial celebration with the launching of the Supreme Court Centenary Reader, a unique compilation of selected Supreme Court Decisions of the past 100 years. The launching was held at the Luna Hall of the National Museum at a special invitational cocktails organized by the Centenary Celebrations Executive Committee and the Philippine Judiciary Foundation in cooperation with FIAT.

During the launch, the book was presented to the occasion’s guest of honor, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was introduced by Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr.

Directed by Freddie Santos, the event was ably hosted by singing lawyer Dot Ramos-Gancayco and featured selections from the three volumes read aloud by newscaster Kata Inocencio and Freddie Santos. Beautiful musical intervals were performed by the Sarreal Brothers Wind Quartet.