2010 02/17-02/23

MANILA MAIL COMMUNITY

Happy birthday (Feb 14th) to TV Super Celebrity Kris Aquino who recently expressed her opinion on the 'Fair Election Act' to be unfair.

Sarah Geronimo

will be back performing in the Bay Area on May 28th.

MacWorld 2010 without Apple's Steve Jobs opened last week at the Moscone and GeekWorld is obviously not the same, with diminished crowd, down from last year's approx. 90,000 attendees to this year's only about 30,000.

Filipino-American Artist thrives at the downtown San Francisco's 1:00 AM Gallery event last week- Joseph Paul David from Cincinnati, shown here with his original work and the Calendar version of it.

Bringing Sarah Geronimo back in the Bay Area this coming May 28th is Concert Producer, Joan J. De Leon, left, shown here with beautiful daughter, Natalie during the Cache Creek Casino pre-Valentine's Day concert ofChristian Bautista & Karylle.

US Immigation Officer, Tim Evans, right, visits the most flamboyant First Lady of all, Imelda R. Marcos at her McKinley condominium in Makati City last week. She lives on the same heavily-secured building as PLDT's Manny Pangilinan and GMA's prized possession, Richard Gutierrez where you need to be on the appointment list to be able to even get in.

Journey’s Arnel PinedaFoundation Launches its First Medical Mission

FOOTHILL RANCH, CA – In cooperation with Quezon City General Hospital , Beta Sigma Fraternity, and the ABE Movement, the Arnel Pineda Foundation (APF) hosted its first medical mission, Mission of Hope, in Metro Manila, Philippines on January 14 and 16. This all-in-one mission provided basic medical, dental, and vision care services to the poor. With the help of over 250 volunteers including 70 medical doctors, dentists, and optometrists, the Mission of Hope benefited over 8,000 impoverished children and adults. All children were also given meals catered by Tamayo, and families also received assortment of dry foods and canned goods. Toys and other basic necessities were also given at the site.

With the recent tropical storm Ketsana, known locally asOndoy, that hit Metro Manila back in September of last year, the APF Mission of Hope was able to aid those who have been affected by the devastation. “This medical mission is part of the emergency response to help the victims of the recent calamity, especially children, who have no access to medical care,” says Merlita Helms, APF President and Co-Founder.

Dr. Joseph Mendoza of Northern California, Dr. Emilie Yambao of Quezon City General Hospital , and Rommel Abesamis from the ABE Movement headed APF’s Mission of Hope. Medical mission organizers in from the US included APF Board Members, Glenda Bule and Merlita Helms; Fundraising Coordinator, Anabelle Abesamis; and Philippine Representative of APF, Miles Casala. Over 30 volunteers from the US also joined the mission as volunteers.

Corporate sponsors for the APF medical mission were eyewear companies Oakley, Oliver Peoples, and N3L Optics, as well as pharmaceutical companies Neoderm Inc., Centinela Hospital Medical Center , and Bayer Healthcare LLC.

Major financial contributors included the legendary American rock band, Journey, the Josh Groban Foundation/Grobanites for Charity, the Golden State Warriors, and private donors. In addition, the Arnel Pineda Foundation raised over $40,000 since October 2009 for its Mission of Hope. The remaining funds will go towards 2010 street education programs.

About the Arnel Pineda Foundation

The Arnel Pineda Foundation (APF) is a 501 (c)(3) public charity foundation. Founded by Arnel Pineda, lead singer of rock band Journey, APF was incorporated in October 2008 as a non-profit charity organization in the state of California . APF holds numerous fundraising events in various states and countries with its ultimate goal in mind - to provide essential needs that every child deserves, and to help provide a safe environment where they can learn, grow, and achieve. By encouraging and giving these children incentives to learn, APF will be providing means and tools to educate the street children and giving them hope through education. For more information, please visitwww.arnelpinedafoundation.org.

SEEN IN THE CITY

Presenting..Joseph Paul David, Filipino Artist

At least 3 artworks stood out in our eyes at the recent downtownSan Francisco ’s 1:00 A.M. Gallery 2010 Lunar Calendar event hosted and sponsored by Coca-cola with Target, Inc. Upon further prodding, we learned that those pieces belong to a single Asian-American artist. His name is Joseph Paul David or simply, Paul David. Paul David is a Filipino-born visual artist currently based in the Greater Cincinnati Area. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Fine arts at University of Santo Tomas in Manila . He started his career as a working student for a small marketing communications firm while finishing his thesis. He then moved on to work in publishing as lead graphic designer and later as design director for Blue Collar Magazine published monthly by Easter Lily Concepts. Constantly looking for new things to learn, he then moved to the advertising field and worked as an art director for HK McCann (now Harrison Communications). In 1999 he entered the Toy Industry and moved to Hong Kong and China where he worked as Product Designer and later as Design Lead for a large trading company.

In 2001 Paul finally migrated to the US with his wife and kids to settle here permanently. He now works as a Freelance Designer and continues to nurture his passion for creating Art and exploring different media. He finds inspiration for his works from all his experiences, but is also influenced by the great works of artists such as el Greco, Klimt and Filipino artists like Botong Francisco, Bencab and Elmer Borlongan.

Today he continues to seek new ways of visual expressions which is seen in the variety of his styles.

TO-BE-SEEN IN THE CITY

Sarah Geronimo Bay Area Concert on May 28th

We bumped into Concert Producer, Ms. Joann J. De Leon at the Christian Bautista-Karylle pre-Valentine’s Day concert at the Cache Creek Casino last weekend and she was overflowing with glee announcing that Sarah Geronimo, the Popstar Princess, will be coming to do another concert in the Bay Areaon May 28.

But the bigger story is the ‘behind-the-scenes’ I was shared (not by Joann) digging deeper into the tour being talked about in the US Producers’ circle.

Is it true that for this event, Sarah and her 3 performer guests (not named yet), will have a total entourage of at least 30 people (how would the US Visa petitioning lawyer justify all of them is a huge challenge)?

In addition, is it true that the concert also is asking for paid private security (not volunteers, as being requested)? Is it also true that the tour is also asking for both life and health insurance coverage from the US producers (offshoot of the Diether Ocampo and Kitkat 911 medical emergencies in Ontario , CAlast year in which the US-based producers were apparently footed the large bill)?

Aside from the base talent fees already considered high in this very rough economic times, the producers are already doing the math on the added costs of airfare, legal fees, accommodation, per diem, food, etc.

No wonder that several US producers in different key cities apparently won’t even touch this tour with a ten feet pole, considering the recession, risk, profitability and all.

PERSONAL NOTES

Happy Birthday to Events Producer, Mr. Nardy Enriquez, who will be roasted by family and friends this Friday, Feb 12^th at Pier 40’s Carmen Restaurant , located at Embarcadero corner Townsend in San Francisco .

Happy Birthday to ABS-CBN’s Super Celebrity Kris Aquino (Feb 14^th) whose reaction to the Fair Election Act is this:

“The Comelec wants artists who are actively participating in the campaign to take a leave or be jailed. Since when has it been wrong to make a stand for what you believe? What is so wrong in wanting to take an active role in our democratic process? If it's wrong to care about the Philippines & practice my constitutional rights to free speech & my freedom to vote, then jail me…and let's go back to the dark days of Martial Law!”

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Microsoft always tries to make a big splash at Mobile World Congress and they never do." by Dan Hays, a specialist in telecommunications at management consulting firm PRTM. After last month’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Microsoft Corp (currently gravely overshadowed by Apple’s iPhone) is expected to unveil to the public its latest pride - Windows Mobile 7, at the Mobile World Congress inBarcelona , Spain on Monday, Feb. 15^th. At the ongoingMacWorld 2010 in Moscone SFO, almost all products, software and peripherals being demo’d involve the iPhone and its full integration to our daily lives.

This column also appears online atwww.FilipinoVillage.com andhttp://sites.google.com/site/adkinsmmcevents/Home/ with readership in 52 countries, according to the latest Google Analytics report.

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