In Kuwait: Filipina Commits Suicide

A 22-year-old Filipino maid is said to have recently ended her life by hanging herself to death inside her sponsor's home in Salwa, reports Al-Anba daily. During interrogation at a police station, the victim's Lebanese sponsor reportedly told police the maid wanted to return to her country but he refused to let her go until he finds a replacement. When the sponsor found her hanging from a ceiling fan, he called the police. However, the Al-Rai daily gave a different version of the incident. The daily quoting a reliable source said the maid ended her life after learning her husband was planning to marry another woman. (Arab Times)

Philippine Economy: Highest-ranked

THE Philippines and Singapore have emerged as the highest-ranked Asian economies on an index of countries with the most "super growth" companies, a Grant Thornton survey yesterday said. The Philippines ranked eighth on the 2007 Super Growth index, a marked jump from 23rd in 2006...(The Brunei Times) ...full story here

In Canada: Artist Longs For Home

Every time Romeo "Romi" Mananquil holds his brush and starts painting scenes and images of the Philippine countryside on canvas, the yearning for home pinches his heart.

There was never a time when the image of his homeland was erased from his mind, even if he left it over 20 years ago when his artist's career was flourishing...(asianjournal.com) ...full story here

'Skinny' Earns A Place Of Honor

In another early springtime 65 years go, an unprecedented military tragedy was about to play out its sad end for American and Filipino soldiers fighting against the World War II Japanese invasion of the Philippine Islands...(FayObserver.com) ...full story here

Fil-Am Engineers Award Scholarships

A group of Filipino-American engineers recently turned over a one-time scholarship grant to six intelligent but poor Filipino students who are taking up engineering courses from selected colleges and universities in the Philippines. Together with the Ayala Foundation USA, the Association of Filipino-American Engineers in Washington (AFEW) selected this year’s scholars who received the grant that helped augment their expenses while doing thesis or research projects as requirement for graduation.

The scholars were Tristan Jed Roque, BS Computer Science student from the University of the Philippines Diliman; Rizalino de Guia Panganiban, a BS Electronics and Communications Engineering student from FEATI University; Emenar Ramento, a BS Electrical Engineering student at the University of Santo Tomas; Jerome Famadico taking up BS Civil Engineering from Adamson University; Jody Ann Lunasin, BS Electronics and Communications Engineering at the Mapua Institute of Technology and John Collantes, BS Electrical Engineering at the Manuel L. Quezon University. (ayalafoundation.org)

Generic Drugs vs Branded Medicine

Would you believe that while 60 percent of Americans buy generic drugs and medicine when they get sick, more than 90 percent of Filipinos who get ill prefer the more expensive branded drugs and medicine?

Read this and weep: The poor majority who cannot afford drugs prefer not to buy any medicine when they get sick. As a result, the World Health Organization claims that fewer than 30 percent of Filipinos have access to medicine.

The reasons for these are multiple and difficult to imagine in a country which exports doctors and nurses.

One reason is that there’s a dearth of information and education about the difference between generic drugs and branded medicine. Actually, there’s none. It is really just because Filipinos have been used to be taking branded medicine all these years, as a result of the deluge of advertisements by the well-funded multinationals in the pharmaceutical industry which continue to hold the country hostage. (Emil Jurado, Manila Standard Today)

"Employer of the Year"

CONVERGYS Corporation has been named "Employer of the Year." The recognition came during the International Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Awards-Manila 2007 event held in the Philippines. Convergys Corporation, the world's largest provider of outsourced customer care, started operations in the Philippines in 2003 with an 800 person workforce in one location. Today, Convergys employs over 10,000 people across eight locations across the country. (SunStar Manila)

"Closer To Wall Street"

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- ETelecare Global Solutions may be based far afield in the Philippines, but its roots are much closer to Wall Street as the business-process outsourcing firm priced its initial public offering for trading yesterday...ETelecare Global derives about 91% of its revenue from American Express, AOL, Cingular Wireless, Dell, Intuit, Sprint Nextel and Vonage... (marketwatch.com) ...full story here

The First Filipino To Qualify To Beijing Olympics

Swimmer Miguel Molina became the first Filipino to make it to the Beijing Olympics next year.The 23-year-old Filipino swimming sensation secured an Olympic berth Wednesday by surpassing the Olympic qualifying standard in the men's 200-meter individual medley during the World Championships being held in Melbourne, Australia. (The Philippine Daily Inquirer)

HIV / AIDS From Overseas Workers Alarming

AIDS is ravaging the large overseas work force of the Philippines, posing a long-term threat to one of Manila's key sources of foreign exchange, the health department said. Thirty-five percent of all documented cases of HIV carriers are overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), including 42 percent of the newly reported cases in 2006, according to new data released by the department. The government estimates there were some 11,200 HIV carriers in the Philippines as of December 2005.

"It is a must that we act now because OFWs are regarded as modern-day heroes and are major contributors to the country's gross domestic product and economic stability in general," said Health Secretary Francisco Duque. He said there were limited services to educate and support families of overseas Filipino workers who return home suffering from the virus that causes AIDS. (Yahoo News, AFP)