Category: Uncategorized

Goodbye, old world

Gary Veloso Leave a comment
By: 
Original Post: https://opinion.inquirer.net/130104/goodbye-old-world

 

As the lockdown eases, people will once again venture out from whatever domicile they got stuck in over the last two-plus months, going three. It will not be as it was pre-lockdown. The COVID-19 virus is still very much around and awaits a second chance to be passed on much faster from one person to another, and cause sickness, misery, and more deaths. The lockdown only hoped to break the spread chain, not congest the health care system, and deprive the virus of hosts to hopefully fizzle out. Without vaccines and anti-gens, such is wishful thinking. Viral spread can reignite when people reencounter.

Against this risk is the challenge to break the continuing disruption the lockdown has triggered on gainful enterprise by most people. Mass hunger can set in. Economic recovery may drag longer. The choice is stark, indeed. The horizon is dark. A different world will greet people as the lockdown eases. The threat of viral death remains.

Fear of death is not the issue. This inevitable reality is confronted day by day. The issue is protecting life. COVID-19 is causing death that must be prevented. It is everyone’s responsibility to take up this challenge: Do not risk dying from COVID-19, for yourself and for others. This context puts beyond admirable the role of essential workers who provide services and goods necessary to keep and care for life under the lockdown, and to find a breakthrough in putting the virus under control. Words are inadequate to express the gratitude people must extend to them.

Will this spirit of self-sacrifice for the benefit of the common good survive the lockdown easing and the virus hopefully exiting? The impact of COVID-19 on the global status quo is still unraveling. People are talking of a “new normal.” Is it really a “new world” that people will venture out to when the pandemic dust settles down?

After being given all the time to reflect on what this pandemic is saying to the world, what is the takeaway?

The “old world” is a dynamic perspective. There have been many “old worlds” ushering in the “new.” The original migration wave from Europe to the Americas was literally referred to as opening up a “New World.” There was the societal shift due to the industrial revolution; the new order after two World Wars; and, more recently, the information and technology revolution ushering in the cyberworld. The basic foundation of society gets shaken, and a new world order evolves.

COVID-19 is shaking the world’s basic foundation in this third decade of the 21st century. Generations, from Boomers to Generation X, millennials and Generation Z, are for the first time witnessing a global experience causing death and suffering across borders. The experience is likely to continue and not allow people to go back to the regimen they were used to for some time to come.

The debate on how best to transition to reopening business and employment can miss the point of the COVID-19 message. There are many who have died and are still dying. And many of these are caregivers, medical and health professionals and workers, first responders, health protocol enforcers—those who willingly risk their lives in order that others may live. They are not just statistics. They are people who are loved, and have loved ones. In the context of this pandemic, they are martyrs who must shake the mindset of indifference in the “old world” toward how people in the margins of society exist.

Those who offered their lives in the world wars are bestowed monuments in order that their grateful countrymen would not forget that lives were sacrificed for the freedom that is enjoyed generations later. The sense of gratitude must always accompany the living under the new order. Yet many still forget. The deaths from COVID-19 will go for naught if the world will not learn that the global village is, indeed, one world.

There will have to be caring for one another across borders. The wealth generated over time by entrepreneurs is with them under stewardship. There are higher purposes for these resources. The real need to uplift the many pinned down under lockdown is great. The invisible virus of COVID-19 is telling us all to reflect, and to have the wisdom and courage to say goodbye to a self-centered “old world.”

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Danilo S. Venida (danilosvenida@gmail.com) is a former president of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and now a business consultant.

 

Wonderzyme’s Sponsorship at Brafe 14 Golf – Golfing for Education

Gary Veloso Leave a comment
By: Malou Darvin

 

Our chairman, 1TC thru Wonderzyme, Inc. sponsored BRAFE GOLF year 14, an annual golf tournament staged last Oct 7, 2019, at the Forest Hills Gold and Country Club.  All proceeds of the event was donated to the Foundation for Sharing a La Sallian Education (FSLE), for scholarship funds. To date, the foundation has already funded 30 scholars, 23 of whom have already graduated from college.

 

PERKUP, an anti-hangover product of Wonderzyme was a highlight during the event.

 

37 Ways to Eat Pork Today

Gary Veloso Leave a comment

37 Ways to Eat Pork Today

From bacon to boudin blanc, we love pork in all its forms

By SAVEUR Editors

We don’t always support taking life advice from Homer Simpson, but he’s right about one thing: pork is awesome, and it’s incredibly versatile. You can make a great sausage with pork(don’t worry, we’ve got a guide for that). And then there are the ribs. We have a whole collection of rib recipes to keep your grill busy all summer—a few of our favorite include char-smoked baby back ribs and Kansas City-style spareribs with a sweet and spicy barbecue sauce. And how about sandwiches? Start your day off right with a biscuit sandwich with collard greens, marbleized eggs, espresso aioli, and eight slices of salty pancetta. For lunch, move onto our decadent porchetta sandwich with hazelnut gremolata or banh mi with seasoned pork and Vietnamese-style ham and pork roll.

 

  1. Braised Pork Shanks (Stinco di Maiale)
  2. Braised and Caramelized Vietnamese Coco Pork Belly (Thit Kho)
  3. Classic Pork and Chive Dumplings
  4. Braised Collard Greens with Pickled Trotters
  5. Spicy Creole Pickled Pig’s Trotters
  6. Finnish Twice-Cooked Pork Belly with Pickled Mushrooms and Leeks
  7. Posole Rojo
  8. Blutnudeln with Blood Sausage Bolognese
  9. Pork Fillet with Seared Broccoli and Cracklings
  10. Braised Pork With Sesame and Pumpkin Seed Sauce (Choc’a)
  11. Spicy Guatemalan Pork and Chicken Stew (Suban-Ik)
  12. Korean Spicy Stir-Fried Pork Belly (Jeyuk Bokkeum)
  13. Polenta with Sausage Gravy (Adapted from The Talisman Italian Cook Book)
  14. Shanghai Red-Braised Pork with Eggs
  15. Pork Noodle Soup with Shrimp Paste (La Paz Batchoy)
  16. Filipino Roast Pork Belly with “Lechon” Sauce
  17. Honey Glazed Roast Pork with Apples
  18. Chinese Steamed Pork Buns (Char Siu Bao)
  19. Boiled Pork and Chive Dumplings
  20. Lou Fassum
  21. Verjus-Brined Pork Chops with Marinated Leeks
  22. Pineapple and Pork Teriyaki Skewers
  23. Grilled Pork Belly with Butter Corn and Sour-Sweet Cherry-Jalapeño Relish
  24. Carnitas Tacos (Michoacán-Style Braised Pork Tacos)
  25. Mustard-Glazed Ham Ribs
  26. Yucatán-Style Shredded Pork Tacos with Achiote (Cochinita Pibil Tacos)
  27. Pork and Duck Sausage
  28. Char-Smoked Baby Back Ribs
  29. Chile Verde
  30. Rye’s Red Chili
  31. Lexington Pulled Pork
  32. Sesame and Chile Ramen (Tantanmen)
  33. Roast Pork with Summer Vegetables
  34. Pan-Fried Chorizo Burgers with Avocado, Fried Eggs and Spicy Mayo
  35. Chablis-Style Ham with Tomato Cream Sauce (Jambon au Chablis)
  36. Crispy Pork Belly with Persimmons
  37. Thai Boat Noodle Soup (Kuaytiaw Reua)

Vote! The stakes are very high

Gary Veloso Leave a comment

by Danny S. Venida

May 13, 2019, Monday, E-Day: This election is not only about 12 senators, or your district’s representative to the Lower House of Congress; it is not only about your party list and local government officials. This election is about Charter change, the persistent Cha-cha. With Cha-cha, we will likely see the country divided into federal states; perpetual political dynasties entrenched; term limits lifted; absolute ownership of land to foreign interests granted; national sovereignty surrendered; and virtual one-man rule reestablished.

It is important that everyone gets to appreciate the real agenda in this election. National identity and the common good can go down the drain very quickly if voters elect the wrong leaders. But, if that is what the people want in a fair and honest vote count, then so be it. Respecting the decision of the majority is part of the democratic process. The people get the government they deserve.  The 1987 Constitution provides that guarantee.

The context of the current democratic exercise must be put forward. The “ruling” class and the dominant elite, even the elite among the working class, have pursued only self-serving, myopic ends. Filipino society remains vulnerable and highly unstable, with the “poor” grossly exploited on a continuing basis. The 1987 Constitution provides a framework for the country to have governance that is pro-poor, but the ruling class resists this framework.

There is a need to transform the ruling class, not to change the Constitution. The 1987 Constitution was drafted by 48 appointed commissioners of the Constitutional Commission (ConCom) representing a cross-section of Philippine society. The document they wrote takes off from the idealism of the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution. This nonviolent shift from a constitutional dictatorship back to a popular, constitutional democracy made the freedom-loving world proud of the Filipinos.

Look at the list of the members of the ConCom, from the president Cecilia Muñoz-Palma to officers Ambrosio Padilla, Napoleon Rama, Ahmad Domocao Alonto, Jose Cal-deron; to members Yusuf Abubakar, Felicitas Aquino, Joaquin Bernas, Florangel Braid, Jose Laurel Jr., Christian Monsod, Blas Ople, Francisco Rodrigo, Christine Tan, Bernardo Villegas, among others; and also its secretary general, Flerida Ruth-Romero.

One cannot but say that they were among the best, the brightest and wisest women and men of integrity in the country. Compare them to the members of the House of Representatives today. Self-serving interests are clearly evident in the House’s draft of a constitution that will shift the structure of government to a federal system. Idealism is sorely absent behind the move to draft this new charter. Can we entrust changing the fundamental law of the land to the people in Congress today? Now is not the time for Cha-cha.

It is recognized that a constitution is not a document cast in stone that must be spared from changes. Social, political and economic realities are dynamic. The framework provided by a constitution must allow for necessary changes, for the growth and development of the people as a whole. Democratic space is a constantly active setting.

But the need for changes must be discerned with great prudence. Take the constantly invoked justification for Cha-cha by this administration—the economic provisions limiting foreign interests in select industries and in the absolute ownership of land. Are cost-benefit considerations so overwhelming that foreign investments have to be essentially unrestricted, to encourage them to come into the country?

On land ownership, the need of foreign investors is the unhindered reasonable use of land. Usufruct is the value that must be given to them sans ownership. The principle of stewardship over land resources demands that no one gets absolute ownership of land. In extractive industries, the experience with parity rights from 1947 to 1956 demonstrated that foreign interests are motivated solely by their own self-directed objectives no matter what they leave behind for their hosts.

Preserving national patrimony amid socio-economic development is an exclusive right and responsibility of and for the Filipino.

Cha-cha and its innumerable consequences make up the main challenge the voters will confront on E-Day. The collective decision on this issue is being asked on the ballot. The names of the senators and Lower House representatives will have to be associated with their position on Cha-cha, because the outcome will impact generations of Filipinos.

 

Let our voices be heard. Let us vote!  The stakes are very high.

Danilo S. Venida (danilosvenida@gmail.com) is a former president of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and now a business consultant.

See the bigger picture with the Inquirer’s live in-depth coverage of the election here https://inq.ph/Election2019

Read more: https://opinion.inquirer.net/121280/vote-the-stakes-are-very-high#ixzz5pMwea7sZ
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NBCC ties-up with Lactalis Feeds

Gary Veloso Leave a comment

Northwest Basic Commodities Corporation (NBCC) recently partnered with Lactalis Feeds, France’s largest producer of milk replacers for young animals.  NBCC will initially market Porcilac 20/20 Ex-L, Porcilac F40 and Porcilac Premium which are designed for piglet nutrition.

This latest addition further cements INFARMCO’s maxim as the one stop shop for your livestock needs.

From left: Jimmy Chua, Infarmco President; Thomas Chardigny, Lactalis Feeds Export Manager and Natalie Teng, GM for NBCC