INFARMCO Christmas Party 2015
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Christmas message of the Chairman
First allow me to wish everyone and your family a Joyful Christmas. As the year 2015, comes to a close I’m pleased to let you to know that this year, despite the challenges, has been good for members of INFARMCO Group.
This is largely due to you, the family spirit of the INFARMCO Group. Everybody, from employees, the farm-based companies, the staff here at central office, the account executives and metro based companies have contributed to the continued to good image and growth of the INFARMCO Group. The management of INFARMCO Group is proud to have such a dedicated and efficient team.
This year, we wish to recognize and give commendation to our staff who have been with us this many years. The recognition will take place during our Christmas party.
We also like to take this occasion, to remember a dear friend and colleague, who has departed us to join our Creator. Butch, has indeed left a lasting legacy in Infarmco. The growth of our Company, can partly be attributed to his dedication and zeal for work. I’m sure Butch, continues to watch over us.
As 2016 approaches, old and new challenges await us. I enjoin you to continue your dedication to be part of the INFARMCO family as we embark on new endeavors.
The Chairman sharing blessings with children of INFARMCO employees.
INFARMCO Service Awardees
No. Name Date hired Years Company
1 Ruth L. Lanario May 19, 2005 10 yrs. SCHIPPERS
2 Roy J. Padilla July 26, 2000 15 yrs. ISGI
3 Febian P. Panuelos February 24, 2000 15 yrs. PVP
4 Mesael R. Sabalza October 1, 1995 20 yrs. NBCC
5 Leonida M. Santos June 15, 1995 20 yrs. NBCC
6 Marissa F. Cruz March 16, 1995 20 yrs. WZI
7 Raul B. Corocoto February 1, 1995 20 yrs. NBCC
8 Dennis M. Arzaga February 11, 1985 30 yrs. NBCC
9 Antonio M. Asiñero July 1, 1985 30 yrs. NBCC
A Christmas Wish
By Danilo S. Venida
By tradition, Christmas is a time for giving and receiving, a time of loving and being loved, a time of great expectations and meeting them. Christmas is a celebration of fulfillment. Yet, in this season, many are empty and wanting.
When there is so much hate in the world, Christmas seems meaningless. And amid terror and counterterror, in the depths of poverty amid plenty, it is time to go back to the first Christmas and know that in that silent night, when the Child was born, the greatest wish came to be: Peace on earth, goodwill to men. Gloria in excelsis Deo!
The first Christmas was not about religion; it was about presence. It was not about power and might; it was about empowerment of the lowly, the poor. It was about encountering: shepherds and kings. There were conflicts and human dynamics centering on power play, including the denial of a room in the inn for a family in dire need of a place to stay. The images of contrast project light and darkness, a chiaroscuro. But by and large, peace and joy were the overriding messages on that first Christmas night.
And the Child grew up. A “kingdom not of this world” He proclaimed. There is constancy in the message. The true reality of being human transcends the conditions that manifest in the world. Being human is never an excuse for deprivation or greed. Being human presumes intrinsic and boundless greatness in every person. There is power in the Person of Jesus, not power by conquest but power by affirmation. The universal salutation: Peace! Shalom! As-Salaam-Alaikum!
The wish for peace continues for this Christmas. This is a perpetual Christmas wish for the country and for the world, for all generations.
Election campaign 2016 is the primary concern in the Philippines going toward the first six months of next year. It is opportune to wish that peace rule the duration of this political exercise. The challenges going against peace are great. The accusations among the candidates are getting very deep and personal. High stakes are building up on the table. Vested interests are actively in play. Appeals to emotion are being pursued, getting the contending camps riled up. The dominant determinant of action: surveys and spin.
For peace to have a chance, going back to the basics, to the truth of the candidates and their supporters, is called for. The foundation of peace is deeply personal. The song hit it right on the head: “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” Authentic peace can be realized only when every person finds personal peace. And how can this happen? Through self-awareness. Knowing who one really is inevitably brings peace. The Child in Bethlehem, in the manger, knew who He was. He was whole, not wanting, and He shared the good news that all are as He is. For this, the world crucified Him. And He proclaimed that He and every person are One, He is the vine and we are the branches.
And the world crucified many who believed, and continues to crucify believers.
The world misses its real identity when it defines itself in terms of power and wealth, pleasure and fame. The crisis in the world is one of identity. If only every person can proceed from the Truth of the Child that is the reason for the season, that we are all one under and in One God, the world will be at peace. War becomes meaningless.
John Lennon’s imagery of “all the people, sharing all the world” becomes real. Elitism is the root of all conflicts in the world. Haves and have-nots, powerful and powerless are distinguished, and social classes established. Structures that abet the differences that seem to define peoples create blinders. They hide the real identities that otherwise will show: that we are all equal, circumstances notwithstanding. All men and women are created equal. It is a sad twist of fate that inequality has become humanity’s dominant preoccupation since time immemorial.
Last Dec. 12, I traveled to Nakar, Quezon, with Bernardo Villegas, Jesus Estanislao, Florencio Orendain, Ciriaco Reyes and Ricardo Pascua in a bus along with other professionals and experts in coconut, livestock, bamboo, township development, management, and social engineering, among others. We met with close to 1,000 coconut farmers who, with about 5,000 more, own 15,000 hectares of coconut land in the area. We were joined by Quezon Gov. David Suarez and Nakar Mayor Leovigildo Ruzol and community leaders. Together, we provided the faces that will form The Nakar Initiative, the Experimental Living Community of Tomorrow (Elcot). Together, we will work and beat poverty, first in Nakar, then in the province of Quezon, and then in the country. We will partner with overseas Filipino workers as investors for the Initiative.
Dreaming makes sense. This is a Christmas wish: that men and women of goodwill can join hands, in peace, and uplift one another. Coconut farmers are among the poorest in Philippine society. By our first encounter in Nakar, that has changed. The Nakar coconut farmers are no longer alone. A diversified communal enterprise based on coconut will be worked out with and for them by professional groups motivated by the message of the first Christmas: presence, empowerment of the lowly and the poor, encountering one another in the spirit of our one humanity.
The Child in Bethlehem constantly challenges every human being to do as He did: to go and share of oneself and spread the message of peace. That is the only call that matters. A blessed Christmas to all!
This article was published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on December 17, 2015
Project ’32 Growing the INFARMCO Group for the long haul
by Danny S. Venida
The INFARMCO Group will turn 50 in 2032 or 17 years from today. That is not too long away from now. Time flies so quickly. But that time is long enough to use and make INFARMCO the leading company in swine genetics in the country and in the ASEAN Economic Community. Dreams precede reality. Project ’32 is this dream. Swine genetics will be spelled INFARMCO going towards 2032.
The launching pad for Project ’32 is more than 30 years of genetic development for the INFARMCO Largewhite and Landrace breeds by natural selection. Time is the primary asset of this development and it is the unique competitive advantage of the business. Over time, the INFARMCO breeder pigs acquired what is required to become the pig farmers’, small and big, breeders of choice.
The nucleus farm in Cabuyao, Laguna is sustaining its breeding program to maintain and continuously improve the qualities and the character of the pigs. The multiplier breeding farms in Candelaria, Quezon; in Puerto Princesa, Palawan; in Malaybalay, Bukidnon are in high gear development mode. The artificial insemination (AI) farm in Ibaan, Batangas is gearing up for market expansion.
Discussions with prospective partners have been initiated. By the first quarter of 2016, the INFARMCO breeder pigs will be undergoing intensive actual market tests by leading industry players to further validate the inroads that have been made towards the consistent acceptance of the pigs by small and big farmers. All the elements that make the breeders perform as they do will be under close scrutiny by those looking at the INFARMCO pigs’ great potential to be the leading breeders in a full supply chain for pig production.
Milestone periods are being defined. Turning the dream to reality will happen in stages leading to the big celebration the INFARMCO Group will have on its golden anniversary.
Benefit from Perk Up Dietary Supplement
Perk Up Dietary Supplement (Regular and Premium) are liquid products manufactured for Wonderzyme, Inc.; which owned the formulation. The sole intent for developing these products is to aid the drinkers of alcoholic products from suffering the discomforts due to excessive drinking. Hangover, a collective term for these discomforts, usually happens the morning after the drinking bout.
In a state of hangover, the body has to metabolize an alcohol’s active ingredient; ethanol. Once digested, ethanol is converted into acetaldehyde and acetic acid by oxidation process. This causes normal body functions more difficult since it causes the body’s citric acid cycle to shut down.
Acetaldehyde is known to cause carcinogen in humans and is damaging to DNA and causes abnormal muscle development as it binds to proteins.
To correct the imbalance, the body diverts pyruvate from other important pathways. This, in turn, impairs the ability of the liver to compensate for a drop in blood glucose levels, especially for the brain. Because the glucose is the primary energy source of the brain, this lack of glucose contributes to symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, mood disturbance, and decreased attention and concentration.
Alcohol consumption can result in the depletion of the liver’s supply of glutathione and other reductive detoxification agents, reducing its ability to effectively remove acetaldehyde and other toxins from the bloodstream. Additionally, alcohol induces certain enzymes which, in itself, can produce additional toxins an free radicals.
Ethanol is a diuretic and has a dehydrating effect by causing increased urine production which causes headaches, dry mouth, and lethargy.
Alcohol’s effect on the stomach lining can account for nausea and increase in gastric acid build-up. In addition, hangover grows worse as one ages; this is caused by declining supplies of alcohol dehydrogenase, the enzyme involved in metabolizing alcohol.
Perk Up Dietary Supplement is a processed extract from various plant fiber materials; mainly banana sap, rice bran and seaweeds. All these are rich sources of sodium and potassium. Other minerals and photochemicals are also present after processing. Prolonged cooking with water is done to release the chemical nutrients from the fibers, to dissociate the minerals into ions.
The properties of Perk up Dietary Supplements give them advantages to correct certain problems. The high alkalinity is the key in giving them disinfecting action. Being a reducing agent or anti-oxidant, it can remove foul odor rapidly because of its dissociated ions. Being organic in composition, they are less harmful to humans, animals and plant.
As a dietary supplement, the sodium and potassium as main elements, benefits the human body as an electrolytes and catalyst. During alcohol drinking, there electrolytes are likely to be lost in great amounts; such that the body is in a weakened state. PERK UP dietary supplements can help replenish these elements. Drinking is also known to induce acidity in the stomach; drinking water with a few drops of PERK UP dietary supplement can help to relieve this discomfort.
Even if not drinking alcohol, regular drinking of water with PERK UP dietary supplement can eliminate drowsiness due to fatigue.
Perk up, being an anti oxidant, helps to prevent the body to overcompensate and protects it from free radicals and toxins. Its alkalinity and electrolytic qualities ensures the body stays hydrated. This in turn helps the liver to regulate the acidity in the body and not overcompensate.
The Chairman Turns 70!
by Danny S. Venida
I learned that our Chairman’s age jumped from 68 to 70 years on his birthday last October 22. There is a unique way the Chinese makes the count. 70 years make a real milestone, indeed. If 90 were to be the terminal year for the male specie, we are in our last quarter when we hit 67, and moving on to 70 shows the clock is surely ticking. And we can only pray, we are not in the last 2 minutes yet.
I am privileged to be with Tony now as we plan to bring his creation, INFARMCO to the year 2032. I was privileged to have been with him when he started the farm in Cabuyao in 1982. We hope we will still be around and see what we will make of the company in 16 more years when Tony will be 86. Perhaps, Vitacel will become a longevity formula so he can get to be 100 plus.
It has been a great honor to be Tony’s friend for the last 46 years, a friendship made strong in the exuberance of youth with other close friends at CRC whom we continue to get-together with until today. I met my wife Amy through Tony. I am certain Amy has forgiven Tony for causing her to blunder marrying me. And when he visited Vancouver in 2013 for the wedding of my youngest daughter and as we emptied a bottle of whiskey, I got to share with him that at this stage of my life, I have found and believe in the constant Presence of our Creator in our whole being. God is in each one right now celebrating with us Tony’s birthday. This is Heavenly! And I don’t need alcohol to be able to share this Truth I live by.
I am specially blessed to have been received as family in the Chua home. Thank you, Mama Lekheng. And thank you, Tony. May you be blessed with many more happy years, with the love of your lovely daughter, Jenny.
Happy 70th Birthday!
InfarmConnect now online!
We are pleased to announce the activation of InfarmConnect. This is the INFARMCO Group internet blog where news, announcements, activities can be posted on-line. InfarmConnect shall be our tool in communicating developments within the INFARMCO Group. Like any blog, you can also post your comments and suggestions. Everyone is encouraged to submit articles and pictures so they can be posted and appreciated by everyone in the Group.
You may submit your stories to Gary D. Veloso, Head for the Editorial Group. The Group is composed of: Tony N. Chua, Jimmy N. Chua, Mark P. Chua, Danny S. Venida and Vicente C. Mauricio. We would like to hear from everyone and we hope see your stories soon.