Visiting Tahanang Walang Hagdanan

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              I, together with the members of the DOTC Task Force on Accessibility and some PPA employees visited “Tahanang Walang Hagdanan” in Cainta, Rizal on March 15, 2012 as part of the Women’s month celebration.  It was an opportunity to give briefings on what the government, particularly the DOTC, has been doing to support persons with disabilities (PWDs) and hear actual experiences on how our brethrens in wheelchairs earn a living on their own despite their situation.

                Some of the PWDs shared their incidents on how it still hard for them to use public transportations despite the country’s disability law because of the drivers’ refusal due to boarding inconvenience.  They were asked to file a written complaint if such situation will happen again. There was a suggestion for the task force to conduct an actual experiment by apprehending those drivers who refuse to transport PWD-acting task force members.

                After the short briefing, we toured the compound that houses the working facilities and products made by the PWDs.

11th APA Sports Meet

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        The Philippine Ports Authority recently hosted the 11^th ASEAN Ports Association (APA) Sports Meet from February 25 to March 1, 2013. Some 500 participants came from the nine member-countries of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the host country Philippines.

                Indonesia was declared overall champion of the five-day tourney winning the most number of gold medals from Futsal, Badminton, Golf, Marathon, Table Tennis and Bowling.

                The PPA made the year-long preparation and coordination to make sure that the event will be successful most especially on the security aspect. 

                From the welcome, the opening ceremony held at the Rizal memorial stadium to the closing ceremony at the Manila Hotel, everything went smoothly as scheduled. There were of course some unavoidable minute hitches mostly on the requests of going to places of interest and game venues but looking at the faces of the participants from our neighboring countries, they really had fun in the Philippines.

                The PPA chorale interpreted the  APA sports hymn and represented the Philippines during the cultural presentation singing the Filipino song that also became popular with other ASEAN countries, “Anak”.  The number was a hit.

                The Sports Meet is being held every three years and is being hosted by each member country.  The next sports meet will be held in Vietnam.

               

Club Balai Isabel

Another resort South of Manila is Club Balai Isabel which is located along the shores of the Lake Taal in Barangay Banga,Talisay, Batangas which is, if traffic is not heavy, just an hour's drive from Makati via SLEX and STAR Tollway. Aside from the amenities and facilities, it offers an up-close view of the world-famous Taal volcano which is just a boat ride away.

It is an ideal place not only for relaxation because of its greenery and is far enough from the bustling city but also of special occasions and corporate events, especially team-building activities. I was there twice for our team-building and I noticed another group obviously had the same reason as teams were playing a relay game.

I did not notice the pool that Balai Isabel mentioned in its website that looks like a stream because maybe I was not aware of it but our group used the pool facilities located near the clubhouse. However, if you are not keen of being watched by guests eating at the clubhouse, better swim somewhere else.  Swimming in the lake however is prohibited which is a minus if compared to beach resorts which also have the same amenities. The food is nothing to crave for but tasty and ample enough to leave your stomach heavy. Well, maybe because the group’s budget was not enough to cover a special menu.

Some of us took a tricycle ride early morning and went to the town’s market and see if it could offer something different that we could bring back home but sadly there were none. Just the same stuff one could buy in any local market.

Overall, I enjoyed my four-day experience at Club Isabel (two days for each visit) and I would not hesitate to join again if another corporate event will be conducted using it as the venue.
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Supervisory Development Course 1

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) conducted the Supervisory Development Course Track 1 at the DPWH-Region IV –A Training Room, EDSA, Quezon City from August 14 to 17, 2012. The Course is specifically designed for first line supervisors in the Philippine Bureaucracy and is a joint project of the CSC and the United Nations Development Programme.

The 48 participants, from different government offices as far as Real Quezon, Tacloban and Puerto Princesa, who attended the program not only had their managerial skills enhanced but also developed fun and camaraderie among the trainees. Photos show the various workshops conducted and obviously with all the smiles on their faces, the activities were really an enjoyable way to learn. Congratulations to all the graduates!

(The pictures were from Mayette Guerrero.  Better give her the credit as I might be accused of plagiarism.  However the inserted callouts were on my own and were meant for fun. Buti na lang yung iba walang unguarded shots or else, baka napasali din sila dito. Please comment if you don’t like them so that I could delete the particular photos.)