Daily's Feature | Pahiyas Festival

Pahiyas Festival is a colorful feast celebrated every 15th of May by the people ofLucban, Quezon in honor of San Isidro Labrador. It is the farmers' thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest with a grand display of colorful rice wafers, fruits, vegetables, and handicrafts adorning every house in the town.

[edit] History

The festival's name comes from the Filipino terms hiyas (jewel) and pahiyas (precious offering). This feast is an ancient farmers' harvest celebration that dates back to the 16th century. According to legend, San Isidro Labrador magically plowed the field whenever he went out of the church. This is the story that the Spaniards passed on to the Philippines from Mexico during their colonial period. Since then, the Pahiyas Festival has been a source of excitement for the locals and visitors of Quezon Province.

[edit] Customs

The highlight of the festival is a procession along the streets of the image of San Isidro Labrador, to ensure the people's bountiful harvest in the coming seasons. The procession features a pair of giant papier mâché figures of a farmer and his wife. This is followed by the image of the patron saint and his wife Sta. Maria de la Cabeza, who carries a basket with triangulo biscuits, which are given to the children during the procession. This culminates with generous sharing of food among the townspeople.

All the locals' houses are decorated with agricultural harvest (fruits, vegetables, rice grains, rice stalks, flowers, and ferns) and colorful rice wafers, called kiping. These thin wafers made from rice dough are usually arranged into two or three layers of chandeliers called aranya. The locals use different kinds of leaves to add flavor and color to the kiping. They also produce varieties of tastes and textures by using different ingredients such as kabal, coffee, talisay (umbrella tree), cocoa, and banabaleaves.

Each house tries to outdo each other in decorations in an annual competition as they vie for the honor of being recognized for their creativity. After the competition is over and the awards are handed over to the owners of the winning house, the decorations of the house will be thrown away to the huge flock of people as free treats. For the other houses, after the festival, those kipings that were used as decorations are cooked and eaten as rice chips. Also during the festival, the people display their harvest in front of their homes so that the parish priest can bless them as the procession passes by.

[edit] Gallery

                Here are the latest school supplies price watch, created by the Department of Trade and Industry. Here is for National Capital Region only. 

TIP | Typhoon Preparation

Instructions

1. Plan Ahead

   • 1
     Determine whether you can remain in your home during the typhoon. You may be able to ride out a weak typhoon with a small storm surge but will need to evacuate for stronger storms. Listen for warnings from your local officials or weather personnel in situations where evacuation is ordered. Note the evacuation routes and plan to leave early.
   • 2
     Make lists of television and radio stations where you can get storm information, phone numbers to call in case of emergencies and locations of storm shelters. Get directions for the emergency shelters.
   • 3
     Designate a location for you and your family members to meet if you get separated and the number of an out-of-state relative to call to say everyone is safe. That out-of-state person starts the phone tree to others on your list after learning you are okay.
   • 4
     Find a place to take your pets where they will be safe if you have to evacuate. Most storm shelters won't allow pets.
   • 5
     Remember to shut off electricity, water and gas to your home before evacuating.

   Assemble a Typhoon Kit

   • 6
     Pack food that doesn't have to be refrigerated or cooked along with disposable plates, bowls, forks, knives and spoons. Each person and pet in the home should have enough to eat for three days.
   • 7
     Store water. Each person needs three gallons of clean water to drink and to use for washing. Pets also need water.
   • 8
     Add flashlights, oil lamps, lanterns and candles, along with extra batteries, matches and fuel.
   • 9
     Include a first aid kit in your typhoon kit.
   • 10
     Remember to pack board games, card decks and a battery-operated radio.
   • 11
     Throw in a box of garbage bags and paper towels.

   Pack Your Bags

   • 12
     Pack a small bag or backpack for each person in the home. It should include clothes and toiletries for three days.
   • 13
     Bundle a blanket and pillow for each person and place them in garbage bags (to keep them dry) to take along if evacuating.
   • 14
     Include a small bag of photos and documents you can't afford to have destroyed, such as wills and wedding albums.
   • 15
     Place everyone's bag and bed bundle near the door so they can be quickly loaded into the car if you decide to evacuate. Fill the car with gas.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider using citronella candles or oil to help repel insects. Most typhoons occur during warm weather and you will want to open your windows or even spend evenings outdoors until electricity is restored.
• If you can, store two weeks worth of food and water.
• Make sure that everyone has something to wear in warm weather, a rain jacket and sturdy shoes that will protect their feet from debris.
• Be careful when using lamps, lanterns and candles. Some lamp and lantern fuel isn't safe to use indoors and candles can be knocked over, starting fires. 
  
  
  Source: eHow.com

TIP | Earthquake Preparation

Because earthquakes are felt long after the shaking stops, it is good idea to have an earthquake emergency kit. Even if your house is safe for occupancy following a quake, you may find yourself without many necessities.
You may be without gas, electricity and running water. And for several days, there may be no food stores, restaurants or gas stations operating. Roads may be blocked and/or hazardous.
Experts recommend that you make three identical emergency kits. Store one kit at home, one at your workplace and one in your car. That way, your chances are good of having a kit handy after a quake.
Bulky emergency items such as water and dry food are hard to fit in a single, easily accessible container. Large plastic garbage cans can make good storage bins.
An inexpensive backpack is a good place to store smaller, loose items -- backpacks are easy to carry and can be used for other purposes once you have opened the kit.
Into each kit, put:

• Water and food to last at least three days (your car trunk is a handy place for these bulky items).
• Water purification tablets
• Heavy-duty gloves
• A first-aid kit
• A minimum of cash
• Family photos and descriptions (to aid emergency personnel in finding missing people)
• A flashlight and portable (or solar-powered) radio
• Extra batteries
• Goggles and dust mask
• A personal commode with sanitary bags

The most important thing for human survival is water. You should have at least five gallons of water stored in your hallway or back yard, because after an earthquake hits, if you don't have a shut-off valve, the (tap) water will be contaminated within 12 hours.
Although it is likely water would be restored within 72 hours of a major quake, some areas might be dry for much longer.
After a major quake, remember that opening your refrigerator and freezer can be a judgment call if you have no electricity. If indications are that power will be restored within a day or so, most foods will be fine as long as you don't open freezer or refrigerator doors. If you think it's going to be a long emergency, however, you might as well consume foods while they last. Watch for spoilage, and toss anything that's suspect.
Here are some suggestions for basic sustenance to see you through the first few days after a disaster. Shelf life is indicated in parentheses.
WATER:
Store drums of water (about a half gallon per person per day; you'll need more for washing or if you have pets) in the hall closet or back yard. For water stored in store-bought containers, add a half-teaspoon chlorine bleach to five gallons to keep it good for one year. Or purchase in multi-year, sealed cases for less than $20 at stores such as Earthquake Outlet [see resources for more information].
Moist towelettes can reduce the need for bathing water. If water is shut off, ladle out the water from toilet tanks and hot-water heaters. Water purification tablets are available at sports and camping stores.
BREADS & CEREALS:
Keep crackers and cookies well packaged, preferably in tins (6 months). Stock up on ready-to-eat cold cereals (6 months). If you have ice cream melting in the freezer, pour it on the cereal. With even minimal cooking facilities, instant or quick-cooking cereals (6 months) are warming as well as filling.
DRY FOOD:
For main dishes, instant soup cups and add-hot-water-and-steep dishes (6 months) are a real boon.
CANNED FOOD:
Even if you generally don't use much canned food, it is invaluable in an emergency. Just be sure you've got a manual can opener.
As with all emergency rations, cans or plastic containers are better than breakable jars. Canned fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry and fish (1 year) make for sturdy eating. Be sure to include items that can be eaten cold.
Sardines and Spam may not be on your usual menu, but they'll keep bodies fueled. Shelf-stable tofu (check pull date) is another great nutritious food.
DAIRY PRODUCTS:
Powdered milk (4 months) is versatile: You can use it for making instant puddings, chocolate milk, etc. Soy milk, plain or flavored, is widely available in shelf-stable cartons (check pull date), and canned or evaporated mil k (1 year) will fortify instant coffee.
Keep a generous rotating supply of cheese such as cheddar or Swiss in the refrigerator; it could give you several days of good protein and good eating.
BEVERAGES & TREATS:
In addition to basic drinking water, store fruit juices and prepared coffee or tea drinks in cans or cartons.
Stock instant coffee or tea drinks (1 year), canned puddings (1 year), whipped topping mixes, hard  candies in cans and such snacks as dried fruit, nuts, pretzels, chips and ready-to-eat popcorn (check pull dates). They deliver some nutrition and will help morale.
These supplies are no help if you can't get to them. Make sure every household member knows where they are.

Making Your Home Safe

Here is a handy checklist to make sure the interior of your home is safe:

• Inspect each room. Remove or secure items that could crash down. Cabinets, drawers, tall furniture, open shelves, hanging pictures, china cabinets, televisions and personal computers need to be secured.
• The kitchen is the most dangerous room: Use latches, such as those used for baby-proofing, to secure cabinets and drawers. Secure the refrigerator and microwave with heavy-duty L-shaped brackets (L brackets are available in hardware stores).
• Remove pictures and anything else from above beds. Move beds away from windows or from beneath a ceiling fan.
• Close blinds or drapes each night to prevent broken glass from flying into the room.
• Stash under the bed: a pair of plastic-bag covered shoes in case glass covers the floor, a crowbar to help open jammed doors and a flashlight.
• Educate family members on how and when to shut off the water and gas valves.
• The water valve should be immediately shut off to prevent contamination of the home's water supply.
• The gas valve should be shut only when you can smell gas or suspect a leak. (Keep a wrench wired to the gas meter).
• Secure the water heater to prevent breakage of gas and water lines. Toppled water heaters are a big danger: Fire or flooding caused by gas or water lines broken at the water heater can cause serious damage.

Source: City of Calabsas 

Asian Development Bank

     Before the start of 45th Annual Meeting of the Board of the Governors, who is the key to organized this annual meeting? The Asian Development Bank, that has cause to fight a economical backlash such as poverty in Asia-Pacific. What can you know about this organization? Let's look and be knowledgeable about this bank. 


       The ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB) was founded August 22, 1966 to facilitated the economical development in Asia-Pacific. It's 66 country members including Philippines, 48 within the Asian continent and 19 of this members are the outside of Asia. It has 2500+ staffs. It's headquarters was located in Mandaluyong City, Philippines. The incumbent president for this is Haruhiko Kuroda, a Japanese. 


HISTORY: 

1962-1972

ADB was originally conceived by some influential Japanese who formulated a "private plan" for a regional development bank in 1962, which was later endorsed by the government. The Japanese felt that its interest in Asia was not served by the World Bank and wanted to establish a bank in which Japan was institutionally advantaged. Once the ADB was founded in 1966, Japan took a prominent position in the bank; it received the presidency and some other crucial "reserve positions" such as the director of the administration department. By the end of 1972, Japan contributed $173.7 million (22.6% of the total) to the ordinary capital resources and $122.6 million (59.6% of the total) to the special funds. In contrast, the United States contributed only $1.25 million for the special fund.^[2]

The ADB served Japan's economic interests because its loans went largely to Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and thePhilippines, the countries with which Japan had crucial trading ties; these nations accounted for 78.48% of the total ADB loans in 1967-72. Moreover, Japan received tangible benefits, 41.67% of the total procurements in 1967-76. Japan tied its special funds contributions to its preferred sectors and regions and procurements of its goods and services, as reflected in its $100 million donation for the Agricultural Special Fund in April 1968.^[2]

Takeshi Watanabe served as the first ADB president from 1966 to 1972.

[edit]1972-1986

Japan's share of cumulative contributions increased from 30.4 percent in 1972 to 35.5 percent in 1981 and 41.9 percent in 1986. In addition, Japan was a crucial source of ADB borrowing, 29.4 percent (out of $6,729.1 million) in 1973-86, compared to 45.1 percent from Europe and 12.9 percent from the United States. Japanese presidents Inoue Shiro (1972–76) and Yoshida Taroichi (1976–81) took the spotlight. Fujioka Masao, the fourth president (1981–90), adopted an assertive leadership style. He announced an ambitious plan to expand the ADB into a high-impact development agency. His plan and banking philosophy led to increasing friction with the U.S. directors, with open criticism from the Americans at the 1985 annual meeting.^[2]

During this period there was a strong parallel institutional tie between the ADB and the Japanese Ministry of Finance, particularly the International Finance Bureau (IFB).

[edit]Since 1986

Its share of cumulative contributions increased from 41.9 percent in 1986 to 50.0 per- cent in 1993. In addition, Japan has been a crucial lender to the ADB, 30.4 percent of the total in 1987-93, compared to 39.8 percent from Europe and 11.7 percent from the United States. However, different from the previous period, Japan has become more assertive since the mid 1980s. Japan's plan was to use the ADB as a conduit for recycling its huge surplus capital and a "catalyst" for attracting private Japanese capital to the region. After the 1985 Plaza Accord, Japanese manufacturers were pushed by high yen to move to Southeast Asia. The ADB played a role in channeling Japanese private capital to Asia by improving local infrastructure.^[2] The ADB also committed itself to increasing loans for social issues such as education, health and population, urban development and environment, to 40 percent of its total loans from around 30 percent at the time.

PROJECTS TO BE DONE: For past 6 years 

• built or upgraded over 135,000 classrooms;
• trained over 660,000 teachers;
• built or upgraded over 44,300 kilometers (km) of roads;
• installed or rehabilitated over 17,800 km of water supply pipes;
• upgraded sanitation in over 269,000 households;
• improved over 1.8 million hectares of land as a result of irrigation, drainage, and flood management initiatives;
• installed 300 megawatts of new generating capacity, and built or upgraded more than 34,127 kilometers of transmission and distribution lines; and
• enabled new microfinance accounts and end borrowers to grow to over 2.7 million.

DID YOU KNOW THAT.... 

• ADB aims for an Asia and Pacific free from poverty. Over half the population remains poor, with one child in 20 dying before the age of 5, over 250,000 women dying annually from childbirth and pregnancy, over five million living with HIV AIDS and 3/5 of global TB cases found in the region.
• With $21.72 billion in approved financing in 2011, more than 2,900 employees from 59 countries, ADB in partnership with member governments, independent specialists and other financial institutions is focused on delivering projects that create economic and development impact.
• Economists, sociologists, engineers, gender experts and environmental scientists are amongst the hundreds of professions at the bank working together to reduce poverty.
• Environmental sustainability is a core strategy of ADB’s work as it is the poor that are most severely affected.  Environmental damage and resource depletion are already impeding the region’s development and reducing the quality of life.
• ADB is active in creating the framework for the private sector to be involved in investing in new projects that underpin development and improve the lives of the 1.8 billion people in the region who live on less than $2 a day.
• Since 2000, the Asian Development Fund has transformed the region with the construction of thousands of schools, bridges, health clinics and roads, providing opportunities for people to lift themselves out of poverty.

COUNTRY MEMBERS: 

Country Date of Accession Asian and Pacific region: 48 members  Afghanistan 1966  Australia 1966  Cambodia 1966  India 1966  Indonesia 1966  Japan 1966  Korea, Republic of 1966  Lao People's Democratic Republic 1966  Malaysia 1966  Nepal 1966  New Zealand 1966  Pakistan 1966  Philippines 1966  Samoa 1966  Singapore 1966  Sri Lanka 1966  Taipei, Republic of China[35] 1966  Thailand 1966  Viet Nam, Republic of  Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of inherited 1966  Hong Kong, China[36] 1969  Fiji 1970  Papua New Guinea 1971  Tonga 1972  Bangladesh 1973  Burma 1973  Solomon Islands 1973  Kiribati 1974  Cook Islands 1976  Maldives 1978  Vanuatu 1981  Bhutan 1982  China, People's Republic of 1986  Marshall Islands 1990  Micronesia, Federated States of 1990  Mongolia 1991  Nauru 1991  Tuvalu 1993  Kazakhstan 1994  Kyrgyz Republic 1994  Uzbekistan 1995  Tajikistan 1998  Turkmenistan 2000  Timor-Leste 2002  Palau 2003  Brunei Darussalam 2006

Country Date of Accession Other regions: 19 members  Austria 1966  Belgium 1966  Canada 1966  Denmark 1966  Finland 1966  Germany[37] 1966  Italy 1966  Netherlands 1966  Norway 1966  Sweden 1966  United Kingdom 1966  United States 1966  Switzerland 1967  France 1970  Spain 1986  Turkey 1991  Azerbaijan 1999  Portugal 2002  Luxembourg 2003  Armenia 2005  Ireland 2006  Georgia 2007

EVENTS:

Annual Meeting Location and Schedule

The 45th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of ADB will be held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Manila, Philippines, from Wednesday through Saturday, 2-5 May 2012.

ADB will establish offices at the PICC during the Annual Meeting. The offices and other meeting services will be open on 2-5 May. Room and telephone numbers will be in the meeting Handbook and Directory that will be provided in the participants' registration envelope.

The Opening Session will take place at the PICC in the morning of Friday, 4 May. Business Sessions will be held on 4 and 5 May. These events are open to all participants.

Country presentations and seminars on financial and topical development issues will take place on 2-5 May. The Meeting will close at about 5:00 pm, Saturday, 5 May.

It's Official Website http://www.adb.org

Source: http://www.adb.org and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia_Development_Bank