The Santacruzan is a popular religious festival held in many towns and cities throughout the Philippines as the highlight of the month-long celebration of Flores de Mayo during the month of May. It is usually celebrated with a parade of decorated floats and elaborately dressed characters, representing various aspects of the Virgin Mary and other figures. The festival was introduced to the country during the Spanish period and continues to be celebrated by Filipinos all over the world.

Department of Tourism together with Intramuros Administration will bring back the glamour of the 1900s Manila Carnival Queen in this year’s Santacruzan sa Intramuros.

Santacruzan sa Intramuros will be held on Sunday, May 29, starting at Fort Santiago at 5:30 p.m., passing through Gen. Luna, Sta. Potenciana, Sta. Lucia and Anda Streets, ending at Clamshell 1 at 6:30 p.m. Mounted by the Intramuros Administration in cooperation with Camp Suki, the event features debutantes and models in gowns reminiscent of the traditional Maria Clara. The santacruzan adds color to the Pasundayag Northern Mindanao activities ongoing at the Philippines’ Bests (Wow Philippines) area.

The search is on for the the Filipino who is constantly cheerful, optimistic, has the ability to rise above life’s challenges, and has a positive impact on other people’s lives.

The campaign aims to celebrate the resilience of Filipinos amidst crisis.

The Search for the Happiest Pinoy is a project by Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Solutions.  It is the first of its kind in the country.

A tax-free  cash prize of P200,000 plus a plaque awaits the winner. It is open to any Filipino of legal age residing in the Philippines. Nomination forms can be obtained from Lhuillier branches nationwide, or downloaded from  http://www.happiest-pinoy.com.

Stress or burn out is known to be eighty percent significant to all major illnesses including cancer. Few of its many causes are deadlines, pressures, problems at home or work, crowds, noise, pain, traffic, overwork, lack of sleep, smoking, and alcohol. Stress results in the lowering of the immune system’s ability to protect you from illnesses and cancers.

Everyone experience stress from time to time, but frequent stress is more serious and long term stress can wear out your body.

So, how can you know that you’re under stress? The symptoms are depression, anxiety, irritability, fatigue, low-stress tolerance, nervous exhaustion, insomnia, panic attacks, increase in blood pressure, sweaty palms, tense muscles specially shoulder muscles and even tooth grinding.

Its time to sit back and relax. Here are several effective ways on how to battle stress.

• Think positive in every situation, try to see the positive sides of things  and learn to make the best of it. Always see difficulties as a challenge and learn from it.

• Think about something else for a time. Diversion is not a crime. That will help the brain to rest and your emotions to calm down.

• Talk to a friend. Telling someone how or what you feel can help ease the situation. Even just by knowing that you have someone to talk to. Talking to a friend releases the tension.

• Sometimes you need to temporary leave a threatening situation, try to see beautiful places that can calm you makes you forget your problems and calm down.

• Learn to laugh at some problems. Laughter is still the best medicine, even for stress.

• Stretching your muscles can help move a circulation made slower by the situation, so you can think better. Massage muscles which have tensed up, try to move exercise your jaw by moving it up and down then left and right. This will help relax the jaw muscles.

• Go outside and walk. Try walking in a park, and held your head up high, stretch your hands, take a deep breathe and relax

• A change in diet is needed to help restore a sickly immune system. Fresh   fruit and vegetables. Eating a diet of 60-70% fruits and vegetables will really help you.

• Do not eat high carbohydrates and saturated fats. Instead, eat the slow burning proteins. Avoid coffee, chocolate, tobacco and liquor.

Boxing great Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao and party planed in at dawn Friday minus the accompanying grandiose welcome treat befitting a hero.

The Philippine Airlines(PAL) plane flight PR 103 carrying the world boxing icon and his Team Pacquiao touched down at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport(NAIA) Centennial Terminal 2 at exactly 6 a.m.from Los Angeles,California following his victorious knockout match with British boxing champion Ricky ‘Hitman’ Hatton in second round in MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas,Nevada last May 3.

The undisputed pound- for- pound king wearing beige color suit with matching Al Capone hat was swarmed by adoring fans, mediamen and by his own children Jemuel and Michael ran and bounced bounced up and down to welcome their father and mother,Jinky.

Princess,the second youngest to the brood, rushed into the waiting arms of the boxing legend, peppering her joyful father with hugs and kisses.

Environmental Secretary Lito Atienza,a longtime family friend,and son Ali also came to greet Pacquiao.

In a brief press conference,the amiable Pacquiao expressed his deep appreciation over the continuing support given to him by his ever loyal fans and the Filipino people in general.

He also expressed his deepest gratitude to God that no one between him and Hatton suffered serious injuries in the course of their well-attended but abbreviated match.

The boxing great, however, showed annoyance when queried over politics.

“Let us put aside politics for now and talk about boxing,” the visibly irked Pacquiao said.

He also expressed no qualms over the cancellation of the festivities prepared for his behalf by no less than the Palace.

“I understand and besides the weather is bad for such a big celebration,”he said. (PNA)

A victory parade awaits Pacman when he comes home on Friday.

Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo announced that the Office of the President’s Appointments Office is arranging the details of the festive homecoming and the courtesy call of Manny Pacquiao to the President.

Fajardo praised Pacquiao’s team for their efforts to help the People’s Champ achieve victory over Ricky “the Hitman” Hatton.

Pacquiao stunned the world Sunday when he knocked out the Hitman on the second round at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Before his historic fall, Hatton kissed the canvass twice in the first round.

But Mega Manila is not the only one gearing up for the Pacman’s return.

General Santos City is keeping up the tradition of giving red carpet treatment to Pacquaio every time he comes home after a successful campaign overseas.

Last Sunday, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo congratulated Pacquiao for a victory “that should inspire all Filipinos.”

“Manny Pacquiao continued to train and learn with great discipline to clinch the victory that has now, according to world boxing commentators, made him the greatest fighter ever,” the President said during her meeting with representatives of Filipino community in Syria, “as Manny Pacquiao taught us, discipline, tenacity, focus and pride in being a Filipino are vital to our success.”

Meanwhile, the best pound for pound fighter is the new crime buster.

The Philippine National Police gave Pacquiao a new moniker because criminal incidents went almost zero while the new International Boxing Organization (IBO) light-welterweight belt holder traded punches with Hitman Hatton.

April 22 is Earth Day. Earth Day is a global event observed annually to remind every citizen of the world of his or her duty to save Mother Earth.

Various activities highlight the celebration around the country.

The Puerto Princesa City government and the Global Legal Action on Climate Change (GLACC) will lead residents in this city and Palawan in celebration of “Earth Day at the City in a Forest” to be held separately at city’s coliseum and Baywalk.

The Earth Day celebration in Iloilo City will be highlighted by the conduct of a clean up activity and an environmental forum that will be facilitated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO).

Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change Heherson Alvarez is calling on government agencies nationwide to display the flag of Carbon Cutting Coalition (CCC), the multi-sector anti-climate change movement President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo launched in Quezon City this month.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Lito Atienza will lead the national celebration of Earth Day at the SM Mall of Asia, with “Tubig at Lupa Buhayin, Hangin Linisin, Batas Tuparin” as the theme.

As the world’s environment is in a critical condition, we should remember that caring for Mother Nature is not only a one-day affair. We hold that responsibility everyday.

The Philippines is now holding separate discussions with Kuwait and Brunei on possible investment opportunities in the domestic Halal sector, particularly in Mindanao, which has a comparative edge over other countries in the region because it is free of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and the avian influenza (AI) or bird flu virus.

Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras said the Department of Agriculture (DA) was offering foreign investors at least two big-ticket Halal investment proposals in Mindanao — the Halal Economic Zone in Davao City and a Halal model poultry farm in Cagayan De Oro City – worth a combined P3.04 billion.

Halal refers to the kind of food permissible under Islamic Law.

“The proposed Halal Economic Zone, which will cost at least P2.2 billion to establish, is the centerpiece of the halal investment portfolio being offered to overseas investors by the Arroyo government,” Paras said in a recent forum.

To be located in Davao City, the Zone is expected to generate 24,000 new jobs for Muslim Filipinos, and will boost the Philippines’ export earnings by at least a million dollars per year, he said.

“The other investment proposal packaged by the DA is a P840-million project involving the establishment of a Halal model poultry farm complete with research laboratories, abattoirs and other modern facilities,” Paras said.

Around 32,000 Muslim farmers and entrepreneurs in Mindanao are expected to benefit from this proposed initiative, he said.

The DA is offering this halal industry investment portfolio to other interested investors in the Middle East, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the USA.

“Our exporters will be pleased to hear that initial talks have already been held with Kuwait and Brunei on possible investment opportunities in this sector, notably in FMD- and avian influenza-free Mindanao,” Paras said. “We are very optimistic about this particular effort, which is made stronger by the fact that we at the DA, in tandem with the other concerned agencies, have started implementing the country’s first ever general guidelines on Halal food exports,” he said.

Besides the DA, the Departments of Trade and Industry (DTI), of Health (DOH), of Science and Technology (DOST), and of Tourism (DOT), along with the Office of the President, Office of Muslim Affairs (OMA) and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) comprised the Inter-agency Core Group that had crafted the guidelines for the country’s halal food exports.

Under Memorandum Order No. 201 (MO 201) issued by President Arroyo, the Inter-agency Core Group was directed to harmonize all government programs related to Halal trade in order to ensure compliance with international standards and the effective implementation of the Halal Export Trade Development Program.

With the global Halal food market valued at around billion dollars, the Philippines can earn at least billion a year by initially tapping just one percent of this lucrative share through exports,

Besides being avian flu- and FMD-free, Mindanao’s other advantages in developing a competitive halal industry is a reliable supply of feed ingredients like corn, rice, copra meal and fish meal to make its Halal food exports credible and genuine.

The DA has so far established 12 halal abattoirs in the South, mostly in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

It has also spearheaded the Philippines’ participation in Halal investment forums in various countries such as in Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, as well in the United Arab Emirates .

Being an active member of the ASEAN Working Group on Halal Food Guidelines, the Philippines also has been involved in the ASEAN-wide cooperation on Halal food industry development since the early 1990s, when Halal food export was just starting to grow in Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand and Malaysia.

No. This is not meant to defend Cheap Tsao (Chip Tsao, I mean) and the mockery he made out of every Filipino not to mention, the Philippine government. Just like you, my blood boiled after hearing from a local news program about the things he wrote regarding the Philippines- both the nation and its people.

Did he discriminate us by saying that we are a nation of servants? Only a fool would say no. But aren’t we guilty of doing the same thing? Didn’t we call names and brand our Visayan brothers and sisters the same thing? Didn’t we stereotypically attribute the Ilocanos as “kuripot”? We give names to Kapampangans, Aetas, Muslims and almost every ethnicity. Sure, we are guilty of the same crime Chip Tsao has committed.

I condemn what he did. It slapped my sensitive ego as a patriotic Filipino. But after I read his full length article, my ego was dead beaten with the offensive use of satire. Mind you Mr Tsao, satire is only appealing and funny when it’s done tastefully. He claims to be a patriotic Chinese but he doesn’t mind that the Russians sank a Hong Kong freighter, okay now that’s funny.

Lesson: there are things need not be said to assert certain course of argument. More importantly, don’t try to be funny at the expense of others. Hmmm… all of you, please raise your hand if you’re guilty.

The Philippines takes a crack at breaking the world record for the largest photo mosaic when a 180 x 160 ft photo mosaic is rolled out at 11 a.m., April 5, at the Quirino Grandstand in Roxas Blvd.

Printed on the tarpaulin photo mosaic are more than 1,000 photographs of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in action taken by award-winning photojournalist and mosaic artist Revoli Cortez.

The mosaic also features a birthday greeting for the President who is celebrating her 62nd birthday on April 5.

Press Secretary Cerge Remonde will lead the “roll out” of the mosaic with selected employees of the Office of the Press Secretary(OPS).

An entry in the World Records, the 28,000-sq. ft. mosaic will be printed by Golden Touch Printers, which also holds the record for the largest printed photo sticker in the world.

Sponsoring the event are the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), Office of the Press Secretary (OPS), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Embrace Foundation and Luneta Park.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has declared April 6 (Monday) a holiday which falls on a Monday as part of her “holiday economics”.

Pres. Arroyo moved the original date of Araw ng Kagitingan, which falls on Holy Thursday (April 9), to April 6 for Filipinos to enjoy another long weekend before the Holy Week.

Araw ng Kagitingan is celebrated every year to commemorate the bravery of World War II veterans.