Priests and ministers have expressed the same wish for us to adopt this New Year — of thinking and doing positives. I wholeheartedly agree. We have been so obsessed about striking down our leaders instead of giving our support to help move our country forward. Some anomalies may have been committed by men and women in the government, but these should not be reason for us to wreck the whole system by violence or mere obstructionism. This is now time for us to put our hearts and minds together so we can best serve our country.
Ours is a democracy and everybody is given the opportunity to express their views. We should support bills proposed by legislators intended to turn our economy for the better. It does not matter whether the bills are sponsored by administration or opposition legislators — provided they are seriously meant to benefit the country and people.
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This column marks the beginning of 2008 by citing the work of two women — in journalism and communications.
Florangel Rosario-Braid, president emeritus and trustee of the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC) was recently conferred the 2007 The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) Awardee for Literature and Journalism.
Dr. Braid was cited for being a preeminent communication specialist, educator, media practitioner, scholar, and social advocate. The Awards body noted that during the past years, “Dr. Braid has committed herself in imparting the importance of communication in diverse fields and endeavors related to priority work, such as in environment and sustainable development, education, literacy, judicial reform, children and women’s rights and media.”
This year’s jurors also said that Dr. Braid is most recognized for her involvement with the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC) which she co-founded with renowned Filipino journalists S.P. Lopez and Jose Luna Castro in 1980. “Braid has provided strategic vision and guidance to AIJC which is now one of the leading graduate schools specializing in communication studies.”
One of Dr. Braid’s notable achievements cited by the Awards sponsors — JCI Senate Philippines and The Insular Life Assurance Company, Ltd. — was in being one of the pioneers of alternative learning system (distance education) in the Philippines, which she pursued throughout the years under the auspices of UNESCO and other international organizations.
Dr. Braid is not only recognized in the field of journalism and communication. She was also dubbed as “Ina ng Kilusang Kooperatiba.” She co-founded the Cooperative Foundation of the Philippines, Inc. with the late senator Manuel Manahan. She also introduced the cooperatives provision in the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
Dr. Braid started her career as media practitioner with the Philippine Broadcasting System, where she produced pioneering public affairs programs. She’s the founding president of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (where she introduced the concept of a cooperative newspaper), founding trustee and chair of Ang Pilipino Star Ngayon, and publisher and founder of The Filipino Entrepreneur magazine. She also served as board director for the People’s Television Network. Today, she is a regular columnist of the Manila Bulletin.
She was a member of the 1987 Constitutional Commission, her interest focused on media and communications.
Flor has been with UNESCO for decades. She is currently chair of the Communication Committee of the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines. She is a council member of the UNESCO International Programme for the Development of Communication in Paris.
Other 2007 TOFIL awardees are Jose S. Concepcion Jr., for Social Advocacy; Felipe F. Cruz, for General Construction; and Dr. Hernani G. Golez, for Agriculture.
Our congratulations to our dear Flor, mentor and friend.
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Another woman we’d like to congratulate is Anna Sobrepena, who was recently appointed editor in chief of the prestigious publication, Lifestyle Asia.
A refined and classy professional, Anna is a communications graduate of the University of the Philippines, and pursued her masters at the Ateneo de Manila University. She wrote articles for travel, design and lifestyle magazines, did commissioned works like a Philippine shopping guide and a volume in the Business For All Series featuring wealthy Filipinos listed in Fortune’s 500, edited books, theses and dissertations. She also enrolled in the Asian Institute of Management’s Managing the Arts Program and participated in art intervention gatherings, art being one of her other passions.
Anna has taken over the Lifestyle Asia editorship from Sari Yap, who will now focus on the business development of the 14 magazines under Mega Publishing, of which she is president.
According to Anna, Lifestyle Asia has a 20-year and a readership of 160,000 based on the latest Synovate Media Atlas Report. “It is about Asian living at its best, which for me, is defined by values of the highest order. This is an adherence to nothing less than what is universally accepted as excellent. In many ways, it is intangible but manifests itself in very real sights, sounds and sensations captured in articles about the finest dining places and destinations for leisure, commodities for the discriminating, art and culture and the accouterments of refined and gracious living.”
Lifestyle Asia, says Anna, “is a Filipino enterprise that has envisioned bringing the global citizen these experiences. This will not change. Transition notwithstanding, readers can rely on continuity of a long tradition of excellence.”
Anna is married to Aniceto “Chito” Sobrepena, president of Metrobank Foundation and the Metrobank Medical Doctors College.
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My e-mail:dominimt2000@yahoo.com