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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI says use of condom can be a lesser evil than transmitting HIV


In a seemingly offhand remark that caught the Roman Catholic world by surprise, Pope Benedict XVI appears to have relaxed, at least slightly, the Vatican’s longstanding adamant opposition to the use of condoms.

Pope Benedict XVI’s comments about condom use being a lesser evil than transmitting HIV also apply to women, the Vatican said Tuesday, a significant shift for a pope who just last year said condoms only worsen the AIDS problem.

Benedict said in a book released Tuesday that condom use by people such as male prostitutes was a lesser evil since it indicated they were taking a step toward a more moral and responsible sexuality by aiming to protect their partner from a deadly infection.

His comments implied that he was referring primarily to homosexual sex, when condoms aren’t being used as a form of contraception, which the Vatican opposes.

Questions arose immediately, however, about the pope’s intent because the Italian translation of the book used the feminine for prostitute, whereas the original German used the masculine.


The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told reporters Tuesday that he asked the pope whether he intended his comments to only apply to male prostitutes. Benedict replied that it really didn’t matter, that the important thing was the person in question took into consideration the life of the other, Lombardi said.

“I personally asked the pope if there was a serious, important problem in the choice of the masculine over the feminine,” Lombardi said. “He told me no. The problem is this … It’s the first step of taking responsibility, of taking into consideration the risk of the life of another with whom you have a relationship.”

“This is if you’re a woman, a man, or a transsexual. We’re at the same point,” Lombardi said.

The pope is not justifying or condoning gay sex or heterosexual sex outside of a marriage. Elsewhere in the book he reaffirms the Vatican opposition to homosexual acts and artificial contraception and reaffirms the inviolability of marriage between man and woman.

But by broadening the condom comments to also apply to women, the pope is saying that condom use in heterosexual relations is the lesser evil than passing HIV onto a partner.

While that concept has long been a tenet of moral theology, the pope’s book “Light of the World” — a series of interviews with a German journalist — was the first time a pope had ever publicly applied the theory to the scenario of condom use as a way to fight HIV transmission.

The pope’s comments have generated heated debate, mostly positive in places like Africa which has been devastated by AIDS and where the church has been criticized for its opposition to condom use.

Source: netfreakz.info

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Iloilo City places 98th in Tholons’ Top 100


Iloilo City ranked 98th in the world’s Top 100 Outsourcing Cities study conducted by services globalization and investment advisory firm Tholons.


The metropolis also made it to the list of 50 “Aspiring Cities” around the globe vying to become ideal hubs for business process outsourcing (BPO) investments.


The 2010 Top 100 Outsourcing Cities list “is not only a reflection of the current competitiveness and stature of cities in the global outsourcing landscape but provides insight to the future potential of locations in addressing emerging trends and demands in services globalization.”


This was the assessment of Global Services, a media platform which connects buyers and service providers in the global IT services and BPO industry, according to a statement posted on its website.


Last year, the Global Services-Tholons research team ranked Iloilo City as third in the “Top 10 Aspirants” which have potential to improve as “emerging global outsourcing cities” in the coming years.


The aspiring cities have still a lot to do to develop and facilitate outsourcing activities, the Global Services assessed.


Meanwhile, the cities of Manila and Cebu are already “established” in the Top 10 by ranking fourth and ninth, respectively.


The cities of Davao and Bacolod also fared as “aspiring” by ranking 69th and 100th, respectively. 


Another 40 list of global cities are considered “emerging” BPO centers.


Tholons first conducted surveys and interviews with service providers and buyers to determine trends in delivery and consumption of outsourced services in specific destinations as well as market and labor sizes, and identify the expansion strategies of service providers.


The secondary research includes country economic information gathered from historical data from governments, trade bodies, and global institutions; government’s publicly released data used to present macroeconomic; and market assumptions and analyses from data such as annual reports, industry bulletins, and trade publications.


source: The News Today


Thursday, November 11, 2010

Iloilo River dev’t project wins top int’l recognition

Besting seven other entries from across the globe, the Iloilo River Development Project won a gold award for environmental sustainability in the prestigious International Awards for Liveable Communities or LivCom held at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois on November 8.


The news was relayed by Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog to the City Hall in a text message yesterday.
LivCom, launched in 1997, is reputed as the world’s sole awards competition focusing on best practices for managing the local environment.

Mabilog, who attended the LivCom event from November 4 to 8, made a presentation on the Iloilo River Development Project which was then one of the finalists in the Environmentally-Sustainable Projects Award.

The international panel of judges is composed of environmental and landscape management professionals.

The project is Iloilo City’s entry under the Environmentally Sustainable Project Awards Category E for communities with a population of over 400,000 people.

Other finalists are Al Ain, UAE; Changwon City, South Korea; Changzhou City, China; Curitiba, Brazil; Medellin City, Colombia; Portland Metropolitan Region, USA; and Wuxing, China.

Other members of the Iloilo City delegation are City Environmental Management Specialist Renan Escoto, Councilor Edward Yee, City Legal Officer Jose Junio Jacela, and business executives Felix Tiu and Antonio Lim.

Escoto, who is part of the team that prepared the presentation on Iloilo River Development Project, said the project exemplifies successful public-private partnership in protecting and preserving the river.

“We (in the government) cannot do it alone. The private sector is also very active in this undertaking,” he said.

Escoto said various stakeholders are involved in the regular river clean-up to help the existing “Bantay-Suba” team.

There is also a continuing mangrove reforestation in the area and illegal fishpens in the vicinity have already been dismantled.

“We are also trying our best to remove illegal settlers,” Escoto said.

Iloilo River hosts various endangered species, including rare shrimps discovered by University of the Philippines biological sciences students.

Some 20 mangrove species also grow in the area.

Other Entries

Apart from the Iloilo River Development Project, Iloilo City also submitted three entries for the Bursary Award.

These include the Wastepickers Livelihood Training Program, Community-based Water and Sanitation System, and Community-based Disaster Preparedness Planning.

source: The News Today

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Leganes Day Care Folk Dancers: the Leganeans' Pride

After winning the Municipal, Congressional and Provincial folk dance competition, the Leganes Day Care Folk Dancers represent the province of Iloilo in the recent concluded Children's Regional Congress last November 5, 2010 at SM City Iloilo.


The event was spearheaded by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and was participated by different provinces in western visayas which includes, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Negros Occidental and Iloilo.


Even though the Leganes Day Care Folk Dancers placed First Runner Up, still they have proven that being Leganeans are something to be proud of. To all of you, Congratulations  especially to the teachers, trainers, parents and the lovely, talented and cute little dancers.


Here is their performance:

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Small But Huge Pride

Another Leganeans pride has risen. They are small, cute but talented children below 5 years of the Leganes Day Care Center who showcase their grace and skill in folk dance. Indeed they have proven that the Leganeans are talented especially in the field of dancing. 


In celebration of  the "Children's Day 2010", last October 12, 2010, an inter-daycare competition was held at the Leganes Gymnasium where the Poblacion daycare folk dancers grabbed the grand price and represent the town in the congressional level held on October 19, 2010 at Zarraga Gymasium. 


The congressional level contest was participated by the different municipality in the second congressional district of Iloilo which includes Alimodian, Leon, New Lucena, Pavia, San Miguel, Santa Barbara, Zarraga and Leganes. And once again, they children won the top place.


Ten days after winning the congressional contest, the Leganes Day Care Children represent the second district of Iloilo in the Children's Month Celebration folk dance contest provincial level  last October 29, 2010 held at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol. With their grace and skills they have victoriously won the competition.


Winning the first place in the provincial competition, the Leganes Day Care folk dancers will be the official contestant of the province of Iloilo in the Regional level on November 5 2010 at SM City Iloilo.


Let's pray for the victory of our Leganes Day Care folk dancers.


Here are the videos of their performance in municipal, congressional and provincial competition.


Municipal Level (October 12, 2010)



Congressional Level (October 19, 2010)



Provincial Level (October 29, 2010)