DOH – Albinism

Jose and Mr. Good Samaritan

A local businessman-artist birthday gifted himself as a sudden inspiration, by inviting deaf teacher-artist and 2-time International Abilympics gold medallist Jose dela Cruz, to sketch friends and show his works in his party.  As his wish, Jose’s genius easily got noticed, but in a big way, by one man in particular,  This standout corporate young Good Samaritan (GM), from a super affluent family in the country, humbly told the interpreter after buying 2 paintings, “Please tell Lolo Jose not to forget me when he is already famous.”

His words so touched Jose and there was no stopping a mutual admiration society, sort of, between the two.  Parting with his 2 most intricate and “cherished” works, Lolo Jose knew Mr. GM  had the nose for masterpieces.  Still reeling from the compliments, Jose was given yet another message. “Tell him I will hang his works next to my Juan Luna and other famed masterpieces, please.”  This he did, when he invited Jose and the interpreter to his house weeks after.

The Interpreter, like Lolo Jose, was just as moved by the young man’s show of nobility and respect.  Once more, there was proof,  that disability is no barrier to excellence, and ingenuity.

Mr. GM was so moved by Lolo Jose and vows to help introduce his works to his friends.   

Note: To keep Mr. GM’s identity, we are showing his blurred image beside Lolo Jose, until he decides it is time to come forward.

Contact Info:

Name: Jose Dela Cruz

Contact Number: 09266896160

Address: Philippine School for the Deaf, Pasay City

As in Tom Peter’s Pursuit of WOW, Gilda started her travel and tour business, inspired by foreign deaf friends who came to bond with her and other deaf Pinoys amidst rich tourist spots in the country.  Her disability did not get in the way of making M.G.L.Q. Deaf Tour Assistance an outfit she started in 2004 known for fast and reliable tour arrangements for deaf and non-deaf tourists all over the world.  For Gilda’s trade secret (which she generously shares with anybody who asks) is quick, quality service and the “age old” warm Filipino hospitality.

Starting small in 2004, Gilda herself mastered quality and quick dispatch though many labor pains, hurdling the same discriminating public.  Going by her motto “honoring commitments” and following a strict work code, she eventually got the feel and skill to juggle a flurry of bookings for international and domestic flights, accommodations and tour management here and abroad.

It was therefore inevitable that her unique travel agency would widely spread by word of mouth of satisfied deaf and hearing tourists.  In 2007, she joined 4 other outstanding PWD entrepreneurs awarded by the “Go Negosyo Caravan for People with Disabiities in De Salle –College of St. Benilde.  For who would want to deal with frenzied loud tourist agent, if you have a calm, smiling and reliable Gilda minding your flight, hotel and tour bookings, getting free sign language lesson on the side.

Going up the ladder of success was definitely not a cinch for a deaf person like her. She had also her share of ups and downs communicating her messages and ideas.  As Managing Director of the travel agency, Gilda equipped herself with education, experience, determination to hone her skills, her love to travel, sharing experiences and promoting the country were the solid foundation for the success of her business.Salle –College ofSt. Benilde.  For who would want to deal with frenzied loud tourist agent, if you have a calm, smiling and reliable Gilda minding your flight, hotel and tour bookings, getting free sign language lesson on the side.

In her interview at the Manila Bulletin Websites & Publications dated August 15, 2009she mentioned that “As a deaf person in this kind of business, I am proud to say that I have crossed the border of so-called limited access. I honestly worked hard to achieve my goals. I wanted to show the world that we are not cut off from mainstream society and we are capable of regularly doing and keeping our jobs like the rest of hearing and speaking people.”

Gilda who was born onAugust 16, 1971at San Julian, Eastern Samar, finished her basic education at the Philippine School for the Deaf and took vocational & diploma courses atCAPCollegefor the Deaf and the Manila Christian Computer Institute.

Another milestone has come her way, her journey to married life. Gilda met her Japanese husband at one of her deaf tours and excitement arises as she passes through this newchapter in her life.

]]> /featured-filipino-pwd/estelita-g-juco/ Thu, 13 Sep 2012 08:07:55 +0000 http://www.ncda.gov.ph/?page_id=3767 continue reading : Estelita G. Juco ]]>

“A life well lived” best describes the life of Estelita Guinto Juco.

The devastating World War II totally changed this young and classy debutante’s life. A bomb explosion caused her damage in one eye and loss of an arm.  But even then, she was unfazed and driven to succeed.

Esty remained unassuming even as a daughter of a well endowed family in the oldManilasociety.  She always marked her work with excellence.  She was an outstanding alumna of St. Paul College of Manila, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a degree in education in 1952.  She continued to serve as a Faculty atSt. Paulafter graduation, until her retirement in 1987. To this day, she is considered as one ofSt. Paul’s most inspiring teachers of Public Relations and Journalism, and a highly respected journalist. She earned her graduate studies at Ateneo de Manila University in 1957 and at the De La Salle University in 1984. She was also an honorary alumna of San Beda College Doctorate on Humanities – honoris causa.

As a street parliamentarian and fighter of the Martial Law during the EDSA Revolution, she was inevitably called by the newly installed President Corazon C. Aquino, to serve as the Executive Director of the National Commission Concerning Disabled Persons (NCCDP) (now known as the �鶹��ý – �鶹��ý).  No one has ever energized the NCCDP staff as she did, vibrantly infusing to the workforce her charm and wit which were her signature PR skills.

When President Corazon C. Aquino appointed her as the first Sectoral Representative in Congress, she made history. Her speech “One is a Lonely Number” reverberated in the halls of Congress, deeply moving all legislators, who in deference to her, hoisted up an NCCDP Calendar on each table, and gave her a standing ovation. She would proudly say that she is an adopted “sis” of Speaker Ramon Mitra’s fraternity and former PCSO Chairman Manoling Morato.

As a public relations guru, she takes pride in having a public relations person behind every critical office, a formula which is proven true.  The likes of former student Ricardo Roque, now a justice law fighter on a national and full scale, and many other officials who are now part of the society’s critical mass, could be traced back to this amazing PR guru.

Although her stint in NCCDP was short lived when she transferred to Congress, she requested to be given a space in the Commission, to continue close collaboration and immersion, to ensure that she could help craft laws that are database and always to protect the rights of persons with disabilities.  At this time, she as Congresswoman, Atty. Arturo Borjal in NCCDP and media and Secretary Mita Pardo de Tavera as DSWD Secretary and Chair of the Commission, became known as the “big 3” in the disability community.

Among her favorite role was as member of Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation, the Philippine’s Nobel’s Peace Prize, next to her utmost passion, which is her work as a legislator.  Before succumbing to her diabetic-related illness, she dedicated the best and last two years of her life to advocacy on the rights of women with disabilities and laws that would greatly empower and protect the rights of Filipinos with disabilities.

]]> /featured-filipino-pwd/the-polio-victim-who-drives-a-motortrike/ Mon, 28 May 2012 15:41:12 +0000 http://www.ncda.gov.ph/?page_id=3200 continue reading : Fe Buangin Carranza ]]> In one of the training on results-based management, monitoring and evaluation I conducted for the GREAT Women Project of the Philippine Commission on Women, I met one extraordinary woman entrepreneur by the name of Fe Buangin Carranza, 50, a polio victim since the age of 3, who has been awarded 2011 Outstanding Micro-entrepreneur of Naga City.  I conducted the training on monitoring and evaluation for the Metro Naga Development Council on March 28-30, 2012 at the Avenue Square Hotel in Naga City.  On the weekend after the training I decided to visit this outstanding lady entrepreneur of Naga City.

FABCARR Food Products, Panicuason, Naga City

Fe Carranza at one time was president of the persons with disabilities in Panicuason, Naga City.  One time when she was bringing some goods to employees of the city hall of Naga, Atty. Leni Robredo,  wife of former Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo, who was then the president of the Naga City Council of Women (NCCW), took notice of how Fe started the engine of her motor tricycle, that is, by kicking the starter with her left foot so that she is facing the back of the motorcycle.  This is because her right foot was the one stricken with polio.  That was the story of NCCW’s facilitating support from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to provide her with technical assistance for her soya production.

Fe’s soya production started simply in 2004 when some college students from Infanta, Quezon did some study visit in Panicuason but got stranded by a typhoon. The students came to her house and asked to stay for a while until the typhoon had passed.  In gratitude one of those students who knew how to make tofu or “t�ǰ�ɲ�”, taught her how to prepare soya beans in making tofu.  With the new skill that she has learned from those students she began a tofu business.

The Grow Negosyo program of the Naga City local government was also instrumental for the success of Fe’s food business by facilitating technical skills and linking her to potential clients. Today she is now supplying soya bread and chilled “t�����” to some 29 schools in Naga City under a contract with the Naga City Local School Board, and in 27 Barangay Day Care through a contract with the City Nutrition Council.  She has generated jobs for more than ten workers by her micro-enterprise which she named FABCARR Food products – the acronym for her name.  Aside from nutritious soya bread and chilled taho, FABCARR also produces soya milk, soya choco, soya coffee, tofu, and a soya beans-based vegetable meat called soya ham.

Prior to her Soya food production business, Mrs. Fe Carranza, who finished only high school, engaged in a buy-and-sell business in Navotas, Metro Manila, as a wholesaler of vegetables and maintaining a small stall in a private market.  Unfortunately with her absence at home her husband, who was a driver for a Filipino-Chinese businessman, had strayed for a while, and so she decided to go back to Panicuason to take care of her four children and to rebuild her family from the setback caused by her estranged relationship with her husband.    That was how she got involved with the PWD of Panicuason and then the tofu making prior to the DOST.

The DOST assisted Fe to put up the FABCARR Food Products in 2011.  Then the NCCW linked her up with the local school board, as well as with the nutrition council of Naga City.  When her soya production picked up she asked her estranged husband to get back home to lend a hand.  Her husband’s employer would not let go of him though and even increased his salary, but in the end he was able to negotiate with his employer for an on-call basis arrangement.  Now Fe’s husband is happily assisting her in the business.

In 2010 Fe was awarded as the happiest ����������ñ�� or resident of Naga City by the NCCW.  Today she is being nominated as the happiest Filipino by the Metro Naga Development Council.

What is her secret?  Perseverance and hardwork, she says, and faith in God.  Of course she is happy with the assistance from the local government of Naga City through the Naga City Council on Women and the LGU’s Grow Negosyo program, the Metro Naga Development Council, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Department of Trade and Industry, the GREAT Women Project of the Philippine Commission on Women, and the local Adventist Church where she is a member and whose encouragement inspired her to continue to build her dream for her family, and to show to the world that physical disability and personal setbacks can be overcome.  (end)

Seeing through the eyes of Fatima.

“Hello father”, a girl’s voice was heard over ZNN Radio Veritas’ broadcast of Fr. Jerry Orbos’s radio show one July 2003 night. The voice, nervy but resolute, talked about trusting in God’s grace and to be hopeful and joyful in spite of sufferings.  The voice came from a very fragile 10-year old, Fatima Soriano, blind at birth and suffering from the last stage of kidney failure. Fatima’s radio-phone interview did not only stir Father Jerry Orbos, but the priest’s audience as well.

After the two met in person, they became instant friends. Fr. Jerry saw Fatima , as breath of fresh air and as God’s answer to his taxing job as Mission Director of the ‘’Society of Divine Word-Philippines’’. Fatima in turn, welcomed Fr. Jerry’s friendship and having another person to talk about her strong faith and convictions other than her parents, Danny and Fely. This friendship led to Fatima’s regular presence in Fr. Jerry’s televised ABS-CBN Sunday Masses.

The media took notice of her unwavering faith in God’s grace and her devotion to the intercession of Mary. ABS-CBN’s “Maalaala Mo Kaya” soon featured her story, and made a number of TV guestings with the media rallying on her positivism and infectious faith.

Fatima’s Television prominence led to a text brigade in 2004 which raised P1.2 million, to help in her kidney transplant after a 23-year-old kidney donor surfaced. Doctors were apprehensive at first, saying that Fatima may be at risk if the surgery pushes through, having only 90 percent compatibility of the donor’s adult arteries and veins to Match Fatima’s much smaller blood vessels. However, this apprehension was proven wrong during the February 28, 2004 surgery, when they turned out to be a perfect fit.

Fatima successfully recovered from surgery, however, her experience under the knife made it very difficult for her to continue her choir singing. But once again, her faith in God’s grace proved that nothing is impossible. In 2006, Fatima recorded four (4) songs for Fr. Jerry’s CD of inspirational songs: two of the songs,”Falling Star” and “You’re in My Heart,” were written and sung by Fatima. The two other songs which were written by Fr. Jerry and sung by her “Believe Like a Child” and (My Suffering Is) My Offering”, speaks about her and others like her with unwavering faith in God. Their work was awarded “The Most Inspiring Album” of 2007 by The Catholic Mass Media Awards.

In 2009, Fatima’s family decided to migrate to Union City USA.  To date, she continues to share her inspirations, through her songs and albums and her regular radio guesting on Fr. Jerry’s Saturday night radio program over DZMM of ABS-CBN Network, telling her audience “Habang may buhay may pag-asa. Her album “Journey to the Heart” is now available in selected record stores nationwide and in record selling websites. Fatima appeared in an MTV for an ABS-CBN Teleserye where she sang the theme song. She now also regularly appears on the daily noontime show of ABS-CBN “Happy Yipee Yehey”. She was guested and was interviewed by Boy Abunda for the Bottom Line (ABC-CBN) and News TV’s Tonight with Arnold Clavio. Fatima continues to appear on TV in her desire to share her message of unwavering HOPE.  She is currently working on her latest album to be released on her 18th birthday this coming June 2011.

( Source: )

Arturo Acosta Borjal was born on April 15, 1938 in La Paz, Abra. His mother carried him on her back just so he could go to school. In Ateneo de Manila University, he was the bespectacled brainy guy  with leg braces and crutches. Before he finished Law, he was the school paper’s Editor-in-Chief and President of the Debating Team and the Supreme Student Council.

As a journalist, he won an array of awards from distinctive award-giving bodies. He was the Rotary Club of Manila’s Newspaperman of the Year, Catholic Mass Media Awards 1986 Best Opinion Columnist, Philippine Foundation for the Rehabilitation of Disabled 1991 Special Apolinario Mabini Presidential Awardee, City Government of Manila’s 1981 Outstanding Citizen of Manila and Ateneo de Manila University’s 1961 Distinguished Leadership Awardee. He was the first Filipino journalist ever elected as President of the Manila Overseas Club and the National Press Club at the same time.

His daily Philippine Star Jaywalker column carried emerging issues against discrimination and violation of the sector’s human rights, making it among the country’s top rated and most well read columns. From 1987 to 1992, GMA7 tapped him as host of its popular Public Affairs Programs Issues and Answers and No Holds Barred, which clicked for his fearless interviews of top public and private officials.

Borjal, or AAB to his staff, served as Executive Director of the NCWDP (now known as �鶹��ý) for more than two years, prior to his appointment by President Corazon C. Aquino as Sectoral Representative for the Disabled in the Eighth Congress. This was in 1990 when he took the place of the late Congresswoman Estelita Juco. That year, he also got elected as the President of the City College of Manila which ran quality education and scholarships for low income but deserving students.

As a legislator, he worked non-stop for high-impact laws beneficial to millions of citizens with disabilities. As one of the co-authors of Republic Act 7277, he was referred by many as the father of “Magna Carta for Disabled Persons for relentlessly pursuing it until its approval in 1992. This milestone law grants the rights and privileges of persons with disabilities, as the first attempt to mainstream the sector in major government agencies programs and services. This later led to its amendment as R.A. 9442, giving PWDs 20% discount privileges similar to that of senior citizens, and 2 provisions against public vilification and ridicule.

After his term in Congress, President Joseph Ejercito Estrada appointed him as Consultant for the Disadvantaged and concurrently as NCWDP Board member. This started his long term partnership with then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Chairperson of the Council in her capacity as Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development. Personally, he served as the Board’s conscience bloc during meetings, and aggressively monitored member agencies commitments to implement the Magna Carta.

While serving as Sectoral Representative in 1991, he founded Abilympics Philippines to boost work excellence of PWDs and a disability-inclusive workforce. No doubt, work generation was his biggest pitch to empower the sector.

From 1991 to 2002, he led winnable teams to different host countries of International Abilympics (IAs) or Olympics of work abilities of PWD competitors. This task, he fondly turned over to respected friends he called his holy trinity before he succumbed to cancer. These are then PFRD President and now �鶹��ý Chairperson Rosie Lovely T. Romulo, �鶹��ý Board member Mrs. Begoña B. Ortigas, and Mrs. Mercedes A. Tuason, now Philippine Ambassador to Italy, before he succumbed to cancer. To date, Abilympics Philippines has brought home over 20 medals and special awards from its participation in Hong Kong, Australia, Czechoslovakia, and India. (See all  ABI champs featured on pages 24-58 in this magazine as proof of Pinoys work excellence here and abroad.)

He was the disability sector big champ, representing the interests of PWDs at the local and global fronts. As a Commissioner of the National Council Concerning Disabled Persons (NCCDP) now �鶹��ý, he also assumed on the Presidency of Tahanang Walang Hagdanan (TWH), and was the Chairman of Gulong sa Pagsulong project from 1995-1997. He was a Speaker/Delegate to the 16th World Congress of Rehabilitation International in Tokyo, Japan in 1998, and a Resource Person in the Seminar-Workshop on Community-based Rehabilitation in Khon Kaen, Thailand in 1989. On that year also, he represented the country in the General Assembly of Rehabilitation International in Seoul, Korea, simultaneously as the delegate in the International Conference on Disability in the same venue.

When it was time for him to go, he did not want to be a burden to anyone and was ready to meet His Creator. He personally chose his urn, his resting place, even the songs for his memorial service. His youngest sister, Ms. Lilia dela Pena’s words to Atty. Borjal’s relatives, colleagues and friends were: I must confide that every time I hear these songs, my heart is filled with sadness, then awe, and then relief. Somehow I know that my brother is now resting in his Green Green Grass of Home, singing fly away, skyline pigeons fly, towards the dreams he left so very far behind. But until The Twelfth of Never, he will still be loving us.

A close friend on his Memorial Mass, sent everybody home smiling, when he challenged each one, ‘to picture Art, no longer on his crutches, flying eagerly towards His Master, scot free and laughing heartily.

Sources/References:

Arturo A. Borjal. Retrieved February 11, 2010 from

What is Abilympics Philippines?. Retrieved February 18, 2010 from In Memoriam B (2007). Retrieved February 18, 2010 from http://www.ateneo.edu/index.php?p=12-&type=2&sec=39&aid=3453

Ironman 703 Philippines Media Partners – The Philippine Star. Retrieved February 25, 2010 from
Republic Act 7277, BIS Online Query. Retrieved February 22, 2010 from

Born on July 23, 1864 in Talaga, Tanauan, Batangas. He was the second of eight children of Dionisia Maranan and Inocencio Mabini, both of whom belonged to the impoverished peasantry. Despite of his poverty, Mabini was able to study in Manila. He began his studies at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in 1881 and received his law degree in 1894 from the University of Santo Tomas. To survive, he earned his living by teaching Latin and then serving as a copyist in the Court of First Instance in Manila.

In 1896, Mabini contracted an illness that paralyzed his legs. When the Katipunan revolt broke out late that year, the Spanish authorities arrested him for being a member of Katipunan. Unknown to many, Mabini was not a member of Katipunan but of the reform association of Jose Rizal, the La Liga Filipina. Bonifacio’s movement sought military insurrection while Rizal’s movement aimed for gradual reform. Though as a pacifist reformist, he was at first skeptical of Bonifacio’s armed uprising, Mabini later became convinced of the people’s almost fanatical desire for liberation. Subsequently, he turned out subversive manifestos appealing to all Filipinos to unite against Spain.

Mabini came to the forefront in 1898 during the Filipino revolution against Spain. In the subsequent revolution against the United States, he became known as the brains of the revolution.

Even if Mabini was already paralyzed, in 1898 General Emilio Aguinaldo summoned him to serve as his chief adviser. He drafted decrees and crafted the constitution for the First Philippine Republic, including the framework of the revolutionary government which was implemented in Malolos, Bulacan in 1899.

Mabini was appointed prime minister and was also the foreign minister of the newly independent dictatorial government of Emilio Aguinaldo on January 2, 1899. Mabini then led the first cabinet of the republic. He remained the head of Aguinaldo’s cabinet until his resignation on May 7, 1899.

On December 10, 1899, he was captured by the Americans at Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija, but was later set free. In spite of his physical condition, Mabini refused to submit to American authority and continued to write against the occupying power. In January 1901, he was arrested the second time by the Americans and was exiled to Guam, where he remained until his return to Manila on February 26, 1903. On the day he sailed, he issued this statement to the press:

After two long years I am returning, so to speak, completely disoriented and, what is worse, almost overcome by disease and sufferings. Nevertheless, I hope, after some time of rest and study, still to be of some use, unless I have returned to the Islands for the sole purpose of dying.

On May 13, 1903 Mabini died of cholera in Manila, at the age of 38. Mabini’s life despite of disability was selfless and motivated by high ideals. He would state, I have no other balm to sweeten the bitterness of a harsh and melancholy life (in exile) than the satisfaction given by the conviction of having always done what I believed to be my duty. God grant that I can say the same at the hour of my death. (from La Revolucion Filipina).

Source: �鶹��ý’s
References:

Apolinario Mabini. Retrieved January 28, 2010 from

Apolinario Mabini Biography/Encyclopedia of World Biography. Retrieved January 28, 2010 from

Biography: Apolinario Mabini. Retrieved January 28, 2010 from

Biography of Apolinario Mabini. Retrieved January 28, 2010 from

Yoder, Dr. Robert L., FAPC (1991). Mabini: Wounded Hero, Retrieved January 29, 2010 from

Apolinario Mabini [Image] Source: Downloaded from