Tag Archives: Philippines

Courageous Typhoon Heroes Win Adelina Awards

Adelina Award

TACLOBAN, Philippines, Nov. 20, 2013 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Several individuals and groups who exemplified great valor in the face of unimaginable tragedy during Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) have been honored by receiving the Adelina Award, the most prestigious prize in the Philippines awarded for humanitarian relief efforts, according to Lydia Ramos and Sarah Mendel of the World Mind Network and Friends Beyond Borders, who chair the Awards Committee.

The first Award went to the staff, residents and management of the Streetlight Orphanage in Tacloban, including founder Erlend Johannessen. "We were on the roof, all of us, five-meter waves pounding our walls, building shaking, 300 kilometer winds, and we were just holding on for our dear lives. But my kids are so, so brave. My staff is so amazing. They really showed true Filipino spirit. They refused to give up. They were holding onto each other. Even if they were not their own kids, they held them as if they were their own kids," Johannessen said.

Another recipient is the medical team from Mammoth Medical Missions in California, which stationed a group of 16 doctors and support staff in the ruined Town Hall of Tanauan, 30 kilometers south of Tacloban. Working under wartime conditions with no power, running water, or sufficient supplies, they performed more than 100 surgeries, including amputations and C-sections, in three days soon after the typhoon.

Medala moms is a group of Filipinas who were honored with an Adelina Award for donating breast milk to desperate mothers of infants in the typhoon zone. They work in cooperation with the Philippine General Hospital Milk Bank which uses the latest technology to preserve the breast milk and transport it to calamity-stricken areas.

British engineer Jonathan Fitzpatrick won the Award for his heroic actions in saving dozens of people trapped in the Ormoc Villa Hotel on the morning the typhoon made landfall with 170 mph winds. He and his colleagues kicked in blocked doors, shuttled people to relatively safe stairwells, and provided water until the wind subsided. According to his family, he at first thought he and the others were going to die, but decided that if he was going to perish, he would do so while fighting.

Rex Raymond Torrecampo from Batangas, Philippines, won the prize for his brilliant analysis of the tragedy which appeared on his blog LifeSoMundane. He pointed out that much misery can be avoided during disasters like typhoons for which the storm path is fairly predictable well beforehand, by storing relief supplies close to, but just outside of the estimated storm track.

Dr. Joji Tomioka and his team of 26 doctors and support staff from Japan won the Adelina Award for their ground-breaking use of new technology in the field. They deployed wireless mobile X-ray units, developed after the devastating tsunami which hit Fukushima, Japan in 2011. A small camera scans the patient, and its information is sent to an iPad and thence to a laptop. Using typical thumb and forefinger iPad gestures, doctors can zero in on an image to see exactly where a lesion or bone break might be. The Japanese team is currently seeing about 200 patients a day.

NASA and the Italian Space Agency won an Award for work performed by their ARIA (Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis) team. They produced a space-based map of the Tacloban region which helps disaster relief authorities by depicting minute surface changes in the terrain caused by natural or human-produced damage.

For more information go to http://philippinetyphoonrelief.net/ . To help typhoon victims, go to http://www.redcross.org.ph/ .

Original syndication source for this press release: http://i.send2press.com/e .

To view the original version on Send2Press Newswire, visit: https://www.send2press.com/newswire/Courageous-Typhoon-Heroes-Win-Adelina-Awards_2013-11-1120-005.shtml.

NEWS SOURCE World Mind Network :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (who is solely responsible for its accuracy) by and Copr. © 2013 Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®.

Philippines Employs ‘Lumpia Strategy’ to Counter Chinese Expansion

Adelina Award

AYUNGIN ISLAND, Philippines, Nov. 1, 2013 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- An under-the-radar struggle for disputed island reefs is evolving in the South China Sea, between China and the Philippines, and the tactics employed by each side are named after foods, according to Reina Prince, global strategist for the NGO Friends Beyond Borders.

The area called Reed Bank contains hundreds of relatively unimpressive deserted islands and shoals, but what is really valuable to both nations is under the surface. Some estimates are that the seabed beneath the area holds 55 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, as well as 5.4 billion barrels of crude oil.

China has aggressively asserted its claims to the area, sending more and more navy ships, research vessels, and fishing boats over the last few years. For its part, the Philippines has grounded an abandoned WWII era ship, the Sierra Madre, on a lonely reef in the disputed area, and manned it with eight Marines.

General Zhang Zhaozhong, of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, has described China's long term plan as "the Cabbage Strategy" which means the effort to flood a disputed area of island-dotted ocean with so many boats that "the island is thus wrapped layer by layer like a cabbage."

Referring to recent efforts to take land from the Philippines, Zhang said "We should do more such things in the future. For those small islands, only a few troopers are able to station on each of them, but there is no food or even drinking water there. If we carry out the cabbage strategy, you will not be able to send food and drinking water onto the islands. Without the supply for one or two weeks, the troopers stationed there will leave the islands on their own. Once they have left, they will never be able to come back."

The Philippine government has responded with what Prince calls the "Lumpia Strategy," named after the famous Filipino egg roll stuffed with vegetables (including cabbage) and sometimes meat. It aims to preserve Filipino sovereignty over the islands by maintaining possession and fishing rights. Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon, whose territory includes Ayungin Island, tries to help the military re-supply the troops on the distant outpost, for which he and the marines have been honored with the Adelina Award, but Chinese interference is making such efforts more and more difficult. Only sustained support from the people and government can keep the garrison intact.

More information: http://batangasvarsitarian.net .

To view the original version on Send2Press Newswire, visit: https://www.send2press.com/newswire/Philippines-Employs-Lumpia-Strategy-to-Counter-Chinese-Expansion_2013-11-1101-002.shtml.

NEWS SOURCE Friends Beyond Borders :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (who is solely responsible for its accuracy) by and Copr. © 2013 Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®.

Children’s Choir Moves Nation, World, with Performance at Earthquake-ruined Church

Adelina Award

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines, Oct. 23, 2013 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- The World Mind Network today announced that The Loboc Children's Choir provided a spontaneous moment of inspiration and hope to the quake-ravaged Philippines on Thursday, with an impromptu performance of Josh Groban's "The Prayer."

According to Sarah Mendel of Friends Beyond Borders, an NGO helping with quake aid, the group approached the ABS-CBN news team as it was reporting in front of the ruined Loboc Church, inside of which the choral group had performed many times.

The church, built by the Spanish in 1602, has survived hundreds of earthquakes, but was completely destroyed by the October 17 7.2 magnitude temblor.

The quake killed at least 198, injured hundreds, and severely damaged more than 19,000 structures.

As a result of their heroic act, the Choir has won the Adelina Award, the most prestigious Humanitarian honor offered in the Philippines.

The Loboc Children's Choir has been in existence since 1980, and consists of 30 school children from the Loboc Central Elementary School in Loboc, Bohol, Philippines. The children are between nine and thirteen years of age.

A scale model of what the rebuilt church might look like, which honors the original architecture but incorporates modern design elements to help prevent future earthquake damage, will be circulated among schools in the region to assist with fundraising and recovery efforts. The new church will be rededicated to the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Loboc.

The choir's performance can be seen here: (CBN TV News website) http://goo.gl/fpFOsn .

More information: http://philippineearthquakerelief.org/ .

To view the original version on Send2Press Newswire, visit: https://www.send2press.com/newswire/Children-s-Choir-Moves-Nation-World-with-Performance-at-Earthquake-ruined-Church_2013-10-1023-002.shtml.

NEWS SOURCE World Mind Network :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (who is solely responsible for its accuracy) by and Copr. © 2013 Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®.

Students use Social Media to help Victims of Earthquake in Philippines

Adelina Award

CEBU CITY, Philippines, Oct. 17, 2013 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- In efforts spearheaded by the World Mind Network, Friends Beyond Borders, and Batangas Varsitarian, young people from around the world used Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Skype, Friendster, and SMS tracking sites to help rescuers locate and aid victims of the recent earthquake in the central Philippines. The 7.2 magnitude quake struck the region of Bohol Island and Cebu just after 8 a.m. local time on October 15, 2013.

So far 161 have been confirmed dead, with hundreds injured, 19,000 homes severely damaged, and major losses to roads and infrastructure. According to Sarah Mendel and John Toomey of the World Mind Network, students from Stanford, Harvard, Emory, Utah, the University of Batangas, Santo Tomas, University of the Philippines, and several others participated.

"It's becoming more and more obvious that the power people possess in the palm of their hand, namely their Smart phone or tablet, has enormous power to help people instantly," said Toomey. "Disasters like this are the most self-evident example, but the same principle applies to every kind of humanitarian, public health, and educational assistance."

Every month the Adelina Award is presented by BatangasVarsitarian.net to someone who has performed heroically on behalf of Batangas or the Philippines in the fields of Humanitarian aid, Education, Public Health, Disaster Relief, or Economic Improvement.

This week five Adelina Awards are being announced, all for people and organizations who have rendered service far beyond the call of duty in helping the victims of the Bohol earthquake:

Robert Michael Poole: Mr. Poole traveled all over Bohol on the day of the quake, taking photos which documented the destruction. Many were useful in helping rescuers locate and save victims. You can see his photos here:
http://twitchy.com/2013/10/15/major-earthquake-strikes-the-philippines-photos/ .

Mae of Natura Vista resort in Bohol, who is offering free lodging packages to those who donate to earthquake relief:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=481326218631357&set=a.150384555058860.30245.137800462983936&type=1&theater .

Bangon Bohol, a group of Boholanos from throughout the Philippines who have devoted thousands of hours to helping victims:
https://www.facebook.com/OplanBangonBohol .

Narcisa Barbanida has been awarded the honor posthumously. She died saving her daughter. See:
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/nation/regions/10/17/13/mom-dies-saving-daughter-during-bohol-quake .

Philippine Airlines (PAL), which has activated its Humanitarian Cargo Grant program. PAL will accept donations to be transported for free to Tagbiliran City in Bohol and Cebu. Certified volunteer doctors and medical specialists who will be participating in the ongoing relief efforts may also receive free air transportation via PAL.

Help is still needed, and resources and information on how to assist are listed on the group's site at http://philippineearthquakerelief.org/ as well as at batangasvarsitarian.net. For more information, or to make suggestions contact theworldmindnetwork@gmail.com.

To view the original version on Send2Press Newswire, visit: https://www.send2press.com/newswire/Students-use-Social-Media-to-help-Victims-of-Earthquake-in-Philippines_2013-10-1017-001.shtml.

NEWS SOURCE World Mind Network :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (who is solely responsible for its accuracy) by and Copr. © 2013 Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®.