April 16 - 30, 2018
OPINION
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
Reyfort Publishing & Entertainment
Rey Fortaleza - Publisher
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Rosette Correa - Senior Editor
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Writers - Crisanta Sampang ; Columnists - Geoff Meggs, Ben Berto, Editha Corrales, Mon
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Breaking
Point
By Rosette Correa
We human beings have a
tendency to put off everything to the
last minute, especially our health.
When we don’t feel pain or when we
feel we are in tip top shape, we skip
a dental or doctor’s appointment just
because we feel we don’t have an eed
for it. The same thing goes for going
to Church, when we feel that life is
rosy and we have all the money in
the world, we proclaim we don’t need
God and skip Mass or church services
altogether. Health, both physical and
spiritual, become secondary to our
material needs, that when we do get
hit with the worst illness ever, we are
at a loss on what to do.
We take our bodies for granted just
because it doesn’t give us problems.
Annual check-ups were invented so
that, just like a well-oiled machine,
we can maintain our functions well,
and avoid the unnecessary aches and
pains that will come when we least
expect them. Even annual check-
ups, however, are skipped in favour
of other activities. When we skip our
check-ups, we give illnesses a license
to wreak havoc on our bodies, until
we could no longer do anything about
it.
Those of us who are of Filipino
or Chinese descent have a host of
illnesses that are undetectable, simply
because they are illnesses that affect
parts of our body we cannot see.
When we look at our family health
Bulong
Pulungan
By Deedee Siytangco
Reprinted from Manila Bulletin
ANGEL THOUGHTS
Every pain gives a lesson. Every
lesson a grace. —Anonymous
*************
The journey of faith and love I was
privileged to have recently undertaken
also brought us, my daughter Sandee
Masigan and granddaughter Amanda
Julia, to the countryside of Spain
and to the little towns of Portugal.
Unfortunately, we did not have time
to explore France after our pilgrimage
to Fatima.
I was captivated by the rolling
hills of Spain dotted with olive trees,
vineyards, old houses, and neatly
planted acres of farms lands that I did
not mind the long drive.
Crossing the border to Portugal
was a first for me and I found the
people friendly, courteous, and very
proud of their cultural heritage. In
Lisbon, there is a giant statue of the
Health is wealth
(and things we tend to ignore)
history, we see relatives who have
succumbed to lung cancer, diabetes,
or heart attacks, simply because they
did not see it coming. We owe all of
this to our robust eating habits and
our high sugar, salt and fat diets. The
onset of these illness come when we
get older, and by then it is too late,
and we scrambles to get our check-
ups done.
The liver is one of those organs
that has a lot of functions and is
related to other parts of our digestive
system, such as pancreas, as its
functions are directly involved with
these other organs. Hepatitis B is
hyper-endemic in the Philippines with
a rate of 16.7% in the adult population
over age 20 and due to the fact that
although an immunization program
was introduced in 1992, universal
vaccination has not been achieved.
Three quarters of the 240-400 million
carriers of Hepatitis B reside in Asia/
Southeast Asia.
According to the Canadian Liver
Foundation (CLF) of BC, Hepatitis B
is a ‘silent killer’. It is a major health
issu e among Chinese and Filipinos.
The disease does not exhibit any signs
or symptoms for up to 20-30 years.
When Hepatitis B is left untreated, it
can lead to liver failure, liver cancer
and death. This is why the CLF has
launched a free blood screening in the
month of April and May, specifically
calling on Canadians with Filipino or
Chinese descent.
Its purpose is to
investigate
the
prevalence
of
Hepatitis B Carriers
who are unaware of
their carrier status in
Greater Vancouver
and to promote
early
diagnosis
which will lead to
early
treatment
thereby
saving
lives. Hepatitis B
screening
costs
$40 and is not
covered by MSP,
so people should
take advantage of
this opportunity to
know whether they
carry the disease or not so it can be
managed earlier.
Participants consenting to have
their blood drawn will be contacted
if their results test positive indicating
that they are a Hepatitis B carrier. By
doing a simple blood test, an individual
will know right away whether they are
a Hepatitis B carrier. The individual
will then be contacted and asked to
see their doctor for immediate follow
up.
Last April 21 was the first in the
series of blood screenings, and out
of the hundreds who came to the
Broadway Church in Vancouver, only
six Filipinos came to be tested. The
CLF has purposely found donors to
make this service free, and to see
very few Filipinos taking advantage
of the screening is sad. Hopefully,
more will come to other screenings,
such as the one at St Patrick’s
Church in Vancouver, and another
one in IC Delta. With the highest rate
of Hepatitis B in the world, whether
or not we are carriers, we Filipinos
should all know whether this silent
killer is within us, so that we may be
able to move forward and do what’s
necessary to live better, longer lives.
Faith and love journey happily
ends at home
Risen Christ with his arms
outstretched on top of a cliff which
you can see from afar. It is said to be
second in height only to the Statue of
Liberty. How comforting to see that
statue!
The Portuguese (Remember
that our islands discover, Ferdinand
Magellan was a Portuguese but had to
sail under the Spanish fleet because
his country could not finance him)
have kept their beautiful churches and
monasteries and it was a joy to visit
them along the way. It was also similar
to the pride of the Spaniards in their
past which meant for them keeping
their environs protected, especially
the historical sites, picturesque plazas,
churches, and buildings.
The scenic coastline of Portugal
is a source of pride and joy to them as
well as a source of livelihood for their
fisher folks. We delighted in the food
offerings along the tourist spots—
fresh oysters, squid, clams, shrimps,
top-of-the line-fish, and tapas in their
bars and restos. Like their Spanish
neighbors, they had their gourmet
tapas which at first seemed only as
appetizers to the uninitiated. Three or
four tapas down the line, we were giving
up, but not on foie gras with sweet
sauce on crusty bread (In Pamplona
in Bar Gaucho, my daughter reminds
me. It was available also in other bars
even in Portugal but nothing like the
Bar Gaucho version.) From Lourdes
we had lunch in the seaside resort
town of Biarritz in the Bar Jean and
we swooned over the seafood tapas,
the grilled shrimps and sardines and
heaps of fresh fries.
We went to Obidos and to a
preserved castle, now a popular tourist
destination mini city. If our walled city
Intramuros, even after World War II,
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
was preserved properly, it would rival
this charming little village. The castle
walls had small walkways lined with
quaint cafes and bars, shops selling
everything from souvenirs to lacey
blouses and dresses, to sweets and
pastries, including the liquor drink
with sour cherry from a chocolate
cup.
This drink wakes you up but it’s
fantastic “high.” In Cascais, we had a
fantastic seafood lunch atop the cliffs
and again, we filled our souls with the
view. The cleanliness of the beach
was something to be envied too.
It was also in Sintra where we
met up with friends of Sandee and
Andrew and godparents of Amanda,
Isabel and Joao Santos and their son
Joao Junior. They had met some 20
years ago in Beijing where Andrew
competed in a contest for the best
entrepreneur in the
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