Small town in Holland helps Pinoys big time

By Loui Galicia, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
Posted at 07/20/2011 4:21 PM | Updated as of 07/20/2011 4:21 PM

HOLLAND - For more than two decades now, a small community of elderly Dutch has been collecting donations from all over Holland and sending them to the rural areas in the Philippines.

Everyday, big heavy boxes of donations for the Philippines are dropped in a warehouse in Heeten, a tiny community here in Holland of mostly elderly Dutch citizens.

The warehouse will be filled up with boxes of mainly medical supplies and hospital equipment until the day the boxes are loaded for shipment. Every loading day, many elderly Dutch go out of their respective homes in order to assist preparing the crates and filling a 16-wheeler truck.

The huge truck will bring the crates to a shipping company in Rotterdam which will deliver the goods to the Philippines.

ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau was invited to witness the loading process. Also present were Vice Mayor Roger de Groot and several staff from the Philippine Embassy led by Charge d’Affaires Frank Cimafranca.

After the last crate was successfully squeezed into the truck, the door was closed and locked.

But the last step is always symbolic. De Groot and Cimafranca jointly put the lock on the door of the truck, signifying the solid ties that remain between the Dutch and Filipinos.

This was the scene, for more than two decades now, at the Foundation Center Relief Supplies Heeten Philippines or HHCP.

HHCP is headed by couple Jo and Truus Schoorlemeer, who initially set up a group that collects goods for the depressed areas in the Philippines to help Jo’s now-deceased brother, who was a missionary in Philippines in the 90s.

“Exactly on the 16 of August this year, we'll be 21 [years] because we started in 1990 with the earthquake in Baguio. That’s the way we started collecting goods for the Philippines,” Jo said.

In fact, the couple just recently received medals from Queen Beatrix for their continued charity work for the Philippines.

The couple received the Knight of the Order of Queen Orange of Nassau, which is the highest award bestowed on a civilian.

Their hard work also did not go unnoticed in the Philippines as they received a medal from former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2008.

HHCP has already extended its gigantic help to many provinces in the Philippines, particularly in the hospitals in Camiguin, Bicol and Batanes.

As a token of gratitude on the day of the loading, a group of Pinays who are married to Dutch nationals and who are living close to Heeten, came over to serenade the elderly Dutch during their break from loading the crates.

“They're here to also, you know, to give thanks to the foundation here in Heeten that is helping our countrymen back home. It's really a very, very, significant event for all of us,” Cimafranca said.

Even de Groot cannot help but marvel at the magnanimity of the work and the volume of goods during loading.

He was impressed at the Dutch Pinays’ musical number but was more in awe of his fellow countrymen’s dedication and hard work for the Philippines.

“I am very impressed and I love the songs from the Philippine women and it was very good. It’s very good what the volunteers are doing for the Philippines,” de Groot said.

Jo and Truus are not getting any younger, yet they still do not plan to retire from running the foundation because they said that they have left, a long time ago, their hearts in the Philippines.

SOURCE: WWW.ABS-CBNNEWS.COM


http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/07/20/11/small-town-holland-helps-pinoys-big-time

Exclusive: Kiko visits NDF in Utrecht

by Loui Galicia, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau
Posted at 07/08/2011 10:14 PM | Updated as of 07/08/2011 10:16 PM



THE NETHERLANDS - His visit to the National Democratic Front Panel (NDFP) headquarters in Utrecht, Netherlands brought a larger-than-life hope for Filipinos that unity is soon going to be a reality in the Philippines.

At the NDFP office, where ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau was exclusively invited, there was so much laughter and talks sounded light and not serious at the meeting between Senator Francisco Pangilinan and NDFP's Jose Maria Sison and Louie Jalandoni.

Pangilinan, who just arrived from the Inter-Parliamentary Union event in Geneva, exuded a unique charisma as he sat face to face with Sison, Jalandoni and Sison's wife, Juliet.

The senator came in his capacity as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food and Committee on Social Justice and Rural Development.

Pangilinan brought with him the promise that as a party mate of President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, he will bring to the President the conditions laid down by NDFP, in the name of peace and unity.

"Well, ang relationship ko sa NDF, ilang dekada na rin. I was a student activist in the 80s during the Marcos dictatorship so I fully understand the causes that they are fighting for," Pangilinan told ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau in an exclusive interview.

"We should focus on how we can unite, on what common ground we can go to, rather than look at our differences, on what divide us. And there is more that will unite us. There is more reason for us to unite in terms of moving forward and bringing prosperity to a nation than there is reason for us to be divided," Pangilinan said.

Roots of armed conflict

In fact, Pangilinan presented his proposals to the NDFP, particularly in helping push the peace talks and modernization of agriculture in order to solve poverty which he says is the root of the armed conflict in the Philippines.

"Obviously, if you look at the Philippine situation, sitwasyon ng ibang bansa, walang bansa na naging progresibo at talagang naging matagumpay at talagang gumanda ang buhay ng mga citizens nila na mayroong armed conflict na hinarap. So the roots of the armed conflict is really poverty and injustice so we're really gonna have to push for peace and I want to see it in my lifetime," Pangilinan said.

"Hindi biro itong insurgency na hinaharap ng bansa. It has been around for over four decades. Social unrest, even more so. The challenge is really how do we achieve a just and honorable peace so that the full potential of the nation in terms of the resources, in terms of its talent, its skill in terms of the economy can really be achieved," Pangilinan added.

The NDFP, for its part, trusts the senator's capability and sincerity.

"Sinabi naman sa kanya ni Louie [Jalandoni] na pag-aaralan ng NDF 'yong mga proposed solutions at mga dahilan kung bakit dapat isipin nating lahat na may pag-asa ang Pilipinas," Sison said.

"Umaasa kami na maipapaabot kay President Aquino 'yong mga pinag-usapan. Kasi bandang GPH (government panel) sa side ng Philippine government, si P-Noy naman ang pinakamapagpasya. Siya ang magpapasya tungkol sa mga bagay-bagay sa panig na 'yon kaya minamahalaga namin 'yong dalaw in Senator Pangilinan. (Si) Kiko kasi, nakakausap niya ang Presidente," the Communist Party of the Philippines chair added.

Conditions for resuming talks

Although the meeting was relaxed and cordial, the NDFP remained firm in its conditions in order for the stalled peace talks to resume.

"Sabi niya tutulong siya sa pag-push for the going forward of the peace talks through the release of the JASIG-protected (political prisoners), the NDFP consultants, as well as for the release of political prisoners. So we value very much his willingness to help and to push forward these talks which are of great importance to us," Jalandoni said.

"Right now na-postpone ang talks which was scheduled in June sa Oslo dahil wala pang nare-release kahit isa dun sa 17 NDFP consultants na dapat ma-release. At saka gusto din naming ma-release 'yong mga political prisoners in accordance with the agreement under CARHRIHL, Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, so we hope that his [Pangilinan's] push, his help together with the help of others will push forward the talks and let the talks hopefully take place in Oslo in September," the NDFP chair said.

"Simple lang naman 'yan--17 lang 'yang JASIG-protected na political prisoners. Kung mapapalaya 'yan, 'yong formal talks madaling isagawa," Sison added.

According to Sison, the relationship is good between the NDFP and the Philippine government in the sense that they are talking, and that even if the formal talks in Oslo were postponed, the door remains open on both sides.


SOURCE: WWW.ABS-CBNNEWS.COM

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/-depth/07/08/11/exclusive-kiko-visits-ndf-utrecht