Made in China has been a familiar label on products for years, but it was not until March 2020 that the world learned of the perils that tag might entail. When the very first case of COVID-19 struck in Wuhan, China, the Communist authorities could have taken steps that would have prevented the loss of, to date, over 200,000 lives. Instead, the Communists did what they always do: they covered up the problem, liedabout it, and denied its existence. And today, the world is paying the price. China with the help of the World Health Organization (WHO) turned the COVID-19 from a preventable, local outbreak to a global pandemic. It is very clear that from the beginning of the crisis the Geneva-based organization provided a cover for China. WHO even praised the Chinese government for its response to the virus.The World Health Organization is designed to “work worldwide to promote health, keep the world safe, and serve the vulnerable,” according to its website, but its agency depends on various “stakeholders.” We should be realistic and honest about the corruption and leadership of an organization that is deeply problematic. The WHO employs thousands of dedicated health care workers in 194 countries. However, just as the five permanent members of United Nations Security Council cannot represent the entire world and needs reform, so the WHO should be restructured. The first reform would be to make sure the organization is led by health professionals who have the power to be independent and resist pressure. The WHO is supposed to be different in that its values reflect the principles of human rights, universality, and equity, believing that “the health of all people is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security and is dependent on the fullest cooperation of individuals and countries.” Evidence shows a different image. Continue reading →

The world is hungry for the truth about COVID-19. We know it started in China, but we do not know exactly how it started. When did it began?  Where did it began? Did the Chinese authorities kill doctors or medical students who tried to warn of the outbreak in Wuhan? When did China inform the world? Did it withhold the evidence? Now, the pressing question is how will the international community hold China legally, politically, or even economically accountable for all its dishonesty and suppression of truth? International law will not force China to remedy the harm it has caused, since the United Nations Security Council, the executive body of international law, cannot hold China to account because China and Russia are on the Security Council, and Russia will veto any such attempt for sure. The Corona virus staged this coup d’état. It suddenly and illegally seized power through violence to its victims. As a consequence, the world will never be the same. Understanding the pre-existent need to revise the system and structure of the world order can explain in part the reason for the system’s failure to counter the coup. Now the media offer myriad views about the new world order after COVID-19. But for sure, the world supply chain is permanently altered. The Corona virus has even infected democracy too, turning nations into social governments. Probably this demand for governments to halt the disease and finance the recovery will lead the world towards the end of the liberal order. The world had already turned into a hell before the virus, and people became complacent in their way of life. The world embraced the democratic order of speed, pleasure, and allure that stripped humans of their ability to think and feel, so that they surrendered their humanity to a lie. The virus is going to alter the world as we know. We wonder what will become of international organizations like the ASEAN, IMF, World Bank, EU, NATO, and the UN. What will happen to the Philippines? What will happen to countries like the U.S, China, Russia? How will the global supply chain function? What role will technology assume in our lives? We can only guess the answer to these questions. Continue reading →

The Corona virus will change us forever. According to the dictionary, a paradigm shift is defined as "an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way." Just as the Corona virus has shattered lives, disrupted markets, exposed the competence of leadership and systems of government, revealed ways we interact with each other and even with family members, blocked travel, changed our work and study habits, reshaped our eating, playing, and loving, and reframed our grocery shopping and errand running, COVID-19 is keeping everyone in their homes, perhaps for months, readjusting our relationship with the government, remolding our connections to the outside world, and even altering our relations with our God. For example, how will  Christians observe their holiest day if they cannot rejoice together on Easter morning since most churches will remain closed? How can Muslim people celebrate Ramadan if they cannot visit mosques for Tarawih prayers or gather with loved ones to break the feast? Almost all religions at some point in their history have faced challenges to spread their faith or to keep their faith alive under persecutions or war with one another, but never have all religions faced the same challenges at the same time. There is no doubt that COVID-19 is a matter of seriousness for all humanity, not just for the Chinese. Unfortunately, some of clerics are exploiting the issues and inciting their followers to extreme measures, failing to undergird their practice with their faith. Continue reading →

The world is at the war— a health war. Every nation is fighting for its survival. The enemy is not the other nations nor terrorism; it is an invisible enemy, the so called COVID-19. There has been a global spread with cases identified in 73 countries and tens of thousands of people testing positive for the virus. This is not a simple time for any of us, but it is an important time for media and journalism in the Philippines, as it is in the rest of the world, because we are maneuvering in uncharted territory. The coming weeks will be a test of our nation’s resilience, our health system’s sufficiency, and much more. It will also be a test for media and journalists’ ability to continue writing and distributing the news at a time of great personal and national uncertainty. Governments in 73 countries have announced or implemented the closure of educational institutions in an attempt to slow the spread of the disease. The media has been following every step of this problem with multiple stories, but several challenges  face the media during the Coronavirus outbreak, and they can play a role in containing the world health war and potentially saving a plethora of lives.Like many countries and companies across the globe, media can urge people to work from home and to self-quarantine. As countries move slowly to a shutdown and even a possible lockdown, media and journalists need more than ever to follow the news, to report the right balanced informations, to keep the public updated, and to ensure that our government officials operate knowing that there is public oversight. However, new information, new cases, new advice, and new restrictions have been challenging to know how to react. This constantly changing information not only makes it difficult to keep abreast of the story from a journalist’s perspective, but it also confuses anyone trying to follow the story. Continue reading →

Educators on all levels — teachers, principals, and superintendents — know the value of learning science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and of focusing on technology in education. Boles Independent School District (ISD) in Texas, USA has now had several successful years of robotics instruction in the middle school and high school. A majority of Boles IDS students have learned to program and to construct robots with the Lego and VEX EDR hardware. Partnering with Thompson Christian School (TCS), the Social Entrepreneurship Technology and Business Institute (SETBI) invited an engineer, Johnny Tharp, to hold a workshop at TCS on March 9^th, 10^th, 11^th and 12^th. 2020. Tharp assists in the robotics program at the Boles ISD. This year he mentored students who finished second in their state tournament and who qualified for the Create U.S. Open Championship and the VEX IQ World Championship. The workshop covered:

• Facilitation of VEX curriculum
• Basic construction techniques with VEX parts
• Methods of storage, instruction, and robotics classroom management
• Competitive strategies on how to build a robotics program
• Competitive strategies how to join VEX world championship
• Programming in both Vex coding and Vex Code
• Basic Autonomous Control

Participants learned how to program and to construct with two types of hardware. The workshop demonstrated the use of VEX IQ for competitive robotics. According to Engineer Johnny Tharp, “Robotics takes education technology to a new level, creating the next evolution in teaching. That’s because introducing robotics to schools means making STEM skills and knowledge hands-on and fun, to prepare students for the future in a way that feels more like creativity and less like homework. Robotics requires all of the subjects of STEM, so it’s a well-rounded approach to educational technology and learning.” Continue reading →

February 29, 2020

Minority Care International’s goal to raise awareness of the importance of giving was made possible through the community outreach project Tools for Schools. MCI’s scholars experienced the joy of giving by handing out school supplies, Projector,  to the College Education Behind Bars in Davao City Jail on February 29 ,2020. President of MCI’s  Student Association Andrea Cate Carteciano, MCISA Officers , Habail Shyra and Adil Theresa turned over the Schools and office supplies to College Education Behind Bars Vice President Attorney Susan Cariaga MCI teaches that giving is living and living is giving. This was MCI sixth batch of Tools for School in the Davao City Jail. The purpose of the project is to teach the recipients the value of education and to inspire them to become the hope and role model of their generation. MCI is not just giving scholarships and training them in life skills but also is teaching its scholars how to give back to the community. This was an opportunity for students  to return a blessing to the community and to model the values they learned in the MCI program. MCISA students did fund raised and they are the one who sponsored this year’s MCI annual Tools for School project at the jail. MCISA President Andrea said, “It made me feel amazing inside knowing that we were given the chance to give back to the community and see the smile on these students. MCI is making the world a better place.” She encouraged the inmates to continue to do the right thing and not to focus on the past but to learn lessons from it. Also, She urged them to trust the current process they have undertaken in terms of rehabilitation, etc. Living as a community means having a genuine relationship with our God and demonstrating His love and service from our core.  Continue reading →