Results are now indexed in PRCPassers.com

Top 10:
1 CHITRA DEEPAK PUNJABI UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS 89.42
2 PERCY GUANZON BALDERIA UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES-MANILA 89.00
3 NIKKI DOREEN SO ANGBUE TE UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS 88.33
4 GWENALYN GAIL CAPISTRANO GARCIA UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST RAMON MAGSAYSAY MEM MEDICAL CTR. 88.17
5 JAMES PHILIP GARCES ESTEBAN UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES-MANILA 87.92
6 MICHAEL CONRAD LUZ TONGOL UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS 87.83
7 PAUL VINCENT TIO CO CEBU INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE 87.75
8 KAREN DE VILLA HERNANDEZ UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES-MANILA 87.67
9 KRISTIANNE EMMANUELLE RAYO BAGAOISAN UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS 87.50
10 ROZELLE JADE RAMIREZ JAVIER UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS 87.42

The oath taking and inaugural address of Aquino, the 15th Philippine president, will be held at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park (formerly Luneta) in Manila is expected to be simple, but star-studded. A celebration later on in the day will be held at the Quezon City Memorial Circle.

Aquino is slated to fetch Arroyo from Malacañang. When they arrive at the Quirino Grandstand, Arroyo will be given arrival honors.

The 2 presidents will shake hands and then Arroyo will make her exit.

According to inaugural spokesperson Manolo Quezon, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and House Speaker Prospero Nograles will read the proclamation.

Vice President-elect Jejomar “Jojo” Binay will then take his oath, followed by Aquino.

A 21-gun salute to the new commander-in-chief will follow and then he will deliver his inaugural address. (PIA-Bohol)

“The development of a series of low pressure systems, also known as heat lows, in the southern part of mainland Asia that linked with the low pressure area near Northern Luzon has generated and sustained the southwesterly winds in the country which brought rains for several days especially in the western section of the country,” PAGASA said in a statement posted on its website.

This development signals the onset of the rainy season on the first week of June in areas under Type 1 climate, which covers the western parts of Luzon and Visayas.

The rainy season, which is associated with the southwest monsoon, is expected to last until end of September.

However, PAGASA said monsoon breaks or periods of no rain for a few weeks are expected during the season.

Residents in low-lying areas are advised to watch out for above-normal rainfall due to the La Niña phenomenon in the third quarter. (PIA-Bohol)

And with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) poring into the aspect of high tech marketing SMEs, Project Training Enhancement for Competitiveness in Harnessing Innovative Entrepreneurs (Project TECHIE) is the immediate government intervention.

Conceptualized to help local SMEs and Micro SME’s, the project as implemented by DTI Industry (DTI) and the Philippine National IT Standards (PhilNITS) Foundation, Inc. uses an integrated approach in Information Technology, enabling SMEs and MSMEs by building partnerships, training and giving them access to an efficient support through a project secretariat.

“It is in response to the mandate of the present administration that calls for the promotion and development of SMEs and MSMEs as a way of stimulating economic activity in the countryside, admits DTI regional director Asteria Caberte.

She adds, the project is “a tool, which can help local SMEs and MSMEs boost productivity and income as they’re taught how to maximize the use of the world wide web and the Internet in their promotion and marketing efforts”.

Coming with five levels of training, project TECHIE starts from basic computer literacy to comprehensive web marketing, according to DTI.

Implemented since December 2009 to June 30, 2010, the project roots out participants from SMEs and sends them to training courses.

The DTI nominates and selects participants to the training conducted by PhilNITS free to SMEs and MSMEs, she revealed.

It may be recalled that DTI has been actively promoting IT among local MSMEs here in the past three years.

DTI Director Maria Elena Arbon is optimistic that the project will improve the competitiveness of local MSMEs by enhancing their global presence through website promotion of products and services.

Locally, DTI partners with Holy Name University in the implementation of Phase 1, making use of HNUs IT facilities to train Boholano MSMEs on basic computer skills and applications.

Some 25 Boholano SMEs from the crafts and food sectors participated in the first batch of the training which was held last May 27-29 at the HNU Computer Laboratory.

PhilNITS Certified IT Professionals Mr. Hans Bawagan and Ms. Amy Caballo, Dean of HNU Computer Science Department conducted the training. Mr. Karlo Soriano, PhilNITS Cebu Manager also guested the three-day training.

Implemented via a 5-phase training program, each phase progresses into a more technical training with participants gaining exposure in using computer and its different practical applications in the work place.

Aside from learning the basic computer use, the project also aims to equip the SMEs and MSMEs with the knowledge and skills to maximize the benefits of the latest technologies to promote business, increase productivity and efficiency, and consequently improve revenue and profits.

The project’s five phases include Basic Computer Literacy and Applications Training, Promotion and Marketing: Internet-based Marketing, Electronic Brochures Bulletin, E-Commerce Applications and Market Research and Intelligence thru Technology Applications.

The training programs aim to enhance competitiveness through technology enhancement training and programs.

It also hopes to enhance global presence thru website promotion of products and services, provide skills in electronic promotion collaterals preparation and dissemination and facilitate E-Commerce or electronic transactions using Websites and other platforms.

Finally, the training aims to strengthen market promotion and market research through the use of available technology applications and develop regional centers as training providers for IT-enabling of SMEs and MSMEs. (PIA-Bohol)

According to the forecasters at the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA) hot, sticky weather means humidity is high and that the atmosphere is already moisture-laden so the rainy season is near.

The news is now a welcome respite especially in Bohol where consumers who have seen frequent power outages fear that the drought may have already affected the country’s power generation.

The farmers in Bohol, especially those served by the huge irrigation systems in north eastern Bohol have also been praying for rain in as much as irrigation services have been rationed due to near critical levels of the dams, sources from the irrigation administration bared.

This week, people are also awaiting rains as an inter-tropical convergent zone is spotted near Mindanao and forecasters have predicted rains to affect Mindanao and the Visayas areas. (PIA-Bohol)

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announces that 1,886 out of 4,772 passed the Certified Public Accountant Licensure Examination given by the Board of Accountancy in the cities of Manila, Baguio, Cagayan De Oro, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo and Legazpi this May 2010.

The names of the passers are already indexed in PRCPassers.com

The members of the Board of Accountancy are Eugene T. Mateo, Chairman; Ma. Elenita B. Cabrera, Vice Chairman; Luis A. Canete, Rufo R. Mendoza and Jose S. Tayag, Jr., Members.

Topnotchers are:

1 GECEL GABUCAN CODERA UNIVERSITY OF SAN JOSE-RECOLETOS 93.14
2 JAN MARCUS ANG TANG CHIANG KAI SHEK COLLEGE 92.86
3 NINO MARTIN ARCENAL JUNTONG UNIVERSITY OF SAN JOSE-RECOLETOS 92.71
4 ELLEN JOY APOSTOL GARCIA UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS 92.43
5 JOHN RAYMUND VINCENT ALIANGAN FULLECIDO DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY-MANILA 92.29
6 RENE BOY MONSIDA LEBORES UNIVERSITY OF CEBU 92.00
6 FERNANDO MIANO MONTEROLA, JR KINGFISHER SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND FINANCE 92.00
6 REYNALDO MACALOYOS PRUDENCIADO, JR CHRIST THE KING OF CALBAYOG 92.00
6 JAMIL MONTANEZ SARIPADA DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY-MANILA 92.00
6 MARK SOLATORIO UNIVERSITY OF SAN JOSE-RECOLETOS 92.00
7 MARK ANGELO CAANA ACOSTA DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY-MANILA 91.86
7 MARK ALYSON BAGUITAN NGINA UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS (BAGUIO COLL. FNDTN.) 91.86
7 JENNY BELLE VILLALUZ RODIS DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY-MANILA 91.86
8 JULIUS CALUNGSOD ONDOY NOTRE DAME OF MIDSAYAP COLLEGE 91.71
8 RANDY ESPIRITU VENTANILLA UNIVERSITY OF BAGUIO 91.71
9 CHESTER MIGUEL PACIO UNIVERSITY OF THE CORDILLERAS (BAGUIO COLL. FNDTN.) 91.57
10 RITCHIE ZANORIA TEJANA UNIVERSITY OF SAN CARLOS 91.14

In a news briefing last Wednesday in Malacanang, Pichay said the President instead wants to play a role similar to that of Sonia Gandhi who heads a powerful congress party in India but not necessary holding a high position in government.

President Arroyo according to Pichay, would rather let the party choose from among the members of Lakas-Kampi-CMD their candidate for Speaker. Pichay said the President was cool to the party offer, despite the urging of many party members in the House of Representatives.

Arroyo, an incoming Pampanga congresswoman, heads Lakas-Kampi-CMD and has been considered top candidate for Speakership. The party has yet to agree however on who to field for the Speakership.

Pichay expressed confidence that a Lakas candidate would get the Speakership, saying they still have the number. (PIA-Bohol)

According to PPCRV, only .07 percent of the 43,035 ER’s from clustered precincts showed signs of
irregularities.

PPCRV Chairperson and former ambassador to Rome Henriettta de Villa characterized the 2010 Automated Elections as “generally clean”.

PPCRV chair and former ambassador to Rome Henrietta de Villa characterized the automated 2010 polls as “generally clean.”

“In the midst of the state of speculations, all the accusations that are now being thrown against the first fully automated election that was carried out nationwide, we, together with the majority of Filipinos, still believe that the AES (Automated Election System) must be here to stay,” De Villa said.

De Villa also added that if there were indeed attempts, it was not successfully pulled off.

Written by UST Professor and Musicologist Maria Alexandra Iñigo-Chua, the book discusses the Kirial, which contains mass cycle compositions used in the liturgical service of the Catholic Church in Baclayon during the late 18th to early 19th century.

The rare find, one that remained hidden in the musty cabinets of the 1595 church came out to the open after Inigo-Chua was introduced to it by now Boholano heritage scholar Fr. Milan Ted Torralba sometime in 1997.

Intriguingly enough, the music found in the Baclayon choir books was written in a now-obsolete mensural notation using neumes, characteristic of the Gregorian chanting.

As such, it had to be translated into contemporary notation, if it were to be rendered comprehensible to the modern musician, she admitted to reporters during the launch.

Unfortunately for Chua, she found no reference books to turn to for the task. She had to find her own way of translating the music into a readable score.

With persistence and insight, she eventually found a way to translate the pieces and indeed to perform them.

First heard again during the 400th jubilee of the church years ago, the Chua notations was sang by the famous Loboc Children’s Choir and was accompanied by a Benedictine priest who has to read the score from another songbook providentially uncovered in the archives of nearby Dimiao church.

“Anyone who has felt queasy about singing at Mass the pop version of the “Our Father” would probably wonder what church music used to be like.” Chua narrates.

“Today, a churchgoer is likely to walk into a liturgy where music is accompanied by Casio organs and minus one tapes, along with karaokes, guitars, microphones, and speakers. In the early 19th century, was church music as informal?” she asks.

The music scholar describes the 19th century Baclayon church music as “simple and conservative,” reflective of the kind of plainsong and chant favored in Spain at that time.

She notes, however, that while the melodies were simple and monophonic, like that of typical Philippine folksongs, the choir was accompanied by the majestic pipe organ.

It is a clear and unique evidence of the wealth of our Filipino-Spanish encounter and heritage, says culture worker and baclayon parishioner Lutgardo Labad, when he heard the music interpretation the choir.

In 1999, after probably more than a hundred years, the kirial’s Misa Baclayana was performed by the Loboc Children’s Choir under the baton of Alma Taldo and accompanied on the organ by Fr. Maramba.

With tears in their eyes, the audience sat rapt as the melodies unfolded from the choir, wafted, and soared through the entire church, resonating with a musical modality which is both Western and native, so spiritual, so original, and yet so deeply anchored in local soil, Labad recalls.

Meanwhile, Fr. Torralba said “it is important that an ordinary Boholano can read this book …because the Boholano must not only identify with this work, but must first claim Misa Baclayana and the entire cantorales as his or her own: that the Boholano must say that he or she belongs to these and these are resources that belong to Bohol’s cultural heritage treasury worth preserving, restoring, and perpetuating.”

Heritage, you see, although it speaks of the past, belongs to the future. We in this “now,” in this present, are the stewards of heritage,” Fr. Torralba said. (PIA-Bohol)