Handballer Bevan driving a goal past a taller player during the Gallipoli TriNations Tournament in March 2012 - Photo: Handball Australia

Recently selected as Handball Ambassador by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Filipino-Australian Bevan Calvert will join the Australian Handball Men’s Team to compete in the Oceania Region Handball World Championship Qualifyer, Handball Australia announced recently.

Calvert is Germany-based and will come home specifically to join the Australian team for the qualifyer.

The Qualifyer will be held for two days on June 22 and June 23. Filipinos in Metro Sydney will have the oppportunity to see their local hero in action as the games will be played at the Dural Sport and Leisure Centre.

The Handball Australia team members are Luka Krajnc (NSW, Left Wing), Mitch Hedges (NSW, Left Wing – Pivot), Ogi Matic (NSW, Left Back), Caleb Gahan (Qld, Left Back), Tommy Fletcher (Sweden/ACT, Pivot – Left Back), Callum Mouncey (ACT, Pivot), Steven Plummer (NSW, Pivot), Bojan Stojanovic (Qld, Centre Back), Bevan Calvert (Germany / NSW, Right Back), Tim Anderson (NSW, Right Back), Dan Kelly (Denmark/Qld, Right Wing), Michael Sullivan (NSW, Right Wing), Ogi Lationovic (Qld, Goalkeeper), and Pascal Winkler (NSW, Goalkeeper).

Handball Australia and Head Coach Taip Ramadani are optimistic that the team will be successful in this important competition as in the past years.

The winning team will represent the Oceania Region in the World Championship to be held in Spain in January 2013.

Calvert has been playing world handball championships for many years. His first participation was in 2005 when he was 18 years old. Currently, he is ranked equal 5th place as a top goal scorer in his division and number 4 top goalscorer in his team TSV Altenholz.

Aside from being Handball Ambassador, Calvert is also a recipient of Sports awards from the Global Filipinos Australia and Filipino Communities Council of Australia.

That was the costly lesson a passenger who arrived in Cairns had when he was found to be carrying food items in his luggages which he did not declare, according to a news release by the Dept of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

An x-ray imagery of the passenger’s bag was all it took to alarm Customs and Border Protection officers to search the passenger’s bags which yielded almost 6 kilograms of fruit and vegetables as well as over a kilogram of duck meat.

After pleading guilty to a false declaration of food items the passenger was convicted and fined $1,000 plust costs of $1,390.

DIAC’s service called Community Status Resolution Service (CSRS) provides information about appropriate immigration or departure options for people in Australia who have overstayed their visa or been granted a bridging visa E (BVE).

The DIAC’s CSRS unit has case officers who can grant a BVE while an immigration matter is resolved.

According to DIAC, BVEs are most commonly used where a visa application is being considered, a legal process is underway or a person is making plans to depart Australia.

For people whose visa has just expired, they should see a CSRS office to apply for a new visa.

The immigration department provides incentives for those approaching the CSRS within 28 days of a visa expiring.

The CSRS can be contacted at 1300 853 773 or at the CSRS website.

Jerson opted to join Team Delta and Yshrael joined Team Seal.

The talent show which premiered on the Nine Network last Sunday April 15 is hosted by international TV presenter Darren McMullen. Aside from Delta Goodrem and Seal, the two other judges are Joel Madden and country singer Keith Urban.

Jerson... with Team Delta

Jerson is a 39 year old crooner who has established his audience followers and friends from Melbourne to Sydney, with some of his friends in the Filipino Australian media circle.

He began his singing career in the Philippines when he was 13. His family migrated to Australia in 1990, initially settling in Wagga Wagga, then moved to Sydney, and then to Melbourne.

“When I first started singing way back in Manila, I just followed the trend towards Original Pilipino music (OPM) where Pinoy artists composed and created original Pilipino sounds and yet conforming with and not too far from the international feel of the all too familiar pop music,” Jerson said in an interview

Jerson was picked by popular singer-songwriter Delta Goodrem after his rendition of John Legend’s “Ordinary People”.

Yshrael... with Team Seal

Yshrael, on the other hand, was picked by another judge, Seal to be part of his team after his performance of “Miss You” by the Rolling Stones.

The 33-year-old Yshrael, who was born in Marikina Philippines, started singing when he was 19. He has been in a boy band and has worked with a soul musical producer in LA.

He won the 2004 Music OzAward and was offered a publishing deal with Mushroom Publishing.

On video, Yshrael said to Seal: “I picked you I suppose, but thank you for the great pitch!”

“Winner takes all…”

Together with Jerson in Team Delta are Rachael Leahcar (the blind 14 year old singer), Matt Hetherington, Peta Jeffress, Danni Da Ros (she’s the voice teacher of Marianne Cuasay, one of the artists of Charity CD One), Adam Hoek Ben Bennett, Sarah Lloyde, Glenn Cunningham, Viktoria Bolonina, Matty Chaps, Jesse and Ashleigh.

With Yshrael in Team Seal are Casey Withoos, Karise Eden, Chris Sebastian, Paula Parore, Michael Duchesne, Emma Louise Birdsall, Sam Ludeman, Mitchell Thompson, Kieran Fraser, Anthony Dellamarta, Fatai Veamatahau.

The Voice of Australia winner will be awarded a recording contract with Universal Music Australia plus $100,000 cash.

The series consists of three phases, namely, a blind audition, a battle phase, and live performance shows.

In the final phase, the remaining contestants compete against each other in live broadcasts. The television audience will help to decide who moves on.

When one team member remains for each coach, the contestants will compete against each other in the finale.

A BEI officer inserting a compact flash card to a PCOS machine, May 10, 2010 elections. // TFA Photo

In its petition, Tan Dem, a coalition of Philippines and international Filipino leaders and organisations “to defend Philippine democracy” and an election watchdog, seeks the annulment of a Comelec resolution passed last March 21 and the Deed of Sale the Comelec signed last March 30 with Smartmatic-TIM for the supply of election system goods and services.

The Smartmatic-TIM’s PCOS machines and software were the centre of controversy in the May 2010 elections.

System error message displayed on the machine's LCD // TFA Photo

Instruction on PCOS machine during test run // TFA Photo

[click image to zoom in]

The protests to the use of PCOS in the May 2010 elections arose from the system’s vulnerability to incorrect and fraudulent election returns on account of removal or disabling of system security functionalities including digital signatures, ultraviolet validation of ballots, and voter verified paper audit trail of voter preference.

A week before election day also, the Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM had to recall more than 76,000 compact flash cards as these were wrongly configured.

Election observers and Philippine information technology specialists doubted whether the re-configured 76,000 flash cards were in fact tested before use. There were reports that some precincts received the re-configured CF cards only hours before the polls opened.

The petition, lodged by Tan Dem President and Director Teresita D. Baltazar, Evelyn L. Kilayko, Pilar L. Calderon, and Elita T. Montilla, also cited the failure of the PCOS system which produced only 99.6% accuracy compared with the required 99.995% accuracy in system count.

System glitch required recall of more than 76,000 CF cards for re-configuration, May 5, 2010

The group of Tan Dem President Baltazar further cited the amusingly inaccurate results of Smartmatic’s system when the canvassing servers for national positions displayed the number of registered voters at 256 million at the Batasan and 150 million at the PICC canvassing control centre.

The Philippine population is about 94 million based on latest estimates.

Mr Victor Barrios, convenor of the Global Filipino Nation (GFN), an international coalition of global Filipino leaders and organizations for “good governance” and a member organisation of Tan Dem, said that there are two main issues in the Tan Dem petition.

COMELEC commissioners sitting en banc on May 11, 2010 at the PICC control centre to start national canvassing. // TFA Photo

“The first issue is that the Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion in contracting for the purchase of automated election system goods and services from Smartmatic-TIM,” said Mr Barrios.

He added that the Smartmatic-TIM machines and software performed below par in the May 2010 elections and that the minimum functional capabilities required by law were not complied with.

“I am really surprised why the Comelec decided to exercise the option to purchase given it by Smartmatic-TIM. There are at least two petitions currently pending with the Supreme Court questioning Comelec’s management of the May 2010 automated election system,” Mr Barrios added.

GFN fielded a team of observers in the May 2010 elections with Mr Barrios heading the team with Jun Aguilar, Theodore Aquino, Elsa Bayani, Tim Bayani, Romeo Cayabyab, Robert Ceralvo, and Hermenegildo Estrella Jr.

GFN convenor Victor Barrios (front, in white shirt) with other observers (L-R) Jun Estrella, Ted Aquino and Jun Aguilar during the May 10 elections. Not in photo are Romeo Cayabyab and (in other sites) Elsa Bayani, Tim Bayani and Robert Ceralvo. // TFA Photo

In its report in June 2010, GFN said that the “election is null and void from the beginning” because of non-compliance with the election law and the automated election system was flawed and unreliable which cast doubts on the legitimacy of the election results.

“The second issue is that the Comelec’s decision to buy the Smartmatic-TIM machines, hardware and software violates the Procurement Law which requires a prior, competitive public bidding,” Mr Barrios stated.

The Tan Dem petition joins two other similar protests now pending with the Supreme Court.

The Solidarity for Sovereignty (S4S), a civic organization of professionals and businesspersons, filed a suit with the Supreme Court a few weeks after the May 2010 elections contesting the elections as being “null and void ab initio” due to violations of the law including removal of digital signatures and that it was a Congressional Committee and not the joint chambers that proclaimed the national candidates as required by law.

Five months after the elections, GFN Convenors, in collaboration with other groups, filed a petition with the Supreme Court case to compel Comelec to disclose digital photos to compare tallies as reported by Comelec.

Hundreds of residents from different suburbs of Western Sydney gathered in Minchinbury early morning today to remember those who served the country and fought at Gallipoli 97 years ago.

The morning was still very dark when those who attended the Dawn Service assembled in the Pinegrove Memorial grounds. The Great Western Highway and streets surrounding the dawn service site were filled with cars as early as 4.30 in the morning.

The dawn service in Minchinbury, organised by the Rooty Hill Sub Branch of the Returned and Services League of Australia, is one of many dawn services and other events across the nation to remember those who served in the First World War.

Recently I received a thought-provoking, awe-inspiring email from the Australia Council of the Arts which I am publishing herewith along with my immediate response as it comes so prodigiously in time and in rhyme with my current series on Community Theater which is greatly part and parcel of the larger scope of community arts.

Per the quick response to my letter, the Arts Council has asked my permission to publish it as well in their internal circular distributed throughout Australia. Here goes…

Dear All,
 
The Community Partnerships Committee would like to invite you to participate in a online discussion on 20 April as they wrap up discussions regarding the Towards National Sector Development discussion paper.
 
Over the past couple of months, members of the Committee and I have been meeting with representatives from the sector around the country to discuss ideas and themes presented in the paper.  To conclude this discussion the Committee have invited representatives from each state and territory and would like to invite you to participate in this discussion online.
 
We will be streaming the discussion live and would invite you to post your comments on the comments section of the website here or on twitter (#CACDNSD) on the day.  
 
Over the next week we will be sending out details as to where the discussion live will be streamed live.
 
Meeting Details
20 April 2012
10am – 1pm (EST)
Web address:  placestories.com/project/8319#!v=webcastplacestories.com/project/8319
 
Comments during the discussion can be made here or using the #CACDNSD on twitter
 
If you would like to make a submission to the paper via email we are expecting submission up until 16 April. Please send to l.mendelssohn@australiacouncil.gov.au.
 
We look forward to having you join the meeting.
 
Kind regards,
Frank.P.

My response:

Dear Mr. Frank P.,
 
Many thanks for the omnibus email sent to me by a certain Erin McVeigh of your office which came rather late specifically in view of for the April 16 deadline for the submission of comments but nevertheless still serves its purpose in letting me know of the online meeting on April 20.
 
I am a Filipino-Australian community theater director-playwright-actor-educator and in my culture we have a common saying in our native Filipino tongue that goes “Huli man daw at magaling, maihahabol rin”, which transliterates as “However late if necessarily useful, ought to be considered.”
 
In the same vein, I wish to forward, for your consideration, some salient points I have arrived at after reading with a fine tooth comb the following inter-related documents I discovered in following through the links provided for in the email invite, namely:  
 
Discussion Paper – CP Service Delivery Initiative – May 2011 
Community Partnerships Sector Plan – 2011 
Towards a National Sector Development Initiative – Discussion Paper 
 
Using myself and my experience as an example as well as a point of reference and departure at the same time, it appears that nowhere in the discussion papers has the issue/problem of lack of data base and the over-all paucity of documentation been specifically stipulated as one of the major areas of concern that should also be addressed.  
 
Apropos of this, it is quite obvious that the reason I suddenly received the general mailer referred to above is because I recently had an audience with Melina Scarcella, Project Coordinator Community Partnerships about some possible submissions I intended to achieve this funding year and in the process gave my contact number as one of the leading exponents of community arts and community development within the burgeoning Filipino community in NSW, in fact, one of the top five major sources of migrants to Australia with a population of more than 120,000 documented Filipino-Australian citizens/residents/or new settlers. In other words, if I didn’t come forward, advanced to be recognized so to speak, I would never have known of this information that are of paramount importance and relevance to my direct involvement or line of work. I wonder, how more practitioners like me, who are much too engrossed in their own work in community arts have not bothered to come forward be recognized, for one reason or another.
 
I was just wandering, am I a case in point, or are there potentially similar community arts practitioners like me in the wider multicultural communities that have not in any way enjoyed the benefits of CACD grant . In this regard, has there been a study ever conducted to find out who’s who from amongst the various cultural communities particularly NESB’s have not had any luck in receiving a grant at all, how many times have the same group/company association or individual artist have applied but was never successful (in my case 5 times since I migrated in 1995). Or in the same token, how many community art groups/organizations and artists enmeshed in the wider scope of multicultural communities have not had any applications put in at all
 
For one interesting and very telling reason or another, it should be good and perhaps, if I must say, a must to find out. I suspect responses will most probably range from “I never knew” or “I was never aware”, or “I’ve tried but unsuccessful and never applied ever again.” In keeping with the CACD’s all-out drive to maximize service delivery, the point I’m driving at here need not be overemphasized. But then again, why not? Should the CACD confine itself to the best of the lot all the time as judged by and through peer assessment? What happens to the forever unsuccessful applicants? In the spirit of fair go, equal opportunity, and equitable distribution/sharing of grants — has there been any effort made to at least directly harness these unsuccessful applicants who represent a cross section of amateurs, new practitioners, but are nevertheless the true, hard core community arts workers and groups who most likely end up continuing their projects anyway thru sheer volunteerism, self-help, and self-reliance which are the basic hallmarks of community arts.
 
All these point to my original contention. Every art form have existing directory of artists and performing groups/companies and arts/cultural institutions. High time to attempt such data base for CACD too, initially drawing from or simply collating information from past and present applicants which in itself already makes a strong DATA BASE that can continually be improved upon by informed inputs from both users and benefactors of such a data base. Again, I suspect there is no MONITORING and DATA SIFTING of this kind ever attempted by the former CCDU and now CACD  judging from the absence of communication and information that I have missed all these time. Or if there is already one existing that perhaps I am not privy to, at least ascertain that it is update regularly and form part of significant CACD files made available for everyones consumption online thereby serving as a veritable storehouse of information.
 
I realize this requires manpower, budget and all that but it all verily justified by a felt need.  In fact, I hasten to add, that such a move was so triumphantly achieved in the Philippines for example so that everyone is properly informed of who’s who are actively operating in the field (when was the last time a national conference on community arts held, I’ve lost track) with relevant footnotes as to the why’s and wherefores of the demise of community arts groups and the like.  Such data base may also include amongst others a repository of writings, articles, theses, conference papers and reports, and periodicals written about the subject matter – then and now. Excuse my ignorance, but the first and last time I ever laid eyes on a seminal book that traced the history, and dwelt on theory and practice of this, our beloved common field of endeavour, is Community and the Arts: Australian Perspectives edited by Vivienne Binns and published in 1991.
 
This leads me to my second rejoinder and crucial point for consideration — the notion of alternative manner/mode of service delivery. This is of course relevant to all other categories, but I contain my suggestions strictly to CACD.   In the Philippines prior to my  migrating here , I had been greatly involved with the giving of National Endowment Funds for the Arts to community theater groups and artists following the principle of going down to the very grass roots. Cognizant of and in response to the hue and cry amongst community theater artists being relegated to the usual “fringe” and “hand-me-down” funding they have to beg from the bureaucratic powers that be, demolished the rather ivory tower positioning of the arts granting bodies by reverting the tyranny of David’s-forever-at the mercy of the Goliath’s of mainstream theater by adopting the principle and practice of sharing arts funding to communities where community arts is a way of life. It became, in point of fact, a classic case of   ”If the mountain won’t come to Mohammed, Mohammed will go to the mountain.”
 
Contrarily, the practice here in Australia Arts Council becomes too bureaucratically delimiting for, say an emerging or aspiring community theater organization to approach an ivory tower institution and make the appropriate submissions that require so much paper work and a modicum of experience in the actual crafting of the proposal alone – something quite daunting and difficult for amateur community theater groups to muster. On the surface, everything appears to be pretty much cut and dried so that the applicant simply needs to conform to hard and fast rules and givens via submissions. In the final analysis, because of this basic limitation or lack of experience in formulating proposals according to the given format the amateur proponent is at once handicapped and most likely unable to articulate what the judging panel are looking for in the written proposal. This is of course abetted by the fact that due to logistical limitations, there is likewise no means for at least shortlisted proponents to defend their proposals is the case for instance in defending a thesis or dissertation to a panel.
 
It is in this basic, initial step of writing the application where lies the very crux of the matter, the most decisive point where the future of so many amateur community arts groups is hinged. YET very little is being done about it. One simply has to accept the cold fact that you’re application is unsuccessful. Try and try until you succeed.  Thus my suggestion is to SIMPLIFY the proposal writing in favor of a more democratic, participatory, more direct, and less cumbersome way of encouraging and reaching out to so many other community arts groups that have never been serviced by the CACD.
 
It is a totally different if simplified approach whereby the long-winded proposal writing is replaced by system whereby the CACD

1.    Identifies a LONG LIST of communities (organizations and/or individuals) based on or drawn from the DATABASE (of previous past successful and non-successful applicants plus new respondents from mailers/info sheets freely distributed to community art organizations and artists.

2.    CACD panel of judges draws up a SHORT LIST based on a simplified proposal that focuses heavily on the historical profile of the group, short description of a project, and identification and description of top three priority needs
  
3.    CACD employs a number of well-trained and experienced community arts development workers (who are normally well-rounded directors-playwrights-teacher-facilitators) and allocates them to the shortlisted proponent organizations and/or artists. Together they go through the original proposal with a fine tooth comb — confirmed and reaffirmed in detail through actual discussion with the proponents community arts organization’s officers and members or with the individual artist proponents, whatever the case may be. This spells the world of a difference, because with the aid and guidance of the community arts development worker  the community arts organization or the artist proponents will then be able to fine tune the proposal to help them  identify particular needs and address these needs specifically and peg an amount to be sought from the CACD grant.

(Note further that In the case of the Philippine experience, the grant giving body would send envoys out into communities where the shortlisted groups are based,  observe and watch performances right in their own venues or theater space (e.g. public markets, courtyards, public parks and gardens, vacant lots etc. ) and make the necessary assessments in coordination with core community arts organization members right in situ   thereby jointly identifying specific artistic or technical needs and reinforcements. Thus we have such a thing as a Venue Grant for theater groups that have everything ready but can’t afford a professional venue outside of their natural habitat. Some groups only want a playwright-director to help them mold the material they want normally fashioning out socially relevant materials dramatizing issues and concerns directly affecting them and trying them out thru improvisations and later collective creation before it is finally given to an emerging playwright from the community in close collaboration with the guest artist provided by the Arts Council. There are some companies who might ask only for direct equipment hiring assistance, or technical assistance of a Technical Director whose job it is to train and supervise local community volunteers in operating lights and sounds etc. There are also cases when some groups need only a Set Designer or perhaps a Costumier to help their group with costumes. The specific needs are as varied as the nature of the community theater groups themselves.)

I hope my ideas find some consideration and further grounds for discussion.

Very sincerely yours,

MARCELINO “MARS” CAVESTANY, APA-Ph.D in Theater Studies
Artistic Director              
Philippine Educational Theater Arts League Sydney

Fr Joseph Aytona, CPM at the steps of St John Vianney’s Church Doonside. //Photo: Mitchell Badelles

Filipino American Fr Joseph is inviting everyone to come and listen to his exposition on why we should work at getting to heaven.

He will also talk about the three other important last things of our lives not usually talked about – death, judgment and hell.

“Hell is not found on a map of the USA!”, Fr Joseph said.

Father Joseph’s account of heaven and hell will be at St John Vianney’s Church, 17 Cameron Street, Doonside from last night Sunday, 7.30pm and every night till Thursday. St John Vianney resident priest Fr John O’Neill added that there will also be the usual 9.15 mass every morning through the week.

In a homily during yesterday’s 7.30am mass at St John Vianney’s Catholic Church, Father Joseph mentioned how Satan tempts us “Sunday Catholics” a little more subtly through a spiritual disease called lukewarmness.

Fr Joseph was born in Los Angeles, California in 1991 and was ordained to priesthood in the Congregation of the Fathers of Mercy in 2010. He founded Family Vocation Ministries designed to promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

Only 61 of 121 boxes packed by ILISA staff and shipped via LBC arrived. Of the 61 boxes, 16 were addressed for HELP CDO NOW community groups in Cagayan de Oro, but only two boxes reached Mindanao which were found in Iligan City, 88 kilometres from Cagayan de Oro. Some boxes were also reported to have been opened and sorted.

When ILISA brought these matters to the attention of LBC, the company’s management kept silent on the situation.

ILISA President Gina Samia said that LBC did not offer any explanation or justification for the missing boxes or why some of the boxes had been opened and sorted.

In early last January, LBC offered free boxes and delivery for goods bound for flood stricken Northern Mindanao which other Filipino groups took, and for which they were grateful for LBC’s offer.

The donor groups met with ILISA volunteer workers at LBC’s Glendenning warehouse to pack the goods. LBC Sydney Team Leader Maricar Araullo provided instructions on how to label the donations to ensure that these reach the addressees.

Days after the goods were packed and deposited at the LBC Glendenning warehouse, LBC Area Head Delfin Posada, in an exclusive interview with a Metro Sydney based Filipino community newspaper, “has assured the Australian public particularly those in the Filipino community that their donations will go directly to the victims of typhoon Sendong (International Code named Washi) who were greatly devastated by the effects of heavy rains and flash floods early December 2011″.

Last Tuesday April 17, this writer emailed Mr Posada asking for an official statement on the situation.

As of this writing, Mr Posada has not responded. An earlier email, sent on January 14, 2012, also remained unanswered.

FRONT ROW; (L to R): Sir Max Encomienda, KOR, Deputy Commander; Consul Marford Angeles; Consul General Anne Jalando-on Louis and Sir Cesar Bartolome, KCR, Sydney Chapter Commander. STANDING (L to R) Sir Max Lopez, KCR, East Australia Area Commander; Ric de Vera, KCR, ANZO Regional Commander; Geoffrey B.W. Little, KCR; Sir Fiel Santos, KCR, Auditor and Sir Carlo Villadiego, KOR, Exchequer. NOT IN PHOTO are: Sir Philip Ranoso, KCR, Immediate Past Chapter Commander; Sir Francis de los Santos, KOR, Chancellor; Sir Ralph Posadas, KOR, Pursuivant; Sir Ken Tipping, KOR, Archivist; Sir Jayme Diaz, KOR, Deputy Exchequer and Sir Ronald Ranoso, KOR, Deputy Pursuivant.

The newly elected officers of the Order of the Knights of Rizal, Sydney Chapter (OKOR Sydney) made a courtesy call with the Consul General Anne Jalando-on Louis and Consul Marford Angeles at the Philippine Consulate Office in Sydney last Wednesday April 18.

The scheduled visit and consultation meeting covered wide range of topics including proposed OKOR activities for 2012 and 2013 and the Rizal Park in Blacktown.

Consul General Louis reiterated that the Philippine Consulate totally supports OKOR plans and visions and wished the newly elected officers well on their new roles.

The Consul General also affirmed the consulate’s support and cooperation to OKOR, specifically the projects affecting and involving the Filipino community in general.

The new set of officers’ term of office is two years (2012-2014). *** Submitted by Max Encomienda