** Reprinted from Philippine Star and Phil. Daily Inquirer, June 2004 **

Fil-Aussie to launch new book on jokes for Pinoys worldwide

Manila – A Sydney-based award-winning Filipino website publishing company is preparing a book on jokes that will reflect the life, culture and sentiments of overseas Filipinos worldwide (OFWs).

The book, titled The Best of PinoyJokes.net and distributed by Anvil Publishing, is scheduled for launch in Manila on June 18, according to its publisher, Filipino-Australian Romy Cayabyab, publisher and managing director of Emanila.com, one of the world’s largest Philippine-related groups of websites. The book will be available locally after the launch.

“The PinoyJokes book is designed to cater to our eight million lonely OFWs out there and their families in the Philippines. The book will show how Filipinos abroad view themselves and their countrymen, the kind of stuff that makes them laugh, and the funny side of every situation they are in.

“It’s because we, Filipinos, love to laugh at ourselves, and this book is geared to keep us all laughing,” Cayabyab said.

The PinoyJokes book will thus be the hardcopy version of PinoyJokes.net, a web site on Filipino humor.

As such, the book and all its 120 pages will have jokes on subjects of Filipino interests like the Balikbayan Box, Ano sa? Fun Lines, and Only in the Philippines! Other areas of humor are celebrity spoofs, TXT SMS jokes, and ATBP: Okey Lang.

The PinoyJokes.net web site is among the many owned and managed by Emanila.com, the inaugural winner of the Technology Award of Australia’s National Multicultural Marketing Awards. The web site is focused on promoting the Filipino community online, and the contribution of overseas Filipinos to the enrichment of the culture of their adoptive countries. It caters to a general audience and is a child-safe Internet site.

Starting out as an online English-Filipino translation service when it was launched in June 1998, emanila.com ‘s services have expanded to include web mail, news, online shops, web hosting, and internet promotion.

Traffic to the emanila.com’s web sites and affiliates originate from Australia, United States, Philippines, Japan, Canada, Middle East, Europe and other Asia-Pacific countries.

The enormous following of this web group inspired the publication of the PinoyJokes book by Cayabyab, a very active participant in Sydney’s community affairs.

Also a lecturer in accounting at the University of Western Sydney, Romy Cayabyab envisions his book to help strengthen the bond of OFWs to their motherland and among themselves in a “very entertaining way”.

Specializing in treasury, foreign exchange, risk management, and international payments systems, Cayabyab holds the distinction of being the first Filipino to have become the Senior Director of Audit Operations with the Commonwealth of Australia’s Auditor General.

In the Philippines, Cayabyab held various positions with the Bancom Group, Manila Stock Exchange, and SyCip Gorres Velayo & Co., CPAs. He was lecturer in Accounting & Finance at the U.P. College of Business Administration. Educated at the University of the Philippines, Cayabyab holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree and a Master of Business Administration degree with honors.