LIFE IN THE NEW PHILIPPINES METRO SANTA ROSA Santa Rosa Magazine's SPECIAL FEATURES Section
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" Let us end the culture of negativism; let us uplift our fellow Filipinos at every opportunity. Why are there people who enjoy finding fault in our country, who find it so hard - as though it were a sin - to say something nice? Can we even remember the last time we praised a fellow Filipino? Let us stop pulling our fellow man down. Let us put an end to our crab mentality. Let us make the effort to recognize the good that is being done. If you see something right, do not think twice - praise it. If you see a policeman directing traffic, coatless beneath the rain - go to him and say, "Thank you." If you fall sick, and you see your nurse caring for you, when she could easily be treating foreigners for a higher salary - say, "Thank you." Before you leave school for home, approach your teacher who chose to invest in your future - say, "Thank you." If you chance upon your local leader on a road that was once riddled with holes, but is now smooth and sturdy - go to him and say, "Thank you, for the change you have brought." " THANK YOU P-NOY FOR WINNING AGAINST ROBBER POLITICIANS AND GIVING OUR COUNTRY BACK TO ITS RIGHTFUL OWNERS: THE FILIPINO PEOPLE. (Read President Aquino's July 2011 State Of the Nation Address in Filipino or in English.) ********* ********* ********* SANTA ROSA MAGAZINE EMBARKS ON CONTROLLED EXPANSION WITH NEW SPECIAL FEATURES SECTION SINCE ITS LAUNCH IN 2007 SRM HAS BEEN GROWING AND EVOLVING whilst maintaining its mission to show the world that life in the Philippines and particularly in Santa Rosa consists of much more than the bad news of corruptions and killings that most foreigners read in their newspapers or see on their televisions.       The informative new Santa Rosa City Government official website covers much local ground in a better way than we could, because our elected officials are themselves the heart of our city and the driving force behind its progress, and we highly recommend that all our readers visit the official city website frequently.       It has enabled us to start spreading our wings by including stories from other parts of the Philippines and even from overseas. Stories that still impact in some way our lives in Santa Rosa. This adds another dimension to our mission by showing the world that Santa Rosa is part of the global community, and Filipinos - whichever part of the Philippines they come from - are increasingly a force to be reckoned with in every aspect of human achievement from business to design to sports to science to medicine to entertainment and the performing arts. There is nowhere on this planet where OFWs, who for too long were the unsung heroes of the Philippines, have not left their positive mark to improve our nation's tarnished reputation and open the world's eyes to our future potential.       Metro Santa Rosa, which is the title of Santa Rosa Magazine's special features section, will also grow and evolve. We welcome your comments and suggestions as we go along. We welcome submission of features, both from corporate public relations or communication consultants and from readers who appreciate and agree with our mission.       One day the world will know the Philippines for what it can and will be: a truly great cosmopolitan nation. One day the world will also know Santa Rosa for what it can and will be: a truly great cosmopolitan city. In our own small way and with the support of all our readers we will do our very best to help make it happen.       When it does, there will be no more crooked brokers or agents of human trafficking. OFWs will no longer be unsung heroes. In every corner of the globe Philippine OFWs will be respected, sought after, head-hunted and rewarded by commanding the top salaries and top employment conditions individually of their own choosing and to their own specification. They have proved their worth for too long without ever receiving it. Finally after so many personal and family sacrifices they will receive it.       What's more they will fully deserve it, and in doing so they will confirm their qualities as Filipinos and provide further proof to raise the reputation of the Philippines even higher in the eyes of the world.       If you are a wife whose husband is an OFW or if you are a husband and your wife is an OFW, please get in touch with us. We would love to post your personal story, and don't worry if the publicity would embarrass you. We can make your story anonymous or give you a pen name, and we don't need to say where you live. If your preference is to be a protected source of information, we guarantee that your identity will never be revealed.                                                                                                                     - by Sarina Fernandez, Editor of Santa Rosa Magazine FOOTNOTE AT THE INSISTENCE OF THE DIRECTORS: Many emails received have suggested that the Editor might make personal appearances to promote Santa Rosa Magazine, and Sarina told us when we first interviewed her that she does not wish to do this. We admire her professional qualities and respect her wishes. She values her family life above all else and has no ambition to become a celebrity of any kind, even a local one. At the same time, Sarina's dedication to our mission is second only to her family. If readers could see her two children, one of whom is an 11-month-old baby, we are sure they all would agree with us that she has got her priorities right. God has truly blessed her in ways that no job ever could. Our mission is not and will never be to maximize potential profits to the detriment of mothers and children. God has a way of telling people whether they are doing right or wrong, and the directors are unanimously convinced that God is telling us now that Sarina's faith, honesty and integrity are right for Santa Rosa Magazine. Sarina, we all love you. -- Al Collins, Chairman of the Board (Whatever that means -- we don't have a boardroom or chairs. When we come here we breathe the fresh air, we meet and delight in the sunshine and coastal scenic beauty that God has blessed the Philippines with. Don't knock it. Western business men and women would give their right arms, their left arms, and both legs to live and work in the environment that Filipinos take for granted and daily enjoy as their birthright. Our OFW Directors have already known this for so long that they jokingly claim investors like me are ignorant foreigners who missed out by being born somewhere else. I kind of wish I had a valid argument in response to protect my foreign ego, but I don't and I know it and I wholeheartedly agree with them.) SRM Home Page         About Us         Opinion         Contact Us