A single mother and pizza owner here bested seven others in the final screening for Rotary Club’s 2009-2010 Group Study Exchange (GSE)
program held in Bacolod City last November 7, 2009.

Cherry Q. Guillena, 36 years old, owner-proprietor of Gabriela’s Pizza in the city won the judges approval after intense screening thru question and answer in Bacolod City to clinch the all expense paid trip to The Netherlands for the 2009-2010 Group Study Exhange program. Guillena will depart March Next year for the Nether Netherlands.

Edna Capili-Chan, president of Rotary Club of Dipolog, said the GSE program “is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for
business people and professionals between ages 25 years old to 40 years old.”

The program undertaken by the Rotary Foundation provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits in paired areas of different countries. The GSE scholar will experience the host country’s culture and institutions, observe how their vocations are practices abroad, develop personal and professional relationships and exchange ideas with their hosts. Guillena, bested seven other candidates of the program in Bacolod. The eight finalists were of varies professions, a cook (Guillena), a young lawyer from Aklan; a visual artist  from Bacolod, a business woman into food supplement distribution, also from Bacolod; Ili-ilo’s tourism officer; an account executive of China Bank from nearby Zamboanga City and
a local contractor based in Bacolod.

Guillena said she had no qualms about the final screening and “tried not to be intimidated since I know I have prepared myself for the final district screening.” The young single mother and local chef finished her culinary course at the Saint Vincent’s College and she passed the assessment test given by the TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority). Guillena also manages Gabriela’s Pizza, a home grown pizza store in the city.

After Winning a slot for Rotary’s GSE scholar next year to the Netherlands, Guillena is set to create her Zanorte Pizza in celebration of her being selected as member of the GSE  team. She will fly to Amsterdam by March 2010. (jgy)

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SOURCE: Ang Dipolognon (Rotary Club of Dipolog District 3850, Weekly Bulletin, Week 2, November 2009)

Special Thanks to:  Mr. Hector Soledad and the Department of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management of Saint Vincent’s College

Ten people with Chicago connections have been indicted on federal charges of running a marriage fraud scheme that paid American citizens thousands of dollars to marry immigrants in an effort to skirt immigration laws, the U.S. attorney’s office said today.

Federal authorities allege Maria Cruz, 49, and her co-defendants arranged up to 15 “sham marriages” in which non-U.S. citizens — many of them Filipinos — offered to pay Cruz $3,000 to arrange marriages with American citizens.

More at CHICAGO BREAKING NEWS CENTER

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(CNN) — Efren Peñaflorida, who started a “pushcart classroom” in the Philippines to bring education to poor children as an alternative to gang membership, has been named the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year.

CNN’s Anderson Cooper revealed Peñaflorida’s selection at the conclusion of the third-annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Saturday night.

READ THE FULL REPORT