Whilce Portacio

Whilce Portacio

Whilce Portacio is a Filipino-American comic book artist. Portacio started out as an inker at Marvel Comics in 1985. Over time, he was given assignments as a penciller as well. Portacio became noted for his work on such titles as The Punisher, X-Factor, and the Uncanny X-Men. However, in 1992, Portacio left Marvel to co-found Image Comics with six other high-profile artists. But, Portacio quickly withdrew from his partnership in this enterprise due to his sister's bout with lupus, eventually publishing his title Wetworks through Jim Lee's Wildstorm imprint. Other notable series that Portacio has worked on include Stone and Marvel's controversial Heroes Reborn storyline within Iron Man.

In August, 2000, Whilce fell into a diabetic coma as a result of a failing pancreas. He woke up a week later, thirty pounds lighter, and unable to walk, let alone stand or even draw. It was six months before he was able to pick up a pencil and draw. It would be a year before he was able to draw any semblance of his previous artistry. According to his blog, "My mind could see what I wanted to draw but my hand couldn't accomplish it."

In 2006, Portacio returned to his artistic duties at Wildstorm on Wetworks vol.2, which is being written by Mike Carey. He also began art duties on the new monthly DC Comics series Batman Confidential.

Ernesto "Ernie" Chan

Ernesto "Ernie" Chan

Ernesto "Ernie" Chan is a Filipino comic book artist. For a number of years, he was obliged to work under the name "Ernie Chua" as that name had been wrongfully entered on his U.S. immigration documents, but was later able to be credited under his given name.

He is particularly known for his work on the Marvel Comics version of Conan the Barbarian, although he has also worked for other publishers such as DC Comics. He studied with John Buscema, and also worked with him as the inker on Conan during the 1970s. He also inked the art of Buscema's brother Sal on The Incredible Hulk.

Later, Chan pencilled several issues of Conan and Doctor Strange, and worked on Kull the Destroyer in 1977 and Power Man in the 1980s. For DC Comics, he did the Claw the Unconquered series. Chan was also a cover artist.

Chan also had a brief stint as a high school baseball star. While playing for Lorne Park Secondary School, he boasted a .455 batting average and 31 homeruns in 28 games.

Larry Asera

Larry Asera

Vallejo to make Asera its first energy czar

Vallejo is turning to a solar Moses in hopes he will lead the city of 120,000 into the promised land of energy independence.

Larry Asera, a politically well-connected energy expert, Vallejo entrepreneur and international businessman whose specialty is solar energy, is slated to become the city's first "energy czar."

The 52-year-old Asera, who helped write the state's solar energy and solid waste management laws, faces a threefold task to fulfill a $96,000-a-year consulting contract that the City Council is expected to approve on Tuesday:

• Developing city assets as producers of alternative energy sources to reduce Vallejo's reliance on the crisis-ridden electrical and natural gas production and distribution networks.

Among the possibilities, according to Asera and City Manager David Martinez, are installing photovoltaic generators atop city buildings; building hydroelectric plants at three lakes in Napa County owned by the city; making use of methane gas generated by the city's sanitation plant; and building cogeneration facilities.

Vallejo's situation is unique for a municipality because it owns multiple potential sources of electrical and gas energy.

The city currently buys its electricity through a consortium run by the Association of Bay Area Governments. PG&E supplies the vast majority of Vallejo's businesses and residences with electricity and natural gas.

"Unlike most cities in California, because of its location and natural resources, the city of Vallejo is in a unique position to become an independent power producer," Asera said.

With a diversity of sources such as Mare Island (existing power plant with transmission and distribution lines); Vallejo lakes (small hydropower); Vallejo sewage plant (methane gas production and co-generation); waterways (utility barges) and Vallejo hills (solar and wind farm micro-utilities), the city of Vallejo could form a municipal utility district, expand or build a new power generation facility at Mare Island and deliver clean, efficient and affordable electricity to residents and businesses.

"With a well-managed energy conservation and development plan, the city of Vallejo can be a leader among publicly owned utilities in promoting self-sufficiency and self-reliance," said Asera, the president of Asera, LLC, a Vallejo-based consulting firm specializing in energy technology and development, resources and land use.

Working with city officials, businesses and residents to increase energy conservation. The city already has cut electricity use by 15 percent since the beginning of California's energy crisis and now is aiming for a 25 percent reduction, Martinez said.

Building a power plant on Mare Island to fuel commercial development, possibly through an agreement similar to the one between the city of Hayward and Calpine.

The dormant plant that powered the old Navy shipyard can't be brought up to modern emissions standards. But Rep. Mike Thompson, whose North Coast congressional district includes Fairfield and Vacaville in Solano County, is drafting legislation to finance municipal power plants at abandoned military facilities such as Mare Island and the former Alameda Naval Air Station, Martinez said.

Dado Banatao

Dado Banatao

Diosdado Banatao (born May 23, 1946, Iguig, Philippines), popularly known by his nickname Dado, is a well-known Filipino serial entrepreneur and engineer working in high-tech industry. A three-time start-up veteran, he co-founded Mostron (PC Motherboards), Chips and Technologies (PC Chip Sets, eventually acquired by Intel), and S3 Graphics (originally 2D graphics chips, renamed to SonicBLUE). It is Silicon Valley folklore that he chose the company name S3 to mean "Start-up number 3".

He is a managing partner of Tallwood Venture Capital. Prior to Tallwood he was a venture partner with the Mayfield Fund. He has served on the board of directors and as chairman of several emerging companies, including Marvell Technology Group (MRVL), NewPort Communications (acquired by BRCM), and Cyras Systems (acquired by CIEN).

Banatao holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Mapua Institute of Technology in the Philippines and a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Stanford University.

Caterina Fake

Caterina Fake

Caterina Fake is an American businesswoman and entrepreneur.

She was born in Pittburgh, Pennsylvania, attended Choate Rosemary Hall, Smith College, and graduated from Vassar College in 1991. She is Filipino-American. After working variously at an investment bank, as a painter's assistant, on a crew shooting interstitials for Seinfeld and in a dive shop in Arkansas, she moved to San Francisco in 1994, where she started working in the nascent Web industry. In 2001 she moved to Vancouver, BC.

She is best known as the co-founder of Flickr, a photo-sharing service developed by Ludicorp in Vancouver and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. Flickr ushered in the so-called Web 2.0 integrating features such as social networking, community open APIs, tagging, and algorithms that surfaced the best, or more interesting content. Prior to founding Ludicorp she was Art Director at Salon.com and heavily involved in the development of online community, social software and personal publishing. She has won many awards, including Business Week's Best Leaders of 2005, Forbes 2005 eGang, Fast Company's Fast 50, and Red Herring's 20 Entrepreneurs under 35. She appeared with her husband and Flickr co-founder Stewart Butterfield on the cover of Newsweek on March 27, 2006, and was selected as one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the world in their May 8, 2006 issue. She sits on the board of Etsy, and advises many startups and new businesses. At Yahoo! she runs the Technology Development group, best known for its Hack Yahoo! program, a stimulus to innovation and creativity.

She lives in San Francisco, California.

Loida Nicolas-Lewis

Loida Nicolas-Lewis

Loida Nicolas Lewis is Chairman and CEO of TLC Beatrice, LLC, the Lewis Family investment firm, and is also Chairman and CEO of TLC Beatrice (China), Limited, a Cayman company which operates retail convenience stores in five major cities in China and TLC Beatrice Foods (Philippines) which operates a fresh meat processing plant.

An attorney by profession, admitted to practice in the Philippines and New York, Mrs. Lewis served as an informal adviser and confidant to her late husband, Reginald F. Lewis, TLC Beatrice’s first chairman and CEO. She assumed the leadership of the TLC Beatrice International Holdings, Inc. in February, 1994, a year after Mr. Lewis’ death. She moved quickly to cut costs, sell non-core and under performing assets, reduce debt and strengthen her management team.

In September, 1997, the company sold its French food distribution business. In 1998, the company sold its European beverage operations. In 1999 it sold the ice-cream operations in Spain and the Canary Islands and its potato chips and snack business in Ireland. In 2000, the last unit of the company, Bireley’s in Thailand was also sold. Proceeds were distributed to the shareholders who enjoyed a 35% return on their investment.

Reginald F. Lewis acquired Beatrice International in December 1987 in a $985 million leveraged buyout, creating the largest African American company in the United States.

Mrs. Lewis has spoken to audiences around the country and the world to promote the biography of her late husband, “Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?….How Reginald Lewis Created a Billion Dollar Business Empire.”

Mrs. Lewis has written books on U.S. immigration law. The latest is “How to Get a Green Card,” now a bestseller in that genre. In 1972, she established a monthly magazine for the Filipino-American community and served as the magazine’s publisher until it merged with another publication in 1980.

She is also the National Chair of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations, the largest advocacy group for Filipino Americans in the United States.

Mrs. Lewis is a graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Law and a cum laude graduate of St. Theresa’s College, two of the Philippines’ premier educational institutions. She comes from a family of entrepreneurs: her father started one of the country’s largest furniture manufacturers. Born in the Philippines, she currently resides in New York City. She speaks several languages: English, French, Spanish and Filipino. She and Mr. Lewis have two daughters.

She was the first Asian American to pass the American Bar without having been educated in the United States.

ALAMAT NG OLONGAPO

Ang Alamat ng Olongapo
(Bahagi ng Sentral Luson)
Isinulat ni Rene Alba

Ang bayan ng Olongapo ay bahagi ng Zambales. Isa sa pinakamasayang lungsod ng Sentral Luson. Malapit din ito sa Subic Bay. Ito ay naapektuhan ng pagsabog ng Bulkang PINATUBO. Kung bakit naging OLONGAPO ay siya nating malalaman sa ating alamat.

May isang binata ang pangalan ay Dodong. Isa siyang magsasaka at malawak ang kanyang sakahan. Sa kanilang bayan siya ay napamahal na sa kanyang mga kababaryo. Isa siyang matulungin kaya kinagiliwan siya ng mga tao. Siya ay napabantog sa pangalang APO at ito ang nakasanayang itawag sa kanya ng mga kabataan at mga matatanda.

Sa kabilang nayon ay may isang dalaga at tunay na Pilipina kung kumilos. Si Nene ang ngalan ng mayuming babae. Naging kaibigan ito ni Dodong o APO ngunit malaki ang agwat ng kanilang idad. Nalipat ng tirahan ang pamilya ni Nene. Ito ang dahilan at hindi na sila nagkita ni APO.

Lumipas ang maraming araw at buwan. Isang araw sa hindi inaasahang pagkakataon habang naglalakad si APO sa isa sa mataong lugar ng bayan ay bigla silang nagkasalubong ni Nene. Dalagang-dalaga ka na ang bati ni APO kay Nene. Lalong gumanda ang dalaga. Pagkatapos ng batian at balitaan ay inalok ni APO ang dalaga na kung puwede siyang ihatid nito. Bigla naman pinaunlakan ito ng dalaga.

"Tatang, Nanang, nandito po si APO ang masayang sigaw ni Nene, dadalawin po kayo."

"Dodong!" Kumusta ka! Mabuti naman at napasyal ka rito sa amin," ang wika ng tatay ng dalaga.

"Kumusta na po kayo? ang magalang na tugon ng binata. Pasensiya nap o kayo at hindi na ako nakakapagbayanihan dito sa inyo."

"Huwag mong alalahanin at alam naming abala ka rin sa gawain mo sa iyong bukirin. Kapag kakailanganin mo kami ay magpasabi ka lamang ang wika ng tatang ni Nene.

"Salamat sa inyo!" Hayaan po ninyo at tuwing Sabado ay dadalawin ko kayo rito. Nang sa gayon makatulong ho ako kahit papano, ang sabi ng binata.

Magmula noon ay madalas ng magkita ang binata at dalaga. Naging magkalapit sila sa isa't isa. Hanggang sa naging magkatipan. Hindi naman naging hadlang ang mga magulang ni Nene.

Isang umaga ay may dumaong na malaking bangka lulan nito ang mga lasing na Kastila. Namataan nila si Nene sa tabing dagat. Mayroong itatanong sa dalaga ang mga ito ngunit hindi ito maintindihan ng dalaga sa halip tumango na lamang. Ang buong akala ng mga lasing na Kastila ay pumapayag ang dalaga sa kanilang gusto hanggang sa niyapos at pinaghahalikan ang dalaga. Sumigaw si Nene at humingi ng saklolo.

Agad tinawag ng mga tao si Apo upang ipaalam ang nangyari sa katipan. Nagulantang si APO at sinugod nito ang mga Kastila at lumaban. Ngunit dahil sa marami at armado ang mga ito, sa kasamaang palad si APO ay namatay. May patakaran ang mga walang pusong Kastila para huwag pamarisan ay pinutol nila ang ulo ni APO at isinabit sa isang kawayan.

"Ulo ng Apo! Ulo ng Apo!" ang sigawan ng mga bata.
Ang pagkaintindi ng mga Kastila ang pangalan ng nasabing lugar ay ULO ng GAPO hanggang tumagal ay naging OLONGAPO. Ito ang bayan ng Olongapo sa lalawigan ng Zambales isa sa pinaka-kontrobersyal na Lunsod sa Sentral Luson.