Page 10 - LM Confidential Issue December 2014

Little Manila
FILIPINO NEWS WORLDWIDE
NY Fashion Week
found success
in Paris
PARIS - His name is already familiar with Filipino celebrities, executives and politicians who visit Paris. Some of them have even invited him to their homes during his previous visits in the Philippines.
Noel Villanueva, owner of Jubilee Transport Services, is the first Filipino who received a transport service license in
Paris, a
document
that
means
more to
him that
just a
piece of
paper. It
is a token
of his struggles and triumphs as an expat in France.
When Villanueva lost his job in 2006 as a private chauffeur for a prominent family in Paris, he decided to start something for himself –-something that he enjoys doing and wherein he wouldn’t be counting hours till the end of a work day.
He took a class. Out of the 12 students in the class, only five passed the Attestation Capacite Proffesional de Transport. Villanueva was one of them. The license that he got from the Minestere Chargé des Transport allows Villanueva to operate even a fleet of 100 buses if he wanted to.
Villanueva believes that Filipinos should help each other out. When he finds himself overwhelmed with clients, he refers another Filipino operator for the job.
He hopes that fellow Filipino operators will someday see the wisdom of putting up an organization and working together. He laments that some unscrupulous car rental companies do not play fair, lowering their rates just to get their share of clients. French drivers, he says, are taking to the streets to protest against this unfair scheme.
Bianca the busydody
Heavy workload hasn’t stopped actress Bianca King from making time to start two businesses: a restaurant and a yoga studio.
The yoga studio, which offers hot yoga classes, anti-gravity and Zumba, opened last month at Rockwell. The restaurant, located along Tomas Morato, commences business soon.
“Matagal kong pinagisipan kung saan pwedeng ilagay ‘yung pinagipunan ko sa showbiz,” said Bianca,
who took a short course at the Center for Culinary Arts (CCA).
Her venture into
the food business was prompted by good friend, Xander Angeles. They
wanted a restaurant that caters to health- conscious people “kasi there is lack of those in Quezon City kaya naisipan namin.”
Aside from acting and hosting, cooking has always been one of Bianca’s passions and she is excited to put her talent to good use. “Nag-try akong mag-apprentice sa directing dati pero wala eh. Nasa puso ko talaga ang cooking,” she said.
“Sa totoo lang, hindi ko na alam paano i-juggle ‘yang mga commitments ko. Pero I’m very happy kasi maraming work... blessing ‘yan,” said Bianca.
She enjoys being an actress but knowing how an acting career could be fleeting, she embarked on becoming an entrepreneur as well.
“Kaya din naman ako nagsisipag kasi kai- langan ko ding kumita nang malaki to pursue my other dreams ,” she said.
She clarified, however, that acting is her “number one priority,” her “bread and but- ter” so she is unlikely to give it up in favor of her other endeavors.
Bianca and her non-showbiz boyfriend of a few years have no marriage plans yet.
“Bilang babae kasi, hindi mo alam kung kelan ka magpapakasal, kung kelan ka niya tatanungin. Pero kung ibibigay na ni Lord, tatanggapin ko naman,” she said.
After her GMA Network contract expired last year, Bianca remains a freelancer. “Nage-enjoy pa kasi ako na parang
‘di ako nakatali sa isang network lang. Sa ngayon kung sino ang may offer at maganda ay pwede kong tanggapin,” she said.
Pinoy driver
How Fil-Am quadruple amputee became part of NY Fashion Week
LOS ANGELES, California - Stars come in different forms and backgrounds. For one Fil-Am nurse-turned- runway model, a dark and devastating illness
made here even more determined to shine.
L a s t September,
On December 9, 2011, a formerly active and fun loving 31-year-old’s medical
nightmare began.
“I was at home and I thought I had the
flu and all of a sudden I couldn’t breathe anymore and I called my mom, she picked me up and she took me to the hospital. By the time I got to the ER, I couldn’t feel my legs
anymore,” Crespo said.
Crespo, who was working as
a nurse at that time, had a blood infection. It was the deadly bacterial meningitis.
“You get it through saliva, so if you share food and drinks with someone, you don’t cover when you sneeze, you inhale it through your nose and then it spreads through your blood
stream,” she said.
Within 24 hours of getting flu-
like symptoms, she developed a blood clot in her brain and had
multiple organ failure.
In the hospital, she underwent
surgeries and did not wake up for 15 days. Given only 10 percent to survive, doctors had to
amputate both her arms and legs. Crespo stayed in the hospital for five months and had more than 25
surgeries.
“You know after the five months that’s
when I realized how different, how hard life is going to be, not to have my arms and legs and everything was not the same anymore and it’s never going to be the same,” she said.
F i l -
Karen Crespo,
a registered nurse, received a standing ovation when she walked the runway at the New York Fashion Week during Carrie Hammer Show.
The American designer includes people with disability, role models, rather than runway models in her fashion shows.
It was an impossible dream come true for Crespo who lost both legs and arms three years ago.
A m
Her performance at fashion
week grabbed headlines. Currently, she is with a talent
agency that’s working to bring her to Europe for other fashion shows.
But there was a time when Crespo was so depressed about the changes in her appearance that for months, she did not want to see anyone aside from family.
h e r
Caregiver calls for interpreters
TOKYO - Mon Angelo Paladero, a 26-year-old Filipino licensed care worker, won a Japanese speech contest this sum- mer stressing the need for interpreters with special knowledge of Japan’s health- care system. Paladero said at the contest held in August that foreign residents often have little understanding of Japan’s medi- cal services. “Foreign residents who speak little Japanese need special medical and welfare interpreters who are familiar with Japan’s medical system, not to mention
health conditions,” he said.
The contest was organized by the
Overseas Human Resources and Industry Development Association with partici- pants drawn from among foreign residents engaged in health and nursing care.
Paladero, who works at a nursing home for elderly people in Hamamatsu, Shi- zuoka Prefecture, central Japan, came to Japan four years ago under an Economic Partnership Agreement with the Philip- pines.
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10
L. M. Confidential
DECEMBER 2014
LMC