COMTEQ hosts Visual Graphics Seminar

by Hasmin Cuevas  
Tuesday, 05 October 2010 04:28

COMTEQ College hosted a one-day seminar-workshop entitled, “Creative Workflow:  From Digital Photography to Arts and Animation” on September 25 at the COMTEQ campus.  This was attended by thirty Web Graphics students.  The speaker of the said activity was Mr. Obhet Cristobal, founder of Bread 5 Studio Singapore and also a former instructor of COMTEQ College.

Mr. Cristobal initiated the activity because of his commitment to share his knowledge to those who most need it.  “Teaching is the most satisfying work.  That’s because even if you are good in your craft and knows a lot of things but don’t have anyone to share it with, it would still seem useless.  You will carry it alone when you are buried on earth”, says Mr. Cristobal.

Mr. Cristobal discussed a wide range of topics from specific steps in solving particular design problems to general tips and techniques in making it big in the industry.  He demonstrated the steps in creating digital art in Adobe Photoshop and animating it in Adobe After Effects.  He impressed and amazed the participants with his vast knowledge and skills in design, slightly masked by his great sense of humor.

Participants could not wait to try out all the things that he taught.  They were so enthused by Mr. Cristobal’s teachings that the five hours of seminar and more than three hours of workshop left them wanting more.  Hopefully, more COMTEQ instructors and alumni will follow Mr. Cristobal’s example in providing COMTEQ students with all the help they need in succeeding in the industry.

Kirby, parents pay COMTEQ a visit

After a successful P3million liver transplant operation

Accompanied by his parents, Kirby Hizon, the one-year old baby who was found last year to be suffering from biliary atresia, visited COMTEQ Computer College after undergoing a successful P3-million liver transplant operation in Taiwan late last year.

Kirby’s liver transplant operation was made possible through a community-wide fund raising campaign initiated by the local chapter of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines in October 2003.

COMTEQ students, led by the student council headed by Allan Dale Calisaan, immediately supported the campaign’s Alyansa ni Kirby program by soliciting funds from the Freeport gates, and by actively participating in the benefit concert dubbed Youth Rock for Kirby.  Child star Dindin Llarena and the city’s local bands offered their services in the concert for free.

Both activities were spearheaded by the local chapter of the NUJP and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority which was headed by then chairman and administrator, Felicito C. Payumo.  Proceeds from the fund raising activities were kept in a bank account being supervised by the LIFT Babies Foundation, a foundation established to help biliary atresia patients.

The campaign was later supported by schools, duty free shops, supermarkets, banks and Mercury Drug outlets.

During the concert, numerous COMTEQ students donated their time and effort in manning computer equipment, creating the computer graphics presentation, collecting donations and acting as ushers.  A band composed of COMTEQ students and instructors even took part in the concert.

When donations for Kirby seemed slow, Mr. Saturnino Dumlao and Mr. Florentino Paller, both NSTP instructors pitched in.  They coordinated the coin collection activities of their students at the Rizal and Magsaysay gates of the SBMA, and included collection activities as part of the NSTP course.

Student trainees at the COMTEQ I.T. Center, on the other hand, created a website for Save Baby Kirby Campaign that made contributions even from abroad possible.  The website also kept all donors and contributors to the project updated on the developments of the campaign.

ABS-CBN later supported the campaign and generated much of the needed funds for the operation through its television programs, Maala-ala Mo Kaya and TV Patrol .  The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office also pitched in a P1-million donation to the project.

Kirby was born with a rare liver disease called biliary atresia which could have caused his death within two years of birth had he not undergone the liver transplant operation.  Biliary atresia is a condition wherein the bile ducts are absent or unable to convey bile out of the liver, causing the liver to fail and the baby to die within two years after birth.

Kirby was operated on in Taiwan in August last year with his father, Erickson Ongkiko as the liver donor.

Kirby’s parents, who accompanied Kirby to COMTEQ thanked the students for their valuable contribution to the whole project which gave their first born child another lease in life.

Bataan schools lead in COMTEQ Challenge

Bataan leads Zambales and Olongapo City, after six weeks of competition in the new weekly television quiz show, COMTEQ Challenge.

Of the six weekly winners, three hail from the Bataan province.  They are Marvin Estrella from Camacho National High School, who won the maiden episode of the quiz show; Emelyn Marcos of Hermosa National High School and May Ann Dabu from Balsik National High School, who won the third the sixth episodes, respectively.

The Zambales province grabbed second place behind the performances of Shiela Kathlyn Kabaltika of the Subic National High School and Mirjana Engeli Campos from San Guillermo National High School won in the fourth and fifth weekly quiz shows, respectively.

Second weekly winner, Jocelyn Co, however, is an early favorite to reach the finals after winning the second COMTEQ Challenge episode hands down.  Co, who comes from the Regional Science High School, has also participated in many quiz competitions, including the LG Quiz on Channel 7.

The weekly winners will meet in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the quiz show.  The winners in the semifinals will vie for the championship round come March this year.

Aside from cash and gift packages from various sponsors, the weekly winners won a scholarship certificate for one semester at COMTEQ Computer College.  The grand champion will receive P15,000 in cash and full scholarship in any four-year course at COMTEQ Computer College.

The first ever local tv quiz show airs every Sunday at 10:00 in the morning at STV-6.  Negotiations are also underway for another cable company to broadcast the show in Bataan.

The quiz show, which seeks to acknowledge and reward academic excellence among the youth in the areas of Bataan, Zambales and Olongapo City, is being co-presented by the Regional Office of the Department of Education and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

COMTEQ earns government’s final stamp of approval

The Commission on Higher Education, which granted COMTEQ the permit to offer bachelor degree courses in 1999, has finally recognized the courses after a three-member team of inspectors validated the school’s continued and satisfactory compliance with government standards during a visit of the school last January 13, 2005.

School officials said they are proud that the school passed the much-delayed validation even under the most stringent of conditions imposed by the CHED inspectors.

It took no less than CHED Regional Director Dr. Felizardo Y. Francisco who facilitated the validation after finding out that the inspection is “long overdue.”

“Now that we have secured the recognition, we can now focus our efforts at continually improving our services to our students,” Edelwaldo B. Joaquin told the COMTEQ staff after the inspection.

COMTEQ Computer College remains one of the very few schools in the whole country with its own website and an excellent information technology infrastructure comparable only with those of the bigger colleges in Metro Manila.

Like those of the big colleges in Manila, COMTEQ has a server that hosts its own website.  Like the world’s biggest free e-mail providers including Yahoo and Google, COMTEQ also has the capability of providing all its students with free e-mail accounts which the students can access from anywhere in the world.

The only difference is that COMTEQ’s website and its systems were set up and are being maintained by the students themselves, and not by professional web developers and systems administrators, Michelle Manal, college dean, said.

“We have students undergoing on-the-job-training who are competent enough to handle these jobs,” she added.

Joaquin, however, lamented the fact that many students are still not aware of these privileges, and ordered the staff to conduct an information drive to encourage students to avail of the free e-mail service and to maximize the use of the website.

Manal also said that the website is now undergoing major changes, including the integration of the e-learning system “to make it responsive to the needs of our students.”

Child star Dindin Llarena sings for ailing Kirby

OLONGAPO CITY – Child star Dindin Llarena took the cudgels for an ailing one-year old biliary atresia patient and agreed to perform for free in a benefit concert scheduled on February 7 at the Football Field inside the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.

The benefit concert, which is being co sponsored by the Olongapo and Zambales Association of Private Technical Institutions and the local chapter of Union of Journalists of the Philippines, is one of the series of activities aimed at generating three million pesos for the much needed liver transplant operation for Kirby Erick Hizon.

Llarena, who hails from Olongapo City, was represented by her aunt, Solidad Nasaire, during the negotiations with Kirby’s parents.  Nasaire assured Kirby’s parents of Dindin’s help in the fund drive.  Nasaire was almost in tears when she saw Baby Kirby and immediately donated five thousand pesos for the fund raising project.

Llarena’s relatives also refused an offer of free hotel accommodations during their stay in Olongapo and suggested that the cost of the hotel be donated to Kirby instead.

Kirby, who was born in Castillejos, Zambales, has been the subject of a community wide fund raising campaign being organized by the local chapter of the NUJP which started three months ago.

Kirby is suffering from biliary atresia, a rare liver ailment which leads to sure death, normally within the first one to two years of the baby’s birth, unless the patient undergoes liver transplant operation.

The NUJP took on the cause of helping Kirby after learning that his parents, a young couple from a poor family in Zambales, often cannot afford to pay for daily medications and special formula milk to keep their baby alive.

OZAPTI President Dean Myrna Matira also learned of Kirby’s situation and decided to help in the campaign and said, “helping Kirby is much lighter than the trouble of having to address the problem if we were the parents of the afflicted child.”

Aside from Llarena, the concert will feature local bands, Xtrm, D’zyre, Infinite, Foulvemder, Templar, Deadspot and the Subic Performing Artists, all of which agreed to perform for free.

Aside from the concert, the NUJP has placed bamboo coin banks in several establishments in Olongapo and the Subic Bay Freeport to receive donations for Kirby.  The project, dubbed Alkansya ni Kirby, is being supported enthusiastically by duty free shops, supermarkets, schools, banks, internet cafes, and mercury drug outlets.

Students from concert major sponsor, COMTEQ Computer College, have for almost a month now, collecting donations from passengers and pedestrians at the main gate of the Subic Freeport, and selling tickets at the gates of various Subic Freeport locators.

A local cable provider, STV 6, meanwhile has sponsored a telethon and generated a substantial amount for the fund.

Donations also come from anonymous donors in Manila and from a few Senators.

Donors can get in touch with the Help Save Baby Kirby Secretariat office at Telefax: 047-252-3335, or write by electronic mail at savekirby@comteq.edu.ph.

COMTEQ Students Take up the Cudgels for Baby Kirby

At the beginning there were just rumors.  A child had been afflicted with a deadly disease that was slowly but surely killing him.  His only hope lay in a very expensive liver transplant, far beyond the means of his parents.  People and organizations were working to help raise the needed funds.

Then the LIFT BABIES Foundation, the primary support group for victims of biliary atresia sought the help of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines local chapter (NUJP-OS).  Since the COMTEQ Deputy Administrator is a member of the NUJP-OS, COMTEQ became a beehive of activity in the rush to raise the funds necessary to save the baby’s life.

Curious questions from the COMTEQ students soon ferreted out the details and gave the baby a name:  Erick Kirby Hizon, now 14 months old, the only child of a couple whose sole breadwinner is factory worker at the SBMA.  The baby is afflicted with biliary atresia, a disease marked by the absence of bile ducts that cause bile to accumulate in the liver, eventually killing it and the baby.  The only hope at this late stage is for a liver transplant within a year, that would cost P3 million.  The task of raising the required amount in time to save the baby’s life was daunting.

Soon the curiosity felt by the COMTEQ students, was replaced by pity at the prospect of an innocent life in peril.  Reinforced by their lectures on Values, and firm in their belief in a pro-active way of life, COMTEQ students can not sit idly by while death threatens a child.  Especially not when they learned further, that even impoverished Aeta communities have pitched in to help.  It was time for action; time to be pro-active.

COMTEQ students began to volunteer to lug bamboo coin banks to gather donations from passersby.  When the trickle of volunteers became a drove, the students requested to be allowed to apply their work towards the completion of their NSTP subject, to enable them to devote more time to fund raising.  Permits were obtained, the students were organized into groups and schedules were given.  The bamboo coin banks were being filled more rapidly now.

When the “Save Baby Kirby” campaign got underway, a Save Kirby website, (Powered by COMTEQ Students) was their contribution.  For the COMTEQ students, it was just another way of putting their skills to work.

Soon the fund raising activity spilled over to the Night Market at the SBMA.  Again COMTEQ students were at the forefront of the coin bank campaign, many of them working till way past midnight.  How can they do any less, when even street children begging for alms at the night market drop coins at their bamboo coin banks?  The experience heightened their social awareness even more.

Now, another fund raising activity is planned.  A concert entitled “Youth rock for Kirby” will be held on February 7th, 2004.  Already COMTEQ students are busy folding and preparing appeal flyers.  It would not surprise me to see COMTEQ student volunteers, again in droves, come concert time.  After all, they are pro-active.

Mobile phone troubleshooting and repair now part of electronics curriculum

Cellphone Troubleshooting and Repair will form part of the electronics curriculum starting next school year.

This was announced by COMTEQ technical support director, Mancy B. Joaquin. 

Joaquin said that the increasing number of cellphone users makes it imperative for the school to incorporate the subject in its electronics curriculum.

The Philippines is a country with the most number of cellphone users earning for it the moniker the cellphone capital of Asia.

“It has always been a policy of the school to keep abreast with the latest in technology,” Joaquin said in explaining the move,

“By doing so, we also increase the graduates’ chances of being hired because companies would always prefer those with actual work experience in cellphone repair when hiring electronics technician,” he said.

Once the subject is included in the curriculum, the students enrolled in electronics course will get to experience actual cellphone troubleshooting and repair as early as their school days.

Students can also do cellphone repairs on the side to earn money even while they are studying.

“This is in keeping with our motto: Nag-aaral ka pa lang, may work experience ka na,” Joaquin stressed.

Admin and student council vow to keep COMTEQ a drug-free campus

The COMTEQ Student Council and COMTEQ Deputy Administrator Ansbert B. Joaquin have agreed to implement measures to ensure a drug-free campus at COMTEQ Computer College starting next school year.

Under the scheme, parents or guardians of COMTEQ students shall, upon enrollment, subscribe to the Drug Free Campus Program by signing a Waiver and Consent that stipulates that any student, at any given time during his stay, may be asked by the school to submit himself to drug testing at his own expense.

The student will also sign the waiver to signify his conformity with the school policy, as a precondition to his enrollment.

COMTEQ Assistant Registrar, Dennise Debatian said the scheme is primarily designed to discourage drug users from enrolling at COMTEQ.

“Like computer viruses, the use of prohibited drugs is a contagion in many campuses among peer groups,” Debatian explained.   “And it is best to discourage drug users from enrolling at COMTEQ if only to prevent them from infecting other students whose primary objective in enrolling at COMTEQ is to study,” he added.
 

Students who fail the test and those who would not submit themselves to drug testing, despite due notice, shall be considered dropped from school.

Drug testing shall be administered by school physician, Dra. Babylyn Sagum-Enad.

In a meeting with the school administration, CSC officials volunteered to support the project by reporting any student found using any prohibited drug like marijuana and shabu.

For its part, the school administration vowed to keep the identities of the students, both the user and the whistleblower, confidential.