Revenge of the toy dogs

By Anne A. Jambora

Philippine Daily Inquirer

Date

GALLERY

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 89 10

PHOTO: 

• MORE MOST READ STORIES

Cute little shih-tzus steal the show-and edge out the sporting breeds

ONE HOT Sunday afternoon, an 18-year-old senior student at International School Manila went to the park with her shih-tzu in tow. She only wanted to watch a dog agility race, but ended up joining it—and bagging silver.

Rex, her shih-tzu who’s just a little over a year old, never had any formal training, said Lindsey Joy Velasco.

The toy dog, with its long silky hair and natural dolled-up cute looks, suddenly found himself competing against larger, more “serious-looking” breeds such as the sporting and herding groups of retrievers, shepherds and Malinois.

The “A-maze-ing Garden Adventure,” a dog agility obstacle race held last Sunday at Ayala Triangle Gardens, Makati, saw 44 human and dog teams. Around 70 more dogs with their families showed up.

Obstacle setups

Organized by Better Dog Canine Behavior Center, the afternoon event aimed to raise funds for the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS).

The Gardens had 10 theme obstacle setups, with planks, rings, tunnels, sandpits, pools, tires, A-frames and a human sled. The obstacle was to test how well the owners knew their pets.

Velasco has been training Rex since he was nine months old. Even if she decided to join the race only at the last minute, she was confident, as the pooch has always been a great learner. Rex is so eager to learn that he obeys on command, with or without food as incentive.

The race’s most challenging part, she said, was getting Rex to focus on running through the tunnel. Rex just kept walking around it, so that Velasco’s friend had to run through the tunnel himself for Rex to follow suit.

“This is a fun agility race. Anybody with a pet dog can join. Our aim is to get people out of their condo units and have a good time bonding with their pets,” said Jojo Isorena, canine training and behavior specialist at BetterDog Canine Behavior Center.

Not all obstacles were complicated. There was something as simple as the Fastest Sit—who sat the fastest on the command “sit.”

Other challenges were tricky, such as the human sled. The human friends must pull the sled while making sure their canine remained seated on the sled.

Just don’t shout

“We don’t have strict rules on how each team must accomplish the goals, the way pros compete. Owners can do almost anything to get their pets to do something. If it takes a trail of treats to make the pets obey and climb up a plank, then go ahead. Have a great time with your dogs, but don’t shout at them,” Isorena said.

Raising your voice at your pet would disqualify your team. Each obstacle course was manned by a referee.

“We didn’t expect a big crowd, but we hope we could get that much attention. We’ve always wanted to have an environment where people can relax with their pets. By staging this event and creating a pet-friendly establishment, we show our appreciation for our pet companions at home,” said Joyce de Guzman, marketing manager, Ayala Land Inc.

The Ayala Triangle Gardens has never had that many canine guests. There were poodles, terriers, bulldogs, pugs, Chihuahua, Jack Russels, schnausers, huskies, beagles, and even asPins (asong Pinoy, or mongrel) from PAWS.

Top prize went to Alessandra Oledan-Rodriguez and her pet shih-tzu Nikki. Third place was Marichu (for Maritina Romulo) and beagle Max. The accidental participant, Rex, was second.

“The best part of the race was learning the strength of the relationship between me and Rex, the strength of the bond. I have an understanding of Rex’s hidden skills and his strong drive to please. He’s now enrolled at Better Dog’s agility classes,” said Velasco.

Just how far did Rex go to show his love for his friend? He jumped through the Fountain of Tears, an obstacle that required him to jump over a bar and through a waterfall.

And he hates water. Absolutely hates it, said Velasco.

When in Cebu City, please visit gregmelep.com for your real estate and retirement needs.

The virtue of giving back

By SENATOR MANNY VILLAR

March 17, 2011, 11:04pm

 MANILA, Philippines – Let us be reminded by the saying “Give and it shall return to you a hundred fold.”

This is the evolving concept from which the Corporate Social Responsibility (or CSR) Bill sprung — the virtue of giving back.

For the longest years, Capitalism has driven our economy. Businesses are measured by their bottom-line — whether they report a profit or a loss. In the new millennium, however, consumers, investors, and employees alike are beginning to be more discerning. They have started to judge these enterprises according to their corporate morality.

This is mainly caused by the people’s realization that everybody is intertwined. People cannot solely depend upon the government to do everything for them. Each person or entity has a role to play.

Clearly, the daunting task of bridging the gap between the haves and have-nots cannot and should not be dependent upon the government alone. People, or entities with considerable wealth should freely channel resources to an array of programs and activities that will improve the community that surrounds them.

Thus, the materialization of this bill.

We shall now outline the bill’s most significant features:

Number (1). Tax incentives.

By virtue of the CSR bill, a corporation may be given the chance to deduct reasonable CSR-related expense from its taxable income. The grant of this incentive is actually twofold. First, admittedly, there are already established corporations who involve themselves voluntarily with CSR activities.

Hence, we want to reward these philanthropic deeds. Second, we want more companies to embrace CSR. By granting an incentive, we are hopeful that more corporations will be willing to embrace CSR.

Number (2). Preferred Related Activities.

Corollary to the incentives, however, we want to ensure that there is optimal use of these funds. As such, these expenses shall be directed to related activities as provided for by law or the regulations, which should be parallel to the goals of the government.

These activities are as follows:

1. Charitable.

2. Scientific.

3. Youth and sports development.

4. Cultural or educational purpose.

5. Services to veterans and senior citizens.

6. Social welfare.

7. Environmental sustainability.

8. Health.

9. Disaster relief and assistance.

This way, the corporations’ CSR activities will in some way complement the government’s goals as delineated in whatever policy it may choose.

Number (3). Mandatory allocation of net income for CSR activities.

Also, the CSR bill makes it mandatory for “large taxpayers,” as defined by the National Internal Revenue Code and as identified by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), to allocate a reasonable percentage of their net income to CSR.

At present there are 1,376 identified large taxpayers. From these large taxpayers, the BIR collects over 60 percent of its taxes each year — this is reportedly worth P439 billion in taxes.

In recent developments, particularly, the issuance of BIR Revenue Regulations 17-2010, last Nov. 26, the BIR reported that the large taxpayer base is expected to double and is hoped to account for 80 to 85% of collections. In fact, the BIR large taxpayer service is tasked to collect P485.15 billion of the BIR's P860.4-billion goal for the year.

Therefore, we are looking at, at least 2000 large tax payer corporations mandated to involve themselves in CSR activities.

Number (4). Reporting.

Finally, this bill provides for a reporting requirement. The large taxpayers will be required to submit, as part of their annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the list of activities relative to their corporate social responsibility. The SEC shall be the principal repository of all public records related to CSR.

In conclusion, the CSR bill aims to institutionalize Corporate Social Responsibility among the identified large taxpayers. Based on the assumption that these corporations are partners of the government in nation-building — the CSR activities are expected to complement the government’s goals or policies whether short-term or long-term.

On this note, we earnestly hope for the favorable action by this august body on this measure.

And when in Cebu City, you can visit gregmelep.com for your retirement and real estate needs.