The Philippine Star invites Filipinos residing overseas, foreigners living in the Philippines and Filipinos with relatives or friends abroad to share their personal stories and get a chance to win great prizes.

The story must be at least 500 but not more than 1,000 words typed on a letter-size bond paper with one-inch margins on all sides, using verdana font, 12 points. Please send entries via email (in word format) to philstareditorial@gmail.com, along with your full name, complete address, telephone nos., (landline and cellphone), a short profile and a Xerox copy of your passport and a student or company ID. Each published story will be paid Php2000 as contributor’s fee and will automatically qualify as an entry in the Barangay PhilStar story writing competition. At the end of the year, we will pick out the best published entries and will award Php15000 for the first prize, Php10,000 for the second prize and Php5000 for the third prize in the overseas Filipino category.

For complete details, go to www.philstar.com

Nursing graduates who plans to take the board exam this year are informed that the Philippine Regulations Commission (PRC) recently release a statement saying that the previously announced schedule for 2010 licensure examination for nurses had been changed.

From the earlier schedule of June and November, the 2010 board exam for nurses will take place in July and December. The change is made possible through the
Commission Resolution No. 2009-537 that was approved on November 13, 2009.

The deadline for filing of applications for the July examination will be on April 14 for repeaters while first time examinees may file theirs until May 14.

For the December examination, repeaters may file their application until September 8 while deadline for first time examinees is on November 8.

What: 2nd Philippine Caregiver Summit 2010
When: January 30-31, 2010 at 10:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where: Sapphire Ballroom, Mandarin Hotel, Gateway Mall Cubao, Quezon City

Attend the latest convention for caregivers as Elite Consultancy Services, Inc. bring the 2nd Philippine Caregiver Summit 2009. Learn career advice from top professional speakers or get a chance to work abroad! Various guests from review centers, immigration/consultancy companies, hospitals and agencies will be there!

For registration and other inquiries please call Elite Consultancy Services at 473-3628.

For those who are planning to apply for an electronic passport, hold you plans for a while because the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) recently announced that they will not be able to process e-passport applications until January 22.

The DFA explained that this is because of data migration and computer systems upgrade. The government agency is hoping for the understanding of the general public. As stated in the DFA public notice, “Due to data migration and systems upgrade, we would like to inform the public that there will be no ePassport processing on 15 January up to 22 January, 2010.”

The SM Group of Companies now offers a Free Global Pinoy Card (GPC) for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their relatives. Holder of the Global Pinoy Card gets to enjoy discounts, freebies and rewards when they shop at any branch of SM Supermalls as well as their partner establishments. Aside from that, it also grants them access to the Global Pinoy Center as well as invitation to great and informative events that SM organized.

The Global Pinoy Center is a one-stop shop for services that cater to OFWs and their family’s needs. It was first launched in the Mall of Asia but other Global Pinoy Centers have been activated in malls with large number of OFW shoppers. There are Global Pinoy centers in SM Clark, Bacoor, Fairview, Marilao, Clark and Cebu.

How to Avail: Present your SM Advantage, SM Prestige Card and any OFW ID (Global Pinoy) or any proof of Remittance (Beneficiary) from December 15 to January 31, 2010 at the Customer Service Counter of any SM Department Store to instantly get your Global Pinoy Card.

Each member is given a Global Pinoy card which entitles him and his family P80,000 worth of discounts in education, health services, hotels, restaurants and various shops.