MANILA, Philippines — Former Education Secretary Dr. Lourdes Reynes-Quisumbing launched the latest installment of her autobiography titled “Destiny, Your Number is 4” with an accompanying music book, “Destiny, Sweet Mystery” at the Music Center of Miriam College recently.

Gracing the event were her children Visitacion, Carlos Jr., Emilio, twins Gabriel and Ricardo, Maria Socorro, Maria Lourdes and Maria Agnes and other members of the Reynes-Quisumbing clan.

Miriam College is an institution close to Dr. Quisumbing’s heart having served as its president from 1978-1986. She became chairperson of the school’s board of trustees from 1993 to 2010 and is currently its chairperson emeritus. “Destiny Your Number is 4” and “Destiny, Sweet Mystery” is available at the College of Education of Miriam College. For inquiries call 580-5400 loc. 3410.

ABaKaDA para sa Kabataang Pinoy project launched
The ABaKaDA (Alay Bandila Kalendaryo Diksyunaryo Atbp) para sa Kabataang Pinoy project aims to reinforce the youth’s patriotism. It was jointly launched recently by the University of Santo Tomas Artlets Alumni Association (UST AAA), Sagisag ng Pilipinas SnP) and the Numeriano and Gloria Pereña Foundation (NGPF).

The three groups will donate first-class Philippine flags, Filipino values-laden-calendars and Filipino-English/English-Filipino dictionaries to select public elementary schools. They will also conduct talks/read-along sessions on patriotism and on our national heroes.

The first three towns to benefit from the undertaking are Cainta, Rizal, Calumpit, Bulacan and Cavinti, Laguna.

National Children ’s Book Award slated for 2012
The 2nd National Children’s Book Awards will be presented by the National Book Development Board (NBDB) and the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) in the year 2012 for books published in 2010 and 2011.

Originally envisioned as a yearly event to honor significant children's books which exemplify the marriage of text and art, NCBA will now be held bi-annually.

This revision will also mean that this current cycle will intersect with the period celebrating the 150th anniversary of Dr Jose Rizal's birth, and hopefully it will result in new Rizaliana for our young people. It must be remembered that the NCBA initiative is also meant to document the state of children's publishing in the country and to promote quality books for both homes and school libraries.

Only six titles from four publishers were chosen by a board of judges who publicly discussed the merits of the books during the awards ceremony. The competition guidelines stipulate a maximum of ten noteworthy titles for possible citation. The nomination period for the 2012 NCBA will be announced shortly.