BEIJING, China - A young Filipino-American businesswoman who is an advocate for juvenile and child rights’ protection in London, California and the Philippines is eyeing a partnership with Expedia for the establishment of the Juventus Noster Foundation here to widen the coverage of her program for the protection of the young.

“Serious efforts must be made to push for the adoption of Chinese children by childless couples in the United States and other European countries,” said Juventus Noster chairperson Jo Victoria Edralin Yupangco even as she noted the substantial number of European couples who have adopted Chinese children while she was staying at the Beijing Marriot West Hotel.

She has been shuttling from London, San Francisco, Beijing and Manila for the last couple of months to finalize the acquisition of 5-star hotels in Beijing, Dalian and Guillin.

JV Edralin Yupangco is a cum laude graduate from the London School of Economics with a Masters degree in Media and Communications and a summa cum laude from Kings College London with a BA in English Language and Communication.

Early this year, J.V. Edralin Yupangco lauded the passage of the Comprehensive Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 in the Philippines whose core goal is to redirect children who commit petty crimes, such as stealing morsels of food or violating curfew hours, out of the criminal justice system, and hence, out of adult jails.

In a column article last April 18 in the Manila Standard, J.V. Edralin Yupangco said her family’s trepidation started in the summer of 2005 as a result of a CNN report on how juvenile offenders in the Philippines are detained in the same jail facilities as hardened adult criminals.

“While my mother Josephine Edralin and my sister Joana Bautista were watching television, sitting in our comfortable vineyard estate in the Napa Valley, we were confronted with profoundly poignant images of young children behind bars. Even more devastating was that the report recounted the number of minors who fall victims to pedophiles while in these prisons. It was whilst watching this shocking reality unfold on our television screen that we made a decision in both mind and heart that we had do to something to help address this deplorable situation.  We felt it our duty as native-born Filipinas,” wrote Edralin Yupangco.

“The noble intentions of the Juventus Noster (Latin words meaning Our Youth) should at the very least deserve the support of well-meaning individuals and institutions if only to push for the protection of the juvenile and child rights in the Philippines and China, ” she said.
 
For her part, Juventus Noster president Joana Edralin Bautista expressed elation that various groups like Expedia, Inc. through its Emerging Market Global Communications Director Laura Pinones have inquired about the foundation’s activities whose goals include building facilities where children can be truly rehabilitated and kept out of adult prisons in the Philippines. “In China, it will provide young children a brighter future as adopted children of caring and willing parents from the United States and Europe,” she said. 
 

 
BEIJING - An aggressive international land development and acquisition company with projects in the United States, Asia and Latin America is now finalizing talks for long-term business partnership with the owners of Lee Yuan Investments that owns Marriot Beijing Hotel West.
 

This was jointly disclosed by Meadow Heights Ltd president Jo Victoria Edralin Yupangco and CEO Joana Edralin Bautista as formal talks with Jing Yu Mansions Corporation are now in final negotiation stages.
 

Part of the on-going talks is the acquisition of the 18-storey Beijing Marriot Hotel located at 98 XiSanhuan North Road with 117 rooms, 38 suites and five meeting rooms with 757 square meter total meeting space.
 

“We are excited to seal this long-term business partnership with Lee Yuan Investments and Jing Yu Mansions Corporation including the Marriot Hotel venture which will be a testament to China’s booming economy as well as the forthcoming 2008 Olympics in Beijing,” said J.V.  Edralin Yupangco. She is a cum laude graduate from the London School of Economics with a Masters degree in Media and Communications and a summa cum laude from Kings College London with a BA in English Language and Communications.
 

The Edralins are engaged in several business ventures in the United States, Philippines and Central America. One such venture is the progressive and thriving Chateau Fontainebleau Vineyard at St. Helena in Napa Valley town in Napa Valley, San Francisco, California. In fact, its wine label, Josephine Cabernet Sauvignon, is named after its Meadow Heights chairperson Josephine Edralin.
 

Chateau Fontainebleau is strategically located in the portion of the Napa Valley floor where temperature, rainfall and alluvial soils combined in perfect measure to produce some of the world’s finest grapes and of course, a world-class and award winning Cabernet Sauvignon.
 

In the Philippines, they own the Urdaneta Villas based in eastern Pangasinan which will be developed into a high-end residential and resort area.
 

The other flagship project of the Edralins is the Playa Carillo Resort in Costa Rica which is a joint venture between Fontainebleau Holdings and Madison Partners, one of the Top 10 big U.S. developers based in Texas.
 

According to Fontainebleau CEO Joana Bautista, the infrastructure construction will start in March 2007 starting with a 5-star beach hotel containing 150 to 250 rooms in partnership with Ritz Carlton.
 

SAN CARLOS CITY, Pangasinan – “Give man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.”

Thus said retired Police Deputy Director General Reynaldo V. Velasco as he quoted Chinese philosopher Confucius in formally announcing the staging of the four day Victorey Job Fair from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Bayambang at the Ramos Espanol Building on December 3 and on December 4 to 6 in this city at the PESO Building in cooperation with the Office San Carlos City Julian Resuello and Bayambang Vice Mayor Boy Soriano respectively.

“We want to provide a long-term solution to the vicious cycle of poverty, patronage politics and dependency. This is the reason why we have invited some Japanese friends to employ some of our provincemates in the third district so that they will have chance for a better life if they have stable jobs,” Velasco said even as he thanked the two local leaders in welcoming the job fair in their respective localities. Read more