Top 10 eMarketing Tips

eBC Guide to eMarketing Success

Successful marketing on the Internet is not just about listing your website on Yahoo or
sending out thousands of unsolicited emails. Without a quality product or service and a
well developed website a top 10 listing in Google is pointless.



1. Content, Page Quantity and Frequency of Changes
The bottom line for getting good search engine results is to have lots of keyword rich
content on lots of pages. Google likes big sites. The larger sites are presumed to be
better funded, better organized, better constructed, and therefore better sites. Content
must be updated often; this is a Google patent and concerns the changes to page
content over time. Google sees newer content as better content especially if the site
‘theme’ is news, retail or auction.

2. Submit Your Site
You should submit your site to Google, Yahoo, and MSN at least once and no more than
once every 30 days. Although Google says that manually submitting your pages to their
index is unnecessary however they have an interface for you to do so. MSN will seldom
visit a website unless invited by submission. Yahoo frequents more than MSN but less
than Google but will dramatically increase visits after submission
Google: http://www.google.com/addurl/
Yahoo: http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html
MSN: http://beta.search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx

3. Google Sitemaps
Google Sitemaps is an easy way for you to submit all your URLs to the Google index
and get detailed reports about the visibility of your pages on Google. With Google
Sitemaps you can automatically keep Google informed of all your web pages, and when
you make changes to these pages to help improve your coverage in the Google crawl.
http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps

4. Yahoo Directory Submit
Yahoo! Directory Submit is part of a suite of services Yahoo! created to serve the needs
of businesses like yours. Yahoo! Directory Submit provides expedited review of web
sites that are submited for possible inclusion in the Yahoo! Directory for US$299
(nonrefundable) for each Directory listing that is submitted. Furthermore, for each listing
accepted into the Directory, there is a recurring annual fee of US$299 to maintain the
listing in the Directory for the subsequent year.
http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/dirsb/dirsb_pr.php

5. Site Listed in DMOZ Directory
This is a huge boost as it is said that Google's directory comes straight from the DMOZ
directory. The DMOZ is commonly known as the Open Directory Project
(http://dmoz.org/) and it has strict guidelines as to who is listed. Submission info can be
found here: http://dmoz.org/add.html

6. Offline Marketing
Never underestimate the value of using low-cost, offline marketing techniques to
encourage people to visit your website. Ensure your website address is clearly listed on all of your marketing materials – that is, your business card, brochure, published articles,
print advertisements, sandwich boards, your vehicle, etc.


7. eMail Newsletter
Permission-based email marketing can be a low-cost and very effective component of
your web marketing strategy. It can help to build a relationship between your business
and target market, and can drive traffic back to your website. Email marketing can
consist of direct email blasts and sales letters, personalized auto-responders, and/or
email newsletters.

8. 3rd Party Publishing
A great method of marketing your business is by publishing editorials in third-party ezines,
e-newsletters and on information-based websites. Just as editorials in offline
media can help position you as an expert in your field and drive readers to your website,
providing articles written (or ghost-written) by you to targeted online media can also drive
traffic to your website, often with no out-of pocket expense. Just remember to include a
short biography that outlines what you do and a link to your website at the bottom of
each article you publish.

9. Start a Blog
A blog or weblog is simply a web page that scrolls chronologically like a journal and
contains links to other websites of interest. Blogs, as creative online journals, have been
used by technical specialists for a number of years, but business blogs, or b-blogs are
just now making inroads into the mainstream.
As an alternative, low-cost (or even free) means of electronic communication, blogs can
make up a significant part of your overall marketing strategy. Although b-blogs carry an
inherent marketing focus not found in creative weblogs, their casual structure provides
the opportunity to connect with readers on a more immediate and personal level than
traditional websites and newsletters allow.

10. Develop a "Free" Service
Offer free information and tools on your site that can be used by your online visitors. It's
one thing to say, "Come to our site and learn about our business." It's quite another to
say, "Use the free kitchen remodelling calculator available exclusively on our site." Make
sure that your free service is closely related to what you are selling so the visitors you
attract will be good prospects for your business. Give visitors multiple opportunities and
links to cross over to the sales part of your site.

The "Tiny Nurse" Dies at the Age of 101

(or Florence Nightingale of the Philippines)
by Rhoda R. Redulla, RN

The first time I saw our "tiny nurse" was when I went to see her in their home in Salcedo, Ilocos Sur. She had just woken from her afternoon nap. When we were both settled, she looked at me, then closed her eyes for several seconds before opening them again.

She was ready.

As soon as I have stated the purpose of my visit, she alerted her nephew to bring out her book. She had written her memoirs shortly after retirement in 1985.

And if I may relay to you her story . . .

She was just like any ordinary nurse you know. She was petite. She wore a cap. What made her remarkable and exceptional? She was awarded the highest distinction given to a nurse by the International Committee of the Red Cross. She was also held as a Prisoner of War by the Japanese. On top of all these, as she tiptoed from one work assignment to the next, she had a young daughter to raise. But the most touching part of the story was the fact that she was widowed shortly after she got married with the ex-congressman and ex-governor Lupo Biteng. These made her extraordinary.

Let us take a historic glimpse at the heartwarming story of Rafaela Taqueban Biteng. She was the epitome of compassion, caring, and courage . Dubbed "the tiny nurse" because of her petite built, she is a woman who has weathered the ordeals of World War II. Like St. Rafaela from whom her name was derived, her life was a selfless devotion to humanity.

She was born on October 23, 1902 in Salcedo, Ilocos Sur. The visit of a pastor of the Christian Mission Society of Indianapolis to their home changed her life forever. Rev. Alejandro Gatboton approached her father and offered a scholarship for Rafaela. The pastor was inviting her to enroll in a Nursing school in Vigan. Rafaela was a seventh-grade graduate then. During that time,this was already a great distinction. This was in the year 1920.

For two years, Rafaela stayed at the "Frank Dunn Memorial Hospital" in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. Here, she learned the basic nursing skills. She recalls that their head nurse at that time was very particular on cleanliness and hygiene. She would use a white cloth to check if the dusting job was done properly. Sometimes, the head nurse would even intentionally drop off pieces of paper just to test whether the student nurses would pick them up.

After two years of training in Vigan, she was sent to Manila, along with the other two student nurses. Upon graduation, she took up further enrichment in Public Health Nursing at the University of the Philippines-Manila. Her work as a professional nurse started when the Director of the Nursing Service of the American Red Cross invited her to join the organization. Not long, she found herself in the Puericulture Center in Azcarraga, Manila. Since the focus of the health care programs then was on Mother and Baby care, her task was to handle prenatal cases. She had done what one would regard as simple nursing tasks and routines. Among these was the care for the sick and wounded, handling deliveries, providing health teachings to the community people. Simple and ordinary, but the big difference was that these were done in the most difficult working conditions.

In Rafaela�s case, difficult meant working under pressure and tremendous fear, uncertainty . . . expecting the unexpected. She always had to prepare herself for the worst.

As a Red Cross Public Health Nurse, she was assigned to places where she could neither speak nor understand the dialect. What kept her going was simply her unflinching commitment to perform her sworn duties and responsibilities. She had experienced every possible means of transportation available during her time. When attending to home deliveries and carrying out immunization programs, she traveled on horseback or carabao-drawn sleds over muddy roads. That is, if she was lucky. Sometimes the travel would require riding on a banca (boat), or worse, by foot along steep hills and dangerous terrains.

To work under pressure and very difficult circumstances are things which Mrs. Biteng could very well speak of. During the outbreak of World War II in December 1941, she can proudly claim to have experienced the test of fire in her work as a nurse. She was then working as a Maternity Nurse at the Olongapo Naval Base when the Japanese arrived. Amid air raids and bombings, she had treated the wounded soldiers.

In a speech she delivered during her retirement program at the King�s Garden, she said "My nursing career of forty-seven years was spent mostly with the nursing service of the American Red Cross, which molded me to serve humanity, even when life was at stake." She remembers having experienced a bayonet directly pointed at her by a Japanese soldier. She was then in an evacuation area. Luckily, the soldier respected the Red Cross identification card which she showed. She recalls, "�waves of sick and wounded Japanese soldiers were brought in the hospital from different battle fronts. They brought bundles of bloody belts."

There were evacuation hospitals which were put up. Here, the wounded soldiers were treated temporarily. In all these, Mrs. Biteng worked on a volunteer basis. The Red Cross did not fail to recognize the exceptional courage and caring spirit which she has shown.

More than forty years after the war, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) awarded Mrs. Rafaela Biteng the "Florence Nightingale Award". This is the highest international distinction awarded for great devotion and exceptional services in the field of nursing.

What Mrs. Biteng went through comes close with the description of the experience of the American nurses who were trapped in Bataan during World War II. " Throughout this period, the nurses proved their courage and strength, setting up makeshift hospitals and caring for hundreds of patients each day, while battling starvation and illnesses such as malaria and dysentery."

In October 2002, Rafaela turned 100. The picture of a happy, serene and fulfilled nurse, she said for all the nurses around, "Be happy and proud that you are a nurse . . . because you can help others live."

More than a year after my last visit, Mrs. Biteng passed away. She died on November 18, 2003 at the age of 101.

Looking back, it was during my first visit when Rafaela gave me a copy of her autobiography. There are still many details I wanted to know from her. There are still a lot of questions I would have wanted to ask her. But then again, still, I feel grateful and blessed. For the chance of having seen the oldest living nurse before she passed away is just a "once-in-a-lifetime" encounter.

Mrs. Biteng left all of us with the most meaningful gift � her life story. May her story be stamped in every nurse�s heart. May it be a source of courage and inspiration. So that whenever we feel challenged and disheartened at work, we just have to hark back to the story of the "tiny nurse".

Nursing Practice in Vigan: Looking Back and Moving On . . .

By Rhoda R. Redulla, RN

With the unprecedented shortage of nursing manpower in the U.S, Europe and the Middle East, nurses, they say, are the gold mine of the century. This is indeed a far cry from the early beginnings of Nursing. Almost a century ago nursing was considered a very lowly job.

As a nurse myself, this brings me to ponder on how Nursing evolved as a profession. In the historical city of Vigan, much has been written about the beginnings of culture, faith, and other aspects of the Ilocano way of life, but not of the nursing practice � a vital chapter in the life story of the Bigue�os.

VIGAN�S EARLIEST HOSPITAL

Vigan City is where you can find century-old Spanish ancestral homes.

Not known to many, Vigan is one of the earliest Spanish settlements along with Cebu and Manila. Vigan was once the seat of trade and commerce in the North.

The development of nursing can be viewed alongside the establishment of the first hospital. The Frank Dunn Memorial Hospital was established by the American Missionaries in 1899 at a time when Americans had fully occupied the city. Some documents citing the first hospital in Vigan point to the possibility that such hospital referred was the Frank Dunn Memorial Hospital. The Verzosa residence along Bonifacio St. is supposed to be standing on the exact original location of that hospital.

In the beginning, the hospital was manned by one doctor, in the name of Dr. Paul Palencia and a certain Mrs. Palencia, a nurse. Nursing students would stay here for two years, then go to Manila for more intensive training.

Mrs. Rafaela T. Biteng, one of the earliest graduates of Philippine Christian Institute Hospital (PCIH) in Vigan recounts significant details of her experience as a student nurse. The nursing students then had to undergo a three-month probationary period. After this, they are already qualified to join the capping ceremonies.

The training was task-oriented and bedside care was at its peak. An essential element of the training was to learn proper disinfection of bed pans, sputum cups and urinals; dusting window panes and bolts; and ensuring the cleanliness of beds and tables. Nurses were seen as mere servants of doctors and it was perceived that nurses were doing the dirty job.

When it comes to work-shifts, we could say that nothing much has changed since the early 1900s. Like most institutions now, they have been adopting the three�shifts-a-day schedule.

In 1928, the government put up the Ilocos Provincial Hospital (now the Gabriela Silang General Hospital). The hospital was put up in what could be suitably described as the dark ages in the health history of Vigan. These were the years of various epidemics. Smallpox. Cholera, influenza, and dysentery came one after the other.

OUR FIRST NURSES

In an era when one has to travel to downtown either by foot or by horseback, the existence of nurses were almost unthinkable. During the World War II, nurses were almost unheard of. In Vigan, medical care was almost exclusively rendered by private physicians. Dr. Librado Espiritu, one of the earlier doctors in Vigan disclosed that medical care at that time was almost handled exclusively by private physicians. House calls were the practice among the doctors with their wives as their personal assistants.

In my conversations with the older folks, I have known that sick people during their time were never brought to the hospital. It is only when they turn to be extremely ill that medical help is sought. People regarded scientific methods of healing as strange and invasive.

The Story of the Chinese General Hospital

By Anna Liza R. Ong, MD and Willie T. Ong, MD, MPH

The Chinese General Hospital stands unique among the hospitals of the country. It is one of the oldest hospitals of the land, being founded in the Spanish times. It was founded purely from charity donations of well-meaning Chinese immigrants. And it has steadily grown in excellence, fame and service in its 113 years of existence.

One key to the hospital�s success is the backing of a strong association � the Philippine Chinese Charitable Association or PCCA. The PCCA was founded much earlier, in 1878, when a group of Chinese immigrants established the "Communidad de Chinos" or Chinese Community.

Humble Beginnings

In the early months of 1891, Capitan Carlos Palanca Tanchueco, together with wealthy Chinese businessmen Chan Guan and Mariano Velasco were touched by the plight of their sick and poor countrymen. Together they donated and raised funds to construct a medical clinic, where treatment was free of charge. Later expanding into a hospital, the charity funds came from a monthly tribute on Chinese stores and a special fee on Chinese residents coming from China. Two years later, the "Hospital de Chinos" was registered under the Spanish Government.

With the American Occupation of the Philippines in 1898, Capitan Tanchueco became the first Chinese Acting Consul. As time went by, Chinese residents increased and medical science progressed, thus the small chinese hospital became inadequate. In 1917, a fund raising campaign led to the construction of the first Chinese General Hospital (CGH) with updated facilities. Chinese residents showed their strong support and the target amount of Php 200,000 was quickly reached.

By 1921, the new hospital was inaugurated with Dr. Tee Han Kee as its first medical director. Undoubtedly, the most famous Chinese physician at that time, Dr. Tee Han Kee also served as consultant for the Philippine Health Service because of his expertise on bubonic plague. In the same year, Dr. Tee Han Kee founded the Chinese General Hospital School of Nursing and saw to it that the CGH became one of the most modern hospitals in the country.

The War Years

The Second World War wrought havoc on hospital operation. Because of fear of an impending invasion, the CGH Directors and other prominent people were potential political prisoners of war. Mass evacuation followed. Those left behind formed the skeleton staff to keep the hospital functioning: the Principal, the Chief Nurse, some graduate and some student nurses, two junior resident physicians, and some male helpers.

The critical period of 1945 coincided with the American Leyte landings and subsequent heavy bombardment. More than five hundred victims from the shrapnels and bullets were admitted to the Chinese General Hospital, occupying all the available spaces in the corridors. The remaining hospital staff persevered and carried on with their duties.

After the war, the Chinese Community reconvened and Dr. Antonio Nubia was appointed director with Dr. Manuel Chua Chiaco as assistant director. In 1946, Mr. Go Chong Beng called for the immediate rehabilitation of the hospital by the Chinese Community. In a short span of two years, a new Charity Pavilion was constructed across the main building under Mr. Go Kim Pah.

By 1950, memories of the war slowly faded and a refurbished CGH was inaugurated with up-to-date facilities. In the same year, Dr. Pedro Mayuga, Director of the Philippine Bureau of Medical Services of the Department of Health, approved the hospital for training and teaching. Well known consultants assisted in the hospital�s activities including Drs. Luis Guerrero, Antonio G. Sison, Jose Albert, Florencio Quintos, Rosendo R. Llamas, and Fortunato Guerrero.

Forging Ahead

From the 1950s onward, there were progressive improvements in the facilities and buildings of the CGH: the inauguration of the Cu Unjieng Chest Pavilion (1953), the Cheng Tsai Jun Memorial 100-bed Charity Wards (1967), the New Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center (1969), the 3-story Emergency Building through the creative efforts of Dr. Vicente Dy Sun, Sr. (1971), the 6-story School of Nursing Building (1975), and the 6-story annex to the Main Building under the presidency of Mr. Tuan Cheng Yu (1983).

Then President Marcos lauded the work of the CGH and the PCCA saying, "It is my hope that you will continue in your splendid task, giving aid and comfort to every human being, as you have done for nearly a century, regardless of creed, race, nationality or personal persuasion."

The 1990s began with Dr. Kasian Lim�s appointment as new director and Mr. James G. Dy as president of the Philippine-Chinese Charitable Association. From the time when Mr. James G. Dy assumed office, this started an era of expansion, computerization and updating of medical equipments and appliances in every department. By 1996, the Heart Institute was built with renowned cardiologist Dr. Dy Bun Yok as Director and Dr. Manual Chua Chiaco, Jr. as the Chief in Cardiovascular Surgery.

Now in the new millenium, the hospital continues to expand its breadth of charity work to particularly assist the families of policemen, firemen, and others. For more than a century, the Chinese General Hospital, through its directors, has never wavered on its noble mission: to provide help and humanitarian service to the members of the society who are in most need of them.

First Filipino Women Physicians

By Anna Liza R. Ong, MD

Today, if you look at the roster of medical students, you�ll be surprised to find more women than men. But this has not been always so.

The American Occupation and Women�s Rights

When we were under the Spaniards, women were not allowed to obtain an education. It would only be as late as 1932 when the first Filipino women students were accepted in the Spanish University, namely the University of Santo Tomas. In 1932, the Holy Father granted the University permission to accept women.

Therefore, one of the benefits of the American occupation (which started in 1898) was the greater freedom it afforded Filipino women, especially in the field of medicine and nursing. As early as 1903, the Americans were sending our women to the States on government paid scholarships. Then in 1909, they founded the Philippine Normal School, a nursing school which was open to both men and women.

With Filipino women�s suffrage in 1916, the American era elevated the position of Filipino women. By 1930, women comprised 25% of the 404 enrolled medical students at the U.P. College of Medicine as compared to none yet for U.S.T.

From these early beginnings did our country produce its first women doctors.

1. Dr. Honoria Acosta-Sison

Interestingly, our first lady doctor did not graduate from the Philippines but from a Pennsylvania medical school. Going against traditional Filipino culture, Honoria Acosta-Sison applied for a government scholarship as a pensionado in 1903.

She took her preparatory course at the Drexel Institute and Brown Preparatory School, then took her Doctor of Medicine degree at the Woman�s Medical College of Pennsylvania. She possessed a strong will and even extended her study to get residency training at the Maternity Hospital in the same institution.

U.P. Professor Dr. Narciso Cordero, in his book To While Away the Hours, writes about Dr. Acosta-Sison:

She is the first Filipino woman physician, first Filipino woman graduate of an American Medical School, first Filipino woman obstetrician, and many other "firsts." To all these she reacts with her characteristic modesty, "Why all the fuss? Do you get excited simply because the fellow you have just met happens to be the first born in the family?"

In addition, Dr. Acosta-Sison also published one of the very first researches at the Philippine Journal of Science. Reading through her studies on obstetrics and gynecology, it is obvious that the quality of her work was comparable to any of her male peers. Clearly, Dr. Honoria Acosta-Sison was a unique and humble achiever.

2. Dr. Olivia Salamanca (1889-1913)

The second Filipina woman doctor, Dr. Olivia Salamanca, followed in her predecessor�s footsteps and also graduated at the Woman�s Medical College of Pennsylvania. We must remember that the U.P. College of Medicine was still in the building stages in the early 1900�s.

Dr. Olivia Salamanca led a bright but short life. The great musician Juan Felipe, perhaps smitten by her, wrote a musical piece entitled "Olivia Salamanca." We could find little information about Olivia, only that she fell victim from tuberculosis and died at age 24.

Today, a stone�s throw away from the Medical Center Manila, at the intersection of Taft Avenue and T.M. Kalaw, you can find the Olivia Salamanca Park.

3. Dr. Maria Paz Mendoza-Guazon

Until now, there are still some who mistakenly claim that Dr. Maria Paz Mendoz-Guazon was the first lady doctor of the country. This confusion perhaps arose from her plaque stating that she is the first woman graduate of the U.P. College of Medicine in 1912. Therefore, she must be the first.

It is true that she is the first woman graduate of U.P., but Dr. Acosta-Sison and Dr. Salamanca had graduated earlier at an American medical school. Nevertheless, Dr. Mendoza-Guazon excelled in her researches in pathology and is known for her philanthropic work. She also had the then famous U.P. Guazon Hall named after her.

To lay the confusion to rest and as a fitting footnote, the Philippine Postal Service had commemorated the first three lady doctors of the country, in the following order: Dr. Honoria Acosta-Sison, Dr. Olivia Salamanca and Dr. Maria Paz Mendoza-Guazon.

Cholera Strikes Again!

By Willie T. Ong, MD, MPH

Cholera is back. In 2003, an outbreak of diarrhea cases baffled not only the health department but the country as well. As of October 31, 2003, there were 242 reported cases of diarrhea and four deaths from at least eight streets in Tondo, including Capulong, Velasquez, Varona, Raxabago streets and Dagupan extension. Many patients were confined at the San Lazaro Hospital for treatment.

Confirmed cholera cases numbered 29. According to the DOH Press Release, rectal swabs from patients showed that many were positive for cholera vibrio. Others were positive for Salmonella typhi (cause of typhoid fever) and E. coli indicating sewage contamination.

"It is an outbreak most probably due to sewage contamination of the water lines," says Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit. Blame goes to (1) old, leaking water pipelines, (2) illegal connections and (3) low water pressure.

The Philippine Water Vigilance Network, a non-government organization had blamed the Maynilad Water Services Inc. (MWSI) for this public health disaster. The Tondo water pipes are old but the company said they don�t have the funds to repair them yet. To curb this outbreak, MWSI has employed stopgap measures such as adding chlorine to the water, increasing the water pressure and repairing faulty lines.

The Manila Health Department, led by Mayor Lito Atienza, also started rationing water but many residents refuse to use them. Dr. Rachel Garcia, director of the National Capital Region, is frustrated by the residents� refusal to use these safe water outlets. Unaware of the dangers of tainted water, residents still use tap water because "it is more convenient." Boiling water still entails too much time and additional costs. Moreover, the Filipino culture of eating with poorly-washed hands still continues to this day.

Politics, as well as cultural issues, plays a part in this outbreak. The government downplayed this disaster by calling it a "cluster of cases" instead of an outbreak. The term cholera was rarely mentioned in newspapers as the terms gastroenteritis, diarrhea, or a mysterious "gastro" disease bannered the headlines. It�s hard to blame the officials for this ploy because of the obvious economic implications of having a cholera outbreak in these modern times.

Problems with Philippine Water Supply

According to latest statistics, 23.7% of the Philippine population have no access to safe water supply and 30.7% have no sanitary toilets. The worst sanitation data can be found in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, where 38.4% have no access to safe water and 57.2% have no toilets.

This is hardly surprising as our water pipes still date back to the American time. After the war, the Americans established the Balara water facility to supply their military installations. Quezon City, Pasig and Fort Bonifacio were former American military facilities.

According to Sec. Elisea Gozum of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Philippines lacks a proper sewage system, which is present in less than 5% of our urban centers. And many of these were those built by the Americans before the war.

The combination of no safe water, no toilets and lack of sewer system explains why diarrhea is persistently the number one cause of morbidity in the country with 866,411 reported cases in year 2000. Is it no wonder that cholera has struck again?

Parallels of History: The Cholera Epidemic of 1902

History repeats itself, at least partly. In the 1902-1904 cholera epidemic, there were 200,222 persons were confirmed killed from deadly cholera. Such was the enormity of this "gastro" epidemic, arguably the worst recorded epidemic in Philippine history.

1. Same disease: The offending bacterium, then and now, is called Vibrio cholerae. It is transmitted by ingestion of contaminated food and water. An infected person would suffer uncontrollable diarrhea leading to quick dehydration and death. The person�s excrement is highly infectious and must be properly disposed of.

2. Similar culprit: In the early 1900�s (just like today), people were not educated on how to prevent cholera from spreading. The contaminated water supply, rampant defecation in the rivers, and lack of access to hospitals contributed to the rapid spread of the disease from house to house.

3. Same outbreak source: Then Secretary of Interior Dean Worcester traced the cholera source to the unsanitary shanties of the Farola district in Tondo. Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit also traced the outbreak to eight streets in Tondo.

4. Different approach: In 1902, Worcester immediately ordered American soldiers to quarantine the entire Tondo district and burn down the infected nipa huts. In fear and confusion, the Filipinos valiantly tried to escape thinking the Americans were out to destroy them. Gossip spread that their houses were being destroyed to make room for future dwellings of rich Americans. Some Filipinos even accused the Americans of poisoning the wells.

Today, we use no such harsh measures to contain cholera, or should we say "gastro" disease. We use a culturally sensitive approach, and a little bit of cover-up to show that all is well with our health scenario.

With the lessons of history behind us, which do you think is the better approach?