Death by earth & water in the Brazilian summer



Clipped front pages of Brazil papers, 13 January 2011.

In the translation, this non-Portuguese reader found the headline of A Noticia--"the coming events in 2011"--quite eerie since it has nothing to do with the photographic spread on the "catastrophe in Rio".  The show will definitely go on for the "over 20 trade fairs and conferences in Joinvilee" during the year, but as of now, rescue workers are desperately looking for victims of the landslides in Teresopolis, Nova Friburgo and Petropolis, three cities in the mountainous region near Rio de Janeiro. 

The mountain came tumbling down at dawn of Thursday, 13 January, after becoming water-logged from so much rain--almost a month's rain in 24 hours.  "Torrents of mud and water," Reuters reported, "set off by heavy rains left trail of destruction ... toppling houses, buckling roads and burying entire families as they slept." 

The latest death toll was 443, with more feared.  It may yet exceed the 594 lives lost in the same area, which Extra  reported for the decade (2001-10), more than half of that, 331, last year.  "It's a recurring tragedy," the paper cried, "but ate quando (until when)?" 

And yet it's summer in South America when the rains come in Brazil. It's the climate and urban sprawl combined, says Correio Braziliense, that causes this tragedy. The mountainsides have been stripped where people built brick and wooden houses.

"Landslides and flash floods are common in much of Brazil," Reuters reported, "often exposing poor urban planning and a lack of preventive action by authorities." Apparently, there are no housing policies that prevent poor people from building houses in risky areas such as the base of steep hills. According to Reuters, "President Dilma Rousseff, facing the first major challenge of her presidency since taking office on January 1, called it a tragedy that could not be blamed only on mother nature."

De javu? This catastrophe in Rio recalls the landslides that swept away hillside villages in northern Philippines, and the sudden flood that submerged large portions of Metro Manila, at the height of storm Ondoy in 2009. 

Clipped front page of Manila Bulletin (Philippines), 14 Jan 2011.

At present, people are in evacuation centers in flooded towns in Albay in northern Luzon and Leyte in the Visayas due to heavy rains.  The Philippine weather office PAGASA has warned 9 provinces to brace for the worst due to predicted adverse climate conditions.

Sources:

1.   Front Pages, 13 January 2011 of the following Brazilian papers --

      1.1.  A Noticia (Joinville) at http://www.clicrbs.com.br/anoticia/jsp/default.jsp?uf=2&local=18&section=capa_online

      1.2.   Extra (Rio de Janeiro).

      1.3.   Folha da Regiao (Aracatuba) at http://www.folhadaregiao.com.br/

      1.4.   Correio Braziliense (Brasilia, Distrito Federal) at http://www.correioweb.com.br/
     1.5.   Gazeta Do Povo (Curitiba) at.http://www.gazetadopovo.com.br/

2.   Queiroz, Sergio. (2011, Jan 13). Brazil flood death toll rises to 443, more feared. Reuters. Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110113/wl_nm/us_brazil_rains/print

  

Dilma Rousseff becomes first female president of Brazil

President Dilma Rousseff belongs to PT (Workers' Party) while Governor Geraldo Alckmin of Sao Paulo state is with the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party).  There are 27 states including the federal district where the national capital Brasilia is located. State governors--also powers to reckon with--assumed office on New Year's Day. 

On New Year's Day, Dilma Rousseff became the first woman to become president of Brazil in 121 years.  She garnered 56% of the popular vote in the run-off elections last October.

Dilma was a student activist and joined the leftist resistance against the military dictatorship in the 1960s.  She was tortured jailed for three years, and went back to school upon her release.


Governor Antonio Augusto Anastasia of Minas Gerais state is not a Dilma partymate. He belongs to the PSDB also like Alckmin of Sao Paulo.  Anastasia did not attend Dilma's inaugural reception.

 In attendance during her inauguration in the capital Brasilia were 23 heads of state including Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Paraguay's Fernando Lugo and Uruguay's Jose Mujica, who are said to be left-leaning, nine vice presidents, 76 ambassadors and 24 secretaries of state including Hillary Clinton. 

There are now three female presidents in Latin America:  recently widowed Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who took over the presidency of Argentina from her husband Nestor in 2007, Laura Chinchilla who was assumed the presidency of Costa Rica in May 2010, and Dilma who inherited the reins of government from her mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, who she served as his chief of staff and before that, as minister of energy.

Lula set the bar for Dilma's success as leader of almost 200 million people--87% approval rating after eight years that saw Brazil enjoy an economic boom and rising as a global power.


Lula and Dilma (01 December 1010).

 Lula fully backed her up during the election campaign.  Since they both belong to the PT (Workers' Party), she is expected to continue his policies.  According to reports, Dilma acknowledged that "Lula has left this legacy to me: I'll be the mother of the Brazilian people."

In her inaugural speech, she "committed to honoring women, to protecting the most vulnerable and to govern for all."  Of her 37 ministers, nine are women. Brazil is a federation of 27 states including the federal district, hence, Dilma will be working with 26 state governors who may have policy agenda of their own. They may not also be with her political party.

She also said that her government will "give great attention to emerging nations .... [it] will not make the smallest concession to the protectionism from rich nations that suffocate any opportunity for so many nations to overcome poverty through the hard work of production."

Dilma Rousseff is coming in as Brazil faces bright prospects in the exploitation of its massive offshore oil reserves, and prepares to host the Copa Mundial in 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2016 while struggling with povery, crime and corruption.  She vowed "to help eradicate extreme poverty in the next decade."


Sources:

1.   Baker, Hazel. (2011, Jan 01). Brazil hands power to first female president. Sky News Online. Retrieved from http://news.sky.com/skynews/Article/201101115877045

2.  Moura, Helena de. (2011, Jan 01). Brazil inaugurates first female president.   CNN World Online. Retrieved from  http://articles.cnn.com/2011-01-01/world/brazil.female.president_1_first-female-president-luiz-inacio-lula-brazil?_s=PM:WORLD

3.  BBC News. (2010, Oct 31). The women presidents of Latin America. BBC News Latin America & Carribean.  Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11447598

Rio War Ending: Brazil Flag Waves Over the Slums

Reconquering territory!

Military occupation.

Like any Bruce Willis do-good urban warfare movie, criminal elements either die during the eardrum-splitting exchange of gunfire, or get captured after a hot pursuit by foot or police cars through a maze of hide-outs while a helicopter hovers above for tactical support, or, to everyone's frustration, escape. 

Urban war trophies:  arms and drugs.

The paradox is that it was this urban war that appears to have given the two-year pacification program in the favelas a big push.  President Luiz Inacio da Silva was saying he couldn't understand why the criminals should be in control over the favelas; he himself dispatched 800 troopers to support the police and military forces in their assault of the Complexo do Alemao and Vila Cruzeiro. There were casualties, yes, but the operation succeeded.  The denouement had the soldiers waving the Brazil flag over the re-conquered territory.  Wanted criminals were captured, arms arsenals and drug warehouses captured. The war pains would probably be felt by the slum residents for a long time. 

A hero of the Rio war returns home to his pregnant wife.

President-elect Dilma Rousseff takes over government on December 31st.  Probably, Silva wants Dilma not to be bothered by the favela issues while she takes care of more pressing government agenda, and as Brazil prepares for the great samba welcome to the World Cup 2014 and the Summer Olympics in 2018!

A view of the two faces of Rio, the bright city and the dark slums.

Urban War in Rio!

The pictures look like they're stills from one of those high budget and action-packed Hollywood movies. Only that in the movies, the action is cramped within two hours of viewing time. 

But these were actual shots by photo-journalists covering an urban war that lasted for several days in Rio de Janeiro, which was also covered live on TV. 

This is actually Rio preparing to host the Copa Mundial in 2014, and the Summer Olympics in 2016. 

Principal Cast.  Initially, 430 police and military troopers aided by 13 armoured cars and a platoon of marines from the Navy, and would be reinforced by 800 military soldiers later in the week; and "two factions of drug dealers that have joined forces seeking to disrupt a two-year-old favela pacification program, which is aimed at wresting the densely populated areas from the gangs' control."  

Location.  The favelas or slum areas Complexo do Alemão (German Complex) with about 400,000 residents and the Vila Cruzeiro at the foot of the giant statue of Jesus the Redeemer, famous landmark of Rio de Janeiro. Around two million live in more than 1,000 slums, a third of Rio's population. The Alemão is considered the most violent of the city's slums. 

Time 1 - Sunday, 21 November.  Suspected gang members attacked police stations and burned vehicles, reportedly on orders from their imprisoned colleagues to retaliate against police efforts to wrestle away their hold in more than a dozen slums.

Time 2 - Overnight Wednesday to Thursday. Six buses were torched; ten suspects arrested on drug trafficking charges and sent to maximum security prisons in distant states. 

Time 3 - Thursday, 25 Nov. Death toll rose to 30. Armored vehicles carrying police officers rolled over burning tires during an operation at Vila Cruzeiro. Electrical wires destroyed.  Bullet holes scarred walls and homes.  Cars and pedestrians searched at entrances and exits. 

 

"TV networks broadcasting live from helicopters hovering above showed knots of men, many with packs and automatic rifles strapped to their backs, scrambling up the hills behind the slum ahead of the police offensive. Some of the armed men could be seen trying to drive up the hills, covered with thick bushes, in motorcycles and even cars."

Time 4 - Friday, 26 Nov.  Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva dispatched 800 army soldiers to the Alemão complex.. The death toll climbed to 41; about 100 cars and buses burned on major roadways, their passengers robbed and sometimes shot. 

Later in the day, police reported they have gained control of the areas.

References:

1.   Domit, Myrna. (2010, Nov 26). Brazil Military Says It Cornered Rio Drug Gangs. New York Times Online.  Retrieved fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/27/world/americas/27brazil.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a22 

 

2.   Fonseca, Pedro. (2010, Nov 25). Brazil Marines join slum battles, 30 people killed.  Yahoo News.  Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101125/wl_nm/us_brazil_rio_violence_2   

 

3.   Oliveira, Claire de. (2010, Nov 25).  Military deploys armored vehicles in Rio crime crackdown. AFP Yahoo News.  Retrieved from http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101125/wl_afp/brazilcrimedrugviolence_20101125194715

Mothers: Birthing and Breastfeeding

Brazil (14 November 2010):  Breastfeeding.

Mother or cow? The Brazil story is no different from the dilemma of mothers everywhere in the world today regarding breastfeeding.  There is no doubt about the benefits of breastfeeding--the completeness of mother's milk as food and the strengthening of bonds between mother and child, but how about women who can not or are not willing to breastfeed?   

The WHO (World Health Organization) , the Brazilian Health Ministry, the PAHO (Pan American Health Organization) and the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics are advocating that Brazilian mothers should give only breast milk to their newborn babies for six months.   

Despite advocacy campaigns, according to WHO, exclusive breastfeeding of children under 6 months worldwide has not reach 35%. . 

The report says that in Brazil, the advocacy has engendered feelings of guilt among lactating mothers who can not breastfeed for various reasons.  Working women there are given only four months maternity leave, and with a very competitive job market, there is always the risk of losing a job because of the time pressure.  There may also be competition for mother's milk among children born one after another especially since WHO recommends mother's milk up to two years to supplement other foods introduced after the first six months.

There are of course situations that prevent or hinder breastfeeding like breast procedure enhancements, continuous use of certain medications such as antidepressants, misdirection at the beginning of lactation, returning to work, low weight gain for newborn and post-partum stress. 

But then there is another side to the debate, and the report cites indicators borne out by research that "children who never received breast milk exhibit growth, weight gain and health 100% satisfactorily. Moreover, they have an absolutely normal immunity and not get sicker than children who were exclusively breastfed." 

Mother's or cow's milk?  The argument is that the woman should ultimately make the choice whether it's about breastfeeding or any other issue that may affect her body.

Denmark (30 October 2010):  Birthing at Home.

In Denmark, according to the story in Politiken, there were 600 babies born at home.  Midwives say that more and more pregnant women are opting to give birth at home.

In the animal kingdom like these chordates in the front pages of these British and Russian papers, birthing and breastfeeding are not issues at all unless they are kept in the zoos.  Their caretakers--human beings--who keep tab of their pregnancies, birthing and the tender loving care of their newborns, tackle those issues in human ways.

Will Brazil elect Dilma Rousseff its president on halloween day?

Dilma, 57%; Serra, 43% (29 October). 

28 October.

Brazilians will go to the polls tomorrow, Sunday, to elect their next president who will assume office on January 1, 2011.  That's Halloween day for America and Europe or in countries like the Philippines where commerce has grafted an imported cultural practice alien to their All Soul's religious folk traditions.

Halloween may not be a big thing in Brazil like the year-long fascination with football especially now that they prepare for Copa 2016, and the frenzied celebrations of the annual Carnival in Rio and the Cirio in Belem.

Dilma, 49%, Serra, 38% (26 October).

20 October.

They take their party-ideology driven politics seriously.  The president of the country must have more than 50% of the popular votes cast, otherwise, they go through run-off elections for a candidate to achieve that majority.  President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva's full backing had Dilma Rousseff top the scoring among three candidates in the 03 October elections, but she failed to get the desired majority.

The run-off has her against the centrist candidate Jose Serra. She has maintained a significant lead throughout the campaign period as reflected by the several surveys done.  We love the way the front pages of Brazilian papers, spread out in this story, has been presenting the Dilma-Serra survey scores. 

If we go by those results, Dilma Rousseff has won the presidency and the polls tomorrow would just be the official validation of the informal selection.

In the debate, Dilma scored 48% and Serra 41%.

We thought that the Roman Catholic Church would keep its distance from this political affair. It's been reported that the bishops signed and circulated a letter urging voters to keep off Rousseff, who is fully backed by President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.

The Federal District judge barred the airing of a priest's sermon campaigning against Rousseff, a clear separation of religious and civilian functions.

It looks like the Vatican itself has asked the bishops to be vigilant on the issue of decriminalizing abortion, illegal except in the cases of rape or when a woman's life is at risk, which was hotly debated on by the two presidential contenders.

We will see how the bishops could sway voters away from Dilma.

Wondering if the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines are monitoring this political event in far away Brazil.

29 October.

 

Cirio de Nazare: Brazil's Veneration of Our Lady

It happens in Belem, Brazil every second Sunday of October.  This is the Cirio de Nazare (Candle of Nazareth) which began 200 years ago, one of the largest and most popular Marian festival of the world, when the small image of Our Lady of Nazareth (Nazare) that dates back to early Christian times, is borne in procession through the streets of the city from the Belem Cathedral to the Nazare Basilica where it will reside for the next 15 days.

The Cirio like the Mardi Gras in Rio de Janeiro is attended by millions of people.  The count this year was 2.2 million religious devotees who participated in the procession.  The Rio is a hedonistic festival held before Lent each year.

 

The size of the image reminds Filipino Marian devotees of Our Lady of Penafrancia of Naga City whose 300th anniversary was commemorated in September this year, and Nuestra Senora de la Paz y Buen Viaje of Antipolo City, who is feasted annually in May.

The Cirio coincides with the observance of the La Naval de Manila when the image of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary is honored with a grand procession from the Dominican church of Santo Domingo, a tradition that moved with the church from Intramuros, the Old Manila, to Quezon City.

Source:  http://www.orm.com.br

The passion of the devotees in the Cirio recalls that of the barefoot menfolk in the procession of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo in January, and of the Senor Intierros of Lukban, Quezon and Paite, Laguna on Good Friday.  "Throughout this parade," according to one report, "participants struggle to grab hold of the rope attached to a stand (or berlinda) carrying an image of the virgin. With emotions heightened and a religious fervour in the air, expect to see outbreaks of traditional music and dancing at every step, as delicious smells of sugar and spice waft from passing windows."

Source:  http://www.orm.com.br/

Source:  Inside pages, Diario do Para (Belem, 11 Oct 2010).

 Here's the history of the image of Our Lady of Nazareth from Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira:

"The chronicles of the old Portugal report this episode that took place in the year 1182, on the day of the exaltation of the Holy Cross. Dom Fuas Roupinho, a knight and vassal of King Alphonse Henriques, was out hunting on a foggy day. He was pursuing a deer when it came to an unexpected precipice and fell to its death into the sea below.

"The horse, which was in close pursuit, reared on the very edge of the cliff, and it seemed certain that Dom Fuas would follow the deer to his death. Knowing that a little distance to his left was a cave with the statue of the Virgin of Nazareth, Dom Fuas immediately invoked her protection. He was saved, and in thanksgiving he built a small “chapel of memory” (Ermida da Memória) over the cave in her honor.

"According to a document found with it, the little statue of the Virgin had been venerated in Nazareth in the times of early Christianity. When the iconoclast heresy started in Constantinople and the heretics were destroying all the statues, a monk called Ciriaco took it to a monastery in Spain in the proximity of Merida.

"In 714, when the Saracens invaded the Iberian Peninsula, King Rodrigo fled with Friar Germano to the Atlantic coast, bearing the statue with them. They hid the statue in a small cave off the coast of the site that was later to become Nazaré, where it remained until it was found by a shepherd in 1179.

"After Our Lady miraculously saved the life of Dom Fuas, the devotion to Our Lady of Nazareth spread broadly through the country and was the source of countless graces for the people. In 1377 King Fernando ordered a Church to be built near the little chapel, and the statue is venerated there now."

Update:  The Despedida 15 days after the Cirio --

Sources:
1.  Oliveira, Plinio Corrêa de. "Our Lady of Nazareth (Nazaré) – March 6" retrieved from http://www.traditioninaction.org/SOD/j118sdOLNazare_3-06.htm


2.   "Círio de Nazaré 2010". (2010, Oct 04). Retrieved from http://blog.hostelbookers.com/travel/cirio-de-nazare-2010/  

3.    "The Icon of Nazare". Retrieved from http://www.homebusinesslink.com/BVM8.html

Elections 101: Lessons from Brazil 2010

Our Brazilian interests were non-political--the classical guitar music of Heitor Villa-lobos, introduced to us by Joan Baez via her soprano rendition of his Bachianas Brasileiras (she trills in our mind every now and then), the bossa nova treats from Antonio Carlos Jobim, and the world-watched mighty Amazon river. 

Until Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva came along, and soon we were watching him preside over the Federative Republic of Brazil as president from 2002 until the end of this year, and in the process got to see them win the plums to host Copa Mundial 2014 and the Summer Olympics 2016.  Those two world games alone speak of the high Brazilian profile in the international scene, and a robust economic growth that spawned a social development program, which is believed to have largely benefited the country's poor.

On October 03, Brazil went to the polls to elect from among three contenders their next president:


Dilma Rousseff of the Workers Party (PT), Jose Serra of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB), and Marina Silva of the Green Party (PV).

Rousseff was a career civil servant, an economist.  She was Lula's energy minister before she became his chief of staff.   Lula called her the "mother of PAC," his flagship economic development program.  She was a student activist, and got imprisoned for three years because she was involved with the underground resistance to the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil in 1964-1985.

Serra lost to Lula in the run-off for the presidency in 2002. He's a big name in Brazil politics: he'd been mayor of the biggest city, and governor of the biggest and wealthiest state, both named Sao Paulo, became a senator, and was planning minister before Lula's tenure. He was head of the National Students' Union during the military coup in 1964; he went to exile in Chile and the United States, where he studied economics, and returned in 1977 when civilian government was restored. He was among the founders of his political party.

Silva was Lula's environment minister from January 2003 until she left government in May 2008. She worked with rainforest activist Chito Mendes, who was murdered in 1988.

Lula and the three contenders had interesting social backgrounds. Rousseff was from a middle-class family, her father a Bulgarian immigrant; Serra came from a poor family of Italian immigrants, and Silva, daughter of rubber-tappers, was illiterate until she was 14 years old.

Lula, as everybody now knows, came from a poor, illiterate peasant family, who learned to read when he was ten.  He became a metal worker in Sao Paulo, a trade union activist, headed the Metalworkers' Union in 1975, and spearheaded the founding of the Workers' Party in 1980, the first major left-wing socialist political party of Brazil.  He ran for the presidency four times before he won by landslide in 2002.

Rousseff was the favorite to win the presidency, and with Lula's support, she got 46.91% of the popular vote against Serra's 32.61% and Silva's 19.33%.

Brazilians will go back to the polls on 31 October for the run-off to finally chose between Rousseff and Serra who will take over the Planalto--the presidential office--from Lula on 01 January, 2011.  Constitutionally, the winner must garner at least 50% of the votes to become president.

This early, the prediction is that Rousseff will be the first female president of Brazil. She would be the seventh Latin American woman to be elected head of state after Violeta Chamorro (Nicaragua, 1990), Rosalia Arteaga Serrano (Ecuador, 1997), Mireya Moscoso (Panama, 1999), Michelle Bachelet (Chile, 2006), Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (Argentina, 2007), and Laura Chinchilla (Costa Rica, 2010).

The October 2010 election events in Brazil impart some important lessons for democratic states like the Philippines in the conduct of elections ---

1.  The election results were promptly known, may be because the process is not loaded with the election of officials of local government units; 

2.  There's very high confidence on their system and counting procedures; there were no problems that hassled first-time users of computerized systems;
3.   There's a very clear-cut ideological definition among the vying parties; the incumbent and the favorite-to-win political party is leftist and socialist;
4.   It appears that religious groups/sects there know the operational definition of 'separation of church and state', and candidates do not woo religious bloc votes;
5.   The incumbent won his tenure as president without question as to its legality or constitutionality; he knows he can not return for a third term, but he did agitate for changes in their charter nor run for state governor or senator just to remain in the circle of power.

Sources:

1.   "Profile: Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva". (2010, January 28).  BBC News.  Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5346744.stm

2.   "Brazil election race". (2010, October 04).  BBC News Latin America & Carribean. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10461959

A Lesson of Love

One can take the front page portrait of senior citizens below as a testimony of endless love, of an enduring marriage till death do they part.  If it touches one's heart, it's because we're reminded of parents who lived/are living long years still strong in their love for each other. 

The picture of Onelia and Mario of Jonesville in Brazil shows that family affection is the best way to live with somebody afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.

New horseman of the apocalypse?

To anyone who does not know Portuguese, the front page illustration below of Diario da Borborema speaks louder than the text.  It can be poster-ized to remind motorcycle drivers and riders that each time they rev up, they may end up driving down the 'caminho sem volta' or the road of no return.

http://www.diariodaborborema.com.br/

We understand that the Brazilian landscape--in urban centers and in the rural areas--has been transformed by the popularity of the motorcycle. We're certain it has something to do with the air and the noise. It has brought about 'tragedias' as well.

In this part of the world, we don't speak of Vietnam and Indonesia without mentioning the sight of phalanxes of motorcycles speeding down the major thoroughfares of Saigon and Jakarta.

The army of motorcyclists is growing in Philippine cities too. But hardly a day passes by without reading from the papers or hearing from radio/TV newscasters about Death having hitched a ride with a Pinoy Evel Knievel especially at night and early morning when the roads are more inviting for daredevil schemes.

One is reminded of the iconic illustration of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the robed skeletons with their reaping sickles astride horses.These days they may be vrooming down the avenues in Kawasaki or Harley-Davidson motorbikes.

Brazil bade "vai com deus!" to their football stadium

Last Sunday, 29th August, Brazilians watched in silence as seven hundred kilograms of explosives imploded the Fonte Nova football stadium.  After the "momento do buuum!," the stadium was gone in 17 seconds.

The stadium was torn down as Brazil prepares to host the 2014 World Cup.  A new one costing $330-million and with a seating capacity of 50,000 will be built in the same site.

The Fonte has been closed since 2007 following the collapsed of a seating section and seven people died.

http://www.correio24horas.br/

The picture above is the front-and-back-pages photo spread of the implosion in the special edition of the magazine Correio.   Clicking the hypelink will give you a view of how the Brazilians bade good-bye to the football arena.

"Vai com deus" is the Portuguese equivalent of a Spanish phrase that many Filipinos use when they bid goodbye to friends and relatives who are going away: "Vaya con Dios!"

http://www.atarde.com.br/

http://www.tribunadabahia.com.br/