Never Forget Maguindanao

With all the hoolabaloolahs printed on Philippine Newspapers, it is important that we keep the public interest in the Maguindanao Massacre. SO here is the second part of Miriam Coronel Ferrer's The Maguindanao Massacre, perspective from political science.

Keep the fire burning!

GM Wesley So losses against GM Anish Giri in the B Division of Corus Chess 2010 while Manny Pacquiao hurts his sparring mate.

Until next post!

Tripping on C5 Road Extension

For the first time in months I went to work using my Honda Wave 100 and I passed thru another government's road project that is now the center of controversy.

Coming from Aguinaldo Hiway, I cruised towards the Alabang-Zapote Intersection and headed straight to Las Pinas road going to Baclaran. I turned right where the Golden Haven Cemetery is and that's the start of the C5 Road Extension. A few more minutes, I could see the SM Sucat building and farther on the horizon is the El Shaddai International Center for Prayer. This is Bro. Mike Velarde's 1 billion peso project and it looks beautiful.

Here is a photo of the El Shaddai Church:

The El Shaddai International Center for Prayer is a big structure that would welcome motorist passing thru the C5 Extension fly-over and it is a sight to behold. With it's cross placed atop of the pyramid-like roof of the church, one can't help but appreciate the beauty of the building and all the time spent on planning to put it up. While I was running my engine on gear 4 and a speed of 60-80 Kph, I felt the cool January morning wind embracing me. It felt cool and I loved the moment, having the time on my own and be kissed by the wind. Really a wonderful experience!

I wonder how something good can be so bad as the C5 Road Controversy.

I know the main reason for the controversy has got to do with money, money and more money! There's too much money involved and too few people maybe. If only everyone were given, probably we don't have any Senate Bastusan and the people won't have anything to laugh at and laugh about.

Truly, the people have suffered so much because of greediness of the few "well-positioned" politicos and groupies of these TraPos.

Tripping on C5 Road Extension was such a memorable experience for me but I don't really know the score behind the National Bastusan on National Television of our Senators who are supposedly "well-educated" and "well-mannered". In fact these politicians are all going to hell for their greed and narcissism.

While The Brown Man enjoys tripping on C5 Road Extension, these politicians have enriched their bank accounts more than what is right, which is very wrong!

Crazy Days

I was surprised to find an online news about HIV cases soaring among Filipino yuppies specially call center workers. Not that I'm surprised why it had to be the call center agents but rather it is getting air time now when it should have gotten it's publicity a long, long time ago.

Some years back, we had an Admin Manager here at work who moonlights with his own Building Management Agency. One time over a couple of shots (Tequila I miss yah!), he shared among us about this job order he had for toilet-sucking-ala-Malabanan-sucking in one call center company in Makati City.

Employees and building occupants were complaining of a clogged toilet drainage so they reported it and called our admin guy and his company for the job. It was another day's work but what came out of the suck tubes surprised his men: Condoms!

So it's not surprising to know that men and women from the call center agencies do it with their co-workers at the best time they see fit. They don't need privacy, in fact they love doing it in groups. Crazy, crazy days!

Doc Edsel Salvana warns us of an HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Philippines.

I was a child of the 80's and if you sum it right, I now belong to the middle aged population. I might even say to you that I grew up in a time when narcotics was taboo nor shabu in any family conversation. Movies and TV programs showed song and dance numbers, singing contests with Pilita Corales and Apeng Daldal but girls wearing God-Only-Knows-What dancing in the afternoon and lunchtime shows weren't allowed. And even if there were times these almost naked dancers show off, we were asked to look away or cover our eyes so we won't see.

Nowadays, it's crazy, crazy days!

People say it is a hidden but growing problem but this issue can easily be addressed with proper public information campaign which even a first grader can do. It will only be a problem if we allow it to become as such.

Even the people behind the solution (if there's any) are living in a crazy, crazy kind of life.

Another story that caught my atten tion and forced me to laugh out loud is about a Man caught at airport with 44 lizards. This German wasn't thinking at all, crazy, crazy kind of thinking!

I bet he was inspired by the story of Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, the man famous for hiding explosives under his pants. Same style, same result! Crazy!

Life is so crazy without a rain, that's how I feel really!



Thank God it's Enya!

Twitt My Blog and Blog My Twitt

Here is a tutorial on how to connect your blog to twitter and your twitter to your facebook and so on.

Travis Payne and The Cebu Dancing Inmates

Remember our post about Fame for Cebu Dancing Inmates? Watch the video and you won't finish it without feeling proud for your fellow contrymen.

1st MISAA Individual Chess Championship

The date is set on February 19 for the 1st MISAA Individual Chess Championship which would feature players coming from member schools of the Manila International Schools Athletic Association.  Reedley International School, Beacon International School, European International School, Esteban International School, Manila Japanese School and Mahatma Gandhi International School.

From from a dominating performance of  the MGIS Tigers  in the recently concluded  1st MISAA Chess Team Championship,  the team will be bannered by Shawn Christensen  and James Park.

The coming  individual tournament will be a test of determination for  the players as they will be fighting it out with  everyone  for the top post.

Good luck to all!

1st MISAA Individual Chess Championship

The date is set on February 19 for the 1st MISAA Individual Chess Championship which would feature players coming from member schools of the Manila International Schools Athletic Association.  Reedley International School, Beacon International School, European International School, Esteban International School, Manila Japanese School and Mahatma Gandhi International School.

From from a dominating performance of  the MGIS Tigers  in the recently concluded  1st MISAA Chess Team Championship,  the team will be bannered by Shawn Christensen  and James Park.

The coming  individual tournament will be a test of determination for  the players as they will be fighting it out with  everyone  for the top post.

Good luck to all!

MGIS Wins1st MISAA Chess Team Championship

Mahatma Gandhi International School Team A won the 1st Manila International School Athletic Association Chess Championship convincingly by posting  11.5 points out of a possible score of 12. With  Shawn Christensen, James Park, Atlas Sandevi and  Benedict Edano  manning the boards from 1 to 4 respectively, they wiped out their opponents easily.

The other teams who participated in the 1st MISAA Chess Team Championship were Reedley International School,  Beacon International School and a fourth guest team made up of  1 player from Beacon and three from MGIS Team B.

Congratulations!

MGIS Wins1st MISAA Chess Team Championship

Mahatma Gandhi International School Team A won the 1st Manila International School Athletic Association Chess Championship convincingly by posting  11.5 points out of a possible score of 12. With  Shawn Christensen, James Park, Atlas Sandevi and  Benedict Edano  manning the boards from 1 to 4 respectively, they wiped out their opponents easily.

The other teams who participated in the 1st MISAA Chess Team Championship were Reedley International School,  Beacon International School and a fourth guest team made up of  1 player from Beacon and three from MGIS Team B.

Congratulations!

The C5 Road Controversy

By now, the Maguindanao Massacre, the Jason Ivler Case and the natural disasters worldwide like Earthquakes have been brutally covered up in the news with the recent Philippine Senate Fiasco because of the C5 Road Controversy.

Vice Presidentiable Mar Roxas heads the C5 Scandal Investigation but of course, everyone thinks he has another agenda for this. While Enrile claims Villar tried to buy him off, Senator Miriam Santiago walks out in protest of stormy debate over the C road controversy.

Oh man oh man, Philippine Politics at it's usual.

Philippine Presidentiables

We'll be posting a lot regarding the topic Presidentiable leading to May 10 and I hope every Filipino will vote wisely this coming election.

Read up on Who Will Be The Next President of the Philippines?

MTV of Maguindanao Massacre

Here is an MTV of Maguindanao Massacre from one of the Philippine's best ever band, Asin:




If the photos won't move you, Asin's song will. But if both don't move you to tears, then nothing will.

Followers of Brown Man

I woke up and found the millions of followers of The Brown Man Diary blog.

Brown Man News

In a twist called mother's love, Jason Ivler's mom is pointing the finger at her former British bodyguard named  Mark Hausser. Here's Marlene Aguilar's statements:

"Ang bodyguard ko po, [who] is foreign. Kalbo rin. Ang kuwarto niya, katabi ng kuwarto ni Jason. He has access sa susi ng sasakyan, sa sasakyan (My bodyguard, who is foreign and also bald. His room was beside Jason's room. He has access to the car keys, to the car). He has access to the gun. He has access to my house," Aguilar claimed.

Now that's a twist, for more on the story visit Ivler's mom pins British bodyguard to Ebarle killing.

Marlene Aguilar wants Commission on Human Rights to investigate the supposed "inhumane" handling of her son by the NBI. Some groups wants to give a lecture on Marlene Aguilar about Oedipus Complex. 

In another story, reigning pound for pound king and seven division champ, Manny "PACMAN" Pacquiao says Clottey gracious, yet dangerous. In an interesting sideslash at Floyd Mayweather Jr., Pacquiao praised Clottey and remarked:

"Ganyan ang tunay na boksingero, hindi madaldal. Alam ni Ginoong Clottey kung papaanong rumespeto at diyan ako hanga sa kanya."

Oh well, use translators to understand what Pacquiao meant by that.

In showbiz, the Megastar Sharon Cuneta warns the public of a fake twitter account.

By the way, there is a silent war going on between the Philippine's poll watchdogs, NAMFREL and PPCRV. I wonder what COMELEC is saying but I'm sure those TRAPOS have devised a plan on how to take advantage of this.

And finally, A Filipino-led scientific team based in Maryland has discovered a vaccine that prevents the spread of malaria. Thank God they have figured it out since the Philippine Islands a tropical country and we are always in danger of getting wiped out (at least population wise) by malaria.

P.S. Miriam Coronel Ferrer wrote a good article on The Maguindano Massacre, perspective from political science Part 1.

That's all for now I have a 9 PM dinner date with my wife, 'gotta move and get ready for this.

The Brutal Holocaust

I was helping out a colleague input data into one of the websites for her application to go somewhere else, I glimpsed at the rows of books around us and took notice of the Zia Quizon Collection and found the book The Brutal Holocaust, Japan's World War II Atrocities and their Aftermath by Armando A. Ang.

Currently I am well on my way to finishing the appetizer pages namely preface, foreword and introduction.  It is interesting to note that the introduction was given by Dr. Ricardo T. Jose of the Department of History, University of the Philippines.

From what I have read so far, this would be "full" and will definitely be a good springboard for me to work on my long-time dream of doing a self-researched project on the World War II relating to the Philippines.

For those who doesn't know the  author, here is a page  about his works, Armando A. Ang and his books. 



I shall blog on this topic whenever I find something that would move to do so.  So for now, let me go back to he book and read more on the topic Japanese War Crimes.

2010 Philippine Election

Now that former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada was given the go signal to run for presidency in the coming May 10, 2010 election, I wonder how the other presidentiables will gear up. The Filipino people and the entire universe have seen the magical power Erap has for the mass voters. In fact, Erap is the only Filipino president to ever win the Presidential election landslide.

So again, I would like to wish the presidentiables and the Filipino people good luck in the coming elections. There is nothing I would say here that you have not heard. All I wish is that my children will have a better country to grow up to. A government that caters to it's people, a government that respects it's people and a government for the people.

Oh enough of my wishes!

I was searching the internet for the Official List of Candidates for May 10, 2010 Philippine Election but nothing yet. Although I'm not happy with this, I found the List of Persons Who Filed Their Certificates of Candidacy for Presidents, Vice Presidents and Senators as of December 1, 2009.

Interestingly enough, the list shocked me and I found out there were twenty candidates for vice-presidents, one hundred fifty eight for senators and ninety five for presidency.

Don't forget about the List of Political Parties in the Philippines.

More on this as the weeks go by but do visit the Official Website of the Commission on Elections, protecting the sanctity of the ballot since 1940.

Fame for Cebu Dancing Inmates

Well, we all know how much views the Cebu Dancing Inmates got in their now famous Thriller YouTube Video. Now our brothers from Cebu continue to wow the whole world by getting a segment in the soon-to-be-released "This Is It" DVD

It's really nice to know what they've done there over in Cebu. This success they are all enjoying now wouldn't have been possible without the cooperation and initiative of everyone involved.

Michael Jackson is gone but he never ceases to inspire people, it's amazing!

Erap Estrada for President

Now the presidential election this May 2010 is even more interesting, former President Joseph "Erap" Ejercito Estrada will officially run for president. The Commission on Elections Second Division gave the thumbs up yesterday for Erap to run.

Here's what the big guys have written so far:

"Let the people decide who will be the next president," read the poll body's decision in junking the petition filed against Estrada last December.


“The two petitions for disqualification separately filed by (lawyer) Evillo Pormento and Mary Lou Estrada against former President Joseph Estrada are both denied for utter lack of merit," the decision further read.


Incidentally, the decision was promulgated on the same day Estrada was forced to step down from power in a People Power uprising nine years ago.


The second division likewise denied the petition of lawyer Elly Pamatong to cancel the certificate of candidacy of Estrada, saying that it also “lacks merit" and was a “waste of precious time."


The petitioners cited Article VII Section 4 of the Constitution as basis for the disqualification.


The provision reads: “The President shall not be eligible for any reelection. No person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four years shall be qualified for election to the same office at any time."


Pamatong, who was present during the promulgation, was enraged by the supposed “corrupt" commissioners. He was cited in ontempt and is currently being detained by authorities.


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Estrada elated


Estrada, for his part, was thankful to the commission.


“I want to thank the Lord, I want to thank the Comelec commissioners for their sense of fairness," he said, adding that his triumph was actually the “victory of the Filipino people." If appealed, the division ruling may still be overturned by the Comelec en banc and the Supreme Court.


Since Estrada formally announced his intention to run in the 2010 polls, many have debated whether he would still be allowed to do so.


But also citing Section 4, Article VII, Estrada asserts that he is still eligible to have another shot at the presidency because he does not fall into two categories banned from doing so: incumbent presidents, and those who have finished the six-year term as president.


In 1998, Estrada was elected with over 10 million votes, the highest vote a presidential candidate ever had in Philippine history. In 2001, however, he was overthrown via the second People Power Revolution amid corruption allegations.


He had only served as President for roughly two years and seven months.


The Sandiganbayan then convicted him of plunder, was meted with reclusion perpetua, and was disqualified from seeking any public office in September 2007.


But just a month later, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo granted Estrada executive clemency, thus restoring his political and civil rights, including his right to seek public office. He has since reiterated his eligibility to run, saying he is not covered by the election ban under the Constitution.


Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, however, contested Estrada’s argument and said that anyone who was elected chief executive falls under the ambit of the said constitutional provision.


He also said that the four-year cap stated in the provision applies only to those “who have succeeded as President" and not those who were elected into office.


The Supreme Court decision


On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had also junked a petition by the Vanguards of the Philippine Constitution Inc. to disqualify Estrada.


The High Court said that the petition should have been filed with the Comelec, the government body that has first jurisdiction over disqualification cases against candidates.


Estrada filed his certificate of candidacy last November 30 under the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino banner. His running mate is Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay.


He will be up against Vetallano Acosta (Kilusang Bagong Lipunan), Senator Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III (Liberal Party), John Carlos “JC" Delos Reyes (Ang Kapatiran), Joseph M. Ejercito Estrada (Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino – UNO), Sen. Richard J. Gordon (Bagumbayan), Sen. Maria Ana Consuelo “Jamby" A.S. Madrigal (independent), Nicanor Perlas (independent), Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr.(Lakas-Kampi-CMD), Eddie C. Villanueva (Bangon Pilipinas), and Sen. Manuel B. Villar Jr. (Nacionalista Party) in the May polls.


A recent Pulse Asia survey said that although Aquino is still leading among the presidential bets, it is Estrada who has had the most “significant improvement" in voter preference.


The survey indicated that from 11 percent, preference for the deposed leader rose to 19 percent, statistically tying him with Senator Manuel Villar for second place. - with reports from Sophia Dedace/RSJ, GMANews.TV

Now thatit's a go for Erap, who can stop him and the millions of Filipino's voting for him?

Online Philippines

I found one website this morning which has the same goal as The Brown Man, Online Resource for Philippine Information and it's called KapitBisig.com.

It's a community, a website and a portal that provides it's readers information about the Philippines. In my almost fifteen years of online use, this is the first time I have encountered the site. Of course there's this Tanikalang Ginto which links almost (but not all) Filipino related websites to their website, thee is also the big time news networks which has all the paid columnists and photographers which make the fun even more delightful in competing with their latest news and juices.

With the advent of blogs and it's free use, hobbyists and professionals are in it for fun and money. But hey, a lot of thrash has surfaced because of this free-for-all platform called internet. I'm not complaining but I'm ringing the alarm bells much like what others have done before me.

We want to promote our very own, we want the provide our readers the infos they need but we also have to make sure we are giving the right and accurate facts about the Philippines.

So to everyone, good luck!

Pilipinas Kong Mahal

Photo by Paul Chesley/Getty Images

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