Wednesday, December 31, 2008
@ 
Monday, December 29, 2008
Some Interesting Headliners of the Day
1. Senate slashes budget of 21 state universitiesThe Senate has cut the 2009 budgets of 21 state colleges and universities in the provinces by P323 million.
However, it increased the subsidies for next year of most government-owned tertiary level schools. The increases range from a low of P634,000 to a high of P362 million. A large number of these schools received an additional P1 million.
The University of the Philippines (UP), the country’s premier state university, received the biggest increase of P362 million from the Senate. That raised its 2009 budget to P6.8 billion.
Well, it's good that UP is getting more funding. But it will be tough for the provincial state universities. This reminds me of the discrepancy of the Philippines with our neighboring countries. In Taiwan, their best universities (plural) are all funded by the government (billions of dollars!).
2. 'Baler' is filmfest's best
Baler” swept the major awards at the 34th Metro Manila Film Festival’s Gabi ng Parangal on Saturday night at the Harbor Tent of Hotel Sofitel in Pasay City.
The turn-of-the-century historical romance co-produced by Viva Films and Bida Productions won Best Picture and the Gatpuno Award, Best Director for Mark Meily, Best Actress for Anne Curtis, Best Supporting Actor for Phillip Salvador, and Best Screenplay for Roy Iglesias.
Maybe (if I have the time) I'll watch some MMFF films before the break ends.
3. No wage hike in 2009 - DOLE
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday ruled out the possibility of an increase in minimum wage rates next year.
“I won’t bet on it,” Labor Secretary Marianito Roque replied when asked about the chances of having wage adjustments in 2009.
So is the best strategy after graduation really to sit the financial crisis out, like pursuing graduate studies first?
4. Pangandaman urged to stop defending sons
MANILA, Philippines -- To avoid any suspicion of a whitewash, Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman should refrain from defending his sons accused of beating a businessman and his son at a golf club in Antipolo, Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan said on Monday.
Grabe, papalag ka pa!
5. Fourth Quarter 2008 Social Weather Survey: 92% of Filipinos Enter 2009 With Hope
Nine out of ten (92%) of adult Filipinos are entering the New Year with hope rather than fear, according to the Fourth Quarter Social Weather Survey done from November 28 to December 1, 2008.
The 92% hopeful about the coming 2009 is similar to the 91% posted in 2006 and in 2007. During 2000 to 2004, New Year hope has ranged from 81% to 95%.
Nawa ang ating pag-asa ay hindi mabigo... Or is this just another form of false consciousness?
6. ABS-CBN: No truth to Web rumors of "Twilight" adaptation
BS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation said there is no truth to the Internet buzz about the company doing a local version of the hit movie/novel "Twilight".
"There is no truth to the Web reports, particularly in the Perez Hilton blogsite, that ABS-CBN is doing a local adaptation of "Twilight". ABS-CBN will be the first to announce if it is, in fact doing so," according to ABS-CBN Corporate Communications' Bong Osorio.
Hhhmm... So where exactly did the rumor come from? I hope someone admits that he/she just photoshopped the faces of Shaina and Rayver into the "Takipsilim" promo. That would make him/her an instant blogosphere celeb!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Kaya Galit Ako sa Ibang mga Pulitiko
Ang yayabang ninyo! Akala ninyo kung sino kayo! Grabe!
Secretary Pangandaman, ikaw na naman?! Bibinggo ka na sa akin ah!
DAR chief, son accused of mauling golfers in Antipolo
Article posted December 27, 2008 - 03:53 PM
[via GMANews.TV]
MANILA, Philippines — Already in hot water with farmers over land reform issues, Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman is in trouble again, this time over an alleged mauling incident at a golf course in the city of Antipolo.
Radio reports on Saturday said police were looking into claims that Pangandaman not only flexed his muscles but also let his son Nasser Pangandaman Jr., mayor of Masiu in Lanao del Sur, beat up members of the De la Paz family at the Valley Golf and Country Club in Antipolo Friday afternoon.
"Hindi ninyo ako kilala. Ang yabang-yabang mo, ang tapang-tapang mo, mag-ingat ka (You don't know me. You're so conceited and foolhardy, you better be careful)," 56-year-old Delfin de la Paz recalled the Cabinet official telling him, while poking a finger at him after the mauling at the clubhouse.
Radio dzRH reported that the De la Paz family filed Friday night a complaint with the Antipolo police for physical injuries and violation of the law protecting women and minors.
The elder Dela Paz said he was with his 14-year-old son Bino and 18-year-old daughter Bambi at the golf course when the incident happened at about 1 p.m.
He said the Pangandaman father and son overtook them at one of the holes, prompting him to ask a marshal to have them get back in line.
When they were playing at the fifth hole, the mayor allegedly voiced impatience with De la Paz's slow playing.
Dela Paz said at least four bodyguards of the mayor roughed him up, and beat up his 14-year-old son who tried to pacify them. He said his daughter was crying and pleading them to stop the attack.
After the scuffle, De la Paz said he and his children trudged back to the clubhouse but the secretary and the mayor, with their bodyguards, followed them.
He said the golf course's management and security personnel came late.
On the other hand, he said that at the clubhouse, the mayor poked a finger at his 14-year-old son and said, "tatandaan kita (I will remember you)."
He said that when his elder son and wife arrived at the clubhouse with baseball bats, the Pangandamans' bodyguards drew handguns.
Security personnel then tried to pacify dela Paz and supposedly told them, "umuwi na kayo, napakalaking tao ‘yan (just go home, you're messing with big personalities here)."
Pangandamans side
Secretary Pangandaman could not be reached for comment but other radio stations reported that Mayor Pangandaman filed with the Mayamot police station in Antipolo a counter-complaint of physical injuries and grave threats against the De la Paz father and son.
The mayor said he talked with the elder De la Paz in a nice way but the man hit him instead with an umbrella and hurled invectives and twice challenged him to a fight.
The elder De la Paz admitted hitting one of the mayor’s men with the tip of an umbrella in self-defense as he was being ganged upon.
Golf etiquette 101
In a blog, Bambi De la Paz recalled that the Cabinet official and his son apparently resented their being told to observe golf etiquette.
Bambi wrote that she saw how the mayor hit Bino in the face even as her brother was pleading. She also recalled hearing the mayor shout to his caddy: Hindi nila kami kilala! Sabihin mo nga sa kanila kung sino ako! (They don’t know who we are. Tell them who I am)."
“I lash out, but my dad held me back. I was screaming my lungs out, shouting to this mayor, telling him about what he had done. I said: ‘Nakakahiya kayo. Singkwenta'y sais anyos ang tatay ko. And kapatid ko kakatorse anyos. Anong ilalaban nila sayo? (Shame on you. My father is 56 years old. My brother is just 14 years old. They are no match to you),’" she wrote.
After the scuffle at the clubhouse, she said, her younger brother’s right ear was bleeding and that when her older brother reacted, two of the mayor’s bodyguards pulled out guns.
“I am pretty sure the Secretary of DAR did not take part in the fight, but he just watched all this happen. He watched two of his sons, as we figured out, the other guy was his son, too, beat up my father and my 14-year-old brother. He didn't do anything to stop it. And this person is what now? A Cabinet member. A politician," Bambi wrote.
“The world has gone crazy. Two politicians beat up a defenseless 56-year-old father and his 14-year-old son. At a golf course. I swear to God, I thought golfers were decent people. You would think politicians were decent people. I guess not. I guess they gang up on 56-year-old men and beat up pleading 14-year-old kids," she added.
To make matters worse, she said, none of the security guards at the clubhouse even tried to stop the fight and that other personnel reportedly told refused to cooperate when they asked for the names of the Pangandamans’ companions.
Radio reports quoted the dela Paz family as saying they won’t be intimidated by the powerful Cabinet member and mayor and they will pursue the criminal complaint against them.
Read the account of the daughter, Bambee dela Paz, in her blog post.
Please pray that justice may prevail.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Joy to the World
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
Matthew 1:23
Monday, December 22, 2008
21
I thank the Lord for the first 21 awesome years of my life. May the life that I live be in itself my thanksgiving to You. I also thank my family, my friends (and enemies), my teachers (and classmates), and everybody else who made all these years special for a simple guy like me.
I shall be looking forward to the next 21 (and more) awesome years to come!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Pre-Birthday Surprise
Thank you Maja for giving me the best pre-birthday surprise ever! Thank you for leaving work early so that you can bring six (?) boxes of pizza and three (?) bottles of Pepsi for me and my Sanggunian family.
It really means a lot!
You're really the best!
See you on the 22nd, my birthday!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Congress Killed CARP
Kongreso - isang malaking kalokohan!CARP WATERED DOWN : Outrage follows Congress move
Moratorium on compulsory land distribution stands
By Leila Salaverria, TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Posted date: December 19, 2008
[via Inquirer.net]
MANILA, Philippines—It was denounced as nothing more than a “betrayal” of a 20-year promise to free farmers from bondage to the soil.
Expressions of outrage followed the swift approval by Congress on Wednesday of a joint resolution extending the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) for another six months but calling for a moratorium on compulsory land acquisition.
“This is a betrayal of the farmers’ cause in the guise of serving their interest,” said Christian Monsod, former chair of the Commission on Elections and counsel for the farmers’ group Task Force Mapalad.
Agrarian reform, Monsod stressed, is the “social justice mandate” of the Constitution. “To do away with the compulsory acquisition and distribution is to change the intent and letter of the Constitution,” he said.
“It’s not only unconstitutional for not complying with the compulsory distribution of land as mandated by the Constitution, it’s also illegal. It’s null and void,” said Arlene Bag-ao, a lawyer for landless farmers.
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said he was saddened by the turn of events on the government’s centerpiece program to eradicate poverty and promote social justice.
They acted like traitors
During a homily at a Misa de Gallo and a visit to farmers on hunger strike outside Congress, Rosales slammed lawmakers who he said were supposed to help the poor but “acted like traitors,” ignoring pleas of farmers and prelates.
He said landowners employed lawyers to circumvent the law and reminded lawmakers about the late President Ramon Magsaysay’s declaration that those who have less in life should have more in law.
“They mocked you and treated you like children,” Rosales said of the farmers who are demanding the distribution of a sugar hacienda owned by the family of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s husband.
“They thought they could fool you,” Rosales said. “If the law is harsh to the poor, we will give voice to the poor. Cast this in stone, what you do not wish will not happen.”
Congress had been debating the CARP law, enacted in 1988 during the Corazon Aquino presidency, for months even before it expired in June. The program was first extended for six months until the end of this month.
On Tuesday, in a meeting between leaders of the two houses of Congress and Ms Arroyo, an agreement was hammered out to issue another resolution extending the CARP law until June 2009, this time with a caveat that there would be no compulsory acquisition of land, described as the “heart and soul” of the program.
The President certified the resolution for urgent action by the two chambers on Wednesday.
Palace respects Congress
Malacañang on Thursday issued a statement saying it “respects the collective judgment of both the Senate and the House in passing the joint resolution.”
The vote in the House of Representatives shortly before midnight Wednesday on the eve of a monthlong Christmas break was 111-34 with one abstention. In the Senate the vote earlier in the night was 14 and two abstentions, cast by Senators Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas, scions of wealthy sugar plantation owners.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said that the moratorium would allow Congress to review implementation of the program and raised the possibility that it could again be extended for another six months if necessary.
“We must cure the inherent defects of the law, especially in its implementation,” Speaker Prospero Nograles said. “It must be a CARP law with reforms.”
According to Monsod, some 640,000 hectares out of the remaining 1.3 million waiting to be distributed were under the compulsory land acquisition mode, making up more than 60 percent of the land reform program.
“They left the voluntary offer to sell and transfer of ownership modes, which make agrarian reform optional, and hence, violates the spirit and letter of the Constitution,” he said.
“Agrarian reform covers all agricultural lands. That’s what the constitutional provision says.”
‘It’s dead’
Without the compulsory acquisition and distribution mode, the government is abdicating its power to compel landowners to distribute lands to farmers, Monsod said.
“If you take out this mode, who will volunteer to distribute lands?” he asked. “In effect, the big landowners will circumvent the program. There’s no more agrarian reform program. It’s dead.”
In the past six months, the biggest issue had been the “question of compulsory land distribution,” Monsod pointed out.
“Do you think they can solve that in the next six months? I doubt it,” he said.
“Congress has effectively yielded the comprehensive agrarian reform program to landed interests and no less than the family of Ms Arroyo will benefit from this action,” said Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay.
“Our farmers have shown incredible patience but their patience is slowly wearing thin, especially with an administration that makes promises it cannot keep,” said Binay, who is the president of the United Opposition.
On Rosales’ plea, the eight farmers who began a hunger strike 18 days ago ended their hunger strike and had a meal of porridge with chicken brought by the cardinal.
The others who subsequently joined the farmers in the past four days also broke their fast, including Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo.
They had set up camp outside Congress and slept on cardboard boxes under a makeshift canvass tent.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Anomie
It is is a sociological term that signifies in individuals, an erosion, diminution or absence of personal norms, standards or values, and increased states of psychological normlessness.
[via Wikipedia]
What should an Atenean do?
It's hard to believe that there's nobody out there
-Red Hot Chili Peppers in "Under the Bridge"
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Dream Job?
I often say that I grew up watching Rocky (Balboa - the Italian Stallion). Well, technically, I just watched marathon after marathon of the canonical five films (I just watched the sixth one during my Taiwan trip) in Star World when I was in gradeschool and in highschool. That "childhood memory" plus growing up in a country that worship its pugs in the boxing ring make a deadly combination for a boxing fan.
I once tried to learn boxing when I was an ADSA student deputy. It was so much fun. I liked punching the mitts and the workout that it entailed. Whenever we try out the combinations, I can hear "Eye of the Tiger" playing in my head. I would even catch myself thinking that I was Ippo Makunochi of the anime Knock Out.
I know that my current body figure can't handle it but if my political aspirations fail, maybe I can try out being a boxer. heheheheh
Because I'm such a fanboy...
Can someone help me find the other three parts of this HBO feature on the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world?
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Show Me the Fighter
Well as I have predicted, Manny Pacquiao won against Oscar De La Hoya. I followed the match over the radio since the GMA7 telecast was delayed. Typical of sports coverage by Filipinos, the sportscasters were biased in favor of the Pac-man. In addition, it really seemed that they were inexperienced in covering boxing matches because they fail to give bout narration that would help me form any picture of the match in my head. But what really frustrated me was the ending to this touted "Dream Match" - the Mexican surrendering to Pacquiao.
When I finally saw the match, I was quite surprised at how different both boxers are in the ring. I expected a more explosive Pacquiao (or maybe he was just adding more technical depth to his arsenal). I also expected a grittier De La Hoya (or maybe he was just too old for the blazing-fast side-stepping Pacquiao). Nonetheless, I was not really entertained by the match - I expected more fight from the both of them.
I have been following Pacquiao since grade school. I still remember his fights against Chatchai Sasakul and Fahsan 3k Battery (both of which my brother, my lolo, and I watched in IBC13). I'm really a Pacquiao fan and I really like his explosive fighting style.
Below are two clips from HBO of the greatest hits by both Pacquiao and dela Hoya. See the difference of the "Dream Match" from these epic bouts.
Manny Pacquiao
Oscar De La Hoya
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Show Me the Money?!
This has been a very pretty tiring week for me. Really.
Our team, Team Triumvirate didn't get into the top three places in the recently concluded Ateneo Business IT Solutions Competition hosted by MISA. Nonetheless, I am really proud of my team and what we have achieved. This is our second time to join. The last time was last school year and like this year, we also got into the final round. Even though we didn't win, I don't feel any regret since I find no fault in our proposed solutions to the two cases we had. The first one in the eliminations is about using AVON.com to benefit all the stakeholders (company, sales representatives, and customers) of AVON. Our proposed solution was to use the website to complement (and not compete with) the existing direct sales strategy that AVON employs. I like this solution since it prevents any conflict between automation and employment. Thus, profit is still maximized without sales reps losing jobs.
The second case is infinitely tougher. It's about an Indian business process outsourcing (BPO) company. For our team, the problem of the company was that they needed to be prepared for future expansion in an ever competitive industry. For us, the solution is to empower its call center agents through an incentive system, a more stratified rotation system, and by employing a more integrated terminal system wherein they can access all the information they need for the client they are servicing. I like this solution since it tries to do something about the high attrition rate of the company (30-40%). For us, the company differentiates itself by ensuring that it has a human face. Unfortunately, in the business world, that is not enough. As one of the judges point out - "Show me the money". That really broke my heart, promise. But it was nothing personal. The thought just broke my heart.
Oh well, I guess I'm really not cut out to be part of that industry. Better yet, I think that my utopic way of thinking does not jive with the dominant ideology of modernity and capitalism. I mean both italic terms in the Mannheim-ian sense.
Ideologies are mental fictions whose function is to veil the true nature of a given society. They originate unconsciously in the minds of those who seek to stabilize a social order. This stands in opposition to utopias. Utopias are wish-dreams that inspire the collective action of opposition groups which aim at entirely transforming such a society.
But I had fun. Really. Thank you to my teammates - Noreen and Aga. We especially thank our ever supportive "support group" (I have the Calatagan farmers at mind), Maja - thank you for supporting Team Triumvirate on its second attempt to go for the win. Hehehehehe.
So Ill start a revolution from my bed
-Oasis in "Don't Look Back in Anger"