Do you guys still remember Samuel Ong? He’s the former NBI Executive who exposed the Hello Garci scandal. Yep, he was the one with the infamous line “Mother of all tapes”. To those who haven’t been keeping tabs on the news, Samuel Ong passed away 6PM today due to complications with Lung Cancer. Former President Estrada was one of the first politicians to visit Ong. I kinda feel sad though that Samuel Ong died without seeing the resolution of the cause he championed when he came out to the public with the Hello Garci tapes. To all the family and friends of Samuel Ong, I offer my sincere condolences. Details of what happened after the break. (more…)

Various groups have been floating names of possible senatorial candidates in 2010. I’m getting really worried because a lot of the people who want to run in 2010 probably don’t have a clue as to what a Senator is supposed to do. Senators are legislators - they are not local government officials who focus on developing a barangay, city, or province. This means that they need to have ample knowledge of how to law works and what are the nuances around the subject matter. As legislators, they will be the ones who will craft policies that will govern various aspects of our lives in the coming years. (more…)

Has anyone here watched the movie Taken? Basically it’s about how the daughter of an ex CIA agent gets “kidnapped” while she’s in Paris. She’s then sold to the highest bidder as a prostitute. In the movie, hundreds, if not thousands, of foreign women were taken advantage of this way. I never imagined that this could actually be happening in the real world… until now. Apparently Filipinas all over the globe are being sold like merchandise to the highest bidder. (more…)

Now this is a perfectly good example of why the Right of Reply bill should NOT be passed into law. Right now the country is watching closely the Legacy Pre-Need Scandal led by Celso delos Angeles, Congressman Ed Zialcita, and SEC Commissioner Jesus Martinez. Based on the evidence and testimonies presented so far, it’s obvious that there’s foul play going on here. My eyes literally hurt when I see pictures of these guys with their respective replies against the accusations hurled against them. (more…)

Does the Filipino youth still know who Ninoy Aquino is? Or is he just a face that they see on the P500 peso bill? With all the problems that we face these days as well as the great digital divide between generations, it’s not hard to imagine young men and women more consumed by the drive to survive and going through the daily grind than to actually give a damn about the country. Let’s face it… I myself am only 26 years old and I come from a political family yet I’m not fully aware of what Ninoy was all about. All I know is that he “died” for the country. What more for the younger generations? (more…)

Two senators from the bloodline of Ninoy Aquino are going against the old saying that “Blood is thicker than water”. It started off with Noynoy Aquino releasing a statement that he’s very disappointed that the country hasn’t moved forward since former President Marcos was removed from office. Instead of progress, our country has been on a slump. Former Senator Tessie Oreta, a well-known administration ally, countered by saying that Noynoy shouldn’t say that since his mother was actually President and also ran the country after Marcos.

If you think about it - both of them are right. LOL. (more…)

New York City Mayor Giuliani was here in the Philippines a few days ago for a 1-day talk on leadership in time of crisis. To those of you who don’t know, he was the Mayor of NYC when September 11 happened. That’s the time when the airplanes crashed into the World Trade Center. It was a global nightmare - it really spread terror across the world. Anyway, Senator Gordon explains in this interview that he believes he did more than the NYC mayor in his own political career. This is a classic example of “pataasan ng ihi”, hehe.

I was at the Philippine Senate today to meet some clients and it was really fun walking around the building. You get to bump into very interesting people there and I was also able to get a glimpse of the hearings this afternoon. Of course my day wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t take any pictures! I decided to be a little more daring and my auntie and friend told me that I could actually sneak in a picture after the session. Presenting… Senator Waukster! XD

BWAHAHAHAHAHA! (more…)

At a time when prices of all goods are going up, especially oil, people usually tighten their belts and spend money on things that only matter the most. That’s not the case for our congressmen. Instead of using money for programs that would address the insanely rising prices, they would rather renovate their office using a whooping amount of P200M. Yan ang totoong ginagawa sa pera na nakukuha sa VAT. Mas magandang CR at kung anu-anong walang silbing bagay. Argh. (more…)

Do you guys remember Elly Pamatong? He was the 2004 presidential candidate who was disqualified and eventually ended up scattering spikes along EDSA to get attention. A lot of people branded the guy crazy and KSP and it looks like he’s at it again. He recently filed an impeachment complaint against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. I still think that this guy should be put behind bars for the hassle he caused during the spike incident. (more…)