Some more pictures of the event after the jump.

GO ATENEO!

Does she have a chance at making it back to the spotlight? Personally I believe she should try one last time just to redeem herself and call it quits after. She should focus more on her family and make sure that her daughters don’t make the same mistakes she did.

Here are some of the more interesting comments:

though the president has great responsibility and should be accountable for the bulk of the problems, i think we are jsut simplifying the problem too much if we just place all the blame on the president. Lahat na lng sinisi sa knya, bkt di rin natin sisihin sarili natin kc hindi natin pinagaaralan at ginagawan ng paraan para maitama ang mali. I believe that all of us share in the responsibility and also the fault in creating such a situation in the phillippines- we the voters are still the ones responsible in placing them in their positions. We thought na kaya ganito sitwasyon sa pilipinas dahil sa presidente, pero nakailang palit na tayo ng mga presidente at nakailang “revolution” na tayo pero walang nagbabago? Tayo ba nagbabago rin? Simpleng MMDA traffic rules sinusundan ba natin?
i think the problem is more than just blaming the lack of credible and capable candidates. I think there is just something inherently wrong with our political systems and the governement institution itself. We have no political parties and because of that there are NO platforms- alam lng natin ung anti and pro administration. these are not parties and even if they were. What does that actually mean? PRo administration means what? what are their stands on agrarian reform, economic reform etc etc . PAgpinakinggan mo yung mga pinagsasabi ng mga politicians, none of them seem to be very sound and well founded. Parang sinasabi lng nila ang sure na maikakatuwa ng masa- they’re feeding off of the masses’ desperation. I applaud the smarter ones like chiz and pangilinan,,, kc even though i dont agree with some of their stands at least they have stands. at hindi balimbing kung anu uso un ang sasabihin.
-Krisdax

I would like to ask what you mean by “experience” and by “still young”? The minimum age requirement for the presidency set by the Constitution is 40. Do you think the framers of the Constitution is silly enough to think that 40 is still young an age for the presidential position and then set is a requirement?

Most of us explain “experience” as having spent a relatively considerable amount of time in the public office. I do not know what kind of “experience” you are looking for but it is an overrated qualification. None of these presidentiables have had the “experience” of being the president of the Philippines. They are senators or local officials - and none of them can brag that they have the experience to run for president because they never were one.

Regarding the possible candidates, I will only give my two cents worth to those who have “declared” and “campaigning” at president.

Senator Manny Villar - no way. What kind of person spearheads an impeachment of a president and then courts that same impeached president for support?

Senator Loren Legarda - whenever I see her I see an huge neon sign flashing AMBITION. I see her as the next GMA. Sorry.

Senator Ping Lacson - nope. Just no.

Senator Mar Roxas - major disappointment. I voted for him in 2004 and then heard nothing from him until the cheaper medicines bill and an ad for a detergent soap came along. When the Drilon Wing of the Liberal Party called for GMA’s resignation, Roxas was abroad. Can you at least think of his stand regarding pertinent or even controversial issues from 2004 until 2007? He’s talking NOW just when the election is 2 years away.

MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando - is he freakin’ serious?
-Jowana Bueser

One thing I noticed is that there is overwhelming support for Chiz Escudero. That guy should definitely run for office in 2016, especially if he keeps his brand of politics - young, dynamic, and modern.

If you guys want to join in on the discussion, just head on over to my Gaming Blog by clicking here.

Quotes from Inquirer after the jump.

MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE The Eraserheads Reunion Concert was cut short Saturday night when lead singer Ely Buendia was rushed to the Makati Medical Center after collapsing backstage during a 20-minute intermission of the planned 30-song concert.

The concert’s sudden end was announced by Buendia’s sister Lally who went onstage with Ely’s band mates Raimund Marasigan, Buddy Zabala, Marcus Adoro and concert organizers stating that the band’s lead vocalist and songwriter was in poor health. The band members apologized to the audience for cutting short their performance.

MTV Philippines President Francis Lumen asked the crowd for a minute of silence to pray for Buendia’s health.

“He had a slight attack because of stress due to the recent passing of his mother (Lisette Buendia), and their sound check which lasted till 3 a.m. today (Saturday),” said MTV Philippines and Radiohead director for marketing Ronald Esguerra in an interview with INQUIRER.net. “But we have received word that Ely is now in stable condition.”

Organizers also belied erroneous reports that Buendia is undergoing triple bypass surgery, adding that the Eraserheads frontman actually wants to check out of the Makati Medical Center and go instead to his personal doctor.

According to Jing Garcia, former music journalist and currently technology editor at Manila Times and a friend of the Eraserheads members, Buendia collapsed backstage after the last song before the intermission, which was “Lightyears.” The band had already played 15 songs by then.

Buendia suffered a heart attack on January 7, 2007 and had already undergone surgery.

The concert, which was staged at the Fort Bonifacio Global City open field in Taguig, started at around 8:15 p.m. and paused for a break at around 9:30 p.m.

The Eraserheads opened their much-awaited reunion concert with “Alapaap” and “Ligaya,” complete with fireworks display.

After waiting at the open field for an hour since the intermission hoping for further developments, loyal fans of the band calmly left the concert area after being treated to a thrilling first set.

MTV Philippines’ Esguerra said that while he is hoping for a second Eraserheads reunion concert, there is still no word on whether another one would be staged.

“We have received no word of a Part Two but we also hope there will be one,” he said. With a report from Pocholo Concepcion, Philippine Daily Inquirer

With You Tagalized

Umbrella (Tagalized)

It’s impossible that all of these candidates throw away money on a whim. There’s definitely a mechanism there that allows them to get back the money they invested and even earn more. The P30,000-P45,000 monthly salary won’t even make a dent on the total amount of cash they invested in their campaign.

For 2010, the spending has begun as early as now. Senate President Villar’s face is plastered on billboards for all of his major mall properties. He also ran a media campaign on helping OFWs on TV, Print, and Radio. This is a direct buy from him and I’m sure that already costs millions of pesos which won’t be counted for the supposed P135M limit come the formal campaign season. Other aspiring candidates are taking the more cost-efficient route by being product endorsers for major consumer companies like Lucida and Tide. Oh - let’s not forget MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando. That’s even worse since the budget for his posters and tarpaulins come from the pockets of the Filipino people. By the way guys, there are circulating reports that Bayani’s posters are being rolled out to provinces and cities outside of his jurisdiction as MMDa Chairman.

Another alarming situation here is that the COMELEC relies solely on the reports made and submitted by the candidates themselves. This is stupid because it’s literally asking the wolves to guard the sheep. They should hire external 3rd party agencies to monitor, evaluate, and recommend legal action against politician who violate the election campaign rules.

2010 will arguably be the most expensive campaign in Philippine history. Unimaginable amounts of cash will be spent to increase the chances of these candidates for winning the top position in the land. So… how much is the Presidency worth? If they’re spending as early as now then it’s really safe to say that it’s right up there in the Billions.

This will be very interesting to monitor.

I went to the usual VCF Sunday Service at Music Museum, Greenhills, which is led by Pastor Dennis. To those who are not familiar, the service starts with a worship. A live band plays and a group of people take the stage and leads the singing for the church. For this particular Sunday, Jonas was the one leading the worship and I have to say that they did a really good job. Everyone was clapping and got really involved with the songs. I was singing along casually but then there was this one slow song which really struck me. When the melody started I was already drawn in, and then the lyrics flashed on the screen and then it happened.

“Here in your presence, we are undone. Here in your presence, heave and earth become one.”

The experience was just surreal. It was like time space warp, shaider style! My voice was drowned out by emotion and every cell in my body started to rebel against the natural instinct to be conscious of my surroundings. Instead I felt myself singing louder, closing my eyes tighter, and then having this feeling of being washed over by an intense feeling of peace and calm. There was no feeling of sadness and guilt. Then I started crying. Lol. Talk about a weird experience huh?

I’ve always been a very confident person. I was always sure of myself and this was one of the drivers why I think I’m doing well at work and in business. It’s that passion for excellence. However, this is also one of my biggest character flaws. My ego has put up a shield around me to the point that I don’t really reach out for friends and even to God. I trusted myself more than anyone else.

Now everything made sense. Why did one of my early business ventures fail? Why did I lose two of my best friends? Why did I almost lose my girlfriend of 7 years? Why did I almost die due to that gunshot wound?

For years, God has been smashing those walls that have covered my soul and my being. It was a painful experience, but I’m glad that I can finally say that I’ve been humbled enough to go down on my knees and accept that there is something greater out there - that life does not end when your body stops functioning.

Thanks to everyone over at Victory for making life more meaningful.

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?

While writing this post, I made it a point to do more research on Ninoy. In my journey of getting to know him more, I stumbled upon this uploaded video on Youtube which really made an impact. It’s his last interview before he boarded the plane to Manila and eventually got shot when his feet finally touched the Philippines once again.

This is such a powerful interview. You can really feel the passion and love he had for the country and for the Filipino people. I remember watching this when I was still in Grade School but I really didn’t appreciate it back then. But now I fully understand what Ninoy was about.

He is something that we actually need now more than ever. Ninoy’s memory offers a solution to all the conflict happening in Mindanao, the blatant corruption in government, the constant killing of journalists, and the declining economy. It begins with all of us - by personally acknowledging that we are Filipinos and that this is indeed a country that we can be proud of. Bottom line is this: we need to teach the youth to give a damn about this country and not to teach them that the future to a good life is outside the Philippines.

In this day and age, we don’t need one hero to lead our nation into greatness. We all have to find that Ninoy in our own hearts and and we need to start believing. Ninoy Aquino believed that the Filipino was worth dying for. Do we feel the same way?

The young congressman likened Cha-cha to cooking Paella. Here’s the quote from Inquirer:

“It’s like cooking paella. It takes long to cook because it needs a lot of ingredients. So we can talk about how to cook it [and] we can already buy the ingredients,” he explained the process of Charter change.

“But it should only be served after 7 p.m. which is dinner time,” he said.

You know what? This is one of the rare times I’ve seen him make sense. Lol.