Singer, Actor, and Producer Francis Magalona confirmed that he’s ill with Leukemia a few days ago. It’s really sad things like this happen because it’s a brutal truth that will forever haunt human life - we are all prone to sickness regardless of our job, color, build, or education. The best we can do is to try to live life as much as we can and in the process try to lower the chances of getting sick. I would like to take this chance to offer a silent prayer to one of my favorite Pinoy rappers.
The CBCP, led by Archbishop Lagdameo, renewed their opposition against Charter Change before 2010. This is exactly my sentiments as I explained in my previous post. The timing is just too fishy and it really looks like PGMA and her gang are up to no good. Let’s do Cha-cha when we have a new President with a fresh mandate. Let’s do it in the right environment, not when it’s clouted with doubt and possibly ill-intent. There’s nothing wrong with shifting to Federalism - but not now. Read the rest of this entry »
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has finally revealed the true motive behind the Bangsamoro GRP-MILF deal that her administration has been pursuing secretly for the past few months. The main reason? It’s to lay down a precedent to an eventual move to amend the Philippine Constitution to change the form of government into Federalism. While I am not 100% against Federalism, I am just really concerned that this is just a ploy to extend her term in power. I’m not an expert political analyst, so I’ll try to talk about this issue as much as I can without political jargon. Why do I think this is just a ploy for her to extend her term? Find out after the jump. By the way, I also embedded video interviews of Senators Pimental, Pangilinan, Legarda, and Zubiri.
Here’s a video of Inquirer.Net’s multi-media reporter Alex Villafania with Senator Chiz Escudero on online political campaigns. It’s fascinating that the current breed of Senators we have are actually internet savvy.
TEAM UNITY Senatorial Candidate and former Presidential Chief-of-Staff Mike Defensor is under fire from various senators and NGOs for his recent involvement in the closing of deals between his company and various Chinese investors. This came about when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo herself was present during the signing of the contract. Her presence alone is an endorsement of the company which is owned by a key political ally and former cabinet secretary. It’s like saying to potential investors - “Put your money here, the President is backing me up.” Read the rest of this entry »
Today is 8-8-8 day! The Beijing Olympics opens today and I just wanted to make this short post to wish everyone in Team Philippines good luck! Give it your all guys! Everyone here is praying and cheering for you. While it would be great if they could bring home some medals, we should still be all proud of them because they really are the best athletes in our country. You never know - we might even win a gold medal someday, lol. Malamang sa boxing pa yun! Hahaha! Remember Onyok?
From Olympic boxer to ballroom dancer celebrity! O diba? Winner.
Here’s something very interesting for everyone. In the recent event with the bloggers, Senator Roxas also did a soft launch of a new web project which is pushing for the removal of VAT on oil. It’s called the Virtual Rally and here you can voice out your frustrations with the high gas prices without having to go to the streets. It’s actually very simple - you go to http://virtualrally.net, create a character, and you’re embedded in the virtually reconstructed EDSA. It’s a fresh take on online petitions.
The MMDA made another blunder when they took out several U-Turn slots in Katipunan. I know that they mean well but sometimes mistakes like this can really irritate people. It almost took me an hour just to get from Blue Ridge to Quezon Avenue because of the ridiculous slow down in Katipunan. It’s bad enough that gas prices are soaring, but now we also have to contend with longer travel time and higher gas consumption because of the removal of quicker U-Turn slots. If Bayani is really serious in running for the Presidency, then he needs to re-evaluate his projects for the MMDA. Read the rest of this entry »
Yes, I’m not kidding. Apparently Globe has decided to really jack up the prices of the highly anticipated Apple 3G iPhone. According to Abe, the official prices released shows that the 8G version will cost P40,889 while the 16G version will cost P48,889. Each unit comes with 50 hours of free mobile internet as well as P200 free load for 6 months. It’ll get a bit more affordable if you get it through postpaid plans. Rates after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »
This is the best example to illustrate how big the impact is of the VAT on oil on government revenues. Because of the 12% interest rate on the growing oil prices, the government’s revenue for the first half of this year is 22% higher than that of 2007. Normally this would be a good thing - however the fundamental problem with this administration is the lack of trust. We don’t believe in our President’s capability to efficiently implement projects without giving majority of the funds to Congressmen and other cronies. Out of the 22% increase, how much do you think went to corruption? How many went to actual long-term reform? Read the rest of this entry »
Oh man. I just have to re-post this here. I was reading Jayvee’s blog and I followed the links to Gabe Mercado’s multiply site. Apparently they made a Facebook group called “I’m Watching Rick Astley and I Want Roderick Paulate to be the Opening Act.” Little did they know that the producers of Rick Astley’s concert heard of this group and actually contacted Paulate to do a live number during the concert! OMG! The power of Facebook (LOL!) Here’s the video from Youtube:
Senate President Manny Villar recently announced that he was open to the idea of having a coalition with the administration party LAKAS for the upcoming 2010 elections. I wonder if there are on-going negotiations already in the background. I’m pretty certain that VP Noli De Castro is thinking of running for the Presidency given his strong showing in the surveys. Will he give up his ambitions to give Villar a crack at the Presidency using the administration machinery? What does he get in return if ever this happens? This is an interesting development that we will have to monitor as the weeks pass by. It’s only a matter of time before the battle lines are clearly drawn for 2010.
I was looking through my friends list in Facebook when I saw this quote on the status of when of my college friends, Jen Lagyo. I sent her a message asking where she got the quote and apparently it came from the movie “Devil’s Advocate” starring Al Pacino and our favorite Matrix boy - Keanu Reeves. Allow me to share the quote with everyone here because it really inspired me especially at this crucial time in my life where I’m really setting my eyes on business.
Al Pacino: I know you’ve got talent. I knew that before you got here.
It’s just the other thing I wonder about.
KR: What thing?
AP: Pressure. It changes everything. Pressure. Some people, you squeeze them, they focus. Others fold. Can you summon your talent at will? Can you deliver on a deadline? Can you sleep at night?
Senator Mar Roxas launched his official blog last Friday during a blogger meet up at Annabel’s restaurant in Tomas Morato. This is actually one of the projects that we’ve been working on lately and it’s really good to finally see it materialize. First, let me clarify a few things - Senator Roxas will not be the only person writing and posting. He’ll try to post once a week and we will have several contributing writers provide other content to make sure that the blog is constantly updated. Read the rest of this entry »
Carlo S. Ople is the grandson of the late Senator Blas F. Ople. He currently serves as the Marketing Manager for the leading online gaming company in the Philippines - Level Up! Games. He is also a freelance consultant for various clients specializing in Online Marketing and New Media.
