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| Posted: Jun.15.2007 @ 9:32 am | Lasted edited: Jun.14.2007 @ 7:46 pm |
Editorial of Philippine Star(15-Jun-2007)
>>NOONG Miyerkules ay pinugutan ng ulo si Reynaldo Cortez, 42, welder
sa isang car shop sa Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Ang kasalanan ni Reynaldo,
pumatay ng Pakistaning taxi driver. Nangyari ang pagpatay noong May
2002. Sinaksak ni Reynaldo ang Pakistani dahil sa tangkang paggahasa sa
kanya. Sumuko si Reynaldo sa mga pulis pagkaraang mapatay ang
Pakistani subalit binaril pa umano sa kaliwang paa. Noong December
2003, napatunayang guilty si Reynaldo sa pagpatay at sinentensiyahan ng
Riyadh court na mabilanggo ng 15 taon at pagtanggap ng 1,000 hampas ng
yantok sa likod. Pero umapela ang abogado ni Reynaldo sa bigat ng
hatol kaya noong Nov. 2004 ibinaba ang hatol sa kanya. Ginawang 10
taong pagkabilanggo. Iyon ay sapagkat ang pagkakapatay niya sa
Pakistani ay dahil sa pagtatanggol lamang sa sarili.
Ni-reject naman ng mga magulang at kapatid
ng napatay na Pakistani ang 100,000 Saudi Riyals na diyah o blood money
na offer ni Reynaldo at sa halip ay ipinagpilitan na mahatulan ito ng
kamatayan. Dalawang beses nakiusap ang kampo ni Reynaldo sa mga kaanak
ng Pakistani pero wala ring nangyari. Noong May 2005, sinentensiyahan
na si Reynaldo ng kamatayan.
At noong Miyerkules nga, dakong alas-dos ng
hapon ay isinagawa na ang pagpugot sa ulo ni Reynaldo. Naiwan niya ang
asawa at anim na anak sa Guagua, Pampanga.
Si Reynaldo ang ikalimang OFW na
naparusahan ng kamatayan sa Saudi Arabia sa panahon ni President
Arroyo. Noong March 2005, napugutan din ng ulo sa Saudi Arabia sina
Sergio Aldana, Antonio Alvesa, Wilfredo Bautista at Miguel Fernandez.Ayon
sa Migrante, tatlo pang Pinoy ang nasa death row sa Saudi Arabia at isa
sa Kuwait. Ayon naman sa figure ng Department of Foreign Affairs, may
33 OFWs, kabilang ang dalawang babae ang nasa death row.
Sagipin sa talim ng espadang Saudi ang mga
nakalinyang pupugutan. Ang nangyari kay Reynaldo ay hindi na sana
mangyari pa sa mga Pinoy na nasa Saudi. Bagama’t gumawa ng paraan ang
pamahalaan para mailigtas ang kawawang si Reynaldo, sa palagay namin
ay hindi naging sapat ang aksiyon. Dalawang beses lamang palang
pinakiusapan ang pamilya ng Pakistani. At ang dalawang beses na
pakiusap ay hindi sapat. Dapat kumuha pa nang mahuhusay na abogado ang
pamahalaan para naipaglaban ang kaso. Ayon mismo sa kawawang si
Reynaldo, ipinagtanggol niya ang sarili nang tangkain siyang gahasain
ng Pakistani. Nagtanggol lamang siya sa sarili kaya ang hatol na
kamatayan sa kanya ay hindi makatarungan. Pero sino ang magtatanggol
kay Reynaldo? Mayroon bang mahusay na aboga dong ibinigay ang
pamahalaan? Kung meron, bakit napakadali ng pagpugot sa kanya?<<
Isa na namang OFW ang napabayaan ng ating gobyerno. Gaano pa karaming OFW ang magbabayad ng buhay nila bago umaksyon ang ating mga opisyal ng gobyerno upang madagdagan ang proteksiyon sa ibang bansa ng mga bagong bayani?
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| Posted: Jun.14.2007 @ 11:15 am |
A Day Without Filipinos
by Fr. Jess E. Briones
Let's imagine then, not just California, but the entire world,
waking up one day to discover Filipinos have disappeared. I'm
talking here about the six or seven million Filipinos currently
working overseas in countries with names that run the entire
alphabet, from Angola to Zimbabwe.
Let's not worry first about why or how the Filipinos
disappeared; in fact, it becomes academic whether it's a day or a
week. Just imagine a world without Filipinos.
Think of the homes that are dependent on Filipino housekeepers,
nannies, caregivers. The homes would be chaotic as kids cry out for
their nannies. Hong Kong and Singaporean and Taiwanese yuppie
couples are now forced to stay home and realizing, goodness, there's
so much of housework that has to be handled and how demanding their
kids can be and hey, what's this strange language they're babbling
in?
It's not just the children that are affected. The problems are
even more serious with the elderly in homes and nursing
institutions, because Filipino caregivers have provided so much of
the critical services they need. When temporary contractual workers
are brought in from among non-Filipinos, the elderly complain. They
want their Filipino caregivers back because they have that special
touch, that extra patience and willingness to stay an hour more when
needed.
Hospitals, too, are adversely affected because so many of the
disappeared Filipinos were physicians, nurses and other health
professionals. All appointments for rehabilitation services, from
children with speech problems to stroke survivors, are indefinitely
postponed because of disappeared speech pathologists, occupational
and physical therapists! Eventually, the hospital administrators
announce they won't take in any more patients unless the conditions
are serious. Patients are told to follow their doctors' written
orders and, if they have questions, to seek advice on several
Internet medical sites.
But within two days, the hospitals are swamped with new
complaints. The websites aren't working because of missing Filipino
web designers and website managers. Service establishments
throughout the world -- restaurants, supermarkets, hotels -- all
close down because of their missing key staff involved in management
and maintenance. In Asia, hotels complain about the missing bands
and singers. In the United States, many commercial establishments
have to close shop, not just because of the missing Filipino sales
staff but because their suppliers have all been sending in notices
about delays in shipments.
Yup, the shipping industry has gone into a crisis because of
missing Filipino seafarers. The shipping firms begin to look into
the emergency recruitment of non-Filipino seafarers but then declare
another crisis: They're running out of supplies of oil for their
ships because the Middle Eastern countries have come to a standstill
without their Filipino workers, including quite a few working for
the oil industry.
Frantic presidents and prime ministers call on the United
Nations to convene a special session of the Security Council but
Kofi Annan says he can't do that because the UN system itself is on
the edge, with so many of their secretarial and clerical staff, as
well as translators, having disappeared from their main headquarters
in New York and Geneva, as well as their regional offices throughout
the world. Quite a number of UN services, especially refugee camps,
are also in danger of closing down because of missing Filipino
health professionals and teachers. Annan also explains that he
can't convene UN meetings because the airports in New York,
Washington and other major US cities have been shut down. The
reason? The disappeared Filipinos included quite a few airport
security personnel who used to check passengers and their baggage.
Annan calls on the World Bank and international private foundations
for assistance but they're crippled, too, because their Filipino
consultants and staff are nowhere to be seen. Funds can't be
remitted and projects can't run without the technical assistance
provided for by Filipinos.
An exasperated Annan calls on religious leaders to pray, and
pray hard. But when he phones the Pope, he is told the Catholic
Church, too, is in crisis because the disappeared include the many
Filipino priests and nuns in Rome who help run day-to-day
activities, as well as missionaries in the frontlines of remote
posts, often the only ones providing basic social services.
As they converse, Annan and the Pope agree on one thing: the
world has become a quieter place since the Filipinos disappeared.
It isn't just the silencing of work and office equipment formerly
handled by Filipinos; no, it seems there's much less laughter now
that the Filipinos aren't around, both the laughter of the Filipinos
and those they served.
I know, I know, I'm exaggerating the contributions of Filipinos
to the world but I'm doing what the producers of "A Day without
Mexicans" had in mind: using a bit of hyperbole to shake people up.
As their blurb for the film goes: "How do you make the invisible,
visible? Make them invisible." As I wrote this column, I did
realize I was doing this not so much for the Hong Kong Chinese and
Taiwanese and Singaporean and Americans who don't appreciate us
enough, than for us, who as Filipinos, are pretty good at putting
ourselves down, at making ourselves invisible. |
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| Posted: Jun.13.2007 @ 8:13 am | Lasted edited: Jun.12.2007 @ 6:28 pm |
ManilaEraserheads
Maraming beses na kitang nilayasan
Iniwanan at ibang pinuntahan
Prang babaeng mahirap talagang malimutan
Iisa pa lang ang aking binabalikan...
Manila, manila
I keep coming back to manila
Simply
Ain't no place like manila
Manila i'm coming home
I walked the streets of san francisco
I've tried the ride in disney land
Dated a million girls in sydney
Somehow i feel like i don't belong
Hinahanap-hanap kita manila
Ang ingay mong kay sarap sa tenga
Mga jeepney mong nagliliparan
Mga babae mong naggagandahan
Take me back in your arms manila
And promis me you'll never let go
Promise me you'll never let go
Manila, manila
I keep coming back to manila
Simply
Ain't no place like manila
Manila i'm coming home
Hinahanap-hanap kita manila
Ang ingay mong kay sarap sa tenga
Mga jeepney mong nagliliparan
Mga babae mong naggagandahan
Take me back in your arms manila
And promis me you'll never let go
Promise me you'll never let go
Manila, manila
Miss you hell like manila
I'm coming home to stay...
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| Posted: Jun.12.2007 @ 5:29 pm |
 
Happy INDEPENDENCE DAY!June 12, 2007 marks the 109th Philippine Independence Day. Today also is my second year anniversary in Indonesia :-) but that's another story. Bilang paggunita sa ika-isang daan at siyam na taong kalayaan, alamin natin ang ating natatanging bayang sinilangan. |
The Philippines
7,107 Islands
The Philippines, a democratic country in Southeast Asia that declared its independence from Spain on June 12, 1898 but only obtained its full sovereignty on July 4, 1946, has a total land area covering 300,000 square kilometers (115,830 sq. miles) and distributed in 7,107 islands. According to the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority, 15,854,922 hectares or 53 percent of the country's total land area were forestlands while the remaining 14,145,078 hectares or 47 percent were alienable and disposable lands as of December 2000. The three major island groupings are Luzon (7 regions, 38 provinces), Visayas (3 regions, 16 provinces), and Mindanao (6 regions, 25 provinces).
World's 17th Largest Island
Luzon, with a total land area of 104,688 square kilometers is the world's 17th largest island (excluding continental masses of lands). Listed as the 19th largest island is Mindanao, with a land area of 94,631 square kilometers. The world's largest islands are Greenland (a Danish territory), with a total land area of 2.18 million square kilometers; New Guinea, 820,033 square kilometers; and Borneo, 743,107 square kilometers.
267,000 Square Kilometers of Coastal Waters
The coastal zones of the Philippines are composed of 11,000 square kilometers of land and 267,000 square kilometers of coastal waters.
41,960 Barangays
The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) reported that as of December 2001, the Philippines had 16 regions, 79 provinces, 114 cities, 1,496 municipalities and 41,960 barangays or villages. The newest province was Zamboanga Sibugay in western Mindanao while the newest city was Gapan in Nueva Ecija province. The most populated province as this was being written remained Cebu, with over 3 million residents while the least populated was Batanes, with less than 20,000 inhabitants. The largest province in terms of land area was Palawan, with 14,896 square kilometers while the smallest province was Batanes, with 209 square kilometers.
According to the Liga ng mga Barangay, the Philippines now has 41,960 barangays or villages. Each barangay in a municipality represents at least 2,000 people while each barangay in a highly urbanized city represents a minimum of 5,000 residents.
Metro Manila, 0.2 Percent of Land Area
Metro Manila, a conglomerate of 12 cities and five municipalities, has a total land area of 636 square kilometers and a population of over 10 million people, excluding transients or passing individuals. In proportion to the country's land size, the metropolis covers only 0.2 percent of the total land area of the Philippines but is the site of more than half of the country's largest companies. In 1999, Metro Manila contributed 34.7 percent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP); Southern Tagalog, 13.9 percent; Central Luzon, 8 percent; and the rest of the country, 43.4 percent.
200 Volcanoes
There are 200 volcanoes in the Philippines, 22 of them are said to be active. The archipelago also sits on the Philippine fault zone, a 1,300-kilometer active left-lateral strike-fault from Luzon to Mindanao. This is why earthquakes occur in the country.
20 Typhoons Each Year
Situated between latitude 21°25'N and 4°23'N and longitude 116°E and 127°E, the Philippines is a tropical country with an average year-round temperature of 27°C (82°F). The Philippine time is Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) plus eight hours. According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), about 20 typhoons visit the Philippines between June and October each year. In 1993, the Philippines had 32 typhoons, the highest in many years.
500 Dialects
According to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), there are 78 language groupings and over 500 dialects in the Philippines. While Filipino is regarded as the national language, it was mainly based on Tagalog (from the local phrase taga-ilog meaning residents near the river) language. The main language of instruction is English and the country's laws are also recorded in this language. Filipinos are said to be the world's second largest English-speaking people, after the Americans. This, of course, is subject to debate since only a few Filipinos actually talk in English on the street. |
The Filipinos
81.2 Million Filipinos
The National Statistics Office (NSO) placed the Philippine population at 79.5 million at the start of 2002. This number is expected to grow by 1.7 million or over 2 percent annually to 81.2 million by the end of 2002. This makes the Philippines the world's 14th most populous country in the world behind China, with 1.3 billion people; India, 1 billion; United States, 288 million; Indonesia, 218 million; Brazil, 176 million; Pakistan, 149 million; Nigeria, 147 million; Russia, 143 million; Bangladesh, 136 million; Japan, 127 million; Mexico, 100 million; Germany 82 million; and Vietnam, over 81 million. About 93 percent of the Philippine population is Christian, while the rest belongs to Islam and other religions. In 1799, Spanish historians said there were only 1,502,574 people living in the Philippines.
Population To Double in 28 Years
The Makati Business Club said that with an annual population growth rate of 2.36 percent, the total number of Filipinos would climb from 80 million at present to 97 million by 2010 and double to 160 million in 28 years.
34 Million Voters
As of 1998, there were 34.2 million registered Filipino voters who were grouped into 174,420 polling precincts in the whole country.
Half A Million More Men
Contrary to popular beliefs that women were as twice as many as men in the Philippines, the NSO said there are in fact more men than women in the country. In its latest estimate for 2002, the NSO said there were some 40 million Filipino men and 39.5 million Filipino women, resulting in a population discrepancy in sex of half a million.
Women Live Longer
Life expectancy is estimated at 72.2 years for Filipino women and 66.9 years for Filipino men. Around 38 percent of the population is younger than 15 years old and 28 percent belongs to the 15 to 24 age bracket. Population experts claim it would take 25 years before the Philippine population reaches its peak.
More Single Men Than Single Women
In the 2000 population census, the National Statistics Office (NSO) said that nearly 53 percent of the 25 million single people in the Philippines were males while only 47 percent were females. However, around 76 percent of the 2.6 million widowed persons were females and only 24 percent were males.
Half of Women Use Contraceptives
In its Family Planning Survey in 2001, the NSO said about 49.8 percent of married Filipino women, aged 15 to 49 years old, was using contraceptives. The NSO concluded that women in poor households were less likely to practice family planning than those in higher income families in the same manner that women who lacked formal education were less likely to observe birth control practices than those who at least had some schooling.
Majority of Filipinos Oppose Divorce
A survey conducted by local poll firm Social Weather Stations (SWS) in the fourth quarter of 2002 showed that 50 percent of its 1,200 respondents nationwide were opposed to divorce while only 36 percent agreed that divorce "is usually the best solution when a couple can't seem to work out their marriage problems."
The same survey showed that 50 percent of the respondents disapproved of cohabitation before marriage while only 35 percent agreed with the statement "It's a good idea for a couple who intend to get married to live together first."
At the same time, 61 percent of the respondents agreed while only 19 percent disagreed with the statement "Married people are generally happier than unmarried people." Around 93 percent of the respondents agreed with the statement "Watching children grow up is life's greatest joy."
91 Percent Proud to Be Filipinos
In a survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) in November 2001, 57 percent of the 1,200 respondents said they were very proud to be Filipinos while 34 percent claimed they were proud of their national identity. Only 9 percent said they were not proud and 1 percent claimed they were not proud at all of becoming Filipinos. The respondents also cited the following qualities of the Filipinos: God-centered, industrious, faithful, has convictions, responsible, peaceful and law-abiding, and loving and caring.
Happiest People in Asia
Despite the many problems hounding the Philippines, Filipinos still consider themselves as among the happiest people in the world. Results of regional surveys conducted by MTV-Asia, ACNielsen and the Economist magazine have indicated that Filipinos are the happiest people in Asia.
But in the World Values Survey conducted by University of Michigan in 1998, the Philippines was ranked 12th among 54 countries in the world in terms of happiness index. Among Asian countries, it was ranked first. According to the survey, the top ten happiest nations in the world were Iceland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Australia, Ireland, Switzerland, Great Britain and Venezuela.
World's 5th Largest Christian Population
According to the book Top 10 of Everything, the Philippines had the world's 5th largest Christian population. As of 2000, the Philippines reportedly had 72.225 million Christians, comprising 93 percent of its total population then. Countries with larger Christian populations than the Philippines were the United States, Brazil, Mexico, and China. Most Filipinos remain Catholics. The Protestants comprise only 8 percent of the population although they were growing at a faster rate than any other religion in the country.
32,000 Evangelical Churches
The Philippine Council for Evangelical Churches said that it had around 32,000 member-churches in the 1990s, which were expected to have risen to 50,000 by the end of 2000. About 27,000 of these evangelical churches have been established only in the past 25 years. About 1,400 American Christian missionaries were in the Philippines to help propagate the Gospel.
97 Percent of Filipinos Believe in God
A survey, mentioned by the Economist magazine, showed that 97 percent of Filipinos believe in God while 65 percent feel extremely close to Him. "This is more than double the percentage of the two runners-up in the survey - America and Israel," the Economist said. (Source: The Economist) 7 Million Filipinos Abroad
According to the Philippine Senate, some 7 to 8 million Filipinos live and work abroad, 2.5 million of them in the United States. There were 105,000 Americans in the Philippines in 1999.
The Philippine Overseas and Employment Administration (POEA) said that in 2001 alone, 866,590 Filipinos left the country on legitimate working visas to work abroad. This translates to 2,374 Filipinos leaving the country each day. OFWs sent a total of US$6.23 billion in dollar remittances to the Philippines in 2001. |
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| Posted: Jun.11.2007 @ 2:52 pm |
Headlines sa po nung nakaraang eleksiyon:
1. Pacquiao knocked out by a 90-pound Darlene Antonino Custodio.
2. PICHAY, pinulot sa kangkungan!
3. SOTTO, nabulaga!
4. CHAVIT, sumabit!
5. Tessie, nawalan ng malay T.A.O.
6. MONTANO, na out-shine!
7. GOMA, na flat!
8. LOZANO, nagka luslos!
9. WOOD, inanay!
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| Posted: Jun.09.2007 @ 1:20 pm | Lasted edited: Jun.09.2007 @ 12:52 am |
Isa sa mga dahilan ko ng paghahanap-buhay sa ibang bansa ay ang maka-ipon upang maka-pagsimula ng isang maliit na negosyo. Hindi rin naman kasi gugustuhin ng isang OFW na tulad ko na manilbihan sa dayuhang lupain ng habang buhay. Kailangan may safety net. Kung dumating man ang panahon na wala ng makuhang trabaho abroad at overage na naman para sa local jobs sa bansa may source of income pa rin para sa pamilya at personal na pangangailangan.
Ayoko maging employee na lang until my retirement years. For now I need to persevere, study, observe at magtipid. Iwas muna sa extra gastos na hindi naman priority. Mag-ipon habang may sumosobra pa sa sweldo. I will continue planning para sa negosyong balak kong simulan sa 2008 (hopefully)...
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| Posted: Jun.05.2007 @ 1:44 pm |
Ako ay inaantok
Nangangati ang batok
Gusto kong matulog
Lalo na't kumukulog
Ngunit kailangan kumayod
Habang di pa pagod
Malakas pa ang tuhod
At di uugud-ugod |
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| Posted: May.11.2007 @ 11:21 pm |
Eksakto 1:39 PM lumapag ang eroplanong sinakyan ko from Singapore. Nagsigawan pa nga mga pasahero kasi parang naunang lumapat ang kanang gulong causing a slight swerve along the runway. Parang "screeech" ng mga mabibilis na kotse sa mga sine. Pagewang gewang nga ang lipad ng eroplano while descending kaya hindi na ko nagtaka nung ganun din nangyari nung lumapag...Pero Shet nakauwi na rin sa Pinas kaya okay lang kahit magtamblengkong pa (wag naman sana)!!!
Sige tulog na kami ni lab at bakasyon muna ako sa blogging... be back in June hehehe
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| Posted: May.08.2007 @ 9:02 am | Lasted edited: May.07.2007 @ 7:27 pm |
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Pi Omicron Fraternity Supports Sen. Manny Villar!"Sipag at Tiyaga! D'yan tayo aasenso!"
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| The Pi Omicron Fraternity supports Senator Manny Villar for his re-election bid this May 14, 2007, and perhaps also for Presidential bid 2010. The brotherhood once again showed solidarity and astute judgment with this decision to endorse Sen. Pangilinan. Push Onward! |
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| Posted: May.08.2007 @ 8:11 am | Lasted edited: May.07.2007 @ 6:57 pm |
| Uwian na ang mga Pinoy dito sa Tangguh para makahabol pa sa huling
hirit ng tag-init, maki-fiesta at maka-boto. Ako ay uuwi na rin at syempre excited na ako. Last night, I already finished packing up my bag and cleaning my room. Two days na lang kasi and bye bye Indonesia muna ako to head back to my Inang Bayan. Dami kong na-miss sa Pinas even after only four months dito (rotation dito is 4 months on / 3 weeks off). Syempre una sa lahat ang family. During this stint from January to May talagang sobra ako na-homesick. I just devoted my time sa gym whenever I feel nostalgic, hoping to lose fat and build muscles hehe. Kakaiba dito unlike other places where Pinoys work. Here when someone is going home sigurado sunog sa araw (buti na lang sa office lang ako), mahaba ang buhok, walang balikbayan box at walang pera. Pagbalik galing Pinas baligtad. Fresh na fresh at gwapo, semi kalbo, may dalang mabigat na bagahe na punung-puno ng pasalubong at padala at maraming datung. Dito kasi wala naman kaming nare-receive na sweldo or allowance man lang. Kung magkano dala mong pera pag punta mo dito mababawasan lang yun, hindi na madadagdagan (unless pumusta ka kay Mayweather ng malaki hehehe). Kaya nga pag pauwi ako ingat na ingat sa Changi Airport kahit na nagmamadali para habulin ang connecting flight to Manila. Baka kasi makatabig ako ng kung anong babasagin sa mga shops sa tabi tabi. Naku wala akong ibabayad dahil yung konting natirang pera naibili na ng tsokolate at yosi pampasalubong. So, two days na lang at uuwi na ako. Masaya. Busy pa rin sa work hand over. Excited. Tinatamad na pumasok sa office. Hinihila na ang oras. Nag-aalala baka pumalpak ang gagawa ng maiiwan kong work (wow concerned!). Hanggang tenga ang ngiti! Yan ang mga mixed emotions ko ngayon. Ganyan din ako nung first, second, third and fourth stints ko dito. Walang pagbabago. Kaysarap umuwi sa sariling pamilya, bahay at bansa!
Nga pala wala ring beer or any alcoholic beverage dito sa Tangguh kaya ang mga mahilig mag lasing ay atat na atat na umuwi para matikman ang malamig na San Miguel Beer (suitable substitute daw kasi ito sa Viagra according to FDA). Sa kin tama na ang malamig na iced tea at isang mahabang kissing scene with mama.
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