Last week I posted some news about the kick off of Baguio’s Panagbenga Festival and just the other day I was able to get my photos from my visit to Cebu’s world-reknowned Fiesta known as Sinulog.How pinoys celebrate these different feast days all over the country is an exciting mélange of tradition and ritual mixed with modern tourism and one of a kind panache!
As a blogosphere respite from all the serious news as of late, I hope this post of the recent and ongoing fiestas in the Philippines serves as a colorful reminder of how beautifully rich and diverse Filipino can be!
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‘Ibon-Ebon’ festival in Candaba
CANDABA, Pampanga – Nearly 10,000 local and foreign tourists, including well-known political leaders in the country, flocked to this municipality on Friday to witness the two-day celebration of 3rd annual “Ibon-Ebon” (birds and eggs) festival.
Vice President Noli de Castro led the formal ceremonial opening of the Ibon-Ebon festivity here.
The wetlands of Candaba Swamp is known as a sanctuary of at least 14,000 registered migratory birds in the 2010 Asian census, consisting of at least 40 species.
The Candaba Swamp, one of the country’s main tourist attractions, serves as the birds’ home and stop-over point as they migrate from point to point in Asia and other parts of the globe.
The 3rd celebration showcased winged creatures and this town’s egg industry, including its aquaculture sector as well as the wildlife bird sanctuary here.
The two-day festival, which culminated Saturday, also featured bird dance presentations from three Candaba schools, and an original, all Candabeño drummers and performers; kite-flying contests, cook fests, exhibits, and a host of activities promoting bird culture and environmental protection.
The Ibon-Ebon Festival has also proven to be not just a showcase of more than 40 species of birds and tons of eggs laid, but a reunion of families and balikbayans from abroad, Mayor Jerry Pelayo said.
“Marami ang umuwi mula sa United States at iba’t-ibang bansa para personal na saksihan ang nagaganap na Ibon-Ebon Festival na kanilang napapanood sa television at nababasa sa mga pahayagan, tatlong taon na mula ngayon.”
Also featured in the festival is the exhibition of ultra light and remote controlled (RC) planes, and boat race – karera ng bangka.
(By Franco G. Regala)
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CEBU'S SINULOG
& A Pink Valentine’s Day Affair
Where you find corporate glass tower that reflects the sky as clearly as the nearby sea. Streets snaking through the busy cosmopolis and turning its rugged trail that leads to sprawling flower fields. And people forever seeking new excitement under the heartening sun – The Queen City of the South recently welcomed the Magic 89.9 DJs to Cebu for a weekend affair where we wined and dined to our hearts utter content!
On the heels of the hustle and bustle of Cebu’s world-famous Sinulog festival, the Magic family had the pleasure to relax and unwind at the Hilton Cebu Resort & Spa. Set in tropical gardens overlooking Mactan Island, the Hilton’s three pink towers reach into the sky and boast a picturesque ambiance that evokes the feel of the French Mediterranean. This was the beautiful backdrop as we set up our homebase for a Sinulog Celebration.
Viva Pit Senyor!
The Sinulog festival is one of the grandest and most colorful festivals in the Philippines with a very rich history. The main festival is held each year on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City to honor the Santo Niño, or the child Jesus, who used to be the patron saint of the whole province of Cebu (since in the Catholic faith Jesus is not a saint, but God).
It is essentially a dance ritual which remembers the Filipino people’s pagan past and their acceptance of Christianity.
The festival features some the country’s most colorful displays of pomp and pageantry: participants garbed in bright-colored costumes dance to the rhythm of drums, trumpets, and native gongs. The streets are usually lined with vendors and pedestrians all wanting to witness the street-dancing.
Smaller versions of the festival are also held in various parts of the province, also to celebrate and honor the Santo Niño. There is also a Sinulog sa Kabataan, which is performed by the youths of Cebu a week before the Grand Parade.
Aside from the colorful and festive dancing, there is also the SME trade fair where Sinulog features Cebu export quality products and people around the world flock on the treasures that are Cebu.
Recently, the cultural event has been commercialized as a tourist attraction and instead of traditional street-dancing from locals, Sinulog also came to mean a contest featuring contingents from various parts of the country. The Sinulog Contest is traditionally held in the Cebu City Sports Complex, where most of Cebu’s major provincial events are held.
Manny O’s affair with Wine
After having our fill at the Sinulog Parade, the Magic DJ’s were treated an evening of delicious extravagance at the wine haven of Manny Osmeña located at the beachfront of the Hilton Cebu Resort & Spa – eponymously named “Manny O’s!” Ever the jovial sommelier, Manny was at hand to give us a personal tour of his wine collection and sample some of his choice nectars, which are now available all over the Philippines.
“Wine is aromatherapy to the mouth… sophistication not intoxication,” says Manny O, who describes himself as a wine lover that loves the color pink.
“I love pink. The hotel, condominium and resort club is coral pink. The beach towels are pink and all my hotel cars will be in flamingo pink,” Manny explains, referring to the Cebu Hilton.
Manny Osmeña’s love of wine is often spoken about, either from him or from people who have been in his company. What drives it though is yet to be fully explained. While young, he never really liked alcohol until, as he explains it, “Discover the beauty and mystery of how the flavors of wine can have a dramatic effect on our emotions. I am magnetized by its sophistication, and not by its ability to intoxicate.”
We learned that Manny O’s passion is not driven by the science of winemaking either. The guiding belief he personally stands by is that “there is no right and wrong in pairing food and wine. As we are all culturally bound beings, common sense and taste are then guided by one’s background and culture. More so, there is no escaping the fact that one man’s food is truly another man’s poison. Trial and error whilst eating or drinking consciously edifies the dining experience – there is much more to it than filling one’s stomach. It has to register and in response, conclusions are made.”
Conciliation between culture and taste, adaptability and impression drives the discovery of varietals, and in Manny O’s case, generates the formulas to live, eat and drink by.
Cebu Hilton’s Valentine’s Getaway
Other than boasting an idyllic location to spend any sabbatical, the Cebu Hilton Resort & Spa is the perfect place to literally wine and dine your special someone this Valentine’s Day at their several restaurants! According to the Cebu Hilton’s beautiful Mia Sy, they will be celebrating a special Chinese Valentine Affair for Feb. 14.
Couples can have Romantic Dinner at Sea’s Restaurant which boasts a five-course dinner with violinist to set the mood for love. The dinner comes with a bottle of wine (your choice of red, white or rose) at P4,500 net per couple.
Then the season’s most indulging treat awaits with a Strawberry, Chocolate & Bubbly Buffet at Manny O’s at only P2,500 net per couple! The world is truly a global village with flying and travelling becoming a way of life. The marriage of food from different cultures has given birth to a New World Cuisine – food that runs a gamut of flavors, like most Asian dishes – this is the inspiration behind Manny O’s.
Couples can also indulge with an International Chinese Buffet at the Cebu Hilton’s Beach Garden. At P1,350+ per person, the dinner comes with a much anticipated Chinese Production Show. And after all these, a grand Fireworks Display will kick off at 8 p.m. for all guests to enjoy.
To book your special Chinese Valentines getaway experience, e-mail Hilton Cebu Resort & Spa at reservations.cebu@hilton.com or visit there website HERE.
Employers in business process outsourcing (BPO) sector were asked Tuesday to seriously tackle HIV/AIDS in the workplace after an increase in the number of positive HIV cases was noted among its workers.
Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino said that the BPO executives must face the matter with sensitivity in order not to alienate individuals in the workplace sick with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
“Instead of being irrationally defensive and trivializing the matter, BPO companies should face the problem and express collective concern given the work-related, unhealthy routine of their employees,’’ Palatino said in a statement.
“There is really a need to educate both the BPO workers and their employers.
Education and awareness is the resolution, not discrimination,’’ he said.
Palatino was reacting to a study conducted by the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) and the Department of Health-Philippine National AIDS Council (PNAC), which indicated an alarming HIV-prone lifestyle of some BPO workers.
The study showed that due to their environment and peer pressure, call center agents “tend to involve in risky sexual behaviors.’’
“More call center workers have early penetrative premarital sex and have had sex with same sex. Twenty percent of male call center agents are commercial sex workers while 14 percent of them give payment in exchange for sex,’’ the study said.
The study also revealed there are more call center agents who have a regular non-romantic sexual partner.
The study entitled: “Lifestyle and Reproductive Health Issues of Young Professionals in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu’’ was aimed at examining the economic, social and health status of young professionals less than 35 years old working at call centers and non-call centers.
It included 929 respondents from 35 BPO establishments, who have at least completed two years of college.
Authors of the study had underscored, however, that it is not safe to conclude that the higher prevalence of sexual risk behavior among call center workers can be attributed to working in the call centers.
But some BPO executives were too quick to justify the reported increase (in HIV among its workers), adding that they conduct HIV tests before hiring.
Palatino said the statements of the BPO executives were “discriminatory,’’ stressing that the HIV tests should be optional.
Citing Republic Act 8504 or the Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998, Palatino said "compulsory HIV testing shall be considered unlawful" and "discrimination, in all its forms and subtleties, against individuals with HIV or persons perceived or suspected of having HIV shall be considered inimical to individual and national interest.”
The party-list lawmaker said that BPO firms should use the study as a guide in seriously looking at the risky behavior of their workers.
In a related development, President Arroyo said that jobs in the BPO firms are expected to hit the one million mark within the year amid the continued growth of the industry.
It was supposed to be a fast joy ride showcasing the modern roads built in Urban Luzon Beltway (ULB) during her administration until the bus tour encountered traffic congestion.
President Arroyo displayed her famous temper Tuesday when the road trip along South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) in Laguna to C-5 in Quezon City veered off course and encountered traffic, delaying the hour-long bus ride by more than 45 minutes.
The President’s road trip started on a high note in Calamba City, Laguna, shortly after she visited Real Elementary School where she announced the signing of the 2010 national budget.
At 10:30 a.m. in Calamba, the President boarded an airconditioned Victory Liner bus and joined the several journalists and government officials for a motorcade along SLEX to C5 as part of the ULB tour.
Mrs. Arroyo, on a week-long tour in ULB, also wanted to show the media the planned interconnection of C5 to North Luzon Expressway towards the end of the motorcade.
At first, the President, seated in the middle of the bus, was all too giddy about the growth of the Urban Luzon Beltway, praising the 99 percent completion of the SLEX that has paved the way for faster transportation of goods and people.
The SLEX, according to South Luzon Tollway Corp president Isaac David, would be fully operational by April when the toll plaza system is established.
The presidential motorcade then made its first stop along the construction of the STAR-SLEX (Southern Tagalog Arterial Road-South Luzon Expressway) interconnection.
The President and her entourage went down the bus to inspect the construction, which she ordered should be completed by end of March.
Back on the bus, the President took pride of the modern road network in the Urban Luzon Beltway, saying people could look forward to quick travel when they tour the southern provinces during summer season.
Along the way, Mrs. Arroyo also hailed the brisk business activities particularly information technology and business process outsourcing companies in Laguna, which she hailed as the country’s Detroit and Silicon Valley.
An hour into the bus ride, the President’s mood turned sour when she noticed the traffic jam along Katipunan Avenue. The traffic jam was apparently caused by the vehicles coming out from the schools along Katipunan road.
She insisted that the Katipunan road should have no intersection since it is an expressway connected to C-5 highway and immediately directed public works officials to find a solution to the traffic congestion.
A few minutes later, the President blew her top when she found out the inspection of new interconnection project between C-5 and North Luzon Expressway, the last stop of the bus tour, would be held at the end of the road project.
Mrs. Arroyo insisted that the inspection of the road project should have taken place at the start of the construction along Tandang Sora and not in Mindanao Avenue in Novaliches, Quezon City.
As a result, the President's motorcade went through traffic jams while traversing Congressional Avenue and then Mindanao Avenue. The President said the government was building the interconnection from C5 to NLEX precisely to skip the heavy traffic gridlock along Quezon City.
"We are going to waste our time in things we should not see. We should have stopped at the place where the connection begins. The construction begins there," she said, referring to the road somewhere in Tandang Sora.
"We are going to spend so much traffic in the place," she added, while her close aides aboard the bus appeared frantic over the President's latest tirade.
Half an hour later, the President's motorcade ended near the inspection site of the underpass construction along Mindanao Avenue. But the President and her entourage had to walk some 50 meters to the briefing area since the bus was stuck in the mud.
Mrs. Arroyo was then heard reprimanding her protocol staff to arrange another briefing of the interconnection of C5 and NLEX in Tandang Sora on Wednesday.
In previous years, the President also took journalists on train rides and tours on the nautical highway in an effort to project her infrastructure transportation projects. But Tuesday’s bus ride was a new tactic to attract media attention to her government’s accomplishments in the Urban Luzon Beltway.
The Neiman Foundation for journalism at Harvard University has conceded to the emerging power of the blogsphere. The foundation explains that they are sharing the Web’s ethos, and it’s the job of the JOURNALIST to adapt…”Soon the word citizen journalist were joined in marriage and brokered by technology and nurtured by convenience as news organizations and their staff needed to produce content,” says the foundation. This is the era when technological change catches up with the times. Neiman adds now is the moment, as social media transforms how people receive news and information.
THE YELLOW BULLIES
The campaign period is about to commence in a few weeks. Noynoy Aquino will launch his bid in northern Tarlac, his home province, and Manny Villar Jr., in southern Laguna province. Joseph “Erap” Estrada will kick off his campaign at Plaza Miranda in Manila’s Quiapo district and administration bet Gibo Teodoro, a former Defense secretary, in Antipolo City, east of Manila. These gents still are leading popular surveys for presidential candidates.
With this, the blogsphere is festooned with a colorful spectrum of various political colors ranging from indigo to yellow. The Pinoy Buzz (owned by a Victorina council member) is unwavering in his support for Dick Gordon, while another council member vouches for the sincerity of Eddie Villanueva. Meanwhile, the jaundiced site of Barrio Siete (probably infected with hepatitis-K) and Ellen Tordesillas are so blinkered with yellow that it would terrorize other bloggers who resist tying the golden ribbon to their URL.
The members of the so-called “Black and White” movement would haul over the coals anyone not wearing YELLOW (whatever happened to the black and white shirts). Even the vociferous FM DJ could not escape the hostility of these yellow bullies who was warned by the yellow camp about talking negatively about Noynoy...
… And these are the very same people who claim to be stanch advocates of “liberty”-Unless we have forgotten, liberty, taking the word in its concrete sense, consists in the ability to choose.
The blogsphere is no different from traditional media when it comes to the harrying yellowists. Recently the Philippine Daily Inquirer concocted a Presidential Forum at the U.P. Diliman Theater. A famous campaign operative of a presidentiable bluntly told a Philippine Daily Inquirer staff; “Can you guarantee us, that you won’t spin the debate in favor of Noynoy?” Readers are becoming more and more skeptical to PDI’s signs of malignant jaundice… According to the PDI, the key question that the organizing committee faced was: Can columnists known for fearless views serve as fair-minded members of a debate panel?”
So how do we know that the blogs and newspapers we read are not “spinning” stories to favor their candidate?
This brings me to point out the importance of enacting the Freedom of Information bill authored by Sen. Allan Peter Cayetano. Once enacted, would make MANDATORY the posting in the web of important information especially those associated with graft and corruption- Even the statement of assets and liabilities (SALN) and government contracts would readily be available to bloggers . Verification of such stories used to be the major concern of traditional media and the Achilles' heel of the blogersphere. Geneva Overholser of Anneberg School of Journalism says “too often, those of us who’ve been about building communities seem to assume a kind of “how dare they!” attitude towards bloggers.
Now, all and sundry are entitled to post their own opinions in the World Wide Web - no matter how ludicrous their views may be. With the rivulet of information readily available with a click of a mouse, we can effortlessly weed-out worthless information and save constructive ones. Citizens are becoming vastly more powerful consumers and shapers of news. With the possible enactment of the FOI BILL, the less likely the jaundiced yellowists can torment the “Gordonites”, “Villarites” and “Gibonites”- Neither can traditional media men “spin” the public into jumping on to the yellow bandwagon. The more THEY practice this abysmal art of “spinning” of information to manipulate the public, the sooner THEY will fade into IRRELEVANCE…
With everything said let me share a quote from C. Wright Mills; “Freedom is not merely the opportunity to do as one pleases; neither is it merely the opportunity to choose between set ALTERNATIVES. Freedom is, first of all, the chance to formulate the available choices, to argue over them -- and then, the opportunity to choose.”
Mo Twister-Ramon Bautista poll education video: Better than Sexbombs’ “May Itlog?”
If the Sexbomb Dancers’s “May Itlog…” video left you scratching your head, perhaps this new instructional video can change that.
An instructional video s by (It’s better automated) I.b.a. Na Ngayon, the COMELEC’s revamped election website aimed to educate people about the electoral process, and disseminate canvassing information, features comedian Ramon Bautista and DJ Mo Twister assisting a confused grandmother as she votes using the new automated system.
Check out the Sexbomb's intructional video below. Which one do you like better? You be the judge.
"It is a big mystery why these candidates are committing financial suicide by deciding to spend so much money for so little in lawful income they could receive once in office. But the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism’s (PCIJ) database of the statements of assets and liabilities and net worth (SALN) filed by the five presidential candidates who have served in public office points to a bigger mystery: Rather than sliding to poverty because of fortunes they might have lost on elections, these candidates in fact managed to grow their wealth and net worth by smallto phenomenal amounts over the years."
Hindi Ako Magnanakaw...Pramis!
A billionaire and four other millionaires lead the pack of those who want to serve as the 15th president of the Philippines, all invariably swearing by an anti-poverty platform, and with some purposely harking on their poverty roots to spin and curry favor with majority of voters who are poor.
The costs and benefits of running and serving as president are a skewed equation. Various election and policy experts say that to run a decent campaign and win, a presidential candidate might have to fork out sums running from P2 billion to P6 billion. And yet the new president, if he keeps honest, would earn only P60, 000.00 a month or at most P4.68 million in six years, before tax. The total six-year income for the new president would add up to just P3.18 million, after tax.
It is a big mystery why these candidates are committing financial suicide by deciding to spend so much money for so little in lawful income they could receive once in office.
But the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism’s (PCIJ) database of the statements of assets and liabilities and net worth (SALN) filed by the five presidential candidates who have served in public office points to a bigger mystery: Rather than sliding to poverty because of fortunes they might have lost on elections, these candidates in fact managed to grow their wealth and net worth by small to phenomenal amounts over the years.
And the biggest mystery of all: The spike in these candidates’ declared net worth typically came after an election year—while they were serving in office and should not have benefited from other business or financial transactions. Too, the spike in their net worth even defied the slump in the local and global economy because of the financial crisis that visited in 1997 and again in 2008.
Indeed, the PCIJ’s extensive inquiry into the wealth of Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino 3rd, Jose Marcelo Ejercito (Joseph Estrada), Richard Juico Gordon, Gilberto Cojuangco Teodoro Jr. and Manuel Bamba Villar Jr. yielded curious results.
By all indications, expensive election campaigns had not made a serious dent on the personal wealth of these candidates.
For sure, their declarations suggest a tendency by some for token compliance with the law on SALN, a serious obligation of good governance on those who will serve as president. They enrolled only minimal data on their assets and stocks, some reported the same amounts to the last centavo for years, or did not disclose other assets and business and financial interests in their name or that of their spouse and family members that are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
A separate set of reports on campaign spending and contributions they filed with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) showed a consistent tendency by these candidates to understate their campaign expenses and shield the identities of their major campaign donors.
Net worth According to their SALN, the five candidates for president all belong to the country’s affluent minority, and have built their wealth on real estate, stocks and inherited assets.
Aquino (member of House of Representatives, 1998 to 2005, and senator since 2007) started with a net worth of P8.42 million in 1998, grew his wealth to P11.98 million in 2002, raised it further to P13.47 million in 2005, and ended 2007 with P13.94 million.
Estrada (movie actor, mayor of what is now San Juan City in Metro Manila 1968 to 1988, vice president 1992 to 1998 and president 1998 to January 2001) reported a net worth of P1.18 million in 1985, grew this to P3.82 million in 1992, and filed his last SALN in 1999 before his ouster from Malacañang at P35.86 million.
A PCIJ investigation in 2000 showed that Estrada, his spouses and children were listed as board members and beneficial owners of 66 corporations, mostly formed after he became vice president, including a dozen established during his 18-month stint as president. The recorded assets of 14 companies alone totaled more than P600 million as of the year 2000.
As well, since 1998, individuals or companies appearing to be fronting for Estrada or his family members acquired 17 pieces of property in swanky subdivisions in Metro Manila, Tagaytay City and Baguio City.
According to official zonal values and PCIJ’s estimates, these properties added up to about P2 billion by 2000.
Gordon (mayor of Olongapo City 1992 to 1995, 1998 to 1999 and 2004 to 2007, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority administrator 1995 to 1998, Tourism secretary 2001 to 2003 and senator since 2004) started with a net worth of P8.3 million in 1992, grew it to P11.87 million in 1995, P22.38 million in 2002, P24.92 million in 2005 and ended it at P26.52 million in 2007.
Teodoro (member of the House of Representatives 1998 to 2006, staff in the Office of the President in 2007 and Defense secretary from 2008 to 2009) started with a net worth of P80.17 million in 1998, slid to P75.54 million in 2002, did not file in 2003, grew it to P102.62 million in 2005 and closed it at P232.43 million in 2008 owing to a surge in the value of real-estate “inheritance” in Sampaloc, Manila. In 1998, Teodoro reported having “interest in 11 lots” in Sampaloc, Manila.
Villar (member of the House of Representatives 1992 to 1996 and 1998 to 2003 and senator since 2004) started with a net worth of P75.43 million in 1992, grew it to P310.92 million in 1996, P481.5 million in 2002, P750.82 million in 2005 and closed it at P1.05 billion in 2008.
Real assets By the declarations in their SALN, all five candidates for president own several big pieces of real estate and landholdings.
Aquino reported owning shares of stocks in the Cojuangco family-owned Hacienda Luisita that he said were worth an unchanging P718,430 from June 1998 to June 2007, but which rose in value to P761,144 in December 2007.
While his son, reelectionist Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, reportedly owning 12 pieces of real property (a house and lot, four residential lots, a farmlot, a townhouse and five condominium units) over the years, Joseph Estrada had been consistently paltry with details of his real property assets. The vast real estate holdings of Estrada have had to be uncovered by the PCIJ in 2000.
Gordon was the most detailed about the type, value and nature of his real property holdings. In his SALN, he reported that these were worth P6.89 million in 1992, rose to P12.40 million in 1995, P34.2 million in 2002, P35.52 million in 2006 and ended at P45.43 million in 2007.
In 1998, Teodoro declared three pieces of real property: a condominium unit in Makati City that he said he purchased for P30 million, a residential house in Makati City that he said he built for P10 million and “interest in 11 lots” in Sampaloc, Manila, that he valued at P14 million. His total real assets as of 1998: P54 million.
Until 2004 or for six years’ running, Teodoro enrolled the same unchanged values for his real assets in his SALN. But in 2005, he upped the values of the same three pieces of real property: Makati condominium, P32.5 million; “interest in real estate” in Sampaloc, Manila, P26 million; and Makati City residential lot, P25 million, for a total of P83.5 million.
In 2007, his mathematics failed. Teodoro enrolled a wrong total for the value of the same real assets at P100.97 million, even as he reported only the following details: Makati City condominium, P32.5 million; interest in real estate in Sampaloc, Manila, P26 million; and Makati City residential lot, P25 million. Based on only these assets, the correct total should have been just P83.5 million still.
A big surprise came in 2008, when Teodoro suddenly racked up the values of the same three pieces of real property, albeit with still an erroneous total value. He reported this time that his Makati City condominium unit was worth P39.98 million; interest in real estate in Sampaloc, Manila, P125.74 million; and the Makati City residential lot, still P25 million. His SALN in 2008 reported a total value of the assets at P205.04 million, when the right sum should have been only P190.72 million.
Villar disclosed the following real assets in his SALN from 1992 to 1995: residential property in BFRV Las Piñas City (Metro Manila) that he said he “purchased” for P2.8 million, residential property in BF Vista Grande purchased for P115,000; residential property in BF International, Las Piñas City , purchased for P65,000; residential property in Putatan, Muntinlupa City (also in Metro Manila), purchased for P521,370; residential property in San Nicolas, Cavite, purchased for P412,360; and residential property on Naga Road in Las Pinas City purchased for P800,000.
The total value of these six declared real assets of Villar as of December 1995 added up to just P4,713,730. In 1996, however, he stopped listing his pieces of property and instead reported that these were worth only P4.09 million.
From June 1998 to December 2001, Villar enrolled the same unchanged value for his pieces of real property, minus the details: P4.59 million.
From June 2004 to June 2007, Villar did not report any amount for the real assets he owned. In December 2007, he resumed reporting his real assets, this time with a bigger value of P19.52 million. He reported the same unchanged amount as the value of his real assets in December 2008.
Villar did not list among his real assets the vast residential estate on Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City (also in Metro Manila) of the late senator Salvador “Doy” Laurel, the last of the Laurels to preside over the Nacionalista Party.
According to Villar’s staff themselves, the house, which now serves as NP headquarters, was acquired by Villar at about the same time that he inherited the mantle of the NP from Laurel in 2003.
Cars, cash, stocks In terms of other assets, stocks top the list for most of the five candidates. In addition, they reported variably small to fabulous pieces of cars, jewelry, books and art works that they own.
Aquino reported only in December 2007 that he had jewelry worth P300,000. It was only in 2001 that he declared owning a car worth P850,000. In 2004, his motor vehicles assets grew to P2.05 million, rose to P.5.05 million in June 2007 and slid to P3.95 million in December 2007 because he said he “acquired (a) 650I Coupe for P4.8 million” but sold his Isuzu Trooper for P850,000.
He reported that his stock investments’ value was static at P5.05 million from June 1998 to December 2002, slid to P4.96 million the next year and grew again in June 2007 when he reported “money market placements” of P2 million, on top of his stock portfolio of P4.75 million.
Aquino’s “cash on hand and in bank” declarations showed very little progress. In June 1998, he declared having cash on hand worth P523,918 and cash in bank of P1,838,150. Six months later, he grew these amounts to P823,918 and P2,147.996, respectively.
Curiously, his cash on hand stood at the same amount of P823,918 until June 2007, even as his cash in bank peaked at P6,149,408 in December 2004, before dipping again to P2,910,827 in June 2007. Aquino reported in December 2007 that he had “receivables” of P323,918, cash on hand and in bank of P2,910,163, including P400,000 worth of “firearms.”
Gordon reported owning jewelry worth P200,000 in 1998, and grew this to P500,000 by December 2007, apart from P555,000 more in appliances and home furnishings. Like Aquino, he did not report any value for his books.
The various motor vehicles that Gordon declared he owned from 1992 to 2007 fluctuated in value from P2.38 million at the start, rose to P4.35 million in 1997, slid to P1.77 million in 2001, and further down to P839,000, and finally P120,000 in 2007, apparently because of imputed depreciation costs.
In 2007, he said that his motor vehicles’ value had risen to P1.32 million, the combined value of a 1987 Mustang that he bought in 1992 and a 2005 Fortuner.
The same roller-coaster swing marked Gordon’s cash on hand values: From P1.02 million in 1992, these dipped to P655,000 in 1994, climbed to P1.8 million in 1995, dipped again to P725,000 in 1997, soared again to P4.9 million in 2000, slipped again to P1.02 million in 2003 and closed 2007 at P1.32 million.
The stock investments Gordon declared tracked an up-down movement. He began with only P52,768 in 1992 (he said these were stocks in Philex Mining, First Philippine Holdings, Atlas and San Miguel Corp.).
This swelled to P2.65 million in December 1995 and jumped to P5.77 million in December 1999. He reported the unchanged value for his stocks portfolio in the next six years or until December 2005. In 2006 and 2007, Gordon said his stocks had thinned slightly to P5.77 million.
Most transparent Of the five candidates, Gordon is the most detailed and forthcoming in his SALN declarations.
He has disclosed over the years that his stock investments included the following:
STOCKS YEAR ACQUIRED PESO VALUE
Philex Mining Corp 1973 P 36,652
First Phil Holdings, Inc 1973 8, 778
Atlas Consolidated Mining Co. 1973 3, 543
San Miguel Corp. 1973 to 1999 910,139
Lepanto Consolidated (P34.00 per share)
Central Azucarera de Don Pedro P405, 000
Jollibee Foods Corp. 2, 659, 604
Aboitiz Equity Ventures 31, 200
Pilipino Telephone Corp. 1, 014, 000
Petron Corp 23, 000
Meralco 116, 250
Filinvest 371, 250
C&P Homes 111, 250
Kepphil Shipyard Inc. 75, 978
Teodoro, meanwhile, owned the biggest amount of jewelry, starting with P10 million in 1992 and closing at P11.9 million in 2008.
The value of motor vehicles he owned charted a rise-fall path: From P3 million (same amount from 1992 to 2003), it tripled to P10.35 million in 2003, dipped by half to P4.3 million in 2005, quadrupled to P17.47 million in 2007 and rose further to P19.55 million in 2008.
As strange is the sudden surge in Teodoro’s stocks portfolio since 2007. In 1998, he first declared owning stocks valued at P5.20 million. He enrolled the same amount, to the last centavo, in the next seven years, or until 2005. He did not submit his SALN in 2003, however.
In 2007, though, Teodoro’s SALN enrolled a bigger entry for “stocks [equity paid]” of P11.85 million. The next year, 2008, this grew further to P11.93 million.
Teodoro’s SALN seem to repeat the same values year after year. His “cash on hand and in bank” stood at the same amount of P7,961,731.82 in 1998 and 1999; and P8,946,268 in 2000 and July 2001.
The amount increased slightly to P9.9 million in 2002, but dipped sharply to P5.76 million in 2004, and on to P5.36 million in 2005. Curiously, again in 2007, Teodoro’s cash pile doubled to P10.06 million, before sliding back to P8.5 million in 2008.
Stingy with data Villar, the wealthiest of the five candidates, is the stingiest with details offered in his SALN.
For instance, in June 1992, he offered a general entry of P200.8 million to represent the value of his stocks, and P715.9 million, “other assets.”
In 1993, Villar reported having “cash on hand and in bank” of P134 million, and in 1994, P153.8 million.
The Villars are known to have a number of family-owned corporations in the real estate sector, including Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. that raised several billion pesos at its initial public offering in 2007.
Villar, however, does not list Vista Land in his SALN among his business and financial interests. What he had disclosed are shares in companies with controlling interests in Vista Land, notably Fine Properties Inc. (since 1982) and Adelfa Properties (since 1986).
He has also declared his interests in M.B.Villar Co. Inc. (since 1989), Macys Inc. (since 1989), Mooncrest Property Development Inc. (since 1991) and C&P Homes (since 1994).
Fine Properties and Adelfa Properties are majority shareholders of Vista Land that counts Villar’s sons Manuel Paolo Aguilar Villar, 34, and Mark Aguilar Villar, 32, among seven board directors. Manuel Paolo is also treasurer of Vista Land.
A huge, publicly listed homebuilder, Vista Land had posted a core net income of P3.015 billion for 2008, up by 42 percent from previous year’s P2.123 billion. In disclosure reports to the stock exchange, Vista Land reported revenues from real estate sales of P10.436 billion in 2008 or 27 percent more than the P8.224 billion it earned in 2007.
By 2008, the firm’s total consolidated assets stood at P52.252 billion, up from P44.44 billion in 2007.
Peso values only All that Villar offered in his SALN over the years are the peso values of his stocks. For instance, he reported stocks worth P189.57 million in 1995 and P190.3 million in 1996.
For five years from 1998 to 2003, he declared the same amount, to the last centavo, of the stocks he said he owned: P200,837,890. Again in 2007 and 2008, Villar reported the same amount, to the last centavo, of his stocks: P208,684,740.
What has fattened enormously is Villar’s cash pile. The “cash on hand and in bank” of Villar tripled from P33.6 million in 1995 to P125.5 million the next year. The 1996 total doubled to P274.9 million in 2002.
Villar gave no details of his cash on hand and in bank from 2003 to June 2007.
Six months later in December 2008, he reported a new amount that was four times more than his 2002 disclosure: P818.45 million, or about 80 percent of his total net worth of P1.05 billion in 2008.
The big strides in Villar’s net worth occurred even as he said he did not incur a single centavo of liabilities or loans from 1995 to 2008.
Liabilities Unlike Villar, the four other candidates for president reported liabilities.
Aquino listed his income tax payments as his liabilities starting 1998, and in 2005 incurred a loan of P5.1 million from an unnamed agency. His liabilities increased to P2.37 million in 2007.
Estrada reported zero liabilities in 1987 but every year thereafter increased it from P5.95 million in 1987 to a peak of P22.07 million in 1993, and in his last SALN in 1999 reported it at P12.95 million.
Gordon disclosed his liabilities at P2.46 million in 1992, soared to P23.10 million in 2002, dipped to P19.20 million in 2006 and peaked at P29.29 million in 2007.
Teodoro reported no liabilities in 1998 to 1999 but from 2000 to 2002, placed his liabilities at the same amount of P7 million. In 2003, his liabilities rose to P9.4 million, dipped to P6.1 million in 2004, peaked to P24 million in 2007 and declined to P17 million in 208.
He did not file his SALN in 2003 and 2006. Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
PINOYS GO FOR THE GUINNESS WORLD RECORD! Students perform the native dance tinikling during the Pasinaya 2010 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Pasay City on Sunday. They are aiming for spot in the Guinness Book of Records for the most number of tinikling pairs.
If the scheduled May 2010 elections were held today, Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. and Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada would come out on top of the senatorial race, results of the latest Pulse Asia preelection survey showed. “Currently leading the senatorial race is Sen. Revilla whose overall voter preference of 51.9 percent translates to a statistical ranking of first to second places, putting him in a virtual tie with Senator Estrada [50.4 percent], who is ranked first to third,” Pulse Asia said.
Following Revilla and Estrada, both movie actors, in the upper half of the winning 12 were Sen. Pilar Juliana “Pia” Cayetano (ranked second to fourth with 46.8 percent) and former Sen. Franklin Drilon (ranked third to sixth with 43.2 percent). Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago (41.2 percent) and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile (39.7 percent) were tied from fourth to sixth places.
Other probable winners are former senator and National Economic and Development Authority Director General Ralph Recto (34.4 percent), former Senators Sergio Osmeña 3rd (31.6 percent) and Vicente “Tito” Sotto 3rd (30.5 percent); Sen. Manuel “Lito” Lapid (29.7 percent); Rep. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. of Ilocos Norte (26.3 percent); and Jose de Venecia 3rd (24 percent), the whistle blower in the national broadband scandal.
Also within striking distance of winning a Senate seat, Pulse Asia said, are Rep. Rozzano Rufino “Ruffy” Biazon of Muntinlupa City, Metro Manila (19.8 percent), Rep. Teofisto Guingona 3rd of Bukidnon (19.7 percent) and lawyer Alexander Lacson (19.1 percent). The three of them ranked from 13th to 15th.
Pulse Asia said that about one in 10 Filipinos, or 10.9 percent does not support any of the senatorial candidates for the May 2010 elections—much higher than the December 2009 figure of 3.4 percent.
“This is possibly due to the use of a sample ballot listing 62 names for the senatorial race [now],” it added.
Lapid and Rep. Ana Hontiveros Baraquiel of Akbayan party-list were the only two senatorial candidates who had their voter preference improve significantly between December 2009 and January 2010.
Lapid got an improvement of plus 6.6 percentage points and Baraquiel, 6.2 percentage points.
Meanwhile, support for several senatorial candidates declined during the period, with the biggest drop recorded by Santiago (minus 10.2 percentage points).
The latest Pulse Asia survey on senatorial candidates was conducted from January 22 to January 26, 2010 using face-to-face interviews of 1,800 representative adults.
It has margins of error of plus or minus 2 percent for the national level and plus or minus 6 percent for Metro Manila, plus or minus 4 percent for the rest of Luzon and plus or minus 5 percent each for the Visayas and Mindanao.BY ROMMEL C. LONTAYAO
Recently, actress Ara Mina who is running for the 2nd district (Quezon City’s biggest district) of Quezon City guested in the show of Mo Twister, IMO.Ara Mina was given a barrage of cushy questions that even a 5th grader could have answered with flying colors.Unfortunately, Ara Mina answered Mo’s questions with ludicrous answers;Even my 5 year old nephew couldn’t help giggling at her dim-witted answers. But what really makes Quezon City politics peculiar is that Ara Mina still tops all the surveys!
I’m sorry to say this, but after the interview with Mo, I feel that the Quezon City celebs running for office are a bunch of yo-yos and I feel sorry for Quezon City… And yes, IMO’s subsequent guest Arnel Ignacio didn’t do justice to celbs either.Martin Luther King Jr. once said thatnothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. To top it all, the stupid candidates in the City of the Stars are cocksure while the more intelligent and sincere candidates are full of doubt!
Mo Twister blog says I Thank God I don't live in Quezon City. “I can't control my excitement for the upcoming elections! Unfortunately, some of my excitement does often turn to worry. I worry because we have regularly voted in the wrong people (happens every time), and then we get stuck with them for what seems like an eternity. They come from all walks of life and from unique industries but no industry is more highlighted than show business.
This year, as usual, there is a long list of celebrities vying for a variety of spots--from councilor all the way to a Presidential re-election. My question is: have you ever voted for a celebrity politician? If this is your first time to vote, I'll modify it to would you vote for a celebrity politician?” Mo Twister adds “The reason why I love Ara Mina is because at the end of the clip, she says she is against the Anti-Pornography Bill. That a girl! (That's sarcasm in case you didn't smell it).”
I suggest that the Quezon City celebrities follow this Hollywood cliche; Open mouth, insert foot. Do not engage mouth until brain is in gear. 'Tis better to keep silent and be thought a fool, than open one's mouth and remove all doubt. We've heard these cliches since childhood, but thankfully for our entertainment value, many celebrities missed out on such valuable lessons. Some of what they say is funny, some is just plain sad… Finally, a bit of advice from Forrest Gump- Stupid is as stupid does!
“Nonetheless, the mahirap [poor] tack seems to be working, going by an analysis of the latest survey results. Emboldened by these findings, Villar’s propaganda juggernaut is taking the offensive with this formula—which strikes some observers as the equivalent of class warfare…Name recall” is what communication professionals call this phenomenon—and politicians willingly give up fortunes, theirs as well as the public’s, to grab this edge. Villar’s rivals evidently failed to anticipate that he was gaining an important advantage over them…While the senators were angrily debating the SCOW report, most of the other presidential aspirants—notably Aquino—chose to keep a low profile. They let Villar occupy center stage… As the poet and writer Oscar Wilde said, “There is only one thing worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about.”
There’s a Sucker born every Minute
Phineas Taylor Barnum was a 19th century American businessman and entertainer. It was he who popularized the term “showman,” which was also used to describe what he was best at.
Several famous quotations have been attributed to him, rightly or wrongly. “I don’t care what they say about me so long as they spell my name right,” is one of them.
The gurus of mass communication, self-styled or otherwise, have gone on to give that memorable P.T. Barnum quotation a twist, “any publicity is good publicity.”
The theory seems to be grounded on fact. Case in point: Manuel Villar.
The latest surveys show him neck and neck in the presidential race with Noynoy Aquino, making up for the ground he lost months back when Ninoy and Cory’s son was persuaded by his Liberal Party mates to throw his hat in the ring.
A more recent opinion poll showed Villar in a “statistical tie” with Aquino.
In unveiling their survey results, the pollsters invariably commented that Villar was able to whittle down Aquino’s lead while the C-5 controversy was heating up again in the Senate.
Experts in “deconstruction” will likely detect a measure of frustration in that particular comment. Widespread was the expectation that the report of the Senate committee of the whole (SCOW) would prove fatal to Villar’s presidential bid.
His political ambitions would not survive the SCOW’s conclusions that Villar had intervened in the design and execution of the C-5 Road extension project to benefit his real-estate companies and that therefore he deserved censure for blatant conflict of interest.
The SCOW findings gave heart to Villar’s political rivals and other quarters that never saw him as fit for the presidency in the first place. The brouhaha, however, produced an altogether unexpected effect—“unexpected,” especially by those who failed to reckon with P.T. Barnum’s insight.
The more his adversaries in the Senate and elsewhere pressed their case against the Villar, the larger the media mileage he got. Best of all, the publicity cost him nothing—not that it would have mattered to a candidate who seems so ready to throw his money around.
For a couple of weeks or so, not a day passed when Villar’s name and face did not land on the front page of the national dailies or the top-story lineup of radio and TV newscasts. While the accompanying text tended to cast him as the epitome of bureaucrat-capitalism, it did not apparently matter to the bulk of news consumers.
All that mattered to this segment of the populace was that Villar was being talked about a lot. And when the pollsters came around asking them about their preferences, the name of the most prominent newsmaker of the day came to mind automatically.
“Name recall” is what communication professionals call this phenomenon—and politicians willingly give up fortunes, theirs as well as the public’s, to grab this edge.
Villar’s rivals evidently failed to anticipate that he was gaining an important advantage over them. While the senators were angrily debating the SCOW report, most of the other presidential aspirants—notably Aquino—chose to keep a low profile. They let Villar occupy center stage.
Even during those days when he chose not to show up at the Senate, Villar managed to keep the public’s attention focused on him.
As the poet and writer Oscar Wilde said, “There is only one thing worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about.”
When Villar did show up on the Senate floor Tuesday, his refusal to grant his colleagues the courtesy of interpellation ensured that only his attempts to refute the charges against him would lead news reports.
The constant repetition of the charges against Villar has had the effect of embedding his name in the popular consciousness—especially among those segments of the population who have neither the skills nor the inclination to grasp what his detractors are saying about him.
What Villar is accused of involves such complicated issues that trying to understand them tends to give even the well-educated a headache. He allegedly violated so many laws and ethical standards that lawyers would be hard pressed explaining them in a language the man in the street can easily understand.
And this is obviously why the billionaire Villar has opted to portray himself as an offspring of the same kind of grinding poverty that afflicts so many Filipinos—especially those who belong to what statisticians euphemistically call “Class E.”
Villar has been playing up his purportedly humble roots as the son of a fishmonger—although, as noted in earlier editions of this column, the business of selling fish requires the sort of capital not ordinarily available to the truly poor.
Nonetheless, the mahirap [poor] tack seems to be working, going by an analysis of the latest survey results. Emboldened by these findings, Villar’s propaganda juggernaut is taking the offensive with this formula—which strikes some observers as the equivalent of class warfare.
To be sure, the presidential election is still three months away. And as the saying goes, “There’s many a slip betwixt cup and lip.”
Nevertheless, the Villar campaign offers many valuable lessons for students of mass communication—especially on how to turn the proverbial sow’s ear into a silk purse.
By the way, P.T. Barnum is also supposed to have also said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Like the legendary showman, the senator evidently knows where to find them. By Dan Mariano
By: Connie Veneracion (columnist, Manila Standard Today)
Actress Ara Mina (real name Hazel Klenk Reyes), daughter of former Quezon City Rep. Chuck Mathay, has filed her certificate of candidacy for the Quezon City council (second district). She recently appeared in a television show called I.M.O. hosted by Mo Twister. A portion of that interview has been making the rounds on the Internet. Below is a partial transcript with translations enclosed in parentheses:
Mo Twister: “Now, Ara, let’s play something from the lightning round. All I’m gonna do is ask you if you’re for or against a certain topic...”
Ara Mina (laughing): “Okay...”
Mo Twister: “First, private armies...”
Ara Mina: “Ano’ng sasabihin ko (What will I say)?”
Mo Twister: “For or against... do you like private armies, or...”
Ara Mina: “For.”
Mo Twister: “Do you wanna expound on that? That’s a very controversial answer... especially considering what happened in Maguindanao...”
Ara Mina: “You know, ano eh, that’s why I didn’t answer your question kung against ako or for sa Maguindanao kasi, lately, hindi ko nasusundan yung news about the... ah... especially about the Maguindanao thing. So it’s hard to comment lalo na if you don’t know the real story, di ba? (You know, that’s why I didn’t answer your question if I am against or for Maguindanao because, lately, I haven’t been following the news about the... ah... especially about the Maguindanao thing. So it’s hard to comment especially if you don’t know the real story, right?)”
Mo Twister plays a patched in phone comment from a viewer who expresses her disappointment that someone whom she thought was an intelligent actress had not been following the Maguindanao issue which had been on the news for a month.
Mo Twister: “... If you have not been following the Maguinadao issue which, again, has been everyday on the news and you are running for politics, that could be disheartening for a lot of people...”
Ara Mina: “It’s everyday nga eh, kung baga eh, more than a month nang nasa news ‘yan. Ahmmm, I’ll be honest, every time I watch the news, medyo, nakaka-depress eh. Pag nanonood ka, patayan dyan, patayan dito (Yes, it’s everyday, like, it’s been on the news for more than a month. Ahmmm, I’ll be honest, every time I watch the news, I get depressed. When you watch, it’s killing here, killing there)... Of course, I want to know what’s happening in our country, but napanood ko na yung ilang news, parang sobrang nade-depress ako... ”
Mo Twister (interrupting): “Yah, but the thing about that, Ara, is that you are running for... public office, and in public office especially in a country like ours that struggles, it’s very depressing situations... in your city... and you have to be able to strengthen yourself...”
Ara Mina (interrupting): “Hindi, eh, kasi I always go out at hindi ko afford lagi manood ng news so sometimes, I receives news... sa text... sometimes, nakakabasa ako ng diyaryo. So, hindi ko talaga... pero, alam ko yung nangyari, hindi ko lang alam yung sobrang details... kasi, mayroon din akong inaaasikaso sa district ko (No, see, because I always go out and I can’t afford to watch the news all the time so sometimes I receive news as text messages... sometimes, I am able to read the newspaper. So, I really don’t... but I know what happened, I just don’t know all the details because there are also things I am taking care of in my district)...”
I am tempted to end this column right here and just let you react to the exchange between television host and guest. But, to be fair to Ara Mina, I can appreciate her statement about feeling depressed every time she watches the news. I don’t think she’s alone in feeling that way, thanks to a sensational media with its penchant for choosing news items that are either too gory, too sad or too scandalous. When we watch the news on television, it often seems that the only light-hearted events are those related with trivia and entertainment.
But, to be fair to this country and its electorate, it takes more than a passing knowledge of news events to be able to become an INFORMED legislator. And this is true whether a candidate is running for the city or municipal council, the provincial board, the House of Representatives or the Senate. No one can author, sponsor, co-sponsor or support a bill unless one has dug deep into the subject that it covers.
The Maguindanao murders may have taken place in Mindanao but the existence of private armies is a nation-wide issue. Many, many, many politicians, in the rural areas as well as in urban centers, maintain private armies, whether in the form of special police assignments or hired goons.
So, a candidate for the Quezon City council cannot dismiss the Maguindanao murders as though it were totally irrelevant to political realities in Quezon City. If all other candidates as uninformed and as unqualified as Ara Mina is, in the local and national levels, think that the important thing is to win first and do an on-the-job training later to become a responsibly informed public official, think again. Your intentions may be good but this country needs and deserves more. Taxpayers aren’t obliged to pay for your education. Educate yourselves first and when you are sufficiently informed and able, present yourselves again for the perusal of the electorate. That’s the mature way of doing things.
Gay Scandal in Cebu Diocese
Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal turned 79 on Saturday—even as a controversy over which religious order should manage a popular shrine in a monastery in Sibonga continued to hound his archdiocese.
The Marian Monks Eucharistic Adoration are running the shrine, but a member that the monks have expelled—Venancio Cabillon—claims the monastery should be run by another and more deserving religious order.
Cabillon, the former Brother Paul Mary of the popular Lidogon Shrine—and a self-confessed gay—was expelled from the Marian Monks on Jan. 10 last year, and allegedly for violating his religious vows. But Cabillon claims he resigned his post at the monastery four days earlier, on Jan. 6, because of a brewing conflict with other monks.
Vidal, a native of Marinduque, celebrated his birthday with friends and parishioners from the Archdiocese of Cebu, which he has been serving for 27 years.
Vidal is among the respondents that Cabillon sued for libel and perjury before the Cebu Provincial prosecutor’s office last October, and they include Abelio Mangila or Brother Martin Mary, Cabillon’s father superior, and Monsignors Cristobal Garcia and Marnell Mejia, the business manager and editor in chief, respectively, of the newsletter Ang Bag-ong Lungsoranon.
It was the newsletter that published Cabillon’s expulsion from the congregation, but the case arising from his removal is now under mediation.
Cabillon claims that he decided to leave the Lindogon Shrine because of the corruption within the monastery—including the staging of a beauty pageant that he had joined against his will but in which he was declared first runner-up.
He hopes will mediate in the conflict and decide what to do with the management of the Lidogon Shrine, which started to draw thousands of devotees after the statue of the Virgin Mary allegedly shed tears on Sept. 8, 1998.
Vidal should investigate the Marian Monks for possible violations of monastic requisites, he says, because as caretakers of the shrine, they may not have the numbers required of a religious congregation. A religious order should have at least 20 members, he says.
No one from the order would comment on Cabillon’s comments.
Cabillon claims that the name of the order was changed twice by the congregation, “just like a business,” and that it was Manguila the Brother Martin Mary who initiated the changes.
The order was based in Pampanga and was known as the Brothers of Mary of the Child Jesus before it moved to Cebu in 2002.
It became the Marian Brothers of the Eucharistic Adoration, and finally the Marian Monks, when Mangila started reporting on the supposed miracles produced by Mother Mary’s icon.
“Instead of attaining union with God and practicing the strictest self discipline, the monks inside are sinful, with the process of becoming a monk cut short instead of the slow and extensive progression,” Cabillon said.
The archdiocese should deal with the order as it could simply be another cult whose members are getting rich by misleading the public, Cabillon said. He says he is pushing ahead with his libel case.
Monsignor Binghay, the episcopal vicar of the Cebu Archdiocese, says the church is still investigating the case, and that the investigation could take a few more months.
“For now, the visitations of the Our Lady to other towns in the province are still suspended,” he said.
Leticia Saycon, a devotee, says she has been seeing less people people visiting the shrine compared with those last year. But Edwin Fonghe, a surgeon who has been helping Cabillon in his case, says no one can shake the faith of the people who believe in Mary.
“Out of that faith I served the shrine as music ministry head at no cost for eight years, but I left when I sensed that there were inhumane acts being practiced by the very people who were managing the shrine,” he said.
Should MARRIAGE have an expiration date?
QUOTE of the DAY
We lie in the lap of immense intelligence.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
TopBlogs.com.ph
HACKERS TOY WITH TWITTER
Microblogging site Twitter was rendered inaccessible for a short time on Friday after hackers targeted the site.
Calling themselves the Iranian Cyber Army the hackers apparently managed to change DNS records, redirecting traffic to another Web page. Instead of the usual Twitter site design, visitors to the site instead saw a black screen with an image of a green flag and Arabic writing.
The defaced site also included a message that said, “This site has been hacked by Iranian Cyber Army,” along with an e-mail address.
“The USA thinks they control and manage internet access, but they don’t. We control and manage the Internet with our power, so do not try to incite Iranian people,” the message continued. Those attempting to access the site via Tweetdeck, Hootsuite or the dozens of other third-party clients that give access to Twitter received only errors.
Whether or not Iranian hackers were responsible for the attack wasn’t immediately clear. However, Twitter and other Internet sites have been used by Iranian opposition groups and protestors to share details of anti-government protests in that country. Meanwhile, Twitter blamed the outage on changes made to the company’s DNS (Domain Name System) records, which match the company’s domain name with the IP addresses of its servers.
“Twitter’s DNS records were temporarily compromised but have now been fixed,” the company said in a statement, “We are looking into the underlying cause and will update with more information soon.” Based on Twitter’s account of the attack, it is possible that the company’s servers were never compromised. The actual attack may have instead targeted Dyn, the DNS service provider that manages Twitter’s DNS records, according to whois records.
Whatever the cause, the outage left Twitter users cut off from the service for about an hour, though the type of attack wasn’t serious, according to Dhillon Andrew Kannabhiran, founder and chief executive officer of Hack In The Box, a Malaysian company that runs security conferences in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
“Yawn, is my comment. It was a simple defacement. So what?” Kannabhiran said. The site went down at dawn but was accessible again after two hours. XINHUA
Official Good Times Facebook Account
SURVEY: Most Filipinos distrust, dissatisfied with Arroyo
Seven months to go before President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo bows out of office, majority of Filipinos still disapprove of her performance and even distrust her, a public opinion pollster said Monday.
Pulse Asia’s latest Ulat ng Bayan survey also showed more Filipinos – from 16 percent in August to 27 percent in October – were not satisfied with Vice President Noli de Castro’s performance.
“Filipinos critical of presidential performance and who distrust President Arroyo continue to greatly outnumber those with a positive opinion about the President’s work and her trustworthiness," it said.
The latest survey showed that about one of two Filipinos (51 percent) disapproves of Mrs. Arroyo’s work, while one in two Filipinos (52 percent) doesn't trust her.
Last August, Mrs. Arroyo had a disapproval rating of 43 percent and a distrust rating of 42 percent. The said survey was conducted from July 28 to August 10.
This is the first time that Mrs. Arroyo’s disapproval ratings reached 51 percent from October 2008 to October 2009.
Pulse Asia’s latest Ulat ng Bayan survey also showed more Filipinos – from 16 percent in August to 27 percent in October – were not satisfied with Vice President Noli de Castro’s performance.
“Filipinos critical of presidential performance and who distrust President Arroyo continue to greatly outnumber those with a positive opinion about the President’s work and her trustworthiness," it said.
The latest survey showed that about one of two Filipinos (51 percent) disapproves of Mrs. Arroyo’s work, while one in two Filipinos (52 percent) doesn't trust her.
Last August, Mrs. Arroyo had a disapproval rating of 43 percent and a distrust rating of 42 percent. The said survey was conducted from July 28 to August 10.
This is the first time that Mrs. Arroyo’s disapproval ratings reached 51 percent from October 2008 to October 2009.
However, her distrust ratings already ranged from 51 percent to 52 percent from October 2008 to October 2009.
Other officials
More people disapproved of De Castro’s performance, but he still has the highest approval rating among the country’s other top national government officials.
Forty-three (43) percent approve of the vice president’s performance, while Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Chief Justice Reynato Puno got a 36 percent approval rating each. House Speaker Prospero Nograles had an approval rating of 21 percent.
The most recent survey was conducted from October 22 to 30 and had 1,800 respondents. The results had +/- 2 percent error margin with a confidence level of 95 percent.
Malacañang belittles ratings
Malacañang bristled at the results of Pulse Asia’s latest survey, with deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo saying that the surveys do not represent the Phil
As a blogosphere respite from all the serious news as of late, I hope this post of the recent and ongoing fiestas in the Philippines serves as a colorful reminder of how beautifully rich and diverse Filipino can be!
Where you find corporate glass tower that reflects the sky as clearly as the nearby sea. Streets snaking through the busy cosmopolis and turning its rugged trail that leads to sprawling flower fields. And people forever seeking new excitement under the heartening sun – The Queen City of the South recently welcomed the Magic 89.9 DJs to Cebu for a weekend affair where we wined and dined to our hearts utter content!
We learned that Manny O’s passion is not driven by the science of winemaking either. The guiding belief he personally stands by is that “there is no right and wrong in pairing food and wine. As we are all culturally bound beings, common sense and taste are then guided by one’s background and culture. More so, there is no escaping the fact that one man’s food is truly another man’s poison. Trial and error whilst eating or drinking consciously edifies the dining experience – there is much more to it than filling one’s stomach. It has to register and in response, conclusions are made.”
Couples can have Romantic Dinner at Sea’s Restaurant which boasts a five-course dinner with violinist to set the mood for love. The dinner comes with a bottle of wine (your choice of red, white or rose) at P4,500 net per couple.
