Communism is another way to say Capitalism, I guess.

LEGASPI, Philippines (AFP) - – Communist insurgents in the Philippines are demanding cash from election candidates in exchange for "permit cards" that will allow them to campaign unmolested, the military said Saturday.

Source


Man, pinoy communist are really pushing the envelope here.

The permits are color-coded, by the way. The military was able to confiscate/capture/make this shit up/allegedly capture a bag containing said permits in different colors which will allow politicians to campaign unharrassed in areas with high communist presence, where those areas are, I do not know. Maybe in the mountains. Who would campaign in the mountains? Nicanor Perlas, maybe, there might be more people who will listen to him there than in the streets where everybody seems to choose only between Gibo, Manny, and Ninoy Noynoy.

Nonoy Needs more Celebrities, God

Television host Kris Aquino and other showbiz endorsers of Liberal Party presidential candidate Senator Benigno "Noynoy” Aquino III are expected to hit the campaign trail next month to add star power whenever he goes on the stump.

This was revealed by Aquino, who is also seeking a private meeting with religious leaders such as Bro. Mike Velarde of the El Shaddai group and Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of the Davao-based Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) in the next few weeks to further consolidate his lead before election day.

 They will also be getting basketball star James Yap, and Heavyweight Superstar Sharon Cuneta. Why? Because some times, Kris Aquino and Boy Abunda just isn't enough.

Source

Noynoy Aquino Moaning about Bias in Forum

In his introduction, Lopez described Villar, Nacionalista Party standard-bearer, as a “self-made tycoon, former Speaker and Senate President, and former future President, probably.”
Lopez also fawned over Aquino’s cousin, Lakas-Kampi standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro Jr., whom he repeatedly praised as a bar topnotcher.

By contrast, Lopez was uninspired in his introduction of Aquino, calling him a man with a good pedigree, grandson of a national hero, son of national heroes—former President (Corazon) Aquino and slain opposition Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.—congressman for nine years, and senator for three years.
“He will tell us what he is going to do,” Lopez said.
Lopez added that Aquino was somebody known for his “imagination.” He called deposed President Joseph Estrada “a man of action.”

 The truth kind of stings doesn't it? It is biased, yes, The fair thing to do would be to remind people that Erap drove the country to the ground, Villar has questionable ethics for a man claiming to be the hope of this nation, and Gibo might just be a cover for Arroyo. But there is no reason for Lopez to stop saying that in Noynoy's three-term tenure as a congressman, his greatest accomplishment was getting re-elected 3 times.

Source

Today is Ash Wednesday

Just in case you didn't know, Catholicism is big in the Philippines. If I go out today, almost everyone will have a big gray ash cross on their foreheads. There is a separation of church and state, supposedly, but there is also the right to practice your religion freely. Even if that means obligating everyone in the class to get gray ash on their foreheads, catholic or not. I was a product of the public school system. Now that I think of it, aren't public schools supposed to be sectarian? Then why the hell do they make us pray before and after class and before recess and lunch?

A country of contradictions. I love it here.

Flashback

Koseidon. I watched this when I was younger. A lot of Japanese TV Shows back then. I just Nostalgia'd.



TV shows were much better then. More original, not too much of the talent shows. Better.

The soundtracks were a lot better too.

Religous Vote

There they go again, they're all (presidential candidates)gunning for the religious block votes of El Shaddai, Iglesia ni Cristo. Though some of them are saying something along the lines of "I'll take it if they give it to me, but I won't beg for it." Dick Gordon seems honest when he said something to that effect. The others felt like they were crossing their fingers. Gordon has moxie.

Separation of church and state? not with among Ed or brother Eddie.

The Philippines remains as the largest catholic country in Asia. We are also one of the most corrupt and most underdeveloped. I'm not saying it has anything to do with that. I'm just saying that it's true.

Celebrity Effect on 2010 Elections

In the Philippines, starpower is only second to godpower. Celebrities are second only to religious figures. They can push a candidate toward the center stage. I've attended campaign rallies that seemed more like variety shows that an actual attempt to rally support for a cause or an ideology. We have our own way of doing things. It's kind of weird.

I'd vote for him; he's my idol, he'd never lie to me.

 There's no doubt in my mind that celebrity backing plays a role in Philippine elections, we had an action star president. Action star senator. Action star governor. We've had comedy actors as Vice-Mayors and Mayors all over the country. Media exposure means a lot, and is a big ticket to winning the hearts and minds of the hungry people such as myself.

ABS-CBN TV host Kris Aquino is actively involved in the campaign of his brother, Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, while "Wowowee" host Willie Revillame has openly endorsed Nacionalista Party standard bearer Manny Villar for the presidency.

Other personalities who have endorsed either Aquino or Villar are: Regine Velasquez, Ogie Alcasid, Michael V, Sarah Geronimo, Dingdong Dantes, boxing champ Manny Pacquiao and Comedy King Dolphy.

Other presidential candidates such as Joseph Estrada, Gilbert Teodoro and Bro. Eddie Villanueva also have celebrities endorsing them.

I wonder who will be endorsing Nicanor Perlas.


Source

Philippine Diaspora

As of 2007, there were about 11 million overseas Filipinos living worldwide, equivalent to about 11% of the total population of the Philippines.

That's one out of every ten Filipinos.

Aquino Camp Accuses Manny Villar of being Manny Villar

To wit, Villar responds that there's nothing illegal about what his company is doing. It is perfectly fine to benefit directly from a government project you have wholly supported. Nothing wrong with that at all.


Pampanga Gubernatorial Recount says Jueteng Queen wins over Among Ed with 2,011 more votes
Source

Among Ed will be running for re-election and Jueteng Queen will try another gubernatorial run with Burger King Coach Yeng Guiao. We will get the leadership that we deserve in Pampanga.

Where in the World is Ping Lacson?
Source 
Last spotted heading to Macau. He's just like Carmen Sandiego. If Carmen Sandiego orchestrated massacres and was close to the Filipino-Chinese Communities.

2010 Philippine Elections

A lot of the Philippine elections brujaja on the teevee lately. It reminds me of the Erap impeachment trials taking over the local television airwaves. Back then, the impeachment trials were on every channel. No Soaps, no entertainment show, just live coverage of the trials and interview on everyone who was remotely related.

We were glued to the TV, the drama was better than the soaps, it had impact, there was even the remote possibility that some random congressman might explode and punch another congressman in the face. THE FACE.

But that's over now. Just as my hope I hope that the 2010 elections can offer us something. If not hope, genuine hope and an opportunity for change, at least it can give us entertainment. I hope.

As a side note:

The computerized machines mean nothing if we will vote the same way we did back then. The biggest question is "Are we going to fall for the same tricks again?"

I hope not. I hope the public notices the lack of a general course of action on Ninoy's campaign. He offers platitudes and hope, and not much else. The Gordon/Bayani Transformers tandem seem like their direct opposite. They know what exactly to do (or at least seem to), but they lack popular support, public perception of them outside Olongapo and "some" parts of the Greater Manila Area are almost bordering on distrust.

Gibo seems to be a good candidate. But he could have us all fooled, they all could. Taking into consideration that he is running under Lakas' ticket, there's still the chance that he can rub shit all over what is basically a politically clean plate.

I'm not rooting for Villar; he is working hard, trying hard, almost too hard. Reminds me of Prospero Pichay last election. Villar isn't the answer. I don't think he is Noynoy's opposite either, he is the biggest rival (that's what the surveys say) but he is not the opposite, if anything they're on the same side of the coin. The Trapo coin. How much is that coin worth? Not much, not much.



I'll try to keep the blog updated.

Farmville Farmvillan (Tips, Tricks, Cheats and Opinion)

A lot of my Facebook friends constantly shower me with updates on how their "farms" are doing. They send updates almost constantly about new harvesting, the shitton of coins they just earned, about that black sheep they found wandering.



Its weird. Everyone on Facebook seems to like the game. Not only because there's a bandwagon appeal to it. It does seem to be the "in" thing to do. But people I know in real life actually do make an effort to log in consistently and click away to improve their digital farms. It is nice to see that kind of effort in this kind of a game. It is something that doesn't revolve around killing as many counter-terrorists or gangsters as humanly possible, there isn't even an eternal struggle between the forces of good and evil, sentinel and scourge or whatever. It's just simple farming.

It's nice. I'd suggest a Hacienda Luisita Mod though, pay people literal COINS to farm for you, force them to buy into your company with a stock distribution agreement so you won't have to redistribute the land to the farmers, and then take advantage of them and then kill anyone who says "no." If they try to go on strike, have the local military put the fear of god in their hearts by having an M16 shootout at the hacienda gates, that should calm them down. But go easy on the baby-killing this time.

It would be great if there's a political side to the mod itself, allow people to have shareholders in the farm who are either in government or are influential politicians, but it would help a lot if one of your shareholders is held in high regard as the mother of the nation. That would help to control the media shitstorm that should be raging about the lack of GENUINE agrarian reform.

And then her son can run for president in the future where she dies of cancer.



But wait, back to Facebook. It seems to me that people have this longing for a reasonably simple life, just be on the farm, work hard, get paid for your crops fairly, never have to worry about constantly changing market prices, terrorist threats, communist insurgents, government agents, subdivision expansions, pests, local hooligans or thieves.

Tips video

Farmville Tips

Tips Link

Or kung ayaw nyo:

Cheat it, download cheat engine

Is it good to be Filipino?

I briefly worked as a college instructor for a local computer college before. I taught for an entire semester. I was a fresh graduate then and the entire teaching experience was an eye-opener. Knowing about the condition of privatized Filipino education and working inside it are totally different things. Overall, I think I left that job with a little more worldly knowledge, I had gained experience and had gotten a little jaded.

One of my most distinct memories was of a co-teacher who told me something. Something that has stuck with me ever since. I've almost forgotten his name, but not his face, he was like Francis Magalona in that he seemed a lot younger than he really was.

I can still remember the words real well for some odd reason, maybe it was because of the way he said it. He said it like it was an honest observation, maybe because it just was something that he learned and personally had an experience with. His exact words were:

Masarap Mabuhay sa Pilipinas, basta may pera ka.

Which translates to: "It's good to live in the Philippines, IF you're rich/if you have money."

I guess that it's just so obvious. When I heard it, I couldn't understand why I didn't think of it before. It was so obvious, like the truth staring you right in the face. Like that thing "right under our noses" or the car keys I've been looking all over the house for but later discovered that they were in the back pocket of my pants. It was sort of like in that light, I asked myself, why didn't it occur to think of it that way before. It was a so blindingly obvious, and then he tells me his story.

He talks about high school shenanigans, those little things that we did back when we were younger. Like a "best of" tape that contains all of your go-to stories. Eventually he gets around to telling me the story of how he worked in Japan as an illegal migrant worker to send money back to his young wife and child. He told me how hard the work was, how long they worked and how strictly regimented the entire illegal operation was.

It was weird because what he said was really true. It's great to be a Filipino, IF you have the money. If you can put food on the table. If you're not spending six days a week at work, if you're not getting paid the equivalent of $5.00 a day for your effort at that job, then it is great to be Filipino; and if in that same job, you can save up enough vacation leave days so you can actually take a a real vacation instead of just staying at home catching up with all the housework that needs to be done, then I guess you have a good job, and you're not like the rest of us.

But I don't know; I'm still a little schizophrenic on the matter, I still believe that its great to be Filipino but it would be a lot better of 90% of us weren't below the poverty line, it would be better if education was genuinely prioritized by the government. It's good to be Filipino, but I think we can all agree that can be a lot better.

This picture is related, it is the first Google image result for the keywords, "Poverty Philippines:"

Ang Simula

They say "Write what you know." Well, the truth of the matter is that there's really just one thing that I know about, It's about being Filipino. So I'm gonna write about it.

Born and raised all over Pampanga, my close friends call me an NPA (No Permanent Address). But I've been around North and South of the Central Plains. I'll write about traveling in the Philippines in a shoe string budget. I know a couple of things those Lonely Planet writers have no clue about.

I'm proud of being Filipino, but not just in the pinoy-powah, Manny Pacquiao, 3 stars and a sun kind-of-way (not that there's anything wrong with that), but I really am proud, happy that I am Filipino. I'm happy to be a Filipino in the Philippines, despite all the corruption, poverty and general state of chaos. I am proud to be a Filipino.

Well if I'm so proud of being Filipino, then why am I writing in English? It's simple, to reach a wider audience, those who can already speak Filipino(or Tagalog) already have a better idea of what it means to be a Filipino, Me? I'm just trying to reach out to those who don't.

It kind of sounds pretentious to sum up Filipino lifestyle in four words, maybe. But that wasn't my intention, I just want a quick, witty way of summarizing what I would (probably) be writing about: Filipino Interests like Pinoy Food, Traveling, Local Entertainment, and Vice; that is, the things we love to do while we're on god's green earth.

So look around, I'll be writing a lot, maybe there's something that might appeal to you. Maybe not.