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Showing posts from October, 2013

Caught In The Act

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If it goes viral, no doubt a picture is worth more than a thousand words.  Image from the Filipino's Patriotism Facebook page. It could even cost one’s job, as in the recent case of two airport staff caught on camera playing video games apparently while on duty at the Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. “The employees were photographed in their workstations while a long line of people were seen nearby. The photo has gone viral and earned criticisms.” ( ABS-CBN News )  They may give the excuse that they were on coffee break. But they actually played games using computers—along with the Internet and the electricity—paid with the sweat-blood-and-tears money collected from the overseas Filipino workers at the airport.  Taking responsibility for what happened, Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration said that he already started disciplinary procedures.  Image source: Rappler Though he refused to name the

The Comfort of Confession

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Image credit . “If you have to tell the truth eventually, you have to tell it immediately.” That’s what my friend, wealth and life coach, Chinkee Tan shared in one of his trademark Chink Positive quotes. William Happ. Image credit . For almost 30 years, death row convict William Happ vehemently denied that he had anything to do with the rape and murder of Angela Crowley, “who was strangled and raped, and her body found in a canal” way back in 1986. ( Inquirer ) Despite his claim to be innocent, the investigators matched a footprint found in the crime scene to that of Happ’s.  However, “as he lay on the table where he was ultimately executed” via lethal injection, Happ finally confessed to the crime. For 27 years, the horrible murder of Angela Crowley has been clouded by circumstantial evidence and uncertainty. For the sake of her family, loved ones and all concerned, it is to my agonizing shame that I must confess to this terrible crime… I wish to offer my most since

The Boy Who Cried Pork (Part 2)

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Senator Jinggoy Estrada delivering his privilege speech last September 26, 2013. Image source: Inquirer News Seemingly emboldened by the apparent success of his so-called ‘peanut butter defense,’ Senator Jinggoy Estrada once again had the nerve to use his position as a bully pulpit.  (According to Edilberto C. de Jesus, professor emeritus at the Asian Institute of Management, “Litigation lawyers, when confronted with damning evidence, joke that the respondent’s recourse is to hide behind the ‘Peanut Butter Defense’— spread the blame. One website condensed the thrust of this strategy thus: ‘I am a thief, but I am not the only one.’ ” [ Inquirer . Emphasis added.])   In his privilege speech before, he hid behind his parliamentary immunity to defend himself from the accusation that he (along with Senators Bong Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile) sliced a chunk of his pork barrel for himself though fake non-governmental organizations (NGOs).  Senator Estrada grilling COA Chair Grace

The Best Time To Prepare Was Yesterday

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The collapse of  the belfry of the Sto. Nino Church in Cebu City due to the magnitude 7.2 earthquake last Tuesday, October 15, 2013. Source: ABS-CBN News via YouTube As of this writing, 156 people died and more than 3.2 million others affected by the massive 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit Central Visayas last Tuesday (October 15, 2013). We fear that the death toll would “rise as rescuers and relief workers reach some of the isolated towns hardest hit by the disaster.” ( Rappler ) Other than 10 iconic, centuries-old Catholic churches that crumbled like sand castles, “[e]stimates for the cost of damaged roads, bridges and flood control infrastructure are at P75.15 million.” (Ibid) Panic during quake caught on CCTV. Source: YouTube At the risk of sounding morbid, the question has to be asked: “What’s the scenario when a major earthquake with that magnitude hits Metro Manila?” Note that I did not say “if” but “when.” Apparently, according to experts, “a Magnitude 7 or a s

Show of Force?

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“Nope, there’s no typhoon.”  So goes the first line of a Rappler report of class suspensions today. So why is there a metrowide-class suspension? “But there will be no classes from preschool to high school levels, both public and private, in all cities across Metro Manila Monday, October 14, due to an Iglesia ni Cristo [INC] medical-dental mission that is expected to attract 1.6 million participants.” (Source: Rappler ) As of this writing, 63% are annoyed in Rappler’s Mood Meter.  As of 6:41AM, October 14, 2013. Screengrab from Rappler . We welcome medical and dental missions. It is a reminder to all of us no matter what our faith is that, when we are heavenly minded, we should have earthly good as well.   I just find myself agreeing with what somebody commented, “We all know na walang [that there’s no] infrastructure to do humanitarian missions of that scale in the metro but still they allow INC doing it, and of all days on the start of the usual work week in the middle of