After learning that Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago had been removed from the shortlist of candidates for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, she wasted no time… Read More »Senator Miriam Santiago in Letting her Anger out
Like my dear friend Cathy, the photo from today’s Sunday Inquirer moved me to tears. The article on the Bicol tragedy due to super-typhoon Reming (Durian) describes devastation that has wracked Bicol like no other. Not even World War two was like this. I texted most of my friends in Bicol and they have never seen such damage in the years they have lived there. Even Naga which is farthest away from Mayon suffered as well. My husband’s relatives (The Dado clan) are from Tabaco, Albay and there is still no word from them on their situation. No landline or cellphone connection.
Pedro Malate and his son Miguel, in that photo above hold on to each other for dear life, “wearing perhaps, the only clothes they have left. Little Miguel looks terribly dazed, Pedro, in all probability is in shell-shocked state.”
I am helping Cathy with her “A Thousand Bears for Bicol” because this is a way to channel our sadness over the Bicol tragedy. Please read her site for more details. I trust Cathy will do an excellent job in delivering the bears to these children in time for Christmas day. Cathy comforted sick children by establishing Migi’s Corner , a play area for these kids in more than 10 public hospitals in the Philippines. If anyone can execute a project for children, Cathy Babao-Guballa , a TOWNS awardee is the most qualified and trustworthy person in the Philippines.
To children, stuffed animals are more than toys, they’re imaginary friends who are always ready to give comfort or play. They provide a certain amount of security in a sometimes scary world. Though it may be a small act, my heart’s desire is to bring as many stuffed toys – ideally friendly looking teddy bears to the children in the Bicol region. I am hoping to raise at least a thousand bears that I can send to the Albay province in time for Christmas, hoping that these bears will bring even a little joy and comfort to children like Miguel who have a long way to go on their healing journey. I am making arrangements with am NGO in the Albay province to ditsribute the bears on Christmas day.
Photographs do speak a thousand words. Great works of photography move you into action.
Help us bring a “A Thousand Bears for Bicol”. To send teddy bears, click here.
EDIT: I bought 10 teddy bears already.
Read More »Teddy Bears for the Children of Bicol
With the arrest of Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan at the vicinity of Ingrid Ramos’s townhouse, the question is Who is Ingrid Ramos?. In today’s issuse of Philippine Star , “Mystery woman: Who is Ingrid Ramos?” sheds some light…
PNP chief Director General Oscar Calderon….refused to answer questions regarding allegations that Honasan has an intimate relationship with Ramos, who was reportedly a former secretary of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile.
Enrile, in a press conference, denied knowing Ramos: “I don’t recall any woman by the name of Ingrid or with the family name Ramos. Maybe if that was her middle name I could not recall. Maybe she was one of my campaign supporters but I have so many thousand campaign supporters and I did not know all of them.”
Pray tell me, what is Gringo doing at 2:00 AM in Ingrid’s townhouse? There seems to be two versions on how Gringo was captured making me suspicious that they are trying to protect Ingrid and Gringo’s wife from undue embarassment. Tito Sotto’s version is that ” Honasan was arrested by police after a brief car chase at the vicinity of Christ the King Church. He said the fugitive senator jumped out of the moving vehicle and tried to hide in the neighborhood. It was while scaling fences that he hurt his right leg,” but the police operatives insist he was arrested while visiting the woman at 2:00 AM. Media seems to play the mystery woman to the hilt.
Police sources said they witnessed a confrontation in which Mrs. Honasan shouted profanities at her husband, accusing him of being unable to control his libido.
She vowed never to visit him again, the sources said.
(Source:Fugitive captured in ‘lover’s’ townhouse)
I can’t blame Gringo’s wife. If that happened to me, I’d smack my husband on the head with my Macbook , oh not that…my kaldero (pot). Even if my husband has a working relationship with a fellow lady lawyer, I find it despicable for two people to be working in the dead of the night and at a townhouse at that. It’s just too bad Gringo got caught in the place of residence of this mystery woman.
Stories of spouses getting caught is nothing new. With the advent of cellphones, a philandering spouse is sometimes caught in the act if their cellphone is turned on accidentally. I know of a friend who overheard the illicit conversation between her husband and the other woman in a hotel room. Apparently, the cellphone’s setting is such that a call is answered when any button is pressed. Imagine the anguish and anger of the wife upon hearing her husband’s romantic advances with this woman. The wife lost all respect for him and felt so violated.
Read More »Ingrid Ramos, The Mystery Woman is the Other Woman?
As a resident of Makati City, I am aware of corruption rumors on Jojo Binay’s 20 year reign for the longest time now. Binay always loses in mayoral elections from Makati’s exclusive villages but he gets most of his votes from the squatters of Makati City. Oh yes, they are there right now in front of the city hall cheering for their beloved Mayor. I am not surprised that Binay defies the suspension order from the Local Government. It’s funny that he asks to see the Bill of particulars regarding payment of ghost employees. He asks “what are the names of these ghost employees?”. Well aren’t they supposed to be ghost employees? Do they even have names?
What’s even funnier is holing up himself in his office. He can always let 60 days pass by if he is confident he is not guilty of the charges. The chances that he is “innocent” is very slim though. The Warrior Lawyer has more to say on this bunker mentality
This sideshow in the continuing farce that is Philippine politics was enlivened by the appearance yesterday of former President Cory Aquino, who dropped by to support an ““old friend”. After all, it was she who jump-started the Jojo dynasty by appointing him Makati Officer in Charge after the people-power revolt in 1986. The Warrior-Lawyer agrees with the observation of columnist Max Soliven, who said that Cory now sounds and talks like her daughter, Kris ““Deal or No-Deal” Aquino-Yap. Tsk, Tsk
Let’s hear the side of Cory Aquino naman:
““We should show that we are all for justice … Jojo, you can count on my support and prayers. We should all pray for justice,” said Mrs. Aquino, calling Binay by his nickname.
““We all see his goodness to his constituents, especially to the students, to those in need of health care … He showed that he could take care of his constituents. I think he is a role model for all mayors,” she said of Binay, who first became mayor when she was in Malacañang.
I think….?? Cory is not even sure of Jojo Binay’s qualities. Haaay enough said. Can you imagine Jojo’s dynasty is even longer than the Marcos dynasty?
Speaking of the opposition and the current administration, I have the perfect Holiday/Christmas gift for them. This chess set…
Katipunan Avenue in Quezon city is close to Ateneo De Manila University , Miriam College and the State University and let’s not forget other pre-schools.… Read More »How safe is Katipunan Avenue?
Five days have passed by since the wrath of Typhoon Milenyo hit the Philippines. Millions still have no power or water, the Death toll reaches… Read More »Cleaning the Debris of Typhoon Milenyo
In the past two days after Typhoon Milenyo ravaged Metro Manila, I was able to drive around the city and take a few photos of the devastation including Fallen billboards (Milenyo” toppled at least 30 billboards in the metropolis)
When the influx of billboards invaded Metro Manila highways , the sight suffocated me. What an eyesore! I don’t know with you but I don’t enjoy watching these ads. I guess it was the visual pollution that got to me. Too much visual clutter or clutter surrounding my confines disorient me. I need to see a blue skies of the horizon and the landspace as far as my eyesight can see. But no, the billboards loom in front of me taunting me to purchase or be loyal to their products or service.The use of provocative images like Bench Ads, the old Bayantel Satisfaction guarantee ad, and many others infuriated me. Not only are these billboards an eyesore, it’s a motorist distraction which could lead to accidents and injuries. Three months ago, the work towards the ban on billboard gained media coverage. When I blogged about the ban on billboards , Bayani Fernando initiated the dismantling of these billboards. But some local mayor arrested the MMDA workers and Bayani got smacked with a restraining order to cease and desist the dismantling. Why? Because these ad agencies have the right to recoup their investments on their gigantic billboards. Or are they protecting the pockets of the local government conspirators? Never in their wildest imagination did the judges consider that these billboards can cause possible deaths and inconvenience to the public. True, business need to be protected but not to the detriment of the public good.
Before typhoon Milenyo struck Metro Manila, a few accidents already occured such as a house crushed under the weight of the towering giant and that time the Metro Rail Transit came to a halt when the billboard landed on its tracks and caused an electrical short. Still there was no action taken by the local government. Afraid of losing revenue ? or money in their pockets?
Did it take Typhoon Milenyo to finally make them realize the dangers of these gigantic billboards?
Along with power interruption, the internet service also got disrupted in the aftermath of typhoon Milenyo (international codename: Xangsane).
When your business is dependent on internet service, a day without it is problematic. Two days without it gets to be “near critical”. Where does one get an internet connection when the whole city has no power?
Go to the nearest Starbucks or coffee shop with generator power and wireless internet
Not just any coffee shop. Earlier in the day, I went to Figaro branch at Salcedo Village to go online. After 3 hours, my battery was dying. Looking around the corners, I was disappointed to see power outlets taped over with a sign “do not plug in here”. Grr, I was willing to pay for the charge. Without electricity, how can I get online? A coffee shop must be generous enough to allow me to charge my macbook and avail internet wi-fi connection. I found a friendly Starbucks Coffee shop at the Walter Mart branch. Apparently, Makati residents also thought of the same idea as I did. The place was crowded. All 4 power outlets were occupied with cellphone and laptop charging. It took me 30 minutes to get a seat near a vacant power outlet. Great! The free Globequest internet wi-fi access (given to me by Globe-Innove last month) came in really handy as I got a fast internet connection.
My daughter and I took turns working on our sites while my patient husband read a book. It usually takes me 2 to 4 hours to work on my sites but I didn’t plan to stay that long. See, a lot of laptop users were eager to go online too and I didn’t want to hog even one precious power outlet. Look at these people huddled in the corner working feverishly on their laptops.
Note: View My PHOTO GALLERY of Typhoon Milenyo (international codename [tag]Typhoon Xangsane[/tag])
At 8:30 am EDSA, on the way to pick up my daughters
(Enlarge) The heavy rains woke me up and my thoughts turned to my daughters holed up in their dorm in Quezon City. Butch and I quickly turned on our TV sets and heard that “[tag]typhoon Milenyo[/tag]” would be the strongest to hit Manila in 11 years. The typhoon was expected to arrive at 12 noon. It was 6:00 AM and the perfect time pick to them up in Quezon City. Feeling worried over their safety, my main concern was to bring them over to our home in Makati City knowing they would be safe with us. On the way to my daughters’ dorm in Katipunan Avenue, the empty trusses along EDSA is a rare sight to behold. I thought, “good thing. it’ll prevent accidents“. On the way home, we passed along C-5. Ah, it’s an amazing treat to see the landscape devoid of the tarpaulins click here.
At 11:00 AM, at our house in Makati City just before Typhoon Milenyo
(Enlarge) A few leaves are strewn all over the front lawn. We prepared for the inevitable wrath of [tag]Typhoon[/tag] Milenyo and shut all the doors and windows. The electricity had already been cut at 9:00 AM. Shortly after 12:00 noon, I heard metal screeching and crunching somewhere. I thought “uh-oh there goes my roof!” I expected a gush of water to pour down our ceiling. Looking out of the window, a gigantic branch from the tree outside suddenly looms outside our living room window. The branch broke from the tree outside , landed on the fence, broke it and ended up on the lawn.
The fallen tree branch in our front lawn
(Enlarge ) It was a relief that it wasn’t our roof that got blown away. What could we do now? I knew there were more damage and injuries outside our village. We were grateful to God for the safety of our family, a strongly built home, ample food, fuel and water. The only other inconvenience was water dripping on L’s room. The strong winds blasted all the rain water towards the upper balcony, creating a pool of water which overflowed to L’s ceiling through a crack on the second floor balcony. Removing the flooded waters in the balcony was futile as the strong gust of wind literally blew us away to the wall. We ended up placing cardboards on the balcony floor so we could elevate the flood waters. I haven’t felt these strong winds in years. Although we had no power, we still had a gas range that would enable us to cook for a candle-lit dinner.
The aftermath at around 2:00 PM
The good old reliable radio was our only source of information and link to the outside world. No power. No internet. No TV. We heard that the southwest part of Metro Manila had a direct hit and sustained more damages. Makati City, our place of residence is one of these places. I immediately took photos of the typhoon Milenyo aftermath.
Read More »Typhoon Milenyo Aftermath:Deaths due to Fallen billboards, trees and electric poles
I just had a haircut yesterday. While entering the door of Azta Urban Salon in katipunan , a sign caught my attention . The notice… Read More »Human Hair and the Guimaras Oil Spill Cleanup
