This morning my sister texted me to read the Facebook status of a schoolmate who is now in Canada (because of work), which caused a little chaos within our circle of friends and schoolmates.
This was her Facebook status:
“hahahahaha natatawa ako sa mga ibang taong nasa pinas at napaka OA ng mga status dito sa facebook kami nga na nasa abroad wala lang.. pwede ba relax and be yourself. at sa mga ibang taong nandito sa abroad perte ang mga pictures oi unsa nakalitan mo na naka abot mo dri sa …

Pilipinas nalugmok ka sa kahirapan
Naiwanan ka na ng kaunlaran
Kapayapaan hindi pa rin matagpuan
Kahit natapos, paghahari ng isang ngalan.
Naglingkod sa iyo ang isang ina
Puno ng pag-asa, puno din ng kudeta
Sunod sa dikta ng “masa” at simbahan
Ganap na liwanag di naman natagpuan.
Pinasakay ka naman ng isang heneral
Ang lipad sa ibang bansa ay madalas
Kaysa sa mga probinsyang hirap ay dinaranas
Kayraming scam, katotohanang di nailabas.
Lumabas ang nag-angking anak ng masa
Sumigaw, “walang kaibigan kapag nagkasala”
Subalit siya ang nahatulang nagkasala
Dahil sa korapsyon at jueteng payola.
Siyam na taon kang pinaikot sa kamay
Isang munting nilalang, malago ang galamay
Gabineteng …

How are you doing President Noynoy?
Well, my name is Reyna Elena. I was your number one supporter during the election, attacked by an unbelievable online hatred during the campaign because of my support for your presidency. Aherrm!
Oh, by the way, I thought I’d share this with you.
Here is my Elementary School in Castilla, Sorsogon. This picture was taken last week by my friend from Amsterdam. It’s one Uragon building. One unbelievable technology. The best. Western standards will drool at how mini, major and super-typhoons blasted that building away …

Filipinos are certainly getting into mainstream America and into the world. With an estimated 4 million Filipino-American population (as of 2007), Filipinos are an emerging group in a diverse society in the United States.
Filipino talents like Manny Pacquiao, Charice Pempengco, Arnel Pineda, Lea Salonga, and Monique Lhuiller are doing a great job pitching in!
David Letterman, apparently used Filipino-Americans in one of his segments.
Here’s the recap:
Top 10 Reasons Why There Couldn’t Be a Filipino-American US President
By David Letterman
10. The White House is not big enough for in-laws and extended relatives.
9. There …

By JOSE ANTONIO VARGAS
Published: June 22, 2011
One August morning nearly two decades ago, my mother woke me and put me in a cab. She handed me a jacket. “Baka malamig doon” were among the few words she said. (“It might be cold there.”) When I arrived at the Philippines’ Ninoy Aquino International Airport with her, my aunt and a family friend, I was introduced to a man I’d never seen. They told me he was my uncle. He held my hand as I boarded an airplane for the first time. …

A massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake hits Japan March 11, 2011 and caused an unprecedented tsunami. Having a few family members currently living in Japan, I was carefully monitoring the events all night.
With an earthquake that powerful, I’m certain the tsunami that would follow would be huge, but I never realized it fully until I saw it. When I did see it online, it was unimaginable. I was shaking my head with its monstrosity. It was surreal.
In one footage I saw a guy standing on top of a trailer truck, …

Photo by Kim Komenich
I was still a kid back then. I didn’t know anything outside my personal scope. I remember a few years back when a certain Ninoy was shot dead. Seeing him on TV moments before his death made me realize that this surreality is a signal of a wrong. Something tremendously wrong.
Then EDSA came.
I didn’t know what to do. I can hear the sounds of planes hovering above our rooftops. The number of people outside our street in Dimasalang carrying transistor radios blaring modulated noises are enough to …

From ABS-CBN News:
After policemen, traffic enforcers, cooks and waiters, here come the dancing cabin crew of local budget airline Cebu Pacific.
Carrying seat belts, life jackets and oxygen masks, young female flight attendants danced to Lady Gaga’s Just Dance and Katy Perry’s California Girls while demonstrating safety procedures, as recorded on video by one of the passengers.
Actual flight safety guidelines were read while the music was being played in the aircraft.
So, what do you think mga ka-barrio?
Magiging effective ba na ganito ang safety procedures sa eroplano?
Cheers,

Photo Courtesy of ABS-CBN News
Viewed …

By: Reyn Barnido

The harsh summer rain practically pounded our wooden stage into toilet tissues, and my boss, the indomitable Susan Tagle, asked me to make a judgment call whether to cancel the event or not. Half an hour before midnight, the downpour showed no sign of mercy. The special guest was waiting in her car parked near Trinoma. Without an umbrella, I braved the cold wind and wetness to stand on the stage for a better view of what was around me: hundreds of people waiting since …

Author: Unknown
(This is a re-post from FB Updates of a friend)
The known facts are these:
On August 19, 2005, Emmanuel “Bong” Madrigal, a Manila-based Filipino executive of the multinational Shell, was visiting Beijing on vacation with his wife Vivian, his daugher Regina Mia, and two younger daughters. That day, they rode a tourist bus to Tiananmen Square, the heart of the capitol. Upon arriving at the square, Emmanuel Madrigal was the first to descend from the bus, followed by Vivian and Regina Mia. A Chinese man wielding a scythe–in some reports …

(Photo Credits: Inquirer)
Pansin nyo? Kahit ako sa Amerika nakita ko.
Feeling guilty kaya si Renato Corona?
Pano naman kase, at the rate Corona is appearing on too may live interviews, I suspect, he will soon be appearing sa Ellen deGeneres and Oprah Winfrey Show.
Corona’s term will be 8 years. Lagpas sa term ni Noynoy na 6 years. Ang problema kasi, lumalabas na magiging Arroyo Court ang Supreme Court. Napipikon na daw sya. Iisa lang naman ang solusyon dun, he could have declined the appointment at hinayaan na lang si Noynoy Aquino ang …

Matatandaan na nagkaron nang pa-binggo sa PICC in Pasay City noong election day. Me tambiolo, me bolang puti at me numero. Ano pa tawag nyo dun kundi, binggo.
Maliwanag ang anuncio nang Comelec ukol sa mga pamumukol about poll fraud, sama na mga fashion statement na me maskara at bola bola sa muka. Ang resulta nang Random Manual Audit (RMA) nila ay nag-papatunay na – – – – – walang himala!
“We did not see something that will really shock us… overall it looks like the counts of the PCOS machines …

She’s only been queen for a day but the new Miss USA is already feeling the heat from the media spotlight.
On Sunday, Michigan’s Rima Fakih became the first Arab American to win the beauty pageant.
Now TMZ is out with pictures of Fakih winning a very different competition.
The website says there are pictures of the beauty queen back in 2007, clinching the “Stripper 101″ pole dancing competition for a radio station.
Fakih reportedly won jewelry, gift cards, adult toys and a stripper pole.
Source: MyFoxBoston.com
Oh my gulay, I am having a shock of …

It’s interesting to note that 10 years ago, May 4, 2000 to be exact, the “I love you” virus would spread across the world causing billions of US dollars in damages shutting down the network systems of even the Pentagon, CIA and the British Parliament.
Will history repeat itself?!
I’m not reporting any “I love you” virus or am I planting some Halloween conjectures for after all, it’s Comelec, who started blasting us with the specter of No Elections. I just find this loving history interesting given that the notoriety …

(Photo Credits: Inquirer)
Basically, you can say that our jurassic election system using the legacy dag-dag bawas software version negative one, is getting a much needed upgrade. And how’s the conversion working?
Well, now it can be told officially. The tests produced weird results blares the headline on the Inquirer.
It seems like the votes were being transposed from “Si, Senor” to “Opo, Ma’am“! What do you say? Smartmatic turned into Rosetta Stone!
If that’s not enough, let’s postpone the election! ~!@#$%^!!! As in NO ELECTIONS?! As in ELECTION FAILURE?! What gives …

Have you been reading the news about the Greek debt crisis?
Well, the Greek government has announced an austerity program. (Oh! I remember that word during Marcos years!) Greece froze pensions, cut salary of government employees and increased taxes in order to meet its financial obligations. Sounds like some of us financially handicapped Pinoys di ba? We all have our own austerity programs to save for future Meralco billings.
Now, how in the world did Greece came into such a financial quagmire, you’d ask. Well, pretty much like Iceland in a …

Filipino pageant fanatics from the four corners of the globe are now asking more questions to the Bb. Pilipinas Charities Inc. (BPCI) regarding the dethronement of Bb. Pilipinas – Universe 2010 Maria Venus Raj last March 29. Raj’s loyal fans even setup an online petition on Facebook so that the BPCI will know how Filipinos are reacting over Raj’s disqualification. The dethroned beauty queen was supposed to represent the country in the 2010 Miss Universe Beauty Pageant this coming May but BPCI stripped off Raj’s crown and title as the beauty …

(Image from Newsweek)
During the term of Richard Gordon as mayor of Olongapo City, there were at least 26 cases of “salvagings” or summary executions that victimized at least 28 people. The killings were believed to have been made to cleanse the city of undesirable elements and maintain its allure as the center for the R & R of US servicemen.
Olongapo officials dismissed such as “isolated incidents involving hardened criminals whose death were mainly due to gang rivalry”, it is a matter of public record that the victims were mostly …

Here they come again. I knew what I’m about to take when I decided to write personal experiences about my life in Olongapo, or at least parts of it. Heat. I’m about to take some unnecessary heat.
Of all the searches online regarding the 2010 presidentiables, presidential wannabe Richard Gordon had the most positive posts online, according to ABS-CBN reports published March 18.
They were right. In fact if you try to do a search, all you see are links to his bio and how great and wonderful the man is. Except …

I’ve eaten twice in this resto before, and I don’t know what happened along the way. It’s rare that i RANT, but when I do, my Kamote Award for Worst Service and Sanitation by a restaurant chain goes to ….. Tempura Japanese Grill.
How else do you explain being an office worker on a one-hour lunch break, and 35 minutes later, your order still hasn’t arrived? We ate at their United Nations Avenue branch, and I had to beg for a glass of water just to quench my thirst while waiting. …

This post is dedicated to the men, women and gays who are constantly attacking my other balay, Barrio Siete.

You inspire me to make this very timely tribute.
Within the next few days, I will be celebrating my 3rd anniversary since I created this humble blog and I thank you for your continued patronage. Without you my dear readers, I would be nothing and my colleagues in Barrio Siete especially La Kapitana wouldn’t have noticed me. I have learned a lot from blogging but the most important experiences I have had so …

Mainit ang labanan sa Gordon Avenue, kaya as it is usual in the Barrio, break muna tayo.

I am brittle and vulnerable too.

Viewed 9445 times by 2652 viewers

(Photo Credits: Here)
Whenever I read the word “bogus”, even if I read it in a Moscow newspaper, I still think that behind that word is a Filipino. Before you slap and kiss me, that’s not an exclusive statement. I heard there are Nigerians too! Like 419? Remember that?! haha!!
You see, I don’t know why I seem to attach that word to Pinoys. I guess, maybe because of so many bogus crap that we get to be bombarded everyday of our lives. (In blogging they’re called “trolls”.) Notorious of which …

When the City of Olongapo is mentioned, the first things that would come to mind are two: the entertainment bars lining its streets and the name Gordon.
While the roots of existence of the former are well-traced, the existence and the reason why the latter became a household name is not much talked about. Who really are the Gordons? How did they come into power? And how for several decades, did a single family dominate the entire political landscape of the city?
The Early Gordon
Though nobody from the local opposition could prove …

Gawd! I remember Manny’s fight with Oscar de la Hoya! Nag-no-nobena ako na wag masira ang cute na muka nya (Oscar)!
I’m not really into boxing, but if it’s Manny Pacquiao, my face is plastered on the TV screen. But last night with Clottey? Unbelievably – one of the most annoying moments in TV boxing history.
Of course before the boxing event, the media bombarded us with screaming headlines like Joshua Clottey? Bigger, taller and has the edge!!
Wrong!
The media was just playing on all of us to make it appear that …