World-class singer Lea Salonga, a staunch supporter of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill, said one does not have to be pro-contraception to be pro-reproductive health.
In an exclusive interview with Jessica Soho on GMA News TV’s “State of the Nation” on Wednesday night, Salonga admitted that she is currently not using any form of contraception because she and her husband want to have another child.
“I’d love to have another kid,” she said. “I kind of leave it up to God at this point, but we’re not stopping anything from happening.”
Salonga said …

Note: This is a repost. Article and photos courtesy of Orchestroscopy:

Blood stains. I saw them everyday for months during a certain period in my life. Blood on the floor, on hospitals gowns and on previously pristine white sheets. The room could almost be a set of a horror movie if not for the dozens of crying babies and nursing mothers..
For weeks it was always the same routine. Everyday, I would march the hallway armed with my medical artillery. Thermometer, stethoscope, a sphygmomanometer and a piece of paper. The whole bond …

Hello? Hello?
Anybody there? Are we still here?
Oh, whew! For a moment there I thought Judgment Day actually had come today, as California preacher and religious radio broadcaster Harold Camping had predicted. And I’m really, really not ready.
There’s a lot I still have to do. Like organize my sock drawer and change the strings on my banjo. Not to mention apologizing for some – er – indiscretions that have been weighing on me since forever. (Which have nothing to do with the banjo.)
I mean, if there really is going to be …

MANILA, Philippines – Boxing superstar and Sarangani Cong. Manny Pacquiao has stressed that his family was able to survive poverty even without the use of contraceptives.
This was his reaction to a statement made by international singer-actress Lea Salonga regarding his decision to oppose the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill.
“Bakit naman ang mga magulang ko noon,” said Pacquiao. “Wala kaming bahay, walang kaming pagkain… Apat kaming anak. Nahirapan kami, pero nagsikap kami.”
Salonga earlier said that unlike most of his constituents, the wealthy boxer-congressman can do without using contraceptives because he can …

Photo Credit: Good Filipino
MANILA, Philippines – The next Ombudsman position must not have close association with the President or any of his allies, Senator Francis Escudero told ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) on Tuesday.
Escudero, an ex-officio member of the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC), added two other qualifications: he or she must have will power and he or she must have the level integrity and courage to run against those who violated the law.
“We’re looking for someone who’s not like the former [Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez],” Escudero said.
The resignation of Gutierrez will …

Attention, Friendster users: You have until May 31 to save your account contents including photos, testimonials, and blogs —or else you’ll lose them in the social network’s upcoming major reformat.
Friendster, a pioneer social networking site launched in 2002, issued the warning as it prepares a “new and improved version” in the coming weeks.
“Your Friendster account will not be deleted. You will still have the same email login and password in the new Friendster. Also, your list of friends will be preserved, along with your basic profile information. However, all the …

“Pwedeng mag-padala?” It’s sort of like this. A Filipino tradition which is now used by drug syndicates. How do you fight this? Simple common sense. Better, refuse any type of “padala” even from anybody. If you choose to bring it with you, inspect the “padala” especially, the “maleta”. This is not just for OFW’s. This is also for all of you–Overseas Filipinos. Sabi nga: “If it’s too good to be true? Hindi yan totoo.”
It’s sad that three OFW’s will be executed in China. I was reading the news about it …

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, …

Pag hindi ka tinutugis nang mga impaktong pirata sa Somalia
Nanakawin naman mga food supplies nyo nang mga lecheng tiga Libya.
Nakalibre ka nga sa mga sira-ulong employers sa Saudi na itutulak ka sa tuktuk nang gusali
Karipas ka naman nang takbo sa nang-re-rape mong boss sa Hongkong na hindi tuli
Maligaya ka na sana dahil sa Japan maganda ang disiplina
Masisiraan ka naman nang bait sa taas ng tsunami at mala-delubyong lindol nila
Kaya nag-decide kang pumunta nang Canada. Buti pa, dun na.
Anak nang patola, hindi naman tanggap ang iyong diploma.
Tago ka ngayon sa Amerika.
Kung …

I fully understand the insufficient energy supply in our country to power our growing economy, more so that electricity demand is much higher that it was several decades ago. You only need to live in the province to experience low voltage and frequent brownouts. The explosion at the nuclear plant in Japan’s Fukushima prefecture should pretty much tell us about the risk of a nuclear catastrophe in exchange for energy.

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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 …

MANILA, Philippines—The houses that two former generals allegedly bought or rented using taxpayer money allotted to the Armed Forces took up much of Friday’s hearing at the Senate.
The blue-ribbon committee resumed its inquiry into the controversial plea bargain between state prosecutors and former military comptroller Carlos Garcia with the suicide of former AFP chief Angelo Reyes casting a cloud over the proceedings.
But nothing was said of Reyes’ alleged receipt of money from a purported military slush fund. Instead, the senators zeroed in on the houses, including a mansion at the …

Defense lawyers in the Maguindanao massacre case on Wednesday warned the prosecution and the victims’ families against putting them in bad light after one of them complained before the court that he was described as “baliw” (crazy) in one Twitter account.
During the resumption of the hearing at the Quezon City Hall of Justice, lawyer Paris Real, who once noted that some of the 57 victims may have died from insect bites or poisoning, cried foul over how he said he is being perceived by the public.
“In one of the tweets, …

An expert witness in the Ampatuan murder trial on Wednesday said the three massacre victims he autopsied all died with shattered skulls due to gunshots from a heavy firearm.
Senior Inspector Dr. Felino Brunia Jr. told a Quezon City court that he already found a huge portion of journalist Jose Duhay’s skull missing after it was “totally blown off” his head.
The medico-legal expert from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory also said Duhay, a reporter for the local newspaper Filipino Chronicle, sustained eight gunshot wounds all over his body.
The most …

MANILA, Philippines – A woman is seeking justice after her live-in partner died allegedly after surgical equipment were left inside him post-operation.
Hannah, not her real name, still can’t believe what happened to her live-in partner Roger Panzo.
She recounted that on January 30, Roger was brought to the FEU-Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation (NRMF) Medical Center after he sustained gunshot wounds in a robbery incident in Caloocan.
He was operated on and was able to recover, but the surgical wound was not closed immediately. The hospital said it was done to be able …

The proposal to have the late president Ferdinand Marcos buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani will be studied by someone who has “less personal attachment,” said President Benigno Aquino III.
Marcos, whose regime lasted a total of twenty years, ruled the Philippines under Martial Law from 1972 to 1981. He was accused of amassing ill-begotten wealth and heading an administration under which human rights violations, torture, enforced disappearances and killings were perpetrated.
In 1986, he was deposed by the People Power Revolution, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month.
“Whatever I …

HINDI lamang sa Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) nangyayari ang talamak na paglulustay ng pondo ng bayan, kundi maging sa Philippine National Police (PNP) matapos kumpirmahin ng dating hepe ng pulisya ang P40M “pasalubong.”
Sa ipinadalang statement, sinabi ni Senador Panfilo “Ping” Lacson na tinabla niyang tanggapin ang P40 milyon “pasalubong” kada taon nang maluklok bilang chief PNP noong 1999 na nakatago bilang “commander’s reserve.
Ibinulgar pa ni Lacson na bukod sa naturang taunang pasalubong, naglalaan din umano ang PNP ng gas allowance sa hepe ng pulisya na katumbas ng …

Convicted fraudster Bernard Madoff has blamed others for being “complicit” in his scheme, which fleeced investors of billions of dollars.
Madoff is serving 150 years in jail in the US for a $65bn (£40bn) fraud which deprived thousands of investors of their savings.
Now he has told the New York Times a variety of banks and hedge funds “had to know” about his Ponzi scheme.
Such schemes pay out using new investor money rather than from any profits.
Madoff claimed banks and hedge funds who had dealings with his investment advisory firm showed a …

Manny Pacquiao and his wife, Jinkee, made a brief visit to the White House Tuesday (February 15) and visited with President Obama, the boxer’s publicist said.
Pacquiao, in the midst of a national promotional tour hyping his May 7 world welterweight bout against Pomona’s Shane Mosley, stopped in Washington to first meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), for whom Pacquiao campaigned before the senator’s narrow victory in November.
As Pacquiao walked toward the White House, a cluster of cars stopped to watch him and a four-car pileup occurred with no …

Reports say that megastar Sharon Cuneta slams Hayden Kho over a Twitter post!
Base kasi sa mga naunang report, hindi mapigilan ni Hayden na magkomento over an EDSA billboard. He tweeted this kasi:
There’s a billboard ad in Edsa developed by advertisers who think consumers are stupid. Guess.
In fairness, wala naman siyang binabanggit na name or whatever. However, maraming tao kasi ang nag-iisip na ang Marie France billboard ni Sharon Cuneta ang kanyang pinatutungkulan. Kaya, nag-react tuloy ang beauty ng megastar at heto ang kanyang sinabi:
As far as I’m concerned, stupid people …

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Tuesday said it would take long before the impeachment complaint against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez can prosper, and warned that it might even fail.
For one, she said Gutierrez still has 15 days to appeal her case. If the Supreme Court upholds its decision, the House of Representatives has 3 months to hear it and would need the votes of 1/3 of all its members to transmit the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate, she added.
When the case reaches the Senate, which will act as …

Article contributed by: Barbie
Photo credit: Pinoy Weekly
Commuting is very tiring: Squeezing your way through mass transportations, boring your way through the EDSA traffic, contaminating your lungs with smog notwithstanding free unwanted face powder every time smokebelchers pass you by. There are a lot of ways a commuter can describe the stress commuting induces. As for me, it drains me farther after the toxic of school. Look, what will you feel after taking a two-hour exam then when you sardined yourself through MRT the man beside you smells like sinigang. …

VOTING 7-5, with two justices concurring in part and one abstaining, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the right of the House of Representatives to take up the impeachment complaints against Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez over her alleged inaction on criminal cases lodged against former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo.
Some of the high-profile cases filed against Arroyo at the Ombudsman were the overpriced $329-million national broadband network deal with China’s ZTE Corp., the alleged P728-million fertilizer fund scam, and various human rights cases and extra-judicial killings.
In the decision …

Written by: By SHAIMAA FAYED and ALEXANDER DZIADOSZ
Egyptian cities erupted in celebration when President Hosni Mubarak stood down on Friday and the crowds who had protested against him claimed victory over the man who had ruled them for 30 years.
“We have brought down the regime, we have brought down the regime,” chanted the hundreds of thousands of people packed into Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the protest movement.
They waved flags, cried, cheered and embraced when the news reached them through a public address system. Drivers honked car horns and …

House allies of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo urged their colleagues in Congress to avoid “trial by publicity” during congressional inquiries a day after the suicide of former Defense chief Angelo Reyes who was accused of corruption in a Senate probe.
“The death by suicide by former Armed Forces chief of staff Angelo Reyes sends the message to legislators to desist from engaging in trial by publicity,” House minority leader Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
Lagman added that Reyes “possibly could not bear his own and his …