Brown Soul

“I dropped the ball,” Emily Monforto confessed to a reporter. Yes she did.The 3-year-old Laurel Springs, N.J. girl became famous overnight for throwing a foul ball back on to the field at Tuesday night's Phillies-Nationals game—a ball her father had just caught and given to her. Video of the hilarious toss spread across the internet and cable news networks on Wednesday.

Every parent enjoys when their kids do those priceless little things that will one day make great stories. The funny sayings and antics that become priceless memories are part of what makes parenting so fun! Well, one dad has a great story to tell his daughter someday - and any future boyfriends might want to take note!

At the Phillies game last night against the Washington Nationals, a foul ball from Jayson Werth flew up in"As the ball was coming up I was just thinking, 'Don’t drop it Steve -- or I'll have all of Citizens Bank Park booing me,'" said Monforto. Clearly overjoyed when he made the catch and proudly handed the trophy to his daughter Emily while fans watched and television cameras rolled. When the oblivious little girl threw the ball back onto the field, his initial shock soon gave way to a heartwarming paternal gesture that has gone viral.

Monforto couldn't believe what he had just seen but recovered quite well and pulled his daughter in for a hug while laughing. His wife had a good chuckle, too!

Monforto attended the Phillies-Nationals game with Emily, his wife Kathleen and their 15-month-old Cecelia. It was Emily’s sixth Phillies game.

Monforto had this to say about Emily's actions: "See, when she first threw it over, you know, I kind of laughed and was like, 'Oh my gosh, there it goes.' But then the look on her face was that she may have done something wrong,
"I think she was startled by the reaction of the fans around us -- there was a collective gasp," said Monforto, 32. "She was also startled by the look on my face. I just wanted to let her know it was OK -- that she didn’t do anything wrong.” he told 'Good Day Philadelphia.' That's a pretty cool move on Monforto's part, not many fans may have been able to keep their calm after that!

"We play catch all of the time," Monforto added. "I think she was thinking, 'Oh great I’m going to have a catch with dad -- Dad gave me a ball, let’s throw it!'"

She is just doing what she always sees them do, throw the ball back on the field... Whenever they (children) try to do that, the parent is never able to catch them before they end up doing it. Anyone who ever spent more than 30 seconds with a kid that age know that's just typical behavior.

Her dad had the perfect reaction!
This dad's paternal instinct toward his child is demonstrative of his love for her above a silly little ball of less significance. That’s better then just getting a ball. The look on the dad's face was classic, it was so great he didn't get upset, but hugged his daughter instead.

Dad's reaction: priceless. What a great dad to give her that huge bear hug!! What a great family and memory to share!

Jose Rizal once wrote to The Young Women of Malolos: “The people cannot expect honor nor prosperity so long as they will educate their children in a wrong way…awaken and prepare the will of our children towards all that is honorable, judged by proper standards, to all that is sincere and firm of purpose, clear judgment, clear procedure, honesty in act and deed, love for the fellowman and respect for God…Open your children’s eyes so that they may jealously guard their honor, love their fellowmen and their native land, and do their duty.”

Monforto was compensated for the quirky, crowd-pleasing moment. “One of the Phillies representatives the next inning came up with a brand-new ball,” he says, though “I don't think it was the ball that she threw down.” Emily’s clutch performance has inspired kudos from fans upset by the Phillies' poor performance in late innings.

This has two happy endings: Monforto was brought a replacement ball as a souvenir and the Phillies won the game. Continue...

Congratulations MTM Taekwondo over-all champion National Poomsae Competition 2009! Continue...

The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamamalakaya) and the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) last month wanted lawmakers to investigate the lease of 400,000 hectares of land in Northern Luzon to Pacific Bio-Fields Corp. of Japan, a company based in the United Kingdom, for the production of coco-biodiesel for 50 years.

“While the government is begging for some 400 nursing and caregiving jobs in Japan, it is prostituting the patrimonial and sovereign rights of all Filipinos by offering the country’s 400,000 hectares of lands to Japanese transnational giants,” Pamalakaya national chairman Fernando Hicap lamented.
“This is very, very ridiculous, preposterous and totally insulting to the collective sentiment and national interest of the Filipino public,” he added.

Environment Secretary Lito Atienza on Saturday confirmed the existence of the agremeent, saying the government will lease over 400,000 hectares of land in Northern Luzon to Pacific Bio-Fields Corp. of Japan at “very, very affordable prices.”

One of the lingering effects of the food price crisis of 2007–08 on the world food system is the proliferating acquisition of farmland in developing countries by other countries seeking to ensure their food supplies. Increased pressures on natural resources, water scarcity, export restrictions imposed by major producers when food prices were high, and growing distrust in the functioning of regional and global markets have pushed countries short in land and water to find alternative means of producing food.

Rising Land Acquisition in Developing Countries

Food-importing countries with land and water constraints but rich in capital, such as the Gulf States, are at the forefront of new investments in farmland abroad. In addition, countries with large populations and food security concerns such as China, South Korea, and India are seeking opportunities to produce food overseas. These investments are targeted toward developing countries where production costs are much lower and where land and water are more abundant. Other factors that influence investments include geographic proximity and climatic conditions for preferred staple crops. In addition to acquiring land for food, many countries are seeking land for the production of biofuel crops.

Large-Scale Land Acquisitions

Global trends including high prices for oil and commodities, the biofuel boom and now the sweeping downturn are spurring import-reliant countries to take action to protect their sources of food.
China and South Korea, which are both short on arable land, and Middle Eastern nations flush with petrodollars, are driving the trend to sign up rights to swathes of territory in Asia and Africa.

In the Philippines, a series of high-profile deals has clashed with long-running demands for agrarian reform, including land redistribution.The Department of Agrarian Reform said in 2007 it was looking at large tracts of land for agribusiness development under a memorandum of understanding signed with China. The memo calls for the development of land to grow hybrid corn, rice and sorghum.

Because of protests, the Department of Agriculture suspended plans to allow China to use 1.24 million hectares of Philippine agricultural land.
“It will aggravate the problem of landlessness, the insufficiency of land for Filipino peasants,” Anakpawis party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano said of the land deals.

Qatar lease of RP land

However, the Philippine government is undeterred and during President Macapagal-Arroyo’s visit to Qatar in December, officials opened talks over the lease of at least 100,000 hectares of agricultural land to the emirate.

“Today’s food and financial crises have, in tandem, triggered a new global land grab,” the Spain-based agricultural rights group Grain said in a recent report.
The group said that some deals were targeted at boosting food security by producing crops that would be sent back home for consumption, while others were to establish money-making plantations like palm oil and rubber.
“As a result of both trends, fertile agricultural land is being swiftly privatized and consolidated by foreign companies in some of the world’s poorest and hungriest countries,” it said.

Daewoo deal in Madagascar

In one of the biggest deals, South Korea’s Daewoo Logistics said in November it would invest about $6 billion to develop 1.3 million hectares of land in Madagascar—almost half the size of Belgium.
Daewoo plans to produce 4 million tons of corn and 500,000 tons of palm oil a year, most of which will be shipped out of impoverished Madagascar—where the World Food Program (WFP) still provides food relief.
Walden Bello of the Bangkok-based advocacy group Focus on the Global South said the looming global recession was not likely to halt the trend which he fears will worsen the lot of landless peasants.
Bello said that many of the deals were struck in dysfunctional and corruption-ridden nations.
“What we’re talking about is private parties using state contracts to enrich themselves,” he said. “It’s an intersection of corrupt governments and land-hungry nations.”

Kuwait loan for Cambodia
In Cambodia, where the WFP also supplies aid, oil-rich Kuwait in August granted a $546-million loan in return for crop production. Undersecretary of State Suos Yara said Cambodia was also in talks with Qatar, South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia over agricultural investments, including land concessions. But opposition lawmaker Son Chhay said he was suspicious about why a wealthy nation like Kuwait needed to lease land to grow rice rather than just import the grain.
“Cambodian farmers need the land,” he said, urging the government to limit the area under lease and ensure Cambodia was not plundered by foreign nations.

Serious danger

These land acquisitions have the potential to inject much needed investment into agriculture and rural areas in poor developing countries, but they also raise concerns about the impacts on poor local people, who risk losing access to and control over land on which they depend. Resource-hungry nations are snapping up huge tracts of agricultural land in poor Asian nations, in what activists say is a “land grab” that will worsen poverty and malnutrition.

It is crucial to ensure that these land deals, and the environment within which they take place, are designed in ways that will reduce the threats and facilitate the opportunities for all parties involved.
“Even though some of the land-lease agreements make provisions for investments in rural development, these deals may not be made on equal terms between the investors and local communities.

The bargaining power in negotiating these agreements is on the side of the foreign firm, especially when its aspirations are supported by the host state or local elites. Smallholders who are being displaced from their land cannot effectively negotiate terms favorable to them when dealing with such powerful national and international actors, nor can they enforce agreements if the foreign investor fails to provide promised jobs or local facilities. Thus, unequal power relations in the land acquisition deals can put the livelihoods of the poor at risk. This inequality in bargaining power is exacerbated when the smallholders whose land is being acquired for foreign investment projects have no formal title to the land, but have been using it under customary tenure arrangements. Since the state often formally owns the land, the poor run the risk of being pushed off the plot in favor of the investor, without consultation or compensation. Land is an inherently political issue across the globe, with land reform and land rights issues often leading to violent conflict. The addition of another actor competing for this scarce and contested resource can add to socio-political instability in developing countries.” According to INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Bello said he expected these sorts of deals to increase, forcing peasants from rural areas and into cities where together with the global downturn they will add to the ranks of the unemployed.
“It’s particularly explosive in those countries where you have a high degree of landlessness, like the Philippines where 7 out of every 10 rural people do not have access to land,” he said.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has sounded alarm over the loss of land in a country where in rural areas, every second child is malnourished and access to land for foraging of natural resources is critical.

source:

International Food Policy Research Institute
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Business Mirror

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I am a bit late in POSTING this but I've been busy the past few weeks. But anyway, CONGRATULATIONS to our More Than Medals, the Filipino martial arts team that represented our country in numerous international Wushu competitions have competed in the 17th Annual UC Berkeley Chinese Martial Arts Tournament (CMAT 17) last April 11, 2009 and bagged 10 golds and 2 silver medals.
This is The Filipino Channel’s (TFC) coverage of MTM’s achievement shown in Balitang America. Continue...

F. Sionil Jose gives a better and correct perspective of that Chip Tsao incident in his column in Philippine Star :

“Here we go again, some inconsequential columnist in Hong Kong takes a cheap shot at our unhappy country, calls us “a nation of servants” and immediately an uproar, and magma feelings of hurt are unleashed. Editorials, columnists, politicians are outraged — they demand apology as if one would really salve the bone-deep insult. It was the same sometime back when an English publisher defined “Filipina” as a housemaid. Such insults hurt profoundly but the pain fades quickly and soon after all that enraged outburst, we settle down to the same complacency, we continue sending more of our women abroad to be raped by Arabs, demeaned by Malaysians and Chinese, heckled by the Brits. What has our sense of outrage brought us?

Go to Hong Kong, to Singapore. Visit the Star Ferry environs in Hong Kong or Lucky Plaza, and Singapore’s Orchard St. And there, on Sundays you will see them, hundreds of Filipino domestics, yak-yaking, socializing on the sidewalk, having a pleasant respite from their work.

To the visitors, tourists and the natives, they are a piteous sight, illustrating so clearly and so well how this country has sank. As a Filipino, having witnessed such, I am utterly shamed. I do not blame our poor women for their sorry condition, for I know only too well their plight is the only way by which they can help their families at home and survive.

It is such a boring cliché now, but back to the not-so-distant past: Filipinas was the second richest country in the region, next only to Japan; our universities attracted students from all over Asia, and we had the best professionals, the most modern stores and hospitals.

And what was Hong Kong then? There were slums crawling up those hills on Victoria island, and slums all over Kowloon. Singapore as an English naval base was like old Binondo, with its small squalid shops and equally small houses.

But look at Singapore and Hong Kong now, then look at our country and people.

Sure, you can find in Makati magnificent mansions, the biggest luxury cars, the tony restaurants, skyscrapers. But elsewhere the ugly sprawl of slums, the very poor who now eat only once a day. We must ask ourselves that question, why we became “the hewers of wood and drawers of water” of the world. What happened to us, a very talented and heroic people with a revolutionary tradition?

Once we have answered this question, then we should no longer wonder why there is a continuing diaspora of our brightest people, of our women. It is then the time for us to be truly enraged — not at that Hong Kong columnist — but at the creators of this dismal miasma we call Filipinas. Do not kill the messenger who comes to us to tell the horrid truth about us. Ingest his message, then turn all that outrage, that vehemence, to the Filipinos who turned this beautiful country into the garbage dump of the region: the oligarchs, the Spanish mestizos, the Chinese Filipinos and the treasonous Indios who sent their money abroad instead of investing it here in industries to create jobs for our people. Then it is time for us to rail and condemn the crooked politicians who are the allies of these wretched rich who permitted the relentless hemorrhage of this nation’s capital.

Revolutionary tradition? Ask those rebels why, after 40 years, these leeches are still feasting on our blood!"
F. Sionil Jose is undeniably one of the few sages left in our country. He saw the Philippines in its glory days (1960s) and back. He saw how our neighboring nations rose up one by one until we got left behind.

Even without Tsao’s article, foreigners have low regard on us Filipinos, whether you are an OFW or staying in the Philippines. With millions of Filipinos working abroad as servants, what other image can the world have of Filipinos? Hasn’t the Philippine government succeeded in creating the world-wide perception that we are indeed a nation of servants?

Tsao has just become a mirror of what is really going on about the Filipinos and the Filipino image in the world…That is an undeniable fact…

We need to accept the fact that we are the number one exporter of domestic helpers especially to the US, Middle East and Hong Kong? Some of our teachers and other professionals resigned from their jobs here to apply as domestic helpers in other countries. We cannot blame foreigners if they call our country a “nation of servants” because their servants are mostly Filipinos.

Many migrant groups, including the Center for Migrant Advocacy (CMA), Kanlungan Center Foundation, and Migrante International, have bashed Tsao for spouting this "racial slur." According to GMANews.TV Nevertheless, the groups admit that the Philippines has indeed become a country of overseas domestics.

Both CMA and Kanlungan questioned why Filipinos are so keen on denying the fact that we do have large a number of Filipinos doing domestic work abroad.

“We react because we have too many domestic workers abroad? But we do," CMA executive director Ellene Sana told GMANews.TV in an e-mail.

Institutionalization of migration

The phenomenon of migration in the Philippines can be traced back to the 1970s when there was a surge in the number of Filipinos leaving for abroad.

Dante Ang, chairman of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, said this was because then Labor Secretary Blas Ople thought of deploying Filipino workers to the Middle East to take advantage of the oil-boom and at the same time, temporarily solve the growing unemployment rate in the country.

However, more than 30 years after migration was pegged to be a temporary stop-gap measure against unemployment, the deployment of Filipino workers still hasn’t slowed down.

In an article titled “Understanding International Labor Migration in the East," published in the May-June 2007 Newsletter of the Philippine Institute for Development, Maruja Asis, director for Research and Publications of the Scalabrini Migration Center, identified the factors why Filipino migration has continued for almost four decades.

One of the reasons for this, she said, is the “institutionalization of migration."

The Philippine government has always been very upfront with its desire to deploy more Filipinos overseas.

“Working abroad has become an accepted fate to most Filipinos," she said.

In fact, she said it is now unusual for a Filipino to not to aspire for a job abroad despite being faced with proof that overseas is not really a haven for the unemployed.

The POEA said that a total of 165,737 Filipinos left for work abroad in January 2009 as compared to 132,285 in January 2008 – indicating an increase of 25.3 percent.

It also said that the 2009 deployment target is one million – 16.6 percent of which has already been achieved. It added that about 5,346 Filipinos are being sent to work abroad daily.

But why that has happened to our nation despite the fact that “Filipinas was the second richest country in the region, next only to Japan; our universities attracted students from all over Asia, and we had the best professionals, the most modern stores and hospitals” and our country, our Land is blessed with the bounty of nature or rich in natural resources?
 WHY…?

F. Sionil Jose was right in saying;

"We have A REAL AND INSIDIOUS ENEMY that we must vanquish, and this enemy is worse than the intransigence of any foreign power. WE ARE OUR OWN ENEMY. And we must have the courage, the will, to change ourselves."

-Why Are Filipinos So Poor

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

-Eleanor Roosevelt

"There are no tyrants where there are no slaves"

-Jose Rizal

source:
GMANews.TV
The Daily Tribune
Philippine Star
Continue...

The Chinese journalist, Chip Tsao, is coming under sharp criticism from Filipinos in the blogosphere and from two female lawmakers and a labor policy center have joined calls in demanding a public apology over a recent article “The War At Home” that made a racial slur against Filipinos in relation to the dispute over the Spratly islands.

Here’s the article:

“The Russians sank a Hong Kong freighter last month, killing the seven Chinese seamen on board. We can live with that—Lenin and Stalin were once the ideological mentors of all Chinese people. The Japanese planted a flag on Diàoyú Island. That’s no big problem—we Hong Kong Chinese love Japanese cartoons, Hello Kitty, and shopping in Shinjuku, let alone our round-the-clock obsession with karaoke.

But hold on—even the Filipinos? Manila has just claimed sovereignty over the scattered rocks in the South China Sea called the Spratly Islands, complete with a blatant threat from its congress to send gunboats to the South China Sea to defend the islands from China if necessary. This is beyond reproach. The reason: there are more than 130,000 Filipina maids working as $3,580-a-month cheap labor in Hong Kong. As a nation of servants, you don’t flex your muscles at your master, from whom you earn most of your bread and butter.

As a patriotic Chinese man, the news has made my blood boil. I summoned Louisa, my domestic assistant who holds a degree in international politics from the University of Manila, hung a map on the wall, and gave her a harsh lecture. I sternly warned her that if she wants her wages increased next year, she had better tell every one of her compatriots in Statue Square on Sunday that the entirety of the Spratly Islands belongs to China.
Grimly, I told her that if war breaks out between the Philippines and China, I would have to end her employment and send her straight home, because I would not risk the crime of treason for sponsoring an enemy of the state by paying her to wash my toilet and clean my windows 16 hours a day. With that money, she would pay taxes to her government, and they would fund a navy to invade our motherland and deeply hurt my feelings.

Oh yes. The government of the Philippines would certainly be wrong if they think we Chinese are prepared to swallow their insult and sit back and lose a Falkland Islands War in the Far East. They may have Barack Obama and the hawkish American military behind them, but we have a hostage in each of our homes in the Mid-Levels or higher. Some of my friends told me they have already declared a state of emergency at home. Their maids have been made to shout “China, Madam/Sir” loudly whenever they hear the word “Spratly.” They say the indoctrination is working as wonderfully as when we used to shout, “Long live Chairman Mao!” at the sight of a portrait of our Great Leader during the Cultural Revolution. I’m not sure if that’s going a bit too far, at least for the time being.”

Sen. Pia Cayetano said Filipinos "deserve no less than a formal public apology"
“HK Magazine and Tsao must apologize for insulting Filipinos, and they should pledge not to commit this mistake again," she said.

"Our being a poor nation does not diminish the validity of our historical and legal claim to the Spratlys. In the proper forum, this dispute will eventually be threshed out and resolved. Ignorance, hatred and racial bias are the last things we need in approaching this long-standing controversy," she added.

Cayetano also said that the Philippine claim to the Spratlys "is as valid as the other claims being pushed by other nations. It does not mean that we're disregarding the claims of others. We respect their claim inasmuch as they should acknowledge ours." 

She was quoted as saying.

"We should be proud that millions of OFWs are able to serve the world, whether as managers, laborers, caregivers or medical professionals. There's nothing to be ashamed of as long as we're earning an honest living without having to step on the dignity of others," she added.

Former labor undersecretary Susan Ople meanwhile also denounced Tsao, “His published declaration that he gave her Filipino maid a harsh lecture and warned her to tell every one of her compatriots that Spartly Islands belong to China or she'd lose her wages, is already a sign of an unstable, irresponsible and racist employer who resorts to verbal abuse even for perceived bilateral and historic infractions." said Ople.

Disgusting, derogatory, vile

Akbayan Rep. Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros-Baraquel also protested over Tsao's article, saying the magazine should apologize immediately.
"This disgusting, derogatory, and vile remark can only come from dim-witted and mediocre writing. The magazine should apologize straightaway. The article reflects the kind of attitude that promotes abuses against Filipina workers," Hontiveros said.

She said Tsao's story should not have been published, owing to its defamatory nature characterized by racial discrimination against Filipinos in general, and domestic helpers in particular.

A world without a Filipino

"Filipina domestic workers should hold a one-day strike to tell the likes of Chip Tsao who's the real master of the HK economy. If all Filipino workers in HK would strike, the HK economy would grind to a halt without us having to invade the territory," she said.

I am reminded of an article“Imagine A World Without A Filipino” by Abdullah Al-Maghlooth (www.arabnews.com)

“So if Filipinos decided one day to stop working or go on strike for any reason, who would transport oil, food and heavy equipment across the world? We can only imagine the disaster that would happen.

When speaking about the Philippines, we should not forget Filipino nurses. They are some 23 percent of the world’s total number of nurses. The Philippines is home to over 190 accredited nursing colleges and institutes, from which some 9,000 nurses graduate each year. Many of them work abroad in countries such as the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Singapore.

The Philippines, which you can barely see on the map, is a very effective country thanks to its people. It has the ability to influence the entire world economy.

We should pay respect to Filipino workers, not only by employing them but also by learning from their valuable experiences.
We have to remember that we are very much dependent on the Filipinos around us. We could die a slow death if they chose to leave us.”

Nation of servants

Sad but true, the perception of a Filipino today is a striking contrast during the time of Rizal when Filipinos in Europe were referred to as “the glory of the universities”.

F.Sionil Jose’s article“Why We Are Poor” looks back in the 50s and 60s when the Philippines was still the most envied country in Southeast Asia. Today, we are just simply a nation of servants.

The only way to answer people, who insist that we are a nation of servants is not by shooting off our mouths. The only answer is to BEAT THEM by studying and working TEN TIMES HARDER than the rest—to beat them not just once or twice, but to do so consistently for the next 20,30, 40, 50 years.

Remember Condoleezza Rice, the first black woman to become the United States Secretary of State. She was born in Alabama and suffered discrimination on account of her color. But she was taught from a young age by her father, that she had to be “twice as good”and prove that she was deserving of advancement. Condoleezza Rice explains, “I was going to be SO WELL PREPARED, and I was going to do all of these things that were revered in white society SO WELL, that I would be armored somehow from racism. I would be able to confront white society ON ITS OWN TERMS.”


Unless we Filipinos are prepared to love our country, and sacrifice ourselves by doing the extra-mile, we really deserve to be called “A nation of servants”

Source:
www.washingtonpost.com
www.hk-magazine.com
www.arabnews.com
Brown Raise
ABS-CBN News


Update: March 31, 2009
HK Online Magazine has publicly apologized and deleted the article but Chip Tsao himself remained unapologetic. The blogosphere already caught the fire and they can no longer change the different reactions of thousands of people around the world. Continue...

It’s a sad but good reflection on the wrong priorities and focus of millions of Filipinos going abroad. While we look for TRINKETS and TOYS (or goods for pasalubong and beautify our image), the Indians, Chinese, Japanese, and the Koreans would go to the West and gather TOOLS to equip themselves by getting the best education in the great learning institutes so they could invent a new mobile phone, design a new car, or create their own business at home.

The Institute for International Education released their 2007 report on the ranking of the different countries with foreign origin in the college schools/universities in the West:

Rank Place of Origin
1 India 83,833

2 China 67,723

3 Korea 62,392

4 Japan 35,282

5 Taiwan 29,094

6 Canada

7 Mexico

8 Turkey

9 Thailand 8,886

10 Germany

11 United Kingdom

12 Saudi Arabia 7,886

13 Nepal 7,754

14 Hong Kong 7,722

15 Indonesia 7,338

16 Brazil

17 Colombia

18 France

19 Kenya

20 Vietnam 6,036

21 Malaysia

22 Nigeria

23 Pakistan

24 Russia

25 Venezuela

Notice that the leading countries are from Asia with almost 50% from the list being Asian countries.
Where is the Philippines on this list?

Nepal is a very small country and yet would make sure they have at least 7,000 citizens in the best schools in the West. And so would Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, and even African countries such as Kenya and Nigeria.

On the other hand, we probably have millions living, or coming in and out of the West but how many dreams of having a doctorate in Harvard? Or a Masters degree in MIT? We do have dreams yet our AMERICAN DREAM is somehow disorientated and has no large impact.

Sad but true, the perception of a Filipino today is a striking contrast during the time of Rizal when Filipinos in Europe were referred to as “the glory of the universities” Continue...

What is your child doing this summer? Make this summer an unforgettable experience for them. Introduce them to MORE THAN MEDALS - WUSHU!.

Nowadays children don't have a healthy lifestyle. Too often kids remain inactive as computer games are more popular than sports. Children's lifestyles are now very sedentary. Recognising Wushu's ability to develop a child's strength and its overall health benefits, we offer you our 2009 MTM- Wushu Summer Clinic Program.

MTM teaches facets of Wushu that your children are sure to enjoy. Most of your child's summer days will be involved with physical activity, exploring forms and drills central to the martial arts that will develop their stamina, endurance, and flexibility. Each child will learn a special performance routine which they will perform for their parents on the last day of the camp!

MTM has world class martial arts training program, instructors, and facilities. It also has a values program called LifeDojo™, a unique brand of learning life skills and values like discipline, hardwork, perseverance, and respect.

Give your child the best summer experience. Call or text us right away @ 302-5510/0918-383-5637 to reserve your spot: pre-registration is critical to proper planning and will help to ensure the absolute best experience for all.

See You!

MORE THAN MEDALS - WUSHU
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As global economic and financial turmoil mounts, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has launched a "good news" offensive. Government spin won't, however, alleviate the impact of the global downturn on the local economy, where rising unemployment could thrust millions of Filipinos back under the poverty line.

Arroyo's government this month placed advertisements in local newspapers promoting the results of a recent public opinion survey that showed that 52% of Filipinos considered themselves poor. That marked a 7% improvement on the previous year's survey result, but the wealth effect will likely be shortlived, economists say.

Senator Edgardo Angara recently delivered his own gloomy assessment, when he said in a speech during budget deliberations that the two pillars of the economy - exports and remittances - were both "shaking". He estimated that by next year some 590,000 Filipinos would be at risk of losing their jobs, including 130,000 workers now employed on temporary visas in the United States. Another 50,000 overseas workers have already lost their jobs, including in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and Taiwan, where massive layoffs are underway.

More than 9 million Filipinos are working abroad. Nearly 1 million Filipinos left the country for work overseas last year, while another million ventured out during the first nine months this year. Last year remittances from abroad accounted for 11.6% of GDP. And while remittances have so far held up, a number of foreign workers are believed to be dipping into their savings to keep money flowing to their families back home.

The country's unemployment rate is already a stubbornly high 7.4% - the second highest in the Asia-Pacific region after Indonesia. In a poll conducted by the Makati Business Club last month, 60% of local businesses said they expected their workforce to contract next year. As of July, more than 10 million Filipinos were unemployed or underemployed, according to government statistics.

Despite the government's good news spin, the average Filipino faces harder economic times.

What’s the real meaning of good news?

"That night, some shepherds were in the fields nearby watching their sheep. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them. The glory of the Lord was shining around them, and they became very frightened. The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all the people. Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ, the Lord." (Luke 2:10-12)

What can I give him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd,
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a wise man,
I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give him—
Give my heart.

Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830–1894)

Christmas began in the heart of God. It is complete only when it reaches the heart of man. That's what good news is!

Merry Christmas to all! Continue...

Divers scouring the capsized wreck of the MV Princess of the Stars recovered 199 bodies during their two-week retrieval operation that ended Monday, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.

“The [salvor firm Harbor Star] has informed our officer that they are done,” said PCG commandant Vice Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo in a phone interview. “They recovered 199 bodies after they scoured decks C, B and A.”

Jorge Ponce, diving supervisor of Harbor Star, said the company accomplished its target of getting the bodies out of the decks.
The Princess of the Stars, owned by Sulpicio Lines Inc., sank off Sibuyan Island in Romblon province on June 21 when it sailed into Typhoon “Frank” (international codename: Fengshen).

While investigators sift through the wreckage which, of the 864 passengers aboard, only 57 survived. In the days following the tragedy, 350 bodies were recovered. One overlooked culprit for the national tragedy is the mounting brain drain of the country's best scientific minds.

That's in part because PAGASA has seen at least five weather forecasters, two weather observers and a hydrologist all leave the agency in the past year to take higher-paying jobs abroad. When the ferry disaster hit, all of their positions at PAGASA were still vacant.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) failed to issue proper storm warnings before the Princess of the Stars left port in Manila and into the path of an incoming typhoon. The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said it recently invested US$40 million in new equipment at PAGASA, but that the agency lacked the qualified meteorologists and climatologists to put the advanced technology to proper use.

Other specialized science- and technology-oriented agencies, including the Mines and GeoSciences Bureau, are also fast losing science and technology experts to overseas recruiters and failing to fill their vacated posts. The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development has lost some 75 English-speaking staff over the past two years, most of whom have migrated for higher-paying posts in other countries.

The Philippines has the third-largest population of outward migrants in the world, according to the United Nations. It is no longer just Filipino laborers who are heading overseas for better job. In recent years, doctors, nurses, teachers and pilots have all left in their professional droves for overseas opportunities.

Now, a growing number of the country's best and brightest scientists are being lured abroad by higher-paying salaries and better-funded research prospects.

The Philippine government already estimates it needs an additional 4,100 agriculture researchers, 2,000 fishery and marine science experts, 1,300 biotechnology staff and nearly 1,000 energy and environmental scientists just to meet rising challenges from higher energy and food costs.

Regional laggard
The number of scientists and engineers currently engaged in research and development (R&D) activities across the Philippines is about 8,800, representing a 20% decline from the figure recorded in 1996, according to DOST. That figure pales in regional comparison. Singapore, which has a population less than half of Metro Manila, employs 19,377 scientists and engineers involved in R&D activities, according to DOST's 2007 Compendium on Science and Technology Statistics. Regional competitor Thailand boasts more than 30,900 R&D-related staff, while Indonesia has 92,800, and even Vietnam employs 41,100.

That has resulted in lower scientific output. The Philippines recently ranked 29th out of 30 countries surveyed for their respective science and technology abilities, in a survey conducted by the Switzerland-based International Institute of Management Development (IIMD). The IIMD survey of world competitiveness from 2006, which compared various measures across 61 countries, ranked the Philippines 58th in scientific infrastructure.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization recommends that developing countries allocate at least 1% of their gross domestic product (GDP) towards science and technology to maintain competitiveness and sustain economic growth. Philippine politicians have failed to make those budgetary earmarks. Despite recent increases in funding for science-related activities, including budgetary earmarks worth 3.7 billion pesos (US$81 million) in 2007, the allocation is still lower than the 3.8 billion pesos made in 1998.

The current budget's allocation for science and technology related activities comes to a paltry 0.14% of GDP, or half the amount of Thailand's 0.26% and about a mere fifth of Malaysia's 0.69%. The figures are even more miserly when measured in per capita terms, with the Philippines spending only $6.20 per head, while Thailand commits $19.70 and Malaysia spends $61.90, according to the World Economic Forum's most recent Global Competitiveness Report.

Apart from meager budgets, Filipino scientists and researchers complain that there are no concrete policies to channel and facilitate research outputs into marketable products or uses. Philippine research grants seldom if ever include monetary provisions for spinning-off research results for commercial applications, including the high costs of acquiring intellectual property rights for new innovations.

The government recently launched its new "Balik Scientist" program, which aims to reverse the brain drain by encouraging overseas Filipino scientists to return home and share their knowledge and experiences with up and coming local scientists.

The government has provisionally targeted alternative energy, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and information and communication technology as areas of priority for what it has referred to as a "brain gain" program. But without financial incentives to lure scientists home, the program has over its first five months received only five applications - considerably fewer than the estimated number of scientists who have left the Philippines over the same period.

The main reason for the so called, “Diaspora of Filipino professionals” is better pay abroad and lack of opportunity at home.

Source:
Inquirer.net
Asia Times
DOST Continue...

The BBC recently expressed its apologies for airing a comedy sketch that many Filipinos have found distasteful.

“Firstly, we're sorry if you were in any way offended by the program as this wasn't our intention,” the BBC’s Complaints Division stated.

The division described 'Harry & Paul' as a “post-watershed comedy sketch show well-known for its exaggerated humour and absurd characters.”

“It in no way represents real people and was never intended to offend or demean any viewer,” it added.

“We recognize that you were personally offended by the sketch and would like to assure you that your complaint has been registered on our audience log,” the complaints division stated.

The skit was part of a series known as “Northern Monkey,” and that the maid’s nationality was not relevant to the comedy.

“The fact that the maid is from the Philippines isn't relevant to the comedy,” it stated.

The said skit was first brought into the general public’s attention when Filipino groups complained that a portion of the “Harry & Paul” comedy show portrayed a Filipina in a very demeaning manner.

Philippine representative for party-list AKBAYAN Risa Hontiveros condemned the network for the “racist and humiliating” portrayal of a Filipina domestic worker.

"By making a horrible scene of exploitation an object of ridicule, the show trivializes an act of abuse commonly experienced by Filipina workers abroad…, an issue that merit global indignation,” she added.

Hontiveros also said that showing Filipinas as submissive sex objects reinforces the idea of people from other nationalities that they can just hire a petite and sexy Filipina domestic helper and turn her into a sexual object.

Philippine Ambassador to the UK Edgardo Espiritu criticized the skit as "gutter humor." He said the show counters the advocacy of the British government to observe equality for all and respect for human rights.

The Philippine embassy in London had already written to the United Kingdom's media regulatory agency as well as to the mayor of London, the secretary of state for women, and the television network to complain about the said show.

Filipinos in the UK also condemned the show and mapped out protest actions including an online petition called “Dignity and Respect for the Filipino Worker Campaign”.

Female lawmakers and other organizations followed suit in asking BBC to issue a public apology for presenting a racist, humiliating and disgusting depiction of a Filipina domestic worker.

Many groups have already urged the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to lodge a complaint before the British government and to demand apology from BBC.

An official complaint was emailed to the network. The show outraged many Filipinos, women’s groups and even lawmakers prompting the Philippine government to direct the foreign affairs department to act on the issue.

Philippine Government wants BBC apology for wrong reason.

A national alliance of women criticized the government’s hypocrisy for seeking a public apology over the racial slur aired in a British comedy show in the guise of defending the Filipino dignity.

“The Philippine government is seeking public apology from the show’s producers and the British Broadcasting Corporation not in defense of the Filipino dignity but in defense of its labor-export policy especially on the eve of the Philippine hosting of the Global Forum on Migration and Development,” said Gabriela Secretary General Emmi de Jesus.

“The Philippine government is flustered the 'anti-Pinay' portrayal in 'Harry and Paul' mirrors the current state of many Filipina overseas workers, which thus puts into question it’s claim that the Philippines is the showcase of how migration leads to development,” De Jesus said.

The group added that the portrayal of a Filipina maid in the skit “speaks not of development, but of degradation.”

It was revolting. It was a disgusting and an insensitive statement from our government!

Source:
ABS-CBN News
The Philippine Times Continue...

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In Kishore Mahbubani’s book, The New Asian Hemisphere, he writes that there are two historical epochs taking place now in the 21st century: One, the end of Western domination. Mahbubani was not the first guy to say this. Roger Cohen of the International Herald Tribune noted it early this year with his article: The end of the era of the white man.

But there is another wave taking place today according to the Singaporean-Indian sage: THE RENAISSANCE OF ASIAN SOCIETIES. It is now the age of “Incredible India,” “Sparkling Korea” and “Malaysia truly Asia.”By 2010, he said, 90% of Phd holding scientists all over the world will now all be in Asia.

And the Philippines?

In the 1950s, the Philippines was the most dynamic economy in Asia - hailed by the World Bank as a future powerhouse. Half a century later the country is, in the words of Rommel Banlaoi, a political-science professor at the National Defense College, "the sick man of Asia“.


A Filipino resident in Singapore reveals that in the National University of Singapore, they are already teaching what the role is of the Philippines in the international community. It is not to produce scientists like India, nor to produce cars like Japan, nor to produce Olympians like China, but to produce DOMESTIC HELPERS for the world.

880,000 Filipinos leave the country every year in pursuit of more gainful employment abroad. They're laying pipelines in Siberia, mining diamonds in Angola and sailing ships in all the world's oceans. They clean thousands of homes a day from Hong Kong to Dubai to London; Bahrain's prime minister employs some 50 Filipinos in his own household (Philippines: Workers for the World, Newsweek, Oct.4, 2006)

• The Philippines is currently the world’s leading exporter of nurses, with 164,000 or 85% of the country’s trained nurses are working abroad, with doctors becoming nurses.

Nowhere is this emerging problem more pressing than in the medical sector. Dr Jaime Galvez-Tan, professor of the University of the Philippines' College of Medicine and a former secretary of the government's Department of Health (DOH), says the Philippines is currently the world's leading exporter of nurses. About 164,000 nurses, or 85% of the country's trained total, are working outside the Philippines. Out of this number, about 100,000 have left the Philippines in the past 10 years.

• About 200 hospitals have recently closed down across the country because of a lack of doctors and nurses with another 800 hospitals considered to be “partially closed” due to the lack of qualified health personnel

• The Filipino youth and students are uneducated, indebted, and hungry:
1 in 10 Filipinos has never gone to school (6.8 million)
1 in 6 Filipinos is not functionally literate (9.6 million)
4.1 million are illiterate
11.6 million youth are out-of-school
51% of Filipinos had at most elementary education
(The State of the Philippine Education, Freedom from Debt Coalition, July 25, 2006)

• Last 2006, the National Career Assessment Examination showed that out of the 1.3 million examinees, only 3.7%, or 49,066 students, are fit to enter college.

• The Philippines is No. 41 in Science and No. 42 in Mathematics among 45 countries.

Until we come to terms with who we are, our identity, our roots and heritage…the rise of Asia will never include the Philippines.

Sources:
Philippines: Workers for the World, Newsweek, Oct.4, 2006
The State of the Philippine Education, Freedom from Debt Coalition, July 25, 2006
Sick Man of Asia, Asia Times Online
Brain Drain Saps the Economy, Asia Times Online
High-school grads advised: Go tech-voc, www.manilatimes.net
Philippine Public Education – A Situationer, Independent Media Center Continue...

This article is my comment (response) to Cathy's post "Buy Pilipino".

(An excerpt) by F. Sionil Jose's Why are Filipinos So Poor.

In the ’50s and ’60s, the Philippines was the most envied country in Southeast Asia. What happened?

What did South Korea look like after the Korean War in 1953? Battered, poor - but look at Korea now. In the Fifties, the traffic in Taipei was composed of bicycles and army trucks, the streets flanked by tile-roofed low buildings. Jakarta was a giant village and Kuala Lumpur a small village surrounded by jungle and rubber plantations. Bangkok was criss-crossed with canals, the tallest structure was the Wat Arun, the Temple of the Sun, and it dominated the city’s skyline. Ricefields all the way from Don Muang airport — then a huddle of galvanized iron-roofed bodegas, to the Victory monument.Visit these cities today and weep — for they are more beautiful, cleaner and prosperous than Manila..In the Fifties and Sixties [the Philippines] was the most envied country in Southeast Asia. Remember when Indonesia got its independence in 1949 it had only 114 university graduates compared with the hundreds of Ph.D.'s that were already in our universities. Why then were we left behind?The economic explanation is simple. We did not produce cheaper and better products.

The basic question really is why we did not modernize fast enough and thereby doomed our people to poverty. This is the harsh truth about us today. Just consider these: some 15 years ago a survey showed that half of all grade school pupils dropped out after grade 5 because they had no money to continue schooling.Thousands of young adults today are therefore unable to find jobs. Our natural resources have been ravaged and they are not renewable. Our tremendous population increase eats up all of our economic gains. There is hunger in this country now; our poorest eat only once a day.But this physical poverty is really not as serious as the greater poverty that afflicts us and this is the poverty of the spirit.

Why then are we poor? More than ten years ago, James Fallows, editor of the Atlantic Monthly, came to the Philippines and wrote about our damaged culture which, he asserted, impeded our development. Many disagreed with him but I do find a great deal of truth in his analysis.

This is not to say that I blame our social and moral malaise on colonialism alone. But we did inherit from Spain a social system and elite that, on purpose, exploited the masses. Then, too, in the Iberian peninsula, to work with one's hands is frowned upon and we inherited that vice as well. Colonialism by foreigners may no longer be what it was, but we are now a colony of our own elite.

We are poor because we are poor -- this is not a tautology. The culture of poverty is self-perpetuating. We are poor because our people are lazy. I pass by a slum area every morning - dozens of adults do nothing but idle, gossip and drink. We do not save. Look at the Japanese and how they save in spite of the fact that the interest given them by their banks is so little. They work very hard too.

We are great show-offs. Look at our women, how overdressed, over-coiffed they are, and Imelda epitomizes that extravagance. Look at our men, their manicured nails, their personal jewelry, their diamond rings. Yabang - that is what we are, and all that money expended on status symbols, on yabang. How much better if it were channeled into production.

We are poor because our nationalism is inward looking. Under its guise we protect inefficient industries and monopolies.

And finally, we are poor because we have lost our ethical moorings. We condone cronyism and corruption and we don't ostracize or punish the crooks in our midst. Both cronyism and corruption are wasteful but we allow their practice because our loyalty is to family or friend, not to the larger good.

I am not looking for a foreign power for us to challenge. But we have a real and insidious enemy that we must vanquish, and this enemy is worse than the intransigence of any foreign power. WE ARE OUR OWN ENEMY. And we must have the courage, the will, to change ourselves.

Continue...

A bus carrying only ugly people crashes into an oncoming truck, and everyone inside dies.

They then get to meet their maker, and because of the grief they have experienced; he decides to grant them one wish each, before they enter Paradise

They're all lined up, and God asks the first one what the wish is. "I want to be gorgeous," and so God snaps His fingers, and it is done.
Continue...

I’m not a pessimist but while reading this article I’m beginning to ask the intention of the writer (I mean the real intention) I’m crossing my fingers that the intention of the article is to really elevate “may kababayan”, not to “sell” them considering the site is all about “DATING”

We need to consider how other nationalities look at us so that we can really understand the reason of writing about our women.

Please don’t get me wrong; we need to ask the right question in finding the right answer!

Here’s the article:

As a man married to a Filipina I have been asked many times if it is true that Filipino women make the best wives in the world. Don’t get me wrong now, I will not start bragging about my own wife nor I will dissuade you from dating a Filipina girl. I am just going to tackle some of the statements you hear or read about Filipino women so you can better distinguish the myths from the facts.

“Filipino women are very well educated” – FACT College education has always been of a great importance for the Filipinas. Pride in accomplishment at school is instilled in Filipinas since their early childhood and the statistics shows that female college enrollment even exceeds that of the male.

“Filipino women are religious.” – FACT Being the only Christian nation in the Far East (the Philippines is 83% Roman Catholic), it is common amongst Philippine families to raise their children in the church. Your perspective Filipina bride would most likely dream of a church wedding and it is likely that her family even forbid her to get married without one.

“All Filipinas are submissive and obedient.” – MYTH Generally Filipino women would never engage in a loud quarrel but their patient, non-confrontational and understanding nature should not be mistaken for submissive. All their life Filipinas have been taught to act like a real Lady – to be refined in both tastes and manners and always speak politely, with a gentle tone of voice. Arguing, along with public criticism, is just not acceptable and even if you are off your rocker your Filipina will not confront you just to save you from embarrassment.

“Filipina’s only purpose in life is to fulfill their husband’s wildest dreams and never lose his attention.” – MYTH As already mentioned, in reality most Filipinas have advanced degrees of education and professional lives. It could hardly be presumed that they live only to fulfill some man’s wild desires. And yet, nobody can deny the warmth, loyalty and faithfulness of Filipina wives. Since there is no divorce laws in the Philippines, Filipinas have always paid high regard for the sanctity of marriage and make every endeavour to preserve the love in their family.

“Money is always secondary to the stability of a loving marriage.” – FACT Living in a society that finds divorce unacceptable, Filipino women will always put the stability of their marriage first, before money and they will always be more willing to sacrifice career than a family.

“Filipina women don’t believe in divorce.” – MYTH Raised with high values of honesty and fidelity, Filipino women are very patient and willing to stand by their husbands during hard times. This is not unconditional, however, so don’t equalize the illegality of divorce in the Philippines with unwillingness of Filipinas to divorce if they could. A Filipino woman in an honest and loving relationship will never consider divorce as an option but if her husband abuses her verbally or physically she will resort to it if given the opportunity.

“Filipinas are excellent home keepers.” – FACT Filipino women are very focused on family needs and are exceptional mothers. Their home is a great source of pride for them and they do their best to create a warm and loving environment for their family. For the Filipina even yelling at home would mean de-facing her home so you will probably never find a Filipina woman screaming or breaking dishes.

“Filipina women prefer men who are many years their senior.” – FACT Filipinas are, at a minimum, tolerant of much older husbands. This fact is confirmed by the statistics – with 80% men older than their Filipina wives by at least a year, more than 40% are at least 10 years older and about 15% are more than 20 years older. What makes them desirable despite the significant age gap is that Filipinas perceive older men as more mature, less promiscuous, and financially stable.

“Filipinas seek Western men for marriage because there are twice as many females as males in the Philippines.” – MYTH The population difference is about 700,000 (age 15-65) in a country with a population of about 73,000,000 – that is a difference of less than 1% which proves that such a statement is just inconsistent. Filipino women seek Western men for a husband for many of the same reasons Western men want them for a wife – for a stable, loving and lasting relationship.

The writer Jonas P. is a retired American living in the Philippines. He and his Filipina wife have made a Filipino Dating site about Filipina women, their culture and the famous Filipina personality.

You can check the original article here:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jonas_Patterson

So, what do you think about the article?

Btw, i'm 9 years older than my wife and we literally go to church every sunday. again i'm not a pessimist i'm just trying to ask the right question.
Continue...

In southern Alabama is the town of Enterprise, in Coffee County. There they have erected a monument to an insect, honoring the Mexican boll weevil. In 1895 the boll weevil began to destroy the major crop of the county, cotton. In desperation to survive the farmers had to diversify, and by 1919 the county’s peanut crop was many times what cotton had been at its height. In that year of prosperity a fountain and monument were built.

The inscription reads: “In profound appreciation of the boll weevil and what it has done as the herald of prosperity this monument was erected by the citizens of Enterprise, Coffee County, Alabama.” Out of a time of struggle and crisis had come new growth and success. Out of adversity had come blessing.

In the language of China there is hardly a more suggestive or challenging word that crisis. It is made up of two characters, way gee. Each of these is half a word, the first being danger and the second opportunity. Hence a “crisis” is literally a “dangerous opportunity.”

Friends, don't give up! Continue...

I cant help my self but to have hope every time I visited a blog or a site of a Filipino working or studying abroad but yet still proud of her country! Like “Cat’s Walks” who’s living and working in Switzerland.

How many Filipinos will say the same thing:

“I have embraced European culture without losing and being ashamed of my own …I will always be proud of being Filipino and I will always promote the Philippines and our culture. I hope that someday more Filipinos will do the same.”

Check the original source here: www.catswalk.com

I’m suppose to post this article next week but I can’t help my self but to post it now as my way of appreciation and gratitude to her for loving our country kahit nasa lugar sya ng mga banyaga!

What is so special about Beijing Olympic? What is so special about the Bird’s Nest? America has at least 7 stadiums that are as big as or bigger than the Bird’s Nest.

Like what they’re saying,

What makes Bird’s Nest so unique is not the size but its Chinese identity. It is not European, it is not American… It is Chinese! Bird’s Nest is a Chinese soup delicacy, which costs at least $30 a cup. It is created by a certain species of bird that creates a nest with its saliva. What is amazing is HOW FAR and HOW GRAND the Chinese can attach meaning to something as ordinary as soup. It’s like creating a stadium and then call it “Sapin-sapin” or “Burong Talangka.” But no brilliant Pinoy architect has ever risen to promote our indigenous culture and express it NOT with “barriotic-ness,” but with a jaw-dropping, state-of-the-art facility like the Bird’s Nest.

The names of our stadiums are bereft of meaning and creativity: ULTRA, AMORANTO, ARANETA… Our theatres, convention centers are also meaningless: CCP, MERALCO, METROPOLITAN, FOLK ARTS, PICC. There is one theatre named in Tagalog, Lisa Makuha’s ALIW theatre. But just the same, no national identity. Just cute names.

Singapore’s Esplanade whose design was taken from a popular fruit among the Singaporeans—with the best varieties in fact, being grown in the Philippines (Davao): the odorous Durian. In the Philippines, Durian is considered the king of the fruits (Arancillo and Native are the best! How about Durian coffee? I love the taste) But to Singapore, Durian is an icon of culture, progress, civilization. Same with Bird’s Nest, it is so symbolic of Chinese culture.

F. Sionil Jose was right: “We are poor because we are poor.” There is a greater poverty that inflicts us, and it is the poverty of the soul.
Let’s not be surprised if the Oxford Greek Dictionary today defines the word “Filipina” as “domestic helper.” As Jose Rizal sharply pointed: “There are no tyrants where there are no slaves.” We cannot find the Dragon in us, because we think like slaves and therefore we are treated as one. Sikat tayo kapag halukikip tayo ng puti. Hindi tayo makatayo sa sarili nating mga paa—lagi na lang tayong nakasabit sa laylayan ng mga banyaga. We cannot have the will to empire because we are contented with dole-outs and free-loads. Mahirap makahanap ng dragon sa Pilipinas. Continue...

Im browsing my old friendster account and found this article. actually i posted it Dec. 15, 2005. and i don't even remember the original source, sorry for that!i want to share it with you.

The Blog before the Blogs

One problem I have is that here I AM outside of time, and these web pages automatically put a date on the entry. I could override that—I AM God. But I think you readers are sharp enough to know that if I said “Today I surprised Moses and made a bush burn in front of him without burning up,” the day I’M talking about would be a long time ago to you…even though the entry might read August 21, 2005.

Part of the problem I have with communicating with humans is this whole “time” thing. Today I AM chatting with Moses and today I AM speaking to James McDaniel who was born in 2021 and is praying for his mother right now.

That’s why I called Myself I AM. I was even watching some of you read this…before it was typed.

I know that whole concept throws some of you off balance. If you need to feel more comfortable, just imagine you are in a Hitchcock movie, The Twilight Zone, The Matrix, or maybe even Shadows in Time. (If you’re reading this before the year 2008, then you don’t know of that last film yet.)

The fact is, I started and finished all of these blogs before the word blog existed. I just had to wait till you had the word and the concept before I put them in the brain of someone in your century and had him put them into words.

Basically I’M entering into your blogdom because somehow the rumor got started that I was kind of boring.

For those of you who bought into that craziness, you should know that I’M the one who created all the stuff you love…all the stuff that makes life exciting.

I invented funny,
and laughter.

I created ADVENTURE
and Romance.

I even came up with the concept of c o m m u n i c a t i o n .

I can communicate across the world in nanoseconds (without intel inside).

I know your soul, and what makes you happy and sad.

So, I plan on dispelling some of the misconceptions about who I AM…and painting a new picture of Me…just for you.

And maybe I’ll paint a new picture of you…(one that you haven’t seen before).

Some of My blogs will make some of you laugh, and others of you will think I’M weird.

I AM.

Some of you laughed at that. Some of you would laugh if I said you had to get the blog out of your own eye before you can remove the spec from someone else’s.

Some of you have no idea what I’M talking about.

I continue to speak through lots of people and circumstances, but this will be a unique way to show some who think I’M old and outdated that I AM still relevant.

Because… hey… I’M a blogger. Continue...