The latest government figures are heart-breaking: 647 are dead, 1,482 are injured with 720 are still missing. On top of which thousands of families have been displaced. With the damage to property and agriculture running into the billions of pesos, typhoon Pablo has become the most destructive storm to ravage the Philippines this year.

Ninorey recalls the day his family endured in the eye of the storm:

A house was completely destroyed in Baganga, Davao Oriental. Photo from @flippy0721

Typhoon Pablo (Int. name Bopha) made landfall at Davao Oriental on December 4, 2012, at around 8-9am. initial reports show footages of strong winds and rising waters. We were bracing for the worst. Then at 9am, the power went down. Immediately, everyone in the family kicked of in emergency mode, stocking all empty containers with clean water, what with the past experiences of Typhoon Sendong.

Winds start to stir so bad that trees were swaying wildly. I tried installing a makeshift wind vane and at least two of them were blown. The last one was made of strong string and light plastic so it withstood the mighty winds. Rain was pouring wildly, and the radio is reporting gradual rise in water levels around rivers and streams in the provinces.

When I was fixing some leaks in our balcony, the wind blew so hard that it was hard to hold the door without being pushed away. The iron roofs started to dance and bounce. (It does sound funny, but when you hear it for real, you'll wet your pants. It is freakin scary). My mom went around the house panicking, and while we tried to calm her, the wind started to whistle. A whistle so deep and horrifying it almost brought us to tears. I thought, man, I only hear those in the movies, and I can't believe I'm hearing it now. I stood as I watched the tarpaulins, the leaves and torn branches blown across the road in front. Everything was flying. It was surreal.

Marie recalls her experience of living through the storm:

Yes, I did experience Typhoon Pablo's strength even if I am here in Davao that sad day of December 4. We're placed under Storm signal Number 2. In here, I heard the rumbling of the winds. I've witnessed the movement of the roofs nearby and also the slamming of the doors. I kept thinking how the typhoon might be like in my hometown where Pablo made its landfall.

Another Filipina blogger ‘Kaloka', found it hard to believe that typhoon Pablo has ravaged through her hometown while in the past, she was happy that storms rarely visited their place:

All my life, I am always bragging that even if I live and grow up in a tropical country where a least 20 typhoons are expected visitors in a year, my hometown has always been typhoon-free. Isn’t it very liveable? But what happened to the world? Is this now the effect of drastic climate change?

More than a thousand people were staying in this basketball court-turned evacuation center when the roof blew off during the storm. Photo from @imogenwall

It’s pretty worrisome to think that, whether you believe it or not, the family had the very first ever roofless night in the midst of typhoon just an hour or two after it started pouring out heavy rains and whispering winds. It has washed out the house’s concrete roof. Just imagine how the waters came inside the house after the roof were detached. Though there were no flooding, but the interior of the house, all of our stuff were truly wet. From clothes kept at the shelves in each bedrooms, kitchen wares and to all electronic gadgets at home which include even my father’s mobile phone, they all were bathed by rain waters.

Knowing that incidence and the fact that I am far from my family really caused me to feel guilty. I couldn’t do anything to comfort my family. And because there were no electricity, I can’t call and talk with them on phone as often as I wanted to. I really feel sorry.

In the aftermath of Pablo's destruction, Filipinos from all over the country have mobilized to help out the victims. The internet and social media once more plays an instrumental role in the relief efforts and not just with documenting the horrendous effects of the storm.

Father Joel Tabora, S.J. from the Ateneo de Davao University recounts what they've seen during their relief efforts:

Entering the Municipality of Compostela was like entering a warzone, its hectares and hectares of banana and fruit trees flattened. Even concrete houses were demolished. The GI-sheets of a warehouse for rice were strewn over the fields, its trusses and beams twisted grotesquely. The Assumption Academy of Compostela was 80% destroyed. Its newly built-gymnasium lost its roof. Library books were totally obliterated. Computers and sewing machines had been inundated by waist-high floods. All the school’s administrative records are gone. The convent of Sr. Erlinda Factura, FMA, was similarly destroyed. There, the floods were neck high. Only rooms on the second floor could still be used to provide emergency shelter for teachers. CRs however were not functioning. People there have no food. No potable water. No signal. Electricity is expected to return after at least two months.

Other netizens have joined the call for help, tweeting, blogging and updating their Facebook accounts with messages of support and information on how to help the victims of typhoon Pablo. As the year comes to an end, Christmas of 2012 will definitely be celebrated with a mark of sadness and reflection.

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The title went to Miss Angola – a result which surprised many here back home. In the run-up to the coronation night, many Filipinos believed that Shamcey would either place first runner up or take home the crown, as she had a strong following and was amongst the favorites this year.

But the results are now out and being third runner up is a great improvement over last year's achievement of Venus Raj, who took the fourth runner up position.

Shamcey Supsup

Filipinos both online and offline are talking about the results, in particular, Shamcey's answer to judge Vivica A. Fox's question:

Would you change your religious beliefs to marry the person that you love? Why or why not?

Here's a sample of what Filipino netizens are saying about the answer and the results.

Imagine Life Without X takes the result as it is, thankful that Shamcey was able to improve on Venus Raj's 2010 efforts:

There nothing much to talk about, she got the looks, the height, the brains, and that distinctive beauty of a Filipina it’s just that she only won as 3rd-runner up. Oh c’mon, call me bias, but yes GIVE ME A BREAK! Kidding guys! But who wants to lose right? Well come to think of it, 3rd-runner up is 3rd-runner up, better than nothing. Maybe it’s not yet the right time for the Philippines to get the crown but soon enough we’ll have the leisure of winning such a prestigious pageant once again.

Colegiala Girl writes about how Shamcey Supsup surpassed all her expectations of how the competition would turn out:

Forget all the other details of the pageant, but Miss Supsup has been one of the most popular candidates among the Miss Universe contestants in Brazil. When she landed among the 15 semi-finalist, I said that is good enough. But I was wrong she was picked up among the top 10 finalists and I told myself, well she must be lucky to be one of them. I did not hope for more. To me being on the top 10 is already a good achievement. but I again I was wrong. She landed on the 5 finalists where she was judged and announced later as 3rd finalist.

Focusing more Shamcey's answer to the question, The Black Fedora blog adores her for it:

For me, she is my Miss Universe and most of you agrees on that. As a Catholic, I love her answer and it’s the winning answer. But digging further, the Miss Universe Pageant was a showcase of different nationalities with different views and perspective especially when it comes to religion. Shamcey’s answer may be right for most of us, again because we’re God-fearing, but then again, perhaps it did not impress some of the judges. This is just my two cents worth

Jenny J. Talam was also able to connect profoundly to Shamcey's answer:

Shamcey’s answer may have not made sense to some of the judges’s ears, but to the true and all-powerful Judge, it made sense. A whole lot of sense. Until you accept your place in the world as a reflector of God, your life and your world won’t make any sense.

On the other hand, Cocoy sees something more behind Shamcey's answer, something that brings to focus the state of our society at present and how it is going about in facing current challenges:

Personally? I thought the answer was a bit naive, and incredelous. It is one of those things you do a mental shrug.
—-
Going back to the Shamcey Supsup question, aside from the God question, her response strikes a cord because it goes after that moveable target called, “Love”. The Miss Universe question after all, is a timeless one. Romantics believe that true love is about moving mountains. It is the test of time. Hell, isn’t there a Biblical quote that says you leave your parents to go live with the one you marry? At the heart of the Shamcey question was a timeless question: “Would you move mountains for love?”

He then concludes on the following:

Put in another way, The Miss Universe pageant asked Shamcey if she would defy destiny, causality, the nexus of time itself for a boy. Her answer was, “No”. There is no right or wrong answer. Is it fair then to be injecting own mores, and is it fair to Shamcey to represent all that clashing idea of who is the Filipina in this modern world?

Paolo Mandingiado tackles the issue of using interpreters and how it reflects our collective effort to establish some sort of ‘national identity':

My post-pageant realization is that it was not really about the use of Tagalog or English. For me, it boils down to how we want to be perceived and represented as a nation. To some degree, the candidates we send year in and year out to these international beauty pageants are no different from the intellectuals we fly in to science and math Olympiads worldwide, the athletes we support in international meets, and to the artists and performers we applaud in the global stage.

Aren’t they all simply ambassadors of the Philippines and its people?

All in all, Shamcey Supsup's achievements have given the country another reason to celebrate being a Filipino and a Filipina. In these challenging times, symbols of achievement, success and something positive would do good in keeping a nation working and striving for a better life.

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While many know who Jose Rizal is – genius, martyr, writer, poet, illustrator, architect, ophthalmologist, fencer – you name it and most chances are, Rizal, or Pepe as his moniker goes, was into it as well.

However, there is more to the Philippine National hero than being a National Hero or any of those titles that have become attached to his name.

First up, a fact about Jose Rizal. He is one of the most famous Filipino Masons in our history. Iligan Lodge No 207 has some fantastic notes on Jose Rizal as a Mason:

Jose Rizal was made a Master Mason on November 15, 1890 at Logia Solidaridad 53 in Madrid, Spain. He affiliated with a lodge under the jurisdiction of Grand Orient of France on October 14, 1891, and was made honorary Worshipful Master of Nilad Lodge No. 144 in 1892. There he delivered a lecture entitled “La Masonria”.

——–

In 1912, Rizal's family rejected a petition from the Jesuits to rebury their famous pupil. Instead, that honor was accorded to the Masons, led by Timoteo Paez, who, in full regalia, carried Rizal's remains in a long procession to the Masonic Temple in Tondo for funeral rites, before final interment at the Luneta in December 1912.

Dennis Villegas talks more on a little-known aspect of the National Hero in Jose Rizal: Komikero (Cartoonist/Illustrator):

Drawing was a favorite past time of our national hero. He wanted to keep a visual record of the things he saw or the people he met. There were no portable cameras during the 19th century, so Rizal just drew scenes and views while standing on ships’ decks or while idly waiting for trains’ arrivals.

One could only imagine how lonely our hero had been during his travels to Europe and America. To escape boredom and homesickness, he carried notebooks which he filled with drawings and sketches: a view of the Manila coastline as it receded from view, a picture of a funny man, Voltaire’s head, a Chinese man, or just about anything that caught his attention and piqued his interest. Rizal would spend days and nights drawing humorous panels we now called comics. Fortunately for us, many of these drawings still exist and can give us a view of what Rizal may have seen at a given time.

From Rizal the cartoonist, we move on to Cedric Valera's write up on Jose Rizal as a traveller:

So I read up on Jose Rizal. I discovered that he was a major traveler, both domestic and abroad. At age 24, he had already been to Paris and he was just taking steamships! I’m 28 years old now and I still haven’t been anywhere near Europe and we have all these jumbo jets traveling at the speed of sound.
Traveling must have been romantic then. Riding steamships, dressing up, people sending you off, people welcoming you.

I even read an account where Rizal first traveled to Saigon, then onto Japan. From Japan he would then take a super long haul ride to America, landing in California. He would continue by land all the way to New York. From there he crossed the Atlantic and traveled to London, continuing to France, Madrid and the rest of Europe. He would then make his way home via the Suez Canal, passing by Singapore. Upon coming back to Manila, he would have circumnavigated the globe. Shortly after, he would be arrested for crimes against the government.

Raisa Robles takes the Rizal's last poem and puts the National Hero in contrast to the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos:

It was really the first time that it hit me – Rizal was a real person.

And I got to wondering why he is a hero even to Indonesians and Malaysians. Why is he so admired? He never fought a Battle at Besang Pass like someone claimed he did. He never shot a man in cold blood and then boasted about it.
What makes a hero a hero?

A man can be a villain early on and then die a hero. Or vice versa.
In Marcos’ case, I believe what he did in the last phase of his life erased the good of his earlier years. This leader killed and robbed his own people blind.

Aside from Rizal's many titles, his name has also been the subject of many historical mysteries and stories not normally found in history textbooks nor discussed in class rooms.

Knox Balbastro has an excellent round-up of these mystery-filled stories about Jose Rizal, from being the father of Adolf Hitler, to being a homosexual, to being a notorious serial killer, and to becoming a god.

Rizal has become more than a National hero, a figure of history, a stuff of legends and mystery. He has become one of the most enduring and prolific symbols of being a Filipino.

That's why I shall end this round-up with a few words from Perry Hugo who drives home the point of why we continue to celebrate the memory and life of the man and call him, a hero:

Many stories maybe are apocryphal. That's the stuff that makes heroes, anyway. But notwithstanding Veneration Without Understanding, Rizal is our hero. And in this age, we need heroes that transcend time, politics, and personal desires. The fact that the Americans sponsored Rizal's ascendance to the exalted throne of National Hero does does not diminish his achievements and heroism. Nor it does not make him undeserving to be called such.

Rizal's being born from society's upper class does not preclude him from being the national hero. His martyrdom alone continues to inspire. Such ability to inspire has no class prerequisite.

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The debate on legalizing divorce took a kick-start when news of Maltese referendum favoring divorce reached the Philippines a few days ago. This has prompted progressive groups to make a bolder call for the country to follow in Malta's steps and legalize divorce in a predominantly Catholic nation.

The debate on divorce is nothing new, see here AttyatWork's round-up of talking points on the issue from last year.

Filipino Thinkers has a great digest of how the debate was settled and how the referendum unfolded in Malta. More importantly, it provides a side by side comparison of the issue between the Philippines and Malta:

Aside from the happy ending, which left the Philippines the only country without divorce1, the story of Malta’s divorce referendum shares similarities with our own reproductive health (RH) debates:

both countries are last bastions of Catholicism: Malta in Europe, the Philippines in Asia; both countries are predominantly Catholic: 95% in Malta, 80% in the Philippines; and both battles are primarily between progressive Catholics and conservative bishops. And in both cases, the conservative bishops use fear mongering to keep their flock in line.

For a quick refresher on the differences between divorce, annulment and legal separation, Lyle R. Santos has a quick guide in layman's terms.

With Malta's approval of divorce, the Philippines is now the lone country in the world that prohibits it. For Blue Dela Kanluran, the debate on divorce should not be framed on this fact alone:

As i had stated earlier my stand is against divorce however, I will not begrudge a sovereign nation of their right to decide whats best for their country and themselves as Malta has displayed here. (See, that is an example of the separation of Church and State).

Which leads me to wonder, what effects will the stigma of the only country which outlaws divorce have on the Philippines?

Personally, I think this will make pro-divorce legislation in the future more difficult not only because of the meddling of the Church but with the stigma earlier stated as well (Which is not how legislation should be argued).

Cocoy views the near-approval of the Reproductive Health and now the Divorce bill as a ‘reboot‘ of the Philippines, moving from a predominantly religious state in a secular one:

If the Reproductive Health bill becomes law, and it is followed by a divorce bill? That would be one continuity reboot for the Philippines. It signals that the nation is slowly becoming secular and less under the thrall of the Vatican.

As a Catholic, for me, it presents an opportunity for the Church to focus on the spiritual. I want sermons and direction that make me a better person. I don’t need the Church to tell me what is wrong with government. Filipinos everywhere already know what’s wrong with our nation. It is that time in history that we fix it. I need my church to help guide that poor maid who is always beaten up by her husband. I need a Church that guides street children away from the streets, and into education. I need this church to be relevant.

Dreamwalker takes delight in the fact that this proposed laws, no matter how dividing and controversial, sparks debate among society, thus encouraging everyone to take part in the national discourse:

I continue to be amazed by how Filipinos seem to be more aware of what is happening in the country and how we seek to be more informed about our laws – both proposed and existing. In my opinion, this can only lead to more good. Never mind that there will always b

Maju brings forward a valid point in cautioning that our lawmakers should take up the divorce law with a keener eye:

We should also get onto considerations on how good or bad are existing divorce laws. In many countries, notably those under the Sharia, the rights of women and men in divorce are not the same.

Lastly, here's a good discussion by a lawyer, Connie Veneracion, about annulment, legal separation under current Philippine laws and how divorce could plug the holes in the current Family Code:

Later on, however, it became clear that despite the leeway allowed by the concept of psychological incapacity, there was a huge gaping hole in the law. Annulment is a very expensive legal procedure beyond the financial capacity of majority of the Filipinos. The laundrywoman living in the slums who is physically abused by the drunken jobless husband could not afford it. In addition to the expense, the process was a long and tedious one. Eventually, the divorce advocates started making noise again. As expected, the Catholic church is getting more imaginative in coming up with arguments against divorce.

It is sad that most Filipinos cannot view marriage independently from its religious context. It is even more sad that most Filipinos do not consider themselves validly married unless married in church. Very sad indeed.

So, will the passage of a divorce law patch the loopholes in the Family Code? It depends on what the law will allow as valid grounds for divorce and what the required procedure will be. It has happened before that a law is passed as some sort of pacifier. Congress can pass a “divorce” law which such narrow grounds and complex process that it will effectively negate the very purpose of a divorce. You know, just so it can be said that a divorce law has been passed. I doubt if that will satisfy the progressives and the divorce advocates.

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And it shouldn't be a surprise as the Philippines once became famous for being a Friendster.com nation. Well that was back in 2003 to 2007 and before Facebook, Twitter and other more popular social networking sites today came to the scene.

Instead of shock, disbelief and even resistance to the news that their once favorite social networking site was about to suffer some sort of demise, virtually all Filipinos bloggers and netizens simply re-echoed the message from the Friendster team that users who value their content or data on the site should begin exporting it before everything else is wiped out after May 31.

However, there's still a hint of sadness and nostalgia amongst them.

Roy had the impression that Friendster has given up against the reigning king of social networking media Facebook:

So, do you think Friendster has accepted its fate and would no longer want to go head-to-head with Facebook?

Oh well, thank you very much Friendster. We do have good memories together.

Carlo Dimaandal had a bittersweet moment upon learning of the news that Friendster is about to do a reboot:

Friendster is ditching some of its social media functionalities in favor of a more entertainment-based platform. Some people really don't care. But for the nostalgia freak like me, there is an option to download user data (tulad nung mga testi na ipinagmakaawa mo pa! :) ) or export them to other services. This is where I saw what I think was a “tampo” moment.

Pinoy Social Media gave a brief history of how Friendster struck it big with Filipinos back in its hey day with some statistics saying that the Philippines was the number one on the list of top 15 countries accessing Friendster back in 2008. However, all that changed when in just a year, the country converted to Facebook.

So it's time to logon one last time to Friendster (assuming you still remember your password), reminisce using this social network, look at your photos, testimonials and comments from several years ago, download everything for archive and bid farewell for now to our Social Media friend, Friendster.

For Grace Abonillo, the nostalgia wasn't just because of socializing online via Friendster, it was the origins of her addiction to social networking sites:

Few days ago, I read this news that Friendster will come to an end. I didn’t mind at all, for I am no longer using it since 2007.

But I came to a realization that it is where it all began, my addiction to social networking sites. First it was friendster.com, then multiply.com and then came facebook. I started using FS(Friendster) when I was in college, circa 2002. Became an addicted user with lots of updates everyday.

Suddenly, I just get tired of it, and started using multiply and facebook in the early 2003 or 2004. But facebook was so complicated to use then, that’s why I stuck with multiply.

Pepe Alas sums up the nostalgia in an upbeat mood where he succinctly describes why the news of Friendster's reboot:

Many Friendster-turned-Facebook addicts (like me!) have been expecting this for a long time. But this news is still a shocker, for Friendster is already a part of Filipino pop culture. Other than that, the Philippines is Friendster’s largest market.

It was good while it lasted.

Rico at Technograph already looks ahead and wonders what the future holds for Friendster:

What exactly does Friendster mean by “social entertainment”? When I accidentally visited the Friendster login page while writing about the Friendster profile downloader, I noticed that the login was surrounded by advertisements for Friendster’s different games. Does this mean that the original social network will now present itself as an online gaming portal?

So here it is, the passing of another era in Philippine Internet history, the demise of Friendster, once the only social networking site Filipinos knew.

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When a Snoop Dogg hip-hop tune was played, the 6-year-old boy did a provocative dance pretending to be a ‘macho dancer’ in a night club. Willie Revillame didn't appear to be bothered by the dance which is unusual to be performed by minors and instead he cheered on the audience to applaud the boy. All the while, tears were running down his cheeks as he repeated the macho dancer routine every time the song was played.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YRCxh9q64w

Definitely Filipino denounces the incident as child exploitation:

This is entertainment? The child was obviously humiliated the first time he had to do it, but performed the dance several times upon the inducement of Willie himself, his staff and with the encouragement of the people in audience — some of whom can be seen brought to tears in laughter. This is not funny at all. The ‘performance’ should have been allowed only once to qualify for the ‘talent’ portion of the contest, and that should have been the end of it. The child’s father was also ridiculed by Willie for owning a parlor, seemingly trying to coerce the child into revealing the sexual orientation of his father. What is wrong with trying to make a decent living by cutting people’s hair? Straight or homosexual, so what

Dennis believes that a line has been crossed and it's time for concerned citizens to act:

It’s time the silent majority stood up and stated in no uncertain terms exactly what it feels about the TV show.

It’s time to refuse to let an egoistic celebrity and his misguided group of TV executives dictate what our moral standards should be.

Dennis Sy scores the kid's parents for teaching him the provocative dance:

For the parents of this boy who pimped their kid to come out of national TV – shame on you. No loving parent would force their kid to do this.

Ramblings of Adam and Eve zero in on how TV host Willie Revillame takes advantages of such situations:

While it’s true that Willie may have helped a lot of people already, it’s also true that he helps himself while he’s helping these people. Besides, it’s not Willie himself who helps them, it’s actually the sponsors of the show. Willie’s just doing his job and is actually earning a lot from it. But money can’t buy class, intelligence, taste and sensitivity. Too bad for Willie because maybe he thought he could.

Trisha appeals to the show's producers and the boy's family:

When I watched this video, I felt really really uncomfortable. The show should rethink what their show really wants to achieve. To Jan-Jan's father and aunt, I don't know why you chose that dance move to teach him.

Prayers for the boy, his family, and the audience are offered by Better Filipinos so that they may see the error of their ways:

I'm praying for that this kid will be blessed to have his mind protected by the corruption being instilled by his guardians. I am praying that Janjan's parents will understand soon enough that they need to love their child more and that this way of milking money from this child is not God's way. I am also praying for the audience – laughing and approving this vicious thing to this child – to realize and repent from this way of life.

Patricio Mangubat points out that the powerful men behind TV host Revillame will also be dragged into this new mess:

What I am surprised about is that this man is being supported by big businessmen, like Manny Pangilinan and Manny Villar. These people are supposed to be the shakers and movers of this Nation. These men are supposed to be of high integrity.

Do these businessmen realize that their names are also being dragged as protectors of Mr. Revillame, every single time this man gets caught with a misdemeanor or a crime?

On the other hand, Katrina Stuart Santiago posed a crucial question to Revillame's critics:

when I say ngayon lang, I mean this concerted effort to stand up for little boy Jan-Jan and the perceived abuse he suffered on the show. when I point out this fact of public outcry happening only now, I mean what of those countless — countless! — times that these Willie Revillame shows have offended, are offensive, which is really pretty much most of the time.

bakit ngayon lang tayo na-offend? is a question that is not about forgiving Revillame or his show. it’s a question that’s about figuring out how these current conditions with regards Jan-Jan are different from the five years of Wowowee and the less than a year’s existence of Willing Willie. or maybe it isn’t different at all, we just got this one on a youtube video. in which case what does this really say about us?

…..

we are farthest from the point. our anger towards Willie and Willing Willie will barely scratch the surface of possibility of both being cancelled out of local TV. in fact at this point it’s almost something they can shrug off, and something to use against us. because here we are shooting from the hip, angry and disgusted, in the process revealing our social class. we forget that Willie will know to see this for what it is: the class divide at work, one that we refuse to deal with, one we will deny, and ultimately one we will not put out P10,000 pesos for. even if we could.

As of this writing the Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development has sent communications to TV5 network which airs the “Willing Willie” show about this incident while the the Commission on Human Rights and the MTRCB have also taken notice. Bloggers and netizens continue to debate the issue and organize support for the 6-year-old boy. Clearly, things are far from over.

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Pacquiao did so when he posted on his Twitter account the following message:

@CongMP: I'm watching impeachment trial very interesting topic good night everyone thanks

Other netizens responded, Filipina blogger Noemi Dado was among the first and asked a question to the boxing champion and politician:

@momblogger: why are you not at the plenary? RT @CongMP: I'm watching impeachment trial very interesting topic good night everyone thanks

Then other netizens joined the conversation:

@nerveending: @momblogger If I remember right, @CongMP has a fight in a few weeks.

@MangBurns: @momblogger bawal mag puyat ang boxer. @CongMP

To which Noemi Dado responded with a follow-up question:

@momblogger; why now of all times though? recess will be over anyway RT @nerveending: I thought @CongMP was still training in Baguio.

While other netizens didn't hold back with their thoughts on Pacquiao's absence from Congress sessions:

@RAandRat: @nerveending to hell with @congmp. Why the fuck did you run for congress when you know you'd barely be present? @momblogger

@bethangsioco: @momblogger hay I've been harping on his long absences for d longest time. @RAndRat @nerveending @congmp

But when Manny Pacquiao himself answered the question, the whole thing turned into a PR disaster:

@CongMP: e di mag reklamo ka doon sa lolo mo hahahaha thanks

Surprised, Noemi Dado tried to clarify Pacquiao's tweet:

@momblogger: bitaw kinsang lolo? I want to see you in Congress. keep missing you for interview RT @CongMP: re di mag reklamo ka doon sa lolo mo hahahaha

Screenshot of Paquiao's twitter page before he deleted it

But for others, it became the opportunity to give the boxing legend a one-two punch on how a public figure and servant should conduct himself publicly and online:

@mobilemaui: @momblogger Did Rep. Pacquiao tweeted you this?-”e di mag reklamo ka doon sa lolo mo hahahaha thanks” He should be cautious w/ his tweets

@randomsalt: You may be trying to folksy and humorous, @CongMP, but the matter at hand is too serious to be flippant about.

@RAandRat: @CongMP that's the best you can do? Taunt people who call you out for your failure to do your duties as a public servant?

@jesterinexile: @randomsalt because @CongMP is absent, saranggani province has no say in a national issue. that is irresponsible beyond belief.

@emvisi: @momblogger @RAndRat @mangburns insult or not, he should maintain the dignity of his office being a congressman. showed what he is made of

Manny Pacquiao then tried to shift the conversation back to the impeachment case and announced his stand:

@CongMP: I vote NO! and I can give my explanation thanks

However, Pacquiao must have realised then that it was too late because netizens are already flooding him with criticisms, that in his last tweet before the account itself was deleted, he bid farewell to micro-blogging:

@CongMP: Sorry everyone but hanggang dito nalang delete ko na account ko thank you very much to all your support

Jay Salazar writing at ProPinoy.net gives a succinct wrap up of Manny Pacquiao's abrupt departure from Twitter:

Precisely why he had refused to perform his sworn duty of representing his constituents and giving them a say on an issue of national importance is unclear—not to mention moot and academic. It may well be that he was training in Baguio, but Baguio is merely six to eight hours away from Metro Manila by land. What is certain is this: Pacquiao’s absence from the impeachment proceedings is utterly irresponsible, a fact that his inappropriately flippant—even scornful—tweets serve only to underscore, and which does not augur well for the rest of his political career. If the pugilist conceives of Twitter as an informal forum intended for casual banter, then, at the very least, he should consider restricting his updates to inconsequential banalities, instead of setting the stage for being remembered as a laughingstock of a solon.

Will the world's best ‘pound-for-pound’ fighter return to micro-blogging?

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As Japanese authorities are scrambling to contain the on-going nuclear crisis in the quake and tsunami hit Fukushima, governments in its neighboring countries are fighting to control the spread of something equally dangerous – hoax messages that sow unfounded fear and panic in the public about Japan's nuclear problems.

In the Philippines, it all started with a hoax message which circulated via SMS warning the public to stay indoors, swab iodine on their necks and avoid getting caught in the acid rain that was allegedly caused by radioactive material that leaked from Japan's damaged nuclear power plants.

The hoax message soon leaked into social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. However, bloggers were quick in coming out to prove that the messages were false and expose it as such.

Rungitom dissects the message point-by-point to prove it's a hoax:

Why is it a hoax again? Here are the reasons:

• The plume from the site of the incident will not pass Philippine territory as of March 14.
• It does not make sense because the location of the explosion is too far, so it does not affect the local rainfall.
• The wind pattern in Japan showed that the Philippines are unlikely to be hit by any radioactive fallout from Fukushima.
• Acid rain is formed when gaseous substances like sulphur and nitrogen mix and react with water in the clouds. Radioactive materials were in metal form so it would not react with water.

Ralph at Trunk Locker joins the chorus of bloggers appealing to everyone not to simply forward messages via SMS without taking time to check on the facts or veracity of the information:

And please if you received the text message, don’t spread it and might as well tell the person who passed it to you that it wasn’t true. In times of crisis, we Filipinos must learn from the Japanese… they were bombarded with calamities… first was the earthquake, then the tsunami and now the impending danger of radiation exposure due to damaged nuclear power plant… but they remained calm… they remained disciplined. It was said in the news that they were waiting in line for their turn to receive relief goods and there were no reported robbing in shops and grocery stores. All praises to them.

However, some like Tiffany Ann Amores-Amortizado, may have doubted the message after doing her own search on the Internet, but still chose to err on the side of caution:

As a mother of 3 young children, I am a known worrier. And to take necessary or UNnecessary precautions, I WILL PLAY IT SAFE and stay indoors for at least 24 hours.

Still on the other hand Blogged Philippines argues that playing safe isn't really safe:

Some may argue that they just followed what the SMS said because its better to be safe. Yes, that saying is absolutely true if the definition of “safe” is clear. In the case of the Fukushima radiation hoax, how many of us is sure that putting an iodine solution in our thyroid will protect us against radiation? Whether it will help or not, I don't know. What I know is that I'm not sure about it. What if the opposite is true, and putting an iodine solution in your necks will even worsen the case? The point is, before making a decision, make sure that you have FACTS.

In the case of the Fukushima Radiation Hoax, the damage is not big. That's something we should be thankful for. It only resulted to people staying at home, suspended classes, and an increase in the sale of “betadine” solution. :-). But think about this: What if the message instead requires a more drastic action? Will you do it?

In an effort to genuinely help out, Korhz shared some tips on how to be prepared when one gets caught in disasters like an earthquake or a nuclear event.

Juan Republic dug deeper into the hoax message, illustrating how Filipino culture with its penchant for gossip have contributed to how it got so viral:

It all started with a chismis – an unconfirmed text message that was repeatedly forwarded because of fear. Whoever was the one behind this fiasco, he succeeded. He induced fear and changed the normal routine of some of the Filipinos. He created an instant talk-of-the town. Or if he did it for fun, for sure, he laughed his ass out.

It’s just so disappointing that some idiots grab the opportunity of a disaster to create something stupid and for self-gratification.

Should our chismis culture be blamed? Our love for showbiz-oriented shows and tabloid-liked stories may be a factor.

…

Unfortunately, they passed the wrong message.

And the rest was an infamous story.

With today’s technology, news and information can be delivered faster. But technology doesn’t give us accuracy or veracity instantly.

Then there's this satirical piece on Mosquito Press hitting back at Filipinos, sharply pointing out that being easily affected by hoaxes is due to their ‘exceptional gullibility.’

This post is part of our special coverage Japan Earthquake 2011.

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[to] interact with policy makers, both government and private groups, who are interested in crafting guidelines that will have an effect to the blogging community.

As soon as it was published, bloggers on both sides of the fence – those in favor and against the proposal have expressed their respective positions.

It is interesting to note that those who support the idea of forming a national bloggers’ association do so with some reservations. Regnard Raquedan suggests that the idea should be refined into an organization of ‘professional’ bloggers instead of representing all Filipino bloggers:

This group should not pursue bloggers who are blogging as a hobby and as a means of expression. And clearly, the group should present itself as a representative of the professional bloggers, not all bloggers in general. Making such a claim would be

I believe no one group can represent the Philippine blogosphere– it's akin to attempting to represent all those who can express themselves. But I believe that a group focused on one aspect of blogging, that is professional blogging or blogging with an agenda, can be helpful in legitimizing Philippine blogging as a practice.

Bjornson Bernales puts his faith on the idea that there's wisdom in setting up such an organization and hopes that along the way, things will get more refined and clear:

It is still immature for me to say about the structure of the Philippine Bloggers Association. But the one thing I am sure about is that I would like to be part of it.

I respect the views of other bloggers. And that makes the blogoshere colorful with different views and opinions, maintaining an equilibrium between the yin and yang.

But I still say yes to Philippine Bloggers Association. I dream of being a full-pledged Problogger. It is not because I am motivated of money and power. It is because I sense and aspire win-win situations in which bloggers have concerns about and are a part of.

Aileen Apolo took some time to read back on the history of earlier efforts of putting up a similar organization of bloggers in other countries – all of which had failed – and maintains a neutral stance:

So this proposal about a National Bloggers Association… I don't know, I think I'll stick to joining or participating in select projects/activities since any attempt in the past (this the the nth attempt) never really flourished. Besides organizations really work with just a handful of people moving (I've observed that with local professional orgs too), so its actually better sometimes to just have interest groups work with different projects to get more traction.

Well, it's a free country and everybody has a choice :)

On the other hand, bloggers who oppose the formation of national bloggers’ association have come out to state their case.

Janitor Al takes the idea head on in a rather blunt and scathing manner:

It's stupid because its creation can potentially generate more of the same kinds of problems that it seeks to address. For instance, while it seeks to unify bloggers, it seems rather obvious that this idea has caused much division. Ironic? Perhaps. Stupid? I would say definitely.

…..

Personally, I also find the endeavor rather pompous. No. Not ambitious. Pompous. The assumption that they can bring the millions upon millions of bloggers to band together and agree on this reeks of arrogance.

Let's look at one particular example, the notion of representation. Given the status quo, while there may be some who might seem to represent bloggers in a bad light, the lot of us can easily say, “No. Those bloggers do not in any official manner represent me or any other blogger for that matter.” And in most cases, that will be the end of it. Enter now an actual “association” claiming to represent all of us bloggers. Given the ease by which most of traditional media still misunderstand the blogosphere, the danger here is that this “association” could very well be regarded by the mainstream as a de facto official representative. Who the hell gave them that right?

The Mommy Bloggers Club not only opposes the idea of a national bloggers’ association because it would be adverse to blogging's inherently personal and independent nature, she puts forward a counter-proposal:

If we really want an organization to fight for our right, in terms of ethics, copy right issues and income, I would rather suggest having a Bloggers Cooperative, where one get to share ideas, skills, and income opportunities. We can have a fund for all bloggers in the country to share and invest. We can continue what we love doing, blogging, without being regulated but are progressive.

Ms Noemi Dado joins in this position and also offers an alternative:

While I do agree with a collective set of ethical standards for bloggers , I am not convinced on the establishment of a national blogging organization. Bloggers are so diverse and may not want to belong to one big group for one reason or another.

Before the establishment of an organization, a set of ethical standards should first be deliberated and agreed upon in a conference or summit, then the rest can follow.

With more and more bloggers starting to weigh in and take sides, the debate on the ‘national bloggers’ association’ is far from being over.

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The debate generated by the Reproductive Health bill has taken on an interesting if not bizarre twists, the latest of which is a recent village ordinance that has taken things to a whole new level.

And this is not your average village or barangay in the Philippines, the controversial new ordinance came from the affluent Ayala Alabang Village – a gated community famous for being the place where politicians, past presidents, celebrities and the rich take up residence.

The controversial new condom ordinance came from the affluent Ayala Alabang Village. Image by Flickr user robertelyov (06/11/10).

The village ordinance is ordinance entitled, “An Ordinance providing for the safety and protection of the unborn child within the Territorial jurisdiction of Barangay Ayala-Alabang; Fixing Penalties for its Violations, and for other purposes.” It was passed on 3 January 2011.

In summary, it imposes restrictions on the sale and distribution of contraceptives which it labels as abortifacients and requires residents to have prescriptions from doctors in order to purchase such devices and medicines inside the village.

The ordinance may have the support of those who oppose the Reproductive Health bill, but the residents of Ayala Alabang Village – its very own subjects – and a vocal segment of the public who support the RH Bill have come out with interesting reactions to the new ordinance.

Ayala Alabang Village resident and famous international singing star herself Lea Salonga has expressed her disgust with the village ordinance:

Upon reading the ordinance, I was instantly outraged. What right, constitutional or otherwise, does another human being, plus an entire barangay, have to what I practice in the privacy of my bedroom? No one has a say in how my husband and I express ourselves sexually, or what contraceptive measures we decide to employ, or not employ. I detest being told what to do, in general… even more so when it comes to something as personal and as privates as this.

The Vincenton Post dismisses the policy that is at the core of the assailed village ordinance:

The phrase “to equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn child from conception” smacks of utter hypocrisy! There is no “unborn child” to be protected yet when we’re talking about the use of condoms. To protect a non-existing entity is to disregard the existence of those who exist. There is the actual, living, breathing human body to be protected FIRST against sexually transmitted diseases or even unwanted pregnancy.

Jam points out that practically speaking, the ordinance is easy to get around with:

Methinks that this ordinance is way pointless. It’s as if Brgy. Ayala Alabang is an isolated place. People can buy over-the-counter condoms everywhere.

A contributor on ThePhilippines.PH sees the Catholic Church's influence in the passage of this ordinance:

Their ordinance have really vestiges of Catholic Church influence which they of course research first to validate and legalized the ordinance which according to former health secretary Dr. Carmencita N. Reodrica that the bill the atty. Of Ayala Alabang village base their ordinance is already obsolete and no more applicable on a modern democratic-open minded world. But how come it was approved if it is already obsolete bill? There is something fishy on it; Catholic Church is very influential among the rich Christians in the Philippines.

Ms Imelda brings it all back to the debate about the RH Bill seeing how the Ayala Alabang Village council have jumped the gun on Congress:

This is all about the RH Bill, which, in my opinion should be passed right away. If they're saying the State has no right to promote the use of contraception, the State should have no right to discourage or ban it as well. The RH Bill only provides and informs people of their options, and making such options available to them, which is the State's responsibility.

Aside from all the heavy talk about rights, the Constitution and the role of the State, Kiks asks a few questions few would dare:

With its new, out-of-this-world ordinance requiring consumers to show a doctor's prescription before buying a condom or any contraceptive, is Barangay Ayala-Alabang now the new breeding ground for un-gloved love?

Is it going Greek?

The ordinance had become so controversial, Ayala Alabang became a trending topic on Twitter hours after the news broke out.

oliboycastro: No more carnappers and drug dealers in Ayala Alabang, only condom pushers.

Minna—♥: Next time I go to the Philippines, I start my own condom business in Brgy Ayala Alabang.

janvynator: Anyone who disagrees with the new ordinance in Ayala Alabang, raise your penis. Oh i meant hands. :))

SagadaSun: Ayala Alabang's Barangay Council is the laughing stock of the world not because they are stupid, but because they are SERIOUS. #rhbill

As of writing, the City Council of Muntinlupa has suspended the implementation of the ordinance with the Ayala Alabang village officials to face sanctions if they will insist on implementing it.

This post is part of our special coverage Global Development 2011.

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Photo from Wikipedia

While Reyes’ family and friends mourn his tragic death, the nation continues on with the discourse on the systemic corruption in government and its armed forces, trying to make sense of it all and for a way to move forward.

Marie at a crazy mom's world shares how Reye's suicide has affected her. Being a government employee herself, she cannot help but feel some sympathy for Reyes as she points out that everyone deserves to be presumed innocent until proved otherwise:

What can I say? That we really don’t know if he did steal or not. It’s easy to be high and mighty about judging him na nakonsensya sya because of the things he supposedly committed and the huge amounts of government funds that he supposedly partook of. He may, he may have not. Personally, I think there is some truth to it. But, but! Let us not assume that just because he is from the government that’s why he did it! It just sorta burns me up inside. Yes I know that there are absolute corrupt officials and employees within the branches of the government. But it is unfair to use that “because he is from the government” thing para isakdal na ang tao.”

Andrew Pua delves into the possible reasons why the former AFP Chief of Staff took his own life:

Now, you see in the news a lot of potential explanations. This seems natural. We try to overthink/underthink reasons for suicide. Perhaps he did not want to get caught. Perhaps he was ashamed (but he almost served in public office for more than a decade, yet was not ashamed of the payout if it were true). Perhaps he loved his family too much for them to carry the blame. In our times, these are the sins of the father. Somehow, people translate all these sins and ascribe them to the family. They have indirectly benefited if the corruption were true. Willful blindness is not an excuse. I am sure the family members knew about the corruption if it were true. So, in effect, all of us are diminished by their inability to be human. Perhaps he was pressured or had debts of gratitude that were cashed in by some of the other possible beneficiaries of corruption. Thus the need to end the investigative trail. Perhaps, he wasn’t actually part of it. That evidence, or whatever pathetic substitute we have for evidence, may actually be tainted. In this case, Reyes had nothing to fear. But he might have been fearing something else–something more insidious. In the end, WE DON’T KNOW.

Patricio Mangubat re-traces the path that Reyes took which eventually led him to his tragic demise - a path least travelled by great military men:

The world would have seen Angelo Reyes in a different light had he chose to retire peacefully after his stint as the military's main man. He would have lived a life of a statesman, unblemished and untarnished by politics.

Yet, because he associated himself with the vilest and the most unpopular administration of all time, Reyes had no choice but to protect himself from the numerous enemies of that administration. His only way out was to continue playing politics, a world which he does not fully understand and a world of differing values, values which differ from his.

When he shot himself in the heart, it was a sign that Reyes probably regretted some of the choices he made in his life. Prior to his death, his family said that he became totally depressed. And it is expected since Reyes was part of an administration most hated by many and now, with the most number of enemies lurking. When he was fighting those rebels in Mindanao, Reyes at least knows what they are fighting for. In the world that he chose for himself after retirement, Reyes was like an animal trapped at all sides by shadows of unknown enemies.

Reyes wanted probably to tell the world that he was not the man whom every single one hated. That he was different. That, yes, he probably sinned by closing his eyes and covering his ears and not making any single protest against those who sin around him. Reyes was part of a corrupt and evil system. His sin was he tolerated the corruption and not even lifted a finger to correct it.

Bayan Secretary general Renato M. Reyes believes that the death of Angelo Reyes should be taken as a reason to continue on with the investigations, seeing that the corruption in the AFP top brass seems to also involve its former Commander-in-Chief:

The death of Angelo Reyes, coming as it is at the height of congressional investigations, is the most compelling reason why we need to know the truth about corruption in the AFP. That this tragedy happened at this time, and after all that has been revealed, should give us a sense of urgency to pursue the probe and demand accountability from our institutions. Those officials who benefitted from corruption should not consider themselves off the hook. That includes the former commander-in-chief.

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Sim Card by PublicPhoto.org via Flickr (public domain)

Whether it's true or not, its desired effect has been achieved as the public and legislators are now debating an issue that sprang from the fact that the bomb was set off using a mobile phone.

That is the proposed registration of pre-paid subscriber identity module or SIM cards through House Bill 3940. The measure is currently backed by Zambales rep. Mitos Magsaysay, Bagong Henerasyon Party-List rep. Behnadette Herrera and Isabela Rep. Giorggidi Aggabao which in turn was filed in the 15th Congress by Cagayan de Oro Rep, Rufus Rodriguez.

The proposal isn't something new. It was first debated upon back when it first introduced during the 13th Congress but has never passed the committee level.

It's long-time proponent, former Congressman Ruffy Biazon provides for a summarized rationale for the proposed SIM card registration. Francis Tan, writing for the The Next Web Asia, finds merit on the proposal and views it as ‘a step towards progress‘:

While I do believe that SIM card registration will NOT be the country’s magical solution from crime and other acts of terrorism, there are still good reasons to do so. I am for it on the grounds that adopting the new system will allow for responsibility and order to occur. Anonymity gives criminals, abusers, scammers, spammers power. It may not abolish crimes, but it will curb misuse and abuse — just as e-mail is required to use services in the Internet.

Jadestone having survived a smear attack from an anonymous person using pre-paid SIM cards, also welcomes the proposal. On the other hand, there are those who are opposed to the proposal. Prominent blogger, journalist and consumer rights advocate Tonyo Cruz offers a point-per-point attack on the proposal covering the issues of practicality, privacy and cost-effectiveness. Cocoy Dayao joins the opposition warning that registration of SIM cards would create ‘big government’ watching over our shoulders:

SIM card registration is just one of many half-assed measure that creates big government; adds a layer of bureaucracy and could be used to attack civil liberties. It does very little in fighting transnational crimes, of which both terrorism and cybercrimes really are. We need to give government the right tools for the right job. I am against SIM Card registration simply because the cost in energy to do it, outweighs the potential benefits. Given the limited resources of our government, shouldn’t we expel that energy in ways that would actually solve crime? SIM Card registration will just be part of the noise, we need to listen to the signal.

Blue Pax reminds us all that indeed, this issue of SIM card registration, simply distracts us from the things that really need our attention.

With the pros and cons of SIM card registration now being thoroughly discussed by the public online and in the media, it is now a waiting game to see where this vigorous debate will lead to.

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In her article entitled “Please Don't Give Blogging a Bad Name” which was published in the Sunday Inquirer Magazine last January 23, Salcedo shares the story of how an anonymous restaurant owner was victimized by a so-called “Big Bad Blogger” and a PR firm that offered to make the former cease from writing negative reviews about her restaurant for a hefty price.

As a result, the anonymous restaurateur has become weary if not scared of bloggers and PR firms, fearing that another extortion gimmick might be pulled on her again.

It turns out that the so-called Big Bad Blogger has been around for a long while, Juned at Baratillo.net recalls:

There have been stories going around the Big Bad Blogger for months and perhaps years now. Unfortunately, most of the time the affected restaurants would decline to pursue it further because they would often claim that it would affect their business. No one was willing to come forward.

Now that it seems that someone has finally come forward, some bloggers have expressed dismay over the actions of the Big Bad Blogger and the PR firm.

Naturally, food bloggers have come out in defense of their niche. Chuvachienes gives a warning to the Big Bad Blogger and the PR firm that their time of reckoning will soon come:

So, for your sake Big Bad Blogger – Ms. Salcedo may not have mentioned or identified who you are – but time will tell. And for the PR firm? You will be exposed from the shadows as well and believe us “bloggers” when we say – this is not the end of this story.

Dementia the Elitist Blogger reaffirms that not all food bloggers are like the Big Bad Blogger:

I can only guess who this Big Bad Blogger is but that person is giving us a bad name. I am not a big name when it comes to blogging but I know my conscience is clear. I do get invited to some blog events, mostly food-related events, and I make sure that my blog posts about such events clearly express that I was there on an invite. In addition, I write an honest review as I could, whether I was invited or not.

I started this food blog because I love food and I want to share my foodie experiences to those who would read this. I have never been paid nor will I ever accept payments to write a positive review. Why should I? I have money to wine and dine in any restaurant I want. Sadly, some bloggers were not brought up with good principles and will stoop so low for a couple of measly GCs or even a free meal. I find it really disgusting. This Big Bad Blogger, and other bloggers like him/her, should be banned from ever blogging again and that PR firm should be reported to some regulatory board.

However, there are some that have taken Salcedo's article with a grain of salt given that it has failed to measure up to journalism standards.

Danilo Arao dissects Salcedo's article over at The Lobbyist:

A single-sourced article like Salcedo’s, not surprisingly, presents only one side of the story, important details of which are even wanting. There was no effort, for example to get the circumstances behind the restaurant owner’s reaction to the alleged negative review written by BBB.

Unlike some bloggers who argue that the article puts blogging (especially food blogging) in a bad light, I would rather reserve my judgment until more details are provided. While I share their assertion there are indeed irresponsible bloggers in our midst, I don’t think a badly-researched journalistic article like Salcedo’s serves as evidence of this.

Carlo Ople takes a cautionary step and asks questions before making a stand:

Did the blogger really know that the PR Agency is “representing” him? For all we know the PR is just using his name and he really just did write a glowing review for the first restaurant and a bad one for the next. I strongly recommend that the restaurant and the writer of the article give the name of the blog because that would only be the fair thing to do.

Rowena Wendy Lei also joins on the side of caution:

What if, just what if… someone is out to ruin this PR firm? Maybe someone is out there indeed making these extortionist offers and then using the PR firm's name to do it. It has occured to people that maybe PR firm is using BBB's name to get some business via extortion, but what if it were the other way around? Maybe someone is using PR firm's name without them knowing it.

Others have taken it a bit further, putting to task Marguax Salcedo for an article that, as mentioned in the beginning, falls short of journalism standards.

Salinlahi opines:

The writer nonetheless decides that it is news worthy not recognizing that it would affect the Philippine blogosphere as a whole even if she sought to defend it. That ‘bloggers’ and ‘blogging’ in general would suffer the blame until the people involved are revealed. And so I hope you dont fault me when I say that the first problem here is the writer.

Clearly, this incident of an alleged blogger misbehavior, with a PR firm involved, has brought back discussions about imposing or following a prescribed set of conventions for bloggers to follow, like Tim O’ Reilly (O'Reilly media founder) proposed the Blogger's Code of Conduct.

This idea is welcomed by IT Pinoy who sees value in imposing or adopting such guidelines:

although regulating blogs might raise questions about freedom of speech, having these rules if it would help would be good esp to those who abuse this medium and thus give blog a bad name.

Until more details about this incident surfaces, everything would just be side comments, second-guesses and the worse, fear, mistrust and divisions in the Filipino blogging community.

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Included were provisions that require ISPs to state the minimum speed of the internet connections they are offering and a guarantee for service reliability. However, all of these were overshadowed by one provision that has sparked debate and on-line movements amongst Filipino internet users: ISPs are now allowed to set a maximum volume of data a subscriber can consume in a day.

Bloggers once more lead the charge in objecting to the proposed internet data cap. Cocoy has written an open letter to President Aquino expressing why he thinks that the draft NTC memorandum order would negatively impact economic growth in the Philippines. In summary, he wrote:

The NTC draft memorandum to put caps on Internet usage is regressive. It does both business and consumer no good. It will not encourage telecoms to reinvest to improve their service, and help the broader market unlock our potential. #

Blogger and journalist Tonyo Cruz aptly states why the NTC draft memorandum is a step in the wrong direction:

The NTC misses the entire point of the problematic broadband internet connections in the Philippines: They are slow, unreliable and expensive compared to other countries in the region. But the NTC would not know this because the agency has not, up to now, sat down, studied and resolved to define what broadband internet really is.

Jed Mallen tells it from his own experience on how imposing bandwidth caps can wreak havoc on good internet users the policy is supposed to protect:

I was downloading the new Slackware release about a month ago via Globe Tattoo and after a while got an SMS message via their app that goes something like — fair usage policy is imposed. 800 mb is the limit. I was using their Php 50/24 hours promo. Yes my download stopped.

How about that? That’s not piracy. That’s a free operating system that I have been using for the last 10+ years.

In his opposition to the broadband cap, Jules Mariano offers some friendly advice to the NTC:

My advice to NTC is to conduct an investigation on the disabling service of ISPs and how their pricing fits to the global marketplace and check if they are overcharging or not, OR if the service fee they are charging consumers is commensurate to the kind of service they are offering. Don’t ever compare NTC’s broadband capping idea to the other countries such as the USA and Australia because these countries offer better Internet connectivity than what we have here in the Philippines.

Blogger Manila gives a little historical anecdote in saying why the broadband cap is bad news:

When Tim Berners Lee established the public use of Internet around 1990, it was meant to give free access (not necessarily ‘use’ as per copyright) to the general public and share information over the web for the sake of knowledge and information accessibility. Placing a limit on this is just counter-intuitive.

However, bloggers and netizens are not unanimous in opposing the proposed bandwidth caps. Instead of being furious and proclaiming doomsday scenarios, some have welcomed the draft NTC memorandum order including the controversial broadband caps, albeit with conditions.

First, benign0 takes on one of the premises on Cocoy's arguments for opposing the broadband caps:

But Cocoy's blog post, is trying to make a case for maximum access to the Net at maximum speeds for consumers. However, there seems to be no specific and tangible relationship between an individual's earning capacity and his/her access to the Net — except perhaps in the case of truly creative individuals who add original content to the Web that command a premium from a broad base of consumers (meaning not only their friends and family members).

But guess what, in the case of the majority of people with access to the Net, much of what they contribute (upload to the Web) is junk or at least relevant only to a small circle of friends and family members. And much of what they consume (download from the Web) is junk as well, representing more of productivity loss — time wasted looking at — or perving on — pictures of their friends’ drunken escapades on Facebook, watching “scandal” videos on YouTube, etc.).

Top tech blogger Abe Olandres shares some perspective from the network engineers’ side and would only accept reasonable bandwidth caps:

The throttling and capping of bandwidth to supplement time-based services allows the service providers to regulate the network and separate the heavy users from the regular users.

I don’t like the idea of putting caps but I’m okay with it as long as it’s a reasonable one. Just give me that 1Mbps speed I actually subscribed to. I hope this draft memorandum gets pushed thru so we can all get that 80% minimum guarantee on subscribed internet speeds.

Mr A goes a bit further and reasons that users may pay for their subscription plans but it doesn't buy them the entire network for their own self-centered habits or usages:

There are other solutions to problems. Some are practical, some are just plain lazy. ISPs caps is a good way of decongesting the already abused network. This also bring solutions in providing a much more cheaper internet scheme for users. Better yet, have a much more updated bucket scheme. Like I said. Not everybody downloads on Steam everyday. Not everybody is a Linux Junkie, and certainty, wireless caps will not end the distribution of information. Everybody need to observe that everyone is using the network, even if they paid for it. You don’t own it. In then end, mind your manners.

The NTC has called for a public hearing for this draft memorandum order this January 11th where it is hoped that all concerned stakeholders would be able to meet and discuss the issues openly and achieve a win-win solution. Until then, this issue of broadband caps is far from over.

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Photo from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Filipinos are fond of new things, from the newest gadgets, clothes, food craze and music. Especially at this time of the year – Christmas – where families come together to share the holidays with gifts, food and simply being together. Things pick up when after Christmas, everyone prepares to greet the coming new year, heavily influenced by Chinese beliefs, Filipinos even crave more for new things that are supposed to bring in good fortunes.

The Philippine Central Bank is not to be left out as it rolled out a set of new generation bank notes. It features not only improved security measures to combat counterfeits, but more so it heralds a new design highlighting historical events, figures in history and tourist spots in the country.

At first the public was bedazzled by the newly designed notes; it seems that despite the string of recent brouhahas, there is something to new to greet the new year with for a change.

As Robbie, The Creative Dork puts it succinctly:

After the whole Philippine Brand debacle, it’s great to see that some people are going in the right direction for a change. Although I might have some sentimental issues with the current banknotes’ design since I pretty much grew up with it, but I’m open to change as long as it’s for the better.

However, the “oohs” and “aahs” quickly evaporated and were replaced by criticisms.

Elijah Bringas spots a strong resemblance of the new Philippine banknotes with a foreign one and comments on the choice of symbols used:

And now the the much anticipated 2011 Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Banknotes which hauntingly look like the Euro Banknotes. I wonder why they did put a blue-naped parrot at the back of the new ₱500 bill instead of our national bird, the Philippine Eagle. And in the ₱200 bill, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been replaced with Bohol's Chocolate Hills and our very own Tarsier.

Ang Dabawenyo expresses a bit of a heartache as the new banknotes seems to have forgotten about his home island of Mindanao:

I’m happy that the new banknotes are promoting Philippine heritage sites / tourism highlights. But, no Davao? Ok, there are only 6 banknotes and hundreds of Philippine destinations to choose from, but, nothing from Mindanao was considered at all? Also, why wasn’t the national bird included? The Philippine Eagle represents one of the country’s most laudable efforts in environmental conservation, and yet…

That's not all. The strongest criticisms about the new banknotes were from geography enthusiasts and experts alike. Take this dissection of the supposed geographical errors in the new currency notes on New Media Philippines:

While many expressed their satisfaction with the new bills, a few people are expressing their disappointment in the mislocation of the Puerto Princesa Subterranean Park and the Tubbataha Reefs in the P500 and P1000 bills. Errors that the government, or at least the BSP, should have seen.

From the local and geographical, let's move on to the political. Blogger and journalist Tonyo Cruz writing for the Asian Correspondent opined that the new banknotes are a symbol of leaving behind a dark era:

The new banknotes also bear the signature of President Benigno Aquino III, which is a refreshing change from nine years of seeing former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s signature on Philippine money.

Divine Reyes at NewsBytes2010 on the other hand pokes at the Aquinos who dominates the new 500 Peso bill:

Honestly, I like the designs and the use of RP tourists attractions pictures at the back of a peso bill.

But then again, why only change the banknotes now?

And I find it self-serving the inclusion of Mrs. Corazon Aquino on 500 peso bill. I wonder what is the basis of BSP on choosing personalities to be published on our peso bill.

Well, the Aquino couple have their best smile on the picture…Is it because that their son is the signatory of the banknotes?

Just asking.

Cocoy over at Blogwatch.ph laments at how, once again, media has made a bonanza of these seeming shallow kinks on the new banknotes:

While the issues raised by critics of the new bill on the one hand have legitimate concerns. Hey, this is our currency we're talking about, if there are errors, best to catch them now. The media has once more in this matter blown it out of proportion. The media would like us to believe there are things insidious. Blame it on the need for more eyeballs. This currency war is much ado about nothing.

Why can't the media focus on stories like the Ombudsman and the deal struck with General Garcia? Why can't the media focus its attention on the PNP's and the NBI's lack of investigative prowess? Why can't we talk about the merits of bond swap and currency devaluations? Explain it to the people in the streets, in a fashion that we can all understand? Too highbrow? Maybe then we get to talk about real currency wars and not made up ones. This is an indictment of mainstream media, and the kind of stories we are telling.

In the end though, we go back to Tonyo Cruz who asks the most profound question with regards the new banknotes:

Would Filipinos have more money in 2011 or just enjoy the new designs from afar?

Written by Julius Rocas · comments (1)
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