Breaking reports on the on-line editions of the Philippine Daily Inquirer are now reporting the Moro Islamic Liberation Front will "reposition" it forces out of 9 disputed villages in North Cotabato ahead of the 10:00 am deadline declared by government yesterday.

Speaking evasively, Gadzali Jaafar, the MILF Political affairs chief the move was ""simply to implement their own earlier resolution last August 2 to reposition forces."

So Jaafar is trying to save face, lamely making it appear this is not in resaponse to the threat of police action by government forces, all 3 battalions, which were mobilized yesterday on orders of Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno, with Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro beside him.

So the tensions are expected to ease up on the North Cotabato frontline while "the issues is investigated by the two sides' ceasefire committee.

Puno and Teodoro deserve praise for their handling of this crisis thus far and we do hope the MILF will stand down as it says it will, for now at least.

The uproar over the proposed formation of the Bangsamoro Juridical Entity remains unresolved but it certainly is incumbent for all of us to give peace a chance.

So long as all parties act responsibly, transparently and with the consensus of the national body politic sought and obtained.

Kris Aguilar is one of the few musclebound actors from the Philippines.  In the late '80s/early '90s, I remember going to local Filipino stores in Hawaii and scouring through VHS tapes that would have his name on the credits or some screenshots of him from the tapes' back covers.  Unfortunately, he played bit parts so the only way I could accurately figure it out was by watching as many Filipino movies I could so that I could see the trailers.  Dedication, huh?  Or was that psychosis?  Anyway, in most of his roles, you either see him sporting a tight-fitting muscle t-shirt, or wearing an open vest (so that you could take a peek at his delectable bulging muscles), or just completely shirtless.

Normally, whenever he was shirtless, his smooth, beefy muscles would be typically drenched in sweat.  He always played a bad guy who normally gets the upper hand in the beginning of the film then ends up getting completely beaten and owned.  I tend to re-watch the latter as it's always inherently sexy seeing a big bearish man getting dominated.

The following screenshots is a sampling of him getting gut-punched in Bloodfist II.

[FUN FACT: Kris Aguilar was also the bad guy in Bloodfist.  He sported a mohawk in that original martial arts extravaganza then grew a mullet in Part 2 so that people would not recognize him.  I don't think it worked.]

This is pretty anti-climactic but I have some really fuzzy screenshots from a Filipino film called Makuha Ka Sa Tingin (Kung Puede Lang) ("To Get You With A Look (If It's Okay)").  Basically, Kris Aguilar plays a musclebound fighter in an illegal street fighting ring.  He was beating up on the hero (played by Robin Padilla) when Robin's girlfriend tried to assist by kicking and punching big Kris on the gut.  Needless to say, such punches were ulitmately weak and, no offense, girly.  Kris then trapped the girlfriend to a corner and performed that typical pro-wrestling maneuver: scaring her with grunts and muscle poses with just enough time for the hero to recuperate and beat the living crap out of the beefy bad guy.  Needless to say, the tables got turned and Kris got cornered; then, in very bad slow-motion, got punched repeatedly on the gut.

[Related Posts]

This is a photo I call "Beggar". It was taken in the Philippines in January 2006, on our way south to Manila. We were eating lunch at the local Jollybee (kind of like McDonalds) in Solano City and I saw this sad looking fellow begging for coins at the rear entrance of the restaurant. I gave him some money as I felt I couldn't take a  picture of him without giving him something for his troubles. He looks like he's crippled as well. I entered this into a local photo contest and I converted it to black and white from he original colour file as I felt it had more power if I eliminated the distracting colours. It didn't win the contest but I think it has a powerful social commentary. The desparate man is reaching for survival as the other people casually ignore him.

We left Manila at around 6:00 am and arrived at around 8:00 (i think; sorry i lost track of the time). We almost did not get enough sleep as we had a happening the night before BUT the trip was all worth it. Aside from the fun that we had the kids and the many pictures that we've taken, we ate Sinigang (which Daddy Andy cooked) and fried Bangus (traditional home cooked meals are the best!). Too bad we were not able to take pictures of the food. :(

We were also able to watch the new Disney cartoon flick Wall-E, which I must say is very well made (more of that on future post). Before we went home, we dropped by SM Pampanga. It was a fiesta over there! It was like a quarter of the population was there. It was really crazy! The kids played games (A lot! Because they kept on winning, especially Alyssa!) and then we went to Starbucks to grab our usual Frappucinos.

Lesson learned from the trip 1: A quick trip to the country is equivalent to 3 days of regular eight-hour sleep. (It will most definitely re-energize you.)

Lesson learned from the trip 2: Pampangeno's love their SM!

Lesson learned from the trip 3 (and the most enlightening one): If you want to watch a movie with your significant other or you want to go shopping by yourself, without the kid, let your child play the Pinball Game (or something like that) because they have their way to keep on winning and the tokens would just keep a dropping! I tell you, they won't go anywhere. The game is just like heaven to them! Next thing you know, you're through with movie, the shopping and you'll even have some extra minutes to have a Latte in Starbucks!

Me, Ate Sally and Alyssa in front of Starbucks (Shell in NLEX)

Pampanga River

Front of the house

Alyssa in the hammock

Pampangeno's love their SM!

Watching the kids play (we're amazed at Alyssa's skill in winning tokens!

The Memorandum Of Agreement on Ancestral Domain in the Peace Process if approved will allow the MILF dominion over a significant part of Mindanao.  First, were the inhabitants or even the leaders of the barangays even consulted if they would like to be under the MILF rule?  How can just a handful of people direct the future of all of the inhabitants of 700 barangays!  

Handing over part of Mindanao is like giving candy to a rude and destructive child just to shut him up.  This is not how a parent or a government must do.  He must control the child in the proper manner if it would have to take time.  Giving him the candy or Mindanao is the dumb and the shortsighted person or government way of dealing with the problem.  Are we willing to give our land to these gun touting, bus burning, kidnapping, house burning, beheading lot?!  I think not.  Definitely, they will not be content of what they will receive.

This is our Philippines!!!  This belongs to all of us!!  We must fight for this!

Dear President, THINK!  or are you thinking already?  I can smell you are cooking something up again.  Is this another way of staying in power?  Oh... im sorry... I didn't mean to say that.  Is this another of those divide and conquer strategies?  :)  Is this another slight of hand magic trick to keep our eyes away from another upcoming magic trick?  And of course if this gets big enough, you have all the skills and the support group to escape this sticky situation just like you have many times already.

To the politicians and the leaders that understand.  Please keep up the fight.  To Esperon and GMA... may the dog you feed bite your hand...

My grade as far as how I've explored my country.

I'm proud. I'm sure there are people who haven't gone to where I've gone.

For the Pinoys out there, get your grade here: http://forge.codedgraphic.com/lakbayan/

Today, the Toronto Film Festival sent out a press release announcing that they had added a batch of films in the Contemporary World Cinema. As in past years, at least one Filipino film has made it into the Fest, "Adela" by Adolfo Alix Jr.

Now I dunno bout you, or maybe its me because my Lola just passed away, but I totally felt like crying! And not in the "BeaAlonzodon'tbreakupwithmeJohnLloyd" sort of melodramatic way. Whether it is a good film or not remains to be seen, but seeing subject matter that hits home and touches on issues that affect us as Filipinos, no matter where in the world we live, is refreshing.

Although I try to make my way out to a variety of different films during the film fest, its an absolute necessity for me to attend the screenings of the Filipino films. In recent years, TIFF seems to have made an effort to get away from the hokey 'masa' movies that dominate TFC airwaves and bootleg shelves at Pacific Mall. In fact, I've been pretty jazzed about the entries for the past few years and my hunch was right -- although brilliant, they ended up being films that never hit the Filipino mainstream. And that is probably a good thing for Filipino film in general.

This film may never become fixtures at your fam jam, but then again neither are films by Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, Mike de Leon, Celso Castillo or even Kidlat Tahimik...

...and if you don't know those filmmakers, it's time to either do your homework - or be fine to settle for carbon copy 'mall films' starring Ai Ai De Las Alas or Sam Milby.

(p.s. - if you look hard enough, you can actually find some Filipino Classics on DVD. I copped Lino Brocka's "Tatlo, Dalawa, Isa" and it was just so good. One of its stars? A younger Anita Linda, who stars in 'Adela'.)

When we got them, a spontaneous jam session of thanks broke out at our weekly production meeting...

...while at home, he decides to switch on his TV to abs-cbn and chanced upon the show of Boy n Kris which featured a short segment on the Pinatdos Kasadyaan Festival of Tacloban, Leyte. His excitement to see the Festival turned into horror when they started flashing photos.. his photos from his blog one after the other…despite having watermarks of this website.. the photos were cropped to avoid the watermark… when do they ever learn that a photographer has a mental inventory of his photos and can tell if the photo is his if he sees it ( and actually can identfy distinguishing marks on hid photos) . At the end of the segment no credits and no name of photographer even if the photos were clearly visible with watermarks of his website.

Here's one of the photographs with the very clear watermark (also taken from the same blogalicious entry):

According to this video posted on youtube, the blogger tried to contact the staff of the show and even emailed ABSCBN but was not able to talk to anyone.

As expected, the youtube video was attacked by die hard kapamilya fans who bashed the blogger. He was called a GMA fanboy and was accused of lying. But what bothered me the most were comments such as these:

anything posted in the internet without any copyright , and downloaded, is NOT considered as STEALING!

omg, whats wrong with being copied, everybody's doing reasearch on the net, even an assignment, i guess , you should be happy sikat your pics...anyway, congrats...so small an issue

sorry to tell, ang blog, ay walang copy right law. kapag na published mo yan sa internet, magiging free to all yan. unless gumawa ka ng sarili mo site. tapos lagyan mo ng security. Tanggapin mo na! nautakan ka ng ABS-CBN. Wala kang habol...

sa pagkakalaam ko lahat ng blogsite ay free kaya anyone could download sa blogsite,at kung ayaw mong ma download ng kung sino man ang mga pictures mo e delete mo yang blogsite mo ok, asa ka pa..kahit nga sa friensdter pwede kang mag grabbed ng mga pictures kahit yong may ari ng photos ay walang kaalam alam coz everyone knows the consequences, you should have known better...gawa ka ng sarili mong website at dapat ikaw ang mag program ok tapos gawa ka ng security at copyrighted..wawa ka naman.

- usernames removed

It's clear that a lot of Filipinos need to be educated about copyright law. It pains me that most of the people who commented on the issue treated the possible copyright infringement as a non-event and that one actually compared it to "doing research on the net, even an assignment".  Plagiarism has been severely frowned on even before the internet became trendy. I shuddered at how ignorant the pose was when both plagiarism and copyright infringment were regarded as small issues in one breath (naku, think of what Ma'am Armi will say).

I took the trouble of googling copyright law in the Philippines and re-discovered the site that helped me through my media law course: chanrobles.com. I scanned through the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines (otherwise known as Republic Act No. 8293) just to make sure that I remembered things right.

According to Sec. 178, "copyright shall belong to the author of the work" so whether or not the photos were downloaded from a blog or from a personal website, copyright of the photograph belongs to the photographer. Posting it on the internet doesn't mean the photographer is giving away his ownership rights.

There is no provision that said anything in the internet is free; in contrast, it actually protects works that are made available over the internet. The only unprotected works are the works of the government (speeches, statutes, etcetera) and materials that pertain to "news of the day" or any legislative text.

Sec. 177. Copy or Economic Rights. - Subject to the provisions of Chapter VIII, copyright or economic rights shall consist of the exclusive right to carry out, authorize or prevent the following acts:

177.1. Reproduction of the work or substantial portion of the work;

177.2 Dramatization, translation, adaptation, abridgment, arrangement or other transformation of the work;

177.3. The first public distribution of the original and each copy of the work by sale or other forms of transfer of ownership;

177.4. Rental of the original or a copy of an audiovisual or cinematographic work, a work embodied in a sound recording, a computer program, a compilation of data and other materials or a musical work in graphic form, irrespective of the ownership of the original or the copy which is the subject of the rental; (n)

177.5. Public display of the original or a copy of the work;

177.6. Public performance of the work; and 177.7. Other communication to the public of the work (Sec. 5, P. D. No. 49a)

- from http://www.chanrobles.com/legal7copyright.htm (boldface supplied)

If the biyahilo blogger's accusation is true, then the show committed a crime based on the Intellectual Property Code by using the photographs for commercial use without the photographer's permission.  In fairness to the blogger, he wasn't asking for money. Like most artists/writers out there, he would have been satisfied if his blog was even credited as the photographs' source but he was denied even that.

A lot of photographers are crying foul over the rampant violation of the copyright law. Just recently, Pinoy photographer Anton Sheker sued Manila Bulletin for using his photographs in one of their Travel and Tourism articles.

Another recent violation of the law may be more familiar. Remember this poster publicizing Earth Day Jam 2008?

Apparently, the photo of the woman in black holding the guitar was stolen from photographer Alodia Gosiengfiao. According to the blogalicious entry on the subject, the production company which used the photograph was Dimitri Productions. This is what the original photograph looked like:

It falls under the derivative work clause in the Intellectual Property Code which prohibits the transformation of the work without the owner's permission.

ABS-CBN reportedly negotiated with the biyahilo blogger while the Earth Day Jam poster was immediately re-done by the organizers. Sheker's case against Bulletin is now in court.

It's a disturbing thought that media companies, both big and small, are seemingly unaware of copyright infringement or perhaps they just don't care. Is it really that hard to ask permission? Most of these photographers probably won't ask for money; they'd probably be happy with the credit. The internet is a minefield of resources but it comes with a relative disadvantage: a lot of our media researchers have become lazy.  Honestly, it should take a lot more than right-click-select to get the materials you need.

As for everyone else who consumes the media, it pays to be aware of these things. The internet, considering its reach and its power, is prone to abuse. Comments such as those made in the youtube site only add to the ignorance and mistaken belief that it is no big deal to steal someone else's creative output. Photographers, writers and other artists post their works on the internet to share their creativity to the world (and to get some publicity). I think it's just fair to ask their permission when we use their works for financial gain.

When people go hungry (literally or not)...2 things happen: they choose to do something about it OR they choose to succumb to it and just wither away.  In the Philippines for example, some if not most people are living a hard life...with China taking away good business, factories are getting shut, and people are losing jobs...these people, who used to be jovial, respectful and honest are turning into goons, looting whatever they can just to survive.  Can you blame them? 

It's something that always remains a debateable issue (in my head, at least).  At one time they can be seen as despicalble scums, while at other times, you can't help but pity how circumstances have turned them into such a sorry state.

Dear all,

Our newlywed friends, Vida (nee Toledo) and Brian Samson are expecting their first baby. However, last July 2008, doctors discovered through ultrasound that the baby, Savannah Araceli Breeda Thaddeus Toledo Samson, has a life-threatening disease called congenital diaphragmatic hernia. It is a rare condition that occurs in 1 out of 2,200 to 5,000 live births, in which the baby's diaphragm, the organ that separates the chest cavity (which contains the heart and lungs) from the abdominal cavity (which contains the stomach, liver and intestines), fails to develop completely. The under-developed diaphragm leaves a hole that allows the intestines and the stomach to enter the chest cavity, affecting the development of the lungs. After birth, the lungs may collapse and Savannah may not be able to breathe.

According to Vida's doctor, approximately 75% to 90% of babies born with this condition do not survive, if left untreated.

But with your help, there is hope. Savannah must undergo an operation calledintrauterine fetal surgery which can only be performed in the United States. The cost of this surgery is at least US$100,000.00. This procedure, to be done at theUniversity of San Francisco Children's Hospital, is the only procedure that can raise her chance of survival. Vida and Brian have approached a foundation to shoulder the cost of the procedure and are awaiting a positive response.

We are under tremendous time constraints, as Vida needs to have the operation sometime in September, or in her 7th month of pregnancy. The Philippine Airlines Foundation has generously offered to sponsor the couple's air fare to and from San Francisco (excluding tax).

We, Vida and Brian's high school friends, are organizing Project Savannah, a fund-raising drive that would hopefully raise enough funds to cover medicine, travel taxes, and the basic daily needs of the couple while in San Francisco. Part of this project is a benefit concert, Rock the Cradle: A Benefit Concert for Savannah.

If you would like to donate funds you may do so through Vida's savings account:

Land Bank of the Philippines, UP Diliman Branch
VIDA LOURDES TP TOLEDO
SA# 3076-0324-74
Swift code for those depositing from abroad: TLBPPHMMA

To notify us of your donation please email us at projectsavannah@gmail.com.

Also, any help that you can offer, particularly with the fund-raising concert (we are in need of sponsors, a venue, and bands to play), would be most welcome.

To know more about the campaign, please contact me, KL, at +63 916 780 2094. You may also e-mail us at projectsavannah@gmail.com. Visit our site http://projectsavannah.multiply.com for updates.

Thanks!

KL Sol Cruz
Organizer
Project Savannah

MJC, Magiging In-House na ang Broadcast?

Dahil titigil na ang Makisig Network sa paghatid ng live broadcast services mula sa San Lazaro Leisure Park pagdating ng Oktubre 27, ano ang gagawin ng Manila Jockey Club upang matugunan ang sitwasyon?

Ayon sa MJC racing management, pinag-hahandaan nila na maging "in-house"na ang broadcast ng mga karerang SLLP. Magbubuo sila ng isang team ng director, cameraman, etc. na mapapasailalim ng MJC Racing Department.

 May satellite feed ang MJC kaya hindi problema ang pag-ere ng karera. At ang required minimum naman ng Philippine Racing Commission pagdating sa race broadcast ay ang pagpapakita ng odds matrix, parade, race proper, at official results and dividends.

 Malaking challenge sa MJC ang pagtayo ng sarili nilang production team. Ngunit tiyak na kaya nila ito dahil kung nagawa nga nilang i-"in-house" ang kanilang totalizator operations, ang broadcast pa kaya.

At ang pabor sa kanila ay may tatlong buwan sila upang paghandaan ito, unlike noong nag-shift sila ng totalizator, linggo lang ang preparasyon nila.

Samantala, mayroon nang kinseng kabayo na nai-nominate para sa darating na Peridot I stakes, sponsored by Philracom at gaganapin sa SLLP. Puro imports ang mga sumali. Kabilang dito ay sina Drama Belle, Copper Dew, Fierce Fighter, Frapuubvel, Great Emma, Ziraz, Miss Fantastic, Traditional. Maaring may hindi tuluyang magpadeklara, ngunit tiyak na magiging magandang labanan ito, lalo dahil medyo mahaba ang distansiya, 1750 meters.

Ayon sa connections ni Fierce Fighter, inaasahan nila na malaki ang kanilang pag-asang gumawa ng maayos na performance dito dahil mas magaling ito sa mahabang distansiya. Si Copper Dew at Drama Belle ay proven na rin sa mahaba. Abangan nalang natin ang final declared entries para sa Peridot I Stakes.

Susundan ang stakes race na ito ng isa pang malaking karera, ang Philracom Imported-Local Challenge na milya (1600 meters) ang distansiya. May mga special races din na naka-lineup: sa July 31, isang charity race for the benefit of Gawad Kalinga, at isa rin para sa Philippine Race Horse Trainers Association Day sa darating na Set. 28.

 Sa ibang balita naman, may "field trip" ngayon ang mga taga-Philracom sa bagong location ng Philippine Racing Club sa Cavite, sa imbitasyon ng PRC. Titingnan ng Philracom kung gaano kahanda na ang PRC sa paglipat sa bagong facilities nila.

Karera lang - walang personalan!  ***

But I'm still happy that Charice Pempengco got to sing with Andrea Bocelli. I'm sure that thousands of other Filipinos have already seen her videos on YouTube. So? I still want to post links to her videos in this blog. Hey, I'm a fan :) .

In the Wikipedia article on Bocelli, the tenor is quoted as saying that he was actually looking forward to promoting Charice, whom he called a "force of nature" :) . Here's what he said, according to the Wikipedia article:

In an interview, Andrea Bocelli said that "In realtà il mondo è pieno di grandi voci e ho avuto la fortuna di cantare con tanti artisti, da Christina Aguilera a Bono. Ma, se proprio dovessi trovare una nuova interprete, punterei su Charice, una ragazza delle Filippine che a soli 15 anni è una versa forza della natura. Ne sentiremo parlare." or "In reality, the world is full of great voices and I had the opportunity to sing with so many artists, from Christina Aguilera to Bono. But, if I would like to look for a new voice, I would push for Charice, a girl from the Philippines that only at 15 yrs old is a flush force of nature. That we shall be hearing."

..
So here they are, Charice and Bocelli, singing "The Prayer" (the video is a bit shaky, since it was just taken by an audience member, but their voices were sure and steady :) ):

..

For more news on this wonder kid, click here. There are also more and higher-quality videos of her various performances with different artists in other countries at this site (including her performance at the Paul O'Grady Show in England).
..

The following news clip on Charice features a snippet of her fantastic performance at the tribute concert to David Foster, held last May at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. The news is in Tagalog, but the praises heaped on her by the 14-time Grammy Award winner Foster and by Josh Groban (!) are, of course, in English. She received standing ovations for her renditions of "I Will Always Love You", "I Have Nothing", and "And I am Telling You".

,,
And here's an interview on a Philippine entertainment show:

Hats off to you, Charice! Man, if you're this good at 16, who can tell where you'll be, even just 5 years from now? I do hope you stay humble, and that you never ever forget the Creator who gave you your gifts. God bless you!

..

Related post:

Super Filipina Kid

..

Blink del.icio.us digg.it StumbleUpon Redd.it Vine
..

Why ought we call Motherland

The cradle of us loyal citizens?

Why not just call it Land

For the sake of propriety and brevity?

Likewise we shan’t label Fatherland

Each lustrous land of alien conquerors

Who enslaved our forbears in servitude

Over epochs of lamentable tribulations.

A Mother is she who never dares forsake

Her children whom she lovingly nourishes.

And yet all children grow to bid farewell

To the hardships of infantile life

And so to bid farewell as well

To the Mother  who soon faces retirement.

Habits of old are hard to die

Like thoughts on Motherland or Fatherland

Even as we’re not overgrown infants

Of a country that professes eternal Motherhood

And neither could we all say farewell

To our benign Land: our Provider.

[Writ. 06 October 1988, Proj. 8, Quezon City, M.Manila]

I was just browsing around and I found the 32nd Milo Marathon results from Bananarunning's blog :)

10K 32nd MiLo Marathon Over-all results

42K 32nd MiLo Marathon Over-all results

Official Time Finished is 59:49... Next goal is finish a 10K by 50:00! Whew!

Their president departed just hours ago to cheer on the 13-man Philippine contingent in the Beijing Olympics.;

Now, Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's civilian alter egos on top of the police and military have just given the Moro Islamic Libersation Front a 24-hour deadline "to vacate the towns they have occupied by force in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao."

"We are giving individuals 24 hours to vacate otherwise they will forcibly be separated from the area,"

“It behooves on the MILF to do something to act on the situation because this is a litmus test on its good faith,” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said, adding, “We cannot wait longer than a reasonable 24-hour period."

Recently retired armed force chief of staff Hermogenes Esperon who is described as 'chief' architect' of the controversial 'Bangsamoro ancestral domain' agreement added this remark:

“We are announcing these operations to stabilize the situation and put back the rightful owners of those lands.”
“This is not a declaration of war, this is a normal enforcement of the rule of law,”

It takes little analysis to understand that Manila is going on war footing, which in the initial phase will be called police action, with the Philippine National Police special action force elements first going into action.

Sadly the grossly mishandled situation has already put areas of North Cotabato on the front line.

Ahead of the ultimatum's issuance, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales issued an appeal through his opinion column in the Business Mirror for Filipinos to "give peace a chance."

The next 24 hours will tell us whether GMA's cabinet cluster on national security will turn into a War Cabinet. but the deadline they have been given expires at 10:00 tomorrow morning with three police battalions being mobilized against them.

Each battalion in the police/military rolls has about 600m personnel so it means a little under 2,000 troops will be involved in the police action with their complement of heavy arms and armor.

Globe Telecom and Apple Bring iPhone 3G to Philippines

MANILA and SAN FRANCISCO—June 9, 2008—Globe Telecom and Apple® today announced that they will be bringing the highly anticipated iPhone™ 3G to the Philippines later this year. iPhone 3G combines all the revolutionary features of iPhone with 3G networking that is twice as fast* as the first generation iPhone, built-in GPS for expanded location based mobile services, and iPhone 2.0 software which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs the hundreds of third party applications already built with the recently released iPhone SDK.

“We are very excited to be working with Apple to bring Filipino consumers iPhone 3G later this year,” said Gerardo C. Ablaza, Jr. president and CEO of Globe Telecom. “Our customers are our greatest passion and we’re constantly striving to offer them the most innovative products such as the revolutionary iPhone 3G.”

“We are thrilled to bring iPhone 3G to millions of mobile customers in the Philippines,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s COO. “We can’t wait to get this revolutionary mobile device in the hands of even more people around the world.”

iPhone 3G will be available to Globe’s postpaid and prepaid subscribers in the Philippines later this year.

*Based on 3G and EDGE testing. Actual speeds vary by site conditions.

Globe Telecom is a leading telecommunications company in the Philippines with more than 21 million mobile subscribers. As a pioneer, Globe Telecom continues to be a part of the revolution that’s connecting millions of people across the Philippines and around the world. Beyond technology, Globe Telecom’s business is truly shaped by the bonds that tie Filipinos together. Communications is ultimately about relationships, and this drives the company to innovate and constantly find easy and relevant ways to enrich people’s lives.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.

iPhone will be available at Globe Telecom locations across Philippines. Which means there's probably one near you.

Find nearest Globe Telecom Store

So here's one of the places I would rather be in right now.  Baguio, Philippines.  Why? Because I can be myself and not care what others think about me.

Below is the complete story from ABS-CBN News Online

BMI: Captain's 'error of judgment' led to 'Princess' tragedy

The captain of the ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars committed an “error of judgment” when he allowed the vessel to sail despite the worsening weather condition last June, initial findings of the Board of Marine Inquiry’s (BMI) investigation into the capsizing of the ship showed. 

“Human error is the principal mistake, neglect, [or] lapse in this part of the tragedy,” BMI vice-chairman Capt. Demetrio Ferrer said in an interview on ANC.

Ferrer maintained that “a ship is always under the full responsibility of the master”. Weather bulletins from PAGASA were just a “contributory factor” to the sinking of the ferry off Romblon that killed hundreds of its passengers, he added.   

Weather bureau PAGASA had been blamed by Princess of the Stars’ owner, Sulpicio Lines Inc., for the tragedy. Ferrer, however, said marine officers should not solely rely on PAGASA bulletins. 

He pointed out that for one, every ship captain has instruments in order to determine the severity of the weather condition. 

He also cited a provision under the International Safety Management (ISM) Code prohibiting a ship from going inside a storm or crossing during typhoons. ISM provides an international standard for the safe management and operation of ships and for pollution prevention.  

“All public agencies are duty-bound to provide services to people such as the safety matter aspects. In our international maritime rule, the master or the company, or other merchant marine officers will not just rely on other sources,” Ferrer said. 

The BMI has ended its hearings on the tragedy. Ferrer said the agency will still have to compile other pieces of evidence before they can come out with recommendations. 

Ferrer said the BMI recommendations will focus on proactive measures so as to prevent a repeat of the incident, admitting that the current system in the local maritime industry needs “overhaul.” 

The Princess of the Stars capsized off San Fernando town in Romblon at the height of bad weather brought by typhoon Frank on June 21. It sailed with 864 passengers and crewmen from the port of Manila the night before.

 If it investigation points at error of judgement on the part of the ship captain as the one to blame in the capsizing of MV Princess of the Stars, the owner Sulpicio Lines is not yet absolved of civil liabilities. It has to compensate still the victims, and may still face other kinds of lawsuits for reasons of negligence.  

I saw an item in the papers today: Senators to boot Esperon.

It seems unfair and uncalled for. The senador-senadora mafia from the Upos-session, probably think that Esperon is battle-weary, fatigued (not the uniform, dumb, dumb!) and therefore he must resign from his post.  Their kakampi, Gov. Sacdalan ang pamimigay ng pera sa Korte Suprema, his partner, Vice Gov. Piñolitika ang Korte Suprema, whose first name is Bro. Mike Velarde’s most favorite term:  Emen!... read about the post here...