We Filipinos love happy endings and we’d like to see one at the end of 2010 election season.
But, so far, many appear not to be in a celebratory mood even after the Commission on Elections started announcing official results at the national level.
Netizens packed Krispy Kreme Ayala Avenue on May 8 to formally launch #juanvote, arguably the first internet-powered citizens’ coverage of the 2010 elections.
As the campaign closes, I declare my vote for Manny Villar. Allow me to share why:
I really wanted a phone upgrade this year: I wanted a touch phone and one that’s powered by Google’s Android platform. Here’s the story of how I got it in less than an hour, as well as my first impressions of my phone of choice.
More and more Filipinos are going online and forming their social networks and here are the numbers that show this reality.
Members of the thriving Cebu blogging community are set to go offline for a day in May.
On Sept. 11, 1982, then-president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos celebrated his 65th birthday by, among others, signing Batas Pambansa 232 or the Education Act of 1982. This is one of the dictator’s worst “legacies” which continue to haunt the nation to this day.
Culled from the Supreme Court website, here is the list of those who passed the 2009 bar examinations.
Only 1,451 out of 5,903 examinees passed the examinations.
Congratulations to the following new lawyers:
Ka Satur Ocampo, the respected leftist statesman running for the Senate this year, doesn’t look and act like he’s 70 years old, which he already is. His endurance is obvious in his active leadership and participation in street protests. He’s young at heart, remaining true to the hopefulness of the ranks of young Filipinos to which he once proudly belonged.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the 2.2-million strong union of American workers in health care and in public and property services, has written the US State Department to express concern over the illegal detention and degrading treatment of the Morong 43 and to demand for their immediate release.
On March 5, various organizations are marching to historic Mendiola Bridge near Malacanang Palace to demand the immediate release of the 43 health workers illegally detained by the Arroyo administration.
The march marks the first month since the illegal arrest of the health workers now known as the Morong 43.
Starting March 8, 2010, the Department of Foreign Affairs will accept and process passport applications at the new Office of Consular Affairs building at Bradco cor. Macapagal Avenues, Aseana Business Park near the Mall of Asia.
The 1986 People Power uprising created countless heroes from among millions of ordinary folk who came out to defend the military from certain doom and to destroy a dictatorship that oppressed the people and plundered the treasury. That four-day rally became the country’s pride and the world’s shining example of what a united people could do.
Alan Soon, Yahoo! Southeast Asia managing editor, today spoke at the Yahoo! Philippines forum on social media and shared his insights on the role of social media in the elections and in news-gathering.
In his talk titled “The NOW revolution”, Soon shared his eight tips for covering the elections, the social media way:
The elections are just 100 days away.
To mark the occasion and to provide netizens a venue to share their views on elections issues, 40 folks (so far) have joined the group blog and collaborative project called 100ARAW.com. I am proud to be among these folks who come from various backgrounds.
Secretary Esperanza Cabral is apparently harassing the blogger who blogged about the relief goods stockpiled in warehouses of the agency she used to head in the aftermath of supertyphoon Ondoy (Ketsana). She has filed a libel case against Ella Ganda for supposedly defaming her, the men and women of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the agency itself.
Cabral is committing a grave mistake for which she would probably shame herself before the court which will hear the libel case. The subsequent events after Ella Ganda published her controversial post — Cabral admitting that there indeed were plenty of relief goods in DSWD warehouses and Cabral accepting the offer of citizens to help in repacking them to speed up distribution, the online community’s response to such call for volunteers — would only confirm what the blogger wrote. In fact, Ella Ganda did the country a favor by ensuring speedy and transparent distribution of these relief goods for their intended recipients.
Here is the full text of the Commission on Elections Resolution 8744 naming the 144 accredited partylist groups, organizations, parties and coalitions eligible to participate in the 2010 elections.
Congratulations to all genuine partylists that truly come from and serve the marginalized and underrepresented.
Thank you dear readers and friends for your support last 2009. I look forward to be with you too this 2010. I look up to you for inspiration (see picture, hehe).
I also started writing for AsianCorrespondent.com last 2009 on a blog I titled Bullet Points, hoping to give the international audience my take on what’s happening in our country and the world. I was able to write 59 articles there and I am proud of each one of them.
I hope to write more in 2010 and for this, I’d love to hear your suggestions on topics and issues you wish to see here and on AsianCorrespondent.com.
Happy new year! Manigong bagong taon!
Christmas is just two days away and 2010 is not far behind. I hope this list is not too late!
Here’s my wishlist — the key word here being “wish”. I wish to have some or all of them as we work through the final days of 2009 and take things as cool and composed as possible in 2010. They’re all things and gadgets, most of them rather expensive. And so I make these wishes today — and hope that they find their way to me soon.
In a decision promulgated and announced today, the Supreme Court granted the petition of Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino and several new voters and national youth organizations to compel the Commission on Elections to extend the voter registration until January 9, 2010 as provided for by law.
The court decision is “immediately executory”.
This is clearly a victory for new voters and Kabataan Partylist, and a slap on the face of the Comelec which has refused to abide by the law and illegally shortened the period of registration by 70 days.
Below is the full text of the Supreme Court decision:
The National Union of People’s Lawyers, Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza, Bayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes Jr. and this blogger today went to the Supreme Court to file “A Very Urgent Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition with Very Urgent Application for a Temporary Restraining Order and/or Preliminary Injunction” at the Supreme Court.
Docketed as G.R. 190301, the petition asks the Court to nullify Proclamation 1959 on two grounds:
- It is unconstitutional; and
- It adversely affects and jeopardizes the people’s demand for justice forthe victims of the Maguindanao massacre.
Here is the full text of the petition: