Over 500 days have passed since Benigno Aquino III assumed the presidency on a pro-change platform – but families of victims of extrajudicial killings have been made to wait and to wait longer for presidential action needed to spur decisive action by government.
The administration has not done anything meaningful to address the political killings that were an indelible mark on the previous administration. A few statements in speeches, yes. But compelling action, nada.
Yahoo! Philippines and market research company Nielsen recently released the results of its Net Index 2011 study which, among others, “a shift from shared to private access” in how Filipinos connect to the internet.
Net Index 2011 is the third, consecutive study by Yahoo! and Nielsen that dwells on Filipinos’ internet habits.
Global market research company Nielsen today made a pre-release of its Southeast Asia Digital Consumer Report which says, among others, that “one in three consumers in the Philippines are now accessing the Internet, with younger demographics significantly more likely to get online than older generations.”
The Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) led other government agencies, private sector representatives and other stakeholders in the launch of the Philippine Digital Strategy 2011-2016 on June 29, 2011 at the Edsa Shangrila Hotel in Mandaluyong City.
The Roman Catholic Church on May 1, 2011 beatified Pope John Paul II, giving him the title of “Blessed” and taking him one step closer to sainthood.
Here is the full English text of Blessed John Paul II’s profile as published in the “Booklet for the Celebration” released by the Vatican for the mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI honoring and extolling the departed pontiff
Margaret Mead reminds cynics: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, […]
Even as consultations and discussions are ongoing, but it seems there are bloggers who cannot wait to be part of what is turning out to be a controversial initiative.
The draft manifesto below hopes to provide a starting point towards forming an association of Filipino bloggers. Please feel free to make suggestions to improve this statement of intent.
Members of this future organization will make the final decision on the name to use, the constitution and by laws, its officers and its programs and policies. If you wish to join as a founding member, please sign up below:
(Post updated. Changes in brackets. Thanks.) I have long wanted to do something: To help form a national bloggers association in the Philippines. The premises are simple: We are a growing community, with more younger Filipinos trying to start their own blogs. We have worked together in many instances. We have organized events. Some of us have made blogging a career or a profession. We have been sought in interviews. Some have been considered experts in their own fields of interests. Blogs have become media too. Government and business have gone blogging and gone digital. Just imagine what we could do together if we have an organization that would take all these forward.
More and more Filipinos are joining Twitter but we have yet to put a distinctive Filipino mark on it, as distinct perhaps as the personalization many Filipinos once did on Friendster and what we do to our phones with themes, icons and ringtones.
More and more Filipinos are going online and forming their social networks and here are the numbers that show this reality.
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:
Here is the full text of the petition:
Here is the full text of President Arroyo’s declaration placing Maguindanao under martial law:
PROCLAMATION NO. 1959
PROCLAIMING A STATE OF MARTIAL LAW AND
SUSPENDING THE PRIVILEGE OF THE WRIT OF
HABEAS CORPUS IN THE PROVINCE OF
MAGUINDANAO, EXCEPT FOR CERTAIN AREAS
On Dec. 6, 2009, from 2:00 pm onwards at several MRT stations, let’s express our collective indignation over the terrible Maguindanao massacre and other senseless political killings since 2001 through music and art.
Take part in Rock the Riles 2009,
The nation is still in a state of shock over the grisly Maguindanao massacre. With the Arroyo government dragging its feet even in the face of nationwide and international uproar, several groups and individuals met over the weekend and formed the November 23 Movement.
Below is their joint statement which they hope would be published in newspapers across the country on Dec. 1:
Smart and Globe are fighting over the title of having the “fastest mobile broadband service”. As they fight themselves in the media, I thought that perhaps its better to make my own study of the three competing mobile broadband products.
To do the tests, I made use of a Compaq Presario notebook computer running on Windows 7 Ultimate, a single openline Huawei E156C dongle/modem and a generic Mobile Partner software dialer to connect to the internet. I got the SmartBro SIM pack from a package I bought last August. I also bought a Sun Broadband Wireless prepaid SIM SIM pack for P50 and a Globe Tattoo SIM pack for P40.
Here is the full text of Republic Act 9729 or the Climate Change Act of 2009 which became a law last Oct. 23, 2009, courtesy of the Committee on Climate Change:
I have a couple of good news to share.
First is about what is touted as a gathering of Asian bloggers, Blogfest.Asia ’09 set to be held on Nov. 5-8 in Hong Kong.
Among the speakers are fellow bloggers Blogie Robillo and Juned Sonido. They will share insights on “Peace Initiatives through Blogging” based on the experience of Mindanao bloggers as well as introduce the Philippine blogosphere to the participants.
I will also be a Blogfest.asia speaker on the topic “Bloggers and social media users in the aftermath of typhoons Ketsana and Parma”.
The Commission on Elections en banc on Tuesday adopted a resolution deleting 26 partylist organizations from the official list of accredited national, regional or sectoral parties, organizations or coalitions under the partylist system.
In Resolution No. 8679, signed by the Chairman and all commissioners, the Comelec cited Section 6 of Republic Act 7941 (Partylist System Law) which states that the poll body may remove or cancel the registration of partylist groups that fail to participate in the last two elections or fails to win at least two percent of all votes cast for partylists.
The deleted partylists are:
[UPDATE: Paypal has apologized.]
Yesterday, TXTPower turned over to the Philippine National Red Cross a fourth check (P493,047.20) containing donations sent in by folks worldwide who answered TXTPower’s call for donations for victims of typhoon Ondoy in the Philippines.
We did this project with one simple cause in mind: Provide people across the world a way to safely and securely make a donation for typhoon victims in our country. And we are glad and heartened by the trust given by nearly 1,000 donors from 37 countries who pitched in a total of P1,678,437.63 in donations already in the hands of the Red Cross.
But unknown to many, Paypal intervened last week, froze the account we used for accepting donations, and ruined our fundraising campaign
The Manila Science High School Faculty and Employees Club has come out with a letter to Manila Mayor Alfredo S. Lim expressing strong opposition to plans to rename the country’s pilot science high school, even as they request that he verify and clarify the said plan.
“It has come to our knowledge that plans are underway to rename Manila Science High School to President Corazon C. Aquino Science High School as per news article written by Pat C. Santos in The Daily Tribune dated August 11, 2009. The alleged plan was practically validated, to the surprise and dismay of the entire Manila Science High School community, when two DepEd-Manila officials, Asst. Superintendent Mauro de Gulan and retired Asst. Superintendent Isabelita Santos, met with Mrs. Flora A. Valdez, our school head, on August 19 to discuss the matter,” said the group.
Mike Wehrs, president and chief executive officer of the global Mobile Marketing Association, today shared with members of the press and bloggers today a presentation on the trends in mobile and internet marketing.
The MMA has over 700 members worldwide, including the world’s top companies.
Here is Wehrs’ presentation: