In the letter  “You blew it, Mr President”, investigative journalist Glenda Gloria addressed PNOY’s decision for having vetoed the bill on allowing the Armed Forces chief of staff to serve a full three-year term, even past his retirement age.

Gloria asked in her letter that “Almost all stakeholders were unanimous in supporting this bill.The military supports it, and it has survived the legislative wringer. What’s your point?”

Gloria may be right, but she also missed the point – tackling the culture of the Philippine military.

PNOY could have chosen  a chief of staff from PMA class 1982- to be able to serve the government for the next three years- or extend current AFP Chief Jessie Dellosa term when he retires on December.  Assuming PNOY has chosen from the 1982 batch, then the person will surpass his older batches- 1979, 1980, and 1981.  The question is: Will he get the respect or support from these people every time he makes a decision? Or will he put the country in chaos?

In the perfect world, Aquino should not have vetoed the bill. But what are the implications of having a younger Chief of staff?

1.  The Chief of staff will not be supported by other officials and generals who rank higher than him, therefore that will render work inefficiency on his part.

2. A younger Chief of staff  will demoralize the  military

3.  It will degrade and diminish the efficiency of the combat officers being led by disgruntled officers.

And if you were in Mr. President’s shoes, will you veto the bill?

Posing on the Senate floor while it is being prepped-up for the Corona Impeachment trial

For the past months, I have been so busy with work and motherhood that  it’s so hard to find time to update this blog.  But I am truly honored to work with an excellent team of hardworking people (you know who you are) who are behind a pioneering project that will be launched on January 16, 2012.

A new telenovela will hit our air waves as Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona- allegedly charged with graft and corruption, culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust- defends his innocence to 23 Senators on Monday.

We believe that this momentous event should be watched by all Filipinos worldwide, REAL TIME, anywhere! Thus, we are pushing the bar higher to show the world that Filipinos are indeed proud techies.  And our team have really been working hard to bring you this historical event through uncut and unbiased LIVE streaming, which can be viewed not only on your desktops but more importantly on your chosen tablet and mobile device (iphone, blackberry, android…)!

So watch out for it:  Like our facebook for our hourly updates! Follow us on Twitter: @nowplanet.TV. Join the discussion: #coronaLIVE

Hi. watch the live stream on your chosen desktop, mobile device or tablet – UNCUT, UNEDITED, UNBIASED. LIVE broadcast, REAL TIME, ANYWHERE, even on the go! http://justicewatch.nowplanet.tv

Nicefood manufactures this cigarette candy

My favorite isle in the grocery is the sweets section.  While going through different products, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw these candy cigarettes!

The idea of a five-year-old pretending to smoke these sweets makes me angry.  Manufactured by Nicefoods, I wonder if the business owners have kids, because manufacturing them as sweets  have an underlying context:  A subliminal consent that smoking is good.

Candy Cigarettes were introduced in the early 20th century. It is plausible that these candies can influence children to smoke when they are older because  later in the 70s, countries like the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Norway, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia have already banned selling these candy cigarettes ( read here).  Sadly, we have yet to realize the effects of these cigarette sweets to kids.

We all know that China, in its financial glory, has booming construction everywhere.  Their skyscrapers can go as tall as 850 feet. They even built a stadium to host the 2008 Olympics! But beneath these beautiful architecture is a dark side of China’s development boom.

According to UK’s Daily Mail, Chinese government think tank warns that the country’s real estate bubble is getting worse.  In the satellite image below, one would think that this town in China is well planned and developed.  But when you enter the place, it is eerily quiet, stop lights work even without cars driving down the road,  empty malls, and beautiful condominium units are  still unoccupied.

Bayyanao is one of the many empty cities in China

Dongguan mall, supposedly the largest mall in asia, has been empty for the past six years.

It’s all about the math.  The reason for the non-stop construction of China is to keep their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) up. But it’s not about the quantity of GDP but the quality. Even if they have all these developments, an ordinary Chinese cannot afford to buy a condo unit which costs around $100,000, and the average Chinese household earns $900 a month.  An excellent documentary of the Business Insider (above) explains it well.

This village has been vacant since 2005

One of the many eerie empty streets of China's ghost cities

Ever since the plagiarism controversy of Manny Pangilinan’s Ateneo speech to the ‘Polska-inspired-kuno’ Department of Tourism logo, I have always wondered why Filipinos lost their innovation and creativity (read more here) these days.  In the digital age, the competition  only needs a simple formula:  imagination.

But after seeing the new Pepsi commercial, I almost jumped for joy! This is what I have been waiting for! Kaya pala natin maging magaling at creative!  Filipinos just need to push the bar higher.  I really look forward to see more works of art in the future.

Which one is Russel Crowe and Gerard Butler?

Which one is Isla Fischer and Amy Adams?

Can you distinguish Javier Berdem (of Vicky Cristina Barcelona) from Jeffrey Morgan Dean (Accidental Husband)?

The Breaking Wave Off Kanagawa. Also called The Great Wave, it was published in 1830s. The woodblock print was from Hokusai's series Thirty-six Views of Fuji, which are the high point of Japanese prints.

This has been a long overdue post but I was so overwhelmed with the Japan tsunami that I cannot write about it right away.  Why?  Because my father, a ship captain, was on his way to Japan when the great wave happened last March 14, 2011.  We just got back from a out-of -own trip when I turned on the television and saw the news;  it felt like my throat was being swallowed by my heart literally- we didn’t sleep that night just to follow the events.

A satellite photo of the great wave after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Japan in March.

Being so close to the Philippines by proximity, we all know someone living in Japan – a relative, a friend or even a neighbor .  We all got concerned about their welfare. We got even more concerned when reports of radioactive leak happened, and still is happening today.

Cars being swept away by the great wave last March 14, 2011

It makes your really think about our country- are we ready for an earthquake that strong?  According to history, the last tsunami that happened here was in 1948.  The strongest ever recorded was the 8.3 magnitude earthquake that happened in Panay Island that  damaged 55 churches, with 17 to have totally collapsed.  If this happens again, I definitely don’t want to be swimming in Boracay.

By Monday, we finally got a call from tatay.  He’s alright.  We thanked God for his protection because He allowed my dad to leave Taiwan Thursday and not earlier, and they were not in the Japanese vicinity yet by Friday. But he said it was “maalon” or the wave was strong when the tsunami passed by them.  The huge impact is on the coastline, not when you are in the middle of the ocean.

My father’s contract has ended.  He’s  supposed to arrive next week, but his reliever backed-out, too scared of being part of the Japanese experience.  So my dad is still working, and still navigating the ship, and still transporting cargoes, but this time to help rebuild Japan.

I am proud of him.

*The Great Wave (first picture above) was made by Japanese painter Hokusai.  The only way to cover the news then was to paint it.  Today, it’s all about satellite images. We got to see the Great Wave slam  Japan Live on television. And it definitely scared all of us.

Rifle volleys fired during Reyes' funeral. Photo by GMA 7

I have read several articles Philstar, ABS-CBN, Inquirer, …  that says Former AFP Chief Angelo T. Reyes funeral was given 19 or 21 gun salute- this is a wrong term.

Based on research, a “21 gun salute“  is a number of rounds fired using a canon.  It  is fired in honor of the day of the funeral only for Heads of State. The cannons fire blank charges 21 times, thus it is called 21- Gun Salute.

Gun Salute is just a term, ironically, they use canons with blank charges to fire 21 times..

In military funerals, one often sees three volleys of shots fired in honor of the deceased veteran. This is often mistaken by the laymen as a 21-gun salute, although it is entirely different. It is called a Volley-Salute.

A Volley Salute is a ceremonial act performed at military or police funerals.  It consists of a rifle party firing blank cartridges into the air.

Ruffles and Flourishes are used to render personal honors.  Drums play the ruffles, and bugles play the flourishes – one flourish for each star of the flag officer’s rank or as appropriate for the honoree’s position or title. Four flourishes is the highest honor.

* Note: Another mistake that I have noticed being used by the media is the term “Mistah.”

Mistah is only used if the military officials were CLASSMATES during their Philippine Military Academy years.

Cavalier is  used by PMAers because they went to the same military school. In laymen’s term it is known as schoolmate.

Former Armed Forces chief and defense secretary Angelo Reyes suicide  did not bring justice to his background as a military person and statesman. After blow by blow corruption allegations, he could have just taken it like a man. He could have just repented.  He could have just showed all his cards on the table.   He could have redeemed himself by not protecting the ones he protected before. He could have just been honest in the Senate and brought everyone down with him- no one is a saint in politics and the military anyway. He could have been a whistleblower as well. He could have just read the bible than Trump’s book -   his life could have been saved.  He could have realized that there’s still honor in honesty even if he thought it was the end of the road.

I could go on and on with the could haves.   Reyes’ last act, however, could now help  people realize that corruption eats the mind, heart, and soul.  It’s better to sleep peacefully at night on a hard bed, than on a bed of roses  filled  with guilty thorns.

Rest In Peace.

from Inquirer

It feels  like it was from a Final Destination movie.  The bus which exploded yesterday, and killed five people, along Edsa-Ayala was driven by a man named Maximo Peligro – translated to Maximum Danger.  Whether it’s just a coincidence or not,  it’s still eerie.

Reports say that it was a terrorist act led by a  group of Muslim militants. It’s similar to the  bus bombing in 2005.  I can still remember  back then that  my boyfriend and I were having Valentines dinner in Greenbelt 3  when we heard an explosion.  We  shrugged it off thinking  it was just thunder.  We  realized it was a  bomb explosion when we  couldn’t pass-by Edsa on our way home.  Imagine:  the sound traveled from Edsa all the way to Greenbelt 3!

I’m not going to analyze yesterday’s details like an operative. The year started with so much gruesome news  – from the car nappings to yesterday’s bombing.   The Muslim fundamentalists  wreak havoc due to their religious beliefs, and the Christians, like the car nappers, can kill an innocent man because of greed.