Last Friday, together with my brothers and sister, Mom and uncles, we arrived here in Camiguin Island, an Island born of fire as what they describe for this Paradise Island. Usually, people went here to have fun, vacation, look for tourist spots and the like. But we went here not to have a vacation and having fun but to attend the funeral of my uncle who died of complicated illnesses from having Diabetes. Uncle Dongdong is a very nice person, I can still recall when I was a child we used to visit here in Camiguin every summer and he used to let us ride on his boat because he is a fisherman. He catches all sorts of fishes, big and small… to my surprised he used to catch Dolphins before. But we cannot see our cheerful uncle anymore, our best fisherman who used to bring us fresh catch fishes everytime he went out to the sea.

We will miss you Uncle Dongdong and you may rest in peace…

I received this forwarded message from a friend:

13days after pacquiao victory against eric morales naganap ang wowowie stampid,...13days after pacquiao victory against larios, mayon volcano errupted, many died in mudflow,...tapos ngaun e2 na naman 13days after pacquiao's victory against barrera, 8 people confimed died sa pagsabog sa glorietta. creepy?

So, I tried researching it and these are what I found:

• January 21, 2006, Manny Pacquiao defeated Erik Morales and the Wowowee stampede happened February 5, 2006
• July 7, 2006, Manny Pacquiao defeated Oscar Larious and on July 18, 2006 Mayon Volcano started erupting and the dates there after.
• October 6, 2007 Manny Pacquiao defeated Marco Antonio Barrera and Last October 19, 2007 a Blast in Glorietta Mall in Makati Happened...

Wow, that is so creepy... I got goosebumps after I finished the research...

Just this afternoon the Gloriatta main Mall sa Makati may Sumabog na bomba. Recently there are already 8 dead and 70 wounded person.

Ano ba ito? Di kaya mag hinala na naman ang mga tao nito? While the Malacañang is in the hot seat because of some anomalies they are facing right now, then this bombing just exploded in the country's business center? Ohhh... don't tell me this is another tactics of the government to shift the news to others like this one. If that is true then we should have change our leaders today.

MANILA, Philippines -- An explosion that killed up to eight people at a shopping mall in Makati City early Friday afternoon was "probably caused by a bomb," Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon told Agence France-Presse.

Alfonso Reyes, spokesman of Ayala Corp., which operates the Glorieta 2 Mall where the explosion occurred at around 1:40 p.m., said eight people had been killed. Razon concurred with this figure, saying they also have counted up to 70 wounded.

Dr. Anthony Golez, spokesman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council and deputy administrator of the Office of Civil Defense, told INQUIRER.net from the Makati Medical Center that there were four dead and 56 wounded at the hospital.

Police investigators at the scene of the explosion identified four of the dead as Liza Marquez, Jose Allan de Jesus, Lester Peregrina and nursing student Janine Marcos. All died of shrapnel injuries.

At an earlier press briefing carried live by radio and television, Dr. Ernesto Santos of the Makati Medical Center said the four fatalities were “dead on arrival” and at least two of the wounded were “critical.”

Santos said the other casualties all suffered “blast injuries.”

Asked to describe the fatalities at the Makati Medical Center, Golez said they died due to "burns and massive internal bleeding."

"It doesn't look good," he said.

Razon said: "From our assessment this is not what was initially reported as LPG [liquefied petroleum gas].”

"This was a bomb. But beyond that we can't say anything else yet because we are still investigating. What I can say is it was not LPG that caused this." More>>>

Anyway, here's some pictures of the BombBlast.

As usual Manny Pacquiao achieved on defending this featherweight title fight against Marco Antonio Barrera.

Four years ago, Manny Pacquiao steamrolled Marco Antonio Barrera en route to an 11th-round TKO victory. It wasn't nearly as easy this time around, but Pacquiao still got the job done in the rematch.

Landing harder punches and flurrying effectively, Pacquiao controlled the action and won a unanimous decision in their junior lightweight fight Saturday night before an excited crowd of 10,112 at the Mandalay Bay.

Manny Pacquiao, left, took Marco Antonio Barrera's best shots and kept marching forward.
"It was different from our first fight," Pacquiao said. "He's a good, smart boxer. For me, I'm satisfied with that win. I thought the people were happy with that fight. I'm trying to make people happy, to give a good fight. I hope that people liked this fight tonight. We did our best."

It was the second consecutive defeat for Barrera, who lost his title to Juan Manuel Marquez in March. Coming into the rematch with Pacquiao, Barrera said it would be his last "big fight." Afterward, the Mexican legend said it was the last fight in his storied career, period.

"Honestly, this is my last fight," said Barrera, who in an 18-year professional career won world titles at junior featherweight, featherweight and junior lightweight while engaging in many of the era's most exciting fights. "He had very good defense and it was hard to break through."

From the Google Blog, a post you should all check out:

When it comes to philanthropy, everyone’s got something different to give – some people have money, others have time, and bloggers have devoted readers. The creative folks at DonorsChoose have a few ideas about how bloggers can help students and teachers.

In case you’re not familiar with DonorsChoose, it’s a site where teachers post needs they have for their classrooms, and donors fund those projects directly. If you’ve got a blog, a website, or even an email account, you can help by creating what’s called a challenge. Just pick some of your favorite projects and challenge your family, friends, and readers to fund them. If you’ve got a Blogger account, it’s easy to add your challenge to your blog in just a few clicks.

To support their recent expansion to schools all across the U.S., the DonorsChoose team is holding a little competition, keeping track of which bloggers and webmasters drive the most funding to schools.

We think this is a cool idea, so we want to help it succeed. We’re going to reward the winning bloggers with exactly what they gave to DonorsChoose, students, and teachers: traffic. The competition will remain open until the end of October - we'll then take a look to see who has helped raise the most money in each of the eight DonorsChoose challenge categories. We’ll post links to the winners’ blogs here, and we’ll also throw in a $500 gift certificate for each winner to spend on DonorsChoose.

So here’s our challenge to you: go create a challenge on DonorsChoose.

I Hope they have a Philippine schools projects too, because as I can see there are also lots of public schools in the Philippines that needs more text books, classrooms, teachers, and other school equipments.

I collected these photos from Himantayon... he really spare his time taking these pictures everytime he found some hilariously stooopid signs and moments on his way around the Metro Cebu...

Is America Ready for a Woman President?

Well, as a citizen living in a country where woman (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) is running the country, I can say America is not that ready to have a woman President. They are just not that serious on having a woman president since they are just making fun of them like Golda Meir in Egypt, Corazon Aquino in the Philippines, Margareth Thatcher as Britain’s first female Prime Minister.

The Daily Show made a video segment about “Is America Ready for a Woman President?” with a “Sex and the City Style” and they put a label on some Women presidents.

The segment shows photographs of each leader with a gag line. Meir had “OYI,” Aquino had “Slut,” and Thatcher, “Oops.”

I think this will be another racial issue Filipinos are dying to whine about.

‘The Daily Show’ segment labels Cory Aquino ’slut’

If the racial slur made in a scene in ABC TV’s ”Desperate Housewives” against Philippine medical schools had outraged the nation, Filipinos here and abroad could be in for more.

This time, it may be the turn of the Emmy-award winning American satirical television program “The Daily Show” to spark controversy for apparently making a bad joke on former President Corazon Aquino.

An e-mail letter sent to GMANews.TV by a concern resident of Cauayan City, Isabela, complained that he finds the portrayal of Mrs Aquino in the “Daily Show” scene in “Is America Ready for a Woman President?” tasteless and insulting.

The show is posted on YouTube (http://youtube.com/watch?v=jc4RhBBw0b8).

In the show, the special assignment reporter examines former women leaders.

“Other countries had girl leaders for years and while Golda Meir may have fended off Egypt, Corazon Aquino faced down dictators, Margaret Thatcher kicked communist’s ass, still they are women,” the woman reporter said.

The segment shows photographs of each leader with a gag line. Meir had “OYI,” Aquino had “Slut,” and Thatcher, “Oops.”

It was not known when the show was aired in US networks.

The Daily Show segment came amid the “Housewives” controversy that even became an international incident, with reports on it topping Philippine news shows and drawing newspaper headlines as officials there registered their displeasure. Filipinos could judge the scene for themselves when it was posted on YouTube.

ABC responded with a statement Wednesday to apologize. - GMANews.TV

LOS ANGELES, California--(UPDATE 3) The network and producers of “Desperate Housewives” have issued a statement apologizing for a remark made by actress Teri Hatcher’s character in a recent episode of the television series.

The following is the network’s statement: "The producers of ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ABC Studios offer our sincere apologies for any offense caused by the brief reference in the season premiere. There was no intent to disparage the integrity of any aspect of the medical community in the Philippines. As leaders in broadcast diversity, we are committed to presenting sensitive and respectful images of all communities featured in our programs."

The remark, made by Hatcher’s character in a scene with a doctor, was, “Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? Because I would just like to make sure they are not from some med school in the Philippines."

Filipinos, especially healthcare professionals in the US and the Philippines, were outraged by the remark. E-mails expressing outrage circulated among Filipinos all over the world. Blogs and websites denounced the remark.

The Philippines’ Consul General in Los Angeles, Mary Jo Bernardo-Aragon, sent a letter of complaint to Mark Pedowitz, president of ABC Studios, which has the domestic and international franchise rights to the show.

The remarks “served to create racial stereotypes, thereby tainting unnecessarily the excellent record of Filipino health care professionals all over the world,” she said in her letter.

The Philippine presidential palace, Malacanang, also said it would seek an apology from the TV network.

Alec Mapa, a Filipino-American actor who has a recurring role in the series, told this reporter via e-mail: “It's unfortunate that the Philippines was used as a punch line. My family is filled with doctors and medical professionals. I know first hand from them, that the medical schools in the Philippines are top notch.”

The actor’s full statement appears in this reporter’s column, “Only in Hollywood,” Friday (October 6).

When asked by if ABC would release a lengthier statement, Charissa Gilmore, ABC Studios vice president for media relations, said this is "the only statement planned."

Meanwhile in Manila, a congressman filed a resolution that called for a ban on airing "Desperate Housewives" in the Philippines.

“This ought not to be shown in the Philippines because of that incident,” Representative Bienvenido Abante Jr., chairman of the House committee on public information told reporters.

The resolution states: “Such dialogue, which was beamed all over the world, constitutes not only a clear slur but an insult of immeasurable magnitude not only to Filipino doctors but to the entire Filipino nation and our educational system.”

Now, I hope that will somehow keep our cool about the issue. But it seems there are some who are not satisfied about the ABC network's statement letter. They want more... aside from asking to Boycott or ban the show, they want ABC network and the Show's Producer to create an episode where Teri Hatcher's character Susan will do something like she will be asking for a Filipino Doctor because she wanted the best doctor to examine her. What??? and now they are asking too much I thought they only want an apology. OVER NAMAN YAN...

To: ABC

To the producers of "Desperate Housewives" and ABC:

We are writing to express concern and hurt about a racially-discriminatory comment made in an episode of Desperate Housewives on 9/30/07. In a scene in which Susan was told by her gynecologist that she might be hitting menopause, she replied, "Can I just check those diplomas because I just want to make sure that they are not from some med school in the Philippines."

As members and allies of the Filipino American community, we are writing to inform know that this type of derogatory remark was discriminatory and hurtful, and such a comment was not necessary to maintain any humor in the show. Additionally, a statement that devalues Filipinos in healthcare is extremely unfounded, considering the overwhelming presence of Filipinos and Filipino Americans in the medical field. Filipinos are the second largest immigrant population in the United States, with many entering the U.S. (and successfully passing their U.S. licensing boards!) as doctors, nurses, and medical technicians. In fact, the Philippines produces more U.S. nurses than any other country in the world. So, to belittle the education, experience, or value of Filipino Americans in health care is extremely disrespectful and plain and simply ignorant. Many of the hospitals in major metropolitan areas of the U.S. (and the world) would not be able to operate without its Filipino and Filipino American staff members.

As Filipino Americans and allies, we band together to ensure that this type of hateful message should not be allowed to continue on our television and radio airwaves. Given the recent amounts of media attention that has been given to Michael Richards (against African Americans), Isaiah Washington (against gays), and Rosie O'Donnell (against Asian/ Chinese Americans), it is ridiculous that this type of hateful speech made it through various screenwriters, the show's producers, the show's actors, and ABC itself.

We demand a public apology to the Filipino American community, and we demand the episode be edited to remove the ignorant and racist remark. We will not allow hateful messages against our community (or any other oppressed community) to continue.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

To sign please go to: Filipino Americans demand for apology from ABC and Desperate Housewives

Filipino-American communities in United States reacted on Desperate Housewives Season 4 Premiere episode where Teri Hatcher made a remark about Filipinos - doctors/nurses. Not only that the Medical Association of the Philippines and the Government reacted about this issue and I think that's too much.



Anyway, it's not Teri Hatcher's fault but the creator/writer of the show Marc Cherry. But Teri is what the viewer's can see as the culprit so almost everybody blamed her and Filipino actor Cesar Montano made a statement blaming Teri Hatcher and he will support for the move to ask ABC network for an apology.

It's just a desperate show aiming to collect more Emmy trophies, so I just hope we won't be that desperate too because we know Filipinos are one of the first class Doctors, Medical Professors and Nurses in the United States and around the world. There are just some flaw I can see in our local hospitals. Doctors and Nurses are not that enthusiastic to attend the patients in the Emergency rooms if they don't have any down payment cash, worst is, they just pass by and just look at the dying patient without concerns on what is going on. It made me so sad that almost all Doctors, Nurses and other Filipino professionals are going out in the country to work as operating room and nursing assistants or Domestic helpers in other countries because they can't afford to work in the Philippines with just a very low compensation for their profession.

So, to the Government Officials, I think this issue will be an eye opener and sooner or later problems like this will be taken seriously and not those ZTE scams, impeachment trials and other politicking issues .

PS:
I like this comment at Youtube...

true true, kaso, we have to be united parin kahit paano. pero hmmm, actually mas joke on them parin sa kanila ang trend, since mga physical therapists nila pinoy, nurse nila, pinoy, mga care giver nila (nakaka kuha pa ng mana) pinoy, so their sick and elderly are in OUR care...sila ang dapat mahiya.

and this one too:

Okay lang yan marami naman talagang walang kwentang medical school sa pinas eh.