Philippine Politics 2013

How to revive VIVA and Regal Films

2011-12-17T11:29:00.000+08:00

1) They should go into the TV business or create shows for ABS-CBN, GMA-7 and ABC 5.

2) Take advantage of MMFF's we-will-show-only-local-films-for-the-entire-week schedule to make "riskier" films that will cater to the more sophisticated audience (ie "sophisticated"-- those who can still pay those expensive ticket prices) instead of the usual pang-masa stuff.

UPDATE:
3) The Winner of the Cinemalaya should get a slot at the Metro Manila Film Festival.

Op Kors! Renato Corona used to be Arroyo's Chief of Staff!

2011-11-30T12:39:00.002+08:00

Corona, who was appointed by Arroyo as chief justice in May 2010 shortly before she stepped down from the presidency, voted in favor of Arroyo in all 19 cases brought before the tribunal.

- Malaya

Arroyo Supreme Court's 8-5 decision to let GMA leave the country

2011-11-17T10:46:00.002+08:00

Zombadings maybe the best Filipino film for 2011

2011-10-09T15:58:00.002+08:00

saw it kanina sa Ever Gotesco Mall (Manila Plaza). They're showing the film for P20 only. Discount ito na tatagal hanggang Wednesday next week. There were no boring moments from start to finish. Everybody played their roles exceptionally well.

Hollywood wants to pay more in taxes?

2011-09-22T09:48:00.003+08:00

Ron Howard and Jane Lynch supports Obama's Tax Hike for the wealthy

Higher taxes for the wealthy? No Problem! Why GOP should give Obama and Hollywood the higher taxes they want

Winnie Monsod praises Zubiri for not being "kapit tuko"

2011-08-04T13:41:00.001+08:00

May delicadeza raw si Zubiri:

Whatever reason or reasons Migz has given, the fact remains that this is the first time in the Philippines that an incumbent legislator, whether senator or congressman, has voluntarily given up his seat. And the reason for this "kapit tuko" strategy is obvious: the congressperson is betting that it will take the better part of his three-year term before any decision is made on the electoral protest against him. And the senator, whose term is six years, is betting that his protesting opponent will just run again after three years, instead of waiting for the decision on his protest to be handed down.

If he's not kapit tuko, he should have conceded the elections 4 years ago like Denfensor did.

His legitimacy as senator was questioned and contested the moment he was proclaimed the 12th senator, after all the votes in Maguindanao were counted, which wiped out pimentel's decent vote lead. Maguindanao was the last area where the votes were not yet fully counted. Hinihintay lang ni Bedol at Ampatuan na matapos ang bilangan sa ibang parte ng bansa para malaman nila kung gaano kalaki ang kailangan nilang ipatong sa total vote count ni zubiri.

Zubiri should have conceded the elections like defensor and recto in 2007 and not let this drag on. He should not have used every bullshit delaying tactics like having the all ballot boxes of metro manila and other parts of the country reopened again (kasi doon raw sa manila siya nadaya ng opposition, according to zubiri's camp). he was kapit tuko all the way until one by one things started to fall apart, bedol and ampatuan started talking, military officials started confessing... he couldn't continue pretending to be a legitimately elected representative of the senate anymore.

Monsod also had something to say about the manual/automated voting systems:

Meanwhile, the real question is: What is being done to change a system that actually rewards cheating? Here are the Senate and House, with all their committee hearings "in aid of legislation" -- looking at everybody’s warts but their own, and ignoring the need for reform in its electoral protest process. And here is the Commission on Elections, still insisting on the manual (eyeballing) revision of ballots in protest cases, when one of the benefits of automation was supposed to be a drastic reduction in the time required for electoral protest decisions. And here are the Filipino people, whose collective will is being thwarted with impunity. Where is the tuwid na daan in all these?

Sorry madam, automated systems can't solve the cheating problem if rogue election officials from within the COMELEC are involved. Unless you want automated cheatings, LOL.

"Zubiri mulls re-election in 2013"

2011-08-04T00:53:00.003+08:00

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, who announced his resignation on Wednesday, said he is planning to seek re-election in 2013.

In an interview by GMA News reporter Mariz Umali aired on “24 Oras," Zubiri said he hopes that his victory in 2013 will be more “convincing."

This is what we call kapalmuks.

Shouldn't he worry about more important things, like the growing possibility of jail time for election fraud?

Migz Zubiri should have done what Mike Defensor and Ralph Recto did

2011-08-03T20:17:00.004+08:00

and conceded four years ago. Alam kasi nila Defensor at Recto na "mananalo" sila via come-from-behind kung itinuloy nila ang laban. Naalala ko yung decent-sized lead ni Koko Pimentel sa vote count na nawala after all the "votes" in Maguindanao were counted. Maguindanao "delivered" a 12-0 win for the Adminstration's Team Unity's senatorial bets.

Mike Defensor Faces Defeat With Dignity

Yesterday (May 30, 2007), the administrator’s top defender former Chief of Staff Mike Defensor conceded defeat in the yet unconcluded midterm Senatorial race. According to Defensor, he did so in order “to ease tension” and to discourage his supporters (and in essence Team Unity [TU]) from committing “acts inimical to the essence of democracy and fair play in an electoral battle.”

Why would Defensor (and Recto) concede early kung hindi pa tapos ang bilangan sa Maguindanao?

Here's Zubiri trying to act like an asshole in 2010.

Teddy Boy Locsin was part of the Hello Garci Coverup?

2011-08-03T11:08:00.008+08:00

I remember him being one of the more vocal defenders of Arroyo's 2004 legitimacy while pushing the idea that hello garci was just made up by the opposition to overthrow Arroyo.

House probe report sidesteps Garci,
focuses on ˜conspiracy" against Gloria

FIVE House committees which jointly investigated the "Hello Garci" wiretapped conversations yesterday adopted a final committee report which gave more weight to the alleged opposition conspiracy to unseat President Arroyo than to the alleged cheating in the 2004 presidential election.

The report also practically clears former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano of any liability for his alleged masterminding of the doctoring of the results of the election to ensure Arroyo's victory.

The five panels led by the committee on public information chaired by Rep. Emmylou Talino-Santos (NP, North Cotabato) approved the fourth version of its report which carried almost the same findings and recommendations as that of the 18-page third draft report released on Feb. 18.

The other committees composing the joint panel are suffrage and electoral reforms of Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. (PDP-Laban, Makati); public order and safety of Rep. Amado Espino (Kampi, Pangasinan), national defense and security of Rep. Jose Solis (Kampi, Sorsogon) and information-communication technology of Rep. Simeon Kintanar (NPC, Cebu).

More here.

the final full report submitted in 2007 is here.

China hardliners to teach Spratly intruders ‘a lesson’

2011-07-11T12:36:00.002+08:00

Ellen Tordesillas, writing for Vera Files:

Hardliners in the Chinese Military Academy are raring to teach China’s neighbors "a lesson" for intruding into the South China Sea, which they consider part of their national territory, a Chinese Southeast Asian expert said.

Shen Hong-Fang, professor and senior research fellow at the Center of Southeast Asian studies at Xiamen University, spoke of "a new upsurge" of Chinese nationalism set off by claims made by some Asian countries, including the Philippines, over territory China considers its own.

"Some suggested that it is the right time to adopt necessary measures to teach some countries a lesson," Shen said, startling participants at the two-day Conference on the South China Sea held in Manila last week.

She added there are those who think it justifiable "for China to launch a war against the invaders."

Would Edsa Tres have succeeded if youtube, twitter and facebook were already available in 2001?

2011-07-09T22:18:00.000+08:00

Ano sa tingin nyo? Arab Spring? O Iran's Green Revolution?

There are 2 ways for a Quiapo dvd revival

2011-07-04T13:53:00.001+08:00

1) A new Manila mayor in 2013.
2) A republican president in 2012.

Bush admin early on imposed sanctions on PHI for dvd piracy, but eventually removed sanctions around 2007-08 because they saw how it helped the muslim people earn a living. Since Hollywood and Big Entertainment are anti Republican and conservatives, Republicans usually offer only halfhearted support for anti-movie piracy efforts by liberals in the movie industry.

If a new president (Republican) is in charge in 2012, a new US ambassador will replace the current one. If this is the case then a Quiapo revival will take place. If Lim is replaced by Isko Moreno in 2013, then quiapo will rise from the ashes.

Krauthammer on how Tim Pawlenty should have handled CNN's Obamneycare question

2011-06-15T19:06:00.002+08:00

Charles Krauthammer on Fox News All Star Panel today had this to say about Pawlenty's mishandling of John King's Obamneycare question:

-Pawlenty's problem was his indecision. If he is going to coin the word "Obamneycare" 1 day before the debate to attack Romney, he should follow up on that and not retreat.

-Pawlenty could have solved his problem without becoming too aggressive to romney by using one sentence: That Obamacare and Romneycare are linked because of the Individual Mandate. This individual mandate is so toxic for conservatives that they are tying to get the courts to throw it out.

-He did say later when he guested on Bill O'Reilly's show that T-Paw was just "nicked" by that issue.

Ann Althouse warn Republicans not to overreach on Weiner

2011-06-10T17:05:00.002+08:00

She wrote about Rush Limbaugh's advice on how the GOP in the ethics committee might overreach and turn Weiner into a victim. She's right.

If dems like pelosi are urging the GOP at ethics committee to investigate weiner, do it--BUT do so at glacial pace, then declare him not guilty in the end.

Like Hinderaker, I want Weiner to be the face of the Dem party.

I hate it when Google pushes it's Left Wing politics on it's Home Page

2011-06-10T13:13:00.002+08:00

especially when the stupid animated gif slows down the loading of the google front page (yes, yes... sometimes my internet connection stinks.)

Advice for Miami Heat as Game 5 approaches

2011-06-09T19:13:00.001+08:00

Miami should play smaller and run more in the fourth qtr. they can beat the mavs at their own running game. besides, miami will need all their good shooters to spread the mavs defense and create more room for lebron or wade to operate in the half court. it's time for lebron to defend dirk in the 4th.

chalmers - terry
wade - kidd
miller - marion/stevenson/peja
lebron - dirk
bosh - chandler

or you could assign lebron to defend tyson chandler (who is not a major offensive threat) and let bosh defend dirk in the 4th.

One of the reason why P-Noy's popularity is taking a slight hit

2011-04-20T20:11:00.001+08:00

Clerics bash President as anti-Christian, not like Cory

Kim Chiu has new TV show called "Binondo Girl"

2011-04-19T19:53:00.000+08:00

I'll be watching.

Summer ngayon, pero hindi mainit

2011-04-09T14:48:00.003+08:00

pansin nyo? hindi na ako ngayon masyadong nag-aaircon. Must be #globalCooling

Facebook's "Recent Activity" needs to be killed!

2011-03-07T11:45:00.002+08:00

It is so intrusive that I had to shut down my "wall" even to my friends.

Why the NBA needs contraction

2011-03-03T12:04:00.001+08:00

having 30 teams is too much. it's very socialist, very european. the league tries to make them all equal and "competitive" by putting salary caps on teams and salary limits on players. that's NOT the american way. business is more profitable and higher quality if it's capitalistic--and not based on the ideas of Karl Marx.

Let lebron get as much money as he can from teams that can afford to pay him. No more caps on spending. Let unprofitable teams fail or go bankrupt--instead of propping them up artificially like what the NBA is doing right now. Let's improve the quality of the teams and players by downsizing the league.

If Palin gets GOP nomination...

2011-01-25T20:20:00.002+08:00

then the Tea Party will cease to become relevant the day after the November 2012 elections. Mark my words.

Somebody needs to turn Amy Chua's book into a movie

2011-01-20T15:48:00.002+08:00

who should we cast as "Tiger Mama" from Hell?

Does Jared Lee Loughner watch the Daily Show and Colbert?

2011-01-13T17:36:00.000+08:00

just asking.

Caitie Parker who described Jared Loughner as "left wing, quite liberal" also a lefty

2011-01-10T13:55:00.005+08:00

at least if you check who she follows on twitter. ;)

@keitholbermann @joebiden @algore @barackobama @democracynow @corybooker

I didn't see any rightwing OR GOP politicians or pundits that she is following.

She was Loughner's friend and classmate in highschool and college. I see no reason not to trust her when she labeled him a leftwing loon.

If you look at her tweets, when news broke out re the giffords shooting, Caitie Parker was RT messages from leftwing sources blaming the Sarah Palin for Giffords shooting. When she later found out that Loughner was the shooter, she began to provide more info about Loughner--that she knew him from highschool and that he was a pothead, into Anti-Flag, quite a lefty.

Wikileaks, Hello Garci Tapes, and the media

2010-12-07T11:50:00.005+08:00

Take note that the New York Times, Der Spiegel, and the Guardian helped wikileaks Julian Assange in disseminating US classified info, but no one is seriously considering shutting down these news organizations.

Compare that to how ABS-CBN and GMA-7 refused to air the Garci tapes for the public and inform them of how Arroyo and Garcillano plotted to steal the elections in 2004.

How the Liberal Media is using Sarah Palin to destroy the GOP

2010-11-22T10:26:00.003+08:00

I've said this before and i'll say it again-- The media/MSM is using sarah palin to destroy the GOP (at the same time, Palin is using the media to make money.)

Whether the liberal MSM savages her (which will have conservatives automatically rallying around Palin) or give her and her family some positive attention (the reality show, Bristol Palin in DWTS), the intention here is to build her up by always having her in the news so that she is the "inevitable" choice for conservatives in the primaries-- while denying other rivals for the presidency (christie, mitch daniels, john thune) the attention they need to viably challenge Palin for the Republican nomination.

The defacto leader of the GOP (according to the MSM) used to be Rush Limbaugh. Now, they have someone better: Sarah Palin

The Dems/MSM want to see Palin win the nomination so they can crush her ala Christine o'Donnell and Sharon Angle in the general elections vs Obama.

Krauthammer on Obama urging Latinos to "punish their enemies"

2010-10-28T12:24:00.001+08:00

NBA Schedule Philippines 2010-2011Season

2010-10-27T09:42:00.001+08:00

BTV Sked:

Wed. 10/27/2010 10:00 AM Phoenix @ Portland
Thu. 10/28/2010 7:00 AM Miami @ Philadelphia
Sat. 10/30/2010 8:00 AM Oklahoma City @ Detroit
Sun. 10/31/2010 8:30 AM Charlotte @ Milwaukee
Mon. 11/01/2010 7:00 AM Utah @ Oklahoma City
Tue. 11/02/2010 10:00 AM Toronto @ Sacramento
Wed. 11/03/2010 8:00 AM Portland @ Milwaukee
Thu. 11/04/2010 10:00 AM San Antonio @ Phoenix
Sat. 11/06/2010 7:00 AM New Jersey @ Orlando
Sat. 11/06/2010 10:00 AM Memphis @ Phoenix
Sun. 11/07/2010 7:30 AM New Jersey @ Miami
Mon. 11/08/2010 8:00 AM Minnesota @ Houston
Tue. 11/09/2010 8:00 AM Atlanta @ Orlando
Wed. 11/10/2010 8:00 AM Denver @ Indiana
Thu. 11/11/2010 9:00 AM Dallas @ Memphis
Fri. 11/12/2010 9:00 AM Golden State @ Chicago
Sat. 11/13/2010 9:30 AM Philadelphia @ Dallas
Sun. 11/14/2010 9:00 AM Boston @ Memphis
Mon. 11/15/2010 8:30 AM Houston @ New York
Tue. 11/16/2010 10:00 AM Denver @ Phoenix
Wed. 11/17/2010 10:00 AM New York @ Denver
Thu. 11/18/2010 8:30 AM Washington @ Boston
Fri. 11/19/2010 8:00 AM L.A. Clippers @ Indiana
Sat. 11/20/2010 9:00 AM L.A. Lakers @ Minnesota
Sun. 11/21/2010 9:30 AM Oklahoma City @ Milwaukee
Mon. 11/22/2010 7:00 AM New Orleans @ Sacramento
Tue. 11/23/2010 8:00 AM Boston @ Atlanta
Wed. 11/24/2010 8:00 AM Atlanta @ New Jersey
Thu. 11/25/2010 10:00 AM Chicago @ Phoenix
Sat. 11/27/2010 9:30 AM Dallas @ San Antonio
Sun. 11/28/2010 2:00 AM Atlanta @ New York
Sun. 11/28/2010 10:00 AM Charlotte @ Milwaukee
Mon. 11/29/2010 9:00 AM Phoenix @ Denver
Tue. 11/30/2010 9:00 AM New Orleans @ Oklahoma City
Wed. 12/01/2010 8:00 AM Boston @ Cleveland

Taiwanese Cartoons does it again!

2010-10-26T09:55:00.000+08:00

What is happening to NPR could have happened to FOXNEWS with Sherrod case

2010-10-22T16:30:00.002+08:00

NPR is getting a lot of flack after they fired Juan Williams for saying what they thought was a bigoted statement about Muslims. They're feeling a lot of heat right now, especially after the story became nationalized today when Sarah Palin, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich spoke out in defense of Williams and criticized NPR for Political Correctness lunacy. Now there's a call from conservatives to defund NPR.

FOXNEWS could have been in the same situation as NPR with the Sherrod case. They were lucky. They were the real target, not Andrew.

How Film Piracy killed the Philippine Movie Industry

2010-10-12T17:50:00.003+08:00

Critic Noel Vera suggested that the pirates should only sell Hollywood films on DVD and spare local movies:

Piracy is a serious issue, sure, but one disease at a time (or all at once, but someone better be getting paid here).

That said, there's an easy if dicey way out of that, something that General Petraeus implemented so successfully in Iraq: contact the pirates, negotiate with them to pirate only Hollywood movies and not local fare.

Alternatively, license them to do the distribution and production. They seem to do a pretty good job, speedwise (they just need quality control).

Selective enforcement of rules won't work either, because local films (where tickets cost P130 and up nowadays) cannot compete with easily available pirated DVD movies from Hollywood--pristine copies obtainable for as low as P10-15.

That's why nobody goes to the movies anymore. Watching pirated dvds is the cheapest form of entertainment nowadays.

Photos of Rich Iott as American WW2 paratrooper and Civil War Union Infantryman

2010-10-11T10:49:00.005+08:00

(Read this first from Ann Althouse to get the whole story on how Rich Iott got a raw deal from media. But this time, unlike the Shirley Sherrod moment, the Media is abetting this Dem Smear campaign.)

Photos never included by the Atlantic hit piece:

As a WW2 American Paratrooper:

Re-enacting WW1 as an American Infantryman:

"Father and Son" wearing Civil War Union unis (you know, Abe Lincoln's army. the side that fought Slavery)

(Source: Iott's campaign website)

UPDATE: More Father and Son moment (in Civil War Union uniforms)

(source: Riehl World)

Cine Europa 13 @ Shangri La Mall 2010 schedule

2010-09-02T10:49:00.004+08:00

Jessica Zafra's "World Domination" theory maybe coming to an end

2010-09-01T19:43:00.008+08:00

Jessica Zafra's theory is that we Filipinos will dominate the world because our OFWs are everywhere. But insensitive and questionable acts like these ("Smiling president", police and students posing at the hostage scene, Flag draped coffin for the hostage taker) will have long term consequences on how Filipino overseas workers will be treated in the future by their Chinese employers.

That, and the incompetence caught on TV of course for the world to see.

Not looking good for us, sez Conrad de Quiros:

Our OFWs in Hong Kong and China say they are deeply fearful about how their employers and neighbors are going to treat them over the next few months or years. They have every reason to. This isn’t going to blow over. This isn’t going to disappear anytime soon. This will get worse before it gets better...

To this day, pictures of the crowd that surged forward after the shooting to ogle the dead continue to make it to the social media. To this day pictures of cops and students posing before the blood and gore, in some instances smiling and preening, continue to make it to the social media. How do you think that is going to be taken by the Chinese community? How do you think that is going to be taken by any sane person?
That is a disgusting display of bad manners and wrong conduct. That is a disgusting display of perversity. That is a disgusting display of lack of humanity.

Insensitive. Just like putting that Mosque near "Ground Zero" insensitive.

I miss the old days when we'd get upset over a TV comedy show like Desperate Housewives...

Why is there no real reform movement in Islam?

2010-08-22T11:55:00.004+08:00

from Bret Stephens:

Which brings me to the fundamental problem with too many self-described moderate Muslims. A few years ago, my friend Irshad Manji made the point to me that “moderate Muslims denounce terror that’s committed in the name of Islam but they deny that religion has anything to do with it.” By contrast, she noted, “reform-minded Muslims denounce terror that’s committed in the name of Islam and acknowledge that our religion is used to inspire it.”

Because some Muslims groups and the PC crowd don't consider those people who kill in the name of Islam as "true Muslims." If Muslims doesn't want to acknowledge how their religion is used to justify and create radical jihadism, Al Queda and Jemaah Islamiya, then what's there to reform, right?

UPDATE: Imam Feisal: "Islam does not need reformation."

Shirley Sherrod’s handlers really wanted to go after FOXNEWS. They failed.

2010-07-29T14:24:00.002+08:00

Sherrod’s handlers really wanted to go after FOXNEWS. They failed. Andrew breitbart is the consolation prize. I think Sherrod is just a pawn in Obama admin and the media’s efforts to start a “race war” with FOX by blaming her firing on them. Andrew Breitbart was set up, IMO.

1) when breitbart released the video, the WH immediately fired Sherrod without doing any investigation. My suspicion is that those who fired her knew she’s innocent all along but still removed her anyway to make it a big story in the MSM. Would have been a bigger story if FOXNEWS aired the video BEFORE she was fired. That could have been ugly... for FOX!

2) Why do i think the original intent was to set up FOXNEWS? The person who fired sherrod told her they that had to fire her because foxnews was going after her specifically glenn beck. So this explains why ms. sherrod lately has been blaming FOXNEWS for racism and for getting her fired, even though she’s wrong on the facts. Her (obama?) advisors have poisoned her mind of this "FOXNEWS is racist" and "FOXNEWS got her fired" nonsense. Ms. Sherrod was supposed to appear on megyn kelly’s show but backed off, and went to CNN to tell her side of the story. Who told ms. sherrod to back out of the scheduled interview? The same handlers who have been coaching her to blame foxnews?

Who should make the US squad for FIBA 2010?

2010-07-16T12:02:00.003+08:00

The USA roster is currently confirmed to include the following: Chauncey Billups (Denver); Stephen Curry (Golden State); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City); Tyreke Evans (Sacramento); Rudy Gay (Memphis); Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers); Danny Granger (Indiana); Jeff Green (Oklahoma City); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia); David Lee (Golden State); Brook Lopez (New Jersey); Kevin Love (Minnesota); O.J. Mayo (Memphis); Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers); Derrick Rose (Chicago); Gerald Wallace (Charlotte); and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City); Robin Lopez (Phoenix).

none of the 2008 members will participate in 2010.

my choice:

billups pg
derrick rose PG

curry sg
oj mayo sg
Andre Igoudala sg

durant sf
danny granger sf
odom sf/pf

david lee pf
Kevin Love pf

robin lopez C
Brook Lopez C

- I selected rose over westbrook. I initially wanted to select all 3 pgs but i believe curry can handle the PG spot in a pinch.

- I picked up all the bigs (lee, love, lopez brothers)

- i picked mayo and granger over others because they're better spot-up shooters. (somebody has to play that role efficiently from time to time.)

- Wallace is the only "old" veteran player not to make it on my list (odom, billups, iggy)

UPDATE: Oh my, I forgot to include Amare Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler and Rajon Rondo on the list.

my revised choice:

billups pg
derrick rose PG

curry sg
oj mayo sg
Andre Igoudala sg

durant sf
danny granger sf
odom sf/pf

david lee pf
Kevin Love pf

Robin Lopez C
Amare Stoudemire C

- the only guy i replaced is Brook Lopez for Amare Stoudemire. If Chandler's healthy, there's no question Chandler > Robin Lopez.

- even with rondo's playoff experience and performance, i still end up preferring rose. rondo's an awful outside shooter.

UPDATE: Amare, Lee, Robin Lopez unavailable or out with injuries

New look roster

billups pg
derrick rose PG
Russell Westbrook PG

curry sg
oj mayo sg
Andre Igoudala sg

durant sf
danny granger sf

odom pf
Kevin Love pf

Brook Lopez C
Tyson Chandler C

Replaced Amare, Robin Lopez and David Lee with Brook Lopez, Ty Chandler and Russell Westbrook. Why Westbrook over Rondo? He's a better shooter and defender. Can play PG and Off guard. And he'll have better chemistry with the best player on the team, Kevin Durant.

UPDATE: If it were up to me, i'd invite Jason Richardson to camp and replace OJ Mayo with him. Not only is he a great finisher and creator of his own shot, but if you watch suns games, he is an EXCELLENT spot up shooter from the corners. And we need more adults in the team.

Randy David vs Arroyo in 2013?

2010-06-06T12:25:00.003+08:00

I would very much like to see that please! By that time, hindi na hawak ni Arroyo ang Malacanang at gobierno, so mas patas na ang laban sa Pampanga seat.

Last Night wasn't the first time Dragic donned Superman cape in 4th qtr

2010-05-09T08:32:00.003+08:00

The Warriors had an advance preview of Goran's greatness:

Dragic scores 18 points in 4th for Suns

By BOB BAUM, AP Sports Writer Jan 24, 12:58 am EST

PHOENIX (AP)—Goran Dragic(notes) and the rest of the Phoenix reserves prevented an ugly home loss for the Suns.

Dragic scored 18 of his career-high 20 points in the fourth quarter and the Suns finally pulled away from the depleted Golden State Warriors, winning 112-103 on Saturday night.

“He made some big shots. He had that look in his eye,” Suns star Steve Nash(notes) said. “He was really aggressive. It was fun to see him step up and make some big shots and key plays.”

Dragic, a second-year guard from Slovenia, was 4 of 6 from the field, including 3 of 5 on 3-pointers, and made 7 of 8 free throws in the quarter. He also had two steals and a crucial blocked shot in the period.

Now if some guy can put this 4th qtr on youtube...

If you have a Sports-scene account, you can watch the game here.

My Choices for Senators

2010-04-25T22:34:00.004+08:00

1) Risa Hontiveros
2) Danny Lim
3) Franklin Drilon
4) Sonia Roco
5) Serge Osmena
6) Neric Acosta
7) Jinggoy Estrada
8) Adel Tamano
9) ~~Liza Masa~~ Joey de Venecia III
10) Yasmin Busran Lao
11) TG Guingona
12) Ruffy Biazon

Teddy Boy Locsin is a Tool

2010-04-18T15:01:00.006+08:00

Jessica Zafra interviews Teodoro Locsin Jr. on the Automated voting system:

Why is there so much resistance to election automation?
It began in Congress, which passed the law with only one dissenting vote. Then the guys who delivered one million vote majorities to GMA in the House started opposing it. Which makes me suspect they don’t control one million votes.

Funny, I thought your committee report on Hello Garci whitewashed the whole thing.

Five House committees that heard the "Hello Garci" wiretapping controversy have adopted a final report, practically clearing former commissioner Virgilio Garcillano of the alleged rigging of the 2004 elections.

But while the report mentioned an opposition conspiracy to unseat President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, it also briefly questioned the administration's attempt to cover up the scandal.

"Malaca�ang was clearly at an utter loss to explain the tapes and, on at least one occasion, attempted a cover-up," said the report, which pointed to inconsistencies in presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye's statements.

Bunye had said there were two compact discs -- one version spliced and the other original -- that contained conversations between Arroyo and "Gary", initially said to be a political officer of the Lakas party.

In sum, the report said: "A conspiracy clearly existed to topple the President by embarrassing her with the so-called Garci tapes, but on the other hand, the administration could not and would not confront the tapes, and contributed nothing towards arriving at the truth about them, but on the contrary attempted a cover-up."

So, did the 1 million vote padding happen, or did it not? Here's a list of names who authored the report:

The committees behind the report are: public information, under Rep. Emmylou Talio-Santos of North Cotabato; suffrage and electoral reforms, chaired by Representative Teodoro Locsin Jr. of Makati City; public order and safety, under Rep. Amado Espino of Pangasinan; national defense and security, under Rep. Jose Solis of Sorsogon; and information and communications technology, under Rep. Simeon Kintanar of Cebu.

NBA Playoffs Schedule 2009-2010 (Philippines)

2010-04-17T14:51:00.012+08:00

This post is updated regularly.

NBA.COM international schedule

NBA games on Solar TV schedule

BTV website or here
Sat. 5/01/2010 10:00 AM Denver @ Utah

Star Sports:
Fri. 4/30/2010 10:30 AM Phoenix @ Portland

ESPN:
Sat. 5/01/2010 7:00 AM Atlanta @ Milwaukee

BTV Fridays:
Fri. 4/30/2010 8:00 AM Dallas @ San Antonio

C/S RPN9:
Sun. 5/02/2010 8:00 AM Boston @ Cleveland

NBA Weekly schedule on C/S9

Poor People who don't pay taxes should not be allowed to vote?

2010-04-13T10:52:00.002+08:00

From boibulag of Pinoyexchange:

No Tax No Vote : Tama N Panggagamit Sa Mga Mahihirap
Think about dapat n bang ipatupad ang suggestion n ito ? Pag malakas ka wala kang kapansanan 10 ang anak mo at wala kang trabaho then wala kang karapatang bomoto.

Oh di ba every election nalang ang mga mahihirap ang laging ginagamit ng mga politoko kaya siguro dumadami ang tamad dahil sa mga pangbobola ng mga politikos....

No Tax No Vote...

But everybody including the poor pays taxes thru 12% VAT. This is another hare brained scheme cooked up by the elites to deny a huge segment of the population their right to vote.

How Arroyo Used "Katas ng VAT" to bankrupt government

2010-04-07T18:23:00.005+08:00

by giving P500 doleouts to every tom dick and harry. These gov't officials are good at spending other people's money.

But it is really spending money we don't have. Now because of government's wasteful spending and corruption, kulang na naman ng pero ang gobierno, and Arroyo wants to increase VAT from 12% to 15%

Twitter Mobile is broken

2010-04-05T08:06:00.003+08:00

I can't view page 3 tweets. It keeps returning me to page 1.

Ang Pekeng Opo-sisyon ng Nacionalista Party

2010-03-30T17:49:00.003+08:00

Another Gloria Macapagal ARroyo loyalist na nagkukunwaring oposisyon at anti-kurakot ay itong si Abraham Mitra, senatorial candidate ng Nacionalista Party.

"Panahon pa raw ng tatay niya" na galit siya pangungurakot.

But that was during Marcos' time.

The Baham Mitra I know now is an Arroyo Loyalist.

He voted twice for killing the impeachment complaint in 2005 and 2006.

He was one of many congressmen loyal to Arroyo who received money from Jocjoc Bolante re the Fertilizer Funds scandal.

Yup, maka "opo-sisyon" nga.

Of Course Rajon Rondo is still a poor outside shooter!

2010-03-30T11:48:00.002+08:00

(via celticshub) I can tell you that by just looking at his FT% (62%).

For comparison, Shaq during his last year in phoenix shot 60% FT.

Laughable Nacionalista Party ad

2010-03-29T18:24:00.006+08:00

"Tunay na Oposisyon"? The ad wouldn't even dare mention Arroyo's name.

So how serious is Manny Villar about fighting corruption? Not so much.

As I See It
Villar won’t file raps against Arroyo

By Neal Cruz
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:02:00 10/02/2009

If and when Sen. Manny Villar becomes president, he will not, he said, file charges against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. But he would not prevent others from doing so. He would allow the wheels of justice to punish those who need punishing. But he will not interfere to save anybody.
...
Asked what would be his priorities in case he becomes president, Villar answered that it would be the economy and jobs. An improved economy and more jobs are important to raise the standard of living in any country, he said. With a higher standard of living, graft and corruption would lessen. People would not steal anymore because they are living well already.

Obviously, it's not a priority. Just lip service.

And how silly it is to see a Marcos in an anti-corruption ad. And Satur Ocampo and Marcos in the same ad, LMAO.

MORE: Villar blind to Arroyo's corruption

Arroyo gets to appoint the Chief Justice before she goes out

2010-03-18T09:45:00.001+08:00

this is what you get with a supreme court whose members are almost all appointed by arroyo. she has packed the SC with her people and now they make partisan insane rulings.

that’s why the presidency matters. who controls the presidency will be able to shape the supreme court. and boy oh boy did arroyo have plenty of time (9 years) to shape it in her image.

Clinton/Carville planning counterattack vs Tea Party Movement

2010-02-18T16:14:00.002+08:00

From Big Government:

Big Government has learned that Clintonistas are plotting a “push/pull” strategy. They plan to identify 7-8 national figures active in the tea party movement and engage in deep opposition research on them. If possible, they will identify one or two they can perhaps ‘turn’, either with money or threats, to create a mole in the movement. The others will be subjected to a full-on smear campaign. (Has MSNBC already been notified?)

Not a "mole", but somebody who will switch sides, become a whistleblower and "expose" tea party to MSM.

This tactic is very common in Philippine politics. Here's an extreme case where the star witness against the First Gentleman (husband of Pres. Arroyo) was abducted by gov't officials and turned into a witness for the government.

http://www.newsflash.org/2003/05/hl/hl018661.htm

Why would Lacson want to kill Dacer?

2010-02-17T12:05:00.002+08:00

just asking here, not buying the "lacson killed dacer" angle for a sec, but:

- if lacson really killed dacer, WHAT could be his motive? He doesn't know the guy all that much other than the fact that they (lacson and dacer) are linked to Erap

- I know many would say the motive is: Erap ordered the killing because of a fallout between him and Dacer. If that is the case, then why is this administration's PNP not going after Erap NOW?

- of course, if this admin will have erap arrested NOW, erap's candidacy will be damaged and he might even get disqualified.

- with erap out, NOYNOY will benefit by getting all the remaining anti-GMA votes. So why would this admin take erap the spoiler out of the race and damage the chances of their secret annointed--Villar?

From Lito Banayo:

A more cautious judge would have tried to determine if probable cause indeed existed to charge Lacson, especially in light of the selective prosecution by the DOJ (why only Lacson, and not Erap as well, who was also in the affidavits of Mancao and even Dumlao?).

Trends

2010-02-05T10:47:00.002+08:00

Trends used to do interviews and data gathering for 3 poll firms in 2004 (SWS, Pulse, and NFO Trends)

Now in 2010 they're doing field work for Pulse Asia and Manila Standard Today's polls, and the numbers look similar:

In the SWS survey, which says it has its own field workers, had Noynoy Aquino at 42 percent and Manny Villar at 35 percent nationwide, an 8 percent difference. Erap Estrada was at 13 percent. Undecideds were pegged at 2 percent. Error margin was at 2.2 percent, plus-minus.

The Manila Standard Today (MST) also conducted its survey, with Trends utilized as its field workers’ organization, between Jan. 21 and 27. Respondents were 2,500. In its survey, MST had Noynoy Aquino at 36 percent nationwide and Villar at 34 percent, a statistical tie. Estrada was pegged at 13 percent. Check on the math for nationwide averages. It is clear that the MST’s survey is intended to deliberately bring down the numbers of Estrada, as Pulse Asia did and no doubt, SWS did too.

Pulse Asia also conducted a survey from Jan. 20 to 26, the same time frame as MST and to a certain extent, SWS’ time frame, also using Trends for its field work. Its respondent base was 1,800. In it, Aquino obtained 37 percent, Villar at 35 percent, or a statistical and Estrada at 12 percent.

As Trends was utilized by both MST and Pulse, validation by way of comparison, can’t be claimed.

Read the whole thing. Ninez explains why she finds the internal numbers suspicious.

How Aquino-Roxas should handle the MILF issue

2009-11-29T18:36:00.000+08:00

1) Make negotiations with MILF more transparent than during previous administration.

2) Willing to consider amending the constitution to move peace process forward.

3) Invite MNLF to the table for consultation and negotiations. Hindi pwedeng hindi sila kasali. Kasi paano na kung na-ayos na ng Philippine Gov't at MILF ang differences nila pagdating sa lupa at status ng Mindanao, pero hindi sang-ayon ang MNLF sa kasunduan na ito? Sila naman ang mag rerebelde?

Parang Hamas at Fatah kasi ang MILF at MNLF. Mas mabuti na i-encourage silang mag-unite (since MILF is an offshoot of MNLF) as one para iisang grupo na lang ang kausap natin.

4) Ang GOV'T-MILF agreement sa mga areas na affected ay idadaan sa referendum.

Erap's poll ratings before Edsa Dos

2009-11-03T21:33:00.002+08:00

cut and pasted from my old post back in 2006:

ERAP TRUST RATING STILL HIGHER THAN GMA (Dec. 23, 2000)

MORE PINOYS WANT ERAP TO STAY -- SURVEY (Dec. 18, 2000)

Believe it or not, most Filipinos still pin their hopes of a better life on President Joseph "Erap" Ejercito Estrada.

A nationwide Social Weather Station (SWS) survey commissioned by ABS-CBN showed that at least 47 percent of the respondents believed that President Estrada should set aside politics and focus on sustaining the social and economic gains the country has been achieving in recent months.

Despite a brewing political crisis, the Philippines achieved a significant 5.8-percent growth in its Gross National Product and a 4.8-percent upswing in its Gross Domestic Product.

ERAP’S POPULARITY STEADY - PHIL STAR SURVEY (Dec. 12, 2000)

ERAP TRUSTED BY MORE FILIPINOS THAN OPPOSITION, RELIGIOUS LEADERS - SURVEY Dec. 6, 2000

MORE FILIPINOS AGAINST ERAP RESIGNATION - PULSE ASIA SURVEY Dec. 2, 2000

MANILANS AGAINST ERAP'S RESIGNATION -- SURVEY Nov. 21, 2000

LAKAS SURVEY SHOWS ERAP SNAP POLL WIN -- PALACE Oct. 27, 2000

ERAP POPULARITY UP IN SURVEY Oct. 18, 2000

ERAP SHOULD NOT RESIGN -- SURVEY Oct. 16, 2000

Comment: Most of the surveys showed erap was more popular than the opposition at that time and most say that he shouldn't resign -- pero natanggal pa rin siya.

Attacking Glenn Beck is like attacking Jon Stewart

2009-10-20T19:19:00.000+08:00

Beck is to conservatives/libertarians what Stewart/Colbert are to liberals/democrats. And for the liberal media and DNC to launch attacks against a self-described "rodeo clown" like Beck is as ridiculous as conseratives going after Jon Stewart.

But the MSM continue to fall for the Democratic talking points.

Blame Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert for fathering an illegitimate offspring like Beck.

"I would dunk on his ass, break the rim, and shatter the glass."

2009-10-18T22:21:00.000+08:00

Lebron James on George W. Bush. LOL.

We know Condi Rice's a huge NFL fan

2009-10-17T11:05:00.003+08:00

so i'm curious to know what does she think of the whole Rush Limbaugh situation being banned from buying an NFL team? Fair? Unfair?

if let's say condi is the nfl commish, would she allow the rams sale to rush, or cave to pressure and deny?

The Countries that voted for the USA olympic bid

2009-10-05T19:40:00.001+08:00

does anybody know which 18 countries voted for the US of A? obama should reward them and punish the rest of the world by giving (and witholding) foreign aid, "Chicago style" patronage.

Obama "knew all along" Chicago would lose?

2009-10-05T09:30:00.003+08:00

conspiracy theory that obama knew all along that chicago would lose:

I want all of you right leaning folks to keep thinking this “conspiracy theory” is left wing nonsense.

Unfortunately for ya’ll you’re being completely outclassed by Obama. He probably knew that Chicago would lose, so what he did was brilliant strategy: go the extra mile to please the Chicago home folks, draw Republicans and conservatives into outrageous and over the top criticism, garner sympathy for making the effort, and lead his opponents into a “I’m dancing at America losing” stance.

Brilliant. And ya’ll fell for it, of course. And you’ll keep falling for it, because you’re filled with wrath, pride, and more than a bit of greed.

enjoy your wacko conspiracy theory while you can, leftwingers.

so “he knew” that he chicago would lose, but did he know it would end up in last place? all along, right?

of course, obama would not have gotten the derision from his critics and doubters if Chicago came in a respectable second or even third.

I thought the world would love the USA more if the redeemer and USA apologizer in chief made the pitch. some dems like sen. burris are even complaining that it was bush’s fault. but even bush for all his faults would have done better job than the humiliating first round exit in copenhagen.

it’s not that the US lost that’s outrageous, but THE WAY it lost. and THE WAY it lost should be blamed all on the incompetent and bumbling obama admin.

okay, i’m done. continue with your fantasies and conspiracy monging.

Polanski Vs. Kazan

2009-10-01T14:26:00.000+08:00

A Tale of Two Oscars.

How to help the victims of Ondoy floods

2009-09-28T12:45:00.002+08:00

@mlq3 is now the central hub of relief efforts for flood victims. Follow him on twitter to get up-to-date info.

Korean Film Festival 2009 schedule @Shangrila-Plaza

2009-09-21T15:17:00.000+08:00

Schedule and synopsis here

The only film i'm interested in:
Driving With My Wife's Lover

there's a remake in the works

"Genuine Opposition"

2009-09-14T14:12:00.001+08:00

There is Manuel B. Villar, Jr., who started his political career as congressman of the lone district of Las Pinas, when his wife’s family alternatingly held the mayorship. That was in 1992, running as Monching Mitra’s LDP candidate. After FVR won, Villar turned to Lakas. In 1995, Angara’s LDP was suborned by Lakas, the banner Villar used in his first re-election, which he won handily. In 1998, he ran under Lakas, the flag of Jose de Venecia, who lost miserably to Lammp coalition’s Erap. As soon as night became day, hounded by the Asian recession that hit his fortunes badly, Villar led 49 other Lakas stalwarts and swore to Erap’s high haven in Greenhills. Through a hefty transaction, he became “speaker” by grace of Erap, who disgraced word of commitment to Joker Arroyo. In November of 2000, he promptly cut the niceties of committee hearings and floor debates, and by stroke of nimble double-cross, sent the impeachment complaint with the requisite endorsers to the Senate for trial.

Having been one of the principal sponsors of Gloria’s ascent to the presidency, he was amply rewarded with a slot in her People Power Coalition for the senatorial elections of 2001. He won, and served a full first term, getting the supra-powerful Finance Committee with influence over the budget, and later, through a term-sharing deal, Senate President after Franklin Drilon. In 2004, he fully supported his Gloria’s election. Right after, he “bought” the franchise to the Nacionalista Party name, hollowed out of members its history had. In 2005, when the revelations of Hello Garci ripped wide open the underbelly of a massive cheating conspiracy against the people, he kept his mouth shut. Franklin Drilon did not, and joined others in asking for Gloria’s resignation. Not Manny Villar. Thus did he retain the senate presidency until re-election time in 2007. But because the fall-out over Hello Garci extended till 2007, with his president burdened by abysmally low trust and approval ratings, Manny Villar thought it was time to switch…again.

And a motley band of oppositionists who wanted a shut-out, never mind defining principles or issues, welcomed him with open arms, with Erap mismo negotiating still another transaction with Villar. He was supposed to bring in other “sure” winners, Ralph Recto, Joker Arroyo, and Francis Pangilinan. The first two also deserted Erap in the critical days of 2000, while the last was never for Erap. The first two opted to still bed with Gloria; Francis ran as an independent. At the start of the campaign, Villar also styled himself as an “independent”, as if testing the waters. That was fine with Erap, for what curious reasons I have yet to fathom. When the so-called “Genuine Opposition” won handily, oh, Villar was now considered a born-again “oppositionist”. By the imprimatur of Erap, and the nihil obstat of Alan Peter Cayetano, Chiz Escudero, and of course, Jinggoy Estrada who got the lofty sinecure of pro-tempore. There went the “genuine opposition”. Even usually critical and perceptive media glossed over this, and sang the hossanas for Manny Villar, once more the Senate President, and soon, the “president” of their dreams … and wallets.

So, from LDP (1992) to Lakas (1995), to Erap’s Lammp (1998) to Gloria’s PPC (2001), to Nacionalista in support of Gloria (2004), to Nacionalista as part of an “opposition” coalition in 2007, to Nacionalista, with questionable allegiances at present. That is the adroit and nimble political odyssey of Manuel B. Villar Jr., much like a hopping kangaroo, the man who would be president of the benighted land.

Galit ba si Kiko Pangilinan kay Mar Roxas?

2009-09-01T19:30:00.000+08:00

Hmmm... before Cory's death, nag-leave of absence si Kiko Pangilinan sa LP para tumakbo bilang VP. Bakit pa nya kailangang mag-LOA? dahil ba alam nyang hindi siya pipiliin ni Mar Roxas?

Now that Noynoy is being egged to run for president, humirit naman itong sariling nag-LOA na Sen. Noted. Gusto raw niyang tumakbo si Aquino sa pagka-presidente. isasakripisyo pa raw niya ang VP run niya para matupad ito.

In the first place, bakit pa niya kailangang i-sakripisyo ang independent VP run nya, eh hindi naman siya pipiliin ni Mar Roxas in the first place? Ahhh... ayaw niyang makatapat sa VP race si Mar Roxas kung siya ang VP ni Noynoy?

Jessica Zafra liked "Kinatay"

2009-09-01T12:41:00.001+08:00

but is it possible that what she and others saw at the UP was a different re-edited version of "Kinatay" from the one shown at Cannes?

CINE EUROPA 12 schedule for Shangri-la (Sept. 11 - 20, 2009)

2009-08-25T19:32:00.011+08:00

schedule (pdf)

Films:

Freigesprochen (Free to Leave)
Toi et Moi (You and Me)
[REC]
Kærlighed på film (Just Another Love Story)
Zoop in Zuid-Amerika (Zoo Rangers in South America)
The Duchess
S certy nejsou zerty (Give the Devil his due)
I demoni di San Pietroburgo (The Demons of St. Petersberg)
Die Welle (The Wave)
Mein Name ist Eugen (Rascals on the Road)
Joulutarina (Christmas Story)
Orient Express
Grabben i graven bredvid (The Guy in the Grave Next Door)
De laatste zomer (The Last Summer)
Alles is liefde (Love is All)
È pericoloso sporgersi (Sundays on Leave)
Tmavomodrý svet (Dark Blue World)
Blindgänger (The Blind Flyers)

John Marzan may watch these:
[REC] - Spanish Zombie film
You and Me - Marion Cotillard's in it
Just Another Love Story - Ebert gave it 3.5/4 stars. Film Noir.
The Duchess
The Wave
Love is All (Dutch version of "Love Actually"?)

Cine Europa 12 on facebook

NoyNoy should run

2009-08-24T11:14:00.005+08:00

let's see how far he can go. Alam ko walang primaries sa LP, but if it's clear that he's not better than Mar as a candidate, then he should drop out before the Liberal Party makes their final decision on who should be the LP standard bearer.

I don't agree with de Quiros about his premature Noynoy-Mar ticket, but i'm willing to see Aquino and Roxas participate in debates and hear them out on the issues hanggang maaga pa to see whether Noynoy has what it takes. Then after a few months of observation we'll know if it's Mar-Noynoy, or Noynoy-Mar. Or Mar and another VP.

At least exploring a presidential run will be a good learning experience for Aquino if he decides to run again for higher office in the future.

Another reason why Noy should at least try: to see how far Cory Magic (and what they represent) resonate with voters and help Sen. Aquino during "unofficial primaries" before LP decides whether to commit to Mar or him.

Twittering Arroyo's $20K Dinnergate

2009-08-09T12:39:00.002+08:00

JM: uhmm..why would martin romauldez spend $20,000 of his own money to host GMA's contingent for a 1 night dinner especially during bad economy?

CaffeineSparks: @johnmarzan asking myself the same thing. can we view the P1 million dinner as an 'investment' of sorts? hehehhee

JM:@caffeinesparks i think remonde is not telling the truth. Even by american standards, a $20,000 dinner is a lot for any individual to pay fr

JM:kaya nga napansin ng nypost eh. that $20,000 price tag is a staggering amount.

JM:i'm sure hinihintay ni romualdez ang reinbursement from the gov't once the issue dies down.

JM:i can see the conversation going like this: "hey bayaran mo muna, martin. don't worry, we'll take care it once we get home."

2009 FIBA Asia championship Philippine schedule

2009-08-05T09:11:00.002+08:00

on BTV/CS9 LIVE

vs Sri Lanka on aug 6 9:00AM
vs Japan on aug 7 9:00pm
vs Korea on aug 8 9:00pm

second round
vs TBD on aug 9 8:00pm

Chiz Escudero seeking GMA's support for 2010

2009-07-29T13:50:00.001+08:00

Buking si Escudero. From the Tribune:

Reacting to the biting criticisms made by Sen. Francis "Chiz" Escudero on President Arroyo’s ninth State of the Nation Address (Sona) delivered last Monday, presidential son Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo, in a dzMM interview, slammed the senator, saying that while Escudero publicly criticizes his mother and her administration, he uses back channels to get his mother to support his presidential bid in 2010.

Arroyo also blasted Escudero for saying that his mother failed to give a categorical statement on her political plans, pointing out that if Escudero did not believe she is leaving Malacañang, why is he seeking his mother’s support for 2010?

Actually, matagal nang buking.

Obama invites police officer for beer w/ Gates

2009-07-25T12:18:00.004+08:00

after previously calling the officer Crowley stupid. via (ann althouse)

is this what obama's handlers had advised him to do? isn't this what PR firms tell their clients when they get in trouble (of their own making) with other people they attack?

Isn't that the same thing David Letterman did too. He invited Sarah Palin to his show after viciously making fun of her daughter. Palin's response at that time was:

"The Palins have no intention of providing a ratings boost for David Letterman by appearing on his show," Palin family spokeswoman Meg Stapleton says. "Plus, it would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman."

What SWS lacks

2009-07-24T09:50:00.003+08:00

Daily Tracking polls for 2010 prez elections!

Why not a Basketball Telenovela?

2009-07-22T10:52:00.002+08:00

From Japan.

if basketball crazy RP still doesn't have one, it needs to invent it.

Still want to put your blind faith on Automated election machines?

2009-07-20T19:11:00.004+08:00

Honduras' referendum results on Zelaya's consti amendment pre-loaded on computers.

the report got picked up by Slashdot.
"In Honduras, according to breaking Catalan newspaper reports (translations available, USA Today mention), authorities have seized 45 computers containing certified election results for a constitutional election that never happened. The election had been scheduled for June 28, but on that day the president, Manuel Zelaya, was ousted. The 'certified' and detailed electronic records of the non-existent election show Zelaya's side having won overwhelmingly."

Related: What happens if Automated voting system is run by the same Arroyo and Garci lieutenants?

Those supporting IE6 Must Die are idiots

2009-07-18T19:25:00.005+08:00

some of us users can't upgrade to IE7, Firefox 3 or Google Chrome because many still use win 98 or ME. and unless our system crashes or the Hard drive malfunctions, upgrading to XP is a big hassle for us at this point.

obviously, this stupid kill IE6 campaign is not very well thought out.

if you push thru with this Google, F- you.

2009 Jones Cup schedule on ESPN (Philippines)

2009-07-18T13:59:00.003+08:00

july 19 vs Jordan 1pm LIVE
july 20 vs Taipei 10am
july 20 vs Kazakhstan 3pm LIVE
july 21 vs Japan 3pm LIVE
july 22 vs Lebanon 7pm LIVE
july 23 vs Korea 5pm LIVE
july 25 vs

What happens if Automated voting system is run by the same Arroyo and Garci lieutenants?

2009-07-13T11:46:00.005+08:00

we are the only country where the elites think that automated is more "reliable and secure" than manual. if you ask all the other countries around the world, especially those with experience in computerized voting (particularly in the US)--they'd tell you the opposite, na mas safe and reliable ang manual because it is more difficult to fix the results (forge signatures, mess up the count) without getting caught thru verification.

sure, automated counts votes faster, but it is also easier/faster to fix elections from the inside. and AFAIK, chairman melo has not done anything to investigate or remove the 2004 operators who worked for garci inside the comelec. he did not clean house.

doing the automated system without credible election officials in charge is like building a swanky new henhouse while retaining the services of the fox to guard it.

Catching vote discrepancies and verifying the count would be almost impossible. NAMFREL and other watchdog groups from the CBCP becomes redundant/useless. Something like this will never ever happen again. if you did not catch it, it never happened. ignorance is bliss.

hindi kasalanan ng manual kung may dayaan sa 2004. manual made it harder for them and more risky to fix the results. kinaylangan ng administration ang sangkatutak na comelec at military operators para ayusin ang eleksyon. hindi pa maganda ang pagkakagawa, according to one general. alam nating may dayaan, sa 2004 canvassing pa lang halata na. pero walang nakulong. lusot ang mga mandaraya. dahil corrupt ang gobierno at accomplice ang CBCP.

UPDATE: Armida Siguion Reyna:

You ask a question about the transparency of the bidding process, of how the Comelec granted the bid to Total Information Management (TIM) and Smartmatic, and right away you get a defensive answer still in the form of another question: "Bakit, ayaw mo ba ng automation?"

Carlitos clarified that he was for automation, but not merely automation per se. Accuracy remained the highest value, as opposed to automated elections nga, automated din ang daya. He mentioned what IT experts in Princeton University had done to prove it was possible to put in, or pre-load, information into a computer that could alter results of a vote, and from there suggested it best for the Comelec to allow local IT experts to fully examine TIM-Smartmatic hardware to settle once and for all if hacking was possible.

When Rafanan reacted that wasn’t necessary as the Smartmatic process had been tested in other parts of the world, the soft-spoken Bahague countered the factors in, say, the US, would be different from here, iba raw ang testing sa US, dapat, iba rin dito. In other words, Carlitos exclaimed, walang Virgilio Garcillano sa America, so iba talaga ang testing doon, sa testing dito.

No reaction there, from Rafanan. I didn’t expect him to bowl over with laughter, a chuckle would have sufficed. Nothing doing, and that’s when I realized he must have been nervous. He then proceeded to insist the Comelec had been for the past few months working to weed out undesirables from its rank-and-file and that for me was cause to worry. I didn’t want to be unfair to him, but I couldn’t help but feel he wasn’t altogether being truthful.

Na-diyaryo na dapat ‘yon, na-bandera sa lahat ng media, kung tutoong naglilinis ang Comelec ng bakuran, with one year to go before the presidential elections of 2010.

I mean, where is lawyer Lintang Bedol, the election supervisor of Maguindanao linked to the alleged anomalous "win" of Miguel Zubiri over Koko Pimentel? What’s happened to Rey Sumalipao, lawyer Pebo, names attached to the fraud of 2004 and yet allowed to "operate" in 2007? Garci several times in his recorded conversation with "the voice of the President, but it is not she who is talking," as per Mike Defensor, made references to having to kidnap or salvage recalcitrant Comelec low-rank officials — has he even been made to at least clarify what he meant by those horrific statements?

And Benjamin Abalos Jr., the former chairman, who vowed to "clean his name," kaya na nga raw at nag-resign. He didn’t do anything to investigate Garcillano, and took a further plunge into degradation by getting involved in the NBN-ZTE deal. The last we’ve heard from him is that he’s flippin’ "borjers" at the Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club and in a stall somewhere in Boni Avenue.

The problem of the Comelec then was credibility, the problem of the Comelec today is still credibility.

It’s a credibility issue that has nothing to do with if indeed TIM was only "fronting" to be the local "60 percent" of a "60-40" investment requirement, or with how TIM and Smartmatic like lovers broke up and kissed and made up the next day, and refused to tell what exactly happened between them.

It’s a credibility matter that runs from Comelec top to bottom, in every possible way. We’ve heard of the abominable dagdag-bawas, there are still other tricks from within, designed to take advantage of the naïve candidate. Such as city-level Comelec officers brazenly refusing to release Comelec checker IDs shortly before an election, because "masakit ang braso, nangangalay, hindi makapirma ng ID." The candidate pays them, voila! Bigla na silang nakakapirma ulit. Or Comelec "brokers" who go around offering their own "protection" services to candidates.

If current Chairman Jose Melo, na former Supreme Court justice pa mandin, wants to send the message that under his leadership the Comelec has become aboveboard, the first thing he needs to do is go back to prosecuting past known "operators" from within and putting them in jail, Bedol, Sumalipao and Garci included.

When people like ComelecAKO's postigo luna and COMELEC spokesperson James Jimenez continue to claim that Garcillano did nothing wrong in 2004, you have to question their judgment and credibility.

MORE common sense from Raul Pangalangan:

The manual writing of the ballot—no different from the manual filling in of the boxes in the PCOS plan—is not the cause of the delay. The manual counting at the precinct level is usually completed within hours after the end of election day.The PCOS computers are infinitely faster but astronomically less transparent. But the greatest delay—and greatest opportunity for cheating—is in the transmittal, collection and final tally of the votes from precincts at every level. That is the stage that we must computerize—and we wouldn’t need fancy optical reading machines for that, just your basic wired PCs that will transmit and collate the precinct, municipal/city and provincial results. But by that stage, we already have the record of votes against which we can audit and counter-check what the central computers are doing.

I'm spending most of my time on twitter

2009-07-07T20:34:00.002+08:00

find me @johnmarzan

Twitter FAQ: RT, HT, OH explained.

Why Sarah Palin Quit

2009-07-07T13:33:00.002+08:00

I guess she's had enough of the attacks on her and her family. She wants to leave public life.

I don't know if the attacks will stop, but i assume it is easier for a private citizen (which palin will become) to sue NYT, Newsweek, huffpo, MSNBC, andrew sullivan or another citizen blogger for defamation than if she were still the governor of alaska.

Milblogger Michael Yon in the Philippines

2009-07-07T12:33:00.000+08:00

his notes, thoughts and observations.

Fearnet's chat with Hammer chief Simon Oakes

2009-07-05T11:10:00.001+08:00

re LTROI:

You've got Wake Wood coming in addition to The Resident. Can you talk about the other films you have in development?

We start production this year on Let the Right One In, the re-make of the Swedish vampire movie. We saw that a couple of years ago, we thought it was amazing and we knew that it would be critically acclaimed, but get a small audience for obvious reasons, because of the fact that it's subtitled. So Matt Reeves came on board from Cloverfield. We're doing quite a faithful adaptation of it, but we're fleshing it out a little bit. We're not going to change it massively, just make it very accessible to a wider audience. That will film this year. Our slate is just beginning to settle for next year. We have The Woman in Black, which is a famous novella by Susan Hill, which is also sort of our first, if you like, traditional ghost story; which fits into the walking dead genre. Then we have a film called The Quiet Ones, which is about a group of scientists in Cambridge, a true story about scientists in Cambridge, who instead of doing what they should be doing and working on DNA, decide on creating a poltergeist. That's being written by Oren Moverman. So those are two pictures for next year, and there's probably a third that we are not sure about the timing of yet. So we intend to be very active in development, we want to be active on the net. We really need to get our act together about how we work on digital. The reason we did that little thing called Beyond the Rave, was that we felt there was an audience of sixteen- to twenty-five-year-olds who never heard of Hammer. But the social networking sites was a place to show them who and what Hammer was in the past and what it could be in the future.

That's our plan. And, basically, to be frank with you – having conversations with people like you guys so that you know what we're up to, and there can be talking and blogging. You know the horror community better than anybody in the States. I want to understand it. And I want to hear from people like you how you think we're going about our business.

The original Let the Right One In is, as you said, adored by genre fans and critics. Can you talk about what you think Matt will bring to his take on it?

I think the original is fascinating in its exposition, but at the same time there is a doggerel element to it in terms of the mood and setting. So I think it takes it out into a more accessible setting. I think perhaps there is a little more characterization in terms of the two central characters. To be perfectly frank with you, this is making an astonishing story – which however hard you might try or I might try to get people to go see the original, they're never going to do it – more accessible to a much larger audience. I think perhaps, again, the roughness of the original is great – and when I talk about faithful, I don't want to put words in Matt's mouth, because he is the creative filmmaker here, and we very much protect that with our directors – but I think it'll just have perhaps a little sheen to it that makes it a little more accessible I think. But again, I don't want to tempt faith. It's a relatively faithful adaptation. There are a number of things that we're doing which I don't want to give away, which I think open it out a little bit more, and make it a little bit more thrilling. But at the same time we're not gonna mess around by having crazy effects and stuff like that. I mean, one of my favorite scenes in the original is when she goes outside, and the camera pans back on a dolly and you see her scampering up the side of the building. That's just genius. [Laughs.] I love that.

Since Matt made the Godzilla film more accessible to many people with Cloverfield, he seems to be a good choice to adapt this material.

I think that's right. And he's one of the world's great enthusiasts, which is fantastic.

Chavit Singson now campaigning for Manny Villar

2009-07-02T13:53:00.002+08:00

according to ernesto maceda.

"Since you can’t cook elections manually anymore and no one can cook electronically, spend your 80 percent kickbacks on vote-buying."

2009-06-29T11:23:00.004+08:00

"That is still allowed, that’s my advice," Teddyboy Locsin (PDP-Laban) said.

No one can cook electronically? I beg to differ.

"Con Ass" sa Honduras

2009-06-27T11:50:00.002+08:00

pati sila meron rin.

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya's push to rewrite the constitution, and pave the way for his potential re-election, has plunged one of Latin America's poorest countries into a potentially violent political crisis.

More: Honduras heads toward crisis over referendum

Will this make the Oscars better?

2009-06-25T13:51:00.000+08:00

Oscars doubling best-picture nominees to 10.

About those secret foreign trips by Arroyo

2009-06-25T11:20:00.004+08:00

there's been lots's of speculations on why she went to Colombia. But where there's smoke, there's fire.

Here's something that happened just today in the US, headlined in Drudge.

South Carolina governor admits affair, secret Argentina trip

The governor, who went missing since last week, finally admitted to an affair.

I Question the Timing of Mar Roxas-Korina Sanchez Wedding!

2009-06-23T19:46:00.004+08:00

It's political!

Just kidding!

But I don't think there has ever been a presidential candidate na hindi married (and Cory is a widow of slain opposition leader Ninoy Aquino).

Anyway, napanood ko yung interview ni Kris Aquino kay Mar at Korina a few days ago. Tinanong ni Kris si Korina kung may prenup sila. Before Korina got to answer, sumingit si Mar at sabi nya: "What is hers is hers, and what is mine is hers."

Natawa si Korina and she shot back: "O sige nga, isulat mo yan sa papel."

Then Korina answered the question saying na dapat raw may prenup para hindi magulo, kasi may kanya kanyang na silang assets.

Mar Roxas in serious talks with Ping?

2009-06-23T19:26:00.002+08:00

to join his campaign raw, according to Ernie Maceda.

Roy Choingbian

2009-06-23T18:39:00.003+08:00

brother of "graduating" Rep. Erwin Chiongbian, will be Manny Pacquiao's opponent in his run for congressman of Sarangani.

Tribune: Chiz-Jinggoy tandem shaping up in NPC’s 2010 plans

2009-06-23T12:47:00.002+08:00

WTF:

The prospect of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada seeking the post of vice president in next year’s elections yesterday appeared on the political horizon following reports that the camp of Sen. Francis Escudero, a presidential hopeful, is already in the thick of negotiations tapping Estrada as his running mate under the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) ticket.
“So far, the negotiation is going smoothly. They just have to iron out a few kinks,” said a lawmaker who requested the media not to identify him but to just describe him as a solon from the Visayas who has been openly supporting Escudero’s presidential bid.

Armida smacks the CBCP hard

2009-06-19T10:41:00.004+08:00

First paragraph from Armida Siguion Reyna's latest:

Two outings ago, I narrated in this same space how the June 10 rally went at the corner of Ayala Avenue and Paseo de Roxas in Makati City: “Makati Mayor Jojo Binay had all the right to at least welcome the public to his city, but he gave up his slot when the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ admonished politicians to stay to the sidelines; an admonition, I must say in an aside, the CBCP has no right to issue, considering a good number of them either waltz with the Squatter in Malacañang or just safely sit on the fence like the three monkeys who see, say, and hear no evil.”

Read the whole thing.

Philippine Commentary now a Group Blog

2009-06-17T18:37:00.002+08:00

i know it's been that way for a few days na.

but i think it's great because i don't have to monitor all the blogs i used to read. nandiyan na sila lahat (MB, Schumey) sa blog ni manong DJB.

No Surprise Here

2009-06-16T15:05:00.001+08:00

UN Report: State use of torture under Arroyo government "routine"

Obama's Defining Moment

2009-06-16T10:55:00.009+08:00

The lame statements the Obama admin gave re Iran is very discouraging. It is very similar to their initial reaction when Russia invaded Georgia last year.

Barack Obama thinks the Mullahs of iran and ahmadinejad can be negotiated with with regards to their nuclear ambitions ("talk without preconditions") and is afraid that any statement that can be seen as supporting the people's uprising in iran might anger the clerics. To think that anything substantial will come out of talks with ahmadinejad about halting their quest for Nukes or stopping their support for terror groups like Hezbollah and Hamas vs Israel is naive.

Instead of suggesting that he "wear a green tie" the next time around, why doesn't he grow a pair?

And don't think for a sec that the Iranian people will not remember this.

Michael Totten: "it’s frankly inconceivable that anti-Americans among the Iranian opposition will be angry at President Obama if he takes their side. It should and likely will anger them if he refuses and tacitly recognizes the legitimacy of the hated dictatorship they wish to replace."

Kidlat Tahimik's "Perfumed Nightmare"

2009-06-16T10:25:00.002+08:00

wow, great masterpiece! weird funny wacky. Now i know who Werhner Von Braun is!

"Where is my their vote?"

2009-06-16T09:06:00.002+08:00

I got this from Andrew Sullivan.

Oishi.com.ph website infected with JS.Kryptik virus

2009-06-15T19:21:00.001+08:00

don't visit the site. arrgh!

Iran on Fire

2009-06-14T13:49:00.003+08:00

massive demonstrations and clashes after the questionable results of the Iranian elections.

this could either turn into Tiananmen or Edsa 86.

Up to the minute updates from HuffPo.

Maybe it's time for Letterman to call it quits?

2009-06-13T12:59:00.002+08:00

just asking.

I used to be a big fan of his.