GMA's fate

  The President of the Philippines for nine (9) straight years (January 26, 2001 - June 30, 2010) is no other than Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.  A small woman, seems to have a frail body but with a mind of a tiger, who was able to evade the term limit of the Constitution of 6-year presidency and still managed to extend her term 3 years more.  

   Was she efficient, that people allowed her to prolong her term?  Her victory in the election in 2004 was not very acceptable.  Her rival then, the king of Philippine movies, Fernando Poe Jr. couldn't possibly believe she won and may have caused his untimely death just few months after election.  Not only that, so many allegations of corruption, deceit and misbehavior while in office characterized her presidency.

   But it's not always feast day for her.  Last year she finished her term as president but sought another mandate as a lawmaker in her hometown, Pampanga and won again.  But the stars are not as favorable as before.  Complaints about corruption started to chase her and numerous witnesses started to speak about her ill-doings especially in 2004 and 2007 mid-term election of her allies in Congress.  With the onset of these allegations is the deterioration of her health.  (Although some observers believe it's another political ploy to appeal for public pity and to tarnish the image of the present administration.)  

   Two nights ago, the Supreme Court issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) allowing her to leave the country to seek medical help abroad for her malfunctioning parathyroid gland.  Immediately she rushed to the airport to fly to Singapore but was not allowed by airport officials because the Department of Justice Secretary, Miss Leila De Lima, prevented her from doing so.  Right now, she's back to her confinement at St. Luke's hospital appealing for mercy to everyone concerned to allow her to leave the country.

   What can we learn from this experience by our former president?  Simple as it should be, it's even discussed in values formation for children. 

• Power is not permanent, do not abuse or overuse because it may bounce back to you
• The golden rule:  Do not do to others what you do not want others do to you. (Was she as cruel to former Pres. Estrada before?)
• Stop lying.  People are so used to her lies before and cannot distinguish now if she is lying or not.
• The law of karma.  Do good, good will come back.  Do bad, maybe worse will come back to you.

   It's now your choice how to live your life now, God bless!

PACMAN's Victory

The third match between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez was as fiery and grueling as ever but Manny's victory is not as convincing as his previous victory. Many sports analysts are quite divided in their opinions on who really deserves to win. 

         The chorus of boos at the end when Pacquaio saluted the crowd as victor said it all.  

     In the pantheon of disgraceful decisions in the history of boxing this one will go down 

     as one of the most notorious.

Here's one comment:

The controversy over his victory is real.  As Filipinos, we love Manny because of his love for the nation but still his credibility and competence may be tarnished by this event.  Even the so-called CompuBox may not be considered official tally.

Another missing in action is the usual appearance of Mommy Dionisia Pacquiao right after the fight.  She is not available for comment this time because she was sick due to stress.  Does this mean she is not also convinced of her son's victory?

Another opinion is that it may be Manny's strategy to attract Floyd Mayweather to fight him.  But I guess the obvious reason for Manny's not so acceptable performance is the fact that he lacks focus.  Aside from boxing, he is a Congressman, a aspiring presidential candidate and a family man.  With these responsibilities, it's not easy to focus in just one area.

The best conclusion I agree is from sports analyst Atty. Ed Tolentino.  He said to Manny: "Face Mayweather, reduce him to feathers, and thereafter he can do whatever."

Here's the tally sheet of the judges.  It's best to watch the fight round by round and compare the judges' count.

Why Sec. Mar Roxas is in DOTC?

From the DOTC website:  

        Why the DOTC is the biggest among the executive departments?

               The Department covers road, rail, air, water and communications sectors. To carry out its mandate, the 

         Department has fifteen (15) attached agencies / corporations and three (3) line / sectoral offices.

         DOTC coverage

It actually involves Civil Aviation, Road Transport, Railways and Maritime Transport.  Basically, it includes the whole Philippine territory.  But why?  He's not even an engineer.  He actually finished Economics in University of Pennsylvania.

As we all know, it's payback time for Mar Roxas's sacrifice last 2010 elections, who eventually lost to VP Jejomar Binay.  With his vast power and influence in DOTC, he might win the voters sympathy in 2016.  In fairness, being a dedicated public servant, Mar Roxas can easily win back voters' confidence.

But in the next presidential race, the track is not for him alone.  We know how eager VP Binay to win the post.  Also emerging is Sen. Bong Revilla who wants to stay unblemished amidst his family's controversy.  Out of that controversy, another name is emerging: Ramon Magsaysay Jr.

In closing, everybody wants to have a better Philippines.  The finish line is still far and so many stalwarts are actually making trends.  It's up to the people to make their choice.

Beauty Pageant Trend

      September 12, 2011 in Sao Paulo, Brazil when Miss Universe 2011 was held.  Winner was Miss Angola, but what was noteworthy is the Philippine bet Miss Shamcey Supsup who was proclaimed 3rd runner-up.

Just yesterday Miss International 2011 and Miss World 2011 was held almost simultaneously in Chengdu, China and London, UK, respectively.  Miss Philippine bet Dianne Necio was People's Choice Awardee and one of the top 15 in Miss International, while Gwendoline Ruais emerged as the 1st runner-up in Miss World.  Here's the final Q &A and be the judge:

          

   We only wait for one major pageant, the Miss Earth 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand on December 3.  Will Miss Philippines finally win the most coveted title, crown and honors?  Here's a peek on the top 10 Asian candidates, Miss Philippines is number 2.

My Background

I finished Computer Engineering twenty years ago.  Immediately I entered the academe as Instructor and stayed there since then.  While working, I pursued graduate studies in Computer Science and information Technology, therefore my life is almost always governed by bits and nibbles and bytes.  


But joking aside, I find IT to be an endless quest of knowledge and many more advanced gadgets will soon invade our homes and offices.  With this realization, I pursue another field: Management.  Though it seems to be not aligned with IT on the first thought, but dissecting closely it is even higher than my field.  


Why?  Because Management always deal with CHOICES and TRENDS.  Every gadget that emerges in the market will always have a counterpart, competing in functionality, portability and even affordability.  And there will be forecast of what's going to be next or what new functions will be added to the next versions, etc.  That scenario is what we call trending and if we find a product to suit our needs now and in years to come, we make a choice to buy.  These two terms are not mutually exclusive, in fact they are used by higher management in resource allocation.  


So from here on, I will express my honest opinion, in which I think is not authoritative but just an expression of a not so knowledgeable being in the planet, exposing both sides of the coin, so to speak, to make an intelligent choice that might be the trend in the next weeks, months or even years.  Thanks so much and keep on reading on..