25 January 2011

Patronizing foreign concerts

Taylor Swift or Kuh Ledesma?

The answer would depend on how old the prospective viewers are. In the Philippines, almost 60% are aged 15-64. If all of them would be willing to spend P12,680 for a one-time event is beside the point Pilipina Ako is going to make.

The fact is not few would prefer an American pop singer from a Filipino pop and jazz celebrity. And it isn’t about age. If it is, The Cascades wouldn’t have come back after singing in the country four years ago.

Kasi ang nangyayari ang hirap talaga,” Vice President Gary Valenciano for internal affairs of the Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-Aawit (OPM) said. “Unang-una ang sponsors mo they would rather support kung ano ang bihirang makita ng tao. But that's okay for as long as ‘yong hindi tipong one after the other [ang show]."

"May ibang nagsasabi, ‘Bakit kayo pumupunta sa States?' Ang laki-laki naman ng United States. At kahit mag-concert tour ka sa States you will not probably encounter any problem unless mayroon kang kasabay na Pinoy artist na ganoon din ang route.”

Last year, the Philippine music scene was serenaded by the Jung Ji-Hoon (Rain), Jay Sean, Kelly Rowland, John Mayer, Jack Jones, David Foster, and Adam Lambert.

Online buddy Apang dissents regulating how often foreign acts can come over. “This only goes to show how incompetent nowadays our local artists and singers are. No matter how many foreign acts come here, if local artists and singers are like the same as back in the day, people will also watch them.”

”Sadly, the present OPM is just a shadow of what it once was. Gary V doesn’t sing and compose songs anymore like he used to; Martin Nievera does only revivals lately; and we don’t have the likes of NeoColors, ballads of Kuh Ledesma, Zsazsa Padilla, Joey Albert, Jam Morales and bands like the Minstrels and Apo Hiking. Even our underground music was way better than before. No more Eraserheads. Only Wolfgang is saving the day.”

But user ? agrees obliging foreign artists to pay taxes. “Let’s curb colonial mentality by promoting our own. We’re such American slaves that we idolize people without talent just because of the color of their skin. Regulation is an intelligent choice, unless brainless lawmakers choose to hold the reigns on this issue.”

Freedom ends when another's freedom begin. Much as international artists are welcome to perform in the country, native artists have the right to suggest fees from them. Much as every Filipino are free to choose and idolize, an unwritten rule that would uplift local artists’ morale should be implemented.

References

10 January 2011

Frost Tourism: Good and Bad News

Since the climate in Baguio City will get colder till February, municipal agriculturist Fred Rufino of the Department of Agriculture (DA) had came up with another income-generating scheme: frost tourism.

The temperature in the country ranges from 25.5oC to 28.3oC. But being elevated 1,500 meters from the metro, Baguio’s mean annual temperature is 18.3oC. The average vegetable farmer in Atok earns only P20,000 every harvest.

The ‘frost injury’ could make money. Aside from making the semi-temperate vegetables tastier, the yearly phenomenon could also attract local and international tourists to the area.

The plan is self-defeating, though. Instead of doing our part to combat climate change, we envisaged to profit from an environmental collision. Is that how the Department of Tourism (DOT) ought to develop regional economy and develop national tourism?

"The Central Philippines will be a significant destination that offers direct international access, seamless interconnectivity, world-class tourist facilities and products that meet the demands of tomorrow’s tourist. The Central Philippines will achieve these through the sustainable development of tourism products, environmental protection and enhancement, underpinned by adequate infrastructure with rational management of the destinations, capacity building, investment promotion, effective marketing and an improved business environment."
- 2006 State of the Nation Address

References

07 January 2011

How Filipinas regard babies

There are Filipinas who do not regard a baby as a gift from God anymore. Pending in Congress is the RH Bill 5043 or the Reproductive Health and Population Development Act. It claims to just inform Filipino couples on family planning, assure ‘enabling environment’, and sustain human development, among others.

For Dr. Dante A. Ang though, ‘the bill, in effect, tells our Creator, “wait for our signal before you send us your gift. We are still busy enjoying sex.”

“The heart of the issue is faith or the lack of it. For me, when our politicians begin legislating birth control it is like admitting that they are unable, even helpless, to solve our social problems.”

“To set the record straight, I accept that overpopulation is anathema to progress and brings unimaginable hardships to the poor. Many of them are driven to crime by poverty not by choice but by force. Studies abound on the causal effects of uncontrolled population growth on development and prosperity. That is not debatable. What is debatable is the mode of moderating runaway population.”

“What I do not subscribe to is the legislative’s proposal to control population growth through RH Bill 5043. It is what I call, the path of least resistance. It does not teach our country’s poor the virtue of accountability and responsibility. With the controversial bill, we are, in effect encouraging parents to “be merry and gay” and not be responsible for the outcome of their sex life.”

“When it comes to matters of life and the sanctity of marriages, the Church is well within its God-given rights to intervene and assert moral authority. Come to think of it, it is the other way around. It is us, humans—the proponents and supporters of RH Bill 5043, who are “meddling” in the affairs of life, death and creation.”

”Promoters and supporters have argued the bill does not interfere with life. They question the timing, when life actually begins. They say that responsible parenthood is actually preventing the cells from becoming a human being.”

“That’s exactly my point. Why prevent the cells from becoming a fully developed human being. If there is universal agreement that life is a “gift from Heaven” shouldn’t the couple be thankful that they are being blessed with an offspring? And if the couple welcomes the “gift” why delay or even refuse to accept the “blessing?” Why are our leaders promoting legislation to prevent the “gift” from being delivered to and received by the parents?”

Last year, an overseas worker from Qatar abandoned the baby she just conceived in a Gulf Air plane. She concealed her pregnancy with an abdominal binder then dumped the newborn in a trash bin in the plane’s comfort room.

Three months after that incident, a 23-year-old OFW from Cebu denied giving birth inside a restroom in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1. Fortunately, the Department of Social Welfare and Development Reception and Study Center in Quezon City took custody of the baby.

Lately, another fetus was left behind in the Etihad Aiways flight EY 428. It was wrapped with napkin and brought to Veronica Funeral Homes in Pasay City.

There is no doubt right now that more and more Filipinas does not consider the sanctity of life anymore. But is abortion the appropriate recourse for Filipinas who are sexually abused? What about those who are copulating just for the fun of it? According to government statistics, the annual growth rate in the country to date is over 2.1%. And about 42% Filipinas of reproductive age suffer from anemia.

For the Philippine Association for Childbirth Education (PACE), it is not. The organization even collaborated with the most extensive ‘mommy’ portal in the country as well as with GlaxoSmithKline to write the first pregnancy guidebook. Infanticipating: Your Ultimate Guide to Motherhood discusses the importance of pre-pregnancy and post-partum vaccination as well as the important role of husbands. Japan has also put up a P3-million birthing facility in Tanauan, Leyte to protect pregnant women in that municipality to settle on home deliveries instead.

Pilipina Ako could only guess why a neighboring country with already an industrialized economy spend for such. If even the Japs could support the Philippines’ population growth, why is the country confused in respecting life?

References

05 January 2011

How the PNP trains

Funny, those who swore to protect us were the ones harming us.

It was the night before 2011 when a woman was raped and robbed. She was just taking a stroll with her husband when a Manila Police District (MPD) desk duty officer charged them with vagrancy.

Three days after, Indian national Manjinder James Kumar was kidnapped. According to him, the policemen ‘snatched’ his two companions, Andy Ngie and Ferdinand Ret, and shot a police from Pasay, Senior Inspector Renato Apolinario. According to the Quezon City anti-narcotics task force, it was all an operation.

The next day, PO1 Armand Canilang killed someone and injured two others in a shooting spree in Marilao, Bulacan.

About 730 police officers face summary dismissal from the service. The Philippine National Police is looking into 1,171 of these cases while the National Police Commission (Napolcom) is handling 461 cases.

Most offenses are about grave misconduct, neglect of duty, irregularity in service and abuse of authority.

Director General Raul Bacalzo of the Philippine National Police (PNP) maintains, though, that the other 135,000 policemen are doing their job well. Cases involving men in uniform also decreased when PNoy had stepped in.

The PNP will also continue to observe the Eight Foundation Initiatives on Training in the Basics, Procurement Review, Enhancement of Equipage, Police-Community Partnership, Doctrine Development, Reward and Punishment, Human Rights and Mentoring Leadership.

Paid service

This year, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo asked for P86.9-billion for his department.

About P69.4 billion of it will be allotted for the police’s annual budget; P7.2 billion for the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP); P5.1 billion for the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP); P2.5 billion for the Office of the Secretary; P1.3 billion for the Napolcom; P1 billion for the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC); and P105.1 million for the Local Government Academy (LGA).

He would recruit another 3,000 police officers, and procure 15,000 short firearms, 350 patrol jeeps, 365 motorcycles, and 1,844 communication equipment. After all, the Aquino administration vowed for transparency, accountability, good governance, peace and order and public safety.

“Our proposed budget comes with an assurance and commitment that it shall be judiciously spent to realize our various plans, programs, projects and activities for both the interior and local government sectors, the impact of which shall be felt by and bear fruit for the citizenry,” Robredo said.

Except for doctors, engineers and holders of technical positions in the PNP, its officers graduated from Silang, Cavite. There, the aspirants undergo a 4-year cadetship program, living in a barrack they had in Day 1.

Cadets are required to study 221 academic units to graduate—more than what the Commission for Higher Education (CHED) calls for to grant a bachelor’s degree. They must finished 24 units in Math and Science, 21 units in Law, 27 units in Languages and Arts, 12 units in Forensic Science, 42 units in Humanities and Social Science, and 66 units in Public Safety Services.

Also, cadets would be graded on their conduct, aptitude for service, organizational leadership, physical education, drills and ceremonies, and marksmanship and police tactics. They would also have to undergo Police Basic Recruit Course and Field Training Program a year before their deployment.

Unfortunately, these aren’t enough for teaching good manners to the new recruits, as far as Guillermo Domondon, chief of the PNP Retirees Association, is concerned. About 20 rookie policemen were dismissed last year.

“When the police violate [these] human rights, instead of guaranteeing them, they become no better than the worst criminal elements. They become part of the problem, a veritable cancer gnawing at the sinews of our democracy,” Human Rights Commissioner Loretta Ann Rosales, said in a statement.

References

03 January 2011

Global disasters

As the world welcomes another year, a deluge happened in Australia, affecting 200,00 citizens in the country’s northeastern region.

The flood also wrought havoc to its agricultural and mining industry, impinging on the small businesses and tourism in Australia as well. Even the treatment plant was swamped so some residents experience ‘critical drinking water shortage’.

Disasters such as this have been happening since the 1800s. The strongest cyclone to date, Tip, grounded some eight ships in 1979 and killed 44 fishermen. Even a lake in a remote area in Cameroon caused the death of about 1,800 people and stripped everything around it.

The most powerful earthquake ever recorded is the Chile Earthquake. It struck the country in 1960, killing 6,000 people. If it had not been for the country’s preparedness and the remote location of the epicenter, many more would have died.

The Philippines also crafted an emergency plan of its own last year. Republic Act 10121 aimed to ‘uphold the people's constitutional rights to life and property’, ‘adhere to and adopt the universal norms, principles, and standards of humanitarian assistance’, and ‘incorporate internationally accepted principles of disaster risk management’, among others.

Had that been enough to shield five people who have died because of the Typhoon Megi last year? The law was signed about five months before the tropical storm struck.

The Philippines is naturally fragile, said James Reynolds, a storm chaser in Luzon. Typhoon Megi, which was renamed Typhoon Juan as it entered the Philippine shores, was also the strongest the country had last year, as far as Catherine Martin, manager of disaster management services at the Philippine National Red Cross, is concerned.

Some 20 governors campaigned to ‘make cities resilient’ too. Under the theme “Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation in the Philippines”, participants committed their own levels to invest more in disaster risk reduction as well as protect ecosystems.

“We cannot stop cities [from] growing but we can start planning them in a more sustainable way,” said Margareta Wahlström, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction. “It does not require huge amounts of new resources, but different ways of using existing resources.”

Representing the Philippines, Albay joined the UNISDR World Disaster Reduction Campaign along with Mexico City (Mexico), Durban (South Africa), Bogota (Colombia), Port-au-Prince (Haiti), Amman, (Jordan), Albay (the Philippines), Cairns (Australia), Chennai City (India), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Kathmandu (Nepal) and Saint Louis (Senegal).

References

REFERENCE LIST

25 Jan 2011
Patronizing foreign concerts
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/01/03/11/kuh-ledesma-wants-foreign-acts-regulated
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/entertainment/01/05/11/lani-misalucha-avoids-concert-clash-foreign-artists
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/01/07/11/ogie-alcasid-wants-higher-tax-rates-foreign-acts
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/entertainment/10/06/10/gary-v-alarmed-rising-foreign-acts-country
http://www.abs-cbn.com/Celebrity/Article/9193/ASAP-Sessionistas-speak-up-on-Filipino-musicians-competing-against-foreign-acts.aspx
http://freemoviesandtvshowslive.com/8245/should-ph-regulate-foreign-artists-concerts-4/
http://www.historycentral.com/nationbynation/Philippines/Population.html
http://taylorswiftph.com/sticky-post-taylor-swift-live-in-manila-faqs
http://freemoviesandtvshowslive.com/8245/should-ph-regulate-foreign-artists-concerts-4/
http://www.opm.org.ph/about.html

10 Jan 2011
Frost tourism: Good and Bad News
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/01/11/11/brrrr-mt-pulag-temps-drop-2-3-degrees-celsius
http://kidlat.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/cab/statfram.htm
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/baguio/local-news/frost-good-agriculture-tourism-official
http://www.baguiocity.com/news_article/frost-has-positive-effects-too
http://www.tourism.gov.ph/SitePages/tourismpolicy.aspx
http://thehappinessshow.com/HappiestCountries.htm

07 Jan 2011
How Filipinas regard babies
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/talkofthetown/view/20080803-152296/Reproductive-health-bill-Facts-fallacies
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/11/23/10/pinay-gives-birth-inside-manila-airport
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/01/04/11/dead-fetus-found-etihad-airways-flight
http://www.gmanews.tv/story/201232/ofw-admits-giving-birth-to-gulf-air-baby
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http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/lifestyle/27776-preventive-healthcare-starts-the-moment-parents-plan-to-have-a-baby
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/opinion/28032-babies-are-gifts-from-heaven
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http://aviation-safety.net/database/airport/airport.php?id=MNL
http://125.60.203.88/miaa/AIRPORT/index.asp

05 Jan 2011
How the PNP trains
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/opinion/37270-president-aquinos-investments-data
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/01/04/11/cop-nabbed-after-shooting-spree-bulacanhttp://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/01/05/11/crimes-cops-batter-pnp-image
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http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/01/04/11/730-cops-face-summary-dismissal
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04 Jan 2010
Global disasters
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/world/36769-australia-floods-worsen-claim-first-victim
http://listverse.com/2010/03/15/top-10-most-terrifying-natural-disasters-in-history/
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http://www.unisdr.org/english/campaigns/campaign2010-2011/news/v.php?tag=2010-11campaign&id=16285