UPDATE

It has been sometime since my last update. This is not really due to lack of anything to write about, but just simply me being lazy. There have been some materials I wanted to try working on, but couldn't find a time for them. Well, maybe it is not about being lazy, but simply not having the time. Hope this blog doesn't suffer the same fate as my other blogs.

COME BACK HOME

Sometime last year I have posted about homeless people here in the metropolis, and I was entertaining the thought that maybe they have come from the provinces to seek the so called "greener pasture" here and failed. It breaks my heart, especially if they have children with them, when I see them and it's raining hard. With the countless letters and emails I have sent to seek help for them, none of the correspondents have bothered to even acknowledge receipt. I myself don't have much to help them.

 

Today, as I checked the online issue of my favorite daily, I was delighted to see an article (see here) about a province in the south offering a back-to-province scheme. Eastern Samar provincial government have come up with the program recognizing the need for this after so many people were devastated by the flooding in the capital region. The program not only includes bringing them home for free, but likewise training for livelihood, counseling, and even a reasonable enough sum to jumpstart their lives. This province's government should be lauded for this program, and other provinces should follow this same scheme.

 

Metropolitan Manila is populated by some 12 million people crowding in places close to where their livelihood is. The recent floods have been partly blamed to overpopulation and to the fact that dwellings have encroached the areas considered as natural drainage systems. These waterways are in the form of creeks and a few rivers that serve as a drainage system for floods during monsoon season. Having people close to this have turned these waterways into dumping area for their wastes, which causes clogging and siltation-- a major cause for waters breaking their banks or dikes during rainy season.

 

Flocking to capital cities is understandable, especially in a third world country like the Philippines. The biggest chunk of job opportunities are available mostly to these areas that are considered as hubs. For whatever reason not everyone succeeds in the city. While some simply just try to hold on to the promise of the "greener pasture" and find other ways for living, others have lost hope altogether and are left without the capacity to return home to their provinces. It is not only the cost of the travel that makes it so hard for repatriation, but also the fact of starting all over again in a place where most likely there is lesser opportunity for them.

 

The program created by Eastern Samar, although seemingly simple, can be a bit complicated and costly. Beforehand, things to be considered for this to be a success are identification of suitable livelihood trainings to be given, studies on sustainability of these in the long run, and selection of qualified people to conduct these trainings. These areas have to be addressed first, otherwise such a program can fail and may only end up with the beneficiaries returning back to the capital region. I joked a colleague of mine from Eastern Samar that politicians in their province are just doing this to take in potential voters in the elections next year. But this is a really noble program deserving all accolades.

 

MANILA FLOODING

 

Yesterday saw Metro Manila's (well, nearby provinces as well) worst flooding in decades. I was comfortable at work while watching this happen outside. The sky seemed like it was night time already. My wife sent me a message early on asking me if I can go home earlier as the house have been flooded as well about ankle-deep. I was approved for early endshift (nevermind the term, it's common in the call center industry), so I can go home and help my wife at home. As I went out of the building two hours early of my usual endshift, my wife again texted me that everything was fine and that the flood have subsided.

 

Back at the office, I was monitoring the situation through the internet and have come to know that some parts of the highway I go through to and from work are flooded. This is the same with any alternate route I could think of, so I figured I may as well try the old route, which is EDSA by bus. I also though it may be better if I ride the MRT instead, but still my preference is by bus.

 

MRT terminal was quite full and the queues for tickets were snakeing throughout the vast station. When I went down to the north bound bus stop, a thick crowd have also gathered waiting for the sparse buses coming by. The first two buses were quite full but people tried to board anyway and about ten or so were able to get in. The next bus that came in was an airconditioned one, and I squeezed my way in. The next stop, some people boarded off the bus and I was able to get a window seat.

 

Everything's well, except for the traffic. Floodings and stalled vehicles along the highway made the traffic so slow moving that the usual 30 minutes to an hour ride took more than six hours this time. That was an experience of a lifetime. I stayed awake the whole time to try and snap some pictures I can post on this blog, but there hardly were anything worth a space on my memory card.

 

picture from bbc.co.uk

OPERA MINI 5 BETA

Yesterday I got to test drive the new Opera Mini 5 on my phone, and I was all praises for it. The touchscreen support was wonderful as well as the new tabbed browsing. There are several improvements over the current version- 4.2, but the most noticeable of course is the looks. Everything is animated that I was almost ready to believe it was not a java app but instead a flash lite. Some degree of transparency is also available to dialog and pop up windows. Personally, I don't like scrolling on touchscreen, I'd much rather prefer to have a hardware directional pads, or an optical directional gadget. But I guess we all are moving into touchscreen era now. The beta was fine with scrolling, not unlike the in-built browser on my test phone-- and LG Viewty. A simple touch was added with the sort of elasticity with scrolling, very much like on iPhone, although it's more kind of a cosmetic addition for me because it does slow down the scrolling a bit. You have to endure this "elastic" scrolling all throughout as it also is present on internal items, like going through the options on the settings. Probably the best improvement for me was the tabbed browsing support. Well, I also use a modded version of Opera Mini, and these for the longest time have had tabbed browsing. The one on the beta version though is quite different by being classy. Touchscreen support is ever present, so intead of just having tabs with names of the pages on it, you get to have block with a thumbnail of the page. This really is a great addition for me as I think visual representations are better than just text descriptions. The tab selector is hidden and comes up only when you touch the tabs icon. The navigation bar that holds the back, forward, refresh, tabs, and settings button can be hidden and can be recalled by pressing a floating transparent icon. I'm not sure if it's a bug or just on my phone, but inline editing seemed to fail sometimes, it only allows me to do offline editing the first time and then refuses to work the next time. Inline editing is done with a pop up QWERTY keyboard, but the vertical orientation provides little space for the keys that it is hard to type texts in. Of course there is a support for landscape, which should give the keys more space, but then this seem to be another bug as the app I got had problems rendering not just the pages but the entire browser on landscape. One thing more that I hope they will add on to the final version, or next beta versions, is the download manager. There already was a download manager on the previous version, but it seems to be missing on the Opera Mini 5 beta. It's never good to take off one other functions to accomodate another. Of course this is just a beta, and for sure the final version will have all these bugs straightened out. I'm positive the final version will come in the next few months, as this beta version was supposed to have been rolled out last year according to some sources.

WILL NOYNOY SUCCEED?

One time or another, I have shared on this blog that I am largely apolitical. I would rather just be reading showbiz gossip than politics news.

 

The recent clamor for Noynoy Aquino, only son of Cory and Ninoy Aquino- the couple considered to be the mother and father of democracy in the Philippines, to take a shot at presidency is very much misguided. I almost can visualize the administration people laughing their asses off as this unfolds, because for sure this breaks up the opposition furthermore. I was even suspecting the administration have hands on this as they know Noynoy has never been actively in public eye and therefore have a very slim chance of pulling this off.

 

It is a fact that Noynoy has never been in the public eye simply because he did not submit any significant laws nor headed any important committee in the senate. These whole time he has been a senator he stayed out of public eye, I'm not sure whether by choice or not, and only was recently popular because of the death of his mother. The fact is, Noynoy could not have attained so much attention recently have it not been for his actress sister Kris, who frequently mentioned him on coverages for their mother's wake and funeral and thereafter.

 

It's a waste. He could have done better than just jump into this circus. His parents' popularity is not his own, and he should be making one for himself by showing achievements.

FLOW OF LIFE

Recently, I was in a chatroom for our island province and the topic as I came in was about the environment. One of the chatters was reporting about the current state of one of the most popular rivers in our island home- Santo Domingo river. He informed us that the river is now polluted, with trash being found not only on the banks but also in the waters.

 

Santo Domingo river is a popular dipping hole for most people in Virac, and even nearby towns, as it is only about ten to fifteen minutes away from downtown. Except during severe dry spells when there is less water flowing and moss gathers on some part, the river is mostly clean and its water is cool. This still was the case when we left Virac some three years ago, and surely it was a surprise to know this has changed in so short a time.

 

Every Viracnon have had a dip in this river at least one time or another, that is how popular this river is. Washing clothes is also done there and usually because clothes come up smelling great when washed in its waters. The river has a lot to offer as it has various parts from rapids to deep and calm water, close to the national highway or far into the forested area, and rocks islets to waterfalls (this i couldn't confirm as i have not seen it myself, but there has been accounts of waterfalls along the river). There even is an underwater cave where some of the waters source from.

 

It is heartbreaking to learn about this. I myself have fond memories of bathing there with friends and families countless of times. From the info I got, it seemed it only will be a matter of few years before the river becomes unfit for bathing. My fear is that I only will be able to tell my children stories about this river in the future. Pretty much similar to what my father have done to me when I was younger, with his stories about the former glory of the now extremely polluted Gogon river in downtown Virac.

PLANET PHILIPPINES ON GMA TV

I was looking forward on watching this special by matinee idol Richard Gutierez, mainly because of the dazzling previews of visual aired by the network a few weeks before. Finally, it was shown last night; and unfortunately, I have to catch some sleep as I have to go to work early in the morning. I was able to catch though the first parts and as with the previews, the visuals were all of high quality imagery and cinematography. It was amazing. They were superior even compared with national Geographic or Discovery Channel specials. The nature was depicted at its most beautiful. GMA News and Public Affairs deserves all praises for this work. Richard was good enough as a host, compared to his first special about global warming, but still he needs further refinements. I hope I can download the complete video somewhere.

 

EAT AND DRINK BY NEW YORK POST

 

First of all, I am largely apolitical. I just am quite ticked at the Filipino activists who are against every single administration that came to pass in the Philippine political scene.

 

This has reference to the current controversy about the government entourage for the president's US trip, involving the infamous million peso dinner(s). This was reported by US newspapers first and have been voraciously devoured by the activists and opposition politicians, and later by the local media.

 

First, look at how those reports were written on those US papers-- it basically is a descrimination towards not only our government but us Filipinos as a whole. They simply are saying Filipinos are second rate and do not deserve fine dining.

EX-PRESIDENTS

Isn't it irritating that ex-presidents act as if they still are in power and give their opinions as if the citizens have to bow commitment to it? They had their chance. Why couldn't just be part of the history and live their private lives?

BIG BOX BOUTIQUE; Star Mall Mandaluyong

Kinky, ain't it? Yes, but they are pretty comfortable and a joy to wear. Almost a year ago, me and my wife discovered this small kiosk in Star Mall selling hand-made underwear. I was hesitant at first as I was thinking no self-respecting man could wear them; but my wife was insistent on buying some. I was suprised to find them quite comfortable and well-made. Since then I always bought my briefs from that store. Look it up on Star Mall's third floor- Big Box Boutique.