It's a battle between President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who won as representative of Pampanga under the Lakas-Kampi-CMD party and Liberal Party (LP) Quezon City Mayor Feliciano "Sonny" Belmonte, who won as representative of Quezon City, for the Speakership in the House of Representative for the 15th Congress.
Lakas-Kampi-CMD political adviser Prospero "Butch" Pichay, in a radio interview, said that majority of members want President Arroyo to run as House Speaker.
"We have also the process to field only one candidate for the Speakership. As of now, we still have the number to win the Speaker. Everybody is clamoring that President Arroyo should run as Speaker of the House," he said.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte earlier said that in the fight for Speakership, a candidate should get at least 170 votes to have stability on the leadership of the House of Representatives.
"Dalawa ang lumalabas na pangalan -- si Sonny Belmonte at Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and I think they are beginning to gather potential supporters," he said.
Quezon Rep. Erin Tanada said the LP has only Sonny Belmonte to run for Speakership of the Lower House.
"Rep. Belmonte has the advantage for having been a former Speaker of the House," he said.
As of now, Tanada said the LP has 40-50 congressmen. "We have to have alliance with other parties to win the Speakership."
For his part, Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales Jr. said that a Speaker always has the blessing of the President-elect.
"Si Sonny Belmonte ang napipintong makakatuwang ni Noynoy (who is leading in this year's presidential race) to take care of the legislative agenda of this incoming President so I'm pretty sure na eventually Belmonte will be the next Speaker," he said.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Political Parties Don't Complaing of Cheating
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) here has not received even a single complaint of poll cheating during the conduct of the May 10 polls.
However, the Comelec is investigating the use of transparencies even if they have yet to receive a formal complaint.
The massive use of transparencies was observed to be massive in Makato town.
The transparencies, which are of the same size as ballots, reportedly were used by voters as guides despite impressions that they were used as a form of vote buying.
The voter could just attach the transparencies to the ballot and manually shade the oval nearer the name of the candidate that they have voted for. The shaded portion will also be reflected in the transparencies.
"As to its legality I have to ask the opinion of the regional attorney.
"It might still be considered a case to case basis where the used of transparencies if used by an illiterate possibly legal as an aid," Comelec provincial supervisor, Atty. Ian Lee Ananoria Ananoria said.
Transparencies were allegedly distributed by a local political party here to their supporters.
However, the Comelec is investigating the use of transparencies even if they have yet to receive a formal complaint.
The massive use of transparencies was observed to be massive in Makato town.
The transparencies, which are of the same size as ballots, reportedly were used by voters as guides despite impressions that they were used as a form of vote buying.
The voter could just attach the transparencies to the ballot and manually shade the oval nearer the name of the candidate that they have voted for. The shaded portion will also be reflected in the transparencies.
"As to its legality I have to ask the opinion of the regional attorney.
"It might still be considered a case to case basis where the used of transparencies if used by an illiterate possibly legal as an aid," Comelec provincial supervisor, Atty. Ian Lee Ananoria Ananoria said.
Transparencies were allegedly distributed by a local political party here to their supporters.
Congressman Manny Pacquiao
World boxing champion Manny Pacquiao officially won the "biggest fight of his life" Thursday night, adding an eighth title that won't be at stake until the next mandatory fight after three years.
Sarangani's Provincial Board of Canvassers (BOC) formally accorded Pacquiao the title congressman-elect at past 11:40 p.m. here Thursday after scoring a "landslide" win last May 10 in the highly-anticipated fight for the province's lone congressional seat.
Based on the final and official tally released by the BOC, the boxing champion garnered a record 120,052 votes to finish off the congressional hopes of his lone rival, businessman Roy Chiongbian, who only mustered 60,899 votes.
Pacquiao ran under his own political party People's Champ Movement (PCM) and losing presidential bet Manny Villar's Nacionalista Party (NP) while Chiongbian bannered administration coalition Sarangani Reconciliation and Reformation Organization-Lakas-Kampi-CMD (Sarro-Lakas).
"I'm very happy with this win because it's from one of the biggest fights of my life. I thank God and all the people of Sarangani for supporting me all the way," he told reporters following his proclamation at the provincial capitol's Sangguniang Panlalawigan session hall.
The BOC, which was presided by Commission on Elections (Comelec) Region 12 Director Michael Abas, proceeded with the proclamation of the winning provincial candidates after completing the provincial canvassing at around 10 p.m. Thursday.
Abas said the delay was caused by the faulty configuration of the accompanying compact flash (CF) or memory cards of several precinct count optical scan of PCOS machines that were deployed in the vote-rich municipalities of Glan, Kiamba and Malungon.
He said election automation firm Smartmatic-TIM's main office in Manila was only able to deliver the CF card replacements Thursday morning.
Sarangani's Provincial Board of Canvassers (BOC) formally accorded Pacquiao the title congressman-elect at past 11:40 p.m. here Thursday after scoring a "landslide" win last May 10 in the highly-anticipated fight for the province's lone congressional seat.
Based on the final and official tally released by the BOC, the boxing champion garnered a record 120,052 votes to finish off the congressional hopes of his lone rival, businessman Roy Chiongbian, who only mustered 60,899 votes.
Pacquiao ran under his own political party People's Champ Movement (PCM) and losing presidential bet Manny Villar's Nacionalista Party (NP) while Chiongbian bannered administration coalition Sarangani Reconciliation and Reformation Organization-Lakas-Kampi-CMD (Sarro-Lakas).
"I'm very happy with this win because it's from one of the biggest fights of my life. I thank God and all the people of Sarangani for supporting me all the way," he told reporters following his proclamation at the provincial capitol's Sangguniang Panlalawigan session hall.
The BOC, which was presided by Commission on Elections (Comelec) Region 12 Director Michael Abas, proceeded with the proclamation of the winning provincial candidates after completing the provincial canvassing at around 10 p.m. Thursday.
Abas said the delay was caused by the faulty configuration of the accompanying compact flash (CF) or memory cards of several precinct count optical scan of PCOS machines that were deployed in the vote-rich municipalities of Glan, Kiamba and Malungon.
He said election automation firm Smartmatic-TIM's main office in Manila was only able to deliver the CF card replacements Thursday morning.
Manny Pacquiao Has a Basketball Team
At least nine teams will vie for supremacy in the first ever joint venture of the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) and Liga Pilipinas dubbed as Tournament of the Philippines which fires off on June 2 in Manila.
Five teams from Liga and four from the PBL will make up the initial foray although officials of both leagues are still awaiting the confirmation of two other Liga teams in Taguig and Pampanga.
Meantime, Fil-American Clifford Hodge was selected as the top overall pick of the Pacman GenSan Warriors during the recent draft at the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) office in Pasig City.
Hodge is listed as a 22-year old, 6-foot-5 cager from Hawaii who is born to an American father and a Filipina mother who hails from Sulu.
League officials described Hodge as a versatile and athletic player who can shoot from the outside.
Aside from the Warriors of congressman-elect Manny Pacquiao, other teams joining are Cebu, Misamis Oriental, Laguna and Mandaue from Liga, Magnolia, Pharex, Cobra and Agrinurture, Inc. from PBL.
Excelroof, winner of the PBL tournament last March, begged off from competing this time since most of its marquee players will be playing in the coming NCAA season starting next month.
Two other PBL teams -–Toyota Otis and Hapee Toothpaste– also won't see action but are likely to compete in the next conference probably in October.
Five teams from Liga and four from the PBL will make up the initial foray although officials of both leagues are still awaiting the confirmation of two other Liga teams in Taguig and Pampanga.
Meantime, Fil-American Clifford Hodge was selected as the top overall pick of the Pacman GenSan Warriors during the recent draft at the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) office in Pasig City.
Hodge is listed as a 22-year old, 6-foot-5 cager from Hawaii who is born to an American father and a Filipina mother who hails from Sulu.
League officials described Hodge as a versatile and athletic player who can shoot from the outside.
Aside from the Warriors of congressman-elect Manny Pacquiao, other teams joining are Cebu, Misamis Oriental, Laguna and Mandaue from Liga, Magnolia, Pharex, Cobra and Agrinurture, Inc. from PBL.
Excelroof, winner of the PBL tournament last March, begged off from competing this time since most of its marquee players will be playing in the coming NCAA season starting next month.
Two other PBL teams -–Toyota Otis and Hapee Toothpaste– also won't see action but are likely to compete in the next conference probably in October.
Manny Pacquiao at Philippine Independence Day
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will lead the 112th anniversary celebration of Philippine Independence Day on June 12 at Rizal Park.
National Historical Institute executive director Ludovico Badoy said in a media briefing in Malacanang on Wednesday, President Arroyo will lead the flag raising ceremony in Rizal Park in the morning of June 12.
According to Director Badoy, there will be a simultaneous flag raising all over the country in the morning of June 12.
Badoy added, after the flag raising ceremony, Mrs. Arroyo will also lead the wreath laying to the monument of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal.
"Of course President Arroyo will also have her Vin d' Honneur in Malacanang at 12 noon on June 12 wherein the members of the diplomatic community, together with the government officials and legislators will attend," the NHI director also told Malacanang reporters.
He added, in the afternoon (4 p.m.) of June 12, Mrs. Arroyo will also watch the civic military parade and the float parade at the Quirino grandstand.
Badoy also stressed that the President will have her speech in the afternoon at the Quirino grandstand right after the civic-military and float parade.
The NHI executive director said, the President is expected to deliver her last report to the nation particularly the achievement of her administration for the past 9 years in office.
"To me, it is extra special because she will be rendering her last report to the nation. I feel the President will have to take advantage of the Independence Day celebration to deliver her speech like a State of the Nation Address (SONA)," Badoy claimed.
He also pointed out that the theme of the 112th Independence Day celebration this year is "Kalayaan, Tagumpay ng Bayan".
Badoy also added that the float parade in this year's celebration will feature the modern day Filipino heroes like Efren Penaflorida who was named CNN Hero of the Year and pound for pound boxing icon Manny Pacquiao who is now a congressman-elect of Saranggani province and other modern day Filipino heroes.
National Historical Institute executive director Ludovico Badoy said in a media briefing in Malacanang on Wednesday, President Arroyo will lead the flag raising ceremony in Rizal Park in the morning of June 12.
According to Director Badoy, there will be a simultaneous flag raising all over the country in the morning of June 12.
Badoy added, after the flag raising ceremony, Mrs. Arroyo will also lead the wreath laying to the monument of national hero Dr. Jose Rizal.
"Of course President Arroyo will also have her Vin d' Honneur in Malacanang at 12 noon on June 12 wherein the members of the diplomatic community, together with the government officials and legislators will attend," the NHI director also told Malacanang reporters.
He added, in the afternoon (4 p.m.) of June 12, Mrs. Arroyo will also watch the civic military parade and the float parade at the Quirino grandstand.
Badoy also stressed that the President will have her speech in the afternoon at the Quirino grandstand right after the civic-military and float parade.
The NHI executive director said, the President is expected to deliver her last report to the nation particularly the achievement of her administration for the past 9 years in office.
"To me, it is extra special because she will be rendering her last report to the nation. I feel the President will have to take advantage of the Independence Day celebration to deliver her speech like a State of the Nation Address (SONA)," Badoy claimed.
He also pointed out that the theme of the 112th Independence Day celebration this year is "Kalayaan, Tagumpay ng Bayan".
Badoy also added that the float parade in this year's celebration will feature the modern day Filipino heroes like Efren Penaflorida who was named CNN Hero of the Year and pound for pound boxing icon Manny Pacquiao who is now a congressman-elect of Saranggani province and other modern day Filipino heroes.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Brigada Eskwela in the Philippines
CONSCIOUS of the perennial problems hounding the country's educational system, authorities now look on a different angle and urges benevolent citizens to be part of the solution.
With apparent government backlog in providing education facilities, Department of Education (DepEd) taps concerned companies, organizations and citizens to pitch in and join Brigada Eskwela Plus.
According to the DepEd, there is a need for 39 new 2 classroom school buildings for the secondary and 62 2-classroom buildings for the elementary this year as enrollment increase is estimated at 5%.
The situation is also being complicated by the fact that the government's education for all campaign is set to seek all school-age kids and pull them back to schools.
Over the pressing need for action, the call was echoed during the weekly Kapihan sa PIA as City schools division office through Dr. Erlinda Mahinay as the topic on Brigada Eskwela was raised.
Brigada Eskwela is a nationwide voluntary activity implemented by the DepEd and its external education stakeholders to prepare the schools for the opening of classes.
And just as old schools need to be refitted to make them lend a conducive environment to learning, clean ups, repairs, maintenance and other rehabilitation activities are needed.
And just as the government is hard up on funds, the authorities have said they could use a little help.
"We urge our communities to come out and help in any way they can, be it though free labor or materials needed for the repairs and rehabilitation or repainting jobs," Dr. Mahinay resounded.
Or to those who have better economic conditions, we are now urging companies and groups for the "adopt a school" program of the Oplan Balik Eskwela, she said.
By adopting a school, organizations and companies can earn tax credits and at the same time help upgrade schools, she claimed.
The Brigada Eskwela of Oplan Balik Eskwela has been implemented to stop the old practice of students and pupils using the beginning days of the school year to clean up the school premises, Dr. Mahinay explained.
Philippine Schools Prepare for Opening of Classes
Calls for participation in preparing the public schools for the opening of classes resound here as the Brigada Eskwela starts May 24, 2010.
Schools Division Superintendent Norma Varquez says through the Brigada, the Department of Education (DepEd) engages the support of the parents and communities to make the schools ready for the opening of classes.
It would also stress that education is not just a responsibility of the teachers but also of the multi-stakeholders in the community as well, she pointed out during a radio interview.
The activity widely understood as a voluntary clean-up and maintenance of public schools to get the entire school ready for classes.
This time, communities and education stakeholders can show in a week-long activity its voluntary support to show its concern of education.
In a Dep-ed memorandum, Brigada Eskwela is "a week-long school maintenance activities participated by parents, communities and education stakeholders every month of May.
The activity also involves giving free labor and materials for the upkeep and maintenance of schools, which has been generally the main hub of voters during the recent elections.
The past political exercise did not spare the schools from garbage and posters despite relentless appeals from the Dep-ed to spare the schools from politics.
Superintendent Varquez however added that while free labor and donations in kind as materials fro repair are appreciated, the Brigada discourages cash donations.
Cebu Pacific Flight to Japan and Korea
CEB, the only low-cost carrier to fly to the major North Asian countries offers seat sale fare for as low as P1,999 from now until May 23, 2010 for travel August 1 to October 30, 2010.
P1,999 'Go Lite' seats are up for grabs for flights from Manila to Incheon, Cebu to Incheon and Pusan. Those going from Manila to Osaka can avail of P2,999 seats. These fares are 50% less than the lowest possible year-round fares for Japan and Korea.
For those traveling out of Clark, P1,499 'Go Lite' seats are also offered on flights going to Bangkok, Macau, Hong Kong and Singapore. Clark-Cebu flights are also on sale with a 'Go Lite' seat sale of P499. Travel period is from July 1 to September 30, 2010.
Take this opportunity to explore our neighboring countries especially since there are a lot of activities in store for the budget traveler during the summer and fall seasons in Japan and Korea.
CEB now accepts web bookings up to four (4) hours before your scheduled time of departure. Hurry, grab your seats
Saturday, May 15, 2010
National Elections in the Philippines
Despite their bruising news coverage of the recently concluded national elections in the Philippines, the four major Metro Manila broadsheets had admirably kept themselves as vigilant with their English as with the evolving numbers of the election results. Their problems with English grammar and usage were thus few and far between; in fact, I found only four grammatical and semantic fumbles serious and instructive enough to be critiqued in My Media English Watch—mixed up tenses, faulty sentence construction, verb phrase misuse, and highly convoluted, almost unfathomable feature writing.
Also in this week's edition of Jose Carillo's English Forum, I'm sharing a pet theory of mine on why many nonnative English speakers can't speak or write the language well enough even if they become quite good at constructing grammar-perfect single sentences. This, to my mind, is due to their very limited repertoire of the connectives—the coordinating conjunctions, the conjunctive adverbs, the subordinating conjunctions, and, of course, the prepositions, which many people find such pesky and elusive things to learn. Some of us may not be even aware of it, but these connectives are absolute musts for flagging the contours and detours of our thoughts each time we write or talk. - Jose Carillo
Also in this week's edition of Jose Carillo's English Forum, I'm sharing a pet theory of mine on why many nonnative English speakers can't speak or write the language well enough even if they become quite good at constructing grammar-perfect single sentences. This, to my mind, is due to their very limited repertoire of the connectives—the coordinating conjunctions, the conjunctive adverbs, the subordinating conjunctions, and, of course, the prepositions, which many people find such pesky and elusive things to learn. Some of us may not be even aware of it, but these connectives are absolute musts for flagging the contours and detours of our thoughts each time we write or talk. - Jose Carillo
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Cheap Plane Ticket of Cebu Pacific Air
P499 seats to select domestic and international destinations
We flew 906,118 passengers for the month of April 2010 alone! This achievement breaks the airline's own record of its best performing month, previously last March 2010 with 857,041 passengers.
CEB is happy to announce a seat sale to select domestic and all international destinations starting now until May 11, 2010.
For travel this July 1 to September 30, 2010, you can avail of the 'Go Lite' seat sale fare of P999 from Manila to Taipei or Kota Kinabalu.
P1,499 seats are up for grabs for Clark flights to Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore or Bangkok, as well as Cebu to Hong Kong and vice versa. Manila flights to Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau and Bangkok are also available for the 'Go Lite' seat sale fare of P1,499.
For the 'Go Lite' seat sale fare of P2,499, get to travel from Manila to Kuala Lumpur or Ho Chi Minh, and from Manila or Cebu to Singapore. Available also are 'Go Lite' P2,999 seats from Manila or Cebu to Incheon, Cebu to Pusan, and Manila to Jakarta or Shanghai.
Those off to Osaka, Japan can avail of the 'Go Fare' of P2,999.
Domestic flights are also on sale, for travel from June 1 to July 31, 2010. Specifically, these are P499 'Go Lite' fares to and from CEB's Cebu hub, and to and from Davao and Cagayan de Oro. P699 'Go Lite' fares are also available from Manila to Bacolod, Calbayog, Catarman, Coron (Busuanga), Iloilo, Naga, Puerto Princesa, San Jose and Tuguegarao and vice versa.
We thank every Juan for their continued support, making Cebu Pacific number one and hope that you can take advantage of our trademark low fares for your more frequent domestic and international travel!
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