A Friend of the Sorianos Speaks
This is an email I received from Lovely Aseron two days ago. The facts are disturbing and I think everyone following this story, and the general public, should know this. My clarification–not justification–on certain details is in red.
Hi, I’m a friend of the Soriano family. My fiance, Edu Abalos, is a first cousin of Romulo Soriano. I would like to clear up some things about this article and the other one before it:
1. Kuya Mulo (Romulo Soriano) and his family weren’t on their way to Manila. He was driving Ate Malou to the Provincial Hall where she was expected to report together with her colleagues at work in Provincial Health Office (PHO). They were assigned to go to Balayan to give assistance to the typhoon victims there.
Got this news of their supposed trip to Manila from an ABS-CBN report.
2. Mayor Dimacuha was at the site just after the bridge collapsed.
3. Lolit Cos or whoever she is wasn’t the one who found Ate Malou. The Badjaos found her and rescued her on their own.
The Badjaos did save her. But my source at the Batangas Police Provincial Office told me that she was spotted by one Lolit Cos first who alerted the Badjaos to rescue her.
4. The praise for the Coast Guard is an exaggeration. The family had to go to them, use connections, and suffer numerous delays before help was given to them.
*** Searching for Kuya Mulo and Nico was primarily a family effort. Lives were at stake, but the government never made them feel that searching for Kuya Mulo and Nico was of utmost importance and a priority. The family had to rent boats and even borrow a private speedboat from Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), through the effort of Kuya Mulo’s aunt who works for COA-PPA. When Nico was found in Tingloy, the male relatives on board the borrowed speedboat from PPA brought the body to PPA Batangas. While the other relatives were waiting, a police officer approached them. He went and said how the PNP found a boat and escorted the body of Nico from Tingloy to Batangas City. It was an outright lie. The aunt who personally borrowed the speedboat from PPA told him, “you’re mistaken, I borrowed the boat from PPA, not you. My nephews are the ones bringing the body from Tingloy, not you.”
*** Although Ate Malou was a government employee, and the reason the family left the house that morning in the first place is to drive her to work (on a Saturday, if I might add), we never felt the help of the government. Vice Governor Leviste went to Wawa and the hospital to visit Ate Malou, his promise that they will help in searching for Kuya Mulo and Nico were nothing but empty words. He specifically said that certain government agencies have been put on alert. However, when the family went to Mabini because of an unofficial report, from a friend, of a body found there, they were surprised and disappointed upon their arrival that the Coast Guard and Barangay officials were not aware of the situation. the barangays near the coast should have been informed since Kuya Mulo and Nico might have been anywhere. Governor Vilma Santos went to the home of the Soriano family after the burial. When asked where she was during the ordeal, she said the bridge was not within the jurisdiction of her office.
*** It is frightening that trying times like the one that happened is a continuing manifestation of how our government can not be relied on.
A Bridge That Broke Its Promise
Typhoon Santi (Mirinae) washed away a four-decade-old, 20-ton-capacity steel Bridge of Promise at 7:30 a.m. today, when the Signal #3 typhoon was leaving Batangas City. A family in their white Honda Civic car was crossing the bridge on their way to Manila when it actually collapsed and plunged into the murky Calumpang river. One of the three passengers, Malou Soriano, 39, a Provincial health worker, was rescued almost an hour later a few hundred meters downstream after people saw her hanging to a tree and was rushed to Saint Patrick’s Hospital in downtown Batangas City. As of this writing, search and rescue is still on-going for her husband, Romulo, 40, and her son, Nicolo, 3.
When I went to the site, the trusses appear to be intact hinting at the questionable structural integrity of the weakened bridge piers in the middle of the span which witnesses saw were the first to succumb to the raging water. One driver told me that he felt the “weird shaking” of the weakened bridge yesterday before the storm’s onslaught prompting him to drive faster across the bridge for fear it would “give in”. I saw a Coast Guard rubber boat plying the river once downstream and twice upstream when I was there for about an hour. No frogmen/divers in sight, neither were there any frantic rescuers. Only curious onlookers, mostly with their camphones, a guy with “Official Photographer” emblazoned on his shirt, and other rubbernecks. Talks were aplenty about premonitions, hindsights, and how corrupt politicians and disasters don’t go together. I asked if anyone saw the Mayor (Eddie Dimacuha). None in the crowd could answer me. “How long do you think they (the government) could rebuild this?” I asked a couple of guys next to me. “If not for Shell (which uses this bridge to transport their crude and refined oil), this bridge would not have been built,” the guy in white shirt retorted. I disagreed. It’s election time, duh.
We are a nation of resilient people. But the worst disaster that we have yet to recover from is corruption. We didn’t need Ondoy, Pepeng and Santi to know this. I pray for Malou’s recovery and Romulo’s and Nicolo’s rescue. I pray for our enlightenment.
P.S. I searched online in vain to validate the details on the bridge and what not. I am an amateur blogger so the facts on the bridge are not fully vetted, except for the details of the disaster and the family which are in the news. [d]*
And The Winner Is…
Juan de la Cruz! or Joe Blow! or Jane Doe! (Of course, I would have been twice merrier if it was me!)
Finalists' Screenshots Mosaic Wall
Of all the brilliance and luminosity of the bloggers and pundits at the 2009 Philippine Blog Awards Awards Night last October 9th, nothing shines brighter than the light of freedom. And the true winner that night is that one person who our blog post finds.
More than the luster that each award recognizes, it is the power of the word to forge minds, form opinions, and sometimes force changes that makes these ceremonies meaningful.
To the 2009 PBA winners, congratulations (especially to Jim Paredes of Apo Hiking Society fame who won in the Best Personal Blog-Nationwide Category)! Thanks to you, my dear readers and good friends, who continue to appreciate my work.
This could have been a photo of that trophy!
P.S. I just wish they have a separate category for celebrity bloggers. Enough said. [d]*
Flippin’ Over Flippish
It can’t get any better than this! You get to show your love by voting for The Digitizer and get the chance to win a Nokia 2330 Classic? Talking about quid pro quo (scratch my back and i’ll give you a back rub!). Here’s the email I got fr0m the Flippin’, I mean, Flippish Team :
Greetings from Flippish.com!
As one of the finalists of the Best Personal Blog category, we are excited to inform you that your blog is also part of the Flippish Viewers’ Choice Award!
This time, the viewers get to decide on who wins, by voting for their favorite personal blog. On top of that, they also get a chance to win a Nokia 2330 Classic if the blog of their choice gets the most hits!
The winners of the Flippish Viewer’s Choice Award and the Nokia phone will be announced during the live webcast of the Philippine Blog Awards
Spread the love, spread the link! Check out on October 9, 2009, 6pm only on Flippish.com. http://www.flippish.com/nokia-voting-page/ for details.
Good luck and bye-bye!
-Flippish team
Go ahead, click on the banner to vote for The Digitizer and click on its thumbnail picture on the list (so I’ll get the hit, too).Thank you.
P.S. Can’t w8 4 us 2b txtm8s soon! 🙂 [d]*
The Blog Awards And My Front Tooth
Got this in my email today, and suddenly it felt all too real for me! I started to run in my mind the inventory in my closet — no, I ran towards the closet! — and then feverishly thumbed through my hung clothes. Black! You can’t go wrong in black! Ugh, I have to buy that Penshoppe Recut jeans that I’ve been salivating over… Stop! Neither Cher in her outrageous diva outfit would pop in there nor would there be celebrities in bold blinding bling with swooning fans and shark-like paparazzis in attendance, so why the fuss? I had to slap myself a li’l bit, as you would some hysterical mama, to remind me this ain’t no Hollywood as they say in ebonics/blackspeak. Just being around bodacious, brazen, even brash bright bloggers would surely beat watching B movies on a blah Friday night (what’s up with all these “B” words?). Okay. Well then, I’ll have until 5pm that day (actual Awards Night), to have my right lateral incisor (one of my front teeth) plastic crown fixed, nay, replaced. But I’m broke and it’s such a *bleep* (another B word). I was eating mixed-nuts when it loosened up, so I accidentally chewed it. (Crrrunchhh ! Oh, the sound of a horrifying realization that what you were enthusiastically masticating on is a 3,000-peso artificial tooth jacket and not just any green pea!). Talk about the wrong tooth with the wrong food at the wrong time! Were I an unbeliever in Murphy’s Law, this could have been my “Hallelujah” moment, except that it was an “AAARRGGGHH!” shout instead. Sigh.
Back to the email: it says I can “come as I please“, so I guess it’s alright to attend with a fang-like front tooth. Hmmm… would wearing animal prints — leopard or tiger? — make or break the look or would a subtle ‘Twilight‘ aura — white-powdered face and black eyeliners with a little hint of a blood dripping on my right lip corner — say I am not that blasé yet? And if I do come as myself sans the effort to cover up my dental booboo, will photo-ops be actual opportunities or will these photos haunt me someday? Maybe I should start to practice grinning without flashing my teeth and try not to smile like Jim Carrey so no one would know about my poor little tooth (except you, the reader, which could mean, oh, everyone from everywhere, including the Awards Night audience! But surely, you can keep a little secret, can’t you?).
Hold on, I’m trying to be a Wordsmith and not some Close-up model last time I check. Who gives a dentist’s drill about my tooth anyway except, well, the dentists? And in case the Tooth Fairy won’t make it until my last Cinderella hour to rescue me, I shall rely on Calliope and Clio (Muses of Lyric Poetry and History, respectively, to the non-Greeks) to make me look good at least on paper.
Philippine Blog Awards Night, you will surely be digitized even if I grow another fang or two dangling in my nose! [d]*
2009 Philippine Blog Awards’ Luminous Finalists
I have yet to earn a cent from blogging, but who cares when your peers recognize your work?
This is what I posted for my Facebook status update after I learned that The Digitizer is among the 20 finalists in the Best Personal Blog Nationwide Category (announced yesterday, September 23rd) :
Win or lose, it is an honor just to be listed among luminous bloggers by stellar bloggers!
Felicitations to all the finalists! I’ll try to visit each finalist out of curiousity, respect, and yes, even peer envy. 🙂
Best Personal Blog
ai’s cracker
Baddieverse
bikoy.net
Brief Stories
Cerebral Insights
citybuoy
Excuse My French
fritzified.com
Funny is the New Sexy
Life with Ria
Nursecissism
Platonic Trip
RALPHGUZMAN.ORG
room for squares
Succulence Unleashed
The Casual Observer
The Digitizer
The Free Lancer
writing on air
xtnpl.blog.friendster.com
For the complete list of all the Finalists in the Nationwide Categories, click here.
Congratulations to all the luminous finalists!
[d]*
Offline Blues
It’s 12:20 p.m. and I am at a cybercafe trying to normalize my life without an internet connection at home for about, oh, a week now. Blame it on Digitel‘s incompetent, unprofessional and unacceptable business conduct (it’ll be one pithy post to come, I tell ya). Anyhoo, as I am trying to tinker the keyboard to coax the words for every angst I have, I can’t pry my eyes away from the line of black ants on what-used-to-be-off-white-but-now-kinda-cream-colored wall right behind the monitor I’m using, while hearing the kids (who probably skipped school) massacre each other in their MMOGs (that’s Massively Multimedia Online Games for those of us mortals) and one attendant sleeping on the couch obviously unnerved by the noise and the sea of humanity (this is a 24-hour internet shop, so yeah, I have the heart to understand, too), while the other attendant is blasting his stereo listening to Semisonic‘s “Closing Time” (at 12 noon?) and watching a rerun of Warner Bro‘s “Daffy Duck“… I don’t know which is worst : not having my internet or being online in this surreal environment. Is that why they named their shop Yeko ? I dunno. I just wanna swiftly reply to incoming emails, update my blog, smooch with my Facebook friends, and off I hie to an even crueler offline world.
I’ll let my wrath brew and stew on it for quite a bit and then dump it on Digitel later, replete with complaints to NTC, DTI, even write poor (I meant filthy rich), old John Gokongwei for all I care if it will get me reconnected.
Ugh, I’ve had enough of Daffy already. I’m horrified at the thought of it’s voice ringing in my phantom ears later. Go!
Meanwhile, I can continue reading my orphaned books and take our 4 dogs to walks more often in the open fields near our place while waiting for Digitel to reconnect my digital life.
I think I have breached the line that blurs the online from the offline. It feels so unreal to be disconnected from my virtual life. Whether this is a bad thing or not, there’s no denying the impact of this 24/7 connectedness with the world at least in my experience. However, much like a computer unit that needs to be rebooted (well, if you are a PC user, that is) once in a while, getting this digital respite is the perfect time to revisit pre-digital predispositions and connections. That certainly gave me more bite on reality than bytes on virtuality, whatever that means.
Now, I have a bigger bite to clamp on Digitel if you’ll excuse me… [d]*
Serving Justice, Saving Souls
J. Reuben Clark Law Society-Philippines: A Year of Dispensing Legal Service with the Energies of their Soul
When I lived in California, a lawyer acquaintance of mine once tried to sell a prepaid legal service membership to me. It wasn’t cheap but what really made me fish for my credit card was when he finally unleashed the deadliest blow in his verbal arsenal: a person living in the United States is more likely to get sued than be hospitalized. If reality was the bait, well, it bit me instead. That they have a mature culture of people valuing, asserting and enforcing their rights complemented by a relatively efficient and modern legal and prison systems so they can maintain peace, order and the American way of life was apparent to me. It is no surprise, then, that huge amount of taxpayers’ dollars are siphoned off from local and federal coffers to keep them well-oiled, and that an average American pays more for his insurance premiums than most people in the world especially in areas where potential personal liabilities are high. All it could take is one nasty lawsuit with a brassy lawyer as prosecutor and you could lose a life’s worth of savings and would still owe another lifetime’s worth of debt. Paying a premium for a 24/7 access to quality legal service did not only seem the most sensible thing to do, it gave me peace of mind to sleep well at night (but not trust toward cunning lawyers, though).
In the Philippines, however equitable and sufficient are the laws, the wheels of justice turn grindingly slow that the Supreme Court itself put up the “Justice on Wheels” system in 2004, “a mobile court system as a means to bring justice closer to the poor by providing a fast and free solutions of conflict through conciliation, mediation and adjudication,” said Honorable Adolfo S. Azcuna, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. These are fully-airconditioned, custom-built buses configured into a courtroom in the front and a mediation room in the rear with a Presiding Judge, a Clerk of Court, a Prosecutor, a Public Attorney, a Court Stenographer, a Docket Clerk, a Process Server, a Driver and a Security Guard. Its priority is to hear the cases of those who have been on detention for more than the maximum penalty of their particular cases. They are aimed at decongesting the overcrowded detention facilities—some of which were holding up to five times their designated capacities—and the heavy caseloads of some Family Courts.
Justice, or the lack thereof, is all in the hands of a lawyer. For the J. Reuben Clark Law Society-Philippines Chapter members, they had their work cut for them.
- The author with Atty. Mhe-Anne Ojeda, JRCLS-Philippines Secretary General
Established on May 21, 2008, the J. Reuben Clark Law Society – Philippines Chapter is the 65th in the world to have sprung up from the original chapter out of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. The members are lawyers, law graduates and associates who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or of other faith who support their Mission Statement : “We affirm the strength brought into the law by a lawyer’s personal religious convictions. We strive through public service and professional excellence to promote fairness and virtue founded upon the rule of law.” Founded in 1973, the school is named after J. Reuben Clark (J.D.)—he was a prominent attorney in the Department of State, and Under Secretary of State for U.S. President Calvin Coolidge and as the Second Counselor in the First Presidency to President Heber J. Grant. In 1930 he was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Mexico.
The public thrust of this society is its Pro Bono Legal Services Program or by providing legal assistance to members of the Church and others who could not otherwise afford it. It aids local Priesthood leaders, consistent with the welfare principles of the Church, with an organized program of legal resource to members whom the leaders determine to be in need of legal assistance and do not otherwise have the financial capabilities to obtain such assistance. It becomes the conduit of opportunities for its lawyer-members to serve bringing them personal and professional satisfaction. However, this program is not administered by the Church but through the voluntary efforts of the JRCLS members.
Barely a week into its creation, JRCLS-Philippines’ ground-breaking foray into public service is its successful defense of an active LDS single mother to a then 11-year-old daughter who was an Immigration Facilitator for four years at an immigration consultancy. On March 15, 2008, she was arrested in an entrapment arranged by the Public Employment Service Office while conducting an immigration consultancy seminar in a Southern Tagalog town. She was then charged with “Illegal Recruitment in Large Scale/Syndicated Estafa” and was held in jail without bail. Her arrest was aired on local radio and was touted a victory against illegal recruiters. After getting her first and only visit from her company-hired lawyer, this sister was abandoned and languished in jail for a little over two months in a remote town with roads not passable to small vehicles before JCRLS-Philippines learned of her case. A committee composed of Attorneys Rodrigo Reyna, Robert Cauilan and Ernie San Juan was tasked to respond to this pro bono case and to formulate its own course of actions involving the sister’s Bishop and a Priesthood holder (who visited her company) from her ward, the Relief Society President (who provided accommodation) and two Priesthood holders of the branch in the town where she was incarcerated, and a Priesthood holder from a different ward (who drove, alternately with his cousin, the committee members to and from that town at his expense and using his own vehicle). A month after her first visit from JRCLS-Philippines, she was free on bail, and the complaints were subsequently dismissed. She was faithful and maintained gospel standards through out her ordeal as kind-hearted Priesthood leaders, members and friends feverishly did the legwork providing transportation, food, lodging, bail and other expenses while volunteer lawyers Attorneys Rodrigo Reyna, Robert Cauilan and Ernie San Juan dispensed legal services with the “energies of their soul”. As everyone involved did their part diligently while putting their trust in the Lord, the JRCLS Pro Bono Legal Services program was properly dispensed with, embracing perfectly the welfare principles of the Church with favorable results.
President Edwards exhorted the JRCLS members to be “spiritual advocates” reassuring that “advocates bring harmony to the world.” He continued by asking the members, “What is it that God wants from lawyers as his advocates? : to live justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God,” citing Micah 6:8. Furthermore, he encouraged the attendees to exercise wisdom as King Solomon did. “Wisdom requires a price to be paid. If we’re going to gain wisdom, we need to ask for an understanding heart, to help us understand our priorities and its cost,” he counseled.
Attorney Berrett’s introduction on the origin and definition of the word “advocate” prepared the listeners for his discourse on the issues of Justice, Mercy, and the Atonement, and how the lawyer’s advocacy of their client or a Priesthood leader’s advocacy for the members mirrors, to a certain extent, that of the Savior‘s advocacy with the Father. “When individuals were in my law office, the concern was for their temporal welfare. When individuals were in my Church office, the concern was for their spiritual welfare,” he shared. He concluded that if we agree to accept the Savior’s fee agreement, He will plead his case before the Father and we may obtain justification and sanctification and may stay in the presence of God.
Having been enlightened by these discourses on the true nature of these noble advocates, I am comforted to know that there is a breed of lawyers that look after their clients’ welfare as the Savior would. Brigham Young’s statement on corrupt lawyers is as true today as it was more than one and a half centuries ago: “When a lawyer comes into the Church, if he happens to have a little common sense left, and will take to ploughing and cultivating the soil, there is a chance for him to make a man for himself; but if he follows his former customs and habits, the chances are against him, he may ruin himself, lose the Spirit of the Lord, if he ever possessed it, and go back into midnight darkness.” (Journal of Discourses 11:125). Now that most of these lawyers actually grew up in the Church with more than enough sense to get out of their comfort zones to serve, they take to plow the hearts of men and cultivate the soil of justice with devotion, humility and pure love of Christ. Like a city set on a hill, the JRCLS-Philippines members shine their lights of good works before men. For in their selfless acts of serving justice to those who may have been denied of it, they transcend their roles from advocacy to saving souls of men, including their own.
Now that can surely make you sleep tight at night. [d]*
Non-Chick Cheap Chic
Don’t tell me you haven’t had those moments: finding steals so irresistible they melt your steely resolve away. I wish I didn’t know what S–A–L–E means and that it didn’t have to be in a come-hither, sin-red color emblazoned across store fronts or stuck in strategic places and item tags to consummate the temptation. If money were not an issue, it won’t be an exercise in seduction. When reality leaves me struggling, I know I don’t have to get suckered into it every time. However, SM malls aren’t the best places to test your sobreity after your Shopoholics Anonymous retreat which is no longer a women’s domain.
Last week, I went to buy some office supplies at National Bookstore in SM City-Batangas. Walked right in, picked up the goods, waited in line to pay, what a cakewa—wait, was that sign correct? Up to 75% off?! Had to ask the cashier; Oo daw (yes, she said). Ugh, do I turn around? “My great librarian, it’s like getting four books for the price of one!” coaxed my street-math savvy inner bookworm. “Nah, the “up to” means digging through piles of Guinness Book of World Records 2008 (it’s almost 2010, hello) and other junk before you will ever find it. If you will find it. Remember the lonely books neatly pressed between sturdy ends — still unread — at home?” quibbled the bookmoth in me. It’s the moth’s words against the worm’s math. Gee, I felt my feet on li’l insect wings for that small triumph leaving the bookstore unlured. How about a quickie-lookie around the mall, for, oh, ten minutes tops? (Bad move).
That’s when I passed by this store called MOGAO, saw it’s on sale (at 20% off) and bought these 3 hip slim-fit shirts for about $10 tax included! But hey, I don’t regret it (just look at my first attempt to model as proof). I couldn’t find some pictures of them online to post here, so I had to ask my 10-year-old niece, Ara, to be my photographer. Now, it would have been nice if Mogao paid me to make this post and model for their shirts, but no, they didn’t; and yes, it’s okay if they will reimburse me. Ha ha. Before posting this, I found their website printed in their shopping bag, looked it up but couldn’t understand it (Chinese, doh!). Here’s Google Translate to the rescue and this is what I got :
The hearty chortle at the translation is just an added bonus to the satisfaction I got for not being a fashion victim and an unwise spender(?). That statement is probably worth another chuckle right there. [d]*
Receipts Don’t Lie
What is it that the more of it that we possess, the lesser that we can actually possess?
If you answered “DEBT” to that one, then you need financial counseling (paging Suze Orman). I’m talking about RECEIPTS as inversely proportional to the actual money we have at hand, the ghosts of the cash past. They are the tangible manifestations of the virtues TRUTH and ASSURANCE: the testament that money actually changed hands (that’s why they call it “cold, hard cash” because they seldom get the chance to warm in our hands) and the promise that it may change back to the same hands again (for those who have returned crappy items before can now say, “Amen!”). They tell a story of our greed or need, the contracts of our endless bittersweet affair with what the Bible calls “filthy lucre”. That in this flux of perpetual wants, they are at the crux of the transience of things, the legacy of impermanence.
Heck, they’re just receipts, and I don’t have to be poetic to say that we have one too many of them.
Yesterday, while rummaging through my black M&FG satchel bag, I realized it was a month’s worth full of them. Normally, I would toss the trivial ones and keep “the testaments, and the promise, and the legacy whatever”, just in case. Then, a ka-ching moment : why not let these receipts tell their own tales — the good, the bad, the cheap and the chic! What would really suck is I will have to scan each one that I will use; but hey, I am not the [the digitizer]* for nothing! Thus, the birthing of my newest baby/category: Receipts Don’t Lie ( “and I’m starting to feel it’s right…” thanks, Shakira).
P. S.
Got receipts that beg to be heard? Better send them over to me, ilovethedigitizer@gmail.com, scanned and accompanied by their stories, before they get the digital equivalent of an Alzheimer’s (where the ink is time-erased or scheduled to magically disappear from the thermal paper they are printed on). It’s a clever way for the merchants to legally expunge our legacy of impermanence, dashing the virtues those receipts actually represent. What a paradox joke, no? [d]*
Shine
From Musical Competition to Missionary Preparation, this Next Big Star Finalist Casts His Light on the World
While waiting for his turn during practice for this year’s finals of GMA 7’s Are You the Next Big Star (AYTNBS)? singing competition, Anton Paolo Bayona Antenorcruz is in a quiet nook of the dressing room struggling, though unperturbed, with the questions he needs to answer himself. With a million pesos cash prize from SM, an Avida condominium unit and a lucrative GMA management and recording contracts only at stake, giving the winner a sure stab at instant fame and fortune in Philippine show business, what’s not to worry about, right? Interestingly, those were the least of his concerns: “I make it a point to work on all the assignments for my Seminary class whenever I get the chance so come Saturday, I’m ready,” says this 17-year-old crooner known as Anton Cruz to his fans while leafing on the scriptures he totes along with him everywhere. “I grew up in the Church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), and my parents taught me the gospel. Like learning a new song on my own, where they have been my influence on what to learn and sing, I need to gain my own testimony apart from theirs; and if I put God first in my life, everything else will just follow,” he mutters decidedly.
All-Natural, No Artificial Additives
How old is he again? People tend to ask that question at each close encounter with this unassuming teenager whose reserved persona, refined demeanor and refreshing Pinoy good-looks, a welcomed departure from the mestizos or the mixed-race looks du jour the media fondly glorifies, are enough reasons to elicit curious glances and silent admiration. The moment he sings his heart out and reveals his soul – both seemingly well beyond his years – audiences are captivated, leaving them star-struck by his pure melodic artistry and his simple unstudied charm. All it takes is to listen to his rendition of Eric Benet’s 2005 song, “The Last Time”, and one will know that this kid is the real deal.
Where does that voice come from? Why do people gravitate toward him? Who is this nice luminous young man?
All in the Family
A closer look at this young prodigy unravels his mystique that is more than 17 years in the making: “He got his singing genes from me as my family is musically inclined especially from his lolo, my dad, who is a good singer,” says Cecille, Anton’s mother. “On my husband’s side, they’re not bad singers either as they all can carry a tune.” She recalls Anton at 8 years-old trying to perfect the vocal acrobatics of Destiny’s Child’s remake of the Bee Gees’ song, “Emotions”, over and over to the point of them getting tired and irritated by it. “But that’s how he developed his R&B style, by giving justice to the song his way, apart from singing Pop and joining Church choirs since he was in Primary. People are quite surprised by his wide vocal range,” she continues. His tenacity not just for winning but for actually honing his craft and his love for music drives him to join contests. “He is just thrilled to sing and be a part of a contest regardless of the prize,” adds Cecille. Not too shabby a passion when it nets him awards after another, including a 4-year Informatics scholarship, both in individual and choral competitions. He is the first freshman to ever beat the senior contenders to clinch the “Anthonian Singing Idol ” title of the School of Saint Anthony in Quezon City and also the lead tenor and soloist of the school’s Coro San Antonio, the reigning champion of the University of the Philippines’ annual Musikappella, a singing competition for high school choral groups. Winning is expected of him – and he does every time – when he represents his school in singing contests (which explains why two of his pictures are in the school’s website).
The higher his achievements are, the more grounded he remains having been raised by parents who make sure he attends Church service, his Young Men and Mutual activities religiously and that taking his Seminary class to heart and qualifying for a mission are necessary pieces to a peaceful, happier and fulfilling life. “It’s really hard preparing Young Men for mission nowadays because of their exposure to temptations we never encountered during our time. It’s a constant struggle, and we are always there to guide him to the right path. I feel that if I make the Church and living the gospel a part of his life, he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6),” she reiterates resolutely. To validate her point: “He’s known to be kind and humble even in school. People would come up to me and tell me I should be very happy and thankful for having a son like him,” his mother affirms affectionately. For Anton, the depth of his affection is evidenced by his ready remark when asked who inspires him: “My parents. In my heart, I dedicate my song and performance to them every time.”
All for God and Family
It must be the way he does his share of family responsibilities like ironing clothes (Mom says he does it best!), his penchant for reading books like Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey and his strong spiritual anchor, not just his singing prowess and all his winnings, that set him apart and prepare him for a big break such as AYTNBS. “I wash my own clothes, I clean the house, I cook, I learn to schedule things,” Anton nonchalantly points out. Wait, a teenager doing household chores and talking about time management?! He chuckles at the suggestion that these are anomalies in a typical 21st century teenager. “When I entered the finals of AYTNBS, my life became like a call center with my crazy schedule. I knew I needed to manage my time to keep up with the contest schedule without sacrificing my family, Seminary class and other Church activities. I’m thankful though that this contest also gave me the opportunities to build on my self-confidence and taught me to be out-going and sociable. Besides,” says he, “ I know that these will all help me prepare for my mission.”
The pressure to compromise his LDS standard in exchange for the “cool factor” of being one of his peers and being one with them –drinking, smoking, being in the spotlight and parties all the time, which are, sadly, typical of showbiz scenes– must have been more challenging than the actual singing competition? “When they asked me why I don’t drink and smoke, I told them right off I am LDS. Somehow, I feel guided to keep my standard, so it isn’t really that difficult. I am reminded of my favorite missionary scripture to be an example in situations like these: ‘Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matthew 5:16), ” he enthuses.
Being a missionary seems to be second nature to Anton. He fondly recalls the time when he was 12 years-old and had gone out tracting with the full-time missionaries. “I love sharing my testimony and observing the missionaries when I work with them. I also realize the importance of the gospel of Jesus Christ for all men to return to our Heavenly Father,” he shares solemnly. His mother tells how happy he is to work with the missionaries, and how each time he comes home he would always express his desire to go on a mission. Recently, he spoke at their Stake Conference where he outlined to his fellow Young Men the ways to prepare most effectively to serve a full-time mission by becoming a missionary instead of going on a mission (Becoming A Missionary, Elder David A. Bednar, Liahona, November 2005). “It is not enough for us to be convinced by the gospel; “ he quips, ”we must act and think so that we are converted by it.” Furthermore he relates: “I realized preparing for a mission is just like learning a new song. My parents influence me what songs I need to sing. It is not enough for me to hear my parents say that the Church is true. I can sing a song because they told me so. I can also go on a mission because it is a commandment and that my parents told me I must go. But I know that it would be best if I study the song myself and understand what it means; that it would be best for me to go on a mission if I know in my heart that the gospel is true and that The Book of Mormon is true by myself apart from the shadow of my parents’ testimony.”
Soar and Shine
After waiting in line with his father, Hermie, for 16 hours for 2 days on end just for the audition alone, and 10,000 registrations, and 500 qualifiers, and 16 finalists, and 2 months of grueling rehearsals and shows, a different winner was declared. “How do you feel now that it’s over?” I asked him. “Sad but relieved. I’m just happy that my life is back to normal, to be back to my family and the Church. Oh yeah, to wash my clothes on schedule again!” he laughs with uncontrived joy in his voice. “If you won’t have a singing career, what would you be?” I bait. “A pilot. I will be a singing pilot!” More laughters.
With a talent and soul this raw, real and reassuring, I couldn’t help but be reminded of what my late mother told me about winning : “Politics may take the win from her child but it can never deny the winner in him.” His example and desire to serve God is the star that will matter in the lives of those who are in darkness, a light to those who want to follow the Savior. [d]*
P.S.
If Anton’s voice won’t give you chills and leave you enchanted in this YouTube sample, I don’t know what will…
… comparing to Eric Benet’s 2005 original, it’s Anton from the first note to the last (sorry, Eric).
Victory Is A Mother’s Child
My mother planted the most important lesson about winning in my young heart: “If you deserve it, you’ll get it no matter what the odds are; and regardless of the outcome, you will always be a winner to me!“
I was 16 at that time, coming home from school after a frenzied preliminary tallying of scores for the valedictorian hopefuls of our senior class (1985). There was this huge tally board right by the school’s quadrangle where numerical values were assigned to academic achievements and extra-curricular activities next to the candidates’ names and were updated and weighted daily. I was one of them, and the competition was getting fiercer and more complicated by the day especially when the one tallying the scores was the school’s bookkeeper–who happened to be my closest rival’s mother– assisted by her husband, our Physical Education teacher (yes, politics isn’t only a favorite subject in the Philippines, more likely a family affair if not a way of life). So when I confided to her about my apprehension, she nonchalantly brushed my fear aside, gave me a warm hug, and reassured me with that statement.
Awarded, Week 173
Week 173
Week 172
Fast forward to 24 years: getting these citations for the past two weeks for the Filipino Blog of the Week may seem just another digital crap to many. To those who value the grit of real-world work, the grime of being your own worst critic, and the gravity of nurturing one’s passion, this is like manna emailed from heaven or fire downloaded not pirated from Mount Olympus. This is breaking your own glass ceiling¹, not anyone else’s. Incidentally, Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, is “seen with wings in most statues and paintings, to remind people that victory is fleeting.” ² It is, after all, not what you get from a contest, but what you could become.
For whatever it’s worth, my mother taught me that politics may take the win from her child but it can never deny the winner in him.
P. S.
My mother, Fely, was at my graduation to hear her son deliver the valedictory address. I knew that that wasn’t a fleeting moment for her. Rest in peace, Nanay.
To my friends, readers, and fellow bloggers who voted for and continues to read The Digitizer: it is not a bad idea at all to take people along in any exciting journey. Writing these posts and getting your feedback is like sharing that journey of self-discovery together and having a fresh take on life and the world with different sets of eyes. Also to Talksmart who facilitated the contest in his site and for elevating my blog to the Hall of Fame. Thank you.
Humoroid : “Gay Proven”
Life is full of idiosyncracy that it can unexpectedly hit your funny bone. To digitize it gives one the satisfaction of a story-teller and the bragging rights.
I thought why not post downright hilarious or utterly ridiculous snippets of life in this new category I fondly call “Humoroid“? No offense to those who think that having the “Big H” ain’t a laughing matter, but hey, if you’ve got the real thing and you will have to live with it anyway, you might as well chuckle it away. Don’t take your Preparation-H out just yet because this Humoroid aims to share a hearty laugh at authentic, spontaneous and delightfully humorous photos (at least the ones I have personally taken) too amusing to ignore. To complete the shared fun and experience, the readers may send their wittiest, most creative, and funniest caption for the featured photo (please see Guidelines below).
About this photo:
A friend and I were on our way to the bus station from a brief visit of the rainforest park in Los Baños (Laguna, Philippines) called Pook ni Maria Makiling (Maria Makiling’s Place) when I spotted this food stand by the sidewalk in downtown Calamba. I couldn’t believe my eyes! I laughed so hard I decided to go back and take a photo of it. My friend wasn’t too keen on going back so we had to split. When I finally found the spot, I couldn’t quite get myself to ask permission from the tending ladies fearing they’d turn me down. No way I would miss out on this chance to share this breakthrough with the world, so I secretly snapped this single photo. (The ladies saw me, anyway, because I heard them chuckle and gave me knowing(?) stares. I was tempted to blurt out, “You just got digitized, ladies!” but decided that I was a blogger with an important scoop (as if) in his SD card, a material that seemed to him worth more than gold. I left in a hurry.) Still giddy, I went to catch my bus to Batangas with a childish grin carved in my face for the rest of the trip. I had to check the photo a few times to make sure it was really there. I have some captions tickling my fancy but thought it would be even more engaging and infinitely surprising to involve friends and readers to come up with catchy captions. Thus the birth of the “Humoroid” category for this blog.
I was still heady from this serendipitous moment I had the camera turned on throughout the 1-hour bus ride if and when another breakthrough presents itself to me, its chosen storyteller (obviously I had a serious case of Humoroid, okay?).
Enjoy this funny digitized snippet of this crazy thing called Life in the Philippines.
Guidelines for the caption submission:
1. Please be guided by your sense of decency and sensitivity towards others. I retain the right to moderate comments and will not approve any caption/comment I deem abusive, derogatory, hateful, or disrespectful.
2. Any reader can give your caption/comment a thumbs up or a thumbs down. The one with the highest net score will become the photo’s caption with proper attribution to the sender.
3. For this first photo, you will have until August 31 to leave your caption/comment.
4. Want to share your photos, too, for captioning? Please send the URL link of the photo or as an attachment to ilovethedigitizer@gmail.com. If they are not yours, please provide me with a link to the photo so I can properly give credit to the actual owner.
Dude, Where’s My Warholian 15?
Call it appreciation, recognition, validation. Even blarney, flattery, sycophancy. They all do their wondrous stroke to stoke the fire in anyone — to have more, to do more, to be more.
Andy Warhol, an American painter and a leading pop artist, was dead-on when, back in the 1960s, he coined the expression that served as a mantra of the not-so-pussy-footed wannabes who would stick their feet (and necks) at any revolving door of opportunity: “In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.” True enough, this has even turned into a cold-fish “15 minutes of fame” cliché nowadays. All those who cringed at the American Idol outtakes and auditions could only agree and exhale with relief that, thankfully, these posers could torture us no longer than our usual wait for the pizza delivery (or you have the power over that TV remote, yes?).
In retail pop-culture, YouTube, that great democratizer and equalizer of entertainment content and distribution, is replete with videos and vlogs of these 15-minuter celebs whose fame have either sky-rocketed (e.g. Charice, Arnel Pineda of Journey, or the skateboarding bulldog, Tillman, from the iPhone commercial) or were launched into stratospheric digital oblivion (the DietCoke-Mentos symphony creators; Susan Boyle who?). Then, there are these unreal reality shows that make instant has-beens out of their new “It” boys and girls as fast as these shows’ meat grinders could spew them.There’s vlogging and then there’s blogging.
While others relentlessly rant and rave about their rank, wretched lives, others took the road less blogged and pursued their passion pushing all the right (and wrong) buttons where fame and notoriety found them well beyond the Warholian constraint. Take Perez Hilton, the self-proclaimed “Queen of All Media”. All he did was made fun of celebrity pictures by scribbling white notes of insults, praises, insinuations, or anything he fancies, which is engaging, quite frankly, if not at times downright silly. His pink accented website is not about to let go of that ingenious, winning formula just yet, so the mockery of googol-dollar stars with his mostly irreverent doodles on their photos continues to entertain, enrage, and energize the rumor-mills, the digital equivalent of defecrating — can you think of anything worse than defecating and desecrating ? — the pantheons of the commercially-crafted and cosmetically-perfected deities of Hollywood , even after his latest Michael Jackson callous “cold feet” double-entendre. Perez found his groove and brings hordes to his site to dance to his tune while he sashays his way to the bank. And then there’s another blogging wonderboy named Bryanboy. Ever heard of him? If you don’t know who Anna Wintour is either, or wonders if Burberry Prorsum is some kind of furry, berry-eating marsupial, and well, you don’t follow überbloggers (ahem), then you would think that his name evokes visions of a dirty-blond Texan model trying to look like a rich kid trying harder to look poor selling jeans shirtlessly. Still with me? Maybe the name Marc Jacobs would help. Yes, they are friends. How about The New York Times? Now, you can’t get any better ultra-liberal validation than the Gray Lady which called him “internationally loved fashion superblogger” because his blog has 0% fat and his posts BS-free (my words, not the Lady’s; oh yes, say that you love me, too, Bryanboy!). By the way, he’s a Manila-based, self-deprecating (not defecrating, silly!), self-loving, self-made androgynous Filipino celebrity blogger (sorry for dashing your hope for a blue-eyed blond blogger bloke). Clearly, he’s out of Andy’s curse because to this day, he still does click-click-click his way to the world’s major fashion capitals and is on a first name basis with the gods and icons of fashion. If you see your name in the window display at Toronto‘s posh Holt Renfrew store paying tribute to your craft, then you know you have arrived and can tell Andy to take his 15 (make that in decades) and let you do your thing because you have the world in your keyboard, baby! Some boy, huh?
Now back to earth (Batangas City, Philippines), I’d be lying if I say I don’t dream of such a good fortune. Living in the outskirt of a city of 300,000 whose main idea of urban recreation is malling at a boxy SM City and its main watering hole called The Ledge (thank goodness it’s not in a real one lest people would have jumped off out of extreme ennui). I can’t skateboard like Tillman nor am I as telegenic. I don’t wanna dress like Byanboy either (no offense, Baboosh!) or defecrate ala-Perez Hilton. Write I can, so blog I do. When The Digitizer was officially listed as one of the 10 nominees for the Filipino Blog of the Week contest at The Composed Gentleman blog for this week (August 1-7), I had my Warholian moment even if I haven’t won yet (lol). It feels good to know that all the sleepless nights studying HTMLs experimenting with widgets and themes and color schemes (let alone writing the posts which made me get acquainted with the laptop’s blank screen) would somehow pay-off if only one seasoned blogger whose comment even edges to a glowing “review” (thanks luminerli) is like multi-colored fruity sprinkles on a vanilla sundae. So I went on a full email-blasting and tweet binge (believe me, it wasn’t as bad as it sounds, like I was trying to out-campaign the early presidentiables, you know?) to my hapless friends and acquaintances. I was thinking of attaching in my email this annotated screen shot of the voting site (see below) but thought against it for fear of coming off as shamelessly desperate crass. Glad that I steered clear of a spammer’s career. So yeah, my future in dirty, sexy, gritty politics is still intact. (Rolls eyes).
The strangest thing is, most of my friends read my blog for the very first time and not from the steady stream of my blog posts in Facebook and Twitter. The best thing is some of them were inspired to start or at least renewed their vigor for blogging.
Now that is the vanilla sundae right there!
I don’t see myself churning out posts that don’t bear a morsel of my soul nor shall I ever enjoy an endless stream of electronic soliloquy and digital narcissism. Winning this badge – getting that validation for my work – means breaking my own glass ceiling and seeing the world through borrowed eyes, so when I write I don’t write for myself but for him whom will my message find. Should that ceiling be tougher to crack, I shall still find it rewarding to remain true to my voice and an ardent student of my craft Andy Warhol be damned!
Got Phone? Get Milked!
On July 15th, my almost bucolic morning ritual of checking emails and organizing my digital life was uneventfully interrupted by a SMS (text message) from an unknown sender, +639066036708. Hmmm…nothing peculiar with getting a message occasionally from a number that is not in my phone list except that this one jolted me more than my 8-in-1 choco : “Congratulations! Last 07/14/09 ur cell # had won! P500,000+N99 UNIT from: PCCNS DTI-#9831 SERIES of 2009 please call me now! I’m atty. HERNAN F ROXAS.” (sic)
Well, sorta, because halfway through the message I saw the imaginary word S–C–A–M scroll across the phone screen like a pesky li’l alert message in hyper-blink mode, so my dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (er, logic) swiftly took over and calmed my ventromedial frontal lobe (okay, emotion) down. Um, simply put, logic trumped emotion just like that! Why? First, I didn’t join or sign up for any raffle so how on Estrada‘s name would I legitimately win?! Second, they could literally throw away half a mil plus a shiny, pricey new gizmo (and a concept phone at that) and yet couldn’t afford a few pesos to call me? Wow. Hoo-hah. It’s the text message equivalent of the infamous Nigerian concocted orphaned-account-needing-a-recipient email scams that still manage to spam inboxes and con the gullible ones. I was willing to let it slide and go back to my peaceful, unassuming existence if not for the cloned message that I received from the same number exactly 97 seconds later. So what’s a 21st-century guy got to do? Google.
With 2 billion text messages zipping through the Philippine airwaves daily, it is very likely that some of these are meant to boondoggle people. When I googled this query, I found Herbert Joseph Carigma‘s blog post on him receiving 4 such messages. Four! Even surprising is the 188 comments by those who got similar messages, some of them sharing their experience when they actually called the sender. (Laughs). Like real troopers (thanks, guys!), however, they posted all the senders’ numbers and the messages whose tell-tale signs of forced legitimacy is their use of obscure acronyms, DTI permit numbers, and lawyers as if to suggest that “Atty.” means authenticity and honesty (not!). Also, the other result was about a guy, whose handle is “bauer”, receiving a few days earlier the exact message that I got and posted it, of all places, in a Filipino gun owners’ forum. I bet it took him a lot of self-control to keep his finger off the trigger. You can find his post ¾ of the way down the page in here. The next logical step was to call Globe Telecom‘s 211 (that’s Customer Service to you) and report it. I was told that the number+639066036708 is already flagged and the owner has received warning messages due to several complaints. I offered to be a witness (hopefully under the Witness Protection Program had I surreptitiously skinned the underbelly of a text-savvy beast) should they conduct a thorough investigation reassuring that I have saved both messages if they will ever need it as evidence . Still seething from the thought on the possible damages these unconscionable people cause, I looked up the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) website and filled out their complaint form, including a demand request for a follow through (paging DTI… where is that reply?).
I stretched in my chair, quite contented at my heroic stance against these scums of the universe and proud of the great lengths I took to do something about it. Then my ventromedial frontal lobe suddenly fired up a nagging thought : “What if I really won? 500,000 pesos? N99? C’mon!” My dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was quick to retort, “Bull! And if you insist on that phone, you can shove it up your…”
OK, I got the message.
<<< Scam Alert >>>
If it seems like a scam and smells like a scam, it is a scam!
- This is how to know if you are about to be duped. Thanks to Anastasia for the link.
- Curious about phone sex scams? Well, it’s your lucky day because I found one great blog (check out the chat sampling; it is a riot!). Ghrasya, thanks.
- In the Philippines, you may contact :
> Anti-Money Laundering Council Secretariat (AMLC)
5/F, EDPC Building, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Mabini St., Manila, Tel: 302-3982/ 524-7011 ext. 2372
(Their website’s Assistance Page )
> Corporate Affairs Office
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, BSP Complex, Mabini St., Manila, Tel: 523-4832/524-7011 ext. 2259
Humans vs. Simians: Peeling A Banana
This could be the most mundane task involving one of the most popular fruits : peeling a banana. Chances are, you might have wolfed down hundreds of them in your lifetime already, but it never crossed your mind you’ve been peeling it wrong, like, well, a human. Who to teach us how to do it best than our closest animal cousins which have perfected it, right? A video of a monkey actually peeling a banana can be found here, but a human simulating a simian? Now that is far more interesting! So here’s Kyle Bradshaw expertly demonstrate it (in his pj, no less) as taught by his friend, Britney, who saw a monkey carelessly revealed this pre-Darwinian secret. It’s like the he-said-she-said-it-did kinda second-hand account but as long as you can seriously take the misery off of peeling your dang banana, who cares if Britney turns out to be a you-know-what? So the next time you enjoy that luscious and sweet banana hassle-free, you have Kyle to thank for (and Britney, of course, who had the human sense to decode this simian secret and, of course, to that monkey)! 😉 You can tweet him if you want to thank him for the tip and the video.
I wonder what happened to that monkey (no, I’m not talking about you, Freddie)…
Nouveau Nomads
If money is not an issue…
Where would you go? How far? What would you do? And for how long? Who would you share your adventure with?
Backpack. That’s what I would do… backpack all over the Philippines, then Asia, then the world. I could care less about chic-y hotels and snobbish shops. I just want to enjoy nature and life as trailblazing nomads before me did– go, seize and memorize the moments savoring the colors, sounds, sights, flavors, aromas, sensations, and then leave. To be just in any place to satiate this primeval urge to explore, to actually leave your footprints behind and take the moments with you as a reference to your next conquest is, for me, the true essence of an adventure.
I stumbled upon a video of Johannes Petrone and Samuel Petrone, who had such an adventure in places you and I just dream of. The two Finnish brothers chronicled their 6-month backpacking sojourn in the Philippines, China, Tibet, Nepal, and Malaysia in 2006. Lucky dogs! Makes me wonder what am I doing in front of the computer and not out there drinking yak’s milk (huh?) or screaming myself silly while trying that world’s highest bungee jump (I’ll take the milk instead!).
This is the Philippine leg of their Getaway Asia 2006 video, appropriately set to the haunting, hypnotic tune of Moby‘s Porcelain (the theme song of the 2000 movie “The Beach” starring Leonardo DiCaprio from the novel of the same title by Alex Garland ). It includes stunning locales like Boracay, Palawan, Bohol, and Negros. Enjoy!
Tokyo’s 6-Storey Gundam Robot!
As a child of the Voltes V generation, this is the closest to the real thing for me. It’s a 1:1 replica of a Gundam robot, at 59 feet (18 meters) tall, weighing 25 tons! This is pure robot nirvana! (Japan – 1, US – 0; sorry Roomba, you’re just a cowchip with a chip. And oh, R2D2 was a dwarf actor in tin costume… how lame!) ‘Nuff said.
Click on the picture for the Flickr photoset.
Here’s the video!
HipFlip#1: goodnewspilipinas.com
I have it bookmarked in my Chrome. It’s in my Google Reader. My Facebook friends, especially my Filipino friends who are mostly abroad, have been served regularly a generous helping of positive Philippine news using its links in my status updates. Like my Gmail, a day without checking it is never complete. For that, Good News Pilipinas gets the first spot in my HipFlip roster.
Good News Pilipinas, or GNP, is an information website that highlights the good in the Filipino and the Philippines. It focuses on the positive action, triumphs and victories, whether big or small of fellow Pinoys around the world. It is here to uplift, inspire and inform the world the greatness of our country and people. It wants to make every Filipino feel proud and smile, that yes indeed we have achieved a lot as a people, and continue to be successful in various sectors in our very own country and overseas. It has a NO POLITICS information policy. All it wants is just to tell the whole world that the Philippines is a big beautiful country and that the Filipino is hospitable, talented, smart, and resourceful. Its Managing Board is composed of Tina de Leon Funtanilla, COO & Marketing Director, Gabriel Battung – Sales & Marketing Manager, Melannie Syquia-Hizon, CEO & Operations Director, Giselle Kasilag, Community Relations Director, Susan de Guzman, Public Relations Director, Federico M. Hizon, Director
Atty. Verena Villanueva, Legal Counsel, and Michael Haydn Bagtas, Website Administrator & Content Manager.
Whether reporting on the first interactive TV created by a team of Filipinos, Donald Trump and Company’s $1 Billion investment in Subic, or an advice from renowned immigration lawyer, Michael J. Gurfinkel, Esq., the site strikes a chord in the hearts of Filipinos worldwide who are sick and tired of the cut-and-dried fare of bad news on and from the Philippines. Its masthead captures its spirit and essence aptly : “Pinoy Pride Worldwide!” Its list of advocates includes Margie T. Logarta, a HongKong-based veteran lifestyle and travel journalist, the Editor of the prestigious and widely read regional publication, Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Magazine, who is also known in the industry as “The Dean of Travel Writers”, and Rico Hizon, the 2006 TOYM (The Outstanding Young Men) Awardee for International Journalism and Community Service, a BBC World Business and Financial News Anchor producing, reporting and presenting live every weekday mornings the business and finance program Asia Business Report.
If you are like me who thinks bad news is no news, we have a wonderful source of a healthy dose of positive news about the Philippines and the Filipinos!
[ the digitizer ]* 