The Estradas strike again

In the Senate hearing yesterday on the Garcia plea bargaining agreement, Senator Jinggoy Estrada and former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo had a partly heated argument. Jinggoy was arguing: Walang kasalanan si President Erap. Di ba napardon nga siya?

Nosebleed!

Pero nakabawi naman ang mga Estrada. Just today, the pardoned Joseph Estrada, made a noteworthy comment. Sabi ni Erap: In our history, there are only two women presidents in the Philippines -- one is an icon of democracy and the other is an icon of corruption.

Teka, sino nga ba ang nagsalita?

Nosebleed ulit.

Aquino may follow Obama path, warns think-tank

 US President Barack Obama lost big in the midterm elections by taking control of the House of Representatives and almost had the Senate, too. The reason: The babble of change that catapulted Obama to office is but a pure bubble which is sure to burst. According to Pacific Strategies and Assessments, a risk consulting firm, the Philippines' P-Noy may also follow Obama. Tikboy shares this view. Here is the report of the Inquirer.

Aquino may follow Obama path, warns think-tank

By Tony Bergonia

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III’s promise of change is likely to follow the same path as that of US President Barack Obama, according to a US-led multinational risk consultancy firm doing intelligence work for the world’s top corporations and embassies in Manila.
In a paper titled “Chasing a Legacy: Assessing Aquino’s Ability to Impact Change,” Pacific Strategies and Assessments (PSA) warned that like that of his US counterpart, Mr. Aquino’s change agenda appeared likely to fail to institute reforms for the great majority.

“Approximately 100 days into office, it appears that the bubble of expectations around Noynoy (Mr. Aquino’s nickname) is beginning to burst,” PSA said in the October 2010 paper that it had prepared for its clients, one of which furnished the Philippine Daily Inquirer a copy.

“The dynamics are not too dissimilar to the shared doubt being cast on US President Barack Obama because he simply has not lived up to the hype and soaring-oratory expectations of those who voted for him,” PSA said in reference to the losses suffered by the US President’s Democratic party in the midterm elections.

“Mr. Obama’s grace period has expired and eventually so will Noynoy’s,” it said, adding that while Mr. Aquino had “done a fair job acknowledging and framing the country’s major issues,” he had “not articulated any semblance of a strategy to address them.”

Read more here>>>

Mislang and Misfit

What's the difference between P-Noy's ASec and speechwriter "Mai Mislang" and "behavioral misfit"? None. Nada.

Mislang's unbridled fingers especially on the social networking sites are doing the scratches on P-Noy's administration. Worse, this might even cost the Philippines the cordial relations with Vietnam... all because the latter's wine sucks and that there are no cute chaps in the speechwriter's taste.

Pero teka, are we paying Mislang to ridicule President Noynoy Aquino's hosts? Are we paying her to berate people just because it offered no sweet wine and no cute chap? Or are we paying her to be the wine taster and guy-hunter?

While we agree that the personal and the professional sides should not mix, one should also be aware where he or she is standing and what is the cap he or she is carrying. Human as she is, puwede naman siyang magreklamo but within the confines of her private life naman sana. Tikboy thought she's a tourism graduate and from UP at that? Bakit di niya alam ang simple common sense?

Well, this just show the weakness of appointment or hiring not based on merit but based on the relationship with the appointing officer. We thought things will change under PNoy but it seems that the same old style of recruiting the members of public office remains.

From Karitoon Classroom to Learning Center

After a year of having been declared as CNN hero of the year, awardee Efren Penaflorida is now into showbiz. He is hosting Ako Mismo program in TV5 and yesterday, was into pictorial for a CD album "For a Better World", PEP reports.

But he did not totally left his advocacies on education. From Karitoon Classrom in Cavite, Efren and his buddies are now building a learning center for the kids.

Buti naman at may improvement na. Sana tuloy-tuloy na ito. Pero teka, di kaya naiinsulto dito si Gloria Macapagal Arrovo... err, Arroyo? Sabi niya before she left, kumpleto naman ang classroom for the education sector. Covering nga lang 120 students per classroom ... o class hall? Kasi ang alam kong classroom mga 30 max lang ang estudyante. Kung hall, puwedeng 120. Pasok din yun sa gymnasium o kaya coliseum.

Pero sabi primary concern daw ng P-Noy Administration ang education. Kaya nga dadagdagan ng 2 years ang basic education ng mga Pilipino. Sana dagdagan din ng classroom. Di ba Bro. Armin Luistro? Kasi kahit 10 years pa ang idagdag sa basic education kung lahat naman ay matututo sa ilalim ng punong mangga o kaya sa may kariton, dagdag-pahirap lang yun sa ating mga kababayan. Not unless.... gusto pa nating magkaroon ng marami pang Efren Penaflorida. Pero di ba insulto yun sa mga Pinoy at sa kasalukuyang administrasyon?

Half kudos for P-Noy Admin over Typhoon Juan

President Noynoy Aquino aired satisfaction over the handling of information and corresponding risk mitigation efforts over super typhoon Juan. As Yahoo's FTP reported:

“I am very pleased. Pagasa [Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration], with its accurate and timely predictions, enabled all other agencies to be ready,” Aquino said in a text message to reporters.

Photo courtesy of www.fox40.com

Well, we see really some difference and we are glad about it. Hence, Tikboy offers his "half" congratulations to the P-Noy Administration for that. The other half is reserved until after the administration has taught the local government officials on how to mitigate disaster-related risks. As Inquirer.net reported, 12 are dead and at least P1.5 billion of crops are lost along with hundreds of houses destroyed.