National Flag Day

Today, March 28, 2008 is National Flag Day.

National Flag Day is the start of the celebration for Philippine Independence Day on June 12, 2008. However the government proclaimed June 9 as non-working holiday but the Independence Day activities will still push through June 12.

Exploration: Mars

There are many things about Mars that we do not know but with the help of the US spacecraft Phoenix lander which successfully landed on Mars north pole, we can now have more information about the so-called Red Planet.
Scientists from NASA were very happy about the Phoenix lander voyage which took 10 months before it safely touched down on Mars this Sunday (US time). The Phoenix mission is led by University of Arizona and Jet Propulsion Laboratory and it costs $420 million.
Phoenix immediately transmitted photos of the surface of the Red planet and it will stay in one place to dig in 90 days and find out if Mars' polar region have the component for the existence of life.

It's David Cook!

This season's American Idol winner is DAVID COOK!
He won over 17-year old David Archuleta by millions of votes.
David Cook's rendition of Mariah Carey's "You'll always be my baby" is a worldwide hit today.




On the local side, PINOY IDOL has chosen 24 lucky candidates who will vie for the title. Watch out for it every Mondays to Thursday after The Legend and Sunday after SOP on GMA 7.

Fare hike

Effective today, I paid P14 in ordinary bus ride from home to Munoz and P9.50 jeepney ride from Munoz to my place of work. Yes I need to spare P1.50 from my daily food budget because the government approved the provisional fare hike the transport sector appealed - after a day DOTC Sec. Leandro Mendoza defferred LTFRB Chief Thompson Lantions approval of the said petition.
The P20 wage hike for minimum earners like me is not yet implemented and here is an added burden to my budget. How about the coming days until the wage hike will be effective? When series of oil increase is still expected, what will be the value of P20 a day then?

Farewell, Ka Bel!

Militant leader, Anakpawis Representative Crispin Beltran, 75, died this morning in an accidental fall from the roof of his home in San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan.
Beltran as always pushes bills for the benefit of the labor force including issues about wage increase.
He lived a very simple life with ordinary people and died the poorest among our congressman.
Beltran reflects true public service and for this he will always be remembered.

On the LIGHT side

While the public is fuming mad over the electricity cost issue and the government and electric company officials debate on how to cut high electric cost, a story about a light bulb made my day lighter.
It is about a 4 watt light bulb better known today as the centennial bulb continuous to give light for 107 years now in Livermore, California firehouse.
Amazing isn't it? But imagine, if that centennial light bulb is here in the Philippines, how much do you think will its electricity bill costs!

Proudly Pinoy

Urduja is the first full length animation film made by Filipinos. It showcased Filipino talent in animation industry and it is voiced over by our local artists.

Many Pinoys are endowed with creative hands and they made the country proud all over the world with this world class talent. Just take the example of Mr. Floro Dery, a Filipino artist who made the famous Transformers and those who are involve in cartoon movies that became blockbuster hit.

This time, Pinoys should prove the world how supportive we are in our own masterpiece. Let us watch Urduja which will be shown in June 2008.

P20

The regional wage board approved P20 wage increase for Calabarzon workers and Metro Manila labor sector should expect the same wage increase after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo divulged that the NCR wage board agreed on that amount.

The question is, do you think P20 per day is sufficient enough for the minimum wage earners to cope with the soaring prices of basic commodities? It can't even buy us a kilo of US rice. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Pahiyas

The Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon is celebrated every May 15 of the year. It is a form of thanksgiving to the town's patron saint San Isidro. The locales make Kiping - a colorful leave-shape delicacy made from rice that they use as decoration outside their houses. Kiping and the locales creativity makes Pahiyas Festival a feast to remember.

Happy Mother's Day!

I know how often I took you for granted
when I was growing up.
I always assumed you'd be there
when I needed you...
and you always were.

But I never really thought about what that meant
till I got older and began to realize
how often your time and energy were devoted to me.
so now, for all the times I didn't say it before,
thank you, Mom.... I love you so very much!

Donate now!

Approximately 22,000 people died after cyclone Nargis devastated Myanmar (Burma) last Saturday. We are all human, though we lived in different countries it still stand on only one ground - Mother Earth. To lend a hand for Myanmar cyclone victims you can log on to www.worldvision.org.sg

Help Myanmar, now!

New teachers

We have a total of 8,580 new teachers after they passed the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET).
Out of 18, 386 examinees only 4,875 passed the test for elementary teachers. Only 3,705 out of 14, 767 examinees made it for high school teaching.
To view the full list of successful examinees click THIS.

Most Beautiful

Kate Hudson tops People Magazine's 100 Most Beautiful People.
Filipina Vanessa Hudgens of the famous "High School Musical" join the list together with Salma Hayek, Jennifer Lopez, Halle Berry, Miley Cyrus of "Hannah Montana".
Brad Pitt was also on the list, George Clooney and Matthew McConaughey.
My favorite Carrie Underwood is also included.