Bayanihan Walk 2019

Bayanihan Walk 2019 

The Doctor Finally Told Me (BAD NEWS)

This guy is an inspiration to a lot of young and adults to enjoy life everyday. Keep going :)

Makati Skyline

Haven't had the time to do any blogging this year. So I thought of just doing something easy, so a photo blog then. Here are some pictures of the Makati skyline. For those who are not familiar with Makati, its the cental business district (CBD) of Metro Manila (BGC is currently close 2nd). 

A historical info: Makati was once the location for Manila airport, the Ayala avenue and Makati avenue were part of the Manila airport runway. 

Things to do in this city: Museum visits, local fine dining, cafes, good schools, shopping and whatnot!

The Makati CBD 

Makati view from the plane

Visit Makati

Ayala Center @ Makati

My PAL Player

Home bound? Ready for the holidays? If you are taking a Philippine Airline (PAL) flight, make sure to download on the App store or Play store My PAL Player app so you can enjoy the in-flight movies, TV shows, listen to music, and read selected magazines available on your PAL flight. 

 

For those who travel with gadgets, this App will be useful

It's best to download the app before boarding as it will not necessarily allow users to download it while on-board (counter-intuitive) but if you’re on a medium to long-term haul flight, it will be worth it especially if you don't have (enough) Netflix download shows on your gadget. Not all flights of PAL has its own individual flight entertainment system, so the next viable option is to use your own smart phone or tablet to watch shows while connecting to on-board flight Wi-Fi. You can try your luck in borrowing on-board  tablets from your flight attendants as some flights will have several available tablets for loan, and just like your blankets, you have to ask if you want to have it, as it seems not a standard features provided to all passengers. 

Movie selection available on PAL flights. 

To use it, put your phone on flight mode, after take-off, once the seat-belt sign is turn-off, turn-on your Wi-Fi button and click My PAL Wi-Fi. Go to your app and enjoy your myPALplayer. 

 

Music Lover? Here are  the albums available on your flight

Fortunately, there are available music albums and tracks in Filipino (Lea Salonga, The Company, etc.). However, what is surprising, is that the movie and TV section doesn't even have Filipino movies and TV shows. In contrary, big middle-eastern airlines such as Qatar Airways, Etihad and Emirates that gets a big sliced of Filipino travelers have Filipino movies on their in-flight entertainment system.  It’s not acceptable that a Philippine flag carrier like PAL doesn't even carry Filipino shows on board (what a shame) while it provides service to mostly Pinoy passengers. Where is the heart of the Filipino then? I hope that will change really soon and hoping Filipino movies will be available on my next flight with PAL.

 

Original Pilipino Music (OPM) - Available on Board

 

Flight Map? You can check on your MyPALPlayer App

https://www.philippineairlines.com/en/ph/home/myPAL-IFE/myPAL-player

https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/mypal-player/id983958028?mt=8

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zodiac.pal.ife&hl=en

http://ferdzdecena.com/technology/apps/mypal-player-app-philippine-airlines/

Undecided Formula Philippine Election

This is not a scientifically derived formula.

Still undecided who to choice this coming election? If yes, this is a very basic formula to help you make up your mind. Just a warning, after using this formula, either you stick by your (unsure)1st choice or you change your mind and choose your 2nd option (unlikely but not impossible that you'll choose your 3rd best). Willing to try then?

Like most of the undecided voter out there, I would like that my 1st choice candidate to win, but without a chance of winning, I feel my vote will just go to waste.  Right? So, I decided to incorporate capacity to win criteria. If my 2nd choice (or 3rd choice) is within striking distance to win the top post, I might consider voting for my 2nd choice rather than my 1st choice who doesn't have a clear chance to win.

The candidates for May 9, 2016 Presidential Elections.

This formula is not for those who already made up their mind.  Stick to your candidate and respect other voter's choice. This is not for that die-hard butt hurt supporters of a particular candidate. This formula is for the undecided voter. 

Be mindful of who you choose as 1st choice as it will be harder to displace this candidate off from 1st place and relegate it to 2nd place.  The "Undecided Formula" is inclined to maintain your 1st choice unless  the chance of winning or "winnability" is really compromised. On the other hand, the fact that you place a candidate as your 3rd choice,  it shows your bias that this candidate is your bottom three (3). So the probability of your 3rd place ending up ask your "new"1st choice is unlikely unless this candidate is number one (1) in the survey and the other top two (2) candidates are in the bottom of the survey (or average of surveys).

Interested? If you find using this formula worth spending a couple of minutes , proceed and follow the steps. If not, and nothing will come out from this "Undecided Formula", quit while you can. This formula is not full proof and not without its pitfalls. It is not attempting to be fair to all or claiming to be scientific. It might help you, or it might not help you at all. My suggestion, don't base your decision on just one formula. Still interested?

Steps to Follow:

Step 1: Choose only 3 candidates out of the 5 and rank them based on Table 1.1 Your Best Choice. Tabulate the marks.

Step 2: Based on Table 1.2 Chance of Winning, assign marks of your 3 candidates based on their rank using the most reliable and/or recent survey.

Step 3: Total the score using the two criteria. Maximum mark is 100.  The one with the highest score should be your 1st choice.

Table 1.1 : Assign your three chosen (3) candidates 1st to 3rd choice.

Table 1.2: Use a reliable survey. Either latest survey or the average of past surveys.

Surprised by the result*? Or it is what you've been expecting? Are you sticking by your 1st choice? Or you are changing your decision?

Electing your 1st choice may or may not change the trajectory of our nation, well at least not soon enough, your future and your success is still dependent on you. 

At the end, it is still your own decision. Make your voice heard, by voting, on May 9 (or earlier if your an absentee/overseas voter).

So I say, just vote! And lets all do our part in nation building. 

#justvote 

https://www.facebook.com/Filipinoexpatsworldwide/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/#16cf758f3564

*For tie, just flip a coin :)

Caution:

Pre-election survey samples in the Philippines are too small (e.g. 4000 persons) when compared to 55 million plus voting public. Surveys should be taken with a grain of salt. Vote for who you think is the best overall for the country.

PRC Online

Professional Regulation Commission was established in 1973

Previously known as the Office of the Boards of Examiners, Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) is the instrument of the government to secure a reliable and progressive system of determining the competence of the Filipino professionals. 

Recently, PRC introduced PRC Online which allow professionals to renew their PRC cards at the comfort of their homes. This is a step in the right direction. With the recent leak of personal data online, we can only hope that this system will not only hasten the system of renewing PRC cards but also a system that secures the Professionals' personal data.

PRC Online Website

Long Queue at PRC Manila office

https://www.prc-online.com/que

Filipino Movies in Long-Haul Flight

    On play: A Filipino movie on long-haul flight to Europe  

Been on a long-haul flight recently? Are you one of those individuals that dread long flight? Or are you of those who enjoy seating and watching films in-flight? 

Generally, being in a confined space for extended period of time and cruising altitude of 37,000 feet above sea level, the oxygen level can drop few percentages  and affect the oxygen saturation in a person's blood. In most healthy individuals, this drop rarely affects the overall conditions of the passengers, but those with known heart and respiratory diseases, this drop in oxygen level can affect and worsen their existing medical condition. 

Its good to do some light stretching and occasional walking inside the cabin when in a long-haul flight. For those with acute cardiovascular and respiratory symptoms, its best to avoid flying while in acute phase of the diseases.

For most passengers, enjoy your in-flight entertainment system and look for your worthy critically acclaim Filipino films provided by your chosen airline. 

Recently, I watched Ama Namin (Honor Thy Father),  Metro Manila (Filipino-British Film) and Transit (Filipino-Israeli Film). Worth watching and might help you forget the long flight ahead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYq5SHTQ8rc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2LxS75INlk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_r1q224Vb4

   Several current Filipino Films available on long-haul Flight from Qatar, Etihad, Malaysian and Philippine Airlines.

Halal Jollibee

Halal Certified Jollibee Branch

The global industry for Halal food is estimated to be worth trillions of pesos worldwide. It is a chance for our Filipino Muslim and residents of Mindanao to take advantage of these opportunities and be an active role in nation building. 

Across our islands, we have to have more Halal certified restaurants. Manila and Cebu in particular our lacking of options and is often times difficult to find restaurants or chains that our certified Halal. 

Since we have more visitors, investors and tourist from around the world, our businessmen and young entrepreneurs have to see the potential of this sector and invest in Halal certification and offer great food to our Muslim friends and non-Muslim who equally enjoy good tasting cuisine. 

Jollibee Singapore is Halal Certified 

Inside Jollibee Singapore. Order please?

Halal Certification

Visit the Islamic Da'wah Council of the Philippines 

http://www.idcphalal.com/home.html

other blogs about Jollibee:

http://eugene-tordecilla.blogspot.sg/2013/06/jollibee-at-35.html

http://eugene-tordecilla.blogspot.sg/2011/01/jollibee.html

Overseas Voting

In couple of months, overseas Filipinos will be able to cast their votes for the May 2016 national election. In Philippine embassies, consulates and missions, election will start earlier and will be open for 1 month. In some countries and off shore based voters,  ballots will be sent to registered voters via mail. 

In preparation for the upcoming election, I ask my friends who are based overseas to answer a quick survey. I found out that amongst I survey, majority our registered overseas/absentee voter and are ready to exercise their right to vote this May.

The blue colour signifies YES, red is NO and orange is not sure.

The 11 countries listed are host to thousands if not million of Filipino Expatriates and Overseas based Filipinos

Check your status on COMELEC website or Philippine embassies' homepage.

I am an active overseas voter.

Form to re-acquire Filipino Citizenship (Dual) and be eligible to vote in the national election which take place every 3 years.

Form that you need to fill up to re-acquire your Filipino Citizenship, available online.

Reminders flyer for Filipino overseas to register for May 2016 election, if you missed the deadline, next election is 2019. Register earlier!

If you want to complain and demand for better government in the Philippines, be a Filipino (first), and vote so you can contribute in your small way in the decision making of who will be the leaders that will manage our resources and run the an effective and an efficiently government. We need a government that will promote economic and social development across all sectors of the society. And for the millions of Filipino expatriates and Overseas Pinoys, may the government implement strategies so that being Filipino overseas is almost always a choice rather than a necessity for lack of opportunities and equal playing field to succeed in its own backyard. 

http://irehistro.comelec.gov.ph/ov

http://www.comelec.gov.ph/?r=OverseasVoting/CLOV

http://philippinessanfrancisco.org/uploads/pdfs/Dual%20Citizenship.pdf

Filipino Pride, Not Really

Not sure if its common thing for developing countries, but for the Philippines, or the local media in particular, always seems to claim pride even if its not justifiable. It appears to me that the local media (and becoming too common in a lot of us) is in so much desire to find Filipino sense of achievement. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but if the source of honor is “claiming” that one is Filipino just because of her/his ancestry or just because they look like Filipinos, I think the media (which influence lots of us) frankly should stop doing this.

Jessica Sanchez is an American singer. Her mother identifies as a Filipino.

While is a reality that lots of Filipino have migrated and move their life and family overseas, the offspring of these Filipinos born overseas does not automatically make them Filipino. It might be even too presumptuous to label them "Filipino at heart” just because of their parentage. They could have already adopted the norms and citizenship of the country where their parents migrated. True that they have Filipino bloodline, but their hearts, language, culture and mentality is not anymore Filipino. Just a statement of fact. So we should not unnecessarily claim fame of someone who has not assert her patronage to the Philippines.

Rob Schneider, American actor. His maternal grandmother is of Filipino ancestry.

Although it nice to see these celebrities with Filipino blood making a name for themselves and succeeding in their chosen fields, its not fair for both the Philippines and for the person in particular to lump it into one group.

David Alaba is an Austrian footballer with Filipino and Nigerian descent.

We can still celebrate other nationalities success, but we don’t have to be so desperate to tag them as Filipinos, if the person-of-interest have not declare they belong to the group.

Cyrus Villanueva, born and raise in Wollongong, Australia. Identify himself as Filipino too based on previous X-factor Australia interviews. His father is a Filipino.

Let’s not confuse the dual citizens, the fact they hold a Philippine passport, we can assume they have full patronage to our motherland and want to continue their association with our country. It is to their advantage to hold dual citizenship in today’s geopolitical and economic situation.

Lea Salonga is a Filipino singer and actress.

What is annoying is that if they are not even officially citizens of our country, we label them as Filipinos as fast as we could. Let’s be mindful that aside from claiming unnecessary their own personal glories, we are robbing that person her true identity and loyalty. 

Allan Pineda Lindo aka Apl de Ap is a Filipino-American rapper and record producer. He identify himself also as a Filipino. Born and raise in Clark, Philippines until  the age of 14, his mother is a Filipina and is often seen in the Department of Tourism promotional videos

It’s a different issue if overseas Filipinos, born in the Philippines or 2^nd, 3^rd generations born outside the country, have claimed personally that they associate themselves as Filipinos, but if not, we should stop categorizing persons as Fil-Am (Filipino American), Fil-Jap (Filipino Japanese) or Fil-Aus (Fil-Australian) and what not, to be just to everyone.

Ronnie del Carmen is a Filipino animation film director. His alma mater is University of Santo Tomas (UST) - Manila, the oldest University in Asia.

If we want to celebrate their successes and joys, lets (media should do its background check as part of responsible journalism) clarify the issue of patronage and association first, if not, we should abruptly stop this non-sense claim for someone else sense of fulfillment. In reality, we have so much homegrown talents, there is no shortage of source of inspiration from our own countrymen.

Timothy Go,  a Filipino-Canadian news presenter at Channel News Asia.

http://www.philippineconsulatela.org/consular%20services/conserv-dual.htm