PALASYO NG MALACANANG

For those who share my interest in old photos of various lcoations inside and outside Manila, I would like to share with you some old photos of Malacanang Palace. (Photos courtesy of the Malacanang Museum).

PALACE STATE ENTRANCE THROUGH THE YEARS







PRESIDENTIAL FAMILY ENTRANCE













PALACE RIVER SIDE










More pictures to come next time... :) hope you liked them.

SUCCESS!

HAHAHA! Sa wakas, natutunan ko na rin ang pag gawa ng authentic Bicol Tinumok (tilmok, Tinumok). Bwahahahahaha! Tataba nanaman ako! Wala lang... thought you should know.... :D

A RAY OF LIGHT BEHIND BARS

For the benefit of those who were not able to read my article regarding Edgar Eniego of Puerto Pirncesa in 2001, i am reprinting the panorama issue for your perusal. -- Rodel

ZACH'S BIRTHDAY PARTY PICS

Hi guys. I just wanted to show you the pictures of Zach (Jack and Poppo's son) at McDo Visayas Ave. last weekend. Sorry ha but i will post only 2 pics. :)


MMMM.... ANG LAMIIIG NG SUNDAE CONE! BRRRR...... HALA! HALA!!!! FIND THE PONGKAN EATING A SUNDAY CONE!


The Barkada with Hamburglar (alias Asyong Burger)and the birthday boy ZACH!

Wycoco's Stroke

I learned the other day (and from the papers today) the details of General "Wycs" Wycoco's stroke. It is indeed sad when a dedicated and honest government official suffers this fate. I admit i watch his show with Joel Torre and Gen. Angie Reyes (Laban Kontra Krimen). His stroke comes as a shock to all peace-loving citizens of this Republic. I enjoin the people reached by this blogsite to pray for Director Wycoco.

THE GARCI CONTROVERSY REVISITED

The past month saw a hiatus from the petty bickering initiated by the opposition. The Calibrated Preemptive Response (CPR) has not been challenged for days, and the Garcillano issue almost semmed to have died... or so we thought. The opposition has started to ramble on and on yet again about the faith of Garcillano and they keep on pestering the incumbent (and duly elected) government of Gloria Arroyo to "release" Garci. How can the government release someone who is not in their custody? As for proof, the burden is proof is with the accusers, not the accused. So if i were the opposition, please, please put up or shut up. You have caused the country great and probably unrecoverable damage with your petty issues. Give it up. If you want power, get it on your own next election.

ADDITIONAL RESTORED SKETCHES OF CLAN HOUSES BY TOMAS BANARES

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW

This information is from Greenpeace Southeast Asia: Food Safety is an important concern of all societies. Consumers anywhere in the world are wary of the rpesence of pathogens, pesticide residues, and other toxic chemicals in their food. There are especailly serious concerns about the safety of eating Genetically Engineered (GE) Foods. Because Genetical Engineering is based on the random insertion of genes, it can produce unintended and unexpected effects. The long term implications on human health of eathing GE Foods are also not known (and have not been investigated).

According to the Royal Society of London, a prestigious group of independent scientists, babies and infants are especailly vulnerable to allergies and changes in the nutirtional composition of their diet. A mandatory labelling system allows consumers to avoid these risks.

Sadly, Numerous bills on labelling are found in both our hosues of congress. However, these have never progressed beyond their filing, and to dat, no committee deliberations have been done to inform consumers about the items they are buying.

Need more info? Log on to www.greenpeacesoutheastasia.org

Some Restored Drawings of Clan Houses by My Grandfather Tomas

Note: All the drawings below were drawn by the then 83-year old "Lolo Chief" (My grandfather, Tomas Torre Banares). All were Drawn in March-April 1979 in their home in Bacacay, Albay.
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The above drawing shows the house of Tomas & Crispina Banares where teir son Onesimo (Oning) was born.
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SUPPORTING EMERGENCY RULE

Talks are ripe about Malacanang's alleged plan to use the power of the president to dclare emergency rule. This plan has been criticized by members of the opposition and the militant groups who are now afraid of the very ghost they created. I for one support this plan to impose emergency rule for several reasons: (1) this is to show that congress and the opposition are not int he position to dictate their whims on the commander-in-chief; (2) That the presidency is still equipped to utilize available means of controlling the country's continued downspiral due to the opposition's unabated thrist for power; and (3) to show that the constitution (yes, the Cory constitution) has given the president such remedies, the same powers which Cory and her gang of power-hungry cronies are now eager to condemn. Damn! Corazon Aquino and Susan Roces have gone far in their lives only to be pushed back into the primeval ooze by those politicians who have decided to crawl out and wreak havoc on our poor country. The likes of Lacson, Pimentel et al belong in jail and if I am the president, order their immediate arrests and summary execution. to hell with these destabilizers. The country is losing so much because of some oppositionists' lust for power --- even going to great lengths such as spying on other foreign powers just to destabilzie the government. i say kill all destabilizers on the spot. And to those civilians who are rumored to be arming themselves to protect GMa should she be forced out of office through extra-constitutional means, remember the words of Paul Revere: To arms! To Arms! We should be ready... armed and ready to fight for the country against these power-hungry destabilziers.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOCTOR KHO

Doctor Lorenzo Kho of Sto. Domingo, Quezon City celebrated his birthday on the day of the Feast of the Lady of the Most Holy Rosary (Nuestra Senora de Santissima Rosario de La Naval de Manila) on October 9. Doc, as he is known to most of his friends and acquaintances, opened his house to friends and relatives around luch, serving food and drinks to guests. The party went on until early morning of October 10. From the barkada, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOC!

Prof. Astrologio laid to rest

It was a rainy Saturday morning. Friends, family and students of Prof. Crispin Astrologio gathered at the Royal Chapel of St. Peter Funeral Homes in Quezon City to pay their last respects. I headed the necrological service which followed the morning mass. The day before, i received a fax from Vice Governor Vicnent Villaluna of Catanduanes. He said he could not make it to the service, but he sent his eulogy via fax, which i read. It was a touching eulogy honoring the man who has inspired many of us, his former students, to do well. After the service, a convoy of about fifteen vehicles traversed the long road from Quezon City to Loyola Paranaque. Rain was pouring down hard on the convoy of cars led by the hearse. The rain let up a bit as the convoy entered the memorial park. As the group of people attending the burial gathered around his casket for the last time, i looked around. Familiar and unfamiliar faces alike were crying as his casket's lid was closed. As his casket was being lowered into the damp earth, a slight drizzle marked a final farewell to the man we called Astro.

MY FLOOBLE CHATBAORD IS UP AND RUNNING AGAIN! YAHOOO!

Due to my long absence in blogging, i realized too late that my chatboard was cancelled due to non-activity. Well its over now, and my flooble chatboard is up and running again. You may now post your messages!

TRIBUTE TO PROF. ASTROLOGIO

There will be a simple tribute and necrological service for Prof. Crispin F. Astrologio of Angelicum College at the St. Peter Funeral Homes along Quezon Avneue in Quezon City on Friday, September 23, 2005 at 8:00 pm. Those who wish to deliver their messages may contact me at 589-41-95 or 0917-2468-514.

Remembering Ninoy

Hi guys! Yesterday we commemorated the death anniversary of former senator Benigno Aquino Jr. who was assasinated while descending the tarmac of the Manila International Airport. Ninoy, as he is fondly called by friends and family was returning from exile in the United States. Though he was discouraged several times by the Marcos government from returning to the Philippines to the point that he was refused issuance of a passport and visa, he still found a way to return to his native land. A few minutes before landing, he held a press conference inside the plane, and in what seemed to most as premonition, began instructing the reporters to be "very ready with hand cameras, because this action can become very fast. In a matter of minutes, it would be all over and i may not have a chance to talk to you again after this". True enough, a few minutes after the plane landed, he was shot even before he was able to set foot on his native soil. Many historians claim that his death served as the fire that ignited people to revolt three years alter, but for many, he was more than just that --- he was the personification of everything Filipino.

DUMBLEDORE IS NOT DEAD

I was told by my niece, who, just like myself, is a harry potter fan, that there is a site dedicated to estabnlishing the fact that DUMBLEDORE IS NOT DEAD. For those in the dark as to what i am talking about, i am of course talking about the second to the last installation of the Harry Potter Series, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". Sadly this time though, i decided not to have my book reserved and instead chose to wait for the price to go down before purchasing it. I, however, was able to read the book through the wonders of the internet. I can ramble on and on about why i personally feel that Albus Dumbledore is not dead, but i would rather you discover it for yourself, either through self discovery or through the website i just mentioned. More to come. Enjoy. :)

out job-hunting

sorry for not updating this blog sooner, guys, but i'm out job-hunting. :) Hope you guys understand.

Dna. Gaudencia "Gem" Magtuba vda de Bañares

Gaudencia Magtuba Banares, known to the clan as Gem, wife of Fidel Banares Sr. and a long-time resident of Roxas District and Antipolo City, passed away at 10:35 this morning at the Capitol Medical Center in Quezon City. Her remains will be open for viewing for family and friends from today until the morning of August 3. She will be burried at 3:00 in the afternoon of August 3 at the Loyola Memorial Gardens in Marikina City.

SONA of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the 2nd Regular Session of the 13th Congress of the Republic of the Philippine

Batasan Pambansa, Quezon City (25 July 2005)
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Thank you. Thank you, Speaker De Venecia.Vice President De Castro; President Ramos; Senate President Drilon and the members of the Senate; members of the House of Representatives; Chief Justice Davide and the members of the judiciary; Archbishop Franco and the excellencies of the diplomatic corps; fellow government workers whether elected, appointed or civil servants; distinguished guests; ladies and gentlemen:

Every year, we meet on this day in this great hall to celebrate democracy and take stock of the nation: the country and its condition; the government and its performance; the people and their well-being.

Ours is a country divided; the story of our nation is a tale of two Philippines; almost, as it were, two countries under the same name.

One is the Philippines whose economy, after long years of cumulative national endeavor, is now poised for take off. The other is the Philippines whose political system, after equally long years of degeneration, has become a hindrance to progress.

As a country on the verge of take off, our storyline would surprise many at home and abroad. The story includes an economy that grew more than 6% last year and that has continued to work in the teeth of the biggest oil price hikes in history, while generating 4 million jobs in the last four years.

The story includes marked improvements in tax collections, infrastructure housing construction, shelter, security for the urban poor and indigenous peoples, and rice productivity.The story includes 69 million beneficiaries of health care insurance, including 30 million indigents, whose re-enrollment started early this year and is still ongoing.

That same story, over four years, saw the drug menace cut in half, the rash of kidnappings become a thing of the past, and insurgency in the south abated.This story should work itself out as one about an economy as resilient and full of potential as its people are patient and hardworking, guided by a government - with the executive and the legislative hand-in-hand -- that is able to pass a no-nonsense budget and make the tough decisions to put our fiscal house in order.I specially refer to our recent titanic struggle to enact the three laws that comprised the biggest fiscal package in our history, the biggest revenue increase in a generation that will break the vicious cycle of financing development by borrowing and having to borrow again just to service those loans. This is the one reform that will snap the chain that has bound our future to a profligate past and the debt-burdened present.

The Filipino's strong sense of family has given congress a stronger resolve not to pass on today's debt, and bankrupt our children and grandchildren tomorrow. That struggle has done the house and the senate great honor. Congratulations.Abroad, the story continues. We've worked long and hard to restore our country to the prominent place it once held as co-founder of the United Nations and the free world's first line of defense in the east.

We won a seat in the UN Security Council, where we presided over the landmark resolution calling for democracy in Iraq. The Philippines chaired the historic conference on interfaith cooperation for peace at the UN, the fruit of a bold and creative initiative by your Speaker of the House.We head the APEC anti-terrorism task force. Our victories in the war on terror have been acknowledged by no less than president bush before the U.S. National Defense University. The Jemaah Islamiya and the Abu Sayyaf can only pick up the pieces of its broken backbone in Mindanao.We've worked with the organization of the Islamic conference to forge peace with our Muslim brothers. Eighty percent of our peace talks with them have been completed. Permanent peace in Mindanao is within reach.

Indeed, our story as a country on the verge of take off is real. Analysts need only to look at our stock market, and even the peso-dollar exchange rate, to sense the strong anticipation of significant improvements, if only we would overcome the tendency to be our own worst enemy.Thus, with investors both here and abroad in mind, I invite you all to join me in sending them a strong message from this great hall: we will not waver in our commitment to economic reform and fiscal discipline, whatever the political cost. The other message to send is that we will address the burden that the other Philippine story imposes on our anticipated take off. I refer to the story of how our political system has now become a hindrance to our national progress.Over the years, our political system has degenerated to the extent that it is difficult for anyone to make any headway yet keep his hands clean.

To be sure, the system is still capable of achieving great reforms. But, by and large, our political system has betrayed its promise to each new generation of Filipinos, not a few of whom are voting with their feet, going abroad and leaving that system behind.Perhaps we politicians have done our best; but maybe our best is not enough, given the present system. Perhaps we have strained the present political system to its final limit.It is time to turn to the people, bring them into government -- and change the way that government is done.The people want government that works for them at every level. They want good government that begins at their doorstep in the Barangay, and does not end before the closed door of a bureaucrat in metro manila.The system clearly needs fundamental change, and the sooner the better. It's time to start the great debate on Charter Change.

We must address such questions as how much more government is needed for the greater safety and economic security of our people, and how much less government is more conducive to free enterprise and economic progress.The mode of Charter Change is the exclusive prerogative of Congress. But a Constituent Assembly may well give our people the quickest reforms.I shall work with Congress, civil society groups and local government executives who are convinced that charter changes are needed to enable the country to surmount the unprecedented challenges of the 21st century.I take this opportunity to acknowledge the local government executives who have brought about an LGU power revolution through transformative leadership.

The economic progress and social stability of the provinces, along with the increasing self-reliance and efficiency of political developments and public services there, make a compelling case for federalism.Perhaps it's time to take the power from the center to the countryside that feeds it.I recognize that our form of government will be the decision of the body constituted to undertake charter change. But we should consider that legislation could be quickened and laws made more responsive to the people under a parliamentary system, similar to that of our progressive neighbors in the region.But even as we make a serious start in Charter Change, I hope we can still work together on other initiatives to the lasting benefit of our people.In the area of education, we've spent our increased resources on better trained teachers in more classrooms, teaching students in more effective ways. We've laid a strong foundation by building almost 30,000 classrooms in the past four years, providing computer access to more than 3,000 high schools, and beginning a "healthy start" breakfast program for our young school children.I ask Congress to pass the pre-need code to rehabilitate, reform and regulate the pre-need educational programs that worked so well in the past as a major vehicle for youth education entitlement. College education is the great Filipino dream.

But in a world of rapid technological change, getting a job or keeping it depends as much on how well one reasons as how well one uses his hands. I have issued E.O. 358 so that hours spent in vocational training can be credited towards a college degree. That will combine job readiness with the dream of a college education while increasing the competitiveness of our nation.But our competitiveness is greatly endangered today by the global oil crisis. I call on Congress to pass legislation encouraging renewable and indigenous energy. In the area of national security, I urge the swift passage of an anti-terrorism law that will protect rather than subvert, enhance rather than weaken, the rights and liberties that terrorism precisely threatens with extinction. These examples serve to highlight that there is much work to be done.

Now is not the time for divisiveness, and while there's no avoiding partisan politics, there can be a determined effort by all sides to limit the collateral damage on a country poised for take-off.Let's call on the Lord. Let us ask him for the grace to make us worthy of his healing our land.Alam kong tayong lahat ay naghahangad ng isang makabuluhang pagbabago para sa ating bayan. Tayong lahat ay nagsisikap para matamo ang kapayapaan at kaunlaran. Kung kaya't ako'y nakikiusap na tulungan ninyo ako, para sa kapakanan ng taong bayan.

We may disagree among ourselves but let us never lose sight of that greater battle for one people, one country, one Philippines. Not the country of this or that president but the Philippines of our shared and passionate affections.

Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat.

The realities of corporate "unprofessionalism"

The past few days i have been contemplating on resigning from Southern Broadcasting Network, which for the past 2 months has been my second home. When i was hired by the company, i truly believed in their advocacy. But the past few weeks, i have been greatly disappointed with the network, for, when i was asked to be part of the research team (which was far from my original designation as Project Development Specialist) i gladly accepted the job for i felt that research was a challenging post --- a post which would give me an opportunity to really use my brains. When i accepted, the ice president for Human Resources and head of operations told me that i will be reporting directly to her and no longer directly with the CEO. I accepted this without question for who am i to question the decision of the Head and VP of Human Resources. Little did i know that they did not formally request for my transfer, but that the CEO was growing more and more disappointed that i was no longer reproting to him. This, i agree was a lapse in judgment on my part. With the growing gap between myself and the CEO, plus the more disturbing fact that i was to be part of a research team that did not have a computer to its name. Imagine doing internet-based research without a computer! What a predicament. Everyday i go to the office waiting for my turn to use any of the available computers, which usually become vacant around 6 or 7 in the evening. The available books for research are old copies of Readers Digest and a big book on home remedies. I tried very hard to request for computers and additional materials, but only got a vauge reply: "make do with what you have". I think the proper term should be "make do with what we DON'T have. And what we DON'T have, we have plenty of, so to speak. This, to me was a sign to bail out. To be given "battle orders" without a weapon is too much, plus the fact that because of their doing, the CEO was beginning to lose faith in my abilities through no fault of my own but through the scheming mechanisms that were already in place long before i started working there. So, i did what i had to do. I resigned my post as part of the research team and resigned my post as Project Development Specialist. This was not done without some long thought. A few weeks back, three people resigned from their posts for similar reasons. I know now why they had to do it. People in that company are scheming, devious and self-absorbed. No matter how much you believe in their advocacy, it is clear that they themselves do not exemplify the very advocacy they profess to adhere to. That is their fault. I know many people will find it hard to understand my actions now, but i am sure that i am not the last in a long line of people growing more and more dismayed with the way things are done in that network. I was hired under the impression that i can do things to the company that would make it great, and i had the same vision, but you cannot make something great if the very people who run it do not believe that their company has potential for greatness. For all their talk of advocacies and community building, they have all been talk, no action. I have no regrets and my action is supported by many of the people in the company. In the two months that i have been with SBN, i have made many friends, i have done my share. I attended seminars sponsored by my sister, i have had calling cards made from my own pocket (though i was made to understand that the company was to provide me with these at the start of my term). It was such a big disappointment.