Sep 28 2009

Tropical Storm “Ondoy” (International name:Ketsana)

Category: Manila,Personal,Philippines — DNA @ 2:57 am

It is a sad time for the Philippines. It was raining in the morning of September 26 when people started their day. But before noontime, something was not right. The rain continued to pour in heavy torrents and water on the streets started to rise - fast! And traffic jams were everywhere!

The first six hours of "Ondoy" brought a month's worth rain.

Then reports on landslides and floods in Metro Manila and surrounding areas started filling the news. Facebook walls showed pictures of water-filled roads and submerged houses and vehicles. Twitter messages were all about the situations in different places, and asking for information on areas where friends and relatives live. Phone lines were down, so they resorted to any information they can get online.

The netizens came out in full force - posting information that they gathered here and there. Help hotlines, updates, relief aid and donations, news reports and address of people still trapped were posted in a lot of social networking sites, reposted nth times over so that it will reach those who need them.

As of 6pm tonight, the official report from the National Disaster Coordinating Council has reached 73 confirmed deaths, with hundred still missing. Affected Population: 69,513 families / 337,216 persons, and the partial number of evacuees: 11,967 families / 59,521 persons in 118evacuation centers.

The rescue operations are on-going. A lot of places are still submerged in water, and darkness. Hundreds of men, women, elderly and children are still out in the cold and hungry. Lot are still stranded on the streets. And a lot still cannot be traced by their friends and families.

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Feb 22 2009

Disgusted

Category: Kids,Lifestyle,Motherhood,News,PH,Personal,Philippines — DNA @ 7:37 pm

I don't normally watch TV. Not because I don't like to, but because I have absolutely no time. Today was one of the few days that I have enough time to sit down and hold the remote control.

My habit is to start scanning the channels - starting from Channel 1-100+ - to see if there's anything interesting for me. I started with the lowest one, Channel 6, which is the assigned channel for ABS-CBN, one of the largest network in the Philippines. I don't really watch local channels, so I was ready to press the 'next' button on the remote when the video on Channel 6 made me stop.

On the screen were girls and BOYS wearing black leotards and stockings, gyrating to the tune of "Single Ladies" by Beyonce. Okay, for some, there's nothing wrong with it. But not for me. It was not right!

It was supposed to be a children show, for goodness sake! Children shows should be entertaining and educational at the same time! But where is the educational value there when they show kids, again, girls AND BOYS, wearing skimpy clothes and gyrating their bodies on the dance floor.

Call me prude, but I have two boys who are asking me why those boys are wearing leotards and stockings, when they are not dancing the ballet? Should I tell them that it's normal and that's the way to go?! No way!

I dance. I like to dance, and I also dance those moves sometimes. Nothing wrong with it, yes. So why am I so worked up with this show? Well, because I don't want my boys to think that it's the norm for their age, including - and especially - cross-dressing!

For a TV network who has the responsibility to teach young kids right from wrong, where's the sense in all that? That dance number wasn't funny, nor cute at all. It's was very much in poor taste.

single-ladies

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Jun 22 2008

While I Was Sleeping

Category: Manila,News,PH,Philippines — DNA @ 6:55 pm
I never bothered to check the weather report on Saturday. It's been raining the whole week, so I figured Sunday would be the same. So I went to bed last night and slept like a baby. I guess I enjoyed my sleep too much that I didn't hear the pouring rain on the roof, the howling of the wind, the cracks of the trees outside my house when the branches broke, nor when the fence of my next door neighbor fell over. I woke up when the phone rang, and somebody was calling for my husband and asked him about the missing passengers of the ship that sank. What ship?! I looked around the house and saw that it was dark. Dang! No lights. I sent messages to my students to inform them that I couldn't go online. I went out to the porch and saw leaves, tree branches and trash littered the street, my neighbor's fence was practically flat on the sidewalk, and cables cut, hanging loose. In the news were reports of floods in Metro Manila and in other provinces, at least 86 people dead and 700 missing passengers of the ferry boat that capsized. Typhoon Frank (international codename: Fengshen) ravaged the Visayas and Southern Luzon, including Metro Manila while I was sleeping. Yep, I slept like a log.
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Apr 28 2008

Seven Wonders of Nature

Category: Interests,Manila,Philippines — DNA @ 4:13 pm
"Let's vote online for our world's wonders," Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo urged Filipinos. Yes, let's do that. Calling all Filipinos, and everyone who find the Tubbataha Reef, Chocolate Hills, and especially the Underground River in Puerto Princesa deserving to be on the list of the Seven Wonders of the World. Let's make sure these beautiful spots become part of the seven new wonders of the world to further boost Philippine tourism and its growing economy. All you need is an email address.
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Apr 07 2008

Horrible Acts of War

Category: Manila,PH,Philippines — DNA @ 4:50 pm
April 9, 1942... 6 days, 60 miles.... more than 75,000 Filipino and American prisoners of war...
Mike was out of town for two days. He went to Bataan for a shoot on a documentary he is doing about the Bataan Death March.
The infamous Bataan Death March, where thousands of starving and disease-ridden Filipinos and Americans captured by the Japanese in the Philippines from the Bataan peninsula were made to march to prison camps, was characterized by wide-ranging physical abuse, murder, savagery, and resulted in very high fatalities inflicted upon the prisoners and civilians along the route by the armed forces of the Empire of Japan. Thousands died en route from disease, starvation, dehydration, heat prostration, untreated wounds, and wanton execution. Prisoners were beaten randomly, and were often denied promised food and water. Those who fell behind were usually executed or left to die; the sides of the roads became littered with dead bodies and those begging for help.
When I saw some of the videos Mike brought home, I still felt goosebumps just like the first time I learned about it in my history class in elementary school. No matter how many years had passed, when you hear about it, it just breaks your heart to think about what those men had to go through 66 years ago.
On the Bataan Death March, approximately 54,000 of the 75,000 prisoners reached their destination. The death toll of the march is difficult to assess as thousands of captives were able to escape from their guards. All told, approximately 5,000-10,000 Filipino and 600-650 American prisoners of war died before they could reach Camp O'Donnell in Tarlac.
6 days, 97 kilometers, more than 10,000 Filipinos and Americans died. 800px-ww2_131.jpg
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