Manny Pacquiao beats Margarito via Unanimous Decision

Posted on November 14, 2010 by Carlo Ople

Manny Pacquiao did it again! After 12 rounds he won over Margarito via Unanimous Decision. His performance in this fight definitely silenced everyone who said that he wasn’t prepared and he was too distracted with his duties as a Congressman. More than his win though I’m very proud of Manny for the compassion he showed Margarito. He knew that he had the Mexican beat so he decided to lighten up and just finish the fight in the last round. He even looked at the referee several times imploring him to stop the fight. Later on during the post-fight interview Pacquiao said that “boxing is not killing”.

Congratulations Cong. Pacquiao and to all Filipinos all over the world!

Posted in Manny Pacquiao | Tagged , | Leave a comment

PNoy’s Communication Team Screwed their Facebook Page Volunteer/Founder

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Carlo Ople

Ricky Rivera shared this article on Facebook and it really shocked me. Apparently the Communications Team of PNoy just screwed over the founder and moderator of their 2M-strong Facebook Page. Apparently PNoy’s page was initially created by Ben Totanes who’s based in the US. The page eventually grew and reached 2M during the heat of the campaign season. However the Communications Team of PNoy decided that it wasn’t an “official” page. They created a new one and Facebook banned the 2M strong page created by Totanes. Totanes wasn’t informed about this. He never got an e-mail, call, or snail mail. This is probably the worst form of ingratitude a volunteer can get. :(

This led Totanes to write a blog entry called “PNoy, you just lost one die-hard supporter” which chronicles the entire experience.

Here’s an excerpt from the blog post:

Tipong hindi yata nagustuhan ito. Ang directive daw ni Sec. Coloma ay magtayo ng sariling Facebook Page at magsimula sila ng bago. Pero sabi ko, sige tutulungan ko sila.

Dumaan ang bus hostage fiasco, at bagyong Juan na walang insidente. Subali’t noong Nobyembre 9, nakita ko na lang ito sa email ko:

“Hello,

Your Page “Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino III” has been removed for violating our Terms of Use. A Facebook Page is a distinct presence used solely for business or promotional purposes. Among other things, Pages that are hateful, threatening, or obscene are not allowed. We also take down Pages that attack an individual or group, or that are set up by an unauthorized individual. If your Page was removed for any of the above reasons, it will not be reinstated. Continued misuse of Facebook’s features could result in the permanent loss of your account.

If you need further assistance with this issue, please visit http://……

The Facebook Team”

Ngayon, subukan ninyo i-click ito: http://www.facebook.com/noynoy.aquino

Wala… Wala na ang Benigno “Noynoy” S. Aquino III Facebook Page na aking sinimulan. Ang Facebook Page na pinaglaanan namin ng panahon, pinag-puyatan, pinag-gastusan ko ng sarili kong pera at pera ng mga nag-donate, ang BSAIII Facebook Page ng taong bayan ay tinanggal na ng Facebook.

Ngayon, puntahan ninyo ito: http://www.facebook.com/presidentnoy

Iyan ang ngayong ”Official” Facebook Page ni P-Noy na sinimulan nila noong Agosto lamang. Ang namamahala nito ay ang Communications team ni P-Noy. Si Sec. Coloma ang pinuno nito at ang Usec niya na si George Syliangco ang in charge ng lahat ng media assets. Sa unang tingin, parang wala namang mali. Pero tignan ninyo ang mga members, 1.5 milyon. Noong November 5 (6 days ago) 100 thousand lamang ito. Nakakapag taka ‘di ba?

Matagal na ako sa Facebook at alam ko na hindi lang basta-basta kikilos ang Facebook upang isara ang isang Facebook Page. Kailangan ng opisyal na dokumento o request bago ito mangyari, at kailangan ito i-authenticate. Batay sa aking mga narinig galing sa ibang kaibigan na naging kasama namin sa kampanya at may alam sa nangyayari sa Malacanang, ang BSAIII ay ini-utos ipasara ng Communications team ni P-Noy, at karamihan ng member nito, ini request sa Facebook na ipa-lipat sa “Official” Facebook Page ng wala nilang pahintulot. Hindi possible na mag-gain ng 1.4 million members ang “Official” page ni PNoy in 6 days kung walang intervention ang Facebook. Ipina-lipat ito.

So, walang warning, walang communication. Pinatanggal na lang ang BSAIII at ninakaw ang karamihan sa 2.2 million na members nito.

EPIC FAIL.

Posted in Current Events, PNoy Communications Team | Tagged | 13 Comments

A day where the Philippine Supreme Court sucked big time

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Carlo Ople

Now this is a serious case of epic fail. The Philippine Supreme Court just gave a free pass to everyone to plagiarize without fear of being charged in court. This all stemmed from a recent Supreme Court decision when the justices voted to protect one of their own to save the face of the institution.

Associate Justice Mariano C. Del Castillo was charged for plagiarism charges when one of his penned rulings lifted 22 paragraphs of text from three other sources. Del Castillo never attributed the lifted text and it looked like it was his own words in the said decision. This is a clear and solid case of plagiarism. It’s as clear as day and night!

Del Castillo gave a lame excuse saying that his researcher wasn’t able to include the citation in the footnotes. He also said that his computer didn’t have software that would tell him if the document he was reading was plagiarized. That honestly sounds like an excuse a college student would give to a teacher. I would never believe that this would be the case in the highest body of justice in the country. The Philippine Supreme Court is supposed to stand for accountability and responsibility. Obviously they value their reputation more than what is supposed to be right and JUST.

So how did they say that he was innocent? According to the decision, Del Castillo should be “innocent” because there was no “malicious intent” which is apparently a pre-requisite to file a charge of plagiarism (only in the Philippines! Weeee). I’ll tell you what’s malicious – not having the guts or the balls to man up to an obvious lazy and irresponsible act.

Here’s an excerpt from the Inquirer article:

This new “right” was promulgated by the Supreme Court on October 15, 2010 in the Matter of the Charges of Plagiarism against Associate Justice Mariano C. Del Castillo where the court majority voted to absolve their colleague of plagiarism charges for including in his ruling entire paragraphs lifted directly from foreign sources without attribution.

The charges of plagiarism arose when Del Castillo wrote the majority decision in the case of Vinuya et al vs. Executive Secretary, issued on April 28, 2010, where he denied the petition of the Philippine comfort women for a writ of mandate to compel the Philippine government to ask Tokyo to provide compensation to those who were victims of sexual slavery by Japanese occupation forces during World War II.

After reviewing Del Castillo’s ruling, the lawyers of the comfort women discovered that “Ponente” (decision author) Del Castillo had lifted entire paragraphs of his decision from three sources: “A Fiduciary of Theory of Jus Cogens” by Evan Criddle and Evan Fox-Descent, “Breaking the Silence on Rape as an International Crime” by Mark Ellis, and “Enforcing Erga Omnes Obligations in International Law” by Christian Tams.

While using those foreign sources, Del Castillo drew the opposite conclusion and ruled that sexual slavery during WW II was not a “Jus Cogens,” a “higher law,” like prohibiting genocide or the slave trade, which may not be violated by any country.

Perhaps it was precisely this contraposition that explains why Del Castillo chose not to cite the foreign sources.

In its October 15, 2010 decision, the Court dismissed “for lack of merit… the charges of plagiarism, twisting of cited materials and gross neglect against [Del Castillo]” because the Court found that their colleague did not have “malicious intent” when he copied the passages from foreign sources

The Court accepted Del Castillo’s feeble excuse that his legal researcher had inadvertently dropped off two citations in the footnotes. Two may be a little understandable but Del Castillo blatantly lifted 22 distinct passages from the foreign sources without attribution.

The Justices also accepted Del Castillo’s lame argument that his computer was not equipped with a software program that would warn him that he was plagiarizing. (Students, take note of this creative “it’s Microsoft’s fault” excuse).

At least Manny Pangilinan manned up. I can’t say the same for Del Castillo.

Posted in Current Events | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Lecture Every Filipino Must Watch

Posted on October 8, 2010 by Carlo Ople

If there is one lecture that every Filipino should watch, this is it. This is currently circulating on Facebook and it truly is one of the most inspiring and grounding lectures I’ve ever seen. It’s a short 10-minute talk by Professor Solita Monsod which was given as her last lecture to end an Economics 100.1 class in the University of the Philippines. Because of technology and social media her lessons will not just be boxed in that single classroom. If you are a Filipino, watch this lecture.

I hope that I get the chance to meet and chat with Mrs. Monsod one day. That would truly be a blessing. :)

Posted in Solita Monsod | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

[Updated] My Tax Money is paying for Condoms?

Posted on October 6, 2010 by Carlo Ople

According to this article on the Inquirer, the Department of Health is planning on spending 400M for family planning materials like pills, injectibles, and cycle beads. Of the 400M, 280M will go to pills, 100M for injectibles, and 8M for condoms (around 2M pieces of condoms). So instead of maintaining or increasing the budget for major government hospitals, this administration will spend more on giving away guilt-free sex for couples (because they won’t have kids).

Don’t get me wrong… I’m for reproductive health. I don’t necessarily agree with several points in the bill and giving away free condoms is one of them.

I mean seriously let me ask all of you this simple question. When you guys get your pay slips every 15th and 30th, around 30% of it goes to the Philippine government. That’s a big amount. The sad part is that the 30% we give up to this administration will just subsidize/fund guilt-free sexual activities of other Filipinos. I really don’t believe that’s a worthy cause.

Again, I AM FOR REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, but I personally find this a bit too absurd. So what do I suggest?

LET THE PHARMA COMPANIES GIVE THE CONDOMS AND FAMILY PLANNING STUFF FOR FREE.

Why? Because the government will shoulder the cost of nationwide distribution for sampling. This activity will definitely lead to more profits for pharma companies who develop artificial contraceptives. Sampling is a popular marketing method and the pharma companies are getting away with this one for free! In fact they’re even going to make a substantial profit with the 400M budget of DOH. To summarize the benefits pharma companies will get out of this:

  • Market size increases due to awareness about their products.
  • They make profit from the government buying their goods. 400M worth.
  • They make more more more more more more money.

PNoy, you said that the road to success will be through private-public partnerships. This should be one of those instances. Get these pharma companies to shoulder the cost of this insane activity because I don’t really like my tax money going to this program at all.

Posted in Current Events | Tagged , | 11 Comments

PNoy, why are you slashing government hospital budgets?

Posted on September 22, 2010 by Carlo Ople

I recently read that President Noynoy Aquino submitted the 2011 budget to Congress that slashed the maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) for the major government hospitals by P70.8 million. I know I promised that I would refrain from writing negative entries but this really hit me hard. They say that this administration is open to feedback and that they value the two-way interaction of social media. Let’s put that to the test now. I am humbly appealing to whoever concerned to scrap the slashing of the budget of government hospitals and even increase it drastically. I am speaking from personal experience.

A few years ago I was shot twice in the chest by a 45 caliber pistol and the bullets grazed my lungs. I was brought to the East Avenue Medical Center (a government hospital) and I was literally traumatized with the treatment. They opened me up and punctured my lungs with a tube without any anesthetics. They sutured (sewed) my open wounds in the corridor as well (and yes, no anesthesia). When my auntie asked them if they had any anesthesia, the nurse just looked at her blankly and said “May dala po ba kayo? (did you bring any?)” I screamed like a baby that night and the pain still haunts me to this day.

Last year, my driver, Nilo, had a massive stroke and was brought to the Manila Doctors Hospital. He was already fighting for his life and what really got me depressed was that the hospital didn’t have any available rooms or automated respirators. His family had to take turn for three days helping him breathe by pumping some sort of contraption which was connected to his lungs through his mouth. Nilo eventually passed away.

I want to blame the doctors, nurses, and the government hospital administrators for what happened but I really can’t. They don’t have the support or the resources from the government. They are understaffed, underpaid, undermanned, and just generally ignored.

With the recent outbreak of dengue in several communities, I can’t help but wonder what possessed the President to think about slashing the budget of government hospitals for 2011? It just defies logic. Maybe his team doesn’t see this as an important issue because they always to to 5-star hospitals like St. Luke when they get fever? Maybe they have no clue as to what is really happening in PGH or East Avenue?

The government has so many programs and road rehabilitation projects lined up but with every new lamp post, foreign trip, shed, basketball court, or whatever, we are denying humane basic health services to our countrymen. There is no greater social injustice than dying in a state hospital because the patient was ignored or the staff was ill-equipped. I will not stand for this and I hope that you don’t too.

Posted in Current Events, Noynoy Aquino | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

PNoy, Shirts, Lolas, and Taxi Cabs

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Carlo Ople

I was at Metrowalk a few hours ago for a meeting with a client. Since I was Color Coding, I took a cab to go back home after we finished. This was around 6:30pm which means that it was already rush hour. I’m usually an impatient guy so I was naturally irked to see several people trying to hail cabs. I controlled my urge to go to the end of Metrowalk so I could get a cab first and decided to “line up”.

After 15 minutes I was finally alone on the strip waiting for the next ride. However a girl with a baby walked past me and called the incoming cab. I sighed and just let her take it. A few minutes later a guy wearing one of those Philippine map shirts with Ninoy’s glasses taps me on the back and asks if I was waiting for a cab. I said yes and he nodded. I took out my phone to check a message and when I looked up he was at the far end of the strip and managed to snag the next cab which came up. At this point I was pissed already.

Give or take 10 minutes a couple arrived and stood a few meters away from me. I overheard them talking about how unfair it has been for President Aquino to be criticized harshly for the hostage taking. They also mentioned that they were annoyed that “Pinoys are inconsiderate”. I silently agreed with them, but little did I know that they were hypocrites. A few seconds later a cab arrives and passes me by a few inches. I started walking towards the cab but I was cut off by the couple who quickly opened the door and jumped in. I was fuming mad.

But my epic fail adventure didn’t end there. A grandmother eventually arrived and stood behind me. She looked really tired. When an empty cab drove by it stopped in front of me. The door opened and i started to go in. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the grandmother sigh. I decided to step back and ask her to take the cab instead. She smiled one of those grandma wrinkly tired smiles. She softly patted my back and said “God bless you, iho.”

You’d think that the Grandma was the one that was blessed because she got the cab. However the moment she said that all the stress, hate, and anger I felt was washed away. I eventually got my cab a few minutes later and was finally able to get home with a smile on my face.

An act of kindness isn’t just for the recipient, it’s also for the giver.

Sometimes we find ourselves buried in a black storm of negative emotions. We have bad slip-ups at work. We mess up and fight with our loved ones. We hear about how some friends are talking about us behind our backs. We usually respond to situations like this by making it worse. We add to the negativity by being frustrated which is very natural. However if we find the humility and strength to remain positive and channel all that energy into blessing someone else by doing an act of kindness we will walk away the winner.

Posted in Random Musings | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

I feel bad for DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo

Posted on September 8, 2010 by Carlo Ople

DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo is one of the most competent, moral, and righteous leaders that I’ve seen the Philippines produce in the last few decades. His achievements as the Mayor of Naga City are phenomenal and have brought him various awards and recognition. At the age of 29, Robredo was elected mayor in 1988. In 1995, Robredo was elected as the President of the League of Cities. In 1999 Naga was cited as one of the “Most Improved Cities in Asia” by Asiaweek Magazine. A lot of people are saying that Robredo was also the primary force in taking out Jueteng in Naga City.

In terms of major awards, he’s received over a dozen! Here’s a some of the major ones:

  • 2000 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service
  • 1998 Konrad Adenauer Medal of Excellence as Most Outstanding City Mayor of the Philippines
  • 1996 Outstanding Young Persons of the World (TOYP) Award
  • 1990 The Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM)
  • “Dangal ng Bayan” Award of the Civil Service Commission.
  • 2008 Honorary Doctorate of Humanities degree by the Far Eastern University in Manila.

He’s also one of the founders of KAYA NATIN, together with Grace Padaca and the Ateneo School of Government.

Before Politics

Prior to his career in politics, Robredo spent a couple of years in the corporate world. He was with San Miguel Corporation in 1980 and got promoted quickly in just six months. He transferred to the Finance Division shortly after. His next job would be with Magnolia Ice Cream where he was with logistics planning and was even the assistant of the Physical Distribution Director.

In terms of education and training, Robredo has degrees in Industrial Management Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from De La Salle. He also studied later on in the Kennedy School of Government which got him Masters of Public Administration.

If you take a look at his experience, skills, competence, and moral compass, you can really say that he’s a well rounded executive and any company or government agency would be remiss in not getting him on board.

Why Pnoy? Why?

Which brings me to my main point in this article. I feel bad for Jesse Robredo. I don’t know why he decided to accept the DILG post with so many restrictions and conditions from the President. Yes, he had the title. Yes, he was in charge of the LGU’s. However he wasn’t given the authority and the mandate to also govern over the PNP. This was given instead to Pnoy’s longtime friend, Rico Puno. In the interview in the Hostage Crisis investigation, Puno said that he had no training with hostage negotiations and that he was appointed mainly because the “President trusts him”.

In an ambush interview, President Aquino revealed that Robredo is “acting secretary” only because he had differences with his work ethic during the campaign season. Whoa. Here we have a person who’s only claim to fame is that he’s the son of two legends and he goes off questioning the work ethic of a multi-awarded government official? I don’t understand what your criteria is for picking your officials Mr. President but you seriously have to re-evaluate it.

Robredo has the title of DILG Secretary but without full authority. The sad part is that since he has the title, he has to suffer the consequences. He’s drawing so much flak lately and it’s sad that people are not seeing how great this guy really is. If there’s one mistake Robredo made, it’s that he accepted the post with the power-sharing agreement.

My hope is that Robredo will solider on either as DILG Secretary or some other government post where he can be of service. I believe he has the necessary skills and experience to turn the DILG into a positive force in the country but if he doesn’t get the post FULLY then he should just resign. I pray that the Filipino people will see the good in the guy and that he’ll be given the chance to prove himself on a national (even global) scale.

Posted in Current Events, Jesse Robredo, Noynoy Aquino | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Media, Police, and the Bus Hostage Crisis

Posted on August 24, 2010 by Carlo Ople

People have started to point fingers over yesterday’s Bus Hostage Crisis wherein several foreigners were killed by the hostage-taker, a dismissed policeman. The media is getting a lot of attention now because they “covered” the event too much and exposed the movements of the police to the hostage-taker. Reporters, news editors, and TV station executives are getting blamed for what happened yesterday. I honestly don’t think it’s fair to blame the media because ultimately they were just doing their job – to deliver the news and the story to the public. In reality the problem last night was the lack of strong leadership and crisis management.

The police partially blamed the media when they said that their movements were restricted because of the coverage and that the hostage taker was monitoring the incident via media reports. The moment they realized this they should have decided on a media blackout because they knew for a fact that the operation was being put at risk by the coverage. President Noynoy Aquino, in a statement, later said that he didn’t want to impose a news blackout because his government is all about transparency. Now here’s my problem with the entire scenario: IF A NEWS BLACKOUT WOULD HAVE SAVED LIVES, THEN IT IS THE DECISION OF THE PNP OR THE PRESIDENT TO CALL FOR IT. All it took was one word and all the coverage would stop. But did the word come? No. Why? Because of a promise to be “transparent”. Transparency should not come at the price of the lives of innocent people.

It is not the Media’s decision to do a news blackout. It goes against the very fiber of their being to do so. Journalists and reporters are trained to go after the story and to deliver it to the people to keep the public informed. They do so with a laser-like focus which sometimes gets them into trouble. However without that focus and dedication then we would just end up with mediocre reportage.

We ALL HAVE ROLES. The role of the media is to cover and deliver the news. The role of the PNP is to control situations like this. The role of the President is to step in and make sure everything is done properly especially if it’s a major crisis.

Let’s face it guys. Leadership is all about making hard decisions. Sometimes leaders make the right ones and sometimes they just don’t.

Posted in Current Events | Tagged | 16 Comments

Huwag masyado asahan si Noynoy

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Carlo Ople

I watched President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) this afternoon and it pretty much was what a lot of us expected. He lambasted the previous administration and talked about potential solutions for the current problems of the Philippines. One thing is crystal clear: our problems will not be fixed overnight. It will take a lot of time, effort, and resources to turn this country around. If there’s one thing I appreciate in Noynoy’s entire SONA though it’s when he mentioned that the government’s primary responsibility is to make sure that everything is fair for everyone, especially in business. Ang problema kasi ng maraming Pilipino ay inaasa lahat sa gobyerno. Pati’ ba naman distribution ng condoms, problema ba ng Philippine government? Pati ba naman “spiritual corruption” gusto ng Catholic Church ayusin ni Noynoy? If your problem is specific to your vocation or industry, wag mo asahan si Noynoy diyan. He has enough problems to deal with already. Instead of whining, complaining, and doing nothing you should just offer solutions. Better yet, be part of the solution. You don’t have to be in government to make a difference or help others out. Continue reading →

Posted in Current Events, Noynoy Aquino | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments