I thought no one’s going to hit the Superlotto jackpot draw last night. No one was able to win this lotto game for the past weeks draw, thats why its pot reached the highest in the history of Philippine lotto - Php 249,005,120.04.

A lone lucky soul hit the jackpot last night. According to a news report this lucky bettor is presumably a Luzon area resident because he placed his or her bet somewhere in Luzon.

Well, some guys have the luck, while others just continue to place their bet on the lottery or run for public office. It seems these are the only two short cuts to riches in our country. The former you win by sheer luck and the latter you can surely win by connection and by guns, goons and gold. Let’s just pray that the one who won the Superlotto is not also a winner of the latter game. I wonder where that somewhere in Luzon area location is, I just hope it’s not somewhere located along the north bank of the Pasig River in Manila.

I’ll just try my luck next time. Some of my friends tell me that the probability of being struck by lightning twice is greater than that of winning the lotto. I tell them in return, that is why it’s a game of chance, you grab it however slim the probability of winning is.

Many in our country today would have it, that if you bet and don’t win you die of hunger, you don’t bet, you still die of hunger. So just take the chance of winning by betting. At least you can have something to pray for and win, than being robbed by politicians in broad(band) daylight and getting back nothing from it except rice shortages and oil price hikes.

Philippines for Dummies

There’s no official proclamation that would say that Summer is “officially” here. Malacanang Palace will not announce on TV that summer has arrived. If you’re old enough, that is if you’ve passed forty (plus) summers in your life, you know how to read the signs and can easily feel it. One barometer for summer is the weather. But the weather lately is freaking out. It’s already the month of March but you can still feel the chills at night. This might be what PAG-ASA had warned about earlier, that we will be having a wet/cold summer this year.

Ah, but there are other signs that will tell you that summer is here. For one, Congressmen are already gearing up for summer vacation to who knows where. Congress had scheduled an early recess on March 14th, so by next week, it’s going to be quiet in the House of Representatives.

Also, another sign is our neighbor’s star apple tree begins to become abundant and its branches bow down by the weight of its fruits. A certain portion of that tree’s branches find our backyard a suitable place to bow to the will of gravity. This never escaped Maia and Ate Bebing’s attention. And so they had their first taste of summer by harvesting the starapples that gracefully offers itself for their taking.

The other signs that Summer has come? Observe the political climate and you’ll know its summer. The political upheaval brought about by the NBN-ZTE Deal that took its peak during the massive rally in Makati weeks ago, will now be hushed again in silence, as if nothing happened. Everyone, from the Senators to the protesters, will then be busy preparing for their next summer vacation. After all its summer, and you are in the Philippines. Like there’s Siesta. Like it has become an accepted reality that nothing happens in our country during weekends - have you notice that there are no news programs in the primetime during weekends?

So if you’re in the Philippines, enjoy the summer… nothing bad will happen in the Philippines when its vacation time.

Family and Me, Philippines for Dummies

Just when we thought the ZTE-NBN deal was the only thing … read this…

Far Eastern Economic Review
January/February 2008

Manila’s Bungle in The South China Sea
by Barry Wain

When Vietnamese students gathered outside the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi last December to protest against China’s perceived bullying over disputed territory in the South China Sea, it signaled Hanoi’s intention to turn up the heat a bit.

And Beijing reacted in kind; instead of downplaying the incident, a foreign ministry spokesman complained, “China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands.” The bluster on both sides, while just a blip in this long-running feud, is a timely reminder that the South China Sea remains one of the region’s flashpoints. What most observers don’t realize is that in the last few years, regional cooperative efforts to coax Beijing into a more measured stance have been set back by one of the rival claimants to the islands.

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s hurried trip to China in late 2004 produced a major surprise. Among the raft of agreements ceremoniously signed by the two countries was one providing for their national oil companies to conduct a joint seismic study in the contentious South China Sea, a prospect that caused consternation in parts of Southeast Asia. Within six months, however, Vietnam, the harshest critic, dropped its objections and joined the venture, which went ahead on a tripartite basis and shrouded in secrecy.

In the absence of any progress towards solving complex territorial and jurisdictional disputes in the South China Sea, the concept of joint development is resonating stronger than ever. The idea is fairly simple: Shelve sovereignty claims temporarily and establish joint development zones to share the ocean’s fish, hydrocarbon and other resources. The agreement between China, the Philippines and Vietnam, three of the six governments that have conflicting claims, is seen as a step in the right direction and a possible model for the future.
Read more…

Philippines for Dummies

So that others may know.

Here’s a primer about the ZTE-NBN Deal made and published by the Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC). Download and copy this primer by clicking here or on the image below.:

Philippines for Dummies

I am not a religious person, I communicate with my God directly, up close and spiritual. As a consequence, I seldom go to Church, that is if I ever choose to go. Reading the CBCP’s Pastoral Letter about the present political upheaval, just affirmed my notions about the institutional church. Amidst the wide clamor for the ouster and resignation of GMA because of plunder and corruption, the CBCP instead is asking Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) to lead the campaign against corruption in Government. This position betrays the CBCP’s real existence of being out in the cold distance and not in touch with reality.

Asking GMA to lead the campaign against corruption in Government is like asking the Abu Sayyaf to lead the campaign against kidnapping, Jovito Palparan to lead the campaign against Human Rights violations, Virgillo “Garci” Garcillano to lead the campaign for a free and honest elections, Jose Pidal to lead the campaign against money laundering, or simply put, asking the wolf to watch over the flock. By this single act, the iota of credibility still left of the CBCP for me is now completely washed down the drains. The CBCP sees no evil, hears no evil and speaks no evil and got the pResident evil smiling and congratulating them for their position. The CBCP as an institution has now shown the people its worthlessness and has proven its irrelevance.
Read more…

Philippines for Dummies