Imelda Marcos Shoe Collection Survived Ondoy

During the destruction of typhoon Ondoy, a museum guard’s acting quickly saved part of former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos’s infamous shoe collection when huge floods devastated the nation’s capital.

In a report from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the staffs said that they moved the 200-pair of shoes displayed to the second floor before the flood waters started to enter into the ground floor of the Marikina Shoe Museum.

“A guard was able to take most of the pairs to the second floor. We will account for them in due time, but our priority right now is still the affected families,” it cited Mayor Marides Fernando of Marikina City during the interview.

Marikina City is the Philippines’ shoe production capital, was among the worst hit areas when Tropical Storm Ondoy (Ketsana) plunged record rains in and around Manila on Sept. 26, killing almost 300 people and thousands homeless.

Marcos’s shoe collection has become one of the most infamous symbols of the life of lavishness Imelda Marcos enjoyed during the 20-year reign of her husband, Ferdinand Marcos.

Picture Credits : Ramon Lopez at Flickr - visit ramonlopez for more photos.

Gasoline Prices Increases by 1.50

Effective yesterday, the major oil players in the Philippines have implemented an increase of P1.50 per liter for diesel and kerosene and Php 1.00 per liter for gasoline prices.

The oil companies said that the increase of prices is based on the upward movement of the crude prices in the international markets.

The LPG Marketers Association (LPGMA) said that the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas is expected to increase in the days if the prices in the world market continues to increase.

88 Million Pesos Jackpot for 6/49 Draw

If you always dreamed of becoming a multi-millionaire in a wink an eye, here is your chance to become one. The Philippine Lotto 6/49 draw tonight will be having an estimate of 88 million pesos jackpot or even greater since a lot of people are already lining up to lotto outlets. Nobody won in last 13 draw that is why the pot has become bigger.

According to Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) there are now about 1300 persons that have become millionaires from lotto draws and 24th time that the jackpot have reached more than a hundred million.

Better line-up now. Mahaba na pila mamya.

Hmm I wonder what will I do with the 88 million. :-)

Tropical Storm "Emong" has entered Philippines

If you are planning for a summer vacation, you may want to postponed it and re-scheduled it on a later date. A Tropical Storm has entered the Philippine area of responsibility, according to National Disaster Coordination Council (NDCC) Deputy Administrator Anthony Golez said Wednesday night.

Tropical Storm "Emong" has entered the Philippines about 8 p.m. Wednesday.

According to Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA), Emong has a maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometers per hour with gustiness of 150 kph.

In a related news, the Makati government has canceled its grand parade plans this Friday as part of its anniversary celebration due to bad weather. According to their website, a new announcement will be made on schedules for the Grand Parade, Chalk Art and Brass Band Competition. For more information you can visit their website at makati.gov.ph

In my opinion:
Hmmm... I wonder if Team Pacquiao will push through with their parade this coming Friday. Rains during summer? Is this a clear sign of global climate change? Will this mean that we are going to have summer in the months of September-December?Ngakk... kawawa naman yung mga farmers, mahihirapang mag-forecast the best time to plant the seedlings.

Prudential Life Dealers License Revoked

Planholders of Prudential Life flocked their office asking for refunds as soon as they learned from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the company's dealers license have been revoked.

However, SEC Chairwoman Fe Barin clarifies that SEC only terminates Prudential Life from selling of new plans to the public. In an interview with dzXL radio she said: " Ang pagkaka-revoke ng dealer’s license nangangahulugang wala silang lisensya na magbenta. Ang lahat na preneed companies kailangan registered bago makapagbenta ng plan. Hihinto sila sa pagbebenta. Yung iniisip ng ating kababayan mag-worry kung ano ang mangyayari sa binili nila natural lang yan. Una, ang fully paid na patuloy ang pag-avail at seserbisyuhan ng Prudential,"

When asked as to why the Prudential Life's licensed have been revoked: "May kakulangan ang kanilang trust fund sa pangmahabang panahon pero sa kasalukuyan liquid pa sila at meron silang isasagot sa mga sumisingil [They have potential problems with their trust fund in the long term. But at present they are liquid and they can afford to service existing preneed plans]," she answered.

“Hindi dahil na-revoke ang license nila ang kakulangan wala na, i-enforce pa yan ... Yan ang inaagapan naming kaya namin ni-revoke ang dealer’s license ... patuloy naming ine-examine yan," she added.


In My Opinion:
It is about time that the government starts to protect the public from these kind of crisis to further minimized the losses of ordinary income earners. Marami ring naging biktima ang CAP and Pacific Plans wherein a lot planholders vision's a bright future for them and their children but when the time came to received the money, the pre-need companies can no longer give their commitments.

Ted Failon's Wife Committed Suicide

The wife of TV newscaster, Ted Failon, was found dead at the comfort room of their residence in Quezon City. It was apparently assumed that his wife, Trinidad Arteche Etong, committed suicide but the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) thinks otherwise considering another view of the incident.

The ABS-CBN network has appeal to the public to respect the privacy of Ted Failon and his family. "We appeal to everyone to please respect the privacy of Ted Failon and his family. His wife is fighting for her life." a statement released by Mr. Bong Osorio, head of ABS-CBN corporate communications.

Initial investigation from the QCPD states the following:
1. Trinidad shot herself inside the comfort room of their daughters room.
2. Upon opening the CR, the .38 caliber was found at the right side of the victim.
3. According to New Era Hospital, the point of entry of the bullet was from the left side going to the right side.
4. The crime scene was "clean" by the housemaids before the police arrives. However, the housemaids cleaned the CR based on their own initiative.
5. Ted Failon saw a suicide note from his wife stating: "“Papa, I’m so sorry, gustong gusto kung magsabi sa u ng totoo, pero hindi ko pa alam kung papano ko uumpisa­han, sobrang takot na takot po ako, umalis po muna ako kasi hindi ko po kaya at nahihiya po ako sa iyo”.

As of press time, Ted Failon together with his daughter is at the New Era Hospital after he being investigated by the police and undergoing paraffin test.

Imelda Marcos as one of Newsweek's Greediest

Former First Lady Imelda Marcos is included in Newsweeks' Greediest Of All Time together with Marcus Licinius Crassus, Genghis Khan, Pope Sixtus IV, William Vanderbilt, Willam Tweed, Empress Dowager Cixi, Charles Ponzi, Ivan Boesky, Dennis Kozlowski, and Bernard Madoff.

“[Imelda Marcos] saw it as her duty to provide ‘some kind of light, a star’ for the impoverished Filipino people over whom her husband presided," the Newsweek article wrote of the wife of the late Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos.

“She took $5 million shopping sprees to New York and Rome, reportedly owned the world’s largest collection of gems and 3,000 pairs of shoes," it further read.

In an television interview from GMA7, Imelda Marcos defend herself by stating

I plead guilty. For me, greedy is giving. I was first lady for 20 years, you have to be greedy first to give to all. It is natural. The only things we keep in life are those we give away.

Well, so much so for her defense. You can view the interview here.

IMHO: Perhaps Ms. Imelda was planning to build a museum for the shoes that she had acquired. Sadly to say that Filipinos was just able to glance at her "treasures" after the Marcos Regime was ousted.

In fairness to Ms. Imelda, I think that we need also to give credit to the goodness that she had done for the country (although the bad outweighs the good) like... hmmm let me think and try to get back on that. :-)

By the way here is a youtube video showing the shoes of Imelda Marcos.
Imelda Marcos Shoes

COMPLETE LIST OF 2008 BAR PASSERS

The Supreme Court has released the result of the persons who passed the 2008 bar examinations last Friday. There are about 1,310 who passed the exams. Partial list includes the following:

1 ABABA, Victoria D
2 ABAD, Bernard O
3 ABAD, Francis Michael C
4 ABADEZA, Melissa A
5 ABALOS, Christian Noel C
6 ABALOS, Joseph Ryan C
7 ABALOS, Mcdonald G
8 ABANTE, Priscilla Marie T
9 ABARCA, Jerome G
10 ABAYA, Mark Francis P
11 ABAYON, Jerome B
12 ABDULLAH, Noor Hafizullah M
13 ABEJARON, Arnold C
14 ABELITA, Peter Filip S
15 ABELLA, Marie Velle P
16 ABENOJAR, Lilian C
17 ABESAMIS, Ellen V
18 ABO, Rolando T
19 ABREA, Elton Dick J
20 ABRENICA, Angelee Marree A
21 ABUCEJO, Joan D
22 ABYADANG, Harriet N
23 ACHAS, John Albino C
24 ACOSTA, Carl De Liz L
25 ADJU , Annally T
26 ADMANA, Gerlie A
27 ADRIANO, Alexander, DG
28 ADRIANO, Karen J
29 ADVINCULA, Ma. Carolina T
30 AFRICA, Voltaire B

Click here for a complete list 2008 bar passers at GMA-7

Congrats to the new lawyers!

PRC (Professional Regulation Commission) Website DEFACED

Yesterday about 10:00 pm, the website of Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) was defaced showing a message from the hackers: "Hacked by linuXploit_crew =) by DeRf-, Hualdo and _serial_killer_," As of this time the PRC's website is still inaccessible.

A website defacement is an attack on a website that changes the visual appearance of the site. These are typically the work of system crackers, who break into a web server and replace the hosted website with one of their own.

A message is often left on the webpage stating his or her pseudonym and the output from "uname -a" and the "id" command along with "shout outs" to his or her friends. Sometimes the Defacer makes fun of the system administrator for failing to maintain server security. Most times the defacement is harmless, however, it can sometimes be used as a distraction to cover up more sinister actions such as uploading malware.

A high-profile website defacement was carried out on the website of the company SCO Group following its assertion that Linux contained stolen code. The title of the page was changed from "Red Hat vs SCO" to "SCO vs World," with various satirical content following.

Maybe this is in response by the hackers to the government's statement that they are tightening the IT security among its servers. Following the report that hackers from ghost network where able to breach into some of the computers of Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

What is this incident telling us? We need to tightened our IT vulnerabilities and the government needs to be serious about this. To my knowledge this is the third site of the Philippine government that was defaced and "security holes" may still be left opened in other web sites.

Moreover, this incident makes me ask: how secure is the COMELEC's computers to be used in automating the polls? If hackers where able to breach into the gov system, we just hope that the COMELEC's computers is secure enough to for us to have clean 2010 election.

The next Philippine President: Bro. Eddie Villanueva ?

According to Dr. Cindy Jacob that Bro. Eddie Villanueva, Spiritual Leader of Jesus is Lord movement, will be the next President of the Philippines. Dr. Cindy, who is from the United States, said the statement among the Pastors gathering at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP). She also said that Bro. Eddie will be declaring his candidacy for presidential position today together with the launching of his new organization the Bangon Bagong Pilipinas Party (BBPP) at the Araneta Coliseum at 1:00 pm.

Millions of Bro.Eddie's supporters is expected to arrive at the Araneta. It is still not confirmed as to who will be the running mate of Bro. Eddie but speculations are that they are considering Pampanga Governor Among Ed Panlilio.

Governor Panlilio is a catholic priest and is currently not performing his priestly duties to concentrate on serving Pampanga. He is the second priest being elected to public office in the Philippines, the first is Fr. Margarito Gonzaga, elected mayor of Alburquerque, Bohol in 1971.

Ludy's Peanut Butter ordered to be pullout from the market-BFAD

The Bureau of Food and Drug Administration (BFAD) has said in an interview that Ludy's Peanut Butter Sweet and Creamy and Ludy's Peanut Butter Spread was found to have a disease-causing organism.

The BFAD said that Samuya Food Corporation, makers of Ludy's Peanut Butter has failed to observe proper manufacturing practices and has already been suspended by the Department Of Health.

The DOH has also given Samuya Foods 15 days to pull-out their products from the market.

On March 12 , two batches from another Samuya product were found tainted with salmonella.

These included Yummy Sweet and Creamy Peanut Spread 490 grams (Batch 11240810), with expiry date of May 24, 2009; and Yummy Sweet and Creamy Peanut Spread 224 grams (Batch 3040905), with expiry date Sept. 4, 2009.

There are still no official statements from Samuya Foods, although sources said that some of the ingredients came from India.

In a related news, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the pullout of all brands of peanut butter in Davao City.