I wonder…

Whatever happened to the Italian Red Cross volunteer worker, Eugenio Vagni, kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)? A little less than an hour ago, I read that there was a clash between our military and the ASG.

Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo, the military spokesman on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) crisis, said the clash took place at about 9:35 a.m. on Tuesday in sitio Bunga, barangay Buanza in the town of Indanan.

But did you know that according to Lt. Col. Arevalo, there was no sighting of the Italian ICRC worker. Vagni is said to be suffering from hernia and is really sick.

I hope and pray that a good news will be announced soon and it will be Vagni’s release from the hands of the ASG.

Effects of recession

Are you feeling the effects of the recession already?

My friend who works for a big call center company here in Manila is now feeling the brunt of the global financial crisis affecting so many companies around the world. She’s now on a 9-hour, 6-day work week. Some of her co-workers are complaining. If I were in their shoes, I wouldn’t complain anymore. It is hard to get a job nowadays. Adjusting to longer working hours is better than being out of job.

We should all start thinking on how we can help our employers so that we can all rise above this problem we are all facing. Additional work hours, less rest days, less incentives, no more bonuses… these are all way better than being out of job. And these will all be given back in time, I’m sure of it.

Weather in Manila today…

It’s slightly better than yesterday. The weather here in Manila as of 6PM today, April 14, 2009, is 31°C. It feels like you have a flu. That’s how hot it is right now. Taking a bath won’t do that much. It will just make you feel the heat and humidity more. Even putting the electric fan on steady so the air will blow directly to your face and body will only cool you down a bit.

Imagine the electricity shutting down! Meralco knows that every summer, people need electricity more than ever. As always, brownouts happen every now and then. A few minutes ago, electricity was down in our area. Tsk tsk

Maynilad Water is also pulling a stupid stunt. Shutting down water supply and just giving us an hour or two every day to fill our water drums. My dad has been calling up Maynilad Water’s 24/7 hotline 1626 asking them to do something about the water supply in our area but they are stubbornly refusing to do anything about it. My dad told the CS he talked to two days ago that should a fire break out in our area (wag naman sana!), residents wouldn’t have any water to use to put it out. What without water even dripping in our faucets!

So I am here in my corner at home right now, sweating even with the electric fan on steady in front of me, fuming mad because we don’t have water supply so I can take a shower to feel a bit cooler. Aargh!

Updated: Abu Sayyaf's Red Cross hostages

UPDATE: Please visit this LINK to support and pray for the Filipina Mary Jean Lacaba. Let us all pray for the safety of the three hostages.

***

Two current issues caught my attention the whole of yesterday… the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) volunteers’ continued captivity in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and the HK writer Chip Tsao’s racial slur against Filipinos.

Red Cross volunteers’ continued captivity in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf

Jakob Kellenberger, a former Swiss diplomat and current head of the ICRC, issued a rare public appeal for the Abu Sayyaf to release the three Red Cross volunteers being hostaged by the group. As a response to the appeal, the government considered the demands of the Abu Sayyaf to pull out the troops in Indanan, Sulu where the the kidnapped victims are reportedly being held. Abu Sayyaf even issued a threat that should their demands are not met, they will behead a hostage.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno announced on national tv that the government troops would withdraw and it would take 36 hours at most to complete it. It began last March 28. Upon hearing this development, a reporter from ABS-CBN was able to interview Abu Sayyaf’s leader Albader Parad and he promised to release a hostage as soon as the withdrawal of troops is complete. He even promised no later than Monday morning, which should have been yesterday.

But lo and behold! After the pullout of government troops comes another demand from the Abu Sayyaf! This time around, the rebels want a total pullout of the troops in the entire island! Why am I not surprised by this development?

The Abu Sayyaf seized Filipina Mary Jean Lacaba, Swiss Andreas Notter and Italian Eugenio Vagni last January 15. It’s been more than 3 months now and the three are complaining about the hardships they are experiencing from the captivity and are actually begging Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross, to do something about their condition.

The government is saying that they are running out of options to get the hostages back. A complete pullout of the troops in Sulu will result to anarchy, according to them. And I believe them. Something needs to be done to this Abu Sayyaf Group and fast!

Chip Tsao’s racial slur in my next post…

April 6 declared a holiday!

April 6 is declared as a no working holiday by Malacañang to commemorate Araw ng Kagitingan in advance. Holiday economics. Instead of April 9, the holiday is moved to the nearest Monday. That week is already Holy Week. So that means there won’t be work on Monday but employees still have to go to work on Holy Tuesday and Wednesday.

For those with vacation leave left, file that leave now for April 7 and 8! Bummer for those without or earning per day.

*Source

Boyet Fajardo: What now?

I have read somewhere that we are a nation that easily forgives and forgets. My take on this is slightly different. We forget because there are just too many issues to deal with in this country. On top of the current issue on this Boyet Fajardo - Duty Free Philippines incident, we also have the Legacy Consolidated Plans fund scam wherein a number of plan holders are unable to claim their insurance funds because the company officials allegedly misused the said funds. Remember the very same funds scam that happened to College Assurance Plan Philippines, Inc. (CAP) plan holders? Or the Pacific Plans fund scam that started this all?

There are people who continue the fight. But without media coverage, the people who should be investigating these insurance funds scams are not acting as fast as they should. Senator Mar Roxas is helping out the plan holders victimized by this Legacy funds scam. But I doubt if he would be as eager to help as he is now if not for the 2010 elections where he’s very vocal in his desire to run as a presidential hopeful. How about the other insurance plan holders of CAP and Pacific Plans. I heard that Pacific Plans was already sold to the group who owns Asian Spirit. Where did the money go? See, without media coverage, the Yuchengco Group was able to pull a stunt like this.

As bloggers, we can help spread the word. We can help create awareness. There might be no tv coverage but the internet is as powerful as television these days. Or haven’t you noticed how the tv giants became aware of this Boyet Fajardo incident? Through the noise created by bloggers!

In a few more days, this Boyet Fajardo scandal will be forgotten. The same thing that happened to the Pacific Plans and CAP scams. Marvin Fernandez, the poor cashier who is the real victim of this incident, hasn’t gotten the apology he deserves yet. Again, without media coverage of this scandal, I don’t think he’ll get it. Calling him Marvin Hernandez (in the ABS-CBN interview) and Marvin Gonzales (in the GMA-7 interview) don’t constitute as proper apology. Boyet Fajardo should go to the guy and even in private, apologize personally. That’s an apology!

My point in this post is that let us not forget. If we can write about it when there’s a development, or even from time to time to stir the status quo, let’s do it. Create awareness. Let us not forget easily. Otherwise, another Boyet Fajardo will emerge. Or another insurance company might pull a Legacy-like stunt because they think the people will be up in arms the first few weeks but will eventually forget.

Boyet Fajardo - Duty Free Philippines incident

First Update: March 23, 2009 7:41PM after airing of the official news at TV Patrol World.

Have you heard about this Boyet Fajardo-Duty Free Philippines scandal? If you haven’t yet, the incident goes like this…

Last March 13, 2009, Filipino fashion designer Boyet Fajardo created a scene in Duty Free Philippines. He threw a humongous tantrum and threatened to have two employees of the said store fired. Guess why? A cashier politely asked for an ID because he presented an unsigned credit card! WTF?!@?%$

If you have been using your credit card in major shopping stores lately, you know that it is standard operating procedure to be asked for an identification for the card you are presenting. That’s SOP these days. Even if your credit card is signed and has a photo.

Fajardo reportedly got angry and berated the poor cashier, now named as Marvin Fernandez, and the store managerofficers of Duty Free, named as Susan Gonzales. Officers arrived at the sceneGonzales tried to pacify the angry designer to no avail. Fajardo whipped out his cellphone, threatening to call on a high positioned government official. Dito pa lang nagpi-feeling na itong designer na ito! And then onlookers were shocked when he shouted…

Mga leche kayo! Hindi niyo ako kilala? Ako si Boyet Fajardo! At itong p…ina na babaeng ito (pointing to a lady officer) at ang baklang ito (pointing to the cashier) ay walang kwentang mga tao! I want them fired!!!

An officer Gonzales asked him what he wanted just to calm him down. Did you know what he wanted? For the poor cashier to kneel down in front of him so he could slap his face! The poor cashier had no choice but to kneel down in front of the high-flying designer. There’s a video of this incident below…

The poor cashier was crying in shame afterwards. Have you seen it? No, he was not slapped. But then, what happened to him was more than being slapped!

You know, I am all for customer rights and all that. I have been writing about it here again and again. But you should know if you are in the right or wrong. Boyet Fajardo was clearly wrong in throwing his weight on a hapless cashier when the only “fault” of the poor guy was to ask for an ID from him. You can be a well-known personality, yes. But when it’s SOP to present an ID, do it! Hindi yung ipagmamanduhan mo na well-known personality ka!

Angelino Boyet Fajardo: O, kilala niyo ba siya? Remember that face!
Para naman sumikat na siya.
Photo credit: Inquirer.net

A Concerned Citizen is now calling for a boycott of the products being sold under Boyet Fajardo. He’s apparently selling his clothes in major malls. The information given by the Concerned Citizen is as follows:

With such disrespect, discrimination and humiliation towards a good worker, a less fortunate person and a fellow Filipino…

1. We are calling all citizens to stop patronizing Boyet Fajardo’s RTW labels such as Substance in SM department stores, Boyet Fajardo and Initials in Landmark and Robinson’s department stores.
2. We are calling on all malls to pull out or stop distributing his products in your outlets.
4. We are calling on the Commission on Human Rights, Department of Labor and Employment and all human rights and labor activists to take appropriate legal actions on this matter.
5. We are calling all foreign embassies to deny him of entry to your respective countries.
6. We are calling on the Fashion Designers Association of the Philippines to dishonor him of his membership and profession.

…To give him a lesson and to help us stop him from victimizing the underprivileged over and over and over again.

Contact Information:
Boyet Fajardo
Tel: +632 6327120 / +632 6366871
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.boyetfajardo.com

You do not show your evil side in public and not expect a backlash. Remember that, Boyet Fajardo!

***

You can check out the video shown at ABS-CBN’s TV Patrol World last night.

By the way, you can also read this blog about Fajardo. This was also one of my sources for this entry.

***

Let me clarify something… I am not the source of this news. I got the details from the Concerned Citizen. But before that, my sister read a tabloid column last March 18, 2009, Direct Hit by Itchie Cabayan at People’s Tonight with the same details. Only, it was a blind item. Then when I read this same blind item at Seen/Scene of Pilipino Star Ngayon, I made some searches and found the Concerned Citizen’s petition to boycott Boyet Fajardo.

Fire Prevention: Improvement in local fire departments

Every time I watch the local news, there is always a fire somewhere in this part of the country. Mostly in the metropolis. If you don’t know Metro Manila, let me tell you this. Some parts of the city looks like this…

You can just imagine how hard it is for firefighters to get in these alleys. So when a fire breaks out, it will be hard for the firefighters to stop it. Like this fire in a Paco slum area…

But you know, the city will never change. I don’t see alleys and tight spaces in slum areas and even in some small streets changing anytime soon. Maybe never. Maybe it will get worse in the future.

So I cannot understand why our local fire department is still unprepared in fire situations like this. Every month, a fire breaks out. Maybe every week. These past few months, almost every day. But you can still see the old tricks being done to stop the fire. Locals pitching in to help them stop it. Pails of water being passed on from one person to another. Locals going to the roofs of houses to splash water on those burning ones. I bet the hose they use are old, ultra-worn hoses that should already retire from being used.

I believe there is a way for the local firefighters to be prepared in situations where they have to enter a narrow street or alley. There should be a way for them to do this! Imagine, there are instances when the firefighters have to stop because there is no more water in their truck or the fire hydrant nearest is already busted.

Maybe we need more advanced firetrucks? Or more sophisticated fire equipments? Those chemicals that they use to stop fires abroad, those used in fire extinguishers nowadays, the foamy chemical? Maybe the local fire departments can use that in dire situations, too. I mean, anything! Not the same old tricks that are being done way back in the 80s!

There are very hardworking firefighters locally. I just meant to point out in this post that the local fire departments should do something to improve their equipments or do a local campaign to widen the streets in fire-prone areas/slums or to repair busted fire hydrants everywhere. I do believe lives could be saved if there is an improvement in the local fire departments nationwide.

Summer is here. And that would mean a round of blackouts and fire breaking out from time to time. We need to be assured that the firefighters responding to an emergency are truly well-equipped to stop the fire.

Job loss…

I’ve been reading PerezHilton.com and I saw his several posts on laying off hundreds of employees at MTV, NBC, and so many other media companies. Worse, AT&T is reportedly cutting off 12,000 jobs (roughly 4% of their staff). Oh when will this end?

I know most of us have found ourselves without a job at one point in our lives. It’s hard. Finding that new job, even if you have the right skills and experience, is twice as hard as coping with the loss of a job. Let’s just hope these people will have something to tide them over until they get a new job.

What are your plans this weekend? Be safe and happy!

Peso-Dollar Exchange Rate

As of November 21, 2008 5:43PM, the peso-dollar rate closed at P49.820 = USD1.00.
- Source: business.inquirer.net/forex

Hooray for bloggers like me earning dollars and for the OFWs remitting money! Though when you really think about it, the peso losing it’s power (or more appropriately, the dollar gaining strength) is not good for the Philippine economy. Prices of basic commodities will surely soar again, among other things. But well, regardless of the peso-dollar rate, prices are going up now that it’s nearing holiday season. Better to have more peso when we exchange our dollars, right?

I know, I know… selfish of me! Hehehe

Rampant robberies

I will tell you something disturbing that my relatives from Bulacan narrated to us a few days ago when they were here for their medical check-up.

Robbery is rampant in Bulacan these days!

Our relatives are from Bustos, Bulacan. This was a place where we (me, my siblings and my cousins on my mother side) go to in the past and our parents would let us wander by ourselves even at night. The place was safe and people know each other. But it was different now.

Ate Linda, my mom’s aunt, told us that they would often hear their doorknobs being turned slowly in the middle of the night. Family members have their own duplicate key to the house. Ate Linda thought it was just an isolated incident but it was repeated several times since. They have reported the incidents to the barangay but we all doubt if there is something being done about it. Imagine the bravado of the robber(s). They are going to pass through the main door. What if Ate Linda or one of them at home opened the door? I am sure the robber(s) will do something to them! It was really scary.

A block away from Ate Linda’s is our Ate Lita’s home. She is my mom’s cousin. She and her 4 daughters are the only ones at home daily. Her husband died years ago and her siblings moved to another place in Bulacan. They also experienced the same thing. But only once. Another time, she woke up because she heard something downstairs. Do you know that she found half of their window jalousie already off? It really scared them so much they called the police but whoever was trying to get in their house was gone by the time. One morning, her daughter was taking a bath and looked up the ceiling. She found a pair of eyes looking back at her. When they called some neighbors to check, they found a chair at the back of their bathroom wall.

The nerve of these robbers and maniacs who prowl Bustos, Bulacan is really something. They even do their robberies at broad daylight! A neighbor of another relative lost their newly purchased bag of rice a few minutes after arriving home. Another relative lost her coin purse sitting on the dining table.

Scary and very dangerous. We were advising them to lock their doors at night and get some dogs. We can’t rely on local officials and policemen all the time to safeguard our place. We should start by ourselves.

And this should serve as a lesson to us all. Check your locks at night. Check if your doorknobs are sturdy. Check your window jalousie if it’s still intact and make it more secure. Get your family members duplicate keys so as not to expect them knocking at night (and open the door to robbers instead). Double check everything and make sure our homes are safe and secure all the time.

Barack Obama is the next President of the United States!

Congratulations!

And I also salute John McCain for accepting defeat with grace.

***

I am listening to John McCain’s acceptance of defeat/concession speech and I am really moved by his words. He is such gracious and generous with his words for his opponent. He congratulated Barack Obama with his win and encouraged everyone of his supporters to do their share in giving their support to the next president of the United States. What grace!

I really wish politicians in this country are as gracious in accepting their defeat like McCain.