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Finalists in the 2009 Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards

Published by Ellen on November 7, 2009

Congratulations to this year’s finalists for the 2009 Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards (PEBA).

This is the second year of this laudable undertaking being spearheaded by Kenji Solis and his associates. Please visit the site or simply click on the logo above or on the left side of this blog to know more about the contest and how you can participate in selecting the winners.

This year’s theme is “Filipinos Abroad: Hope of the Nation, Gift to the World”. Kenji said they started with 73 nominees from 21 countries (Hongkong is counted under China).

Awarding ceremonies will be on December 26, 2009, 6 pm at the UP Diliman Ang Bahay ng Alumni Convention Hall.

Feel the joys and the anguish of our kababayans through their blogs as they pursue their dreams away from home. Here are the finalists:

Continue readingFinalists in the 2009 Pinoy Expats/OFW Blog Awards

Ala-ala ng mga sumakabilang buhay

Published by Ellen on October 30, 2009

Bilang Kristiyano, naniniwala tayo sa buhay sa langit kapag namatay tayo dito sa lupa.

Hindi natin alam kung ano klaseng komunidad ang nandun sa langit dahil wala naman tayong nakausap personal na galing doon ngunit ako ay naniniwala na ang paglisan natin dito sa mundo ay hindi katapusan na ng buhay.

Noong necrological services kay Haydee Yorac, ang respetadong abogada na naging commissioner ng Commission on Elections at chairperson ng Presidential Commission on Good Government, sinabi ko na kapag panahon ko na, hahanapin so siya doon sa itaas.

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Finding missing loved ones

Published by Ellen on October 6, 2009

One of the heart-rending surviving- Ondoy stories I’ve read was Agence France Presse’s account of Rojanie Asuncion and her Alzheimer’s stricken mother, Flora Geronimo.

The story tells of Flora, only 69- years old, who went missing on Sept. 26 amid floods that swamped 80 percent of Metro Manila. Since Because of her condition, she was unable to tell rescuers her name, where she was from and how she got to the center in Marikina City.

For three days Rojanie, 37, her family members and friends searched for her mother “across the disaster zone, trudging through mud, climbing over debris and checking mud-streaked faces of survivors.”

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Metro Manila flooded

Published by Ellen on September 26, 2009

Breaking news: Supreme Court has cancelled the bar exams scheduled tomorrow.

Many areas in Metro Manila are flooded.

For people who need assistance: National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) Emergency Numbers: 912-5668, 911-1406, 912-2665, 911-5061. Help hotlines: 734-2118, 734-2120.42 .

If you are home safe, pray for those who are stranded.

We experienced brownout earlier this afternoon. I’m glad that electricity is back.

If you have electricity, charge your cellphones and laptops. Store water from the rain.

Continue readingMetro Manila flooded

Tim Garcia: under arrest in designers’ garb

Published by Ellen on September 13, 2009

This is another world!

Fashion’s night on probation
by Peter Davis

tim garcia 2Timothy Mark Depakakibo Garcia, a 25-year-old publicist for Marc by Marc Jacobs, has a court-ordered Fashion Week curfew.

Perched on a sleek white Armani Casa chair in his apartment in the modern, gilded Trump Plaza at 502 Park Avenue, Garcia is decked in head-to-toe designer: a supple caramel leather Alessandro dell’Acqua jacket, Alexander McQueen jeans, a thin white LnA tee shirt and YSL boots. His wrists are adorned with a big Cartier gold and silver Tank watch, a Cartier Love bracelet, a white enamel Hermes bangle and a $1000 dollar large gold plated spiked Hermes cuff called the Collier de Chien.

Then Garcia daintily rolls up his jeans to reveal one accessory he’d rather not be wearing: an electronic monitoring house arrest ankle bracelet, code number “HGM94472.” The thick plastic black box, the size of a pack of cigarettes, is snug up against his tiny ankle. Garcia’s movements are recorded by Homeguard 200, a big black machine connected to his angular, futuristic Bang and Olufsen phone.

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Bringing out the good in the Filipino

Published by Ellen on August 6, 2009

In death, Cory Aquino has become larger than life.

Seeing the sea of humanity that accompanied her to her mortal resting place re-affirmed my faith in the Filipino.

Wednesday, we all came together, braving hunger and rain, to pay tribute to a woman who embodies, what we believe is good, honest, humble, brave. The scenes along the South Luzon Expressway were awesome. They filled not only the streets but also the flyovers. Northbound vehicles stopped and passengers converted the inner lane into parking space while they joined crowds chanting “Cory! Cory!” while flashing the Laban sign. Cargo vehicles became platforms where people waved instant placards with handwritten messages professing love and gratitude for Cory.

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40-year political enmity ends with visit to Cory wake

Published by Ellen on August 4, 2009

by Gerard Naval
Malaya

Imee Marcos and Lisa Araneta-Marcos with Aquino grandchildren
Aimee Marcos and Lisa Araneta-Marcos with Aquino grandchildren
The death of former President Corazon Aquino has managed to unite two of the bitterest rival families in the country’s political history that goes back at least 40 years: the Marcos’s and the Aquinos.

At about 2:30 p.m. yesterday, Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos and his sister Imee, a former congresswoman, arrived at the Manila Cathedral to pay their respects to the icon of democracy.

They were received by Mrs. Aquino’s daughter, Ballsy Aquino Cruz, and grandsons Kiko Dee and Jiggy Cruz.

The Marcos siblings immediately proceeded to the coffin and said prayers, after which they exchanged pleasantries with the Aquinos.

Continue reading40-year political enmity ends with visit to Cory wake