Yes, the Philippines has been manually counting election ballots all this time! But this coming 2010 national elections, the Filipinos will be introduced to the Automated Election Machine. For years, automating the election has been the topic of debates among lawmakers. There were many concerns thrown at each side, like questioning the reliability of the counting machines.
After many heated arguments, a bill was passed — Senate Bill No. 2231 (13th Congress) entitled:
Have you encountered the same problem as mine when you access your Verizon Samsung Trance wireless phone? There seems to be a bug on the Samsung Trance phone units after Verizon updated the software.
Last night, I received a note from Verizon to update the software on my phone. It says that while it is updating, I won’t be able to send messages or make or receive calls. Fine with me. It took only few minutes to update and the phone was back to its normal screen.
Only after I received a message from a friend early today that I noticed I could not access my inbox anymore. Clicking inbox automatically switched the screen to what seemed like a “start screen”. It automatically reboot and then returned to the homepage. Powering the Samsung Trance phone off and back on did not help at all.
There are few TV hosts who I find either annoying or unpleasant to the eye on TV. They may be knowledgeable and good at what they do, but their facial expressions and sometimes actions they perform while hosting their shows just do not fit my taste.
Tony Harris, CNN News Anchor – He frowns all the time. He makes unnecessary grins during interviews with his guests.
The recent Maguindanao Massacre in the Philippines claimed 30 people from the media alone. These men were brutally killed last Monday November 23, while doing their jobs as active journalists on the field.
I salute these men and women and my heart goes to the families left behind.
1. Adolfo, Benjie, Gold Star Daily, Koronadal City
2. Araneta, Henry, Radio DZRH, General Santos City
3. Arriola, Mark Gilbert “Mac-Mac,” UNTV, General Santos City
This is related to my previous post about Efren Peñaflorida, the CNN Hero of the Year. The event was televised last night and I was on my seat at home, so inspired and proud while watching Efren Peñaflorida receive the major award with teary eyes. He gave a short yet uplifting message, that is to find our heroes within us.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper revealed Peñaflorida’s selection at the conclusion of the third-annual “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
Step aside Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, Sen. Manuel Villar, former President Joseph Estrada, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, and any other known presidential aspirants for the May 2010 Elections. We need to know the other presidential hopefuls whose aspiration is to become famous, I mean, to become the 15th president of the Philippines.
Who among them will succeed Pres. Maria Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo? Check out the list below, as these people have already filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs). From a masseuse, to a taxi driver, to a computer programmer — who says the highest position of the land is only for the rich and famous?
A Filipino was declared the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year! His name is Efren Peñaflorida. I watched the short video clip with Peñaflorida tonight as CNN reported the winner during the ceremony at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood Saturday night. Congrats!
Efren Peñaflorida won the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year award through online voting (and I voted for this guy last week). According to CNN, Peñaflorida received 2.75 million online votes, the highest among the 10 finalists. He was honored for his “Kariton Klassroom”, which brings education to poor Filipino children.
Not the Philippines — thank God! According to the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), the Philippines, in fact, improved slightly, moving 2 places up from 141 last year to 139 this 2009. But still this is seen as way down below the ranks when compared to other Asia-Pacific countries. Among the 32 countries/territories in the region, the Philippines ranks 24th, with a score of 2.4 out of 10. The lower the score, the more it reflects perceptions of rampant corruption. The country is still lagging behind Singapore (no. 2 in the region), Brunei (7), Malaysia (11), Thailand (14), Vietnam (22), and Indonesia (19). Singapore is also ranked the no. 3 least corrupt country in the world.
Globally, among 180 countries surveyed, the top 10 most corrupt countries in the world based from the Corruption Perceptions Index 2009 are:
