Pinoy Passenger

Iron Man - It was Wednesday of last week when my boyfriend and I watched Iron Man. I thought it was gonna be another “for-boys-only-sort-of action-film”, but I was enticed the moment I saw Robert Downey, Jr. on the screen (super crush: Ally McBeal days). And when I got engaged to the whole eye-opener story…

Continue Reading »

Get the daily grind of Pinoy news and events. Subscribe to my RSS Feed.

Doing a Google search for the long-tail search query: How many Internet users are there in the Philippines?, the internetworldstats.com site came up number 3 in the list of Google results.

According to that site, we have:

14,000,000 Internet users as of April 2007, - that is 16.0% of the population, according to Yahoo.

I was inspired to write this post when I read about Facebook’s initiative to create language translation in its widely popular social networking site. Pinoys are known for being good suckers of social network sites. In fact, many believe that Friendster’s huge success can be partly attributed to the average Pinoy - the type who loves displaying his/her pics (and inviting friends online to come take a peek to his/her latest adventure). I mean you gotta admit it, don’t you love displaying your cute little bikini when you went to Boracay?

Anyway, Facebook is a growing social network in the Philippines. Due to its large base of patrons, it has gotten ways of monetizing the site - like ad postings, events, etc. Now it is busy cooking up a new initiative - language translation.

Imagine if we can all share applications in Tagalog. How would those stupid quizzes, and 2-minute tests sound? Something like: “Meron kang 1 Anong Klaseng Bulaklak ka na pagsusuri!” How outrageous! But I think it’ll be fun

How would this Facebook language translation affect the common Filipino?

1. It will open doors for a larger audience - pati ang mga nagno-nosebleed sa English

2. It will keep a lot of employees busy checking out the latest quiz in “Filipino” - as if we’re not sneaking during office hours haha!

3. There’ll be a lot of opportunities for local entrepreneurs to advertise on Facebook - Imagine if tagalog searches will finally return results for you

Social networking has taken a step higher than the normal picture sharing, and friend invitations. It has become a rich melting pot of varied cultures, experiences, and opportunities for everyone living in the planet. With Facebook’s latest initiative, it can encourage Pinoys to make use of more opportunities presented to them online. We can have smarter, and better equipped Internet users in the Philippines by then.

Get the daily grind of Pinoy news and events. Subscribe to my RSS Feed.

There is a question on the usage of the word “shortage” in the latest national issue battling the Philippines. Does the “shortage” in rice really exist? Maybe it does, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the significant decrease in the farmer’s yield.

I bet you’re thinking what I’m thinking – rice hoarding. As per Secretary Arthur Yap, there is really no significant shortage of rice in terms of yield of the Philippine’s staple food. There is just a dangerous sector called the “hoarding businessmen”, who in the desire to profit, stocks rice supplies intended for the table of Filipino families. Who’s that Chinese again who bought NFA rice, then re-packed it to sell high in the market? Very business-minded indeed (and very selfish too!)

Although it’s a known fact that more rice fields are being converted to residential and commercial areas, as compared to the early years. That is why the government is targeting 98% rice sufficiency in 2010. I strongly feel they should include the abolish of graft and corruption in the agriculture/trade and industry sectors too. Regardless of the hectares of rice you have, hoarding will still do its dirty work unless you act on it.

Anyway, just to lighten up things, here’s a quick to-do-list for Filipinos to conserve rice in the looming rice “shortage” era of the country:

• If you’re among the weight-conscious girls out there (but actually loves pigging out), order half rice instead of whole. Carbo can really grow your belly.

• Don’t order a cup of rice or more if you can’t finish it all when eating in restaurants. The Department of Agriculture (DA) is now urging food chains to offer a half cup of rice to their patrons.

• Try eating bread, or pasta. It’s a new variation of your usual rice meal.

• Singangag! I love it! Don’t throw away last night’s dinner rice left over. Saute garlic, butter/margarine, and left over hotdogs, corned beef, tapa meat, then mix with left over rice. Good breakfast meal.

• Don’t fill the entire rice cooker with bigas if it can’t be consumed completely. Just cook the right amount of rice appropriate for the size of the whole family.

• Last: share the rice you can’t finish with your boyfriend. He’ll appreciate it (men are better rice eaters than women).

Get the daily grind of Pinoy news and events. Subscribe to my RSS Feed.

In 5 Filipino families, how many do you think have relatives abroad? Relatives included in the pool of our overseas Filipino workers, or OFWs? I bet more than half of that number would raise their hands.

Just some quick stats about the Overseas Filipino Worker:

• There are more than 11 million overseas Filipinos worldwide. That makes up 11% of our total population.
• Filipinos are mostly deployed in the Middle East. This region contributes to a 68% share of deployment among all regions in the world.
• OFWs are mostly females. 59% as compared to 40.74% males.
• Majority of our OFWs are in the service-sector
• Filipinos were expected to send back $14.7 billion in remittances to the Philippines in 2007.

In one of my History classes in UP, we argued over the claim that our OFWs are the modern day heroes. As my professor once noted, they aren’t there because of a deliberate decision to make the Philippines more progressive. They made the decision to work abroad with their own families in mind. It is still a one-on-his-own survival tactic. So do you see any trace of heroism in there? I used to believe there is none.

I’ve been proven wrong. I realized I had quite a narrow view of things. When my cousin was finally admitted to a college study program that ensures employment after, I knew my relatives abroad were the culprit.

Our OFWs could have left us in the hope of providing a better tomorrow for their families. But in a larger scale, their contribution is way more than that.

Every time a Filipino youth is able to finish his or her education, every time the young generation gets a better chance to earn money whether via employment or entrepreneurship, the tiny ray of hope for the land becomes brighter.

Imagine how one graduate student who is able to find a source of living is a good minus in the number of ‘tambays’, ‘potential criminals (i.e. poverty-related crimes)’, etc. There is a better chance that the hopeful youth brings to heart the mission to help his/her siblings or anyone to finish school, as well. Remember that pass it forward mentality? How great the Philippines could be if we take it upon ourselves to help one another to move forward.

Get the daily grind of Pinoy news and events. Subscribe to my RSS Feed.

For the pioneer post of Pinoy Passenger, I thought it good to feature the Philippine’s “Pambansang Kamao” - Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao.

After a very controversial match with Juan Manuel Marquez, the latest issue now is Pacman’s call for unity among his countrymen - which of course is well-applauded by Malacañang.

Here’s a line from his speech:

“My only appeal is for all of us to be united. We are all one family and we have to be together … Now that I have won, let us have unity.”

This is not exactly wrong. Who wouldn’t want unity in this lie-infested political landscape of the country. But then again, there could have been a more suitable message that Pacquiao could have sent in his post-fight interview. In fact, this proves to be relevant to his Las Vegas match - the call for TRUTH.

Just to end the controversy hounding the results of his fight, authorities and speculators will better be off searching for the truth in the split decision. Did Manny really win?

In our national situation, the same recommendation goes. I guess Filipinos are more aware of the fact that Malacañang can always bend the story to favor them, but that doesn’t mean everyone must stop in the fight for truth. We all have our duty in this land. As much as Pacquiao has the duty to defend his title and bring pride in the Filipino, we are to be the defenders of the truth.

If there were anything good out of the fight (apart from Pacquiao “winning” in the end), it would be the:

• decrease in traffic jam (jeepney drivers were glued on the TV set)
• decrease in crime rate (yes, even attempting robbers love to see how Pacquiao makes his punches)
• new linkbait content in the blogosphere (yeah, like this one)

As for national unity - yes it can be achieved only if everyone will decide to fight for the truth.

Get the daily grind of Pinoy news and events. Subscribe to my RSS Feed.