Tag Archives: Philippines

#PulisAngTerorista

Opinion, , , ,

Once more #PulisAngTerorista is trending on Twitter because of the most recent incident of road rage, assault and even cocking a gun involving a retired police officer who was driving on the bike lane.

Last night, the Quezon City PNP had a press conference to ‘address the matter’ where a couple of things smack of further impunity by authorities and their former members – only the retired police officer who pulled out a gun was present, the bike rider was not present, out of fear for his safety and that of his family, and the QC PNP once more acting like a spokesperson for their erring comrade.

From the posts of lawyer Raymond Fortun, who is now taking on a crusade to make the retired police officer accountable, it’s clear that the victim had already been silenced by fear as he has refused to file charges and pursue the matter altogether. Adding insult to injury, the police officials at the press conference had the audacity to declare that “anyone is free to file charges” like a veiled threat to anyone who would go up against their authority.

All this after 17-year-old Jherod Jemboy Baltazar was gunned down by incompetent and trigger-happy policemen. Another minor, a 15-year-old kid ended up with bruises and injuries after being beaten up by the Navotas Maritime Police.

Remember all these when you consider that the public is paying for the pension fund of police officers with no contribution from them when they were still on active duty. You’d think that abusive and corrupt police are only present in the US hence the outcry “ACAB”, in the Philippines, #PulisAngTerorista

Someone who does not find value in putting up classroom decorations clearly has no business being the Secretary of Education.

When UP Diliman made headlines for having more than fifty percent of this year’s graduating class finish with Latin honors, it raised a lot of eyebrows from both members of the UP community and outsiders. Author Butch Dalisay who teaches at UP has weighed in on the peculiar issue, attributing the seeming generosity of the prestigious state university with Latin honors to the relaxation of academic policies brought about by the COVID pandemic. Citing a few studies critiquing the Latin honors system, he’s on point in saying that the time has come to find a better way of recognizing and rewarding academic achievements. In general, the problem also exists at other education levels.

PLDT’s Shady Speed Boost Promo

Daily dose, , ,

Last Sept 2, I was one of the ‘chosen’ subscribers to get the Free 30-day trial of a speed boost that bumped my connection to up to 600 Mbps with an average speed of 480 Mbps, minimum of 180 Mbps with 80% reliability.

After the 30-day trial period, I would be charged an additional P100 every month to keep using the new subscription speed.

At first, it sounded like a fair deal except for two things:

  1. Don’t we have the right to be informed first and consent to have any changes to our subscription? Instead, PLDT unilaterally decided on its own to modify my subscription and then charge me an additional fee.
  2. My internet connection is still nowhere near the supposed average speed of 480 Mbps since I got notified.

I’m not 100% sure, but somehow something wrong has happened and government regulators should look into this scrupulous action taken by PLDT.

Other subscribers have also raised their concerns on social media. To date, there has been no response from PLDT or government regulators about this.

I’ve already raised these concerns to PLDT’s Customer Support team and let’s see how this will pan out.

#NeverAgain Bundle by Adarna House

Daily dose, , , , , ,

Back in May, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Director General Alex Paul Monteagudo red-tagged Filipino book publisher Adarna House when it offered to sell book bundles about the late Ferdinand Marcos Sr’s dictatorship, describing it in a Facebook post as part of a plan to “subtly radicalize” Filipino children to rise up against the government.

The outrageous and dangerous insinuation that Adarna House, a respected book publisher founded by no less than National Artist Virgilio Almario, has ties to the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing the New People’s Army.

Even acclaimed English author Neil Gaiman weighed in:

It cannot be stressed enough that red-tagging is dangerous and there have been activists that were murdered after being red-tagged.

More to the point, publishing books about important historical events especially in a format aimed at younger readers is not only noble work, it is essentially public service.

So to support Adarna House, I bought their #NeverAgain Bundle which consists of the following books:

  • “Ito ang Diktadura” (2017) by Equipo Plantel
  • “Edsa” (2013) by Russell Molina
  • “Isang Harding Papel” (2014) and “Si Jhun-Jhun, Noong Bago Ideklara ang Batas Militar” (2001) by Augie Rivera
  • “The Magic Arrow” (2021) by Bolet Banal

After a little over a month, the books finally arrived yesterday and the wait was worth it. My daughter finished reading all the books in one sitting and said she really enjoyed each one.

#NeverAgain
#NeverAgain Bundle by Adarna House

The #NeverAgain bundle and many other good titles are available over at Adarna House’s website so grab a copy if you can. I promise you will not regret it.

Disclaimer: This is not a paid post nor am I connected to Adarna House, Inc in any way.