May They Rest in Peace

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord ...

Ian Sublang – Gensan Newsprint

Lea Dalmacio – Gensan Newsprint

Gina Dela Cruz – Gensan Newsprint

Marites Cabunes – Gensan Newsprint

Bart Maravilla – Bombo Radyo

Jhoy Duhay – Peoples Tonite

Henry Araneta – DZRH Correspondent

Andy Teodoro – Mindanao Inquirer

Neneng Montano – Gensan Newsprint

Alejandro Bong Reblado – UNTV

Victor Nuñez – UNTV

Mac–mac Amola – Gensan Newsprint

Jimmy Cabello –  Midland Review

Councilor Razul Daud – SK Newspaper

Joel Parcon –  Prontera News

Val Cachuela –  Prontera News

John Caniban

Art Baloya – Punto Periodico

Noel Decena – Punto Periodico

Rany Razon – Punto Periodico

Bienvenido Jun Legarta – Punto Periodico

Jovy Legarta – Punto Periodico

Rey Merisco – Punto Periodico

Boyet Dela Cerna – Escalera News

Art Mascardo – GSC

Embarassment

Worse than Iraq. Worse than Afghanistan. Worse than Pakistan.

Watch the following video as "Journalists Without Borders" Speaks Out on the barbaric murder of 57 individuals  last 23 November 2009 in Maguindanao..

The Philippines is now the most dangerous place to live for journalists.

What a fitting feather on the administration's cap. Will this finally wake the government from its seeming indifference to all the heinous crimes happening around it? Or will they continue to belittle this incident as a mere fight between two families.

A True Hero

So where are YOU watching?

Everyone will be watching the Pacquiao vs. Cotto match Sunday morning, 15 November. No doubt about it. And most everybody will watch the fight live for there's no sense in waiting for it on free TV, only to be barraged by the endless commercials.

But where will people be watching? The options are aplenty.

The cinemas are an obvious favorite. Watching the fight on a large screen in an air-conditioned theater in the company of a large, boisterous partisan crowd is an experience in itself. Very much like watching an Ateneo La Salle basketball game. Except this time, there's no La Salle (or no Ateneo, if you belong to the other school). And this time everyone's cheering for the same guy.

Movie house tickets for the fight range from P500 to P650 and come with reserved seating. But no popcorn.

Some cinemas, like the one pictured here, even have raffle promos to entice fight fans to watch there. I for one, would like to get my hands on a Team Pacquiao jacket.

Restaurants are another option. The TV monitors or projection screens may be smaller than those of cinemas but food is always included in the ticket price. And if food is your fancy then perhaps the champion of buffets, the Triple V Group,  may just have an edge over everyone else.

For P750, you get to watch the fight AND enjoy DAD's ultimate buffet. With bottomless ice tea at that.

Now if you're more the drinking than the eating type, then better head off to the nearest bar. That is if you don't mind drinking at 8 in the morning.

Like restaurants bars include breakfast with the entrance fee but make most of their money on the beer buckets and bundles they brandish. Given the BPO phenomenon, many may already be used to booze in the morning. But for me, I'd still rather just have coffee with my ham and eggs.

Finally, to my surprise, the fight will now also be shown in comedy bars! Yes, those places where merry men and loud women who call themselves artists are paid to insult, ridicule and make fun of  their audience. Yes, these so called comedy clubs have joined the Pacquiao bandwagon.

I wonder what their come on is? I hope they won't have female impersonators performing between rounds.

And me? Where will I watch and why?

I'll be watching in the new Eastwood Cinema. Because Patty wants to have lunch after in one of the new restaurants that just opened in Eastwood Mall.  In the end, the wife decides. Unanimous decision.

(Sometimes) The Government Works!

Got a pleasant surprise this morning. Efficiency can and does exist in government. Or at least it did in the DFA this morning when Patty and I renewed our passports and got new ones for Gabi and Bela. The whole process took us all of 23 minutes! Twenty-three minutes for four passports! Wow, I was truly impressed.

We went to the DFA fully expecting a tedious process and a long wait, much like the registration marathon organized by the COMELEC.

The secret? To course everything through a reputable third party service provider.

We chose LBC's Telephone Passport Express service. We simply logged on to their website, downloaded the forms, had our photos taken and submitted all the needed documents to the nearest LBC branch.

Other service providers are Pilipinas Teleserv Inc. and DHL. The DFA itself offers this fast track service through its online passport appointment system.

We were informed of our appointment schedule in the DFA via SMS and told to go to the LBC booth "at the DFA basketball court beside DHL and look for Renato Frogosa."

There was already a large crowd when we got to the basketball court. These were the applicants who didn't go through LBC or any of the other service providers. It looked like these applicants were going to spend the whole morning here.

There were about ten of us who were given the same appointment. We were briefed on the rather straight forward process and in 5 minutes we were already ushered into the passport processing section across the street.

We were then asked to sign our application form in the presence of a DFA officer and our thumbprints were taken. That was it! We were done and free to go. The passports will be delivered to the house in a week's time. Wow.

I walked away from there thinking, for just a split second, that sometimes we get the right service for the taxes we pay.