Posts Tagged ‘ondoy’

Water supply has always been a problem in the Philippines. Since time immemorial, many Metro Manila residents have even had to rely on electric booster pumps to suck out the essential juice from city's decrepit mains and store as much of it in privately-owned storage tanks. In many suburbs, there is an arms race of booster pumps among residents. Households possessing the most sucking power ... Full story

It's that time of the year again when we review the year just passed and look ahead to the next one. I haven't gotten to the reviewing part yet. Looking back on the frenzy that was 2009 is still a little bit like trying to figure out what happened during an eight-day Ibogaine bender; it ... Full story

Again Philippine society steps up to presenting itself as a showcase of sad juxtaposition. Just a month ago, an outpouring of often well-publicised support and relief work marked the aftermath of the destruction wreaked by tropical cyclone Ondoy on Metro Manila, and in recent weeks calls to prayer resounded as Filipinos braced for several more ... Full story

I finally got to watch the film Oliver Twist directed by Roman Polanski. The critics were right in saying that it is the best adaptation of the classic novel by Charles Dickens. You won’t find it in the cinemas today or in the new release DVDs because the film was released in 2006. ... Full story

I found out recently that public flavour-of-the-month presidential candidate Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino Jr had upgraded his website. The new website is far glossier than the original one that I trawled for information and cited as reference back in the 30th of August. The URL I used for reference for the rather sparse summary of Aquino's platform I made back then pointed to what ... Full story

We often hear the phrase "culture of impunity" attributed to Filipinos. Indeed, nothing could be more true. We so incline ourselves to latching on to improper habits that present no immediately unpleasant outcomes without really understanding long-term ramifications associated with said habits. Impunity fits snugly within a more holistic framework that describes in a coherent structure the disastrous nature of Philippine society's imprisonment in itsdysfunctional culture ... Full story

When will we step up to squarely facing the challenge of overcoming what has tormented us for the longest time? Thousands of Filipino lives have been lost and millions of dollars in property damage sustained as a result of disasters caused by weather disturbances common in the region. Much of what contributes to the devastation is the result of years of neglect and lack of ... Full story

Clean up the trash. Upgrade the sewage system. Pick up your trash. Don't throw plastic into the rivers. Rationally apply Urban Planning. Enough of "spot zoning". Don’t vote bozos into Congress. Vote for bozos who provide winning solutions and demonstrated these in the past - not because they are "winnable". Everything that can go wrong, has gone wrong. When nature came knocking at ... Full story

Metro Manila is my hometown (or shall we say, home region), and having friends and family directly affected by the destruction and human tragedy that tropical cyclone Ondoy had wreaked on Luzon over the weekend, I was and am deeply distressed by what happened. The technologies available today certainly made this the most photographed and video-captured ... Full story