Filipina Soul

Two weeks ago, a colleague and I met our former boss – a German Scientist near retirement. He has residing and working here in the Philippines for about ten years now. He may have been the most difficult boss (and person) I’ve ever known, but he certainly loves the tropics, the beach and the Philippines in general (despite his complaints about its politics and stuff, big and small).
The meeting that was supposed to be a business one turned into a personal one where we ended up updating on each other’s lives. He said he cannot live in Germany anymore, he’s …read more

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Ten more days in the office and I bump into bureaucratic woes. The scientist in me believes that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. But for some reason the people around me takes pride in going through tangeted loops just to get from one point to another.
For the record, I’ve always hated the red tape here both in government and private offices: Where you need ten signatures to get an ample supply of paper clips, and have to start the ball rolling some 6 months in advance to get things done when you need it. Just how …read more

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Who doesn’t know Dr. Jose Rizal, the Philippines’ National Hero? 
I briefly mentioned this guy in a post last year. While I truly admire his famous books “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” (we are forced to read these two books cover to cover back in high school!) , I have question marks floating in my head with regards to his real personality and objectives in all the things that he did during his time, especially his cry for reform with the Spanish government.
Well, we could only speculate based on what was written about him. It was already given that he …read more

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Last Sunday, my eyes almost crossed trying to keep the lids open just to finish watching the delayed telecast of Starstruck: The Final Judgment.
Starstruck (on it’s 3rd year) is the original “Artista” search in the Philippines that although a bit patterned from American Idol, has evolved into the biggest (this season, the only) nationwide search for new and young stars with pure pinoy’s flavor in a quest for a total entertainer.
What I love most about Startruck is that it put a stop to an era in Philippine show business where stars are either born into it or just happen to be …read more

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The Filipinos generally love music: not only in singing but listening to one, especially the slow, romantic types. Maybe because we are a bunch of natural romantics or just plain mushy.
You’ll know you are in the Philippines when all public transportations, from jeepneys to tricycles are tuned to mellow radio music. Most public places are too, like restaurants, terminals, etc.
Even in the laboratory where I work, soft mellow music is being consistently played in the background. (One foreign national even commented that: “if you listen to mellow touch the whole day, I think you’ll get spongy brain!)
Well, whatever. We just …read more

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March and April is school graduation month in the Philippines. Aside from Christmas, this is the time of the year when remittance of Filipino Overseas Workers (OFW) is at its peak.
Manila Times reported that the peso just slipped past the 50-to-the-US-dollar mark on Tuesday as boosted by OFW remittances.
For somebody who’s going to rely on the dollar from next  month on…I’m a bit annoyed like the euro-pinay visitor.
Photo Credit: www.shutterstock.com

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The state of emergency was lifted on Friday and the Philippine peso is nearing 50 against the dollar. Economic strategy or not, Proclamation 1017 has worked in favor of the President while her oppositionists are seething in public (and private) rage. 
President Arroyo and her economic team were optimistic that this performance will continue throughout the year and will persuade foreign investors and ratings agencies to look even more favorably at the Philippines than they do now. This “overperformance” of the economy is due not only to additional revenues generated by the VAT but to better collection by the Bureaus of …read more

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Tonight is the coronation of the most prestigious beauty pageant in the Philippine Islands: Binibining Pilipinas 2006 (Miss Philippines 2006).
The grand event will be held in Araneta Coliseum at 8 PM. Delayed telecast will be shown exclusively at GMA-7.
Check out the list of official candidates and see who you think will wear the crown of the most beautiful Filipina tonight.

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In Philippine Society, the gays are either the “screaming faggots” or the “closeted queens”.  This society, even at present modern age has extreme opposing stands on issues concerning the third sex.
I wonder how hard it must have been for Rustom Padilla who has lived a public life not to mention belonging to a clan of womanizing machos. It must have been real hard.
At long last, Rustom is out of the closet and finally admitted in public that he is gay.
Well, I guess the Filipino public started speculating on his sexual preference the moment his previous marriage to actress Carmina Villaroel …read more

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The Philippine Archipelago is still in a State of Emergency. Rumor is that it will be lifted this Saturday. Meanwhile, Senators and press people expressed their protests against the President’s declaration.
Maybe one good thing that the Philippines is composed of 7,107 islands is that even if there is a some commotion that threats the National Security, you cannot feel it at all, not unless if you are situated in Manila or you watch the flash reports on TV real time.
Los Baños, not considering the traffic is, just some  1.5 hours away from Manila but everything is perfectly normal here. How much more if you move …read more

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