Coolchura

The news of a Filipina becoming the first winner of X-Factor Israel had hit the country like a storm. It sure made the Filipinos' pride bloom again for the nth time. Rosanna Fostanes, a 46-year-old OFW hailed in Taguig, works as a caregiver in Israel. She won the title singing Frank Sinatra's memorable My Way, breaking the Filipino belief that the song is cursed and whoever sings it (especially in videoke) will face death right after. But this is not the case for her, huh? The song made her gain the flags of admiration from the Filipinos worldwide after Manny Pacquiao's win in Shanghai, China last Novermber 2013.

As I read the news, I wonder how she was able to join the contest given she has a Filipino citizenship? And the problem now rise after this historical event. There was these issues of Israel not permitting her to work as a singer in their country and the Philippine's Bureau of Internal Revenue is also to tax her winnings. The BIR said that even though OFWs are exempted from tax, her winnings is not. It's like in Pacquiao's case, even if they had brought pride to the Philippines, they still have to abide with the laws governing their incomes. As with Israel, the country will not honor her caregiver visa to allow her to do paid recordings.

Well, I hope the best for her, these problems are workable and I am sure she can get out of it will soon enjoy the fame and the career that opened through the show. You can watch her winning performance below:


Video credits to Youtube (The X-Factor Israel)

As part of the Christmas celebration in the University of the Philippines - Diliman, it annually conducts the so-called Lantern Parade. This day marks the start of Christmas break in the university as well as the opportunity for the different colleges and organization in the campus to show-off their creativity skills and advocacy in a form of a lantern. They can promote their beliefs, their way of thinking, their mission, and even their call to some issues in the country. The event is usually held in the UP-Diliman Academic Oval during the second Friday of December. People from different places and various age brackets gather in this event to witness the beautiful, massive and colorful lanterns created by the UP students and faculty. The event starts at 4pm and usually end at around 10pm with a fireworks display.

I was able to witness the 2012 Lantern Parade in Diliman and I can say that after four years of being away from this university, the event is still well-participated and the quality of lanterns did not falter as compared to the past ones.

Here are some pictures:
College of Architecture

Manny Pacquiao arrived in the Philippines this Wednesday at five o'clock in the morning with his wife Jinkee Pacquiao at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. During an interview Pacman had given his words to his hopeful fans that the Filipinos will rise again and he will grab the opportunity to strengthen himself while he is still fit to do so. He won't retire after his second defeat in this year of his career.

Pacquiao fell in the sixth round during the Pacquiao-Marquez 4 match. His defeat from Juan Miguel Marquez through a shocking knockout will seem to be replayed over and over again in boxing's greatest hits. Surely it can't easily be forgotten.

Well, let's hope that he fulfill his promise.

Recently, the government has issued a statement that they will give 25 million pesos reward to whoever can provide information in the political killings in our country.

When I heard that, I told the radio (literally) that instead of giving away the 25 million as reward, why not the government spend it in the intelligence unit. Manage that unit to gather the information needed and tackle a way to know the people behind the killings. So, instead of waiting for people to provide information (which I am sure will depend if they are bogus or not), simulate movement. Isn't it their job?

Then the other day, Aling Sonia, a radio brodcaster, quoted Sen. Chiz Escudero that in order to solve the problem, use the amount to run the intelligence command. The intelligence command is reliable enough to gether information and strategize ways in battling the issue.

See, I should find my way to the government offices. Haha.

The talk of the 2010 election has started to fill the news. Hopeful politicians are now the stars of TV ads, radio commercials, posters and banners. Their faces are now the street signs, telling how proud they are to the graduates of 2009, as if those graduates care. Government projects and renovations are swelling out like mushrooms. Honestly, I hate political talks, political campaigns, and the politicians themselves. In short, I don’t like the very thought of government politics. Politics is a way of gaining power and a ticket to dominate people. It’s a cycle on which the harder you try to intervene, the messier it gets. Well, I know that some of these political people are not really crooked at the start but it was through their everyday position that they transform into some power-hungry individuals.

Recently, PGMA has asked for bidders to automate the upcoming election. I agree with this because I believe that election fraud and crimes will be much less in this process. But then again, it will still not provide the true result of the election due to the long issue on vote-buying and impersonation. With this process, the crimes due to ballot boxes will no longer pose threats especially on its transport. As usual, there are some organizations who are opposed to this automation. They believe that it can easily be altered especially with the knowledge on networking and programming on hand. How will the COMELEC secure the movement of the automated results to the higher levels? Also, automation means less people can serve the election and we know that some of our kababayan earn money during this time by helping in election precincts. How then did the US handle their computerized election?

Whatever my personal concerns are, I don’t stereotype all politicians as wicked people. Strip off their title as politicians and it’s a thumb’s up to their intelligence and their ability to charm a great number of people beyond all the tensions.

In my province, even if the 2010 election is making the headlines, the debates of the previous election is still not settled. We have the elected governor, Hon. Jesus Typoco, Jr., performing his duties already as the head of our province. With a slight difference in the number of votes, Hon. Egay Tallado, his opponent, has contested to the election results and demanded a recount. His request was approved and the ballot boxes were reopened and the votes recounted. The new result showed that Tallado indeed won the governor position instead of Typoco. The authorized office had declared it official and the stepping up of Tallado in office was authorized. A day before the proclamation, Typoco was able to acquire a restraining from the court, withholding the future position of his rival. Before the recount results was finalized and released, Typoco was able to submit a budget proposal for the maintenance and construction of the highways and roads in Camarines Norte and it amounted to 13 billion pesos. Does he intend to rake some fund before he abandon his post? The Vice-Governor, Hon. Roy Padilla, Jr. was wise enough to issue an open letter which informs the public that whatever pending proposals signed by Typoco will be recognized as invalid since his authority as governor is still questionable. But until now, Typoco is still holding the post.