Yearly Archives: 2014

Food, Human Interest, International, Politics

CONGRESSIONAL BILL SEEKS TO MAKE ‘ADOBO’ THE NATIONAL FOOD OF THE PHILIPPINES

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Bill author Congressman Relampagos
Bill author Congressman Relampagos

Quezon City, Philippines – If you think adobo is the national dish of the Philippines, you’re wrong! Well, at least according to one Philippine Congressman’s logic which may actually have some merit.

Representative Rene Relampagos of the province of Bohol has filed a bill in the Philippines’ House of Representatives that would make this popular dish of chicken or pork marinated and simmered in a combination of soy sauce and vinegar as the “official” national food of the Philippines.

While most Filipinos already consider adobo as their national dish, nowhere in the legislative dockets does it say so, unlike the Philippine Eagle as the national bird or Sampaguita as the national flower.

Chicken adobo (photo courtesy of www.MyBayKitchen.com)
Chicken adobo (photo courtesy of http://www.MyBayKitchen.com)

House Bill 3926 will also make the jeepney as the national vehicle, barong tagalog and baro’t saya as national costumes, mango as national fruit, and, read this – Dr. Jose Rizal as national hero!

Congressman Relampagos also wants The Adobo Chronicles to become the official gazette of the Philippine government.

Well, Mr. Congressman,  we at The Adobo Chronicles are very honored but we can’t comment because that would constitute a conflict of interest.  But we will gladly report the facts as your bill moves through the respectable congress.

Business, Human Interest, Politics, Science and Environment

PHILIPPINE SENATOR WANTS TO CHANGE NATIONAL SYMBOL FROM EAGLE TO TIGER

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The Philippine Eagle, left, and the tiger
The Philippine Eagle, left, and the tiger

Manila, Philippines –  Vicente “Tito” Sotto III is a Philippine actor, singer, television host, journalist and politician. He is an incumbent senator.

Like most politicians, Sotto is embroiled in controversies, not the least of which was the accusation that he plagiarized several passages in a speech opposing the Reproductive Health Bill.  The news and social media reported that Sotto had taken passages from a 2011 blog by American home economist blogger Sarah Pope. The bill, which ultimately passed, calls for government-funded contraception and sex education classes in the Philippines, a first in the heavily Catholic nation.

In 2013, Sotto filed a bill that would mandate all government and non-government employees to receive a “14th month” pay as part of their annual salaries. Most employers already provide a “13th month” bonus to their employees.  However, Sotto pointed out that the existing 13th month pay is not truly a bonus because there are 13 months in a year.  “There are 52 weeks in a year and if you divide that by four weeks a month, that’s 13 months,” he insisted.

Now the oft-criticized Sotto has put forward another controversial proposal.

Philippine Senator Tito Sotto III
Philippine Senator Tito Sotto III

International financial experts and analysts have labeled the Philippines as the “New Asian Tiger,” referring to the country’s fast-rising economy and stellar investment climate compared to most other countries in the Asian region.

Capitalizing on this emerging image of the Philippines, Sotto is proposing that the country replace the Philippine Eagle with the Tiger as its official symbol. Once called the “monkey-eating eagle,” the Philippine Eagle – an endangered species – became the country’s national bird and symbol in 1995.

Political opponents of Sotto labeled the proposal “ridiculous” and “too literal.” “We don’t even have tigers in the Philippines, except in the zoo,” they said.

Prior to Sotto’s proposal, there were rumors that other politicians were scheming to change the Philippine national symbol from the eagle to the pig, in view of the 10 Billion-peso pork barrel scam that has implicated members of the Philippine Senate.

Sotto, defending his proposal, told reporters, “I’d rather call our country the Asian Tiger than the Pork Barrel Republic.”

 

Film and TV, Technology, The Media

EAST COAST TV VIEWERS WILL SEE THE OSCARS 24 HOURS LATER, ABC ANNOUNCES

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Ellen DeGeneres, Oscars Host
Ellen DeGeneres, Oscars Host

New York, New York – If you think watching television coverage of the Winter Olympics 12 hours after events had already concluded is ridiculous, think again. It can get worse.

Today the ABC Network announced that the telecast of this Sunday’s 86th Oscar Awards will be seen 24 hours later on the East Coast.  The network will carry the ceremonies live from The Dolby Theater in Hollywood, but only for viewers on the Pacific Coast.  Viewers in the Mountain and Central time zones will see the recorded telecast at the same time as those on the East Coast — on Monday.

Lately, television networks have come under fire for airing events that happen on the West Coast live to viewers on the East Coast, yet those on the West Coast get to see the events three hours later.image

ABC executives explained that the network is making it up to West Coast viewers by giving them the first crack at the Oscars. “For too long, West Coasters have endured spoiler moments when outcomes are already known by East Coast viewers because of the three-hour difference in what is called “prime time TV,” they said.  “For example, television audiences on the East Coast already know who the new American Idol is before the supposedly live show even airs in the West. Yet Idol happens in Hollywood,” they added.