Monthly Archives: January 2016

International, Science and Environment

Philippines A Popular Dumping Ground for International Waste

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imageMANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The Philippines is fast gaining a new reputation as an international dumping ground for toxic and dilapidated waste.

First, containers from Canada arrived years ago at the Port of Manila, supposedly carrying several tons of recycled plastic.  Alas, the contents were nothing but Canadian garbage, including used adult diapers.

Now, a massive and dilapidated floating drydock used in the Pacific since World War II is moving to the Philippines after spending nearly half a century at Naval Base Guam.

Several local tugboats and the 467-ton Philippine tug Rhocas guided Richland out of Apra Harbor Wednesday in preparation for an open-ocean tow to the Philippines that will take several days. The Rhocas began that tow on Thursday.

It’s unclear what will happen to the drydock, which has a deep basin that can be flooded so ships can be floated in and repaired after the water is drained, once it arrives in the Philippines.

For many, however, it is clear that the Philippines is seen by foreign governments as a convenient dumping ground for unwanted waste, and Philippine officials don’t seem to care.

International, Language

26 Filipino Words, Plus One, Added To Oxford English Dictionary

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imageOXFORD, England (The Adobo Chronicles) –  Filipinos, be proud! The Oxford Dictionary of English has added 26 Filipino words that can now be used universally.

Words like mabuhay, barkada, comfort room, kuya, presidentiable and sinigang are now official entries in the famous and respected international dictionary.

But that is not all.

Today, The Adobo Chronicles learned that Oxford Press, which publishes the dictionary, has added a late-breaking item to the book’s latest edition.

That word is ‘PNoy.’

Many Filipinos, of course, know that PNoy refers to their incumbent president, but the entry has nothing to do with NoyNoy Aquino.  Or maybe it does.

Oxford defines PNoy as a noun which refers to an individual who is clueless, or inside a bubble.

Here’s a list of the other 26 Filipino words that have been added.

Government, Politics, Travel

If Elected President, Rodrigo Duterte Will Commute Daily Between Manila And His Hometown Of Davao City

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DAVAO CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) –  It’s a one hour and forty five-minute flight from Manila to Davao City.  Manila is where the Philippine presidential palace is located, and Davao is where presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte lives.

Duterte likes to sleep in his own bed, so if he is elected president in the May elections, the Davao City mayor says he plans to go home to Davao City every day. He has no plans of staying in Malacanang, the presidential palace.

Now, before you say that Duterte’s plan is a crazy idea, think again.

With Metro Manila’s daily traffic gridlock, it can take up to four hours to commute from one part of the metropolis to another.  So a daily commute from Manila to Davao doesn’t sound so bad.

Duterte added that his daily commute will not cost the government a single centavo.  He says he would borrow the private jet of his friend, Davao religious leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, to spare the government the expected expense.

That’s assuming, of course, that the pastor will also pay for the fuel, and that the jet has room for the presidential security.