All posts by Pol Pinoy

Government, Law Enforcement, Politics

Philippine Elections Commissioners Resign En Banc

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imageMANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – In Japan, elected political leaders –prime ministers  included — step down when they cause an embarrassment to their country. In the Philippines, appointed government officials resign en banc.

Minutes  after the Supreme Court  issued temporary restraining orders (TRO)  on two Commission on Elections (COMELEC) rulings disqualifying Senator Grace Poe from next year’s presidential election, the commissioners tendered their simultaneous resignations. They could not bear the embarrassment handed to them by the highest court of the land.

As a result of the TROs, Poe’s name would remain in the 2016 ballot.

Last week, the COMELEC, sitting en banc, issued a ruling disqualifying Poe on citizenship and residency grounds. Earlier, two divisions of the electoral body issued similar rulings.

The COMELEC was widely criticized for issung the ruling at a time when the Supreme Court was on holiday recess, making it almost impossible for Poe to file a petition for TRO before  the 5-day period within which the senator could do so before the order becomes final and executable.

COMELEC was also accused of partisanship by favoring the Aquino administration’s anointed presidential candidate, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.

Because of the mass resignations of the commissioners, the 2016 presidential elections in May could be postponed indefinitely, virtually extending the current term of President Aquino.

Brilliant planning by the Aquino administration that should warrant a Japanese-style resignation?

Stay tuned!

 

International, Social Media

Mark Zuckerberg Partners With Adobo Chronicles To Give Away $4.5 Million Each To 1,000 Facebook Users

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imageMENLO PARK, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – Mark Zuckerberg is tired of the hoax that has been circulating on Facebook, asking users to share a message that the Facebook founder is supposedly giving away $4.5 Million each to 1,000 people.

Well, if you can’t lick ’em, join ’em. That’s what Zuckerberg is doing exactly.

Today, Zuckerberg announced that he is partnering with Silicon Valley-based The Adobo Chronicles  to make the hoax a reality.

He is asking Facebook users to share the following message on their page:

Can’t wait to see who the lucky recipients are…According to Good Morning America, Not a hoax! Mark Zuckerberg has announced that he is giving away $45 billion of Facebook stock. What you may not have heard is that he plans to give 10% of it away to people like YOU and ME! All you have to do is to “like” AdoboChronicles.com and copy and paste this message into a post IMMEDIATELY. At midnight PST, Facebook will search through the day’s posts and award 1000 people with $4.5 million each as a way of saying thank you for making Facebook and The Adobo Chronicles such powerful vehicles for connection…let it be so! It’s worth a shot, right?

The 1,000 people selected to receive $4.5 million each will be announced on Good Morning America on Tuesday, December 29.

 

Awards, Media, Social Media

ADOBO CHRONICLES’ PERSON OF THE YEAR: MIAA GENERAL MANAGER JOSE ANGEL HONRADO

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imageMANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – Each year, The Adobo Chronicles names its Person of the Year, choosing from among candidates who have made a significant impact on news and social media by grabbing the headlines for heroic deeds and statements relating to national or international events.

In 2013, we named Hollywood actor Jackie Chan, who has repeatedly survived news about his untimely demise. Last year, we named former Philippine Interior Secretary and now presidential candidate Mar Roxas for being the “man for the masses.”

For 2015, we were very conflicted.

Our short list included President Aquino, for being in a constant bubble, always proclaiming that the Philippines is the “new darling of Asia,” while ignoring the many ills and perils that the Filipino people continue to endure.

We also considered his sister, television host Kris Aquino, whose penchant for blabbering has made her the ‘queen of gossip,” oftentimes washing her dirty laundry — especially her private and family life — in public.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Abaya was also on our list for the unending woes of Metro Manila’s nightmarish traffic and the beleaguered MRT (light railway) and for proclaiming that these problems “were not fatal.”

But after serious deliberations, our editors have finally made a unanimous choice: Jose Angel Honrado, general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), under whose watch the now internationally-famous laglag bala became a trademark of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

Laglag bala was an airport scheme in which scrupulous airport personnel “planted” live bullets in bags and luggage of unsuspecting airline passengers for the purpose of extorting money.

The scheme caused the cancellation of international gatherings, business meetings, family reunions by overseas Filipino workers (OFW), and the proliferation of a new cottage industry: plastic wrapping of checked-in luggage at NAIA.

Even President Barack Obama was advised by ther U.S. State Department to wrap his briefcase in plastic upon arriving in Manila for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit meeting last month.

It has also been reported that a Philippine Airlines flight from Honolulu left for Manila with no passengers, only the crew, because confirmed travelers refused to board the plane for fear of being victimized by the scheme once they landed in Manila.

But what made the editors truly convinced about bestowing this 2015 honor to Honrado was his testimony before a Senate hearing in which he told Senator Bongbong Marcos that he had no control over what happens at the airport, essentially confirming that he is being paid as general manager to do absolutely nothing.

Congratulations to our 2015 Person of the Year!