Category Archives: Business

Business, Human Interest, International, Politics, Technology, The Media, Travel

PHILIPPINE MAYOR PLANS TICKER TAPE PARADE TO CELEBRATE HIS CITY’S SELFIE WORLD RECORD.

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imageMakati City, Philippines – Makati is known as the Wall Street of the Philippines , a financial hub where towering offices, hotels and condos dwarf the squatter shanties just a stone’s throw away. It is also known for its feisty mayor Junjun Binay, son of the incumbent vice president and brother to two other Binays, a senator and a congresswoman.

Mayor Binay was recently embroiled in a controversy where he tried to bully his way into a private upscale residential village because he wanted a shorter, traffic- free route to his destination. When the village security guards refused passage to the mayor’s convoy, he made sure the security guards were “invited” to the local police precint for questioning.

But that controversy is gone now and the mayor is buoyed up by news that Makati has achieved a prestigious world record – the number one spot in fact – which he attributes to his administration. Makati has just been named top ‘selfie capital’ of the world, according to Instagram records. Makati topped the list with 258 selfie takers per 100,000 people. Makati has a population of 500,000.

To celebrate this great honor, Mayor Binay has declared March 14 as a city-wide holiday with a ticker tape parade scheduled at 11 am. Binay is urging all Makati residents to take to the streets that day and not to leave their homes without their smart phones. According to Binay’s brilliant plan, at exactly 12 noon, all parade participants and spectators will be asked to take a selfie with their smart phones. Apparently, Binay is aiming for another world record, the most number of selfies taken at the exact same time.

Pasig, a Metro Manila suburb was named top selfie capital, along with Makati, but Pasig residents don’t think it is such a big deal. The same sentiment has been expressed by Cebu City in Central Philippines which was ranked number 9 in the world. So no ticker tape parade or holidays in either Pasig or Cebu.

Business, Human Interest, International, Politics, Science and Environment, Travel

MANILA AIMS TO BECOME THE FERRY CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

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imageManila, Philippines – From Chicago to San Francisco, from Hong Kong to Venice, water ferries are a popular mode of transportation for both business and pleasure. Manila wants to be known as the ferry capital of the world and is working very hard to earn that distinction.

This week, the Manila Metropolitan Development Authority (MMDA) unveiled a prototype ferry that would transport passengers from one end of the polluted Pasig River to the other, and it is living up to the Philippine tourism meme of “It’s More Fun In the Philippines.”

The prototype ferry consists of a steel barge lined with used rubber tires and on it sits a yellow dilapidated mini-bus that once traversed the traffic-ridden streets of the Philippine metropolis.  “The Pasig River ferry boat will be like no other in the world,” and MMDA official said. “It is not only a ferry boat, it is also a bus,” he added.

The new ferry boats will start operating sometime in April this year and passengers will be charged 80 Pesos (roughly $2) each way.

Instead of life jackets, passengers will be handed disposable face masks in order to protect them from the stench of the polluted river.

Responding to media questions, MMDA said that the new ferry system will not contribute to further polluting the river since the boats will not be using regular gasoline to operate.  Instead, the boats will run on lambanog, a popular local wine made from coconut.  Because of its potency, the lambanog “fuel” has the potential to kill bacteria and viruses that may be clinging to debris floating in the river. “Quite ingenious,” commented one Manila commuter who says he is so sick of the daily traffic gridlock.

MMDA said there will be 5 ferries operating, each with a capacity of 40 passengers. This means a potential of 200 less commuters on Manila’s overcrowded buses and jeepneys each time the ferries run.

Business, Food, International, Law Enforcement, Politics

PHILIPPINE SENATE RENAMES PORK BARREL HEARINGS TO ‘SPAM TOCINO HEARINGS’

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imageManila, Philippines –  Pork barrel has become a universally-accepted term for discretionary funds allocated to politicians to use for their local pet projects. But the term has a very bad reputation in the Philippines, thanks to a 10 Billion-peso scam that siphoned taxpayer money into fake non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and into the personal accounts of some business people and politicians.

The Philippine Senate is currently holding hearings to look into the alleged involvement of some of its members – Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla, Jr. It has cast a not -so-favorable image for the entire Senate.

So, in an attempt to diffuse  the negative image brought forth by the pork barrel scandal, the Senate unanimously agreed to rename the Senate investigation to “Spam Tocino Hearings.” The idea came from Hormel Foods, U.S. manufacturer of Spam . Hormel recently came up with a limited edition of  its popular canned meat, capitalizing on the popular Filipino cured pork called tocino. 

Senate officials said that renaming the hearings would give their investigation some “stateside” flavor while promoting the ever popular Filipino breakfast fare tocino.

Filipino activists immediately criticized the Senate move, accusing the senators of whitewashing the investigation while perpetuating Filipino colonial mentality.

Incidentally, Spam Tocino is available on the Hormel Foods website for $3.00 a can plus shipping. Hormel can only ship to U.S. addresses.