Category Archives: International

THE SURVEY SAYS: FILIPINOS MOST EMOTIONAL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD

July 15, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – Filipinos cry a lot, laugh a lot, scream a lot, get angry a lot, pray a lot, curse a lot. Come hell or high water, they don’t hold back on expressing emotion, especially in public. Just ask Kris Aquino, actress, television host and presidential sister.

A new U.S. Gallup poll conducted in more than 140 countries to compare how people feel about their lives has ranked the Philippines the most emotional society in the world, beating out El Salvador and Bahrain which came in second and third, respectively.

Upon hearing the news, President NoyNoy Aquino congratulated the Filipino people on yet another feather on their cap. “We’re number one yet again,” the president said, “and it just validates my earlier statement that the Philippines is the new ‘Darling of Asia.’ Now, we are actually the ‘Darling of the world.'”

The same survey ranked Singapore the most emotionless society in the world. Maybe, that’s why the country is among the most successful economies? Go figure.

International, Technology

WITH ONE MOUSE CLICK, GOOGLE ERASES SOUTH CHINA SEA ISLAND FROM WORLD MAP

July 14, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Capture MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles®) – Before today, a search on Google Maps would point you to an island in the South China Sea called Zhongsha.

Its international name is Scarborough Shoal and is one of disputed territories in the Spratly Islands, a group of more than 750 reefs, islets, atols, cays and islands in the South China Sea. The Spratly archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia and southern Vietnam. All three countries plus China claim part of the archipelago as part of their respective territories.

With the click of the mouse, Google erased the island from the map after an outcry from Filipinos who maintained that naming the island Zhongsha would suggest that it belongs to China, when in fact, it belongs to the Philippines, or so it is claimed.

“We’ve updated Google Maps to fix the issue. We understand that geographic names can raise deep emotions which is why we worked quickly once this was brought to our attention,” Google’s office in Manila said in a statement.

China, meanwhile, has accused Google of taking sides on a territorial dispute that should be settled by the governments involved, not by a private company. Furthermore, China says that Google’s action is in retaliation for the Chinese government’s crackdown on gmail and the Google search engine in the Chinese mainland.

So, if there is a name of an island or body of water anywhere in the world that you are not happy about, don’t despair. All you need is to start a petition for Google to erase it from the map. Or at least change its name.

Government, Human Interest, International, Politics, Science and Environment

CANADIAN TOXIC TRASH TO BE BURIED AT THE AQUINOS’ HACIENDA LUISITA

July 13, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

TARLAC CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – For two years, containers of supposedly recycled plastic imported from Canada by a Philippine firm have been sitting at the Port of Manila after it was discovered that the import was, in fact, toxic waste.

At last, the toxic waste found a burial place in a landfill owned by the Metro Clark Waste Management Corporation (MCWMC) located in the town of Capas in President Aquino’s home province of Tarlac.

Everything was going smoothly until Tarlac Governor Victor Yap asked MCWMC to suspend disposal of the illegally imported trash until he is presented with a certification from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) explaining the nature of the toxic waste. Yap said his demand to see the DENR certification was his response to the complaints that he and other Tarlac officials had been receiving from residents of Bamban and Capas towns. Residents there complained of stench, noise, dust and mud as trucks transported garbage, he said.

President Aquino, in a recent state visit to Canada, failed to convince the Canadian government to take back the toxic waste.

So, in an effort to save face and displaying a heroic determination to put an end to this dragged-out controversy, Aquino offered that the toxic waste be buried at Hacienda Luisita, an agricultural estate owned by his family. Hacienda Luisita is a sugar plantation located in Tarlac that is no stranger to the decades-long controversy regarding land reform.

Aquino’s announcement could be the biggest and most important legacy of his presidency.

Aquino’s sister, actress and television host Kris, was understandably upset by her brother’s decision. Still, she says she respects the decision.