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Charlotte, North Carolina (The Adobo Chronicles) – First, Texas Governor Rick Perry compared being gay to alcolohism, telling a San Francisco audience last June that one can choose to stay away from both.

Then, North Carolina Republican Congressman Robert Pittenger said in Charlotte that lighting up a cigarette is a lot like firing someone for being gay — everyone ahould be able to do it.

Finally, to complete the vice trilogy, Minnesotta Representative Michele Bachmann told a senior citizen audience in Minneapolis today that homosexuality is no different from gambling. “You win some, you lose some. But mostly you lose ” she said, refusing to elaborate on what she meant by her statement.

Now the Republican assault on homosexuality is complete. However, as an unintended consequence, tobacco, alcohol and gaming companies have all announced that they were pulling all future campaign contributions to Republican candidates. They also said they will release a master list of Republican candidates who have received campaign funds from them since elections were invented.

Filipinos won't see similar graphics seen in this warning label on cigarette packs in Thailand. — Filipinos won’t see similar graphics seen in this warning label on cigarette packs in Thailand.

Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – A new law requiring that graphic warnings showing the harmful effects of smoking be placed on all cigarette packs sold in the Philippines has been put on hold. The reason: Filipinos consider the graphic photos too graphic.

The new law, signed by President NoyNoy Aquino last July, was supposed to be in effect this month, but it has been postponed until May of 2016, to the delight of the powerful tobacco-growing industry.

The proposed graphic warnings feature gruesome photographs of the ill effects of smoking, including skin and throat cancer as well as emaciated bodies of smokers.

Soon after the proposed graphic designs were made public, tobacco companies initiated a petition to put the new law on hold until less offensive, less repulsive and less nauseating photographs are used on cigarette packs. The petition drew more than 1 Million signatures, prompting officials to suspend the law’s implementation.

In an exclusive interview with The Adobo Chronicles, a spokesperson for the Inter-Agency Committee on Tobacco (IAC-T) said that the committee has decided to replace the graphic photos with a picture of President Aquino smoking a cigarette. “Because of the growing unpopularity of Aquino, having his photograph on cigarette packs would encourage smokers to quit while discouraging young kids from starting to smoke.”

The new graphic warning on cigarette packs won’t be rolled out until May of 2016, just weeks before the president’s six-year term as president comes to an end. “That way, there will be no conflict of interest or impropriety when Aquino receives compensation and royalty from the tobacco companies for the use of his photograph,” the spokesperson said.

This will be the photo that will be used in the graphic warnings on cigarette packs: