Tag Archives: Philippines

WEINER AND SPITZER APPLY FOR PHILIPPINE CITIZENSHIP

September 11, 2013 Pol Pinoy 3 Comments

New York, New York – Following their defeat in the New York Democratic primary elections, Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer both announced that they have applied for Philippine citizenship in order to salvage their severely damaged political careers. Weiner lost his bid to become mayor of New York City, while Spitzer failed in his quest to become city comptroller.

Weiner had been in political exile since he resigned from Congress in 2011 for sending women lewd online messages and pictures. He got into the mayor’s race in May, and aside from a few dust-ups with hecklers, was largely well-received at first, holding the lead for most of June and July. Spitzer resigned as governor in 2008 and admitted he paid for sex with call girls. In exile, he bounced around television as a pundit. Then, just four days before the deadline, he announced he was running for comptroller.

The disgraced American politicians apparently saw light at the end of the tunnel after being briefed by their political advisers that in the Philippines, politicians get elected and re-elected regardless of scandals or even conviction and imprisonment. Their advisers pointed to the case of former Philippine President Joseph Estrada, who even after being convicted and jailed for corruption, ran and won the race for mayor of Manila, the Philippine capital. They also cited the case of another former Philippine President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who despite being charged with plunder and is currently under hospital arrest, won a seat in the House of Representatives. They added, “This is not to mention the family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos whose wife Imelda has been elected to Congress and son Bongbong who won a Senate seat. Daughter Imee is governor of Marcos’ home province of Ilocos Norte.”

The Adobo Chronicles has learned that Philippine immigration officials have offered to expedite the immigration and citizenship process for both Weiner and Spitzer while Mayor Joseph Estrada indicated he will roll the red carpet for the Americans when they arrive at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Asked to comment about the American politicians’ plan to move to the Philippines, President NoyNoy Aquino said, “They would be a welcome addition to the Philippine political circus, I mean circuit.”

The next scheduled national elections in the Philippines is in 2016. Will the Filipino electorate see a Weiner and a Spitzer for Congress?

Politics

A BOOST TO THE PHILIPPINE BEEF INDUSTRY

August 31, 2013 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Manila, Philippines – As calls for the scrapping of the Priority Development Assistance Fund, better known as pork barrel, escalated, Philippine Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto has proposed that a good portion of P26-billion fund be realigned and spent on education—for more teachers, classrooms, science labs and even meals for malnourished children in public schools.

“If plans to scrap the P26-bllion PDAF in the proposed 2014 national budget will push through, then a big portion of that amount must go to education,” Recto said . He has a new name for the pork barrel fund—Basic Education Enhancement Fund or BEEF.

Recto’s proposal was immediated applauded by sectors of the Philippine beef industry. Commercial and backyard cattle raisers alike said that it is about time that the beef business be given a big boost. Consumption of pork in the Philippines far outnumbers that of beef, primarily because of the prohibitive prices of the latter.

“Recto’s proposal, if approved by Congress, would be the best advertising for the beef industry,” cattle raisers said . “And thanks to the pork barrel scam, pork’s reputation has significant declined. Now it is beef’s time to stage a comeback,” they added.

The total cattle inventory in the country as of January 1, 2013 was almost 2.50 million heads. This was 0.19 percent higher than last year’s record of 2.49 million heads. Of the total inventory, about 2.32 million heads or 93.00 percent were raised in backyard farms. The remaining 7.00 percent or about 0.17 million head were raised in commercial farms.

As of press time, the Cattle Industry is finalizing a nationwide ad campaign and has come up with a catchy meme, “Butt out, pork. Here’s the beef!”

Business, International, Politics

FACEBOOK LAUNCHES DISLIKE BUTTON IN THE PHILIPPINES

August 26, 2013 Pol Pinoy 1 Comment

Manila, Philippines – Facebook users around the world have long clamored for a “dislike” button on their newsfeeds, but Facebook has so far refused to give in for reasons that only Mark Zuckerberg and his closest cohorts would know. Well, until now.

In an unprecedented move, Facebook officially launched the “dislike” or “thumbs down” button. The button started appearing in Facebook posts, newsfeeds and timelines as of today, but only in the Philippines.

The launch coincides with today’s Million March in Manila, a “people power” type of assembly at Luneta Park to demand the abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), more popularly known as pork barrel. Recent exposés in the media point to a massive scam whereby pork barrel funds were channeled to fake non-governmental organizations and ended up in the pockets of pork barrel queen Janet Lim-Napoles and members of the Philippine Congress.

The new “dislike” button was designed by an unnamed Filipino American employee of Facebook and features a unique graphic that merges a thumb in the down position and the head of a pig which Facebook says represents dislike for pork barrel.

Facebook has not indicated whether or not the new “dislike” button will eventually be rolled out to all Facebook users around the globe.