Tag Archives: Philippines

Food

WORD WAR BETWEEN THE PHILIPPINES AND MALAYSIA: BEST AND WORST FOOD

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L-R: Radzawan, Tayag, Comerford
L-R: Redzuawan, Tayag, Comerford

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (The Adobo Chronicles®)  –A word war is brewing between the Philippines and its neighbor country, Malaysia.

And no, it has nothing to do with the Philippines’ claim over Malaysian-occupied Sabah, nor the territorial dispute between the two countries over the Spratly islands in the South China Sea, which also involves China and other Southeast Asian nations.

It is all about food. Yes, food.

Shortly after a CNN report named the Philippines the second best food destination in the world, next only to Taiwan, Malaysian celebrity chef  Datuk Redzuawan opposed the survey results, saying that sixth placer Malaysia should have topped the list.

“Blessed with an abundance of seafood, tropical fruits and creative cooks, there’s more to Filipino food than the mind-boggling balut (duck embryo),” CNN said in its report on Monday.

It highlighted the world-famous adobo, which it said was originally Mexican that Filipinos devised as a cooking method. “And that is exactly why the Philippines should not have garnered second place,” the Malaysian chef argued. “ All its foods are copycats from Spain, China, Japan and the U.S.”

In response to the Malaysian criticism, Filipino Chef Claude Tayag, whose version of the adobo was featured in the CNN report, challenged Redzuawan to a one-on-one “Cook-off,” where either chef would prepare his best local cuisine in a show to be broadcast live from the Mall of Asia in Manila.

White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford has been invited to judge the competition, to the objection of Redzuawan.  Comerford is Filipina.

The date is yet to be determined.

The Adobo Chronicles® will be among the sponsors of the cook-off.

Politics

BREAKING: VP BINAY WITHDRAWS FROM PHILIPPINES’ PRESIDENTIAL RACE

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Poe, left, and Binay
Poe, left, and Binay

MAKATI CITY, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles®) – In a move that shocked both his critics and supporters, Vice President Jejomar Binay today announced that he was withdrawing from the 2016 Philippine presidential race.

Until recently, Binay was the only declared candidate to succeed President NoyNoy Aquino whose six-year-term expires in 2016. The vice president had consistently held the lead in all polls among all likely presidential candidates. Until this week.

The most recent polls now show that Senator Grace Poe has overtaken Binay’s lead.

Embarrassed that a woman and neophyte in politics has displaced him from the lead, Binay said that he is no longer interested in becoming president.  Instead, he announced that he would be seeking reelection as mayor of Makati City when the current term of his son, JunJun, expires.

“It would be a great honor on my part to once again become the chief executive of the richest city in the country. I know I can easily win a reelection because my family has practically established itself as the unbeatable political dynasty in Makati.”

The vice president is a former mayor of Makati and so was his wife, Elenita.

Critics, however, are speculating that once he becomes mayor again, he will secede from the Philippines and declare Makati as an independent Republic.

Talk about not just ‘wall street ‘ but ‘walled country.’

International

SOUTH KOREANS COULD FACE NATURAL EXTINCTION BY 2750; BY THEN, FILIPINOS WILL BE LIVING ON WATER

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Photo: inquirer.net
Photo: inquirer.net

SEOUL, South Korea (The Adobo Chronicles®) – A 2014 study commissioned by the national legislature concluded that South Koreans could face natural extinction by the year 2750, if the birthrate were maintained at 1.19 children per woman.

Not only is the South Korean population aging (like in Japan and the US), but birthrates are also falling and women are increasingly less inclined to get married.

In 2013, the country’s birth rate plummeted to the lowest level on record: Only 8.6 babies per 1,000 South Koreans were born, and the total number of births fell by 9.9% to the second-lowest number on record.

Furthermore, a government survey of respondents aged 9 to 24 showed that only 45.6% of women “said marriage was something they should do in life,” considerably lower than the 62.9% of men.

Overall, the average South Korean woman is expected to give birth to 1.187 babies in her lifetime — the fifth lowest fertility in the world.

In contrast, neighboring country Philippines, with a current population of 100 Million (twice that of South Korea),  has a birthrate of 24.4 babies per 1,000 Filipinos.

One of Metro Manila's cities, Pasig, from the air
One of Metro Manila’s cities, Pasig, from the air

Unless the Philippine government comes up with a solid plan to control population growth, there will not be enough land space to accommodate all Filipinos by the year 2750.

But controlling population is almost out of the question in this predominantly Catholic country, where church officials even encourage Filipinos to make more babies so that the Philippines will have enough workers in call centers as more foreign investors increasingly outsource their manpower requirements.

Urban areas like Metro Manila will be packed like sardines and the population will have to disperse to the rural areas.

Still, that would not be enough to house all Filipinos.

The only option is to build house boats and a good percentage of Filipinos will be living on water — which is plenty in this nation of 7,100 islands.

This dire prediction could only emphasize the need for the Philippines to aggressively defend its claim over islands and waters in the South China Sea — a hotbed of territorial conflict between China and the Philippines, along with other Southeast Asian nations.