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Monday, December 9, 2024

Sampu Sampera Na Lang Ba Ang Mga Awards?


The result of Mister Friendship International 2024 is for Ripley's Believe It Or Not. 

Can you imagine the awards being given as if they were manna from heaven? To be exact there was only one winner and that was Taiwan. Whether it was a hometown decision or not was another story ... but it looked like a country hosting a pageant had a great chance of winning the title or they automatically became a familiar fixture in the runner-up spots.

The real story here ... is there is a record of 2 first runner-ups in Mister Friendship International 2024 finals in Taiwan last Sunday (Philippines and Indonesia).

Not to be ignored, there were also two second-runner-up spots, namely Vietnam and Myanmar. And don't turn a blind eye to the third runner-up —there were three of them: Thailand, Poland, and Canada.

Ano ba tayo naglolokohan? Wala man lang mapili sa dalawang first runner Up at walang maitulak kaibigin? Same with the second runner-up and the third runner-up... it looked as though there was a bonanza of talented young men in this batch and not acknowledging the presence of one becomes a mortal sin.


Gone are the days when pageants bestow the creme de la creme of the crop to only a select handful. Ano ... parang "sampu sampera" na lang ang mga awards?

Some trace this seeming explosion of pageant winners to “grade inflation,” or grade leniency (mostly seen in campuses and universities). when students are awarded valedictorian and salutatorian or summa cum laude, magna cum laude, or cum laude. There used to be one in each category, but that was in the past ... 

Seeing this phenomenon unfold in our schools (some say it already happening in Harvard ... I don't know about Yale or Princeton)... but it diminished the prestige of the Latin honors. It devalues grades, gives students a false sense of accomplishment and there seems a reduced incentive to excel.

And seeing these happen in pageantry ... it has some similar effects. You will never know kung sino talaga ang sino among the many contestants who were added to the elite group.

Kung susundin ang mga nagdaang panuntunan ... In this situation Philippines could be the first runner-up, then Indonesia second runner-up or they could be the other way around. The third Runner Up will be Vietnam and the Fourth Runner Up will be Myanmar (or it could be the opposite). Yong mga third runner Up na tatlo ... clapper na.

It is commendable that Mister Friendship International thought of sending the candidates home happy ... but it defeats the purpose of joining a contest. Nandoon na ako na natapos ang contest ... marami sa mga candidates ang umuwi na may ngiti sa labi.

Pero marami naman sa mga natalong candidates feels short-changed dahil sa mga pagbabagong ito. Pag sumali ka sa contest either manalo ka or matatalo. 

Let's end this piece by saying "Indonesia We Did It".


Yes My Love Lounge | EP: 5 'Hasula' by Kurt Fick (Cover)

Sunday, December 8, 2024

Tower of Power


Alyssa Marie Redondo - Miss Intercontinental 2024 -Second Runner Up, Power of Beauty Special Award, and Best in Swimsuit.

Jansen Kenley See - Mr. Friendship International -First Runner-Up


Mark Joseph Macalintal - Man Hot Star First Runner Up and Best In Swimwear
__________________________________________


I may sound like a broken record ... but it is raining cats and dogs ... and the titles and placements deluged the Philippines' doorsteps.

Saan na ba ang mga tower of POWER at mga POWER-house of the year diyan ... naubos na ang nuclear-POWER? Humihina na ang horse-POWER? Whereas the Philippines have a continuous POWER-surge ... what happened sa ating mga neighbors ... may POWER-outage?

Konting panalo lang ... nagyabang na. At ang iingay ha? Eh kung ibang lahi ang nagbibigay sa inyo ng papuri ... e di sana maganda. Pero kung kayo rin lang ang may gawa ng mga POWER-titles na yan ... nagpa-POWER-trip lang kayo. nagkaroon tuloy ng semblance ng POWER-struggle dito sa Asia. At huwag ka ... napagkamalan tuloy na POWER-hungry kayo. 

Sabi ko nga in order to be recognized as a POWER-bank dapat consistent ang performance. Kahit saang pageant ilagay ... may masigabong air-POWER at tuloy-tuloy ang POWER- supply.. Kung hindi nananalo ... may placements.  Yan ang staying-POWER na sinasabi ko.

Why am I giving you this advice? I call that the POWER of love. Just like the song. Dahil we should think in terms of Asian region - ang panalo ng isang Asian country ... dapat panalo ng lahat. Hindi nag-inggitan ... hindi nagpapasaringan. Tingnan mo ang Latina ... nagkakampihan sila.

Oh well ... enough of these POWER-phrases. Ang POWER-cord ko ... magPOWER-nap na. Bye for now!

Pageant Result: Mr. Friendship International 2024


The winners of Mister Friendship International 2024 from left to right: Roland Castronuevo - Canada - Third Runner Up, Apirak Sarapee - Thailand - Third Runner Up. Nguyen Hong Ha - Vietnam - Second Runner Up, Emmanuel Nicolas - Indonesia- First Runner Up, Henry Chang - Taiwan - Mr. Friendship International- Winner, Jansen Kenley See- Philippines -First Runner Up, Khoon Nya- Myanmar - Second Runner Up and Mateusz Lis- Poland - Third Runner Up.  The pageant was held at Asia Pacific Resort in Lukang Taiwan last Dec 8, 2024.

Saturday, December 7, 2024

MAYAMAN KA BA? BAKA AKALA MO LANG? | Fr. Joseph Fidel Roura

The Not-So-Funny Anecdotes in the OVP Hearing


The first time the VP attended the Quadcom hearing ... she did not take the oath.
, She refused to take an oath promising that any statement she made during the inquiry was TRUE.

Tumaas ang kilay ng isang miron. TRUTH ... or her own version of LIES?

                                           **************

Is the Vice President a bratinella? If she is not ... why would she have the delusions that her 32 million votes in 2022 are equated to unquestioned loyalty? Tanong nga ng is a pang miron ... kahit mali na ang ginagawa mo ... babasbasan at ikonsinti na lang ng kanyang rabid followers?

She can’t seem to fathom that she has been ENTRUSTED with power by the people ... but she HOLDS that power in trust ... to be used only for the benefit of the people, never for herself or a few of her followers.

                                           **************

Everybody was surprised the VP refused to take an oath.  It was quite eerie when I saw a snapshot of all the resource persons raising their hands ... while the VP remained seated ... her facial expression was deadpan and poker-faced.

Inday's interpretation was: "Only WITNESSES should take an oath ... and she considered herself a RESOURCE PERSON."

                                              ***************

What is the difference between a witness and a resource person?

A witness is a person who saw the event firsthand as in a crime an accident or in this case, what is happening in the OVP. A resource person is someone who knows a lot about a particular subject; her task is to provide information.

In my opinion ... she is both a witness and a resource speaker. And she needs to take an oath ... pronto!

                                        ****************

A friend in need ... is a friend indeed. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (A.K.A. Aling LIIT) came to her rescue.

Feeling ko ang LAKI ni Gloria especially when she said: " The constitution provides that no person shall be compelled to be a witness against himself” even in legislative inquiries."

Rep. Keith Flores (Bukidnon, 2nd District) responded with a more deeper and profound response, saying that “no one is technically accused of any wrongdoing” in a legislative inquiry."

Sino sa kanila ang tama? The battle of who's who in the Congress is shaping up. 


                                                   ***************
The VP has only two allies in the hearing. Aside from Aling Liit she is also a reliable friend to Cong Rodante Marcoleta ... the chief architect of the demise of ABS CBN.

I can't forget the VP's long strides on the floors of Congress as she sashayed her way to her two pals. PAPALIT-PALIT at PALIPAT-LIPAT siya sa dalawa at wala silang pakialam na nagbulong-nulongan pa ... kahit nakapako ang lahat ng mga mata sa kanila. May mga sarili silang mundo.

                                                ****************
Who can forget Rodante Marcoleta? Lahat ng mga tao noon ay nagmamakaawa sa kanya na huwag nang ituloy ang kanilang vendetta sa ABS CBN ... dahil kung masara ito kaawaawa ang buong bunsa at walang mapanood sa TV at the middle of COVID lockdowns. Everybody was battling with boredom and depression ... but everything fall on deaf ears.

Pero sadyang bingi talaga ang matandang ito and he has a heart of steel. This SAGIP representative ay wala man lang NASAGIP sa buong kataohan ... at buong giting silang nagpakabingi at sumamba sa kanilang Poon.

Ngayon buong ningning siyang naghingi ng inter-parliamentary courtesy para sa anak ng kanyang amo ... the same courtesy na hinihingi ng mga tao sa kanya noong kasagsagan ng COVID. Ito na nga ang karma dahil kahit among paliwanag niya ... his plea was like a voice crying in the wilderness ... it was completely ignored.
                                           
                                             *****************
It is just a shame na ang talino niya bilang abogado ay nagamit sa ibang paraan. And he has that proclivity to shade fellow congressmen as he show some bias especialy when the colleague giving opinion is a non-lawyer. KAilangan bang maging lawyer ka para may kabulohan ka sa House of Representatives?

Ngayon hindi na siya makaporma sa mga bagong lawyers in the House namely Atty Gerville Luistro and Atty Rodge Gutierrez whose intelligence has exceeded my expectation.

                                            *****************
Marcoleta said the other day that the congressional probe on allegations of fund misuse in the OVP in aid of legislation does not intend to come up with new laws that will strengthen the protection of people's money.

Acop and Garin diasgrees. Acop reiterates that even if it will not result in new legislation, the probe will help gather information for better lawmaking.

In contrast, Rep Janet Garin of Iloilo makes a compelling performance when she showed vividly with his line of questioning to the disbursing officer, the Land Bank manager, and COA, that the House should make stronger laws that promote accountability, the process of disbursement, the cavalier attitude ng mga tauhan sa OVP na para bang wala ng lang halaga ang 125 million na pera ng taong bayan (hindi nila pera yon ha ... pero kung umasta parang sila ang may-ari ng pera), and the handling of huge volumes of money (na para bang wala silang kinakatakutang panganib o may masamang mangyari). Maliwanag ang presentasyon at nakuha yon ng mga tao. Bakit si Marcoleta hindi?

                                            ******************
I have nothing against Rep. Marcoleta ... but his demeanor and disposition had completely turned 360 degrees when he was after the bad guys ABSCBN who have problems with tax evasion even though government agencies had cleared them. He was relentless ... implacable ... and unforgiving like a ferocious dog baring his teeth with the cat.

Now he is on the other side of the fence (like an apple in the basket of oranges). Hindi ba siya naiilang na sa dami nila sa lower house is a lang siya sa konti na nalihis ng paniwala. But he has to say his piece to show his devotion to the Dutertes.

The problem now is that voters are becoming politically savvy ... and they know what his motivations are now ... as compared to the time when they encouraged euthanasia to the TV station that provided entertainment at the time when the public was locked in their homes during COVID.

                                             *****************
 
Again I was laughing hard ... because I was right.  The VP has eaten her words that she doesn't need to take an oath to be a resource person.

What was going on in the quadcom hearings has turned into a snag on her side. Kung wala ka doon ... you will be surprised marami na pala ang nangyayari.  She wants to know what is going on in the House ... and the only way to do that is ...  to attend the hearings. So she did!

Watching the proceedings ... she wanted to participate in the discussion ... but how could she do that if she would not take the oath that she hates and despises?

With heavy heart ... napilitan na rin siya magtaas ng kanyang kamay ... to tell the truth ... and nothing but.
                                            *****************

Friday, December 6, 2024

Pageant Result: Mister Pampanga 2024

The winners of Mister Pampanga 2024 from left to right: Kenneth Cruz - Arayat - Face of Mister Pampanga 2024, John Eric Bonifacio - Macabebe - Fourth Runner Up, Jomari Pabalan - Guagua - Second Runner Up, Raven Lansangan - Mabalacat - Mr. Pampanga 2024 - Winner, Yasser Rodriguez - Angeles City - First Runner Up, and Christian Paul Rivera - Santa Rita - Third Runner Up. The pageant was held at Bren Z Guiao Convention Center in Pampanga Philippines.

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About Me

Wretired writer, Malayang Free Thinker, Probing Blogger, Disenteng Dissenter, Tempered temperamental, Liberal-Conservative, Grammar and Syntax Police, Pageant Connoisseur, Hibiscus Collector

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