"Breaking away from the past is one of the hardest things to do much more when you have been deeply attached to it. Is it always like that,I wonder. Why do we always have to complicate things when in fact they could be simplify?"

(Drama mode. The weather brings a melancholic atmosphere hence the mood..hehe)

Philippines is where…

1. Starbucks is more expensive than gas;

2. Every street has basketball court but every town has just one school;

3. Doctors go back to school to be nurses abroad;

4. Rodents are normal house pets;

5. Soap opera is reality, news provide the dramas of life; and

6. Actors make the laws and politicians provide the entertainment.

GMA flying with her family in a plane.

GMA: What if I throw a check for a million pesos out the window to make at least one Filipino happy?

Mike: But my dear, why don’t you throw 2 checks for half a million each, and thus make two Filipinos happy?

Luli: Why not throw 4 checks for a quarter of a million each, and make 4 Filipinos happy?

And on it went until finally,, her grandchild blurts out:

“But grandma, why not simply throw yourself out of the window and make all Filipinos happy?”

The Forbes Asia 40 Richest Filipinos:


1. Henry Sy - $4.0 billion- He owns SM
group with 27 shopping malls in the
Philippines and several others in China
. He also owns Banco de Oro Universal
Bank and has substantial shares in China
Banking Corp. and Equitable PCI Bank. He
also owns Highlands Prime Holdings, a
high-end property developer.
2. Lucio Tan - $2.3 billion - He owns
Philippine Airlines, the country's flag
carrier. His business interests include
tobacco (Fortune Tobacco Corp.), beer
and liquor (Asia Brewery Inc. and
Tanduay Holdings Inc.), and banking
(Philippine National Bank and Allied
Banking Corp).
3. Jaime Zobel de Ayala - $2.0 billion-
He is the patriarch of Ayala Corp., the
Philippines' oldest conglomerate, whose
business interests include real estate
and hotels (Ayala Land Inc.), financial
services (Bank of the Philippine
Islands), telecommunications (Globe
Telecom Inc.), water infrastructure
(Manila Water Co. Inc.), electronics and
information technology (Integrated
Microelectronics Inc. and Azalea
Technology Investments Inc.) and
automotive (Honda Cars Makati Inc. and
Isuzu Automotive Dealership Inc.).
4. Eduardo Cojuangco - $840 million - He
is the chairman of San Miguel
Corporation, the largest food and
Beverage Corporation in the Philippines .
5. George Ty - $830 million- He founded
Metropolitan Bank and Trust, currently
the largest bank in terms of Assets and
Capital in the Philippines . He also has
stakes in the Bank of the Philippine
Islands and Philippine Savings Bank, a
Metro bank subsidiary.
6. John Gokongwei - $700 million- He is
the chairman of JG Summit holdings,
whose subsidiaries include Cebu Pacific
Air, Digital Telecommunications
Philippines Inc., First Private Power
Corp., JG Summit Petrochemical Corp.,
Litton Mills Inc., Robinsons Land Corp.,
Robinsons Savings Bank, Sun Cellular,
United Industrial Corp. and URC .
7. Tony Tan Caktiong - $575 million - He
is the founder and current Chairman and
CEO of Philippine fast food chain
Jollibee , ChowKing, and Delifrance
8. Andrew Tan - $480 million - He is the
Mega world president .
9. Emilio Yap - $350 million - He is the
owner of Manila Hotel, newspaper owner,
Manila Bulletin, a national newspaper .
10. Oscar Lopez - $315 million - - He is
the chairman and CEO of Benpres Holdings
Corp., the holding company of the Lopez
group. - Meralco, ABS - CBN , Maynilad Water
11. Enrique Razon Jr. - $285 million- He
is the chairman and chief executive
officer, International Container
Terminal Services Inc; publishing magnate .
12. Andrew Gotianun - $280 million - He
is the chairman and CEO of East west Bank .
13. Enrique Aboitiz - $275 million - He
is the WG&A president and chief
executive officer.
14. Alfonso Yuchengco - $225 million -
He is the chairman of Yuchengco Group of
Companies.
o Great Pacific Life Assurance
Corporation (GREPALIFE)
o Lifetime Plans, Inc.
o Bankard, Inc.
o Pan Malayan Management and Investment
Corporation
o Pan Malayan Travel and Tours
o Pan Pacific Computer Center, Inc.
o YGC Corporate Services, Inc.
o Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation
(RCBC)
o RCBC Savings Bank
o House of Investments
o Malayan Insurance Company, Inc.
o The First Nationwide Assurance Corporation
o Malayan Reinsurance Corporation
o Malayan Zurich Insurance Company, Inc.
o Tokio Marine Malayan Insurance Co. Inc.
o EEI Corporation
o Nippon Life Philippines
o AY Foundation
o Honda Cars Quezon City
o Honda Cars Manila
o Mapua Institute of Technology
o Manila Memorial Park
o First Malayan Leasing and Finance Corp.
15. Menardo Jimenez - $210 million - He
is the head for wireless consumer
division of Smart Communications.
15. Gilberto Duavit Jr. - $210 million -
He is the Executive Vice President and
COO of GMA 7.
17. Ramon Del Rosario - $205 million -
He is the president of Philippine
Investment Management (PHINMA), Inc.
18. Felipe Gozon - $180 million - He is
the president of GMA-7.
19. Beatrice Campos - $160 million - She
is the widow of United Laboratories
founder Jose Campos.
20. Luis J. L. Virata - $150 million- He
is the UEM-MARA Philippines Corporation
president .
21. David M. Consunji - $145 million- He
is the founder of DM Consunji Construction.
22. Bienvenido Tantoco Sr. $140 million
- He is the chairman of Rustan's
Commercial Corporation.
23. Betty Ang - $115 million - President
of Monde Nissin, maker of instant
noodles, biscuits and snack food
24. Manuel Villar - $110 million- Senate
President of the Philippines and a real
estate businessman who developed
Camella, Palmera, Crown Asia , Serendra,
etc.
25. Mariano Tan - $100 million -
26. Rolando and Rosalinda Hortaleza -
$90 million - Splash Corporation
(HBC/Hortaleza)
27. Oscar Hilado - $85 million - He is
the chairman of the Phinma group, the
Philippines ' biggest cement maker.
28. Vivian Que Azcona - $80 million- She
is the president of Mercury Drug with
over 500 outlets.
29. Manuel Zamora - $75 million - PHILEX
Mining Corporation
30. Magdaleno Albarracin - $73 million-
Vice Chairman of Phinma Group
31. Jesus Tambunting - $70 million- He
is the Chairman & CEO of Planters
Development Bank (PDB).
32. Frederick Dy - $65 million - He is
the Security Bank president.
33. Tomas Alcantara - $60 million - He
is a former Trade Secretary
34. Lourdes Montinola - $50 million- FEU
Chairperson.
35. Salvador Zamorra - $45 million- He
is the Hinatuan Mining president.
36. Mac & Daisy Potente - $45 million -
Successful entrepreneur, own the town of
Salinas in Cavite .
37 . Antonio Roxas - $40 million -
Director and President of Roxas &
Company Inc.; Chairman & Chief Executive
Officer of Roxas Holdings Inc.;
Executive Chairman of Central Azucarera
Don Pedro (CADP) Group Corp.; Director &
President of Roxas & Company Inc.,
Fundacion Santiago; Chairman of
Philippine Sugar Millers Association,
Club Punta Fuego Inc., Fuego Land Corp.,
Jade Orient Sugar Corp.; Director of
Batangas Assets Corp., Banco De Oro
Private Bank, Philippine Long Distance
Telephone Company (PLDT), Hawaiian
Philippine Sugar Co.; Trustee of
Philippine Business for the Environment,
Philippine Business for Social Progress;
President of Roxas - Gargollo Foundation.
37. Wilfred Steven Uytengsu Sr. - $38
million- Alaska Milk Corporation
38. Philip T. Ang - $35 million -168
Mall partner.
39. Marixi Prieto - $30 million -
Philippine Daily Inquirer chairman , Inq.7
40. Manuel Pangilinan - $25 million -
Chief Executive First Pacific Holdings
HK,PLDT chairman, Smart, Makati Med
OTHERS WHO SHOULD HAVE MADE IT
Sugar baron Jose Mari Chan, runs a large
sugar empire in Negros Oriental and
Iloilo provinces in the Visayas. Mr.
Chan, who is also a noted song composer,
inherited the business empire from his
father, Antonio, who immigrated to the
Philippines from China when he was 14
years old. The Chans, who are among the
country's biggest sugar traders, own
Central Azucarera de San Antonio (Casa),
which operates a sugar mill in Iloilo
and a refinery in Negros Occidental.
Casa is investing P1.2 billion in a
biomass co-generation plant capable of
generating 14 megawatts of electricity
and is putting up a state-of-the- art
P1.6-billion sugar refinery in Negros
Occidental. The Chans also own Hyatt
Regency Hotel.
Bookstore magnate Alfredo Ramos, one of
the successful entrepreneurs in the
Philippines , is qualified to join
Forbes' list. He is chairman and
president of Atlas Mining and his family
owns National Bookstore, the biggest
bookstore chain in the Philippines . Mr.
Ramos owned the defunct Daily Globe
broadsheet.
Ambassador to Laos Antonio "Tony"
Cabangon Chua's worth is certainly more
than P2 billion. Cabangon-Chua, founder
and chairman emeritus of the Fortune
Group of Companies and publisher of
Philippine Graphic magazine, owns the
fledgling Business Mirror and operates
popular hotel and motel chains in the
country.
Antonio "Tonyboy" Cojuangco will also
easily qualify to the Forbes' list.
Tonyboy reinvested his "windfall" in
Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.
and Piltel after acquiring medium-sized
Bank of Commerce and Associated
Broadcasting Co., which operates ABC-5.
Tonyboy also owns Dream Cable and has
joined the call center business.
Corazon D. Ong, another successful
entrepreneur, steadily built CDO
Foodsphere to become the second-biggest
meat processing company in the country
after San Miguel's Purefoods.
Former Trade and Industry Minister
Roberto "Bobby" Ongpin could probably be
among the 10 wealthiest Filipinos in the
Philippines today. Bobby earns lucrative
fees and commissions as an investment
banker. He was one of the senior
advisers of Asian billionaire Robert
Kuok, who owns the Shangri-La hotel
chain. Ongpin, whose family partly owns
SGV auditing company, is now heavily
investing in the local IT sector with
investments in Eastern Telecoms, ISM
Communications and Philweb.

A song dangerous under Human Security Act

Inquirer
Last updated 02:15am (Mla time) 07/14/2007
The message is loud and clear. Under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime, whose legitimacy remains an issue to this day, the civil and political liberties of the people are not respected. Civil libertarians, activists and even ordinary people who speak out firmly and stand up for truth, justice, human rights and human dignity are living dangerously.
Since Arroyo assumed power in 2001, there have been 863 cases of extrajudicial killings, 180 forced disappearances and 248 political detainees. The persecution is meant to silence the people and discourage them from pursuing the cause of justice, peace and human rights. The message is loud and clear:
1. Thou shall not speak out the truth
2. Thou shall not expose graft and corruption
3. Thou shall not seek justice and peace
4. Thou shall not uphold human rights and dignity
5. Thou shall not offer services to the poor and ask why they are poor
6. Thou shall not expose fraudulent elections
7. Thou shall not offer sanctuary to those who were displaced and are seeking refuge
8. Thou shall not protest about human rights abuses by the PNP and AFP
9. Thou shall not join street protests, rallies and assemblies held in defense of democracy
10. Thou shall not call for Arroyo’s resignation nor for her ouster
And to think that the human rights violations are happening as a matter of course even as the Human Security Act (antiterrorism law), which virtually places the country in a state of undeclared martial law, has yet to take effect on July 15.
Given the human rights record of the Arroyo regime, this law could be used to suppress, repress and persecute people advocating and working for justice, peace, human rights and meaningful change in our society; or to prolong Arroyo’s stay in power, and to quell and punish those with dissenting opinions and actions.
God forbid, time may come when even a harmless band like Bamboo, which revived and popularized the song “Tatsulok” (originally sang by Buklod) will suddenly be under threat. And pity the ordinary mortals like the taxi, jeepney and tricycle drivers, students and out-of-school kids and youth, people in the streets, the unemployed, the hungry and those who dream of a better world who hum and dance this song. They can easily understand and identify with the message of this socially relevant song, which is very provocative and threatening to those who wield economic and political power, and therefore can be construed as a “terror” song. Here’s an excerpt from the song:
Lumilipas ang hininga ng kay raming mga tao
At ang dating lunting bukid ngayo’y sementeryo
Totoy, kumilos ka! Baligtarin ang tatsulok!
At tulad mong dukha ang ilagay mo sa tuktok
Hindi pula’t dilaw ang tunay na magkalaban
Ang kulay at tatak ang di siyang dahilan
Hangga’t marami ang lugmok sa kahirapan
At ang hustisya ay para lang sa mayaman
Habang may tatsulok, at sila ang nasa tuktok
Hindi matatapos itong gulo…

The right to organization is a basic right and it subsumes the right to a tambayan which is also a basic right.