Musings on the Million People March at Luneta

Today is National Heroes Day, a national public holiday to commemorate the national heroes who fought valiantly for the country. Any remembrance of this sort is eclipsed this year by the Million People March which calls for the abolition of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or the pork barrel.

I joined the march to be counted as one of those who support the pork barrel abolition. Needless to say, I am among the millions of Filipino workers who feel betrayed, cheated and victimized by our corrupt and greedy public officials who allegedly pocketed millions of pesos through funding of bogus NGOs from their PDAFs.

News Round-Up: WHAT THE F ARE THESE?

A lot have hit the news since my blog last week about the informal settlers along our waterways but I have not taken serious time to write my musings.
Here are three of the stories and articles that got me caught up thinking "What the F are these?"

Squatting. It's More Fun in the Philippines. Or Is it?

I still cannot get over the news days ago about the Php 18,000 subsidy the government is planning to give to each of the more than 19,000 squatter families along the San Juan River, Tullahan River, Manggahan floodway, Maricaban Creek, Pasig River and Esteros Tripa de Gallian, Sunog Apog and Maypajo for their relocation. I found it ridiculous that these illegal settlers, I mean informal settlers will be paid to relocate after occupying spaces that they are NOT supposed to inhabit.

Anti-Squatting Law and Its Subsequent Repeal

The Anti-Squatting Law was instituted by the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos. He penalized squatting and other similar acts under PD 772 in 1975. However in 1992, the passage of Lina Law, otherwise known as RA 7279 or Urban Development Housing Act of 1992 (UDHA) imposed a requirement of relocation before eviction. Furthermore in 1997, then President Fidel V. Ramos decriminalized squatting through RA 8368 or the Anti-Squatting Law Repeal Act. Even if the law claims it does not intend to compromise the property rights of legitimate landowners, clearly RA 8368 and the Lina Law gave our professional squatters the upper hand in settling into areas they do not own. 

Squatting. It's More Fun in the Philippines

Live by the historic Pasig River.

Cramp in ingeniously-made shanties.

Bask in the colorful waterways of the city.

Feel the heat and enjoy the beautiful chaos.

Be paid Php 18,000.

It’s more fun being 
a professional squatter.

Fearless Forecast: 2013 Midterm Elections

from specials.sunstar.com.ph

My forecast for the winners of the 2013 Midterm Elections for Senators:

1. Loren Legarda
2. Francis Escudero
3. Alan Peter Cayetano
4. Grace Poe
5. Nancy Binay
6. Cynthia Villar
7. JV Ejercito
8. Bam Aquino
9. Koko Pimentel
10. Antonio Trillanes IV
11. Sonny Angara
12. Gringo Honasan

7 Election Commandments

May 13, 2013 is the 31^st Philippine Senate Election.
Here are 7 Election Commandments you shall abide by on the day that is more festive than all of the Philippine festivals combined.

Summary of Senatorial Candidates' Stands on Philippine Issues

A good friend of mine shared the issues grid she found from her Facebook wall. It contains the names of all the senatorial candidates and their stands on hot national issues such as RH Bill, Sin Tax Law, Cybercrime Law and Divorce, to name a few. The original copy is no longer clear, so I retyped them in Excel, and made a jpeg copy below.

How to Locate Your Voting Precinct on May 13, 2013

The Comelec provides an online tool, The Precinct Finder, to locate your precinct or polling place on the Election Day.

There is also a link to Precinct FinderTips you can go to if you have trouble with name verification. This is common for those with prefix and suffix names such as Ma., Maria, Jr., Sr., II, III, etc. A screen grab is provided below for the Precinct Finder Tips.

In my case, I tried about 6 combinations of my suffix name JR to no avail. Good thing I already have my Voter's ID which shows where I should put my JR, and whether there should be a period or none. Also upon scrutiny, your Voter’s ID already bears your precinct no. Then again, it is still good to check the Comelec’s portal because it has a link to Google maps.

For Android users, you can also check the status of your registration and eligibility for elections using the ABS-CBN Interactive application Comelec Halalan 2013.

Vote wisely. Make a difference.

Have you made your list of 12 senators? Check out mine at My Pick: Senatorial Line-Up.

My Pick: Senatorial Line-Up

The National Election is in two weeks and I have not made my choices of senators yet.

The internet does not return any search for a complete list of senatorial candidates except for Wikipedia, so I used it to make my partial list below.