The “US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Conversation in Manila” forum was “described as “ground-breaking” by Clinton’s advance team for its youth-oriented social media component, breaking away from the formalities of many of the globe-trotting Clinton’s public events.”

Robin D. Diallo, Counselor for Public Affairs of the US Embassy Manila talked to us before the forum and was quite excited that this is the first social media coverage for Clinton. This was also the first time that cellphones, cameras, laptops, small flip cameras, tablets and other portable gadgets were allowed in her media coverage. At first, Diallo was unsure whether bringing in bloggers was the right decision since it is a first.
read more at the Philippine Online Chronicles/Blog Watch

HONOLULU, Hawaii – Philippine President Benigno Simeon Aquino III is welcomed by US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Leaders’ Dinner at the Hale Koa Maile Garden in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America Sunday November 13, 2011. The dinner with theme “Taste of American Reception” is hosted by Microsoft Chairman Craig Mundie. The APEC CEO Summit is the Asia-Pacific’s premier business event, drawing thousands of economic and business leaders from around the region and beyond. The 2011 CEO Summit will provide unparalleled opportunities for business executives to engage in dialogue with global leaders and ministers of foreign affairs and trade, and discover business
opportunities through networking with CEOs from hundreds of top Asia-Pacific companies from around the region and the world. (Photo by: Jay Morales / Malacañang Photo Bureau)

My business trip to Cebu was planned first week of September. Since two other bloggers and I were invited by Radisson Blu Hotel, the choice of the airline was not under our control.

I guess I was not aware of how widespread the strike was because I was more concerned of the damage from typhoon Pedring. See, it happened on the day of Typhoon Pedring. “‘It’s been two days since the Philippine Airlines Employees Association engaged in work-stoppage which the Philippine Airlines Management claims led to the 11-hour suspension of airport operations and the cancellation of almost 100 flights arriving and departing from PAL’s hub at NAIA Terminal ”

I arrived at Terminal 2 at 6:30 AM, two hours and half before my scheduled flight at 9:00 AM. The long lines that snaked across the wide lobby was surprising. Then I recalled listening to the news that ” almost 14,000 passengers were affected by the ill timed and illegal protest action that happened at the height of Typhoon Pedring.”

Only two counters were open to serve hundreds of passengers. Our flight at 9:00 AM is a 747 plane that can seat 400 passengers and it took two hours to get checked in.

I have ambivalent feelings about the strike. Though I sympathize with PALEA’s concerns with contractual labor, they should have notified the public beforehand. Ben Kritz adds that “..and as bad as PAL’s management is, the leadership of PALEA is even more stupid, and has almost willfully made every possible tactical mistake in dealing with this issue for more than a year. ”

And they wait until the 11th hour, 3 days before the outsourcing plan goes into motion, at the height of a typhoon, to stage an action that tries to earn support for their illogical position by pissing off the flying public. So how’d that work out for you, Mr. or Ms. “We have a right to job security?” Maybe not so well, I’d guess.

Though I didn’t have any urgent need to be in that flight, I felt the pain of the riding public. I noticed the patience and understanding of most of the passengers as they queued for their turn at the check-in counter.

I think the PALEA did not gain sympathy form these passengers. They have their own urgent reasons why they need to fly out of Manila. My flight took off at close to noon time. Though boarding was at 10:30 AM, I felt PAL wanted to accomodate as much passengers in the 747. The others are not as lucky and probably are not happy standing in line for more than two hours.

Even the president is not happy. He initially considered the move by PALEA as a form of ‘economic sabotage,’ but later decided to allow his legal team to look more closely into the work stoppage.” He said the group should have issued a 24-hour notice that its members would not go to work.

That is one reason I have mixed reactions. The protests in the past weeks from PISTON and students was publicized in advance so the public is aware of any inconvenience and in the process, get their support.

In this case, the strike did not bring much sympathy from the riding public. JC Maningat believes that “it was an ill-coordinated and ill-timed action due to union leader’s hasty tactics but that doesn’t delegitimize the valid concerns of PAL workers re livelihood and future of their families”

PALEA dismisses economic sabotage, illegal strike cases and announces big protest tomorrow. Here is their press release.

The Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA) dismissed threats of an economic sabotage case from the government and an illegal strike suit from the management of Philippine Airlines (PAL). “We are confident that PALEA’s protest against contractualization last Tuesday is within the bounds of the Constitutionally-guaranteed right to seek redress of grievances,” declared Gerry Rivera, PALEA president and vice chair of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

PALEA also announced that they will hold a big protest at the airport tomorrow which is the last day of work for 2,600 PAL employees affected by the outsourcing plan. The union has already set up a protest camp outside the PAL In-Flight Center along

MIA Road

near Terminal 2 where several hundred PALEA members are staying at any one time. “We call on PALEA members to report for duty at the protest camp since PAL has locked us out of our workplace at Terminal 2 and other offices,” Rivera proclaimed.

Meanwhile the protest against outsourcing is escalating as PAL employees in outlying stations gear up to hold their own protests. Tomorrow PALEA and other labor groups are scheduled to hold rallies in Davao at the international airport and in Bacolod at the old airport. On October 1, a similar broad coalition of labor groups including PALEA will stage a Lakbayan from Cebu City to the Mactan International Airport at Lapu-Lapu City.

Rivera asserted that “We consider these threats as mere scare tactics that will not weaken the defiance of PALEA against the layoff and contractualization scheme of PAL. PAL employees are not stupid. We know the law.”

He explained that the penal provisions of Republic Act No. 9497 or the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines Act of 2008 refers to the disruption of airport services and damage to airport facilities, and does not pertain to stoppage of airline operations. “The airport itself and an airline company are two different entities. If R.A. 9497 prohibits protests and strikes at a private airline such as PAL then it contradicts the provisions of the Labor Code on the right to strike. But it does not. PAL employees are private sector workers that are expressly allowed by law to hold concerted actions and even go on strike,” Rivera contended.

However he reiterated that PALEA merely held a protest and did not hold a strike. “Goodluck to PAL if it can argue its illegal strike case. But we know it is just a threat intended to frighten PAL employees, similar to its repeated warning of administrative cases against protesting workers,” Rivera claimed.

He added that “Whoever advised PNoy on the economic sabotage case should be outsourced. The facts are clear that it was PAL which shutdown the company’s computer systems and other communication facilities immediately after the start of the protest, and then cancelled the flights that stranded passengers.”

Here are reactions in Twitter:

Typhoon Pedring “made landfall in northeastern Luzon early Tuesday morning, but PAGASA advised that nearly all of Luzon is affected by the typhoon’s winds and rain. ”

Roxas Boulevard early this morning

“The provinces along the “trackline” of Pedring, according to PAGASA, are Aurora, Quirino, Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, Benguet, and La Union provinces. As of Tuesday morning, Metro Manila is experiencing strong winds, knocking out power in some areas, scattering debris, and breaking off branches of trees which now litter roads.

Photo of Roxas Boulevard by Art Samaniego

The typhoon is expected to exit Luzon by Tuesday afternoon.”

Coincidence? Milenyo happened September 27, 2006, Ondoy on September 26, 2009 while Pedring is Sept 27 2011. Every two to three years? It shows September is the month for strong typhoons.

Hotel Sofitel Philippine Plaza as typhoon Pedring batters Manila. (Credit: Jerick Bautista/GMA News)

A great portion of Roxas Boulevard got flooded due strong currents that damaged the sea wall, and caused an overflow of water from Manila Bay. Sofitel Hotel, SM Mall of Asia, US Embassy as well as the nearby restaurants also got flooded . PAGASA weather forecaster Raymond Ordinario said that the flooding on Roxas Boulevard could also be the result of “swells”, or tall waves that follow the passage of a storm. He clarified that storm surges occur in the center of a storm.

Seawall is damaged. Photo by Carlos Celdran

Marikina River is in danger of reaching Ondoy’s level. However, Pedring took all day to reach 19m while Ondoy only took 6 hours to reach 23m.

Marikina City Authorities observe the following rules in sounding out alarms:
Alarm Level 1: Water level from 15 to 16 meters (Warning)
Alarm Level 2: Water level above 16 to 17 meters (Prepare to leave)
Alarm Level 3: Water level beyond 17 meters (Voluntary Evacuation).
Alarm Level 4: Water level beyond 18 meters (Forced Evacuation)
Alarm Level 5: Water level beyond 19 meters.

Citizens Disaster Response Center (CDRC) ready to accept donations, relief goods, volunteers.

Here are some photos and tweets about the typhoon on twitter.

(Photo by Marian Pastor Roces, Elden Cruz De Castro , Carlos Celdran, Sandra Aguinaldo, GMA news. Other Photo credits shown in storify timeline)

NEW YORK CITY – Philippine President Benigno Simeon Aquino III arrives at the Teterboro Airport, New York for his Working Visit to the United States of America (USA) at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal II Sunday night September 18, 2011. In New York City, President Aquino will attend the launching of Open Government Partnership and speak before the IBM Centennial Forum called “THINK: A Forum on the Future of Leadership”. He will also be conferred a Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa, by Fordham University. (Photo by: Jay Morales/ Malacañang Photo Bureau).

Congratulations Leila Lopez, Miss Angola. Ricky Martin predicted she would win. In his tweet, he said “For me #ANGOLA is the new Miss Universe. Para mi #Angola es la nueva Miss Universo.” Miss Angola is deserving of her title.

Reigning Binibining Pilipinas-Universe Shamcey Supsup made it to the Top 5 of the Miss Universe 2011 pageant held at the Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil and ended up as 3rd runner up. We are proud of you, Shamcey Supsup.

The other finalists were:

Ukraine (Olesya Stefanko) – first runner up
Brazil (Priscila Machado) – Second runner up
China (Luo Zilin) – fifth runner up

Photo via here

Please vote..via this link http://tattoo.globe.com.ph/tattawards/vote

Blog Watch is a finalist in “The Advocate” at the Globe Tatt Awards (a search to recognize those who have used social media to fuel their passion).

What is an advocate?

This award goes to a person or a group of individuals who worked to improve the state of a societal cause in the Philippines through social media. This person or group invested time and effort (and sometimes even money) for the betterment of other people’s lives. The nominees can have a photo/video/audio channel, a blog, a Facebook page/app or a Twitter account on environmental, political, educational and other relevant advocacies.

You might be curious of our work. Here is a summary.

Blog Watch is the first citizen media that covered the May 2010 elections. We introduced live streaming in our coverage and the first to use curation tools such as storify.net to gather news from different social media sources.

1. Interviewed seven (7) presidential candidates in the May 10, 2010 elections
2. Interviewed some senatorial candidates, congressional candidates and a few local candidates
3. Covered the first Inaugural of President Aquino, the very first citizen media coverage of its kind in Philippine presidential inaugurals. We also covered President Aquino’s first SONA, first 100 Days and the EDSA 25 celebrations.
4. Stories that traditional media picked up from our twitter timeline and that first broke in Twitter:

• Pilipinas Kay Ganda
• @congMP deletes his twitter account
• Plunder of our Philippine Marine Life
• Child abuse against Willie Revillame
• Manny Pacquiao alleged Boracay resort
• PCSO – He said, She said

If you think Blog Watch, our citizen watchdog for transparency and good governance deserves to win
here is what you can do from August 10 till August 24.

1. Visit http://tattoo.globe.com.ph/tattawards/vote. 10% of the scores will be coming from your votes so …

2. Go to The Advocate category and vote for Blog Watch

3. Tell your friends to spread the word and mention @blogwatchdotph on twitter. 20% of the votes will go to popularity (mentions, number of followers) so please tweet too using @blogwatchdotph
.

You will need a Facebook account to vote though and give permissions to post on your wall. Your vote will go a long way to promote bloggers advocacy and citizen media.

We have also Blog Watch members who are finalists :Venzie (Thought Mover) , Save the Philippines Seas (care of Anna Oposa), Carlo Ople and Sonnie Santos (Tech Junkie), Dean Jorge Bocobo (The Ball Breaker), Juned Sonido (Word Slayer). Incidentally, I am also a finalist for “The One”, and “The Ballbreaker”.

Thank you.

Juan Luna’s “Parisian Life” is once again in the limelight. According to Ricky Ramos, GSIS Museum PR office, this beautiful painting is now offered for sale along with two Amorsolo paintings. The painting is not too well known in 1892 but it was wrought with controversy when GSIS bought it at Christie’s auction in Hongkong in the amount of 46 million pesos in 2002.

Many questioned the use of government money for this purchase. GSIS stand is Art is an investment. Now, a foreign buyer has offered 200 million pesos. The value of this 46 million painting is now worth 200 million pesos. The question is : should we allow Juan Luna’s painting to be brought out of our country?

To truly appreciate Parisian Life, Leslie Bocobo invited me to attend the Michael Charleston “XIAO” B. Chua lecture on “Ang Pagtuturo ng Kasaysayan gamit ang Parisian life ni Juan Luna” at the Juan Luna Room (History and Destiny) of GSIS Museo ng Sining . I feel the present GSIS administration should appreciate the history of this painting.

When I first spotted Juan Luna’s Parisian Life painting, I wondered about the relevance of this woman. The painting seemed shallow to me at first. The painting has been known to have names A.k.a. “Intérieur d’un Café,” “The Maid,” “Un Coquette.”

Christie’s in 2002 describes “Parisian Life offers the best features of the artist’s work from the Paris period testifying to his sensitivity and skill in capturing a fleeting moment of ordinary life, and imbuing it with personality and universal emotions ”

Three interpretations

I took this opportunity to understand the significance of Parisian Life based on various interpretations.

GSIS museum director Eric Zerrudo suggests that there are three possible interpretations of the work.

The first one is that the woman was a courtesan who caught the eye of the three Filipino patriots while they were discussing affairs regarding their homeland in the cafe.

It is interesting to note that the men in the painting are Jose Rizal (back view), Juan Luna (center) and Ariston Bautista-Lin. The three heroes in the painting played very vital roles in the Philippine revolution. “In 1892, the three did not realize that they would change the course of Philippine History.” “Rizal” he added, “wrote the inspirational novels “Noli Me Tangere” and “El Filibusterismo” and became the most beloved Philippine National Hero. Juan Luna painted more award winning paintings and was a member of the first Philippine diplomatic mission to the United States while Ariston Bautista Lin discovered paregoric, a medicine that stopped the onslaught of a countrywide cholera epidemic that time. He was also the financier of the Propaganda movement, the Katipunan, the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine-America War. The three played pivotal roles in Philippine
history.”

Another interpretation is that the painting hints at Luna’s family problems. Close to the time of the painting’s completion, Luna was struggling with personal tragedies–the death of his infant daughter and his suspicion his wife was having an affair with a French doctor. The half-empty beer mug in the table in front of the woman and the coat on the sofa may be suggestive symbolisms.

Zerrudo’s third theory (based from the UP Fine Arts) on the painting is that the woman in the painting may be intended to represent the Philippines, her form suggesting a mirror image of the Philippine archipelago.

What appear to be artistic flaws in the painting–the dark neck of the woman and the awkward placement of her head against a window joint which thus appears to jut out of her head–may have been intentionally done to symbolize the state of the Philippines at that time.

You will note the awkward pose of her legs, and her arms. Observe the tiny waist which looks like 12 inches.

If you look closely, the shape of the woman is like the shape of the mirror image of the map of the Philippines. The edge of her dress is just about the shape of Sulu, the waist is situated on shortest oart of the Philippines starting from Infanta, Quezon until San Antonio, Zambales. Palawan is angled at the arm of the woman. The mountain ranges that separates Surigao from Agusan and Davao is exact to the dark fold of the lady’s gown. Kawit, Cavite, the site of the birth of the 1898 Philippine lndependence is exact on the lady’s womb, site of a birth. The site of the declaration of the 1899 Constitution Malolos, Bulacan is exact on the navel of the lady. The constitution accordingly is the bloodline of the nation. Cebu on the other hand covers the knee of the lady and it was pointed out that Cebu was the site of the first Christianization in the country.

Coincidence?

Inang Bayan

Note the glass on the table. One is half empty while the other is still full. Researchers say the woman symbolizes “Inang Bayan”. Ciao Chua explains the symbolism.

Kung titingnan sa ganitong perspektibo, si Inang Bayan ay may kasama, sapagkat may dalawang baso sa mesa, may bakanteng upuan, at mayroong coat at top hat sa sofa. Sa interpretasyong ito, ang kasama ay ang Espanya.

There is more to the interpretation and other “connections” to Philippine history, such as the foundation of the Katipunan and Manila’s liberation.

I rather you hear the rest of the details from the historians like Xiao Chua or GSIS museum director Eric Zerrudo.

Xiao chua poses a question to each one of us :

“Sa huli, maaaring itanong, hindi kung ano ang halaga ng obra maestra sa bayan, kundi ano ba ang halaga natin bilang isang bayan sa harap ng obrang ito upang maging nararapat sa pamanang kahusayan at kabayanihan ng ating mga ninuno. “

What I would like to stress is that we need to value this painting, our heritage. Let us ask ourselves not about the worth of the painting but tour worth as a people to deserve a historically valuable artwork. “Parisian Life” began as a tribute to great Filipinos who are on the cusp of a great change, and now a fitting testament to Luna’s genius and artistic merit, his work continues to invoke passion and create history.”

Normally a three hour lecture gives me a headache but not this art appreciation of Juan Luna. I felt a deeper understanding of the worth of our heritage. It is clear Juan Luna’s “Parisian Life” not only serves “as a window to the past, but as a reflection of our real worth as a nation.”

If the Spoliarium of Juan Luna can be found at the National Museum, and the Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas Al Populacho of Felix Resureccion Hidalgo is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, the Parisian Life should continue to stay at the GSIS Museo ng Sining.

Let us leave politics outside the doors of Juan Luna room, the History and Destiny room. Juan Luna’s Parisian Life belongs to the Filipinos. Keep it at the GSIS Museo ng Sining.

“Heritage conservation is a moral obligation.” (Ellorin 2003)

There were twitter reactions as I live tweeted the lecture. Everyone believes that the painting should not be sold to a foreign buyer and leave Philippine soil.

MICHAEL CHARLESTON “XIAO” B. CHUA is a professor at the De La Salle Manila and the Vice President of the Philippine Historical Association

Bloggers have been invited to talk with Internet and Mobile Marketing Association of the Philippines (IMMAP) regarding this issue with the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI). This issue came about after Janette Toral posted this blog entry, Individuals, Bloggers, Businesses need a DTI Sales Promotion Permit even if there is no purchase required. The issue created a #DTIblag hashtag and a lot of angry tweets. The issue started when “two agencies approached IMMAP to help them clear things up concerning the Department of Trade and Industry or DTI permits for Facebook contests.”

Concerned bloggers took the initiative to talk to IMMAP to iron out the issue.

Earlier this afternoon, bloggers took time to talk to IMMAP about their concerns about contests and permits. IMMAP mentioned that their initial discussions/clarifications with regards to Blog Promotions was originally only between IMMAP members and DTI. It just so happen of course, that once DTI ruled that blogs are covered, even non-IMMAP member blogs are affected.

It must be emphasized that there is no one person who represents the bloggers. By collaborating with a shared document, it is an opportunity for us to show (1) the diversity of the our community and the community’s resolve to tackle this issue directly without any need for an interlocutor or intercession or any association. (2) It also gives us an opportunity to show a more exact portrait of the community to the public and everyone concerned.

View the discussion points and contribute.

Tomorrow, IMMAP will talk once again with bloggers. If you want to be part of the webinar, just sign up here. Webinar is limited to 100 slots.

Here are Twitter reactions.

via the Philippine Online Chronicles

Residents evacuate as Marikina River reaches 2nd alarm

Marikina City officials have raised the second alarm warning as the Marikina river water level reached 16 meters due to the continuous downpour of rains.

GMA News reports that as of 1:00 p.m., at least 200 residents along the Marikina river have volunteered to leave their homes and head towards evacuation centers.

Meanwhile, 33 families from Malanday and Tumana have already evacuated.

“Iyong pagtaas ng tubig ilog sa Marikina River ay nakadepende sa pagbagsak ng tubig mula sa Montalban atAntipolo. One or 1.5 hours (around 10:00 a.m.) ago ang lakas nag pagbagsak ng tubig doon,” said Marikina Vice Mayor Jose Fabian Cadiz.

Local authorities have deployed more rescuers and rescue equipment along the river as the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority monitors the rising water level.

Marikina City applies alert level 1 on water level of about 15 to 16 meters; alert level 2 on above 16 to 17 meters; and alert level 3 beyond 17 meters.

The country will still continue to experience monsoon rains due to typhoon Kabayan and a low pressure area near Sinait, Ilocos Sur, said the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration(Pagasa).