Anything Pinoy

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte; Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile; Vice President Jejomar Binay, Chief Justice Renato Corona, Former Presidents Fidel Valdez Ramos and Joseph Ejercito Estrada; Members of the House of Representatives and the Senate; distinguished members of the diplomatic corps;

My beloved countrymen:
Our administration is facing a forked road. On one direction, decisions are made to protect the welfare of our people; to look after the interest of the majority; to have a firm grip on principles; and to be faithful to the public servant’s sworn oath to serve the country honestly.

This is the straight path.
On the other side, personal interest is the priority, and where one becomes a slave to political considerations to the detriment of our nation.

This is the crooked path.
For a long time, our country lost its way in the crooked path. As days go by (since I became President), the massive scope of the problems we have inherited becomes much clearer. I could almost feel the weight of my responsibilities.
In the first three weeks of our administration, we discovered many things, and I will report to you some of the problems we have uncovered, and the steps we are taking to solve them. Read the rest of this entry »

On July 10, 1934, the Filipino voters elected at least 202 delegates to a constitutional convention which drafted the Philippine Constitution.

Headed by Claro M. Recto, the Constitutional Convention of 1934 was responsible for framing the 1935 Commonwealth Constitution which was approved by President Franklin Roosevelt on March 23, 1935.

It has been said that the 1935 Constitution was the best-written Philippine charter ever, which followed the American model in structure and formal appearance, except for a unicameral legislature and a unitary (as against a federal) system of government.

Notably, the so-called “Seven Wise Men” — Filemon Sotto, chairman, and Norberto Romualdez, Manuel Roxas, Vicente Singson Encarnacion, Manuel C. Briones, Miguel Cuaderno, and Conrado Benitez (who replaced Jose P. Laurel) — prepared the draft of the Constitution.

The framers of the Constitution were beneficiaries of the American system of education and familiar with American political concepts of democracy and government. Read the rest of this entry »

According to Forbes Magazine, the list below are the Top 10 richest Filipino’s for 2010 :

1) Henry Sy; US$5 billion
2) Lucio Tan; $2.1 billion
3) John Gokongwei Jr.; $1.5 billion
4) Jaime Zobel de Ayala; $1.4 billion
5) Andrew Tan; $1.2 billion
6) Tony Tan Caktiong; $980 million
7) Enrique Razon Jr.; $975 million
Beatrice Campos; $840 million
9) George Ty; $805 million
10) Eduardo Cojuangco Jr.; $760 million

On July 9, 1985, Arturo P. Alcaraz, a volcanologist and acknowledged “father of geothermal energy” won the IBM Science and Technology Award.

Alcaraz, who earned his Masters of Science degree in Geology at the University of Wisconsin in the United States as a government scholar, pioneered in generating electricity by means of geothermal steam among areas proximate to volcanoes.

With a vast and extensive knowledge on volcanoes in the Philippines, Alcaraz explored the possibility of harnessing geothermal steam to produce energy. He succeeded in 1967 when the country’s first geothermal plant produced much needed electricity, ushering the era of geothermal-based energy to power up homes and industries. Read the rest of this entry »

On July 8, 1987, as official representative of the Vatican to the Millenary of the Russian Orthodox Church, his Eminence, Jaime Cardinal Sin became the first Catholic prelate to visit Lithuania since the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Born on August 31, 1928 in Aklan, Cardinal Sin, Archbishop emeritus of Manila, attended the 600th anniversary celebration of Christianity in Lithuania.

Cardinal Sin took part in the celebration despite friction between the Soviet government and the church over the Vatican’s refusal to acknowledge Soviet sovereignty in that Baltic republic.

He described his trip to Lithuania as a “pilgrimage of friendship and love.”

Notably, Cardinal Sin served at the united voice of the Filipino people during the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution and became instrumental in ending the dictatorial Marcos regime and in the installation of Mrs. Corazon C. Aquino as the country’s first woman president.

He died on June 21, 2005 at the age of 76.

On July 7, 1892, a group of Filipino patriots led by Andres Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, Valentin Diaz and Deodato Arellano, among others, formally founded in Tondo, Manila the Katipunan, an anti-Spanish society with the goal of gaining Philippine independence.

It had three principal aims: political, moral and civic. The political aim was to fight for the independence of the Philippines from Spain. The moral aim was to teach Filipinos right conduct, cleanliness, and to fight against blind obedience to religion and to overcome weakness of character. The civic aim was to help one’s self and to defend the poor and the oppressed.

Initially, the Katipunan or Kataas-taasang, Kagalang-galangang Katipunan ng mgá Anak ng Bayan (KKK) was a secret organization.

During the next four years, the organization recruited members from various parts of Manila and nearby provinces. Its discovery in August 1896 eventually led to the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution.

Also on this same day in 1892, Spanish Governor-General Eulogio Despujol ordered the deportation of Dr. Jose Rizal to Dapitan, a remote town in Zamboanga.

From 1892 to 1896, Rizal lived in exile in far-away Dapitan. Under the missionary jurisdiction of the Jesuits, he practiced medicine, pursued scientific studies, continued his artistic and literary works, widened his knowledge of languages, established a school for boys, promoted community development projects, invented a wooden machine for making bricks, and engaged in farming and commerce.

On July 2, 1971, the first Pan American World Airway’s Boeing 747 jumbo jet arrived at the then Manila International Airport with 269 passengers.

Pan American World Airways was the second airline to open a regular jumbo route to the Philippines with 20 hours flying time between San Francisco and Manila.

Also on this same day in 1973, the 2.16-kilometer long San Juanico Bridge, the longest bridge in the Philippines spanning a body of water between the islands of Samar and Leyte in the Visayas, was inaugurated.

The San Juanico Bridge is considered one of the most beautifully-designed bridges in the country.

The bridge is supported by 43 spans rising 41 meters above the sea, with a large arch beneath allowing boats to pass.

On July 1, 1978, Filipino singer Hajji Alejandro won the Best Singer Award in the Seoul International Song Festival for singing Ryan Cayabyab’s composition “Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika.”

Alejandro sang Cayabyab’s winning entry in the 1978 Metropop and then went on to win the Grand Prix of that year’s Seoul World Music Festival. It was the first time that the Philippines won a top international award in a songfest.

The song “Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika” is a constant reminder that Filipino music is wonderful and the Filipino people should take pride that their country is gifted with great composers, arrangers, singers and musicians.

On this same day in 2005, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo launched the “Natural Gas Vehicle Program for Public Transport” (NGVPPT) implementing the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) as an alternative fuel to diesel.

The government, through the Department of Energy (DOE), initiated the NGVPPTT with the discovery of the Malampaya natural gas that spurred the development of the natural gas industry in the Philippines.

Also on July 1, 1889, Olivia Salamanca, one of the two pioneer women physicians in the Philippines, was born in San Roque, Cavite.

She was chosen secretary of the Philippine Anti-Tuberculosis Society. She became a victim of tuberculosis and eventually died on July 13, 1913 at the young age of 24.

President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III recently announced the new Philippine Cabinet Secretaries. The list below is the official Philippines cabinet members :

Executive Secretary – Paquito “Jojo” Ochoa Jr.
Department of Foreign Affairs – Alberto Romulo
Department of Agriculture – Proceso Alcala
Department of Budget and Management – Florencio “Butch” Abad
Department of Education – Rev. Armin Luistro
Department of Energy – Jose Rene D. Almendras
Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Ramon Paje
Department of Finance – Cesar Purisima
Department of Health – Dr. Enrique Ona
Department of Interior and Local Government – (Not Disclosed Yet)
Department of Justice – Leila de Lima
Department of Labor and Employment – Rosalinda Baldoz
Department of Agrarian Reform – Virgilio de los Reyes
Department of National Defense – Voltaire Gazmin
National Economic and Development Authority Director General – Cayetano Paderanga Jr.
Department of Public Works and Highways – Rogelio Singson
Department of Science and Technology – Mario Montejo
Department of Social Welfare and Development – Corazon “Dinky” Soliman
Department of Tourism – Alberto Lim
Department of Trade and Industry – Gregory Domingo
Department of Transportation and Communication – Jose “Ping” de Jesus
Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue – Kim Jacinto-Henares
Chairman of Commission on Higher Education – Patricia Liguanan
Presidential Legal Counsel – Eduardo de Mesa
Presidential Spokesman – Edwin Lacierda
Presidential Management Staff Chief – Julia Abad
Presidential Adviser on Peace Process – Teresita Deles

On this day, June 30, 2010, Senator Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Cojuangco Aquino III is inaugurated as the 15th President of the Philippines at the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park, Manila. He was elected in the country’s first automated polls on May 10, 2010.

As mandated by the 1987 Constitution, the new president is be to inaugurated at noon of June 30, although in the past, there were different dates for the inauguration of the incoming president.

Among the former presidents who also took their oaths of office on this day were Presidents Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Ejercito Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

General Emilio Aguinaldo, who was the first President of the Philippines, was inaugurated officially on January 23, 1899.

The presidents who were inaugurated at noon of December 30 under the 1935 Constitution were Manuel L. Quezon (first inaugurated as Philippine Commonwealth on November 15, 1935, and inaugurated for a second term on December 30, 1941), Elpidio Quirino (1949), Ramon Magsaysay (1953), Carlos P. Garcia (1957), Diosdado Macapagal (1961) and Ferdinand E. Marcos (1965, 1969). Only two presidents under the 1935 Constitution were not inaugurated on December 30, namely Sergio Osmeña and Manuel Roxas.

To date, former Presidents Estrada and Arroyo were the only ones who took their oaths of office and inaugural addresses in two different places. Estrada delivered his inaugural address at Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan, and Mrs. Arroyo did the same in Cebu City.

Traditionally, the Quirino Grandstand is where most inaugurations of the incoming presidents happen, as in the case of Quirino, Magsaysay, Garcia, Macapagal, Marcos, Ramos and Aquino. Read the rest of this entry »