September 2022

Peso falls to lowest level ever
The country's currency dropped to its lowest value against the US dollar, closing at 57.40, after three consecutive days of descent. This had been happening for weeks, but a turning point was reached at the 57 peso level, which had never been reached. And the peso continues to be in free fall (58.50).
Many absolved the Marcos administration for this development, saying that currencies are falling against the dollar around the world, including the pound and the euro. There is, however, also a severe shortage in prime commodities, including sugar and salt. The sugar shortage is so severe that several soft drink bottlers have stopped operating. Steep price rises have also been occurring in essential goods, including eggs, rice, flour, bread (and other baked products), meat, fish and several vegetables.

July 9, 2022

Marcos, Part 2 Episode 1
President-elect Bongbong Marcos had his inauguration at the National Museum, which housed Congress until its abolition in 1972 by then President Ferdinand Marcos, his father. Shortly before, disqualification cases were dismissed by the Supreme Court, sparking calls for protests.
Days before, the Philippine Daily Inquirer fired columnist Winnie Monsod, according to them because of conflict of interest, because she is on the board of Rappler. It is also true that the daughter of the Inquirer owner is married to incoming Speaker Martin Romualdez, a Marcos cousin. Historian Ambeth Ocampo said in his column that earlier presidents who were inaugurated in the old Congress building, now the National Museum, died in office (Roxas and Magsaysay) or were driven out (Marcos Sr.).
In fact, even before the election, people were already suspicious of the conduct of the election and were advocating people power. Marcos and his 'I'm so NY' wife had dinner with Dennis Uy, who is connected with F2 Logistics, in charge of distributing ballots and vote-counting machines.
Almost on the eve of the inauguration, the SEC closed Rappler, which sent chills among journalists. Independent journalists were earlier excluded from an earlier press conference, in which bloggers, vloggers and loyalist media outlets played a prominent role.
The Philippine Coast Guard released an evacuation plan in case of an emergency at the inauguration, in which he would be taken to a ship. This elicited comments that he would be evacuated to China-occupied islands in the West Philippine Sea, and from there to China.
In addition to other challenges, the new administration faces a precipitous peso devaluation: Php55.06 to the dollar, the lowest in 16 years. Prices of basic commodities are skyrocketing. Gas prices are rising each week, so that many jeepney drivers are threatening to give up on driving. The Marcos said that he will take the agriculture portfolio, which has revived references to his promised twenty-peso per kilo rice.

April 29, 2022

PDP-Laban Cusi wing backs Marcos
The Cusi faction of the PDP-Laban has endorsed former Sen. Bongbong Marcos for president in the 2022 elections. This was announced by its president, Energy Sec. Alfonso Cusi. He hinted that President Duterte might attend one of the rallies of the UniTeam, in which Davao City mayor Sara Duterte is running for vice president.
Sen. Koko Pimentel has criticized the Cusi faction for backing Marcos, saying that the party founded by his father, was formed to oppose the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., father of former Sen. Marcos.
The Marcos campaign has been plagued by the suspension of troll accounts by several social media. One of its rallies was claimed to be the biggest, and a candidate for the Guinness Book of World Records, but this was shown to be a hoax. A photo of a huge rally was shown to be one actually held in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Attempts have been made to block rallies of opposition presidential candidate VP Leni Robredo by road construction and rerouting and jamming of cellphone signals (Cavite), or denial of permits to buses transporting rally participants (Pangasinan). A massive rally in San Fernando, Pampanga, attended by an estimated 220,000 participants, was supposed to be followed by a UniTeam rally, but this was postponed indefinitely, reportedly because it was unable to equal, let alone surpass, the Robredo rally.
Prior to that, a fake sex video of a daughter of VP Robredo was blamed on the Marcos camp. A Comelec presidential interview (a reformulation of the debate, which was plagued by the unavailability, or supposed unavailability, of participants) will not be attended by former Sen. Marcos because according to him they will be attending rallies instead.
There had been reports about the mobile numbers that were gathered by barangays and other government agencies in connection with pandemic-related, national ID, and other operations. If your phone happens to be among those that the flood of Bongbong-Sara text message propaganda were directed at, linking one to other would not be far-fetched.

• OCTA: COVID-19 surge likely after Eleksyon 2022 -gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/830074
• NCR at ‘low risk’ for COVID-19; reproduction number slightly increases to 0.71 — OCTA -gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/metro/830038
• 193 new COVID-19 cases logged; active tally lowest this year
The country’s active case count decreased to 9,585 from 10,576. At least 21,651 individuals were tested Wednesday, April 27. -gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/830052
• BBM Spokesperson’s Facebook Suspended -thelookout.com.ph/article/bbm-spokespersons-facebook-suspended   -msn.com/en-ph/entertainment/entertainmentnews/facebook-sinuspinde-ang-account-ng-spokesperson-ni-bbm-na-si-atty-vic-rodriguez
• NTC orders probe into text alerts announcing Bongbong bid -philstar.com/headlines/2021/10/06/2132216
reddit.com/r/Philippines/comments/tnhf2i/text_message_kailangan_po_ni_bongbong_at_sara_ang/ "Kailangan po ni Bongbong at Sara ang tulong ninyo sa pagbangon nating lahat. I-shade po natin ang (7) Marcos for President at (4) Duterte for Vice Pr" ...on my personal number. i think this is alarming. saan kaya nila nakuha yon?

	Genocide in the Philippines, an abbreviated chronology

	The 1935 Constitution is ratified. It calls for a "common national language"
	1937-1940
	President Quezon created the Institute of National Language
	The Institute recommended the adoption of Tagalog as the national language
	President Quezon proclaimed Tagalog as the Philippine national language
	President Quezon ordered that Tagalog be taught as a subject in schools
	1956
	The national anthem, Lupang Hinirang, was first sung in Pilipino-Tagalog
	1962-1969
	Stamps shift from English to Tagalog
	Coins shift from English to Tagalog	
	Bills shift from English to Tagalog	
	1974
	Bilingual education policy using Pilipino-Tagalog and English was imposed
	1986-1989
	ABS-CBN is returned to the Lopezes and changes its primetime news to Tagalog
	The present Constitution slyly retains Tagalog
	Public Forum, hosted by Randolf David, begins a trend for Tagalog public affairs
	Executive Order No. 335 (August 25, 1988) Enjoining All Departments to be Tagalog
	1998
	Republic Act 8491, The Flag and Heraldic Code, punishes by fines or imprisonment
	2004
	Google becomes Tagalog default for the Philippines in the next seven years
	2010
	President Benigno S. Aquino III delivers his State of the Nation address in all-Tagalog
	2011-2021
	Blogger, the blogging service of Google, becomes Tagalog default	
	Waze becomes Tagalog default in the Philippines
	Gmail, YouTube and other Google products gradually reinject Tagalog
	Facebook intermittently switches from your chosen language to Tagalog
	Government announcements are sent via cellphone text messages, in Tagalog.

THE BLOG in 2021-2022

THE BLOG in 2020 Part 2

THE BLOG in 2020 Part 1

Listen to Diabolical Filipino Tagalog sampled in the 2005 horror movie Constantine, 1 megabyte video

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