by admin | Aug 3, 2016 | Editorial
The great schism that pseudo human rights advocates are claiming that is dividing society, is nothing but a sounding brass and tinkling cymbal.
How did we come to that?
To date, if the assumption can be finally substantiated, then it can be said. But, certainly, the current government drive against drugs has shaken and stirred the underworld of the meth industry like what most of us were never really told.
Over 30,000 Boholano drug personalities have voluntarily surrendered and made themselves available to authorities. If projection was right, this leaves around 10,000 now shivering in the dark world of withdrawal. Until somebody gets a lead. Or he surrenders for good.
Unlike the simple-mindedness these pseudo human rights activists show to convince the gullible to swallow their shallow logic, the world of drugs may not be as simple as their simple minds can fathom.
As they seem to imply, their advocacy is the faulted logic of the absolutes. Their logic is black and white. In short: you are an angel or the devil. No in-betweens.
So when the order to finally bring down the hammer and pound drugs to brittle pieces, the President himself staked his name for the authorities.
“Trust that the office of the President would be behind you in this,” Duterte said.
Then, the human rights activists suddenly clicked on to the default setting.
Now, all the killings that happen are miraculously ascribed to state operatives.
This late, the death count is a little over 400. Some are pushers caught red-handed and had to fight it out because getting into the same cell block with the users would be fire on their asses.
Rights advocates easily forget that before Duterte became a household threat in the drug industry, people especially those linked to drugs have a queer habit of just dying. They forgot they did raise no howl, foul or full then, they whose easy refuge is a biblical quote.
Rival groups who dream of making a killing in the industry have to maw the competition.
Now, these pseudo rights advocates think rival drug groups suddenly forget they can kill competition.
They suddenly remember that killing is deplorable and that human rights must be the sole guide.
That is when the blinders come in.
Drugs, unlike the shallow minds can fathom, is a convoluting take and can divide one’s sense of propriety.
Drugs have caused people to act weird.
Sons rape and mangle mothers, grandmothers, sisters and innocent minors. Dutiful daughters steal and do everything; inhuman acts to ruin families and snap relationships. Drugs make human beings pale in comparison to animals for it messes with ones sense of logic.
They think killing has suddenly become a monopoly of government and much as it is inhuman to ascribe the murders to their usual suspects, anything against the government has become their moral compass.
Then last Tuesday, drug surrenderers took to the streets, certainly not on their free will.
Now, did we hear them raise a howl? This definitely is a shame campaign. And is not right. Not humane. Like sounding brass. Or tinkling cymbal.
But on one hand, drugs do strange things to one’s logic, like we argued.
by admin | Aug 1, 2016 | Tech Talk
The Iriga Rinconada ICT Council is set to pursue strategies to generate at least 5,000 jobs enabled by information and communications technology (ICT) in Iriga City, Camarines Sur, by 2022.
During a capabilities development conference held in Naga City Friday, July 29, members of the Iriga Rinconada ICT Council led by Iriga City Mayor Madelaine Alfelor identified specific steps to create more awareness on ICT in their area, engage all stakeholders, especially the academe and business sectors, to develop Iriga’s ecosystem for ICT-enabled jobs.
The lady mayor called on the members of the ICT council to unite and help the city generate more jobs as national real estate developers like SM and Ayala turn their sights on Iriga.
This is in response to the overall challenge of the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP), the national network of ICT councils, to reach the 1 million mark in ICT jobs under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
In special briefing to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary Rodolfo Salalima, NICP officers led by Wilfredo Sa-a, Jr. of the Cebu Educational Foundation for Information Technology (CEDFIT), NICP committed to push for an additional 600,000 jobs in the next years to add yo the existing 400,000 jobs now found outside of Metro Manila.
The current number is only about thirty percent of the total ICT jobs in the Philippines, where seventy percent are concentrated in Metro Manila.
NICP trustee and ICT council mentor, Jocelle Batapa Sigue of the Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for ICT (BNEFIT), facilitated the workshop in Iriga where stakeholders collectively aspired to become one of the centers for excellence in ICT development and services in Luzon by harnessing their talent force and establishing ICT centers accredited with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), among other strategies.
Former Iriga mayor Ronald Felix Alfelor is his city’s ICT champion as he envision a local economy that has 24/7 capabilities to host global services. Alfelor showcased a an operational 35-seater business process management facility in the center of Iriga where they pioneered call center services.
Iriga’s strength lies in size of its talent pool with the presence of 2 universities, 6 colleges, 1 state college, and 8 technical vocational schools, says Alfelor.
by admin | Jul 30, 2016 | Local News / Bohol Balita, Tech Talk
IT’S full steam ahead for the 2016 “Geeks on a Beach” (GOAB) technology and startup conference at the Bellevue Hotel in Panglao Island in Bohol on Aug. 25-26.
But as GOAB is fast approaching and getting more of the public’s attention, some people had become curious and wondered what are geeks, and what does the word “geek” mean.
Movies characterize them like nerds: skinny or chubby but oddly dressed, smart but socially inept or introvert, with sleek or unkempt hair, dental braces, oversized spectacles, and with the ever-present backpack worn on two shoulders.
However, contrary to the stereotype popularized by Hollywood, geeks look and act ordinarily just like the rest of the human race in mainstream society, and also have a normal social life.
People like Microsoft developer Bill Gates, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg are geeks and may have one or a combination of the above-mentioned attributes, but they appear outwardly ordinary and don’t have eccentric behaviors.
The only behavioral trait that sets them out of the ordinary is their remarkable obsession with computer technology. Thus, a “geek” — a slang term originally used to describe an unfashionable or socially inept person – is a digital-technology expert or enthusiast.
Geeks spend 88% of their time in their air-conditioned cubicles, hunched over their laptops or PCs working on their projects, whether it’s a computer software, an application, a startup, or a website.
They seldom venture outdoors and sometimes never when they’re in the middle of working on a computer project or a product.
“These guys won’t stop at nothing until they get things done,” said Dave Overton, the chief geek of GOAB and CEO of Sym.ph. “I know, because I’ve been there, and it’s not healthy. It’s like you have been sucked up to another planet where you don’t feel tired or hungry.”
This never-surrender attitude is admirable, but this would lead to brain drain and physical exhaustion as well, CTO of Sym.ph and GOAB emcee for the past 3 years Albert Padin chimed in.
“You’re gonna be spending far too many hours with what you’re working on because you believe that it’s gonna work, until you realized that you haven’t slept and eaten for quite a long while,” said Padin, a 28-year-old Google Developer Expert who also co-founded Sym.ph and has worked on consumer, enterprise, and government software products.
Due to this bad side effect, geeks would somehow stumble in their work and could not finish whatever they’re working on.
To help her fellow geeks in this situation, according to Overton and Padin, alpha geek Tina Amper in 2011 established TechTalks.ph — a benevolent community for technology and startup buffs – and later assisted in bringing Startup Weekend to the Philippines.
After hosting the first Startup Weekend in Cebu sometime in 2012, Amper felt she needed to do more for her fellow geeks, whose number has grown at a rapid rate. And the rest was history.
“Geeks on a Beach” has become an international confab and has greatly contributed to the empowerment of Philippine startups since its first staging in September 2013 in Boracay.
It was also instrumental to the success of some startups like Cogito.ph, Salarium, and Zipmatch.com.
The 4th GOAB, a unique confab featuring the cutting-edge of the tech world in a laid-back atmosphere, is the first startup event to be held right after former President Benigno Aquino III signed the bill creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in May.
With this year’s theme “Empowering startups, leading change,” GOAB will once more highlight communities of startups or innovation-driven enterprises based on software or apps, which have seen remarkable growth in the Philippines in the last few years.
GOAB is organized by TechTalks.ph, co-organized by Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and co-presented by PLDT SME Nation, Ideaspace and SmartDevNet.
GOAB is held in partnership with HappyGaraje, Sym.ph, and PR Works. This year’s Silver Sponsors are Zalora, Mynimo, Teradoor, and PouchNation while Bronze Sponsors are A Space, Yoyo Holdings, Payoneer, Eurekloud, USAID-STRIDE, US Embassy, Launchgarage, and StarTechUp Inc. GOAB organizational partners are Philippines Software Industry Association, National ICT Confederation of the Philippines., UP CebuInit.org, CedFIT.org, Game Developers Association of the Philippines, Digital Commerce Association of the Philippines, Developers Connect, STAC Silicon Valley and GoNegosyo. Media partners are Auza.Net, Tech in Asia, Geeks in Cambodia, Hubnob.tv, InnoPub Media, Mytechisland.com, Zerothreetwo.com, Jumpstart Magazine, Mobile Ecosystem Forum, Asian Journal Publications, Balikbayan Magazine, Innovation is Everywhere, e27, Newsdesk Asia, WazzupPilipinas, Escooped.com, Istorya.net, Expat Philippines, PayPerClick.ph and TopTen.ph. GOAB founding sponsors are Smart, Smart Bro, Smart Devnet, Ideaspace, Mynimo.com, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, STAC Silicon Valley, Islands, Istorya.net, GT Cosmetics, Chef on Demand and Ng Khai Development Corporation.
GOAB is currently offering 15% discount on its tickets and 40% discount for group of 5 of more. Startups are also encouraged to apply to the 2nd GOAB International Startup Pitching Competition for opportunity to be matched with mentors and investors.
For more information, to sponsor or purchase tickets, visit, www.GeeksOnABeach.com; or contact Hello@GeeksOnABeach.com. Facebook: Geeks On A Beach and Twitter @GeeksOnABeach.
by admin | Jul 23, 2016 | Local News / Bohol Balita, Tech Talk
GDG Philippines – Cebu will bring the I/O experience to different cities and help the professional and student developers deep dive in the new technologies.
The Google I/O Extended Roadshow is a series of workshops and talks centered around the technologies announced during the Google I/O 2016.
The roster of speakers include Googlers, Googler Developer Experts and more. Registration through http://bit.ly/io2016bohol is required to participate.
The event will be held at the Nursing Skills Hall, Holy Name University!
*This event has limited slots! Participants will be confirmed through email! 🙂
by admin | Jul 19, 2016 | Edukasyon Updates, National News
Education technology startup Edukasyon.ph and the Philippine Business for Education has signed a Memorandum of Agreement to seal its joint commitment to provide industry-based information on careers for high school students through the “Career Conversations” section of the website www.edukasyon.ph.
“We are excited with this partnership with the Philippine Business for Education that will help in delivering job market and education information needed to make informed career and education decisions. Through these joint efforts with industry associations, we believe that we are able to guide students in what industries expect from them as jobseekers and what they need to know to prepare for these jobs,” said Linartes M. Viloria, CEO, Edukasyon.ph.
Edukasyon.ph is a website (www.edukasyon.ph) that empowers students by giving them choice, advice and convenience in discovering, selecting and applying to the school that will best equip them for their dream career. The Philippine Business for Education maintains FutureYou, a free online career exploration tool that provides you information needed to be able to get the right opportunity where a student’s passions, skills, and interests can be turned into a great job and a great future. The two sites have agreed to combine its online efforts through Edukasyon.ph’s Career Conversations.
Love Basillote, Executive Director of Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) with Henry Motte-Muñoz Edukasyon.ph founder sign MOA on July 11, 2016.
“Deciding on what you want to be when you grow up is a difficult decision a high school student has to make. Without the right industry information on careers and the world of work, students will find themselves confused on the education they need to have to prepare for their dream careers. Through these collaborative efforts with the Philippine Business for Education we can deliver to students job information that they can understand and appreciate for better career decision making,” said Henry Motte-Muñoz, Founder, Edukasyon.ph.
Under the partnership students can check out Edukasyon’s Career Conversations portal ( http://edukasyon.ph/en/career_conversations) where they can find a variety of careers they can choose and read about. This section includes hard-to-fill and most popular jobs, job descriptions, entry-level salaries for these jobs and the requisite education for these jobs.
“It is our dream that every Filipino student gets a quality and relevant education that leads to a career. This partnership brings us closer to realizing that dream and ensuring that young people get better chances to employment,” said Henry Motte-Muñoz, Founder, Edukasyon.ph
At the joint site, students can discover the recommended senior high tracks, college courses, and technical vocational education for these selected careers. To give them first hand information on preparations for their career journey in these jobs, students can watch Career Conversation videos of professionals in different industries.
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Edukasyon.ph was established by French-Filipino Henry Motte-Muñoz in 2014. A graduate of the London School of Economics and Harvard Business School, Henry was inspired to launch an education website in the Philippines because of the poor sources of information on academic opportunities in the country and overseas. He is the only Filipino who made it to the Class of 2015 Asia 21 Young Leaders, a network of young leaders from across the Asia Pacific, representing the private, public, and non-profit sectors. Henry is one of 10 Filipinos included in the Forbes 30 under 30. The list features young entrepreneurs, innovators, and leaders in Asia across 10 fields.
by admin | Jul 18, 2016 | Health and Medicine, Local News / Bohol Balita
BOHOL, July 18 (PIA)–Nanghawod ang munisipalidad sa Calape sa lalawigan sa Bohol sa competitiveness index diin nakab-ot niini ang unang puwesto sa kategoryang Government Efficiency sa 3rd to 6th class municipalities.
Nag-una ang Calape sa 755 ka uban pang munisipalidad sa tibuok nasod sa ranking sa Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) karong tuig nga gihimo sa National Competitiveness Council (NCC).
Samtang nahimutang usab sa ikapitong dapit ang lungsod sa Jagna sa kategoryang Economic Dynamism sa 3rd ngadto sa 6th class municipalities.
Ang dakbayan sa Tagbilaran usab nakab-ot ang ika-25 nga overall ranking alang sa tanang component cities sa tibuok nasod.
Niadtong 2015, nahimutang sa ika-34 nga puwesto sa 110 ka component cities sa tibuok Pilipinas ang syudad sa Tagbilaran.
Ug karong tuig, nisaka pa kini sa siyam ka lakang nga nagbutang sa syudad sa Tagbilaran isip most competitive component city sa tibuok Central Visayas.
Ang NCC ranking nagsukod sa competitiveness sa 1,300 ka local governments sa tibuok nasod base sa tulo ka haligi sa kalamboan nga mao ang Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency ug Infrastructure.
Ang NCC nihingan sa labing competitive LGUs atol sa 4th Regional Competitiveness Summit niadtong Hulyo 14 nga gipahigayon sa Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) diin gi-ila niini ang krusyal nga papel sa LGUs sa pagdasig sa competitiveness sa nasod.
Ang maong kalihokan nipatugbaw sa resulta sa 2016 CMCI. (ecb/PIA7-Bohol)
by admin | Jul 17, 2016 | Local News / Bohol Balita
The DWCT-HS Batch 91 held its 25th anniversary reunion on July 15-16, 2016 with the theme “Reunited and Jubilant”.
The gala night was held at the Metrocentre Hotel on July 15 , Tagbilaran City. There were about 17 teachers who attended the program that was dedicated to them. The batch gave their former teachers tokens of appreciation. The batchmates who were not able to attend sent their video messages which was shown in the program. Those that were able to attend came home from various places in the country and from abroad.
On July 16, a Holy Mass was held at the chapel at the Holy Name University followed by group picture taking and a beach party at a private beach resort in Panglao. The beach party included lots of games facilitated by “Inday Ruping” and company. Then there was also a rock band playing 80’s and 90’s music.
The organizers of the reunion extends their gratitude to the various donors whose donations were sufficient to cover all the expenses for the various activities. They also are grateful for the various volunteer batchmates who contributed by time and effort in the preparations.
DWCT-HS Batch 1991: Reunited and Jubilant!
by admin | Jun 27, 2016 | Health and Medicine, Major Events, National News
TAGBILARAN CITY, June 27 (PIA)—With increasing traffic related incidents heaping up cases and bloating crimes logged in municipal police blotters, Bohol Provincial Police Office reports a total of 84 more crimes in May over the previous month.
Reporting for BPPO police barracks chief PSSupt. Dennis Agustin, PCSuperintendent Lorenzo Batuan pointed out that the 217 index crimes in April rose to 224 in May this year.
At the Provincial Peace and Order Council Friday, June 25, Col. Batuan pointed to the usual culprits in the elevation of total crime volume in Bohol.
“As usual, the noted increase is due to road accidents resulting to Homicide, Damage to Properties, and Physical Injuries, he told PPOC members.
On the other hand, for non index crimes, BPPO operations chief also noted that of the crimes in April, Bohol tallied 393, a figure which further drowned with the 470 cases by May.
The police provincial headquarters recorded 610 crime volume in April, which also rose to 694 in May.
Of the 610 crimes logged in April, Col Batuan showed that 178 of the cases, or 34.26% are crimes in the blotter for traffic related incidents.
The figure eased a bit with May’s 694 crimes where 207 of them were traffic related incidents.
Traffic incidents in the blotter in Bohol stations reached 29.8% for May, still a considerable count considering that the 207 cases could have been significantly lower should people get on to it.
To illustrate the point, in April for example, BPPO snags 110 cases of physical injuries, 62 damage to property as well as 6 homicide cases.
When May came, Camp Dagohoy statisticians received total crime volume at 122, 77 of them caused damage to property and 8 cases of homicide.
PPOC Chair Governor Edgar Chatto once picked the good and well paved road networks as a lure for drivers to over-speed which almost always results to accidents.
Also, irregular under the table deals at the Land Transportation Office have been pointed out as largely contributing to the proliferation of incompetent and unskilled drivers.
Drivers who do not want to get in line and undergo the circuitous processing of papers are now paying the examiners at the LTO to obtain a license.
This is despite the fact that traffic enforcers who would dent on the campaign to rid the streets of irresponsible and unskilled, the road-worthy and the ill-maintained, could hardly take off with enforcement people getting embroiled in controversies. (rac/PIA-7/Bohol)
by admin | Jun 27, 2016 | Editorial
That exact moment an artist puts the last daub of paint in a work of art, it breathes its own.
Intrigue, like art or like the truth, these things earn lives and live on their own, uncontrollable.
So we did not break sweat in following the end of the $81Million bank account as intrigue flapped its wings, fanning the fodder of corruption. And again, it involves an alleged Capitol official.
After decades of decadent television culture, bland vaudevilles and run-on telenovelas, people have imbibed the culture so attuning: intrigue to get one immersed in the cold art of storytelling.
For those whose past weeks were spent in the closet, a lawyer journalist spilled the details of a tale but adeptly omitted the links to cook up an arcane tale. The story however perked up the intrigeros.
It said, a woman who deposited an amount in a bank, was erroneously handed the wrong passbook.
Of course, the woman, unnamed, saw the deposit, which was too much, realized it was not her passbook. So, she returned it to the teller and pointed to her the error.
The teller, accordingly panicked and profusely apologized, before handing her the real passbook.
Then, like any ripe intrigue, the tale went on saying, this woman’s conscience couldn’t keep her settled, she has to confess to a priest. The priest too, accordingly passed the story. Besides, the teller vanished.
And the art, intrigue, lie or truth rolled like a snowball, picking up tiny details until the whole tattered story stood whole, menacingly rattling the loose nutheads at Capitol.
So the tale nudged Boholanos via newspapers and editors who find a lawyer’s and a journalist’s statement too good to pass off as hoax. Well, even lying politicians can be news sources, so why not a lawyer who knows he could be laundered in the washing machines of public opinion if he faults?
Feeling slighted by the tale of a multimillion deposit, and feeling too early heroic, a legislator at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan stood to demand an investigation.
And apparently, the arcane tale hooked an arcane legislator too, who seems authorized by the Vice Governor to lead the Committee of the Whole, invited media messengers, all but one.
So what do we have?
A story now, with P81million now wrongly seen as $81M, a woman depositor who is not a woman after all, a priest who denies he is that unnamed priest, and Capitol again behaving like it had all the money to spend just to deflect an issue that nobody would have believed.
So what if the alleged priest breached the vows of confession to share the story? And so what if a banker, who happens to apparently step on the feet of the current association president, breached bank secrecy laws?
Well, if indeed there is no meat in the tale because it was just an intrigue, then why the spin?
Ah, because like a lie or an intrigue, truth too must have its way of getting revealed. And because no matter how arcane the tale is, the smoke always leads to a fire somewhere.
by admin | Jun 19, 2016 | Local News / Bohol Balita, Tech Talk
The organizers of the international conference Geeks on a Beach 4 (www.geeksonabeach.com) currently offers a 20% discount on the registration fee until June 30, 2016. This is an opportunity for participants from Bohol to attend such conference without having to travel outside the province. Early bird registrants had enjoyed bigger discounts earlier this year.
Tina Amper, founder of Techtalks.PH that organized the conference, has announced some of the speakers at the conference. Among the speakers are David Brown, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Techstars from Boulder, USA, Khailee Ng, the Managing Editor of 500 Startups, Malaysia, Diane Eustaquio, the Executive Director of IdeaSpace Foundation, Inc., Janette Toral, E-Commerce Advocate and founder of DigitalFilipino.com, Philippines and many more.
The organizing team of GOAB4 also presented the details of the conference to Gov Edgard M. Chatto as well as to other participants during the Bohol ICT sectoral discussion last June 15.
by admin | Jun 19, 2016 | Entertainment
On June 11-12, 2016, Event Aspects, in collaboration with Events International, a production company that produce international concerts and theatrical shows, brought to the country the first Philippine staging of “PETER PAN: A Musical Adventure” last June 11-12, 2016, at SM Seaside City Centerstage.
Mr. Paul Hammond, the highly experienced director and distinguished creative entertainment producer, directed the show. The performers are professional actors and actresses from the widelyknown mainstream theaters in West End of London and they just had their successful shows in India, Thailand, Vietnam and some parts of Europe.
The show was well loved by the audience with children enthusiastically cheering on Peter Pan, Tinker bell and Wendy as they fought with Captain Hook and his pirate crew.
At the end of the show, the cast posed for souvenir pictures with the audience.
The cast of Peter Pan the Musical Adventure poses for photos with the audience after the show.
