Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa today issued several memoranda effectively extending Rizal-related exhibits at the National Library, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, and the Central Post Office, in line with celebrations on the 150th birth anniversary of national hero Jose Rizal.
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In light of the recent incident involving actor-director Ricky Rivero and a friend he met through Facebook, the National Youth Commission warns the youth to be more responsible and cautious in using social networking sites. “It’s very easy to be friendly and outgoing on Facebook, you lose all inhibitions, hindi ka mahiyain, and you can be a whole new different person online. But you have to be careful of the people you’re befriending; you can’t really tell a person’s character based on his or her profile page,” says Chairman Leon Flores III.
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Facebook user named Jerzon Senador uploaded photos of his pet puppy hanged by 5 clothespins on a clothesline. When asked why he did it, he said “Wala lang akong magawa. Trip ko lang.”

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Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has agreed to the proposed increase in the fares for the Light Rail Transit (LRT) Lines 1 and 2, and the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3.

However, the implementation will be delayed due to the rising prices of basic goods and services.

As a result of the new fares, travelling the entire length of the MRT station, a total of 17 kilometers from Taft to North Avenue, would cost P28. For the LRT Lines 1 and 2, the maximum fares will be P30 and P25, respectively.

TV5, formerly known as ABC5 celebrates its 1st year anniversary, shaking all its viewers from morning till midnight, bringing a lot of fresh shows for all walks of life. And with that, TV5 is inviting all “ka-shake” for their 1st year anniversary party this coming August 28, Friday at Glorietta 3, Covered Tent, Ayala Center, Makati City from 7:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight. Don’t miss this one of a kind event.

During the meeting of President GMA and US President Barack Obama, he announced the appointment of the Philippines as chief coordinator between the United States and the ASEAN as he will be visiting Indonesia as part of his ASEAN trip this year. Meanwhile, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said, Obama gave no indication whether he will include the Philippines or not in his visit to Southeast Asia. Our President got praise from the world’s most powerful leader during their 30 minute meeting yesterday. Obama also gave some compliments to President GMA with regards to the peace process in Mindanao, in return, the President thanked the U.S for helping our country to fight those militant groups.

Soon to be wed Sen. Mar Roxas and Korina Sanchez agrees with a pre-nuptial agreement. According to Korina, they were both established when they met and they even have their own investments that’s why a pre- nuptial agreement is no problem with her. Korina took a leave of absence from her late night news show ” Bandila ” but remained as the host for her weekend Magazine show Rated K. The reason is that she wants to concentrate more for the preparations of the wedding that would be happened at the last part of the year. She is also a hands-on bride to be as she wants to make sure everything is in place and organized.

Ballet Manila presents the timeless classic, Pinoy storyteller Lola Basyang, via “Tatlong Kuwento ni Lola Basyang”. It will be featured Saturdays, 7pm, at the Aliw Theater. Tickets are priced at P100. For more information, call 8326121 to 25.

Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao and wife Jinky just added another baby to their brood. The baby’s Queen Elizabeth, born at 7.9 lbs, at the Los Angeles Metropolitan Hospital in California.

Manny and Jinky Pacquiao now have four children.

Manny Pacquiao next fight will be on December 6, 2008 against Oscar de La Hoya. The match will be in the welterweight division which mean our pambasang kamao needs to add some weight to reach the division while De La Hoya needs to slim down. More news on Pacquiao and De la Hoya Fight in the coming days.

Several vegetarian Pinoy Artists are up for PETA’s sexiest — they are Chin Chin Gutierrez, Alicia Mayer, Geneva Cruz, Isabel Roces, and Yasmien Kurdi. They are nominated alongside Hollywood celebrities Alicia Silverstone, Natalie Portman, Pamela Anderson, and American Idol Carrie Underwood.

To vote, log on to www.petaasiapacific.com

GMA kapuso talents bagged special awards at the recently held 8th Asian Supermodel Competition in Guangxi, China. 

Young actress Rhian Ramos won the Miss Vitality Award, and Starstruck girl Arci Muñoz won the Miss International Friendship Award. Newcomer Steph Henares, daughter of GMA Artist Head Ida Henares, was also among the ten finalists.

The two other beauties who competed in the supermodel search are Bb. Pilipinas 2007 1st runner-up Abigail Cruz, and Rhea Nakpil, also from Starstruck.

The Department of Justice has issued a subpoena againtst former Pinoy Big Brother housemate Baron Geisler for the Acts of Lasciviousness filed against him by Patrizha Maree Aguila Martinez, daughter of former matinee idol William Martinez and former co-housemate Yayo Aguila.

This, after the young actor allegedly fondled the breast of the Martinez daughter, and lured her into having sex after they met at the Fiamma Bar on Jupiter Street in Makati City last April 25. Geisler was said to be drunk at the time.

GMANews reports that the Martinezs are reported to be asking 5 million pesos in damages from Geisler.

by: Ava Guerrero (PNX)

Be yourself.

It’s a cliché that I always hear from people who seemingly do not feel any sort of insecurities, who do not care of what other people might think of them, who aren’t afraid to voice out their opinions, who aren’t reluctant to ignite a fight when somebody dares to confront them. Be yourself. Be yourself. Be yourself.

This mantra has been long used to increase a person’s self-esteem, to give them a sense of superiority or to boost up their confidence. It can be heard in TV commercials, teen mags, and even posters endorsing a face-powder product. But sad to say, it doesn’t work for me. Seeing myself as a person who exudes great amounts of confidence shrinks into some kind of drama and I’m the lead star. It becomes unnatural.

The more I try to be confident the more I feel that I am just pretending to be someone I am not. The more I try to rid myself of inhibitions, the more the mask of pretension thickens and tightens. I strongly disagree that you should always be yourself, taking into consideration the meaning it implies. I disagree that should you only act upon your own will all the time, without considering the probable outcome of your actions, or mulling over on what others may think of you or feel about you. This is the reason why I have those inhibitions.

The reason why I do not easily give in to the bitter cravings of my flesh. The proper mantra for me should be, “Think before you act”. Is this morally correct? Will it hurt somebody’s feelings? Will it destroy my dignity and reputation? Will they get mad? Will it stir up trouble or bring about peace? Some people would side-step those questions easily. They would speak themselves out saying that they don’t care. As long as they’re being themselves at that moment in time, they think there’s nothing wrong. Before, I was sort of obliged to think and act that way.

My mind was fed with that kind of principle. But I sensed something was wrong, it was not a perfect idea at all. What if it is already wrong being myself? Humans commit mistakes and mistakes committed can never be justified by saying that humans are humans and to err is human. What room is there for change? Is it justifiable to say that I was being a truthful liar? Is it right to say that because I am a braggart, then people should accept that, instead of trying to be humble at times? Some people could openly say that they are stingy for example.

I even know a person who is applauded for being bad-mouthed. Why? They admire his being true to himself. They like the way he speaks himself out. They do not see that what he does is wrong cause it is over-shadowed by that mantra. As I have noticed, people like these don’t want to be called hypocrites. So what would they do? They’d keep on doing those things albeit the fact that those things are wrong just to be spared from being conceived as someone who pretends. Most people are engulfed in that kind of mentality. That if you do something against your own will, then you are being pretentious, you’re on the wrong track. You are called a hypocrite or ‘plastic’ as widely used by Filipinos. This is a great misconception, in my opinion.

What is wrong in controlling yourself when needed? Is it wrong to oppose your own will if you know for yourself that it is wrong? Should you not use your mind more often instead of letting go of your emotions that easily? Should you always need to spill out your feelings if you know it isn’t necessary and would just stir things up all the more? Should you not keep quiet in those moments when you like to scream yourself out? Like what I’ve stated earlier, when I try to show people that I am fearless, that I don’t care how the world sees me, all the more I become pretentious, cause in reality I don’t always say, what I really want to say.

Being myself all the time would only bar me from any proper and more acceptable attitude I should have elicited during a certain situation or scenario. I do not fancy spurting out words that will only hurt others feelings just to let out mine. If rambling about my own feelings would only cause others to feel badly about themselves rather than console them, I’d better keep them to myself. That facet of me is always misinterpreted. What should I expect? That’s better I guess than to unhesitantly prattle about how ugly a person is just because it is the truth.

I do not objectively create a norm for everyone to follow. It’s just my own norm, my own creed. It’s just my own opinion, my own analysis. It’s just that not because you replace harsh words with kind words then you’re being pretentious. The truth is, it brings about good relationships, instead of hostility towards one another. I think through that, a person’s real being is revealed.

by: Graciel Guevarra

Life is a very cruel, cruel game. The term dog-eat-dog is very much applicable. But what’s really downheartening is, you meet someone who you thought is the best person in the world, pouring all your love and care to him, but it turns out that you’ve made a VERY huge mistake. Try as you might, you can’t turn back the hands of time to retrace your steps. In that point, you’d be asking questions like ‘Is it an inborn curse to lose?’ or even say ‘Why does it always have to be me? Why not my neighbor?’

If only Life has a feeling of it’s own, it would laugh; cruel, harsh, and heartless. But instead, Life is a big puppeteer and all of us are like a million Pinocchios. With string in its hand, we’d be trained to walk, talk, run, etc. on the face of the earth. We’d be walking up and down the street and meet a lot of other Pinocchios. Soon, we would meet the Pinocchio of our dreams and fall head over heels over them, oblivious that Puppeteer is creating a game of its own. So, while we are overly drunk at the love we are feeling to the Pinocchio we think is our future spouse, the right Pinocchio passes by. Then when the time comes you become somber and become aware of reality, you’d realize that your own Pinocchio isn’t the right one for you. The real Pinocchio for you is also suffering to another wrong puppet of his dreams. Damn

What made Life do something cruel and daunting like that? It’s like it doesn’t care about what we feel at all. The happiness we longed to feel and experience is now far away from our grasps. Well, it may be physically near but it’s like a star you can see but you cannot reach. Maybe you’d think this is crazy but we do lose something we haven’t even owned. Maybe, destiny re-arranged our heart’s possessions and played a prank, well, Life told it to.

Sometimes, you’d just want to close your eyes and think that all of this is a big, big, joke. Sleep away the tears and the pain you feel inside but the moment you wake up, the pain is still there, tremendous pain. No amount of consolation can take it away. It doubles, it triples, it even quadruples…with that, you might just want to sleep forever.

Crazy…what a crazy life we have. You love the wrong person, the right one comes along. Tremendous, overwhelming pain succumbs you to forget the happiness you once dreamed off…you feel doubt because you thought you have loved someone you thought you’d love forever until the game is over and you realize you lost… It is like a disease you thought was measly and unimportant you neglect it. Until it is written all over your face that the truth had just passed you by.

The cure?

The hugs and love from the right Pinocchio…

disclaimer: this applies ONLY to those who feels the same way. Don’t blabber at me saying ‘Ooh, I already found my TRUE love and I am not regretting anything!!!!’ Well, I HAVEN’T FOUND MINE YET! And maybe 52% of the human population too!!!!!