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For other news and information, scroll the links found on the sidebar. Links to other relevant sites and media blogs are located on the lower right portion. - RAFS76

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Guidelines on the use of Terminologies from UNAIDS

Media Partners, please find below the proper terms to be used on reporting/discussing AIDS. As you discuss these on-air or write your articles and stories about the subject, please be guided re: the following:


Old Use
=================== Preferred terminology

HIV and AIDS ============== AIDS unless specifically referring to HIV
HIV/AIDS epidemic ========== AIDS epidemic
HIV/AIDS prevalence ========= HIV prevalence
HIV/AIDS prevention ========= HIV prevention
HIV/AIDS testing ============ HIV testing
People living with HIV/AIDS ==== People living with HIV

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

we deserve a break!!!

Hey guys, the elections and all the news related to it has been very stressful. So, relax muna and give yourselves a break. Read this and I guarantee, it will make you laugh! Laughter is the best medicine, you know... =)

BRAIN CRAMPS

(On September 17, 1994, Alabama's Heather Whitestone was selected as Miss America 1994.)

Question: If you could live forever, would you and Why? Answer: "I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever,"
-- Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest .

"Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff."
-- Mariah Carey

"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life"
-- Brooke Shields during an interview to become Spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign .

"I've never had major knee surgery on any other partof my body,"
-- Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward .

"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country,"
--Mayor Marion Barry, Washington , DC .

"I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president."
-- Hillary Clinton commenting on the release of subpoenaed documents.

"That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jackass, and I'm just the one to do it," --A congressional candidate in Texas .

"Half this game is ninety percent mental."
--Philadelphia Phillies Manager, Danny Ozark

"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."

"We are ready for an unforeseen event that may or may not occur." --Al Gore, Vice President

"I love California . I practically grew up in Phoenix ." --Dan Quayle

"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?" --Lee Iacocca

"The word "genius" isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein."
--Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback & sports analyst.

"We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people."
-- Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instructor .

"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." --Bill Clinton, former US President

"Traditionally, most of Australia 's imports come from overseas." --Keppel Enderbery

"Your food stamps will be stopped effective March 1992 because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances." --Department of Social Services, Greenville , South Carolina

"If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And the next morning, when they wake up dead, there'll be a record." --Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman

Host : If you had a foreigner friend, where will you bring him to showcase the beauty of the Philippines ?
Girl Contestant : Bocaue.
Host : Bocaue. Why Bocaue? There are so many places in the Philippines ? Why Bocaue?
Girl : Because it's a magnificent place.
Host : Which part of Bocaue?
Girl : The Bocaue Rice Terraces.

Host : What is your best feature?
Contestant : My graduation feature.

Host : What is you favorite motto?
Contestant : If others can't why, why can't I!

Host : What would you like to say to foreigners?
Contestant : Please come back.

Host : What is your typical day?
Contestant : I think Saturday po!

Host : If you were to describe the color blue to a blind person, how would you do it?" Contestant : That's a very good question. Keep it up.

Host : What is your edge over the other contestants?
Girl Contestant : My edge? .... 23 years old.

Host : What, in your opinion, is the ideal age for marriage?
Girl : Between 24 and 25!

Host : How do you see yourself 10 years from now?
Girl : I'll be 28.

Host : What is the biggest problem facing the youth today?
Girl : Drugs.

Host : Why?
Girl : Mahal po kasi eh.

Host : What is the essence of being gay?
Contestant : I'm proud to be gay because what is naked is essential to the eye!

Host : What makes you blush?
Girl : Blush on!

Host : What is the essence of a man?
Gay Contestant : Testicles!

Host : Hey, I heard you almost didn't make it, how did you get here? Did you ride or did you walk?
Contestant : Of course, did you ride. What do you think of me, did you walk???

sshhhh, it happens you know... hehehe...

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Mindanao poll fraud detailed

Poll watchers report to Comelec
By Cathy C. Yamsuan, Jolene Bulambot, Charlie SeƱase, Nash Maulana, Edwin Fernandez - Mindanao Bureau, Inquirer, Visayas Bureau

Front Page in today's issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer are the massive cheating and irregularities in the ARMM.... These things have been happening before, especially in the 2004 elections. Thanks to a more vigilant media, we get to know all of it now...


MANILA, Philippines
-- Poll watchdogs Wednesday gave detailed accounts of massive vote-buying, flagrant cheating and intimidation -- including death threats to a foreign observer -- in Mindanao during the May 14 elections.

The price of a vote ranged from P1,000 to P7,000 in some areas in Lanao del Sur province, according to the watchdogs’ accounts.

“Not even the Manila city jail can accommodate all the corrupt people in our area,” lawyer Nasser A. Marohomsalic, a member of the executive committee of the legal group Lente, told reporters. Ranking officers of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente) and Citizens’ Action for Responsible Elections (C-CARE) took turns detailing how rampant cheating took place in Lanao del Sur. The officers submitted their report to the Commission on Elections (Comelec). The Comelec has ordered special elections in at least 13 towns in the province, where voting could not be held because of the presence of armed goons. Marohomsalic said one supporter of a candidate in Ramain-Ditsaan town even had the audacity to offer P300 to a foreign observer, an Indonesian female he identified only as Marini.

Marohomsalic surmised that the person mistook Marini for a Filipino given her Malay features. “Most buyers were inside the polling precincts coaching voters. Witnesses included local and foreign observers,” the watchdogs said in a statement.

250 votes each; only 169 voters

Marohomsalic said a Pakistani observer asked another person offering bribe money in exchange for votes in Bacolod-Kalawi town if what he was doing wasn’t illegal. “The person only answered, ‘Do you want me to kill you’? (Gusto mo patayin kita?)’,” Marohomsalic said in a press conference.

Read the rest of the article here.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Eleksyon 2007: The aftermath

Excuse the not-so-prompt blog about the elections... =)

Ok, let's see. Our baguio-based media coordinators Frank Cimatu and EV Espiritu of PDI-North Luzon were assigned to cover the area of ABRA, an election hotspot in the North, meaning a-not-so-safe place to be... Hey guys, hope you came back to Baguio unscathed...

On the other hand, it feels a bit weird that the areas of our birthday celebrants happen to be in the limelight. Eastern Samar and Maguindanao and Lanao...

In Eastern Samar where Roy Calvo of dyES-Radyo ng Bayan is the area media coordinator, news reports say that a vigil vs fraud in Eastern Samar has taken place last May 18 due to reports that alleged irregularities in the canvassing of votes were taking place. "For the first time in the history of elections in this province, the people showed how they value their votes." Click the link shown above for further details.

In Maguindanao [Edwin Fernandez of dxMS and dxOL - area of responsibility, so to speak =) ], earlier reports said that a surprising 12-0 votes in favor of Team Unity senatorial candidates took place. This prompted a lot of speculations, the most serious of which was that NO ELECTIONS actually took place in the area and that the results have long been "manipulated" even prior the election proper last May 14. A more elaborate report/article on election irregularities was published in PDI last May 18 by Donna Pazibugan and Norman Bordadora, with the "No Voting in Maguindanao" as the "banner report". Click the link to read the story.
Said article stated:

"According to the alleged plot as detailed by Bantay Boto, massive cheating will be committed in the provinces of Ilocos Sur, Pampanga, Camarines Norte, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Eastern Samar, Lanao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan.

The regions supposedly identified for fraud operations were Central Visayas, Davao, Caraga and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The identified areas, according to the plan, have more than 14.7
million registered voters."

I find this quite uncanny since most of the areas identified for commission of "election fraud" were pilot areas under the UNFPA 6th Country Programme in the Philipppines. In case you forgot, these areas were said to be among the poorest provinces in the country, where maternal mortality is high and where the PGR (Population Growth Rate) is high, like in Bohol wherein theirs is higher than that of the national PGR.

The selection of the areas on the basis of the high number of registered voters validates the presumption that in highly populated areas (with a correspondingly high number of registered voters), most people live below the poverty line. And instead of interventions to address reproductive health issues and population concerns, these areas are targetted for the commission of election fraud. To put into "power" those who will further bury this country to the ground. Talk about adding insult to injury!

It is obvious and anyone who fails to see that are just plain insane. Most of those areas are poor, and isn't it almost a cliche' that ARMM is the place where all those massive cheating took place in 2004 elections? And yup yup yup, ARMM is also the place where the poorest areas are. Indeed, these areas are the most vulnerable... You do the math.

In areas where fraud, deception, and lies are most likely taking place, the room for growth and development from their local government is an unlikely possibility. At any rate, there are signs of hope like that reported in Eastern Samar where the locals have the "spirit of EDSA" in them... and the partial tally of votes where Senators from the GO (Genuine Opposition) are leading. Or that of the priest winning as Governor in Pampanga against two (2) strong contenders - Pinedas and the Lapids (I just wonder if he implements the RH Code already passed in that city... abangan!)... the loss of Ali Atienza in Manila, where the basic violations of women's right and RH concerns have taken place during the reign of his father Mayor Lito Atienza. And of course, the loss of Manny Pacquiao, our nation's boxing hero, to incumbent Darlene Custodio, an outspoken oppositor of the administration, in the congressional race for South Cotabato and the poor performance of actors Richard Gomez and Cesar Montano in the senatorial race. These results show that we do have a "discerning public" who vote not based on popularity but based on performance, capability and integrity.

We have to keep the faith... we have to keep believing that there is hope for our country.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Greetings Greetings...

Edwin Fernandez - May 16

Roy Calvo - May 13

Bruce Zabala and Allan Freno - April Celebrants


Hey Guys, our birthday greetings may be a bit too late, but rest assured we do remember...



Cheers to you all!!! Miss you guys!!!




Monday, May 07, 2007

More Birthdays...



Two (2) of our media advocates recently celebrated their birthdays.

Allan Freno of Sultan Kudarat - April 27
Bruce Zabala of Bohol - April 28

Guys, Happy Happy Birthday! Sorry for not being able to post about your special days here with your pix as I have been busy and currently in Jakarta, Indonesia.

At any rate, we wish you Allan and Bruce all the best!

More HAPPY BIRTHDAYS to COME!!!