Public Forum on the FY 2009 Budget and the Power of the Purse

The Philippine National Budget Monitoring Project (PNBMP) and The Budget Network by former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Emilia Boncodin is having a public forum on the FY 2009 Budget and the Power of the Purse at the ISLA 3 Function Room in the EDSA Shangri-la Hotel in Manila. Guests include Christian Hougen, USAID Office of Economic Development and Governance, Hon. Junue Cua, HOR Chair of Committee on Appropriations.



Meanwhile, Atty Santiago Dumlao, Jr, Vice Chair of Public Affairs Committee of the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) and Ms. Henedina Abad, former member of the House of Representative are the invited panel of reactors.

There will be an open forum later with a good array of guests from the experts in academe, government service, financial institutions, students and those interested in the topic.

Chizmisan Forum on Social Transformation

Senator Francis Chiz Escudero recently dialogued with the students and some teachers at the CHIZmisan forum on social transformation in the UP School of Economics auditorium last Wednesday held by the UP ETC, PhilCES and the University Student Council of UP Diliman.

Student Council Chairperson Titus Tan discussed the current state of governance in the Philippines, and suggested some key point actions where the government must address in order to solve these problems; meanwhile Prof. Riza Tablarin, of the Tarlac College of Agriculture, talked about the state of Agriculture and Farming in the Philippines.

On the other hand, the bulk of the discussion focused on Josteen Vega, the National President of the Philippine Council of Economic Students (PhilCES) and his presentation of the state of Economic affairs in the Philippines and issues intertwined with it. He ended by giving an agenda of the youth on certain issues to the senator.



The Chizmisan Forum was the first of a series of forum by the UP Economics Towards Consciousness in order to raise the awareness of students on issues the country is facing. The next forum will be with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

DOCUniversity Tour: UP Diliman

The Mass Communicators Organization (UP MCO) recently hosted one leg of the Correspondents’ DOCUniversity tour in the Media Center of the UP-College of Mass Communications.

Seasoned broadcast-journalists and Correspondents Karen Davila, Abner Mercado and Bernadette Sembrano presented their greatest works and talked about being in the business of making documentaries.

The first documentary, “Ito Ang Klase Ko”, a 3-segment story by Karen Davila, showed the inhumane state of our elementary schools. They compared and contrasted a public elementary school to a not so expensive private elementary school, and the learning environment the kids are subjected to. Also, they pointed out the absence of the ideal environment for kids to be able to learn.



She was really shocked and disturbed when she did the story on Payatas Elementrary School. To illustrate, one Grade 4 classroom had 146 students, and neither one of them was able to spell a simple word --- “beautiful.”

“Kids nowadays do not learn anymore,” Karen said. She explained that the kids do not even have the nutrition they should get, the right learning environment (teacher to student ratio, classroom facilities, etc) and the right home environment, for them to be able to study and to really learn something.

The short segment elicited a mixed feeling of sympathy, frustration and anger. “Wala tayong karapatan maging tamad, at ‘di pumasok,” one student said. She’s right. We don’t have the right to cut classes and be irresponsible because those kids should deserve more to study in a good school in your place.

In her 20 years in News and Current Affairs, Karen admits that the writer in her stands out. From being an anchor in the daily news TV Patrol World, in Wonder Mom, co-anchor in Pasada Sais Trenta, and in the Correspondents, Karen says that she enjoys doing stories for the Correspondents the most because she can educate the people.

As Iskolars-ng-Bayan, like Karen, we should be able to be “agents of change.” She says that even though every year stories may be similar, it’s important to look for these stories (of injustices, inhumanity, and other ills of society), because one way or another, it will touch people, and change will bound to happen.

What I admire most of Karen is her humility and her passion in doing the best she could in her line of work, and to be, one way or another, an agent of change in the Philippine society.

Unfortunately I didn’t get to finish the event because I had to rush to my STS class, which discussed the “Possibility of a transcendental subject” by CSSP Dean Zosimo Lee. Blog about lectures of ENG’G Dean Rowena Guevarra on “Science, Technology and Music,” and CSSP Dean Lee shall soon be posted.

Similar posts:

“Science Technology and Society,” CS Dean Caesar Saloma
“The Culture of Medicine,” Anthropology Prof. Felipe Jocano, Jr.
“Alternative Sources of Energy,” NIP Director Henry Ramos

Alternative Sources of Energy - Henry Ramos

The director of the National Institute of Physics, Dr. Henry Ramos discussed with the class “Alternative Sources of Energy”. He presented and mapped out energy resources, the World’s and the Philippines energy consumption, and presented sources of energy we can harness.

At the end of his lecture, the questioned I posed was “What’s the best source of energy the Philippines can focus on?” He said that our country should continue to invest in different alternative sources of energy depending on the location and the capacity of the region. Although this was the case, he pointed out that Biomass and Geothermal (and Wind) are the best sources for the Philippines.

He added that solar power is not a solution as of the moment because even though with the popular notion that our country is in the tropics, thus having warmer temperatures, it doesn’t mean it’s conducive to producing solar power.

With the amount of pollution we have, and that the solar waves are diffused when it reaches the earth’s surface, it’s hard for us to harness as much solar energy that would sustain our consumption.

Live-blogging from the SM Megamall Free WiFi Testing

SM Megamall follows other SM super malls in giving mall-goers free WiFi. Currently, the area where they cordoned and provided sofas and seats is now full. WiFi is working, but once in a while, it fluctuates. It's not that fast as proven by Shar's speed test of the Free WiFi on her blog. Right now, their WiFi is 80% up already, in 2 days, it will be fully functional! :)



UPDATE: Lu Jean just won a WOW MAGIC SING fiesta! :) Congrats to Ade Magnaye as well :)

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in Trinoma Digital 3D Cinema

The other day, Trinoma launched its newest Cinema, the TriNoma Digital 3D Cinema (Cinema 4) and premiered a really wonderful and cute family movie, the Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 3D.

It was my first time to experience a 3D full-length movie. At first, wearing a special 3D glasses was quite uncomfortable, in fact I felt a little dizzy, but in the end, I adjusted, and I can say that it's definitely an exciting and a new way of experiencing a movie.

They say that to each his own; as I would like to experience 3D movie experience (once in a while), I would still prefer to watch my movies the way I used to. Admittedly, I still prefer to watch in Trinoma, in Cinema 7 (specifically), because every time I see a movie there, I can boldly say that this Cinema lets me be comfortable and at the same time I get to experience real Dolby THX the way I want to experience it.



“When TriNoma opened in 2007, it was meant to become a point of convergence in Northern Metro Manila. We are very well aware that watching movies is one activity that brings people together so we took pains to make sure that we bring competitive cinema entertainment that appeals to our market,” explains TriNoma General Manager Mark Sablan.

In trying to achieve optimum viewing pleasure, Trinoma Cinemas sees to it that they excellently provide what moviegoers would want to experience while watching a movie -- that's why they offer a varied and quality Cinemas for everyone.

Catch the Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in Trinoma Digital 3D Cinema 4. For ticket reservations, visit http://www.sureseats.com/

Talakayan 20.10: Forum on Education Reform

Talakayan 2010, an issue-based forum by the Movement for Good Governance (MGG) that aims to tackle pressing issues of our nation today on Education, Governance, Economy, Health, etc, started yesterday at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) with guests Senator Chiz Escudero, Senator Dick Gordon, Isabella Governor Grace Padaca and Mr. Nicanor Perlas.

The topic of the forum was of Education. They invited the Philippine Business for Education and Education Nation to articulate the present environment and situation of our Education in the Philippines.

Even before entering the room, guests were asked to drop a poker-chip in the box representing the candidate he or she would vote for right there and then, even before hearing them.

Participants were given each of the guests’ profiles. They were free to ask any question related to the topic during the forum. At the end of the forum, guests were asked to rate the guests according to the scorecard given.

The next forum would be on August 06, and it will be on the Philippine Economy, with the Makati Business Club and the Management Association of the Philippines. For more details log on to their website at http://wedeservebetter.ph/.