On August 21, 1983, after his plane touched down at then “Manila International Airport”, Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated on the airport’s tarmac. His assassination ultimately started the turn of events leading to the EDSA revolution on February 25, 1986 where after almost two-decades of authoritarian rule, Ferdinad Marcos was forced to resign his post with almost no bloodshed.

Almost two million people camped in EDSA protecting then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Armed Forces Vice Chief of Staff Fidel Ramos who were holed out in Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo. It took less than 4 days but eventually, the people won.

This is People power. This is how we showed our strength in millions and how we peacefully protested the removal of Marcos from office. It’s success showed our very own potential. This is our ultimate gift from Manila that we have given to the world. An unprecedented peaceful revolution, This is People power.

Today, a lucky random poster will receive a P100.00 Starbucks GC. Please do not post your home address or phone number. We will contact you by email. (Lucky poster will be drawn on Saturday, December 9)

If you want something grilled, there’s the common barbecue (both chicken and pork), then there’s out of the ordinary: pig’s blood (betamax), chicken heads (helmet), chicken feet (adidas) and of course the infamous chicken or pig intestines (isaw).

For something deep fried, there’s fishball, squidballs, kikiam (usually processed chicken), hot dogs, quail eggs in orange batter (quek-quek) and eggs in orange batter (tokneneng). Then again for something different, try the deep fried day old chick. After all these, you can get a banana-q or kamote-q which are basically deep fried banana or yam with brown sugar. There’s also a variation called turon or deep fried banana wraps with brown sugar.

For the adventurist in you, there’s the aborted duck egg fetus (balut) and aborted duck egg without fetus (penoy). For the health buff, there’s Taho which you can get without the syrup or tapioca balls (sago).

These are just some of the common street foods you can find so if you feel you want something trivial or something more exotic, we are proud to have all of these food ready for you to try on the streets of Manila.

Today, a lucky random poster will receive a P100.00 Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf GC to random poster. Please do not post your home address or phone number. We will contact you by email. (Lucky poster will be drawn on Saturday, December 9)

As I had rationalized to fellow MBM authors, the call center may be, to us, a double-edged sword. Many people disapprove of the trend because night shifts are harmful to the health, because employees don’t do anything but answer phone calls, because there can’t possibly be any dynamic career growth, and so on. But there’s no denying how reassuringly our voice has served the rest of the world. There’s no doubt as to what our workforce has meant to countries outsourcing their business processes here.

The industry has also provided hundreds and thousands of Filipinos with well-paying jobs, aside from contributing significantly to our GNP and bringing new life to the services sector. And while the possibilities aren’t obvious now, other countries will sooner or later explore new investment opportunities in the Philippine metro (maybe something beyond customer and technical support, let’s hope). It’s bound to happen – after all, investors love the work ethic, the hospitality, the talent, and the versatility of each and every Juan dela Cruz. Even top-computer maker Dell, Inc. has seen fit to bring two sites here in Manila.

Who’ll be next and what is next, I don’t know. But we’ve definitely made our voices heard, and the world is listening with a satisfied smile.

Today, a lucky random poster will receive a P100.00 Seattle’s Best GC. Please do not post your home address or phone number. We will contact you by email. (Lucky poster will be drawn on Saturday, December 9)

Rizal is a product of many cultures, education from here and around the world but when he gave up his life by being shot at Bagumbayan in Manila, Rizal became a hero for us all. This is why as our first gift to the world, we give to you our national hero, Jose Rizal.

Today, a lucky random poster will receive a P100.00 Starbucks GC. Please do not post your home address or phone number. We will contact you by email. (Lucky poster will be drawn at 11PM)

Nobody wants to be stopped by MMDA Traffic Enforcers: public or private vehicles will try to weasel their way out of that ticket almost 100% of the time. Bribery and corruption sadly is a fact of life here in the Metro as much as rules are but mere suggestions.

Case in point, Swerving, the vague and non existent violation (this is not a real traffic violation, check out the MMDA website’s list of violations and compare it to the LTO website’s list of violations) that is often used to milk motorists who simply changed lanes.

The current state of corruption in our streets is a scary situation. How do we stop these cases especially now that Christmas is approaching, road users must be more wary of notorious traffic enforcers. What does one do if following the rules to a T doesn’t even guarantee a ticket free ride?

Around the web:
www.gov.ph – Abusive and Erring Traffic Enforcers
INQ7.net – MMDA reminds vehicles on EDSA: Stick to your lanes

News Articles:
Inq7.net – Roldan and Yu: A tale of two fathers
Manila Standard Today – Police to appeal ruling on Roldan’s release