Following the hostage taking incident in the Philippines which had caused casualties, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government today (August 23) raised the Outbound Travel Alert (OTA) for the Philippines to Black. A Government spokesman urged Hong Kong residents to avoid all travel to the Philippines. Those already there should attend to their personal safety and stay alert.
The Government is arranging charter flights for the relatives of the hostages to fly to Manila tonight and tomorrow morning. Medical staff, social workers and clinical psychologists will also be on board. The Government, through the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, urged tour groups there to return to Hong Kong as soon as possible. For those tour groups which are due to depart, they are advised to cancel their trips.
For more info, visit this.
Source: www.info.gov.hk
President Noynoy Auino and Philippine National Police (PNP) admitted that mistakes were done in handling the situation during the Quirino hostage taking where ex-Police Officer Rolando Mendoza hostaged 25 Hong Kong tourists inside a bus. This is in lieu upon his request for the Ombudsman to reverse his extortion charges 2 years ago.
The 11-hour hard core drama resulted in 8 casualties that has put Hong Kong government to immediately release a BAN to TRAVEL in the PHILIPPINES for all its residents. (what a shame for our country, we got blocklisted!) I just hope that this will not result to harsh treatments to our fellow kababayans in Hong Kong and that it won’t affect their jobs as domestic helpers and the rest.
President Noynoy Aquino already expressed his disappointment on how the event ended. “How can I be satisfied when there were people who were killed,” he said.
The president stated few things that he observed and needs to be reviewed as part of “redefinition of limitations.” Here’s what he said:
“What were the limitations imposed on the media, I think none,” the President said, noting that the journalists sought to get “the latest tidbit” throughout the crisis.
Mr. Aquino said that media’s intensive coverage “provided a wealth of information” to Mendoza, whom he noted was watching television on the bus and listening to the radio “throughout the whole time.”
“And each time he got a new piece of information that obviously factored into his equations and it didn’t help our security forces any,” he said.
Asked whether officials erred in not imposing a news blackout, the President said if he ordered one, the media would say that the government was “guilty of censoring a priority.”
“We cannot censor you for things you have to do,” he said, but noted that something could probably be worked out between the government and the media that will see the media being able to do its work without impeding security operations.
On the other hand, there are many defects in the police actions. Senior Supt. Agrimero Cruz, PNP spokesperson, mentioned “There are plenty of observations. Like the broadcasting live (of troops movements) and it was monitored (by the hostage-taker). There were a lot of usis (bystanders) during the assault and immediately after. The usis were there before the ambulances. These things have to be corrected.”
Above all these things PNP reported that they have nothing to be ashamed of. They have done their best and they did a good job. They admitted that there are many things that need to be improved and they are going to improve them to the soonest possible time.
To read the whole article, click here.
I wasn’t able to watch the live streaming of the 59th Miss Universe 2010 at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. I was at school when the show started and actually I am still here waiting for my time to tick at 4pm.
Anyway here are the results of the prestigious beauty pageant.
New Miss Universe 2010 – Jimena Navarette
Early favorite among the many beauties, Miss Philippines Venus Raj
The top five finalists are:
1. Mexico – Jimena Navarette, 22 years old
2. Jamaica – Yendi Phillipps, 23 years old
3. Australia – Jesinta Campbell, 19 years old
4. Ukraine – Anna Pavslavkaya
5. Philippines – Venus Raj, 22 years old
Miss Photogenic and Best in National Costume were won by Fonthip Watcharatrakul of Thailand
Miss Congeniality is won by Jesinta Campbell of Australia
Replay is scheduled to be aired tonight at 9:30pm on Star World Asia. I will definitely watch it with my family and see how gorgeous all these ladies are 
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Photo credits to missuniverse.com
kalurkey kayong mga SWAT!
maige pa ang paintball, me tactics and break pa, samantalang kayo WALA! kahiya!
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credit to nestle poell 
With the rest of the Filipino people, I wish to offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims whose lives were lost in the hostage situation at the Quirino Grandstand. The Secretary of Foreign Affairs has conveyed our deep feelings of sorrow to the Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China and the people of Hong Kong through Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang. I have tasked Secretaries Soliman and Lim to provide everything necessary for the recovery and return home of the survivors. I have directed the fullest cooperation with the Hong Kong authorities on the part of our officials.
From the onset of this incident, the hostage-taker seemed to not be belligerent, as shown by the release of hostages. These were encouraging signs. We were going to wait him out. The idea was to let the ground commanders who are the experts in this field handle the operation with minimal interference from people who are less expert. But the situation deteriorated rapidly when, during the course of the negotiations, he was given the letter of the Ombudsman in which she promised to personally review his case. As he was reading the contents of the letter, while talking to an unknown individual on the phone, he became increasingly agitated. The presence of his brother also added to the tension.
At this point, he threatened to kill a hostage. The police decided to remove the brother from the scene. As the negotiators were departing, the negotiators were shot at. Media coverage of his brother being taken into custody further agitated the hostage-taker. Shots were fired. They seemed to be warning shots, as there was no audible indication of tumult or chaos to show that the hostages were in immediate danger.
Nonetheless, the negotiators tried to reestablish contact the hostage-taker but they were unsuccessful as the cellphone of the hostage-taker was continuously busy. He also refused to answer the throw-phone provided for him by the authorities. The escape of the driver, combined with his reports that the hostages were being harmed, forced the assault to happen. When the vehicle began to move, and with reports that he had hand grenades, a decision was made to immobilize the vehicle as it would have made the situation even more dangerous.
As we know, the incident tragically ended in the deaths of eight innocent civilians. We expect more of the facts to come to light and I have ordered Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo and Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to thoroughly lead this review.
Source:
gov.ph
Ngayon lang ako nakakita ng ganitong hostage taking! 11 hours of hard drama, dinaig pa ang teleserye at mga pelikula, ang kaibahan nga lang inde to laru laro lang kundi totohanan!
Former Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza of Philippine National Police allegedly hostaged a tourist bus with 25 Hong Kong nationals. It is mentioned that Mendoza is demanding to review his case and even cited a few names of significant people to make the decision. Mendoza was discharged from the service due to extortion. Armed with M-16 and 45mm guns, Mendoza truly stirred the national police of the Philippines.
After 11 long hours of wait, 3 bodies were identified dead, including the gunman. The rest were all alive.
Here are my observations on what I’ve seen in TV:
1. No SWAT to mobilise fast in the scene. There were times that Mendoza went out to release some of the hostages but nobody aimed for him!
2. No crowd control. After the policemen declared control of the bus, everybody surrounded the vehicle. Some are just plain spectators!
3. No police tactics. I need not to explain this, it’s obvious from the news that tactics weren’t present at all!
This is another shameful event for the country to face. What happened to our national police? What happened to the trainings they had where the government spends a lot of budget? What happened to the SWAT?
Many will definitely think twice to visit the country after this scenario, this will certainly affect the economy once again. Di pa nga tayo nakakabangon sa mga problema, nadadagdagan na naman! I hope we’ll recover soon and so the hostage victims. May the good Lord guide them to forget this nightmare and let them start a brand new life far from fear. To PNP, mahiya naman po kayo sa mga balat nio! Pinasasahod kayo ng taong bayan para gawin ng ayos ang trabaho ninyo, ganito ba ang kaya niyong isukli sa buwis na ibinabayad namin?
Sana mga taong naglalaro ng airsoft at paintball na lang ang pinadala sa scene, baka sakali mas naresolve pa ito ng mas maaga.
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Photo credit to REUTERS
Paintball at Mezzanine in Phnom Penh, Cambodia rocked my Sunday morning once again. This time I’ve got a new souvenir, a sting on my left leg, courtesy of our dear opponent! Whoever he is, he doesn’t have a heart for hitting me 
I was stoned after the hit and wasn’t able to mobilize my leg for a while but it didn’t stop me from going back to the game. I love the game, so I love the pain (but not too much pain, ok).
Today, I enjoyed the game more, I was able to run through the bunkers and I felt like wonderwoman running with my gun, except I don’t have a cape on my back The highlight of it was when we’re down in to 3 players and my two team mates’ both eyeing to the opponents, I took the opportunity to run through and attack the other side. However the run was cut short when someone hit me on my arm. I was down. But it was a very nice and brave try! Love it!
My only problem while playing is my ventilation when using the goggles. It’s giving me a hard time to breathe that’s why I am feeling dizzy after every round. I think I need to buy my own goggles so I can choose a comfy one while I’m in the field. When I have time I will research some cool pink goggles and have it shipped here in Cambodia.
Also, hubby’s insisting to have some warm-up exercises before we play next time. It will help us to endure longer in the game. Nestle and I were reminiscing Eileen’s circuit training to help us keep track with our opponents and it’s very helpful. Thanks to my old Malaysian boss for being a health buff, I certainly miss her session sometimes
Watch out for next week’s battle royale in the field – it’s Philippines vs Cambodia at Mezzanine Pte. Ltd. Nestle finally had a chance to organize and liase with Dara the details of this long waited game with them. Hopefully next time we could take this into a real-tournament and have good shot to show our skills, well their skills actually, I’m still a newbie here
Gotta have some rest now, it’s Monday once again. Back to school tomorrow.
Yesterday, I received a surprise from Franco dearest, something I never expected to have from him, hahaha! Ok ok! It’s no fancy at all, he started to ask me what’s my shoe size, and I ended up answering with “40cm for closed shoes and 38cm for sandals, why you asked?” then he replied “just wait for Biggie to get home.”
Off I went to the kitchen and cooked our dinner while waiting for Biggie to arrive. Soon he came with a paper bag in his hand! See what I’ve got from F
Charles & Keith Stiletto – 2.5 cm high
Sophy and Sina – 3.5 cm high
I was overwhelmed with my little surprises and immediately sent him a huge THANK YOU message for making me feel special! I love the shoes so much! Another sets to add in my shoes collection and will definitely keep them safe.
In return, I made kimchi for him as a gesture of sweetness. It’s my first time to make kimchi and the result is not bad.
Let’s keep it this way, hubby and the rest of the family liked it, especially when I turned it into kimchi jjigae or kimchi stew, so I think my friends and F will also like it.
Saturday is over, tomorrow is another paintball day…I dunno yet if I will play, but for now I just wanna rest. Good night everybody
Summer class is more fun to teach when you have more experiments to do. Today, I divided my class in 3 groups to conduct a fun activity. I chose the volcano experiment with the use of baking soda and water to entice the students to learn more about how volcanoes work and teach them about chemical reaction.
Prior to the experiment, each group conducted a research about volcanoes, and this is what they are going to share to each grade level that they assigned.
Today, as they perform, I let them feel how to be in-charged of the whole class, they ensure that everybody is listening and participating in the activity. Each group went to their assigned class and started their presentation.
Here’s the output of their volcanoes: (forgive the resolution of the photos, I only used my camphone to take all of these )
Group 1: Andi and his team’s volcano – presented in Grade 5 class
Group 2: Lor Ty and his team’s volcano (presented in Grade 3 class)
Group 3: Yi Houy and her team’s volcano (presented in Grade 2 class)
Did you see Snow White running for her life in group number 2′s volcano?
The Director also came in to observe the students’ performances and he was very pleased with them. And as their teacher, I am once again proud of my fruits! They never failed me in everything I asked them to do. Summing it all, they did a very good job today and they deserve a reward to inspire them to work better. As a promise, I will make chicken macaroni for them on Monday.
For those who like to do this at home or as a science activity, here are the steps to follow.
Materials:
12 cups flour
4 cups salt
8 tbsp oil
4 cups water
vinegar
baking soda
red, green, and blue food coloring
dish washing liquid
500ml soda bottle
cardboard
mixing bowl fork
Procedures:
1. Combine flour, salt, oil, water, and food coloring in a bowl and mix it thoroughly.
2. Knead it until the dough’s color is evenly distributed.
3. Fill the bottle with 250ml of water, food coloring, dish washing liquid, and baking soda.
4. Place the bottle in the center of the cardboard and start covering it with dough. Design it till you get the right volcano look.
5. Pour in the vinegar and observe what will happen next.
This is a very simple activity that everyone can appreciate. Have fun in your experiment
Madalang ako maglagay ng picture ng kahit sino sa loob ng wallet, feeling ko kasi ang corny lalo na pag nakikita ng ibang tao yun litrato. Kanina, naisipan kong ayusin si dear wallet kasi mejo makapal na sya sa dami ng resibo sa loob at ang unang bumulaga sa kin ay ang picture ni father dear na parang nag papaalala ng pagtitipid. Pag nakikita ko un picture nya lagi ko na lang dinadivert sa iba yun tingin ko para inde ako matakot kumuha ng pera sa loob ng aking pitaka. So inalis ko nga sya dun at nilipat sa likod ng picture ng magaling kong asawa. Kanina ko na lang ulet naalala na galing sa anniversary gift yun pic na yun!!! kasama nung ferragamo ko na pabango na bigay nya sa kin. Sa likod me nakasulat na maliit na note, at aaminin ko na mejo kinilig ako ng akin yong basahin, ayyeee!!!
Sabi nia “Oh Jivy ng aking buhay, iniirog kita at sinisinta!” hahaha! ay mali! Ito pala, “no fanyc stuff on the anniversary, just the simple gift at the back of the pillow” sabay sabi ng matamis na I lav yah! grabe kilig na ako dun, kasi inde ako ganun kasweet, hehehe!
Anyway, naalala ko lang, nothing important about, it really, it somehow made my afternoon good and I like the feeling Malapit na ang anniv namin pero wla pa akong maisip na i-regalo…pwede bang TLC na lang
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