Friday, November 22, 2013

Chavit Singson Kills a Lion on his Birthday

Chavit Singson is the new Lion King. He has killed one just for his birthday. Too bad for Simba.


Chavit Singson is then presented his golden Birthday Cake with one of his kills printed on it.


According to the Philippine Times of Southern Nevada, Singson went hunting at the Kalahari Desert in Africa to hunt wild animals. Apparently, the gov got bored hunting wild ducks in Ilocos Norte.


Thursday, November 21, 2013

Victoria Beckham Posh Spice Sells Her Shoes and David Beckham's Clothes for Typhoon Yolanda Victims

More celebrity fund drives for Typhoon Yolanda as Posh & Becks do their part.


"David and I are supporting the Red Cross Shop Drop for the Philippines campaign and we urge everyone in Britain to do the same. Everyone has something in their closet they were holding onto, a dress, suit, or pair of shoes they thought they might wear again. Dig them out, bag them up, drop them off and give someone else the chance to buy them, raising much needed funds for the Red Cross aid effort." – VICTORIA BECKHAM



The Beckhams are packing 20 boxes of "worn only once" clothes. Mostly suits by Dolce and Gabbana. A pile of Jimmy Choo shoes and David Beckham's old trainers.



Items donated by David and Victoria Beckham will go on sale at a London charity shop (69-71 Old Church Street in Chelsea) to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan.

Freddie Aguilar Muslim Na! Now Ready to Marry 16 year-old girlfriend Jovi Gatdula

Freddie Aguilar is living up to his promise of doing whatever it takes to marry his 16 year-old  girlfriend Jovi Gatdula.


And now the folk singer has converted to Islam. Thanks to the support of Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu.

Grace Acojedo: Typhoon Yolanda Survivor Still Struggling with her Injuries




When Typhoon Yolanda struck Ormoc, Grace Acojedo was crushed by debris inside her home.



She was able to get medical attention, but spent the first four days after the typhoon in incredible pain.



Her fiance in Canada, Houssam came flew to the Philippines to find Grace and did everything he could to transfer Grace to a hospital in Cebu.



Grace suffered the following:

  • Critical Eye trauma
  • Lacerations on her face due to flying glass which causes swelling 
  • Broken ulna and wrist (bone surgery with metal implant was needed)
  • Very badly hit ribs
  • Big infection on the leg that was not properly stitched (now they are putting antibiotic directly to the wound to take out the swelling and therefore restitch the wound correctly). They want to avoid that the bacteria access the blood vessels. She is plugged with IV.
  • All her front teeth need to be replaced 




Friends have put up a Facebook page for Grace. Those willing to donate for her recovery please visit Operation Saving Grace

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Typhoon Yolanda: DSWD Wasted and Rotting Relief Goods

Going viral on Facebook, Ron Epiz's shares some snaps of rotting relief goods, wasted food due to disorganized repacking operations and delivery boxes just being dumped without care.

Here's the post:

I was in Tacloban for three days. I went there last Saturday and went home just last night. I saw the heartbreaking devastation. The place where we used to go as our alternative for Cebu, is now ruined by ST Yolanda. As we traveled from Maasin to Tacloban, we have seen the damaged. Worst from the damages of agriculture, infrastructures, and houses, are the lives of the people. I have seen dead bodies along the roads: some in body bags, some in the coffins, some exposed and rotten...all of them cannot anymore be identified.



But what breaks my heart are the signages, posters, whatever of any kind with one message: "HELP US! WE NEED FOOD AND WATER!" I was there. I was at the relief warehouse, I've helped the relief packing. I was at the airport, I saw how the countries in the world unite as one. I visited some areas and saw the Leytenos go on with their lives despite the tragedy. I went to Sampaguita village in Tacloban City to visit a friend who I call a survivor. Their house still stands but roofless, yet they cater neighbors whose houses are completely damaged. There are debris around their area. She told me they have not received any reliefs yet.



They were only able to get reliefs ONES BECAUSE THEY WALKED FROM THEIR HOUSE TO THE AIRPORT. I also went to Tabon-tabon,Leyte to check families of my friends. It is an interior town of Leyte Province with 16 barangays. They are also heavily damaged. They have 14 human casualties, a number of injured residents, and roofless houses. They only got reliefs from the Province of Leyte, but only a few received it. There are even reliefs that were soaked in the rain, wet and wasted! We passed the towns of: MacArthur, Dulag, Tolosa, Tanauan, and Palo, we have seen different calls for HELP. I have seen people lining up, hoping and waiting to receive reliefs. My first day in Tacloban was spent at the Relief Warehouse doing NOTHING. We arrived at the area around 2pm, introduced our team and presented to volunteer. The DSWD staff told us "PAHINGA MUNA KAYO HA". We were staring with each other. And I was like, WTF! We're here to help, we traveled around 4 hours and then...we're just told to rest!? And yes, we wasted about 3 hours because they told us to rest! We entered the packing area of the warehouse around 5pm. We presented our vehicle to be used for transport of reliefs for distribution but it seems like they do not need it. As you can see in the photos, reliefs are abundant. Every hour, international and local reliefs arrive at the Warehouse. A number of volunteers come to help. And, a number of survivors walked as far as Jaro,Leyte to the warehouse, trying if they can get reliefs directly.



Dear DSWD,

I saw you. We saw you. I have seen the Central and Regional Offices' staff. Secretary Dinky Soliman is even there. Without any bias, because I have friends working at DSWD, I have relatives and friends who are Social Workers, I appreciate your efforts... BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH! PLEASE. PLEASE DOUBLE YOUR TIME, IMPROVE YOUR MANAGEMENT STYLE AND MAKE YOUR OPERATIONS EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE!!!

It breaks my heart seeing bottled waters outside the warehouse spread like garbage, rice grains scattered like no one cares, relief boxes literally being dumped by trucks without thinking that whatever inside maybe damage, reliefs outside the warehouse soaked in the rains, and you DSWD staff at the warehouse spending your day talking/chatting/seating while there are a lot of things need to be done ASAP. IT SEEMS LIKE NO ONE IS SENSITIVE ENOUGH TO HANDLE THE RELIEF ITEMS. If I were to judged, it seems like things are TAKEN FOR GRANTED BECAUSE THERE IS ENOUGH ALREADY. Funny it seems, our team complained about the dirty bottled waters outside which we think are already garbage and are to be disposed. But after complaining, we happened to volunteer ourselves to clean the bottled waters. I wonder if it will happen that way, if we did not presented ourselves. I do not know if you all have personally visited the areas who call for help. I do not know if you are aware that the people in the areas are hungry, thirsty, and are badly in need of your URGENT HELP.

I do not even understand why you do not augment your standard, if that is your standard, that on every relief family pack is only THREE KILOS rice, when I have seen there are already a thousand bags of rice and more are coming! I do not even know why you do not have enough plastic bags when I think you already know that it is a vital requirement for the packing! I do not even understand why you have that "FOOD FOR WORK" program, if that is a program, where you let the affected people particularly children do the packing of relief for a certain quota in exchange of relief packs, when all these reliefs forwarded to your office are FOR FREE! It should be given FOR FREE WITHOUT CONDITIONS! And what disappoints me more was when some of your staffs (I recognized them as DSWD staffs because they are wearing your red vest and oters are wearing yellow uniforms of DSWD) pretended to be packing reliefs as soon as PNoy arrives at the packing area. I understand you are afraid of your boss, the President of the Republic of the Philippines. I have just lost respect on you because of what you did. When PNoy left, those staffs, the pretenders, stood up saying "Tara na! Wala na si boss!".

What you did discourage the volunteers, FYI. Dear Sec. Dinky and DSWD, your office is the in-charge of a very significant operations at this time when almost everyone in the region are affected. Your Office is one of the major keys for the people to go on in surviving this painful ordeal. PLEASE RELEASE ALL THESE RELIEFS NOW BECAUSE THESE ARE INTENDED TO BE GIVEN TO THE PEOPLE! These reliefs are not given for just recording and keeping, nor these need not be stocked for a long period of time! THESE RELIEFS ARE INTENDED TO BE CONSUMED BY THE AFFECTED PEOPLE! I know you do your work because you are there. I understand you are tired and maybe sleepless. But please be reminded that the affected people are also tired waiting for the reliefs and are sleepless thinking how they are going to live without food and water! Dear DSWD, please double your time, release these reliefs as fast as you could! The countries in the world already have done their share by sending unlimited relief assistance. The Filipinos in the country and abroad already show the Spirit of Bayanihan. There are already volunteers who express their help and support to your office and they are even more willing to assist your operations. PLEASE SHOW CLEAR COMMAND! If other countries have voluntarily responded to the urgent call for help ASAP, then why you cannot do it for our own Kababayans?

More than a week passed, please, please, please, HAVE MERCY ON THOSE AFFECTED TOWNS. Not just the towns, but the people in the barangays especially those who are in the interior areas. Find a way to fast track your operations! And please... properly handle the reliefs! It may be a portion of the many stocks at the warehouse but if you give it to the families, it is already a BIG TREASURE. A bottle of water and rice grains can already make these families survive one day of their lives. It is definitely heartbreaking. As for my part, I have seen the people and their situations. I have read the different calls for help. I have seen more than enough supplies of reliefs. I recognized the different groups of volunteers. I have appreciated the relief efforts. I have witnessed your relief warehouse operations. And I sense, there are some things WRONG IN BETWEEN that your office should settle so that the united efforts will not be wasted!


UPDATE: After all of this, DSWD responds, here's the link to the news report


Niña Pamintuan: Ateneo University Student Passed Away

Niña Pamintuan a well-loved student from Ateneo University passed away last November 19.





She passed away after an unfortunate incident during her rowing training.  Her wake is being held at the Manila Memorial Park.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Dr Kits Estanislao: Doctor Killed by Akyat Bahay Robbers Post-Typhoon Yolanda

Making the rounds in Facebook is the murder of Doctor Kits Estanislao . Sad, but security situation in the South is in total chaos. There's no one to protect the survivors.



Dr Kits Estanislao gave P30,000 to help his fellow Pinoys who survived the Bohol quake a month ago, but his house was looted and robbed right after Typhoon Yolanda, the Doctor was then killed and his daughter raped during the ordeal. Local news has yet to verify this report.

Dr Kits Estanislao (center) died helping calamity survivors 

Typhoon Yolanda Missing Relatives: Google Person Finder

Paano ko mahahanap ang nawawala kong kamag-anak sa Typhoon Yolanda? 
  • Nawawala po ang anak ko
  • Nawawala po ang Tatay at Nanay ko
  • Wala po akong balita sa mga kamag-anak ko
  • Hindi ko po sila ma-contact simulang bumagyo
  • Paano ko po sila mahahanap?

Kung wala sila sa listahan pa ng gobyerno, try nyo po ito or manawagan po tayo through social media via Facebook at Twitter. Ikalat po natin mga litrato nila with your contact number. Check din po ang Google Finder database



Local Media groups are encouraging survivors and relatives to register their names into the Google Finder database. Any info would help our kababayans. 


Maaari gamitin ang cellphone via GLOBE or SMART sa pag check ng Google People Finder
http://www.google.org/personfinder/2013-yolanda


Baka sakaling meron nakakaalam or nakakita sa ating mga nawawala at maaari niyong i-post or hanapin ang kanilang impormasyon dito. Kung walang impormasyon pa, gumawa po ng record ng inyong nawawalang kamag-anak sa pamamagitan ng pag register ng pangalan nito.


http://www.google.org/personfinder/2013-yolanda
Pwede niyo rin po i-search ang mga pangalan ng kakilala ninyo na nasa Leyte, mga kamag-anak o kapitbahay baka sakaling alam nila kung anu nangyari sa lugar ninyo at sa inyong mahal sa buhay.
Click this link - http://www.google.org/personfinder/2013-yolanda



Mga Listahan ng mga Nawawala sa Typhoon Yolanda:


Typhoon Yolanda: Missing Children

A Pinay OFW hasn't heard from her family. She is disseminating this info online through FB.



Survivors and Relatives looking for their loved ones register their names at Google Person Finder: Typhoon Yolanda


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Typhoon Yolanda: Korina Sanchez Vs Anderson Cooper on Tacloban Leyte


WINNER! I love this Korina Sanchez-Anderson Cooper Meme




"I haven't seen a large Philippine military presence out in these areas… the Philippines have not been invested over the years, through the years of corruption, through the years of the government siphoning money off of projects (infrastructure) like that..." - Anderson Cooper


Typhoon Yolanda Updates: Watch the Donations

Typhoon Yolanda Updates: 

  • News of massive looting 
  • Ransacking of rice warehouses leaving 8 dead 
  • Shoot-outs with Rebels 
  • Incidents of Looters/Ex-Convicts raping Women 
  • Hungry survivors resorting to eating rotting animals 
  • Korina Sanchez the local Anchorwoman (wife of the local DILG secretary) taking on Anderson Cooper who is in Tacloban City Leyte 
  • Plus the Philippine Customs brouhaha with the Lufthansa Germany relief goods
  • We have P3,848,564,500 of international assistance. I hope someone is watching that MONEY closely!



Globe Tattoo: A Loyal Customer Gets Angry

A Globe subscriber reaches her limit. No replies from Customer service~ she's emailing bloggers for help on her case. Posting this ~ taken from the Globe Facebook page

Hi Globe, I've been a loyal customer of over 8 years -- I have 4 postpaid lines 2 mobile, two internet (1 ipad line + 1 tatoo plan 1299). I am saying all these to let you know that I deserve better service than what I am currently getting. My tatoo plan 24-month lock-up period expired last month, so I called the Retention Dept to request permanent disconnection. Unfortunately, I was advised that my lock-up period is extended to February 2013 because there were several months that my Tatoo was temporarily disconnected (DUE to VERY SLOW service of Globe MarketMarket!-- that they could not fix my unit). For several times I brought my unit to Globe Market Market because my internet was super slow, they tested it and confirmed that the speed was awful --and they were fixing my Tatoo for months! In short it was not my fault if the line was temporarily disconnected, as obviously it was Globe's fault! And now they have the liberty to extend my lock-up period? If I will proceed with disconnection now --I need to pay disconnection fees + admin fees, etc! Ridiculous!  Okay, here's my reference number as given by the Retention Dept --52007563. Can you guys let me know if I deserve this kind of service?

Typhoon Yolanda: Lufthansa Relief Donations from Germany Kinikikilan ng Tax ng Philippine Customs

Kung hindi nabuking sa social media hanggang ngayon ang mga donations na food and relief goods ng Lufthansa Germany ay hindi ma re-release sa hangar. Buti na lang kumalat ito. Konting hiya naman sa mga opportunista dyan





Monday, November 11, 2013

Typhoon Yolanda Photos: The Situation in Tacloban as Posted on Facebook by Filipino Survivors

These are Typhoon Yolanda photos - the aftermath of the typhoon. The first thing relatives uploaded once they found any signal working on their phones. These photos are unconfirmed, but they have been making the rounds of local FB feeds. I'm also sharing whatever I've gathered through friends and relatives and how they are coping out there. Hope it gets better :(

---
From Michael Figueroa Arteche FB Page:
Situation in Tacloban for the past 2-3 days as related to my brother. Hope this ends as PNoy has declared a State of Emergency in Tacloban this morning.


---------------
Dearest family

I received very sad news about the situation in Tacloban as told to me by cousin Jojo Remigio, who lives in Catbalogan City. Here is a second-hand story:

They left Catbalogan at 9am yesterday & reached San Juanico bridge by 2pm. Along the road were littered trees & some bodies, traffic was so slow because of toppled power lines & literally, debris from wrecked houses. From the bridge, they reached Tacloban City proper at 11pm, a full nine hours on an 8 km highway! This time, more bodies, human corpses, animal carcasses littered the side streets. The stench is so gut-wrenchingly smell na 'mabahobahuan' hin duro, even sitting with an double-face mask inside the air-conditioned pick-up, the smell permeated. ...

At times, they had to stop & get off....the moment they stepped out, they vomit because the super obnoxious smell of flesh decay. Sadly, there are no government teams picking up the dead corpses from the sidewalks. Because it was so dark, he believed he even stepped on a half human body run over by vehicles & sent him back to his pick-up.

Looters are having their night & day as there are literally no policeman or law enforcement in the downtown or anywhere. Stores are being emptied. His wife, who manages Mercury Drug, saw their store emptied of all goods, even the vault, was not spared! Atm machines and vendos are being destroyed. They think syndicated looters are on the loose as some 'establishment are being marked in their gates & doors, that they have food & can be forcibly taken. Anarchy & chaos is rising, especially at night, where it is so dark.

Your money has no value. there is nothing to buy. No stores, not even a biscuit to buy, No candles, no extra batteries, no petrol, no gas...so when darkness comes, feeling is so awful. It seems Tacloban has turned to zombie land. God help us.

It will take months before Tacloban can 'tindog' properly. Power restoration will be very slow. The petrol depot in Tacloban sustained damage & the supply is already gone. There are long lines already in Catbalogan, yet, they also depend from Tacloban's depot. I hope the USA Navy relief team (as told in the news) comes soon as well as food supplies from the government.

It is suggested that if you have relatives in Tacloban, especially the old people & the children, please pull them out of the city, transfer them to Manila, Cebu or neighboring cities, because it will be unhealthy to live in the city for the next few months. I am so sorry for this news, but this is reality. When I asked Jojo about our Arteche relatives, he said, he had no way of knowing as it was midnight when he got there. He's now back in Catbalogan, arrived 8am.

God help Tacloban. Sr. Sto Nino ayaw kami bulagi, kalooyi kami! Let us keep on praying for them.

love to all,
Manny




Friends and relatives of officemates have taken the first flight out to Cebu just to find a way back to Tacloban, Leyte (mostly likely on foot if the roads are not passable) They are bringing in food and clothes for their loved ones. Problem is on the way there, people who are hungry and on survival mode will try to take whatever food you have with you. This is as bad as any situation gets.


And even in these unbelievably sad times, there are heroes like this young man who never left his mom's side til the end. And a young girl impaled by wood splinters during the height of the storm who told her mother to let go.


Uploaded by residents from Tanauan Leyte




What was once a house in Bislig, Tanauan Leyte