Best Posts in Forum: Off-Topic Forum

I'm a retired expat living in Bangkok for 4 years, and I am very impressed with the posters here (no BS). Why? You are respectful. The largest and most common expat website in Thailand is Thaivisa.com (some of you may know it), and on every thread, at least 30 percent of the responses are sarcastic, cynical snarks. Its so bad we expats just joke about it and accept it is the case. What really got me noticing about the courtesy of folks here is someone had posted a thread about how to meet a nice women in the PI. Oh my gosh...I was ready for a 80% put-down rate, just knew almost all the responses would be who could be the funniest jackass in insulting the poster. I was amazed that there were serious replies, all of them I believe. Now I am wondering why that is...meaning why the posters in Thailand are so jaded.

 

Just a heads up for those that use "Cats & Dogs" vets in Bagacay, in case anyone is not aware, They are moving Tomorrow 15th September to San Jose Extension off Larena Drive. It is a Pink Complex on the right just before the Memorial Park

 

We foreigners are not cheap, we are frugal. Most retirees are frugal wherever they live. When them big checks stop coming in after retirement you have to learn to cut back or go broke.

So we are not cheap but we can be convinced. IF the value for the peso is there. For example, I won't frequent a place with a nice decor that sells bacon and eggs with a sprig of parsley for 300 pesos when there are loads of places that offer the same thing with less atmosphere for half the price.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS
to
EVERYONE

(or turkey, duck, goose etc.)

 

I like the notion of shooting known drug dealers and arresting politicians involved in the trade. If 90% of the shootings and arrests are accurate, I will take the other 10% as collateral damage to cover the ones who robbed my house. FU bad guys.

 

A friend of mine was telling some stories yesterday and revealed that when he was 5yo he and his family were evacuated from Negros by submarine mid-WWII, and taken to Australia! Evidently because someone in the family was a US citizen.

He does't remember a lot of it because he was so young, but he was told later that there were DON'T TOUCH signs all over the inside of the sub.

They met the sub near Bayawan somewhere, and were depth charged along the way to Oz because the captain of the sub was still hunting Japanese ships during the trip...

The US didn't bill the family for that but they did charge them for the boat trip from Oz to USA 6 mos later..

He's the guy that owns the building Pasta King is in. Some of you may know him

 

This is an exert from People’s lawyering Speech (I am sure you can find the whole thing on the internet.) It is interesting to get a perspective on the culture, society and political system from basic facts, not propaganda, so I did not copy much of the propaganda, as I thought it was very self-serving. We can each draw on own conclusions from the facts.
These fact do not particularly interface well with the polical rehteric we will hear for the next few months.

PEOPLES’ LAWYERING:
A TIME FOR NEW CHALLENGES,
A PROPER TIME FOR RENEWAL
Keynote Speech on the Occasion of the 10th Founding Anniversary of the
Union of Peoples’ Lawyers of Mindanao (UPLM)

12 September 2015
Cagayan de Oro, Philippines

by:
Edre U. Olalia
Secretary General
National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL)

. Most of the report is propaganda type information (they particularly like to point out the US as being a strong influence… (For most things that are wrong). Here are the actual facts they presented regarding the Philippines cultural life:

According to IBON International, these are the facts and figures:
• 66 million Filipinos are poor. They live on just Php125 (US$2.80) or less per day. They are the Filipino farmers, fisherfolk, workers, small-scale traders, vendors, domestic workers and other informal sector workers;
• 4.3 Filipinos are million unemployed and 7.9 million underemployed;
• 4 out of 10 or 44% of the workers are non-regular or agency-hired workers, over six out of ten or 63% do not even have written contracts; four out of ten or 40% employed Filipinos are in just part-time work with very low pay and no benefits;
• the average daily basic pay of millions of Filipino workers nationwide increased by less than Php5 (Php4.50) or just 1.7% between 2005 and 2014;
• there are 10.2 million overseas Filipinos in 2013;
• 4,508 overseas Filipino workers were deployed every day because only 2,800 jobs were generated at home.
• 7 of 10 peasants are still landless;
• a third of landowners own or control more than 80% of agricultural land;
• the wealth of the 10 richest Filipinos has more than tripled under the Aquino administration from Php630 billion in 2010 to Php2.2 trillion in 2015 (250% increase);
• the net income of the country’s some 260 listed firms on the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) rose from Php438 billion in 2010 to Php583 billion in 2014 (33% increase);
• the net income of the country’s Top 1000 corporations grew from Php804 billion in 2010 to Php1.0 trillion in 2013 (26% increase);
• two-fifths (40%) of approved investment in the Philippines in the last decade-and-a-half is foreign rather than Filipino, not yet counting the use of dummy corporations;
• the Philippines paid out over US$36 billion in profit remittances since 1980 which is on top of over US$178 billion in debt servicing;
• the Philippines has exported over US$43 billion worth of mineral exports since the 1970s;
• there was 115% increase in profit of mining companies between 2010 and 2014;
• some 98% of Philippine domestic production is exported;
• around 80,000 babies still die of preventable diseases every year;
• 6 out of 10 Filipinos die without seeing a doctor;
• power privatization has made electricity in the Philippines the most expensive in Asia, even more expensive than in Japan or South Korea;
• water privatization has made water in the Philippines the third most expensive after Japan and Singapore;
• rail transport privatization has caused fares to increase from 50-100%;
• 61,000 houses of urban poor families with some 305,000 individuals were demolished and displaced under the Aquino administration;
• over 1.2 million homes were damaged or destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) but the government only built 364 homes; and
• one million families with 5.6 million people was severely affected by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) but less than 220,000 families were given livelihood support.

 

American nabbed for sexually abusing minors
Thursday, August 20, 2015


AN AMERICAN national allegedly involved in trafficking of male minors was arrested by authorities in Davao City on Tuesday morning.

Village watchmen of Barangay 74-A and members of Talomo police arrested the American national identified as George William Nolana, a resident of Morales Village in Barangay 74-A, Davao City.

He was also accused of sexually abusing eight minors.

The eight minors (names withheld to protect their dignity), were rescued by personnel from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and City Social Services and Development Office (CSSDO).

Chief Inspector Milgrace Driz, spokesperson for the Davao City Police Office (DCPO), said village watchmen reprimanded the eight minors after they were still on the streets as part of their Oplan Sita campaign in line with the celebration of the Kadayawan Festival.

"Gi-endorse ang walo ka lalaki na minors sa Talomo police. Gi-interview sila sa mga police and didto sila nagsumbong na gina-abuso sila sa maong suspect (The eight minors were endorsed to the Talomo police station for questioning, wherein they claimed to have been secually abused by the suspect)," Driz told Sun.Star Davao in a phone interview Thursday afternoon.

Driz said the eight minors admitted through their respective affidavits of the abuses they went through at the hands of the suspect.

"Kaning mga bataa nakapuyo ni sa balay sa suspect. Ginahatagan niya ug kwarta ug pagkaon tapos gina-molestiya niya (These minors live in one house with the suspect. They were given food ang money and then were molested)," Driz said.

Driz also reminded the parents' of the teenagers of their responsibilities over their respective children.

"Nganong ilang gipasagdan nila ilang mga anak (They should be more responsible with their kids)," she added.

Charges are now being readied against the suspect for violation of the Republic Act 7610, or the 'Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act' and Republic Act 9208, or the 'Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.”

“We're just waiting for the affidavits of the eight minors to be submitted,” Driz said.

All the charges against the suspect are set to be filed on Friday.

Driz said they are already closely monitoring all activities of the foreign nationals who are now residing in the city.

"Remind lang namo ang parents to always monitor their kids especially they are prone and vulnerable to this kind of abuses," Driz said.

The suspect is presently detained at the Talomo police station. (KRP)


Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on August 21, 2015.