Posts published during December, 2009

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December 31, 2009

South Korea Trip ’09: Korean Folk Village, Yongin

November 08, 2009. After having lunch at Itaewon, Seoul, our tour guide brought us to a “Korean Folk Village” theme park forty minutes away in the city of Yongin in Gyeonggi, South Korea. The folk village is actually an artificial recreation of Korean folk villages that showcase traditional Korean life and culture. It was apparently built partly as a way of preserving, albeit artificially, the traditional way of life in Korea in the midst of its rapid economic growth and modernization. The park is divided into different areas featuring different types of Korean homes and communities, from farm villages, to landlord’s courtyards to traditional marketplaces. The park also features live “actors” playing the role of traditional Korean folk villagers going about “normal” everyday routines, from cooking to farming. To be fair enough, the entire recreation of the folk village was highly realistic.

Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea
Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea

Some areas also feature shows that showcase traditional Korean ceremonies from weddings to dances. Since it was drizzling that afternoon, the traditional wedding reenactment show was canceled. We were able to witness, on the other hand, a show featuring horsemen doing acrobatics with their horses. It was pretty cool.

Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea Korean Folk Village, Gyeonggi, South Korea

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December 27, 2009

SkyBroadband Customer Review, Feedback

Our household has been on SkyBroadband for more than a month now. When we were still thinking about it, I had a difficult time looking for customer feedback on the internet. The only reviews I encountered were hundreds of negative feedback on the comments section of a popular Filipino tech blog. I doubted if the feedbacks were impartial and fair, I actually felt like they were paid trolls from rival ISP’s. I mean, it can’t be that bad for everyone. So here’s my contribution to the pool of reviews.

We are on Sky’s Plan 6mbps. It’s relatively expensive at P3,999 a month, which includes the internet connection, semi-premium cable TV subscription and 100 minutes of free calls to the US and Canada.

Here are the results of my SpeedTest tests. For impartial results, I selected test servers overseas. If you use test servers hosted by SkyBroadband, of course you’ll get impressive results since you’re testing with your own ISP. If you use other test servers in the Philippines, they’ll actually even be slower than overseas servers since they’re your ISP’s competition. Here are my results:

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December 14, 2009

COMELEC should resume voters registration

This is the latest article I contributed for the BlogWatch project of the Philippine Online Chronicles.

A cornerstone principle and bedrock of our 1987 Constitution is that the Philippines is a republican and democratic state. One of the hallmarks of democracy is the people’s right to vote, a basic right upon which the fabric of any democracy is founded.

Last October 29, 2009, Kabataan Partylist, together with youth leaders from various organizations, along with prospective first-time voters, went to the Supreme Court to file a petition that, if granted by the Court, would urge the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to resume the registration of voters until January 9, 2010 from its self-imposed deadline of October 31, 2009.

The petition was based on two legal arguments. First, the October 31 deadline of the COMELEC is seventy (70) days short of the deadline prescribed by law under the Voters Registration Act of 1996. Second, for effectively amending the law by setting the deadline prior to the prescribed date, COMELEC usurped the legislative power of Congress.

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December 12, 2009

South Korea Trip ’09: Chogyesa & Geongbokgung, Seoul

November 8, 2009. We were booked on a half-day city tour of Seoul. I used to say I’m not a fan of packaged group tour itineraries. I still do. I dislike the feeling of being limited by a schedule or a route prepared by some other person. To make things a little more unpleasant, it was raining the entire morning in Seoul.

Our first destination was a Buddhist temple in the center of Seoul called Chogyesa. The temple, although relatively new compared to other temples having been built only in 1910, plays a major role in Korean Buddhism. It was the headquarters of Korean Buddhism during the Japanese occupation. Because it is within the city center of Seoul, the temple is more accessible to tourists and devotees than other temples in Korea, although that would also mean it doesn’t offer as serene an atmosphere for genuine meditation perhaps.

Geongbokgung, Seoul Geongbokgung, Seoul Geongbokgung, Seoul Geongbokgung, Seoul Geongbokgung, Seoul Geongbokgung, Seoul

Geongbokgung is like the Forbidden City of Beijing, only smaller, but large nonetheless. It’s the grandest among the “five palaces” complex built by Korea’s Joseon Dynasty. It used to house the royal family of Korea. One of Seoul’s most famous tourist destinations, hordes of tourists were still present despite the rain. Visitors are supposed to witness an hourly changing-of-the-guards ceremony but since it was drizzling, the show was canceled. Our trip to Geongbokgung was capped by a visit to the National Folk Museum within the same complex.

Geongbokgung, Seoul Geongbokgung, Seoul Geongbokgung, Seoul Geongbokgung, Seoul Geongbokgung, Seoul Geongbokgung, Seoul
Geongbokgung, Seoul Geongbokgung, Seoul Geongbokgung, Seoul Geongbokgung, Seoul Geongbokgung, Seoul Geongbokgung, Seoul
One of the things I really dislike about packaged tour itineraries is that they always include a trip to a commercial tourist trap. In places my family has visited like Hong Kong, Beijing and Singapore and I’m sure in many other East Asian cities, these commercial tourist traps are either jewelry stores or herbal medicine shops (which includes tea stores). In Seoul, we were herded to a ginseng complex. And like all other tourist traps like it, the trip was complete with sales people talking you into buying expensive “exclusive” merchandise.

The group tour incuded lunch at a restaurant in Itaewon, still in Seoul. After having another Korean meal, we broke off from the group tour and went to another tour, this time to a Korean folk village theme park around an hour away from the city.

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December 10, 2009

Sowing the seeds of a nationwide declaration

The way the Arroyo administration is stretching the meaning of “rebellion” is utterly absurd. If this is allowed, we’re making possible a bizarre scenario where the Arroyo administration may connive with its many warlord allies across the country to stage any “massing of arms” in order to justify a nationwide declaration of martial law as they near the day they are booted out of office in the 2010 elections. A few days ago, the Defense Secretary came up with an odd press release revealing something we’ve known all along anyway–that there are private armies all over the country. Suddenly, the government claims Ampatuan supporters have arrived in Manila. Then arms and a grenade are discovered near the NBI in Manila. They’re clearly beginning to sow the seeds of justifying a nationwide declaration. All they need is to stage another shocking performance.

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December 7, 2009

Kabataan Partylist National Convention

I had almost forgotten to write about our partylist’s national convention. Kabataan Partylist held its national convention last November 17 and 18, 2009. The first day was allotted for a plenary session among delegates from our chapters across the country. The second was a public convention with speeches from guests and performances from cultural organizations, capped off by a concert from a handful of popular bands. More then three thousand students from different schools, residents from various communities and delegates from all over the country filled the UP Bahay ng Alumni that night.

Senatorial candidates Liza Maza & Satur Ocampo were also in attendance to give solidarity messages to the youth. Other politicians also arrived and delivered brief speeches.

In his speech, Kabataan Rep. Mong Palatino laid out a youth agenda for the 2010 elections. From reforms in the education system (increase budget of public schools, universities and colleges, among others) to providing decent employment and protection for the rights of workers, Mong also stressed that good governance should also be a key platform of every candidate, taking off from the myriad of corruption scandals of the Arroyo administration. Mong also reiterated the need to prioritize the needs of the Filipino people over that of foreign interests. He stressed that the youth will make up almost 40% of the votes in the 2010 elections, and that the collective strength of the youth can determine and greatly influence the outcome of the said democratic exercise.

Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention
Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention
Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention
Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention Kabataan Partylist 2009 National Convention

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December 5, 2009

A Martial Law rehearsal

The recent declaration of Malacanang placing Maguindanao under martial law sets a dangerous precedent. There are only two reasons granted in the Constitution for the declaration of martial law. First is invasion, the second is rebellion. Clearly, none of these conditions were present in Maguindanao. A few days ago, even the military and the police themselves said that a declaration of martial law is unnecessary. All of a sudden, the Arroyo administration claims there is virtually a rebellion in Maguindanao at the moment. They are stretching its meaning dangerously to accommodate their political plans. Apparent lawlessness in the province is not rebellion. Resistance from arrests is not rebellion. For rebellion to exist, the political motivation of overthrowing the civilian government is necessary. There clearly is no rebellion in Maguindanao. At most, all there is in Maguindanao is a refusal by the Ampatuan camp to cooperate with the authorities. They are armed, yes, but those arms were issued by the government itself, the legal existence of the private army provided for by the President herself. It goes without saying that this condition can be remedied by existing government forces in the province under a “state of emergency”, without the implementation of martial law.

Where then is the danger? The Arroyo administration will lose its executive power in less than a year. The administration ticket is expected to lose the 2010 elections. Arroyo’s congressional candidacy indicates her refusal to step down from power. It is not difficult to surmise that the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao is a rehearsal for a national implementation. With the twisted definition of “rebellion” that it used in Maguindanao to justify the military rule, it is now easy for the administration to call any condition of lawlessness as rebellion in other parts of the country, if not the entire country as a whole.

It thus becomes imperative for us, the people, to show and declare our objection to this move by the Arroyo administration. Neutrality and complacency to the martial law in Maguindanao will only serve to embolden the administration to use it accordingly nationwide, once it loses its other political options in maintaining their hold on power. We demand justice for the victims of the Ampatuan massacre, but martial law is not the answer.

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December 4, 2009

Still their blockmate

Our household hosted a baby shower for two of my blockmates last week. I appreciate that my blockmates decided to hold the get-together at my place, despite having been out of UP Law for months, I’m technically not their blockmate anymore. Apparently, my blockmates haven’t been seeing each other as much as we did in our freshman year because of the recently-implemented de-blocking scheme.

Hearing from my blockmates news and stories about recent happenings in Malcolm Hall made me think that it was probably good for me that I got out of law school early. It appears as if the law school’s administration, obsessed with regaining from its rival law schools the top ranking in bar exam passing rates, has been on a stringent mission to cut off the bottom-ranking students or simply, students they feel like will not pass the bar. I, myself, failed two subjects in my freshman year and that it, I’m out, no questions asked. I heard some senior students were kicked out recently for a failing mark they got during the previous semester compounded with grades they incurred during their freshman year. Senior students apparently have lost their immunity from dismissal.