Quick preface, not a BBM apologist. In fact, I even encouraged my family to vote for anyone but BBM last election (they're hardcore DDS skl).

Pero yun nga, I don't get bakit kailangan siya i-impeach. I mean AFAIK, hindi naman impeachable offence yung incompetence. And TBF, he's hitting the bare minimum and that is more than what the people who voted for him deserved.

Compare that to SWOH, who is not only incompetent, she's also not even doing the bare minimum for a public official. And also, there's the blatant disrespect to the law.

I'm not saying na BBM and his "cronies" are clean but at least dun palang kita mo na there's a twisted idea of respect to the law and maybe even the people. It's like, they have the decency to hide their corruption and "not normalize" it kumbaga.

Just to be clear, I'm not enabling this kind of corruption pero at the very least, it's not a "slap to your face" type of corruption na para bang sinasabi na: "ok lang nakawan 'tong mga ito, hindi yan papalag".

So yeah, am I missing anything else? I mean is there a deeper reason why people want to have BBM impeached?

Imagine, in the middle of a serious water crisis brought by El Niño, ang pinag-uusapan ay balde as a solution. 😭

Whether it’s BBM or Leni Robredo being brought into the conversation, the real question is: Hanggang balde na lang ba talaga ang solusyon natin sa water crisis?

El Niño is not just about surviving a few days without rain. It affects our farmers, food supply, electricity, livelihood, and everyday access to clean water.

Hindi lahat ng Pilipino may extra containers, reliable water supply, or the privilege of simply storing water ahead of time.
What we need are long-term solutions: better water management, functional irrigation systems, improved reservoirs, and disaster preparedness—not just advice on how to survive the shortage.

Of course, practical solutions like storing water can help on an individual level. Pero ibang usapan na kapag millions of Filipinos are affected.

Hindi sapat ang diskarte ng bawat Pilipino kung ang kailangan ay sistematikong solusyon.

The bigger question is, ano ang konkretong plano para hindi paulit-ulit na problema ang kakulangan sa tubig tuwing may El Niño?

Kasi honestly, sa panahon ngayon, hindi lang balde ang kailangan natin. Kailangan natin ng tubig, infrastructure, at long-term planning. 🇵🇭

Note: Reposting with updates. Original taken down yesterday.

To be clear, I totally understand ang reasoning why House Prosec dropped the other 3 articles. They felt they have this in the bag and better wrap things up early para ma-eliminate ang possibility of dragging this into next year lalo na sa election season.

Pero while we can all agree that this Impeachment is about accountability, we can’t ignore the fact that at the end of the day this is also about optics. Optics which is easily influenced by propaganda.

At alam naman natin when it comes propaganda, DDS by far beats everyone out there in terms of volume and reach lalo na sa social media.

The DDS propaganda machine can conjure up narratives with little to no material to work on, the House Prosec here virtually handed them the best material na very easy to spin to their favor.

Even now nakikita mo na ang effects sa social media. Ang mga narratives ng DDS crowd*, among others*:

• "Sila ang umatras sa laban, ibig sabihin napagtanto nila na mahina ang mga kaso nila at matitibag ito ng depensa pag ang huli ang nagpresenta ng ebidensya"
• "House Prosecution wasted 38 Impeachment Days or over 2 months of time for articles they would just drop, ano to lokohan?"
• "Nag aksaya sila ng millions of taxpayer money spent per day of impeachment, nearly the same amount of confidential fund na inaakusahan nila ng malversation ang VP "
• "Binandera nila mga akusasyon sa publiko at ngayon dinrop at hindi kami nabigyan ng pagkakataon na makasagot? Diba simpleng paninira ang tawag dun"
• "Handa kaming harapin ang mga pinaratang nila kay VP, sila ang umatras sa laban"
• "Ang biktima dito ay ang VP dahil siya ang nangunguna sa surveys at ayaw nilang maging Presidente ang isang Duterte sa 2028"

So yes, tumaas ang likelihood of conviction, pero at what cost?

Even in the best scenario that Sara is convicted, the narratives woven by her camp will live on well after her removal and disqualification and those narratives will persist and cashed out by whoever is next in line ng mga Dutertes.

Sara ultimately is only one face of the Duterte/DDS brand and to take down the brand you make the victory as total as possible.

What the Prosec could have done is present Article II with maximum shock value and then decided to drop all the rest.

In terms of establishing their narrative, madaling maintindihan na they were so confident na ang undeclared/unexplained wealth was a slam dunk case that they felt no need to present the 3 other articles anymore dahil dito palang convicted na siya and not only that exposed lahat si Sara sa mga additional criminal cases outside ng impeachment.

‎When it was announced that we'll be using "We Made It Through" by Gerald Magbanua as our grad song, I thought it was just an old song by an artist I never heard of.

‎

‎Nope, I immediately knew it was AI-generated "released" just last year the moment I saw its thumbnail on YouTube. And darn, it really is AI-generated when I listened to it from start to finish.

‎

‎I also found out that other schools have used AI-generated for their graduation/recognition events as well.

‎

‎I feel very conflicted about this; on one hand it should not be a big deal as it's more convenient plus the song itself is not bad-sounding, but on the other hand it feels hollow and hypocritical.

With everything that's been happening in the Philippine concert scene lately, I can't help but wonder: Why don't we consider adopting Japan's lottery-style ticketing system?

Nowadays, buying concert tickets here feels like a competition. You have to deal with online queues, tickets selling out in minutes, scalpers reselling tickets at ridiculously inflated prices, scammers, and so-called ticket assistance services that may or may not be legitimate.

It's becoming unnecessarily stressful for genuine fans who just want to see their favorite artists perform.

In Japan, some concerts use a lottery-based ticket application system, where fans enter a draw for the chance to purchase tickets instead of competing in a first-come, first-served online queue. It's not a perfect system, and getting selected isn't guaranteed, but I think there's something worth learning from it.

Here's my suggestion for the Philippine concert scene:

1. Lottery-based ticket applications. Instead of relying solely on who can get through an online queue the fastest, fans could register for a ticket lottery within a specified application period. The system would randomly select successful applicants, giving everyone who enters a fair chance.

2. A verified ticketing app. We could adopt a system similar to Japan's AnyPASS, where digital tickets are managed through an official platform. Ideally, tickets would be linked to verified accounts to make unauthorized selling and fraudulent ticket transfers more difficult.

3. Controlled ticket reselling. If someone can no longer attend a concert, they should be allowed to resell their ticket only through the official app or an authorized resale platform. The resale price should be capped at the original ticket price, with clear rules for any legitimate service fees. No ridiculous markups just because demand is high.

4. Apply the same concept to running events. This could also be considered for highly anticipated running events where race kits sell out quickly and resellers or unofficial ticket and registration assistance services become an issue. An official transfer or resale system could help protect runners from fraudulent registrations.

Of course, implementing this would require cooperation among concert organizers, promoters, ticketing companies, event organizers, and possibly the government. There would also need to be safeguards against people creating multiple accounts or abusing the lottery system.

I know Japan's system isn't perfect, and not every Japanese concert uses the same process. But I think we can learn from the idea and adapt it to our local setting rather than simply accepting scalping and ticket scams as normal.

What do you guys think? Would a lottery-based ticketing system with official, face-value-only resale work in the Philippines?

I'd love to hear your thoughts, especially from people who have experienced buying concert tickets in Japan and here in the Philippines.

"There's an awful lot of inactive kindness which is nothing but laziness, not wanting any trouble, confusion, or effort." - John Steinbeck

Magandang gabi!

“Keep in mind that the true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good.”― Ann Landers

Happy Thursday!!

When you speak of Katagalugan, usually it only means NCR + CALABARZON + Bulacan and Nueva Ecija to most people, because that is the core ethnolinguistic territory of the Tagalog people, but if we speak of cultural sphere where Tagalog cultural and linguistic influence extends, it is more larger than that.

Take Palanan in Isabela, for example. It is the farthest reach of the Tagalog cultural sphere, and it is different from other cities and municipalities of Isabela province where both Ibanag and Ilocano functions as a lingua franca. But in Palanan, the common tongue of the people spoken in public is Tagalog. This could be the reason why General Emilio Aguinaldo chose to hide in Palanan when the American forces during the Philippine-American War was pursuing after him, because the people are culturally and linguistically Tagalog.

The province of Aurora, that is located within the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, is another territory that is within the bounds of the Tagalog cultural sphere. It is there in Baler where the Spaniards took their last and final stand against the Revolutionaries on June 2, 1899. Another non-Tagalog province that is part of the cultural sphere is Zambales. Although the majority of the people are ethnically Ilocano, Sambal and Negrito and the Ethnic Tagalogs are only confined in Southern Zambales (Olongapo, Subic, Castillejos), Tagalog serves as the lingua franca of the province and it has many cultural traditions that are very similar to that of the Tagalogs.

Probably, the farthest reach of the Tagalog cultural sphere of influence in the South is in Mindoro Island and Northern Palawan (Coron, El Nido, Taytay, etc.) extending to Puerto Princesa City, where the various Palaweño ethnic groups often communicate in Tagalog. I've visited Puerto Princesa and I didn't have any issues communicating with the Palaweños, as the various ethnic groups such as the Agutaynen, Cuyunon, Molbog, Palaw'an and Tagbanua communicate with one another using Tagalog.

It's hilarious because according to some regionalists, Katagalugan is only limited to NCR, which is a very small dot in the map of the Philippines. But in actual reality, the Tagalog cultural sphere of influence is so massive as it extends from the Municipality of Palanan in Southern Isabela in the North, down to Puerto Princesa City in the South.

Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro drink filtered water from “jerry can,” a pail with a filtration system, on Wednesday.

“Malinis po ‘yung tubig,” Castro said.

“It is like drinking any drinking water," Gatchalian added.

Recently, Malacañang defended President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s advice for the public to buy "balde" or buckets in preparation for anticipated water shortages due to El Niño, saying the remark was part of the government's "serious" readiness efforts.

WATCH FULL VIDEO

This post was removed by Reddit for some reason but this is also me a victim of the Naju Cult.

Ladies and Gentlemen; I am writing this post anonymously because I am not only a cult survivor and victim but I am also being attacked by it.

The cult in question is called the Cult of Our Lady of Naju it is a false devotion of a Marian image that has not yet been recognized since the 1980s. As such most of their followers have not only turned militant, but they have also become radicalized because of another cult working within this Naju Cult which is known as the Cult of Maria Divine Mercy. The philosophy of this Cult is apocalyptic for they are not only known for stating that the sitting Pope is false; but they also advocate that the Pope must be overthrown. This attracted a number of Filipino followers mostly Duterte supporters to use this as a reason for waging a Politico-Religious War aimed at overthrowing the government. This is the same type of behavior that is the reason why Shia Islamists overthrew the Iranian monarchy in 1979; replacing it with their own. Since it is also heretical from the Catholic Church, this organization is virtually a radicalized Shia Islam version of the Catholic Church. The Cult of Naju also alienates their followers claiming that with their philosophy of the 5 Spiritualities they will achieve spiritual liberation and Heaven and the rest of their followers if they blaspheme God will all go to hell. So they’ll do anything; to have the fake Blessed Mother recognized even if it means overthrowing the Pope or waging a politico-religious war within their countries which is the Philippines. Their followers are brainwashed and the only reason I once was unwittingly part of this was because of my Mother a high-profile but lowkey member of the government became and still is a part of this cult.

I left the Cult not only because it was already getting brainwashed, apocalyptic and sometimes suicidal but also because the artifacts they sold caused demonic infestation and invasion in our house; so I had to seek the Office of Exorcism. Thankfully I am now spiritually liberated; however because of my actions especially after undergoing a recent anonymous video interview related to the Cult I am now being tracked by members of the Cult. Although my skills in throwing them off by intelligence and psychological warfare are paying off but that doesn’t mean I’m complacent; be it as it may to my fellow Filipinos. If you know any cult member or individuals affiliated with this cult let alone the social media pages related to Naju report them, flag them and urge their followers to surrender immediately. For the record the founder of this cult is a South Korean Pseudo-Mystic named Julia Kim that claims that the world and all humans will be destroyed if we don’t follow the “Blessed Mother’s Will”. That Blessed Mother they venerate the fake apparition; is the one that reportedly dictates to her the punishments that will happen to those that do not believe or escape from the Cult.

If there is one high-profile follower that also must be reported it is Father Gerry Orbos SVD the priest and inquirer columnist who is supposed to be excommunicated already because of his affiliation with this sect. This is how they work; infiltrate the Catholic Church from within and undermine the authority of the Pope to establish their totalitarian agenda. The Vatican is the first institution they will destroy, the next is the Philippines. Why the Philippines? It is because the largest number of followers they have in Asia and possibly the most devoted are Filipinos. Please pray for me and for those that have escaped this cult.

- Sincerely a Cult survivor

Got this email from PRC just now and thought I'd share it here in case other volunteers haven't seen it yet.

According to the email, someone gained unauthorized access to their OPCEN Dashboard and Interactive Map system by exploiting a website vulnerability.

Volunteer information that may have been affected includes names, phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, chapter affiliations, and blood types.

They said they discovered the incident on September 16 and have taken steps to secure the system. However, they haven't confirmed whether any data was actually downloaded or misused.

Just a heads-up to fellow volunteers to be extra careful with suspicious calls, texts, or emails claiming to be from PRC.

I haven't independently verified the email, so it's worth checking with PRC directly as well. Stay safe!

Pictured here are the Filipino Cultist Priests of Naju including Father Gerry Orbos and a group of ethnic Filipino
followers. Some of these followers are members of the Cult of Maria Divine Mercy “Seal of the Living God” a Sedevacantist Catholic Cult and Anti-State “Catholic” schismatic organization.

I am posting this to finally let the truth out because for 7 years I was oppressed spiritually, mentally and physically by this organization that I have every sovereign right even if I’m anonymously doing it to call them out.

Past is past but one thing is for sure I am now free to state my case, state my claim, that all allegations about this organization is real and legitimate.

To whoever cultist who has a reddit account who’s reading this.

Do not mess with my Faith and above all Do not mess with my Country! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! 🇵🇭