Taxi Fare Rate to Increase by 2011

The following fare rates will take its effect next year after the Land Transportation and Franchising Board (LTFRB) approved the petition to increase the fare for Taxis in Metro Manila.

                               Image via Wikipedia

• The flag-down rate will be increased to 40 pesos from the current 30 pesos
• The rate for the succeeding 250 meters will be increased to 3.50 pesos from the current 2.50 pesos

The above changes will take effect sometime in the middle of January, 15 days after its official publication in the newspaper.

Santa Claus Beats Jesus in 2010 Christmas Day Google Search

Cross-posted from Technology Logs
_________________________________
It’s Christmas day for most part of the world today and so is here in the Philippines. Crowded shopping malls, traffic roads, lanterns and Christmas lights are common sign of the busy holiday. In addition, Christmas carols are in every radio stations and music players.

Since, Christmas is claimed to be a celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth, I conducted a little test to see how people do in the internet. I would like to know how internet people think in this season. I used Google Trends, a popular web stat tool that tracks down search terms inputs in Google around the world.

The result is not what most of us would expect. My expectation is that the search terms would be more like Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jesus and Mary or anything related to Jesus’ birth. Ironically, Google Trends shows that Santa Claus is the king of Christmas search. From the Google Trends’ data, the term “where is santa claus” is the hottest topic for the season and “norad santa tracker” is the hottest search term. The term "Jesus" is not even in the list.

Google Trends. Screenshot taken December 25, 2010

Funny isn’t it? Is the world losing what Christmas Day is supposed to be for?

2011 Philippine Holidays

                               Image via Wikipedia

UPDATE: President Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino III declared through Proclamation 84 the list of official regular and special holidays for 2011.
__________________
In just a few more days, year 2010 is coming to its end and as the cycle goes, a new year will begin. The challenges and triumphs we had this year will just be memories of the past, worthy of remembrance. Now, its time to look forward to the coming year.

I have here the list of important dates (i.e. holidays) for year 2011 in the Philippines. Some of the highlights are the following:

• there are 12 regular holidays for 2011
•  2 of these 12 regular holidays fell on a Saturday
•  4 of these 12 regular holidays fell on a Sunday

• There are five (5) scheduled special holidays for 2011
• 2 of these 5 special holidays fell on a Saturday

• The months of April (3), August (3), November (3) and December (4) has the most number of holidays.

Here's the complete list of holidays for 2011

January 1 (Saturday) - Regular Holiday - New Year's Day

February 25 (Friday) - Special Holiday for Schools- EDSA Revolution

April 9 (Saturday) - Regular Holiday - Day of Valor

April 21 (Thursday) - Regular Holiday - Maundy Thursday

April 22 (Friday) - Regular Holiday - Good Friday

May 1 (Sunday) - Regular Holiday - Labor Day

June 12 (Sunday) - Regular Holiday - Philippine Independence Day

August 23 (Tuesday) - Special Holiday - Ninoy Aquino Day

August 29 (Monday) - Regular Holiday - National Heroes Day

August 30 (Tuesday) - Regular Holiday - Eid'l Fitre (Movable)

November 1 (Tuesday) - Special Holiday - All Saints Day

November 6 (Sunday) - Regular Holiday - Eid'l Adha

November 30 (Wednesday) - Regular Holiday - Bonifacio Day

December 24 (Saturday) - Special Holiday - Day Before Christmas

December 25 (Sunday) - Regular Holiday - Christmas Day

December 30 (Friday) - Regular Holiday - Rizal Day

December 31 (Saturday) - Special Holiday - New Year's Eve

Hubert Webb and 6 Others Acquitted by the Supreme Court

Image via Wikipedia

Hubert Webb and 6 others were acquitted by the Supreme Court in a 7-4-4 vote. The court reasoned that the prosecution failed to establish "guilt beyond reasonable doubt".

Huber Webb, the son of Former senator and eight others were the prime suspect in a gruesome massacre that killed the family of the widower Lauro Vizconde in what we all know as the "Viszonde Massacre" of 1991. The case went on for almost two decades, with Huber and six others having been convicted in the Lower Court and Court of Appeals.

The supreme court decision is already available at Philippine Supreme Court's online archive.
Decision: People of the Philippines vs Hubert Jeffrey Webb et.al.

Related articles

• SC acquits ex-senator's son, 6 others in Vizconde massacre (newsinfo.inquirer.net)

December 31, 2010 a Non-Working Holiday? YES! - Palace

Malacaňang Palace today confirmed that December 31, 2010 will stay "as is" as a special non-working holiday based on Procalamation No.1841 by former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

                                Image via Wikipedia

Based on the tweet (@govph) from Philippine Government's official gazette, all holidays for December 2010 will stay on the dates originally scheduled (Proclamation 1841).

The following are the remaining holidays for December 2010.

Special (Non-Working) Holidays

Additional Special (Non-Working) Holiday - December 24 (Friday)
Last Day of the Year December 31 (Friday)

Regular (Non-Working) Holidays
Christmas Day December 25 (Saturday)
Rizal Day December 27 (Monday nearest December 30)

Those who will be required to work on these dates shall be paid additional premiums as dictated by Labor Code.