BLOGGED PHILIPPINES

Image via Wikipedia The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will now officially use ISO standard initials for the the Philippines, "PH" or "PHL" replacing the ambiguous "RP". This conformance to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is expected to help alleviate the confusion by using the the initials "RP" which is easily confused with other countries. These country initials is part of the ISO 3166 standard adopted by the ISO that defines codes for the names of countries, dependent territories, and special areas of geographical interest.

"The Jolly Bee is eating Mang Inasal chicken!" Tony Tan Caktiong owned Jollibee Foods Corporation, the largest fast food chain in the Philippines announced the acquisition of the seven-year old fast food chain Mang Inasal! According to the disclosure, Jollibee will be buying 70% of the shares of Mang Inasal for a sum of 3 Billion pesos. Mang Insasal, a relatively start up fast food chain has seen a rapid growth in the recent years. Since it started in 2003, Mang Inasal already boasts a total of 303 stores around the country, most of which are franchises. Recent financial reports shows that the young company is already earning a revenue totaling to 3.8 Billion pesos. Mang Inasal has been known for its delicious roasted chicken and "unlimited rice". They also sell products that are relatively cheaper compared to other established fast food chain. These and other key marketing strategies seems to have boosted the company's growth. Jollibee on the other hand

Image via CrunchBase Department of Education (DepEd) recently joined PAGASA in twitter! While PAGASA is twitting weather updates, DepEd twits class suspension announcements. DepEd's official twitter account is @DepEd_PH . Follow @DepEd_PH on twitter and receive timely updates. Recently, several government agencies has been using social media channels to facilitate fast distribution of information. Among them are the president's office @govph , MMDA @mmda , and PAGASA @dost_pagasa . Hopefully, this move by DepEd will help solve the issues of late announcements which most students and employees have been complaining about in the past years. I personally experience many trouble because of this. Here's my experience: When I was studying in college in Manila a few years ago, I have to travel at least 2 hours from home to school everyday. So when rainy seasons come, it poses a problem. There has been several times in my five years in college when after exerting vigorous ef

Image via Wikipedia Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Administration (PAGASA) is now using twitter to facilitate the fast distribution of information especially weather updates. PAGASA's twitter account is @dost_pagasa . By following @dost_pagasa , you can receive real time update from the agency regarding weather forecast, typhoon updates and other services provided by the agency. This move by PAGASA is very timely since currently, typhoon "Megi" is threatening to pass over the Philippine area of responsibility. This move by PAGASA to use social networking site is the latest among the government's moves in the effort to use social media to inform the public. We can remember that in the previous months, the government launched its official gazzete online at www.gov.ph . Also, the Department of Finance recently launched www.perangbayan.com to gather information regarding corrupt officials under its umbrella.

Image by georgeparrilla via Flickr Although generally, many people were amused by the "Dancing Flight Attendants " number from Cebu Pacific Airlines, there are also those people and groups who don't feel the same. Two of them are the Flight Attendants' and Stewards' Association of the Philippines (FASAP) and the notable women's rights group GABRIELA. Note: Cebu Pacific's attendants are not part of FASAP. Both of these groups shows concern of the incident. In a press release statement, FASAP said that they are "deeply perturbed by the recent video spreading in the internet showing dancing flight attendants while performing the safety demonstration of the flight." They reasoned that it may eventually lead the public into "stereotyping of flight attendants as entertainers" and will surely have a negative and sexist impact in the minds of the public". They even called the activity as "demeaning and undignified". Do

Last week, the entire world was caught in amazement by the surprise in-flight  "dance" number performed by Cebu Pacific flight attendants . Well, the surprise doesn't end on that number. As part of Cebu Pacific's culture of continuous innovation, today, they presented the "male version" of that number. In a flight from Manila to Davao, the passengers were once again entertained, this time by male flight attendants. Here's the video of the "Dancing Male Cebu Pacific Flight Attendants". How was number? Is it good?

Image via Wikipedia Astronomers recently found a planet outside the solar system with conditions they termed as "Goldilocks", neither too hot nor too cold. This they said was the perfect condition for a great possibility of extra terrestrial life. The planet is named Gliese 581g is found to be circling a red dwarf star located 120 trillion miles from the Earth. The planet is a few times larger than the earth and scientists estimate that the mass and gravity of the planet is just comparable to the earth. the planet is also tidally locked to its parent star which means that only one side faces the star. This condition will lead to a very hot condition on the portion directly facing the star and an icy condition on the other side. The interesting part though is somewhere in the middle of the two faces of the planet where the temperature may be just right for a habitable zone. Cross posted from ASTRONOMY DIGEST BLOG .

Image via Wikipedia Should October 25, 2010 be declared as a holiday? The Comission on Elections (COMELEC) says so and they are requesting the office of President Noynoy Aquino an executive order (EO) for that. Their basis is the law that states that all election day be declared as holidays so that more voters will turn out. By the way, October 25, 2010 is the schedule for the local Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections. In the meantime, please stay tune to this blog for the updates regarding this topic! Personally, I wish October 25, 2010 to be holiday, not for Barangay Elections but for a rest day!!!! :-)

I love Cebu Pacific as an airline who's innovative marketing strategy enables every-Juan to fly. And now, Cebu pacific is taking us to the next level of their innovation---entertainment. Watch the video below as the gorgeous Cebu Pacific flight attendants showcase their talents in dancing as they remind us on the safety features of the aircraft! After watching this video, I felt like I want to book my next trip as soon as possible! I want to see this in personal!  Video courtesy of Youtube.com So what can you say?