BLOGGED PHILIPPINES

A strong earthquake with a magnitide of 7.6 (corrected from 7.9) shakes Eastern Visayas area of the Philippines at around 8:47 PM, august 31, 2012. The tremor was felt as far as Davao City. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the epicenter of the quake was located at 135 km East of Sulangan. Because the epicenter is located at the sea, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a warning for Indonesia, Philippines, Belau, Yap, Taiwan, Japan, Guam, N. Marianas, Papua New Guinea A Tsunami Watch is in Effect For Chuuk, Marcus Is., Kosrae, Pohnpei, Marshall Is., Wake Is., Solomon Is., Russia, Nauru. View M7.9 - 135km E of Sulangan, Philippines - 2012-08-31 12:47:35 UTC in a larger map  In Cebu City, the tremor sent thousands on the street. Occupants of high-rise buildings were forced to evacuate as soon as the shaking stopped. According unconfirmed reports, Jones avenue was filled with people in response to the quake. Tsunami Warning for Legazpi, Davao, an

Have you heard of the "Oppa Gangnam Style" music video? Well, if you did, it would be no surprise because it's the latest YouTube sensation in the US and its popularity is spreading to other countries as well. To testify to its immense popularity, the music video which was upload in YouTube last July 15 have already garnered 70 Million views. And as expected, a number of parodies has already surfaced. Korean Rapper PSY performing Oppa Gangnam Style (screenshot from YouTube) What Does Gangnam Style Mean? Gangnam Style is a Korean term associated with lavish lifestyle. That can readily be seen in the video  as PSY performs dance moves with fashionable clothing and at most times surrounded by pretty, well-dressed girls. The term rose from Gangnam District, which is one of the wealthiest areas in Seoul, South Korea. The word "Oppa", on the other hand literally means "brother".

Malacañang Palace, the residence of the Philippine president, (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) This is another long weekend for employees and students. As scheduled late last year via  Proclamation No. 295 , August 27, 2012 (Monday) will be a regular national holiday in celebration of the annual National Heroes Day. With that, all classes and by default, all work shall be suspended for that day to give everyone time to celebrate the patriotic event. In cases where the employee needs to go to work, as agreed upon between him and the employer, the employee shall be entitled to an additional pay as dictated by the existing labor law. The official gazette of the government at www.gov.ph has published the pay rules made by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) during this holiday.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) chairman Manuel V Pangilinan commonly referred to as MVP is now on twitter. His account which officially goes online today is @iamMVP . Tweeted by Smart Communications, MVP is now inviting everyone to follow his tweets. PLDT is the largest communication company in the country and is a leading provider of wired and wireless communication services such as telephone, internet, satellite TVs and many more.

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has just released the results of the  Board Exam for Nurses. According to their official website, www.prc.gov.ph, 27,823 out of 60,895 passed the exam that was given in key cities of the country (Manila, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Dagupan, Davao, Iloilo, Laoag, Legazpi, Lucena, Nueva Ecija, Pagadian, Pampanga, Tacloban, Tuguegarao  and Zamboanga) last June 2012. Roxanne Trinity Dotingco  Lim of the University of Sto. Thomas lead this phase of examinees garnering a score of 86.2. She was closely followed by Kristen Erika Hife  Pino of Cebu Normal University and Carmela Celebrado  Shimizu of the University of Saint Anthony with a weighted score of 85.4. Here's the complete list of passers: Link to the document:  https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B7VcevvLAoMQVFJzTlF3VWljR1E/edit

Interaksyon.com first broke the news about the video where a man was seen assaulting a seemingly helpless MMDA traffic enforcer. According to the report, TV 5 producers was incidentally in a car next to the scene. The camera was inside the car but the voices from outside can still be heard. Immediately after posting the video on YouTube, the words MMDA and the man's name quickly trends on twitter. The tweets shows sympathy to the humiliated enforcer and anger to the man.In YouTube , similar comments can also be found, most of which are seeking for justice. The man is identified as Mr. Blair Carabuena working as a human resources officer in a tobacco company: According to interaksyon.com, Blair refused to give statements regarding the event. Meanwhile, the enforcer was identified as T/C Mr. Saturnino Fabros. Based on the their latest tweet, MMDA Legal is filing a case against the Mr. Blair tomorrow. Avoiding further exposure of his information, Mr. Blair Carabuena has shut d

Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross in Bourne Legacy (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) A couple of days ago, I watched one of the most awaited movie in the country, the Bourne Legacy , the fourth installment of the Bourne movie series, all of which are based on Robert Ludlum;'s novel series bearing the same title. The film stars Jeremy Renner (Hurt Locker) playing the role of Aaron Cross, a state assassin, Rachel Weisz (Constant Gardener) as Dr. Martha Shearing, a medical scientist and Edward Norton as Eric Byer, the primary antagonist. Here's some of the things I want to say to those who haven't watched it yet and especially to those who are planning to watch it. Warning: Before Watching Bourne Legacy, Watch Bourne 1, 2 & 3 Well, as mentioned, this is the fourth movie in the series. And although it tells the story of a new character Aaron Cross (Jason Bourne is the lead character in the previous three Bourne movies), the story is strongly c

English: Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III (2010-present) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) President Benigno Aquino III declares August 20, 2012 as a regular national non-working holiday in Celebration of the Muslim festival  Eid’l Fitr.  The president made the declaration via  Proclamation No. 455 series of 2012. This would be a good news for employees because on the next day, August 21, 2012 (Tuesday) the country will celebrate Ninoy Aquino Day as previously declared via  Proclamation 295 . This weekend will be a long weekend with the two holidays being Monday and Tuesday. And on the week after next week (Monday, August 27), the country will again be on a national holiday in celebration of the National Heroes Day . Not Good News For Flood Stricken Areas? The National Capital Region and neighboring provinces recently suffered from torrential monsoon rains that left the region soaked under floodwater. Classes on all levels has been suspended for almost the entire w

A new announcement regarding suspended classes emerges early this evening that will prevent confusion as to which places have suspended their classes for tomorrow, August 9, 2012. Based on the recommendation of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), Executove Secretary Pacquito Ochoa Jr issued Memorandum Circular No. 34 effectively suspending all classes in the following regions and provinces: National Capital Region (NCR) Zambales Bataan Pampanga Pangasinan Tarlac Bulacan Laguna Cavite  Rizal Habagat Rains to Continue Tomorrow The torrential rains that flooded Metro Manila and other areas in Luzon in the past several days brought about by Soutwest Monsoon (Hanging Habagat) is expected to continue until tomorrow, Thursday. The major dams (Ipo, Lamesa) around Metro Manila has been in overflow levels since Monday. Marikina river is also in a dangerous level forcing evacuation of affected communities. Early this

Due to continuous raining and flooding in many parts of Metro Manila and Luzon, some local governments have declared work and classes suspension. Here are the list of LGUs that declared class suspension for Wednesday, August 8, 2012: - Makati City - all levels, private and public -  Manila  City  - all levels, private and public -  San Juan City  - all levels, private and public - Caloocan - all levels, private and public - Laguna - all levels, private and public - Las Piñas - all levels, private and public - Mandaluyong - all levels, private and public - Marikina - all levels, private and public - Muntinlupa - all levels, private and public -  Navotas - all levels, private and public -  Pampanga - all levels, private and public -  Parañaque - all levels, private and public -  Rodriguez , Rizal - all levels, private and public -  Taguig - all levels, private and public -  Valenzuela - all levels, private and public - Cavite Province - all levels, private and public -

Amid the continuous rain and flooding in Manila that caused several nearby dams to overflow and Marikina river reaching dangerous state, online rage out-poured against the person named "Marian Tan". As of the time of writing Marian Tan is trending in twitter. And as you read over the tweets, you can easily notice the anger of the twitter citizens. Who is Marian Tan? Well, based on her Facebook profile , she was a Freelance model. And based on several information I obtained from the tweets, there was apparently a fake Marian Tan twitter profile that posted several tweets that made fun of the floods occurring in the country. Below is the posts of the allegedly fake Marian Tan Twitter profile. This is apparently the true Marian Tan account: Cyber bullying If proven that the post indeed came from someone pretending to be Marian Tan, this is a good example of cyber bullying, where a person's reputation can be destroyed by fake and baseless allegations inte

Due to continous raining and the rise of floodwater in some areas of Metro Manila, some of the Local Government Units have suspended their classes for tomorrow, August 7, 2012 (Tuesday). Here are the latest list as of the time of writing. - Manila - all levels suspended, public and private - Muntinlupa  - all levels suspended, public and private - Marikina - all levels suspended, public and private - Navotas - all levels suspended, public and private - Paranaque - all levels suspended, public and private - Pateros - all levels suspended, public and private - Makati - all levels suspended, public and private - Taguig - all levels suspended, public and private - Malabon - up to High School suspended, public and private - Cavite Province -  all levels suspended, public and private ( updated ) - Taytay, Binagonan, Rodriguez, Angono, San Mateo , Rizal   - all levels suspended, public and private -  Cainta, Rizal - up High School suspended, public and private -  Las Pinas 

The heavy rain might already stop tomorrow but some areas are still under flood waters. As such, the local government units of those areas have declared class suspensions until tomorrow. Here's the list: - Obando, Bulacan - suspended all levels - Navotas - suspended in all levels -  Valenzuela City - selected schools 1. Rincon Elementary School 2. Pasolo Elementary School 3. Isla Elementary School 4. Tagalag Elementary School 5. Coloong Elementary School 6. Pio Valenzuela Elementary School 7. Wawangpulo Elementary School 8. A. Deato Elementary School 9. P.R. San Diego Elementary School 10. Caruhatan West Elementary School 11. A. Fernando Elementary School 12. Polo National High School 13. Karuhatan National High School 14. Arkong Bato National High School 15. Dalandanan National High School 16. Nuestra Senora De Guia Academy 17. San Diego Parochial School                                   - Malabon - Longos, Taniong, San Agustin, Tonsuyo,