Big Media outlets conspicuously mum on the Willie Revillame flap

At the centre of the flap around the alleged criminal abuse and humiliation of a six-year-old boy on national television by Filipino star entertainer Willie Revillame is the fledgling (but rapidly rising) challenger to Philippine Big Media, TV-5. TV-5 is the broadcasting arm of Mediaquest, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund. It airs the top-rated (in terms of popularity) program Willing Willie where the alleged crime was committed.

No need to panic over nuclear meltdowns in Japan

The air is understandably thick with fear, as the on-going crises surrounding the damage sustained by Japanese nuclear power plants resulting from the recent monster earthquake unfolds. The prospect of a catastrophic reactor meltdown and the possible release, as a result, of radioactive material into the atmosphere was described in an early news report as a disaster that could possibly affect a large swath of the Asia-Pacific region. Images of the plight of survivors of nuclear disasters such as the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster tend to come up whenever the word "radiation" is heard or read.

Hope for Filipinos: Intelligence and cognitive ability CAN be improved!

Scientists have recently been exploring the possibility that intelligence may be a trait that can be improved through training. Intelligence has always been thought to be a trait one is born with. And some scientific studies even proved that it was genetic and that past efforts to improve inherent intelligence yielded temporary results at best (i.e. the subject's cognitive skills reverted back to their original levels after the effort).

Philippines sends warplanes to investigate Chinese harassment of Filipino oil explorers

The Philippine military sent two warplanes to investigate reports of Chinese patrol ships harassing a local oil exploration ship in a region off Palawan near the disputed Spratly Islands known as Reed Bank. According to Philippine officials, Reed Bank is within Philippine territory. The warplanes were scrambled after the passengers and crew of the ship -- a team of oil explorers hired by the Philippine government -- radioed the nearest post of the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Western Command. According to field reports, the crew of the Chinese patrol boats had ordered the exploration team to leave. Deployment of the planes was described by Philippine military commander Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban as a "surveillance" mission.

Doom and gloom for Filipinos: unemployable refugee OFWs and rising energy costs

So much poetry was waxed as Filipinos, harbouring presumptuous paternalistic sentiment, doted upon the supposedly fledgling "people power" revolutionaries making waves in the Middle East. Trouble is, reality crept into the picture beneath the lines-of-sight of the chattering classes. That the livelihoods of a horde of Overseas Foreign Workers (OFWs) deployed there were at risk was an obvious reality that simply flew over the heads of would-be Filipino poets. That reality is now bearing down on the hapless little islands nation of 100 million as it faces the virtually impossible task of absorbing an additional mass of tens of thousands of warm bodies into its flaccid domestic economy.

Is Opus Dei behind the Ayala Alabang anti-contraceptive ordinance drama?

Muntinlupa City has given Ayala Alabang Barangay (township) officials a slap on the wrist after their brazen issuance of Ordinance 1 Series of 2011 that in effect condemns on grounds of "morality" the use of artificial contraceptives within its administrative jurisdiction. The offending ordinance also sought to require a doctor's prescription for the purchase of contraceptive substances and devices in pharmacies within the township. A statement coming from the Muntinlupa City Government confirms the over-turning of this bizarre ordinance.