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He is all over the US media and the Inquirer’s Sunday editorial talks about his conquest. CNN gives a comprehensive coverage but its EWTN that appeals to me both on TV and the Internet.

I’m one of the 1.1 billion that he shepherds. A tough mission. But he is ‘tougher’ and it started long before he accepted his current post.

And by the way, Uno’s name, John Benedict came from his paternal grandfather and from Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger’s name.

You know you’re a blog addict if you find this interererting.

Yes, blogs can ruin your life

April 01, 2008
Updated 18:25:48 (Mla time)
Pam Pastor
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—The Internet-savvy should think of the past few weeks as more than just a hate fest and a gossip buffet. It is a wake-up call—and a testament to the true powers of blogging.

After countless names have been thrown around the World Wide Web and smeared with nastiness, many have expressed fear about people blogging about them.

But the truth is, you should be concerned not only with what others post about you. You should also be careful about what you post about yourself.

Read the rest of the article.

And after a very long time of being absent infront of the TV, I was glued to the tube last Wednesday at ANC watching Korina Sanchez and her guests as they talked about the Pinoys’ growing interest in blogging because of one sensational blog maintained by an Australian blogger named Brian Gorell.

Ahh.. there are blogs and there are blogs… Millions of them out there. With countless of stories to tell. I have mine too and its neither something righteous nor sensational. Its just a story of finding a friend and keeping the friendship alive. Between blogging and everything.

Spratlys Islands 101

Meron akong naging kakilala na nadestino sa Spratlys Isalnds. Ang sabi n’ya sa akin, noong nandun sila sa Spratlys, bukod sa pagbabantay doon, wala naman daw silang ginagawa kundi maglakad sa buhangin, maligo sa dagat, tumingin sa mga tala sa kalangitan tuwing gabi at makipag-kawayan sa mga Vietnamese at Chinese na nasa mga karatig isla din ng Spratlys. Nang tinanong ko s’ya kung naramdaman ba n’ya ang kaba na baka magsagupaan sila, ang sabi n’ya lang ay hindi naman daw mangyayari yun dahil sila-sila lang ang naroon at wala naman daw dahilan para magsagupaan sila. Simpleng sagot sa simpleng tanong.

May isang komentarista ang nagpahayag na hindi lang “occupation of the island” ang solusyon sa isyu tungkol sa Spratlys. Pero makakatulong daw ito sa pagpapalakas ng legal na pag-angkin ng Pilipinas. Meron namang mga Pinoy na umuukupa sa mga isla at sila ay naroon sa Kalayaan, Palawan. Ito ay nasa kanlurang bahagi ng Spratlys. Katunayan nga may cell site doon ang Smart. Eh di pag bumisita ako sa Kalayaan, p’wede ko kayong i-text at p’wede rin akong mag-online kase ang GPRS ng cell phone ko ay sa network ng Smart.

Pino-promote ang Kalayaan bilang destinasyon pang turismo at sa palagay ko ito ay maganda naman. At kung may mga turista, dapat may mall. Ang sagot d’yan, syempre SM City-Spratlys Island. Lima-singko na ang mga mall dito sa Manila. Panahon na para magkaroon naman ng branch dun sa Spratlys.

Mga Chinese ang masyadong interesado sa Spratlys. Chinese-Filipino naman ang may-ari ng SM Group of Companies. Hmmm… ibang kwento na naman ito.

Gayunpaman, ang sabi nga ng themesong ng SM,”we’ve got it all for you.” Pati na ang Spratlys Islands. Bongga di ba!

Philippine court acquits Imelda Marcos

Yesterday my friend sent me a forwarded email entitled ‘Do you still love the Philippines’. She said its a good conversation piece. Then later in the day, I saw the news about the former first lady. The things that came to my mind was nutri-bun and Voltles V. Nutri-bun was a kind of ‘nutritious’ bread rationed in public schools when we were kids. Kids knew there was more in the bread when you open it and if you’re not lucky you can’t return it once its given to you. You either have to eat or throw it away. Many of us threw a lot of nutri-buns.

And who can forget ‘Let’s bolt in! Ta-ta-ta-nan-Tan-tan!’ The classic intro of the Voltes V theme song. The cartoon series was so famous that the late president had to ban it because according to some insiders, nobody watched his press conference anymore since everybody was engrossed with the Voltes team fighting the evil Bozanians.

Twenty two years ago, we sent them packing to the land of pearly shells thinking we got rid of the evil similar to the Bozanians. But now, look at the headlines. And the current residents of the palace and how they ‘behave’.

Back to the question raised by my friend’s email, of course I still love the Philippines. I have reasons to believe that the country is not hopeless. Its just too bad that the majority of people never learned and still refuse to learn from history.

The Devil You Know crushed The Devil You Don’t Know (but already know this time around) for the second time. I thought he’s gonna be brave and walk his talk. But he chickened out and found himself in deep shit, again.

He cynically put people in harm’s way,.. and for what? To prove to the nation that his alternative to the “ruthlessness” of the Arroyo presidency was his own brand of incompetence.

A former colony named after a royalty, the blood of your half-forgotten warriors are parched in your tropical sun. The footsteps of your heroes echoed in wars and revolutions. One hundred and nine years of independence… and still struggling to be free…