Philippine news

Another day, another earthquake

No, we didn't feel it: the San Vincente festival and various political rallies are going on in the town square nearby, which means all the heavy trucks are taking a detour around our house....guess one of the loud rumbles was an earthquake.

Dengue fever is surging...it's hot season so the puddles in the open ditch sewers is stagnant and lots of mosquitoes breed there. Since it is also election season, we expect them to spray the area in the near future to show why the mayor is so efficient you need to vote for him.

Since his opponent is the daughter of the mayor who arranged the hit that killed our nephew, the locals have to chose if they want the competent daughter of a murderer or the present mayor who is honest but because he hasn't supported the sandal industry like the previous mayor is unpopular in some quarters.

The race is pretty heated: our cook said they are paying 2000P per vote (50 dollars) instead of the normal price, which is 500 pesos. So the poor are happy selling their votes, figuring that who ever wins it won't matter to them because they are all crooks.

The Nueva Ecija journal says 19 towns and 4 cities are being monitored for election violence: put it this way: the article listed the few cities/towns that aren't being monitored because the list is smaller.

The real problem is political dynasties: the catholic bishops are campaigning against it. But of course, who else has the money to win an election?


Drudge had reports of US planes in the Philippines: but like the war games going on with Korea etc. right now, they are the yearly war games that go on every year.

Update: I just checked, and Drudge has a photo of a flower saying Washington is changing it's rhetoric.

No one is taking their threats seriously: We haven't pulled out our OFW from Korea, and the US hasn't pulled out the military dependents from Korea either. And the news says that there has not been a mobilization of North Korea's army either.