I Support The Reproductive Health Bill

I am quoting this (since it reflects my exact sentiments) with permission from Carlos Celdran, who created the group on Facebook:

I am sick and tired of hearing that more that 50% of all pregnancies in the Philippines are unwanted.

I am appalled by the fact that 1 out of 4 of these unwanted pregnancies result in an illegal abortion with complications that end up in the deaths of mothers and their babies

I am tired of the Catholic Church of the Philippines getting involved in affairs of the Philippine state.

I am a believer that contraception is NOT abortion.

Put the Bishops in their place. Show congress that there is truth to the survey that 90% of Filipinos (Catholic) want access to ARTIFICIAL BIRTH CONTROL METHODS.

PASS THE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL NOW.

Sign the petition here:
http://www.petitiononline.com/rhan2008/petition.html

For more information, please contact Carlos Celdran at:

Facebook: I SUPPORT THE REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL Group
Email: celdrantours@hotmail.com
1991 M.H. del Pilar St.,
Malate, Manila.
Tel. (0929) 909-2021

Resurrecting Old Posts

Back in the days when blogging (to me) was new, I wrote and wrote and wrote. At the time, I didn't know the power of having a good URL. And when I realized that having a good blog title and having a good URL were inextricably linked... I didn't know how to change the URL!

I finally figured out how in late 2007, but I was busy with my Accountability Group (Jopet, Jovic and Chinne), and was also busy moving from one relationship to another. The writing was crappy. I totally deleted that blog and started again with this one. It's a better reflection of who I am at this time.

Now I'm transferring the early blog entries to this blog. Without the photos, since Picasa didn't keep them. As I read the older stuff I wrote, I realize how some of my writing has changed since. It's too bad I have to give up the comments, but at least the main articles are here. Some give me ideas for future entries.

It's funny how my craft blog Knittipina has a greater readership -- that's because its audience is very specific. My Personal Geographic Multiply blog does not contain some of the articles that are in here. My Wordpress mirror site is more like this, although not as updated. I just choose to keep it that way.

Personal Geographic is a work in progress.

Paging Philpost

I read this today in the Inquirer. It's a letter of complaint against Philpost by Australia-based Jaynzee Tolaram, buried amidst the Obama-mania. The topic has been top-of-mind with me ever since I did some eBay transactions a while back.

The country desperately needs a reliable, professionally-run Philippine postal service. According to Philpost's website, they're trying to build one. Jaynzee just reminds us that we are all entitled to the same answer she's seeking while Philpost is in the middle of that process.

Filipino worker in Australia denies getting reimbursement for lost boxes from Philpost
(also in Letters to the Editor, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 06 November 2008, p. A14):

"If PhilPost can show a receipt to prove the reimbursement, that should settle matters.

I'm referring to the letter of Hector Villanueva, postmaster general and CEO of the Philippine Postal Corporation (Inquirer, 9/22/08). The letter mentioned Jaynzee Tolaram as among those who 'have all received their reimbursement." This is a lie.

I think there is only one Jaynzee Tolaram from Australia and Naga City. It's I. And I haven't received any reimbursement or money for the five big boxes I posted in three different post offices in the Philippines.

I mailed two boxes in Naga -- one in November 2007, and another in December 2007; and one in Makati City Post Office in December 2007. Also in December 2007, I mailed three boxes in the Manila Central Post Office -- one box reached its destination, but the other two got lost. I can't just believe five of seven boxes were lost.

The loss broke my heart. The boxes contained samples of Filipino products that I wanted to market in Australia, I spent a lot of time and money selecting them meticulously -- at a trade show, in faraway places I've never been before; and then I had to pack them carefully, etc. All the hard work, money and my enthusiasm to help Filipino entrepreneurs find a market in Australia just went for naught." Read the rest here.

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Ms. Tolaram certainly deserves a considerate and reassuring reply concerning appropriate action.

When you do a Google search of Philpost, the more eyecatching links aren't necessarily the positive ones. GMA News alone groups together the ff. alarming Philpost news -- missing valuables sent from Australia to RP, Philpost exec in sexual harrassment case, firemen looting Philpost blaze. At least we also get reports that through their own investigations, Philpost manages to catch some scalawags in their system. The Manila Standard reported three years ago that a Japanese IT firm will modernize Philpost through a 7-year plan, to make it at par with Japan or Taiwan. One of the ways it is supposed to help reduce fraud is through a track-and-trace system. Funding was approved by NEDA in 2006, and I'm sure all of you would like to know what's happened since then. There's news of a Manny Pacquiao stamp, and a letter-writing contest, but that's window-dressing.

How cool it would be if a qualified third-party organization conducted a survey on customer perceptions of Philpost.

While we can't seem to do much about the impunity of Dela Paz and the Euro-gate generals and while we make Joc-jocs about Bolante's convenient ulcer or lack thereof, this is surely something Philpost can work on without a Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing.