A Business Graduate's Reviewing History Blog

Here's a video of an old man dancing to the Taiwanese folk song "High Green Mountain". This is one of my favorite versions. The song ends with an aboriginal chant--something that sounds like an Ifugao beat from Nueva Ecija. 

After eating at La Salsa Fil-Mex Cantina (the restaurant is from Zamboanga), I suddenly became interested in Mexico, Pampanga. I find the food delicious and I want to eat more of their dishes. Someone cooks sisig and I would think of chimichanga or burrito. Sisig is a pork dish made from the muscles of the pig's head. I looked into a Mexican menu and found the word barbacoa, which sounds like balbacua . I got into a conversation with a Mexican tourist. The Philippines was a Spanish colony. Spanish influence would be more prevalent in Luzon and Visayas than in Mindanao. Not all of Mindanao was conquered by Spain.  I looked into the history of Mexico, Pampanga, from the official website : That the town of Mexico was said to have been founded in the year 1581. In the book of a certain Fr. Buzeta, conquerors arrived in this town in small boats coming from the south landing in a bushy place now called San Jose Matulid. But according to Augustininan records, the town was probably founded...

People often argue that it's not the system but the people who run it. Some people have their examples like the late former Philippine president Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" C. Aquino III and former Philippine vice president Atty. Maria Leonor "Leni" S. Gerona-Robredo. They would say that both Noynoy and Leni are "prime examples" why charter change isn't needed, just a change of people in power. Some people even say that the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines is "inviolate". If that's so then what happened to Article XVII that makes it open to amendments? Why wasn't that even used? That means even making a new constitution isn't illegal per se--unless one did what Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. did during the martial law era! However, if we understand simple psychological science, we need to look at basic psychology. Please, I don't need a doctorate in certain degrees, in the Greenbelt Universities, to understand that there are mist...

iStock Happy Halloween, right? I would like to write something scary. I've written some blog entries under the label "crime". My two favorite topics are the Vizconde Massacre Case, which was followed by the Chiong Sisters Case. It's amazing that one of the siblings of Marijoy Jimenea Chiong and Jacqueline Jimenea Chiong, was actually my schoolmate at the University of San Carlos. Some people knew this Chiong sibling as Debbie Jane Chiong-Sia, who by the way, isn't Jacqueline . Jacqueline would be in her 50s would she have lived. I didn't care anymore about the case until someone told me, "Do you remember Paco Larrañaga? He was innocent!" It scared me straight. The question was given to me after someone also mentioned Hubert Jeffry P. Webb as innocent regarding the Vizconde Massacre case. I believed that both Paco and Jeffry were guilty. The scary truth was that they were innocent  of the crimes. I got interested in digging into the crimes.  Back in t...

It would be Halloween tomorrow. Sorry in advance for non-Tagalog speakers if you can't understand. It's too bad I have no transcript to translate to English. Instead of wasting time on Noli de Castro's "Aswang" videos--it would be best to rewatch this documentary. I wish I had seen it back when it was first aired. A lot of inconsistencies are pointed out in this documentary. Apparently, it was aired on October 16, 2008. The video doesn't deny Francisco Juan "Paco" G. Larrañaga's previous case of attempted kidnapping, the Uy brothers' mother revealing that her sons weren't friends with Paco during that time, and the fact that there's a lot of inconsistencies . How can I honor the Supreme Court decision after realizing that Davidson Rusia wasn't even cross-examined, where was all the evidence, and blind faith in the judiciary that it will never convict an innocent person?  I encourage people to watch this episode and see it for them...

GMA News There was a handshake between former vice president Atty. Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona-Robredo and President Ferdinand "Bongbong" R. Marcos Jr. in Sorsorgon . The two shook hands despite the rivalry they had in 2016 and 2022 for two positions. Recently, Kristine PH has caused damage in certain areas of Luzon. Marcos has shown a sign of courtesy to Mrs. Robredo by sending rubber boats to Naga, Camarines Sur . It can be said, "See, we don't need a parliamentary system! Marcos and Robredo are now on good terms!" However, we can't always guarantee that the Government and the Opposition will always be on good terms. Some people still assume that systems don't matter. I even remember passing on someone on Facebook who said, "Why don't you give me a study that will prove the parliamentary system will work in the Philippines?" I fired a rebuttal and said, "Where's your study that the parliamentary system will make it worse...

  It's been more than 10 years (and I forgot it was the 10th anniversary of this incident in 2023) since the 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit Bohol. Certain centuries-old historical spots were damaged. All that was during the reign of the late former president Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III. The Philippines is under President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. I forgot about the earthquake then I checked my Facebook feeds today.  The photos above are taken from the Facebook page Pmi Confession . I went to Bohol in 2008 for a family reunion. Who'd have thought it was the last time I might see those historical landmarks. I can't exactly remember the places. It's disheartening to watch as these places were all destroyed, after centuries of preservation. It was like the Notre Dame De Paris cathedral fire. Junior Rangers Cebu Brigade It also affected my hometown of Cebu City. What a day to start the morning huh? The famous Sto. Niño Church was already centuries old--hence explaining the dama...

2025 is just around the corner for the midterm elections . People keep emphasizing the need to "defend the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines" for any amendments whatsoever. If that were true then we really need to remove Article XVII entirely if the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines was meant to be set in stone (read here ). Several camps whether it's PDP-Laban supporters, Liberal Party of the Philippines supporters, Uniteam supporters, etc.--I can expect social media mudslinging at its finest . I keep talking about the need to amend or even replace the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines. However, they keep acting like it's the best constitution in the world, they cite Atty. Hilario G. Davide Jr. (and others like the Monsods) to idolatrous levels , and when I talk about the parliamentary system--I can expect the whole, "Boohoo! It will never work because we already tried it under Marcos! The proof was Cesar Virata!" However, I wrote a refute on that ...

Vietnam Times October 10 is mostly associated with Double 10 in Taiwan. However, Communism has its celebration with Hanoi Liberation Day . I got this information from the Vietnam Times on what the day is all about: Along with the victory of Dien Bien Phu campaign, the Geneva Agreements on armistice in Indochina was signed. After many days of struggling in the Geneva Conference, agreements on transfering Hanoi to the Vietnamese people were finally signed on September 30th and October 2nd 1954 in the United Armistice Center Committee. Following the Resolution on September 17th 1954 of the Government Council, the City Troops Committee of Hanoi was established with General Vuong Thua Vu, the commander of the Pioneer Division, as the Chairman and doctor Tran Duy Hung as the Vice Chairman. The City Troops Committee of Hanoi had the task of taking over and managing the city. The Military Commanders ordered the Vietnamese soldier units to take over the city of Hanoi and abide by the policies ...

I was subscribed to Misha Petrov's YouTube. I don't agree with her on everything. However, this video really shows America's wrong priorities . Did you read that right? Why is America offering help and advice to other countries, when it can't fix its problems ? Why is money that's supposedly for the citizens first given to illegal immigrants and other countries instead?  As I listened to this video--the problem is that the American government is that it doesn't know when not to get involved. Why get involved with other countries if they can't fix their own side first? It's good for America to provide help and advice. However, America's credibility is shrunk as it gets. Why meddle with politics in any country when politics in America can get questionable.  As I was looking at this video of San Francisco's decline (and some fools blame capitalism over woke attitudes)--can I truly take advice from America? Taking advice from America for national imp...

  An injustice for one is an injustice for the whole community . What people never thought that in their demand for blood--the wrong people were caught! It turns out that Francisco Juan "Paco" G. Larrañaga was in Quezon City when the Chiong sisters went missing (read here ). On October 7, 1999, the trial judge who had doubts about the body found in the ravine was found dead in Waterfront, Lapu-Lapu. The incident happened while I was still in my  second year of high school . There was not much access to the Internet back then nor was it viewed as a necessity, unlike today! Back then, I felt Ocampo was murdered. There was allegedly some hair sample that was his--probably his mistress. However, forensics expert Dr. Raquel Fortun has concluded it was suicide . Dr. Fortun also showed up in the documentary Give Up Tomorrow which highlights two things--a crime that remains unsolved and how Paco was wrongfully arrested. Paco admitted on Dong Puno Live that he and Josman Aznar have a ...