A Business Graduate's Random Blog on History and Gossip

It's the Chinese New Year once again. Some  ignorant people have their ill feelings towards Chinese Filipinos, never mind the long history of Chinese immigrants who have become Filipinos. A simple classroom history lesson to a Google search, will tell us what it meant to be a Filipino.  What does it mean to be a Filipino?  It's often said that Filipino is more of a nationality than a race. Here's the definition of what it means to be a Filipino: 1 : a native of the Philippine Islands 2 : a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines 3 : the Tagalog-based official language of the Republic of the Philippines Filipino adjective  According to the current constitution, these define what makes one a Filipino: Section 1. The following are citizens of the Philippines: [1] Those who are citizens of the Philippines at the time of the adoption of this Constitution; [2] Those whose fathers or mothers are citizens of the Philippines; [3] Those born before January 17, 1973, of Fili...

It's possible that the mind of Alan LM Purisima would replay events that led to the SAF-44 hearing that followed. It's January 25, 2025, meaning that would be 10 years since the Mamasapano Massacre happened. It was during that time when Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan was eventually killed. However, serious disarray and a lack of coordination led to the deaths of 44 people. Watching those videos reminded me of my feisty high school economics teacher. I've been scolded by her many times but I don't hold a grudge. Honestly, I still have a debt of gratitude to my teacher who I always called "Madame Miriam". Yes, she was like the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago in some way! I had grown to respect my MDS style teacher even more after seeing the SAF-44 trial.  Can you give advice when you're preventively suspended? Should I be laughing or cringing at Purisima's words ? I may be no lawyer, but I don't need a legal law dictionary to underst...

Above is a GIF I created. After writing on crab mentality and the Filipino First Policy --I got inspired to write about why mud crabs change color. Mud crab dishes are one of my favorite foods in Surigao City. The color is dark but when it's cooked, it goes red. The Tavern Hotel is among the best places to get a mud crab dish.  Now, it's time to do science as a daily hobby. Sure, I'm no chemist or biochemist. However, researching and studying science as a hobby is sure fun. Here's an explanation from The Conversation : A crustacean’s exoskeletons contain several chemicals called pigments, which give the crabs and prawns their colour. One of these is an orange-ey pigment called “astaxanthin”. This is a member of the family of pigments that is responsible for colouring many of the yellow, orange and red animals. When the crustaceans are alive, the astaxanthin is tightly wrapped up and trapped by a special protein called “crustacyanin”. This is why live crabs and prawns us...

The late Pepsi Paloma (Delia Dueñas Smith) is one death I only knew about decades later. Delia died at only 18 years old in 1985. It would be 40 years since it happened and it's still a mystery. Right now, I feel that Daryl Yap's film The Rapists of Pepsi Paloma is simply there for box office tickets. Is it me or are exploitation films that claim to be based on the truth, really a fad? Some of the exploitation films are probably just meant for box office receipts. For example,  Animal (2004) was a fictional film based on the Chiong Sisters Case. Later, the film Jacqueline Comes Home (read my review here )   was supposedly based on what happened to the Chiong Sisters. Like the Chiong Sisters, it seems that nobody will really know what led Pepsi to end her life at only 18 years old. Manila Bulletin The Manila Bulletin also shows this: Pepsi also appeared in other sexy films, such as Virgin People and Naked Island released in 1984. In 1982, Pepsi and fellow sexy star Guada Guar...

Should we panic or should we not panic? Life during the COVID-19 pandemic was deadly. What we must remember is that COVID-19 was a novel virus at that time. Meanwhile, the human metapneumovirus (HMPV) has surged in China. Should we immediately assume that "Oh no! Another lockdown is coming for the world!" or should we remain calm? I feel tense right now, even as I'm writing this. Partly, it's because I'm an outgoing person. Another reason is that I recall the number of Filipinos (both politicians and civilians) who do not follow simple guidelines. Right now, I can expect more racist attacks because I'm ethnically Chinese. I could even explain for all I care that (1) I was born in the Philippines, (2) I was raised in the Philippines, and (3) explain fluently that I never lived in China. The problem is that racist Filipinos do exist--never mind that the Philippines is a melting pot of several cultures! The recent Alice Guo (Guo Hua Ping) controversy where people...

JoseRizal.com Today is Rizal Day and I found myself admiring him. I don't have his level of genius. Some people often joked that practiced the Rizal hairstyle. He was only 5.28 feet, which may have been considered tall at that time compared to today's standards. This takes me back in time when my Filipino teacher (forgot her full name) asked, "Do you have to be born a Filipino to be truly Filipino. If we must accept it, Rizal's blood was Chinese." Rizal would be a Chinese mestizo. Look into his history. Rizal's great-great-grandfather was a Chinese immigrant . Those questions forever shook my mind slowly but surely. I'm Chinese by blood but I was born into the Philippines, from Filipino citizen parents, even if my great-grandparents were mostly from China.  Concerning Rizal's ancestor, this is an interesting detail: Domingo Lamco: A Beacon of Resilience Domingo Lamco, also known by his Chinese name Cua Yi-Lam (“Ke Yi-Nan” in Mandarin), was a trailblaze...

Yes, disasters can happen during the Christmas Season. Google " Christmas Day disasters " and you will find that Christmas isn't immune to disasters. One of the worst Christmas season disasters aside from the December 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami would be the birth of Mao Zedong on December 26 , 1893. Yes, he was born during the Christmas Season. He wasn't there to spread Christmas cheer. Instead, he was born to cause disaster even beyond the Christmas Season! The Christmas season disaster that heralded a series of disasters It's amazing how some people still idolize this monster. Some victims of Christmas Season disasters may have gotten over and celebrated Christmas a few years later. However, Mao's rule caused one disaster after the other. A review of history would reveal the disastrous results of his dictatorship.  How Stuff Works reveals this detail on Mao's rule: His Controversial Rule   After solidifying his grasp on power, and winning over the ...

December 20, 1987 , would be a fateful date. Disasters happen any time of the year and that includes Christmas. Christmas tragedies are as real as tragedies in any time of the year. This would also include a critique against unscrupulous business practices. It's a trend where people go home for the holidays, right?Sadly, a lot of vehicular accidents happen worse on December because of disregarding safety rules than because it's December. Some Christmas season disasters could've been avoided if safety protocols weren't ignored. It's easy to get too excited for Christmas that people don't play it safe. Some people even prioritize Christmas over safety even during natural disasters. It was in the late 1990s when I heard of Doña Paz. It was dubbed as the Titanic of Asia. It was also in the 1990s when the movie Titanic (which by the way, had fictionalized elements) such as the love story of Jack and Rose. It was that time I became a fan of Celine Dion's singing. ...

It's crazy when a regular civilian talks more sense than the American mass media. The video I watched brought me to the Jordan Neely incident. This was also the video that had me thinking about leftists who think "CEOs are evil and they have the easiest job in the world!" People who say no billionaire has worked as hard as the water, don't realize that the more money one has, the heavier the responsibility.  While listening to this commentary, I was curious and Googled "Jordan Neely". It turned out that the homeless man was a criminal . Times Now reveals this staggering detail: Neely had 43 prior arrests between 2013 and 2021 , according to the authorities. Four alleged assaults, transportation fraud, and trespassing were among the charges. Additionally, he has an ongoing warrant for an assault in 2021. Low-level violations like public drinking were the subject of several arrests. The NYPD came under fire for making Neely's medical and criminal records ...

I was looking at Elliot Eastman's case. Is he already the late Elliot Eastman? According to one of the suspects, it seems so. Has Elliot become the case of a body never found murder? Elliot may have become like the presumed late Jacqueline Jimenea Chiong or the late Helle Crafts (read here ). As I was listening to this, one can think that Elliot may be dead with the body never found . GMA Regional TV gives this information which hints that Elliot may be dead: The Police Regional Office-Zamboanga (PRO-9) on Thursday, December 5, 2024, said American content creator Elliot Eastman who was abducted in Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte may already be dead based on accounts of a witness and one of the suspects. PRO-9 said the “Critical Incident Management Task Group (CIMTG) Eastman” has obtained information from a witness that Eastman died the night of his abduction on October 17, 2024. Police said that according to the witness, Eastman sustained two gunshot wounds after he tried to resist wh...