Isko's big comeback!

It has been seventeen days since the campaign period started and we're already swamped with schedules. Our first nominee, Rep. Mong Palatino is in Mindanao for a campaign sortie right now. So as Atty. Kat Castillo. Vencer Crisostomo, our Secretary General, is also out-of-town for another campaign schedule in Region V. Meanwhile, our Deputy Sec. Gen. Ana Vania Fatalla is in Pangasinan for yet another big sortie.

Schedules left and right, we sometimes cannot afford to handle the many schedules lined up for our nominees and officers, hence, the good news that Isko will be coming out soon is such a welcome surprise.

First week of February was web-surfing in search of a mascot maker. It was all worth the effort as we finally found the right mascot maker. He is Sam Fuentes. I already met up with him to discuss our specific requests. I learned that Sam made puppets for GMA-7's kiddie show, "Batang Bibbo." I also learned that he made the beautiful headdresses for theater play Jack and the Beanstalk staged by Repertory Philippines in August last year.

(I watched Jack and the Beanstalk last year with my niece at Onstage, Greenbelt and was really impressed with the props).

Who really is Isko?

Isko was launched in 2007. He first came out in public during the opening of the campaign at Liwasang Bonifacio. He was so loved by our members. Dinudumog siya, as in.

Isko, short for Iskolar ng Bayan, was a product of a collaboration between our members who come from UP College of Fine Arts and some dear artists/friends. He wouldn't have existed without the help of Wena of Sinagbayan and Karla of CEGP.

Isko is terribly missed in our campaign sorties. He missed this year's UP Fair but we promise he'll be out in a few more days.

After his brief absence, Isko deserves a big comeback.

(I actually took some pre-production pictures but opted not to post them here to add up to everyone's excitement of seeing Isko again).

CHED yielded to our call, releases memo disallowing "no permit, no exam" policy

The Commission on Higher Education finally issued a memorandum on January 22, 2010, in response to the House Bill 6799 or the "Anti-No-Permit, No-Exam Policy" filed by Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raymond "Mong" Palatino last September 10, 2009.

This was after some officials of CHED attended a committee hearing of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education (CHTE), where the bill was discussed. It was in the same occasion that CHED officials promised to release a memorandum.

The memorandum clearly states that "higher education institutions shall allow students with delinquent accounts to take school examinations," provided that they would present a promissory note stating when their financial obligation would be settled.

The "no-permit, no-exam" policy was implemented by school administrators to prevent students who have outstanding balances/fees from taking exams unless a waiver has been secured.

CHED would not have issued such a memorandum without the presence of a bill that addresses this decade-long anti-student policy affecting students especially those in private schools.

Subsequently, only a few days after the release of such memorandum, the Federation of Associations of Private Schools and Administrators (Fapsa) quickly reacted strongly against the implementation of such memorandum saying it was “not well thought-out and [one that] will surely render small private schools” out of the business.

The strong opposition of school owners was already expected as they had been successful in implementing such policy without CHED stopping them from doing so.

Support House Bill 6799. No to "no-permit, no-exam" policy.
Hb 6799 Anti No Permit No Exam Bill 2


Sources: Business Mirror, GMA News, Yahoo News, ABS-CBN

Tweetdeck or Hootsuite?

I used to be a big fan of Tweetdeck. In fact, after having discovered the usefulness of it, I started recommending it to friends. At first, fellow blogger Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raymond “Mong” Palatino prodded me to use Twhirl, but I find Tweetdeck a better software. I even encouraged friends who were just starting to use Twitter to use Tweetdeck.

I opted to use such a software because I was trying to avoid Facebook. (Peace man!). This was the height of my abhorrence to games being posted on my wall, quizzes inundating my newsfeeds. I must admit, when FB was fast becoming popular, I was one of those who got really hooked. But an unfortunate event in July 2009, stopped me from using it for a month. I realized then that I could live without FB, haha! Thanks to TD, the propensity to spend hours facebooking has lessened.

With TD, several windows may be customized to show both FB and Twitter posts. Even wall posts of friends, shout outs, Twitter mentions can be viewed. You may comment to FB post right through TD.

But while I was writing this post, good friend-blogger Tonyo Cruz suggested that Hootsuite was a better choice.


Tonyo was indeed right. I was convinced. Hootsuite was a better choice. It works just like Tweetdeck minus the downside of having to download and re-install the latter whenever you use a different PC/Laptop. Hootsuite is web-based; there's no need to install the program; and it lets you post updates to your facebook, twitter, ping.fm, and even wordpress. Just like TD, windows may be customized to show FB wall, shoutouts, plus Twitter sent posts and pending posts. Cool!

Make your choice. My vote goes to Hootsuite.

CyberCrime Act of 2009: What a vicious way to start the year

The first day of the session for 2010 started with a draconian bill passing third and final reading at the House of Representatives (HOR).

The House leadership fulfilled its promise early this January that it shall fast track the Cybercrime bill.

That was Monday, January 18, 2009. A lot may not be aware but a draconian bill was being brewed at that time. After a few privilege speeches, the bill was deliberated at the HOR. The sole NO vote came from Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino, as house journal shows. One hundred seventy five lawmakers voted in favor of the bill, 166 were present. (As of this writing, other Congressmen and Party-list Representatives might have already submitted their “no” vote).
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Over the weekend, former Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Esperanza Cabral filed a libel case against blogger "Ella", who posted her personal thoughts and observations about DWSD's non-distribution of goods stocked at the agency's warehouses.

That blog post earned the ire of a number of people: from netizens and bloggers, to many other concerned groups and individuals. The news came as a brazen insult to the well-being of the victims. Many thought how shameless of this government, through its social service department, to hoard such goods when many NGOs, groups and individuals at that time, have been raising heaven and earth to get enough goods as it could gather for the countless victims.

What message does the filing of libel case against a fellow blogger send to us?

It is alarming that even at this time when the Cybercrime Act of 2009 has not yet been signed into law, we can already sense a crystal clear picture of how this bill, once signed into law, can be used against us.

From the way the bill has been railroaded, you can already draw conclusion that this will be used against those critical of the government – that to record, upload, and write about the truth has no place in the government that will use every possible means to hide the truth. GMA has so many things to be afraid of: from the Hello Garci scandal to the many other unwritten, transgressions of GMA.

It is already election time. Note that this will be the first automated election in the history of the country. Automation connotes the use of technology. At this time of tweeting, blogging and microblogging, the people were empowered to bring news that a few media outfits have the power to do so.

The CyberCrime bill will indisputably pin down on people’s freedom to use the internet to bring fresh news to the people especially this year when many are keeping an eye on the automation.

We can still stall passage of this bill at the Senate. Let us spread the news that this anti-people, anti-blogger bill should be stopped.

Related links: The Danger with the CyberCrime Act of 2009

Get to Know the CyberCrime Prevention Act of 2009

House Bill 6974 also known as CyberCrimePrevention Act of 2009 is already on its third reading. House Speaker Prospero Nograles announced that this is among his priority bills. Given that Congress has less than 14 sessions, this bill may be railroaded.

Get to know the facts.

Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raymond Palatino stated that his opposition to the proposed bill is for similar reasons that he is against the Right of Reply Bill. “The bill may be used to stifle freedom of expression, speech and the press and may violate the people’s right to privacy. The definition of ‘cybercrime’ in the bill is vague and its scope overly-broad that it may criminalize ordinary electronic activities of any Tom, Dick or Harry who uses the Internet, a mobile phone or any electronic device,” he said.

Check out Kabataan Party-list's full statement here.