Gun Ban Arrests 47 Peeps!

Sorry for the pic, I meant GUN BAN not TOP GUN! LOL

The Gun Ban in the Philippines started January 10th of this year.

Three out of the 47 people who were arrested for violations was dealt with in court by the Philippine National Police. In a press conference I watched thru ABSCBN PNP Deputy Spokesman Inspector Kimberly Gonzales said that they will be investigating the other ones also and file the corresponding charges as well. There are 5 police men, 3 soldiers, 3 government officials and 36 civilians all in all.

The area of Calabarzon or Region 4A Police had the most number of arrests numbering to 17 and there are 15 guns that were confiscated. Next is Metro Manila where 9 were arrested, 8 in region 6 and 4 in region 2, 3 in region 5 and 2 in regions 12 and 13. One arrested also in regions 1, 8, 9, 11 and ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

This happens every time the election nears in the Philippines but people still forget about it.

Now who’s next?! LOL

Are You Safe?!

There are pretenders among us and there are those who do not get caught. Just yesterday, I was trying to access my public email address and there was a notice from the provider that my account may have been compromised. I was surprised because at this day and age where portals like them spend thousands of dollars advertising that they are fully secured come to a point where they are vulnerable to attacks like these. I am extremely disappointed about them suddenly making my email a spam bot. It was troublesome because everyone suddenly emailed me back disgruntled that I was doing adult email spamming when all along someone else was using it other than me. A few days ago before that, there were people calling my friends asking for money; telling them that I was in a serious accident and needed it for operation and check up. It was a good thing they know the MODUS OPERANDI of these criminals and never fell into their trap. In a span of a month, I got to be twice a victim of identity theft. It was definitely time to make necessary actions to secure myself from these unscrupulous individuals. I really thought I was safe.

Entities like LifeLock Command Center could have helped me eliminate this from happening. But I am 10,000 miles away from the US right now. With professionals and former hackers helping me out on securing data when I was in data base management, it was really easy for me to manage networks at work. The difference is; they should have employed people who could have been better at this. I shall reclaim my identity and change all my codes now. I will not let them win! Be alert!

My Extended Family: The Cruz Family

My friends from college were all present at Mela's wedding and it was a good thing. I got to talk to people I really miss a lot and two of my best friends in college was there with their kid.

Congrats Mel and Edjo!

Reminiscing was given but the chance to reconnect was even more spectacular. Lisa is my twin Sister, we had the same thing for English Literature when we were in college. She impressed me in a lot of ways and she was born on the same day and year as I was so do you see the coincidence?! We almost did know how to finish each other's sentences and it was a delight to see her and my other best friend too.

I think I shot the first one on top right sis?! =)

Yes ladies and gentlemen, my 2 best friends from college got married. I think I have this thing for pairing up people, they kinda know how to get together after I tell a thing or two about them. Call me an unprofessional bridge of sorts but that's how I probably end up LOL. Anyway, my sis worries about me too much but I guess she does have a lot to really worry about me because I did not have that much direction in the past. But I think I turned out pretty good huh?! LOL

My other best friend is Arvie, I don't even know if he treats me like his best bud too but I do that to him... I don't care! LOL. He's an airhead sometimes and I do consequently know how he thinks already. I know it has been pretty long since we have talked but if we do, I know how he is and he's really good at what he's been doing. Both of them are civil engineers so you kinda know how busy their lives are now. Maybe they are not that perfect; but for me they will forever be good friends. Their kid is my godson too so I think we'd probably be seeing each other really often no matter how busy our lives are. I'll be praying for them too so they get to have the same luck I have too this year. Don't worry sis you'll be doin great I know!

Plus the Cruz's family are quite close to my heart. We kinda bonded when we were in college and I kinda miss em already. Ara the Janet Jackson look a like =) , RZ who also got married the other day with Babielyn (I think?! LOL) and Mommy and Daddy... they were such a cool bunch when I was in college and I really darn miss em a lot. =( awe.... I missed going to their wedding because I was so busy with photo shoots. I guess that is one thing that I did regret doing this week, I could have seen them all including Nanay from Caloocan. Hayyy! =( I also miss Liza's Mom who always was there to help me in the Engineering days... aw =(

Congrats Arzie and Bie! =)
Sorry wasn't able to go there but I'm sure you guys had fun on your special day!

*note all pics are stolen from my sis Liza's cam and grabbed from facebook =P hope you don't mind sis!

The Art of Moving

As you can see, moving here in the Philippines is totally different. It is triple hard I guess and everything is informal. Even if you do not know people they will try so hard to still help what ever and where ever they can. Movers come in different packages and in Manila; it is so primitive that they just dump everything on 6 to 10 wheeler trucks. From Cabinets, Drawers, whole beds, tables, chairs and ship anchors are just but a regular site to see. It emanated from a local term BAYANIHAN which literally means heroism. In regular terms, it is how people help other people. It is inculcated in our culture but it would be nice if there are corporations that do this professionally. Who would want their things missing all of a sudden when moving from one apartment to the other anyway?!




People should start being civilized and the way to do it is by handling things with care. I remember the time when I helped my Aunt move from East of Manila to another city in the South; she was already packing lots of clutter and the movers thought it was trash. There were actually antique items from the 30's and 40's on the packages and they almost had thrown it out. Imagine thousands of Philippine pesos worth of designer furniture almost ended up just thrown away by people who do not know what they were doing. That could have spelled disaster and loss of property already. Sometimes we should never let other people handle what we treasure because they are not capable enough to handle educated decisions. The question is; are there moving services in the Philippines that can do this?! I guess not!

There are no institutions here like HIREAHELPER which handles people who know what they are specifically doing. From landscaping, moving, cleaning and everyday labor; the list goes on with the expertise they can handle. With that, I hope these moving companies try to reach out in this part of the globe so we get the same services they have in the United States. It would really be a big relief on a very burdensome task for regular people like us. I envy they have professionals who can do this in the US. If you need to, just make sure you give them a call. You'll end up happier in that new home you love!