Well, that best describes my current situation. I’m on travel for my field work. Trying to talk to farmers in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam. I was in Bangkok last week, and now I’m currently in Lao PDR–in the beautiful city of Vientiane! It was nice to be back, though it would have been better if the family was with me. So, in my loneliness in quickly touring Bangkok, I ended buying a new lens for my camera and a DS game for my kids (nothing yet for the wife, but I’ll find something along the way) :). Well, hopefully I will have good photos to show you in the coming days–well head to my flickr page, that is.

till next time!

That the Abu Sayyaf kidnapped Prof. Octavio Dinampo together with the journalist Ces Drilon and her crew reflects badly on the bandits—but they are bandits, plain and simple. The initial response of the police to Dinampo’s fate reflects badly on the government too. We hope they can still listen to reason.

This was how editors from the Philippine Daily Inquirer summarized its reaction to the kidnapping of broadcast journalist Ces Drilon, her crew and guide. There are mixed reactions to the kidnapping of Ms. Ces Drilon, her crew and a guide but I believe the response of the police reflects the general response of government officials on a certain crisis–poor.

It reflects lack of knowledge and while they might insist there are certain protocols in time of emergency, there is none operational. In this case, there are a number of people who would like to be at the helm and be the gatekeeper of information. This just one time that you get national media coverage, why not maximize it?

They have also showed double standards with regard to the treatment of criminal situation in the Philippines. As reflected in the reaction of bloggers, if the kidnapped person is a virtual unknown, then it might have been a different story, for the rich Pinoy then another and so on.

Equality is never achieved in a country that keeps changing its mind on its laws more so on the leaders that it elects (the legitimacy of the current government leadership is still doubted up to now). The government should be leading the way in service standards and yet there is sustained frustration among its people and one can just shout in frustration while others could only write their rants in a number of platform (and pray that they do not get sued!).

There is great respect for the Filipino talent as knowledge or skilled workers but why is it that whenever we get together we just show the worst of our identity?

Now, if only the government–starting with the Philippine National Police–stick to their protocols and handle such situation with utmost professionalism then I think there can only be minimal mistake.

Ces Drilon STR/AFP/Getty Images

The Australian version of Gizmodo was rebuked by Optus for an alleged leaked info on its pricing details of  iPhone. Gizmodo reported that a tipster reported that Optus will be offering the popular smart phone on post paid contracts.

Optus and Vodafone will be offering iPhone in Australia next month. Optus has started receiving reservations for the phone though those who reserved are not obliged to buy the phone when it comes out on July 11. Both companies have yet to release pricing details on the pre-paid iPhone.

In the Philippines, Globe will be offering iPhone on post paid plans but there are plans to offer pre-paid plans on iPhone according to a report by Yuga.

Pirates attacked a Philippine Livestock transport ship for about two hours in Indonesian waters, Perthnow.com reported. The ship came from General Santos City and was bound for Broome in Western Australia. None of the 22 Filipino crew were reported hurt. The ship was able to evade four speed boat carrying the pirates and had to return to its port of origin for repairs. The ship was to pick-up a shipment of cattle.

The Philippine Navy said that this was the first time that a pirate attack was reported in the area.

Photo and video sharing site Ringo apparently succumbed to competition and will end its service at the end of this month. Ringo is a fast and simple photo and video sharing site. In recent months, it has improved its website’s looks and services and have asked members to fill in surveys or visit sponsor sites to ‘keep Ringo free.’

Ringo yesterday sent its members the notice below:

Dear Ringo member,

After much consideration we have decided to end the Ringo service.

As of June 30, 2008 the Ringo service is ending and you will no longer have access to your Ringo account.

Members will be able to download photos before the service ends alternatively they can also order CDs of their photos. Ringo claimed that a partner, who used to host videos for them, decided to end the service. They did not state how members will be able to retrieve uploaded videos.

This year, Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Chief-of-Staff Hermogenes Esperon retired from army service but he wasn’t giving up on his government pension, he was ready for another post in the government and was very much ready to fill any job as a ‘civilian public servant.’ While it was expected that most of the retired AFP chief end up in another government post, the Philippine Daily Inquirer editorial team summed up the fishy motive behind the latest move. It was also here that the editorial team suggested that there is more to the quick punishment and reward of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s former colleagues, who were sentenced and in record time were ordered released based on the President’s pardon.

It wasn’t because of merit or unequaled wit but just a case of a boot-licking president. After all, Esperon is arguably one of the reasons that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is still ‘holding on’ set aside the ever constant amnesia of most Filipinos. The PDIs editorial sums it all it is all boot-licking.

In this instance, President Macapagal-Arroyo was true to her promise to her faithful general as to her promise to the Filipino people, there might be some but majority might be trivial.

Another government that is earning distrust is the government of Myanmar (Burma). After stalling efforts to help its own people, it finally agreed to aid coming in but without the aid workers. They claim that they will be able to do the distribution despite lacking manpower and equipment. The UN was quick to fear that there is possible diversion of aid, thus further ‘catastrophe’ to the Myanmar people. No one knows as of this writing what is the real situation inside but the recent fire at the embassy of Myanmar in Thailand adds to the speculation that Myanmar does not want anybody snooping and discovering that its ‘control’ program is effectively working.

Down Under, however, there’s some good news despite the rising oil prices. Few weeks ago, the Federal government released its budget and despite the mixed reactions, this Pinoy Down Under could only wonder, when will the Philippines talk about surplus??

I was glad to learn that fellow blogger, Isagani, was still online and seriously blogging. After searching for his blogging call, having a number of blogs discussing a number of topic including his medical blog site, he’s got a new site Coffee with Arsenic. But I’m not going to blog about his various blogs but to blog about a short film he uploaded on his site. The film was entitled J’attendrai Le suivant (I’ll wait for the next one).

It was about 4 minutes long so I watched the film anyway, without regard that it was part of Isagani’s contest :). It was intriguing, anyway. It was cleverly made and without a dull moment, I should say–perfect for a short film and it was very powerful in its message.

The film is about a guy who bravely declare in a public train that he’s looking for true love after realizing that there are about 5 million French women who are single. After his monologue, he asked for a call to action to any woman who would want to take his call, get out of the next station. A lady who’s also in his same shoes saw an opportunity that it might be her lucky day. The train stopped, he races to catch her, only to say that it was sketch.

One might look at the film in many ways, it is a cruel joke, a good twist or a perfect example of the realities of life. Incidentally, a mom in the US was indicted for causing the suicide of a 13 year-old girl. She was apparently meddling with her daughter’s life and thought that the girl had some grudge against her daughter. She befriended the 13 year-old on Myspace posing as a 16 year-old boy and courted her. The girl was thought that she found a perfect boyfriend in “Josh” only to be spurned after almost a month. She hanged her self after the “break-up” and died the next day.

The art, the Internet, the work or any environment for that matter is good but when playing with emotions, this could certainly lead to a troubling conclusion but at times it could be fatal. As to the short film, it was a sketch but in reality the consequence of such incident could sometimes be devastating… you’ll never know.

Today’s dashboard over wordpress Tagalog.

A Philippine Mobile Network announced that it is one of the first mobile phone service providers in Asia to bring the most anticipated phone of the decade, the iPhone. According to a report on Inquirer.net, Globe Philippines will exclusively offer iPhone in the country while Optus will carry the smart phone in Australia and Bharti in India. Both Optus and Bharti have yet to confirm the agreement which was said to have been finalized yesterday.

UPDATE: Optus confirmed that it will be bringing iPhone to Australia.

Western Australian Police from the Major Fraud Squad raided The Sunday Times last week in a complaint against the paper allegedly by the Department of Premier and Cabinet. A report from Perthnow.com quoted department statements as saying that “it had ‘referred allegations of the unauthorised disclosure of a confidential document to the police and the Corruption and Crime Commission’ relating to a political exclusive about taxpayers’ money being used to fund the Labor Party’s re-election campaign.”

Media outfits around Australia were quick to react and branded the raid as “an attack on free speech.” The Sunday Times Editor, Sam Weir, told Perthnow.com that “It is deeply concerning that this is the second time this month police have entered The Sunday Times offices trying to uncover the sources of exclusive political stories broken by the newspaper’s journalists.”

Fairfax Media reiterated the observation and condemned the WA government according to a report.

Watch the raid on The Sunday Times on Perthnow.com