Your Daily Dose of Useful Stuff

May 9 is another historical day as the nation will elect another president who will lead the country for the next 6 years.  As a voter, ask yourself what do you want your leader to do for the country and for the people.  What kind of leader do you want?   What projects or programs do you want him to focus on?   Will he be the kind of leader that will inspire the people to have initiative in helping themselves by being a good example himself?  Is he a leader that you can be proud of when he represents the country at international conventions or conferences?   Is he a leader that is approachable?   And lastly, does he have integrity and good character.    As a voter, I want my president to be compassionate but strict at the same time.  I prefer a president who stands by his word and for each principle that he believes in.   I want a president who plans well for the general well-being of the people, the...

Leni Robredo’s name made a mark in my consciousness when her late husband died in a plane crash on that fateful day, August 18, 2012.  Her husband, Jesse Robredo, was then Secretary of the Department of Interion and Local Government and there were rumors he was groomed to run for a national post,  supposedly, in this elections.  From  then on, I have felt only pure admiration for Leni Robredo.     It must have been truly agonizing to have to await for news about her husband.  I can just imagine the questions racing in her mind during that moment.  Did he survive; did he suffer much?  Losing even one’s pet is painful enough, losing a loved one must be over a million times painful,  but through it all, she was a picture of calmness and strength.   During those times, the image of Cory Aquino flashed back, I did not have any idea that like Cory, Leni would be dragged into the political quaqmire too.   I ...

When I heard the news that Kuya Germs passed away very early morning, I suddenly felt a part of my youth also was gone too.  You see, I grew up watching most, if not all, of his shows in GMA.  I remember feeling amazed at the outrageous headdresses which are part of the costumes of his dancers then.  The production numbers of his shows were always awesome.  The costumes were very colorful and the dancers moved in unison; they seem to move in perfect rhythm with each other and their movements smooth and fluid.  As a young impressionable child, German Moreno's shows became my benchmark when it comes to performance level and quality dancing.  I actually miss watching his shows.  Whenever I would watch his production numbers, I feel like I was actually present in the studio and watching it all happening before me, and not just watching it on TV.  Crazy right?  I always looked forward to Sundays then, because of that and of course, because af...

I just wish that many foreign banks will enter the Philippine market so that our local banks will provide better services to their depositors.  Consider this scenario: Friend A, who is working in London asked me to deposit $10 in his dollar account in BDO to prevent his account from getting dormant. So to BDO I went and since I have no dollars laying around, I attempted to buy from BDO, but I was refused because they only sell dollars to those who will go on a trip overseas.  I did not make a fuss about that because a policy is a policy and I can see logic here.  Dollars should be used wisely and sparingly so that we would have a steady supply around us.  After that, I went to a money exchange who allowed me to buy $20 for P47.50 each dollar.  It seems that it's the only deal I can get, so I went for it.   With $20 with me, I went to BDO to deposit it to my friend's account only to find out that the said account was already dormant and he has to a...

Whenever someone would approach me to offer special memberships to this and this establishment, I always question the wisdom of it.  I'd think first that this is just one of their marketing ploys to get people to shop more frequently in their store and it is not even a free promotion oftentimes.  At the Robinson's Grocery, I paid P100, just to give it a try, well, I frequently buy my groceries there anyway.  So might as well avail of the Robinson's Rewards Plus.  How do memberships work and what do customers get from them?   A customer earns points every time he shops in Robinson's Department Store or grocery.  And upon accumulating about 100 pts, (not sure how the payments get converted to points, but i'll try to find out) you can now use those earned points which have corresponding cash equivalents to pay for your groceries or purchases. But the benefits go beyond that, two days ago, I was a lucky recipient of a a letter from Robinson's Reward...

Taxi scams are just one of the things that we always hear over the radio, television, social media.  Almost anywhere and in whatever season, taxi scams often happen.  There are horror stories of taxi drivers who spray sleep-inducing chemicals to make the passenger fall asleep, only God knows what could happen to the passenger upon losing consciousness.  Taxis are now becoming unsafe, no wonder app-based transport services like Uber are becoming popular.  They seem to be a better alternative to taxis, especially that reputations of car owners are spread by comments from those who availed of their services. I have always been a cautious rider, locking doors securely upon entering a taxi.  It has been my practice ever since one taxi that I took was victimized by 'hamog boys' along Guadalupe Bridge.  But I got victimized again.  I have to admit that I did not see it coming.  It was subtlely done and up to now, I am still fuming about it. ...

No pun and disrespect intended.  It just captured my attention that quite a number of local stars have lost their lives by committing suicide, and they are not even matured individuals yet.  Who could forget Marky Cielo; though being his fan, I still doubt it was suicide that caused his death.  Then there was Miko Sotto, who accidentally fell off the terrace of their condo unit; some people still think it was suicide.  Cesar Montano's son also took his own life.  It makes you wonder if there is a suicide bug plaguing the celebrity world.  The latest victim, so to speak, is Julia Buencamino, the daughter of theater power couple, Sharmaine Centenera and Noni Buencamino.   The parents have already accepted that the cause of death is suicide and the entire family requests that they be given privacy as they mourn for the passing of Julia.