#PartnerForChange

I may have not voted for #PresidentDuterte but he’s the president now. As a good citizen of the Republic of the Philippines, I should be his #PartnerForChange. I’m happy to know that President Duterte is dedicated in upholding our Constitution and laws as well as all the treaties that our country have signed as part of the international community.

Congratulations President Duterte and rest assured that I will be your partner for change as long as we uphold our Constitution. Good luck and I’m praying for your success as the 16^th President of the Republic of the Philippines.

Technorati Tags: #PartnerForChange,Panunumpa,President Duterte

My Case vs Globe at the NTC (Part 2)

4^th Hearing

Even though Globe filed a Motion For Extension Of Time To File Answer (due date of May 24, 2016), they still didn’t file an answer to my complaint. Instead, they send another representative (this time an attorney) to have an amicable settlement.

So after 5 months since I met Globe’s 1^st representative , I’m back on square one – I’m explaining my complaint again, to Globe’s new representative. I have no idea why they changed their representative.

So I explained that I’m complaining because Globe apparently fooled me in renewing my contract without revealing that they will change my Unlimited Internet into Limited Internet (7 GB/day). I explained that I’m not against their Fair Use Policy (FUP), which is allowed by the NTC, provided they inform their customers. What I’m complaining is, Globe didn’t inform me about changing my account into 7 GB/day (from Unlimited).

Globe also informed me that they can’t revert back my current 7 GB/day package back to my former Unlimited Package, which I can’t verify because I don’t know someone working on the system of Globe. So she asked me what could be my demand for an amicable settlement. The next scenario is like “tawaran” portion of a game show:

Globe: we offer you 2 months of compensation (my monthly bill at P1,300/month times 2)

Me: I want compensation from the time that Globe fooled me into renewing my contract without divulging the full details of changing my package (which was 2 years ago).

Globe: We can’t do that. We could offer 6 months of compensation since you used the service anyway

Me: Yes, I used the service but it doesn’t change the fact that you didn’t inform me about changing my plan into the FUP. How about we start from the time I complaint about this? (1 year ago)

Globe: I have to ask our management about this. Since I’m only allowed to offer 6 months of compensation

So our 5^th Hearing (hopefully the last) is set for July 2016. Globe is also asking the NTC lawyer that I remove my blog posts about this hearing, which the NTC lawyer didn’t ask me to do. Thus, I’m posting Part 2 of this hearing to inform the public how long and tedious this process is.

I guess it’s a strategy of Globe to wear-out the complainant to accept their offer for an amicable settlement. I guess I have to research and ask other Globe subscribers on what to expect if an amicable settlement is not reach. I guess it will be similar to my experience with the NLRC wherein I hire a lawyer and my ex-employee hires their own lawyer and we engage ourselves in an even tedious legal battle.

If you’re a Globe subscriber who reaches that part after the amicable settlement, please share your experience so that I could decide if I should accept their offer or go on with the legal battle. No Globe employee troll please.

P.S.

Globe and the NTC lawyer was a no-show on our 3^rd Hearing last month by the way.

Technorati Tags: Globe Telecom,NTC,Complaint,Slow Internet,Capping

3 Life Long Lessons from Zurvan to Azriel, Servant of the Bones

Here’s the 3rd of my most favorite mantra/life lessons. If Pasig City has its Emergency Handbook, then these words of Zurvan will be part of my Life Handbook.

“But here are the lessons. Accept what your hatred and anger will allow you to accept. First and foremost, there is one God, and his name does not matter. Yahweh, Ahuramazda, Zeus, Aten, it does not matter at all. How he is worshipped, how he is served, by what ritual, it doesn't matter at all.

There is one purpose to life and one only: to bear witness to and understand as much as possible of the complexity of the world-its beauty, its mysteries, its riddles. The more you understand, the more you look, the greater is your enjoyment of life and your sense of peace. That's all there is to it. Everything else is fun and games. If an activity is not grounded in "to love" or "to learn," it does not have value.

Thirdly, be kind. Always, if you have a choice, be kind. Remember the poor, the hungry, and the miserable. Always remember the suffering, and those who need. The greatest creative power you have on earth, whether you are an angel, a spirit, or a man or a woman or a child is to help others . . . the poor, the hungry, the oppressed. To ease pain and give joy are your finest powers. Kindness is a human miracle, so to speak. It's unique to us humans, and our more developed angels or spirits, to be kind.”

-Servant of the Bones (1996) by Anne Rice

Technorati Tags: Life Lessons,Anne Rice,Servant of the Bones

Instructions for Life

Here’s another of my favorite life lessons. Let me re-post it in its entirely. I believe I first encountered this list during the first few years of the Internet in the Philippines (late 90s), back when Hotmail is not yet part of Microsoft.

THE FOLLOWING IS TAKEN FROM A NEPALESE GOOD LUCK MANTRA. YOU'LL FIND IT TO BE WORTH READING AND WORTH SHARING:

Do not keep this message. The mantra must leave your hands within 96 hours. You will get a very pleasant surprise. This is true, even if you are not superstitious.

Instructions for Life

1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
2. Memorize your favorite poem.
3. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have, or loaf all you want.
4. When you say, "I love you," mean it.
5. When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.
6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
7. Believe in love at first sight.
8. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.
9. Love deeply and passionately. You may get hurt, but it's the only way to live life completely.
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
11. Don't judge people by their relatives, or by the life they were born into.
12. Teach yourself to speak slowly but think quickly.
13. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"
14. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
15. Call your mother.
16. Say, "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
17. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
18. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions.
19. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
20. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
21. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
22. Marry a person you love to talk to. As you get older, his/her conversational skills will be even more important.
23. Spend some time alone.
24. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
25. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
26. Read more books. Television is no substitute.
27. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
28. Trust in God but lock your car.
29. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life. Do all you can to create a tranquil, harmonious home.
30. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
31. Don't just listen to what someone is saying. Listen to why they are saying it.
32. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
33. Be gentle with the earth.
34. Pray or meditate. There's immeasurable power in it.
35. Never interrupt when you are being flattered.
36. Mind your own business.
37. Don't trust anyone who doesn't close his/her eyes when you kiss.
38. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
39. If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are living. It is wealth's greatest satisfaction.
40. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
41. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
42. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
43. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
44. Live with the knowledge that your character is your destiny.
45. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

SEND THIS MANTRA E-MAIL TO AT LEAST 5 PEOPLE AND YOUR LIFE WILL
IMPROVE.

0-4 people: Your life will improve slightly.
5-9 people: Your life will improve to your liking.
9-14 people: You will have at least 5 surprises in the next 3 weeks.

Source: http://www.gaingate.com/knewarts/mantra/mantra.htm

Technorati Tags: Nepalese Goodluck Mantra,Instructions for Life

Everything I Need To Learn in Life, I Learned in Kinder

Here’s one of my most favorite mantra or life lessons. Everything I need to learn in life, I learned in kinder (kindergarten).

All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten (by Robert Fulghum)

1. Share everything
2. Play fair
3. Don’t hit people
4. Put things back where you found them
5. Clean up your own mess
6. Don’t take things that aren’t yours
7. Say you’re sorry when you hurt someone
8. Wash your hands before you eat
9. Flush
10. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you
11. Live a balanced life: Learn. Think. Draw. Paint. Sing. Dance. Play. Work
12. Take a nap every afternoon
13. Be aware of wonder
14. Look around
15. When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

My other favorite mantras are the Instructions for Life and the Word of Zurvan to Azriel, Servant of the Bones.

Illustration by Sylvia Duckworth.

Technorati Tags: Robert Fulghum,Kindergarten,Life Lessons

My Blogapalooza 2016 Experience

So I was at Blogapalooza 2016 last May 21, 2016 at the Elements, Eton Centris near MRT Quezon Avenue Station. I guess it was my 2^nd time to attend this blogging event and it’s way better than the one I attended at SM Aura a few years back.

This year’s Blogapalooza 2015 is entitled “Horizons Charting the Uncharted”. It’s hosted by Vannah Pacis of Tower Radio on Jam 88.3. Some of the celebrity and blogger guests include Ginger Arboleda of Manila Workshops, YouTube Star Lloyd Cadena, Singer Christian Bautista, Actor Mikael Daez, Erika Padilla among others.

Most of the speakers talked about marketing one’s blog. It’s not enough to publish quality blog posts but it’s equally important to market one’s blog as well. This will surely maximize the audience reach of one’s blog as well as monetary gains. It’s also important for our blogs to be avenue for change and charity just like what World Vision Philippines emphasized.

Kudos to the following sponsors who made the event even more colorful and fun – Empire East, Tag Bands, Tag Cash, World Vision, Minoxidil Regrow, Alfox Printing Services, Happy Fresh, Hotteok King, Etobee, Arla, Gold Stack, Victoria Court, Speedy Cards PH, Hey Kuya, among others.

The venue of Blogapalooza 2016 is the tent-like structure called Elements in the Eton Centris area near the MRT Quezon Avenue Station.

Blogapalooza 2016 “Horizons Charting The Unchartered”.

World Vision Philippines is part of Blogapalooza 2016.

Blue Water Day Spa

Free Hair and Scalp Analysis at Minoxidil Regroe.

Believe there is good in the world – Rappler

Vannah Pacis hosted the event.

Speakers and sponsors of Blogapalooza 2016.

Vita Coco pure coconut water.

Ginger Arboleda receiving her token of appreciation from Blogapalooza.

Megawatt Pizza.

SkinStation is also present at Blogapalooza 2016.

Chemworld Fragrance Factory

I missed the ducks! I failed to put a ring around a duck for a prize.

Tag 77

Magic performance at Blogapalooza 2016

Hotteok King

Victoria Court was also a sponsor of Blogapalooza 2016.

The Blogapalooza logo.

Booths have their own games!

Sample calling cards from Speedy Cards PH.

Blogapalooza 2016 is also a good venue for practicing close-up/food photography.

Cocio Chocolates.

That robot from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Christian Bautista playing a dating game.

Gold Stack Honey Butter potato chips.

There is indeed good in the world. Thanks Rappler!

YouTube star Lloyd Cadena discussed “Content Strategy and Building A Solid Follower Base”.

Models for Arla Philippines.

Bloggers listen to panelists at the annual Blogapalooza 2016.

Panel discussion with Norman Agatep of Grupo Agatep, Matec Villanueva of Publicis Manila, Mikael Daez and Erika Padilla. Their topic is “How Brands Can Work Best With Celebrities and Influencers”.

Singer Christian Bautista for Blue Water Day Spa.

Technorati Tags: Blogapalooza 2016,Eton Centris,Elements,Mikael Daez