Thank you for the three million views of my stories

And a Blessed Christmas to you all

By Raïssa Robles

I would like to greet everyone  a Blessed Christmas and to thank you all from my heart.

Since I put up this present site a little over a year ago, the 332 stories I have published here have been viewed a total of 3,035,101 times.

This would not at all have been possible without you all, visiting and discussing daily, and forming a community that aspires to create a better nation to hand over to our children and grandchildren. In the course of the year, we have referred to this round-the-clock gathering from all parts of the world as our “CPM”  — Cyber Plaza Miranda.

Before I go on, I would also like to thank my hubby Alan who edits the content, making  sure that sensitive stories are complete before I upload them, writing the heads and suggesting story structuring. He has guided my efforts in more ways than one. On top of cooking me gourmet meals everyday. Yes, he does :)  Yum.

I also want to make a confession, especially to those who frequently post very incisive and well-researched comments on my site. I did not want to divulge  this earlier because I didn’t want anyone to feel conscious, including myself.

But now it’s time to tell you all. That your comments are often read by senior government officials and politicians of all stripes. I know because some of them have personally told me so. For instance, I happened to bump into presidential adviser on political affairs Ronald Llamas during  ex-President Joseph Estrada’s pre-birthday party. Llamas told me he read all the comments on this blog.

The funniest comment I’ve received came at the height of the impeachment trial of former Chief Justice (CJ) Renato Corona from Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales. I met her for the first time during the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between the Ombudsman and the Commission on Audit. She told me, with a very deadpan face –  “Love ka ni CJ.”

I did know how to reply to THAT ONE.

Looking back, I now realize that the first joint project of that MOA between the Ombudsman and the COA was the meticulous analysis of CJ Corona’s movement of money in and out of his various bank accounts as captured by reported transactions to the Anti-Money Laundering Council.

This year was a very heady, exhausting roller coaster ride for me, punctuated by a foot sprain and a visit to a hospital emergency ward. But I would not have it any other way.

This is the year I came to know all you guys – perfect strangers before these – and now my eager and jolly boon companions on this dream of a better country.

What can I say?

I am blessed.

A reporter’s life had always been a lonely, even monastic one. That is, until the Internet, blogs and social networking sites were invented. Suddenly, a reporter like me has become part of an interactive community like our CPM.

Next year, I expect our CPM community to grow by leaps and bounds.  I can’t do this alone.

We’re in this together.

Before I close, I would like to thank as many of you for not only coming together but sharing your thoughts, your dreams and your criticisms on this site.

There are also some who gave me vital information that contributed to the disclosure of new facts during the CJ Corona trial. I especially want to thank someone who doesn’t want to be known by name, because he said he wants to contribute more  information in  future investigative reports.

I would also like to remember one of us – Elena Lemi – who left us all too soon. She passed away on May 15, 2012. Here is how I came to know about it.

Based on the  statistics provided by Akismet (which filters away spam and virus-filled comments), the most number of comments came from:

Leona – 2,660 comments

Johnny Lin – 2,622 comments

Mel – 1,735 comments

Baycas – 1,684 comments

Victin Luz – 926 comments

Many, many more contributed to the oftentimes lively discussions (and if I did not mention your name, please remind me).

I just managed to cull the names from the latest 132 pages of comments — there are actually 3,079 pages of comments.

I am sure there are thousands more visitors out there who are just lurking, hesitant to post any remarks. I encourage them to join one of the most vibrant and fun online political communities in this country.

I thank you all.

Among the names I managed to extract from the first 132 pages of the 3,079 pages of comments are those of:

Alizarin Viridia

Rene-Ipil

Guy With A Blog

vander anievas

duquemarino

springwoodman

chit navarro

Joe America

pinay710

Mafe

andrew lim

Cha

Rochie

DaveofBacolod

kontrapilo

Parekoy

parengtony

Rolly

jcc

Tomas Gomez III

tristanism

idde

pelang

Martial Bonifacio

elvis53J

jjorge bernas

isellnuts

Sarah

docbebot

Sarah

peregrino natividad

Ancient Mariner

TOL

David

Jan

emong

Ella Tovara

netty

Vibora

FREE BIRD

filipino_mom

Xander Carreon

macspeed

john c. jacinto

AngLagay

curveball

bengo

rOSARIO

Baltazar

curveball

jundel

rOSARIO

Arsenio Reyes

Coco

davide

Baltazar

manuelbuencamino

X

ric

Lorena

Pedro

Aremem

bfdtranscriber

Miguel

josephf

anton

arbee

Eric
martial_law_baby

Bey Dumlao

blue4cor –

joseph

runen

ed celis

romy

priscila sereno -reyes

praetorius

rejtatel

PriscillaLu1234

upright bike

Jherskie

Targrod

Aurora Pascua

santiago katumbal

Muhammad Eisa de Jesus

Rigo

rallie florencio

yeheywater

fed_up

Jett Rink

janine

gayyem

allan

Jrivera999

w1lly954

AUGUST C FERNANDO

REY NATHANIEL IFURUNG

Yen678

Helena

viewko

Annie von Nebenan

vivian

zamera

Polpot

mera

et

Political Jaywalker

J – 12

JJ

Karl

moonie

Rasec3

Santa Monican Pinay

Rossi

Jaime Miniano

jeproks2002

francis

JosephIvo

jptconsult

Manuel C. Diaz

nene

Rasec3

jjvillamor

nene

Monty

katataspulong

Gene Simmowns

ManongNoy

Roger Federer

raffy

agot

kobe

edgardo m. oreta

Joe Sevilla

scrEaMing mANgo

danny

Mmc88mmc

Joe Sevilla

Antonio Yang III

pangs

YlocanaBelle

line of flight

Jorge Capule

rallie f. Cruz

flash

Rafael Lagahit

sid arabia

shiloh

pordoy

Juan deLECHE!

DaBees

kevinj

Edwin

kontrapilo

julio cesaro

Magda

vincent

Jak n d’box

Baltazar

chris sulit

fcb328

Island Hopes

PABLO

JM Marquez

JBDB

Gellybeans

clearpasig

AlbertG

one love

vanGogh

mabyrik

Michelle

Kalahari

bangsamoro brother

jose_ynigo

jiji

Fervent wish

DJMM

Pogo

Astocanewri

OnesimusUnbound

trekkers

zephyr

Anonime

I’ll wait

Alem

boy valero

yakyak

David Garcia

William Dorado

Rex Guzman

Conrado Morales

Pearl Liu

Danilo Silvestre

Juancho Ong

Rafael Perez

[email protected]

In the spirit of Christmas, I would like to share with you two photos I took. The first one (above) is a painting of the Nativity I took inside the Cathedral in Siena.

The second one (below) is a photo I took of my favorite Cathedral – the one in Assisi, where my favorite Saint is buried.

Here is an excerpt from the movie “Brother Sun, Sister Moon” shot on location there.

And below that is a song from the same movie which expresses how I feel about this blog and our ever-growing Cyber Plaza Community. We have to build democracy stone by stone.