Inside Philippine politics & beyond

Are you getting a database error?

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I am.

I have examined why and I’ve noticed that my site is being spammed intensively and continuously.

I don’t rule out malicious attacks.

I’m trying to study the problem.

I’ve just installed another anti-spam filter.

So if you see that your comment does not get through within 24 hours, that could mean the anti-spam filter misread your comment as spam.

Pls. e-mail me at raissaroblesDOTcomATgmailDOTcom to tell me. Also, pls. copy your comment – especially the long ones – before pressing the SUBMIT button, just in case it gets lost.

And please bear with me.

I’m learning these technical back-end details as I go along.

Thanks,

Raissa

Comments

    • I did. Problem is, it blocked too many of you guys.

      I had to get rid of it.

      But thanks.

      • ah… I just use the default settings and just create my blacklist in case I need block an IP that’s not included in the default option.

        But the site looks good now… another thing.. you may want to tell your web host about the problem… so they can at least block the IP for you.

  2. Off-topic:
    ilang linggo pa lang yung nakakalipas naginstigate ng kaguluhan yung Kabataan Party List sa Davao City ngayon naman nagsunog sila ng mga upuan and tables sa PUP, nakakadismaya yung pinalabas sa TV Patrol at agree ako sa sinabi ni Ted Failon sa huli ng news nung lunes,

    Don’t sympathize with ‘violence,’ Kristel’s kin ask students
    http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/299912/news/metromanila/don-t-sympathize-with-violence-kristel-s-kin-ask-students

    Napakaraming public schools na nangangailangan ng chairs and tables samantalang yung ibang tao na tinatawag na iskolar ng bayan ay nagaastang mga barbarico at bayolente. The irony of it is they (militant groups) are asking for a higher budget for state universities yet they destroy and vandalize the properties of schools and universities.

    Protesters vandalize UP-Manila’s walls
    http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/376173/protesters-vandalize-up-manilas-walls

    Nakakadismaya talaga makabasa ng mga balita na ganito. Patay na nga yung tao, hindi pa tapos yung investigation, gagamitin pa yung babae para sa political ends and airtime ng ibang mga party list groups :(

  3. Grats again to DOT and company and every pinoys, OFW who promote PH around the world.
    Our rank rose in “The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness” from 94 (2011) now we are at 82:)

    http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_TT_Competitiveness_Report_2013.pdf

    A quote from the link above:
    “The Philippines is the most improved country in
    the region, ranking 16th regionally and 82nd overall, up
    12 places since the last edition. Among the country’s
    comparative strengths are its natural resources (44th),
    its price competitiveness (24th), and a very strong—and
    improving—prioritization of the Travel & Tourism industry
    (this indicator ranks 15th, as government spending on
    the sector as a percentage of GDP is now 1st in the
    world, and tourism marketing and branding campaigns
    are seen to be increasingly effective).”

  4. In a previous post I said: THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR KRISTEL’S TRAGEDY. Not even the minutiae of the law, not even any God Damn proceso. Policies turned into rules come from the law. The law is not harsh. ONLY its crooked MINUTIAE. King Solomon knew the ESSENCE of his word as Law and applied it. But no Law School will teach it to aspiring legal regals.

    New enrolment ruling: If only Kristel had known
    By Reinir Padua and Evelyn Macairan (The Philippine Star) | Updated March 17, 2013 – 12:00am

    Students of the University of the Philippines in Manila gather last Friday in front of the Oblation to offer prayers for Kristel Tejada (inset) who committed suicide after she was forced to take a leave from studies due to her inability to pay tuition. EDD GUMBAN
    MANILA, Philippines – A day before a University of the Philippines freshman committed suicide reportedly due to failure to pay her tuition, the president of the entire UP System had instructed all heads of the state university’s campuses not to bar the enrolment of qualified but poor students.
    “It happened a day after I instructed the chancellors at our council meeting held last Thursday that we should not deny access to qualified students who cannot enrol because of financial constraints,” UP president Alfredo Pascual told The STAR yesterday, referring to the death of Kristel Tejada.
    “I didn’t know something like that (suicide) would happen,” Pascual said.

    READ MORE?
    http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2013/03/17/920669/new-enrolment-ruling-if-only-kristel-had-known

  5. Maybe off topic but I got touched by this suicide student of UP for being unable to pay P10th Tuition Fee despite plea. What is our gov’t educational institution for, the priority is payment rather than educating our people? Where are our TAXES on this? The portion of the news says –

    “We will have to defer to UP since they are the ones who set that policy. What we have from CHED is that the CHED discourages that particular practice since the schools can always withhold the grades, or the class cards,” Valte said.

    She said CHED was working to rationalize such policy but colleges and universities, even if state-owned, could set and impose their own rules, including the “no permit, no exam” policy.

    Why defer and not make it a policy of prohibition to make the goal to educate our people/students? To defer is to ignore the goal.

    No mercy is this UP policy! Too arrogant policy. Un-Filipino at that! And yet we repealed the Death Penalty law. I hope ‘we’ see the point here…’let the student think of committing suicide’…?

  6. Lawyer Miriam regardless of her fluid circumstance unlike many brilliant lawyers is rarely lost in the minutiae of the law as I have been reading here. Here below is law’s essence like oil over dirty water. From a hundred thousand words, Miriam provides a snapshot of racial pride.

    PH may send troops to Sabah, says Miriam
    By Ryan Chua, ABS-CBN News
    Posted at 03/15/2013 4:30 PM | Updated as of 03/15/2013 4:30 PM

    http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/03/15/13/ph-may-send-troops-sabah-says-miriam

    MANILA – The Philippines may deploy its armed forces to Sabah if the violence worsens and innocent Filipinos there are put in harm’s way, a senator said on Friday.

    Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, former chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, explained that although international law prohibits the use of force, certain situations allow countries to send armed forces to rescue their citizens in another territory.

    In the case of Sabah, she said force may be used if the lives of Filipinos are genuinely in danger, Malaysia is unwilling or unable to ensure their safety, the Philippines does not pursue any purpose other than rescue, and the scale and effects of the military force are proportionate to the purpose of the operation.

    “As much as possible, we want to avoid the use of force,” Santiago said in a speech before a gathering of nurses on Friday. “But if this is the attitude of Malaysia … then we shall avail of the exception.”

    She stressed, however, that using force should be the Philippines’ last resort.

    Santiago proposed that the Philippines and Malaysia agree first to have a third party that will investigate the clashes between Filipino and Malaysian forces in Sabah. This can be a former head of state of any Southeast Asian country, she said.

    The senator said that under the 1907 Hague Convention for the Pacific Settlement of Disputes, a fact-finding investigation can be launched to help solve disputes through negotiation, mediation, or conciliation.

    Speaking to reporters after her speech, however, Santiago described Malaysia’s position in the ongoing conflict as “intellectually challenged.”

    She particularly criticized Malaysia’s use of fighter jets to neutralize some 200 forces of the sultanate of Sulu, who went to Sabah in early February to assert that the territory is theirs.

    “It’s like a using a scud missile to kill a fly,” Santiago said.

    No abandonment of Sabah claim

    Santiago, an expert in international law, stressed that the Philippines has not relinquished its claim to Sabah.

    She said that should the territorial dispute be elevated to the International Court of Justice, the Philippines would win on the basis of a document showing that the sultanate of Sulu did not cede but only leased Sabah to the British North Borneo Company in 1878.

    In 1946, the company ceded Sabah to the British Crown. Malaysia then included Sabah in its newly formed federation in 1963.

    Even the argument that native Sabahans chose to be part of Malaysia would not hold water, Santiago said.

    “First of all, there has to be sovereignty possessed by the state as represented by its government,” she said. “The population by itself cannot change the nature of that sovereignty.”

    Santiago, meanwhile, commended President Aquino’s “sober” handling of the Sabah issue.

    “I commend him for his caution because it is so easy to play hero to a momentary crowd than to play statesman to an impatient crowd,” she said.

  7. A sad human tragedy should not be out of topic.
    I was teary eyed when I was reading this. It’s long forgotten but I co-chaired with a PGH doctor during the time of Chancellor Clipper Lorenzo, the structural-functional design of UP Manila. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS TRAGEDY.

    UP Manila condoles with family, gives assistance

    http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/focus/03/15/13/urged-be-compassionate-after-suicide-case

    MANILA (1st UPDATE) — The program adviser of the University of the Philippines (UP) Manila student who committed suicide Friday is calling on the school administration to be more “compassionate” with students who fail to pay their tuition fees on time.

    Speaking with radio dzMM Friday, Professor Andrea Bautista Martinez of the Department of Behavioral Sciences said the administration should be more understanding with students who study hard but cannot afford to pay school fees.

    Martinez also called the UP Manila’s “no late payment scheme” a “repressive policy”.

    A 16-year-old first year Behavioral Sciences student committed suicide inside her home in Tondo, Manila at around 3 a.m. Friday, two days after she was forced to file a leave of absence (LOA) due to financial constraints.

    “Nakakalungkot po kasi ‘yung katulad [niya] na maraming pangarap ay magiging biktima ng isang repressive policy na hindi makakaenrol dahil ‘di nakabayad ng tuition,” Martinez said.

    “Sana may konting palugit para sa mga katulad niya na hirap na hirap po magbayad ng tuition… Ang panawagan namin, sana maging more compassionate on the part of the administration,” she added.

    According to reports from the Philippine Collegian and Manila Collegian, the student was assigned in Bracket D of the Socialized Tuition and Financial Assistance Program (STFAP) which meant she had to pay P300 per unit or around P7,500 per semester with 18 units, including miscellaneous fees.

    Martinez said the student had filed for re-bracketing but the results of her appeal would only have taken effect next academic year.

    The student filed for a tuition loan in her first semester and was able to settle her dues only last December. She again requested for a tuition loan for her second semester but was denied by the UP Manila loan board.

    “Ngayong second sem, panibagong loan po sana. Kaso ‘di na po sila napagbigyan kasi way past deadline na po,” Martinez said.

    She said the student stopped attending classes last February because she was embarrassed that she was not officially enrolled.

    Martinez said: “Demotivated, ang baba-baba na ng self-esteem niya. Detached na siya sa classmates niya…kasi nahihiya po siya, nalulungkot siya.”

    The student was the eldest of five children. Her father is a taxi driver and her mother a housewife.

    Gov’t urged: Ensure access to quality education

    Martinez said she was deeply saddened with what happened, noting that the 16-year-old girl was one of her best students in class.

    “‘Di po siya nag-aabsent sa class. Tahimik lang siya pero isa po siya sa pinakamahuhusay na estudyante ko sa class,” she said.

    “[Pero] wala rin po kaming magawa kasi mahigpit po ang policy na kung tapos na ‘yung deadline, ‘di ka na po maa-accommodate,” she continued.

    Martinez also hit the government for not ensuring the youth’s access to quality education, noting that UP is a state university.

    Citing recent studies, she also noted that in the past five years, about 60 percent of those who pass the UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) have not been able to enrol in the university due to financial constraints.

    “It’s a government obligation dahil ito’y state university tapos hinahayaan niyang ang mga estudyante ang mag-shoulder ng tuition.”

    “The government [should] do its obligation for the students, for the so-called iskolar ng bayan,” Martinez said.

    UP Manila deeply saddened

    Meanwhile, UP Manila said in a statement that it is deeply saddened by the passing of the student.

    “The UPM community members condole and sympathize with the family who lost a young and promising daughter,” the statement read.

    “As we continue the pursuit of excellence and relevance in our programs and services, we commemorate [her] life as a student even for just a short time and always remember her desire to be a good student and daughter,” it said.

    The university also said it is extending financial assistance to the student’s family.

    Officials of UP Manila also clarified that the request of the student’s father for his daughter to be enrolled and to apply for another loan in January was not granted since it was already mid-semester.

    “UP Manila officials would like to clarify that for students who are not officially enrolled in the current semester, they are considered on [absent without leave] unless they file for a leave of absence,” the statement read.

    Youth groups enraged

    Youth groups, meanwhile, are enraged over the death of the UP Manila student.

    The League of Filipino Students (LFS) hit the Aquino administration, saying that the student is a “victim of neglect of the government.”

    “She represents the Filipino youth who are compelled to live in deplorable conditions because of Aquino’s economic policies that translate to inadequate jobs, unjust wages, inaccessible education, etc, for the Filipino people,” LFS said.

    The Kabataan Partylist also called the incident a “grave tragedy” and added that the student’s future was jeopardized due to the university’s “no late payment” and “forced leave of absence” policies.

    Anakbayan also said: “This was a death that could have been avoided.”

    • In the US and Australia, there are Study Now, Pay Later schemes with student loans available from the government. In Australia, payment of the loans is through salary deduction once employment is gained.

      The senators receive millions in questionable Xmas bonuses. Surely a student fund is more deserving of consideration.

  8. Been getting a Database Connection Error the whole day ( 1st time ever actually ) but fortunately my post went through onto another thread after repeated attempts. I suspect it is a combination of DDOS attacks and hosting provider issues.

  9. either my comments were eaten by the spam monster or what?

    regarding spam bots, install a captcha method. then look at your access logs if you really are undergoing excessive requests? otherwise it might be your hosting provider (bluehost?) buckling under pressure.