why put manny pacquiao in a bad light? a caricature of pinoy weakness?

manny pacquaio shamed in tv ad

in ads, a lot of effort is put into making the talents, most specially celebrities to look in the best possible light. ad agencies hire professional make up artists, costume designers and the best cameramen to make sure the talents look good on screen. directors are very particular to make sure that aside from making sure the storyboard is delivered, the talent should also look good. some clebrities even make sure their preferred make-up artist is hired for the tv ad.

clients choose talents in their ads, specially celebrities, because they bring something good to the ad and the product. use a well loved celebrity and they expect sales to go up.

so why did vitwater make manny pacquiao look bad in their ad?

read more about why manny pacqiao is a loser: http://tinyurl.com/c2jjg3

read all about manny pacquiao here: http://tinyurl.com/cpkojn

shell philippines’ 24/7 promo – a waste of funds and lazy marketing

consumer promotions are not meant to be done on a 24/7 basis. it’s meant to pump up volume sales and market share on a limited time basis. the idea is to use the consumer promotion to get in new triers and increased purchase of regualr users and hopefully some of them stay on as regular purchasers, specially among the new triers.

rather than do consumer promotions 24/7, shell should just use the finds allocated for those in a more meanigful marketing effort.

read in full here: http://tinyurl.com/cxh79q

survey for parents of ateneo grade school students

if you are a parent of an ateneo grade school student, please fill up this survey.

jejomar binay promises to turn the philippines into paradise

makati mayor jejomar binay, presidentiable

nowhere in the tv ad did it say makati city mayor jejomar binay is running for president. and the ad talks about what binay has done to makati. but who is this ad kidding?

if you like to receive a free birthday cake on your birthday, binay might be the president for you.

that is just one small part of the paradise that binay is promising to turn the philippines into, just like the paradise he made in makati city.

read in full here: http://tinyurl.com/ccxqmj

wawam.wordpress to reach 100,000 hits this week – a new milestone

as of this writing, wawam.wordpress  has 99,003 hits. 100,000 hits will most likely get done within the week or tomorrow, thursday at the earliest.  it will be a new milestone. 

the internet and blogs is a new medium that we just recently tried. it is relatively new to the world but certainly very new to us. and we are learning a lot about the medium. we are able to acquire skills and are able to harvest insights first hand. 

we think we have acquired a good number of very workable insights about the internet/blog audience, writing style and content, use of facilities, traditional media, traditional media practitioners and the audience outside of the internet world. there are many dynamics that exist among those various components that are consistent with the dynamics in real world communication, advertising and marketing. but more importantly, there are dynamics that are unique to this medium called the internet and blogs.

a friend has suggested we should write a book about these. thinking about it, yeah we thought that is a good idea. though this blog is just less than 1 year old (first post june, 2008), we think we have enough material to write at least 2 books – one on the communication part and the other on the human interest part.

contents on just the behind-the-scenes are a lot already. these behind-the-scenes are developments, communications and actions that have occurred  that we do not write about in this blog that serve as backdrop and even motivation for the posts that you read in this blog. they are not the boring type at all. in fact these behind-the-scenes stories and developments can read like a spy thriller full of intrigue, power, twists and turns and a lot of surprises. 

if written, it will be a good read for advertising and communications students and those into human interests stories. 

join us and celebrate the upcoming milestone of wawam.wordpress reaching 100,000 hits sometime this week! 

we like to thank readers and contributors to this blog for pushing us to reach the new milestone of 100,000 hits.

info on swine flu and what you can do to protect yourself

swine flu is not yet in asia and the philippines. but it’s a good idea to know a lot about it so we can prepare ourselves as early as now on what we need to know and what to do. the CDC website i think is an excellent resource:

here is the CDC site, “Swine Flu And You” : http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/swineflu_you.htm

CDC site Swine Flu Key Facts : http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/key_facts.htm

CDC site – Anti-Viral Drugs For Swine Flu : http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/antiviral_swine.htm

CDC recos on face masks: http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/masks.htm

Amiel Alcantara: survey form released at AGS – too little, too late

it’ s interesting that the ateneo is just now asking parents to fill up this survey form. the questions are very basic questions  – what car they use, what time their vehicles go the ateneo, etc.

they found the need to get these basic information with just 40 days to go till start of school and 60 days since the death of amiel — with such basic questions and this late, it’s a survey too little, too late.

they are basic data, you need these kinds data before you do any analysis and planning for any new traffic scheme. doing the survey now can can mean either the AGS has not done any new traffic scheme or they developed a new traffic scheme without the input of any relevant data.

it’s hard to decide where ateneo is at this time. there has been no changes at the main ateneo parking lot, so that means there will be no changes from last year. that seems to say its probable they are yet to develope a new traffic scheme. will that be operational by june?

the multi-stakeholder task force was formed some weeks ago, so we can assume they were doing something. let’s assume that they have been doing some work, even though we have not heard anything from them. if they have developed a new traffic scheme, that means they did so without the benefit of even these basic data the survey seeks to get. with no data input, that puts into question the quality of whatever new traffic scheme they have developed.

add to that the lack of changes at the parking lot, that goes back to the conclusion we made – with no relevant data, plus no changes at the parking lot, it can only mean the dangers and risks that got amiel killed in that parking lot remain.

from and ateneo mom:

Time surely flew by so fast, half of summer vacation is over. What I observed during the enrollment last week was the survey given out to the parents. The survey was drafted by the Multi-Stakeholder Committee and consisted of around 5 questions ( if I remember correctly). My impression of the survey was that it doesn’t really say anything about the physical improvements that should have been done by now. In fact that survey should have been done before the end of the schoolyear, for whatever purpose it will serve.

read in full here: http://tinyurl.com/dgktn6

note: many thanks to an ateneo mom who scanned this, sent this to an atenneo dad who in turn sent us a copy.

amiel alcantara : may 8 – 74 days ago & 32 days to go, still no change at AGS parking lot

we’re started a countdown,  as of may 8:

• it has been  74  days since amiel alcantara’s tragic death at the ateneo parking lot
• and just 32  days till start of the new school year 

 

and what do we have so far?

• short survey – too little, too late
• no updates or announcement on the work of the so called Multi-Stakeholder Committee that was supposed to develope safety measures at the parking lot
• no infrastructure construction work has been done at the AGS parking lot
• with no changes, the parking lot awaits it’s next victim

and yet at the ateneo grade school, our sons are automatically and quickly penalized if homeworks are not submitted on time or no homework is submitted. when our sons are late in submitting or do not submit homeworks, their grades for sure will suffer and can even get a failing mark.

AGS does not practice what it preaches? 

the AGS has not learned a lesson from amiel’s death?

ateneo inaction puts lives of children in danger : amiel alcantara tragedy

parents who have gone to the ateneo for summer classes and enrollment have reported the chaos and dangers remain at the ateneo grade school parking lot. the parking scheme has not been changed, the parking lot is full of parked cars in whatever space they can find, children and adults cross wherever they want and there are too few security guards to control traffic and safeguard pedestrians.

the volume of cars are fewer than on regular school days but the dangers are still there. why is the ateneo not doing anything to safeguard the sdafety of pedestrians in the school? have they not learned their lesson from the february 24 incident?

parents also have said there are no changes in that parking lot – it looks exactly the same as it was before last school year. no construction of any sort, and no changes on flow. with no changes from before, that can only mean the same dangers and risks that got amiel killed in february continue to be there. that means, that parking lot is waiting for its next victim.

this situation should not be tolerated by parents. it is the lives of their children, the lives of your yayas and even parents themselves that are at risk. parents need to speak up, and speak up now.

swine flu pandemic to reach asia? when? protect yourself

waking up this sunday morning has not been a easy one – the swine flu that was first seen in mexico is now being tagged by the WHO as “pandemic potential”, that means it can infect and kill many more people and can spread to the rest of the world. it already has reached a few parts of the US.

what has been bothersome here was the late response and few actions mexico has taken. mexico looked at cases too late and that means they were unable to contain it to a small area. in fact it has spread to several states in the US. with the late response, it may have infected people who have left mexico to other parts of the world. that means as you read this, people with the swine flu may now be in asia already and infecting others.

read about swine flu a ” pandemic potential”: http://tinyurl.com/clytwc
read about CDC saying swine flu outbreak serious: http://tinyurl.com/c272z2

Commuters wear face masks to prevent the infection by the swine flu

 

the CDC has a list of things to do to protect yourselves from getting infected with the swine flu, but i would emphasize a few things that you can do now:

buy and stock up on bottles of hand sanitizers (will there be stock outs?)

have small bottles of rubbing alcohol acvailable in your car

buy and stock up on a supply of surgical masks (will there be stock outs?)

keeping very healthy now is a good idea – lots of water and vitamin C? 

CDC this is the best source of information on the swine flu, read here: http://tinyurl.com/cqlxtr

from the CDC, things to do to protect yourself from getting swine flu:

Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people. There are many things you can to do preventing getting and spreading influenza:

There are everyday actions people can take to stay healthy.

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hands cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread that way.

Try to avoid close contact with sick people.

• Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
• If you get sick, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

abs-cbn responds to wawam.wordpress post on abs-cbn’s ted failon news coverage

we had published our views on the news coverage abs-cbn aired on  the ted failon story, actually the death of ted failon’s wife where we said we thought abs-cbn was not impartial in it’s coverage. we thought abs-cbn did not just deliver the news, it editorialized the news and delivered a slant or a message to the public. (read here:  http://tinyurl.com/cq4hj5)

we are printing here a response from someone who claims to be maria ressa, the head of abs-cbn’s news & current affairs department. that was the name used in the comment posted in this blog (view the comment on the same post http://tinyurl.com/cq4hj5) and the email used to register the comment. note that we have not confirmed if the person who posted the comment is actually maria ressa. we will gladly retract the comment and this post if we get confirmation it is not her.

in the meantime – just a note on maria ressa. we have seen ressa at cnn news clips when she was the cnn jakarta bureau chief. she has done extensive and admirable work for cnn covering jakarta and other parts of asia.

wawam.wordpress thanks ms. ressa for her response to our blog. our response to her comment is next in wawam.wordpress. 

maria ressa

First, thank you for watching TV Patrol and Bandila (where the Ces interview with Ted aired). For the purpose of debate, I want to challenge both the Inquirer article and some of the reasons you used for your conclusions.

On the Inquirer article, I find it funny that ABS-CBN was criticized for following the police while “the MEDIA” in general was praised for following the police! (Read the bottom part which talked about the footage of police arrests, and you’ll see that Inquirer didn’t write that that footage they praised was from ABS-CBN).

I think you’d also be interested in knowing that the media critics they quoted also criticized the police, the Inquirer and GMA7, but all that was cut out of the article. I’ll be writing a letter of complaint to their ombudsman and editor-in-chief so stay tuned.

As far as what you said about ABS-CBN interviews, I’d like to offer you other interviews and stories where we’ve focused as much, if not more attention, than we did on the Ted Failon story.

Ces also did an exclusive interview with “Nicole” – the alleged rape victim. That was only part of a coverage that was so exhaustive that Bandila became the first Philippine newscast to be nominated for an Emmy – ranked the fourth best newscast in the world by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Karen Davila did an exclusive interview with Sandra Cam, the whistleblower against jueteng who was afraid for her life. Jing Castaneda did an exclusive interview with Joey De Venecia on the NBN-ZTE deal (both stories covered in depth for weeks). I can name many more, but of course, you would expect me to defend my news organization.

You know that we broke the Proclamation 1017 stories, Danny Lim’s coup attempt, the Garci scandal, the Hyatt 10 (Ricky Carandang did a fantastic job with that exclusive and the exhaustive coverage following that).

So, no, I think it’s flawed to say that we only covered Ted Failon because he’s our anchor. In fact, some critics said early on that we didn’t cover the story BECAUSE we were protecting our anchor. We gave that space early because he – like any victim of a family suicide – asked for it. DZBB, by the way, said it would also follow his request. That, however, was only good until the police began portraying the shooting as a possible murder attempt – what they called parricide.

The picture I can’t get out of my mind is Col. Mabanag taking Trina’s letter and showing it to reporters, asking them to read it, then using it to fan himself.

I only ask that you not take what’s written as gospel truth – both the Inquirer’s and what I’m writing now. Check it out. I know what I write you will stand up to scrutiny.

-from maria ressa
head & vp ABS-CBN News & Current Affairs Department

read other posts in this blog on ted failon: http://wawam.wordpress.com/?s=ted+failon

amiel alcantara death – with no changes at AGS parking lot, it awaits it’s next victim

if you find out you, your son or any family member of yours feel really sick. what do you do? if you think something is wrong in your health, like something about the heart. what do you do?

you see a doctor, in fact you see a doctor specialist. if it is your heart, you see a heart specialist. or if it is your child, a pediatrician.

if a grade 4 child dies in a vehicular accident at the parking lot of the school, what should school authorities do?

first, school authorities will want to know what happened in that accident and find out its causes. then you set out to find ways to improve safety at the parking lot.

it is common sense to conclude that since a grade 4 boy died at the parking lot of the school, there must be something wrong with the design of the parking lot and the traffic management scheme being implemented in the school.

or at the very least, you know you need to improve or make changes to the traffic scheme and design of the parking lot.

when it comes to designs of parking lots and traffic schemes, where do you go?

you go to architects, designers and engineers who are the experts on designing parking lots for safety.

did ateneo go to these specialists and professionals?

since no changes or improvements in terms of  infrastructure or design have been done on the AGS parking lot, that tells you ateneo has not consulted the proper experts on the matter. if they did, it is certain there will be changes on the infrastructure design of the parking lot.

an architect and engineer works with physical designs and structures. ask their expert opinion and they will give you suggestions on changes to the physical design and structure.

we do not think that when ateneo asked architects and engineers on how to improve safety at the parking lot,  they told the school just to apply fresh paint on the street crossings, conduct educational campaigns and re-write traffic rules and regulations in the school. the solutions architects and engineers think of are structural, physical in nature, not psychological and mental.

who did ateneo ask to develope ways to improve safety at the parking lot? priests? english teachers? school administrators? parents? will they be enough? are they the experts in the field of design for safety?

since ateneo DID NOT consult architects and engineers on how to improve safety at the ateneo and the parking lot looking exactly like what it was last school year,  it only means one thing – the dangers and reasons that killed amiel are still present in that parking lot! the ateneo parking lot is awaiting it’s next victim!  

 

 

Comment from an ateneo dad:

Well, it is still unfinished. But, we must impress on Ateneo and the multi-stakeholder committee that they need to work to implement the SAFEST plan and implement it now when they have the time to test and refine it before the real flood of students in June. Anything less would be abrogating their fiduciary responsibilities as 2nd parents to our children.

Let it not be that in their rush to “have something in time for June” that they forget the primary criteria of absolute child safety in any solution that materializes from the exercise that this committee has embarked on. Allowing for a less than 100% solution again would be abrogating their fiduciary responsibilities as 2nd parents to our children.

 As parents and therefore stakeholders of this school, we need to be alert and ready to rally against a slipshod solution that is sold to us as being short-term and temporary. Such measures tend to be more haphazard, hazardous, and ineffective.  And, in many cases, temporary solutions in systems tend to gain a life of their own and become dysfunctionally permanent.

This will bring us back to the same unsafe and possibly more hazardous conditions as where we are today. Ateneo should seriously hire and engage the proper professionals to develop the solution.

They cannot continue to use the reason that it will take too long to design and plan. This is well overdue and the execution of a proper plan should have been done as late as 10 years ago.

I believe parents andstakeholders are not just looking for any kind of solution. They want the Ateneo to do the right thing and to do it well especially in this case that it involves the life and safety of their children.

Nothing less would be the expectation from the school that teaches the way to HEROIC LEADERSHIP

reader comment posted here: http://tinyurl.com/dewmcm

abs-cbn – not an impartial reporter of the ted failon news story

we agree, abs-cbn was not an impartial reporter of the ted failon news story.

abs-cbn had a very extensive coverage of the ted failon story. they were to be admired for it — they looked at all aspects of the story and spent a lot of time getting into the details of the various angles. they also had their most senior reporters do the interviews and with experts on the topics of the news coverage.

they also showed admirable finesse and respect in interviewing ted failon and his family members. we remember a segment where abs cbn senior reporter ces drilon interviewed ted failon and showed admirable restraint in the questions she asked and specially those she did not ask. there were many moments when ces did not ask questions, allowed ted to speak and she used a very calm and respectful tone. it was obvious ces was being very sensitive to the feelings and hurt of ted failon who was the husband of the woman who died.

while ces drilon showed remarkable professionalism and restraint, that by itself shows the bias of abs-cbn. kudos to ces, thumbs down to the abs-cbn news organization.

that was the only time we saw an abs-cbn reporter conduct an interview of the spouse of the victim with such professionalism and restraint. all the interviews we have seen on abs-cbn news programs on similar news involving ordinary citizens were brusque, disrespectful and over-dramatic. we often saw wailing relatives of victims, showing utter pain and sadness on camera even among children.

we can only conclude that the interview that ces conducted was done in such a manner only because she was interviewing ted failon, a member of their own organization.

even the comprehensive coverage that abs-cbn gave the failon story while by itself is excellent and admirable journalism, but that by itself is unprofessional. again, they do not usually give the kind of breathe and depth on their news stories. we think abs-cbn looked into all the minute details of the story only because it was ted failon’swife and not at all a usual practice of the news network. abs-cbn’s coverage of these types of news for victims not working for abs-cbn are typically meant only to capture a few sound bites to get the ratings in.

finally, a very clear proof of the bias of abs-cbn on the ted failon story can be seen in the visuals shown on tv. in this case, not just a thousand, but a million words showed their bias in favor of ted failon.

review the news programs specially in the first 5 days since the death of ted failon’s wife and you will see this bias in the pictures they were showing. the most glaring was the day when the police arrested failon’s relatives at the deathbed of his wife.

the director decided to air those horrific footages that showed police brutality over and over again during the ENTIRE news program. the director of the tv news program used snippets of the brutal arrests as bridge or segue visuals from segment to segment, complete with audio of screaming and hurt women.

was that really necessary?

showing those brutal footages over and over again were obviously meant to drive up hate and anger towards the police and generate sympathy towards the failons.

 it was meant to continually show how unfair and unlawful the police were. that effectively plants the seeds of doubt on whatever the police will be saying or doing on the matter.

we are not at all justifying or defending the police on that episode. we are clear on our views – it was a brutal arrest and uncalled for. the policemen and their superiors who conducted that arrest must be fired and put to jail.

but what media did to those footages is another matter. abs-cbn was obviously not just delivering facts and events to the public, they were editorializing and they did deliver a message and intended to shape public opinion from one to another.

there is an upside to the bias that abs-cbn showed in their tv shows – that they have the ability, they know how to dissect a news story into its parts and give the audience thorough and comprehensive coverage of the news. they also have news reporters, this one is ces drilon, who can be totally professional in the conduct of an interview.

but shame on abs-cbn for doing that only for ted failon and not for other news stories. abs-cbn had an agenda, it was pretty obvious. what they did was not meant for a news program but for an editorial or a feature/special report.  

there is irony in this whole thing.

 

Media critics score ABS-CBN coverage
By Alcuin Papa
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—When reporting about a “Kapamilya” caught in a personal tragedy and a legal fix, how did ABS-CBN fare in the eyes of media industry critics?

For Vergel Santos, veteran journalist and chair of the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), the broadcast giant showed “a fraternal bias” for its top news anchor Ted Failonin its coverage of his wife’s violent death and the ensuing police investigation.

ABS-CBNseemed to have adopted a policy of questioning everything that the police said, according to CMFR Executive Director Melinda Quintos de Jesus.

This led to a “polarization” between Failon’s family and the authorities. “So the viewer could not decide what made sense in the incident.”

Luis Teodoro, former dean of the University of the Philippines’ College of Mass Communication, shared the view: “It was a bit overdone especially on the part of ABS-CBN. There were stories that were repeated.”

read in full: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090424-201120/Media-critics-score-ABS-CBN-coverage

iphone 3g: AT&T’s success with it and globe’s failure at it

we wrote about globe telecom’s launch of the iphone 3G last year and said their launch plans were wrong. AT&T’s iphone 3G launch in the US was a huge hit while it has done practically nothing for globe in the philippines.

read in full here: http://tinyurl.com/cbud6b

globe did not adapt the pricing strategy of AT&T in the US where they decided to take a hit on profits trading that off for higher unit sales and higher market share. we said then that globe’s pricing strategy may have generated for them high margins but it lost them the opportunity for higher unit sales which could very well have recovered the lower margin per unit they had to take. more importantly, globe lost the opportunity to take market leadership away from smart telecoms.

read all the discussions on globe’s iphone 3G launch here: http://tinyurl.com/d3awn2

amiel alcantara’s death: no changes at AGS parking lot – a new accident waiting to happen?

“No changes at the AGS parking lot,
the danger remains.”

that sentence has bothered me a lot. i read it last night, i sensed something was wrong there. my intuition was kicking in so badly. i could not put my finger into exactly what was wrong there. but i knew i was worried for the young boys who study at the AGS.

i could not sleep last night thinking about it, so i re-read many parts of this blog, specially the comments from parents. that did not satisfy me, so at close to midmight, i called up friends of mine who are maried to  architects.

talking to them cleared my mind. my intuition was correct, many things are wrong about that sentence.

first, looking at the comments of parents in this blog. parents want change in the traffic system at the AGS, not any kind of change, they want significant changes. in fact the word “radical” was used quite often by many. many of the parents feel the weaknesses of the current system plus the apathy of the school administration and security guards on safety for children had a significant contribution to the death of amiel at the parking lot.

of course many other things contributed to it – one is perhaps the inexperience of the ateneo mom driver and even the current practice of  pedestrians having to cross that area where amiel died, but the current system and traffic design contributed to it by allowing the accident to happen.

from my talks with the architects this is the sense i get. 

• architects can and should incorporate  ”safety” into a design
• the same way as architects can incorporate speed and traffic flow into a design
• the core essence of an architect’s job is to look into space and design and erect structures on it that delivers specific objectives. one could be to erect a structure for a home, or a mall or a parking lot.  the designs an architect does includes intangibles like cost, aesthetics, ease of use and even safety, to name a few.
• physical structures that architects design and erect on space affects behavior and the movement of people who use that space.
• in fact structures erected on space affects the behavior and directs  movement of people who use that space. they also deliver specific values.
• for example: walls and a door on space contains people into that space. ceilings on space gives comfort and protection from the elements to people under it. hallways direct flow of people from point a to b and prevents them from getting lost to point d or prevents them from falling off a window.

the above tells you that to improve safety at the AGS parking lot, to prevent another death, we need architects to re-design that open space, to erect structures that will direct movement of vehicles and pedestrians  and to alter or influence the behavior  of pedestrians.

that parking lot at the AGS where amiel died as it stands now is still open space. it looks exactly like the way it was when amiel died in that parking lot. looking exactly the way it is when amiel died can only mean one thing – the same risks and dangers, the same reason that caused amiel’s death continue to exist in that parking lot.

how can there be improvements on safety, how can it prevent another death to occur in that parking lot when it looks exactly like when amiel died?

the death of amiel told  us a very valuablee lesson – safety, specially traffic safety CANNOT rely solely on the good behavior and goodwill of pedestrians and drivers to follow traffic and safety rules nor just the actions of traffic enforcers. 

i do not think the ateneo mom driver and pedestrian amiel intended for the accident to happen. to both of them at that moment of the accident, this something called “accident” rendered useless the good behavior and goodwill that they had in following traffic and safety rules.

not even the zealous efforts of a traffic enforcer could have prevented amiel’s death. i do not think the presence of a traffic enforcer at the scene of amiel’s death could have prevented it. in fact, if a traffic enforcer was there at the scene of the accident, that traffic enforcer could have died as amiel did or sustain the same injury that amiel’s yaya sustained.

the point is – traffic and safety education is fine. but i do not think that is enough.

a parking lot is space. people and cars behave and move within that space, to ensure safety, it is not enough that we educate pedestrians on safety or make traffic violations more stern – what it needs is structures that ensure safety.

why then is the ateneo not erecting structures or altering that open space where amiel died? keeping that open space as is, means exactly the same dangers that led to the death of amiel continue to exist and may be waiting for the next victim.

a prayer is said at amiel's shrine at the AGS parking lot

amiel alcantara : no changes at the AGS parking lot, the dangers remain

summer enhancement classes started today at the ateneo grade school. that is the official start of a new season at the AGS. we once again see boys at the school grounds and the cars that bring them to the school. they are not as plenty compared to regular school days, but it’s a good reminder of what happens in school.

we wonder what has happened to the unfinished business at the ateneo?

we have not heard anything from the ateneo on what they intend to do when classes start in june. pronouncement from the school said they will implement changes and improvements on traffic management and safety at the school but the parking lot of the AGS still look the same as previous. from the looks of the parking lot, it looks like nothing will change.

that worries me. not doing any changes in that parking lot can only mean the same dangers that were there last february continue to exist. didn’t the school learn its lesson from the tragic death of young boy at the parking lot last february?

amiel alcantara tragic death: ateneo dad – hire safety engineer to study traffic flow

from jonas:

ilipat yun parking area ng mga teacher…maglakad na lang sila ng konti…maski ilagay sa likod.. area will serve as an additional exit point…

Bawasan yun area para sa football field… aanhin mo ang football field na bihira mo gamitin… compare mo sa safe na area para sa pagsakay at pag baba ng mga bata… yun hindi ka pressured …. hind i ka nagmamadali…ok lang kung medyo malayo .. SOBRANG LAKI PA NG ATENEO…

ipagbawal yun temporary 4 lane loading and unloading zone 15 mins before dismissal time..pressured ang mga tao… na sumakay at umalis… nagmamadali… . cars and kids don’t mix….

lakihan yun mga sidewalks ..paglakarin yun mga bata… sa sidewalk… hindi sa gitna ng kalsada… train natin sila gumamit ng pedestrian lane… dapat may crossing monitor maski around dismissal time lang…

Mag hire ng safety engineer para pagaralan yun traffic flow sa loob…

Pustahan tayo… in 2 weeks bakasyon na… next school year.. nakalimutan na ito… balik na naman ulit yun impiyerno tuwing dismissal time…

wala silang paki alam sa safety ng mga bata… ok lang sa kanila makipag patintero ang ating mga anak sa mga sasakyan…

mas importante yun tuition fee increase …mas importante yun dalawang magandang football field .. take note dalawa pa ito… na bihira gamitin…mas importante yun malapit parking ng mga guro… bawal maglakad ng malayo ang ating mga guro… wawa naman sila…

click here for more: http://tinyurl.com/dc6njk

susan boyle boils up to youtube stardom

unless you have been living under a rock in the last week, you probably have heard of susan boyle, the woman who shocked simon cowell into appreciation in the rerality tv show “britain’s got talent”.

this woman’s audition, the one you see in this blog, was posted in youtube and it got an astonishing 29,057,358 hits as of this writing making her the undispiuted superstar of youtube.  there are other postings of the same audition in youtube and many of those got millions of views as well. adding them all up could easily reach 40 million views.

this version will take a bit of time to load, but be patient, its worth the wait and the patience. the facial reactions of the judges and the wild applause they gave this woman is priceless and amazing.

this woman was so unassuming, perhaps even did not realize the talent that she had that she started to walk off the stage right after she finished her song even though the audience and the judges were giving her a standing ovation and to wild cheers and appluase.

it is a must see for everyone, they were applauding her talent, period. and so are we.

view youtube clip here: http://tinyurl.com/c2eryr

since the time she appeared on youtube and that is just a few days ago, susan boyle has appeared in major US tv news programs, dozens of articles writen about her and paparazzis are now in front of her home.

the other part is the director of the reality show who i think did an excellent job in filming the episode. the camera work, the editing and the background musix was brilliant. the camera work matched flawlessly with the background music. the intercutting to audience, host, judges and talent reactions and performance was just brilliant. 

 

Unlikely Singer Is YouTube Sensation

By SARAH LYALL

 

Published: April 17, 2009

LONDON — She has been watched by more than 20.2 million people (and counting) on YouTube, Twittered about by Demi and Ashton, praised by Patti LuPone, admired by the bloggerati, snapped by the paparazzi, swarmed by camera crews, interrogated by reporters and restyled, sort of, for American television.

  

But now Susan Boyle, the middle-aged church volunteer whose soaring performance of “I Dreamed a Dream” on a British talent show last week turned her into the world’s newest instant celebrity, at youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY, is trying to catch her breath.

“All the attention has been quite an upheaval, and she is quite tired,” Miss Boyle’s brother, John, told reporters on Thursday outside her tiny pebbledash cottage in tiny, previously unexciting Blackburn, Scotland. “I have taken her away to let her have some peace and quiet before the next round.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/arts/television/18boyle.html?ref=global-home

senator ping lacson does not know mathematics

senator ping lacson shows his hands

senator ping lacson’s ad is a smart ad. well, at least it has  1 smart thing and 1 more smart thing, but the ad was unable to add into 1 great ad.

the problem with advertising is that it is not enough to have smart things in the ad, they need to first make sense for it to be a great ad.

read and view it here: http://tinyurl.com/c8fhvq

paris hilton spreads her legs, bends to show her butt – believe it or not it’s an ad for a burger!

no, that wasn’t a joke. and i got pictures to prove it.

that’s paris hilton in a tv ad. and the ad got me confused. is it a WAWAM! or does it have ADS Sindrome?

find out here and to enjoy the paris hilton’s scenic views here: http://tinyurl.com/ckll6t