Philippine Almanac

Bianca Manalo caught on cam scratching

Harold — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:47:35 +0000

In what seems like a shock for fans of Bianca Manalo, the photo that went viral shows how she was caught by camera while reaching something beneath her groin area. Others would say she is scratching something in public but everybody knows that’s not the case.

It could have been that her liner or undergarment was misaligned that she needs to readjust it. Whatever she was doing, she was just caught in a very awkward time and in a public place…and it so happen they’re airing on national TV. So, how’s that for exposure?

This “Bianca Manalo scratching photo” went viral just hours after it was uploaded on the net by a concerned netizen.

She hasn’t said anything about the photo yet.

Here’s the most controversial photo today:

Donaire beats Vasquez via split decision

Harold — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:06:28 +0000

Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire, Jr beats Wilfredo Vasquez, Jr, Saturday night at the Alamodome to claim the vacant Junior Featherweight title after 12 rounds via a split decision.

Apparently, Donaire wasn’t expecting Vasquez to be as tough as he was disproving what the Filipino Flash said he would knock the Mexican fighter out. While it could have been a consolation for Vasquez not being knocked out, he was knocked down in the 9th round giving away the match that easy.

For what seems a surprise for Donaire’s fans, his left hand was badly hurt that by the time the glove was taken away, it was full of blood.

“Vazquez was tougher than I expected,” said Donaire, who thought the hand was broken. “I couldn’t find my rhythm and I hurt my hand somewhere between the second and fourth rounds. I could only move it a little bit.”

It was not a spectacular win for Donaire contrary to what his fans have been expecting, but it was a hard-fought match and he deserves every accolade he gets.

This win would entitle Donaire for another 2 fights this year, although his next opponent hasn’t been revealed yet.

Territory as Element of State: Territorial Doctrine

Harold — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:09:44 +0000

Just a few days ago, somebody requested a topic about territorial doctrine. With a little research a little luck, I was able to find little information about it.

Basically, territory is the second essential element of a state. There is no rule as to the size of the territory needed to form a state. Some states are small in size; others are very big in territorial extent. The Vatican, with a total land area of only 1/6 square mile, is the smallest state in point of territory. The largest state in point of territory is Soviet Russia, with an area of about 9,000,000 square miles. The Philippines has a total area of 115,600 square miles only.

Our territory consists of all the territory ceded to the United States by Spain in the Treat of Paris signed on December 10, 1898, together with the islands included in the treaty signed by Spain and the United States on November 7, 1900 and in the treat concluded between, the United States and Great Britain on January 2, 1930.

I hope this information is useful for students.

SEXY PHOTOS: Marian Rivera

Harold — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:51:29 +0000

One of the sexiest yet wholesome Filipina celebrities today is Marian Rivera. Basically, you are looking in an all-in-one package; model, actress, singer, just name it! She is acknowledged as GMA Network’s Primetime Queen because she has what it takes to be watched by millions of people in the Philippines and around the world.

Marian Rivera is Marian Gracia Rivera in real life. Born on August 12, 1984 in Madrid, Spain to a Spaniard father, Javier Gracia Alonso, and a Filipina mother, Amalia Rivera, no wonder she looks really beautiful in every angle.

Others would say Marian is lucky to have Dingdong Dantes as boyfriend. But don’t you Dingdong is luckier?

If you want to read more about Marian Rivera’s life, here is the link to Marian’s wiki entry or simply google “Marian Rivera wiki.”

Well anyway, here are some of Marian Rivera’s sexiest photos:

The Baranganic Relations During the Pre-Spanish Government

Harold — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:18:21 +0000

Like the free states of today, our pre-Spanish independent barangays had relations of peace and war. As Dr. Antonio de Morga, Spanish historian-jurist, said: “Some chiefs had frindship and communication with other, and at times wars and friendship.”

The baranagays concluded pacts of alliance and friendship. Such pacts were sealed between datus by the ceremony of the blood compact called sandugo. Those barangays that were on friendly terms carried on commerce, communication, and other intercourse with one another.

At times, wars and quarrels broke out between barangays. The chief causes of barangay wars were as follows:

1. maltreament of a man from another barangay.

2. the abduction of the wife of a man by another man who was native of another barangay

3. when a trader from one barangay came to another barangay for purposes of trade and was there insulted, the trader’s barangay would declare war on the insulting barangay.

Social Classes in the Barangay

The people of the barangay were divided into three social classes, namely:

The Nobility. The highest class in the barangay consisted of the nobles called maharlika. They were the datu, his family, relatives, and the rich and powerful families. The men bore the title of gat, which was equivalent to the Spanish don; while the women were called dayang, equivalent to the Spanish doña. The princess of the barangay was known as the lakambini and the prince, lakan.

The Freemen. Next to the nobility were the freemen, who were called timawa. They were persons who were born free and emancipated slaves. They owned houses, lands, jewelries, and other property. They accompanied the datu in the wars or in fishing and hunting.

The Slaves. The slaves constituted the lowest social class in the barangay. They were called alipin. Among the ancient Tagalogs, the slaves were of two kinds, namely; (1) aliping namamahay, and (2) aliping saguiguilid. The aliping namamahay were not really slaves, but serfs. They could own property, could marry at will, and could not be sold by their masters. The real slaves were the aliping saguiguilid, who could not own property, could not marry without the master’s consent, and could be sold anytime by their master.

Among the ancient Bisayans, there were three kinds of slaves, namely: (1) the ayuey, who worked all their time for their master; (2) the tumaranpuk, who worked one day for themselves and three days for their master; and (3) the tumatabang who worked only when summoned by their master.

Slavery in pre-Spanish Philippines was not as harsh and cruel as that in other countries. The horrible barbarities of slavery which stain the annals of America were unknown in our nation’s history. Padre Colin, a Spanish Jesuit historian, attested that the slaves were treated well and, in many cases, were regarded “in the light of relatives.”

A slave could easily obtain his freedom through the following means: (1) purchase, (2) marriage, and (3) emancipation by the master. Thus a slave could secure his freedom by paying his master a certain amount of money for his release. A slave woman automatically became free by marrying a freeman. Likewise, a slave could be emancipated by his master as a reward for his long years of loyalty or for certain notable services rendered.

The causes of slavery were: (1) birth, (2) captivity in wars, (3) debt, and (4) penalty for crimes committed. Accordingly, any person whose parents were slaves, who was capture in war, who could not pay his debt, or who was convicted of a serious crime became a slave.

Although social stratification existed, there was no rigid caste system as was the case in India. In our pre-Spanish barangays, a man who was born a slave could rise to the higher classes; he could be a freeman, and a freeman could become a datu.

The Confederation of Barangays

Harold — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:50:28 +0000

There existed several confederations of barangays in pre-Spanish Philippines. This proves that before the arrival of the Spaniards our ancestors had already the idea of uniting to form a bigger group—apparently, a forward step towards the building of a nation.

The oldest recorded confederation of the Philippines was the “Confederation of Madya-as” in Panay. It was formed in the middle of the 13th century A.D. by the Bornean immigrants who purchased the island of Panay. It consisted of the settlements of Hantik (Antique), Aklan (Capiz), and Irong-Irong (Iloilo), and was under the overall rule of Sumakwel, the wisest of the Malayan datus in ancient Panay.

In the confederation, the datus of the component barangays retained their position. The wisest or the strongest among the datus was recognized as the overlord or supreme ruler of the confederation. The rest of the datus were known as the lesser datus. Within the whole confederation, they were assistant rulers, being subordinated to the supreme datu; but within their respective barangays, they were supreme rulers.

There were two reasons why the early barangays formed confederations. First, for mutual protection against common enemies, the barangays united into a confederation. Secondly, the marriage of the lakambini (princess) and the lakan (prince) of different barangays led to the union of said barangays.

Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime 32GB hits Philippine Stores

Harold — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:22:49 +0000

Asus’ latest entry to the tablet market, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, is now here in the Philippines. VillMan Computers offers the 32GB model with mobile docking for P32,995. I was expecting it to cost around 25K but I was wrong.

Considering it is the first ever tablet to run with a quad-core CPU, I understand why the price is high as I imagined. That being said, I expect it to become the most powerful tablet ever released for now. For sure other tablet makers would go beyond the specs this tablet offers in just a few months.

Basically, Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime will also become the first notebook killers. While other tech enthusiasts look down on tablets due to lack of keyboard despite having good specs, this time would be different.

Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime Specs

10.1? Super IPS+ display @ 1280×800 pixels

Gorilla Glass

NVidia Tegra 3 1.4GHz quad-core processor

32GB and 64GB internal storage

1GB DDR2 RAM

1.2MP front-facing camera

8MP autofocus camera with LED flash

3.5mm mic & headphone combo jack

micro HDMI port

micro SD card slot

USB 2.0 port (dock)

SD Card slot (dock)

WiFi 802.11 b/g/n

Bluetooth 2.1 w/ EDR

Google Android 3.2 Honeycomb

Note: Asus Philippines will conduct a technical seminar for media personalities on February 16 for Transformer.

The First Philippine Republic

Harold — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:52:41 +0000

From the ashes of the revolution against Spain arose the First Philippine Republic. It was inaugurated in Malolos, Bulacan, on January 23, 1899, with General Aguinaldo as president. It was the first democratic republic in Asia.

Unfortunately, however, it lived only two years and two months, from January 23, 1899 to March 23, 1901, for the Americans, impelled by their doctrine of “manifest destiny,” had come to the country and crushed it by force of arms.

Bacoor, on the coast of Cavite, was the first capital of the free Philippines. Because of the growing tension in Filipino-American relations after the fall of Manila to the Americans, it became necessary to transfer the capital to another town.

Bacoor was too close to the American line, being within shelling range of Dewey’s naval guns. Bacoor would not be a safe capital in case of war against the Americans. On the advice of Mabini and some military leaders, General Aguinaldo transferred the nation’s capital to Malolos, Bulacan.

On the morning of Septemer 9, 1898, Aguinaldo and his general staff left Bacoor for Malolos. He arrived in Malolos at 12:30 in the afternoon of September 10. The patriotic townspeople gave him a rousing welcome. On that day Malolos became the capital of the free Philippines.

On September 15, 1898, the revolutionary congress, popularly known as the Malolos Congress, held its inaugural session at Barasoain Church, in Malolos. Only 50 out of a total membership of 136 were present at this inaugural session. Later the number of members was raised to 193, of whom 42 were elected and 151 appointed.

The members of the Malolos Congress represented the cream of Filipino intelligent-sia. They included physicians, lawyers, writers, engineers, pharmacists, businessmen, farmers, and soldiers. According to Francis D. Millet, an American eyewitness to the occasion, they were all “exceptionally alert, keen, and intelligent.”

Pedro A. Paterno was elected president of the Malolos Congress. Elected vice-president was Benito Legarda; Gregorio Araneta and Pablo Ocampo were voted secretaries. Various committees were also formed. The rules of the Spanish Cortes, with certain changes were adopted.

The first achievement of the Malolos Congress was the ratification of Philippine independence on September 29, 1898. Also approved was a domestic loan of Php 20,000,000, redeemable in forty years after the date of issue. The greatest achievement of the Congress was the framing of the Malolos Constitution.