Blogs & Ecology

Sixteen new cities were reverted back into towns after the Philippine Supreme Court recently declared unconstitutional the cityhood laws converting these municipalities into cities.

The escalation of conflict between government troops and Muslim separatist rebels in several areas of Mindanao Island has affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. Mindanao is located in south Philippines.

The intensified fighting began after a peace agreement was rejected by many politicians, and finally by the Philippine Supreme Court. Critics believe the agreement was unconstitutional since it would compromise the sovereignty of the Republic of the Philippines. They added that the agreement would pave the way for the establishment of a separate Moro-controlled state within the territories of the country.

More than 70 persons contracted typhoid fever in Quezon province in the Philippines. The diarrheal disease is linked with contaminated water supply.

Several Filipino bloggers have filed an impeachment complaint against the Philippine president. The president is accused of corruption, electoral fraud, betrayal of the Constitution and public trust.

A short video pays tribute to a young activist and nursing graduate who was killed while attending to the heath needs of a rural town in the Philippines.

Several Filipino lawmakers want to enact a law that will provide for population and reproductive health programs at national and local levels. The Philippines, whose population is almost 90 million, is one of the most populous nations in the world. Many scholars believe that the country’s high population exacerbates its social and economic problems.

The Reproductive Health (RH) bill mandates health and local agencies to inform Filipino couples about birth control methods, maternal health care and other reproductive health concerns. Sex education will be introduced in schools as well.

One of the most enduring legends of South East Asia is the Pontianak, said to be a bone-white lady, with ruby-red eyes, who is borne from her death in birth-giving. The Pontianak, or sometimes called the “Kuntilanak”, lives in almost all of South East Asia, except the Indochina region. Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines have the blood-drinking ghoul in their folklore. According to the Chap Ayam Photographers' blog:

Loy meets World from the Philippines believes US Senator John McCain will pull off the biggest upset in US presidential elections history.

My Daily Blog Diary from the Philippines writes about how to deal with office politics.

Bisean lists the film entries of Southeast Asian countries to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the Oscars.

Congratulations to the organizers and participants of the 2nd Mindanao Bloggers Summit in General Santos City. Mindanao is the Philippines' second biggest island.

Maldita, a Filipina in Bahrain, wonders why anyone uses automatic translators; instead of “You are not worth anything” she got the translation “You do not have clothes“…

After reading an interview of US vice president candidate Sarah Palin, a popular Filipino blogger comments: “The woman has no idea what she’s talking about! It is not sexist to call a dimwit a dimwit, especially if she’s running for the vice-presidency.”

Like the rest of the world, the China milk scandal has alarmed Southeast Asian countries. China is the major trading partner of Southeast Asian nations. Chinese goods are popular and accessible in the region. It is not surprising to learn that Chinese milk products which are contaminated by melamine have already been sold in local markets.

Filipino Journalist and blogger Ellen Tordesillas reports that contaminated milk products from China are being sold too in a public market in Manila.