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They came, they hacked, and now they’re getting ready to go to Silicon Valley.

A group of developers from Davao and Pampanga will soon be heading to the world’s tech mecca after besting more than 250 other Philippine hackers in a 24-hour coding competition organized by wireless services leader Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) and business incubator IdeaSpace Foundation, in partnership with US-based AngelHack.

Team PageSnapp – composed of Rolly Rulete, Marvin Consuegra, Mio Miguel Galang, Raymund Delfin, and Jay Albano – was named winner of the Manila leg of the AngelHack Spring Global Challenge after building a web application that allows businesses to instantly create an Android mobile app using content from their Facebook pages.

The team won more than P2 million in prizes, including a $5,000 travel grant to Silicon Valley where AngelHack will introduce them to incubators and investors to help turn their big idea into a startup. They will also get a $20,000 investment from Asia Pacific Ventures, an incorporation grant from IdeaSpace, at least $20,000 worth of services from sponsors, two Smart LTE iPad mini units, and a 12-week mentorship from IdeaSpace and the Smart Developer Network (Smart DevNet).

“It’s a huge problem for small businesses to go mobile, and no one’s solved it. They [Team PageSnapp] created something that would help these businesses make apps easily, and they did this in a super simple way. It’s a very unique application. It’s one of those things that other people have tried to do but have not figured out how to do simply,” said AngelHack founder and CEO Greg Gopman, who was one of the event’s judges.

AngelHack founder and CEO Greg Gopman

“This project will help a lot of small businesses get online and get mobile, and bring their services to a bigger audience,” said another judge, TechCrunch writer Josh Constine.

“A dream come true”

“This is a dream come true,” said Rulete. “We came here thinking that win or lose, we would enjoy the experience. We thought the app was worth finishing, even without the big prize,” he added.

Rulete is no stranger to winning coding marathons, having been part of the team that bagged the Best Use of Smart APIs (app programming interface) award at an HTML5 hackathon organized last year by Smart Dev Net. That team’s winning project eventually became the mobile app for Project NOAH, a disaster prevention and mitigation program developed by the government in partnership with Smart and other companies.

Rulete also developed the Android version of the eLeksyon2103 app, the information and learning mobile app of the Commission on Elections.

“We thank Smart for encouraging developers to be active, and for organizing activities that help us broaden our network,” Rulete said.

Team PageSnapp, winner of AngelHack Manila

PageSnapp beat 52 other apps from varying fields. The teams presented their apps to a panel of judges comprised of leaders in the startup, developer, and venture capital communities: Morphlabs founder Winston Damarillo, Metro Deal founder Ralph Wunsch, Jay Yao of MerchantCloud, Microsoft Philippines’ Alvin Gendrano, Shoephoric.com founder Ann Jacobe, Stratpoint’s Floyd Piedad, CashCashPinoy’s Frederic Levy, BlackBerry’s Jiazi Xu, Seed Asia’s Beryl Li, JR Contreras of Imperium Technologies, Meralco’s Ernie Imperial, Adrich Scheuders of Freelancer.ph, and Novare’s Miguel Paraz.

Breaking into the big leagues

Team PageSnapp is one of 32 winners of the AngelHack Spring Global Challenge which has been conducted in various cities in Asia Pacific, North America, South America, and Europe. The 32 winning teams will present their startups to investors, influencers, and media during the Global Demo Day in Silicon Valley this September. Ten of them will also be given booths at the September 7 to 11 TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco, the number one startup conference in the world.

Previous winners of AngelHack, considered the largest hackathon in the world, have gone on to attend incubators like Y-Combinator, AngelPad, Mass Challenge, TechStars, and 500 Startups.

“AngelHack Manila has provided a very rare opportunity for a developer-centric startup to make it big in Silicon Valley. We’re all excited at Smart DevNet and IdeaSpace to see Team PageSnapp represent Filipino developers and start-uppers in San Francisco this coming September,” said Smart developer evangelist Paul Pajo.

“We’re happy that the idea of hackathons is picking up steam in the local developer scene. The success of AngelHack Manila validates that,” noted Jim Ayson of the Smart Partner Management and Developer Relations team.

“Smart DevNet believes every organization, from corporations to the public sector, can use hackathons as a source of product innovation, allowing ideas from independent developers to bubble up to the surface. AngelHack Manila has allowed us to bring the best practices of a California-style hackathon to Manila,” he added.

AngelHack Manila was organized by key officers of IdeaSpace and Smart DevNet with AngelHack ambassadors Erlyn Hinojas and Diego Jose Ramos.

Main sponsors include 1337 Ventures, Amazon Web Services, Asia Pacific Ventures, BlackBerry, Chikka, Developers Connect Philippines, Freelancer.ph, Google Developers Group, Hobby Mash, Infinite.ly, Microsoft Philippines, Mobile TAO, Mozilla Philippines, Orange and Bronze, RideIn, San Miguel, Shoephoric, Smart LTE, SourcePad, and Voyager Innovations.
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Be part of citizen power. Register here in Blog Watch at http://blogwatch.tv/wp-register.php. or send me an email contact at blogwatch dot tv . Individuals, all Filipino citizens, led by Honorable Teofisto Guingona, Jr., former Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines, and members of AES Watch, a coalition of registered non-government organizations, citizens’ poll watchdogs, policy study and professional groups including IT experts and resource persons of the Poll Automation Law (RA 9369), faith-based groups and other poll stakeholders who have been actively working in collective or in individual actions since 2009 to promote transparent, secured, and trustworthy automated election system in the Philippines compliant with the Election Modernization Law and industry standards, have decided to

File a complaint with the Office of the OMBUDSMAN today at 1:30 p.m.

as part of a series of legal actions aimed at calling public attention to the serious travesty of our election system and violation of the citizens’ right to an election process that will truly reflect their sovereign will through accurate, secured and transparent counting of votes, by no less than the country’s prime election manager, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).

This citizen’s action today, June 10 is was filed to hold into account public officers at the COMELEC who, in collusion with local and foreign business interests, placed in grave peril the sanctity of the ballot in the Philippines by approving the use of a highly-suspect automated elections system – the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) in the May 10, 2010 National and Local Elections and May 13, 2013 Mid-term Elections.

The Comelec then under Chairman Jose Melo started the whole poll automation mess in 2010. For the 2013 elections, the Comelec under former election lawyer, Chairman Sixto Brillantes, Jr. has committed blunder after blunder in the poll automation process to cover up the major non-compliance of RA 9369 and industry standards on security, accuracy and transparency by its foreign technology supplier.

They should be held accountable for this terrible technological and political mess that has cost the country billions of taxpayers’ money and virtually deprived the Filipino people of their right to have their votes counted correctly in a clean, transparent and honest election system.

Here is the copy of the Joint Affidavit complaint filed at the Ombudsman

Joint Complaint Affidavit filed by some citizens vs. Comelec by BlogWatch.ph

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Be part of citizen power. Register here in Blog Watch at http://blogwatch.tv/wp-register.php. or send me an email contact at blogwatch dot tv . The 1000 Days: Mother and Child Health Club in BayaniJuan

An alarming number of pregnant mothers in developing countries like the Philippines are not ready to host a new life. Often, they are underweight and iron deficient. They may not have access to healthy food and surrounding that they need causing premature birth or low birth weight. Due to lack of information these mothers do not visit the health center nor breastfeed their new born long enough.

Even from the womb, the baby is already disadvantaged for not getting proper nutrition from a poorly-nourished mother. Undernourished mother produces undernourished child. Weak body produces weak mind which inhibits the child from getting an education that will give better economic opportunities.

According to Dr. Florentino Solon, President of the Nutrition Center of the Philippines, the National Nutrition Survey revealed high maternal mortality, high infant and young child mortality, high under two years underweight, high under two years stunting, high low birth weight, severe maternal and infant anemia, low exclusive breastfeeding, low breastfeeding up to two years, late and inappropriate complementary feeding and high occurrence of diarrhea and pneumonia amongst the lower class of society.
The cycle goes on unless the mother gets the needed intervention.

Mothers are scheduled to bring their children to the medical practitioner assigned in BayaniJuan. Health workers record the child’s progress on the provided Mother and Child: 1,000 Days card.

IMPACT Foundation of the Philippines, headed by Dr. Chris Perfecto, created the 1,000 Days Project with the goal of preventing avoidable disability resulting to poor health and undernutrition due to the lack of knowledge and access to health resources, created the 1000 Days project.

IMPACT Foundation partnered with ABS-CBN Foundation and the local government of Calauan, Laguna to pilot the 1000 days Project in BayaniJuan Southville 7 in Calauan, Laguna, the relocation site of former estero dwellers and victims of typhoon Ondoy from Pasig and Marikina.

The first cycle of the project adopted 50 mother-child pairs during which, each pair was provided with adequate nutrition and education which included regular pre-natal check up, nutritional supplements and vaccinations; supplemental feeding to increase calorie intake of the pregnant mother; and lectures with emphasis on exclusive breastfeeding, stimulation of the growing child and parenting.

Mothers were educated and provided for so that newborn were ensured exclusive breastfeeding for six months, complete immunizations, weight/height monitoring and needed complementary feeding two to three times a week. The project helped in giving these pregnant women access to birthing facility.

The program ensures that children have complete immunization and access to medicines.

Project participants were scheduled to see assigned medical practitioner in BayaniJuan on their first three months of pregnancy in order to start early prenatal supplementation, especially the iodized salt to prevent brain damage of the fetus resulting to mental retardation. An early iron/folic supplement was also administered since many women enter pregnancy anemic. About 60% of pregnant women had the recommended three to more than four times of prenatal visits .The advantage of four or more visits, are early physical examination, assessment of the fetus status, micronutrient supplementation and intensive health and nutrition information and education. All of the fifty pregnant women were given tetanus toxoid vaccine which protects pregnant women from tetanus infection and the newborn from having tetanus Neonatorum, a fatal tetanus condition on newborn babies. The tetanus vaccine wereprovided by the Calauan Rural Health Unit.

During the first cycle of the project in BayaniJuan, 92% of pregnant women delivered in health facilities and only 7% delivered their babies at home. The achievement significantly reduced complications and death at delivery. In the National Survey, only 47% delivered in health facilities and 43% had home delivery.

One hundred percent of the mothers in the BayaniJuan 1000 days project breastfed their newborn during the first hour after delivery while the National Survey showed only 51.9% breastfeed their new born at the first hour of delivery. Colostrum, an immunity builder, is released by mothers on the first hour after delivery.

All participants of the 1000 days project were lactating mothers who practiced exclusive breastfeeding on the first month onward. In the National Survey , only 51% practice exclusive breastfeeding on the first month and only up to an average of three months. During the first cycle of the project, only two newborn babies or 6% have low birth weight while the National Survey shows a prevailing low birth weight of 19%.

The 1000 Days: Mother and Child Health Club in BayaniJuan did not just physically prepare both the mother and child but also mentally equipped the mothers on proper child rearing. With proper care and follow up, this almost ensures a better future for the children.

Children’s weight and height are monitored regulary during the program.

The second cycle of the 1000 days project in BayaniJuan will be sponsored by Calmoseptine, and will address high-risk pregnant women or those who are 35-year old and above, under 20-year old or those with pre-existing medical conditions.

If the results of the second cycle validate the success of the first, then 1000 days would be a significant way to attain the MDG goals on maternal and child health by 2015.

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Be part of citizen power. Register here in Blog Watch at http://blogwatch.tv/wp-register.php. or send me an email contact at blogwatch dot tv . Manila, June 7, 2013—“Save the Philippine seas now—before it’s too late,” Greenpeace, marine experts and fisherfolk made the call today as they renewed their demand for the Philippine government to enact and enforce stronger policies to preserve the country’s oceans. The groups also urged all Filipinos to be part of efforts to revive the seas. The call came on the eve of World Oceans Day, the UN-designated celebration meant to remind the world about how crucial the oceans are for our survival. This year’s theme is “Together we have the power to protect the ocean!”

“All stakeholders must be involved in the rehabilitation of the Philippine seas,” said Dr. Perry Aliño, of the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute. “We need to strengthen our existing social and ecological networks. Government mechanisms must be set up, with concrete solutions such as increasing the number and effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs).”

The report Oceans in the Balance is an overview of the worsening crisis in the Philippine seas. The report compiles data which show that as the country’s marine ecosystems such as coral reefs, seagrass meadows and mangrove forests are being destroyed, we are extracting more and more fish from the sea than it can sustainably provide. In short, we are not only emptying the oceans of fish, but we are also destroying vital habitats necessary for marine species to propagate.

“We are killing the goose that lays the golden eggs,” said Vince Cinches, Oceans Campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia. “Our seas are nearing their tipping point—overfishing, destructive and illegal fishing, poaching, pollution and climate change are sucking the life out of our waters. There is a very urgent need for the government to elevate oceans protection as a matter of national priority. This needs to happen now before the country drowns in a sea of problems.”

The report notes that despite the Fisheries Code of 1998, which mandates the protection of 15% of fishing grounds as marine protected areas, legislation seems unable to ensure the sustainability of our seas due to pervasive illegal commercial fishing activities and the encroachment of foreign fishing vessels into the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone.

Small municipal fisherfolk who are edged out by massive industrial fishing operations are the one who suffer the most. Greenpeace says that the high incidence of poverty in coastal fishing communities is reflective of the crisis attributed to the declining marine ecosystem and overfishing.

“There are around two million Filipino fishers who are heavily dependent on the sea,” said Maricel Gacela of Samahan ng mga Maliliit na Mangingisda sa Calatagan (SAMMACA). “We all have nothing to fish and nothing to feed our families. With a net income of only 250 Pesos a day, most fisherfolk end up in debt. Commercial fishing vessels take all the fish, sometimes from municipal fishing grounds, leaving us with very little fish to catch and barely enough money to cover gasoline costs for going out to sea.”

The report is intended as a call to action to address the two-pronged crisis of marine degradation and overfishing. Along with a broad range of stakeholders[1], Greenpeace is calling on the Aquino administration to immediately act against the crisis of overfishing and marine ecosystem degradation by:

1. Ensuring that the protection, rehabilitation, and conservation of Philippine seas are a national priority (such by improving MPA management and establishing a national network of marine reserves) ; and

2. Creating and immediately implementing a roadmap that eliminates overfishing and allows the recovery of the Philippine fish stocks. This can be achieved with steps such as stronger vehicle registry systems, halting the issuance of commercial permits, and strict enforcement of the 15 kilometer zone for small scale fishers.

“We need a wholesale change in how we currently manage our oceans,” said Cinches. “Overfishing must end, and more areas need to be protected and interconnected. This will require concerted effort from all sectors. All Filipinos are stakeholders of the seas—we must each be part of the solution. Greenpeace is asking all Filipinos to signing up at www.defendouroceans.org to join the movement of Ocean Defenders and help protect our seas.”

Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organization that acts to change attitudes and behavior, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.

For more information and media interviews, please contact:

[1] Greenpeace Southeast Asia, UNFAO, Tambuyog Development Center Inc., NGOs for Fisheries Reform, Donsol BADAS, DENR-PAWB-CMMO, BUREAU OF FISHERIES AND AQUATIC RESOURCES CENTRAL OFFICE AND REGIONAL OFFICES, SAVE THE PHILIPPINE SEAS, UP Marine Science Institute, ANAK-BALAYAN Ang Nagkakaisang Mamamayang Kostal ng Balayan, WWF, NAGSAMA –Lamon Bay, CERD Center for Empowerment and Resource Development , PUMALI-MV Pinalakas na Uganayan ng Mangingisda sa Luzon, Mindanao at Visayas, Aksyon Klima Pilipinas, PhilDHRRA Visayas Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas –Visayas, ECO Fish, UP Ecotour, PUMASAG – Pinag-isang Uganayan ng mga Mangingisda, NAMAMANGKA-Nagkakaisang Maliliit na Mangingisda na Kabite, PKSK – Pambansang Katipunan ng mga Samahan sa Kanayunan, SAMMACA-Samahan Ng Maliliit Na Mga Mangingisda Ng. Calatagan, PAFC – Zambales Provincial Agriculture and Fishery Council, International Fishing Workers Collective-Ibon International, LLCC, ISO – institute of Social Order, SMMM, IIMC, SMB, SAMANASEKAP Inc., PO BLM, PhilGrassroot –ERDF, IPDM- Institute for Peace and Development in Mindanao, SIKAT – Sentro para sa Ikauunlad ng Katutubong Agham at Teknolohiya, BALAOD – Balay Alternative Legal Advocates for Development in Mindanaw, CARET Inc. – Center for Agrarian Reform, Empowerment and Transformation, CI Philippines – Conservation International Philippines, MAPAGPALA – Mamamayan Para sa Pagpapanatili at Pagpapaunlad ng Lawa ng Laguna, NLB-IFARMC-Quezon – Northern Lamon Bay, Integrated Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management Council –Quezon, Golden Bay MPC, BO , Laguna Lake Consultative Council, TRIAS, PANGISDA – PILIPINAS – Progresibong Alyansa ng mga Mangingisda-Pilipinas, PRRM – Philippine Rurak Reconstruction Movement, BANTAY DAGAT, NFRDI, Hayuma Foundation, Philippine School of Business Administration Student Service Center, Donsol LGU.Want to be part of our Blog Watch Community? Share your perspectives on current issues and contribute to the conversation. Look at it as an op-ed with links. Just register or if you just want to submit a guest post , submit your story. at email address contact at blogwatch dot tv

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City-state Undercuts Status as Financial Center by Expanding Media Censorship to Web 

(New York, June 7, 2013) – The Singaporean government should withdraw an onerous new licensing requirement for online news sites, Human Rights Watch said today. The new rules will further discourage independent commentary and reporting on the Internet in Singapore.

On May 28, 2013, the Media Development Authority, which is controlled by the Ministry of Communications and Information and is responsible for regulation of Singapore’s media and publishing industry, announced that all “online news sites” that reach 50,000 unique viewers per month over a two-month period must secure a license to operate. The licensing regime took effect on June 1, and the Media Development Authority released a list of 10 websites that will initially be impacted, including AsiaOne.com, Business Times Singapore, and Yahoo! News Singapore.

“Singapore’s new licensing requirement casts a chill over the city-state’s robust and free-wheeling online communities, and will clearly limit Singaporeans’ access to independent media,” said Cynthia Wong, senior Internet researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Websites will be forced into the role of private censors on behalf of the government.”

The new licensing rules seem intended to impose another check on popular websites more than to reduce any genuine harms, Human Rights Watch said. As a condition of the license, websites must comply within 24 hours with any requests from the Media Development Authority to remove content that the government deems objectionable. Websites are also required to post a S$50,000 (US$40,000) performance bond to ensure compliance. “News site” is defined broadly to include any site containing news or any matter or public interest related to Singapore, in any language – even if content is provided by a third party, as with readers’ comments on a website.

On May 30, several major independent websites in Singapore released a joint media statement in protest, contending that the new rules would “reduce the channels available to Singaporeans to receive news and analysis of the socio-political situation in Singapore.” The statement also said that the new rules would disproportionately harm citizen journalists and non-commercial, volunteer-run blogging platforms, who will not be able to afford the performance bond.

A group of bloggers have launched a campaign using the Twitter hashtag #FreeMyInternet, and on June 6, participants blacked out their websites to oppose the new rules. Bloggers have also organized a public event in Singapore’s Speakers’ Corner in Hong Lim Park on June 8. Online commentators have expressed concern over the breadth of the definition of “online news sites,” warning that it could sweep in blogs that discuss a wide range of issues, and websites that enable users to discuss online content.

In response to criticism, the Media Development Authority clarified on its Facebook page on May 31 that, “An individual publishing views on current affairs and trends on his/her personal website or blog does not amount to news reporting.” However, in a separate statement, the Authority undermined this claim by asserting that, “If they [blogs] take on the nature of news sites, we will take a closer look and evaluate them accordingly.”

The Media Development Authority also asserted that the framework is “not an attempt to influence the editorial slant of news sites” and that it will only step in “when complaints are raised to [their] attention, and [they] assess that the content is in breach of the content guidelines and merits action by the website owner.”

Singapore’s constitution guarantees the right to freedom of expression, with exceptions for broadly worded restrictions in the name of security, public order, morality, and racial and religious harmony. Print and broadcast media are also subject to annual licensing requirements. In November 1997, the Media Development Authority introduced an Internet Code of Practice, which requires Internet service providers to restrict access to prohibited material and would apply to websites subject to the new license. The Code of Practice restricts any content that is “against public interest” or offends “good taste or decency,” including “material that advocates homosexuality or lesbianism.”

The definition of what might be deemed “against public interest” is vague and can be used arbitrarily by the government, leaving the licensing regime and content regulations open to selective enforcement and abuse, Human Rights Watch said. 

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights activists in Singapore have also criticized media censorship laws because they create a skewed portrayal of LGBT individuals in local, mainstream media. Given that Singapore still criminalizes male same-sex relations, instituting a 24-hour takedown requirement for “material that advocates homosexuality or lesbianism” on popular websites will only exacerbate the problem, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch said that the licensing regime is inconsistent with international human rights standards on freedom of expression. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, widely recognized as customary international law, provides that “[e]veryone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.” 

In his May 2011 report to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, wrote that registration and licensing requirements “cannot be justified in the case of the Internet.”

“Singapore is placing its status as a world-class financial center at clear risk by extending its record of draconian media censorship to the digital world,” Wong said.

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Internet freedom, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/topic/free-speech/internet-freedom

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Singapore, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/asia/singaporeWant to be part of our Blog Watch Community? Share your perspectives on current issues and contribute to the conversation. Look at it as an op-ed with links. Just register or if you just want to submit a guest post , submit your story. at email address contact at blogwatch dot tv

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Be part of citizen power. Register here in Blog Watch at http://blogwatch.tv/wp-register.php. or send me an email contact at blogwatch dot tv . “#JuanaCthemovie really kicks ass. It unmasks society the way only Juana Change can. And it is very absurdly funny.” Jim Paredes

“Juana C. is that rare animal in contemporary cinema: an advocacy movie in the form of a sex-comedy.” Jessica Zafra

“Truly daring and yes, irreverent but Juana CHange the Movie was able to bring the surface critical societal realities including those that are taboo. In a very Filipino way, the movie was able to advocate change and everyone’s responsibility to make this happen” – Bro Armin Luisitro

The movie covers Juana Change shifty from apathy to awareness and then action. Issues like mining, losing ancestral domain, freedom of information, over use of credit card, corruption, right to assembly and more are found in the movie. It is about time the citizenry should not turn a blind eye to these issues. Take action by making our government officials and other stakeholders accountable.H

Here is a synopsis via Sex Lies and Juana C from Vera Files.

“Juana C. The Movie” is a fast-paced hodgepodge of sex and politics in a ludicrous yet compelling plot. Leading a talented cast is political activist Mae Paner, Juana Change herself.

Written by award-winning playwright Rody Vera and directed by Jade Castro of “Zombadings,” the movie came a few scenes short of becoming a full-frontal hilarity.

The film is a satirical portrayal of everything that has gone wrong in Philippine society—from corrupt politicians, judges and priests on the take, activists who sell out, greedy capitalists to landgrabbing, drugs, and prostitution.

And just how do you sell a movie that paints such a grim scenario? Do a burlesque. As Juana C. says so herself, “I’m the new sexy!”

The story revolves around a naïve teen from an indigenous tribe in the north who was forced to study in Manila on a scholarship. Her misadventures start when she pretends to be a bar-hopping, rich colegiala, and turns into a highly paid escort caught in the world of crooks and sex-starved politicians.

A love triangle between John James Uy, the rich hunk who plays as Bayani, and Jelson Bay, the activist Hiro, turns it into a nearly full-length smut flick, not to mention the “vroom, vroom”, bare-your-ass bed scene with Niño Muhlach.

What started as a series of misfortunes ends well with Juana C. in her homecoming as a local hero who saves her village from losing their land to a mining company. But not after Juana C. survives a mad chase from those out to silence and kill her.

Watch the trailers:

Showing June 5 in the following theaters:

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Be part of citizen power. Register here in Blog Watch at http://blogwatch.tv/wp-register.php. or send me an email contact at blogwatch dot tv . Blog Watch talked to former Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Gus Lagman on the Automated Election Systems. He challenged netizens to discuss alternatives to “its existing precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine-based automated election system, which he finds flawed, to help bring forth polls that are truly credible.”

We must have a system that’ll yield accurate results, lessen election cheating and promote more transparency.

Such system must also speed up elections without sacrificing accuracy, honesty and transparency.

There are available possible solutions that we must look into already.

He noted that so many violations were committed. Digital signatures and other measures to safeguard votes are lacking. The open election system (OES) is the PCOS-based system alternative that he proposed.

The system involves manual voting and encoding in the precint level as well as automated canvassing.

Lagman reiterrates that “Transparency is completely lost when precinct counting is automated”

Watch our video as we talked to Gus Lagman and issues related to the automated election system.

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Be part of citizen power. Register here in Blog Watch at http://blogwatch.tv/wp-register.php. or send me an email contact at blogwatch dot tv . The Philippines has moved up 5 places in the latest IMD World Competitiveness Report from No. 43 in 2012 to No. 38 in 2013. A total of 60 economies around the world were reviewed for the 2013 report. The country is ranked 11th in Asia Pacific, up from 13th in 2011 and 2012, after overtaking Indonesia and India. The Philippines is ranked 4th out of 5 ASEAN economies reviewed in the report but registered the largest gain over the last year.

The IMD World Competitiveness Report reviews four major factors – economic efficiency, government efficiency, business efficiency, and infrastructure. Each factor is further divided into five sub-factors. Our goal is to move from the bottom-third of world rankings to the top-third by 2016. The 2013 report now places the Philippines in the middle-third of the list and out of the bottom-third position in prior years.

The Philippines improved its ranking in three out of the four factors – economic performance (from 42nd to 31st), government efficiency (from 32nd to 31st), and business efficiency (from 26th to 19th).

The double-digit improvement in economic performance can be attributed to big gains in real GDP growth (2nd, up 23), growth in exports of goods (6th, up 53), and international trade (30th, up 25). The 6.6 percent GDP growth in 2012 was the second highest not only in Asia but also in the latest World Competitiveness Yearbook report. The GDP growth also boosted overall productivity growth (4th, up 43) measured as change of real GDP per person employed. The country is also ranked 5th (up two) in stock market performance, with the continued upswing in the local index. These increases in business efficiency, however, were not accompanied by job generation. The Philippines is actually down seven places in employment (29th) and is 59th in the level of overall productivity (down one) and labor productivity (down two).

For government efficiency, gains in fiscal policy (9th, up two) and institutional framework (33rd, up three) were offset by drops in public finance (38th, down six) and business legislation (51st, down two). While reform measures seem to have begun to take effect, they must be implemented with increasing urgency and scope. The 2013 World Competitiveness Yearbook echoes the results of the 2012-2013 Ease of Doing Business Report of the International Finance Corporation and World Bank which ranked the Philippines low in global rankings on starting a business and paying taxes. The IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook now has the Philippines ranked 57th in number of days to start a business (down two) and 59th in number of procedures (down one). The National Competitiveness Council is optimistic that these will improve with the recent efforts to facilitate the ease of doing business in the country, particularly with the creation of a task force which joins the public and private sectors in promoting streamlining, transparency, and efficiency in business practices.

With a more business-friendly environment, the country hopes to attract more foreign direct investments, where it continues to trail in ASEAN. In the international investment sub-factor, the Philippines slipped one notch to 55th. We are confident that this trend will reverse over time as investors begin to understand and appreciate the reforms being undertaken and the gains made. For the first quarter of 2013, there is already a sharp turnaround in capital formation, up 47.7% over the same quarter one year ago.

In addition to business regulations, infrastructure is another factor that concerns investors. It is the only factor where the Philippines registered a drop in ranking in the last year from 55th in 2012 to 57th in 2013. On account of the early data collection period for the IMD report, we feel it fails to account for improvements in public infrastructure spending and rollouts. In contrast to the IMD report, the first quarter 2013 economic report reflects 7.8% GDP growth with government spending up 13.2% and overall construction up 33.7%. Increased infrastructure rollouts and improved efficiency in the PPP rollouts are expected to improve performance in infrastructure.

Overall, the Philippines is moving in the right direction and its improved rankings in growth rates are a reflection of this. Since we still lag in actual levels of performance across a number of key fronts (e.g., investments, trade, and others), it is absolutely critical for us to maintain momentum and a pace of improvement that is faster than that of our major competitors. We are confident that the pace will continue to pick up. The release of strong first quarter 2013 figures of 7.8% GDP growth is an indication that the momentum continues for the Philippines.Want to be part of our Blog Watch Community? Share your perspectives on current issues and contribute to the conversation. Look at it as an op-ed with links. Just register or if you just want to submit a guest post , submit your story. at email address contact at blogwatch dot tv

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Follow @blogwatchdotph in twitter or facebook.com/blogwatchph

Be part of citizen power. Register here in Blog Watch at http://blogwatch.tv/wp-register.php. or send me an email contact at blogwatch dot tv . Former House Representative Mark Cojuangco brought social media users and media to the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) to celebrate the 29th year when the hot function test was completed on May 28, 1984.

I will be writing more on the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant and feature objections.

Here is a video playlist on the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant tour on its 29th anniversary if you want to view the videos I took as Mark Cojuangco toured us at BNPP.

Individual Videos:

Fukushima vs Bataan Nuclear Power Plant

If there is contamination in the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant

Materials used at the Bataan Nuclear Plant

Bataan Nuclear Power Plant if operational and on redundancy of safety

Westinghouse materials used at Bataan Nuclear Power plant

Containment in the Bataan Nuclear Power plant

Bataan Nuclear Power plant generated power

How electricity is generated at the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant

Completion of Hot function test at BNPP on May 28, 1984

Bataan Nuclear Power Plant & Prophets of Doom

Want to be part of our Blog Watch Community? Share your perspectives on current issues and contribute to the conversation. Look at it as an op-ed with links. Just register or if you just want to submit a guest post , submit your story. at email address contact at blogwatch dot tv

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Follow @blogwatchdotph in twitter or facebook.com/blogwatchph

Be part of citizen power. Register here in Blog Watch at http://blogwatch.tv/wp-register.php. or send me an email contact at blogwatch dot tv . An attack on civil liberties

The Automated Election System Watch (AES Watch) today dared Chairman Sixto Brillantes, Jr., of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to clarify that its P30M counter-intelligence fund (CIF) was not intended to spy on IT groups and election watchdogs critical of the Comelec-purchased Smartmatic PCOS technology and the way the automated mid-term elections were conducted.

The citizens’ watchdog issued the demand even as it asked Comelec along with the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on AES to secure all PCOS machines, CCS software, ballot boxes, and other election paraphernalia needed for auditing the now-tainted mid-term election system and subjecting it to forensics scrutiny.

Nelson J. Celis, AES Watch spokesperson, issued the challenge following Brillantes’ own admission about the existence of the intelligence fund – after budget realignment approval by President Benigno S. Aquino III last Feb. 20. If it is true that the fund was sought – quoting Malacanang spokesperson Abigail Valte – to spy on “the activities of certain groups, individuals, and technology experts” suspected of sabotaging the elections, then all the more must Brillantes explain whether such intelligence operations are targeting AES Watch, its affiliate organizations, IT groups, other citizens groups, and anti-fraud movements that have been openly vocal against the mismanagement by Comelec of the automated elections since the beginning, Celis said.

Celis, the 2012 Most Outstanding Electronics Engineer in IT and former president of the Philippine Computer Society (PCS), demanded the Comelec chairman’s explanation following the latter’s oft-repeated accusations against the automation mismanagement critics as “election saboteurs” engaged in an alleged “conspiracy” to bring about an “election failure.” Brillantes last week also threatened to “unmask” the leaders behind AES Watch and sue them for election sabotage – considered a major crime punishable with more than 20 years’ imprisonment.

“Brillantes doesn’t have to ask the President for millions of taxpayers’ money to conduct surveillance on us because AES Watch activities, studies and reports have been open and transparent from day one even before Comelec contracted the foreign company, Smartmatic, to supply the PhP 7.2Bn PCOS voting technology for our elections,” Celis noted. In fact, the Comelec chairman had always been invited to meetings and forums where he consistently promised to “look into the issues” and “initiate reforms” in the Comelec, Celis added.

Unable to refute our critical findings on the conduct of the automated elections, Brillantes has besmirched the title of the head of a constitutional body by resorting to threats and intimidation in order to silence critics of Comelec and Smartmatic, Celis said. “The Comelec chief has gone beyond the bounds of decency and fair play. He’s using his powers not only to send chilling effects on the IT community and election watchers but now, using alleged intelligence funds, he is out as well to attack our civil liberties,” he said.

Bobby M. Tuazon, policy study director of CenPEG and co-convener of AES Watch, said if the Comelec chairman is looking for leads indicating plots to cause election failure then he doesn’t have to go farther. “The removal by Comelec and Smartmatic of all major safeguards and security features of the poll automation system, the repeated non-compliance of election laws, the systematic and widespread glitches, the highly irregular and arbitrary decisions on the RMA, vulnerable CF cards’ physical transport to the NBOC and the premature proclamation of election winners that have cast doubts on the credibility of the election results are what make an election failure if not sabotage,” Tuazon said.
“Who among the elected and losing candidates from the senatorial to the local level would know how many votes had they really garnered in this election? Or if the ranking of the senatorial candidates and party list groups accurately reflect their true votes?” Tuazon asked.

The scope of the independent probe of the elections that AES Watch has sought and now backed by many groups including CBCP leaders should begin with an investigation of Comelec and Smartmatic, Tuazon also said.

“After wasting billions of pesos on an untrustworthy machine benefitting a foreign company, millions of taxpayers’ money is being spent to spy on and intimidate IT experts and election watch groups now being faulted for their tireless vision to make elections credible,” Tuazon added.

Another AES Watch member, Atty Melchor Magdamo, a former Comelec legal consultant who blew the whistle on the anomalous secrecy folder deal in 2010, proposed that the “probe should begin with the question: Why were the major safeguards disregarded and removed –independent source code review, installation of the industry prescribed digital signatures, voter verification and the WORM (write-once-read many) CF cards up to the unconscionable expenses on the unbundled election paraphernalia, warehousing and the PCOS purchase itself.”

“There should be accountability here otherwise we will be sending a wrong signal to the people and the youth of this land that to err in Comelec is just human and to forgive is divine,” Magdamo mused.

Other members of AES Watch also asked Comelec to stop compromising its independence as a constitutional body by asking President Aquino to approve additional budgets of the poll body such as “intelligence funds” in the guise of realignment.

Christian Monsod, former Comelec chairman, on the other hand said in a press interview that intelligence funds are a source of graft and corruption “because it is liquidated with a mere statement that it was used for the right purposes.”
The AES Watch, a broad citizens’ election watchdog composed of 40 organizations, filed on May 3 a Petition before the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) against Comelec through the Philippine government for violating the right to vote. Comelec’s non-compliance of election laws and the defects of the automation system compromised citizens’ right to vote and sovereign expression, under Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), said the 34 individual petitioners led by former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, Jr.

BRILLANTES EXCUSE A FABRICATION

In a related issue, AES Watch member Dr. Rene B. Azurin said Brillantes Jr. has finally admitted that a whopping one out every four clustered precincts in the country “experienced problems on election day”. As usual, however, Brillantes blamed the telcos for the massive and unprecedented transmissions failure, which he calls “hitches”, saying, “It is not the PCOS that’s defective. It is the heavy traffic.” He criticized the telecommunication companies because they “only covered around 62 percent of the country.”

Actually, as telco engineers observed, traffic from the PCOS machines was quite tiny and well within the capabilities of the country’s telcos to handle easily, Azurin said. It was also noted that Comelec’s traffic was handled through a dedicated virtual private network, called a VPN, and not mixed with regular data and voice traffic. There would therefore be no reason why the inability of the PCOS machines to transmit their results could be blamed on “heavy traffic” as claimed by Brillantes.

Azurin said “this latest statement from the ill-informed Brillantes is yet one more fabrication peddled to the Filipino public in an attempt to justify what AES Watch has called “a technological and political disaster.” In Brillantes’s world, of course, the Comelec can do no wrong, he said.

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