Mae Sot Sojourn

MAE SOT - Mae Sot in Thailand's Tak province will be my home for the next few months.

I will be teaching at the Democratic Party for New Society (DPNS) school, which was organized to educate young Burmese cadre who are working to bring genuine change in their country.

The students are taught basic English, Burmese history, computer literacy and political science, which I am teaching to 31 students from different parts of Burma.

Senado, magliliwanag kay Nancy Binay?

Vice President Jejomar Binay with Senator Nancy Binay in
during one of the sorties during the 2013 midterm elections.

NAPANAOOD ko kamakailan ang interview kay Nancy Binay, na siguradong makakapasok sa Senado, na kung saan sinabi niyang halos "racist" na ang patutsada sa kanya sa social media.

Ang sabi nga ni Nancy ay hindi tama na pagdiskitahan ang kanyang kulay dahil karamihan ng mga Pinoy ay ganito ang anyo, kung hindi morena ay mala-kape ang kulay.

Sabi nga nila ay "Black is beautiful."

Ani Nancy ay nasasaktan na siya sa mga "birong" nakabase sa kanyang mala-kapeng kutis, gayundin sa mga patutsada sa kanyang kakayahan na maging bahagi ng kapitapitagang Senado.

Holiday ba ngayon?

Bukas, April 9 ay ipagdiriwang ang Araw ng Kagitingan, na kung kailan ginugunita rin ang ipinamalas na kabayanihan ng mga Pillipino noong sinakop tayo ng mga Hapon.

Ang April 9 ay ang pang-apat na Regular Holiday sa bansa, na sa 2013 ay kalimitang bumagsak sa kalagitnaan ng linggo kaya't bihira ang tinatawag na "long weekend".

Para makapag-plano tayo sa ating mga bakasyon, narito ang itinakdang working at non-working holidays para sa 2013.

Enjoy!!!

Q&A on Sabah Issue

Photo from gmanews.tv

To better understand the Sabah issue, this blog is publishing a paper writtern by Tomasito Villarin, currently serving as Office of Political Affairs undersecretary. Villarin is a graduate of University of Santo Tomas (UST) and Asian Institute of Management (AIM). He hails from Mindanao, where he served for several decades as a development worker.


Where is Sabah?

Sabah is located southwest of Tawi-Tawi, the last island province of the Philippines. It forms part of the larger island of Borneo. Sabah is one of the 13 member states of Malaysia, and is its easternmost state. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in Malaysia after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south. The capital of Sabah is Kota Kinabalu, formerly known as Jesselton.