RP government ensures order as 25.7M students troop back to school

THE GOVERNMENT has ensured adequate security to put order in today’s opening of classes, with 25.7 million students expected to troop to schools nationwide, a Palace official said at the weekend.

"We are prepared for the first day of classes... The police units and local government units (LGUs) have also been notified to be on top of the opening of classes tomorrow," said Deputy Spokesperson Abigail D. Valte.

The Palace, nonetheless, still appealed for vigilance among authorities even with preparations so far implemented by the Department of Education (DepEd) as lead, and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority prepared to address the volume of traffic.

"To all the officials concerned and agencies concerned, let’s make sure that the opening of classes goes smoothly, to secure the children. Let’s make sure that the first day goes well, not just for the first day of school, but for the rest of the school year," said Ms. Valte.

For his part, Education Undersecretary Tonisito M. C. Umali said that the DepEd has activated Oplan Balik Eskwela (OBE), a joint undertaking of the DepEd, Department of Interior and Local Government and Philippine National Police.

Parents can inquire after their children’s needs from tuition to security, said Mr. Umali, at the OBE Information and Command Center at the department’s central office in Pasig City and regional offices nationwide.

"We are managing the traffic with the police and have set up action centers in 199 school divisions and 17 regional offices, apart from the central station which is being manned by 50-70 people... We’re confident that we’ll be very okay," said Mr. Umali, in a phone interview.

Prior to the launch of OBE, the DepEd had also revived the Brigada Eskwela on May 24-28, or National Schools Maintenance Week, which entailed preparation of classrooms for the onset of classes.

Under the program, the citizenry and private corporations help in cleaning classrooms and making minor repairs and rehabilitation, even donating tables and chairs.

Meanwhile, President Benigno S. C. Aquino III today will witness the ceremonial turnover of 454 units of two-classroom school buildings that were pledged by the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII).

This after he administers the oaths of office to the new officers of FFCCCII in Malacañang.

The Filipino-Chinese umbrella business group has a network of 170 member organizations nationwide and has administered a schoolbuilding program since 2002. The program has so far built around 1,400 classrooms.

The program is expected to provide learning facilities in the provinces of Benguet, Bulacan, Laguna, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Zamboanga and Davao this year.

The country is facing an estimated shortage of 152,569 classrooms, according to a study made by the Education department for 2010-2011, based on a ratio of 45 students to one classroom.

Mr. Umali said the ratio of classrooms to student population should be 1:45 in grade school and high school, and 1:25 in kindergarten, but admitted funding limitations in achieving the target. "We lack the funds... [but] there are also ongoing major repair efforts for classrooms that will hopefully be finished in two to three years," said Mr. Umali, adding that 80% of the DepEd’s P207.3-billion 2011 budget goes to salaries of 550,000 teaching and non-teaching staff. -- Johanna Paola D. Poblete

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Usapang U-turn

Sa mga wala pang idea... Ang U-turn ay ibang term ng indian... Ito yong tipong mag coconfirm na sasama pero the day before ang event ay mag cancel, worst 3 hours before ang event.

Dahil sa U-turn maraming apektado. Pinakamalaki ay ang budget ng bawat miyembro. Mas malaki kasi ang magagastos kung mas konti ang sasama. Magsimula sa transpo, registration, food, etc.

Kayo nasubukan nyo na bang mag u-turn? Ano ang pakiramdam?

Hindi ba nakakainggit sa mga natuloy? Yong mga larawang di mapantayan? Yong mga masasayang sandali na hindi na mauulit? Yong mga lugar na di na pwedeng balikan?

by: Bonghernz of Philmountaineering.com / Trailtalk forum

Overstaying sa Singapore

April 22, 2011 ara na ko sa Singapore for a vacation and partly YES! for job hunting. Tourist Pass lang ko so para makalawig-lawig ko stay sa SG nag exit ko sa Malaysia sang April 30 kag nagbalik man lang daun. So meaning ma end ko sa May 30. Pero nag apply ko extension sang May 20 pa lang kag na approve.

June 3, I decided to go home sa Pinas! Sang sa Imigration na, I presented my Approval Form. Pero sala ang na print ko. Application Form lang to ya gale... pero sure ko na approve ko kay nagbayad na ko gani. So, gin hawidan ko danay sang isa ka officer kag gin dul-ong sa isa ka officer for verification sang application ko kag gamay nga interview (Interview kuno ha!).

After few minutes, gin tawag ko sang isa ka officer nga mal-am.

IO: Why are you overstaying?!!! (angry mode)

Me: So what's the problem Sir if I overstayed? I believe, my application for extension was approved.

IO: No no no! You are overstaying!

indi ko na ma gets kung anu ambot ya silingon... Ma sabat nko tani pero ga sige gid siya japon wakal nga "you are overstaying!" (so many times with matching pointing his finger at me - agry face!). Samtang gina akigan yako, gina buksan ya man ang gate para ka sulod ko sa departure area.

Indi gid ko ya ka inchinde! Nga-a akigan ya ko bi noh? Kay klaru man kaayo nga na approve akon extension. Kag biskan sala nga form nahatag ko gin verify ya man.

Last day ko nalang gid to sa Singapore na badtrip pa ako! Na init ko! Ang iban ga hambal gina amu na kuno nila basta Pinay. Kay basi Burikat man kuno ang kadto. Indi ko ya pokpok! Kag tani indi nila pag e generalize ang tanan nga Pinay!

Im aware of the law..ga basa2x man ko a!

Under the Singapore Immigration Act, the penalty for illegal entry is a jail term of up to six months, plus a minimum of three strokes of the cane. The penalties for overstaying (exceeding 90 days) are – a jail term not exceeding six months, and caning not less than three strokes. In cases where caning cannot be administered, the offender will be fined up to $6,000.

A Fox News channel claims 'Obama bin Laden dead'.

Modern media works at lightning speed, especially social media such as Twitter. Which may explain the grimly amusing raft of spelling mistakes confusing Osama (bin Laden) and (Barack) Obama. The conflation of the terrorist chief with the American president by a Fox station in California may have struck many as not a coincidence given Fox News's openly critical stance of Obama.

A TV headline at the Sacramento station read: "Obama bin Laden dead". Leftwinger Keith Olbermann, a former host at cable news channel MSNBC, made the same slip – blogging that George W Bush had "deprioritised the hunt for Obama". An MSNBC correspondent tweeted: "Obama shot and killed". In fact, the mistake was so common that in its apology the Sacramento Fox station pointed out that anchors or journalists had also got their Obamas and Osamas mixed up at another Fox station, CNN and ABC News.

How to download your FRIENDSTER profile.

You may have moved on to Facebook, but backing up your old Friendster profile has its uses. Begging friends, family members, and even random acquaintances to leave testimonials on your profile took a lot of work, right?

Just like Facebook, Friendster also lets you download your profile information. With The Friendster Exporter, you can save:

• photos
• basic info (name, date of birth, gender and ‘about me’ info
• messages in your Inbox
• list of your friends
• list of profiles that you’re ‘a fan of’ list of groups that you’re a member of comments and testimonials
• shoutout history and comments to your shoutouts
• virtual gifts in your treasure chest

All Friendster users have to do is visit FRIENDSTER EXPORTER and follow the instructions.