All I Can Handle

In schools, we have all been taught that the Philippines was sold by Spain for 20 million dollars to the Americans in 1898. In today's world, such information would have been flagged as false news because it lacks context. So let us provide context. In those days, any dollar amount was convertible into a certain weight of gold and in 1898, $20.67 were equivalent to a troy ounce of gold. In other words, the Philippines was sold to the Americans for 967,586 troy ounces of gold. In today's spot market prices, this would be equivalent to $1.7 billion. According to the World Bank, our economy is currently worth $361.5 billion. So did Spain get a bad deal? Another thing that will add context to all this is knowing that Spain lost the war with the United States and the "sale" (if you can call it that) of the Philippines and other territories was part of the terms negotiated in the treaty of Paris that Spain agreed to. If you play Civilization V , you may have experienced los

A senior government official reiterated that all sides must be heard with regards to plans on implementing indirect vaccine mandates in the country. During an interview in TeleRadyo's program S.R.O. with Alvin Elchico and Doris Bigornia last November 8, 2021, Secretary of Justice Menardo Guevarra explained that the vaccines are not yet 100% approved and that they are still being tested so we are not yet sure that there won't be long term adverse effects. Here is the DOJ secretary's remarks ( 06:54 ) Kailangan pakinggan ang lahat ng sides pagdating dito sa bagay na ito kasi dapat nating tandaan na itong covid 19 vaccines ay hindi pa 100% approved. 'Yun ang isang major contention ng mga tumatanggi sa mandatory vaccination. Hindi pa siya 100% approved. Nasa testing stage pa lamang siya kaya hindi pa tayo 100% sure na walang magiging long term adverse effects ang vaccination. Here is my translation: We need to listen to all sides when it comes to this matter because we hav

  According to this  article , the media is doing a bad job at setting the public's expectations when it comes to the vaccines. Addressing the issue of misinformation stemming from breakthrough cases is increasingly important, because as more people get vaccinated, more cases — including severe ones — will occur in the vaccinated population, said Devon Greyson, public health researcher at The University of British Columbia.   “Vaccination is an amazing technology, but it isn’t a magic forcefield,” Greyson said. So why are governments around the world behaving as if they are? Is there a disconnect between government policy and realistic expectations from the vaccine?  If indeed the vaccine only guarantees healthy individuals absolute protection, did they need it in the first place? According to data from the  WHO , if you are less than 40 years of age, there is less than one percent chance of dying IF you get Covid. And let us not forget as well that there is a lot of talk that they

Ya llega ya ba kita na punto que ta llama sila el  Brave New World de Orwell ? Despues del implementacion del National ID System , ta implementa tambien ahora el BSP con el National QR Code Standard donde hende mas necesita el maga gente con el maga bank account number o bank account name para envia cen o paga para las cosas. Bajo na QR Code Standard que man launch este 12 de octubre , cada tienda o vendedor ay tene un QR code conectao na de ila identidad y bank account. Quiere decir masquin aquel maga ta vende pescao na camino o aquel ta vende merienda na oficina ay puede ya acepta pago na manera electronico masquin hende ta cambia mano el deverasan cen o el cash. Na este sistema, planta lang el un gente con el de suyo qr code en frente del telefono del vendedor para puede kanila paga. Hende mas necesita saca el nombre o el account number del gente con quien ta paga. Na este articulo , ta aparece kay hende lang un tarjeta plastico el National ID de aton. Ay tene tambien este un versi

Following the exception for small scale miners from paying income and excise taxes through Republic Act 11256 , the BSP (Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas) reported a thousand percent increase in their gold purchases in 2020 . In 2020, a total of 115,800 troy ounces or 3.602 tonnes of gold were purchased by the BSP compared to only 10,207 troy ounces in 2019. During a virtual briefing last Friday, BSP Mint and Refinery Operations Department Director Joseph Norbert S. David said that for the current year (2021), the volume of gold purchased so far has already exceeded that of last year. Central banks around the world have been ramping up their gold purchases in light of uncertainties brought about by multiple black swan events transpiring in recent times. The Polish Central Bank announced that it plans to buy at least 100 tonnes of gold over the coming years which will be kept in Poland. The Philippines is a gold-producing country and in 2016 was ranked as the fifth top gold producer in Asia

I was scratching my head trying to figure out how to register to DITO promos without going through their app. I don't know why but apparently DITO's app needs internet connection to be accessed. How very counterintuitive! Imagine, I was about to register to a Smart Promo just to access their app and subscribe to a promo! Anyway, thank goodness I was able to find a way to subscribe to DITO promos without using their app. Here is how you can register to DITO promos thru text: 1. Text HELP or 0000 to 185. This is free of charge. 2. You will receive a reply with the menu. Choose 'Buy Promo'. 3. Choose your desired promo and confirm your purchase. That's it! Now you just have to wait for a text confirmation or try to check if you can now access the internet. Hope this helps you out!

This is an article that I wrote in Chavacano on two simple tests to find out if your gold jewelry at home is real. Que laya Sabe si Deverasan Oro el Alhajas? Tiene ba ustedes alhajas pero no sabe ustedes si deverasan este oro? Sabe ba ustedes kay na simple manera lang, puede ya ustedes sabe si deverasan oro el de ustedes alhajas? Tiene dos manera para sabe si deverasan oro el de ustedes anillo, pulseras, o cadenita. 1. Magnet test Na magnet test ay usa strong magnet o aquel mafuerza magnet. Un ejemplo de strong magnet amo el magnet que ta puede encontra na de tuyo cellphone. No puede usa el maga ref magnet o aquel magnet ta hace pilit na ref kay mahina ese clase de magnet. Si man pilit el alhajas na magnet, quiere decir de ese hende aquel deverasan oro.  Pero si no hay man pilit el alhajas na magnet, quiere decir ba dayun kay deverasan aquel? Hende. Kay tiene maga otro clase de metal que tambien ta hace mezcla na oro para hace maga alhajas hende tambien ta man pilit na magnet. Anda kit

This is a personal finance article that I wrote in Chavacano on how to save money. This is a rehash of an old article that I wrote which won the SINAG: Sun Life's Financial Literacy Digital Journalism Awards in 2014. Hope you enjoy it! Mucho kanaton el ta'n dificil ajunta cen. Cosa ba el razon por que. Falta ba disciplina el maga gente llega na cen? Diutay ba el de ila sueldo? Para conmigo masquin diutay el sueldo debe ta puede lang siempre ajunta cen. Na este video, ay aprende ustedes el de mio maga secreto si paquilaya puede esconde cen. 1. Hace un lista del maga gastos Bien importante lista todo el de ustedes gastos todo'l dia. Alli ustedes sabe si donde ta guinda el de ustedes cen. Alli tambien ustedes sabe si onde ustedes sobra-sobra ta gasta. Por ejemplo, baka bien grande ustedes ta gasta para come apuera. 2. Lleva baon en vez compra comida afuera Deberasan, tiene vez makahuya man lleva baon na oficina. Habla 'se sila, ay bien kuripot man kay ta'n baon lang

Finally, I am no longer an illegal immigrant! Today was my schedule for step 2 of getting a national ID which was done at  Robinsons Forum. Step 1 in getting a national ID is going to the barangay hall wherein they will schedule you for an appointment for step 2. Some people might have been part of the earlier process wherein they did not have to go to the barangay hall and instead were visited at home. As for me, I heard an announcement from the public address system asking people to go to the barangay hall for step 1 of getting a national ID. Depending on your location, you can also do all this online . Step 2 was a breeze. The first thing that I had to do was to look for a verifier. These are people who check if you filled up your form correctly as well as if you have the sufficient  requirements  for getting a national ID. Next step was to queue up for the part wherein they take your photo, biometrics, and iris scan.  All these might be familiar to you already except for the iris s

Whenever I talk to Spanish speakers, I always find some words that are similar to words that I use in Chavacano or Tagalog. Since I write all articles about Chavacano in my Chavacano blog , this article is about some unexpected Tagalog words that may have its origins from Spanish. When asked about which words in Tagalog come from Spanish, most Filipinos would commonly think of kitchen utensils as well as names of the months and days of the week. Common answers will include:  kutsilyo ,  kutsara ,  tinedor ,  plato ,  baso ,  lunes ,  martes ,  miyerkules ,  huwebes ,  biyernes , and  sabado . Don't ask me why the word for 'Sunday' isn't  domingo . I have always suspected that most Spanish words which are found in the Tagalog language are a result of that language being deficient. This can be evidenced by most modern inventions and probably things that were brought by the Spanish being called by their Spanish names in Tagalog. A few examples would be  relo/relos ,  telep

Since the American colonial era, the Spanish language had been on a steady decline in the Philippines. As early as in the 1920s, there was already a notable decrease in the usage of the Spanish language which even led to the creation of the Premio Zobel. Established to promote the Spanish language, Premio Zobel was a literary award given to Filipino writers who wrote in the Spanish language. Today, while the Spanish language no longer plays a vital role in our country, it remains to be alive in the form of words found in our local languages that have its roots in that language. Words in the Filipino language such as pero (but), oras (hours), mesa (table), radyo (radio), libro (book), sapatos (shoes), baka (cow/beef), kalye (street) and many others make it impossible for Filipinos to go through the day without uttering a single word in Spanish. In Zamboanga city, the importance of the Spanish language in our culture can be appreciated even more as the people there speak a Spanis

In 2020, Philippine Central Bank governor Benjamin Diokno said that the Philippines has “more than optimal” gold and will start actively trading it. A move that makes one think that the Philippines was wallowing in a river of gold bars and that gold was simply a commodity. However, a new video released by the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in their Facebook page seems to regard gold much better and even seems to endorse it. In the video , the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas calls gold a 'matatag na uri ng investment' or a stable investment. They also acknowledge the value of gold throughout history and calls the precious metal a ' physical na lagakan ng yaman' or a tangible storage of wealth. The Philippines is a gold-producing country and in 2016 was ranked fifth top gold producer in Asia . But the video reveals that beginning in 2011, when a 7% tax was imposed on gold miners, the BSP was no longer able to accumulate gold as gold miners opted to sell their gold in the