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Top news for the day
Source: Manila Bulletin Online

PNP seeks phaseout of barangay tanod
The PNP is eyeing the phaseout of the system of employing barangay tanod nationwide as it pushes for the creation of a new peacekeeping force in every barangay that will be supervised by local cops.

2 solons hit plan to build airport in Aklan
Two congressman and two governors Friday slammed plans government plans to build a second international airport in Aklan province, saying that the R2.5 billion cost for the construction may be put in better use by upgrading facilities, safety features and technology of existing ones.

RP opens consulate in Brazil
Three months after President Arroyo’ state visit to Brazil, the Philippines has opened an Honorary Consulate General in the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Friday.

Pacman accepts public apology
Filipino boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao accepted the public apology issued by well-known boxing trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. who accused the pound for pound king of allegedly using steroids.

Ruling party shows cracks
Cracks within the ranks of Lakas-Kampi-CMD party started to surface in the wake of uncertainties spawned by a perceived weak standard-bearer in the 2010 national polls.

LTO backtracks on car tracking device project
The LTO said that it is open to the suggestion of more consultations with affected sectors before finally implementing the so-called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for all motor vehicles in the country.


Showbiz Chika for the day
Source: Pep.ph

Survivor Philippines: Palau castoff Louie Ang says "bad boy" image is just part of his strategy
Survivor Philippines Palau Update: "Bad boy" Louie Ang booted out
TNS National TV Ratings (Sept. 22-24): Tayong Dalawa claims top spot as it bids farewell
AGB Mega Manila TV Ratings (Sept. 22-24): Tayong Dalawa grabs top spot from Darna
Richard Gutierrez on case against him: "I think gusto nilang i-demolish yung character ko, but hindi ako papayag."
Iza Calzado says Sunshine Dizon is also an important actress of this generation
PART III: Lorayne Pardo talks about closed-door meeting with Richard at September 4 hearing
Marvin Agustin "reincarnates" Phillip Salvador's role in Tinik Sa Dibdib
Sunshine Dizon on being compared to Nora Aunor: "I'm not even close to her level."
Ara Mina will accept if Manny Pacquiao offers financial support for her candidacy
Ogie Alcasid says Michael V is dependable friend, never a rival
Character actor Mon Confiado victimized by fly-by-night producer


Da who for today
Source: Wikipedia

Henry Sy, Sr. (Chinese: 施至成; pinyin: Shī ZhìChéng; born October 25, 1924) is a Chinese Filipino businessman and the founder of SM Group and chairman of SM Prime Holdings, the largest retailer and shopping mall operator in the Philippines. He earned his Associate of Arts degree in Commercial Studies at Far Eastern University in 1950. Acknowledged as the country’s "Retail King," he has come a long way from the modest shoe store he set up in Quiapo in 1946, to become Asia's biggest shopping mall operator with over 30 malls throughout the Philippines.

Biography
He is the Philippines' richest man, gaining 1.4 billion dollars in 2007, amid the global financial crisis. The huge gain was due to his holding company, SM Investments Corp., which has interests in Banco de Oro Universal Bank, inter alia. Forbes magazine's 2008 list of 40 wealthiest Filipinos, revealed the Sy family's net worth was 3.1 billion dollars. Earlier, he was the 2nd wealthiest individual in the Philippines, next to Lucio Tan and (as of 2008) 843rd in the world. As of September 2009 Mr.Sy's net worth was estimated at $3.8 billion by forbes asia topping the Philippines rich list. Sy is considered a Tai-Pan or tycoon of Asia. The Sy group is the operator of Banco de Oro Universal Bank and owner of China Banking Corporation. In 2006, he bought the remaining 66% of Equitable PCI Bank, the Philippines 3rd largest lender, in which he already had a 34% stake, and merged it with Banco de Oro Universal Bank in 2007. The merger created the Philippine's second largest financial institution in 2008 and taking the top spot in 2009 with resources of close to $20 billion dollars. A conspiracy tell that the Sy family has a personal stake of $4 billion in these 3 banks, although there are still no sufficient evidences that strongly substantiate such matter. Mr. Sy has recently sold his 11% stake in San Miguel Corporation, Southeast Asia's largest food and beverage conglomerate for $680 million.

Henry Sy, Sr., was named "Management Man of the Year" by the Makati Business Club and was conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Business Management by De La Salle University-Manila in January 1999. He organized the SM Foundation Inc., which helps underprivileged but promising young Filipinos.

Sy's retail chain is SM Prime Holdings, known as "Shoe Mart" or simply "SM". Several of his children now hold senior management positions in his companies, although he has groomed daughter Teresita Sy-Coson and his grandchildren Hailey Sy-Coson, Darcie Sy and Josiah Sy as his successors.

Sy's holding company, SM Investments Corp., has consistently been cited as one of the Philippines best-managed companies. On May 20, 2006, The SM Mall of Asia, built in the reclamation area of Pasay City, was opened to the public. It is the sixth-largest mall in the world.


Gospel for the day
Source: The Daily Gospel Online

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 9:43-45.

And all were astonished by the majesty of God. While they were all amazed at his every deed, he said to his disciples, Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men. But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.


Word for the day
Source: Merriam Webster Online

utile • \YOO-tul\ • adjective
: useful

Example Sentence:
Shaker crafts are simple, meticulously constructed, pleasing to the eye, and eminently utile, all at the same time.

Did you know?
For over a hundred years before "useful" entered our language, "utile" served us well on its own. We borrowed "utile" from Middle French in the 15th century. The French derived it from Latin "utilis," meaning "useful," which in turn comes from "uti," meaning "to use." "Uti" (the past participle of which is "usus") is also the source of our "use" and "useful." We've been using "use" since at least the 13th century, but we didn't acquire "useful" until the late 16th century, when William Shakespeare inserted it into King John. Needless to say, we've come to prefer "useful" over "utile" since then, though "utile" functions as a very usable synonym. Other handy terms derived from "uti" include "utilize," "usury," "abuse" and "utensil."


Lesson for the day
Source: Engr. Paul Elmer Morala from Duisberg, Germany

God Scent
Heaven Scent
Smell the Rain.......

A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. Still groggy from surgery, her husband David held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news.

That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency cesarean to deliver the couple's new daughter, Danae Lu Blessing. At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound and nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature. Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs.

"I don't think she's going to make it," he said, as kindly as he could.. "There's only a 10-percent chance she will live through the night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be a very cruel one."

Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Danae would likely face if she survived. She would never walk. She would never talk. She would probably be blind. She would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditions from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation. And on and on.

"No! No!" was all Diana could say. She and David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away.

Through the dark hours of morning as Danae held onto life by the thinnest thread, Diana slipped in and out of drugged sleep, growing more and more determined that their tiny daughter would live and live to be a healthy, happy young girl. But David, fully awake and listening to additional dire details of their daughter's chances of ever leaving the hospital alive, much less healthy, knew he must confront his wife with the inevitable.

"David walked in and said that we needed to talk about making funeral arrangements," Diana remembers "I felt so bad for him because he was doing everything, trying to include me in what was going on, but I just wouldn't listen, I couldn't listen. I said, "No, that is not going to happen, no way! I don't care what the doctors say Danae is not going to die!

One day she will be just fine, and she will be coming home with us!"
As if willed to live by Diana's determination, Danae clung to life hour after hour, with the help of every medical machine and marvel her miniature body could endure But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Danae's underdeveloped nervous system was sentially "raw," every lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort- so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their love. All they could do, as Danae struggled alone beneath the ultra-violet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl.

There was never a moment when Danae suddenly grew stronger. But as weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there.
At last, when Danae turned two months old, her parents were able to hold her in their arms for the very first time. And two months later-though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to zero - Danae went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.

Today, five years later, Danae is a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life. She shows no signs, whatsoever, of any mental or physical impairments. Simply, she is everything a little girl can be and more-but that happy ending is far from the end of her story.

One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Danae was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ball park where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing. As always, Danae was chattering non-stop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent.

Hugging her arms across her chest, Danae asked, "Do you smell that?". Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes, it smells like rain." Danae closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?" Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get wet. It smells like rain."

Still caught in the moment, Danae shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, "No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest."
Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Danae then happily hopped down to play with the other children. Before the rains came her daughter's words confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at least in their hearts, all along.

During those long days and nights of her first two months of her life when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Danaeon His chest- and it is His loving scent that she remembers so well.


Joke for the day
Source: Art’s Funbox

Parusa

Nagkasala si Tito, Vic at Joey at parurusahan sila ng hari.
Hari: Bilang parusa kumuha kau ng tig 10 prutas.
Nauna si Tito may dalang 10 santol at si Vic lansones.
Hari: Sige ang nakuha nyo ay ipapasok sa puwet nyo bawal umaray at tumawa kundi pupugutan kayo.
Si Tito ang nauna.
Tito:aray!..Pinugutan agad..
Si Vic naman pang sampu na sana ng biglang...
Vic:hahahaha!!...
Pugot din si Vic..
Nagkita sila sa langit..
Tito:bakit ka tumawa nakalaya ka na sana kasi pang sampu na yun?
Vic: paanong di ako matatawa e nakita ko si Joey may dalang langka..Hahaha