The Web site of the Land Transportation Office of the Philippines has been hacked. Here is a screen shot of the hacked site:
(Click on image to view full size.)
The page also displays YOUR IP address.
Based on the page, the defacement was done by a Turkish hacker.
(Thanks, Shari, for the tip!)
Ok, links that might interest you:
* Pioneer is testing a new television service, wherein a user can download from any channel for a fee. The service will also be made available to yet-to-be-announced portable devices. Yeah, Pioneer is targeting cable providers and Apple.
* Well, what do you know? Asus eee PC is turning out to be a diamond in the rough (well, maybe not). If you have an Asus eee PC, you might want to install Mac OSX Leopard, for the sheer, geeky fun out of it. Now if only the price in the Philippines is not as ridiculous as it is now.
* Want free MP3s? Want to listen to relatively-unknown artists? Head over to RCRD LBL!
Well, file this under who-tells-the-truth department.
9to5mac reports that Apple is tracking iPhone user data, as reported in a hackint0sh thread. The thread based the assumption on strings found in two apps, where there is a URL with an identifier named IMEI in the string.
But this assumption is immediately debunked by docpool, stating that it is the application ID that is being referenced by the string IMEI. It also linked to a German site, which claims that the application ID is being sent, not the IMEI.
Now, will security analysts stand up and clear this mess up?
PayPal introduces another service that aims to solve several problems at one stroke.
Called Secure Card, it is a browser plugin that allows a PayPal user to pay for an item from a Web site that does not accept PayPal. It also helps in filling up payment forms. It also has anti-fraud features to warn users if they are browsing known fraudulent sites.
Probably the most important feature is the Secure Card. Secure Card allows PayPal users and potential PayPal users who don’t own a credit card to make orders online. Using the plugin, a random Mastercard credit card number will be generated, which can be used for that transaction. You will be also prompted by the plugin to Autofill forms at appropriate places, making the checkout experience faster than the usual.
The plugin works for Windows users with Internet Explorer or Firefox installed.
Here are some screenshots of the PayPal plugin at work.
After installation, this screen appears. The plugin icon appears at the address bar.
You are then prompted to select an image for security purposes, just like Yahoo’s anti-phishing mechanism. You can’t use your own photo, though.
You are asked for your PayPal login credentials.
Here is the drop-down menu when the plugin icon is clicked.
When the plugin detects that you are about to enter shipping details, it asks if you want the plugin to autofill the form.
For the longest time, a rational population management policy eludes the Philippine government due to the rabid opposition by the Roman Catholic hierarchy. So it is not a surprise when a councilor in Quezon City is met by stiff opposition by the Church (like this one: Cubao bishop opposes proposed QC population policy).
Historically, the Church and the State were intertwined since the Spanish colonization of these islands (some would even dare say that the Church and the State were one and the same). The arrival of the Americans and the invasion by the Japanese were just great interruptions in the relationship. It is therefore not surprising that the Church exercises great influence in the government. And it exercises that influence well.
Everyone who knows his Constitution will argue that this influence is crossing a thin line defined by the Separation clause (Article II, Section 6), to wit:
The separation of Church and State shall be inviolable.
However, I will not condemn the Church for its rabid opposition to birth control, rational or scientific its reasons or not notwithstanding. The Bill of Rights has this to say about religious freedom:
Section 5. No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights.
I believe that the Church, through its people, is exercising a right guaranteed by the Constitution. I cannot blame them if they oppose birth control with a fervor of an army ready to do battle with the enemy. Not only they are entitled to express opposition, they are also entitled to express their religious belief. And that includes the usual political gimmick (blackmail, pressure, to name a few). I will not begrudge them for their religious belief.
I will not give the same leniency to the government. Specifically, Gloria Arroyo.
Article 2, Section has this to say:
The State recognizes the sanctity of family life and shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution. It shall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception. The natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the development of moral character shall receive the support of the Government.
Note the phrase “the life of the unborn FROM CONCEPTION” (emphasis mine). As you can see, the Constitution is clear that it will protect the unborn upon conception. Conception is defined loosely as when a sperm cell fertilizes an egg cell (Wikipedia). There is no constitutional barrier that prevents the government from instituting artificial family planning methods. But what prevents this government from doing so?
There are several issues that needs to be cleared here.
1. Does a president have the right to impose his religious conviction on the nation? Hell, NO! That is tantamount to establishing a state religion, which is expressly forbidden by the Constitution.
2. Does the government have the right to impose a policy that is clearly in violation of one’s religious belief? The answer is unclear at this point – we will need a court case to establish a solid answer. I think the answer is generally no; refer to Article III, Section 5 as stated above.
That’s why I wondered why no one challenged Lito Atienza when he banned the distribution of condoms and similar materials from Manila’s health centers. I think what he did what patently illegal, since his reason is religious in nature. This is the same reason why the Department of Health and the Population Commission are not pushing hard for artificial family planning methods. And this I condemn with strong words. This is the Catholic Taliban in action. The government is not even promoting such use only because it is against Gloria Arroyo’s religious belief.
Let me clear things out in closing.
1. The Church has every right to oppose artificial family planning methods and the Government from instituting such policy. However, the Church is limited to such opposition but doesn’t have the right to disrupt the Government from doing its job (specially when what the Government is doing is legal). It doesn’t have the right to impose its beliefs on the State.
2. The Government has every right to institute policies that will protect the people’s well being. However, it doesn’t have the right to impose a policy that is clearly against a person’s religious belief. (This is a gray area, specially when “imminent danger” is invoked.)
3. Gloria Arroyo, Lito Atienza, and other members of the Catholic Taliban have no right to impose their religious beliefs to anyone. They have no right to use the executive powers granted to them by the Constitution and the laws to “obfuscate” religious belief as government policy.
4. Every Filipino is free to choose what he wants, within the limits of the Constitution and his religious beliefs. Neither the Government nor the Church has the right to impose their beliefs on a Filipino citizen. If a citizen desires to use artificial family planning methods, the Government and/or the Church can’t stop him.
The Government must promote (not push) artificial family planning to those who are willing to use it. It should not be denied to those who need it most. I believe that the policy should be of promotion, not institutionalization.
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This post was made in reaction to The Jester-in-Exile’s post on the same topic.
Have you seen that fugly “Ramdam ko ang pag-asenso” (I feel the progress) TV ad (well, I only saw one)? You know, I want to interview each and everyone who appeared and talked in that commercial. I want to pick their brains. I want to establish that they were taking hallucinogens. I want to see their ITRs and 2316s. I want to see their bank records, billing records, records of property ownership, payslips. I want them to look at me straight in the eye, and repeat what they had said on TV. I want to be sure that what they were spewing at the TV were true.
The fact that the advertiser is unidentified raises more questions that answers. It is obviously a government ad, what with the quality and utter disregard for the truth. Hiding in anonymity is trademark Arroyo regime.
How about you? Ramdam mo na ba ang pag-asenso? I surely do not.
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A self-righteous Filipino sent a self-righteous letter to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, protesting on her innocence, claiming that she is not guilty over the death of Mariannet Amper, nor she feels any remorse whatsoever. I pity her, not for her self-righteous apathy and arrogance. I pity her because of her glaring ignorance of how a government operates.
She threw the book, the sink, the toilet bowl, everything, on the Gloria Arroyo administration, claiming that it is the Arroyo regime’s fault. I would have gladly joined her, except that she has to answer a simple question first: if Gloria Arroyo is at fault, what had she done about it?
I will not be surprised if she had elected Gloria Arroyo in 2004.
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It seems that the Armed Forces of the Philippines has really did it this time.
The years 2006-2007 have been a banner year when it comes to extra-judicial killing and forced disappearances. Victims are mostly linked with the left, suggesting a Red Banner witch hunt, and all fingers point at the military. There is even a poster boy of Red Banner witch hunt – Jovito Palparan, nicknamed “The Butcher” (the nickname that can safely be given to Stalin). The Arroyo regime formed the Melo Commission to investigate such killings and disappearances. While the Commission recommended that Palparan be investigated, its other findings are unknown, and no other concrete actions were taken by the regime.
The Supreme Court had to take action, calling an unprecedented all-hands, all-stakeholders summit, and then issuing new rules based on the findings and recommendations made in that summit. One of the new rules is the implementation of a writ of amparo, or writ of protection. Said to be more powerful than the writ of habeas corpus (specifically stated in the Charter), the rules regarding the writ no longer allow the respondent to simply deny the fact. The habeas corpus’ main defect is that it allows the respondent to simply deny the fact that he has the person being petitioned to be produced.
It seems that the AFP is really engaging in clearly illegal activities.
In several amparo cases filed, two persons have been produced since the rules regarding the writ of amparo were promulgated. If these two people are criminals, how come charges are not filed against them? Why engage in torture?
The protector of the people has become the tormentor. Tsk.
I was browsing CD Japan when I saw a link at the top labeled IDOLS. My curiousity was piqued, so I clicked on it. Boo.
Anyway, here’s the link. Be warned, though, as you might get offended by what you will see (specially if you are Manoling Morato, Ma. Consoliza Laguardia, or Msgr. Nico Bautista).
I know that it is way past my waking time when I hear something. There is this man who is obviously not sane. From what I have heard, this man does not sleep at all, though it isn’t obvious. Sometimes he shouts at quarter to six in the morning, sometimes he sings songs loudly. Sometimes he roams the streets in his undies; sometimes he wears panties (yeah, I think he’s gay).
So, as I was about to dress up for work, I heard him singing a Roman Catholic song, sung during mass after the opening. The lyrics start with “Panginoon, maawa ka” (Lord, have mercy). On the jeep, I saw him hanging a wet campaign poster on someone else’s clothes line.
Yes. Lord, have mercy on him and on everyone like him.
Juan Miguel Zubiri is making the people who “elected” him proud.
In the Senate’s investigation on the Fortress cash buffet, the Senator of Maguindanao called for an end to the investigation since there was nothing illegal in what had happened in the Fortress. Very bright boy, isn’t he? The Comelec people from Maguindanao must be very proud of their work.
Unfortunately for Zubiri, Majority Floor Leader Senator Francis Pangilinan disagreed. They had a heated exchange of words, so heated that Zubiri asked for a suspension of the hearing so that Pangilinan could cool down. Pangilinan was not cowered.
In the end, imitating another useless self-confessed liar of a senator, Zubiri, the distinguished Senator of Maguindanao, walked out of the hearing.
Bravo.
Our government officials are really funny.
Mariannet Amper’s case must have strucked a raw nerve. Too much mud thrown on several faces, police are now searching for reasons why a 12-year old killed herself. For some people, killing yourself just because you are poor is kind of illogical, unreasonable, and not enough a reason to kill oneself. I will not dispute some people’s assertion about the reason that led to the suicide. I will not even speculate on the reasons why. The kid is dead.
With mud in their faces, specially Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the police has exhumed the girl’s body for autopsy. Not content with mud, they dived directly into the mud.
Why? Suicide is a police matter. They should have investigated it as a case, they should have the body autopsied before allowing it to be buried. The fact that the police did not speaks loudly of what kind of police force we have. As if they are telling us that they are having an investigation as an afterthought, to dispute the poverty-as-reason angle.
While the initial post-burial investigation showed that it was possible that the child was molested, it does not dispute the facts in the child’s diary. Unless, of course, the diary’s a forgery. I will not be surprised if the police tackles THAT angle next.
There are lots of reasons why a person commits suicide. Heck, you can’t even compute the combination of reasons. But the most common denominator among suicide cases is that the person was depressed. Poverty can make someone depressed, trust me. And if the kid was molested….