Alright, I have one additional blog to nominate to The Top Ten Emerging Influential Blogs of 2007. Yep only one, because only one submitted his blog for consideration, and I was not able to browse last weekend due to erratic Smart 3G connection.

Anyway, I am not fond of watching video on the Web. Aside from being handicapped by having a dialup connection at home, I don’t like the quality of the video on the Web (though that is due to the limitation set by the video host). Yet I am amazed by the creativity of the blogger behind Cokskiblue. I do not presume to be knowledgeable about blogging in the Philippines, but I think this blog is the first to specialize in video logging. Sure some bloggers post videos on their blogs, Cokskiblue is probably the first to concentrate on blogging purely by video.

Despite the limitations imposed by technology, the vlogger has presented his ideas clearly, and in a humorous way.

I am not sure if there are Filipino vloggers like Coy; if there are, Cokskiblue is probably the first among them. And some of them might have been influenced by this vlog.

That makes nine. Here are the blogs that I have nominated:

Week 1:
Fire Eyed Boy
Be Seen | Be Heard
Past Lives

Week 2:
Mobility Philippines
The Patsada Karajaw Nation

Week 3:
Tingog.com – The Voice of the Filipino
SugoiStuff
Filipinayzd

Week 4:
Cokskiblue

I have exercised a strikeout in Week Three. I can still do so, when I find better blogs, or if someone has nominated a better blog. I still have one slot to fill. So if your blog’s start date is not earlier than August 2006, and you think your blog is influential, leave the URL at the comments. Or if you want, you can nominate someone else’s blog. As long as it meets the minimum criteria stated earlier, it is fine, leave the URL at the comments.

(PS: to those who are in the running and would want to increase their chances, leave your URL at the comments.)

Dear Senators of the Republic,

It seems Gloria Arroyo is right. The administration has won the 2007 elections. Her allies are teeming in the House of Reprehensibles. The local positions are mostly allied with the administration.

The Senate? Sure it was dominated by the opposition – an aggrupation that is fractured from the very start, glued together by their opposition to Arroyo and nothing else. However, most of you are ambitious politicians who are not only eyeing a Senate seat. You are looking ahead.

Now that you have taken their oaths, some of you have began undercutting each other, trying to place themselves in a position that will propel them to the Fortress by the Pasig, forgetting that they were elected by the people to serve them.

Just look at one of them. He ran under the opposition, and just to get the position that he wanted, he reached out to administration senators. Maybe that’s why Arroyo is unperturbed by Genuine Opposition’s victory – either he is a Trojan horse, or she knew that GO will crumble as soon as they get their seats. And one day, when we poor people wake up, we will find an administration-dominated Senate even if we voted opposition.

Then there is this senator who is ambitious enough to cause division among GO senators. And there are two more who would benefit if the Trojan horse is undercut.

The Senate of the Republic is so full of ambitious politicians, that give them firearms, and we will have a Senate that is pro-Arroyo.

Dear Senators, you have betrayed the trust of the people who have voted for you. You prove yourselves no better than the members of the House of Reprehensibles. Your actions only prove that Juan Miguel Zubiri is really worthy of joining the Senate.

Dear Senators of the Republic: you are elected by the people because they believe that you will put this administration in check. But no. You haven’t even began your sessions, you have already betrayed us because of your ambitions.

Dear Senators of the Republic: you have spit on our collective faces when you squabble for positions. We ask that you unite for us. But what have you done?

Dear Senators of the Republic: do not make me regret voting for you. Otherwise, shame on you. And the people that you have betrayed will make sure that in 2010, the ambitious among you shall taste the wrath of a people betrayed.

Now that Mayor Fred Lim has opened Mendiola to rallies, it seems that the Fortress by the Pasig is unperturbed by this development. You might be wondering why. Over-confidence? Bravado?

Aren’t you wondering why Norberto Gonzales is appointed as acting SecDef for a month? Ostensibly, incoming SecDef Gilbert Teodoro Jr. is on vacation, and will take office next month. I find this reason unbelievable for two reasons.

One, if you are appointed by a president, do you ask him/her to wait?

Two, if so, why Gonzales of all people? Why not Eduardo Ermita? Why move Hermogenes Ebdane to Public Works if Teodoro is only available next month? Isn’t it more logical to wait till next month?

So why Gonzales? First, he is a trial balloon for something that will take effect soon. Second, he is a good counterfoil to communist rebels and leftist organizations. Just a day after his interim appointment, Gonzales already rattled his saber. He fits the bill for the trial balloon phase.

Then, Raul Gonzalez, the poster boy of the Arroyo administration, still sits at Justice. And he scares everyone with the powers vested on his department by a law that takes effect soon.

Now, going back to the question. Why is the Fortress not troubled by Lim’s action on Mendiola? Because the Human Security Act takes effect on July 15. The body that is responsible for the implementation of the said law is the Anti-Terrorism Council. Who sits on the Council? Here’s Section 53 of Republic Act number 9372:

SEC. 53. Anti-Terrorism Council. – An Anti-Terrorism Council, hereinafter referred to, for brevity, as the “Council,” is hereby created. The members of the Council are: (1) the Executive Secretary, who shall be its chairperson; (2) the Secretary of Justice, who shall be its Vice Chairperson; and (3) the Secretary of Foreign Affairs; (4) the Secretary of National Defense; (5) the Secretary of the Interior and Local Government; (6) the Secretary of Finance; and (7) the National Security Advisor, as its other members.

(Dean Jorge Bocobo is kind enough to post the bill in his blog. Read it here.)

Currently, these people will sit at the Council:

(1) Executive Secretary – Eduardo Ermita
(2) Justice Secretary – Raul Gonzalez
(3) Foreign Affairs Secretary – Alberto Romulo
(4) National Defense Secretary – Norberto Gonzales (interim)
(5) Interior Secretary – Ronaldo Puno
(6) Finance Secretary – Margarito Teves
(7) National Security Adviser – Norberto Gonzales (concurrent interim SecDef)

Four hawks, two probable doves. I’m not sure about Teodoro, probably a dove.

Still wondering why?

One night, my mom heard someone shout “balut!” So she went out of the house to buy two. She was surprised to see a young boy, less than five feet in height, thin, carrying a basket of balut and chicharon.

My mom being inquisitive, she asked the kid some questions.

“How old are you?”

“Ten,” the boy answered.

“Are you studying?” , my mom asked as she pays for the balut.

“No, mam,” said the boy, giving my mom the balut wrapped in paper.

“How much do you earn?”

“Not much. Just enough to get anothet batch tomorrow and some food to eat.”

And so the boy moved on, shouting “balut”, walking along Tenth Avenue, taking no heed of the jeep and tricycles and the usual cars plying that road.

—

This is to answer Ric Saludo’s media blast this morning. He must be reacting to Boo Chanco’s column.