Yesterday, a news report says there is a drop of extrajudicial killings in the country, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Read full report here

But then as I opened the news websites this morning, I was stunned by the report on the killing of an Oblate priest in Tawi-tawi. I can’t remember if  I already met him. But guess, we’ve met somewhere else — could be in a peace forum or something.

Oblate priest killed in Tawi-tawi

DAVAO CI TY (MindaNews/15 January) – A Catholic priest of the Oblates of the Mary Immaculate (OMI) congregation was killed at around 8:30 tonight in Tabawan Island, Tawi-tawi province, “in an apparent kidnapping attempt,” Father Ramon Bernabe, OMI Provincial  said. Fr. Jesus Reynaldo A. Roda, director of the Notre Dame of Tabawan and head of the mission station there for the last ten years  “was praying in the chapel, as he used to do every night, when armed men barged in and tried to take him. He struggled and resisted being taken away, and explicitly said that he preferred to be killed right there and then. A witness said that he was beaten and then shot dead. The armed men also took some valuables from his office before fleeing, taking with them also a male teacher of Notre Dame of Tabawan who happened to be there,” Bernabe said in an e-mailed letter to fellow Oblates and friends.(Mindanews)

Aside from the libel suit, here comes another case that the ABS-CBN broadcasting corporation has to deal with. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has filed administrative charges after it found irregularities in the “Wilyonaryo” segment of the firm’s noontime show “Wowowee”.

While it’s true that “in the race for quality, there is no finish line,” all companies should not sacrifice the quality of their service and most of all, their credibility.

Currently, television network giants are into ‘network wars’ due to alleged manipulation of TV ratings.

DTI files charges vs ABS-CBN over ‘Wowowee’ game mess

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has filed administrative charges against ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, after it found irregularities in the “Wilyonaryo” segment of the firm’s noontime show “Wowowee”. GMA Network’s 24 Oras on Tuesday reported that the DTI-National Capital Region’s Area 3 based its complaint on the results of the investigation conducted by a panel led by a bureau under the department.

Sometime last week, I read on Dateline Davao regarding the green-plate bearing Maligaya Taxi. Now, I was able to take a photo myself — of the taxi with a green plate. Taxi cabs are suppose to use the yellow ones. But look at the photo below.

Sophie, our shitzu- minipinscher doggy, loves to eat Ice Pop on stick. While we were still at the the mall today, Ruby asked me what to bring for Sophie.  I told her we can get her Ice Pop because Sophie loves something cold. Just click the photo below to see more photos!

Cops take time to send text messages during SONA Rally on July last year at Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City. File Photo/ Keith KP Bacongco

Still not a good news even if the government will remove the 12 percent Value Added Tax on oil products. Because it will impose tax on text messaging as possible source of revenue. This only goes to show how greedy this government is. So much tax are being imposed in everything and yet the people is not getting what’s really right for them.

Gov’t eyes tax on SMS to cover loss from oil tariff reduction
(Updated 11:45 p.m.) Trade Secretary Peter Favila on Wednesday said he personally favors a tax on text messages as a possible additional source of revenue in the light of proposals to scrap or suspend taxes on oil products. Favila said in an interview at Malacañang that imposing a tax on SMS could make Filipinos shift their focus on endeavors that are more productive.

On the other hand, some senators slammed the proposed cut on oil tariff. The said that it’s still inadequate. I agree, it’s not really enough. The government is just trying to appease the public by imposing this cut on oil tariff. At any rate, it is sill not enough to satisfy Juan dela Cruz.

Yet another outcry from the former internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Central Mindanao. On Monday, thousands of people coming from different areas in Mindanao gathered in Cotabato City and urged both the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to resume the stalled negotiations.

There was never a good war or a bad peace - Benjamin Franklin

How long shall we wait? Why is it always stalled whenever some major breakthroughs are reached? Personally, I believe that the ‘hawks’ in the government have dipped their fingers on the peace process.  Many wants to live in peace but some want to live in an ‘atmosphere of war.’ War is business, war produce generals.

“We hate war!” - Cotabato peace rally participants
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews/07 January) — An outpouring of frustration and anger marked today’s peace rally at the city plaza here where thousands of people converged to push the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) into resuming their talks and eventually signing a peace agreement. “I am tired of war,” said Bai Misceria Malasalagat who arrived here from Pagalungan, Maguindanao this morning on board a caravan of about 23 trucks. “We have been bakwits (evacuees) for 20 years already.” They are afraid, she said, that in case the talks would collapse, “there will be fighting again and we will suffer.”

They type of gear you’re using is not really an issue for me. It’s how you use and and how you come up with an impressive output. A lot of discussion boards have discussed this issue on the latest cameras from Canon and Nikon.

I can’t discuss the whole thing here because I’m not an expert on this. I’m using Canon system but when I’d look at the others’ photos, I don’t really ask what type of camera they are using. I’m not counting the megapixel, I’m more concerned on what’s in the megapixel

Let me share with you here a review of both cameras, which I came across in the world wide web. Both are great cameras.Sadly, I can’t afford them.

Canon vs Nikon

As previously reported, I ordered my Nikon D3 and my Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III at the same time, back in September. I’d recently also written about seeing a D3 “in the wild” when covering a White House event, and I was eager to get my hands on my own.

That surprisingly happened all on the same day, yesterday, Friday the 7th, when both cameras arrived, separately, from Adorama. The first thing I did was call my friend Mark Finkenstaedt, a die-hard Canon photographer, and invite him over to have a look-see at both bodies, as they were unboxed, make a few photographs of them, and with them, and generally have some fun with what is otherwise sometimes a dry “review”. [read on]