PNP Chief Marquez opens the "White House"

President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino recently appointed PNP Chief Director General Ricardo Marquez as the new PNP Chief to replace the dismissed former PNP Chief Director General Alan Purisima. During Purisima’s term, the so-called “White House” (the official residence of the PNP chief in Camp Crame) became controversial after reports came out that the re-construction in 2013 allegedly cost P25 million. But it was denied and the PNP claimed that only P11 million was spent for the renovation and generously donated by Purisima’s friends in the Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines. The newly appointed PNP Chief Marquez opened the said house to guests and media people as a part of transparency under his leadership.

I have heard the speech of PNP Chief Marquez and all I can say is that may he be able to fulfill most, if not all, of his objectives before his retirement in August 2016. May he be able to dump the “bata-bata” (patronage system) among men in uniform, cleaning up of the scalawags, salary adjustment and benefits of the PNP, and more. But I guess the most difficult task of the new PNP chief is to regain the people’s trust over his people.

 

Antique mining collapsed

Early morning today, at around 3:45am, a portion of the northern edge of Panian mine in Caluya, Antique collapsed according to Semirara Mining and Power Corporation. There are five people who are confirmed killed and four others reported missing but also presumed dead. Antique Governor Rhodora Cadiao said it had been raining in the province for the past few days that might led to the said incident. The local government will conduct an investigation why the second incident occurred after the first incident of landslide in the same site happened in 2013 where five miners were also killed.

For more information:

5 dead, 4 missing in Antique coal mine collapse
3 dead, 6 missing in coal mine collapse in Antique
3 dead, 6 missing as part of Semirara mining pit collapses

Abstract artists' Kahlo, Dali and Kandinsky

Search for “Abstract Artists.” It was the recent assignment of my Grade 9 daughter in her Music, Art, Physical Education and Health (MAPEH) class. With the help of the internet, research assignments like this come in handy. So let me share with you at least three out of the ten abstract artists she listed in her notebook.

Frida Kahlo

Kahlo is a strong and brave woman who shared in her craft even the saddest and painful ones of her personal experiences. She is a Mexican, she suffered from polio as a child and was in a bus accident as a teenager where she nearly died. She underwent several operations and made painting her pursuit while recovering. She had almost 200 paintings and most of it focused on her life experience: a child, a teenager, a woman and a wife. Her self-portrait “The Wounded Table” in 1940 was not only one of her two largest paintings, but moreover, it showed her pain and disappointment in life, and hatred over her husband Diego Rivera. Currently, her works are being sold at high prices and are on display in the Frida Kahlo Museum in Coyoacan, Mexico.

Salvador Dali

Dali is a prominent, well-rounded Spanish surrealist painter with high imagination, extensive symbolism, extraordinary and extravagant behavior as a person and an artist. His artistic skill was not only limited in paintings, but also stretched out in film, sculpture and photography. He had over 1,500 paintings, produced illustrations for books, lithographs, designs for theater sets and costumes, drawings and sculptures, and other projects. His best known work as a surrealist painter was “The Persistence of Memory” in 1931.

Wassily Kandinsky

Kandinsky is not only known as a great abstract painter, but also with his theoretical writings. A very deep artist and active leader of the abstract movement, he encouraged other artists to create masterpieces not only with what they saw in nature or what surrounds them, but moreover to create something based on inner feeling and emotion as well. His “Blue Rider” in 1903 was one of his most influential creations wherein he left to his viewers’ thoughts what he’s trying to portray in this piece.

 

Luzon July 16, 1990 earthquake

Monday, July 16, 1990, at around 4:26pm, the densely populated island of Luzon was shocked with a magnitude of 7.8 earthquake.

Looking back 25 years ago, I was a B.S. in Commerce freshman student of the University of Santo Tomas. I was in the 3rd floor of our building when the big quake took place. Blinds, chairs, tables and people were moving involuntarily. Classes were suspended and commuting was really terrible and walking was the best way to get home then.

It was in the news where I saw how devastating the July 16, 1990 earthquake was. Seeing those buildings crumpled, I can’t helped but thank God that it didn’t happened to the building where I was then because our school building was already old.

With the advisory of the PHIVOLCS about the coming of another big quake in Luzon, I just hope that people will really take seriously the necessary preparations needed to lessen the aftermath of the said “Big One.”

 

Hotel de Oriente at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar

I first heard about the re-birth of Hotel de Oriente in the news and I must admit I got curious about the historical background of this once elegant and first class hotel in Manila in Philippine History. The replica is now sited in Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar in Bagac, Bataan where the recent four-day workshop and meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) was held.

Hotel de Oriente was built in 1889 in Binondo, Manila specifically in Plaza Calderon de la Barca (now Plaza Lorenzo Ruiz). The creation of this Hotel was made possible by Don Manuel Perez Marqueti together with the helped of Spanish architect Juan Jose Huervas y Arizmendi. It had three floors with 83 rooms, stables for 25 horses, an attic, and a broad entrance floored and roofed in red clay tiles.

For more historical details and amazing pictures of this Hotel de Oriente, you can visit Manila Nostalgia.