Daniel Cac

Cesar Venegas

Sheila Flores

Samuel Matias

Florentino Quisay

ALELI CONDOL

Aleli with his son Joshua.

WELCOME to our TAMBAYAN

Hi! I am Ponciano Santos, Ponching or Pons to my close friends and classmates. I wish to connect with my former classmates at Tapinac Elementary School, Olongapo City, Zambales, Philippines. If you happen to be an alumnus/alumna of Batch 1972-1973, please join this tambayan. You can send your pictures (old & new) and short profile at pons@usa.com

For your profile, just answer these:

High school:

College:

Course:

Companies you work:

Husband/Wife:

Children:

Present Address: (Omit street number

Present job (If any)

Let's us reconnect and reminisce the good old days as we still remember them!

Brillante Mendoza Wagi bilang Best Director sa Cannes 2009

Nagwagi bilang Best Director si Brillante Mendoza sa Cannes International Film Festival 2009 para sa kanyang pelikulang Kinatay. Tinalo ng Filipinong direktor ang mga sikat na sina Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds) at Ang Lee (Taking Woodstock) para sa nabanggit na katergorya. Si Mendoza ang kaunaunahang Filipinong nagwagi bilang Best Director sa Cannes para sa buong pelikula.

Nakilala si Mendoza sa Cannes noong nakaraang taon sa kanyang pelikulang Serbis. Ang Kinatay ay tungkol sa kinidnap at ni-rape na babae na ginampanan ni Maria Isabel Lopez na pinahirapan muna bago pinatay at pinagputol-putol ang katawan.

Dalawampung pelikula ang nagpaligsahan para sa pinakamataas na parangal ng Cannes, ang Palme d'Or (Golden Palm Award). Ang parangal na ito ay napunta sa Austrianong direktor na si Michael Haneke para sa kanyang pelikulang Das Weisse Band (The White Ribbon) samantalang ang Grand Prix award ay ibinigay sa Pranses na direktor na si Jacques Audiard para sa Un Prophete (A Prophet). Pinaghatian ng mga pelikulang Fish Tank ni Andrea Arnold at Bak-Jwi (Thirst) ni Park Chan-Wook ang Jury Prize .

Isang malaking tagumpay para sa pelikulang Filipino ang pagkakapanalong itong ni Mendoza.

Panoorin ang ilang eksena ng Kinatay rito:

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/cannes-excerpts-kinatay/2871305460/?icid=VIDLRVNWS03

Changes to Australian General Skilled Migration Program

From 01 January 2009, Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Evans has made the following changes to General Skilled Migration (GSM) Program.
Applications for GSM will now only be processed if they are:
1 - Employer-sponsored permanent migration applications
2 - Applicants nominated by State or Territory governments
3 - Applicants who have a nominated occupation on the new Critical Skill List (CSL).
4 - All other applicants will be placed in a queu awaiting the signal of the Minister for further processing

On 16 March 2009, Minister Evans revised the ceiling set for 2008-2009 skilled migration stream from 133,000 to 115,000. Also, construction and metal machine trades were removed from the CSL.

ANGELS & DEMONS - The Movie

I watched Angels & Demons yesterday, 16 May 2009 at one of the cinemas here in NSW, Australia. The movie starring Tom Hanks as Prof. Robert Langdon appears to be a sequel to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code although the book was published earlier.

I did not expect that the film will receive a lukewarm welcome here in Australia. I said this because it is only on its third day of opening and yet we were only about 30 people in the theatre on its first showing of the day. It is maybe because the cinema my family and I went to was 2 dollars higher or it is because of the global recession. Whatever the reason is, I guess the movie will not gross higher than its predecessor.

There is no much controversies on this second release. It is about science and religion and yet it does not focus much on the teachings of religion. The facing is fast and the whole film happens only in a day. It is still worth watching, though.

MATTHEW JOHNS says " I'm sorry!"

An emotional Matthew Johns said "I'm sorry!" to the girl who was suicidal being the lone girl in a group sex participated in by Cronulla Shark NRL players in 2002. The apology happened in an interview with Channel 9's A Current Affairs in the presence of Johns's wife. Johns said the same words a week ago to his family. As a result of this, Mathew Johns was stripped off his television appearance with Channel 9 notably the Footy Show.

It was not clear why and how the interview came to light after 7 years in a hotel in Christchurch in New Zealand. The public is divided on the issue considering that "it was a consentual sex." Others argued that it was disrespectful of women and sexual harrassment. Whatever it is, only Johns tasted the bittersweet since he did not name the other participants.

I do believe that the judgment on Matthew Johns is unfair since "group sex" is not at all illegal. The girl was already an adult in 2002. She could have said "NO" on the night it happened or filed a complaint with New Zealand police. It is not clear why she surfaced now and claimed that she was "abused". Does telling the truth set her free? Does it diminish her guilt? Can she move on now?

The lessons we learned from this sexcapade are:

1- Group sex is wrong especially when you are celebrities.

2-Telling the truth shatters one's career and family.

3-The victim can become instant celebrity of ridicule and/or compassion.

Watch Matthew Johns's ACA interview here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51FGXVC-OCg

It's a BOY! No, it's a GIRL!

An in-home Gender Prediction Test -IntelliGender - is now available at the market and it is at the centre of controversy. A simple-to-use urine test, the kit provides immediate gender results in the privacy and comfort of the home. Within ten minutes, the IntelliGender Gender Prediction Test test indicates whether the baby will be a boy or a girl. Used as early as six weeks after the first missed period, the Gender Prediction Test bridges the curiosity gap between conception and sonogram.

Having known the sex of the baby within 6 weeks, those in favour argue that it would save time and money in buying the necessary items for a boy or a girl. It would lead to abortion, those not in favour of the kit argue. A father expecting a boy might request for an abortion from his wife. It would also lead to gender selection.

I don't really understand why parents are so curious with the sex of their unborn baby. They should be thankful to God that their wish to be parents are granted. What if it is a boy or a girl? What would happen if it is neither of the two? Can a kit predict gay babies? If it can, do parents would wish to abort them?

FROM ABU DHABI TO SYDNEY

Ceiling of Abu Dhabi International Airport Terminal 1
Car Prize of one of the Raffle Draws at Abu Dhabi Airport

Waiting Lounge - Terminal 3

(This entry should be ahead of Pacman's victory article)

Leaving Saudi Arabia on 29 April 2009, I arrived at Abu Dhabi International Airport Terminal 1 at 5 minutes past one o'clock in the morning of 30 April 2009. My next departure will be at 10:15 AM. Before, I could have a free dinner and breakfast meal courtesy of Etihad Airways but I learned that it was discontinued.

Waiting for the 10 hour ordeal to pass, I tried to have a nap but it was hard to have a good night sleep on a hard chair with plenty of passengers talking loudly nearby especially those Nepalese going to work in Saudi Arabia. I do hope that Etihad will provide passengers with snooze quarters for those on a 5 hour or more stop over. I had a small chit-chat with a Filipino going on a similar flight schedule via Philippine Airlines to the Philippines. Counting it all, I guessed I had a two hour nap.

The departure area going to Sydney was at Terminal 3 which is about 10 minutes walk from Terminal 1. Well, the new addition to the airport was impressive with those natural trees and plants lining the hall ways.(I'm just wondering though where is Terminal 2). There were also duty shops along the way. The waiting lounge is spacious bordered also with natural plants.

The departure time to Sydney was on time. During the 13 + hour flight, I watched the Oscar award winning film "The Slumdog Millionaire", "Yes Man" with Kim Carrey - although I slept at the middle of it, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" of Brad Pitt and another film which I could not recollect the title. I tried to play "Tetris" but the remote of Seat 28C was not working.

The food was great simply because I ordered Oriental Meal during reservation. If you do just like what what I did, your meal shall be served first.

We arrived at the Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport at exactly 6 o'clock in the morning of 01 May 2009, lining on with the thermal scanners ahead of us for swine flu virus detection. I left the airport at 7 :20o via the train service to Parramatta.

PAC is our MAN

Pinabagsak ng ating kababayang si Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao ang matabil na Briton na si Ricky Hatton sa ikalawang round ng kanilang laban ngayon, 2 May 2009 sa Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Nauna rito, 3 beses munang humalik sa lona ang katawan ni Hatton bago nalugmok nang husto sa huling 7 segundo sa ikalawang round. Sa ngayon ay tiyak na kinakain na nila Hatton at Mayweather Sr. ang kanilang mga banat kay PACMAN.

Narito ang labang Pacquiao versus Hatton:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MFU1GDeByY