Onli in da Pilipins.

Filipinos have a folk belief that if someone is falsely reported to have died, that person will live on even longer, lalong hahaba ang buhay. That must have been the intention of those who started the text rumors that former President Cory Aquino has died. The speed, power, and persuasiveness of text messaging in Manila was such that the false news was even announced by a former Supreme Court justice after a mass for the former president. Talk about verifying the info at hand. A foreign embassy also has sent condolences to Cory's family based on the false alarm. If the pamahiin or kasabihan comes true to form, Cory will still be around for a while.

On the other hand, many can't wait for Gloria Arroyo to go. For every man who prays for Cory to live, there are definitely more who pray for Gloria to leave. The US might have reservations on electing a woman president but the Philippines had two within a very short span of time. Where else have they had two women presidents like we had? One is a picture of hope, the other a picture of hopelessness. Onli in da Pilipins.

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There will lots of protest actions in today's state of the nation address by Gloria. This day is also the Iglesia ni Cristo anniversary. This day is a special working holiday, as announced by GMA, by virtue of RA 9645 which declared July 27 a special working holiday. There was some confusion after she made the announcement. Many thought that it will be another long weekend, as she has a holiday economics policy. Additionally, Gloria had proclaimed non-working holidays to send students and the rest of the public to enjoy themselves when prospects of them joining political rallies were high. But today turns out to be a special working holiday. Where else do you work on holidays? And special ones at that. Onli in da Pilipins.