You sure it was a woman Jay? I could tell you some stories from my time there !!!!!!
Random Philippine musings
- Thread starter jay helfert
- Start date
You sure it was a woman Jay? I could tell you some stories from my time there !!!!!!
Hi Jay..
When I was in ac I saw a sign for a new pool venue. I dropped in to check it out. Efren and Busti were practicing for upcomng doubles matches! Was great to watch them from about 10 feet away. I spoke to Efren and Busti a litle after they finished practicing. One of the advantages to being a kano here. They would ignore me otherwise...haha. Im in subic now....watched matches last night. Some great doubles play from Efren and Busti eh? Not sure Ill make it to WC in Manila. If I do Ill say hello.
Cheers
Bob
When I was in ac I saw a sign for a new pool venue. I dropped in to check it out. Efren and Busti were practicing for upcomng doubles matches! Was great to watch them from about 10 feet away. I spoke to Efren and Busti a litle after they finished practicing. One of the advantages to being a kano here. They would ignore me otherwise...haha. Im in subic now....watched matches last night. Some great doubles play from Efren and Busti eh? Not sure Ill make it to WC in Manila. If I do Ill say hello.
Cheers
Bob
Pangit
Banned
The Presidential Commission on Good Government, (PCGG) in the RP? Talk about an Oxymoron. It has to be one of the most corrupt countries in the world. The Catholic Church has a front row pew.
Now they are displaying Imelda's Jewel's before they sell them...in an effort to re-coup just a little bit more money from the way Ferdinand Marcos raped the country. History show's it doesn't matter...it's going in someones pocket...not the national till.
The Worst leaders the RP has had...have been Pinoys. Elected "officials" are 98 percent corrupt. It's part of the culture. Douglas MacArthur was/is the best "Leader" the RP has ever had. They have hi-ways, parks, statues all over the country in his honor.
It's absolutely Crazy
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/264104/pcgg-wants-imelda-marcos-jewelry-displayed
The glitter of gold and the sparkle of diamonds from Imelda Marcos’ jewelry collection may yet attract more tourists than her shoes, said the agency tasked with recovering the ill-gotten wealth of her family.
The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is urging the Department of Tourism to exhibit the former first lady’s jewelry collection at the Metropolitan Museum in Manila before these are sold.
“First, we should put these on exhibit because we think these can attract tourists and second, we should auction these jewelry off. Sotheby’s already called us and expressed interest in auctioning these off,” PCGG Chairman Andres Bautista said in a phone interview.
Bautista said that previous estimates pegged the Imelda jewelry collection at between $10 million and $20 million.
“We think, notoriety has a premium. It should be more than that,” he said.
Divided in 3 caches
Imelda’s jewels that the government have seized are divided into three caches.
The Malacañang collection which has roughly 300 pieces that were left behind in Imelda’s closets when the Marcoses hurriedly left in 1986.
The Honolulu collection containing at least 400 pieces that were sized by the United States Bureau of Customs from the Marcoses when they fled to Hawaii.
The collection named after Imelda’s Greek accomplice, Demetriou Roumeliotes, who was caught by Philippine authorities trying to spirit 60 pieces of jewelry out of the country a few weeks after the Marcoses left the country.
37-carat diamond
“All of these are in the vault of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and they are under the jurisdiction of the PCGG and the Department of Finance. The Roumeliotes collection is the most expensive because it has very big pieces,” Bautista said. Its most prominent piece is a 37-carat diamond
Bautista said the PCGG had submitted its recommendation to Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez as early as March to put the Imelda jewels on public display. Jimenez did not reply to the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s query.
Bautista is looking at the exhibition and sale of the jewelry collection as part of the PCGG’s swan song in preparation for the agency’s imminent phase-out.
“We estimate that we are still running after between P150 billion and P200 billion. Our suggestion to the President is to shut us down because we have been losing some of the evidence (versus the Marcoses) and we have the Ombudsman to do our job. The PCGG can help the Ombudsman because EO (Executive Order) 1 mandates us to look into cases of possible graft and corruption,” he said.
Previous attempts
In 2006, the Sotheby’s and Christie’s international auction houses estimated the entire lot (the three collections) to be worth P15 billion.
The government tried several times to sell the jewelry to raise money, but court cases and disputes over the venue prevented the auction.
In 1994, the PCGG tried to sell the jewelry but was unable to work out the terms with international auctioneers, Christie’s of New York and Sotheby’s of London. Another attempt was made in 1996, but it did not materialize.
In 2005, another attempt was made, but Imelda asked a Manila court to issue an injunction against the auction, claiming the jewelry belonged to her, with some pieces being family heirlooms.
In May 2009, the PCGG announced once again its plan to auction off a huge cache of Imelda’s jewelry, with then PCGG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede noting that there was no legal impediment because Imelda had been unsuccessful in getting the courts to issue a restraining order.
‘Embarrassing’
Bautista, who took over the PCGG in October in 2010, blamed some of his predecessors for the PCGG’s failures in going after the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses and their cronies over the past 26 years.
“It is embarrassing what they (our predecessors) did before. That is why we strived hard to erase this and regain our reputation. We can only change what we have at present,” Bautista said.
He said the Office of the Ombudsman could go after fixers in the PCGG. “We have filed cases against them at the Ombudsman and some of them are pending in the Sandiganbayan,” he said.
Gridlock
Bautista also blamed the gridlock in the court cases against the Marcoses for the PCGG’s disappointing performance.
“Most of the cases are being dragged to death in court. The failure of the PCGG in the past is mirrored by the failure of the courts. Our cases are over 20 years old—over 260 of them. The courts should not have been allowed to indefinitely delay these cases. Hopefully, with the new Ombudsman, the new Chief Justice and the secretary of justice, we will have a better output with our cases,” he said.
The PCGG has remitted P293 million in 2011 and P440 million so far this year. “This is our recovery rate. We give back more than we spend,” Bautista said.
Under the law, proceeds from the recovery of the Marcoses’ ill-gotten assets go to the land reform program.
Compensation for victims
Bautista said the PCGG was not against paying compensation to the Marcos human rights victims who won $2 billion in damages in a Honolulu court in 1995.
“What we don’t want is to compensate them through their lawyers because the lawyers are getting a big chunk. Our suggestion is give the money to the Treasury, create a law compensating the victims, and the Treasury will give the compensation directly to the victims. The right process should be followed,” Bautista said.
Now they are displaying Imelda's Jewel's before they sell them...in an effort to re-coup just a little bit more money from the way Ferdinand Marcos raped the country. History show's it doesn't matter...it's going in someones pocket...not the national till.
The Worst leaders the RP has had...have been Pinoys. Elected "officials" are 98 percent corrupt. It's part of the culture. Douglas MacArthur was/is the best "Leader" the RP has ever had. They have hi-ways, parks, statues all over the country in his honor.
It's absolutely Crazy
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/264104/pcgg-wants-imelda-marcos-jewelry-displayed
The glitter of gold and the sparkle of diamonds from Imelda Marcos’ jewelry collection may yet attract more tourists than her shoes, said the agency tasked with recovering the ill-gotten wealth of her family.
The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is urging the Department of Tourism to exhibit the former first lady’s jewelry collection at the Metropolitan Museum in Manila before these are sold.
“First, we should put these on exhibit because we think these can attract tourists and second, we should auction these jewelry off. Sotheby’s already called us and expressed interest in auctioning these off,” PCGG Chairman Andres Bautista said in a phone interview.
Bautista said that previous estimates pegged the Imelda jewelry collection at between $10 million and $20 million.
“We think, notoriety has a premium. It should be more than that,” he said.
Divided in 3 caches
Imelda’s jewels that the government have seized are divided into three caches.
The Malacañang collection which has roughly 300 pieces that were left behind in Imelda’s closets when the Marcoses hurriedly left in 1986.
The Honolulu collection containing at least 400 pieces that were sized by the United States Bureau of Customs from the Marcoses when they fled to Hawaii.
The collection named after Imelda’s Greek accomplice, Demetriou Roumeliotes, who was caught by Philippine authorities trying to spirit 60 pieces of jewelry out of the country a few weeks after the Marcoses left the country.
37-carat diamond
“All of these are in the vault of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and they are under the jurisdiction of the PCGG and the Department of Finance. The Roumeliotes collection is the most expensive because it has very big pieces,” Bautista said. Its most prominent piece is a 37-carat diamond
Bautista said the PCGG had submitted its recommendation to Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez as early as March to put the Imelda jewels on public display. Jimenez did not reply to the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s query.
Bautista is looking at the exhibition and sale of the jewelry collection as part of the PCGG’s swan song in preparation for the agency’s imminent phase-out.
“We estimate that we are still running after between P150 billion and P200 billion. Our suggestion to the President is to shut us down because we have been losing some of the evidence (versus the Marcoses) and we have the Ombudsman to do our job. The PCGG can help the Ombudsman because EO (Executive Order) 1 mandates us to look into cases of possible graft and corruption,” he said.
Previous attempts
In 2006, the Sotheby’s and Christie’s international auction houses estimated the entire lot (the three collections) to be worth P15 billion.
The government tried several times to sell the jewelry to raise money, but court cases and disputes over the venue prevented the auction.
In 1994, the PCGG tried to sell the jewelry but was unable to work out the terms with international auctioneers, Christie’s of New York and Sotheby’s of London. Another attempt was made in 1996, but it did not materialize.
In 2005, another attempt was made, but Imelda asked a Manila court to issue an injunction against the auction, claiming the jewelry belonged to her, with some pieces being family heirlooms.
In May 2009, the PCGG announced once again its plan to auction off a huge cache of Imelda’s jewelry, with then PCGG Commissioner Ricardo Abcede noting that there was no legal impediment because Imelda had been unsuccessful in getting the courts to issue a restraining order.
‘Embarrassing’
Bautista, who took over the PCGG in October in 2010, blamed some of his predecessors for the PCGG’s failures in going after the ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses and their cronies over the past 26 years.
“It is embarrassing what they (our predecessors) did before. That is why we strived hard to erase this and regain our reputation. We can only change what we have at present,” Bautista said.
He said the Office of the Ombudsman could go after fixers in the PCGG. “We have filed cases against them at the Ombudsman and some of them are pending in the Sandiganbayan,” he said.
Gridlock
Bautista also blamed the gridlock in the court cases against the Marcoses for the PCGG’s disappointing performance.
“Most of the cases are being dragged to death in court. The failure of the PCGG in the past is mirrored by the failure of the courts. Our cases are over 20 years old—over 260 of them. The courts should not have been allowed to indefinitely delay these cases. Hopefully, with the new Ombudsman, the new Chief Justice and the secretary of justice, we will have a better output with our cases,” he said.
The PCGG has remitted P293 million in 2011 and P440 million so far this year. “This is our recovery rate. We give back more than we spend,” Bautista said.
Under the law, proceeds from the recovery of the Marcoses’ ill-gotten assets go to the land reform program.
Compensation for victims
Bautista said the PCGG was not against paying compensation to the Marcos human rights victims who won $2 billion in damages in a Honolulu court in 1995.
“What we don’t want is to compensate them through their lawyers because the lawyers are getting a big chunk. Our suggestion is give the money to the Treasury, create a law compensating the victims, and the Treasury will give the compensation directly to the victims. The right process should be followed,” Bautista said.
Leave it to Pangit to ruin a great thread...
TheThaiger
Banned
In his own way, he sounds like a pool player I know that crys out because life isn't fair and he deserves more than what life has given him. There are always the half empty/full people, they do make us open our eyes but are at times over the top, kinda reminds me of religious fanatics. But, his perspective from another part of the world is readable, might be time for an Asian Spring, or better yet true nationalism, dangit pangit, get it goin'....
All I can say is I'm glad I'm not you. It must suck being miserable.
Hey Jay, as a visitor, how much do you figure your average daily expenses are? (If you don't mind me asking.)
TheThaiger
Banned
Money. And that tells me everything I need to know about you.
Believe it or not, there are those of us who care about the world's poor, and want to do something about it. The only thing you can do as a farang (or kano in this case) is to gently discourage corruption, which is systemic and endemic, as 'Gitty says.
There is no hope for them whilst corruption is ingrained throughout society. The cycles of poverty and abuse will continue ad infinitum if attitudes do not change, and attitudes are not changed by those costing up a cheap holiday with a bit of 'ow's yer father thrown in.
Sheesh Tim...Chris asks a simple question, perhaps as a potential tourist to the PI, and you have to post negatively about it. What a surprise! Jay's thread is about his own viewpoint, as a tourist, visiting the PI. Why don't you simply take your "holier than thou" attitude and shove where the sun doesn't shine?
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com
Money. And that tells me everything I need to know about you.
Believe it or not, there are those of us who care about the world's poor, and want to do something about it. The only thing you can do as a farang (or kano in this case) is to gently discourage corruption, which is systemic and endemic, as 'Gitty says.
There is no hope for them whilst corruption is ingrained throughout society. The cycles of poverty and abuse will continue ad infinitum if attitudes do not change, and attitudes are not changed by those costing up a cheap holiday with a bit of 'ow's yer father thrown in.
You think that's bad he said I must be Jewish in another post! I'm not but oh well, typical small minded bigoted comment that I have come to expect from him.
Edit: oops that was Zepele, I get them confused.....wonder why?
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Some of us really enjoy reading Jay's posts and I personally consider it a little armchair vacation. Anyone with any sense knows that the view as a tourist is different than actually living anywhere; US included. I would appreciate all the naysayers just starting their own thread so I don't have to wade through their crap to find Jay's posts about beautiful women, corruption, great pool playing etc... Thanks.
Money. And that tells me everything I need to know about you.
Believe it or not, there are those of us who care about the world's poor, and want to do something about it. The only thing you can do as a farang (or kano in this case) is to gently discourage corruption, which is systemic and endemic, as 'Gitty says.
There is no hope for them whilst corruption is ingrained throughout society. The cycles of poverty and abuse will continue ad infinitum if attitudes do not change, and attitudes are not changed by those costing up a cheap holiday with a bit of 'ow's yer father thrown in.
Yes money is all I care about. That's why I devote more of my time to the JayCee's, community garden, senior center, highway cleanup and many other local non for profit activities than I do to pool. I believe charity starts in your own back yard, but when I am away from my back yard, like say on VACATION, I like to know where I can go to get the most bang for my buck. I guess that makes me Jewish in your eyes too. Pathetic.
TheThaiger
Banned
TheThaiger
Banned
Personally I visit the RP BECAUSE it is NOT like the USA. If it was...I wouldnt visit! Too many lawyers in the usa that set the standards for everything.
Watching World Cup on tv here while sittin in a beach bar with beer in hand. World cup on tv for 6 hours+ everyday. The love of pool here is everywhere. Not all pinoys are great pool players but most love the game and know the game very well.
Having fun with my eyes wide open
Cheers from the RP
Watching World Cup on tv here while sittin in a beach bar with beer in hand. World cup on tv for 6 hours+ everyday. The love of pool here is everywhere. Not all pinoys are great pool players but most love the game and know the game very well.
Having fun with my eyes wide open
Cheers from the RP
have you tried boracay's underwater billiard table? i heard from the commentators that some of the players like thorsten, SVB, mika etc spent some time in boracay and tried it :thumbup:
here's a news clip about it
http://balita.ph/2012/02/21/german-billiard-champ-trends-underwater-billiard-in-boracay/
German billiard champ trends underwater billiard in Boracay
February 21, 2012 11:43 am
BORACAY Island, Malay, Aklan, Feb. 21 – A local dive shop here is planning to introduce underwater billiard in this resort island as another tourism lure.
This developed after world renowned Thorstenn Bernard Hohmann, 32, a German national, had successfully managed to play underwater billiard along the station 2 in Barangay Balabag, Boracay last February 16.
Hohmann, also kown as "Hitman" or "Toasti", a three- time world champion played underwater billiard with another international pool champion Mika Immonen, "The Iceman," a Finnish national.
Mike Labatiao, former president of the Boracay Association of Scuba Diving Schools (BASDS), said that he was informed that as soon as the group finished playing with underwater billiards they re-surface again.
"I was told that the underwater billiard played in a five-meter deep water just came as an idea of the tourists," said Labatiao, adding that the group of Hohmann wore scuba diving gears while playing.
Hohmann reportedly entered through a short term sponsorship with Yalin Billiards, considered as the leading table manufacturer in the world, which is based in China, to craft a pool table purposely for underwater billiard game in this resort island. (PNA) FFC/LOR/AJP/JNA/vlo
video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EypvqjMJB2E
here's a news clip about it
http://balita.ph/2012/02/21/german-billiard-champ-trends-underwater-billiard-in-boracay/
German billiard champ trends underwater billiard in Boracay
February 21, 2012 11:43 am
BORACAY Island, Malay, Aklan, Feb. 21 – A local dive shop here is planning to introduce underwater billiard in this resort island as another tourism lure.
This developed after world renowned Thorstenn Bernard Hohmann, 32, a German national, had successfully managed to play underwater billiard along the station 2 in Barangay Balabag, Boracay last February 16.
Hohmann, also kown as "Hitman" or "Toasti", a three- time world champion played underwater billiard with another international pool champion Mika Immonen, "The Iceman," a Finnish national.
Mike Labatiao, former president of the Boracay Association of Scuba Diving Schools (BASDS), said that he was informed that as soon as the group finished playing with underwater billiards they re-surface again.
"I was told that the underwater billiard played in a five-meter deep water just came as an idea of the tourists," said Labatiao, adding that the group of Hohmann wore scuba diving gears while playing.
Hohmann reportedly entered through a short term sponsorship with Yalin Billiards, considered as the leading table manufacturer in the world, which is based in China, to craft a pool table purposely for underwater billiard game in this resort island. (PNA) FFC/LOR/AJP/JNA/vlo
video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EypvqjMJB2E
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Rotation...
Decent hotel room, anywhere from 1,500-2,000p a day. You can eat well on 500p a day, so there you go. About $50 in US terms. Of course if you are staying longer, one week or one month rents can be arranged in apartelles for quite a bit less and if you eat on the street (great fresh fruit and drinks, plus sate style chicken, beef and pork) you can get by on half that or less. Many ex-pats are living well here with $1,000+ pensions. Outside Manila all the prices go down as well. Angeles City is very popular with ex-pats and a nice apartment can be had for $200-250 a month.
I won't deny that corruption is rampart here on all levels, but tourists like me are good for the economy and provide employment for millions of filipinos who would otherwise be starving. Just by coming here and spending money you are helping many people to survive. Foreign tourists (especially Americans) are welcome everywhere, except in the more dangerous areas of Mindanao. I still like being greeted everywhere I go with a smiling face and "Hello sir." Sorry but that's just me. I'm NEVER treated that well in the good ole USA. Yes, I've had problems too, but nothing I can't handle. :smile:
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ROTATION is the main game, but most of the good players will play 9-Ball, Ten Ball or Eight Ball as well.