Monday, August 24, 2020
Sunday, August 23, 2020
Why Caloocan City residents are under-represented in Congress
By Severino Samonte
Do you know which local government unit (LGU) in the National Capital Region or Metro Manila is grossly under-represented in Congress compared with the other 15 cities and one municipality in the region?
The answer to this question can be gleaned from a review of the special Ordinance appended to the 1987 Constitution for the election of members of the First Congress of the Philippines under the new Charter drafted by the 1986 Constitutional Commission.
Another vital source of information is the population data gathered by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) from the provinces, cities, towns, and barangays nationwide.
The special ordinance of the 33-year-old Charter provided that the four cities and 13 towns of the Metropolitan Manila Area as of 1987 were entitled to 22 congressmen apportioned according to their population at the time.
These LGUs and the respective number of their lawmakers for the purpose of the May 1987 congressional elections were: Manila, six; Quezon City, four; Caloocan City, two; Pasay City, one; Malabon and Navotas, one; Mandaluyong and San Juan, one; Marikina, one; Makati, one; Pasig, one; Paranaque, one; Las Pinas and Muntinlupa, one; Taguig and Pateros, one; and Valenzuela, one.
It is important to note that Metro Manila had only four cities (Manila, Quezon City, Caloocan City and Pasay City) during the promulgation of the new Constitution. The populations of the adjoining towns were still insufficient to deserve a separate congressional district.
That was the reason why Malabon and Navotas had to share the representation of just one lawmaker, along with Mandaluyong and San Juan, Las Pinas and Muntinlupa, and Taguig and Pateros.
Only the then more affluent towns of Makati, Pasig, Marikina, Parañaque and Valenzuela had one congressman each.
The creation of new cities in the region began during the incumbency of President Fidel V. Ramos. During his six-year term from June 30, 1992, to June 30, 1998, at least seven cities were created in the NCR.
These were: Mandaluyong (Feb. 9, 1994); Makati (Jan. 2, 1995); Pasig (Jan. 21, 1995); Muntinlupa (March 1, 1995); Marikina (Dec. 8, 1996); Las Piñas (March 26, 1997); and Parañaque (Feb. 15, 1998).
The proposed cityhood of the former town of Novaliches, now divided between Quezon City and Caloocan City, was also signed by President Ramos as Republic Act No. 8535 on Feb. 23, 1998, but it lost in the plebiscite held in the whole of Quezon City on Oct. 23,1999.
There were no cities created during the six-and-a-half year-term of President Corazon C. Aquino from Feb. 25, 1986 to June 30, 1998.
A close look at the present data on population and congressional representation of the 17 LGUs in the NCR will reveal that only Manila and the 58-year-old Caloocan City have not undergone any change in their representation in Congress.
Caloocan, which became a city in 1962, continues to have only two congressional districts and the same number of congressmen although it now has the third biggest population in the region after Quezon City and Manila.
This shows how the people of Caloocan City, numbering 1,583,978 as of 2015 (PSA data), are grossly under-represented in the House of Representatives at present. Caloocan has a land area of 55.8 square kilometers.
Former Caloocan Rep. Enrico Echiverri, while representing the city's first district in the 16th Congress (2013-2016), filed House Bill No. 5569 entitled "An Act reapportioning the 1st legislative district, thereby creating two additional legislative districts and 12 Sangguniang Panlungsod seats from such reapportionment."
The bill was referred to the House Committee on Local Government, where it remained until the 16th Congress adjourned in 2016.
In the current Congress, Rep. Dale Gonzalo Malapitan, son of incumbent Caloocan Mayor Oscar M. Malapitan, has filed a similar bill (HB 6746) which is now pending at the committee level.
There has also been no increase in the number of lawmakers for Manila but its six congressmen at present are deemed sufficient in terms of the city's population of 1,660,714 and a land area of 38.3 square kilometers.
In Quezon City, the number of its congressmen has been increased from the previous four since 1987 to six with the creation of two new congressional districts in the Novaliches area of Quezon City in 2013 under a law signed by then President Benigno S. Aquino III.
At present, Metro Manila has 43 congressmen distributed as follows (in alphabetical order): Caloocan City (4); Las Pinas City (2); Malabon City (2); Makati City (2); Mandaluyong City (2); Manila (6); Marikina City (2); Muntinlupa City (2); Navotas City (2); Paranaque City (2); Pasay City (2); Pasig City (2); Pateros (2); Quezon City (6); San Juan City (2); San Pedro City (1); Taguig City (2); and Valenzuela City (2).
Saturday, August 22, 2020
Pinoy's pride
1. Aljur abrenica
2. Carlos Agassi
3. JC Tiuseco
4. Andrew Wolff
5. Alfred Vargas
6.Tom Rodriguez
7. Marco Alcaraz
8. Melmar Magno
9. Xian Lim
10. Diether Ocampo
11. Mikael Daez/John James Uy
12. Boom Labrusca
13.Polo Ravales
14. Dex Quindoza/ Dion Ignacio
15.Aham Puno/ Vlad Nesas/Mark Luz
16.Dennis Trillo
17. Hideo Muraoka
18. Marc Nelson
19. justin de leon/ paolo rivero
20. Jon Avila
21. Christian Bautista
22. June Macasaet
23. Daniel Marsh
24. Arbie Silva
25. Robi Domingo
26. Paolo Paraiso
27. Alex Castro
28. Fabio Ide
29. Lucho Ayala
30. Kristoffer Martin
31. Andrew Miguel
32. Sam Concepcion
33. Johan Santos
34. Fhrancis Lopez
35. Neil Coleta
36. Rocco Nacino
37. Tj Trinidad
38. Daniel Padilla
39. Alex Anselmuccio
40. Christian Vasquez
41. Guji Lorenzana
42. Arthur Solinap
43. Jose Sarasola
44. Victor Aliwalas
45. Arran Sese
What You Need To Know About Hardship And Grace
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9
As a boy growing up in China, William sang about the grace of God, but it was not until the cold reality of solitary confinement in prison sank in that William began to understand what grace really means. William's mother was an American missionary who married a Chinese medical doctor, and they worked together in China, raising their family to know and follow God.
Then came the Cultural Revolution beginning in 1966 that tried to expunge capitalism and tradition from China. Thousands of families were torn apart by Mao Tse-tung's Red Guard, who functioned as hangman, judge and jury all at the same time. The "Revolution" claimed the lives of several million people and inflicted cruel and inhuman treatments on hundreds of million people. William's mother and father were sent to prison, where his father died mysteriously in what prison officials termed a "work related" accident.
William and his sisters were considered guilty by association and sent to prison for the crime of being followers of Jesus Christ who would not renounce their faith in Him. For that, William was confined in total darkness for a period of nine months.
How do people like William cope, you may wonder? Are they just stronger than the rest of us? Or is there some sort of special and support for God's children which gives hope and sustains in their darkest hour? The answer is Yes, there is, and for two thousand years, God's children have called it "the grace of God."
After he was released from prison, William wrote to a friend and said, "What I miss more than all else are the intense, quiet moments with Christ that I have not known since the anguish of the days while I was in solitary confinement!"
There is a facet of God's care and concern that we experience in times of pain and loss which we can never have apart from times of testing. It is the comfort of God's Spirit that lets us sense the warmth of God's care and concern. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" (Matthew 5:4KJV), and when he said that He was not merely passing out verbal bouquets as meaningless platitudes. He was saying there is help for our hurt, relief for our pain, and hope for our despair. That is a facet of this wonderful thing called the grace of God.
But there is something else which needs to be explained which makes the grace of God even more remarkable. Grace is not something which is given out in response to our moral goodness, as though God instructs an angel to keep track of our good deeds and when we hit a certain level, God rewards us like we've won a prize.
That is the difference between rewards which are due on the basis of merit, and the grace of God which is given to anyone who will seek God with all his heart. Long ago God said, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). Still true? Yes. God hasn't changed, and grace is still there--free, undeserved, and completely sufficient.
Have you ever tasted of the grace of God? When trouble knocks at your door, you've got to be willing to trust Him to provide the grace that He freely offers. When you get to the end of yourself, the point of desperation, you're ready to experience this wonderful help called grace.
Sometimes the best thing in our lives happens because God allowed a bad thing which resulted in a very, very good thing as we tasted richly of the grace of God. Then we learn what God told Paul long ago, "My grace is sufficient..." (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Resource reading: Psalm 46:1-11
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/what-you-need-to-know-about-hardship-and-grace/
Friday, August 21, 2020
GMA Stations Roll Call (1988)
Does God Need To Be Exciting?
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. Colossians 3:23
"Exciting" says Webster's dictionary, is "to call to activity; to rouse to an emotional response" or "to increase the activity" of something. There are certain words which are made to get down on all fours and walk, or should I say, crawl. They are so overworked by the media that they become trite, superficial, and really without much meaning at all.
Recently I've seen real estate, bathroom fixtures, rock concerts, and--yes, church functions and activities described as exciting. I think what irritated me the most was several churches describing their morning worship hour as exciting. No, it isn't that I think worship should be boring, something to be endured such as a trip to the dentist for a root canal, or a vaccination against a dreaded disease.
I'm wondering, however, if this is really the appropriate word to apply to an encounter with the Almighty. When I was a kid and a Roman candle went astray and caught my dad's storeroom on fire along with starting a medium sized grass fire, that was exciting. When we were awakened at 2:48 AM with an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, I suppose you could describe it as a few moments of excitement. When a volcano erupts or the pilot announces that he is flying at an altitude of 3,000 meters because the pressurization of the airplane is malfunctioning, I suppose you could describe those moments as exciting.
But must the worship of the Almighty, who deserves our praise and adoration, be painted in the same terms as the latest, most stimulating ride at an amusement park? Does the pastor or worship leader see himself as an exciter who must constantly invoke enough spiritual adrenaline to produce a level of spiritual high or is he one who simply leads the congregation into the presence of the Almighty?
The fact is that much of life is neither exciting nor very stimulating. There's a lot of humdrum associated with getting the kids off to school, opening your business, going over the monthly reports, and covering your bases. A friend says that in life you are either shoveling the pile, underneath the pile, or on top of the pile, and that's not very often. Life is often a routine, even to the point of boredom, but you don't walk away from your responsibilities when they aren't very exciting.
Have we become so entertainment orientated that if the level of excitement we expect doesn't materialize, we either become disappointed with God or the one who should lead us into His presence in worship?
Yes, I acknowledge that getting people excited about a commodity is good for sales. Enthusiasm is the yeast that raises the dough, but the fact is that the church is not in the business of entertainment nor should it try to compete with what I see on the screen or in the theater.
If the unique purpose of the church is to edify and build up the saints, to proclaim the distinctive message of the King and to lead worshipers into a relationship with the Almighty, perhaps we should forget about evoking excitement and focus on authenticity and genuineness.
A closing thought. Excitement should never be confused with enthusiasm. Excitement is for the moment; enthusiasm can go for the long haul. When you really understand who God is and what He will do for you, there comes an enthusiasm and joy which endures long beyond the moment of excitement. Grant us the reality of genuineness and the assurance that God will receive us and welcome us into His presence. That is the stuff that makes life worth living, even when it is not terribly exciting.
Resource reading: Titus 2:1-15
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/does-god-need-to-be-exciting/
Thursday, August 20, 2020
The Good News In A World Of Bad News
Wherever you live in the world, each morning you wake up to bad news. Disease, disaster, death. The narratives are bleak, yet the followers of Jesus Christ, his disciples in the here and now, are people of the Gospel and the Gospel is good news. The Gospel is a story because God is a storyteller. We've got His story of good news in His book, the Bible.
Hopefully you know the story: how God created us in His own image, to have relationship with us. And He made us with the capacity to worship. But relationships can never be forced, so God gave us the choice to worship Him, or not. And what we chose, back in the Garden of Eden, was to be rulers of our own lives. The choices that we still make every day separate us from Him and His holiness.
If we stopped there, there would be no good news, but then came Grace. God got the attention of a man named Abraham and He told him, "Abraham, I'm going to do something with you. Here's a promise: I'm going to bless all peoples of the earth through you." And that meant that God was going to welcome us, His creation, back into relationship with him because Jesus was going to come through the line of Abraham and pay the price of that redemption and healing. Jesus was going to establish a Kingdom of every single people group in the world, for all people groups will worship Him. That's the story of the God of the Bible.
What is needed are storytellers; storytellers in a fallen world, telling a story of good news, of assurance and transformation that Jesus brings to our lives and to the world. Right now, at this moment in history, we are in the "Storytelling Gap." That's the gap between the time that Jesus came and did his work on the cross, and the time that He's coming back to wrap things up and put evil in its final resting place. You and I live in the Storytelling Gap.
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, do you know why you are, ultimately, alive today? It has to do with something Christians have called the Great Commission. Remember Matthew 11:28 and Mark 16:15, those verses that the missionaries like? "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel, making disciples and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you?" These verses actually apply to every follower of Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:14 explains that God "uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere."
If Jesus Christ has intersected your life, you have a good news story that you own and that you can tell. It's uniquely yours. Have you ever taken the time to think through your story? When marketers are developing a compelling story to sell a product or idea, they ask themselves, "so what?!" We can ask ourselves, "So what? What is different about my life because I follow Jesus, prioritizing His will rather than my own?" If I can't come up with an answer, if there really isn't any difference between the way I respond to the troubles and bad news of life and the way that my non-Christian friend does, perhaps my story has really yet to begin. 1 Peter 3:15 instructs the follower of Jesus, "If someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it."
If you are a Christian, you are alive in this fallen world to be a storyteller. The Bible says that good news of Jesus will be like a pleasant aroma to the person whom God is calling to Himself. (2 Corinthians 2:15-16) Who in your life is waiting to hear the best Story ever, today?
Resource reading: 2 Corinthians 2:12-17
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/the-good-news-in-a-world-of-bad-news/
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
List of Multiply-compatible devices
The devices featured in this list feature hardware that is compatible for using Multiply.
- Amazon Fire TV, Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire HDX
- Android smartphones and tablets
- Android TV devices
- Apple: Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch
- Barnes & Noble Nook Color, Nook Tablet, Nook HD
- D-Link Boxee Box
- Fetch TV includes both Fetch Mighty, and Fetch Mini
- Google Chromecast
- Google TV devices
- Insignia Blu-ray Disc players and home theater systems
- LG Electronics: some Blu-ray Disc players, TVs, and home theater systems
- Microsoft: Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows Phone, Xbox 360, Xbox One[26]
- Nintendo: Nintendo 3DS and Wii U
- Panasonic: some Blu-ray Disc players, televisions and home theater systems
- Philips: some Blu-ray Disc players and TVs
- Roku streaming player
- Samsung: some Blu-ray Disc players, home theater systems, smartphones, TVs, and tablets
- Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player
- Sharp: some LED/LCD TVs and Blu-ray Disc players
- Sony Blu-ray Disc players, televisions, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4
- TiVo DVRs (HD, HD XL, Series3, Premiere, Premiere XL, Roamio, and Bolt boxes)
- Viewsonic VMP75
- Vizio: some Blu-ray Disc players and TVs
- Western Digital WD Live Plus media player
- Yamaha BD-A1020
- YouView set-top boxes in the UK
Multiply makes a comeback with app launch
There will be photos and videos from the old Multiply accounts from 2004 to 2013, Webshots accounts from 1999 to 2012, Friendster accounts from 2002 to 2011 and Fotolog accounts from 2002 to 2015.
Enron and the 24 Other Most Epic Corporate Downfalls of All Time
When energy-trading company Enron declared bankruptcy in 2001, it was the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history. The company’s demise was tinged with scandal, as it was revealed that Enron execs were pocketing millions while knowingly overstating the company’s earnings to shareholders through fraudulent accounting.
Although Enron became the poster child for corporate scandal, it’s far from the only major company to fall from grace. These 25 other corporations were once at the top of their games — worth millions and even billions of dollars — but crashed and burned due to crooked execs, poor management, changing times or a combination of the above. Take a look at how these companies lost it all.
Standard Oil
No list of corporate downfalls is complete without a mention of Standard Oil, which was the most dominant oil company in the world from 1870 to 1911, according to NBC News. Although the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was passed in 1890, it wasn’t until 1911 that the Supreme Court found Standard Oil guilty of violating the Act through its practice of using low prices to eliminate its competitors. As a result of the Supreme Court ruling, Standard Oil was broken up into separate companies that are now known as Chevron, Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips.
Blockbuster
There was a time when Blockbuster was everyone’s go-to place for movie rentals, but Netflix changed all that. Although Blockbuster initially dismissed Netflix’s looming threat, execs at the rental company soon wised up and took steps to compete. Blockbuster discontinued late fees, invested in an online platform and created a Total Access program that let customers rent videos online and return them in stores. The program was successful, but investors didn’t like how expensive it was to operate, and franchisees thought it could threaten their businesses. In 2007, then-CEO John Antioco was fired after a salary dispute. His replacement, Jim Keyes, reversed the company’s online strategy to focus on retail. Three years later, Blockbuster went bankrupt.
Allied Crude Vegetable Oil Refining Corporation
Commodities trader Anthony De Angelis was the mastermind behind what came to be known as the salad oil scandal. In the 1960s, De Angelis’ Allied Crude Vegetable Oil Company took out bank loans secured by his inventory of soybean oil. However, he filled his containers with mostly water and claimed that he had $175 million worth of salad oil that didn’t actually exist. A whistleblower tipped the scheme to American Express, which was one of the company’s biggest loan providers. Shortly after, in 1963, Allied Crude Vegetable Oil Company filed for bankruptcy.
Borders
Borders was the second-largest bookstore chain when it announced that it would be liquidating its assets in 2011. Borders initially thrived thanks to its giant stores that could hold more inventory than smaller bookstores and its superior inventory system, but sales began to decline in the mid-1990s. The company invested big in CDs and DVDs at a time when the music and movie industries were largely going digital. Another mistake was outsourcing its online sales to Amazon and focusing on refurbishing its physical stores. By 2007, Borders was no longer turning a profit, NPR reported. Four years later it filed for bankruptcy.
Texaco
In the 1980s, oil giant Texaco got hit with a giant civil lawsuit by Pennzoil for interfering in the latter company’s imminent acquisition of the Getty Oil Company. The court ruled that Pennzoil was owed punitive damages of $10.5 billion (though Texaco ended up paying only $3 billion). In 1987, Texaco filed for bankruptcy protection. Roughly a year later, the company was acquired by Chevron.
DeLorean Motor Company
Thanks to “Back to the Future,” the DeLorean is forever ingrained in pop culture — but the car manufacturer itself ended quite abruptly. John Z. DeLorean left General Motors in the late ’70s to create a new American sports car, backed by $200 million in investment funds. In 1981, production began on his creation, the gull-wing DMC-12, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Due to rising costs, DeLorean ended up having to rush the car to market and sold it for more than twice the original asking price. The high price, coupled with bad reviews, led DeLorean Motor to sell only half of what it expected to sell. The company declared bankruptcy in 1982 after its founder got embroiled in personal scandals, including an arrest in a drug-smuggling scheme.
Woolworth
Woolworth was once the biggest retailer in the world, but the combination of poor performance and market dynamics forced it to close its namesake U.S. stores for good in 1997. The company’s department stores had been moving from stand-alone stores to malls, but the setup costs were higher than what the stores were making in returns, according to The Woolworths Museum. Fortunately, the F.W. Woolworth Company spent much of the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s buying out specialty stores, including Foot Locker, so the company continues to live on through its other properties.
TWA
TWA was once one of the world’s most recognized and respected airlines. Its roots trace back to 1930 when Western Air merged with Transcontinental Air Transport to create Transcontinental and Western Air. The airline expanded and modernized under the leadership of aviation pioneer Howard Hughes during the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, and fared well after U.S. airlines deregulated in 1978. However, deregulation also made TWA a takeover target, and in 1985 it was purchased by corporate raider Carl Icahn. Icahn’s focus was on short-term profit rather than long-term investment in its systems, and TWA ended up going into debt. It filed for bankruptcy in 1992 and again in 1995, and was purchased by American Airlines in 2001, USA Today reported.
Enron
Energy-trading company Enron collapsed after a major accounting fraud scheme was revealed in 2001. In October of that year, the company admitted that it had overstated earnings dating back to 1997. In December, after being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission, it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Enron’s bankruptcy filing was the largest in U.S. history at the time, CNN reported. In 2008, a class-action lawsuit filed by shareholders and investors was settled in federal court, and it was ruled that the banks involved in the accounting fraud scheme would have to pay out $7.2 billion.
Tower Records
Before you could access any song with the click of a button, music stores like Tower Records were immensely popular with music lovers. The chain started as an offshoot of a Sacramento, California, drugstore owned by founder Russ Solomon’s father and eventually expanded into an international empire. However, Tower’s rapid expansion was a major contributor to its downfall as it took on $110 million debt to become the dominant chain in the music biz, NPR reported. The debt — combined with Tower’s inability to compete with lower CD prices at big-box stores and the rise of online music sources like Napster and iTunes — led to the company’s eventual demise after more than 40 years in business. Tower Records declared bankruptcy in 2006.
Lincoln Savings & Loan
Charles Keating’s Phoenix-based construction company acquired Lincoln Savings & Loan in 1984 and made billions by selling Lincoln customers $200 million worth of unsecured “junk” bonds. The good times didn’t last long, though. Keating was convicted on federal racketeering charges related to defrauding investors, though those charges were later thrown out, according to NBC News. His company went bankrupt in the process. The demise of Lincoln Savings & Loan was the costliest savings and loan debacle of the 1980s, NBC News reported.
Pictured: Charles Keating during a hearing for Lincoln Savings and Loan
Pan Am
Pan Am was one of the premier names in the airline industry during the 1970s, but things took a turn for the worse over the next two decades. Rising fuel costs, a fleet that was too big for the market and a series of missteps led the airline to begin selling off some of its major assets through the ’80s, including the famous Pan Am building in New York. The airline was still losing money in 1988 when one of its flights was bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland. Pan Am failed to reach potential deals for a buyout by Delta and TWA, and the company shut down for good in 1991.
E.F. Hutton
Investment firm E.F. Hutton was best known for its advertising slogan, “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.” The company was well-regarded during the early 1980s but ran into trouble midway through the decade when it pleaded guilty to 2,000 counts of mail and wire fraud. E.F. Hutton admitted to taking part in a check-kiting scheme that involved making bank withdrawals and deposits that gave it illegal access to millions of interest-free dollars. It paid more than $10 million in penalties as a result, Money reported. Following the 1987 stock market crash, the E.F. Hutton brand disappeared amid a series of mergers. Although E.F. Hutton has made numerous attempts at a revival — including a 2018 foray into the world of cryptocurrency — the company has failed to return to its former glory.
Arthur Andersen
Accounting firm Arthur Andersen LLP got caught up in the Enron scandal. In June 2002, the company was convicted of obstruction of justice for shredding and doctoring documents related to Enron audits, ABC News reported. Two months later, after 89 years in business, Arthur Andersen told the SEC it would no longer audit public companies. That same year, 23 former Arthur Andersen partners founded a new tax practice under the name WTAS and changed the name 12 years later to Andersen Tax.
Pictured: Arthur Andersen executives testify on the shredding of Enron documents
Compaq
When Compaq emerged on the personal computer scene in 1982, IBM was already a giant in the field. Despite the odds against it, Compaq quickly rose to become a Fortune 500 company just four years after it was founded thanks to its range of portable PCs, PC Guide reported. Several missteps led to the company’s eventual downfall, including the 1998 acquisition of Digital Equipment Corporation for $9.6 billion — which ended up being a bad match — and a shift in focus from retail to direct marketing. By 1999, Compaq’s sales were declining. Two years later Dell had taken Compaq’s place as the leader in PC systems. In 2002, HP acquired Compaq for $25 billion but continued to manufacture products under the Compaq brand. In 2013, HP officially discontinued the Compaq brand.
Pictured: Eckhard Pfeiffer, chief executive of Compaq Computer Corp., left, shakes hands with Robert Palmer, chairman and CEO of Digital Equipment Corp
WorldCom
At its height, telecommunications company WorldCom handled 50% of all U.S. internet traffic and 50% of all emails worldwide, according to How Stuff Works. But in 1999, the company’s revenue growth slowed and its stock price began to fall. To boost earnings — on paper, anyway — CEO Bernie Ebbers began cooking the books. WorldCom started classifying operating expenses as long-term capital investments and accounted for $500 million in computer expenses with no documentation to back them up. These changes made the company appear more valuable than it was by turning its losses into $1.38 billion in profits. The SEC grew suspicious about the numbers — especially since another telecom giant, AT&T, was losing money — and requested more information from WorldCom. After an internal audit, WorldCom admitted to inflating its profits. Shortly after the audit began in 2002, WorldCom filed for bankruptcy. Ebbers was found guilty of fraud and violating securities laws. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Adelphia Communications
Adelphia Communications was one of America’s largest cable companies before fraudulent behavior pushed it into bankruptcy. The company was founded by John Rigas, who also served as its CEO and chairman. He and his three sons all sat on the company’s board, as did his son-in-law. The family used Adelphia funds to buy back company stock and used it to purchase perks off the books, including vacation homes, corporate jets and several cars, CNET reported. It all went downhill on an earnings call when a Merrill Lynch analyst questioned how the family could afford to buy back over a billion dollars of company stock. CFO Tim Rigas, one of John Rigas’ sons, had no explanation. Two months later, all of the Rigases had resigned and the company went into bankruptcy stemming from an estimated $3.1 billion in debts the family had accrued. John and Tim Rigas were sentenced to 15 and 20 years in prison, respectively. In 2005, Time Warner and Comcast officially purchased all of Adelphia Communications’ assets.
Refco
Commodities trader Refco was valued at $3.5 billion shortly after its IPO in August 2005. Just a couple of months later the company filed for bankruptcy after an internal audit discovered that the CEO, Phillip R. Bennett, owed $430 million in debts that he kept hidden through a series of undisclosed transactions, Forbes reported. Although Bennett paid the money back and stepped down from his position, the damage to Refco’s reputation had already been done and it collapsed after the bankruptcy filing.
Bayou Hedge Fund Group
Samuel Israel started the Bayou Hedge Fund Group in 1995 and a year later the company had already raised $300 million. What investors didn’t know was that it was basically a Ponzi scheme. The company suffered heavy losses from the time of its founding through 2002 — roughly $55 million, according to The New York Times — but it used a fake accounting firm to audit its financials so that Bayou could hide the losses from investors.
Then, in 2004, Israel drained Bayou’s accounts of $161 million over the course of six days and wired the money to different banks in an attempt to hide the stolen funds from authorities. An SEC suit filed in 2005 alleged that over the course of the fund’s existence, Israel and his CFO had misappropriated millions of dollars for their personal use, CNN reported. Israel pleaded guilty to fraud in 2005 and Bayou filed for bankruptcy the following year.
Bear Stearns
Investment bank Bear Stearns was one of the first casualties of the 2008 financial crisis. It had survived the Great Depression and the economic downturn that occurred following the September 11 attacks, but the bank took a knockout punch when its clients and trading partners started fleeing because Bear Stearns had made huge bets on toxic mortgage loans. In March 2008, after operating for 85 years as an independent company, it agreed to a government-backed fire sale and was acquired by JPMorgan Chase to avoid bankruptcy, CNN reported.
Lehman Brothers
As with Bear Stearns, the subprime mortgage crisis led to the demise of fellow investment bank Lehman Brothers. At the time of its collapse, it was the nation’s fourth-largest investment bank, with around 25,000 employees across the globe, according to the History Channel. By 2007, Lehman Brothers had $111 billion in real estate-related assets and securities, so when the real estate market took a tumble, Lehman reported its first losses since 1994. In September 2008, Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy with $639 billion in total assets and $613 billion in debts, making it the largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.
Washington Mutual
Toxic mortgage debt also led to the 2008 collapse of Washington Mutual. WaMu was shut down by the U.S. government, making it the largest American banking failure in history, Reuters reported. At the time it was closed by the federal Office of Thrift and Supervision, Washington Mutual had $307 billion in assets and $188 billion in deposits. Its assets were sold to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion.
Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities
The name Bernie Madoff has become synonymous with “Ponzi scheme” ever since the financier was found guilty of defrauding investors of billions of dollars. Madoff founded his namesake investment firm in 1960. In December 2008, he reportedly told one of his employees that he had been operating a Ponzi scheme that lost about $50 billion. Madoff was arrested for securities fraud the next day.
Madoff’s “business” was bound to fail at some point. The way his Ponzi scheme worked is that he would use funds from new investors to pay off promised returns to older investors. But when clients requested $7 billion in returns, Madoff only had about $200 million to $300 million in the fund, Business Insider reported. Madoff was ultimately charged with 11 counts of fraud, money laundering, perjury and theft and sentenced to 150 years in prison.
Hummer
Inspired by the Humvee military vehicle, Hummers had a cult following of off-road vehicle lovers before GM shut the brand down in 2010. The gas-guzzling vehicles were always shunned by environmentalists, but even fans of the car stopped buying them when gas prices rose above $4 a gallon in 2008. Sales of the Hummer dropped from 27,000 vehicles in 2008 to just 9,000 in 2009, CBS News reported. GM discontinued the brand after a deal to sell it to a Chinese company fell through.
Kodak
Iconic camera and film company Kodak, founded in 1888, earned a reputation over the next century as an innovator and even pioneered the development of digital photography in the mid-1970s. Although Kodak’s downfall is largely blamed on its failure to pursue digital sales on a mass scale, that isn’t really the whole story, according to Inc. Kodak did invest in a line of EasyShare digital cameras as well as digital photo printing. However, it was a little late to the game, and the company still relied too heavily on developing film, a service that became mostly obsolete. Kodak declared bankruptcy in 2011 but continues to operate.
Multiply
Multiply added to the lineup of social media sites back in 2003 where users shared media content through their personal profiles. It started out as a social networking site but switched to e-commerce in August 2012 when Multiply gained millions of unique visitors. But when Multiply didn’t make enough profit on the following year, the site had to close down its operations on May 31, 2013 and soon closed as a company on April 1, 2015.
At that time, the website's social networking portion had a network of 18 million users. Liquidity problems, however, affected earnings. Sales declined from its peak of P20 billion in 2013 to just about P5 billion in 2017.
“We regret to announce that Multiply will be closing on May 6, 2013, and ceasing all business operations by May 31, 2013,” it announced last April 26, 2013 on its website.
After May 6, the rest of the month will be used to ensure that all accounts are settled and merchants get full payment for their transactions, it said.
Multiply said the month-long grace period will provide its users enough time to find and migrate to alternative e-commerce platforms, settle all payments on items bought and delivered, and minimize disruption to businesses of its users.
“Multiply will ensure that you receive all funds you earned on the platform no later than May 31, 2013. We will close the actual marketplace sooner, on May 6, 2013, to ensure that all orders have sufficient time to complete and be delivered to your customers before the end of the month,” it said.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/enron-24-other-most-epic-184839865.html
After closing its doors, Multiply might be making a comeback
Multiply was dead, but it might not stay that way.
Although the website closed as a social networking site on December 1, 2012 and close down last May 6 and ceasing all business operations on May 31, 2013 along with the official online channels for the site had been removed along with all their content, including its YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts, after years of financial and managerial turmoil and following a failed bid to reinvent itself from being a social networking site to a vibrant e-commerce destination in Southeast Asia, the owners of the defunct global social networking site might be eyeing a return, according to Monday court filings.
In the midst of an auction for its remaining assets, the hedge fund that owns the company decided to hang onto the Multiply brand name and other assets, such as their operations, the international subsidiary Multiply International and the social networking portion including 18 million user accounts with hosted blogs, videos, photos and messaging plus 691 million photos from Webshots, while considering “a new, operating Multiply branding company,” according to court documents.
Per statistics, Multiply has approximately 18 million users worldwide and 5.5 million users in the Philippines.
The potential revival would keep its global license agreements and “can invest in and create new, domestic and international businesses under the Multiply name, as well as expand its international presence and further develop its business,” the documents state.
The plan suggests that investors think it would be more lucrative to revamp the former social networking industry juggernaut than it would be to sell the pieces to qualified bidders.
The filings didn’t give any further details about what the business’s comeback might look like, nor did it offer a timeline.
Jeremy Williams, an attorney representing Multiply’s debtors, declined to comment on the future of the website.
After nine years of business, Multiply struggled in recent years to keep up with big-box and online competitors.
The company’s closure affected some 50,000 jobs.
"Sayang yung Multiply talaga. Kung by the time umupo si pangulong Duterte may existing Multiply na, eh di sana I-merge with Friendster and Webshots na lang sa mas malaking social network." (Unfortunately Multiply really. If President Duterte sat down with existing Multiply already, he wouldn't have merged with Friendster and Webshots just on the larger social network.)
"Seven years after the closure my God is still the fault of the previous administration"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/03/after-closing-its-doors-toys-r-us-might-be-making-comeback/
Multiply reopens online operations
Although the website is fully functional again, it is used to download and view their old photos and videos from old Friendster, Fotolog, Multiply and Webshots accounts.
Multiply gives you an easy way to share all kinds of digital media, including photos, blogs, videos, music and more, all in one convenient place: your own personal web site. With Multiply, you can share and discuss your stuff with everyone in your “social network,” and also be alerted whenever they have something new.
Your personal web site on Multiply – http://YOURNAME.multiply.com – is the one place where you can share many different types of content. No longer do you, or your friends and family, need to learn how to use separate sites (and keep track of separate IDs, passwords, and links).
In a statement, Multiply said operations will be undertaken by employees who are willing and able to return to work safely. In addition, it has significantly reduced the number of employees working in its offices at any one time to enable it to enforce social distancing.
Silver linings
MONTHS ago, Sen. Pia Cayetano was savaged on social media after she was reported to have said she “welcomed” the onset of the coronavirus. It was an unfortunate event, she said, but it “opens our eyes and gives us that window of opportunity to provide necessary funding attention and efforts that our healthcare deserves.”
The onslaught on social media followed after a reporter painted Cayetano as welcoming the pandemic which, the reporter said, “has already crippled the economy, killed hundreds of Filipinos and left thousands hungry and jobless.”
If I haven’t known the senadora for over 30 years now I may have been incited to also heap opprobrium on her. But knowing her better than most (with the exception of her family, her loyal staff and closest friends) I knew what she was trying to say, and I knew that it was just her phrasing that was problematic.
She is not one of those in government whose turn of phrase speaks 100% of their intent.
So much so that spokesmen stumble over each other trying to say that what was said was not what was meant. For Cayetano, unfortunate as the pandemic was, it was welcome because it opened our eyes. Welcome, because it’s here, it’s a fact, and we just need to deal with it the right way – including paying proper attention to our healthcare.
This point is made more stark with the developments at PhilHealth that, according to its president, not even Superman can solve.
But back to Sen. Pia’s point. How many of us – in our attempt to cope with a pandemic which at times seems beyond coping – have stopped to think about life in general and our own in particular in ways we would not have been compelled to do if not for COVID-19?
How many of us have not taken time to examine our lives, in the privacy of our thoughts, maybe just as we are about to go to bed or after we wake up, grateful to live another day?
How many of us have not used this occasion to identify what really matter in our lives – people, property, dreams and ambitions even – and in the process come to terms with the good fortune we already have but have hardly noticed?
And how many of us have not come to the point of doing 180-degree turns on things we were hell-bent on doing or pursuing or achieving before the pandemic struck – but now realize what we thought we really wanted to have or even to be is not essential to our sense of fulfillment and contentment and over-all happiness?
This is what we should continue doing, or start doing if we haven’t yet, while the world is on “time out” as it seeks to get a grip on this novel coronavirus. It’s a chance to ask ourselves what truly matter to us, to understand what are of value to us, and in the process to understand who we truly are.
And I mean this both on a personal (family, work, business, etc.) as well as a community level (as a citizen most importantly). When we are confronted with how fragile life can be in a way that is so total and encompassing because everyone is at risk, we better take the opportunity granted to be clear about what matters to us and what we need to do to make sure we do not find ourselves in a similar situation in the future.
For Sen. Pia, it was a welcome opportunity to focus proper attention on healthcare – a matter close to her heart but which most of us take for granted until the point in time when a personal crisis forces us to confront the weaknesses of our healthcare system. Indeed, when politicians promised a system of universal health care, we all cheered. But very few really have tried to understand how this would work, especially on matters of funding and implementation, which are at the heart of such a system. We want to be a Sweden – but can we?
For me, other than some personal resolutions on health matters, I’m more focused on my community commitments. I feel that as I reach senior citizen status it is time I pay attention more to what I can do to help others, because I think I’ve done a good job so far helping myself.
And that’s why I see some silver linings in this crisis, one of which is allowing us as citizens to focus on ourselves as part of a bigger community. How we as a community led by our government have handled the crisis is a lesson-in-progress. It hopefully wakes us up to the importance of trust in society, especially trust in people in authority, a function of putting the right or capable people in the right or proper places. It hopefully tells us that when we are confronted with a pandemic like COVID – which, unfortunately, won’t be the last of it – we should know how and how not to respond: meaning, switching to a science-based mode than to a command-and-control approach, one that is anchored on data rather than politics. In Singapore, for example, the brains behind the country’s COVID approach are the doctors and scientists who grappled with the SARS outbreak a few years back; here? And think about it: if, despite the science-based approach, Singapore still had to struggle with keeping the virus in check, how can we expect any better from our own muddled actions, what I have tagged #LaggingHanda?
In my eyes, in fact, the most important silver lining in all of these is the chance for us to look towards 2022 with the experience of 2020 in our hearts and minds. “Tal pueblo, talgobierno,” said Jose Rizal, and yes indeed we get the government we deserve. So do we deserve more of the same? Or shouldn’t we always strive to be better?
Keep this in mind: because the silver lining is simply a chance or an opportunity, it is a chance or an opportunity we have to grab – because if we don’t, we lose it until the next pandemic comes around.
And I will bet that no one is really in the mood to welcome another one any time in our lifetimes, yes?
Personal: Happy healthy birthday Angie Tan Riosa; John Jay Jimenez; Gec Chia and Atty Olma Inocentes, Mother Lily Monteverde; Carlette Estadilla; Avel Bacudio; Paulo Perez; Marietalouisa Beltran; Jason V. Alcoriza; Janell Tonog Espino; Kevin Christopher Ty; Terence Khan; Len Floriendo from Christian Petel Floirendo; Eva Gutierrez grandmother of Gutierrez Santarin Cynthia; Kagawad Hussam Kulong of Barangay Pineda, Pasig City; Shanice Jade Encienzo daughter of Sdemi Encienzo; preng Roval Arlene-Roval Villestas from Paul Domingo; Clifford pusing; Manie Secondes; Betcha Raniezes; auntie Elena Elmido from Neriza Loreño Diama; Fr. Michael Balatbat
https://malaya.com.ph/index.php/news_opinion/silver-linings/
Does God Punish Us With Tragedy?
We live in a broken, imperfect world, and one of the results is that bad things do happen to good people; but when we are confronted with that stark reality, almost always our hearts cry out, "Why, God? Why did this happen to me?"
Please understand I am not an "armchair authority," an expert who has all the answers; but believe me, friend, I have done some hard searching with a Bible in one hand and a handkerchief in the other to keep the tears from blotting the words on the page. I have sat at the bedsides of literally dozens of people and asked silently many, many times, "God, why did this have to happen to this person, why not some degraded individual who deserved to get it in the neck?"
Together let's examine some of the reasons people kick around, answering the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" One of the most common answers that you will hear is that someone really isn't so good, that the bad thing happened as the result of personal failure or wrongdoing. While this may be true in some cases, that answer doesn't satisfy me. Do you know why? God knows the heart and we don't. That answer almost always seems to come from the self-righteous individual who points at the person who is down and says, "It must be because you are not as good as I."
You first read about this mentality in the book of Job, one of the oldest of all human dramas. When covered with boils and robbed of his family and possessions by one tragedy after another, Job was alone and grief stricken. That's when Job's friends came to comfort him, but their comfort turned into bitter accusations as they said, "Job, why don't you confess your fault and perhaps God will have mercy." Even his wife counseled, "Curse God and die;" but he did not die and he struggled with the very issue for days and months.
In the New Testament we find this same suggestion when Jesus was confronted with a man who had been born blind and the disciples asked, "...who sinned, this man or his parents...?" (John 9:1). You can read about it in the ninth chapter of the Gospel of John. If it is true that tragedy is punishment, it would also be true that God is unjust and cruel because a lot of innocent individuals suffer. Have you ever walked through the pediatrics department of a hospital and viewed some of the tiny babies with their bodies racked by pain? Are we to think that these innocent individuals are being punished for something they have done or their forebears did?
As I mentioned earlier, it is because of this that some reject God, attempting to define God in terms of tragedy rather than tragedy in terms of God.
When bad things happen to good people, our conscience always cries out and we think, "Well, maybe it is because of my personal failure that this has happened." Nobody is perfect; even the best of us are sinners, and when we begin to think like that we have forgotten some very important Biblical truths: Christians are not perfect--just forgiven. We have lost sight of the fact that when Jesus died for the sins of the world, He also died for my sins and failures. We have lost sight of the fact that because God loved me, He sent His Son to bring me back into His family--adopted as His own child.
When we try to explain why bad things happen to good people in terms of our personal failure, we lose sight of the fact that God does not love me or punish me in terms of my essential goodness but because of the very nature of His goodness and love. It is He who is love and His nature is to love, not to inflict punishment on me--punishment which my Lord endured when He was nailed to the tree.
Resource reading: Psalm 1:1-6
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/does-god-punish-us-with-tragedy/
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
When You Can’t See The Whole Picture
One of the problems that confronts us in asking the question, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" is that our perspective is incomplete. We look at the set of circumstances which leads up to the unpleasant event which triggers the question, "Why?" It is almost like asking the outcome of a ball game when there are two important minutes on the clock, and until the game is over, you don't have the complete picture.
When you were a child, you had no way of knowing how deeply the hearts of your parents were touched by what you were going through. In some cases, their emotions were deeply affected by what confronted you, yet as adults they seemed to have things pretty well under control. You just didn't know how deeply they felt, and it wasn't until you, yourself, became a parent that you began to understand the great difference there is between the emotions of a child and his parent.
When I became a father, I gained new understanding of what my own father felt--something I didn't and couldn't understand when I was a teenager. But now that I have become a grandfather, I have to admit that I have gained a new perspective, something that I couldn't really get a handle on until I had experienced the whole process.
The fact that God knows and understands and also cares about what is happening to you is something which you have to take by faith when you walk through troubled waters. The hand of God hasn't been lifted when difficult situations confront His children. In the book that bears his name, Peter, one of the three closest to Jesus, makes that very clear. Actually, his whole book deals with this issue of why bad things happen to good people, and Peter suggests that all the world is under the curse of sin, but God allows his children to walk through certain dark valleys under His protection and care now, but eventually the world at large will face the consequences of having rejected the love of a Father when His hand is lifted.
In the process of facing suffering or putting together the broken pieces of our lives, we usually cannot see what the hand of God is actually doing while we hurt. That, of course, comes with hindsight. Paul wrote, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18).
Your understanding of God is the fabric out of which you formulate an answer to the issue of why bad things happen to good people, and when you believe God is a good God, by faith you can take heart and accept the fact His word is true, that our Lord will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).
If a little child came to you with a broken toy, tears streaming down his face, as he cried, "Daddy, why won't my toy work?" which brings greater comfort to your child, knowing the technical reason for a mechanical toy's failure, or knowing that he is loved and supported? As you sweep him up in your arms, holding him to your breast you whisper, "Don't worry about it. I'll fix it for you. Just give me some time. It's going to be all right."
The fact is that you can experience the presence of God during times of suffering and difficulty in measures that you would have never known had you not gone through the deep waters; so, friend, don't close the book on God until you have crossed the threshold, and when you do, you will understand instantly why bad things happen to good people. In the meanwhile, there is an antidote to our great need, something which Paul described as "the grace of God."
Resource reading: Psalm 37:1-11.
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/when-you-cant-see-the-whole-picture/
Monday, August 17, 2020
In search of Superman
‘But here he is now, the erstwhile reformer, telling one and all that PhilHealth is beyond his – and Superman’s – capabilities. The young idealistic officer has apparently turned into a “lion in winter,” long in tooth, the fight drained out of him.’
RETIRED Army Brig. Gen. Ricardo C. Morales, PhilHeath president, CEO and board vice chairman, is said to have remarked that even Superman would not be able to solve the problem named PhilHealth.
Fraud, Morales told a Senate investigation, was inherent in health insurance systems around the world, and it would take years to root out the systemic corruption in the national health insurance agency.
Maybe the senators should summon health care experts from the Nordic countries, from the UK and Germany and the United States, Singapore, Taiwan and even China and North Korea. I think they will find that in all these countries’ health insurance systems there are cases of corruption, yes, many brought about by systemic weaknesses. And there are some that are caused by Mafias within. But the Senate should also check how other countries deal with the Mafias. How many decide to go after them with hammer and tongs, and how many choose to co-exist?
At least in China, officials as high as senior members of the party are executed for corrupt practices. China has yet to learn the more humane system in the Philippines of moving them from one post to another.
And in none of these countries has there been an appeal to Superman, or Iron Man, or Capt America. It took a retired Philippine Army one star general to raise that.
Which is disappointing. And not because I am not a Superman fan. But because it was spoken by a member of RAM.
In the 1980s, the Reform the Armed Forces Movement had the balls to unveil a challenge to a sitting president – corrupt dictator is how they pictured him – during one of its most solemn rites being held right at the very heart of the Philippine military’s home. It was March 1985, during the annual alumni parade at the Philippine Military Academy, that a streamer with the words “unity in reforms” was unveiled, a daring “stunt” at a time when the Philippines remained in the firm grip of Ferdinand Marcos and any such demonstration of contrarian thinking could end one’s military career – or more.
Army Capt. Ricardo Morales was part of RAM. Assigned to the security detail of then-First Lady Imelda Marcos, he was given a crucial role on a plot designed to capture the Marcos family and bring about an end to their reign. Capt. Morales knew that this whole caper could mean his life but he was willing to take the risk.
Then the plot was uncovered; Capt Morales was arrested and was used by Marcos on national television as Exhibit A of a plot to kill him and the First Lady; he was then jailed in the compound of the Presidential Security forces. But before anything could be done to him, EDSA happened. The Marcoses fled, and Morales was freed.
His idealism didn’t fade away with EDSA. Years later, when the AFP was embroiled in a scandal involving its comptroller, Gen. Carlos Garcia, Morales wrote a letter to Gen. Narciso Abaya, the AFP Chief of Staff, asking what actions were being taken to investigate the case.
Morales was bothered by what appeared to be foot-dragging, in stark contrast to the fact that the United States had already started its own investigations into the dollar smuggling committed by Garcia’s wife and sons.
And then when the AFP built a 60-room family resort hotel in Boracay as part of its effort to “boost troop morale” in 2005, Morales again was there to critique it. And not privately through memos, mind you.
But here he is now, the erstwhile reformer, telling one and all that PhilHealth is beyond his – and Superman’s – capabilities. The young idealistic officer has apparently turned into a “lion in winter,” long in tooth, the fight drained out of him. The young officer who was willing to take on Ferdinand Marcos, and then even the AFP leadership, now throws in the towel in the face of an alleged Mafia in PhilHealth. And throws in the towel not just for himself but for the Man of Steel, too.
Is it truly that bad, Gen. Morales?
The Filipino people, whose hard-earned contributions are being stolen right from under their very noses, deserve to know why even Superman won’t be able to hack it.
Personal: Belated happy birthday Rey-Will Emalada; Mama Annie Amorsolo; Kuya Ruben Umali from Annalyn Regaspi Sesgundo; Julie de Claro; Nico Merino; Papa Mersol Costales; Lola Salve Berce
Saturday, August 15, 2020
1993 in Philippine television: Specials
- January 1–2: 1992–93 Bowl Coalition Games on ABC 5
- January 1:
- 1992 John Hancock Bowl on ABC 5
- 1992 Outback Gator Bowl on ABC 5
- January 2:
- 1993 Blockbuster Bowl on ABC 5
- 1993 Mobil Cotton Bowl Classic on ABC 5
- 1993 IBM OS/2 Fiesta Bowl on ABC 5
- 1993 Federal Express Orange Bowl on ABC 5
- 1993 USF&G Sugar Bowl on ABC 5
- January 18–31: 1993 Australian Open on GMA
- January 25:
- American Music Awards of 1993 on ABC 5
- WWF Royal Rumble ′93 on GMA
- February 1: Super Bowl XXVII on GMA and World TV 21
- February 14–November 14: 1993 NASCAR Busch Series on GMA
- February 15–November 15: 1993 NASCAR Winston Cup Series on GMA
- February 21: ABC-5 @ 1: The ABC-5 1st Anniversary Special on ABC 5
- February 22: 1993 NBA All-Star Game on GMA
- February 25: 35th Annual Grammy Awards on GMA
- February 28: 1993 PBA Opening Ceremonies and Games on PTV 4
- March 14–November 7: 1993 Formula One season on IBC 13
- March 19–April 6: 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament on New Vision 9
- April 6: 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game on New Vision 9
- March 21–October 4: 1993 CART PPG IndyCar World Series on World TV 21
- March 21: 1993 Australian FAI IndyCar Grand Prix on World TV 21
- May 31: 1993 Indianapolis 500 on World TV 21
- March 21: Binibining Pilipinas 1993 on GMA
- March 30: 65th Academy Awards on New Vision 9
- April 5: WWF WrestleMania IX on GMA
- April 9–12: 1993 Masters Tournament on New Vision 9
- April 21: Second Philippine Dragon Boat Festival on New Vision 9
- April 30–June 6: 1993 NBA Playoffs on GMA
- May 24–June 5: 1993 NBA Eastern Conference Finals on GMA
- May 25–June 6: 1993 NBA Western Conference Finals on GMA
- May 7–18: 1993 PBA All-Filipino Cup Finals on PTV 4
- May 13: 1993 European Cup Winners' Cup Final on New Vision 9
- May 22: Miss Universe 1993 on GMA
- May 24–June 6: 1993 French Open on GMA
- May 27: 1993 UEFA Champions League Final on New Vision 9
- June 6: 1993 PBA All-Star Weekend on PTV 4
- June 10–21: 1993 NBA Finals on GMA
- June 12–20: 1993 Southeast Asian Games on PTV 4
- June 14: WWF King of the Ring ′93 on GMA
- June 18–21: 1993 U.S. Open Golf Championship on GMA
- June 19–20: 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans on World TV 21
- June 21–July 4: 1993 Wimbledon Championships on GMA
- July 15–18: The 122nd Open Championship on GMA
- July 26: State of the Nation Address 1993 on PTV 4
- August 13–16: 1993 PGA Championship on GMA
- August 14–23: The 4th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Stuttgart 1993 on GMA
- August 21−22: Family Appointment with El Shaddai: 9th Anniversary Overnight Celebration on IBC 13
- August 27–September 7: 1993 PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals on PTV 4
- August 29−September 6: 1993 Tournament of the Americas on GMA/New Vision 9/World TV 21
- August 31: WWF SummerSlam ′93 on GMA
- August 31–September 13: 1993 U.S. Tennis Open on New Vision 9
- September 18: UAAP Season 56 Men's Basketball: Ateneo Blue Eagles vs. De La Salle Green Archers on New Vision 9
- September 20: 45th Primetime Emmy Awards on GMA
- October 17–24: 1993 World Series on PTV 4
- October 23: ABS-CBN @ 40: The ABS-CBN 40 Years TV Special on ABS-CBN
- October 31: Binibining Pilipinas 1994 on GMA
- November 13: UFC 1: The Beginning on World TV 21
- November 17:
- Big on ABC-5
- City Jazz: The 6th Time Around on New Vision 9
- November 25: WWF Survivor Series ′93 on GMA
- November 26: A Grand Salute: 40 Years of Philippine Television and ABS-CBN on ABS-CBN
- November 28: Miss World 1993 on New Vision 9
- November 29: 81st Grey Cup on PTV 4
- December 5: 1993 SEC Championship Game on GMA
- December 5–14: 1993 PBA Governors' Cup Finals on PTV 4
- December 8: Ang Pinakamagarang Parol: ABC Telemovie Special on ABC 5
- December 25: 1993 John Hancock Bowl on ABC 5
- December 25-26: Family Appointment with El Shaddai: 10th Christmas Overnight Annual Family Reunion on IBC 13
- December 28: WCW Starrcade '93: 10th Anniversary on ABC 5
- December 31, 1993–January 1, 1994:
- Miss Kita Kung Christmas... sa Westin on ABC 5
- 1994: New Year at GMA Special on GMA
1992 in Philippine television: Specials
- January 2: Images of 1991: The GMA News and Public Affairs Year-end Special on GMA
- January 13–26: 1992 Australian Open on GMA
- January 20: WWF Royal Rumble ′92 on GMA
- January 27: Super Bowl XXVI on GMA
- February 8–17: 1991–92 Philippine Basketball League Philippine Cup Finals on PTV-4
- February 8–23: 1992 Winter Olympics on PTV 4
- February 9: 1992 PBA Opening Ceremonies and Games on PTV 4
- February 10: 1992 NBA All-Star Game on GMA
- February 16–November 9: 1992 NASCAR Busch Series on GMA
- February 17–November 16: 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series on GMA
- February 22: Binibining Pilipinas 1992 on GMA
- February 26: 34th Annual Grammy Awards on GMA
- March 1–November 8: 1992 Formula One season on IBC 13
- March 20–April 7: 1992 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament on New Vision 9
- April 7: 1992 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game on New Vision 9
- March 22–October 19: 1992 CART PPG IndyCar World Series on New Vision 9
- March 22: 1992 Daikyo IndyCar Grand Prix on New Vision 9
- May 25: 1992 Indianapolis 500 on New Vision 9
- April 6: WWF WrestleMania VIII on GMA
- April 10–13: 1992 Masters Tournament on New Vision 9
- April 18–19: Family Appointment with El Shaddai: Easter Vigil Overnight Celebration on IBC 13
- April 24–May 30: 1992 NBA Playoffs on GMA
- May 20–30: 1992 NBA Eastern Conference Finals on GMA
- May 17–29: 1992 NBA Western Conference Finals on GMA
- April 26–May 5: 1992 PBA First Conference Finals on PTV 4
- May 7: 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup Final on New Vision 9
- May 8: Miss Universe 1992 on GMA
- May 11–12: Philippine general election 1992
- Halalan '92 on ABS-CBN
- Decision '92 on GMA
- The Vote '92 on ABC 5
- Hatol ng Bayan '92 on PTV 4
- Pollwatch '92 on New Vision 9
- Botohan '92 on IBC 13
- May 21: 1992 European Cup Final on New Vision 9
- May 24: 1992 PBA All-Star Weekend on PTV 4
- May 25–June 7: 1992 French Open on GMA
- June 4–15: 1992 NBA Finals on GMA
- July 6–11: 1992 Philippine Basketball League Maharlika Cup Finals on PTV-4
- June 7: World Bowl '92 on GMA
- June 11–27: 1992 UEFA European Football Championship on New Vision 9
- June 19–22: 1992 U.S. Open Golf Championship on GMA
- June 20–21: 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans on New Vision 9
- June 22–July 5: 1992 Wimbledon Championships on GMA
- June 28−July 6: 1992 Tournament of the Americas on GMA/New Vision 9/World TV 21
- July 16–19: The 121st Open Championship on GMA
- July 26–August 10: 1992 Barcelona Olympics on ABS-CBN
- July 27: State of the Nation Address 1992 on PTV-4
- August 14–17: 1992 PGA Championship on GMA
- August 16–30: 1992 PBA All-Filipino Conference Finals on PTV 4
- April 18–19: Family Appointment with El Shaddai: 8th Anniversary Overnight Celebration on IBC 13
- August 31–September 12: 1992 U.S. Tennis Open on New Vision 9
- September 1: WWF SummerSlam ′92 on GMA
- September 5: UAAP Season 55 Men's Basketball: Ateneo Blue Eagles vs. De La Salle Green Archers on New Vision 9
- October 10–14: UAAP Season 55 Men's Basketball Finals: FEU Tamaraws vs. Adamson Falcons on New Vision 9
- October 18–25: 1992 World Series on PTV 4
- October 24: 6th PMPC Star Awards for Television on IBC 13
- November 26: WWF Survivor Series ′92 on GMA
- November 30: 80th Grey Cup on PTV 4
- December 6: 1992 SEC Championship Game on GMA
- December 6–13: 1992 PBA Third Conference Finals on PTV 4
- December 13: Miss World 1992 on New Vision 9
- December 16–19: 1992 Philippine Basketball League Invitational Cup Finals on PTV-4
- December 25: 1992 Southeast Asian Fencing Federation Championships and Nissan Challengers Philippines Tennis on PTV 4
- December 26-27: Family Appointment with El Shaddai: Christmas Overnight Celebration on IBC 13
- December 29: WCW Starrcade ′92: BattleBowl/The Lethal Lottery II on ABC 5
- December 31, 1992–January 1, 1993: 1993: New Year at GMA Special on GMA
1991 in Philippine television: Specials
- January 14–27: 1991 Australian Open on GMA
- January 20: WWF Royal Rumble ′91 on GMA
- January 28: Super Bowl XXV on GMA
- February 11: 1991 NBA All-Star Game on GMA
- February 17: 1991 PBA Opening Ceremonies and Games on PTV 4
- February 17–October 28: 1991 NASCAR Busch Series on GMA
- February 18–November 18: 1991 NASCAR Winston Cup Series on GMA
- February 21: 33rd Annual Grammy Awards on GMA
- March 3: Binibining Pilipinas 1991 on GMA
- March 11–November 3: 1991 Formula One season on Islands TV 13
- March 15–April 2: 1991 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament on New Vision 9
- April 2: 1991 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship Game on New Vision 9
- March 17–October 21: 1991 CART PPG IndyCar World Series on New Vision 9
- March 17: 1991 Gold Coast IndyCar Grand Prix on New Vision 9
- May 27: 1991 Indianapolis 500 on New Vision 9
- March 25: WWF WrestleMania VII on GMA
- March 26: 63rd Academy Awards on New Vision 9
- April 12–15: 1991 Masters Tournament on New Vision 9
- April 20–27: 1991 Philippine Basketball League Maharlika Cup Finals on PTV 4
- April 26–May 31: 1991 NBA Playoffs on GMA
- May 20–28: 1991 NBA Eastern Conference Finals on GMA
- May 19–31: 1991 NBA Western Conference Finals on GMA
- May 5–19: 1991 PBA First Conference Finals on PTV 4
- May 16: 1991 European Cup Winners' Cup Final on New Vision 9
- May 18: Miss Universe 1991 on GMA
- May 26–June 2: 1991 PBA All-Star Weekend on PTV 4
- May 27–June 9: 1991 French Open on GMA
- May 30: 1991 European Cup Final on New Vision 9
- June 3–13: 1991 NBA Finals on GMA
- June 10: World Bowl '91 on GMA
- June 14–18: 1991 U.S. Open Golf Championship on GMA
- June 15–22: Mount Pinatubo Eruption Live Coverage*
- June 22–23: 1991 24 Hours of Le Mans on New Vision 9
- June 24–July 7: 1991 Wimbledon Championships on GMA
- July 17–24: 1991 Philippine Basketball League Challenge Cup Finals on PTV 4
- July 18–21: The 120th Open Championship on GMA
- July 22: State of the Nation Address 1991 on PTV 4
- August 9–12: 1991 PGA Championship on GMA
- August 22–September 1: 1991 PBA All-Filipino Conference Finals on PTV 4
- August 23–September 1: The 3rd IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Tokyo 1991 on GMA
- August 24: Regal Rejoicing at 18 on ABS-CBN
- August 26: 43rd Primetime Emmy Awards on GMA
- August 27: WWF SummerSlam ′91 on GMA
- August 27–September 9: 1991 U.S. Tennis Open on New Vision 9
- September 7: UAAP Season 54 Men's Basketball: Ateneo Blue Eagles vs. La Salle Green Archers on New Vision 9
- October 20–28: 1991 World Series on PTV 4
- October 26: 5th PMPC Star Awards for Television on Islands TV 13
- November 24–December 3: 1991 Manila SEA Games on PTV 4
- November 25: 79th Grey Cup on PTV 4
- November 28: WWF Survivor Series ′91 on GMA
- December 8–15: 1991 PBA Third Conference Finals on PTV 4
- December 29: Miss World 1991 on New Vision 9
- December 30: WCW Starrcade '91: Battlebowl, The Lethal Lottery on New Vision 9
- December 31, 1991–January 1, 1992: 1992: New Year at GMA Special on GMA