Kabayan Exchange

Typhoon Ramil has intensified and is now slowly moving towards Northern Luzon.

It now packs peak winds of 175 km per hour gusting up to 210 kph according to weather officials and was “almost stationary” for a few hours Sunday before moving slowly west. The typhoon is expected to make landfall in Cagayan either this Wednesday evening or early Thursday.

“The more days it spends over sea, the more it is intensifying,” said Nathaniel Cruz of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

Lupit means Cruel

The typhoon’s interntional name Lupit is the Filipino word for cruel. This is also the 18th typhoon to enter the Philippines this year and is expected the hit provinces of Northern Luzon even as the region is still reeling from the massive devastation caused by Typhoon Pepeng earlier this month.

Relief Goods sent in Advance

Military and civilian officials have mobilized its relief goods distribution in preparation for the coming typhoon which is expected to further intensify as it nears the northern part of Luzon.

“All the units of the Northern Luzon Command have also been alerted,” said Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The government has positioned its assets for possible preemptive evacuation on danger areas as to avoid further loss of lives and property.

The weather service warned that seven dams in northern Luzon had been releasing water in anticipation of heavy rains.

Last month Sept 26, widespread flooding killed approximately 380 people and displaced 4.33 million others in and around Metro Manila as Ondoy brought a month’s rainfall within a span of six hours to the metropolis. Super typhoon Pepeng hit northern Luzon a week later and hovered over the region for more than one week, causing massive landslides and floods that left more than 430 people dead and displaced 3.8 million others.

As of this moment an estimated 266,000 civilians remain in overcrowded evacuation camps with reports of a bacteria-borne disease called leptospirosis claiming the lives of 93 people in flooded areas.

Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero has deferred his much awaited announcement about his political plans for the 2010 elections citing the timeliness of such a political announcement during this period of crisis brought about by the damage wrought by two deadly typhoons.

In a news conference this Monday the Senator, who is most likely to be his party’s standard bearer for the upcoming 2010 elections, said “It’s not right to talk about politics while many of our people are still missing, have no houses to return to and have no food to eat”.

He said members of his party, the Nationalist People’s Coalition, was to meet Monday night not to talk about the party’s plan for the upcoming elections instead discuss a course of action to help ease the plight of those affected by storm Ondoy and typhoon Pepeng.

“It’s not right to talk about politics while many of our people are still missing, have no houses to return to and have no food to eat,” ~ Sen. Escudero.

Obama Kills… a Fly…

Pesky Obamacare

Iran’s election results reveals large-scale fraud… now doesn’t that sound too familiar?

Polls extended for three hours after heavy voter turnout today in Iran’s elections.

Elections in Iran – voter turnout could unseat Ahmadinejad

It was all too sad to see in the news about the murder and the gruesome fate that befell Ruby Rose Jimenez, sister of former beauty queen turned actress, Rochelle Barrameda as she was positively identified as the body found inside a steel drum filled with concrete and encased in a metal box in Manila Bay waters last Wednesday.

Organized Crime or Institutionalized Crime? “ipapa-drum-kita-pag-tinalo-mo-ako”

In what appears to be a mafia-style execution, or better described by one of my fellow kabayans as pinoy-sindikato-style-type of murder, a complicated case of murder, deceit and trafficking are being explored as possible reasons behind this horrible crime.

Sadly, this incident confirms this as the method of choice syndicates and other lawless elements use in disposing off of people who would prove to be a nuisance to their criminal acts often disguised as legitimate private business or in some cases legitimate government operations.

People who were allegedly nabbed by members of organized crime or even the police and military remain missing to this day, only God knows how many people have met the same fate and are now down in the bay.

Today, June 12, 2009 marks the Araw ng Kalayaan or Philippine Independence Day, a historic turning point for the Filipino people who struggled and fought for freedom from Spain. This special day has been chosen as the launch date of this new online community, Kabayan Exchange.

Kabayan Exchange is an online community for Overseas Filipino Workers in the Gulf area particularly in the United Arab Emirates.

An Open Invitation to OFW Bloggers

Overseas Pinoy bloggers naywhere in the world are all invited to contribute to the site. Those interested may drop in their info on the contact page and I will get back to you and open an account where you can post short articles with links going back to your site.