Alaminos National High School Classmates

MANILA, Philippines – The 108th Bar exam had 1,310 successful examinees with a passing rate of  20.58 percent, lower than last year’s 22.91 percent. A record 6,364 examinees from 109 law schools took the test.

Judy Lardizabal of San Sebastian College topped the 2008 Bar Examination.She got a score of 85.70 percent, followed by Mylene Amerol Macumbal of Mindanao State University with 85.65. Third was Oliver Baclay Jr. of the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) with 85.6.

The rest of the top ten were: Majesty Eve Jala of Ateneo (85.50); Ma. Elizabeth Lizeralde of the University of the Philippines (85.40);  Michael Macapagal also of UP (84.15); Denisse Dy and April Love Regis both from ADMU tied at seventh place (84.00); Kristine Joy Tan of ADMU (83.80); Shirley Velasquez of UP and Gian Jacob of San Beda tied at ninth (83.75), and Vanessa Raymundo of San Beda Collage (83.70).

A total of 1,310 passed the 2008 Bar Examinations.

ABABA - ZOSA

1 ABABA Victoria D
2 ABAD Bernard O
3 ABAD Francis Michael C
4 ABADEZA Melissa A
5 ABALOS Christian Noel C
6 ABALOS Joseph Ryan C
7 ABALOS Mcdonald G
8 ABANTE Priscilla Marie T
9 ABARCA Jerome G
10 ABAYA Mark Francis P

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As the much anticipated national elections here in the Philippines is fast approaching, people cant help to think of their bets, so as the Social Weather Stations.

A non-commissioned survey was held by the SWS last February 20 to 23, 2009 clearly showed a tight four-way race of the four “candidates” for president seat namely Vice President Noli de Castro, Senators Manny Villar, Loren Legarda and Francis Escudero.

The First Quarter 2009 Social Weather Survey, taken from Feb. 20 to 23, showed that De Castro is favored by 27 percent of respondents, followed closely by Villar with 26 percent, Legarda, 25 percent and Escudero, 23 percent. They were followed by Senators Mar Roxas, 15 percent; Panfilo Lacson, 14 percent and former President Joseph Estrada, 13 percent. The Social Weather Stations cleared that prior to the survey; they did not prepare a list for the respondents to select from to avoid bias.

Its true that survey results will never determine who will win the race, but it is also true that it has great effect on the mentality of people especially in choosing there bets.

The Department of Education (DepEd) has warned private schools against increasing tuition for the coming school year. According to Education Secretary Jesli Lapus they will not hesitate to use their regulatory powers to protect the interests of students should certain schools show a lack of sensitivity to current economic conditions. Lapus urged private schools to exercise self-restraint amid the current economic crisis, which has been affecting educational institutions as well. Lapus said private schools must file applications for proposals to increase tuition. The deadline for application has been set to March 30.

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MANILA, Philippines - Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo warned yesterday that a “hybrid” exercise of combined manual and automated counting of votes in next year’s polls would further disgrace the electoral process and allow cheating to continue.

Melo expressed concern that another scandal-ridden election like the 2004 presidential polls could occur again if the 2010 exercise is done manually.

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The article in the New York Times entitled Seeing Straight Without Breaking the Bank is terrific! Accordingly, you can have Prescription eyeglasses for only $8! Yeah, you heard it right, folks. Zenni Optical gives you the best bargain ever. Zenni Optical offers among the finest and top quality eyeglasses items online. Even a blind can see rightly when he learns of this great eyeglasses stuff available at Zenni! Read Zenni Optical in the New York Times?! and start believing this amazing revelation.

Malacañang originally announced that the President was rushing to Washington from Bahrain because there was a chance that she could chat with Obama at the prayer breakfast. She emerged from the gathering without so much as a wave of acknowledgment from Obama, much less that coveted photo op.

That’s why President Arroyo just had a wide grin as she chatted with new US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But the former US first lady, a celebrity in her own right, was no Barack Obama, the US counterpart of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

This latest blow came on the heels of several attempts by President Arroyo to talk with Obama by phone – first when he was still a candidate, and then several times after his victory. She also tried to meet with him in the US, when he was still a candidate and again shortly after he won. When he went to Illinois after his election, she proceeded there ostensibly to meet with the Filipino community.

Perhaps President Arroyo could pass on the blame to whoever raised her hopes that a chat with Obama, and even a photo op, could be possible in Washington. But in the end, if people are now referring to her as a stalker of Obama, she has no one but herself to blame.

A grateful heart never forgets. It leaves traces of wonderful experiences that give more meaning to one’s existence. Thoughts of love and affection help a relationship grow stronger. Sending a little memento such as a picture can revitalize a cooling relationship and bring back the good old feelings that two people used to share together. The pictures you have sent them may have already been worn out, but the memories behind them remain. As wise men say, things come and go, but the memories that accompany things live forever.

Truth to tell, I never get tired of saying “I care for you” or “I love you” to people who have become part of my life. Sending pictures with hearty and overflowing words of gratitude really works in strengthening personal bonding. It gives a sweet existence to a relationship. Pictures paint a thousand words. This old Chinese saying contains an element of truth for in every picture lives fond memories of happiness and sorrow, tears and laughter. Share a picture and you share a piece of your heart. As much as practicable, people want to spread the gospel of happiness through pictures.

Now, we can capture all the moments of happiness with our loved ones and store them permanently in our phones or computer through CEIVA, the pioneer and great innovator of the digital photo frame. The Ceiva digital photo frames from www.ceiva.com is a breakthrough in the field of photography. CEIVA revolutionizes the way we share photos to our friends, parents and loved ones wherever they are in the world. When I have subscribed to CEIVA’s service, I really felt an experience which I consider as totally exciting and exhilarating. It was really a wonderful experience!

When I was a child I used to wish to Santa Claus that I  be with my family wherever I go. Now, that simple wish of mine has come true for wherever I go, I have their pictures in my blacberry. That wish came true through CEIVA.

The Internet is also a catalyst for change. U.S. enrollment in online virtual classes reached the 1 million mark last year, 22 times the level seen in 2000, according to the North American Council for Online Learning, an industry body.

That’s only the beginning, said Michael Horn, co-author of “Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns”.

“Our projections show that 50 percent of high school courses will be taught online by 2019. It’s about one percent right now,” said Horn, executive director of education at Innosight Institute, a nonprofit think tank in Massachusetts.

K12 Inc, which provides online curriculum and educational services in 17 U.S. states, has seen student enrollment rise 57 percent from last year to 41,000 full-time students, said its chief executive, Ron Packard.

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In our contemporary society, taking prohibited drugs tends to be fashionable among large number of people particularly the young ones and those in show business. Among the teenagers, one cannot be considered “in” when he has had no experience with these prohibited drugs. The number of lives affected by drugs has been so tremendous from the past years that its occurrence can already be considered as a form of social disease.

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The government’s budget deficit could swell to as much as P160 billion in 2009 or two percent of gross domestic product (GDP), Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto said.

He stressed, however, that the government is still keeping its target to contain the deficit at P102 billion in 2009.

“What I’m saying is that the market will not punish us if the deficit is at two percent (of GDP),” Recto said.

Recto said the government would receive a positive reaction from the international financial if it is able to meet its commitment to contain the deficit at P102 billion for 2009.

The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) chief earlier said the market already knows that the Philippines would not be able to balance the budget in 2010 given the need to spend more on infrastructure and social services.

However, Recto stressed that the government has not yet abandoned its balanced budget goal and would still try to erase the deficit in 2010, according to the revised schedule.

Earlier, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves admitted that the Philippines is finding it difficult to achieve a balanced budget by 2010, with the budget deficit expected to swell to P102 billion next year or P62 billion more than the original target of P40 billion.

However, Recto said having a deficit in 2009 and in 2010 would help cushion the economy from the negative impact of the global financial turmoil. He said the deficits would allow the government to spend more on infrastructure and social services.

The P102-billion programmed deficit for 2009 took into account higher expenditures of P1.467 trillion as the government plans to boost spending next year to help pump-prime the economy. This is above the original program of P1.433 trillion.

On the other hand, the government expects total revenues in 2009 to decline to P1.365 trillion from the original program of P1.393 trillion.

The latest budget deficit projection of P102 billion is above the revised deficit forecasts for 2009 of P75 to P80 billion.

For this year, the government is still hoping to contain the budget deficit within the program of P75 billion.

The government incurred a budget deficit of P4.3 billion in November, a marked turnaround from the P54.1-billion surplus recorded in the same period last year.

The November budget gap brought the country’s fiscal position for the January to November period to a deficit of P66.7 billion.

Source: http://philstar.com Business Archives