Customs bust a bust

The daring dawn raid we hinted at in the last post was not as daring as advertised.

The Bureau of Customs raided Tondo Friday morning and seized 60 bags of onions smuggled in from China.

At 10 pounds per bag, that comes to 600 pounds and a market value of around P17,680.

Sa presinto ka na magpaliwanag!

Admittedly, [deputy Customs commissioner Horacio] Suansing said, the confiscated onions have little value but pointed out that the raid was intended “to send a strong message to smugglers that even if the smuggled items have already left the premises of the Customs, we would still run after those selling them.”

Consider yourself schooled, Chinese onion smugglers.

Senator invites media to top secret raid

According to our baby mouse, a senator sent a media advisory today telling Senate media that a certain government agency will be conducting a raid on some people somewhere in just a few hours.

The actual advisory was, of course, not that vague. The senator who sent it was actually pretty helpful with the details, even providing a number people in the media can call to coordinate where to meet, what to wear, what the secret password is, etc.

Which is all very good for reporters looking for some action, but not so much for Philippine law enforcement. If this website was able to get the details of the raid without even trying, it’s a sure bet the criminals who are supposed to get raided know about it too.

(thx, Senate staff!)

Tanduay kills hundreds of fish, idiom

Tanduay Distillers, manufacturer of Tanduay Rhum, is being held liable for the deaths of hundreds of fish in Laguna de Bay.

Apparently, the Tanduay plant in Cabuyao, Laguna released alcohol into the Cabuyao River when the plant caught fire earlier this month.

On Oct. 21, the [Laguna Lake Deveopment Authority] told reporters that it started an investigation after fisherfolk reported that the dead fish from the lake emitted an odor similar to that of alcoholic drinks.

“The pollution that occurred was so extreme that the river beside the Tanduay plant is completely dead,” Zubiri said in an interview after the Senate hearing.

Big Mouth Billy Bass wants you to drink moderately

LRT-1 just got better

This may be news to our upwardly-mobile car-driving indio demographic but our aging public train system has been getting much better.
read more »

Supreme Court Says Plagiarism is OK, Blames Microsoft Word

Plagiarism during medieval times

The Philippine Supreme Court has cleared their pal fellow judge Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo from plagiarising because, allegedly, he didn’t intend to plagiarise in the first place. Instead, it was Microsoft Word’s fault for not detecting the plagiarised material that he inserted into his document:

The court also said it was not Del Castillo’s or his researcher’s fault that Miscrosoft Word, the program used in writing the decision, cannot detect “copied” research material without the proper attributions.

“Microsoft Word program does not have a function that raises an alarm when original materials are cut up or pruned. The portions that remain simply blend in with the rest of the manuscript, adjusting the footnote number and removing any clue that what should stick together had just been severed,” the Supreme Court said.

The newest member of the Supreme Court, Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, criticized her colleagues for the ruling, claiming it would set a bad precedent. Just like Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

/via Pinoychan

Overpopulation blamed on darkness

Catanduanes Representative Cesar Sarmiento has a rather parochial approach to overpopulation.

Which is not to say it isn’t valid, it just isn’t as sexy as throwing rocks at the (Papal) throne.

Sarmiento says overpopulation should be blamed not on the Church but on the boredom that forces people with no access to electricity to rut in the dark like animals. Quoting some Filipino saying, he says darkness breeds romance and more.

SEX

His solution, then, is not contraceptives, but electricity.

“Instead of spending funds for condoms, contraceptives and injectibles, the money can be used for the electrification of the non-energized sitios so the population will not grow faster and keep the people active and busy.”

The idea is not without merit. But he shouldn’t expect any t-shirts made in his honor.