Before you open an IRA with a Credit Union

Read the fine print. Here is an exchange I had with the president of my credit union, Bill Birnie of Eagle Community Credit Union in Lake Forest CA. I opened an IRA to the tune of $2000. Eagle Community Credit union charges a yearly "maintenance fee" currently pegged at $10. For those of you familiar with interest rates these days, the $10 "maintenance fee" wipes out any accrued interest for a $2000 IRA, and even digs into the original principal. So, before you "invest" in any IRA from this credit union, or any other credit union that charges such "maintenance fee", read the fine print, as I failed to do.


-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Birnie
To: 'jvirata@aol.com'
Sent: Fri, Dec 31, 2010 10:23 am
Subject: RE: Eagle Community Credit Union annual IRA Maintenance fee

Good Morning!

I wanted to take a moment to follow-up with you on our conversation back in July about the maintenance fee for IRA accounts.

In October I formed a Committee to review all fees and service pricing. Among other things, the Committee recommended that the IRA maintenance fee remain intact. Eventually, I concurred.

We will be publishing our 2011 Service Pricing Schedule with the mailing of December 2010 statements. I know that the maintenance fee was an issue for you – so I wanted to let you know in advance that we chose not to make a change. While I hope you have found value in your membership with Eagle Community Credit Union, I certainly understand that you have to do what is in your best interests.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday weekend and a terrific 2011!!

Bill Birnie
President/CEO
Eagle Community Credit Union

(949) 639-7832
(949) 639-7996 (fax)

23021 Lake Center Drive | Lake Forest, CA 92630

From: jvirXXX@aol.com [mailto:jvirXXX@aol.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 6:17 PM
To: Bill Birnie
Subject: Re: Eagle Community Credit Union annual IRA Maintenance fee

Dear Mr. Birnie,

Thank you for taking the time to actually answer my letter. What concerns me is small investors saving for retirement like myself will have nothing left of the initial investment when the IRA matures. For me and my economy, $2000 is a lot of money to place in an IRA, especially in these times, but to have a $10 annual "maintenance fee" assessed every year on this amount of savings to recoup the "additional" costs associated with the creation of the account is ridiculous. I can understand if this was a credit card account or a checking account, which are used daily, but this is supposed to be an instrument for retirement, a sort of set it up and not worry about it type account, the main reason why I set this account up. Like I said, I have another IRA set up with a different credit union, and it does not charge any type of annual "maintenance" fee. There are no costs involved with that account, and I have watched it accrue interest and grow, albeit slowly, yet surely, and without any incurred fees. I was hoping that this account would do the same. I appreciate you getting back to me and I look forward to read whatever changes, if any, are made to benefit members who don't have large sums of money to put away for retirement.

Sincerely,

John Virata




-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Birnie
To: 'jvirXXX@aol.com'
Sent: Tue, Jul 13, 2010 5:09 pm
Subject: RE: Eagle Community Credit Union annual IRA Maintenance fee
Good Afternoon!

Again, please accept my apologies for not responding to your request sooner. I wanted to read through our disclosures and gain a firm grasp on our procedures for opening IRA accounts before I responded.

The reason for the fee is to recoup the additional costs associated with the creation and maintenance of IRA accounts as opposed to other account forms.

The fee is disclosed on our Fee Schedule and should have been explained to your at the time your account was created. Given your comments, I will assume that my staff did not explain the fee to you. Again, please accept my apologies. It appears that we need little training in this area.

I will reverse the fee.

In the fourth quarter of each year we convene a committee within the credit union to review all fees and charges. We will take a good long look at this fee to ensure that it is commensurate with the costs. This particular fee is assessed annually on June 30th. We will publish any changes to Fees and Charges during January 2011. This should provide you an opportunity to see what changes we have made and decide what, if any, actions you may want to take in regards to your IRA account.

Thank you for your membership with Eagle Community Credit Union!

Bill Birnie
President/CEO
Eagle Community Credit Union
Where community counts...
one member at a time.
Email: bbirXXX@eaglecu.org
Phone: (949) 639-7832
Fax: (949) 639-7996
Web: www.eaglecu.org
From: jvirXXX@aol.com [mailto:jvirXXX@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2010 2:04 PM
To: CEO
Subject: Eagle Community Credit Union annual IRA Maintenance fee

Who will Manny Pacquiao fight next?

If not Floyd, Manny should retire


A lot has transpired since Manny Pacquaio showed mercy on Antonio Margarito last week. Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum spewed at the mouth claiming Pacquiao was the Greatest Of All Time, every fighter and their brother has called Manny out (except Floyd of course, who doesn’t want to put up), with various other so called boxing reporters wanting to see Manny fight 6’3” Paul Williams, a true middleweight, get in the ring with 5’6” Manny Pacquiao. My question is why don’t they want Floyd to fight the likes of Paul Williams? The naysayers are questioning Pacquiao’s choice of opponent, claiming things like, “Margarito is washed up, or Hatton was fat.”

Yet where is the criticism of Floyd, who fights lightweight Juan Manual Marquez, or a washed up Shane Mosely?” Is it a double standard? So called boxing reporter Tim Smith, (who questions why Manny won’t fight 6’3” middleweight Paul Williams but says nothing about Floyd fighting Paul Williams) with the NY Daily News is picking apart Pacquiao’s accomplishments, decrying catch-weights, and otherwise belittling Manny’s accomplishments with his fiction piece, even though Smith swallowed, hook, line and sinker Roger Mayweather’s FICTION that Manny is on performance enhancing drugs, specifically a steroid called “A Side Meth” which in medical reality does not exist. Now that Sergio Martinez knocked out Paull Williams, so called boxing writers are demanding Manny to "man up" and fight Martinez, a middleweight who would probably knock Manny out. Martinez said himself that Manny is too small. Manny needs to fight other fighters closer to his natural weight. He couldn't even make the 150lb catch weight in his fight with Margarito, and now people want him to fight Martinez at 160lb?

Of course Smith quantified his drivel with “the last two years,” completely ignoring Pacquiao’s accomplishments against boxers Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, and Juan Manual Marquez, who he fought in their prime.
Then you have Bernard Hopkins spewing his mouth off that Pacquiao hasn’t had a bout with any African-AMERICAN fighters, specifically INNER CITY African-Americans, as if this is a hindrance to Pacquiao’s greatness.

Why is there so much negativity written about Pacquiao in the past week. And why do the naysayer’s such as Smith always have an excuse with regard to Pacquiao’s greatness? Because he is a “little man” from a third world country far off where the Pacific Ocean meets the South China Sea? A “little man” who has trained hard to get to where he is right now, at the TOP of the boxing world? American boxing writers can’t accept that fact?

The Mayweather camp and their “A side Meth” claim is the most ridiculous of all, finding it seemingly unbelievable that Manny could climb weight divisions like he has, forgetting their current 2nd best pound for pound fighter also started in the SAME weight class as Manny. They both must be on “A side Meth.”


Now it looks as if Pacquiao is readying to fight Shane Mosely, a fighter who Floyd Mayweather avoided in Shane’s prime, yet easily defeated in their bout last May. It looks as if Pacquaio needs to step up and tell his promoters that no, he won’t be a punching bag until Floyd decides he is softened up enough to get in the ring. It seems that Floyd’s strategy is now to keep quiet until Pacquiao gets beat on a few more times, then later agrees to fight Manny after Manny fights a few more times and gets worn out, the same strategy he employed with Shane. Floyd avoided Cotto and Margarito altogether, and just because Shane beat Margarito doesn’t mean Floyd could do the same.

Boxing fans have tired of Mayweather, and they will tire of Pacquiao if Pacquiao’s promoters continue to match Pacquiao with boxers who will do nothing for Pacquiao’s legacy. At this point in Manny’s career, he needs to make the tough decisions and stick with them. We know where Arum’s and Koncz’ loyalties lie, and that is in their pocketbooks. The more Manny fights, the more money they make. Manny already has enough money. His tens of millions of dollars are billions of pesos in the Philippines, that third world country of 90 million that produced a one in 90 million “little man,” with the Pac Man Punch.

The OC and self sense of Entitlement

Yesterday was California Coastal Cleanup, part of an international effort to clean up the world's beaches. Juliana and I went down to Brookhurst Street in Huntington Beach. She actually did a good job seeking out the plastic, fast food wrappers, cans, your basic beach trash, and placing the trash in her little bucket. After about 15 or so minutes, she, being the 3 1/2 year old that she is, got bored and decided to play with some other children who were building a sand castle.

So, not having proper beach provisions, I sat on the bucket next to the kids and watched them play, about 15 minutes later, this older man, probably in his late 50s early 60s, comes out of the water and says "There is the whole beach to choose from and you decide to block my view." I was at first sort of shocked, but then again not surprised considering these people think they own the whole damn beach. This is the OC after all, lots of assholes live here.

So I said "sorry about that" and proceeded to move about 2ft to the right of where I was originally sitting. Which I am sure pissed the guy off because I heard him mutter "Unbelievable" under his breath as he walked back to the water's edge to rinse off his wetsuit. If the guy was courteous, and said something like, "can you move a bit buddy, you are blocking my view" I would have had no problem moving away from him, but he was a total asshole, like a dog marking his territory, so, in essence, I made no real effort to move, because 1. he was a total dick, and 2. my daughter was playing right next to where he was sitting. I was waiting for him to say something adverse, being the dick that he was initially, but when he came back from rinsing his wetsuit, he said to me, "your daughter is really cute." Which in of itself defused the whole situation. While it is true that I would have blocked his view, nobody was sitting there when we first arrived, and I thought it not a big deal to sit next to where juliana was playing. But the guy was such an asshole, an entitled, wrinkly, American scoun who owns the whole damn beach.

Philippine Surf

If ever I was wrong about something, it is about the Philippines progressing. Well, I can't really say if it has gotten better, but judging on the surfing culture that was virtually non existent 20 years ago, it has blossomed into a full fledged subculture. Back in 1987, when I shipped two surfboards to the Philippines inside my cousin Marlon's Toyota 4Runner, I had no idea that I would ever get to use the boards. It wasn't until 1989 that I was able to use them, albeit at a small beach break south of Manila called Matabunkay Beach.

In 1985 I was in the Philippines for three months with no surfboard, and Typhoon Saling roared through, coming from mainland China and causing 100 deaths and more than $68 million in damages. After the storm, my Uncle Ramon wanted to get out of the house, so he and I drove onto the Coastal Road for a typical Sunday drive. Although the destruction of the nipa huts, and alimango stalls was depressing to see, along with felled palm trees and water everywhere, what really caught my eye were these perfect little lefts that somehow made it through Manila Bay and were breaking just offshore, a stones throw from the Coastal Road. These were hollow barrells that were a bit fast, but totally makeable. It was a constant barrage of waves with no interval between. I asked my Uncle to stop and I watched the waves roll in, one after another after another. Perfect shape, top to bottom. It was then that I realized that the Philippines was a potential surfing mecca that will rival Indonesia.

In 1989, I surfed Matabunkay with a new found friend Joselle of BF Paranaque, whose family owned a cement/ brick company off of Sucat Road, my then wife Rosalynn (who boogie boarded), and a local guy named Rolly, who was the resident king of Matabunkay Beach. When we arrived at the beach, the waves were small, but shreddable, and I paddled out right away. Joselle being a big mestizo, rode a Dewey Weber Performer. Almost immediately, two menehunes came out and started dominating the peak. They were not more than 12 years old, but were already ripping. One was riding a finless thruster while the other was riding a thruster with a side fin and the center fin. They were having a blast and we traded waves for an hour or so before Rolly called them in. He then came out and started to rip. I was trading him maneuver for maneuver; off the lips, cutbacks, floaters, until he went switchfoot. I couldn't do THAT!

Fast forward 20 years and Philippines is truly the new surf mecca. While Indo has Uluwatu and the Mentawais and Nias, Philippines has Cloud9 and Majestics. I've spent the last 10 years going to Hawaii every vacation and should have went to the Philippines. I've missed the country grow up surfwise. Now there are contests, a thriving surfwear culture and endless possibilities to get tubed. Bring me my passport to surfing heaven.

It is time for President Noy Noy Aquino to lead

The hostage taking and killing tragedy that besieged the Philippines last week should serve as a wakeup call, not only for Noy Noy Aquino, who was blasted by Hong Kong media for not only NOT taking the direct calls of Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang when this tragedy was unfolding, but also for having a smile on his face during the press conference, which many in Hong Kong had misconstrued as indifference to the tragedy that happened. While Aquino apologized for having the smirk on his face, this first test of his administration facing adversity was an utter FAILURE.

Who was in charge of the hostage situation and who, if anyone was doing the negotiations with Officer Rolando Mendoza, an officer who spent his entire career serving the people of the Philippines with dignity, garnering multiple awards for his service and then being summarily fired on charges of extortion, charges that were later dismissed because the alleged extortion victim failed to appear in court. I am not saying that Mendoza was innocent of the charges, but the facts are he was not reinstated to the force and his retirement benefits were not reinstated, all of which more than likely led to his going off the edge. What Aquino must do now is call for a full revamp of the PNP's unit that botched this event. Clearly, and on television no less, the officers who participated in the storming of the bus were ill equipped, ill trained, and ill prepared. What was the status of the negotiations in this debacle? Who did the negotiating? Where was ace negotiator Sen. Bong Revilla, who personally led a successful negotiation with a hostage taker in a similar bus incident some years ago that was also broadcast live for the world to witness? There are so many questions and so much that needs to be improved in an effort to minimize the loss of life when future events such as this take place in the Philippines.

Which brings me to the next bone to pick, that of Hong Kong's citizens blasting and harassing Filipino Overseas Foreign Workers in that part of China, and the enablers, the Philippine government that readily sends its citizens abroad to build other countries while its own country remains the laughing stock of Southeast Asia. Hong Kong relies on the hard work of many Filipinos, but after this tragedy occurred, which could have happened in any country, and does all the time, Hong Kong residents have created a tense situation for those overseas Filipinos, and especially the domestic helpers who work in that city. The killing of the Hong Kong tourists was the work of a deranged gunman, and an inept police force, and DOES NOT reflect the attitudes of Filipinos living and working in Hong Kong or Filipinos anywhere else. To think otherwise is blatant racism.

When Corazon Aquino's People Power Revolution broke the iron grip that Ferdinand Marcos had on the country, the newly democratically elected government of Corazon Aquino, and by extension, the Filipino people, had two paths in which to follow; that of instant gratification and the fast buck, or that of hard work, perseverance, and nation building. The Philippines was in shambles. Aquino was amid the ruins. Her signature piece of legislation, the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Plan, or CARP, enacted in 1988 was supposed to benefit the farmers, yet the Philippines remains one of the biggest importers of rice and other foodstuffs, and the breakup of Hacienda Luisita, the Aquino family's massive agri-farm, is still, more than two decades later, in litigation in the courts.

The notion of the overseas foreign worker at that time was not new. Filipinos have been going abroad for decades to eke out a better life for their families back home, but during the last 25 years, more and more Filipinos have been seeking higher and sweeter fruits abroad, to the detriment of the Philippines. Rough estimates peg the number of these overseas Filipino Workers at around 10 million give or take a few million, accounting for more than $15 billion in revenue sent back to the Philippines each year, not a paltry sum, about 13 percent of the Philippines GDP by some estimates. However, these same people, these doctors, physical therapists, nurses, accountants, military servicemen, IT professionals, engineers, architects, entertainers, technicians, teachers, seafarers, students, caregivers, domestic helpers and household maids should be building their own country rather than other countries. There are tales of woe that these OFWs are subjected to, from beatings and indentured servitude, to rape and murder. These people are skilled workers who often go abroad to perform menial labor, becoming severely underemployed in positions that are below their training. So what is the problem? If the Philippines is to get rid of its third world moniker, eventually it needs to put all these people to work in the Philippines, and stop sending them abroad to build other countries while their own country continues to wallow in abject poverty, corruption, and based on what we saw on TV during the hostage crisis, ineptitude and impotence. Gross incompetence was on display for all the world to witness. I hope to live to see the day that the Philippines does not have to send millions of its citizens abroad to work in some far off desert, some swanky Asian metropolis, or the United States. When the services are no longer needed of the overseas Filipino worker, the Philippines will have reached and polished its own star on the world stage. The current administration needs to work on that goal.

President Aquino has a unique opportunity to move the country forward. He was given a clear mandate by the people, a mandate that the people are sick and tired of the corruption in government that occurs at all levels, from the executive branch to the House and Senate on down the line to the barangay captain. As the last several administrations have proven, corruption starts at the top and trickles down to all levels of Philippine society. So what are some solutions for Aquino to consider? Below are just a few to get the ball rolling.

Contraception
Nothing more can really be said about this. The Catholic Church in the Philippines, which has held sway over many a political issue during its 450 plus year reign of contraceptive terror must stop condemning the use of contraceptives in the Philippines. In fact, the Philippine government should take the lead on this issue and provide free or low cost contraceptive devices to any Filipino who wishes to avail of them. The Church needs to stay silent on this issue or continue to see the population of the country explode, which mitigates any economic gains and prosperity. All Filipinos who have sex ought to think twice about it and protect themselves, especially if they don't want children right away. The macho mentality that prevails needs to die. Who are those who make babies but then abandon the mother and child? They are not macho, but rather they are cowards who bring a baby into this life but run away from their responsibilities.

Feed the people
The Philippines is an absolute breadbasket of food production yet it imports tons and tons of food each year. Why is this? And where is the food that is produced in the country going? Out of the country. More food production in the Philippines will be mandatory as the population of the country goes unchecked. Philippine business, and especially the ethnic Chinese Taipans need to stop building subdivisions and megamalls and focus on growing food that will feed the average Filipino, and not the rest of the world.

Oil independence
It sounds like a pipe dream, but if Brazil can do it in 25 years, so too can the Philippines. Brazil is the second largest producer of sugar cane based Ethanol fuel, and mixes 25 percent ethanol with dino oil to come up with the blend. It took Brazil 25 years to become energy independent. The Philippines is also a large producer of sugar cane--it is one of the biggest crops in the Philippines, yet there has been little effort to turn this crop into biofuel. I was on Negros Island a few years ago, a relatively small island compared to the major islands, and I was in a car that drove two hours through nothing but sugar cane fields on both sides of the street. There is plenty of potential that just needs to be harnessed. The government needs to invest in agricultural biotechnology similar to that of Brazil to reduce its dependence on foreign oil and build biofuel solutions.

Kill Corruption
Corruption has run rampant in the Philippines even after Marcos. President Aquino has stated that he will not tolerate corruption. This accidental president had better stick to his guns and go after those in all branches of government who enrich themselves with the people’s money. How many Mercedes Benzes, queridas, and fancy houses in foreign lands is enough for these politicians? Let it never be forgotten that the Four Tigers of the 1980s, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and Hong Kong were once sleepy ass backward countries rife with corruption. Every one of these tigers stood BEHIND the Philippines and Number 1 Japan in the 1960s in terms of economic output and industrialization. Yet look at them today, all highly industrialized with advanced economies, all maintain a highly educated and skilled workforce. Sound familiar? Hong Kong and Singapore are tiny in scope with scant natural resources, yet look at where they stand on the world economic stage. The Philippines, which was second only to Japan in the 1960s in terms of economic and industrial output has been relegated to Tiger Cub status along with Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. However, if it doesn't take advantage of what it has achieved, it will fall behind as Vietnam catches up, and the Filipino OFW will continue to build other countries while its own continues to suffer.

25 Things

25. I had this thing for PAL (Philippine Airlines) Flight Attendants in the late 1980s. Little did I know that my wife Jovi was a PAL flight attendant at the time. Too bad the PAL flight attendants now are NOT THE SAME as the one's back then. Must be that "cut at all cost" Chinese ownership.

24. In 1989, running from serious trouble and a busted heart, Jovi picked me up on the side of the road in the Philippines and I was carrying a surfboard and a piece of luggage. Because it was a VW bug with no room, I carried the board on the outside of the car until we got to my cousin Edward's house in BF Paranaque and dropped it with his mom. Sadly I have no idea where the board is to this day, but it is a one of a kind.

23. I started surfing in 1979. Yes that is how old I am. Luckily, the guys who taught me, Bill Sallans and Mike Takayama are still surfing. I surf with Mike around once a month but haven't seen Bill in six years.

22. I tried to buy a Playboy Magazine at the 711 when I was 5 years old. Yup. We lived in Utah for the first five years of my life and my neighbor, Kenny Freeil, who was about five years older, gave me 25 cents and handed the magazine to me and told me to buy it. I put the magazine on the counter and the clerk said, "you aren't old enough to buy this." So I spent the money on a large Slurpee instead. Back then, Slurpees were 5, 10, and 15 cents. Kenny was pissed.

21. My mom's side of the family is huge and fairly complicated. I have at least two aunts who I am older than and also a 24 year old Uncle who I never met. My mom is 70. Her dad had around 15 or so children before he died in 1989. I shared a room with my lolo before he died at Makati Medical Center because I was sick with some nasty virus of some sort.

20. My grandfather's younger brother, Ramon Revilla was a movie star and was a senator in the Philippines. He is rumored to have more than 80 children. I believe it is more.

19. Back in the summer of 1985, I went around Manila with my cousin Bong, who is a movie star like his dad. We went from movie shooting location to movie shooting location all over Manila. One particular shooting was in Project 8 Quezon City. He offered to make me a movie star too, except I am monolingual and don't have the good looks that he did. I should have said yes anyway. We got in a verbal argument over the difference between right and wrong back then and haven't been close since.

18. In 1985, I saw two dead guys who got hit by a Mercedes Benz on EDSA Ave in Manila back then. One was cut completely in half. Street rats. In 1989 I happened on another guy who just got shot three times in the chest. I directed my driver to stop at the sidewalk. I watched him gasp his last breaths.

17. I met this starlet, Mags Bonnin at a BF Homes party back in 1985 as well. She looked like JuRina Mendoza and I kept staring at her, thinking it was her, until my cousin Lori introduced us. I felt a bit sheepish after that. I also had this crush on another star, Manilyn Reynes. My cousin Marlon's wife, Gigi dela Riva used to tease me about it, but back then, Gigi looked a heck of a lot like Manilyn.

16. I tried to wean my family off of bottled water, but to no avail. I even bought a SIGG bottle for myself, yet, right now, I have about 15 empty plastic bottles in the back seat of my car.

15. In college, I broke a story about a professor who was accused of plaigiarizing a paper of some sort. It was front page on the Daily 49er, however, what I turned in to my professor was different from what was printed in the paper. Needless to say, my professor gave some serious tongue lashings to the so-called editors who screwed it up. My professor submitted a story I wrote about Amerasians to the RFK Journalism awards that year, the only one submitted from my class. I didn't win but got the satisfaction that I could write a neat story.

14. The Bautista in me says YES! but the Virata in me says NO.

13. I've been writing about technology since 1993, and my writing style has become one dimensional.

12. I think the Mercedes Benz is over-rated, except for of course my 1984 300D Turbo diesel with 227,000 miles on it.

11. I have a beautiful daughter, Juliana Rai Montero Virata. The Rai comes from Aishwarya Rai, because I had this thing for beautiful brown haired women. I have no idea why brown haired women are called brunettes.

10. I've lived in Hawaii and want to move back.

9. My dad came to the United States in 1957 and joined the Navy. My mom waited in line and came in 1960. I think that those who want to come to the United States and become citizens, should wait in line like all law abiding folks do.

8. I think that the bank bailout is a SCAM. The banks screw up and want a bailout, yet charge usurious credit card rates and nothing gets done about that. We the people should be bailed out.

7. I like to eat pie

6. In 1986, I gave my class ring to a girl who lived in a slum next to a river in the Philippines. She kept it for three years. I asked for it back, and then a year later it was stolen in a burglary at my mom's house in CA.

5. I think Kimi Evans is a way better weather reporter than Jackie Johnson

4. Among many other things, I think the Bush Administration totally screwed up the Pat Tillman case.

3. In addition to surfing, I enjoy fishing with my two teenaged boys as well as dirt biking.

2. My friend David was the best man at my wedding because the guy I initially asked was too cheap to rent a tuxedo or do the bachelor party. It turned out fine though because that guy turned out to be the master of ceremonies (and did it well) and David is still a great friend of mine and a good guy.

1. I can fold my tongue in half and stick it up my nose.

P-Noy: The accidental president

The political dynasty is alive and thriving in the Philippines. The country just inaugurated its 15th president, the fourth after Marcos was deposed in the people power revolution of 1986. Since Marcos, the people of the Philippines have elected a housewife in Corazon Aquino, a General (Fidel Ramos), a movie star (Joseph Estrada) and by default (or by political shenanigans), an economist in Gloria Arroyo. Now the Philippines has chosen another Aquino in Noy-noy, the son of the late president and martyr Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino. Noy noy had toiled almost in obscurity as a senator, not having written much in terms of legislation, and seemed destined to lead out a fairly non-plussed life in the senate when his mother Cory Aquino died. It was then that somebody made the decision that Noy should run for president, regardless if he had the experience to run what has become yet again, a broken country. I say broken, because in the 25 years since Marcos was deposed, not a whole lot has transpired in the country to lift itself up off the floor of Southeast Asia and into the modern world, or at least along the same standards of Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, and dare I say it, Vietnam, a communist country.

The Philippines continues to wallow in its own corrupt misery, when history tells us that just a generation ago, in the 1960s, the Philippines was second, only to Japan in terms of economic output. It could have been, scratch that, it should already be an industrialized nation, or at least a nation that doesn't depend on its overseas foreign workers to keep the economy humming. It is ironic that all those Filipinos leave the country to build other nations while their own country lay in shambles, more than 25 years after Marcos fled to Hawaii. But back to the topic of this accidental president. P-Noy as he has already been labeled, has a huge task at hand in making the Philippines a first world country, a proud country that its people can be proud of. P-noy's sister Kris, the primadonna of all primadonnas in the Philippines, an irritant at most who spend a lot of her time trying to sell whitening cream to a nation of brown skinned people, had better not meddle in P-noy's decision making. I am hoping that the man doesn't kow tow to his sister's wishes, and knows how to run, or at least pick the right people to help him run, the country. What is truly scary is that eventhough P-noy won this election, the second placer was none other that Joseph Estrada, a disaster of a president who only gets votes because he is a movie star who plays downtrodden and average Filipinos in his movies. This goes to show you the intellect of the majority of those who vote in the Philippines. Before his inauguration, there was a lot of whining from P-noy regarding Arroyo doing this and that prior to her leaving office. There was also a lot of buzz during the campaign about going after corrupt officials and rooting out corruption. We shall see if this comes to pass or was just a passing fancy during the election cycle. The man has a heck of a lot on his plate to fix, and I am hoping that the congress and the senate can WORK WITH HIM on the right issues to move the country forward. As it has been though the congress and especially the Senate have taken a lot of heat for lacking in cranial capacity as well as intellectual fortitude. There are a lot of people in both the Congress and the Senate who are out to enrich themselves and their families, and I am hoping that P-noy can put a stop to this corruption. Because if the corruption doesn't stop, the Philippines will forever remain the sick man of Asia.

Philippine Elections 2010

My mom's side of the family cleaned up with all of the people running for public office in the Philippines winning. Bong Revilla was the number one vote getter in the Senate, his second and final term. His wife Lani Mercado won in the lone district of Bacoor, one of four new congressional districts that Bong carved out, presumably so she can run (even though they live in Alabang. My cousin Edwin Bautista, AKA Strike, also won reelection as mayor, and Jun Inares, Andeng's husband, also won reelection as governor. Political dynasties are alive and thriving in the Philippines. The people have spoken, and now it is time for all who won, to deliver, as it is a clean slate.

Noy Noy Aquino, a seemingly reluctant candidate who decided to run only after his mother Corazon Aquino died last year, ran away with the presidency with more than 10 million votes. Now if that isn't a mandate, I don't know what is. His closest rival was non other than aging movie star Joseph Estrada, who was chased out of Malacanang amid corruption charges. I still cannot fathom those Filipinos who voted for this man. I am hoping that NoyNoy can gtruly deliver on at least some of the promises he made during the silly season, because the Philippines is truly regressing. It is time to see some progress.

Goodbye Jommy

On Friday I went to a service for a dear friend of my wife who ended his life. I had only met Jommy a handful of times, but I remember all the times that I met him and he was a very nice man. The first time I met him was in his apt. in Costa Mesa on Bear St. He had several windsurf boards on his patio and we talked at length about them, and how long he has been windsurfing. At the same time, he let me copy some records he had onto cassette tape (this was in the early 90s mind you). The second time I met him was in his place in Rancho Santa Margarita at his home. Again, Jommy welcomed me with open arms. You see, my wife Jovi was best friends with his younger sister, and Manong Joms was the elder brother who looked over his sister and my wife during the days they were growing up in the Philippines. Which brings me to his suicide. One can never understand why people choose to end their lives. His was especially tragic because he left behind what seemingly was a nice family. He has two teenage boys who loved him dearly as well as a wonderful wife. The story is that he had been severely depressed, having lost his job to this recession that has lingered. And soon he began to disassociate himself with those around him. I don't know, but it is still a sad story that has been on my mind since the service at the church in Rancho Santa Margarita. The church in which his family attended was full for the service. He apparently touched many lives in the community, with the church, the soccer club, and the boys schools. It seems he was popular given the number of people who attended the service. There must've been 300 people who came to pay their respects to Jommy and his family. His son Kai gave a heart wrenching eulogy. I was in near tears when he mentioned that Jommy won't be there to attend his high school graduation. Tough speech to give, especially for a 16 year old. That day, Kai became a man.

I googled him and learned that he was in the same industry that I was, him having worked for Pioneer and Sony, two companies which I have written about being a technology writer for the past 17 years. I was just thinking that I could have met up with him at CES.

I hope that his wife and kids will be able to rebuild their lives after the tragic death of their father, the anchor of their family. Goodbye Jommy.

I've been on an 80s music groove for the last several minutes sitting in front of YouTube just thinking about cool songs that came out of that decade. This one came up after listening to Sheena Easton's My Sugar Walls. What a difference. Simply Red was really one of the best bands to come out of that corrupted decade.

Hawaii 2009

Some images from our Christmas trip to Hawaii.