Pala-isip

Wedding proposals are getting more and more elaborate. This sets the bar higher for the yet to be married guys out there.

Here are some photos during the flood around the Binondo area. More photos at Ermie Cue's Facebook accoun t.

Finally, some news about the VP of Citibank that stole millions I posted 2 years ago. From the Inquirer . The Department of Justice (DoJ) has ordered the filing of 87 counts of qualified theft against the son of Manila Councilor Bernie Ang who allegedly pocketed close to P138 million in bank deposits. Francis Bryan Ang, 38, reportedly fled the country after officials of Citibank—where he worked as assistant vice president of the Citigold wealth management unit— discovered in 2010 that he had been transferring the money of his clients into his personal account. However, the DOJ panel headed by Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Ma. Emilia Victorio dismissed the complaint of estafa against the younger Ang for lack of evidence. At the same time, it absolved his coaccused Oliver Salud, Sherjack Siao, Joanne Salud, Joanne Karla Uy, Robinso Siao, Steven Uy, Philip Keith Ang, Esther Gobio Ang, Antonio Samson and Belina Cancio of any complicity in the fraudulent transactions. In a ...

More news about Francis Bryan Ang who stole more than P100M from Citibank Binondo. While the news says he stole around P100M. I heard from the grapevine that he stole somewhere between P600M to P1B as in Billion. This guy has been in the bank a long time and is one of the top producer in the bank when he started. How do I know? You don't become VP if you're not a top producer. I'm just surprised that nobody found out about this until now.

From ABS-CBN News . ==================== MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) - A private banking officer of Citibank's Binondo branch has gone missing after allegedly carting away hundreds of millions of his clients' money. Francis Bryan Ang is the former assistant vice-president of the bank's Citigold Wealth Management group, which is aimed at high-value clients with bank deposits of no less than P4 million. Most of Citigold's customers are wealthy Chinese-Filipinos. A note on the Citibank website states that Citigold clients enjoy various privileges including premium information and assistance from a dedicated wealth management team that will manage their accounts. ABS-CBN News, however, learned that Ang embezzled more than P100 million of his clients' money. One Citigold client lost P10 million from his time deposit after Ang forged his signature. An affidavit signed by Citibank's lawyer showed that Ang changed the client's address so that bank statements would...

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Environment Secretary Lito Atienza may not be able to send 1,000 erring mayors to jail for operating garbage dumps but he can still sue them. In a statement issued Tuesday, Joey Papa of the Bangon Kalikasan Movement said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is authorized to issue cease-and-desist orders against violators of the country’s environmental laws. If Atienza fails to do this, he should resign, Papa said. Yeah, good luck with that. He sues the mayors, he losses his chance to run for higher office. I find it funny how Atienza became environment secretary. This from a guy who practically paved over all of Metro Manila. Remember Plaza Binondo? Instead of rehabilitating it with greenery, he paved it over and put tiles all over. Now there's no grass and trees to clean the air and no plants to take away the rainfall. When it rains, the tiles are very slippery. What a dumb idea. If his main concern was the squatters living there,...

Here are some more photos of the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy the caused a major flood in Metro Manila. Taken on Sept 27, 2009 at Ongpin. Blackout at Ongpin (Chinatown). Taken on Sept 28, 2009 in Binondo (Chinatown). Alonzo corner Soler. Alonzo. Soler In front of Ling Nam restaurant at Alonzo. The thing with these photos is that those garbage was not caused by the flood that submerged Metro Manila during Typhoon Ondoy. These trash was largely the cause of the floods. Those garbage are always on the street waiting for garbage trucks to pick them up and they are always placed this way. Those garbage clogs the sewers and leaves a stink all the time. And once people see these trash on the streets, more people throw trash on the streets. Those garbage are thrown by the local businesses and residents. They include plastic bags, cartons, food stuff, etc. For over 20 years that I've seen Binondo (Chinatown), it's always been like this. Nobody has ever thought of bringing in large garbage...

Some more photos of the aftermath of Typhoon Ondoy that hit Metro Manila on Sept 26, 2009. These photos were taken on Sept 27, 2009. This is Binondo at Ongpin. See the amount of trash left behind? These were the trash that clogged the drains causing massive flooding. These trash were not brought in by the flood waters but were the cause of the flood in Ongpin. This is near Jones Bridge. This is Lagusnilad, the underpass going to Taft Avenue. Taft Avenue. U.N. corner Taft Avenue. Unilever. Kids playing in the flood waters at Otis. United Nations Avenue. Photo credits to Wilson.

If you live or travel in Binondo, one thing is certain, it's overcrowded and full of tall buildings. But not only that, it has the ugliest landscape in all of Metro Manila. Why? Electric post! No place else has this much electric post in their city. It's in every corner! It's not just one electric post, it's 2 or more each corner. There's so many electric posts that it takes up the whole sidewalks so that people have to walk on the street. See for yourself. Can you even make out this tangle of wires? Aren't those fire hazards? How do they even figure out which wires to repair? Yes, those are probably telephone poles. But gimme a break! They should have buried them underground! There's a lamp post, an electric post and a telephone pole. Where you do expect pedestrians to walk? Here they have to walk on the road. I'm not even mentioning the cars parked on the sidewalk. I thought sidewalks were for people. Here's a wooden electric post beside a steel el...