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MANILA: Agot Isidro as a Filipina temptress was on the cover of Women's Health Magazine July 2010; she was hot, no bra; and 6 years later she is hotter still – hot news. If you don't know yet, Agot Isidro is the girl who told Du30 on Facebook among other things this: "I know a doctor. Have yourself checked. You are not bipolar. You are a psychopath." (Her first 2 sentences are my translation from the Tagalog original.) Then De La Salle Professor Antonio Contreras castigated Ms Agot in no controlled terms, and my calculated response was to write "Contrary To Contreras, Actress Isidro Is Bold & Right & Bright – Beautiful!" (11 October 2016, Common Cause , blogspot.co.id ). Some friends may have dropped Ms Agot like a hot potato, but not me – I'm always desirous of a hot idea. Now Ms Agot has further charmed me into concocting and writing about what I shall now call The Kick Ass Alphabet (Patriotic People Going Mental From A to Z), subsequently that

MANILA: Lea Salonga has spoken; Agot Isidro has spoken; and here is FVR speaking still. Ms Lea tells us to unite behind the man, Rodrigo Roa Duterte, new President of the Philippines. Ms Agot tells us to unite against the man. And in-between, here is FVR continuing to say something like, "Man, you've got to change!" Lea Salonga is hard to resist when she speaks because she is an international star. Now, somebody calling herself Diane Abne (not Abno) has just come out with "Lea Salonga's Meaningful Message To Filipinos: Unite Behind Duterte" (no date given, pinoyspeak.info ). Reading her piece, I see that Ms Diane is neither here nor there. She writes ambiguously to hide the fact that what Lea had written was more than a month ago yet, before Agot Isidro spoke, before FVR. Ms Diane argues poorly, and writes poorly too. So I will dismiss her outright, right here and now. Lea Salonga's real message in her actual post, her last paragraph is this (if you wan

MANILA: Thank you Talent.ph for Ms Maria Margarita Amada Fteha Isidro's provocative photograph ( talent.ph ) – much obliged! Agot Isidro has never been more provocative than this time. She is again "Crush ng Bayan." The Philippine's Crush. And she is not even acting, only reacting! What did Agot Isidro say again on 06 October on her Facebook page dedicated to Rodrigo Roa Duterte, President of the Philippines? As reproduced on ABS-CBN online by Joan Leary (09 October 2016,  push.abs-cbn.com ): Unang-una, walang umaaway sa iyo. As a matter of fact, ikaw ang nang-aaway. Pangalawa, yung bansa Kung saan ka inuluklok ng 16 million out of 100+ million people ay Third World. Kung makapagsalita ka parang superpower (ang) Pilipinas eh. At excuse me, ayaw namin magutom. Mag-isa ka na Lang, wag kang mandamay. Hindi na nga nakakain ang nakararami, gugutumin mo pa lalo. Pangatlo, may kilala akong psychiatrist. Patingin ka. Hindi ka bipolar. You are a psychopath. My translation: Fir

MANILA: Through the front-view mirror of Solid North Bus 1608 coming from Asingan going to Cubao, I took the photograph Sunday, 09 October 2016 at 0757 hours somewhere in Tarlac. Rice drying poorly on the shoulders of the highway. If you can't get to 14% moisture content, you rice is wet and will sell poorly. The photograph is perfect, if I may say so myself: It suggests 3 things actually, literally and figuratively. 1, The sunlit part of the road reminds us that the rice farmer has no problem drying his palay under the sun on a public road, except of course passing vehicles when they have to take the shoulder of the road either side to maneuver. Actually, he has no other choice. 2, The shaded part of the road reminds us that the rice farmer has a problem drying his palay either (a) under the sun because the sun is hiding and there is not enough sunshine to heat the grains and evaporate the unwanted moisture in them, or (b) when it suddenly rains, as it does often these days. 3,

MANILA: Note my title: Let me be the one to show you! About PowerPoint , Boundless.com says, "PowerPoint is a quick and easy way to organize ideas and information, but can encourage the creation of presentations that lack substance" ( boundless.com ). No, if you are after organizing ideas and information, don't use PowerPoint; I tell you outlining in Word 2013 is much better . Yes, all PowerPoint presentations I have seen lack substance; they also fail to organize ideas and information for quick consumption . People think that creating great-looking tables, graphs and charts is the essence of PowerPoint presentations, with visual effects adding to the impact – and they are dead wrong. Again, Boundless.com says, "PowerPoint is regarded as the most useful, accessible way to create and present visual aids." Yes, slides are good visual aids – but only if you know how to create proper visual aids. And I have yet to see someone using PowerPoint able to create good vi

MANILA: After noon today I was talking to Willie V at St Marc Café at the UP Town Center in Diliman and I happened to mention that the next essay I am going to write is this one, with this title: "Do You Hate Duterte? Hate Is Not An Option!" With that title, I'm telling you not to hate. As you can see, I have revised the second part of the title a little to remove the negative and instead put an eye-opener: "Think: Hate Is An Option." In other words, I'm only leading you to the choice of taking the option other than hate. I'm reminding you that you always have a choice. It was Flarino Fauta, whom I don't know, sharing on Facebook a Manila Times link, "Crimes vs humanity everyone's concern" that prompted this essay; it was activist-lawyer former Senator Rene Saguisag speaking ( manilatimes.net ): President Duterte, Justice Secretary Vit Aguirre and Sen Manny Pacquiao may have no right, in my view, to sniff and condemn some of us as sub-

MANILA: This is the story of a book on Philippine native animals that recently rolled off the press, and the Team Behind The Book produced it from, you might say, chicken scratch. This is how it happened. A friend, UP Los Baños Emeritus Professor Angel Lambio asked me sometime in late 2014 or early 2015 to look at a report on Philippine native chickens, ducks and pigs and how it could be edited to interest more readers. It was in fact a project report and, as expected, technical in language. Angel knew that if you wanted the technical to be popular, you can ask Frank A Hilario. At once I fell in love with the materials and said it was the beginning of a popular book, not simply the final editing of a technical report. To cut the story short, in March of this year, the book came out: Philippine Native Animals with the subtitle Source Of Pride & Wealth Worth Conserving & Utilizing . The title was a consensus of the book authors Rene C Santiago, Angel L Lambio and Karen C Dimarana