Time Out At Tiza

Miss Iggy was just chillin' in this small barangay in Roxas City, Capiz called Tiza and noticed the big banner by a re-elected official expressing gratitude for the votes he received.

Star Governor

"Star For All Seasons" Vilma Santos-Recto is also the Star Governor of the province of Batangas. Her first passion is superstardom and her name has graced many award-winning roles in the history of Philippine cinema. Her current passion is politics as a public servant in the land of Barako Coffee and Balisong fan-knives.

The PCOS (Please Color Our Spheres) Experience

Like the rest of the Philippine voting population on May 10th, Miss Iggy was excited to take part in the first-ever automated nationwide elections, in which the PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan) machines made a debut and made voting so much quicker, in stark contrast to the queues that people had to endure that day.

The method of voting requires people to completely darken the circles next to their desired candidates' names. The slightest marking deviation will render your ballot useless.

They say the only constant thing in life is change. But despite this technological change, some dirty things in Philippine politics sadly stay the same such as power outages, vote-buying, and election-related violence.

Did you know that PCOS Machine tweets and has become a Twitter superstar with over 12,000 followers?

halalan 2010

it is the last day for campaigns & mr. iggy can't wait to get rid of those eyesores along the streets. he is likewise looking forward to exercising his constitutional right of suffrage & ultimately experiencing the first ever automated elections in the country.
god bless you philippines!

miss iggy at the manila comic con

miss iggy found herself at the manila comic con yesterday. gupit binata x is the band playing onstage. the manila comic con is a comics fair where comics geeks from all walks of life come to converge. there were various tables selling action figures from comics and film, both vintage and newly produced toys. there were also tables selling a whole lot of comic books and some were tables of our very own comic book artists- gerry alanguilan, to name one, had his own table there.



there was a table for doll collectors in the event and miss iggy was happy to see these two sweethearts! the doll people saw miss iggy and said she was pretty.



there was also a wall for bye-bye signatures for the late president cory aquino. miss iggy predicts this cory aquino fever will not be dying anytime soon. also at the back is The Box, flashing cory aquino's signature "Laban" hand sign. The Box is a different take on costume playing and miss iggy thinks this Box is a commentary on the expensively-dressed cosplaying kids who are only in for the fun of dressing up and being Japanese wannabes.

Goodbye, Mrs. President

Miss Iggy would like to take this moment to announce the Philippines' great loss when former President Corazon "Cory" C. Aquino passed away in the early hours of August 1st in Makati City. She had succumbed to cardiac arrest as a complication of her colon cancer. She was 76.

President Aquino, a self-proclaimed housewife of slain Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., was a devout Catholic who defeated dictator and former President Ferdinand Marcos in a snap election held in 1986. This sparked the historic People Power Revolution in EDSA which literally embodied the phrase "power to the people," ending a 20-year dictatorship by her deposed presidential opponent in a peaceful way.

Her battlecry was "Laban" or Filipino for "fight," symbolized by the L-shaped hand sign. Her trademark color was yellow, inspired by the song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree" which she had dedicated to her exiled husband who was kept as a political prisoner by Marcos and who was later assassinated.

President Aquino became the first Female President of the Philippines and of Asia. She was honored as Time Magazine's "Woman of the Year" in 1986. All of us at Miss Iggy's Sisterhood were mere kids at the time, but we grew up learning about the important political event that changed our country, and so will future generations. During her term, a new Philippine Constitution (1987) was enacted, ensuring the democracy of the Philippine Republic and upholding the rights of people that were abused and ignored under the Marcos regime.

Thank you, Tita Cory, for empowering the Filipino people, for inspiring us with your faith, and for showing us what Girl Power is all about.

[Yellow flowers at the Luneta Park in Manila, Philippines, December 2008]

yes, he did!

although miss iggy couldn't personally be in washington, DC, she watched the historic inauguration of barack obama as the united states of america's 44th president via CNN live.

miss iggy was enthralled by the "first lady of soul," miss aretha franklin's rendition of "my country 'tis of thee." she also loved her big, studded bow hat.

vice-president joe biden was first to be administered the oath.

and finally, mr. obama took his oath as administered by US chief justice john g. roberts. he used the same bible that former president abraham lincoln used in his inauguration in 1861. this bible is part of the US library of congress' collection and has never been used since lincoln did in 1861.

first lady michelle obama beams proudly at her husband. miss iggy loooves mrs. obama's sense of style. her inaugural outfit was made by one of her favorite designers, cuban-american isabel toledo.

good luck, mr. president!

barack the vote!

november 4th is election day in the united states. this is considered a historic presidential election because of a reported huge voter turnout especially amongst younger people, and also because the winning candidate will either be the first african-american president, or the oldest president and the first female vice-president.

when you choose one president, you automatically choose his vice-president. they are voted in pairs, not individually.

above is a sample ballot that voters get in the mail to acquaint themselves with the candidates' names. america uses voting machines where you only need to press a button next to the name of your desired candidate. no writing required. the process is quick and easy...you're done in less than 5 minutes.

aside from the president and vice-president, voters from each state get to choose one senator, one member of the house of representatives, one county clerk, and unique to new jersey: one member of the "board of chosen freeholders."

here is the closest voting venue to our place: the dennis o'brien elementary school in dover, new jersey. it was quiet in there when we went this morning. also, no campaign paraphernalia in the school premises can be seen unlike in the philippines.

yes we can

spotted this campaign sticker outside a filipino store in jersey city. miss igorota can't vote. but while there's life, there's HOPE.

check out the "yes we can" music video created out of one of barack obama's speeches here.

hukbong bayan

miss igorota and a sign posted on the classroom's blackboard in UP Diliman

"Join the People's Army- Kabataang Makabayan, Andres Bonifacio Chapter"

and below, in chalk, a hilarious juxtaposition:

Classes are suspended... (probably because the students have gone up the mountains or something, nyaha)

is great studying in a school where stuff like these are allowed to be posted on the blackboards and you get to see them side-by-side with literary theories and other school stuff. hee.