The Rainbow Blog Philippines

My reaction [dumbest reaction, ever of BIG.BAD.EJ ; duh...] to the 9th (and supposedly last) State of the Nation Address (SONA) of Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, no matter how thorough, detailed, backed up with hard statistics, and seemingly "intellectual" it was from an "economist's" point of view, can be summarized in one text joke I received the same day: Ano ang kaibahan ng FAIRY TALE sa SONA ? Ang FAIRY TALE ay kwentong di totoo na may DUWENDE . Ang SONA , may DUWENDE na nagkukuwento ng di totoo. =)) The country looks so good and progressive based on this 2009 SONA . But why is it that, in reality, it is not? Why is it that the Filipinos, the ultimate end point, do not see nor feel any measure of progress at all? In summary, three things to describe the 9th SONA : Fashion show Retaliation Fake Here's a full transcript of the 9th SONA for reference.

By Kristine Servando www.abs-cbnnews.com www.newsbreak.com.ph The Philippines has seen an "alarming" increase in HIV cases in the past year, especially among overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and men who have sex with men (MSM), according to data from the Dept. of Health, as cited by the United Nations Deve lopment Programme (UNDP). "Last May, the country had 85 reported cases of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the highest ever in the country. That's like 3 people a day, more cases than the A (H1N1) virus," said Danton Remoto, UNDP Communications officer, at the country's 1st National Conference on MSM, Transgender, and HIV last July 22. There have been 3,911 HIV cases since 1984, according to Department of Health (DOH) data as of May 2009. All HIV cases were transmitted through sexual contact, with 36% of cases transmitted through homosexual contact and 89% of cases caused by unprotected sex. Other "vulnerable groups" are OFWs (making up ...

In 2008, Copenhagen was ranked as the Number 1 Most Livable City in the World. To this day, it is living up to its reputation as the host of the World Outgames 2009 . Last Saturday, July 25, was the Opening Ceremony of the Outgames. All the delegates to the Sports, Culture and Human Rights tracks from the different countries of the world trooped to the city square for the Parade of Nations and the Opening Program. For this purpose, I brought a modernized traditional Filipino garment, the patadyong (see pic above). The patadyong is just a piece of colorful woven fabric that Filipino women from Panay Island wear as a wrap-around. Since, I was the only one in traditional Filipino wear, the members of our delegation, composed of members of the Filipino community in Copenhagen and others from other parts of the world (see pic below), decided for me to be the muse of the delegation, allowing me kindly to walk in front of them as the front liner. The Parade of Nations and the Opening Ceremo...

I am 24 years old.(Just celebrated my birthday a day ago) I know it’s not really a big deal since I’m relatively “young” but like what my friend said, it’s “the year” before I reach my quarter life (crisis?). This is of course in accordance to the assumption that I’ll live for 100 years. *fingers crossed* The cliché goes that age is but a number. Therefore, we shouldn’t really be bothered whether we are 16 or 60. While cleaning my closet this morning, I saw my super dusty math book (Hi Mr. Leithold!). If there is ONE thing that math taught me it would be the fact that numbers do matter. The ancient Greek philosopher, Pythagoras was right all along. Numbers are everything. Let me give a little exercise just to prove my point that numbers matter in this shithole of a world we live in. Let's begin with my so-called life. I've been living for more or less 8760 days or 210, 240 hours or 12, 614, 440 minutes or 756,864, 000 seconds! I have 1 sister and had a total of 34 pet do...

"All you need is Love. Love is all you need" -The Beatles Does Love really exist? Does love really, really exist? When at this very second an innocent child is dying in Africa because of AIDS. When at this very moment a school girl is being raped by a group of bored rich kids who are not afraid of being caught because they belong to a family of politicians. When at this very moment a hungry street child is standing outside the window of a store that says "It serves billions." When at this very moment, a child is secretly crying inside her bedroom closet because she overheard her parents arguing again for the hundredth time. When at this very moment a mother is skipping meals in London just to save up so that she can send her family their monthly allowance in the Philippines. When at this very moment a gay college student is being beaten up and ridiculed for just being himself. When at this very moment the corrupt governor is buying a brand new car while his driver...

Philstar.com / Yahoo news MANILA, Philippines — A partylist that represents members of the so-called "Third Sex" or homosexuals and transgenders will most likely get the accreditation from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in time to join the polls next year, an official said today. Ladlad head Danton Remoto said they are confident to get the nod of the poll body, paving the way for them to participate in the 2010 elections. "The Comelec has talked to us and told us that we will only have to prove that we have a national membership," Remoto said. Ladlad has a 22,000 current membership and affiliates nationwide, "We also have 10 regional chapters in the country," the Ladlad chief added. The Comelec has thumbed down Ladlad's accreditation during last 2007 elections, saying that the partylist does not represent a marginalized and underpriviledged sector of society. Remoto said they also optimistic to get one of the 55 slots alloted for t...

The High Court in Delhi ruled that the Indian penal code outlawing consensual sex between homosexual adults violates the right to life, privacy and dignity in the Indian Constitution. The Court cited the Yogyakarta Principles. The High Court in Delhi ruled that the Indian penal code outlawing consensual sex between homosexual adults violates the right to life, privacy and dignity in the Indian Constitution. The Court cited the Yogyakarta Principles. If you would like to read the historic 105 page judgment, it is available at the Times of India website . In addition to Indian case law, the Court's judgment cited numerous international treaties and other instruments as well as case law from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong, and Nepal. The Yogyakarta principals were referred to as follows: Paragraph 43 (citation omitted): On 26th March, 2007, a group of human rights experts launched the Yogyakarta Principles on the A...

by Naomi Fontanos & Rica Paras My good friend from the Society of Transsexual Women of the Philippines (STRAP) , Rica Paras and I wanted to have a fun and relaxing 4th of July weekend and were vacillating between going to the beach and staying in the city. Rica, who graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) with honors and has been working for the same multi-national company in the last six years, decided for us to just book ourselves at the Renaissance Hotel in Makati City for a night, to redeem her accumulated points for staying in various Marriott hotels around the globe due to her work. As a Globally Certified IT Consultant working in one of her company’s big accounts, Rica’s job not only requires her to put in long hours but also to travel to her company’s various headquarters around the world training people in sales, product distribution and finance. Every time she is on a business trip, her company books her in a Marriott hotel so she has stayed in Marriott hote...

60 Minutes June 28, 2009 Manila Bulletin Will Danton Remoto be the Philippines’ answer to Harvey Milk? Milk made history in 1977 when he became the first openly gay man elected into public office. Remoto is yet to do the same, but the impact he’s made on the Filipino lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is certainly as impressive as Milk’s history-making feat. Remoto, with fellow writer J. Neil Garcia, was behind the pioneering “Ladlad: An Anthology of Philippine Gay Literature.” Its effect on Filipino culture has been immense. Ladlad has gone through several editions, has resulted in the teaching of gay literature classes at the University of the Philippines and Ateneo de Manila University, and is credited for Ang Ladlad, the partylist that Remoto formed in 2003. “We started in September 2003 with only one mandate — to help Akbayan push the Anti-Discrimination Bill which was filed in 1999,” he says of Ang Ladlad’s beginnings. “Congress is not really against it but t...

You know when you're just standing there, minding your own business, and then some song comes on from hell-know's-where, and it just reminds you of your awesome partner (or companion, if you're that way inclined). A few days from now it'll be another memorable day for both of us and I have ran out of ideas on how to surprise him. (silly me) lol. Since we both love music, I thought it would be nice to make a compilation CD for him. I made my own cover of the songs with an acoustic feel. And this time to make it more personal, I will be singing the songs. Please bear with the squeeking and etc... lol. Here's a list of songs that reminded me of my amazing hubby, Pierre. Now, I think it would be nice to share it with you guys. You can download the whole compilation here Well, as a matter of fact, I'd love to share the details of how, when and why they hit me so hard, but I guess its way toooooo uber personal. hahaha. Just wanted to let you know guys that even...

I find it quite difficult to be unaffected by what people think or say about me. I’m human, I’m a social being. I need other people around me to feel happy, I need them to share my grieve. Of course that means that you have to open up for other people and let them be part of your life. That also means that along the way you’re bound to get hurt or that someone is going to flatter you for the wrong reasons. Learning to deal with that is an important part of growing up. But I also have learned that sometimes wisdom comes in the form of criticism. If you take a minute to think about what people are actually saying, you will find that very often there is an element of truth. You may not like the packaging, but there still is a little present inside. If you think it is worthwhile you can keep it, if not you can throw it away. Compliments and criticisms are like rain drops striking the roof of a house: they just roll right on off. But if you want you can catch them and use them to grow somet...

▀ ▀ ▀: Paano kaya kung may FACEBOOK na noong panahon ng mga KATIPUNERO? hahahah adik!!! kaaliw.

DANTON REMOTO Ang Ladlad Chair 2010 Senatorial Candidate One senator running for re-election saw my campaign manager, a transgender named Bemz Benedito, and told her: "Hoy, 'yang boss mo, ang lakas-lakas ng loob tumakbo ng senator. Wala namang partido. Wala ring pera. Mataas man siya sa mga surveys at mock polls ngayon, surveys at mock polls lang 'yan." To which my campaign manager just arched her well-trimmed eyebrows. I have trained her to ignore stray dogs. Miffed, senatorial candidate added: "And you can tell that to your boss!" The problem with Bratinellas (brats who become senators) is that, after winning by a fluke because of a TV melodrama about their family's life, they think they can now win the top spot in the 2010 senatorial elections. Because that is what this reelectionist wants, to be on top of the heap in 2010. I have said it before and I am saying it now: The youth vote will be a youth quake in the 2010 elections. Boto mo, ipatrol mo, is...