Hello there.
This week has been full of quacks, or should I say duck noises. Don't worry, we're not quacks! Every week, we continue to bring you important news and thoughts from the beak.
📝 Deliverables
📰 Published two blog posts on Timow’s Turf over the weekend: one on illegal streaming and the other on the revival of an AM radio station owned by a government-sequestered network after two decades.
📊 The Monthly Sundry Survey for February is now live and ready for participation.
News from the Past Week
🇵🇭 NATIONAL
✈️ San Miguel-led consortium bags NAIA privatization project | GMA News
🎥 Filmmaker, 3 others face arson raps | PhilStar
☣️ Chinese fishers use cyanide to destroy Bajo de Masinloc—BFAR | Manila Bulletin
✝️ Cardinal Tagle inducted to French Legion of Honor | Inquirer
🔙 DTI: 'No video, no refund policy' is illegal | GMA
💰 Senate gives P100 minimum wage hike bill final nod | GMA
🌴 REGIONAL
⛪ Panels stolen from Cebu church surface in National Museum; Cebuanos want them back | Rappler
⚰️ (TW: Suicide) Girlfriend, boyfriend end lives in separate suicides | PhilStar
🌐 INTERNATIONAL
🇺🇸 US Elections 2024
💸 Trump Must Pay $354.9 Million, Barred From NY Business for 3 Years | VOA News
🚫🏷️ No Labels ‘talking with several exceptional leaders,’ national co-chair says | Politico
Other Pieces
🇷🇺 Navalny's death: Reactions from around the world | Reuters
✝️ The last four nuns of a Spanish convent seek sisters to keep it open | Reuters
SPORTS
💥 UFC 298: Ilia Topuria flattens Alexander Volkanovski | Yahoo Sports
🌊 100-year-old diver performs dive at the 2024 World Championships | CNN
MEDIA & TECH
📡 SkyCable Shutdown
As you already know, Sky Cable will shut down this Monday after 32 years. PLDT has taken over. Cignal will be the top player in the national pay TV scene but can’t carry ANC and TeleRadyo Serbisyo to protect their counterparts, One News and One PH. Thus, Cablelink (Metro Manila's regional CATV provider) and G Sat had to step in.
OLD NEWS: As door closes for Sky, window opens for Converge | PhilStar
Other Tech News
DITO Home Prepaid 4G Starter Kit now available | NoypiGeeks
🎭 ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE
🛍️ Ayala Malls Redesign
No more getting lost in Glorietta. Ayala Malls, including Ayala Center Cebu and Greenbelt 1, are set for a major overhaul. Ayala Land Inc. has announced a plan to spend around ₱13 billion to redevelop its major malls in Metro Manila and Cebu, aiming to meet the new needs and tastes of consumers. The redesign includes "intuitive wayfinding" and a "fresh aesthetic" to improve the mall's design, as well as the transformation of the 30-year-old Ayala Center Cebu. Furthermore, Greenbelt 1 in Makati will be demolished and rebuilt into a more contemporary establishment. These efforts reflect Ayala Malls' commitment to modernizing and enhancing the shopping experience for consumers.
🫰🏻K Stuff
5 K-Dramas That Are Actually Set and Filmed in the Philippines | Preview.ph
A Filipino Carat made SEVENTEEN his thesis subject—here are his most important findings | PhilStar Life
Other Entertainment News
💒 Heart Evangelista and Chiz Escudero's renewal of vows and Sparkle star's birthday | GMA
💍 Ria Atayde and Zanjoe Marudo are engaged! | GMA
🛞 Rita Daniela confesses to being a third party to a celebrity couple in the past | GMA
🏚️ [Gossip] Tahanang Pinakamasaya (TAPE, Inc. new noontime show) has P800M debt due to GMA | PEP.ph
🎤🎸🎶 Filipinos rank 4th among top concert spenders in Asia-Pacific | GMA
👑 Ex-Miss Universe president Paula Shugart to sue pageant's owner over 'false' corruption allegations | PhilStar Lifestyle
⚰️ OBITUARY: Filmmaker Tikoy Aguiluz, 72 | GMA
🤔 Opinion & Insight Pieces
😭 Why friendship break-ups happen and how to deal with them, according to a therapist | Rappler
🫛 Timow’s Weekly Editorial: Two Peas in a Pod?
Last week, Indonesians made an important decision by electing Joko Widodo's successor in a single round rather than two. This decision, however, has prompted comparisons with the Philippines' electoral history in 2022.
Preliminary results show that Prabowo Subianto received 59% of the vote, eliminating the need for a runoff. (Unlike Indonesia, we do not use a two-round voting system to elect presidents.)
Prabowo, who previously ran against Jokowi in the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections, later became the defense minister during Jokowi's second and final term. His campaign was marred by allegations of unethical behavior and collusion, but his "cute grandpa" persona drew the attention of many younger voters. However, those familiar with Indonesian history were concerned about Prabowo's involvement in the 1998 Jakarta riots and his close ties to former Indonesian President Suharto. He was accused of leading a unit that kidnapped and tortured democracy activists under Suharto's regime, as well as inciting race riots in Jakarta. The son of the current President, Gibran Rakabuming, serves as Prabowo's running mate.
The campaign tactics used in Indonesia may be familiar to Filipinos and one could say that that his election would distort Indonesian history and accuse Indonesians of historical amnesia.
There are other notable differences between the presidential systems of the Philippines and Indonesia. Under our Constitution (as it stands for the moment), Presidents serve a single six-year term, whereas in Indonesia, they serve a five-year term and can be re-elected only once. Additionally, Indonesia votes for a presidential ticket, whereas the Philippines votes for the President and Vice President separately.
Despite these differences, Filipinos cannot help but notice the similarities, particularly with the UniTeam duo (which ended up as a marriage of convenience). Whatever they did in the campaign then may soon realize that their Constitution limits their authority — at least in the fundamental, skeletal functions. But in spirit, both countries' supreme laws established after their authoritarian rules have been perverted and pulverized.
Prabowo's victory in Indonesia may result in the further erosion of democratic checks and balances, institutions, and individual liberties. The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index, published last week, ranked the Philippines 53rd out of 167 countries (one notch lower than last year) and Indonesia 56th (two notches lower).
If Indonesians were to think like Filipinos, they might wonder if Anies Baswedan will start a non-governmental organization. Will Indonesia's most intelligent, principled, and open-minded citizens leave the country to seek prosperity elsewhere?
The oath of the new President and Vice President of Indonesia will be in October. If democratic forces do not return stronger by a decade, both Indonesians and Filipinos may witness their fellow citizens voting for hand-picked successors without conditions and embrace their respective new orders of their countries.
✋Hey, Before You Go…
🐤 What’s with the duck hairclip lately? Preview.ph has the answers.
🏛️ Here’s a random YouTube video of King Charles III’s town:
🗨️ Quote: "Certain people have wanted to put me behind bars for a long time now. That's part of my work. If I were afraid, I couldn't do what I do." ~ Alexei Navalny (1976-2024)
Your Chief Tiller of a patch of the cyberspace,
— Timow
However, deal has been CANCELLED as of Feb.22. PLDT's sale of Sky Cable will not proceed and thus it will continue operations.