From the category archives:
Looks like this one was not a case of ‘copying’. I hope she learned her lesson.
For those who have been following my post on plagiarism in Philippine Star, I got a copy of Mayenne Carmona’s apology that appeared in her column last weekend. Big thanks to Bette, one of the readers of this blog, for sending these to my email this afternoon.
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Last week I wrote about the indicative plagiarism that happened in Philippine Star. Afterwhich, I sent an email to the editor and provided the link to the original article in New York Times, for them to compare the obvious ‘copying’ made by one of their writers, Mayenne Carmona. Till date, the editor never responded through an email. However, as I was checking the online version of the related article since then, I am relieved that it was already taken out/deleted since last week.
I don’t mind not being responded by the editor. But the mere fact that they deleted the article was more than an acknowledgment of their shortcomings (rather than saying a big fault by the editor, the writers are presumably writing in good faith) and irresponsible writing.
Until yesterday, I got a comment from Bette, one of the readers of this blog. She wrote,
because of this post, inabangan ko tuloy if she will say something. aba! last sunday, she wrote a very short apology in her column. you might want to check it out.
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On July 7, I shared about the article published in NY Times titled Whom Not to Marry. This post generated a number of comments/reactions. That was actually one of the most emailed posts that week.
Over the weekend, I read the ‘almost’ same article in a Philippine broadsheet. In the Lifestyle Section of Philippine Star, Mayenne Carmona had a post which was titled the same, ‘Whom Not To Marry’. The title is not the issue. But she wrote all the same points written in NY Times with a little pinching of salt of the ‘story of her divorced friend’.
Okay. Give her the benefit of the doubt. Let’s pretend that’s purely concidental (oh, wow). But, check the closing statements:
In NY Times article, July 6 issue:
“After I regale a group with this talk, the despairing cry goes up: ‘But you’ve eliminated everyone!’ Life is unfair.”
In Philippine Star article, August 2 issue:
“How am I going to find a new husband?” sighed my newly divorced friend. “He just about eliminated everyone! Life is not fair.”
I am wondering if the lifestyle editor of Philippine Star is aware of this indicative plagiarism. To the writer, I think there is a double whammy there. Father Pat Connor is a 79-year old priest and not 70.
As we, or as most bloggers do, we do put a link back to or mention the source of our article and photo, whenever applicable. Well, that’s very basic, especially if you are writing for a broadsheet. Will it hurt to mention the source? If yes, then don’t plagiarize.
Oh well, I don’t think my post is aptly titled. Should I delete indicative? You may check the above links to judge.
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Barrio Fiesta, Abu Dhabi
When Barrio Fiesta (BF) opened in Abu Dhabi last March, I thought it’s going to kill the other nearby Filipino restaurants. Of course, how can you beat the ‘name’ especially that it is known for its authentic Filipino cuisine. I suppressed my excitement to go there expecting that it would be jampacked. To my dismay, a number of people that I personally know who dined there never had anything good to say about their experience.
Until I craved for kare-kare and well, BF along with Max’s and Triple V is known for this, I finally gave it a try. First hand observations:
(a) It never felt like I was in BF.
(b) A good number of tables are there. But, these seemed like pretty empty tables and chairs.
(c) I was there on a weekend and surprisingly, there were only a couple of tables occupied.
(d) The Philippine flag hangs from the ceiling.
(e) Television is on the middle end. As I was eating, Wowowee is being aired.
(f) I thought I had to sit and call for the waiter. No, it has to be self-service, no pretty menus on the table. I almost suspect it’s not BF. Okay, maybe they are cutting variable expenses.
(g) There’s a queue stand (there’s no queue though) like in a fastfood/carinderia. No problem with that. But, really it felt like not BF (weeheehee, how many times did I/going to say that?). Checking on the dishes displayed, not tempting. Anyway, we ordered kare-kare (my verdict later), fried chicken (nothing special, home cooked chix are much better), chicken barbecue (nothing special; restos here are not allowed to sell pork barbecue, for some obvious reasons) along with plain rice and sodas.
(h) Food in general is not reasonably priced.
My yummy looking yet tastefully awful kare-kare.
I am naturally finishing my food even if it doesn’t taste good. But this one, I didn’t get to eat even 1/3. Not worth for take out, no one’s going to like it anyway. The authentic kare-kare from BF is here.
So, a little warning on the restaurant’s name. I think its diners are mostly first-timers, and you can tell the probability if they would revisit or not. But of course, BF in the Philippines is one of the finest restaurants. There’s no caveat to that. But if we talk of BF Abu Dhabi, well, I might give it a second try after a cycle of being operational. I sure hope huge improvements are made then.
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The almost perfect and most unhuman bank robbery in Philippine history has been bugging me for two days now. Primarily because that bank is so dear to me and I happened to know (and probably personally met) at least two of the victims who were head shot dead. I had bumps the first time I catched the news in TV Patrol World. The sight of the tellers cage, the branch’s back door, etc.
I practically spent (and enjoyed life) a number of years as a bank auditor. Hence, I vividly remember the set up at the branches. I knew how it was like in and out, its flaws and strengths, the beauty and challenge of a banker’s life, and many other things that made my reasoning in this field worthwhile. It is now that I think how effective and verifiable were the Team’s recommendations on an untoward incident that a bank may face.
My dear bank has taken all the necessary preacutions and contingency planning for the branch in particular. But it is at this point that I can see my auditee/s arguing with me (and finally proven his point) that whatever precaution has been placed – alarms, closed circuit cameras, insurance, training, etc. , there would always be occurrences that are beyond the branch personnel’s control. I always insisted on mitigating controls. But, what the heck can I recommend more when the roberry is perfectly planned! Whether it was an inside job or not, it is too good to be true for the robbers to have known how to get rid off the closed circuit televisions and alarms automatically linked to police stations, etc. Knock, knock, mitigating controls. What about? and not who. Too good as an execution, to horrible to kill someone, to unhuman to take the lives of all the branch personnel and a depositor’s representative.
A special audit related to this would be (is being) conducted soon. I just can imagine what my friends cum seasoned auditors previous officemates are going through right now. Not to mention the eerie environment that the branch has. That is absolutely surpassing my Cotabato branch assignment in 2003 – each waking moment then I thanked God more that there were no bullets that came our way. Well, that’s another story.
Scary, it is. All branch personnel (plus a depositor’s representative), head shot dead. What a morbid revamp. I am hoping that justice would grace the scenario soon. Let’s pray for the victims and their beloved families to be at their strongest and most forgiving state (though it is in its most impossible stage right now). It would be unbearable to shiver during cash count and audit fieldwork sooner or later as the auditors see and feel traces of them. Lucky you if you don’t have a third eye. Scary.
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