Acts of kindness to the fallen

Lawyer Edward Serapio, former presidential counsel during the Estrada administration, once told me when he was under detention in Camp Crame in connection with Estrada’s plunder case way back in 2001, that he was so grateful for the wife of then Philippine National Police head Leandro Mendoza serving him coffee when he surrendered early in the morning at the White House, the PNP chief’s residence.

Sen. Juan Ponce-Enrile surrenders. From Yahoo.ph

Sen. Juan Ponce-Enrile surrenders. From Yahoo.ph

One can imagine Serapio’s level of stress at that moment and he said Mrs. Mendoza’s act of kindness did a lot to calm him down. He said he’ll never forget it.

Yesterday, Sen. Juan Ponce- Enrile thanked the PNP for treating him kindly, allowing him to stay at the PNP General Hospital in Camp Crame upon his surrender last Friday and allowing him to have his check up at the Asian Eye Institute in Makati the next day.

At this time when the popular sentiment is to throw stones at all those accused in the plunder of people’s money (Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, Bong Revilla et al), any act kindness to those who are down is the true essence of humanity.

It is not about the guilt of the accused. It is humaneness.

While we should be vigilant that justice is obtained in the pork barrel scam, we should also be conscious of the danger that in pursuing justice, we become hardened and lose our sense of humanity. That would be a tragedy.

The government is getting flak for giving the three senators and their co-accused a decent treatment.Never mind that it is not up to the lifestyle that the accused are accustomed to.With the whole room to each of them and an electric fan, that is luxury.

Those who have been a Philippine jail know the inhuman condition of prisons in the country.

A report by The Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) documents the “brutalizing” conditions in Philippine prisons and jail.

Part of the report says: “Extreme overcrowding is the most punishing aspect of doing time in jails maintained by the Bureau of Jail and Management Penology (BJMP), which is an agency of the Department of Interior and Local Government. In 2001, about 35,000 inmates were fighting for space in jails supervised by the bureau. Today, the number has jumped to 69,500.

“The jails in Metro Manila account for 22,000 inmates which is more prisoners than the official capacity they can accommodate. At the Manila City Jail and other prisons in the National Capital Region, inmates have to take turns sleeping on the floor.

“Based on government projections, the total jail population in BJMP-supervised jails could reach 89,000 in 2008, 101,250 in 2009 and 114,930 in 2010, way beyond the capacity of these holding facilities. These figures are only for the municipal and city jails which are under the care of the BJMP.

“Over congestion also brutalizes life in penitentiaries and in provincial jails. The projected populations of national prisons administered by the Bureau of Corrections, an agency of the Department of Justice and the jails maintained by the provincial governments must be as dreadful.

“Herding individuals in cramped spaces is cruel, inhuman, ill, degrading, and unjust punishment. Overcrowding is dangerous to health and to human life. It breeds diseases, breaks down discipline and exacerbates tensions. Having to fight for air and space 24 hours a day make prison, in the words of inmates, a living death.

“Add dirty tap water, dingy toilets, substandard meals, gang war, poorly trained guards and prison administrators, favoritism, and you have a system built for punishment, not for rehabilitation. This is not the enlightened approach to penology which is reform geared towards a subsequent productive life upon reentry to the community. It is a throwback to the 18th century that treated prisoners as animals unfit to renew themselves and rejoin society.”

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV

While others may want to dump Enrile, Estrada, Revilla et al to one of those God-forsaken jails, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, who spent seven years in detention (three in that Camp Crame quarters where Revilla and Estrada are confined now) is pushing for the passage of Senate Bill No. 793 or the Jail Integration bill which proposes for an integrated prison and jail system that provides professionalism in the rehabilitation and treatment of prisoners.

“We are promoting a just and humane society and to treat detainees like dogs is not the way to go. We have to improve our detention facilities and construct new ones to make sure that these detainees will not lose their dignity while in jail,” Trillanes said.

Lenco BTS-110 Bluetooth Speaker Review

Lenco, a Swiss audio manufacturer now headquartered in Venlo, Netherlands, is almost unheard of locally and even in some part of the worlds, but they’ve actually been around for seven decades making stellar devices like the one we have here, the Lenco BTS-110 Bluetooth Speaker.

Design and Construction

The BTS-110 is fairly small in size, merely a size of an average grown-ass man’s fist, but it’s a tad bigger compared to popular Bluetooth speakers like the regular X-Mini.

Lenco BTS-110

The majority of its square-ish body is made of glossy plastic which didn’t appeal much to our taste, but the bottom portion, which houses all the buttons, has a somewhat rubbery matte feel to it.

Speaking of buttons, all the usual suspects are present on this wireless speaker. On the front you got a trio of keys for Volume adjustment and a designated key for Play/Pause which can also be used to pick up a call when the BTS-110 is used as a hands-free device.

Over to the right side is the speaker’s Microphone hole which is sandwiched in between the AUX In and AUX Out ports. Meanwhile, the back side houses the Micro-USB port which is used for charging the speaker.

Lenco BTS-110 philippines

It is on the underbelly of the BTS-110 that you’ll find its Power switch, alongside some information about the speaker. The top side, on the other hand houses the speaker grille with a circular metal at the center which doesn’t seem to do anything but to add a touch of flare to the otherwise monotonous top panel.

Usage

Usually the lack of an on-screen display makes it difficult to operate a device such as the BTS-110. Luckily, it didn’t bother us one bit when have to pair it with an audio source for the first. Once we turned it on, it immediately broadcasted its Bluetooth signal and our smartphone was able to detect and pair with it almost instantly.

A tiny blue LED light under the Bluetooth icon signifies that the connection has been made and it will blink once every second to notify users that the connection is still active. It’ll constantly flash to tell you that that there’s no active connection and that it’s ready for pairing.

BTS-110

There’s another LED light on the other side that signifies the battery status. It doesn’t flash by default, but it’ll give a red light when the battery is about to die which is accompanied by three annoying beeps. The battery LED light turns green once the battery has been fully charged.

Battery Life

Speaking of battery, mileage is probably one of the most underappreciated feature of the BTS-110, or at least that’s what its specs sheet would want you to believe. On average it lasted around 8-10 hours on a single full charge which is three times more than what is listed on its feature set.

Sound Quality

For its size, the sound coming out of this wireless speaker is truly remarkable. When cranked to its max capacity, the speaker produces sound that’s loud enough to fill my condo unit, which is not that large by any means, but still big enough for four adults to comfortably live in.

BTS-110 Philippines

The downside, however, is the audio quality. Although the sound output doesn’t get distorted even at its peak volume, the range of sound is not as clearly defined as we hoped it would be, particularly on the lows and the highs. On the upside, the mid-tones reproduction is quite good resulting to clear vocals and well-pronounced guitar sounds.

Conclusion

Truth be told, the Lenco BTS-110 doesn’t bring anything new to the table that we haven’t seen on other Bluetooth speakers in the past. That is not to say though that it’s not worthy of your time and money, I mean the sound output alone, not to mention the lack of distortion even at high volume, is worth more than half of the price of admission.

Lenco BTS-110 Colors

We think that the subpar sound range is somewhat forgivable considering its price and the fact that it is a portable speaker, not a full-sized sound system. Still, we think that audiophiles will not give this speaker a second look, but its portable size and acceptable sound performance may just be enough to win over the casual listeners.

The Lenco BTS-110 currently retails for Php2,200 and was made available locally by Reeco Philippines. You check out their listings on this link.

What we liked about it:

* Small and lightweight build
* No-frill design
* Impressive sound output
* Comes with a carrying bag
* Long battery life

What we didn’t like about it:

* So-so sound quality
* Buttons are little hard to press
* Doesn’t come with its own charger
* Sub-par cables
* A little pricey

The post Lenco BTS-110 Bluetooth Speaker Review appeared first on YugaTech | Philippines, Tech News & Reviews.

Honda CR-V Cruiser Edition starts at Php1.43M

After recently releasing the all new Jazz, Honda Cars Philippines Inc. (HCPI) refreshes its CR-V line-up by introducing the Cruiser Edition that comes in 2.0 S and 2.4 SX models – both in automatic transmissions.

CR-V Cruiser Edition_PR

The new Cruiser Edition CR-V sports a 6-inch Kenwood Entertainment System touchscreen display that lets you play DVDs and iPods/iPhones on top of having the basic radio, CD player, and USB connectivity on-board. Navigation of the sound system is also easy with its controls on the steering wheel. In addition, you can simultaneously access its built-in Garmin navigation system while listening to music since the display has a split-screen capability.

The Honda CR-V Cruiser Edition retails at Php1,430,000 for the 2.0 S AT variant and Php1,565,000 for the 2.4 SX model. This offer is up until August 31, 2014 only so visit any of the 32 authorized Honda dealerships nationwide to know more about the available features specific to each variant and inquire how you can purchase a Honda CR-V Cruiser Edition for as low as Php15,800 monthly payment or Php113,000 down payment.

{Honda Philippines}

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Bureau of Customs donates seized laptops to DepEd

Almost 4,000 laptops seized by the the Bureau of Customs will be donated to the Department of Education (DepEd) to aid students and teachers in public elementary and high schools nationwide.

In December 2011, the Bureau of Customs seized a total of 3,915 entry-level ASUS laptops from consignee ORZA Marketing for undervaluation and misdeclaration. Although the plan to donate the said laptops to DepEd was already approved in 2012, it took time to waive the storage, demurrage, and other port charges.

keyboard

Section 2503 of the Tariffs and Customs Code of the Philippines mandates the outright seizure and forfeiture in favor of the government of goods that show a discrepancy between what an importer declared and what was found by customs examiners of over 30 percent in terms of value, volume or weight.

The ASUS laptops will be given to DepEd to support its Computer Training and Educators and Resource for Students (CompuTERS) Program which aims to bring access to computer technology to more than 20 million learners and more than 600,000 teachers across 46,603 elementary and secondary schools in the country.

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