Customs Government Employee Fired for ill-gotten Wealth

Not to generalize but I think almost all office of customs has its rotten official, by personal experience even small packages they are taken to make some bucks.

What took so long for them to punish those officials who are taking advantage of their power?

"The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the dismissal from government service of Chief Customs Operations Officer Rafael Mendoza Merencilla—an official of the Bureau of Customs (BOC) assigned at the Port of Manila—for making false declarations in his Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs)," reports Michael Punongbayan in The Philippine Star.

The report explained: "The Ombudsman found that Merencilla earned only PHP449,676 annually while his wife, also a BOC employee, earned PHP176,184 per year but the official failed to declare at least six properties located in Lipa City and Las Piñas, with the property in Lipa measuring at least 18,535 square meters."

But, wait, there's more.
"Merencilla also failed to declare seven vehicles and from 1997 to 2009, his cash-on-hand increased from PHP30,000 in 1997 to PHP9,145,493.04 in 2009," pointed out the report.
Then, based on records submitted by the Bureau of Immigration, the Merencilla family also went on "several trips to the United States, Tokyo and Bangkok."
Most telling of all was the increase in Merencilla’s total assets from PHP4,480,000 in 1997 to PHP29,301,380.64 in 2009.

Bottom line: Things just don't add up.
Merencilla, who is tagged as "administratively liable," also had his civil service eligibility canceled and his retirement benefits taken away. He is barred him from re-entering government service.

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Will You Agree in 4 Days School Week?

MANILA -- The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is proposing a 4-day school week for elementary and high school students to reduce traffic as major construction projects start.

The construction of the Skyway 3, which will connect the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) with South Luzon Expressway (SLEX), will begin on Monday.

According to MMDA, the average speed of 30 kilometers per hour along major roads in Manila could be cut in half because of heavy traffic. This means motorists and commuters will have to spend more time on the road just to get to their destinations.

Around 23 schools in Metro Manila will be affected by the road projects, the MMDA said.

To reduce the burden on students and help lessen the number of commuters on the streets, MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino wants to change the 5-day school week to just 4 days.

"Lalong-lalo na yung mga schools na malapit sa construction site. Maging staggered yung pasukan, hindi sabay-sabay pumapasok, going at the same time to the same place," he said.

He plans to discuss the proposal with the Department of Education (DepEd) officials.

The MMDA earlier proposed a distance learning system for college and university students, as well as flexible working hours in companies and offices.

Parents say no to 4-day school week

However, some parents are opposed to the idea of reducing the number of school days, saying that the new schedule will affect their children's studies.

With a shorter school week, students may learn less, according to parents interviewed by ABS-CBN News. It will also be more difficult for teachers who will have less time for their classes and lectures.

Some colleges, like the Ateneo School of Government, are open to the suggestion, and would like to look at the benefits of the MMDA's proposal.

According to DepEd assistant secretary for planning Jesus Mateo, they cannot implement a new policy without consulting stakeholders.

"Kailangan pag-aralan natin iyun. Hindi tayo magpapatupad ng polisiya na hindi natin kinokonsukta ang stakeholders. Kailangan natin pag-aralan iyung context. Iba iyung sitwasyon sa rural at iba sa urban. Pwede dito sa siyudad, baka pwede iyun pero kailangan natin pag-aralan ito," he added.

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Flappy Bird Already Generating $50k per day in Ad Revenue

Helicopter games are nothing new, not by a long shot. But, sometimes a game will capture the attention of the masses at just the right time.

Flappy Bird seems to be that game right now. The game is very difficult (some would say annoyingly difficult or perhaps rage-inducingly difficult), but it is crazy popular anyway. It is so popular that it is reportedly generating an average of $50,000 per day in ad revenue.

That is an impressive number for a game that was "inspired" by a pipe level from Super Mario Bros, with the physics of a Mario Bros water level, and a character based on the Cheep Cheep (a flying fish, not a bird) from the same game. Add in that it is an insta-kill any time you touch anything, and you have the recipe for a hit. Of course, being at the top of the iTunes and Google Play charts for about a month will definitely help with reaching that level of revenue. The app has been downloaded about 50 million times and has garnered very high reviews in both app stores.

Maybe the most impressive of all is that the game was created by Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen, who made the game as a part time project after school. In all, the game took him about three days to create, and now it is generating an average of $50,000 in ad revenue every day. Of course, Nguyen does openly admit that he got lucky with this game. Statistics have shown that with the glut of games and apps these days, the chances of hitting it big are incredibly low, but Nguyen has managed it.

Nguyen even said in an interview with The Verge that he feels like "Flappy Bird has reached a state where anything added to the game will ruin it somehow". He has considered adding an in-app payment to remove the ads, but might not bother. Given that quote, we probably can't expect volume controls either. Nguyen feels like he got lucky finding the right balance of difficulty and fun with this game, so he has already started thinking about his next game.

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Hong Kong: US Bomb from World War Two Defused by Police

Hong Kong police have successfully defused a 2,000 pound (900kg) bomb from World War Two, described as the biggest wartime bomb to be found in the city.

 More than 2,200 people were evacuated when the bomb was found in a construction site in the city's Happy Valley district on Thursday afternoon.

The AN-M66 bomb contained 1,000 pounds (450kg) of explosives.

The device is believed to have been dropped by the US Navy during WW2, when Japan occupied the then British colony.

Senior bomb disposal officer Jimmy Yuen said the disposal had taken a long time because of "technical problems when drilling holes into the bomb and because of the large amount of explosives inside it".

More than 2,200 people were evacuated on Thursday

"Because the explosive inside was very sensitive, we had to cut the shell in a low-temperature environment, so the process took longer than expected," he added.

On Thursday, he had told reporters that the bomb, if it exploded, could affect a radius of up to 10m (30ft) and damage nearby buildings.
Other unexploded bombs from WW2 have been discovered in Hong Kong in the past.

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How to Get High Score in Flappy Bird

Simple yet challenging. That's how the #1 popular apps games "FLAPPY BIRD".

I downloaded it on my IOS phone now which is widely spread by social media and by word of mouth.

So, I got this simple tips to make this bird upfloating and can pass those up and down pipe line.

-- Relax the finger
-- Keep them quick and light
-- Give a break sometime
-- Bigger screen have the advantage because the small screen its kinda cover by the finger and can't see the flapping bird. LOL
-- Avoid tapping it too hard as it will go up and hit the pipe than syncing it on lower mode
-- Learn the sync
-- Enjoy!

Hope this will help to keep you FLAP FLAP FLAP on the way to the ELUSIVE SCORE TOP!

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