The Unlawyer

This just in: Philippine police just seized and apprehended the alleged owner and operator of boybastos.com, a website described as “pornographic” by no less than senator Loren Legarda, at his Alabang, Muntinlupa home:

“GMA News’ 24 Oras reported Friday night that NBI agents invited the lone occupant of the house, Mark Verzo, 28, for fingerprinting and questioning.

“Verzo said he violated no law and told GMA News: “Freedom of expression lang ang lahat (This is all about freedom of expression).”"

AVN Ads claims that boybastos.com is the “biggest porn portal in the Philippines. 500,000 page views per day.”

For those of you who might have missed what boybastos.com was, here is an old [From 2005 - Ed.] archived copy of the site, courtesy of The Wayback Machine. Actually, some parts of the site are still up, but the, ahem, interesting portions are no longer accessible.

Ederic and The Captain’s Log both agree that tougher laws with stiffer penalties are needed to suppress Internet pornography.

Step right up, step right up: President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo offers amnesty to Reds, other armed leftist groups. The text of Proclamation 1377, strangely enough, has yet to be posted at the government’s Internet portal, but it immediately touted its benefits – that is, if Congress concurs with the President’s proposal:

“In issuing Proclamation 1377, President Arroyo stressed that “accepting rebels back into the folds of the law through amnesty, and eventually providing them access to the government’s existing socio-economic services, are essential to attaining peace and reconciliation in the country.”

“Amnesty, added the Chief Executive, is an “instrument of reconciliation,” aside from being a “path for their (the communist rebels’) return to a peaceful, democratic, and pluralistic society.””

It also looks like the government is renewing its earlier efforts of bypassing the overall leadership of the underground Left, represented by the National Democratic Front (NDF), and will once more negotiate directly with the local apparat: State plans ‘localized’ peace talks with Reds.

Let’s now turn to the jailed Jose Maria Sison, erstwhile NDF chief political consultant: Dutch court hears arguments for release of Philippines communist leader accused of murder, and in the same article, NDF chief Luis Jalandoni had this to say about the government’s latest amnesty offer:

“Jalandoni also dismissed the offer extended Friday by Arroyo’s government of amnesty to communist rebels, in an effort to revive peace talks that have been stalled since 2004. He said similar offers had been made many times in the past.

“”There’s always a possibility of a truce, but that won’t happen while these kind of actions are being carried out,” he said, referring to Sison’s arrest.”

Cross my heart and hope to… what? Read his lips: No reenacted budget for ’08.

“Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said the House of Representatives is on course in its deliberations on the 2008 budget without jeopardizing the passage of other priority measures identified at the first Legislative-Executive Advisory Council (Ledac) meeting.”

This I have to see for myself. Mark your calendars, everybody.

Here comes the cavalry: Philippine public and private sector officials propose a raft of measures to help struggling exporters cope with a strong peso. For exporters hoping for a significantly weaker peso anytime soon, I don’t think that will come to pass if this news is any guide: BSP: Forex reserves at $30.3B as of end-August .

Moving on to tech, Philippines Without Borders debunks the rationale behind the proposed National Broadband Network (NBN) and the Cyber Education Project (CEP). Here is one myth that Dave Llorito thoroughly deflates:

“”Myth number 2—The NBN will address the “digital divide.” This is Neda’s [National Economic Development Authority - Ed.] line, a dig at the private telcos, which officials say make money by concentrating their operations in the major cities but neglect the countryside. Neda officials say the NBN is a perfect foil to this trend.

“In truth, the NBN won’t address the digital divide. The backbone the NBN is going to build will be used solely by government agencies, including about 50 percent of the barangay halls. Yes, barangay halls, but not the barangay residents! Residents in remote barangays will have to wait for the rollout of private telecoms before they can even fantasize about flying in the ethereal realm of the digital world.”

If I am correct, the only government agency I know of that owns its own communications network is none other than the Armed Forces of the Philippines and even then it leases some of its long lines capacity from private telcos. Read the rest of the entry.

Elsewhere, Apple’s decision to cut USD 200 off the price of its 8-gigabyte iPhone so soon after its launch not only managed to piss off early adopters but Wall Street as well. The Cupertino, Calif. company speedily reacted to the consumer backlash by offering a USD 100 voucher to affected iPhone owners, which one writer opined is really not worth much since it can only be spent at an Apple Store:

“Accessories aside, you can walk out with an iPod shuffle, that’s about it. To make use of that store credit iPhone owners are going to have to spend more cash with Apple – in many cases, a lot more.”

The Unofficial Apple Weblog asks why the iPhone’s price was cut, and its explanation is as good as any:

“Why would Apple drop the price of something that was already hitting all the marks they expected to hit? The analysts have already started their breakdown, and if stock prices are any indication, it seems investors are sure Apple is worried (not about competitors obviously, but about expectations), and wants an extra boost. Of course, us Apple fans will disagree– Apple really does want the iPhone to be “more affordable,” and a lower price is icing on an already sweet cake. A lower price doesn’t mean desperation– it’s Apple doing what Apple does: breaking the mold and making things better for consumers.”

In the blogosphere, Manuel Viloria gives tips to bloggers angry at the Manila Standard Today for retaining politically-incorrect writer Malu Fernandez: Zapping the Traffic of Manila Standard Today. Read reason is the reason’s [Formerly known as Stepping on Poop - Ed.] tongue-in-cheek guide: Lynch Malu Fernandez from the comfort of your own home! blog @ AWBHoldings.com warns that the weekday rush hour crush at the southbound platform of the North Avenue MRT station is a disaster waiting to happen. Watergirl inquires if buying a house is really worth the financial and emotional aggravation.