Archive for March, 2008
“Babangon Ako’t Dudurugin Kita” got a decent rating in its premier telecast!
“GMA 7’s promotions for Babangon – a new strategy?”
Last January, three Telenovelas were launched simultaneously by rival network ABS-CBN Channel 2: LOBO, PALOS and Kung Fu Kids. ABS-CBN which is noted for a very elaborate promotional campaign for its coming tv shows went high gear and in full speed for the launching of the three shows. As one of my officemates complained then, “the tv plugging and ad spots came out almost every commercial break in almost all the shows. In addition, Piolo Pascual joined the 1 versus 100 game show and Angel Locsin made the rounds of all the talk shows to promote the Lobo. Well, the elaborate promo campaign if we were to believe the results of AGB Nielsen did not result to high ratings of the three shows compared to the shows of GMA 7.
Read More..>>“Extra Challenge: Passport Renewal at the DFA, Conclusion”
When my turn came to submit my renewal application, the evaluator told me that I looked familiar. I smiled and told her if she is watching TV series and she immediately shouted and said that I was the Professor in Lobo! She caught the attention of the people waiting in the line and the other evaluators! That was the greatest consolation that I got for the pains of going through Extra Challenge!
After my ego tripping portion with the evaluator, we were told to proceed to the DFA auditorium for the encoding. I followed the flow of the people going to the Auditorium only to find myself again following another long line! This time however, it is physically painful, the line was so long that we were already outside the building under the burning 12:00 noon sun! It took the guards and the DFA staff some 10 minutes to decide that since the line towards the auditorium is already very long such that we were already exposed to the sun, they herded us to the lines of the cashier.
Read More..>>“Extra Challenge: Passport Renewal at the DFA, Part 2?
As I walked closer to my target, the gate 2 of DFA, I began to see a crowd of people. I stopped in front of the gate and asked someone if indeed it was gate 2. After hearing from the guy the confirmation that indeed I was already in front of my target, I went closer to a guard manning the gate. I proudly told him I have an 11:00 a.m. appointment for my passport renewal which I got through the DFA website at the internet. Very casually, the guard told me to fall in line and follow the flow of the people that have to go through a normal security check of their belongings if they carry bombs or guns. I followed the guard’s order, anyway it is just like getting into a mall, I have to go through it.
After going through the line for security check, I noticed that the number people is getting bigger inside. I asked another guard where am I suppose to go for my 11:00 a.m. appointment for my passport renewal, again proudly telling him that I got the appointment through the DFA website at the internet. The guard with the same cold answer as that of the guard at the security check entrance pointed to me to another line of people, this time it was a long circuitous line, and told me follow the line. Hesitantly, I answered back emphasizing to him that I got an appointment for 11:00 a.m. through the DFA website at the internet and that it was only 10:30 a.m. how could I be falling into a long line. The guard coldly responded in a more stern manner, reaffirming that it is the line for
Read More..>>“Extra Challenge: Passport Renewal at the DFA, Part 1″
My passport was one month before its expiry date when I went abroad last August . Since we are now on our planning stage to visit Bangkok this July which would include a route taking the train from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, I have to renew my passport. In the past renewals, I simply availed of the services of Teleserve Inc. of Aboitiz 2GO passport delivery without any hassle. The 1,500 pesos I paid for the renewal was very reasonable considering that our old passports were picked up from my office and the new ones were also delivered to my office after a few days.
A few months ago, the Department of Foreign Affairs started to upgrade the Philippine passport to a machine readable one, meaning that upon entry of a Filipino passport holder in other countries his passport would just simply be swiped into the machine by the Immigration Officer for him to access the information of the passport holder. Under this system, all passport applicants are required to personally appear at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
Read More..>>