Standoff over a piece of rock

This article here says that St. Rita is the saint for the impossible. I am tempted to ask St. Rita to make China behave and stop bullying us over a piece of rock.

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The Panatag Shoal, which is the cause of the standoff between the Phl and China, is actually a piece of rock that looks like a giant “lugod” or pumice stone in the middle of the West Philippine Sea. It is uninhabited except by “agukoys” A Phl flag flies over this rock.

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Five Chinese warships — repeat: warship, not bancas — have been deployed around the Panatag Shoal, says this news item here, to prevent the Philippine Navy from arresting the Chinese fishermen pouching in Phl waters.

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This is like sending five bouncers to your house to protect the burglars who have broken into it.

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Manny Pacquiao is busy parrying the blows and trying to get out of the ropes where he is concerned and pummeled for hurting the feelings and sensibilities of the gays by his statement against them.

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The angry gays are challenging Pacman to be man enough to accept his mistake in quoting the Bible on gays and lesbians.

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Five years ago, a group of students went tree planting in a hilly barangay in Cebu. By this time the trees must have already grown to their maximum growth. But no. They didn’t grow an inch. They disappeared.

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This according to one of the students who took part in the tree planting activity. “Wa’y bisag usa sa mga seedling ang nabuhi,” he said. “Mo-pitch na unta ko og tent ubos sa tree nga gitanum ko pag-abot ko gikan sa Australia...”

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This student left for Australia after the tree planting to pursue his studies.

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That was five years ago. “All the while I was thinking of the three trees I planted when I was a student,” he said.

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OVERHEARD. During a fight between a schoolteacher and her businessman husband, someone heard the wife say this: “Naunsa ka man (husband) oy mangirida ka man og tinderag bananacue...”