In what you might call Braceletgate, Senator Maria Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal has earned the ire of Filipino bloggers for the yellow beaded bracelets that were being given away during the memorial services for former Philippine President Corazon “Cory” Aquino on August 5.

The bracelets included a picture of Madrigal, who, incidentally, had announced on July 31 that she would run for president in 2010 in a move that caught even her colleagues by surprise, based on this INQUIRER.net article.

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It may have taken several years and elections, but citizen journalism is expected to play a key role in covering the Philippine presidential polls in 2010.

One sign of recognition for Filipino bloggers and citizen journalists is that the Philippine Commission on Elections is officially welcoming blog coverage of the polls.

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Blogged about this issue for CNET Asia. Here’s an excerpt:

As you might expect, the Katrina Halili-Hayden Kho sex video scandal is one of the hottest topics on the Philippine blogosphere. After all, this latest video that has been leaked online involves one of the most popular Filipina sexy actresses and the beauty doctor/model Kho, who has seen his own share of the limelight as the former beau of the country’s most well-known cosmetic and dermatologic surgeon, Vicki Belo, whose clients include showbiz personalities, politicians and members of high society.

Not surprisingly, this sex scandal has also attracted the attention of Philippine legislators and government officials, with the Palace itself declaring it wants to “go hard” on Kho, according to Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, who said the videos “affect the morals of society”. Earlier, Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. (a former actor, by the way) demanded the revocation of Kho’s medical license in a privilege speech. The National Bureau of Investigation is now conducting a probe on Kho, who has been placed on the Bureau of Immigration watch list to prevent him from leaving the country. Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez has said Kho could be jailed for six years if found guilty. Amazing, isn’t it, how a “sexy issue” like this causes the Philippine Government to immediately spring into action? Unlike, say, issues such as the Philippine Book Blockade of 2009.

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Here’s an excerpt from my CNET Asia blog post.

From blogs, to microblogging tools like Twitter and Plurk, to online petitions, Filipinos are taking the fight against the Philippine government’s “book blockade” to cyberspace.

The “book blockade” refers to the decision of Philippine Customs officials to impose a tax on books which are not “educational”, such as novels, thereby curtailing the entry of imported books into the country. Here is an article written about the issue by Robin Hemley, director of the Nonfiction Writing Program at the University of Iowa, who is in the Philippines on a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an opinion piece from columnist and TV host Manuel L. Quezon III published in the leading Philippine newspaper, the Philippine Daily Inquirer. On Facebook, Louie Aguinaldo also started the cause Filipinos against the Taxation of Books by Customs.

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