The ActiveTalker

Nowadays, a full-time employed person’s salary is not enough to cover the daily-to-monthly expenses. Some people invests in multi-level marketing (MLM), a popular home-based entrepreneurship that a lot of people has been successful. Not all are legit but most of them are. You need to be persuasive enough but not annoying as to be able to entice potential clients to buy. Some use social media networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. They post their products, and sometimes their achievements but most of the time, other people’s exploits.

If you’re not into selling, here’s a simple workaround for you to earn extra money. It may take some time but it will never fail – opening a savings account. But how would your money earn if you just keep it in a bank? The answer is interest.

In banking terms, interest is what the bank pays you for using the money you entrust them by lending it to other people as loan or credit (either cards or overdrafts).

APR VS APY

Some banks lend your money to other people and shows them the APR (annual percentage rate). The APR is the annual rate of the interest, simple as that (i.e., if monthly rate is 1%, then the APR is 1×12 = 12% APR). But what you don’t see is that the interest compounds monthly (most of the time). This is where APY (annual percentage yield) comes into play. APY will be explained later in this article.

If your balance stays on your card for a month, your interest will be equivalent to 12% – the yearly rate. But if it stays for a year, it’s a different story. The effective interest rate will be 12.68% from the monthly compounding.

In terms of lending, some banks will quote you the APR. It may look like a small figure but if you really analyse, you’ll end up paying more because it does not take into consideration the compounding within the period you owe them the money (they call it term for loans). On the other hand, they usually pay depositors back less than half of what they earned after lending the money you lent them to other people. Check your local bank’s lending against their savings interest rate. Sounds clever? Well, that’s how the bank earns money.

Simple VS Compounded Interests

Simple interest pays a fixed amount over time. A way to explain this is:
You deposited money at a bank with a 5% simple interest rate on savings.

Principal amount = £1000
Simple interest = Principal x 5%
Year 1 = £1000 + £50 (interest)
Year 2 = £1000 + £50 (interest)

After 2 years, your £1000 becomes £1100. Nice? The compounded interest is nicer.

Compounded interest in layman’s term is “interest earning interest” and the more the compounds per year, the more money you earn. Sounds good to hear, but how does it work? You will need to have a savings calculator to start with.

Same scenario as above:
Compounded annually = $1000 + $102.50 (interest after 2 years) (APY = 5.0%)
Compounded semi-annually = $1000 + $103.81 (interest after 2 years) (APY = 5.06%)
Compounded quarterly = $1000 + $104.49 (interest after 2 years) (APY = 5.09%)
Compounded monthly = $1000 + $104.94 (interest after 2 years) (APY = 5.12%)

This will work best for people too busy (read: LAZY) to invest or sell merchandise. In doing so, your money will help you earn by making the money you earn, earn money. Choose a bank that can help you out with this by talking to them (or again, if you are too busy to drop by the branch, you can always talk to them on the phone through the phone bankers or use the internet as banks advertise their rates on their respective websites)

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Ipinsagmamalaki ko na ako’y isang Pilipino, ngunit ikinahihiya (kinasusuklaman) ko ang gobyerno ng Pilipinas. (I’m proud to be a Filipino, but I’m ashamed (read: disgusted) of the Philippine government)

The administration of President BS Aquino is following a straight path (daang matuwid) in making the country prosper. Sounds too good to be true, right?

Right. A group of individuals called whistleblowers bravely exposed massive corruption under Pres. BS Aquino’s administration that involves a number of legislators, both from the upper (senate) and lower (house of representatives) house of congress. But wait, there’s more. Some people said that Pres. BS Aquino’s Disbursement Acceleration Program is unconstitutional. But the guy behind the straight path proved them wrong. October 30 of last year, he gave out speech that belied accusations that DAP is unconstitutional. So, it’s not illegal after all, since it was the president himself who signed it and the budget was approved by Budget sec. Butch Abad who even defended the legality his approval of the disbursement of the Filipino people’s money.

One of the fund’s beneficiary, instead of the Filipino people, is Janet Lim Napoles (no need to link to an external site because only a caveman is unfamiliar of her). She is the one they call ‘the’ Pork barrel queen. But she wouldn’t have been the pork barrel queen without Butch A bad teaching her the in’s-and-out’s of setting up a foundation to earn money.

Lo and behold, the Supreme Court ruled DAP as unconstitutional. This will then pave the way for impeachment cases against the president. Hopefully this will not be maneuvered by the administration as they hold numbers in terms of ally headcount in the congress.

The promise of a good governance by the Aquino administration now looms as another false hope. More of an illusion. They have launched an active campaign to prosecute legislators who apparently misalocated their PDAF when the president himself appears to be guilty as well. And as far as I’m aware of, if a government official failed to defend the constitution or acts contrary to it, taxpayers have the right to unseat them. Hopefully, the court proceedings will not be manipulated by the allies of the ruling party.

In other news, Filipina actress Nora Aunor (known as the Superstar of Philippine cinema) was removed from the list of individuals being considered to be awarded as National Artists. This was due to previous reports that she allegedly used illegal drugs. If this is the case, then Pres. BS Aquino and Butch A bad should also be removed from the government by way of impeachment as their ‘brainchild’ (DAP) is unconstitutional.

Nora Aunor wearing a statement shirt

Chickenpox, also known as varicella, is a contagious viral infection that commonly affects children. It is caused by the varicella-zoster virus and also affects teenagers and adults.

According to NHS Choices, it is usually common to catch it in winter and spring, particularly between March and May. It starts with low fever (on my experience it was chills short fever with sensation of coldness even if the weather is warm. It usually happens in the early part of the day) and rashes develop. It usually covers the face, forehead (including scalp) and the torso (particularly in the arms). The rash develops into blisters filled with water-like fluid, hence the Filipino term bulutong tubig.

The blisters then develop into scabs and may take 1-2 weeks before they eventually disappear, albeit living scars. Chickenpox is contagious a couple of days before the symptoms appear and until the scabs fall off. Infected individuals are recommended to stay away from other people who have not contacted the virus yet and/or vulnerable persons, pregnant women, infants and people with weak immune system.

The rash/blisters are extremely itchy, however, you must under no circumstances, scratch it. If the scab falls off because of scratching and it hasn’t dried out yet, it may form into crater-like holes/scar in the skin. It is particularly annoying and doesn’t look good, particularly in the face.

As for the diet, my physician Dr. Arlene Malilay, recommended to just eat hypoallergenic foods and fruits. Although you can eat seafood, you have to stay away from processed seafood like dried or canned fish (sardines). She advised to take acyclovir, an antiviral medicine. She said branded ones costs about more than 100php. My wife was able to buy from The Generics Pharmacy for about 9php per tablet. When we needed to buy again, they don’t have any stock left so we bought a branded acyclovir for 176php per tablet. Whew!

Even if you are immune from contacting chickenpox if you already were infected, the virus still remains in the body and may later be reactivated as shingles, an infection of a nerve and skin around it. My physician said that it only affects one side of the body, either left or right part and never crosses the other side. It is usually itchy and painful and may last for a few weeks. It is common to individuals 50 and up.

The best way to avoid contacting the virus is to stay away from an infected person and always wear a facemask when going out of your room and dont touch other people or even go near to them (be sure to change it regularly), spray some disinfectant in the air regularly, and wait until the scabs fall off and dry out before going back to school or work. To keep you free from complications, antiviral medicines and a healthy diet will help a lot. For the itch, calamine can help relieve the itching.

Stay safe and have a productive week!

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August 26, a national Holiday celebrating the National Heroes Day witnessed the gathering or more than 400,000 hungry (and hungry) Filipinos crying for justice. They all want to put and end to a culture that tolerates the “development assistance funds” of the members or the bilateral Philippine Congress, both the lower house (House of Representatives) and upper house (Senate) (READ: PDAF or infamously known as Pork Barrel.

Recently, the people of the Philippines became more aware of the irregularities of the pork barrel, involving a number of individuals (including some known senators. One even claimed that some people are doing this to destroy his name as he is considersing to run in the next elections in 2016. The position would be, ehem, President.

Although an estimate of the crowd is just about 400,000-strong, a number of similar protests happened around the world with a number of OFWs joined the cause and voiced out their feelings as they are the people we call modern heroes as their remittances contribute a lot to the country’s financial growth.

This is only the beginning. We will constantly remind the government that we are the boss of the Philippine president and that he cannot disobey our commands.

Image source GMA NEWS Online

We pay our taxes dutifully every month and we want an explanation how it is being spent, as much as how we demand a receipt when we purchase something.

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In a resolution dated April 12, 2013, the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) suddebly decided to refer to our country as “Filipinas”, instead of Pilipinas .

They said it was a “modernized” version of Filipinas, the name given by Ruy Lopez de Villalobos, in honor of then Prince Philip of Spain. It was originally called Archipelago of St. Lazaro by Fernando Magallanes (Ferdinand Magellan). Should he had not been killed by Lapu-lapu, the country would’ve been still named after St. Lazarus.

The name Philippines is supposedly an influence by the Americans who occupied the county after more than 300 years of Spanish regime. So when the country adopted the modern Filipino alphabet, the commission decided to revive the use of Filipinas instead of the Philippines we are used to using.

Although I’m not a Catholic, I prefer the name Magellan named our country, instead of Philippines named after Prince Philip of Spain.

Plus the fact if you try to google the word Filipina, whom KWF wants our country to be called, you’ll come upon porn sites or even mail order brides (except now that recently Filipna “dug mule” was executed in china.

Would you prefer to be called Pinoy or Finoy? Come on, change is inevitable, but sometimes, changing a thing you’re used to is not really a good idea.

(PS, I personally find the idea for the our country to be called Filipinas ridiculous.)

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Last June 25, while I’m at my work routine, the PA system announced we should be ready for an emergency evacuation if needed. We were instructed to remain calm and wait for further announcement if we need to evacuate the work premises. The second announcement came, we needed to evacuate the work premises, remain calm and proceed to the nearest evacuation site, away from the building and its work premises.

We did. But because of the nature of my job, I cannot bring anything inside the work premises, aside from my work and my tumbler filled with water, I calmly took some time to pass by the locker room to secure my bag. My bag is where I put my food, money, phone and other stuff.

I calmly evacuated the building along with hundreds of colleagues.

It turned out to be a
false alarm.

While at the evacuation site, I called my wife and told her I’m perfectly safe and just watch the local news for some updates. I am doing fine sitting on a curb, well away from our building.

How we all survived the scare? Being calm and composed. Part of it were the building security assuring us this is just a drill. Although I felt something wrong and even tweeted what’s happening, I still maintained my composure and stayed calm.

Being in emergencies like this, it pays that you KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON. (there is a “local version” of this British quote I saw on a shirt, Keep Calm and Carry Lang)

Thank you Lord, it was just a bomb scare.

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The May 13, 2013 midterm elections in the Philippines is just around the corner. I’m a registered voter in my home province, but unfrotunately, the leave I requested was not approved. Alas, I cannot exercise my right to vote.

Had my leave been approved, I would’ve voted for Rep. Teddy A. Casiño. He is running for a seat at the Upper House of the Congress, also known as the Senate.

Who is he and why I would’ve voted for him? He is the sole bet of the coalition of 12 Philippine progessive Partylists called Makabayan. He authored/sponsored numerous House Measures. Some of them are: HB01483 (an act defining discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and providing penalties…), HB01961 (act regulationg tuition and other fees of private educational institutions), HB02308 (act providing for a mandatory nationwide child nutrition program in all public elementary and barangay day care centers). Here’s the complete list from the Congress website.

Since I cannot personally cast my vote for him, this is the least thing I can do, inform people of how deserving he is to be voted for Senate. Kay Teddy Casiño, panalo ang karaniwang tao!

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Have you tried Rodic’s tapsilog? I actually added a twist to their tapa, the sweet-tasting, shredded cured beef (that goes well with vinegar). Earlier this morning, I prepared sisig made of Rodic’s tapa..

I had the pan heated, put oil, threw in some chopped red onions, added the tapa, soy sauce, oyster sauce, green pepper, seasoning, pepper, and mayonnaise. Voila, tapsisig!

Today is Rizal Day, in honor of the Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal. A lot of people think today is his birthday. They’re wrong, today is actually his 116th death anniversary.

One of the reason why he was executed because of the novels “Noli me Tangere” (Touch Me Not) and “El Filibusterismo” (The Filibuster).

These novels tell the story of how Spanish friars abuse their power to take advantage of the people. His infamous character is “Padre Damaso“. He is known as a notorious priest.

They literally “corrupt” the minds of the Filipino masses. It has been 116 years since he died, but a lot of brave men still fights, not the Catholic Church, but the people who run it, just like the old days.

Even if you died more than a hundred years ago, your memory still lives on.

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Today is the day, the Mayans “predicted”, the last day of the world. It is now 1 in the morning as I write this piece and still nothing happens. Partly because the timezone for the end of the world is based on the Mayan civilization coordinates.

However, I think they haven’t actually predicted the world will end ob this day, it is very much like calculating a figure with a scientific calculator and getting the “E” message, or an error message because the data you’re processing is “out of range”.

The Mayan Calendar may be limited in data, or probably, today is the last day of its last cycle the Mayans were able to calculate. So when people got hold of it, they must’ve interpreted that the world will end today.

I don’t believe the world will end today. First, I am not in my hometown with my family and parents. Secend, we have a grand alumni homecoming/reunion this coming 29th. And lastly, it is not how the bible says the world will end.

So, for me, the world WILL NOT END TODAY. And for parting words, “Faith is about taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Happy Dec. 21, 2012! God bless us all, God bless the Mayans.

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