Edible Art in Cakes by Swell Sweets

Can you guess who this is? Yes, you've guessed right. It's a giveaway, because of the names of the two senators below. It's Senate President and Impeachment Court presiding officer Senator Juan Ponce Enrile.

Yesterday was his birthday, and Swell Sweets, together with Solar News, presented the honorable JPE with a birthday cake. It was not any ordinary cake because it looked like this... The whole impeachment court mock-up, complete with all the senator-judges, with the celebrant, oh, and the lead prosecutor Niel Tupas and lead defense Serafin Cuevas. Fun! :)

The Speaker and the 15th Congress

AND NOW I AM BACK! :) Hello Philippines and hello world! Did you miss me? Hahaha! The last few weeks were eaten up by work and more work. Though it was really stressful, we managed and emerged victorious. Last week we witnessed the election of Congressman Feliciano "Sonny" R. Belmonte as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Senator Juan Ponce Enrile as the new Senate President. With these new leaderships in place, we are hoping for a legislative agenda that will push for reforms for a better society. I hope they'll be able to partner with the Government and usher in a better Philippines for everyone.

The next few photos were taken during the morning of the State of the Nation Address of President Aquino. As Congress opened that morning of the 4th Monday of July, both the House of Representatives and the Senate elected their respective leaders, as dictated by protocol. After they elect and choose their leader, they would have to transmit to Malacanang that they've already chosen the Speaker of the House and Senate President respectively, and would then invite the President for his/her address.

That morning the majority backing the Speakership of Representative Feliciano R. Belmonte, Jr. had their breakfast and orientation about the conduct of the opening of the 15th Congress, and how they would elect the Speaker. Everything went smoothly. :) Congratulations SB - Speaker Belmonte! :)

Chizmisan Forum on Social Transformation

Senator Francis Chiz Escudero recently dialogued with the students and some teachers at the CHIZmisan forum on social transformation in the UP School of Economics auditorium last Wednesday held by the UP ETC, PhilCES and the University Student Council of UP Diliman.

Student Council Chairperson Titus Tan discussed the current state of governance in the Philippines, and suggested some key point actions where the government must address in order to solve these problems; meanwhile Prof. Riza Tablarin, of the Tarlac College of Agriculture, talked about the state of Agriculture and Farming in the Philippines.

On the other hand, the bulk of the discussion focused on Josteen Vega, the National President of the Philippine Council of Economic Students (PhilCES) and his presentation of the state of Economic affairs in the Philippines and issues intertwined with it. He ended by giving an agenda of the youth on certain issues to the senator.



The Chizmisan Forum was the first of a series of forum by the UP Economics Towards Consciousness in order to raise the awareness of students on issues the country is facing. The next forum will be with Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.