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Ilonggo sa Desyerto
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Ilonggo sa Desyerto (Ilonggo in the Desert) documents the Saudi Arabian based Filipino migrant worker’s opinions on life, politics, the world, religion and everything else under the sun.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'Middle East'
Deployment in the land of Cedar Trees
It was announced recently that the POEA is contemplating on lifting the ban of OFW deployment in Lebanon, the land of the Cedar Trees. If I remember correctly, POEA imposed the ban of OFW deployment when the war between the Hezbollah and Israel took ...
Domain Name Registration for .com.sa
Companies in China nowadays are engaged into registering domain names of any company that they can think of. Surprisingly, this scheme has reached the Saudi Arabian shores. They would register everything from .com.sa, .gov.sa, .vn, .ph, .sa, and actu...
What went wrong?
What went wrong in Dubai? Well, Dubai became too overly ambitious! Dubai wanted to be the Hong Kong of Middle East, the financial hub and business capital of the region. Their economic model is however is not sustainable so it failed. Unlike in Hong ...
What now for Iran?
A government should be able to discipline its people. People should never be allowed to go to the streets to protest because they feel like it. It scares away the investors and bring bad signal to the world. Of course, it’s a major cause of traf...
Iranian vote counting faster than the automated polls
People around the world especially in Iran were surprised about the outcome of the recently concluded Iranian Presidential election. First of all, the high turn out of the voters should have favored the former Prime Minister and opposition leader Mir...
Kabayan’s Dilemma
A friend of a friend or just a plain ‘Kabayan’, since I don’t know him personally has a very big dilemma. He was offered a job from another company. The job offer gives him the basic pay three (3) times bigger than what he is currently earnin...
Nang dahil sa Grape Seeds
A colleague of mine sent me a forwarded email about the grape seeds that caused the imprisonment of a Filipino man in Dubai. Apparently, the man was made to confess that the Grape Seeds that were found in his bag were that of Marijuana. The wife of...
DXB’s new Guidelines
People would raise their eyebrows if they will hear that Dubai, the freest among the 7 Arab Emirates is taking tough stand against what they considered as inappropriate behavior like kissing in public, holding hands, nudity and playing loud music. I...
Expatriates Abandoning Cars at DXB Airport
There’s a disturbing report in Dubai that I read in the Arabian Business. It says that thousands of Dubai expatriates who are living luxurious lifestyles that they couldn’t afford had to abandon their cars at Dubai Airport and fleeing home rathe...
Pinoy Org Abroad
When I was new here in Saudi Arabia, a Saudi veteran told me to refrain from joining Filipino Organizations. I took the older guy’s advice at heart and never joined any group. Last year, I met a fellow Ilonggo (Let’s call him Mr. Popular) who was...
Hail to Muntadar Al Zeidi
Outgoing US President George W. Bush was target of an Iraqi journalist’s (Muntadar Al Zeidi) shoes last Sunday as he spoke in a press conference in Baghdad during his last trip to Iraq. Muntadar Al Zeidi shouted “This is a farewell kiss, you dog...
OFWs and Economic Downturn
I came home from my rushed annual leave. My vacation only lasted 3 weeks. I meet up with friends in Manila during my last day of stay. We went to the Pitt at the back of Mall of Asia and drunk a lot. We meet JC the lead vocals of the Filtered Band...
KSA Customs Directives
The Saudi Arabian Customs issued a directive that all expensive items such as precious stones or cash with the equivalent to or over USD 16,000 (SAR 60,000) must be declared upon departure or arrival at any entry/exit points in the Kingdom. Those wh...
Fleeing Hamas, Fatah men enter Israel
Hundreds of Fatah supporters fled to Israel from the Gaza Strip to escape Hamas crackdown that leave several people dead and wounded. The Israeli soldiers allowed the Gazans to move to Israel after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Egyptia...
Imagine a world without Filipinos
The article ‘Imagine a world without Filipinos’ written by Abdullah Al Maghlooth of Al Watan Newspaper on 12 June 2008 sounded like a PRAISE RELEASE coming from the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh. It praises Filipinos like we’re the world’s gif...
Omar Khadr Interrogation Video
The release of the interrogation video of the then 16 years old Omar Khadr shocked and outraged the world. Omar Khadr had been in Guantanamo detention since 2002. The Canadian Supreme Court ordered the Canadian Government to release the interrogati...
Should Iraq start to finance its own reconstruction?
What the US Senators are saying are irresponsible. The United States Invaded Iraq on false and fabricated reasons. The invasion made Iraq from being one of the most stable nations in the Arab World to a mess. It is the United States moral responsibil...
Should Israel accept a truce with Hamas?
Israel will never accept truce with Hamas. They only deal with the legitimate Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas. There will never be peace in the Holy Land unless the Palestinian people themselves decide that they want peace. They shou...
Should Jimmy Carter meet Hamas Leader Khalid Meshaal?
Jimmy Carter met with the leader of the terror group Hamas Khalid Meshaal and its supporter Syrian President Bashar Assad to the disappointment of the US government. The US has a non negotiation policy to any terror organization around the world. J...
Should the UN investigate claims Israel may be deliberately targeting journalists in Gaza?
I understand the pressures that the journalists have to bear from their TV networks just to get the scoop but I couldn’t understand why they have to be in the ‘war zone’. They could not blame the fighting Israeli soldiers and the Hamas if they...
Will Egypt’s elections ease the country’s woes?
Mubarak’s iron grip rule in Egypt may be a bitter pill to swallow to the opposition parties but it’s the only way to stop the radical and fundamental Islamic parties like the Muslim brotherhood from ruling Egypt. Mubarak’s regime brought stabi...
The ugly side of being Filipino
On 22 March 2008, a local Filipino columnist of Saudi Gazette wrote in his column ‘Ang Pinoy nga Naman’ about poverty and its link to prostitution activities of OFWs in the Kingdom. He named Jester Soldevilla as the flesh selling OFW in Ramaniya...
Israel’s Offensive on Gaza
The Palestinians should unite, support the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas and condemn the militant organization Hamas. Unity is their only way to build a new Palestinian State and go on with the peace process. If they continue to be fragmented because o...
Was the latest IAEA report a victory for Iran?
The United States that goes to the war in Iraq on false reasons are again guilty of making up excuses to wage war with Iran. This time, the US wants war with Iran’s nuclear issues as an excuse. The US should ignore Mahmoud Amadinejad’s rhetoric a...
How can the crisis in Lebanon be overcome?
Lebanon is a deeply divided country. They are divided by religious affiliation (Islam Shia, Islam Sunni and Christian), by class and education. The only respected and uniting force in Lebanon is their military. The only solution I could think of is f...
Arab Unity
Arabs are united only in one issue that is their biggest disgust of the state of Israel and Israelis policy againts the palestinians. Other than that, Arabs are not united and unity is the last thing they have in Mind. Each States has personal intere...
Giant Hamour
Hosam sent me this video about the Giant Hamour in the Persian Gulf. Nobody really knows if the fishes are raised in industrial fish ponds or they’re in the wild.Hamour is the largest coral dwelling fish that can only be found in and around the Per...
Will Israel's incursion impact peace talks?
I've been saying this and I will say it again, the peace talk brokered by George Bush is doomed to fail, unless, the Palestinians unite.Added Al Jazeera Website: Wednesday, 16 January 2008, 10:47 AM GMT ...
What now for Lebanon?
Lebanon is a very beautiful country with beautiful people. I've known several Lebanese friends and co workers who are harworking, cultured and honest people. For obvious reasons, the Lebanese people do not seem to realize this. If there's somebody to...
Banking Stories
Published 12 Sep. 2004, Arab Newspaper, Letters to the Editor Section.--oo0oo--Exactly 15 months ago, I applied for an ATM Card at a major international bank where my salary is deposited by my employer – and I am still waiting for it. Over four mon...
