Nowadays, the hip hop and the RnB culture of the Americans have become influential among the Filipino youth of this generation. From the clothing, the way they walk and talk and from their tastes in music, all of hip hop’s influence greatly affected the Pinoy youth.
From Francis Magalona up to the new generation of the pinoy rappers, the popularity of the hip hop dance crews especially the Jabawockeez, all of these has contributed to the emergence of the hip hop culture to the Filipinos.
Hanging clothes, trucker caps and the bling blings, all of these things are the symbol that Pinoy youth has transformed from being simple to the thuggish look.
The Metro Manila streets wouldn’t be complete without the teenagers wearing big clothes and singing rap music made by foreign artists and even local and upcoming Pinoy rappers. The gangster looks from the foreign countries; especially the United States can now be seen locally because the youth hugged the popularity of those artists who write songs that catches the attention of the people, especially the youth.
The likes of Eminem, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Akon, T-Pain, Chris Brown and the Jabawockeez are great contributors to the affection of the Filipino youth for hip hop culture.
Everyday, the effects of the emerging hip hop culture can be seen, even from the young kids who somehow, imitate the older ones, from clothing up to the love for rap music.
With the emergence of the hip hop style, are we going to bid goodbye to our old-fashioned culture? Are we welcoming a new trend from the foreigners? Are we the latest addition to the Hip Hop Nations?
One thing is for sure, Hip Hop is emerging.
And it can be seen among us, the youth.
By: Ceishan Canlas
Whoever is loath to admit that the simple fact of playing lottery may as well leave sizeable odds of winning some serious lottery cash? Though it was not a skill-based game, as the numbers were randomly selected, Filipino people were intimately familiar with it in the late 2800s
and it toplled the financial crisis─ long thought to be “tried and tested.”
Blame it to the Spanish government who conducted loterrias to generate revenues. In fact our own national hero Dr. Jose Rizal won Php 6,200.00 in the draw of 1892 while on exile in Dapitan and he donated his winnings to an educational project. Maybe this altruistic act gives an inkling of what could be done if the lottery as harnessed for charitable and social welfare projects.
And this where it all started. We have inherited something that has long been part of our Filipino culture. Something that has already been a social norm since
the time of Juan Tamad.
Balancing Act
Source: www.bibokz.com
The clear signs of economic recession, slowdown, unemployment and uncertainties are visibly seen nowadays and the seeming contradictions do not end there.
In sheer desperation ─ note that this already nets out those who opted to seek their fortunes through a little gambling. People push their luck and find their way out of series of numbers.
Php 16,000,000─ what conclusions can we form from this huge amounts?
Nonetheless, this is the reason why do people play lottery and keep on vying for it. It is a cheap way to have an opportunity of winning big lottery prize with no special skills required and gamblers can even wager small amounts. With this, players have little or no fear of corruption because of the low payout compared to other forms of gambling.
Lotteries give an illusion of control to some players. Because you can pick your own numbers in some games, you can choose your own lucky number. Tabloids feature articles about how to improve odds at picking lottery numbers, obviously a forlorn hope because the winning numbers are product of a random process.
Another attraction of lottery is that people enjoy the non-monetary aspects of it, including talking about playing, engaging in the ritual weekly purchase, socializing with friends and coworkers to pool to but tickets and dreaming about winning perhaps the favorite activity among lottery players.
Surmounting the odds
But because most people are not wealthy and powerful, the odds of success in lotteries do not seem that important to players. They don’t seem to know the probable event that can occur. Definitely, a small number of people do win win large amounts of money, although the overwhelming majorities lose some. Lotteries recruit people into commercial gaming, especially in states that have had little legalized gaming or exposure to such activity.
In some places, lottery syndicates that are usually set up by groups of workmates or friends who have one objective of boosting their lottery winning chances has its downside too. It may develop improper syndicate agreement that has been put in place because of tax issues; situations like these often lead to legal action.
Gambling can be an addiction to some gamblers that they can’t escape from. This may affect young people who are engaged in such action.
Charity indices
Through and through, lotteries has its own good. More funds were raised fro health programs, medical assistance and services charities and other social welfare programs. The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) conducts sweepstakes and lotteries to provide funds for its causes since it was founded in 1932. The agency gets its operating expenses from the sales of lottery tickets and other similar activities. PCSO registered gross earnings of approximately 15 billion pesos last year. It also supports the Philippine Anti-Tuberculosis Society.
The game itself is hardly illustrative of decency because of a number of moralists condemning it. The scrums and tackles can get life threatening. But lottery is one of the leading in the country, to avert crisis, not merely political but something more basic and valuable because it exists on the plane of the humbly familiar─ that ardent desire to surmount odds.
By Tracy Anne Cruz
Its been decades since jeepney was introduce to the Filipinos. The use of this vehicle started when the American troops started to leave the Philippines after the World War II. The Americans donated some of the used jeepneys and some of the new ones are sold to local Filipinos. This is where the creativeness and wit of Filipinos, they started to stripped the jeeps and to accommodate more passengers, added metal roofs for shade and designed them with striking and vibrant colors and drawings.
The jeepney suddenly became the talk of the town and also became one of the most cheapest means of transportation. It was then when the government was alarmed by the rapid growth of jeeps on the roads that is when they decides to require all drivers to have specialized license for driving and the jeeps to have its specific route to travel.
Sarao motors is the most popular manufactures of jeepneys in the Philippines. The oldest jeepneys were of origin old American jeeps. They were extended in length by approximately two meters. Inside were put two long seats and the 'jeepneys' were ready to serve as a small bus. The 'first generation' jeepneys were replaced by 'new' jeepneys produced in the Philippines. Small family enterprises built up jeepneys and even a jeepney fabric arose in Sarao, just south of Metro Manila. The fabric "Sarao Motors" went out of business in 2001. (http://www.philippines.hvu.nl/jeepneys1.htm)
Today, jeeps are considered the "king of the road" as you can see them anywhere. From the nearest and up to the hard to reach areas there are still jeeps that you can depend on if you don not have your own vehicle.
It has been part of the daily living of mostly all Filipinos. Wherever you are heading to, work, school, supermarkets, malls, parks, etc. there is always a jeepney to ride to. Though a lot of advanced means of transportation was introduced to us, still we support this industry.
Sneaking through the traffic on the road and streets to the widest road of EDSA (Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue), there came out air-conditioned vehicles which is faster and more comfortable to ride in yet we still search for this hot and noisy ambiance of riding our traditional jeeps. 
Even other countries also showed their interest of buying and importing this world class jeeps of the Philippines, one of this is Papua New Guinea.
A lot of other means of transportation has tried but still can't put down this very reliable jeeps.