Press

by reynz

Here is a collection of press mentions, features and interviews since I started blogging at reyna elena dot com (my personal & humor blog) and barrio siete dot com (a collective blog).

PNoy’s ex-campaign volunteers launch ‘Save Robredo’ campaign

Following the hostage crisis in the Philippines where a number of Hongkong tourists were killed by a PNP cop named Mendoza, the crisis would escalate and I would be stunned at how the current administration would use Jesse Robredo as a scapegoat. You can read about that in this article in Barrio Siete and/or ABS-CBN.

How to manage a collective blog: A Manila Bulletin Interview

Barely a year old, Barrio Siete has rocked the Pinoy blogosphere with it’s candid views and timely take on current events, a factor that contributed to its high traffic in such a very short period of time. This interview by Manila Bulletin offers insight in managing a collective blog, based on the experience of Barrio Siete.

Q: B7’s traffic at the start has been considered phenomenal for a new blog. What do u think are the factors that made u achieve this?

A: B7 is a great team of established bloggers forming a community with a concept that easily connected and endeared to readers. Our readers feel the teamwork and the respect amongst us. We do not cannibalize each other simply because we disagree with the author’s view. Our style of writing debunked conventional norms in blogging that only blogs written in English are the only ones that succeeds and earns respect. Our blog is informative and fun to read, tackling real-life and socially relevant issues in a light-hearted, humorous and satirical way.

Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims

With the epic flooding that brought devastation to properties and lives of our fellow Filipinos by typhoon Ondoy, Barrio Siete Dot Com responded with Bayanihan Fund Drive: Donate to Ondoy Flood Victims

  1. Netizens help victims via social network sites , Philippine Daily Inquirer

    2. On the Barrio Siete website, a blogger called on fellow “bloggers, readers and lurkers” to send in donations through the Philippine National Red Cross. As of Sunday, the site was able to raise $3,398 or Php161,591 from Philadelphia, Texas and Ohio in the United States. “It breaks our heart seeing all these images and watching the videos coming from Manila—the wrath and devastation not only to properties but also to the lives of our fellow Filipinos,” the blogger wrote.

  2. Barriosiete.com help acquire funds for the victims of typhoon Ketsana in the Philippines, Arabian Business

    3. Bariosiete.com, one of the fastest growing blog in the Philippines and is authored by several Filipino bloggers from different parts of the country is reaching out for the victims of Typhoon Ketsana. Last September 27, the website started a fund raising campaign and has now collected Php 63,688. The website is still calling for more donations as the number of victims from the calamity continue to grow.

Touch a blogger: Tie a yellow ribbon for Cory Aquino! Campaign

We love Cory Aquino. When we found out that she has cancer, we can only offer prayers. And yellow ribbon. We wanted everybody to do the same thing. So we launched: Touch a blogger: Tie a yellow ribbon for Cory Aquino!

  1. ‘Yellow-ribbon fever’ for Cory spreads to the Web, GMA News TV

    2. Last Thursday July 23, Filipino-American blogger La Kapitana who maintains Barrio Siete (“Keep social climbing alive!”) began the online campaign with an appeal: “My fellow bloggers, I invite you to Touch a blogger: Tie a yellow ribbon for Cory Aquino!” Within days, the “yellow-ribbon fever” had spread all over the Web with various blogs and social networking sites expressing their love for the country’s democracy icon, and adorning their pages with yellow ribbon images. Others handed out free templates of the iconic bows.

  2. Tweets and twibbons for Cory, ABS-CBN News

    3. As a gesture of support for the ailing president, supporters from the online community have been placing yellow ribbons in their blog sites and social networking accounts since June 24, the day when Mrs. Aquino’s condition became unstable. The call for posting yellow ribbons online started with Reyna Elena of Barrio Siete (http://barriosiete.com/touch-a-blogger-tie-a-yellow-ribbon-for-cory-aquino/) on July 23, heeding the call of Aquino supporters to tie a yellow ribbon as a way of expressing support for the country’s first female president. As of posting, Reyna Elena has linked 57 blog sites with yellow ribbons.

  3. On the Web, thousands more grieve for Cory, Philippine Daily Inquirer

    4. One of the more popular images that came out since Mrs. Aquino’s medical condition became known was the virtual yellow ribbon, which started on July 23 by the blog forum Barrio Siete (http://barriosiete.com/touch-a-blogger-tie-a-yellow-ribbon-for-cory-aquino/). The call gathered steam in the following weeks as her condition worsened. Many users pasted the iconic yellow ribbon on their blogs and even on their pictures.

Subprime Crisis

When the subprime problem in the United States hit the financial world, I wrote an entry trying to explain the subprime problem and the housing market in the United States in some very easy terms for people back in the Philippines to understand. The article was picked up by Ellen Tordesillas, a respected journalist in Manila.

  1. Living Within One’s Means, Malaya Editorial, October 6, 2008 By Ellen Tordesillas

    2. “To non-financial people, para maintindihan what ‘subprime’ means is to understand what ‘prime’ is, sa lending business. Yon ang pinakamadali. Kaya sya tinawag na ‘prime’ because not only does one have the money to pay, the ability and the capacity to pay, but also the right attitude and the discipline to pay regularly backed up by a history of good payments. Why? It does not necessarily follow na porque mayaman ka, nag-babayad ka nang utang regularly. In the US, almost everything here is about credit. One must have a good credit history to have a good credit rating.”

  2. Living Within One’s Means on GMANews.TV October 6, 2008 by Ellen Tordesillas

    3. “How does the credit ratings work and what does it mean? It simply means, the higher your credit rating means, the lower interest rate you pay on credit cards, loans and mortgages. The lending business sa US rewards good borrowers and penalizes yong mga hindi nag-babayad or pumapaltos nang pagbayad nang utang. ” “That’s why we have a lot of credit rating agencies. There’s Experian, Trans-union and Equifax. Ano ang counterpart nito sa Pilipinas? Honestly, I don’t know. I have not heard anything other than merong mga Credit Investigators na kakatukin ang kapitbahay ninyo. Korek?”

Overseas Filipino Workers and the Credit Crisis

With the housing market crisis and the credit crisis that gripped the United States, Money Smarts of the Philippine Daily Inquirer would interview a number of Overseas Filipino Workers around the world. Salve Duplito, the editor focused on the effects of the crisis amonst Overseas Filipinos.

  1. A Pinoy in the US hit by the credit crisis, Money Smarts October 9, 2008 by Salve Duplito.

    2. Growing up in the Philippines, I really thought that we have perfected corruption. To my surprise, corrupt officials are populating Wall Street and beyond as well. They could literally bring down a world financial system! That worries the heck out of me because I can’t seem to believe that these crooks could actually shake the entire financial system and make our lives miserable. When I say “our”, I just don’t refer to Americans, rather, world citizens as well. For if America sneezes, the world catches cold.

  2. Money Tales from OFW’s, Octobe 5, 2008 by Salve Duplito

    3. As you can see, Filipinos here in the States took a direct hit from the subprime crisis, from our retirement investments to our mortgage that can’t be refinanced, to our rising credit card interest. Loans are now difficult to find. Worse, applying for one is even more difficult. So, we’ve cut down on a lot of unnecessary expenses and travels.

Big Obama Fan

I’m a big Obama fan. I believe in CHANGE. Actually, I want him to make a lot of changes in the Philippines, if he could. Corruption! Mismanagement! Twisted textbooks! Picture perfect infrastructure – photoshopped! Poverty! Health care! (Wait! What health care in the Philippines?!) No housing for the poor! Grrr! Government officials with magical wealth creation powers! Rich Mom, Rich Son!

  1. Social networks break into politics, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Inquirer Blog Addicts by Anna Valmero, January 21, 2009

    2. To follow Obama, bloggers worldwide, such as U.S.-based Filipino Reynz, has posted a slew of articles at the blogging site Reyna Elena.com on how to view the inauguration as it happened.

Reyna Elena, My personal & humor Blog

I’m a funny person and I love to write. If I can’t make people laugh, I’d probably start arresting cops! Hahaha! I blogged as Reyna Elena to hide my persona. Little did I know that I will soon be unmasked. Yes, there is no anonymity in blogging. OFW’s and/or Overseas Filipinos frequented my blog and people started noticing …

  1. Filipino Blogs Suit up for Business, Inquirer Blog Addicts, October 29, 2008 by Anna Valmero

    2. One of them is Filipino overseas worker and blogger Reynz who is behind ReynaElena.com. This blogger thinks her blog appeals to a niche market of OFWs. Based in Philadelphia, she says 80 percent of the blog’s readers are Filipinos based abroad and in the country.

  2. An Interview with the Blogosphere’s Reyna Elena, Manila Bulletin Tech News Blog-o-rama, November 10, 2008 by Annalyn Jusay

    3. (Unfortunately, the Manila Bulletin links are broken. Here is the unedited version of the interview instead. Interview with the Vampire.)

    The best thing about blogging is social networking. I call it, “social climbing”. I’ve met some of the most wonderful people in my blog. I’ve gained a lot more friends and I do feel “close” to these people. I can’t imagine myself having friends from as far away as Europe, the Middle East or anywhere else without my blog. Second, you not only gain friends and network but you are also able to enjoy their talents as shown from their blogs.

2008 Philippines 10 Funniest Blog

My blog is so funny, readers forgot to laugh! Actually, that’s a line from another blogger – Jessica Rules the Universe. But my reyna elena dot com would be awarded as one of the Philippines 10 Funniest Blog in 2008. I started getting serious. :-)

  1. Ten the Evening News (TV5), October 1, 2008 (Sidetracked), 2008 Best Humor Blogs By Jove Francisco

Popular to scammers too!

In fact, you see my signature below? That’s very popular among scammers, they have my signature on their checks! So, if you received a check signed by Reyna Elena, trust me on this one, that’s probably not me. Consider yourself warned.

  1. Why it pays to read Reyna Elena

reynaelena_signature

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