A Filipina’s Excellent Customer Service on Trial

Was she just a victim of office intriga?

Saks Fifth Avenue’s jewelry department is lined with items like $3,000 David Yurman bracelets and $1,600 Anthony Nak earrings, and Cecille Villacorta was good at getting customers to buy them.

From 2000 to 2006, she brought in more than $27 million in sales, more than any of the other sales associates at the luxury department chain’s flagship store in Manhattan. In fact, she was the highest-grossing saleswoman in the store’s history, according to her lawyer, and was paid nearly $400,000 in her last year there.

But exactly how Ms. Villacorta, 52, of Manhattan, managed to rack up such sales figures is up for debate — and at the heart of her trial on charges of grand larceny and falsifying business records, which began Thursday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

Read the full story here…

And the Heavens Smiled Upon Us

The sky smiled on Asia, December 1, 2008, when Venus and Jupiter came in close proximity to our beloved Moon. While Venus is actually 100 million miles away and Jupiter nearly 550 million miles from the Earth, this exact combination and the Moon in the perfect spot created this beautiful artwork in the sky.

Some people might not appreciate it, but remember that this will not happen again until year 2052.

Merry Christmas everyone!

(View Slideshow from Yahoo! News)

Hate vs. Hate?

A spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints tells NBC 4 News of the evacuation of the Mormon Temple in L.A. after employees received an envelope filled with an unidentified white powdery substance.

The temple was the target of protests last week following the passage of Proposition 8, a proposed Constitutional Amendment that would change California's constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. The Mormons are believed to have raised a significant amount of money to actively campaign for this anti-gay marriage ballot measure.

I was wondering if the incident mentioned was a plot to seek revenge against the Mormons. Should we fight hatred with hatred as well? Is it right to take it against the group? Comments are welcome.

• Interesting Article from Red Room: Proposition 8 and God

2008 Manila Pride March promises to be BIG!

America's Victory

My partner and I closely monitored the results of the elections in the US. Since we don't have a cable connection, we just satisfied ourselves looking at various websites as they revealed the numbers, from time to time watching CNN live reports online. This is the first time that I've witnessed such moving event in American politics.

The moment Obama's number went up to 200, we already know. And we felt so moved. For this is not just a victory to be celebrated by Americans but by the whole world.

I know that millions of blog entries will be written expressing their joy as to how Obama made history. I do not wish to go in that direction.

What saddens me is the fact that Filipinos don't care. What's with the apathy? Are we in such hopeless shambles that we can't feel anything anymore? This is a historic event. This is the American Dream realized. Yet, we're indifferent.

Because for Filipinos, this changes nothing. In two months' time, America will be governed by its first black American President, a symbol of hope, a complete turn around from what Bush represents. Back home, politicians continue to preen on TV gathering pogi points and belting out Frank Sinatra on game shows.

India: Call Centers, Now the Moon

The call center industry may not be enough for the Indians. After dominating the BPO industry in the recent years, India would like a piece of the moon (or some of the business opportunities there).

Yesterday, October 22, India launched its first unmanned spacecraft, Chandrayaan-1, to orbit the moon to demonstrate their technological capacity and to potentially yield commercial gains for the country's space program. Scheduled to last two years, the mission intends to prepare a 3D atlas of the moon and scout for natural resources in the lunar surface. More importantly the voyage carries the Mini-SAR, a device that will look for ice deposits in the moon's polar regions.

Soon they'll be sending contact center agents up on the moon where they will receive 1-800 calls from Mars and the nearby planetary systems.

Photo: The launching of Chandrayaan-1 comes about a year after China’s first moon mission. (NY Times) Courtesy of Dibyangshu Sarkar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Only in the Philippines

Typhoon lashed RP, followed by an earthquake... then (another) coup attempt. What's next on the list? Only in the Philippines my dear friends!

Oy, Mina!

The temperature here in Baguio City suddenly dropped as Mina closed in on the capital. As I write this post, I await for the cancellation of classes in the university.