1. Actually, basically, honestly, as a matter of fact. Favorite opening lines, no matter what follows.
Millions working abroad help their nation get by, but not prosper. It’s a life of lonely, risky sacrifice.
Filipinos are certainly getting into mainstream America and into the world. We ‘made it’ to the David Letterman Show!
This is for every Filipino who embrace who they are and strive to maintain their Filipino identity…
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Everything Philippine related. Various news. Showbiz talks. Entertainment. Politics. Philippines. Around the world. Filipinos. Filipinas.
Events, happenings, promotions going on at Tatay Pepe’s Restobar in particular and General Santos City in general. Check out the buzz!
There is a simple lesson to be learned from the more than controversial split decision loss of Manny Pacquio to an obviously inferior and less experienced Tim Bradley. “Keep your political opinions to yourself”.
In this writer’s analysis, this was a knockout, but not of Tim Bradley. It was a political and public opinion knock out of Manny by not only those Manny attacked with his statements prior to the fight, but by Obama and his camp.
Pacquiao whipped Tim Bradley easily in every way except on the judge’s score cards. The fight has been called fixed by a Former IBF Welterweight champion boxer among others, and rigged by many more.
Investigations are likely to come as many, including the promoter blamed for the fix, have called for them. Even politicians have entered the fray.
Anyone that observed the fight from beginning to end has to laugh at the decision. It was a lopsided fight in which Tim Bradley ate more lefts than the winner of an all you can eat hotdog contest could ever ingest wieners. Bradley was humiliated, throwing almost all air all night long, barely touching Pacquiao’s gloves in most cases or taking cheap shots in the clinch. In one round, Bradley’s trainer hints to him to head butt Pacquiao, after which Bradley tried twice, but neither butt hurt Pacquiao.
The argument presented in regards to this astronomical flub by one of the judges, Duane Ford, was that Bradley gave Pacquiao a “boxing lesson”. That Bradley’s counter punches hurt Pacquio in the scoring and Bradley was the aggressor in later rounds. But being the aggressor does not score points if one does not hit the other fighter.
The counter punch argument is even more ludicrous.
According to CompuBox statistics, “Pacquiao landed more punches than Bradley in every round but one, the 9th (26-25). Note that all three judges awarded that round to Bradley, even though Pacquiao was busier and landed more power shots (22-21). One round, the 10th, was even in punches landed with 14 apiece.” Read more.
Compubox had Pacquio landing 253 punches to Bradley’s meager 159. Bradley had a hit ratio of less than 20%. Bradley was swinging at air or a ghost almost all night. Were the judges counting these shots in the dark that never made contact as punches? If they did, then the only statistic on which Bradley outscored Pacquiao was total punches thrown at 839 to 751. Could the judges have been duped by a show of hands? Maybe, but doubtful.
If, as the judge Duane Ford stated, counter-punching hurt Pacquio, then Bradley would have had to at the very least landed the same number of punches countering Pacquo as Pacquiao landed to initiate an attack. The idea, after all, of a counterpunch, is to actually land the counterpunch, not to swing at air every time one is hit. It is also rather idiotic to state that the counterpuncher was on the attack. The strategy is to respond to the attack of the opponent while his guard is down. They are diametrically opposed strategies.
The Compubox numbers are so far in favor of Pacquiao it is laughable. Either the judges could not tell if the punches were landing and scored every whiff by Bradley as a punch or this had to be intentional.
Fighters never lose with these types of Compubox numbers. This is a first. So what happened? Did the judges intentionally call this fight wrong? Of course they did, but the reason why may surprise you.
Read the full story »
Anne Curtis
Pechanga Resorts & Casino celebrates the Filipino Independence Day by hosting Anne Curtis’“Annebisyosa” No Other Concert. The first stop of the concert series was held on January 28, 2012 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, followed by the second concert on March 23, 2012 in Cebu, at the Waterfront Hotel and the third concert on May 5, 2012 in Atrium, at the Limketkai Center. Her next stop will be at the Pechanga Theatre stage on Saturday, June 15 at 8:00pm and will be joined by special guests Nina and Derek Ramsay. Due to popular demand of the concert tickets, Pechanga will be hosting a second concert on Sunday, June 16 at 7:00pm.
Anne Curtis began her career in the Philippines at an early age, having been discovered at the age of 12. She begins her career as she played a princess role in the movie “Magic Kingdom”. In 2008, she won the Best Actress Award from the 34th Metro Manila Film Festival. Her second movie “In Your Eyes” in 2010 also earned her a Best Support Actress Award from the 29th Luna Awards. As amazing as she is, within a month of release of her debut album in 2011, the album reached the gold status. Beside acting and singing, she was also know for fashion and television hosting as well, particularly for the popular morning variety show Showtime on ABS-CBN.
Derek Ramsay was the leading man for Curtis in the 2011 Filipino romantic drama, No Other Woman, which was notable for breaking Philippine box office records. He started his show business career as one of the hosts of the Saturday entertainment magazine talk show “Entertainment Konek”. After playing a few supporting characters in series and got his lead role in “Ysaella”, he signed a four-picture exclusive contract with Star Cinema. Like Curtis, he has had a successful career as a model, actor and has also developed himself as a proficient musician. Ramsay is now a certified “kapatid” of TV 5.
Marifil Nina Girado, aka “Nina,” the Filipino pop/R&B single, songwriter & record producer, made her debut on the Filipino music scene in 2002 after signing with Warner Music Philippines. Following the release of her debut album, she received numerous awards from different organizations and multiple album certifications.
She established her position in the Philippine Music Industry in 2005, after releasing her third album “Nina Live!”.She has assembled an impressive resume through both her own original songs and her renditions of popular OPM and international classics. Recently, she staged her comeback concert at the Music Museum entitled Nina Reborn.
Purchase your tickets today to enjoy this marvelous concert. Tickets are available at the Pechanga Box office at $90 (Orchestra), $80 (Golden) and $70 (Silver) or at Pechanga.com/tickets. The Pechanga Box Office opens at 12:00 PM. For more information, call the Pechanga Box Office at (877) 711-2946.
A girl carrying her younger sister on her back collects their free meals during a feeding program at a slum area in Baseco, Tondo city, metro Manila May 22, 2013. (MNS photo)
MANILA, May 23 (Mabuhay) — Malacanang said it remains committed to addressing poverty in the country through various initiatives and it is not solely relying on surveys as benchmarks for its interventions. In a latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, it showed a rise on the number of hunger incidence in the country, from 16.3 percent in December to 19.2 percent this March. But in a press conference in Malacanang, Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the SWS survey, since it is done quarter to quarter, is a little bit volatile or is moving up and down.
“This is partly why we don’t tend to take the survey alone as the sole benchmark for prioritizing several areas for us to concentrate or to at least target these areas,” Valte said. “Marami pa tayong ibang factors na tinitingnan para makita natin kung saan natin… dapat strategic din kasi ang paglagay ng mga resources natin for poverty alleviation.”
One of the continuing thrusts of the government is the expansion of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program of the government, the Palace official said. The government said that all over the country there were 3.9 million family beneficiaries of the CCT. The CCT is a human development program that invests in the health and education of poor households, particularly of children aged 0-14 years old.
Other programs also include livelihood for the poor, Valte said. This initiative provides trainings to support for those who wish to start small businesses, small or medium enterprises, she added. The government has also identified several areas to prioritize to generate more jobs particularly in the agri-business and tourism sectors, she added. (MNS)
- AT&T and interTrend Communications Win First Award in 45 Year Effie History -
AT&T and interTrend Communications receives the Effie Award in New York for the “Away We Happened” campaign.
AT&T’s Jennifer Jones and interTrend’s Julia Huang accepted the Effie award for “Away We Happened.”
New York, NY (May 22, 2013) –interTrend Communications, in partnership with Rezonate Media, accepted the first ever award given by Effie Worldwide in recognition of work targeted toward the Asian American community for AT&T’s“Away We Happened” campaign. The Effie Awards have recognized excellence in advertising since 1968. The highly successful, crowd influenced, episodic web series campaign successfully integrated entertaining content with AT&T product marketing and won Effie award in New York City.
Launched in May 2012 and supported primarily through social promotion of Asian YouTube influencers (Wong Fu Productions, Jen Fromheadtotoe, Victor Kim), the six-week series reached more than 12 million people – becoming a sensation in the Asian-American community with significant crossover appeal with mainstream audiences.
The unique campaign invited the public to take a critical role in the development of the series by submitting and voting for how the story would progress. The interTrend/Rezonateteam then worked with a production crew to write, shoot, edit and broadcasteach episode in just a single week. A major part of the success of “Away We Happened” was theengagement of consumers with creative content that organically integrated the AT&T products, fan/viewer participationandthe right partners.
“We were interested in reaching the Asian Youth segment in a relevant way and interTrend delivered a new way to engage with this audience via a campaign that began with the Asian-American community but clearly extended well into the mainstream,” saysJennifer L. Jones, VP of Diversity Marketing, AT&T.
interTrend also was a finalist for its work for Toyota Camry’s “The One and Only” – the only other campaign recognized in the Asian Community category. The campaign tapped into the growing popularity of Korean drama series and the star powerof superstar Lee Min Ho. Like the “Away We Happened” campaign, “The One and Only” campaign showcased the power of socially driven campaigns in the Asian segment as it integrated online content along with more traditional advertising and event marketing.
About interTrend Communications
interTrend is an award-winning, full-service communication agency based in Long Beach, California. Since 1991, interTrend has helpedFORTUNE 500 companieslike AT&T, JP Morgan Chase, State Farm and Toyotaestablish brand leadership positions through an integrated approach that connectscompanies to Asian American segments, including: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Asian Indian, Filipino, Hmong, Cambodian, Laotian and Thai. interTrend creates ideas that bridge cultural gaps to transform behavior. For more information, visit www.intertrend.com.
About Rezonate Media
Rezonate is an award-winning, full-service diversity ad agency based in the heart of thriving Asian community, San Gabriel, California. We are a media centric organization that leverages creative knowledge and media clout to generate value and results for Fortune 500 advertisers like AT&T, JP Morgan Chase, State Farm and Toyota.
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(Commission on Election Logo)
MANILA, May 22 (Mabuhay) — No less than the chairman of the Commission on Elections is recommending that the poll body discontinue use of Smartmatic precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines in the 2016 elections.
Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said he will advise the next Comelec chief not to use the Smartmatic PCOS machines in the 2016 elections due to the large number of criticisms with the system in the last 2 elections.
“Ako personally, I don’t think we should use PCOS anymore because of the experience na nagkaroon ako, na pangalawang gamit pa lang ang daming batikos na inabot natin. Mahihirapan ang papalit sa akin na chairman sa 2016 kung eto rin ang sasagupain niyang batikos,” he said.
Brillantes said the current PCOS machines from Smartmatic can still be used in the presidential election as long as they are maintained properly. He said a proposal to increase to 100,000 the number of voting machines was nixed due to lack of budget.
The Comelec chief said he still wants the poll body to use optical mark recognition (OMR), similar to the PCOS machines, in the next elections.
“The general category is the OMR. Scanning pa rin, not necessarily the Smartmatic PCOS. The scanning machines would be OK for 2016 kasi yan na ang experience natin. Hindi na tayo kailangang magpalit na general na makina. Pero whether we use the Smartmatic PCOS, which we have used twice, meron akong reservations dun. Yun lang ang gusto kong i-clarify. Sana hindi na. Tignan natin ang maintenance ng mabuti at bumili ng bago, not necessarily coming from Smartmatic but the same OMR system,” he added.
Comelec is paying Smartmatic P1.8 billion for 82,000 PCOS machines used in the 2013 elections. Of the amount, Smartmatic still has about P200 million in collectibles from Comelec, according to Brillantes.
Brillantes said P200 million is a “retention fee” for any due and demandable items that Comelec needs from the PCOS supplier. He said defective PCOS machines and malfunctioning compact flash (CF) cards could be deducted from the Smartmatic retention fee.
Smartmatic is also the supplier of the CF cards.
The Comelec chief said he is still asking for a final report on how many PCOS machines malfunctioned during the elections last week.
Brillantes said the poll body will also need to look for a new warehouse to store the PCOS machines. He said he prefers putting the machines in government-owned warehouses either in Subic, Zambales or Clark, Pampanga.
He also said he is interested in piloting the use of PCOS machines during the October barangay polls but conceded that it would be more expensive than manual polls because of the additional cost of delivering special ballots and machines. (MNS)
President Benigno S. Aquino III converses with Vice President Jejomar Binay during the 115th Anniversary of the Philippine Navy at the Commodore Posadas Wharf, Headquarters, Naval Sea Systems Command in Naval Station Pascual Ledesma, Fort San Felipe, Cavite City on Tuesday (May 21). At present, the Philippine Navy is a force of 26,000 personnel composed of sailors, marines and civilian employees. (MNS photo)
MANILA, May 23 (Mabuhay) — Will the connotation of “Filipino time” now change?
President Aquino has signed Republic Act 10535 that sets the Philippine Standard Time (PST), synchronizing the time of all government offices.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said it is the PAGASA that is mandated to set and maintain the PST.
“Lahat po ng ahensya ng pamahalaan ay minamandatuhan na sundan na po at gamitin ang Philippine Standard Time at sino po ‘yung susundan natin? Ang PAGASA,” Valte said.
“Sila po iyong naatasan na mag-set ‘nung network time protocol para po sa ating bansa. All government offices, agencies, instrumentalities, bureaus, shall now coordinate with the PAGASA once a month to synchronize official timepieces and devices.” (MNS)
Filipino activists and overseas Filipino workers gesture as they chant slogans during a rally outside the premises of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in Manila’s Makati financial district May 22, 2013. Dozens of rallyists called on the Taiwanese government to ensure the safety and job security of tens of thousands of Filipinos working in Taiwan, according to a statement from a Filipino labor group. They also appealed to the Taiwanese people to refrain from using violence against Filipino workers who have nothing to do with the current political row between the two countries over the May 9, 2013 death of a Taiwanese fisherman in waters off the northern Philippines. (MNS photo)
TAIPEI, May 21, 2013 (AFP) – Taiwan on Tuesday released a satellite record of the route of a fishing boat fired on by Philippine coastguards, flatly rejecting Manila’s allegations that the boat intruded into Philippine waters.
The killing of crew member Hung Shih-cheng, 65, sparked outrage in Taiwan, which has announced a series of economic sanctions against the Philippines.
Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency said the voyage data recorder from the fishing boat showed it was not in Philippine waters when it came under fire on May 9.
“The satellite records indicated that the Guang Ta Hsin 28 had been fishing within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone throughout,” the agency’s deputy chief Tsay Tzu-yaw told AFP.
The satellite record showed that the ship was positioned at 122 degrees and 55 minutes east and 19 degrees and 59 minutes north when it was attacked at 10:12 am. The economic zones claimed by each country overlap.
“Since the Philippine authorities repeatedly alleged that the fishing boat had intruded into their waters, then why not make public the video records they claim they have taken from the coastguard boat?” Tsay said.
The Philippines said Monday it would make “coordinated efforts” with Taiwan to look into the incident.
Its coastguards claimed that the fishing boat intruded into Philippine waters and tried to ram their vessel, forcing them to to open fire.
Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou has termed the killing “cold-blooded murder” based on an initial inquiry by Taiwan, which showed that the boat had more than 50 bullet holes and showed no signs of ramming.
The incident has sharply raised tensions between Taipei and Manila, sparking concern from Washington.
Philippine Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said Monday a National Bureau of Investigation team would fly to Taiwan to examine the fishing boat and interview survivors.
De Lima said the Taiwanese investigators would be given access to their evidence, including statements from the coastguard.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino has personally apologised for the incident but Taiwan has rejected his apology and announced sanctions.
These include a ban on the hiring of new Philippine workers, recalling its envoy and staging a naval drill in waters off the northern Philippines.
Taipei has repeatedly pressed Manila to issue a formal government apology, to compensate the fisherman’s family and to apprehend the killer.
Philippine officials say the issue of a formal apology is complicated by the fact that Manila officially recognises Beijing over Taipei.
(DOF logo)
MANILA, May 22 (Mabuhay) — There is no need to grant an Income Tax Holiday (ITH) incentive to hotels and resorts in the country’s hottest tourist destinations, Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said in response to the open letter to the president of the Philippine Hotel Federation, Inc. (PHFI).
“Income tax holidays for already very profitable hotels serves only to further enrich a select few rather than improve the overall environment for tourism investments,” Purisima explained.
“We’d rather collect income taxes and invest in better infrastructure that will further attract more entities to invest in the Philippines.”
In the said letter, PHFI appealed to the President for the revocation of Board of Investments (BOI) Regulation No. 2013-001 pertaining to the grant of incentives for tourism accommodation establishments in Metro Manila, Cebu City, Mactan Island, and Boracay Island.
BOI Regulation No. 2013-001 states that projects on accommodation establishments located in these four areas that intend to register with the BOI under the 2012 Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) shall be entitled to Capital Equipment Incentives only, effectively removing the ITH incentive for tourism accommodation establishments provided under Executive Order No. 226 or The Omnibus Investments Code.
Purisima supported BOI’s move, stating that the strength of the tourism industry in these four areas did not warrant an additional ITH benefit and the industry will continue to be competitive.
“BOI-registered enterprises engaged in tourism-related activities, particularly in tourist accommodation facilities, are profitable and will be profitable even without income tax holidays,” Purisima said.
Based on the 2009-2010 BOI application data mentioned earlier, the total average return on investment (ROI) of the Travel and Tourism industry is estimated at 15 percent sans tax holidays.
The same BOI data would show that more than half of the tourism-related projects for those years are located in at least one of the four areas covered by the regulation in question.
PH tourism incentives competitive in ASEAN even without tax holidays
Even without ITH, the Philippines offer incentives to the tourism industry that are comparable with its Southeast Asian neighbours. According to Thailand’s Board of Investment, the country only gives exemption from import duties on machinery and only non-tax privileges to hotels to support tourism.
Meanwhile, information from the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore reveal that there are no tax incentives currently granted to hotels and restaurants in Singapore.
While in the past, tax allowances were given on construction costs of hotels on Sentosa Island and tax deductions were given to hotel refurbishment expenditure, these tax incentives have since been phased out.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013, the Philippines’ main comparative strengths are its natural resources, price competitiveness, and a very strong prioritization of the travel and tourism (T&T) industry as indicated by the government’s spending on the sector as a percentage of GDP and the increasing effectiveness of tourism marketing and branding campaigns.
“Indeed, the other factors cited in the WEF Report, referred to by PHFI itself as holding back our country’s tourism competitiveness potential — such as safety and security concerns, inadequate health and hygiene, and underdeveloped ground transport and ICT infrastructure — may be addressed using tax revenues,” Purisima added.
P1-billion foregone to help tourism and equally important sectors
Based on project applications for registration with BOI for 2009 and 2010, the estimated amount of revenue foregone from ITH to projects located in the four areas is P1.06 billion.
Purisima said that the revenue derived from the savings on the ITH can be used for investment in tourism as well as purposes that can have a positive spill-over to tourism.
“This large amount can instead be collected and used to fund programs and projects that will benefit not only the tourism sector, but other equally important sectors as well,” the finance chief said.
The Department of Finance is currently working on a program to rationalize all fiscal incentives across industries, to enhance transparency and improve targeting in their grant and in the tax expenditures of the government. (MNS)
| We might say yes!