January 2015 'a' issue

Ryan Cayabyab wants songs with ‘international appeal’ for PhilPop 2015

M an ig on g Ba go ng Ta on!

H appy N ew Yea r!

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Connecting Global News & Views For The Community

UK & Europe Edition

January 2015

Volume 6 - Number 1

THE MARIAN & DINGDONG LOVE STORY

DINGDONG DANTES, MARIAN RIVERA TIE KNOT IN GRAND ‘ROYAL’ WEDDING knot, the wedding of the couple dubbed as “Dongyan” was widely anticipated to be the biggest of the year.

And indeed it was, with no less than President Benigno Aquino III serving as best man, eight bishops and seven priests celebrating the mass, plus 40 principal sponsors, 18 groomsmen and 18 bridesmaids and 20 secondary sponsors in attendance.

Among the principal sponsors of the so-called “royal wedding” were Batangas 3517

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Governor Vilma Santos, Sharon Cuneta, Vic Sotto, Ogie Alcasid and wife Regine Velasquez, Helen Gamboa, Celia Rodriguez, GMA bigwigs Felipe Gozon, Gilberto Guavit, Jr. and Lilybeth Rasonable, TV5 executive Wilma Galvante, TAPE, Inc. Chairman Tony Tuviera, producers Wilson Tieng and “Mother” Lily Monteverde, Bench owner Ben Chan, fashion designer Randy Ortiz, directors Joyce Bernal, Mark Reyes and Mac Alejandre and Dr. Vicki Belo.

Those who stood as secondary sponsors included Richard Gomez and wife Leyte 4th District Rep. Lucy TorresGomez, Ai-Ai delas Alas, KC Concepcion, Senator Bam Aquino and child sensation Ryzza Mae Dizon, who also served as flower girl.

Marian’s close showbiz friends Roxanne Barcelo and Ana Feleo were among her maids of honor while Dingdong’s brother, Jose Angelo Dantes, was among the best men.

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FROM LOVE TEAM TO WEDDING OF THE YEAR:

Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera meet near the altar at the beginning of their wedding ceremony on Tuesday at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cubao, Quezon City. President Benigno Aquino III (left) served as best man.

Photo by Robert Viñas/Malacañang Photo Bureau.

SHOWBIZ couple Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera finally tied the knot in a grand wedding held Tuesday afternoon at the Immaculate Concepcion Cathedral in Cubao, Quezon City.

The couple first met and starred together on the GMA primetime series “Marimar” in 2007 and officially became engaged last August after Dingdong proposed to Marian on live television. In a year when several other showbiz couples either became engaged or also tied the

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THEIR undeniable chemistry made them the hottest love team in the Philippines and GMA Network’s Primetime King and Queen.

But Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera have a very real love story that is full of surprises and unexpected twists and turns that brought them to where they are now—the country’s most celebrated couple set to tie the knot in the most awaited wedding of the year.

Dingdong Dantes began his showbiz career as a commercial model at the very young age of 2. Years later, he became a part of the all-male dance group Abztract Dancers with Dino Guevarra and Arthur Solinap before he got his shot at acting.

At age 17, Dingdong appeared in a movie for the first time in the “Shake, Rattle and Roll V” episode “Anino”, and starred in GMA Network’s youthoriented series “T.G.I.S. (Thank God It’s Sabado)” under the name Raphael Dantes. Dingdong also appeared in “Honey My Love So Sweet” and “I’m Sorry My Love”, as well as in television programs such as “Anna Karenina” and “F.L.A.M.E.S.”

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NEWS

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January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

Sanctions loom for Cebu Pacific after delayed, cancelled holiday flights MANILA - Cebu Pacific may face penalties after flight delays and cancellations caused chaos at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Terminal 3 NAIA3) last Christmas.

Carmelo Arcilla, executive director of the Civl Aeronautics Board (CAB), said the regulator directed Cebu Pacific to submit pertinent documents such as the number of flights, total capacity of aircraft, total seats sold, among others on or before January 7.

“We are in the process of collecting data to be evaluated by CAB, CAAP and MIAA because these three agencies oversee the airline operations. The findings of this joint committee would be submitted to our respective board for evaluation and for regulations,” Arcilla said.

The Manila International Airport Authority operates NAIA, whereas the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines supervises all airports.

Arcilla said regulators are expected to conclude their investigation into the

Christmas fracas within next month.

“The sanction against Cebu Pacific is in the form of fines and penalties or in serious cases maybe suspension or even revocation of permits,” he said.

Representatives of Gokongweiowned Cebu Pacific were unavailable as this went online.

The government’s investigation comes after passengers at the NAIA3 complained that Cebu Pacific failed to inform them about the delayed and canceled flights.

In a statement last Thursday, Cebu Pacific blamed the flight delays and cancellation on the “air traffic congestion, compounded by inclement weather in some regions.”

To compensate the affected passengers, Cebu Pacific has offered to refund or rebook its passengers who have been unable to check-in or tagged as no-show for their December 23, 2014 to January 5, 2015 flights originating or connecting from Manila.

The airline said it offered the affected

passengers any of the following options without additional charges: • Rebooking of flights up to 30 days from original departure date • Full travel fund • Full refund Under the Passenger Bill of Rights, a passenger can avail of compensation if the flight was delayed for at least

three hours after the estimated time of departure.

In case of terminal delay of up to six hours after the estimated time of departure, this should already be considered a canceled flight.

Airlines with delayed or canceled flights should also provide sufficient meals or refreshments, hotel

accommodation, transportation from the airport to hotel, free phone calls, texts, emails or first aid, if necessary.

Tickets should be reimbursed, endorsed to other carriers without paying any fare difference or rebooked without additional charge if the flight was canceled. ■ Darwin G. Amojelar / InterAksyon. com / December 29, 2014 / 4:47 PM

BDO acquires One Network Bank to firm up presence in southern Philippines MANILA – BDO Unibank Inc has entered into an agreement to acquire One Network Bank Inc (ONB), beefing up the biggest lender’s presence in the fastgrowing markets in southern Philippines.

ONB has 105 branches and microbanking offices in Mindanao and the Panay Island, which are BDO’s target growth areas, the Henry Sy-led bank said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

At end-September, ONB had total assets of P28.1 billion, net loans of P19.7 billion, and a deposit franchise amounting to P17.9 billion.

“ONB has successfully built a profitable

business franchise through the years, providing returns of over 20 percent to its shareholders. ONB’s spectacular growth has made it a dominant regional player and one of the leaders in the thrift and rural banking industry,” BDO said.

BDO sees its financial muscle and ONB’s regional presence creating new opportunities for growth.

“This partnership will enable ONB clients to access BDO’s strong balance sheet and expanded banking solutions, while providing BDO inroads to new market segments previously underserved by commercial banks,” the listed lender said.

“The move is also in support of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas thrust to promote inclusive banking through countryside branching and lending.

BDO aims to expand its product offering to these underserved sectors of the Philippine economy,” it said.

The transaction is subject to closing conditions and the necessary regulatory approvals.

BDO’s profit slid 7.7 percent to P16.8 billion in the first nine months of this year from P18.2 billion last year in the absence of exceptional trading gains. ■ Krista Angela M. Montealegre / InterAksyon.com / December 23, 2014 / 1:49 PM

Government to hike LRT, MRT fares beginning January 4 MANILA – Fares for the country’s three overhead light rail train services will go up starting next month.

In a statement, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said it will implement the P 11.00 base fare plus P 1.00 per additional kilometer formula for fares at the Light Rail Transit lines 1 and 2, as well as the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3) beginning January 4.

“It’s a tough decision, but it had to be made. It’s been several years since an increase was proposed. We delayed its implementation one last time until after the Christmas season. While 2015 will see increased fares, it will also see marked improvements in our LRT and MRT services,” Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said.

Despite inflation and rising operational costs over the years, the last fare increase for LRT1 was in 2003, while fares for LRT2 have yet to

be adjusted since it started operations.

Fares for MRT3 have only been adjusted downwards: from the original range of P 17.00 to P 34.00 in 1999, fares were cut to a range of P 12.00 to P 20.00 in 2000. At present, the range is lower art P 10.00 to P15.00.

This failure to match fare adjustments with increasing operating costs have resulted in practically breakeven finances for all three lines. In turn, this crippled their ability to invest in large-scale improvements for their facilities, since revenues have only been enough for day-to-day operational requirements.

The increase fares is in line with the 2011-2016 Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan, which directs the adoption of the “user-pays” principle in the pricing of transportation services.

At present, LRT and MRT operations are subsidized by government to the tune of P12 billion per year.

Under the “user-pays” principle, riders will shoulder more of the cost of riding the trains. In the case of LRT and MRT, this will entail a shift from the zonal fare scheme to a distance-based system. As such, riders will be charged based on the distance they travel.

Since government subsidizes around 60 percent of the cost for each LRT1 and LRT2 passenger and around 75 percent for each MRT3 passenger, an estimated P2 billion will be freed up for development projects and relief operations in other parts of the country.

“We must emphasize that around P10 billion will still go to subsidizing LRT and MRT passengers. But the premise of the user-pays principle is this: if what each rider pays is closer to the actual cost of his or her own trip, the P2 billion savings can be used for development projects and relief operations to benefit those who never even get to use the LRT or MRT,” Abaya said.

“I’m referring to the vast majority of Filipinos outside of Metro Manila – those in other parts of Luzon, in the Visayas, and in Mindanao, most especially those whose lives have been severely affected by typhoons and calamities. They will be the real beneficiaries of a more equitable

distribution of these savings,” he added.

The projected P2 billion savings is equivalent to 8,240 classrooms, 82 kilometers worth of farm-to-market roads, or 11,440 hectares’ worth of irrigated farmlands. ■ Darwin G. Amojelar / InterAksyon.com / December 20, 2014 / 10:21 PM

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BUSINESS & FINANCE

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January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

PWU ROW Benitez bloc to fight takeover; STI says

Benitez group had OKd devt of JASMS site MANILA - The Benitez family is not giving up the fight for control of Philippine Women’s University (PWU), calling the STI group’s takeover as “brazen.”

The group of Eusebio Tanco of STI Holdings Inc., however, said the Benitez family members and other trustees on the PWU Board had submitted letters of resignation in 2011, which were to take effect in the event they failed to fulfill the conditions of their term loan facility from Banco de Oro. Banco de Oro was about to foreclose on the PWU when the STI group came in to bail them out. The Tanco group said the Benitez bloc did not fulfill the provisions of their bailout agreement.

In a separate statement, STI also said it was the board of directors led by the Benitez family that approved the transaction to commercialize JASMS in Quezon City with the Tanco group only coming into the picture when it bailed out PWU and Unlad Resources in 2011.

STI said it could have cited the Benitez group in default as early as November 2011 for failing to meet its obligations under the agreement.

‘Resignation’ claims baseless Benitez bloc. The descendants of the

founders of PWU, the Benitez family said STI Holdings Inc’s claim that members of the family had resigned from PWU was “baseless” and the takeover “illegal.”

STI’s takeover of PWU was “triggered by, and in retaliation for,”

the refusal of the JASMS community to agree to the former’s plan to turn the Jose Abad Santos Memorial School in Quezon City into a commercial venture, the Benitez family said.

Last September, STI Education Systems Holdings Inc announced a partnership with property giant Ayala Land Inc to build a commercial center and residential projects around the JASMS-Quezon City campus.

The Benitez family noted that the JASMS community -- comprised of alumni, parents, and other stakeholders -- was not informed of the plan and resisted the move.

JASMS is a PWU-affiliated school offering basic education. Its campuses are located in Quezon City and Manila.

The Tanco group issued a notice of default on December 9 for failure of the Benitez group to meet nearly a billion

pesos in debt. This had ballooned from the original P230-million loan that PWU took out from BDO Unibank Inc. STI assumed the PWU loan in 2011 when it was about to be foreclosed by BDO. “The notice of default inappropriately and unilaterally demanded payment of the entire amount within a mere seven days. The said notice of default is baseless primarily because, among other reasons, the amount demanded is absolutely and exorbitantly wrong,” the Benitez family said.

“The Benitez family is contesting the said default notice and taking legal action to fight this brazen takeover attempt of a revered educational institution,” it added. The family said the Tanco group knew that they were contesting the notice of default.

“Yet without even the cursory

attempt to engage in dialogue and refusing to entertain such offers of dialogue to discuss the default or to listen to the Benitez family’s proposal on how to pay the correct amount of the loan, the Tanco group is now attempting to take over PWU,” the family added.

“This unfortunate turn of events on what was once a promising arrangement was brought about by a difference of principles between the parties. Over the course of three years, the Benitez family realized that Mr. Tanco’s vision to commercialize PWU and JASMS does not conform to the vision of the founders and the Benitez family’s enduring commitment to education,” the family said.

The Benitez family claimed to have the full backing of the entire PWU and JASMS community “to fight tooth and nail to prevent a predator from taking over their beloved PWU and JASMS.”

‘Benitez bloc approved JASMS devt’.

In a separate statement, STI pointed out, however, that it was the Benitezled board of directors that approved the transaction to commercialize JASMS in Quezon City, with the Tanco group only coming into the picture when it bailed out PWU and Unlad Resources in 2011.

“That it took STI three longs years waiting for the Benitez Group to comply with its obligations signified its sincere intention to help PWU,” the listed firm said.

“STI remains unpaid and Unlad’s capital stands at P20 million still.

Worse, early this month, the Benitez Group called for the rescission of its agreements with STI without offering any payment of any kind for all the funding assistance it received. Being a publicly listed company, STI had to protect its interest and shareholders, and eventually cited the Benitez Group in default, the trigger for the resignations to become effective and for STI to gain majority of PWU s membership and board,” STI said.

The uniformly worded letters of resignation by the Benitez group were addressed to Reynaldo Tanjanco Jr,.

First Vice President for Corporate Banking Unit I of BDO - which almost foreclosed on the school before the STI group stepped in. The letters were signed by: CEO and Trustee Alfredo Benitez Reyes, President and Trustee Jose Francisco Benitez, Vice Chair Manuel S. Alba, Chairperson Helena Benitez, and trustees Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, Purissima Benitez Johannot, and Vicente Jayme.

The uniform text of the letter goes: “In the event that PWU defaults on the servicing of the Term Loan facility Banco de Oro (BDO) has extended, I am tendering my irrevocable resignation effective immediately, as member of the PWU Board of Trustees and from the PWU general membership.

“I am also assigning my rights as such to the authorized representative of Banco de Oro.” ■ Krista Angela Montealegre /

InterAksyon.com / December 23, 2014 / 4:28 PM

Government ditches plan to build new runway at NAIA MANILA – The government has dropped a plan to expand the existing runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

“The consultant doubted if it could even add additional movements. He said the main thing to do is preserve your main runway, maximize it, try to eliminate all forms of obstructions or delays on it, and keep planes off it most of the time,” Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said, referring to Dutch consultant Ruud Ummels.

Last August, President Aquino ordered the construction of a third runway at NAIA to improve the airport’s capacity to 60 aircraft movements per hour from the

existing 40. The government has allotted an initial budget of P2.4 billion for the project.

Citing Ummels recommendation, Abaya said, “There are more prospects to a new terminal than a third runway.”

Given this, the government is now pursuing a fifth terminal to be constructed near C5 Road, Abaya said.

“There is no need to expropriate land.

It will require less land so we don’t eat into private subdivisions. What would be affected are informal settlers within the (Manila International Airport Authority) property. We don’t affect C5. Hopefully, once the consultant shows the numbers, we’ll go up to the President and present it,” Abaya said.

He did not disclose the time frame for the construction of the fifth terminal at NAIA. “We’re waiting for the decision of the procurement. It will take them a year to study and recommend and execute the plan. By the end of 2015, we’ll know,” Abaya said.

“Definitely, the new terminal is not the terminal that will absorb all that we need until 2027 or 2028. Even if we put this up, there will still be a need for terminal space so we will create more space in Terminals 1,2, and 3,” he said.

The government is also looking at constructing a $10-billion airport at Sangley Point in Cavite to replace the aging NAIA. By next year, the airport is expected to handle 37.78 million passengers, bulk of which would be domestic traffic. Come 2040, NAIA’s passenger traffic would reach 101.49 million.

At end-2013, the airport’s annual passenger traffic reached 32.865 million, 3.1 percent more than the 31.877 in 2012.

NAIA’s three terminals can accommodate 30 million passengers per year, but its maximum capacity is roughly 35 million.

■ Darwin G. Amojelar / InterAksyon.com / December

29, 2014 / 6:08 PM

Philippine stock market bull run hits sixth year in 2014 MANILA The Philippine benchmark index closed the year above the 7,200 to extend its winning streak to a sixth straight year.

At the Philippine Stock Exchange, the composite index climbed 44.25 points, or 0.62 percent, to finish at 7,230.57 on Monday, delivering a return of 22.80 percent for 2014 following a 1.3 percent gain in 2013.

The industrial sub-index rallied 1.16 percent to lead all counters in the green.

Advancers beat decliners, 111 to 75, while 42 issues were unchanged. Value turnover stood at P8.44 billion, as 1.04 billion shares changed hands.

The most actively traded stocks were PLDT, Alliance Global, Universal Robina, Metrobank and Ayala Land.

The biggest gainers were Berjaya, Vista Land and Prime Media, while the biggest losers were Makati Finance, Lorenzo Shipping and Cebu Property Venture.

“The spike in prices is more cosmetic, an effect of window dressing.

Prices were pushed up obviously during the last few minutes and that’s what spurred the market,” said Luis Limlingan, business development head at Regina Capital Development Corp.

Asian stocks rose on Monday, fueled

by Wall Street’s ascent to record levels last Friday. Tokyo’s Nikkei missed the run up, falling 1 percent as Ebola fears in Japan hit the market. ■ Krista Angela

Montealegre / InterAksyon.com / December 29, 2014 / 4:13 PM

6

BUSINESS & FINANCE

www.hello-philippines.com

January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

CebuPacific refund not enough, aviation execs should also be investigated - Bayan Muna lang para patahimikin ang mga nagrereklamong pasahero. Ang dapat ay patawan ng parusa ang mga airlines na pumalpak,” he said.

The lawmaker, in a December 16 privilege speech in Congress, decried airline companies for excessive

Ayala joint venture bags financing for coal-fired power plant MANILA - A unit of Ayala Corp (AC) has bagged financing for the group’s coalfired power project in Lanao del Norte.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the country’s oldest conglomerate said GNPower Kauswagan Ltd. Co. inked a definitive documentation for the financing of the 135-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte.

Philippine Investment Alliance for Infrastructure Fund (PINAI) and Power Partners Ltd. Co. would provide financing for the project. Terms of the agreement were not announced as this went online.

Under the financing blueprint for the coal plant, whose construction will start next year, the total project cost will be funded by both debt and equity.

“The debt will be financed by a syndicate of domestic banks with

additional debt from international banks,” AC said in its disclosure.

GNPower is a joint venture company between the Ayalas’ wholly-owned AC Energy Holdings Inc. and Power Partners.

AC earlier tapped Shanghai Electric Power Construction Co, a subsidiary of Power Construction Corp of China, for the engineering, procurement and construction of the $1 billion-thermal facility.

The project is expected to be completed within three years with the first unit operational by early 2017. ■ Euan Paulo C. Añonuevo / InterAksyon.com / December 29, 2014 / 1:16 PM

fares, delays, and dismal service.

Rep. Colmenares then called for an investigation of the airline companies as well as the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) for failing to protect airline passengers.

“CAB should not be allowed to escape accountability since dismal service has been going on for a long time,” he added.

“I wished that Congress then already called for a probe but that did not happen, so I will file a resolution when Congress opens on Jan. 5 for the probe to immediately take place. While it is good that the CAB will already start their investigation to get to some of the details of the continued inconvenience of airline passengers, I think that the CAB should also be probed for not doing its duty to regulate these airlines and protect airline passengers,” said Senior Deputy Minority Leader Colmenares.

“Aside from the long queues, delayed flights and overbooking the resolution will probe 1) cancelled flights, 2) expensive rebooking fees and penalties but when it is the airlines who cancel or change schedules there are no penalties that refund the passengers, 3) another problem particularly for

Cebu Pacific passengers is that they offer a deceptively low initial base fare but in the end the fare shoots up due big tax and surcharges that are even higher than that of Philippine Airlines (PAL). They also charge passengers with a web administration fee that is ridiculous,” he added.

“Also airlines in many instances do not use the passenger tube even if the passengers have paid for its use making it difficult for the elderly and the sick as they have to go down the tarmac,” he said.

“There has also been a substantial decrease in fuel prices leading to lower fares in jeepneys and other public

transport but the airline rates have not gone down. A decrease in airline rates will not only result in a temporary relief for airline passengers but could also ease the rising prices of some commodities transported through these airline companies,” said the lawmaker.

“It would be better if the Committee on Transportation would just call for a motu propio hearing to probe these issues during the break but if not then I hope that it would immediately be scheduled on the resumption of sessions so that these airlines would improve their services,” Colmenares said. ■ InterAksyon.com / December 29, 2014 / 12:18 PM

ORIGINAL CREATION & COPYRIGHT RESERVED BY © HELLO PHILIPPINES 2015

MANILA - The offer of CebuPacific for refunds is not enough and that they should be sanctioned for their continued dismal service, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said in a news release.

“Kulang ang refund na ito at paraan

8

BUSINESS & FINANCE

www.hello-philippines.com

January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

Investment pledges for tax incentive-heavy industries down a fourth in 2014 MANILA – Investments registered with the Board of Investments (BOI) this year fell by a quarter from a year ago.

In a statement, the BOI said money committed to put up or expand preferred businesses dropped by 24 percent to P354.5 billion in 2014 from P466.03 billion last year.

Preferred businesses pertain to economic activities that qualify for tax and other incentives. The list of preferred activities is contained in

the annual Investment Priorities Plan (IPP) mandated by Executive Order No. 226.

Trade Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal Jr. blamed the drop in registered investments on the smaller amount committed for energy projects.

“But overall, there are more projects this year, 294 compared to 282 last year, with 54 percent more jobs projected (at) 58,619 (this year) compared to 38,100 last year,” he said in a text message.

As in last year, about half of the investment pledges were for projects in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning business, as the country is faced with a power supply shortfall amid a booming economy.

Other top investment draws were construction, mass housing, manufacturing and transportation.

Big-ticket projects were in the power and infrastructure sectors, as follows: • P63.17-billion six-megawatt

(MW) coal-fired plants of St. Raphael Power Generation Corp in the towns of Balayan and Calaca in Batangas province; • P50-billion 540-MW coal-fired power plant of GNPower Kauswagan Ltd. Co. in Lanao del Norte; and • P23.43-billion Ninoy Aquino

International Airport Expressway Phase 2 of Vertex Tollways Development Inc. Metro Manila remains the top destination of investments with a third of the total amount committed, followed by neighboring Region IV with another third. ■ Chelsea Cruz / InterAksyon.com / December 29, 2014 / 5:02 PM

Government bidding out resettlement of families along path of LRT1 extension project MANILA – The government is laying the ground for the extension of the LRT1 all the way to Cavite.

State-run Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) is bidding out a P403-million contract for the relocation of informal settlers living along the path of the LRT1 Cavite Extension Project. The contract involves clearing operations as well as resettlement of families.

According to LRTA, bidding documents may be purchased starting December 23, 2014, and the deadline of bids is slated for February 11, 2015.

Earlier, the government awarded to the Light Rail Manila Consortium (LRMC) the P64.9 billion LRT1 Cavite Extension Project,

one of the public-private partnership (PPP) ventures of the Aquino administration.

LRMC, which is led by Ayala Corp and Metro Pacific Investments Corp (MPIC), is set to take over the operations and maintenance of the existing LRT1 by October next year. The consortium has 48 months to complete the extension of the service all the way to Bacoor, Cavite.

Under the 32-year concession agreeemnt, LRMC will operate and maintain the existing LRT1 and construct an 11.7-kilometer extension from the present end-point at Baclaran to the Niog area in Bacoor. A total of eight new stations will be built along this route, which traverses the cities of Parañaque

and Las Piñas up to Bacoor.

LRMC will invest P35 billion in the project, which is envisioned to help ease the worsening traffic conditions in the Parañaque-Las Piñas-Cavite corridor.

The project is also expected to enhance commercial development around the rail stations.

DOTC said more than 500,000 commuters everyday use LRT1, which runs from Baclaran in Pasay City to Roosevelt in Quezon City.

The southern part of Metro Manila and neighboring Cavite province is home to nearly four million people. ■ Darwin G.

Amojelar / InterAksyon.com / December 29, 2014 / 2:40 AM

Philippines posts budget surplus in November as spending contracts MANILA - The Philippines is poised to end the year with a budget deficit that is way below target after expenditures failed to live up to government promises of a takeoff.

In a statement, the Department of Finance (DOF) said the national government incurred a budget surplus of P6.8 billion last month, higher than a year ago’s P1 billion.

The surplus stemmed from expenditures contracting 8 percent year-on-year, or double the 4 percent decline in revenues for November.

The surplus last month has narrowed the year-to-date budget deficit by 76 percent year-on-year to P26.8 billion. The end-November deficit is way below the P266 billion full-year ceiling.

A deficit happens whenever expenditures outpace revenues, and a surplus the reverse. Last month, revenue reached P158.2 billion, whereas expenditures were lower at P151.4 billion, thus the surplus for November.

Revenue reached P1.7 trillion in the first 11 months of the year, whereas expenditures were higher at P1.8 trillion, thus the year-to-date deficit.

“With the recent Moody’s credit rating upgrade, as well as improved scores in the Millennium Challenge Corporation scorecard leading to our eligibility for a second compact, one thing is clear: the Philippines is in a virtuous cycle. Prudent fiscal management by the national government keeps us in this sweet spot, reaping rewards and raring to reach for more,” Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima said.

Earlier this month, the Philippines bagged its second upgrade from Moody’s Investors Service, cementing the country’s satus as an investment grade sovereign. At about the same time, the US government-run Millennium Challenge Corp also announced the Philippines’ eligibility for a second grant based on the country’s improving rankings in good governance. ■ InterAksyon.com / December 29, 2014 / 12:32 PM

JICA study for new Philippine international airport ready by June MANILA – A study to build a new international airport at a former U.S. airbase twenty kilometers south of Manila is expected to be completed by middle of this year.

“JICA is finishing the study,” Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said before the holiday break, referring to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

He said the study should be completed by June.

To recall, JICA had recommended building the new airport at Sangely Point in Cavite province.

“Clearly, the location will be Sangley. They studied all the possible

sites. We just want it to be 20 minutes drive and 20 kilometers away [from the existing airport],” Abaya said.

The new international airport can accommodate 55 million passengers per year and 400,000 aircraft movements, and should be operational by 2025.

JICA said the new airport can be funded through official development assistance (ODA) or public private partnership (PPP).

The JICA study had proposed building a new international gateway that would require a total investment of P435.93 billion.

By 2015, passenger traffic at the

Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) will hit 37.78 million, of which 16.46 million would be international passengers and 21.31 million domestic.

By 2040, passenger traffic at NAIA would reach 101.49 million.

At end-2012, NAIA accommodated 31.88 million, exceeding the 30 million passengers per year optimal capacity of the terminal, and near its maximum handling capacity of 35 million.

Earlier, San Miguel Corp (SMC) proposed to build a new international airport at a reclaimed area along the Manila-Cavite Coastal Road at a cost of $10 billion. ■ Darwin G. Amojelar / InterAksyon. com / January 1, 2015 / 7:16 PM

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Pinoy postal worker in hot water in US over smartphone theft FREMONT, Calif. – A Filipino postal carrier in the US allegedly stole several cell phones that he was supposed to deliver to customers in Fremont.

Romeo Moog Talag, 56, of Hayward is accused of mail theft in connection with phones stolen between October 2012 and September 2013, according to an affidavit filed Dec. 2 in federal court.

If convicted, Talag faces up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.

Philippine News called Talag’s residence to seek his comments. But a person who answered the phone told PNews that Talag was not home.

The person also declined to take a message to Talag from PNews or

say whether or not a lawyer could be reached instead.

Talag — a 16-year postal worker — eventually became the focus of a federal investigation after his fellow employees around January 2013 found packages “in rifled condition and/or reported by customers as missing,” Michael Appio, a special agent for the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, wrote in the affidavit.

“The majority of the parcels were said to contain high-end smartphones, including Apple iPhones and Samsung Galaxy models.”

The turning point in the investigation came in August 2013 when an AT&T customer complained that a package containing a Samsung Galaxy S4 worth about $640 never

arrived, Appio said. But AT&T reported that the phone had been activated “on a cellular account in the name of Justine Talag.”

Appio then looked through Postal Service databases and found that the only mail carrier “with the same last name as Justine was Romeo Moog Talag,” the agent said.

“After conducting various investigative inquiries, I determined that Justine Talag is Romeo Talag’s daughter,” he said.

Appio and another agent soon interviewed Talag at his work about the Samsung Galaxy S4 with the suspect denying any knowledge of how the phone came to be activated on his daughter’s account. “I don’t understand what’s happened,” Appio wrote as what Talag told the agents. “I’m surprised.”

But Appio spotted a cell phone in the front chest pocket of Talag’s uniform and determined that it was indeed the missing device, the agent said.

Talag reacted “by putting his head down and shaking it side to side, closing his eyes, and exhaling deeply,” Appio said. “Talag then said, ‘So I’m the one stealing?’ A moment later Talag pointed at the Galaxy S4 and said, ‘I’m sorry for that.’”

Talag later “admitted to stealing multiple cellular telephones from the U.S. mail,” Appio said.

A subsequent search of Talag’s house and vehicles turned up “numerous cellular telephones and cellular telephone parts, a cellular telephone box, cellular telephone manuals and packaging, a rifled birthday card in a green envelope, and a $50 Walmart Visa gift card,” the agent said.

Talag’s case resembles that of another Bay Area postal carrier two years ago. In December 2012, Romeo Natan of San Bruno was arrested

in connection with the theft of thousands of pieces of mail.

Natan – who delivered mail in San Carlos — purloined correspondences to find credit cards that he then used and passed out to friends, a prosecutor said.

Natan eventually pleaded no contest to felony charges of commercial burglary, identity theft and credit-card fraud. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail. ■ Neil Gonzales / Philippine News December

24, 2014 / 2:15 PM

Pinay among California’s top five teachers LOVELYN Marquez-Prueher was named one of the California’s five top teachers for her dedication and love for teaching children English, GMA 7’s “24 Oras” reported Tuesday.

A Caviteña, Prueher said her experience as an immigrant and Filipino values instilled into her as a child was a key to become a successful educator.

California has over 300,00 teachers, according to the report.

“Teaching is my passion. Talagang mahal ko ang ginagawa ko. Gusto kong ibigay sa kanila lahat ng makakailangan nila para maging succesful sila katulad ko,” said Prueher.

She and her family migrated to the US when she was aged 9.

Having experienced bullying as a

child, she strongly advocates a pro-active parenthood with her student’s kin to support them through similar situations.

LA School Report wrote last October that the English teacher at Dodson Middle School follows the teaching philosophy that “learning is a journey”, and intends to help students learn the “diversity and culture” of today’s society. ■ Rie Takumi / ELR, GMA News / December 24, 2014 / 7:04 AM

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Ohio mayor Ron Falconi on growing up Fil-Am: ‘I experienced racism’ ALMOST a year into being elected mayor of Brunswick in Ohio, Ronald ‘Ron’ Falconi said he is happy to be part of the growing Filipino history in the U.S. and “privileged to be playing a small role in helping to shape the future.”

Born and raised in the Cleveland area, Ron, a lawyer by profession, has always been interested in politics.

“I have been involved with the Republican Party for just about my entire adult life. I have volunteered in many different campaigns ranging from local, state, and national elections,” Falconi said in an interview with The FilAm Metro D.C. He grew up in the 1980s listening to Ronald Reagan speak about restoring the greatness of America.

“It was a time when our country

seemed to be feeling sorry for itself.

He was not afraid to stand up for his beliefs,” said Falconi. “One of the biggest things that he did was to challenge communism at its very core.

This was a message that appealed to me because I was so fascinated with international politics and how the countries interrelated to each other.

Because I agreed with him on these issues, I began to wonder if I agreed with him on others, and I did.”

The son of Filipino immigrants who came to the U.S. in the 1960s, Falconi entered politics by becoming a member of the City Council. He was appointed to fill an open seat in January 2008. He won a four-year full term the following year. In 2013 he ran for mayor to succeed Gary Werner, who did not seek re-election.

Taking his oath as the first FilAm mayor of Brunswick. ©The FilAm Metro.

“Instead of running for re-election to my council seat, I ran for mayor instead. I ran unopposed, and my first day on the job was January 1, 2014,” he said.

In Brunswick, Filipinos make up less than 1 percent of a predominantly white community with a population of about 35,000.

Pinoy roots. His father Edgardo Falconi, now deceased, was an electrical engineer who came from Tondo in Manila; and his mother Teresita Liongson from Sta. Cruz, Manila, was a physician who worked for the VA Hospital in Brecksville.

“Growing up FilAm was fun,” he said.

“Both of my parents spoke Tagalog to my sister and me growing up. I can understand Tagalog like I understand English. My mother prepared Filipino food at home, and we attended different Filipino parties and organizations,” Falconi said. “Our family attended different parties and gatherings of the APPO (Association of Philippine Physicians of Ohio), PASO (Philippine American Society of Ohio), and the PAM (Philippine American Ministry), just to name a few. Even though there were not many Filipinos in the Cleveland area, everyone pretty much knew each other.”

Although for the most part, Falconi and his sister, Lourdes, now an Ob/Gyn, had a happy childhood, he shared how

they had faced challenges growing up.

“Most of the people in the U.S. are either black or white. As Filipinos, we were the minority of the minority.

I knew that we did not look like everybody else, but I did not think it would automatically prohibit me from moving forward in life,” he said.

“I experienced racism growing up. Some people assumed I was a foreigner. I do remember there were times when people would take one look at me, hear me speak, and then actually compliment me on my English!

They did not know that I was born and raised right here in Northeastern Ohio.”

Filipino values. Falconi has been married 16 years to Genevieve Cachuela, who is chief of Pediatrics at the Cleveland Clinic in Brunswick.

They have two children Joey and Angela.

“Geny and I met on a blind date in Detroit where my sister introduced us because they were both doing their medical residencies there at the same time. She is the daughter of former Muntinlupa City Councilman Ernesto Cachuela (now deceased),” he shared.

As a father, he said he tries to impart to his children Filipino values such as perseverance, diligence, and hard work so they can succeed in life. He also stresses the importance of “thanking God for all his blessings.”

“My children and I can understand

Tagalog even though we have a hard time speaking it. My wife, who is originally from the Philippines, makes Filipino food at home. On occasion, we all watch Tagalog movies together.

I also enjoy reading about Philippine politics and entertainment when I get the chance,” he described a typical family gathering.

Falconi enjoys singing and travelling. In 2010, his family visited the Philippines. Two years later they drove all the way to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, marking the passage of time by the trips they took.

As mayor, his duties include running the council meetings, appointing people to boards and commissions, attending grand openings, and conducting the Mayor’s Court which hears cases involving violations of local ordinances and state traffic laws.

Falconi’s plan to boost Brunswick’s local economy involved the creation of an economic zone that would drive businesses up his city.

“One of my initiatives is a project that I’ve been working on since I was still a councilman. I am working with our neighbors in Brunswick Hills Township to develop a Joint Economic Development District (JEDD). In my view, it would help to revitalize the western part of the city and help drive businesses to the area,” he said. ■ Maricar

CP Hampton / The FilAm Metro/GMA / December 29, 2014 / 3:51 PM

Pinay maid in Malaysia eyes charges vs ex-boss for abuse A Filipina maid plans to pursue charges against her former employer whom she accused of starving and beating her for nearly one-and-a-half years.

Nenita Batiancila Elcamel said she was made to work round the clock with little to no food and feared for her life, Malaysia’s The Star Online reported Sunday.

Elcamel was rescued by police from her ex-employer’s condominium in Kelana Jaya on Nov. 13. Her head was bloodied and her body bore several bruises when she was rescued.

“I became so thin that I would break down in tears when I saw myself in the mirror,” said the Cebu native.

Last Friday, the former employer pleaded guilty at the Petaling Jaya magistrate’s court to hitting the maid.

She was fined RM4,000 and jailed for a day.

But her woes do not appear to end there - a spokesman of Elcamel’s foreign worker recruitment agency is planning to file a civil case against the former employer.

“We want to get justice for Nenita and make this a lesson to employers to treat their maids as humans,” the report quoted the agency’s spokesperson as saying.

The report said Elcamel weighed about 132 lbs when she started work

in Malaysia in 2013. But at the time of her rescue, she weighed a mere 88 lbs.

She said she was only given water, slices of bread or a pack of instant noodles for the whole day.

She also said her former employer would sometimes starve her for two days.

“Sometimes I felt like collapsing because I was so hungry but she would beat me with a hanger or a stick or pour water on me,” she said.

When the employer’s husband bought her food, she said the woman would throw it into the trash can.

“She deducted RM400 from my salary every month for my food and toiletries. She also charged me for using the electricity

and water,” Elcamel said.

She said her employer would wake her up at 5 a.m. and make her clean each room for an hour.

“She said that she was paying me a lot of money and I had to earn everything she was paying me for,” she said.

Police brought Elcamel out of the condominium after neighbors called police and said the suspect had left her home alone with a gash on her head.

Elcamel said her former employer also attacked her with an aerosol spray can when she was not satisfied with her work. — Joel Locsin / JDS, GMA News /

December 28, 2014 / 9:17 PM

Pinoy lolo named one of Canada’s ‘favorite crossing guards’ A 76-year-old Filipino man was named one of Canada’s favorite crossing guards in a nationwide contest held by an injury prevention group.

The Toronto Star reported last week that Peter Atienza received a $500 cash award, an engraved plaque, and a winter coat along with three others for the award.

Atienza, who used to be a rice and sugarcane farmer in the Philippines, travels two hours to and from his 45-minute shifts as a crossing guard because he finds idling at home “boring.”

His dedication to the job earned

him the nomination of parents whose children were literally shielded by the former farmer from speeding vehicles.

A report on InsideToronto.com said that Atienza would step in front of cars to protect crossing children, and once pushed kids and caretakers into snow banks out of the path of erratic drivers.

Oriole Park Public School, his employer, honored the always-smiling crossing guard of 16 years in a special ceremony that surprised Atienza.

Seven of Atienza’s nine children also work abroad, while his wife lives with him in Canada. ■ Rie Takumi / JST, GMA

News / December 25, 2014 / 2:20 PM

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Throwback2014: Pinoys who represented #PinoyPride in 2014 ARTISTIC, scholastic and imbued with natural leadership skills, Filipinos continued to shine throughout the world in 2014 with their achievements, be it in international singing competitions, sports, arts and design, and academia. Here are some of this year’s Pinoy Achievers who showed the world that the Filipinos are truly worldclass.

Natural-born singers. The Filipino’s knack for singing took global center stage early on this year when Rose “Osang” Fostanes, a 47-year-old caregiver in Tel Aviv, won the “The X Factor Israel” by belting out the karaoke standard “My Way.” She was not the only one.

From Down Under, other Filipinos also tried their luck in international singing competition via “X Factor Australia.” Though not all were as fortunate as Fostanes, it was a halfkababayan, Fil-Australian teener

Marlisa Punzalan, who reigned supreme.

“Miss Saigon,” “Let It Go”. Outside of singing contests, Filipinos also figured prominently in plays. Tanya Manalang and Julia Abueva continued the Philippines’ storied history with Miss Saigon by earning the lead role of Kim — the same role Lea Salonga played 25 years ago — in the West End revival of the play.

If they’re not inspiring standing ovations with their performances, Filipinos are making international judges swoon with the music they penned. Fil-Am composer Robert Lopez did exactly that when he and his wife raked in all the major awards (Emmy/Grammy/Oscars/Tony) for their LSS-inducing song “Let It Go,” which is included in the soundtrack of the highly popular Disney animated film “Frozen.”

Class acts, skillful athletes. Manny

Rose ‘Osang’ Fostanes: I did it my way

Pacquiao wasn’t the only Filipino athlete who inspired national pride this year. The lone Filipino in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Michael Christian Martinez, pinged on the radar of Filipinos when he advanced to the second round of the men’s short competition. His victories earned him enough goodwill with Filipinos everywhere that athletes and fans alike contributed in a crowdfunding campaign established to help him prepare for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Meanwhile, Fil-Am Seattle Seahawks star Doug Baldwin Jr. endeared himself to Filipinos when he carried the Philippine flag to support the victims of Typhoon Yolanda in the Superbowl in January. His earnestness also earned him the support of Filipinos who flocked to his pre-Superbowl interview to learn more about him.

Arts and design. Ilongo theater producer Jhett Tolentino works

Michael Christian Martinez in action during the Sochi Winter Olympics..

Ecofurniture designer extraordinaire Kenneth Cobonpue in style

backstage, but his unique talent in picking the right plays gave him his second Tony award and a spot on The Outstanding Filipino Americans in New York awards.

Another Filipino who made the country proud in 2014 for his aesthetics is Kenneth Cobonpue. A renowned ecofurniture designer, he was named the Asian Designer of the Year by Maison&Object Asia Paris for his use of “traditional Filipino techniques and in particular rattan weaving.”

Leaders. But while the acuity of Filipinos for artistic pursuits is already well-known, their integrity and intellect were also celebrated in 2014.

Filipino UN peacekeepers in Golan Heights earned the respect of their kababayans—President Benigno Aquino III, among them—when they refused to surrender to Syrian rebels during a seige in September despite orders from a ranking official on the ground.

Though less action-packed, veteran journalist Sheila Coronel’s pursuit to expose the truth is equally valiant, so much so that the Columbia Journalism School in New York, arguably the leading journalism school in the world, saw it fit to name her Dean of Academic Affairs.

Multi-awarded journalist Sheila Coronel.

Foreign academicians also acknowledged the efforts of UP alumnus Asst. Prof. Diego Maranan, who received the Marie Curie Action Fellowship for a PhD in music neurotechnology.

Meanwhile, in the field of biology, her decade-long fight to save the Philippine crocodile from extinction gave Maritess Gatan Balbas of Isabela the Whitley Fund for Nature award and grant, which are given to outstanding nature conservationists around the world. ■ Rie Takumi / KBK, GMA News / December 23, 2014 / 4:07 PM

Pinay in UAE seeks help for 9-month-old baby in PHL Comelec extends iRehistro pilot testing in Madrid for 30 days A Filipina in the United Arab Emirates is seeking help for her ninemonth-old baby, who urgently needs a liver transplant to survive.

Grace Carungay said her daughter Aleeyah had a yellowish tinge that turned out to be biliary atresia, a life-threatening condition that needs surgery.

“I worry about my daughter day and night, and right now, her life depends on the generosity of (other) people,” Carungay, 31, told UAE-based news site Gulf News over the weekend.

“The doctors tell me that the lifesaving surgery needs to happen as soon as possible, but I still do not have the funds,” she added.

She said the procedure could cost P4.5 million (Dh1.1 million).

Carungay said the Philippine government will shoulder a portion of the cost, and the total amount has also been discounted by the hospital.

“I also have some funds at my disposal. But at this point, I still need Dh178,000 to save my baby’s life,” she said.

On the other hand, her concern

mounted when Aleeyah was hospitalized twice last November when she vomited blood.

Presently, Aleeyah is being taken care of by Carungay’s mother and sisters in the Philippines.

Carungay works as a receptionist at a facilities management firm in the UAE and takes home just about Dh2,500 a month. She has started selling Dh30 T-shirts, and has also opened up an online fund-raising page.

“I appeal to all residents to help me save my darling child. Her condition is deteriorating, and the later the surgery the occurs, the less successful it will be and the more chances she will have of developmental disorders even if she survives,” she said. ■ Joel Locsin / KBK, GMA News / December 29, 2014 / 5:05 PM

FILIPINOS in Spain who want to register via the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) iRehistro project can still do so until the first week of January.

This was after the Comelec extended for another 30 days the pilot testing of the project, under which applicants are given the chance to choose their schedule time to register, thus minimizing the queuing time inside the embassy’ premises while lessening the embassy’s encoding workloads.

“The iRehistro Project shall be implemented initially at the Philippine Embassy in Madrid, Spain. The pilot testing shall be from November 3, 2014 to January 5, 2015 to cover both the sea-based and landbased applicants in the said Post,” Comelec said in a resolution dated December 9.

The Comelec said this is “to further study and improve on the implementation of the iRehistro project,” as recommended by the Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV),

©www.google.com.ph

the Information Technology Department (ITD), and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Using the websites www.irehistro. com or www.comelec.gov.ph, Filipinos in Spain can electronically schedule and print their preferred time for biometrics capturing.

The applicant may then submit the printed form to the post along with the following on the date and time of appointment: • valid Philippine passport • photocopy of Seaman’s Book for seafarers • the original or certified true copy of Order of Approval of application to retain or require Filipino-citizenship for dual citizens

Filipinos must submit these requirements to the post before undergoing biometrics capturing, the Comelec said.

Originally, the pilot testing in Spain was given only 30 days to be assessed of its viability before a recommendation is made to the OFOV. Republic Act No. 10590 or the Overseas Voting Act of 2013 allows the Comelec to explore systems, whether paper-based, electronic-based or internet-based technology, for onsite and remote voter registration.

Registration for overseas Filipino voters started last May 6 and will continue until October 31, 2015. ■ Rie Takumi / KBK, GMA News / December 18, 2014 / 7:38 PM

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POEA orders total deployment ban on Ebola-hit West African countries THE Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) has imposed a total deployment ban in Ebola-hit countries Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, POEA Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said Saturday.

In a press conference, Cacdac explained that the POEA Governing Board Resolution had approved the deployment ban due to the Ebola virus and the Alert Level 3 issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

An earlier July POEA deployment

ban on the three West African countries had prohibited the deployment of only newly-hired workers, after the DFA had raised an Alert Level 2 on those countries.

Government records show that there were about 900 OFWs currently deployed in the West African countries.

The World Health Organization reported that there are 19,031 Ebola cases, including 7,373 deaths. ■ DVM,

GMA News / December 21, 2014 / 1:00 AM

With Pinoy’s testimony, UAE court sentences salesman to jail for arson threat

With new technique, Pinay with heart ailment makes quick recovery in UAE A Filipina made a swift recovery from a congenital heart ailment after undergoing an advanced and minimally invasive procedure in the United Arab Emirates.

Marissa Soriano, 36, underwent the procedure in Al Noor to fix a hole in her heart wall, UAE news site Khaleej Times reported Thursday.

“I have been suffering for a long time from chest pain and difficulty in breathing, even with a simple activity such as routine walking. I would feel tired just after taking a few steps,” she said.

She also said she had been uncomfortable with the conventional procedure that involves the breastbone

being split open.

Last month, she decided to undergo the surgery after extensive research.

Dr. Norbert Augustin, a consultant cardiac surgeon at Al Noor Hospital, said the Filipina had suffered shortness of breath and was diagnosed with Atrial Septal Defect (ASD), a hole in the wall between the two upper chambers of the heart.

Agustin, who is also head of Cardiac Sciences at Al Noor Hospital Airport Road, performed a two-and-a-halfhour surgery using an “advanced minimally invasive technique” where he accessed the heart directly using an incision measuring 6 by 8 cm.

Such a technique allows a shorter

Pinoys in US feted by envoy for generosity to Yolanda victims FILIPINOS in the United States were recognized this week for showing their continued generosity to fellow Filipinos affected by super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013.

Philippine Ambassador to Washington Jose Cuisia Jr. extended this thanks to the Filipino community in his Christmas message.

“I am particularly heartened to see the Filipino Community join hands in responding to the needs of our kababayans who were affected

by Typhoon Haiyan. Our successful fundraising initiative here in Washington, D.C., ‘After the Storm,’ deeply demonstrates what we, as a community, could do if we all work together,” he said.

Yolanda tore through the Visayas and southern Luzon in November 2013, leaving behind more than 6,300 dead.

Cuisia also thanked Filipinos in the US for their continued support for the embassy’s efforts to promote the three pillars of the Philippine foreign policy – promoting national security, enhancing economic diplomacy and protecting the rights of Filipinos overseas.

He said he looks forward to deepening the ties that bind Filipinos together as one country and one people.

“Generosity, humility and love towards others summarize the real essence of Christmas. We have proven to the international community that unity in the Philippines is indeed one of its kind. I look forward to continue deepening the ties that bind all of us together as one country and one people,” Cuisia said. ■ Joel Locsin / KBK, GMA News / December 23, 2014 / 6:54 PM

hospital stay and faster recovery time, he said.

“The patient was able to breathe on her own only four hours after surgery and was discharged from the hospital four days later,” he said.

He added he is “almost the only one” in the UAE doing such a minimally invasive technique.

Agustin said cases like Soriano’s are usually detected during childhood, and the best time to close the hole is at five years.

“But in some patients, doctors don’t detect these things which means adults have congenital heart disease,” he said.

■ Joel Locsin / KBK, GMA News / December 18, 2014

/ 8:27 PM

WITH a testimony from a Filipino supervisor, a United Arab Emirates court on Sunday sentenced a salesman to six months in jail for threatening to set a money exchange house on fire last May. The Dubai Court of First Instance convicted the salesman, who is from New Zealand, of putting peoples’ lives at risk and attempted robbery, UAE news site Gulf News reported.

It also ordered the accused, who entered a not guilty plea, deported once he serves his jail term.

Sunday’s ruling is subject to appeal within 15 days.

Court records showed the salesman, 52, poured benzene over a cash counter and threatened to light a fire during the robbery attempt. But he then rushed out once the fire alarm system was activated.

A Filipino supervisor testified the accused approached the counter and poured benzene from a bottle he was carrying.

“Once I walked out of the fax room, I saw the defendant waving the lighter

with one hand and sprinkling benzene with the other. He was shouting that he wanted money. Then he sprinkled benzene near one of the tellers, but the staff did not get wet because of the protective glass,” he said.

He added the defendant had a bag which he kept open, and asked the staff to fill it with money.

“As soon as one of the staff pressed the emergency alarm button, the defendant ran away,” the Filipino supervisor said.

Records also showed fingerprints at the crime scene matched those of the defendant.

On the other hand, the Gulf News report said the defendant confessed he entered the exchange house and sprinkled benzene, to rob the establishment.

He was also quoted as saying he bought the benzene bottle from a nearby gas station, then parked his bicycle outside the exchange house, and entered it wearing a mask. ■ Joel Locsin / KBK, GMA News / December 29, 2014 / 1:14 PM

UAE court sentences 2 Pakistanis to 7 years for gang-raping Pinay A United Arab Emirates court on Thursday sentenced two Pakistani drivers to seven years in jail for gangraping a Filipina in a bus on Dec. 31 last year.

The two had also been accused of robbing the Filipina after posing as policemen, according to a report on UAE news site Khaleej Times.

In its decision, the Dubai Criminal Court also ordered the two deported once they serve their jail term.

Court records showed the two Pakistani drivers aged 33 and 27 raped a 31-year-old Filipina jobseeker after they attended a party at a night club.

He also offered her a job and asked her to accompany him to his hotel. The victim agreed, and they rode a taxi.

But the suspect took the victim to a parked bus, and pushed her inside then claimed to be a Criminal Investigation

Department officer and slapped her.

The second suspect was inside the bus, and also introduced himself as a policeman. Both then took turns raping her.

One of them also removed the Filipina’s golden ring and took Dh300 cash from her bag, then took her

mobile phone.

Police whose assistance the victim sought eventually arrested the two, who were charged with and eventually found guilty of kidnapping, impersonating, rape and robbery. ■

Joel Locsin / RSJ, GMA News / December 26, 2014 / 3:12 PM

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INTERNATIONAL / GLOBAL NEWS

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January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

World ushers in 2015 as China suffers New Year’s tragedy NEW YORK - Millions of revelers took to the streets from Sydney to New York to usher in 2015 on Thursday, but celebrations turned to tragedy in China, where 35 people were killed in a stampede in central Shanghai.

As many as a million partygoers braved frigid temperatures and poured into New York’s Times Square for America’s annual New Year party that this year featured pop sensation Taylor Swift.

Merrymakers in the Big Apple were kissing and snapping selfies as a giant

illuminated crystal ball slid down a pole, touching ground at precisely the stroke of midnight.

As Times Square erupted in cheers and confetti, the rest of the globe celebrated with spectacular fireworks displays in cities from Sydney to Moscow.

But chaos broke out in China’s financial hub as people packed the Bund district to welcome the New Year.

In addition to the dead, 42 people were injured in the crush, which happened shortly before midnight,

New Year’s Eve fireworks erupt over Sydney’s iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House during the traditional fireworks show held at midnight on January 1, 2015. Photo by Peter Parks, ©AFP Photo.

Shanghai’s government said in a statement, adding that the incident was under investigation.

Official news agency Xinhua cited a witness saying coupons that looked like US dollar notes were thrown from a third-floor window and revelers along the river bank started to scramble for them.

Defiant Sydney crowds. Tragedy also struck in the Philippines where, in what has become an annual tide of New Year’s injuries, firecrackers and gunfire left more than 350 people injured, with more than a dozen requiring amputations.

Those tragic notes were struck on a night filled with hopes for a more peaceful year than 2014.

The optimism was demonstrated in Australia, where an estimated one million people flocked to a massive fireworks display in Sydney Harbour, defying terrorist fears days after a deadly siege.

“We are celebrating that we are a multicultural, harmonious community but we will be thinking about what happened,” Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore said in reference to the deadly standoff when an Iranian-born gunman took 17 hostages in a cafe.

Japan culls 42,000 chickens after second bird flu outbreak

JAPAN on Monday ordered the slaughter of some 42,000 chickens after officials confirmed the country’s second bird flu outbreak in less than a month.

DNA tests confirmed the H5 strain of the virus at a farm in Miyazaki prefecture in the country’s southwest after its owner reported Sunday that several chickens had suddenly died, the local government said.

Officials began the slaughter Monday and asked farms within a 10 kilometre (62 miles) radius not to move their poultry outside of that geographic area.

The case comes about two weeks after the government ordered the slaughter of some 4,000 chickens at another poultry farm in Miyazaki—the first confirmed outbreak of bird flu at a Japanese poultry farm since April.

Local authorities locked down that farm and others nearby, with the movement of chickens banned while the area was being sanitised.

Officials also set up stations to disinfect vehicles travelling on major roads near the affected farm to prevent the virus from spreading.

It is uncertain whether there is a link

between the first outbreak and the second, a farm ministry official said Monday, adding that further testing of the strain would be conducted at a government-backed research institute.

The second poultry farm is about 100 kilometres away from the site that was affected earlier this month.

Japan’s agriculture ministry regularly warns farmers about the risk of infection, citing the continued spread of the disease in Asia, including in neighbouring South Korea. ■ AFP / December 29, 2014

Miyazaki Prefectural Government/AFP - Health officers disinfect a poultry farm in Miyazaki, on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu, on December 29, 2014

Fireworks explode above the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye during the New Year celebrations in central London just after midnight on January 1, 2015. Photo by Ben Stansall, ©AFP Photo .

In Hong Kong, hundreds of thousands of people crowded the city’s promenades to watch an eightminute pyrotechnic display after a year in which busy thoroughfares were paralysed for months by prodemocracy protests.

“I think a more peaceful year would be good for everybody,” said Louis Ho, 65.

Europe’s celebrations kicked off in Moscow, where red and green fireworks lit up the sky over St. Basil’s Cathedral, bringing “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd braving sub-zero conditions.

President Vladimir Putin sent a greeting to his US counterpart Barack Obama, saying they had a mutual responsibility to ensure world peace after a year that has seen relations between Russia and the West sink to their worst point since the Cold War. 19th eurozone nation. Obama’s office, meanwhile, said he planned to usher in the New Year in Hawaii “with family and friends” as he winds down a two-week vacation and prepares to head back to Washington this weekend.

Dubai celebrated the new year with a light and sound extravaganza at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower, which was lit up with differentcoloured panels as the clock counted down to 2015.

In London, the skyline was illuminated by a thunderous firework display in front of over 100,000 ticket holders gathered on the banks of the River Thames.

Further north, Edinburgh held its traditional Hogmanay street party although celebrations at the nearby Stirling Castle were cancelled due to high winds.

In Paris, the Champs-Elysees was closed off to traffic to allow pedestrians to watch a visual spectacle projected onto the Arc de Triomphe before a huge fireworks display greeted the New Year.

Tens of thousands of people gathered near the Brandenburg Gate in

central Berlin to watch fireworks and a free concert featuring “Baywatch” star David Hasselhoff.

“The Hoff” had the crowd singing along to “Looking for Freedom”, the song he performed 25 years ago as the Berlin Wall fell.

Roughly 20,000 people packed Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol square to ring in 2015, gobbling a grape on each of the 12 chimes of the clock at midnight for 12 months of good luck.

Remembrance for lost AirAsia flight.

It was a particularly significant night for Lithuania, where leaders withdrew their first euro notes from a Vilnius bank machine after it became the 19th country to adopt the single currency.

Across Asia, revelers celebrated with fireworks and music, with hundreds of thousands crowding near the landmark skyscraper Taipei 101 to watch performances by pop singers.

But in Malaysia, a sombre mood prevailed after the crash of AirAsia Flight QZ8501 carrying 162 people and flooding in the northeast that has displaced almost 250,000.

Year-end celebrations have been cancelled, with many companies instead launching fundraising campaigns for flood victims.

In Indonesia, where most of the victims were from, New Year festivities in the capital started solemnly with a prayer for the victims while relatives gathered in Surabaya for a candlelit vigil in the hours before midnight.

Meanwhile in Afghanistan, the last French troops in the country held a ceremony in Kabul to mark the end of their deployment after NATO combat operations closed down as a new “train and support” mission takes over.

In the Americas, in addition to New York’s massive street party, celebrations a fireworks show in Brazil expected to draw more than two million people on Copacabana beach, to open celebrations marking 450 years since the founding of Rio de Janeiro. ■ Jewel Samad / AFP / January 1, 2015 / 5:38 AM

January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

INTERNATIONAL / GLOBAL NEWS

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Candles, prayers and tears as Asia mourns tsunami dead 10 years on KHAO LAK, Thailand - Tearful mourners lit candles on Friday to remember the 220,000 people who died a decade ago when tsunami waves devastated coastal areas along the Indian Ocean, in one of the worst natural disasters in human history.

On December 26, 2004 a 9.3-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia’s western tip generated a series of massive waves that pummelled the coastline of 14 countries as far apart as Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Somalia.

Among the victims were thousands of foreign tourists enjoying Christmas on the region’s sun-kissed beaches, carrying the tragedy of an unprecedented natural disaster into homes around the globe.

In southern Thailand, where half of the 5,400 dead were holidaymakers, people recounted stories of horror and miraculous survival as the churning waters, laden with the debris of eviscerated bungalows, cars and boats, swept in without warning, obliterating resorts and villages.

A minute’s silence in the resort of Khao Lak, much of which was washed away by the towering waves, was broken by a lone trumpeter, as mourners each lit a single white candle, some sobbing as they illuminated the darkness.

Among them was a Swiss national, Katia Paulo, who lost her boyfriend on a nearby beach.

“I had my back to the ocean. My boyfriend called me... the only thing I remember is his face. I knew I had to run away, then the wave caught me,” the 45-year-old told AFP. “I was pushed under water many times and thought it was the end,” she said.

She called for help, only to realise the people nearby were already dead.

“I managed to hold onto a tree branch,” she said. As the waves retreated, she was six metres (200 feet) off the ground.

Nearby, 40-year-old Somjai Somboon was grieving for her two sons, who were ripped from their house when the waves cut into their fishing village of Ban Nam Khem.

“I remember them every day,” she said, with tears in her eyes.

“I will always miss my sons.”

Hundreds of people also lit candles on Patong beach on Phuket island after observing a minute’s silence.

Afterwards, many placed the candles into a sand sculpture created by students as part of the memorial service.

Among the international commemorations, in Sweden, which lost 543 citizens, the royal family and relatives of the victims attended a memorial service in Uppsala Cathedral.

“Sweden is still traumatised,” said Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who paid tribute to all who died, saying their “lives were extinguished but the memory of their love shines in the night”.

‘Tears fell, we prayed’. There was no warning of the impending tsunami, giving little time for evacuation, despite the hours-long gaps between the waves striking different continents.

In 2011 a pan-ocean tsunami warning system was established, made up of a network of sea gauges, buoys and seismic monitors, while individual countries have invested heavily in disaster preparedness.

But experts have cautioned against “disaster amnesia” creeping into

communities vulnerable to natural disasters.

The scale of the devastation in 2004 saw nations initially struggle to mobilise a relief effort, leaving bloated bodies to pile up under the tropical sun or in makeshift morgues.

The world poured money and expertise into the relief and reconstruction, with more than $13.5 billion collected in the months after the disaster.

Almost $7 billion in aid went into rebuilding more than 140,000 houses across Indonesia’s Aceh province, where most of the nation’s 170,000 victims were claimed.

In the main city, Banda Aceh, several thousand mourners gathered in a park for the nation’s official remembrance.

It was near the epicentre of the

undersea quake and bore the brunt of waves towering up to 35-metres (115 feet) high.

“Thousands of corpses were sprawled in this field,” Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla told the crowd, many among them weeping.

“There were feelings of confusion, shock, sorrow, fear and suffering. We prayed.

“And then we rose and received help in an extraordinary way,” he said, hailing the outpouring of aid from local and foreign donors.

The disaster also ended a decadeslong separatist conflict in Aceh, with a peace deal between rebels and Jakarta struck less than a year later.

Mosques held prayers across the province, while people visited mass graves -- the resting place of many of Indonesia’s tsunami dead.

But a Red Cross display of hundreds of salvaged ID documents and bank cards served as a grim reminder that many victims simply vanished.

Lives needlessly lost. In Sri Lanka, where 31,000 people perished, survivors and relatives gathered to remember around 1,000 victims who died when waves derailed a passenger train.

The mourners boarded the restored Ocean Queen Express and headed to Peraliya -- the exact spot where it was ripped from the tracks, around 90 kilometres (56 miles) south of Colombo.

“We had about 15 minutes to move the passengers to safety. I could have done it. We had the time, but not the knowledge,” the train’s head guard Wanigaratne Karunatilleke, 58, told AFP. ■ AFP / December 26, 2014 / 2:02 PM

US ‘disturbed’ at Azerbaijan raiding Radio Liberty BAKU - Azerbaijan has raided and closed the local offices of a US-funded radio station in a move that has left Washington “deeply disturbed” and raised concerns about the treatment of non-state media in the tightlycontrolled Caucasus nation.

The offices of Radio Azadliq in the capital Baku were sealed on Friday after prosecutors and armed police confiscated equipment and computers during a raid, the station’s director, Kenan Aliyev, told AFP on Saturday.

The station provides Azerbaijanilanguage programming in the USfunded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty network directed at Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The radio network has its roots in a Cold War programme started by the US to counter Soviet propaganda.

“Our journalists are being summoned to the prosecutor’s office for questioning. We fear for our safety,” Aliyev said.

“We are witnessing yet another

round of the authorities’ crackdown on free media.”

The US State Department said it was “deeply disturbed” by the raid.

“We call on the responsible authorities to respect Azerbaijan’s international commitment to protecting media freedom,” said a senior State Department official.

The administration of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had no immediate

File picture shows police vehicles in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku

comment on the action, but said a statement would be made “soon”.

Crackdown on foreign-funded groups. The raid came after a prominent investigative reporter working for Radio Azadliq, Khadija Ismayilova, was arrested in early December and placed in pre-trial detention for two months.

Amnesty International condemned her arrest as a move to “gag free media” in Azerbaijan.

Radio Azadliq’s Aliyev said, citing prosecutors, that the raid on the offices was linked to a probe into the work of foreign-funded non-governmental organisations in the energy-rich country.

In recent months, Azerbaijani prosecutors have staged similar raids on other foreign-funded groups, including the Baku offices of the Washingtonbased National Democratic Institute, which was eventually shut down.

The legal assault on Radio Azadliq sparked widespread concern.

Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders said RFE/RL was “the latest victim of the government’s campaign to stamp out media pluralism”.

“President Ilham Aliyev’s government is methodically crushing each of the remaining independent news outlets one by one,” Johann Bihr, head of Eastern Europe and Central Asia for the watchdog, said in a statement.

Jeff Shell, chairman of the Washington-based Broadcasting Board

of Governors, a bi-partisan federal agency overseeing US international broadcasting services, said the raid was “unwarranted” and “an escalation of the Azeri government’s abusive attempt to intimidate independent journalists and repress free media”.

Dissent in Azerbaijan is often met with a tough government response.

Rights groups say authorities have been clamping down on opponents since Aliyev’s election to a third term last year.

Aliyev, 53, came to power in 2003 following a controversial election.

He took over after the death of his father Heydar Aliyev, a former KGB officer and Communist-era leader who had ruled newly independent Azerbaijan with an iron fist since 1993.

Headquartered in Prague and funded by the US Congress, RFE/RL broadcasts to 21 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East. ■ AFP / December 27, 2014

18

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January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

FREE LISTING of events in HELLO PHILIPPINES newspaper.

Please email info@hello-philippines.com to include your event.

D I S C L A I M E R : The Events Diary r listing does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or fa f vouring by HELLO PHILIPPINES newspaper. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of Hello Philippines newspaper and/o / r the Publisher. What’s On is a Filipino Events Diary r listing fo f r UK and Europe.

201 DATE / TIME

EVENT

Every Sunday 14:00pm 18:00pm

Lahig Kayumanggi Rehearsals

Every 2nd Sunday 14:00pm

Filipino Family Mass at English Martyrs Catholic Church Dinner & Dance Featuring Banda Riversion

Sunday, 15th February 15 at 5:00pm Saturday, 7th March 2015 7:30pm - 10:00pm

Saturday, 2nd May 2015 TBC

TWO WORLDS IN HARMONY featuring: THE WEST END MAMAS and THE WEST END PAPAS! Mutya ng Pilipinas 2015

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CONTACTS / REMARKS

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1st Saturday

2 0 1 4 M O N T H L Y F IL IP IN O C O M M U N IT Y M A S S E S IN G R E A T E R L O N D O N 5:00pm

Devotion in Honour of Our Lady of Fatima (Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament / Rosary / Benediction / Mass) St Pius X Catholic Church, 108 Orme Road, Kingston Upon Thames KT1 3SB – Oliver Abasolo – 07782 661 922 2:00pm Five Precious Wounds Parish, Brentfield Road, Stonebridge Park, London NW10 8ER 1st Sunday Mervic Monocillo – 07894 636 140 st 5:00pm Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, Friary Road, Peckham, London SE15 1RH 1 Sunday Allen Abeleda – 07713 625 888 4:00pm St Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, 103 Woolwich New Road, London SE18 6EF 2nd Saturday Moises Espanola – 07894 648 639 nd 2:00pm English Martyrs Church, Chalkhill Road, Wembley Park, Wembley HA9 9EW 2 Sunday Becky Sarinas – 07949 857 699 / 07425 761 519 / Lina B – 07579 418 510 2:00pm St Dominic Catholic Church, 243 Violet Lane, Waddon, Croydon CR0 4HN 2nd Sunday Merlie Mirto – 07722 216 462 nd 2 Sunday 4:00pm St. Anselm and St. Cecilia, 70 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3JA Feliciano Ramirez – 07733 680 748 3:00pm Sacred Heart of Jesus, New Priory, Quex Road, Kilburn, London NW6 4PS 3rd Sunday Sheidrick de Leon – 07738 210 202 rd 3 Sunday 3:00pm Blessed Sacrament Parish, 157 Copenhagen Street, Islington N1 0SR Christy Sangalang – 07709 119 969 Last Saturday 6:00pm Our Lady of Dolours, Servite Parish Church, 264 Fulham Road, London SW10 4EL Fr Allan Satur – 020 7352 6965 / fulhamroad@rcdow.org.uk / Roland Adap – r_adap@hotmail.com Last Sunday 12:00pm St Pius X Catholic Church, 108 Orme Road, Kingston Upon Thames KT1 3SB Oliver Abasolo – 07782 661 922 Last Sunday 2:00pm St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 218 Roehampton Lane, London SW15 4LE Rafael Santiago – 07795 254 451 Every Sunday 5:00pm Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, 20 Brixton Road, Oval, London SW9 6BU Ben Ortiz – 07723 318 486 First Wednesdays 6:30pm Filipino Mass and Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help, Farm Street Church of the Immaculate Conception (Jesuit House Chapel), access on 114 Mount Street, London W1K 3AY – Josie Ramos – F R E E L I S T I N G o f y o u r e v e n t s i n H07723 E L L O 024 P H I591 LIPPINES newspaper. If you know of any events please contact us via info@hello-philippines.com to submit your event.

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HEALTH and Lifestyle

Fireworks: the facts FIREWORKS are not toys. They are explosives and the injuries they can cause can be devastating.

Here are some facts about fireworks and potential risks of not using them properly.

• Sparklers get five times hotter than cooking oil.

• A rocket can reach speeds of 150mph.

• A firework shell can reach as

high as 200 metres.

• Three sparklers burning together generate the same heat as a blowtorch.

• You see the explosion of a firework before hearing it because sound travels at 761mph, but light travels at 671 million mph.

• The majority of firework-related injuries happen at family or private parties.

January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

• Around half of all injuries are to children under the age of 17.

• The most common injuries are to hands, followed by the eyes and face.

• Fireworks are safer now than they have been in the past thanks to safety standards. Make sure your fireworks comply with British Standard 7114 or its European equivalent. Instructions should be in English. ■ NHS Choices

Planning a safe firework display?

The Firework Code CHILDREN should watch fireworks at a safe distance and follow the safety rules for using sparklers.

Children should watch fireworks at a safe distance and follow the safety rules for using sparklers.

Only adults should light fireworks and deal with firework displays.

Make sure you dispose of used fireworks safely.

Follow these safety guidelines at your firework display: • Only buy fireworks that comply with British Standard 7114 or its European equivalent. Instructions should be in English.

• Don’t drink alcohol if you’re lighting fireworks.

• Keep fireworks in a closed box.

• Follow the instructions on each firework and be sure they’re suitable for home use.

• Light fireworks at arm’s length using a taper.

• Stand well back.

• Never go near a firework that has been lit. If it hasn’t yet gone off, it could still explode.

• Never throw fireworks or put them in your pocket.

• Always supervise children around fireworks.

• Light sparklers one at a time and wear gloves.

• Don’t give sparklers to children under five.

• Keep pets indoors. ■ NHS Choices

FIREWORKS are great fun, whatever your age, but it’s important to remember that they are not toys.

They are explosives and the injuries they can cause, especially to the eyes, can be devastating.

There are on average about 1,000 firework-related injuries a year. About half of these injuries occur at family or private parties.

The safest place to enjoy fireworks is at a properly organised public display, advises The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).

But if you’re having a celebration at home, planning ahead can reduce the risk of things going wrong.

“Good preparation is crucial for a successful and safe display,” says Sheila Merrill, RoSPA’s home safety manager for England.

Visit RoSPA’s safer fireworks website to familiarise yourself with the firework code, which includes safety advice to follow before, during and after your display.

Although adults tend to handle fireworks at home, half of the fireworkrelated injuries are to children. Adults should ensure that children stay safe during firework displays.

Follow this easy checklist for a safe home firework display.

• Check the fireworks you buy are suitable for the size of the garden and that they comply with British Standard 7114 or its European equivalent.

Instructions should be in English.

• Read the instructions in daylight or with a torch. Never use a match, lighter or candle flame.

• Only one person should be responsible for letting off the fireworks.

“Don’t give sparklers to children under five years old.”

Things you will need on the night

• A torch for checking instructions.

• A bucket of water.

• Eye protection and gloves.

• A bucket of soft earth to stick fireworks in.

• Suitable supports for Catherine wheels and proper launchers for rockets (check whether the launchers are included in the sale of these types of fireworks or whether you would have to buy them separately).

1am the following day).

• Don’t drink alcohol if you’re setting off fireworks.

• Light fireworks at arm’s length with a taper.

• Stand well back and keep others away from the fireworks.

• Never go back to a firework after it has been lit. Even if it hasn’t gone off it could still explode.

• Never throw fireworks or put them in your pocket.

• Always supervise children around fireworks.

• Store fireworks in a metal box and keep it closed between use.

• Keep pets indoors.

After the display

• Wear strong gloves and use tongs to dispose of used fireworks.

• Never throw used fireworks on a bonfire.

Sparklers

• Don’t give sparklers to children under five years old.

• Light sparklers one at a time.

• Hold sparklers at arm’s length and wear gloves.

• Put used sparklers hot end first into a bucket of sand or water.

Bonfires

• Only buy fireworks from a legitimate retailer.

• Inform neighbours and be aware of their concerns.

It is illegal to set off fireworks after 11pm (except on November 5 when they can be used up to midnight, and New Year’s Eve, Chinese New Year and Diwali when they can be used up to

• Bonfires should be at least 18m (60 feet) away from houses, trees, hedges, fences or sheds.

• Use domestic firelighters when lighting a bonfire.

• Never use petrol, paraffin or other flammable liquids. ■ NHS Choices

WHEN buying fireworks, examine them for damage. If they are damaged in any way, don’t buy them.

Store fireworks safely away from naked flames and water. Always read the instructions carefully before using them.

What to consider when buying your fireworks: • Only buy from a licensed retailer.

It’s illegal to sell fireworks to anyone under the age of 18.

• Only buy fireworks that comply with British Standard 7114 or its European equivalent. Instructions should be in English.

• Only buy fireworks in full packs.

Don’t buy loose fireworks or packs with fireworks taken out of them.

• Fireworks bought from unlicensed retailers could severely injure or kill.

They are usually badly made and don’t conform to the British Standard 7114 or its European equivalent.

• If you suspect that a retailer is selling fireworks illegally, contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 1111. Your call is free and you don’t have to give your name.

• For referrals to Trading Standards,

contact Consumer Direct on 0845 40 40 506.

• Complete display kits are available from most retailers. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) recommends buying these rather than single fireworks. Everything you’ll need, including instructions, will be in one pack and the selection will give a good visual display. ■ NHS Choices

Before the display

During the display

Fireworks buying guide

22

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HEALTH and Lifestyle food

January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

‘Social drinking’: The hidden risks IF you think only alcoholics and binge drinkers are putting their health at risk, think again.

Many people who see themselves as “social drinkers” are at risk of developing long-term health conditions because of the amount they regularly drink.

Most drinkers are unaware that regularly drinking more than the limits advised by the NHS can lead to a wide range of long-term health problems,

including cancers, strokes and heart attacks.

More than 55% of people questioned in a YouGov poll thought that alcohol only damages your health if you regularly get drunk or binge drink.

The 2010 survey of 2,000 adults also found that 83% believed that regularly drinking more than the recommended daily limits didn’t put their long-term health at risk.

The survey suggests that 7.5 million people might be unaware of the damage their drinking could be causing.

Read about the risks of drinking too much to find out how your drinking habits may be affecting your health.

Over the limit. More than 9 million people in England drink more than the recommended daily limits. About 15,000 people in England die from

alcohol-related causes each year. About 32% of these deaths are from liver disease, 21% from cancer and 17% from cardiovascular illnesses, such as heart disease and strokes.

Typically, longer-term alcoholrelated illness or death affect older people who drink more than the recommended daily limits and consider themselves to be “social drinkers”.

Professor Nigel Heaton is a liver transplant consultant at King’s College Hospital, London. He says people who believe that drinking above the lowerrisk guidelines is just normal social drinking may be raising their risk of developing alcohol-related illnesses.

“Some people think it’s natural to have a bottle of wine a night,” he says. “It seems respectable because you’re drinking with food and it’s not associated with any drunken behaviour or even feeling drunk.

“But if it happens regularly, you may have problems later on. Most of us believe that people with alcoholic liver disease are alcoholics. We often think, ‘I’m not an alcoholic so I can’t get liver disease.’

“You may not be an alcoholic, but if the overall amount of alcohol you drink regularly exceeds the lower-risk guidelines, it may still cause serious harm.”

Track your drinking. To find out if you need to cut down, take the drinking self-assessment. It’ll help you assess the effects of your drinking. If it suggests that you’re drinking too much, you’ll get advice on how to cut down.

Monitor your drinking with the alcohol tracker. This calculates the units of alcohol in your drinks, and it helps you work out whether you should cut down.

Because drinks come in all shapes and sizes, it can be hard to keep track of your units. Use the unit calculator to add them up and help you monitor the amount you drink.

Research suggests many people underestimate how much alcohol they drink. Download a drinks diary (PDF, 655Kb) to track your drinking over a week.

If you think you drink too much, there are many ways to cut back. ■ NHS Choices

Alcohol units WE’RE supposed to be keeping an eye on how much we drink, but how many of us really know what a unit of alcohol is?

With so many different drinks and glass sizes, from shots to pints – not to mention bottles – it’s easy to get confused about how many units are in your drink.

The idea of counting alcohol units was first introduced in the UK in 1987 to help people keep track of their drinking.

Units are a simple way of expressing the quantity of pure alcohol in a drink.

One unit equals 10ml or 8g of pure alcohol, which is around the amount of

alcohol the average adult can process in an hour. This means that within an hour there should be, in theory, little or no alcohol left in the blood of an adult, although this will vary from person to person.

The number of units in a drink is based on the size of the drink as well as its alcohol strength. For example, a pint of strong lager contains 3 units of alcohol, whereas the same volume of standard lager has just over 2 units.

Calculating units. Using units is a simpler way of representing a drink’s alcohol content, which is usually expressed by the standard measure ABV, which stands for alcohol by volume.

*Gin, rum, vodka, whisky, tequila, sambuca. Large (35ml) single measures of spirits are 1.4 units

ABV is a measure of the amount of pure alcohol as a percentage of the total volume of liquid in a drink.

You can find the ABV on the labels of cans and bottles, sometimes written as “vol” or “alcohol volume” or you can ask bar staff about particular drinks.

For example, wine that says “12% ABV” or “alcohol volume 12%” means that 12% of the volume of that drink is pure alcohol.

You can work out how many units

there are in any drink by multiplying the total volume of a drink (in ml) by its ABV (which is measured as a percentage) and dividing the result by 1,000.

• Strength (ABV) x Volume (ml) ÷ 1,000 = units.

For example, to work out the number of units in a pint (568ml) of strong lager (ABV 5.2%): • 5.2 (%) x 568 (ml) ÷ 1,000 = 2.95 units

To make things easier, use the units calculator to quickly calculate units and download a drinks tracker to your phone to keep on top of your drinking and get personalised feedback.

Drinks and units. A 750ml bottle of red, white or rose wine (ABV 13.5%) contains 10 units.

See the guide below to find out how many units are in your favourite tipple. ■ NHS Choices

• You start dehydrating, one of the causes of a hangover.

Three glasses of white wine or three pints of lager (approximately six units): • Your reaction time is slower.

• Your liver has to work harder.

• Your sex drive may increase, while your judgement may decrease.

Four glasses of white wine or three and

a half pints of lager (approximately eight units): • You’re easily confused.

• You’re noticeably emotional.

• Your sex drive could now decrease and you may become less capable.

Bear in mind that some people (including young people, those with smaller builds and women) may experience the

effects after drinking smaller amounts of alcohol.

If you have developed a tolerance to alcohol you may find that some of these effects do not apply to you.

In that case, consider whether it is time to cut back on your drinking or whether you need to seek help. ■ NHS

Binge drinking BINGE drinking usually refers to drinking lots of alcohol in a short space of time or drinking to get drunk.

Researchers define binge drinking as consuming eight or more units in a single session for men and six or more for women.

However, this definition does not apply to everyone because the tolerance and the speed of drinking in a session varies from person to person.

When drinking, try to pace yourself, avoid drinking more than you are used to and avoid drinking so much that you get drunk.

This is even more important if you are out in risky or unfamiliar circumstances.

You can be at risk from others, and may not be able to look after your friends.

You can easily lose control of what you do or say and may make risky decisions, thinking you’re invulnerable.

Binge drinking increases the risk of heart attack. It could cause you to vomit and if you’re sick when very drunk you could breathe in your own vomit and suffocate.

Drink-by-drink guide. Below is a drink-by-drink guide, based on a standard (175ml) 12% volume glass of white wine and 4% strength pint of lager, showing how quickly alcohol can affect your mind and body.

One glass of white wine or a pint of lager (approximately two units): • You’re talkative and you feel relaxed.

• Your self-confidence increases.

• Driving ability is already impaired, which is why it is best to drink no alcohol if you’re driving.

Two glasses of white wine or two pints of lager (approximately four units): • Your blood flow increases.

• You feel less inhibited and your attention span is shorter.

Choices

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January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

Dingdong Dantes, Marian Rivera Tie Knot in Grand ‘Royal’ Wedding

A huge crowd watches the wedding ceremony on a large video screen outside the Immaculate Conception Cathedral. Photo by Krisken Jones, ©InterAksyon.

President Benigno Aquino III poses with the couple at the conclusion of the wedding ceremony. Photo by Robert Viñas, ©Malacañang Photo Bureau.

Continuation from page 1 Among the showbiz personalities listed as bridesmaids were Agot Isidro, Bettina Carlos, Rochelle Pangilinan and the recently married Bianca Gonzalez.

Actor Paolo Contis was also one of the groomsmen.

Spotted in the wedding were Senator Tito Sotto, Anjo Yllana, Alden Richards, Pokwang and KC Montero who posted updates on social media.

Dingdong wore a Randy Ortiz beigecolored suit with a black bowtie and black trousers and arrived at his wedding

in style riding a Ducati Diavel Monster 1100EVO motorcycle.

Marian looked ravishing in a gown especially designed for her by Dubai-based Filipino designer Michael Cinco. The gown reportedly cost P2 million.

Marian’s Spanish father, Francisco Javier Gracia, flew in to personally witness his daughter’s special day.

The newlyweds reportedly invited over 700 guests to the reception which was held at the 18,000-seater Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. ■ Edwin P. Sallan / InterAksyon.com /

December 30, 2014 / 8:32 PM

Marian Rivera walks the aisle with parents

Kapuso actress Marian Rivera, in a Michael Cinco creation, walks the aisle of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Quezon City on Tuesday, December 30, with her parents Francisco Javier Gracia and Amalia Rivera, during her wedding day with Kapuso actor Dingdong Dantes. Photo by Robert Viñas.

Ryan Cayabyab wants songs with ‘international appeal’ for PhilPop 2015 PLEASED with the success of the Philippine Popular Music Festival, PhilPop executive director Ryan Cayabyab has his sights on something bigger for the fourth edition of the country’s premier songwriting tilt.

“I hope we will discover new genres, new sounds and new songwriters writers who will infuse new ideas,” the master composer also fondly referred to as Mr. C told InterAksyon during the recent press conference announcing the acceptance of new entries.

“I don’t know how to exactly say this but hopefully, there will be songs in next year’s PhilPop that will have more international appeal if there is such a thing as international appeal. My point is, maybe it’s time for us to consciously write for a wider audience, whatever that means.”

Yes, Cayabyab is encouraging composers to have a more global mindset even as PhilPop’s basic rules remain largely unchanged.

“The songs can come from any genre. We encourage experimentation here at PhilPop. The goal of PhilPop is to open the door for refreshing, meaningful new music to find a larger audience,” Mr. C further elaborated.

Cayabyab’s sentiment is echoed by PhilPop managing director Patricia Hizon, who said she’s looking forward for even better times ahead for PhilPop. “This is an even more exciting year as we continue to elevate Philippine

popular music for the world to hear.

We want our songs to resound, loud and proud,” she exclaimed.

During the launch, both Cayabyab and Hizon, who hosted the event, said PhilPop is once again adopting its previous “Loud and Proud” tagline.

They also summarized the success of the first three years of the competition and recalled how many of its finalists have helped shape the landscape of OPM as Mr. C originally envisioned.

Harnessing the power of social media in particular, PhilPop made sure that many of these bonafide hits were already in the public’s consciousness even before they were performed by their respective interpreters in the grand finals.

As a result, Thyro Alfaro and Yumi Lacsamana’s “Dati”, the grand winner of PhilPop’s second year in 2013, was a huge hit across the board as its official music video uploaded separately by Universal Records and creative solutions company Wetware Manila that helped produce it earned a combined total views of over 20 million.

The engaging R&B ditty was interpreted by Sam Concepcion, Tippy Dos Santos and hip-hop rapper Quest.

This year’s winner, Jungee Marcelo’s “Salbabida” interpreted by the comebacking Kyla, elicited over 200,000 views. “Awit Mo’y Nandito Pa” by Toto Sorioso, which won first

Kapuso actress Marian Rivera, in a Michael Cinco creation, walks the aisle of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Quezon City on Tuesday, December 30, with her parents Francisco Javier Gracia and Amalia Rivera, during her wedding day with Kapuso actor Dingdong Dantes. Photo by Robert Viñas.

runner-up, garnered nearly that number as well.

Marcelo, Sorioso, Lacsamana were on hand during the press conference as were other past PhilPop finalists Soc Villanueva, Keiko Necesario, Marlon Barnuevo, Paul Armesin and Q-York. Most expressed their intention to submit entries for the coming competition.

As in its first three years, the 4th Philippine Popular Music Festival set for 2015 is again open to songwriters of any age, holding Filipino citizenship or of Filipino parentage. Each songwriter can send up to two original compositions as long as they have not been previously submitted to any other songwriting competition or made available to the public in any form.

From the total entries, PhilPop will select 12 finalists from all the entries, and will choose interpreters for each song. The deadline of submission of entries is Feb. 28, 2015.

For more information and full mechanics, visit www.Philpop.com.ph or follow @philpopmusic on Twitter, or like the Philippine Popular Music Festival page on Facebook for more updates. ■ Edwin P. Sallan / InterAksyon.com / December 23, 2014 / 10:44 PM

GMA Network commended by Congress for “Dapat Tama” campaign GMA Network was lauded by the Philippines’ House of Representatives for producing the electoral advocacy campaign “Dapat Tama” and for earning merit honors in the 49th Anvil Awards through Resolution No.149 adopted on November 25, 2014.

The campaign, produced by GMA News and Public Affairs, highlighted the importance of responsible voting.

Through various materials and formats, including a music video of Gloc 9 and Denise Barbacena, public service ads, and votereducation programs and specials, it urged the public to cast their ballots according to their conscience.

Bringing to light various socio-political realities and election-related issues, the campaign also featured vignettes and short films made by independent filmmakers and actors.

Produced in time for the 2013 midterm elections, it garnered merit honors in the Public Relations Programs in a Sustained Basis Category last February 26, 2014.

The Anvil Awards, given by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP), is an annual competition which recognizes outstanding public relations tools and programs. ■

January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

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DongYan wedding in full bloom EYE catching ang matitingkad na flower arrangement sa wedding ceremony at reception ng newlywed couple na sina Marian Rivera at Dingdong Dantes noong Dec. 30.

Ang Mall of Asia Arena na pinagdarausan ng malalaking sporting events at world class concerts was

magically transformed into a beautiful garden adorned with intricate floral designs.

Sa kanyang Instagram post na ni-repost ng The Dongyanatics, nireveal ng wedding coordinator na si Ms. Teena Barretto ilang detalye sa tinaguriang Wedding of the Year.

Ayon kay Teena, ang grand wedding reception sa MOA Arena ay brainchild nina Noel Manapat at Gino Gonzalez.

Sa katunayan, ang magagarbong “bahay-kubo” chandelier sa wedding banquet ay design ni Gino. Sa post ni Teena, sinabi niya na si Gino ang nag-handle ng production design na binubuo ng floor plan, layout, at decor. Kasama raw rito ang gazebo, chandeliers, cocktail and foyer area at bar. Samantala, si Gideon Hermosa naman daw ang naging punong abala sa floral styling sa wedding reception pati na rin ang bridal boquet ng Primetime Queen. “Reception Floral Styling by Gideon Hermosa (he went onboard 5 days before the wedding. #truth he provided the tablescapes and centerpieces, gazebo floral landscapes, and bridal bouquet,” aniya. She said Moss Manila provided the vertical garden and lounge set at the foyer and cocktail area, while Bloomwoods worked on the production and floral design for the ceremony, and entourage bouquets. ■ Aedrianne Acar / GMA / January 1, 2015 / 8:30 PM

‘Bonifacio’, ‘English Only Please’ lead MMFF honor roll

Kris Aquino’s reconciliation gift for Ai Ai KRIS Aquino and Ai Ai Delas Alas mended fences on Tuesday while attending the wedding of Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera’s wedding. Kris made the first move toward her onetime BFF, which surprised Ai Ai. ■ JST, GMA News / December 31, 2014 / 10:55 PM

THE historical drama “Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo” took home a total of nine awards including Best Picture to lead all winners in the 40th Metro Manila Film Festival awards night held Saturday at the Plenary Hall of the Philippine International Convention Center.

The Andres Bonifacio biopic directed by Filipino-American firsttime filmmaker Enzo Williams also won Best Cinematography (Carlo Mendoza), Best Sound Engineer (Wild Sound), Best Musical Score (Von de Guzman), Best Original Theme Song (“Hindi Pa Tapos” composed by Gloc 9 and performed by himself with Denise Barbacena) and Best Festival Float.

In addition, it also won the special awards Youth Choice Award, the FPJ Memorial Award for Film Excellence and the Gatpuno Antonio Villegas Memorial Award.

Historical epics have always done well in the Metro Manila Film Festival.

In the 40-year history of the annual Christmas filmfest, the jurors have awarded the Best Picture plum to films like “Jose Rizal” (1998) “Baler” (2009) and “El Presidente” (2012).

But it was the unheralded romantic comedy “English Only, Please” which won 2nd Best Picture, that won most of the major awards. It took home a total of seven trophies, including Best Actor and Best Actress for lead stars Derek Ramsay and Jennylyn Mercado.

The film also won Best Director (Dan

Villegas), Best Screenplay (Antoinette Jadaone and Anj Pessumal), Best Original Story (Dan Villegas and Antoinette Jadaone) and Best Editing (Marya Ignacio).

The tag team of real-life sweethearts Villegas and Jadaone is on a roll after winning big at this year’s Cinema One Originals film festival for “That Thing Called Tadhana”, which Jadaone wrote and directed and Villegas produced.

Erik Matti’s horror fantasy, “Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles 2”, likewise had a good harvest of trophies with six awards, including 3rd Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress honors for Joey Marquez and Lotlot de Leon respectively.

“Kubot” also won Best Makeup, Best Visual Effects (Mothership, Inc.) and Best Production Design (Ericson Navarro).

The only other entry to win an award is “My Big Bossing” which won Best Child Performer for Ryzza Mae Dizon. Ryzza also won the same award last year for the original “My Little Bossings”.

The harvest of awards for “Bonifacio”, “English Only, Please” and “Kubot” are expected to improve their box office standings. In one of his acceptance speeches for “Bonifacio”, charismatic action star Robin Padilla half-jokingly revealed that while the film spent over P100 million in production and about another P100

million in promotion, it has only grossed around P10 million so far.

Several viewers have complained that “Bonifacio” is not even screening in theaters in some provinces, suggesting theater owners’ preference for festival entries with more box office appeal. The winning films hope to get more screenings in the days to come following their victories.

The current top-grossing films in the MMFF are “The Amazing Praybet Benjamin”, “Feng Shui 2” and “My Big Bossing”, headlined by proven heavy hitters Vice Ganda, Kris Aquino, and Vic Sotto, respectively. ■ Edwin P. Sallan / InterAksyon.com / December 28, 2014 / 8:48 AM

Robin Padilla, lead actor of ‘Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo’ accepts one of the film’s special awards at the Metro Manila Film Festival awarding ceremony held at the PICC Plenary Hall on Saturday. Photo by Teddy Pelaez, ©InterAksyon.

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FROM LOVE TEAM TO WEDDING OF THE YEAR:

January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

THE MARIAN & DINGDONG LOVE STORY

Continuation from page 1 He continued to star in films and telenovelas like “Encantadia”, “Twin Hearts”, and “Moments of Love”.

Dingdong also hosted shows such as GMA’s reality artista search “Starstruck” and the game show “Family Feud”.

While Dingdong was making a name for himself in the entertainment industry with starring roles and top bills, Marian Rivera was discovered after modeling for commercials for years. It was 2005 when Marian was commissioned for roles in GMA Network soap operas “Kung Mamahalin Mo Lang Ako”, “Agawin Mo Man Ang Lahat”, and “Pinakamamahal”.

The following year, she signed a contract with Regal Entertainment and starred in the horror film “Pamahiin” with Dennis Trillo.

‘First touch’. The year 2007 marked the first meeting of the year’s hottest reeltime and real life love team.

Marian auditioned for the role in GMA Network’s remake of the Mexican series “Marimar” and won over Nadine Samonte, Katrina Halili, Jennylyn Mercado, and Karylle.

Dingdong, who was then Cosmopolitan’s No. 1 Bachelor of 2007 and USTV Students’ Choice Award’s Most Popular Actor in a Drama/Miniseries, was meanwhile cast to play the lead role Sergio.

“Marimar” became the highestrated primetime show on Philippine television, and at the same time, launched Marian and Dingdong’s career as GMA’s Primetime King and Queen.

The success of the Marian-Dingdong team-up led to more soap operas such as “Dyesebel” in 2008, “Ang Babaeng Hinugot sa Aking Tadyang” in 2009, “Endless Love” in 2010, and “My Beloved” in 2012.

In 2008, they starred in their first movie as a love team in “One True Love”. This was followed by “You to Me Are Everything” in 2010.

Although their chemistry was undeniable, Marian revealed that she found Dingdong ‘suplado’ or snobbish and remote. She said in a magazine interview, “Hindi kami magkasundo. At all!”

It was, according to Marian, a little bit disappointing to find a leading man who was a little remote and kind of snobbish.

She added in an interview with PEP. ph, “Tahimik siyang tao. At tsaka nung una ko siyang nakita nung audition ng Marimar, sobrang haba ng bigote niya.

Hindi kita yung lips niya so mata lang nakikita mo. Naka-bubblegum pa. Kaya feeling ko parang suplado.”

But for Dingdong, their chemistry was something ‘special,’ and this he found out after holding Marian for the first time for a scene in Marimar. “When I held her, she was like clay that molded itself into my hand. It was like... my hand had its own place on her skin,” he said.

The “feeling” was a first for

Dingdong, as his previous leading ladies had felt “rough”. He could not explain why. He surmised that it was his touch that wasn’t the right fit.

But with Marian, her skin just seemed to fit perfectly in his hand, and from there grew a relationship that would change the both of them.

Rumors and declaration. Despite their on-screen chemistry, Marian and Dingdong had, at first, a “strictly professional relationship” as both were with other people; Dingdong with singer Karylle, and Marian with basketball player Eric Vijandre.

In a 2010 magazine interview, Dingdong revealed, “We would connect on the most important scene, and then after that, wala na. Siguro, wala lang sa tipo namin ang magpa-cute sa set.”

After working together in numerous projects, rumors of an off-screen romance began to surface.

From June 2009, after their teamup in “Ang Babaeng Hinugot sa Aking Tadyang”, Dingdong and Marian grew closer despite the non-to-stellar first impressions. From working out together to travelling abroad together, the actors started to behave as if there was something more between them.

Then came Marian’s 25th birthday in August 2009 where they openly held hands all evening and looked very much like a couple.

Dingdong explained in a later interview, “We’re happy together.

Open kaming nakakalabas na dalawa, nagdi-dinner, nakakapanood ng sine...

Sinusuportahan ko siya sa pagtetraining niya ng Darna. Kung may time siya, sumasama siya sa workout ko sa gym at itinuturo ko kung ano ang makakatutulong sa kanya.”

Finally, in February 2010, Dingdong and Marian revealed in an exclusive magazine interview that they had a special relationship. They came to the relationship slowly, shared Dingdong.

He was in New York with friends and Marian was in Los Angeles when they realized they had feelings for one another.

It turned out that the initial impressions they made on each other was the first step of their journey as a couple, as it helped them realize how, as opposites, they complemented each other.

Dingdong and Marian had started out by getting to know the worst of each other first, after which they made the worst work for them. “Aminin man namin o hindi, kung anong kahinaan ko, meron siya. At kung ano ang kulang sa akin, napupunan niya. Swak kami. Kaya balance kami. Hindi kami parehas,” Marian said.

Proposal #1: Macau with the family.

After three years, Dingdong was sure that Marian was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

It was August 2012 when Dingdong gathered his immediate family and arranged for an elaborate wedding

proposal that would take place in Macau. The proposal involved a huge dome filled with butterflies, the song “Kahit Maputi Na Ang Buhok Ko”, a speech on “forever,” and, of course, the ring.

They arrived in Macau, the butterflies flew around them in a big dome, but the song came out from earphones connected to a cell phone, and the “forever” speech delivery was marred by jitters.

Despite the quick compromises that circumstances called for, Dingdong got a slightly delayed but resounding “Yes!” from Marian, who was overwhelmed by the unexpectedness of it all.

The proposal also proved to Marian that Dingdong paid attention to the little things about her. Marian shared that she had a fondness for butterflies. She used to collect stuff with butterfly designs, and she also used to draw butterflies a lot. But she had to set her hobby aside because of work.

“Na-touch ako noong naalala niya na ang pinakahilig ko talaga ay ‘yung mga bagay na may butterfly,” she said. “Sa haba ng panahon, naalala pa niya.”

Marian added, “Hindi ko inexpect na doon mangyayari ‘yun. Pero alam ko sa sarili ko na ito [si Dingdong] na talaga ang gusto kong makasama habangbuhay.”

After the engagement, Dingdong and Marian went back to their hectic work schedules. They both agreed that they would announce their engagement to the public at the right time. After all, they partly owed their partnership, and all of their fame and fortune, to their fans.

Two years passed, and Marian was set to get more than just the announcement that was originally planned.

Proposal #2: ‘Marian’ with the rest of the Philippines. As it neared the time

for the engagement’s announcement during Marian’s birthday celebration in her dance show “Marian”, Dingdong felt he needed to do more than what he did during his marriage proposal two years earlier. So for the second time, he planned to surprise Marian with a second proposal.

Dingdong managed to have the show aired live, and on August 9, he declared, “I want to do it right this time.”

What was supposed to be an engagement announcement became a second marrige proposal for Marian and Dingdong. And this time, the fans were there to witness it, together with both their families, friends, and everyone they loved and who loved them.

Another speech, another ring, and another “Yes!” from the bride-to-be, the DongYan love story became much celebrated. Their wedding is set to be the Wedding of the Year, with guests such as the President of the Philippines himself and the entertainment industry’s biggest stars.

Love

Lessons

from

DongYan.

Their relationship transformed both

Marian Rivera looks at the crowd behind her from inside the bridal car. Photo by Krisken Jones,©InterAksyon.

Dingdong and Marian into better versions of themselves.

Fun-loving Marian made the quiet and reserved Dingdong more expressive and made him adapt to her humor and positivity. One of the things Dingdong learned from his fiancee was, “Huwag masyadong seryosohin ang lahat ng bagay. Sense of humor sa mga bagay.”

The couple also never fails to surprise each other and show their appreciation for each other with simple gestures.

Their first date was a simple road trip to Tagaytay on a motorcycle. Simple as it was, the date was one of their most memorable moments.

“Nakakatuwa at nakakakilig isipin. Imagine mo, ilang oras akong nakayakap sa kanya. Nagkwentuhan kami at kumain. Favorite namin ‘yung Sonia’s Garden,” Marian shared in an interview with Jessica Soho in GMA Network’s “Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho”.

Though they are both working actors who are always the focus of the public’s attention, they are at their best with each other during private moments.

That’s why they often like to travel and be alone together. According to Dingdong, his favorite travel moments are the airplane flighs during which they do nothing more than sit next to each other and just talk. “[Ang gusto lang namin] Makaupo, makakain, makapag-usap ng maayos.

Regardless kung saan,” Dingdong said.

Despite this, Dingdong and Marian never neglect the grand gesture. On Dingdong’s birthday last August, Marian surprised Dingdong with a concert from his favorite band, Wolfgang. Marian gathered his fiance’s four best friends, his family, and friends to celebrate with them.

Marian shared, “Lahat na ng pakiusap, lahat ng pagmamakaawa ginawa ko masorpresa ko lang siya... Ang hindi matatawaran, yung nakita kong masaya siya.”

The Kapuso Royal Couple also made an effort to know the people who matter to each other Dingdong proved his intentions were honorable when he arranged a trip to Spain with Marian in 2010 so he could meet her father.

According to Marian, it was very special because it was the first Valentine’s day that she got to spend with the two most important men in her life. For Dingdong, it was the perfect opportunity to “share a date.”

“That was a Valentine’s day and proud ako na may kahati ako sa kanya sa date na ‘yun,” he said.

Not surprisingly, Marian’s father gave Dingdong his blessing.

Marian, meanwhile, is very close to Dingdong’s mother, Angeline Dantes.

She confides with her when she and Dingdong go through rough patches.

One of the things she learned from her soon-to-be mother-in-law was “Kapag may away, hindi dapat sumasabog.

Kumbaga kung ‘yung isa mainit, magpapalamig ‘yung isa. Hindi dapat sumasabay.”

Marian also liked that Dingdong was close to his family. She saw it as an indication of what kind of a father he would be someday.

“Sabi nga ng iba, kung paano i-trato ng boyfriend mo ‘yung nanay niya, ganoon niya ita-trato ‘yung [sariling] pamilya niya,” Marian said. “Nakikita ko kung ga’no niya kamahal ang mommy niya. Lahat ng pagmamahal, nakikita ko sa kanya sa mommy niya.”

And domestic bliss really seems to in the cards as Dingdong likes Marian’s cooking. Marian’s version of sinigang na hipon is Dingdong’s favorite. “Proven na talaga kapag masayang-masaya ako kapag nagluluto ako, nagiging masarap,” Marian said.

‘Wedding of the Year’. After eight bridal showers, a few despedida de solteras, a bachelor’s party, and wedding preparations in between-Marian and Dingdong are set to say their “I dos” on December 30, 2014 at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Cuabo, Quezon City, the parish where the groom-to-be was born and raised.

The entourage includes the entertainment industry’s biggest names, and President Benigno Aquino III. Among the principal sponsors are Ogie Alcasid, Mac Alejandre, Ben Chan, GMA President and COO Gilberto R. Duavit Jr., GMA Chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe L. Gozon, Perry Lansigan, German Moreno, Randy Ortiz, Marciano Reyes V, Vic Sotto, Regine Velasquez, Joyce Bernal, Lolit Solis, Sharon Cuneta, Wilma Galvante, Vicki Belo, Lily Moteverde, GMA Entertainment TV SVP Lilybeth G. Rasonable, Vilma Santos, Celia Rodriguez and Kris Aquino.

The maids of honor include Ana Feleo and Roxanne Barcelo, while the groomsmen include Paolo Contis and Arthur Solinap. The bridesmaids include Luane Dy, Liz Uy, Rochelle Pangilinan and Bettina Carlos, among others., Other members of the entourage are Lucy Torres-Gomez, Richard Gomez, Ai-ai delas Alas, Gabby Eigenmann, Ryzza Mae Dizon, and many more. ■ Bianca Rose Dabu / DVM, GMA News / December 29, 2014 / 4:46 AM

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January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

‘Praybeyt Benjamin’ sequel rules MMFF opening day box office WITHOUT the combined forces of Vic Sotto and Kris Aquino to contend with, Vice Ganda grabbed the early lead in the box office hours after 40th Metro Manila Film Festival opened on Christmas Day. In a report by ABS-CBNNews. com that was later retweeted by the official Twitter page of the MMFF, Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino was quoted as having told radio station DZMM that as of 3PM Thursday, Vice Ganda’s “The Amazing Praybet Benjamin” was the festival’s opening day top grosser.

Running neck-and-neck in second and third place are “My Big Bossing”

starring Vic Sotto and Ryzza Mae Dizon and “Feng Shui 2” topbilled by Kris Aquino and Coco Martin.

Last year, Vice Ganda’s “Girl Boy Bakla Tomboy” played catch-up at the box office to “My Little Bossing” which starred Vic, Ryzza, Kris and her son Bimby. This year, the main stars of that latter film headline separate projects, with Bimby joining Vice in “Praybet Benjamin”.

The addition of Bimby is obviously a big boost to Vice’s film as no less than president Noynoy Aquino and Kris watched it on its opening day at SM Megamall.

Currently in fourth place among the top grossers is the fantasy-horror

Dingdong Dantes starrer, “Kubot: The Aswang Chronicles”. Dingdong’s fiancé and soon-to-be-bride, Marian Rivera, is also part of the ongoing film festival as she is also in the cast of “My Big Bossing”.

All four films are sequels. Rounding up the rest of the eight MMFF entries are “English Only Please”, “Shake, Rattle & Roll XV”, “Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo”and “Muslim Magnum .357”.

Tolentino was also quoted as saying he expects his year’s opening day tally to surpass the P128 million initial box office gross of the MMFF last year.

Unofficial figures cited by several media outlets and entertainment blogs

revealed that the festival’s Christmas Day gross hovered around the P140 million mark, a new opening day record for the annual film festival.

Tolentino said he expects the official figures to be released by the MMFF this Friday, December 26.

The box office rankings may still change depending on the outcome of the MMFF awards night that will take place this Wednesday, December 27 at the Philippine International Convention Center.

Robin Padilla’s historical drama, “Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo”, is believed to be the frontrunner for the top awards although both “Kubot” and “English Only Please”, the romantic

Bimby Aquino and Vice Ganda in a scene from ‘The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin’.

comedy starring Derek Ramsay and Jennylyn Mercado, are expected to give it stiff competition. ■ Edwin P. Sallan / InterAksyon.com / December 26, 2014 / 9:11 PM

‘Magkakabaung’, Zsa Zsa Padilla top MMFF New Wave winners OUT of the five indie entries in the feature film category of the Metro Manila Film Festival’s New Wave section, four

starts with the letter M. Three of them won big at the MMFF awards night last Saturday.

Jason Paul Laxamana’s internationally

The five directors of the MMFF New Wave category with New Wave Best Actor winner Allen Dizon (center).

Photo by Rhoy Cobilla, ©InterAksyon.

acclaimed “Magkakabaung” won Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Allen Dizon to lead all winners. The story of a coffin maker who accidentally killed his daughter by giving her the wrong medication, the film known as “The Coffin Maker” in international screenings has been honored in film festivals in Harlem, New York and Hanoi, Vietnam.

The MMFF Best Actor win for Allen Dizon is the third that the actor has won for his riveting portrayal of the title role.

Zig Madamba Dulay’s “M: Mother’s Maiden Name” won three awards in the New Wave category, winning Special Jury Prize, Best Supporting Actress for Gloria Sevilla and Best Actress for Zsa Zsa Padilla for her memorable portrayal of the cancer-

stricken title character.

“Maratabat (Pride and Honor)”, the feature film debut of broadcast journalist Arlyn dela Cruz, won Best Supporting Actor for Kristoffer King’s electrifying performance of the trigger-happy mayor and governor’s son in a fictional city in Mindanao.

The supporting acting categories are introduced in the New Wave section for the first time since the pre-Christmas festival that serves as a precursor to the MMFF’s “Main Event” was introduced in 2010. Of the four acting winners, however, only Dizon was around to personally accept his award.

The other two feature film entries in the MMFF New Wave section are Diane

Ventura’s “Mulat” and Ato Bautista’s “Gemini”.

Awards were also handed out in the New Wave section’s Student Short Films and Animation categories during the preprogram ceremonies that started the awards night.

Best Student Short Film went to the entry of the University of the Philippines, “Bundok Chubibo”, while the Special Jury Prize went to “Kalaw” by the Asia Pacific Film Institute.

In the Animation contest, Yawp! Studio’s “Cherry” was awarded with the Special Jury Prize while Ateneo de Naga University’s “An Maogmang Lugar” was declared as Best Animated Short. ■ Edwin P. Sallan / InterAksyon.

com / December 28, 2014 / 4:31 PM

TV5 stars dazzle in spectacular ‘Happy sa 2015’ countdown

IN a spectacular display of fireworks, a 3D mapping show and firstrate entertainment, TV5’s biggest stars and special guests ended an eventful 2014 and welcomed 2015 on a very upbeat mode with “Happy sa 2015: The Philippine New Year Countdown” at the Quezon Memorial Circle in Quezon City.

A joint endeavor of the Quezon City Government and the MVP Group of Companies, the New Year’s Eve festivities was opened to the public as early as 10AM Wednesday featuring booths from sponsors like PLDT and Smart and highlighted by the Happy Network’s first ever “on the spot” talent search that attracted thousands of hopefuls.

By late evening or about an hour before the start of the New Year Countdown, the formal program began with a star-studded musical number led

by Ogie Alcasid, Tuesday Vargas and DJ and former child star Tom Taus.

Following the number Ogie and Tuesday were joined by Alice Dixson and Metro Manila Film Festival Best Actor Derek Ramsay to host the event as an estimated crowd of over 20,000 were treated to more entertainment fare.

Highlights included the wellreceived performance of “Trenderas”

stars Isabelle de Leon and Katrina Velarde with the vocal group AKA Jam. Dancer Gab Valenciano, son of Mr. Pure Energy himself Gary Valenciano, displayed the form that made him a phenomenal YouTube sensation in 2013 as he and the Philippine All-Stars literally owned the stage in a showstopping number.

Not to be outdone, beatboxer and Talentadong Pinoy 2014 Ultimate Talentado Neil also dazzled the crowd with his multi-voiced prowess in another thrilling presentation obviously inspired by his musical hero, Michael Jackson.

In a medley of popular show tunes including “Tomorrow” from “Annie”,

Pop Diva Kuh Ledesma delivered another classy performance further enhanced by aerial dancer Mystiq, another Talentadong Pinoy 2014 Hall of Famer.

And “Kanta Pilipinas” grand champion Chadleen also performed a medley of the popular “Wattpad Presents” theme songs she had recorded.

Also in attendance were other TV5 stars like Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Ritz Azul, Carl Guevarra, comedian Empoy Marquez and “Artista Academy” graduates Marvelous Alejo, Akihiro Blanco, Mark Neumann, Brent Manzano, Chris Leonardo and Alberto Bruno.

TV5 stars led by Tuesday Vargas, Derek Ramsay, Ogie Alcasid and Alice Dixson gather on stage during the ‘Happy sa 2015’ New Year Countdown Wednesday night at the Quezon City Memorial Circle. Photo from the TV5 Facebook page.

As the network stars also took the opportunity to promote some of TV5’s new shows for 2015, also seen in attendance at the New Year Countdown were MVP Group of Companies chairman Manny V. Pangilinan, TV5 president and chief executive officer Noel C. Lorenzana and other network executives.

Top executives of the MVP Group, including Smart’s Napoleon Nazareno, Maynilad’s Ricky Vargas, Metro Pacific’s Ramoncito Fernandez and MVP himself, delivered their New Year’s message to the public.

Speaking in behalf of the MVP group, Pangilinan expressed his

gratitude to the Quezon City government led by Mayor Herbert Bautista for the staging of TV5’s first ever New Year countdown show which may be an annual affair from hereon.

MVP said their wish for 2015 was simple: to deliver happiness in every home.

MVP’s upbeat tone is very much reflected on the new programming thrust of TV5 for 2015 which intends to shun the negative and instead places emphasis on everything positive.

InterAksyon.com is the online news portal of TV5, which is part of the PLDT Group. ■ Edwin P. Sallan / InterAksyon.com

/ January 1, 2015 / 12:50 PM

TV5 chairman Manny V. Pangilinan, TV5 chief content officer Wilma Galvante and TV5 president and CEO Noel Lorenzana await the start of the Fireworks light up the Quezon City Circle monument as TV5 welcomes 2015. countdown show. Photo from the TV5 Facebook page.

Photo by Elyse Go/InterAksyon.

Lies Love THE award-winning New York production of David Byrne and Fatboy Slim’s musical HERE LIES LOVE will open the new Dorfman Theatre (formerly the Cottesloe), following its complete refurbishment as part of the NT Future project. HERE LIES LOVE plays from 30 September to 8 January, with a press night on 13 October. With concept and lyrics by David Byrne, music

by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, and additional music by Tom Gandey and J Pardo; it is directed by Alex Timbers, with choreography by Annie-B Parson, set design by David Korins, costume design by Clint Ramos, lighting by Justin Townsend, sound by M. L. Dogg and Cody Spencer, and projection design by Peter Nigrini. The music supervisor is Kimberly Grigsby; Justin Levine is the collaborating music producer, and the music editor is Matt Stine. The cast is Christine Allado, Gia Macuja Atchison, Mark Bautista (Ferdinand Marcos), Lauren Chia, Christopher Chung, Julius Ebreo, Jim Andrew Ferrer, Li-Tong Hsu, Dean John-Wilson (Ninoy Aquino), Maria Lawson, Kok-Hwa Lie, Frances Mayli McCann, Natalie Mendoza (Imelda Marcos), Aaron Jan Mercado, Martin Sarreal, Julie Yammanee and Sunny Yeo. The Public Theater’s production of HERE LIES LOVE, which premiered in New York in 2013 to critical and popular acclaim, traces the astonishing journey of Imelda Marcos, First Lady of

the Philippines, from her meteoric rise to power to descent into infamy and disgrace. The new Dorfman Theatre is transformed into a pulsating club for an immersive theatrical event which combines heart-pounding beats with adrenaline-fuelled choreography and 360-degree staging.

Audiences are advised to dress comfortably and those in the pit performance area will stand and dance with the actors. There will be seating in the galleries; the performance length is 90 minutes. In addition to places bookable in advance, 20 tickets at £20 in the pit will be made available every Friday at 12 midday for the week ahead for every performance, bookable online.

David Byrne is a founding member of the band Talking Heads and creator of the record label Luaka Pop. His works include Playing the Building, an interactive sound installation at the Battery Maritime Building, New York and the Roundhouse in London; contributions to the score of The Last Emperor, for which he won an Oscar; Everything That Happens Will Happen Today, a collaboration with Brian Eno; This Must be the Place, a collaboration with Will Oldham for the soundtrack to the Sean Penn film; and Love This Giant, his collaboration with musician St. Vincent. David Byrne’s books include Bicycle Diaries and How Music Works; he also publishes and exhibits visual art, including photography and filmmaking.

Dorfman Theatre playing until 8 January 2015.

Previews from 30 September 2014.

Fatboy Slim, also known as Norman Cook, is a Grammy Award-winning DJ, musician and record producer. He first rose to prominence in the 1980s as bassist of the indie rock band The Housemartins, and went on to form the band, Beats International. In 1996, as Fatboy Slim, he released Better Living Through Chemistry, and his followup successes include You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby and Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars. In 2008 he collaborated with David Byrne and Dizzee Rascal on The Brighton Port Authority.

Alex Timbers’ credits include Rocky, Peter and the Starcatcher (codirector, Obie Award Best Director, Tony nomination Best Director), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (also book writer; Drama Desk Award Best Book, Tony nomination Best Book), and The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway.

He is the Artistic Director of the company Les Freres Corbusier. ■ HERE LIES LOVE is presented by special arrangement with Joey Parnes and EMURSIVE. The original cast recording of HERE LIES LOVE from Nonesuch records is now available to buy.

The Dorfman Partner: Neptune Investment Management The National Theatre’s Airline Partner: American Airlines Press night: Monday 13 October at 7pm Contact: Susie Newbery on 020 7452 3061/snewbery@nationaltheatre.org.uk

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January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

Korean volunteers for Yolanda victims exit PH, leave P200-M gear to AFP THANKS, FAREWELL

MANILA – Following a successful humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) mission in typhoonstricken areas of Leyte, military volunteers from South Korea flew home Monday, leaving over P200 million worth of HADR equipment to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Among the equipment turned over to the AFP are excavators, forklifts, dump trucks, tractors, pay loaders and backhoes. Other equipment for administrative purposes such as buses, fumigation vehicle, medical supplies and container vans were also turned over to the AFP. A simple send-off ceremony for the Republic of Korea Armed Forces (ROKAF) Contingent to Leyte was held at Mactan Air Base in Lapu-lapu City, Cebu. this was attended by senior military officers led by Major General Eusaquito P Manalo, Commander of the 2nd Air Division, Philippine Air Force; and Mr Ki-seog Lee, the Korean Consul General based in Cebu City.

Recognition from AFP top brass.

Just recently, the ROKAF contingent to Leyte was recognized by the AFP leadership for their invaluable and selfless efforts in aiding victims of

Typhoon Yolanda since last year.

In a Mission Completion Ceremony held on December 16 at the ROKAF Joint Support Group headquarters in Brgy Candahug, AFP Chief of Staff, General Gregorio Pio P. Catapang Jr. - along with Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Undersecretary Alexander Pama, chief of the Office of Civil Defense - awarded the AFP Command Plaque and Commendation Medals to the mission commander, Col. Lee Chul Won and the Korean contingent.

The military volunteers from the ROKAF were among the first to render HADR and clearing operations in places hard-hit by Typhoon Yolanda, particularly in the provinces of Eastern Samar, Eastern Leyte and in Ormoc City.

The Korean military personnel, in cooperation with the AFP, national government agencies and other local government units, were deployed all over the affected areas and participated in the delivery of relief goods and other humanitarian services even in inaccessible areas which were isolated for days without food and water.

Decades-long alliance. The Republic

of Korea and the Philippines share more than 60 years of partnership which is deeply rooted in the sacrifices of Filipino soldiers from the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK) who fought and died alongside South Koreans during the Korean War in the 1950s.

Among the most famous Filipinos who saw action in South Korea are former president and then 1Lt. Fidel V. Ramos who led the assault on Hill Eerie on May 21, 1952; Colonel Nicanor Jimenez who commanded the 14thBattalion Combat Team; and then Lt. Col. Teodolfo Bautista, the late father of former AFP Chief of Staff, Retired General Emmanuel Bautista.

A total of 112 Filipino soldiers perished in battle while defending South Korea against the communist North Korea and China; 313 were wounded and 16 men remain officially missing-in-action to this day.

The Philippines was one of the first countries that extended help to the South Korean government against the invasion of the communist North Korea. It also helped South Korea rebuild itself after the war in 1953.

Since the deployment of PEFTOK,

The send-off ceremony for the ROKAF contingent was highlighted with Philippine Air Force dependents and children giving flowers and bidding farewell to the Korean soldiers as a symbol of gratitude. Photo by PIO-PAF.

both countries have deepened their relations, with South Korea becoming one of the Philippines’ most important bilateral partners.

Major supplier of PH defense hardware. South Korea is one of the

major suppliers of the Philippines’ military equipment such as vehicles, light machine guns and assorted ammunitions.

In the near future, the AFP will also be procuring 12 FA-50 fighter jets from South Korea as part of the military’s modernization and capability upgrade

program. The first few units are expected to be delivered in 2015.

South Korea also offers various programs to benefit PEFTOK veterans and their dependents in the Philippines.

This includes the “Korea Revisit Program” where PEFTOK veterans and some of their dependents are invited to revisit Korea for a week with free air fare and hotel accommodation.

The Korean Government also supports PEFTOK scholars studying in South Korea. ■ InterAksyon.com / December 23, 2014 / 3:50 PM

POEA lists agencies licensed to recruit workers for New Zealand MANILA – In the absence of a government-to-government hiring agreement, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration has released a list of licensed recruitment

agencies which have job orders from employers in New Zealand.

Administrator Hans Leo Cacdac said applicants may apply with the following recruitment agencies:

Auckland, New Zealand, ©AFP file.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

21st Century Manpower Resources Inc. Adana Manpower Services Corporation Bison Management Corporation EDI Staffbuilders International Inc. Eligardi Enterprises FAASI International Corporation Filhigh-GNS Inc. Global Resource for Outsourced Workers Inc. 9. Greenfields International Manpower Services Inc. 10. IEmploy Manpower Services Inc. 11. JPS International Recruitment Agency 12. JS Contractor Inc. 13. Lau’ Mel International Entertainment Promotion Inc. 14. Long Term Recruiting and Development Corporation 15. Manumoti Manpower International Inc.

Disaster bodies in Cebu province, city placed on blue alert for Seniang CEBU CITY – The Cebu provincial government and the Cebu City government have placed their respective Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (DRRMC) under blue alert after the whole of Central Visayas was placed under public storm warning signal no. 1 due to tropical storm Seniang.

Cebu City Councilor David Tumulak, the city’s DRRMC chairman, said a blue alert status means that the disaster team is constantly monitoring the weather update for further preparations to be undertaken.

“We are on blue alert status now,

and we are now having the inventory of the equipment and tools for rescue and operations. Our responders, rescuers, and department heads are ready to convene if necessary,” he said.

Tumulak said the city has prepositioned all communication, medical, and disaster equipment.

He said this is not to cause alarm, but to prepare for the weather disturbance even if Seniang is not expected to directly hit the city.

While Seniang is weaker than typhoon Ruby, he said the former should not be treated lightly.

With this, he cautioned the public to

also monitor weather updates so that they will get first-hand information.

Tumulak said barangay’s disaster teams have been activated to respond to any incidents.

On the other hand, Julius Regner, information officer of the Cebu Provincial DRRMO, said their personnel are now on standby for monitoring and sending out advisories to the local government units that have been directed to activate their disaster response team.

Families living in low-lying and landslide-prone areas are advised to take precautionary measures, Regner said. ■

Philippines News Agency / December 29, 2014 / 12:27 PM

16. Mission Way Manpower Services Inc. 17. Mitac Overseas Manpower Corporation 18. Omanfil International Manpower Development Corporation 19. Orion Site Medlink International Resourcing Inc. 20. PARMAN Inc. 21. PNI International Corporation 22. Rise Manpower Services 23. Staffhouse International Resources Corporation 24. Sunergeos Manpower Services Corporation 25. Uniplan Overseas Employment Inc. 26. YWA Human Resource Corporation Cacdac urged recruitment agencies and registered principals or employers to abide

by Philippine and New Zealand laws and regulations on recruitment and employment.

The POEA official reiterated that Philippine recruiters are prohibited from collecting placement fee from workers bound for “no placement fee countries” including New Zealand in pursuance to the POEA Rules and Regulations.

In demand in New Zealand are carpenters, painters, bricklayers, blocklayers, masons, electricians, welders, fabricators, plasterers and other construction workers, Cacdac said.

Recruitment agencies and their respective job orders from New Zealand and other countries can be accessed at http://www.poea.gov.ph/cgi-bin/ JobVacancies/jobsByCty.asp. ■ Jade D. Miguel / Philippine News Agency / December 29, 2014 / 1:03 PM

PILGRIMAGE TO PHILIPPINES Date: Saturday, 10 to Saturday, 24 January 2015

Experience the Papal visit in the Philippines and make a difference.

PLACES TO VISIT:

OUR LADY OF MANAOAG, PANGASINAN - visit one of the most venerated 17th-century ivory images of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus in the Philippines. In 1610 a middle-aged farmer walking home heard a mysterious female voice. He saw on a cloud-veiled treetop an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, holding a Rosary in her right hand with the Child Jesus on her left arm amidst a heavenly glow. Mary told the farmer where she wanted her church to be built. The shrine of Our Lady of Manaoag was built on the spot where Mary appeared to the man and the town quickly grew around it.

MONASTERIO DE TARLAC - is where the Relic of the Holy Cross can be found. The relic authenticated by a Papal seal is believed to be part of the cross discovered by Saint Helena in Jerusalem, the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great. It was believed that Saint Helena excavated three crosses in Jerusalem which were believed to be the crosses used during the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. She brought a woman who was about to die and asked her to touch the first two crosses but nothing happened. When the third cross was touched, the dying woman was healed.

NATIONAL SHRINE OF THE DIVINE MERCY - is a church dedicated to the Divine Mercy in Marilao, Bulacan, Philippines. It was elevated to the status of National Shrine by Cardinal Orlando Quevedo of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines. The first Mass was held at the site on February 2, 1992, the Feast of the Presentation.

OUR LADY, MARY MEDIATRIX OF ALL GRACE - The Marian apparition in 1948, shower of petals, other miraculous events associated with this church, and the over all feeling of serenity make anyone seeking spiritual refuge to visit Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Lipa, Batangas. According to accounts of the apparition, Mama Mary showed herself to Teresita Castillo, a nun, telling that she is the "Mediatrix of All Grace". "On September 12, 1948 in this Carmel of Lipa, Mary Mediatrix of All Grace appeared on top of a vine.

OUR LADY OF PEACE AND GOOD VOYAGE, ANTIPOLO - is a 17th-century brown wooden statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated in the Philippines. The image was originally brought to the country from Mexico and the safe voyage across the Pacific Ocean was attributed to the image.

SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF ASSUMPTION, BOHOL - is an 18th-century church dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption. The image of the Blessed Virgin Mary is famed to be miraculous. Pilgrims from afar hike the distance from their city to the site to invoke special petitions or mainly to honor the Patroness. In addition, at the foot of the altar of the church is a well also believed to have healing power. The water tastes oddly fresh, despite the well's proximity to the seashore.

LOBOC RIVER CRUISE, BOHOL – Enjoy the river cruise along nipa-lined river on board a native catamaran while lunch is served on board. See historic BLOOD COMPACT SHRINE, a historical landmark commemorating the First Treaty of Friendship between the east and the west. Visit the centuries old Baclayon Church and Museum, built in 1595. Be amazed with the perfect landscape of the CHOCOLATE HILLS, BOHOL.Experience the lush of the MAHOGANY MAN MADE FOREST and the green farmlands in Bilar and Batuan. See the famous TARSIER, one of the worlds smallest primates with its gentle demeanor and large bulbous eyes. Visit the NIPA WEAVING AND KNIFE MAKING FACTORY, Bohol. Enjoy the ORGANIC GOURMET LUNCH at the Bee Farm Restaurant during the tour.

STO. NINO DE CEBU (Holy Child of Cebu) - is venerated by many Filipino Catholics who believe it to be miraculous. The statue was originally given in 1521 as a baptismal gift

by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who physically handed it to Lady Humamay, the principal wife of Rajah Humabon. This event marks the beginning of Christianity in the Philippines. Enjoy the whole day SINULOG FESTIVAL SHOW (included in the price)!

CEBU CITY - the trading center of Southeast Asia in the 13th century. Discovered by Ferdinand Magellan on April 8,1521. Rich in pre-Hispanic relics, antiques, and artifacts that have been found in different parts of the island. It is the country's Second City after Manila and a favorite tourist destination. Catch the glimpse of rural life in livelihood activities like SHOEMAKING, DELICACY COOKING, WOODCARVING and BASKET WEAVING. Experience the CARABAO RIDE (water buffalo ride), a TRICYCLE SPIN to a colorful market, LEARN HOW TO WEAVE A BAMBOO BASKET, and get the thrill from DRINKING FRESH COCONUT WINE.

MANILA CITY TOUR - Immerse yourself in the Philippines' rich cultural past through Manila's diverse museums. From the Old Walled City of Intramuros to the Financial District of Makati, this tour is a well-rounded glimpse of the country.

Trace the past with a visit to the MALACANANG PALACE, the CULTURAL CENTER OF THE PHILIPPINES, the RIZAL PARK and SAN AGUSTIN CHURCH (UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993).

Get on board to a SUNSET DINNER CRUISE along MANILA BAY. Admire the MANILA CITY SKYLINE while FEASTING ON TRADITIONAL PHILIPPINE CUISINE. Enjoy the lights of Roxas Boulevard and Evening Live Performance on Board from the famous local band in the City of Manila.

BENEFICIARIES OF THE PILGRIMAGE:

PEDIATRIC CANCER PATIENTS OF NATIONAL CHILDRENS' HOSPITAL – Indigent children undergoing chemotherapy treatment.

BETHANY HOUSE STO NINO ORPHANAGE – founded in 1986 by Bishop Almario and entrusted to Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph.

BAHAY PAG IBIG – Home for Senior citizens forgotten by their families and their own children. Home of the abandoned, poor and the sick.

ERDA TECHNICAL VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL IN PANDACAN, MANILA - is a free school for deserving students. It is managed by Fr. Ari Dy,SJ.

EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS IN BOHOL CARMELITE SISTERS OF LIPA RETIRED JESUIT PRIESTS OF LOYOLA HOUSE OF STUDIES, ATENEO. RESERVATION AND PAYMENT: PRICE: £1900 includes return air ticket and tour package to Philippines. Entrances to some places included in the price. Pick up transport, ferry transfer and all coaching arrange in every destinations plus assistance from Tour Operator based in London and English speaking guide throughout our tour. Our group will stay in comfortable hotels with basic ensuite room facilities on a half board basis. Extra to your tour: Single room supplement and Travel insurance required per passenger.

PAYMENT: £500 required deposit. Baggage allowance is 30 kilos per passenger and flights can be extend prior to issuance of airline ticket per arrangment with our travel agency partner based in London. NB: Please note we reserve the right to alter the above itinerary if required for operational reasons. Deposits and Flights are non refundable.

The Community Prayer Crusade – West London is a nonprofit organization with no budget. Only reservation with deposit considered confirmed. Any friends, please contact Betilda on 07919380513 or Merla on 07939684558 or Mario on 07818021874.Thank you and God Bless.

interested

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PHILIPPINE EMBASSY AROUND THE WORLD

www.hello-philippines.com

January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

PHL Ambassador to Argentina Presents West Philippine Sea Issue at National University of La Plata – Institute of International Relations

Philippine Ambassador to Argentina Ma. Amelita C. Aquino with Professor Ezequiel Ramoneda of UNLP-IRI.

THE Philippine Embassy in Buenos Aires presented the Philippine position on the West Philippine Issue in an academic session organized by the UNLP - Institute of International Relations, as one of the activities during the Congress of IRI, Latin America Federation for International Studies and the Federal Council for International Studies on November 27.

Philippine Ambassador to Argentina Ma. Amelita C. Aquino, Vietnam Ambassador Nguyen Dinh Thao, Professor Maya Alvisa of the Universidad del Salvador and Mr. Rodolfo Kramer of the MERCOSUR-

ASEAN Chamber of Commerce were the guest speakers during the session.

Professor Ezequiel Ramoneda of UNLP IRI served as the moderator during the event.

In her presentation, Ambassador Aquino emphasized that the core issue of the dispute is China’s claim of “indisputable sovereignty” over nearly all of the South China Sea under its so-called nine-dash line, pointing out that this encroaches on the Philippine’s Exclusive Economic Zone and extended continental shelf.

She further explained that the Philippines had undertaken many

efforts to peacefully engage China and settle the disputes through political and diplomatic avenues but with the occupation by China of Scarborough Shoal, the Philippines had no other recourse but to utilize the legal track under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). She then explained the arbitral proceedings initiated by the Philippines and the Philippines’ Triple Action Plan proposal.

The audience was composed of members of the academe, students and researchers. ■ Philippine Embassy Philippines / December 29, 2014

ASEAN Committee in Mexico City Completes Chairmanship Turn-Over Ceremony PHILIPPINE Ambassador to Mexico Catalino R. Dilem, Jr. participated in the turn-over ceremony of the chairmanship of the ASEAN Committee in Mexico City (ACMC) on November 14.

The ACMC is composed of the following resident Ambassadors to Mexico and their respective embassies: Indonesian Ambassador Hamdani Djafar; Malaysian Ambassador Dato’ Jamaiyah M. Yusof; Philippine Ambassador Catalino R. Dilem, Jr.; Thai Ambassador Chirachai Punkrasin; and Vietnamese Ambassador Le Linh Lan. The ACMC Chairmanship rotates through the members in

alphabetical order every six months.

The ceremony saw the outgoing chair, Indonesian Ambassador Hamdani Djafar, turn over the chairmanship to Malaysian Ambassador Dato’ Jamaiyah M. Yusof. Since Ambassador Djafar was also concluding his tour of duty as Indonesian Ambassador to Mexico, the ACMC presented him with a farewell gift as a token of their deep appreciation for his friendship and effective chairmanship.

ACMC members work together to promote awareness of ASEAN and its individual member countries, and seek to increase understanding and cooperation

between the citizens of Mexico and ASEAN, particularly in the areas of trade and investment, political cooperation, culture and tradition, and people-to-people contact.

The ACMC accomplished several activities in the second half of 2014 that promoted ASEAN, such as the official ACMC visit to the Mexican state of Sonora; the conduct of radio interviews featuring each of the individual ACMC Ambassadors in October and November 2014; and the recently-concluded ASEAN Bazaar held on November 22. ■ Philippine Embassy Philippines /

December 29, 2014

Mr. Nguyen Minh Duc, Deputy Chief of Mission of Vietnam; Malaysian Ambassador Dato’ Jamaiyah M. Yusof; Indonesian Ambassador Hamdani Djafar; Thai Ambassador Chirachai Punkrasin; Philippine Ambassador Catalino R. Dilem, Jr.

PHL Embassy in Bangkok Officials Participate in Anti-Human Trafficking Workshop in Japan PHILIPPINE Minister and Consul General Edgar Badajos and Vice Consul Jay Francis Alcantara recently attended an Anti-Human Trafficking Workshop held from December 11 to 15 in Osaka, Japan. The workshop was organized by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs (OUMWA) to improve the skills of Philippine Foreign Service officials assigned at Embassies and Consulates General in the Asia-Pacific region in identifying, and providing timely and appropriate assistance to

Filipino victims of human trafficking.

Thailand has been identified by relevant international organizations as a source, transit, and destination country when it comes to the problem of human trafficking. Six hundred seventy four (674) cases of human trafficking were reported in the country in 2013 which resulted in 225 convictions. Although none of the cases involved a Filipino national, the Philippine Embassy in Bangkok remains vigilant in monitoring possible cases of human trafficking involving Filipinos.

Officials from the AHA Centre – Mr. Arnel Capili, Head of Operations (fron row, 2nd from left), and Mr. Janggam Adhityawarma, Senior Officer of the Disaster Monitoring and Analysis (2nd row, 4th from left) successfully concluded the first in-country briefing to diplomatic representatives of ASEAN Member States and officers of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management Conducts In-Country Briefing on Typhoon Ruby/Hagupit

THE ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) briefed ASEAN Member States (AMS) on how ASEAN, through the AHA Centre, responded to the Typhoon Ruby/Hagupit. The briefing was held on December 09 at the DFA Office of ASEAN Affairs Conference Room.

The AHA Centre commended the

Philippine Government for its early warning efforts and implementation of disaster preparedness plans, which have prevented greater losses and damages. The briefing also highlighted the best practices and lessons learned from Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan, topmost of which is the One-Stop Shop mechanism employed in the system. ■

Philippine Embassy Philippines / December 23, 2014

Philippine Minister and Consul General Edgar Badajos makes a presentation on the human trafficking situation in Thailand.

“Trafficking in persons” is defined under the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (or TIP Protocol) as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.”

While Thailand signed the TIP Protocol on December 18, 2001, it has yet to ratify the same, unlike the Philippines which has both signed and ratified the Protocol.

Both countries have passed anti-human trafficking legislations that impose severe penalties on convicted human traffickers.

The Embassy is urging the Filipino community in Thailand to help fight human trafficking by reporting suspected cases to the Embassy anytime at +66 2 9926-5954 or via email at bangkokpe@gmail.com or bkkpe@gmail.com. ■ Philippine Embassy Philippines / December 29, 2014

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IMMIGRATION CRISIS Italy names Christmas baby

and identifies Egyptian smuggling super boss ROME - A baby born at sea on Christmas Day after his Nigerian mother was plucked from a floundering migrant boat by the Italian navy has been baptized Testimony Salvatore in honor of the medics who delivered him.

The two-day-old infant, who weighed in at 2.7 kilograms (just under six pounds), and his 28-yearold mother were both recovering in hospital on Saturday after a smooth delivery in testing circumstances, according to the gynecologist who oversaw it.

The cheering Christmas tale came as it was confirmed that Italian authorities have identified a 32-yearold Egyptian man as a lynchpin in the large-scale people smuggling that has been instrumental in sending asylum seekers and economic migrants across the Mediterranean in unprecedented numbers this year.

Described as a trafficking “super boss” and named as Ahmed Mohamed Farrag Hanafi, the alleged trafficking overlord is now being pursued by the Egyptian authorities at Italy’s request, prosecutors in the Sicilian city of Catania confirmed.

The suspect is thought to be based in the Kafr el-Sheikh Governorate in northern Egypt and had been identified as a result of intercepted mobile calls to traffickers working for him on boats leaving Libya.

Really scared. Little Testimony entered the world at 20 minutes before midnight on December 25, aboard the Italian navy vessel Etna as it headed to the Sicilian port of Messina with hundreds of migrants on board following rescue operations off Libya.

He is the third baby to be delivered by the navy in just over three months: following Gambian girl Yambambi Yete in September and Eritrean boy Aloniab Nahom, who was also delivered on the Etna, earlier this month.

“The lady was brilliant,” said Maita Sartori, the gynecologist who oversaw the latest birth. “She did everything herself, all we had to do was to be there and monitor the labor, talking to her in English.”

The mother, whose first name is Kate according to Italian media, was travelling with Testimony’s 15-monthold sister and was quoted as saying: “I’m really happy with the birth of my son. I was really scared but everything

went well in the end.”

She told reporters the family had left Nigeria two months ago and that she and her youngest child had boarded a boat in Libya on December 23, having left her husband and two older sons, aged 6 and 10, in neighboring Algeria.

Death traps. Italian naval vessels picked up a total of 2,300 people from troubled boats over the Christmas period, lifting to more than 170,000 the number of migrants from north Africa registered as having landed on Italian soil this year.

More than 80 percent of them leave from Libya, where traffickers are able to operate with impunity because of the chaos engulfing a country that has disintegrated into warring fiefdoms.

The conflict in Syria and Iraq and repression in Eritrea have been the two biggest factors behind the migrant surge this year with Syrian and Eritrean nationals accounting for over half the arrivals in Italy.

Typically, refugees boarding boats in Libya have paid traffickers several thousand dollars each for what is sold as a ticket to Europe.

Increasingly however it appears that the people smugglers simply aim to get

Immigrants rescued off Italy, July 2014.

the boats into open water and rely on the human cargo being picked up by either the Italian navy or by passing merchant ships which are obliged, under the law of the sea, to respond to distress calls.

Responsibility for patrolling Europe’s southern shores in theory lies with Triton, a multinational operation run by the European borders agency Frontex. But in practice the Italian navy has continued to carry out most of the rescues despite officially scaling back its own Mare Nostrum operation at the end of October after failing to

persuade other EU governments to help fund it.

Hopes the advent of winter would stem the flow of boat people have been dashed although there have been signs that the traffickers are switching to bigger cargo boats, having previously relied largely on converted fishing vessels or inflatable dinghies.

The cargo boats may be less vulnerable to inclement weather but are frequently in a poor condition, making them potential death traps, according to aid organizations. ■ Angus Mackinnon / Agence France-Presse / December 28, 2014 / 10:01 AM

Roxas asked: P1-B for new fire trucks, where are the trucks?

MANILA - Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas should promptly make public the list of cities and municipalities that received the 117 new fire trucks under the modernization

program of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), LPG Marketers’ Association (LPGMA) said in a news release Monday.

“Congress gave the DILG a total of P1 billion for the acquisition of the 117 fire

trucks. People are starting to ask where these new (firefighting) vehicles are. They haven’t seen the trucks responding to fire emergencies,” said House Deputy Minority Leader and LPG-MA Rep. Arnel Ty. “When there are blazes, people don’t see the new trucks in action as first responders. What they see right away are the trucks of the Filipino-Chinese Volunteer Fire Brigades,” Ty said.

“Which local government units obtained the new fire trucks? The public deserves to know, and Secretary Mar Roxas ought to satisfy their curiosity,” Ty added.

BFP on high alert for New Year’s blazes. Ty’s remarks came shortly after the

Secretary Mar Roxas. File photo by Lira Dalangin-Fernandez

BFP went on high alert for accidental blazes that may be caused by the mishandling of firecrackers during the New Year revelry.

Congress previously authorized the funds for the DILG to procure 34 units of 1,000-gallon fire trucks, 18 units of 2,500-gallon fire trucks, and 65 units of 500-gallon mini pumpers for the BFP, according to Ty, a Filipino-Chinese Volunteer Fire Brigade member.

Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon earlier questioned Item No. 5 in the P22.4-billion supplemental national budget for 2015, which gives the DILG another P199.1 million for the acquisition of 33 new fire trucks for the Autonomous Region in Muslim

Mindanao, where Roxas lost to Jejomar Binay in the 2010 vice presidential elections.

LPG-MA has been engaged in volunteer firefighting for years. The group has its own fleet of fire trucks, complete with volunteer firefighters.

The group has also been providing additional fire trucks to communities.

In Metro Manila, LPG-MA has donated a total of 50 fire trucks, mostly to FilipinoChinese Volunteer Fire Brigades.

In Cagayan Valley, the group has contributed 18 new fire trucks to an even number of municipalities. ■ InterAksyon.com

/ December 29, 2014 / 1:19 PM

Continuation of Binay probe ‘in aid of Trillanes’ presidential bid’ - VP’s spokesman MANILA -- Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s announcement that he intends to resume the investigation of Vice President Jejomar Binay based on “new evidence” is “not in aid of legislation but to gain media mileage for himself” and his presidential ambitions, Binay’s spokesman said Monday.

“The senator should not be shy to admit that he intends to use the Senate forum to further his presidential ambition,” Binay spokesman Joey Salgado said in a statement.

Trillanes, together with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, have been deeply involved in trying to pin down Binay on allegations of corruption and ill-gotten wealth beginning with accusations of overpricing in the construction of the Makati City Hall Building 2, which

began when the Vice President was still mayor of the country’s financial capital.

Most of the charges against Binay have been based on the testimony of his former vice mayor, Ernesto Mercado.

Salgado belittled Trillanes’ claims of new evidence, saying: “We expect this purported evidence to be similar to the ones presented by Mr. Ernesto Mercado, which can only be described as documents of dubious origin, relevance and authenticity. The statements made by Mr. Mercado are no different. They have all been lies.”

He cited Mercado’s claim that Binay owns a 350-hectare property in Rosario, Batangas, saying: “The Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary himself said there are no documents to support Mercado’s allegation.”

“Mercado claimed the existence of an air-conditioned piggery owned by the Vice President. An ocular inspection of the property showed that this was another lie,” he added.

He also cited Mercado’s claim that he paid for and was onboard the helicopter that conducted the aerial survey of the Rosario property.

“However, Mercado’s name did not appear in the flight manifest, and Senator Cayetano later admitted he was the one who hired the helicopter and members of his staff were on board,” Salgado said.

He also pointed to Mercado’s claim of a log cabin at Tagaytay Highlands purportedly owned by Binay, “a claim flatly denied by Belle Corp.”

“And the list of lies goes on,” Salgado said.

“After spending taxpayer’s money on at least 11 hearings, the senators have offered to the public mere allegations, insinuations and guesswork, or hulahula, as admitted by another ‘resource person,’ Mr. (Rene) Bondal,” he said.

“These ‘resource persons’ have raised the same issues in the past against the Vice President when he was mayor of Makati. Despite several hearings, none of them have presented concrete evidence that would be given credence in a court of law. Several of these allegations have been proven patently false,” Salgado said.

He dared Trillanes to disclose publicly “what he has done with his millions (of pesos) of pork barrel and DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program) funds” if the senator “wants to be taken seriously as a presidential contender.”

Sen Antonio Trillanes IV

“The Filipino people deserve more than dirty underhanded political attacks from ambitious presidential aspirants. They deserve to be told how they will benefit from those who aspire for higher office,” Salgado said. ■ Ernie Reyes / InterAksyon.com / December 29, 2014 / 3:25 PM

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After 2nd landfall, Seniang weakens into tropical depression AFTER making a second landfall over Anda town in Bohol, Tropical Cyclone Seniang (Jangmi) weakened into a tropical depression Monday night, even as 14 areas in Visayas and Mindanao remain under Public Storm Warning Signal No. 1.

PAGASA said Seniang was estimated at 75 km southeast of Mactan, Cebu City as of 10 p.m., with maximum winds of 55 kph near the center.

It is forecast to move west-northwest at 11 kph and is expected to be 170 km west-northwest of Dumaguete City Tuesday evening.

By Wednesday evening, it is expected to be 85 km south-southeast of Puerto Princesa City. By Thursday evening it is expected to be 350 km southwest of Puerto Princesa City.

Storm signals. Public Storm Warning Signal No. 1 is still raised over the following areas: Visayas. Leyte, Southern Leyte,

Camotes Island, Bohol, Cebu, Siquijor, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Guimaras, and Iloilo.

Mindanao. Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Norte, Misamis Oriental, and Camiguin.

Seniang has an estimated rainfall of 7.5 to 15 mm per hour (moderate to heavy) within its 300-km diameter.

PAGASA reminded residents in lowlying and mountainous areas of areas under storm signal to be alert against possible flash floods and landslides.

The weather agency also reminded fisherfolk and those with small seacrafts not to venture out along the seaboards of northern and central Luzon and the eastern seaboard of southern Luzon, seaboards of Visayas and over the northern and eastern seaboards of Mindanao.

Two dead in Bukidnon, MisOr

Meanwhile, two people were reported to have died in Bukidnon and

Misamis Oriental because of the storm.

According to Northern Mindanao Regional Police spokesperson Supt.

Gervacio Balmaceda, one person drowned in a flooded creek in the munipacility of Impasugong. The other casualty was from Binuangan. No details were given.

In Bukidnon, 60 families were brought to four different barangay covered courts.

The local government of Cagayan de Oro also declared the city under red alert and implemented forced evacuation in Tablon on Monday afternoon.

As of 6 p.m., 1,751 families or 6,793 individuals had been evacuated to Binuangan evacuation center.

In Gingoog City, 25 families or 137 individuals were moved to Anakan National High School and nine families were evacuated to Daan Lungsod Elementary School.

Seniang causes landslide in Agusan. Heavy rainfall and strong winds brought by Tropical Storm Seniang causes a landslide along the Bayugan-Butuan highway in Agusan del Norte on Monday, December 29. The landslide blocked motorists traversing the road, causing heavy traffic in the area. Art Cerio via YouScoop Art Cerio via YouScoop.

Caraga. The Caraga regional police spokesperson Supt. Romaldo Bayting also reported that there were nine people injured in the region as of Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile, 5,656 families or 22,834 people were transferred to 150 evacuation centers. Forced evacuation has also been implemented in some areas.

All flights and ship or boat trips

going to and from Caraga have been cancelled.

Dinagat Islands PDRRMC information officer Jane Mayola said that the province has already implemented forced evacuation.

Five out of the seven towns in the province reported that there are 608 families or 1,905 individuals in 25 evacuation centers. ■ Joel Locsin and Trisha Macas / JDS, GMA News / December 29, 2014 / 11:37 PM

IWAS PAPUTOK, VIDEO DOH repeats calls vs firecracker use as number of injured keeps rising

MANILA - Alarmed by the steady climb of firecracker injuries two days before the New Year, the Department of Health (DOH) repeated on Monday its call to parents not to let children play with any type of fireworks during the holidays.

This, despite reports by the National Police that their field personnel have been cracking down on manufacturers and dealers of illegal firecrackers.

Though these are classified as illegal and amid repeated warnings by the police, these three firecrackers accounted for the most number of victims: Piccolo, 5-star and Boga. There was one case of fireworks ingestion, a young boy confined at East Avenue Medical Center.

DOH had posted 139 fireworksrelated injuries, including one firework ingestion, from Dec. 21 to 29, and 67 percent of them were caused by Piccolo, said Acting Secretary Janette Garin. The DOH had also noted at the weekend that at least three of every 10 victims were children.

Of the total figure recorded as of Monday, 51 cases were children below 10 years old while 102 were active users of firecrackers.

For those who cannot be stopped from their folly, the government said hospitals are on white alert, ready to treat and clean wounds of firecracker victims; and in the worst cases, the equipment needed for amputations are ready.

Garin said firecracker injures can be treated and will eventually get healed, but the damage to the children’s future brought about by a few minutes of reckless merry-making, could be irreversible, especially if they lose a limb, or an eye or suffer severe burns and trauma in some other parts of the body.

“We can celebrate the holiday season without fireworks. Let us greet the New Year without injuries,” Garin said.

Relatively speaking, the 139 cases is 39 percent lower than the fiveyear average and 45 percent lower compared to the same period last year, DOH said. No death was reported.

The National Capital Region (NCR) accounted for most cases at 51, followed

by Northern Mindanao (12), Davao Region (11), and Cagayan Valley (10).

In NCR, Manila has the most number of cases (22), followed by Pasig (10) while Las Piñas, Mandaluyong, and Pasay had three cases each.

PNP crackdown. The crackdown on illegal firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices continues, meanwhile. Police confiscated sacks of the contraband in a series of crackdowns on illegal manufacturers and distributors over the weekend in Bulacan and Masbate City.

Bulacan provincial police director Senior Supt. Ferdinand Divina said the Provincial Special Operation Group (PSOG) launched Sunday a surprise inspection in Barangay Binan 1st in Bocaue town, leading to the arrest of Jason Ochoa for manufacturing

and selling illegal firecrackers and pyrotechnic devices.

The 21-year-old Ochoa is a resident of No. 85 M Fernando St. Wawa, Tangos, Navotas City.

“Recovered from his possession and custody were 40 pieces of Atomic Bomb with an estimated amount of eight hundred pesos P800. His two unidentified cohorts were able to escape,” provincial police spokesperson Senior Insp. Lynelle Solomon said.

Two sacks of different sizes of Triangulo, locally known “Pla-Pla”, were recovered inside the nipa hut abandoned by the cohorts.

Ochoa and his alleged accomplices were criminally charged for violating Section 3 and 4 of Republic Act (RA) 7183 (An act regulating the sale, manufacture, distribution and use of firecrackers and other pyrotechnic devices).

In Masbate City, Chief Insp.

Renato Ramos, chief of the Provincial Community Relations Branch, said illegal firecrackers worth P8,000 were confiscated in the city’s downtown area.

Among the banned and dangerous firecrackers confiscated during the inspections were the following: 4 pieces of Gorgeous (Imported from China) 24 Dragon Eggs 100 Pla-Pla (Big) 1 belt of imported firecrackers without any markings 4 Red and Blue Cracking

3 Blue and Green Cracking 20 Wiping the Gun 100 small boxes Pop-pop 2 Lucky Pagoda Fountain 2 Lucky Taal Volcano Fountain 8 Flower fountain 7 Faint Scent 3 Happy Club 1 box Leopard King D Great 1 Judas Belt (1,000) rounds 1 Judas Belt (100) rounds 300 OG Thunder 10 boxes Pop-pop 3 boxes Crossfire 100 Zeus Melle 100 OG Thunder 2 boxes Pacquiao- Ulramaa 50 Flares (without any markings) 8 Picolo 2 pads Picolo (double action) 1 big box Crossfire 5 boxes Pacquiao-Ultramaa 24 small boxes Pop-pop 2 pieces imported fountain without any markings ■ Jaime Sinapit and Jet Villa / InterAksyon.com / Marlene Alcaide, News5 / December 29, 2014 / 5:14 PM

AFP orders air, naval assets in territorial waters to look out for missing Air Asia QZ8501 MANILA – Armed Forces chief of staff General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. has ordered air and naval assets patrolling the country’s territorial waters “to be extra observant and report any unusual sightings that may provide possible leads in locating the missing AirAsia Indonesia flight QZ8501,” military public affairs chief, Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cabunoc, said.

“More specifically, the Philippine Navy and Philippine Air Force have been alerted and are placing on standby two C-130s, two Fokker planes, one Islander and the Navy vessel PF-16,” Cabunoc said.

Catapang also ordered these units placed on “on-call status” and ready to

provide assistance if needed.

The Air Asia flight, with 155 passengers and a crew of seven, went missing en route

AFP chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr.

from Indonesia to Singapore.

■ Jaime

Sinapit / InterAksyon.com / December 29, 2014 / 9:00 PM

NEWS

January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

COCKTALES

www.hello-philippines.com

37

With Binay, Ombudsman after their corporate necks, Romeros end 2014 with a shootout

AS if the cases from Vice President Jejomar Binay and Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales against their corporate empire were not enough, construction magnate Reghis Romero II and son Michael “Mikee” Romero of the Harbour Centre Group have embarked on the most serious litigation that the two have ever fought -- against each other.

The father-son feud deteriorated into a pre-Christmas firefight, when a group of 70 armed men in five motorized bancas were repulsed in their attempt to seize control of the Harbour Center Port Terminal during a December 19 dawn raid.

The botched raid, according to a spokesman for the elder Romero, was conducted hours ahead of the release of a writ of preliminary injunction from controversial Pasig Judge Rolando Mislang ousting the senior Romero from managing the money-making port operations.

The father, according to the Mislang order, had illegally seized control of the terminal operations two months earlier from One Source Port Support Services Inc., a company said to be controlled by the allies of the younger Romero.

The younger Romero, 41, could not be reached for comment, but someone close to him maintained that Mikee was “simply reclaiming what he had built and actually owns,” referring to the Harbour Centre, as opposed to the construction company and developer R-II Builders that the elder Romero, 63, controls.

The problems with the Binay and Ombudsman offices, on the other hand, are all related to the R-II Builders’ Smokey Mountain project and not to Harbour Centre, according to the proMikee grapevine.

Mikee himself, in an earlier talk with Forbes.com, attributed the feud to his father’s “envy” that his son had

outgrown and outshone him while his construction company had stalled.

The latest setback for the elder Romero meant that the management of the ten-hectare Harbour Centre Port Terminal facility shall be restored to One Source, after the latter shall have posted P100 million bond to answer for possible damages.

“The evidence presented by defendants (Reghis Romero II, Harbour Centre Port Terminal, R-II Builders, R-II Holdings and Harbor Center Port Holdings) failed to convince this court that they now own and control the majority shares of defendant Harbour Centre Port Terminal in as much as the matter is still subject of an intracorporate dispute pending before the Manila (Regional Trial) Court,” Mislang said.

“In fact, no evidence was adduced to convince this court that the deeds of assignment both dated March 2, 2011

3 nabbed transporting illegal logs in Camarines Sur MANILA – Three persons transporting illegal logs were arrested Sunday in Camarines Sur province, police said.

Reports reaching the National Police operations center in Camp Crame Monday said Raymund Dellova, 24, Ramir Cedron, 24, and Laureano Abellon, 37, all residents of Zone 7, Barangay Tinawagan,

Tigaon town, were nabbed past midnight in Barangay Salvacion.

Provincial police director Senior Superintendent Primo Golingay said the three were transporting an estimated 162 board feet of lumber when they were caught. ■ Thom Andrade / InterAksyon.com /

File photo of illegal logs

December 29, 2014 / 12:51 PM

executed by defendant R-II Builders, represented by defendant Reghis Romero II and R-II Holdings in favor of defendant Harbour Centre Port Holdings (controlled by the Romero son) have been validly revoked, rescinded and annulled,” the judge added.

In the wake of the Pasig court order, the elder Romero’s group meanwhile distributed to the press copies of the general information sheet of One Source, showing that it has a paid-up capital of only P812,500.

Moreover, One Source listed only a total of of 10 employees holding office at an unspecified unit at the sprawling Home Depot Complex in Ortigas, Pasig, with no company telephone or fax numbers and office email address listed.

More seriously, the elder Romero’s camp has accused the lawyers of young Romero of having foisted a fake corporate secretary within Harbour Centre Port Terminal to claim that there had been an earlier directors’ meeting that supposedly voted to withdraw the cases the company had filed against Mikee and his fellow officers.

The impostor corporate secretary turned out to be an unemployed exwaiter who had been inveigled to sign the spurious certificate by “female lawyers of the Paredes Law Office” in

exchange for P25,000, according to Jerome Canlas, Harbour Centre Port Terminal corporate secretary, quoting the impostor’s confession.

The Romero son is being represented in the mushrooming litigation by Paredes Garcia & Golez Law Office; the elder Romero by Gabionza De Santos & Partners and lawyer Marlon Cruz.

The feud and cross-claims of ownership have already washed over at the younger Romero’s GlobalPort 900, whose trading has been suspended since September.

The bigger, 59-hectare North Harbor redevelopment project that Mikee Romero had taken in with San Miguel Corp. as partner is apparently safe from the feud, at least for now.

Heard through the grapevine. The Benedectine Sisters running the allwomen’s St. Scholastica’s College in Manila are seriously considering collapsing their hard-up college and graduate school units starting the school year 2016-2017.

That is incidentally the same school year when the K-12 program and its attendant drought in college freshmen enrollment shall kick in.

If the contemplated college and graduate school closure happens, St. Scho will be following the trail already blazed decades ago by the St. Theresa’s College. ■ Victor C. Agustin / December 29, 2014 / 5:56 PM

52 Pembroke Road, London W8 6NX Tel.: 020 7602 7171 Email: lakbayasia@btconnect.com Web: www.lakbayasiapilgrimages.co.uk Do not be put off from travelling: WINTER IS THE BEST PERIOD

FLANDERS 23-25 JANUARY 2015

AALST & GERAARDSBERGEN - Northern BELGIUM

plus Brussels pilgrimage/tour + a lot of chocolates to buy!

2 IRELANDS Our Lady of Knock, St. Patrick discovering the Republic & Northern

Old peso notes no longer legal tender starting 2016

MANILA – Peso bills bearing the old currency design will no longer serve as legal tender starting 2017.

In a statement, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) officials said it would start demonitizing next year the New Design Series (NDS), which has been in circulation for nearly three decades.

“This move is in line with the provisions of Section 57 of Republic Act No. 7653, otherwise known as the New Central Bank Act, which authorizes the BSP to replace banknotes that are more than 5 years old,” the BSP said.

“The public may continue to use the NDS banknotes up to

31 December 2015 in paying and buying of goods and services and other business or financial transactions requiring the use of cash. Thereafter, the NDS banknotes will no longer be accepted for payment transactions,” the central bank said.

Taking the place of the NDS is the New Generation Series (NGS), which the BSP issued in 2010. The NGS has security features to prevent counterfeiting.

The BSP said the public can still exchange their old bank notes in any lender or with the BSP at full face value without any charge until December 31, 2016.

The BSP said that government institutions holding in trust the old bank notes which could not be exchanged during the prescribed period – such as those used as evidence in a litigation case – will have to request the BSP Cash Department in writing, within the period of exchange, for a special exchange arrangement.

Furthermore, overseas Filipinos in possession of the old bank notes should register the same through the BSP website so they can exchange the notes within a year from date of registration. ■ Scarlet Venilia / InterAksyon.com / December 29, 2014 / 6:28 PM

3-8 FEBRUARY 2015

PHILIPPINES

incl. MINDANAO 19 FEB-7 MAR 2015

www.lakbayasiapilgrimages.co.uk A life time of touring and discovering... with friends!

HOLY LAND - Israel & Palestine w/ ATHENS &

PELOPONNESE (GREECE) & islands 18-29

MARCH 2015

KEUKENHOF -TULIPS & flowers-10-12 APRIL 2015

DIVINE MERCY PILGRIMAGE 20-30 APRIL 2015 LITHUANIA & POLAND WITH THE BALTIC COAST MEXICO & GUATEMALA Our Lady of GUADALUPE Acapulco,

ORIGINAL CREATION & COPYRIGHT RESERVED BY © HELLO PHILIPPINES 2015

TO EXPERIENCE & VISIT PLACES too crowded to enjoy in summer!

the Black Nazarene, the Mayan heritage & shopping for JADE!

by air 7 - 21 MAY 2015

SCOTLAND weekend to Falkirk, Dunblane, etc. 29-31 MAY 2015 More destination to follow for the summer

38

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January 2015 – No. 1 • UK & Europe Edition

BOXING

A ‘perfect’ Manny Pacquiao needed to beat Floyd Mayweather, admits Freddie Roach MANY Filipino fans are itching to see boxing icon Manny Pacquiao beat undefeated rival Floyd Mayweather should their megafight finally turn into a reality in 2015.

But even renowned boxing trainer Freddie Roach admitted that Pacquiao needs to be “perfect” to deal Mayweather’s first loss in their muchawaited bout.

“I can’t wait to get ready for Floyd Mayweather,” Roach told fightsaga. com. “He is a challenge. I have a great fighter, but we have to fight the perfect fight to win. I know that. ” “We have to do certain things to win…we have to be a little bit meaner and a bit more feisty.”

Roach added that the fight with Mayweather would bring the best of Pacquiao and he should flash all of his arsenal in order to get the

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convincing win.

“I like guys who bring the fight, and that’s what we’ll have to do against a guy like Mayweather,” Roach said.

The megafight has been stalled for so many times because of the failure to reach an agreement between the two fighters. But Roach said he wants Pacquiao and Mayweather to face off not just once should the first bout finally happen.

“I would love to see these guys fight more than once,” Roach said. “And if they split the first two, we could get a rubber match. We could end up having three big fights.”

“This has been done before, so it can be done again. It needs to happen for both guys. The world has waited long enough and the fans deserve something like this.” ■ InterAksyon.com /

December 29, 2014 / 8:50 AM

Azkals conqueror Thailand downs Malaysia, wins Suzuki Cup

LATE strikes from Swiss-born Charyl Chappuis and Chanathip “Messi Jay” Songkrasin broke Malaysian hearts as Thailand won

their fourth Southeast Asian title in a dramatic AFF Suzuki Cup final on Saturday.

Hosts Malaysia fought back from a

2-0 first-leg deficit to lead 3-0 on the night, but the goals from Chappuis and Chanathip gave Thailand a 4-3 aggregate win and ended their 12-year drought in the competition.

It was a stunning finish from Thailand, who seemed to have run out of ideas after Safiq Rahim’s double and Indra Putra’s header put Malaysia in control.

Chappuis scored a rebound from a free-kick on 82 minutes before Chanathip, dubbed “Messi Jay” because of his stature and dribbling skill, smashed home Thailand’s second five minutes later.

Malaysia had got the start they wanted when striker Norshahrul Talaha went down too easily in the box

and the referee pointed to the spot for a soft penalty.

Safiq coolly sent goalkeeper Kawin Thamsatchanan the wrong way to reduce the arrears to 2-1 on aggregate after Thailand’s 2-0 win in Bangkok on Wednesday.

Thailand’s Perapat Notechaiya hit the woodwork in an open first half before Indra Putra grabbed Malaysia’s second with a downwards, far-post header on the stroke of half-time.

The momentum was firmly with the hosts at a packed Bukit Jalil stadium and Safiq put them ahead 3-2 on aggregate with a sumptuous, dipping free-kick on 58 minutes.

But Chappuis got the crucial away goal for Thailand when Malaysian

‘keeper Farizal Marlias palmed a free-kick into his path and he buried the rebound.

And “Messi Jay” lived up to his nickname with an thumping leftfooted strike from outside the area to make sure of Thailand’s win.

Defeat was cruel for Malaysia, who appeared to have pulled off another great escape after they overturned a 2-1 first-leg deficit in the semi-final against Vietnam by winning 4-2 in Hanoi.

It also brings a sour end to the tournament for the 2010 winners after the semi-final first leg was marred by violence towards Vietnamese fans at Shah Alam stadium. ■ Agence France-Presse /

December 21, 2014 / 12:32 AM

Rain or Shine’s Yeng Guiao still has ‘highest dence’ in team’s ability to bounce back in series Alaska star Calvin Abueva guarantees confi RAIN or Shine coach Yeng Guiao Games Four and Five to reach the finals. mataas pa naman yung paniniwala ko his embattled Elasto Painters are Alaska star Calvin Abueva na kaya pang ilusot ito,” the coach said. semis win for Aces: ‘Kukunin ng team and back in familiar territory – needing guaranteed after Game Five that the He added, though, that if Rain or to win two consecutive games Aces would win this series. namin yung series’ Shine is to win the series, it will have to BASKETBALL

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THE Alaska Aces find themselves in a familiar situation as it moved within a win of securing a finals berth. And even though they got within reach but ultimately fell short against Rain or Shine in the past conference, Alaska’s star player Calvin Abueva on Saturday issued a guarantee that the Aces will get the job done this time around.

“Para sa kanila yung last conference, itong conference na ito, ginagarantiya ko kukunin na ng team namin yung series,” Abueva told a small group of sportswriters.

The Aces will have two cracks at clinching a spot in the titles series opposite the San Miguel Beermen after taking a 3-2 series lead in their PBA Philippine Cup semifinal clash.

Abueva’s coach Alex Compton, though, warned his team against complacency,

against Alaska to advance into the championship round.

With their backs against the wall for a second straight conference, Guiao remained confident in his team’s ability to come back and win the semifinal series, just like they did last time.

“I’m still confident. I have the highest confidence that we’re capable and we can find a way to win the series,” Guiao told a small group of sportswriters after the game.

In last season’s season-ending Governors’ Cup, Alaska seemed on its way to making it to the finals when JVee Casio suffered an unfortunate incident, slipping while on his way to a fastbreak layup and turning the ball over.

That possession changed the complexion of the series as Rain or Shine picked up back-to-back wins in

Photo by Pranz Kaeno Billones, ©Sports5

saying he won’t feel comfortable until his team clinches the series.

“I will only like my chances when we get four wins,” Compton said.

In Game Five, the Aces came back from a 19-point deficit in the first half before pulling off a win. It was also similar to Game One of the series, where Alaska fought back from 17 down before picking up the win. ■ Rey Joble / InterAksyon.com / December 27, 2014 / 8:13 PM

But Guiao remained confident despite the longer odds for his team, an attitude that he hopes will rub off on his players.

“Kanya-kanyang kumpiyansa yan eh. Kanya-kanyang paniniwala yan. So

Photo by Pranz Kaeno Billones, ©Sports5

do it the hard way – one game at a time.

“Isa-isahin muna natin. If you’re talking about winning the series, we still need to win two more games and they need to win one,” he added. ■ Rey Joble / InterAksyon.com / December 27, 2014 / 8:45 PM

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Alaska returns from big deficit anew in Game Five comeback against Rain or Shine The Aces then got some big shots from San Miguel. They will have to wait over a week

THE Alaska Aces once again found themselves down by 19 points in the first half against Rain or Shine but proved their ability to come back from big deficits anew, storming back to win Game Five, 93-88, and take a 3-2 lead in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Much like in the early games of the series, the Elasto Painters built a huge lead early, but the Aces charged back to take control of the game. Rain or Shine led, 37-18, in the second quarter but could not hold on amidst a 17-0 run from Alaska.

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www.hello-philippines.com

scoring leaders Cyrus Baguio and Calvin Abueva – as well as play some stingy defense – in the fourth quarter as they defended their lead late in the game.

Abueva led the way for Alaska with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Baguio added 16 of his own.

Three other Aces – Sonny Thoss, Vic Manuel and Dondon Hontiveros – also finished in double figures in scoring.

With the victory, Alaska moved within one win of entering the title series opposite

Continuation from page 40

UAE group raises offer to Mayweather, dangles $120M to fight Pacquiao in Abu Dhabi “But money’s not the only factor that makes this an historic event,” Muhammad said. “The fight happening in Abu Dhabi makes it a truly global event. There’s more to boxing than just Las Vegas.

“For instance, the media tour for this event will not be just in the United States; it’ll be a worldwide tour, one which will hit major capitals and countries around the globe.

“And because of this international stage, financial and brand opportunities outside of the ring abound for the winner of the fight.”

The proposed Abu Dhabi bout, targeted to take place in the first half of 2015, is seen as a highlight of the tribute to the 10th death anniversary to former UAE president Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

After years of uncertainty about making the megafight a reality, Mayweather finally agreed to fight Pacquiao this month and set a May 2 date for the bout. Negotiations are now ongoing between the two camps, with the American asking for a bigger share of the fight revenues. ■ InterAksyon.com /

December 25, 2014 / 8:09 PM

to get a shot at the finals berth, though, as the series takes an eight-day break before Game Six. The fourth quarter was tightly contested but the Aces took a seven-point lead, 88-81, after a big three-pointer from Baguio with 5:28 left to play.

Rain or Shine got back to within three but Abueva finished on a tough drive to the basket and Baguio struck again, this time on a turnaround jumper over Paul Lee in the post, giving the Aces a 92-85 advantage with 1:51 remaining.

Lee quickly countered with a threepoint play but the Elasto Painters were held scoreless in the last 1:41 as the Aces escaped with the win.

Lee even muffed a fastbreak layup with six seconds remaining in the game.

The Rain or Shine offense was in fine form in the opening period as the Elasto Painters dropped 29 points on the usually sturdy Alaska defense.

They did it by getting contributions from multiple players, with all five starters scoring and Jonathan Uyloan and JR Quiñahan coming off the bench to score five points apiece. Quiñahan scored the last five points of the quarter, even beating the buzzer on a three-pointer late in the clock.

They continued to roll early in the second quarter as Rain or Shine scored eight unanswered points – the first five again from the red-hot Quiñahan – as they took a whopping 19-point advantage, 37-18.

But Alaska turned things up a notch after

that point and went on an impressive 17-0 run to all but erase the Rain or Shine lead.

Calvin Abueva and Chris Banchero each scored five points in the run as the Aces forced turnovers and got out in transition, inching closer to the Elasto Painters.

Alaska got to as close as two points but Beau Belga hit a couple of three-pointers late as Rain or Shine entered the half still in the lead, 47-41.

In the third, Alaska kicked its pressure defense into high gear once again as they went on an 11-1 run to take their first taste of the lead in Game Five.

Abueva kicked things off with a threepoint play and the defense forced a Rain or Shine miscue that led to another completed and-one opportunity, this time from Cyrus Baguio, tying the game at 55-all.

Jireh Ibanes split from the free throw line to score the Elasto Painters’ lone point in that stretch, but Sonny Thoss matched that on his own trip to the line.

Ping Exciminiano then got another steal

for the Aces, and took it all the way to the other end to give Alaska a 58-56 lead before Thoss connected on a follow-up to make it a four-point lead.

Rain or Shine tied the game at 64-all but Alaska then launched into a 9-0 run to take a 73-64 advantage. Game Four hero Jeff Chan looked to give the Elasto Painters something positive, sinking a three-pointer with three seconds left in the third but Dondon Hontiveros banked in an off-balanced trey at the buzzer to give the Aces a 76-67 advantage at the end of three.

The scores: ALASKA (93) – Baguio 16, Abueva 16, Thoss 13, Manuel 13, Hontiveros 11, Menk 7, Banchero 5, Casio 5, Exciminiano 2, Dela Cruz 2.

RAIN OR SHINE (88) – Almazan 16, Lee 14, Quinahan 13, Belga 10, Chan 9, Uyloan 8, Norwood 5, Tang 4, Arana 4, Ibanes 2, Cruz 2, Tiu 0.

Quarterscores: 18-29, 41-47, 76-67, 93-88.

■ InterAksyon.com / December 27, 2014 / 7:16 PM

sport A ‘perfect’ Manny Pacquiao needed to beat Floyd Mayweather, admits Freddie Roach

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UAE group raises offer to Mayweather, Azkals conqueror dangles $120M to fight Thailand downs Malaysia, wins Suzuki Cup Pacquiao in Abu Dhabi Story on page 38

Story on page 38

Rain or Shine’s Yeng Guiao still has ‘highest confidence’ in team’s ability to bounce back in series Story on page 38 Alaska star Calvin Abueva guarantees semis win for Aces: ‘Kukunin ng team namin yung series’ Story on page 38

AN investment group from United Arab Emirates has raised its offer to Floyd Mayweather for him to bring his megafight with Manny Pacquiao in Abu Dhabi.

The consortium has dangled $120 million to Mayweather, $10 million more than the initial proposed purse, to have his fight with Pacquiao in the UAE capital.

“The $120 million is the largest payday for an individual for a single event in the history of sports,” boxing executive M.Akbar Muhammad, who represents the group from UAE, told boxingscene.com.

“This dwarfs by far any amount an individual in the richest sports — baseball,

©AFP

football, basketball, soccer, cricket, tennis, gold and Formula 1 — has ever received.”

Earlier this month, the same investment group offered a combined purse of $200 million to Mayweather and Pacquiao, with the undefeated American taking home $110 million as well as the opportunity of promoting the fight through his own company.

Apart from bagging the recordsetting purse, Muhammad added the Abu Dhabi fight would also present more opportunities for both Mayweather and Pacquiao who mainly had their bouts in the United States.

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