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July 2014

NEWSPAPER Volume 5 - Number 13

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Filipino Community-Wales (FCW)

RAFFLE DRAW

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TOM RODRIGUEZ

Bartolomé Mott (born October 1, 1987), better known as Tom Rodriguez, is a FilipinoAmerican actor. He is known for being on Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up as a reality TV contestant and his roles in Be Careful With My Heart, Temptation Island, and My Husband’s Lover as Vincent Soriano. After his eviction from Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up, he signed under Star Magic and took the stage name Tom Rodriguez. He made his television debut in Precious Hearts Romances Presents: My Cheating Heart. In 2010, Rodriguez had a small role in an episode of Maalaala Mo Kaya with Angel Locsin. He and his fellow Pinoy Big Brother: Double Up housemates were cast in Your Song’s summer episode Isla. He later played the love interest of Valerie Concepcion in Precious Hearts Romances Presents: Love Me Again.[4] He also joined all male-singing group Voiz Boys replacing Ronnie Liang, who was pulled out from the group because he has an existing contract to do an album as a solo artist. He made his film debut in Here Comes The Bride and later appeared in the film Petrang Kabayo. Later in 2011, Tom was cast in the remake film of Temptation Island in 1980

where he gained his fame, success and the key to him having a great career ahead of him. The movie was debuted on July, 2011 and made it to the box office hitting 60 million. The movie were showered with numerous high ratings and excellent receptions from certain critics. Rodriguez’s character pairing with GMA artist Marian Rivera played as one of the sexy and glamorous roles in the movie that had explicitly. He played the new version of Umberto that made him being one of the new twist in story from the old film as a server on an exclusive luxurious yacht shot in the beautiful scenic Manila Bay. Marian Rivera’s character (Christina G.) played as the seductive girlfriend tempting Umberto later in the movie. He recently played Simon Escalante in TV5’s teen series My Driver Sweet Lover. Rodriguez appeared in the ABS-CBN’s hit drama series Angelito: Batang Ama as a regular. In the year 2012, he appeared in the movie The Reunion and in the hit daytime soap Be Careful with My Heart. He plays Jeff Macavinta as the father of Aiza Seguerra’s character, Cristina Rose’s son, Pocholo. He starred as one of the lead roles in a hit rating television drama series titled My Husband’s Lover on GMA Network.

DENNIS TRILLO

Abelardo Dennis Florencio Trillo Ho (born May 12, 1981), more widely known as Dennis Trillo, is a Filipino award-winning actor, singer, model and television host. His film debut was in Aishite Imasu (Mahal Kita) 1941. He is currently an artist of GMA Network. In 2006, he won three Best Actor trophies. He is perhaps known for his role as Eric del Mundo in the gay-themed series My Husband’s Lover, currently aired on GMA Network. Trillo’s career in entertainment started in 2000 at ABS-CBN, when he was introduced in the 10th batch of ABS-CBN’s Star Circle (now known as Star Magic). He was seen in the television soap operas Pangako sa ‘Yo and Sa Dulo Ng Walang Hanggan where he played the confidante of one of the lead stars. He transferred to GMA Network wherein he became one of its contract stars. He was cast in several television outings like Kahit Kailan, Twin Hearts and Love to Love. In 2004, he became one of the lead stars in the “telefantasya” (fantasy-themed TV series) Mulawin. He made his film debut in Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita, where he portrayed a cross-dressing spy for the Hukbalahap during the advent of the Japanese invasion in World War II. For

Aishite Imasu, he received several awards and citations including Best Supporting Actor from the 30th Metro Manila Film Festival and Best Actor trophies from the Film Academy of the Philippines, the PMPC Star Awards for Movies, and the Young Critics Circle. He was also included in the third installment of Mano Po. In 2005, Trillo was part of the TV adaptation of the Mars Ravelo comic, Darna, where he played the love interest of both the titular super-heroine as well as her archenemy Valentina. He was later part of the drama anthology Now and Forever: Agos. That same year, he reprised his role for Mulawin: The Movie, and was also in the film Blue Moon. He also won Best Actor trophies that year. Trillo was again cast as a lead in Etheria, where he portrayed the Sapirian prince, Raquim. Midway through the series, GMA Network management announced that Trillo would be pulled out of Etheria to once again star in Majika, another fantasythemed television series, but Trillo was allowed to complete Etheria. Aside from his television show, Trillo also starred in the horror-suspense film Pamahiin. GMA also included him as a co-host for the network’s noontime show SOP where he also plays drums as part of

the show’s Starband. He made a “Lenten Presentation” in GMA-7 entitled Unico Hijo which he played the role of Agnes, son of a well-known politician in their province who is gay, and has AIDS. In 2007, Trillo starred in the Regal film Kulam. On August 21, 2007, he started taping for GMA-7’s “fantaserye” Zaido. On April 27, 2008, five thousand spectators viewed the “Battle of Mactan” play, with Trillo playing Ferdinand Magellan at the Mactan, Cebu Shrine. On May 12, 2008, Trillo joined an afternoon soap, Pablo Gomez’s Magdusa Ka. In late 2008, Trillo starred in Gagambino where he played the main character. The series ended in early 2009. In 2009, after Gagambino, he starred in the comedy Adik Sa’Yo and as Pancho in Darna. Trillo replaced Dingdong Dantes as one of the hosts of StarStruck V. In 2010, Trillo began co-hosting the GMA variety show, Party Pilipinas. He also appeared in Sine Novela Presents: Gumapang Ka Sa Lusak. In 2011, he appeared in the GMA fantaserye, Dwarfina. After playing lead role in the Philippine adaptation of Temptation Of Wife, Trillo is now involved in the controversial drama series My Husband’s Lover which received positive reviews from critics. ■

Filipina to compete in Miss Universe Great Britain 2014 Story on page 28

Connecting Global News & Views For The Community

UK & Europe Edition

PHL, JAPAN AGREE TO BOOST SECURITY COOPERATION AMID TERRITORIAL DISPUTE

CITING the “severe” regional situation, the Philippines and Japan have agreed to strengthen their security cooperation. “In the face of the regional situation becoming increasingly severe, both nations are closely coordinating,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday in a joint statement with President Benigno Aquino III, who is on a one-

day working visit in Japan. Both Japan and the Philippines are locked in a dispute with China, which is claiming a number of islands in the East China Sea and South China Sea within the territories of the two countries. China is claiming Japan’s Senkaku islands, which it calls Diaoyu. It is also engaged in construction

activities and reclamation of at least five disputed areas within the Philippines’ territorial waters and exclusive economic zone. Abe said he and Aquino agreed to “further strengthen” the ties between the two countries in areas such as disaster relief, building on their “track record of cooperation.” “It was a discussion extremely rich in substance through which

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President Benigno Aquino III shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the start of their meeting at the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo on Tuesday, June 24. The two leaders are expected to discuss the ongoing territorial dispute with China in a bid to maintain peace in the region.

the strengthening of our strategic partnership could be confirmed. I was happy to see that our relationship of confidence has deepened,” he said. On their own, Abe said they are studying the right of collective self-defense as opposed to what’s stated in their constitution, the revisitation of which is supported by Aquino.

Abe also cited in his speech the significance of the rule of law. PNoy supports continuous dialogue. In response, Aquino committed to holding “continuous dialogue” as they address the “changing dynamics of our regional security environment.” “Prime Minister Abe and I... share the view that... the advancement of our people in our region can only be

fully realized in a context that fosters stability,” he said. During Abe’s visit to Manila last year, the two leaders had pledged to pursue joint advocacy for “responsible action” by international players on maritime concerns by upholding the “rule of law” amid growing territorial disputes with regional rival China. Continue to page 2

Kids with kids: A Day in the Life of Teenage Parents

MANILA – From 2000 to 2010, the incidences of teen pregnancy in the Philippines rose by more than 60 percent, according to the National Statistics Office. The Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study 4 (YAFS4) of 2013 estimates that out of the 10.2 million Filipino youth

aged 15 to 19, 11 percent or 1.14 million are already mothers. But what does it really mean to be a teenage mom or dad? When does adolescence end, and when do adulthood and parenting begin? Allan M. Gregorio and Kathrine Kessica G. Calano, youth reporters

of the Mulat Pinoy-Kabataan News Network project by Probe Media Foundation Inc., wanted to know the struggles of young parents their age, and how they are able to survive. One scorching afternoon in May 2014, they met Jocelle, 19, and Rufino, 20, a young couple who took

turns in taking care of their first child. Jocelle opened up about her experiences: from the emotional decision of whether to keep the child or not, to the compromises she had to make as a young girl to fulfill her role as a mother. Continue to page 2

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NEWS

July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

PHL, Japan agree to boost security cooperation... Other issues. On the economic front, Abe said Japan will continue to “support approaches taken by the Philippines in urban infrastructure improvement and other areas.” He said he also hopes the relaxation of visa requirements for the Philippines will attract more Filipino tourists to Japan. Aquino, for his part, thanked the

Japanese people for their contributions to the economic growth of the Philippines. “We are witnesses to the revitalization of the Japanese economic impact to the Philippines... we welcome this opportunity to revitalize the strategic partnership between our two countries,” he said. He also thanked Japan for its help during the onslaught of Typhoon Yolanda,

to which Abe responded by saying they are “encouraged” to hear about the resilience of the victims. After the summit meeting, Aquino will attend the Consolidation for Peace for Mindanao Conference in Hiroshima, where he is expected to talk about the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro.

“I should like to extend my congratulations for the recent peace agreement and express my respect for the leadership of the President. Japan will continue to provide support so that peace may take hold,” said Abe. Expenses. Meanwhile, in a statement, Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said the government is spending around P8.8

Continuation from page 1

million for the President’s working visit to Japan. He said the amount covers transportation, accommodation, food, equipment and other requirements of Aquino and his 41-member delegation. Aquino will return to Manila on Tuesday night. ■ Kimberly Jane Tan / KBK, GMA News / June

24, 2014 / 5:39 PM

Kids with kids: A Day in the Life...

On 12 May 2014, mass communication students Allan M. Gregorio and Kathrine Kessica G. Calano travelled for 10 hours by land from their hometown of Laoag City for a workshop in Metro Manila. They were among 16 youth reporters chosen by Probe Media Foundation Inc.’s Mulat Pinoy-

Continuation from page 1 Kabataan News Network (MP-KNN) project to be trained for journalism and youth participation at the 1st National Multimedia Production Workshop. This photo essay is their output. ■ Allan M. Gregorio and Kathrine Kessica G. Calano (text and photos) / Mulat PinoyKabataan News Network / June 19, 2014 / 12:57 PM

Rufino’s silence seemed to echo his young wife’s sentiments, yet when he was asked about how it is to be a young dad, he said,“masarap na mahirap (fulfilling but frustrating).”

“Nang malaman kong buntis ako, sinabi ko agad kay Rufino. Sabi niya itutuloy daw namin ‘yong anak namin. Sinabi ko rin kay Mama at pinagsabihan ako na huwag ko siyang ipapalaglag …Natakot ako. Noong una nagalit ako sa [bata]. Sinusuntok ko siya sa tiyan ko. Minumura ko pa siya. Tinatapakan ko siya. Sabi ko pa nga, gusto ko siyang ipaampon … Nagalit ako. Parang ayoko, biglaan kasi (When I learned I was pregnant, I immediately told Rufino. He said we would have the child. I also told my mother and she told me not to abort the child ... I was scared. At first, I was angry at the child. I would punch my stomach. I would even curse it. I would press on it. I even said, I wanted to put it up for adoption ... I was angry. Like I did not want it, it was so sudden).”

“Sabi ko sa asawa ko na bigyan ako ng pampalaglag pero natakot din ako. Sabi ng pamilya ko, ‘Ginawa mo ‘yan, ginusto mo ‘yan, tanggapin mo ‘yan.’ Wala ka nang magagawa dahil nandiyan na ‘yan.’ Kapag ako lang mag-isa, pinapakita ko sa kanya na mahal ko siya. Pero pag nasa harap ako ng pamilya ko, pinapakita ko na nagagalit ako sa kanya (I told my husband to give me an abortifacient but I was also scared. My family told me, ‘You made it, you wanted it, accept it.’ There’s nothing you can do because it’s there. Whenever I am alone, I show my child love. But in front of my family, I show anger).”

“Gusto ng asawa ko na tumira kami sa bahay nila pero ayoko. Ayoko sa nanay niya. Sabi niya ‘Walang pinag-aralan ‘yan, pokpok, malandi ‘yang babaeng ‘yan.’ Hinusgahan po nila ako agad (My husband wants us to live in their house but I refuse to. I don’t like his mother. She said, ‘She’s uneducated, a whore, that girl is a flirt.’ They judge me right away).”

“Tuwang-tuwa ako nang nakita ko siya, noong lumabas na siya sa tiyan ko. Kapag naririnig ko siyang umiiyak, gusto kong makatabi siya. Gusto kong magdede siya sa akin, kahit bawal akong tumayo … Habang tumatagal, tinanggap ko naman na siya. Lagi akong puyat sa pagbabantay sa kanya. Tapos lagi siyang iyak nang iyak. Tapos gusto niya puro buhat … Mahal ko siya kahit nahihirapan ako sa kanya (I was happy when I saw the child, when I gave birth. Whenever I heard it cry, I wanted to be beside it. I wanted it to feed at my breast even if I was not allowed to stand up yet ... As time passed, I accepted the child. I lose sleep watching over it. The child cries a lot. And it wants to be carried all the time ... I love it even if I have a hard time).”

“Sabi ng kuya ko na huwag na lang daw ituloy ‘yong pag-aaral ko, alagaan ko na lang daw ‘yong anak ko. Pero sa puso ko, alam ko na gusto ko talagang mag-aral. May trabahong inaalok sa akin ang kumare ng nanay ko sa ibang bansa. Pero ayoko kasi mapapalayo ako sa anak ko. Dito na lang ako sa bahay namin. Masaya naman dito eh (My elder brother told me to quit school, to take care of my child. But in my heart, I know I want to study. A friend of my mother has offered me work abroad. But I don’t want to because it will take me away from my child. I’d rather stay here at home. I am happy here).”

Prices of NFA rice to stay steady as commercial rice gets more expensive MALACAÑANG on Sunday assured the public that there will be no price hike in National Food Authority (NFA)-supplied rice even as commercial rice prices increased by P2 per kilogram. “Walang pagtataas ng presyo ang NFA rice,” said Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. in an interview over radio dzRB on Sunday. The current NFA rice stock can last until the first week of September, he noted. The price of NFA regular milled rice will stay at P27 per kilogram, while NFA wellmilled rice sells at P32/kg, Coloma said. The government is supposed to import around 800,000 metric tons of rice this year, he added. So far, 193,000 MT have been

delivered while 274,250 MT is scheduled for delivery in late June with the balance of 332,350 MT expected in August. “Nagbigay ng abiso ang NFA sa supplier na tingnan ang posibilidad na mapabilis o mapaaga ang delivery,” he said. This month, prices of commercial rice rose by P2 per kilo with standard prices for commercial rice starting at P40/kg. NFA expects the prices to normalize by September as the harvest season starts. Some consumers have opted to buy more affordable NFA rice causing losses for some rice traders as the NFA moves to flood markets with rice to keep the prices stable. According to Coloma, the NFA has doubled the rice allocation to its stores to 25,000 bags a day from 12,500 bags a day.

It has also added more NFA outlets to 1,120 from 1,018, or a 10-percent increase in government rice retailers. “We are advising the public that they will implement the full force of the law on those who divert, hoard, and overprice government or NFA rice,” Coloma said. A hotline to report diversion, hoarding, and overpricing of NFA rice has been set up at (02) 454-1214 and 0906-4363143. Pork, chicken prices also up. Meanwhile, Coloma explained that pork prices increased recently due to an outbreak of Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea in piglets. The epidemic has affected some 8 million piglets in the US, Coloma added. Poultry raisers have meanwhile blamed the hot weather last summer for slowing the

growth of their chickens and raising prices. Hog and poultry raisers said that pork and chicken prices, respectively, will ease in the coming weeks, Coloma said. The PCOO secretary also said that the Manila truck ban was a “contributory factor”

in the commodity price increases. “Patuloy naman ‘yung pagsisikap na ma-clear po ‘yung backlog ng mga kargamento na naipit sa ating Port of Manila,” he said. ■ Rouchelle R. Dinglasan / JDS, GMA News / June 22, 2014 / 7:48 PM

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BUSINESS & FINANCE

July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

Anakpawis urges special audit team for P44-B Yolanda Fund

MANILA - Party-list group Anakpawis said on Saturday that it is urging the government to order the Commission of Audit to create a special audit team before the Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) starts using the P44billion Yolanda fund. Anakpawis leaders say the move is suggested in the interest of promoting transparency and speedy reporting once DSWD starts implementing its program in Eastern Visayas and other regions affected by the monster typhoon Yolanda in 2013. “Given gargantuan amounts that have landed in hot water because of onerous transactions, we highly recommend

that the government should create a special audit to facilitate the use of the Yolanda fund before its program starts to be implemented,” said Anakpawis Representative Fernando Hicap. Hicap cited the case of the P50-million “ghost beneficiaries” of its Conditional Cash Transfer given to 7,782 allegedly nonexistent households. “Typhoon Yolanda survivors not only suffer from slow action of the government in terms of services like health, housing and livelihood, but they are also being subjected to inhumane treatment by the DSWD. Despite the billions of funds coming from local and international donors, many

survivors have not felt the government’s help. What is most despicable was DSWD’s reportedly dumping relief goods left to rot in warehouses,” Hicap added. In addition, Hicap said that DSWD should heed the call of the People Surge Alliance for direct financial assistance amounting to P40,000 to each family affected by Typhoon Yolanda in Eastern Visayas. This on the top of other services that will provide to the all survivors. Yolanda survivors should also help report irregularities in connection with the implementation various disaster rehabilitation projects, Hicap said. ■

InterAksyon.com / June 21, 2014 / 3:57 PM

Survivor of typhoon Yolanda rebuilds damaged house.

41,000 kids in Central Visayas have no access to education - DSWD 7

CEBU CITY – Around 41,000 children in Central Visayas do not have access to education, according to the database of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7.

The agency’s National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR), conducted on July 2011 using the Proxy Means Test (PMT), showed that 41,634 individuals in Central Visayas aged six to 25 years have not completed any grade level. The biggest chunk of this number at 22,524 is in Cebu, followed by Negros Oriental with 12,392, Bohol with 6,327, and Siquijor with 391. The database also showed that 96,937 poor individuals finished elementary, 89,995 completed high school, and 1,219 earned a college degree. More than half or about 58 percent of

the total poor individuals ages six to 25 were sent to public schools and only one percent studied in private schools. The database also showed that 41 percent poor individuals were not able to attend school because of poverty. The DSWD uses PMT as a statistical model that estimates the income of households based on observable and verifiable variables such as housing conditions, household composition, access to basic services and education of household members. Using this model, the government can predict the income of a household and compare it to the poverty threshold

of the province and classify whether the household is poor or not. DSWD shared and adopted the system as a mechanism in identifying poor households to determine beneficiaries of different social protection programs and services like the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), Sustainable Livelihood Program, and the Social Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens. DSWD-7 is encouraging local government units and non-government organizations to use available data in formulating appropriate social protection programs and services specifically to address the education problem in the region.

New features have been added to the PMT model for the second round of household assessment to minimize inclusion and exclusion error rates. The assessment will be conducted during the second semester and will include two PMT sub-models, one for the National Capital Region and one for all other regions, community variables through the Barangay Community Characteristics (BCC) as determinants of poverty status, and a second stage screener to flag possible inclusion errors or non-poor being included in the list of poor individuals. ■ Eddie O. Barrita / Philippines

News Agency / June 16, 2014 / 6:58 AM

CARP countdown? DAR assures to finish land distribution even after law expires MANILA – The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has given the assurance that it would finish land distribution despite the expected expiration of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) Law on 30 June 2014. DAR Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Anthony Parungao explained that Section 30 of Republic Act 9700 or CARPER Law “permits DAR to complete the acquisition and distribution of landholdings for which there are pending cases or proceedings. And since a Notice of Coverage (NOC) initiates land distribution proceedings for lands subject to compulsory acquisition, then all landholdings with NOCs can still be distributed after June 2014.” Parungao added that Department of Justice (DOJ) Opinions 59 and 60, Series of 2013 concurs with this position.

Also, Special Provision 2 of the 2014 General Appropriations Act (GAA) explicitly states that “all lands which have been issued notices of coverage and with pending cases and/or proceedings as of June 30, 2014 shall continue to be processed until issuance of the duly registered certificate of land ownership award to the individual agrarian reform beneficiaries in accordance with Section 30 of RA 9700 and Item IV (A.1) of DAR Administration Order 2, Series of 2009, as amended.” Parungao also clarified that the proposed bills pending in Congress are for the extension of the power of DAR to issue Notices of Coverage and to accept Voluntary Offers to Sell, not for the extension to distribute land since DAR can still distribute land after June 2014; this does not need any amendatory law.

“The DAR wishes to reassure the farmers that there is no need to panic. Even if the NOC Extension Bill was not passed last Wednesday, DAR can still distribute land. What DAR cannot do after June 2014 is to issue Notices of Coverage and accept Voluntary Offers to Sell unless its power to do so is extended,” he said. Meanwhile, DAR Undersecretary for Field Operations Jose Z. Grageda denied reports that as many as 200,000 hectares will not be issued NOCs and thus will be left undistributed after June 2014. “As of May 20, 2014, only 14,085 landholdings covering 88,962 hectares are left for NOC issuance and service or publication. And DAR has continually been issuing NOCs since then. The balance of Notices of Coverage to be served is definitely a lot lower than that as of May 20.

We are consolidating these figures as we speak,” said Grageda. He also said that from 2012 to 2013, the DAR was able to issue 67,577 NOCs for 628,745 hectares of land subject to

compulsory acquisition, adding that from January to May 20, 2014, NOCs for 11,178 landholdings covering 108,216 hectares were issued and served/published. ■ Philippines News Agency / June 17, 2014 / 12:25 PM

2 accused in pork scam cases slip out of PH; Napoles children, Cunanan, DBM execs post bail

InterAksyon file photo of Dennis Cunanan

MANILA, Philippines - Two of the 53 individuals accused in the pork scam cases had slipped out of the country before hold departure orders (HDO) were issued against them by the Sandiganbayan. Bureau of Immigration spokesperson Elaine Tan said former Technology Resource Center (TRC) Antonio Ortiz and Renato Ornopia, former utility worker at JLN Corporation owned by Janet Lim-Napoles, had left the country. The HDOs against Ortiz, Ornopia and their co-accused were issued by the antigraft court last June 17. Ortiz left for San Francisco, California on September 6, 2013, according to the bureau. But Tan said that the names were “not sufficient to fully identify the person(s) being checked” and that “only half of the

records have been determined to refer to the accused with certainty.” Meanwhile, the two children of Napoles on Friday posted surety bond instead of P450,000 cash bond for 15 counts of graft even before arrest warrants were issued against them. Through the Alpha Insurance and Surety Co., a court-accredited surety firm, Jo Christine and James Christopher Napoles posted the bond with the Third Division of the Sandiganbayan chaired by the antigraft court’s presiding justice Amparo CabotajeTang. Tang signed the surety bond, allowing the Napoles children temporary liberty. A cash bond may be redeemed from the State once an accused is acquitted; a surety bond is completely forfeited. Also, TRC director-on-leave Dennis

Cunanan posted P210,000-bail for seven counts of graft ahead of the issuance of an arrest warrant against him. Cunanan is a co-accused in all the graft charges filed against senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. Department of Budget and Management Secretary Mario Relampagos and his staffers Rosario Nuñez, Lalaine Paule, and Marilou Bare, who are each facing 16 counts of graft in connection with the pork barrel scam, voluntarily surrendered to the Sandiganbayan on Friday. Each of them were supposed to post bail of P480,000 but only posted P240,000 each after the court granted their motion to reduce by 50 percent the bail recommended for their temporary liberty. ■ Beverly Natividad / InterAksyon.

com / News5 / June 20, 2014 / 8:09 PM

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BUSINESS & FINANCE

July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

kinds of disputes involving China in relation to sovereignty over seas and islands.” While Dr. Nam is admittedly a Vietnamese legal expert, his views make sense. Common cause with Vietnam. China’s moves against Vietnam made the latter make common cause with the Philippines. Al-Jazeera America reported that China denounced Vietnamese and Philippine troops early this month for getting together on a disputed island in the South China Sea to drink beer and play volleyball, calling it “a clumsy farce” and demanding that their governments stop causing trouble. The gathering on the Vietnamese-held Southwest Cay in the contested Spratly archipelago on Sunday was billed as a display of unity that underscored growing cooperation between Vietnam and the Philippines. Both countries, along with China, claim the Southwest Cay, and Hanoi and Manila have disputed China’s claims over the South China Sea and its islands. The Philippines calls part of the SCS as the Western Philippine Sea to signify its claim while Vietnam similarly avoids the term and calls the territory the East Sea. Philippine naval officials described the meeting of soldiers from the two sides, which also featured soccer and a tug-of-war competition, as a chance to show there can be harmony despite a web of overlapping claims to the potentially energy-rich waters. That presents a strong contrast to the bilateral relations between China, on one hand, and both the Philippines and Vietnam, on the other.

sympathy and support through deception. This is what the problem is in essence,” he added. Wang said pursuant to the provisions of UNCLOS, the Chinese government made a declaration in 2006 excluding disputes over maritime delimitation and territorial sovereignty from compulsory dispute settlement procedures. He said China, as a sovereign state and a state party to UNCLOS, has the right under international law to do this. Wang’s statements reveals his country’s low regard for world opinion; that the global publics can be easily deceived by a small country like the Philippines (or even Vietnam) to take its side in an international dispute. In addition, Wang makes a unilateral assertion that China, through a mere declaration in 2006, can exclude disputes over maritime delimitation and territorial sovereignty from compulsory dispute settlement procedures. In effect, China uses UNCLOS provisions to claim ITLOS lack of jurisdiction over its SCS claims. It uses international law to refuse to be bound by the same law and the bodies that applies international law to settle international disputes. There are several choice words to describe such a state. Among them, nouns, adjectives and verbs: bully, tyrant, rogue, heavy-handed, oppressive, scoundrel, rascal, intimidator, and harsh. The Chinese should not be surprised if nobody in the neighborhood loves them back for their “tough love.” ■ Amado M.

Love-hate triangle: What is the result of China’s heavy-handedness vis-a-vis Vietnam, PH? jurisdiction over its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf by placing its oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 off Vietnam’s coast since May 1 this year. Specifically, Vietnam can file a suit against China at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for using force against Vietnamese ships that have been protecting Vietnam’s territorial waters from being violated by the Chinese rig and its guarding ships, Dr. Nam said. China’s violations. China’s use of force – in which Chinese ships have rammed or fired their water cannons at Vietnamese vessels, causing injures to 12 Vietnamese fisheries surveillance officers and damaged several boats so far – has violated Article 2, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations, Dr. Nam said. This paragraph reads: “All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.” China’s use of force has also violated Article 279 of UNCLOS, which reads: “States Parties shall settle any dispute between them concerning the interpretation or application of this Convention by peaceful means in accordance with Article 2, paragraph 3, of the Charter of the United Nations and, to this end, shall seek a solution by the means indicated in Article 33, paragraph 1, of the Charter.” “We should base our lawsuit on these two legal foundations to avoid the fact that China has applied another article of UNCLOS to exclude UNCLOS’s jurisdiction over all

Amado “Bong” Mendoza is a faculty member of the Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines (Diliman) and is primarily interested in Philippine politics and political economy. He used to write for Business Day covering the finance beat and the online edition of Inquirer. He now writes regularly for InterAksyon.com.

The Chinese gambit. In its latest move reported by Philippine Star, China’s representative to the United Nations (UN) claimed that the Philippines started the territorial dispute over the South China Sea and accused the country of trying to gain global sympathy. In a report at the 24th meeting of state parties of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Deputy Permanent Representative Wang Min said the Philippines’ accusations against China are “false.” “We must point out that the root cause of the disputes between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea is the Philippines’ illegal occupation of some islands and reefs of China’s Nansha islands (Spratlys),” Wang said. “The Philippines attempts to legalize its infringements and provocations by dragging China into arbitral proceedings. The Philippines is also trying to win international

Mendoza Jr. / InterAksyon.com / June 17, 2014 / 7:11 AM

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UNFORTUNATELY for assertive rising powers like China, might is not always right. If too much pressure is applied on smaller powers, defiance rather than acquiescence may result. And these smaller powers may find succor in international courts and with favorable global opinion. Recently, China got into a nasty scrap with Vietnam as it move a billion-dollar rig into disputed waters off Vietnam’s coast in late May 2014. Later, a Chinese vessel rammed and sank a Vietnamese fishing boat about 17 nautical miles southwest of the oil rig, the state-run Vietnamese television network, VTV1, reported. All 10 crew members were rescued according to the network. The New York Times reported that China labeled Vietnam as the aggressor, with the Chinese state-run news agency, Xinhua, saying the Vietnamese fishing boat “capsized when it was interfering with and ramming” a Chinese fishing vessel from Hainan, a province of China. Then China accused Vietnam of sabotage and interfering with the operations of the oil rig, which has become a flash point ever since Vietnam learned that the Chinese had anchored the rig in waters contested by both nations. Legal luminaries opined Vietnam can sue China at the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for the use of force. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Nam, a lawyer and a senior researcher in international law, gave the advice in an interview with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on how to sue China for violating Vietnam’s sovereign rights and

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BUSINESS & FINANCE

July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

No tv, no cellphone, no laptop: Bong Revilla now detained at Camp Crame MANILA - Hours after Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. surrendered to the Sandiganbayan, the actor-politician accused of plundering public funds supposedly for poverty reduction, was transferred by authorities to his detention cell at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City before 3 p.m. Friday. Revilla’s family, friends including actor Philip Salvador, and supporters accompanied the senator to the detention facility. About 10 of his family members including wife and Bacoor Rep. Lani Mercado, their son, Cavite Vice Governor Ramon “Jolo” Revilla III, and grandson Gab, were allowed by authorities to visit the senator inside his cell. Revilla’s lawyer Joel Bodegon and Salvador were also allowed to see the senator. The newly renovated custodial center has four detention cells. Each cell has a side table, a ceiling fan, two fluorescent lamps, and a toilet and bath. Earlier, Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP Public Information Office chief, said the detainees would not be allowed to use electronic gadgets such as cellphones, laptops, and portable wifi devices. Hot and humid. Revilla’s 32-squaremeter detention cell, surrounded by a 12foot high wall, was hot and humid and only has one window near the door, preventing the air from freely circulating. Minutes after he was sent to detention, the senator complained of migraine-like symptoms prompting his wife to go out and rush to a nearby drug store and appliance center to buy medicine and cooler for her husband. At around 5:45 p.m., Mercado returned to the custodial center bringing with her a blue cooler and plastic bags containing biscuits, coffee, plates and utensils, toothpaste, and others things needed by her husband.

Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. emerges from a van on Friday, June 20, 2014. Gel Francisco/InterAksyon.com

The teary-eyed Mercado said she was worried with Revilla’s condition as his blood pressure shoots up every time he has a migraine attack. She said she would request that Revilla’s doctors be allowed to visit and examine the senator in his cell. Family members can only visit Revilla Thursdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., according to Mercado. The senators’ visitors left the facility past 6 p.m. Mercado thanked the police for “being lenient and accommodating” on the first day of her husband’s detention. Mercado said she would visit Revilla on Sunday and bring him kare-kare and sinampalukang manok, his favorite dishes. She said Revilla was served with galunggong, munggo, and rice for dinner. In an interview with reporters Thursday afternoon, Bodegon said they would expedite the filing of a motion for bail before the Sandiganbayan “para makalabas na s’ya agad (so Revilla can be released immediately from detention].” Revilla’s alleged dealings with Napoles. The 47-year-old Revilla is the country’s first senator to be detained on plunder charges. Revilla’s co-accused in the pork scam

cases, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, was also detained in 2001 when he was mayor of San Juan City. Estrada was named as co-accused in the P4.097-billion plunder case of his father, then President Joseph Estrada, who is now the mayor of Manila. The Estradas were ordered arrested and detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City before they were airlifted to the Special Action Forces Training Center in Fort Sto. Domingo, Sta. Rosa City, Laguna. According to the National Bureau of Investigation, Revilla was among the lawmakers who had allegedly agreed with businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles that the latter’s non-government organization (NGO) would be the recipient of their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for purposes of supposedly implementing projects authorized by the Department of Budget and Management. The PDAF is a yearly discretionary fund available to members of Congress - P200 million for each senator and P70 million for each member of the House of Representatives - that allows legislators to finance poverty reduction projects such as small-scale infrastructure and community

enterprise that fall outside the scope of the national infrastructure program. In exchange for selecting Napoles’ NGOs, lawmakers allegedly received from the businesswoman 40 to 60 percent of the cash value of a project as kickback. But Revilla insisted that his signatures in the documents needed for the release of his PDAF to Napoles’ NGOs were forged. Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales countered Revilla’s claim, saying the senator “already knew about the PDAF documents and the issue of authenticity or genuineness of his signature on the documents as early as 2011.” Morales said that in 2011, upon the Commission on Audit (COA)’s request for confirmation, Revilla “confirmed that the signatures appearing in the PDAF documents belonged to him and (his staffer Richard) Cambe.” In his July 8, 2011 letter to COA Assistant Commissioner Arcadio B. Cuenco, Revilla acknowldeged that the signatures for the release of his PDAF to certain foundations were his own handwriting. The foundations allegedly controlled by Napoles would later be declared by the COA as dubious. In the letter, Revilla told Cuenco that, “After going through these documents and initial examination, it appears that the signatures and/or my initials on these documents are my signatures or that of my authorized representatives.” Arraignment. The anti-graft court scheduled Revilla and his co-accused’s arraignment on Thursday, June 26, at 8:30 a.m. Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Efren de la Cruz, the chairman of the anti-graft court’s First Division, signed the warrant for Revilla and 32 of his co-accused Friday morning. Revilla, accused of amassing P224.51 million from his PDAF, is accused of committing one count of plunder and 16 counts of graft.

Richard Cambe, Revilla’s staffer and co-accused in the plunder and graft cases, also voluntarily surrendered to the Sandiganbayan. He was temporarily held at the detention facility of the Sandiganbayan’s sheriff. Past 5:30 p.m., a radio station reported that Cambe was being transported by authorities to the PNP Custodial Center. Past 7 p.m., it was reported that Cambe had been undergoing booking procedure at the office of the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. At 7:30 p.m., the media said Cambe had been transferred to the custodial center. Aside from Revilla and Cambe, the court also issued warrants of arrest against: 1. Janet Lim Napoles 2. Ronald John Lim 3. John Raymond de Asis 4. Mario Relampagos 5. Rosario Salameda Nunez 6. Lalaine Narag Paule 7. Marilou Dialino Bare 8. Antonio Cortez 9. Dennis Cunanan 10. Francisco Figura, 11. Marivic Jover 12. Myla Ogerio 13. Ma. Rosalinda Lacsamana 14. Eulogio Rodriguez 15. Laarni Uy 16. Consuelo Lilian Espiritu 17. Evelyn De Leon 18. Allan Javellana 19. Encarnita Christian Munsod 20. Maria Julie Villaralvo-Johnson 21. Evelyn Sucgang 22. Jocelyn Piorato 23. Gregorio Buenaventura 24. Chita Jalandoni 25. Sofia Cruz 26. Ofelia Ordonez 27. Emmanuel Alexis Sevidal 28. Rhodora Mendoza 29. Maria Ninez Guanizo 30. Victor Roman Cacal ■ InterAksyon.com with video report from News5 / June 20, 2014 / 3:01 PM

Bong Revilla undergoes booking procedure at Camp Crame MANILA – The Philippine National Police-Public Information Office on Thursday released a montage of photos of Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. undergoing

booking procedure at Camp Crame in Quezon City after he voluntarily surrendered to the Sandiganbayan. ■ InterAksyon.com / June 20, 2014 / 5:56 PM

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July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

IMMIGRATION / OFNEWS

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Pinay DH captures Hong Kong life in dramatic black and white photos

USING a camera purchased with money she loaned from her employer, overseas Filipino worker Xyza Cruz Bacani is slowly carving a niche in Hong Kong through her striking photographs of ordinary life there. But Bacani is not a trained photographer employed by a big company; she is, in fact, a second-generation domestic helper serving the same woman who has employed her mother for 20 years. An article on the New York Times said Bacani, who grew up in Nueva Vizcaya, uses her overtime pay to fund her hobby, buying lenses, cameras and film.

“For me, photography is a universal language,” the 27-year-old Filipina told the New York Times. “I’m a Filipino and I’m in a Chinese city, so it’s, like, the language of freedom and equality.” As a street photographer, Bacani embodies a “lone wolf” persona — prowling the streets of Hong Kong in her spare time, snapping pictures, capturing everyday scenes in dramatic black and white. “My photos are important for me, but I just want something that is close to my heart — something that can help another

community,” she told New York Times. But instead of leaving her work for photography, a vocation honed while she was studying college in the Philippines, she now aims to marry the two. That something is a project currently in the works, which would document the abuses suffered by fellow foreign domestic workers in Hong Kong. “I can relate to their stories. Our job description is the same. It just happens that I’m luckier than them,” Bacani said. ■ Rie Takumi / KBK, GMA News / June 20, 2014

/ 1:26 PM

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IMMIGRATION / OFNEWS

July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

Google removes Singapore hate blog against Filipinos SINGAPORE – Google has taken down a blog that listed ways to harass Singapore’s Filipino population, drawing praise from

Internet users appalled by growing racial tensions in the city-state. Police said Thursday that they are

investigating the anonymous “Blood Stained Singapore” blog, which suggested Singaporeans should refuse to be served by Filipinos in restaurants, or “accidentally” shove them in crowded places. In a post titled “Filipino infestation in Singapore -- 5 point guide to showing displeasure without breaking the law,” the blog also advised Singaporeans not to help Filipinos involved in traffic accidents. The blog, which surfaced on Google’s Blogger platform in May, was no longer available by late Thursday. A Google spokeswoman said she could not comment on individual cases but confirmed that the US web giant removes material from Blogger that violates its policy on hate speech.

HK firm expresses regret over ‘racist’ ad

THE insurance company behind the controversial commercial depicting a Chinese man as a Filipina maid has expressed its regrets over the advertisement. “We regret that our recent advertisement involving an individual playing two characters resulted in comments about the advertisement being deemed inappropriate,” said Harry Wong, director and general manager of Hong Leong Insurance (Asia) Limited, said in a statement. “We wish to emphatically state that at

no time did Hong Leong Insurance (Asia) Limited intend to offend any person or be to any extent discriminatory on grounds of race, sex or otherwise,” he added. The commercial, which shows a Chinese actor playing the role of a clumsy Filipina maid, sparked outrage on Hong Kong’s social media. The advertisement was directed at the employers of Hong Kong’s 300,000 maids, most of whom are Filipinos and Indonesians. The Asian Migrants’ Coordinating Body had demanded a public apology from Hong Leong Insurance Limited for

what it termed as a “very racist” ad. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, for its part, described the advertisement as “insensitive.” In the statement, Wong pointed out that the commercial’s intention was to “draw the public’s attention to the benefits of having appropriate insurance protection for employees, in this particular case domestic helpers.” He said they have already withdrawn advertisement “as we sincerely do not wish to upset any member of the public.” ■ Rie

Takumi / KBK, GMA News / June 20, 2014 / 4:49 PM

The Filipino community in Singapore is estimated at more than 170,000, many of them professionals seen by some Singaporeans as rivals for jobs — a sharp change from a decade ago, when most Filipinos there worked as domestic helpers. Singaporeans make up just over 60 percent of the 5.4 million population, with a low fertility rate forcing the government to rely heavily on guest workers. The influx of foreign workers in general, many of them from China and India, has sparked a rise in anti-immigrant sentiment. The blog had triggered indignation among Filipinos at home and abroad, with some calling for counter-measures against Singaporeans. The Philippine embassy has urged

Singaporean authorities to take action against the blogger. Google’s decision to remove the blog drew mostly positive reactions from Singaporeans online, including the cabinet minister in charge of approving foreign worker permits. “Vile and vicious blogs like this do not reflect who we are as a people,” Manpower Minister Tan Chuan-Jin said in a Facebook post. But others questioned whether the move stymied freedom of speech in Singapore. “Hooray for a democratic country which forcefully shuts the mouths of her citizens!” wrote Titus Lin on the Facebook page of national broadcaster Channel NewsAsia. ■ Agence France-Presse / June 20, 2014 / 2:39 PM

INTERNATIONAL / GLOBAL NEWS

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July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

Drone mission impossible over Forbidden City, says photographer BEIJING - A New Zealand-based photographer attempting to fly a drone above Beijing’s ancient Forbidden City — which sits next to China’s top-secret leadership compound — says he has had his plans thwarted by police. Trey Ratcliff, who used a camera attached to a remote-controlled helicopter near the popular tourist site and former residence of China’s emperors, said on his website that he was briefly detained by police. The Forbidden City is directly next to Zhongnanhai, the high-security compound where some of China’s top ruling Communist party leaders live and hold meetings. It is

heavily guarded and not open to the public. A Chinese assistant gave Ratcliff “absolutely zero help” in warning him that he was about to fly the device near topsecurity buildings, the photographer said. Ratcliff was approached by a police officer who gave him a “bad vibe” and was “really harshin’ my mellow” as he prepared to launch the drone over the Forbidden City, he added in the account, posted to www. stuckincustoms.com on Thursday. He was escorted to a “detention centre” and told not to fly the drone in central Beijing, he wrote, adding that he had struck up a brief rapport with several of the officers.

“Hello Nice Chinese Military Police Man! I forgot your name, but thanks for not doing bad stuff to me and stuff,” Ratcliff wrote. Pictures posted on the website showed aerial shots of Beijing landmarks including the striking headquarters of state broadcaster CCTV, designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, and Ming dynasty tombs. “Beijing is the seat of all Chinese government power,” Ratcliff admitted. “So, deciding to fly a drone over China is kind of like Luke Skywalker deciding to ride his landspeeder on the Death Star.” ■ AFP / June 20, 2014

A part of Forbidden City is seen in Beijing, on February 15, 2014

Petraeus backs strikes against ‘terrorist army’ in Iraq Taiwan threatens to call off Japan art loan in poster row LONDON – US General David Petraeus, a former commander of US forces in Iraq, said Friday he would support targeted strikes against jihadists behind an offensive in the strife-torn country, who he said were developing into a “terrorist army”. Petraeus, who won praise for leading the troop surge that preceded Washington’s exit from Iraq after a costly eight-year war, told the Daily Telegraph newspaper that the militants posed a risk to countries outside the region. “We must be careful not to take sides if we offer military support. But the growing threat posed by ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL) means that military action will be necessary,” he said. “We must realise that ISIS poses a threat not only to Iraq but to the UK and other countries as well.” He added: “It seems to be much more than a terrorist group: it seems to be turning into a terrorist army, one that has acquired vast financial resources from looting banks and other criminal enterprises.” US President Barack Obama on Thursday pledged to take “precise” military action if required in Iraq and offered up to 300 US advisors to train Iraqi forces, after the Shiiteled government in Baghdad formally asked for air support.

US Army General David Petraeus attends an Armed Forces Farewell Tribute and Retirement Ceremony in his honor at Summerall Field at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Virginia, August 31, 2011

“If President Obama and other leaders conclude that the threat posed by ISIS is significant then I would support actions to target high-value ISIS elements,” Petraeus told the Telegraph. “If ISIS is seen as a terrorist organisation with the potential to engage in terrorist acts beyond the Middle East, then that could warrant the targeting of high value targets.” In a speech in London on Thursday, however, Petraeus warned there needed to be a radical change of politics in Baghdad to reflect Iraq’s multi-confessional, multiethnic make-up before any US intervention. “This cannot be the United States being the air force for Shiite militias, or a Shiite on Sunni Arab fight,” he said. ■ AFP / June 20, 2014

TAIWAN threatened Friday to terminate a loan of treasured artefacts to Japan after the name of its national museum was changed in promotional posters in a row highlighting the island’s sensitivity over its global diplomatic status. Taiwan protested as a matter of “national dignity” and demanded corrections after some of the Tokyo posters referred to the “Taipei Palace Museum” rather than the “National Palace Museum” which owns the artefacts. The name issue has long been a sensitive topic for Taiwan which is recognised by only 22 countries in a decades-old diplomatic tugof-war with China from which it split in 1949. “National dignity definitely comes before cultural exchanges. The government and the public will not accept if a cultural exchange hurts our national dignity,” presidential spokeswoman Ma Wei-kuo said in a statement.

Japan, like most countries, has diplomatic ties with Beijing rather than Taipei, but maintains close trade and civil ties with Taiwan, which was its colony from 1895 to 1945. Taiwan’s first lady Chow Mei-ching was scheduled to attend the opening of the show next week at the Tokyo National Museum but she would cancel the trip if Taipei’s demand was not met, officials said. The National Palace Museum announced last year the loan of 231 artefacts to Japan, its first to an Asian country, following exhibitions in the United States, France, Germany and Austria. The Taipei museum boasts more than 600,000 artefacts spanning 7,000 years of Chinese history from the prehistoric Neolithic period to the end of the Qing Dynasty that were mostly removed from Beijing’s Forbidden City. The museum’s contents — one of

the world’s finest collections of Chinese treasures — were brought to the island by Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, when he fled to Taiwan after losing the Chinese civil war to the communists in 1949. For years the National Palace Museum was unwilling to lend the artefacts to Japan for fears that China would try to reclaim them, until the Japanese government passed a law in 2011 to prevent such seizures. China regards Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary, although tensions have eased markedly since Taiwan’s Beijing-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou took office in 2008. ■ AFP / June 20, 2014

Boko Haram kill 10 in raids on Nigerian villages: official KANO, Nigeria - Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have killed 10 people in raids on five villages in Nigeria’s northeast Adamawa state, a local official said on Friday. “We have confirmed that 10 people were killed in the attacks on the five villages by Boko Haram insurgents yesterday (Thursday). Many people sustained injuries while trying to escape,” said Maina Ularamu, Madagali local government council chairman. Scores of gunmen dressed in military uniform stormed the villages of Imirsa, Shuwari, Yaza, Humabza and Anguwar Shuwa, burning homes and looting food

Three burnt cars are seen at Tudunwada district, Mubi in northeastern State of Adamawa on October 5, 2012

supplies, he told AFP. “The attackers invaded these villages and destroyed everything in them after carting away food stuffs belonging to the villagers,” Ularamu said. About 15,000 people who fled their homes from the villages were now taking refuge in Gulak, the headquarters of the local government. “We have a humanitarian situation beyond our capacity to shoulder because we can’t provide for this huge number of displaced people,” he said. Boko Haram militants have intensified deadly raids on villages in the northeast in recent months, pillaging and burning homes and killing residents. The Islamist group, which in April kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in northeast Nigeria triggering international condemnation, has been waging a brutal, five-year insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives. The sect is suspected of carrying out a deadly bomb attack late Tuesday against football fans watching the World Cup in the northern Nigerian city of Damature, killing at least 21 people, in the latest violence targeting the game. ■ AFP / June 20, 2014

A visitor looks at bronze spearheads from 1,200 BC during an exhibition on display

Jihadists execute three Syria rebel officers: monitor

BEIRUT – Jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have executed three officers of the Western and Arabbacked rebel Free Syrian Army, a monitor said Saturday. The bullet-riddled bodies of the three were found on Friday, two days after suspected Islamist militants kidnapped

them in the oil-rich eastern province of Deir Ezzor, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. ISIL, which grew from the ranks of AlQaeda before splitting with the global terror network, is active in both Syria and neighbouring Iraq and seeks to set up an Islamic state that straddles both countries.

Rebel fighters members of the al-Sham Brigade (Liwa al-Sham) take part in a training session in the northeastern city of Deir Ezzor, on March 25, 2014

But the radical group has faced a major backlash from other rebels fighting to topple the Syrian regime and from Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, Al-Nusra Front, amid accusations of atrocities in Syria’s threeyear war. The FSA this month called for help from “friendly and brotherly Arab nations” to fight ISIL in Deir Ezzor. Rebels in Syria, including Al-Nusra Front militants, have been battling ISIL since the start of the year, in fighting that has reportedly killed more than 6,000 people. The clashes have mostly raged in the north and east of the country, and on Friday ISIL seized control of the areas of Hafez and Muhassen in Deir Ezzor. The FSA officers executed by the jihadists had been kidnapped in Hafez, the Britain-based Observatory said. ISIL has been battling Iraqi government forces since June 9, when in launched a lightening offensive in the north of the country. ■ AFP / June 20, 2014

EVENTS DIARY UK & EUROPE

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DATE / TIME 718June June2014 to 2 July 2014 Saturday 10:00am – 5:00pm 4:00pm 7 and 8 June 2014 Saturday and Sunday 14 June 2014 Saturday 6:00pm – 1:00am

5 and 6 July 2014 14 June 2014 Saturday and Sunday Saturday 10:00am to 6:00pm 9:00am to 6:00pm

EVENT VENUE Philippine Embassy – Church of Embassy Our Lady of London Biennale 2014: Philippine 116th Independence Day Victories, 235A Kensington Token of a Times Gone 10 Suffolk Street Thanksgiving Mass High Street, Kensington, By Reanimating History London 4HG London SW1Y W8 6SA Philippine Morden Park, Morden, Surrey as Art in the Work of Independence Day sa SM4 5DX Noel De Leon Morden

FWA UK 26th Philippine National Day (PND) Dinner & Dance 2014

HELLO PHILIPPINES 116th Independence proudly presents Day Celebration sa Hounslow Summer Newcastle Festival 2014

ORGANISER Philippine Embassy, London, UK and An art exhibition of multi-media Various Filipino Associations installations, sculpture, paintings, founds objects by Mr Noel De Leon. It Bayanihan UK as part of the London will be organized Biennale 2014 and will be curated by Palace Suite, Royal Garden Filipino Women’s UK Mr. David Medalla,Association founder and Hotel, 2-24 Kensington High (FWA-UK) director of The London Biennale , Street, London W8 4PT Lampton Park, Lampton Road, HELLO PHILIPPINES Blaydon Rugby Club (Carboot Filipino Community of Newcastle Upon Hounslow TW3 4DN

Area), Hexham Road, Swalwell, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE16 3BN The Chartroom Restaurant / Bar, Inverkip PA16 0AS

Tyne (FILCAN)

July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

CONTACTS / REMARKS Noel De Leon: 020 8581 3623 / 07504 999 374 Deleon.noeled@yahoo.com Tess Jucohttp://www.1fmediaproject.net/201 020 3417 5038 / 07956 593 236 Website: 4/05/01/london-biennale-2014/ Clarita Richardson (Chairman) 020 8767 0180 / 07505 91 468 Jane Gibbs (PND Coordinator) 01483 714 383 Roselle Collado – 07577 81307795 104 903 419 Kerima Harris (Deputy PND) Sally Sellars 07886 742 417 / 870 Mike McCarthy – 07538 201 Program: Eva Bartolome 07542 026 296 / Email: events@hello-philippines.com Santacruzan: Haidee Atienza 07814 425 547

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Phil-Scot Trust 14 June 2014 Celebrating 2014 – 116 Philippine Saturday 12 and 13 July 2014 Birmingham Barrio Fiesta Woodgate Valley County Park, Filipino Association of Birmingham Independence Party 7:00pm to 11:00pm Saturday and Sunday 2014 Fiesta in Leeds Clapgate 15 June 2014 Barrio Selby RoadLane, Bartley Green, Filipino Leeds Association Sunday Leeds LS15 0AD (FLA-UK Limited) Birmingham 9:30am – 5:30pm B32 3DS West Wing Arts Centre 15 June 2014 116th Philippine Independence Day Art Centre Sunday FREE LISTING of your events on the HELLO PHILIPPINES newspaper and if you know of any Events please contact us and submit your event via email to the Celebration 2014 – Stoke Road 2:00pm – 11:00pm following at INFO@HELLO-PHILIPPINES.COM Piyesta Ng Kalayaan Slough SL2 5AX Noel De Leon: 18 June to 2 July 2014 London Biennale 2014: Philippine Embassy An art exhibition of multi-media DISCLAIMER: The Events Diary Listing necessarily constitute recommendation, or favouring by020 Hello Philippines newspaper. 8581 3623 / 07504 999 374 The views 10:00am – 5:00pm Token of adoes Timesnot Gone 10 Suffolk Streetor imply its endorsement, installations, sculpture, paintings, Mr Noel DeThis Leon. It Deleon.noeled@yahoo.com By Reanimating History London state SW1Y or 4HG founds objects by and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Hello Philippines newspaper. is merely an Events Diary Listing of what is will be organized as part of the London Website: http://www.1fmediaproject.net/201 as Art in the Work of happening within the Filipino Communities in Europe. This is for general information only. Biennale 2014 and will be curated by 4/05/01/london-biennale-2014/ Noel De Leon Mr. David Medalla, founder and director of The London Biennale and 22 June 2014 Barrio Fiesta in Bristol Eastville Park, MullerofRoad, Bristol Wil /Manuel 485 194 / Mass) St Pius X 121st Saturday 5:00pm Devotion in Honour Our Lady of Filipino Fatima Community (Exposition ofin the Blessed Sacrament Rosary07900 / Benediction Saturday and Sunday 2014 Eastville, Bristol BS5108 6XAOrme Road, Kingston Upon Thames KT1 3SB – Oliver Abasolo Honeylyn 07783661 343922 848 Catholic Church, – 07782 10:00am to 5:00pm Clarence 07500 896 239 1st Sunday 2:00pm Five Precious Wounds Parish, Brentfield Road, Stonebridge Park, London NW10 8ER07909 724 653 Hilda 28 June 2014 1st Southampton Barrio Hoglands Park, Southampton Stalls, sponsorships and other enquiries: Mervic Monocillo – 07894 636 140Southampton Barrio Fiesta Saturday Fiesta SO14 1NH Paul Maspinas 07894 227 754 st 1 Sunday 5:00pm Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, Friary Road, Peckham, London SE15 1RH 9:00am to 5:00pm Jimmy Cabotaje 07878 852 153 Allen Abeleda – 07713 625 888 Nora Zuniga 023 8023 4412 nd June 2014 28 Barrio Fiesta Fairlands Valley Park, Joseph 2 Saturday 4:00pm St Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, 103 Woolwich New Road, London SE18 6EF 07534 711 757 / Ivy 07428 184 063 / Saturday Hertfordshire Showground Arena, Broadhall Michael 07447 588 971 / Myla 07533 764 965 Moises Espanola – 07894 648 639 8:00am to 6:00pm Way (opposite Stevenage FC 2nd Sunday 2:00pm English Martyrs Church, Chalkhill Stadium), Stevenage SG2 8RH Road, Wembley Park, Wembley HA9 9EW 29 June 2014 Bradford Barrio Fiesta Lady Park, Allerton, Bradford Independent BeckyHillSarinas – 07949 857 699 / 07425 761 519 /Team Lina B – 07579 418 510 Nelson 07823 338 947 / Nina 07780 076 256 Sunday BD15 7AA nd 29:00am Sunday 2:00pm St Dominic Catholic Church, 243 Violet Lane, Waddon, Croydon CR0 4HN to 6:00pm Merlie MirtoParks – 07722 462 29 June 2014 Barrio Fiesta Northern Hydebank and216 Playing Northern Ireland Filipino Community Roy 07412 625 738 / Malou 07850 151 678 nd Sunday Ireland 2014 Fields, 19 Newtownbreda 4:00pm St. Anselm and St. Cecilia, 70 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3JA 2 Sunday Road, Belfast BT8 6BQ Feliciano Ramirez – 07733Road, 680 748 HELLO PHILIPPINES 5 and 6 July 2014 HELLO PHILIPPINES Lampton Park, Lampton Roselle Collado – 07577 813 104 rd Saturday proudly presents Hounslow TW3of4DN 3 Sundayand Sunday 3:00pm Sacred Heart Jesus, New Priory, Quex Road, Kilburn, London NW6 4PS Mike McCarthy – 07538 201 870 10:00am to 6:00pm Hounslow Summer Email: events@hello-philippines.com Sheidrick de Leon – 07738 210 202 Festival 2014 Tickets & General Enquiries: 3rd Sunday 3:00pm Blessed Sacrament Parish, 157 Copenhagen Street, Islington N1 0SR 020 3004 9268 12 and 13 July 2014 Birmingham Barrio Fiesta Christy Woodgate Valley County Rozen Malonzo 07985 159 203 / Marlo 119 969Filipino Association of Birmingham Sangalang – 07709Park, Saturday and Sunday 2014 Clapgate Lane, Bartley Green, Quilang 07531 022 269 / Noel Azuro 07861 Last Saturday 6:00pm Our Lady of Dolours, Servite Parish Church, 264 Fulham Road, London SW10 4EL Birmingham 805 260 FrB32Allan g.uk / Roland Adap dap – r_adap adap@hotmail.com 3DSSatur – 020 7352 6965 / fulhamroad@rcdow.org th

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Hay fever treatments THERE are a variety of treatments for hay fever including tablets, eyedrops, nasal sprays and injections. Finding which works best for you will help you stay symptom-free through the summer. Antihistamines. Histamine is a chemical released by your body after it’s been exposed to a trigger such as pollen. It produces symptoms of hay fever such as sneezing or itchy, watery eyes. Antihistamines block the action of histamine in the body. According to John Collard, clinical director of Allergy UK, this then reduces the symptoms of an allergic reaction. “Older-style sedating antihistamines, such as Piriton, are taken three or four times a day and can make you drowsy,” says Collard. “Non-sedating antihistamines, such as loratadine, are only taken once a day and don’t cause drowsiness. Different people find different brands work best for them.”

As well as tablets, antihistamines are available as nasal sprays, eye drops or liquids to be swallowed. Most are available as over-the-counter drugs. Steroid nasal sprays. Steroid nasal sprays are more effective than antihistamines at treating some symptoms of hay fever, such as a blocked nose. They just work on the nose and hardly any of the steroid is absorbed by the body. There are almost no side effects with a normal dose. You can use steroid nasal sprays for long periods of time without any risk. They take several days to act and need be taken continually for several weeks as their effect builds up with time. If you have other symptoms, steroid nasal sprays can be used in addition to other treatments, for example for itchy and watery eyes. Cromoglycates. Cromoglycates are not

HEALTH and Lifestyle

antihistamines. They’re a type of hay fever medicine mainly available as eye drops but you can also get them as nasal sprays. If antihistamines aren’t working on their own, you can use cromoglycates as well. This medication has few side effects and works on specific areas such as the nose or eyes. Hay fever injections. Immunotherapy or desensitisation treatment may work if your symptoms are severe and are not controlled by other hay fever medicines. If you want this type of treatment, you need to go to a

July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

specialist allergy clinic after referral from your GP. Initially you have to have an injection every week or fortnight at the clinic and then regularly for up to two years. It involves pollen being injected into your body, so you may have an allergic response. There have been a few cases of severe reactions to desensitisation injections. They should only be given in specialist centres and only if your symptoms can’t be controlled by other methods. Complementary medicine. Although

there is little evidence-based research in this area, some people believe these therapies work for them. Butterbur, also known as ‘bog rhubarb’, is a herbal remedy that is believed to have the same effect as an antihistamine but without causing drowsiness. Echinacea, usually used to treat colds, is said to reduce your sensitivity to allergens. Euphrasia (or Eyebright) comes as eye drops and is sometimes used for symptoms of hay fever such as watery or itchy eyes. ■ NHS Choices

‘I cannot run away from my hay fever’ HE sprinted his way into the record books, but athlete Marlon Devonish can’t escape his hay fever. Marlon, 33, is one of Britain’s most successful sportsmen. He was part of Britain’s Olympic gold medal-winning relay team at Athens in 2004 and has received an MBE for his contribution to British sport. To get there, Marlon has had to overcome numerous sporting injuries, including a hamstring injury in 2000 that stopped him from competing in the Sydney Olympics that year. But what many people don’t know is that he’s also had to learn to manage severe hay fever. “It’s something I’ve had to deal with since childhood,” says Marlon. “It runs in the family.” Around 20% of Britons have hay fever. Like most of them, Marlon expects seasonal bouts of sniffing and sneezing. Unlike most people, he has gold medals that depend on his physical condition, especially in the summer racing season. “I get the usual symptoms of itchy eyes, nose and throat, but I also get exerciseinduced asthma. Because I’m so allergic to the pollen in the air, it causes my chest to tighten when I run. So if I don’t manage my

hay fever carefully, it can seriously affect my performance on the track. “I have to get clearance every year from the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) so that while I’m competing, I can use an inhaler to control my asthma. My hay fever is at its worst at the height of summer when there is more pollen in the air. This is when I have to be most vigilant with my medication. “I don’t have to be so careful in the winter when I’m not competing, but I still have to monitor the condition closely.” Eating well. Despite living with hay fever since childhood, Marlon has never let it hold him back from his active lifestyle. “I used to suffer badly when I was younger because I’d rub my eyes until they were red raw, but it never stopped my love of sport. When I was at school, I used to get involved in everything I could. “My favourite sports were basketball and football which, unfortunately, I don’t really have time to play now because my training schedule is so hectic.” As an Olympic athlete, Marlon trains six days a week to stay at the peak of his physical and technical fitness. He also keeps a close watch on his diet.

“It’s so important that I eat well when training. As a sprinter, protein is a vital part of my diet because when you sprint, you tear your muscles on a microscopic level. You then need to replenish the protein in your system for muscle building. So I eat lots of meat for protein and carbs for energy.” Keeping in shape. Marlon has always kept a close eye on his health and fitness. “My mum’s a nurse, so from a young age I was made very aware of my health. Apart from hay fever, the other problem that runs in the family is high blood pressure. My gran has it. She’s had to control her diet and cut down on saturated fat and salt. “I’m aware this is something I may have to watch out for when I get older. Marlon thinks the 2012 Olympics will have a positive effect on the UK’s health. “I hope it will act as a catalyst to improve our lifestyles. I don’t think they’re particularly great in the UK. You only have to turn on the TV to see the programmes about our unhealthy lifestyles, from booze culture to obesity. “After the event is over, we’ll be left with some great sporting facilities, which will hopefully inspire kids and adults alike to keep themselves healthy.” ■ NHS Choices

in your body. As well as making you more sensitive to pollen, alcohol also dehydrates you, making your symptoms seem worse. 5. Sleep well. Try to avoid too many late nights during the hay fever season. The survey found that people with hay fever who

get a good night’s sleep tend to have the mildest symptoms. Just one in eight (13%) people who had at least seven hours sleep a night reported severe symptoms, compared with one in five (21%) who regularly had five hours sleep or less a night. ■ NHS Choices

Five tips to reduce hay fever symptoms YOUR lifestyle can affect how severe your hay fever symptoms are. A recent report, based on a survey of more than 2,000 people with hay fever, found that lifestyle factors, such as stress and exercise, can have a major impact on hay fever. Follow these tips to stop the sneezing. 1. Calm down. Try to reduce your stress levels. The survey showed a clear link between stress and the severity of hay fever symptoms. Almost seven out of ten stressed-out hay fever sufferers rate their symptoms as unbearable or debilitating. As stress levels drop, symptoms become milder.

2. Exercise more. Regular exercise can improve your hay fever. The survey found that people with hay fever who exercise most have the mildest symptoms. Exercise will help reduce your stress levels, too. Aim to do 150 minutes (two and a half hours) of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, such as cycling and fast walking, every week. However, during hay fever season, it’s best to avoid exercising outdoors when the pollen count is high. This is generally first thing in the morning and early evening. Instead, exercise in late morning or afternoon when pollen counts tend to be lowest. If pollen counts are really high, stick to indoor exercise, for example at

your local gym or swimming pool. 3. Eat well. The survey suggests that people with hay fever who eat a healthy diet are less likely to get severe symptoms. Eat a varied, balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, but be aware than some healthy foods can make hay fever symptoms worse. Foods that can worsen hay fever symptoms include apples, tomatoes, stoned fruits, melons, bananas and celery. 4. Cut down on alcohol. Watch how much you drink at your summer picnics! Alcohol worsens hay fever. Beer, wine and other spirits contain histamine, the chemical that sets off allergy symptoms

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HEALTH and Lifestyle food

July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

How to prepare and cook food safely STUDIES show that the kitchen contains the most germs in the home. One found that the kitchen sink contains 100,000 times more germs than the bathroom. Germs such as E. coli, campylobacter and salmonella enter the kitchen on our hands, raw food and through our pets. They can rapidly spread if we’re not careful. If food isn’t cooked, stored and handled correctly, people can become ill with food poisoning, colds, flu and other conditions. Washing hands. Our hands are one of the main ways germs are spread, so it’s important to wash them thoroughly with

soap and warm water before cooking, after touching the bin, going to the toilet, and after touching raw food. Raw meat, including poultry, can contain harmful bacteria that can spread easily to anything it touches. This includes other food, worktops, tables, chopping boards and knives. “Lots of people think they should wash raw chicken, but there’s no need,” says food hygiene expert Adam Hardgrave. “Any germs on it will be killed if you cook it thoroughly. In fact, if you do wash chicken you could splash germs on to the sink, worktop, dishes or anything else nearby.”

Take particular care to keep raw food away from ready-to-eat foods such as bread, salad and fruit. These foods won’t be cooked before you eat them so any germs that get on to them won’t be killed. “Use different chopping boards for raw and ready-to-eat foods,” says Hardgrave. When storing raw meat, always keep it in a clean, sealed container and place it on the bottom shelf of the fridge, where it can’t touch or drip on to other foods. Cooking. Cooking food at the right temperature will ensure that any harmful bacteria are killed. Check that food is piping hot throughout before you eat it. When cooking burgers, sausages, chicken and pork, cut into the middle to check that the meat is no longer pink, the juices run clear and it’s piping hot (steam is coming out). When cooking a whole chicken or other bird, pierce the thickest part of the leg (between the drumstick and the thigh) to check that there is no pink meat and that the juices are no longer pink or red.

Pork joints and rolled joints shouldn’t be eaten pink or rare. To check when these types of joint are ready to eat, put a skewer into the centre of the meat and check that there is no pink meat and the juices run clear. It’s safe to serve steak and other whole cuts of beef and lamb rare (not cooked in the middle) or blue (seared on the outside) as long as they have been properly sealed (cooked quickly at a high temperature on the outside only) to kill any bacteria on the meat’s surface. If you’ve cooked food that you’re not going to eat immediately, cool it at room temperature (ideally within 90 minutes) and store it in the fridge. Putting hot food in the fridge means it doesn’t cool evenly, which can cause food poisoning. Find out more about storing leftovers safely. Hardgrave’s advice is to store food in the fridge below 5°C (41°F). “If your fridge has an internal freezer compartment that is iced up, the fridge could struggle to maintain its temperature,” he says.

Washing fruit and vegetables. It’s advisable to wash fruit and vegetables under cold running water before you eat them. This helps to remove visible dirt and germs that may be on the surface. Peeling or cooking fruit and vegetables can also remove these germs. Never use washing-up liquid or other household cleaning products, as they might not be safe for human consumption and you may accidentally leave some of the product on the food. Cleaning up. Wash all worktops and chopping boards before and after cooking, as they can be a source of crosscontamination. The average kitchen chopping board has around 200% more faecal bacteria on it than the average toilet seat. Damp sponges and cloths are the perfect place for bacteria to breed. Studies have shown the kitchen sponge to have the highest number of germs in the home. Wash and replace kitchen cloths, sponges and tea towels frequently. ■ NHS Choices

such as salads and buns • don’t put raw meat next to cooked or partly cooked meat on the barbecue • don’t put sauce or marinade on cooked food if it has already been used with raw meat Keeping food cool. It’s also important to keep some foods cool to prevent food poisoning germs multiplying. Make sure you keep the following foods cool: • salads • dips • milk, cream, yoghurt • desserts and cream cakes • sandwiches

• ham and other cooked meats • cooked rice, including rice salads Don’t leave food out of the fridge for more than a couple of hours, and don’t leave food in the sun. See the Food Standard Agency’s GermWatch campaign. Fire safety. Make sure your barbecue is steady on a level surface, away from plants and trees. The Fire Service advises covering the bottom of your barbecue with coal to a depth of no more than 5cm (2in). Use only recognised firelighters or starter fuel, and then only on cold coals. Never use petrol on a barbecue. ■ NHS Choices

Barbecue food safety FOOD poisoning cases double over the summer, so remember these simple steps to help keep food safe. Food poisoning is usually mild, and most people get better within a week. But sometimes it can be more severe, even deadly, so it’s important to take the risks seriously. Children, older people and those with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable to food poisoning. “The safest option is to cook food indoors using your oven,” says a spokesperson from the Food Standards Agency (FSA). “You can then put the cooked food outside on the barbecue for flavour.” This can be an easier option if you’re cooking for a lot of people at the same time. If you are only cooking on the barbecue, the two main risk factors are: • undercooked meat • spreading germs from raw meat onto food that’s ready to eat This is because raw or undercooked meat can contain germs that cause food poisoning, such as salmonella, E.coli and campylobacter. However, these germs can

be killed by cooking meat until it is piping hot throughout Cooking meat on a barbecue When you’re cooking any kind of meat on a barbecue, such as poultry (chicken or turkey), pork, steak, burgers or sausages, make sure: • the coals are glowing red with a powdery grey surface before you start cooking, as this means that they’re hot enough • frozen meat is properly thawed before you cook it • you turn the meat regularly and move it around the barbecue to cook it evenly Remember that meat is safe to eat only when: • it is piping hot in the centre • there is no pink meat visible • any juices are clear “Don’t assume that because meat is charred on the outside it will be cooked properly on the inside,” says the FSA spokesperson. “Cut the meat at the thickest part and ensure none of it is pink on the inside.” Some meat, such as steaks and joints

of beef or lamb, can be served rare (not cooked in the middle) as long as the outside has been properly cooked. This will kill any bacteria that might be on the outside of the meat. However, food made from minced meat, such as sausages and burgers, must be cooked thoroughly all the way through. Raw meat. Germs from raw meat can move easily onto your hands and then onto anything else you touch, including food that is cooked and ready to eat. This is called cross-contamination. Cross-contamination can happen if raw meat touches anything (including plates, cutlery, tongs and chopping boards) that then comes into contact with other food. Some easy steps to help prevent crosscontamination are: • always wash your hands after touching raw meat • use separate utensils (plates, tongs, containers) for cooked and raw meat • never put cooked food on a plate or surface that has had raw meat on it • keep raw meat in a sealed container away from foods that are ready to eat,

Preventing food poisoning THE best way to avoid getting food poisoning is to ensure you maintain high standards of food hygiene when storing, handling and preparing food. According to the Food Standards Agency (FSA), a useful way of preventing food poisoning is to remember the four Cs: • cleaning • cooking • chilling • cross-contamination (avoiding it) These are described in more detail below. Cleaning. You can prevent the spread of harmful bacteria and viruses by maintaining good personal hygiene standards and keeping work surfaces and utensils clean. Regularly wash your hands with soap and warm water, particularly: • after going to the toilet

• after handling raw food • before preparing food • after touching bins • after touching pets You should never handle food if: • you are ill with stomach problems, such as diarrhoea or vomiting • you have sores and cuts (unless they are covered with a waterproof dressing) Cooking. It is important to cook food thoroughly, particularly poultry, pork, burgers, sausages and kebabs. This will kill any harmful bacteria that may be present, such as listeria and salmonella. Make sure the food is cooked thoroughly and is steaming hot in the middle. To check that meat is cooked, insert a knife into the thickest or deepest part. It is fully cooked if the juices are clear and there is no pink or red meat. Some meat, such as steaks

and joints (but not rolled joints) of beef or lamb, can be served rare (not cooked in the middle), as long as the outside has been cooked properly. When reheating food, make sure it is steaming hot all the way through. Do not reheat food more than once. Chilling. Certain foods need to be kept at the correct temperature to prevent harmful bacteria from growing and multiplying. Always check the storage instructions on the label. If food has to be refrigerated, set your fridge to 0–5°C (32–41°F). If food that needs to be chilled is left at room temperature, bacteria can grow and multiply to dangerous levels. Cooked leftovers should be cooled quickly, ideally within 1–2 hours, and put in your fridge or freezer. Dividing food into

You can prevent the spread of harmful bacteria and viruses by maintaining good personal hygiene standards and keeping work surfaces and utensils clean. smaller amounts and putting it into shallow containers will speed up the cooling process. Cross-contamination. Crosscontamination occurs when bacteria are transferred from foods (usually raw foods) to other foods. Contamination can be: • direct – where one food touches or drips onto another food • indirect – where bacteria on your hands, work surfaces, equipment or utensils are spread to food To prevent cross-contamination: • always wash your hands after handling raw food

• store raw and ready-to-eat foods separately • store raw meat in sealable containers at the bottom of your fridge so that it cannot drip onto other foods • use a different chopping board for raw food and ready-to-eat food, or wash it thoroughly in between preparing different types of food • clean knives and other utensils thoroughly after using them with raw food do not wash raw meat or poultry – any harmful bacteria will be killed by thorough cooking, and washing may splash harmful bacteria around the kitchen. ■ NHS Choices

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PhiliPPines haiyan RecoveRy PRojects

July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

All Hands Volunteers Commitment to Philippines’ Recovery

A huge Thank You to all Hello Philippines readers that have already signed up to monthly giving to support our Philippines projects! 100% of your donations are going to support our Philippines projects on the islands of Bohol and Leyte. We couldn’t do it without your help! Here is an update on our current projects. You have made a huge difference! Leyte. All Hands has been on the ground responding to Super Typhoon Haiyan since a few short days after the storm, and we officially opened Project Leyte on December 2, 2013. During the initial phase, the majority of our efforts were focused on deconstruction – a vitally important step in the recovery process as rebuilding is impossible without first clearing damaged structures. We started our work in the City of Ormoc, where we concentrated on Food Relief as part of the initial emergency response, and short- and longer-term Shelter Relief. We distributed food supplies to several barangays close to Ormoc City and deconstructed homes, schools and hospitals. In the month of January, we expanded our relief operations to the municipality of Kananga, where we deconstructed schools and the municipal hospital. In late March, we expanded our efforts to western Leyte and the city of Tacloban - the site of most of the news coverage during and immediately following Haiyan. The majority of the damage caused by the typhoon was centered on Tacloban, resulting in the largest numbers of internally displaced families. Our deconstruction efforts here are ongoing as many homes remain damaged and unsafe to occupy. Concurrently, we have partnered with Operation Blessing and are building 60 temporary shelters for the displaced families, with more likely to follow.

Bohol. In Bohol we recently wrapped up our work with the International Organization For Migration (IOM) where, over the course of two weeks, we distributed shelter repair kits to 257 families. (See below for a list of beneficiaries by barangay and purok). In March we established the partnership with IOM to validate and distribute shelter repair kits to families in the barangays of Antequera and Maribojoc. Shelter repair kits consist of various construction materials that the families use to repair homes that were damaged in the October earthquake, making their homes safe and fully liveable again. Beneficiary families were selected through an IOM screening process and All Hands Volunteers conducted interviews and validations with the local community to assess each family’s need. Distribution of shelter repair kits by Barangay and Purok Maribojoc – Jandig, Poblacion, Aliguay: 59 beneficiaries Antequera – Danao, Danicop: 63 beneficiaries Antequera – Villa Aurora, Viga: 53 beneficiaries Antequera – Celing, Sto. Rosario: 41 beneficiaries Maribojoc – 2nd batch Aliguay: 12 beneficiaries Maribojoc – 2nd batch Poblacion, Antequera – 2nd batch Danao, Danicop, Villa Aurora, Celing, Bungahan: 29 beneficiaries Total Beneficiaries in Maribojoc: 86 Total Beneficiaries in Antequera: 171 We want to help many more families but we can’t do it alone. We need your help. Please donate to our Philippines appeal https://www.justgiving.com/ allhandsvolunteerstrust/ All Hands Volunteers (UK) Trust is a UK Registered Charity 1139938 ■

Volunteers in Tacloban building 60 temporary shelters for the displaced families with Operation Blessing.

Our volunteers preparing food packages.

Building 60 temporary shelters with locals.

Locals helping our volunteers in Tacloban. Unloading supplies for Shelter Repair Kits with IOM team.

Sinah ensuring paperwork is clear before distributing Shelter Repair kits.

IOM Shelter Repair Kits beneficiaries waiting for their materials.

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July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

Bakit mahal ang bawang? Artificial shortage created by suppliers, says Ilocos Norte agriculturist LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte – There is sufficient supply of garlic, but big-time garlic suppliers are causing retail prices of the spice to quadruple, said Ilocos Norte provincial agriculturist Norma Lagmay. “There must be an ‘artificial shortage’ perpetuated by the big-time players in the garlic industry,” said Lagmay, who is also an economist. For the first time in the history of Ilocos Norte as the country’s top producer of garlic, consumers are currently buying Ilocos native garlic at an average price of P260 or P300 per kilogram in Metro Manila. This is about four times the average farm gate price of P69.25 in 2013. Retail price of garlic in Ilocos Norte reached its record high of P139.55 per kg last year. As a classic example of the law of supply and demand, Lagmay said “the price of a commodity (garlic) increases when the demand is high.” The garlic price hike came at a time when almost all garlic growers have nothing left to sell except for their personal consumption and for planting purposes. “We are happy to know that garlic

price is increasing but at the same time we sympathize with end-consumers buying too expensive garlic and we have nothing left to spare,” said Wilfredo Valdez, president of the Vegetable Growers Association in Region 1 and a member of the National Garlic Action Team. Stricter Customs vs smuggled products. He said the price hike may also have been attributed to an intensified monitoring of smuggled garlic products from Taiwan. Over the years, Ilocos Norte has maintained its status as the garlic capital of the Philippines producing about 905 metric tons (MT) sufficiency level in 2012 and more than 800MT in 2013. Once branded as the Ilocos white gold, the P1-billion cash crop industry had its ups and downs between 2005 and 2013, when garlic production significantly decreased from 8,231.23MT to 5,435.76MT based on a report of the Bureau of Agriculture Statistics (BAS). The decline was mainly due to insect pests and diseases afflicting garlic, climate change, and low productivity which discouraged several farmers who shifted to

other alternative cash crops. Better government support. In October 2013, Ilocos farmers saw a ray of hope when the Department of Agriculture in partnership with various research agencies and the provincial government stepped up in revitalizing the garlic industry through sustainable seed support system. As a result, the Department of Agriculture has allotted P10 million for the purchase of quality bulbs, fertilizer subsidy, establishment of small-scale irrigation facilities and post-harvest facilities, research on varietal trials of promising varieties by the Mariano Marcos State University, crop insurance and provision of capital assistance of the Federated Garlic Association for garlic training and processing. The inter-government agency convergence also linked farmers with the Vegetable Importers, Exporters, and Vendors Association (VIEVA) of the Philippines to assist them in marketing their products. With an increasing demand for this industrial crop known for its culinary and medicinal value, Ilocos Norte is set

to increase its existing 2,130 hectares production area. Experts said garlic grows best in the Ilocos soil due to its agro-climatic suitability. This year, an increase of 136 hectares of garlic plantation was added, benefiting about 453 farmers in top garlic-producing municipalities of Pasuquin,Vintar, Sarrat, Burgos, San Nicolas, Paoay, Badoc, Bacarra, Pinili, and Bangui, as well as the

cities of Batac and Laoag. Earlier, the DA has convened the National Garlic Action Team to determine the cause of the price spike and come up with solutions. The action team is composed of representatives of the DA High Value Crops Development Program (HVCDP), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the academe, and the private sector. ■ Leilanie G. Adriano / Philippines News Agency /

June 22, 2014 / 9:28 AM

Commentary: How to fight poverty in ‘shallow democratic’ Philippines EDITOR’S note: Prof. Amado “Bong” Mendoza is a faculty member of the Department of Political Science, University of the Philippines (Diliman) and is primarily interested in Philippine politics and political economy. He used to write for Business Day covering the finance beat and the online edition of Inquirer. Through this column, I turn my attention to current brouhaha over the melodramatic arrest and detention of Senator Bong Revilla. I will return to the South China Sea contretemps in my next column. Revilla is obviously milking the incident to strengthen his bid for the presidency in 2016. He even has his followers do their version of “people power” to support him. He, together with others of his ilk, is peddling the nonsense that victory at the polls means he is innocent of the various criminal charges filed against him. Revilla is proof positive of the steady deterioration of the quality of our politicians over the decades. That is sad and doubly tragic since the challenges confronting the country have become more formidable. Of course, the dependent and “ignorant” mass of voters share some of the blame for the likes of Revilla. But I will not put the onus on them. I will not blame the victims primarily. I will indict our political class and political system. Our political class includes Pnoy, Mar, Butch aBAD, Villar, JPE Tanda, Jinggoy Estrada, and the rest of their ilk. PWE!. Politicians not interested in ﬁghting poverty. Our political system is candidate-, personality-centered system. Politicians develop their INDIVIDUAL reputations rather than their PARTY affiliations. So we don’t mind if they flit from one party to the other as long as we receive favors and “manna” from them. And then we say, ang bait nila. Madali silang lapitan at matulungin. These politicians are generally incapable of having and developing a

strategic vision and plan for the country’s development. They have a very short planning horizon coincident with the electoral cycle: three years for sub-national politicians and six years for national-level politicians. A poverty-stricken society, with runaway population growth, will find it very difficult to progress with this kind of a political class. In fact, the real threat to the current rule of our political class is an economically prosperous and independent citizenry. When people are independent economically, they are less prone to the pa-pogi of seemingly generous politicians. Indeed, our politicians are very generous with our money: bestowing favors on voters (strategically), supporters, and financiers, and of course on themselves, friends, and relatives. These politicians are not in any way interested in a strategic conquest of poverty in the Philippines. The key to their continued political dominance is a supine and dependent populace. Their muchvaunted anti-poverty programs are so calibrated such that they are still patronage games for vote buying.

Get enlightened elite to side of reform. So now, we have to strategize how to conquer poverty in our lifetime despite these politicians. So, the tough political challenge is how to conquer poverty despite the opposition and lukewarmness of our political class. I think the key political strategy is to divide them and win one faction or section to our side. There are malcontents and some enlightened ones within the political class who are not content with the prevailing order. I dare say Albay Governor Joey Salceda is one of them. We must identify more and strengthen links with them through painstaking dialogue and joint strategizing and action for changes in prevailing policy and actual action programs. Some members of the economic elites warm to the idea of a domestic market enlarged by the conquest of poverty and prosperous development. This is especially important when external export markets are not as vibrant as before. About one year ago, the Office of the President received a letter signed by the heads of 10 of the most influential

Philippine business groups and seven foreign chambers outlining a list of key issues and proposed measures that President Aquino and his administration could focus on to drive inclusive growth through job generation, poverty reduction, and global competitiveness. Similarly, we have to identify and work with these business interests. After years of revolutionary/reform work, I have realized that significant changes in our country cannot be achieved without the active support and participation of at least a section of our ruling classes. This is because the current revolutionary/reform classes are weak because of disunity. Even if they’re unified, their political weight is still light compared to the power of the entrenched classes. It is indeed necessary to divide the current ruling class and broaden the STRATEGIC coalition for reform and change. The middle class, specially the professionals, is in the main pro-reform. The underclasses have been clamoring for deep changes for centuries. Philippines unable to realize economic potential. While formally a democratic republic wherein all governmental authority emanates from the sovereign people, the Philippines is an elite or “shallow” democracy, or even an oligarchy that has been unable to adequately respond to the needs of under-classes. In addition, the Philippine state is seen as relatively weak and is susceptible to capture and plunder by strong private social groups and interests including political factions and families, big business groups, among others. The failures of the Philippine state and politics are highlighted by the inability to sustain and realize a promising economic growth potential (as of the 1950s) when the country was supposed to be second in Asia only to Japan in terms of economic development.

At the core of this failure is inconsistency and incompatibility of economic policy making with the requirements of sustainable growth since 1946, the birth of the Third Republic. The source of policy inconsistency is identified in the literature as reflective of incomplete elite differentiation in the country. For example, as the country’s elite groups are involved in almost all lines of business such as external trade (imports and exports), real estate, commercial agriculture, manufacturing, and finance, there has been for a long time no elite consensus on trade and foreign exchange policy. For example, an importer may prefer a protectionist trade regime to protect her import monopoly. She may also prefer an over-valued peso so her imports will be cheaper in terms of the local currency. However if she is also an exporter, she may want an under-valued peso so her products will be more competitive in the world markets. If she actually manufactures the exportables, her stance may be more nuanced. For instance, to the extent that the import-content of his export products is quite high, then she may be in favor of an over-valued peso. She may also prefer a more liberal foreign trade regime to make her imported inputs cheaper. However, since she wants her products to be competitive externally, she will prefer an under-valued local currency. In sum, she will not have a straightforward position on foreign exchange and trade policies. The ambivalence of business preferences will get reflected in whatever policy proposals forwarded by our politicians. The consequences of such policy inconsistency will be discussed in my next column. ■ Amado M. Mendoza Jr. / InterAksyon.com / June 24, 2014 / 8:28 AM

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July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

Derek Ramsay kicks off ‘Amazing Race PH’ season 2 with Cebu auditions WITH more interesting places, more challenging obstacles and bigger prizes, “The Amazing Race Philippines” formally kicked off its second season with the first of four scheduled auditions around the country. Held in SM Cebu last June 13, the daylong auditions of the show presented by TV5 together with Rexona was personally graced by returning host Derek Ramsay and other TV5 talents like Akihiro Blanco, Vin Abrenica and Martin Escudero. It also attracted a good number of aspirants, many of whom waited all day to show they were worthy of consideration for the Philippine franchise of the most awarded reality competition show in the US. Here in the Philippines, the first season of “The Amazing Race Philippines” was honored in the 2013 Golden Screen TV Awards as Outstanding Adapted Reality/ Competition Program. It also paraded a charismatic line-up of contestants, including the comedy duos of Vanessa Ishitani and Pamela Spella; sexy beauties Dani Castaño and Mish van Ruyven; bad boys Fausto Reyes and Dayal Chowdary, Jr. and eventual winners LJ Moreno and CJ Jaravata. As three more audition dates for the show are scheduled this month at Matina Town Square Davao (June 20), Marquee

Mall Pampanga (June 22), and Eastwood City (June 28), Derek and several contestants of Season 1 are offering their advice to “Amazing Race” aspirants. In addition to the show’s tagline, “Race Safe. Race Hard. Race Fast”, Derek was also quick to add, “Be yourself” in his tweet to InterAksyon. Broadcast journalist Angel Movido, who teamed up with her father Ed Movido and made it as far as 7th place out of 11 teams during Season 1, tweeted, “Do not walk, RUN! Everything is REAL so be ready for WHATEVER! KEEP SAFE. Think simple, Think wild. DISKARTE + A LIL LUCK!” Gee Canlas, who teamed up with Sheena Vera Cruz of the Philippine All Stars, kept it simple. “Be patient, enjoy but strategize,” she said. But it was CJ Jaravata, who won a cool P2 million in cash prize together with teammate LJ Moreno, who had a mouthful to share with this season’s yet-to-be determined finalists. “Those who are going to join must come and be prepared. Don’t join for the wrong reasons. Join because you love the show, you love the game and not because you want to get something out of it,” she noted. “Me and LJ came prepared when we joined the show. We did our homework. We trained. It’s not easy. You cannot go

Derek Ramsay addresses the SM Cebu crowd as several auditioners stand behind him.

into a war without ammunition. Make sure you’re prepared and it’s going to be a great journey.” CJ’s teammate, LJ Moreno says a little divine providence wouldn’t hurt. “Pray and make sure you trust your partner,” she also tweeted. Aspiring contestants for “The Amazing Race Philippines Season 2” must be at least 21 years old and a Filipino citizen to qualify for the auditions. Those who cannot personally go to the audition venues may also audition online by filling up an online application form, or via mail-in by sending your audition videos and application forms to TV5 MEDIA CENTER, Reliance cor. Sheridan Sts., Mandaluyong City, Philippines 1552. ■ Edwin P. Sallan / InterAksyon.com / June 19, 2014 / 8:26 AM

Aspirants fill up application forms before the start of their auditions.

Vin Abrenica, Akihiro Blanco and Martin Escudero entertain the crowd during the first audition day of ‘The Amazing Race Philippines’.

Filipina to compete in Miss Universe Great Britain 2014

Tribute photo made by Epee Rafanan as posted on the Facebook page Nora Aunor for National Artist.

Fans outraged by snub of Nora Aunor as National Artist DESPITE the reported recommendation of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and an online petition signed by 1,960 signatories, Nora Aunor was not included among the new National Artists proclaimed by Malacañang on Friday. Aunor was the only nominee for Film. She would have been the eight recipient of the honor since it was instituted by Proclamation No. 1001 in 1972. The seven National Artists for Films are Gerardo de Leon (1982), Lino Brocka (1997), Ishmael Bernal (2001), Eddie Romero (2003), Fernando Poe, Jr. (2006) and Manuel Conde (2009). As expected, fans of the legendary actress dubbed as the one and only Superstar were outraged by this unexpected turn of events as many of them had assumed that Aunor’s recognition as National Artist was only a matter of President Noynoy Aquino affixing his signature. The Facebook pages Nora Aunor for National Artist and Nora Aunor for National Artist: The Real Journey Begins Here changed their profile and cover photos to

black shortly after the announcement was made. “Ang itim na profile pic ng ating fanpage ay simbolo ng pagluluksa sa hindi makatarungang pagtanggal sa pangalang NORA AUNOR sa listahan ng mga nominado bilang National Artists. Maaari nyo ring gawin ito bilang pakikiisa sa pagdadalamhati ng sangkanoranianan sa buong mundo. Ate Guy, ikaw pa rin ang Superstar at ikaw pa rin ang TUNAY NA NATIONAL ARTIST sa wagas na pakahulugan. Ang hindi pagproklama sa iyo ay hindi makadudungis ng iyong tagumpay bilang tunay na alagad ng sining. Mahal ka naming,” posted the admin of Nora Aunor for National Artist fanpage. On Twitter, a similar sentiment was also expressed by those favoring Ate Guy’s proclamation as National Artist. ■ Edwin P.

Zandra Flores’ official swimsuit photo for the 2013 Binibining Pilipinas pageant.

A Filipina from Manaoag, Pangasinan will compete at the Miss Universe Great Britain 2014 pageant in Cardiff, Wales this Saturday. Zandra Flores, 25, will represent the city of Manchester in the competition whose winner will be the United Kingdom’s bet in the Miss Universe pageant later this year. A Filipino-British citizen, she graduated from the University of Bradford in England with a degree in Biomedical Sciences specializing in Cellular Pathology. She is currently taking up a master’s degree at the Manchester Metropolitan University and plans to pursue a career in medicine. Flores had run through the pageant circuit in the Philippines before trying her luck across the Atlantic. She joined Miss

Philippines Earth in 2012, then Binibining Pilipinas, Mutya ng Pilipinas, and Miss World Philippines in 2013. “I went through intensive training for these pageants under the management of Kagandahang Flores team lead by Mr. Rodin Gilbert B. Flores. I humbly request for everyone’s support in my upcoming endeavour. I promise everyone to focus and do my best to win the crown,” she posted on Facebook. Her bid for the Miss Universe Great Britain title is sponsored by Century Properties. Great Britain is one of 19 countries that have yet to choose their Miss Universe candidate for this year. Mary Jean “MJ” Lastimosa will represent the Philippines. ■

InterAksyon.com / June 18, 2014 / 10:22 AM

Sarah Geronimo admits relationship with Matteo Guidicelli JUST five days after declaring that she was “proud” and “happy” about whatever was going on between her and Matteo Guidicelli, Sarah Geronimo finally admitted on Thursday night that they are in a relationship — officially her first. “O sige, sasabihin ko na po. Boyfriend

Sallan / InterAksyon.com / June 21, 2014 / 7:57 PM

Matteo Guidicelli and Sarah Geronimo.

ko po si Matteo,” the 25-year-old singeractress told media during the thanksgiving party for her latest box office hit, “Maybe This Time”. Sarah gave the response after she was asked if she also calls Matteo “Mahal” (My Love). He had admitted earlier that this was

his term of endearment for her after director Wenn Deramas revealed on Facebook that Matteo had sent him a text message of “Good morning mahal” by mistake. Despite his admission, Matteo, also 25, declined to admit the romance out of respect for her famously conservative and overprotective parents. In an interview with the ABS-CBN talk show “The Buzz” on Sunday, Sarah came just just short of a categorical admission in response to speculations stirred by a cozy photo of her and Matteo that had circulated online. Previously, Sarah had been romantically linked to Rayver Cruz and Gerald Anderson. However, both courtships did not prosper, allegedly in part due to restrictions imposed by her parents, especially her mother Divine. Matteo, on the other hand, had dated Maja Salvador and Jessy Mendiola. ■ InterAksyon.com / June 19, 2014 / 11:59 PM

July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

ENTERTAINMENT & CELEBRITY SCOOP

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Ryan Agoncillo and Carla Abellana star in GMA Network’s newest sitcom, ISMOL FAMILY

SUNDAYS will be more exciting and enjoyable for the whole family as GMA Network brings to light a funny, new sitcom on weekend primetime with ISMOL FAMILY, premiering on June 28 on the Network’s flagship international channel, GMA Pinoy TV. Ismol Family mirrors every person’s aspiration to keep the whole family happy throughout life’s everyday challenges. It takes the viewers on a fun and inspiring family adventure that both parents and their kids can enjoy. Its relatable storyline likewise encourages the viewers to advocate the belief that money doesn’t define your family’s happiness. Leading the cast of Ismol Family are Kapuso ace TV host and celebrity dad Ryan Agoncillo and versatile dramatic actress Carla Abellana. Ryan and Carla, who have briefly partnered in My Husband’s Lover, reunite in the program as Jingo, a responsible and loving husband and his pretty and strong-willed wifeMajay. Joining Ryan and Carla are Carmi Martin as Mama A, Majay’s mother; Mikael Daez as Bernie, Jingo’s bestfriend; Mike “Pekto” Nacua as Bobong, Majay’s older brother; Kevin Santos as Lance, Mama A’s young boyfriend; Miguel Tanfelix as Tan-tan, Yumi’s classmate; Bianca Umali as Yumi, Bobong’s daughter; Marc Justine Alvarez as PJ, Jingo and Majay’s only son; Natalia Moon as Natalia, Jingo and Majay’s techie house help. At the helm of Ismol Family is no less than Director Dominic Zapata who has previously

handled the comedy programs of the Network Beh Bote Nga, Nuts Entertainment, Jejemom and Comedy Bar. He is very excited to direct his first family sitcom in the Kapuso Network, “It’s a viewing that you don’t have to be worried about and where families can be able to relate to the show’s characters. It’s a very typical Filipino family which looks at the lighter side of things, a new perspective on typical Filipino life.“ Director Dominic adds that Ismol Family is very relatable to families, “It’s very wholesome. The comedy is very now. It’s both a comedy and a drama because it is very heartwarming. A lot of things here are very relatable. Every episode has a lesson which will be shown in a way that isn’t typical. We packaged the lessons through a heartwarming comedy, with a family that you could all relate to, and that you could love and think [of] as your own.” Meanwhile, Director Dominic shares that he is very happy to be working again with Ryan and Carla after My Husband’s Lover. He says that the viewers will witness the different sides of these artists in Ismol Family where they will showcase their talent in comedy. “I’m glad to have worked with Ryan and Carla. We are very familiar with each other. They are very seasoned actors. They could go the full spectrum from doing really heavy drama to doing something very light, even comedy. Carla is very different here. You’ll see the bubblier side of Carla. And I think it helps that Ryan understands the dynamics of husband and wife.” ■ GMA

Carla Abellana

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Ryan Agoncillo

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July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

GMA Network Rakes in 8 Awards in US Int’l Film and Video Festival ADDING to its recent string of victories in international competitions, GMA Network gained eight recognitions in the 2014 US International Film and Video Festival (USIFVF) based in Los Angeles, California. GMA’s latest win consists of two Gold Camera and five Silver Screen awards for its News and Public Affairs shows, and a Certificate of Creative Excellence for one of its Entertainment programs. Taking home golds (first place) are GMA News TV shows in the Documentary production category, namely Wagas: Mga Kuwento ng Totoong Pag-Ibig, for Docudrama programs; and Brigada, for Social Issues programs. Wagas has also been included in the shortlist of documentaries nominated for the Best of Festival (Grand Prix) Award, reserved only for the most outstanding Gold Camera recipients. Winners will be announced on June 16. The show’s entry was its “Cerebral Palsy” episode, which featured the inspiring love story of an ailing Ron Saniposo (played by Sid Lucero) and his wife Grace (portrayed by GMA Artist Center talent Gwen Zamora). Brigada’s “Gintong Krudo” episode, meanwhile, exposed the hazards faced by impoverished children at the Navotas Fish Port, who swim in filthy waters to collect spilled crude oil. The same episode also won the Silver World Medal in the 2014 New York Festival, where GMA bagged one gold, two more silvers, and three bronze world medals. More honors. Earning one of five Silver

Screen awards (second place) for the network was GMA News TV’s primetime newscast, State of the Nation with Jessica Soho, in the TV News category for Continuing News Stories. The newscast was cited for its coverage of Super Typhoon Yolanda (international code name: Haiyan) last November. It was also part of GMA News and Public Affairs’ gold medal triumph at the George Foster Peabody Awards, considered the equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize for electronic media. This is the third consecutive year that State of the Nation was recognized by the USIFVF. Last year, it won the Silver Screen Award for “The Wrath of the Monsoon,” its coverage of the disastrous habagat rains that swamped Metro Manila and nearby provinces. In 2012, State of the Nation received a Certificate for Creative Excellence (third place) for its episode on the aftermath of Typhoon Sendong (international code name: Washi). Silver streak. For its part, Reporter’s Notebook earned a Silver Screen Award in the Documentary Programs: Current Affairs category for its “Bakas ng Trahedya” episode. Anchored by Maki Pulido and Jiggy Manicad, the episode shed light on the plight of Yolanda survivors and the government’s response in the wake of the tragedy. Reality documentary program Reel Time won two silvers for “Silang Wala sa Mapa” in the Documentary Programs: Health, Medical category, and “Dungkoy”

in the Documentary Programs: Biography category. “Silang Wala sa Mapa” showed how the B’laan indigenous people of Mindanao survived for generations without modern medicine. It was also a Silver World Medal recipient in the 2014 New York Festival. “Dungkoy,” on the other hand, told the story of a nine-year-old boy who takes care of his paralyzed grandmother. Both characters share similar fates of being forsaken by their own families. GMA-7’s Front Row received a Silver Screen Award in the Documentary Programs: Social Issues category. Its winning episode, “Ulilang Lubos,” featured the plight of abandoned children who are forced to fend for themselves. Finally, family-oriented quiz show Picture! Picture! earned a Certificate for Creative Excellence for the Entertainment Program & Specials: Game Show category. Hosted by Ryan Agoncillo, Picture! Picture is an original creation of the GMA Entertainment TV group. Founded in 1967, the US International Film and Video Festival recognizes outstanding corporate, education, entertainment, documentary, and student productions. Filipinos abroad may catch Reporter’s Notebook, Wagas and Picture! Picture! on GMA Pinoy TV, while Front Row, Reel Time, State of the Nation, and Brigada airs internationally on GMA News TV International. For more details, visit www. gmanetwork.com/international. ■

“Cerebral Palsy” played by Sid Lucero and Gwen Zamora

Reporter’s Notebook, anchored by Maki Pulido and Jiggy Manicad

Jessica Soho’s State of the Nation

Picture! Picture, hosted by Ryan Agoncillo

Marian Rivera on her new show: ‘Wala po akong limitations’ MAGMULA noong Marimar days niya, naipakita na ni Marian Rivera ang kanyang talento sa pagsasayaw. Sumikat ang dance song niyang Sabay Sabay Tayo at pinasikat din niya ang “Bubble Butt” dance. Ano kaya ang kanyang trademark dance move? Kuwento ng Kapuso Primetime Queen noong press conference ng kanyang upcoming dance show na Marian, hindi na daw siya nag dance workshop para sa programa. Nahasa na raw siya sa pagsasayaw kahit papaano dahil Zumba ang kanyang regular workout. Kaya naman handang handa na siya para sa Marian, na eere tuwing Sabado pagkatapos ng Pepito Manaloto simula na

ngayong Sabado, June 21. Dagdag niya, “Siguro kasi bata pa lang ako, mahilig na talaga akong sumayaw. Sa side ng tatay ko at ng nanay ko, lahat kami sa pamilya, hilig ang pagsasayaw. Nasa dugo ko na talaga ang pagsasayaw.” Alam na daw ng lahat na sumasayaw siya. Alam ng lahat na magaling siyang gumiling at hindi rin magpapahuli pagdating sa hip-hop. Pero sa Marian, marami daw mga dance routine mismong siya ay nagulat na kaya pala niyang gawin. “Naniniwala kasi ako na ang pagiging mahusay o ang kagalingan sa isang bagay, gradual ‘yan. Walang nakukuha nang biglaan. Step-by-step hanggang sa makuha

mo talaga ‘yung gusto mo. Nandoon ako ngayon,” ani Marian. Sa Marian, bubuhayin ng Kapuso Primetime Queen ang era ng mga dancing queens na pinangunahan noon nina Vilma Santos, Maricel Soriano at Alma Moreno. May kanya-kanyang iconic dance moves ang mga ito. Ano naman kaya ang magiging trademark ng isang Marian Rivera? “Kumbaga sa camera- 360. Ganoon ang gagawin ko. Lahat! Hip-hop, sexy, tumatumbling, hinahagis, pati sa costume, wala po akong limitations,” sagot niya. ■

Samantha Portillo and Melisa Aquino / GMANetwork. com / June 21, 2014 / 7:39 PM

The explosive comeback of Richard Gutierrez Thea Tolentino on Andre Paras: ‘Boyfriend material siya’ JUST like the explosive revelation in his personal life, Richard Gutierrez will have an explosive comeback in his new film, Overtime. Richard revealed his experiences when he worked on this project and how he felt when he portrayed the role of Dom Garcia. According to Richard, the script of Overtime is an excellent comeback material for him. “Nagustuhan ko ‘yung script. For the first time in the movie na parang medyo kontrabida yung character ko. Pero, he’s fighting for the right thing. His ways and his ideas medyo hindi sang-ayon sa socially accepted na norm,” he said. Richard declared that he liked the idea of playing the bida/kontrabida role because it is challenging and different from the roles he played in his previous projects. “Playing the antagonist gives you the opportunity to be creative in the film. Dito, I

just changed my ways from the typical bida roles. So it was very fun for me to be creative,” Richard added. Apart from the bida/kontrabida role that was given to Richard, he also discussed that the character of Dom Garcia is something to watch for. He shared, “I like what he’s [Dom] fighting for. I think he has the right, kumbaga tama ‘yung mga ipinaglalaban niya, tama ‘yung mga sinasabi niya, pero minsan yung ways lang niya impulsive.” ■ Ann Charmaine Aquino

and Bochic Estrada / GMANetwork.com / June 21, 2014 / 3:07 PM

FIRST time nagkasama sa isang project sina Kapuso actors Thea Tolentino at Andre Paras. Ayon sa aktres, mayroong siyang ine-expect sa tambalan nilang dalawa sa The Half Sisters. “Naglu-look forward ako na magkaroon naman ng kilig scenes with Andre,” pahayag ni Thea. Kuwento ni Thea, noong unang raw ay nahihiya siyang lapitan si Andre dahil mukha itong masungit. Pero noong nagtagal at ilang beses na silang nagkaeksena, nawala raw ang kanyang hiya sa bagong love team dahil lumabas na rin ang kalog sa katawan nito. “Sa nakikita ko kapag offcam, kapag hindi siya nakangiti, para siyang seryosong tao. Pero once na ngumiti siya, parang kenkoy na siya. Tapos napakakenkoy nga talaga niya,” saad ni Thea. Ayon pa kay Thea, habang tumatagal

ay nagugustuhan niyang nasa tabi niya lagi si Andre. Aniya, “Nakakatuwa siya. Siya ‘yung parang gusto mong kasama araw-araw kasi napapatawa ka niya eh. Kahit anong gawin niya eh may pitik eh!” Single ngayon si Thea kaya’t tinanong namin sa kanya kung boyfriend material ba ang tingin niya kay Andre. “Sa nakikita ko para sa’kin, oo boyfriend material siya,” sagot niya. Bukod sa first time ni Thea na maitambal kay Andre, first time niya rin papasok sa isang love triangle. Magiging hadlang kasi ang role ni Barbie na si Diana kina Ashley at Bradley. Pero ayon kay Thea, kahit na kontrabida siya ay umaasa pa rin siya na ang characters nila ni Andre ang magkatuluyan. Saad niya, “Kasi sa nangyayari ngayon [sa istorya], ang

Thea Tolentino and Andre Paras

nagkakamabutihan ay sina Andre at Barbie. So inaabangan ko na lang. Usually ‘di ba kapag kontrabida ka, hindi mo talaga nakukuha ‘yung lalaki.” ■ Al Kendrick Noguera and Elisa Aquino / GMANetwork. com / June 19, 2014 / 8:41 PM

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PHILIPPINE EMBASSY NEWS AROUND THE WORLD

July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

Filipina Peacebuilders Lauded for Leadership at Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict PHILIPPINE Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles, headed a 10-women peace delegation that highlighted women’s leadership role in peacebuilding in the country at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict held from June 10 to 13 in London. Co-hosted by British Foreign Secretary William Hague and Special Envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Angelina Jolie, the Summit gathered delegates from 155 countries representing government, civil society, and international organization sectors to raise global awareness and worldwide attitudes on sexual violence in conflict by translating political commitments into practical action to prevent a culture of impunity. Aside from Secretary Deles, the Philippine delegation was composed of the following: Professor Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, Chairman of the Philippine Government Panel (GPH) to the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF); Atty. Johaira Wahab, former Commissioner of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC); Atty. Raissa Jajurie, former consultant of the MILF peace panel and currently BTC Commissioner; Froilyn Mendoza, founder of the Teduray Lambangian Women Organization, Inc. (TLWOI) and currently BTC Commissioner; Noraida C. Abo, Executive Director of the United Youth of the Philippines-Women, Inc. (UnYPhilWomen); Irene Santiago, Chair Emerita and CEO of the Mindanao Commission on Women; Carmen Lauzon Gatmaytan of the

Women Engaged in Action 1325 (WE Act 1325); Fatima Pir Allian of Nisa Ul-Haqqfi Bangsamoro; and Maria Ressa, CEO and Executive Director of Rappler. During the Summit, the delegation participated in various activities and sessions that presented the Philippines as a model for strong women participation in peacebuilding. Prof. Ferrer served as speaker during session 2 of the Experts Day that focused on “Putting Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative (PSVI) into context: the women, peace and security agenda and women’s participation” held on June 11. Prof. Ferrer recommended “putting more seats and creating more spaces inside the negotiating room for women, and to nudge cautiously and graciously, while being sensitive to the cultural milieu of the ethnic groups involved, to enable all parties involved to accept the continued role of women in the negotiating process.” On June 12, two fringe events were held in coordination with Conciliation Resources, an international peacebuilding non-governmental organization working with people in conflict to prevent violence and build peace. “Women’s innovations in Peacebuilding,” which tackled the role of local women’s organizations alongside formal negotiations saw Misses Allian, Gatmaytan, Mendoza and Abo sharing their perspectives. Meanwhile, “Women in Peace Negotiations” saw Prof. Ferrer and Atty. Jajurie sharing their respective experiences from the opposite sides of the GPH-MILF

Secretary Dales delivers the Philippines’ intervention during Ministerial Dialogues G: Delivering Progress through Women’s Participation on June 12, 2014.

peace negotiations while reflecting on current peacemaking practices. Secretary Deles, on the other hand, served as speaker during the launch of the UK National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security on June 12. Whilecongratulating the UK Government for the launch of their third NAP, Secretary Deles shared the Philippines’ own experience in drafting and implementing its own NAP, which was “the first ever signed in Asia and is a product of collaboration of national government agencies and civil society, especially peace and women advocates. Shealso likened the Philippine NAP to mat weaving – “as our NAP draws from our past experiences, including lessons from conflict, and is an intricate and overlapping framework that takes into account personal passions and intergenerational intentions.” The Secretary also delivered an intervention during Ministerial Session G: Delivering Progress through Women’s Participation also held on June 12. “We have not been timid about assigning

Misses Abo, Mendoza, Allian and Gatmaytan (from left) during the fringe event “Women’s Innovations in Peacebuilding”.

Prof. Ferrer (3rd from left) and Atty. Jajurie (2nd from right) during the fringe event “Women’s in Peace Negotiations”.

Filipino women leadership roles on, around, and beyond the peace tables,” Secretary Deles said. Aside from emphasizing the major role played by women in the recent signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, Secretary Deles highlighted again the successful adoption of the Philippines’ NAP on Women, Peace and Security that promotes the capacity of women to become agents and builders of peace which goes beyond mere protection of women and other vulnerable groups from various forms of violence. Aside from the peace delegation, Secretary Deles also headed the official

Philippine delegation to the Summit, which included Philippine Representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), Ambassador Rosario G. Manalo; Justice Undersecretary Leah C. Tanodra-Armamento; Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) Undersecretary Maria Cleofe Gettie Sandoval, Professor Ferrer; OPAPP Assistant Secretary Rosalie Romero; First Secretary Kristine Leilani R. Salle; Department of Foreign Affairs Director Gonaranao B. Musor; and OPAPP Peace Program Officer Karen Domingo. ■ Philippine Embassy Philippines / June 19, 2014

Philippines Reaffirms Commitment to UNCTAD on its 50th Anniversary

Representing the Philippines at the 28th Special Session of UNCTAD are Assistant Secretary Jesus S. Domingo of the Office of the United Nations and other International Organizations of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Ms. Elizabeth Te, Minister of the Philippine Mission to the UN in Geneva.

“ONLY UNCTAD has an intergovernmental machinery to turn ideas into intergovernmental action. And only UNCTAD bridges the worlds of trade and development.” This was highlighted by Assistant Secretary Jesus S. Domingo of the Office of United Nations and other International Organizations of the Department of Foreign Affairs at the 28th Special Session of the Trade and Development Board, which was convened on June 17 in Geneva to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Assistant Secretary Domingo noted that it was in pursuit of the aspirations of a world of prosperity and justice for all that the Philippines hosted the Fifth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Manila in 1979. He stressed that the quadrennial

conference of UNCTAD is the only major UN conference on development convened on a regular and predictable basis, a forum where a stronger global consensus on development is forged. Emphasizing that the Philippines, like UNCTAD, is ahead of the curve, he pointed out that the Department of Foreign Affairs partnered with UNCTAD and United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to organize a national multi-stakeholder consultation on key development issues as part of the country’s preparations for the negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda and UNCTAD XIV. The meeting, which involved the participation of both the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the South Centre, discussed issues of importance to both middle-income countries and least developed countries to identify possible directions for LDCs upon graduation.

Assistant Secretary Domingo also noted that as part of the Philippines’ commitment to UNCTAD, the Philippines will chair the Geneva Chapter of the Group of 77 and China in 2015. The first United Nations Conference on Trade and Development concluded on 16 June 1964 with, among other outcomes, the proposed establishment of a permanent body to deal with issues of international trade and development, namely UNCTAD. The 28th Special Session of the Trade and Development Board celebrated the 50th anniversary of UNCTAD, and the occasion was graced by United Nations Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi, VicePresident Simonetta Sommaruga, UNCTAD XIII President and Qatari Minister of Culture, Arts and Heritage Hamad bin Abdulaziz Al-Kawari, and other high-level officials. ■ Philippine Embassy Philippines / June 20, 2014

DFA, AICHR aND NCCA Launch Philippine Exhibit on ASEAN Youth Competition on Arts and Human Rights THE Department of Foreign Affairs order – Mr. John Vince N. Labanon, Ms. deliberated on the Philippine entries based (DFA) and the ASEAN Intergovernmental Charleen L. Pastrana, and Mr. Vance Galvin on creativity in the visual messaging of the Commission on Human Rights (AICHR)- T. Tangcueco for their entries, entitled Race ASEAN Human Rights Declaration as well as Philippines, together with the National Against Race, Pass the Message, and Soar aesthetics and technique. The exhibit, which will run until June Commission for Culture and the Arts, High, Human Rights!, respectively. Composing the panel of judges are 30 at the DFA Lobby, showcases artworks launched today the Philippine Exhibit on ASEAN Youth Competition on Arts and three professional art critics--- Ambassador submitted by Filipino artists aged 18Jose Maria Cariño, Head of the DFA Cultural 25 based on the ASEAN Human Rights Human Rights. During the exhibit’s launching, Mr. Diplomacy Unit and Chair Alternate of Declaration. The exhibit also aims to foster Kristoffer Manuel Kang was declared the Technical Cooperation Council of the greater awareness of human rights in the grand winner of the national-level Philippines; Professor Mervy Pueblo, visual ASEAN and the importance of human rights competition for his artwork entitled, A artist and Master of Fine Arts and Design promotion and protection in creating an Celebration. Mr. Kang’s winning entry will be Coordinator of the Philippine Women’s enabling environment for ASEAN peoples’ submitted to the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta University; and Mr. Cid Reyes, artist-critic participation in the building of ASEAN to compete at the regional-level competition. and Chief Operating Officer of WELL Brand Community 2015 and beyond. ■ Philippine Amabassador Jose Maria Cariño (7th from left) with the contestants of ASEAN Youth Competetion on Arts and Human Rights. The three runners up are – in alphabetical Communications, Inc. They reviewed and Embassy Philippines / June 19, 2014

MESSAGE Together with the officers and staff of the Philippine Embassy, Mrs. Manalo and I wish the organizers, the sponsors, the performers, the exhibitors and all participants to the Hounslow Summer Festival a happy and memorable gathering. Filipino fiestas trace their roots to celebrations of thanksgiving for a bountiful harvest and the many blessings received during the past year. I invite everyone to keep this in mind as we enjoy the festivities during this Festival because there is much for the Filipino community in the UK to be thankful for. Now more than ever, the bilateral relationship between the Philippine and the United Kingdom has been growing strong, as our political, economic and cultural cooperation broadens. Public perception of Filipinos in the UK remains favourable as local communities recognize the positive contribution of Filipino migrants to society. The outpouring of support to the victims of Typhoon Haiyan from the UK Government and the British public is testament to these closer ties. In the Philippines, our economy continues to post positive gains, buoyed by strong macroeconomic fundamentals, sound fiscal policy, and the govemment’s sincerity in combatting corruption and promoting peace and sustainable development. The recent signing of a comprehensive agreement that would bring peace to Mindanao also augurs well for our collective efforts toward inclusive growth and lasting peace. Filipino British Nurses Extra Care East Grinstead Limited - Message.pdf

7/4/14

1:16 AM

In this spirit, the Philippine Embassy joins you in savouring the colours, flavours and good cheer of this Summer Festival. We hope that this event will be an occasion for strengthening our unity and collective identity as Filipinos in the United Kingdom.

Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! Mabuhay tayong lahat!

Filipino British Nurses Extra Care East Grinstead Limited - Message.pdf

7/4/14

1:12 AM

ENRIQUE A. MANALO Ambassador

6-8 Suffolk Street, London SW1Y 4HG Tel: 020 - 7451 1780 Fax: 020 - 7930 9787 e-mail: embassy@philemb.co.uk website: philembassy-uk.org

FILIPINO BRITISH NURSES EXTRA CARE EAST GRINSTEAD LTD “A VOLUNTARY SERVICE MAKING DIFFERENCE TO THE COMMUNITY” Company Number: 8544635 7 Barn Field Place East Grinstead West Sussex RH19 3FD United Kingdom Phone No.: 01342 410244 Mobile Phone No.: 07867846495 Website: www.extracareeastgrinstead.com Email: extracare.df@googlemail.com

MESSAGE Greetings! In behalf of my wife Maribel, sons Mark & Kris together with my Extra Care Team, East Grinstead Town Council and the entire Bicol Association, I would like to thank Mrs. Corazon Santos and Hello Philippines newspaper, the organisers and all those who made this wonderful and valuable occasion a great success. It is with great privilege and honour to be a part of this big event that demonstrates a true community spirit, unity, friendship and camaraderie. This special occasion not only promote and preserve the culture and tradition but brings pride and honour to the entire Filipino people here in abroad and in the Philippines. May this event be blessed with God’s guiding power and lead us in fulfilling our advocacy and inspire ourselves to work as a unified community spirit supporting each other in making a real difference to the entire Filipino community and to the constituents we are serving. Together we are stronger, together we can achieve better, if not the best.

Mabuhay and God Bless. Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat.

Filipino British Nurses Extra Care East Grinstead Ltd is a voluntary public service, non profit and non sectarian club working closely with various community groups in East Grinstead and surrounding areas in quest of common goals and objectives in the community.

CLLR DANNY FAVOR East Grinstead Town Council West Sussex Chairman/Managing Director Filipino British Nurses Extra Care East Grinstead Ltd.

www.hello-philippines.com

NEWS

July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

PNoy slowly crippling opposition - JV Ejercito MANILA – The Aquino administration has started an apparent calibrated campaign to cripple the opposition by jailing minority senators and disqualifying elected officials like Governor ER Ejercito of vote-rich Laguna province, Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said on Sunday. Ejercito also noted in a radio interview the disqualification case against former President, now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, is pending before the Supreme Court and for the past several weeks there had been speculation he might be unseated. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed the third batch of graft charges against several people led by minority senator Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan, for allegedly being involved in the multi-billion-peso barrel scam. “Iyan po nga ho, eh, ang isa pang dahilan, inuubos na ho kami,” Ejercito said referring to the graft charges being readied against Honasan. Ejercito wondered aloud at the “coincidence” between, on one hand, the apparent singling out of opposition senators - when several of the President’s partymates and allies are also tagged in the pork barrel scam - and on the other, the disqualification of non-administration local political leaders like his cousin, Governor Ejercito and his father, Manila’s Mayor Estrada. Half-brother Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is one

of three minority senators indicted in the Sandiganbayan for the poprk barrel cases. “Di ko nga alam kung coincidence ba ito. Kasi alam mo naman, kamakailan, dinis-qualify si Governor ER. Ang aking amang Erap naman may naka-ambang disqualification case sa Supreme Court,” Ejercito said. But, he said “it is a fact: President Aquino has started crippling our ranks.” Overspending case against JV? Meanwhile, Senator Ejercito himself could be in the cross-hairs of the poll body, as he received information that the Comelec is also eyeing a disqualification case against him for overspending in the last election. It’s the same charge that cost his cousin, the Laguna governor, his post. “Ako din mukhang pupuntiryahin for overspending in the last elections. So, eh mukhang .. . eh sana nga coincidence lang at hindi totoo ito. Pero kapag naubos kami sa minority, eh wala nang maiiwan dito sa Senado bilang opposition sa administrasyong Aquino,” Ejercito said. Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile along with Senator Jinggoy Estrada and LakasCMD leader Sen. Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. were charged with plunder and graft before the Sandiganbayan in relation to the pork barrel scam allegedly engineered by Janet Lim Napoles working with contacts in Congress and the implementing agencies. “Well, malaking kawalan siyempre si

Sen. Enrile as our minority leader at siya ang pinakamatalas hanggang ngayon, siya ang pinaka-batikan sa aming grupo. Malaking kawalan kung sakaling matutuloy ang pagkulong sa kanya,” Ejercito said. Ejercito also admitted that without Enrile and Estrada, the opposition bloc in the Senate will have difficulty performing as a responsible minority. “As you know, the minority plays a key role in democracy. But since last year, the minority as an institution has been crippled because of the PDAF scam. As it is, last year’s situation may become worse this year as a result of recent developments, making it difficult for us to function as a responsible minority,” he said. Besides Enrile, Estrada, Ejercito and Honasan, the members of the opposition are Deputy Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III and neophyte Senator Nancy Binay. Chilling effect. Meanwhile, Ejercito also said the filing of pork charges against lawmakers has a chilling effect on the other members of the Legislature, including senators who are in one way or another, involved in the scam, but against whom there is yet no solid evidence to prove their guilt. One may reasonably expect that most of those against whom reports insinuate possible cases will “talk more scarcely from now on.” As for him, Ejercito added, “malakas ang loob ko [my will is strong],” Ejercito said. Being a neophyte senator, he added,

there is nothing the administration can pin on him. “They can’t pin anything on me, not even Napoles. I don’t know here,” but conceded that the minority as a group is truly hobbled. Probe other NGOs to erase doubts. Nonetheless, Ejercito said that if the Blue Ribbon Committee will continue to probe other nongovernmental organizations involved in the scam, the insinuation that the Aquino administration is targeting only the opposition will be erased. “Walang personalan, pero sana lahat ng pinangalanan ng COA, lahat ng bogus NGOs dapat imbestigahan. Huwag naman iyong ilan lang na Napoles-related NGOs lang dahil 82 ang pinangalanan at pinagsuspetsahan ng COA, so bakit nagconcentrate lang ditto.” This, he noted, seemed “too much of

coincidence that all of those charged are just from the minority,” Ejercito said. The Aquino government should show how serious it is in its battle against corruption by showing complete political neutrality. “Dapat lahat imbestigahan. Ka partido, or kaalyado ng Pangulo, dapat wala tayong sasantuhin pagdating sa laban sa [Everyone should be investigated; no one – party mates or allies- should be spared in the fight against] graft and corruption,” Ejercito said. With this, he urged Senator Teofisto Guingona III, Blue Ribbon Committee chairman, to continue the pending inquiry on the misuse of billions of the Malampaya funds, as well as 72 other suspected NGOs as reported by COA. We should know the truth about all of those,” he said. ■ Ernie Reyes / InterAksyon.com / June 22, 2014 / 6:53 PM

As CARP expires, what is best option for Luisita farmers? DAR bats for sugar block farming

MANILA -- Great opportunities await farmer beneficiaries of Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac City as the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) unveiled various options each of them could avail. One option is the tested sugar block farming concept.

So far, the DAR has already installed some 5,990 farmer beneficiaries in Hacienda Luisita or 96.43 percent of 6,212 qualified beneficiaries. DAR Undersecretary for Support Services Rosalina Bistoyong said the sugar

Sugarcane workers in Hacienda Luisita

block farming program works best for the interest of the farmers as it envisions to get them work together for the greater good of all, while maintaining individual ownership of their newly acquired farm lots, each covering 6,600 square meters. Bistoyong said each sugar cane block farm consists of 30-60 hectares of sugar land to be managed as one block, such that activities in the small individual farms are aligned and implemented according to the plans of the whole block. DAR Secretary Gil de los Reyes said the block farming program can enhance the farmers’ social capital, which is vital in gaining greater bargaining power in various business dealings, be they for financial transactions with banks or for farm inputs/ outputs trading business, since they are dealing as an organization rather than as individuals.

De los Reyes said a strongly organized and credible farmers’ organization has greater chances of transacting business with banking institutions, which prefer to deal with a farmers’ organization rather than with individual farmers since they have only a set of officers representing the whole association to deal with. He noted that a farmers’ organization also enjoys greater bargaining power when dealing with traders, either for farm inputs or outputs. “When buying farm inputs, a farmers’ organization can ask big discounts compared to them dealing separately for their individual needs. The same thing can be said when selling their farm outputs as a group. They can command better price because they are capable of meeting the volume requirement of a trading firm,” the DAR chief said.

The block farming program, a concept jointly developed by the DAR, the Department of Agriculture (DA), and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), is said to increase sugar production from 99 to 147 bags of sugar per hectare. Besides enhancing farm productivity, Bistoyong said the farming program also offers a host of other support services, with DAR providing farm implements, the DA constructing or rehabilitating irrigation facilities and farm-to-mill road, while the SRA extending technical assistance to farmers’ organization to enhance productivity. Bistoyong said that farmer beneficiaries, who prefer to work individually, could avail themselves of other technical assistance for diversified cropping, vegetable production, and cattle-raising in coordination with the National Dairy Authority. ■ Philippines News Agency / June 22, 2014 / 11:07 AM

Double standard: Sen. Miriam fumes over prison luxuries, seeks probe luxurious prison conditions by mandating MANILA - Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago wants the Senate to investigate news reports that so-called VIP prisoners enjoy extravagant accommodations in jails. “How can there be justice in our correctional system when we have a double standard between poor and rich inmates?” the senator asked in a news release. Santiago cited news reports of rich high-risk prisoners in the New Bilibid Prison staying in air-conditioned rooms, enjoying contraband supplies such as illegal drugs and alcohol, and even taking in sex workers. Some VIP inmates reportedly drive around the penitentiary grounds in golf carts, electric motorcycles, and tricycles. It was also reported that the maximum security compound has its own dress shops, wet and dry markets, fruit stands, as

well as facilities such a jazz bar, plaza, and tennis court. “These prisoners are supposed to be experiencing punishment for their crimes, not taking a vacation. They are making a mockery out of the justice system by turning our jails into their own private resorts,” she said. These reports prompted Santiago to file Senate Resolution 525, calling for a Senate investigation on the anomalous situation in the New Bilibid Prison. “The same thing is happening in other prison complexes in the country. If this can happen in a maximum security compound, who knows what else happens in other jails?” she said. Santiago also filed Senate Bill 1759, or the “No Frills Prison Bill,” to eliminate

average standard living conditions and opportunities for every prisoner. Santiago’s proposed law prohibits access by all prisoners to certain luxuries, such as TV-viewing inside cells, cellphones, and computers. It also imposes additional restrictions for prisoners serving a sentence for violent crimes. “Under the equal protection clause of the Constitution, all persons similarly situated should receive similar treatment. It does not matter whether you’re a Johnny caught picking pockets or a Johnny charged with plunder. All detainees and prisoners, whether common criminals or senators, should have the same accommodations,” she said. ■ InterAksyon. com / June 22, 2014 / 8:29 AM

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NEWS

July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

Vegetable farm expansion, mining threaten Cordilleras watershed areas LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The forests and watershed reservations, including protected areas in the Cordillera region, are threatened by economic activities, particularly unbridled vegetable farm expansion and mining, according to environmentalists from the government and non-government organizations. A DENR official in this province recently revealed to media an emerging trend: more forest land and watershed reservations being converted into vegetable gardens, which threatens the forest cover. DENR documents also pointed to the indiscriminate issuance of tax declarations within protected areas and watershed areas as leading to land disposition. Officer-in-charge Octavio Cuanso of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office identified the reservations in peril as: Upper Agno Watershed Reservation, Lower Agno Watershed Reservation, Mount Santo Tomas Forest Reservation, Mount Pulag National Park, Mount Data Forest Reservation, and the Central Cordillera mountain range that straddles in all the Cordillera provinces. DENR records showed that Upper Agno Watershed Reservation (77,698 hectares), Lower Agno Watershed Reservations (34,304 hectares), Mount Pulag (11,550

hectares), Marcos Highway Watershed Forest Reservation (6,105 hectares), and Mount Data National Park (5,512 hectares), are part of the protected areas within the watershed under the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act. Together with proposed protected areas, the existing protected areas cover an aggregate 188,693.866 hectares or 10 percent of the Cordilleras land area of 1,821,691.58 hectares. DENR said the region is technically a reservation. The robust income from vegetable farming is believed to be the main driver for farm expansion into forest and watershed reservations. Benguet officials said the province alone supplies 80 percent of the temperate vegetables to Metro Manila and nearby areas. 2nd highest peak threatened. Even Mount Pulag, a sacred place for the Ibalois, has been the target for vegetable farm expansions. “Mount Pulag is in great danger at the moment because the recently discovered garden expansions are too wide and highly mechanized,” added Cuanso. Back hoes and bulldozers are reportedly used in these expansionist activities. Earlier, the Superintendent of the Protected Area of Mount Pulag, Emerita Albas, said that at least 100 hectares of

mossy forests of Pulag had been cleared since 1991 and those involved in the highly mechanized clearings are officials from nearby towns. Mount Pulag, the second highest peak in the country, was declared a protected area by President Corazon Aquino through Proclamation 75 on February 19, 1997. Meanwhile, to allegedly stop the vegetable farm expansions in Mount Pulag, the Benguet provincial government has requested the deployment of the 50th IB in the area. Large mining a threat to reservations. Meanwhile, environmentalists in the region identified mining as the main threat to the environment. “Large-scale mining has destroyed the environment but failed to rehabilitate the areas of their operations,” said Santos Mero of the Amianan Salakniban. He said that the mine applications on almost 70 percent land area of the region constitute a threat to environment, adding: “How much more if these are approved.” DENR-CAR records showed that mine applications are being filed at the Mines and Geosciences Bureau even within the watershed areas; an application for financial and technical agreement covers 729,996.3086 hectares, application for exploration permit covers 302,658.17

File photo of a vegetable market in Manila. Benguet province alone supplied 80 percent of Metro Manila’s requirements for vegetables, and the continuing demands and robust income from veggies is driving unbridled expansion even in protected areas in the Cordillera.

hectares, and application for mineral production sharing agreement covers 63,694.57 hectares. The approved mineral production sharing agreements in watershed areas cover 13,167.12 hectares. Indigenous leaders in Benguet urged the DENR to adopt and institutionalize the indigenous forest and resource management which are more sustainable to protect the environment. The Cordillera region, according to

the DENR, is the biggest source of water for irrigation systems of the neighboring lowland regions with a total service area of 208,065 hectares and irrigated area of 128,909 hectares as of 2008. It is also the source of water for five hydro-electric power plants, with combined capacity of 945 megawatts, supplying the main transmission grid of the country. ■ Arthur L. Allad-iw / Northern Dispatch / Special to InterAksyon.com / June 22, 2014 / 9:20 PM

P10 minimum PUJ fare in Cebu? Workers, teachers say no

CEBU CITY – Workers and teachers are opposing a transportation group’s petition for an increase in the minimum public utility jeepney (PUJ) fare in Cebu from P7.50 to P10. The petition, filed by the Cebu Integrated Transport Service Cooperative (Citrasco), will be heard by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 on June 24. Annabelle dela Serna, Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC) vice chair for the Visayas, said the P10-minimum jeepney fare will not be feasible here in Cebu because the minimum wage is very low compared to Manila. Art Barrit of the Associated Labor UnionTrade Union Congress of the Philippines

(ALU-TUCP) said his group will oppose the petition for fare increase because the purchasing power of the workers will be greatly affected, with effective reduction of their take-home pay. Barrit said the planned increase will compromise the shoe-string budget of the workers’ families. “We support the move of the drivers, but not this time. Instead, we are asking the companies to institute car-pooling for the workers to maintain the purchasing power and it will help save fossil-based fuel and help reduce traffic,” Barrit said. Dennis Derige, spokesman of Partido ng Manggagawa (PM), said an increase will be an additional burden to the general

commuters especially that the recent P13 cost of living allowance (COLA) has no impact against the rising prices of commodities. Oil price rollback instead. Elpedio Caterbas of AMA-Sugbo-KMU said any jeepney fare hike will cause heavy burden to the riding public. He said that what the public needs is price rollback by multinational oil companies and other oil industry players who are raking huge profits by steadily increasing the prices of fuel. LTFRB 7 Director Ahmed Cuizon said his office will invite stakeholders who will be affected by Citrasco’s petition. ■ Philippines

News Agency / June 17, 2014 / 9:22 AM

President Aquino focused on delivering Fake access pass betrays human trafficking modus at NAIA reforms, not politics - Coloma MANILA – The Philippines is no longer on Immigration supervisor on-duty Totoy The offloading of passengers by MANILA – President Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. on Sunday said President Benigno Aquino III will remain focused in delivering the promised reforms and not politics in his remaining 738 days in office. ”We are unperturbed in our determination to deliver the promised reforms for our people and that’s our focus and not politics,” Coloma said in a press briefing. Coloma was asked on who will be the standard-bearer of the administration against possible presidential candidates including now detained senator Ramon Revilla Jr. in 2016 elections. Last Friday, Revilla voluntarily surrendered moments after the Sandiganbayan issued arrest warrant for his plunder case over pork barrel scam. Revilla is now detained at the Philippine National Police custodial center in Camp Crame, Quezon City, and set to be arraigned on June 26.

Asked whether Revilla will get sympathy over his plans to seek presidency in 2016, Coloma said “it is the people who decide on that.” Revilla was reportedly being groomed by the Lakas-NUCD to run for president in the 2016 elections. Few days before the anti-graft court issue arrest warrant, Revilla visited impoverished areas in Metro Manila and his home province of Cavite to defend himself and talk about the 2016 elections. ■ Philippines News Agency / June 23, 2014 / 2:10 AM

President Benigno Aquino III

the shame list of the US State Department’s laggards in the fight against human trafficking, and an alert security guard has just helped keep that good record. Suspicion aroused, Tirso Cruz of Lanting Security Agency challenged the access pass used by a woman who entered the terminal fee area at the departure level of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA)-3 Saturday night, and his instinct was rewarded with a catch: the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) (Onduty) identification card worn by Edsie Basco, 31, turned out to be fake. On further questioning, Basco was found to be already carrying a boarding pass with her passport already bearing an immigration stamp, even though she was still in the terminal fee area; she was bound for Singapore on board Cebu Pacific flight 5J 803. Cruz then turned Basco over to the airport police on duty and later to members of the Inter Agency Council Against Human Trafficking (IACAHT) for further investigation.

Magbohos said a situation like “this is no longer new to us,” and they have already apprehended around 4 to 6 persons who tried to depart using fake immigration stamps. Sources at the Immigration Travel Control and Enforcement Unit (TCEU) told newsmen there is a syndicate faking immigration stamps and promising innocent passenger/s that they can depart using these stamps to avoid being offloaded due to irregularities in their travel documents.

immigration has been resorted to as a key deterrent to human trafficking, especially in cases where documents shown BI officers by outbound passengers arouse suspicion that they might in fact have been illegally recruited for nonexistent jobs or flesh syndicates abroad. Meanwhile, MIAA General Manager, Jose Angel A. Honrado ordered the MIAA Intelligence and Investigation office to look into how and where Basco acquired a fake NAIA access pass. ■ Eric B. Apolonio / InterAksyon.com / June 22, 2014 4:03 PM

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July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

Jason Webb enjoying new job as assistant coach on San Mig Coffee bench FOR the past decade, Jason Webb has carved out a career as one of the best basketball analysts on television. Last Friday, instead of taking his familiar spot in the announcer’s booth, Webb watched the game from a different spot: at the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers bench as the newest addition to coach Tim Cone’s staff. His debut was a winning one, as the Mixers pulled out a 92-88 overtime win over Talk ‘N Text in Game one of the PLDT Home

Telpad Governors’ Cup semifinals. “I’m just a welcome observer, but I’m happy with the result of my team,” Webb told InterAksyon.com in an exclusive interview. “I’m happy my team was able to come up with a victory.” For Webb, the difference between his old job and his new one is stark. “You get involved. There’s already a personal bias to that team. Unlike before when you’re doing the commentary, talagang very neutral ka, so ngayon you’re

trying to make you find ways to make your team better,” said Webb. One aspect that Webb, who played for Sta. Lucia and Tanduay in the PBA, enjoys is being a part of a team once again. “We’re helping out each other while we can. It’s nice to be sitting alongside Johnny (Abarrientos), nagkukuwentuhan kami, kami rin ni Mon (Jose), and ni Chard (Del Rosario). We’re sharing our ideas amongst ourselves,” said Webb. ■ Rey Joble / InterAksyon.com / June 21, 2014 / 6:30 PM

San Mig Coffee jams Talk ‘N Text, one step away from Governors’ Cup finals return THE San Mig Super Coffee Mixers are one step away from returning to the PLDT Home Telpad Governors’ Cup finals after stomping Talk ‘N Text, 91-82, on Saturday at SMART-Araneta Coliseum. “It seemed like we were in control pretty much the whole game until the end of the third quarter, but we were fighting the whole time ’cause we knew they’re gonna come back,” said San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone. “Guys kept their poise, they were able to pull it out.”

San Mig Coffee, the winner of the last three PBA championships, started out like a house on fire, rolling out to a 13-1 start en route to a 32-13 advantage at the end of the first quarter. But the Tropang Texters chipped away at the deficit over the next two quarters, coming within striking distance, 64-59, heading into the fourth period. Like in Game One, bench players once again made a key run for the Mixers, who scored the first eight points of the final quarter to open up a 72-59 advantage

even with import Marqus Blakely not in the lineup. Talk ‘N Text came to within seven points, 87-80, on a three-pointer from Ranidel De Ocampo with less than two minutes left. James Yap missed a bailout jumper in the next play for San Mig Coffee, but Mark Barroca swooped in for the offensive rebound. The Coffee Prince reset the play before hitting a jumper a few moments later to give the Mixers an 89-81 lead with just 51.9 seconds left. ■ InterAksyon.com / June 21, 2014 / 7:06 PM

Alaska shackles Rain or Shine late to take 1-0 semis lead

UFL on AksyonTV: Newly-crowned Global mows down Kaya, 3-nil NEWLY-CROWNED United Football League champion Global FC continued to stamp its dominance after blanking Kaya FC, 3-nil, on Tuesday at Emperador Stadium. Global, which clinched the title last Thursday despite still having three matches left in its schedule, dominated Kaya from start to finish to improve to a 19-2-2 win-draw-loss card. Mark Hartmann, Jason De Jong and Napoleon Bustillo scored goals at the 17th, 56th and 82nd minutes in the match that had to be stopped midway through

the first half after some spectators threw stones onto the pitch. Despite the loss, Kaya (14-4-5) remained in the hunt for second place. In the first match, the Loyola Meralco Sparks (14-4-5) blanked relegated Pasargad FC (1-3-19) with a 5-nil result. Matt Hartmann made two goals, while Graham Caygill, James Younghusband and Freddy Gonzalez chipped in one apiece for Loyola, which will face Kaya next week in the season’s last match to determine the league’s runner-up team. ■ Karl Decena /

InterAksyon.com / June 17, 2014 / 11:04 PM

THE Alaska Aces proved steadier down the stretch as they defeated the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 97-93, to grab a 1-0 lead in their PLDT Home Telpad Governors’ Cup semifinal series on Friday at the SMARTAraneta Coliseum. The Aces held the Elasto Painters scoreless for the last four minutes and scored the last nine points of the game as they took an early lead in their best-of-five showdown. Import Henry Walker scored 31 points and posted seven rebounds and four assists to lead Alaska while center Sonny Thoss added 16 points and eight boards. Walker also shone brightest in the clutch, scoring in the post to break a 93-all deadlock with just 49 seconds on the play before getting a crucial steal off a Rain or Shine inbound with seconds to play and sealing the win with a pair of free throws. Alaska has won five straight games since receiving a 51-point beatdown from Rain or Shine in their elimination round matchup. Rain or Shine started hot, jumping out to an 11-2 lead after Paul Lee hit back-to-back three-pointers and Gabe Norwood finished off an alley-oop pass from import Arizona Reid and knocked down an extra free throw. But Alaska pounded the ball down low to come to as close as a single point, 20-

Chris Ellis leads Team Chris Tiu over Team Marc Pingris in Master Game Face exhibition

BARANGAY Ginebra San Miguel highflyer Chris Ellis led Team Chris Tiu to a 135-110 victory over Team Marc Pingris in Saturday’s Master Game Face All-Star Basketball Challenge at SMART-Araneta Coliseum. Ellis scored 31 points to lead all scorers in the event graced by Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love. Far Eastern University guard Mike Tolomia added 20 points while Meralco forward Cliff Hodge and Ateneo wingman Chris Newsome chipped in 13 apiece. Ellis’ teammate Greg Slaughter led Team Marc with 13 points, including a

surprising 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Barako Bull forward JC Intal and GlobalPort rookie RR Garcia added 20 and 17 points, respectively for Team Marc. It was a double victory for Team Chris as they won a three-point shootout before the game against Team Marc. Kevin Love shot for both teams, with University of Santo Tomas forward Kevin Ferrer, Rain or Shine sniper Jeff Chan, and Tiu leading their unit to victory over University of the East guard Roi Sumang, Meralco hotshot Gary David, and Rain or Shine rookie Jeric Teng. ■ InterAksyon.com /

June 21, 2014 / 9:46 PM

19, before Rain or Shine closed with four unanswered points to lead 24-19 at the end of the first. The second period put the clash of the team’s styles on full display. The speedy Elasto Painters got their deadly running game going to score nine consecutive points and take a 33-24 lead. But the Aces made their power game felt in a 16-0 run built around the post play of their big man Thoss, who scored 10 of Alaska’s points in that stretch, and some muscle on the offensive glass that resulted in second chance opportunities. With Alaska up 40-33 with about three minutes remaining, Rain or Shine countered with their quickness yet again. Jeff Chan was effective with his drives to the basket while Reid stretched the floor with his threepoint shooting as the Elasto Painters went on a 10-2 counter to keep reclaim the lead. The Aces ended the first half on top, 4645, with Thoss already posting 14 points and seven rebounds at the break. In the third, Rain or Shine led by as much as eight points, 65-57, after Lee scored the last eight Elasto Painters points in a 14-4 blast. Lee made a heady play, driving around a double team to get two points off a drive before knocking down two three-pointers as Rain or Shine extended their lead once more.

Alaska, though, kept things close after Calvin Abueva scored five points in a 7-1 Alaska run that closed the quarter. In the fourth, the Elasto Painters turned an 84-81 deficit into a five-point lead after another three-pointer from Lee, his fifth of the game, sparked a 12-4 Rain or Shine run. Reid scored four straight points to make it 93-88 with 4:04 to play. But that was the last time Rain or Shine would find the bottom of the net and Alaska rattled off nine straight points – five from Walker and two each from Dondon Hontiveros and Vic Manuel – to take the victory. Reid led Rain or Shine with 27 points while Lee finished with 19. Alaska’s Vic Manuel had 14 points and eight rebounds while three other Aces – JVee Casio, RJ Jazul and Abueva – chipped in with seven markers each. The scores: ALASKA (97) – Walker 31, Thoss 16, Manuel 14, Casio 7, Jazul 7, Abueva 7, Espinas 5, Hontiveros 5, Baguio 5, Dela Cruz 0. RAIN OR SHINE (93) – Reid 27, Lee 19, Chan 14, Tiu 8, Norwood 6, Arana 5, Belga 4, Almazan 3, Ibanes 3, Cruz 2, Nuyles 2, Rodriguez 0. Quarterscores: 19-24, 46-45, 73-74, 9793 ■ Inter Aksyon.com / June 20, 2014 / 10:13 PM

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July 2014 – No. 13 • UK & Europe Edition

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UFL teams go on mall tours to promote Pinoy football

IN an effort to promote football awareness in the country, the United Football League has started to tour different malls in Metro Manila this June ahead of its season-ending tournament the Football Alliance Cup next month. UFL stars conducted a football clinic and mingled with fans in the league’s first stop at Sta.Lucia East Grand Mall in Cainta last June 15. They will next visit SM Fairview on Sunday and Robinson’s Manila on July 5. Each stop will be graced by coaches and players from the top six UFL Division

One clubs which will participate in the Football Alliance Cup, namely League champion Global FC, Kaya FC, the Loyola Meralco Sparks, Stallion Gilligan’s, Green Archers United Globe and Pachanga PLDT Home Fibr. “The Football Alliance Cup is an important season ender short tournament for the UFL, as outside of this being the last piece of silverware for the season, it pits the top six 1st Division clubs in a knockout competition,” UFL president Randy Roxas said. “The Football Alliance Cup will

likewise benefit our partner, TV5’s, charity endeavors through the Alagang Kapatid Foundation.” In the Football Alliance Cup, Global and the League runner-up will receive byes to the semifinals of the tournament, while the four remaining teams slugging it out in knockout games that will be played in twolegged matches. The Football Alliance Cup is slated to start on July 12 at Emperador Stadium.

■ Karl Decena / InterAksyon.com / June 19, 2014

/ 2:58 PM

Former ONE FC champ Honorio Banario loses in Singapore; Ben Askren dominant in debut FORMER ONE Fighting Championship featherweight titlist Honorio ‘The Rock’ Banario of Team Lakay suffered another setback after losing a three-round unanimous decision to Mongolia’s Jadambaa Narantungalag in the ONE FC: Honor and Glory fight card on Friday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. It was the Filipino featherweight’s third consecutive loss in ONE FC following backto-back defeats to current champion Koji Oishi, first in a title defense and again in a rematch for the belt. Banario engaged his opponent Narantungalag, a former champion in the Legend FC promotion, in a striking exhibition that went back and forth but ultimately lost out in the eyes of the judges. The Singapore card featured top flight welterweight Ben Askren making

an impressive debut in Asia’s largest promotion, submitting Bakhtiyar Abbasov of Azerbaijan by submission in the first round of the main event. The undefeated American breezed through his first ONE FC fight, reversing an early takedown by Abbasov to come out on top and locking in an arm triangle to win in the first round. After the fight, the former Bellator top dog made sure his presence in the promotion was felt after calling out ONE FC’s welterweight champ Nobutatsu Suzuki. Banario, though, likely fell out of the title picture after his third successive defeat. He won the title as a fresh-faced 22-year-old after knocking out compatriots Andrew Benibe and Eric Kelly in back-toback contests. But Banario could not get past Oishi in two tries despite fighting in front of a

hometown Filipino crowd both times and again stumbled in this one despite a solid showing. In the other bouts, lightweights Vincent Latoel and Caros Fodor both earned victories that could move them right up the 155-lb. division rankings. Latoel knocked out contender Eddie Ng with a big right hand while Fodor submitted Willy Ni by kimura. Both fights ended in the very first round. Featherweight Major OVerall and bantamweight Radeem Rahman both knocked out opponents while bantamweight Casey Suire won by rear naked choke. Nik Harris defeated Brad Robinson in a catchweight bout while a heavyweight clash between Chi Lewis Parry and Alain Ngalani was declared a no contest. ■ InterAksyon.com / May 31, 2014 / 3:35 PM

sport Jason Webb enjoying new job as assistant coach on San Mig Coffee bench Story on page 38

San Mig Coffee jams Talk ‘N Text, one step away from Governors’ Cup finals return

Story on page 38

UFL teams go on mall tours to promote Pinoy football

Story on page 39

Kevin Love looking forward to seeing Gilas in FIBA World Cup: ‘Hope they’re not too good’ MINNESOTA Timberwolves star and Team USA player Kevin Love just had his first taste of Philippine basketball and he was surprised to see just how popular the sport is in the country. Love, who is in Manila to participate in the Master Game Face Challenge set for Saturday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum, visited Boys Town in Marikina to hold a basketball clinic together with former national team player Chris Tiu of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. “I though boxing was big here with Manny Pacquiao but Filipinos are very crazy about basketball,” the three-time NBA All-Star said. Love was part of the USA basketball teams to the 2010 FIBA World Championships and the 2012 London Olympics and is excited to suit up once again for the upcoming FIBA World Cup, which is set to take place in two months time in four cities in Spain. The fifth pick of the NBA Draft is hoping his Team USA squad gets a chance to match up with the Spain-bound Philippine national men’s basketball team. “Hope they’re not too good.” With the Philippines back in the world stage for the first time since 1974, Love was happy to give the Gilas Pilipinas squad some friendly advice. “Basketball is a beautiful game so enjoy it.” ■ Joshua Lopez / News5 / June 20, 2014 / 11:01 PM

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