Maniolas

Presidential candidate Sen. Grace Poe is conferred an honorary doctorate in public administration during the commencement ceremonies at the University of Luzon in Dagupan City, Wednesday. The event was a chance for Poe to reconnect to her roots in Pangasinan, where her grandfather, Fernando Poe, Sr. grew up.(MNS photo)18 MANILA (Mabuhay) – The camp of Sen. Grace Poe on Friday asked the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) law department to hold its decision on the electoral offense case filed by Rizalito David. The case has been submitted for resolution on Friday morning, after Poe’s legal counsel, George Garcia, submitted the counter-affidavit due after the 10-day extension granted to them by the Comelec earlier this month. The 159-page affidavit also includes a motion to suspend proceedings. According to Garcia, the electoral offense case cannot be decided on yet as there are pending cases of material misrepresentation before the Senate Electoral Tribunal and Comelec first and second divisions that will seek to answer whether or not Poe, who is seeking the presidency in next year’s elections, is a natural-born Filipino and if she met the residency requirement. “Dapat sana, with all due respect, ay ma-suspend muna ang proceedings, huminto muna po sila sapagkat meron pong kaso sa Senate Electoral Tribunal,” Garcia said. “Ang issue po ay talaga bang nagsinungaling [si Grace Poe]. Papaano po masasabing nagsinungaling samantalang nire-resolve pa sa SET at Comelec mismo sa division, kung siya ba ang nag-misrepresent, kung siya ba ay natural-born o naturalized [Filipino]?” he added. In his Read More …

Women activists hold a protest against the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) during a meeting in Quezon City on Wednesday. The group slammed what it called as a “grand conspiracy to push the military and political agenda of imperialist domination” over women and poor people in the region.(MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, one of the convenors of the Movement and Alliance to Resist China’s Aggression, led his colleagues in urging the heads of the economies participating in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit next week to speak up regarding the controversial maritime disputes in the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea. Golez argued that the waterway has been a vital shipping route in the world, which is why ensuring freedom of navigation in the area is not just a security matter but also an economic matter. He added that any disruption in the freedom of navigation will affect trade in the area. APEC has usually stuck to discussing economic matters only while avoiding discussions of thornier political issues. In a manifesto read by Golez before a news forum in Quezon City, the group said China’s actions in the West Philippine Sea threaten the stability of the Asia Pacific, particularly because China forbids vessels from other countries from going near their structures in the disputed waters. Golez also said that China’s construction in the disputed waters has destroyed coral reefs and other marine resources that affect one of the largest ecosystems in the world which in Read More …

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio G. Tagle calls on the government to let peace exist and to pull-out military its forces in the communities of Lumad folks, including the disbanding and disarming of paramilitary groups. Manila City – Manila Archbishop +Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle visits the Manilakbayan camp in Liwasang Bonifacio today, in support of over 700 Lumad who held a camp-out for the Manilakbayan ng Mindanao. Arriving at six in the morning, unannounced, Manilakbayanis were very happy and appreciative as Tagle went to walk around the camp, and shook hands with Lumad leaders. The Archbishop had a talk with Bai Bibyaon Ligkayan Bigkay, woman tribal chieftain of Pantaron Manobo. Bai Bibyaon expressed her gratitude for the support of the church leader of the Roman Catholic. “With the intensified militarization in our communities, it’s as if the military and the government wants to eradicate us from the map. As one of the church leaders, we share with you the responsibility to call for the pull-out of military troops from our communities,” Bai Bibyaon said. In a statement, Tagle called for the government to let peace exist, which meant to pull-out military forces in the communities of our Lumad brothers and sisters, and the disbanding and disarming of paramilitary groups. The Archbishop also called for justice to prevail and that perpetrators of lumad killings must be prosecuted. Just like Pope Francis’ statement on the minorities, Tagle recognized the church’s “shortcomings and faults” on what is happening to the indigenous people. Hence Read More …

— A student displays a placard protesting the scheduled arrival of US President Obama for the upcoming Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, in Manila on Thursday. The Philippines will be hosting the 2015 APEC Economic Leader’s meeting from November 17-20, wherein 21 world leaders are expected to attend.(MNS photo) MANILA, Nov 11 (Mabuhay) — President Benigno Aquino III and US President Barack Obama will discuss security issues, possibly including the territorial dispute in the South China Sea, when they sit down for bilateral talks at the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting next week, US Ambassador Philip Goldberg told reporters on Wednesday. “Well, I don’t want to preempt the President [Obama], but obviously our security relationship issues that are of mutual interest,” Goldberg said when asked about the scope of the two leaders bilateral meeting. Goldberg met with reporters after attending the Veterans Day ceremonies at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in Taguig City on Wednesday. Asked if the two leaders would also discuss the South China Sea dispute and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) during the bilateral meeting,” Goldberg said, “I would imagine they will, that when the two presidents get together, those are issues of mutual concern.” The US Navy recently conducted freedom of navigation patrols near China-claimed islands in the South China Sea, a move that the Philippines welcomed. The Philippines has a pending arbitration case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague against China’s claims over most of the South China Read More …

Although assimilation in the  cultural mainstream is one of  the least of the problems  of many Filipinos who have considered  U.S their home, observance of Thanksgiving Day, which this year falls on a Thursday of November 26, is one that will be marked with a deep touch of their native land. Known for their months-long preparations to celebrate the Holiday Season in the Philippines, Filipinos in the U.S. adopt the ingrained tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving Day with indulgence in style and substance especially in terms of satisfying their palates. And off course, as is the custom, Thanksgiving Day which signals the merry-making season in this part of the globe is celebrated not only with immediate members of the family but with their extended kindred as well. Filipinos in the U.S. celebrate the age-old tradition in their own special way as the “Araw ng Pasasalamat” amidst blessing in this literal land of the plenty. This day also kicks off the elaborate preparations for the onset of the holiday season which gives them the excuse to splurge for themselves and their friends. Filipinos have slowly assimilated into the American observance of Thanksgiving and injecting the event with Filipino colors in the process and synthesizing the beauty and depth of the tradition. Thanksgiving has been a yearly celebrated federal holiday since 1863 with President Abraham Lincoln’s proclamation the day during the Civil War as a “National Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our Beneficent  Father who dwelleth in Heaven”. Thanksgiving is one of Read More …