Maniolas

LA2050 launches its third My LA2050 Grants Challenge to turn dreams of a better Los Angeles into reality LA2050 is an initiative driving and tracking progress toward a shared vision for the future of Los Angeles. (PRNewsFoto/LA2050) LOS ANGELES – Today, LA2050 will launch its third My LA2050 Grants Challenge, a $1,000,000 crowdsourced competition that supports creative ideas to improve Los Angeles. LA2050 is inviting organizations throughout Los Angeles County to submit their proposals to make the region the best place to learn, create, play, connect, and live. Derived with the support of tens of thousands of Angelenos engaged through #LA2050Listens, a community conversations series, LA2050 has outlined five goals to envision the Los Angeles of our dreams. Through the My LA2050 Grants Challenge, LA2050 will offer ten $100,000 grants to tap into the creativity of organizations across Los Angeles County to inspire a better future for the region. Two grants will be awarded in each goal category, with one selected among the top ten of publicly voted submissions and another selected by the jury. To date, LA2050 has awarded twenty grants totaling $2 million to local organizations via the My LA2050 Grants Challenge and has activated more than 100,000 individuals who have voted for their favorite proposals. LA2050, which is supported by the Goldhirsh Foundation, has also engaged other local partners in the challenge to extend its impact. This year, the Annenberg Foundation will contribute again with an additional $100,000 to fund one of the projects. The My LA2050 Grants Challenge is open to non-profit and for-profit organizations as Read More …

Bianca Manalo and Fabio Ide (MNS photo) Beauty queen-turned-actress Bianca Manalo, one of the stars of the hit primetime series “On The Wings of Love,” confirmed her rumored relationship with Brazilian-Japanese model Fabio Ide. The 27-year-old Manalo admitted that she has been seeing Ide for more than a month now. “Actually ‘nung lumalabas kami as friends, tinanong niya ko na okay lang ba sa [akin] na magka-boyfriend na showbiz? Sabi ko pa, ‘hindi. Ayoko na.’ Ayan kinain ko ‘yung sinabi ko,” she said. Manalo was formerly in a relationship with Kapamilya actor John Prats. The two broke up in 2012. Meanwhile, Ide, in an interview with the same program, said that he feels “really happy” to be with Manalo. “We’re really trying to take care of each other and enjoy good time slowly we’re getting to know more about each other as a couple. And it’s good. It’s a good feeling. Masarap ‘yung feeling na ‘yun eh,” he added. (MNS)

Former Interior and Local Government Secretary and presidential candidate Mar Roxas (right) performs the ceremonial turn-over of the department flag to incoming Interior Secretary Mel Sarmiento at the department headquarters in Quezon City, Friday. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Malacañang on Friday brushed aside Vice President Jejomar Binay’s proposal to remove the Philippine National Police (PNP) under the supervision of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Binay’s suggestion was an “obvious” attack on outgoing DILG Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, the presumptive standard bearer of the ruling Liberal Party (LP) in next year’s presidential election. “It is quite obvious that this suggestion from the Vice President is made as a not-so-veiled attack on Secretary Roxas and not really to improve governance and performance of the institution,” Valte said in a text message. Binay and Roxas are set to face off in a political rematch in the 2016 national elections, with Binay gunning for the presidential post under the opposition party United Nationalist Alliance (UNA). Binay proposed that the PNP should be under the direct control of the Office of the President, saying the DILG chief already has a lot on his plate. Roxas has already resigned from his post and is set to turnover the DILG command to incoming secretary, former Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento, also of LP, on Friday afternoon. Valte further said that data from the anti-crime campaign of the PNP would disprove Binay’s assumptions. “The data [on] Read More …

Senator Grace Poe (MNS Photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – The camp of Senator Grace Poe said Friday the disqualification case filed against the lawmaker was a mere ploy to prevent her from seeking higher office in 2016. In a statement, lawyer Alexander Poblador, Poe’s counsel, said the case filed by defeated 2013 senatorial candidate Rizalito David was directed not so much as to her election to the Senate but on the possibility of her seeking higher office in next year’s polls. Poe, however, has yet to categorically state her political plans for 2016. “The petition has more to do with what will happen in 2016 rather than her current seat in the Senate,” said Poblador, who accompanied Poe during the preliminary conference on the quo warranto petition before the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET). He said they have sufficient evidence to prove that Poe met the citizenship and residency requirements for congressional candidates when she ran and won in the 2013 midterm elections. The lawyer said the disqualification case ought to be dismissed for late filing and forum shopping, noting that a similar case was also filed by David with the Commission on Elections recently. He said under the SET rules, a petition must be filed within 10 days after proclamation. “Since Senator Poe was proclaimed on May 16, 2013, those who would want to question her qualifications had only until May 26, 2013 to file a petition against her,” he said. “Our answer to the David petition contains grounds for summary Read More …

Assemblymember Rob Bonta (Sacramento, CA) – Assemblymember Rob Bonta (D-Oakland) commemorated the 50th Anniversary of the Delano Grape Strike of 1965 this week on the floor of the Assembly, describing the critical collaboration between Filipino and Latino farm workers and leaders during the genesis of the California farm labor movement. “Fifty years ago, on the evening of September 7th, the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), led by Filipino leaders Larry Itliong, Philip Vera Cruz and others, met in the Filipino Community Hall in Delano, California, to make the brave decision to strike for improved wages and working conditions,” Bonta explained.  “AWOC successfully invited the mostly Latino farm workers union, the National Farm Workers Association, to join the strike—ushering in one of the most significant events and collaborations in California history, launching the California farm labor movement, and leading to the creation of the now world-renowned United Farm Workers of America, and ending decisively, growers’ historical attempts to pit them against each other.” As the first and only Filipino American elected to the California State Assembly in the history of the state, Bonta is committed to accurately reflecting the Filipino American experience in California history. One of his first acts as an Assemblymember was to introduce AB 123 to provide students with a more complete account of the Filipino American contributions to California’s farm labor movement. And this year, Bonta authored AB 7 to establish a state day of recognition for Larry Itliong every October 25, commemorating the date of his birth. “With Read More …