Maniolas

THE SENATE’S PRESENT FOR THE FUTURE: Senate President Franklin M. Drilon delivers the Senate’s concluding message for the 16th Congress as it formally ended during Monday’s session, June 6, 2016. In his speech, Drilon highlighted the sterling accomplishments of the Senate over the past three years, saying that these laws have paved the way for a better Philippines. “Hard work enabled us to achieve so much in a span of three years,” he said.(MNS photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) – Senate President Franklin Drilon said he is giving up his seat to Senator Aqulino “Koko” Pimentel III without “rancor.” “Yes, I’m giving up my seat. I could have contested it but since the President-elect has the mandate, so we recognize that mandate. Koko Pimentel is the only PDP-Laban (Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan), senator. There’s no one else,” Drilon said. Pimentel is president of PDP-Laban which is now being chaired by President-elect Rodrigo Duterte. “Ah yes, no rancor, no rancor. I didn’t aspire for it,” Drilon said when asked why he was giving up, with open arms, the Senate leadership to Pimentel. “All that I said was I have to provide stability to the Senate by not contesting it anymore because I have a group of eight. I have six LP (Liberal Party) [senators] supporting me and two allied parties but I said let’s provide stability as early as possible so that on July 25 we hit the ground running because there are a lot of things to do and wrangling for Read More …

Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C.’s family photo during the commemoration of the 118th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center on 09 June 2016.2. Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. (center) with Ms. Victoria Navarro (left) and Ms. Loida Nicolas-Lewis (right), the two recipients of Philippine Embassy’s Certificates of Achievement. WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 300 guests from the United States Government, foreign diplomatic corps, private sector, and the Filipino-American community gathered at the Pavilion Floor of the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center on 09 June 2016 to join the celebration of the 118th Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence and the 70th Anniversary of the Establishment of Philippines-US diplomatic relations. “I am confident that we have laid the necessary groundwork for the incoming Administration to further strengthen Philippines-US alliance on a variety of fronts,” Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. said in his welcome remarks. “The steady development of Philippines-US relations in the past six years can be attributed to the leadership and commitment of the leadership of both the Philippines and the US to boost the treaty alliance. I also fully appreciate the strong bipartisan support the Philippines has received from Capitol Hill,” the envoy added. In his speech, US Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reaffirmed the critical role of the Philippines-US alliance in America’s rebalance to Asia and his Government’s support for the Philippine position on the South China Sea. “Today we celebrate not Read More …

DRILON SWITCHES ON THE CCS: Senate President Franklin M. Drilon turns on the Consolidation and Canvassing System (CCS) machine which received the electronically transmitted certificates of canvass for the 2016 presidential and vice presidential elections. (MNS photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) – Senator-elect Panfilo “Ping” Lacson has thumbed down the proposed restoration of the death penalty only during the six-year term of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte. “I don’t agree. The Senate is a self-respecting institution and should not legislate to please the incumbent President of the Philippines which obviously is what will be projected to our people if we include a sunset provision limiting the effectivity of the proposed legislation on the restoration of the death penalty,” Lacson said over the weekend. “My take is, either we vote for or against the measure once it reaches the Senate floor depending on our own conviction but definitely not to accommodate the President of the Republic,” he added. Lacson, who is in favor of the death penalty, was responding to reelected Senator Ralph Recto’s statement that the proposed restoration of the death penalty should have a sunset provision that it should be imposed for six years only. “I am personally against the death penalty but assuming it will be restored, I will propose it be imposed only for six years or only during the term of President Duterte,” Recto said in a text message to reporters last Friday. Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, chairman of the Senate committee on justice, was also cold to Recto’s Read More …

— Students queue to sign up for class at the Sta. Ana National High School in Davao City on Monday. A total of 5,990 public schools plus 5,046 private schools, private and public universities and technical-vocational schools will begin offering Grade 11-12 with the full implementation of the K-12 curriculum this school year.(MNS photo) MANILA  (Mabuhay) –  This year’s school opening is the best so far for Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Armin Luistro, even with the rollout of the senior high school program of the K to 12. “This year is the best school opening thus far. If there are any other reported problems, agad namin yung naso-solusyunan,” Luistro said on Monday during his visit at the Commonwealth High School in Quezon City with incoming DepEd secretary Leonor Briones. Based on his monitoring of media reports, Luistro said most of the complaints aired were very much solvable within the day. “Wala akong nakikitang malawakang problema… Yung aking monitoring ng media reports are really solvable. Madaling tugunan na problema,” he said. He said that complaints received by their DepEd’s help desk at the the agency’s main office in Pasig City  include congestion in some schools and non-enrollment of students. Luistro said the enrollment of Grade 11 students would be higher by more than 50 percent compared to the number of enrollees for fourth year high school in the past. He said that more than 600,000 Grade 11 students have enrolled so far, majority of which coming from public schools, based Read More …

Los Angeles  – The Philippine Consulate General, led by Consul General Leo M. Herrera-Lim in cooperation with the Philippine Department of Tourism in Los Angeles and Tourism Director, Mr. Richmond Jimenez, participated in the  LA-ASEAN Fest 2016 held at the South Coast Mall in Costa Mesa, California on 04 June 2016.   It was a unique and extraordinary ASEAN Community based event featuring various ASEAN cultures in Los Angeles. LA-ASEAN Fest 2016 is a five-hour event of fashion, music, trade and art show.  Its goal is to unify the spirit of ASEAN Community in greater Los Angeles to showcase the creations of promising artist and performers. It was well participated by the ASEAN member nations, members of the media, bloggers and public elected officials. The event was held in South Coast Mall, an upscale-luxury goods shopping center in Costa Mesa, California in Orange County and the largest mall on the West Coast of the United States with an annual visitor count of 24 million. The Philippine Consulate General and the Philippine Tourism-LA promoted Philippine tourist destinations.  The Philippine booth drew many positive comments from the participants of the festival, as well as the shoppers of the Mall: – A Philippine born lady who has not been back to the Philippines for 29 years said, “I visited (with my non-Filipino spouse) last year and we were really amazed on the beauty of the Philippines.  We are planning to visit the Philippines yearly basis; – A Vietnamese Refugee who lived in Bataan happily Read More …