Maniolas

Cheryl Stephanie Burke MOUNTAIN VIEW, California — Multi-awarded Filipino American choreographer and “Dancing With the Stars” star instructor Cheryl Stephanie Burke on June 6 hosted a big fundraising event for scholarships and entrepreneurship programs in the Philippines. The $150-a-plate dinner featured dancing, silent and live auctions, organized by the non-profit Philippine Development (PhilDev) Foundation, which is trying to boost economic development in the Philippines. “You Should Be Dancing — an Evening of Giving and Grooving,” host Burke is of half Filipino and Irish-Russian ancestry. She was a Primetime Emmy Award nominee for Outstanding Choreography in ABC 7’s “Dancing With the Stars” for the “Freestyle” and “Paso Doble” dances in 2005. Born in San Francisco, Burke began her dancing career when she started training in ballet at the age of four, and at the age of 11 she began ballroom dancing. She opened her own dance studio, offering professional ballroom dancing lessons, in Silicon Valley in the spring of 2008. Her mother, Sherri, runs the Cheryl Burke Dance Studio in Mountain View, appeared live recently on ABC 7 (KGO) before veteran TV anchor and journalist Cheryl Jennings, along with entrepreneur and philanthropist Dado Banatao to publicize the fundraising event. The Burkes are helping PhilDev connect Silicon Valley to the Philippines through Banatao, a man tagged by Jennings as “the Bill Gates of the Philippines.” “We may be crazy enough to be the only foundation that says we build the economy of the Philippines,” Banatao said during interview. Banatao founded several Silicon Read More …

By Matikas SantosINQUIRER.net 5:03 pm | Monday, June 2nd, 2014 OFWs from Libya INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines – At least 51 Filipinos in the strife-torn country of Libya have volunteered to be repatriated since the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) raised crisis alert level 3. “There are now 51 Filipinos who have registered in the Philippine Embassy in Tripoli for voluntary repatriation since alert level 3 was raised on May 29, 2014,” DFA spokesman Charles Jose said in a press briefing Monday. “We will be sending an augmentation team anytime this week, to augment embassy personnel and the rapid response team and they will be meeting with the employers, officials, and the Filipino community,” he said. The security situation in Libya has deteriorated in the past days after a former military general and troops loyal to him launched an attack against militiamen in Benghazi City. Heavy fighting has been reported in the city by Aljazeera news agency as the two sides clashed. Peace and security in Libya has been unstable since the 2011 revolution that ousted and killed long-time dictator Moammar Gadhafi. According to records of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas there are at least 2,700 Filipinos in Libya as of December 2012. RELATED STORIES Binay advises Filipinos in conflict-stricken Libya to leave Alert level 3 raised for Filipinos in Libya Follow Us Other Stories: Rescued Filipina kidnap victim set to be repatriated to PH DFA mum on taking action vs racist Hong Kong textbook Japan hits back at China Read More …

Agence France-Presse 3:44 pm | Monday, June 2nd, 2014 TOKYO — Japan on Monday hit back at China’s denouncement of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s speech at a regional security forum, firing the latest salvo in an ongoing tit-for-tat row. On Sunday, Lieutenant General Wang Guanzhong, deputy chief of the general staff of the People’s Liberation Army, told the Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore that the comments made by Abe and US Defense secretary Chuck Hagel at the conference were “unacceptable”. But Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters in Tokyo: “We believe the Chinese senior official made claims based on mistake of facts and defamed our country.” Suga said the Japanese delegation in Singapore immediately made a “strong protest” against the remarks to the Chinese side. On Friday, Abe had opened the forum by urging countries to respect the rule of law — an apparent reference to what rivals consider aggressive Chinese behavior over disputed areas in the South China Sea and East China Sea. Hagel on Saturday warned China against “destabilizing actions” in the South China Sea and listed a number of alleged infractions, including against the Philippines and Vietnam, the two most vocal critics of Beijing’s claims. A furious Wang accused the two of coordinating their remarks and encouraging each other to attack China. In response to the US and Japanese remarks, Wang said in an address to the forum: “The Chinese delegation… have this feeling that the speeches of Mr Abe and Mr Hagel are a provocative action Read More …

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Top leaders, experts and officials of disaster risk reduction and management agencies from Asia and Europe are meeting in the Philippines next week in a conference that is meant to draw lessons from Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) on how the world can prepare for future mega-disasters. The Philippines will host the Asia Europe Meeting’s (ASEM) Manila Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) from June 4 to 6, an event expected to gather some 140 senior government officials, scientists, academics, leaders of business and nongovernment organizations and representatives of regional and international organizations from 36 of the 51 ASEM partner nations, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin will lead six Cabinet and five sub-Cabinet level speakers during the event. Kristalina Georgieva, the EU commissioner for international cooperation, humanitarian aid and crisis, and Margareta Wahlstrom, the UN Secretary General’s special representative for disaster risk reduction, will also be taking part in the conference. The conference, with the theme “Post-Haiyan-—A Way Forward,” is an initiative of the Philippines with the goal of engaging Asian and European leaders in a collective reflection on best practices in mitigating the impact of disasters and rebuilding in the wake of major calamities. “We wanted to pay tribute to the victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda and to recognize the vaunted resiliency of the people of eastern, central and western Visayas and other affected provinces. We recognize their will to Read More …

By Christine O. AvendañoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 8:43 pm | Monday, May 26th, 2014 MANILA, Philippines — A Filipino has been sentenced to death while two others got life terms in jail after being convicted by a court in Qatar for espionage, Assistant Foreign Secretary Charles Jose said on Monday. Jose did not disclose the names of the three Filipinos or give their background, pending the final resolution of the case. The three Filipino men were sentenced last month by a lower court for selling information deemed threatening to Qatar, Jose said. They were charged with espionage in 2011, he said. “We are extending legal assistance to them,” he said in a phone interview. Jose said the Department of Affairs has appealed their conviction to Qatar’s Court of Appeals early this month. Follow Us Other Stories: Italian envoy slapped with child abuse, human trafficking raps DND maintains Edca constitutional Binay wife allowed to travel to Hawaii Italian envoy facing child abuse rap ordered charged Recent Stories: Complete stories on our Digital Edition newsstand for tablets, netbooks and mobile phones; 14-issue free trial. About to step out? Get breaking alerts on your mobile.phone. Text ON INQ BREAKING to 4467, for Globe, Smart and Sun subscribers in the Philippines. Factual errors? Contact the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s day desk. Believe this article violates journalistic ethics? Contact the Inquirer’s Reader’s Advocate. Or write The Readers’ Advocate: c/o Philippine Daily Inquirer Chino Roces Avenue corner Yague and Mascardo Streets, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines Or fax Read More …