“Crushed it,” writes Huffington Post about the sisters’ rendition of Taylor Swift’s songs on YouTube.
Mar 142015
Mar 132015
Iya Villania eager to host a show with hubby Drew Arellano.
Mar 132015
Janicel Lubina reveals the first gift she gave her parents after winning in a beauty pageant.
Mar 132015
Edu Manzano (MNS Photo) Actor-TV host Edu Manzano looks forward to making a TV comeback after what he calls a “self-imposed retirement” that began 10 years ago. “When I took over the OMB (Optical Media Board), ayoko nang gumawa (ng showbiz-related projects), but now that I have so much time on my hands, (I want to give it another try),” he said. With high hopes, Edu returns to the medium he feels has vastly improved from when he was just starting out. “Ngayon kasi, wala nang superstar-superstar. Lahat kayo pare-pareho. The stars arrive on time, they know their lines,” he noted. The actor recalled a time when movies seemed to rest on the shoulders of the lead actor as the star system in show business goes. “Pero ngayon hindi na (ganun). It’s the production, it’s the story, it’s how you market (the project), ’yung director (that make a hit) so I’m looking forward to working (as actor) again.” Yet again Edu was asked to comment on his son Luis Manzano’s interest in joining politics. Father’s answer is the same. “I allow my children to do whatever they want to do,” he said. “Ang sinasabi ko lang kasi, may kapalit ’yan eh. Kung ikaw ay magpa-public servant, you have to take time out from television or movies to serve the people who voted you into office.” Being a former Makati vice mayor, Edu certainly knows this. He said it’s not good to run for a public post while being seen on Read More …
Mar 132015
By Daniel Hicks Manny Pacquiao does his daily routine of exercises at Griffith Park in Los Angeles as the Filipino pugilist is in deep in training for the “fight of his life” against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 2 at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo: Benny Uy Macau, Macau |AFP| -The May 2 superfight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will be great for the sport of boxing, no matter what the outcome, Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach said on Friday. Speaking ahead of the weigh-in for his charge Zou Shiming’s world title fight against IBF flyweight champion Amnat Ruenroeng on Saturday in Macau, Roach said he expected the boxing’s popularity to surge on the back of the huge interest in the fight. Hall of Fame trainer Roach owns the famous Wildcard gym in Los Angeles where Philippines idol and eight-division world champion Pacquiao is currently in training for the Mayweather encounter. And Roach reckons it will be a very busy place after the two best fighters of a generation finally lock horns in Las Vegas in the richest fight of all time, expected to be worth more than $200 million. “It’s going to generate a lot of interest in boxing,” Roach told AFP. “I can see a lot of people are going to be coming in after that fight,” added Roach. Not that Roach is short of work. Despite battling the debilitating effects of Parkinson’s disease, he will be in the corner for two other fighters Read More …
Mar 132015
Defense Secretary Volatire Gazmin, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas attend the 5th public hearing on the Mamasapano incident. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Department of Justice (DOJ) insists that the continued detention of former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo does not violate her human, civil, and political rights, even as the Aquino government has yet to officially receive official notice on the case lodged by international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney before the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) on behalf of Arroyo. In a 42-page complaint, Clooney, wife of Holywood A-lister George Clooney, argued that the Philippine government violated several provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on its treatment of Arroyo, who is being tried for the non-bailable offense of plunder for the alleged diversion of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) funds during her stint as president. Clooney said Arroyo’s health has deteriorated because of her continued detention, and her full recovery hindered. She urged the UNHCHR to ask for Arroyo’s release from detention to allow her to seek treatment abroad mainly for her lingering cervical spine problem. While Justice Secretary Leila de Lima pointed out that “any specific comment on the merits of the case would be highly speculative” at this point, she stressed that Arroyo’s detention is a matter carefully decided by the Philippine’s anti-graft court, the Sandiganbayan, after going through the regular judicial process. De Lima barred Arroyo from leaving the Philippines Read More …
Mar 132015
Mourners take part in a memorial for the victims of the Mamasapano encounter in front of the Philippine National Police Headquarters in Quezon City Tuesday. The groups demand truth and accountability from those involved in the bloody clash, which resulted in the death of 44 PNP-SAF officers, 18 Moro rebels, and 7 civilians. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Mortar fire from the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, not military artillery, destroyed houses in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said Wednesday. Reacting to complaints by residents of Elian in Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cabunoc, AFP public affairs chief, quoted reports from units involved in the ongoing “all-out” offensive against the BIFF that “when they were approaching the said community, the BIFF bombarded them with mortar fire, hitting the said houses.” He also said field reports showed “the adjacent house where the alleged artillery fire occurred remains intact, a sign that the damage could not have been caused by a 105mm (howitzer shell) high explosive blast.” Cabunoc said the AFP has declared civilian communities “no fire areas,” meaning no high explosive munitions, whether from the ground or the air, can be used there. Nevertheless, he said, 6th Infantry Division commander, Major General Edmundo Pangilinan, “has ordered a civil military operations battalion to assess the reported damage and to extend assistance in repairing houses” as he assured that the AFP would “adhere to the rules of engagement and the provisions of International Humanitarian Law to Read More …
Mar 132015
Relatives and supporters of the SAF 44, members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) who were killed during the Mamasapano clash, march along EDSA on Sunday. The march turned out to be a solemn memorial honoring the troopers who died on January 25. (MNS Photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Wednesday extended for another three more days its all-out offensive against the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, the splinter group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. AFP spokesperson Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc said AFP chief General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. ordered another extension for the clearing operations in the affected areas. “Due to ongoing operations and the objective has not yet been accomplished,” Cabunoc said when asked why the all-out campaign against the BIFF was extended again. This is the third extension since the military announced that it was set to end its all-out offensives against BIFF members last week. At the same time, Cabunoc said they are still verifying the location and condition of Filipino bomb maker and Abu Sayyaf member Basit Usman. On the other hand, Army’s 6th Infantry Division public affairs officer Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay said two members of the Philippine Marines were killed in an encounter with the BIFF from 4 p.m. to midnight on Tuesday. Petinglay, however, declined to identify the Marine fatalities while their family has yet to be informed. She added that clearing operations are ongoing at in the so-called SPMS (Salvu, Pagatin, Mamasapano and Shariff Aguak) Read More …
Mar 132015
Residents stand on the ruins of their house amidst other destroyed houses after Super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city in central Philippines November 10, 2013. One of the most powerful storms ever recorded killed at least 10,000 people in the central Philippines province of Leyte, a senior police official said on Sunday, with coastal towns and the regional capital devastated by huge waves. Super typhoon Haiyan destroyed about 70 to 80 percent of the area in its path as it tore through the province on Friday, said chief superintendent Elmer Soria, a regional police director. (MNS photo) Manila, Philippines |AFP| – The disaster-haunted Philippines is likely to be hit by stronger typhoons this year as warming ocean surfaces contribute to a dry spell, the state weather service warned Wednesday. The Asian archipelago, whipped by about 20 typhoons and storms each year, is now in the grips of the “El Nino” phenomenon that can make storms “stronger” and more “erratic”, weather service chief Vicente Malano said. “El Nino may cause the behaviour of tropical cyclones to become erratic, affecting (their) tracks and intensity,” he said in an advisory, adding that the same number of storms are expected. “The tropical cyclone tracks are expected to shift northward and (their) intensity could become stronger,” Malano said. Super Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest ever to hit land, left more than 7,350 people dead or missing in central regions of the Philippines in November 2013 as it dumped tsunami-like waves on coastlines, wiping out entire towns. Read More …
Mar 132015
SENATE INQUIRY ON ICC: Senate President Franklin Drilon (left) denies he has anything to do with the bidding for the construction of the Iloilo Convention Center. “To set the record straight, I had nothing to do with the bidding for the project. I did not participate in the constitution of the Bids and Awards Committee. I did not interfere with any part of the bidding process, nor did I nominate or appoint the winning bidder,”Drilon told the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014. The Senate is conducting an inquiry into the alleged overpricing of the convention center. Also in photo is Senator Teogisto “TG” Guingona III, chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin “Jun-Jun” Binay Jr. should accept the suspension order of the Office of the Ombudsman just like what some senators did when they were also ordered suspended over the “pork barrel” scam, Senate President Franklin Drilon said on Wednesday. “He should follow what our colleagues did in the Senate. They accepted the suspension as part of the process…” Drilon told reporters. The Senate leader was apparently referring to Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jose Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr, who were suspended by the Senate on orders of the Ombudsman. The three senators have been detained after being charged with plunder and graft over the pork barrel scam. Binay, on the other hand, was placed under preventive suspension by the Ombudsman in connection with the Read More …