Maniolas

Jackie Forster (MNS Photo) Former actress Jackie Forster believes that her daughter, who is battling leukemia, is already cured. Forster said three-year-old Caleigh is already in remission but still needs to undergo two years of chemotherapy. “We believe she’s cured already. Medically speaking, she is in remission. She still has to undergo two years of chemotherapy. But when we look at her, we pray, and she’s cured,” she said. Forster discovered the condition of her daughter when they were staying in Malaysia and her daughter was constantly having fever attacks. She initially thought her daughter had dengue fever, but when Caleigh checked by a doctor, they were told that she had symptoms of leukemia. Forster admitted that at first, she was in denial, until more symptoms became apparent. “Nu’ng una nilalagnat lang siya that was on and off. So I decided to bring her to a specialist. I was scared it would be dengue. I took her to a pediatrician one day, had her blood drawn. Of course he knew the symptoms [of leukemia]. I was even thinking ‘anong leukemia’… in denial pa ako nu’n,” said the former actress. Forster said her daughter, despite being aware of her condition, remains strong. “She is aware. She only learned the word cancer from her brother. But she doesn’t call it cancer. What she has, tawag niya du’n aliens,” she said. Caleigh’s older brother, Jared Alfred, meanwhile learned about his sister’s illness when she noticed the three-year-old’s hair falling off because of chemotherapy. Read More …

Senate President Franklin Drilon, chair of the Commission on Appointment, confirmed on Wednesday (Feb. 19) the appointment of Lt. Gen. Gregorio Pio P. Catapang, Jr. and 17 other Generals/Flag and Senior Officers in the Armed Forces of the Philippines at the Senate Bldg., Pasay City. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – The House Committee on Dangerous Drugs has approved a bill that seeks to amend the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 to allow the conduct of drug testing to all convicts, parolees, probationers and persons arrested that are suspected to be under the influence of illegal drugs. Iligan City Rep. Varf Belmonte, chairman of the committee, led the approval of House Bill No. 2777 that aims to amend Section 36 of Republic Act No. 9165 on authorized drug testing. ACT-CIS Rep. Samuel Pagdilao Jr., who penned HB 2777, said all prisoners, parolees and probationers shall undergo random drug testing to ensure that these persons are free from the use of dangerous drugs. “This is mandatory and once it becomes a law, they can no longer invoke human rights because it would supersedes all laws contrary to the new one,” Pagdilao explained. The bill is now in the plenary for debates. The measure also seeks to immediately place arrested individual who at the time of their arrest are suspected to be under the influence of dangerous drugs under mandatory drug testing. Pagdilao said the passage of HB 2777 at the committee level is a big leap as far as government’s drive Read More …

Here’s a short announcement regarding PLDT 2-in-1 Prepaid.

The BRP Ramon Alcaraz, Philippine Navy’s newest warship, after a successful test firing of its main weapons system in Charleston, South Carolina. More than a year after it was acquired from the US Coast Guard. MANILA (Mabuhay) – The Philippine Navy (PN) announced that additional weaponry for its latest acquisition, the BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PF-16), is already in the country. Cmdr. Gregory Fabic, Navy public affairs office chief, said that the two Mark 38 Model 2 “Bushmaster” 25mm automatic cannons are already in a secured location. He declined to comment on where this is for security reasons. “What we are waiting now is the arrival of the US Coast Guard team who will install the weapons,” Fabic said in Filipino. The “Bushmaster” automatic cannons will be fitted to BRP Ramon Alcaraz’s port (left) and starboard (right) side and will act as the ship’s secondary armament. The decision to seek US Coast Guard aid in installing these automatic cannons came in the wake of the high cost of having the guns installed by a private shipyard. The guns were supposed to be installed before BRP Ramon Alcaraz’s Nov. 22 commissioning but the cost of having it done here was just too expensive for the Navy. The weapon was commissioned by the US Navy following the terrorist attack on the USS Cole in 2000, and was designed to counter high-speed maneuvering surface targets.It will be installed in almost all US surface ships by 2015. The remotely controlled chain gun system can fire Read More …

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Brian Johnson poses for a photograph with Philippine soldiers after conducting helicopter insert and extract training on Fort Magsaysay, Philippines, April 29, 2014. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Staff Sgt. Pete Thibodeau MANILA (AFP) – Filipino and Vietnamese troops will engage in a light-hearted round of sports diplomacy on contested islands in the South China Sea, the Philippines said Thursday, as tensions worsen with China. Basketball, beach volleyball and tug-of-war games will be held this weekend on tiny islands that are claimed by nations to show that rivals can still be friends, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said. “This is camaraderie. That is a friendly gesture,” del Rosario told reporters. The games will be held in the Spratly archipelago, a powder keg area of the South China Sea that is coveted by the Philippines, Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. All the claimants except for Brunei have for decades occupied islands in the Spratlys in a bid to block any of the others. It is part of a broader struggle for control over the South China Sea, which has enormous trade and military significance as it is the main maritime link between the Pacific and Indian oceans. China claims nearly all of the sea, which is also believed to contain vast deposits of oil and gas, even waters approaching the coasts of its neighbors. The Philippines and Vietnam have voiced growing alarm in recent years at what they perceive as China’s bullying tactics in staking its Read More …