Maniolas

A faction of a party-list group that won in the May 2013 elections has asked the Supreme Court to cite in contempt three Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioners for their failure to proclaim the group. Godofredo Arquiza, the leader of one of the factions within the Coalition of Association of Senior Citizens Inc. (Senior Citizens), said in a press conference Monday that his group has filed an urgent motion before the Supreme Court to cite Comelec chairman Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. and commissioners Lucenito Tagle and Elias Yusoph due to their refusal to proclaim the group as a winner in the party-list elections despite a Supreme Court ruling ordering the Comelec to do so. Arquiza said his group had no choice but to run to the Supreme Court to settle the issue since the Comelec has not heeded the Court’s order to proclaim Senior Citizens as a partylist. “Sa Supreme Court na kami nag-file ngayon ng case dahil itong [ginagawa ng Comelec] ay ‘di na tama… July 24 pa nagsabi ang SC na dapat kaming i-proclaim pero hanggang ngayon hindi pa rin [ginagawa ng Comelec]. Yung Comelec, dinefer pa nila ang pagpo-proclaim sa amin at ni-refer pa kami sa RTC [Regional Trial Court] para raw ma-settle na yung issue,” he said. The Comelec said in a resolution issued last week that it cannot proclaim Senior Citizens since its two nominees, Arquiza and Francisco Datol Jr., “abused their authority to usurp leadership over Senior Citizens from one another.” Arquiza and Datol Read More …

Vic Sotto and the cast of the 2013 Metro Manila Film Festival entry “My Little Bossings.” MANILA, Philippines – Vic Sotto said he is open to constructive criticism amid the negative feedback and reviews received by his film “My Little Bossings.” “My Little Bossings,” an entry in the 2013 Metro Manila Film Festival, was met mostly with scathing reviews. Among them was writer-TV5 news personality Lourd de Veyra’s “’An Open Letter to Vic Sotto,” published in a lifestyle website early this month. RELATED: What Pauleen Luna likes about Vic Sotto The essay, which criticized “My Little Bossings,” tells the “Eat Bulaga” main host: “Ngayon ikaw ay nasa maimplumensiyal at makapangyarihang posisyon. Kaya mong gumawa ng mga pelikulang makabuluhan, isang pelikulang maipagmamalaki ng lahat sa punto de bista ng kultura at estetiko.” Although he has not read the said open letter by de Veyra, Vic said, “Maganda siguro kung dineretso niya sa akin.” “I’m open to all criticism, lalo na kung constructive,” he said in a taped interview with GMA-7’s showbiz talk show “Startalk” aired Saturday, January 18. Entertainment ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 RELATED: MMFF 2013 earns over P900M in 12 days Vic added, “Ito yung tinatawag nating demokrasya, e. Nire-respect ko ang opinyin ng sinuman. Ganun din ang pagrespeto ko sa milyun-milyong nanood at nasiyahan at natuwa sa aming pelikula.” The 59-year-old comedian said he does not mind the bad reviews. “Ang mahalaga e record-breaking ang festival itong na ito,” he said.

CHRISTIAN Bale-starrer “America Hustle” and science-fiction movie “Gravity” lead the 86th Academy Awards nominations with 10 nods each. The official list of Oscar nominees was announced by Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaac and actor Chris Hemsworth on Thursday evening (local time) at Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California. Bale is nominated in the Best Actor category alongside “12 Years a Slave” actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, “Nebraska’s” Bruce Dern, and acting heavyweights Leonardo DiCarpio (“12 Years a Slave”) and Matthew McConaughey (“Dallas Buyers Club”). Mean time, “Gravity” star Sandra Bullock will compete in the Best Actress category together with Amy Adams (“American Hustle”), Cate Blanchett (“Blue Jasmine”), Judi Dench (“Philomena”) and seasoned actor Meryl Streep (“August: Osage County”). Here’s the complete list of 2014 Oscar nominees: Best Picture:“American Hustle”“Captain Phillips”“Dallas Buyers Club”“Gravity”“Her”“Nebraska”“Philomena”“12 Years a Slave”“The Wolf of Wall Street” Best Actor:Christian Bale (“American Hustle”)Bruce Dern (“Nebraska”)Leonardo DiCarpio (“The Wolf of Wall Street”)Chiwetel Ejiofor (“12 Years a Slave”)Matthew McConaughey (“Dallas Buyers Club”) Best Actress:Amy Adams (“American Hustle”)Cate Blanchett (“Blue Jasmine”)Sandra Bullock (“Gravity”)Judi Dench (“Philomena”)Meryl Streep (“August: Osage County”) Best Supporting Actor:Berkhad Abdi (“Captain Phillips”)Bradley Cooper (“American Hustle”)Michael Fassbender (“12 Years a Slave”)Jonah Hill (“The Wolf of Wall Street”)Jared Leto (“Dallas Buyers Club”) Best Supporting Actress:Sally Hawkins (“Blue Jasmine”)Jennifer Lawrence (“American Hustle”)Lupita Nyong’o (“12 Years a Slave”)Julia Roberts (“August: Osage County”)June Squibb (“Nebraska”) Animated Feature Film:“The Croods”“Despicable Me 2”“Ernest & Celestine”“Frozen”“The Wind Rises” Best Director:David O. Russell (“America Hustle”)Alfonso Cuaron (“Gravity”)Alexander Payne (“Nebraska”)Steve McQueen (“12 Years a Slave”)Martin Scorsese (“The Wolf of Wall Read More …

by Myrna Aquitania Myrna Aquitania Newshen colleague Lydia Solis, her sister Lulu Alcayde and I once experienced joining the senior outing tour sponsored by Alhambra’s Joslyn Recreation Center. They usually sponsor a couple of different tours every month. We were lucky to have joined one of LA’s “hidden treasures,” the Hsi Lai Temple tour in Hacienda Heights. It was a whole day’s worth of not only pleasurable and exciting but a spiritual experience as well. We boarded a passenger-packed luxury coach on an early weekend morning in front of the Recreation Center and we reached the Temple within half an hour where the view on top was exhilarating. Joslyn Recreation Center has recently published their 2014 tours and I truly recommend taking advantage of these inexpensive (minimal fees range from $12.00 to $20.00 per person, meals not included) outings because they’re really worth the minimal fee that went along with it. Following is the schedule this year: Farmer’s Market and The Grove on Friday, January 10th and the Pechanga Resort and Casino on Thursday, January 23rd. Registration for this tour was already done in December but you can check for availability of space by calling the Center at: 626/570-5056; In February, the outings include: Queen Mary, 9:30 am to to 4:00 pm, February 7th, fee $25.00, and the Getty Villa, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, February 21st, fee $12 Registration just ended on January 7th, but again you may check with the Center for availability of space. The historical nature of the Queen Mary tour brings you back Read More …

A US judge sentenced a former personal secretary to Imelda Marcos Monday to two to six years in prison for conspiring to sell Impressionist masterpieces belonging to the Manila government that vanished when Ferdinand Marcos was ousted. But Justice Renee A. White of the New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan said Vilma Bautista, 75, who has a pacemaker and chronic heart disease, could remain free on $175,000 bail while her lawyers appeal, the New York Times reported. White also ordered Bautista to pay $3.5 million in income taxes she owes to New York City and to New York State. He said she failed to report $28 million she obtained from selling one of the paintings, a famous Claude Monet water lily work, to a London gallery, which then resold it to a hedge fund manager in Switzerland. Bautista’s lawyer, Fran Hoffinger, said the court should impose no jail sentence because of her frail health. Hoffinger pointed out that paramedics had wheeled Ms. Bautista out of the courtroom on a gurney twice during her five-week trial after heart palpitations and fainting spells. “Incarceration for her would be a death sentence, or at least a life sentence,” Hoffinger said, according to the Times. It took a jury less than three hours to convict Bautista in November of conspiracy and tax fraud in connection with the sale of the Monet piece, “Le Bassin aux Nympheas” (1899). The painting had been taken along with three other works in late 1995 from the walls Read More …