Maniolas

INQUIRER.net US Bureau 6:20 am | Thursday, October 23rd, 2014 Sumi Sevilla Haru IMDB PHOTO LOS ANGELES — Filipino American actress and labor leader Sumi Sevilla Haru, 75, who fought for better roles for Asian American performers and was a prominent civil rights activist, died on October 16. No cause of death was given but she was known to have suffered from emphysema. Sumi Haru was born Mildred Sevilla on August 25, 1939 in Orange, New Jersey. She was known for her work in “Krakatoa: East of Java” (1969), “Fast Friends” (1979) and “MASH” (1970), “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “Hill Street Blues.” Haru became active in trade union movement, serving on the Screen Actors’ Guild (SAG) board of directors for nearly 40 years. In 1995 she was named interim SAG president. She also served for many years as the guild’s recording secretary, the guild’s third highest elected office. At the time of her death she was a member of the SAG-AFTRA national board. Haru was a negotiator of “American Scene” language and affirmative action clauses for SAG’s national TV/Theatrical and Commercials contracts and for AFTRA’s national Network Television and Commercials agreements, according to Deadline Hollywood. Haru became a national vice president of the AFL-CIO in 1995. Her six-year term as a national vice president marked the first time an Asian American has served on the AFL-CIO’s executive council. Haru was honored with SAG’s Ralph Morgan Award in 2009 for distinguished service to SAG’s Hollywood Division. She published “Iron Lotus: Memoirs of Read More …

By Tina G. Santos |Philippine Daily Inquirer 6:00 am | Thursday, October 23rd, 2014 Photo from UST website MANILA, Philippines–The Catholic faithful are expected to gather in a huge conference on faith at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in January next year, coinciding with Pope Francis’ trip to the Philippines. In a circular, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said the Archdiocese of Manila would hold the second Philippine Conference on New Evangelization (PCNE II) at the UST Quadricentennial Pavilion from Jan. 15 to 17, 2015. The event coincides with the Pope’s Philippine trip from January 15-19, 2015. But there is no confirmation yet whether the Holy Father will grace the UST event. In a previous interview, Tagle neither confirmed nor denied reports that the Pope would visit UST for a youth rally. “UST always figured in previous [papal] visits to the Philippines. We’re coming from that historical datum. Whether or not that will happen, we hope for confirmation at the end of the year,” Tagle said. Pontifical If Pope Francis visits UST, it will be the fourth time for a Pope to visit the university, which was founded by Dominicans in 1611 and declared a “Pontifical University” by the Holy See in 1902 even ahead of European institutions. UST was visited by Pope Paul VI in 1970 and by Pope John Paul II in 1981 and 1995. The PCNE, which Tagle started last year, aims to rekindle the Filipinos’ Catholic faith in the face of secularism. Tagle explained Read More …

Vice President Jejomar Binay is now open to appearing before the Senate to respond to allegations of graft and corruption, GMA News reported in its evening newscasts, but only if it is the Senate Blue Blue Ribbon Committee that invites him and not a subcommittee. As this developed, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano told news media that he expects the Blue Ribbon Committee to have ready by October 28 for signature, the arrest orders needed to compel purported dummies of the Vice President to come before the committee. However, as of Tuesday, neither the Senate nor GMA News have been able to find either Gerry Limlingan or Erlinda Chong.  The Senate tried to serve subpoenas inviting the alleged dummies but those attempts have failed. GMA News tried to look for Limlingan and Chong at known their home and business addresses but the two could not be found. Verification of listed business addresses of firms of Limlingan revealed that those addresses are not the locations of their firms.  — Kathryn Mae Tubadeza/ELR, GMA News

All documents lead to Vice President Jejomar Binay as the owner of the 350-hectare property in Batangas, Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said Tuesday, a day before the Senate blue ribbon subcommittee resumes its hearing on the allegedly overpriced Makati City Hall Building II. Cayetano said he will debunk on Wednesday’s hearing businessman Antonio Tiu’s claim that he and not Binay owns the sprawling estate in Rosario town, which is said to be part of the Binay family’s hidden wealth. “Kung sinabi niyang P440 million ang bili niya, nasaan ang dokumento? Kailan pumasok? Nasaan ang katunayan nito? We’ve looked over the documents and so far there is no proof na yung sinasabi niya ay totoo,” Cayetano told reporters, referring to Tiu. “He has a lot of explaining to do.” Cayetano said that based on his own research, Binay and his family own the property. “I welcome being proven wrong kasi ang hinahanap naman natin dito hindi durugin ang isang tao pero malaman ang  buong katotohanan. Walang papel na mate-trace na kay Mr. Tiu ito. Pero lahat ng ebidenisya so far shows na sa mga Binay ito,” he said. Cayetano said among the evidence would be pictures of people who have visited the so-called Binay farm over the decade. Dummy firms He also said they have documents on the alleged dummy corporations of Binay, who is facing plunder in connection with the Makati City Hall Building II controversy. “Kung maipapakita na ito ay lehitimong kumpanya at hindi ito dummy corporation Read More …

Instead of a proposed budget of P250 million for 2015, Senator Sergio Osmeña III will be pushing for a caretaker budget of only 40 million for the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO), saying it is just a waste of people’s money. “That’s a total waste of money, that’s being treated like a pork barrel. Hindi pupuwede. Talagang there’s no chance for a freeport to develop so far away. Maski malalapit na freeport, yung port mismo nahihirapan eh,” he told reporters after the hearing on the freeport’s proposed budget. He added that investors will not use APECO, which is based in Casiguran, Aurora, as an alternative to Manila because “they have nothing to pick up.” Inadequate infrastructure Osmeña also noted during the hearing that APECO’s facilities are inadequate. “There are no resources, no access to markets. They, the ones who hired you, are persistent in trying to get more money from the government for something that never existed,” he told APECO officials. He added that he had been listening to the same promises from APECO’s heads for the last five years, but that the projects were never fulfilled. “You were not pressured because you were not the one who made the promise here. Every year the CEO quits because he cannot justify the promises he made,” he said. Lawyer Gerardo Erquiza Jr., APECO president and CEO, maintained that APECO is very promising but he admitted that they still lack the needed infrastructure. “Pag ito’y nagkaroon ng facilities and Read More …