Maniolas

• Longest PH Independence Day parade outside the Philippines • Miss World, OPM stars, other celebrities at the celebration • Street fair, floats, stage show, grand ball Miss World Megan Young (Photo by Rolan Gutierrez) NEW YORK, New York — It’s all systems go for the annual Philippine Independence Day Parade, the 116th celebration, featuring an all-day street fair and cultural festival stretching from 38th Street to 23rd Street and Madison Avenue, on Sunday, June 1, from 11:45 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The festivity is highlighted by the largest Philippine Independence Day parade outside the Philippines, hosted by the Philippine Independence Day Council Inc. (PIDCI), a nonprofit organization, which is celebrating its silver anniversary this year. Among the stars of the celebration are: First Filipina Miss World Megan Young, who with PIDCI raised funds for the victims of super typhoon Haiyan in central Philippines; Original Philippine Music (OPM) icons Kuh Ledesma, Cecile Azarcon, Edlyn Peregrina and Ogie Alcasid; First Filipina Carnaval Queen in Brazil Bessie Badilla; Grand Marshals Drs. Emilio and Felicisima Quines—both longtime medical mission volunteers. Nearly 200 Filipino American-related nonprofit and for profit organizations, are participating. Leading the daylong celebrations are AARP’s Asian American and Pacific Islander arm and My Shelter Foundation, which promotes solar bottle bulbs called “Liter of Light.” Attendance is likely to peak at 100,000 people, mostly Filipinos and Filipino Americans from the New York Tri-State area, Pennsylvania, California, Canada and the Philippines. Riding the many festive floats are PIDCI’s Goodwill Ambassadors 2014 Mrs. Kalayaan Read More …

The whistleblowers in the pork barrel scam now also want immunity after businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles – initially tagged as the scam mastermind – applied to turn state witness, a report on GMA’s “24 Oras” said Thursday. Benhur Luy, one of the first to testify at Senate hearings on the scam, said it worried him when Napoles reportedly sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking to become a state witness. Luy said they should also be given immunity from suit in addition to their inclusion in the government’s witness protection program. Lawyer Stephen Cascolan, counsel for some of the pork barrel scam whistleblowers, also said that his clients are worried for their safety after the case is resolved. “Ang basic question na lagi nilang sinasabi sa akin: ‘Saan ba kami pupulutin after all these years na lumalaban tayo kung wala kaming immunity?’,” Cascolan said. Luy and the other whistleblowers were excluded from the cases filed by the Department of Justice in connection with the pork barrel scam in exchange for their testimonies and other evidence. But Cascolan pointed out that the immunity granted to them should be in more concrete terms. “Ang trial nito ay ilang taon. Kung magbago ng president, ng secretary (of Justice) o ng ombudsman, irerespeto rin ba yung usapan?” Cascolan said. “Mas maganda po sana na may kontrata na meron silang immunity from suit para kung sino man yung kaharap nila, buo ang loob nilang lumaban,” he added. Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima confirmed Read More …

12:29 pm | Wednesday, May 14th, 2014 DFA Secretary Albert Del Rosario (center). BONG LOZADA/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has protested China’s efforts to reclaim land in a disputed reef in the South China Sea that can be used to build any facility, including an airstrip or an offshore military base in the increasingly volatile region, the country’s top diplomat and other officials said Wednesday. Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told The Associated Press that the Philippines lodged the protest against China last month after surveillance aircraft confirmed, and took pictures of the reclamation and dredging being done by Chinese vessels at the Johnson Reef (Mabini Reef) in the Spratly Islands, which Manila says violates a regional non-aggression pact. China has replied to the Philippine protest by saying that the reef belonged to it, he said. Del Rosario said it’s not clear what China would build on the reef, which Manila claims as part of its western province of Palawan, but one possibility is an airstrip. Another official says China can also build an off-shore military base. “We’re not exactly sure what [their intentions there are],” Del Rosario said. Another senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the issue, said China’s reclamation was first detected by air force planes six months ago. When the Philippine government deployed aircraft to help search for a missing Malaysian jetliner in March, the planes also spotted the continuing reclamation on the Read More …

By Christian V. EsguerraPhilippine Daily Inquirer 8:17 am | Wednesday, May 14th, 2014 Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.: Disadvantageous. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines—Did the Philippines get the short end of the stick in its new defense agreement with the United States? Senators on Tuesday grilled members of the Philippine panel that negotiated the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) with the US, raising issues such as the duration of the actual stay of US troops in the country and the military bases that would be made available to them. While saying the Edca did not have to be renegotiated, Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. pointed to portions of the agreement that were purportedly disadvantageous to the Philippines. Marcos cited Article 5 of the agreement, which mentioned “possible compensation” to be provided to the US “for improvements or construction” that US troops would make inside specific areas of Philippine military facilities, also known as “agreed locations.” During the hearing of the Senate committee on national defense and security, chief negotiator Pio Lorenzo Batino said “constructed buildings and other permanent structures will automatically be owned by the Philippine government.” But Marcos complained, saying in Filipino: “We would still pay for what they would construct. It says so here. So it appears that we were put at a disadvantage in this deal.” Ambassador Lourdes Yparraguirre, a member of the Philippine panel, cited the “concept of shared and joint use of infrastructure upgrades, as well as prepositioning of materials” contained in EDCA. “It can help accelerate Read More …

By Ana Maria Lykes THERE was once was a fair maiden who lived on the edge of Panay Island. She was so pure that sea creatures fearlessly sunbathed on her bosom. Her eyes were so pristinely blue that mystical fishes swam in them. Then came enterprisers and explorers, plundering her bounty and beauty. More and more of them came, crowding her and driving away the wondrous creatures. Her sighs are drowned out by loud chatter and merriment. Will we ever hear Boracay’s song again? “She’s sinking,” laments a local as bikini bunnies with henna tattoos and hair braids chitter past. These women aren’t the only ones overwhelming Boracay. Last year over 1.36 million tourists have trampled her white sands, leaving trash and destruction. Then there’s the mushrooming of establishments pushing too close to her shores. McDonald’s and Starbucks sit as shamelessly as the scantily-clad sunbathers on the beach. Construction is limited with a 25-meter setback, but many structures are sitting happily by the water. “If more and more establishments are put up here, there will be no more open spaces left. We will lose Boracay,” airs Glenn Sacapaño to the Philippine Daily Inquirer. The Task Force Redevelopment head and Island Administrator complains about the fast-paced and almost mindless development. The continuous expansion in Boracay doesn’t follow any urban planning and now narrow roadways and lack of parking are also troubling the island. With no more room near the shore, hotel operators turn to the hills fronting the beach. Overdevelopment is Read More …