Aiko Melendez denies dating younger man

 Entertainment
Jan 032015
 
Aiko Melendez denies dating younger man

Aiko Melendez (MNS photo) Aiko Melendez reacted to reports that she is dating a younger man after several photos of them together made the rounds online. The man in the photos has been identified as Michael Pate, a college varsity player in his early 20s. Melendez said there is nothing romantic going on between them, adding that they are always with a group of friends. “It’s pangit naman na it would come from me. Probably siguro he has a crush on me. Ganun lang. Barkada namin nila Edwin Tan. We just hang out as a group,” she said. In one of Pate’s Instagram posts, he captioned a photo of Melendez with the hashtag “true love.” Asked if she has any idea why Pate made such a remark, Melendez said: “Probably kasi I’ve been single for the past five years. Anybody na matabi sa akin, [nali-link]. Ewan ko sa kanya bakit siya nag-post ng [true love daw ako]. Sinasabi lang niya na humahanga siya sa akin pero walang [panliligaw].” Even if she said in the past that she still wants a happy ending when it comes to her love life, Melendez said Pate is “just too young.” Meanwhile, the actress said she is taking back her statement last week that she wants to have another baby with her former husband, Jomari Yllana. “I take it back. Two nights ako, parang nagdasal ako na huwag na lang. I’m content na with two kids. I have a boy and a girl so parang Read More …

Probe sought on gov’t shelter assistance for ‘Yolanda’ victims

 Entertainment
Jan 032015
 
Probe sought on gov’t shelter assistance for ‘Yolanda’ victims

President Benigno S. Aquino III leads his official family in prayer before presiding over the meeting on Yolanda rehabilitation updates at the Aguinaldo State Dining Room of the Malacañan Palace on Friday (May 16, 2014). (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – A lawmaker is calling for a joint public hearing on the government’s housing assistance program for families affected by typhoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) in Cebu. Cebu Rep. Benhur L. Salimbangon said that to date, out of the eight municipalities and one city in his district, only one municipality has received its share of the government’s shelter assistance. Likewise, only a portion of the affected households in the city have received their share of the government’s assistance. Salimbangon said his district was badly affected by ‘Yolanda,’ which struck the country November 8 last year and claimed lives and property. He now wants the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development and the Senate Committee on Urban Development, Housing and Resettlement to probe how the government’s shelter assistance fund was used. The lower house approved a P14.6 billion supplemental budget in 2013 for ‘Yolanda’ recovery and rehabilitation. He added that an additional P160 billion was allocated for Yolanda recovery and rehabilitation fund which included housing assistance. “A significant number of Yolanda affected families in my district do not see and feel government’s recovery and rehabilitation efforts. They think that the government’s post Yolanda recovery and rehabilitation program in terms of housing assistance is unsatisfactory,” Salimbangon said. (MNS)

SWS: 11.4M households consider themselves poor in 4th quarter 2014

 Entertainment
Jan 032015
 
SWS: 11.4M households consider themselves poor in 4th quarter 2014

A man arranges his peso bills inside a currency exchange shop Friday, Nov. 9, 2007, in Manila, Philippines. The dollar closed Friday at 42.795 pesos, where the peso rose to a new seven-year high on prospects of further U.S. interest rate cuts and likely increases in remittances from Filipinos overseas. (AP Photo/Pat Roque) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Some 52 percent of Filipino families – or about 11.4 million households – see themselves as poor in the last quarter of 2014, a new survey by pollster Social Weather Stations showed. The SWS said the survey conducted Nov. 27 to Dec. 1 showed this was slightly down from the 55 percent (12.1 million households) in the third quarter. It added this was the lowest self-rated poverty rate in the last five quarters. But the SWS also noted that despite this slight improvement, 2014 was the worst in eight years in terms of self-rated poverty. On the other hand, the SWS noted 41 percent or about 9.1 million families considered themselves food-poor, slightly down from the 43 percent in the third quarter. SWS noted the average self-rated food poverty rate for 2014, at 41 percent, is worse than the 39 percent in 2013 and the same as in 2012. Results of the survey were posted late Sunday night on the website of SWS’ media partner BusinessWorld. The SWS conducted the survey from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1 among 1,800 adults nationwide, Sampling error margins of ±2% for national percentages; ±6% each for Metro Manila, Read More …

Peace talks with communist rebels to restart soon

 Entertainment
Jan 032015
 
Peace talks with communist rebels to restart soon

Members of the New Peoples Army (NPA) belonging to the Pulang Bagani Command celebrate the 40th Founding Anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) somewhere in Davao City on Friday, December 26, 2008. The NPA, which is the armed wing of the CPP, has been fighting for the establishment of the Marxist state in the Philippines since 1968. AKP Images/ Keith Bacongco Manila, Philippines | AFP | – The Philippine government and communist rebels said Friday that formal negotiations to end a lengthy insurgency could restart shortly, though the rebels’ armed wing announced it was beefing up its guerilla campaign. Peace talks regarding one of the world’s longest-running insurgencies, which have been on-and-off since the 1980s, may resume as early as the second half of January, Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison said in a video message on Facebook. Back-channel talks to “prepare the agenda” for formal negotiations have been ongoing since September and agreements on a ceasefire and social and economic reforms may be finished before President Benigno Aquino steps down in 2016, said Sison, who is in exile in the Netherlands. Teresita Deles, presidential adviser on the peace process, did not give a timeline for the negotiations, but told AFP that Sison’s remarks were “very positive” and indicated that common ground between the two sides was “broadening”. “Friends of the peace process have been shuttling between the two parties to explore possible parameters for restarting talks at the earliest time possible,” Deles said Read More …

Remote, fledgling city marshals resources to build hotel industry

 General
Jan 032015
 
Remote, fledgling city marshals resources to build hotel industry

VISITORS enjoy white water rafting down the Chico River TABUK CITY—Kalinga tourism brochures market the province as a destination for ink (indigenous tattooing), rafting (the Chico River white water rafting) and climbing (the province’s mountain vistas) that has attracted up to 40,000 visitors to Tabuk, one of the country’s youngest cities. This gradual improvement in tourism since 2001 has encouraged investors to develop a complementary hotel business for Tabuk, which became a city in 2007, having already been the province’s capital since the 1960s. Despite a 12-hour trip from Metro Manila, this city has served as the gateway to Kalinga’s myriad towns and cultures since its original settlers named it “Tobog,” or living stream. But tourism is a fairly new trade here. The province has been a major rice producer in the Cordillera region and Tabuk, for the most part, has had an agriculture-based economy, according to the city’s tourism development plan covering 2013 to 2016. For a time, the province also had to fend off a disparaging reputation for violence and conflict, due to accounts of bitter feuds among tribes or clans that took place decades ago. “Kalinga used to be described by outsiders as a violent community, but people who made the effort to visit Tabuk have been returning again and again once they realized that this characterization of the province was not true,” said Ben Chan, owner of the Grand Zion Garden Resort and Hotel, which opened in 2009. Chan, one of the city’s big investors, said Read More …

Filipina is first Asian president of Chicago Bar Association

 News
Jan 032015
 
Filipina is first Asian president of Chicago Bar Association

FILIPINO lawyer Aurora Austriaco, president of the Chicago Bar Association (2012-2013), with Peter Birnbaum, president and CEO of Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund Inc. Her parents migrated to the United States because they realized that they would not be able to afford to send all of their eight kids to college if they stayed and worked in the Philippines. Looking back, Aurora Austriaco says, “I am sure that decision was very difficult for them. It took a lot of sacrifice for our parents to leave their kids with my aunts and grandparents so they can earn money and send back to us. My parents would come home every year and stay for one month so they can spend time with us. This went on for 10 years until we ultimately got reunited in 1983.” 100 influential women As an immigrant who chased a big dream and saw it fulfilled beyond her wildest imagination, her success story is inspiring. On June 21, 2012, Pinay morena beauty Austriaco was installed as the 136th president of a prestigious American organization—the Chicago Bar Association and served until 2013. She was also named among “100 Influential Women in Chicago” by Today’s Chicago Woman Magazine. Aug. 21, 1983 Austriaco was 8 years old when her parents left the country. Her mom was a retired nurse, and together with her dad, eventually petitioned her older siblings one by one. Along with the last of her two other sisters, they headed off to the US on Aug. 21,1983. Austriaco Read More …

Uncertainties in Obama’s immigration initiatives

 News
Jan 032015
 
Uncertainties in Obama’s immigration initiatives

For many years, Johnny lived separately from his family in Manila. When US President Barack Obama announced his new immigration initiatives through executive action, he became hopeful that somehow he would be able to reunite with his family. Johnny is looking forward to applying for the Deferred Action for Parental Accountability; or, the deferred action for parents of American citizens or lawful permanent residents. If the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will start accepting his application, he will be able to apply for an employment authorization document. With this document, he will be able to come out of the shadows and be a more productive employee. But, whether or not he will receive an authorization to temporarily travel outside the United States to visit his family in the Philippines is still unclear until the UCSCIS releases its regulations. Despite this uncertainty, Johnny remains hopeful until he heard about recent roadblocks to Obama’s executive action on immigration brought about by lawsuits. What are the effects of these lawsuits that were filed against Obama questioning the legality of the executive actions? What is the effect of limiting the federal funding of the US Department of Homeland Security? Maneuvers to halt implementation An Arizona sheriff in Maricopa County, Sheriff Joe Arpaio, was quick to file a lawsuit against Obama alleging that actions by him are unconstitutional for overstepping his power by changing the law himself and bypassing Congress. Last week, the US District Court dismissed this lawsuit. Another lawsuit filed by the Read More …

Prison sex assault of girl, 8, fuels anger in Philippines

 News
Jan 022015
 
Prison sex assault of girl, 8, fuels anger in Philippines

An eight-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in a toilet at a notorious Philippine prison, officials said Saturday, fuelling a national uproar over revelations that its inmates were “living like kings” with stripper bars and jacuzzis. The girl, who was visiting her inmate father at Bilibid prison in suburban Manila on New Year’s Day, was found sprawled on the bathroom floor, naked from the waist down and with a rope tied around her neck, officials said. Initial medical tests did not indicate that she had been raped. “The incident involving the eight-year-old is nothing short of deplorable,” presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte told AFP. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said an inmate had confessed to attacking the girl and would face additional criminal charges. “He rendered her unconscious, strangled with the intention of raping her,” de Lima told local broadcaster ABS-CBN. The assault came three weeks after a police raid of the prison found stashes of drugs, cash and guns — as well as sex dolls, a stripper bar and a jacuzzi — spread across an astonishing network of air-conditioned “villas” built for powerful crime lords. One inmate, bank robbery gang leader Herbert Colanggo, had a recording studio in his villa, where he made a full album of love ballads. Colanggo’s YouTube posts also revealed that he staged elaborate shows inside the prison gymnasium where he was cheered by crowds waving pink pom-poms. “We are trembling with anger. We are sick and tired of this system,” Dante Jimenez, chairman of the Volunteers Read More …

DFA looking into reported sinking of cargo ship with 19 Filipino sailors in Vietnam

 News
Jan 022015
 
DFA looking into reported sinking of cargo ship with 19 Filipino sailors in Vietnam

popular Officer killed, 19 crew saved in cargo ship sinking Oil price drops in first session of 2015 Pacquiao drops New Year greeting to Floyd Hunt for Stephanie Nicole Ella’s killer still like ‘looking for needle in haystack’–PNP A badge of honesty tested three times Reclamation rationale US-led coalition jets pound IS stronghold in Syria Priest: No to feng shui; yes to hard work, perseverance, prayer videos Philippine Arena’s 2015 New year’s eve countdown Chris Brown a no-show 2 Bocaue fireworks stores shut down for violations 40th MMFF Awards Night 2014 MMFF New Wave Spokesperson Charles Jose said the DFA is looking into the reported sinking of a cargo ship with 19 Filipino seafarers onboard off Vietnam’s coast. INQUIRER file photo MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is looking into the reported sinking of a cargo ship in Vietnam carrying 19 Filipinos, spokesperson Charles Jose said on Saturday. Jose said the DFA is coordinating with Vietnamese authorities to confirm the reported sinking of the Bulk Jupiter, which supposedly carried 19 Filipino crew members. “Our Embassy in Hanoi is coordinating with Vietnamese authorities to get confirmation and more details about the reported sinking of cargo ship Bulk Jupiter. As always, we stand ready to extend necessary and appropriate assistance to the ship’s Filipino crew members and their families,” Jose said in a text message to INQUIRER.net Ho Chi Minh-based news website Tuoi Tre News reported that the Bahamian-flagged cargo ship sank on January 2 off the Vietnam coast Read More …

Fil-Am teen blooms in US Rose parade

 News
Jan 022015
 
Fil-Am teen blooms in US Rose parade

Fil-Am Rose Gabrielle Current, 17, blooms along the route of the traditional Rose Bowl Parade during the 126th Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, California, viewed by millions around the world. NIMFA RUEDA PASADENA—Wearing the Rose Princess crown, a Filipino-American teenager waved to hundreds of thousands of spectators lining the route of the spectacular 126th Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, on New Year’s Day. “I’m very proud to represent the Filipino-American community,” said Gabrielle Current, one of the seven young women selected to serve as ambassadors for the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl events viewed by tens of millions around the world. Current, 17, was selected from nearly a thousand young women who competed for a spot in the 2015 Tournament of Roses Royal Court. “It feels amazing to be a part of this magnificent event,” she told the Inquirer. The parade featured marching bands, equestrians and flower-covered floats highlighting historic figures, celebrities and popular culture around the theme “Inspiring Stories.” ‘Unbroken’ A riderless horse represented grand marshal Louis Zamperini, a World War II hero and former Olympian, who died in July. Zamperini is the subject of a best-selling book and the movie “Unbroken,” directed by Angelina Jolie and now in theaters. Cast members from “The Love Boat” rode on a Princess Cruises float, one of 39 that paraded down the 5.5-mile route on Colorado Boulevard. After the parade, Current and the rest of the Royal Court were presented at the Rose Bowl, where more than 90,000 watched the Read More …

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