Sarah Jane ‘SJ’ Gandia, the secret behind Balita’s new ad jingle

 Entertainment
Apr 142015
 
Sarah Jane ‘SJ’ Gandia, the secret behind Balita’s new ad jingle

Sarah Jane ‘SJ’ Gandia Sj is a young breed of Filipino songwriter who was born in Binakayan, Kawit, Cavite and is now based here in Los Angeles. The development of her unique songwriting style is the result of a lifetime of musical influences, coming from her late mom’s side of the family as she witnessed the family sing at church services. Her dad on the other hand injected his love for deep vocabulary with his unique use of words in stage plays. A music loving mom plus a talented playwright dad makes for what Sj is right now. Her first foray into learning the piano herself came when she was in preschool, about 5 years old. She tried to have formal training but because she was too eager to tap the piano keys, she defied her teacher’s musical notes teaching and went on doing what she wanted to do Sj’s musical journey began in the Philippines, in her hometown of Cavite where she developed her musical taste and interests. It wasn’t long after tapping those keys that she found herself experimenting with the musical instrument. After meeting with the world renowned and respectable singer/songwriter, Mr. Jose Mari Chan, she began to showcase her talents in various competitions. Growing up in Las Pinas, she represented the city at the then renowned, Metro Pop Music Festival. Garnering the 1st runner up award, she got lucky when a representative from Octo Arts approached her and asked if she would be interested in submitting Read More …

ConGen graces 73rd Anniversary of The Fall Of Bataan

 Entertainment
Apr 142015
 
ConGen graces 73rd Anniversary of The Fall Of Bataan

(L-R) Retired USAF General Ruth Wong, LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis, Consul General Leo Herrera-Lim and Dr. Jenny Batongmalaque Los Angeles  – On 09 April 2015, Consul General Leo Herrera-Lim attended the 73rdAnniversary of the Fall of Bataan (Day of Valor) also known as “Araw ng Kagitingan” organized by the Filipino Veterans Foundation held at the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall, led by its Executive Director Dr. Jenny Batongmalaque. LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis awarding Certificates of Recognition to WW II In his remarks, Consul General Leo Herrera-Lim acknowledged the important role of Filipino American WW II Veterans and American Veterans who courageously fought side-by-side, until the Fall of Bataan.  Consul General Herrera-Lim promised the Veterans that he JOINS  them as they struggle for full recognition from the U.S. Veterans Office for benefits due them. LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis, in her remarks praised the WW II Veterans in the significant role to protect and serve the COUNTRY .  She said she will support and ASSIST  the Veterans in their claims for their Benefits from the U.S. Veterans Office.

Judgment day: Are you ready?

 Economy
Apr 132015
 

THE Energy department has extended the bid submission deadline for the supply of the first 3,000 tricycles powered by electricity, an official said yesterday. Less than a month before the April 15 deadline for filing income tax returns (ITRs), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) released an amendment on the guidelines for submission of ITRs of individual and corporate taxpayers.

US stocks sag ahead of 1st-quarter earnings

 General
Apr 132015
 
US stocks sag ahead of 1st-quarter earnings

In this Monday, Aug. 8, 2011, file photo, a pedestrian walks past the New York Stock Exchange in New York. US markets sagged Monday ahead of the takeoff of first-quarter earnings season, with traders hedging their bets after last week’s solid gains. AP PHOTO/JIN LEE NEW YORK–US markets sagged Monday ahead of the takeoff of first-quarter earnings season, with traders hedging their bets after last week’s solid gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 80.61 points (0.45 percent) at 17,977.04. The broad-based S&P 500 fell 9.63 (0.46 percent) to 2,092.43, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 7.73 (0.15 percent) at 4,988.25. The markets opened higher with the S&P 500 poised to make another run at its all-time record, but sellers took over halfway through the session. David Levy of Kenjol Capital Management said investors are taking a break to see what happens during the week. Earnings season gets going on Tuesday with JPMorgan Chase (+0.7 percent) and Wells Fargo (+0.6 percent) both reporting. General Electric, which primed last Friday’s market rise with a 10.8 percent gain on its plan to hive off most of its banking business, reversed course to fall 3.1 percent, pulling the Dow down. GE will release its first-quarter earnings report on Friday. Among tech shares, Facebook’s 1.2 percent rise and Netflix’s 4.4 percent rise limited the Nasdaq Composite’s fall. Comcast, though, dropped 1.7 percent. Bond prices were mixed. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury slipped to 1.94 percent from 1.95 percent Friday, while Read More …

Pemberton skips murder trial; another witness ties him to Laude

 News
Apr 132015
 
Pemberton skips murder trial; another witness ties him to Laude

OLONGAPO CITY, Philippines—For the first time since his trial for the murder of transgender Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude opened on March 23, US Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton was absent from court when proceedings resumed on Monday. “The defense did not [provide] a reason for Pemberton’s absence. His lawyers said they didn’t know if the witnesses would need to identify him,” according to Virgie Suarez, one of the Laude family’s lawyers. Suarez said Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde of Regional Trial Court Branch 74 had ordered Pemberton to attend the trial on Tuesday. Pemberton’s lawyers refused to grant interviews. The court has barred the media from the trial. Reporters were able to talk to Suarez during breaks and after the hearing ended. The trial featured the testimony of motel security guard Jacinto Miraflor who told the court Pemberton was the Caucasian he saw with Laude. Last person Miraflor, a guard at Celzone Lodge where Laude was found dead on the night of Oct. 11 last year, testified that he saw Pemberton leave the motel. He corroborated the testimony on March 23 of Elias Gallamos, a Celzone bellboy, and Laude’s friend “Barbie” who testified on March 24. Gallamos and Barbie “earlier established that Pemberton was the last person with Laude on the night she was killed,” Suarez said. “Miraflor’s testimony was mainly about seeing Pemberton come out of Celzone Lodge. He said he saw the room that was left open by Pemberton and he saw Jennifer’s body being brought out by the Soco Read More …

Bulk of 2015 budget released in 1st quarter

 General
Apr 132015
 
Bulk of 2015 budget released in 1st quarter

More than 81 percent of the 2015 national budget or a total of P2.126 trillion has been released as of the end of the first quarter, the latest Department of Budget and Management (DBM) data showed. Total disbursements as of the end of March included continuing appropriations under the 2014 general appropriations and the supplemental budget. The national budget for this year amounts to P2.606 trillion. Releases under the original 2015 appropriations hit P2.095 trillion or 80.4 percent of the total. In a statement issued Monday, the DBM said the first quarter releases were bigger this year than the 63.7 percent released in the same period last year. Also, comprehensive releases to government departments as of the end of March reached 92.5 percent of the total or P1.234 trilion, higher than the 89.4 percent disbursed to government agencies in the same period in 2014. The DBM attributed the faster disbursement to government departments to the implementation of the general appropriations act (GAA)-as-release-document regime since last year. “Under the GAA-as-release-document regime, departments and agencies can begin obligating funds, start procurement procedures, and enter into contracts without securing a special allotment release order (SARO) from DBM. The GAA is used as the official release document, which facilitates speedier project execution and reduces bottlenecks,” the DBM said. Of the first quarter releases, a total of P1.295 trillion was under the GAA, of which P61.36 billion were poured into special purpose funds. Thus, of the P1.740 trillion programmed as allotment releases under the 2015 Read More …

Suspect in Fil-Am mauling nabbed; victim faces long recovery

 News
Apr 132015
 
Suspect in Fil-Am mauling nabbed; victim faces long recovery

Mauling suspect Troung Son Huynh. MILPITAS, California — Police has arrested one of two men in connection with the brutal assault last month on a Filipino American teenager, who sustained serious head trauma and brain injury and is still at the ICU at press time. Troung Son Huynh, 25, of San Jose was arrested at his home and booked into jail on suspicion of felony battery, San Jose police said. The other suspect is still at large. According to police, 17-year-old Christian Rasner of Milpitas was hanging out with a cousin at the Westfield Valley Fair Mall in San Jose on March 11 when two men approached him and asked if he was affiliated with gangs. Based on the cousin’s account of the incident, relayed to the victim’s parents Greg and Maria Rasner, Christian, a high school junior honor student, told the men he had no gang ties and tried to walk away, but the attackers followed him in the parking lot and beat him up. The elder Rasner, an IT manager at a leading Silicon Valley firm, said the force of the blows was so tremendous that his son actually got fractures in his eye sockets. He added that his son was in the Superintendent’s Honor Roll for 2014 and has absolutely no gang ties. Mauling victim, Fil-Am Christian Rasner. Speaking to FilAm Star by phone Tuesday, April 7, Greg said Christian is still in ICU but is very much better, and has started to talk, albeit with difficulty. Read More …

So wins his final game; Nakamura clinches US Chess top spot

 News
Apr 132015
 
So wins his final game; Nakamura clinches US Chess top spot

Wesley So is an interested spectator, along with members of the media, in the game between Hikaru Nakamura and Alexander Onischuk in the US Chess Championships. PHOTO BY LENNART OOTES. LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Wesley So ended the US Chess Championships with flourish, beating grandmaster Keyden Troff in the final round while Hikaru Nakamura and Ray Robson maintained their 1-2 finish with similar impressive wins in Saint Louis. So prevailed over the 16-year-old Troff in 42 moves for his second straight victory following a 9th round forfeit, while the issues that distracted him in the tournament went full blown into the open, with his mother, Lenny So, granting a no-holds-barred interview with a chess website. The 27-year-old Nakamura, the No. 3 in the world, prevailed over Alexander Onischuk and remained as the only unbeaten player in the 12-man tournament. He captured the $45,000 first prize, finishing the tournament with eight points while Robson, playing surprisingly strong, beat favorite whipping boy Timur Gareev, to finish with 7.5 points and won $30,000. So managed to finish third with 6.5 points, despite suffering four loses, including the 9th round forfeit to Varuzhan Akobian — his most losses in a tournament. The 21-year-old won $20,000 while Onishuck was fourth and won $15,000. Akobian and defending champion Gata Gamsky shared fifth and sixth, each with 5.5 points, winning $11,000 each. But while the on-board results were pretty much expected, the off-the-board drama was not. After a long silence, Lenny So fired some well-directed shots at Read More …

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