MANILA, Philippines – Last July 23, Sanuk Philippines in collaboration with Res|Toe|Run held a special event to commemorate the launch of the Fall/Winter collection headlined by the evolution of the Classic Sidewalk Surfer. The Sidewalk Surfer has been an iconic style for the Sanuk brand since its inception in the early 2000s. The Cavalier Collection draws inspiration from the street crossed with some European styling. The Alphie is the sophisticated woman’s take on the classic Sidewalk Surfer. The new Alphie Collection is launching exclusively through Res|Toe|Run and will be available in select stores across the country. Res|Toe|Run has been a strong player in the retail footwear space since 2006 and has made its name introducing “rare finds” into the local market. What were once unknown brands such as Native Shoes, Fitflop, DC and Sanuk started and grew with Res|Toe|Run making them the ideal partner in introducing The Alphie collection in the country.
Telsa Hybrid. ©courtesy of Tesla Japan. (Las Vegas-AFP) – Hackers swarmed a Tesla sedan in a ‘hacking village’ at the infamous Def Con conference on Saturday as the high-tech electric car maker recruited talent to protect against cyber attacks. It was the second year in a row the California-based company was at the world’s largest gathering of hackers in Las Vegas, and came on the heels of a massive recall of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles vehicles to patch a flaw that could let them be remotely commandeered. “Hackers are a crowd that is really important to us,” Tesla’s Khobi Brooklyn told AFP while Def Con attendees took turns inside a black Model S sedan parked inside a casino convention area. “It is a community that we want to be part of, and collaborate with, as well as recruit from.” Tesla recruiters were on hand, along with members of the California-based company’s security team. Tesla cars are highly computerized. New features as well as software updates are pushed out to vehicles over wireless Internet connections. “They are not messing with our software,” Brooklyn said with only a hint of hesitation. She knew of no cyber attacks aimed at Tesla cars, at Def Con or anywhere else. Tesla has worked with Lookout Mobile Security to find and patch software vulnerabilities in sedans, according to Brooklyn. Data centers on wheels Lookout co-founder and chief technology officer Kevin Mahaffey and Marc Rogers of CloudFlare online security firm took part in a Def Con presentation on Read More …
With temperatures reaching triple digits, SCE reminds customers to stay as cool and safe as possible By Caroline Aoyagi-Stom Southern California Edison (SCE) reminds customers to stay as cool and safe as possible during excessive heat days. Southern California Edison – It’s about to get a lot hotter in Southern California. The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat watch for the area starting Friday. Relief from the triple-digit temperatures is not expected until early next week. San Bernardino and Riverside counties and the Inland Empire are forecast to be hit the hardest with temperatures reaching as high as 110 to 117 degrees. Southern California Edison (SCE) reminds customers to stay as cool and safe as possible and to avoid heat-related injuries during excessive heat days. “Our No.1 priority is to help keep our customers safe,” said Don Neal, SCE director of Corporate Environmental, Health and Safety. “We encourage customers to keep outdoor activities to a minimum and drink plenty of water during the hottest parts of the day.” SCE also offers a variety of programs to help keep electricity bills down, including the Save Power Day and Summer Discount Plan programs. When a Save Power Day is called, customers can earn up to $100 in bill credits per year for conserving energy between 2-6 p.m. To sign up for the Save Power Day program, go to: sce.com/spd. Customers can select how they would like to be notified, either by phone, email or text. Enrollees in SCE’s Summer Discount Plan can receive bill credits of up to $200 by allowing their central air Read More …
Richard Gomez and Lucy Torres (MNS Photo) Richard Gomez admitted he and his wife, actress-politician Lucy Torres, are planning to grow their family and give their daughter Juliana a baby brother. Gomez said they hope God blesses them with another child. “We’ve been working on it. We’re still working on it. If it comes, then good. Siguro boy naman kasi may girl na eh. Someday, hopefully,” he said. For now, Gomez said he and Torres are concentrating on Juliana, who is already 14 years old. Asked if he already allows her daughter to go on dates, the actor said: “I think she is too young to go out on dates. She’s only 14. Let her remain a child first. Because going out, that could happen in years to come but now she needs to focus more on her studies. She can indulge herself in sports.” This is not the first time that Gomez and Torres expressed their desire to have another baby. In 2013, the couple earlier said that they will work on having another child after the mid-term elections. Gomez and Torres have been married for 17 years now. The two tied the knot on April 28, 1998. Currently, Gomez is busy promoting his upcoming movie “The Love Affair,” which also stars Dawn Zulueta and Bea Alonzo. (MNS)
Muslim groups hold a protest to urge the passage of the Bangsamoro law at the Philippine Senate, Wednesday. The groups asked the senators to respect the peace agreements between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) — Government chief negotiator Miriam Ferrer on Thursday expressed reservations about Senator Bongbong Marcos’ substitute bill for the Bangsamoro Basic Law. Ferrer said though the parliamentary form of government was retained for the Bangsamoro, the composition was significantly altered to include mostly district representatives instead of party-list seats. She said the substitute bill gives the Bangsamoro chief minister less powers than the current governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. “Some of the powers that have been granted to the ARMM have been taken away, that will be a little difficult to justify. If these are powers being exercised by the regional governor of ARMM today, why are we saying the future Bangsamoro chief minister will not be able to exercise these? That would amount to a diminution of the autonomous powers when the intent is to allow for more meaningful autonomy,” she said. Marcos earlier said the substitute bill for the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) addresses the concerns of several sectors and stakeholders that the Palace and Moro Islamic Liberation Front-backed BBL was not inclusive. He said that under the substitute bill, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) will have a role in the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), a body that will govern the proposed Read More …
President Aquino raises the hand of DILG Secretary Mar Roxas to the shower of confetti after Aquino endorsed Roxas for the presidential race at the Club Filipino in Greenhills on Friday. Aquino cited Roxas’ record and pointed to him as the best bet to continue the “Daang Matuwid” (Straight Path). (MNS photo) VALENCIA CITY (Mabuhay) — As if reliving his “Mr. Palengke” campaign, Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas visited a public market in Bukidnon Province on Thursday morning. Welcomed by shrieks of his supporters, Roxas went to the Valencia City Central Market, which is a recipient of the Department of Interior and Local Government’s bottom-up budgeting, and checked the prices of commodities here. The standard-bearer of the ruling Liberal Party said he never lost the “Mr. Palengke” (Mr. Marketplace) in him despite being given other duties. “Nagpapasalamat ako sa napakainit na pagtanggap nila dito sa palengke ng Valencia at nasasariwa ang mga alaala ko noong ako ay nakilala bilang Mr. Palengke,” (I am thankful for your warm welcome. You remind me of when I was known as Mr. Palengke) he said. “Hindi naman nawala sa akin ang pagiging Mr Palengke. Nag-iba lang ako ng tungkulin. Sa kahit anong trabaho, parating nandoon pa rin tayo,” (Mr. Palengke never left me. I just took another responsibility. In everything I do, it remains with me) he added. He stressed that focus should be put on public markets as these are centers of commerce in a community. After meeting his supporters in the market, Read More …
MEETING WITH JUSTICE CARPIO ON WEST PHL SEA ISSUE: Senate President Franklin M. Drilon (left) and Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio (right) were all smiles after a briefing with senators on the West Philippine Sea issue at the Senate on August 12, 2015, Wednesday. Carpio was invited by Drilon to discuss with the senators the latest developments regarding the territorial disputes between the Philippines and China on the West Philippine Sea, currently the subject of a case lodged at the Arbitral Tribunal of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) — Senate President Franklin Drilon on Thursday insisted that the planned salary hike for government workers is already the fourth under the present administration, disputing critics’ claims that the decision on the pay raise was only made at the end of President Benigno Aquino III’s term. “Binibigyan ko ng diin itong Salary Standardization IV: pang-apat na beses na po ito. Regular na binabantayan ni Pangulong Noynoy (Aquino) ang pagtaas ng sahod ng ating mga kawani sa pamahalaan,” Drilon said. “Talagang itataas po ang sahod ng ating mga manggagawa,” he added. Malacañang is asking for P67 billion from the Congress for the merit increases and across-the-board salary adjustment of government workers starting January 1, 2016. “Magkakaroon po ng salary adjustment ng mga mahigit sa P50 billion sa kabuuan, at mayroon pa pong mahigit sa P17 billion na para sa merit increases, kaya sa kabuuan po ay P67 billion ang nakalaan sa Read More …
Senator Loren Legarda (right), chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, talks with Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (OPAPP) Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles (left) and Professor Miriam Coronel-Ferrer before the start of the Senate Session on Wednesday (Aug. 12, 2015). (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) — “Smuggling is bigger than PDAF,” so said Senator Cynthia Villar, who on Thursday expressed her disappointment at the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) continued failure to file cases against suspected smugglers. At the hearing of the Senate committee on finance on the proposed 2016 national budget, Villar asked why the government was allowing private individuals to import rice, when in reality she said these importers are the “smugglers.” “That’s common knowledge, you’re turning a blind to the reality that the importers are the smugglers,” she said. “We conducted a very long hearing on that and it’s unfortunate that after conducting long hearing on that, the DOJ failed to file cases against the smugglers.” “And you know you file a lot of cases on PDAF but you did not file any case of smuggler. Smuggling is bigger than PDAF. The loss in smuggling is bigger than PDAF,” said Villar, who chairs the Senate committee on agriculture. PDAF is priority development assistance fund also known as the “pork barrel” funds. Three senators— Juan Ponce Enrile, Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.—were among those charged with plunder and detained over the pork barrel scam. Senator Loren Legarda, who’s presiding over the budget hearing as Read More …
— Senate President Franklin Drilon opens the 3rd and last Regular Session of the 16th Congress on Monday (July 27, 2015) at the Senate Building in Pasay City. The Senate will hold a joint session with the House of Representatives Monday afternoon to hear the last and 6th State-of-the- Nation Address (SONA) of President Benigno S. Aquino III. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) — Senate President Franklin Drilon defended Thursday the changes made by Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the Malacañang-backed proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law. Drilon said the changes were necessary to make the proposed measure constitutional. “Sa akin pong tingin, siyempre may mga binago kami. Halimbawa, ‘yung police siniguro natin na sasang-ayon sa structure ng ating Philippine National Police na kung saan ang National Police Commission ang siyang may control sa ating national police force, ayon sa Saligang Batas,” he said. “Iyong COA (Commission on Audit), ‘yung Comelec (Commission on Elections), atin pong inilagay sa tama at iyan po ang significant changes sa version ng Senado,” he added. The agencies, lawmakers, and legal luminaries earlier opposed the provisions in the BBL that seek the creation of the Bangsamoro government’s separate COA, Comelec, Civil Service Commission (CSC), Commission on Human Rights (CHR), and Office of the Ombudsman, as the establishment of such separate offices runs contrary to the 1987 Constitution. The Palace-proposed BBL also contains a section which requires the President to coordinate military operations with the chief minister of the Bangsamoro region. It also has sections which empower the chief Read More …
President Benigno S. Aquino III presides over the Cabinet Budget Presentation meeting at the Aguinaldo State Dining Room of the Malacañan Palace Monday (July 6). (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) — There are no more cases related to the alleged misuse of Priority Development Assistance Fund left on the Justice Departments’ table, Secretary Leila de Lima said Thursday. After filing the third batch of raps against nine former and current lawmakers last week, the Department of Justice cannot file PDAF-related cases anymore, “unless the Inter-Agency Anti-Graft Council (IAGC) assigns us to pursue other possible PDAF cases, particularly those outside the scope of the Commission Audit’s special audit report on PDAF from 2007 to 2009,” De Lima said. “There’s nothing on our table at the moment,” she added. De Lima made this statement during the budget briefing of the DOJ and its attached agencies before the House appropriations committee. The COA special audit report was among the primary pieces of evidence the Office of the Ombudsman used in filing plunder and graft complaints against former and current lawmakers accused of misusing their PDAF allocations. Last week, the DOJ charged Senator Gregorio Honasan and eight former and incumbent members of the House of Representatives over their alleged involvement in the multibillion-peso PDAF or pork barrel scam. They were the third batch of officials sued over the alleged anomaly. The accused officials, which include administration allies Technical Education and Skills Development Authority head Secretary Joel Villanueva, a former party-list representative; and Cagayan De Oro Read More …