Maniolas

Senator Grace Poe (MNS Photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) -– Allies of the Aquino administration are breaking away from Mar Roxas to join forces with the Makabayan bloc and back the looming presidential bid of Senator Grace Poe. Deputy Speaker Roberto Puno, National Unity Party (NUP) president, confirmed that his party is in talks with the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), the country’s 2nd largest party, the Nacionalista Party and the Makabayan bloc to back Poe’s presidential bid. “The leaderships of NUP, NP, NPC and Makabayan have met several times amongst ourselves and once with Senator Grace Poe,” Puno said. ”NUP is still in the process of vetting the presidential candidates and have not yet made a party stand. Senator Grace knows that this is the status with NUP. That said, Congressman (Ronaldo) Zamora was not inaccurate in saying ‘she will run under a political coalition; she will remain independent’ and I can confirm that we met with Senator Grace Poe last night.” NPC Spokesperson Mark Enverga, in a separate statement, said, “We are exploring all possibilities. Unfortunately, NPC remains non-committal at this point. The party is still in the process of choosing the presidentiable to support for 2016.” The Makabayan bloc also confirmed talks with NPC, NP, and NUP are ongoing regarding the formation of the alliance. ”Ipoproseso pa namin sa darating na Sept. 30 sa Makabayan Convention ang magiging pinal na pasya sa susuportahan naming presidential at vice presidential candidate,” the bloc said. Zamora, in a phone interview, said, “Nothing is Read More …

UCLA Pilipino Alumni Scholarship Director Bobby T. Rimas (Photo image courtesy of Pilipino Alumni Association of UCLA Facebook Page) The UCLA Scholarship Office has confirmed that the UCLA Pilipino Alumni Endowment, which supports the UCLA Pilipino Alumni / Lovell Sevilla Scholarship Program, surpassed the $100,000 mark, a representative from the scholarship office said. In response, UCLA Pilipino Alumni Scholarship Director Bobby T. Rimas said “This is a strong indication of our commitment to supporting opportunities for deserving students to receive a world-class education at UCLA and the strength of our alumni network.  Our collective fundraising efforts paid off.  I would like to thank everyone who supported this renewed scholarship campaign.  I would especially like to thank Mr. Mark Bautista, a UCLA Pilipino Alumni member who has done great work assisting me with spearheading this campaign to take the UCLA Pilipino Endowment to the $100,000 mark and beyond.  While there is still much work ahead of us, in continuing to increase our endowment, we can take a moment and celebrate this achievement. There will be a celebratory event in October for achieving this milestone for the UCLA Pilipino Alumni family.” In November 2014, the UCLA Pilipino Alumni Association Board of Directors decided to rename its scholarship program to the UCLA Pilipino Alumni / Lovell Sevilla Scholarship Program.  Ms. Lovell Sevilla, who served as the UCLA Pilipino Alumni Scholarship Director from 1995 through 2000, was instrumental in establishing the UCLA Pilipino Alumni Scholarship Endowment.  In 2010, she was awarded the UCLA Chancellor’s Excellence in Read More …