Maniolas

Dawn Zulueta comfortable about how she looks: “I don’t compare myself to the young girls.”

— SARMIENTO CONFIRMED AS DILG SEC: Senate President and Commission on Appointments (CA) Chairman Franklin Drilon joins new Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento (third from left) in a photo taken after the confirmation of his ad interim appointment during the CA plenary session held on Tuesday, September 22, 2015. Sarmiento took over the post from recently resigned Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II. Also in photo are Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., (left) and CA Majority Leader Ilocos Norte 1st District Representative Rodolfo Fariñas (right). (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Thursday said that there is no truth to a newspaper report that he will announce his presidential bid for next year’s elections in Pangasinan on Sunday. In a statement, Marcos said that unless the announcement comes from his camp, it should not be given credence. “There is no truth to reports I would announce my candidacy in Pangasinan this weekend. I have been hearing so many dates of my supposed declaration of my plans for 2016. Unless you hear it directly from me, do not believe,” Marcos said. The senator, whose name is among those being floated as running mate of presidential hopeful Vice President Jejomar Binay, said that the false advisories are “being spread by an unscrupulous group are intentional” and wants to put his name “in a bad light.” He said that one such false advisory being proliferated is a supposed announcement of his candidacy at Read More …

Coleen Gracia (MNS photo) More than two years after breaking up with Gab Valenciano, Coleen Garcia opens up to talk about their split and how their relationship made an impact on her life. “Before the relationship I’m in now, there was only one really serious relationship that I’ve been in. It was with Gab and I feel like it left the biggest impact because it was such an intense relationship. By that, I mean the highs were very high and the lows were low,” Garcia said. Valenciano and Garcia were together for a year until they called it quits in 2013 sometime before he left for Orlando, Florida where he was then set to finish a two-year music course. “I felt like it was so heavy and at the same time, on the positive note, I learned so much. It really shaped me to be the person I am now. It taught me to be strong and to put myself first sometimes,” she said. Asked if it is important for two people who were in a relationship to have a formal closure, Garcia said: “My ex just got up and left the country. I think it’s not important.” Further elaborating on her answer, Garcia explained: “I think that at that moment, it could be [important] depending on the situation. But if you’re over it, you’re over it. Just respect for the other person, it would be nice if you actually get that closure. You show that person that you still Read More …

 Eastern Mindanao Deputy Commander Col. Harold Cabreros and police Chief Supt. Frederico Dulay show an artist’s sketch of one of the Samal Island kidnapping suspects during a media briefing in Davao on Wednesday. Motorized boats used during the kidnapping were recovered but abductors remain unidentified. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) — Gunmen holding three foreigners and one Filipina hostage have slipped past a naval cordon and escaped to remote mountains in Mindanao without making ransom demands, police said Wednesday. Elite Army troops were trying to track the bandits while Air Force helicopters were readied for a possible rescue as the abductors trekked into Davao Oriental province, a hotbed of communist and other rebels, said Senior Superintendent Aaron Aquino, the region’s deputy police commander. The gunmen seized two Canadian tourists, a Norwegian employee and a Filipina from the Oceanview resort on Samal Island in Davao del Norte on Monday night, adding to a string of kidnappings of foreigners in the conflict-wracked south since the 1990s. “Last night, we received information that the kidnappers and their victims have been sighted… they are in the Davao Oriental area,” Aquino told dzBB radio. “Our Scout Rangers are following their tracks. They are on their trail. The air force is also helping, ready for insertion,” he said. Police and the Navy had tried to set up a boat blockade on Tuesday around Samal island, where the four were abducted, to stop the gunmen escaping on their outriggers. But Aquino’s comments confirmed the abductors had slipped past Read More …

Vice President Jejomar Binay addresses the crowd during the 36th National Conference of Employers at Marriott hotel in Pasay City on Friday. Binay told the business community his family only has five bank accounts, denying the Anti Money Laundering Council report that he owns about 242 bank accounts. (MNS Photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – Senator Gregorio Honasan II on Tuesday denied reports that he will be the running mate of Vice President Jejomar Binay, saying he is not interested in seeking the second highest elective post in the country. “I have not considered it, seriously. I’m busy avoiding you,” Honasan told reporters who caught up with him before the start of the hearing of the Commission on Appointments. He said he is busy building the United Nationalist Alliance for Binay’s presidential campaign next year, stressing that he prefers to work behind the scene. Honasan is the party’s vice president. “I’m just helping in his campaign…I’m busy organizing, preparing for the campaign for president. Ang pinag-uusapan ‘yung ground activities, organizing the party at [the] grassroot level, touching base with the local government officials,” he said. Honasan even described as “masakit na biro” the floating of his name as Binay’s running mate. Told that it was no less than Binay who said that he was among the personalities being considered to be UNA’s vice presidential candidate, Honasan said: “That is his prerogative but we did not talk about it. In fact, yesterday, [at] the Coconut Palace, I was there for a meeting for Read More …