Maniolas

— 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 on Tuesday filed a resolution congratulating and commending newly-crowned Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, the third Filipino to win the most-coveted title. In Senate Resolution 1698, Drilon said Wurtzbach, in winning the crown last worn by a Filipina 42 years ago, has brought great honor and glory to the country and the Filipino people worthy of the praise and commendation of the chamber. The Filipina beauty queen bested 79 other contestants from around the world. The other Filipinos crowned Miss Universe were Gloria Diaz in 1969 and Margie Moran in 1973. Drilon said Wurtzbach’s previous defeat, when she joined the Binibining Pilipinas pageant in 2013 and 2014 but failing to win the Miss Universe-Philippines title, did not discourage her as she joined the pageant for the third time in 2015 and eventually won the crown. Miss Philippines Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach (right) reacts as she is crowned the 2015 Miss Universe after a gaff by the emcee, Steve Harvey, announcing Miss Colombia Ariadna Gutierrez (left) as the winner on Sunday (Monday Manila time) at the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada.(MNS photo) Read More …

— Vice President Jejomar Binay and Sen. Gringo Honasan show their certificates of candidacy at the Commission on Election in Manila on Monday, the first day of filing of COCs. Binay and Honasan will run under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) for the 2016 election. (MNS photo) MANILA (Mabuhay) – After months of trailing in the presidential surveys, Vice President Jejomar Binay has regained his lead in a poll on the preferred candidate for the highest elected post in the land. A survey conducted by Pulse Asia from December 4 to 11, 2015, showed Binay getting the nod of 33 percent of the 1,800 respondents who were registered voters aged 18 and above from different parts of the country. Pulse Asia said in second place were Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte with 23 percent and Senator Grace Poe with 21 percent. Closely behind them was former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas  with 17 percent, followed by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago with 4 percent. Pulse Asia Research Director Ana Maria Tabunda said Poe and Roxas can be considered as in a tie. “Considering the ± 2 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level, Poe and Roxas can be considered as tie pero hindi pwedeng sabihing tied din si Roxas sa second place kay Duterte dahil malayo na ang numero,” Tabunda noted. At 18 percent, Poe’s preference ranges from 16 to 20 percent while that of Roxas’ ranges from 12 to 16. The respondents were asked: “Sa mga taong nasa listahang Read More …

By Abner Galino LP chairman President Benigno S. Aquino III, along with LP Presidential Candidate former DILG Secretary Manuel Roxas II and LP Vice Presidential Candidate Camarines Sur 3rd District Representative Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo, flashes the Laban “L” sign during the “Daang Matuwid: To Be Continued…” of the ruling Liberal Party (LP) at the Corazon C. Aquino Kalayaan Hall of the Club Filipino in San Juan City on Monday (October 05). (MNS photo) THE campaign to promote the political tandem of Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo, presidential and vice presidential bets, respectively, just got the proverbial shot in the arm after getting the support of a well-respected Filipino-American businesswoman-millionaire-lawyer-author-philantropist Loida Nicolas-Lewis. And Lewis isn’t simply raising her thumbs up for the Roxas-Robredo tandem, she is vigorously campaigning for them and has pledged to open up her own pocket to finance their campaign here in the US and in the Philippines. She recently declared to give a dollar for every dollar that would be contributed by people here in the US to the political campaign of Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo. At this early, Lewis’ endorsement of Roxas and Robredo has already caused a stir among Filipino-Americans who had a falling out with the administration of President Noynoy Aquino for bungling a succession of issues that include the opening of and other restrictions imposed on balikbayan boxes and the so-called “laglag-bala” scam at the country’s prime international airport. Lewis went on a couple of “town hall-style” meetings in Los Angeles Read More …

Michael V (MNS Photo) In the last two decades, comedy gag show “Bubble Gang” has featured several notable personalities with many more wanting to make a guest appearance. Michael V, the only holdover from the original cast, is not surprised about it. “Kasi may reputasyon na ang ‘Bubble Gang’ bilang pinakamatagal and the best so far, for me ha. Hindi sa pag-a-angat ng bangko pero kasi marami nang pinagdaanan ang show,” he explained. The comedy actor admitted new blood is most welcome in the show because it keeps things interesting. “Open kami na magkaroon ng bagong gangsters kasi evolving ang show eh. Hindi pwedeng manatili na ganu’n lang. Dapat kung ano ang bago eh, dapat magawa namin,” he said. Michael V may be the creative director but he is not taking sole credit for the show’s success. “Team effort ‘yan (and) it has always been like that.” Asked how they come up with sketches, Michael V says they observe what’s going on around them, the idea being that they simply want to hold up a mirror to the comical side of life. He said, “Sa 20 years na takbo ng show, anything na nangyayari sa society natin eh, na-i-re-reflect namin sa ‘Bubble Gang’ through gags, skits, spoofs.” He admitted the show has had its low moments. “Pero nag-survive kami kasi hindi lang basta show ‘to, pamilya na ‘to eh. In a way din eh, nirerendehan kami ng network kaya mas nagiging maingat kami. Kaya nagtatagal kami,” he said. Certainly, Michael Read More …

Miss Universe ‏Twitter. Every #MissUniverse is #ConfidentlyBeautiful. Are you? Show us your no-makeup selfies with #ConfidentlyBeautiful.©2015 Twitter (Relaxnews) – When they take to the stage this Sunday, the Miss Universe contestants will no doubt be a vision of glamour. But the beauty queen hopefuls have flooded the internet with ‘no makeup’ selfies, proving that true star style comes from within. Reigning Miss Universe Paulina Vega, from Colombia, kick-started the craze, laying down the gauntlet with a challenge tweet to this year’s wannabes that read: “Every #MissUniverse is #ConfidentlyBeautiful. Are you? Show us your no-makeup selfies with #ConfidentlyBeautiful.” The message was accompanied by her own flawless make-up free selfie. The models responded with gusto, sharing photos of themselves with squeaky clean faces, pouting and smiling into the camera and using the hashtag #ConfidentlyBeautiful. Some, like Toria Nichole Penn, took the snap upon waking up. The Miss Bahamas 2015 winner showcased a halo of natural curls and a wide smile in her photo, which she captioned “Preliminaries today! Woke up fresh faced and ready to do this!” Others, like Miss Ireland Joanna Cooper, opted for a traditional ‘duck face’, while Lisa Drouillard (Miss Haiti) used the challenge as an opportunity to express her gratefulness, saying: “Today is the day #missuniverse #prelims, words cannot convey how thankful I am!” The models are following in the footsteps of countless celebrities to have stripped off the cosmetics in the name of honesty this year. Stars such as Cindy Crawford, Cameron Diaz and Demi Lovato have all shared ‘no make-up’ Read More …