Filipino choir Boscorale wins gold in Japan

 News
Apr 042017
 
Filipino choir Boscorale wins gold in Japan

All male high school choir Boscorale of Don Bosco Technical Institute in Makati bagged the gold medal as the Youth Choir Equal Voices Grand Prize Winner at the 10th Fukushima Vocal Ensemble Competition held in Fukushima, Japan. The DBTI Boscorale The Fukushima Vocal Ensemble Competition is the biggest choral competition in Japan for small vocal ensemble groups or those composed of two to 16 members in which more than 120 top level choirs all over Japan are yearly invited. The choral competition welcomed entries from international groups, allowing the Philippine contingent from the Boscorale to join. The Philippine contingent Boscorale went to Japan and reached the Grand Prix Finals, eventually winning the gold.   The post Filipino choir Boscorale wins gold in Japan appeared first on Good News Pilipinas. Related posts: Cebuano choir is Grand Prix Champ at Int’l Choral Competition Pinoy choir ALERON bags Grand Prize in South Korea Filipino choir groups triumph in Vietnam choral competition All- male Filipino chorale triumphs in Japan chamber contest

What’s inside BRP Sierra Madre?

 News
Mar 312014
 
What’s inside BRP Sierra Madre?

By Frances MangosingINQUIRER.net 6:59 pm | Monday, March 31st, 2014 Decay and rust lives inside the belly of the BRP Sierra Madre. INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE MANILA, Philippines—The BRP Sierra Madre, a rusty ship aground in one of the possible flash points in the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), stands alone but without fear in the high seas to maintain Filipino presence. The ship was previously used by the United States during the World War II in the waters of Vietnam. The US handed it over to Vietnam in 1970 and after a few years it was passed on to the Philippines. In 1999, it was purposely run aground in Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) to keep its Filipino presence there. Ayungin is located 105 nautical miles off Rizal, Palawan. Though it is located within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, the resource-rich area is also claimed by the Chinese. The Philippines’ claims are based on the United Nations on the Convention of the Law of the Sea, while China’s claims are based on their old maps made several decades ago. China claims most of the West Philippine Sea as its own. Troops in the ship go on rotation for several months. On March 9, China blocked the Philippines’ attempt to reprovision and rotate its soldiers. Because it was unsuccessful, they made an airdrop instead. Last Saturday, the next attempt after the March 9 incident, the Philippines was able to evade the Chinese blockade. Marines who were Read More …

AFP coordinating with Malaysia, Vietnam to find missing plane

 News
Mar 092014
 
AFP coordinating with Malaysia, Vietnam to find missing plane

Grief seizes kin of passenger on missing Malaysian plane. Journalists attempt to interview a woman who is the relative of a passenger on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, as she crouches on the floor crying, at the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing March 8, 2014. Reuters The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) continues to coordinate with defense officials from Malaysia and Vietnam in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight bound for Beijing, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said Sunday. Coloma said in an interview over the government-run dzRB that President Aquino is constantly being updated about the AFP’s efforts in the search operations for the missing plane. Since Friday, the AFP has mobilized its surveillance plane and naval assets, including the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, to conduct search operations in the West Philippine Sea and the sea lanes of Palawan. The Boeing 777 jet, which had 239 people on board, took off from Kuala Lumpur at 12:30 a.m. Friday. It lost contact with ground controllers at around 2:40 a.m. and is believed to have crashed somewhere between Vietnam and the West Philippine Sea. A massive international search has been launched to locate the missing plane. — Xianne Arcangel/BM, GMA News

Kerry to tour typhoon-hit Philippines, Vietnam

 News
Dec 092013
 
Kerry to tour typhoon-hit Philippines, Vietnam

US Secretary of State John Kerry is to make his first visit to the Philippines since taking office to see first-hand the damage left by last month’s typhoon, and will also tour Vietnam where he fought during the war. Kerry’s next trip from December 11 to 18 will start on Wednesday, his 70th birthday, when he flies to Israel and Ramallah. But he will then travel to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, before heading to Manila, and the storm-hit city of Tacloban, a US official said Monday. Since becoming the top US diplomat in February, Kerry has dreamed of returning once again to the country where his political activism was forged in the horrors of the Vietnam War. He had also planned to visit the Philippines back in October, but the trip had to be cancelled at the last minute as Tropical Storm Nari bore down on the Southeast Asian nation. “Within the Asia-Pacific rebalance, Southeast Asia holds special importance, and the secretary’s travel to Vietnam and the Philippines demonstrates the enduring US commitment… to the region,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. It will be Kerry’s fourth trip to Asia while in office. In Ho Chi Minh, the city once known as Saigon which fell to the communist North Vietnam forces in April 1975, Kerry will “underscore the growth of our bilateral trade relationship and the empowering role of education.” He would also visit the Mekong Delta to show how “Americans and Vietnamese can work together on critical Read More …

Former boat people remember kindness of Filipinos after Vietnam war, donate $400,000 for typhoon relief efforts

 Entertainment
Dec 062013
 
Former boat people remember kindness of Filipinos after Vietnam war, donate $400,000 for typhoon relief efforts

Donation from Vietnamese-Americans. Ambassador John Maisto, President of the US-Philippines Society, receives a check for $200,000 from Dieu Quyen Nguyen, Executive Director of the Ben Em Dang Co Ta Foundation. The amount was raised by members of the Vietnamese-American Community in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. area for typhoon victims in the Philippines. Witnessing the turnover, which took place at the Philippine Embassy on 2 December, is Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. Other photo shows a poster expressing solidarity with typhoon victims from the Thang Long Vietnamese Language School in the Metropolitan Washington D.C. area was presented to Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. during the call by Vietnamese-American Community leaders on 2 December. (Philippine Embassy Photo by Majalya Fernando) WASHINGTON, D.C. – More than three decades after the Philippines opened its doors to them, it was the turn of former refugees from Vietnam to return the favor – this time by donating more than P19 million to support relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Haiyan. On Monday, representatives of the Vietnamese Community visited the Philippine Embassy to extend their sympathies to the Filipino people and turn over the initial $440,554 that they were able to raise for the benefit of the more than 10 million affected by the typhoon. “This is a very touching gesture from a people who said they never forgot how they were treated kindly by Filipinos who instead of pushing them back to sea, even pulled their boats ashore to help them,” Ambassador Jose L. Cuisia, Jr. Read More …

NFA asks BOC to block illegal rice imports

 Economy
Nov 082013
 
NFA asks BOC to block illegal rice imports

MANILA, Philippines – The National Food Authority (NFA) has asked the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to watch out for the possible illegal entry of 120,000 metric tons (MT) of rice from Vietnam. In letter dated Oct. 21, NFA administrator Orlan Calayag informed Customs commissioner Rufino Biazon of reports of an agreement between unnamed Filipino traders with Vietnam Food Association for the supply of such volume. “This agreement was made without prior consent from the NFA,” said Calayag. A wires report last month said that Vietnam has signed contracts to sell 120,000 of rice to private companies in the Philippines. “For your information, the planned importation is in violation of Republic Act 8178 and Presidential Decree No. 4, as amended,” Calayag said in his letter. “Rice cannot be imported in the Philippines without an import permit from the NFA.” Calayag noted that Republic Act 8178 also known as “The Agricultural Tariffication Act,” mandates the NFA to require importation permits for rice shipments upon assessment of the current supply. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 NFA also informed the BOC that rice is being smuggled into the country in container vans from Vietnam through ports in Thailand, Singapore or Taiwan. Earlier, the NFA asked BOC to go after five traders that have allegedly smuggled into the country, through the port of Davao,  243,000 50-kilogram bags of rice. The shipments, which originated from Vietnam arrived betwen July and September. The NFA said the shipments were sent to the Philippines via Read More …

PH nurses in Tokyo also hurdle gap in language

 News
Oct 132013
 
PH nurses in Tokyo also hurdle gap in language

TOKYO—It was hard enough being transplanted into a new culture. Being hobbled by a completely alien language was another burden on Joyce Paulino and hundreds of nurses and care workers sent from the Philippines to Japan under an economic agreement between the two countries. The language barrier has played a key role in dashing the dreams of many nurses and caregivers seeking permanent jobs in Japan, since the challenging national exam for them to be certified is given mostly in Japanese. As a result, very few have passed the exam. But unlike many of her fellow workers sent to the Land of the Rising Sun under the Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (Jpepa), Paulino, 34, is one of a handful who not only mastered the language but also passed the exam for care workers on her first try early this year. Her accomplishment ensures that she can continue staying, working and earning a decent living in Japan for as long she likes. Paulino’s earnings at a nursing facility in Tokyo have been a big help to her parents and three siblings back home. She shoulders some of the household expenses, sends her youngest sibling to school, and pays for the tuition and other needs of her nieces and nephews. Paulino is happy where she is, and doesn’t plan on returning home soon. But all this did not come easy for Paulino. Learning the language while working and studying Japanese practices for the national test required skillful juggling and time management from Read More …

Taiwan to spend $100 million to build dock at disputed Spratlys

 News
Aug 292013
 
Taiwan to spend $100 million to build dock at disputed Spratlys

9:18 pm | Thursday, August 29th, 2013 A handout photo shows Taiwanese garrison forces firing a gun during an exercise held in the Spratlys     AFP FILE PHOTO TAIPEI — Taiwan plans to spend more than $100 million to build a dock big enough for warships in the disputed Spratly islands, a legislator said Thursday, as other claimants strengthen their regional military presence. The plan submitted to parliament Thursday by the coastguard would cost Tw$3.4 billion ($112.4 million). Sources said the spending is expected to be approved. The dock will be an upgrade on the existing pier at the Taiwan-controlled island of Taiping, the biggest island in the Spratlys. It is scheduled to become operational in 2016. “National security authorities have decided to expedite the project as the other countries in the region have been increasing their naval and air force deployment in the past few years, further complicating the issue,” legislator Lin Yu-fang said in a statement. Once it is completed, large supply ships and even naval frigates will be able to berth, said Lin, a legislator from the ruling Kuomintang party who sits on parliament’s defense committee. The current pier caters only to small patrol boats. Once the dock work is completed the runway on Taiping will be extended, Lin said. Taiwan built a 1,150-meter (3,800-foot) runway on Taiping in mid-2006, despite protests from other countries with claims to the disputed island group. Taiwan, Vietnam, Brunei, China, Malaysia, and the Philippines claim all or part of the potentially oil-rich Read More …

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