MANILA, Philippines – A church-based network of religious leaders, priests, seminarians and lay individuals laid down 3 challenges to Chief Justice Renato Corona regarding his ongoing impeachment trial in the Senate.
Representatives of the Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan, a church-based network of religious leaders, priests, seminarians and lay individuals, went to the Supreme Court (SC) this morning to deliver a letter addressed to Chief Justice Renato Corona in connection with his ongoing impeachment trial.
The group raised 3 main points in their 2-page letter: 1) a call for opening of Corona’s foreign …

SINGAPORE – A devoted Filipino maid inherited 6 million Singapore dollars (about US$4.3 million) from her late employer after more than 20 years of service, a newspaper report said Wednesday.
“I am the luckiest maid in Singapore, with or without the money,” the 47-year-old single woman — identified only by the pseudonym “Christine” — told the Straits Times in an interview.
The maid refused to be named in public for fear of possible threats to her life in the impoverished Philippines, where wealthy people have been kidnapped for ransom and some killed …

Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo Jr. died Thursday after life-support systems were removed from his body, said his brother, former First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo.
“Support systems were pulled out already thirty minutes ago. My brother passed away already. I’m so sad,” he said.
The Negros lawmaker was earlier declared “clinically dead” and was only relying on life support systems after he suffered a cardiac arrest Wednesday night.
“At that point, an ambulance was called for him in London. He was revived at the hospital but he went into a coma. …

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang assured the public yesterday that the Department of Tourism’s (DOT) slogan and campaign “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” will be implemented despite some criticisms.
“The response has been very positive. To my knowledge, it has been very positive so we have no problem with the slogan of DOT,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda told reporters in a press briefing.
Lacierda also clarified that the more than P5-million budget for the tourism campaign was not just for the slogan, but for the whole marketing strategy.
The DOT is being criticized …

The Philippines is one of the countries that suffer the most from extreme weather events, which exact a high death toll and economic losses, a study by an international think tank said.
Analyzing data from 1991 to 2010, Germanwatch, a climate and development organization, said the Philippines ranked 10th among countries when it came to exposure and responding to severe weather caused by climate change.
All the countries identified to be most affected in the past two decades were developing countries, the study noted.
Aside from the Philippines, these were Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), …

An official from the Department of Tourism (DOT) said Wednesday that the supposedly “plagiarized” article on Filipino food posted on the government agency’s website has long been taken down.
June Garduque, officer-in-charge of the DOT Information Technology division, said the write-up, supposedly copied word for word from food blog MarketManila.com, was only posted online as part of test runs conducted by the department while developing the website in 2008 in coordination with a private firm.
Just a test page
Garduque said that the post was just a “test” page meant to help the …

THE Las Piñas police are mulling perjury or obstruction charges against Ma. Ramona “Mara” Belen Bautista for retracting her statement last Friday about her abduction on the night her brother, Ramgen “Ram” Bautista was murdered on October 28.
Las Piñas City police chief Senior Supt. Romulo Sapitula said they are studying whether to sue Mara in connection with her retraction.
Another matter they are looking into is whether they can file charges since it is the Parañaque police which is handling the murder investigation, he said.
Sapitula said they were surprised by Mara’s …

MANILA, Philippines – CNN said the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) brings the term “stuck in the 1970s” to a whole new level.
In an article titled “World’s 10 most hated airports,” CNN’s Jordane Rane said up to the present, NAIA is “beleaguered by ground crew strikes, unkempt conditions, soup kitchen-style lines that feed into more lines and an overall sense of futility.”
It noted the rash of bad press it got, including the “Worst in the World” by the Sleeping in Airport blog.
This was capped, however, by a “collapsed ceiling in …

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Former actor and senator Ramon Revilla Sr. fathered 72 children to 16 different women, the spokesman of one of his sons said Wednesday.
Thirty-eight of his children are officially acknowledged and carry his surname, according to Portia Ilagan, spokesperson of Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr.
The Revilla patriarch was born Jose Acuña Bautista and took the screen name Ramon Revilla when he entered the movies.
His eldest child is Evelyn Bautista, wife of another former senator and basketball legend Robert Jaworski.
Revilla’s youngest child, meanwhile, is 15-year-old Abigail.
One daughter, Andrea, …

MANILA, Philippines—Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chair Francis Tolentino has welcomed a suit filed by a motorcycle safety advocacy group against the implementation of the motorcycle lanes at Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City and Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City.
“We welcome this lawsuit … with an end view of fine-tuning [the policy],” Tolentino said in a television interview, insisting that the new measure is very “helpful to the public.”
He lamented that it appeared the judicial process was apparently being used to stop a policy which he said tried to “instill discipline” among …

Vice President Jejomar C. Binay has sought the help of historians in rectifying what could be an oversight in proclaiming revolutionary General Miguel Malvar as the rightful second President of the Philippines.
In his letter to National Historical Commission chair Maria Serena I. Diokno and heads of history departments of various universities and colleges, Binay said he received information that Malvar was Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo’s right-hand during the war against the United States and took over command when the latter (Aguinaldo) was captured by American forces in Palanan, Isabela.
Since he took …

Actress/TV host Kris Aquino, sister of President Benigno Aquino III, has accepted the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees’ (UNHCR) offer to be an “honorary patron,” the first step to becoming an ambassador of goodwill.
“Just finished UNHCR dinner. I accepted their appointment,” Kris tweeted Tuesday night.
She also said she is “in excellent company,” noting that there are four honorary patrons and one goodwill ambassador in the world.
Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie is a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador who started out as an honorary patron.
“I’m honorary patron together with Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls, Khaled …

MANILA, Philippines – Two Filipino teachers, who were hired to fill a shortage in Louisiana in 2007, have filed a federal lawsuit against the hiring firm that recruited them in the Philippines after being allegedly forced to pay exorbitant fees, the Lost Angeles Times reported today.
In a complaint filed in Los Angeles, Ingrid Cruz and Rolando Pascual accused Universal Placement International Inc. and its president Lourdes Navarro of forcing them to pay immigration fees, which should have been paid by the districts that hired them under the federal law.
The lawsuit said the …

The Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 was voted the world’s worst airport for 2011 by readers of “The Guide to Sleeping in Airports,” a site that reviews the quality and facilities of the world’s airports.
Its primary audience seems to be budget travelers who see sleeping in airports as one way to save money during their journeys.
Among the array of problems cited by international passengers who managed to survive the airport were theft, bribery, and the absence of toilet seats and running water in the bathrooms.
One reader had this experience:
“A big …

By Non Alquitran
The Philippine Star
Photo courtesy of Multiply.com
MANILA, Philippines – Slain University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) student Given Grace Cebanico was laid to rest in Binangonan, Rizal yesterday.
At least 6,000 mourners, majority of them wearing white and lavender, Cebanico’s favorite color, attended the funeral at the Sto. Rosario Memorial Park in Binangonan town.
While Cebanico’s body was lowered to her final resting place, several mourners released white balloons in the air.
Earlier, a necrological service was held at the Darangan Church.
Cebanico’s father said it is not only her daughter who …

By Christine O. Avendaño
Philippine Daily Inquirer
2:55 am | Tuesday, October 11th, 2011
Here is one job where she can’t afford to let show biz intrigues bog her down.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) is inviting President Benigno Aquino III’s celebrity sister, Kris, to be its goodwill ambassador for Asia.
If she accepts the offer, Kris will be joining the likes of film actress Angelina Jolie and the late Princess Diana, presidential political adviser Ronald Llamas said Monday. Jolie continues to go around the globe as goodwill ambassador for the UNCHR.
“(This …

By Teresa Cerojano
Associated Press
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A senior Philippine official said Friday that studies have found structural flaws in a 9-year-old Manila airport terminal that suffered a partial ceiling collapse in 2006.
Two engineering companies and one engineers’ association that examined Ninoy Aquino International Airport’s Terminal 3 found flaws of varying degrees of seriousness, said Transportation and Communication Secretary Manuel Roxas II.
He said one study found only slight defects that can easily be fixed, another said it’s more serious and the third believes it’s “very serious.” The terminal was largely …

By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
2:00 am | Saturday, October 8th, 2011
With the possibility raised that former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband could be in jail on nonbailable charges by Christmas, some lawmakers are wondering whether the couple will do “a Thaksin” or “an Erap,” (Joseph Estrada).
“They may likely do a Thaksin,” said Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao.
“The possibility [of seeking political asylum] is strong considering that the charges against them, ranging from plunder to electoral sabotage, are nonbailable offenses,” he said.
Aggabao was referring to Thaksin Shinawatra, the former …

MANILA, Philippines – Celebrities, politicians, sports personalities and ordinary people across the country turned to social networking sites to mourn the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
Others praised and thanked Jobs for introducing the iconic iPhone, iPod, iPad and other devices that changed the daily habits of millions across the globe.
Below are some of their tweets:

“R.I.P. Steve Jobs. Thank you for making life easier.” — Angel Locsin, actress
“Steve Jobs!!! For the technology that enhanced not just my music but all our lives… thank you. Oh my Lord, this is a …

The photo of the ‘floating’ DPWH officials has been the talk around the blogosphere for a couple of days now pero hanggang ngayon aliw na aliw pa rin ako sa mga iba’t-ibang versions circulating online. Listed below are my favorites:

Check them out sa Abbey Road!
Join din sila sa ‘We are the World’ (Can you spot them here?)
Kasama naman nila dito ang mga rallying plankers
DPWH-ing with the ‘Eraserheads’. Cool!!!
Ginawan din sila ng version with the UP Pep Squad
Sinama din sila sa ‘Hogwarts’ with Harry Potter and friends
May version din sila sa …

Hong Kong’s High Court has ruled that an immigration law banning foreign maids from permanent residency is unconstitutional — a landmark decision that could pave the way for many applications from domestic helpers.
The court found Friday that employment and immigration law discriminates against Hong Kong’s nearly 300,000 mostly Indonesian and Filipino maids. All other people can apply for permanent residency after living in Hong Kong for seven years.
The case was brought before the High Court by Evangeline Vallejos, a former businesswoman from the Philippines who came to Hong Kong to …

Manila Bulletin
By ROBERT R. REQUINTINA
September 20, 2011, 8:08pm
MANILA, Philippines — Panama has declined to stage the 2013 Miss Universe contest, two months after it was announced that the project is almost a done-deal between the government and the pageant organizers.
Reports also said the Binibining Pilipinas Charities, Inc. (BPCI) and ABS-CBN, new home of the BPCI, may soon bid for the staging of the world’s most prestigious beauty pageant in the Philippines.
If the Philippines wins the bid, it would be the third time for the Miss Universe pageant to be held …

By Ronnie Nathanielsz in Manila/Philippine Daily Inquirer
ANN – Tue, Sep 13, 2011
Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) – It is becoming increasingly evident that pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao is either surrounded by incompetent advisers, including lawyers who don’t know the law, or that he is stubborn enough to ignore them.
Pacquiao’s announcement that he plans to run for vice president in 2016 was met by disbelief by most people, not because of the audacity of his announcement but the fact that under the Constitution of the Republic he is ineligible to run because …

by OHgamer
Tue Sep 13, 2011 9:08 pm
Once again it was the final question that determined who would be Miss Universe. Like I posted at the time during the event, I though Angola rocked the final question. She seemed to know what she wanted to answer and gave her answer tactfully but with conviction. She just “sounded” like a Miss Universe when she gave that answer, and that is what I think clinched it for her. She may not have had the hottest body, or the most graceful catwalk of the …

by JasonandMahalia Shoup
September 7, 2011 (Wednesday) at 10:47am
Bago ko simulan ang aking makabagbag-damdaming pagbulusok ng aking saloobin ukol kay James Soriano, basahin muna ang kanyang mabilis na pinahing artikulo na iniwasto naman (grammatically) ni Migs Bassig sa link na ito:
http://migsbassig.blogspot.com/2011/08/editing-james-soriano.html
Kung gusto niyo naman nag cached version ng pinahing article na:
Language, learning, identity, privilege
Ithink
By JAMES SORIANO
August 24, 2011, 4:06am
Ito ang link:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:GMVBu5Hmx9kJ:www.mb.com.ph/articles/331851/language-learning-identity-privilege+http://mb.com.ph/articles/331851/language-learning-identity-privilege
Ngayong nabasa niyo na, magsisimula na akong mag-himutok. Hindi naayong palampasin lamang at limutin ang artikulong ito. At dahil sa kahihiyan ng Manila Bulletin, agad itong nawala sa internet dalawang araw …