Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson insists his son, Ilocos Sur congressman Ronald Singson, is not a drug user.
Singson made the declaration in an interview with “Tapatan” after several representatives called for the expulsion of his son from Congress, following the declaration of family lawyer, John Reading, that the Ilocos Sur congressman will plead guilty to the charge of drug trafficking in a hearing set on Jan. 26.
Singson said the plea was mere “legal strategy.”
“He was supposed to go back to prison. Nalulungkot kami na mag-new New Year siya duon …

He shot first, but his camera was no match for an assassin’s caliber .45 pistol.
A barangay councilman’s final act of taking his loved ones’ picture as the New Year arrived proved invaluable to investigators when the photograph he took also “captured” the gunman taking aim at him with a handgun.
Councilman Reynaldo Dagsa of Barangay 35 in Maypajo, Caloocan City, was just outside his home right after midnight of January 1.
He was taking a picture of his wife, daughter and an elderly female relative on Tuna Street when a suspected car …

The Supreme Court (SC) has affirmed a lower court’s ruling that voided a government order sequestering a Marcos rest-house in Olot, Tolosa in Leyte province.
The 17-room mansion was among the properties seized by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) in 1987. The commission, formed by the late President Corazon Aquino, was tasked to recover the ill-gotten wealth of the family of late President Ferdinand Marcos.
Voting unanimously, the high court upheld the Sandiganbayan’s 2002 decision that ordered the PCGG to return the property to the dictator’s wife, former First Lady …

Metro Manila is the ninth most dynamic city in the world, according to an article in The Atlantic, citing data from Brookings’ Global MetroMonitor on economic output and employment in 150 of the world’s largest metropolitan economies from 1993 to 2010.
“Healthy tourism and demand for IT products helped Manila crack the top ten, in Brookings’ rankings for the first time,” wrote The Atlantic associate editor Derek Thompson. The list is based on income growth and employment as reported by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and London School of Economics (LSE) …

LOS ANGELES – Dozens of Filipino hospital workers in California sued their employer Tuesday alleging they were the sole ethnic group targeted by a rule requiring them to speak only English.
The group of 52 nurses and medical staff filed a complaint accusing Delano Regional Medical Center of banning them from speaking Tagalog and other Filipino languages while letting other workers speak Spanish and Hindi.
The plaintiffs are seeking to join an August complaint filed by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Kern County federal court over the hospital’s enforcement of …

Visitors to the Philippines may get smiles from airport immigration officials, but they shouldn’t expect to hear “Merry Christmas.”
Immigration Bureau chief Ronaldo Ledesma says officers at passport counters are banned from offering Christmas greetings because they may be misconstrued as soliciting gifts or cash.
It is a tradition in the Philippines for children to offer Christmas wishes to solicit gifts from godparents and relatives. The practice has been hijacked by corrupt officials who sometimes use it as code for extortion requests.
Ledesma said Tuesday that a Christmas greeting, even if sincere, may …

Miss Venezuela Elizabeth Mosquera was crowned tonight as Miss International 2010 at the Sichuan Province Gymnasium in Chengdu, China . The 19-year-old beauty is a native of Maracaibo and a Civil Engineering student at the University of Zulia.
Here’s the official results:
Miss International 2010: Elizabeth Mosquera (Venezuela)
1st Runner Up: Piyaporn Deejing (Thailand)
2nd Runner Up: Si Yi Yuan (China)
SEMI-FINALISTS
Mariela Aparicio (Costa Rica)
Florima Treiber (France)
Johanna Acs (Germany)
Neha Hinge (India)
Etsuko Kanagae (Japan)
Ko Hyeon-yeong (Korea)
Laura Spoya (Peru)
Krista Arrieta Kleiner (Philippines)
Aideliz Hidalgo (Puerto Rico)
Anja Saranovic (Serbia)
Desiree Panal (Spain)
Dilay Korkmaz (Turkey)
SPECIAL AWARDS
Miss Friendship: Zukhriatul Hafizah (Indonesia)
Miss Photogenic: …

It’s Noynoy Aquino’s staff that sucks not the wine in Vietnam!
In fact, would it be fair to say that Noynoy Aquino is surrounded by some really ugly Filipinos and it’s not that Vietnam don’t have good-looking men?
Agree? Who would like to start a list? Anyone? Anyone?
So, you want to be a great leader? Surround yourself with intelligent and smart people. At least that’s what I learned in school. Of course, we all know now how bad was Noynoy Aquino’s selection and hiring. Just take a look at this latest – …

Miss United States Alexandria Mills has been named Miss World 2010 on October 30, 2010. The 18-year-old fashion model from Kentucky, USA is a high school graduate and hopes to become a teacher in the future. Below is the official results of the pageant.

Miss World 2010: Alexandria Mills (United States)
1st runner-up: Emma Wareus (Botswana)
2nd runner-up: Adriana Vasini (Venezuela)
TOP 5 FINALISTS
Xiao Tang (China)
Emma Britt Waldron (Ireland)
TOP 7 QUARTER FINALISTS
Giada Pezzaioli (Italy)
Mariann Birkedal (Norway)
TOP 25 SEMIFINALISTS
Braneka Bassett (Bahamas)
Denise Garrido (Canada)
Laura Palacio (Colombia)
Virginie Dechenaud (France)
Mihilani Teixeira (French Polynesia)
Susanna Kobylinski (Germany)
Natasha Metto (Kenya)
Sarnai Amar …

Contributed by Ellen Taleon
Buried under tons of rocks and rubbles
Two thousand feet down in the bowels of the earth
Brave men of the number 33
Valiantly tried to seek light in the darkness.
The blackness closing in
The dust and sweltering heat suffocating.
Seventeen days had passed
And nobody knew which hole
They had dropped to and vanished.
Until that one fateful day
Their cries echoing, reached the ears of people
Who were seeking them, trying to know
If they were dead, ripe for salvaging
Or alive and worth saving.
In a race against time
Men once again proved that
Deep within each one …

Let me tell you, soy muy orgulloso ser Chileno! Yes, I am so proud to be Chilean and I am not even one.
It was an unbelievable reality TV show, matched by the Olympics and President Obama’s inauguration speech. Aren’t you just amazed by the technology used in the rescue? What’s more amazing was how Chile maximized technology that allowed us to see it live! I know, we all marveled at the most watched event beamed live from Chile. It sure was ten-fold better than the Olympics and the moon-landing combined.
What …

From ABS-CBN News:
After policemen, traffic enforcers, cooks and waiters, here come the dancing cabin crew of local budget airline Cebu Pacific.
Carrying seat belts, life jackets and oxygen masks, young female flight attendants danced to Lady Gaga’s Just Dance and Katy Perry’s California Girls while demonstrating safety procedures, as recorded on video by one of the passengers.
Actual flight safety guidelines were read while the music was being played in the aircraft.
So, what do you think mga ka-barrio?
Magiging effective ba na ganito ang safety procedures sa eroplano?
Cheers,

Photo Courtesy of ABS-CBN News
Viewed …

This is a repost, written by Sheryl Ebarvia Coronel
The Philippines faces a huge international public relations problem that if we do not resolve soon may increase the threat of retribution against our workers in HK and wreak havoc to our economy by destroying our tourism industry.
We had united to install an honest man as president and our shining victory held us in thrall for a time. President Aquino’s first actions showed an example of humility for us all. Then he set the ball running swiftly to reform our systems to …

Sharing you guys the Statement of Apology by Jackie Chan

First of all, I’d like to express my deepest condolences to the families of the victims in Hong Kong affected by the tragedy in the Philippines. Maybe what I said wasn’t very clear and it was misunderstood. The content in my Twitter account was posted by my American assistant on my behalf, but after interpretation the posts did not entirely capture what I truly meant to say.
What happened to the Hong Kong tourists in the Philippines – being taken hostage and …

Author: Unknown
(This is a re-post from FB Updates of a friend)
The known facts are these:
On August 19, 2005, Emmanuel “Bong” Madrigal, a Manila-based Filipino executive of the multinational Shell, was visiting Beijing on vacation with his wife Vivian, his daugher Regina Mia, and two younger daughters. That day, they rode a tourist bus to Tiananmen Square, the heart of the capitol. Upon arriving at the square, Emmanuel Madrigal was the first to descend from the bus, followed by Vivian and Regina Mia. A Chinese man wielding a scythe–in some reports …

~weeps~ (strategy to think)
You are making me cry with your question Mr. Baldwin! I’m sorry, but I can’t help it.
~more hikbi~ (more strategy to buy time and think)
You see, one of the biggest mistakes I made just recently, in fact, they even dethroned me as Miss Philippines, was not minding the little things that matters the most about joining the Miss Philippines beauty pageant.
(i swear to god! the crowd will roar!)
You see Mr. Baldwin, I am an illegitimate child and in the Philippines, we are being frowned upon.
(Believe me, …

Thank you Venus Raj for giving us an exciting Miss Universe.
You made the Philippines proud in a major major way!
Your inclusion in the top 5 is already an accomplishment and you made us all forget that bloody hostage drama at the Quirino Grandstand even for a moment.
Best of luck to your future endeavors!
Cheers,

Photo Credit: Mocha
Viewed 25748 times by 6271 viewers

The Miss Universe 2010 preliminary competition is over. In fact, I am done watching the liveshow at this link.
To those who have missed the show, sana po ay mapanood ninyo ito sa You Tube. Goodness gracious, Venus Raj was a sight to behold and she really exuded a regal aura during the preliminary competition. Nakatulong din ng malaki ang Filipino community natin sa Las Vegas dahil all-out ang support nila sa ating kandidata. Grabe, super-spine tingling talaga lalo na nung pinansin ng host ang mga spectators at sinabing:
Did the …

Indeed, big things comes in small packages!
Check out Jackie Evancho’s ‘America’s Got Talent’ performance HERE where she stunned the crowd, won her a standing ovation and got the stamp of approval from the judges.
Best of luck to this 10-year-old kid. I’m looking forward to see your star shine ala-Susan Boyle in the future!
Cheers,

Photo Credit: Jackie Evancho Website
Viewed 26890 times by 7386 viewers

From the Manila Bulletin:
The Center for Research and Epidemiology Disasters (CRED) here disclosed the Philippines ranked first worldwide in the most number of disasters that hit a country with 25.
In an annual statistical review complied by the group, the country led the list of natural disaster events with 24 followed by China with 16 thereby making the country as the hardest hit in terms of calamities that pose a serious threat to life and limb.
Based on a 46-page report, natural disasters are defined as events where 10 or more people …

Poor guys. They couldn’t afford a $20 million dollar plate. Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!

So what is it with Ray’s Hell Burger? Could it be winning the White House Burger Battle?
Let’s ask the president of Russia. We know President Obama is a fan.
On a sweltering summer day in Washington on Thursday, Mr. Obama passed on lunch from the White House chefs to take his Russian counterpart, Dmitri A. Medvedev, across the Potomac to Ray’s, a hamburger joint in Arlington, Va.
Mr. Obama might almost qualify as a Ray’s regular: he and Vice President …

I saw this on the CBS news the other day. I also heard it on James Fox. There is something weird going on in the Gulf of Mexico and/or in and around the Louisiana shoreline. That is, the media are barred from access to the areas affected by the Gulf oil spill. There is an overall media clampdown.

Viewed 17307 times by 4174 viewers

It’s USA versus England!
Ok. Actually, it should have been the British.

Well, it’s close.
I’m not really talking about the action going on in Johannesburg, South Africa. I’m talking about the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico where a British company is the villain and the Americans are the victims.

You see, the British are angry with Obama’s constantly using the words “British Petroleum” when BP only started using the word BP two years ago. To them, by constantly referring to BP as “British Petroleum” it seemed like it …

My neighbor in Pasig used to own a stone-washing business. He exported his products to the US, Japan and Europe. A year later when I saw him, he said he’s been losing clients. The next year I went home, his business closed. His business was a victim of China’s cheap labor. He sold his condo. I don’t know where he is now.
China’s cheap labor. It fueled China’s meteoric rise as an economic giant. It also fueled a lot of cheap controversial products like lead paint tainted toy, those toxic drywall …

This is absolutely insane and they could not even help their own people. Who else would help this rogue nation but North Korea, and to think that ASEAN did not do anything strong enough or bold enough to help Aung San Suu Kyi.
A defector from Myanmar — an army major and deputy commander of a top-secret nuclear facility — escaped the country with thousands of files detailing a secret nuclear and missile program. “The purpose is they really want a bomb. That is their main objective,” said defector Sai …