Royal Baby: Duchess of Cambridge Gives Birth to Daughter

An official notice was placed on an easel at Buckingham Palace - it will be there for 24 hours 

Image courtesy of www.bbc.com

Source: www.bbc.com

The princess - who is fourth in line to the throne - was "safely delivered" at 08:34 BST, the palace statement said.

The Duke of Cambridge, who was present for the birth of the 8lbs 3oz (3.7kg) baby girl, brought his 21-month-old son Prince George to visit his sister at St Mary's Hospital, west London.

The couple and their daughter will leave hospital on Saturday evening.

They will travel home to Kensington Palace, where Prince George has now returned.

In a statement, Kensington Palace said: "Their Royal Highnesses would like to thank all staff at the hospital for the care and treatment they have all received.

"They would also like to thank everyone for their warm wishes."

As he left the hospital briefly to pick up his son, Prince William told the waiting crowds the couple were "very happy".

Both Catherine and her daughter are "doing well", Kensington Palace said. The name of the baby will be announced in due course.

For live updates click here and for the royal baby special report, click here.

The Prince of Wales, who had earlier said he was hoping for a grand-daughter, and the Duchess of Cornwall said they were "absolutely delighted".

Cameras are focused on the door of the Lindo wing 

People are queuing outside Buckingham Palace for a glimpse of the easel 

It is the first time Prince George has been officially seen in public in the UK since he left the same hospital as a newborn in 2013

Prince William plants a kiss on his son's head before taking him inside the hospital to visit his baby sister 

The duchess had been admitted to the private Lindo Wing at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, west London, at 06:00 BST.

The birth announcement came just after 11:00 BST.

The statement from Kensington Palace added: "The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Harry and members of both families have been informed and are delighted with the news."

The latest royal joins the line of succession behind her grandfather Prince Charles, father Prince William and brother Prince George, who was born at the same hospital in July 2013.

The princess is the Queen's fifth great-grandchild.

Outside the Lindo Wing: Henrietta McMicking, BBC News

Crowds began gathering after it was announced Catherine was in labour 

Hundreds of well-wishers have gathered outside St Mary's Hospital to catch a first glimpse of the new princess.

Some are seasoned royal watchers. Margaret Tyler, 71 from Wembley, north-west London, has been waiting for the last 11 days: "But no nights, I'm too old for that now".

Meanwhile, Ash decided to bring his young daughter Ankita to mark the historic event. "We moved to London from the US nine years ago," he said. "I wanted to go and see Will and Kate's wedding but my wife thought I was mad."

There has been lots of speculation about a name from small girls in the crowd, from Disney-inspired Belle and Ariel to Alex, Stella and Rose.

And everyone wants a selfie with Tony Appleton, who runs a care home in Chelmsford, Essex, but has been a town crier for 30 years and stood on the steps of the Lindo wing to announce the news. 

The Royal Navy posted this celebratory picture by the crew of HMS Lancaster 

The BT Tower in London welcomed the news

Prime Minister David Cameron tweeted: "Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their baby girl. I'm absolutely delighted for them."

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg tweeted that he and his wife Miriam wished the family "all the best".

And Labour leader Ed Miliband wrote: "Congratulations to the duke and duchess on the birth of their daughter. Wishing them lots of joy and happiness - and hopefully some sleep!"

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: "It's wonderful news that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have a healthy new baby girl.

"Like many here and abroad, I'm delighted for the royal couple on this special day. May God bless them and both of their children with love, health and joy."

Some fans of the Royal Family have been outside the hospital for days 

Images courtesy of www.bbc.com

A large number of journalists, photographers and broadcasters had gathered after the announcement that Catherine was in labour.

Following the announcement of the birth, standing on the steps of the Lindo Wing, unofficial town crier Tony Appleton told crowds: "We welcome with humble duty the new baby of their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

"The princess is fourth in line to the throne."

BBC royal correspondent Daniela Relph said the wait now begins: "Will the duke and duchess and their new princess leave hospital today? All eyes are on the Lindo Wing door."

She said the decision to leave would ultimately be a medical decision, but the duke and duchess would be acutely aware of the disruption their presence brings to the hospital.

There has been much speculation about the princess's name, with Alice being the favourite with several bookmakers. Charlotte, Elizabeth and Diana have also been popular with punters.

Prince George's name was announced two days after his birth, which is a relatively quick turnaround compared with previous royal babies.

It was seven days before the name of a newborn Prince William was announced in 1982, and there was a wait of a month following Prince Charles's birth in 1948.

The new royal will not be overtaken in the line of succession by any future younger brothers.

Under new rules which came into force in March, male bias was removed from the succession rules.

She will also be known as the Princess of Cambridge after a Letter Patent was issued by the Queen.

It declared: "All the children of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales should have and enjoy the style, title and attribute of royal highness with the titular dignity of prince or princess prefixed to their Christian names or with such other titles of honour".

And the princess will also be able to marry a Roman Catholic without losing her place in line to the throne.

Repost: Son of Loren Legarda Laments Mother's Choice of Political Party

Image courtesy of www.rappler.com

Source: www.rappler.com

 An open letter of grief from Loren Legarda’s son

By: Lorenzo Legarda Leviste

'My mother is an example of how fascism takes hold, is made acceptable, normalized, facilitated, ushered in'

I’m writing this weeks after learning the news that my mother, a woman named Loren Legarda, is running for senator on a slate led by a Marcos and a Duterte. She is endorsing fascists. For weeks I have been crying every day, screaming every day until I spat out blood. The decision she’s made is so profoundly unthinkable, unconscionable, unforgivable. In the last month, my entire life has collapsed. It is beyond a nightmare. I still cannot believe it and will never be able to accept it.

For weeks I have been paralyzed in pain. But I have no choice but to publicly declare that I am absolutely disgusted by my mother and what she has decided to do. It sickens me and makes me want to die. I need everyone to know that Loren Legarda lost her son forever because of this. Paint her bright red with that shame. Don’t let her forget it. In the words of a wise woman: I don’t know her.

It took Ariana Grande posting a video of a Leni rally with the crowd singing “Break Free” for me to remember that an election was happening. I have not lived in the Philippines since I was 18; I haven’t been in half a decade, haven’t seen my mother in as long, and did not know who was running. I have witnessed the last six years unfold in absolute horror. This detachment is an immense privilege, and conditioned by the immense trauma of having grown up in a country that I always recognized was sick, infected with the historical amnesia and denial that have led to this moment.

I refuse the normalization of fascistic state thuggery, of lies as alternate truth, of the country’s sorry history being rewritten as fable. My mother is an example of how fascism takes hold, is made acceptable, normalized, facilitated, ushered in. I need you to know that she has no clue about the utter gravity and depravity of what she is doing. “So I am on their ticket. Does that make me a fascist?” she asked, both cluelessly and cynically. I was aghast. This is a woman who lived through Martial Law; she was once a journalist who taught me to value truth and justice. This is how vile, braindead, and reckless these people are. They literally have no idea what they are doing, the decades of violence and anguish they are unleashing. For her it is just any other election year, ripe for the usual craven, convenient opportunism. There is no understanding that another Marcos presidency would mean the end of everything for the Philippines. The end of history, ang hangganan ng kasaysayan.

NOTE IN RED. A statement written by artist and activist David Medalla, circa 1970s. Photo by the author

I was born in 1990, in the shadow of decades of Marcos terror, oppression, and corruption. I truly cannot believe the success with which these crimes have been whitewashed. I feel like the rug has been pulled out from under me.

The litany of Marcos crimes is not something to be debated. Their atrocities are fact. To even have to state that is patently absurd. To push back against these truths is to declare yourself an enemy of justice; of the thousands whose lives and families have been destroyed by the Marcoses and the Dutertes; of the millions today fighting on the front lines to stop them. My mother, Loren Legarda, spits in the faces of all these people.

The young Indian poet-activist Aamir Aziz, himself engulfed by fascist terror, wrote that, “Everything will be remembered.” I choose to remember merely not the crimes of those in power, but also those among us that handed them power. Recognize all those in your life who are voting for this, and remember their names. Remember that they have declared their subscription to lies and a version of history rooted in brazen, wicked mendacity. They know exactly what they are voting for – mass murder, mass theft, the end of democracy, the denial of truth, the rewriting of history – and they want it desperately. When blood runs in the streets, never let them forget that they have blood on their hands, glowing fervid and bright red. Remind them every day. These are their crimes now. Make them answer for these crimes, make them own them. Make them defend them.

I am in utter grief. F*** my mother for abetting this. Their crimes are her crimes now. Make her defend them. – Rappler.com

Lorenzo Legarda Leviste is the son of Loren Legarda.

An Open Letter to the Basic Education Department of University of Perpetual Help Molino Campus

School, PE and University Uniform

Image courtesy of www.deliberatelymom.blogspot.com

Source: www.deliberatelymom.blogspot.com

I am a parent of Luigi Miguel Valdez, Kinder 1 in University of Perpetual Help Molino Campus. I would like to express my DISGUST when you let him attended school for only eight (8) days. In your observation, he is hyperactive, full of energy, won't sit still, feels agitated, doesn't want to write, doesn't join in the group, doesn't follow commands or instruction, always wanted to go outside, grabs the food of his classmates, difficulty with verbal communication, disruptive behavior. In short, in your eyes, he is a "PROBLEM CHILD".

It appears you had difficulty understanding my son, and being her responsible mother, who may clearly see his flaws and weaknesses, yes, he is hyperactive and has difficulty with verbal communication but he is sweet, affectionate and a capable learner.

Back in summer, when I inquired in your school, you were so accommodating (looks can be deceiving). You told me that you have limited slots for Preschool. Each class will have a maximum of 15 students, with one head teacher and one assistant teacher so that you have an appropriate balance of student abilities.

You assessed my son to know if he is ready for school... you made him write, trace and color. You told me with a smile, "Ma'am, okay na po. Pasado na si Luigi."

I even received a text from you reminding me of his enrollment fees.

So I reserved my slot, enrolled him, paid his tuition fee in full, bought his uniform, books, shoes, bags and school supplies. My son is so excited because he will now go to school.

All is set for school.

FIRST WEEK IN CLASS

The first day of preschool is an exciting day of my child's life. It is also quite stressful for him because this is a new environment, new classmate, new teachers, first experience of separation with us. He is anxious. But, he is learning to adjust in his new "second home".

I am not surprised when I received a request of Parent-Teacher Conference with you, because for me this is a good sign to have a communication with the teachers about the behavior of my son.

I even told you to please wait for the diagnosis of my son. He has a scheduled check up this July 28. For the meantime, let him go to school.

SECOND WEEK IN CLASS

I received a note from the adviser that Dr. Arguelles, BED principal wanted to talk to me about my son. You observed that he is not ready for school, hyperactive and disruptive behavior, and with the number of students you have... you cannot manage him.

I am wondering.. why the hell you accepted him in this school when you cannot manage him? There is an assessment right? I just discovered that the one who assess my son is not a psychologist or a teacher but only a TEACHER AIDE! So, how did you assess my son?

Why letting him enroll, accept the payment and then telling me now that you do not have a mainstreaming policy? And you are sorry, you cannot meet the needs of my son?

It seems you cannot wait for the diagnosis of his developmental pedia. You already gave up on him.

Why telling me that you will only accommodate a maximum of 15 pupils in the class but as of June 27, they are 21 pupils in the class? How can you manage that number of students?

In a matter of 8 days, you are tired of my son? Natatakasan kayo? You let him play alone in the playground without a teacher/teacher aide to watch over him? What happen if there's an accident?

For your relief, I would like to inform you that I am withdrawing my son from your school. The school is not secure. The school is not also a child-friendly environment.

MANNER OF PAYING REFUNDS

What matter worst is when the Accounting Department told me that it would take months before I could claim the refund because the one who would sign it is on maternity leave. This is too much!

I discussed it with Dr. Rayel, the School Director, but sadly, he said there is nothing he can do because the forms will be delivered to University of Perpetual Help Las Piñas Campus, there are lots of pending files, I'll just follow up, just wait for it, no assurance when is the release.. if I want, I'll just file a complaint...blah blah blah! Whatthef_ _ _k!

Based on your Grade School Student Handbook. All refunds are paid in check to the enrollee after at least one week but not exceeding a processing of two weeks. So you better stick to your policy!

I paid his tuition in full! That is PhP32,510! I allotted that money for the education of my child! Give what is due to us!

Be true to your handbook! Don't give me some alibis!

Kung ganyan, talagang masasabi ko na ang school nyo... BULOK NA SISTEMA, POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE PA!

You wasted our time, effort and resources!

It breaks my heart whenever I hear my son singing a song (with action) he learned in school. Flipping through pages in his books, practice tracing... He is also confused why he doesn't go to school, why does his school service doesn't fetch him anymore. He also uttered these words "School, Teacher, Happy" he said those words but his face is sad.

He really wanted to go to school.

It is so hard to explain for a 4 year old child why is this happening to him. It hurts me BIG TIME!

I am writing this also to share awareness to other PARENTS AND STUDENTS that by any chance they experience the same incident, they might want to stand up and speak up as well. I know this might cause a bad publicity to your school but such customer complaint will surely improve the school itself. Hopefully after reading this letter you may consider putting a full stop, and not a comma, to incidents like this.

And to everyone who's reading this right now, some of you will surely bash me for this but it really won't help. It was NOT YOU who EXPERIENCE THE STRESS AND PAIN FOR YOUR CHILD. I'm just so disappointed.


Sincerely,

Rhodora Espiritu-Valdez
Nanay ni Luigi

UPDATE: Last night, July 8 at 9:30 PM, Dr. Rayel, Ms. Lea Chua and Ms. Rose went to our house to give me the refund PhP26,510.00 in cash. According to them, they really wanted to stick to their "policy". I received it because that is our money. They also apologized for what happened to my son. Apology accepted.

Don't Condone His Lies!

Image courtesy of www.christiantz.com

More often, being a family member or relative of someone influential will get you some amount of perks aka built-in advantage. It is for this reason that there are wealthy people who are not content with just being rich, because apart from the financial bliss, being in a position of power brings in a certain level of celebrity status and influence. This largely explains why the lure of politics seems to be very addicting and contagious… and toxic, too, to say the least.

Not a few will contest that once seated in position, some of these power hungry “public servants” will circumvent the law once they or any family member gets in trouble. “What are we in power for?” is an oft-repeated phrase or ‘mantra’ whispered and practiced among themselves. Coined by a supposedly honorable senator decades ago, the quote caught on and is now being used and abused. Seriously, “what are we in power for” has now become the face of most public servants -- the rule rather than the exception.

An occasional actor OA who is the son of a veteran actor and public servant AP was driving his car drunk when he hit a girl in her 20’s GR  walking along the road. GR was hurt but managed to get up, only to find OA speeding away from the scene – in short – hit and run. But onlookers saw it was OA who was behind the wheel -- drunk. OA is a resident of that southern town and his presence is a familiar sight among residents there. Witnesses were able to record the car’s plate number and other details. Since he is known to be the son of AP, his residence was easily tracked down.

GR got herself treated in the hospital for wounds and bruises. Soon after, together with her uncle, they went to the residence of OA with the intention of reporting the matter to his father AP. When they were finally face to face with him, GR and her uncle told him of the accident involving OA’s drunk-driving that hit GR. To their surprise, AP denied it outright, saying that his son is in no way guilty of the accusation and will never do a hit and run.

In his usual arrogant manner, he made GR and her uncle appeared like bullies accusing his son, instead of the other way around. Oh boy!

At any rate, what do we expect? His actuation is a foregone conclusion. He has been a big disappointment as a public servant, even causing headaches to the current head of the region.

“He who has the power makes the rules.”

Please abide by the GUIDELINES in writing comments if you want them to be posted. Initials and comments that are too explicit will not be accepted.

Follow @FashionPulis on Twitter for the latest update. Please continue to send your juicy stories to michaelsylim@gmail.com. Thank you very much for loving Fashion PULIS!

Disclaimer: The comments of the readers do not reflect the views and opinions of Fashion PULIS.

What is your take on Raymond Gutierrez and Borgy Manotoc being business partners of Janet Napoles' son?

Source: www.rappler.com

After he was named as one of the lawmakers linked to the alleged pork barrel syndicate run by Janet Lim-Napoles, Sen Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr has not addressed the question of his relationship with Napoles.

The senator has only said his name was being dragged into the controversy by people who want to derail his possible bid for a higher position in the 2016 elections. Rappler previously published photographs of him and another senator, his close friend Jinggoy Estrada, partying with Napoles and their relatives.

Revilla might be better off admitting their links.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) documents show the senator’s eldest son Leonard Bryan Bautista co-owns a business with Napoles’ son, James Christopher Napoles, and her nephew Ronald Lim Jr.

James Napoles also has prominent business partners in other companies, based on SEC records, such as Fernando Martin "Borgy" Marcos Manotoc, son of Ilocos Norte Gov Imee Marcos, and TV host Raymond Gutierrez. (In an Inquirer story in April 2012, the 30th wedding anniversary of the Napoles couple, Borgy Manotoc was reported to be among the guests. He was described in the story as a good friend of Bryan Revilla whose real name is Leonard Bryan Bautista.)

The company owned by Bryan Bautista and James Napoles, PB & J Corp, was incorporated on Jan 1, 2011, or 6 months after Sen Revilla (real name Jose Mari Bautista) was re-elected senator and his wife Lani Mercado Revilla (Bryan’s mother) was elected congresswoman of Cavite’s first district.

Other incorporators are Philip Cambe and Darwin Chester Cruz.

No financial filings

The company is engaged in “wholesale and trade,” according to its SEC registration. It holds office at the Mezzanine Cavite Coliseum, which is within the commercial complex owned and operated by the Revilla family along Aguinaldo Highway in Bacoor, Cavite, across the street from the mansion of the patriarch, former Sen Ramon Revilla Sr.

PB & J Corp registered with P5 million in capital stocks. Bryan Bautista has the most number of shares with 5,000, followed by James Napoles with 4,750. The third biggest number of shares is with Philip Cambe, 2,500.

Darwin Cruz and Ronaldo Lim Jr seem to hold token shares, with 125 each.

The company has not filed any financial statement with SEC since. Companies are required to file one with the SEC every year.

Whistleblower Benhur Luy, who kept records of Napoles’ supposed transaction with lawmakers, said that P1.017 billion of Sen Bong Revilla’s Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) from 2006-2011 went to non-governmental organizations formed and controlled by Janet Lim-Napoles. (Luy has accused Napoles of detaining him. The National Bureau of Investigation rescued Luy in March from Napoles' residence at Pacific Plaza Towers in Taguig. On Wednesday, August 14, a Makati court ordered the arrest of Napoles and her brother Reynaldo Lim in connection with Luy's complaint.)

The fund, coursed by lawmakers through various implementing agencies, was allegedly not spent on projects but instead split between Napoles and the lawmakers, Luy said.

Rappler checked state audit reports for 2007-2011 that covered the government-owned National Agri-Business Corp, one of the agencies through which Napoles’ NGOs accessed lawmakers’ PDAF.

The Commission on Audit found questionable the release of P9.7 million of Revilla’s PDAF to the St James the Apostle Multi-Purpose Cooperative. This was despite its failure to comply with the requisites for entitlement to government funds. The group could not be immediately linked to Napoles, however. There are no SEC records of its creation.

Partner to the stars

James Napoles has 4 other active companies under his name, according to SEC records. None of them has filed annual financial statements, as required by the SEC.

SEC documents on the Napoles family’s businesses also reveal business partnerships with popular people.

James Napoles and his sister Jo-Christine – the one who withdrew her nomination with the OFW Party List – are business partners with “Borgy” Marcos Manotoc. They formed Hashlab Inc, which is engaged in advertising, on March 19, 2012.

James and Jo-Christine also formed a public relations company with TV host Raymond Gutierrez. The Lead PR Inc was registered on April 3, 2012.

Gian Paolo Carlo “DJ Jon” Herrera is a co-owner, along with James Napoles siblings, of two companies: D Urban Retail Concepts Inc (wholesale) and Socal Holdings Inc (financial holdings), formed on Nov 16, 2011 and July 9, 2013, respectively. Jo-Christine Napoles is also an incorporator of D Urban Retail Concepts, while DJ Jon’s wife, model and host Patricia Kristina “Patti” Grandidge, is also an incorporator of Socal Holdings.

Repost: Kim Young-sam, Former President of South Korea, Dies at 87

Source: www.nytimes.com
By Choe Sang-Hun

SEOUL, South Korea — Kim Young-sam, the former president of South Korea who replaced the last of the country’s military leaders, purged politicized generals and introduced a landmark reform aimed at transparency in financial transactions, died on Sunday. He was 87.

Mr. Kim, who was president from 1993 to 1998, died of sepsis and heart failure, said Oh Byung-hee, the chief of Seoul National University Hospital, where Mr. Kim was admitted with a fever on Friday. He had been treated for a series of strokes and pneumonia in recent years.

Mr. Kim, an outspoken critic of military dictators from the 1960s through the 1980s, was one of the “three Kims” — the others were former President Kim Dae-jung and former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil — who played major roles, often relying on regional support from their home provinces, during South Korea’s turbulent transition from dictatorship to democracy.

Mr. Kim was born in 1927, a son of a rich anchovy fisherman on Geoje Island, off the southeast coast of South Korea, during a time when all of the Korean Peninsula was a Japanese colony. He was elected to Parliament at age 26 and developed a following as an opposition leader famed for his daring criticism of Park Chung-hee, who seized power in a coup in 1961 and tortured and imprisoned dissidents before his assassination in 1979.

Mr. Park had Mr. Kim expelled from Parliament for criticizing his dictatorship during an interview with The New York Times in 1979. Mr. Kim’s colleagues resigned from Parliament in protest, and huge antigovernment demonstrations broke out in Mr. Kim’s political home ground in the southeast. Mr. Park was assassinated by his spy chief later that year.

Mr. Kim’s travails continued when Mr. Park was replaced by Chun Doo-hwan, an army major general who engineered a coup to fill the power vacuum left by his patron’s death. Mr. Kim was barred from politics and put under house arrest. He once staged a 23-day hunger strike.

“Dawn will come even if the rooster is strangled,” he once said, a saying that became a catchphrase for Koreans’ yearning for democracy.

Mr. Kim was as well known for a lifetime rivalry with Kim Dae-jung, a fellow opposition leader from the southwest Jeolla region. They both ran for president in 1987 in South Korea’s first democratic election and split the opposition vote, allowing Mr. Chun’s handpicked successor, Roh Tae-woo, another former army general, to win.

In 1990, Mr. Kim merged his party with Mr. Roh’s military-backed governing party in a move widely condemned as a betrayal of pro-democracy forces. The merger was a political marriage of convenience: Mr. Roh wanted a parliamentary majority, and Mr. Kim, who distrusted Kim Dae-jung as much as he detested the military dictators, believed that he would never win the presidency as long as the other Mr. Kim competed with him for the opposition vote.

Once in the governing party, whose top hierarchy included many former generals, Mr. Kim and his followers, vastly outnumbered by rival factions but all seasoned veterans in party politics, quickly expanded their ranks and dominated the party.

Mr. Kim beat Kim Dae-jung in the 1992 election to become the first civilian leader in South Korea in more than three decades.

Although he won the election with the support of the military-backed party, Mr. Kim did not forget his roots. He purged a clique of politically ambitious army officers who went by the name Hanahoe, which roughly meant “an association of one-for-all, all-for-one.” Bound by their regional prejudices and sponsored by the military dictators, the members of the group were so powerful they blackmailed — and even beat up — members of Parliament. The officers were forced to retire.

Mr. Kim’s military purge culminated in the arrest and conviction of Mr. Chun and Mr. Roh on mutiny and corruption charges for their roles in the 1979 coup and a bloody crackdown on a pro-democracy uprising in the following year, as well as for collecting hundreds of millions of dollars each in bribes from businessmen. (Mr. Kim later pardoned them and released them from prison.)

Mr. Kim also barred South Koreans from owning bank accounts under pseudonyms. That change is considered one of the most important landmarks in South Korea’s long-running campaign against corruption; bank accounts under borrowed names had been widely used by politicians and businessmen to hide slush funds.

But Mr. Kim’s time in office was also marked by missed opportunities.

In his memoir, Mr. Kim said he persuaded President Bill Clinton to cancel the United States’ plan to bomb North Korea’s nuclear facilities in 1994 for fear of war.

“Looking back,” Mr. Kim said in an interview in 2009, “I think the North Koreans think they can say whatever they want because no matter what they do, the Americans will never attack them.”

The 1994 nuclear crisis was defused when former President Jimmy Carter met with the North Korean leader at the time, Kim Il-sung, in Pyongyang, the North’s capital, and brokered what would have been the first summit meeting between the leaders of the two Koreas. But Kim Il-sung died of heart failure in July 1994, two weeks before the meeting was scheduled to take place. ”Fate played a trick on me,” Mr. Kim said. “If I had met Kim Il-sung, I would have changed the nation’s history.”

The achievement that had eluded him — becoming the first South Korean leader to hold a summit meeting with the North — went to his rival and successor, Kim Dae-jung. In 2000, Kim Dae-jung flew to Pyongyang and met with Kim Jong-il, Kim Il-sung’s son and successor. That year, Kim Dae-jung was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

By the time Kim Young-sam ended his five-year term in early 1998, he was a sad, disgraced lame duck.

In 1997, South Korea’s proud economy swallowed the humiliation of a $58 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund during the Asian financial crisis. Mr. Kim was criticized for failing to prevent the crisis by overhauling the country’s powerful family-run conglomerates, which had expanded on reckless borrowing and with cozy ties to the government.

With thousands of people losing their jobs, Mr. Kim stopped jogging in the early morning, a daily routine that he had never missed until then.

Mr. Kim’s reputation was further tarnished with the arrest of a son on corruption charges. His governing party was so unpopular that South Koreans were ready to hand over power to the opposition for the first time, as they did with the election of Kim Dae-jung in late 1997.

Mr. Kim is survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters.

Derek Ramsay Sued by Wife Mary Christine and Son Austin Gabriel

Image courtesy of www.getitfromboy.net

Source: www.getitfromboy.net

Derek Ramsay is being sued by his estranged wife Mary Christine Jolly Ramsay, and along the way, she confirmed in her affidavit that indeed, she and Derek Ramsay have a son. Ms. Jolly-Ramsay filed a complaint last June 27, 2014 with the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office for Violations of Republic Act No. 9262, otherwise known as the Anti- Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004.

Published below is the complaint affidavit by Mrs. Mary Christine J. Ramsay, save for some pertinent personal and legalese information. Notable of the revelations are: that Derek Ramsay is a British national; is legally married to Ms. Jolly and that they have a son named Austin Gabriel, now 11 years old; that their marriage is not yet annulled; that Derek Ramsay refused to recognize and support his son Austin; that Derek Ramsay even gave away an old laptop by ex-girlfriend Angelica Panganiban to son Austin; Mrs. Jolly-Ramsay attached as evidence their duly issued marriage certificate and the certificate of live birth of their son; among others.

Note: A very reliable source sent us the complaint affidavit and is a public document. Mr. Derek Ramsay who incidentally stars in the movie now showing, “The Trophy Wife,” is welcome here to allow to be published also his counter affidavit.

FACTUAL ANTECEDENTS

3. Respondent and I were married on 3 April 2002, in Balagtas, Bulacan as shown by the Marriage Contract attached hereto and made an integral part hereof as Annex “A”.

4. We were blessed with one child, Austin Gabriel Ramsay (Austin), who was born on 28 June 2003. Attached hereto and made an integral part hereof as Annex “B” is a copy of Austin’s Birth Certificate.

5. For the entire twelve (12) years of our marriage, respondent unduly and unlawfully subjected me and Austin to repeated emotional, psychological and economic abuse.

6. I met respondent in a club through our common friends sometime in 2001 when he won the MTV VJ hunt.

7. A few weeks to a month later, respondent and I began dating. Eventually, I moved in with him at his apartment in Makati City.

8. Our relationship was rocky as we fought all the time. He was very jealous, possessive and demanding. I was always ordered to stay at home.

9. Respondent traveled often, there was one trip to the United States of America (USA), where he met up with his former girlfriend. When he got back to Manila, I contracted a ** disease, which I had to get medical treatment for. The medical procedure was done in Makati Medical Center. Despite the emotionally and physically painful ordeal, I forgave him..

10. On 3 April 2002, respondent and I decided to get married in Balagtas, Bulacan. We lived together as a married couple until September 2002. This period was characterized by incessant fights and extreme jealousy on his part. When he broke off the relationship, I was distraught.

11. In October 2002, while on a short vacation in Dubai to visit my family, I found out I was pregnant. I immediately contacted respondent to let him know, hoping that even if he could not act as a husband to me, that he would at least be a father to our child. To my shock, the news of being father was spurned by him. He even had the temerity to claim that the child was not his. I was aghast but kept myself together because of my condition.

12. It then came to my attention that he was in a full blown relationship with another woman. This was very painful to accept considering that we just got married and I was then pregnant with our only son.

13. I came back to Manila in November 2002, I tried to contact him but to no avail. I stayed in my family’s home in Cavite for the duration of my pregnancy. During this time, I received no amount of financial and emotional support from him.

14. I tried to keep in touch with respondent during that period, informing him on a regular basis how the baby was doing, consulting him on the name, etc., but he was totally uncaring and unresponsive.

15. On 28 June 2003, I gave birth to our son, Austin, in a hospital in Imus, Cavite. I asked respondent to be there for the birth of his first child, and for the DNA test, that he requested to have. He did not show up.

16. After the birth, I repeatedly tried in vain to keep in touch. Being a new mother at a young age proved extremely difficult but the experience was even exacerbated by respondent’s appalling lack of concern. In September 2003, when Austin was almost 3 months old, I decided to move back to Dubai with my child.

17. In 2005, I sent a letter and a few pictures to respondent (from Dubai) of Austin. These were completely ignored.

18. In 2006 I came to Manila to visit, tried to reach respondent, but he ignored all my requests to meet.

19. In May of 2011, I came back for a visit to Manila. A segment on TV Patrol alerted the public that respondent was and is still married to me. He refused to see me until I made demands that I will go public.

20. When finally, he agreed to give me support, I thought that things would change. I was mistaken. Despite our agreement, it has been extremely difficult to get the support that respondent had undertaken to give. He is always delayed in making payments.

21. The first year of Austin’s school in Manila, which was sometime in 2012, respondent refused to make payment in my bank account for the school fees and preferred to make payments directly to his school. This caused me tremendous stress in arranging the school Austin should be attending, as well as tuition fees.

22. In 2012, respondent also refused to pay for the tutor of Austin, which was strongly advised by his school. Austin entered school in Manila at Grade 4, and I shouldered tutorial expenses for that year (2011).

23. Indeed, the effort of having to constantly remind and persuade respondent to give assistance caused me extreme stress since he was unresponsive most of the time. He would answer my email messages three to four weeks after.

24. After Austin graduated Grade 3 sometime in 2013, his teacher requested that he be provided tutorial assistance again for the next year. Respondent promised that if he needed help in school for the next school year, he would shoulder those expenses. When time came for the payment of expenses, he made it extremely
difficult to get the money. I had to suffer tremendous stress for a period of three (3) weeks before I was able to get the funds from him.

25. On Austin’s 9th birthday, he asked respondent for an Ipad tablet. Respondent instead gave Austin an old laptop of his which was broken and then he replaced it with his former girlfriend’s (Angelica Panganiban), used laptop. Austin and I were very disappointed for this very shabby treatment as if Austin only deserved used and worn out items.

26. The laptop given even had Angelica Panganiban’s files and her skype was still logged in to the laptop. This is how we knew it was hers. Because he did not even bother to have these erased, it was as if he was intentionally exposing us to his girlfriend and making us feel that we were only good enough for her leftovers.

27. In September 2013, we requested that respondent provide Austin with his legal right of British citizenship, and a lumpsum for the next eight (8) years in rent/dental (excluding school fees for the next twelve (12) years of gradeschool/highschool/college). Respondent and his family assured us that they would be working on the citizenship, the annulment and verbally agreed to the lumpsum.

28. However, it took six months to even get a meeting set up to discuss the above. During the meeting respondent’s father was present. They declared the amount we proposed unreasonable and
father and son (respondent) raised their voices, threatened and verbally attacked me and my lawyer. The meeting left me traumatized, confused and frustrated. I was so humiliated to be attacked in such a way. Needless to state, we did not get any matter resolved.

29. In the span of three (3) years of Austin residing in Manila, respondent met with Austin four (4) times only. He was always busy traveling and was never available or free when Austin is available. He preferred Austin to be the one to free his schedule when it is convenient for him, and not when it is convenient for Austin. The instances he saw Austin lasted not more than an hour or two each time. It was never quality time as he always had either his parents, his nephews/nieces or other family members around.

30. Respondent never acted as a father to Austin at all. He is irresponsible and unfit to be around his son. He has no sense of respect towards Austin, or me. He is incapable of making adult decisions and is extremely immature.

31. Moreover, despite respondent’s shortcomings and misdeeds to me and Austin, he even had the temerity to have very public extra-marital relationships with other women–some are even celebrities. These relationships were paraded in the press and in social media. Photos of him being sweet with his girlfriends would often be splashed on magazines and on television. Such brazen infidelity has caused me and Austin tremendous emotional and psychological pain.

Repost: Younger Son of Loren Legarda Writes Why He's Proud of His Mother

Image courtesy of www.philstar.com

Source: www.philstar.com

Why I am so proud of my mom

By: Leandro Legarda Leviste

I am writing this because my mom deserves all the recognition in the world for being an exemplary public servant and a role model for the youth.

My mom grew up in a middle-class family in Malabon and went on to become an award-winning journalist before she turned 30. She was elected senator with the highest number of votes at 38 and became the first female Majority Leader at 41. She has produced a body of legislation over the past 24 years larger than I can do justice to here. It can be overwhelming to think of how she achieved so much by such a young age, but it should serve as an example for what young people can do, in hopes that our country can have more people as committed as her to raising the bar for excellence in public service.

Excellence for my mom is measured not in terms of headline-grabbing privilege speeches, but in the quality of bills that become laws, that reporters admit cause them to move to cover more exciting topics. There was no political logic for my mom to author the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, the Philippine Tropical Fabrics Law of 2004, or even the Climate Change Act of 2008, which others questioned the need for at the time. But that’s who she is – she champions causes, recognized or not, due to her deeply-rooted sense of responsibility to do what is right.

I think one reason why my mom has been able to get so much done is that she knows how to work with others. A consensus builder among political parties, she has even been a hostage negotiator with the Abu Sayyaf. While politics can be contentious, I have seen from my mom the importance of having civil discussions, empathy and respect for people even with whom one disagrees to pass crucial legislation.

Even more incredible is that she has done all this while being a single mom, who has always put family before politics. When I was 16 years old, I felt a pain in my chest. My mom was preparing to launch her 2010 vice presidential campaign, yet she canceled all her schedules and insisted on bringing me to the hospital, where we learned that I had punctured my lung. She stayed overnight on a bench in the ICU throughout my confinement. Her combination of caring and attention to detail saved my life.

Despite my mom’s busy schedule, she still even micromanages caring for my 89-year-old grandfather and our 88-year-old Nanay Fely, who took care of us all from birth, and whom my mom treats like her own mother. It’s amazing how my mom can care for so many people so efficiently amid all her work. These are just among the countless examples of how she puts others before herself. I consider it as the greatest privilege to have had so much of my mom’s time growing up, and see it as the least I can do as a son to burden her as little as possible so she can devote as much time as she can to help others.

The older I get, and the more I see of the realities of life, the more I have come to appreciate all that my mom has done and continues to do for her family and her country. I have never been more proud of my mom than I am now. Advanced Happy Mother’s Day, mom!

* * *

Leandro is the youngest son of Loren Legarda. He is the founder of Solar Philippines.

Repost: President Obama Cancels Meeting with Philippine President Duterte After Insults

Image courtesy of www.inusanews.com

Source: www.time.com

Obama had said he wanted to see if "we can have some constructive, productive conversations"

President Barack Obama called off a planned meeting Tuesday with new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, seeking distance from a U.S. ally’s leader during a diplomatic tour that’s put Obama in close quarters with a cast of contentious world figures.

It’s unusual for one president to tell another what to say or not say, and much rarer to call the other a “son of a bitch.” Duterte managed to do both just before flying to Laos for a regional summit, warning Obama not to challenge him over extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.

“Clearly, he’s a colorful guy,” Obama said. “What I’ve instructed my team to do is talk to their Philippine counterparts to find out is this in fact a time where we can have some constructive, productive conversations.”

Early Tuesday, National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said the meeting with Duterte was off.

Duterte has been under intense global scrutiny over the more than 2,000 suspected drug dealers and users killed since he took office. Obama had said he planned to raise the issue in his first meeting with Duterte, but the Philippine leader insisted he was only listening to his own country’s people.

“You must be respectful,” Duterte said of Obama. “Do not just throw questions.” Using the Tagalog phrase for “son of a bitch,” he said, “Putang ina I will swear at you in that forum.” He made the comment to reporters in Manilla.

Eager to show he wouldn’t yield, Obama said he would “undoubtedly” still bring up human rights and due process concerns “if and when” the two do meet.

The bizarre rift with the leader of a U.S. treaty ally was the most glaring example of how Obama has frequently found himself bound to foreign countries and leaders whose ties to the U.S. are critical even if their values sharply diverge.

In Hangzhou this week, Obama’s first stop in Asia, he heaped praise on Chinese President Xi Jinping for hosting the Group of 20 economic summit in his country, an authoritarian state long accused of human rights violations. His next stop was another one-party communist country with a dismal rights record: Laos, where mysterious disappearances have fueled concerns about a government crackdown.

And sitting down with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Obama made no mention in public of the roughly 35,000 people Erdogan’s government detained following the summer’s failed coup in Turkey. Instead, he worked to reassure the NATO ally the U.S. would help bring to justice whoever was responsible for plotting the coup.

Obama also spent about 90 minutes Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, another leader whose fate seems intertwined with Obama’s in all the wrong ways. On opposing sides of many global issues, the U.S. and Russia are nonetheless trying to broker a deal to address the Syrian civil war and perhaps even partner militarily there.

“President Putin’s less colorful,” Obama said, comparing him with Duterte. “But typically the tone of our meetings is candid, blunt, businesslike.”

Managing Duterte has become a worsening headache for Obama since the Filipino took office on June 30, pledging his foreign policy wouldn’t be constricted by reliance on the U.S. Washington has tried largely to look the other way as Duterte has pursued closer relations with China, a marked shift for the Philippines considering recent tensions over Beijing’s aspirations in the South China Sea.

A public break from the Philippines would put Obama in a tough position, given the Southeast Asian nation’s status as a longtime U.S. ally. The Obama administration has sought to compartmentalize by arguing that military and other cooperation won’t be jeopardized even if it detests the current Philippine leader’s tone.

Last month, Duterte said he didn’t mind Secretary of State John Kerry but “had a feud with his gay ambassador — son of a bitch, I’m annoyed with that guy.” He applied the same moniker to an Australian missionary who was gang-raped and killed, and even to Pope Francis, even though the Philippines is a heavily Catholic nation. He later apologized.

With a reputation as a tough-on-crime former mayor, Duterte has alarmed human rights groups with his deadly campaign against drugs, which Duterte has described as a harsh war. He has said the battle doesn’t amount to genocide but has vowed to go to jail if needed to defend police and military members carrying out his orders.

___

Hennessey reported from Hangzhou, China. Associated Press writer Teresa Cerojano in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.

Repost: A Vote for Our Future

Image courtesy of www.philstar.com

Source: www.opinion.inquirer.net

MAYOR Rodrigo Duterte was our guest at a recent meeting of the Management Association of the Philippines and the Makati Business Club. He is now the frontrunner in the presidential race, and Election Day is only a few days away.

As we consider our final choices, my appeal is that we pause to fully appreciate the implications of our vote. Whatever others may say, the choice of our next president does matter, very much. The reason our economy has done well these past six years, and many more jobs have been created compared to the previous 12, is mainly the improvement in governance provided by President Aquino and his Cabinet, which brought about the confidence investors needed to bring in their investments and create many more jobs.

As the mayor is the frontrunner, he deserves close scrutiny.  And the best way to know him is to go by what he has said throughout the campaign.  Let us study some key statements that are particularly noteworthy.

The mayor said months ago that there would be a lot of fat fish in our waterways because he will dump there 100,000 suspected criminals whom he will order to be killed. He repeated before the business groups that his standing order to his law enforcers when suspected criminals resist arrest is to kill them—and he will arm the enforcers with presigned pardons so that human rights do-gooders cannot get in their way. He also repeated that if a son of his is found to be a drug offender, he will have him killed. For good measure, the mayor also warned the Office of the Ombudsman, the Commission on Human Rights, and Congress not to block him or interfere with his work. And he added that at the end of his term, he would issue himself a pardon for the crime of multiple murder.

The mayor has threatened on more than one occasion to abolish Congress if it does not cooperate with him, or threatens to impeach him. A few days ago he said he might just form a revolutionary government.

The mayor has also expressed strong admiration for Ferdinand Marcos, whom he believes to be the best president our country has had, a hero who deserves to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. To my knowledge, he has made no statements about the world-class plunder of the Marcoses, the massive human rights abuses, and how Marcos brought our once thriving economy to bankruptcy. He also said on one occasion that he may not be healthy enough to last six years as president, but he looks forward to a state funeral, and would turn over the presidency to Bongbong Marcos.

Of course, there was his famous remark expressing disappointment that he did not have first crack at the rape of an Australian missionary. And lately, he declared some bank accounts with significant deposits to be nonexistent, only to later admit that they do exist after all.

There are probably many more statements that would give us a clearer idea of what kind of person the mayor really is. Many who support him clearly believe that statements like these simply demonstrate the strong, decisive leadership that they find lacking in the current administration. Don’t worry, they say, that’s just tough talk. Don’t worry that the mayor will actually do what he promises.

But surely the mayor and his supporters cannot take offense if we take his statements seriously, for these are certainly no laughing matter. For the sense that his statements convey  a distinct lack of respect for the rule of law.  And the rule of law is the foundation upon which confidence is built. Of course, peace and order are important, but these must be attained within the confines of the law. Without the rule of law, there will be chaos and anarchy, and no confidence in our country. Without confidence, there will be no investments, and without investments, there will be no jobs. These are not threats, only sheer facts. And it will not be just the business owners and bosses who will suffer, but also thousands of workers and their families who will be deprived of jobs. Remember that peace and order ultimately do not come from the end of the barrel of a gun but from food on the table, access to good education, housing and health.

It is in this context that I fervently appeal that we all review our choices one last time before we vote.  Let us not vote out of despair or sheer disgust at an indecisive, slow-responding administration, or the infuriating traffic, or rampant crimes. Let us not go for a solution that may be far worse than the problems we are addressing. Think instead of what your vote will mean for your future and the future of millions of younger Filipinos, including your children or your younger siblings and coworkers. Consider the tremendous cost of the wrong choice.

Focus finally on the leaders we need to build on our gains, and to address the indecisiveness and ineptitude that have deterred our progress. Let us select no less than leaders who embody the decency, honesty, competence, toughness and patriotism that we want, and who have the capacity to bring us all together after the elections, so that we can be one united nation in pursuit of a better life for all Filipinos.

Please vote wisely!

Ramon R. del Rosario Jr. (rrdelrosario@gmail. com) chairs the Makati Business Club.

Repost: Titan Destroyed in 'Catastrophic Implosion,' All Five Passengers Dead

Image courtesy of www.reuters.com

Source: www.reuters.com

A deep-sea submersible carrying five people on a voyage to the century-old wreck of the Titanic was found in pieces from a "catastrophic implosion" that killed everyone aboard, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Thursday, ending a multinational five-day search for the vessel.

A robotic diving vehicle deployed from a Canadian ship discovered a debris field from the submersible Titan on Thursday morning on the seabed some 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the bow of the Titanic, 2 1/2 miles (4 km) beneath the surface, in a remote corner of the North Atlantic, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral John Mauger told reporters.

The Titan, operated by the U.S.-based company OceanGate Expeditions, had been missing since it lost contact with its surface support ship on Sunday morning about an hour, 45 minutes into what should have been a two-hour dive to the world's most famous shipwreck.

Five major fragments of the 22-foot (6.7-meter) Titan were located in the debris field left from its disintegration, including the vessel's tail cone and two sections of the pressure hull, Coast Guard officials said. No mention was made of whether human remains were sighted.

"The debris field here is consistent with a catastrophic implosion of the vehicle," Mauger said.

Even before the Coast Guard's press conference, OceanGate issued a statement saying there were no survivors among the five men aboard the Titan, including the company's founder and chief executive officer, Stockton Rush, who was piloting the Titan.

The four others were British billionaire and explorer Hamish Harding, 58; Pakistani-born businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his 19-year-old son, Suleman, both British citizens; and French oceanographer and renowned Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, who had visited the wreck dozens of times.

"These men were true explorers who shared a distinct spirit of adventure, and a deep passion for exploring and protecting the world's oceans," the company said. "Our hearts are with these five souls and every member of their families during this tragic time."

Search teams and support personnel from the U.S., Canada, France and Britain had spent days scanning thousands of square miles of open seas with planes and ships for any sign of the Titan.

Intense worldwide media coverage of the search largely overshadowed the aftermath of a far greater maritime disaster stemming from the wreck of a migrant vessel off the coast of Greece last week, killing hundreds of people.

SOUNDS FROM THE DEEP

Mauger said it was too early to tell when Titan met its fate. Search teams had sonar buoys in the water for more than three days in the area without detecting any loud, violent noise that would have been generated when the submersible imploded, Mauger said.

But the position of the debris field relatively close the shipwreck and the time frame of the last communication with the Titan seemed to suggest the failure occurred near the end of its descent on Sunday.

The U.S. Navy separately acknowledged that an analysis of its own acoustic data had detected "an anomaly consistent with an implosion or explosion" near the submersible's location when its communications were lost.

"While not definitive, this information was immediately shared" with commanders of the search mission, a senior Navy official said in a statement first quoted by the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal, citing unnamed U.S. defense officials, said the sound was picked up by a top-secret system designed to detect enemy submarines.

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, filmmaker James Cameron, who directed the Oscar-winning movie "Titanic" and has ventured to the wreck in submersibles himself, said he learned of the acoustic findings within a day, and knew what it meant.

"I sent emails to everybody I know and said we've lost some friends. The sub had imploded. It's on the bottom in pieces right now. I sent that out Monday morning," he recounted.

Sonar buoys dropped by aircraft had picked up some sounds on Tuesday and Wednesday that temporarily offered hope that the Titan was still intact and that its occupants were alive and trying to communicate by banging on the hull.

But officials said analysis of the sound was inconclusive and that the noises probably emanated from something else.

"There doesn't appear to be any connection between the noises and the location on the sea floor," Mauger said on Thursday.

REMOTE-CONTROLLED VEHICLES

Robotic craft on the seabed will continue to gather evidence, Mauger said, but it was not clear whether recovering the victims' remains will be possible given the nature of the accident and extreme conditions at those depths.

"We will begin to demobilize personnel and vessels from the scene over the course of the next 24 hours," the admiral said.

The search had grown increasingly desperate on Thursday, when the submersible's estimated 96-hour air supply had been expected to run out if the Titan were still intact, a countdown that proved irrelevant.

The RMS Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank during its maiden voyage in 1912, killing more than 1,500 people aboard, lies about 900 miles (1,450 km) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and 400 miles (640 km) south of St. John's, Newfoundland.

The undersea expedition to the wreck, which OceanGate has been operating since 2021, cost $250,000 per person, according to the company's website.

Questions about Titan's safety were raised in 2018 during a symposium of submersible industry experts and in a lawsuit by OceanGate's former head of marine operations, which was settled later that year.

The sweeping search covered more than 10,000 square miles of ocean. On Thursday, the deployment of two specialized deep-sea robot vehicles expanded the search farther into the ocean's depths, where immense pressure and pitch-black darkness complicated the mission.

The fate of the tourist submersible captured global attention in part due to the mythology surrounding the Titanic. The "unsinkable" British passenger liner has inspired both nonfiction and fiction accounts for a century, including the blockbuster 1997 "Titanic" movie, which rekindled popular interest in the story.

Repost: Student Arrested for Posing as Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan

Images courtesy of Facebook: Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan

Source: www.pnp.gov.ph

CYBERCOPS from the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP ACG) on Tuesday afternoon arrested a female college student for ‘identity theft’ in Quezon City where she posed as either celebrity Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan or her children to extort money from the friends and supporters of the Pangilinan family, PNP-ACG director, Senior Superintendent Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar announced today.

Eleazar said that Myca Acobo Aranda, a resident of Barangay Bagbag, Novaliches, Quezon City studying at the Kings College of the Philippines was placed under arrest after she withdrew cash sent to Smart Padala by friends of Laxa-Pangilinan.

The latest ‘identity theft’ incident prompted anew Eleazar to renew his call on the public to take all necessary precautions to avoid being victimized by ‘identity thieves’ who can easily siphon off hard-earned savings of their targets thru fraudulent bank and online transactions.

According to Eleazar, they discovered that four years ago, the suspect, a native of Western Buyagan, La Trinidad, Benguet created fake Facebook accounts using the names, pictures and personal circumstances of Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan and her four children.

Using the individual fake accounts of Laxa-Pangilinan and her children, the suspect communicated with friends and relatives of the celebrity endorser and asked them to donate money for her outreach program.

According to Maricel’s husband Anthony Pangilinan, a Facebook user with profile name Suzette was asked by the suspect to donate P5,000 to their daughters’ outreach program in Cordillera Region.

Ms. Suzette was convinced by the suspect to send the money to ‘Myca Aranda’ thru LBC money remittance.

Eleazar also said that some friends and relatives of the Pangilinan couple also informed the two that the same Facebook user solicited money from them using Facebook messenger. He said that they found out that the suspect was using two (2) Globe prepaid SIM card numbers to demand money from friends and relatives of Maricel supposedly for her different outreach programs.

One of their relatives received a text message on June 6, 2016 from the same number, he said. The text sender identified herself as a nanny of a son of the Pangilinan and began asking money for the boy. The relative had the presence of mind to inform Maricel of the message she received.

Eleazar said that when they received the complaint of Anthony Pangilinan, he immediately tasked teams to handle the case. The team were composed of investigation, legal, technical, and operation.

He said that the arrest was made with the collaboration of the victims, the Smart Padala agents, and other PNP units. A PNP-ACG team led by Supt. Jay Guillermo arrested the suspect during the entrapment operation.

Eleazar said that PNP-ACG investigators found out that the suspect is an Information Technology (IT) student who has the technical expertise to hide her identity and delete digital evidence on her gadgets. However, he said that the PNP-ACG has the capability to recover deleted files, photographs, and audio of computers and cellular phones.

“The electronic gadgets that we are using have digital fingerprints that were imbedded to all gadgets and these digital fingerprints will be seen on the gadgets that we are communicating online”, said Eleazar.

The suspect will be charged for violation of section 4b3 (Identity Theft) of Republic Act 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012), Section 4a (Child Abuse) of Republic Act 7610, and Article 315 (Swindling/Estafa) of the Revised Penal Code in relation to section 6 of RA 10175.

Eleazar also thanked the Pangilinan family for showing full trust and confidence to their office when they surfaced to file a complaint against the suspect.

In the advent of internet technology, he again asked parents to have more time in communication with their children particularly minors to prevent them from falling victims to internet predators.

“We are encouraging parents and children to report to the PNP-ACG all Internet or computer crimes. We also assure them that all information they will provide us will be treated with utmost confidentiality,” he said.

Eleazar also encouraged telephone companies to fully support Philippine law enforcement agencies tasked to eradicate criminals using prepaid SIM.

He said that at present, there is also a need for Congress to approve a pending bill on the mandatory registration of prepaid SIM cards to easily identify their users who are involved in different criminal activities particularly thru the internet.

Eleazar called on the citizenry to follow tips suggested by banks to avoid identity theft.

These tips include improved security precautions by using strong email passwords and changing them regularly and refraining from opening unknown emails and attachments which may contain malware.

Other bank safety tips include the following:

# Install an anti-virus program and firewall on computers and update the software as needed.

# Keep personal info off social media. Be careful with posting anything on social media which could provide info on location and accessibility.

# Keep your credit card and its details always safe.

# Be careful in giving info on web purchases.

# Do not surf the web while accessing online banking accounts. Ensure that only your online banking site is open.

# Do not engage in sensitive transactions online.

# Monitor online account activities.

# Separate passwords for online banking and non-banking accounts.

# Subscribe to text and email notifications and alerts from your financial services institutions.

# Cooperate with the banks on the update adjustments to improve online security and customer identification and verification processes.

News Release

AUTHORITY: PSSUPT GUILLERMO LORENZO T ELEAZAR
Director, PNP ACG
Camp Crame, Quezon City
DATE: Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Repost: Armida Siguion-Reyna Dies at 88

Image courtesy of www.news.abs-cbn.com

Source: www.news.abs-cbn.com

 Brave, straightforward and always speaking her mind out. That was how a lot of people remember Armida Siguion-Reyna, singer, actress, TV/film producer. Yet, she was nonetheless well-loved up to her final days.

Siguion-Reyna passed away at the Makati Medical Center on Monday afternoon at the age of 88 due to cancer, according to her sister, Irma Potenciano.

Siguion-Reyna was the daughter of Purita Liwanag, one of the early graduates of the University of the Philippines College of Music. Liwanag was a budding soprano when she met Spanish-mestizo lawyer-politician Alfonso Ponce-Enrile.

The man insisted that a woman’s turf was simply at home, so while he enjoyed his philandering ways, she merely stayed at home and eventually gave up her dream of becoming a singer.

In the family’s grand abode in Malabon, Liwanag quietly raised her children, Siguion-Reyna and her sister, Irma Potenciano, also a known soprano, away from the rumormongers of Manila.

The sisters could not attend prestigious Catholic schools, even if the family wanted to, because of the issue of legitimacy. Instead, they attended Far Eastern University (FEU) and Philippine Women’s University (PWU), by virtue of their father’s connections.

In 1946, however, after World War II, Don Alfonso officially tied the knot with Liwanag. The Japanese military invaders allowed divorce in the Philippines, so Don Alfonso divorced his original wife, Rosario Martinez.

Still, Liwanag tolerated her husband’s womanizing ways. Siguion-Reyna was 18, when she met her half-brother, Juan Ponce-Enrile, then 21. He was Don Alfonso’s son with Petra Puruganan of Cagayan.

LOVE FOR CINEMA, PERFORMING ARTS

Siguion-Reyna was only in her late teens when she became engrossed with the cinema and the performing arts. Her aunt, pre-war pioneer female film director Carmen Concha, ignited her love for acting and the movies, as well.

When she was eight, Siguion-Reyna appeared in a film, “Yaman ng Mahirap,” directed by Concha. The film also featured then child star Tita Duran.

During the Japanese occupation, Siguion-Reyna regularly visited Star Theater in Manila, to simply look at the photos of stars Rosario Moreno and Rudy Concepcion. Siguion-Reyna also familiarized herself with the songs of her idol, Fely Vallejo. That eventually led to her passion for Filipino music.

After the war, she even took screen tests with Palaris Films and got an offer to be in the movie of Fernando Poe, Sr. Siguion-Reyna’s father, in an effort to thwart her interests, sent her to the United States where she had her high school and college education.

She finished high school at the Academy of St. Joseph in Long Island, New York. Secretly, she auditioned for “The King and I,” but her father got wind of it and prevented her from pursuing musical theater.

Siguion-Reyna failed to finish college in the US because while she was at the Georgian Court University in New Jersey, she became broken-hearted after she dated a rich playboy.

In 1950, she returned to Manila and was met by her parents, accompanied by young lawyers Leonardo Siguion-Reyna and Oscar Ongsiaco. Leonardo was immediately smitten with the sophistication of the lady he met. After a brief romance, Siguion-Reyna married Leonardo a year later in 1951.

She had artistic freedom throughout her marriage, which was one of the conditions she specified at the start of their union. True enough, because she was able to venture into singing, acting, hosting and film production, among others.

AAWITAN KITA

In the world of opera, Siguion-Reyna tackled lead roles in “Lucia de Lammermoor,” “Rigoletto,” “The Merry Widow,” “La Traviata,” “I Pagliacci” and the zarzuela, “The Mestiza.”

In 1970, Siguion-Reyna produced “Aawitan Kita,” one of the longest-running musical shows on Philippine TV that lasted for more than three decades. The program was supported by big-time clients of her husband’s law firm, so sponsors never became a major issue.

“Aawitan Kita” showcased Siguion-Reyna’s love for music, her passion for Filipino songs, traditional kundimans, contemporary pop ballads and memorable love songs – all of which were rendered in the show by music luminaries and even budding, young talents in classical and pop.

Among the “Aawitan Kita” performers were opera stalwarts Robert Natividad, Gamaliel Viray, Aurelio Estanislao and Fides Cuyugan-Asencio. Rachel Alejandro and Robert Sena also joined the show as regular featured performers.

Alejandro was only 15, when she was invited by Siguion-Reyna to join “Aawitan Kita,” where she became a regular for six years. At that time, Alejandro’s dad, Hajji, was also a regular guest performer in the show.

“So I supposed, when Tita Midz got wind of the news that Hajji’s daughter had become a budding recording artist, her interest was piqued,” Alejandro shares. “That was also the same time I released my first album.”

The other performers with Alejandro in the show at that time were Richard Reynoso, Bo Cerrudo, Michael Laygo, Lirio Vital and the late Robert Natividad.

“We would spend a whole week of taping together at various beautiful locations like Villa Escudero,” Alejandro recalls. “We also taped around Ilocos, where Tita Midz's is from. We became like family.”

FORCE OF NATURE

Siguion-Reyna was a force of nature then, according to Alejandro. “She was always fun and full of great stories, but also quite strict. All of us had to know our songs very, very well when we came to the recording sessions. Otherwise, she would send you home.

“That never became a problem for me because I am a quick study and also very meticulous about learning the right notes. I was such a newbie singer then who hadn't yet found my own style of singing. My study material was Tita Midz's voice. I learned her phrasing and placement so exactly that I sounded like her.”

The tapings of “Aawitan Kita” were enjoyable but also a lot of work, under the meticulous direction of Siguion-Reyna’s director-son, Carlitos. “We would be up by 5 a.m. to start makeup then by 7 a.m., we were grinding,” Alejandro remembers.

“Carlitos was a perfectionist. We had to do the same song over and over again, sometimes for hours, until he got exactly the shots he wanted. This meant being under the sun or wading in a cool stream or sitting on a branch of a tree, with ants crawling on you. If the song is sad, they would ask you to really get into the emotion and cry.”

Siguion-Reyna never tolerated tardiness, attests Alejandro. “So even the way I am always punctual today could be attributed to the training I got from being on ‘Aawitan Kita’ during my formative years. I am very grateful to Tita Midz for mentoring me. I learned to enunciate every word and pronounce deep Tagalog words with utmost clarity and accuracy. I learned how to strive for excellence always, thanks to her.”

One of Alejandro’s best experiences working with Siguion-Reyna was when she asked Alejandro to play the young wife of the character of Albert Martinez in the tele-sine version of “Inagaw Mo Ang Lahat sa Akin,” which later became a film starring roughly the same cast.

“My role, although not one of the leads, was a pivotal character,” Alejandro points out. “I thought I did quite well, but for the movie, Tita Midz decided to cast Sharmaine Arnaiz, instead. That broke my heart, actually because I was so close to her at that time. That was the reason I left ‘Aawitan Kita.’ I never told Tita Midz that.”

REYNA FILMS

Eventually, “Aawitan Kita” paved the way for Siguion-Reyna’s other passion, acting. For “Tahan na Empoy,” she made life miserable for the young Nino Muhlach and that performance won for her the FAMAS best supporting actress trophy.

Through the years, Siguion-Reyna acted in a number of films – “Kakabakaba Ka Ba?,” “Sa Pagitan ng Dalawang Langit,” “Salome,” ”Bilanggong Birhen,” “Paradise Inn,” “Ang Totoong Buhay ni Pacita M,” “Inagaw Mo ang Lahat sa Akin,” “Pag-ibig na Walang Dangal.”

She worked with such actresses as Vilma Santos, Nora Aunor, Alma Moreno, Maricel Soriano, Sharon Cuneta, Dawn Zulueta and Rosanna Roces.

Siguion-Reyna successfully ventured into film production, too. Under Reyna Films, she produced critically acclaimed and well-remembered movies like “Hihintayin Kita sa Langit,” “Ikaw Pa Lamang,” “Inagaw Mo ang Lahat sa Akin,” “Abot-Kamay ang Pangarap,” “Kahapon, May Dalawang Bata,” “Ligaya ang Itawag Mo sa Akin,” “Azucena” and “Ang Lalaki sa Buhay ni Selya.”

Reyna Films churned out excellent, well-received and award-winning films, mostly directed by Siguion-Reyna’s youngest son, Carlitos, with scripts by her daughter-in-law, screenwriter Bibeth Orteza and music by Ryan Cayabyab.

The films that Siguion-Reyna produced reaped countless awards in international film festivals. She even graced some of the ceremonies abroad, went up the stage and proudly accepted the award.

Under the administration of former President Joseph Estrada, Siguion-Reyna served as chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). She was a staunch supporter of anti-censorship.

WIDOW

When her husband, Leonardo, died in 2010, Siguion-Reyna “deteriorated,” her granddaughter, Cris Villonco, earlier revealed. Though not health-wise, the lady often failed to remember names of people close to her.

She was always overjoyed when people who worked with her on and off the camera, visited her at home. She loved the company of people around her, according to Villonco, the child of Siguion-Reyna’s only daughter, Monique with lawyer Opap Villonco.

In February 2015, Siguion-Reyna launched her biography, simply titled “Armida,” which celebrated her legacy as one of the pillars of show business and respected names in the entertainment industry. The book was launched by ABS-CBN Publishing, Inc.

Lea Salonga was one of Siguion-Reyna’s favorites because she’s “brillo.” When Salonga debuted as Kim in “Miss Saigon” in London’s West End, Siguion-Reyna and her husband were there.

She loved a singer who tells a story, among them Gary Granada and Bayang Barrios. Siguion-Reyna also remembered Celeste Legaspi, for her “perfect recording.” Moreover, Siguion-Reyna had high regard for musician Levi Celerio.

In acting, Siguion-Reyna loved Susan Roces and Vilma Santos, Maricel Soriano and Dawn Zulueta.

Quijano de Manila, more widely known as Nick Joaquin, once said, “Armida may have law in her blood, but she has art in her heart.”