Tanauan riders dominate 2nd Malaysian Skimboarding Competition

The Tanauan, Leyte riders once again dominated the Penang, Malaysia International Skimboarding Competition held on August 16, emerging as champion in the groumet division while the other one is first runner up in the open division.

Carl Gabas, a lanky high school student, bested riders from Malaysia, Singapore, Hongkong and other parts of the skimboarding world to become the champion in the groumet division of the 2nd Penang Malaysia International Skimboarding Competition.

On the other hand, Leo Espada, last year’s champion, is this year’s first runner up in this year’s open category. The two are the only riders representing the Philippines in the competition. Read the rest of this entry »

Philippine All Stars wins 2008 World Hip Hop championship

The multi-awarded Philippine All Stars gave Filipinos another reason to be proud of when the group bagged the title in the 2008 World Hip-Hop Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, August 3.

More than 1,000 dancers from 33 countries gathered in Las Vegas in quest for the gold. The All Stars, however, ruled the dance floor with their two-minute performance packed with flips and steps in harmony. The dancers went off stage with high hopes of winning after finishing a near perfect dance.

When they received the award, group members said they were glad for the success as they united Filipinos in that moment of glory.

“This is just a moment where everyone could just unite. In our own part, to be an inspiration not just for the people here in the championship, but to all the Filipinos out there,” said group member Sheena Vera Cruz.

She added that the group wants to give other Filipinos hope that they could also become winners given the same opportunity. Read the rest of this entry »

Nayong Pilipino in Clark to showcase Philippines pre-colonial, colonial past

The Nayong Pilipino at the former Clark Expo Zone, which had its soft-opening in May this year, will focus on the pre-colonial and colonial aspects of Philippine history, according to its executive director Charito Planas.

This refers to the period before Spanish and American colonization in the 15th century, when indigenous Philippine homes and other cultural artifacts were barely influenced by foreign elements.

Thus, she said, there will be a fully-equipped mosque, which is to be supported by the Saudi Arabian embassy, with a Zamboanga-style vinta cruising an artificially-made rivulet to boot, to represent the country’s Islamic or Arabic heritage.

To represent China’s over-reaching influence, a replica of a Chinese junk, complete with porcelains and vases, will also be seen at the Nayon-Clark.

Planas also said that real Aetas will form part of Nayon, who will demonstrate survival techniques that are a metaphor of the Filipinos’ survival instincts.

Pre-colonial Philippines will be seen in the structure of Ifugao homes, built with materials and designed in such a way that rats and other pests cannot go up the house, and in artifacts such as the rice terraces. Read the rest of this entry »

Pacquiao makes history after Knock Out win over David Diaz

Filipino boxing great Manny Pacquiao made history by becoming the first Asian to win four weight divisions when he knocked out World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion David Diaz in the 9th round in their scheduled 12-round fight in Mandalay Bay, last Vegas on Sunday.

Pacquiao came out smoking right after the bell rang in the first round, pounding Diaz with flurries of solid punches.

The Filipino champ did not give his Mexico foe any quarter to counter punch as Pacquiao beat Diaz to a pulp from the first canto until he knocked him out in the 9th round.

According to fightnews.com report, Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35KOs) was much quicker as he out-punched and out-boxed the bigger Diaz (34-2-1, 17KOs).

As early as the 5th round, Pacman busted Diaz’s face with sharp left-rights combinations.

But the never-say-die Diaz kept coming until Pacquiao floored him in the ninth to end the fight at 2:24 in the round of their scheduled 12-round encounter. Read the rest of this entry »

Call Center News : iQor Expands in Philippines

Clark Expansion Announced at Meeting with President Arroyo; New Center of Excellence Will Create 700 New Jobs

At a meeting in New York City with Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, iQor President and CEO Vikas Kapoor announced the opening of iQor’s third call center in the Philippines that will create 700 new jobs. iQor plans to hire 300 new employees at its new Center of Excellence at the Clark Special Economic Zone before the end of the year and will add the remaining new hires by the end of the first quarter in 2009. This growth will bring total jobs created by iQor in the Philippines to 2,500 since opening its first call center in Manila in 2005.

iQor is one of the premier call center services companies in the world and the Philippines plays a major role in its strategic expansion. This is iQor’s second call center within the Clark Special Economic Zone. The first Clark Center opened in August of 2006 with 50 employees. After only two years, iQor reached full capacity at the facility and has now opened a new state-of-the-art 32,000 square foot Center to meet growing client demands. Read the rest of this entry »

Australia donates money to help Philippine typhoon victims

Australia announced Thursday it has donated an initial 500,000 Australian dollars (478,000 U.S. dollars) to the Philippines National Red Cross to help the typhoon victims.

Typhoon Fengshen struck the Philippines last week, leaving more than 280 people dead.

An AusAid officer has been dispatched to the disaster area to determine how much further assistance will be required, reported Australian Associated Press.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has sent a letter of condolence to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Jollibee acquires Taiwanese restaurant chain

Philippine fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. announced Friday it had acquired 70 percent of Taiwanese restaurant chain Lao Dong for 61.1 million pesos (1.37 million dollars).

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, the publicly-listed Jollibee said that as part of the sale, it would invest an additional 30.6 million pesos while Lao Dong’s owners would put 13.1 million pesos into the new joint venture.

The new venture will work to expand Lao Dong’s restaurant chain in Taiwan and China.

The owners of Lao Dong will help Jollibee develop food products and other services for its business units in China, the Philippines and other countries.

Jollibee is the biggest restaurant chain in the Philippines, operating almost 1,500 outlets for its signature Jollibee hamburgers along with pizzas, baked goods, French pastries and other dishes.

It has 194 outlets abroad including China, the United States, Dubai and Indonesia.

Lao Dong, a full-service restaurant specialising in noodles, has eight outlets in Taipei, the disclosure said.

Last year, Jollibee Foods Corp. acquired the Chinese restaurant chain Hongzhuangyuan for about 50.5 million dollars.

Samsung to build billion-dollar chip plant in Philippines

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics is to invest one billion dollars in a “state-of-the-art” microchip manufacturing facility in the Philippines, it was reported Friday.

The Manila Bulletin newspaper said the facility will be built on a 30-hectare (74-acre) site in the Clark Special Economic Zone near the former US airforce base north of Manila.

Quoting unnamed sources, the paper said “it will be a state-of-the-art” facility with construction starting “within the year.”

At present, Samsung has two operations in the country, Samsung Electronics Philippines Manufacturing Corp. and Samsung Electronics Philippines Corp.

The entry of Samsung in Clark will boost the zone as a hub for electronics chipmaking, an unnamed official said.

“This means the country can move upstream to design and manufacturing, as opposed to the low value-added testing and packaging operations,” the official said. Read the rest of this entry »

Cebu Pacific Air permanently cuts domestic airfares

Cebu Pacific (CEB) announced it is reducing its domestic fares permanently by as much as 32% to encourage more people to fly amid rising fuel prices.

Candice Iyog, CEB Vice President for Marketing and Product, said the new lower all-inclusive fares will take effect on 12-Jun-08. This includes the fuel and insurance surcharge, aviation security fee and 12% VAT.

The ‘all-in’ pricing format is introduced with a seat sale across CEB’s domestic network. The promotional offer will run from 12-Jun-08 to 17-Jun-08 and is valid for travel on 01-Jul-08 to 15-Oct-08. There are more than half a million seats allocated for this promotion.

‘All-in’ fares for short sectors such as Manila-Legaspi are at P699 one-way while a one-way Manila-Cebu flight would cost P999 and a Manila-Davao sector would cost only P1,499 during the seat sale. At seat sale levels, these reduction represent savings of up to 56% over today’s rate. Read the rest of this entry »

US Ambassador Kristie Kenney wows Calbayog City, turns over $20-M projects to Samar

In an unprecedented gesture of goodwill and friendship to Calbayog City, the United States of America Ambassador to the Philippines visited Calbayog City yesterday.

Kristie Kenney served as Guest of Honor during the closing ceremonies of Pacific Partnership 2008, a humanitarian mission rendered by the US Navy.

In her speech, Kenney said that it was her first time to visit Samar and Calbayog City and she is pleased with the extra-ordinary warmth afforded to her by Samarnons led by Calbayog City Mayor Mel Senen Sarmiento.

She added that the friendship shared by her country and the Philippines began in 1987 when the US Naval Ship came to Samar to provide assistance and to interact with the people of Samar.

She added that the Samar acceptance of her people doing missionary work could win any award on friendship.

The US Navy ship docked some kilometers away from Calbayog Port has loaded the Seabees (aka US Navy servicemen) who extended engineering, dental and medical services to some 26 thousand Filipinos in Cotabato and Samar. Read the rest of this entry »