Myleene Klass : determined to prove that Filipina women are Worldclass!

Myleene Angela Klass (born 6 April 1978) is an English actress, singer, model, pianist, radio and television presenter, formerly a member of the short lived UK pop band Hear’Say. Musician, writer and, latterly, M&S model, Klass has been playing the piano and violin since she was four and was recently nominated for a Classical Brit award for an album of her own compositions. She presents the morning show at weekends on Classic FM and her new BBC show will bring choral music to prime-time TV

Before finding fame via Popstars, Klass provided backing vocals on tour with the likes of k.d. lang, Michael Crawford and Robbie Williams. She has also toured with Cliff Richard.

In 1998, Klass spent a short period as part of a reality show for Bravo, called The Doll’s House.

On 13 November 1999, Klass was also a featured back up singer for Cliff Richard’s ITV1 An Audience With TV special, appearing on stage with him for a rendition of the recent number-one single The Millennium Prayer. Read the rest of this entry »

100 University of the Philippines students participated in the yearly Oblation Run

Members of a fraternity at the University of the Philippines held their annual ritual of running naked on campus six months early on Wednesday — by official request — to celebrate the state-run school’s centennial anniversary. Hundreds of cheering students lined the main campus avenue, jostling for positions with their digital and cell phone cameras.

The “Oblation Run” — named for the university’s iconic symbol of a naked man with outstretched arms that symbolizes his selfless offering of himself to the nation — started in 1977 as a gimmick by the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity to promote the screening of a movie about oppressed plantation workers called “Naked Hero.” The film had been banned by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Since then, the fraternity has used the stunt to make political statements, from raising AIDS awareness to demanding the resignation of the Philippine president, said Armand Padilla, a fraternity alumnus and organizer of the centennial run.

He said the university’s centennial committee requested the fraternity stage the annual nude demonstration as one of the activities to mark the school’s 100th foundation year. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

CNN’s Beijing bureau chief Jaime FlorCruz to run Olympic torch relay

CNN’s Beijing bureau chief Jaime FlorCruz, his 17-year-old daughter and a corporate marketing executive will represent overseas Filipinos to carry the Olympic flames in the forth-coming torch relay of the Beijing Games, the Philippine government said Wednesday.

In a report released by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Cataumber Brady said it is a “great honor” for the Philippines to be represented in the Olympic torch relay through the trio.

FlorCruz and his daughter Michelle were selected by the Beijing Municipal government for their contribution to China, Brady said.

FlorCruz is scheduled to carry the Olympic torch on August 6 in Beijing, two days before the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games. His daughter Michelle, a student at the International School in Beijing, will carry the Olympic torch on August 3 in Tangshan City.

Marco Antonio Torres, 38, a Beijing-based Filipino marketer for M Moser Associates, will carry the Olympic torch on July 5 in Lanzhou, Gansu province, the foreign affairs department said. Read the rest of this entry »

First Filipino-made, double-hulled oil tanker sets sail

The first Philippines-made, double-hulled oil tanker, designed to prevent oil spills, has set sail, local reports said on Tuesday.

“The ship is currently transporting bunker fuel in different parts of the country, from the Pacific Ocean to the Petron refinery in Bataan. It started last April 8. So far, the performance of M/T Matikas is far more than we expected,” Philippine TV network ABS-CBN reported, citing George Cottrell, president of the Herma Shipyard Inc., the biggest Filipino-owned shipyard in the Philippines.

Herminio Esguerra, chairman of the Herma Group of Companies, told reporters double-hulled ships such as M/T Matikas would help lower the incidence of oil spills.

With a double-hull, petroleum products are protected on all sides, he added.

“Any leaks caused by punctures will be absorbed by another hull.There is a hollow which will hold the products in case of an accident”, Esguerra said.

The Philippine government imposed double-layered ships as carriers of petroleum products after M/T Solar, a single-hulled oil tanker carrying more than two million liters of bunker fuel, sank at Guimaras Strait in the central Philippines on August 11, 2006. Read the rest of this entry »

Miguel Molina Philippines Olympic flag-bearer

By ABAC CORDERO
The Philippine Star

Miguel Molina, the Best Male Athlete of the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, has been designated as the flag-bearer of the Philippine contingent to this year’s Beijing Olympics.

This was announced Thursday by Philippine Olympic Committee vice president and RP team chef-de-mission Monico Puentevella, who said Molina was the hands-down choice for the position.

“Miguel deserves the job, he being the most outstanding male athlete in the last SEA Games,” said Puentevella, adding that he was tasked by the POC board to name the flag-bearer.

“I was tasked by the executive board to decide on the matter and so I decided it should be Miguel. I already got the board approval about it,” added Puentevella, head of the weightlifting association. Read the rest of this entry »

Caloy Mapua bests Indian students in national competition

By JULIE JAVELLANA-SANTOS
abs-cbnNEWS.com

Caloy Mapua started drawing before he could write. His mother, Beth, remembers that from the age of three, he would always be holding a pencil and a sketchbook. His favorite past-time has always been drawing. His girlfriend is even a ‘manga’ character in his sketchbook.

So it was no surprise 16 year old Caloy bested many of his Indian counterparts in the All-India National Graphic Contests held recently in New Delhi.

What was surprising, his parents Lorenzo and Beth told abs-cbnNEWS.com, was that Caloy was even in the contest, which was supposed to be for students in India. His teachers at the American International School in Chennai just thought his nationality did not matter and sent in an entry, which won first runner-up.

The competition was held by Computer Literacy Foundation (http://www.silverzone.org), an India-based non-government organization founded by experts in information technology, science, education and media with the objective of promoting IT talents in India and abroad and to raise the expertise of Indian students at par with the international level. Read the rest of this entry »

ExxonMobil plans Philippines oil exploration project

United States oil giant ExxonMobil plans to conduct exploratory operations in the Sulu Sea in the Philippines, company and government officials said Friday.

The company is evaluating seismic data taken from the project area, ExxonMobil Exploration Co. vice president Stephen Greenlee told reporters after calling on President Gloria Arroyo and Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes here.

If the data is encouraging, the company would drill exploration wells from mid-2009, he added.

The Philippines now imports practically all of its oil requirements after some modest offshore deposits that were tapped during the 1970s energy crisis were exhausted.

“A drilling programme could cost over 100 million dollars for us to explore the potential,” Greenlee said. Read the rest of this entry »

Fred DeAsis : First Asian artist honored by Saks Fifth Avenue

Saks Fifth Avenue, a leading high-end department store in America, honored internationally renowned Fil-Am artist Fred DeAsis by offering an Artist Reception and Cocktail party Saturday, June 7, in Highland Park, Illinois. The party was in celebration of the annual Highland Park Art Walk being held during the month of June.

Fred DeAsis’ artwork titled “Koi” is currently on display at Saks Fifth front show window on Elm Place and Green Bay Road, Highland Park. The 36″ x 48″ brightly colored and texturized artwork was done using acrylic and impasto/encaustic technique on hard board.

“We are very pleased to have Mr. DeAsis’ artwork displayed in our front display window. Customers and window shoppers enjoy the colorful and unique technique rendered on the art. It is simple in form but very elegant which fits our store,” said sales manager Peggy McCarthy. ” We wish we have more of his artwork on display.” Read the rest of this entry »

Manny Pacquiao picked as best pound-for-pound fighter

A boxing website has picked Filipino sports icon Manny Pacquiao as its top pound-for-pound fighter following the retirement of Floyd Mayweather.

“With Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s announced retirement, FightFan.com has elevated former no. 2 ranked Manny Pacquiao to the number one pound-for-pound fighter in all of boxing,” said the website’s staff.

The powerful hitter has consistently been hailed by several boxing websites as the second-best boxer in the world.

FightFan.com, however, said that since Pacquiao has consistently been fighting top class boxers since 2003, he deserved to be Mayweather’s successor.

“Pacquiao’s lengthy path through the best fighters in three different divisions coupled with his emphatic stoppage victories over legendary fighters like Marco Antonio Barrera and Eric Morales have solidified the Filipino terror’s place atop of FightFan.com’s pound-for-pound list,” the website’s staff said. Read the rest of this entry »