Events: Pope John Paul II beatification to be serenaded by Filipino Choir

Beatification, this is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name (intercession of saints). Beatification is the third of the four steps in the canonization process. A person who is beatified is given the title "Blessed".

This Sunday, May 1, 2011 Pope John Paul II will be the beatified and the Philippines will surely be following this event not only because Pope John Paul II is close to every Filipinos hearts but also a choir composed majority of Filipino migrant workers will be one of the groups that will sing in this momentous event. The group sings regularly at the Basilica of Santa Pudenziana in Rome, home of the Sentro Filipino Chaplaincy.

Performing in the Beatification of Pope John Paul II is being considered as a blessing by the Maharlika Group with many of the members had seen the Pope last 2002 when he himself arranged a special audience with the Vatican-based Filipinos.

In my 32 years of existence, I have been blessed to witness how a Pope is selected and now a beatification of a soon to be Saint. This is a once in a lifetime experience which I will not forget, plus the fact that a Filipino choir will be singing.

Local Events: Havaianas Always Summer: Race to Hawaii down to twenty teams

Last April 9, 2011 50 pairs of team from Metro Manila, Northern Luzon, Central Luzon, Southern Luzon, Central and Eastern Visayas, Western Visayas, Northern and Western Mindanao, and Southern and Western Mindanao participated in the first leg of the Havaianas Always Summer: Race to Hawaii promo held at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. Teams from outside Metro Manila were flown in, all-expenses-paid, to take part in this one of a kind race.

“Havaianas has always believed that summer is more than just being the hottest, happiest season of the year; it is a state of mind which we can live out everyday through a positive outlook in life and a sense of enthusiasm,” says Anne Gonzalez, Managing Director of Havaianas Philippines.

The same question, “What is summer for you and how do you live it out throughout the year?” was asked to the Havaianaticos who participated in the Race to Hawaii competition.

“Summer is about having fun!” declares Clementine San Juan, 44, a participant from Southern Luzon. “So to live out summer, I always see to it that I enjoy my life to the fullest.” Meanwhile, for Diana Paynor, 24, also from Southern Luzon, summer is about having quality time with loved ones. “I always make sure that I spend time with my family and my friends because they are the ones who keep me happy and contented in life.”

During race day, the teams were all giddied up that they arrived and assembled earlier than the actual start time of 6am.

The team is asked to complete 6 set of tasks during the race;
Giant Slippers challenge

Fruity Truthy

Freesbie golf

Fashion iSpy

Big bubble challenge

and Water Toss

The participants enjoyed the one of a kind summer race and with the ultimate goal of finishing all the challenges and events in the shortest time as possible

At the end of the 1st leg, presence of mind and teamwork propelled the pair from the City of Pines - Team Rosa to the top of the elimination with a time of 28 minutes and 59 seconds

The top 20 teams that finished the 1st leg of the race received gadgets from Sony and hot summer essentials from David and Goliath, Hawaiian Tropic and Havaianas while a stylish prize from American Tourister awaits the grand prize winners. The finalists of the Havaianas “Always Summer: Race to Hawaii” will fly to Boracay, courtesy of Seair and the Tides Hotel in Boracay, wherein they will battle it out to win a 6 day-5 night, all-expense-paid summer vacation for 2 to Hawaii. Whew! Talking about spending your summer holiday.

For more updates about the Havaianas: “Always Summer: Race to Hawaii” contest you can visit http://www.havaianassummer.com or their facebook account at http://www.facebook.com/havaianasphilippines

Sports: Azkals to play at Rizal Memorial Sports Coliseum

Finally! A home game within reach of spectators from the metro. Azkals will be playing their home game against Sri Lanka for the first leg of the Asian qualifying round for the 2014 World Cup on July 3, 2011.

After the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) made an inspection of the century old stadium, the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) announced that the Azkals will be playing at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.

In line with that San Miguel Corp. has promised that they will help fund the renovation of the coliseums grandstand seats and score board. Also part of the assistance and grant is the repainting, construction of additional locker rooms and media center which is estimated to cost more than a million pesos.

This is a very welcoming news to all football fans in general and not just Azkals since this would only mean that there would be more football games that will be held in the historic coliseum. Also it will be within an arms reach of football afficionados from Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Local News: 19 Year old Teen Wonder, breaks UP academic record

John Gabriel Pelias, 19 years old is already holding a degree in Mathematics, nothing unusual there but wait til you read this...He graduated SUMMA CUM LAUDE at the University of the Philippines. Plus, he got a general weighted average (GWA) of 1.016 which is the highest ever GWA garnered in UP history after World War II or make that around 63 years.
Such a remarkable feat from this 19 year old teenager. He is the epitome of what the University of the Philippines is all about.

Pelias, never considered poverty as a hindrance to reaching his goal and fulfilling his dream to study in one of the premier university in the country and with hardwork, his good study habits and some help from scholarships, he not only fulfilled his dream but eventually set up an academic record which to me would take another half a century to be broken or possibly even more.

In one of his interviews, Pelias mentioned that his immediate plans after graduation would be to teach and serve the University that gave him the opportunity to learn and achieve his dreams. Teaching is his passion according to Pelias and it is where he finds fulfillment, also he added that it is his own way of giving back.

A very humble and noble intention considering that with what He achieved, He can opt to go out of the country and work there, but this teen wonder, doesn't have to go far to do that, he already found a place where he can contribute his knowledge, that is his alma mater, his home.

Local News: Uniliver Suspends TV ads on 'all game shows'

Recent development spurring from the 'child abuse' controversy that TV5's Willing Willie received, UNILEVER Philippines, Inc. a multinational corporation and one of the country's leading producer and maker of household products such as soaps, detergents, shampoo etc. is suspending all of their advertisements placed on "all reality-based live game shows across all (television) networks." Unilever mentioned in a press release that "the suspension will be in place until they have observed a stricter and objective self-regulatory guidelines across networks and proper enforcement by the relevant government agencies of existing content regulations"

This is a nice move from one of the companies that can be considered a lifeblood of major TV networks in terms of advertising. Also with the move to suspend their ads, Unilever would also like to see the Movie Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) strenghten their regulations about contents across all live programs, and making sure that TV networks are clear about the potential sanctions for erring programs. I am sure there will be changes in the policies and guidelines of TV networks now that the Willing Willie issue has blown out of proportion. And besides who wouldn't want Unilever pour in millions of pesos in advertising in their stations? Now its just a matter of who implements the changes first (though TV5 have already mentioned that they have already created a regulatory body to oversee this type of issues see my related article about this. http://ch1nelas.blogspot.com/2011/04/entertainment-tv5-feeling-heat-of.html )

Who would have thought that a controversy involving one TV network would redefine the landscape of live programs on network TV? Talking about Unilever flexing their muscles. Good job ei! :)

Entertainment: TV5 feeling the heat of Willie Revillame's latest controversy

Is Willie Revillame the proper noun of CONTROVERSIAL? Damn! Everywhere he goes he is always at the center of it and now TV5 is feeling the heat already with yet another controversy of one of their most prized acquisition.

Willie Revillame is undergoing another barrage of criticism from all sector of the society for the alleged child abuse incident that he did with one of the contestants from his prime time show, Willing Willie.

In case you haven't heard, the Movie Television Review and classification Board (MTRCB) has issued a statement against ABC TV5 regarding the incident that happened last March 12, 2011 wherein a six year old boy Jan-Jan Estrada dancing in tears on Willing Willie to a cheering studio audience.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Commission on Human Rights and other groups such as the United Nations Childrens Education Fund (UNICEF) have already called for reforms in television programming involving children.

In response to the ongoing controversy, TV5 mentioned that they will follow stricter guidelines on the appearance and performance of minors on all of their programs and even created a new Standards Advisory Board composed of creative directors, psychologists and a childrens communication expert. The move is a welcome sight to make sure that no minors are exploited by any shows just for the sake of rating and entertainment.

Though I think the move failed to impress MTRCB since what they wanted ABC TV5 to do is impose punitive sanctions on the program that ranges from a reprimand up to cancellation of the program (which i don't think TV5 would ever do).

I'm sure ABS-CBN must be smiling on the side with all of this controversies that is hounding their former cash cow.

Local News: Too much drama with the Drug Mule issue

There is too much drama going on with what the Aquino administration has done with the execution of the so called drug mules in china. I have nothing against the family of those who were caught and executed but isn't it that the government is doing too much and focusing on the wrong area? Weird. I seem to not get the attention that they have been giving where in fact there are at least a hundred or even thousand more "documented" and legitimate OFWs working abroad who are being maltreated and that needs more help and are detained due to other reasons not connected to drug trafficking. Heck, the government have even offered scholarships to the family members. I am fearing that our government is sending the wrong signal to the people.
I was just wondering why not our government delve into the real root cause of the problem and nip it from there? One reason I can see is the security measures that our international airport enforces, if a tighter and more efficient security measures are in place then they would not be going gaga over saving someone from a crime which could have been prevented in the first place. There is more than meets the eye here.

Events: Havaianas Always Summer: Race to Hawaii Promo

I am sure that you are all familiar with The Amazing Race series wherein participants gets to perform tasks to complete as they travel to certain destinations around the world. Well this summer, Havaianas will be doing the same stuff and is flying a pair of participants to Hawaii as a grand prize to the winner of the race.

In line with that Compangie de Catalina Corp. the sub-distributor of Havaianas in South Luzon is hosting a press launching on April 7, 2011 6:00 pm at Hotel Ponte Fino, Batangas to officially announce the 5 teams from Southern Luzon who will be competing in the Elimination round scheduled on April 9, 2011 at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. Wherein they would have a chance to advance to the final round to be held in Boracay from April 15-17, 2011 and win a free trip to Hawaii.

If you are a fellow blogger within the South Luzon area and if you are free on April 7th and interested to attend the said event you may contact Joni at jonicatalina@gmail.com for more details.

You can also visit http://havaianassummer.com/how_it_works for more information about the promo