The Manila Grand Oriental Casino

The original Manila Grand Opera House at the corner of Doroteo Jose and Rizal Avenue which nurtured the careers of hundreds of celebrities, including Dolphy and Pilita Corrales has recently opened Manila Grand Oriental Casino located inside the luxurious hotel. Filipino boxing superstar Pacquiao led the ribbon cutting. Before the Cultural Center of the Philippines was born, the Manila Grand Opera House also used to be an entertainment center where plays, movies, zarzuelas and dances could be seen. It was demolished after the Sta. Cruz district went into a slump in the 1970s.

69 gay Filipino workers arrested in Riyadh

AT least 69 Filipinos were imprisoned in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after holding a gay show in celebration of Philippine Independence Day, June 12. However, they were later released after their sponsors paid fees for their release but are not allowed to leave Saudi Arabia as they have to face the case to be filed against them in court.

Why on earth will you do that in a country that defines its law under the strict tennets of their Islam faith? Click here for the full story under PinoyOverseas.net.

What is Advergaming?

“Advergaming” is a new advertising channel that most traditional ad agencies and companies still do not know how to utilize. Many company bigshots do not understand the video gaming industry, much to say how to market their brands through this new media channel. Ignatius Javellana defines “advergaming” as using video games to advertise a product, message, viewpoint, etc. that’s usually done in a manner that will not interrupt someone’s gameplay

Click here to read the entire CNet Asia article.

Douglas Quijano laid to rest

Douglas Quijano was cremated and laid to rest last Saturday at the Heritage Memorial Park and Crematorium in Taguig City. Quijano, 64, was found dead last Saturday morning in his rest house in Lucban, Quezon. Quijano managed the careers of Richard Gomez, Tirso Cruz III, Aga Muhlach, John Estrada, Joey Marquez, Wendell Ramos, Antonio Aquitania, Anjo Yllana, Gelli de Belen, Jay Aquitania, Benj Basa, and Richard Gutierrez.

Filipino Restaurant at New York’s Lower East Side

Located in the heart of New York’s Lower East Side, “Kuma Inn” is a cozy restaurant tucked away on the second floor, serving Filipino, Thai, and Southeast Asian cuisine. It is owned and operated by Executive Chef King Phojanakong. The restaurant offers an original menu consisting of a variety of meats, seafood and vegetables.

Call the restaurant at (212) 353-8866 for reservations or click here to go to its website.

Mining Prospects in the Philippines

Here’s an interesting Op-ed article about the prospects of “mining” in the Philippines, written by  Reynard Loki, a New York-based writer, artist and environmental activist who runs the blog 13.7 Billion Years (http://www.13point7billion.org). For starters, Reynard says “The Philippine mining industry is running rough-shod on indigenous people and the environment. For President Macapagal-Arroyo, it presents a great opportunity.”

Click here to read the entire article.

Charice Pempenco’s first solo concert

The newest darling of Philippine entertainment that has won North America’s love for the songstress will be staging her first solo concert on June 27, 2009, at the SMX Convention Center in the Mall of Asia (MOA).

Fake Lea Salonga in Facebook

When Facebook started to announce its new feature of a “username” for user profiles and fan pages, one of the Philippine’s well know celebrities that waited for Saturday, 1201 AM EDT to do that was Lea Salonga. However, someone beat her to it.

So, if you go to http://www.facebook.com/leasalonga – THAT’S NOT HER! That’s not the real Lea Salonga. The picture on the right is what the faker is using as its profile picture.

It’s such a pity when someone else tries to impersonate you when you haven’t done anything wrong at all. Please tell your friends about this.

$300 million investment in Pagcor Complex

SM Group, Genting Group of Malaysia and Aruze Corp. of Japan are the major investors in the 100-hectare Bagong Nayong Pilipino Entertainment Complex along Manila Bay in Pasay City, and intend to pursue plans to develop the property into the country’s premier entertainment complex. nitial investments for the project are expected to reach US$6 billion. The first phase of the three-phased development is expected to be completed in two to three years. It will include hotels, sports arena, museum, world class theme park, and an oceanarium.

Go to TradingMarkets.com for the full story.

Metro Pacific add $4.2 million in Davao hospital

Metro Pacific Investments Corporation recently invested $4.2 million (or P200 million) in additional money for its new acquisition, Davao Doctors Hospital in Davao City, Philippines. This is in addition to the other P200 million that MPIC gave to the hospital last year after acquiring 34% of total shares amount to P500 million. MPIC is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Holdings Ltd. which acquired a major stake in PLDT. MPIC also owns the Makati Medical Center and is eyeing another hospital in Cebu City.

Imelda Marcos: ‘I’m old and penniless’

Former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos tearfully told reporters at the Sandiganbayan Thursday that she is scraping the bottom of the barrel to raise money for her travel bonds so she can seek treatment abroad for various ailments.

Click here to read the abs-cbnnews.com story.

Philippine Independence celebrations in Kuwait features Erap

Philippine Senator Jinggoy Estrada, former Philippine president Joseph Estrada, Lorna Tolentino and Res Cortez along with other members of the 22-man delegation are the special guests of the Philippine independence day celebration on June 12 at the Al Arabi Stadium in Mansouriya, Kuwait. Two surprise artists from Manila will also entertain the Filipinos during the event, the delegation said. Assembly time on June 12 will be at 7:00 am which will kick off with a parade inside the gym by various Filipino organizations. Filipinos may avail the free transportation to the venue from five pick-points namely in Fahaheel (near Mario’s Restaurant), Farwaniya (at the back of Crowne Plaza), Kuwait City (Holy Family Cathedral), Salmiya (Sultan Center) and Jabriya (POLO-OWWA). You may contact the Philippine Embassy in Kuwait for more details.

Filipino Librarian lectures at US Library of Congress

Noted Filipino librarian Von Totanes will have a speaking engagement today at the Asian Division reading room foyer of the Library of Congress at 1 p.m. Wednesday, June 9. He will discuss the existence of two imprints of the Philippines’ first book (Doctrina Christiana of 1593) and their significance in Philippine publishing. The Library of Congress is the repository of the only copy of “Doctrina Christiana” which was published on rice paper in Manila on 1593. Totanes will argue that the importance of the imprints lies in the fact that they are physical reminders of the plurality of the nature and culture of the Filipino and the Philippines, and that Filipino culture is what it is today because of contact with the Chinese, the Spanish and the Americans.

Taklong Island Marine Reserve in Nueva Valencia, Guimaras

The Taklong Island Marine Reserve (TINMAR) in Nueva Valencia, Guimaras is one of the marine protected sites in the Philippines that was established to secure marine biodiversity in this part of the country.

Click here to read the photo-blog from ExploreIloilo.com.

AyosDito.ph – a new Philippine online marketplace

According to an article in BlogForNoob.com:

AyosDito.Ph is the next big online marketplace in the Philippines, It is similar to other online classified websites.This was developed for pinoys for better experience about online selling and buying by Pinoys at 701 Search, Inc. They are funded through a joint venture between Singapore Press Holdings and Schibsted ASA.

AyosDito.Ph is a very big thing that happens in the Filipino marketplace. As its website is exposed through the entire Philippine nation and thorugh its exposure most of the filipinos are given the chance to know the producets on sale and the services available.

Gawad Kalinga to unveil 2024 vision in USA

Gawad Kalinga (GK) founder Tony Meloto will unveil the GK 2024 vision in Boston, USA on June 12, a 21-year timeline to end the poverty of five million Filipinos and build a First World Philippines. GK’s launching as a global social template of development is consistent with the UN Millennium Development Goals that seek to reduce poverty by half by 2015.

Click here to read the full article at Philstar.com.

Navy Pier’s Chicago Children’s Museum features Philippines for a Day

Bring the family and experience the wonders of the Philippines, as the Chicago Children’s Museum (CCM) features the Philippines during its “Passport to the World” series. The Museum will host displays of Philippine crafts and exhibits, as well as interactive productions by native performers and artists, during the weekend of June 11-14, 2009. The CCM’s “Passport to the World” series showcases the arts and traditions of Chicago’s many ethnic groups to provide opportunities for museum visitors to better understand Chicago’s unique multicultural community. Previous “Passport to the World” exhibits showcased Chicago’s Korean, Persian and American Indian communities. This will be the second time that the series celebrates the Philippines. The weekend celebration begins on Thursday evening, June 11, 2009. The exhibits and performances will then continue Saturday and Sunday (June 13-14).

CA Civic Center hosts Fil-Am Cultural Celebration

The Filipino-American community’s annual cultural celebration last Saturday was held at the Oceanside’s Civic Center Plaza at the North County in Escondido, CA. The delicious aromas of traditional Filipino foods wafted through the plaza amidst the fashion show of traditional clothing worn in the many different regions of the Philippines, followed by beauty pageants, scholarship awards and ending with a colorful display of folk dances. Food included pancit (a stir-fried noodle and vegetable dish), lumpia (vegetable or ground beef eggrolls), and adobo (chicken or pork braised in soy sauce, vinegar, onion and garlic). Rica Derosier, president of the Fil-Am Cultural Association of North San Diego, explained that the goal of the annual celebration is to promote better relations between the United States and the Philippines, preserve and promote the Filipino heritage and to provide a mechanism for its introduction into the American culture.

San Miguel Corp. mogul to build new hotel in Makati

Ramon S. Ang, current head-honcho of San Miguel Corporation, is looking to build a new hotel in Makati as one of his personal investments. Ang is (already) a majority shareholder of Manila Diamond Hotel at Roxas Boulevard which is being managed by his daughter. Ang did not elaborate on the details of the new Makati City hotel investment during a lunch meeting he shared with several journalists.

Renaissance Dubai Hotel features Filipino cuisine

Renaissance Dubai Hotel will be featuring the flavors of Filipino cuisine at the hotel’s Spice Island restaurant on June 9 to 23, 2009. In cooperation with the Philippine Consulate General in Dubai and the Philippine Business Council, it will showcase the best of Filipino cuisine featuring the hotel’s Filipino chefs: Chefs Ofelia Fuentes, Norberto Dagonoon and Rina Tecson. The hotel’s workforce consists of 40% Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW).

New Philippine Photo Blog

It’s called “Nokia Snapshots” and the headliner says “This blog contains random photos from my N95 8gb phone camera.” The description of the blogger states “Goforgold -Davao City, Philippines; ‘Photography is my passion’ …. I’m obviously lying. What I’m doing is just working on things I’ve never tried to do before..Once you see the pictures, you’d agree with me.But I’ll take it from here–this is a challenge. The only way to learn it, is by doing it.So, let me have fun.The shots you’ll see here are all taken from my phone’s camera.”

Click here to go to the blogsite.

Replica of a historical wooden boat to circumnavigate the world

A Philstar.com story posts the construction of a wooden boat, developed without the use of nails that mimics that of the old Malay ships, and will attempt to circumnavigate the world. The boat will be transferred to Manila Bay on June 12 (Philippine independence day) but will set sail by June 24. “Voyage Balanghay” will travel to the southern tip of the Philippines before it retraces the southeast Asian route in 2010 and wander through the Pacific Ocean by 2011, Atlantic Ocean by 2012 before it returns back to the Philippine in 2013. The first group of Filipinos who attempted the trek to Mount Everest will comprise this group of seafarers to circumnavigate the world using this ancient Balanghai Boat.

Click here for the Philstar.com story.

Philippine Marketing Crisis Summit

The Philippine Marketing Association (PMA) is holding its 40th National Marketing Conference on June 16 and 17, 2009 at the Hotel Sofitel Philippine Plaza. Called the “Philippine Marketing Crisis Summit”, on-the-day registration costs P15,000.00; discounts are given to early birds.

For reservations, you can call (2) 895-9527 or 890-9651, fax through (2) 895-8058, or text-message through +63 (917) 325-7870. You can also register online through http://www.ariva.com.ph.

Pacquiao to Build World-class Hotel in General Santos

Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, recently included in Time’s 100 most influential people in the world, is planning to build a world-class hotel in General Santos City worth millions Pesos in value, this besides his other intent of developing an economic zone valued at millions of dollars in more than 300 hectares of personal property in the same city. Pacquiao is also eyeing another congressional run in the upcoming 2010 elections after losing the previous elections in his own district.

PEZA Investments Up Last May

The total investments made in the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) locations increase by 18% this month compared to the same period last year, with almost 50 projects approved by PEZA compared to 34 last year. This would generate thousands of new jobs, more than 100% compared to last year’s numbers. Most of these new jobs belong to the I.T. sector, including call centers and BPO.