#AlDub Fever: Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza starting to show their true feelings for each other. August 28,2015

Totohanan na ba ang nararamdaman nina Alden Richards at Maine Mendoza para sa isa't isa? Sina Alden at Maine o Yaya Dub ang bumubuo sa itinuturing na pinakasikat na loveteam ngayon sa bansa—ang AlDub. Sa loob ng anim na linggo mula nang magsimula ang kanilang tambalan sa KalyeSerye ng Eat Bulaga! ay napapansin ng mga manonood, at maging ng mga kasamahan nina Alden at Maine sa programa, na mukhang totoo na ang ipinapakitang ngiti at kilig ng dalawa. Sa episode ngayong hapon, August 27, ay pinansin nina Joey de Leon, Wally Bayola, at Jose Manalo ang kakaibigang kilig ni Maine kapag ipinapakita sa screen si Alden at habang nagpapalitan sila ng fan signs. Kapansin-pansin din na nilalagyan ni Maine ng kanyang tunay na pangalan ang fan signs niya para kay Alden. Pinansin naman ni Joey ang pagiging "blooming" ngayon ni Maine. Sinita rin ni Wally si Maine na hindi na nito pinapapangit masyado ang kanyang mukha tuwing nagda-Dubsmash. Sabi pa ni Wally bilang Lola Nidora kina Alden at Maine: "Oy, aktingan lang 'to! Huwag ka namang ano!" Kaya naman direktang tinanong ni Wally si Alden: "Seryoso ka ba talaga kay Maine?" Tumawa lamang noong una si Alden, na halata ring nag-blush, pero pagkatapos ay nagsulat siya ng “OPO” sa fan sign. 

Sa isang punto rin ng KalyeSerye kanina ay naka-freeze na dapat silang lahat, pero patuloy pa rin sa pagpapalitan ng fan signs sina Alden at Maine.
Kaya sabi tuloy ni Wally kay Jose: "Parang tayo na lang ang uma-acting dito!"
Muntik na ring ibuko nina Jose Manalo at Ryan Agoncillo ang mga sinasabi raw sa kanila ni Alden tungkol kay Maine/Yaya Dub kapag nagkukuwentuhan sila.
Siyempre pa, gusto rin ng halos lahat ng AlDub fans na magkatuluyan sa tunay na buhay sina Alden at Maine

Philippines hikes defence budget amid China tensions. August 28, 2015

We need to protect what is clearly within our territorial jurisdiction," say Philippines officials in face of Chinese aggression in South China Sea The Philippines is planning a 25 per cent hike in its defence budget next year, mainly to bolster its claims in the disputed South China Sea, officials said on Tuesday. The proposed 2016 national budget, which President Benigno Aquino is to present to parliament for approval on Monday, would reserve a record 25 billion pesos (£355 million) for defence spending. Funds would be used to acquire navy frigates and patrol aircraft, budget and defence officials told AFP. "We need to protect what is clearly within our territorial jurisdiction," budget secretary Florencio Abad said, when asked if the increase was due to the Philippines' maritime row with China. "Certainly, we need to at least be able to effectively monitor the developments in the area, particularly those in disputed zones," he added.

Women take part in mass breastfeeding event in Manila. August 28, 2015

Hundreds of women in the Philippines campaigned for proper child nutrition through a mass breastfeeding session Over 300 women launched World Breastfeeding Week in Manila by participating in a mass breastfeeding event. The women joined an event called The Big Latch On where women nurse their babies for over a minute.

The Big Latch On is aimed at promoting breastfeeding as well as offering support guidance and nutritional information to mothers.

The campaign, which is held on 1 August each year, also aims to highlight the barriers in societies around the world that prevent women from feeling at ease breastfeeding their children in public.

Rare Philippine eagle shot dead three years after rescue. August 28, 2015

The eagle had only been released back into the wild following treatment for another shooting two months earlier

A rare giant Philippine eagle has been shot dead two months after being released back into the wild following treatment for another shooting, in a blow to efforts to save the species from extinction, conservationists said Wednesday.

The raptor's remains were found on a forest floor last weekend with a gunshot wound on its right breast, three years after it was rescued and treated, the Philippine Eagle Foundation said.

It was the 30th to be found dead or wounded out of an estimated population of just 400 pairs in the wild, which reside mainly on the large southern island of Mindanao, Joseph Salvador, the foundation's executive director, said.

"Unfortunately, one person with a gun thinks he can shoot anything," Salvador told AFP, adding no one has been arrested in the latest incident.

"The potential to teach people the importance of the eagles to wildlife and biodiversity has been compromised."

Famed for its elongated nape feathers that form into a shaggy crest, the Philippine eagle, one of the world's largest, grows up to a metre (3.3 feet) long with a two-metre wingspan.
The Swiss-based International Union for the Conservation of Nature lists the species as "critically endangered", due to the depletion of its tropical rainforest habitat and hunting.

Philippine eagles kill macaques and other smaller animals for food and need vast tracts of forest as hunting grounds, routinely driving away rivals from their territory. Gunshots accounted for nine out of every 10 Philippine eagle casualties recorded by the foundation over seven years. The latest bird to be killed had been rescued as a juvenile three years ago and treated for superficial gunshot wounds. Returned to the wild in Mindanao's Mount Hamiguitan reserve two months ago, the eagle's carcase was tracked about a half a mile away from where it was released, after a fitted radio transmitter indicated the bird had stopped moving. Killing critically endangered Philippine species is punishable by up to 12 years in prison and a fine of up to one million pesos (£14,000). Mr Salvador said the foundation would press charges once the eagle's killer was found. Guarding the bird, also called the "monkey-eating eagle", is compounded by inadequate forest rangers, with just six assigned to the vast Hamiguitan range, Mr Salvador said.

Son of ex-Philippine dictator boasts of father’s ‘achievements’ as he plots presidential bid. August 28, 2015

Ferdinand Marcos Jr has a name that might sound politically toxic, but the late dictator’s son is embracing family legacy as he plans return to power

His father was a notorious dictator and his mother is best-known for her lavish shoe collection, but Ferdinand Marcos Jr does not believe his name is an impediment to seeking the highest office in the Philippines.

Mr Marcos, a senator in the national parliament, has dropped increasing hints that he plans to run for president in elections next year, saying this week that he was consulting with allies about his future.

And the younger Marcos made clear that he will embrace the legacy of his parents, Ferdinand and Imelda, who were turfed out of the presidential palace where he grew up in the People Power revolution of 1986.

In a television interview in Manila on Wednesday, he said that he believed his family had nothing for which to apologise. Instead, he ran through a series of achievements that he attributed to the Marcos era.

“What am I to say sorry about?” he said when asked whether he would apologise for the rampant corruption and human rights abuses during his father’s regime if he runs for president next year.
“Will I say sorry for the thousands and thousands of kilometres [of roads] that were built? Will I say sorry for the agricultural policy that brought us to self-sufficiency in rice? Will I say sorry for the power generation? Will I say sorry for the highest literacy rate in Asia?”
During Ferdinand Marcos’ 21 year reign from 1965, the ruling family amassed a huge fortune and the country experienced rampant human rights abuses.
But his son grudgingly noted that if some Filipinos suffered during his father’s time in power, then the Marcos family was “ sorry that happened”. He added: “These are instances that have fallen through the cracks.”
Critics would describe that as the ultimate political euphemism. Indeed, a group of victims of the martial law era just launched a new lawsuit against Mr Marcos Jr and his mother for allegedly refusing to pay damages awarded for human rights victims.
“The lawsuit … is singularly significant because it magnifies in perspective the total arrogance of the Marcos family in its historical denial of the gross violations of human rights committed by Ferdinand Marcos under martial law,” the claimants said in a statement.
Yet Mr Marcos Jr, commonly known by his nickname “Bongbong”, has been aggressively defending his father’s record and insisting that the family name is a political plus not a liability.
Mr Marcos hopes to draw votes from the family power base in the populous home region of Ilocos Norte, where he previously served as governor. His sister and mother both have political seats there.
To critics of his clan, he said: “There is nothing I can do that will change what my father did. History will judge him properly, and we'll leave it at that.”

Roxas should consider getting another VP bet – Speaker. August 28, 2015

The ruling Liberal Party (LP) must be realistic in finding a vice presidential candidate as Sen. Grace Poe seems determined to run for president in 2016, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said yesterday. Belmonte also told reporters that LP’s presidential bet, Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II, should consider getting another running mate like Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano of the Nacionalista Party (NP). “Let’s get the bravest senator,” Belmonte said, referring to Cayetano. The Speaker also said that Roxas should start presenting his own vision for the country aside from the continuity of programs of the Aquino administration and wooing a running mate. Roxas earlier said the lines of communication with Poe remained open and that there was no rift between them despite the senator’s pronouncement that some members of LP were hitting her. Belmonte, who attended the inauguration of the Sen. Neptali Gonzales Academic Hall at the Rizal Technological University in Mandaluyong City led by President Aquino, observed that Poe was continuously preparing for her presidential run. But the President is still hoping for Poe to become part of the LP because “he loves Grace, he likes her.” “(Aquino) saw the experience and achievements of Mar. With the popularity of Grace (and) being a fresh face, they will complement one another,” Belmonte added. Poe in polluted politics For Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) secretary-general and Batangas Rep. Mark Llandro Mendoza, Poe is “a breath of fresh air in the polluted world of politics.” He pointed out that Poe prefers talking about issues instead of criticizing potential presidential rivals. He also noted that Poe is attracting more supporters though she is not yet a declared candidate. “You could see how students in the University of San Carlos in Cebu City reacted to Senator Grace when she spoke. That was not a hakot crowd (people who are required to attend a gathering). They were there because they wanted to see her. She exuded genuine warmth that cannot be faked,” he said. “This is why the students received her so warmly in Cebu. This is why many of my fellow NPC members are drawn to her. They feel she is what our country needs, someone who can inspire our people, someone who can give our people hope,” he added. Poe remains coy about her plans for the 2016 elections. President Aquino and his preferred successor Roxas have been courting Poe to be the outgoing interior secretary’s vice presidential running mate. In Cebu this week with Roxas, Aquino said the door is still open for Poe. He also indicated that the vice presidency would give Poe more experience that would prepare her for seeking the highest office in 2022. The President said he would like Filipinos to have 18 years of continuous economic growth and daang matuwid (straight path). Poe has not rejected Aquino’s offer to be Roxas’ running mate. However, she is believed to have set her mind on the presidency and has been going around the country. However, she is facing citizenship and residency cases before the Senate Electoral Tribunal and the Commission on Elections. Some legal experts claim that Poe, having renounced her being a Filipino by obtaining American citizenship and living in the United States for many years before returning to the country to be a Filipino again, is not considered a “natural-born Filipino citizen,” a constitutional requirement for the presidency. Poe has announced that if she runs for president, she would draft Sen. Francis Escudero as her vice presidential candidate. The two senators have met with NPC members twice this month, while Roxas had a breakfast chat with a group of 11 NPC lawmakers led by Mendoza. Mendoza said Poe and Escudero would be a perfect tandem. “Chiz has always been constructive. In Senate hearings, you notice that he is never personal; he attacks problems, not people. He focuses on finding answers and solutions, not fault,” he said. – With Jess Diaz

QCPD official requires background checks on cops. August 28, 2015

A Quezon City Police District (QCPD) station commander will now require a background check on newly assigned police officers after a gun-running policeman died in a shootout with other policemen last Monday. Senior Police Officer 1 Wilberto Blanco was transferred to the Anonas police station, which is under Superintendent Richard Fiesta, from the Batasan police station. Fiesta said yesterday he always tells police officers he supervises “to avoid getting involved in whatever form of illegal activities because we will not tolerate their wrongdoings.” He said the Anonas police station had yet to do a background check on Blanco when he was killed. Blanco was among the police officers who was transferred, along with Batasan police station commander Superintendent Victor Pagulayan, after the arrest on June 23 of two police officers from the National Capital Region Police Office-Regional Police Holding and Accounting Unit. Pagulayan was reassigned to the QCPD’s administrative holding section. The arrested police officers and their seven alleged accomplices reportedly used the Batasan police station in their “hulidap” scheme. They reportedly arrest persons then hold them for ransom ranging from P50,000 to P2 million. Blanco joined the force on Sept. 3, 1998 and was assigned at the QCPD. In his 17 years with the police service, Blanco was charged with grave misconduct, illegal arrest, robbery, kidnapping, planting evidence and perjury. Bloody end Task Force Tugis chief Senior Superintendent Ronald Lee said his men, with the help of an informant, arranged the purchase of an Intratec 9mm machine pistol from Blanco for P30,000. Blanco tried to escape by shooting it out with police officers of Task Force Tugis, who are based in Camp Crame, as he and his companions sped away in an Isuzu MU-X (ASA 7504). He died while in surgery at the Capitol Medical Center. His driver, Harlie Linda, 34, also died at the CMC from gunshot wounds sustained during the shootout. Linda’s sister, Diana, 28, remains confined at the same hospital. Fiesta earlier said that Blanco wanted to transfer to another unit as he wanted to pursue his master’s degree. He said Blanco was assigned to the station’s monitoring section while he was waiting to be transferred to another station. Meanwhile, Fiesta said he has yet to receive an order from the QCPD on the investigation against him. He said he will cooperate with the investigators since it would help him clear his name. QCPD director Chief Superintendent Edgardo Tinio said they will investigate Fiesta to determine if he should be held liable for the incident under the principle of command responsibility.