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(Journal Online) MANILA – For the first time ever, Red Bull Dance Your Style, the brand’s take on a global 1-on-1 street dance competition with a unique battle format featuring the latest hits and timeless classics that challenge a dancer’s freestyle and improvisation skills, is coming to the Philippines.

Unlike other major dance competitions with professional judges, the crowd will play a crucial role in determining the winner of each battle. The crowd participation means the dancers will really need to express their personality and passion through their dancing. They’ll need to win the crowd to move past their opponents.

Red Bull Dance Your Style: The Ultimate Proving Ground

The first major Red Bull Dance Your Style Philippines event will kick off at the BGC Amphitheatre with the National Finals on July 23, featuring the top 16 dancers who qualified and pre-selected by nationally-established dance consultant and a member of the Philippine All-Stars Vince Mendoza. “The selection process was not easy and hard as well. Can you imagine gathering talented people and sizing up their skill-set? It’s like a dream and also having that excitement during the selection process.”, shares Mendoza when asked about the decision-making that went into choosing the country’s representatives.

All the participants will be gathering together in one place for an intense yet fun dance battle to test the diversity of their move-set while proving that they are the best dancer in the world.

Each round of every battle will consist of two thrilling rounds with the DJ spinning mixes of different genres ranging from modern pop and rap music to old-school classics. The competitors will need to prove that they have rhythm, movement, creativity, and charisma since capturing the crowd’s attention and acquiring their approval is the only way to secure a spot in the next round of the competition… Read More

(Radio Free Asia) Filipino fishermen whose boat sank in 2019 after a Chinese trawler rammed into it in disputed South China Sea waters have received six million Philippine pesos (U.S $113,421) in compensation, the Department of Justice said Wednesday.

However, a fishers’ association criticized the settlement for the 22 fishermen and the owner as too little and coming too late.

Justice Undersecretary Adrian Sugay told reporters that the owner of the F/B Gem-Ver 1 boat and the fishermen had received the compensation on May 16, with officials adding that the settlement amount was half of what the victims sought.

“Full compensation has already been made in favor of the vessel owner and the fishermen,” Sugay said in his message. The original amount demanded by the fishermen represented repair costs, other damages, and income lost due to the incident.

Fernando Hicap, head of Pamalakaya, a fisherman’s group, called the compensation to the 22 fishermen and the owner of the boat that sank “long overdue and insufficient.”

“The 22 victimized fishermen have been enduring the loss of their traditional livelihood after the tragic incident in Recto Bank. It took three years before they were improperly compensated.” Hicap told BenarNews… Read More

(Daily Tribune) Agnes VST Devanadera, the incumbent chairperson of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), has a lot of gall to make unsolicited recommendations to the incoming administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. about the energy concerns of the country.

It’s either that, or Devanadera, who just turned 72 last April, is getting senile and needs to retire from public service for her own good and that of the nation itself. The ERC regulates the cost of electricity in the country.

Agnes VST Devanadera, the incumbent chairperson of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), has a lot of gall to make unsolicited recommendations to the incoming administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. about the energy concerns of the country.

It’s either that, or Devanadera, who just turned 72 last April, is getting senile and needs to retire from public service for her own good and that of the nation itself.

The ERC regulates the cost of electricity in the country.

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Ever since she became ERC chairperson in 2017, Devanadera has done nothing to stabilize the supply and cost of energy in the Philippines. Her incompetence and inaction have kept electricity very expensive for consumers.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) showcases Devanadera’s incompetence as ERC chairperson.

Under the law governing the NGCP, only Filipinos are allowed to hold top management positions in the said corporation. Foreigners with investments in the NGCP are not allowed to muscle their way in the management of the corporation.

The law also requires the NGCP to closely monitor the national electricity grid to make sure that a steady supply of electricity is readily available in areas of the country where and when it is needed most. That means putting regional stations on alert to prevent power outages anywhere… Read More

(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila — The Office of the Ombudsman has indicted at least 40 individuals, mostly immigration officers, involved in the “pastillas” bribery scam.

Among those charged for violating of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act was former Immigration deputy commissioner Marc Red Mariñas, previously tagged as the mastermind of the scam.

In a document released to the media on Tuesday, the Ombudsman said the accused people “allowed the entry of foreign passengers into the country without going through regular and stringent profiling or screening processes in violation of existing immigration rules and procedures to the prejudice of the government and public interest.”

Uncovered in early 2020, the bribery scheme allegedly provided an advantage to foreign travelers, especially Chinese nationals, to enter the Philippines without conducting background checks in exchange for money—rolled up using bond paper, giving the scheme the name “pastillas”.

Based on the charge sheet, Chinese suppliers “acted as conduits between the travel agencies and the Immigration officers (IOs) manning the Immigration counters at NAIA Terminals 1 and 2.”

The document also disclosed the presence of Viber chat groups operated by immigration personnel, which were used to cascade client lists. Immigration officers would then check if the passengers who appeared before them “should be accorded seamless entry and/or VIP treatment.”.. Read More

(CNN Philippines) ⁠Metro Manila — Officials of the Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) led by its Director General Jeremiah Belgica on Monday filed a counter affidavit and motion for reconsideration over the preventive suspension ordered by the Office of the Ombudsman due to graft charges which stemmed from choosing a new telco player in the country.

“Gusto naming sabihin sa lahat na hindi kami korap. Ginagawa lang po namin ang aming trabaho,” Belgica said in a statement.

Ombudsman Samuel Martires ordered the six month-suspension of Belgica, Deputy Director General Eduardo Bringas, Division Chief Sheryl Pura-Sumagui, Director Jedreck Ng, and Director Melamy Salvadora-Asperin, in an order dated May 24 but only made public on Sunday… Read More

(Manila Bulletin) The pageant is lovelier the second time around for Filipino-French Gwendolyne Bolivar Fourniol of Negros Occidental.

This after the 21-year-old beauty was crowned Miss World Philippines 2022 during a competition held at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City early morning, Monday, June 6. She bested 35 other candidates for the coveted crown.

This beauty and brains will represent the Philippines at the Miss World 2022 stage.
Gwen, as she is fondly called, aced the pageant question-and-answer portion with her honest and spontaneous answer. During the final round, she was asked: “How do we cope with an education deficit accumulated due to the pandemic?

She answered: “As an advocate of education, I do agree that during the pandemic, we have suffered the most, but the children who have lacked access to education have suffered the greatest. Working hand in hand with ERDA Foundation to empower the marginalized Filipinos, I believe by uniting benefactors and encouraging our children, and allowing them to go back to school, especially during this pandemic, will make this world a better place because education is the greatest weapon against poverty.”.. Read More

(Interaksyon) Calls to protect health care workers subjected to violence in the Philippines were made in a correspondence published in an international journal.

The correspondence titled “Violence against health-care workers in the Philippines” was published in The Lancet, a peer-reviewed journal, on May 28.

Michelle Ann Eala, a doctor who co-wrote the report, shared it on Twitter.

“Since 2017, at least 10 doctors have been violently killed in the #Philippines. We call on our leaders to act with commensurate urgency in serving justice for our HCWs,” Eala said.

The Lancet also shared it on its Twitter account.

“@MichelleEalaMD and colleagues call for justice for Filipino health-care workers subjected to violence,” the tweet reads.

In the correspondence, Eala and the rest of the authors called the growing impunity and violence against health care workers, especially deaths in the country as “abhorrent and unacceptable.”

“All forms of harm maliciously inflicted upon health-care workers are abhorrent and unacceptable, especially when they result in the irreversible termination of a life,” they said.

“Beyond being seen as human resources, health-care workers deserve dignity, safety, and security; to only call them heroes or appeal to their patriotism is paltry lip service and simply does not do enough,” they added… Read More

(GMA News) Miss World Philippines 2021 Tracy Maureen Perez took to Instagram to share her look for Miss World Philippines 2022 Charity Gala.

A day before Miss World Philippines’ coronation night, Tracy was clad in a pink thigh-high slit gown by Mark Bumgarner for the pageant’s most recent gala in which the beauty queen took care of the hosting duties.

“Thank you so much to my fairy god mothers for making me look oh so queenly and beautiful during the @msworldphil Charity Gala and [of course] on my very first big hosting gig here in Manila,” Tracy wrote in the caption.

Tracy will pass the Miss World Philippines crown to her successor on Sunday night.

“Are you guys ready to meet her?” Tracy ended her post… Read More