ZAMBOANGA CITY – AMalaysian Jemaah Islami-yah (JI) bomb expert with a$5-million bounty on his headis holding broadcast journal-ist Ces Oreña-Drilon and her two cameramen in a remote jungle base of the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu, military sources saidyesterday.Authorities, meanwhile,have begun negotiations withthe kidnappers for the releaseof Drilon, a reporter of ABS-CBN News, and cameramenJimmy Encarnacion and An-gelo Valderama. Police saidon Tuesday that the terroristshad released Drilon’s guide,Mindanao State University professor Octavio Dinampo.

TV reporter, crew kidnapped in Mindanao

By Aurea Calica Philstar, June 10, 2008

Four of the country’s toptourist spots have made it tothe Top 10 list in the world-wide search for the “SevenWonders of Nature.”Senators Pia Cayetano andRichard Gordon attributed

Clockwise from top left: Tubbataha Reef in Palawan, the Chocolate Hills in Bohol, Mayon Volcano in Albay and the Subterranean River alsoin Palawan. Photos By MANNY MARCELO and VAL RODRIGUEZ

the latest development to the“online power” of Filipinos.As of yesterday, Tub- bataha Reef in Palawan wasin second place, followed by Chocolate Hills in Bohol(fourth place), Puerto PrincesaSubterranean River, also in

4 RP sites in Top 10 in‘Nature’s Wonders’ search

By Christina Mendez Philstar, June 5, 2008

It took 19 ad interim appointments, three committee bypasses and a kidney trans- plant, but Justice Secretary

Raul Gonzalez nally got

the nod of the Commissionon Appointments (CA) com-mittee on justice and humanrights which will forward his

conrmation for plenary ap

- proval next week.Gonzalez expressed grati-tude to the CA committee led

by Sen. Panlo Lacson for

conducting a hearing on hisappointment.

A university student joins a one day seminar on how to make bagsand ladies accesories using recyclable materials like sachets, candywrappers, cardboards and others, conducted by a non-government organization called Serving our Neighbors during the celebration of World Environment Day at the SM mall in Baguio City. - Photo By ANDY ZAPATA JR.

Rudy gets allhis last wishes

By Ricky Lo PhilStar, 06/08/08

When the end came, itshocked even if it was ex- pected.Rudy Fernandez died at6:15 yesterday morning atthe White Plains, QuezonCity home he shared with

wife Lorna Tolentino and

their sons Ralphe and Renzfor more than two decades.“He fought until the veryend,” Sen. Jinggoy Estradatold The STAR. “He was

Filipino actor Rudy Fernandez dies

The late Rudy Fernandez and wife Lorna Tolentino

(Continued on page 21)(Continued on page 18)(Continued on page 2)(Continued on page 2)

No morebypass forDOJ’s Gonzalez

Las Vegas project in Manila on the roll

TAKIN’ CARE OF BUSINESS By Babe Romualdez Philstar, June 5, 2008

We received a number of emails in reaction to our May 27column where we wrote about the rea-sons why the tourism industry has beenslow to take off. Many readers gaveadditional reasons why to this day, weare attracting only three million touristsinstead of 10 million or more – fromthe obnoxiously high rates chargedeven on local tourists for the rental of tricycles or boats, to the lack of decenttoilets in stopover areas.Many lament the lack of infrastruc-ture – good roads, secondary airportsin strategic locations, sewage systemsto comply with sanitation and envi-ronmental requirements – as reasonswhy we have not been successful inattracting as many tourists as Thailand,Malaysia and even Vietnam. Those

Megastar’s criticallyacclaimed comeback moviedrawing thousands of fansREDWOOD CITY, CA,June 11, 2008

– After hugely

successful premieres in Los

Angeles and Honolulu attend-ed by Philippine showbiz’sMegastar Sharon Cuneta, Star Cinema and ABS-CBN Inter-national’s Starry Starry Storeis bringing the movie, “Care-giver” to 12 cities in the U.S.for its regular theatrical run.The historic 15

anniver-

sary lm offering of Star

Cinema, already a critically ac-

“Caregiver” the movie isshowing in San Diego

(Continued on page 6)

Pacquiao with the author, San Diego Asian Journal Publisher & Editor, Sim Silverio

(Continued on page 14)

“This will be my hardest-fought battle,” said Pacquiao in a press state-ment. “It’s been over three years sinceI have changed weight divisions andI will be doing it against the light-weight division’s world champion.”

Simeon G. Silverio, Jr.

Publisher & Editor

The San Diego Asian Journal

he great Filipino boxing champion Manny “Pacman” Pac-quiao came to San Diego lastWednesday, June 11, 2008, to pro-

Manny Pacquiao comes to San Diego;

Gears up for epic ght against David Diaz

Manny Pacquiao with the Coronado Bridge in San Diego in the background.

mote his scheduled ght against DavidDiaz, the World Boxing Council Light

-weight Champion. A press conferencewas held at the Cox Building in down-town San Diego.

Diaz will defend his crown against Pacqui-ao, the current WBC Super Flyweight Cham-

pion in an event dubbed as “Lethal Combina

-tion” on Saturday, June 28, 2008 at the Manda-

lay Bay Resort & Casino in Las

(Continued on page 11)

who have been to Thailand, Singapore and other neighboringcountries point out the stark contrast to the Philippines which becomes obvious from the very moment a tourist steps off the plane. Even British Ambassador Peter Beckingham and hiswife Jill admit that they love the Philippines, but they havealso observed that the country reallylacks adequate infrastructure to boostthe tourism industry.However, the one good news rightnow is that the Entertainment City of the Philippine Amusement GamingCorp. (PAGCOR) is on a roll, withmajor investors reportedly eyeing the

mega project, including major outts

like Genting of Malaysia, Japan’s AruzeCorp., Bloombury Investments of theBritish Virgin Island as well as the SMInvestments Corp. in tandem with the

Asia-Pacic Gaming Corp. of Australia.

Insiders tell me there’s every indica-tion that the $15-billion project will besuccessful judging from the grandiose

Las Vegas strip

June 13 - 19, 2008

Riz Oades

Genny Silverio

Bill Labestre

The only world we have

United We Stand?

Who needs moneywhen you’ve got love?

Page 2June 13 - 19, 2008 Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.com

CITY SENSE By Paulo Alcazaren Philstar, February 16, 2008

I rediscovered a book I had boughtfrom an antiquarian years ago, Inter-mediate Geography by Hugo Miller and Mary Polley. It was used as a text- book in Philippine public schools inthe 1930s. The book shows just howwell pre-war students were educatedin matters of physical geography andthe importance of understanding theresources and potential of our islands.Of particular interest is thechapter on Manila and Iquote liberally:“As the capital of thePhilippines, Manila has

many ne buildings, monu

-ments and parks. Manila isthe chief city of the Philip- pines. The departments of the government are in theAyuntamiento in the WalledCity (Intramuros). The Gov-ernor-General’s office isin Malacañan Palace. TheHouse of Representativesand the Senate meet in theLegislative building (nowthe National Museum). Thedifferent bureaus now scat-tered over the city will later

be housed in a magnicent

Capitol, for the government plans to erect modern buildings for

all its ofces.”

National government worked wellthen because it was centralized and

therefore efcient in terms of acces

-sibility by the public and by way of

face-to-face meetings with ofcials

of the different branches. This is un-like today’s situation where national

government ofces are scattered all

over the roughly 700-sqm. of the National Capital Region. No wonder our government is scatterbrained.The public has to commute to several

building hours apart through trafc to

get to key institutions. The different

government ofces themselves waste

ridiculous amounts of money rentingspace in private buildings and in com-munications and courier expenses.

“A number of ne school buildings

have been constructed in Manila, suchas the Philippine Normal School,the Philippine School for the Artsand Trades, and the buildings of theUniversity of the Philippines. Thereare also some good modern publicschool buildings. Each year the num-

ber increases.”

Central Manila is today a univer-sity city within the larger metropolis.

Back when Manila was beautiful

Over 300,000 students are enrolledin crowded classrooms in a district blighted by pollution, poor infrastruc-ture and uncontrolled development.The Old UP Manila campus had been cut up and sold to Philamlifeor partitioned to various nationaland international institutions. MetroManila is the site of many more uni-versities in a situation unique to thiscountry — compared to other nationswhere universities are establishedin a fairly even distribution in their major cities.“South of the waterfront is theLuneta, a large plaza covered withgrass. During band concerts, whichare performed here in the evenings,hundreds of people walk in the plazaor ride about it in carriages and auto-mobiles. On both sides of the Lunetaare fine buildings, and opposite itthere is a great open space, which isto be occupied by the new Capitol of the Philippine government. A statueto Rizal has been built in front of this

space.”

Luneta is now Rizal Park. Thecapitol planned by Daniel Burnhamwas never built as the common-wealth government decided to moveit to Quezon City. Concerts are stillcommonplace in the park’s LeandroLocsin-designed amphitheater. Fine buildings still surround the park. TheLuneta Hotel is being conserved and brought back — hopefully to its oldglory. Beside it, on the site of theformer University Club building, atall condominium tower is being built by Eton Land, with fantastic views of

Manila’s ery sunset.

“Manila is a cosmopolitan city andis the largest in the Philippines. Thou-sands of people work in factories, andas many more are employed along thewaterfront, in the warehouses, and onships. Thousands work in the stores,and hundreds are employed in thegovernment offices. Many people,who own land in the provinces, livein Manila because of it social andeducational advantages…because of the theaters and other amusements.There are about 50 theaters in Manilawith seats for about 50,000 people.The great number of Manila’s inhab-itants are Tagalogs. But thousands of Ilocanos and Kapampangans also livethere, and hundredsof Visayans, Bicols,and other Philippine peoples. There areseveral thousand Chi-nese and many hun-dreds of Europeansand Americans. Thereare Japanese, East In-dians, Syrians, and people from all over

the world.”

Today, the metropo-lis is cosmopolitan — just barely and

denitely not as cos

-mopolitan as HongKong, Singapore or Shanghai. The facto-ries have moved outto the provinces. Thewaterfront of Manilais decrepit and overdue for rede-velopment as similar districts havedone in other world cities. Social andeducation advantages still abound but theaters have disappeared intothe malls. Real theater is alive butmarginalized by lack of governmentand private support.There are about 11 million soulsin today’s expanded Manila but a lotof the additions to this populationhave already been born and raisedhere. The tide of migration from the provinces is now more pronouncedin peripheral urban areas like lake-side Laguna and southern Bulacan.Foreigners are a growing population but, again, not as obvious as comparedto other Asian cities, belying the factthat Metro Manila is not as attractivea choice for regional multinationalheadquarters compared to the rest of booming Asia.

The nal paragraphs of the chapter

state: “Manila is very beautiful on aclear night. There are thousands of electric lights on the streets so thatthe people can see their way. Lightsglean from the windows and doors of the hotels, theaters, and other build-ings. As one looks from a steamer inthe bay at night, these lights seem to be innumerable…Along the streets of Manila are many poles carrying wires.Some of these wires are for the elec-tricity that lights the city at night; oth-ers are for telephones so that peoplecan speak with one another quickly nomatter what part of the city they are.If one goes about the city, one is sure

to nd men digging trenches. In these

trenches are pipes that carry water,others which take away sewage, andstill others which supply gas used for

lighting and (cooking) fuel.”

Yes, Manila is still beautiful… but only in old photographs of itsglory days. There is almost never aclear night or day because of smog.There are thousands of electric lights but these are focused on monster billboards while streets in many dis-tricts give minimal light, leading todaily accidents, injury and loss of life.Wires and cables blacken our urbanskies as millions of kilometers bringelectricity, cable TV, and telephoneservice on individual pole systemsthat rob our streets of sidewalk spaceand provide a convenient backdropfor election posters, room-for-rent andtubero-for-hire signs.Men are still digging trenches inManila’s streets to this day as the me-tropolis plays catch-up to a runaway population and a city plan that has not been overhauled for over a century.Only 10 percent of the metropolis is provided with a real sewer system.We are sinking in our own pooh and

pestilence. We had an efcient piped-

gas system for fuel. The smell of Pan-dacan is part of many Manilans’ urbanmemories. Today the fuel depot is stillthere, despite legal orders to moveand reduce threats to the surroundingresidential and commercial districts(and the Malacañang Palace itself).The dark tanks don’t produce smellygas anymore but then enough of thatis produced in the Batasan Pambansaand the Senate, mostly used for the pork hoarded there.The chapter ends with suggestionsfor further study enticing students to“find and mount pictures showing business streets, plazas, parks, schoolsand other important buildings of Manila…make a list of things foundin Manila because it is a moderncity and things that make the life of people there pleasant and easier…and to write a composition on thissubject: Why I should like to live in

Manila.”

Today, that composition may aswell be “Why I want to live and work

abroad,” which is the aspiration of

many of our young. Important newgovernment buildings are hard to photograph because of wires and billboards and because may are aes-thetically challenged anyway. Finally,a list can be made of Manila but moreto enumerate the items that contributeto its urban mayhem and not to itsmodernity.

We could do better and can, but rst

we have to relearn and understand our urban geography. We have to realizethe need for planned direction in citygrowth — modulated not by the greedof private development or the bukol

politics of government ofcials but by

an enlightened humanistic urbanity.

In a statement, ABS-CBN nally

admitted that the group had beenkidnapped. The network ruled out paying ransom.“ABS-CBN News is doing every-thing it can to help the families of itskidnapped journalists through this

harrowing ordeal,” it said.

“However, ABS-CBN News willabide by its policy not to pay ran-som because this would emboldenkidnap-for-ransom groups to abductother journalists, putting more lives

at risk.”

It was earlier reported that the ter-rorists were demanding a $10-millionransom.Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan said a crisismanagement team has been formed tonegotiate with the rebels. It was notclear if it was the same group that has begun talks with the extremist group.Tan said no group has yet claimedresponsibility for the kidnapping.Police spokesman Chief Superin-tendent Nicanor Bartolome said acrisis management committee hasdesignated a negotiator to work for the release of the journalists.“The negotiator is somebody who

has better grasp of the area,” said

Bartolome. “The negotiator hasstarted to locate groups or individu-als who could help us locate Drilon’s

group.”

A military source who declined to benamed said Malaysian JI bomb expert

Zulkii Bin Hir alias Marwan and

Abu Sayyaf leaders Umbra Jumdailalias Dr. Abu Pula, Albader Parad, anda certain Jimla and Albi were holdingthe missing journalists“As of now Ces and her crew are

with Abu Pula and Zulkii Marwan

and other Abu Sayyaf militants in the

TV reporter,crew kidnappedin Mindanao

(Continued from page 1)

jungle base,” the source said.A US-trained engineer, Zulkipi of

Muar, Johor in Malaysia is principalsuspect in many bombing attacks inthe Philippines where he has been inhiding since August 2003 and trainingIslamic militants in handling explo-sive devices.The US government placed a $5-mil-lion reward for his capture.The DOJ secretary had been by- passed thrice since his appointmentin 2004. He reportedly got the ireof Lacson when he (Gonzalez) triedto prevent the senator’s party fromlanding at the Iloilo InternationalAirport during the campaign for the2004 elections.Asked to comment on Lacson andSen. Jinggoy Estrada’s sudden changeof heart over his appointment, Gonza-lez said: “You know, the better angelsof their nature, I think, prevailed. Ithank the chairman for schedulingme and I thank the members of thecommission… The Holy Spirit mayhave intervened. But the situation

speaks for itself.”

During the hearing, several partiesopposed to Gonzalez’s appointment,including Bayan party-list Rep.Satur Ocampo and lawyer BonifacioAlentajan, presented reasons why

Gonzalez is not t to be conrmed as

justice secretary.Ocampo chided the justice secre-tary for his role in the arrest of theso-called Batasan 5 which includedthe late Rep. Crispin Beltran, RafaelMariano of Anakpawis; Joel Virador and Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna;and Liza Maza of Gabriela.Gonzalez was also asked about his

alleged “shoot-to-kill order” against

the suspects involved in the brutalrobbery-slay of 10 people at theRCBC branch in Laguna last monthand his alleged claim to be the “King

of Iloilo.”

Gonzalez hails from Iloilo.

He, however, claried that he was

misquoted in the shoot-to-kill order and denied claiming to be the “King

of Iloilo.”

Near the end of the hearing, Lacsongave his approval to submit Gonza-

lez’s conrmation for plenary action

after he asked the justice secretaryabout his health condition.

No more bypass forDOJ’s Gonzalez

(Continued from page 1)

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Page 3 Asian Journal - (619) 474-0588 Visit our website at http://www.asianjournalusa.comJune 13 - 19, 2008

NOTES FROM THE EDITOR By Singkit Philstar, June 1, 2008

My Auntie Margaret turned 100 the other Saturday. It was a milestone we have long been looking forward to, never doubtingthat it would happen, despite her frequent pronouncements tothe contrary.Ten years agowe celebrated her 90th birthday witha huge and glitter-ing affair with over 200 guests. Thistime around it wasa family-only af-fair – and selectedfamily at that, so Ifeel very privilegedto have been one of the 21 people fromfour generationsgathered at a longtable for dinner atLe Souffle in TheFort, her favoriterestaurant.I was going to say that it was a quiet, intimateaffair, but that would only be half correct. Itwas intimate, but far from quiet: imagine 20 people talking at the same time – and I think Lola (that’s what most of us “young folk” callher, or sometimes Auntie Mop, or the manyHokkien variations of aunt, depending onhow one is related to her, since we are very precise about our relational names) was theonly one not yakking her head off. She was probably – hopefully – amused by the cross-table conversations; I think it helped that sheis hard of hearing, or else for sure we wouldget scolded for making so much noise.At 100 she still plays bridge – and often wins – every Wednesday at the Peninsula Manila.Last year she gave up her Tuesday bridgegame at the Manila Polo Club, claiming thatit ends too late in the day. But she says shewill take me there anyway, because Polo Clubhas the best French fries in town, she insists.She plays mahjong too, once sometimestwice a week in her apartment, with a “quo-rum” that is now obviously younger, sinceher former mahjong partners are no longer able to join her, for one reason or another.I like to time my visits on mahjong days because merienda is always good, especially

By Rica Bolipata-Santos Philstar, May 25, 2008

ZAMBALES — I write this from my little balcony here on a mango farm I’ve been call-ing home all summer. I can’t believe summer is almost over. You can tell by the way the air feels these days. You can even tell by what’s being sold at the mall. Gone are the summer displays of wading pools and swimming gear.Black school shoes, notebooks and school bags have now replaced them. And of course,although I know this is a perfect marketing ploy, I am grateful for the visual reminder that time moves on. Any day now, Christmasdécor will soon be on display.But until then, until June rolls by, until Ihave to absolutely write my syllabus for theschool year, my heart is still in Summerland.I have been planting the past few weeks,improving on a small garden in front of mymother’s old rickety house by the sea. I comehere during the summers with my children (indifferent combinations — sometimes two of them, or one of them or all of them, or noneof them) and just be… A few years ago, agood friend, much older and wiser than I am,told me that she realized sometime in her 40s:that she would not be able to survive Manilalife (or her life in general) with her heart andsoul intact unless she could repair to a place“far from the madding crowd.” And so I’vedecided to do the same thing (with much lessstyle of course), renovating this old house piece by piece and using it to do magic on my

spirit. Memories ood me whenever I am in

this house. It was built when my mother andI were both young (I was 18 and she was 54)and back then I had no inkling that she had perhaps built this house for her own need torepair. There is poetry in this small unfolding-in my understanding of my mother.There are adventures for the picking here.Just last weekend, storm Cosme rained allover us and I happened to be here by myself

with only my ve-year-old boy for company.

At the edge of the farm is the sea, so for threestraight nights I could hear the relentless tear-ing of waves and I did wonder what I woulddo if a tidal wave was to occur. Absurdly, I donot know how to swim but the little boy does.Signal Number 3 would eventually be de-

The lessons of summer

clared and there was no power for two wholedays. The house suffered some damage andwhat was most amazing was when I inspected

the garden, the most fragile of owers from

the santan and bougainvillea to the rosal, etc.,had managed to hold on. And yet, the treeswere not as lucky or as sturdy. But I’m gettingahead of myself — trying to understand this particular summer’s lessons.When we were little, we spent all our sum-mers here, in Zambales. My mother lovedthese trips and she took them the way ageneral prepares for war. Twenty years ago,many of her mother’s sisters or cousins werestill alive and this little town of San Antonio

was lled with her own childhood memories.

I loved coming home here, to listen to storiesof old aunts and grandmothers about evenmore ancient people who loomed large and

mythical. I loved helping to string owers

for the Flores de Mayo. I loved the reliabilityof market day where the town transformeditself into one giant tiangge. And of course,there were all those days by the sea — walk-ing, swimming, boating, riding a carabao,collecting shells, picnicking by the shore,listening to cassette tapes of James Taylor and Basil Valdez while perched on a windowledge (of course, attempting to look cool and

angst-lled!), watching the slowest of sunsets,

reading until the kerosene lamp could nolonger be of any help.

Perhaps this is the rst real sign of aging

— the nostalgia that has come upon me for days gone by. Nostalgia brings with it thefalse sense of simplicity — the belief that theage gone before us was not only better butsimpler. I know in my heart this is not true.I listened well to the stories of those ancientwomen and I know that they struggled withdisease, war and famine. Maybe the perceived

simplicity was in the rm belief that all would be well: in the unagging optimism over the

goodness of man and of all things. They hadwon the battle over hopelessness in the faceof adversity. And now, in old age, their stories

seem to say, “We have been proven right! Seehow beautifully we have survived!”

There are days when my children do notwant to come here. As you know, I am notone to judge children and their feelings, so

My rockin’ Lola

when she serves fried bananas sprinkled withsesame seeds.But she is always more than happy to haveme join her for lunch. She makes me the fam-ily favorite, tao yu ba (pork slow cooked insoy sauce), which has been a staple on our family dining table from as far back as I canremember. And she also makes me her fa-mous chicken soupin a bamboo tube, perfected from thetime when she ranthe Marco Polo res-taurant.Of course shedoesn’t actu-ally do the cook-ing anymore; her long-serving helper Pacita does, but it isstill her sure hand – and taste buds – that

give the nal touch

and taste. And as isalways the case, she

expects me to nish

all the food, puttingyet another piece of meat or more rice onmy plate while she herself eats hardly morethan a bite. Ninety years separate Lola and the youngestguest at the dinner, her great grandson Kevin,who is ten. Lola had two birthday cakes, eachwith one red candle. It would’ve been quite asight if there were 100 candles – but then thatmight set off the alarms and sprinklers and

bring the re brigade down on us.

Lola is amazing not just because she is acentury old, but because she is 100 and stillwalks by herself, ramrod straight; she remem- bers everyone and everything – birthdaysespecially, and family chismis too.The chairman of the Cuban 120 Years Club,composed of some 1,800 Cubans over 100years old, said that reaching the grand age of 100 in good health required motivation, aswell as a good diet, phyical activity, cultureand “the right atmosphere.”Frenchwoman Clementine Solignac, wholived at be 113, used to answer when askedabout her age, “The good Lord has forgotten

about me!”

Well, I’m betting that nobody’s forgettingabout Lola.

(Continued on page 18)

Summer in a Philippine Beach.