The Mail RSS Feed.
Subscribe Now

MANILA - Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the country's premier gateway, was placed on high alert Aug. 11 following the discovery of a plot in the United Kingdom to blow off planes bound for the United States.

Going by the emergency advisory of the US Department of Homeland Security, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) tightened security measures for all passengers bound for the US.

With an absence of fanfare, the foodstuffs renamed three years ago to Freedom fries and Freedom toast have reverted to their previous names of French fries and French toast respectively, for food service of the United States Capitol and White House.


Note:

It is a tragedy that Israel gave Hezbollah and its sponsors just what they wanted - a major kill of civilians. Most tragic is more than half were children. But, is anyone asking - Why didn't Hezbollah get those people to safety when Hezbollah was using that very area from which to fire rockets and missiles at Israeli civilians?

Israel dropped leaflets on the target area warning civilians to get out, yet, Hezbollah fighters, no doubt read the same leaflets and allowed the civilians to stay in the target area. Perhaps the charge is true - Hezbollah cares more about winning than about their own women and children. Why else would they launch rockets and missiles from schoolyards, mosques, and neighborhoods? Are there no open fields in Lebanon?

WASHINGTON - Three weeks after arriving in Los Angeles with an invalidated US visa, former agriculture undersecretary Jocelyn Bolante has disappeared into the mists of mystery.

There are more questions than answers about the man alleged to have used some P2.8 billion in fertilizer funds to reward politicians who helped Mrs. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo win the hotly contested May 2004 presidential election.

WASHINGTON D.C. – More than 30 out of the some 150 members of the Philippine Medical Association of Metropolitan Washington D.C. have asked for the resignation of Dr. Victor Lorica as president because they said “ we have lost confidence in your leadership.”

In a statement dated July 14 a copy of which was obtained by the Manila Mail, the signatories, which included well-known doctors in the area , warned Dr. Lorica that if he failed to resign, “ he should convene a special general membership meeting solely to institute impeachment proceedings.”

WASHINGTON D.C. – Lacking the resources to evacuate some 30,000 Filipino Overseas Workers in Lebanon, the Philippine embassy here has appealed to the United States to let Filipinos fleeing the strife-torn country hitch a ride on their evacuation ships.

Ambassador Evan Garcia, deputy chief of mission of the embassy, said he made the request for help with the US State Department which said such assistance could only be made available once the thousands of Americans have been evacuated and spaces are available for the Filipinos. The US has sent a naval fleet as well as cruise ships to retrieve more than 7,000 stranded Americans.

Career envoy was Congen in LA

WASHINGTON D.C. – Ambassador Willy Gaa, who recently assumed his post as consul general in Los Angeles, will take over as charge d’affaires of the Philippine embassy this month.

Filams give Del Rosarios warm sendoff

WASHINGTON D. C. – Some 300 community leaders and members gave Ambassador to the US Albert F. Del Rosario and his wife Gretchen an affectionate sendoff on July 7, the day before the envoy officially ended his five-year tour of duty in the nation’s capital.

MANILA – After defeating Mexican challenger Oscar Larios at the Araneta Coliseum July 3, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo made Manny Pacquiao the first recipient of the Order of Lakandula with the rank of “Champion for Life."

Mrs. Arroyo personally awarded the Order of Lakandula medallion and plaque of appreciation to Pacquiao in a simple ceremony at Malacanang’s Rizal Hall during Pacquiao’s courtesy call after the fight.

MANILA – The Philippines and the United States (US) on July 4th pledged to strengthen bilateral relations as they marked the 60th anniversary of Philippine-American Friendship and the 230th anniversary of America’s Independence Day.

Several activities were held in celebration of the anniversary, including the inauguration of the photo exhibit “Partnership at 60" at the lobby of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) building on Roxas Blvd., Pasay City, by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and US Ambassador Kristie Kenney.

WASHINGTON D.C. – The Filipino American community in the greater Washington metropolitan area have expressed their outrage over the “unceremonious” dismissal of Ambassador Albert del Rosario by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo at the height of the Filipino American Centennial Celebration in the nation’s capital.

In an open letter to President Arroyo June 22, Filipino American organizations, community leaders and individuals expressed their collective shock and dismay over the “unprincipled manner in which his (the ambassador’s) exemplary service has been abruptly terminated.”

WASHINGTON D.C. – A bipartisan group of senators said after passing the comprehensive immigration bill last month that President George W. Bush should exert greater pressure on the House of Representatives which passed a stricter version of the bill last December.

WASHINGTON D.C. – The Washington Post, for the first time in years, gave front page coverage in its Style section of the Philippine Festival gala at the JWMarriott in its June 11 issue.

Titled “Where Everyone Gets to Tagalog – A Gala Evening Marks 100 Years of Filipino Fusion,” and written by Jose Antonio Vargas, the article described the June 10 gala as an evening where “the women donned colorful Maria Claras, a Spanish-inspired dress. The men wore carefully embroidered barong tagalogs, with fabric made from pineapple or banana cloth. The conversations were mostly in ‘Taglish,’ a fusion of Tagalog and English, both official languages of the Philippines.”

WASHINGTON – This year’s Philippine Festival Fair and Parade at the District’s Pennsylvania Avenue drew the biggest crowd ever since this annual tradition celebrating Philippine independence anniversary started in the 80s.

National Capital Region Chair Bing Branigin of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) based here, said: “I got estimates from authorities that some 25,000 people dropped in at this festival."

MANILA – Deposed President Joseph Estrada has presented video-footage to the Sandiganbayan court in which then Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo admitted conspiring with military and police generals to oust him a full year before his actual ouster. (See related story on p. 10)

The footage showed Arroyo admitting in a speech before her supporters at the Council of Philippine Affairs (Copa) at a Makati city hotel that she and five sets of generals, along with business groups and militant leaders, were plotting the ouster of Estrada as early as January 2000. Leftist groups earlier bared how Arroyo induced them to join the ouster plot.