As the year is about to end, I am hopeful like other Filipinos that our country will move up to become an upper middle-income country earlier than the 2025 forecast. Economists have painted a rosy growth prospect for the country and according to the World Bank, the Philippines has been one of the most dynamic economies in the East Asia and Pacific region. Infrastructure plays an important role in a country’s economic development and to further spur development, there is a need to invest more in infrastructure.  Big-ticket infra projects were undertaken by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr ..read more

Two movies starring Dolly de Leon and a documentary about the 2022 presidential campaign of former vice president Leni Robredo are going to premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in January 18 to 28. This is gleaned in the 40th Sundance Film Festival website as it released its full line-up of entries for this year’s edition where a majority are up for distribution. Sundance received a record-breaking 17,435 entries, including 4,410 feature-length films — more than half of which came from outside the United States, it was reported. Among the 82 feature film entries s ..read more

Unless something drastic will occur between now and the convention of the party, former president Donald Trump will likely be the GOP’s standard bearer for the 2024 presidential derby! What if he is not, will he run as an independent? Statistics show that he is leading his GOP opponents by a big margin at 44% although former cabinet of Trump Nikki Haley is on the rise dislodging second placer Florida Governor Ron De Santis in some states. As I See It, there is a formula for the Republican Party to deny Trump as the party’s standard bearer. How? Well, if the remaining candidates will be a ..read more

By Jennifer T. Santos Movie and theater actor Piolo Pascual copped the 2023 Entertainer of the Year award at rites held at the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel, which was jampacked with fans of the winners of the more than 50 categories. Alice H. Reyes, Aliw Awards Foundation Inc. president, said the Legacy awardees were Lisa Macuja Elizalde for Dance, Boots Anson Rodrigo for live entertainment, Cecile Guidote Alvarez for theater, Dante Arevalo Ang for public relations and publishing, Ramon S. Ang for entrepreneurship and philanthropy, and Boy Abunda for broadcast media and live entertai ..read more

Miss Universe 2010 4th runner-up Venus Raj has  married her non-showbiz partner. “Today is the day that the Lord has made,” the Doha, Qatar-born Venus whose full name cis Maria Venus Bayonito Raj-Orillan, wrote  on Instagram. The former beauty queen, actress and model, who is 35, did not name her partner whom she described as a “man of God.” Manila media later reported her husband to be North Orillan. On Instagram, wedding photographer Pat Dy shared photos of the newlyweds from their special day. Venus wore a classic white gown with a straight across neckline sty ..read more

There is no better place to celebrate the Christmas season than right here, in the Philippines.  It is what draws  so many ecpatriates to the land of their birth every December..  This year , several members of my family  will be coming home, all the way from California and New Jersey.  Birdie Reyes III will be here for the Aliw Awards event, as will his sister Yasmin Assad and her children Chilli and Brison, Sol too will Erle  and Sara Reyes with their grandma, Erlie Mendoza,  Besides attending functions in Manila, they will be going out of town, to Tagaytay ..read more

Veteran and award-winning actor Ronald James Dulaca Gibbs, best known by his screen name Ronaldo Valdez, died on Sunday. He was 6. The cause of his death was not disclosed but the Quezon City Police admitted they are investigating thoroughly the circumstances of his death. Initial reports indicated Valdez was found with a gunshot wound while seated on a chair in his room with a gun allegedly in his hand, suggesting he might have accidentally pulled the trigger. The QC police district said they subjected the area and the gun for paraffin tests. All of his home companions also underwent paraffin ..read more

By Beting Laygo Dolor, Editor MANILA —  The Movie and Television Ratings and Classification Board (MTRCB) this week suspended the shows of former President Rodrigo Duterte and Lorraine Badoy and Jeffrey Celiz aired over Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI). The reasons cited were Duterte’s death threats and use of profane language, while for Celiz and Badoy it was the false and unverified claim on the Speaker’s travel funds, as well conflicting testimony on their roles in the station as well as advertising revenues. The MTRCB serves as the country’s board of censors, while SMN ..read more

It will very definitely be appealed before the US Supreme Court, but in a shocking decision this week, the Colorado Supreme Court removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot, throwing a monkey wrench to his plan to retake the White House. The Colorado high court ruled that Trump is not an eligible presidential candidate based on the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.” Ruling four in favor and three against, the Colorado SC’s decision will be placed on hold until January 4, next year, to give time for Trump to appeal the decision. The matter needs to be settled b ..read more

Our niece and her husband are traveling to the Philippines in January, 2024 together with their first granddaughter whose mother is Russian and now a U.S. immigrant.   They asked me what’s needed to have Parental Travel Permit so that they will not encounter problems traveling with their granddaughter from San Francisco to Manila and then to the province in Pangasinan, Philippines. Our niece and her husband fully realized the need to have a Parental Travel Permit (PTP) to be signed both by the granddaughter’s father (who is Filipino American) and the granddaughter’s mother (who is Russian ..read more