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.com T H E F I L I P I N O –A M E R I C A N C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R
Volume 28 - No. 19 • 2 Sections – 16 Pages
Also published in LOS ANGELES, ORANGE COUNTY/INLAND EMPIRE, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY
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FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
Arum sees Pacquiao vs Horn fight as a blockbuster in Australia BOB ARUM loves how Australia is welcoming Manny Pacquiao’s upcoming title defense against local fighter Jeff Horn. In fact, the Top Rank Inc. boss is expecting the fight to pack the 55,000-seat Suncorp Stadium in Horn’s hometown of Brisbane on July 2. “Tremendous, absolutely tremendous, never seen anything like it, really,” Arum recently told Steve Kim of boxingscene.com, referring to the bout’s reception Down Under. Pacquiao will put his WBO welterweight championship on the line against Horn, who is unknown outside Australia. That’s why for Arum, staging the fight in the country is a sound business decision. “The whole country is engaged in it. The ticket sales have been absolutely enormous. It’s trending towards a sellout which will be around 55,000 and I’m sure that we’ll be up around past 40,000 by next week and on our way to a com-
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Duterte: PH’s future is with ASEAN, Asia President lauds China for increasing investments in PH
by FRINSTON LIM Inquirer.net
DAVAO CITY — President Duterte on Tuesday, May 16 emphasized the importance of forging economic ties with the country’s regional neighbors and highlighted his belief that “indeed the future of the Philippines is in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and in Asia.” Upon his return from a six-
day trip to two economic gatherings in the region, Duterte also underscored the growing importance of China as a source of huge investments for the Philippines even as the government embarks on an ambitious infrastructure development program. The “growing economies of Southeast Asia stands at the center of the Asia-Pacific…Responsible economic
partners are our new allies in nation-building and regional integration,” he said. Duterte said working with fellow member-states of the regional bloc could help “narrow the development gap.” “I spoke of opportunities of mutually beneficial partnership especially in the Philippines’ infrastructure development goal. With ‘Build, build and build,’ I invited the stakehold-
ers to take part in what is the largest effort to date to modernize and integrate the Philippines’ infrastructure,” the President said. In Phnom Penh, Duterte attended the World Economic Forum (WEF) before flying to Beijing for the two-day Belt and Road Initiative. He said his message in Phnom Penh “resonated, particularly our commitment to
by AJPRESS
Fil-Am teen killed in car crash after prom Mother sustains non-life threatening injuries
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Ombudsman to block moves to make Napoles state witness
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A FILIPINO-American teenage girl was killed in a car crash in the Bay Area on Sunday morning, May 14, as she and her mother were on their way home from senior prom. At around 2:30 a.m., 18year-old Shane Alexis Marcelino of Fremont, California was riding in the Filipino-American Shane Alexis Marcelino, p a s s e n g e r ’ s 18, of Fremont, California was killed in a car seat of black crash on Sunday morning, May 14, on her Toyota Yaris way home from senior prom. Photo from Marcelino’s GoFundMe driven by her page created by Noah Dela Rosa mother, Maria. Just a few blocks from the Marcelinos’ home, the Yaris attempted to make a left-hand turn, when it collided with a blue Chevy Malibu traveling in the opposite direction, according to various reports.
provide the enabling environment of business to thrive, with criminality addressed, corruption curbed and contractual obligations complied (with).” The President also met with China’s leaders, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, during the two-day event in Beijing, with leaders from both countries renewing their resolve to “strengthen
BEIJING’S BELT AND ROAD. More than two dozen world leaders pose for a ‘family photo’ with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the ‘Belt and Road’ forum in Beijing that ended Monday, May 15. (In the front row, from left) Vietnam’s President Tran Dai Quang, Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Xi, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Kyrgyzstan’s President Almazbek Sharshenovich Atambayev (top row, from left) Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
THE Office of the Ombudsman will block any moves to turn Janet Lim Napoles into a state witness in the planned reinvestigation of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), according to Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales. “As far as the prosecution is concerned, [Napoles] is one of the principal alleged malefactors. Certainly the OSP (Office of the Special Prosecutor) will block any attempt to make her state witness,” Morales told reporters on Tuesday, May 16. Last week, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II revealed that the Department of Justice (DOJ) will conduct a new investigation into the PDAF, also referred to as the pork barrel scam. Napoles, the supposed mastermind of the operation, is being considered as a state witness. While the DOJ has discretion to conduct a new probe into the PDAF case, Morales maintained that it is her office, not the DOJ, which has the final say on whether or not to
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CA approves Cayetano appointment as new Dept. of Foreign Affairs chief by DANA
SIOSON AJPress
THE Commission on Appointments (CA) has approved the nomination of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano as the new chief of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). Cayetano’s appointment met no opposition from the members of the CA committee on foreign affairs led by Senator Panfilo Lacson. His nomination was approved
in less than five minutes before he could even deliver his opening statement on Wednesday morning, May 17 — which, according to Lacson, is likely the “shortest confirmation hearing of a Cabinet Secretary.” The CA committee referred Cayetano’s confirmation to the plenary in the afternoon. It also approved the motion to confirm his nomination without objection. Cayetano’s approval came a week after President Rodrigo
Duterte announced his nomination on May 10, after the one-year appointment ban on losing candidates in the May 2016 elections ended. Thanking the CA for the “swift and painless” confirmation, Cayetano reiterated that he will do his best as the new DFA chief. “I will make a commitment to you today that I will do my best Senator Alan Peter Cayetano (right) is congratulated by Acting Foreign na hindi po kayo mapahiya (to not Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo after a Commission on Appointments embarrass you),” Cayetano said, panel approved his nomination as DFA secretary on Wednesday, May 17.
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Inquirer.net photo by Maila Ager
Marcos asks Supreme Court to designate hearing House kills Duterte impeachment rap officers for poll protest, hasten proceedings by
DELON PORCALLA Philstar.com
by DANA
SIOSON AJPress
FORMER Senator and defeated vice presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. urged anew the Supreme Court (SC), sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), to speed up the proceedings in his election protest against Vice President Leni Robredo. In a seven-page urgent motion dated May 12, Marcos asked the Former Senator and defeated vice presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos
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MANILA - Deemed lacking in substance, the impeachment complaint against President Duterte met an early end at the House committee on justice on Monday, May 15. All 42 of the 50 committee members present at the hearing voted to declare the complaint lacking in substance, effectively consigning it to the trash bin. Forty-one voted that it was sufficient in form. “We will convene again so
that the committee will make its report and submit this to the plenary,” committee chairman Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali said after banging the gavel to signal the adjournment of the nearly five-hour hearing on the matter. House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas made it clear to complainant-endorser Rep. Gary Alejano of party-list Magdalo that it was only “for the sake of liberality” that the committee had acknowledged the complaint as having complied with requisites,
as per their agreement in an executive session. Alejano’s complaint was based on allegations Duterte had amassed ill-gotten wealth and ordered the killing of thousands in the course of his war on drugs. In a supplemental complaint, Alejano also accused Duterte of failing to defend the country’s sovereign rights and territorial claims when he reportedly allowed Chinese presence in Benham Rise in the Philippine Sea. Fariñas said lawmakers can-
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