CNN hero gets Order of Lakandula
Manila Bulletin - Friday, November 27
CNN Hero of the Year Efren Peñaflorida has been conferred the Order of Lakandula, with a rank of komandante (commander) by President Arroyo.In a simple ceremony at Malacañang's Reception Hall, the President awarded the order of political and civic merit to Peñaflorida for his "leadership, prudence, fortitude, courage and resolve in the service of one's people.""This recognition is not for Efren alone. Ito ay para din sa mga taong naniniwala at tumutulong sa amin," the 28-year-old pushcart educator said in an interview after the awarding ceremony.He also took opportunity to remind those aspiring to seek seats for the May, 2010 elections to protect and promote the welfare of the majority rather than their personal interests."Higit nilang alalahanin ang kapakanan ng iba bago ang sarili nilang personal na interes," he said.The CNN Hero of the Year said he and his group, Dynamic Teen Company, will remain non-partisan and will not endorse any political candidates for the national elections, including President Arroyo.Peñaflorida, who is among the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2009 following the seven-week online voting at CNN.com, said that the gruesome killing of more than 50 people in Maguindanao, including politicians, civilians and journalists, pained his heart expressing his sympathies to the families of the victims. "Nagdurugo ang puso ko sa balita na ito. Nakikidalamhati ako sa kanila."He said the replication of his "pushcart education" initiative is best affirmation that he had apart from the two awards he got in a week.Kenya has adopted his program in bringing education to poor children.Before the awarding, Peñaflorida had a meeting with Mrs. Arroyo who tapped presidential adviser for education Mona Valisno to identify poor communities who have high rate of unschooled children.The President directed Valisno to start educating the children at 5 years of age and to coordinate with non-government organizations in the area to improve their projects.Mrs. Arroyo said if Peñaflorida's pushcart education project became successful in Kenya, the government should also adopt this project to reach children from far-flung areas.

(UPDATE) Noynoy files COC for president
ABS-CBN - Saturday, November 28
(UPDATE) Noynoy, Mar file COCs
MANILA - The surroundings of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Intramuros, Manila was almost covered by yellow as Liberal Party's (LP) Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for president on Saturday.
Hundreds of supporters clad in yellow shirts flooded the vicinity of the poll body's office, holding placards and raising yellow lanterns, shouting Pagbabago! Pag-asa! (Change! Hope!).
Aquino and his running mate, vice-presidential aspirant Sen. Manuel "Mar" Roxas filed their COCs shortly after 11 a.m..
The LP's senatorial candidates -- former Senator Franklin Drilon, Congressmen Rozzano "Ruffy" Biazon, Teofisto "TG" Guingona III and Akbayan Rep. Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel, former Congressman Nereus Acosta, former socioeconomic planning secretary Ralph Recto and Sonia Roco, widow of the late presidential candidate Raul Roco -- also filed their COCs.
Butch Abad, LP spokesman, told ANC that they are expecting to complete their 12-man senatorial ticket on Saturday.
Sen. Sergio Osmeña, who was supposed to be included in the LP senatorial ticket, filed his COC for senator on Friday as an independent.
The filing followed a 9 a.m. Mass at the Manila Cathedral and a short program held at a makeshift stage set up by the LP near the Comelec building. Shalani Soledad, Aquino's girlfriend, and the senators' sisters, including actress and TV host Kris Aquino, went to the Comelec to show support for the LP's presidential candidate.
"Good luck to Senator Noynoy and of course to Senator Mar and the whole Liberal Party. I hope the support from the people will not waver," Soledad told ABS-CBN News in an interview.
She said she is willing to accompany Aquino in sorties once the campaign period starts. She added that she is willing to do anything to help the senator win his presidential bid.
Aquino's supporters launched a fund-raising drive for his campaign on Friday (November 27), the birthday of national hero, the late senator Benigno Aquino Jr.
The senator also answered some tough questions from Boto Mo Patrollers head-on on Friday night, including his interest in the Hacienda Luisita and whether he is fit for the highest post of the land.
"Walang problema na i-transfer ang asset, basta walang utang... sa lupain," Aquino said.
The senator, the only son of the late senator and the late President Corazon Aquino, entered politics as representative of the 2nd District of Tarlac in 1998.
He ran for senator and won in the 2007 elections.
As a senator, he supported various bills including the Senate Bill 3121 or the Budget Control Act, which seeks to strengthen legislative oversight over executive spending.
Aquino held various positions in the Liberal party such as secretary-general and vice chairman. He is now the LP's executive vice president.
He is an economics graduate at the Ateneo de Manila University. With reports from ANC

Cadaver hunt in Philippines massacre ends: police

Cadaver hunt in Philippines massacre ends: police


MANILA (AFP) – Police have ended a grisly search for corpses and mass graves from an election-linked massacre in the southern Philippines, with the known death toll standing at 57, officials said Saturday.
The authorities dismissed several news reports that quoted a police official saying he had counted 64 bodies from the slaughter just off a farming road in the province of Maguindanao on Mindanao island.
"We ended the search yesterday," Senior Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, the police chief of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, told reporters by telephone.
"We have 57 bodies in our official list. Of course we are still checking and if there are reports of more bodies we will verify those. But so far, the information that we have is that the total has not changed."
Chief Superintendent Josefino Cataluna, the police chief of central Mindanao, also confirmed the toll.
The last 11 were pulled out from two adjacent mass graves on Wednesday, including five who were entombed along with three vehicles, police said.
The government has charged a local official in the area, Andal Ampatuan Jnr, with ordering and taking part in the killings. He surrendered to police Thursday and has been flown to Manila where he was detained.
On Friday Ampatuan Jnr was indicted of ordering his private militia of more than 100 gunmen to open fire on the group, which included relatives of rival Muslim politician, Esmael Mangudadatu, some journalists and passing motorists who had no known quarrel with the gunmen.
Ampatuan Jnr is a mayor in the southern Philippines who until this week was an ally of President Gloria Arroyo and a member of her ruling coalition.
Eight other members of the powerful Ampatuan clan have been invited for police questioning after witnesses also linked them to the killings.
The relatives and the journalists had been travelling to an election office to nominate Mangudadatu to run against Ampatuan Jnr for the post of provincial governor in next year's elections.

Pinoy named CNN 'Hero of the Year'

Pinoy named CNN 'Hero of the Year'
Philstar.com - Monday, November 23

Pinoy named CNN 'Hero of the Year'
MANILA, Philippines – A Filipino has received international recognition for his innovative effort in educating poor children.
Efren Peñaflorida, who started the “Kariton Klassroom” to bring education to poor children, has been named CNN Hero of the Year, the cable news network announced yesterday.
According to the CNN website, Peñaflorida was selected after getting the highest number of online votes, which reached 2.75 million in seven weeks.
The 28-year-old teacher from Cavite City bested nine other contenders from different countries.
Peñaflorida received the award from actress Eva Mendes at the conclusion of “CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute” held at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood on Saturday night in the US.
He received $100,000 cash to continue his work with his group, Dynamic Teen Company, according to CNN.
The cash prize is on top of the $25,000 bonus that Peñaflorida received after he was included in the top 10 CNN Heroes.
“Our planet is filled with heroes, young and old, rich and poor, man, woman of different colors, shapes and sizes. We are one great tapestry,” Peñaflorida said in his acceptance speech before an audience of about 3,000.
Peñaflorida urged the crowd to “be the hero to the next one in need.”
He also called on them to “serve well, serve others above yourself and be happy to serve.”
“As I always tell to my co-volunteers... you are the change that you dream as I am the change that I dream and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be,” Peñaflorida said.
As a child, Penaflorida chose education over gang life in Cavite City and vowed to create a way for other children to make the same choice.
Peñaflorida said he was occasionally bullied and beaten by street gangs, which prompted him to decide to come to the aid of street children and rescue them from poverty and neglect through education.
Peñaflorida created a program that brought books to children in slums and on the streets, and the 10,000 members of his Dynamic Teen Company have brought reading, writing and hygiene to 1,500 youngsters.
“My message to children of all races, please, to embrace learning and love it for it will embrace and love you back and enable you to change your world,” Peñaflorida said.
Peñaflorida’s group was first recognized after it won the Bayaning Pilipino award for its heroic work in bringing education to poor children in Cavite.
Since 1997, more than 10,000 volunteers are now helping in educating more than 1,500 kids in depressed areas in Cavite.
The group later launched the “Kariton Klassroom,” an innovative way of bringing the classroom to the children in the depressed areas.
The pushcart classroom is now complete with teaching aids, blackboards and even folding tables and chairs to allow children to sit and read materials provided in a mini-library – a far cry from the humble effort of loading the books and school supplies in large plastic bags.
Peñaflorida now earns a living as a public school teacher in Cavite but still continues his pushcart classrooms on weekends where volunteers have started teaching the street urchins of Manila.
Peñaflorida recalled that he and other volunteers had to endure discrimination and even being branded as “trash collectors” with their pushcarts whenever they carry out their noble mission.
The public, however, took notice of Peñaflorida’s ingenious way of bring education to poor children by nominating him to the CNN’s list of heroes for this year.
Peñaflorida was a member of Club 8586, a youth group in Cavite that financed his elementary and high school education.
When CNN early this year announced its annual search for Heroes, Club 8586 nominated Peñaflorida.
CNN’s Blue Ribbon Panel sifted through 9,000 nominees from over 100 countries, and soon narrowed down its choices to 28. On Oct. 1 (Oct. 2 in Manila), CNN announced its top 10 finalists for its Hero of the Year. Peñaflorida made it.
A brief moment of triumph
Peñaflorida said his inclusion in CNN’s Top 10 “gave Filipinos a breath of fresh air, a brief moment to cheer and celebrate,” since the Philippines was still reeling from the weeklong floods and devastation wrought by storms “Ondoy” and “Pepeng.”
During gala night, the top 10 CNN Heroes, chosen by a blue-ribbon panel from an initial pool of more than 9,000 viewer nominations, were each honored with a documentary tribute and introduced by a celebrity presenter, according to the Web site. Each of the top 10 Heroes received $25,000.
The finalists were selected by a panel that included former US secretary of state Colin Powell, Whoopi Goldberg and Ted Turner. The winner was chosen online by the public, with nearly 3 million votes cast.
The presenters during gala night included Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Neil Patrick Harris, Pierce Brosnan, Dwayne Johnson, Mendes, Randy Jackson, Greg Kinnear, George Lopez and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Grammy Award-winning artist Carrie Underwood, R&B crooner Maxwell and British pop sensation Leona Lewis performed during the gala event.
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper hosted the event that would be shown on Nov. 26, at 9 p.m. EST on CNN.
Before the announcement of winners, Peñaflorida told ABS-CBN that if Filipinos wanted to see change, they should start within themselves.
After receiving the honor, Peñaflorida said more poor and uneducated children will benefit from the award.
He said 90 percent of the cash grant would go to Dynamic Teen Company and the remainder would go to the Church.
“Nothing for me. I was here to represent the poor children (of the Philippines),” Peñaflorida said.
He added the several politicians who have started courting him after making it to the CNN’s top list would not make a difference.
Peñaflorida vowed to continue his work and offer himself as an example of an underprivileged kid who fell victim to violence driven by poverty and yet found a way to lift himself up.
For him, seeing the smiles of the children who rush to meet him when they spot his humble pushcart is enough reward for his efforts.
The Caviteño teacher could be hailed as another icon like boxing legend and seven-world titleholder Manny Pacquiao to many Filipinos.
But for Peñaflorida, as this year’s CNN Hero of the Year, the real heroes are the volunteers of Kariton Klassroom.
“And of course, for the Lord that allowed me to receive this award. He is the reason why I am here,” Peñaflorida said. - (Philstar News Service, www.philstar.com)

Pacquiao earns P1B from Cotto fight

Pacquiao earns P1B from Cotto fight
ABS-CBN - Saturday, November 21

Pacquiao earns P1B from Cotto fight
MANILA – Boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao will end up making $22 million or P1.03 billion for his 12th-round demolition of Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto last week.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum gave the new figure to ESPN.com after cable giant Home Box Office (HBO) said that the Pacquiao-Cotto “Firepower” generated 1.25 million pay-per-view (PPV) buys for a total worth of $70 million.
Despite losing his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown to Pacquiao, Cotto is estimated to receive $12 million for the fight.
The Firepower match was the third straight “blockbuster pay-per-view fight” for Pacquiao, who also scored 1.25 million PPV buys for his 8th-round beating of Oscar de la Hoya in December 2008, and 830,000 buys for his 2nd-round knockout of Ricky Hatton in May.
The Pacquiao-Cotto fight also generated a live gate of $8,847,550 from an official crowd of 15,930, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
The 12th-round technical knockout (TKO) by Pacquiao marked his seventh world title in as many different weight classes.
However, Pacquiao's legal counsel Jeng Gacal said his client's earnings are still subject to cuts such as taxation and other fees.
"Kung anong nababasa nyo sa dyaryo, hindi yun ang income ni Manny. Una, kailangan nya magbayad ng tax sa Amerika so less 30 percent sa Amerika. And then he has to pay his coach, na alam naman nating 10 percent, so that's already 40 percent. May iba pang gastos sa mga tao," said Gacal.
PPV numbers ups urgency for Pacman-Floyd The PPV numbers upped the urgency for all parties to get together for a clash between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., whose bout against Juan Manuel Marquez generated 1.05 million pay-per-view purchases in September.
Arum said a Pacquiao-Mayweather match will add to the resurgence of interest in the sport.
"The way I look at it now, boxing is really on a roll," Arum said. "We would be idiots now to slow the momentum, and the only way we can keep the momentum is to make this fight."
Pacquiao said Saturday that negotiations for his possible fight against Mayweather have already started.
"Nag-uusap na sila nina Bob Arum at Mayweather promoter. Nag-uusap na sila (Bob Arum and Mayweather's promoter are now talking)," Pacquiao said in a phone interview with Vice-President Noli de Castro over radio dzMM.
Pacquiao, who arrived in General Santos City on Saturday, said he will be informed about the results of the initial talks next month.
The Filipino boxer said earlier his camp was not trying to force a fight with Mayweather. He said that he would have to wait for a challenge from former pound-for-pound king before going into formal talks for their fight.
Pacquiao also boasted that his fights score more on pay-per-view.
Coach Freddie Roach earlier said they would have to engage in very tough negotiations with Mayweather because the American boxer believes he is the attraction and deserves more money.
Roach, however, pointed out that Pacquiao has all the leverage in the possible match-up because of his boxing style, which brings in more viewers. With reports from Joseph Pimentel, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau, and Agence France-Presse

Avid Fan

A fan of Philippine boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao stands on a tree to get a good view of the victory motorcade of Manny along the streets of Manila on November 20, 2009. The Philippines rolled out the red carpet in a rock star reception for pound-for-pound king and newly crowned World Boxing Organisation welterweight champion Pacquiao.

AFP PHOTO/NOEL CELIS (Photo credit should read NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Fans of Philippine boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao

Fans of Philippine boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao scramble for his t-shirt thrown during a victory motorcade along the streets of Manila on November 20, 2009 as he returned after claiming his seventh career boxing title. The Philippines rolled out the red carpet in a rock star reception for pound-for-pound king and newly crowned World Boxing Organisation welterweight champion Pacquiao.

AFP PHOTO/NOEL CELIS (Photo credit should read NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images)