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LTO-7 on high alert for Holy Week
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Land Transportation Office in Central Visayas (LTO-7) is on high alert starting March 24 to 31, for the Holy Week. The LTO-7 announced their “Oplan Biyaheng Ayos: Semana Santa and Summer Vacation 2024” in a press release last Friday. Director Glen Galario has instructed all LTO-7 district and extension offices.....»»
WPS tension: Chinese vessel blocks PH research ship
A China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel again made “dangerous maneuvers” on Thursday and tried to block a Philippine fishery vessel carrying marine scientists conducting research in the West Philippine Sea or WPS. Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the WPS, told a press briefing on Friday that CCG vessel 5204 crossed the.....»»
Summer is officially here, says Pagasa
Friday, March 22, 2024, has been declared as the official start of the summer season by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa). Dr. Nathaniel Servando, Pagasa chief, announced this during a press briefing, today. READ: Pagasa forecasts two days of 46°C heat index in La Union “Today, we officially declare the start of.....»»
The 10-year-old fashion influencer
Taylen Biggs has close to 1.5 million followers across TikTok and Instagram, a wardrobe full of designer clothes and 15 fashion weeks under her belt -- and she's 10 years old. Taylen arrived at last week's Balmain show, one of the hottest tickets of Paris Fashion Week, in a luxurious white jacket-and-skirt combo by the French label, black boots and bag by Karl Lagerfeld and her favourite Vintage Frames shades. She was followed, as always, by her cameraman. Also keeping a discreet distance was her "bodyguard", as she calls him, who also happens to be her father. "I love fashion and I love meeting new people and interviewing them and seeing what they have to say," she told AFP, before getting down to business with her microphone. Taylen, who lives in Miami, has interviewed the likes of DJ Khaled, popstar Kali Uchis and American Football star Patrick Mahomes, as well as a huge number of models, designers and fellow fashionistas. She is practically a veteran of red carpets, appearing at everything from the MTV Music Awards to the Superbowl, a regular at New York and Miami fashion weeks, and all over Milan and Paris for the past fortnight. "I really miss my family a lot," she said. "And I miss Miami. But I don't miss the food from Miami. I'm in love with the food here." Influencers are now the fashion industry's favoured form of media -- a direct line to the public and happy to trade goodies for coverage -- and age is no obstacle. Taylen's father, Josh Biggs, says he has largely given up his job as a construction contractor in Miami to work full-time as his daughter's assistant. "I travel with her everywhere she goes, I am her shadow," he told AFP. Asked if his daughter has become a business, he says: "People see her through the camera lens... but in real life, she's a child first and foremost." 'No qualms' Taylen landed her first modelling gig when she was 18 months old after her fashion-loving mother, a Colombian who came to the United States when she was 13, posted pictures of her on social media that were spotted by an advertising agency. She now runs her daughter's social media accounts and oversees home-schooling for Taylen and her two younger brothers. "We take school very seriously, it's priority number one," said her father. They worked through the summer so that Taylen could take a long break during the back-to-back fashion weeks in Milan and Paris in September. Taylen's father -- who says he has little interest in fashion -- says there is no pressure on his daughter to continue if she gets bored. "If she's ready to change and pursue a different career, then it's up to her," he said. "We will leave the fashion world in a second. There's no qualms about it." But Taylen seems to enjoy her job. "I'm really good with anyone," she said. "I'm really good with kids. I loooove children! And I really love adults -- I don't even get annoyed." The post The 10-year-old fashion influencer appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
DND chief: China charge ‘hypocritical’
China accusing the Philippines of being an environmental menace for allowing the rusting BRP Sierra Madre landing ship to remain moored at Ayungin Shoal is “hypocritical,” Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said. “The statement of China that the grounded Sierra Madre is causing irrevocable harm is, to put it as politely as possible, hypocritical,” Teodoro, reacting to Mao’s statement, told reporters on Saturday. Teodoro was reacting to Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning’s statement that the rusting BRP Sierra Madre ship was a pollutant and source of waste in the West Philippine Sea. The BRP Sierra Madre is a landing vessel deliberately grounded on Ayungin Shoal in 1995 to serve as an outpost manned by a platoon of Marines. Mao called the Philippines to tow the Sierra Madre away from the shoal. He urged to “stop polluting” the waters around it “if it really cares about the environment.” Philippine officials were not amused, however. The Office of the Solicitor General said it is considering filing a lawsuit against China before an international court for destroying corals in at least two key features in the WPS, namely, Rozul or Iroquois Reef and Escoda or Sabina Shoal. Pot calls kettle black “Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. China continues to damage the WPS with its illegal reclamation activities after it was found to be a violator of international law in the 2016 Arbitral Award when such activities damaged the marine environment,” Teodoro said. He described China’s remarks as mere “propaganda” to divert international attention from its illegal activities in the WPS. “Disingenuous propaganda lines such as this only serve to expose China’s insincerity and will only heighten the mistrust of the Filipino people and the rest of the world toward the Chinese government,” Teodoro said. China has repeatedly denied the Philippines’ sovereign right over the WPS based on the 2016 arbitral ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. Coral destruction, a crime The Chinese foreign ministry also recently criticized the Philippines for creating “political drama” when it alleged massive coral harvesting at Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal. “The destruction of corals goes far beyond drama. It is a violent act and a serious crime against humanity,” said Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “Stop making (allegations) that the BRP Sierra Madre is polluting the waters, but blame it (on) your numerous Chinese maritime militia vessels swarming the Philippines’ EEZ,” Tarriela said. Tarriela noted that the PCG conducted extensive underwater surveys of the seabed at both Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal. “The results of these surveys showed that the marine ecosystem in the subject features appeared to be lifeless, with minimal to no signs of life. Moreover, the surveys conducted at Escoda Shoal revealed visible discoloration of its seabed, strongly indicating that deliberate activities may have been undertaken to modify the natural topography of the underwater terrain,” he said. On Thursday, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the government would file environmental cases against China for its destructive activities in the WPS before the Permanent Court of Arbitration as it has a lot of evidence to pursue a case. Remulla said the case filing was not connected to the territorial dispute, maintaining that the “destruction of the environment is a sin against humanity.” On the other hand, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra confirmed the plan to file charges against China before the arbitral court. @tribunephl_raf The post DND chief: China charge ‘hypocritical’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
More heavy weapons, Ukraine pleads
Ukraine’s leaders have renewed calls on Western allies to increase deliveries of heavy weapons as 32 kamikaze drones from Russia attacked Kyiv overnight into Sunday. Air defenses shot down 25 of the attack drones with debris falling in several districts, damaging an apartment in a multi-story building, as well as road surfaces and power lines, Sergiy Popko, head of the Kyiv City Military Administration, wrote on Telegram. Popko added that one person was injured. Russia also said Sunday that it destroyed three military speedboats carrying Ukrainian soldiers in the Black Sea which Moscow claims were headed toward annexed Crimea. The attacks follow President Volodymyr Zelensky's statement in a cabinet conference on Saturday that slow weapons deliveries were hindering his troops’ counter offensive. New Defense Minister Rustem Umerov also called for more heavy weapons during the same conference. “We need them today. We need them now,” he said. “Ukrainian warriors today are sacrificing their lives for the core values of democracy and freedom. They need back up from you, dear partners. And this back up is weapons,” Umerov added. Deputy Intelligence Chief Vadym Skibitsky said Saturday that more than 420,000 Russian soldiers are deployed in occupied territories in the east and south of Ukraine. The figure “does not include the Russian National Guard and other special units that maintain occupation authorities on our territories,” he said. Ukraine launched its counteroffensive in June after stockpiling Western weapons, but has made limited gains as its troops encounter heavily fortified Russian defensive lines. Meanwhile, Russia’s forces in Ukraine have organized several days of voting in four regions — Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — that Moscow claims to have annexed. Hastily arranged mobile booths have been placed despite a gruelling Ukrainian counteroffensive and amid widespread reports that locals have been forced to take up Russian passports. Kyiv has denounced it as a sham and called on allies to condemn the “fake” vote. Its SBU security service warned it has a list of “collaborators” helping organize the voting, promising punishment. But Kremlin-installed officials pressed on with the vote, seeking long-term office in areas Kyiv has vowed to re-capture. WITH AFP The post More heavy weapons, Ukraine pleads appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Handwritten letters a lifeline in war-devastated Darfur
With no cell service or phone calls, people in Sudan's war-ravaged western region of Darfur are resorting to a bygone means of communication: handwritten letters, carried by taxi drivers. Ahmed Issa, 25, sits on a plastic chair in a roadside cafe, penning a message to relatives he left behind in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state. In the safety of El Daein, 150 kilometers (93 miles) southeast, he told AFP the letters are often the only way to get news in and out of his hometown, the second-biggest city in Sudan and the site of brutal battles between the regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. "Even at the start of the fighting, it was hard to get in touch with people in other neighborhoods inside Nyala," he said, nearly five months after the war began. The situation has only grown worse since, with horrific violence reported across Darfur, a region the size of France that is home to around a quarter of Sudan's 48 million people. They remember all too painfully the years-long war and atrocities that began in 2003. Hundreds of thousands were killed and more than two million displaced after the government of Omar al-Bashir unleashed the Janjaweed militia in response to a rebel uprising. Hunched forward in a black patterned shirt and a neat crew cut, Issa carefully folds his letter over and over. "You wait a week for the letter to arrive, and you don't know for sure if they'll get it," he told AFP. "And if they do, there's no guarantee they can send one back" through the treacherous roads in and out of Nyala. Three months ago, the West Darfur state capital of El Geneina seemed to be the nucleus of the fighting, becoming a symbol of the return of ethnic violence in Darfur. Western countries and the UN linked the violence to the RSF and its allies. It triggered the International Criminal Court to open a new investigation into alleged war crimes. Now Nyala is the centre of clashes between the army and the RSF. On one day last week 39 civilians, most of them women and children, were killed when shelling hit their homes in Nyala, medics and witnesses said. Over 10 days in August, more than 50,000 people fled Nyala's violence, according to the United Nations. Water and electricity networks quickly failed, compounding threats in a city where one in four people already needed humanitarian aid before the war, the UN said. The messenger Residents on Sunday looked up to see a new escalation of the violence: Air Force fighter jets -- whose strikes have been largely limited to the capital Khartoum -- were flying overhead. Their bombs struck both RSF bases and the residential neighborhoods they inhabit, witnesses told AFP. People will do anything to make sure their loved ones are alright, according to human rights defender Ahmed Gouja, who left Nyala but is trying to inform the world of the gruesome violence unfolding. Last week, he reported on Twitter, which is being rebranded as X, that five entire families were "killed in one day". He himself spent 16 days "with no info" about his family in Nyala, before finally reaching "one of my brothers who arrived at El Daein, searching for an internet signal". "We die every moment that passes while we are deprived" of news of loved ones, he wrote. For weeks, Suleiman Mofaddal has seen families like Gouja's walk through his El Daein office, a small room with yellow walls, anxious for news of those who cannot or refuse to leave their homes in Nyala. On his desk sits a pile of small, neatly folded paper rectangles, each with a name scrawled in blue ink. Some have a phone number, just in case the recipient gets cell service for even a moment. All wait to be handed to drivers on Mofaddal's team, who will carry the letters on their way to Nyala. "Most often, the recipient immediately writes a response and hands it back to the driver before he leaves," Mofaddal told AFP. Then the driver heads back out, hoping the road ahead won't be closed -- by either the bombs, militia checkpoints, or the downpours of Sudan's rainy season. The post Handwritten letters a lifeline in war-devastated Darfur appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
‘Art you can carry’
This is what homegrown brand FINO Leatherware calls its first collaborative artist-led project featuring the works of Kara Pangilinan. [gallery columns="2" size="full" ids="172271,172272"] Kara Pangilinan at work. [gallery columns="2" size="full" ids="172270,172273"] FINO Leatherware has always grounded its brand philosophy on Filipino artistry. FINO x KARA is a one-off collection of bags that features the artist’s hand paintings, dated and signed, and accompanied by a certificate of authentication. The 30-piece series is an ode to heritage with Pangilinan expressing the themes of local flora and fauna alongside the Filipina’s evolved identity. Slender palm fronds, gumamela and sampaguita flowers emerge from the bags’ panels, the leather’s varying colors from bright red to pastel hues setting off Pangilinan’s black and white strokes. The artist’s portraits of womenin traditional garb bridge generations, with one in particular revealing the gaze of a strong, modern Filipina. Since its founding back in 1992, FINO Leatherware has always grounded its brand philosophy on Filipino artistry, from the craftsmen to the creatives who’ve conceptualized collections. Its most recent campaigns paid tribute to Filipino culture, to include a wrist purse called Sipa, which is inspired by a local game, the Vinta bags and clutches that evoke the sailing tradition of Mindanao, and the Puso bags which takes its shape from a staple of Cebu’s street food — rice wrapped in banana leaves. Pangilinan was a student of architecture at the University of the Philippines when she began to try her hand at art. After earning her degree, she worked in an architectural firm for a few months before deciding on becoming a full-time artist. Murals and commercial works for brands such as Heineken, Globe and YouTube defined the early phase of Pangilinan’s journey. Simultaneously, she was developing a more personal practice, exploring various thematic concepts and her favored medium at that time, ink on paper. In the years that followed, Pangilinan diversified into acrylic painting to exploit the full color spectrum of the medium. For her collaboration with FINO, however, the artist returns to the palette that has defined the early phase of her career. The collection is introduced by none other than Miss Philippines Universe 2020 first runner-up Bella Ysmael, who epitomizes FINO’s ideal Filipina. She graces the FINO x KARA campaign which announces the release of the collection, available by the end of September in FINO’s flagship store in Rockwell’s Power Plant Mall. [gallery columns="2" size="full" ids="172279,172280"] “Having Bella on board was important for us,” says FINO co-founder Rose Ann Bautista. “We wanted the right woman to represent not just the new collection, but our new direction as well.” The post ‘Art you can carry’ appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
CINEMALAYA REVIEW: SHORTS A
‘SOTA’ Mae Tanagon opens her short documentary Sota by bombarding you with paragraphs and paragraphs of information. Sota means horse caretaker, and Tanagon follows two sotas, Arnel Arguelles and Leonardo Yambao, who expose their working conditions in the horse gambling industry. Tanagon aims to highlight the fact that while horse racing in the Philippines is a multibillion-peso industry, its workers are horrendously underpaid. Unfortunately, the lengthy texts that clutter the screen weaken Taganon’s storytelling, making her advocacy almost lost, because if you recall Sota in the future, you’d remember how it was a hassle reading the texts rather than the plight of underpaid horse caretakers. The subject matter has a potential to be a stirring documentary, the racetracks could have been more photogenic, but this feels dry and dull, and rushed. (1 out of 5 stars) ‘HINAKDAL’ [caption id="attachment_168108" align="aligncenter" width="700"] ‘HINAKDAL’ by Arvin Belarmino.[/caption] Arvin Belarmino’s black-and-white take on social prejudice is imaginative, funny and tense. Set in a remote province, it follows an impoverished zombie mother and young son during one of their ordinary days. They are poor and rely on religious icons for their everyday salvation. But the appearance of a chicken thief suddenly disrupts their relatively peaceful life. Belarmino’s choice to portray the poor sector of the country as zombies is rather fascinating, adding a touch of surrealism and fantasy without compromising entertainment value and sharp social commentary. (3 out of 5 stars) ‘KOKURYO: THE UNTOLD STORY OF BB. UNDAS 2019’ [caption id="attachment_168104" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] ‘KOKURYO: The Untold Story of Bb. Undas 2019’ by Diokko Manuel Dionisio.[/caption] Diokko Manuel Dionisio’s Kokuryo is a comedic portrait of friendship, poverty and transgenderism. While the student film (Dionisio is a graduating film student from La Salle-Benilde) has audio problems and poor resolution, the visual composition and costumes are breathtaking. Plus, Mindy Jane Castillo has a powerful onscreen presence, managing to hook you from beginning to end. In the aftermath of a small-time trans pageant contest called Bb. Undas 2019, the winner (Castillo) finds 50 percent of her prize money missing. She and best friend (Thalia Nagaño) go on a search, which is often funny albeit the amateur performances from some of the supporting cast. It culminates in a heartbreaking ending, with a most beautiful shot for a finale. (3 out of 5 stars) ‘HM HMM MHM’ [caption id="attachment_168106" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] ‘HM HMM MHM’ by Sam Villa-Real and Kim Timan.[/caption] The title alone is pretentious and contrived. Sam Villa-Real and Kim Timan’s Hm Hm Mhm uses stop motion for a story on domestic violence. Using dolls, with the central character a little girl doll and Barbie and Ken as its parents, the filmmakers produce somewhat surreal, nightmarish imagery. The film removes dialogue and incorporates dreamy sequences, rage, slithering vines and what looks like a woman’s reproductive organ (or a womb). The vibe is sinister, with a constant feeling of trouble and unrest. While there is a hint of domestic violence going on, the chaotic visuals make the storytelling incoherent. The film ends up more like an exercise in stop-motion rather than using the animated technique for a more effective way of saying whatever it wants to say. (0 out of 5 stars) ‘SIBUYAS NI PERFECTO’ [caption id="attachment_168113" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] ‘SIBUYAS Ni Perfecto’ by January Yap.[/caption] Januar Yap’s subdued drama follows an old man, Perfecto, with his worn-out slippers, carrying on his back a heavy basket of vegetables to deliver to his “friend,” Sir Eddie (whom we never see). The fact that Perfecto calls the man “sir” and feels honored that Eddie is his “friend” who trusts him with the delivery quickly establishes how Perfecto is very simple-minded and trusting. The fact that Eddie lets Perfecto walk miles and miles and miles to deliver vegetables to his doorstep, and Perfecto’s friend says Eddie is a con man, allow us to immediately know that Perfecto is a victim of abuse of men with money and power — the Sir Eddies of the world. Yap manages to make the viewer experience Perfecto’s suffering by allowing the viewer to experience the great distance he has to travel to get to Eddie’s house. This is a painful portrait of innocence and naivete, as well as the socioeconomic hierarchy where Perfecto is at the bottom of the chain. The ending is pretty strong. (3 out of 5 stars) The post CINEMALAYA REVIEW: SHORTS A appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Romulo Cafe: Honoring a matriarch and her culinary specialties
“It all started as my husband’s idea,” Sandie Romulo Squillantini, owner of Romulo Café, shared over an unforgettable lunch of the culinary favorites of her paternal family, the Romulos, whose fame and distinction began with the founding father, the legendary diplomat, general and writer, Carlos P. Romulo Sr. The old world setting of this delightful repast was at Romulo Café in Bonifacio Global City, a pleasant incongruity in a place replete with 21st century steel and glass skyscrapers. Sandie, the daughter of General Romulo’s son, lawyer Ricardo or “Dick,” and his wife, Teresita “Tessie,” herself the daughter of the late envoy Jose Romero, the first Philippine ambassador to the Court of Saint James, and her husband, Enzo, were dining at the Prince Albert Rotisserie of the Hotel Intercontinental Manila and were looking at the restaurant's Romulo Room, when he remarked, “You know, it’s too bad that not everybody can see these pictures of your lolo and his life. Why don’t we put up a restaurant for other people to see and learn about his life?” It was an idea that immediately clicked between the two of them, being familiar with the restaurant business as operators of corporate cafeterias and executive lounges. As to what food to serve, both agreed on serving the Romulos’ favorite daily and special dining fare that her grandmother, Virginia (nee Llamas), Philippine Carnival Queen of 1922, served the family and guests, including international dignitaries. An initial effort was to put together her Lola Virginia’s recipes, which, was not exactly difficult, “considering that the family was using it anyway. Next, they looked for a place and decided on the Tomas Morato area. “We were enamored by an old house which fit our purpose. Then, we brought our friend, interior designer Ivy Almario. We showed her pictures of our grandparents’ old house in Forbes Park called Kasiyahan, from which she took inspiration. That’s why the place is basically black and white because our dining room was black and white.” [gallery size="large" columns="2" ids="133445,133430"] Kasiyahan, a one-hectare property along Mckinley Road that also contained the homes of the Romulo sons and their families, has since been converted into the Kasiyahan Town Homes by the Zobel de Ayala group. It was the setting of many formal dinners hosted by the General and his wife, and its reincarnation today in Romulo Café, according to Sandie, “reflects the original elements of the storied home, including the hanging lamps and the wrought iron furniture, as well as the homey furniture. Ivy, thankfully, captured that old Filipino ambience typical of the genteel homes of the 1950s and 1960s era.” Sandie could not help feeling nostalgic, as she recalls that “while each of the Romulo sons and their families had a place to stay, we cousins, five boys and five girls, spent a lot of time together. We were one another’s playmates and we saw the weekly parties that our elders hosted for dignitaries including presidents, prime ministers and royalty. “It was our happy place as my grandparents intended it, that’s why they named it Kasiyahan. In Baguio, our home was called Kaligayahan.” Interestingly, other than the United Nations leaders and international politicians like Robert F. Kennedy, the Romulos also entertained celebrities, among them Burt Bacharach, “That’s why I have displayed his photo on the wall of Romulo Café, Sandie said.” But if there was much merriment in the company of the Romulos, there was also great food which, of course, enhanced the overall atmosphere of conviviality. A family signature dish is her Lola Virginia’s chicken relleno, “the recipe for which I was able to get, that’s why our relleno is still made at home and not in a restaurant. It is a Sunday dish for the family.” Sandie was only seven years old when her lola passed on, but earlier, she has tasted many of the family’s. That she could lay claim to having “witnessed” how her lola whipped up her dishes is due to her lola’s cook continuing in the service of the family. “Lola taught her how to cook the dishes that the family loved and enjoyed, so she kept cooking them long after lola was gone. From our old house, I got her,” Sandie explains. Of course, she found out too her lola’s secret ingredients. “Since she was in the United States, she had to look for substitutes for stuff she couldn’t find. For example, chorizo then was not easily available, so she used Vienna sausage. So, she had to revise her recipe. She was very innovative. [gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="133425,133426"] “She also had to modify some dishes to suit the palace of her international guests. For example, many guests didn’t like their adobo oily, so she made sure to do it differently from the way we would want to enjoy the adobo that we are used to having. She used pork that was not fat but kept the vinegar, of course. Since the setting mattered, it had to be pleasant and all that, she opened her windows every time she cooked adobo so the house won’t end up smelling like food. Of her lola Virginia, the little girl Sandie saw her “being always in the kitchen attending to the food. So she would be in the kitchen to prepare dinner. We grandchildren would be around too because we all took dinner together on the dining table at seven o’clock sharp.” Among the things she loved to cook, according to Sandie, was “steak and lots of foot stuff from her Pagsanjan hometown.” Her lolo Carlos, on the other hand, loved his halo-halo. “He loved sweets. He would not eat food, but he would eat halo-halo, ice cream and malagkit like bibingkang suman. That’s why we have lots of that at Café Romulo.” Her lolo, she shares, “loved to eat. He belonged to the Chain de Rotisseurs. That was his thing. He loved restaurants. He would take us to dinner every week, whoever wanted to come. These were usually in his favorite restaurants like Hyatt Hotel’s Japanese restaurant, Tempura Misono, Au Bon Vivant, Las Conchas and Prince Albert And when someone was celebrating a birthday, he would tell the celebrator, “Okay choose what restaurant you want to eat in”. Then he would take us. But every week, he’d take us out to dinner, whoever wanted to come. So, he really loves food. [caption id="attachment_133424" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] photograph by sonny espiritu for the daily tribuneKARE-KARE.[/caption] But if the general loved food, there was one big caveat. “He was very much a stickler for dining manners,” Sandie says. “He was not uptight, though, because he could be relaxed and good-homored , but he was very strict about time. If he tells you, you be in dinner at seven, you better be standing already or going close to the kitchen by 10 to seven. Because if you’re not there, especially if you’re a journalist, he’ll tell you you’re late. He was also very strict about dress code. If he tells you, it’s black tie, you better be in black tie and the girls better be in long gown. One time an ambassador came in a suit. And he said to an ambassador, when he was saying hello, “Oh, Mr. Ambassador. I’m glad you’re early. You have time to go home and change into your black tie”. These are but few of the stories and anecdotes about General Carlos P. Romulo and how he regarded food and the art of eating, especially find dining. It is in the same vein of propriety and pleasantry that the great old man espoused, along with his wife’s insistence on preparing and serving food at their best, that Sandie and Enzo Squillantini have created Café Romulo. You are cordially invited to enjoy the specialties that were once prepared by the grand lady of the Romulo home in this beautiful restaurant reminiscent of the glory days of yore, just make sure you are properly dressed, you know your manners, and you know how to engage in polite conversation. [gallery columns="2" size="large" ids="133448,133449"] The general and his lady may no longer be around but they are in every detail that makes fine dining in this iconic restaurant indeed an epicurean pleasure and an exercise in charm and refinement. Another family favorite is kare-kare, which the family calls Tito Greg’s kare-kare “because it was to him, her second son, that our lola passed on her recipes and he has made her kare-kare his specialty, too.” Sandie was only seven years old when her lola passed on, but earlier, she had tasted many of the family’s favorite dishes. That she could lay claim to having “witnessed” how her lola whipped up her dishes is due to her lola’s cook continuing in the service of the family. “Lola taught her how to cook the dishes that the family loved and enjoyed, so she kept cooking them long after lola was gone. From our old house, I got her,” Sandie explained. Of course, she found out too her lola’s secret ingredients. “Since she was in the United States, she had to look for substitutes for stuff she couldn’t find. For example, chorizo then was not easily available, so she used Vienna sausage. So, she had to revise her recipe. She was very innovative. “She also had to modify some dishes to suit the palate of her international guests. For example, many guests didn’t like their adobo oily, so she made sure to do it differently from the way we would want to enjoy the adobo that we are used to having. She used pork that was not fat but kept the vinegar, of course. Since the setting mattered, it had to be pleasant and all that. She opened her windows every time she cooked adobo so the house won’t end up smelling like food. Of her lola Virginia, the little girl Sandie saw her “being always in the kitchen attending to the food. So she would be in the kitchen to prepare dinner. We grandchildren would be around, too because we all took dinner together on the dining table at seven o’clock sharp.” Among the things she loved to cook, according to Sandie, was “steak and lots of food stuff from her Pagsanjan hometown.” Her lolo Carlos, on the other hand, loved his halo-halo. “He loved sweets. He would not eat food, but he would eat halo-halo, ice cream and malagkit like bibingkang suman. That’s why we have lots of that at Café Romulo.” Her lolo, she shares, “loved to eat. He belonged to the Chain de Rotisseurs. That was his thing. He loved restaurants. He would take us to dinner every week, whoever wanted to come. These were usually in his favorite restaurants like Hyatt Hotel’s Japanese restaurant, Tempura Misono, Au Bon Vivant, Las Conchas and Prince Albert. And when someone was celebrating a birthday, he would tell the celebrator, Okay choose what restaurant you want to eat in. Then he would take us. But every week, he’d take us out to dinner, whoever wanted to come. So, he really loves food.” But if the general loved food, there was one big caveat. “He was very much a stickler for dining manners,” Sandie said. “He was not uptight, though, because he could be relaxed and good-homored, but he was very strict about time. If he tells you, you come to dinner at seven, you better be standing already or going close to the kitchen by 10 to seven. Because if you’re not there, especially if you’re a journalist, he’ll tell you you’re late. He was also very strict about dress code. If he tells you, it’s black tie, you better be in black tie and the girls better be in long gown. One time an ambassador came in a suit. And he said to an ambassador, when he was saying hello, “Oh, Mr. Ambassador. I’m glad you’re early. You have time to go home and change into your black tie.” It is in the same vein of propriety and pleasantry that the great old man espoused, along with his wife’s insistence on preparing and serving food at their best, that Sandie and Enzo Squillantini have created Café Romulo. You are cordially invited to enjoy the specialties that were once prepared by the grand lady of the Romulo home in this beautiful restaurant reminiscent of the glory days of yore. The general and his lady may no longer be around but they are in every detail that makes fine dining in this iconic restaurant indeed an epicurean pleasure and an exercise in charm and refinement. The post Romulo Cafe: Honoring a matriarch and her culinary specialties appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Family’s frustration 30 years after racist murder rocked Britain
Thirty years after the murder of their son in a racist attack, Stephen Lawrence's parents are tired of broken promises. They have heard Britain's biggest police force talk about reform many times since a gang of white youths stabbed the black 18-year-old to death. The brutal killing shocked Britain and sparked calls for an overhaul of policing. It led to a damning official review in 1999, which found the force carried out a flawed murder investigation marred by "institutional racism" and recommended a series of changes. But last month, a new review following a spate of fresh police scandals, found racism still rife in the force, along with misogyny and homophobia. "I don't see any change," Neville Lawrence told AFP after giving a talk in central London to mark the anniversary of his son's murder. He said black people still fear the force will not protect them, and vowed to make life safer for his young relatives so they can "walk the streets and not worry about getting stabbed". Stephen had wanted to be an architect, and his father described being "robbed" of the chance to see him grow up and fulfil his ambitions. Battle for justice On the night of his death, 22 April 1993, Stephen was waiting for a bus with his friend Duwayne Brooks in south London. The gang shouted racist abuse before they attacked. Brooks remembers Stephen running fatally wounded from the scene, asking: "What's happened to me?" The suspects were well known in the area, but the mishandled initial murder investigation meant it took the family years of tireless campaigning before two members of the gang were jailed in 2012 after new forensic evidence came to light. Three others were never prosecuted. In recent years, Metropolitan Police officers have faced outrage over their treatment of black Londoners -- from routinely using disproportionate force to strip-searching schoolchildren. Stephen's mother Doreen Lawrence -- now a member of the UK's upper house of parliament -- said this week that the police force had not changed and officers could still be "as brutal as they want" without being held accountable. "I don't know how many more inquiries and how many reviews you need to have to say the same thing -- and still no changes, and still denials," she told the BBC. Over-policed, under protected Suresh Grover, founder of The Monitoring Group anti-racism charity, has been involved in the Lawrence family's campaign for justice since the outset. He said the family was promised "a proper attempt at addressing institutional racism" -- but the latest review showed the force had failed. "What little trust people had is gone -- it's got worse", he said. In Britain, April 22 is officially recognized as "Stephen Lawrence Day". The family will hold a memorial service in a church near Trafalgar Square, which the mayor of London and opposition party leader Keir Starmer are set to attend. On the eve of the anniversary, the head of the Metropolitan Police admitted the force had failed black communities in the three decades following Stephen's death, saying they had been left feeling "over-policed and under-protected". Mark Rowley paid tribute to the family's long battle for justice, acknowledged "systemic biases" in the force, and pledged to "finally" make it anti-racist. But he did not use the term "institutional racism", and his refusal to do so since the latest report's publication has been seen as a key sticking point in efforts to reform the service. "Until they can accept it, they can't fix it", Neville Lawrence said. The post Family’s frustration 30 years after racist murder rocked Britain appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Coffin stored in break room as Los Angeles funeral home overwhelmed
A corpse in the break room. Embalmed bodies in the garage. During AFP’s visit, a casket topped with a small wreath of flowers occupied the funeral home employee break room beyond the front desk Boyd Funeral Home, a small family business in Los Angeles, is so overflowing with Covid-19 victims it has begun turning away customers for the first time in its history. “The weekend before I turned down 16 families that I couldn’t do services for,” said owner Candy Boyd. “It’s sad. But that’s pretty much how it is now.” In the past two weeks, as coronavirus has slammed Los Angeles, some 80 percent of the deceased passing through her doors died from Covid. One-in-10 residents of the nation’s second largest city has been infected since the pandemic began, with nearly 300 people dying daily last week as the virus surges. At Boyd’s reception desk, the phones keep ringing, mostly going unanswered as her overwhelmed staff have abandoned setting appointments and now tell customers to just show up and get in line. She is even receiving calls from desperate families in other counties more than an hour’s drive away. Many hospital morgues are also full, with local coroners using refrigerated trucks to accommodate the victim load and some cemeteries warning of two week waiting lists. “Things are getting more and more out of control,” said Boyd. During AFP’s visit this week, a casket topped with a small wreath of flowers occupied the employee break room beyond the front desk. It had been there for a week. “This room is our lunch area, however, we are having to use this room for space for caskets,” said the owner. “We’ve done the services but the cemetery is so backed up… we have to hold them here until they have time to do the burial.” – Bodies in the garage – Like much of surrounding South Los Angeles, the Westmont neighborhood is mainly inhabited by Black and Latino working class communities living in densely populated homes. These demographics have been hit particularly hard by Covid, with mortality rates two or three times higher than nearby affluent communities. Boyd’s funeral home cold storage room has been consistently full. Two weeks ago, Boyd brought in craftsmen to erect two large wooden structures in the company’s garage to store embalmed bodies. “He hasn’t even gotten a chance to really finish because we needed (to store) these,” she said, pointing to corpses wrapped in body bags lying on the rough shelves. “I would never imagined having to build that in my wildest dreams.” Some funeral homes have reported a shortage of coffins due to lack of wood, though Boyd’s supplier has kept up with orders so long as they are placed early enough. – ‘Nightmares’ – Worried about her five staff catching the virus at the start of the pandemic, Boyd initially refused to accept Covid victims. “I was having nightmares. I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep,” she recalled. Boyd has since created safety protocols and now feels comfortable dealing with the influx, although she insists it is “not about the money.” “It’s about helping families and helping them get through this crisis,” she said. “It takes a toll on me every day, I’m dealing with this,” Boyd added. “And I have to keep a stolid face because I have to be there for the family.” Sometimes, customers are people she has long known personally. Other times, Boyd encounters families who still refuse to wear masks or respect physical distance, even as they make arrangements to bury their loved ones. “The numbers don’t lie. It’s true. It’s real,” said Boyd of the disease. Cases in California have more than doubled since early December to 2.8 million. “If you don’t take it serious,” she warned an AFP journalist, “you could be one of the people that are in my back row back there, you know!”.....»»
IATF rejects callfor increased capacity in churches
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has rejected calls from the Catholic Church to increase the allowed seating capacity for religious gatherings, after throngs of Black Nazarene devotees flocked to the church on Friday morning......»»
Coach Tab calls Philippines the Mecca of basketball
Tab Baldwin has been in the Philippines for five years now. First brought here to coach Gilas Pilipinas, the brilliant tactician has since assembled a juggernaut in Ateneo de Manila University which has won the past three championships in the UAAP. It didn't take long for Coach Tab to fall in love with the Philippines and, of course, that was all because of Philippine basketball. "I love the Philippines and I think one of the most endearing aspects of the Philippines is this is a basketball paradise. Everywhere you look there are players, there are teams, there are competitions, there are fans, there are facilities," he said in the inaugural episode of Coaches Unfiltered. "I can tell you from the countries that I've been that much of what I've said isn't there, never is all of it there. That includes the US." The American-Kiwi had been around in the international basketball circuit and his most successful stint prior to the Philippines was in New Zealand. For him, though, the Filipino homeland is something special. "This, to me, is the Mecca of basketball," he said. And for him, the fact that Filipinos are not necessarily built for basketball makes all of this more special. As he put it, "You may say we don't have the greatest players in the world and that's true. Demographically, we are challenged with our size, but that doesn't really impact the passion for the game, the love for the game." That fire and desire, first and foremost, the reason why Coach Tab views the Philippines as the center of basketball. "When you put on top of that that this is one of the most hospitable countries in the planet with one of the kindest, gentlest, and friendliest populations, I start to ask myself where else would I wanna be and there aren't too many answers to that questions," he said. Does that mean that he will retire here - just like Tim Cone, Norman Black, and Alex Compton did? "Retirement? Why not," he said. "And if then, I can still continue being part of the basketball community to help coaches, to help young players, even if they have to push me around in a wheelchair, why not?" Of course, nothing is set in stone. What is for sure, however, is that Tab Baldwin loves Philippine basketball and will only continue to do so. "I love this country. I love the basketball landscape here even with its flaws and I hope to be a part of helping better every aspect of it because I know (Philippine basketball) has done so much to better my life," he shared. He then continued, "I think I can show my appreciation for that in no better way than to submit myself to what is good for Philippine basketball." --- Follow this writer on Twitter, @riegogogo......»»
Australian PM calls for racism protesters to be charged
Black Lives Matter protesters should be punished for ignoring coronavirus lockdown rules Australia's prime minister said Thursday, sparking anger by also claiming slavery never existed in the country......»»
China urges ROK to stay prudent on South China Sea issue: Chinese FM
BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China urges the Republic of Korea (ROK) to stay prudent when it comes to the South China Sea issue, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Thursday. Lin made the remarks at a regular press briefing when responding to a media query about ROK Foreign Ministry Spokesperson's biased and unfactual comments on the South China Sea issue over the past few days. "China.....»»
PH media slam Chinese foreign ministry’s claims of manipulating WPS reports
Philippine media groups criticized the Chinese foreign ministry for suggesting that recent reports on Chinese harassment of Filipino vessels in the West Philippine Sea involved video manipulation and sensationalism to portray the Philippines as a victim. The Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap) and National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) expressed offense.....»»
Baltimore bridge accident: Freighter pilot called for tugboat help before plowing into bridge
BALTIMORE — The pilot of the cargo freighter had radioed for tugboat help and reported a power loss minutes before the Baltimore bridge accident, federal safety officials said on Wednesday, citing audio from the ship’s “black box” data recorder. The head of the National Transportation Safety Board also said that Francis Scott Key Bridge, a.....»»
Catch-up Fridays eased for teachers
JENIELITO "Dodong" Atillo, spokesperson of the Department of Education (DepEd-Davao), clarified during the AFP-PNP press conference held on Wednesday morning, March 27, 2024, at the Royal Mandaya Hotel, that the implementation of “Catch-up Fridays” has been streamlined to alleviate any perceived burden on teachers......»»
LIST: Dragonpay’s payment channels schedule for Holy Week
Some payment channels will have shortened hours of operation while others will be temporarily deactivated from March 27 (Holy Wednesday) to March 30 (Black Saturday)......»»