Monthly Archives: December 2014

Law Enforcement, Politics

WHAT JAILED PHILIPPINE SENATORS GOT FOR CHRISTMAS

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L-R: Senators Estrada, Revilla and Enrile

Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – Christmas, especially for Filipinos, is a time for giving, compassion and goodwill. So what did jailed Philippine Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla get for Christmas?

The three senators are facing plunder and graft charges for their alleged involvement in the purported diversion of their Priority Development Assistance Funds (more popularly known as the pork barrel scam) to ghost projects for kickbacks under the scheme of alleged mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

  • Revilla, who from the beginning of his incarceration has complained about prison food, was treated to a Christmas eve dinner (Noche Buena), courtesy of Via Mare, one of the top caterers in the country.
  • Estrada, who has been experiencing migraines because of the heat inside his prison cell, was given a portable airconditioner courtesy of Hitachi Corporation.
  • Enrile, known for his womanizing, was granted visitation rights from his mistresses or anyone of his choosing, at his hospital suite.  Enrile is under hospital arrest at the Philippine National Police (PNP) General Hospital.

In addition, Revilla and Estrada held a joint Christmas party at the community social hall at the PNP Custodial Center.

All these Christmas perks were, of course, courtesy of President NoyNoy Aquino, a devout Catholic, who wanted to show his humanitarian and Christian qualities.

As for Janet Lim-Napoles, she reportedly received a laptop and free Internet connection so that she could watch and re-watch the YouTube video of her daughter Jeanne Napoles’  21st Hollywood birthday bash.

Film and TV, Politics, The Media

VICE GANDA’S INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT AQUINO WILL NOT AIR AFTER ALL

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Vice Ganda, left, in a scene from the film, 'Praybeyt Benjamin 2.'
Vice Ganda, left, in a scene from the film, ‘Praybeyt Benjamin 2.’

Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The much-talked about one-on-one interview by Filipino comedian Vice Ganda with President NoyNoy Aquino will not be airing on January 4 as originally scheduled.

The reason? Vice Ganda’s entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), ‘Praybeyt Benjamin 2,’ did not win any award at Saturday’s closing ceremony. Aquino’s nephew, Bimby, son of presidential sister Kris Aquino, also stars in the film.

In the film, Private Benjamin “Benjie” Santos (Vice Ganda) has been promoted to colonel in the Philippine army and has made a name for himself as a modern day national hero. But when Benjie starts taking his reputation and his duties for granted, he is forced under the service of General Wilson Chua (Richard Yap) to try and thwart a terrorist plot to bomb areas around the Philippines. It just so happens that the only person who knows where the bombs are is a young boy named Bimby (Bimby Aquino).

The interview with President Aquino was arranged by Kris as a way to promote the film and gain favor with the film festival jurors.

Immediately after the announcement of the film festival awards — in which ‘Praybeyt Benjamin’ failed to garner a single award —  Malacañang (the presidential palace) announced that it was withdrawing permission to Vice Ganda to air the taped interview.

“We don’t want the Filipino TV viewers to be reminded about the poor performance of the film,” said Kris Aquino.

The taped interview was all about the film and how President Aquino feels about his actor nephew. No other topics or issues of national and international concern were discussed.

The big winner in the MMFF was the film about one of the Philippines’ great heroes, ‘Bonifacio.’

 

Film and TV, The Media

CNN’S DON LEMON NAMED ‘ANCHOR OF THE YEAR’

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CNN's Don Lemon
CNN’s Don Lemon

Atlanta, Georgia (The Adobo Chronicles) – CNN has added another feather to its cap when one of its news anchors, Don Lemon, received a prestigious recognition from a prestigious journalism entity, the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR).

CJR‘s “Darts & Laurels” blog released its annual “worst” review on Monday, handing out its dubious “DART” awards to outlets like Rolling Stone (for its infamously bungled UVA rape story), CBS’ 60 Minutes (for failing to interview a single local for a piece on African Ebola), and Fox & Friends (for its insensitive jokes following the Ray Rice elevator video).

But CJR reserved the most sought-after award to Lemon for his great contributions to the field of journalism in 2014.  In naming Lemon as “Television New Anchor of the Year,” CJR said:

“On March 20, he asked guests whether Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 could have been swallowed by a black hole: “I know it’s preposterous, but is it preposterous?” He later compared spanking children to training dogs and probed similarities between the release of US Army POW Bowe Bergdahl and the Showtime series Homeland. When an alleged Bill Cosby rape victim appeared on his show on Nov. 18, he lectured, “You know, there are ways not to perform oral sex if you didn’t want to do it…Meaning the use of teeth, right?” Less than a week later, as protests turned violent in Ferguson, MO, he described the scene: “Obviously, there’s a smell of marijuana in the air.”

CNN celebrated the honor with a champagne and cheese reception for Lemon at the penthouse of the cable network’s Atlanta headquarters.

“Next, we hope Don receives a Pulitzer Prize for his great work,” CNN said.