Monthly Archives: September 2015

Government, International

PHILIPPINES’ VICE PRESIDENT OFFERS OFFICIAL PALACE RESIDENCE TO REFUGEE FAMILIES

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Manila's Coconut Palace
Manila’s Coconut Palace

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – Pope Francis recently urged Christians across Europe to open up their homes to refugees as he revealed that the Vatican will take in two families “fleeing death” in the middle east.

Following the Pope’s example, Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay offered his official residence — the Coconut Palace — to eight refugee families from Syria.  Each family will occupy one of the eight guestrooms in the palace.

The Coconut Palace, also known as Tahanang Pilipino (Filipino Home), is a mansion of the Philippine Government on the campus of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, in Manila, the Philippines. It was commissioned in 1978 by former First Lady Imelda Marcos as a government guest house. It was offered to Pope John Paul II during the Papal visit to the Philippines in 1981 but the Pope refused to stay there because it was too opulent given the level of poverty in the Philippines.

It cost 37 million Philippine pesos to build. It is owned by the government-owned and controlled corporation the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). In 2011, it became the official residence and principal workplace of the vice president.

A devout Catholic,  Binay challenged President NoyNoy Aquino to do a similar humanitarian act by opening the presidential palace, Malacañang, to refugees.

“During times of calamity, the world community has come to the aid of the Filipino people,” the vice president said . “Now it is our turn to help those in need, especially the refugees from Syria.”

Shortly after making the announcement, Binay’s poll numbers in the 2016 presidential race jumped by almost double.  He is now tied with Senator Grace Poe, who still has to officially declare her candidacy.  Aquino’s anointed candidate, former Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas is still in a very distant third place in the polls.

 

 

Diversity, Language, Law Enforcement, Race Relations

(VIDEO) SARAH PALIN LAUNCHES NEW GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT: SPEAK AMERICAN

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Palin, left, and Vargas
Palin, left, and Vargas

WASILLA, Alaska (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – Shortly after going public about his status as an undocumented immigrant in the U.S., Pulitzer Prize-winning Filipino journalist Jose Antonio Vargas established Define American, a non-profit media and culture organization that seeks to elevate the conversation around immigration and citizenship in America.

Now, former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has just launched a copycat grassroots organization she is calling Speak American. It is a movement she hopes will quickly spread throughout America that will unequivocally make American (read: U.S. English) the required and only language people  — documented and undocumented alike — speak while in the U.S. She urged netizens to start using the hashtag #SpeakAmerican.

The launch of the movement follows Palin’s recent television interview during which she stated that Spanish-speaking people should ‘speak American’ while in the U.S.  She was responding to a question regarding Donald Trump’s criticism of fellow Republican candidate Jeb Bush who spoke in fluent Spanish during one of his campaign appearances.

As she unveiled the new grassroots movement, Palin released a new video of a thirteen-year-old girl from Alaska which she says demonstrates the kind of American language skill that all young people living in the U.S. should emulate:

Law Enforcement, Music, Politics

KIM DAVIS, MIKE HUCKABEE TURN TO KICKSTARTER TO RAISE $1.2 MILLION

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CaptureSALISBURY, North Carolina (The Adobo Chronicles®) — The band Survivor has filed a $1.2 million lawsuit against Kim Davis and Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee over the unauthorized use of its hit song “Eye of the Tiger.”

Davis, the Rowan County clerk who was jailed after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, was released Tuesday morning, after serving six days in prison, to the sound of Survivor’s classic song “Eye of the Tiger.” The theme song from the movie “Rocky III” played in the background as she, her husband, and Mike Huckabee celebrated her freedom in front of cheering supporters.

The lawsuit is just one more problem for Davis, but a much bigger one for the former Arkansas governor in as far as his presidential campaign is concerneed. Huckabee is not only doing poorly in the polls but in campaign fundraising as well.  This past quarter, he reported raising only $2 million, which could be instantly wiped out if the lawsuit against him and Davis succeeds.

So today, Huckabee and Davis turned to the Internet crowdfunding platform Kickstarter to help them raise the $1.2 million they would need if the judgment goes against them in the Survivor lawsuit.

On Tuesday, Huckabee said he was willing to go to jail in Davis’ place.

Maybe, he will. And for sure, Davis will gladly join him.