NEW EXTORTION SCHEME AT MANILA’S NAIA: LAGLAG LUMPIA

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Filipino lumpia

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles ) – Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists assigned to the Los Angeles International Airport recently seized 450 prohibited pork meat tamales discovered inside the luggage of a passenger arriving from Mexico.

Foreign meat products which can carry serious animal diseases are subject to Customs inspection, can be seized and destroyed, and passengers carrying them could be fined for misdeclaration. The tamales were destroyed and the traveler was fined $1,000.

Across the Pacific Ocean, the Los Angeles incident gave  schemers at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) a new idea for extorting money from unsuspecting passengers.

The new scheme involves the ‘planting’ of pork lumpia (Filipino egg roll) in the luggage of passengers who are then  asked to pay money to avoid being detained for intense questioning. It is a takeoff from the much-publicized laglag bala (bullet planting) which has caused a big stir at NAIA.

The newer, tamer extortion scheme has been given a name : laglag lumpia.

PEOPLE MAGAZINE REVISES ITS ‘SEXIEST MAN ALIVE’ VERDICT

The updated People magazine cover for the 'Sexiest Men Alive' issue
The updated People magazine cover for the ‘Sexiest Men Alive’ issue

NEW YORK, New York (The Adobo Chronicles) – In less than 24 hours after revealing its choice for 2015 ‘Sexiest Man Alive,’  People magazine revised its verdict and made it a three-way tie.

Earlier, People named former soccer star David Beckham to this year’s much-coveted title.  But as the magazine cover featuring the 40-year-old global superstar was about to go to print, two international celebrities, both heads of state, caught the eyes of the editors: Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Nieto, 49, and Trudeau, 43, were seen Wednesday night in Manila where they are attending the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit meeting, garbed in barong tagalog, the traditional formal attire for Filipino men. The two leaders became an instant sensation, with the media and Manila’s fashion afficionados commenting that they wore the barong much better than Philippine President Aquino himself.

The barong brought out the sexiness and youthful look in them, many commented.

People’s editors agreed and so they revised their decision and opted to name all three — Beckham, Nieto and Trudeau — as this year’s sexiest men alive.

Meanwhile, barong designers and vendors in the Philippines reported a sharp increase in orders for the male attire — from Paris to Hollywood and from Beijing to Sydney. The barong business may have been the one Philippine economic endeavor to benefit from the APEC meeting, thanks to the sexy duo from Mexico and Canada.

 

WHY OBAMA WAS A NO-SHOW AT APEC SUMMIT WELCOME RITES

Obama watching the sunset at Manila Bay
Obama watching the sunset at Manila Bay

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – There were only twenty world leaders  who showed up at the welcome rites for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit Meeting Wednesday afternoon. There should have been  twenty one. Missing was U.S. President Barack Obama.

In a statement explaining Obama’s absence, a spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Manila said that a schedule conflict prevented the president from attending the opening rites.

The statement said Obama didn’t want to miss seeing the world-famous sunset at Manila Bay, so he stayed in his hotel watching from the balcony (see photo).

”He misses his home state of Hawaii and the Manila Bay sunset reminded him of the equally stunning senset of his native islands,” the statement added.

Well, even presidents are entilted to be homesick.