Monthly Archives: January 2016

Government, Travel

Philippines To Import Quadruple-Deckers To Ease Metro Manila’s Traffic Nightmare

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image MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya today announced that the Philippine government will soon import a fleet of quadruple-decker buses from Japan as a way to ease Metro Manila’s worsening traffic and mass transportation nightmares.

Abaya, who is facing calls for his resignation because of his failure to address unsurmountable issues with MRT, Manila’s light railway system, as well as daily traffic gridlock in the metropolis, said his boss, President NoyNoy Aquino, has given the go-signal for the importation. The money needed to purchase the buses will come from DAP, the president’s taxpayer-funded Disbursement Acceleration Program.

The announcement comes just days after the Aquino government said it will phase out some 600,000 public utility jeepneys (PUJ) that are at least 15 years old.

In preparation for the arrival of the quaduple-deckers, the Department of Highways will begin dismantling overpasses along EDSA and other major thoroughfares in order to accommodate the height of the buses.

“We will finally see the end of long lines at the MRT stations as well as  congested streets,” Abaya said.

 

Arts, Music, Politics, Race Relations

Unarmed Japanese Americans Occupy New York’s Longacre Theater On Broadway

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Salong, left, and Takei

NEW YORK, New York (The Adobo Chronicles) – Hundreds of unarmed Japanese Americans took over the Longacre Theater beginning midnight today to protest the impending closure of the Broadway Musical Allegiance.

The musical will end its run on February 14, after only 37 previews and 113 performances.

Allegiance, starring Tony Award-winning actress Lea Salonga and George Takei, tackles the issue of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

The protesters stormed the theater and occupied every seat — every single one of the 1,091 seats.

A spokesperson for the protesters said they got the idea from the recent occupation by an armed militia group of the headquarters of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.

Neither the New York Police Department nor the Federal Bureau of Investigation has acted on the Broadway occupation, saying they considered it a peaceful protest and definitely not an act of terrorism.

The Japanese American protesters said they will continue to occupy the theater until the producers agree to extend the run of the musical indefinitely. “The musical is a once-in-lifetime opportunity for Americans and others to be educated about the internment of our friends and relatives during the war,” they said.

The protesters also set up an online crowdsourcing page in order to raise funds to pay for a daily full house at the theater for a long time.

In the meantime, the protesters are requesting the public and supporters to send them enough supply of SPAM sushi and sake to keep them nourished during their sit-in protest.

 

International, Politics

Birther Issue: Donald Trump Goes After Ted Cruz And The Philippines’ Grace Poe

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Top left, clockwise: Cruz, Poe, Trump, Obama

NEW YORK, New York (The Adobo Chronicles) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is undeniably a birther: he has continuously questioned Barack Obama’s citizenship, claiming the president was born in Kenya and should not have been qualified to run for U.S. president.

Fast forward to 2016.

Trump is running against Senator Ted Cruz who appears to be the greatest threat to the billionaire’s quest for the presidency.  Cruz was born in Canada to a Cuban-born father and American mother.  That, according to Trump, does not make the senator a ‘natural-born citizen’ which is a primary qualification to become president of the United States.

Trump has also turned his attention to the Philippines which is holding its own presidential elections in May this year.  One of the leading candidates is Senator Grace Poe who faces questions about her being a ‘natural-born citizen’ on the grounds that she is a foundling , adopted by film actors Fernando Poe, Jr. and Susan Roces, and whose biological parents remain unknown to this day.

Asked by The Adobo Chronicles why it matters to him who gets elected Philippine president, Trump said, “If I become U.S. president, I  cannot be dealing with a foreign leader who is not legitimate.”

He added: “Grace Poe is either a natural-born citizen or is not. And if the answer is no, then as U.S. president, I do not have any business recognizing her as a fellow head of state.”

Do we see a budding alliance between Ted Cruz and Grace Poe?