Category Archives: Human Interest

AQUINO STARTS A NEW PHILIPPINE PRESIDENTIAL EASTER TRADITION: BALUT HUNT

Balut
Balut

Manila, Philippines –  In the U.S., the First Family will host the 136th annual White House Easter Egg Roll on April 21 which is expected to draw 30,000 people to the South Lawn of the presidential residence. Those in luck will be able to take home keepsake eggs in bold colors stamped with the signatures of President and Mrs. Barack Obama.

In the Philippines, President Noynoy Aquino, in his bid to bring Malacañang Palace (the presidential residence) closer to the people, has announced the first ever “balut hunt” this coming Easter Sunday. He hopes to make this an annual tradition even among his presidential successors. This new tradition, cooked up by Aquino’s brilliant press office staff, will feature a hunt for red, white, blue and yellow- painted balut with Aquino’s thumb print on them, hidden in the unkempt lawn of the palace.  Those are the colors of the Philippine flag. The event will be open to a maximum of 1,000 children of families who must pay a registration fee of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (in excess of $2,000) per attendee.

The deadline for registration has been set for April 18, Good Friday. No checks or credit cards accepted. Cash only.

Balut is a Filipino delicacy of boiled duck embryo (see photo).

THE ONION WINS PULITZER PRIZE

onionNew York, New York – The Pulitzer Prize Board announced today that The Onion has been awarded a 2014 Pulitzer Prize, joining other winners from The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Oregonian and Detroit Free Press  all of which were revealed yesterday.  The board said that it specifically delayed the announcement of the award to The Onion to generate more attention to the new award category of “Amazing News.”

The Pulitzer Prize has been awarding excellence in journalism and the arts since 1917.

Champagne flowed at the undisclosed offices of The Onion as the publisher and editors made the announcement to their staff.

Unlike the other prizes, the category of “Amazing News” is not awarded to a single story, series or work.  Rather, it is an encompassing recognition of “a consistent and trademark news coverage that always catches the attention of readers,” according to the Pulitzer board.

photo
Andy Borowitz

The 2014 Finalists for the “Amazing News” Pulitzer included ‘The Andy Borowitz Report’ published by The New Yorker, and the independently-published The Adobo Chronicles.cropped-adobochron4.jpg

PACMAN VS. TAXMAN: INTERNAL REVENUE CHIEF FLYING TO LAS VEGAS TO PERSONALLY COLLECT TAXES FROM PACQUIAO

Pacquiao and Henares
Pacquiao and Henares

Manila, Philippines – The Commissioner of the Philippines’ Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is flying to Las Vegas today to personally collect taxes on Manny Pacquiao’s earnings from the latter’s latest championship fight.  Pacquiao on Saturday regained the WBO welterweight title from American Timothy Bradley.  Pacquiao, who won by a unanimous decision, is expected to pocket some $20 Million in prize money, in addition to an unspecified percentage of receipts from Pay Per View’s cable coverage of the event.

In recent months, Commissioner Kim Henares has been after Pacquiao and other high-profile celebrities in what many believe is her personal crusade to prevent her tax agency from bankruptcy. She believes her policy of going after the “big guns” will salvage the BIR from total collapse.

In a statement made to reporters at the Departure VIP Lounge of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Henares said she wanted to witness first hand how much the boxing promoter will give to Pacquiao as his prize money. She plans to demand immediate payment of taxes from Pacquiao while she is in Las Vegas.

Henares admitted that her trip to Las Vegas is funded by taxpayer money but insisted that the expense is well worth the tax that will be collected from Pacquiao.