Category Archives: International

PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT AQUINO CAUSES TRAFFIC NIGHTMARE IN SAN FRANCISCO’S HAIGHT-ASHBURY

September 25, 2014 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Aquino at the Haight, left, with his entourage of SFPD motorcycle cops

San Francisco, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – Philippine President NoyNoy Aquino, on his last U.S. stop before returning to Manila after attending the U.N. Summit on Climate Change, decided he wanted a hamburger. Not a Jollibee burger. A McDonald’s burger.

He chose the McDonald’s store in San Francisco’s famous Haight-Ashbury district, home to beads, bangles, psychedelic t-shirts, flower power and weed.

Because he is a head of state, the San Francisco Police Department provided a whole battalion of motorcycle cops to escort Aquino as he and his entourage navigated the narrow streets of the Haight. Streets and alleys surrounding McDonald’s were blocked causing a nightmarish traffic jam and lots of frayed nerves among motorists.

The Adobo Chronicles caught up with Aquino as he went into the nearby Amoeba bookstore to browse some jazz CDs. Informed about the traffic mess he had created, Aquino dismissed the criticism, saying that much worse traffic is a daily occurrence in his country, especially in Metro Manila. “San Franciscans should just shut the f**k up when they experience a little standstill in the streets,” he said.

Asked why he chose to eat at McDonald’s instead of the Filipino fast food joint Jollibee, Aquino said he already eats Jollibee chicken joy and sweet spaghetti every day in Manila. “I wanted to try an authentic American burger.” When told there are McDonald’s stores in the Philippines, Aquino said, “Really? I had no clue!”

International, Politics

PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT AQUINO VERY NERVOUS ABOUT CHINA

September 24, 2014 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

New York, New York (The Adobo Chronicles) – In a recent interview with The New York Times, Philippine President NoyNoy Aquino admitted that he was very concerned about China.

Aquino, who is in New York attending a United Nations summit on climate change, said that the Philippine government is getting mixed messages from China with regards to the diplomatic relations between the two countries, as well as the territorial dispute over islands in the South China Sea.

But in an exclusive interview with The Adobo Chronicles, the Philippine leader expressed his worst fears regarding China.

Chinese Filipinos are one of the largest overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. Filipinos with at least some Chinese ancestry—comprise 18-27% of the Philippine population. That’s more than a quarter of Philippines’ 100 Million population.

Aquino said that if China succeeds in laying claim to the disputed islands, it may also lay claim to the more than 25 Million Chinese Filipinos, including Aquino and his family. Aquino, by virtue of his mother Cory Aquino’s heritage, is among the Chinese Filipinos living in the Philippines. Cory comes from the Cojuangco family, one of the richest and most influential Chinese Filipino family dynasties in the country.

“I am afraid that 25 Million Filipinos will be claimed by China as Chinese citizens and that real estate, property and businesses owned by Chinese Filipinos in the Philippines will be sequestered by the Chinese government,” Aquino said.

The beleaguered Aquino said this will result in a divided Philippines and a dual government – one democratic and one communist. He suspects that if China succeeds in establishing partial rule in the Philippines, Manila could lose its Chinatown as it would become the seat of the Chinese govenrment in the Philippines. Manila’s Chinatown is one of the biggest and the oldest of Chinatowns in the world.

Aquino refused to answer questions regarding what might happen to Hacienda Luisita, the vast agricultural land in the Philippine province of Tarlac owned by his family. The land has been the bitter subject of the decades-long agricultural reform movement in the country.

Food, International, Politics

PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT AQUINO INSULTS A KENNEDY DURING A MEETING IN BOSTON

September 23, 2014 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

Aquino with Kennedy, right, and Mayor Setti Warren of Newton

Boston, Massachusetts (The Adobo Chronicles) – President NoyNoy Aquino shared a pepperoni pizza with U.S. Representative Joseph Kennedy III at a pizzeria that was one of the Philippine leader’s favorites when his family lived in exile in Boston.

Aquino met with the grandnephew of U.S. President John F. Kennedy at Bill’s Pizzeria in Newton on Monday morning, prior to his scheduled policy speech at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Except for a photo coverage, reporters were not allowed at the meeting between the two scions of their countries’ most influential political families. At press time, details of their 30-minute meeting have yet to be released.

However, sources close to Kennedy said that the congressman was extremely upset and insulted when the Philippine president asked for a knife and fork for his pizza slice. “Over here in Massachusetts, or anywhere in the U.S., we eat pizza with our hands, never with any utensil,” Kennedy reportedly told Aquino. Apparently, Aquino wanted to impress upon Kennedy that while Filipinos are known for eating their food with their hands, they also know how to use utensils.

The sources also said that while Kennedy was pleased to meet with Aquino, he was disgusted that the breakfast meeting was held at a pizzeria. “In America, we don’t eat pizza for breakfast. We eat pancakes, bacon and eggs,” Kennedy said.