Tag Archives: Philippines

Film and TV, Government, International, Politics

GEORGE CLOONEY TO DIRECT FILM ABOUT PHILIPPINES’ PORK BARREL SCANDAL

March 11, 2015 Pol Pinoy 1 Comment

Mr. and Mrs. George Clooney (Photo: www.ibtimes.co.uk) — Mr. and Mrs. George Clooney (Photo:
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk)

HOLLYWOOD, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – Mr. and Mrs. George Clooney must love the Philippines so much.

First, it was reported that international human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, a.k.a. Mrs. Clooney, has filed a case against the Philippine government before the United Nations over the continued detention of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Now, Hollywood insiders are confirming that George Clooney is set to direct a film about the pork barrel scandal that has rocked Philippine politics and business, leading to the arrest and incarceration of businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, Senators Bong Revilla, Jr., Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile, among others.

Clooney is known to be fascinated by political and other big scandals. In fact, his latest film project is an adaptation of the book Hack Attack by journalist Nick Davies. It is about Davies’ investigation into Rupert Murdoch’s media empire which uncovered the phone-hacking scandal that rocked the British establishment and resulted in the closure of the News of the World. “This has all the elements – lying, corruption, blackmail – at the highest levels of government by the biggest newspaper in London,” Clooney said about the film project.

“The pork scandal in the Philippines has the potential of being a film epic because of its magnitude and the number of people, agencies and companies that were involved,” Clooney said.

Clooney himself will play the role of Bong Revilla, Jr. It is rumored that TV host and presidential sister Kris Aquino will play the role of businesswoman and pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim Napoles.

International, Science and Environment, Tourism

HAWAII TO IMPORT WHITE SAND FROM THE PHILIPPINES TO SAVE WAIKIKI BEACH

March 11, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

A gloomy forecast for Hawaii’s Waikiki Beach (Photo: The Adobo Chronicles)

HONOLULU, Hawaii (The Adobo Chronicles) – The world-famous Waikiki Beach, known for its blue water and immaculate white sand, is slowly disappearing, according to a recent report in The Huffington Post:

“A crumbling, century-old stone wall that juts out from the Royal Hawaiian Hotel is in imminent danger of collapsing, say scientists. The groin is the sole reason sand remains along this main stretch of Waikiki Beach.

Without it, the beach in front of the Royal Hawaiian would likely disappear in a matter of days, said Dolan Eversole, a scientist with the University of Hawaii’s Sea Grant program. It would take several months to a year for the rest of the stretch of sand to erode.”

In an effort to save Waikiki’s billion-dollar tourist industry from also collapsing, the Honolulu City Council is considering several measures to repair the crumbling sea walls in order to prevent the white sand from being washed away to the ocean.

At the same time, Honolulu City Mayor Kirk Caldwell today announced that the city will be importing 27,000 cubic yards of white sand from the Philippines to replenish what has been lost along the stretch of Waikiki Beach.

The Philippines is known for its white sandy beaches in many of its more than 7,000 islands. International tourists have been visiting beach resorts in the Visayas, Palawan and the Ilocos region in the Philippines mainly for the pristine waters and pearly white sand.

Philippine President NoyNoy Aquino welcomed the news from Hawaii and used the sand export deal to again boast of his administration’s many successes in jumpstarting the country’s economy. “We can use the revenue from the sand export to build more high-rise condominiums in Metro Manila,” Aquino said.

Economy, Government, Law Enforcement, Politics

PHILIPPINES’ AMBITIOUS PROJECT TO SOLVE HOMELESSNESS

March 11, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

More prisons like this one (National Bilibid Prison) will be built outside of Metro Manila to ease the problem of homelessness.

MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino administration has finally found a permanent solution to the Philippines’ nagging problem of homelessness: create new housing units for the homeless — in jail!

The administration has rolled out its 22nd Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project involving the construction and maintenance of a P50.2-billion modern prison facility at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, north of the capital.

The proposed facility could accommodate 26,880 inmates, including staff housing and administrative buildings, areas for rehabilitation (sports, work and religious activity), and would be installed with high security equipment.

This is just the first of several initiatives to rid Metro Manila of homeless families and street children. Metro Manila has the highest homeless population in the world.

“There’s just not enough money to go around,” a presidential spokesperson said, “so the government needs to address one problem at a time. Since we can’t build dwellings for the millions of homeless people, we think that building prisons will help address the problem. In the prisons, inmates practically get a free roof over the heads plus free meals.”

The spokesperson added that the reason the new prison facility will be built in Nueva Ecija is precisely to decongest and rid Metro Manila of homeless families. “It will eliminate eyesores especially when we are have visiting dignitaries and tourists,” he said.