Tag Archives: Philippines

Entertainment, Music

TOP TEN REASONS MADONNA’S PHILIPPINE CONCERT WILL BE A FLOP

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imageMANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles®) – It’s official! The Material Girl is coming to Manila.

Madonna will hold her first concert in the Philippines on February 24, 2016. It is the only country in Asia that is included in the Queen of Pop’s The Rebel Heart World Tour which kicks off in Montreal, Canada this September.

Tickets for the Manila concert go on sale starting July 26.

Already, both fans and critics are predicting that the concert will be an absolute flop, and here are the top ten reasons why:

  1. Filipino Millennials don’t know who the 56-year-old Madonna is; they only know Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus.
  2. Religious Filipino Baby Boomers know only one Madonna, the one enshrined in their Catholic parish church holding the baby Jesus.
  3. The cheapest concert ticket will sell at P3,150 ($72). That would be six days of work for minimum wage earners.
  4. The most expensive concert ticket will sell at P57,750 ($1,313.) That would be 117 days of work for minimum wage earners.
  5. The venue at The Mall of Asia seats about 20,000 people. Imagine all the empty seats at this one-night-only concert because of Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 above.
  6.  Most Filipino concert goers will have to take Manila’s Light Railway, the MRT, to get to the Mall of Asia. Most will not get there on time because of the long lines to get to the trains, not to mention expected train breakdowns along the way.
  7. Madonna herself will show up late for the concert.  Her limousine will be stuck in Manila traffic. Existing law prohibits celebrities and politicians from using car sirens (‘wang-wang’ in local parlance) to get through traffic jams.
  8. It is much cheaper to buy a Madonna DVD. All members of Filipino families and extended families can watch it for a single price.
  9. Madonna impersonators abound in the Philippines. And they give free shows all the time. Filipino Madonna impersonators do a better job than Madonna herself.
  10. Madonna Concert promoters will have a very small profit margin, after the Philippines’ Commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue Kim Henares will have collected tax from the ticket proceeds.
Government, Politics

PHILIPPINE CONGRESS REJECTS SECOND TERM FOR PRESIDENT AQUINO

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Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago
Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles®) – A bi-partisan majority of members of the Philippines’ House of Representatives and Senate have rejected a second term for President NoyNoyAquino, or his successors.

The constitution limits the presidential term to six years with no re-election.

There has been a lot of speculation that the Aquino camp was trying to maneuver a possible second term for the president after he completes his six years in office in 2016.

The legislators, lead by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, all but doused the hope for Aquino to run for re-election.

Santiago said  that any proposal to amend the constitution to allow a second presidential term will not get the required number of votes in Congress in order for it to pass.

The feisty senator added that there is a clear consensus among the bi-partisan legislators that the only way they will agree to two terms is for the president to serve one, six-year term in Malacanang (the presidential palace), and a second indefinite term in prison.

Former President Joseph Estrada, now city mayor of Manila, served a prison term for corruption before he was pardoned by his successor, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who herself, is now under hospital arrest for similar charges.

International, Law Enforcement

PHILIPPINES: COMEDIAN BILL COSBY’S WAY OUT OF ALLEGED RAPE CHARGES

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Cosby (Photo: people.com)
Cosby (Photo: people.com)

MANILA, Philippines  (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – If it weren’t for the statute of limitations and American comedian Bill Cosby would be charged for alleged multiple rapes he committed, his only way out would be in the Philippines. By marrying his accusers.

Republic Act 8353 (The Anti-Rape Law of 1997), absolves the rapist from criminal liability on the condition that the offender marries the victim.

A provision in the law states:

“The subsequent valid marriage between the offended party shall extinguish the criminal action or the penalty imposed. In case it is the legal husband who is the offender, the subsequent forgiveness by the wife as the offended party shall extinguish the criminal action or the penalty: Provided, that the crime shall not be extinguished or the penalty shall not be abated if the marriage is void ab initio.”

So, Cosby would be free of rape charges by moving to the Philippines.

But not so fast.

Cosby cannot marry all his accusers. Polygamy is not legal in the Philippines.  In fact, it is one of the grounds for the exclusion of foreigners in the coutry’s immigration law.

Another big hurdle? Divorce is not legal in the Philippines either. The country is the only one remaining in the world, besides The Vatican, where divorce is not allowed.

So, if charged, Cosby will have to find another way out.   .