Canadian imports of ‘recycled’ materials that arrived at the Port of Manila in 2013.
MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – President NoyNoy Aquino returned to Manila Monday from a five-day trip to Canada and the United States with what he enthusiastically described as “good news.”
The good news consists of pledges for more Canadian investments in the Philippines and a package of initiatives boosting trade and labor relations with this North American country.
To demonstrate his highly successful negotiations during his Canadian state visit, Aquino said that in the next 60 to 90 days, several ships will arrive at the Port of Manila, with hundreds of containers bearing recycled trash.
“This will augment the containers from Canada that arrived in Manila in 2013,” Aquino said. The importation consisted of about fifty 40-foot container vans of non-recyclable plastics, used adult diapers, broken bottles and glasses, waste paper and household/kitchen waste.
“Diplomacy works. We are proud to have brokered a very healthy trade cooperation with Canada,” Aquino told reporters.
Pacquiao with wife Jinkee at their new Beverly Hills mansion after his surgery (Photo from Manny’s Instagram account)
LOS ANGELES, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao’s unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather in the ‘Fight of the Century’ in Las Vegas last May 2 continues to elicit cries of disappointment and protest from fans and critics.
Many are clamoring for a rematch while others have gone to the lengths of filing class-action lawsuits against Pacquiao for failing to disclose his shoulder injury before the fight.
The Adobo Chronicles caught up with Pacquiao just hours after he underwent surgery to repair his torn right shoulder rotator cuff.
He praised the Lord and has this special message to both fans and critics.
From top left, clockwise: El Gamma Penumbra, Flores, Junior New System, Dorodo
SINGAPORE (The Adobo Chronicles) – Who will be the winner in the grand finals of ‘Asia’s Got Talent?’
Before you start flooding the inbox of The Adobo Chronicles with angry email, read on. We’re not saying the Filipinos will not win. On the contrary, one of the Filipino acts will be the winner!
It will be up to the voters to choose their favorite act from nine finalists: dancers Gao Lin and Liu Xin (China), musicians Khusugtun (Mongolia), dancers Triqstar (Japan), young rock stars The Talento (Thailand), tap dancers Dance Thrilogy (Singapore) and the rest from the Philippines:
Ten-year-old singer Gwyneth Dorodo took her flair to the next level when she carried through a moving interpretation of Sia’s “Titanium” in her final performance.
Taking the Super Bowl to the stage, hip-hop dance group Junior New System in football-inspired costume danced along a mashup of a bevy of songs and even waved the Philippine flag proudly.
Embodying the true meaning of a “diva,” classical singer Gerphil Flores delivered a spine-chilling rendition of “The Impossible Dream” from the musical “Man of La Mancha.” Wearing a golden dress, Gerphil literally stood on a pedestal as she belted out high note after high note, leaving the audience in awe and wanting more. Judge David Foster, who pressed the Golden Buzzer for Gerphil during the auditions, was left ecstatic. “I promise you, the world is gonna know about you. That’s a promise.”
Ingenuity and inspiration were what shadow play group El Gamma Penumbra exemplified when they showcased an arresting presentation about conservation of Mother Earth.Performing to “Pocahontas” theme song “Colors of the Wind,” the group showed the ways people destroy nature like hunting, dynamite fishing and littering. But they didn’t forget to give a lesson on how to take care of the planet.
So back to how the final winner is chosen: by viewer voting.
It just makes sense that voters from China, Singapore, Japan, Mongolia and Thailand would vote for their respective candidates. And so will the Filipinos. But with four acts in the grand finals, the Filipino vote would be split, four ways or what not.
In the past, where Internet voting determined the winner of international competitions — like the Miss Universe Photogenic award, the Filipino candidate ended up winning, almost 100% of the time. Talk about Internet and text-savvy Filipinos — all 100 Million of them!
So while we predict the winner of ‘Asia’s Got Talent’ to be one of the Filipino acts, it will be determined not by the Filipino vote alone but votes from other Asian countries.
But then, miracles happen in the Philippines, so maybe, just maybe, the Filipinos will unite to vote for a single Filipino act.
OUR PREDICTION
We’re really torn between El Gamma Penumbra and Gerphil Flores. Both acts are teeming with talent — so impressive, so endearing. We’d like for AGT to declare a tie but what are the odds of votes being split equally between the two?
So, we are going to predict that El Gamma Penumbra will win. While we’ve seen similar acts in other versions of the show, like ‘America’s Got Talent’ or ‘Britain’s Got Talent,’ Penumbra’s act stands out because their artistry is consistently coupled with universal messages like peace, love, tourism and protecting the environment.
But don’t feel bad for Flores. She is already a winner. Expect David Foster to take her under his wing, like he did with Charice. This will not be the last time you see — and hear — Flores.
While we wait for the final results, we would like to conduct a poll on who among the Filipino acts you would like to win AGT:
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