Tag Archives: Rome

International, Sports

PHILIPPINES WILL BID TO HOST 2024 SUMMER OLYMPICS

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imageManila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – It could not bid to host a Winter Olympics because it has no winter season, so the Philippines is going for the Summer Olympics in 2024. It joins an elite group of developed countries and cities that have set their eyes on the next available open spot for Olympic host.

The Philippines’ announcement came on the heels of Tuesday’s meeting of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) during which four U.S. cities presented their bids to be the official U.S. city that would bid for the 2024 Olympics: San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Boston, and Los Angeles. The USOC is expected to make its selection in January.

Philippine President NoyNoy Aquino, in making the announcement about his country’s intention to bid, said that it would be his greatest legacy and accomplishment if the Philippines were chosen as host of the 2024 Olympics.

“It will be a multi-city effort,” Aquino said, “with world-class sports venues already built and located in various parts of Metro Manila, including Rizal Park (Luneta) in Manila, the Mall of Asia in Pasay City,  the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, and the new Philippine Arena in Bulacan.” Aquino added that Makati City will provide facilities for an upscale Olympic Village to host the athletes of the world.

“We just need to work on the mass transit network to make it easy for both athletes and spectators to travel from one venue to another,” Aquino added.

The Philippine Olympic  Committee is currently preparing its presentation to the International Olympic Committee when it formally opens the bidding process.  In addition to the U.S., other countries that have expressed intention to bid to host the Olympics include Germany, Japan, Argentina, Paris and Rome.

Aquino even revealed the elaborate plan for an Olympic Opening Ceremony featuring the prison inmates from Cebu City whose Michael Jackson dance videos have become one of the most viewed dance videos on YouTube.

Music, Religion

ITALY’S SINGING NUN SUOR CRISTINA: ‘I AM NO LONGER A VIRGIN’

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Rome, Italy (The Adobo Chronicles) – Suor Cristina, the singing nun who won Italy’s The Voice earlier this year, admits she is no longer a virgin. Or at least that’s how she feels.

The 26-year-old Sister Cristina Scuccia is raising eyebrows with the song she has chosen to release for her first single, complete with video. She delivers an almost hymn-like cover of one of the most notorious songs from the Madonna  — the pop star Madonna – ‘Like A Virgin.’

“I feel that after recording my first single and filming my first music video, I am no longer a virgin in as far as the entertainment world is concerned,” she said.  She expressed excitement over the release of the single and appreciation for her millions of fans worldwide. “I truly have been touched for the very first time,” she added.

The Adobo Chronicles is conducting a poll on whether it’s a thumbs up or a thumbs down for Suor Cristina’s new single:

International, Politics, Religion

CORY AQUINO IS FIRST SAINT CANONIZED OUTSIDE OF ROME

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imageTarlac, Philippines – It usually takes decades and proven miracles for anyone to be canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church. But for the late Cory Aquino, former Philippine president, wife of murdered opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr., and mother of incumbent president NoyNoy Aquino, all it took was sainthood “by acclamation.”

Cory supporters and fanatics in her native Tarlac province, north of Manila, took it upon themselves to proclaim their idol as “Saint Cory of Hacienda Luisita.” Hacienda Luisita is an expansive piece of land owned by the Cojuanco and Aquino families which has been a sore thumb in the Philippines’ decades-old Agrarian Reform Program. To this day, many farmers who once tilled the soil at Hacienda Luisita have not gained ownership of their piece of land. Scores of others have actually been displaced and forced out of the land they once called home.

The powerful Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has been all but silent on Cory’s “sainthood.” Top bishops in the CBCP are known to have always aligned themselves with the Aquino family back since the regime of Ferdinand Marcos.

The Philippines has two saints canonized in Rome: Lorenzo Ruiz and Pedro Calungsod. Aquino is the first known saint to be canonized outside The Vatican.

In a related development, the Congress of the Philippines has passed a bill to rename the International Airport in the former U.S. airbase in Clark, province of Pampanga, as “Cory Aquino International Airport.

Opponents of the bill objected, saying that the government cannot name an airport after a saint because the Philippine Constitution provides for the separation of church and state.