PH bags 2 golds in SEA Games

Early victory Kaila Napolis (in red belt) pins Cambodia’s Jessa Khan in the jiu-jitsu -52 kg during the 32nd Southeast Asian Games at Chroy Changvar Hall B in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Thursday, May 4, 2023. PHOTO BY RIO DELUVIO

By Niel Victor C. Masoy

May 5, 2023 210

(UPDATE) THE Philippines bagged two gold medals on Thursday in events that were already under way a day before the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, officially open.

Jiu-jitsu athlete Kaila Napolis had the distinction of being the Philippines' first gold medallist in this year's Games.

The 25-year-old Napolis dominated Jessa Khan of host Cambodia 2-0 in the women's 49kg final held at the Chroy Changvar Convention Center.

It was sweet revenge for Napolis who lost to Khan in the 2019 World Martial Arts Mastership Games in Chungju, South Korea.

Napolis started her quest for the gold with a triangle armbar submission victory against Singaporean May Yong in the first round.

She scored a 3-0 win over Thai Nuchanat Singchalad in the second round before scoring a kimura submission victory against Vietnamese Thi Huyen in the third round.

Huyen suffered an elbow injury after refusing to immediately tap out amid the Filipino's intense submission attack. Huyen eventually tapped out at the 2:31 mark.

In the final, Napolis found herself in a losing position as Khan pinned her down for the most of the 5-minute bout.

But the Filipina recovered in time to pull off the win.

Intermittent rain floods parts of Western Visayas

BY TARA YAP

  

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ILOILO CITY – Several areas in Western Visayas have been flooded due to intermittent rainfall in the past two days amid the searing heat.

As of May 4, the Western Visayas-Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council recorded flooding in parts of Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo.

A HIGHWAY in Dumalag town, Capiz province is flooded due to intermittent rain.  (Dumalag MDRRMO)

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The RDRRMC-6 said this was due to the low-pressure area and the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ).

In Capiz, the towns of Dumalag, Dumarao, Sigma, Cuartero, Dao, Panay, Mambusao, Maayon, and Tapaz were flooded.

In Iloilo, some areas in the towns of Pavia, Calinog, Bingawan, Lambunao, Duenas, Zarraga, and the component city of Passi were flooded.

The RDRRMC-6 recorded soil erosion in seven barangays Dumalag and Dumarao. The Mait Bridge in Dumalag was impassable.

The road and bridge in Barangays Agba-o, Ngingi-an, Bulabog, and Tapacon in Bingawan town, Iloilo was also impassable.

A landslide incident was recorded in Barangays Toyungan, Cahigon, and Binolosan Pequeno in Calinog.

The RDRRMC-6 is still collating data on the number of displaced people.

Many classes were suspended on Thursday in most areas of Panay Island due to the intermittent heavy rainfall.

Judy Ann takes the spotlight in Cinema One's Monday drama this May

Feel the love with Mother’s Day movie marathon coming this month

BY MANILA BULLETIN ENTERTAINMENT

May 4, 2023 09:08 PM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• Witness Judy Ann’s remarkable acting prowess as the bride’s best friend and groom’s sister Abby in "Don't Give Up on Us" (May 8), empowered woman named Sabel in "Sabel" (May 15), loving wife Angie in "Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo" (May 22), and kindhearted daughter Mara in "Mara Clara: The Movie" (May 29) on Monday Drama airing Mondays at 9pm.

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Judy Ann Santos

Get ready to feel all the emotions as Kapamilya actress Judy Ann Santos stars in Cinema One's drama block while motherly love in all its forms will pour out during the Mother’s Day weekend marathon happening this month.

Witness Judy Ann’s remarkable acting prowess as the bride’s best friend and groom’s sister Abby in "Don't Give Up on Us" (May 8), empowered woman named Sabel in "Sabel" (May 15), loving wife Angie in "Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo" (May 22), and kindhearted daughter Mara in "Mara Clara: The Movie" (May 29) on Monday Drama airing Mondays at 9pm.

Cinema One also brings a special treat this Mother’s Day with films that showcase motherly love. Catch Nora Aunor’s “Mama Dito Sa Aking Puso,” Maricel Soriano’s “Ama, Ina, Anak” and “Bahay Kubo,”  Pokwang’s “A Mother’s Story” and “Call Center Girl,”  Eugene Domingo’s “Mamarazzi,” Zsa Zsa Padilla’s “Batang PX,” Agot Isidro’s “Way Back Home,” Ai-Ai delas Alas’ “Ang Tanging Ina” and “Ang Cute ng Ina Mo,” Vilma Santos’ “In My Life,” Angel Locsin’s “One More Try,” Sharon Cuneta’s “BFF: Best Friends Forever” and “Mano Po 6: A Mother’s Love,” Cherry Pie Picache’s “Foster Child,” and Sylvia Sanchez’s “Mama’s Girl,” airing from May 13 to 14.

Meanwhile, enjoy your weekend night with Blockbuster Sundays featuring Sharon Cuneta's "Three Words to Forever" (May 7), Coney Reyes' "Four Sisters and a Wedding" (May 14), Vilma Santos' "Everything About Her" (May 21), and Judy Ann and Angelica Panganiban's "Ang Dalawang Mrs. Reyes" (May 28), airing on Sundays at 7pm.

Cinema One, the home of Filipino blockbuster movies, is available on Cignal ch. 45, SKYcable ch. 56, GSat Direct TV ch. 14, and other local cable service providers. For more details, follow Cinema One on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Inflation slows down further in April

Consumer prices ease to 6.6%

BY CHINO S. LEYCO

May 5, 2023 09:17 AM

  

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Inflation slowed down further to 6.6 percent in April from 7.6 percent in the previous month, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Friday, May 5.

Last month's inflation settled within the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' forecast of 6.3 percent to 7.1 percent, but still higher than the 4.6 percent in April 2022.

April inflation rate brought the coutry's four-month average to 7.9 percent, still above the government's revised full-year outlook of 5.0 percent to 7.0 percent.

The end-April average is also well above 

BSP’s polymer bill wins ‘Banknote of the Year’ award

BY LEE C. CHIPONGIAN

  

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For the first time, the International Bank Note Society (IBNS) has picked the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) to win the “Banknote of the Year” award for its P1,000 polymer bill.

The BSP circulated the dirt-free, water-resistant polymer bill last April 2022. It was printed by Note Printing Australia, a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

According to its website, IBNS chose the Philippine Eagle-featured banknote among 100 other new banknotes for the 2022 award.

“From the onset of voting, the Philippines’ 1000 Piso note was the overwhelming favorite,” said IBNS, adding that polymer “represents a dramatic shift from the cotton and abaca material previously used.”

Highlighting the “critically endangered” Philippine Eagle which is sometimes called the monkey-eating eagle, and the holographic national flower, the Sampaguita, in the polymer front design, IBNS said the “Philippines successful design in eye-pleasing blue combines an endangered species with an environmental motif.”

The back design, meanwhile, is similar to its paper-based counterpart which also featured the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (UNESCO World Heritage Site), the South Sea pearl and the T'nalak weave design of the T’boli people of the Philippines.

The IBNS said the 100 new banknotes design that competed was further trimmed to just 19 nominations. The close runners-up to the BSP’s P1,000 polymer were Northern Ireland’s Ulster Bank’s 50 pound note and Bank of Scotland’s 100 pound bill. Other finalists were banknotes from Algeria, Barbados and Egypt.

IBNS is a global non-profit organization that recognizes exceptional banknotes issued each year on the basis of artistic merits, such as design and use of colors, as well as high-quality security features, said the BSP in its own statement.

“The BSP hopes that the design of the polymer banknote will remind Filipinos of the importance of environmental preservation and the need to ensure a sustainable future for all,” the central bank said on Thursday, May 4.

Last January, the BSP said about 92 percent of all automated teller machines or about 17,304 ATMs across the country, are now dispensing polymer banknotes as of end-December 2022.

The polymer banknotes, which are only available in P1,000 denomination, will have a circulation of 500 million pieces this year, of which around 39 million was released last year.

The BSP is gradually releasing the polymer banknotes to allow banks and the public time to get used to plastic-based bills. It will also allow the BSP time to assess the benefits and costs associated w

Ever strengthening our faith in Christ

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

“DO not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.” (Jn 14,1) These words tell us clearly that Christ and God are one. Christ, we may argue, is just the Son in the Trinitarian God. He is just one person in three.

But we have to realize that the 3 persons in the Blessed Trinity are one God. The Father is God, The Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Not three Gods but one God, as our Nicene Creed proclaims. Obviously, this is a mystery to us, since it is a supernatural truth. But Christ precisely took pains to prove that he and the Father and the Holy Spirit are just one God!

His many miracles and sublime teachings could already prove that. And as if these were not enough, it was his passion, death and resurrection that would definitely tell us that he is truly God even as he is also truly man.

The distinctive character of Christ is that as God who became man, he offers us “the way, the truth and the life” (Jn 14,6) meant for us, since we too have been made in God’s image and likeness.

We need to look for him and know him, so we can love and serve him, and ultimately become like him. In fact, we are meant to be one with him—“alter Christus,” another Christ, if not “ipse Christus,” Christ himself.

We should therefore develop the proper attitude and practices to enable us to keep an interest in looking for Christ, in knowing, loving and serving him, and ultimately in becoming one with him.

In this regard we cannot emphasize enough the need for a strong and abiding faith so that in whatever we do in our life, this urge to look, know, love, serve and become one with Christ is always pursued.

That is why we need a plan of ongoing formation and an overall plan of life, consisting of certain practices of piety that would keep this ideal of a life of faith alive and working.

We need to develop a theological mind, that is, a mind that is not only fed by what our senses show us, what our observations, experimentations, our studies can tell us. We should have a mind that is always guided by faith first and last and all throughout.

In whatever we think, say or do, let’s always try to look for Christ so that we can find him, and in finding him we can start to love and serve him, and in the end become one with him.

To be sure, Christ is in everything and is precisely showing and sharing with us “the way, the truth and the life” in any situation and condition we may find ourselves in. This, of course, means that we have to have a deeply contemplative spirit which does not mean that we should stay away from the world. 

We can always be contemplative even as we immerse ourselves in the world, as we should, if we would just bother to learn to be contemplative. The world and the temporal affairs we get involved in need not be an obstacle to becoming a contemplative soul. Precisely, these things can and should be the occasion, the material and the means to engage us with Christ, and thus, for us to be contemplative!