19th Cine Europa Opens Today at Shangria-La

By Kristian Javier (philstar.com) 

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Cine Europa Kicks off at Shangri-La Kristian Javier

MANILA, Philippines — Cine Europa, the longest film festival in the country, opens today in its 19th year at Shangri-La Plaza, Mandaluyong and will travel for four months to 10 other cities and municipalities with its 28 well-crafted and meaningful movies.

Celebrating the 25th year anniversary of the European Union (EU) Delegation in the Philippines, Cine Europa chose "Friendship" as the theme of the movies. “It’s the 25 year anniversary. By having the theme friendship, we thought that this will show also the friendship we have between the EU and the Philippines in celebrating our 25 years here,” Martin Lentz, charge d'affaires of the EU Delegation to the Philippines.

Friendship between the EU and the Philippines has been good, according to Lentz.

“It’s getting deeper, getting broader,” he said. “We have more cultural exchange, and again, the festival is one illustration of this.”

Cine Europa opens with the film “Of Sinners and Saints” directed and starred by Ruben Maria Soriquez, a Filipino-Italian actor. “This is my first project here in the Philippines, and I directed it, and I starred it, and I’m so happy to have worked with great actors in the movie.” Soriquez said, also revealing that the movie was completed in 2015 before his TV series “Dolce Amore.”

“I’m honored, really honored. Because that’s what I’m trying to do from the start, since I am half-Italian, is to build a bridge between the two countries, and have more co-productions between the two countries.” Soriquez said.

Entertainment ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

He said it feels good to have his film open for Cine Europa.

Soriquez also said that he is open to direct again for Cine Europa, but will avoid drama and action. “It will be like dark comedy,” he said.

Cine Europa will be shown at Shangri-La starting Sept. 8 and will take a road trip to Baguio, Iloilo, Cebu, Tacloban, Palawan, Zamboanga, Davao, Cagayan De Oro, and lastly, at Kalaw, Manila from Dec. 6 – 11.

Cayetano on Duterte-Obama Row: All is Well

Office of the Senator

Alan Peter S. Cayetano

Rm. 602 GSIS Complex Senate of the Philippines Roxas Blvd Pasay City

         

PRESS RELEASE

08 September 2016

Cayetano on Duterte-Obama row: All is Well

“All’s well that ends well.”

This is how Senator Alan Peter Cayetano described the brief meeting between President Rodrigo Duterte and United States President Barack Obama on Wednesday night, following the cancellation of a scheduled formal talk between the two leaders last Tuesday.

The two presidents met informally in a holding room before attending a gala dinner at the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) summit in Laos.

During an interview with the Philippine media delegation, Cayetano, who accompanied President Duterte in his trip, said that the brief meetup ended well for both parties. He said the two leaders shared “a warm handshake [and] a good conversation.”

“You could see that there is an effort from both sides to patch things up,” added the chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, as he expressed the importance of maintaining strong diplomatic ties between the Philippines and the US.

“In diplomacy, you do not usually go to the past and say, ‘bakit nangyari ‘yun.’ You can’t blame anyone. It won’t be productive. The Philippines and the US have a longstanding partnership [and] relationship. There will be bumps along the way... But it won’t hurt to have a popular President on our side,” he stressed.

The senator earlier wrote an open letter to President Obama, which went viral in social media. In his letter, Cayetano appealed to the US leader to "give the Philippines and President Duterte a chance" to achieve genuine change, as the administration wages a three-pronged war to address poverty, defeat crime and drugs, and achieve a just, inclusive, and lasting peace.

Cayetano said that like President Obama, who persevered to overcome challenges and accomplish so much for the American people, the Philippines now has a leader who is willing to sacrifice his life and honor to protect the welfare of all Filipinos.

He further lamented how President Duterte has been misjudged by some sectors based on the way he speaks, which was aggravated by a misinformation campaign about the human rights situation in the country.

"Does he (Pres. Duterte) not deserve to be judged on his record and his actions? On facts and not manipulated statistics? On where he wants to bring the country rather than his sometimes politically incorrect words?" Cayetano asked. "Can't we give the Philippines and President Duterte a Chance?" #

Climate change and its turning point?

TUE, SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 BY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR LEAVE A COMMENT

IN MY OPINIONKlaus Doring

The United States and China have formally joined the global climate change agreement reached in Paris last year. The decisions mark a major step towards the pact’s eventual implementation. Will this be another step in the right direction of the turning point?

At a ceremony on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in China on yesterday Saturday (I am writing this piece on Sunday, September 4, 2016!), US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered documents to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon entering their countries into the pact.

China’s National People’s Congress adopted “the proposal to review and ratify the Paris Agreement,” according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. Xi called the agreement a milestone that marked the “emergence of a global government system” for climate change.

The ceremony took place shortly after Obama arrived in Hangzhou for the annual G-20 summit. Speaking in the presence of the Chinese president and United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Obama said: “Just as I believe the Paris agreement will ultimately prove to be a turning point for our planet, I believe that history will judge today’s efforts as pivotal.”

He said the United States was committed to being a global leader in the fight against climate change: “This is not a fight that any one country, no matter how powerful, can take alone.” He said of the Paris agreement: “Some day we may see this as the moment that we finally decided to save our planet.”

Honestly, it took already very very long before reaching this point.

China, the world’s most populous country, with 1.38 billion people, is the world’s largest emitter of green-house gases. The United States, with just 324 million people, is number two. The two countries account for about 20 percent and 18 percent, respectively, of global warming emissions. Check out this: Russia accounts for 7.5 percent, while India pumps out 4.1 percent.

Since it is an executive agreement, rather than a treaty, Obama can sign it without needing a vote from Congress, which would, in all likelihood, reject it. In Paris, the countries agreed to a binding global compact for each country to decide how best to slash their own greenhouse emissions with the aim of keeping global temperature increases to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) relative to the pre-industrial revolution.

And this is today’s reality:  experts have said the pace of global warming is already threatening to exceed the temperature target. The UN weather agency said 2016 is on pace to become the warmest since record-keeping began, breaking the previous record set last year. I guess, we can all feel it also here in the Philippines.

The Paris agreement set ambitious goals for capping global warming and funneling trillions of dollars to poor countries facing an onslaught of climate damage. But, how future will be looking like…?

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Email: doringklaus@ gmail.com or follow me in Facebook or Twitter or visitwww.germanexpatinthe philippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdoringsclassicalmusic .blogspot.com .

Jessy Mendiola Is FHM's September Cover GIrl

Jessy Mendiola is FHM Philippines' September Cober Girl.

Cayetano Writes to US President Obama

Office of the Senator

Alan Peter S. Cayetano

Rm. 602 GSIS Complex Senate of the Philippines Roxas Blvd Pasay City

         

PRESS RELEASE

05 September 2016

Cayetano writes to US President Obama: Give Duterte, Philippines a chance; Help us experience Change we can believe in

Ahead of the historic first meeting between President Rodrigo Duterte and United States President Barack Obama, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano wrote an open letter appealing to the head of the world's biggest superpower to "give the Philippines and President Duterte a chance" to achieve genuine change, even as his government wages a three-pronged war to address poverty, defeat drugs and criminality, and achieve just and inclusive peace amid criticisms.

In his open letter, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair also appealed to President Obama to help the Philippines pursue an independent foreign policy that balances the country's relations with the US and China, even as he affirmed the country's firm commitment to the US as a long-time ally.

"As a Citizen of the world and a believer in Change, allow me to write you an open letter to attempt to articulate the audacity of the Filipino people to hope for a better future and to aspire for a nation that is secure, peaceful, law abiding and prosperous," wrote Cayetano.

"I write to you because more than any other person, you know how it feels to have the weight of the world on your shoulders...to have the burden of fixing the problems of your own country but having to constantly live up to the expectations of the entire world," he continued.

The senator said that like President Obama, who persevered to overcome challenges and accomplish so much for the American people in the last 7 years, the Philippines now has a president who has shown willingness to sacrifice his life and honor to see that change comes to all Filipinos.

"After decades of hopelessness and up to 10 million Filipinos leaving our country  to find work in foreign lands and after an entire generation exposed to the perils of illegal drugs, we finally have a President who is trying to get the country back on the right track," Cayetano explained.

"Now it is our turn. Our turn to experience Change we can believe in," he said, echoing the central theme of the presidential campaign that won Obama the US presidency.

He then asked: "Will you now allow us to lose hope and fail? Will the West deny us the 'Change we can believe in?'" 

Cayetano noted that President Duterte has been misjudged by some sectors based on the way he speaks. This has been aggravated by a misinformation campaign about the human rights situation in the country, he added.

"Does he (Pres. Duterte) not deserve to be judged on his record and his actions? On facts and not manipulated statistics? On where he wants to bring the country rather than his sometimes politically incorrect words?" he asked.

On the two countries' relations, Cayetano stressed that the Philippines deserves a chance to assert its national identity and pursue an independent foreign policy.

Explaining further, Cayetano defined this as "a foreign policy for Filipinos by Filipinos" which shall be marked by "a balanced friendship with our oldest ally and big brother the United States of America on one hand and a friendship of mutual respect with our neighbor China on the other."

Cayetano expressed confidence that as President Obama has tried at every turn to avoid war and promote peace in various parts of the world, a win-win situation can also be worked out for the USA, Philippines and China.

The senator then cautioned against efforts by pessimists, critics, and hardliners in the West, the United Nations, and within the country who want the US and the Philippines to continue to bicker and disagree. 

"Hardliners fear the Philippine government will make peace with the communist rebels. Critics Fear that Christians and Muslims can't build communities and a nation together. Pessimists say that we can't be a drug-free country," he explained.

"Will we let the pessimists and hardliners win Mr. President? Or will we persevere and try to understand each other, so we can wake up one day to a peaceful, prosperous and progressive Philippines?"

"Can't we give the Philippines and President Duterte a Chance?" he concluded, even as expressed hope for a successful meeting between the two heads of state.#

Facebook link: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1144764025616377&substory_index=0&id=368498793242908

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on the recent Davao City bombing

Office of the Senator Alan Peter S. Cayetano Rm. 602 GSIS Complex Senate of the Philippines Roxas Blvd Pasay City PRESS STATEMENT 03 September 2016 Statement of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on the recent Davao City bombing on Friday (Sept. 2) 'It is time that we stand together as a Nation' Stand together in mourning and offering our love and condolences to the victims, to their loved ones, and to Davao, which became a target because of our leaders' quest to rid ourselves of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). Stand behind our nation's and our President's fight against drugs and criminality, which includes the viciousness of the ASG. Stand firm and strong as a people behind our law enforcers and emergency first responders. Stand strong as a people in the quest to restore law and order and to get rid of drugs and organized criminal syndicates within six months. And most of all, despite our diversity as a people, stand together in humbling ourselves before God, in praying for the healing and protection of our land. "15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven." - James 5:15 We may come from different regions, backgrounds, and faiths, but as one people and one nation, we pray in faith for the healing for our country.#