KAKAMMPI News

Filipinos in Hong Kong who wish to pay their respects to the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo may sign the Condolence Book at the Consulate General on August 26 and 28.   In an  announcement  posted on its website on Thursday, the Consulate General said those who wish to sign the Condolence Book may proceed to the Conference Room of the Philippine Consulate General, 14/F United Centre, 95 Queensway, Admiralty.   Robredo died in a plane crash in Masbate on August 18. Also killed were the pilot and co-pilot of the Piper Seneca plane that they were riding from Cebu to Naga. Only Robredo's aide survived the tragedy.   Robredo, a six-term mayor of Naga City, received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service in 2000.   He was feted for instituting much-needed reforms that turned Naga from a third-class to a first-class city.   In 2010, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III appointed Robredo to head t...

He will never be like Amy Poehler who “rubs elbows” with the strange people who exist in other worlds, or Jay-Z who sees in reading a way to “put words to feelings.” You won’t find him with a copy of the Daily News in the subway train or under the covers at 3 a.m. finishing a riveting novel. This Filipino does not read a book or a newspaper.   Yet, this man, whom I shall call “Tony” does not at all feel inadequate.   “I have never read a single book in my life,” said this New Yorker, a rare breed in a city of voracious readers. “I don’t intend to start now.”   Tony has a vibrant lifestyle surrounded by friends, shopping and theater. He is active within the Filipino community and does volunteer work for causes he believes in. He is smart, charming and loves to tell a story. My favorite is how he attempted to end his life as a young man, but the cord came apart because it was a cheap brand from Ikea.   He went to a private boys school in the Phil...

Italy is home to some 123,379 Filipinos, based on the  2010 Stock Estimate  of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas.  ROME - Italian coastguards rescued more than 350 African migrants off the small Italian island of Lampedusa over the weekend as they tried to reach European shores on rickety wooden boats, a coastguard official told Reuters on Sunday.   Last year tens of thousands of refugees and would-be migrants arrived in Lampedusa during the upheavals in North Africa, setting off a crisis that threatened to overwhelm the tiny island, but the flow has eased this year.   Coastguards rescued 231 people from sub-Saharan Africa on Saturday from a 15 meter wooden boat, including 33 women and four children, a coastguard official said.   Later on Saturday coastguards launched another rescue operation, this time involving 126 Tunisians who were on board a 10-meter-long wooden boat, the official said.   The migrants were taken to ...

HOUSTON — A furor erupted this week over a plea deal that resulted in a 20-year prison sentence for a murderous Texas mistress with the victim and her lawyer calling the deal “corrupt” and “laughable.”   Prosecutors fired back questioning the “integrity and ethics” of the lawyer representing the victim of the attempted murder.   Michelle Gaiser, 39, a Filipina, pleaded guilty to solicitation of capital murder for the 2010 attempts to kill Yvonne Stern, 54.   Gaiser claimed to have plotted the murders with her lover, Jeffrey Stern, Yvonne Stern’s husband.   Yvonne Stern has since reconciled with her husband and earlier this week prosecutors dropped all charges against Jeffrey Stern because Gaiser’s claims could not be corroborated.   Gaiser must serve at least half of her sentence before being eligible for parole, and with credit for time served she will be eligible in about eight years.   At the end of her sentence, she will be...

Staff members of the Philippine Embassy in Oman participated in lifesaving skills training on April 13, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said. In a  news release , the DFA said Jim Watson, a senior first-aid instructor of Oman Air, conducted the basic life-saving skills session before embassy staff, their spouses, and young adult children.   "A first aid instructor for 22 years, Watson designed the Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and Basic First Aid Skills training according to North American standards," the DFA said.   During the seminar, the participants learned the five skills:   patient assessment cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) helping a choking adult or child control of bleeding, and shock management   Watson also showed a video presentation and conducted a practical demonstration of the lifesaving skills.   The basic first aid skill training was sponsored by the Philippine Ladies Group in Oman as part of its Adult C...

A Filipina gym instructor was arrested in Oman for the killing of another Filipina, a report of the news site   Gulf News   said.   Gym instructor Allain Reyes, a mother of two small children, confessed to the crime on Tuesday last week after being interrogated by the police, Gulf News said.   Reyes was linked to the killing of Maria Lourdes, 51, a fellow gym instructor at PDO’s (Petroleum Development Oman) health club. Lourdes, a mother of four,  was from General Santos City.   The Royal Oman Police pressed murder charges against Reyes after she confessed to the crime.   Citing police sources, Gulf News said the two Filipinas had an argument at the victim’s flat shortly before the killing.   The police said the accused stabbed her friend to death with a kitchen knife. Lourdes' employers reported to the police that the victim had been absent from work for a few days and that her mobile phone appeared to be switched of...

FRANKFURT   — A Greek exit from the eurozone would be "manageable" even if it would be expensive and result in higher unemployment, a top member of the European Central Bank was quoted as saying on Monday.   In an interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau, Joerg Asmussen, a German member of the ECB's Executive Board, was asked about the possibility of debt-wracked Greece being forced out of the eurozone.   "First: My preference is clear. Greece should stay in the eurozone. Second: It is in Greece's hands to achieve that. Third: A Greek exit would be manageable. Fourth: An exit would not be as orderly as some imagine," he said.   Such an exit would spark a slump in growth, job losses and would be "very expensive. In Greece, in Europe and in Germany," said Asmussen.   Asmussen's comments came at the start of a crunch week for Greece as it bids to persuade its European partners to release a further slice of aid to keep its eco...