KAKAMMPI News

The Department of Health may send medical teams to the Middle East to monitor the condition of Filipinos infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), a report on “24 Oras” said Tuesday. This was following reports that three Filipino nurses were among the 14 new cases  of MERS-CoV in Saudi Arabia. In Manila, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has already ordered labor attachés in the Middle East to have overseas Filipino workers fill up basic information sheets to help in tracking possible cases. According to the report, one of the nurses who tested positive for MERS-CoV in Saudi Arabia is at the intensive care unit of a hospital while the two others are in an isolation ward. Meanwhile, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration head Carmelita Dimzon said they are in constant communication with the families of the affected nurses. “Ang mga pamilya nitong mga OFW na ito ay nakikipag-ugnayan din sa OWWA at sa pamamagitan natin nakakakuha sila ng i...

Japan has denied reports that it has already lifted its visa requirements for Filipino, Indonesian, and Vietnamese nationals. In a  statement , the Embassy of Japan in the Philippines said the Japanese government has not lifted any visa requirements for the three countries. It, however, said residents from all three countries are eligible for multiple-entry visas. Details for multiple-entry visas are available at the  Embassy of Japan's website . Earlier this month, Japan's Kyodo News, citing "government sources," reported that the J apanese government is “making arrangements” to waive visas  for tourists from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam. The report said the proposed arrangement aims to draw more tourists from Southeast Asia, including the Muslim population in the region.  —  Rie Takumi /KBK, GMA News

A Filipino-American has been appointed to US President Barack Obama's advisory board on issues relating to Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced Tuesday. The appointment of Chicago-based Billy Dec and 13 others to the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) was announced last April 24.   Chicago-based Filipino-American Billy Dec.  DFA photo “As Commissioners, they will serve as the eyes and ears of the AAPI Community for the Obama Administration,” the DFA said in a statement. It said the commission is charged with working to improve the quality of life of AAPIs through increased participation and access to federal programs. “These members will advise the President on innovative ways to engage AAPIs across the country and to improve their health, education, environment, and well-being,” the DFA said. Dec, CEO and founder of Rockit Ranch Productions, a hospitality and entertainment ...

Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell and Glee star Darren Criss will join other Hollywood celebrities who will come together for a benefit concert for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in the Philippines. Dubbed “After the Storm,” the concert will also feature multi-award-winning Broadway artist Lea Salonga, Filipino-American actor Lou Diamond Phillips, tenor Rodell Rosel, ballet dancer Christine Rocas, and singer apl.de.ap. The concert will be held at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. on June 15. Before the concert,  Criss launched his own campaign on behalf of the World Food Programme  to support Yolanda victims. Specially-made postcards bearing the words “You're Not Alone,” a reference to one of his songs, were given to donors who managed to raise $100,000 for the WFP. Bell, on the other hand, is a long-time concert violinist who  performed six classical pieces at the L'Enfant Plaza Station in 2007  as part of a sociologica...

An army corporal in the United Arab Emirates faced a court on Monday over charges that he raped a Filipina housemaid in November last year. The corporal insisted he was not guilty over the charges that he forced the Filipina to have sex with him after he asked her to clean his uniform,  UAE news site Gulf News reported . “Not guilty... I didn’t have sex with her,” Gulf News quoted the suspect, 37, as saying when he entered his plea before the Dubai Court of First Instance on Monday. Presiding judge Ezzat Abdul Lat turned down the suspect’s request for bail. Prosecutors said the incident occurred last November when the corporal allegedly handed his uniform to the Filipina, 29, and asked her to wash it. But he allegedly dragged the Filipina into his bedroom, where he undressed her and forced her to have sex with him. He faces charges of having sex with the woman against her will and sexually molesting her. His lawyer asked Judge Lat for permission to obtain a report about the exchang...

April 25, 2014, Legazpi City:  Today is World Malaria Day, and PhilHealth Regional Office V takes time to give Bicolanos a heads up about this mosquito- borne infectious disease. Malaria is actually responsible for taking the lives of some famous people throughout history: Alexander the Great died of this disease in June 323 BC, at a very tender age of 32. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, April is incidentally the 115th anniversary of the death of Emilio Jacinto, the brains of the Katipunan, whose life was also cut short because of malaria. It probably took just one bite of an unassuming small mosquito which drove these famous people and several civilizations out of existence. The good news is there is cure for it, and famous people have also been able to survive malaria: George Washington and John F. Kennedy, among them, and the latest: Anderson Cooper, who was hospitalized when he got bitten by a small mosquito during an assignment in Africa. In the Bicol Region, based on Ta...

Any important ceremony in the Vatican seems incomplete without a musical accompaniment by the Coro della Capella Sistina or the Sistine Chapel Choir. During the canonization of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII last Sunday, for example, the group serenaded the devotees with their angelic voices. A report on “24 Oras” Monday said two members of Sistine Chapel Choir are Filipinos, one of them is 10-year-old Dan Valenzona. Born in Rome, Italy, to both Filipino parents who are overseas workers, Valenzona was once brought to St. Peter's Square by his parents when he was still an infant to attend a Mass celebrated by then-Pope John Paul II. The report siad Valenzona's parents said they never once thought that their child would become a member of the Sistine Chapel Choir. “I feel so proud and happy to be part of this choir,” Valenzona told “24 Oras” anchor Mel Tiangco through an interpreter. Meanwhile, healing priest Fr. Fernando Suarez, who also attended the canonization rites ...

JERSEY CITY — The Superior Court of New Jersey in Hudson County has dismissed theft charges against Lourdes P. Corrales, chair of the Community Development Center of the Philippine American Friendship Committee (PAFCOM). Corrales was charged with allegedly depositing $11,016.86 in development grant from the Jersey City treasurer in her own separate account. Edwin Solano, 2013 overall chair of PAFCOM, filed the complaint on July 24, 2013 with the Jersey City Police Department, West District.   Lourdes P. Corrales.  Filipino Reporter photo Solano alleged that the checking account opened by Corrales was separate and distinct from the organization’s community account. On Nov. 21, 2013, a grand jury returned an indictment against Corrales on two counts of theft. Superior Court Judge Joseph V. Isabella junked the complaint on March 17, 2014 as recommended by Assistant Prosecutor Steven Sciancalepore for “absence of evidence to establish that Ms. Corrales sought to deprive the...

Two pairs of Filipino brothers are creating R&B music in Canada. Samuel and Bobby Gerongco from Toronto and Johann and Jayson Camat from Montreal are the artists behind Kuya, a Filipino word for “older brother.”   Samuel and Bobby Gerongco from Toronto and Johann and Jayson Camat from Montreal are Kuya.  The FilAm photo Kuya was originally formed in May of 1993. Sammy and Johann met when they were part of the original Canadian cast of “Miss Saigon.” During rehearsals, they would find time to share musical ideas, and soon would have their younger brothers Bobby and Jayson singing along. Bobby went to school for music production, and soon the group started writing, producing and releasing their own songs. Kuya became quickly known as a powerhouse R&B vocal group. As described by Sammy, “Johann carried the group with his strong raspy vocals and incredible stage presence. Jayson brought a soulful edge with deep lyrical content, and Bobby set the tone with his next l...

Lest they risk a forced inheritance distribution, non-Muslim Filipinos in the United Arab Emirates were urged to make wills for their families. UAE legal consultant Barney Almazar said that without a will, assets of non-Muslims will likely be distributed based on a forced-heirship setup that favors male heirs. “Because in our culture we find these things (writing wills) off, just like when we talk about death, even if you’re in the Philippines, it’s like a taboo subject,”  Almazar told Gulf News on the sidelines of the Marriage and Family Laws legal aid seminar at the Philippine consulate last Saturday . Almazar noted many Filipinos do not bother to execute a will because they assume Philippine laws are applicable in the UAE. “Having a will is very important for [expatriates] here in the UAE because there is a provision in the UAE Civil Code that the national law of the deceased will be applicable. But at the same time, there is also a provision in the same civil code that UAE Law ...

(Updated 3:03 p.m.)  At least three Filipino nurses in Saudi Arabia have reportedly contracted the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), a Saudi news site reported Saturday. The three were among 14 new cases that included seven in Jeddah, four in Riyadh and three in Makkah, according to a  report on Arab News . "Of the nurses who have contracted the virus, one was a 28-year-old female Filipino working at Dr. Sulaiman Al-Habib Hospital in Riyadh, but the bulletin said she hasn’t developed any symptoms," the report said. It added two other Filipino nurses working at Al-Noor Hospital in Makkah contacted the virus. While the report also did not name the nurses at Al-Noor, it described one as a 40-year-old female who has been in contact with a confirmed case. She has not developed any symptoms, it added. The third was described as a 30-year-old male, who also got in contact with a confirmed case and developed mild respiratory symptoms. However, his health status...

The Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong will be closed on May 1 and 6, in observance of holidays in the Philippines and Hong Kong. In an advisory, the Consulate General said it will be closed on Labor Day, May 1, considered a regular holiday in the Philippines. But it also said it will be closed on May 6, Tuesday, to mark  Buddha's birthday . Hong Kong observes Buddha's birthday on the eighth day of the fourth lunar month. The  Hong Kong Tourism Board  said the holiday traces its roots to a legend where nine dragons sprayed water to bathe the baby Buddha at birth. "To commemorate this, at Buddhist temples across the city, devotees gather to pay their respects to this revered deity by bathing statues of him in bowls of water. The ritual is believed to aid in the purification of one’s soul. One of the grandest ceremonies is held at the Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island, home of the Big Buddha," it said. It added celebrants before and after the Birthday of Buddha e...

The Commission on Elections and the Department of Foreign Affairs want to double the number of overseas voters for the 2016 elections. "The number of Filipinos abroad is nearing 12 million but we only have 1 million registered voters for OAV. Our target for 2016 is to at least bring it to 2 million," Comelec Commissioner Grace Padaca said on her Facebook account. She added, "Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis wants his DFA partners all over the world to have one mIllion more overseas Filipinos register as voters." Earlier, the Comelec reported a  low Overseas Absentee Voting turnout in the May 2013 midterm polls with only 117,383 participating out of 700,000 registered voters. Comelec Commissioner Lucenito Tagle, chairman of the OAV committee attributed the low number of participants abroad to the lack of interest of Filipinos abroad. “According to our ambassadors and consuls general, even when they went out of their way to entice the voters, maraming ayaw...

Philippine foreign officials in the Middle East, Africa and other neighboring countries met on Thursday to discuss the government's response to the threats posed by the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus and other viruses. In a statement on Saturday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the special meeting, which was ordered by Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, was held on the sidelines of the agency's regional workshop on curbing trafficking in persons helo in Ankara, Turkey. It added that the officials were briefed on the MERS-CoV and other viruses and how these affect the Filipinos there. They have also reviewed individual and regional contingency plans in the event of a pandemic, the statement said. "The DFA's goal is two-fold: To safeguard the health and safety of our countrymen who are in the affected countries and to ensure that these communicable and fatal viruses do not spread," Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Af...

The Philippines scored anew in the international stage on Saturday, with its team bagging the bronze in an international cheerleading competition in Florida. Screenshot of a video of Team Philippines' performance in the annual World Cheerleading Championships' All Girl Elite tilt, as posted on the International Cheer Union website.  International Cheer Union website The International Cheer Union said the Philippine team copped the bronze in the All Girl Elite competition of the 2014 ICU World Cheerleading Championships. Cheerleaders from  New Zealand won the gold while Team Chile copped the silver . On the other hand, the Filipinas managed to beat teams from Mexico, Slovenia, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Switzerland, Colombia, and Wales. The competition was held at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida on April 24 and 25. ICU was established April 26, 2004, and is the  recognized world governing body of cheerleading .  — Joel Locsin  and  Amanda ...

Philippine officials in the United States are now checking on the safety of Filipinos in parts of New Jersey, in the wake of a forest fire there. The Philippine embassy in Washington D.C. said the  Philippine Consulate General in New York  has so far not received any report of Filipinos affected by the fires in Ocean County. "Consulate checking on Filipinos living near fire-affected areas to ascertain their well-being. There are 5,000 Filipinos in Ocean County," the embassy said on its Twitter account before dawn Saturday, PHL time. It also posted a link to an NBC New York story indicating the New Jersey forest fires forced residents to flee their homes, and schools to close. The NBC news report said firefighters in New Jersey had to deal with five forest fires Thursday in Ocean County. It said the first fire began Thursday morning at Grand Central Parkway and Berkeley Avenue near the Berkeley Township border Thursday. The  fire razed more 300 acres and threatened homes ...

Filipino-American composer Robert Lopez and his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez, the couple behind the Oscar Award-winning song “Let It Go,” were among Time Magazine's 100 most influential people for 2014. The couple were joined under the artist category by comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, actor Kelly Washington, and director Steve McQueen. “They are both completely steeped in the traditions of Broadway musicals, but they’re really smart and would never be happy just regurgitating what’s come before,"  said “South Park” and “Book of Mormon” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone on the Lopez couple . They added the song “Let It Go”—used in the hit Disney animated movie “Frozen”— is “catchy and familiar and yet new.” “It’s that perfect mix where a songwriter can get a song you’ve never heard before stuck in your head in 30 seconds,” Parker and Stone, who had worked with Robert Lopez in “Book of Mormon,” said. Robert Lope recently performed “Let It Go” with fellow Filipin...

A Filipina commuter was fined for chewing gum inside an air-conditioned bus shelter in the United Arab Emirates, a UAE news site reported Friday. The Filipina claimed she was not aware that chewing gum was covered by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) rules banning eating, drinking and smoking inside the shelters. “I have been using public transport for six years and I usually chew gum as a habit. I never thought that even chewing gum could attract a fine. I know it is not allowed in the bus and on the Metro, but I didn’t know there is an eating ban in the bus shelters and I am not sure if chewing gum amounts to eating,”  Gulf News quoted the Filipina saleswoman as saying . But a senior RTA official said the ban has always been there, adding the inspectors were just doing their work. “Under offence No 29 of the offence list for the bus passenger, chewing gum is deemed to be eating. It is an offence and the fine is Dh100,” said Tareq Al Gaith, Director of Franchising and Enforc...