Cory Aquino: One Courageous Leader

When news broke out that former President Cory C. Aquino was battling the dreaded colon cancer, it jolted everyone about their own vulnerability and shocked many that the woman in yellow is suffering at a time when this country needed more noble leaders and a moral mother.

She has lived a very remarkable life and has sacrificed many things to served this country more than any leader after her term. For Cory, courage is the highest virtue.

Roots of Arroyo-Lopez Feud

If everyone in the Philippines can't help but feel that there must be something wrong in the way the Lopez family and the Macapagals and Arroyos deal with each other and in different sections of the economy, a 1994 study by University of Wisconsin historian Alfred McCoy seems to offer a valid explanation.

According to McCoy, the bad feelings between the Macapagals and Lopezes started more than four decades ago, when Diosdado Macapagal, President Arroyo’s father, was elected president of the Philippines in 1961. Back then, Eugenio Lopez and his younger brother Fernando not only financed his rival’s campaign but they were maneuvering for control of Congress to position Fernando for a presidential run in 1965. Hence, President Macapagal tried to employ the full powers of the state to bring the Lopez empire down.

Pinoy Math Wizards Harvest Medals

It was reported by Rainier Allan Ronda of The Philippine STAR on 12 July that thirteen Filipino high school math wizards held their own and harvested a crop of silver and bronze medals for the Philippines in the 10th Invitational World Youth Mathematics Inter-cities Competition (IWYMIC) held in Durban, South Africa.

Four members of the Philippines’ Team A posted a first runner-up finish in the team category competitions earning a trophy and a silver medal each for its four members namely Geraldine Baniqued, a senior at St. Paul College-Pasig; Arielle Elise Chua of St. Jude Catholic School-Manila; John Russell Virata of Gideon Academy; and Zheng Rong Wu of Zamboanga Chong Hua High School.

Rich Boys, Deadly Boys

Whether it is a hate crime or a fraternity war, nobody can really ascertain. However, one thing is clear Don Albert Philippe Cueto Pangcog (pictured above) was beaten to a pulp with lead pipes until he lost consciousness. Fortunately for him, he was not killed even after he was able to claw the bonnets off his attackers face and memorize their identities.

The Ateneo law student later identified his alleged attackers as fellow law students Mark Bryan Magno, his brother Mark Lester, both residents of Filinvest-1, Quezon City and Joya Condominium, Rockwell Center; Carlos Lim, from Pilar Village, Las Piñas City and Palmeras Building, Palma St., Bgy. Poblacion, Makati City; and Randy Garcia Echaus, of 45 Valle Verde Mansion, Pasig City.

May Vecina Should Serve Her Time

Two years after escaping death in Kuwait, the Philippine government has arranged for the return of May Vecina to the country. Vecina, the overseas Filipino worker (OFW) whose death sentence was waived after a full pardon by Kuwait’s ruler, will undoubtedly appear in several shows professing her eternal gratitude to the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The 30-year-old OFW received a pardon from Kuwaiti Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah after she was found guilty of killing her employer’s seven-year old son Salem Sulaiman al-Otaib on 6 January 2007. The mother of two from North Cotabato province, was also accused of attempting to kill the victim’s 13-year-old brother Abdulla by slitting the boy’s throat, and his 17-year-old sister Hajer by stabbing her.

Barrage of Scams After MJ's Death

It was reported by The Associated Press (AP), that minutes after any big celebrity dies, Internet swindlers get to work. They pump out specially created spam e-mails and throw up malicious Web sites to infect victims' computers, hoping to capitalize on the sudden high demand for information.

Michael Jackson's death was no different, and security experts say the fraud artists are just getting started.