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IAP's Mega Showroom breaks ground

It is world class and it's going to rise here in Iloilo City.




Mayor Jerry P. Trenas has another reason to smile these days. There will be another contributor in real property taxes, so he said. "This will mean more programs for Iloilo City," he added.

From left are Dong Ha Jang, VP of Samsung Electronics Philippines; Masashi Date, VP of Sharp Philippines; Rene Almeda, president of Panasonic Phils; Mayor Jerry Treñas; Rodolfo C. Tiu, CEO of Imperial Appliance Corp.; Tetsuo Hirota, president of Sanyo Philippines; and Hideyuki Takata, president of JVC PhilippinesHe was referring to the Imperial Appliance Plaza Mega Showroom, which broke ground last Sept. 8, 2007.

According to Rodolfo Tiu, CEO, one does not need to go to Manila anymore to shop for appliances because "one of the largest showrooms in the Philippines will rise here." He said that the showroom will feature top-of-the-line models, too. Now, that's a very exciting promise.


Rev. Fr. Renato Cuadras, Mandurriao parish priest; Edgar Tiu and Rolando Bermudo, HRD Manager of Pepsi Cola PhilsMayor Treñas said that he hopes this will encourage other business people to develop their lands to contribute to a booming Iloilo City.

Kudos to IAP for another milestone in its history!



- Kathy Villalon of The News Today

Back Again

Hi to all readers. I'm back after a long long time.I've been very busy being pregnant. Now that I'm back I will make my site more interesting to viewers and readers. Hope you enjoy visiting my page.

Iloilo's Dinagyang Festival draws local, int'l audience, in Manila

The city government of Iloilo and the Dinagyang Foundation are all set to bring the country's best tourism event, the Dinagyang Festival, to international and national audiences on December 9-10, 2006.

This was announced by Dinagyang Festival executive director Ben Jimena after preparations were finalized in bringing the Dinagyang tribe and dancers to Marikina City for special performances hosted by Marikina City Mayor Marides C. Fernando on December 9.

The next day, the Dinagyang Festival and official mascot Dagoy will be at the Mall of Asia in Pasay City for the formal launching of Dinagyang 2007 and a press conference for international and national media exposures. Invited to the launching are Manila-based travel writers and news reporters of broadsheets, magazines, radio and television networks. Also invited are foreign reporters.

The launching is timely since thousands of foreigners are in Metro Manila for the upcoming ASEAN Summit to be held in Cebu on December 11-15, 2006.

The biggest shopping mall in the country is expected to be full of people to see the sights and hear the sounds of Dinagyang and Ilonggos who can not go home to Iloilo on January are invited to see the Dinagyang Festival. A photo exhibit and video presentation will be held the whole day at the Mall of Asia.

Jimena said that thousands of foreign delegates would still be in Manila waiting for the arrival of 17 heads of states on December 12 to go to Cebu. The foreign delegates through their Manila embassies were invited to see how Ilonggos celebrate the festival and venerate the Sto. Nino as official patron saint of Iloilo City.

Dinagyang's Tribu Atub-Atub will be focal performer to drum up the festivities slated in Iloilo City on the last week of January 2007.

Mascot Dagoy of Dinagyang is also slated to go around the major cities of the Philippines to invite and show-off the Dinagyang Festival in Iloilo City.

Jimena said bringing Dinagyang Festival, the recently recognized top tourism event by the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines (ATOP), is supported by the Dinagyang Foundation chaired by Lee Chuan and City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas.
(PNA)

-The News Today

Heavy Flow at Smallville Iloilo City

By Nonoy D. Ybiernas
The News Today

Some invitations are hard to ignore. Just like when Flow celebrated its second anniversary recently. It was such a night in trendy Smallville when Iloilo's top and definitely the most swank nocturnal club ever Flow celebrated its second "flowing year" with an open bar party for their close friends and regular hipsters. And boy what a night it was!

By midnight, everyone, as in everybody, was seen enjoying themselves. It was a packed mixed crowd of adorably quaint young party goers dressed outrageously, fashionably and expensively; also seen were preppy suburbanites; and some after-event spillover people in formal wear staking out the dance floor.

Everybody was in high emotions as master spinner Jayvee Villaruz, together with resident DJs B-bong, Christian and Jason, played a powerful mix of R n' B, progressive and house music.

The club was so squeezy that by the time you navigate across the room, you're wearing somebody else's make up.

It was a Heavy Flow night indeed!

Colors, cultures, & communities

Photos by Tara Yap
Texts by Tara Yap & Niño Saavedra Manaog
The Guardian

FREEDOM! This performer from Sta. Barbara's Kahilwayan Festival cries out a familiar line uttered by revolucionarios under Spain’s colonial rule

LET THE DRUM BEATS Pandayan Festival of Badiangan Iloilo presents the flair and versatility of the mainland Ilonggos, portraying scenes of the common folk.

CULTURE VULTURE This girl performer belonging to the Bariw Festival contingent of Nabas, Aklan bears the sun's heat for an all-out, much applauded performance.

I AXE A performer in Janiuay's Lanot Festival takes stock of portable props that create a rustic, pastoral atmosphere.

COLOR OF ITS COUNTRIES The familiar, colorful symmetry in Iloilo’s Dinagyang Festival is a crowd-drawer with its cadenced movements that always leave audience with a crisp, breathtaking finish.

MASS-KANAMI! Colorfully masked, Bacolod's Masskara contingent wows the audience in their stylized dance steps with add-on confetti cannons for the grand finale.

FACE LIFT Boys and girls performers in Saad Festival of Leganes, Iloilo face up with discomfort and rage, depicting an intense, dramatic number that only draws attention.

On Friday, October 27, the city of Iloilo witnessed the Regional Parade of Festivals that brought to life the region’s rich sense of history, faith, and tradition.

Gathering a variety of scenes and sensibilities, the Parade of Festivals convened in one scene the Ati-Atihan of Kalibo, the Dinagyang of Iloilo and the Masskara of Bacolod, three of the best street-dance performances acclaimed the world over.

In this festival of festivals, noteworthy are Bacolod’s Masskara, Passi’s Pintados, Lauaan’s Pahinis, Cabatuan’s Tinuom, and Sta. Barbara’s Kahilwayan as they received the Dinagyang Foundation’s Special Awards worth their time and effort.

In all, the seventeen performing tribes colorfully attested the diversity of Panay culture rich in traditions and lore-, and powerfully showcased with intensity sure to last through the generations.

Go! Go! Ilonggo!


Police on alert in today's Parade of Festivals
By Maricar M. Calubiran
The News Today

Police in the city are placed on a heightened alert status as delegations from the six provinces of the region will be here for the Parade of Festivals which is part of the week-long Western Visayas Tourism Assembly.


Nineteen tribes from the different provinces of Region 6 will showcase their festivals starting at 8:00 a.m. The cultural show will kick off with a parade of tribes starting from the Provincial Capitol Grounds to Iznart Street, JM Basa Street, Solis Street, Rizal Street and De Leon Street. Each tribe will perform along Solis Street and at Freedom Grandstand.

City Mayor Jerry Treñas said the alert level is raised to ensure the safety of the people joining the festival and the spectators themselves as he stressed the police is "on top" of the situation.

Bomb-sniffing dogs (K-9) will be fielded to check the Iloilo Freedom Grandstand and all areas where the participating groups will perform.

Treñas, who is still recuperating after an operation on gall bladder said he is in constant communication with Iloilo City Police Office Director Senior Supt. Norlito Bautista and Police Regional Office 6 Director Geary Barias on the security measures in the city of Iloilo.

The chief executive is alarmed over the recent discovery of bomb components in Iloilo pier and a shopping mall.

He has sought the help of barangay captains in the city in the fight against terrorism.

To add more teeth on the security measures designed by police, checkpoints will be conducted in areas considered as entrance and exit routes in the city. Checkpoints will also be made in the towns near the city.

Treñas stressed the police should be extra watchful as the city has many visitors being host to the Western Visayas Tourism Assembly.

The chief executive also said he has already instructed City Administrator Melchor Tan to extend help to the city police particularly on their gasoline needs. The gasoline is needed for the mobility of the city cops.

Festivals that will participate in the showdown are the Dinagyang and Paraw Regatta Festivals of Iloilo City, Masskara Festival of Bacolod City, Pintados de Pasi of Passi City, Babaylan and El Cinco de Noviembre Festivals of Bago City, Negros Occidental, Ati-atihan and Bariw Festivals from the Province of Aklan, Sinadya sa Halaran of Capiz, Binirayan and Pahinis Festivals of Antique, and the Manggahan Festival from the province of Guimaras.

Also joining the festival showdown are festivals coming from the various municipalities of the province. These are the Tinu-om of Cabatuan, Pandayan of Badiangan, Saad Festival of Leganes, Lanot of Janiuay, Cry of Jelicuon of New Lucena, Kahilwayan of Sta. Barbara and Banaag Festival of Anilao.

The Top 5 festivals will be chosen as winners with a cash prize of P5,000.00 each. The Paraw Regatta and Dinagyang Festivals of Iloilo City are excluded from joining the said dance competition.

During the parade and showdown of festivals, Iznart, JM Basa and Ledesma Streets will be closed and traffic will be re-routed from 6:00 o'clock in the morning until 2:00 o'clock in the afternoon.

Ted's Batchoy - Mall of Asia

The Country's largest shopping Mall is now open. Mall of Asia, SM's most ambitious project up to date has finally opened its doors and provide the public a "ONE STOP SHOP with World Class Dining and Entertainment Center". A day at this gigantic mall is not enough....this is truly a gigantic malling experience.

Aerial View of Mall of Asia

Together with the Grand Opening of the Mall of Asia last May 21, 2006, Iloilo City's number 1 Lapaz Batchoy, Ted's Oldtimer Lapaz Batchoy, has opened it's 6th Outlet in Metro Manila.

Patron's of the Mall of Asia will now have the chance to savor the authentic and exquisite taste of the "ORIGINAL" Lapaz Batchoy....only at TED'S Oldtimer Lapaz Batchoy.

Come visit Teds Lapaz Batchoy at the Mall of Asia located at the 1st Floor - South Parking Building(at the corner of Pacifica Road and Marina Bay Road intersection.) Read more about MOA...

Sinful Desires: Chocolate galore, chocomania in Iloilo's "Chocolate Festival"

Imagine this. Extremely rich layered chocolate cake and chocolate meringue filled with thick ganache (mixture of chocolate and heavy cream) in between layers and topped with ganache icing. Imagine more. Crunchy mallow bars that ensures chocolatey-krispy-mallowy bites and chocolate croissant as "Bread of the Week."

Oh yes! It's that time of the year again and now back with more rewards (and vengeance) for all chocoholics out there! The event? Year Two of the Chocolate Festival at the Atrium's Tinapayan!

A monthlong event starting October 16, see and taste Ilonggo's choco-best with weekly features of "Cake of the Week," "Bar of the Week" and "Bread of the Week."

To follow suit week one, see and most definitely taste week two specials -- Turtle Torte, Fudge Mint Brownies and Chocolate Swirl.

Turtle Torte is made of layers of Choco-Oreo crust, caramel with walnut and chocolate mousse! And it doesn't stop here! This wonderful choco-great is covered with whipping cream icing and topped with mouthwatering caramel. Now, ask no more why this is Week Two "Cake of the Week." And the Fudge Mint Brownies? Perfect ending to anybody's perfect or imperfect meal with that distinct minty-chocolatey taste. And go swirl with delight in the Chocolate Swirl bread.

And heed the chocolatey call for Week Three's Mocha Marjolaine as Cake of the Week. A wonderfully multi-layered cake consists of chocolate ganache, mocha butter cream and alternately layered crispy and this "melts-in-your-mouth" meringue brought to a perfect finish with chocolate butter cream icing and styled ( an understatement really, more like genuisly-crafted ) with a marble-wedge look. Mocha Marjolaine will find partners in "Bars of the Week" -- Marble Brownies and Chocolate Truffle Bars. And go on have your "Breads of the Week" on Week Three with Choco Ensaymadas and Choco Cheese Ensaymadas.

And to conclude a great month, have a Cappucino Overload, Week Four's "Cake of the Week" and give in to your sinful desires of truly heart-pounding ingredients! Two layers of Cappucino Cake with a creamy cappuccino filling in between and finished with cappuccino whipping cream icing! Whew! And the "Bar of the Week"? Zebra Brownies matched with "Bread of the Week" Double Chocolate Chip Bun.

All only at the Atrium's Year Two of the Chocolate Festival, truly wonderfully good Sinful Desires. All good. Very good.

'Peter Pan' sequel launched worldwide on centenary of creation

by Elodie Mazein

LONDON (AFP) - The first official sequel to Peter Pan, entitled "Peter Pan in Scarlet," hit bookstores in Britain and 30 other countries Thursday, 100 years after Scottish author JM Barrie created the character.

More than 500,000 copies of the work written by Geraldine McCaughrean have been published for the launch in English but also in languages including Basque, Chinese, French, Hebrew and Polish.

Some 200,000 copies are available in the United States and 50,000 in Britain.

"I'm more nervous now that I was when I signed on because I just didn't realize in my ignorance that it was going to be quite that big," said McCaughrean, a British children's author.

"I thought it was a very English kind of a book, possibly American, but not Korean and Russian. It's just very exciting," she told BBC radio.

In the new book, Wendy is now a wife and mother.

"They've grown up.... the first thing they have to do is to become children again so that they can go back to Neverland," McCaughrean said.

"And when they get there, they find Neverland seriously changed. It's colder, and more dangerous and more frightening than it was before," she told BBC radio.

"Peter Pan is the same, anarchic little demon as he always was. Tinkerbell is not there at the beginning of the book but there's a new fairy, called Fireflyer, who is all bent on meeting her," she said.

Captain Hook's spirit is stalking Neverland and newcomers include mysterious circus master "The Great Ravello," and a male fairy Fireflyer.

"This is the biggest dilemma that faced me because he disappeared into a crocodile and I don't do ghosts. But his ship is still floating on the lagoon and his spirit of evil is still lurking," she said.

The plot and new characters were secret, with a pre-publication embargo placed on the book. However, in August, an investigation was launched into how a copy of the book came to be leaked to a US newspaper.

A party is scheduled to take place Thursday evening at Kensington Palace to celebrate the launch of the sequel in 34 languages. Author James Matthew Barrie lived near Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, where a Peter Pan statue stands.

McCaughrean was handpicked to write the sequel from nearly 200 authors around the world after London's Great Ormond Street children's hospital launched a search for a writer in August 2004.

Entrants were asked to submit a sample chapter and synopsis.

Great Ormond Street's copyright on the original "Peter Pan", bequeathed to it by Barrie in 1929, runs out next year.

The royalties for the new book will be split between McCaughrean and the hospital.

David Barrie, Barrie's great-great-nephew, said: "JM Barrie could never have guessed that Peter Pan would still be making a vital difference to Great Ormond Street Hospital almost 70 years after his death.

"I'm sure he would be delighted to know that, thanks to Geraldine McCaughrean's sequel, the boy who wouldn't grow up will go on helping children back to health for many years to come."

What Brought Bagyo Milenyo to Igbaras

Recue workers help residents cross the
Sungsongon overflow bridge, whre the
ill-fated jeepney fell, amid strong water
current on Monday.




Residents cross the "overflow" bridge in Sungsongon, Brgy. Barasan, Igbaras, Iloilo after water from the Tangyan river subsided Tuesday afternoon. Inset photo shows raging water current overflowing the bridge last Monday hours after a jeepney full of passengers fell and was carried away by water.

Death toll up to 23, 22 still missing as 25 survive raging waters
By Florence F. Hibionada and Erly C. Garcia
The News Today

Igbaras, Iloilo--Hopes of finding any more survivors in the raging waters of Tangyan River along Igbaras, Iloilo dimmed as members of rescue groups now similarly focused current efforts to search and retrieval operations from Monday's "search and rescue."

As of noon Tuesday, the number of survivors remained at 25, the death toll now up to 23 as 22 others remain missing and feared dead in what stands to be the worst tragedy to hit this Iloilo southern town.

The incident occurred late Monday morning after a passenger jeepney carrying some 70 passengers who attended the burial of a certain Remo Eguico in Igbaras town proper was carried away by the raging current of water while crossing the 120-meter Sungsongan "overflow" bridge by Barangay Barasan.

Igbaras Rural Health Unit identified the 23 recovered dead bodies as: Zenaida Escubin, 63, Redelia Pait, 66, Rufino Efalan, 73, Domingo Embellado, 48, Kent Anthony Efalan, 3, Rodolfo Hermoso, 63, Josefina Efalan, 65, Encarnacion Javelona, 58, Aida Elmadin, 48, Estelita Mampula, 68, Luisa Elumba, 66, Remedios Ecijo, 68, Virgie Eguilos, 61, Evangeline Embiado, 33, Karylle Vien Efalan, 8, Romulo Mampula, 59, Marvin Del Rio, Anecito Ermeje, Margie Elumba, Margarita Ecijo, Margarito Elumba, Emma Flor Mampula and Antonio Estrellanes.

Those who are still missing as of press time are Ruel Efalan, Kris Vincent Efalan, Conchita Embalsado, Doris Estrellanes, Ponciano Edang, Esperanza Efalan, Fermina Odanggo, Eugenia Teves, Constancio Teves, Josefina Embate, Asuzena Idca, Rosalinda Esmediana, Rudy Niocasion, Jude Conde, Junior Pidok Ibanog, Tony Jim Estrellanes, Romulo Erpe, Rose Idca, Victor Embiado, Merlyn Javelona and Linda Ermeje.

‘GIVE HELP DIRECTLY’

By HAZEL P. VILLA
Panay News


NUEVA VALENCIA, Guimaras – Show that you really care. Deliver help directly.

Residents and an official of oil spill-affected villages here are requesting donors of relief goods to directly give their donations of cash and kind to the residents and evacuees themselves.

“It is better to give money and goods directly to the sitios and barangays. We appreciate that more,” said Ramon Ortiz, Sangguniang Bayan member here.

Editha Cayanan, 54, a shell gatherer in Brgy. Tando said “Ang relief naga-abot, pero indi mapuslan (the relief goods arrive but they are next to useless),” she said at the evacuation area of Tando on Thursday last week.

She said clothes that are in jute sacks to be distributed to residents and evacuees seemed like they have been pre-selected before distribution, claiming that she knew what real relief goods looked like since she has a sister dealing in ukay-ukay (used clothing for sale).

Rema Cagayan, 39, seconded the opinion of Cayanan, citing her appreciation for the couple from the Singapore Evangelical Church who arrived on September 7 and personally distributed one sack of rice, powdered milk and relief goods per house in Tando village that has 204 households and a population of more than a thousand.
Cagayan said that since Petron-chartered MT Solar 1 carrying 2.19 million liters of bunker fuel oil sank off southern Guimaras on August 11, she could remember three instances of receiving relief help.

On the third week of August, Cagayan said help came from Petron and Taos Puso Foundation that gave at least five kilos of rice and several canned goods.

The provincial Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) delivered help on the third week of August – distributing two kilos of rice, two packs of noodles and two canned goods to affected households in Tando.

The PDSWD came back on the first week of September again to distribute four and a half kilos of rice, four packs of noodles and canned goods.

Most donations are entrusted to the government’s Task Force Guimaras, the Red Cross or sent directly to the Guimaras Provincial Capitol in the capital town of Jordan.

There are two kinds of Guimarasnons affected by the oil spill, said Anna Maria "Lally" Nava, officer in charge of the Red Cross Guimaras Chapter.

The directly affected are those in the towns of Nueva Valencia, Sibunag and San Lorenzo with bunker fuel oil on their shores and mangroves and are daily receiving the brunt of the effects of environmental pollution.

The indirectly affected are those residing in the towns of Jordan and Buenavista that have no oil spill but have done away with fishing as a livelihood because there are no buyers of fish from Guimaras even though the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said Guimaras fish are safe to eat.

The five towns of Guimaras have a total population of about 152,000, said the Provincial Economic Development Office.

“It must be considered that those indirectly affected by the oil spill also need help,” said Nava in a telephone interview Tuesday afternoon.

The Red Cross has donated to Guimaras province 600 boots, 1000 gloves and 1000 masks on top of being the conduit for donations from Iloilo City and other parts of the country, said Nava, wife of Jordan mayor Felipe Nava.

Videos of Oil Spill in Guimaras Island

Video of Guimaras before the tragedy happened

Guimaras Disaster

Photo of the Tanker that sinked in Guimaras Island.


Map where the tanker sinked.


Some pictures of Guimaras Island after the tragedy.

Guimaras Before and After the Oil Spill Tragedy

It made me wanted to cry after seeing the Guimaras Island because of the Oil Spill tragedy. See pictures of Guimaras Island below before the Oil Spill happens.











For more pictures of beautiful Guimaras Island just click here

And now this is how Guimaras Island looks like...











See more disastrous pictures here. My heart aches seeing this.

See news related to it below:

Official backtracks on claim that oil spill stopped

Health exec allays fears of Guimaras residents over rising oil spill-related cases

Help pours on oil spill stricken Guimaras

More help sought for Guimaras on oil spill mess

Guimaras sets up website to seek help

Happy 25th Birthday to the PC

August 12, 1981. If you were ready to plunk down about $1,600, you could have owned a piece of history: The original IBM 5150 PC, generally considered to be the "first" PC.

At 25 years old, it's fun to look back on how far we've come. At 21 pounds (without drives), the 5150 wasn't much fatter than the PCs of today. Under the hood, things looked a bit different: 40KB of read-only memory and 16KB of RAM (upgradable to 256KB). You could configure the machine with one or two 160KB floppy drives, but a jack for a cassette player was included. Users certainly loved the "power-on automatic self-test of system components" and "built-in speaker for musical programming." And the keyboard (included) weighed six pounds. The 11.5-inch monochrome monitor, capable of displaying 25 lines of text, weighed in at 17 lbs. and supported both upper- and lowercase characters. Whoa.

Mock it if you must, but remember that the 5150 was unlike anything anyone had ever seen. The Apple II, released a few years earlier, came close, but it was more of a hacker toy and game-playing machine than something that would be at home in a business. The 5150 had built-in BASIC and Pascal support for writing programs, and it included a ton of business software: VisiCalc, Peachtree accounting software, and the EasyWriter word processor. And yes, Microsoft Adventure, a text-based adventure game, was available for diversions.

So that was 25 years ago. Looking ahead 25 years is almost impossible (and the further we get from the birth of the PC, the harder and harder it gets), but let's imagine. Magnetic storage will still be around, and your average hard drive will hold something in the vicinity of 30 terabytes (30,000GB) and cost $50 or less. CPU architecture will be vastly different. If we're still using silicon wafers, you could have a 32-core CPU with dedicated encryption and graphics components. In 25 years, graphics will have evolved to the point where Toy Story will seem quaint. You'll be able to compose a production like that in real time, and it'll look perfect on your wall-sized display. And dare we dream of something in true 3-D? Memo to Silicon Valley: Better get busy!

For another walk down memory lane (or rather, a walk down a lane filled with computers that predate the PC most of which you have probably never heard of), check out this page of personal computer milestones, dating back to 1950. And let's hear your memories of the early days of the personal computer. What was your first machine, and how did it change your life? The comments are open!

Don't kill Harry Potter, authors urge Rowling

By Claudia Parsons

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two of America's top authors, John Irving and Stephen King, made a plea to J.K. Rowling on Tuesday not to kill the fictional boy wizard Harry Potter in the final book of the series, but Rowling made no promises.

"My fingers are crossed for Harry," Irving said at a joint news conference before a charity reading by the three writers at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

The author of "The World According to Garp" and a string of other bestsellers said he and King felt like "warm-up bands" for Rowling, who is working on the seventh and last book in the Harry Potter series, and who has said two characters will die.

King, who shot to fame in 1974 with "Carrie," said he had confidence that Rowling would be "fair" to her hero.

"I don't want him to go over the Reichenbach Falls," King said in a reference to Arthur Conan Doyle's effort to kill off the character of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Pressure from fans eventually led Conan Doyle to resurrect Holmes, who was found in a later story to have survived.

Rowling, a Briton whose books have sold 300 million copies worldwide according to her publishers, said she was well into the process of writing the final book.

"I feel quite liberated," she said.

"I can resolve the story now and it's fun in a way it wasn't before because finally I've reached my resolution, and I think some people will loathe it and some people will love it, but that's how it should be."

"We're working toward the end I always planned but a couple of characters I expected to survive have died and one character got a reprieve," she said, declining to elaborate.

Asked about the wisdom of killing off fictional characters, Rowling said she didn't enjoy killing the major character who died in book six -- for the sake of those who haven't read it yet she avoided naming the victim -- but she said the conventions of the genre demanded the hero go on alone.

"I understand why an author would kill a character from the point of view of not allowing others to continue writing after the original author is dead," she added, leaving the door open to the worst fears of some fans -- that Harry could die.

King recalled that when he had a character kick a dog to death in his novel "Dead Zone" he received more letters of complaint than ever, to his surprise.

"You want to be nice and say 'I'm sorry you didn't like that,' but I'm thinking to myself number one, he was a dog not a person, and number two, the dog wasn't even real," he said.

"I made that dog up, it was a fake dog, it was a fictional dog, but people get very, very involved," King said.

Rowling noted that Irving had killed off many more characters than she had.

"When fans accuse me of sadism, which doesn't happen that often, I feel I'm toughening them up to go on and read John and Stephen's books," she said. "I think they've got to be toughened up somehow. It's a cruel literary world out there."

Miss Puerto Rico, Zuleyka Rivera crowned Miss Uunivers 2006 during Live NBC telecast on July 23rd

Los Angeles, California, July 23, 2006 - This evening, during one of the year's most exciting live television events, a star-studded panel of judges chose Zuleyka Rivera, Miss Puerto Rico, as MISS UNIVERSE® 2006.

The 18-year-old delegate from Puerto Rico was crowned at the conclusion of the 55th Annual broadcast on NBC live from Los Angeles, California.

First Runner Up: Miss Japan, Kurara Chibana will assume the duties of MISS UNIVERSE 2006 if the titleholder for some reason cannot fulfill her responsibilities.

Second Runner Up: Miss Switzerland, Lauriane Gillieron
Rest of Top Five:
Miss Switzerland, Lauriane Gillieron
Miss Paraguay, Lourdes Arevalos
Miss Japan, Kurara Chibana
Miss United States, Tara Conner
Miss Puerto Rico, Zuleyka Rivera

Rest of Top Ten:
Miss Canada, Alice Panikian
Miss Trinidad/Tobago, Kenisha Thom
Miss Bolivia, Desiree Duran
Miss Japan, Kurara Chibana
Miss Puerto Rico, Zuleyka Rivera
Miss United States, Tara Conner
Miss Switzerland, Lauriane Gillieron
Miss Mexico, Priscila Perales
Miss Colombia, Valerie Dominguez
Miss Paraguay, Lourdes Arevalos

National Costume Award: Miss Japan, Kurara Chibana. Chosen by a local panel of judges during a two-hour telecast in Los Angeles, California for the delegate who displayed her country's pride and spirit best in costume.

Congeniality Award: Miss Ghana, Angela Asare. The award reflects the respect and admiration of the delegate's peers, who voted for her as the most congenial, charismatic and inspirational participant.

Photogenic Award: Miss Philippines, Lia Andrea Ramos. The general public voted on www.nbc.com for the delegate who exemplifies beauty through the lens of a camera.


Visit Miss Universe website to see more pictures and details

Fun continues in Boracay Island even on stormy days

Even on stormy weather, fun never stops in Boracay Island as shown in this photo taken last week while typhoon Florita was hitting north Luzon. Photo by A.Chris Fernandez of The News Today Iloilo.

Ateneo de Iloilo's Iwag awardees

By Kathy Villalon Cinco of Sun Star Iloilo

THEIR writings deliver a power punch as they inform you of what's going on in their campus, the city, the country, and even the rest of the world.

They are the five editors of the nine publications of Ateneo de Iloilo - Sta. Maria Catholic School (AdI-SMCS).

They are Neil Andrew Chiu Llorente, editor-in-chief; Valerie Ann Gonzalez Villarosa, associate editor; Ethel Fatima Regla Angcoy Sia, managing editor; Jose Ryan Sumaylo Pelongco, opinion editor; and Florence Mae Macosi Jarillo, Chinese editor.
Recently, they were named as five of the 30 Iwag awardees by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA).

Llorente represented Ripples, the official school publication; Villarosa represented Coriolis Effect, the school's science publication; Sia represented Lagasaw, the Filipino publication; Pelongco, Interferences, the opinion publication; and Jarillo, Flow Magazine.

For several years, Adi-SMCS has fielded representatives to the Iwag search and has produced many awardees.

According to Herman Lagon, moderator of the school publications, the batch is one of the promising as it is composed of "gutsy" and "daring" members.

With several awards reaped by the school's representatives in many competitions, Llorente said he was sure of making it as an Iwag awardee.

He said working on the publications with less supervision from their moderator has taught them to be independent.

Sia said she wished to make it as an Iwag awardee. "I want to make the paper proud," she said. After all, she and the rest of the editors and staff worked hard and had sleepless nights over their publications.

"Working in a publication entails many sacrifices. With P100 per day budget, we had to eat only Lucky Me and crackers so we could (have money left to) feed the layout artists," she said. Sia also handles the publications' layout.

According to Llorente and Sia, the most responsible person in the group was Pelongco. "He (Pelongco) always passes the article on time," the group chorused.

"The Opinion Page is easy to manage because opinion writing is easier than feature writing," Pelongco said.

While being funded by the school, the articles in Ripples are not censored by the school except for the fact that vulgar words, naturally, had to be scrapped.

"We are free to express ourselves as long as we can back it up," Pelongco said.

For Jorillo, she did not expect to make it as an Iwag awardee. "Unlike Neil and the others, I didn't win in any national competition. But thankfully, I got an Iwag. It was a joyful experience to know that I made it," she said. Read more...

New Iloilo Airport in Sta. Barbara

Despite the inclement weather this week, work at the control tower and the passengers' terminal continues at the New Iloilo Airport Development Project (NIADP) in Cabatuan-Sta. Barbara area. The Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) earlier projected that the NIADP will be completed by the end of this year.

Mabuhay ang mga Filipina! - Miss Tourism Queen International 2006 Winner

System glitch inconvenienced millions of Globe subscribers

News from Sun Star Cebu

MILLIONS of Globe Telecommunications subscribers from Visayas and Mindanao were inconvenienced practically the whole day when they weren’t able to either send text messages or make a call.

Cell phone users, mostly under the prepaid service, started to sense there was a problem around 10 a.m. when the note “Message sending failed” kept appearing on the screens of their mobile phones every time they tried to send text messages.

However, they could receive calls or messages from Globe postpaid subscribers and messages and calls from subscribers from other networks.

Globe prepaid subscribers couldn’t also make a call, prompting them to think something’s wrong with their phone units. They would turn it off in the hope that once it’s switched back on, the problem would be fixed.

But it didn’t, up until about 10:15 p.m.

Cable break

“At around 10 a.m., Globe Telecom experienced a cable break between Luzon and Visayas. It is affecting subscribers in Visayas and Mindanao,” said Jones Campos, Globe’s public relations division head.

The telecom firm’s technical department was quick to clarify that what happened wasn’t a total network outage but “service degradation only.”

Globe has at least 13 million subscribers nationwide.

Campos, however, assured they were fixing the problem.

Back-up

“Telephil, a backbone facility partly owned by Globe, is now being used as a back-up. Our technical working group is working hard to gradually restore our service,” Campos said in a press statement.

He also apologized for the inconvenience the problem caused.

Sun.Star Cebu learned that despite using Telephil, Globe’s service still wasn’t restored to normal because of the number of subscribers affected.

The technical problem irked a lot of Globe subscribers, especially since it happened on a day when the convenience of a cell phone was badly needed.

Sun.Star Cebu learned that most of those who were annoyed were those who placed bets on the Manny Pacquiao-Oscar Larios fight.

“When Pacquiao won, di nila ma-contact ang mga nakigpusta nila. Even before sa (Pacquiao-Larios) fight, daghan na ang nagsalig sa text for the results, especially those who couldn’t watch the match on TV,” a Globe prepaid subscriber said. (RCT)

First National Conference on Tricycle Transportation Development in Iloilo City

One of the most popular tribes in the Iloilo Dinagyang Festival, Tribu Silak of the Iloilo City National High School, dazzles participants to the First National Conference on Tricycle Transportation Development with their performance during the opening of the conference on Wednesday, June 28.

MuZone Free to Play (Online Game)

Hi friends! This is what I sometimes been doing. I play the MuZone and Psychic Doom. But the one I'm presenting to you is the MuZone. See The pictures below, my character is the elf, isn't she beautiful. The other characters where a Knight, Wizard, Magic Gladiator and a Dark Lord. You can select what character you want. If you're interested, I have provided free links to download in order to play and their site below. You need to register in their site to play. Good luck and enjoy playing!






You have to download client and patch, to be able to play in MuZone!
Download client and patch.
Unzip client. Unzip patch. Paste all from patch after you select all and copy, into the client.
Send MuLauncer to desktop.
Close folder. Go to desktop. Open launcher. Click on Browse. A new window appears click on main, then click on open.
Window closes.
Put your options as you wish in launcher, click on start..... PLAY

ATTENTION : You unzip .rar folders by right clicking on them.
To unzip client, right click on rar file and Extract to MU1_02b_full.
To unzip MuZone patch click on rar file and Extract here.

Website:
MuZone

For Client:
MU 1.02b full

For MuZone Patch 1.02d:
MuZone Patch 1.02d