2009 12/16-12/22

MANILA MAIL COMMUNITY

Seen partying last Saturday night at the downtown San Francisco Marriott Marquis are (L-R) State Commissioner Ray Satorre, Senator Leland Yee, Manila Mail's VP for Community, Joey Panlilio and Club Royale International's President, Gil Navarro, on the occassion of Club Royale's Christmas Gala.

PDA Scholars (L-R) Irish Fullerton, Miguel Mendoza and Hansen Nichols serenaded Intramuros Music Hall audiences last Thursday night with Christmas songs. Produced by OnStage Productions, the PDA Dream Tour Concert showcased the scholars' honed talent in live performing.

Vegas vs. Dallas. Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum's position is whoever has the best deal for the two fighters, that's where he wants the deal. Mayweather does not want Dallas. Pacquiao does not want LA. Could it be Vegas? No venue has been selected yet for the March 13th, 2010 Big Fight.

Club Royale's Christmas Gala Party attendees last Saturday are: Rey Reyes, 'LuzViMin' President (2nd left, back), Rolly Lavarias (right, back) with wife, Herminia of PAL, as well as other active members of LuzViMin.

The Back Family (front, L-R, Walter, Maria, Michael (back, left) and younger brother, Christian) of San Jose braved the rainy weather last Saturday and attended in full force, the Marriott Marquis Club Royale Gala.

Power-broker Thez Santos of San Francisco, watched and enjoyed FourPlay Ladies at the IntramurosMusic Hall two Sunday nights ago.

ABS- CBN LDD offers TFC subscribers

FREE 20-minute calls to the Philippines

Christmas offer good till December 31, 2009

For the holiday season, ABS-CBN International’s Long Distance Direct (LDD) brings back its offer of free 20 minutes worth of calls to the Philippines exclusively to all TFC subscribers in the U.S. The offer is valid from December 1 to 31, 2009.

Every month, TFC subscribers already enjoy a total of 10 minutes of free long distance calls to the Philippines . In an effort to keep loved ones connected especially during the holidays, ABS-CBN LDD doubled up the number of free minutes for December. All TFC subscribers need to do is dial 1.877.331.7587 from their home phones to avail of the free minutes.

“Keeping in touch during the Christmas season, the longest celebration of which is in the Philippines , is very important for families who have loved ones overseas,” said Kerwin Du, ABS-CBN International’s Senior Director for Telecom. “This is our way of helping them maintain strong communication ties with each other.”

The free 20 minutes from ABS-CBN LDD this December may be used to call other destinations from the U.S. but the number of minutes may vary depending on destination rate per minute.

ABS-CBN LDD is a post-billed dial-around long distance service for international and domestic long distance calls. Other telecom products that ABS-CBN is offering in the U.S. are: Sarimanok One, a personalized rechargeable prepaid phone card that can be used from any touch-tone phone in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia to make international and long distance calls; and Unlimitalk, a long distance service using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), with two variants: Bayan Voice Over Broadband which provides unlimited calling to three Bayantel landlines or wireless landline phones in the Philippines and allows receiving of unlimited calls of all Bayantel landline or wireless landline phones in the Philippines; and VoIP to VoIP, which allows unlimited calling to and receiving from one or more beneficiaries (using the same equipment) in the Philippines.

For more information, please visit www.abs-cbnglobal.com or call 1.877.331.7587.

SEEN IN THE CITY

Save Hogan High

Last Saturday, December 12^th, from 11am to 3pm, the teachers, parents, business owners, volunteers, students and Alumni came together, in an effort to save Hogan High School from closure, by holding a ‘Save Hogan High School’ Community Rally at 850 Rosewood Ave. Vallejo California 94590 (GYM).

As previously reported in other publications, within the Vallejo City Unified School District School (VCUSD) Consolidation Plan, if Hogan High School is closed, the 1,500 remaining students that presently attend Hogan will be forced to attend either Vallejo High School or Jesse Bethel High School causing major over crowding and safety concerns for students and parents.

In the spring of 2009, the VCUSD approved the budget option to achieve $1 million to $1.5 million in future annual savings through the closure and consolidation of schools. VCUSD has a loan from the State that has to be paid until 2024 in the amount of $2.9 million per year. The recommendation of the committee was to sell off surplus property in order to pay off the loan.

There has been a 20% decrease in VCUSD enrollment in the past decade. It has been reported that there are 4,000 fewer students attending VCUSD schools this school year as compared to 2000. This decline is across all grade levels primarily as a result of significantly low birth rate in Vallejo from the early 1990’s until now which has resulted in fewer kindergarten and overall decline as those smaller annual classes of entering kindergarteners move up through grades. VCUSD also continues to have the challenge of the District’s dropout rate at the high school level.

TO-BE-SEEN IN THE CITY

Eat Bulaga In Vegas, March 14th

For the nth time, there are talks, again, that Eat Bulaga will be finally happening in Las Vegas a day after the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight next year. Vegas is touted to be the top favorite to host the Fight of the Millennium on Saturday March 13^th, 2010 (the Dallas Cowboys’ 100,000 capacity Superdome). As of press time, no venue was selected yet.

KPMG Reunion

The former employees of the Big 4 CPA firm, KPMG LLP in downtown San Francisco (laid off about a year ago) is inviting its former High-Volume Trust Tax Group to its Pre-Tax Season luncheon on Sunday, January 24, 2010 at Westfield Bloomingdale’s Food Court, located at Market Street (and 5th Street) in San Francisco, CA from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Meeting place will be at the Hamburger/Soup area of the food court. If you are planning to take BART, get off at the Powell Bart Station.

If you are planning to drive, the parking lot on Mission Street (between 4th and 5th Streets) is next to Bloomingdale’s and has very reasonable rates.

Please call any of the following, if you have any questions: Nora David (415) 586-7533 /Leonie Ruado (707) 853-9335 / Lita Carino (510) 799-7991 / Myrna Cabrera (510) 245-3366 / Naty Silverio (510) 222-8144 or Sally Vergara (510) 367-2370.

PERSONAL NOTES

Condolences to Manila Mail’s Flor Mayapis and her brother Dennis, for the recent passing of their beloved mother in the Philippines . Nobody can be prepared for this – the loss of a parent. But it is in knowing that you have friends around, who share in your grief and sorrow, that makes it a little easier.

Happy 80^th Birthday to Corazon Salazar of Fremont feted by her grandchildren with a lavish party complete with beautifully choreographed production numbers.

I highly recommend all the 3 movies I saw over the weekend, namely: George Clooney’s ‘Up in the Air’ where he portrayed with gusto, the part of a ‘Termination Engineer’ (not politically-correct to call him the ‘Terminator’), the hatchet man who delivers the bad news to those nationwide employees – that they are being ‘let go’ (he doesn’t use the ‘F’ word, as in ‘fired’ to avoid to sensitivity and legality issues). This movie is as timely as today’s latest layoffs around corporate America .

‘Brothers’ starring Natalie Portman, Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal is a ‘coping with the stigma of war’ movie that reminded me so much of TFC’s very successful teleserye ‘Tayong Dalawa’ with Kim Chiu, Jake Cuenca and Gerald Anderson portraying Natalie’s, Tobey’s and Jake’s roles, respectively. Simply said, the movie, although, just a 2-hour version of Tayong Dalawa’s love triangle, succeeded beyond a regular drama fare with its infusion of the ill effects of war on family, especially the kids.

‘Precious’ is an effective essay on the personal triumphs of an overweight Harlem teen, sexually and physically abused and the system that is protecting her and her kind. Super Diva Mariah Carey has a cameo role as a social worker.

Surely, these movies are bound to make headlines next year’s awards season for their excellence.

Quote of the Week – "I'm saying that Dallas is a real live possibility, and I have a fiduciary responsibility to Manny Pacquiao to get him the most money," – Pacquiao’s Mega Promoter Bob Arum on still not ruling out Dallas as the venue of the Fight of the Millennium. He says it is a "real live possibility" that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who has tabled a guaranteed $25m offer, will get his wish to stage one of the biggest bouts in boxing history. This despite Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer, who is representing Mayweather, called off a trip to Texas last Wednesday, throwing the Dallas deal in doubt. The MGM Grand in Las Vegas is also involved in the venue auction. Arum furthered: "I think everybody has an obligation to see. I know we can get the greatest offer in history from the Texas Stadium. "My position is whoever has the best deal for those two fighters, that's where I want the deal."

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