The Wutz Up in the Philippines!

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Sen. Jamby Madrigal and several other presidential candidates on Monday ganged up on Sen. Manny Villar for spending too much on political advertisements, which analysts have pinpointed as the main reason why Villar has been able to catch up with erstwhile frontrunner Sen. Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III.

In the “Inquirer First Edition: Presidential Debates” held at UP Diliman, Madrigal delivered harsh criticisms against Villar. The lady senator had filed a complaint for unethical conduct against the real estate tycoon in connection with the C-5 road extension project.

The ball started rolling when Madrigal was asked the question: “Political ads nowadays seem to cater to the lowest common denominator in society. From catchphrases to jingles, they seem to contain mainly rhetoric but no real substance. Do you think this type of campaigning, including political endorsements from movie celebrities, does this not contribute to the dumbing down of the Filipino voter?”

The sole female presidential candidate responded with a resounding, “I agree—completely.”

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BEIJING—Police in central China have shut down a hacker training company that taught thousands of people how to launch cyberattacks and provided them with spy software, media reports said Monday.

The reports come amid growing accusations of organized computer hacking originating from China that has chilled ties with the United States, and follow Google’s threat last month to quit the Chinese market over cyberattacks.

Police in Hubei province shut down Black Hawk Safety Net and arrested three people, the state-run Xinhua news agency said, calling the operation China’s “biggest hacker training website.”

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MANILA, Philippines – Don’t put it off until the last minute— not if you want to avoid those long lines.

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) yesterday reminded the public to place their bets early for tonight’s 6/49 Super Lotto draw in which the jackpot is expected to reach P165 million.

PCSO spokesperson Dr. Larry Cedro said no one guessed the winning number combination of 3-27-38-35-14-25 in Sunday night’s draw which had a jackpot prize of over P153 million.

However, 120,717 players won more than P23 million in consolation prizes after they got three to five of the numbers right.

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Ricardo Diaz, deputy director of the National Bureau of Investigation, said agents were following leads the senator was in Taiwan, where he is said to have connections in high places, but “initial verification yielded negative results.”

“We are looking at mainland China, not Taiwan. I cannot give you details but we are verifying our leads that the senator may be in mainland China,” Diaz said.

The senator, who is wanted in connection with the Dacer-Corbito double murder case, flew to Hong Kong in early January then disappeared

NBI Director Nestor Mantaring said Monday he had opened communication lines with Lacson’s lawyers in a bid to convince the fugitive senator to give himself up.

He also disclosed that he was coordinating with the Philippine National Police to put a price on Lacson’s head.

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MANILA, Philippines - The race is on for presidential candidates beginning today, after months of unofficial free-for-all.

The frontrunner, Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, kicks off his campaign in his home province of Tarlac, at his family’s old house in Concepcion.

He and his running mate Sen. Manuel Roxas II, as well as LP senatorial candidates, will hold a motorcade to the Aquino Museum and then to the municipalities of Bamban, Capas and Tarlac City.

The Nacionalista Party led by its standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. kicks off its “90-day journey to a better Philippines” in Calamba, Laguna, the birthplace of national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, with visits to public markets.

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Estrada a no-show, cites PDI’s ‘bias’ against him

MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE 2) Eight candidates showed up at the first ever presidential debate organized by the Philippine Daily Inquirer held on Monday, a day before the start of the official campaign period.

In attendance were frontrunners Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Manuel Villar, administration bet Gilbert Teodoro, Senators Richard Gordon and Ma. Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal, evangelist Eddie Villanueva, Nicanor Perlas and JC de los Reyes.

Former president Joseph Estrada did not attend the debate, citing “bias” against him by the paper.

The event is being held at the University of the Philippines Theater in Diliman Quezon City.

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Team Philippines proved too classy for Russia as the Filipinos carved out a masterful 4-1 win and claimed the first finals berth in the 1st World Team Pool Championship Saturday in the Hannover, Germany.

After the tandem of former double world champion Ronnie Alcano and Marlon Manalo dropped the first match of the day, 3-6, in the 8-ball Scotch doubles, the Filipinos struck hard and dominated the next four matches with Alcano icing the sweet victory with a 7-1 thumping of Ruslan Chinahov in the 10-ball play.

“Parang panggising yung talo namin ni Marlon sa 8-ball Scotch Doubles,” the Calamba, Laguna native Alcano said. “Hindi ka talaga pwedeng maging over confident sa ganito kalaking event. Kahit sino pwede kang talunin.”

With the victory, the Philippines is now assured of $50,000 (P2.3 million) and will next face powerhouse Great Britain, which booted out Greece, 4-2, in the other semifinal pairing. The champion team gets the top purse of $100,000.

The British team is bannered by former 9-ball champion Daryl Peach and former world 10-ball champion Darren Appleton.

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MANILA, Feb. 7 – Tight security greeted non-accredited journalists and kibitzers at the start of the printing of 50,723,734 official ballots on Sunday at the National Printing Office (NPO) at the National Government Center (NGC) on EDSA near National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Road, Diliman, Quezon City.

Security was provided by the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) and Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNA)-SAF.

Only accredited journalists and groups were allowed to enter. A Commission on Elections (COMELEC) security officer, who requested anonymity, told the Philippines News Agency (PNA), if a person is not on the COMELEC accreditation list, then he or she is not allowed to enter.

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Kris Allen

MANILA, Philippines—“Singing live on television is the worst thing in the world. I’d rather do concerts,” said “American Idol” Season 8 champ Kris Allen in a press conference at the Eastwood Mall Park in Quezon City a few hours after arriving in Manila on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old singer-songwriter, who came with his four-member band, is performing in two shows dubbed “Musicfest 2010” starting tonight at the SM City Cebu North Open Parking 2, and tomorrow at McKinley Hill Open Grounds in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. The gigs will also feature the acoustic rock group Boyce Avenue and “America’s Best Dance Crew” Season 1 winner Jabbawockeez.

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“It does not mean that we can no longer transmit the results,” he said. “We can still transmit using the satellite.”

Site surveys conducted by Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) showed 30 percent of the country lack access to telecommunication facilities.

These are the provinces of Abra, Benguet, Samar, Leyte, Zamboanga and Tawi-Tawi.

As of March 17, the number of registered voters in Abra was 147,615; Benguet, 328,010; Samar, 442,662; Leyte, 997,244; Zamboanga, 936,797; and Tawi-Tawi, 156,027, according to the Comelec.

Smartmatic started the survey in September last year to determine the availability of telecommunication facilities nationwide.

Anticipating a possible breakdown in telecommunications signals, Smartmatic had procured 5,000 units of BGAN as an alternative means to transmit election results.

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