Proud to be Pinoy

The Philippines billiard team have become the first ever winners of the PartyPoker.com World Cup of Pool.The Filipino pairing of Efren Reyes and Francisco Bustamante claimed the trophy and top prize of $60,000 (about £32,000) with a 13-5 victory against USA in front of a crowd of more than 800 people.

A delighted Bustamante said: “This is a very important tournament and we are happy and very proud to win the first World Cup. In the beginning of the match there was a lot of pressure on us but when we went three games ahead it all lifted.

“Efren played lots of unbelievable shots – some of them I’ve never seen in my life – and that’s why we won. When he plays perfect and I play well we knew we had a great chance and it’s a great feeling to be World Cup of Pool champions.”

Reyes added: “It’s funny that every time there is a new big tournament I win it but all week I thought if we could get to the final then we could win.

“The USA are a good team but they were unlucky and that made it easy for us. The support of the fans was brilliant, they’ve come from all over Britain and have looked after us all week.”

The tournament ended in poor fashion for the Americans and Morris summed up how he and Strickland were feeling.

“That was pretty disappointing,” said Morris.

“After 4-4 it didn’t go our way although the match was closer than the score suggested. But when it went to 7-4 we were both pretty deflated and felt it slipping away.

“We never really got a clear shot off the break and it was a tough hill to climb but they played great – the way they were supposed to so congratulations to them.”

The majority of the spectators at the Newport Centre were cheering on number one seeds Philippines and they had an early chance to go in front as they won the lag.

Reyes was soon forced to play safe on the 1-ball but Morris scratched on the next shot to give Philippines ball in hand as they soon moved into a 1-0 lead.

It quickly became 3-0 when Strickland scratched on his break in the second before Philippines broke and ran in the third. The tournament had seen a large number of fightbacks and the final was no exception as USA , who were seeded three, then took the next three to square the match.

They broke and ran in the fourth and sixth racks while USA took advantage of a rare Reyes miss, when he failed to sink the orange five, to claim the fifth. But Philippines won two of the next three to edge 5-4 in front in what was a top-class encounter, being played in a passionate atmosphere.

The turning point of the match came in the tenth rack when a mistake by Morris saw him leave the 1-ball hanging over the pocket as the score moved to 6-4.

With the alternate break format, it was always going to be a tough task for America to fight their way back into the match again but with the crowd against them and the Filipino duo in top form it became a near-impossible mission.

The Philippines’ lead was restored to three again after a fine safety from Bustamante forced an error from their opponents before a stunning kick-shot on the brown seven by Reyes helped make it 8-4.

Bata then infuriated Strickland by playing a shot one-handed but the plan worked as Morris’ next shot missed with the 1-ball in open play and it was 9-4.

The Americans were rattled and when Morris scratched in the next Philippines were closing in on the title with a comfortable 10-4 lead. They won the next and even though USA finally ended the Filipino duo’s run of seven successive racks, it had no effect on the outcome.

With Strickland becoming more and more agitated by the partisan crowd, mistakes were drifting into the Americans’ play and, to the majority of the spectators’ delight, Philippines took the next two racks to become World Champions.
Last Updated ( Sunday, 27 August 2006 )

The international stage set by singing stars with Filipino blood seems to be big enough to accommodate more talents. If that’s the case, then 23-year-old Phoebe, another foreign land–based Pinay discovery, is likely to find a space available for herself. Besides, she possesses a voice strong enough to get much attention, while her album “The Love Revolution” contains a couple of tracks that best capture that power. 

Her first single, the tuneful “Your Love Is Like Sunshine,” has already received radio airplays locally and presents her as an R&B singer with singing style remarkably reminiscent of Cristina Aguilera’s. This assessment, though, can be best noticed in the emotion–driven ballad entitled “Crying Like A Girl” which is one of the highlights on her album released locally by Alpha Music.

In a phone interview with the Manila Bulletin, the London–based singer expressed her hope that Filipinos will like her singing and her 10–song album that contains four songs she co–wrote with some foreigners, including her producer and manager Steve Ancliffe. “I love being a Filipino in as much as I love to sing and dance in front of people,” she stressed.

Phoebe was born in Manila but grew up in Hong Kong. With strong Spanish blood running through her Filipino veins, she’s a certified Asian Latina whose singing influences include Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston. Among the local stars, she hails the Asia’s songbird Regine Velasquez, but considers Lani Misalucha her ultimate personal favorite. She was obviously surprised upon learning that the Divine Diva, who, years ago, left for the States and shocked fans of her sudden showbiz departure, is no longer around. “Lani is really a great singer. I’d been amazed of her, especially when I heard her version of “Queen Of The Night.”

Discovered in 2003 while singing in Hong Kong, Phoebe is set to come home soon to promote her album she recorded in London. Her taste of the global music circuit, with performances and recordings both in UK and mainland Europe, honed her confidence that she is truly determined to make a name in the global scene. “I represent my home country, The Philippines, and I hope to give a global perspective to my music. It’s important that everyone shares each other’s cultures and experiences. And for me, being an Asian within a global music market helps much in that process.”

As for her album which is reaching record bars abroad, Phoebe believes that it’s a package that reflects her artistry and the kind of person that she is. “We wanted to make sure that we chose the right songs. When it’s your first album, it’s important to define who you are because it’s those first impressions that count. I believe ‘Love Revolution’ has captured all aspects of my personality.”

These days, quite a bunch of singing talents with authentic Pinoy roots have conquered, in their own right, the international crowd. The trend that started with Jasmine Trias of the “American Idol” fame is certainly on the upswing. Good thing they’re usually vocally proud of their Filipino blood (Apl.de.ap,born Allan Pineda, member of the popular Black Eyed Peas; Nicole Scherzinger, frontwoman of Pussycat Dolls; and Mig Ayesa, a dashing rocker who failed to win the INXS’s frontman search but won the hearts of many Filipino fans).

Not pressuring herself of the tough competition she is ahead in the music biz, Phoebe focuses on her work and leaves everything to listeners. She is satisfied sharing stories about her recording, and the way she considers the significance of lyrics vis a vis good melody. On “Crying Like A Girl,” “When you’re recording a great ballad like ‘Crying,’ you have to have the emotion and pictures that portray the words you’re singing. Recording the vocal for that song occurred at a sad time in my life. I’d just split from a long relationship and I was miles away from home and my emotions were high. I guess my producer realized it would be a perfect time to record that vocal. We had the vocal down so quick, capturing just the way that I felt. I lived every single word in the song.”

So, will Phoebe’s passport get through the hearts of audiences here and abroad? Well, that question remains to be answered. At least, she has the record and talent to show, denial or approval is up to them.

source:

Manila Bulletin

By Trina Leah Mendoza

The carabao mango that made the Western Visayas Island-province of Guimaras famous has created an appetizing first-bite impression among Australians, the Mango Information Network under the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) reported.

The news started with a taste-test held at the Philippine Embassy in Canberra, Australia where it was served to some 300 guests. The Guimaras carabao mango which is commercially known here as Philippine super mangoes is reputed for its excellent aroma, firm and almost fiber-free flesh and thin seeds that makes it mouth watering.

The Australian government has cleared the Guimaras mango’s entry to its market after strict quarantine requirements were met. Mangoes coming from the island are certified free of seed and pulp weevils.

This development was built on a decade-long research and development effort of a local research team led by Dr. Hernani Golez and senior agriculturist Helen Bignayan. Golez heads the Bureau of Plant Industry’s National Mango Research and Development Center in Jourdan, the capital town of Guimaras.

Golez?s team proved that larvae of the two-pesky fruitfly species on the island called Bactrocera philippensis and B. occipitalis cannot survive vapor heat treatment at 46^OC for 10 minutes. This finding proved critical in meeting quarantine restrictions in Australia.

The first 1.2-ton shipment of “super mangoes” landed in Sydney in May. Guimaras mango growers are optimistic that they can export big volumes of the prized tropical delight between July to August when Australian consumer demand is expected to be high, PCARRD disclosed.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Leonardo Montemayor also disclosed that the US Department of Agriculture has already given the green light for Guimaras mango to enter the US markets.

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LOS ANGELES, Aug 18 Asia Pulse – The Philippines green-fruited and purple-fruited avocados have a big export potential worldwide, especially in the United States.

In the US today, avocado is sold at a very high price even in so-called Farmers Markets which are supposed to offer cheaper fruit and vegetable products raised by farmers.

Avocado in the US is not only marketed as a fruit as what is being done in the Philippines but actually as a vegetable which is used in salads and food offered at home and at restaurants.

According to a report from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), the Department of Agriculture (DA) of the Philippines reported that in 1990-1997, the country had a total area of 4,753 hectares planted with avocado.

Average annual production was estimated at 45,864 tons.

Leading producing regions of the country are the Cagayan Valley, Central Visayas and Southern Tagalog, while the leading producing provinces are Bohol, located in Central Visayas and Isabela, Nueva Viscaya, Quirino and Cagayan which are located in the Cagayan Valley.

In terms of area planted with avocado, Bicol is the leading region, followed by Cagayan Valley and Southern Luzon.

The FAO report said most regions of the country, however, have low productivity since avocado is grown mostly as a backyard tree or as a component of a mixed orchard with little or no care at all.

In many countries, specially in the US, Philippine avocado is quite preferred because it tastes so good.

Since avocado is not considered a major fruit in the country and is planted mostly in backyards, the FAO report said only a limited amount of planting material is being produced in a few government institutions and private nurseries.

Planting materials may come in the form of grafted plants or seedlings for rootstock use.

Government agencies, such as the Bureau of Plant Industry of the DA and the University of the Philippines (UP) Los Banos, particularly the National Seed Foundation and the Department of Horticulture, produce a few hundred grafted plants of locally available varieties.

Small private nurseries, which also sell sexually propagated avocado plants, are a good source of seedling different rootstocks for propagation, the report said.

Seedlings grown in the nurseries are heterogeneous – each seedling different from another- even though the seeds may have come from one variety or only from one parent tree.

The report said the commonly used and preferred method of large-scale propagation is grafting.

Other methods of propagation which are sometimes employed are inarching and shield budding.

In the Philippines, the report said, the marketing of avocado involves two very simple systems.

In the first system, the farmers bring their harvest to the market together with other farm produce such as banana, root crops, chicken and sell these directly to the consumers.

In this way, they obtain a higher price for the avocado fruit, but not much really if compared to those sold in other countries like the US.

It is also being sold though middlemen, locally called comprador, who buys all the avocado fruits from the farmers at a lower price and sells them in the market at a higher price.

The report explained that the middleman generally dictates the farmgate price since he bears the transportation cost.

Under the present nature of small-scale and backyard avocado production, where the volume of production is small, the farmer prefers to sell his produce to the middleman.

According to the report, avocado production is for the local market as there is still no export operation at present.

Thus, export of avocado is a big potential for generating dollar revenues for the country.

Until today, many still ask how avocado was introduced into the country when it is a fruit that had long been growing in Spanish-oriented countries like Mexico.

The report said at the end of the 19th century, several plant species were introduced into the Philippines.

These came from different parts of the world and included fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants.

Some, it said, proved to be valuable and easily adapted to the Philippine conditions while others were less promising and did not gain a wide acceptance among the populace.

One of the introductions which proved to be suitable to the Philippine soil and climatic conditions was the avocado.

It said this is known as aquacate in Spanish and alligator pear, Midshipmans butter and avocado in English.

It is called as abokado in the Philippine vernacular.

It was introduced into the Philippines in 1890 by the Spaniards through seeds coming from Mexico.

But it was only from 1902 to 1907 that avocado was introduced successfully into the Philippines by the Americans.

Through the Bureau of Agriculture (now Bureau of Plant Industry which is under the Philippine DA), planting materials were received from Hawaii, Costa Rica and the United States.

In 1913, the Bureau of Agriculture, together with the College of Agriculture of the UP Los Banos, started the countrywide spreading of avocado tree.

Now avocados are found growing all over the country, most of which are cultivated in backyards.

Since avocado is known to be one of the most nutritious fruits in the world, it has a bright future for development of bigger avocado farms that can raise products that could be exported to other countries.

All that the country needs is government help in providing better production technology coupled with improved post-harvest and processing technology for the development of the crop.

(PNA)

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