Candidates for the position of Chief Justice

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has until June 18 to accept applications and nominations to the top post in the judiciary. It is also the deadline for those nominated to accept or decline their nominations.


Earlier nominated for the Chief Justice post were retired Judge Manuel Siangco Jr., lawyer Rafael Morales, Ormoc City Vice Mayor Nepomuceno Aparis, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, Bureau of


Internal Revenue (BIR) Commissioner Kim Henares, former University of the Philippines law dean Raul Pangalangan, lawyer Marianito Sadondoncillo, women's rights advocate Katrina Legarda, Solicitor General Francis Jardeleza, and former Ateneo de Manila University law dean Cesar Villanueva.


The lone applicant was a nurse name Jocelyn Esquivel. It was not known immediately whether Ms. Esquivel is also a lawyer.


De Lima yesterday said that if Esquivel is not a lawyer she is not qualified to even be considered by the JBC.


"Kung nurse ka, hindi ka qualified. Actually, you know, on the bare terms of the JBC rules and even under the Constitution, hindi pwede if you are not a member of the Bar and has had at least 10 years of practice. So how can a nurse be a member of the Bar? Unless she is a member of the Bar, she is not qualified," De Lima stressed.


Under JBC rules, automatically nominated are the five most senior justices of the Supreme Court led by the now Acting Chief Justice Antonio T. Carpio. The other most senior justices are Presbitero J. Velasco Jr., Teresita J. Leonardo de Castro, Arturo D. Brion, and Diosdado M. Peralta.


The latest nominees are former solicitor general Francisco I. Chavez and former Makati City congressman Teodoro "Teddy Boy" Locsin Jr.


Chavez was nominated by Manuel Baviera, organizer of the Whistle Blowers' Association of the Philippines, while Locsin was recommended by lawyer Brigido Dulay and ABAKADA party-list president Jonathan de la Cruz.


So far, only Pangalangan and Legarda have accepted their nominations in separate letters sent to the JBC.

10 surprising sexual statistics

According to a Durex survey, men across the globe have had an average of 13 sexual partners throughout their lifetime, while women have had seven. Guys and girls often shy away from honesty when it comes to discussing their number; too low and they fear embarrassment, too high and they face being judged. But there’s never going to be a happy medium, as a Cosmopolitan survey found. According to the survey just 66 per cent of people are content with their ‘number’, while 22 per cent wish they’d slept with less people and 12 per cent would have liked to have slept with more.

The average male loses his virginity at age 16.9, while apparently females hold off, on average, until the ripe age of 17.4. After the age of consent (which depends on your country) there is no right or wrong age to lose your virginity given you are protected from STIs and are not pressured into it. Popping your cherry, deflowering, or whatever you want to call it, having sex for the first time is a significant part of anyone’s life and isn’t something that should be rushed into. After all, it can create one of life’s little miracles!

Expectations of sex are often unrealistic due to farfetched portrayals of the act on the big screen and TV. However, the reality of couples’ performances in the bedroom are often not so supreme. The truth is in fact quite different, especially for the ladies, with research suggesting that only 29 per cent of women reach ‘the big O’ every time they have sex, compared to a lucky 75 per cent of men (how is this fair, ladies?). This may be because, according to Durex, around 75 per cent of all women never reach orgasm from intercourse alone and 10 to 15 per cent never climax under any circumstances. Some experimenting may be in order to find what works for you, so you can reach euphoria every time you slip under the sheets.

A Onepoll study showed that for 56 per cent of women, men’s facial hair is a strong trigger for sexual arousal. Apparently, a man with three days’ worth of stubble is more sexually attractive than a clean shaven man (sorry, you smoothies out there!). It makes sense, really – just think of Johnny Depp and George Clooney! According to Cosmopolitan, though, it is in fact a long, steamy kiss that gets 35.4 per cent of men aroused and in the mood for love. So throw away your razors, guys! And girls, smack on some lipstick and pucker up! You know what you need to do…

Busy lifestyles, manic workload, hectic social life; who has time for sex every day? On a more realistic note, a Durex survey showed that 67 per cent of adults have sex once a week and only eight per cent have it once a day or more. Not forgetting the nine per cent who said they only get hot and steamy with their partner less than every few months. So don’t set your sights too high and expect to be making love around the clock. The key is whatever works best for you –being honest with your lover will keep you both in check of each other’s sex schedules.

It’s not uncommon for guys or gals to forge an orgasm, either to prevent themselves or their partner from embarrassment or a feeling of inadequacy under the sheets. A Cosmopolitan survey showed that 30 per cent of women would fake it so as not to upset their partner, while 26 per cent said they would be frank if they couldn’t climax. Eight per cent of women even admitted to making it a regular habit! Fakers under the sheets may simply make all the right noises to get a poor sex sesh over with a.s.a.p., or some people use their ‘When Harry Met Sally’ impressions when they’re too tired for a love making session.

Being honest and open about your sexual needs and desires will help improve your overall sexual satisfaction by teaching your partner how to press all the right buttons and keep you blissful in the bedroom. However, only 58 per cent of people are comfortable with telling their lover exactly what they want in bed, which is probably why only 38 per cent are fully satisfied with their sex lives. Honesty is a healthy trait to have in any relationship, and even more so when it comes to sex. Share your needs and your partner may do the same.

According to a Durex survey self-pleasure is widely practiced, with 83 per cent of people across the globe stating they have self-pleasured at some point in their lives. A third of people DIY once a week –that’s 43 per cent of men and 22 per cent of women – making it a really common sexual activity. Masturbation, although sometimes seen as taboo, is in fact a healthy and normal part of an adult sex life and nothing to be embarrassed of. Getting in touch with your own body in this way may even improve your confidence when it comes to sex with a partner.

On average, sex sessions last between three and 13 minutes. But according to a survey by Cosmopolitan 50.4 per cent of men would want it to last for 30 minutes while 25.5 per cent would want sex for 15 minutes. A Durex survey also outlined that the average number of times people have sex is 103 times per year, 1.98 times per week and 0.28 times per day! Incorporating sex into your life does have its benefits, including stress relief and increased energy, but there is no right or wrong quota you need to hit – we’re not all bunny rabbits!

According to a survey by Saga, 65 per cent of over 50s are sexually active, with 46 per cent claiming to have sex once a week. 85 per cent feel that sex at a more mature age is less pressurised than when they were teens or young adults, suggesting that sex can get better with age (like many things in life). This could be down to improved self-confidence and security of a long-term relationship, or perhaps because many postmenopausal women have quicker arousal due to reduced fear of pregnancy. So love-making doesn’t have to have an expiry date. Remember, you are only as old as you feel!

Legendary Dolphy

Rodolfo Vera Quizon, Sr. (July 25, 1928 -  July 10, 2012), known by his screen name Dolphy, is a Filipino comedian-actor in the Philippines. He has appeared in a number of works on stage, radio, television and movies.

Dolphy was born on P. Herrera St. (Calle Padre Herrera) in Tondo district of Manila to Melencio Espinosa-Quizon, a ship mechanic, and Salud Vera Quizon (1904–1986), a home-based tailor, in 1928. He is the second of ten children. His siblings are Corazon, Josefina (Josie), Melencio Jr. "Junior" (1932–1969), Laura, Aurora (Auring), Jorge (Georgie), Jaime (Jimmy), Teresita and Jaime.

He started education in a public Grade School at the age of six. His favorite subjects were History and Arithmetic.

His exposure to movies started while as a young person, he worked inside the theater selling peanuts, watermelon seeds and jicama snacks, thereby he could watch limitless movies for free. Gone with the Wind was the first color motion picture film he saw.

Dolphy established RVQ Productions in 1965. His first venture was Buhay Artista (Actor's Life), released in 1967, with Panchito, Susan Roces and Ronaldo Valdez whom he discovered. For Pepe en Pilar (1966), his picture with Susan, they wanted a new face as Susan’s partner. He saw Ronaldo in a basketball court and brought him to the press conference so Susan could see him. “Wala bang iba? (Aren't there anyone else?)” Susan responded. He brought Ronaldo to a barber shop, bought him a pair of boots at Glenmore and lent him his suit. When Dolphy presented him to Susan again, she said, “Iyan pa. (I prefer him more)” She didn’t know that he was the same guy introduced to her earlier. Then Dolphy changed his name to Ronaldo Valdez.

When secret agent movies became the fad, he also made movies as secret agent, first in Dolpinger (1965) as Agent 1-2-3 (a spoof of the James Bond movie Goldfinger with Agent 007). Chiquito, another Filipino comedian played Agent 0-2-10 in his movies.

In 1969, one of his biggest hit was when he first starred in as a gay leading character in 1969 for Facifica Falayfay, directed by Luciano “Chaning” Carlos with whom he worked in 23 of his movies. It was followed by Fefita Fofongay (Viuda de Falayfay) in 1973 and Sarhento Fofongay A...ewan in 1974.

It's sheer talent, and the respect he earned not only from the audience he mesmerized out of their daily toils, but also the peers he never failed to touch with his generosity and humility.

But the best testament to his incredible stature as a public figure, showbiz personality and comic is the respect and admiration from his co-actors and directors he worked with through the years.

These legends have revealed in my short chats with them how Dolphy brings it on and succeeds in his craft.

Direk Peque Gallaga, who once worked with Dolphy in a film called "Once Upon A Time," reveals that Dolphy's appeal rests on his being relatable to the everyday man.

"Nobody is funnier, especially when he holds a mirror to our weaknesses and foibles. Filipinos love him because he can be totally ridiculous, but still maintain an ineffable touch of gentleness in everything he does. We get the feeling that we are going to be confronted but never harmed."

Gloria Romero, on the other hand, bares that Dolphy is really "not a clown in real life" but transforms into a side-splitting comic when the camera is rolling.

"When we shot our old Sampaguita movies, there was no such thing as take one with Dolphy because he always made me laugh in the middle of a scene," Gloria says. "And then on the second take, he would do something different and surprising that I'd laugh again. He is gifted and lovable."

Susan Roces, who also worked with Dolphy in Sampaguita, notes the reason behind his time-transcending success.

Bela Padilla’s FHM Philippines Cover Photo

The March issue of the Philippines most popular magazine, FHM was posted on the official Facebook page of FHM Philippines and after just one hour of posting it received complaint from different readers citing racism issue.

Bella Padilla, a close relative of Philippine’s action star Robin Padilla graced the cover of the magazine wearing pink bikini and was surrounded by black models with the caption “Bela Padilla Stepping Out of the Shadow.”

The posted front page cover of the magazine received enormous complaint from different readers especially in the social media sites Facebook and Twitter, a petition was even made at change.org to call the attention of the magazine publication.

After careful study and validation of complaint, Summit Media finally decided to pull out the cover photo posted on the internet and the March issue featuring Bela Padill and the dark-skinned model was pulled out and subject for change.

FHM Philippines has scrapped the cover that was tagged as "racist"by some netizens and has unveiled another cover for its March 2012 issue. FHM Philippines posted the new cover on the wall of their Facebook page on Wednesday, February 29.

The new cover features actress Bela Padilla standing alone on a rock, with a darkened beach as her background. The cover blurb was also changed to "Bela Padilla: 'I want to emerge with my own name.'" The previous cover which featured the actress with five models with dark skin tones had this blurb: “Bela Padilla: Stepping out of the Shadows."

The new cover still drew mixed reactions. There were netizens who said the new cover was better looking, but others said they liked the previous one better.

Summit Media issued a statement “When FHM hits the stands in March it will have a different cover. We deem this to be the most prudent move in the light of the confusion over the previous cover execution,” said a statement from Summit Media, the magazine’s publishers.

The magazine adds further that “We apologise and thank those who have raised their points. We apologise to Bela Padilla for any distress this may have caused her. In our pursuit to come up with edgier covers, we will strive to be more sensitive next time.” Summit Media stated.

Meanwhile the actress involved with the cover photo, Bela Padilla issued a statement through her official twitter account which states that ”

I’m so sorry to everyone who got offended. I hope all of you see the beauty of the cover and appreciate it.” Bela tweeted.

She added another tweet which states that “My cover is supposed to be about stepping out of MY shadows, inhibitions, fears, etc. And has nothing to do with race” Bela Padilla tweeted.

No to SK Abolition! Yes to SK Reformation!

WE STAND! WE RETAIN! WE REGAIN!

No to SK Abolition! Yes to SK Reformation!

I, for one, hope that youth will again revolt and again demoralize the dead weight of conformity that now lies upon us.
- Howard Mumford Jones

It is enshrined in Section 13, Article II of the Philippine Constitution that [T]he State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being. It shall inculcate in the youth patriotism and nationalism, and encourage their involvement in public and civic affairs. In response to this constitutional provision the Congress in 1991, created the SK-Youth Council or Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) for the purpose of introducing the young people to government service in local, provincial, and national levels.

Nevertheless, after sixteen (16) years of existence, many have been seriously skeptic on the importance of SK, that even President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo herself once said "I think it's a good idea," Scrap that Useless Thing, since much resources and energy were given but no result had been fulfilled.

There were numerous attempts to abolish the SK, in 2002 Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Chairman Benjamin Abalos himself wanted to abolish the SK because according to him it is doing more harm than good instead of harnessing their ideals by involving youths in their communities, exposing them to politics at such an early age only corrupts them. The issue even reached the Plenary of the 13th Congress, when Representative Gilbert Remulla filled House Bill No. 185 which tended to abolish the SK.

Now, as the 2007 Barangay and SK synchronized election is coming the call for the abolition of SK is resurrected, the League of City Mayors of the Philippines (LCMP) have agreed the Sangguniang Kabataan should be abolished, saying SK officials could not divide their time between schoolwork and responsibilities in the SK, according to a top official of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines. The mayors do not openly speak [about the issue] because of political reasons, but they are for the abolition of the SK, Mayor Ramon Guico, LMP president, said.

Even the countrys student governments want the abolition of the non-performing SK. They announced in their manifesto that they would launch a letter-writing campaign. Benralph Yu, president of the Region XI Federation of Student Governments, said student councils are better equipped to represent the countrys youth than the SK, that they could begin community work to make up for the vacuum opened if the SK is abolished. They viewed SK officials now as the BIMPO, stands for Batang Inudyukan ng Magulang sa POlitika or Ang Anak ng TRAPO.

However, we believe that despite of the many flaws of the present structure of the SK, it is one of the most relevant youth participation in building a strong Nation, hence, we would like to propose the following for possible amendments to certain provisions of Republic Act No. 7160 (R.A. 9184) as known as the Local Government Code, Book III, Chapter 8 Sangguniang Kabataan:

1. Increase age bracket of the Katipunang Kabataan (KK) from 15 to 17 to 15-21 and age qualification bracket of SK officials to 18-21, amending Sections 424 and 248 therein. We believe that SK officials should have juridical capacity as provided in Civil Code, which is the fitness to be the subject of legal relations x x x [the] capacity to act, which is the power to do acts with legal effects, and this can be acquired once majority commences at the age of eighteen (18) years;

2. Give some degree of fiscal autonomy to the SK like those granted in other Local Government Units in order that the youth councils wont be beholden or wont be used for partisan activities by the barangay elders and the mayors. This fiscal autonomy will entail legislation for the SKs share in the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) to be released directly to the youth councils;

3. Increase relevant trainings of the SK which focuses on their functions as SK officials, this can be done through coordination with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), National Youth Commission (NYC), Department of Social Welfare and Development(DSWD), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Human Rights (CHR), National Sports Commission (NSC), and other National Government Agencies, Local Government Units (LGUs) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs);

4. Provide for provisions that will depoliticize the SK, as proposed by AKBAYAN Party-List Representative Ana Theresia Hontiveros Baraquel in her House Bill No. 959, introducing the Anti-Dynasty provision as stated in Section 26, Article II of the 1987 Philippine Constitution to avoid corruption and patronage, and

5. Support the recommendations made by the study conducted by the UP group entitled as Study on the Impact of the Youth participation in the Local Development Process: The Sangguniang Kabataan Experience.

JANELLE MANAHAN SECOND VIDEO

Janelle Manahan earlier admitted that the first video showing her and Ramgen Revilla in the bathroom was not the only intiumate video the couple made. As such, she appealed to the public not to watch and spread the video and any other clips that are expected to be posted online by (allegedly) the Bautista siblings. Janelle has accused Ram Revilla’s siblings and even his mother, Genelyn Magsaysay, of leaking the video online to get back at her for accusing them of their involvement in the Ram Revilla killing. Earlier, Genelyn admitted that they have Ramgen’s laptop in their possession. However, she denied they had anything to do with the leaked videos because they do not know the laptop’s password.

According to the different sources from the internet the second video of Janelle Manahan and Ram Revilla’s intimate moment video have been uploaded already.

The video lasted for more than 4 minutes according to sources that have already seen the video. The intimated moment video part 2 even exposed more of Janelle Manahan.

It was earlier reported that Janelle Manahan had admitted that they have recorded an intimate moments video during the first year of a relationship which lasted for 5 years before the murder of the boyfriend Ram Revilla.

Renato Corona Impeachment Trial Live

This year, ANC is mounting another important coverage as it presents “Chief Justice on Trial, the ANC Coverage,” a wall-to-wall, uninterrupted live coverage of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona starting on Monday, January 16, 1 p.m.

Veteran political reporter and news anchor Lynda Jumilla and impeachment expert and Harvard alumnus Atty. Adel Tamano will be broadcasting from the senate for the duration of the trial. Broadcast journalists Karen Davila and Tony Velasquez will team up with legal experts in giving timely updates as they anchor from the ANC studio.

Prior to the coverage proper, a full hour of primers will be delivered at 1 p.m. They will include a backgrounder on the impeachment process and the profiles of the trial’s key players such as the defense team, the prosecutors, the Supreme Court and Chief Justice Corona himself. Also to be looked into are other components crucial to the proceedings such as the senator-judges and their possible votes and the rift between Corona and President Benigno Aquino III.

ANC will be extending its reach by delivering up-to-date news on Twitter via @ancalerts (#CJonTrial) and ANC 24/7 on Facebook.