PH President Duterte delivers his 3rd SONA

July 23rd, 2018 - Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivered his third State of the Union Address at the Batasang Pambansa, despite some slight delays to the schedule. His speech lasted for almost an hour.

During his profane-free State of the Union Address, the President told the public that his brutal war against illegal drugs goes on, despite numerous backlash from human rights activists, which Duterte slammed those by valuing lives over rights. Also, he talked about his ongoing relationship with China, the West Philippine Sea, his ongoing pursuit for an independent foreign policy, his fight against corruption, Bangsamoro, the Boracay closure that placed environmental protection one of his top priorities, the TRAIN law, Overseas Filipino Workers, the road to federalization, and other issues he faced with.

Behind the scenes, there has been some protests occurred. Those who support him remained as silent as ever while those who oppose him are going to the extremes. Apart from that, the House of Representatives named former president and Pampanga representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the new House speaker, which is unheard on Philippine politics.

With his third State of the Union Address came to a successful end, the Philippine government's pursuit on the Duterte administration's agenda continues as Filipinos await the authoritarian leader's next moves that will change the fate of this very nation they set foot.

2018 NASCAR Monster Energy Cup - Foxwoods Resort Casino 301

The 2018 NASCAR Monster Energy series continues at New Hampshire Motor Speedway  for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 and after three and a half rain delay, the Magic Mile race begun where a single mile makes a big difference for the drivers.

In Lap 20, AJ Allmendinger got a flat tire and then slightly smacked the wall. With Martin Truex Jr. won Stage one, he got caught in a heated duel with Chase Elliot, who later won Stage 2. After Stage 2, all the action, all the pressure, and all the close-quarters contact made this race at New Hampshire very exciting to watch.

After shoving Kyle Busch off, Kevin Harvick wins the Magic Mile thriller, making it his sixth win of this season.

Next race is at Pocono Raceway for the Gander Outdoors 400 on the 29th of July.

THREATS FROM NORTH KOREA: South Korea MP embroiled in bribery scandal commits suicide

A prominent South Korean lawmaker who was being probed over a bribery scandal has committed suicide, police said Monday.

Roh Hoe-chan, a three-term lawmaker of the left-leaning Justice Party had been under investigation for allegedly receiving 50 million won ($44,300) from a powerful political blogger linked to many top politicians.

The blogger, widely known by his online nickname “Druking”, is currently on trial for using illegal hacking programmes to sway public opinion on Naver, the South’s top online portal.

“Druking” is accused of artificially increasing the number of positive responses — the equivalent of Facebook’s “Like” function — to tens of thousands of online comments on Naver that attacked or supported politicians or political parties in a bid to win personal favors.

In a suicide note left in a Seoul apartment, Roh admitted he had received money from the blogger, but denied he had offered any favor in return, the Yonhap news agency said.

He had been expected to be summoned soon by prosecutors for questioning.

Police said Roh was found dead at the gate of the same apartment building and that it appeared he had jumped to his death.

Roh was a prominent labor rights activist before becoming a lawmaker in 2004. The South’s presidential Blue House offered condolences over the “heartbreaking event.”

“I express my deepest condolences over his death from the depths of my heart,” Huh Ik-bum, a senior prosecutor leading the probe over the scandal, told reporters.

“I personally admired him as a politician,” he said.

South Korea has one of the world’s highest suicide rates, and suicides of public figures — from politicians to businessmen — embroiled in humiliating scandals make frequent headlines.

Late former president Roh Moo-hyun, who served from 2003 to 2008, shocked the nation in 2009 when he jumped off a cliff while being investigated over a corruption scandal.

Source: AFP

Let's Do The News! (July 23, 2018)

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- Former Negros Oriental 1st District Representative Jacinto “Jing” Paras refused to directly comment on rumors that House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez will be replaced by Pampanga Second District Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo before President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his third State of the Nation Address today.

- The Senate of the Philippines is relevant, maintained Senate President Vicente Sotto III. Sotto, in his speech at the opening of the third regular session of 17th Congress Monday morning, chose to deviate from the tradition of mentioning the achievements of past sessions to assert the Upper Chamber’s role in amending the Constitution.

- The government has so far provided about 14.9 million pesos worth of relief assistance to families affected by nonstop monsoon rains. DSWD Acting Secretary Virginia Orogo went to Iocos Region over the weekend to distribute relief assistance to families and individuals who have been affected by the habagat.

- A vaccine scandal in China, which has hit a nerve in the country and prompted quick reactions from leaders in Beijing, is sending ripples across the wider domestic drug market while threatening to dent Chinese ambitions to play a larger global role.

- US President Donald Trump warned Iran of consequences "the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered,” if it threatens the United States. The response came after Rouhani earlier Sunday issued his own warning to the US leader not to “play with the lion’s tail,” saying that conflict with Iran would be the “mother of all wars”.

- Around 25,000 people braved the rain in Munich on Sunday to protest the hardline immigration stance of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Bavarian allies three months before they face a tough state election in Bavaria.

- Lamborghini teases their ultimate Aventador with a clip at the Nurburgring.



-Your first look of the Godzilla: King of the Monsters film coming this May 30, 2019 in cinemas.



- After being declared cancer-free, Gary Valenciano is set to return on television.

- Bagani actress Liza Soberano pursued her dream of a college psychology degree.

TTFN!!!

F1 2018: German GP

Revenge is a dish best served cold and following Hamilton's bitter defeat by Vettel at his home turf at Silverstone since the British GP, the battle at Hockenheimring for the German Grand Prix leg of the F1 2018 season showcases the biggest payback the world saw it coming.

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes Benz finally took back what Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel claimed from him at Silverstone as Vettel's leading streak ended in a crash at Lap 52, saddened most of his home fans, while the British F1 driver, started at 14th place, won the German Grand Prix and for the first time in this race, a 1-2 finish for Mercedes with Valtteri Bottas placed 2nd. Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari completes the podium with a third place finisher. One of the most awesome moments in the German Grand Prix is when Charles Leclerc of Sauber managed to survive a spinout.

After German GP, Hamilton's back on the lead with 188 points, 17 points ahead of Vettel following his disastrous near-climax crash. Raikkonen's in third with 131 points.

The next race is at Hungaroring for the Hungarian GP on the 29th of July.

2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship - Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint

Queensland Raceway is the venue of the Coates Hire Ipswich SuperSprint race of the 2018 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship and what a thriller this race is from start to finish and with only a few races left in this season, the battle at Ipswich is a guaranteed thriller as two title rivals continue to trade punches corner after corner.

At Race 19, Scott McLaughlin netted his seventh win of the campaign after dominating 39 laps from the beginning to the end. Title rival Shane van Gisbergen placed 2nd while soon-to-be-retired Craig Lowndes finished 3rd.

At Race 20, the tables have turned as van Gisbergen beats McLaughlin in this incident-packed race where two WAU Holdens involved in a clash and a penalization of two drivers for De Silvestro contact. Chaz Mostert placed 3rd.

After Queensland Raceway, McLaughlin continues to dominate the overall leaderboard with 2321 points with van Gisbergen in 2nd with 2190 points and Jamie Whincup's in 3rd with 1870 points. Looks like the rivalry between McLaughlin and van Gisbergen keeps on burning even in the chilly season the Aussies are facing.

Next race is the Red Rooster Sydney SuperNight 300 on the 3rd and 4th of August, 2018.

Let's Do The News! (July 21, 2018)

- After the White House confirmed Russian President Vladimir Putin's US arrival, a bizarre moment happened on live television as the U.S. director of national intelligence Dan Coats – who said that he still does not know what happened in the Trump-Putin one-on-one meeting in Helsinki – was also not aware of this Trump-Putin summit at the White House this fall.

- A city in New Jersey made a policy that decriminalizes the use of marijuana. Mayor Steven Fulop and the new chief prosecutor Jake Hudnut announced that they directed all city prosecutors to cease prosecuting marijuana possession cases before the municipal courts.

- Hashtags member Jon Lucas reveals that he's now a father and a married man, that's two revelations in one day.

- Jake Ejercito condemns Kuwaiti beauty blogger's racist comments about Overseas Filipino workers.

- Netflix and Dreamworks' Voltron cartoon ends this year after the eighth season. The seventh season will air on the 10th of August.

- Disney revived the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series with 12 new episodes coming soon to Disney's upcoming streaming service.

- The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman confirmed that Andrew Lincoln, who played the show's main character Rick Grimes, will leave the show officially.

- Next month's Pikachu outbreak in Yokohama's Minato Mirai will have Eevees in the mix in honor of the upcoming Pokemon Let's Go games.

TTFN!!!