Asia’s Special Forces with Terry Schappert Premieres in January on History

Wazup Pilipinas!

Asia’s Special Forces with Terry Schappert premieres 22 and 29 January, Sundays, with back-to-back episodes at 7pm and 7:30 pm on History.

In this four-part special, host U.S. Special Forces veteran Terry Shappert takes an inside look into Asia’s Special Forces from the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan and the grueling training they undergo.

With comparative analysis from his experiences as a Green Beret, Terry examines in detail how Asia’s Special Forces equip themselves with highly specialized skills and brand new combat capabilities in preparation for today’s modern warfare. He discusses how loyalty has forged a bond among the members of these elite military units as they continue to protect one another and defend their countries at all costs.

HISTORY is available on Sky Cable Ch 67; Cable Link Ch 43; Dream Satellite Ch 30; Destiny Cable Ch 57; and Cignal Ch 125. HISTORY HD is available on Sky Cable Ch 165.

BGC Arts Center Festival: Revealing Facets Of Modern Filipino Performance Artistry

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Firing off a passionate start for 2017, the BGC Arts Center will celebrate its identity as the home of the Filipino artist. True to its word, it will launch a 2-day Arts Festival on January 14-15, hosting performances and events that will illuminate the many layers that modern Filipino artists are animating to give voice to the range of the human condition.

The BGC Arts Center is the centerpiece of BGC’s Cultural District. A project of the non-profit, Bonifacio Art Foundation, Inc., it is the first and only stand-alone theater established through private donations. It is dedicated to providing a cultural and educational experience that will inspire the public to explore their creative side and embrace Filipino artistry. A collaboration by award-winning architects and designers, the BGC Arts Center is composed of the Maybank Performing Arts Theater, the Alveo Central Plaza, and the Sun Life Amphitheater.

The BGC Arts Center Festival is aligned with how the Bonifacio Art Foundation, Inc. (BAFI) recognizes the integral role of culture, the appreciation of art and its meaning, in a city’s identity. Aiming to keep art alive and accessible through various cultural activities, BAFI endeavours to make art a way of life that everyone can share together.

Making BAFI’s mandate come alive is the range, from totally original Filipino creations to brilliant local adaptations of works with universal themes, that the BGC Arts Center Festival is offering.

As such, the festival will have children’s plays from Artist Playground and Kids Acts Philippines, several dance performances by STEPS, staged readings of selected scenes by The Egg Theatre Co., a performance of an original play by Artist Playground, a supremely engaging performance by a pioneer Filipino Improv group, SPIT Manila, an acclaimed local production from Twin Bill Theater, an award-winning original Filipino musical from Philippine Stagers, and opera pieces from MusicArtes, Inc.

Completing the Arts Festival are art talks, outdoor events such as BGC Art Mart that regularly feature the work of local artisans and other surprise offerings at the Sun Life amphitheater.

Check out the BGC Arts Center Festival event page on Facebook for the schedules and details of the performances.

NEC Appoints New President for NEC Philippines to Lead Next Phase of Growth

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NEC Philippines announced today the appointment of Elizabeth Tirona Pangan as its new President, with effect from today. She will be responsible for strengthening and growing NEC’ business in the Philippines.

Ms Pangan has 28 years of business management and operations excellence experience in the IT industry, having worked extensively in sales and operations roles in multi-national companies based in the Philippines.

She started her career at IBM Philippines in 1988 and held several management roles in back office operations. In 2000, Ms Pangan was appointed as Business Partner Relationship Manager where she honed her management skills in building partner and customer relationships which resulted in her achieving consistent sales targets in the organization.

From 2004 to 2012, she worked at Microsoft Philippines and held key roles where she was mainly responsible for business and marketing planning, and drove sales revenue. She later rejoined the company in 2014 as enterprise sales lead, developing and executing sales and organizational strategies for the Enterprise Commercial division of company.

Prior to that in 2013, Ms Pangan was Director of Sales and Marketing in NEC Philippines where she led and managed the Enterprise Sales, Channels and Marketing teams.

“It is an honor for me to be appointed as President of NEC Philippines. NEC Philippines has built a strong reputation in the industry and achieved steady growth by providing its technologies, solutions, services and expertise to the public and private sectors. I look forward to working with the NEC Philippines team to co-create social value with our customers and lead NEC’s next phase of growth in the Philippines,” said Ms Elizabeth Tirona Pangan, President, NEC Philippines.

Ms Pangan replaces Ms Agnes Gervacio who resigned the company in November 2016.

Vitaly Bigdash Dismisses Challenger's Fight Experience Ahead of Title Tiff

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A tough test awaits Vitaly Bigdash as he defends his ONE Middleweight World Championship title for the first time against Burmese mixed martial arts (MMA) superstar Aung La N Sang.

The five-round championship clash is scheduled to headline ONE: QUEST FOR POWER, which takes place at the Jakarta Convention Center in Jakarta, Indonesia on 14 January.

Bigdash was originally penciled to make his first title defense against Marcin Prachnio, but the highly-touted Polish prospect was forced to withdraw from the bout due to an injury.

Stepping up to the plate is Aung La, who is riding high on a remarkable four-fight winning streak in ONE Championship and has won three of his cage assignments in 2016.

Bigdash, who captured the intricately-crafted ONE Middleweight World Championship belt with a scintillating knockout victory over Igor Svirid in October 2015, is facing the most experienced foe in his nearly five-year prizefighting career.

Aung La has fought in 29 professional matches and has squared off with some of the top middleweight fighters across the globe.

Rene Catalan Expects Big Reward With Win Over Indonesian Foe

Wazzup Pilipinas!

As Rene Catalan crosses paths with a highly-touted prospect like Adrian Matheis, the Filipino fighter sees a big reward if he will play his cards right.

The 38-year-old Iloilo City native is set to square off with Matheis on the undercard of ONE: QUEST FOR POWER, which takes place at the Jakarta Convention Center in Jakarta, Indonesia on 14 January.

Catalan hopes that if he secures a decisive win over Matheis, it will grant him a date with Yoshitaka Naito for the ONE Strawweight World Championship belt later this year.

“Every fighter dreams to become a world champion. I really hope that ONE Championship will give me an opportunity to fight for the title in the future. This fight might be the door to a world title fight. Let us all hope for the best,” he said.

Matheis is one of the possible options to lock horns with Naito after winning the ONE: TITLES & TITANS Strawweight Tournament this past August.

The 23-year-old Indonesian standout defeated compatriots Rustam Hutajulu and Roso Nugroho via scintillating knockouts to bring home the tourney trophy.

A victory over Catalan will only strengthen Matheis’ campaign to secure a date with the reigning ONE Strawweight World Champion in 2017.

#LeniLeaks: Office of the Vice President Involved in Orchestrated Moves Against Duterte

Wazzup Pilipinas!

#LeniLeaks is a story about a traitor billionaire too busy plotting to #OustDuterte that she forgot to set their Yahoo Groups to private. Those Yahoo Group emails are damning. Medyo careless sila ano? Or talagang tanga lang? This is even worse than Clinton's. Who needs hackers when you got dumb billionaires who let their private messages flaunted in the internet.

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) of the Philippines is instructing people and "communities" what to say and how to attack certain people on Facebook and how to undermine the image of the President who won without any shadow of a doubt. Nothing organic about these attacks. They are part of a social media strategy crafted by the OVP.

So.... why is mainstream media still playing deaf about this issue huh?

Passing a fake cheque as real while denying the existence of a destabilization plot summarizes #Lenileaks. It is the product of a never-ending plan to disturb the Duterte government. It is done in bad faith to oust a President who was duly voted by 16 million Filipinos. Now we probably know why Duterte had to fire her. Malacanang already knew something we don't - until now.

South Korean President downfall somehow began with a tablet negligently left behind by Choi Soonsil. Now we have this. We should take note of the names: Loida Nicolas Lewis, Imelda Nicolas, Vicky Garchitorena, Ted Laguatan, Rodel Rodis, Mila Aguilar, and a few more.

The Blue Palawan Kiteboard Open 2017

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Blue Kiteboarding and Blue Palawan Beach Club invites you to come and ride the worlds most tropical kite park this year!
The 2017 Blue Palawan Kite Open, the first International Slick and Slider Kiteboarding Competition in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, is back for it’s second year as the first event of the world renowned Kite Park League Tour. Kicking things off with a qualifying event on February 6 & 7, 2017. The qualifier is open to anyone and is your chance to compete alongside the world’s best kiteboarding park riding talent at the best tropical kite park in Asia.

The top two men and two women from the qualifier will join the invited 24 riders on Tuesday February 7th for opening celebrations and will collectively compete for their chance at the title during the main event to immediately follow the open qualifier from February 8th to 16th.

In line with this, the organizers have invited members of the media to get to know more about the Kiteboarding scene in the Philippines via a press conference to be held on January 10, 2017 at a venue in Makati!

Paula Rosales, one of the top female freestyle kite boarders in Asia, will speak on behalf of Blue Palawan and the local riders from Boracay, and their recent partnership with the Department of Tourism.

Three well known international kite boarders will also be joining the presscon:

Manuela Jungo -- Swiss kiteboarder; Ranked 5th for the last 3 years in Kiteboarding World Tour (http://www.manuelajungo.com/)

James Boulding -- Professional kiteboarder & filmmaker (http://www.jamesboulding.co.uk)

Eric James Rienstra -- Professional Kiteboarder from King Beach, CA; 2014 Beeline Rail Masters Champion (http://ericrienstra.blogspot.com/)

Kazunori Yokota Aims to Redeem Himself with Win Over Australian Foe

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It is very rare for a debuting fighter to receive a title shot in his maiden fight under a particular mixed martial arts (MMA) organization’s banner, but this was the case when Japanese stalwart Kazunori Yokota made his first appearance in ONE Championship.

Yokota was on ONE Championship’s radar for a long time as he is an MMA fixture in his home-country with over 12 years of prizefighting experience under his belt.

In addition, Yokota is even considered as one of the toughest Asian featherweight competitors as he has constantly punished his opponents and grinded out 25 impressive victories in his 34-bout career.

It was a no-brainer that Yokota would have a crack at the coveted ONE Featherweight World Championship belt when he inked a lucrative multi-fight deal with Asia’s largest MMA promotion.

Riding high on an impressive 13-fight winning streak in the Japanese MMA circuit, Yokota earned a date with Russian combatant Marat Gafurov for the gold-plated strap in May 2016.

Although he was a highly-touted veteran from “The Land of the Rising Sun,” it did not quite go as planned for Yokota as he bowed down to Gafurov by way of second-round submission.

Yokota seeks to erase the painful memory of his ONE Championship debut at the expense of Australian standout Martin Nguyen.

Both men are scheduled to square off against each other in the co-headliner of ONE: QUEST FOR POWER, which takes place at the Jakarta Convention Center in Jakarta, Indonesia on 14 January.

Manila-Based Heavyweight Igor Subora Seeks Career Revitalization in Upcoming Bout

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Ukrainian fighter Igor Subora sees his upcoming three-round encounter with Sherif “The Shark” Mohamed as an opportunity to bring back the luster of his professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career.

Both highly-decorated combatants are set to collide on the undercard of ONE: QUEST FOR POWER, which takes place at the Jakarta Convention Center in Jakarta, Indonesia on 14 January.

Subora is one of the few foreign nationals who opted to make a run for the money and compete professionally in the Philippines.

Although he acquired his Combat Sambo pedigree overseas, Subora decided to train as an MMA competitor when he migrated to the country in 2008, honing his skills in neighboring gyms around Metro Manila.

Subora remarkably conquered the local MMA scene in the Philippines, attaining four first-round knockouts and one submission victory.

In addition, Subora captured a local MMA promotion’s heavyweight championship belt by way of a 49-second knockout in 2011 and reigned for three years with ease.

His success in the Philippine MMA circuit led him to be noticed by ONE Championship, which is widely regarded as the largest MMA organization in the Asia region.

Despite his triumphant run in the local ranks, he struggled to translate it in his first two ONE Championship assignments.

History Asia To Premiere TV Special “President Obama: In His Own Words”

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With the transition of power for the President of the United States of America to take place in a matter of days, HISTORY interrupts its regular programming to bring to Asia its two-hour TV special on the outgoing commander-in-chief, “President Obama: In His Own Words”.

Reflecting on his historic presidency; President Obama shares his thoughts on where the country was when he was elected, where it is now, and where he sees it going under his successor's command.

Comprising two interviews conducted before and after the 2016 Presidential election, “President Obama: In His Own Words” is the President's first-hand account of his time in office - his successes, his failures, his unfinished business - and what he hopes will be his legacy.

Also included are additional interviews with members of his staff including Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry, Congress, and the press, to make for a unique examination of the Obama presidency from the inside out, and a profound and candid historical record that will stand for generations.

As the 44th President of the United States of America, Obama was the first African-American to be elected to the office. Among the work he will be remembered for, Obama signed into law various economic stimulus legislation; the contentious "Obamacare"; changes to domestic financial regulations; and enabled LGBT individuals to serve in the US Armed Forces. In foreign policy, Obama ended US military involvement in the Iraq War; signed the arms control treaty with Russia, ordered US military involvement against Muammar Gaddafi in Libya; and ordered the operation that killed Osama bin Laden.

During his second term, Obama promoted domestic gun control and called for greater inclusiveness for LGBT Americans. In foreign policy, Obama ordered US military intervention to ISIL; reduced US combat operations in Afghanistan; promoted discussions to the 2015 Paris Agreement on global climate change; brokered a nuclear deal with Iran; and normalized US relations with Cuba.

The outgoing President was the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate for his efforts to promote nuclear non-proliferation and a fostering a new climate in international relations, especially in reaching out to the Muslim world.

HISTORY is available on Sky Cable Ch 67; Cable Link Ch 43; Dream Satellite Ch 30; Destiny Cable Ch 57; and Cignal Ch 125. HISTORY HD is available on Sky Cable Ch 165.