Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Danny Kingad Sees Manila Match as Gateway to Big Flyweight Bouts in ONE Championship

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Filipino prospect Danny Kingad believes that his three-round flyweight encounter with division newcomer Muhammad Aiman could be his stepping-stone to the upper echelon of ONE Championship’s 61.2-kilogram weight class.

Both men are scheduled to face each other on the undercard of ONE: KINGS OF DESTINY, which takes place at the 20,000-capacity SM Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines on 21 April.

Kingad sees his flyweight meeting with Aiman as the perfect platform to elevate him in the rankings of the division as his Malaysian counterpart is a former MIMMA featherweight titleholder.

In addition, Aiman is currently riding high on a two-bout winning streak, defeating Hisyam Samsudin by unanimous decision in his first match inside the ONE Championship cage while stopping Brazilian grappler Eduardo Novaes in his most recent outing.

“He had a great run in the amateur ranks as most of his wins came by submission. He was an amateur mixed martial arts champion with a 7-1 record. He has won two-straight fights as a featherweight. Now, he moves down to flyweight. It’s the perfect match-up if I want to climb the ladder of the flyweight division,” Kingad said of his opponent.

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Department of Trade & Industry Secretary Ramon “Mon” Lopez on March 31 spoke to media to say that their “conservative estimate” is that the Philippine economy this year 2017 shall attract P500 billion pesos worth of new investments and will accelerate economic growth, he said all these at the Pandesal Forum of 78-year-old Kamuning Bakery Café in Quezon City.

Lopez said the Duterte administration’s goal is to ensure that Philippine economic growth shall be inclusive and sustainable, thus among its reform policies is releasing state funds to support microfinance entities in order to counter the controversial high-interest “5-6” usurious loan-sharks victimizing small traders and micro-entrepreneurs. The initial fund is P1 billion pesos, but he said Budget Secretary Diokno urged him to apply for additional P2 billion pesos. Lopez said President Duterte’s vision is to make P1 billion pesos funds for every region of the Philippines for micro-lending to smallest traders.

Secretary Lopez also said DTI and other government agencies are partnering with the private sector, malls, the business chambers in order to encourage and support small & medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) nationwide. DTI is also helping ensure stable consumer prices.

During the free-wheeling Pandesal Forum with local and international media, Secretary Mon Lopez extolled the country’s pro-Philippines “independent foreign policy” which has resulted in unprecedented warming diplomatic, economic and strategic ties between the Philippines and the world’s second largest economy China and global energy superpower Russia.

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Who will be Asia’s Next Superstar?

AXN will kick off its search for Asia’s next global superstar from April 10, as the leading general entertainment channel calls for online auditions for the highly anticipated second season of Asia’s Got Talent.

The record-breaking series, which crowned Filipino shadow dance group, El Gamma Penumbra, the grand winner in the first season with a cash prize of USD100,000, will once again unite Asia in a celebration of talent that transcends language, culture and borders.

“Asia’s Got Talent is the world’s biggest talent competition and we encourage people of any age and with any dream to come forward and take the spotlight. Following the outstanding success of season one on AXN, and the awe-inspiring talent that emerged from 15 countries, Asia’s Got Talent has established its place as the region’s most powerful platform to launch aspiring stars,” said Virginia Lim, Senior Vice President and Head of Content, Production and Marketing, Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia.

Potential stars can visit www.AXN-Asia.com/AsiasGotTalent to submit an application and audition video, which should include a short introduction of the act, and the actual performance. The videos should be under two minutes’ in duration.

In addition to the online auditions, AXN will hold a series of open auditions in major cities across the region next month. Cities, dates and venues will be announced in the coming weeks via AXN’s TV channel, social platforms (@AXNAsia) and website.

“For season two, AXN is looking for a variety of acts that span everything from thrilling, surprising and breathtaking to funny and quirky…and sometimes bizarre. Asia’s Got Talent is captivating entertainment at its best and there’s no better place than Asia to discover to the next generation of superstars,” said Ms. Lim.

New Ratings Records in Asia

Season one of Asia’s Got Talent set new ratings records for the English general entertainment (GE) genre during its run, taking AXN to the number one spot in its timeslot among all regional pay-TV channels collectively across Southeast Asia and Taiwan.2

In Malaysia, Asia’s Got Talent was the highest rated entertainment series on English language channels on Astro in the past two years. In the Philippines, the Grand Final Results episode of Asia’s Got Talent was the highest rated pay-TV program in the country since 2008, and commanded a 96 percent share among 22 English GE channels. 3

Got Talent Globally
The Got Talent franchise was created by Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment and is co-produced and owned by Syco Entertainment and FremantleMedia. It is entered in the Guinness World Records as the Most Successful Reality Television Format in history with 70 local versions produced across Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle-East, Africa and the Americas. Around the world, the Got Talent format airs in a total of 186 countries.

AXN: A leader in original productions

AXN is a leader of regionally produced original content in Asia, with notable ratings successes including five seasons of the international Emmy-nominated The Amazing Race Asia; the Asian Television Award-winning Cash Cab Asia and Cash Cab Philippines; The Apprentice Asia; Cyril: Rio Magic; Cyril’s Family Vacation: Hawaii Edition; and the Asian Television Award-nominated Cyril: Simply Magic.