This coming Saturday, February 27, 2010 Marvin Sonsona and Wilfredo Vasquez, Jr will go head to head in Puerto Rico for the vacant WBO Jr. Featherweight title on the Sonsona vs. Vazquez Jr Double Assault PPV.
The 19-year old Marvelous” Marvin Sonsona is ‘hungry like a tiger’ for his 2nd title shot. Marvin Sonsona holds the record as the second youngest Filipino to win a world title and the one with the shortest ever reign (77 days).
Sonsona lost his WBA super-flyweight belt for weighing in 2.6 pounds over the limit for his defense against Mexican Alejandro Hernandez last November in Canada. The General Santos pride went on to battle Hernandez to a draw, consoling himself by remaining undefeated (14-0-1, 12 KOs).
“I want to make up for what happened in Canada and win another world title. I‚Äôm hungry and focused on this fight; I‚Äôm hungry like a tiger!” said Sonsona
WBO No. 3 rated Sonsona is not intimidated that he will be fighting with No. 2 rated Vazquez Jr. (17-0-1, 14 KOs) in Vasquez own hostile territory.
“Fighting in his (Vasquez‚Äôs) hometown doesn‚Äôt bother me. The officials will be fair and I have a lot of Puerto Rican fans, too. I‚Äôm not sure if it‚Äôll end in a knockout, but it‚Äôs going to be a very good fight,” he declared.
Losing the championship belt at the weighing scales right on his first defense two months later brought back memories of a young Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao, who is now on intense training for the upcoming Pacquiao vs. Clottey fight, had a same experience back in 1999 but eventually rebounded to become a seven-division champion and the pound-for-pound king.
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Archive for February, 2010
Sonsona vs. Vazquez Jr. on Double Assault
by admin, on Tue, Feb 23 2010 | 1 Comment
Manny Villar is the Most Trusted Presidential Bet – Pulse Asia
by admin, on Tue, Feb 23 2010 | 2 Comments
On the survey recent survey conducted by Pulse Asia, Sen. Manny Villar is the most trusted president bet for May 2010 election. On the survey that was conducted last January 22 to 26, said 70 percent of the 1,800 respondents had “big trust” in Villar, few points ahead from the closest rival Sen. Noynoy Aquino with 64 percent.
On the other hand, former President Joseph Estrada recorded a 33% trust and 37% distrust rating. The administration bet former Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. has a 36% trust rating with 32% trusting him, and 31% distrusting him. Senator Richard Gordon had a 26-percent trust rating against 32 percent who distrusted him.
The survey said the other presidential aspirants posted near to small majority distrust ratings — Senator Jamby Madrigal (47%), Olongapo City Councilor JC de los Reyes (50%), Kilusang Bagong Lipunan bet Vetallano S. Acosta (51%), evangelist Eduardo Villanueva (53%), and Center for Alternative Development Initiatives (CADI) President Jesus Nicanor Perlas (54%).
In the vice presidential race, Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II emerged on top with 73 percent, with Loren Legarda coming in second at 63 percent.
In the same survey that had a ± 2 percent margin of error, 47 percent also expressed trust in the C
Thousands of Guns Still in the Hands of Ampatuan Followers Says NBI
by admin, on Mon, Feb 22 2010 | No Comments
The National Bureau of Investigation’s (NBI) Counter Terrorism Unit said that there are at least 3,000 to 4,000 loose firearms believed to be still in the control of supporters and relatives of the powerful Ampatuan clan in Maguindanao.
According Ricardo Diaz of NBI-CTU, the agency has started to apply for search warrants in several courts in the province to retrieve those numerous weapons.
‚ÄúThe Counter Terrorism Unit is tasked to locate the firearms so that these will not be used to commit violence, political violence and intimidations in the coming elections and to have free elections in the province of Maguindanao and the whole Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,” Diaz said.
‚ÄúThe military and police have recovered over 1,000 firearms. But there are 5,000 police, military and civilian security who are involved in security surveillance on the roads when the Nov. 23 massacre was carried out. All these 5,000 people are armed according to our witnesses. But over 1,000 guns were only recovered so we need to retrieve thousands of firearms between 3,000 to 4,000 firearms,” he added.
He said the firearms could be hidden in warehouses, safe houses or even buried underground.
‚ÄúThe legal way to retrieve these firearms is to have search warrants. The martial law was already lifted so the process may be lengthy because it may take time to apply and get search warrants,” he said.
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Noynoy Leads on the Mock Election in Europe
by admin, on Mon, Feb 22 2010 | No Comments
Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III is the top choice of Filipinos in Europe for the presidential seat. Following closely is the Sen. Manny Villlar. On the mock election conducted on several countries in Europe with 500 respondents, Aquino garnered the highest with 39% followed by Villar with % and former president Joseph Estrada was 3rd with 20%.
Europe has a total of 61,294 registered absentee voters. Italy has the most number of registered absentee voters with 23,435 and far second is the United Kingdom with only 8,552.
For the vice-presidential race, Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II was way ahead at 39% followed by Sen. Loren Legarda with 24%.
However, in a separate mock elections initiated by the Philippine Association of Royal Mail Employees in United Kingdom, Manny Villar was on the lead with 81 votes or 34% and Aquino placed 2nd with 73 votes or 32%.
More than 200 members of the group took part in the mock polls in the UK.
In an outreach program conducted by the Philippine Embassy in Wales, ABS-CBN’s Balitang Europe conducted random interviews with Filipino workers on their choice for president.
The interviewed Filipino workers said they chose Aquino because he is credible and has no taint of corruption.
Some picked Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon because of his proven track record while some prefer Bro. Eddie Villanueva claiming the country needs spiritual leadership.
Absentee voters in Europe may be small in number, but they pull serious influence on their relatives back home.
Abu Sayyaf Top Commander killed in Jolo
by admin, on Sun, Feb 21 2010 | No Comments
One of the top commanders of the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf was among the six Abu Sayyaf members killed in an encounter last Sunday in the island of Jolo, the Philippines military said.
“One of those six… we recovered was Albader Parad, as confirmed by four civilian sources we have,” Lieutenant General Benjamin Dolorfino told reporters.
Albader Parad, an Abu Sayyaf chief who led the abduction of three Red Cross workers last year, was killed when they meet the military forces in the south. Lieutenant General Benjamin Dolorfino also confirmed the death of Abdulhan Jumdail, cousin of Umbra Jumdail, one of the core leaders of the Abu Sayyaf.
Parad’s gang was responsible for kidnapping Filipina Mary Jean Lacaba, Swiss national Andreas Notter and Italian Eugenio Vagni in January last year while they were on a Jolo humanitarian mission for the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Lacaba and Notter were freed in April and Vagni was released in July.
The military said Albader Arad was the driver of a speedboat used by the Abu Sayyaf in a 2001 raid on an island resort in which Christian missionary couple Gracia and Martin Burnham and fellow American Guillermo Sobero were kidnapped.
Sobero was beheaded as a warning to pursuing troops and Martin Burnham was killed in a raid which successfully recovered his wife, Gracia Burnham.
The assault on the Abu Sayyaf band began late Saturday in the island of Jolo and raged on till Sunday morning with three soldiers wounded in the fighting, Dolorfino said.
The terrorist group, Abu Sayyaf, which was set up in the 1990s allegedly with seed money from Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network, has been blamed for a string of kidnappings in the Philippines as well as the bombing of a passenger ferry in Manila Bay that killed over 100 people in 2004.
