One Step Closer

The Department of Foreign Affairs has warned overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) bound for China to be wary of carrying packages as favors since Filipinas are increasingly being used as drug couriers to China.

“We will work closely with our regional partners pursuant to bilateral and multilateral mechanisms which address this growing problem as these drug syndicates apparently have a wide network operating in various parts of Asia.”

Reference: www.abs-cbnnews.com

YANGON - A popular Myanmar blogger who belongs to Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party has been arrested in Yangon, apparently for violating the nation’s tough Internet controls, a party spokesman said Wednesday. Blogger Nay Phone Latt and another man were arrested Tuesday, according to Nyan Win, spokesman for the National League for Democracy (NLD) party. "We still don’t know exactly why they were arrested, but he had a lot of knowledge and experience with computers," the spokesman told AFP. The other man arrested was believed to be a member of NLD’s youth wing, but the party was still trying to identify him, Nyan Win said. Nay Phone Latt’s blog was written in Burmese and in the style of a novel. He used it as a forum to discuss the difficulties of daily life, such as the power outages that last most of the day and the rising cost of living. Myanmar’s military rulers exert tight controls over the Internet, banning access to news sites and even to web-based email services such as Yahoo or Hotmail. Enterprising young techies have found ways to bypass the controls and have developed a lively online community. The military was outraged by the bloggers during pro-democracy protests in September, when they provided detailed running accounts of the violence and helped spread the news from a country where media access is severely curtailed. The junta cut off the nation’s Internet links at the height of the violence, choking off the flow of information about the crackdown. The United Nations says at least 31 people were killed during the suppression, and 74 remain missing. The NLD says about 100 of its members are still in detention since the crackdown. The party’s leader, Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years. Ten leaders of the protests have been charged with violating the nation’s strict publishing law, a crime punishable by up to seven years in prison, according to the NLD.

Reference: www.abs-cbnnews.com

ABS-CBN launched three new primetime programs last night, January 28, to kick off their 55th anniversary celebration. These new programs are Kung Fu Kids, Lobo, and Palos. Although the numbers that these three ABS-CBN programs got based on the overnight ratings of AGB are quite high, they still failed to beat the strong lineup of existing GMA-7 primetime shows.

Among the three shows, Lobo topbilled by the tandem of Piolo Pascual and Angel Locsin had the best pilot showing with 27.7 percent, which is also the highest overall among ABS-CBN programs last night.

Lobo finished at No. 6 while its direct competitor from GMA-7, Kamandag (starring Angel’s former screen partner Richard Gutierrez), rated 33.1 percent to grab the second place overall.

The action-packed Kung Fu Kids, headlined by child stars, came up with 26.6 percent on its pilot episode to place seventh overall. Kung Fu Kids went up against Kapuso network’s metal hero series Zaido, which crunched 28.9 percent rating to nab the fifth spot.

Finally, the tandem of Cesar Montano and Jake Cuenca in Palos attracted 23.6 percent to take the No. 8 position. Palos had the unfortunate position of going up against the current No. 1 show, Marimar, which stood its ground by posting a 36.8 percent rating to retain its position.

Completing the Top 10 primetime programs were Coffee Prince (31.2 percent) at No. 3; 24 Oras (30.5 percent) at No. 4; TV Patrol World (23 percent) at No. 9; and Kung Ako Ikaw (14.8 percent) at No. 10. Maging Sino Ka Man just missed the winning circle with its 13.3 percent rating.

In the daytime race, Eat Bulaga! and Daisy Siete tied at No. 1 with identical 22.8 percent rating. The new Japanese drama series Hana Yori Dango 2 premiered at second place with 18.7 percent.

Meanwhile, the last episodes of ABS-CBN’s Lastikman and Patayin Sa Sindak Si Barbara last Friday, January 25, also got impressive numbers. Lastikman placed fourth overall with 30.7 percent while Patayin Sa Sindak followed at No. 5 with 28.3 percent.

Marimar was still on top with 37 percent with Coffee Prince a far second with 32.3 percent; closely followed by Kamandag with 32.2 percent.

GMA-7’s game show, Whammy! Push Your Luck, also had its final episode last Friday. It posted a rating of 15.5 percent to grab the fifth spot in the daytime race, behind Daisy Siete (23.8 percent), Eat Bulaga! (20.5 percent), Maging Akin Ka Lamang (17.4 percent), and My Only Love (15.7 percent).

The TV version of Ai-Ai delas Alas’s hit movie, Volta, premiered last Saturday, January 26, with 20.1 percent to grab the second spot in the daytime race behind Eat Bulaga’s 26.7 percent.

In the primetime race, Bitoy’s Funniest Videos once again ruled the lot with 34.8 percent; followed by Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho (33.1 percent), Kakasa Ka Ba Sa Grade 5? (26.8 percent); Imbestigador (25.9 percent); and 1 vs. 100 (19.7 percent) to complete the Top 5.

ABS-CBN’s primer on their three new primetime programs—Kung Fu Kids, Lobo, and Palos—placed sixth with 17.9 percent.

Reference: www.gmanews.tv