Splash Island's 2013 Summer Hot Body Winners

SPLASH ISLAND held its annual bikini open event “Summer Hot Body” yesterday, April 21. In the above picture is the owner of Splash Island, the biggest water adventure park in the Philippines, MR. SONNY TORRES flanked by the 2013 SUMMER HOT BODY winners (left to right) MS. PRINCESS FLORES, Ms. Splash Island 2013 and Best in Black Bikini, MS. JONELLE JUCUTAN, 1st Runner Up and Best in Summer Bikini and MS. IRIZZ MAGTOTO, 2nd Runner Up and Best in White Bikini.

2013 SUMMER HOT BODY, photos by Raoul Esperas

2013 MTAP Elimination Rounds

Many public and private schools all over the Philippines are aware of MTAP. It is the biggest and widely anticipated Math competition among elementary and secondary students in the country. The competition is being sponsored by Metrobank, MTAP and DepEd for students to continually hone their mathematical abilities.

Recently, the 2013 MTAP Elimination Rounds were held in different testing centers. My daughter Ysabel Nicole Taruc once again represented her school together with other 2 students from the Grade 6 level. The elimination round was held in Taytay Elementary School and fortunately their level was qualified to move on to the next round to happen on February 7.

To our daughter, congratulations and wish you the best of luck in the final round. We are so very proud of you.

2013 Metrobank-MTAP-DepEd Math Challenge

The elimination round for 2013 MMC (Metrobank-MTAP-DepEd) Math Challenge will happen on January 17 for Elementary students and January 18 for Secondary in different school venues. Many public and private schools are participating in this Math contest to hone their mathematical abilities.

This will be the third time that our daughter Ysabel Nicole will participate in this contest and we are very proud of her for having such an experience and for her continued pursuit to learn the beauty of Math. For the last 2 years, she made it till the second round but not yet to regional and in the finals. We’re crossing our fingers that this time her team will make it.

I wish all the students the best of luck and for me you are all winners. The fact that you are representing your respective schools is already something to be proud of and winning is something to work hard for.

Filipino-American Idol on FOX

19 Entertainment, a division of Core Media Group and Fremantle Media North America, Inc. produced the new reality television singing competition “Filipino-American Idol.” There will be four judges namely Nicole Scherzinger, (recording artist, TV personality & actress) Bruno Mars singer-songwriter & record producer), apl.de.ap (rapper, record-producer & occasional drummer) and Vanessa Hudgens (actress & singer) while comedian Rob Shneider will be the show’s host. This show will premieres on FOX in March 2013 as the 12th season of American Idol airs on January 16.

2012 Metro Manila Film Fest (MMFF) winners

Being held in the Meralco Theater, the 2012 MMFF recognized 8 participating film entries in the Mainstream Category, New Wave and Short Film line-ups and here are the partial list of lucky winners:

Best Float: "El Presidente"  /  Youth Choice Award: "El Presidente"  /  Best Child Star: Miguel Vergara, "One More Try"  /  Best Sound: Michael Idioma, "El Presidente"  /  Best Musical Score: Jessie Lazatin, "El Presidente"  /  Best Theme Song: apl.de.ap and Jamir Garcia, "El Presidente"  /  Best Make-up: Warren Munar, "El Presidente" by Warren Munar and company  /  Best Special Fffects: "Shake, Rattle & Roll 14: The Invasion"  /  Best Production Design: Brillante Mendoza, "Thy Womb"  /  Best Editing: Vito Kahili, "One More Try"  /  Best Cinematography: Odyssey Flores, "Thy Womb"  /  Best Supporting Actor: Cesar Montano, "El Presidente"  /  Best Supporting Actress: Wilma Doesnt, "Sisterakas"  /  Best Original Story: Henry Burgos, "Thy Womb"  /  Best Screenplay: Anna Ramos, "One More Try"  /  Best Director: Brillante Mendoza, "Thy Womb"  /  3rd Best Picture: "Sisterakas"  /  2nd Best Picture: "El Presidente"  /  Best Picture: "One More Try"  /  Best Actor: Dingdong Dantes, "One More Try"  /  Best Actress: Nora Aunor, "Thy Womb"

NEW WAVE:
New Wave Best Actor: Alan Paule, "Gayak"  /  New Wave Best Actress: Liza Diño, "In Nomine Matris"  /  New Wave Best Director: Tyrone Acierto, "The Grave Bandits"  /  New Wave Best Film: Tyrone Acierto's "The Grave Bandits."  /  New Wave Special Jury: Armando "Bing" Lao's "Ad Ignorantiam"  /  Special Awards Gender Sensitivity Special Award (New Wave): "In Nomine Matris"  /  Gender Sensitivity Special Award (Mainstream): "Thy Womb"  /  Gender Sensitivity Special Award (Shorts): "Manibela"  /   FPJ Memorial Award: "One More Try"  /  Gatpuno Villegas Award: "Thy Womb"

OTHER AWARDS:
Stars of the Night: Nora Aunor, former President Joseph Estrada  /  SMDC Male Celebrity of the Night: Zanjoe Marudo  /  SMDC Female Celebrity of the Night: Bianca King

CONGRATULATIONS to all the participants of this year's another successful MMFF, most especially to the winners.

2012 Miss Universe winners

I must admit that between the 2 remaining beauties, Miss USA and Miss PHILIPPINES, vying for the title of 2012 MISS UNIVERSE it’s MISS PHILIPPINES who should get the title. It is not because she is a Filipino but judging how she carried herself during the swimsuit, long gown and most especially in the Q & A portion, she showed she deserved the title.

But in any competition, judges’ decision is always final and we must respect the outcome. Janine gave her best not only for herself but for the country and she landed as 1st runner up. We must all be happy for her as how happy she was with what she achieved.

My heartfelt congratulations to you Janine, you truly are a Miss Universe.

2012 Miss Universe : Miss USA : Ms. Olivia Culpo
1st Runner Up : Miss PHILIPPINES : Ms. Janine Tugonon
2nd Runner Up : Miss VENEZUELA : Ms. Irene Sofia Esser Quintero
3rd Runner Up : Miss AUSTRALIA : Ms. Renae Ayris
4th Runner Up : Miss BRAZIL : Ms. Gabriela Markus

Splash Island's 2012 Bikini Open

 

Summer is here and SPLASH ISLAND will hold its annual BIKINI OPEN. Check out the gorgeous men and women who will buy for the title of 2012 MR. & MS. BIKINI OPEN. Support them by clicking SPLASH ISLAND FAN PAGE and leave a "YES" comment in their individual profile photo. HURRY!!! Voting is until APRIL 15, 2012 at 5:00PM.

Miss Earth 2011 winners

Here are the complete results in the recently concluded MISS EARTH 2011:

MISS EARTH 2011  Ecuador, Olga Alava

MISS EARTH AIR  Brazil, Driely Bennettone

MISS EARTH WATER  Philippines, Athena Mae Imperial

MISS EARTH FIRE  Venezuela, Caroline Medina

TOP 8

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Aleksandra Kovacevic

Crimea, Nina Astrakhantseva

Mexico, Casandra Becerra

Zimbabwe, Thandi Muringa

TOP 16

Taiwan, Cherry Liu

Japan, Tomoko Maeda

Paraguay, Nicole Huber

Portugal, Susana Nogueira

Slovenia, Rebecca Kim Lekše

Sweden, Renate Cerljen

Thailand, Niratcha Tungtisanont

Ukraine, Kristina Oparina

SPECIAL AWARDS

Miss Photogenic Taiwan, Cherry Liu

Best in Gown Mexico, Casandra Becerra

Best in Swimsuit Czech Republic, Šárka Cojocarová

Best in Talent South Africa, Dominique Mann

Best National Costume Japan, Tomoko Maeda

Miss Friendship Pakistan, Sanober Hussain

Gwendolyn Ruais @ Miss World 2011

Gwendolyn Ruais, the first Miss World Philippines (first contestant not under Bb. Pilipinas), took first runner-up honors in Miss World 2011 on Sunday, November 6, (Monday morning in Manila) at the Earls Court Two in London. She has duplicated Evangeline Pascual‘s 1st runner up feat in Miss World 1973 in London, still the best placement of a Pinay beauty in the Miss World pageant. The crown remains elusive to a Filipina as Miss World is still the only title among grand slam beauty pageants that hasn’t won by the Philippines.

Over the weekend, Gwendolyn made it to the pageant’s three fast track events – Top 20 in Beach Beauty, Top 20 in Top Model and Top 10 in Beauty with a Purpose. Her inclusion in the said preliminaries earned for Gwendolyn enough points to enter the Top 30 quarterfinalists.

The Top 30 was trimmed down into 15 semi-finalists with Miss Puerto Rico at the top of the leaderboard. From the 15 semi-finalists, the panel of judges picked the Top 7 namely Miss England, Miss Korea, Miss Philippines, Miss Puerto Rico, Miss Scotland, Miss South Africa and Miss Venezuela.

Miss Venezuela was declared the winner while our very own Gwendolyn Ruais settled for first runner-up placement. Miss Puerto Rico, Amanda Perez, came third in the contest. Gwendolyn was also named a Continental Queen of Beauty for the Asia Pacific.

PPUR 2861, Puerto Princesa Underground River Promo

As a support to the Puerto Princesa Underground River, a text promo was launched last September 30, 2011 called “PERA SA KWEBA” where the telecommunications industry unites in a cause to promote PPUR, not only to our citizens but also to the global community. Simply text PPUR to 2861 for a chance to win! A whooping P32 M is at stake for the 105 winners of the promo. Prizes as follows:

Winner  /  Prize

1 Grand Prize Winner  /  P 25 Million

5 Consolation Prize Winners  /  P 1 Million

3 Monthly Winners  /  P 250,000

6 Bi-Weekly Winners  /  P 100,000

90 Daily Winners  /  P 10,000

The promo mechanics as follows:

Eligible players:
(1) For a texter to qualify, he/she must:
a. Be a subscriber of Smart, Talk N Text, Globe, TM or Sun whether in postpaid or prepaid plans;
b. Be a registered user of Puerto Princesa Underground River (Pera sa Kweba) Text Promo Service.
c. Have sent his/her entry/vote within October 1, 2010 – December 28, 2011.

How to earn entries:
(1) For every unique trivia the subscriber receives when he votes from October 1, 2010 to November 10, 2011, in the Puerto Princesa Underground River (Pera sa Kweba) Text Promo service, he will be entitled to two (2) raffle entries or;
(2) For every unique PPUR trivia the subscriber downloads from November 11, 2011 to December 28, 2011, he will be entitled to one (1) raffle entry.
(3) To download trivia and vote, users have to enter the following information in the correct format and sequence: PPUR or PPUR ON to 2861.

October 1, 2010 – November 11, 2011:
PPUR = 1 download with vote/2 raffle entries
PPUR ON = 1 download with vote/2 raffle entries per day

November 11, 2011 – December 28, 2011:
PPUR = 1 download with vote/1 raffle entry
PPUR ON = 1 download with vote/1 raffle entry per day

(4) The entry should be sent to 2861 for Globe, Sun, Smart and Talk N Text subscribers.
(5) Entries with the correct syntax will receive a confirmation of their entry.
(6) One text vote cists Php 2.50 per message.

How to register:
(1) Subscribers will have to register first to validate their entries. To register, users have to enter the following information in the correct format and sequence as shown below:

Registration
PPUR REG
Example: PPUR REG Andy Cruz/18 Sct Freedom/23

(2) Registration is a one-time process per SIM card and is free of charge.
(3) All information sent will be kept confidential and will be used solely for the PPUR “Pera sa Kweba” electronic raffle.

Determination of Winning Text Entries:
(1) Winners must be a subscriber of Smart, Talk N Text, Globe, TM or Sun whether in Postpaid or Prepaid Plans.
(2) Postpaid subscribers that are charged/billed properly.
(3) Prepaid subscribers that are properly decremented.
(4) The 105 winners will be chosen from the qualified entries/votes received from October 1, 2010 to December 28, 2011.

MR. & MS. STI @ Splash Island

MR. & MS. STI, Sta Rosa, Laguna, the largest computer school in the Philippines, in partnership with SPLASH ISLAND, the biggest water adventure park in the Philippines.... brings to you......MR. & MS. STI Sta Rosa Candidates @ SPLASH ISLAND...........CHOOSE and SUPPORT YOUR CANDIDATE BY CLICKING "LIKE" IN THEIR INDIVIDUAL PHOTO AT SPLASH ISLAND FB FANPAGE.........WATCH THEM ALL ON JULY 23, 2011, SATURDAY @ SPLASH ISLAND.

True Colors wins Showtime grand finals

Another dance group from General Santos won in the second season of Showtime All-Star Barangayan” grand finals today, Saturday. “True Colors” garnered an average score of 9.91 after the group wowed the “madlang hurados” and “madlang people” and received a total cash prize of P2 million – P1 million for the group members and P1 million for its barangay. The group performed their flawlessly-executed death-defying stunts and dance moves.

Congratulations True Colors!!!

Splash Island's Bikini Open 2011

SPLASH ISLAND will hold this year’s “BIKINI OPEN 2011.” The finals will be held on May 15, Sunday @ 3pm. Choose your candidate by clicking “LIKE” in their individual photo. Good luck to all the finalists!

Check their individual photos HERE.

2011 Bb. Pilipinas winners

A magna cum laude graduate in B.S. Architecture from UP Diliman and topped the June 2010 Architecture Licensure Exam, SHAMCEY SUPSUP, beat 39 other candidates for the title of Bb. Pilipinas Ms. Universe 2011 at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday evening. She also graduated salutatorian in high school at Makati High School.

A lady from General Santos City who stands 5’7’ answered the question: "What worthy cause do you identify yourself with and why?" Her answer: "I think the one worthy cause I can identify myself with is valuing education. Because I believe education is something that cannot be taken away from you. You can have money, you can have fame, but in the end, it can be taken from you. But education will always be there to help you."

Architect wins Bb. Pilipinas Universe 2011

2011 Bikini Open @ Splash Island

Splash Island will hold its 2011 Bikini Open this summer season. Interested male and female applicants may call or text Tintin Bedico at 0919-4392646 or 0923-3605550. Photos of last year’s Bikini Open will show how successful the event was.

Support Yen Baet @ National Geographic Photo Contest

Yen Baet, a Filipina writer-photographer based in England, was one of the 6 finalists in the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PHOTO CONTEST. Her photo, Rainy Night in Hallstatt, was taken in Austria that shows a church by a picturesque lake. She has a degree in English but learned photography on her own. The contest winner will be determined by voting at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/chasesapphire/entries/rate/chase-finalists/. Only legal US residents may cast their votes. Last day for voting is on March 10 and the grand winner will get a 9-day National Geographic Expedition trip for 2 to Peru.

MTAP-Rizal 2nd Elimination Round

Tomorrow, February 10, is the second elimination round of my daughter for the MTAP Division Level – Rizal. As usual, I will be there to give my support win or loss. Math is her favorite subject and I know being chosen for such competition is one way for her to improve her learning and gain experiences.
It’s gonna be tough round since this time they will have to answer questions under limited time (15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute). Also, she had many projects and school activities recently and was not able to devote much time to prepare for the elimination round. She told me that she was quite nervous so I boost her morale and said never pressure herself just relax, understand well the question, apply what you learn and answer it the best as you can.

It was her first time and we’re both happy that she made it on the first round. Maybe I will enhance her mathematical skills in preparation for 2012 MTAP. More luck baby for tomorrow’s MTAP!

Pinay Danica Magpantay wins 2011 Ford Supermodel of the World

DANICA FLORES MAGPANTAY bagged the 2011 Ford Supermodel of the World title and received $250,000 modeling contract with Ford Models. She was announced the winner of this prestigious title in New York on Saturday followed by Lithuania, Poland, Brazil and Estonia. Danica is the daughter of Supermodel of the World Philippines 1990 winner Milagros “Lala” Flores. The contest was established by Eileen Ford in 1980 which aims to discover new models for the international fashion industry.

Nicole joins MTAP 2011 Elimination Round for Rizal

My daughter Nicole was chosen as one of the representatives (Grade 4 Level) of her school for the coming MTAP Elimination Round for Rizal on January 13. We were kind of excited and nervous at the same time because it was kind of short notice. I just told my daughter not to pressure herself, just try to study her book and some reference materials. There are some topics she was not familiar with but I’m trying to tutor her.

I am planning to watch the said activity to support her and let her know that I am one of the proud mommies in the crowd. Good luck baby!

7th World Robot Olympiad

The Bulacan team from Dr. Yanga Colleges Inc. (DYCI) composed of Adiel de Jesus, Ma. Nerissa Nicolas Ellaine Bulaclac and sophomore Alexandra Guevarra bag the gold medal at the two-day competition of the 7th World Robot Olympiad (WRO) held in Pasay City over the weekend. They had for their team “Pnoy,” a 3-foot robot, who can speak Spanish, English, Korean and Filipino. Also, said robot can play musical instruments and kiss the hands of older people. Congrats to DYCI team!

'Pnoy' the robot wins gold