pobautista

Filipinos are bringing up a clip of an episode of an old American syndicated nontraditional court show where a man got a tattoo on his forehead after falling for a prank on April Fools’ Day.

This was resurfaced after Taragis, a Pampanga-based takoyaki food brand, gained traction for challenging its followers on Facebook to have its logo tattooed on their foreheads for P100,000.

In the now-deleted viral post, the brand announced that the first individual who would send a picture of their tattooed forehead will win the supposed cash prize.

The post was uploaded on April 1, the same date the global community observes the annual day of jokes and pranks.

Taragis also wrote the following text in its graphic: “Click the photo for official rules.”

Clicking the photo accompanying its Facebook post reveals a full version of the graphic with a colorful text below, which reads: “April Fool’s.”

Basically, someone actually followed through with the "challenge" and had his forehead tattooed 😢

Hopefully the home crowd can help boost our team's chances to win their first game in the qualifiers 🙏🏼

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 25) — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said it killed nine suspected communists on Christmas Day amid the two-day ceasefire declared by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

The AFP said its Fourth Infantry Division on Monday morning conducted a military offensive against suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA)—the armed wing of the CPP—in the areas around barangays Can-ayan, Kibalabag, Kulaman, and Mapulo, all located in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.

Authorities also seized eight firearms from the NPA members.

The CPP announced a ceasefire beginning Christmas Day as it marks its 55th anniversary on Dec. 26.

On Dec. 25, the military said it would continue to be watchful and conduct peacekeeping operations even during the CPP's ceasefire.

Late last month, the Marcos administration and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines—the CPP's umbrella organization—agreed to resume the peace talks.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology on Tuesday recorded a magnitude 5.9 quake in Occidental Mindoro at 4:23 p.m.

This was felt by residents in some parts of Metro Manila, according to social media post.

We’ve received reports of an earthquake felt in different parts of Metro Manila.
Did you feel it too? Tell us your location. pic.twitter.com/qDdJhE8dMd

— Philstar.com (@PhilstarNews) December 5, 2023

Phivolcs reported that the tremor’s epicenter was traced 13.84°North, 120.18°East – 007 kilometers South 76° East of Lubang, Occidental Mindoro. It was tectonic in origin.

#EarthquakePH #EarthquakeOccidentalMindoro
Earthquake Information No.1Date and Time: 05 December 2023 – 04:23 PM
Magnitude = 5.9
Depth = 079 km
Location = 13.84°N, 120.18°E – 007 km S 76° E of Lubang (Occidental Mindoro)https://t.co/JyDNWJUGuW pic.twitter.com/sL0GRwGtF5

— PHIVOLCS-DOST (@phivolcs_dost) December 5, 2023

There were no intensities reported yet.

The state seismologists in its first update said that there could be aftershocks from the earthquake event.

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino-Ivorian fencer Maxine Esteban said she looks forward to the day that no national athlete hoping to bring honor to the country will have to chase their dreams elsewhere.

“I hope I will be the last,” said the highest-ranked Philippine-born fencer in the world, who finally opened up on the circumstances that led to her switching her allegiance to Cote d’Ivoire.

“Napakasakit po. Sobra akong nabastos,” Esteban told Power and Play over the weekend. “My prayer and hope is that whatever happened to me would never happen to any Filipino athlete. What [my federation] did to me was extremely hurtful, unfair and disrespectful.”

Esteban said things started to sour when she got injured while representing the Philippines in the World Championship in Egypt in July last year.

The eight-time national champion and the only Filipino fencer World Cup multi-medalist tore her ACL, which required a six-month rehabilitation program. Esteban said that upon learning the extent of her injury, she immediately wrote the Philippine Fencing Association (PFA) requesting that she be excused from the national and international events of the qualifiers.

The PFA, Esteban said, wrote back and excused her.

“In other countries, you don’t need to do that,” Esteban said. “You are excused and your ranking stays while you recover because that is the least that they can do to show their appreciation for your service and sacrifices.”

To her surprise, she was informed by fellow fencers that when the list of national athletes was posted, she was no longer part of the team. Esteban said the PFA did not even inform her of the decision.

The World No. 39 then sought an audience with the PFA board to clarify the situation, attaching the federation’s response to her excuse letter — to no avail.

Esteban denied leaving the country due to rich offers from abroad, saying “first of all, I did not turn my back on my country. I turned my back on my federation because it turned its back on me first.”

She bared having received several offers for naturalization from other countries but chose Ivory Coast because of her family’s long-standing ties to the country. The athlete had also held clinics and donated fencing equipment to Ivory Coast when she was younger.

Esteban said she no longer has regrets about how things turned out but hopes that by opening up on her experience, it will lead to change in the way things are being done in national federations.

I'm just really glad he's having this level of success, as I've been rooting for him since his The Voice Kids days back in 2014.