By Ben Cal

MANILA, May 20 -– Christian groups in the Philippines, including a Catholic parish church have strongly denounced the upcoming concert of controversial American pop singer Lady Gaga branding her songs as blasphemous and immoral contrary to the Christian faith.

A priest in the St. Tolentino Parish Church in Tandang Sora, Quezon City in his Sunday homily accused Lady Gaga of promoting Satan and using him as an instrument to promote immorality and the work of the devil in the world.

Christian organizations also aired their vehement protest of Lady Gaga’s two-day concert at the Mall of Asia in suburban Pasay City on May 21-22.

They said Lady Gaga’s song “Judas” mocks Jesus Christ.

Romy Makalintal, a noted lawyer, also aired his protest on the songs of Lady Gaga.

In an interview over a local radio, Makalintal said lyrics of Lady Gaga’s songs are espousing immorality and are therefore unchristian in a country such as the Philippines which is a Christian nation, more than 80 percent of which are Catholics.

He asked that authorities to monitor closely Lady Gaga’s concert.

But other Christian groups are asking authorities to stop Lady Gaga’s concert.

The American singer arrived in Manila aboard a private jet Saturday night. She came from Taipei where she also performed a series of concerts as part of her world tour.

Security was tight because of protests by various Christian groups who wanted Lady Gaga’s concert cancelled or boycott her show.

From the airport, she headed straight to her hotel at Makati Shangri-La.

No press briefing was conducted as burly bodyguards watched intently as Lady Gaga signed autographs for her screaming fans waiting at the hotel lobby. (PNA)

DCT/RBC/rsm

MANILA, May 21 -– Retired Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Vivencio S. Baclig and Palanca awardee Ariel Tabag have been elected president and vice president, respectively, of Ilocano writers in Metro Manila.

The two were elected on Sunday in Quezon City’s Maki Haus during the general assembly and election of the group, a chapter of GUMIL Filipinas which recently held its national convention in Bacnotan, La Union.

The new officers will have a two-year term ending in 2014.

Baclig, a fictionist from Cabugao, Ilocos Sur, is known as the judge who dismissed rebellion charges against the Ampatuans in the celebrated “Maguindanao Massacre” case.

Tabag, from Santa Teresita, Cagayan and winner of the first prize in the 2011 Palanca Iluko fiction category, is the poetry editor of the weekly Iluko magazine Bannawag.

Other officers elected were Sherilyn Viloria (Cagayan, secretary); Eden Bulong (Ilocos Sur, treasurer); Ross Deritt (Isabela, auditor); Maria Rosa A. Cabie (Ilocos Norte, PRO);

Angelo “Eloy" Padua (Pangasinan); Joy Dilan (La Union); Benn Cabacungan (Ilocos Norte); Virgilio Tabugadir (Cagayan); Staff Sgt. Leonardo Fagaragan (ret., Ilocos Norte); Martin Rochina (Ilocos Sur); and Simeon Berroy (Abra), directors.

Baclig, the incumbent president of GUMIL Filipinas, the umbrella organization of all GUMIL chapters at home and abroad, took his oath of office before Juan S.P. Hidalgo, Jr. of Rosales, Pangasinan, among the pillars of Iluko literature and former managing editor of Bannawag.

The other officers in turn were inducted into office by Baclig, who last year retired as RTC judge in Quezon City.

GUMIL Metro Manila, formally established in 1968 under its first president, Dr. Hermogenes Belen of La Union, groups Ilocano essayists, short story writers, novelists, poets, playwrights, orthographers and other writers who hack out a living in the metropolis. (PNA)

DCT/scs/hbc

MANILA, May 21 — The countdown to repatriate Filipinos out of beleaguered Syria continues as 23 female workers are due to arrive here Tuesday, May 22, aboard Emirates Airlines flight EK 334, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

A total 1,489 Filipinos have been repatriated out of Syria as of last Sunday, the DFA noted.

Of Tuesday’s arrivals, nine were ferreted out of the governorates of Homs and Hama, two of the worst-hit Syrian areas in the year-long civil unrest in that region.

Repatriation of Filipinos in Syria is mandatory, with the Philippine Government arranging for their return with aid from the International Office of Migration. (PNA)

DCT/GJB

CHICAGO, May 21 — Afghanistan and Iraq veterans from across the United States converged in Chicago on Sunday for a historic day of action against NATO, which is expected to culminate with at least 40 Global War on Terror veterans returning their war medals to NATO generals.

The action followed a press conference which began at 9 a.m. local time, marking the first national gathering of veterans protesting NATO, which will open the two-day summit on Sunday afternoon.

"We will march to NATO's front door to return our medals, hand in hand with our Afghan brothers and sisters, to tell the world's military leaders and NATO's generals that our solidarity is stronger than their wars," Aaron Hughes, organizer of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), said at a press conference held in the Grant Park in downtown Chicago. "We will make our message of justice, healing, and solidarity heard around the world."

Dozens of Veterans, who were in their uniforms or IVAW T- shirts, marched in military formation with banners and placards into the park before the beginning of the press conference.

The NATO summit, which is scheduled for May 20-21 in Chicago, will be the first NATO summit on American soil in 13 years and the first ever outside of Washington.

Also speaking at the press conference to support the action against NATO, Samira Sayed-Rahman, an Afghan Canadian from Canada' s Toronto, said, "Too many Afghans have died in the hands of Americans and Canadians and soldiers of all the other NATO countries, and we never hear from them."

"The Afghan people have only one message: they want peace, they want a sustainable peace, they want development, they want education, they want a free and safe life with no war and no occupation," she said.

"(The) Afghan people want NATO out of their country. Too many people have died," she said. "As an Afghan Canadian, I do not want to pay for the war to kill my family back home. Enough is enough!"

Her speech drew applause from veterans and their supporters on the scene. (PNA/Xinhua) DCT/mmg

MANILA, May 21 — The Filipino vocal cord is truly world-class. Again and again, Philippine choral teams grab the grand prizes wherever the competitions may be held.

This time, the Ateneo de Manila University College Glee Club (ACGC) received the prestigious Fleischmann International Trophy in the recently-concluded 58th Cork International Choral Festival held in Ireland on May 5.

They bested top choirs from Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Slovenia, Singapore, England, and Wales.

Aside from the first prize, ACGC was also awarded the Heinrich Schütz Perpetual Trophy Special Award and PEACE Trophy for the choir that best embraced the spirit of the festival and fulfilled the intentions of the trophy’s benefactors, the P. E. A. C. E. Movement, in Cork, Ireland.

Philippine embassy official, Hjayceelyn Quintana, hailed ACGC for being outstanding cultural ambassadors and for continuing what is becoming a tradition of Filipino chorale groups of representing the Philippines in one of Europe’s best-known chorale competitions.

The Fleischmann International Trophy Competition consistently features top class adult choirs from many countries singing a historically-balanced and coherent range of styles that include a piece composed before 1750, an original work by a living composer, and a work by a composer of the choir’s native country.

The ACGC were stars in Ireland’s leading national newspapers, The Irish Times and the Irish Independent, featured prominently and making the Philippines proud.

The 39-member ACGC delegation headed by the conductor, Professor Maria Lourdes Venida-Hermo, also received stunning reviews for their concert at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin on May 9.

The concert, entitled “Two Worlds, One Voice,” featured the ACGC back-to-back with one of the finest Irish choirs, the New Dublin Voices.

Next week, will the solo voice of Jessica Sanchez, whose mother is from the town of Samal in the province of Bataan, earn her the much-coveted “American idol" road to fame?

Most likely, if the latest internet trending is to be considered. (PNA) DCT/GJB

DAVAO CITY, May 20 — Archbishop Romulo Valles will be installed as the new head of the Archdiocese of Davao in ceremonies Tuesday morning, May 22, at the San Pedro Cathedral.

To preside over the canonical installation of Archbishop Valles is Papal Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Guessipi Pinto.

Members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) led by president Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma will also witness and assist in the installation.

Archbisop Valles, 60, will formally replace Archbishop Fernando Capalla, 77, whose resignation due to health reasons had been accepted by the Pope Benedict XVI.

Monday evening, May 21, Papal Nuncio Archbishop Pinto and Archbishop Palma will preside over a CBCP meeting at the Bishops' Palace where Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte are among the invited guests.

On Wednesday, May 23, Archbishop Valles and CBCP members will be in Batobato, San Isidro, Davao Oriental, where the new archbishop started his priesthood, for a Thanksgiving Mass.

The 60-year old archbishop’s appointment was announced in the Vatican and by Papal Nuncio Archbishop Pinto in Manila on February 11, 2012.

Prior to his new assignment Archbishop Valles for more than five years served the Zamboanga archdiocese, including the Prelature of Ipil and Isabela, Basilan and the Apostolic Vicariate of Jolo.

Valles was born on July 10, 1951 in Bohol province’s Maribojoc town. He was ordained a priest on April 6, 1976.

On the other hand, Archbishop Capalla, former CBCP president, said he would have no dull moments after retirement.

In his homily Sunday in televised Mass at the St. Jude Parish, Archbishop Capalla said he will spend his retirement days at the Bishop's Palace here in Davao City.

He said he will continue to serve in "non-paying" jobs as a figure in the Bishops-Ulamas Conference, a key player espousing inter-faith cooperation in the quest for peace in Mindanao, the Davao City-based SOS Foundation that is helping children in crisis.

He will also serve as consultant to the Cocofed Federation, which is pushing coconut farmers' right to the government-held multi-billion peso Coco Fund, and the Bangkok-based International Conference of Bishops and Ulamas. (PNA) DCT/RMB/ldp

GENEVA, May 21 — The 65th World Health Assembly (WHA) opened here on Monday. Nearly 3,000 delegates from 194 member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) attend the annual meeting.

During the one-week session, one of the most important topics is the appointment of WHO Director-General. Current Director-General Margaret Chan was norminated for a second term by the WHO Executive Board in January and the normination will be submitted for approval by the WHA on Wednesday afternoon. She is the sole candidate for the post.

Chan was elected as director-general on Nov. 9, 2006 and her current term runs through June 2012. If approved by the assembly, Chan's new term will begin on July 1, 2012 and continue until June 30, 2017.

Other issues also on top of the agenda include the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases; monitoring of the achievement of the United Nations millennium development goals and WHO reforms. (PNA/Xinhua) DCT/ssc

MANILA, May 21 — An agreement allowing gainful employment for family members of diplomatic and consular officials and staff of the Philippine embassy in Tel Aviv has been signed between the Philippines and Israel.

Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Erlinda F. Basilio signed the arrangement for the Philippines and Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines, Menashe Bar-On, signed for Israel during the 6th Philippines-Israel Joint Commission Meeting in Manila held in early May.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert F. del Rosario and Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Ruth Kahanoff, Deputy Director General and Head of the Asia and Pacific Department, led their respective delegation as witness to the signing. (PNA) DCT/GJB

DAGUPAN CITY, May 21 — About 250 youth leaders across the country will converge starting Tuesday (May 22) at the CSI Stadia here to participate in the five-day 20th National Youth Congress on Drug Abuse Prevention Education.

Dangerous Drugs Board Chairman Antonio Villar Jr. said that the congress, which will last up to May 25, is designed to provide an open and comfortable atmosphere for fun, real work and innovative strategic planning to combat the drug menace in the country.

A team of trainers and facilitators shall provide participants the opportunity for positive discussions/dialogues, structured learning activities, workshops and inputs.

Villar added that the gathering will address new issues of concern to young people throughout the country, mindful of the emerging new drug trends and consequent problems faced by the youth.

He lauded Dagupan City Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez for hosting the opening ceremonies as part of her anti-drug abuse advocacy.

“There are very few leaders in the local government who have the same zest, enthusiasm and dedication to fight illegal drugs as Vice Mayor Fernandez,” Villar said.

During the Congress, participants will share their knowledge, skills and experience in upholding the ideals of a drug-free country. They are expected to be anti-drug abuse advocates and potent partners of the government.

But delegates will also have their days of fun, part of which is to personally experience actual bangus harvest in a fishpond through the Amazing Race Team Challenge, Search for Mr. and Ms NYCC Ambassador 2012, the Talentadong Grupo Edition, among others.

This Youth Congress is a joint project of the DDB, National Youth Commission, City Government of Dagupan, National Youth Coordinating Council Drug Abuse Prevention Education in cooperation with the Inter Agency Council on DAPE. (PNA) DCT/FFC/LVM/rma

BELGRADE, May 21 — Nationalist opposition leader Tomislav Nikolic has won Sunday’s presidential election runoff in Serbia, with his opponent liberal EU-oriented ex-President Boris Tadic conceding defeat.

I congratulate Tomislav Nikolic on an honest and deserved victory. I wish him great luck at this very difficult post,” Tadic said in an address to his election headquarters.

Early predictions showed Progressive Party leader Nikolic was gaining about 49 percent of the vote, and Tadic some 47 percent.

Democratic Party leader Tadic said he has not yet decided what he was going to do in the future.

“I will definitely not be the new prime minister,” he said, adding that Serbia’s course for EU integration should be continued.

The first round of Serbia’s presidential election was held on May 6, with Tadic gaining a slight advantage of 10,000 votes or 0.26 percent over Nikolic.

Tadic, who has already served two terms in office, stepped down in early April in order to run in the election. He said Sunday’s runoff was a referendum on whether Serbia is headed to the EU membership.

Nationalists blame the ex-president for Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008. (PNA/RIA Novosti) DCT/mlc