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Japan ambassador apologizes for Bataan Death March

Gary V. Inside out

Because Gary Valenciano is celebrating his 25th anniversary as an all-around artist, Conversations asked the one person — his wife also of 25 years Angeli Pangilinan — who knows him very well to make a list of 25 adjectives that best describe Mr. Pure Energy himself. Take note:

• God-fearing

• Loving

• Childlike

• Talented

• Temperamental

• Generous

• Forgetful

• Hilarious

• Funny

• Messy

• Brilliant

• Musical

• Precise

• Excellent

• Playful

• Disciplined

• Passionate

• Focused

• Artistic

• Deep

• Poetic

• Devoted

• Self-controlled

• Humble

• Committed

To mark the milestone, he’s restaging his Gary V Live at 25 on Friday, Feb. 20, still at the Araneta Coliseum, joined by the same A-list guests including Jericho Rosales, Karylle, Rachelle Ann Go, Laarni Lozada, The Bloomfields, Sugarfree, Salamin, the Philippine All Stars, G-Force and The Powerplay...plus his children Paolo, Gabriel and Kiana with The Manoeuvres. Former Kundirana singer Mico Aytona will open the show conceptualized by Gary V. himself and directed by his bosom buddy Rowell Santiago, with Mon Faustino as musical director.

So you think you know Gary V inside-out, upside-down? Think again. In this installment of this corner’s broken “who, what, where, when, how” series, he reveals more of himself.

Who

Who between your two sons do you think will inherit your “throne”?

“Both my sons are their own person. Though they may be in entertainment, neither has expressed a desire to take on the very same responsibilities I have on my shoulders. Gabriel is a very skilled music producer more than he is a dancer/choreographer. As a music producer, he will certainly take on that mantle from me. He is much more advanced than I ever was at his age though because of technology and the resources he has to buy equipment. On the other hand, Paolo has inherited my vocals and the desire to be a video producer like me. He is amazingly so gifted in audio-visual production and stage performances in the rock arena. I am so blessed though that both have the desire to reach out to the underprivileged children and they do advocacy quietly on their own without even telling Angeli and me sometimes. It’s hard for them to fill in my shoes and they have suffered greatly because of comparison but they will find their own ‘kingdoms’ and i know they will excel by God’s design.”

Who do you consider your stiffest competition?

“Myself. I do not think much about competition now like I used to during my younger years. I am to be the best that i can be and not simply be better than whoever I’m with on stage.”

Who is Gary Valenciano away from the limelight?

“Hmmmm...good question. Gary V may come out on stage or television bringing messages of hope and encouragement but he certainly isn’t always right or perfect. He, too, goes through the ups and downs that come to every human being on earth. He is a man who loves his God, a Christian under construction. He happens to be very precise in all that he wants to accomplish so it’s not easy working for and with him.”

Who is the one person you will never forget?

“Tough question. Each and every person who has become close to me; all of them are people who mean a lot to me. My wife is one person I will not forget. The other person would probably be my brother Robby who lives in California.”

Who would you be if not Gary Valenciano?

“That’s hard to imagine but perhaps I’d be someone with the same passion as, the same energy, the same love for God as Gary V. in every area of life but unknown to the public.”

What

What do you like most about yourself (and why)?

“There is a side of me that is quite simple. It doesn’t take much to make me happy. I love to laugh and make others do the same. I love to encourage whenever it’s needed.”

What don’t you like about yourself (and why)?

“Sometimes i fail to see the bigger picture of things and this can result in more ranting and complaining than raving and complying.”

What song (yours or that of another singer) is most memorable to you (and why)?

“The song is called Break Me. It is one that I wrote. Here is when I’m in the deepest trenches of my soul. It is not just a song but a prayer said in lyrical and melodious form. It also is the song demo I presented to our partner for 19 years, Bella Tan, the hour she died. Aside from three doctors, Angeli and I were the only outsiders who were with her that night. I finished it on Good Friday and sang it publicly in church for the first time on Easter Sunday in 2005. I presented it to Bella two days later. I’ll never forget the pain of that memory.”

What is your greatest fear?

“At this point and time in my life, I really have no fear even of death as I have met it face to face several times. But during those moments when the human soul takes over the spirit, it is the fear of failure that tries to make its way into my heart.”

What is one mistake that changed your life?

“Secret! Hehehe!”

Where

Where is your erogenous zone?

“Secret! Hehehe!”

Where are you most comfortable (at ease)?

“At home watching a DVD while eating my lunch.”

Where do you want to live (if not the Philippines)?

“In the Philippines. It is crucial that someone like me stays close to people who can support me when i need support spiritually.

This is my highest priority. My desire is to be closer to my home church in Alabang so I guess that’s where i’d like to live.

Abroad... in the USA where my mom and sisters and only brother Robby live.”

Where is your Achilles’ heel?

“Achilles got hit in one heel but he really had two just like every other human being. Hehehe! I guess that shows you that I don’t have only one Achilles heel. Being a perfectionist can be considered as one heel, sometimes i can get to be very impatient when I want things done my way. That would be the other heel.”

Where do you go to unwind?

“Up on the hills of the following places: 1) Maarat, San Mateo; 2) Sta. Rosa, Laguna; 3) La Mesa Eco Park; 4) Tali Beach in Batangas; and 5) Calatagan. It is in these places that I spend time with my mountain bike and face the challenges of climbing steep hills, deep ruts, exciting descents, and thrilling off-road trails. Does it sound like something tiring? Yes, it is but that for me is the best way to unwind.”

When

When do you feel most vulnerable (to threats from younger stars)?

“When I try and do something that only fits them. I don’t ever want to look like I’m trying to be young again.”

When are you at your best performance level?

“When my heart and mind are in absolute synch with the one who has given me all the talent to shine.”

When are you happiest?

“When I’m with my family.”

When are you saddest?

“When I feel that I’ve failed to do something or did something i shouldn’t have.”

When, if ever, did you have any intimation of (your) mortality?

“When I have hypoglycemia (low sugar due to insulin overdose) attacks with my wife, no one would believe that it’s Gary V.

I can act like a special child or I can be numb and clueless, unable to speak or think properly. Or, like in 2005, I nearly died.

Without the first aid that my wife did, I could have not survived.”

How

How does diabetes, if it does, affect your sex life?

“Miraculously it hasn’t and by God’s grace it never will. Thirty years of diabetes with zero complications is something I am grateful for.”

How do you handle a crisis/problem?

“I don’t usually handle it on my own. Angeli and I are a team and so when a problem or crisis arises, we pray a lot together. Only then do we find ourselves able to make wise decisions and correct judgments over the situation with peace in our hearts. Angeli says in crisis...Christ is!”

How do you pray?

“Jesus is my friend. Before we get to the place where we want to pray, He’s already there. I speak to Him with no formula in my words just a heart that is totally open and mindful of the fact that He is pleased when I come to Him with no fear, inhibition, and doubt. I speak to Him like he’s just beside me.

I try to pray the word of God (Bible verses) itself. Including his word in my prayer seals the promises He has given to me and to you.”

.How do you keep fit (diet and workout)?

“My mountain-biking activities really help me in more ways than one. I try to do this two to three times per week but when major events like the repeat of Gary V Live@25 happen, I usually put more emphasis on dance rehearsals for my physical conditioning.”

.How do you (and Angeli) sustain your happy marriage?

“The answer is simple but the task must be an everyday effort from both parties involved to keep any marriage working healthy. Prayer, forgiveness, communication, being accountable to godly counselors and saying no to many invitations. It is no secret that we have anchored our marriage on God. The challenges will always come but like St. Peter who walked on water, he walked on it only while he kept his eyes on Jesus. Once he realized that what he was doing was an impossible feat he started to focus on the windand the waves and began to sink. When he focused his eyes on Christ again, he reached his goal, his destination — the boat. We, too, try to walk by faith, focusing our hearts on Jesus. A 25-year marriage has proven that with Jesus nothing is impossible.”

Source:

Ricky Lo

Willie of wowowee sought out help for OFW's in Dubai.

The success of the recent staging of the ABS-CBN noontime show Wowowee in Dubai was made more meaningful when host Willie Revillame played “angel” to 32 of the 60-plus OFWs under the custody of the POLO-OWWA Dubai.

According to Funfare’s DPA in Dubai, Willie shelled out P450,000 from his own wallet for the plane tickets of 32 of the OFWs who sought the help of the Philippine Consulate there after they were hurt, abandoned or maltreated by their employers. Some of them were pregnant and some were infants. Kind-hearted individuals came to the rescue of the first batch of OFWs who, hopefully, should have been reunited with their families back home.

“During a break,” the Funfare DPA added, “Willie with ABS-CBN Executive Charo Santos-Concio visited the Philippine Consulate and learned about the plight of the OFWs. Without any second thought, Willie right there and then shouldered the plane fare of the remaining 32 OFWs. It was Willie’s advance Valentine gift to them.”

Ching Ardivilla of POLO-OWWA Dubai couldn’t thank Willie enough.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Willie invited the 60-plus OFWs as contestants on Wowowee’s Bigat-10, Hep-Hep Hooray or Oo o Hindi segment?

the answer is, what if the contestants might have not won. still willie did the only best thing possible for a person like him can do, the best thing is he didnt brag about it.

lets pray for his health who has recently been admitted to the hospital for a blocked artery.

God's will he's going to be fine.^^

The comic side of Arnel Pineda

According to Funfare’s Big Apple correspondent Edmund Silvestre (of The Filipino Reporter), Arnel displayed this hitherto unknown side of him during his Feb. 7 concert with Lani Misalucha at the Newark Symphony Hall in Newark, New Jersey, presented by Calla Lily Entertainment Production.

Reported Edmund, “The two artists delivered not only world-class performances but also first-rate Pinoy humor.”

The electrified crowd gasped at the splendid talents and undeniable chemistry of the two stars, giving them standing ovations every now and then, and in between burst into laughter as the two made fun of themselves, from Lani’s legs and knees to Arnel’s being vertically challenged.

Edmund said that in one segment, Arnel quipped, “Call me Piolo,” prompting Lani to introduce him as Piolo Pascual. “Just look at me, hindi ba magkamukha kami ni Piolo?,” Arnel added with a straight face.

“Pagbigyan na lang natin maliit kasing tao,” Lani shot back.

It’s no secret that Arnel’s fairy tale life began in a less than desirable environment. But the guy was never rude and was always polite to enthralled fans who every now and then would steal kisses from him.

“Arnel was actually a gentleman and a humble soul,” continued Edmund, “allowing Lani the music goddess to shine even more even if he knows he’s the bigger star in terms of international exposure and recognition. That night, everyone was still talking about Arnel and Journey’s Super Bowl pre-game performance in Tampa, Florida, a week earlier.”

Here are excerpts of a review of the Lani-Arnel New Jersey concert written for Funfare by Fil-Am contributor Dawn Fraser, titled A supercalifragilistic show:

There are few singers who can pull off as diverse a range of musical styles as Lani Misalucha and Arnel Pineda...

...As the opening beats of Whitney Houston’s Queen of the Night blared from the stage of the beautiful concert hall, Misalucha strutted out in her daringly short red mini-dress and gold peeptoe pumps. With no shortage of attitude, she belted out Houston’s power single, accompanied by the cheers and screams of an exuberant audience.

She followed up this demonstration of raw vocal power and confidence with a more subtle, but no less lovely performance of Natalie Cole’s Orange-Colored Sky. This jazzy ‘50s standard showcased the glorious clarity and enchanting vibrato of Lani’s voice that has deservedly earned her the title of Asia’s Nightingale...

But as I was to discover, Misalucha is more than just a pretty singing voice. She is a gifted impressionist as well. In a highly comedic medley, she managed to parody Tina Turner, Beyoncé Knowles, Celine Dion and Britney Spears to hilarious effect. Every vocal inflection, every signature dance move, every facial tic was spot on.

Nor were the Filipina divas spared the Misalucha treatment. Zsa Zsa Padilla, Sharon Cuneta, Jaya, Regine Velasquez and Pilita Corrales — all were fair game, and the audience loved every minute of it.

Then it was Pineda’s turn to shine. He began with a pitch-perfect performance of The Police’s Every Breath You Take, followed up Bryan Adams’ Summer of ’69 and, of course, a Journey song — Faithfully. Throughout his whole set, the women in the audience could barely contain themselves, calling out his name and rushing the stage. Pineda took it all in stride, climbing down into the seats and shaking hands with audience members, taking time to sing directly to a fortunate few...

...When Pineda had finished his solo set, Lani re-emerged in a long and flowing, white goddess gown. Together, they sang a duet of Bette Midler’s From A Distance, while footage from the charitable organizations Bantay Bata and the Arnel Pineda Foundation played in a montage behind them. Both these charities, funded in part by the proceeds from the concert, seek to improve conditions for disadvantaged children in the Philippines...

...Misalucha and Pineda then sang a medley of Queen’s greatest hits, including We Will Rock You, Another One Bites The Dust, Bohemian Rhapsody, and We Are The Champions, before Misalucha took the stage for her final solo set. Her beautiful rendition of Giacomo Puccini’s Nessun Dorma was absolutely memorable, made all the more remarkable by the fact that it was book-ended by two hard-rock songs. The ease with which Misalucha is able to switch from genre to genre is mind-boggling. Her operatic technique is so flawless and natural, she is able to insert elements of an aria into something as intrinsically foreign as Laklak, a Pinoy rock song about a drunken teenager, all without missing a beat.

Pineda rejoined Misalucha for the final song of the evening, a duet of Journey’s Open Arms. Like so many of the performances before it, this song, too, was greeted with a standing ovation, by an audience overwhelmed by the superlative concert by the two artists.

Child bride gets divorced after rape, beatingsw

• Story Highlights
• Ex-child bride says, "I didn't want to sleep with him, but he forced me to"
  
• Yemeni girl, 10, say she was forced to marry man three times her age
  
• Now divorced, Nujood Ali is one of the few children to speak out against practice
  
• International aid group: More than half of all Yemeni girls are married off before 18
  

Editor's note: CNN does not usually identify children of alleged abuse, but in this case the girl and her family gave CNN permission to tell her story and use her name.

Nujood Ali, 10, has been chastised by some in Yemen for speaking out about her arranged marriage.

SANAA, Yemen (CNN) -- Nujood Ali is 10 years old, but she already has been married and divorced. It was an arranged marriage in which she said a husband three times her age routinely beat and raped her.

"When I got married, I was afraid. I didn't want to leave home. I wanted to stay with my brothers and sisters and my mom and dad," she said, speaking to CNN with the permission of her parents.

"I didn't want to sleep with him, but he forced me to. He hit me, insulted me."

As she plays marbles with her brothers and sister, Nujood is a portrait of innocence, with a shy smile and a playful nature.

But what happened evokes anger and shame. Asked if what she went through was torture, she nods quietly.

Nujood's parents married her off in February to a man in his 30s whom she describes as old and ugly.

Her parents said they thought they were putting her in the care of her husband's family, but Nujood said he would often beat her into submission.

Nujood then turned to her family for mercy.

"When I heard, my heart burned for her; he wasn't supposed to sleep with her," said Nujood's mother, who asked not to be identified.

But, initially, she also told her daughter she could not help her -- that she belonged to her husband now.

Nujood's father, Ali Mohammed Ahdal, said he is angry about what happened to his daughter. "He was a criminal, a criminal. He did hateful things to her," he said. "He didn't keep his promise to me that he wouldn't go near her until she was 20."

When contacted by CNN, the girl's former husband declined to comment.

Nujood's parents, like so many others in Yemen, struck a social bargain when they decided to have their daughter wed. More than half of all Yemeni girls are married off before the age of 18, according to Oxfam International, a nonprofit group that fights global poverty and injustice.

Many times girls are forced to marry older men, including some who already have at least one wife, Oxfam said. According to tribal customs, the girls are no longer viewed as a financial or moral burden to their parents.

"There is always a fear that the girl will do something to dishonor the family: She will run away with a guy, she will have relations with a boy. So this is always the phobia that the families have," said Suha Bashren of Oxfam International.

Bashren calls the tradition of child brides in Yemen a national crisis. She works with young girls to protect them from early marriage, abuse and one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.

The Yemeni government is holding legal and religious workshops to try to deal with the issue of early marriage. But experts say marrying off a young daughter is generally still seen as the right thing to do.

"A lot of people in the public don't think that this is wrong or that what happened to her was abuse," Bashren said.

In Yemen, there is nothing new or extraordinary about Nujood's story because children have been married off for generations. The country's legal minimum age for marriage was 15 till a decade ago, when the law was changed to allow for children even younger to be wed.

But what is most unusual is that this young girl took such an intensely private dispute and went public with it.

Nujood said she made up her mind to escape from her husband, describing how on a visit to her parents' home she broke free and traveled to the central courthouse across town and demanded to speak to a judge.

"He asked me, 'What do you want?' And I said, 'I want a divorce.' And he said, 'You're married?' And I said, 'Yes,'" she recalled.

What unfolded in those few days in April gripped the country on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula.

Nujood got her divorce, but based on the principles of Islamic Sharia law, her husband was compensated, not prosecuted. Nujood was ordered to pay him more than $200. The human rights lawyer who represented her donated the money.

But for this determined spirit, it was still a sweet victory.

"I did this so that people would listen and think about not marrying their daughters off as young as I was," she said with a shy smile.

Now back at the family home, she said she won't go outside to play -- that all the attention bothers her. Some still condemn the young girl for speaking out, believing that she shouldn't have challenged convention.

Human rights advocates said it will take more than a generation if this practice is to change in Yemen for other children.

Sex trade, forced labor top U.N. human trafficking list

• Story Highlights
• The most common form of human trafficking is sexual exploitation, report says
  
• The victims of sexual exploitation are predominantly women and girls
  
• In some regions, women trafficking women is the norm, official says
  
• Report is based on data from 155 countries
  

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Sexual exploitation and forced labor are the most common forms of human trafficking in the world, a new report from the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime said.

Aid agencies say young women are being forced into prostitution across Russia's capital.

The "Global Report on Trafficking in Persons" is based on data from 155 countries and offers a global assessment of human trafficking and efforts to fight it.

The most common form of human trafficking is sexual exploitation, at 79 percent, the report said. The victims of sexual exploitation are predominantly women and girls.

In about one-third of the countries that provided information on the gender of the traffickers, women made up the largest proportion of traffickers. In Central Asia and Eastern Europe, women make up more than 60 percent of those convicted of trafficking.

"In these regions, women trafficking women is the norm," said Antonio Maria Costa, the head of U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. "It is shocking that former victims become traffickers. We need to understand the psychological, financial and coercive reasons why women recruit other women into slavery."

The second most common form of human trafficking is forced labor, or slavery, making up 18 percent of the total, although the writers of the report say it may be underreported.

"How many hundreds of thousands of victims are slaving away in sweat shops, fields, mines, factories, or trapped in domestic servitude?" Costa said. "Their numbers will surely swell as the economic crisis deepens the pool of potential victims and increases demand for cheap goods and services."

Regardless of the type of human trafficking, nearly one in five of its victims were children, according to the report.

"Children's nimble fingers are exploited to untangle fishing nets, sew luxury goods or pick cocoa," the report said. "Their innocence is abused for begging, or exploited for sex as prostitutes, pedophilia or child pornography. Others are sold as child brides or camel jockeys."

In a 2008 report on human trafficking, the U.S. State Department listed Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia as destination countries with widespread trafficking abuses, particularly forced laborers trafficked from Asia and Africa who are subject to restrictions on movement, withholding of passports, threats and physical and sexual abuse.

The report found those countries made feeble efforts to rescue victims and prosecute traffickers.

The department's report also says slave labor in developing countries such as Brazil, China and India was fueling part of their huge economic growth. Other countries on the blacklist were Algeria, Cuba, Fiji, Iran, Myanmar, Moldova, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Sudan and Syria.

The U.N. Protocol Against Trafficking in Persons has been in place since 2003. The number of member states "seriously implementing" the protocol has doubled, according to the U.N. report. But it singled out Africa for lacking the necessary legal instruments and the will to crack down on human trafficking.

World's Richest Countries pledge to fix economy

ROME, Italy (CNN) -- The world's richest countries committed to "any further action that may prove necessary" to restore confidence in the global financial system, their finance ministers said as they wrapped up a two-day meeting in Rome.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is calling on governments to help restart the flow of credit.

The Group of Seven finance ministers also urged countries not to close their markets to goods and services from abroad.

"An open system of global trade and investment is indispensable for global prosperity," they said in a statement at the end of their meeting Saturday.

"Protectionist measures ... would only exacerbate the downturn" in the worldwide economy.

The ministers said the global banking crisis had revealed "fundamental weaknesses in the international financial system" and called for urgent reform.

New U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, making his international debut at the meetings, called on governments to focus on stabilizing and strengthening financial systems and help restart the flow of credit.

"Although the precise mix of measures must be tailored to each country's situation -- our financial systems are different, [the] structures of our systems are very different -- there is a common recognition of more capital and government financing to help restart credit markets," he said.

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Italy hosted the meeting in its role as G-7 president for 2009. G-7 members includes the United States, Germany, Japan, France, Italy, Britain and Canada.

The agenda drawn up by Rome calls for adopting global measures and economic policy reforms capable of stabilizing the world economy and ensuring transparency to allow markets to function correctly.

Geithner spoke just after the U.S. Senate gave final approval late Friday to a $787 billion recovery package to boost the U.S. economy. He told attendees that the package "provides a very powerful mix of investments and tax cuts to create jobs and to strengthen our long-term growth potential."

"As we act together to build a strong foundation for economic growth and recovery, we need to begin the process of comprehensive reform of our financial system, so that we never again face a crisis of this severity," Geithner said.

Another attendee, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said he supports such stimulus packages for advanced countries.

"The question is no more to convince the governments to move today, but for them to implement the policies they need to manage," Strauss-Kahn said.

He also warned of the dangers of protectionism, which he said may still come "through the back door, especially in the financial sector."

Source:

CNN