Young Sebastinian jin bring home medals from the recently held 2008 World Taekwondo Expo Festival

The Philippine Team, including two kids of the big group of Smart/Petron taekwondo jins who competed in the 2008 World Taekwondo Expo Festival held in Muju and Jeonju last July 4-11, brought home medals and glory for the country.

Rannie Stefano Pabilico won gold medals for both kyorugi and poomsae events for the 13-year-old and below male category.

Rannie is one of the young members of the Philippine Taekwondo Demonstration Team and is a grade school student of San Sebastian College-Recoletos Manila.

"He trained hard for the event" said Randy Pabilico his very supportive father. "With the support of the San Sebastian Taekwondo Club, his team mates and coaches, Rannie made it sure that he will bring home the medal", he added.

Rannie underwent extensive training with the effort and close guidance of Asst. Coach Roger Arroyo.

The SSC-R jins are under the supervision of the very known Coach Jec Panotes who also is a world champion in the same sport.

Another young jin, Melanie Hope Douglas, a 12-year old jin of Alaminos City National High School in Pangasinan brought home the gold at the 13-year-old and below female division of the poomsae event and a bronze at the kyorugi event.

The poom sae category requires a participant to show the correct defensive and offensive form of taekwondo. This includes the way a participant forms his defense and throws his punches and kicks. The kyorugi (sparring) on the other hand, is the display of ones prowess in the taekwondo fighting technique in a man-to-man combat scheduled in rounds.

The members of the team supported by Smart Communications, PLDT, Petron, Philippine Sports Commission and Adidas are (in alphabetical order):

Sabrina Rae Aquino, Lee Angelo Ariston, Clyde Men Kent, Batangan, Stephanie Ann Cochico, Matthew Cordero, Melanie Hope Douglas, Danille Encinares, Toni Encinares, Beatrice Anne Escriba, Dave Ivan Hezeta, Adellyne Rochelle Javier, Seth Jairo Macaraig, Jojie Manluctao, Marfred Marasigan, Ysabel Kate Mercado, Kiela Therese Montinola, Paulino Naguiat, Rannie Stefano Pabilico - SSC-R, Jeffrey Paulite, Tristan Jay Rapista,
Romelle Roa, John Rainart Onofre Santo IV, Ron Servito,
Catherine Kaye Tandingan, Maria Jessica Tolin, Eugene Torres and Crizabelle Gayle Vargas

Team officials are Ricardo Santiago Jr. and Cmdr Loreto Velasquez.

The 2nd World Taekwondo Culture Expo was attended by participants from over 50 countries including the US, China, Spain, France and Germany.

The powerhouse Philippine team sent to South Korea has won 21 gold medals, 21 silvers and 17 bronzes.

With excerpts from: ABS-CBN, The Manila Times

Taekwondo jins ripe for Olympic medal

The Philippine Star

Philippine Olympic Committee chairman Robert Aventajado sees a medal - of any color - for taekwondo in the coming Beijing Olympics.

"After seeing them in Korea, I think we have a real good chance of winning a medal," said Aventajado of taekwondo jins Tshomlee Go and Mary Antoinette Rivero who are training in Korea.
(Related story on A-31)
It will be the second stint in the Olympics for Go and Rivero who fought in Athens four years ago, but failed to land a medal. A lot has changed since then, and now they look ready to make it.
While Aventajado, president of the Philippine Taekwondo Association, sees a medal for either or both athletes, what color he isn't sure.
"I don't know what color," he said.
Aventajado said he can't speak for the other sports where the Philippines will be represented in the Beijing Games which fire off on Aug. 8.
"I can't say anything about the other sports because I'm focused in taekwondo," he said, referring to the other disciplines like boxing, archery, swimming, diving, shooting and track and field.
But boxing, he went on to say, is capable of landing a medal, too.
"Traditionally, you cannot discount boxing because it has delivered the medals in the past," said Aventajado of the country's lone entry, light-fly Harry Tañamor.
"It's hard to predict for the others. But anything can happen there," he said.
Go and Rivero have been in Korea for more than two months now, and have undergone rigid training under the masters of the sport.
"Unorthodox," was how Aventajado described the training that involves sessions in the morning, afternoon and evening.
Rivero, who was barely 16 when she competed in the Athens Olympics, was even made to spar against male taekwondo jins, and showed so much determination.
In one of the sessions, Rivero was even hit on the groin, but she just shook off the pain and went on with the sparring.
The two Pinoy jins worked under four Korean coaches, who felt that their students from a rival country in the sport have what it takes to land a medal in Beijing.
A medal of any color, Aventajado would welcome. - Abac Cordero/Philstar

Mary Antoinette Rivero: Living her Childhood Dream

She was just four years old, watching her two older brothers in the sidelines while they did their ‘poomsae’ (or forms) and sparring during their Taekwondo training. Today at 20, Mary Antoinette Rivero or Toni as she is called, is no longer a mere spectator. She is now at the center of all the action. All eyes will be on Toni at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, her second stint at the most-awaited Summer Games, having participated as the youngest competitor in Athens last 2004. Toni is determined to do the best she can in the upcoming Olympics. “This year, being my second time at the Olympic games, I plan to surpass what I reached in Athens and to do this, it’s important to be positive, determined, focused and patient.” Toni made it into the finals in the 2004 Olympic games when she was just 16 years old. The 5 foot 8 Olympian has conditioned her mind into winning. “One of the best attitudes of Filipino athletes that I’ve observed is the fact that we won’t leave without putting up a good fight. Filipinos are also known for being brave and driven with an unmatched fighting spirit.” Toni’s positive disposition most probably comes from the unwavering support she gets from her family. She adds, “Knowing that my parents and family support me is really a big factor in my performance.” Athleticism definitely runs in the Rivero family. Toni’s mom and dad were both into martial arts while her two older brothers are national Taekwondo team members as well. “I love Taekwondo especially with my family’s influence. If my sport wasn’t Taekwondo, I’d still stick with martial arts,” said Toni with conviction. Having siblings who are also part of the national team proved to be an advantage for Toni. “My brothers share their techniques and help me in my training.” The normal training schedule for Toni consists of three sparring trainings per day, one in the morning, one before lunch and one at night. She also lifts weights and runs for added strength and agility. The support of the Filipino people is an added motivation for our athletes as attested by Toni. During the Manila SEA Games in 2005, Toni felt the added boost when she felt the support from her countrymen. “Iba pag nagko-compete ka sa home country mo, hindi lang yung athletes yung sumusuporta, pati yung Filipino people,” she enthused in the vernacular. “It’s really different when you have everybody’s support.” Enjoining the Filipino people to rally behind our athletes is the main reason why Microsoft Philippines decided to embark in the Olympinoy campaign in partnership with the Philippine Olympic Committee. The main goal of the campaign is to empower our Filipino athletes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and provide the channel for all Filipinos to show their support for the Olympians. Microsoft Philippines Managing Director Rafael Rollan said, “Honoring our athletes by showing our support is already a big enough boost for them, especially in the upcoming Olympics. We want to heighten that support for our athletes through Olympinoy. This way, Filipinos everywhere would know that we have young individuals like Toni competing not only for themselves, but for national pride.” Toni appreciates initiatives that support Filipino athletes like her. “This campaign will help us a lot. As an athlete, it is important to have the exposure that would boost your morale and make other Filipinos aware of what we’re doing to help bring honor to the country.” Tshomlee Go, the other Filipino Taekwondo Jin who qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics will train with Toni for three months in Korea prior to the summer games in August. After the Olympics Toni plans to continue her Taekwondo training and focus on their family project to put up a gym dedicated to Taekwondo, which may well be the training ground for future Olympians. At her young age, Toni has proven that one can live her dream as long as she sets her mind into it and imbibe values such as respect, patience and determination. Having mastered the way of the foot and the fist, with Toni, nothing is impossible.

Blog Credits: Microsoft Olympinoy

RP taekwondo jins vow to get first Olympic gold

By Jelly F. Musico

MANILA (PNA) -– Taekwondo jins Tshomlee Go and Antonette Rivero have promised to do their best to get the country’s first ever Olympic gold in Beijing Games set Aug. 8-24.
Go and Rivero gave their word to Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) chairman William Ramirez who visited the two Olympic qualifiers while training in Seoul, South Korea.
”I’m expecting them to win gold in London in 2012 but these two players, specially Antonette, said they will do it in Beijing,” Ramirez related to the media during a press briefing on Monday afternoon at his PSC board room.

”The way I saw them in training, I think we have a very good chance of winning our first Olympic gold. They are really focused and, who knows, this might be the good Olympic year for our country,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez arrived last Sunday from Seoul and Beijing where he visited and gave support to the Filipino athletes preparing for the most prestigious sports competition.
”We assess, evaluate and give support to the Olympic-bound athletes not only here but those training abroad and they are very happy that I personally visited them,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez assured the government has not been remiss in its duty to give all the support needed by the 15 Beijing-bound Filipino athletes.

Aside from Go and Rivero, other athletes bound for the Olympics are swimmers Miguel Molina, Daniel Coakley, James Walsh, Ryan Arabejo and Christel Simms; divers Shiela Mae Perez and Ryan Rexel Fabriga; boxer Harry Tañamor; archer Mark Javier; weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz; and long jumpers Henry Dagmil and Marestella Torres.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will attend the opening ceremonies along with top government officials including Senate committee on sports chairman Gringo Honasan and his House counterpart Cesar Jalosjos.

”It will mark the first time that the President and sports committee heads of both Senate and House of Representatives will personally cheer and give inspiration for the athletes,” Ramirez said.

President Arroyo recently appointed Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao to be the Team Philippines’ flag-bearer and special envoy to the Beijing Games.

The Philippines has not won Olympic gold since it joined the event in 1924. The country’s highest achievements were two silvers won by boxers Anthony Villanueva in 1964 Tokyo Games and Mansueto Velasco in 1996 Atlanta Olympics. (PNA)

Blog Credits: Positive News Media

Tshomlee Go: Going for Gold for the Love of the Sport

Going for GOLD!


27-year old Taekwondo Jin, Tshomlee Go is one of the country’s best bets for the first-ever, much coveted Olympic gold. Getting to the Olympics wasn’t one of Tshomlee’s goals at first, but his natural talent made him worthy to take part in the world’s most prestigious sporting event. The 2008 Beijing Olympics will be Tshomlee’s second trip to the Olympics, having competed in Athens in 2004.

Taekwondo goes beyond being a sport to Tshomlee, it’s actually a family thing. His father and two brothers used to be members of the Philippine National Taekwondo team. And at the age of seven, Tshomlee’s love for Taekwondo began.

Although his interest started when he was young, his strong desire to compete began the moment he saw his older brother on television competing at the 1999 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei.

Fueled by his desire, discipline, dedication and love for the sport, Tshomlee sparred his way to a winning streak. “Importante talagang mahal mo yung sport pati yung full commitment ng athlete.” (Love for your sport is very important as well as the athletes’s full commitment to it.)

Tshomlee, along with fellow Taekwondo Jin and Olympian, Toni Rivero, trains twice a day from Monday to Friday. Tshomlee says he sacrifices a lot to train, but everything is worth it. “Walang time masyado para sa gimik at konti lang para sa pahinga pero kailangan talaga yung training.” (There’s not much time for going out and little time for rest, but training is really essential.)

Other than sparring training, Tshomlee puts gravity on mental preparation for an excellent performance in this year’s Olympics. He is more optimistic about his second trip to the games this August. “Mas mature na yung laro ko ngayon. Alam ko na yung diskarte ko.” (My game is more mature now compared to before. I already have a strategy in mind.) He adds, “I’m more excited about the Olympics this time since I’m already familiar with the flow.”

Tshomlee is far from how he was when he started out as a member of the national team. “Noon, ginagawan ko talaga ng paraan para makarating lang ako sa gym. Maraming excuse, pero kung gusto mo talaga, gagawa at gagawa ka ng paraan para makuha mo yun.” (I used to do everything in my capacity just so I could get to the gym for training. There are a lot of excuses, but if you really want something, you’ll find a way to achieve it.) The opportunities for Tshomlee started pouring in when he became a class A athlete. He was even financially independent when he started college.

Moral and financial support are two things that would greatly help our athletes. And this is why Microsoft embarked on a partnership with the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) in the Olympinoy campaign. The campaign aims to empower our Filipino athletes at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and provide the channel for the Filipino people to rally behind the Philippine team.

“The dedication and commitment of our athletes to their respective sports and to the country is indeed worthy of praise. Through Olympinoy, we hope to provide the athletes an added boost to their morale,” stated Rafael Rollan, Managing Director, Microsoft Philippines.

Tshomlee shared, “Outside help is very valuable for athletes. I am happy that private companies are engaging in projects such as Olympinoy and extending their support to Filipino athletes.”

The bemedalled Taekwondo Jin dedicates his performance in every competition to his family, to his loved ones, to the country and to God. “My family and all the people who support me provide me the encouragement even when I’m burnt out.” The Olympian also believes that all his skills and talents come from God.

After the Olympics, Tshomlee plans to teach Taekwondo to kids and maybe join the US navy just like his father, who used to serve for the Philippine Marines.

The thrill and challenge of Taekwondo keeps Tshomlee up on his feet. With his great love for the sport, complemented by his lightning fast kicks and spars, Tshomlee is well on his way to bringing honor to the country at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Blog Credit: Microsoft Olympinoy

Blogging: Pinoy's New Source of Income

Filipinos are quite excellent conversationalist. And with the use of today's technology and the writing skills, many of Pinoys are now making their own on-line diary or more known as "blogging".

As described in Wikipedia, a blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. It can be a collection of photos, videos, or just displaying one's sense of humor. Anyone can technically talk about something or someone in his or her own blog.

And the catch, some professional bloggers are now earning as much as $300 to $6,000 a month! Wow!! That is a whopping Php 258,000 per month in todays exchange rate. Of course this is not easy. To get some tips, here is a video in uploaded by joshko2001 where blogging was discussed in Mel&Joey.

According to one blog entitled "Professional Blogging: The Next Job Opportunity Boom" by Ivo -

We have all been exposed to the various peaks of job opportunities which started with Information Technology, call center agents and then lately that of nursing and caregivers. The different trends towards emphasizing on the high demand for such jobs has become a yardstick in measuring which among the many job opportunities would be in the limelight.

This early, everything points towards blogging to be the next boom with regards to providing new job opportunities. The notion that this line of work is limited to people with a journalism degree is totally false. With the proper use of grammatical skills, anyone can blog about anything and for anyone if he or she would simply do the steps necessary to be good at it.
There has been a lot of rumors that people have been making money through blogging. Depending on their purpose, article writing and blogging with emphasis on quality content has truly been rising. It would not be surprising if by this year, a lot of people will be blogging and using this as their main source of livelihood.

So gear up guys. Collect those stories, ideas, concepts - technically anything under the sun that you have there - and start your own blog!

rde

Sebastinian Missing

MANILA, Philippines - Jonard Magno Roncal, a 16-year-old 1st year HRM student of San Sebastian College, has been missing since Friday, July 18, and his family has been looking for him.

Jonard was last seen at the San Sebastian College wearing his school uniform -- white polo shirt, blue pants and leather shoes. He was carrying cash for he was on his way to pay his tuition.

He is about 5'5” in height and weighs about 120 lbs and has fair complexion.

Jonard frequents the Internet cafes around his school in the Legarda area.

For any information leading to the whereabouts of Jonard, please contact:

Riza Roncal 09208222379/off tel# 4262651 to 56/ res # 9305671
Ropi Roncal 09194425291.

INQUIRER.net
First Posted 23:01:00 07/22/2008

National Poomsae Competition to take place this Sunday

About 1,500 athletes from 12 regions, including ARMM, CAR, Caraga and the NCR are expected to see action in the Petron-Smart National Poomsae Taekwondo Championships on July 27 at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

According to Philippine Taekwondo Association president Robert N. Aventajado, poomsae, aside from its competitive sparring format, is becoming more popular in the global taekwondo community because it has been integrated in the sport.

Organizing committee chair Sung Chon Hong says competition will be conducted in three events namely, individual standard, team standard and team freestyle synchronized poomsae.

Age classifications are 13 years old and below (children), 14 to 17 (juniors) and 18 and above (seniors).

The tournament, which kicks off at 9 a.m. is sponsored by SMART Communications, PLDT, Petron, Philippine Sports Commission, Milo and Adidas.

Among the chapters vying for honors: Powerflex, Ateneo, La Salle Greenhills, Don Bosco Makati, University of the Philippines, University of Sto. Tomas, International School, San Sebastian College Manila, and regional chapters such as Baguio, Manila, Negros, General Santos, Davao, Cebu, Bacolod, Palawan, Ilocos, and government institutions like the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

-Excerpted from The Philippine Daily Inquirer (July 23, 2008 issue)

TV On-line

There are times when I get bored in the office and wanted to watch TV...but sad to say...as this is true in most offices.television sets are not allowed. So I did some research and found these very interesting links. Just sharing them with you. Enjoy!!

dkpinoyradio.com
Geocities
Hayag Website
Keybol Blogspot
Tambayan TV

NOTE: The feed comes from the Philippines. All Program schedules are PST based. The schedule may not comply on your location.

DISCLAIMER: I do not host the live video feed. If you have problems with the feed. Please contact the HAYAG website.

Pinoy Fear Factor Audition - EXTENDED!!!

The first Pinoy Fear Factor audition was a huge success.....and because of this, ABS-CBN has decided to come up with another set of schedules:

Here is the list of new schedules for Pinoy Fear Factor auditions

July 4 - SM Lipa (9am to 3pm)
July 11 - SM Pampanga (9am to 3pm)
July 13 - NCCC Mall, Davao (9am to 3pm)

Requirements:
1. Birth certificate, original and photocopy
2. Full body and close up photos
3. Valid IDs

So Team Kapamilya....let's go and invade the malls. Let's show America who has the real guts!!