Kalinga sisters fight for "Ultimate Artista" in GMA's StarStruck

Photo Courtesy || GMA7

Cordillera - Two sisters from Kalinga are vying to become the "Ultimate Artista" in GMA's new season of reality show StarStruck. 

Carmel and Riobeth Alcanzarine from Tabuk, Kalinga Province are trying to fulfill their dreams to become the first Kalinga celebrities. 

"Doon po sa amin wala pa pong nag-aartista kahit isa so ang goal po namin ay i-represent kung saan po kami nanggaling" the sisters told in an interview. 

The two sisters traveled from Kalinga all the way to Manila to join the audition for a chance to be part of the GMA's popular TV show.

Asked how they feel if only one of them will be successful to join the show, the sisters said that they are fine with it as long as one of them will get the chance. 

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Igorot Joshua Pacio knocks out Saruta with a knee kick to the head

Photo Courtesy || One Championship

Cordillera - Joshua "The Passion" Pacio reclaims ONE World Strawweight Championship Belt from Yosuke Saruta in the co-main event of ONE Championship: Roots of Honor in front of fight fans at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City. 

The competitive bout that lasted up to the 4th round proved to be an exciting one as the two warriors were really hunting a big knock-out for them selves. 

It was Pacio from Team Lakay who played a very technical and decisive tactic to maneuver a hard right kick to the head of Saruta causing the later to suffer from a TKO. 

Sensing the gravity of his kick, Pacio did not attempt to follow Saruta to finish him off on the canvas.

"The Passion dropped the ONE strawweight world championship to Saruta in their first meeting with just a razor-thin split decision. 

This Friday was a redemption for the youngest world champion of Team Lakay as he proved to the world he was the true champion. 

Pacio thanked his fans and team mates for their support. 

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Igorota crowned Ms. Face of Tourism Philippines 2019 Pageant

Photo Courtesy || Roxie Baeyens IG

Cordillera - An Igorota-Belgian beauty was crowned Face of Tourism Philippines 2019 during the coronation held last April 7 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.

Roxanne Baeyens, 22, who hails from Mountain Province will represent and promote the Philippines in the Miss Tourism Culture Universe 2019 pageant to be held in Myanmar.

Baeyens posted a message in her Instagram thanking her fans, organizers and family who trusted and supported her.

"God's timing is perfect. "You are exactly where you need to be" she wrote in her Instagram.

Read Also: Cordillera Indigenous fabric 'INABEL' goes international, recognized at New York Fashion Week

"I can't wait for the next chapter of my journey knowing i have a supportive family beside me," Roxanne added.

"It makes me emotional, but I know this isn't goodbye!  I won't be! To my family, thank you. From the moment I started pageantry you were there through my defeat and success. The best part of my journey is seeing the sparkle in your eyes that shows how proud you are. I love you so much!" she continued.

Baeyens likewise expressed her gratitude to the city of Baguio which she represented.

"To the City of Baguio, thank you for the never ending support! It is my pride and honor to represent our city. PROUD CORDILLERAN!!!" she said.

Face of Tourism Philippines is "an annual beauty search aims to bring the beauty, excitement and wonder of the Philippines to a wider audience by putting focus on the Philippines tourism industry and all its allied services and aspects."

READ ALSO: 

 PH candidate for Miss Multinational pageant Kimi Mugford proud of her Igorot roots

Miss World Philippines 2018 Katarina Rodriguez wears Kalinga warrior costume for Miss World

The search gathers candidates from every region in the country and give them the platform to showcase their localities' natural wonders, history, festivals, traditions, arts, food and people according to Abs Cbn.

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SLU Baguio wins Philippines' Best Technology Startup

Photo Courtesy || DICT

Cordillera - Team Victorem, a technology startup from the Saint Louis University in Baguio City was declared as the over all champion of this year's Philippine Startup Challenge 5 (PSC5) organized by the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) on Friday.

The technology startup is a rental platform that serves as a channel for users who want to post an item for rent or to those people looking for things to rent. It can be accessed through the browsers and mobile devices. The team said the application is "safe, secured, and convenient" for renters and item owners to transact payments. 

This year's Philippine Startup Challenge 5 was hosted by Iloilo City at the Grand Xing Hotel. There were 15 teams from various colleges and universities all over the country who had pitched and defended their startups in front of business owners and judges. 

According to DICT Undersecretary Monchito B. Ibrahim, all the startup participants went through rigorous screening and training. 

DICT received 242 entries but only 30 made it to the semifinals and only 15 were selected by technology and business startups to enter the national competition.

"We're very, very glad to see all the ideas that they have come up with and that's actually making me believe that the future of the Philippines is in good hands," Ibrahim said.

Being the champion, Team Victorem will become part of Huawei's Seeds of the Future Program, a two-week college undergraduate study program in China to equip them with ICT-based skills and knowledge. They will also automatically qualify for the 2019 IdeasSpaceBootcamp. 

The team together with other top 5 winners will also receive Php200,000 from the Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) to help them in the product prototype development. 

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Cordilleran wrestler Jason Baucas delivers 1st wrestling GOLD for the Philippines

Update: Cordilleran wrestler Jason Saltin Baucas successfully bring home the gold medal for the Philippines at the 2019 SEAG on Monday (9 December 2019) held at Angeles University Foundation, Pampanga.

Baucas easily dethroned Hung Phoc Duong of Vietnam with a score of 11-6 in the men's Greco-wrestling 72Kg category.

This is the first time the Philippines had brought home gold in wrestling. 

Congratulations Jason!

Cordillera - A young Igorot wrestler is in full preparation for the upcoming wrestling competition for the 30th Manila SEA GAMES.

21 year-old Jason Baucas from Benguet is the only representative of the Philippines wrestling team to compete in the 72 kilogram Greco-Roman wrestling. 

Greco-Roman is a style of wrestling that is being practiced worldwide and became part of the Olympic sport. This style of wrestling forbids hold below the waist compared from freestyle wrestling.

Photo Courtesy || Jason Baucas FB

Baucas had been one of the country's medal sources in the wrestling event in the ASEAN region and in Asia in the past years.

READ ALSO: Automatic rematch" for Belingon and Bibiano Fernandes, ONE CEO said

In 2016, he took home bronze medal in the 2016 Southeast Asian Junior and Cadets Wrestling Championship in Thailand and he ranked 8th at the Asian Junior 2016.

He also won bronze in the 2014 South East Asia Junior and Cadets Wrestling Championships, bronze in the 2015 SEA Senior Wrestling Championship and a gold medal in the 2015 South East Asia Junior and Cadets Wrestling Championships. 

Photo Courtesy || Jason Baucas FB

Bauces was honored for being Benguet's pride in wrestling in 2016. 

Latest Story: Saint Louis University, UB among top performing school in Med Tech board exams

This year, he is motivated to keep moving and continue training to be able to take home medal in the upcoming SEA Games. 

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Saint Louis University, UB among top performing school in Med Tech board exams

Photo Courtesy || Google Map @ UB FB

Cordillera - The University of Baguio and Saint Louis University made it to the top ten of the best performing schools in the recent Medical Technologist licensure examinations given by the Philippine Regulation Commission recently. 

Saint Louis University (SLU) is ranked as the second best performing school while the University of Baguio (UB) made it to the sixth as best performing school in the March 2019 Medical Technologist board exams released by the Professional Regulation Commission. 

Out of the 286 examinees from SLU, 285 passed the board exams with a record of 99.65 passing rate while UB had a 92.55 passing rate with 84 passers out of the 91 examinees. 

SLU is also the second best performing school in the March 2019 Pharmacist Licensure Examination with a 97.22 passing rate.

The PRC announced that 2,801 out of 4,092 passed the Medical Technologist Licensure Examination given by the Board of Medical Technology in the following major cities in the Philippines namely, Baguio, Cagayan De Oro, Cebu, Iloilo, Tuguegarao, Zamboanga and some cities in Metro Manila.

The PRC also announced the issuance of Professional Identification Card (ID) and Certificate of Registration will be done on-line from April 1 to April 12, 2019. 

Passers are advised to visit www.prc.gov.ph and follow instructions for initial registration. 

Those will register are required to bring the following: downloaded duly accomplished Oath Form or Panunumpa ng Propesyonal, notice of admission (for identification only), 2 pieces passport sized pictures (colored with while background and complete name tag), 2 sets of documentary stamps and 1 piece short brown envelope. 

Successful examinees should personally register and sign in the Roster of Registered Professionals. 

The oath taking ceremony for the new medical technologist will be announce later, according to PRC. 

Those who failed the board examination but had obtained a general rating of at least 70% can register as Medical Laboratory Technician. 

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The Banaue Rice Terraces was built by the Ifugaos of Cordillera, NOT by the Chinese

Photo Courtesy || Lonely Planet

Cordillera - A new video released by Lonely Planet - a popular travel guide book publisher has been criticized heavily by Filipino netizens when it described that the Banaue Rice Terraces were built by the Chinese. 

The famed Banaue Rice Terraces located in the Northern Luzon was dubbed as the "Eight Wonder of the World. 

According the Lonely Planet video, it noted that the rice terraces were "first built around 2,000 years ago by the Chinese."

A screenshot of the video at 0.50 mark clearly shows the texts over the video that says "These mud-walled rice terraces were first built around 2,000 years ago by the Chinese."

Many netizens who have watched the video were quick to correct the erroneous description via social media. 

An Instagram user named Jose Ruperto Martir posted in his account, "Dear @lonelyplanet, the Banaue Rice Terraces were built by the Filipino indigenous people, not by the Chinese."

Photo Courtesy || Jose Ruperto Martir

"The Banaue Rice Terraces was built by the Filipino natives, particularly Igorots. China did not invade Philippines in the past nor did they build any infrastructures in our country. Until recently," one Facebook user commented. 

The video was later taken down by Lonely Planet.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) published in its website, the Banaue Rice Terraces are "priceless contribution of Philippine ancestors to humanity, Built 2000 years ago and passed of from generation to generation..." by the Ifugao people living in the area.

The rice terraces is located in the province of Ifugao, and it is one of the country's Natural Cultural Treasures.

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"Automatic rematch" for Belingon and Bibiano Fernandes, ONE CEO said

Photo Courtesy || One Championship

Cordillera - An automatic rematch is set for Kevin Belingon and Bibiano Fernandes in the near future after their historic trilogy ended up in a disqualification for Belingon. 

ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sidyodthong said in a press conference that the two rivals would meet for the fourth time. 

"That's an automatic rematch," Sidyothong announced during a press conference just after the event in Tokyo, Japan. 

Fernandes snatched the belt from Belingon after the former was given a red card by the referee due to disqualification. Belingon accidentally landed a pair of illegal elbows to the back of the head of Fernandes in the second round. 

Fernandes was hurt and declared a winner when he couldn't stand up to continue the fight.

Many fans were dissatisfied with the outcome of the fight and wanted the two rivals to meet again for the fourth time to settle things straight. 

The early rounds of the bout had given the Filipino champion the upper hand as it scored clean shots and spinning back kicks to Fernandes. 

Fernandes was able to trade punches with Belingon in the next round which caught Belingon an overhand right to his jaw and took him off his feet. But Belingon was able to withstand the powerful shots and recovered.

In the third round, Fernandes was able to ground Belingon but received two clean elbows to the back of his head. The referee stopped the fight and Fernandes was given 5 minutes to recover. The fight was halted after Fernandes was unable to continue the bout. 

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Kalinga soldier receives second highest combat medal from Pres. Duterte

Photo Courtesy || PCOO

Cordillera - A new recruit in the Philippine military who battled in Marawi back in 2017 were among the three recipients of the second highest military medal for combat. 

Private Jerry N. Wassig from Kalinga was awarded with the The Distinguished Conduct Star (DCS) which is the second highest military award in the Armed Forces. 

No other than President Rodrigo Duterte gave the award to Pvt. Wassig and two other soldiers Sgt. Arnel S. Alberto and Cpl. Roel P. Delos Reyes during the celebration of the Philippine Military 122nd Founding Anniversary on Thursday (March 21, 2019).

Pvt. Wassig was only 9 months in the military service when he was assigned to fight in Marawi in September 2017.

He served as the tail scout of the 1st Platoon of the 11th Scout Ranger Company tasked at confronting the enemies in battle and rescuing comrades who was fatally hit. 

Pvt. Wassig showed ultimate bravery in combat as he fearlessly crawled to the position of his comrades to rescue two casualties despite heavy gunfire exchange between the government forces and the Maute fighters. 

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Igorot soldier in Marawi puts his life in danger to save hostages

Igorot soldier 1st Lt. Fagyan shares his experience fighting in Marawi

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He was able to extricate his team leader first and later on his commanding officer "even as enemies continued to fire at his position". 

Pvt. Wassig risked his life three times to rescue his wounded comrades individually and his team leader.

"Imbued with profound sense of responsibility and dedication to duty, Private Wassig audaciously crawled inside a sewer upon seeing his commanding officer was fatally hit and his team leader's condition was slowly deteriorating," his citation read.

Read Also: 

Cordilleran Captain Jovita G. Buclat feted OWLENSP award by President Duterte

Cordilleran from Ifugao among top 10 of PNPA Class 2019

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New Food Fair "Mangan Taku" to showcase Cordillera's indigenous cuisines

Photo Courtesy || The Igorot FB Page

Cordillera - When the word Cordillera comes to mind or being talked about especially to most outsiders, they think of the images of bright and colorful attires (the bahag for men and tapis for women). Many also would think about the playing of gongs and solibaos during especial occasions or ceremony (kanyao).

But there is also a part of the Cordillera culture that hasn't got much attention to outsiders and this is Cordilleran cuisines. 

Culinary adventurers and those who love tasting different food are welcome to the new Food Fair called "Mangan Taku" organized by the Department of Tourism - Cordillera (DOT-CAR) set on April 8 to 14 in the Baguio City. 

The aim of the food fair is to bring all indigenous cuisines from the whole region to Baguio for locals and tourists to experience a different kind of gastronomic indulgence here in the city of Pines.

DOT-CAR officer in charge Jovita Ganongan said it is important to remember that dishes from the different provinces in the region have a special place in the culture to which it belongs and is special to those who prepare it. 

"Baguio will serve as the host of the Cordillera food fair considering that it is the most visited tourist destination in the region," Ganongan said.

"We should embrace our heritage through food. It is a portal into our culture and it should be treated as such," she added. 

The food fair will not only promote the culture of the Cordillera but it will also showcase some of the cooking talents of the Indigenous People or IPs.

Holding the event in the month of April is a perfect time as more tourists are coming to Baguio to take a break from the summer heat. 

Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) record shows that this mountain resort city received a total of 1.5 million tourists in 2017, or 77 percent of the region's total tourist arrivals of 1.96 million living up with its tag as one of the leading tourist destinations. 

source || PNA

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