Lakrini and Valencia advanced to the final round of the competition held in Nowy Sącz, Malopolska, Poland, on Friday night (early Saturday, June 28, in Manila), but were edged out by Eduarda Braum, who won the title for Brazil for the first time.

Valencia represented the Philippines in the international pageant, while Lakrini carried her father’s home country, Germany. And just to further show the extent of the Philippine diaspora, another Filipino woman, part-Kiwi Rovelyn Milford, represented New Zealand.

In the final round of the competition, Valencia was asked what advice she would give young people struggling with confidence and self-worth to help them embrace who they are.

She responded: “A lot of individuals would always bring you down. But I say this because I experienced this. But I was able to battle this by giving myself positive affirmations, such as ‘I am worthy,’ ‘I am capable,’ ‘I can do anything through my power and through my own voice.’ And this is what every individual should do to have their own self-worth.”

Valencia had to wait more than a year before she could compete in the Miss Supranational pageant. She was appointed to represent the Philippines in the Poland-based contest after finishing as third runner-up in the 2024 Miss Universe Philippines pageant held in May last year.

Lakrini is a Binibining Pilipinas titleholder who represented the Philippines in The Miss Globe pageant in 2023. She finished as second runner-up in the competition held in Albania.

The Filipino German Lakrini has a colorful pageant journey. She joined the Bb. Pilipinas pageant fresh out of university, packing her bags to visit her mother’s home country after earning a degree in nutrition in Vienna, Austria.

After finishing in the semifinals of the national pageant, she stayed in the country to take modeling jobs and to map out her course for her future. She decided to return to the Bb. Pilipinas pageant as a better and more confident woman.

Failing to snag the title at The Miss Globe pageant in Albania, Lakrini was encouraged by another delegate to try her luck in the Miss Supranational pageant, another contest based in Europe. She held on to that thought.

She returned to her father’s home country in 2025 to join the Queens of Germany search. She was fortunate to receive the highest title in the competition: Miss Supranational Germany.

During the question round in the Poland pageant, Lakrini was asked about a time she felt “deeply grateful,” and how it changed her perspective on life.

She responded: “Just a couple of months ago I worked with Caritas Manila. And one thing that I remember was this little girl coming up to me and asking me to hug her. And I said, ‘yes.’ And so many other little kids came up to me, and came in for their hug. And it showed me the compassion, and showed me that my ‘From the Ground Up’ project is more than just love. It has compassion, it shows dignity. And I want to show the world that we’re all here to show respect, love, and dignity when we come in together in Supranational unity.”

Joining Valencia and Lakrini in Eduarda Braum’s court were second runner-up Quishantely Leito from Curacao and fourth runner-up Valerie Klepadlo from Puerto Rico.    

Mutya Datul remains the lone Filipino woman to bring home the Miss Supranational title. She won her crown in the pageant’s fifth edition held more than a decade ago in 2013.

The post Pageant powerhouse Philippines makes its mark in Miss Supranational tilt appeared first on CoverStory.

As first-timers in Japan, my husband and I were more than thrilled to hear that announcement on the plane. We were so looking forward to experience what other travelers have been raving about: Japan is beautiful, and so much more.

Imagine our excitement when we finally arrived after months of anticipation, especially given the Japanese Embassy’s advisories on limiting visa applicants and longer processing times caused by the recent surge in tourist visa applications. Never mind that our original tour plan had been changed, leaving us only five days to explore and savor Japanese culture. We were determined to experience everything we could.

Clean, green, and hi-tech 

Refreshing urban greenery

In a nutshell, Japan is clean and green.

Trees abound everywhere, even in highly urbanized Tokyo. It’s so refreshing to see so much greenery amidst towering buildings. Lush trees in various shades of green and flowering plants dot the city’s landscape, contributing to cleaner air and a cool outdoor breeze, clearly showing Japan’s commitment to preserving its natural environment and promoting urban greening.

Outside the capital, more trees and mountains greet our eyes, making the long commute an enjoyable and relaxing experience.

Streets and roads are litter-free, with not so much as a candy wrapper to be seen on the pavement! Public trash cans are rare, reflecting an emphasis on personal responsibility for cleanliness, particularly waste management. People are expected to carry their trash until they can dispose of it properly, usually when they get home, as Japan’s organized waste disposal system involves sorting various types of waste for efficient collection and recycling. We can only sigh wistfully: Sana all. 

Japan is also known for high-tech home fixtures, such as toilets. You’ve likely heard of or seen them on TV—toilets with heated seats and a variety of buttons for all your needs. 

Hotel bathrooms are generally easy to navigate because of instructions in English, but public restrooms are a bit challenging. There are many buttons, making the toilet confusing to use; sometimes the flush button seems to be missing.

At one restaurant, for instance, I was next in line to use the restroom and the person inside was taking an unusually long time. It turned out she was struggling to find the flush button and was pressing every button available. The bidet thus continued to gush water, wetting the floor and parts of her clothes. She was embarrassed at keeping me waiting, but I managed to help turn off the bidet. When it was my turn, I discovered that the controls were quite complicated. I had to put on my reading glasses to ensure I was pressing the correct button!

But public restrooms are clean and always stocked with flushable toilet paper. It took me several restroom visits to realize that the sign actually encourages flushing the toilet paper, contrary to such signs in the Philippine setting. Japanese technology has developed toilet paper that easily dissolves in water to prevent clogging. However, other paper products like wipes must be disposed of in the trash bin. Again, our sigh: Sana all.

Kei cars

Kei cars are regulated vehicles commonly used in Japan. These cute, mini automobiles are popular in both urban and rural areas. Short for kei-jidōsha, which means “light vehicle,” a kei car is known for fuel efficiency and affordability. Owners also enjoy lower tax and insurance rates, plus it’s very practical, especially in navigating narrow streets and tight parking spaces.

But who needs private vehicles when there is efficient mass transportation? We didn’t get the chance to experience commuting, but we saw how extensive is the public transit system. Notable are the driverless (because computer-operated) trains, and the hydrogen fuel cell buses that reduce carbon emissions by emitting only water vapor! Another laudable eco-friendly innovation.

Seatbelt use is mandatory for all passengers, including on buses. Our guide, Amanda, would shout “shītoberuto” (seatbelt) before the tour bus departed. A fellow Pinoy tourist exclaimed, “There is [a seatbelt]?!” 

“Of course!” Amanda replied in disbelief, puzzled why the simple request seemed like a tall order.  

Kindness, tidiness

The Japanese people are generally kind. I asked a few locals for directions, and they were very helpful. Some even checked their phones to make sure they were providing the exact location. Sometimes, they will even show you the way, and not just point you in the correct direction.

And because there is a strong sense of social order in Japan, it is regarded as a safe place. I accidentally left my digital camera in a toilet cubicle in the Asakusa Temple compound, and found it still there minutes later. Despite the bustling crowds of locals and tourists, it seems that everyone is influenced by Japan’s culture of honesty.

And the Japanese tidiness is made obvious in their habitual cleaning up after a meal. Food courts typically have a designated area for returning trays with used plates and utensils. The hotels we stayed in also adhered to this practice, especially during the breakfast buffet. 

According to Amanda, the Japanese place great value on cleanliness and order because of their deep respect for the environment. They believe that every element of nature—such as trees, mountains, and rivers—is sacred and therefore should be protected and cared for.

But it’s not as though all we did was marvel at how everything in Japan seems perfect, and sigh wistfully at the differences in its culture and ours. 

Of course, we did not pass up the chance to experience some tourist must-dos: We crossed Shibuya’s busiest intersection, not once, but three times. Took photos with Hachiko, Godzilla in Shinjuku, and Gundam in Odaiba. Shopped for pasalubong at Don Quijote. Splurged a little at Uniqlo and Gotemba Premium Outlets. Personalized our cup noodles at the Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama. Ate ramen and takoyaki, and sipped matcha.

Majesty

But the best part and the most memorable for me was seeing Mount Fuji.

We traveled for hours, hoping to see Mount Fuji near Lake Kawaguchi, but cloudy skies frustrated us. We woke the next day to the same overcast skies, and we prayed for a chance to glimpse its beauty. Just as we were leaving, disheartened, it appeared, but so briefly, in all its majestic glory! A magical moment. And then, just like that, it vanished behind the clouds. Fuji-san, arigatou gozaimasu!

As we settled into our seats for the flight home, I could feel my legs and feet aching from all the walking we did. I dozed off, with happy memories to cherish and a hope to return someday.

Within hours we heard the announcement: “In a few minutes, we will be starting our descent. …The weather in Manila is clear with a temperature of 35°C.”

The post Wonder and wistfulness in Japan, including a glimpse of Mount Fuji appeared first on CoverStory.

Motorists are advised to take alternative routes. City Hall has deployed personnel from the Traffic and Transport Management Department, Task Force Disiplina, and Department of Public Order and Safety to ease vehicular flow and ensure road safety.

There are six entry points on campus: University Avenue, Magsaysay Avenue, Shuster Street, Quirino Avenue, Jacinto Street and Velasquez Street, with marshals assisting pedestrians, public transportation and limited private vehicles. Jeepneys will also follow adjusted traffic plans.

The event promises a star-studded lineup, including singer Klarisse de Guzman, P-pop group BGYO, drag icons Precious Paula Nicole, Arizona Brandy, Captivating Katkat, Viñas Deluxe, Eva Le Queen, Bernie, Brigiding, and Shewarma, Emar de Guzman, Barbie Q, Maria Cristina, Playhouse Protégé, and Pura Luka Vega.

A Pride Expo, satellite Pride Villages in several city barangays, and a Pride Night concert and solidarity program are also scheduled.

Pride PH national convenor Vince Liban said the event aims to be “bigger, safer, bolder”—a reflection of the growing momentum for LGBTQIA+ rights in the country.

Elsewhere

In Baguio City, the inaugural Equality Expo at the Baguio Convention and Cultural Center has been presenting film screenings, drag shows, and panel discussions throughout the month. A city-wide Pride March will be held on June 28.

Cebu’s Pride Festival will conclude its monthlong celebration with a march at Plaza Independencia, followed by a “Big Pride Picnic,” a blend of community gathering and advocacy event.

The RUNRIO Pride Run will take place on June 29 in Davao City. Similar runs to promote LGBTQIA+ visibility through sport were scheduled earlier in Cebu and Metro Manila.

Metro Manila Pride will hold a community picnic at Rizal Park on June 28 for allies, families, and queer communities to gather in solidarity under open skies.

The Quezon City government has hosted monthlong Pride activities, including the QCinema Rainbow Film Festival and grassroots workshops on campuses and in barangays.

The nationwide events underscore how Pride in the Philippines has grown into a mass movement, blending visibility, resistance, and such urgent demands as the passage of the SOGIESC Equality Bill, stronger antidiscrimination protection, and enhanced safety for
LGBTQIA+ Filipinos in schools, workplaces, and public spaces.

Angel Sofia Nabong, a third year journalism student at the University of the Philippines’ College of Media and Communication, is an intern at CoverStory.ph.

The post Solidarity festivals push LGBTQIA+ rights for love, dignity, and freedom appeared first on CoverStory.

Today, we mark the fourth anniversary of President Aquino’s passing. It still feels unreal to me, and I believe to many of us, that our beloved Sir is gone. I was still in detention on the trumped-up charges filed against me by the Duterte administration when I received the sad news about his sudden demise in the morning of June 24, 2021. I broke into tears upon receiving a note from a staff bearing that sad news. I could not believe that Sir PNoy was gone. I didn’t know he was ill.

It was not evident at all in those visits he made at the PNP Custodial Center. I did notice his loss of weight, that’s all. No indication of any illness. Obviously, I was not able to attend his wake to pay my final respects and to thank him for the trust he placed in me—first, when he appointed me as his secretary of justice, and again, when he asked me to run for the Senate in the administration slate in 2016.

I was told that when President Aquino heard news of my impending arrest on Feb. 24, 2017, he cancelled his appointments on that fateful day, which coincided with certain events related to the People Power anniversary celebration. I guess he must have been affected by the spectacle, if not the irony of it all, that Duterte’s Malacañang was celebrating Edsa while at the same time silencing an opposition critic.

Behind the scenes, he worked quietly to check on the legality of my arrest. On that morning, he was among the last people I spoke with on the phone before I was arrested and detained. He visited me several times while I was in detention, always without media coverage or fanfare. And each time, he went through the regular process for visitation, getting clearance from the proper authorities of Camp Crame. He brought me books to read. Our conversations were moments that eased the burden of detention. We discussed both serious and light matters. We also had moments of levity. I wish all of you had experienced the President’s sense of humor. These small gestures spoke volumes about his kindness and empathy.

Around that time, PNoy was already bothered with the way things were going under the Duterte administration. Whatever he felt then he kept privately, until he finally came out of his self-imposed seclusion from the public in November 2019 during the event that marked my 1,000th day in detention. He said then: “So mga kasama, simpleng-simple lang ho, ano? … Puwede tayong magwalang-kibo. Puwede nating hindi intindihin ’yung nangyayari sa kapaligiran natin. At hinahanda na natin ’yung pagkakataon na tamaan tayo. Tanong ho, habang hindi pa tayo tinatamaan, hindi kaya mas marapat na tayo ay manindigan? Dito na tayo magsabing hindi tama ang nangyayari? Kaysa naman, ’di ba, maramdaman na natin ang nararamdaman ni Leila nang dire-diretso.”

That first public appearance ever since he became Citizen PNoy was also one of his last, as he was to leave us all behind less than two years later. Exactly a year ago today, I was cleared of all the charges leveled against me, giving me back my complete, unmitigated freedom after seven long years and allowing me to be with you today.

Last May, the ML or Mamamayang Liberal Partylist, the sectoral arm of the Liberal Party, won a seat in Congress. It was nothing short of a miracle that we got one seat because we ranked very low in pre-election surveys. This one seat, which I now hold, allows me to represent the people once again and restore our fight for “Daang Matuwid.”

I believe that these two milestones in my life—my acquittal and our electoral victory—made PNoy happy in Heaven. And what better way to thank him, honor his memory, and preserve his legacy than through this memorial lecture.

Principled leadership

Today’s lecture centers on the leadership of President Aquino—a principled leadership that we, his colleagues in government, witnessed firsthand as we worked alongside him to confront an issue of profound national significance: the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Except for a few points, I will not dwell on the finer, more substantive legal points of the issue because I do not claim to be of any knowledge and expertise on this subject in any way near the level of expertise of other officials such as retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio. We all know Justice Carpio as the foremost legal expert on WPS. My role here is to present how PNoy worked on this matter, from my perspective as his secretary of justice whom he regularly consulted on legal and constitutional matters. President Aquino took to heart the oath he took on June 30, 2010—to faithfully and conscientiously fulfill his duties as president of the Philippines, to preserve and defend its Constitution, to execute its laws, to do justice to every man, and to consecrate himself to the service of the nation.

For six years, he gave his all to uplift the lives of Filipinos, restore their dignity, and make them proud of their identity. No issue more clearly exemplifies this commitment than his resolute defense of the West Philippine Sea. China then had grown increasingly aggressive in its expansionist claims, invoking the so-called nine-dash line that covered nearly the entire South China Sea. The situation was fast becoming untenable.

President Aquino committed himself to finding a principled and peaceful resolution to a decades-long maritime dispute. The maritime dispute between the Philippines and China has often been described as a David-versus-Goliath confrontation. What could a small nation like ours do to stand up to a powerful, resource-rich, and influential state? And yet, the President believed and constantly reminded us that might does not make right. For him, it was right that makes might.

While the Aquino administration worked to upgrade our military capabilities and relied on the expertise of our gallant soldiers and strategic thinkers, we knew we could not confront China militarily. Instead, we pursued every possible diplomatic avenue. We strengthened alliances, championed the rule of international law, especially the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas or Unclos.

We invoked the Asean-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), signed in 2002. However, as a legally nonbinding agreement, it lacks enforceability. The DOC was intended to serve as a stepping stone toward a legally binding Code of Conduct for the South China Sea. Yet, more than two decades later, negotiations towards a final agreement remain slow. In the meantime, China’s actions continue to undermine the principles set forth in the DOC.

Scarborough Shoal

Nevertheless, we continued to engage China in political and diplomatic dialogues in the pursuit of a peaceful resolution, even if our efforts were often met with rejection. The day that things came to a head vis-à-vis China is marked in history as the Scarborough Shoal stand-off of April 2012.

The crisis started when the Philippine Navy accosted eight Chinese fishing vessels caught violating Philippine fishery laws around the shoal. I remember during that time that tension was high in Malacañang. This was because the Philippine Navy ship BRP Gregorio del Pilar was confronted by two Chinese maritime surveillance vessels in order to block the arrest of the Chinese fishermen.

I remember being consulted then by the President if he would violate any law in case he authorized the release of the Chinese fishermen in exchange for a Chinese withdrawal. This option was then the only way to prevent an escalation of the incident into a full-blown international crisis. I thus submitted a legal memorandum essentially stating that he can make a decision from a law enforcement point of view as President, or treat it as a national defense and security matter as the Commander in Chief. I said that if enforcing the law will result in the loss of life of navy personnel and the start of a war with a superpower, the choice was obvious.

There were other ways to skin a cat. Maybe firing broadsides on Chinese militia vessels and coast guard ships was not exactly the brightest way to approach the problem. If not for the Scarborough Shoal stand-off, I don’t think the choice of challenging China before an international tribunal would have been ultimately considered, and eventually undertaken. This served to be an important lesson in international conflicts—that the use of force can unwittingly unravel before the world the very illegitimacy of the claim for which China was only too willing to use force.

In the final analysis, this is what the Unclos ruling in the case of Philippines v China amounted to. It showed the world the illegitimacy of China’s claim, and that its use of force to defend such an illegitimate claim is a violation of international law. The Scarborough incident, I think, paved the way for the general strategy the Aquino administration was to take on the West Philippine Sea for the rest of its term. It then became clear that our sovereign rights over the WPS were to be secured through peaceful means instead of armed confrontation.

Confrontation and violence can only be resorted to when there are no other options left. This is why up to now, the Philippine government has adopted a maximum-tolerance policy in the West Philippine Sea when it comes to confrontations with Chinese militia and coast guard vessels.

We do not escalate. We protect and persevere. President Aquino was the nation’s foremost diplomatic voice in asserting the Philippines’ maritime rights on the global stage. At the Asean Summit in November 2012, when Cambodia as the Asean chair announced that all 10 member-nations of the bloc had agreed not to internationalize the maritime disputes, President Aquino spoke up and insisted that there was no such consensus made.

My then colleague in the Cabinet, the late Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, shared with the media the President’s comments to his fellow leaders. I quote: “While the Philippines was for Asean unity, it has the inherent right to defend its national interests when deemed necessary.”

As we all know, the late Secretary Del Rosario was a key figure in pursuing the Philippine case. He was a quiet but hard worker; his mellow demeanor concealed the warrior within. His fighting fortitude and steady courage guided and supported PNoy, especially during those times when everything was up in the air and there was no certainty as to where a legal challenge against China will bring the country.

Going back to PNoy’s protestations on Cambodia’s declaration as Asean chair, media reports also mentioned that in a letter sent to all the Asean leaders following the meeting, the Philippine delegation emphasized that there was no consensus made on not internationalizing the South China Sea issue.

Before this particular Asean Summit, in September 2012, the President had signed Administrative Order No. 29, officially naming as the West Philippine Sea the South China Sea waters within the country’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone. The maritime areas on the western side of the Philippines include the Luzon Sea as well as the waters around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal.

On Jan. 22, 2013, the Philippines filed the case with the Permanent Court of Arbitration where we challenged China’s nine-dash line claim which interferes with the Philippines’ exercise of its sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea.

Important distinctions

I take this opportunity to reiterate the important distinctions between a maritime dispute and a territorial dispute, and between sovereignty and sovereign rights. These were carefully considered when President Aquino made the decision that the Philippines will pursue legal action against China. Sovereignty refers to a state’s jurisdiction or political authority over a defined territory. Sovereign rights, on the other hand, pertain to a state’s entitlement to explore and exploit natural resources within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). A maritime dispute involves disagreements over maritime zones, such as the EEZ, while a territorial dispute concerns claims over land and questions of sovereignty. This distinction was to matter in the presentation of the Philippine case during the Unclos arbitration.

The Unclos Arbitration Tribunal has no jurisdiction to decide territorial disputes. This means it cannot decide who among the claimant nations like the Philippines, Vietnam, China, or Malaysia has sovereignty over specific islands or land features that make up the Spratly Islands or the Kalayaan Island Group. It can only decide on matters involving the provisions of the Unclos, specifically the claimant countries’ respective maritime entitlements or sovereign rights within their exclusive economic zones. This EEZ projects 200 nautical miles from a country’s baselines.

An island generates a 200-mile EEZ of its own. This is why it was important for the Philippine case to settle if its EEZ that encompasses the West Philippine Sea is overlapped by China’s EEZ by virtue of its claim that certain land features in the Spratly Islands are part of its land territory.

If any of these land features claimed by China is an island, then it will necessarily overlap with the Philippines’ EEZ. If it is not an island—i.e., it is incapable of sustaining human habitation—then it can only generate a 12-nautical mile territorial sea, and not a 200-nautical mile EEZ that will overlap with our own.

This was the crux of the matter in the deliberations of PNoy’s legal team on whether or not to gamble on the issue of Itu Aba in the Unclos case against China. Being the largest land feature in the Spratly Islands, Itu Aba will generate a 200-nautical-mile EEZ if it is declared an island, thus greatly diminishing the Philippines’ sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea. However, if it is not declared an island, then we have a categorical ruling that the Philippines’ EEZ in the West Philippine Sea as we know it now remains undisturbed.

It was a sort of an all-or-nothing gamble. Fortunately, we won the issue on Itu Aba. No country’s EEZ—namely, that of China and Vietnam—overlaps with our own in the West Philippine Sea with regard to their mainland coastlines because of distance. And, now this is also true with regard to their Spratly claims because of the Itu Aba ruling. But more on that later.

As the administration’s WPS legal team and our foreign counsel studied the case, it was determined that the strongest legal argument we could present before the Tribunal was to seek a declaration of the respective maritime rights, or the sovereign rights, of the Philippines and China under the Unclos, to which both countries are signatories.

We aimed to establish that China’s so-called nine-dash line, which encompasses nearly all of the South China Sea, has no basis under the Unclos. The Philippines’ filing of the arbitration case before the United Nations Arbitral Tribunal was our country’s way of saying, “Enough is enough.”

‘The world has to say it’

In an interview with The New York Times a year after we sought arbitration, President Aquino called on the world to support the Philippines in resisting China’s assertive claims in the South China Sea, seeing how we will all be affected by China’s aggression. I quote the President in that interview: “If we say yes to something we believe is wrong now, what guarantee is there that the wrong will not be further exacerbated down the line?” He added: “At what point do you say, ‘Enough is enough’? Well, the world has to say it—remember that the Sudetenland was given in an attempt to appease Hitler to prevent World War II.”

The President was not afraid to make the comparison between what was happening in the South China Sea to what happened when the world failed to support Czechoslovakia after Hitler demanded the annexation of Sudetenland to Germany. Just to clarify, I played more of a supporting role in the arbitration case. The lead responsibilities lay with the Solicitor General, the Executive Secretary, the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel, whom I collectively refer to as the “WPS Team,” and our foreign counsels led by Mr. Paul Reichler. They made up the core of the Philippine delegation for the oral arguments before the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Peace Palace in The Hague.

From time to time, the President would invite me to their meetings and ask for my opinion.

A few days before the submission of the Philippine memorial, then Supreme Court Justice Carpio, who had served as a resource person for our case, requested a meeting with me. This moment was later recounted by veteran journalist Marites Dañguilan Vitug in her book “Rock Solid.”

I hope everyone has read “Rock Solid.” It is the definitive account on how President Aquino took the whole country on a journey of dealing with China on the West Philippine Sea. As a testimonial on PNoy’s work and his government’s effort to defend what is ours, the storytelling is very engaging and it almost reads like a suspense novel. I encourage especially the students who are here with us today to find a copy and read it.

As I mentioned earlier, a stalemate had emerged within the WPS Team over whether to include a discussion on Itu Aba in the memorial. It became one of the most contentious debates in the entire process—one that only the President could resolve.

What is Itu Aba?

Let us review the facts. What is Itu Aba? It is the largest feature in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, which is being claimed by the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan. Taiwan, which calls it Taiping Island, has long controlled Itu Aba and has developed it by building an airstrip, an airport, a hospital, and other facilities.

Justice Carpio explained to me the importance of including Itu Aba in our memorial. Under international law, rocks are entitled only to a 12-nautical mile territorial sea, while islands can generate a 200-nautical mile EEZ and a continental shelf.

If Itu Aba were classified as an island, its 200-nautical mile EEZ would overlap with the coast of Palawan and the Reed Bank (or Recto Bank)—believed to be rich in oil and natural gas, making it very attractive to China. It was crucial to present to the court that our position was that Itu Aba is a rock—incapable of sustaining human habitation or economic life—even though Taiwan insists that it is an island.

Prior to this, the filing of the case against China generated a flurry of activity among international experts and members of the academe. Some of them were engaged by China to develop its position even when it refused to be a party to the case and submit its pleadings officially. Some of these China-sponsored experts criticized the Philippines’ initial submissions for not including Itu Aba among the land features it intended to take up in the case. They said it was bad faith on the part of the Philippines to contest the island status of several land features without, however, including Itu Aba.

After much study, the foreign legal team arrived at the conclusion that excluding Itu Aba from the Philippine memorial will not sit well with the arbitral tribunal. Eventually, they decided that it was necessary to include Itu Aba in its memorial. But there was opposition from within the Philippine WPS Team on the inclusion of Itu Aba. Those who opposed its inclusion believed there was a risk that the Tribunal will rule that Itu Aba is an island, thereby generating a 200-mile EEZ that will overlap with Palawan. They were certain that keeping quiet about it was better than risking it being ruled as an island by the Tribunal.

I was convinced by the argument of Justice Carpio, Secretary Del Rosario, and the foreign legal team, that the issue of Itu Aba had to be raised in the Philippines’ memorial. It was just a matter of presenting a case in which we had a high degree of confidence in winning.

Remember, we were up against a giant, and we could not afford to be the underdog who lost. The next step was to bring the matter directly to the President.

I share this story because, to me, it illustrates the President’s decisiveness and courage under immense pressure. I was able to set a meeting with him the very next day. I waited for a couple of hours as he was attending an event outside Malacañang. When he returned and saw me, he said, “Leila, what is it?” and led me to his private office so we could speak.

I explained the issue on Itu Aba briefly. He listened intently, and I remember how he tried to maintain a neutral expression. And when he wore that look –focused and withholding emotion—you knew he was absorbing the weight of a serious situation.

I later learned that after our meeting, the President spoke with Secretary Del Rosario. He then called for a meeting with the WPS Team and myself, in which the Itu Aba issue was explained to him in greater detail.

It became apparent that the President was deeply disappointed. He asked us why he had not been informed earlier of Itu Aba’s importance to our case against China. On this issue which could determine the success or failure of our arbitration case, he made the decision to include Itu Aba in the memorial.

We were fortunate to have a President who had the wisdom to grasp the complexities of the issue and make the right call. When the Philippines submitted its memorial to the Permanent Court of Arbitration on March 30, 2014, the 15 paragraphs on Itu Aba as prepared by the law firm of Foley Hoag were included and became part of the Philippine case.

Hope in a just cause

The oral presentation of the Philippine case before the Unclos Arbitral Tribunal took place on July 8, 2015. I clearly remember that on that day, excitement was in the air. There was also tension and anxiety. But for the most part, there was a feeling of hope in fighting for a just cause.

For the Philippine contingent, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Never before was the highest of Philippine officialdom gathered in one place in a foreign country to go against a superpower. The first to speak for the Philippines on the first day of the oral arguments was Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, who introduced the case and presented the order of speakers for the Philippines. SolGen Hilbay was followed by Secretary Del Rosario, who explained the reason for the Philippines’ decision to seek arbitration in the maritime dispute with China. He also made an impassioned plea for the Tribunal to recognize its jurisdiction because of the importance of the case not only to the region but to the entire world, and its impact on the application of the rule of law in maritime disputes.

Third to speak was the chief counsel for the Philippines, Paul Reichler of the US-based Foley Hoag law firm. Reichler presented the justification for the tribunal’s jurisdiction over the Philippine claims under the Unclos. He was followed by other foreign legal experts, who explained how the Philippine claims did not raise questions of sovereignty over land or raise questions of maritime delimitation.

President Aquino did not join us in The Hague. Well, he was not expected to. By that time, he already had confidence in his cause to bring the WPS issue to the Permanent Court of Arbitration. At the very least, he had confidence enough in the fact that he had made the right decision. Before we left for The Hague, those of us around him felt his energy. We knew that he was proud of the team that he put together to challenge China and bring one of the most powerful nations in the world to court.

That great moment in Philippine history is preserved in the iconic picture of the Philippine delegation taken before the grand staircase of the Peace Palace in The Hague. Three months later, in October 2015, the Philippines achieved its first victory in its case against China when the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled affirmatively on the issue of jurisdiction. What followed after was the major battle of arguing that China’s nine-dash line claim has no basis in international law and the Unclos. China, therefore, is not entitled to any portion of the Philippines’ EEZ in the West Philippine Sea.

On July 12, 2016, the Tribunal ruled unanimously in favor of the Philippines, affirming the country’s maritime entitlements under the Unclos and invalidating China’s nine-dash line claim over the South China Sea.

Itu Aba became one of the highlights of the ruling. The Tribunal declared that Itu Aba was a rock incapable of sustaining economic life or human communities. As expected, the ruling was rejected by both China and Taiwan.

We had successfully defended what is rightfully ours. As the President said, “Ang Pilipinas ay sa Pilipinas.”

“Victory has many fathers; defeat is an orphan,” as the saying goes.

This was evident after we won the arbitration. Many were frequently mentioned in various forums and in the media for their roles and contributions to the arbitral victory. And yet, the significant actions of the very person who believed the Philippines was worth fighting for, who made the courageous decision to stand up to China, have rarely been mentioned. But humility has always been an Aquino trait. In his statement following the Tribunal’s decision, the President expressed his gratitude to all those who “worked hard to defend our shared cause.” He mentioned several names, including mine.

Credibility and courage

Today, I honor, recognize, and express our deepest gratitude to President Aquino for showing us that we can, and must, defend the Philippines. His honest and principled leadership, marked by a firm stand against corruption and a commitment to economic reform, earned the trust and respect of the international community.

This credibility played a critical role as we sought the support of allied nations in asserting our rightful maritime claims. President Aquino also possessed the wisdom and clarity to navigate an immensely complex geopolitical landscape. And let us not forget his eloquence. He had a remarkable ability to articulate the Philippines’ position clearly, confidently, and with moral authority before the world.

He was a collaborative leader, though engaging with him could often be a formidable experience. He asked incisive, challenging questions that compelled those around him to be thoughtful, prepared, and precise. He listened carefully, made difficult decisions, and stood by them with conviction. He championed a rules-based approach anchored in international law, and remained steadfast in pursuing peaceful and legal means to assert our sovereign rights.

Most of all, he had the courage to stand up to a global superpower, one that is militarily and economically far stronger. President Aquino willingly shouldered the burden and the responsibility of whatever consequences such a stance might bring.

It was deeply painful to witness much of what he fought for nearly undone during the Duterte administration, which chose to set aside the arbitral victory and implement a foreign policy that was in stark contrast to President Aquino’s principled vision.

But the Filipino people themselves have taken up the cause. No issue has galvanized Filipinos in recent decades more than the West Philippine Sea. When quite recently, a former congressman, now a newly elected senator, claimed that the West Philippine Sea did not exist, he was swiftly rebuked by both experts and the broader public.

We now see ordinary citizens taking meaningful action. One brilliant example is the Atin Ito Coalition that has brought civilian presence right to the heart of the West Philippine Sea, asserting our sovereign rights and amplifying the Filipino voice on the global stage.

Without question, President Aquino was able to unify the nation behind this cause. His enduring message was simple yet powerful: Love your country with all your might—just as his father, our hero Ninoy Aquino, once told him when he was only 13 years old.

Rest easy now, Mr. President, my President. Itutuloy namin ang laban.

Read more: PNoy’s ‘right makes might’ principle recalled

The post ‘Ang sa Pilipinas ay sa Pilipinas’: PNoy’s legacy in defending the Philippines’ maritime rights in the South China Sea appeared first on CoverStory.

Batacan reads from her cell phone as if she were conducting a storytelling session: “‘Pero you know,’ and now she leans toward me, reaching out to touch my arm as though sharing a confidence, ‘I hope you will be objective about this murder thing, ha.’ So here it is at last, the stick after the carrot, the real reason why we’ve been invited here.”

She glances occasionally at her audience as she reads: “It’s all bullsh-t, but I’ll say anything she wants to hear, if it means Tony and I make it out of this place alive.”

The excerpt reading is near the end of “Usual Suspects: F.H. Batacan in conversation with Kenneth Yu,” one of the programs in Batacan’s Philippine “There are no accidents book tour.” QCPL is the second stop in her six-day tour. The first was Mt. Cloud Bookshop in Baguio City a week ago; the last is BookBar in Singapore on Aug. 2.

“Accidents Happen” is Batacan’s latest work after “Smaller and Smaller Circles.” The latter, touted as the first Filipino crime novel, earned her the title of “Queen of Philippine Crime Fiction.” But she has never claimed the title. In fact, she coyly admonishes Penguin Random House Phils. sales rep Honey de Peralta for mentioning it and her name in the same breath while introducing her this balmy afternoon.

Life happens

Batacan’s radio silence of nearly two decades isn’t because she was resting on her laurels after the huge success of “Smaller and Smaller Circles,” which won literary awards and was made into an eponymous movie in 2017 starring Nonie Buencamino and Sid Lucero. She says she was writing, but put the follow-up to her novel on hold when Rodrigo Duterte became president.

“I didn’t recognize us anymore. I didn’t know who I was anymore. We were so cavalier with the taking of lives,” she recalls.

Still, Batacan says, she wrote desultorily, occasionally chucking what she wrote when she didn’t like it and starting all over again. The cycle went on for quite a while although the idea for “Accidents Happen” percolated steadily in her mind. It was an idea that, she says, predated the phrase “nepo baby” that became a global buzzword.

She says she thought of political dynasties, young scions being groomed and on billboards looking hot and in noontime shows. “They’re strategically embedded in our consciousness with a strong name recall as individual and family, which perpetuates dynastic politics,” she says.

Following through with her idea, Batacan completed “Accidents Happen,” with the 11 stories centered on the theme that there are no accidents. She says the story titled “Accidents happen” encapsulates the book’s theme: “What if one of those political children didn’t want a political life? That’s the central theme of life—the inability to say no.”

It was a deliberate choice of the short story form over the novel on Batacan’s part, spurred by what a reviewer of her work said about her stories asking people to imagine what’s next. She doesn’t want to impose what she wants to happen because, she says, “not everything is resolved in contemporary crime fiction.”

Batacan’s “absence” was also due to her fighting cancer. “I am a cancer survivor. ‘Accidents Happen’ should have come out earlier but I was undergoing treatment and couldn’t see to the editing of the book,” she says.

Family tradition

Batacan choosing to write crime fiction was unusual back then because publishers were only interested in romance and science fiction. Against that context, host Kenneth Yu asks, “Ichi, why crime fiction? How did you get into crime fiction?”

Yu calling Batacan by her nickname Ichi doesn’t go unnoticed, at least by me. Actually, I find it endearing, indicative of a friendship that, Yu reveals, was forged in the era of blogging. (Yu wrote “Mouths to Speak, Voices to Sing,” a collection of short stories, which was published in 2024.)

Batacan’s foray into crime fiction began in Cubao, Quezon City, when it wasn’t yet seedy, she relates. (“Cubao was once like BGC!” interjects Yu.) Sundays with the family then meant watching films—James Bond, thrillers, and espionage—which, later, she adds, became useful for her when she worked at the Philippine intelligence agency.

“When I was growing up, it wasn’t a trend to protect children from crime movies. My parents would take us [with them] to the movies because we didn’t have helpers,” she continues.

She segues to explaining why crime fiction lags behind romance and science fiction, attributing its unpopularity to the prevailing mindset of a crime story steeped in the Western standards of plot twists and a tidy resolution. This is problematic for crime fiction in the Philippines, she contends, because crime is straightforward and attaining justice is difficult, starting with the collection of and the handling/treatment of evidence.

Likewise, the tropes are incongruous with Philippine society. For instance, the conventional detective can’t rely on the police, she points out.

But Batacan says that there has been a shift in how crime fiction is written, and not only in the Philippines, spiking the interest in the genre. She points out that writers have seen how to go about it, marking their stories with ample ambiguity and the absence of a resolution.

Mirroring society

Yu dives deeper, sharing his theories on crime fiction’s invisibility before asking Batacan for her thoughts. He says, firstly, Filipinos are not interested in crime fiction because crime is always in the news and, secondly, Filipinos are overly emotional and solving crime needs a withholding of emotions.

In response, Batacan cites the acceptance speech of British playwright Harold Pinter, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2005, titled “Art, Truth, and Politics.” Referencing the Iraq war, Pinter critiqued US foreign policy and the justification for military interventions, and discussed the important role of art in exposing hidden truths and challenging power structures.

Batacan declares that a writer’s job is to hold a mirror to society despite the clear lack of space for Filipino analyses and reflections within Western crime fiction. She emphasizes that primary and secondary crimes in the Philippines are important, but the most crucial crime is the “machine” (aka background crime) of which the primary crime is a part.

The machine figures prominently in “Smaller and Smaller Circles” because it is not so much about who did the crime as why the crime was done, Batacan points out. She adds that the inability to find justice because of the machine is precisely why crime fiction is written: Readers must see the machine and how justice in certain countries can only go so far.

“I want my readers to be angry because I’m always angry. If you’re not angry, you’re not engaging with the world,” she says.

However, she clarifies, it’s not about resorting to vigilantism. She aims for a “shift,” or a change, but not in the stories’ progression, she says.

She expounds: “All you can hope for is an understanding. You don’t get a tidy resolution. You feel the ‘shift’ the moment the curtain is pulled back and you see the machine. You don’t always get justice. The best you can have is an understanding, which is powerful.”

About Filipinos’ supposed emotionality, she says she doesn’t see it. She asserts that Filipinos are capable of methodical thinking and that the problem isn’t with emotionality but with politics: “We respond to politicians in an emotional way—they get our kiliti. We love our political theater [that] we fail in seeing political theater as a machine.”

About writing

Queries come in fast and furious for Batacan in the Q-and-A session. A woman wants to know if her Jesuit priest-detective in “Smaller and Smaller Circles” is her way of tapping into Filipinos’ religious inclination. Another is eager to hear how she chooses details for her backstories, and someone asks if she returns to her old characters. A young man, who says he’s writing a crime story for his MA thesis, wants her opinion on whether his character—a dismissed cop solving the murder of his partner—is too Westernized.

Batacan says Father Augusto “Gus” Saenz, the Jesuit priest-detective, is her answer to the incongruity of Philippine crime fiction with the standards of Western crime fiction. She explains; “There’s a wariness with cops in the Philippines. You don’t know what’s going to happen; there’s a kaba. Who can investigate? Who’ll be the lead character? Father Gus is an ideal, comfortable character because he’s both scientific—the Jesuits have a strong scientific history—and religious.”

For her detailed backstories, which don’t always make it in their entirety in the final print, her friend’s question—What decisions are easiest to make? Big or small decisions?—guides her. It was an epiphany for her, she says, having thought of smaller decisions as being easier made.

“Big decisions should be easier because they’re moral decisions,” rationalizes Batacan. “You should have decided a long time ago because it’s who you are. Small decisions are questions that don’t reflect who you are, i.e., what dress to wear. It’s the same with my characters. Who are they? I already know what they will decide.”

Still on characters, Batacan admits that she likes returning to her old characters because they’re the reason for the deep backstories. “Characters evolve and I want them to come to certain decisions. Plots depend on backstories, which determine the characters’ paths,” she says.

Finally, she sorts out the issue of the young man’s crime story. Whether it’ll be Westernized or not will depend on the execution or how the backstory is fleshed out, she tells him, adding that her characters have comprehensive backstories because backstories set the tone and influence their movements and decisions in the story.

Future stories

Nearing the end of the Q-and-A, a question is fielded to Batacan: Why not write about a fictional police force since there’s already a fictional priest-detective? It seems easy to do, but writing in the Philippines—that holding up a mirror to society—requires a writer to carefully tread the ground of what and what not to say. Nonetheless, she urges writers to keep on writing and not be afraid. “Fear is valid, but if you’re writing of a culture, a milieu, you can’t go very wrong,” she says.

She herself is circumspect. She says she writes about mindset and culture when it comes to public servants, law enforcement, and political families: It keeps one insulated because there are no specific names.

The writing continues for Batacan, whose idea for her next story has been percolating in her head since last year. It was when she was recuperating from her bout with cancer that a big story “exploded” (she hints at a Senate hearing). She hopes to combine it with her life experiences and turn it into a screenplay.

“The themes are female rage, corruption, and espionage,” she says with an impish grin.

Read more: Gastronomy book brings Ilonggo cuisine to the world

The post F.H. Batacan talks about writing crime fiction and her new book of short stories appeared first on CoverStory.

Age is a wonderful thing when it happens to people who embrace it as fully as they have lived their lives. Some even laugh about the exigencies of aging, admitting that the attendant forgetfulness has compelled them to keep the good ole’ CV in ship-shape. 

Colby de la Calzada—bassist, composer, arranger, and musical director—says he made a CV because “my memory for that stuff isn’t great.” He adds: “Also, I needed that for some job and work visa applications.” 

Just as well, too, because Colby’s resume provides a breathtaking snapshot of a musical career that spans half a century, one that rolled out after winning the earliest iteration of the pivotal Battle of the Bands (the RC Cola Battle of the Bands in 1975) and continues to this day, largely uninterrupted. At the heart of his life story beats the singular devotion to music and his loved ones—and this chance to clear the spelling of his surname, which has all too often appeared as “dela Calzada.”

“It’s supposed to be ‘de la,’ but when they started digitizing public records and docs, the computers back then automatically put [the words] together,” he says. “I guess they were not programmed to handle Spanish names and the encoders didn’t quite know how to separate them in the forms, so some [older] records have [them] separated and others don’t. The correct [form] is ‘de la.’”

But what really leaps out of Colby’s extensive record is the breadth and depth of his musicianship—from rock and pop, to fusion and jazz, playing for, if not alongside, the biggest names in Original Pilipino Music (OPM) and local and international jazz artists on concert stages at home and abroad. He has also composed and arranged TV and radio jingles, and in 2020, he released his all-original, six-track, self-titled debut album, Colby.

Fine-tuned precision

“I had been preparing my compositions on the side for my album project,” says Colby, who turned 70 this year. “When the pandemic hit and the lockdown afforded so much time at home with my computer, I was able to do a lot of postproduction at home. Most had already recorded in Hit studio. We actually recorded two songs remotely by sending tracks or stems back and forth to whoever had to dub over the internet during lockdown. My daughter Angela helped a lot in getting it produced and published.”

Colby has Colby playing bass on most tracks and some keyboard programming on others. Also featured in the album are Chuck Stevens (guitar), Junjun Regalado and Jorge San Jose (drums), Kiko de Pano (tenor sax), and Dix Lucero (flute). Keyboardist Edsel Gomez and percussionist Bo Razón also play in the track titled “Angela.”

Says Colby: “I’m working on my second album, and I want to put my first [one] on vinyl.”

In an interview elsewhere shortly after Colby came out, Colby had told journalist Tony Maghirang: “Fusion, soul, or acid jazz is a branch of the jazz tree. Since my album is more for posterity than anything else, we wanted to be more artistic than commercial in our approach, but with reverence and attention to the craft.”

But if there’s anything Colby has been doing all these years it’s paying close attention to his craft wherever and whatever he finds himself playing. To be sure, he considers himself fortunate to have played with the best.  

“Anytime you play with people better than you, you always learn things and become better,” he says. “I am blessed to have played with a multitude of awesome, remarkable players—Bobby Enriquez, Boy Katindig, Tony Velarde, and Walter Calinawan in my early years.”

From Bobby, nicknamed “The Wildman” owing to his flamboyant piano playing, Colby learned to “concentrate fully [so] that you could see your notes and fingers in your mind’s eye.” He adds, with a laugh: “This usually happens when your eyes are closed!” 

The legendary Emil Mijares, he says, tolerated his “note-reading illiteracy” by just putting sheet music in front of him until he got the hang of it. Walter, drummer of the Circus Band, taught him the value of “keeping impeccable time.” Tony mentored him on “keeping the form of the song not a bar more or a bar less.” Boy eased him into that funky smooth jazz groove, while jazz drummer Mike Shapiro pulled him into “authentic Brazilian grooves and punch patterns, among others.” 

Says Colby: “I could go on and on. In truth, you learn something from everybody you play with.”

He emphasizes that becoming a professional musician requires versatility. “You have to play all genres,” he says. “I did musicals with the Manila Theatre Guild, and choral with The Ambivalent Crowd with Ryan Cayabyab [our musical director]. That’s why I would join different types of groups. You get more gigs as a versatile musician who reads notes. But any paying gig is good. I had to feed and put six kids through school! The self-improvement you do on your own—that’s called woodshedding.”  

Changing times

Becoming even better requires hunkering down and getting busy with as many playing hours as one can possibly put in. “The 10,000-hour rule of dedicated practice makes perfect sense,” says Colby. And jazz “is a logical choice for the ‘overthinker’ musician who doesn’t enjoy playing the same song dozens of times in the same way.” 

He shares a pro tip: “Learn how to play beyond the diatonic scale, try to sound fresh saying the same things in a new way and, importantly, in your own unique voice.” And then offers a practice example: “Explore new ways to play over a II-V-I progression [the most fundamental and commonplace chord progression in jazz harmony]. Record yourself so you can objectively find your weaknesses and improve on it.”

Colby may now sound very much like the cool music guru, but it’s a state of being that’s partly the result of countless “smokin’ hot” late-night gigs and hectic schedules back in the day. “When I used to play six-days-a-week gigs I would wake up noontime,” he says. “You achieve absolutely nothing during the day because you’re conserving energy and preparing for the evening gig. Then there’s the airport-straight-to-gig situation. When we go on a concert tour with, say, Apo Hiking Society, we stay in so many hotels that we can’t remember our room numbers anymore.”

Of course, this no longer happens much these days, as fatigue and lack of sleep had at some point caught up with him, leading to a minor medical event. “At my present age I wouldn’t have the energy to cope,” he says. “Two gigs in one day—or lagare as we call it—is also exhausting and not possible nowadays because of the traffic.”

But Colby is confident that jazz is in good hands—both from the points of creation and consumption. True, there is a very small market for jazz here. “But at the same time, I’m so encouraged by the new generation of patrons who really listen,” he says. “They’re not just there to drink or celebrate a birthday, but really listen. Moreover, they are not influenced by peer pressure; rather, they’re free to choose what they like whether it be jazz, K-pop or Hip Hop.”

Such freedom is good, says Colby, because therein lies growth: “The past prepared the present. We should deal with whatever is at hand. If the jazz market grows, well and good! If not, we can always carry on just like any underground movement.” He takes a moment to call our attention to the shifts happening all around: “Right now, mostly everything about this ever-changing world surprises me—like all these new abbreviations and acronyms, [and emerging] moral values and political alliances.”

In this gentler season, Colby regularly plays with the Apo, his quartet (with Bond Samson, Dix, and Jorge), his trio (with Henry Katindig or Yong Aquino and Lawrence Nolan); and at concerts, Hotel Okura, Wolfgang, and Tago. He also plays with the worship team at Victory BGC.

“Jazz is an acquired taste for sure,” he says. “And people who listen to it like it for a variety of reasons—the way it makes them feel, the sound, the vibe—and some may even appreciate it intellectually. I had a friend who, no matter how I explained jazz, said that…it was all noise to him because he couldn’t hear a familiar melody.”

“As a player and listener, I appreciate the spontaneity and freedom of the players as they interact as the setting permits,” he goes on. “Then there’s the challenge of being technically proficient on the one hand while being able to emote feelings that only music can, on the other. Some listeners attempt to explain why they like what they’ve heard, but sometimes I’m thinking, where did they get that from? [The whole experience] really is too subjective.”

Despite the challenges, jazz endures, continually evolving within a global community of avid musicians and listeners who ensure its vitality and push its boundaries into exciting new zones.

Colby’s jazz radio app, for one, offers a dozen categories, so he just keeps it playing and lets the playlists catch him by surprise. “A good listener can sense trends and current ideas,” he says. “Jazz is alive and there are nuanced developments in rhythms, arrangements, melody development, and improvised solos that are more current.”

Read more: Portraits in Jazz: Sandra Lim-Viray never says never

The post Portraits in Jazz: Keeping up with Colby de la Calzada appeared first on CoverStory.

Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received the Bill Russel Finals MVP honors as he led the Thunder with an electric outing, putting up 29 points, 12 assists, and 5 rebounds to take hold of their first-ever Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy.  

Thunder co-stars Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren also showed up at home, with Williams notching 20 points, 4 assists while Holmgren tallied 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 huge blocks to finally seal the deal this series. 

Bench stand-outs Bennedict Mathurin and T. J. McConnell paced Indiana with 24 and 16 points respectively as the Pacers failed to take hold of what could’ve been their first NBA title.

Read more: Pacers blow past Thunder to force winner-take-all Game 7

The post Thunder strike down Pacers for first ever NBA title appeared first on CoverStory.

The Singapore-based PRX, the last representatives of the Pacific region, pulled out all the stops to take a decisive overtime win in Lotus, 14-12, before hounding the wolf pack in their own map pick, Ascent, with a 13-8 closeout in the Upper Bracket.

Read how Valorant, a 5v5 tactical shooter video game, is played in “VCT Pacific: Filipino squads look for rebound after Week 2 misfires.”

While mainstays Jason “f0rsakeN” Susanto and Khalish “d4v41” Rusyaidee led the full display of W Gaming’s play style of pure aggression, each dropping 40 kills across two maps, “PatMen” Mendoza answered the call in setting his team mates up for success.

The rising star flexed his reliability again, generating a series-high 23 assists to go along with 25 eliminations using Fade and KAY/O, respectively, with a couple of clutches to boot against an unrelenting WOV squad.

Mendoza, 23, is the first homegrown Filipino to play in a Grand Final on the international stage. It will be PRX’s second Finals appearance in a Masters event.

Mr. Consistency

PatMen’s arrival has been nothing but impactful for the Paper Rex squad in their journey to Toronto. After suffering their earliest exit at VCT Pacific Kickoff, PRX signed up the Filipino player, a former NAOS Esports initiator, days before Split 1 started last March.

Mendoza has one goal in mind for every team he has played: provide the support they need to succeed. And for PRX, it’s nothing different.

PatMen showed promise in his debut in the regional stage but came up short against Boom Esports, with Paper Rex sent deeper into a 0-3 hole in Group Alpha.

Banking on consistency to deliver, he delivered back-to-back series-highs 40 and 17 assists against Detonation FocusMe and Global Esports, respectively, to clinch the final ticket to the playoffs.

From then on, the Asia Pacific (APAC) titans caught a second wind, running through the gauntlet just enough to settle for the third seed heading to Masters Toronto.

In his international debut, PatMen picked up a 30/18/9 series KDA (Kill-Death-Assist) in their victory over Team Heretics, announcing his arrival as a key cog in the PRX engine. He has been posting a solid Average Combat Score (ACS) of 192.6 and a 28% Clutch Success Rate (ranking eighth among all players within the tournament).

PatMen Paper Rex advanced to the playoffs at the expense of Team Liquid, took down Americas’ top-seed G2 in the quarterfinals before defeating Filipino American duelist Zachary “zekken” Patrone and Sentinels in the semis.

Standing on business

The latest addition to the APAC squad has shown nerves of steel in the high-stakes battle, unfazed by the celebrations of the WOV players getting up from their seats since the match started.

“Ako tinatawa ko na lang, like hindi na ‘ko nagpapa-distract…Tumatayo rin kami (I just laugh it off. I don’t let myself get distracted. The counter is that we also stand up to celebrate,)” Mendoza said during the post-game interview.

He said that being Filipino, instead of being demoralized, he pushed harder in closing out with a sweep. “Syempre, lalo Pinoy tayo, sanay tayo sa mga ganoon [taunting], ’di ba?” he said with a laugh.

Down 1-4 early in Ascent, Mendoza’s quadra kill in the fifth round became the catalyst to ignite a 9-0 PRX run, eventually pulling away and closing out the series with a thrifty buy at Round 21.

The 4k also gave him the confidence boost he needed after a slow start in Lotus. “I think the one thing that helped me get back my confidence again on the second map, maybe after the clutch, is the boys still believe in me and they’re all trusting me,” he said.

Duelist Ilya “something” Petrov also found his footing in Ascent, returning to his signature pick Jett and listing 19 eliminations in his name.

Coach’s help

Playing in one of the most respected teams in the Pacific, PatMen relishes every moment with the squad, reiterating his consistency stemming from the trust he gained from the veterans.

“I always try to be open to everyone,” he said in Filipino. “I show my vulnerable side to them so they can know me better, and after that I became closer to the team. They helped me become better inside and outside the game, and because of that I can play better and call the shots properly.” 

He praised their head coach, Alexandre “alecks” Sallé, who stands up to become their “big brother” and brings out the best within them.

“I think that’s just his [explosive] character that you see on camera, but when it comes to practices and the team, he’s super helpful and encouraging inside and outside the game,” Mendoza said.

Sallé gave his props to the young star, explaining the pressure of being the newest addition in a tightly-bonded team like PRX.

“In the past, yes, he has [struggled with] imposter syndrome because suddenly the world’s eyes are on [him]. There’s a lot of pressure, but I think he has overcome it already, as a part of the [PRX] boys, and I think he’s naturally a very self-confident person,” the tactician said at the post-game press conference.

Asked how they are going to celebrate the win, PatMen answered with a chuckle: “Jollibee, maybe, order some Filipino food again.” 

From a disastrous start, Paper Rex are now just one series away from securing the second international trophy for the Pacific.

They will take a short break during the Lower Bracket Finals between Europe’s Fnatic and Wolves Esports on June 22, with the grand finals set on June 23.

The post For first Filipino player in Valorant Masters grand finals, taunts and pressure are no problem appeared first on CoverStory.

Katrina Anne Johnson from Davao and Annabelle Mae McDonnell from Iligan City were crowned Bb. Pilipinas International and Bb. Pilipinas Globe, respectively, at the culmination of the Grand Coronation Night held at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on June 15.

With Siargao’s Kathleen Enid Espenido proclaimed second runner-up, first runner-up Dalia Varde Khattab from Las Piñas City became the lone contender from outside Southern Philippines to cop a spot in the winners’ circle.

In last year’s competition, Abra’s Myrna Esguerra took home the Bb. Pilipinas International title, while Pampanga’s Jasmin Bungay was crowned Bb. Pilipinas Globe. Christal Dela Cruz from Zambales and Trisha Martinez from Pila, Laguna, finished as runners-up.

The 61st edition of the longest-running national beauty pageant in the Philippines chose 36 contenders for the two titles, both of which come with their respective international assignments.

Johnson will represent the Philippines in the 64th edition of the Miss International pageant next year, while McDonnell’s stint in The Miss Globe contest is scheduled this October.

Positive vibes

McDonnell was runner-up in the 2022 Miss Universe Philippines competition. But even before she became an official Bb. Pilipinas candidate, she already felt positive about her decision to try her luck in the pioneering national pageant.

On the day she signified to her mentor her intention to cross over to the pageant, she chanced upon three former Bb. Pilipinas queens who have carried the country in international competitions.

McDonnell said she had just met with Aces and Queens pageant camp head Gerry Diaz to confirm her desire to apply for Bb. Pilipinas when they bumped into 1984 Miss Universe runner-up Desiree Verdadero, 1991 Miss International finalist Patty Betita, and 1989 Bb. Pilipinas Universe Sarah Jane Paez.

“As we were going into the restaurant, Tita Patty was like, ‘Hi, it’s so nice to see you.’ Then they had an inkling that I was joining because of the company I was with,” McDonnell told CoverStory.

She hesitated to confirm that she was indeed joining the pageant, but the former Binibinis knew what was cooking and said they would not post their photos together just yet. Then they delivered the pageant mantra, “Once a Binibini, always a Binibini,” with her.

“It was a really great surprise, and it was a really good omen,” McDonnell said. “I took it as a really good omen that I made the right decision to join Binibini this year.”

Feeling seen

Johnson, for her part, was able to meet the three most recent Miss International winners in person. She first got to see 2022 queen Jasmine Selberg from Germany, who flew to the country for the 2023 Bb. Pilipinas pageant.

The Davaoeña first joined Bb. Pilipinas that year, and finished as first runner-up. As part of the reigning winners in 2024, she had the privilege of meeting 2023 Miss International Andrea Rubio from Venezuela.

And this year, when she finally won the national crown, 2024 Miss International Thanh Thủy from Vietnam paid a visit, and joined the judging panel like her two predecessors.

“They really make you feel seen,” Johnson told CoverStory. “I think that’s a really special talent that someone can have, you know, to make you feel seen and heard. That is something that I do aspire to do with my own reign.”

She said she is also relieved to have more than a year to prepare for the Miss International pageant. Esguerra, her predecessor, is still set to compete in this year’s global tilt that will take place in Tokyo in November.

“I really am a planner. So, this is the best-case scenario for me. Like, I love the fact that I’ve a lot of time to really reflect and bask, and do all of these things to make sure that I am as well-rounded as an individual,” Johnson said, adding: “I love it!”

McDonnell does not enjoy the same luxury of time, with her competition slated in four months. ”In a week, I think, I’ll have an outline of what I wanna do at The Miss Globe. But definitely I will do my best,” she declared.

She has also taken notes from the Philippines’ most recent The Miss Globe winner, Maureen Montagne, who hosted the coronation show, and the reigning queen, Diana Moreno from Colombia, who was a judge. She said there were “styling tips” that she picked up “just by looking at them.”

McDonnell also shared that Montagne has invited her to lunch. “She’s really supportive and encourages me to ask as many questions as possible. If I need any help, I can count on her,” she said.

The Philippines is the best-performing Asian country in the Miss International pageant, with six winners. Meanwhile, two Bb. Pilipinas queens posted victories in the current iteration of The Miss Globe pageant.

Read more: Beauty and destiny on one stage at Binibining Pilipinas 60th-year bash

The post Mindanao aces the Philippines’ longest running beauty pageant appeared first on CoverStory.

The last Game 7 in the NBA Finals was in 2016, with the Cleveland Cavaliers winning over the Golden State Warriors on the road. The Pacers are now hoping to achieve the feat when they face a ferocious Thunder team in their own home turf.

“We’ll do what’s necessary to try to get ourselves ready for that environment and that team,” said Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle. OKC boasts a 9-2 record at home this postseason.

“This will be a monumental challenge,” Carlisle said.

The Pacers displayed an offensive masterclass in Game 6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, on June 20, with Topin stringing 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals off the bench.

Aaron Nembhard put up an efficient scoring night on top of his MVP assignment, scoring 17 points on 5-of-7 from the field and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc alongside 4 assists and 3 steals.

Pascal Siakam notched 16 points while dominating the boards with 13 rebounds and a block as the first-year Pacer continued to be a reliable offensive option for the squad.

With concerns raised over his availability for Game 6, Tyrese Haliburton showed up for Indiana and managed to tally 14 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals despite a right-calf injury.

Full steam ahead

Down 2-10 to start things off, Siakam put up 5 straight points followed by back-to-back 3-pointers from Nembhard to quickly turn things around for the Pacers, 13-12.

Indiana entered the second frame with a 28-25 separation, but OKC kept close by only a point with 9 minutes to go in the quarter, 34-33. The Pacers later carried out a 17-2 run in a 5-minute stretch to go up by 16, 51-35.

The Pacers kept their offensive foot on the gas up to the end of the quarter. Siakam posterized last game’s stand-out Jalen Williams for a 20-point lead, 62-42, and a fadeaway buzzer-beater capped their pivotal first-half outburst.

The second half was no different for the Thunder as they succumbed to a 5-minute drought at the onset while the Pacers pulled away by 28, 70-42.

As if things were not going great enough for the Indiana home crowd, Ben Sheppard drilled a buzzer-beating triple for a whopping 30-point lead, 90-70.

‘We sucked tonight’

With the coveted NBA title just one win away from them, the Thunder had to run into some of the worst offensive and defensive showing they’ve ever seen.

“It was uncharacteristic, it was disappointing, it was collective,” said OKC head coach Mark Daigneault. “It wasn’t one guy. Just we were not where we needed to be on either end of the floor for much of the game. We have to be a lot better before Game 7.”

The final box score did not really show the true story of the Thunder tragedy in their close-out game on the road. Judging by the first-half stats, the Pacers simply outplayed them in multiple areas.

In 3-point shooting alone, Indiana buried 9-of-24 while OKC settled with a measly 1-of-11 production, courtesy of backup guard Aaron Wiggins.

Another uncharacteristic statline by the half was the turnover. Known for their pesky defensive swarm, the Thunder got a taste of their own medicine, giving up 12 turnovers as opposed to the Pacers’ 2. This huge contrast also saw Indiana converting 16 points off of turnovers while OKC only had 2 points.

Then there’s the overwhelming difference between the teams’ bench production: The Pacers’ secondary squad outscored the Thunder’s by 19-3 at the half.

While Toppin and T. J. McConnell were putting in work off-the-bench, OKC had only their main scorers, Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, to rely on for a combined 31 points at the half.

League MVP Gilgeous-Alexander finished the night with a dim 21 points in 31 minutes of play. The star also had the most turnovers for the Thunder with 8 total, which was higher than his field goals made of 7-of-15.

“The way I see it is we sucked tonight,” said Gilgeous-Alexander.

Following his 40-point explosion, Williams was limited to just 16 points as they failed to finish the job on the road.

The OKC Thunder now only have one final chance in this series at their first-ever championship before the loud Oklahoma home crowd in Game 7 at Paycom Center on June 23.

Read more: Pacers vs Thunder: a matchup of contrasting point guards, clashing play styles

The post Pacers blow past Thunder to force winner-take-all Game 7 appeared first on CoverStory.