Philippines

After more than a year in limbo, the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States is “back in full force.” It took only a visit from US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III for President Duterte to drop his threats to scrap the military pact ratified in 1999 that governs the presence of US troops in the country. “Last night, after the meeting between Secretary Austin and the President in Malacaang, the President decided to recall or retract the termination letter [on] the VFA,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a press briefing by the two defense chiefs on Friday. “The VFA is in full force again. There is no letter of termination pe…

Keep on reading: After Duterte threats, VFA back

After almost four decades—or 39 years to be exact—in the biz, Martin Nievera still vows to keep singing his heart out. In celebration of his show biz anniversary, he had a concert at Sycuan Casino Resort in California. Due to the pandemic, it’s been quite a while since Mart performed live in a jampacked venue, that’s why his anniversary concert was all the more significant to him and his fans. He ought to give a crash course on staying power. Singers come and go, but the Concert King won’t ever be dethroned. As his 40th year in the biz beckons, he could very well be called Martin New-vera because he will keep creating music like it’s his first time. Here’s my chat with M…

Keep on reading: Martin on how girlfriend Anj feels about his closeness to Pops

MNILA, Philippines–With the league’s COVID-19 protocols getting in the way of its bid to be cohesive, TNT on Friday turned to its defense to take down Rain or Shine, 79-69, and pick up where it left off in the PBA Philippine Cup. “We’re nowhere near the kind of fluidity we want with the break that we were forced to take and then with Mikey (Williams) just having three practices with us,” said coach Chot Reyes “We knew we were going to struggle offensively, but we told ourselves, let’s just figure out a way to make stops and win this game with our defense,” he added. Indeed, TNT was far from the potent scoring machine it is known for during the contest. Main guns Troy Rosari…

Keep on reading: PBA: Fresh from quarantine, TNT takes down Rain or Shine

MANILA, Philippines—Luke Gebbie concluded his Tokyo Olympics campaign, failing to qualify for the semifinals of the men’s 50-meter freestyle swimming competition at Tokyo Aquatics Center Friday. Though Gebbie topped Heat 5, his time of 22.84 seconds wasn’t enough to crack the top 16. He finished 41st overall in the heats. The United States’ Caeleb Dressel, who already owns the gold medals in the men’s 100-meter freestyle and men’s 4×100 freestyle relay, topped the heats with a time of 21.32 seconds. France’s Florent Manaudou came in at second 21.65 seconds with Greece’s Kristian Gkolomeev was at third at 21.66 seconds. The men’s 50-meter freestyle is Gebbie’s final even…

Keep on reading: No 50m freestyle semis for Luke Gebbie as Tokyo campaign ends