Las Vegas Edition

PESO- DOLLAR EXCHANGE RATE

VOL. I, NO. 10

Macalintal says polls can be deferred by 15 days

under election code

MANILA, May 4 – Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said Tuesday the nationwide balloting scheduled on May 10 could be deferred by 15 days as stated in Sec. 5 of the Omnibus Elec- tion Code. He said that moving the elections to a later date could be done to allow the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to prepare for manual count- ing in case the poll body fails to resolve problems arising from the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines. In some areas of the country where mock polls were held last week, PCOS machines rejected ballots while in other places, transmission problems were encountered.

Macalintal, in an interview over NBN 4, explained that deferring the poll date would erase public fears of a failure of election. (PNA) ■

s44.80

MIDWEEK, WED. - FRI., MAY 05 - 07, 2010

AS OF 05/04/10

BY ROD MIJARES

BALITA MEDIA NEWS SERVICE

FLOYD MAYWEATHER, JR. kept his undefeated record (41-0, 25 KO) by beating Shane Mosley (46-6, 39KO) in their non- title welterweight “Who R U Picking?” bout via a 12 round unanimous decision last Saturday, May 1 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

This was made sweeter by the fact that Mayweather was almost knocked down in the second round as he was at the receiv- ing end of a right punch on the chin that wobbled his knees and put him on a defen- sive mode. Mosley followed this up with another solid right punch and a series of punches that stunned Mayweather that sent the arena reverberating from the chants of the near sold-old crowd, urging Mosley to finish Mayweather off. But Mayweather

See MAYWEATHER, page 16

INSIDE

Back Gibo, Erap urged.....................Page 6 Obama: America will not be ‘terrorized’..........................................Page 6 Women and men process salt differently..........................................Page 21 NEDA discusses investment prospects with Chinese Congress offi cials......Page 23 Mayweather says no Pacquiao fi ght without blood tests.......................................Page 25 Bong at Lani....................................Page 28

Mayweather dominates Mosley

FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR. appears to have knocked Shane Mosley in this bit of action on

his way to a unanimous decision over the aging erstwhile welterweight champion.

PHOTO: BENJIE UY/BNS

It’s still anybody’s guess on May 10 winner – Palace

MANILA, MAY 4 – With only a week before the elections, Malacañang today said it is still anybody’s guess as to who will win in the country’s first automated national elections, especially the presi- dential race.

‘Gloria Estefan: The musical’ to hit Vegas

LAS VEGAS, May 3, 2010 (AFP) – Latin pop queen Gloria Estefan is planning to stage an autobiographical musical in Las Vegas scored by her hits, multiple sources told AFP on Monday. The show, which is being backed by legendary Vegas show producer Bernie Yuman, would take up residence at the Tropicana Hotel-Casino and would not feature performances by the 52-year-old singer herself, the sources indicated. Estefan, who hinted at “something big

in Vegas” on Friday during an acceptance for a star on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars, later said she was planning “one of the most exciting things” of her career. “I never should have opened that can of worms,” said Estefan, the Cuban-born seven-time Grammy Award winner who has sold more than 90 million albums worldwide. “I can’t talk about it right now but it’s going to be really different, that’s all I

can say.” Yuman and Tropicana hotel spokes- woman Brandie Feuer would not confirm or deny the report over the weekend. But sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed the production to AFP. No timeline was available for the production. If it comes to pass, the Estefan show will take up residence on the Las Vegas Strip in a legendary theater where the famed showgirl revue Folies Bergere ended a 49-year run in 2008. Estefan’s biggest hits include “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,” “Turn The Beat Around” and “Anything For You.” Yuman, best known for producing the Siegfried & Roy show, has a history with Estefan and her husband.

He has brokered deals for the singer’s many appearances at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace and, more recently, was involved in helping the couple buy a stake in the Miami Dolphins football team. ■

Tourists in RP’s top destinations grew by 6.64% in FQ

MANILA, May 4 (PNA) – The Department of Tourism (DOT) has all the reasons to be upbeat in its campaign to attract foreign visitors to the country. Despite the global economic downturn, tourist volume in the country’s top des- tinations during the first quarter 2010 posted a 6.64 percent growth with foreign tourist arrivals increasing faster at 7.89 percent vis-à-vis domestic tourism which increased by 6.09 percent during the same period.

Metro Manila is the leading destination with total number of tourists growing by 37.10 percent to 437.170.

Foreign and domestic tourists significantly expanded as more international and local meetings, congresses and conventions as well as special events were organized by major companies and organizations in the Metropolis. ■

Press Undersecretary Rogelio Peyuan said during a Malacañang media briefing that the next president may not necessar- ily come from the frontrunners in surveys, which he said are limited in scope and “not reflective of the people’s will.” “Elections give us a lot of surprises,” Peyuan said as he cited the case of ad- ministration candidate Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr., who has not fared well in the surveys, but who won in a surprising twist of events the other day, the endorsement of the religious group Kingdom of Christ founded by Pastor Apollo Quiboloy. The

group is said to have five to six million followers nationwide.

Also not to be ignored, Peyuan said, are the heavy turnouts of supporters during the campaign sorties of the other presidential candidates.

Peyuan said he expects other influential groups with substantial following may likely announce their own endorsements of preferred candidates before May 10. Peyuan said figures from the Commis- sion on Elections showed there are some 50 million registered voters all over the country, out of a population of about 92 to 94 million.

Citing elections trends, Peyuan said he expects a mortality rate of about 11 percent to 12 percent, meaning that those covered in the ratio forecast will not exercise their right of suffrage come May 10. (PNA) ■

PHILIPPINE Ambassador to the United States Willy Gaa (third from left) cut the ceremonial ribbon formally opening the Medical Tourism Experts, Inc. (MTE) offi ces and facility in Las Vegas last Saturday, April 24. He is assisted by (from L) Rolando Malig, MTE chief executive offi cer & president, PHILCONGEN Tourism director Annie Cuevas and Consul Rene de los Santos of PHILCONGEN-San Francisco.

U.S. sounds alarm bells over Macau triads

BY PETER BRIEGER

HONG KONG, May 2, 2010 (AFP) – U.S. regulators are sounding alarm bells over Macau’s triads but analysts say casinos around the world have always attracted organised crime, not just in the Asian gambling hub.

The spotlight fell on the former Portu- guese colony when New Jersey’s gaming watchdog released a previously confiden- tial report that alleged gambling tycoon Stanley Ho has links with Macau’s criminal underworld.

The report noted that “numerous gov-

ernmental and regulatory agencies have referenced Stanley Ho’s associations with criminal enterprises, including permitting organized crime to operate and thrive within his casinos”.

The tycoon, who controlled Macau’s gaming sector for four decades until it opened to foreign competition in 2002, rejected those claims.

“There is absolutely no foundation in any suggestion that he is associated with organized crime or triads,” Ho’s Shun Tak

See MACAU, page 16

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