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Police note zero-crime rate during Pacquiao boutBy admin
MANILA, Philippines - As expected, no crime incident was reported throughout the archipelago during the time that Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao fought against Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday night US time (Sunday noon in Manila). National police spokesman Sr. Supt. Nicanor Bartolome said that although bus robbers struck at EDSA, it happened after the 12-round bout and the declaration of Pacquiao as the new World Boxing Council (WBC) super featherweight champion. "Throughout the regions, there was zero-crime rate during the actual fight of Pacquiao. Although in the National Capital Region, robbers stormed a passenger bus between 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m.," Bartolome said. Pacquiaos fight was witnessed in the country through cable television direct from Las Vegas, Nevada starting 11:25 a.m. up to 12:13 p.m. Manila time. His victory was announced within the next three minutes. Bartolome said that despite the robbery incident, clearly "the [overall] situation was very good." Bartolome said robbed was a Genesis Bus, which was plying EDSA from Pasay to Bataan. The incident happened while bus was cruising from Mandaluyong City to Kamias in Quezon City. The suspects escaped after pulling off the heist.By Admin

LAS VEGAS Nacho Beristain's frustration made sense. For the second time in 15 days, the venerated Mexican trainer's fighting Marquez brothers had lost a close decision in a scintillating fight and it had to hurt.

What didn't make sense to most observers at Juan Manuel Marquez's split-decision loss to Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night was the way Beristain and the rest of Marquez's camp inexplicably blamed corrupt judging for a defeat by the narrowest margin: one point on one judge's scorecard.

"It is embarrassing now with what is happening with boxing," Beristain said, using the Spanish word for "disgrace." Two weeks earlier, he was in Rafael Marquez's corner during his loss to Israel Vazquez in a similarly thrilling bout.

But anybody at the Mandalay Bay Events Center who watched the bout without bias would have to disagree with Beristain. The WBC super featherweight title bout is sure to be remembered as one of the year's most entertaining fights, from Pacquiao's third-round knockdown to Marquez's fantastic final rounds, and a career peak for both courageous competitors.

By the 12th round, it was close enough to go either way and that's precisely why it was so great.

"The fight was very close, but I thought the knockdown was the difference," said Pacquiao's trainer, Freddie Roach. "If it would have gone the other way, I would have accepted it, because with a fight like that, the difference is almost nothing. In that sense, it doesn't really matter who got the decision. Both guys fought a great fight, and they should both come out like winners."

Marquez was knocked down by Pacquiao's crushing left hook in the third round, and the point he lost for that fall on judge Tom Miller's scorecard made the difference in Miller's 114-113 decision for Pacquiao. If Marquez had stayed upright, the fight would have ended in another draw, and Marquez would have kept his WBC title.

Both Pacquiao and Marquez wore the consequences of their bout afterward, when both showed up late to their news conference after getting stitches. Pacquiao hid behind dark sunglasses and stooped with pain from Marquez's body shots, while Marquez's face was puffy and gashed.

While Pacquiao was his usual conciliatory self after earning his $3 million (1.9 million) payday, Marquez still was in the mood to fight.

"The judges don't know what they're looking at," said Marquez, who made more than $1 million. "I was doing everything possible to win the fight. They took a victory that I won clearly."

The post-fight posturing said more about the complainers' biases than any actual problem with judging, by nature an inexact science with thousands of variables. The judges, the corners, the promoters and media observers all came to several different conclusions about the bout in both fighters' favor and even a few draws.

"One judge had it for Marquez, one had it the other way for Pacquiao, and another judge had it close for Pacquiao, one point," said Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum. "The media was all over the place, some for one guy and some for the other. Grow up and be a man and accept the judges' decision. ... There's one thing everyone can agree on, and that's that it was a damn close fight. There was no skullduggery, nothing like that."

Marquez's camp called for an immediate rematch, with Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer offering a $6 million (3.9 million) guarantee to Pacquiao for the fight. Arum, still stinging from the less-than-stellar revenue from Kelly Pavlik's immediate rematch with Jermain Taylor in February, said the fight probably will happen eventually, but only after there's time to "put a little air under it."

"Nobody is saying wait another four years for it, but you've got to give it some time," Arum said.

If Pacquiao's cuts and abrasions heal on schedule, Roach said he should be able to fight WBC lightweight champion David Diaz on June 28 in a bid for a title in Pacquiao's fifth weight class. Arum acknowledged a rematch with Marquez could occur as soon as the fall in Macau, but refused Schaefer's attempts to get a firm date.Foster Child wins Signis Award in SpainBy Admin

In the ninth edition of the Palmas de Gran Canaria Film Festival in Spain, a hearwarming Filipino film about foster children bagged The Signis Award given out by the World Catholic Association of Communication.

Brillante "Dante" Mendoza's Foster Child earned its fourth international award during the said film fest, which took place in Spain last March 8.

The official website of the said film fest described Foster Child as "the story, fictitious and documentary, of a foster mother who takes care of abandoned children in the outskirts of Manila. It follows the life of John-John, a three-year old who is to be adopted by an American family."

The other international awards bagged by Foster Child include the Best Actress Award for Cherry Pie Picache in New Delhi, the Special Jury prize in Kazakshtan and Best Feature Film in the Paris Environmental Film Festival.

This indie film also stars Eugene Domingo, Jiro Manio, Dan Alvaro, Alwyn Uytingco, and Kier Segundo. The script was written by Ralston Joel Jover for Seiko Films.

In 2006, Brillante's Masahista was also a part of the retrospective and it won the Signis Award in Brisbane.

Director Raya Martin was with me during the award presentation. Martin presented his films Autohystoria (A Short Film About the Indio Nacional), The Island of the End of the World and Track Projections in the Hot Spot section which focused on the Philippines, Malaysia and Romania.

Other Filipino directors who attended the Palmas de Gran Canaria Film Festival in Spain include Lav Diaz and Khavn dela Cruz. Their films Death in the Land of the Encantos and Squatterpunk, respectively, were part of this Spanish film fest.

Auraeus Solito's Pisay was also shown in Spain but the filmmaker was unable to attend. In 2006, Auraeus's first feature film won the Golden Lady Harimaguada award.

Foster Child will compete at the Cinema Novo Film Festival in Stutges, Belgium and in Durban, South Africa in July. It will also screen as part of the New Directors, New Films in New York on April 3 and 4 at the Lincoln Center and Museum of Modern Art.