attractiontome

Mqoiwk

Ten high school teachers in Pampanga were allegedly duped by a man who posed as an employee of ABS-CBN and sold them tickets to watch and participate in the noontime game show “Wowowee”.

The victims were identified as Solina Dizon, Marina Nucup, Marilou Timoteo, Lucila Pineda, Irma Reyes, Edwin Lapid, Remedios Borja, Aileen Guinto, Juneth Salas and Amante Del Val, all teachers of Pampanga High School in San Fernando City.

The victims sought help from authorities who immediately launched a manhunt for the suspect identified as Larry Sibug, alias “Boy” of Purok 4, Barangay Quebiawan.

"The money can't be returned to the victims, the suspect will be charged with robbery," said Police Officer 3 Armando Arceo.

Sibug, 20, did not resist arrest and named a certain Frederick Vi�±as, reportedly a staff of “Wowowee”, as the person behind the operation.

The suspect said Vi�±as provided him with all the papers, including audience and gate passes that he showed to the victims.

Reports said Sibug went to the school on Friday and pretended to be looking for Dizon and Nucup which were on his list as studio players.

Other teachers volunteered to join but were asked to pay P150 each for the gate and audience passes.

The teachers were supposed to play Monday as promised by the suspect. Sibug, however, never showed up on the designated place and time, prompting the victims to file a complaint with the police.

According to Nucup, the suspect told them that they would be fetched by a van for the ride to the studio.

The suspect even told them that they can participate as contestants in the “Pera o Bayong” portion, the victim said.

Authorities, meanwhile, said that the suspect was involved in snatching and carjacking incidents in the past. With reports from Mia Reyes, ABS-CBN Regional Network Group and Jess Malabanan

Eovdjr

President Arroyo left the Department of Justice satisfied on Wednesday after learning that criminal charges have been recommended against seven rice traders who allegedly violated retailing regulations of the National Food Authority .

In an 11-page decision, the DOJ recommended the filing of charges against Romeo Mariano Jr., Eleonor Rodriguez, Francisco Dio, Arnel Lagonoy, Mary Anne Magno, Jonel Vince Centeno and Delia Barreda.

The DOJ, however, dismissed the complaints filed by the National Bureau of Investigation against six other suspects for insufficient evidence.

The complaints were filed against the 13 rice traders for allegedly diverting NFA rice to the commercial market.

DOJ Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the department recommended the filing of charges against the seven suspects despite their defense that they have existing contracts or undertakings with the NFA.

"In our findings, the supposed undertaking was no longer applicable. You cannot have an undertaking in one transaction to use it for the next 50 years," Gonzalez said.

Mrs. Arroyo, meanwhile, commended DOJ for issuing the resolution. Mrs. Arroyo uttered the word "good" repeatedly after learning of the progress in the cases.

The President's visit took only five minutes. She told reporters that she would stay at the DOJ office for a longer time if she was not satisfied.

Mrs. Arroyo had repeatedly visited the DOJ office to check on the status of the complaints filed against the rice traders.

She went to the DOJ last Thursday to personally witness the preliminary investigation on the cases of the 13 rice traders.

Mrs. Arroyo ordered the DOJ to lead the government's campaign against rice hoarders. The government attributed the fake rice crisis in the country to rice hoarding activities of erring NFA distributors. With a report from Marieton Pacheco, ABS-CBN News

Mqoiwk

Cameras will start rolling for "Iisa Pa Lamang", the highly anticipated teleserye starring Gabby Concepcion and Claudine Barretto on ABS-CBN. This Monday, May 19th is their first taping day with the entire cast.
This is the start of regular television appearances for Concepcion after his guest stint in an episode of "Maalaala Mo Kaya".
"Iisa Pa Lamang" can be considered as one of the most ambitious projects of ABS-CBN. Some of the most talented actors and actresses from different generations will team-up in this teleserye.
Aside from Concepcion and Barretto, "Iisa Pa Lamang" also stars Diether Ocampo, Angelica Panganiban, Cherie Pie Picache, Laurice Guillen, Matt Evans, Melissa Ricks and Ms. Susan Roces. Asia's Nightingale Lani Misalucha will sing the programs theme song.
"Iisa Pa Lamang" will be directed by Ruel S. Bayani and Manny Palo.
Dont miss other announcements regarding ABS-CBNs "Iisa Pa Lamang", the most awaited teleserye on Philippine television, right here on

Ibplab

The Philippine Star
Letran tests College of St. Benildes mettle as the Knights take on the pacesetting Blazers in the 84th NCAA mens basketball tournament at the Astrodome in Pasay City.
Out to improve their last place finish last season, the Blazers hurdled their first two assignments �“ the Philippine Christian U Dolphins and the Perpetual Help Altas �“ to emerge the surprise solo leaders in the early going of the elims.
"Were not going to get confident especially against strong teams like Letran," said St. Benilde coach Gie Abanilla.
The Blazers will indeed need to double their effort against the Knights, runners-up last year, who opened their campaign with an emphatic 83-69 rout of the Jose Rizal Bombers last Saturday at the Big Dome.
"It will be a close match because both of us have similar defensive styles, we both use match-up defense," Letran mentor Louis Alas said.
The Blazers actually go into the game oozing with confidence as they pulled one over the Knights in one of the pre-season tournaments last summer.
"We defeated them in one pre-season tournament and they were surprised we played that good," said Abanilla. "But the pre-season is way different from the NCAA."
Winless Jose Rizal and San Sebastian , meanwhile, try to barge into the win column as they collide at 4 p.m.

Xyaddm

A bank employee who was in critical condition after he was shot in the head during a deadly robbery in Cabuyao, Laguna died in the hospital two days after the bloody incident, the head of the security department of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation confirmed Sunday.
In a phone interview with ABS-CBN News, Edwin Ermita said Isagani Pastor was declared dead by his attending physician at St. James Hospital in Laguna.
Pastor was the lone survivor in the robbery-murder incident that killed eight RCBC employees and a depositor during Fridays deadly bank heist at the Science Park in Cabuyao. With Pastors death, investigators are left with only one witness, the banks female courier, in the robbery.
The other victims were identified as Roberto Castro, Ferdinand Antonio, Teresita Umayam, Noel Miranda, Juan Layva, Bernardo Lapaan Jr., Baltazar Aguilando, Olga Gonzales and Benjamin Nicdao. The bodies of the seven victims, including bank manager Castro, were discovered inside the building while the body of security guard Aguilando was found outside.
All 10 victims were killed when still unidentified suspects robbed the RCBC branch at Science Park Friday morning. Police believed that only one of the still undetermined number of assailants shot the victims.
Investigators said the robbers were already inside the RCBC when the employees reported for work Friday morning. Police said the robbers shot the employees in the head, which gave investigators suspicions that the victims knew the assailants.
The assailants also destroyed the banks cameras and alarms.
Investigators recovered 17 empty shells from .45 pistol and some live ammunitions from M16 from the crime scene. The suspects also left about P3 million strewn on the floor of the bank as they escaped, police said.
Police are holding in custody two security guards for their possible role in the deadly robbery in Laguna. The security guards, however, denied that they were involved in the robbery.
Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., Laguna provincial police director, said the two "are not considered suspects yet but they are witnesses."
RCBC officials, national and local officials, families and friends of victims of the bloody killings and robbery have offered a P2-million reward for any information leading to the suspects' arrest.
President Arroyo has also ordered Philippine National Police chief Avelino Razon Jr. to "investigate the matter thoroughly,"
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Arroyo was "fuming" and "dismayed" over the brazenness of the attack on the victims. "It was definitely a work of the devil."
Razon has created "Task Force RCBC" to go after the perpetrators.

Amizth

LOS ANGELES - Hugh Jackman, who plays the mutant Wolverine in the "X-Men" action movies, is pairing with Virgin Comics to create a comic book series called "Nowhere Man," Virgin said on Tuesday.
The series, a futuristic science-fiction odyssey set in an era when men have traded their privacy for safety and security, will be written by Jackman and Marc Guggenheim, who wrote Marvel comics' "Wolverine" series and "Amazing Spider-Man."
Australian actor Jackman said in a statement that the hope is "Nowhere Man" will be popular enough that it might later become a movie.
"X-Men" and other film series based on comic book characters such as "Spider-Man" and "Batman" have been among Hollywood's biggest hits for more than a decade.
Three films starting with "X-Men" in 2000 and including "X2: X-Men United" and "X-Men: The Last Stand" have sold more than $1.1 billion worth of tickets at worldwide box offices.
A fourth film, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," also featuring Jackman, is set to open in theaters next year.

Ibplab

The Philippine National Police on Wednesday filed multiple homicide charges against six more suspects, two of them allegedly silenced by policemen, in the bloody robbery-slay at the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. branch in Cabuyao, Laguna on May 16.
Senior Superintendent Aaron Fidel, commander of Task Force RCBC, identified the respondents as Pepito Magsino, Montano Tolentino, Eugenio Hilario, Jake Javier, Jun Alvarez and Crisanto Alvarez.
The charges were filed at the Provincial Prosecutor's Office in Laguna.
Crisanto Alvarez was the heist's self-confessed lookout who surrendered to policemen. Police had said that he could be used as a state witness for the robbery-homicide case.
Magsino and Tolentino, meanwhile, were killed by policemen in supposed shootouts. The Commission on Human Rights had said that the two could have been victims of summary executions.
The commission said initial forensic examination conducted by its team showed that the site where the two were killed in Tanauan City had no traces of evidence that could prove there was a shootout.
Javier, meanwhile, is the son of Vivencio Javier, former village chief of Tanauan, who was also allegedly summarily executed by Task Force RCBC members inside his home.
Fidel said task force members are now hunting down the younger Javier, Jun Alvarez and Hilario.
Fidel said Crisanto was included in the charge sheet because of his confession. The other five were charge based on Cristanto's testimony, he added.
Crisanto had revealed that Magsino and Tolentino recruited him for the RCBC heist, where 10 people were brutally killed.
On May 30, the PNP initially filed robbery and multiple murder charges against five suspects identified as Joel de la Cruz, Jesus Narvaez, Ricardo Gomolon, Allan Bago and Danilo Letoquit.
De la Cruz, Narvaez and Gomolon had been arrested by the police and detained at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City. Bago and Letoquit remain at-large.

Sdlkoz

At least P4 million worth of property was destroyed by fire that razed eight classrooms at the Iloilo State College of Fisheries in Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo province before dawn Wednesday.

Security guards said a loud explosion was heard before fire broke out after midnight in one of the rooms at the College of Information Communication and Technology compound.

It took an hour before firefighters pacified the fire. Reports said the Barotac Nuevo firetrucks that were first on the scene ran out of water.

A total of eight rooms were gutted by the fire while the mini-hostel and old practice house of the school were also damaged. Air-condition units and computers were also destroyed.

Arson investigators estimated the fire's damage at P4 million. Maria Ausente ABS-CBN Iloilo

Cjnzak

CHICAGO -- It started as a lark. Warren Werbitt, founder and chief executive of Montreal-based printing company Pazazz, thought it would be fun to send an irreverent video bemoaning the public perception of the printing industry as an outdated business to a small group of clients, suppliers and friends.

Casting himself as the "print fanatic",Werbitt and members of his staff spent 12 hours on a cold October day last year in the parking lot of his company's printing plant shooting a video eventually called "Printing's Alive." The spot is a punchy defense of everything Werbitt reveres about the industry with a surprisingly touching and hilarious conclusion.

Dressed in a navy printer's shirt with the name tag "Warren" sewn on, Werbitt delivers a standup routine, with lines like "You think I don't see people roll their eyes at a party when I tell them what I do?" After favorable feedback, the company launched the video on YouTube , where it's been viewed over 142,000 times and is now linked to countless other websites.

Werbitt, 41, has become somewhat of a celebrity in printing circles, dispensing his autograph at trade shows and fielding requests from competitors for use of the video. Big wigs in the printing industry have called to congratulate him and bloggers have written about the campaign.

"It put Pazazz printing and myself on the map," says Werbitt. The video "Googleized" what many still regard as a stodgy industry, he expects. "Everybody is calling me up and saying, 'Hey, you got it right'."

Marketers at small to mid-sized companies, often restricted by tight marketing budgets, are paying close attention to this kind of success. As channels for video distribution build - Yahoo photo sharing site Flickr recently began offering 90-second video sharing for its users - entrepreneurial businesses are seeing an affordable means to build some brand buzz.

"Small businesses are realizing that they can use online video to reach new customers," says Aaron Zamost, a spokesman for the San Mateo, California-based video distribution portal, which is owned by Google.
Sometimes these video promotions become a small company's sole means of brand building; more often they are worked into broader marketing efforts along with traditional advertising. Regardless of the strategy, the most talked-about videos appear to share some common traits: they're inexpensively shot; they're authentic and feature real people who often work for the company; they're funny; and most important, they don't promote products or services outright. "No one has ever forwarded a TV commercial to a friend," says Andy Sernovitz, author of "Word of Mouth Marketing, How Smart Companies Get People Talking." "The thing you're looking for is for someone to look at your video and say, 'You should see this'." Joel Warady, an Evanston, Illinois-based marketing consultant who created viral marketing campaigns for oral hygiene product TUNG brush, agrees. "People who try to sell on a video or who try to convince people to buy a product on a video are making a big mistake because that video will never become viral," he says. "That's the job of the Web site, not the video." It doesn't mean there shouldn't be any references to the brand within the video. The Pazazz video uses a subtle company reference by way of a logo on Werbitt's shirt. The video concludes with a slide with the company's website address. Comedy is often the driving element and it plays particularly well to the spirit of small businesses, where everyone learns to roll with the punches on a daily basis. "Humor and entrepreneurs should go hand in hand," says Siamak Taghaddos, a cofounder of Needham, Massachusetts-based GotVmail, which offers a virtual phone system, including 800 numbers and call forwarding, for entrepreneurs. GotVmail recently enlisted actor Gary Busey, best known for his role in "Lethal Weapon", for a series of short humorous Internet videos addressing the topic of entrepreneurship. The videos, part of a broader marketing campaign, will launch in mid-July. Warady, Sernovitz and other marketers don't believe companies need to spend a lot to deliver a successful campaign. In fact, one of the most revered viral marketing efforts to date was put together with a handheld camera for $50 by a small company in Orem, Utah, that makes high-quality drink blenders for commercial and home use. It was there at privately held K-Tec Inc. that the marketing department took note of founder Tom Dickson's unusual means for testing the strength of the company's commercial-grade Blendtec blenders, including his attempts to make smoothies out of two-by-two boards and other unlikely materials. Today the Will It Blend videos featuring Dickson have become legendary. Wearing a white lab coat and safety glasses, Dickson, an engineer by training, blends everything from golf balls to iPhones. The ensuing publicity "has generated more for us than any advertising dollars we could spend," says Jeff Robe, K-Tec's marketing director. Since October, 2006, K-Tec has produced more than 70 of the low-budget videos. Internet sales of Blendtec blenders are up 500 percent since the first video launched. K-Tec has even been contracted by other companies for its viral marketing expertise. "We aren't advertising," says Robe. "We don't have a large budget."

Mqoiwk

Reuters
WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund should sharpen its focus on currency exchange rate surveillance, challenges posed by sovereign wealth funds and supporting global financial market stability, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Saturday.
Paulson said the IMF, in implementing a new surveillance regime, must use clear analytics and make strong judgments on exchange rate policies, "particularly where currencies are not set by market forces in deep, liquid markets."
"The IMF's implementation of the new surveillance decision is still a work in progress," he said in prepared remarks before the IMF's steering committee in Washington. "Strengthened implementation of this core mandate is integral to IMF legitimacy; insufficient progress would put success of the broader modernization effort at risk."
Paulson also repeated his long-standing call for continued progress in reforming the IMF's governing structure, including a smaller, more streamlined board, with gradual reductions to 20 seats from 24 currently by 2012.
"The board is simply too costly and a smaller and more streamlined board could focus more strategically on the management of the institution and less on the voluminous crush of papers," he said.
Paulson welcomed the IMF's work on development of a set of best practices for rapidly growing sovereign wealth funds, and said it was important for the fund to work with both sovereign wealth fund countries and countries receiving the investments.
The U.S. Treasury secretary also said he supported the recommendations of the multi-nation Financial Stability Forum, unveiled on Friday, to improve risk management, accounting, valuation of structured products, credit rating agencies and other responses to stress in the financial system.
As a member of the FSF, the IMF should report information on financial stability risks to the forum and then incorporate the FSF's conclusions into its currency surveillance work, Paulson said.
Regarding the global economy, Paulson said 2008 will be "more difficult" than recent years, with "headwinds coming from adjustments in the U.S. economy, financial market stress, and higher than desirable inflation."
He said he was confident about long term U.S. prospects and the resilience of capital markets, but "we must expect more bumps in the road."
"It took time to build up recent excesses and it will take time to work through the consequences," Paulson said.

Shlhvu

Reuters NEW YORK - A New York man who says he was denied a seat on a five-hour jetBlue flight and was instead told to "hang out" in the plane's bathroom has sued the airline for $2 million, saying he suffered "extreme humiliation." When Gokhan Mutlu arrived to check in for a jetBlue flight from San Diego to New York in February he was told the flight was full, according to the lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court. But Mutlu was allowed to board after a jetBlue flight attendant agreed to give up her seat and travel in an airline employee "jump seat." It was not clear in the lawsuit whether the flight attendant was working. However 90 minutes into the flight, the pilot told Mutlu the flight attendant was uncomfortable and he would have to give up his seat and "hang out" in the bathroom for the remainder of the flight, the lawsuit said. The pilot "became angry at reluctance" and said Mutlu "should be grateful for being onboard," the lawsuit said. When Mutlu volunteered to sit in the "jump seat," he was told it was reserved for airline personnel. At one point, the airplane experienced turbulence and Mutlu sat on the toilet seat without a seat belt, causing him "tremendous fear," the lawsuit said. JetBlue was not immediately available for comment.

Mqoiwk

Employees at the Court of Appeals building in Manila were evacuated after an employee received a bomb threat Monday. A radio dzMM report said the unidentified employee got the call around 8 a.m., informing the appellate court that there is a bomb planted in one of the rooms of the building. Employees were immediately ordered out of the building as a bomb squad of the Manila Police District arrived to check it for bombs.

Lbxspk

By MANLY UGALDE
Business Mirror Correspondent

Legazpi City�”An alert driver carrying some P10 million in payroll money foiled the holdup attempt of three men by ramming their motorcycle, forcing them to flee.

The driver was onboard a bulletproof van when the incident happened.

A police report said that the armed men, riding in motorcycle, pointed their guns at driver Sonny Conde of Sunwest Construction Development Corp. and ordered him to stop.

Instead, Conde sped off, prompting the gunmen to shoot the vehicle.

Just before he reached the gate of his employers office at barangay Bonot, this city, Conde made a sudden U-turn and rammed the motorcycle of the men who were firing at him.

Two of the gunmen were injured while the third man, who was thrown off the motorcycle, commandeered a passing tricycle, dumped his two companions inside and fled.

Chief Insp. Rolando Esguerra, Legazpi City police chief, said one of the injured suspects had a broken leg.

Esguerra said Conde was driving a bulletproof Chevrolet Tahoe van when the incident happened early afternoon on Friday.

Police investigators recovered the gunmens motorcycle with license plate P2025 and a cellular telephone left on the crime scene.

The telephone contained the contact numbers of several persons living as far away as Metro Manila, and Rizal province, prompting the police to suspect that the gunmen were members of a bigger crime group that operates in other parts of Luzon.

Mayor Noel Rosal of this city commended Conde for his presence of mind that foiled the holdup attempt.

The local police are still monitoring all hospitals and clinics in this city and nearby towns to determine if the injured gunmen sought medical help.

Esguerra said the tricycle was found abandoned in barangay Pawa, some two kilometers away from the scene.

Witnesses said the gunmen boarded a waiting green Toyota Revo in their escape.

Pivzuk

Reuters

CHICAGO - Presidential foes John McCain and Barack Obama clashed on Monday over the US role in Iraq, with McCain questioning his rival's judgment as Obama pushed for a new strategy to boost troop levels in Afghanistan.

Obama, a Democratic senator from Illinois and early war critic, defended his opposition to President George W. Bush's troop increases in Iraq and repeated his call for a 16-month timetable for withdrawing combat troops.

His campaign said he will make a speech on Iraq on Tuesday, before a scheduled visit to Iraq and Afghanistan sometime within the next few weeks.

"Ending the war is essential to meeting our broader strategic goals, starting in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the Taliban is resurgent and Al Qaeda has a safe haven," Obama said in a column in The New York Times.

Obama proposed adding two US combat brigades, about 9,000 troops, to the 36,000 troops already in Afghanistan.

"Iraq is not the central front in the war on terrorism, and it never has been," he said. "I would not hold our military, our resources and our foreign policy hostage to a misguided desire to maintain permanent bases in Iraq."

McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona and advocate of the war, criticized Obama's stance on Iraq, particularly his opposition to the surge of US troops there.

"Senator Obama was wrong when he said it wouldn't succeed, he was wrong when he said we've lost the war and he is wrong today when he says that Iraq is not the central battleground," McCain said in Phoenix.

The future of Iraq promises to be a central issue in the November election battle for the White House between McCain and Obama. Most public opinion polls rank it as the second most important issue, behind the economy, for US voters.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll released on Monday found Americans evenly divided on the candidates' positions on Iraq with 47 percent of those polled saying they trust McCain more to handle the war, and 45 percent having more faith in Obama.

Obama's visit to Iraq, where he has only been once, and Afghanistan follows repeated criticism from McCain that he should visit the area and talk to commanders.

'He was wrong'

McCain said he also would consider putting more troops in Afghanistan. "But the major point here is that Senator Obama refuses to acknowledge that he was wrong," McCain said.

Obama welcomed Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's suggestion to include a timetable for withdrawal of US troops in an agreement under discussion that would set the terms for the American military presence in Iraq.

He criticized McCain for refusing to embrace it.

"This is not a strategy for success -- it is a strategy for staying that runs contrary to the will of the Iraqi people, the American people and the security interests of the United States," Obama said.

"That is why, on my first day in office, I would give the military a new mission: ending this war," he said.

No dates have been disclosed for Obama's expected visit to Iraq and Afghanistan because of security concerns.

Accompanying Obama on the trip will be Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, a Democrat, and Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican. Both have military backgrounds and have been vocal critics of the Iraq war.

Obama's speech on Tuesday will focus on US concerns in Iraq and the region, his campaign said.

Obama said this month he might refine his plan to bring combat troops home within 16 months of taking office if conditions on the ground changed.

McCain, a Vietnam War hero, has attacked Obama as too inexperienced to serve as US commander in chief. He said Obama was shifting positions on Iraq.

"We are winning," he said, adding he looked forward to hearing from Obama about his meeting with Gen. David Petraeus, US commander in Iraq.

"And if we still adopt Sen. Obama's proposal for a set date for withdrawal, this very fragile success that we have achieved will be jeopardized. That's what Gen. Petraeus says, and that's what Osama bin Laden says," McCain said.

Nxzlfx

A radio commentator of Radio Mindanao Network was placed in critical condition after being shot thrice by motorcycle-riding gunmen Monday afternoon in General Santos City.

Dennis Cuesta suffered a gunshot wound to the back of his left ear, another to his shoulder and another to the foot.

Kritikal ang kalagayan niya..isang tama sa ulo, sa braso at sa bandang paa, said Al Josol, RMN station manager in the city.

Police said the two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire as Cuesta was alighting from a multi-cab vehicle past 4 a.m.

Josol and his companions came from a promotional activity in Glan, Sarangani before the attack happened.

Josol said the victim had received threats to his life. He added that some people were asking about Cuesta during the Glan trip.

As of last report, Cuesta was being treated at an undisclosed hospital in the city.

Police have yet to state the motive for the attack. Chat Ansagay, ABS-CBN General Santos City

Ymmugr

HONG KONG - A platinum Patek Philippe tourbillon watch became the most expensive modern wristwatch to be sold at auction when it fetched HK$11.75 million in Hong Kong on Thursday.
The "Ref. 5002P Sky Moon Tourbillon" wristwatch with a double dial is considered the most complicated wristwatch ever produced by the renowned Swiss watchmaker. Only two such watches are made every year, one in platinum and one in rose gold.
The watch, made in 2003, was bought by an Asian private buyer at the Sotheby's auction.
"Our clients are really looking in Asia for the top end of the market, highly collectible, highly rare pieces like the Patek Philippe," said Vanessa Herrera, the acting head of Sotheby's watches department in Hong Kong.
Wristwatches, which first started to be worn in the 1920's to replace pocket watches, are categorized as "vintage" if made before 1970, while post-1970 wristwatches are regarded as "modern".
The previous auction record for a modern wristwatch was a Vacheron Constantin "Tour de l'Ile which was sold by the auction house Antiquorum for $1.4 million in Geneva in 2005.

Sdlkoz

LOS ANGELES - British pop band Duran Duran's world tour got off to an awkward start in New Zealand on Wednesday as singer Simon Le Bon forgot the lyrics and bassist John Taylor stormed off stage, according to a published report.
"Duran Duran, f---ing up in style," Le Bon, 49, told the crowd at the Vector Arena in the northern city of Auckland, according to the New Zealand Herald's review the next day.
Taylor, 47, abandoned his instrument and walked off stage, apparently in reaction to a segment in which the group's members donned matching satin suits and headsets to play a medley on keyboards and an electric drum set.
"I could not dance to that. These people came here to dance," Taylor said, after he returned to the stage, according to the Herald.
Le Bon forgot the words to "Hungry Like the Wolf," one of the band's biggest hits, the Herald reported.
Still, the paper said the crowd -- dominated by screaming women in their 30s -- did not seem to mind the snafus.
Duran Duran, rounded out by keyboardist Nick Rhodes, 45, and drummer Roger Taylor, 47, next heads to Australia for seven shows, beginning on Friday in Sydney.
After the Asia-Pacific leg ends, Duran Duran will begin a North American tour in Vancouver on April 29.
The band, which was formed 30 years ago, is promoting its latest album, "Red Carpet Massacre," which bombed in the United States and Britain last year.

Mubtvp

Some residents of Sitio Pagsabangan in Barangay Abella, Ligao City in Albay province have raised concerns after they witnessed sudden changes in a rice field and the drying up of a river in the area on March 27.

Jessa Adrao and Rica Quising both witnessed the incident. They were harvesting "kangkong" when they heard rumbling sounds.

Minutes later, they saw the soil being eroded from a mountain, followed by the sudden movement of the ricefield by about 20 meters and the drying of river.
Residents were amazed at what happened to the river. Waterflow was suddenly diverted to a coconut plantation, while the river itself was elevated almost 14 meter and is now comparable to a desert.

Those who witnessed the event said they cannot explain the incident since the weather that day was fine and it had been sunny for almost a week.

Village chairman Adolfo Pequete said the landslide that happened in the nearby mountain could be the reason of why the event took place.

Though there are only two families living near the area, residents fear the possible collapse of the mountain.

If it happens, hectares of ricefields will certainly be buried in mud. Rice planting is one of the major sources of livelihood in the area.

Wasteland?

Leticia Suarez, the owner of the ricefield and the coconut plantation, said hundreds of coconut trees submerged in water will surely die. She also added the elevated ricefield is not longer suitable for planting.

Despite the event, residents are still thankful because no one was hurt.

It has been three weeks since the unexplainable phenomenon happened. Officials from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau have not yet inspected the area.

The village is one of the most remote in Ligao and transportation is one of the difficulties of the residents. Jose Carretero, ABS-CBN Regional Network Group