Pacquiao-Barrera Fight is set for October 6 at Mandalay Bay

By Johnny M. Pecayo
http://manilaustimes.blogspot.com/

MANNY PACQUIAO autographs a glove for his fans. -- MUST PHOTO

BEVERLY HILLS, CA -- Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who manages the boxing career of Manny Pacquiao; and Golden Boy Promotions President, Oscar dela Hoya, manager for Marc Antonio Barrera, led their respective camps at the Beverly Hills Hotel here, where the press conference was held Friday morning, August 10, to announce the rematch of two famous fighters to be held October 6 at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In this forthcoming fight, Pacquiao will defend his Super Featherweight title against Barrera, who lost to "Pacman" in November 2003 in San Antonio, Texas.

Superstars Pacquiao and Barrera will collide in a 12-round super featherweight title fight. It will be broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View.

Tickets are priced at $600, $400, $300, $200 and $100, which can be purchased at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino box office and all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (Smith's Food and Drug Centers, Macy's stores and Ritmo Latino).

The Pacquiao-Barrera fight, dubbed "Will to Win," is a battle between legendary three-division champions. Pacquiao (44-3-2, 35 KOs) of General Santos City, Philippines, defeated Barrera (63-5, 42 KOs) of Mexico City, Mexico, in their first exciting encounter in 2003, claiming the 'Baby Face Assasin's' featherweight title.

"Pacquiao is considered by many as boxing's pound for pound most exciting fighter of the world," as announced by Bob Arum during the press conference.

"Fighting Barrera is a career highlight for me," said Pacquiao. He added: "He has already beaten great world champions like Erik Morales, Naseem Hamed and Johnny Tapia and I know I am going to have to train harder that I ever have been before to beat him. But I am fully prepared to sacrifice and do everything necessary to beat him. And I will. It's going to be another great night for fight fans, especially for the Filipinos all over the world."

'Pacman' left Los Angeles for Cebu and immediately began practising at the Wacky Salud gym. Trainor Freddie Roach would follow soon. Hundreds of fans syrrounded the gym while Manny was doing the routine boxing practice, including shadow boxing.

Sexy Ara Mina Tangled in Pacman's Affair

Reports reaching the editorial offices of the MANILA-U.S. TIMES in Beverly Hills have it that there were rumors spreading rapidly about Ara Mina's alleged love connection with prized champion boxer, Manny Pacquiao. The tall tales ignited even more after Pacquiao left Los Angeles for Manila earlier than planned.

Interviewed by ABS-CBN's TV Patrol, Ara shared that she and Manny are just friends. Ara went on to list the shows she's performing in to back up her claim of not having any type of affair with Pacquiao -- "Los Angeles, Canada, San Diego, Las Vegas and San Francisco." She's hoping the rumors would go away so everyone could move on to concentrate on her upcoming tour, which starts on Friday, August 17, at the Pala Casino & Resort in Pala, California.

Ara Mina will be performing with the legendary Freddie Aguilar during Freddie's first US Concert Tour, accompanied by sexy comedian, Ella V of the Viva Hot Babes.

Ara hopes the rumors will die down since Manny is a happily married man, father, and international Filipino icon.

MARCO ANTONIO BARRERA being interviewed by a local TV newscaster. -- MUST PHOTO

MANNY PACQUIAO (behind the podium) delivers a message, while Bob Arum, Oscar dela Hoya and Marco Antonio Barrera (seated, l-r) listen attentively. -- MUST PHOTO

BOB ARUM, Chairman-CEO of Top Rank, Inc. -- MUST PHOTO

OSCAR DELA HOYA, President of Golden Boy Promotions. -- MUST PHOTO

Fil-Ams in Los Angeles celebrate 5th Historic Filipinotown Festival; QueensCare participates, too

TERRY BONECUTTER (right), President and CEO of QueensCare Family Clinics, is being interviewed by Joseph Pimentel for ABS-CBN International's Channel 2.

LOS ANGELES, CA -- Celebrating the birth of the historic Filipino district in Los Angeles, California, the Historic Filipinotown Neighborhood Council (HiFiNC) in collaboration with the Filipino American Community of Los Angeles (FACLA) and several other Filipino-American organizations held a two-day celebration on August 4 and 5 at the corners of Temple/Burlington here.

The fifth anniversary celebration of the Historic Filipinotown brought a feast of great performers for all ages, emerging talent from top shows and a vast array of booths for goods, arts, crafts, food and services, in addition to an exciting 5-kilometer Walk/Run Road Race, with support from Consul General Mary Jo Bernardo Aragon.

QueensCare Family Clinics participated in the festival through a booth, managed by Elaine Gillituk, Johnny Pecayo, Mario Quilao, Olga Garcia and Maria Garcia, where a number of festival guests dropped by, registered, and were briefed about the medical, dental and vision services, as well as pediatrician services to young children being provided by QueensCare to qualified individuals, in any of its clinic.

QueensCare Family Clinics are located, as follows: Eagle Rock Clinic, 4448 York Boulevard; East Los Angeles Clinic, 133 N. Sunol Drive; Echo Park Clinic, 150 N. Reno Street; Hollywood Clinic, 4618 Fountain Avenue; Wilshire Clinic, 3242 West 8th Street; and Bresee Clinic, located at 184 S. Bimini Place, Los Angeles.

Among the prominent personages in the Filipino American community who came to visit the QueensCare booth, were: Consul General Mary Jo Bernardo Aragon of the Philippine
Consulate General; Maria Quiban, TV newscaster, Fox 11 and Channel 13; Lydia Soriano, Chairman, Kalayaan of Southern California; Thelma Calabio, Founding chairman, Mamburao, U.S.A.; a school nurse who expressed interest to inform the parents about what QueensCare does in the community; Alvaro Vanegas of the Latino community, who is very active not only in the Latino community, but in the Fil-Am community as well, and many more.

Terry Bonecutter, President and CEO of QueensCare Family Clinics, was interviewed by Joseph Pimentel, assisted by a Cameraman, for Channel 2 of ABS-CBN International. The TV newscast is broadcast worldwide.

Featured performers included “American Idol 2007” finalist AJ Tabaldo, Joseph Gelito, Lara Avengoza, Ivory Cunanan, Pam Darden of the Marvelettes, Caroline Oguma, Ranella Ferrer, Dubhe Ferrer, Children of Burlington School, USC Troy Philippines, Kapatiran Historical Society, People’s CORE, Catheryn Briones, Sarah Lazatin, Erick Lerma, Josh Lopez, Kiana Lopez, Rocco, and Malou Toler among others.The feast of sister cultures, color and tradition continued with Proyectos Saluda Folklore Coalition of Mexican (Esplendor), Nicaraguan (Nicaraguita), Honduran (HULA), Colombian (Comparsa Fantasía Colombiana) and Guamenian (Kuttura Chamoru) folklore dance groups in two hours of mesmerizing presentations celebrating with Filipinos the joy of one big family, in one big Angeleno neighborhood. This was coordinated by Alvaro Vanegas.Also a highlight of this year’s celebration was the installation of 58 medallions on streetlights along Temple Street. The 5th Historic Filipinotown Festival is also organized by the Filipino American Library (FAL), Filipino American Service Group, Inc. (FASGI), People's Community Organization for Reform and Empowerment (People's CORE), Pilipino American Network & Advocacy (PANA), and Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA).Historic Filipinotown was created by a resolution of the Los Angeles City Council on August 2, 2002. It is home to a diverse population, including about 30 Filipino organizations, businesses, and landmarks.

Consul General Mary Jo Bernardo Aragon of the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles, is the highest ranking Filipino in Southern California, Southern Nevada, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico, the Consulate's territorial jurisdiction.

In a huddle (from left) are: Elaine Gillituk, Terry Bonecutter, Olga and Maria of QueensCare East L.A.

MARIA QUIBAN (left), a popular Filipino American TV newscaster at Fox 11 and Channel 13, dropped by the QueensCare booth to meet with (from left): Johnny Pecayo, Elaine Gillituk and Mario Quilao.

MARIA QUIBAN gamely participated in the damp tank contest, conducted by Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA). She is totally wet as she was dropped to the tank full of water when the participants hit the bulls eye.

MARIA QUIBAN, donning a summer shorts, had to put on another T-shirt on top of her white T-shirt as she is totally wet here.

MARIA QUIBAN shakes the hand of Mario Quilao, as Elain, Maria and Olga look on.

With her hands full of QueensCare give-aways, this young lady is being briefed by Olga (left) about the many services available at any of the six branches of QueensCare.

Elaine Gillituk (right) talks to a lady visitor, who is registering in the logbook.

An elderly man, with cap (left), talks to Mario Quilao, while Maria (right) looks on. Partly hidden is Elaine Gillituk.
CAUGHT IN THE ACT of hitting the ball against the "key" of the damp tank is Maria Quiban of Fox 11 and Channel 13.
A couple engages Olga in the discussion about the services available at QueensCare clinic.
During a dull moment, Elaine Gillituk, Maria, Olga and Johnny Pecayo found the time to relax as they were photographed here infront of the QueensCare product display.
PART of the crowd in the Entertainment Section, where various entertainment numbers were presented from early morning to early evening, for two days, August 4 & 5, Saturday & Sunday.
Three visitors are simultaneously registering and discussing the services available at QueensCare clinic with Mario Quilao and Olga.
ELAINE GILLITUK (right) entertains a friend who dropped by the QueensCare booth.
A BUSY QueensCare booth on the morning of August 4, with a number of potential clients milling around the booth.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention's Pre-Teen Vaccine Campaign Meet with Members of the Press at California Endowment

By Johnny M. Pecayo Publisher and Editor-in-Chief,
MANILA-U.S. TIMES
http://manilaustimes.blogspot.com/

JOHNNY M. PECAYO is shown here with Rear Admiral Anne Schuchat, M.D., Assistant Surgeon General, United States Public Health Service. -- PHOTO COURTESY OF JULIAN DO, Director New America Media


LOS ANGELES, CA -- High-ranking and highly qualified members of the panel comprised the discussants at a press conference held August 3 at the Catalina Room of the California Endowment, coordinated by Julian Do, Director of the New America Media for Southern California, in collaboration with Sandy Close, NAM Executive Director, who flew in from New York the day before, where similar presentation was done.

Let's take a close look at the backgrounders of the panelists in Friday's meeting.

Rear Admiral Anne Schuchat, M.D., is Assistant Surgeon General, United States Public Health Service (USPHS) and Director, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Rear Admiral Schuchat has spent over 18 years at CDC working in immunization, respiratory, and other infectious diseases. Prior to her current appointment, she served as the director of CDC's National Immunization Program (NIP); acting director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID); and Chief of the Respiratory Diseases Branch at NCID.

Dr. Schuchat was named an Assistant Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service in 2006.

Globally, she has worked in West Africa on meningitis vaccine studies, in South Africa on surveillance and prevention projects, and in China on SARS emergency response, where she headed the Beijing City epidemiology team for the World Health Organization's (WHO) China Office. She continues to serve as a visiting professor for the Beijing Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.

Dr. Anne Schuchat graduated with highest honors from Swarthmore College and with honors from Dartmouth Medical School. She served as resident and chief resident in internal medicine at New York University's Manhattan VA Hospital before beginning her public health career at CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer in NCID.

Wibbelsman

The other member of the panel is Dr. Charles J. Wibbelsman, chief of Adolescent Medicine for Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco, California. He has been with The Permanente Medical Group, Inc. for 25 years, and serves as Chair of the Chiefs of Adolescent Medicine for Kaiser Permanente, Northern California. He is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California San Francisco, School of Medicine. Prior to his joining the Permanente Medical Group, Dr. Wibbelsman was the Chief of Venereal Disease Control for the City and County of San Francisco.

As an author for books for adolescents and their parents, Dr. Wibbelsman has authored "The Teenage Body Book," "Growing and Changing," "Life Happens," and "Crisis Proof Your Teenager."

Dr. Wibbelsman is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, is board certified in Pediatrics, and currently serves on The Committee of Adolescence of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Dr. Wibbelsman received his undergraduate degree from Xavier University in Cincinnati and received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati. He was a resident in Pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital and Cincinnati Children's Hospital and completed a fellowship in Adolescent Medicine at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.

Sapsis

Karena (Kari) Sapsis, MPH, is the Pre-Teen Vaccine Campaign Manager and has spent over 10 years working in public health communication and social marketing at CDC.

As the Campaign Manager of CDC's national Pre-Teen Vaccine Campaign, she coordinates the formative research, message development, channel selection, materials development, partnership outreach, and media relations for the campaign. Prior to taking on this campaign, Kari coordinated CDC's annual influenza vaccine campaign, which included the development of a bilingual print campaign, radio and TV public service announcements, media outreach, and audience research with racial and ethnic minorities, seniors, people with chronic health conditions, parents, and physicians.

Internationally, Kari has provided training and technical assistance to the government of Indonesia as part of Tubercolosis/HIV clinical trial team on a CDC-funded project in Botswana.

Ms. Sapsis received her MPH in Behavioral Science and Health Education from Emory University. Her campaigns and educational products have won numerous awards, including National Health Information Awards and the Silver Inkwell from the International Association of Business Communicators.

The Importance of Immunization

Having provided the readers with the impressive individual backgrounders and their respective qualifications, we would like to get the readers' attention, particularly the parents of 11-12 year-old pre-teens who must submit themselves for medical check up and immunization.

"Immunizations are not just for babies, but for 11-12-year-old individuals, too," according to Rear Admiral Schuchat. She added: "Vaccine is routinely recommended for 11 and 12-year-old pre-teens because their risk of getting meningitis is high."

The Assistant Surgeon General also explained that whooping cough is a preventable disease, and yet a lot of teenagers get this miserable disease which is contagious.

This press conference served as a launching pad for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) pre-teen vaccine campaign in August 2007 that will coincide with National Immunization Awareness Month.

The campaign is designed to inform parents, teachers, family physicians, and pediatricians about CDC's new vaccination recommendations for 11 and 12 year olds to protect them from serious, sometimes life-threatening diseases such as whooping cough, meningitis, and cervical cancer.

CDC also encourages parents and caregivers of 11 and 12 year olds to schedule a pre-teen medical check-up to make sure their child gets these important vaccines and to catch up on any missed childhood vaccines, such as varicella (chickenpox), measles, mumps, and rubella, and hepatitis B.

Dr. Schuchat also talked about Tdap Vaccine, a different type of vaccine. Tdap is tetanus-diptheria-acellular pertussis (whooping cough). It is an important improvement over the old Td booster because it provides additional protection from pertussis, while still providing protection against tetanus and diptheria. Pertussis is one of the most common vaccine-preventable respiratory diseases in American teens and can be spread through schools.

Pertussis often goes unrecognized by healthcare providers, creating a misperception that it is not a problem. However, teens who get pertussis commonly have a prolonged cough lasting weeks to months and they may occasionally develop pneumonia or need to be hospitalized. The incidence of the disease has been increasing among pre-teens in recent years.

There are two Tdap vaccines available: BOOSTRIX and ADACEL.

Rear Admiral Schuchat also discussed at length the MCV4 Vaccine designed to fight Meningococcal infections which can lead to meningitis and other serious life-threatening infections, and even death.

The MCV4 vaccine protects against meningitis, which is spread by close contact with a person who has the disease. This disease can strike healthy kids without warning, and the risk of getting it increases during adolescence. Meningococcal disease is not common, but in those who get it, symptoms develop and progress rapidly, even leading to death in 24 to 48 hours. About 10 percent of teens who get the disease die from it, and another 15 percent will have long-term disability, such as loss of a limb. The MCV4 vaccine currently available is called Menactra.

The HPV Vaccine fights Human Papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is a sexually-transmitted infection which can cause cervical center. It is the most common sexually-transmitted infection.

The HPV vaccine protects against human papillomavirus, which can cause cervical cancer and genital warts. HPV is the most common sexually-transmitted infection in the United States, with about 20 million people currently infected. In 2007, about 11,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with cervical cancer and about 3,600 women will die from the disease. The HPV vaccine currently available is called Gardasil and it is recommended for 11 and 12 year old girls.

Normally, the parents' concern is about the cost. Insurance companies pay for the cost of the vaccinations. Also, there is a Federal government program that provides free vaccines for those who are uninsured or under-insured. This program was set up to provide free vaccinations to children.

11-12 year olds

Dr. Charles Wibbelsman, a Member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Adolescence, observed that young children below 10 years old, normally enjoy being held by hands by their parents. But not when they are already 11 or 12 years old.

The parents play a vital role with pre-teens children. They must sit down with them, talk with them about their daily activities, including nutrition, wearing of seat belts, importance of health care and even sex.

Dr. Wibbelsman observed that these 11-12 year olds experience peer pressure, low esteem and therefore, they need a lot of support. The parents must know what they do everyday, what they eat, and what activities they are involved in. His findings is that almost 10 per cent of 12 year olds have gone into sex.

Program Development

Kari Sapsis, MPH, Office of Health Communication, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for over 10 years, explained how CDC developed this campaign. A team from CDC, comprised of 35 focused groups, went out all over the country to talk to parents, gathered information, evaluated them, then came up with this campaign. Questions, like "What do they know about the diseases," "Where to deliver the health information," etc., were part of the survey questionnaire.

The need for a preventive health for 11-12 year olds was developed. Ms. Sapsis emphasized that the HPV vaccine is not for girls only.

She told the members of the press that the baby vaccine can wear off, and 11-12 year olds need to be vaccinated again. Do not wait until the child is 18.

"In the U.S., we are able to prevent this disease. We also do direct mailing to over 1,500 pediatricians all over the country, to impress upon them the importance of vaccinations, and to generate awareness about the campaign.

News You Can Use

Sandy Close even suggested to the members of the press to come up with a "News You Can Use" column, as she facilitated the meeting.

REAR ADMIRAL Anne Schuchat, M.D., Assistant Surgeon General (left) with Dr. Charles J. Wibbelsman, Chief, Adolescent Medicine, Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco, and Member of the AAP Committee on Adolescence; and Karina (Kari) Sapsis, MPH, Health Communications Specialist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). -- MUST PHOTO

DR. CHARLES J. WIBBELSMAN (center) emphasizes the importance of the parents' role in sitting with their pre-teen children and talking with them. - MUST PHOTO

KARI SAPSIS told the members of the press how this campaign for immunization came about. - MUST PHOTO

SANDY CLOSE, Executive Director of New America Media, facilitated the press conference, and encouraged an active participation from the media during the roundtable discussion. - MUST PHOTO