Solana Emmanuelle is Maricel Laxa 5th child

Actress and TV host Maricel Laxa-Pangilinan gave birth on Thursday to her 5th child, a baby girl named Solana Emmanuelle.

Her husband Anthony Pangilinan broke the news on Twitter, posting: "Welcome Solana Emmanuelle or "Sunshine with Us!" 7:04pm 7/14/11 by water birth! MAJOR blessing all 10.4 lbs of her! Congrats Maricel!"

Anthony also disclosed that his wife gave birth at St. Luke's Medical Center in Global City, and it was the first water birth in the hospital's new birthing room.

Since Anthony was in Bicol, his daughter Ella, 15, coached Maricel during labor and delivery.

 

New all-time high for PSEi

The key Philippine Stock Exchange index rose 35.19 points or 0.8% to 4,458.74. The previous record of 4,439.61 was hit on July 5.

All subidices posted gains, led by the financial sector, which went up 1%.

Advancers outpaced decliners, 111 to 43, while 36 stocks were unchanged.

Top lender Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., the most actively traded stock by value, jumped 3.4% to P79.55.

East Asia Power Resources Corp. surged 34% to P2.62 after it was acquired by Century Properties Inc.

 

3 Pinoys reach Last 32 in Guinness Pool

World No.1 Dennis "Robocop" Orcollo,

defending champion Jundel "Jano" Mazon

and Carlo "Cool" Biado made it to the Last 32 of the 2011 Guinness World Series of Pool 10-Ball Challenge in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Orcollo ousted Adam Smith of Canada, 6-2, in their winner’s bracket match.

Mazon blasted Indonesian rival Rico Herman, 6-0  and

Biado winning over Germany’s Thorsten Hohmann, 6-5.

 

2 more Airbus planes for Cebu Pacific

Budget carrier Cebu Pacific has signed 6-year operating lease agreements with Dublin-based RBS Aviation Capital for 2 new Airbus A320 aircraft.

The planes will be delivered in March 2012.

Last month, Cebu Pacific ordered 30 new A321neos and seven A320 from Airbus for $3.8 billion, to be delivered between 2015 and 2021. The order was on top of 27 A320 aircraft purchases that will arrive from September 2011 until 2016.

 

Over 500k Pinoys become citizens of 8 OECD countries

521,253 Filipinos became naturalized citizens of 8 countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

From 2000 to 2009, OECD’s 2011 International Migration Outlook revealed that

386,739 Filipinos became naturalized citizens of the United States;

109,909 Filipinos became naturalized Canadians;

8,246 became naturalized citizens of New Zealand;

2,898 became naturalized Norwegians;

and 2,349 became Dutch.

From 2001 to 2008, 6,316 Filipinos became citizens of Spain while

4,152 became citizens of Korea.

And from 2005 to 2009, 644 Filipinos became citizens of Ireland.

For the year 2009, based on the number of naturalized citizens, Filipinos are the

second-highest naturalized foreign nationals in Ireland (410),

third-highest in the United States (38,934) and Canada (11,068),

seventh-highest in New Zealand (708),

eighth-highest in Norway (445),

and 13th-highest in the Netherlands (308).

 

As of 2008 data, Filipinos are the

ninth-highest number of naturalized foreign nationals in Spain (782)

and the third-highest in Korea (579).

 

NBA cuts workforce by about 11% in cost-cutting move

The National Basketball Association reduced its workforce by about 11 %, or 114 jobs.

Mike Bass, the league spokesman said on Thursday that the NBA cuts are not directly linked to the labor dispute but rather part of a $50 million cost-cutting plan.

"The layoffs are not a direct result of the lockout but rather a response to the same underlying issue; that is, the league's expenses far outpace our revenues," said the spokesman.

"The roughly 11 percent reduction in headcount from the league office is part of larger cost-cutting measures to reduce our costs by $50 million across all areas of our business."

NBA officials have said 22 of the league's 30 clubs are losing money which they claim to be $300 million.

 

OFW remittances at $9.7-B, up 6.2% from Jan-May

 

Filipinos working and living overseas sent home $9.7 billion during the first 5 months of 2011, up 6.2% from a year ago.

In May alone, dollar remittances amounted to $1.7 billion, representing an annual growth of 6.9%.

The BSP has projected remittance growth at 7% this year.

In 2010, remittances hit a record $18.76 billion, up 8.2% from a year earlier.