Thursday, October 18, 2012
Jim Paredes goes solo
Matapos ma-disband ang Apo Hiking Society ay nagkaroon ng kanya-kanyang buhay sina Danny Javier bilang full-time business man, Boboy Garovillo na nagfocus naman sa pag arte sa TV at pelikula at si Jim Paredes na ipinagpatuloy ang pagsusulat ng kanta at pag-awit.
Pagkaraan nga ng 41 na taon sa industriya ay ngayon lamang nagkaroon ng kauna-unahang solo concert si Jim Paredes na pinamagatang Live, Laugh and Sing. Ginanap ito noong October 11, sa Newport Performing Arts Theater, Resorts World.
Kabilang sa concert sina Yeng Constantino, Ebe Dancel, Noel Cabangon, Jett Pangan at Boboy Garovillo.
Philippines is 3rd disaster-prone country, new study shows
After Pacific countries Tonga and Vanuatu, the Philippines ranks as the third most disaster-prone country in the world because of its high exposure to natural calamities, a new international report showed.
The World Disaster Report 2012, released in Brussels on Oct. 11, also said that the Philippines could spare up to 20 million of its people—about a fifth of its total population—from natural disasters by improving the protection of its coral reefs, a primary line of defense against coastal hazards, including tsunamis.
Tropical and coastal nations led the list of 15 countries at high risk for disasters, “owing to their proximity to the sea…(that) exposes (them) to the natural hazards of cyclones, flooding and sea level rise,” read the report.
The report’s list of the top 15 most-at-risk nations included Guatemala, Bangladesh, Solomon Islands, Costa Rica, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, El Salvador, Brunei Darussalam, Papua New Guinea, Mauritius, Nicaragua and Fiji.
Adaptation measures
Although third in the list, the Philippines had the best rating on adaptation measures, with scores similar to that of Malaysia and Thailand, which ranked 91st and 92nd, respectively.
The report, a collaboration among the United Nations University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), the German Alliance for Development Works (Alliance) and the US-based environment group The Nature Conservancy, rated the disaster risk of 173 countries using “globally available data” on their individual exposure and susceptibility to disasters, as well as their coping and adaptive capacities in the event of natural calamities.
Apart from an overall rating, the report also released the countries’ scores in five indicators: Disaster exposure, vulnerability, susceptibility, lack of coping capacities and lack of adaptive capacities.
“The top 15 most at-risk nations are all tropical and coastal, where coastal habitats like reefs and mangroves are incredibly important for people’s lives and livelihoods. Reefs, for example, can reduce wave energy approaching coasts by more than 85 percent,” The Conservancy said in a statement posted on its website.
The report noted how disaster preparedness and mitigation and adaptation measures implemented by governments could reduce risk, and cited the Netherlands for its highly developed coping and adaptation measures.
Lowest-risk countries
African and Latin American countries also made up the riskiest half of the list, while Middle Eastern, European and North American countries were rated among the low-risk nations. Malta and Qatar were rated as the two lowest-risk countries.
The study further noted the increasing incidence of natural disasters through man-made environmental degradation and climate change. The report said some 4,130 natural disasters were recorded from 2002 to 2011, leaving more than a million victims and an economic loss of roughly $1.195 trillion.
“So far, people have rarely been the direct triggers of such disasters. But with their devastating interventions in nature, they have massively raised the hazard potential,” the report said.
“The destruction of mangrove forests and coral reefs, for example, off the coasts of Southeast Asia, has reduced protection against tidal waves and flooding,” it added.
Aquino will visit Australia, New Zealand next week
MANILA, Philippines–President Benigno Aquino III is set to leave for New Zealand and Australia next week for state visits to further bilateral ties with the two nations and updating foreign leaders on key Philippine developments, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday.
Aquino will visit New Zealand on Oct. 22 and 23 then proceed to Australia 24 to 26 for consecutive visits aimed at pursuing trade, defense and development relations with the two countries.
The President is also expected to discuss with leaders of both countries the recently signed framework peace agreement between the government of the Philippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), touted to be an initial step towards ending the secessionist war in Mindanao.
Key cabinet members, among them Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario, Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, will join Aquino to meet with their counterparts, the DFA said.
First on the President’s agenda in Auckland is a meeting with the Filipino community and a talk at a business forum organized by joint business councils of the Philippines and New Zealand. Aquino is also expected to hold one-on-one meetings with New Zealand firms.
There are some 36,000 Filipinos in New Zealand, accounting for around 1 percent of the country’s total population.
The President will then proceed to the capital Wellington to meet with Prime Minister John Key and Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae for discussions on issues of bilateral interest and updates on the GPH-MILF framework agreement.
Aquino’s state visit follows Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario’s trip to New Zealand in August, where he discussed partnerships on trade and geothermal energy with top government officials and business leaders.
In Canberra, Aquino will meet with Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Governor-General and discuss furthering political, economic and defense cooperation.
The President is also expected to take up the GPH-MILF framework agreement with the Australian officials.
Aquino will then visit Sydney for his business agenda: he will keynote the Philippines-Australia Business Forum, speak before the Asia Society of Australia and the Australia Philippine Business Council, hold a roundtable meet with CEOs of top Australian firms and later have one-on-one meetings with Australian companies.
Aquino will also lead the unveiling of a statue of Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal in Campbelltown, a Sydney suburb.
While there, the President he will also meet with the Filipino community to “encourage them to help raise the profile of the Philippines” by serving as “knowledgeable and competent” sources of information about their home country.
The DFA said there are around 224,000 Filipino migrants in Australia, making for one of the largest migrant populations there.
Australian Yacht designer killed in Benguet Philippines
MANILA, Philippines—An acclaimed Australian yacht designer was hacked to death inside his residence in the northern Philippines, police said Wednesday.
A neighbor found the body of 81-year-old Joe Adams early Monday and blood scattered on the floor of his two-story house that was left open in the village of Tuding in Benguet province’s Itogon township, said regional police director Benjamin Magalong.
Hack wounds on Adams’ hands suggest that he tried to fight off attackers armed with a machete, Magalong said. He said police are investigating the motive for the killing and that forensic experts are examining possible fingerprints left by the suspect or suspects.
The Sydney-born yacht designer was behind the record-breaking Sydney-to-Hobart winner Helsal in 1973. After moving to the Philippines, he became an investor in a property development company in northern Baguio city.
Tuding police investigator Julius Acay said Adams may have been killed between late Sunday and early Monday. His valuables were left intact although his wallet contained no money when it was found, Acay said.
Acay said Adams had been a Philippine resident for about 10 years and lived for many years in Tuding’s Alphaville subdivision. During that time, there was no record of disturbance or altercation involving Adams, who lived alone after separating from his third wife, a Filipino who now lives in Australia, Acay said.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed Adams’ death.
Acay said that Adams recently let go of his Filipino maid because he could no longer pay her. He was last seen walking his maid to her new employer within the village Sunday afternoon.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Tacurong-Marbel blast; 3rd in Mindanao
MANILA, Philippines - Another explosion struck a key province in Mindanao on Thursday morning. No one was hurt in the blast.
Senior Superintendent George Tuson, chief of the Tacurong City Police Office in Sultan Kudarat province, said that the explosion took place near the Land Bank of the Philippines along the Tacurong-Marbel Highway in Barangay Poblacion at around 7 a.m.
Tuson said that prior to the blast, the police force received an intelligence report of an impending bomb attack in the city.
Senior Superintendent Rolly Balquin, Sultan Kudarat police director, said that the blast was caused by an improvised explosive dvice (IED).
Balquin said that the Sultan Kudarat police's explosive and ordnance operatives have yet to determine the components of the bomb.
The provincial police director cited that according to the intelligence report, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) will plant bombs somewhere in the city.
“The report was that several IEDs would be planted and eventually set off in the city,” Balquin said.
He said that police units around the province and in the city have been put on full alert.
“We’ve intensified our security and intelligence operations in the province and all our units are doubling their vigilance right now to avert these plots,” Balquin added.
Tuson said that they are looking into the possibility that the blast is related to the recent signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Aside from the BIFM, the faction of Moro National Liberation Front founding chairman Nur Misuari threatened that they will continue their struggle for an independent state despite the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro.
Third explosion since signing
Last week, Mindanao was hit by two explosions, particularly in Cagayan de Oro City and Zamboanga Sibugay province.
Two people were killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near the entrance of Maxandrea Hotel in downtown Cagayan de Oro City around 2 a.m. on Thursday last week.
Two policemen who were preparing to inspect the package containing the bomb at the scene were injured in the blast as they were just a few meters away when it exploded.
Seven hours earlier, another explosive device went off in a garment shop in Imelda town of Zamboanga Sibugay, injuring 14-year-old Alraffy Barabadan.
Hours after the explosion at the hotel in Cagayan de Oro, police retrieved another IED, which was placed under a vehicle parked in a street adjacent to the hotel.
Chief Superintendent Gil Hitosis, director of the Northern Mindanao Regional Police, had said that police investigators are checking the explosions' link.
“We are checking the possible link of the explosions in Zamboanga and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), as we all know the Philippine government has an ongoing peace deal with a group while the other group feels disgruntled. But let me clarify that as of now we have no strong evidence linking the explosion to the peace deal,” he said.
The band "America" unites Pres. Aquino and Former Chief Justice Corona
TAMED AUDIENCE. America, the 42-year-old folk rock group, performed Wednesday night at the jam-packed Smart Araneta Coliseum. Their finale, “A Horse With No Name,” was among the most applauded numbers though crowd could have loosened up a bit, stood up to dance and sing with the band. Video by Totel V. de Jesus/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—For more than two cheerful hours on Wednesday night, President Benigno Aquino III and a few of his Cabinet members were one with impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona and wife Cristina.
They were all sighted at the Smart Araneta Coliseum one-night-only concert of veteran American folk rock group named, well, America.
Why they’re there is pretty obvious.
The 64-year-old former chief magistrate was in his early 20s when America conquered the international music scene in the first quarter of the 1970s, about the same time the young Aquino was about to enter his teenage years.
The 52-year-old bachelor President was seen without a date though he was comfortably seated at the lower box with Interior Secretary Mar Roxas and Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares while the Corona couple were at the 4th row middle part near the stage.
America had the Hawaiian soft rock group Kalapana as front act, who performed about seven songs. Naturally the most applauded of Kalapana’s very short set were “Night Bird” and their major hit, “The Hurt”.
The 42-year-old America, composed of original members Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell, started their set with, curiously, two major hits they released nearly a decade apart, “Tin Man” (early 1970s) and “You Can Do Magic” (1982).
The momentum could have been maintained but they followed them up with a lesser hit, “Don’t Cross The River.”
“We’re happy to be back here again in the Philippines. We’ve been performing here for decades,” Beckley blurted out somewhere in the middle of their first five songs.
He said they’ve been everywhere, from Ecuador to the Great Wall of China. Just to give the audience an idea how they continue to love what they’re doing, Beckly said, “We formed the band when we were in our teens, just fresh from high school in the early ‘70s. Now after 42 years we’re still around, doing 100 shows every year, all over the world.”
Without a break, they enthralled the audience with more hits that Filipinos from Babuyan Channel to Sabah Islands like to drunkenly sing in street-corner videoke bars; “Ventura Highway,” “Inspector Mills,” “Sandman,” “Sister Golden Hair’” “Lonely People” and “I Need You.”
AMERICA (from left): Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley. Photo from official america homepage
They also did a cover of the 1960s folk rock hit “California Dreamin’” from the Mamas & The Papas, Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock” and the 1990s soft-grunge ballad, Gin Blossoms’ “Till I Hear It From You.”
The songs are included in their latest album, “Backpages,” released middle of 2011. The album also has their version of Bob Dylan’s “My Back Pages,” New Radicals’ “Someday We’ll Know,” and Simon and Garfunkel’s, uh, “America”, among others.
“These are some of the songs we wish we could have written,” Bunnell explained.
America did about nearly 20 songs, including their double-barrelled encore “All My Life” and “A Horse With No Name,” to which the crowd sang in unison.
Despite the applause and the videoke-like accompaniment with the popular titles, there were only a handful of fans who were brave, or better yet, energetic enough to stand up, sing and dance. Many were just contented clapping and singing in their seats, as if they were watching a late Sunday night TV special.
But America gave all they got and Corona was seen nodding repeatedly to almost all of their songs.
Catch America with Kalapana on October 19 at the Waterfront Cebu Hotel and on October 21 at the University of Baguio.
Lucy Liu says sorry for ‘little Filipino’ remark on Letterman show
LOS ANGELES – “I am so sorry that my comment was taken out of context, as I would never insult another group or ethnicity,” “Charlie’s Angels” actress Lucy Liu told the Philippine Daily Inquirer after she was asked by this reporter to comment about her controversial statement in a guest appearance on “Late Show with David Letterman” last October 11.
When Letterman asked Liu, who is shooting her new TV series “Elementary,” if she enjoys running indoors or outdoors, she answered, “I run in a machine. It is easier for me. Also, if I get really dark, I’ll start to look a little Filipino. It wouldn’t match.”
Jonas Brothers will have a concert at the Big Dome on October 19
MANILA, Philippines—The American boy band Jonas Brothers will perform on October 19 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Composed of real-life brothers Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas, the group was launched in 2005.
A debut album, “It’s About Time,” was released the following year.
Three more albums came out in succession: “Jonas Brothers” (2007); “A Little Bit Longer” (2008) and “Lines, Vines and Trying Times” (2009).
The group has sold more than eight million albums worldwide.
The brothers have also branched out into acting, appearing in the Disney Channel TV series “Hannah Montana,” the Disney TV movie “Camp Rock” and “Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam,” and the 20th Century Fox film “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.”
The Big Dome concert will mark the group’s first time to play together in Manila.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Sandiganbayan allows hospital arrest on Arroyo
MANILA, Philippines—The Sandiganbayan First Division on Wednesday issued a resolution allowing former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to stay at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center on hospital arrest.
Arroyo has been detained at the VMMC since the anti-graft court’s issuance of an arrest warrant on her and nine others for charges of plunder in connection to the alleged misuse of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office intelligence funds.
The Pampanga lawmaker’s continued stay at the government hospital was allowed provided that she stays at the VMMC and her detention and granting of visits be fully controlled by the Philippine National Police.
Her use of communication gadgets shall also be under the authority of the Police Security and Protection Group while media interviews will only be allowed if authorized by the anti-graft court.
Arroyo will also have to shoulder her hospital expenses, according to the resolution.
Aquino, MILF chief vow to end war in Mindanao
“This is the sound of peace,” a smiling Murad Ebrahim, chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said as he tapped a miniature model of a Muslim gong that he gave to President Benigno Aquino during their meeting in Malacañang Monday morning.
In return, the President gave Murad a miniature bahay kubo (nipa hut), symbolizing the open house welcome that Filipinos extend to homecoming relatives.
They shook hands, ushering in what Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak described as “a new beginning for the people of Mindanao.”
After four decades of conflict, “peace is within reach,” Najib said.
And the government and the Moro rebels, overcoming 40 years of hostilities, took their first step toward ending the insurgency in Mindanao that had cost the lives of more than 150,000 people and reduced the resource-rich island into the poorest region of the Philippines.
The government and the MILF signed a framework agreement to end the war and build a new autonomous region in Mindanao, to be called Bangsamoro, in the Palace yesterday afternoon.
President Aquino, Murad and Najib, whose country brokered the peace talks between the Aquino administration and the MILF, looked on as chief government peace negotiator Marvic Leonen and his counterpart from the MILF, Mohagher Iqbal, signed the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro.
On hand to signify the Islamic world’s acceptance of the agreement was Ekmeleddin Ishanoglu, secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the world’s second largest intergovernmental organization after the United Nations.
The ceremony held at Malacañang’s Rizal Hall was attended by about 200 MILF fighters, government officials, diplomats and representatives of countries that made up the International Contact Group, the International Monitoring Group, and aid organizations that encouraged the peace negotiations between the government and the Muslim rebels.
President Aquino, in his keynote speech, said the agreement sealed “genuine, lasting peace in Mindanao,” which the government hoped to achieve before the end of his term in 2016.
“In full view of the Filipino people, and witnessed even by our friends from different parts of the world, we commit to peace—a peace that will be sustained through democratic ideals; a peace that heals and empowers; a peace that recognizes the many narratives of the Filipino people, and weaves them into a single, national aspiration for equitable progress,” Mr. Aquino said.
Prime Minister Najib said the agreement would “protect the rights of the Bangsamoro people and preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Philippines.”
“We are men and leaders who want to make a difference and we have decided that the time has come for us to choose the moral high ground,” Najib said.
The agreement “does not solve all the problems, rather it sets the parameters in which peace can be found,” he said.
‘I come in peace’
Two girls wearing Muslim head dresses flash “peace signs” after the government and Moro rebel leaders announce the signing of a preliminary agreement aimed at ending 40 years of separatist war in Mindanao. JOAN BONDOC
Murad, who spoke ahead of the President, pledged the MILF’s determination to silence the guns to allow peace and development to come to Mindanao after 40 years.
“I come in peace,” Murad said, admitting that it was his first time to set foot in Malacañang, the seat of power in the Philippines.
“We have inked the most important document in the chapter of our history—a landmark document that restores to our people their Bangsamoro identity and their homeland, their right to govern themselves, and the power to forge their destiny and future with [their own hands],” Murad said.
“Today we are here to celebrate the victory of the Bangsamoro people and the Filipino nation that is shared by the international community and the Muslim world, the victory earned not by war but by a collective desire to restore justice and peace to a troubled land,” he said.
Murad then extended “the hand of friendship and partnership to the President and the Filipino people as we join to embark on the historic journey to rebuild our home, institute justice and [end the] reign of violence and restore normalcy to the lives of the masses of our people in Mindanao and Sulu with the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro.”
The accord
The framework agreement, also called a road map to a final peace settlement that is expected by 2016, grants Muslims in Mindanao broad autonomy in exchange for ending their four-decade insurgency, which would bring peace and stability and eventually development to the region.
The 13-page document outlines general agreements on major issues, including the extent of power, revenues and territory granted for Bangsamoro, the new Muslim administrative region.
It calls for the establishment of a 15-member Transition Commission to draft a law creating Bangsamoro. The draft law will be submitted to Congress for adoption, then submitted to the people of Mindanao for approval in a plebiscite.
The 12,000-strong MILF armed forces will be deactivated gradually “beyond use,” the agreement says, without specifying a timetable.
Failed experiment
The agreement says Bangsamoro will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which President Aquino described as “failed experiment.”
The ARMM was created by a 1996 peace agreement the government signed with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), but Mr. Aquino considered it a failure because it did not end the conflict, the rebels did not disarm and it did not improve the lives of Muslims.
Corruption, political violence and crimes such as kidnappings and extortion persisted, and the MILF continued to fight for self-rule.
Another preliminary accord was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2008 as unconstitutional because it would create a separate state.
Western governments have long worried over the presence of small numbers of al-Qaeda-linked militants from the Middle East and Southeast Asia seeking combat training and collaboration with the Filipino insurgents.
One of those extremist groups, the Abu Sayyaf, is not part of any negotiations, but the hope is that the peace agreement will isolate its militants and deny them sanctuary and logistical support they had previously received from rebel commanders.
One of those hardline commanders, Ameril Umra Kato, broke off from the MILF last year. Kato’s forces attacked the Army in August, prompting an offensive that killed more than 50 fighters in the 200-strong rebel faction.
Kato rejects accord
Abu Misri Mammah, a spokesperson for Kato’s forces, on Sunday said that his group did not recognize the peace accord.
“That’s a surrender,” he said. “We won’t waver from our armed struggle and continue to aspire for a separate Muslim homeland that won’t be a creation of politicians.”
President Aquino acknowledged that much work remained to be done after the signing of the agreement.
“The devil is in the details,” he said, but added that the government is committed to peace and development in Mindanao.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Quintos-Deles said the government and the MILF would encounter challenges as they proceed to implement the framework agreement.
“So many challenges await us, but the bridge of trust that spans this room is strong enough to withstand the trials ahead, however difficult they may be,” Deles said.
Staying the course
In his speech, Murad reminded everyone of the roots of the Moro rebellion.
“Never in my wildest dream since I was a child, or when I joined the Bangsamoro struggle more than 40 years ago, that one day I will see the interior of this building [Malacañang] that once housed the Spanish and American governors general, and now the Presidents of the Philippines,” Murad said.
“Today . . . we have stayed the course. Our perseverance has prevailed over those whose position is to perpetuate war and conflict in Mindanao and Sulu for personal aggrandizement,” he said.
Culture of impunity
Mr. Aquino said that many had resorted to “the path of vengeance and violence,” but he promised to dismantle the culture of impunity in the country.
“I myself lost my father to an oppressive system,” he said. “I myself thirsted for justice, and was deprived of it then by the dictatorship. I empathize with our Bangsamoro brothers and sisters, and can only vow to work as hard as I can to see that the culture of impunity is dismantled, and that the foundations of righteousness and cooperation are laid.”
And he gave a promise to the Muslims of Mindanao: “We will give our people what is truly due them: A chance to direct their lives toward advancement in a democratic, peaceful and safe society.”
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Donaire knocked out Nishioka in the 9th round
CARSON CITY, California—Just when Nonito Donaire Jr. seemed headed for another lackluster championship win, the Filipino Flash delivered the kind of victory that should now make him a sought-after ring gladiator.
Donaire fired a short but vicious right straight to the jaw that toppled Japanese Toshiaki Nishioka in the ninth round to win by technical knockout and retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) super bantamweight title on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila) at Home Depot Center.
Although Nishioka rose at the count of six and referee Raul Caiz Sr. allowed the still wobbly Japanese to resume the fight, it was obvious he was done for the night.
After a Donaire punch that missed his staggering rival, Caiz stopped the fight in one minute 54 seconds of the round.
“I know he’s a great fighter and that both of us can end the match with one punch. It boils down to who makes the mistake and he made that mistake,” Donaire said.
Donaire, 29, also decked his 36-year-old opponent with an uppercut late in the sixth round.
Power and skill
The Japanese, who was seeing action a year after giving up his World Boxing Council (WBC) crown, waged a tactical battle against the charging Filipino champion.
In raising his record to 30-1-0 with 19 KOs, Donaire earned $800,000 and inched closer to a possible pay-per-view fight. Top Rank boss Bob Arum plans to pit him with the popular Jorge Arce, a former bantamweight champion, in Mexico City possibly before the year is over.
Only the WBO belt was at stake as the International Boxing Federation (IBF) reportedly asked for a big fee to sanction the fight.
Nishioka had won 16 straight fights since March 2004, but couldn’t keep up with Donaire’s combination of power and tactical skill.
Donaire’s strategy
Donaire, who failed to finish his last three foes inside the distance, stuck to his strategy of using jabs and throwing combinations, causing welts under Nishioka’s right eye by the fourth round.
By then, Nishioka was looking very much like headed for retirement. He barely threw punches and seemed content to just last the distance.
With the fans shouting for more action, Donaire slipped in a left uppercut to Nishioka’s face and floored him with 50 seconds left in the sixth round.
But the Japanese, who had survived knockdowns to win fights before, beat the count and finished the round despite taking heavy punches in the face.
Left hand hurt
Donaire outpunched Nishioka, 31-7, in that round, according to CompuBox statistics. But Donaire hurt his left hand in throwing the uppercut. He later showed a bleeding knuckle when he took his gloves off.
“My left was hurt, that’s why I slowed down a bit,” said the 29-year-old native of Gen. Santos City, also the hometown of his more illustrious compatriot, Manny Pacquiao.
“It was not because I was tired. It was because I was trying to find another way to cut him through,” he added.
What he found in his arsenal was his right straight, which eventually did the job.
In the ninth, Donaire—who has been waiting in the wings for super fights that could bring him to the A-list of pay-per-view stars—found an opening with his right hand and dropped the Japanese.
Nishioka beat the count, but Donaire charged like a bull and fired a looping left that grazed the head of the groggy Japanese. The referee stepped in and halted the fight.
Boxing greats
A paying crowd of 7,665 fans showed up at the 8,000-seat tennis stadium, most of them Mexicans who came to support their countrymen fighting in the undercards.
Boxing greats Julio Cezar Chavez and Marco Antonio Barrera were at ringside as commentators for a Mexican TV network.
Donaire’s impressive win came after a spectacular clash in the undercard between light welterweights Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado for the WBO Latino title. Rios stopped Alvarado in 1:57 of the seventh round in a savage fight that sent the crowd roaring on their feet.
Rios lined himself up for a possible fight with the winner of the fourth Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez fight in December, if the winner agrees, according to Arum.
Best in the division
The Rios-Alvarado fight was so compelling the crowd started to boo Donaire and Nishioka in the opening bell as the two took time to size each other up.
In February, Donaire captured the vacant WBO 122-pound title, winning a gritty split-decision over former world champion Wilfredo Vazquez. Five months later, he added the IBF title with a unanimous decision over Jeffrey Mathebula.
Donaire had won his previous three fights on points, and so was pleased to stop his opponent. “I got the guy that I thought was the best in the division. Everybody is free fall,” he said.
Nishioka had been unbeaten for 16 contests going into the fight and had successfully defended the WBC 122-pound title seven times between 2009 and 2011.
Nishioka had not lost by knockout since the second fight of his career in 1995 and had not lost any contest since Thai star Veeraphol Sahaprom beat him in 2004.
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