NOW PLAYING: Manila Pop Hits Radio

UPDATED PLAYLIST (Last set of tracks played on MANILA POP HITS RADIO as of 9:05 AM, Sunday, November 7, 2010, PHILIPPINES time (8:05 PM, Saturday, November 6, 2010, USA Central time):

Played @ Song Title

20:04:24 Eraserheads - Ligaya >> Current Song

20:00:00 Sharon Cuneta - Mahal kita Mahal Mo Siya

19:56:10 Pilita Corrales - Bulung-Bulungan

19:53:12 Ogie Alcasid - Bato Sa Buhangin

19:49:42 Reuben Laurente With 92 AD - Ang Galing Mo (Bayaning Pilipino)

19:47:12 Lilac Caña - Ay! Kalisud

19:42:40 Gary Granada - Manamana Lang Yan

19:41:53 Kitchie Nadal - Ephesians 3:20

19:37:45 Nora Aunor - Mama'd know what to do

19:34:33 Banyuhay ni Heber - Leron-leron Sinta (Tatlong Kahig Part II)

19:30:29 Florante Aguilar - Liman Dipang Tao

19:27:37 Asin - Bato Bato Sa Langit

19:23:13 Lea Salonga and Ariel Rivera - Suddenly Love

19:18:41 Freddie Aguilar - Anak

19:14:36 Neocolors - Kasalanan Ko Ba?

NOW PLAYING: Manila Pop Hits Radio

UPDATED PLAYLIST (Last set of tracks played on MANILA POP HITS RADIO as of 1:58 am, Monday, November 1, 2010, Philippines time (12:58 pm, Sunday, October 31, 2010, USA Central time):

Played @ Song Title

12:57:09 Parokya Ni Edgar feat. Gloc-9 & Francis Magalona - Bagsakan
12:54:46 Nora Aunor - Who's sorry now
12:50:13 Juris - Nariyan Ka
12:41:19 Dulce Amor - Kastilyong Buhangin
12:37:02 KYLA feat. PAOLO SANTOS - TILL THEY TAKE MY HEART AWAY
12:32:33 Noel Cabangon - Tao
12:28:30 Ogie Alcasid - Handog
12:24:46 Cely Bautista - Sa Pugad Ng Pag-Ibig
12:21:30 Nyoy Volante - Umagang Kay Ganda
12:17:01 Bamboo - Noypi
12:13:31 - Reuben Laurente - Ang galing mo
12:01:45 Carol Banawa - Till It's Time

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GOOD MORNING PILIPINAS!

UPDATED PLAYLIST! Last set of tracks played on MANILA POP HITS RADIO as of Tuesday, October 26, 6:48 am, Philippines time (Monday, October 25, 5:48 pm, USA Central time):

17:47:42    Jeffrey Hidalgo - Ba't Di Mo Subukan

17:44:21    Jaycie & Honey - Every Little Thing He Does Is Magic   

17:40:48    Pupil - Monobloc

17:36:33    Francis Magalona - Meron akong ano

17:33:20    Parokya Ni Edgar - Maniwala Ka Sana

17:30:32    Kamikazee vs. Parokya ni Edgar - American Junk

17:27:36    Cely Bautista - Pag-Ibig Din Ang Daratnan

17:23:13    Jessa Zaragosa - Kahit Ako'y Nag-Iisa

17:20:32    Rey Valera - I Love You, Too

17:16:03    Sharon Cuneta - Pangako

17:11:52    Jolina - Super pinoy

17:09:04    Ogie Alcasid - Malayo Pa Ang Umaga

17:04:50    Migs - Slide

17:00:51    Jessa Zaragosa - Ikaw lang ang iibigin

16:56:04    Lani Misalucha - Iisa pa lamang

Bawat Tibok ng Puso by Cely Bautista

Artist: Cely Bautista
Title: Bawat Tibok ng Puso
Album: Best of Cely Bautista (Reyna ng Kundiman, Vol. 3) / Aquarius Records
Composed by: A. Torres / L. Celerio
Also released in 1971 by Villar Records

This track is definitely a classic!

Nate Robinson is 1/8th Filipino?

I love the game of basketball. I remember in my elementary days when a few friends and I would endure the dust-filled adjacent lot with two wooden hoops about 30 feet apart. Never the athletically gifted, I eventually developed dust-induced (thankfully, temporary) respiratory wheezes which further hindered my ability to play the game. Oh well, those were the days. How are we, Filipinos, so fascinated with the game? We've never been very successful since the early days during and post-American colonization. I understand that there's a Philippine squad (RP Smart Gilas Philipppine National team) being developed by a foreign coach (Toroman) trying to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. Maybe they can acquire the services of former New York Knicks player (currently with the Boston Celtics), Nate Robinson, who is apparently 1/8th Filipino.

From this article in the Asian Journal, "New York Knicks’ Nate Robinson: Pinoy Slam Dunk Champ,"

Meet Nate Robinson, a 5’9" (with shoes) point guard for the New York Knicks that has an amazing 44" vertical leap.

He’s also one-eighth Filipino although you’d be hard pressed to find it in his features.

According to basketball writer Rafe Bartholomew as quoted by Philstar, Robinson’s Pinoy roots are from his mother’s side.

"Pinoy daw ang lolo niya," Bartholomew told Philstar.

Bartholomew, who wrote a profile about Robinson for the Seattle Weekly, interviewed Robinson’s mother Renee Busch and she confirmed that her great grand father was full Filipino...

When word spread earlier this year that an NBA player especially one with the caliber of Robinson is part Filipino have some Pinoy basketball fans giddy.

The reason: Robinson could play for the Philippine National Basketball Team.

Philstar’s Joaquin Henson wrote, "Technically, Robinson could be considered a Fil-Am or more like an Am-Fil. If he is issued a Filipino passport on that basis as a dual citizen, then the 5’ 9" human dynamo from Seattle qualifies to play for Gilas – not as a naturalized import but as a Filipino like Fil-Ams Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz.

Here's another article confirming the same, by Gerald Narciso, in the Dime Magazine, "The Thrilla In Manila: Nate Robinson Talks About His Filipino Roots,"

Being Filipino myself, naturally this was of interest to me. Before the Knicks played the Raptors on Friday night, I approached Nate in the locker room and asked him if it was true.

“That is true,” Robinson said as he sat at his locker. “I’m like 1/8th, on my momma’s side. But that’s like digging down the line though. It’s like great, great grandparent.”

Looking somewhat surprised, Nate asked me how I found out. I told him about the YouTube clip and how they debated whether that 1/8th was enough to put him on the national team. I also told Robinson about fans in the Philippines and how crazy they are about basketball. Robinson shook his head in amazement and smiled.

“I know that’s what I heard, somebody told me that on Twitter,” Robinson said about the news breaking about his Filipino genes. “I didn’t really take it too seriously. But we’ll see how it goes. Playing on the national team would be pretty cool though.”

I then asked him if his mom had maintained any customs or cooked Filipino food while Robinson was growing up.

“Naw she doesn’t, but she was raised in a Filipino family,” said Robinson. “But I’d really have to ask her about the history behind it and how it was.”

But just because Robinson’s immediate family doesn’t practice Filipino traditions, doesn’t mean the Seattle native is in the dark when it comes to the culture.

“I eat the lumpias (Filipino egg rolls) and everything,” says the 5-9 Robinson. “I have a lot of Filipino friends and we always ate it with sweet and sour sauce. My boy Sylvester, he lives with me. He’s Filipino and black. His mom, makes lumpias for us all the time and we go buy the ingredients when she comes over.”

While seeing Robinson suit up for the Philippine National Team is extremely unlikely, it does give the country another reason to love NBA basketball...

Must be one bad a** coffee! Hahaha ;-)

Took this picture @ work. Must be one bad a** coffee! Mas matapang pa kaya ito sa Kapeng Barako? Hahaha ;-)

I currently work as a Registered Nurse (typically a Filipino-dominated profession, right?) in a busy medical unit here in Canada. I read somewhere (I'm still looking for the link, help me out if you can) that in New York (United States) 6 of every 10 Nurses are of Filipino descent. Anyway, I found this quote from an article by Joseph Berger, "Filipino Nurses, Healers in Trouble" (an interesting story to read if you're interested):

"Of the New York area’s 215,000 Filipinos, 3 out of 10 work as nurses or other health-care practitioners, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data by Susan Weber-Stoger, a Queens College demographer. Many of the rest are their spouses, children or aging parents. That migration explains the large colonies of Filipinos in places like Jersey City and Bergenfield, N.J., a middle-class suburb, where Robert C. Rivas, mayor from 1999 to 2003, claimed to be the only Filipino mayor in the Northeast."

Manny Pacquiao: Hard work is the way to the top

"My way to the top is a result of hard work, hard work, hard work and a lot of blood spilled from my past battles in the ring..." - Manny Pacquiao, Filipino boxer, Ranked #1 Pound for Pound Boxer in the World


First ever post on Manila Pop Hits! Many, many more to come! If there's anything which would describe Filipinos all over the world, we are an extremely hard working bunch. It never ceases to amaze me how many of us work double and triple jobs just to make ends meet, perhaps earn a little extra to enjoy the finer things in life, and provide for those who matter to us. Manny Pacquiao, the most visible Filipino at the global stage for his successes in the boxing now earns tens of millions of dollars to practice his craft and practically endorses commercially almost every product known to man. Years ago, he was once living in the streets of the southern Philippines and worked as a doughnut vendor, construction worker, and other temporary jobs as he trained as young boxer. He's come a long way since. ~ Marck S.