Philippine Asian News Today Vol 19 No 13 | Page 4

HEADLINE
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY July 1 - 15 , 2017

RP Blu Girls clinch quarterfinals seat in Canada Cup By Alex Mino and Rey Fortaleza

The Philippine softball team marched their way to the quarterfinals of Canada Cup , nipping a stubborn Chinese- Taipei in a climactic finish , 11- 7 , at the penultimate round of International Women ’ s Softball championship held in Softball City , White Rock .
With the win , the wards of coach Randy Dizer will battle the loser of Mexico-Japan on Thursday , July 13 , 10:30 am , who are still playing as of press time , in the quarterfinal matchup .
“ We did it again , we really deserved this win . Mabuhay ang Pilipinas ,” says Dizer .
RP Blu Girls second win in as many outings didn ’ t come in handy , as they squandered a comfortable 7-1 tally , but recovered just in time to maintain their unblemished record .
The Philippine team waxed hot right off the bat to built a comfortable margin , but for some reasons became complacent in the next successive innings , enabling the Chinese-Taipei squad to mount a comeback and tie the game , 7-7 in the sixth inning .
Chelsey Suitos and Hailey Decker saved the day for the visiting squad , orchestrating consecutive runs to make it , 9-7 , to the delight of hundreds of Pinoy

Philippine team shocks Canada in world softball tilt

By Alex Mino and Rey Fortaleza
Cheska Altomonte led a relentless attack of the RP Blu Girls softball squad to stun heavily-favored Canada at the start of Canada Cup International Softball Championship held in Surrey , BC .
The Pinays came prepared and battle-tested after carving out a convincing 6-2 upset win over the thirdranked home team
The visiting nation , who only ranks no . 17 in the world , shrugged off any signs of fatigue after landing only yesterday here in Vancouver to register their first win and start their campaign on a high note .
The RP Blu Girls is coming off a successful campaign in Oklahoma last week , upstaging no . 4 and no . 10 Australia and Mexico , respectively , according to team manager Ismael Veloso III .
Altomonte scored two runs highlighted by a homer in the second inning to put the Philippine team in the driver seat and never looked back .
“ We are currently on high spirits considering we ’ re the underdog in this tournament ,” says head coach Randy Dizer .
Dizer together with pitching coach Ronny Pagkaliwagan echo statements that tomorrow ’ s game is a battle of defense and their pitchers are ready anytime .
Dizer added : The team is upbeat and confident against Chinese-Taipei since we beat Canada , 3rd in the world and Chinese-Taipei is 8th or 9th in fans .
In the ensuing inning , Garrie Blando , with teammate Kailee Cuico waiting in the second base , hit a homer to seal the doom for the ladies of Chinese-Taipei en route to the final tally .
Decker also had an RBI courtesy of 4th inning home run by Gabby Maurice .
The Pinays ( 2-0 ) finished no . 1 in bracket B and currently seating in second overall spot behind top team Australia , boasting a 3-0 record .
Overall , it was a team effort on the part of the Philippine team , who still has a shot for glory that will make the Filipinos proud .
Win or lose in the quarters , the RP Blu Girls have nothing to be ashamed of judging from their performance .
Philippine women ’ s team assistant and first base coach Kiko Diaz ( left ) motivates his player after reaching the first base in their first game against Canada , whom they beat , 6-2 .
world rankings .
The Philippine women ’ s team is scheduled to play Chinese-Taipei on Wednesday 10 am , July 12 at Softball City in White Rock .
The playoff round culminates Thursday , July 13 , with the gold medal tussle slated Monday , July 17 .
A jam packed crowd ,
including 150 Pinoys from Lower Mainland , witnessed the monumental victory of the Philippine team at the expense of highly-touted Canadian squad .
The pumped up Filipino- Canadians is expected to cheer and support again their kababayans against Chinese- Taipei Wednesday .

PNT columnist Geoff Meggs named chief of staff to B . C . NDP Premier John Horgan

Geoff Meggs stepped down as Vancouver city councillor on July 4 after being hired as chief of staff to incoming B . C . NDP Premier John Horgan .
Meggs is a longtime contributor to the Philippine Asian News Today ( PNT ), the biggest newspaper in the Filipino Canadian community in B . C .
As a columnist with PNT , Meggs has written extensively on matters that are important to Filipino Canadians .
His appointment is a key move for Horgan as the B . C . NDP prepares to take power after the B . C . Liberals lost a confidence vote .
Horgan is scheduled to be sworn in as Premier on July 18 .
Meggs was once editor of the Fishermen ’ s Union newspaper . He was first elected to Vancouver politics in 2008 with the Vision Vancouver slate , which has extensive ties to the provincial New Democrats . His wife , Jan O ’ Brien , was provincial secretary for the NDP until its electoral loss in 2013 .
In the 1990s , he was
communications director for former B . C . NDP Premier Glen Clark .
With retired Globe and Mail bureau chief Rod Mickleburgh , Meggs coauthored The Art of the Impossible , about the history of B . C .’ s first NDP government from 1972-75 , headed by Premier Dave Barrett — including creating ICBC , the Agricultural Land Reserve , requiring politicians to reveal their donors , and the B . C . Human Rights Board .
The 41-seat NDP signed a cooperation pact with the three-MLA Green Party , meaning they will prop up the NDP in any confidence votes , giving them a 44-seat block and narrow majority .
Meggs lives with his wife Jan in a False Creek town house . They have two adult daughters .
Since his election to Vancouver councul , Meggs has worked on a number of difficult and high-profile issues , including the city ’ s delivery of successful Winter Olympic Games , the refinancing of the Olympic Village , the implementation
of a region-wide U-Pass and the expansion of cycling infrastructure .
In 2011 he was appointed as a Vancouver director on the Metro Vancouver board , where he serves on the housing and aboriginal affairs committees .
Meggs is an awardwinning journalist and author whose career has combined community and social activism with senior leadership positions in government and the labour movement . He has the reputation of someone who knows how to balance idealism and pragmatism .
He learned how the city works during his three years as an executive assistant to Mayor Larry Campbell .
Born and raised in Toronto and Ottawa , Meggs graduated from the University of Toronto and began his career in journalism with a community paper in Toronto , before moving on to a Calgary daily and then The Canadian Press in Vancouver .
During the 1980s , he won more than 20 awards as the editor of the coastwide paper published by Fishermen ’ s
Union , where he developed a wide range of contacts in coastal communities and among First Nations . His history of the salmon fishery won the Lieutenant Governor ’ s Medal for the best work of BC history in 1992 .
In 1990 , Meggs became c o m m u n i c a t i o n s director of the Hospital Employees Union , working with health care workers as they won historic pay equity settlements and negotiated critical agreements to support reform of the health care system . In 1996 , he was appointed communications director in the Premier ’ s Office under Glen Clark .
After successfully establishing his own communications consulting business in 1999 , Meggs returned to the labour movement in 2001 as assistant to Jim Sinclair , president of the BC Federation of Labour , a position he held until he was hired by Mayor Larry Campbell on election night
in 2002 . He was a founding member of Vision Vancouver and served on its executive from 2005 to 2008 .
Meggs left City Hall in September 2005 to work full time in support of Jim Green ’ s candidacy for mayor . When Green was defeated , Meggs returned to the BC Federation of Labour as Executive Director , a position he left in January 2008 to resume his private consulting practice through his firm , Tideline Communications .
Meggs is an avid cyclist and hiker , usually putting aside a week each summer for a back country trip with his family .
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