Second Lt. Rex Eduard Custorio (Source: Yahoo.com)
Second Lt. Rex Eduard Custorio became the first Filipino to graduate from Republic of Korea’s Air Force Academy in Cheongju, Chungbuk, South Korea. He entered the Philippine Military Academy in 2010, but that same year, the PMA sent him to continue his studies in South Korea as the first Filipino to study at the Air Force Academy, reports ABS-CBN News.
Trinidad Torres (Source: Westgate)
LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- A Filipina from Utah hit the jackpot at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on Saturday, March 14, hotel officials announced.Trinidad Torres, a 78-year-old from Magna, Utah, and a first-time visitor to the hotel, was in Las Vegas with a friend who was playing in Westgate’s blackjack tournament, reports Inquirer.net.
Filipinos with a Smart SIM card-powered smartphone may now browse 24 websites, including INQUIRER.net, free of data charges. This as Smart Communications, through Talk ‘N Text (TNT), launched a partnership with Facebook in a bid to bring free information to all Filipinos via Internet.org. Internet.org is a Facebook-led initiative which aims to provide internet connectivity to two-thirds of the world that remains “disconnected.”
Teresita Sy-Coson (Source: bloomberg.com), Helen Yuchengco-Dee (Source: ygc.com), and Zenaida Rustia-Tantoco (Source: forbes.com)
Forbes’ list of the 50 most powerful businesswomen in Asia includes three Filipina executives, all daughters of business tycoons: Teresita Sy-Coson, vice chairman of SM Investments and chairman of BDO Universal Bank; Helen Yuchengco-Dee, chairman of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.; Zenaida Rustia-Tantoco, chairman and chief executive officer of the SSI Group/Rustan’s Commercial.
Filipino boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao bought a mansion in Beverly Hills, California previously owned by actress and singer Jennifer Lopez, reports Inquirer.net. The property is worth $12 million. Pacquiao will meet Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a big-purse duel in Las Vegas on May 2.
A Filipino couple has turned their passion for home movies into a lucrative career. Mark and Rhea (they wish to withhold their last name) who go by the YouTube username “ilovemaything,” earned more than $1 million from their YouTube channel, Hulyan Maya, best known for videos of their kids playing with Thomas the Tank Engine toys, reports Yahoo Parenting. Tubefilter, which posts weekly charts of the most-viewed YouTube channels, says Hulyan Maya channel was the 42nd most-viewed U.S. channel in the middle of March, more than 26 million views in just seven days; just below the channel for NBC’s The Voice.
Aisa Mijeno (Source: SALt's Facebook page)
A young Filipina, Aisa Mijeno, an engineer and a social worker invented an alternative lighting system that doesn't require batteries or harmful substitutes such as kerosene to function. It uses natural energy from salt and water, reports ChoosePhilippines.com.
The Philippines' jobless rate slipped at the start of the year. The Philippine Statistics Authority said the unemployment rate fell to 6.6 percent last January, down from 7.5 percent in the same period last year, reports Interaksyon.com. Underemployment, which measures the number of Filipinos with jobs but still looking for additional income, also slipped to 17.5 percent this year from 19.5 percent in 2014.
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