VANCOUVER -- True to the prom­ise made by its big boss AlanYong during the 1 st Maharlika Awards night last month, Times Telecom, the Fili­pino community’s leading retail long distance service provider, will throw its biggest support ever to any Filipi­no community event by offering two game shows to the attendees of the forthcoming 2010 Philippine Sum­mer Festival.

These eye-catching prizes will definitely attract Filipino Canadians from all over Canada and we will not be surprised if the Philippine Sum­mer Festival will break records in at­tendance and number of participat­ing kiosks. The game mechanics will be an­nounced and explained in detail in succeeding print ads and news releases about the “festival @ the oval”. Every contestant should be present at the venue when they are called.

With an estimated 15,000 Filipino Canadians filling the grounds of the Richmond Olympic Oval on August 28-29, the event promises a lot of excitement and thrills, as more spon­sors join in the bandwagon of amaz­ing prizes and surprises to make this first ever unified gathering of Filipi­nos in British Columbia a tremen­dous success.

There are now just a few food and merchandise booths remaining for concession opportunities. Feed­back from neighboring cities outside Metro Vancouver reveals preparation from various Filipino communities to participate in this landmark event of the Filipino British Columbians, as well as positive responses from “Pi­noy” groups across the border.

As chairman of the Filipino Ca­nadian Cultural Heritage (FCCH) of BC, organizer of the 2010 Philippine Summer Festival, we are very opti­mistic about the huge success of this maiden celebration in the province, given the responses they are getting from all sectors of the Filipino com­munity. We really wanted to create an identity for the Filipino community of British Columbia through this event. We wanted to showcase our amazing talents and great culture as Filipinos, as well as create a distinctive festival worthy of recognition around the globe. This event will be our version of such big Filipino celebrations as the Toronto, New York and London Festival” he added.

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To fight or not to fight Manny Pacquiao. This conundrum has been buzzing in the horizon over the re­peated refusal of Floyd Mayweather Jr. to tangle with the Filipino boxer­turn-lawmaker.
Even Canadian fans of Mayweath­er have started to desert their idol out of frustration and anger as the big­gest fight ever is about to disappear in the wind owing to Mayweather’s refusal to cooperate with promoter Bob Arum.

And while the world awaits in suspended terror and excitement, the trainer of former three-time wel­terweight world champion, Antonio “Tijuana Tornado” Margarito (38- 6, 27 KOs) of Mexico, in a recent conversation with Fightnews.com’s Ricardo Conde, has expressed ela­tion over the prospect of his ward facing seven-time world champion Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs) on Saturday, November 13 for the vacant WBC junior middle­weight title with the location still to be determined. Robert Garcia, also a former junior lightweight champion, is “very happy to find out that we got the fight and it’s exciting to know that we’re going to be involved in this big fight, it’s going to be the biggest fight of the year. I’m very excited to know that we’re going to be a part of it.”
Garcia considers Pacquiao a “great fighter and as we all know he’s considered the best in the world.”
He said, “I know Margarito trains hard for every fight and he has the desire to be great and to beat the best out there so I know we are going to be ready for this fight. Margarito is strong, very hungry and always has great conditioning so those are go­ing to be big advantages for us going into this fight. There are some things I’ll be working on with Margarito for this fight and certain things that we’re going to have to do going into the ring against Manny.”

Garcia expects the rumble to be a great fight. “What do I think the out­come will be, well of course I want Margarito to win and we’re going to be doing everything possible to have Margarito win the fight. Since I learned about the fight I’ve been watching Manny Pacquiao’s fights, from when he got knocked out in the beginning of his career, to his loss against Morales and all the other fights were he beat everybody else. We’ve been studying all those fights and I think we’ll come in with a great plan and a great strategy to beat him.”
Garcia: “No problem at all. When Margarito came to camp for this last fight he was only 12 pounds over the weight limit which was 154 and 2 weeks before the fight he was already weighing 154 so losing those last 4 pounds won’t be any problem. So to be 150 I think is going to be a big ad­vantage for Margarito, he’s going to be much stronger and much healthi­er. Margarito is a natural welterweight and has fought there for most of his career, at 147, so I think those extra 3 pounds is going to work to our ad­vantage.”

“Without a doubt, Manny Pac­quiao has been very tough against everybody he’s fought so he’ll defi­nitely be Margarito’s toughest oppo­nent. In the ring anything can hap­pen so we’ll be ready for him but I definitely think he’ll be Margarito’s toughest opponent so far.

“He’s a great trainer, like I’ve al­ways said, he’s considered the best and he’s proven to be the best. With all the work he’s done with Manny, with Amir Khan, all his guys, he’s done such a great job with them that he deserves that spot. To me going up against him, like I’ve done before, I’ve had a couple fighters going up against him, its also a challenge for me as well. Now that we’re going up against the great Manny Pacquiao, its going to be more of a challenge and its going to give me more power to work harder and train Margarito