FACE OF THE NEWS: Nov. 25, 2018

Maymay Entrata

Maymay Entrata has just ticked off another item on her bucket list. Early this week, the 21-year-old “Pinoy Big Brother (PBB): Lucky 7” winner turned heads and made a splash when she flew to Dubai to make her international catwalk debut at the Arab Fashion Week, where she walked the runway for the Amato Couture Fashion Show of internationally acclaimed Filipino designer Furne One.

Maymay is in great company. Other celebrities who have donned Furne’s splashy outfits include supermodel Heidi Klum, actress Joan Collins and singers Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga.

Maymay is living, breathing proof that persistence pays off.

Before finding her way inside the “PBB” house, the Cagayan de Oro-raised actress-model also auditioned for talent tilts “The Voice” and “Pilipinas Got Talent” but didn’t make the cut.

Xi Jinping

Traffic stopped for hours and international singer Lea Salonga came out to sing for him as the Palace rolled out the red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was here for a two-day state visit last week.

In the state banquet hosted by President Rodrigo Duterte in Malacañang, Xi marveled at the state of relations between China and the Philippines which he said were now in the “right trajectory.”

Besides attending a bilateral meeting between their respective officials, Xi also had a tête-à-tête with the Philippine president.

Despite protest rallies against Xi’s visit over Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, the controversial subject did get some attention during the state visit but sans the rancor.

This after the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding that will see them cooperating in oil and gas exploration in the disputed sea.

Sal Panelo and Teddy Boy Locsin

He fu*k*n* cares. Presidential spokesperson Salvador “Sal” Panelo found himself on the receiving end of Foreign Secretary Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr.’s tirade on Twitter this week.

An incensed Locsin called out Panelo for stating that Malacañang did not care if China penned the draft of the joint oil and gas exploration agreement with China in the disputed South China Sea.

In a post on his Twitter account, @teddyboylocsin, on Wednesday, Locsin said he “fu*k*n* care” if the draft text was written by China.

“A framework or architecture for gas and oil in our part of the sea demands the draft be MINE… MIO… FILIPINO. But China pointed out I forgot to insert the name of the participants. I’m sparing of words. Accepted,” part of his Twitter post read.

As it turned out, the memorandum of understanding signed by the Philippines and China was indeed drafted by Locsin, who said he could not yet release the memorandum pending China’s permission.

Confronted with Locsin’s displeasure over his statement, Panelo corrected him, stressing that it did not matter who drafted the deal since the Philippines would still go over it “to see whether this is legal or not, whether it’s beneficial to us or not.”

He added that China would have to do the same if the Philippines drafted the accord, which is standard procedure in a contract negotiation.

On the apparent miscommunication, Panelo said: “I’m not sure whether Secretary Locsin read the transcript of what happened in this news briefing. I am also not sure whether or not the writer of that story gave an accurate reporting of what I said.”

‘Cardo Dalisay’

Fiction has caused friction for the Philippine National Police.

The PNP went on the offensive against the recent storyline of ABS-CBN’s popular prime-time TV show “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano,” which follows the adventures of fictional police officer “Cardo Dalisay,” played by matinee idol Coco Martin.

Of late, Cardo has been forced to join a vigilante group, called Vendetta, due to a corrupt political and police leadership.

PNP Director General Oscar Albayalde thought the portrayal of his organization as the “villain” was so “unfair” he had requested to meet with the show’s production outfit and the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board and withdrawn logistical support for the show.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government, which oversees the PNP, threatened legal action if the show continued with its portrayal of the police.

Lito Patay

Before becoming chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Central Visayas, Supt. Lito Patay led the Batasan police station — once the deadliest station in Metro Manila at the height of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

In August 2016, 16 of his men raided a house at Barangay Payatas Area B. Five men, including 17-year-old Darwin Hamoy, were killed.

But the victims’ bereaved, especially Hamoy’s mother Mariza, challenged claims that the men had engaged the police in a gun battle. Over two years after their deaths, the Philippine National Police’s antiscalawag unit found probable cause to file charges against Patay and his 16 men for the “gruesome and merciless” killing of Hamoy.

It’s a landmark resolution considering that Patay led the “Davao Boys,” a team handpicked by ex-PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa from the President’s hometown.