Sidelights: Manny vs Jinkee, Manny vs Alex

I’ll bet you didn’t catch this one—a flash report from GMA 7’s Chino Trinidad in Las Vegas during Jessica Soho’s TV program “State of the Nation” Friday night.

An associate said Chino reported that there was an ongoing imbroglio between Manny and Jinkee Pacquiao inside their hotel room in Las Vegas at that moment.

At the same time, he said there was also a conflict between Manny and conditioning trainer Alex Ariza.

The cause of the fight was not disclosed, although Chino described Manny as “very angry.”

The report didn’t say if somebody got hurt.
Only cell phones were damaged according to Chino.

I imagine the two—or three—hurled their Blackberrys at each other in the heat of the feud. An expensive table glass top was also reported to be broken, hopefully not from being hit by Manny’s fist.

A sullen-looking Jinkee arrived in the United States some days ago. She refused to grant even a short interview to members of the media who were waiting for her at the airport.

Who’d ever imagine that The War of the Pacquiaos would be a virtual undercard to the third fight between Manny and Juan Manuel Marquez.

Some oddsmakers had predicted that Marquez won’t last three rounds this time. I wonder how Manny fared in the undercard.
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Although the Philippines is a tropical country, SM founder Henry Sy invested in the construction of the very first ice skating rink at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong.

The Taipan, currently No. 1 in the Forbes List of 40 richest Filipinos, is said to have been fascinated with the sport that he pursued his vision “to provide a venue for future Filipino Ice Skating Olympians.” Or at least that’s what the glossy, full colored flyer said.

I’m not sure how long ago that first ice skating rink was built, but one thing is certain.

Mr. Sy’s rinks, now situated at the SM Southmall and Mall of Asia, have produced an ice skating Olympian in Michael Christian Martinez, who will represent the Philippines in the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in January 2012 at Innsbruck, Austria.

Henry Sy’s vision has materialized.

The lanky 15-year-old Michael started ice skating when he was only 8 years old. Before this, he was into wushu and gymnastics.

He has participated in countless international tournaments, among them the 2008 Parade of Juniors, the 2009 Tirnavia Ice Cup in Slovakia, the 2009 Ice Challenge in Graz, Austria, and the Skate Celgie 2009 in Slovenia where he all copped a gold medal.

To date, he has a rich collection of 187 medals, 145 of them golds.

“Michael’s physique is perfect for figure skating. I’m confident he will perform creditably in the Olympics. Just qualifying for a slot in the world’s most prestigious and biggest sporting event is achievement enough,” said Philippine’s Skating Union president Pocholo Veguillas, a former head of the Philippine Karatedo Federation, when I asked him if there was a chance for a tropical country like the Philippines to win a gold in the Olympics.
As for Michael, he said he was going for no less than the gold medal.

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HOOPVINE: A colleague was raving over the Nonito Donaire Jr.-Rachel Marcial church wedding on November 11, 2011, at the FernWood in Alabang. “Out of this world” was how he described it. “The bride came in a horse-driven carriage. She looked radiant in the most gorgeous wedding gown I ever saw. The setting was a wonderland. There were fireworks after the wedding as lighted balloons flew and got lost in the clouds. It was a fairytale wedding!” my colleague said. “No room for hatred in Talk ‘N Text cager Ali Peek’s life, just love. Everybody loves him.” This was announced on television and came out in print. Because of this, police investigators are now looking at the love angle in the Peek shooting, according to TV reports.