Honorio Banario Says Renewed Confidence Is Biggest Difference

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Former ONE Featherweight World Champion Honorio “The Rock” Banario dropped five straight losses following his title-clinching performance over compatriot Eric Kelly in 2013, but has recently turned a new leaf, impressively winning three straight over top flight opponents. A renewed wave of confidence he says is what made a world of difference.

On Friday, 21 April, Banario (11-6) will return to action against tough and durable Australian foe “Ruthless” Rob Lisita (14-9) in a three-round lightweight bout that is being considered an early candidate for Fight of the Night honors.

His belief in himself, Banario explains, is at an all-time high.

“My recent wins have given me my confidence back. I’m happy that I’m now able to show the positive outcome of my hard work. Those losses didn’t put me down, they gave me the strength to push forward,” said Banario.

“It changed my outlook on life, my outlook on this sport.”

By the time Banario had dropped his fifth straight contest, a 56-second submission loss to Ev Ting, the proud Igorot warrior said he had already contemplated surrender and calling it a day. But it was those closest to him -- his family, friends, teammates at the Team Lakay MMA gym, coach Mark Sangiao -- who urged him to fight on.

“I knew it wasn’t over. I had so many fans, true fans, telling me to soldier on and keep fighting and that they still believed in me. Hearing all the words of encouragement, how can you continue to feel down after that?” said Banario.

“Coach Mark [Sangiao] kept a close eye on me and tried to observe my body language. He wanted to see if my confidence would ever come back. I had to remain positive. I knew whatever I needed to find was still inside of me.”

Now, Banario has won his last three bouts, the most impressive of which was a first round armbar victory over top Indian lightweight prospect Rajinder Singh Meena last December, in front of his hometown crowd in Manila.

This April however, Banario knows he has his work cut out for him. Lisita is one of the toughest fighters in ONE Championship, regardless of weight class.

“He (Lisita) is the type of fighter who will never give up no matter what. In a way, he’s just like me. It doesn’t matter if he’s tired, beat up or losing a fight. There’s no quit in the man. That’s why they call him ‘Ruthless’,” said Banario.

“But I’m prepared for anything. Whatever style he wants to bring to the cage. Whether it’s his usual fast-start, looking for the quick finish, or a more technical, drawn out approach -- I’m ready. I’m happy to fight him because I want to be able to test myself against him. He’s a real fighter.”

With the success he has enjoyed at this juncture of his career, Banario surprisingly admits that he feels no pressure at all in trying to extend his winning streak. He says that even though Lisita will be the one inside the cage with him, that he’s not worried about the Australian.

“The only person I’m concerned with is myself,” said Banario.

“I have to stay calm, and ease the pressure. The previous losses only served to teach me a valuable lesson. I’m not really going to battle with another person, I’m going to battle with myself. It’s my own fears and the negative feelings that I have to conquer. If I can beat myself, only then can I get to the next level,” Banario concluded.

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Singapore Ambassador Kok Li Peng and Award Winning Poets Celebrates World Poetry Day at Kamuning Bakery

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Singapore Ambassador Madame Kok Li Peng joined award-winning poets Jose F. Lacaba and Marra Pl. Lanot on March 21 morning to celebrate UNESCO’s “World Poetry Day” at the Pandesal Forum of 78-year-old Kamuning Bakery Café in Quezon City. The envoy also discussed Philippine-Singapore relations and Asean issues with the media and intellectuals at the two-hour forum. This artisanal café also gave away free coffee or tea drinks the whole day to all people who came to pay with their original poems, in a unique civic and cultural project.

To celebrate “World Poetry Day”, Kamuning Bakery Café’s Wilson Lee Flores invited Singapore Ambassador Kok to recite one of her favorite poems entitled “The road not taken” by Robert Frost. Lacaba and Lanot both also each recited their original poems in the Filipino language.

During the free-wheeling Pandesal Forum with local and international media, Ambassador Kok extolled the warm diplomatic and economic ties between the Philippines and Singapore, as well as the general optimism of the Asean region as it celebrates its 50th anniversary this year with a high-level summit hosted by chairman the Philippines. She said that there are high hopes on the RCEP economic agreement being worked out between the 10-member nations of Asean region and China, that she thinks both this RCEP and even the TPP are all good initiatives to promote freer global trade.

DOT Secretary Wants Media to "Tone Down" Reports on EJK

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Here's what to expect if we make Mocha Uson as the new "Darna" aka "Narda"

Mocha: "Digong, ang bato!"
Digong: "Putang-inang bato yan! Ikaw batuhin ko!
Bato (Dela Rosa): "Sir, baka ako hinahanap niya! Pagsampalin ko na ba?"
Bato (stone): "Need nyo pa ba ako? Di ba may Oplan Tokhang na? Patay na mga adik sa Pilipinas"
Wanda Tulfo-Teo: "Guys, tone down on your statements. Nahihirapan ako i-promote ang Philippine tourism!"

“’Yung mga statements na ganoon, nahihirapan kaming i-sell ang Philippines so I hope we could kung puwede even… this does not only refer to VP Leni but also to the media to please medyo i-tone down natin yung [reports] on extrajudicial killings.” ~Tourism Sec. Corazon Wanda Tulfo-Teo

Statements like these just prove how insensible our current leaders are. They would rather "tone down" the truth about what's really happening in the Philippines just to let tourists keep coming in. When you tone-down, that could also mean telling a lie about the reality. You then put tourists in danger and the entire Philippines as a liar.

She's barking on the wrong tree! She should tell her boss, President Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte to stop his  Extra-Judicial Killings (EJK) disguised as a "War on Drugs" so she could have it easy with her job as Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary.

Tone down EJK operations instead - so that media has nothing "negative" to report about the Philippines.

"Typical "Best-and-the-Brightest" appointee in Duterte's mediocre cabinet. Unable to discern the real issues.

The main reasons she was appointed are: #1 Taga-Davao #2 Owns a travel agency #3 MonTulfo's sister. No competence in international marketing, attracting investors, sector planning.

If she was slightly more competent, she would have tried to make "lemonade out of lemons".

She could run a whole series of 'More Fun in the Philippines' ads around our latest selling propositions: EJKs, Death Squads, Tokhang-for-Ransom, Masked Mummies, Fake News, Cursing, Kowtowing to China, Death Penalty, Sex Tapes, Jet Skiing to Chinese-stolen islands. The possibilities are endless.

We would attract all the war-freaks, murderers & idiots from around the world. That's a large, gullible market to add to our own burgeoning pool.

And hell no. It is not safe in the Philippines. Just look at the murder stats. 51% up since Duterte became president." - Bernard Ong

Even the appointed Tourism Promotions Board (TPB) Chief Operating Officer (COO), Cesar Montano, has been in the spotlight for anomalies within the TPB, and the worst is that his own staff are the ones complaining about his ways and methods touching on absurd spending personal travels, using public funds on non-related tourism activities like rallies, and hiring relatives and gardeners, and many more in redundant positions.

Even the appointment of Katherine Espin, Miss Earth 2016, as Ambassadress for the DOT, to promote Eco Tourism all over the nation, will not be enough to counter all that news about poor people getting killed by the police. It's so safe in the Philippines that you also get killed even inside the Camp Crame, the home of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and where the PNP Chief Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, resides.

As usual, there will always be people who will remain blind of the truth because they want to look their best to the one whom they owe their positions. You can't expect them to bite the hand that feeds them. There's what we call "Utang na Loob" that has always been the main reason for every downfall.

In our case, all of the Digong supporters are getting positions in government, or special favors if they do not want to be tied up in government. Never mind if there are more qualified people out there, the President knows who to thank by assigning them top responsibilities within his administration. He already kicked out Vice Presidnet Leni Robredo for going against him, and other officials who had to resign by force of because they couldn't stomach anymore the ludicrous ways of this administration.