LOOK: Andres Muhlach is teen-heartthrob material

The local showbiz scene may be filled to the brim with teenage heartthrobs, but that hasn't stopped some from nominating a few new faces to fawn over.

Leading the ballot is 15-year-old Andres, one-half of Aga Muhlach and Charlene Gonzales' twins. It's rare for the famous parents to post photos of their son, but when they do girls just can't get enough of the genetically blessed teen.

With his sweet, boy-next-door looks and apparent interest in basketball, fans are quick to throw him in conversations about next-generation matinee idols. Check out his photos below:

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Police arrest boy, seek others in 'Facebook live' rape case

Police in Chicago have arrested a 14-year-old boy and are seeking a 15-year-old in connection with the gang rape of a teenage girl that was broadcast on Facebook Live, authorities said Sunday.

Police were working to identify other suspects -- the Facebook video, since taken down, showed as many as six -- but the trauma suffered by the 15-year-old victim was complicating the investigation, area commander Brendan Deenihan told a news conference.

"She's just having a difficult time even communicating what occurred to her," Deenihan said, adding that the teen had been cyber-bullied by people belittling her ordeal, and that her family had received threats.

More arrests were expected soon, he said.

The girl went missing on March 19 in the crime-plagued midwestern US city. She was found two days later and taken to a children's hospital for treatment.

Police got involved when the girl's mother approached Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson at a neighborhood meeting, showing him graphic photos taken from the Facebook video showing several young men assaulting the teen.

The 14-year-old suspect faces at least three juvenile felony charges, including aggravated criminal sexual assault, police said Sunday. Juvenile suspects are generally not named.

It was the latest in a series of troubling incidents in which violent acts have been streamed live on Facebook, including two fatal shootings and the kidnapping and torture of a disabled 18-year-old.

The social networking site said in a statement after the Chicago rape case that it took seriously its "responsibility to keep people safe on Facebook."

Police said several social-media search warrants had been issued in the case and that Facebook was cooperating.

The live online video attracted as many as 40 viewers at one time, but no one contacted police.

"It just disgusts me that people could look at those videos and not pick up the phone and dial 911," Johnson said at the news conference.

"It makes me wonder, where are we going, what are we doing as a society?"

Chicago has been grappling with a surge in violent crime. Last year, the city endured its highest number of shootings and murders in nearly two decades, drawing attention from Donald Trump, first as Republican candidate, then as president.

Much of the violence is concentrated in a few impoverished areas, including the one where the teenage girl lives.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Teen who posted video about cyberbullying commits suicide

A bullied teen girl told her story with flashcards in a YouTube video.

She couldn’t take it anymore.

A Canadian teenager  who was bullied and tormented online by classmates --- and who described her ordeal in a heartbreaking YouTube video --- killed herself a month after she posted it on the web.

Amanda Todd died Wednesday. She was just 15.

But Amanda's mom doesn’t want the video — which explains how a photo of her topless daughter sparked the cyberbullying — to go away.


 “I think the video should be shared and used as anti-bullying tool,” Carol Todd told The Vancouver Sun.

“That is what my daughter would have wanted.”

She posted the video online Sept. 7.  It's not known how she killed herself on Wednesday.

The Vancouver-area teen tells her sad story in a slide show of short phrases printed on flashcards. It began when she was chatting online with someone who urged her to take her top off and expose her breasts. Amanda eventually gave into the stranger’s request.

A year later, the photo came back to haunt her, when it surfaced at school.

“Then nobody liked me,” one of the cards read. “I can never get that photo back.”

Amanda says she was mercilessly bullied, forced to change schools and eventually got into drugs and alcohol and began to cut herself. A peer made the photo of her breasts his Facebook profile photo. Another student punched her. Amanda tried to kill herself by drinking bleach, but was rushed to the hospital and survived.

Peers learned about that, too — and mocked the botched suicide attempt by posting pictures of bleach containers online, and tagging Amanda in the photos.

“She should try a different bleach,” one student wrote on Facebook, according to Amanda’s story. “I hope she dies this time and isn’t so stupid.”

Amanda was in the 10th grade at Coquitlam Alternate Basic Education in Coquitlam, near Vancouver.

The school was aware of the YouTube video before Amanda’s suicide and had “support in place,” according to Cheryl Quinton, a spokeswoman for the district.

Quinton described the alternative school as a “close-knit community” with only 200 students. Grief counseling is being provided.

“Bullying is a concern in every district,” Quinton said. “The element of social media, it adds a different element of danger. We’re [working to] continue the dialogue to heighten awareness of cyberbullying.”

source: nydailynews.com

Was Fil-Am teen bullied to death? Yonkers police investigating but say maybe not

New York police are investigating the death last Tuesday of a 14-year-old Filipino-American in Yonkers, with conflicting reports either imputing or dismissing "bullying" as a factor in her alleged suicide.

The Fil-Am teener, identified as Eira Maghuyop, until her death a student of Ursuline School in New Rochelle, Westchester County, allegedly committed suicide. MyFoxNY.com, the online portal of Fox News 5, said that "some friends on Facebook said Eira was bullied." But after investigating, Fox News said, "police say that is not the case."

Maghuyop was found dead at her home in Yonkers on Tuesday. Allegations that she took her life after bouts of bullying seemed to be fueled by some of her friends' posts on Facebook. But according to the International Business Times, her parents told investigators that she seemed to have a "normal" day on the eve of her death, "and even laid out her clothes for the next day."

The teener was apparently an active user of Tumblr, where the profile page proclaims herself "100% Filipino".

The Ursuline School issued a statement on Friday: "Today we visited our student's family and offered comfort. We have held special assemblies for all of our students, who are in mourning. We have made available extra counselors to the students and staff."

Yonkers police said they are still investigating Maghuyop's death.

source: interaksyon.com