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Mike Arroyo told ABS-CBN that Iggy died after life support systems were removed from his body. Iggy was earlier reported to be clinically dead after suffering cardiac arrest on Wednesday night.

Iggy went to London last year to seek treatment for a liver ailment.

He was listed as one of the lawmakers with the most number of absences in the House of Representatives for 2011.

During an exclusive roundtable with editors and reporters of The Manila Times, Jean-Daniel Tauxe, ICRC Head of Delegation in the Philippines, said that most detention facilities in the country were packed, and this problem should be addressed at once.

“Reducing overcrowding means [that] we need to do something. Because here, we have a complicated jail system,” Tauxe added.

The Russian, seeded fourth, overcame some poor serving to outlast Kvitova 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 and move into Saturday’s final, where she will play Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, the third seed.

In a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final, Kvitova and Sharapova threw everything they had at each other for almost two and a quarter hours on Rod Laver Arena.

Sharapova, who won in Melbourne in 2008, dominated the first set and Kvitova the second, with the pair evenly matched in the third until Kvitova faltered at 4-5 to lose her serve and send Sharapova through to the final.

THE Joint Foreign Congress (JFC) said on Thursday that they see a high potential for domestic and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Philippines.

“The Joint Foreign Congress sees the Philippines as a high potential country, and the country now has a major opportunity to grow rapidly through increased domestic and foreign direct investment. 2012 looks to be a higher growth year with estimates as high as 6 percent projected from the additional effects of the now fast track rollout of government spending programs, PPPs [public-private partnerships] and private investment,” said Australia-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce (ANZCC) President John Casey during the “Arangkada Philippines Forum: Moving Twice as Fast!” held at the Marriot Hotel in Pasay City (Metro Manila) on Thursday.

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) wants to further bring down its revenue collection burden for 2012 despite the earlier downward adjustment made by the inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) on the agency’s revenue target this year.

Commissioner Rufino Biazon told reporters on Thursday that he is comfortable with a revenue growth target of 10 percent to 15 percent versus last year’s goal.

“The new revenue target is very challenging. It is nearly a 30-percent increase from last year. Really, it is very challenging for us,” he said.

THE Wushu Federation of the Philippines (WFP) is looking to send the national team in five big international tournaments this year.

According to national team head coach Samson Co, they received more than 10 invitations from different continental associations. But the WFP opted to forgo other stints abroad due to financial woes.

“We’re happy that we’re receiving invitations but we’re just selecting which tournaments would be beneficial for our athletes,” stressed Co.

FILIPINO American pitcher Tim Lincecum agreed to a two-year contract worth $40.5 million (about P922 million at the current exchange rate) with the San Francisco giants, making him the highest paid Pinoy professional baseball player in history.

The deal, the highest in team history, was concluded Tuesday, but it won’t be official until Lincecum, 27, completes his physical scheduled next week.

The deal includes a $500,000 signing bonus, $18 million annual salary this year, and $22 million in 2013, according to a source familiar with the agreement who spoke on condition of anonymity because a formal contract has yet to be signed.

Lincecum, whose mother was a Filipina immigrant, got almost the near-record $21.5 million in salary arbitration and had been initially offered $17 million by the ball club.