011323 - Northern California Edition

Rob Bonta sworn in as California attorney general

Bonta shares plans for 2023

by KLARIZE MEDENILLA AJPress

CALIFORNIA Attorney General Rob Bonta was sworn in as the state’s top prosecutor at the California Museum in Sacramento, marking the start of a full four-year term.

In his inaugural address on Friday, Jan. 6, Bonta — the first Filipino American to hold the position — honored the diverse leaders of California, including the Filipino and Latino pioneers of the 20th-century labor movement.

“Everyone was there because of the mission. We all saw injustice in the world, and we wanted to fix it. It’s why I decided to become a public attorney — to fight for those who’ve been wronged. And

DATELINE USA

interracial marriage

AS interracial marriage becomes more accepted and common nationally, California stands out. According to PEW, the state exceeds the national average of 17% of newlyweds being interracial couples, while the number of cross-cultural couples is also steadily growing, especially among Hispanics and Asians.

What explains these trends?

California is notably diverse: It’s no coincidence that two of the largest populations in the majority-nonwhite state are Hispanic (39.4%) and Asian (15.1%). But demographics alone do not fully reflect the complexity of interracial marriage in the U.S., which is closely tied to immigration policy, racial classification, and a centurieslong history of anti-miscegenation laws that were only fully overturned in 1967.

Historically, California has played a particularly consequential role in the

Back to the future with COVID-19

COVID-19 vaccines, testing, and treatments will no longer be free once the Public Health Emergency (PHE) expires on Jan. 11, even as the U.S. faces down a more infectious new subvariant XBB 1.5.

The new subvariant accounts for 75% of new infections on the East Coast and 40% of new cases in the country overall. Moreover, the XBB 1.5 subvariant contains five new mutations not found on Omicron, on which the current vaccine boosters are based. “It can evade antibodies better and infect human lung tissue easier than earlier strains,” said Dr. Ben Neuman, Chief Virologist of the Global Health Research Complex, Texas A&M, at an Ethnic Media Services news briefing Jan. 6.

Also speaking at the briefing were Dr. Oliver Brooks, Chief Medical Officer at Watts Healthcare, who stressed the importance of continuing to get vaccinated, boosted, and

it’s that fight for justice — for all Californians — that motivates me today,” Bonta said.

Previously, Bonta was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in April 2021 after former Attorney General Xavier Becerra left the post to serve as the United States secretary of Health and Human Services.

Bonta was previously a California state assemblymember from 2012 to 2021, and he was the first Filipino American to be elected into the state Legislature.

As assemblymember, he served the Alameda area that encompasses California State Assembly District 18, which is now helmed by his wife, Mia Bonta.

Marcos vows more big infra projects

by KRISTINA MARALIT ManilaTimes.net

PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday, January 9 pledged to further improve the country’s transport system as he led the launch of the Metro Manila Subway Project (MMSP) tunnel boring machine in Valenzuela City.

The President said there are “better days ahead,” as his administration will continue to implement big-tick-

et infrastructure projects to spur economic development and create employment opportunities.

He gave assurances that projects planned and started by the previous administration will be continued and finished.

“We will continue to invest and improve on our transportation systems as well as pursue more projects in the years to come, so that Filipinos can gain greater access to places of work, commerce,

recreation and other vital areas,” Marcos said.

“Having an effective and efficient transportation system will have multiplier effects on employment, the economy and our society; it will also bring comfort, convenience and an easier life for all,” he added.

The MMSP was one of the ambitious undertakings green-lighted by former president Rodrigo Duterte, whose Contract Package 101  PAGE 4

PH gov’t starts probe of New Year shutdown at NAIA

by JULIE M. AURELIO, MARLON RAMOS Inquirer.net

MANILA — Top national security, transportation, and airport officials have been summoned separately by the Senate and House of Representatives which are conducting their respective inquiries into the power outage that caused vital air traffic navigation system to go offline and shut down the country’s airspace on Jan. 1.

On Tuesday, January 10, officials of the Department of Transportation, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), and

other concerned government

PH Supreme Court: PH’s 2005 joint exploration deal with China, Vietnam unconstitutional

by TETCH TORRES-TUPAS Inquirer.net

MANILA – The Supreme Court on Tuesday, January 10, declared the country’s 2005 Tripartite Agreement for Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) with China and Vietnam unconstitutional.

Voting 12-2-1, which took 14 years, the SC said the JSMU

violated the Constitution for allowing wholly-owned foreign corporations to explore the country’s natural resources without observing the safeguards provided in Section 2, Article XII of the 1987 Constitution.

The JMSU was signed in 2005 between China’s National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC),  PAGE 2

Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop, who will preside over the 10 a.m.

earlier filed a resolution for his

to conduct an investigation into the incident while San Jose del Monte City Rep. Florida Robes, House good government and accountability committee chair, submitted a similar

PNP: 61 killed under Marcos admin’s campaign vs illegal drugs in 2022

by BEATRICE PINLAC Inquirer.net

MANILA — Even with a recalibrated approach to the government’s war against illegal drugs, a total of 61 people have been killed by law enforcers since President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. took office in 2022, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo told INQUIRER.net that between July 1 and December 31, 2022, 61 alleged drug offenders were slain in the government’s anti-illegal drug operations.

“Kasama na po joint operation diyan with the Philippine Drug

California Attorney General Rob Bonta was sworn in by Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday, Jan. 6 at the California Museum in Sacramento. Bonta, the first Filipino American to hold this post, was joined by his family during the ceremony.  Photo from Instagram/@robbonta

In California, a long and pivotal history of

Manila Police District (MPD) director, Brig. Gen. Andre Dizon, shows a copy of his courtesy resignation to the media at the MPD headquarters on Friday, Jan. 6. This is in response to Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr.’s appeal to police generals and colonels to tender their courtesy resignation in a radical move to rid the PNP of those involved in illegal drugs. PNA photo by Yancy Lim

Enforcement Agency (That includes joint operations with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency),” she explained in a text

message on Wednesday, January 11. But according to Dahas, a

agencies will brief House transportation panel members on the airport fiasco that stranded around 65,000 passengers and grounded over 300 flights in and out of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

briefing,

panel

Marilyn Bacanaya (left), a devotee of the Sto. Niño from Agdao, Davao City, is waiting for her flight to Cebu City at the Davao International Airport on Wednesday, Jan. 11. Bacanaya said she and her family have been traveling to Cebu City since 1997 to join the annual Sinulog Festival, held in honor of the child Jesus Christ.

PNA photo by Robinson Niñal Jr.

Rob Bonta sworn in as California...

Bonta’s historic appointment marked the first time a Filipino American had ever been chosen to serve as California attorney general.

As the child of a Filipino mother, Bonta said that his identity plays a significant role in his post, honoring his parents for fostering his desire for public office.

In November 2022, Bonta would win the general election for attorney general of California with 57.2% of the vote.

“A few generations ago, as an Asian American, the law would have denied me the ability to freely testify in court, to access public accommodations like hotels and restaurants, to marry Mia, the person I love,” Bonta stated.

He continued, “This role is a

privilege, a duty, and a sacred obligation. I will not squander it. I will use the full authority of my office — the full force of the law — to help as many people as possible and do as much good as I can.”

Since his initial 2021 appointment, Bonta has increased the role of attorney general by tackling everything “from the housing crisis to disparities in our healthcare, education, and criminal justice systems,” he said.

Among Bonta’s achievements so far as attorney general include enacting several measures to “[protect] reproductive freedom,” reinforcing housing rights for people with disabilities and issuing warnings against illegal evictions, cracking down on human trafficking rings, and protecting healthcare rights for California’s elders and Medi-Cal

beneficiaries.

Bonta also reavowed his mission to promote gun control laws and public safety, despite his office’s failed online dashboard that was designed to promote transparency regarding data on firearm ownership but accidentally allowed the unauthorized breach of personal information in 2022.

Last month, Bonta joined 18 other states in support of the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) “ghost gun” rule that would crack down on unserialized weapons that allow unauthorized manufacturers to circumvent state gun laws to make firearms untraceable.

In addition to Bonta’s inaugural address on Friday, Newsom was also sworn into his second term as California governor. g

PH Supreme Court: PH’s 2005 joint exploration...

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Vietnam’s Oil and Gas Corporation (PETROVIETNAM), and the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC).

Under the undertaking, joint explorations will be conducted in the South China Sea, covering 142,886 square kilometers. The agreement covers six islands claimed and occupied by the Philippines in Spratly, such as Pag-Asa Island, Likas Island, Lawak Island, Kota Island, Patag Island, and Panata Island.

But, up to 80 percent of the JMSU site is within the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone, prompting the filing of petitions seeking to declare the agreement unconstitutional.

Respondents, however, argued

that Section 2, Article XII of the Constitution was inapplicable because it contemplates the exploration, development, and utilization (EDU) of natural resources while the JMSU only involves pre-exploration activities.

The SC, through Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan, said that the term “exploration” pertained to a search or discovery of something in both its ordinary or technical sense and ruled that the JMSU involves the exploration of the country”s natural resources, particularly petroleum.

Citing the text of the fifth whereas clause of the JMSU, which states the Parties “expressed desire to engage in a joint research of petroleum resource potential of

a certain area of the South China Sea as a pre-exploration activity,” the Court said that it is clear that the JMSU was executed to determine if petroleum exists in the Agreement Area.

Named respondents in the petition were then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, her executive secretary Eduardo Ermita, her Foreign and Energy secretaries, the PNOC and the Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corporation.

Concurring with Justice Gaerlan include Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo and ten other justices. Meanwhile, Associate Justices Amy Lazaro-Javier and Rodil Zalameda dissented while Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando was on leave. g

PNP: 61 killed under Marcos admin’s...

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monitoring project run by the University of the Philippine Diliman’s Third World Studies Center, there were 175 drugrelated killings in the country during Marcos’ first few months as president, or between 12 noon of June 30 and December 31, 2022.

But according to Dahas, a monitoring project run by the University of the Philippines

Diliman’s Third World Studies Center, there were 175 drugrelated killings in the country during Marcos’ first few months as President, or between 12 noon of June 30 and December 31, 2022.

This, Dahas noted, brings the total drug-related death toll to 324 in 2022 – a year that saw both the tail-end of the Duterte administration and the start of the

Marcos administration.

“State agents still top the assailants, and pushers the top targets but hotspots have shifted from the National Capital Region and Negros Occidental to Davao City and Cebu,” the group claimed.

Dahas said it considers a killing as drug-related “if the victim was killed through violent means” and if it falls under one of the following

u PAGE 5

PH gov’t starts probe of New Year...

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measure.

The Senate will hold its own hearing on Jan. 12 under Sen. Grace Poe’s public services committee. On Monday, January 9, Poe said the possibility that the New Year’s Day incident was an act of sabotage or a cyberattack should not be ruled out since CAAP had yet to explain the power outage that downed its communications, navigation, and surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) system.

Poe said that aside from airport and transportation officials, National Security Adviser Clarita Carlos and representatives from the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the National Security Council had been invited to the hearing as well.

Representatives of SumitomoThales, the joint venture that provided the CNS/ATM system, were also set to attend.

Numerous theories

“There are many theories (why the incident happened). That’s why we would like to hear it straight from them,” Poe said in a television interview.

“We want to know what really happened. I was talking to (individuals)… connected with one of those that supply the

maintenance. They were saying, ‘Don’t rule out a cyberattack for this or sabotage.’ Because until now there’s really no categorical answer to what caused the power outage,” she added.

She said it was “unfortunate” that the government had failed to pursue a project that would have unified the country’s military and commercial air navigation system.

“When we were supposed to upgrade the system for the air traffic control, there was supposed to be one system that would merge both our national security and defense, as well as our commercial airspace. But unfortunately, that was not done,” Poe lamented.

“Our military [has its] own system to determine if there’s a violation of our airspace, but it’s not connected with the CAAP system,” she said.

Asked whether Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista should quit his post over the incident, Poe said: “Absolutely not.”

“First of all, Bautista was just sworn into office and this is a longstanding situation,” she noted.

“This didn’t just happen overnight,” she added. “Obviously, it stems from many years of transactions, maintenance, and upgrades.”

Poe said her committee had

also invited former Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, who earlier denied allegations that he had diverted a P13-billion allotment for the upgrading of the CNS/ATM system to NAIA beautification projects.

“(We’re) not just singling out Secretary Tugade. This is a chance for him also to correct the impression that it was during his time that all these things may have been neglected,” she said.

Wake-up call

For Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, the airport fiasco should be a “wake-up call” for the government to strengthen CAAP and improve the country’s air traffic navigation system.

He said he had filed Senate Bill No. 1003 as “part of the efforts to ensure the safety, reliability, and efficiency of air transport in our country.”

Under the measure, the secretaries of the Department of Tourism and the Department of National Defense would become members of the CAAP governing board.

“The technical glitch… was a wake-up call for all of us about the need to address the gaps in our air transport systems and the CAAP is front and center in all of this,” Angara said.

CHEAPER ONIONS. People buy white and red onions at a Kadiwa stall at the Bureau of Agriculture and Fisheries Standards on Visayas Avenue in Quezon City on Tuesday, Jan.10. The Department of Agriculture has set the suggested retail price of red onions at P250 per kilo from Dec. 30, 2022 to the first week of January 2023 while Kadiwa stores sell them for as low as P170 a kilo. PNA photo by Joey O. Razon

ConGen Ferrer hopes to work with Knights of Rizal in establishing Rizal Monument in Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – Philippine Consul General Neil Ferrer led the commemoration of the 126th anniversary of the martyrdom of Philippine national hero Dr. Jose Rizal in a solemn wreath-laying ceremony at the Sentro Rizal of the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco on December 30, 2022.

Retired U.S. Army Major Ramon Sumicbay, KCR, LM of the Knights of Rizal Hawaii Chapter joined Con Gen Ferrer in the laying of the wreath before Rizal’s bust. Also in attendance was Sunnyvale, California Councilmember Tony Spitaleri.

ConGen Ferrer led the Consulate and guests in the commemorative event, where he expressed the hope that “similar to the statue of Mexican revolutionary hero Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla at Dolores Park in San Francisco… we will commemorate Rizal Day in a Bay Area monument unveiled in Rizal’s honor, and we would be happy to work with the Knights of Rizal and local officials on this.”

The Consul General cited Rizal’s lone visit to the U.S.

in 1888, with the Bay Area as his very first stop. After staying for three days at the opulent Palace Hotel on San Francisco’s Market Street, Rizal took a ferry to Oakland, then a train to Benicia where the train was ferried to Sacramento. A plaque on Rizal’s brief stay in San Francisco was installed on the exterior wall of the Palace Hotel in 1996.

In his message, ConGen Ferrer also shared his hope that “Rizal’s life and works will continue to inspire the present and future generations of Filipinos all over the world, including Filipino Americans, to support efforts towards uplifting the

conditions of the Filipino people in the Philippines and elsewhere, and to take pride in and promote their Filipino culture and heritage.”

The wreath-laying ceremony at Sentro Rizal San Francisco was the culmination of the Consulate’s month-long commemoration of Rizal Day. Earlier in December, the Consulate teamed up with GMA Pinoy TV for a special watch party of the groundbreaking fantasy portal series on Philippine primetime TV, “Maria Clara at Ibarra,” based on Rizal’s novel “Noli Me Tangere,” which stars Filipino actors Barbie Forteza, Julie Anne San Jose and Dennis Trillo. (PCGSF Release)

Marcos vows more big infra...

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is a joint venture between the Philippine government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The tunnel boring machine, Marcos noted, highlights Japan’s expertise in technology and trailblazing contributions in the mod-

ern world. “They will help us shape our railway infrastructure and keep them at par with the highest international standards,” he said.

He also acknowledged the joint venture of Filipino and Japanese companies for working with the Philippine government on the MMSP’s CP 101.

“I hope that both you and the DoTr (Transportation department) will not waver on your commitments to finish the contract package by the end of 2027 to ensure that Filipinos will get to enjoy the project at the soonest possible time,” Marcos said.

Once completed, it will have 17 stations connecting Valenzuela

City to Pasay City. It is expected to serve over 519,000 passengers daily once it becomes operational.

Based on the project overview, CP 101 is located at the north end, with the package consisting of a depot and three stations: Quirino Highway station, Tandang Sora station and North Avenue station with six tunnels between them.

The East Valenzuela station will be constructed in the depot area located in Mindanao Avenue with a total range of 6.9 kilometers.

Pre-construction work is ongoing in Quirino Highway and Tandang Sora stations. Work at the North Avenue station started in August 2021. g

Back to the future with...

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tested, as XBB 1.5 emerges; Jill Rosenthal, Director of Public Health Policy at the Center for American Progress, who predicted a significant drop in people seeking treatment, testing, and vaccines as PHE ends; and Sophia Tan, a research data scientist at UC San Francisco, who discussed a novel new study published in Nature which studied the impact of COVID-19 in the prison population.

“Anyone who’s telling you that COVID is over is misinformed,” said Dr. Neuman, noting that in each of the last three years COVID was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. behind heart disease and cancer.

Neuman said Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) peaked in November and the flu season peaked in December. But COVID-19 is not slowing down. So far it has not overwhelmed hospitals and some experts say it might not become as bad as the Omicron surge last year.

Neuman noted that the Omicron virus has seven or eight mutations compared to the original Alpha strain and the XBB has 12. “Based on the rapid rise, it would appear that it is living up to its genetic destiny. It appears that it is very infectious and is overcoming at least some components of immunity,” he said.

Americans have returned to work and resumed their lives as if the pandemic is over, noted Dr. Brooks. Many people have refused vaccines and stopped wearing masks.

Brooks treats COVID patients and talks to them about vaccine confidence, vaccine convenience, and vaccine complacency. He says public health messaging has failed to address these “three Cs.”

He noted that only 15% of the U.S. population has received the updated, bivalent booster. Only one-third of older adults, who are most at risk of dying from COVID, have taken the updated booster. And there is a very low percentage of fully vaccinated children, as parents hold off because of fears based on misinformation.

“It’s our job to get the community vaccinated. So when I hear we’re not getting vaccinated anymore, to me that’s just a challenge. I can’t stop,” said Brooks. “If you get vaccinated you are not only protecting yourself but also your community. “

When the pandemic began three years ago, supplies of tests and masks could not keep up with COVID’s advance. The country could be caught flat-footed again.

Last March, the White House asked Congress for $22.5 billion in emergency spending that would replenish funds for testing, treatments, vaccines and other COVID-related infrastructure. But Congress rejected the request in the 2023 budget bill.

“That short-sighted failure

to invest in the response leaves us without the tests, treatments and vaccines we need going forward and leaves us unable to continue to track the disease and unprepared for future surges,” said Jill Rosenthal of CAP.

Without the money to pay for it, the White House abandoned its National Preparedness Plan. Unlike the past two years, people without health insurance will have to pay $120 for vaccines which now cost the government $30.

The U.S. government bought 20 million doses of Paxlovid at $530 each but supplies are expected to run out by 2024. The price for Paxlovid on the private market is expected to skyrocket by then.

Once PHE ends, people enrolled in private insurance and the Affordable Care Act will once again have to pay co-pays for testing, vaccines, and treatments in the same manner they did before PHE. An estimated 27.5 million people in the U.S. are uninsured: they will have to pay for the full price for testing, vaccines, and treatments.

Some states, including California and Rhode Island, are looking at ways that they can automatically enroll people who are going to lose Medicaid coverage into lowcost marketplace plans. Oregon has developed a bridge health program which will allow existing Medicaid members who earn a certain percent of the federal poverty level to stay enrolled in Medicaid, said Rosenthal.

Researchers from University of California San Francisco and UC Berkeley had some good news. They looked at breakthrough infections, reinfections, and people who had both in California prisons and published their findings last week.

“The question that we were really wondering is what are the benefits from vaccination in terms of preventing the future transmission of COVID,” said Tan of UC San Francisco.

They couldn’t find better test subjects than inmates living in close quarters whose movements are highly regulated. Researchers tested, traced infections and secondary cases, tracking the virus as it spread through the prison population.

Results showed that any type of vaccine had a 22% reduction in infectiousness; one or two prior infections reduced it by 23%; inmates with both prior vaccination and prior infection had 40% reductions in their infectiousness.

“So, not only do vaccines ideally protect you from getting infected, but if you do get infected, we see that there’s this hidden benefit that they are preventing and reducing the risk of you transmitting disease to other people,” Tan said. (Peter White/Ethnic Media Services)

PAL HOLDS CHRISTMAS PARTY IN SF BAY AREA. Philippine Airlines, the national carrier of the Philippines, held a holiday party last December at the Crowne Plaza hotels’ ballroom in Foster City. During the night’s festivities, PAL officers headed by Area Manager Dell Merano presided over a raffle where prizes included roundtrip tickets to the Philippines and other destinations. Top photo shows current and former PAL staff in the Bay Area (from left) Finance Manager Joseph Recio, former Sales Account Officer Paolo Gatmaitan, former Sales Account Officer Emelyn Roxas, Station

Secretary Cherry Ricasata, Customer Sales Representative Cecile Murillo, Area Manager Dell Merano, CSR/Secterary Josephine Encarnacion, Station Manager Norman D’Souza, Valerie D’Souza, former HR Specialist Danilo Mirabueno and Sales Account Officer Joseph Callao. Bottom photo shows major winners of the

and

AJPress photos by Joseph L. Peralta

Philippine Consul General in San Francisco Neil Ferrer and Mrs. Miriam Ferrer are joined by members of the Knights of Rizal during the commemoration of the 126th anniversary of the heroism of Dr. Jose Rizal. San Francisco PCG photo

Dateline PhiliPPines

Palace announces more appointments

by Kristina Maralit ManilaTimes.net

MALACAÑANG on Tuesday, January 10 announced more appointments to key positions in the Executive Branch and stateowned financial institutions.

The new appointees include:

1. Antonio Paolo Serrano Lim, Assistant SecretaryOffice of the Senior Deputy Executive SecretaryOffice of the President

2. Peter Anthony Joseph Felarca Felix, Assistant SecretaryOffice of the Senior Deputy Executive

SecretaryOffice of the President

3. Manuel Lahoz Argel Jr., Acting Member, Representing the Employers' GroupSocial Security CommissionSocial Security System

4. Lolibeth Ramit-Medrano, CommissionerPhilippine Competition Commission

5. Michael De Jesus, Acting President and Chief Executive Officer, and Member, Board of DirectorsDevelopment Bank of the Philippines

6. Emmeline Calderon David, Acting Member, Board of DirectorsDevelopment Bank of

the Philippines

7. Maria Lourdes Arcena, Acting Member, Board of DirectorsDevelopment Bank of the Philippines

8. Jaime Zita Paz, Acting Member, Board of DirectorsDevelopment Bank of the Philippines

Meanwhile, lawyer Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil earlier in the day was sworn in by President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. as Secretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), four months after serving as its officer-in-charge. g

PNP: Cybercrime among ‘greatest threats’ to Filipinos

MANILA — The Philippine National Police will be focusing on cybercrimes in 2023, Police Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., PNP chief, said on Monday, January 9 as he called them among “the greatest threats” that Filipinos face.

Azurin made the announcement after releasing crime data collected from July 2022 to Jan. 7, 2023, or the period since President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. took office.

“This year, the PNP shall focus on cybercrimes since [these are] now the fastest-growing transnational organized crimes which affect hundreds of victims not only in the Philippines, but in other parts of the world,” he said.

The police Anti-Cybercrime Group has been issuing advisories to warn the public against threats like malware and ransomware. In late 2022, it also launched operations against an unauthorized online lending agency that also subjected borrowers to public humiliation and harassment for unpaid loans as well as scammers who defrauded buyers over online

purchases.

Several Filipinos have also been reported to have been illegally recruited and trafficked through fraudulent job listings on Facebook. Promised jobs at call centers and data encoders, the migrant Filipinos ended up in cyberscam operations in Myanmar.

Mobile phone users also received a barrage of scam text messages in 2022, which led to the swift passage of the SIM Card Registration Act. Mandatory SIM card registration has been touted as a way to curb the scams but has also raised concerns on privacy rights and possible surveillance.

Azurin said cybercrimes are one of the “greatest threats to [millions of] users on cyberspace who have entrusted their personal data online.”

Index crimes down by 8.03%

In the same briefing, Azurin said incidences of crime went down to 105,568 from July 2022 to January 7, 2023 against 112,746 in the comparable period in 2021. Index crimes — those against persons, such as murder,

homicide, physical injury and rape and against property, like theft and cattle rustling — have also gone down by 8.03% to 19,484 in the same period, the PNP chief said.

Despite the lower numbers, theft (6,682), rape (3,762) , and physical injury (2,608) were the most frequently reported crimes in the recording period.

Non-index crimes were also down 5.98% to 86,089 although the PNP noted a 9.05% increase in those in the Visayas at 17,199 incidents against 15,771 in the comparable period.

Crime clearance — when at least one suspect has been identified and charged either at the prosecutor’s office or in court — efficiency was relatively unchanged at 97.19% against 97.93%.

Crime solution — when a suspect has been identified and charged and has been taken into custody — efficiency was meanwhile at 81.78% against 80.51% in the comparable period. (Jonathan de Santos/ Philstar.com)

PH gov’t starts probe of New Year...

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After the Jan. 1 incident, CAAP Director General Manuel Tamayo acknowledged that the agency’s CNS/ATM system, which was completed in 2019, was already outdated, adding that they had made some recommendations for its improvement to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The system suddenly went offline on the morning of Jan. 1 due to a power supply problem.

Two uninterruptible power supply units also failed to work, leaving the air navigation system unable to tap into commercial or standby power.

After conducting some troubleshooting, CAAP technicians were

able to restore partial operations around 4 p.m. with the CNS/ATM system returning to normal mode almost two hours later. But by then, over 300 flights to and from Manila had either been canceled, delayed, or diverted, affecting around 65,000 passengers flying to their destinations after the holidays. g

Nazareno 2023 draws 1.2 million devotees

by Julie M. Aurelio, MArlon rAMos Inquirer.net

MANILA — The activities for this year’s Black Nazarene celebration drew 1.2 million devotees, lesser than the authorities’ initial projection of five million faithful.

The management of Quiapo Church said one of the reasons for the lower attendance count is the cancellation of Traslacion

The total number of people who attended the religious activities from January 6-10 reached 1,268,435.

Most of the devotees flocked to the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene or the Quiapo Church which drew 925,782 attendees.

Quirino Grandstand, where the sacred image was displayed for “Pagbibigay-pugay” (giving tribute), received 254,653 devotees. This was the alternative to the traditional “Pahalik.” The first-ever “Walk of Faith”

also drew 88,000 devotees.

The “Walk of Faith” procession, from the Quirino Grandstand to Quiapo Church, was much less crowded and more orderly than the traditional “Traslacion,” where crowds swarm around the life-size statue of the Black Nazarene.

Traslacion has been canceled for the third time — first in 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the country.

The annual procession is a reenactment of the 1787 Traslacion — literally means “solemn transfer” — of the image from its original shrine in Bagumbayan, the present Rizal Park, to the Quiapo Church.

Traslacion not the sole reason for low turnout

Quiapo Church spokesperson Fr. Earl Valdez said while the cancellation of Traslacion could be one of the factors for the low attendance, that is not the sole reason.

“Probably,” Valdez told

INQUIRER.net when asked if the cancellation of Traslacion led to the low attendance, “but we can’t say that that’s the only reason.”

Valdez said the pilgrimage of the replica images in nearby provinces and cities of Luzon could be why fewer devotees flocked the church and the grandstand this time.

The priest also presented a half-glass full perspective on the situation.

“At the very least there are people who are eager to practice their faith and devotion since it is the first celebration of the Feast with minimal restrictions in terms of mobility and crowd control,” he also said.

More trash Meanwhile, the Manila Public Information Office said the total garbage collected in Quiapo Church and Quirino Grandstand has also increased compared to previous years.

“As per [Department of Public

PNP: 61 killed under Marcos admin’s...

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criteria:

•

•

in whatever capacity

• Reported to be in possession of illegal drugs at the time of the killing or when body was found

• Reported to be associated with someone involved in the drug

trade

• Killed by someone reported to be involved in the drug trade, assumed to be for drug-related reasons or while under the influence of drugs. g

Hundreds of devotees gather in front of the Quiapo Church to join the celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene along Quezon Boulevard in Quiapo, Manila Monday, Jan. 9. The Traslacion (transfer) was canceled for the third straight year but their devotion to the Black Nazarene never wavered. PNA photo by Joey O. Razon

Killed in drug-related operation, activity or encounter

Reported to be involved in drug trade or in the war on drugs

CAAP brain drain

GOVERNMENT officials are reassuring the public that they are fixing the technical problem that shut down Philippine airspace on the first day of the year. New cooling fans, circuit breakers and uninterrupted power supply systems are reportedly being procured to prevent a repeat of the national embarrassment that occurred at the at Ninoy Aquino International Airport on January 1.

Apart from technical issues, however, manpower problems are emerging again at the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, which is in charge of air traf-fic management. On Monday, January 9, CAAP director general Manuel Antonio Tamayo sought a pay increase for air traffic controllers to prevent them from seeking greener pastures overseas mostly in the Middle East. Tamayo noted that the pay in certain countries can be six times higher than what the Philippines offers to its air traffic controllers.

Editorial

by CAAP from the Civil Aviation Training Center, Aquino said 195 were on job-order status. He noted that since the CAAP’s creation in 2008 through Republic Act 9497, no graduate of the CATC had become a regular employee.

CAAP officials said air traffic controllers undergo at least 18 months of training before being deployed to an air traffic management facility anywhere in the country for apprenticeship and capability rating. Upon completion of these requirements, however, the new air traffic controllers are drawn to jobs overseas with much higher pay.

This problem was first raised way back in 2014, when CAAP personnel sought the help of then senator Bam Aquino following the departure of five air traffic controllers for abroad. Documents submitted to Aquino by CAAP personnel at the time showed that apart from low pay, contractual schemes also bedeviled the air traffic officers. Of some 500 air traffic controllers recruited

Tamayo warned that the brain drain could mean the lack of personnel with sufficient skills to prevent a repeat of the airspace shutdown.

The Governance Commission for GOCCs or Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations has said it is studying the CAAP’s request for higher salaries for air traffic con-trollers.

BABE ROMUALDEZ

ANALYSTS, experts and think tanks especially here in Washington, D.C. are carefully watching the developments in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region particularly because these have created a ripple effect impacting the future of the rest of the world. Undoubtedly, the far-reaching consequences of the Ukraine war are of major concern, especially coming on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is absolutely no doubt that the continuing conflict between Russia and Ukraine is at the top of the list of global threats in 2023, an assessment that analysts, risk consultancy groups and the like collectively agree upon.

According to Eurasia Group founder Ian Bremmer, one of the top 10 global risks of 2023 is the possibility of Russia turning into “the world’s most dangerous rogue state” if cornered – thereby posing a threat to global security.

Bremmer points to an escalation in Vladimir Putin’s nuclear saber rattling and also warns against “Kremlin-affiliated hackers” who could mount increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks on Western firms, governments and infrastructure – inflicting untold damage not only to Europe and the U.S., but beyond.

New York-based The Arkin Group also flagged geopolitical developments that leaders should watch out for in navigating this “new and evolving world order.” While Putin will persist in his assault, Ukraine will not back down and will continue to prevail (as seen in the major offensive launched at the start of the year that resulted in the death of an estimated 400 Russian soldiers).

Ironically, what Putin must have envisioned to be his crowning glory could turn out to be his undoing. The shockand-awe tactic at the start of the invasion in February last year was bogged down by the fact that Russian soldiers initially deployed were under-equipped and undertrained, and proved to be no match for Ukrainians who were not only ready to defend their country to the

cabinet secretary — specifically, defense, agriculture, health and communications.

FIRST word

The rationale for all the talk about the “first hundred days” of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. was to enable him to “hit the ground running,” and take effective control of the government as quickly as possible.

The early days, it was thought, constitute a window of opportunity for him to get a head start on his governance agenda.

With the President’s approval very high, and Congress open to new leadership, it was seen as a time of opportunity and change. 184 days, seventh month But now here we are in the year 2023.

The hundred-day timeline is just a memory; 184 days and six months have passed since BBM’s accession to office. And he is now into his seventh month in the presidency.

For all the hype and the travels, however, there is still no palpable sign that President Marcos has achieved effective control of the executive branch and the bureaucracy, or that he has made headway in advancing his promised programs.

Unsurprisingly, he is encountering his biggest problems in the cabinet departments where he has desisted from appointing a

In a government system where the cabinet secretary in a given area is envisioned to function as the president’s main adviser in that area, President Marcos has encountered the most headaches and uncertainties in the headless departments. Some of those whom he quickly named did not pass muster with the congressional Commission on Appointments, while others simply could not measure up to the job. His first executive secretary, lawyer Vic Rodriguez, faltered big-time as “the little president.” He had to be quickly replaced by former Supreme Court chief justice Lucas Bersamin.

At first, the problem was a hideous foul-up in a sugar importation order at the Department of Agriculture whose leadership BBM provisionally reserved for himself.

Thereafter, the problem shifted to an acute shortage of onions, which must be remedied by the government’s importation and marketing of the commodity.

Then attention turned to foreign relations, as our new president was showered with plenty of invitations from various countries and forums for him to visit, and he had to choose which one to visit first. He honored tradition by visiting Asean first, picking Indonesia and Singapore as his first stop. This was followed by

For many years now, brain drain has been a problem not only in aviation but also in public health care, education and many industries. The Philippines has lost even weather forecasters to other countries. At this point, the country cannot

hope to match salaries and benefits offered in places such as Dubai. The long-term solution is to raise the level of economic development so that Filipinos need not go abroad for meaningful employment. (Philstar.com)

death, but also had strategically prepositioned anti-aircraft gunners. Another significant factor would be the anti-aircraft missiles and drones from countries supportive of Ukraine like the U.S.

The International Monetary Fund has also sounded the alarm over the Ukraine conflict’s “severe economic repercussion in Europe, with higher energy prices, weaker consumer confidence and slower momentum in manufacturing resulting from persistent supply chain and rising disruption costs,” at the same time warning that about half of the European Union will be in recession in 2023.

Saying the world took a dangerous turn in 2022, the Council on Foreign Relations lists several Tier 1 (high priority) risks or potential conflicts to watch this 2023, based on the results of the 15th annual Preventive Priorities Survey conducted by its Center for Preventive Action.

An escalation of the armed conflict in Ukraine resulting from the employment of unconventional weapons, the spillover into neighboring countries

(including cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and/or the direct involvement of NATO members) has become a real danger, warned CFR. It also points to the continuing tensions between the U.S. and China – describing the relations between these two majors as plummeting – because of their differences over Taiwan.

“As if Taiwan and Ukraine were not enough to worry about, several disputes in other parts of the world also became more menacing in 2022, notably those involving Iran and North Korea,” CFR also noted, its assessment echoed by other think tanks that have expressed concern over the probability of Iran becoming a nuclear weapons state, as well as North Korea’s relentless missile launches with Kim Jong Un ordering the “exponential” expansion of their nuclear arsenal.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies was to hold its annual forecasting conference on Thursday, January 12 regarding policy challenges in the Indo-Pacific Region. Growing tensions in the region is a major cause of concern, especially with the

2023: The world as we see it today New year chaos

a quick trip to New York City to address the UN General Assembly, to introduce himself to the international community. Then he turned to visit China and President Xi Jinping upon the advent of the new year, when the latter was significantly being battered by a galloping Covid crisis.

Then presidential focus turned to selling the nation on the idea of creating a sovereign wealth fund, which the government tried once before, with the Malampaya Fund, but which unfortunately was feasted on and looted by the powers that be at the start of the new century.

Rumors of destabilization

And now the attention has turned to the military and the police, which have landed together on the President’s plate for serious study and attention. While the secretary of interior and local government was named early in the person of Benhur Abalos, the challenge of leading the Defense department has been held in abeyance, leaving the task to the ministration of an acting secretary and junior officials in the department.

During the weekend, both the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) took the unusual tack of dispelling wild rumors of a destabilization plot against the government. At the same time, the PNP announced that it was going on full alert.

While the nation has had no

whiff of a coup aborning for some time, the twin moves of the AFP and PNP had the effect of confirming for many that there is restiveness and disgruntlement in the armed services today, and that the threat of destabilization cannot be dismissed lightly.

Ironically, the jittery situation followed a bewildering move by Interior Secretary Abalos to “request” all police colonels and generals to tender their courtesy resignations, to facilitate an ongoing investigation of ranking PNP officers for possible involvement in the illegal drug trade.

The resignation call quickly generated front-page stories as the police top brass, beginning with the PNP chief, filed one after the other their courtesy resignations.

The PNP chief, Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr., on Thursday, January 5, submitted his courtesy resignation and urged the rest of the police leadership to follow his lead as the “cleansing” of the force begins.

In turn, the AFP was wracked by talk about mass resignations from military service, as officials and personnel of the Department of National Defense were said to have submitted their resignations out of disappointment over the designation for a second time of Gen. Andres Centino as the new AFP chief, succeeding Lt. Gen. Vicente Bartolome Bacarro who held the top post for barely five months. Centino was Bacarro’s

intense strategic competition between the U.S. and China. I was asked to deliver a keynote speech for the event where a CSIS team of experts will be conducting panel discussions on the political and economic developments on the region. Immediately after that event, I will proceed to the International Institute for Strategic Studies where I was invited to its Americas Ambassadors Forum to share our foreign policy thrusts and priorities as well as my perspectives on the geopolitical and economic challenges that impact the Philippines and the region.

Given the continuing challenges that nations face in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, a key priority for nations would be economic recovery more than pursuing military might.

As many experts have noted, a nation’s military supremacy has its foundations on superior economic development. Put another way, the main driving force for most countries is still the economy, and this to a large extent determines their relationship with other nations. Taken in that light, the U.S.

has to step up to the plate and up its game because China and even Russia are using economic interests to influence the foreign policy decisions of nations.

Take India, for instance, that has become the biggest buyer of Russian oil after European countries have stopped buying as part of the sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine. For India, it’s really simple: they need oil, Russia is selling at very cheap prices and there is nothing anybody can do about it.

While the threat of global recession looms, there is optimism that the Southeast Asian region will fare better with solid growth expected due to the resilient performance of ASEAN economies. As I’ve pointed out, opportunities are there if we play our cards right – let’s just not drop the ball this time around. (Philstar.com)

* * * The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

* * *

babeseyeview@gmail.com

predecessor.

Acting Defense Secretary Jose Faustino Jr. and three other undersecretaries were also said to have resigned from their posts, but these could not be confirmed.

It was in this light that rumors started flying fast and loose in Camps Crame and Aguinaldo about a destabilization plot brewing.

Both the AFP and the PNP dutifully tried to talk down the rumors and gloss over the impact on officer morale by the demanded courtesy resignations of top police officials and the sudden replacement of the military chief.

Col. Jorry Baclor and Col. Medel Aguilar, AFP public affairs office chief and PNP spokesman, respectively, denied there was such talk about destabilization plots as they claimed that the situation at the Camp Aguinaldo military headquarters in Quezon City was normal.

They declared that there was no truth to rumors of mass resignations from the AFP, as well as officials and personnel from the Department of National Defense due to their disappointment over the reappointment of Centino as AFP chief.

A Medal of Valor awardee, Bacarro was said to have been well-accepted and wellrespected by the military and DND personnel and his “arbitrary replacement” has demoralized the military organization and defense department staff.

They claimed that Centino took advantage of his connections with people close to the President, hence his return as the top military official.

Col. Redrico Maranan, PNP public information officer, described as fake news a memorandum circulating that the PNP was on full alert due to the alleged AFP destabilization plot.

“It’s not true, but we are on heightened alert status because of the Feast of the Black Nazarene,” Maranan said.

Abalos said the submission of courtesy resignation is a “quick way” of dealing with the suspected involvement of PNP personnel in the illegal drug trade, in contrast with the lengthy process of disciplining rogue officers.

Maranan said 956 ranking officers are expected to submit their courtesy resignation.

The highest ranking official is a police general.

There are 812 police colonels.

Azurin said 22 names were submitted to President Marcos for vetting, which will be reduced to five.

He said he would be evaluated by a committee that the President will create to determine if he was in any way involved in the narcotics trade, or if he had been tolerating police officers who were.

Azurin said that not all PNP officers were pleased with Abalos’ “request.” They are wary because their careers are on the line, he

JOSEPH PERALTA

In California, a long and pivotal history

PAGE 1

legalization—and restriction—of interracial marriage in the U.S.. Understanding these historical dynamics provides crucial context behind today’s data on interracial marriage in the state.

(Said one delegate: “If you expect to wipe out crime, you must wipe out the presence of the Mongolian in our midst.”)

arguments against interracial marriage and questioned the validity of previously accepted racial classification schemes.

OFWs on death rows to be tackled in multi-agency meet

GOVERNMENT agencies will sit down this week to tackle transnational matters, including overseas Filipinos on death row.

to shout out as well doon sa (about the) reputation, excellent reputation ng (of) Filipino workers,” Ople said.

Immigration

and interracial marriage

Anti-miscegenation laws have existed in California since statehood in 1850. Though the state’s Civil Code initially only restricted whites from marrying “negroes or mulattoes,” the wave of Chinese immigration during the Gold Rush prompted expansions of anti-miscegenation laws that affected other racialized groups.

Following German race theorist Johann Frederich Blumenbach’s widely accepted racial classification scheme, Chinese immigrants were classified as “Mongolians.” They were explicitly treated as a threat which demanded policy intervention. Delegates to California’s 1878 Constitutional Convention, for instance, pushed for restrictions on Chinese people’s rights over fears that they would “overrun us” or “Mongolize this land.”

Since most Chinese immigrants were men, interracial marriage was viewed as especially threatening to the white population. During the Convention, the chair of the Committee on Chinese explicitly contrasted the “Chinaman” with the “prudent, intelligent, sympathetic white man” who would “not marry unless he can see a reasonable chance of maintaining wife as well as children.”

The chairman’s words reveal how interracial marriage was intertwined with immigration. A crucial portion of antimiscegenation laws, he stated, was restricting immigration to “the Anglo-Saxon race, or kindred varieties of men” worthy of the “great privilege of American citizenship.”

Such rhetoric also shows how racial classifications were neither scientific nor consistent. The convention was marked by confusion over what “Mongolian” exactly meant: Though the chairman explicitly identified “Chinaman,” other delegates included Native Americans, Black people, even Caucasians under the label. Instead, “Mongolian” explicitly became a shorthand for people of color perceived as criminals, foreign invaders, or other threats to white society.

Accordingly, in 1880, Civil Code Section 60 was amended to restrict “Mongolians” from marrying whites. However, the lived realities of people of color in the state continued to defy classification. Section 60 only restricted marriage with whites, allowing other people of color to marry: Sikh farm workers, for instance, circumvented antimiscegenation laws to marry Mexican women, since both were considered “brown.”

Legal challenges to antimiscegenation laws

Other racialized groups continued to challenge those laws in court by exposing inconsistencies in racial categorization. In 1933, Salvador Roldan, a Filipino man, was denied a marriage license to his white wife. He appealed, arguing that Filipinos should qualify as “Malayan”—and thus allowed to intermarry with whites—instead of “Mongolian.” In Roldan vs. Los Angeles the court agreed, settling contemporary debates over how to classify the Filipino population.

The case had the potential to set an important precedent against anti-miscegenation laws. Instead, it sparked instant backlash from white politicians. In the week after the decision, the California State Legislature promptly amended Section 60 to include “Malayans” in the list of races prevented from marrying whites, further entrenching interracial marriage restrictions in state laws.

Section 60 did not face another challenge until the 1940s, when the conscription of white men during World War II allowed women and other people of color to formally enter the workplace. This created opportunities for interracial relationships that did not exist before.

One such couple was Andrea Perez (whose race was listed as white, despite being Mexican American), and Sylvester Davis, a Black man. The couple was barred from marrying by Section 60 and appealed by arguing that anti-miscegenation laws violated their religious freedom.

In Perez vs. Sharp, the court agreed—but not solely on the basis of first amendment rights. Importantly, the case finally affirmed marriage as a “fundamental right of free men.” The majority opinion also explicitly refuted many racist

Perez created a domino effect against anti-miscegenation laws: 14 states subsequently struck down their interracial marriage bans. The rest were eliminated by the landmark Supreme Court case Loving vs. Virginia (1967), which cited Perez as a precedent. The case was also referenced in In re marriage cases, the California case which affirmed gay marriage rights in 2008.

Though California played a pivotal role in officially legalizing interracial marriage, it would be decades until taboos surrounding cross-cultural couples began to fade across the state the nation.

Interracial marriage today

Recent interracial marriage trends are heavily influenced by the Hart-Celler Act of 1965, which opened immigration to more Asian and Hispanic populations. Subsequently, as scholar Hsin-Yi Cindy Liu observed, interracial marriage became a sign of integration into mainstream U.S. society. This trend is reflected in California’s increasing diversification, as well as the over 200% increase in the state’s mixed race population from 2010 to 2020 alone. Mexican and German ancestry. Their story is among those told in the California Love Stories project.

Today, couples benefit from favorable public approval of interracial marriage—at a time where immigration and an increasingly diverse California creates more opportunities for it. Simultaneously, however, racism remains an ongoing issue in both the state and the nation. The racialization of the U.S. border—a direct echo of past xenophobic rhetoric that restricted both immigration and interracial marriage—is a particularly relevant example.

This complex history creates different effects for couples of all different races and cultural backgrounds. California Love Stories, a collaboration across 20 ethnic media outlets statewide, shows the lived experiences of interracial couples in a society that is, though more accepting than in the past, still racialized.

Ultimately, their experiences reflect the often complex, sometimes difficult, but ultimately rewarding dynamics at the heart of interracial marriage in today’s world. (Julia Tong/Ethnic Media Services)

During a press briefing in Malacañang on Tuesday, January 10, Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) Secretary Susan Ople said she will meet with Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo.

Sixty-five overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are on death rows, according to data shared during budget hearings last year.

“For example, iyon nga mga death row cases, iyong pagtransfer ng (those in the death row cases, the transfer of the) ATN (Assistance to Nationals) work from the ATN officers of our embassies to our migrant workers attachés, the kind of training that’s needed to capacitate them in preparation for that very delicate job,” Ople said of the topics to be discussed.

Ople deferred the issue of the executive clemency for OFW Mary Jane Veloso to the DFA as it was raised by Manalo during President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s state visit to Indonesia in September last year.

Veloso has been jailed in Indonesia since 2010 when about 2.6 kilograms of heroin were found in her suitcase.

Six months after her arrest, Veloso was meted out the death penalty.

Manalo has appealed to his Indonesian counterpart, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, for executive clemency for Veloso.

The sealing of labor deals and ongoing negotiations abroad can be attributed to Marcos’ recent international visits to different countries, Ople said.

She said there are ongoing bilateral labor talks with Romania, Hungary, Portugal and Hong Kong.

“A lot of it really can be attributed to the President’s popularity. But we also have

The Philippine side will go to Singapore in March to finalize the implementation of protocols in preparation for the hiring of more Filipino health workers while Portugal plans to employ Filipinos for its tourism sector.

Hong Kong’s Minister of Labor and Welfare also broached the possibility of holding exploratory talks on the deployment of Filipino caregivers, Ople said.

When the President goes to Japan in February, the DMW will be renewing a bilateral agreement forged under the Labor department, Ople said.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia may hire about 6,000 Filipinos this month.

Among the DMW’s 2023 plans are more scholarship programs for children of OFWs and opening about 1,000 positions to address better the needs of migrant workers. (PNA)

Nazareno 2023 draws 1.2 million...

PAGE 5

Services], for this year total volume is 265 metric tons from January 6-10 equivalent to 99 truck loads,” Manila public information officer Princess Abante said on Tuesday.

Previously, the local government collected 88, 57, and 34 truckloads of trash in 2020, 2021,

New year...

PAGE 6 said.

Despite the resistance from some officers, Azurin expects everyone to comply before January 31.

“If you’re not involved, there’s nothing to worry about,” he said.

He said his resignation can also be considered as an application for retirement.

First lady wades in As if the situation was not knotted enough, the first lady, Marie Louise Araneta-Marcos, waded into the controversy by issuing a denial that she had intervened in military and agency appointments.

She sent a video message to Malacañang reporters, declaring that she had no involvement in any appointments made by President

Marcos. She particularly denied influencing appointments in the military.

“I leave that up to my husband. And if I find out that somebody is using my name, I shall tell my husband not to appoint you, OK?” she said.

Mrs. Marcos instructed PSG commander Col. Ramon Zagala to “disseminate the information.”

The first lady’s statement came a day after Centino was given a second tour of duty as AFP chief.

Talk circulated that Bacarro, whom Centino replaced, had a close affiliation with former executive secretary Rodriguez, whose relationship with the first lady soured before his removal.

Ironically, the first lady’s denial of involvement in appointments

may not kill the rumors, but only lead the public to talk about her some more.

It is bizarre that she had instructed the PSG chief to disseminate her statement.

The idea of harnessing the presidential security chief as a messenger mirrors the strange decision to make do with a “press briefer” in the dissemination of information about the actions and decisions of the President.

(ManilaTimes.net)

* * * The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

* * * Email: eyesgonzales@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen on FB.

and 2022, respectively, according to Abante.

“We collected more trash compared to previous years due to the pandemic setup,” she said. 

Calendars bearing the image of the Black Nazarene are among the items for sale in Quiapo, Manila on Monday, Jan. 9. Since the weekend, thousands of devotees have flocked to the district to join the activities of the Feast of the Black Nazarene. PNA photo by Joey O. Razon

From Earth to the Universe: Who is Celeste Cortesi?

By KATHLEEN A. LLEMIT Philstar.com

ON SATURDAY, January 14, the Philippines will know if it will have its fifth Miss Universe title courtesy of Filipina Italian Celeste Cortesi.

Her popular name might not end with the letter "A" like the previous four Miss Universe winners from the Philippines (Gloria Diaz, Margarita Moran, Pia Wurtzbach and Catriona Gray), but her grit has been one of her outstanding qualities since she decided to fly all by herself to the Philippines five years ago barely speaking fluent Filipino or English.

Born Silvia Celeste Rabimbi Cortesi on December 15, 1997 in Pasay City, the recently turned 25-year-old spent her growing up years in Parma, Italy after her family moved to her father's native country when she was just six months old.

Cortesi grew up in a single parent household when her father died when she was young. To help ends meet, she worked as a model and a cashier during her teenage years.

She admitted that she used to be ashamed about her past in her YouTube channel, but has grown to accept it over time.

"There was a time when I was kinda embarrassed, (and I) didn’t really wanna show that side of me to others. It’s really important because you should never deny your past and be shy of what you’ve been through because it’s what made you who you are right now. I’m proud of it. I really wanna show where I came from," Celeste said.

Her mother proved to be a big influence on Celeste. It was her who told Celeste about Pia's historic and unforgettable win at the Miss Universe tilt in 2015, and this particular winning moment inspired Celeste to fly

back to Manila to represent the Filipino community of Rome at the 2018 Miss Earth pageant.

For her first foray in a prestigious national pageant, Celeste bagged several major awards. Needless to say, she went home with the crown that night.

Four years later and one year earlier than planned, Celeste joined Miss Universe Philippines 2022 upon the prodding of Miss Universe Philippines 2020 Rabiya Mateo.

Celeste recalled how Rabiya's words of encouragement gave her the strength to enter last year's Miss Universe tilt instead of this year as she had planned.

"Me and Rabiya are very close, and I remember that before submitting my application for Miss Universe Philippines, I was talking to her and I was opening up about me wanting to join next year, not this year. I was telling her that I just want to prepare and

be ready 100%. [And] If there is something that Rabiya really told me, it's you will never be 100% prepared," Celeste said at the presscon organized by PLDT after she won the crown on April 30, 2022.

It was a full circle for the Filipina Italian beauty born in Pasay to represent the city of her birth and end up as the runaway winner of Miss Universe Philippines 2022.

She bested 31 other lovely candidates, and again, took home several awards including Best in Swimsuit.

It was not a product of fate, but of her own determination, she shared the day right after her win on her Instagram account.

"I’ve grown so much since I came to the Philippines five years ago and I really promised myself that I would only join a pageant when I am ready to take on the responsibility of a

Dolly featured in British Vogue’s ‘30 World’s Most Famous Stars 2023’ list

By HANNAH MALLORCA Inquirer.net

DOLLY de Leon proved that she’s on the top of her game in the entertainment industry after being featured in British Vogue’s 2023 Hollywood portfolio alongside award-winning actors Cate Blanchett, Eddie Redmayne, and Hugh Jackman.

The U.K. based-publication’s 2023 Hollywood portfolio features 30 of the “World’s Most Famous Stars” who gained widespread recognition for performances that “speak to the very core of what it means to be human.” The actors

were dolled up in glamorous outfits inspired by the Roaring Twenties, and were captured by entertainment photographer Greg Williams.

In the feature, De Leon donned a cream feather boa, sparkly gray dress, and matching gray highheeled shoes, and was posing on a column at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California, in the U.S.

Incidentally, the actress is now in Hollywood for the 80th Golden Globes Awards, where she is nominated for the Best Supporting Actress category. De Leon told British Vogue

that Bette Davis is her favorite Old Hollywood icon, while Meryl Streep is the actor she admires the most.

She also opened up about the “best piece of advice” she received, noting that her work as an actress “can never be taken away.”  “Always remember that the work can never be taken away from you. Maybe I’ll do another project after this or this will never happen again, but the work will never go away,” she added.

The actress also delved into peculiar moments of her acting career, saying that rolling in the mud and putting on “fake blood”

are some of the moments that make her “feel physically dirty.”  Also included in British Vogue’s feature are “Triangle of Sadness” star Harris Dickinson, and “Everything Everywhere All At Once” stars Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, and Jamie Lee Curtis. Sadie Sink of “Stranger Things” and Emma Corin of “The Crown” were also featured in the report.

De Leon made history for being the first Filipino actress to be nominated in the Golden Globes for her work in the Cannes-winning film “Triangle of Sadness.”

Miss Universe Philippines 2022 Celeste Cortesi

Photo from Instagram/@celeste_cortesi

Dolly de Leon

Photos from Instagram/@dollyedeleon

Jo Koy spends the holidays around the Philippines with family

By Kristofer Purnell Philstar.com

and I’ve got my whole family with me!” he added in the caption of his Instagram reel.

The video was a drone shot, which expanded further to show Jo Koy’s entire family cheering at the camera outside a hilltop.

Jo Koy had visited Baguio City, his maternal relatives in La Union, and was most recently in Bacolod, Negros Occidental.

While in Bacolod, the comedian attended an unveiling and ribbon-cutting courtesy of the Jo Koy Foundation, the charity organization he founded.

The actor-comedian even went on a motorcycle ride with his son and namesake Joseph, and spotted a sari-sari store with the name “JokJok Store” but coined it as “JoKoy Store.”

Jo Koy had a very productive 2022 having done several comedy shows, including one in the Philippines, and starred in the Filipino family-inspired film “Easter Sunday.”

“I just want to tell eveyone out there that [the Philippines] is the most beautiful place on the planet. God, I love the Philippines!” Jo Koy proudly exclaimed.

Precious Paula Nicole pays homage to her Filipino roots at ‘DragCon’ UK

By lora reyes Inquirer.net

COME through, world, because Precious Paula Nicole’s reign begins now!

Drag Race Philippines’ firstever drag superstar Precious Paula Nicole continued to bring Filipino drag excellency to the international stage as she sashayed her way to the United Kingdom for this year’s threeday RuPaul’s DragCon, an annual convention that brings the fans and RuPaul’s Drag Race queens together.

During the 3-day expo, which started on January 6 to 8, Precious strutted down the pink runway and proudly represented the Philippines through her sickening looks.

On the expo’s first day, Precious wore a red and yellow indigenous-inspired ensemble, complete with a beaded necklace

A success story for crewmen: Overstayed crew member obtains immigrant visa in Manila through Obama-era provisional waiver regulation, on Citizen Pinoy this Sunday

ULIE came to the U.S. as a crew member in 2004 and overstayed, leaving her eightyear-old daughter, Jolina, back in the Philippines. The years of separation broke Julie’s heart, but she believed her sacrifice would help build a better future for her daughter.

Julie had been watching

“Citizen Pinoy” and she knew that the “Attorney-of-Last-Hope” Michael J. Gurfinkel might be able to help her. She had been consulting with him in January 2008, August 2013, and January 2016 before the priority date on her mother’s petition became current.

A change in the law that Julie

had been praying for happened when then President Barack Obama issued the Provisional Waiver regulation in 2016, enabling Julie to avoid the 10year bar if she left the U.S. for her visa.

When her mother’s petition became current, she was able

From Earth to the Universe: Who...

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crown, and I am now," she said.

"Yesterday, as I was walking on that beautiful stage all I was thinking was my mom and dad. The strength I got from them is indescribable. I’ve worked so hard for this, I’ve prepared. And I let God do the rest knowing that whatever is meant for me will never pass me by," she added.

Apart from a beauty title, Celeste is currently completing

her degree in real estate management and pursuing her Philippine real estate license.

She is going to try to bring home the crown with 83 other entrants all over the world at the coronation night to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Celeste revealed that she is more prepared now, and is raring to represent the Philippines with pride and passion.

"I feel like this (Miss Universe) journey is going to teach me a lot - about my personality, my purpose, that's why I'm focusing on it a lot," said Celeste in a December presscon during her launch as the cover girl of a digital magazine.

She shared that she hopes to take the crown as a birthday gift. "Not only for myself but also for the country!" she said. g

“ATTORNEY-OF-LAST-HOPE” MICHAEL J. GURFINKEL HELPED OVERSTAYED CREW MEMBER GET A VISA ON A BRAND-NEW SUCCESS STORY OF CITIZEN PINOY THIS SUNDAY! When Julie (left) completed her contract as a crew member in 2004, she planned on returning to the Philippines to her eight-year-old daughter. However, she unknowingly overstayed while visiting family, and then could not leave due to the 10-year ban. She consulted with Atty. Gurfinkel (right) on several occasions, until President Obama created the Provisional Waiver program. This was an answer to Julie’s prayer, as she was to return to Manila for her immigrant visa on an approved provisional waiver, and immediately return to the U.S. as a green card holder. Watch this success story on a brand-new episode of “Citizen Pinoy” on Sunday, January 15 at 6:30 PM PT (9:30 PM ET) through select Cable/Satellite providers, right after TV Patrol Linggo. (Advertising Supplement)

FILIPINO American comedian Jo Koy is surely enjoying the holidays being back in the Philippines, going around

the country with his family. The comedian has been in the Philippines the past couple of days, which he summarized as “the most beautiful family vacation we have ever taken.” “We’re in the Philippines,

Filipino American comedian Jo Koy

Photo from Instagram/@jokoy

Precious Paula Nicole was named the first Filipino drag superstar after competing alongside fellow 11 drag artists to win the inaugural season of Drag Race Philippines. Photo from Instagram/@teamppn

Precious Paula Nicole pays homage...

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and headpiece.

The next day, Precious paid homage to the most celebrated Filipino shero, Darna, by wearing an outfit made by Filipino fashion designer Mara Chua that is heavily inspired by Darna’s attire.

and vibrant red hair. Aside from her looks, Precious’ booth at DragCon UK also screamed Filipino as it was designed as a traditional Filipino cafeteria. On display were logos of Filipino brands where she replaced the text with her name, photos of the Golden Gays, a poster of Divine Divas, fiesta banners, and a big sign that says, “PR3CIOU5 STORE.”

The Filipino drag superstar also took the UK stage by storm with performances of Gloc 9’s “Sirena” and Sarah Geronimo’s Tala” during the After Hours All-Winners show, a segment where all the winners of RuPaul’s Drag Race perform.

What a way to proudly present the Philippines!

Precious isn’t the only Filipino drag superstar who got to showcase her Pinoy charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent. The expo was also attended by Drag Race Philippines’ Prince and Corazon, Canada’s Drag Race season 2’s Stephanie Prince, and Canada’s Drag Race season 3’s Kimmy Couture. Now, talk about Filipino representations!

Precious was named the first Filipino drag superstar after competing alongside fellow 11 drag artists to win the inaugural season of Drag Race Philippines.

Drag Race Philippines is one of the latest international editions of RuPaul’s Drag Race, which premiered on August 17, 2022. The show was hosted by Paolo Ballesteros, with KaladKaren and Drag Race alum Jiggly Caliente as permanent judges

A success story for crewmen: Overstayed crew member...

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to file for and get her provisional waiver approved. Despite several hurdles, including the delays due to the pandemic, the embassy interview was finally set.

Although the U.S. Embassy gave her a challenging time with multiple interviews and additional requirements, Julie was still able to get her visa issued in September 2022 without being charged with fraud or requiring a fraud waiver. She was also able to bring her now 26-year-old daughter, Jolina, to the U.S. with her under the Child Status Protection Act.

Watch this success story on a brandnew episode of “Citizen Pinoy” on Sunday, January 15 at 6:30 PM PT (9:30 PM ET) through select Cable/Satellite providers, right after TV Patrol Linggo. Citizen Pinoy is also available on iWantTFC. Viewers may download the free app. (Advertising Supplement)

Health @Heart

PhiliP S. Chua, MD, FaCS, FPCS

COFFEE, the waker-upper for 75 percent of adults in America, has been shown to have health benefits and also a risk among those who have severe hypertension for those who drink more than one cup (180cc) a day. It is a popular drink around the globe. Finland is the world’s highest consumer of

Coffee: Benefits and risk

coffee; Finns drink an average of nearly 4 cups (720 cc) a day.

With all health factors adjusted, studies have shown that drinking coffee could decrease mortality and possibly offer lower risk for the development of heart attack and stroke, diabetes type 2, livers disease (including cancer) and Parkinson’s, states a report from the Mayo Clinic.

A recent Japanese study among 18,000 men and women for a period of 20 years found that among those with severe hypertension, drinking one cup of coffee a day was safe but 2 or more per day was associated with increased mortality. Severe hypertension is defined as those with a systolic blood pressure of 180 and a diastolic pressure of 120. The study was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Among normotensives and those with moderate high blood pressure (talking medications), which were not part of this study, drinking 2 cups or 3 a day could be safe, as suggested by data from other studies.

Those susceptible to the effect caffeine could develop cardiac arrythmias (rapid or irregular heartbeat), jitters, nausea, and impaired sleep. Discuss any issues with your family physician, who is familiar with your detailed medical history and could advise you accordingly.

Without any doubt, drinking a cup or two of coffee is safer that consuming any type or variety of soft drinks – cola or uncola, with or without artificial sweetener, and are toxic to the body of everyone, especially to children. Soft drinks increase the risk for metabolic syndrome. Coffee does not.

Dominant virus While the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 subvariants (started in India midAugust and arrived in the U.S. in November 2022) of Omicron COVID-19 virus is highest (around 40%) in California, the challenger currently taking over is the XBB.1.5 (found in early 2023) following the holiday crowds of unmasked people around the country, many still unvaccinated. This has raised concerns about a new wave in the United States. China is facing is various severe waves.

As of last Friday (January 6), there were 40% of confirmed cases of XBB.1.5, up 20% from a week ago. Seventy-five percent of cases in the Northeast are confirmed XBB.1.5 cases. The replication and mutation to other variants and subvariants will continue until everyone has been vaccinated or has been infected.

Then, we shall have herd immunity (protection) in the country. In the meantime, let us all get vaccinated fully and continue to wear a mask although vaccinated, since new strains of the virus could still infect us.

Until a truly universal COVID-19 vaccine is developed for all strains and future strains of the virus, even those fully vaccinated today could still be infected by new variants tomorrow.

As I have tried to simplify the issue before, I suggested each COVID-19 subvariant infection should be considered a “different” disease, and that the immunity conferred by the vaccines we received before for those past sub-strains may not protect us from the newer variants. To prevent confusion, just remember: a different strain “creates” a different disease, and a different vaccine is needed.

Masks, quarantine?

Is there still a need for masking, distancing, and quarantine during this new wave of COVID-19?

Yes, during this new wave of coronavirus infection, with new sub-strains invading us, where the daily average death rate recently is still around 200 to 480 a day, it is medically prudent for everyone, especially those vulnerable seniors and the immunocompromised, to continue wearing a mask in public, do social distancing, avoid crowds, and if infected, undergo

self-quarantine at home for at least 10 from the onset of the first symptom. (To confirm if infected after a suspected exposure or if symptoms like cough develops, do a rapid antigen (home kit) test, which Medicare provides for free at stores like Walmart, etc.) If in doubt, consult your physician.

Hospitals across the United States, “are overwhelmed by cases of COVID, RSC, and Flu, reported the Washington Post.

Potatoes, beans, diabetes It is a common notion that potatoes and beans are carbohydrates that are bad for people with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Consumption of carbs are, in general, not healthy for diabetics, and for that matter, for all of us, especially those who are overweight.

Contrary to conventional thinking, a recent study shows data that “low-energy bean and potato-based diets “may be effective in helping reduce insulin resistance and promoting weight loss,” as published in the Journal of Medicinal Food. Sweet potatoes and yams and their skin also “provide a lot of fiber, which contribute to satiety and blood sugar management.” While the blood sugar did not drop, weight loss and reduced insulin resistance were found with the potato-bean based diet, which will help in the management of T2disbetes.

Larger-scale independent global research is needed to confirm this valuable studies.

Food as medicine

Clinical studies investigated “the link between protein consumption and caloric intake.” Amazingly, they found that people who ate less protein intake, consumed more fats and carbohydrates, resulting in higher obesity risk. Obesity and its associated health issues are known as the leading cause of preventable and premature deaths, including T2 diabetes, cardiac diseases, stroke, and cancer. In the year between 1999 and 2020, the rate of obesity in the United States soared from 30.5 percent to 41.9 percent.

The Protein Leverage Hypothesis (PLH) was initially proposed in 2005 as a theory of obesity, postulating that if the body’s protein needs are not met, fats and carbohydrate consumption goes up, “dampening the satiety signals from the brain, increasing food intake.”

A separate study noted that those who consumed more processed food items tended to eat more fats and carbohydrates, leading to weight gain. The “lower protein intake at the first meal of the day led to the higher overall food intake throughout the day,” according to this study published in the Obesity journal.

Culinary medicine

Culinary medicine is “a new evidence-based field in medicine that blends the art of food and cooking with the science of medicine. It uses a high-quality tailored diet to prevent and treat disease and maintain well-being.”

Indeed, let’s eat food as medicine today, so we do not eat medicine as food tomorrow!

* * * The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

* * *

The main objective of this column is to educate and inspire people live a healthier lifestyle to prevent illnesses and disabilities and achieve a happier and more productive life. Any diagnosis, recommendation or treatment in our article are general medical information and not intended to be applicable or appropriate for anyone. This column is not a substitute for your physician, who knows your condition well and who is your best ally when it comes to your health.

* * *

Philip S. Chua,

a 501(c)3 humanitarian foundation in the United States. Websites: FUN8888.com, Today.SPSAtoday.com, and philipSchua.com; Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com.

MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, Health Advocate, newspaper columnist, and Chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA,

Leading U.S. Immigration Attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel (right) was able to get a visa for his client, Julie (left) and her daughter, on a brand-new episode of Citizen Pinoy.

For the last day of DragCon UK, Precious served the audience with another sickening look inspired by another Filipino comic character, ZsaZsa Zaturnnah, where she was clad in a red and pink bodysuit made by Chua, paired with a headpiece