011824 - Las Vegas Edition

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LAS VEGAS

We’ve got you covered from Hollywood to Broadway... and Online!

JANUARY 18-24, 2024

T HE F ILIPINO A MERICAN C OMMUNITY N EWSPAPER

Volume 35 - No. 3 • 12 Pages

2770 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 201 Las Vegas, NV 89109 Tel: (702) 792-6678 • Fax: (702) 792-6879

Also published in LOS ANGELES, ORANGE COUNTY/INLAND EMPIRE, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO, NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY

DATELINE USA FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

As voters head to polls worldwide, what role for diaspora communities? WITH 2024 being the biggest election year in history — as over 70 countries with over four billion people send citizens to the polls — the role of diaspora communities is more crucial than ever. At a Friday, January 12 Ethnic Media Services briefing, speakers discussed how AI and social media spread disinformation among diaspora groups, and shared how diaspora communities will engage with elections in their home lands of Mexico, India and Taiwan. Diaspora communities and voting “The right to vote is one of the main demands of diaspora populations” and their home countries have responded, said Kathleen Newland, Senior Fellow and Co-Founder of the Migration Policy Institute. In 1980, only 21 countries enfranchised citizens abroad, whereas by 2020, 141 countries did — nearly three quarters of

US top choice of Pinoys as PH partner amid rising WPS tensions by NESTOR CORRALES Inquirer.net

MANILA — Eight out of 10 Filipinos want the Marcos administration to work with the United States in the face of growing tensions in the West Philippine

Sea (WPS), according to a recent Pulse Asia survey commissioned by international think tank Stratbase Institute, which it released on Tuesday, January 16. Conducted from Dec. 3 to Dec. 7, 2023, the survey asked 1,200 people nationwide about their views on the countries or organizations the government

Biden to send first trade mission to PH by CATHERINE VALENTE ManilaTimes.net

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Does masking prevent the spread of COVID-19? Here’s what a new study reveals SAN DIEGO – Infection preventative measures, including high ventilation standards and universal masking, prevented many SARS-CoV-2 transmissions during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a UC San Diego-led study published on Tuesday, January 16 revealed. The study, published in Tuesday’s online edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases, is touted as the first-of-its-kind to use information from electronic health and contact tracing records to closely analyze the genetic makeup of the virus combined with the comparison of how the diverse strains were physically being spread among patients and health care workers in the hospital. What the data revealed, the authors at UCSD School of Medicine wrote, was that amongst patients who tested positive for the virus, the use of personal protective equipment shielded and virtually eliminated health care associated transmission. “When the pandemic started, it was scary because initially we did not have rapid diagnostic nor treatments available, and we did not fully understand how the virus was transmitted or if our infection prevention  PAGE 2

should collaborate with given the implications of rising tensions in the WPS on the country’s security and economy. Seventy-nine percent of the respondents picked the United States, the Philippines’ oldest military ally,  PAGE 2

PASIG BIGYANG BUHAY MULI. The showcase area of Pasig Bigyang Buhay Muli: Pasig River Urban Development project at Jones Bridge in Binondo, City of Manila on Wednesday, Jan. 17. The project, under the guidance of First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos, envisions the Pasig River to become “a living river” of multiple benefits with safe walkways and bikeways along its banks, greener corridor and a string of parks for nearby communities. PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan

UNITED States President Joe Biden is set to send his first trade and investment mission to the Philippines, the White House announced on Friday, January 12, as part of the two countries’ commitment to advance economic ties. In a statement, White House National Security Council spokesman Adrienne Watson said the delegation would be led by Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and will be in Manila until March 11 and 12, 2024, to engage with Filipino stakeholders. “President Joseph R. Biden Jr. today announced he will send a Presidential Trade and Investment Mission to Manila, Philippines, March 11-12, 2024, to enhance U.S. companies’ contributions to the Philippines’ innovation economy, connective infrastructure, clean energy transition, critical minerals sector, and the food security of its people,” she said. The visit, she added, would reinforce the Philippines as a “key hub for regional supply chains and highquality investment.” Watson said this trade mission follows on Biden’s commitment to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to advance U.S.-Philippines economic ties and internationally recognized labor rights.  PAGE 4

PH bans poultry imports from California, Ohio by ZEUS LEGASPI Inquirer.net

MANILA —The Philippines’ Department of Agriculture (DA) said on Wednesday, January 17 it has banned imports of domesticated and wild birds, including poultry meat and eggs, from California and Ohio in the United States because of several outbreaks there of highly pathogenic avian influenza. According to Memorandum Order No. 03 signed on Jan. 15, the temporary importation ban covers domestic and wild birds and their products, including poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen. The DA immediately suspended the processing, evaluation of the application and issuance of sanitary and phytosanitary import clearance for poultry imports originating from

California and Ohio. However, the order excludes shipments that are in transit, loaded or accepted unto port as long as these were slaughtered or produced 14 days before California’s first avian flu outbreak on Nov. 20, 2023 and Ohio’s first outbreak on Nov. 21, 2023. “Poultry and poultry products imported to the country from the states of California and Ohio after Nov 14, 2023 and Nov 21, 2023, respectively, shall be seized and destroyed by the DA, or returned to the country of origin,” DA said. The agency made the issuance as American authorities informed the World Organization for Animal Health of several outbreaks of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) subtype H5N1 affecting domestic birds.  PAGE 4

Marcos greeting to new ICC yet to confirm presence in PH Taiwan leader irks China by FRANCO JOSE BAROÑA ManilaTimes.net

If ICC investigators are indeed in the country, as earlier reported, and they are not coordinating with the government, “how can we be sure that their investigation will be fair,” DOJ spokesman Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano said at a public briefing. ManilaTimes.net file photo

Malacañang file photo

THE Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Monday, January 15 that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has yet to confirm if indeed its investigators are already in the country to probe the previous administration’s “drug war.” DOJ spokesman Assistant Secretary Jose Dominic Clavano said they expect the ICC would “reach out and not avoid detection.” “Here in the Philippines, we conduct a very transparent preliminary investigation. The

prosecution asks for evidence from both the complainant and the respondent. It will not rely solely on what one side is saying,” Clavano said. If ICC investigators are indeed in the country, as earlier reported, and they are not coordinating with the government, “how can we be sure that their investigation will be fair,” the DOJ spokesman said at a public briefing on Monday. “How can we be sure that they will only rely on the statements of activists or civil society groups that are left-leaning? We have to make sure that the  PAGE 4

by DONA Z. PAZZIBUGAN, JULIE M. AURELIO Inquirer.net

MANILA — A congratulatory message by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to Taiwan’s President-elect Lai Ching-te has sparked a fierce backlash from China, as Beijing summoned the ambassador from Manila on Tuesday, January 16 and warned the country “not to play with fire.” “The relevant remarks of President Marcos constitute a serious violation of the One China principle and … a serious breach of the political commitments made by the Philippines to the Chinese side, and a gross interference in China’s internal affairs,” a Chinese

foreign ministry spokesperson said at a regular press conference. China was “strongly dissatisfied with and resolutely opposes these remarks,” spokesperson Mao Ning said, referring to Mr. Marcos congratulating Lai on Monday for winning Taiwan’s election and referring to him as its next president.“ “China has lodged a strong protest with the Philippines at the earliest opportunity,” and summoned Philippine Ambassador Jaime FlorCruz “to give China a responsible explanation,” Mao  PAGE 2


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