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JANUARY 31-FEBRUARY 6, 2020 Volume 13 - No. 13 • 16 Pages 133-30 32nd Ave., Flushing, NY 11354 • 2500 Plaza S. Harborside Financial Center, Jersey City, NJ 07311 • Tel. (212) 655-5426 • Fax: (818) 502-0858

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Filipino church leaders arrested in immigrant trafficking scam

by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

THREE Filipino church leaders based in the United States were arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents on on Wednesday, January 29, for allegedly trafficking its members

from Asia as part of a six-year fundraising scam.

Guia Cabactulan, 59; Marissa Duenas, 41; and Amanda Estopare, 48 are members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the Name Above Every Name (or KOJC).

According to the FBI, the

USA

DATELINE Supreme Court allows ‘public charge’ rule expansion that could impact legal immigration FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

THE United States Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to proceed with enforcing changes to the public charge rule that could deny legal permanent residency status to certain immigrants if they are likely to require government assistance in the future.

In a 5-4 vote on Monday, January 27, the conservative-leaning high court ruled in favor of the administration’s request to lift a lower court injunction that blocked the policy change from taking effect last October.

The liberal justices, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, voted to stop the policy from moving forward.

The White House lauded the decision as a “massive win for American taxpayers, American workers, and the American Constitution.”

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three allegedly used a children’s foundation as a front to bring in its members from the Philippines and use them to beg for money on the street.

They were picked up by agents in California and Virginia after KOJC’s offices were raided

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TRIBUTE TO A LEGEND. A fan writes a tribute to basketball legend Kobe Bryant at the memorial wall of the “House of Kobe” along Consolacion St. in Barangay Karuhatan, Valenzuela City on Tuesday, January 28. Basketball fans around the world mourned the death of the NBA star and his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash in California on Sunday, January 26.

PNA photo by Joey O. Razon

First case of nCoV confirmed in PH — DoH Duterte bars Cabinet officials from traveling to US

by JOHN

ERIC MENDOZA ManilaTimes.net

THE Philippine Department of Health (DOH) has confirmed the first case of the novel coronavirus in the Philippines.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III identified the victim as a 38-year old woman from Wuhan, China, who tested positive for the nCoV based on the laboratory results, which arrived on Thursday, January 30, from the Victorian Infectious

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by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

MASKED. Students wear masks as they commute to school in Quezon City. Officials called on Filipinos to take precautions to protect themselves from the new coronavirus.

ManilaTimes.net photo by Ruy Martinez

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, January 29, barred Cabinet members from traveling to the United States following his order to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the country and the U.S. “I will not allow any Cabinet member to go there at this

time. No Cabinet member should be allowed to go to the United States,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the 69th founding anniversary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

“It’s like a boycott,” Duterte added, stressing that he is “toning down” the relations between the Philippines and its long-time ally.

The VFA, which came into

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PH not on list of countries Filipina American basketball coach among eligible for H-2A and victims of Kobe Bryant helicopter crash H-2B visa programs

by AJP

year-old Bryant hand-selected her for.

The passengers aboard the A FILIPINA American coach was one of nine passengers, Sikorsky S-76B helicopter along with basketball icon were traveling to a basketKobe Bryant and his 13-year- ball game at Bryant’s Mamba old daughter Gianna, killed Sports Academy in Thousand in the helicopter that crashed Oaks, California, when the outside Los Angeles on Sun- crash occurred in Calabasas.

In a phone interview on day, January 26.

Christina Mauser, 38, was the “TODAY” show on Mon- Photo shows Fil-Am Christina Mauser (left) an assistant coach for Gianna day, Mauser’s husband Matt and her husband Matt before a Lakers Bryant’s Mamba Academy shared that she leaves behind game at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. u PAGE 2 basketball team, a job that 41Photo courtesy of the Mauser family RESS

by MOMAR

G. VISAYA

AJPress

THE U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in consultation with the Department of State (DOS), announced last week the list of countries whose nationals are eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B visa programs in 2020.

For 2020, the acting secretary of Homeland

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From the Front Page Filipina American basketball coach among...

Filipino church leaders arrested...

PAGE 1 in Van Nuys, Glendale and Los Angeles.

KOJC, which was created

by Apollo Quiboloy in 1985 in Davao, Philippines, has over six million members around the world.

In the criminal complaint, it said the church would obtain visas for its members under the pretense that they would be performing in musical events in the U.S. Afterwards, the church would take the members’ passports away, sending them to various locations across the country and forcing them to work as “volunteers” to raise money to aid Filipino children.

The FBI said the money actually went to church operations, with KOJC collecting close to $20 million from the donations between 2014 and mid-2019.

The investigators added that several illicit tactics like sham marriages and phony enrollments in schools were employed by the KOJC administrators to keep workers in the country.

The workers were also forced to live in unsafe living condi-

Apollo Quiboloy, founder of Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the Name Above Every Name (or KOJC).

Philstar.com photo

tions.

“KOJC workers often slept in their car overnight, parked at truck stops, or occasionally stayed in a small hotel room during their operations,” the complaint read.

The FBI has received detailed accounts from workers who have stepped forward, showing e-mails from their administrators that contained instructions in the alleged scam.

The complaint claimed that Cabactulan held on to the workers’ passports and oversaw the operations, and Duenas falsified

PAGE 1 three young children ages 3, 9 and 11.

“I got three small kids and am trying to figure out how to navigate life with three kids and no mom,” Matt Mauser said in the interview.

He also shared that Bryant selected Mauser for the assistant coach position and called her a “Mother of Defense.”

“Kobe brought her on (to the Mambas) to teach the kids defense,” he said. “He didn’t really understand zone defense because he never played it in high school or college.

They called her the Mother of Defense. MOD.” For 11 years, she was a physical education teacher and basketball coach at Harbor Day School in Corona Del Mar, where Gianna was a stu-

documents and information to immigration officials, while Estopare was in charge of the collections.

The KOJC came under scrutiny by federal investigators in the past after a Hawaii manager of KOJC was charged with smuggling cash to the Philippines using Quiloboly’s private jet.

Quiboloy himself was briefly arrested in Hawaii in 2018 after PAGE 1 $350,000 in cash and parts to Originally published by assemble a military rifle were the Department of Homeland found by federal agents in his Security in August 2019, the jet. n public charge rule expands the test immigration officials use on immigrants to determine whether or not government programs will be incoming their sole source of financial, nutritional and shelter support.

“It is very clear the U.S. Supreme Court is fed up with these national injunctions by judges who are trying to impose their policy preferences instead of enforcing the law and we see this again with the Supreme Court stepping in the way they have here and we very much appreciate it,” Ken Cuccinelli, acting deputy secretary of Homeland Security, said in a statement hailing the ruling.

If a legal immigrant uses one or more designated benefits for more than 12 months of a 36-month period, they may be deemed a “public charge,” which could threaten their chances at getting a green card or lawful permanent resident status.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the government has been allowed to reject granting green cards to immigrants who were determined to be a public charge.

However, the proposed changes look at whether a person has used or is likely to use programs like most forms of Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Section

dent.

“He didn’t choose Christina [as his assistant coach] for just any ordinary reason,” Matt Mauser said. “She was extraordinary…She was warm, incredibly bright, technologically savvy.”

Mauser’s cousin Melanie Ramil wrote on Facebook, “My beautiful, loving cousin Christina Mauser was one of those who perished in the crash. We are beyond heartbroken. I share this to ask for your prayers for our family, especially her husband and three young kids, and to hug your loves so tightly today and always.”

In addition to the Bryants and Mauser, the victims of Sunday’s crash were also Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his

wife Keri, and their daughter, Alyssa; Sarah Chester and her daughter, Payton; and Ara Zobayan, who was Bryant’s private pilot. Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester both played for Mamba Academy as well.

Gianna was expected to play in a game, while Bryant coached, Lady Mavericks team director Evelyn Morales told CNN. “I just want people to know how amazing my wife was,” Matt Mauser said in an interview with ABC News. “I want everybody to know not only about my wife, but about the other people on that helicopter that were amazing people.

Including Gianna and KB. It was a helicopter full of incredibly talented, hardworking, sweet, kind, fantastic people.” n

Supreme Court allows ‘public charge’ rule...

8 housing vouchers and assistance.

The rule was supposed to take effect on October 15, 2019, but lawsuits filed by numerous states and nonprofit organizations put a temporary halt to it.

“The Rule is simply a new agency policy of exclusion in search of a justification,” Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge George Daniels wrote last October. “It is repugnant to the American dream of the opportunity for prosperity and success through hard work and upwards mobility.”

With around 544,000 individuals who apply for green cards each year, 382,000 of them are in categories that would fall under the expanded test, the Associated Press said in a report.

Critics of the new public charge rule have said that its implementation would punish immigrant families and would result in many families being forced to choose between maintaining immigration status or meeting basic needs like food.

Many experts also say that Monday’s ruling will deepen the “chilling effect.” Already, agencies and organizations around the country have reported declining enrollees for certain programs.

“This move by the Supreme Court is deeply disheartening and harmful for our low-income communities of color and our democracy,” Marielena Hincapié, execu-

tive director of the National Immigration Law Center, said in a statement on Monday.

A study by the Urban Institute published in May found that 1 in 7 adults in immigrant families reported avoiding public benefit programs in 2018 out of fear that they’d possibly endanger their future green card status.

Heng Lam Foong, senior policy manager with the Health Access Project at Advancing Justice – Los Angeles, previously told the Asian Journal that when the rule was first proposed, that about 3.8 million Asian American and Pacific Islander immigrants relied on some form of public benefit to make ends meet.

The rule is not retroactive, however, meaning that if an immigrant used these programs in the past, that won’t factor into any future public charge test to which they may be subjected.

The court’s ruling on Monday allows the rule to push through in every state except for Illinois because it is part of a separate injunction.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state is reviewing the decision and will “continue to fight against these efforts to terrorize immigrant families.”

In the meantime, advocates encourage immigrants to seek immigration advice if they are concerned about the ruling. (Christina M. Oriel/ AJPress)

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Dateline USa

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Metro Manila traffic is 2nd worst in the world—report

Thirteen Asian American and Pacific Islander leaders took their oath of office — administered by Vice President Mike Pence (fourth from left) — to officially become part of President Donald Trump’s Advisory Commission on AAPIs on Monday, Jan. 27 at the White House.

White House photo by D. Myles Cullen

Fil-Am pastor among members sworn into Trump’s AAPI advisory commission

by AJPress A FILIPINO American pastor was among the 13 members sworn into President Donald Trump’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) by Vice President Mike Pence on Monday, January 27.

Herman Martir, a pastor based in Fort Worth, Texas, was present as Pence administered the oath during a Lunar New Year celebration at the White House.

Martir told the Asian Journal in an email that it is ”an honor” to “serve our nation and the Asian Pacific American community.”

“As a member of President Trump’s AAPI Commission, I will do my best to represent the issues affecting Filipino Americans and every Asian Pacific American,” Martir added.

“I will continue to work hard to help improve the quality of life of our communities.”

Also sworn in were Dr. Paul S. Hsu of Florida; Congresswoman Amata C. Radewagen of American Samoa; Governor Eddie Calvo of Guam; Doris Flores Brooks of Guam; Grace Y. Lee of Michigan; Prem Parameswaran of New York;

Michelle P. Steel of California; Chiling Tong of Maryland; Jennifer Carnahan of Minnesota; George Leing of Colorado; Jan-Ie Low of Nevada; and Keiko Orrall of Massachusetts.

In his remarks, the vice president said there is “a lot to celebrate” this year.

“The American economy is soaring, and Asian Americans are driving capital investment and growth and job creation in cities and towns, large and small, all across the land,” Pence said, citing data that it’s been under 3% since 2019.

By serving on the commission, Pence said the members will work to ensure that more AAPIs are “able to prosper and enjoy the American Dream.”

Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross — cochairs of the White House Initiative on AAPIs — along with Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia, also gave remarks at the event.

Additionally, the special new postage stamp commemorating the Year of the Golden Rat was unveiled by Chairman of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors Robert M. “Mike” Duncan at a special stamp dedication ceremony.

“U.S. postage stamps help our nation celebrate its diverse cultural heritage, and we are grateful for the opportunity to mark this important holiday and its traditions,” Duncan said.

Trump signed an executive order last May to advance the “economic empowerment” of AAPIs, which re-establishes the president’s Advisory Commission on AAPIs and the White House Initiative on AAPIs. The president appointed several AAPI leaders from across the country to the commission last January.

According to the order, both groups work to “broaden access by AAPI employers and communities to economic resources and opportunities” and collect data for AAPI populations through all agencies of the federal government.

The first White House Initiative on AAPIs was established through an executive order by former President Bill Clinton in 1999 and subsequently renewed by former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Considered the fastestgrowing racial group in the U.S., AAPIs account for more than 6% of the country’s population. n

The Chinese woman, who had a tourist visa, arrived in the Philippines via Hongkong.

The DOH said it was tracking the flights of the patient, as well as the places she’d been to, namely Cebu and Dumaguete.

The DOH said the woman sought medical help after experiencing severe coughing.

Duque said with the first confirmed case of nCoV in the Philippines, the DOH was now recommending travel

congestion level.

The global average congestion level is 29 percent, TomTom said, adding that 57 percent of countries included in the study saw an increase in traffic congestion in 2019.

The study covered 306.4 million kilometers of roads in Metro Manila and revealed a 73 percent level of congestion for highways and 70 percent for non-highways.

According to the report, the best day for Metro Manila congestion last year was on April 19, Good Friday. The day had the lowest average

daily congestion at 0 percent.

Meanwhile, the worst day for Metro Manila traffic in 2019 was on August 16, a Friday.

TomTom also bared that Friday has the worst rush hour from 6 to 7 p.m.

“Travelling after 7 p.m. on Friday could save you up to 5 hours per year (for a 30minute commute),” the report said.

All in all, the report claimed that for 230 working days in a year, 257 hours or 10 days and 17 hours was spent driving in rush hours. (Darryl John Esguerra/Inquirer.net)

Duterte bars Cabinet officials from...

PAGE 1 force in 1999, covers the conduct of U.S. soldiers in the Philippines.

Among the provisions of the deal include lax visa and passport policies for U.S. troops, and the rights of the U.S. government to retain its jurisdiction over its military personnel when they commit crimes in the Philippines.

On Jan. 23, Duterte threatened to scrap the VFA after the U.S.’ cancellation of Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa’s visa, giving the U.S. a month to “correct” the cancellation of Dela Rosa’s visa.

However, Duterte recanted his statement the next day, saying he is no longer waiting

for the US to “correct” the cancellation of Dela Rosa’s visa and ordering the termination of the VFA. “I am terminating the VFA. I was not joking. The day I said it was the day that I decided it should be terminated,” Duterte said.

He also insisted that he is not being capricious, and that his decision was for “every Filipino.”

“I have long thought about this. I don’t wait. I just announce late. I let them go first. At the time, I decided if they do this, I do it not only for Dela Rosa but for every Filipino,” Duterte added.

Still under review According to government

officials, they are still reviewing the impact of a possible pullout from the VFA. The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, which Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III chairs, is set to review the VFA. Pimentel said the panel will discuss how the VFA is being implemented, its timeline, problems and how these were addressed.

They will also review the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement and Mutual Defense Treaty with the U.S. Pimentel added that recommendations by the Senate panel will be forwarded to Malacañang afterwards. n

PH not on list of countries eligible for H-2A...

PAGE 1 Security has determined, with the concurrence of the Office of the Secretary of State, that the countries designated as eligible in 2019 will remain unchanged.

This means that nationals of the Philippines are still not eligible to participate in the H-2A and H-2B visa programs. Last year, DHS removed the Philippines along with Dominican Republic (H-2B only) and Ethiopia “because they no longer meet the regulatory standards for the H-2A and H-2B visa programs.”

According to a Federal Regrestrictions. ister document, the Philippines Duque encourages the pub- had a high H-2B overstay rate. lic to remain vigilant, avoid In FY 2017, DHS estimated that crowded places and to wear nearly 40 percent of H-2B visa face masks. holders from the Philippines “I urge the public to stay overstayed their period of aucalm and remain vigilant at thorized stay. times. Let us continue to pracThe H-2A visa program altice personal hygiene and lows U.S. employers to hire adopt healthy lifestyles,” said agricultural workers with some Duque. restrictions while the H-2B visa There are currently 29 per- is a federal seasonal worker sons under investigation in the visa program. whole country, 18 of who are There are 84 countries desin Metro Manila. n ignated to be eligible for the

First case of nCoV confirmed in PH...

PAGE 1 Disease Reference Laboratory in Melbourne, Australia.

The patient, who remains asymptomatic, is currently confined in a hospital in Manila.

“I assure [the public] the DOH is on top of this evolving situation,” said Duque in a press briefing at the DOH office in Manila.

“We are working closely with the hospital where the patient is admitted,” he said.

METRO Manila has the second-worst traffic congestion in the world, a report by location technology specialist TomTom (TOM2) showed.

In its Traffic Index 2019— a report detailing the traffic situation in 416 cities in 57 countries—TomTom said Metro Manila traffic took the second spot this year with drivers expecting to spend an average of 71 percent extra travel time stuck in traffic.

The Indian city of Bengaluru topped the 9th edition of the annual TomTom Traffic Index with also 71 percent

agricultural visa program and 81 countries are eligible for the seasonal work visa because they continue to meet the regulatory standards.

Additionally, for the Philippines, the report said that among all U.S. posts throughout the world, U.S. Embassy Manila issues the greatest number of T-derivative visas, which are reserved for certain family members of principal T-1 nonimmigrants (certain victims of a severe form of trafficking in persons). U.S. Embassy Manila issued approximately 40 percent of the total T-derivative visas issued worldwide from FY 20142016.

According to the document, a recent review of certain T-1 status recipients, whose spouses were issued T-2 visas during this same period, shows that approximately 60 percent were determined to have been trafficked to the United States on H-2B visas.

“DHS and DOS are concerned about the high volume of trafficking victims from the Philippines who were origi-

nally issued H-2B visas and the potential that continued H-2B visa issuance may encourage or serve as an avenue for future human trafficking from the Philippines,” the report said.

The Philippines was removed from the list of eligible countries last year because DHS and DOS believe that these overstay and human trafficking concerns are severe enough to warrant removal from the programs.

The DHS maintains its authority to add countries to the eligible countries list at any time, and to remove any country at any time DHS and DOS determine that a country fails to meet the requirements for continued designation.

Examples of factors that could result in the exclusion of a country or the removal of a country from the list include, but are not limited to, fraud, abuse, denial rates, overstay rates, human trafficking concerns, and other forms of noncompliance with the terms and conditions of the H-2 visa programs by nationals of that country. n

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OPINION

FEATURES

Permanent evacuation VOLCANOLOGISTS have been saying it all along: there is a danger zone around Taal Volcano where human settlement should have been prohibited decades ago. The volcano has manifested its fury several times in recorded history, with its eruptions destroying several lakeshore communities and redrawing the map of Batangas.

Now, with a humanitarian crisis emerging in the long wait for Taal to again do its worst – or else simmer down – government officials are reported to be seriously considering the permanent relocation of communities within a 14-kilometer-radius danger zone. The proposal reportedly has the support of a majority of Cabinet members.

This will require substantial funds that must be properly invested in the efficient development of permanent settlements. It also must consider what will be done to the areas that may have to be abandoned for good. Although devastated by ashfall, most of the houses, schools, offices, commercial and industrial establishments as well as public works infrastructure remain intact and, with a bit of

5

cleanup, will still be in good working condition if ever the feared major eruption does not come to pass. It would be difficult to persuade people to leave such areas for good.

Even now, with Alert Level 4 still in place around the danger zone but with volcanic activity appearing to simmer down, affected residents are already eager to return home at their own risk. Still, declaring at least the Volcano Island as a permanent no-man’s land is worth considering.

A less complicated measure to pursue at this point is the development of permanent evacuation centers. Despite a continuing stream of donations delivered to evacuation centers for two weeks now since Taal’s phreatic explosion on Jan. 12, the situation in the temporary shelters can only deteriorate.

Health officials have noted the poor hygiene and sanitation facilities that lower immunity Education officials are also urging policy to harmful organisms. Crowding facilitates makers to stop using public schools as evacuinfection. Serious health conditions are ag- ation centers, because it disrupts the education gravated by the stress of evacuation and the even of children outside the high-risk areas. uncertainty of lost livelihoods.

With regular occurrences of destructive

Editorial

Why I’m running for president of the United States

instilled in me pride in my heritage and in this country. They came here to provide their future children with opportunities they didn’t have. This campaign and the response to it are proof that immigrants ANDREW YANG make this country stronger.

I wasn’t always a politician.

I’M Andrew Yang, and I’m I’m barely one now. I’m an running for President of the entrepreneur, and I’ve started United States. I’m the first several organizations over my Asian American man to run career. Having spent some time as a Democrat, and, like many working in Nevada, I know that of you, I’m a first-generation there’s a thriving small busiAmerican. My parents im- ness community right here in migrated to the United States the state, especially among from Taiwan, met in college, the Asian community. We can and started a family in New probably share stories about the struggles faced by small York.

Growing up, my parents businesses, especially when so

Commentary

many of the big companies out there have unfair advantages.

Last year, Chevron, Halliburton, and 89 other Fortune 500 companies paid $0 in federal taxes. Amazon sucked up billions of dollars of revenue, shuttering local businesses, while paying nothing in taxes.

Netflix collected data from each and every Nevadan with a subscription — data worth more than oil — and didn’t contribute anything back.

Think about your family.

Your friends. Your kids’ teachers, many of whom are working a second job. Think about how many of them are struggling to make ends meet. How many PAGE 10

Philstar.com photo

typhoons, floods and earthquakes, the country has needed decent, permanent evacuation centers for a long time. Perhaps with the situation around Taal, efforts will finally get underway to meet this need. (Philstar.com)

When a senator’s US visa is deemed greater than the Republic

Commentary

ANTONIO P. CONTRERAS ALL it took was for the United States to cancel Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s visa for all hell to break loose. At first, Malacañang spokesman Salvador Panelo downplayed it as a non-issue.

As it turned out, President Rodrigo Duterte was so affected by what happened to dela Rosa that it induced him to let loose his pent-up rage against the U.S., something that dates as far back to his issues with former U.S. Presi-

dent Barack Obama. In retaliation for the cancellation of dela Rosa’s visa, he lashed out at the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the U.S. In his typical expletive-laden ramblings, the president initially gave the impression that it was a threat, where he gave the U.S. one month to restore dela Rosa’s visa, and failure to do so would cost the U.S. the VFA. But later, it appeared that it was no longer a threat, but a directive for the appropriate agencies to begin the process of terminating the VFA. Senator dela Rosa must indeed be very lucky as a person

for whom the president feels a lot of warm affection. Dela Rosa must be so important a person for the president, a valuable ally. Many people simply couldn’t believe that dela Rosa’s U.S. visa could be more powerful and valuable to the president than a bilateral agreement with the U.S. which, while problematic, has also brought many benefits, particularly to our military.

But defenders of the president, and of dela Rosa, argue that it is not just about dela Rosa’s visa. The senator himself pointed out that it is about PAGE 10

The views expressed by our Op-Ed contributors are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the predilection of the editorial board and staff of Asian Journal.

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Dateline PhiliPPines

Duterte may fire more officials SWS: More Filipinos expect lives, economy to improve in 2020 over corruption index ranking by ritcheL

MendioLa AJPress

THE Philippines’ lower ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) has prodded the current administration to fire more corrupt officials.

The CPI is released by Transparency International, evaluating countries using a scale of zero to 100 where zero translated to “highly corrupt” while 100 meant “every clean.”

In the 2019 index, the Philippines ranked 113th out of 180 countries, slipping 14 places from its 99th ranking in 2018.

“It will goad us to sack more corrupt officials, provided, of course, there is evidence to show that they are,” said presidential spokesperson

Salvador Panelo on Monday, January 27.

“The problem is this: There are many complaints of corruption but the president, as a lawyer, needs certain documentary and testimonial evidence to give him the basis.

And many Filipinos are still afraid to reveal themselves, or to give the evidence of the sort,” he added.

According to the CPI 2019 report, vibrant economic powers like China, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines “continue to struggle to tackle corruption,”citing the restrictions on participation in public affairs, the supposed effort to silence dissenting voices, and keeping the decisionmaking out of public scrutiny as reasons.

Panelo, for his part, admit-

ted that the administration is struggling against corruption, reasoning that “the president’s hands are tied by the due process clause of the Constitution.”

“It would be different if all of these have been appointed by the president, you can just dismiss them outright. You have to file charges against them, you need evidence to back your complaint,” he said.

However, Panelo insisted that the administration’s anticorruption effort is not a failure.

“We’ve been fighting corruption and as we have seen, the president has been firing top officials. And the complaints against erring government officials have been charged in the Ombudsman and in courts,” he said. n

VFA termination could scrap EDCA, suspend Mutual Defense Treaty — analysts

by Patricia

Lourdes Philstar.com

Viray

MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte’s spoken order to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and the United States may affect other security pacts with Washington despite the Palace earlier saying it would not.

Duterte is terminating the VFA for what the administration sees as U.S. meddling in domestic issues, the latest of which was in cancelling Sen. Ronald dela Rosa’s U.S. visa.

Although dela Rosa said the U.S. did not explain why the visa was cancelled, it is believed that that this was over alleged extrajudicial killings in the “war on drugs” and Sen. Leila De Lima’s continued detentions.

“I am terminating (the VFA).

I was not joking. The day I said it, it’s the day that I decided to terminate it,” Duterte said Wednesday night, although terminating the agreement requires a formal written notice.

The Department of Justice earlier this week said it has been tasked with conducting a preliminary impact assessment on the possible termination of the VFA, a possibility that Duterte said Wednesday night is already a certainty.

It was earlier reported that the Cabinet Cluster on Security, Justice and Peace—the

Department of National Defense, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency and the Office of the Executive Secretary—would meet on January 31 to assess the potential impact of scrapping the agrement.

The Senate, meanwhile, had meant to include the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) in a review that it had planned to do of the VFA. ‘VFA scrapping could undo EDCA’ Jose Antonio Custodio, a military historian and defense analyst, said ending the VFA would “undo” EDCA. “Because VFA is a [Status of Forces Agreement]. It governs the legality of U.S. military presence in [the Philippines],” Custodio told Philstar.com.

According to a 2012 report from the U.S. Congressional Research Service, SOFAs generally establish the framework under which U.S. military personnel operate in a foreign country.

SOFAs also determine how domestic laws of the foreign jurisdiction, in this case the Philippines, apply to U.S. personnel in the host country.

“A SOFA may include many provisions, but the most common issue addressed is which country may exercise criminal jurisdiction over U.S. personnel,” the report read.

Gregory Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, also said terminating the VFA would “effectively abrogate” EDCA as well, but this would have to be decided by the DOJ. The preamble of the EDCA states that the agreement is “in furtherance” of the 1951 MDT and the 1998 VFA. Section 1, Article I of the EDCA reads: This Agreement deepens defense cooperation between the Parties and maintains and develops their individual and collective capacities, in furtherance of Article II of the MDT, which states that “the Parties separately and jointly by self-help and mutual aid will maintain and develop their individual and colletive capacity to resist armed attack,” and within the context of the VFA. Poling noted that the Supreme Court upheld both the VFA and EDCA as executive agreements as the Philippine government argued that the defense pacts are necessary for the Philippines to meet its obligations under Article 2 of the MDT. PAGE 10

MORE Filipinos expect their lives and the country’s economy to improve in the next 12 months, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The poll, conducted from December 13 to 16 last year among 1,200 respondents nationwide, found that 48 percent of Filipinos were optimistic that the quality of life would improve this year while 4 percent expected it to get worse.

This yielded a net score of +44 — up by 3 points from the third quarter record — which is classified by SWS as “excellent.”

“This used to be +41 in September, +42 in June, and +47 in March, all classified as Excellent (+40 and above),” the pollster said.

“Only 11 percent of Net Personal Optimism scores since 1983 are within ‘Excellent’ range,” it added.

The SWS said the 3-point rise in the national net personal optimism score in December last year was due to increases

of 7 points in Balance Luzon and 2 points in the Visayas, combined with decreases of 4 points in Metro Manila, and 1 point in Mindanao.

In Balance Luzon, net personal optimism rose from +40 (excellent) in September 2019 to +47 (excellent) in December 2019.

It also rose in the Visayas, from +32 (very high) in September to +34 (very high) in December.

But net personal optimism fell from +48 (excellent) in September to +44 (excellent) in December.

It also fell in Mindanao, from +46 (excellent) in September to +45 (excellent) in December.

The same survey also showed that majority of Filipinos expected an improved economy in the following months.

Some 47 percent of respondents projected economic growth, while 9 percent foresaw a slow down.

“This used to be +28 in September, +33 in June, and

+35 in March, all classified as ‘Excellent’ (+20 and above) Twenty-eight percent of Net Economic Optimism scores since 1998 are within ‘Excellent’ range,” SWS said.

SWS attributed the upward trend to higher economic optimism records in the increases of 14 points in Balance Luzon, 10 points in the Visayas, 5 points in Metro Manila and 4 points in Mindanao.

In Balance Luzon, net economic optimism rose from +23 (excellent) in September 2019 to +37 (excellent) in December 2019.

It also rose in the Visayas from +23 (excellent) in September to +33 (excellent) in December.

In Metro Manila, net economic optimism rose from +34 (excellent) in September to +39 (excellent) in December.

It also rose in Mindanao, from +40 (excellent) in September to +44 (excellent) in December.

Meanwhile, the last quarter of 2019 also saw the highest PAGE 10

january 31-february 6, 2020 • neW yOrK anD neW jerSey aSIan jOurnaL

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10 january 31-february 6, 2020 • neW yOrK anD neW jerSey aSIan jOurnaL

Why I’m running for president of the...

PAGE 5 are one of the 78% of Americans who are living paycheck to paycheck. Think about the system that lets the biggest corporations pay nothing in taxes while too many of us struggle just to get by.

This is the problem I saw in communities throughout the U.S. as I helped to create thousands of jobs through the non-profit I founded, Venture for America (VFA). By connecting young entrepreneurs with local businesses, I hoped to reinvigorate local economies hit hard by the financial crash, including Las Vegas. But as I spent time in these communities, I saw exactly how much most people were struggling financially. In the richest, most advanced nation in the history of the world, I found this to be unacceptable.

As a parent and a patriot, this wasn’t a world that I was willing to leave my children.

As I dug into the numbers, I saw that, if we wanted our local economies and small businesses to thrive, we needed to rewrite the rules of the 21st century economy. The biggest corporations were closing down small businesses while giving nothing back.

At the same time, automation has taken away more and more jobs. We already lost 4 million manufacturing jobs, and we know that hospitality, food service/prep, transportation/trucking, admin/clerical, and retail

are next. Right here in Vegas, we’ve seen robot bartenders start to displace workers, and Nevada is at the top of almost every automation list.

The sad truth that I learned through VFA is that, for every job we can create, automation is going to take away hundreds, maybe thousands.

And the companies that are benefiting most aren’t contributing back.

The only way forward is to set up a system that ensures the American people get a small slice of every Amazon transaction, Google search, and self-driving truck mile. We need to make these companies pay their fair share and return it to the American people so that they can thrive.

Imagine the impact once we start returning this value in the form of a Freedom Dividend, $1,000/mo for everyone 18 and older. That would amount to over $25 billion every year invested in Nevada. Money that would go directly to your families and neighbors, money invested right back into your main streets.

Imagine what this will do for the health, mental health, and stress levels for your community. Once people stop living paycheck to paycheck, they can start to plan for the future.

Imagine what this will do for our children. With less financial stress, we’d set the next generation up for success bet-

ter than any prior generation.

Imagine what this will do for our local businesses. As an entrepreneur, I know that businesses thrive when people have more money to spend.

This money would go to car repairs, housing renovations, and the occasional night out.

Instead of having rules that benefit the biggest corporations and cause us to struggle, we can rewrite the rules to allow our small businesses to thrive.

This is the vision for the future of this country that I’m fighting for. One where we rewrite the rules to work for us, the American people. One where everyone has a chance to build the life they want for themselves and their families.

One where everyone can live the American dream, with the economic security needed to take a chance on a small business. One where someone can come to this country to provide their children with more opportunities than they had.

One where we can look at our children and say, in earnest, that you can be President one day. *** Andrew Yang is an entrepreneur and the non-profit founder of Venture for America, an organization dedicated to creating jobs in struggling communities across the United States.

He’s running for president because he saw the country he was leaving for his children, and it wasn’t something he was willing to accept.

SWS: More Filipinos expect lives, economy to...

PAGE 7 number of Filipinos who said their lives improved.

SWS found that 39 percent of Filipinos said their lives improved (termed by SWS

as “gainers”) in the last 12 months while 21 percent said their lives worsened (termed as “losers”).

The December survey, conducted using face-to-face

interviews nationwide, had sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages, and ±6 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao. n

VFA termination could scrap EDCA...

PAGE 7 He added that without the VFA and EDCA, the Philippines would not be upholding its end of the deal and the US could argue that its responsibilities under Article 4 of the MDT are suspended.

Under Article 4 of the MDT: Each Party recognizes that an armed attack in the Pacific area on either of the Parties would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common dangers in accordance with its constitutional processes.

In March 2019, U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo assured the Philippines that any armed attack against Filipino forces, aircraft or public vessels in the West Philippine Sea

would trigger mutual defense obligations under Article 4 of the MDT. “In other words, the Philippines won’t allow the U.S. the access it needs to help defend the Philippines or help with AFP modernization, then the United States cannot possibly fulfill its mutual defense obligations if Philippine forces come under attack,” Poling told Philstar. com.

Abrogating the VFA would also have an impact on the Philippines’ ties with the U.S. in terms of counterterrorism and disaster relief efforts.

“Without U.S. intelligence collection and surveillance help, Marawi would have lasted much longer with higher casualties. Without the VFA, Ameri-

can forces couldn’t have been first on the scene in Tacloban evacuating victims of Yolanda and delivering supplies,” Poling said.

U.S. troops previously provided “technical assistance” during the Philippine government’s campaign against ISISinspired terrorists in Marawi City in 2017.

In 2017, the Balikatan exercises between the Philippines and the U.S. focused on humanitarian assistance and disaster response following Duterte’s previous remark that he wants to end the annual war games.

The joint military exercises would then focus on counterterrorism and mutual defense in 2018 and 2019. n

Dateline PhiliPPines

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MALASAKIT BUILDING. President Rodrigo Duterte and Social Welfare Secretary Rolando Bautista lead the opening of the Malasakit Building at the Department of Social Welfare and Development main office in Quezon City. Looking on is Sen. Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go. ManilaTimes.net photo by Gerard Seguia

When a senator’s US visa is deemed greater than...

PAGE 5 the one-sided U.S.-Philippine relations, and of a president whose temper is triggered when his people are treated unfairly.

These rationalizations are not convincing. Our relations with China lack balance and symmetry, with the president taking up a policy of appeasement, if not of fear, towards it.

Former ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales and former Foreign Affairs secretary Albert del Rosario were unfairly treated when they were denied entry to Hong Kong, yet the President did not raise hell. Obviously, he has no problem with an unbalanced relationship with China when his political enemies and critics are the ones that are being treated unfairly. Apparently, they are not his people.

Duterte loyalists argue that he is simply asserting our sovereignty against the attempts of the U.S. to undermine it.

However, it stretches logic to believe that dela Rosa’s U.S. visa cancellation is depriving our country of our sovereignty. Not even the rider to the 2020 Budget Law passed by the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Senate resolution, both of which invoke the Magnitsky Law, can be construed as acts of infringing into our sovereignty.

Indeed, while both acts of the U.S. Congress can be taken as pressuring our government and passing judgment on our internal processes, the consequences do not amount to a denial of any of our rights and entitlements as a sov-

ereign country. There is no threat of economic and political sanctions against the republic. Whatever sanctions are issued, these are all aimed towards individuals, either as government officials or as private citizens. Certainly, these persons, and even the president, do not constitute the Republic. More important is the fact that the sanctions do not even amount to a denial of rights, or a jeopardizing of lives. Certainly, a Filipino citizen does not have the right to a U.S. visa.

What would constitute as a blatant violation of our citizens’ rights, and amount to an assault on our sovereign rights, is when China encroaches into our exclusive economic zone (EEZ). It is bad enough that Chinese ships prevent our own citizens from fishing within these waters over which we have sovereign rights bestowed by international law. It is worse when they jeopardize the lives of our citizens by putting them at risk. This is what happened to the 22 fishermen from Mindoro when a Chinese vessel rammed the Gem-Ver fishing boat near Recto Bank, which is within our EEZ, and left without making any attempt to rescue them.

And here lies the painful reality. Senator dela Rosa has no right to a U.S. visa, while our citizens have a right to fish within our EEZ. Dela Rosa’s life was not jeopardized when his U.S. visa was canceled, while the lives of the 22 Gem-Ver fishermen were all

put at risk. And yet, the president is not angered by what happened at Recto Bank. In fact, he even belittled it as merely a small incident.

You contrast this with his rage to terminate the VFA, a bilateral agreement that is a product of a complex diplomatic process, and ratified by the Senate, simply because dela Rosa’s visa was canceled.

The issue here is about the proportionality and the sanity of the response, and not whether we can and should respond. Certainly, we can retaliate, as we have already done against Senators Patrick Leahy, Richard Durbin and Ed Markey, by banning more U.S. senators. We are within our rights here.

While we can terminate the VFA anytime we want, it is demanded by the rubrics of reason and political maturity to think of the consequences and the political and economic costs for us. Dela Rosa is just one senator who lost his privilege to go to the U.S. But voiding the VFA will affect not only our national security, but also our economy.

The president should make decisions not in a fit of tantrum or anger, but as a true leader willing to set aside his rage and personal issues, and the convenience of his political allies, if it is for the good of the Republic whose interests exceed his and those of his friends and allies. After all, dela Rosa is not the Republic. He isn’t. All of us are.

(ManilaTimes.net)

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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • JANUARY 31 - fEbRUARY 6, 2020

COMMUNITY Journal

Immigration Corner Atty. MichAel Gurfinkel, eSQ DEAR Atty. Gurfinkel: Years ago, I was petitioned by my U.S. citizen parent in the F-3 category (married child of U.S. citizen). The priority date on my petition is now current, and I am being processed for my immigrant visa at the U.S. Embassy, along with my spouse and our 19-year-old daughter.

I know the F-3 petition includes not only me, but also my spouse and my minor child. The problem is that my 19-year-old daughter had a baby. We want to also bring the baby with us to the U.S., but we were told my grandchild cannot get a visa. We just can’t leave this infant in the Philippines. Is there a way by which my daughter can bring her baby with us to the U.S.?

Very truly yours, A.G. Dear A.G.: U.S. immigration laws set forth those family members included under the various family petitions. Congress has decided, in making these laws, to draw a line on which family members can be included, or how far down the “family tree” a petition will go.

The law allows only the following family members to be included under a petition: 1. Primary Beneficiary: This is the person who was directly petitioned by the Petitioner (or is named as the Beneficiary in that petition). In your case, you are the primary

No visas for ‘offspring’ beneficiary.

2. Derivative Beneficiaries: Derivative beneficiaries include the spouse and unmarried children (under 21 years of age) of a Primary Beneficiary. In your case, your spouse and minor child would be derivative beneficiaries.

(Note: derivative beneficiaries are not included or allowed in “immediate relative” petitions of U.S. citizens. Only one person is allowed per petition.)

Children of derivatives, called “Offspring,” are NOT eligible for immigrant visas.

This would include any babies of Derivative Children (or grandchildren of the Primary Beneficiary). In your case, your daughter’s baby would be considered an “offspring,” and is therefore not eligible for an immigrant visa, even though only an infant.

I know Consuls have to sometimes face the heartwrenching experience of telling families that infant offspring are not eligible for visas. But the Consuls are simply following the law. If Consuls issued visas to offspring, they would be breaking the law. So, it is not the Consul’s decision (or fault) that offspring have to be left behind; it is simply what the law provides.

In your case, your daughter faces a choice of either staying behind in the Philippines with her child, or coming to the U.S., getting her green card, and then petitioning her baby in the F-2A category.

Although the backlog for petitions of minor children of immigrant parents is about 2 years, at least after that, your entire family (including the baby) will eventually get to

the U.S. In addition, if your daughter really wants to be with her baby, she can come to the U.S., obtain her green card, and then apply for a reentry permit, allowing her to stay outside the U.S. for about 2 years with her baby, without being considered to have “abandoned” her green card.

If your family has issues or questions about who can be included under a petition, you should seek the advice of an attorney, even for derivative beneficiaries who have aged out, as they may still be eligible under the Child Status Protection Act. *** Michael J. Gurfinkel has been an attorney for over 35 years and is licensed, and an active member of the State Bars of California and New York. All immigration services are provided by, or under the supervision of, an active member of the State Bar of California. Each case is different and results may depend on the facts of the particular case. The information and opinions contained herein (including testimonials, “Success Stories”, endorsements and reenactments) are of a general nature, and are not intended to apply to any particular case, and do not constitute a prediction, warranty, guarantee or legal advice regarding the outcome of your legal matter. No attorney-client relationship is, or shall be, established with any reader.

WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.com Follow us on Facebook.com/GurfinkelLaw and Twitter @GurfinkelLaw Call Toll free to schedule a consultation for anywhere in the US: 1-866-487-3465 (866) – GURFINKEL Four offices to serve you: LOS ANGELES ∙ SAN FRANCISCO ∙ NEW YORK ∙ PHILIPPINES (Advertising Supplement)

After the petitioner died, three humanitarian revalidation requests were denied

Should the family pay for an ‘expensive approval’?

TATAY Samuel petitioned his eldest child, Ismael, in 1996. However, Tatay Samuel died in 2014, and his petition “died” with him.

This devastated the Pulido family and they did not

11

know what to do next. Ester, Ismael’s sister, promised their parents that she would do whatever it takes to get their eldest brother to join the rest of the siblings and their families in

the U.S. So, she set off on finding the best way to get Ismael to the U.S. People around Ester kept saying that Atty. Gurfinkel was expensive, so Ester PAGE 12

AFTER HER PARENTS’ DEATH, A DAUGHTER DID EVERYTHING SHE COULD TO SALVAGE THEIR PETITON AND REALIZE THEIR PARENTS’ DREAM – ON AN ALL-NEW CITRIZEN PINOY THIS SUNDAY. Ismael (left) was petitioned by his father back in 1996. He patiently waited for his petition to be current. However, when their mother passed away in 2009, their father’s health started to deteriorate, too. Tatay Samuel died in 2014, and his petition for his son Ismael “died” with him. Ester (3rd from left) promised their parents that she would do whatever it takes to get their eldest brother, Ismael, to join the rest of the siblings and their families in the U.S. That was their parents’ dream and Ester intended to honor that. She went through two lawyers who filed for humanitarian reinstatement, but got denied. She filed the humanitarian reinstatement on her own, but that was also denied. She even asked the help of a congressman, but the most it got them was a status update. As a last resort, Ester went to consult with leading U.S. Immigration Attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel (right). See how Atty. Gurfinkel was able to help Ester fulfill her promise to their parents and bring Ismael and his wife, Glen (2nd from left), to the U.S. on a brand-new episode of CITIZEN PINOY – on Sunday at 6:15 pm (PST) on TFC. (Advertising Supplement)

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January 31 - February 6, 2020 • neW yOrK anD neW JerSey aSIan JOurnaL

Visit Auschwitz and swear never to take your life for granted (Part 2 of 3 Parts)

Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond Monette AdevA MAglAyA (Continued from the previous week…)

January 27, 2020 this week marks the 75th year Auschwitz was liberated from Nazi Germany by the Russian Army. When they arrived at the camp, they found over 600 corpses and several thousand prisoners still left in the camp. Days earlier, SS guards had rounded up and were herding 60,000 of the prisoners on foot for the Death March in the dead of winter in 1945.

As the SS guards began their retreat at the end of the war, while the Soviet Red Army was closing in, Rudolf Hess and his guards tried to erase evidence by burning as much of it — specially the negatives of photos taken of the prisoners. Two inmates managed to pull 40,000 negatives from the flames.

Warehouses full of the inmates’ worldly possessions were burned to ashes after the guards had sifted through them and had gathered the good stuff for themselves and fled Auschwitz when defeat for the Nazis seemed imminent.

Back at the Auschwitz Memorial tour, the stark black and white photos of the prisoners along the corridor walls put a face to the numbers.

Each photo staring out of the walls told a tragic story.

The double electrified walls erected around the camp were wrapped in barbed wire. Watch tower guards with machine guns trained at potential escapees were strategically placed in the camp. Before the walls were erected, a few hundred out of over a million prisoners successfully escaped. A few of these escapees told the story of Auschwitz. It was only after 2 years that Winston Churchill and the rest of the world learned about Nazi Germany’s deep, dark secret.

If one prisoner from a cellblock managed to slip away, prisoners of the whole cellblock was punished in the most brutal way. Bathroom privileges were extremely

Edmund Burke once wrote, “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.”

I would like to add, “One must learn from it as well.

Otherwise, the whole cycle repeats itself.” short. If a prisoner took longer than the time allowed, more punishment was meted out by the prison guards who were recruited among the vile, villainous, sadistic scum of German prisons.

Dr. Josef Mengele, that psychotic freak of a scientist who experimented mostly on children and women prisoners had a laboratory in one building to conduct his ghastly, inhumane experiments.

Mengele was manic about wearing pure white, perhaps, to cover for the blackness of his soul — that is — if he had one. Mengele escaped the Soviet invasion of the camp and fled to another county in South America where it was said he drowned in the sea.

Many of those in the higher echelons of Nazi Germany escaped to the South American continent to disappear and become incognito. A few of the guards immigrated to the US never mentioning their military background in Nazi Germany. They raised families and lived quietly below the radar, dying natural deaths and escaping justice here on earth. Yet though the wheels of justice grind exceedingly slow, one by one, over the next few decades, with preponderance of evidence of their roles in Auschwitz, many of those responsible for this atrocity were ferreted out to face justice. Most faced death.

I also saw the cellblock of St. Maximilian. Here is a story of saintly heroism many may not have heard of. Maximilian Kolbe was a Franciscan priest dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mother Mary. Of German descent, he was born Raymund Kolbe in Poland.

He had a vision of the Virgin Mary when he was 12 that foretold of his martyrdom.

Maximilian had established monasteries in India and Japan. He was taken prisoner by the Nazis for his anti-Nazi stance in his publications and for hiding Jews. He volunteered to take the place of

another prisoner marked for death by starvation, a slow agonizing way of dying, as a deterrent for inmates thinking of escape. Maximilian took his place because the man had a family. In a starvation bunker, he was taking too long to die that his impatient captors, injected him with a lethal dose of carbolic acid. St. Maximilian Kolbe is the patron saint of the chemically addicted, of prisoners, of journalists and of pro-lifers. He died a Marian priest to the core of his being.

Outside in the bright sunlight, we walked and stood where the trains stopped to unload hundreds of thousands of Jewish families who had to wear the yellow Star of David to mark them off from the Poles, Roma (gypsies) and Soviet prisoners of war that were caught in the Nazi dragnet. The trains that brought the Jews in from many parts of Europe supplied the camp.

This was Nazi systematic human trafficking and slavery on a conveyor belt in World War II. This was the reason Auschwitz had to be kept a secret from the world.

Picture this. As families disembarked from the rail cars, they were separated and sorted out to fit categories. The young, strong ones, both men and women, who can provide slave labor for the Nazi war machinery were prized and stood apart in one line. The weak, sick, elderly, mothers and young children and the infirm were marked for disposal. Most probably knew in their hearts that it would be the last time they would see each other. They were stripped of their possessions and were later tattooed their prisoner numbers on their left forearms as one would label cattle.

(Final installment of 3 parts next week … ) *** Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To send comments, e-mail monette. maglaya@asianjournalinc.com.

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Health@Heart PhiliP S. ChuA, Md, FACS, FPCS WHAT is the usual type of gastric cancer?

The most common variety of gastric (stomach) cancer is adenocarcinoma, usually found in the body of the stomach and in the area between the esophagus (food pipe) and the stomach. The word adeno stands for “glandular” cell type as seen by the pathologist in the microscope.

How prevalent is gastric cancer?

This varies among countries and by sex. Per 100,000 Japanese population, for example, it is about 80 men and 30 women; white American men, 11, white American women 7; British men, 18 and British women, 10. There has been an impressive decline in incidence in North America, New Zealand and Australia since 1930 but the reduction has been slower in Europe. The incidence also seems higher among those with Type A blood. In the United States, cancer of the stomach is relatively more common among Japanese American and Hispanic groups. The death rate in the U.S. for gastric cancer is between 14,000 to 15,000 a year. Sixty to 70% of total cases of these are men. Stomach cancer among the people in Japan appears to be “milder,” as compared to stomach cancer in the U.S. Is this cancer related to stomach ulcers?

Lifelong stomach ulcer caused by infection with Helicobacter pylori appears to be strongly associated with cancer of the stomach, and so with poor intake of antioxidant vitamins A, C and E, (and folic acid and calcium also), and

On Gastric Cancer

vegetables and fruits. The chronic inflammation in H. pylori infection may also be a contributing factor in the formation of gastric cancer among patients.

What are the other etiologic factors?

Smoking is strongly related to cancer of the proximal portion of the stomach. This is one unhealthy habit people should stay away from because cigarettes are deadly, killing hundreds of thousands slowly and “softly”. This type of gastric malignancy is also associated with obesity, gastro-esophageal reflux, high fat intake, and seen more among the more affluent people. Those in the lower socio-economic bracket are seen to be more prone to distal stomach cancer.

How about eating smoked or salted fish?

Eating dried salted fish and smoked foods (or the nitrates in them) have been suspected to increase the risk of stomach cancer.

There seems to be a higher incidence in Asia, particularly in Japan. Currently, however, we find no absolute proof in the medical literature that confirms this, but I would still advise caution here. As far as a good daily dietary regimen is concerned, there is nothing better and safer than fresh fish, vegetables, fruits, high-fiber foods, and abstaining from red meat and eggs, which are high in cholesterol and fats and low in fiber. Red meat has been implicated as a causative factor in colon cancer and other cancers.

What are the symptoms to watch for?

They vary from person to person. Most do not even have obvious symptoms before they are discovered.

The symptoms could be a sense of indigestion, up-

per stomach discomfort, gassy bloating feeling, loss of appetite or pain on eating, loss of weight, tarry (blood in) stools, anemia, weakness and fatigue, depending on the stage of the cancer. But any of these symptoms may also be caused by other illnesses, which may not be as serious and are curable. This is the reason why a regular medical check-up and seeing the doctor early are important practices to prevent serious illnesses. If in doubt, consult your physician.

What is the survival rate?

In the United States, the 5-year survival rate (the number of patients alive after 5 years) is 90% (nine out of ten) among those where the tumor is confined to the mucosa (stomach lining only) and 20% (one in five) among those with large tumors and lymph node spread.

What is upper GI endoscopy?

This is an examination of the food pipe and stomach using a flexible fiberoptic lighted and magnified scope (about the caliber of the little finger), that is passed through the mouth, down the throat, the esophagus and to the stomach to view any pathology, and do a biopsy, if needed.

Endoscopic Ultrasound is another recent diagnostic tool and is very helpful in assessing the condition of the esophagus and stomach, and also for any lymph node or regional spread of the cancer.

What is the treatment?

When stomach cancer is diagnosed, complete surgical excision is the best option, if maximum survival rate is to be achieved. But this is not always feasible, depending on the stage PAGE 13

Should the family pay for...

PAGE 11 went to two other lawyers, paid them good money, but all she got were denials.

Both lawyers gave up and said they could do nothing since the petitioner already passed away. Ester then took matters in her own hand and filed on her own.

Again, she was denied. She even sought help from a congressman, to no avail.

Finally, Ester took a chance and went to consult with leading U.S. Immigration Attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel. While he would not “guarantee” success or results, Atty. Gurfinkel and his team worked hard to file for a fourth time a convincing package and presentation for humanitarian reinstatement.

About a year later, the

Pulido family finally received the news they have been waiting for all this time: APPROVED!. See how Atty. Gurfinkel helped Ester fulfill her promise to their parents and bring Ismael and his wife, Glen (2nd from left), to the U.S. on a brand-new episode of CITIZEN PINOY – on Sunday at 6:15 pm (PST) on TFC. (Advertising Supplement)

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A slimmer Kris exudes glow in latest picture amid health issues

By NIÑA

13

V. GUNO

Inquirer.net

Joshua Garcia and Janella Salvador

Photo from Instagram/@superjanella

Joshua on rumors with Janella: ‘Sobrang close lang namin’

JOSHUA Garcia has made it clear that he and Janella Salvador are not in a relationship despite the rumors surrounding them. The two starred opposite each other in the recently concluded TV drama series “The Killer Bride.”

Garcia addressed the speculations during his guesting on “Tonight with Boy Abunda” alongside his “Block Z” co-stars McCoy de Leon and Yves Flores, posted on the show’s YouTube channel on Wednesday, January 29.

During the program, Boy Abunda first pointed out that he had noticed teasing between the two actors.

“I think there was an interview where you said kung may mamahalin ka habang buhay ay si Janella (if you were to love someone for life it would be Janella),”

the talk show host added.

“You call her ‘baby.’”

These instances later led their fans to wonder if the two actors were in a romantic relationship.

However, Garcia dispelled the rumors, saying, “Tito Boy, sobrang close lang talaga namin na magkaibigan (Tito Boy, we are just really close friends).”

The actor also explained that he posted a photo of him and Salvador before to let others know that they were friends. Garcia uploaded a picture of them on his Instagram page on Jan. 12.

“I am lucky to have a friend like you,” he said at the time.

Garcia also said that people might have thought there was “something” between them during the last day of their show because

they said they would really miss each other. Following the finale of “The Killer Bride” earlier this month, Salvador penned a short yet sweet message for Garcia on Instagram.

The actress thanked Garcia for “being such a wonderful leading man” and called him a friend who is “so much like [her].”

Garcia echoed her statement on the talk show, saying: “Si Janella kasi, siya yung friend ko na katulad ko, parang ako. Ang dami naming similarities (Janella is the kind of friend that is just like me. We have so many similarities).”

“Gusto ko siya maging kaibigan habang buhay more than maging girlfriend (I want her to be more my friend for life than being my girlfriend),” Garcia added.

(Ryan Arcadio/Inquirer.net)

WEARING a white dress accentuating her slender waist, Kris Aquino flaunted her figure and a healthy glow in her latest studio portrait.

The TV host and actress took to Instagram on Wednesday, January 29, to share her picture taken by top fashion photographer Mark Nicdao.

In the post, Aquino thanked Ultherapy, a non-invasive treatment she endorses that lifts and tightens loose skin.

With her hair tied back, it could be seen that her slim face stood out with makeup in pink tones.

She said her look garnered a compliment from her second son Bimby: “He told me ‘mama, even men will find you breathtaking.’”

In the comments, fans and fellow celebrities alike showered praises on Aquino. “Pretty naman ate,” said actress Angel Locsin, while “Crazy Rich Asians” author Kevin Kwan wrote, “Gor-

Kris Aquino P

geous!!!!!!!!!!!”

In a health update on Jan. 21, Aquino said thyroid issues were the reason for her weight loss. She said that in dealing with her autoimmune conditions, “I may not be healthier, but I’m not

hoto from Instagram/@krisaquino

worse.”

She has yet to announce showbiz projects, although she said in response to comments in her Jan. 10 post that she did not expect to have a talk show soon but was praying for a movie.

WE ARE

On Gastric Cancer...

PAGE 11 and anatomy of the disease. Subtotal gastrectomy (removing part of the stomach involved in the cancer) has been found to have the same survival rate benefit compared to removing the entire stomach. No difference in the 5-year survival rate or postoperative mortality.

How about chemotherapy?

Current clinical evidence

has shown that adjuvant chemotherapy (surgery plus chemotherapy) versus surgery alone significantly increases survival rate. In other words, it is not any better than surgery alone.

It also found that those who had adjuvant chemotherapy had much more postoperative complications. There are various current chemotherapeutic agents that have not been fully evaluated. But ongo-

ing research continues.

Hopefully, someday soon, the “perfect” regimen will come along. Better yet, a vaccine to prevent gastric cancer. In the meantime, let us stay away from unhealthy habits and prevent diseases from coming our way, especially deadly cancers. *** For a gif t of health, visit philipSchua.com. Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com.

Fax résumé to:

info@asianjournalinc.com

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people events arts culture entertainment

From Magic Johnson to Terrell Owens: How a Filipina American designer makes custom looks for athletes’ big events

W

by

CHRISTINA M. ORIEL / AJPress

ITH the commercials, halftime show and the game itself, Super Bowl LIV this Sunday will provide much to watch and talk about. But not to miss are the suits the players will be wearing off the field as professional sports games have unexpectedly become sources of fashion inspiration.

There’s one Filipina American designer behind most of this year’s sleek and tailored outfits: Jhoanna Alba.

She’s the chief visionaire of ALBA — taken after her last name but also meaning ‘A Light Beyond Appearance’ — a Los Angeles-based bespoke clothing company with over 1,200 high-profile athletic and entertainment clients from Magic Johnson to Terrell Owens.

The Super Bowl is the first of many major events for Alba’s company as it kicks off the next few months of annual professional sports milestones, such as NBA All-Star Weekend and MLB Spring Training.

On the first two days of this week, Alba and her team set up shop in Miami to take

measurements for players on both the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs.

“They’ll come in through my store, we’ll take their measurements and then we’re turning around suits in 48 hours so they can wear them to the game,” Alba envisioned during a recent interview with the Asian Journal at her home in Calabasas, California.

Whether it’s basketball, football or baseball, players have taken the leagues’ dress codes as a way to develop their brand and be trendsetters.

“Every athlete is their own brand so it’s important for them to look the part and their image is key in that.

The NFL and NBA enforced dress codes so they have to

Alba reviews sketches in her home office in Calabasas, California a few weeks before Super Bowl Sunday.

AJPress photo by Christina M. Oriel

Alba with her mother Adel San Juan and daughter Ashley Wiegman. San Juan oversees ALBAʼs production house in LA. Photo courtesy of Jhoanna Alba

dress appropriately for every occasion,” she said.

It’s mid-morning during the interview, but already, Alba has been on the phone, beginning as early as 6 a.m. to speak to her East Coast cli-

Tyra Banks wears an ALBA creation in “Life Size 2”; Houston Rockets player Russell Westbrook in a custom suit; Alba Brooklyn Nets player Kyrie Irving; Bottom row shows blazers at the ALBA showroom in Downtown Los Angeles, where all the clothes are custom-made.

Photos courtesy of Jhoanna Alba

ents. “My daughter counted how many people I talked to on one specific day and she counted over 100. So that’s pretty much my life,” Alba joked.

Accessibility and relationship building have been at the core of Alba’s business for the past 26 years as the go-to source for custommade outfits.

Of her philosophy, she said, “I think that’s what made me successful in what I do because I don’t have a liaison, you can call me directly. I have assistants, executive assistants, and a team that help me. But at the same time, if you want to get ahold of me, there are ways.

If I feel that it’s appropriate and beneficial, then I’ll call you back.”

Fashion meets sports Alba, who migrated from the Philippines to Los Angeles with her family when she was six months old, credits having artistic influences early on. Around six years old, she started sketching ilPAGE 15

Alba with Magic Johnson in his office.

Alba showing ties and other accessories for outfits for long-time friend and client, Magic Johnson.

Alba with Terrell Owens, a former San Francisco 49ers player who became part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.

Photos courtesy of Jhoanna Alba

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NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY ASIAN JOURNAL • JANUARY 31 - fEbRUARY 6, 2020

From Magic Johnson to Terrell...

PAGE 14 lustrations and learned how to sew by hand from her mother. That later turned into making dresses for her dolls and then going to the Salvation Army to construct her own outfits.

“I remember sitting on the floor sewing by hand and watching sports at the same time. Now everything is full circle,” Alba recalled as weekends typically consisted of playing mahjong and watching a game on television with extended family.

At 16, she landed a job at Gary’s Tux Shop at the Northridge Fashion Center and continued to work there as she pursued a degree in child development at a nearby community college. After graduation, she worked as a preschool teacher but still maintained a schedule at the store on weekday afternoons and weekends.

It led to a ripple effect of moving to the store’s other locations in the Valley before she was promoted to the one in Beverly Hills, which was the highest volume tuxedo shop in the country in the early ‘90s as it catered to celebrity weddings and award shows.

Working on one occasion in 1995 changed the course of her career — the wedding of NFL quarterback Rodney Peete and his actress wife Holly as they rented tuxedos for the groomsmen. The designer who did Peete’s suit came back to the store months later and offered her a job to head his company’s division for custom women’s clothes, mostly for the wives and girlfriends of athletes.

“After a lot of prayers and thinking about my future, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m not married. I don’t have any kids.

What do I have to lose?’”

Alba said.

She found the shift to designing for women more challenging, as custom-made is a detailed process where the client can’t see what an outfit looks and fits like until the product is finished.

“As a designer, you’re trying to explain to your client what it’s going to look like and you’re showing them fabrics and designs,” she explained. “But at the end of the day, they don’t really know what it looks like, unlike when you’re out shopping and see something on the racks, you can just try it on and either buy it or don’t.”

She gave herself some

time to see the job through until she ran into Magic Johnson at an event, with whom she had established a working relationship over the years as she helped finalize his outfits by matching ties with his suits.

“When we were at an event, [Magic] looked at me and said, ‘You don’t seem happy.’

I was surprised because I thought I was happy, but he saw deeper than that. So he said, ‘Come to my house tomorrow at 11 o’clock.”

Alba has shared this story many times before but still does so as it lays the foundation for how she started her own business at 22 years old.

She embarrassingly narrated how she got lost on the way to Johnson’s Beverly Park home, despite frequent visits, and ended up arriving two hours later. (It’s important to note that this was before the luxury of GPS and owning a cellphone.)

“I get there, I’m nervous and he opens the door. I remember what he was wearing: a white t-shirt, black Adidas, sweatpants and white socks, his kind of everyday uniform. It’s so funny when he’s not wearing suits,” Alba said. “He says, ’Make me 10 suits.’ I agreed. Then he goes, ’I think you should start your own company.’”

After that meeting, she took the measurements and found a place in downtown that would fulfill the order for the custom suits. “I delivered all 10 suits and none of them fit,” she said, laughing.

“I use the motto still to this day. I make one suit first, I fit you in it and if there are any alterations, I adjust your pattern and then I make the rest.

Now my clients have a database of everything that we’ve made them and all their patterns and whatnot. Magic has been so patient with me. It’s been 26 years and he’s still a client and so supportive,” Alba said.

In a 2018 video for Lebron James’ brand Uninterrupted, Johnson said that Alba earned his trust “by being the best out there in the business.”

“From the very beginning, she was a businesswoman and I was so impressed with her knowledge of what would look good on me and what wouldn’t,” he added.

That meeting with Johnson was a “learning curve,” she said, given that it was her first shot in this solo venture.

But it would be the model for streamlining the process for future clients, who eventually

followed through referrals.

“Once you get one player, you get a handful of players on their team. The players then get traded to other teams so they introduce you.

It’s like a domino effect,” she explained. “That’s how I built my business — word of mouth, just being honest and building relationships.”

It means ‘A Light Beyond Appearance’ and we’re creating the look of your legacy.

I’m doing this for my family,” Alba said of her business name.

Her early clients included NFL players Robert Griffith and Terrell Owens and they continue to be close friends, with Griffith as her daughter’s godfather and Owens gifting her framed memorabilia when he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.

When asked to sift through years of amusing stories and recount at least one, Alba talked about how she and her assistant met baseball player Barry Bonds — who was with the San Francisco Giants at the time — at a hotel lobby in LA while they were scouting potential clients.

“We get his measurements and he orders six outfits, which we delivered the next week in San Diego. I remember him saying, ‘I just felt sorry for you gals, like I didn’t really think that you could conduct business but I see that you do.’ He ended up ordering 26 outfits and had us fly to Oakland where he was playing and introduced us to his wife, who he ended up buying 26 outfits for also. She got clothes for their daughter too and they did this whole family portrait shoot. He was a good client for a few years.”

Though she has been an entrepreneur for nearly three decades, ALBA is her third business and will be celebrating its seventh year. It’s taken her this long to name a venture after herself out of humility but reframed it as leaving a legacy for her family.

“I never wanted it to be about me. So when Magic was like, ‘It has to be your name this time and you have to build your enterprise and all that.’ If it’s going to be called Alba, it needs to mean something. It means ‘A Light Beyond Appearance’ and we’re creating the look of your legacy. I’m doing this for my family,” she said.

Family is ingrained in the business as her 75-year-old

Enrique gives a peek into his Hawaii trip with Liza

much to us because spending time with family is always first,” the video caption stated.

The actor said that the al-

most three-minute video was merely a teaser. Gil hinted at a part two by posing with his sister Andie behind a snowy background; the siblings sported streetwear outfits as seen on his Instagram post on Tuesday, January 28.

“Stay tuned for part 2 where we show you all the fun activities and kulitan namin sa (our antics in) Hawaii,” Enrique said.

LizQuen went to the United States last month to celebrate the Christmas holidays. The couple also welcomed Soberano’s 22nd birthday while they were in the country.

Meanwhile, Soberano and Enrique are back on television this month with a new romantic series titled “Make It With You”.

tweed blazer and skirt for Tyra Banks in “Life Size 2”; pastel-colored suits for hip hop trio Migos’ appearance at the 2019 BET Awards; and a gold leaf-printed tuxedo for Lena Waithe to wear when she won an Emmy in 2017.

Even with the long roster of high-profile names and stories over the years, Alba does not name drop or boast about who she has worked with.

“My family, my daughter, how I grew up and where I came from continue to ground me. Every other year, we go to the Philippines, like we’re going this year. At the end of the day, I just wanted to provide for my family and it doesn’t matter who I’m working with. They’re people too,” she said.

In addition to getting the Super Bowl looks ready for players by Friday, Alba is mounting other activations in Miami this week, such as a ‘women in sports’ panel, a fashion show and a ‘Legends and Legacy’ discussion with her Hall of Fame clients.

“I’m not a fan of the word trend because I just feel like it’s about who you are, you create your own trend,” Alba said.

Then it’s off to Chicago for NBA All-Star Weekend the third weekend in February, followed by Major League Baseball training in Arizona and Florida; the NFL and NBA draft; ESPN’s ESPY Awards; and creating looks for various players throughout their respective sports’ season.

“Business comes in sea-

sons. Everyone expects us at these events so it’s kind of our reunion and they order their clothes for the season.

We just touch base with them throughout the season and if they need anything throughout [the] off-season, they give us a call and so we’re able to maintain relationships that way,” she said.

One important tip she shares is sifting through her phone contacts and having personal check-ins with past and current clients, something as simple as a ‘How are you?’ or ‘How’s your family?’ That’s how she’s been able to provide a level of attentiveness that makes each person feel like they’re her only client.

The bespoke clothing business is her “bread and butter,” but Alba started two other side ventures: Mi Armore, a line of fashion arm warmers, and another called V.I.E.W. (short for Visionaries Inspiring & Empowering Women), a platform for female professionals to connect, find mentors and have an accountability group.

She’s quick to chart her journey and share career advice, but the answer to ‘How did you do it?’ boils down to “faith over fear.”

“When I was the most stressed out in my life, I was the most unproductive. So I feel like stress is a distraction to take you off track. If you ever feel stress or anxiety, you have to find your balance to find that peace.

With peace comes clarity and then with clarity is execution,” Alba said.

By Cha Lino Inquirer.net

ACTOR Enrique Gil started 2020 by launching a new YouTube channel named The Gil Side this January.

The channel’s first vlog is about Gil’s trip to Hawaii with his girlfriend, actress Liza Soberano, and some family members.

Gil welcomed viewers to the channel as he compiled videos from their trip, as seen in a travel vlog last Monday, Jan. 27. In Hawaii, they enjoyed scenic views of the island and rode on a cruise ship. Gil and Soberano also had dinner while listening to a live band and witnessed the night sky lit up with fireworks. “[T]his vacation meant so mother Adel San Juan handles the company’s finances and oversees the production house across the street from Alba’s showroom in Downtown LA. Her teenage daughter Ashley comes along to fittings and events, though Alba does not try to sway her in any career direction.

“My mom is the first person to get there and the last person to leave. She walks a mile after she gets off the train and she walks a mile to work — rain or shine. That’s the Filipina work ethic,” Alba remarked about San Juan.

Though it may be easier to buy designer brands off the rack, ALBA as a line seeks to create timeless looks that include the client in the design process.

“I have a notepad right next to my bed and I will wake up in the middle of the night and think of a design and then sketch it and then incorporate that somehow in one of my client’s wardrobes,” Alba said. “I’m not a fan of the word trend because I just feel like it’s about who you are, you create your own trend.”

A scroll through the company’s Instagram page (@ albalegacy) shows that she and her team have created looks for Steph Curry, Lamar Odom, Klay Thompson and Russell Westbrook, to name a few. On the entertainment side, ALBA’s work includes Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s wardrobe for HBO’s “Ballers”; a suit for Keanu Reeves during the “John Wick 3” press tour; a pink

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Liza Soberano with Enrique Gil Photo from Instagram/@lizasoberano

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