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FEBRUARY 11-17, 2021 Volume 32 - No. 6 • 12 Pages

T h e F i l i p i n o A m e r i cA n c o m mu n i T y n e ws pAp e r

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

DATELINE

US, PH reaffirm defense alliance

USA

FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

Fil-Am man’s face slashed while riding NYC subway A FILIPINO American man received almost 100 stitches after he was slashed across the face by another passenger on the New York City subway last week.

Noel Quintana, 61, was riding the L train to get to work in Harlem on Wednesday, February 3, when a man walked by and kicked the tote bag that Quintana had set on the train floor, according to a New York Daily News report.

When Quintana confronted the man after he noticed his bag being kicked again, the man took out a box cutter, slashed Quintana across the face from cheek to cheek and took off.

None of the passengers came to Quintana’s aid, according to him. When he realized that the train was continuing the trip despite what happened, he stepped out and had to walk all the way to the end of the station to

by Ritchel

Mendiola AJPress

THE Philippines and the United States have reaffirmed their commitment to the defense alliance through the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

In an introductory phone call made on Wednesday, February 10, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and his counterpart U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III discussed a number of priority bilateral defense issues for both countries.

“Secretary Austin affirmed the U.S. commitment

to the U.S.-Philippines alliance and our bilateral Mutual Defense Treaty and Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), highlighting the value the VFA brings to both countries,” said a Pentagon readout.

The defense chiefs discussed the importance of enhancing the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ capabilities and increasing interoperability between the two militaries through a variety of bilateral security cooperation activities.

Lorenzana and Austin also discussed regional security challenges, including the South China Sea, counterterrorism, and maritime security. “[They] affirmed the importance of upholding in-

by Ritchel

Mendiola AJPress

Suspect arrested in recent Bay Area attacks on elderly AAPI residents FOLLOWING a disturbing slew of violent assaults on elderly Asian residents in the Bay Area, Oakland police announced on Monday, Feb. 8 that it had arrested and charged a suspect for a savage assault on a 91-year-old Asian man in Chinatown.

Police said they believe that Yahya Muslim (unclear whether the suspect is of Muslim faith) is also behind the attacks of a 60year-old Asian man and a 55-year-old Asian woman on the same day — Sunday, Jan. 31 — and neighborhood in which the 91-yearold was attacked.

The names of the victims have not been released.

Surveillance video footage of the 91-yearold victim’s assault, which went viral on social media last week, showed the victim walking along the sidewalk in broad daylight when the suspect — who police allege is 28year-old Muslim — follows him and shoves him to the ground.

“We have charged him with three counts

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HEARTS AND SIGNS. Mallgoers take a look at Chinese zodiac readings based on animal signs that are placed on huge heart-shaped panels for the Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day at Gateway Mall activity area in Quezon City on Wednesday, February 10. According to Chinese zodiac, 2021 is the Year of the Metal Ox. PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler

M. oRiel

AJPress

AS the Biden-Harris administration pledges diverse staffing to reflect the country, several individuals of Filipino descent have been named to key roles to help shape policies across the federal government.

The latest Filipino American to join the new leadership is Michael George, who has dedicated his career examining how policy can improve social mobility and reduce inequalities.

George, whose parents are originally from the Philippines and India, announced that he will be joining Vice President Kamala Harris’ team as a policy advisor.

A NEW report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found that double masking significantly improves protection against COVID-19.

Well-fitted masks or double masking improves protection by preventing leakage of unfiltered air and particles around the edges, better protecting the wearer and those around them, according to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality report released on Wednesday, February 10.

“Masks substantially reduce exhaled respiratory droplets and aerosols from infected wearers and reduce exposure of uninfected wearers to these particles. Cloth masks and medical procedure masks fit more loosely than do respirators (e.g., N95 facepieces),” the report said.

It added, “The effectiveness of cloth and medical procedure masks can be improved by ensuring that they are well fitted to the contours of the face to pre-

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Comelec urges Filipinos abroad to join internet voting test run

by AJPress AHEAD of the 2022 Philippine general election, overseas Filipino voters are urged to participate in a test run of four internet voting solutions by different election systems providers.

The country’s Commission on Elections (Comelec) Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV) is calling on overseas voters who have active and complete voter registration records to take part in the trial.

“Their registration status must be active, which means that it must not have been deactivated for failure to vote in the two previous

elections in 2016 and 2019,” the poll body said on Monday, February 8.

The test participants must also have complete biometrics data, including photograph, fingerprints and signature.

A smartphone capable of running Android or iOS apps, a laptop or personal computer, or any mobile device with internet/data access is required in order to participate in the test run.

“In compliance with our data privacy policy, interested participants will be required to email us their signed consent form, together CODE TEAM VISITS LAS PIÑAS. Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III presents the overview of the Nationwide Vaccination program during the visit of the COVID-19 with a copy of their passport or seafarer’s vaccine Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) Team held at the Las Piñas City

Indian Fil-Am millennial joins VP Harris’ team as policy advisor by chRistina

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CDC: Double masking offers more protection against COVID-19

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White House responds to the attacks as AAPI communities share outrage over ‘hate crimes’

ternational rules and norms, to include the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling,” the Pentagon readout said.

In a separate statement, the Philippine Department of National Defense said that Lorenzana and Austin’s phone call covered the security situation in the South China Sea, particularly on the capability upgrades of the AFP. “Both sides committed to sustain dialogues amidst the pandemic and strengthen cooperation between the two defense establishments,” the department said.

“They agreed to meet face-to-face in the future,”

“As the son of Indian and Filipino immigrants, I’m honored and humbled to share some personal news: I’ve started a new job as a Policy Advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris, our first Asian American VP,” George, who served on the Biden-Harris transition for economic policy, wrote on Twitter.

Before joining the administration, George was a program officer on economic mobility and opportunity for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“Our economy has been broken for too many people for too long — long before COVID-19 and even before the Great Recession. I would know: my own family lost

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Hall on Tuesday, February 9. The CODE Team has been visiting local government units to see their preparedness for the nationwide vaccination program in the coming days.

PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan

Survey: Filipinos’ rating of gov’t pandemic response lowest in SE Asia

by Ritchel

Mendiola AJPress

Michael George

FILIPINOS are the most disapproving of their government’s COVID-19 response among Southeast Asians, according to a recent survey.

A report from think-tank Singapore-based ASEAN Studies Centre — titled “The State of Southeast Asia: 2021” — found that 53.7% of Filipino respondents criticized the current administration’s pandemic response.

Of the figure, 17.9% of Filipinos said they “strongly disapproved” of the government’s COVID-19 response and 35.8% said they “disapprove.”

Meanwhile, only 6% of Filipinos said they “strongly approve,” of the government’s response, 19.4% said they “approve” of the government’s response, and 20.9% were “neutral.”

To date, the Philippines remains as the second Southeast Asian country with the most number of COVID-19 cases, just be-

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http://www.asianjournal.com • (702) 792-6678

FEBRUARY 11-17, 2021 • LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL

From The FronT Page

Survey: Filipinos’ rating of gov’t pandemic...

Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana talks to American Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the phone on Wednesday, February 10, to discuss Philippines-U.S. bilateral relations.

DND photo

US, PH reaffirm defense...

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it added.

On Monday, February 8 Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said that the Philippines and the U.S. will meet later this month to iron out differences over the VFA. “I am narrowing down the issues and soon we will meet...and iron out whatever differences we have,” he told ANC news channel.

The meeting is likely to happen in the last week of February.

The VFA, which came into 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.

In February 2020, the Philippines sent the U.S. a notice terminating the VFA reportedly

after the U.S. canceled Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa’s visa.

The termination was later suspended in June “in light of political and other developments in the region,” and the suspension was extended in November for another six months to enable the Philippines and the U.S. to find a more enhanced, mutually beneficial, mutually agreeable, and more effective and lasting arrangement on how to move forward in their mutual defense. n

Suspect arrested in recent Bay Area attacks...

PAGE A1 of assault that involve three separate victims,” Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said at a press briefing alongside Oakland’s new police chief LeRonne Armstrong.

The suspect has also been charged with multiple counts of elder abuse that police say are related to the Chinatown attacks.

He is currently in police custody at Santa Rida Jail in Dublin, California on $85,000 bail.

“We recognize some in our community come to Chinatown to target people. We know they target our elderly. They come because they believe our community won’t report it to the police,” Armstrong said.

He added, “We’re sending a message to those that commit crime in this city, that we will pursue you and we will arrest you and it’s not acceptable for things like this to happen in our community.”

It’s still unclear whether the suspect’s crimes were racerelated, but the attacks strike a familiar chord: the disturbing trend of targeting the AAPI community — especially the elderly.

“It’s not unique to Chinatown or to the Asian community, the increase in crime we’ve seen across the city and across the country, but we have seen in the last several weeks and month a very specific increase in crimes committed against Asians,” O’Malley said on Monday.

The Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, which first released the footage of the 91-year-old’s assault, told a local station that it has accumulated more than 20 reports and videos of Chinatown businesses getting robbed and owners and customers assaulted.

In San Francisco, Vicha Ratanapakdee, an 84-year-old from Thailand, died after being attacked on a morning walk on Jan. 28, the San Francisco District Attorney’s office said.

As the Asian Journal has covered throughout the coronavirus

pandemic, harassment against the AAPI community has dramatically increased over the last year.

The dangerous conflation between the vast Asian and Pacific Islander community and COVID-19, which was first made known in China, has resulted in increased reports of verbal and physical assault, cyberbullying and other forms of discrimination.

In the wake of the Jan. 31 attacks, dozens of AAPI advocacy groups are calling for cross-cultural alliances to end violence against all targeted communities, especially in the Bay Area and other ethnically diverse regions of the country.

The Stop AAPI Hate initiative — started by the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council (A3PCON), Chinese for Affirmative Action and the Asian American Studies Department of SF State University — logged 2,808 reported hate incidents against the AAPI community in 2020, and more than 700 of those reports came from the Bay Area.

Although it is unclear whether or not some of these attacks were racially motivated, “they have profound impacts on our Asian communities across the country and internationally,” a coalition of more than 40 AAPI groups said in a joint statement on Tuesday, Feb. 9.

“Our elderly community members, along with their families, are fearful of being in public alone, simply going for a walk, and living their daily lives.

And survivors of interpersonal violence and their families have historically not received enough culturally-competent and language-accessible support across government systems,” the statement read.

With Lunar New Year beginning later this week, the coalition advised the public to be vigilant and protect the safety of the AAPI community’s most “vulnerable” members.

It also called upon local and state leadership to invest in

“culturally-relevant and traumainformed” initiatives and programs to mitigate the violence against AAPI elders.

At a press conference on Tuesday, coalition members outlined a number of broad goals like expanding counseling and legal services for AAPIs of all language abilities, creating more intervention-based programs to end violence and “cross-community education and healing” in AAPI and Black communities, two communities that have historically been pitted against each other.

Before Oakland police announced that it had arrested and charged the suspect in the Jan. 31 Chinatown assaults, actors Daniel Wu and Daniel Dae Kim teamed up to offer a $25,000 reward for information that would lead to the arrest of the assailant.

“We’re being smashed in as a one-two punch. There’s lowlevel petty crime that’s happening to our community. We’re being targeted as easy targets,” Wu said on CNN last week. “But at a bigger scale, racist rhetoric from the pandemic has targeted us as being ‘the reason for coronavirus,’ and so Asians across the board have been targeted by racial slurs, being attacked, being pushed around, being spat on.”

President Joe Biden, who signed an executive order taking action on anti-Asian racism and discrimination amid the pandemic, has yet to comment on the recent attacks, according to White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.

“I’m not aware that he’s seen the videos, but he is concerned about the discrimination against the Asian American community, which is why he signed the executive order and why he’s been outspoken in making clear that attacks, verbal attacks, any attacks of any form are unacceptable and we need to work together to address them,” Psaki said on Monday. (Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)

PAGE A1 hind Indonesia. The Philippines has a total of 543,282 confirmed cases and 11,469 fatalities, while Indonesia has 1,183,555 cases and 32,167 fatalities.

Vietnam emerged as the country with the highest approval rating among its citizens at 96.6%, followed by Brunei at 93.9% and Singapore at 92.4%.

Improvements When asked what their government should do to improve their COVID-19 response, 72.2% of Filipino respondents said the current administration must “encourage more scientists and medical doctors to contribute to public policy discussions and heed their advice.”

Meanwhile, 53.8% said that the government must “invest in early warning systems for pandemic outbreak” and on research and development for virus testing and vaccine development, and 33.3% said the government must “offer better financial relief and subsidies to citizens impacted economically by the pandemic.”

On the other hand, 30.6%

believed that “politicians and public servants should observe public health measures, instead of flouting them.”

Only 5.6% of Filipinos stressed the need for improving the implementation of public health measures such as social distancing and mask wearing.

“These findings confirm that while ASEAN member governments have done relatively well in their public health response, they will need to do more to be better prepared in the long-term for future outbreaks,” the report noted.

Leadership, challenges Overall, the majority or 32.7% of the Southeast Asian respondents chose Singapore as the country with the best leadership amid the global health crisis, followed by Vietnam with 31.1%.

Only 0.5% of the participants selected the Philippines for the category.

When asked about the top three challenges that Southeast Asia is facing, 80.6% of Filipino respondents answered “the threat to health from the COVID19 pandemic.”

65.7% believed the challenge is “unemployment and economic recession,” while 59.7% answered “more intense and frequent weather events resulting from climate change.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has left no one untouched, be it in the experience of the loss of loved ones, job retrenchment, travel restrictions or trade and education disruptions. That sense of uncertainty remains palpable as there are still no signs of abatement of the pandemic with new virus mutations across the world,” the report said.

“It is no surprise that the “threat to health from the COVID-19 pandemic” tops the list of challenges facing the region (76.0%),” it added.

The survey was conducted from November 18, 2020 to January 10, 2021 among 1,032 respondents from 10 ASEAN countries. The participants were from academia or research institutions, business and finance, civil society, non-government organizations, media, government, and regional or international organizations. n

Comelec urges Filipinos abroad to...

PAGE A1 book. We advise that they only send these documents to our official email address at overseasvoting@comelec.gov.ph.” said OFOV Director Sonia Bea L. Wee-Lozada.

Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez told Rappler that the test run is not specifically for the 2022 elections.

“The dry run is being undertak-

en under the Comelec’s mandate to study new forms of voting, to facilitate the exercise of the right of suffrage by overseas voters.

The results of the dry run will be eventually presented to Congress, for Congress to decide if it should be adopted for overseas voting,” he said.

“As you can imagine, that is a long process and so, 2022 is an unrealistic target,” he added.

The four internet voting solutions are from Dominion Voting Systems, Indra, Smartmatic, and Voatz.

Overseas Filipinos who are interested in joining may get the signup form posted on the OFOV’s official Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/overseasvotingph).

Test voters have until 8 a.m.

(Manila time) on Friday, February 12, to sign up. n

Fil-Am man’s face slashed while riding...

PAGE A1 ask for help from the booth attendant who called 911.

“I thought he was just going to punch me, I didn’t realize what happened until I saw the reaction of the passengers.

They were shocked, but no one helped. When I put my hand on my face, I felt blood oozing out,” Quintana said in a Zoom prayer rally on Wednesday, Feb. 10, recalling the incident in detail.

Quintana was taken to Bellevue Hospital where he stayed overnight for treatment.

Fr. Julian Jagudilla of the Migrant Center of New York led the Zoom prayer rally in support of Quintana who does volunteer work for the organization.

“I’m upset because he is a good person, not violent, meant no harm for others. I’m upset because it’s being portrayed not as an anti Asian attack but just like any other attacks,” Fr. Jagudilla told the Asian Journal.

Quintana’s attack is the fifth known subway slashing attack in the past week, according to police reports. The latest assault happened last Sunday, Feb. 7 at Sutphin Blvd. and Archer Ave. in Queens. Later that evening, there was another incident at the West 4th/Washington Square Park station in Manhattan.

On Saturday, Feb. 6, a 30year-old man as stabbed in the face on a J train at the Kosciuszko Street station in Brooklyn.

Quintana was one of two victims on Wednesday, Feb. 3. The other one was a 22-year-old man who was also slashed in the face at Grand Central Terminal.

“I feel surprisingly OK. I can tolerate it,” Quintana told the NY Daily News about his injury.

He added, “Once in a while I take some pain relievers just to ease my pain. What bothers me is my face is still swollen, (and)

Noel Quintana received nearly 100 stitches on his face after an attack on the New York subway.

ABC7 New York/Screenshot

that’s why I feel strange.”

The assailant was able to flee when the train stopped at First Avenue and 14th Street.

The New York Police have released images of the man and are asking the public’s help to find him. The assailant was described as between 20 and 30 years old, wearing a brown mask with a Louis Vuitton logo, a black North Face jacket, red bandana, and light-colored sneakers.

Quintana said this isn’t the first time he experienced a violent encounter on the subway.

Two years ago, he was mugged and socked in the face when he alighted from the subway’s Manhattan station.

“I fell on the ground, but it was nothing like this,” he told the news outlet.

Quintana’s experience is among the latest reported subway attacks in the city, and in a series of troubling violence against older Asian American individuals across the country.

A day after the attack, Quintana saw Mayor Bill de Blasio on television saying that subway crime is lower this year.

“I realized I should come forward and do something. I don’t want to just be a statistic,” he said.

In Oakland’s Chinatown, a viral video shows a suspect forcefully pushing a 91-year-old man to the ground. Actors Daniel Dae Kim and Daniel Wu are offering a $25,000 rewardfor any information leading to an arrest in the attack.

In late January, 84-yearold Vicha Ratanapakdee, who was originally from Thailand, died from injuries after Antoine Watson, 19, knocked him to the ground while on his morning walk in the Anza Vista neighborhood of San Francisco.

A fundraiser for Ratanapakdee’s family has raised over $52,000.

From March to December 2020, Stop AAPI Hate, an online reporting tracking anti-Asian hate incidents, received 2,808 reported incidents of racism and discrimination targeting community members, as previously reported by the Asian Journal.

(Ritchel Mendiola and Momar G. Visaya / AJPress)

CDC: Double masking offers more...

PAGE A1

vent leakage of air around the masks’ edges.”

Beginning in January, the CDC conducted experiments to assess two ways of improving the fit of medical procedure masks — layering a cloth mask over a disposable surgical mask, and knotting the ear loops of a medical procedure mask and then tucking in and flattening the extra material close to the face.

“In the study, wearing any type of mask performed significantly better than not wearing a mask,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky in a briefing from the White House COVID19 Response Team.

“And well-fitting masks provided the greatest performance at both blocking emitted aero-

sols and exposure of aerosols to the receiver. In the breathing experiment, having both the source and the receiver wear masks modified to fit better reduced the receiver’s exposure by more than 95%, compared to no mask at all,” she added.

Researchers found that wearing a cloth mask over a medical procedural mask or “double masking” improved the protection for the wearer by blocking 83% of small particles from an unmasked individual.

Meanwhile, “knotting and tucking” a surgical mask reduced a wearer’s exposure to viral particles by about 65 percent.

Additionally, if two people are both wearing either the knotted and tucked surgical masks, or if both are double-masked, ex-

posure from viral particles was reduced by 96.4 percent.

The CDC, however, noted that experiments on double masking did not include any other combinations of masks, such as cloth over cloth, medical procedure mask over medical procedure mask, or medical procedure mask over cloth.

It also stressed that the study didn’t alter the CDC’s guidance on who should wear a mask and when.

“I want to be clear that these new scientific data released today do not change the specific recommendations about who should wear a mask, or when they should wear one. But they do provide new information on why wearing a well-fitting mask is so important to protect you and others,” said Walensky. n

BUS SNACK. An ambulant vendor scoops fried peanuts into a small brown paper using a spoon inside a provincial bus along Emilio Aguinaldo Highway in Bacoor, Cavite on Thursday, February 11. Ambulant vending has been a fixture inside public utility vehicles even before the coronavirus pandemic.

PNA photo by Jess M. Escaros Jr.

(702) 792-6678 • http://www.asianjournal.com

Dateline USa

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • FEBRUARY 11-17, 2021

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Nevada Health Link opens special enrollment Fil-Am Chanelle Molina joins WNBA training camp period in response to Biden’s executive order, amid ongoing COVID-19 emergency

by AJPress

CARSON City, Nev. – The Silver State Health Insurance Exchange (Exchange), the state agency that connects Nevadans to qualified health plans compliant with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through the online State Based Exchange (SBE) known as Nevada Health Link, announces a 90-day Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for uninsured Nevadans, starting February 15 through May 15, 2021. The SEP is in accordance with the Executive Order issued

by President Biden last month, in response to the ongoing national emergency presented by COVID-19.

“The Exchange is excited to announce our participation in the upcoming Special Enrollment Period, giving uninsured Nevadans another opportunity to purchase affordable health insurance, especially as we continue to face unprecedented challenges during the ongoing pandemic,”said Heather Korbulic, executive director, Silver State Health Insurance Exchange. “The SEP begins exactly one month after the closure of our traditional Open Enrollment Period for 2021 health insurance coverage, in which we connected nearly 82,000 Nevadans to comprehensive and quality health coverage through Nevada Health Link. As soon as Nevada learned of the news from the federal government, we took immediate action to plan and collaborate with our vendor, other State Based Exchanges, on-exchange insurance carriers and the statewide network of 750-plus brokers and navigators to implement a seamless, streamlined process for Nevadans looking to get connected during this unique enrollment period. Pandemic or no pandemic, no Nevadan should ever be without health insurance.”

Uninsured Nevadans will have 90 days – Feb. 15 through 11:59 p.m. on May 15 – to submit an application for health insurance on Nevada Health Link. This SEP is available for any Nevadan who missed the Open Enrollment Period and is uninsured; please note existing enrollees will NOT have the opportunity to shop and change their current plan.

The Exchange is the only place Nevadans can qualify for subsidies to help offset the cost of insurance premiums.

Four out of five Nevadans who purchase a plan through Nevada Health Link qualify for financial assistance (tax cred-

its). All plans offered through the Exchange cover the ACA’s ten essential health benefits, such as pre- existing conditions and all COVID-19-related diagnosis and treatment. Consumers can choose from up to 50 plans from five carriers, including Health Plan of Nevada (HPN), SilverSummit (Ambetter), Anthem HMO Co, Friday Health Plans and SelectHealth.

Nevada Health Link also offers up to 27 dental plans from six dental carriers and has recently partnered with VSP to offer vision plans.

Exchange plans are ideal for those who do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid but still need financial assistance; those who do not have employeesponsored health insurance, including independent contractors and gig workers; and anyone seeking comprehensive, quality and affordable plans.

For more information, visit NevadaHealthLink.com or call 1-800-547-2927; TTY: 711.

Methods to enroll in health insurance include virtual and contactless assistance in various languages, including Spanish, Tagalog and Mandarin, via telephone and online, or in-person, for those who prefer it. The Call Center is open 9am to 5pm PST, Monday through Friday, unless it is an observed

holiday. The Exchange recommends working with a certified broker or navigator to enroll in the SEP. About Nevada Health Link Nevada Health Link is the online insurance marketplace operated by the Silver State Health Insurance Exchange (Exchange), which was established per Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) in 2011 by the State of Nevada and began operations in 2013 on the belief that all Nevadans deserve access to health insurance. In 2019, the Exchange transitioned away from the federal marketplace, HealthCare.gov and became a fully operational State Based Exchange (SBE), in time for its seventh Open Enrollment Period (OEP). Nevada Health Link connects eligible Nevada residents to budget-appropriate health and dental coverage and is the only place where qualifying consumers can receive federal tax credits to help cover premium costs. Subscribe to Nevada Health Link’s Blog and YouTube channel, like them on Facebook or follow on Twitter and Instagram. Nevada Health Link always encourages consumers to use the free assistance of a licensed enrollment professional by calling 1-800-547-2927 or by visiting NevadaHealthLink.com. n

‘Safety should be the priority’: Fil-Am teachers respond to calls to reopen schools without vaccinations

by Klarize

Medenilla AJPress

AS COVID-19 vaccinations continue to be distributed across the country, the debate over whether schools should reopen came to a head when the top official of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced it would be possible to reopen schools without requiring vaccines.

“There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen and that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said at a White House press briefing on Wednesday, Feb. 3.

She added, “Vaccinations of teachers is not a prerequisite for safely reopening schools.”

Walensky’s comments caused a stir nationwide as the pressure to reopen schools and the ongoing threat of coronavirus remain crucial issues among teachers, students and parents.

Later on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki appeared to walk back on Walensky’s comments, clarifying that they weren’t the “official guidance” from the CDC, adding that it as “not released their official guidance” regarding “vaccination of teachers and what would be needed to ensure the safe reopening of schools.”

The Biden administration has maintained that it is committed to working with states and local jurisdictions to safely reopen schools, with the goal of reopening a majority of K-8 schools in 100 days. Last month, Biden proposed an allocation of $170 billion to K-12 and higher education institutions, largely to increase COVID-19 testing.

In California, where the coronavirus continues to ravage counties and offer no end in sight,

Governor Gavin Newsom said that the reopening of schools can run congruent to the vaccinations of educators, saying that “We can safely reopen schools as we process a prioritization to our teachers of vaccinations.”

During a briefing on Wednesday where he announced the future site of a new vaccination center at Oakland Coliseum, Newsom said, “I’d love to have everybody in the state vaccinated that chooses to be vaccinated. Not only would I like to prioritize teachers, we are prioritizing teachers.”

As of press time, teachers are not eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in California, which is still working to vaccinate front-line workers and residents 65 years of age and older. Certain counties and school districts are working on their own plans to vaccinate educators, but many teachers and parents would rather the state play it safe and not rush to reopen schools without a vigorous vaccination plan in place.

“It shouldn’t even really be a conversation: we need vaccines before we can resume teaching indoors and in-person,” Hillary Valdez, a Filipina American third grade teacher in San Diego, told the Asian Journal in a phone interview. “Nobody prefers distance learning, but it’s just the safest option right now. Safety should be the priority.”

Valdez, who asked not to disclose the school where she works, said that she has noticed the adverse effects of distance learning in her students, particularly in the last couple of months. She wants a swift return back into the classroom, but she affirmed that the state should come up with a more robust plan to make the prospect of returning “100% safe,” and that includes rigid rules to mitigate viral transmission and have “all teachers and staff vaccinated first.”

Valdez is a part of the California Teachers Association, which in January, sent a letter to Newsom saying that it wants schools in counties with high COVID-19 transmission rates to remain in distance learning for the next 100 days to give the state more time to develop such a plan.

Erin Murray, a Filipina middle school teacher in LA County, told the Asian Journal that she thinks it’s “absurd” to “even consider opening schools before getting everybody — students, teachers, staff — vaccinated first.”

“It’s the only way we will feel comfortable returning to the classroom, and for good. We don’t want to have re-close campuses again if the infection rates increase again,” Murray said.

The situation in Los Angeles County — which has a cumulative total of 1.2 million positive coronavirus cases and more than 17,500 deaths — continues to be among the worst in the country, remaining in the state’s most restrictive “purple” tier of the economic reopening roadmap.

But on Thursday, Feb. 4, LA City Councilmember Joe Buscaino announced that he’s introducing a motion next week asking the city attorney to explore “legal options” to force the LA Unified School District to reopen for inperson learning.

In a statement, Buscaino said, “I stand with the 1,500 pediatricians in Southern California as well as the CDC who are calling for the safe reopening of our schools,” without elaborating on what he considers a “safe reopening” would entail. “[The statement] is absolutely ridiculous, and I know the union won’t stand for it,” Murray said, adding that she is a member of the UTLA, which has strongly advocated for remaining in distance learning until all school staff and PAGE 5

FILIPINA American Chanelle Molina is one step closer to making it to the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).

The WNBA’s Indiana Fever this week announced that Molina has been signed to a training camp contract.

The terms of the contract were not disclosed as per the policy of the team.

Molina, for her part, took to Instagram to acknowledge the importance of her achievement.

“It has taken a lot of hard work, dedication and patience to get here. The WNBA has always been the goal, therefore I accepted and fell in love with the process to get here! There are not many Filipino women in the WNBA, so this is for the progress of women’s basketball all over the world,” she wrote.

“I will celebrate this success and accomplishment, but it’s back to helping my team overseas win in the morning,” she added.

“Thank you Indiana Fever for this opportunity. See you all soon!”

Molina, who was born in Hawaii to Filipino parents, played college ball for Washington State for four years, averaging 12.7 points and 4.2 rebounds.

In 2016, she was rated as a fivestar recruit by ESPN. After going undrafted in the 2020 WNBA Draft, Molina played professionally for the Norrköping Dolphins in Sweden.

The 5-foot-9 guard is currently averaging 18.1 points, 6.3

rebounds, and 4.1 assists in the 15 games with the Dolphins this season.

“Chanelle recorded an excellent career at Washington State in the very challenging Pac-12 Conference. She is a skilled and versatile guard who will bring high energy and competitiveness to our training camp,” said Fever head coach Marianne Stanley.

Former Washington State women’s basketball “She is having a great year standout Chanelle Molina has signed a WNBA overseas in Sweden this season training camp contract with the Indiana Fever. because of how she has continued Photo courtesy of Washington State University to improve,” Stanley added. n

Indian Fil-Am...

PAGE A1

our nest egg in the Enron scandal in 2001,” he added in another tweet.

He continued, “That experience taught me that big problems need policy solutions that meet the moment. I’ve devoted my career to combating inequality and to ensuring that all of us, not just the powerful, can succeed in our economy. Time to get to work!”

George previously worked at the White House National Economic Council during the Obama administration.

He studied government and economics at Harvard University, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He received his master’s degrees from the London School of Economics and University of Oxford as a Marshall Scholar. n

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OpiniOn

Second conviction

Features

DISPELLING criticisms that it is a clearing station for crooks, the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court has convicted Janet Lim Napoles for the second time in connection with the diversion of the Priority Development Assistance Fund or PDAF, the formal name for the congressional pork barrel.

Napoles, the accused mastermind, was convicted of three counts of graft and malversation of public funds, together with her co-accused, former Cagayan de Oro Rep. Constantino Jaraula, former Technology Resource Center employees Ma. Rosalinda Masongsong Lacsamana and Belina Concepcion, and Cared president Mylene Encarnacion. Cared was the NGO through which Jaraula’s PDAF funds were funneled.

For the graft case, they were sentenced to six to 10 years in prison for each count. For malversation, they received 12 to 18 years per count. They were ordered to pay P28 million for graft and another P28 million for malversation. Jaraula also received a prison term of nine years for each of the three counts of direct bribery for receiving P2 million in grease money from Napoles.

It was the second conviction for Napoles over the PDAF scandal. She is serving a life term over her conviction for plunder in 2018. In a bizarre ruling, her co-accused Sen. Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. was acquitted but ordered to return P124.5 million

Editorial

The Fil-Am Perspective Gel SantoS-ReloS HAPPY season of love!

Wherever we may be, we Filipinos are hopeless romantics, and therefore, Valentine’s Day is a month-long celebration for us talking about love and romance.

“Humans of Pinas” (HoP), a Facebook page inspired by Humans of New York, has been showcasing Filipinos’ stories deemed to be empowering and/ or inspiring. This Valentine’s month, HoP asked me to share my own story, and I am honored to join other well-known and respected couples of ‘Pinas in sharing their own stories seldom told in public. Here is my story.

May 2, 1979 was the fateful day I met the man who would turn out to be the person I would be sharing the rest of my life with. I joined the summer theater workshop of “Dulaang Abot-Kaya,” the community theater group of Sacred Heart Parish in Kamuning.

I just graduated from high school and was excited to pursue my dreams to be working in the field of mass communications — radio, television, and yes, even in films having the “artists” genes of my aunts Tessie Quintana of LVN Films in the 50s-60s and Rebecca of Premiere Productions in the 60s to the 70s, and my handsome cousin Gabby Concepcion.

in prison.

The Sandiganbayan has yet to clarify once and for all if Revilla must return the P124.5 million.

With the clarity must come an order to return the money stolen from the people. Senators are not above the law; anyone who defies a court order must face appropriate punishment.

Meanwhile, people expect Napoles and her cohorts in Congress to face more charges in connection with the scam. The Commission on Audit had presented documents that reportedly implicated about 200 members of both chambers of Congress, many of them still in office; about 100 have been indicted or are under investigation for the PDAF scam. The Office of the Ombudsman, also saddled with perceptions that it is a clearing station for the corrupt, should pursue these cases without letup.

(Philstar.com)

My Valentine story I joined the summer theater workshop, which was run by graduates of the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA), hoping to fulfill my longtime dream to meet and get my big break from no less than the late famed director Lino Brocka, one of the most influential and significant filmmakers in the history of the Philippines, who was once an executive director of PETA. But, God had a different plan in my life.

Rene Relos became my boyfriend a year after we top-billed several theatrical presentations for “Dulaang About-Kaya.” He just turned 18 and I was 17 when we became a couple. We went to the University of the Philippines together, where I graduated cum laude from the College of Mass Communications while he finished magna cum laude in his pre-med course.

Yes, we were both driven and have been planning to get married and share our lives together, but all of these were fulfilled expeditiously with the coming of our first-born son.

And so, we got married at age 21 and became parents at age 22. I was then an instructor in Broadcast Communication at the UP and later joined the broadcasting industry as a news anchor and TV host for ABS-CBN. Rene went on to pursue his medical education and residency at the UP College of Medicine, where he graduated valedictorian and placed fourth

IN just over 15 months, our country will once again be subjected to the rituals of democracy. The 2022 national and local elections are looming, and the Filipino people will have a choice of, once again, voting for a nightmare masquerading as a messiah or voting for a real alternative. We are already witnessing the surfacing of familiar names on both sides of the political divide. More prominent of these are Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio on the side of the administration and Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo on the side of the political opposition.

Some may consider this an interesting battle between two women, but it would be too shallow for one to read into this a feminist accolade, considering what recent events have pointed out to us. It may be unpalatable to hear and may appear misogynist, but gender has nothing to do

in the Medical Board Exam with a rating of 90%, despite us having two children.

We had no money when we started our life together as husband and wife, grateful for the support of our parents as we worked hard to fulfill our dreams, build our family. We had two more children during his surgical residency years. Eventually, we became financially independent and began living a comfortable life.

However, somewhere along the way, we drifted apart. The emotional immaturity of early adulthood, the demands and stresses of his medical education and training, my building a career in the limelight of broadcasting, raising four children, our weaknesses as human beings — the interplay of these factors eroded our once happy relationship and our marriage.

The song of Neil Sedaka comes to mind: “I miss the hungry years The once upon a time The lovely long ago We didn’t have a dime Those days of me and you We lost along the way…”

We had a complicated relationship for more than three years, asking ourselves if we should stay or go on our separate ways. But amid the inner turmoil, we knew deep inside how our vow and commitment to give our children the best life in spite of ourselves had been our guiding light and reason to remain friends.

Philstar.com photo

And perhaps, more than how we wanted to admit during these times of uncertainties, the shadows of the simple joys of our hungry years nurtured by our love for each other had somehow kept on pulling us back and made it impossible to really let go.

And so, by the grace of God in the most miraculous circumstances, only He could have made possible, Rene and I found each other again. We went to court together just before the decision to annul our marriage was handed out to tell the judge we were dismissing the annulment case and are keeping our marriage.

“Beautiful!” gushed Judge Rosalina Pison of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court. Indeed, it was the greatest blessing of our lives — God’s promise of giving us “beauty for ashes” that healed our hearts and gave us the grace to start again.

As all of these events happened during Rene’s short month-long visit in between his interviews and the start of medical fellowship training in the United States in the summer of 2000, we made the most of this time to renew our marriage vows in the same church where we met, fell in love, got married, and had our four children baptized.

Rene went back to the U.S. and I went to visit with him during fall, winter and spring. It was during this time when we decided to immigrate to the United States to start a new chapter in our life.

Everything just fell into place,

after we said YES to God’s still small voice inside our hearts.

In May of 2001, I gave up my career at ABS-CBN. My children and I joined my husband in the United States. Rene was offered a rare chance to have a surgical residency after he finished his fellowship, and this opened the path for him to practice surgery.

We started anew with hungry years again as he was just getting a humble stipend as he completed his re-training in the U.S. to get his medical license. I did real estate on the side. But our hearts were full of love and of renewed dreams in our adoptive country for us and our children.

And just after Rene started his medical practice here in the U.S. in 2005, ABS-CBN asked me to work for the company again as talk show host and news anchor for The Filipino Channel, which has started producing programs in California. I was given the chance to continue the career I gave up for my family.

We are now celebrating our 37th wedding anniversary this July. The kids have grown up and are building their own lives.

We have also been blessed with two grandchildren!

Rene and I are now (almost) empty nesters and are living our lives as honeymooners — something we missed when we were navigating the struggles and crises of our younger years all at the same time. We are now able to live our passion, pursue our own dreams, travel around the world, celebrating each moment we are together.

We did not get here on our own. We grew up together from our teen years through adulthood, through middle age through the golden years.

Every season of our life presented new challenges, which have been our opportunities to grow together. But what had sustained us is our renewed faith in God who has been giving us the grace to carry on and nurture our love and our life together. All the pains of the past He used so we may find this new life in Him as one.

God has blessed us with each other to help us become better human beings, growing in love and faith together, making our crooked paths straight, smoothening our rough edges.

And this all began when we said “YES,” and started the new chapters of our new life rooted in our faith, and He helped us do things we can never do on our own.

And we continue to say “YES.” Every day. *** The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

*** Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at gelrelos@icloud.com, or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel. Santos.Relos.

Wanted: Ideal candidate for 2022

Commentary

antonio P. ContReRaS

– nearly half of the P224.5 million that he allegedly received in PDAF kickbacks from Napoles through his aide Richard Cambe, who was convicted and faces up to 40 years

with bringing feminism into the mainstream of politics. One just has to look at the likes of United States Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado to realize that being a woman does not assure deliverance from lunacy, violence and conspiracy theories, which abound in the political world, dominated by men. Both Sara Duterte-Carpio and Leni Robredo endear themselves to their political base, but it is not certain whether what they bring to the table is something of which blue-blooded feminists can be proud.

And then you have other names, mainly a coterie of politicians who are either allied with President Rodrigo —Duterte and their camp is simply teeming with familiar names such as Sen. Emmanuel Pacquiao or even former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — or from the shallow bench that the political opposition has become. For people who aspire for some fundamental change in our politics, the picture becomes depressing indeed. The popularity of the Duterte dynasty attached to the

fame, or infamy, of its patriarch Rodrigo has been proven time and again as unassailable despite ineptitude, allegations of corruption and human rights abuses, and his failure to deliver practically all the 15 points in his campaign platform which he promised in 2016. While the approval ratings of other leaders floundered during the pandemic, Duterte’s ratings continued to soar, defying the law of political gravity. This despite the negative growth rate of our economy, a lethargic pandemic response and being a laggard in the vaccine rollout, where Bangladesh and Myanmar even outpaced us.

There is no way a Robredo, or anyone from the political opposition, can win against a brand that has become a political cult.

If anyone would like to challenge the Duterte brand in 2022, and has a chance of winning, then one has to come to grips with the reality that Robredo, or anyone who can easily be framed as a “dilawan,” has practically a zero chance. Anti-Duterte people should come out of their echo chambers, trapped in their

own social media groups, or in their ivory towers in academe, or in civil society circles, and realize that what they have is a losing proposition.

They should abandon any wishful thinking that Robredo, or anyone like her from the current political opposition, can be molded in the like of a Joseph Biden Jr. After all, Biden won because more than half of the United States detested Donald Trump. So, anyone who would liken Robredo to a Biden should give it a rest and venture into reality.

The reality that we face is the fact that in the Philippines, politics is about narratives. And under present conditions, and in order to beat the Duterte narrative, one has to find another candidate with an equally compelling narrative that would have the ability to peel away the Duterte political base. Most vulnerable, and therefore easy for conversion, among this base will be those who simply support Duterte because they hate the Liberal Party and the current political opposition.

While the goal of transforming

Philippine politics is a lofty one, relying on slogans, and even well-crafted alternatives, will simply not make the cut. What we need is a candidate who would have the ability to match, and even punch holes, into the Duterte brand, but also one with an aura that can tickle the political imaginations of those who do not vote because of platforms, but simply because of image and optics. This candidate should be a lightning rod that would be able to steal thunder away from the jaded, provincial and parochial modalities of the Duterte dynasty and offer a contrapuntal that is new, inclusive and modern. This person must be a darling of social media but is also familiar with the underbelly of transactional politics. He or she should be both internet savvy, with a cosmopolitan worldview but would be willing to engage and is familiar with the ways of traditional local politics.

And of course, this candidate must have the ability not only to raise campaign funds from wealthy donors, but also able to whip up a mass base that can outmatch the grassroots idolatry

of the diehard Duterte supporters. He or she should be able to inspire people to contribute their own time and money for his or her campaign.

But most fundamental of all is that this candidate should be an independent political figure, outside the ambit of the Duterte dynasty and his allies, unaligned even with the current political opposition. He or she must be progressive, a unifier, and with a clear track record. He or she should have the ability to embody a new kind of politics that is both transactional and transformative, traditional and technologically savvy, amiable and inspiring but not cult-like, and one who would embody a compelling platform that speaks to the roots of our sufferings as a people.

The question that we need to ask ourselves, however, is this.

Does this candidate even exist at all? (ManilaTimes.net) *** The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

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

A5

House on ABS-CBN franchise: ‘Wait until next Congress’ even if Congress granted a new franchise, claiming that ABSCBN had unpaid taxes.

CALLS to revive the franchise Velasco said the House of Repof media network ABS-CBN will resentatives will focus on priority have to wait “until the next Con- legislation of the Duterte admingress” or in 2022, when the cur- istration and measures against rent administration ends, Speak- the coronavirus disease (Covider Lord Allan Velasco said on 19) pandemic.

Thursday, Februaty 11. Velasco “With a little over a year until issued the statement three days the 2022 elections, the House after President Rodrigo Duterte of Representatives is bent on said he would not allow the con- finishing the remaining priority tinued operations of the network measures of this Administration

by Divina

nova Joy Dela ManilaTimes.net

Cruz

to ensure that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte fulfills his campaign promise to the Filipino people,” he said.

“On top of these priority legislation, we would like to see the passage of Bayanihan 3, as well as other economic bills geared toward rebuilding the Philippine economy shattered by the devastating impact of the global pandemic and rebuilding the lives of every Filipino disrupted by the health crisis,” he added. n

PH pullout from navy drills in South China Sea defended

by DemPsey

reyes

ManilaTimes.net

DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana defended the Philippines’ decision not to join the naval drills in the South China (West Pilippine) Sea with allied countries in 2020 because it might put China in a bad light, but clarified that this did not mean that Manila was trying to “appease” Beijing.

He also said in an interview with the ABS-CBN News Channel that the Philippine military lacked the assets to “match” China’s activities in the disputed territories. “[It] is not to antagonize China, because China is watching us here and a lot of things could be done to us by the Chinese government if they are antagonized and the US keeps coming to the South China Sea without our knowledge,” he said.

Lorenzana noted that the Phil-

ippines’ relationship with China had been “cordial and friendly” since President Rodrigo Duterte came into power in 2016.

The United States Navy’s Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group, with the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, has recently conducted dual carrier operations in the South China Sea amid the “challenging environment” in the hotly contested area.

A French nuclear submarine was also reported to have carried out patrol operations in the South China Sea, with France sending a message to underscore the freedom of navigation in the area and possibly angering China.

The Philippine Navy had been participating in passage exercises with their US counterpart within the 12-nautical-mile limit or within the territorial waters of the Philippines.

According to Lorenzana, the only area the Philippines was try-

ing to avoid were those that were being disputed, citing that “it raises the tension on both sides”, referring to the US and China.

“As the defense secretary, I would not like to be involved there because if a shooting war erupts and I told [US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin 3rd] yesterday that we don’t want anything, miscalculations or accidents happening in the South China Sea,” he said, referring to his introductory phone conversation with Austin on Wednesday.

He also pointed out that the Philippines would be “right smack there in the center of the conflict” should tensions arise between the two superpowers.

Lorenzana denied that the Philippines has been appeasing Beijing, even as the President himself had refused to take a hardline stance on the maritime dispute with the communist state. n

‘Safety should be the priority’: Fil-Am...

PAGE A3 students are vaccinated. “It makes no sense, especially here in LA County. The numbers are still so bad, so why would we risk our children and our teachers by returning to campuses too early?”

Shortly after the statement was released, both the United Teachers of LA and the LAUSD denounced Buscaino’s statement, with the latter affirming that it will continue to follow the state’s

roadmap, which states that counties in the purple tier cannot reopen its schools.

“Grandstanding political stunts like this are precisely why schools in Los Angeles remain closed,” LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner said in a statement.

“Elected leaders from Sacramento to Los Angeles City Hall need to put deeds behind their words and take the steps necessary to actually put schools and the children

they serve first.”

Beutner referenced the longstanding urgent state of the county, saying, “San Francisco authorities worked together and brought the rate of infection under control and the area has for some time met the state standard for reopening, but Los Angeles is a national example of how governmental dysfunction has allowed the virus to rampage out of control.” n

FLOWER VENDORS. A group of sidewalk vendor makes Sampaguita garlands on the corner of General Malvar and Pedro Gil streets in Manila on Thursday, February 11 Garland making and marketing are traditional livelihood activities within and around Metro Manila.

PNA photo by Rico H. Borja

Carpio: Wait for China to use coast guard law before going to UN tribunal

by PatriCia lourDes Philstar.com

viray

MANILA — Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Wednesday, February 10 suggested waiting for China to commit a violation as Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. refuses to raise its new coast guard law before a United Nations-backed tribunal.

Locsin earlier declared that he will not raise the China coast guard issue before the international tribunal as it would “reopen” the Philippines’ arbitral award.

Carpio, however, clarified that doing so will not reopen that arbitral ruling that invalidated Beijing’s expansive claims over the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea. “If China fires on a Philippine vessel in the West Philippine Sea that’s the time we go to a [UN Convention on the Law of the Sea] tribunal,” Carpio told CNN Philippines’ “The Source.”

The retired magistrate added that Locsin effectively agreed to this when he vowed that he will do more in case of another incident with the Chinese coast guard.

While there is no new incident

yet between the Chinese coast guard and Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea, Carpio said the Philippines should prepare.

According to Carpio, China is more likely to apply the new aw against Vietnam and Malaysia before the Philippines.

“We should wait for a violation...

This will make our case stronger.

We will not only be speculating, we will actually be basing our action on an actual case, actual controversy,” he said in the same interview.

Carpio stressed that the China Coast Guard Law, which threatens use of force, violates the UNCLOS and the UN Charter.

In case that Beijing refuses to participate in another complaint before the UN-backed tribunal, it would be the world that will tell China to comply with international rules and norms.

China also refused to take part in the Philippines’ arbitration before the arbitral tribunal, which later on declared that Manila has sovereign rights over resources in its exclusive economic zone.

“We are putting pressure on China using international law that China should comply and in fact

we are getting support of the rest of the world,” Carpio said.

In an interview with ANC’s “Headstart” earlier this week, Locsin noted that the China Coast Guard Law has no exact delineation of its jurisdiction.

This means that the new law could also cover the West Philippine Sea as Beijing also claims the area as its territorial waters, which Locsin said was a “threat of war,” pushing him to fire a diplomatic protest.

“If there is an incident, I can assure you it will be more than just a protest,” Locsin told ANC on Monday.

The Chinese Embassy, meanwhile, insisted that the new law, which authorizes the coast guard to fire at foreign vessels, was formulated as a “normal domestic legislative activity.”

“The enact of the law doesn’t indicate any change of China’s maritime policy. China has always been committed to managing differences with countries including the Philippines through dialogue and consultations and upholding peace and stability in the South China Sea,” the Chinese Embassy said in a statement released February 1. n

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The Year of the Ox: How Filipinos celebrate Lunar New Year by

ritchel Mendiola / AJPress

FEBRUARY 12 will mark the biggest event on the Chinese calendar, ushering in the beginning of the Year of the Ox. Unlike the fixed new year of the Gregorian calendar commonly celebrated on January 1st, the date of the Lunar New Year varies, determined by the appearance of the new moon — which is why it’s called the Lunar New Year, as it’s based on the lunisolar Chinese calendar.

The Lunar New Year usually falls sometime between January 21 and February 20. It will be on the 12th of February, a Friday, this year.

The Ox is the second animal in the Chinese zodiac. One myth said that the animals were decided in the order in which they arrived at a party thrown by the Jade Emperor. The Ox was set to be the first to arrive, but the

AJPress illustration by Kendrick Tan

READY FOR THE SPOTLIGHT

Laya DeLeon Hayes takes on her biggest project to date by

Rat tricked the Ox into giving him a ride. As they arrived at the party, the Rat jumped down and landed in front of the Ox. The 12 zodiac animals are, in order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and

MoMar G. Visaya / AJPress

agents called and shared the exciting news.

The audition process moved very quickly, according to the young star. She went in four times for the role, all in the span of a week. About two days after the call, she was on a plane to New York to film the pilot episode.

The teen actress is perhaps best known for voicing the titular role in the BAFTA, Emmy and Peabody Award-nominated animated series, “Doc McStuffins,” which earned her a NAACP Image Award nomination. She was just 9 years old when she booked the landmark role as the first Black/FilAm animation character on Disney Jr. Laya considers this as her biggest project to date, and that she has been fortunate in her career

If you stayed on CBS last Sunday night after the Super Bowl to watch the premiere of The Equalizer, then you saw a possible breakout star named Laya DeLeon Hayes.

Hayes plays the role of Delilah, the teenage daughter of Robyn McCall played by the Academy Award nominee and multi-hyphenate Queen Latifah.

It has been almost a year to the date when the 16-year-old rising performer got the big news that she bagged the role of the enigmatic former CIA operative’s smart and observant daughter.

AJPress illustration by Godwin Gasacao “I was crying tears of joy,” Hayes told the Asian Journal, Pig. According to ChineseNew- sharing that she had just gotYear.net, the Ox in the zodiac ten out of acting class when her is seen as hardworking, honest, and earnest. It is also patient, and thinks logically. The Ox never looks for praise or to be the center of attention. However, the Ox can be stubborn, and might not have the best communication skills.

Those who are born in the year of the Ox — 2021 as well as 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, and 2009 — share the aforementioned traits with the animal.

Traditions and superstitions Similar to the Jan. 1 New Year, Lunar New Year is observed with traditions and rituals to attract good luck and fortune for Laya, seen here in a scene with Queen Latifah has established a successful voiceover career, the coming year.

Filipinos who celebrate the garnering roles in “Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny,” “Hey Arnold: The Jungle Movie,” holiday typically flock to Bi- and most recently, she voiced the Iron Maiden in the popular video game series “League of Photo by Barbara Nitke/CBS PAGE B2 Legends.”

Laya DeLeon Hayes was born in Charlotte, NC and raised in Grand Prairie, Texas. As a young girl, she participated in school plays and talent shows, which powered her passion to perform.

Photo by Alex Kruk

so far to have worked with some amazing actors on big projects but nothing compared like this.

“Considering how popular of a franchise The Equalizer is and how Queen Latifah is creating history by being the first female Equalizer really made me excited and honored to be a part of this amazing cast,” Laya said, describing the eagerness she felt about the project.

It is no wonder then that the role of Delilah means so much to her. She recalls reading the script last year and really relating to the character: a girl who is in this weird time of growing up where she’s not a grown woman yet but also not a baby.

“Realistic roles for teenage PAGE B3

B2 FEBRUARY 11-17, 2021 • LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL

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‘Fight for You’ by H.E.R. makes it to Oscars 2021 shortlist

By Ritchel

Mendiola AJPress

Bretman Rock prepares Filipino-style spaghetti and Ilocano dish igado for family dinner.

“FIGHT For You” by R&B artist H.E.R. has made it in this year’s Oscar Original Song shortlist.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday, February 9, released its shortlists for the 2021 Oscars in nine categories — documentary feature, documentary short subject, international feature, makeup and hairstyling, original score, original song, animated Screenshot/MTV short film, live-action short film, and visual effects.

H.E.R.’s “Fight For You,” from the film “Judas and the Black Messiah,” was one of the 15 songs to advance in the original song category out of 105 eligible songs.

The shortlisted songs were selected by the Academy’s 376member music branch. Voting for the final five in each category will take place between March 5 and 10, with nominees to be announced on March 15.

The winners will then be an-

Fil-Am influencer Bretman Rock cooks igado, Pinoy spaghetti in premiere episode of MTV reality show

By Ritchel

Mendiola AJPress

FILIPINO American internet star Bretman Rock is giving fans a closer look at his life — and sharing bits of Pinoy culture along the way — with a new MTV reality show.

The first episode of “Following Bretman Rock,” which premiered on Monday, February 8, shows Bretman — along with his cousin-assistant Miss Kay, childhood friend Larry, and sister Princess — temporarily moving into a beach house while his dream mansion undergoes renovations.

On how Miss Kay became Bretman’s assistant, she shared: “[It was] me traveling around the world for him and I noticed my bank account was going negative and I’m just like: Bret, next time you want me to come, you gotta pay me.”

Meanwhile, Larry shared that he has been friends with Bretman since their grade school years.

“Don’t tell him I said this, but I’m so proud of him as a best friend,” he said.

“I’m not friends with Bret because of his money. I was friends with him when he was still broke, but moving into this beach house got me so excited,” he added.

The episode also featured all of them going on a horse-riding excursion as well as Bretman preparing Filipino-style spaghetti and the Ilocano dish igado, which is a type of pork and liver

Grammy Award-winning artist H.E.R. Photo from Instagram/@hermusicofficial

nounced during the Oscar ceremony scheduled on April 25.

Last week, “Fight For You” received a Golden Globes nomination for Best Original Song – Motion Picture.

H.E.R., whose real name is Gabriella Wilson, was born in Vallejo, California to a Filipina mother and an African American

father.

She rose to fame in 2009 after participating in Radio Disney’s “Next Big Thing.” At the age of 14, she signed to RCA Records and released the single “Something to Prove” under her real name in 2014.

In 2016, she debuted under the H.E.R. persona with her debut EP “H.E.R. Volume 1.”

She then released other EPs “H.E.R. Volume 2” and “The B Sides” in 2017 before releasing her first compilation album “H.E.R.” which consisted of tracks from the singer’s first two EPs plus six additional songs.

In 2018, she released “I Used to Know Her: The Prelude” and “I Used to Know Her: Part 2.”H. E.R. received five nominations at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in 2019, winning Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Album. The year after, she received three nominations: Song of the Year (“I Can’t Breathe”), and two for Best R&B Song (“Better Than I Imagine” and “Slow Down”).

The Year of the Ox: How Filipinos celebrate Lunar New Year

With over 8 million YouTube subscribers, Bretman Rock is entering the TV world with a reality show on MTV. Photo from Instagram/@bretmanrock

stew.

“My mom is the best cook in the world. I cannot eat other Filipino food that is not my mom’s,” he said, adding, “If I have to cook my mom’s food, I have to do it my mom’s way.”

He was able to impress his Mama Mercy with his version of Pinoy spaghetti, but she noted that the igado was “not good.”

Later, his mother opened up about her struggles as a single mother of three.

“I progressed. That’s why God

gave me a good life. Because I suffered and endured for my kids,” Mama Mercy said in Ilocano.

Bretman, 22, was born in Sanchez Mira, Cagayan in the Philippines. His family moved to Hawaii when he was 8 years old.

He cultivated his online persona by doing makeup tutorials and vlogs on YouTube. Currently, his channel has amassed over 8 million subscribers, while his Instagram has around 15 million followers.

PAGE B1 nondo in Manila, which is considered the oldest Chinatown in the world.

They crowd the streets of Chinatown to watch the Parades of Dragons and Lions, a colorful and dynamic performance accompanied by the loud banging of drums and cymbals. The dragon, in China, is believed to represent great power, auspiciousness, and strength. Meanwhile, the lion represents safety and luck.

The color red is prevalent during the festivities as it is a special color in Chinese culture, signifying energy, happiness, and good luck. Most people wear red clothing as it represents vitality as well as strength. Elders also hand out red envelopes (Ang Pao) to children. These envelopes contain money, and giving them is believed to bring good luck and long life to both the giver and

receiver.

The Lunar New Year won’t be complete without setting off fireworks and firecrackers or generally just making noise as it is supposed to drive away bad spirits, bad luck, and the mythical beast called Nian. Filipinos commonly use horns and cooking pots to create noise.

Families also gather to have their New Year’s Eve dinner where they usually serve tikoy (year cake), which is made from sticky rice and symbolizes unity among family members; pancit/ noodles, for long life and represent the eater’s life; and fish and dumplings, which are believed to signify good fortune.

Families also prepare 12 different round fruits as they are believed to bring luck and fortune to them. The New Year’s Eve dinner is perhaps the most important dinner for families — that’s why it’s necessary for all the members of the family to

Ang Pao

AJPress photo by Kendrick Tan

be present for it.

During the Lunar New Year, people across the globe greet with either Gong Xi Fa Cai, which means “you attain greater wealth,” or Kung Hei Fat Choi, which means “congratulations and be prosperous.”

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Health@Heart PhiliP S. Chua, MD, FaCS, FPCS

Filipino-Canadian Martin Edralin’s “Islands” will make its world premiere at SXSW’s Narrative Feature Competition.

Two Filipino-centric films to premiere at 2021 SXSW Online by

AJPress

“THE Fabulous Filipino Brothers” directed by Filipino American actor Dante Basco and “Islands”

by Filipino Canadian Martin Edralin are set to premiere in the 2021 South by Southwest Film Festival.

SXSW on Wednesday, February 10, revealed its lineup for the 28th edition of the SXSW Film Festival, which will take place online from March 16 to 20, 2021.

Films in the lineup will screen in the following categories: Headliners; Narrative Feature Competition; Documentary Feature Competition; Narrative Spotlight; Documentary Spotlight; Visions; Midnighters; Global; 24 Beats Per Second; Festival Favorites; and, new this year, 2020 Spotlight.

“It’s been a year unlike any we’ve experienced, first marked by the cancellation of SXSW 2020,” said Janet Pierson, Director of Film.

“We feel privileged to have been able to pivot to SXSW Online and present a fantastic treasure trove of programming, including a pared down and wonderful selection of films that we know will delight, entertain, and move our attendees,” she added.

Edralin’s “Islands” is under Narrative Feature Competition, along with seven other world premieres. “Islands” tell the story of a shy Filipino immigrant on the cusp of 50 who pleads with God for a companion, terrified of the prospect of being alone.

“We’re thrilled to announce that ISLANDS the first feature by award-winning director Martin Edralin, will make its world premiere at SXSW 2021 in the Narrative Feature Competition, marking one of the first-ever Filipino-language narrative feature to premiere at the festival! Starring Rogelio Balagtas, Sheila Lotuaco and Steve Comilang, produced

by Circus Zero Films and Silent Tower,” according to the film’s

“The Fabulous Filipino Brothers,” directed by Dante Basco and starring him and his brothers, will make its SXSW debut.

Facebook page.

Meanwhile, “The Fabulous Filipino Brothers” — starring Dante, Derek, Dion and Darion Basco — will be screened in Narrative Spotlight, along with seven other high profile narrative features receiving their World, International, North American, U.S. or Texas premieres at SXSW. “The Fabulous Filipino Brothers,” set between Northern California and the Philippines, tells the story of four brothers and “a highly controversial Filipino wedding.” The film also features cockfights, adultery, romance, food, and family.

SXSW Online will take place across several platforms like web, mobile, and premium viewing from your TV. Seven films will launch every two hours from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. CT. SXSW audiences will be able to watch 75 features including 57 world premieres, three international premieres, four North American premieres, one U.S. premiere, eight Texas premieres, and 53 films from first-time filmmakers. There will also be 84 short films which includes music videos, episodic premieres and pilots, virtual cinema projects, and special events.

Laya DeLeon Hayes takes on her biggest...

PAGE B1 biracial girls don’t come up often so, I was so ecstatic to see a role like Delilah come up. Not to mention, this is also my first lead in a live action TV drama series,” she said. “[It is] something I’ve been wanting for a while. I’m constantly learning every single day on set, whether that’s from the crew or our amazing cast. I am soaking everything up.”

Tracing her roots “I grew up very close with my Filipino side and I still am. Up until I was nine years old, I spent every summer with my grandparents,” Laya shared. “I visit my Filipino side at least once or twice a year and I’m constantly learning more about that side of my family every day.”

Her grandparents immigrated from the Philippines. Her grandfather, who passed away recently, was a retired US Navy veteran.

Both lolo and lola come from Pangasinan, he from Mangaldan and she from Umingan. They immigrated to America in the 70s.

They would cook lumpia, adobo, and pancit and Laya’s mom, Gina still cooks some of those dishes for her.

“I have never been to the Philippines, but I would love to visit one day,” she said.

Growing up biracial Born in Charlotte, NC and raised in Grand Prairie, Texas, Laya participated in school plays and talent shows, which powered her passion to perform. She trained at Hart and Soul studio in Dallas prior to moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.

“Growing up in a biracial family is something I’m extremely proud of. Growing up I didn’t realize what that meant or how interracial couples were looked at back in the day, because it just felt normal to me and it still does,” she said.

“When you’re mixed, I think it can be challenging at times just figuring out who you are or where you fit.”

Being mixed has allowed her to become closer to her ancestry

and embrace the two cultures that make up who she is; two cultures that she is constantly learning more about and extremely proud of.

And now, with this new show, she has this opportunity to represent.

Asked about how she feels that this role will be seen by young girls, particularly Asian/Filipino American and Black girls, she said, “It means the world to me.

I really believe representation matters.”

Like regular viewers, Laya used to constantly find characters who look like her or are going through the same things like her. She believes that having characters that relate to the audience member makes them feel less alone and when the character looks like them, it’s even more of a connection.

“Art should depict real life and real stories. Knowing that young Asian/Filipino or biracial girls will look on their screen and see someone who looks like them is something I don’t take lightly,” she quipped.

“I know when I was younger, I wanted to see a character like Delilah, one who’s not perfect and has a lot of growing to do but helps audiences know that that’s okay. You don’t get many roles for biracial girls that depict a realistic teenage girl just trying to come of age. That’s why this role means so much to me.”

An equal rights and social justice advocate, Laya utilizes her social media platforms to spread awareness and to help propel conversation forward. Also, she is passionate about women’s rights, body positivity and equality for all.

In her free time, Hayes enjoys rollerblading, baking with her friends and family, fashion, singing, traveling and sketch drawing. She loves theater, watching movies and creating films and videos. In the future, she hopes to develop, write, direct and produce her own projects.

Pandemic work The episodes of The Equalizer were shot during the pandemic.

In fact, they’re still filming right now, something that Laya is so grateful for.

“It’s definitely taken some getting used to, especially because of how collaborative the process of making a show can be. There were challenges in the beginning, but production and CBS really make sure everyone is safe and taken care of on set,” she said.

The cast and crew are tested regularly, they practice social distancing, and the production does a deep clean of the set every day. They also wear their masks everywhere and only take them off before they say action.

“We’re all working hard to not only make sure this a good show, but also a safe environment for everyone,” Laya quipped.

Laya describes working with Queen Latifah and everyone on this cast as amazing, specially since she has been watching them since she was a young girl.

“Queen is the coolest. She plays music on set and really knows how to have the intensity needed for a scene while also creating a light environment on set. She’s got cool stories too,” she shared. “It’s been really nice to have bonded with them during the time we have been filming.

They’re masters at their craft and I’m learning so much simply by watching them.”

Laya’s additional television credits include “Just Add Magic,” “Liv & Maddie” and “Raven’s Home.” Also, she guest-starred in “Cougar Town,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Quantico” and “Code Black,” on the Network. Also, she appeared in the television film “Santa Hunters” and several national commercial campaigns.

The goal now is to continue building her already impressive body of work as she looks forward to grow every day and expand her career with each role and project that she gets to be a part of.

DISCIPLINE and patience With COVID-19 (and variants) cases reaching almost 108 million and close to 2.4 million deaths in 219 countries (nearly half a million deaths in the U.S. and almost 12,000 fatalities in the Philippines), it behooves all of us to continue to be very careful and wear mask(s) in public, avoid crowds, and do social distancing almost to the point of paranoia, even AFTER we get the vaccines. Full protection from the shots may take more than a couple of months to achieve. Antibodies take time to develop to its maximal level. Let us not put our guard down till herd immunity is reached. Wisdom means life.

A dozen reasons to have sex The revelation of infidelity among several popular public personalities in the past “have given sex a bad rap,” says a psychologist and sex therapist. The following have been cited as the health benefits from sex: (1) It relieves stress; (2) Sex improves the skin complexion; (3) Sex burns calories; (4) It heightens immunity; (5) It boosts self-esteem; (6) It maximizes cardiovascular health; (7) It improves intimacy and love; (8) Sex is an analgesic that reduces aches and pains; (9) Sex reduces the risk of prostate cancer; (10) Sex improves sleep and provides good rest; (11) Sex strengthens the pelvic floor muscles; and (12) Sex adds “fire, fuel, and mileage” to a marriage and relationship.

Not to mention the gratifying joy and pleasure it provides.

Electromagnetic risks At what dose of repeated radiation exposure from medical imaging diagnostic devices, natural or artificial sunbathing, microwave oven, cell phone signals, radiofrequency (radio-TV) signals, extremely low frequency power lines (said to be associated with childhood leukemia) can cause various forms of illnesses, including cancer, is still controversial.

But we cannot simply ignore the warnings. In this current situation, the wise and prudent strategy is to minimize exposure to any of these electromagnetic forces as much as we can as we take advantage of the benefits provided by these advances in science and technology. Let’s just be more

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • FEBRUARY 11-17, 2021

B3

Essential health tips conscious and careful.

Cellphone warnings Electrical Hypersensitivity Syndrome is truly a medical condition, characterized by fatigue, dizziness, tinnitus, facial rash, digestive symptoms, following “exposure to visual display units, mobile phones, Wi-Fi equipment, and commonplace appliances, affecting about 3% of all people and about 33% of us to a lesser extent.” Cordless phones and mobile phones emit the same amount of radiation…landline phones don’t. Use of speaker phone for cordless and mobile phones, or a hollow (preferred) wired (handsfree) earpiece is safer. Never use Bluetooth wireless headset which is a worse emitter. Texting is safer than calling with the handset against your ear. If possible, the cellphone should not be carried close to the body; if not, then the battery should be facing away from the body since this acts as the antenna, the dial pad facing the body. If not using a hands-free device, switching from one ear to the other every 15 seconds or so is a good practice. As much as possible do not use cellphone in elevators or close spaces, since the weak signal will make the phone maximize its signal strength (and radiation!). Children should NOT use cellphones except for emergencies, since they are more vulnerable to the effects of radiation.

Exercise wonders The amazing wonders of physical exercise are scientifically proven to keep the body and mind healthy, strengthen the immune system, improve cardiovascular fitness and reduces heart attacks by 33%, lessen the risk of the development of type 2 diabetes by 91%, prevent, if not minimize high blood pressure by more than a third, lowers the risk for depression and cancer – all these for doing 30 minutes of exercise at least 5 days a week. Tai Chi, Tai Bo, dancing at any speed, walking (moderate to brisk), swimming, bicycling, or any aerobic exercise. There is no age limit to doing exercises. My mother, who died at the age of 101, did daily exercise till she was 93 (at a moderated pace) following the Leslie Sansone’s DVD aerobic exercise program. Besides a proper diet, abstinence from smoking and moderation in alcohol intake (red wine preferred), exercise is a major key to health and longevity.

Shaving calories A good strategy is reducing cal-

ories is by substitution or swapping: drinking an 8-oz bottle of water instead of a can or bottle of unhealthy soft drinks (which are actually toxic to our body) saves you 100 calories; chicken sandwich instead of hamburger, 290 calories; one teaspoon mustard instead of mayo, 100 calories; apples slices instead of French fries, 270 calories; swap chocolate ice cream with strawberry slices, 115 calories; mixed salad with low-fat dressing instead of 2 slices of pizza saves you about 300 calories; and one bagel replaced by 2 slices light whole grain bread, 269 calories; high fiber cereal instead of granola, 110 calories. And brown rice is certainly healthier than white rice.

Pistachio lowers cholesterol Studies at the Pennsylvania State University shows that pistachio nuts with its monounsaturated fatty acids and high antioxidant content have beneficial effects on cholesterol, body mass index (for weight reduction) and for hypertension control. As little as 1.5 ounces of pistachios a day for one month reduced the cholesterol by 8.4% and the low density (bad) lipoprotein by 11.6%. Monounsaturated fats, as in pistachio nuts and green leafy vegetables, are cardio-protective and lessen the risk of cardiovascular diseases like heart attack and stroke.

The main objective of this column is to educate and inspire people live a healthier lifestyle to prevent illnesses and disabilities and achieve a happier and more productive life. Any diagnosis, recommendation or treatment in our article are general medical information and not intended to be applicable or appropriate for anyone. This column is not a substitute for your physician, who knows your condition well and who is your best ally when it comes to your health. *** The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff. *** Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, a Health Public Advocate, and Chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian and anti-graft foundation in the United States. Visit our websites: philipSchua.com and FUN8888.com Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com

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Anne, Erwann return to PH with Baby Dahlia

by Ian

BIong Inquirer.net

Smith’s shoppers donate more than eight tons of food LAS VEGAS — to generous Smith’s shoppers throughout southern Nevada, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Las Vegas will be able to provide hot meals and ‘to-go’ lunches for the entire year to families who travel to Las Vegas seeking medical treatment for their children.

This past Saturday, February 6, the Ronald McDonald House partnered with 37 local Smith’s stores for the 20th annual “Fill the Pantry” Food Drive. Shoppers donated more than 8.7 TONS of food and household supplies to support RMHC families. In addition, shoppers donated nearly $11,000 in Smith’s gift cards and cash donations.

“We are so grateful for the wonderful support of the Las Vegas community,” says Alyson McCarthy, Chief Executive Officer of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Las Vegas.

“Eight tons is an amazing amount of food to be donated, and it will allow us to provide meals and snacks to our families throughout the rest of the year. Plus, the cash donations and gift cards allow us to buy fresh produce, fruit, milk, and bread year-round to ensure our families have all the comforts of home.

Approximately 150 volunteers helped make this food drive possible, with small groups of volunteers passing out wish lists at each local Smith’s Food & Drug Store locations. In addition, more than two dozen volunteers gathered outside at the House to undertake the task of sorting, dating, and weighing all the donations, and stocking the House pantry shelves and

ANNE Curtis and Erwann Heussaff have finally returned to the Philippines with Baby Dahlia after over a year in Australia.

The couple announced their homecoming to the public via their Instagram pages, much to the delight of fans and fellow celebrities alike as they welcomed them home.

“Melbourne to Manila and [six] days hotel quarantine done [check emoji] [eight] days of Home Isolation to go,” Heussaff shared on Wednesday, Feb. 10, accompanied by short video clips of their trip to the country.

In one of the clips, Curtis can be seen undergoing a swab test, while others showed Baby Dahlia having fun with the couple in her first time in the Philippines.

“Good Morning Philippines,” Curtis posted on Instagram earlier on Thursday, Feb. 11, sharing with fans a photo of her carrying her firstborn as she looks out the window.

Since December 2019, Curtis and Heussaff had been in Australia, where they welcomed their first baby in March last year.

Curtis, who hosted “It’s Showtime” back then, previously disclosed that she went to Australia to give birth as she wanted to

take a break from work while also being with her mother, Carmen.

As Dahlia nears turning a year

old on March 2, the couple set up a fundraiser with UNICEF Philippines to help disadvantaged and vulnerable children.

James reclaims the spotlight

by ChrIstIna

alpad ManilaTimes.net

storage cabinets.

The annual food drive helps RMHC meet the basic nutritional and essential needs for families that must travel to Las Vegas for their children’s medical treatment. In addition to providing breakfast, lunch, and homemade

dinner every night to families staying at the Ronald McDonald House, the food drive also helps stock the shelves of the Ronald McDonald Family Room, located on the neonatal intensive care unit at Sunrise Children’s Hospital. Families with children in the NICU or PICU can utilize the Family Room as a place of respite during their child’s treatment and to enjoy a ‘to-go’ beverage or snack.

Thank you to longtime supporters Smith’s Food & Drug for donating $1,000 in gift cards, and the Nevada Farm Bureau for donating $500 to the 2021 food drive.

To make a donation to the food drive or to view our online wish list, just head to our website: https://rmhlv.org/newsevents/rmhc-fundraisers/fooddrive/.

THE recent years have seen James Reid grow from a top and young TV and movie actor to serious music label executive and lately an innovative entrepreneur across various industries. This year, however, more settled in these aspects of his life, he is ready and raring to work in front of the camera anew to reclaim the spotlight in music.

The 27-year-old officially opened 2021 with a brand new single, “Soda,” which likewise carries a brand-new sound he hopes his fans will enjoy.

“I just really wanted to start the year with something fresh. Soda is a new sound for me, and I’ve been working on it since 2020,” Reid shared at track’s virtual media launch.

Combining deep soul with the playful rhythms of electro funk, Soda is poised to become an anthemic song that brings hope to people after the infamous year that was 2020.

“Last year was very heavy. I wrote this song during quarantine. Basically, it was a time that I was very introspective and the song reflects those insights and

Jaclyn on being a doting grandma and working with the Superstar By allan

polICarpIo Inquirer.net

WITH a new grandchild and project offers coming in despite the pandemic, Jaclyn Jose couldn’t be more grateful.

“I feel blessed because my child is healthy and all my apos are healthy. And these days, that’s all you could ask for, really. I’m just praying that no one gets sick,” she said at a recent press conference for Godfather Productions.

Last month, Jaclyn’s daughter, Andi Eigenmann, gave birth to her third kid, a boy named Koa. The baby is her second with her partner, surfer Philmar Alipayo.

They also have a daughter, Lilo, who’s now 1. Andi’s eldest, daughter Ellie—with ex-boyfriend Jake Ejercito—is now 9.

“My new apo is so gwapo … mestizo. They all have their own beauty,” Jaclyn gushed. “I see myself in all of them!”Jaclyn has been a doting lola, making the most out of her grandchildren’s stay in Manila, before the family returns to Siargao Island, where they are now based. “Things are going well. I took care of Lilo while Andi gave birth. Andi returned from the hospital after three days, and it was as if nothing happened. She’s the strongest woman—well, aside from …” she jested. “I bring her malunggay soup and other food. I take care of her requests.”

Because she’s around babies often recently, Jaclyn makes sure to take extra precautions. “As much as possible I really just stay at home. When I have to work, I do

Ewan Heussaff and Anne Curtis with their daughter Dahlia Photo from Instagram/@annecurtissmith

Jaclyn Jose

GMA photo

room quarantine for two weeks. I don’t visit them. I always carry a big bottle of alcohol,” she related.

“Prevention is better than cure.

Mahirap na.”

The 56-year-old artist has nothing but support for Andi and Philmar’s relationship. “They’re genuinely happy and living their lives to the fullest,” she observed.

“They don’t dwell on negativity or things that will drag them down.”

Asked when the couple plans to tie the knot, Jaclyn said the wedding may take place next year. “I’m pretty sure it will be

there in Siargao. Let’s wait for the pandemic to end first. Actually, everything will depend on that—the wedding, the baby’s baptismal,” said the actress who hopes to spend time in the picturesque island, given the opportunity.

“Their place there has been completed, and they’re having items shipped from Manila. I would love to visit them,” she related. “They’re just so positive.” Not a few fans have been wondering whether or not Andi still plans to work and return to show biz, because, by the looks of it, she is seemingly content with the simple island life. Jaclyn said Andi is still interested in acting, but will probably prioritize indie projects. “Right now, she’s focused on taking care of her family. But she still receives good offers. In fact she had one around the time she announced that she was pregnant,” she related. “She told me, ‘Nay, kapag kaya ko na.’”

“Maybe she will do indie films, because soap operas will take a lot of her time.” After “Anak ng Macho Dancer,” Jaclyn—the first Filipino and Southeast Asian actress to win best actress at the Cannes Film Festival—will do “Kontrabida” next, which also features Nora Aunor and director Joel Lamangan.

“I always look forward to working with people like Ate Guy and Direk Joel; I was with them in ‘Flor Contemplacion’ (1995),” she recalled. “Masaya, nakakatakot at nakakanerbyos. But it’s always a pleasure.”

James Reid

learnings.”

Collab with Nadine, Careless team To be clear, Reid did not technically take a hiatus from music since he spent his energy these recent years working behind the scenes. Ever since his Palm Dreams album was released in 2017, he devoted all his time between building his label Careless by closely working with his contract artists.

With his vision and leadership, the Careless team’s effort paid off what with the success of Nadine Lustre’s visual album, “Wildest Dreams,” released in October 2020.

Now armed with more experience from certified hits, Reid finally allowed himself to focus on his own music still with the help of Careless’ talents.

For Soda, the artist initially produced the single by himself, starting with the beat and writing the lyrics. From there, the song eventually took flight with Isagani Palabyab, who in turn brought in instrumentalists to give Soda that “live feel;” as well as Lustre and Filipino-Ghanaian rapper Massiah who helped him tighten the lyrics.

“They helped me with a couple of lines, like Nadine wrote the line ‘Don’t miss the stars in your eyes,’ which basically means, don’t give up, don’t lose hope.”

With a hint of pride over this latest collaboration with his perennial screen partner, Reid added, “I guess we know each other very well so she kinda knows what’s in my head too. She was able to pick up the idea very quickly and Nadine has been improving a lot as a songwriter these past two years.”

Home is where the heart is Known to carry a global sound that can be likened to that of international artists, Reid’s loyal fans are excited to see if Soda will be the very single to lead the rest of Careless’ original Filipino music in going global.

The excitement, of course, is amped by Reid’s revelation in 2020 that he is now co-managed by Transparent Arts (TA), which is Los Angeles-based talent agency.

The Manila Times Entertainment therefore had to ask him if TA was involved in producing Soda.

“This one I produced with my team before TA came along,” Reid clarified.

“But Transparent Arts and the guys, we’ve now been working on other tracks with some LA producers. I’m really not sure if I should say anything more than that but definitely, they are heavily involved in the following singles and we’ll be working together on an album as well,” the singer revealed just a bit more.

More admirably, though, Reid displayed his commitment when he reiterated the reason why he agreed to be co-managed by TA when he had previously expressed the desire to navigate his own career.

“The goal for Careless is to eventually be able to build a bridge for local acts to also [help them] have a shot at the international stage.”

Asked if he sees that happening to himself, Reid smiled and wore his heart on sleeve.

“My personal goal is [to do well] here in the Philippines. This is what I love. But [if my music] takes me there [globally] that’s cool too,” Reid ended.

“Soda” is now streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Amazon and other streaming Photo from Instagram_@carelessp/ platforms.

Love life or loveless? Jane chooses fate of her ‘millennial’ Darna KAPAMILYA actress Jane De Leon revealed that she has no time for love and for now, she will focus on her career first.

During her recent virtual press conference for “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano,” Jane said she chose selflove first over love life.

“Love life? Pahinga muna ko diyan. Kasi siyempre ilang beses na ko nasaktan. Career talaga muna and sarili. Self-love na lang muna. Kasi paano mo mamahalin ang ibang tao kung hindi mo kayang mahalin ang sarili mo?” she pointed out.

Jane, meanwhile, said that her character Darna needs to have a love life. Jane will play the iconic Pinay superhero in an ABS-CBN TV series soon. She said her Darna will be different because her version would be “very modern” and “millennial.”

“Kung ako po tatanungin, si Darna po siyempre, may puso din naman po siya at gusto niyang maramdaman ang pagmamahal at ma-experience po ‘yon.

Ang tanong lang dito ay kung sino ba? Abangan po natin yan,” she told Philstar.com during the media conference.

In the same press conference, Jane said that her celebrity crush is Paulo Avelino, who was first cast as Darna’s love interest in the postponed movie.

“Si Paulo Avelino pa rin. Kasi ewan ko, alam ba niya? Alam niya yata. Siguro naman alam niya na

Jane De Leon digitally edited to be in character as Darna.

ABS-CBN photo

crush ko siya. Siya ang celebrity crush ko, si Paulo,” Jane said when asked if who she wanted to be paired with in the future.

“Given na po na guwapo po si Paulo, pero pagdating po sa acting sobrang galing po talaga niya.

Kaya ‘yon po ‘yung isa sa reason kung bakit gusto ko po siya makaeksena.” (Philstar.com)

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LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • FEBRUARY 11-17, 2021

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B6 FEBRUARY 11-17, 2021 • LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL

http://www.asianjournal.com • (702) 792-6678

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