031222 - Los Angeles Weekend Edition

MARCH 12-15, 2022 Volume 32 - No. 20 • 2 Sections – 20 Pages

DATELINE

USA

FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

The CDC’s new guidelines on COVID risk and masking send confounding signals WHEN the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month unveiled updated COVID-19 guidelines that relaxed masking recommendations, some people no doubt sighed in relief and thought it was about time.

People have become increasingly comfortable being out shopping, attending live events, or meeting up with friends at restaurants. And many are ready to cast aside their masks.

Still, a recent KFF poll pointed to an underlying tension. Just as a large swath of the American public, 62%, said that the worst of the pandemic was behind us, nearly half were worried about easing COVIDrelated restrictions — like indoor masking — too soon. The poll, conducted in February, found that 49% of adults were either “very worried” or “somewhat worried” that lifting pandemic restrictions would cause more

US travel mask mandate extended to April 18 TSA extends the mandate as the CDC reviews new approach to travel protocol

by KLARIZE

MEDENILLA AJPress

THIS week, days before the requirement to wear masks on public transportation was set to expire, U.S. officials extended the mandate through to April 18.

The measure affects those who plan to travel airplanes, trains, and buses — masks will also still be required at airports, train stations, and other hubs of public transit.

In a statement released on Tuesday, March 8, the

agency responsible for setting safety measures for transportation, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will weigh other approaches to public safety, through a “revised policy framework for when, and under what circumstances, masks should be required in the public transportation corridor.”

The transportation mask requirement was set to expire on March 18.

“If you’re moving from one zone to another and

Indoor masking to be lifted at LA County schools

by AJPRESS

 PAGE A3

US, Philippines agree to strengthen nuclear energy cooperation MANILA — The United States and the Philippines have agreed to strengthen partnership and cooperation on nuclear energy, science and technology.

Energy Undersecretary Gerardo Erguiza Jr. and U.S. State Undersecretary of State for arms control and international security Bonnie Jenkins have signed a Nuclear Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (NCMOU), which seeks to improve cooperation on energy security and strengthen diplomatic and economic relationship.

“The United States and the Philippines have an enduring alliance and maintain longstanding cooperation in the fields of security, energy, commerce, and nonproliferation,” the US State Department said in a statement.

“Deepening our cooperation in nuclear energy, science and technology has the potential to make a significant contribution to our shared clean energy goals, agricultural development, availability of clean water, medical treatments and more,” it said.

“Our nuclear cooperation rests on a

 PAGE A3

picking people up, it’s a little bit different, and that requires some consultation, which is what [CDC officials] are going to endeavor to do between now and April 18,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a briefing on Thursday, March 10.

As of March 3, the U.S. reached the benchmark — 90% of the U.S. population living in low to mid-levels of Covid positivity rates — to which the CDC no longer recommends face masks in public indoor settings.

The relaxed mask guidance from the CDC was  PAGE A2

FRIDAY MASS. Devotees of the Black Nazarene observe the safe physical distance while attending a Holy Mass outside the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church) on Friday, March 11. Religious gatherings are now allowed at full capacity in Metro Manila which is under Alert Level 1.

PNA photo by Joey O. Razon

STARTING March 12, indoor masking at Los Angeles County schools will no longer be required.

Despite the lifting of the mandate, the state and county are continuing to recommend indoor masking for students, teachers, and staff, regardless of vaccination status, until transmission is lower.

School districts in LA County can continue to require masking at schools and during school activities, along with other appropriate safety protections, for their school community. At campuses where masking becomes optional, LA County Department of Public Health encourages that information about the importance of masking is shared with all members of the school community, and that schools support all teachers, staff, and students who want to keep wearing a mask.

The county is also aligning with the state in revising isolation and quarantine requirements for TK-12 schools. Schools must continue to require COVID-19 cases to isolate, and a negative test will be required to exit isolation after day five. Masking and testing

 PAGE A2

PH gov’t: 199 Filipinos from Ukraine now ‘out of harm’s way’

by CATHRINE

GONZALES Inquirer.net

MANILA — A total of 199 Filipinos who were evacuated from Ukraine are now “out of harm’s way,” an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Wednesday, March 9.

DFA Undersecretary for Migrant Workers’ Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said 63 Filipinos have so far been repatriated to the Philippines, while 136 have been transported to other European countries.

“As of now, 199 Filipinos na po ang out of

harm’s way, kasi may nakauwi na pong 63 tapos ‘yung iba po, ‘yung 136 nandoon na po sa ibang countries, naghihintay na lang ng eroplanong pabalik sa Pilipinas,” she said in an interview with ABS-CBN News’ Teleradyo.

(As of now, 199 Filipinos are already out of harm’s way, because 63 have already been sent home, and 136 have been evacuated to other countries and are waiting for a flight bound to the Philippines.)

However, Arriola said some Filipino seafarers are still stranded while household Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque III  PAGE A2

Proposed Fil-Am Friendship Monument gets unanimous approval from Glendale City Council

by AJPRESS

Illustration shows the proposed Fil-Am Friendship Monument that will be installed in Glendale, California.

Courtesy of the Filipino American Business Association of Glendale

THE proposed Filipino American Friendship Monument for the city of Glendale, California has advanced to the next phase.

This comes after the Glendale City Council on Tuesday, March 8 unanimously approved the construction and installation of the monument.

The monument is slated to be located at 201 E. Colorado Street, Glendale, California, near the Central Library by the entrance of the Adult Recreation

Center.

The project is being spearheaded by the Filipino American Business Association of Glendale (FABAG-GLAC), a non-profit organization of business and community leaders in the city.

According to the organization, the Friendship Monument "will be a part of Filipino American heritage and history, not only in Glendale and LA County, but in California.”

The monument will have several symbols, including a tribute to the late Ruby De Vera,  PAGE A2

ManilaTimes.net photo

PH to send jabs to select countries

by KRISTINA

MARALIT ManilaTimes.net

HEALTH Secretary Francisco Duque III said on Thursday, March 10 that the Philippines will donate its excess COVID-19 vaccines to selected countries.

Duque said the Philippines has more than enough stocks of COVID-19 vaccine, resulting from the country receiving 77 million doses of jabs via the global Covax Facility, higher than the 44 million it was supposed to receive.

"We just have to finalize the exact quantity that we will donate, but I cannot say for sure how many doses we will donate. But the idea is that it will be donated before it expires," Duque said during a

ceremonial vaccination at the Philippine Medical Association (PMA) headquarters.

Duque said the Department of Health (DOH) is due to coordinate with the Covax Facility on how to proceed with the donations, adding it is done in the spirit of global solidarity.

"That should be our objective.

[We] cannot just have country coverage, but we have to have global coverage," Duque said.

Health Undersecretary and National Vaccination Operations Center chief Myrna Cabotaje said the shelf life of vaccines must be thoroughly checked before they are considered for donation.

The country has in its possession nearly 234 million  PAGE A3

A2 MARCH 12-15, 2022 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

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FROM THE FRONT PAGE

US travel mask mandate...

PAGE A1

More Filipinos from Ukraine arrive in the Philippines together with their dependents on Sunday, March 6.

justified by the dwindling hospitalizations and many states and jurisdictions easing their own mask mandates.

The mask requirement extension mirrors the continued mask mandates being upheld in several Philippine airlines, including Philippine Airlines (PAL), Photos courtesy of DFA AirAsia Philippines, and Cebu Pacific which all still require face

PH gov’t: 199 Filipinos from Ukraine...

PAGE A1 service workers and Filipino women who are married to Ukranian men are still staying in Ukraine.

According to the DFA official, six Filipinos have been evacuated to Poland, 33 to Moldova, 73 to Romania, nine to Austria, and 15 to Hungary.

Arriola urges Filipino evacuees to avail of repatriation to the Philippines so that they will not add to the many evacuees in

European countries.

“Mas mabuti na nandito sila kaysa makipagsiksikan sila sa more than two million refugees, kasi sabi ng United Nations, over two million na na refugees ang lumabas sa Ukraine. Hindi naman po tayo refugee na maikoconsider dahil ‘yung bansa po natin ay maluwag na maluwag silang tinatanggap,” she noted.

(It is better if they will be repatriated to the Philippines instead of crowding with more than two million refugees. The United

Nations said two million refugees have left Ukraine. Filipinos can’t be considered refugees because our country is freely accepting them.)

“Tsaka parang tulong na rin po iyon sa mga Ukrainian. Umuwi muna po sila kasi wala rin naman silang trabaho doon dahil nakikita nga po natin sa television, grabe ang bombahan,” she added.

(This is also to help the Ukranians. They should go home because they do not have work there. We have seen the bomb attacks in television.) 

masks and shields for passengers and cabin crew.

“Alert levels may have eased, but Philippine Airlines’ safety protocols remain the same.

The highest standards of safety continue to be observed on each and every flight,” PAL said in a statement.

The move comes at a time when the Philippines expects an influx of travelers this year.

“We are confident that summer 2022 is really the onset of recovery not only for AirAsia Philippines but also to all other airlines in the country,” AirAsia Philippines spokesperson Steve Dailisan told the Manila Times, adding that the upcoming Easter holiday as well as the May 2022 election when many expect Philippine voters to travel home. 

Proposed Fil-Am Friendship Monument gets...

PAGE A1 a community leader who was one of the founders and past presidents of FABAG-GLAC. It will also commemorate the organization’s community service and inter-cultural relations among businesses and

ethnic groups over the past 30 years, as well as gratitude and friendship to the city residents "for many years of unwavering help and support and for warmly welcoming Fil-Ams and to this day, fully embracing [their] heritage and culture. And

to the adjacent communities for helping FABAG-GLAC maintain its highest levels of service, trust and integrity,” the organization said.

Details of the monument's formal unveiling have not been disclosed, as of this writing. 

Indoor masking to be lifted at LA County schools

PAGE A1

for asymptomatic students remaining at schools during their quarantine period are strongly recommended.

Public Health also urges parents to fully vaccinate their eligible children, as the vaccines offer the strongest protection against the virus. As of March 6, 35% of children 5-11 years old and 85% of children 12–17-yearolds have received one dose of the vaccine and 29% of 5–11-yearolds and 77% of 12–17-year-olds are fully vaccinated.

Public Health data shows that unvaccinated children ages 5-11 were two times more likely to be infected when compared to those who were fully vaccinated. For those ages 12-17, unvaccinated teens were two and a half times more likely to be infected and five times more likely to be hospitalized when compared to those who were fully vaccinated.

To make it easier for children to get vaccinated, Public Health is working to make vaccines widely available at many school sites. For the month of March, 921 school vaccination sites are scheduled with 89% located in hard-hit community areas, including South Los Angeles (including Compton and Inglewood), Southeast Los

Angeles County (including Bell, Cudahy, Hawaiian Gardens, South Gate, Huntington Park, Lakewood), the San Fernando Valley (Reseda, North Hills, Panorama City, Canoga Park, Pacoima, and Sylmar) and areas in the Antelope Valley.

Local schools are continuing to see a decline in the number of positive tests and test positivity for their students and staff. Between February 28 and March 4, over 470,000 tests were administered at K-12 schools across the county with 1,381 positive tests, resulting in a test positivity of 0.3%. There were five new school-associated outbreaks (two outbreaks in elementary schools, two in middle schools, and one in youth sports) between February 27 and March 5.

“I send my heartfelt condolences and wishes of healing to the countless people who have lost a loved one to this pandemic,” said Dr. Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “Although the County is now post-surge, Public Health cautions that community transmission is substantial and poses a risk for many individuals, including numerous people working at or attending schools. Having children and

staff fully vaccinated creates a powerful layer of protection and continuing masking while transmission is substantial adds another level of safety for both children and staff in schools. When combined with additional safety precautions, including infection control and testing, schools can continue to offer safe environments for children, staff, and their families.”

Public Health on Friday, March 11 confirmed 48 additional deaths, and 1,297 new positive cases. Of the 48 new deaths reported today, five people were between the ages of 30-49, eight were between the ages of 50-64, 16 were between the ages of 65-79, and 13 were aged 80 years or older. Of the 48 newly reported deaths, 36 had underlying health conditions. To date, the total number of deaths in LA County is 31,225.

Public Health has reported a total of 2,810,308 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County. Friday’s positivity rate is .9%.

There are 588 people with COVID-19 currently hospitalized.

Testing results are available for more than 11,526,900 individuals, with 22% of people testing positive. (AJPress)

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PH to send jabs to select...

PAGE A1

doses of vaccines, of which 137 million had already been administered to the public.

As of March 9, the DOH has fully vaccinated 64 million Filipinos and administered 10.4 million booster shots.

PMA President Benito Atienza said that it is now allowing some of their members to conduct vaccinations in private clinics using vaccines with less stringent storage requirements like AstraZeneca and Sinovac.

The fourth installment of the National Vaccination Days dubbed "Bayanihan Bakunahan" that started on March 10 and will end on March 12 aims to administer 1.8 million doses both as primary shots and booster doses. 

US, Philippines agree to strengthen nuclear...

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BOOSTER SHOT. A man receives his Pfizer COVID-19 booster shot from a police officer during the 4th National Vaccination Day held at Plaza Miranda in Manila City on Friday, March 11. The government is targeting to administer 1.8 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine during the vaccination drive from March 10 to 12.

PNA photo by Joey O. Razon

The CDC’s new guidelines on COVID risk...

PAGE A1

restrictions would cause more virus-related deaths in their communities. About 50% were “not too worried” or “not at all worried” that death tolls would rise in their communities.

The CDC’s move triggered some of the same mixed feelings from the public that the poll uncovered and laid bare a split within the health care community.

On the one hand, there’s applause.

The CDC’s protocol change is an indicator that the nation is approaching a “transition from the pandemic phase to an endemic phase,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.

Rather than pushing messages of prevention, Benjamin said, the agency is changing its focus to monitoring for spikes of infection.

On the other hand, there is criticism — and worry, too.

“When I hear about relaxing regulations,” said Dr. Benjamin Neuman, a Texas A&M University professor and chief virologist at its Global Health Research Complex, “it sounds a lot like people giving up. And we’re not there yet, and it’s a little bit heartbreaking and a little bit hair-pulling.”

What Are the New Guidelines, and How Are They Different?

Before the update, the CDC considered a community at substantial or high risk if it had had an infection rate of 50 or more new cases for every 100,000 residents in the previous week.

According to the agency’s new community-based guidance, risk levels can be low, medium, or high and are determined by looking — over a seven-day period — at three factors: the number of new COVID cases in an area, the share of hospital beds being used, and hospital admissions.

This change had a profound impact on how COVID risk was measured across the country. For example, the day before the CDC announced the new guidelines, 95% of the nation’s counties were considered areas of substantial or high risk. Now, just 14% of counties fall into the highrisk category, according to the agency.

The CDC doesn’t make specific mask recommendations for areas at low risk. For areas classified as medium risk, people who have other health problems or are immunocompromised are urged to speak to their health care provider about whether they should mask up and take other precautions. In areas deemed to be high risk, residents are urged to wear

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masks in indoor public spaces.

“This more stratified approach with this combination of those factors gives us a better level of understanding of COVID-19’s impact on our communities,” said Keri Althoff, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“Specifically, the impact of severe disease and death.”

But people shouldn’t get rid of their masks yet, she said.

Even as the nation’s infection rates fall, the virus continues to spread on a global scale.

“We have to fully recognize that there are so many people on this Earth who are unvaccinated internationally, and this is where the variants come from,” Althoff said.

Roses and Thorns From Experts The same week the CDC rolled out its new guidelines, it reported a national sevenday average of about 71,000 new COVID cases, along with 5,400 hospital admissions.

Around 2,000 people were dying because of the disease every day.

It’s numbers like these that led some public health experts to question the CDC’s timing.

“I think we have prematurely opened and prematurely unmasked so many times at this point, followed by remasking and reclosing and just seeing our hospitals absolutely swamped, that I don’t really trust this,” said Texas A&M’s Neuman.

There have been “too many times,” he said, when the CDC has put down its guard and the virus came back stronger.

“We’re basically taking our foot off the accelerator in terms of what we’re doing to slow down the virus, and that just means that there will be more virus going around and it’s going to keep swirling around,” he said.

The CDC’s goal for easing mask mandates, Neuman speculated, was to create regulations that are more appealing and easier for people to abide by, because “it’s hard to sell prudence as something really attractive.” Plus, public health officials need to have a program that the entire country can follow, he said.

The battle against the virus can’t be won with policies “that people follow in blue states but not in red states,”

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he added, “because the virus is very much a collective risk.”

There also are questions about how effective the new approach is at signaling when risk is increasing.

Joshua Salomon, a professor of health policy at Stanford University’s medical school, said that although the CDC designed its new guidance to incorporate a stronger indicator of surges, it has “a very late trigger.”

Salomon, along with Alyssa Bilinski, an assistant professor of health policy at Brown  PAGE A5

strong nonproliferation regime and the Philippines’ steadfast commitment to nonproliferation,” it added.

According to the U.S. State Department, NCMOUs will enable the U.S. to help “its partners build their own infrastructure for the responsible use of nuclear energy and technology, and adopt high standards of nuclear safety, security and nonproliferation, including independent regulatory oversight.”

NCMOUs also help partner countries prepare to take advantage of the advanced nuclear technologies and innovations in reactor design and other areas that are being pioneered in the U.S. The memorandum was signed days after President Duterte signed an executive order allowing the use of nuclear energy in the country.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Agency for International Development on Thursday, March 10 formally launched a new project to build climate resilience in the Philippines, one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.

Initially announced during the

Indo-Pacific Business Forum in October 2021, the five-year, P750-million ($15 million) Climate Resilient Cities project aims to help Philippine cities adapt to, mitigate and endure the impacts of climate change by increasing their access to climate financing and tools to build resilience.

Through this project, the U.S., government will support local government units and other stakeholders to better understand, use and disseminate climate information to local communities.

“Climate change is impacting people, communities, and nations all around the world,” said U.S. embassy Chargé d’Affaires ad interim Heather Variava.

“We believe that responding to the climate crisis is a shared mission between the U.S. and Philippine governments. We look forward to our collaboration with key stakeholders to ensure that resilience is built into the fabric of cities in the Philippines,” she added.

The project also aims to help cities and nongovernment organizations access climate financing to increase community resilience and contribute to

their economic and social development, as well as support natural climate solutions that increase cities’ resilience to climate change impacts.

“Climate change is a serious threat and a daily reality for the Philippines. For us, reversing the effects of climate change is a matter of survival,” said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, who also chairs the Climate Change Commission in behalf of the President.

“We are determined to move ahead with the implementation of actual projects on the ground to be able to meet our commitments,” he added, referring to the country’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 75 percent in 2030 for the agriculture, wastes, industry, transport and energy sectors.

Working with USAID to implement the Climate Resilient Cities project is the Catholic Relief Services and its consortium partners, including the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute, Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, Conservation International and Rocky Mountain Institute.

(Janvic Mateo/Philstar.com)

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Sinusuportahan ng Loterya ng California

DIALOGUE WITH RESIDENTS. Presidential candidate Senator Panfilo Lacson gets a warm welcome from residents of Barangay Baclaran in Parañaque City on Thursday, March 10. Lacson had a dialogue with residents, drivers and Muslim vendors to know their concerns.

PNA photo by Avito Dalan

The CDC’s new guidelines on COVID risk...

PAGE A3

University, looked into the delta and omicron surges and found that a rough rule of thumb during that period was that 21 days after most states rose to the high-risk level, the death rate hit three people for every million. That equals about 1,000 deaths a day at a national level.

The updated CDC guidance “is intended to provide a sort of warning that states are entering a period in which severe outcomes are expected,” he said. But the new approach would not sound that alarm until death rates were already reaching that “quite high” mark.

Others, though, point to another set of numbers.

They say that with 65% of Americans fully vaccinated and 44% boosted as of March 8, relaxing COVID protocols is the right decision.

The new strategy is forwardlooking and continues to measure and track the virus’s spread, said the APHA’s Benjamin. “It allows a way to scale up and scale back the response.”

Since the guidelines are based on seven-day averages, he added, they are a good way to monitor communities’ risk levels and gauge which set

of mandates is appropriate.

“So if a community goes from green to yellow to red,” he said, referring to the CDC’s color-coded map that tracks counties’ COVID levels, “that community will then need to modify its practices based on the prevalence of disease there.”

The guidelines, Benjamin said, are “scientifically sound, they’re practical.” Over time, he added, more communities will move into the low and moderate categories. “The truth of the matter is that you just cannot keep people in the emergency state forever,” he continued. “And this is never going to get to zero risk. …

[COVID’s] going to be around, and so we’re going to have to learn to live with it.”

What About Those Who Are Not Eligible for a Vaccine or Are Immunocompromised?

The CDC’s relaxed recommendations do not prevent anyone from wearing a mask. But for millions of Americans who are immunocompromised or too young to receive a vaccine, less masking means a loss of a line of defense for their health in public spaces.

Children younger than 5 are not eligible to receive a vaccine yet, and people who

are immunocompromised and are susceptible to more severe cases of the disease include cancer patients undergoing active treatment and organ transplant recipients. People living with chronic illnesses or disabilities are also vulnerable.

“You only have control of so much,” Neuman said. “And if you’re exposed to enough of the virus and you’re doing all the right things, you can still sometimes end up with a bad result.”

Masks are most effective when everyone in a room is wearing one, Neuman added, but the new mandate is similar “to victim-blaming — basically saying, ‘You have a problem and so here’s the extra burden to go with your problem.’”

(Colleen DeGuzman/Kaiser Health News) This story was produced by KHN (Kaiser Health News), a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation. 

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OPINION

FEATURES

Delayed recovery

THE next time there is a national crisis whose response requires private sector participation, the enthusiasm could be missing.

In this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, many private hospitals are just starting to get reimbursed by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. The payouts started picking up only after some hospitals outside Metro Manila stopped accepting PhilHealth cards.

Before the hospitals, the Philippine Red Cross had lamented the slow PhilHealth reimbursement for RT-PCR tests given to overseas Filipino workers.

The controversy prompted the PRC chairman, Sen. Richard Gordon, to lament the “balasubas” in the country who welsh on their financial obligations.

In the latest controversy, members of the Philippine Hotel Owners Association are bemoaning the delay in their reimbursements for the use of their establishments as quarantine facilities for returning OFWs. As of Thursday, March 10, according to PHOA officials, the collectibles had ballooned to about P1.7 billion, for periods ranging from 30 to 120 days.

Many of those seeking reimbursement are in Metro Manila, where 84 member hotels of the group are used as quarantine facilities for OFWs upon their arrival at the NAIA. Like the private

hospital operators who have been demanding reimbursements from PhilHealth, the hotel owners have also been lamenting since last year the delay in their payments from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration.

OWWA officials have promised to finish the reimbursements by the end of President Duterte’s term on June 30. The officials say P11.4 billion has been allocated for OFWs’ quarantine and transportation expenses, with P2.5 billion paid out so far this year and another P1.74 billion expected this month. The delay, OWWA officials said, is in the release of the funds by the Department of Budget and Management.

PHOA officials say their members need funds for operating expenses particularly for personnel salaries and electricity. OWWA officials, for their part, allayed concerns of the hotel operators that the reimbursements would be suspended in line with election rules.

The best way to allay the concerns is to speed up the release of the reimbursements. Hotels have been among the worst hit by the pandemic

Editorial

Philstar.com photo

as international tourism was battered by COVID mobility restrictions. They need funds to restart operations, rehire employees and adjust to the new normal, which requires changes in ventilation

and continued compliance with distancing rules.

If the funds are available, there should be no red tape in the reimbursements. Businesses have suffered enough. (Philstar.com)

‘Babae lang?’ Sadly, the prejudice against women lives on among many Filipinos The Fil-Am Perspective GEL SANTOS-RELOS THE celebration of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month this year has been more poignant because of the crossroads we have to take as Filipinos elect a new president on May 9, 2022.

Only one woman is running for the highest office — Vice President Leni Robredo — against seven men, and past surveys would say Bongbong Marcos, the son of dictator Ferdinand Marcos who was ousted from office by the 1986 People Power Revolution, is the frontrunner.

However, the tide has turned and the momentum has shifted in favor of Leni Robredo as she and running mate Senator Kiko Pangilinan take their campaign to different parts of the Philippines and was received by 45,000 to 70,000 enthusiastic kababayans in towns and cities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

These rallies are streamed online and so we have been witnesses to this astounding show of support for Robredo who have given so much hope for Filipinos who have been fighting for truth, justice and honest government.

However, in the exchange of comments, opinions and

perspectives among Filipinos from different parts of the world, I read one comment among many kababayans — “Babae lang” [She’s just a woman] si Leni, they would declare. “We need a leader who is strong, who can stand up to world leaders and the enemies of the Philippines,” they would emphatically argue.

“Babae lang?” That is a prejudice we all know is painfully real, despite the fact that all of us would not be here on earth without our mothers who endured the difficulty and excruciating pain of pregnancy, childbirth and child-rearing, while at the same time having to work and still do household chores.

“Babae lang?” Even as women around the world have proven to be transformative forces in politics, science and technology, medicine, the academe,business, the arts and culture, public service, the military, faithbuilding and character formation.

Despite this, however, women are still deemed as “less than” by many. They are paid less than men for the same job that they do. Men are also given more opportunities to go up the corporate ladder than their women counterparts.

The same is very true in the Philippines. Why is this so?

Why do we still have deepseated prejudice against women, especially against strong highachieving women?

Let me share with you this piece beautifully written and

posted on Facebook by Ian Layugan and I hope it will help us discern better on our belief systems and prejudices against women as we make a very consequential decision in deciding who to vote for in the coming May 9, 2022 elections: Sara cut her hair into a boyish bob, rides motorcycles, and shows off her tattoo. Astig, ‘di ba? These all fit into the patriarchal narrative.

But when a woman removes her heels and gets angkas as a ride to a destination, suddenly it’s all for show.

The way we have been viewing our women are always with the male gaze. Our patriarchal upbringing. We don’t allow our women to embrace their own womanness to navigate through their personal and professional lives. Dapat may ingredient, dapat may checklist.

Leni’s campaign is the plight of every woman in this country.

Nakakapanlumo. Nakakapagod.

Discriminated, bullied, underestimated, and prejudiced on account of dahil babae.

Vico Sotto was never mocked for overachieving. Sandro Marcos was applauded for his education.

Duterte gets away for showing simplicity by having a cup of rice as a birthday cake.

Yet: Leni was always underappreciated for all her efforts. Her daughters always get thrown under the bus despite their advocacies and education, and Leni is lugaw.

Kapatid, mukhang hindi talaga si Leni ang ayaw mo. Sadyang

Filipinos can learn from Ukraine Glimpses

JOSE MA. MONTELIBAN WATCHING the events in Ukraine almost as soon as they unfold is a unique opportunity for Filipinos. Ukraine has giant Russia claiming that Ukraine belongs to Russia. The Philippines has China claiming that the seas around us belong to China.

Just to make it clear for those who do not yet understand (I heard rumors that a presidential candidate did not know the Philippines is an archipelago), the Republic of the Philippines is an archipelago, meaning it is a group of islands and/or a sea or stretch of water containing many islands.

Russia is invading Ukraine from borders of land, so far, just as China went into our seas to grab islands there.

The lesson here is not about

strategy, the lesson is about bravery. The lesson here is about leadership and bravery, about citizenship and bravery.

The leadership of Ukraine and the citizens of Ukraine are now shining examples of leadership and bravery under fire from a bully using force to make a free people and nation submit to his will.

I almost made the mistake of calling Russia a bully when, in fact, it is not Russia, just Putin. I read from news reports and see from television news how many Russians are protesting the orders of Putin to attack Ukraine. Of course, I also read that thousands of these protestors have been arrested.

Bullies are like that. They bully even their own people who do not agree with them. If we get in their way, and bullies happen to have access to power and resources, we can easily get hurt or end up dead. It is not only happening in Ukraine. We also know of violent abuses in our country and region, by bullies in positions or with great wealth.

There is little need to talk about bullies, however. They are depressing, ugly, and I can only wish the world is rid of them. It is their victims, however, that I would like to put on center stage here. The simple truth is that most Filipinos are not bullies.

We neither have the power or the resources to be bullies.

Who can take away a native’s land? Who can take away nature’s resources from the people of any homeland? Only bullies can, and they did. Sadly, Filipino leaders accepted what bullies did and assumed they were right. Our own leaders forgot what the bullies did, leading by amnesia.

Anyway, let me expound on this in future articles. The subject of historical amnesia is so intertwined with poverty perpetuation that I am amazed how people forgot, both the few who lead and the many who suffer because of it.

Now, let us simply honor the leadership and the citizens of Ukraine. Attacked by superior power but resisted not only by the military of Ukraine but especially

mababa talaga ang tingin natin sa babae. Hindi na iyong kandidato ang kaso dito; iyong pagtanaw natin sa kababaihan at sa kanilang kayang gawin.

Check your biases. We’ve been shunning women leadership when many problems we have in this world are created by men to begin with.

We seem to choose our biases over the welfare of our country.

This is not about Leni anymore.

Imagine all the women leaders who could have turned our lives around, but were not given a chance on account of sex.

Change the narrative on women leadership. We have to confront socio-cultural drivers of gender inequality. Build discussions that topple harmful gender norms in whatever level they may be. And uphold each woman’s agency.

Hindi dahil sa ugali at trabaho nila ang problema.

Ang problema, ayaw mo silang iboto— DAHIL BABAE SILA. BABAE LANG SILA? Babae lang tayo?

What is in your heart? I hope we truly learn to look at women for who we are, for what we can contribute to society with the strengths that we have.

Let us remove all prejudices because LENI is NOT the lesser of two evils. Leni is in fact, the BEST candidate for president our nation needs in this critical moment in our history.

Leni Robredo has the character, integrity, educational attainment, exemplary record in

civil service as a legislator and vice president, and has lifelong experience as a public servant giving legal assistance to the poor and marginalized people of the country as a lawyer.

After the death of her husband, DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo in 2012, Leni raised her three daughters singlehandedly and they all excelled in their respective fields of calling, graduated from prestigious schools as scholars and with honors. They have been as grounded as their mother who raised them, passed on to them the value of faith, strength, hard work, pursuit of excellence, honesty and integrity, living a simple frugal life, offering one’s self in the service of people in need.

Leni may not have the “pamacho” stance, or bullish talk, or the arrogant payabang projection of men who, by the way, have caused our country to spiral downward because of their record of abuses of power and yielding to the enemies like China.

Leni’s power is emanating from the pureness of her heart and the fire in her spirit to abide by the Constitution, follow the rule of law, to truly serve the Filipino people. She has more testicular fortitude than most men ganging up against her because she has the strength of restraint in saying NO to corruption to enrich her self with the power she is entrusted with.

Leni has time and again

warned that if elected president, she will require transparency and accountability from all people in government, and would create a participative platform so that all citizens will have a voice in the way the government handles and spend taxpayers’ money.

Leni is fighting for us all, Filipino people and vows to work hard to give us a clean and honest government, to free us from chronic corruption that has plagued our country for so long.

She is doing this by the strength of her example and faithfulness to her vow as a public servant.

Ever wonder why the Trapos and thieves are so afraid and are in “unity” as a team to destroy her and to do dirty tactics so she won’t win?

The last man standing in this election is and will be a woman.

She is Leni Robredo. ***

by its citizens, Filipinos can see in real-time what patriotism and heroism are all about. The love of country and freedom, two sides of one coin for the people of Ukraine today, are worth fighting and dying for.

Many women and children are taking shelter from the bombs of the bully in Russia, and hundreds of thousands have taken refuge in other countries. But the men of Ukraine, and many women as well, ordinary citizens living lives like most Filipinos, are digging in, resisting, fighting, and dying.

For what? For their land and their freedom.

Would you believe that in our own midst are Filipinos who have no idea of what love of country and love of freedom means? They say so quickly that Ukraine should just surrender because they are no match for the firepower of Russia.

They had said just as openly before about the Philippines and China, that we cannot possibly defend ourselves against a China invasion.

I almost believed them. I almost believed because I know we have nothing that can compete with the Chinese military. But what kept me from just submitting to

that insidious propaganda is the fact that country and freedom can be so valuable that they are worth fighting and dying for.

I even thought that millions of older Filipinos can be the front line against China. Like me, senior citizens must sacrifice ourselves for our children and grandchildren. Let our children bury us, not us bury them.

There is this shared reality between the Philippines and Ukraine. Both our countries are threatened by a giant neighbor whose leadership covets our seas and land. It may just be some seas and some islets now but remember that their claim is much bigger than their present possession of our territory. It is only a matter of time on their part and cowardice on our part to make this happen.

The Ukraine example is inspiring and an eye-opener. The nations of the West, the member states of NATO, have not joined the war in Ukraine territory. But they have, by their sympathy and support and sanctions against Russia, are already in the war. In fact, Putin made sure the world would hear him order his forces to be on high alert with their nuclear

arsenal.

Long before his invasion of Ukraine, however, the militaries of NATO and other sympathetic countries with nuclear arms have already put their resources in battle positions. No one wants to get caught not being able to hit Russia as well just in case Russia fires ahead. All countries with nuclear power are on high alert aimed at their only threat. Putin knows that only too well.

It now appears that small, bullied countries victimized by much bigger countries can see a new line of defense and salvation.

Filipinos need not be alone in their fight for their territorial sovereignty. There is a big wide world out there that abhors bullies. They are not standing by quietly, they are aiding victims with military equipment, with economic sanctions. They may not save Ukraine now but they will stop the bully soon enough – or they will be bullied next. (Inquirer. 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.

*** Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989. She was a news anchor, TV host and radio commentator and public service host for ABS- CBN and DZMM. She is now working on her advocacies independently, serving the Filipino audience using different media platforms. You may contact her through email at gelrelos@icloud.com, or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel. Santos.Relos. Also on Twitter, Instagram: Gel Santos Relos

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.

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DATELINE PHILIPPINES

OFWs most concerned about graft, corruption in upcoming 2022 elections — study

by KAYCEE

VALMONTE Philstar.com

MANILA — Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) identified graft and corruption as part of their “priority issues” for the upcoming presidential elections, a study by De La Salle University professor Ma. Divina Gracia Roldan showed.

Roldan said “corruption ranks first, this is seen as the main problem in the country.”

“The participants expressed that if corruption is eliminated, there will be more budget for health, education and livelihood programs, poverty will be addressed. They also think that the country will develop and there will be no need for them to go abroad to work,” Roldan said in a webinar organized by the La Salle Institute of Governance on Friday, March 11.

She said most of the study participants source their information from online news and social media, family and friends, and online OFW communities.

The other “priority issues” identified by survey respondents were pandemic response and health, employment opportunities, poverty, and education. However, voting remains to be an independent

decision.

“These priority issues mentioned by the participants are all connected to their main priorities which are family, work, health and safety, and financial security,” Roldan said.

Profile of respondents She conducted online interviews with 118 overseas Filipino workers from January to September last year. Majority or 62.5% of her respondents were women, while 37.5% were men.

Roldan interviewed healthcare professionals, managers, office workers, seafarers, engineers, and domestic helpers aged 25 to 54 years with at least two to 10 years of work experience abroad.

She interviewed OFWs from Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, Central Asia, Asia, Asia Pacific, Latin America and North America.

However, the “top locations” of her survey respondents were California in the United States, Dubai, Doha in Qatar, Hong Kong, Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, and Singapore. Roldan said this “correspond(s) to the top destinations with high overseas voter turnout in the past elections.”

Ideal presidential qualities “Integrity is the main trait that the OFW voter looks for in a presidential aspirant, one who is not corrupt and sincere in serving the people.

Trustworthiness and honestly are also given weight,” Roldan said.

Respondents also wanted a candidate that is “tapat sa bayan,” “may malasakit,” competent and compassionate, God-fearing, with vision and conviction, and someone who is a good communicator and someone “who Filipinos can be proud of.”

Some referenced Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern.

“It is interesting that a few participants prefer the strongman leadership style like that of President Rodrigo Duterte as one participant said, he wants the next president to be someone like Duterte,” Roldan said.

Citing a survey participant, the hotel worker from Cambodia wants someone like Duterte: “May takot sa kanya, sinusunod siya. ‘Pag sinabi niya, gagawin niya.’”

(People are scared of him, they follow him. Whatever

 PAGE A8

Sara leads top performing local execs, lawmakers – poll

by JANVIC

MATEO Philstar.com

MANILA — Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte emerged as the top performing local chief executives in a recent survey conducted by RP-Mission and Development Foundation Inc. (RPMD).

The Feb. 22 to 28 survey found that 98 percent of the respondents in Davao City were satisfied with the performance of Duterte-Carpio, who is running for vice president.

She was followed by Mayors Benjamin Magalong of Baguio City with 86 percent, Beverly Dimacuha of Batangas City with 84 percent, Jerry Treñas of Iloilo

City with 81 percent and Gerald Anthony Gullas Jr. of Talisay City with 80 percent.

Meanwhile, among Metro Manila mayors, Belmonte obtained the highest satisfaction rating with 81 percent, followed by presidential candidate Isko Moreno of Manila with 80 percent and Toby Tiangco of Navotas with 78 percent.

Rounding up the top five were Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto with 77 percent and Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan with 75 percent.

Among provincial executives, Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia obtained the highest satisfaction rating with 83 percent, followed by Sorsogon Gov. Francis Escudero with 81 percent and Batangas

Gov. Hermilando Mandanas with 78 percent.

They were followed by Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor with 72 percent and Cagayan Gov. Manuel Mamba with 70 percent.

Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar obtained the highest satisfaction rating among lawmakers in Metro Manila with 88 percent, followed by San Juan Rep. Ronny Zamora with 85 percent and Navotas Rep. John Rey Tiangco with 83 percent.

Also in the top five were Caloocan Rep. Along Malapitan with 82 percent and Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon with 80 percent.

RPMD said the survey had 10,000 respondents in Metro Manila and another 10,000 for the rest of the country. 

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DATELINE PHILIPPINES

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Russian envoy assures ties with PH intact Robredo vows to prioritize poorest, remotest areas

by KRISTINA AND

MARALIT JAVIER JOE ISMAEL

ManilaTimes.net

THE crisis in Ukraine will not affect existing agreements between the Philippines and Russia in the fields of defense, energy and people-topeople exchange, the Russian ambassador has assured.

In a roundtable discussion, he requested with The Manila Times on Friday, March 11, Ambassador Marat Pavlov affirmed his country's deep friendship with the Philippines.

"From Russia with love," Pavlov said.

Among the ventures he mentioned is the planned nuclear power deal between Russia's Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corp. and the Department of Energy (DoE) for a feasibility study on setting up nuclear power facilities in the country as an alternative source of power.

"It still stands. We would also like to proceed with different agreements, like the cultural exchange with the city of Manila. I'd like to promote cooperation in different fields, especially the people-to-people exchange.

Our cultural cooperation is well known," noted Pavlov.

Also pushing through is the procurement of 17 military helicopters worth P12.7 billion ($247 million) by the Department of National Defense (DND), the contract for which was signed last November.

The first batch of the multipurpose helicopters will be delivered by the Russian company Sovtechnoexport in two years.

Russia's vow to uphold its end of the agreements came as President Rodrigo Duterte declared he is open to allowing

the United States access to the country's military facilities should the Russia-Ukraine conflict worsen and the U.S. becomes involved.

Duterte maintained that his administration is staying neutral, but he has accepted the reality that the Philippines will "just have to select which side" it should take once the conflict spills over to Asia.

Pavlov said he still sees "positive signs" of his country's diplomatic relations with the Philippines.

"We will continue our policy of dealing with your country," he said.

Russian forces have invaded Ukraine and laid siege on key cities, including the capital Kyiv.

In a statement Wednesday, March 9, non-resident Ukrainian Ambassador to the Philippines Olexander Nechytaylo appealed to the Philippines to stop doing business with Russia and stop being an "accomplice" to the war crimes being committed against the Ukrainian people.

Nechytaylo said the Russian invasion has killed thousands of civilians, including dozens of children, and caused widespread destruction of homes and critical infrastructure.

"We call upon the Philippines business community to stop any business dealing with Russia, as every dollar earned

by Russia will be used, directly or indirectly, to continue the criminal war in Ukraine," Nechytaylo said.

Because of sanctions imposed by several countries, financial transactions with Russia are "impossible" now, he said.

The U.S., Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, Switzerland, Taiwan,

Singapore and the European Union have clamped trade restrictions on Moscow that sent paralyzed the Russian stock market Monday, March 7.

The Philippines has condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine, but stopped short of imposing any sanction against Moscow.

On Thursday, March 10 the Defense department said it was fulfilling its contractual obligations in purchasing Russian-made Mil Mi-17 heavy-lift helicopters.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a statement the contract and the initial payment for the helicopters "were completed before the crisis in Ukraine erupted."

"At present, the onus of fulfilling the compliances and deliverables under the contract rests on the side of the Russian proponent," Lorenzana said.

The P12.7-billion contract was signed last November, and a down payment was made this January. Lorenzana did not mention the amount given as a down payment.

The Mil Mi-17 is a Sovietdesigned helicopter produced in two factories in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. In his message to the Filipino business community, Nechytaylo said Russia's "assets overseas have been blocked and frozen. So, don't be an accomplice to the crime."

He called on local businessmen "to join ethically and socially responsible global businesses, which have already stopped or suspended operations with or in the Russian Federation, refusing to finance Russian violence, murders and crimes against humanity with their taxes.

Don't be a part of the crime, stop doing business on the

OFWs most concerned about graft, corruption...

PAGE A7  he says he’ll do, he’ll follow through.)

Voting 'an opportunity to change as a country' The majority or 69% of her 118 survey participants will be voting in the upcoming elections.

“They see the elections as important to bring about change, they see voting as a right, and an opportunity to

change as a country,” Roldan said.

Preferred means of voting Over 1.5 million Filipinos abroad are registered to vote in the upcoming 2022 polls.

Asked if OFW votes are “gamechangers,” retired Commission on Elections Commissioner Rowena Guanzon disagreed. “‘Di naman sila game changer, eh 1 million sila eh.

Kaya lang, pag senador ka, it will matter. Pero hindi, kasi ang mga presidential candidates mga more than a billion, sa senator it will matter,” Guanzon said.

(They’re not a game changer, that’s 1 million. However, if you’re [running for the senate], it will matter. But no, because presidential candidates have more than a billion votes, for senators, it will matter.) 

by JANVIC

MATEO Philstar.com

MANILA — Presidential candidate and Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday, March 10 reiterated her commitment to prioritize the poorest and farthest communities in the country if she wins in the May 9 general elections.

During her visit to Romblon, she noted how small communities across the country have less access to different government programs.

“So under a Robredo presidency, we will turn this around.

The farther you are, the smaller and poorer your community is, the more priority you will have.

Because for a very long time, you had difficulty in accessing help from the government,” Robredo said in Filipino.

She also stressed the importance for the president to visit the farthest and poorest communities, saying only then will he or she understand the plight of those living in these areas.

“You really have to immerse yourself. Immerse, talk to people.

There are things that you cannot appreciate just by looking at reports,” she said.

“Visiting places, that is something that we will continue doing

Presidential candidate and Vice President Leni Robredo Philstar.com file photo

(if elected) because a visit from the president really spurs rural development. That gives attention to the area,” she added.

She highlighted different programs implemented by her office, such as the establishment of community learning hubs and support for the education sector.

“We will focus on this further once we have more resources and a bigger mandate,” she said.

Oil price hike Asked what the government can do to alleviate the impact of the rising fuel cost for fishermen, Robredo said the executive could immediately provide assistance to those who are affected.

In addition to suspending ex-

cise taxes, the Vice President said the government should also consider other measures to address the situation.

“For example, we can assess if the minimum wage is enough to cushion the blow of inflation,” said Robredo.

Red-tagging Meanwhile, Robredo and her camp called out the red-tagging of their supporters and denied any plan of having a coalition government with communist groups.

“Over the course of this campaign, we have seen more than our fair share of attacks and fake news against VP Leni. But this blatant and persistent red-tagging, masked as ‘concern’ is a new low,” Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez said.

“For the record, there is no ‘coalition government’ being contemplated, and to leap to the absurd conclusion that there is, based on self-serving reports, supposedly ‘validated’ by someone desperate for a seat in the party-list elections, is the height of irresponsibility,” he added.

While Gutierrez did not identify any person in his statement, it was Robredo’s rival Sen. Panfilo Lacson who expressed concern over a possible coalition government with communist groups. 

Inbound travelers may present negative COVID-19 antigen results - Palace MANILA — Foreigners and returning Filipinos may now present negative laboratorybased antigen results to enter the country, Malacañang announced on Friday, March 11.

Filipino and foreign nationals arriving from abroad may present a negative laboratorybased antigen test taken within 24 hours prior to the date and time of departure from the country of origin, said acting deputy presidential spokesperson Michel Kristian Ablan.

“Previously, they have to show negative RT-PCR test taken within 48 hours. Now, it is either of the two: RT-PCR or antigen,” he said.

Ablan also announced that Hong Kong or Macau passport holders are allowed to enter the Philippines without visa provided they stay for a period not exceeding 14 days.

The Philippines has been

File photo shows a worker disenfects chairs at the airport in Manila.

progressively easing entry rules and scrapping pandemic restrictions after a sharp drop in COVID-19 cases. The country reopened its borders to foreign tourists in February.

Metro Manila and 39 other areas are under Alert Level

Philstar.com photo

1—or the “new normal”—until March 15.

The virus has infected more than 3.6 million people in the country, with over 57,000 deaths, according to latest government data. (Gaea Katreena Cabico/Philstar.com)

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LIFESTYLE CONSUMER GUIDE COMMUNITY MARKETPLACE

Immigration questions of the Fil-Am South Bay Community take centerstage in this Sunday’s special episode of Citizen Pinoy “CITIZEN Pinoy” features a new episode, where the show’s host, leading U.S. Immigration Attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel, reaches out to various Filipino American community organizations across the U.S. and gets to know more about them.

On the premiere of Citizen Pinoy’s community outreach, Atty. Gurfinkel meets the Fil-Am South Bay Community of San Jose, California, and neighboring areas. He sits with their officers and finds out that the FASBC was created to uplift the members and support one another during the bleak times of the pandemic, when many people lost their livelihood and source of income.

Atty. Gurfinkel also answers immigration questions from the local community, like “What are the requirements for petitioning siblings of a U.S. citizen? Can a 3-time divorcee petition and

marry her soulmate in the Philippines even if she was deported 26-years ago? Will a green card holder, who overstayed in the Philippines due to COVID restrictions, be allowed to return to the U.S.?”

Other Fil-Am community organizations in the U.S. may also get the chance to be featured on Citizen Pinoy. Visit the Facebook page of the Law Offices of Michael J. Gurfinkel and signify your interest by sending a private message via messenger.

Watch this special community encore episode of “Citizen Pinoy” on Sunday, March 13 at 7:00 PM PT (10:00 PM ET thru select Cable/Satellite providers), right after TV Patrol Linggo. Citizen Pinoy is also available on iWantTFC. Viewers may download the free app.

CITIZEN PINOY FEATURES ATTY. GURFINKEL REACHING OUT TO THE FIL-AM COMMUNITIES AROUND THE COUNTRY. Leading U.S. Immigration Attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel (center) meets with the officers and members of the Fil-Am South Bay Community (from left): Rhea Salazar, Jen Young, Joyce Lynn Layos, and Ana Rita Reyes) in this special episode where Citizen Pinoy reaches out to the Filipino community and organizations. Atty. Gurfinkel discussed the mission and purpose of the FASBC, and highlights the group’s service to the community. He also addresses some of the immigration questions and concerns from some members of the community. Watch this special episode on an encore episode of “Citizen Pinoy” on Sunday, March 13 at 7:00 PM PT (10:00 PM ET) through select Cable/Satellite providers, right after TV Patrol Linggo.

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Heart claps back on being told she won’t Empowered female celebs are back in showbiz this Women’s Month spend on luxuries if she ‘had a baby’

By Dana

Cruz Inquirer.net

HEART Evangelista proved that she is not one to back down from those who criticize her for splurging on luxury items after she was told she would not spend a lot if she “had a baby.”

The actress spoke about her spending habits while replying to netizen comments on her Instagram post on Wednesday,

March 9. In the said post, she joked about her credit card being “maxed out” during the Paris Fashion Week. “‘Yung rampa ka [nang] rampa kasi namumurblema kang umuwi kasi na max mo card mo,” she quipped. (When you’re on the ramp and you’re having trouble coming home because you’ve maxed out your card.)

One @mrvgstyle seemingly took Evangelista’s joke seriously and

scolded her for splurging.

“Like the top influencers say, ‘Never use your credit card on luxury.’ Think cash only or Chiz!

You also wouldn’t spend that kind of [money] if you had a baby,” the netizen told her.

“I would spend double if I had a baby,” Evangelista replied.

Evangelista had previously fired back at netizens who pressured her into getting pregnant and PAGE B2

By MJ

Marfori Philstar.com

QUEEN Cat is back! After having an arcadian season, Catriona Gray is yet again ready for the microphone as she wears her hat as host for Top Class, The Rise to P-Pop Stardom.

Just like in Miss Universe, Catriona gives her all in anything she does and that is a promise, she tells fans.

“I have dabbled in a little bit of guestings in the past and

reality shows, and this is really an accumulation of all of those things as a mainstay host, the show itself. I am really excited for Top Class and will give it my all,” says she.

Catriona feels that it is time to uplift aspiring talents and help in her own way for them to grow in the entertainment industry.

When asked what makes Pinoys top class, her answer is: “I think it is our drive. We have some of the most driven people in the world and we are also well-

supported by our countrymen.”

Catriona takes pride in that.

Conversing with the former Miss Universe is such a nostalgic moment as we got to witness her crowning in Thailand back in 2018 and her natural talent for conversing and relaying her thoughts to the crowd is just commendable.

She is also not one to back down on questions regarding current queens, when asked about the recent body-shaming PAGE B2

EntErtainmEnt

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Incarnation Church celebrates Threelogy onstage live at 500 years of Philippine Pechanga Resort Casino Christianity closing ceremonies with Erik Santos, Morrissette Amon and Christian Bautista

ON Sunday, March 27, Incarnation Church will celebrate the closing ceremonies of 500 years of Philippine Christianity.

A Eucharistic celebration will be held at 2 p.m. to be presided by the Most Reverend Alex Aclan, Auxiliary Bishop of San Fernando Region. The Closing Ceremonies will emphasize Prayer For World Peace as Ukraine-Russia Conflict continues. The faithful is asked to pray for reconciliation, resilience and compassion. The Filipino Ministry of Incarnation Church will prepare a meaningful event for parishioners and visitors.

Since March 2021, Incarnation Church has included in its monthly Filipino masses, the veneration for the Blessed Virgin Mary as part of its yearlong celebration of 500 Years of Philippine Christianity. Various images representing the Blessed Mother will be in procession.

These images are: Nuestra Senora De La Soledad, De Porta Vaga Da Cavite, Nuestra Senora Del Santissimo Rosario De Manaoag, Nuestra Senora De Los Remedios/ Nuestra Senora De Badoc, Our Lady of La Naval, Mahal Na Birhen ng Caysaysay, Taal, Batangas, Nuestra Senora Del Pilar De Morong, Nuestra Senora De Guadalupe De Cebu/ Santo Nino De Cebu and Nuestra Senora De La Candelaria De Jaro, Iloilo/ Our Lady of Candles.

Rosary will be held in Church at 1:30 pm to be led by 2000 Hail Marys’ Group of Incarnation.

Prelude of Sinulog, a ritual praise worship dance will be led by Our

Incarnation Church in Glendale, CA is slated to have a closing ceremony celebration of the 500 years of Philippine Christianity.

Photo courtesy of Josefina Solomonson

Lady of Fatima Rosary Crusade of Holy Family Church/ Glendale.

May Mallari, a parishioner from Incarnation Church commented: “The 500 Years of Philippine Christianity is significant in our lives and to make the Closing Ceremonies meaningful is something that we would like to remember. The theme: Gifted to Give makes us aware to be charitable and to keep God as the Center of our lives.”

In the 16th century, the first statue of Santo Niño was presented to Queen Juana, wife of King Humabon. She was overjoyed upon seeing the innocent and kind face of Baby Jesus. She was baptized and embraced Catholicism.

The natives were also baptized.

Ferdinand Magellan planted the Cross of Christianity on the day baptism occurred in Cebu. To this day, Filipinos from various

walks of life bring prayers to the Santo Nino. He is the protector and has power to grant and answer their prayers. Devotions to him are part of every parish’s life. Every Filipino home has an image of Santo Nino. The image is particularly revered by people from Cebu where Spaniards established the first colonial capital. The devotion to Christ Child Jesus has spread beyond that region. Santo Nino is the oldest Catholic icon, known for His miracles and Filipinos’ strong devotion to Him is very strong. He is the reminder of how Filipinos accepted Christianity 500 years ago. Everyone is welcome to attend this beautiful and special celebration.

For more information, please call Ben Aranda at (818) 4371406 and May Mallari at (323) 401-0886.

(Contributed by Josefina Solomonson)

THREE of the most coveted and seasoned Filipino singer-entertainers are set to go onstage for a totally wholesome entertainment live on April 22, 2022, at 8p.m., at the top-rated, multi-awarded casino in Southern California — the Pechanga Resort Casino.

Erik Santos, Morrissette Amon, and Christian Bautista are a “three-in-one” package performance who will render the most sought-after pop songs made famous internationally.

Pechanga Resort Casino is well-known for hosting only the best and the brightest Filipino entertainers and performers aimed to provide the ultimate experience especially, to its FilipinoAmerican patrons.

Due to insistent public demand, Morrissette comes back to do her musical renditions back-toback with famed singers Erik and Christian. Amon was a runner up on TV5’s “Star Factor” at the age of 14. In 2012, she made her professional stage debut in the Repertory Philippines production of Disney’s “Camp Rock.”

It’s a Saturday to remember at the Pechanga Theater, so book yourselves and your family and friends early on.

Tickets may be purchased from $68 by calling 888-810-8871 or online at www.pechanga.com.

Shows in the Pechanga Theater offer a comfortable and intimate concert experience.

With 1,200 seats in its theater, each show features state-of-the-art and acoustically perfected sound.

Enjoying favorite artists at Pechanga versus other venues proves effortless with free valet and selfparking for guests, gourmet and casual dining options on site, plus comfortable chairs and an up-close view from every theater seat.

Pechanga Resort Casino offers one of the largest and most expansive resort/casino experiences anywhere in the United States.

Voted the number one casino in the country by USA Today and rated a Four Diamond property by

AAA since 2002, Pechanga Resort Casino provides an unparalleled getaway, whether for the day or for an extended luxury stay. Pechanga offers more than 5,000 of the hottest slots, table games, world-class entertainment, 1,100 hotel rooms, dining, spa and golf at Journey at Pechanga, Pechanga Resort Casino features a destination that meets and exceeds the needs of its guests and the community. Pechanga Resort Casino is owned and operated by the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians.

For more information, call toll free (877) 711-2946 or visit www.Pechanga.com. Follow Pechanga Resort Casino on Facebook, Instagram and on Twitter @PechangaCasino.

(Advertising Supplement)

Heart claps back Michael Bublé explains on being told... why he gave his grandfather’s house to Filipina caregiver Heart Evangelista

Photo from Instagram/@iamhearte

PAGE B1 asked her why she’s childless.

She stressed time and again that one does not need to be a parent to feel whole or be happy.

While the actress considers her life “good,” it would just be a “bonus” if she does get pregnant.

Evangelista married her husband, Sorsogon governor Francis “Chiz” Escudero, in February 2015. The actress got pregnant with twins back in 2018, but lost both babies after a miscarriage.

She has since admitted that pregnancy is a sensitive topic for her. g

By Jan

Milo Severo Philstar.com

CANADIAN singing sensation Michael Bublé explained why he gave his grandfather’s house to his Filipina caregiver last year.

In the virtual press conference of Kumu’s “Sing For The Stars” competition where he is one of the judges, Michael shared the story behind the generous gesture in response to Philstar.com.

“Well, I happen to have a really soft spot for the country, for the people. I just, I’m surrounded by a lot of them.

And I see a lot of goodness and a lot of heart. I see people Canadian singer Michael Bublé PAGE B5

Photo courtesy of KUMU

Empowered female celebs are...

PAGE B1 current Miss Universe Harnaaz Sandhu of India experienced after posting a photo online.

Catriona was quick to correct and call out the error.

“It is really unfortunate that the public needs to tear women down that way,” she shares. “We are campaigning so hard that a beauty queen or a titlist or winner of Miss Universe should be more than an image. She is not limited by what her body shape is, she is a spokesperson at the end of the day.

“She’s effectively doing her role as Miss Universe and I feel it should be celebrated because what message do we send to other young girls and people in social media, who read those comments and compare their bodies. Let’s not use derogatory terms and it’s Women’s Month pa, we should celebrate women, what they give on the table, which is their voice and their platform.

That’s what a Miss Universe is.”

Meanwhile, hot momma Coleen Garcia is returning to the limelight after a few guestings in her husband’s noontime show, Lunch Out Loud.

Coleen says that after nearly two years in lockdown and giving birth, she is in a “yes mood” to accept projects in the industry.

Her comeback movie, Adarna Gang, launched yesterday on Vivamax. She shares that doing the film made her miss her old self pre-Amari. A sentiment so valid for all first-time mothers and that I can personally relate to as well.

“I didn’t really have the opportunity to do anything else that I love,” says she. “Most of the things that I love involve stepping out of the house, whether it was going for a hike or working out or seeing friends, things that would remind me of who I am. I did not get to have that for the past almost two years and nakakabaliw siya and the hardest part is you don’t realize

Catriona Gray is again ready for the microphone as she hosts Top Class, The Rise to P-Pop Stardom.

Inquirer.net photos

Coleen Garcia (with the author, right) returns to the limelight after a few guestings in her husband’s noontime show, Lunch Out Loud, via the movie Adarna Gang.

until you’re already reminded who you were.”

Coleen says that even though it took awhile for her to realize this, she knew that it was part of her journey and that she respects her pacing as a mother, but now what makes her more open to projects is partly because of selflove as well to pursue her passion and not deny herself of things that would make her happy.

“Iyong mentality ko kasi was Amari first,” the actress says. “In every situation and in everything, I thought that I was being a great mother by doing that. But I realized by letting go of myself by completely neglecting myself and for not giving enough time for my marriage, it cannot always be the baby first. You also have to nourish your relationship with your spouse, with yourself. You cannot pour from an empty cup.”

Another woman who exudes

what it is to be an empowered artist is Zoe Saldaña. We got to talk to her one on one via Zoom for The Adam Project, which dropped yesterday on Netflix.

Zoe has been very vocal about her advocacies. One of which is about mental health. She grew up diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. With this, she recently applauded the growing inclusivity of the awards season with not just extending the recognition to people of different cultures, but to people with special needs as well.

This comes after Coda won big at the recently-concluded Screen Actors Guild Awards.

“It feels great actually. It feels way more balanced,” Zoe says, “way more inclusive and I just hope it continues evolving in the right direction. It is just about time for us as human species. We have to.” g

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Pastor’s Notes reverend rodel G. BAlAGtAS ANY change is difficult to do and accept. Yet, it’s the only way to transform hearts and minds. It’s the only way to achieve and maintain peace and justice in the world.

Indeed, our world has a dire need for change. It’s more evident now, given the global events in recent weeks, particularly the war in Ukraine. The plight of more than a million people fleeing Ukraine to escape war and terror has demoralized us. As the media show Russia’s planes continually bombing the cities of Ukraine, killing soldiers and civilians, we say to one another, “Why is this happening in the world? We have never seen anything like this in our generation.” And then, we cringe at any thought of World War III and nuclear war.

The culprits for these evil things in our world today are hatred, greed, and pride in human hearts and the absence of true faith in God and fear of Him. As St. Paul tells us in this Sunday’s (March 13) Second

Change

Reading (Phil 3:17-4:1): For many, as I have told you and now tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction. Their God is their stomach; their glory is their “shame.” Their minds are occupied with earthly things.

What can we do besides pray to stop this war? For sure, the resolutions rest on our world leaders, especially a change of heart in President Putin and his cabinet. However, as citizens of this world, we can all denounce the evil of this war and try as best to help the Ukrainian people find comfort in their sufferings. So, I’m glad that churches in the U.S., like ours, are setting up second collections for Ukrainian refugees.

Indeed, the Ukraine war has moved hearts to pray for the people of Ukraine and provide them with their necessities.

It’s making us conscious of our common humanity and responsibility for one another.

It’s this change that must happen in our world. As Pope Francis states In his encyclical Laudato Si’, God calls us to foster a “spirit of generous care, full tenderness” and “a recognition that the world is God’s loving gift, and that we

are called quietly to imitate his generosity in self-sacrifice and good works.” This generosity entails a “loving awareness that we are not disconnected from the rest of creatures, but joined in a splendid universal communion.”

Lent allows us to examine ourselves on how we have demonstrated generous care and tenderness for one another. As such, it convicts us of our indifference, selfishness, hatred, greed, and other sins.

This Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 9:28b-36) about the transfiguration of Christ speaks of the yearning of our hearts for peace in the words of Peter: “Master, it is good that we are here.” But as Jesus implied, keeping peace in our hearts and the world entails the sacrifice of dialogue, humility, mutual understanding, forgiveness, compassion, and laying down of arms. *** 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. *** Fr. Rodel “Odey” Balagtas is the pastor of Incarnation Church in Glendale, California.

Michael Bublé explains why...

PAGE B2 who are good to their families, and a lot of people where I’m from, worked our butts off so that they can send money back home. And that’s just for me, that’s just a really classy group of human beings, have a lot of integrity,” Michael said.

Michael said that it wasn’t his idea to give the house to Minette, but it was actually his grandfather’s dying wish.

“The truth is, it wasn’t my idea. I didn’t want to give the house to anyone. It just turns out that my grandpa was my best friend in life, and he gave me everything I have. And when he was getting to a point where I knew he wasn’t he was just feeling like, you know, he was old,” he said.

“And he would just say to me that these caretakers were incredible to him. And he would always say, you know,

his dream was to give them a place where they could live and work and that they could send money back home and help their families,” he added.

He said that he’s grateful to become part of a great moment.

“So when he passed away, I had the opportunity to be part of a great moment in my life and the Property Brothers and they had this idea and I was so happy, it was just the most perfect fit,” he said.

“I was just over there yesterday with Minette and I’m so happy that we did it. Because every time I go there and I talk to them, I just know how proud my grandpa would be, and how much it would mean to him and keeps his memory alive for me.

So there’s a lot of honoring that from me,” he added.

As a testament to its commitment to empowering digital creativity, the Kumu

multiverse has branched out into discovering musical talent with the launch of its new campaign “Sing For The Stars,” an all-digital international singing competition, with participation from four-time Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter Michael Bublé, and Tony award-winning musical theater legend, Lea Salonga, as the star judges.

This new audiencegrabbing online singing show is dedicated to discovering the best of both Filipino and foreign talents who dare to dream big.

“Kumu is the home of musicians,” said Founder and CEO Roland Ros. “Through this competition, we’re discovering and highlighting new voices on a world stage in a unique and brand new way,” namely, the all-digital aspect, which comes with two key benefits. g

How to know if an employment termination is ‘wrongful’ Protecting Employee & Consumer Rights Atty. C. Joe SAyAS, Jr. Q: I WORKED in a company for over 10 years. A new supervisor and I do not get along. Last week, the company let me go without any explanation. I don’t have any disciplinary record.

Can the company just fire me without a good reason?

A: Yes, an employer may fire an employee without a good reason. Employment in California is considered to be “at-will.” The employment-at-will doctrine states that either the employer or the employee may end the employment relationship at any time.

Therefore, an employee can quit his or her job for any reason at any time. Likewise, the employer may terminate the employment at any time, even if the employee’s job performance has been excellent.

The employer may also terminate employees for unfair reasons such as nepotism or favoritism. The employer may even terminate the employee for no reason at all.

However, there are limitations to an employer’s freedom to terminate employees at will.

One of these limitations may arise when the employee has a contract with the employer who agrees that the employee can only be fired for “good cause” or “just cause.” This may be true, for example, in the collective bargaining agreement of employees who are union members.

A second, and more important, limitation is that an employer may not terminate employees for an illegal reason.

An illegal “reason” behind the termination will render the termination “wrongful” or “unlawful.”

A termination is illegal or “wrongful” if it is based on discriminatory intent or is a violation of public policy.

Discriminatory intent pertains to discrimination based on such protected characteristics as age, race, sex, color, religion, national origin, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, and even union affiliation.

A termination is also illegal if it violates public policy. This means that the termination is likely illegal if the employee

A termination may also be wrongful if the employer was retaliating against the employee for registering internal complaints regarding the safety of the employer’s products or for refusing to engage in nonconsensual sexual acts. Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who opposed unlawful practices, filed complaints, testified, assisted, or participated in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing conducted by a government agency.

Terminations can be difficult situations, particularly where employees see the employer as unfair.

Unfortunately, an employer’s unfair conduct may not necessarily be illegal. But if there is a discriminatory or retaliatory motive behind the firing, the employee should consult with an experienced e m p l o y m e n t attorney to determine available remedies under the law. *** 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 Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic. All inquiries are confidential and at no-cost. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit www.joesayaslaw.com. [For more than 25 years, C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. successfully recovered wages and other monetary damages for thousands of employees and consumers. He was named Top Labor & Employment Attorney in California by the Daily Journal, consistently selected as Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, and is a past Presidential Awardee for Outstanding Filipino Overseas.]

(Advertising Supplement)

“A termination is illegal or “wrongful” if it is based on discriminatory intent or is a violation of public policy.

Discriminatory intent pertains to discrimination based on such protected characteristics as age, race, sex, color, religion, national origin, disability, medical condition, pregnancy, and even union affiliation.” was fired because: 1) The employee refused to violate a statute (e.g., the employee refused to commit an illegal act) 2) The employee performed a statutory obligation (e.g., the employee was absent in order to serve in a jury) 3) The employee exercised a statutory right or privilege (e.g., the employee declined to take a polygraph examination) 4) The employee reported a statutory violation for the public’s benefit (e.g., the employee reported the employer’s illegal act to a government or law enforcement agency – this is also known as “whistleblowing”)

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Proximity of Las Vegas, a boon to Pahrump real estate buyers WHETHER you are buying real estate in Pahrump as an investment or as a place to live in or have a vacation home, its proximity to Las Vegas is a distinct advantage.

Located about 62 miles west of Las Vegas, it is only about a 45- to 55- minute drive for those who want to take advantage of the living in an area that does not present the big headaches of big city living, which includes traffic, crime, and higher rents/mortgages.

Besides, you can enjoy all the things that Las Vegas has to offer, which has become an entertainment capital, aside, of course, from its traditional gambling reputation.

Let’s take a closer, quick look at Las Vegas.

According to Wikipedia, stablished in 1905, Las Vegas initially attracted farmers, mostly from the Utah area, and was a designated water stop for wagon trains – and later railroads – between Los Angeles and other areas. Las Vegas is the Spanish name for meadows or what can be termed as “fertile plains.” Clark County, which is the county where Las Vegas was incorporated in around 1911, was established in 1909.

The city has undergone its ups and downs, and has experienced several booms and transformations from its humble beginnings.

The first boom took place with the construction and completion of Hoover Dam in the 1930s, which was responsible for increasing its population fivefold. Along with Hoover Dam began the rise of the gambling industry, which initially mostly catered to the dam workers. Fremont Street, which is currently home to an oft-visited tourist attraction, was the site of licensed casinos such as Las Vegas Club and Hotel Apache then.

After World War II, another boom took place when banks began lending money to casino businesses, which led to the building of casinos like Sahara, the Sands, the Riviera and the Tropicana, with their glittering facades and promises of fun and excitement. With these casinos also came the entertainment – big-time performers like Frank Sinatra, Liberace, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Carol Channing and Bing Crosby started to sing/ perform at intimate settings for their fans.

Mr. & Mrs. Hung Yeh of Las Vegas invested on a commercial lot on Highway 160. They are in photo above with Fely QuitevisBateman (extreme right).

Gene Easton and his family from LA (behind Realtor Quitevis- From left: Edna Gonzales (extreme left) of Edna’s School in Bateman in above photo) bought a 5-acre parcel two years ago, Dagupan City, Philippines, with Russ Bateman and Fely QuitevisBateman. and is looking to invest more.

It is said that Howard Hughes was responsible for starting the move of Las Vegas to a more cosmopolitan image from its initial Wild West roots. The aviation entrepreneur moved to the city in 1966 and quickly extended his empire, spending about $300 million to take over many of the well-known hotels/venues.

From 1989 to this day, Las Vegas has become the venue for the mega-resort. Not only armed with gambling and entertainment/shows, these huge venues are the go-to places for people for dining, shopping, photo opportunities, weddings/ birthdays, conventions, expos and fairs, and just about any event you can think of. Starting with the Mirage in 1989, mega-resorts built in the Strip include: Rio and Excalibur (1990); MGM Grand, Treasure Island and Luxor (1993); Stratosphere and Monte Carlo (1996); New York-New York (1997); Bellagio (1998); Mandalay Bay, Venetian and Paris (1999); Planet Hollywood (2000); Palms

(2001); Wynn (2005); Palazzo (2007); Encore (2008); The Cosmopolitan (2010); and The Linq (2014). The latest to join the bunch are Circa Las Vegas (2020) and Resorts World (2021).

Currently, top performers like Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, BTS and The Weeknd have concerts scheduled in Las Vegas, while singers/groups like Katy Perry, Donny Osmond, Jabawockeez, Journey USA, The Australian Bee Gees and tribute shows to Prince, Whitney Houston and Elton John/Billy Joel have residencies in the area’s hotel-casinos and performance venues. Mariah Carey, Tina Turner and Celine Dion have been some of the major stars who have held residencies in the past.

Dining has become a great experience in Las Vegas as well. Each of the mega-resorts have their specialty restaurants, and well-known buffets. Celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay, Giada de Laurentiis, Wolfgang Puck, Gordon Ramsay, Jose Andres, Alain Ducasse, Todd English, Thomas Keller, Michael Mina, Nobu Matsuhisa, Joel Robuchon and Guy Savoy have restaurants in the city’s well-known resort-casinos where people can

The $1-B plus 17,500 seat Sphere Stadium at Venetian under construction will create hundreds of jobs when it opens in 2023.

taste their take on different cuisines. You can find Filipino fare in restaurants in Las Vegas, including at Resorts World.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 count, Las Vegas’ estimated population is at 641,903, with Clark County having a total population of more than 2.2 million.

If you are looking to buy real estate, investing in property in Pahrump – and even Las Vegas, for that matter – are great options for those with the ability to do so. Nevada has no personal income tax, and the effective property tax for both places are still significantly lower than the national average. Year-to-year, home prices have risen about 5.3 percent in Las Vegas; in Pahrump, home prices are up about 23% in 2022, as compared to last year.

Precious Properties is a full-service company serving its clientele since 1992 and can be reached at 775-513-8447, 805-559-2476 and 702538-4948. We have investors who buy houses in California and Nevada for cash and quick escrow in as short as 7 days.

(Advertising Supplement)

The Abrishamis (seated) from Beverly Hills bought several commercial Dr. Irene Taburnal (left), one of Realtor Fely Quitevis-Bateman’s closest parcels along Highway 160, which is ideal for assisted living facilities. friends, bought several parcels of land that she can flip now should With them is Realtor Fely Quitevis-Bateman (center). she desire so.

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Are PPP and other federal pandemic loans dischargeable in bankruptcy?

MANY self-employed individuals have relied on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and other federal pandemic loans to rescue their businesses from going under.

If you notice, many restaurants that we go to pre-pandemic have shuttered up permanently despite using up PPP and other loans.

Sure the PPP loans helped a lot to keep employees employed, and for the business to continue paying rent for the premises, but lockdown after lockdown has decimated a lot of restaurants.

What can the business owner do if revenues are cut by more than half? In fact, some businesses had zero revenue, from $100,000 a month of gross receipts down to almost nothing.

Will Uncle Sam come to collect PPP loans?

Soon enough, Uncle Sam will start collecting on the PPP loans.

I have four clients who are already in this situation. Maybe they can ask for debt forgiveness first for the PPP loans since that’s a feature of these loans. There’s certainly a 50/50 chance that all or a portion may get forgiven; but what about the rest of it, or all of it that is not forgiven? Can bankruptcy wipe out or discharge the PPP loans?

To answer this question, we refer to Section 523 of the bankruptcy code. It provides for exceptions to discharge. If PPP loans are excepted from discharge by Section 523, then it’s not dischargeable. Nothing in Section 523 as it is currently worded suggests that PPP loans are excepted from discharge.

Debt Relief

Atty. LAwrence yAng Therefore, PPP loans are dischargeable in bankruptcy. $100K PPP loan obtained in 2020 The debtor owns a restaurant that obtained a $100,000 PPP loan in 2020. He used the $100,000 to buy a brand new Mercedes Benz S500, fully loaded. Can he discharge his PPP in bankruptcy?

No, he cannot. Why not? Section 523 excepts from discharge loans that were “fraudulently” obtained by the debtor. Obviously, if the debtor had indicated in the PPP loan application that he was going to use the PPP loan to buy an expensive car, Uncle Sam would not have given him the loan. But his PPP loan application stated that he was going to use the $100,000 to continue running his restaurant, specifically the funds were going to be used to pay rent and to pay employees, that’s why Uncle Sam gave him the PPP loan.

But let’s say, the debtor actually used the $100,000 PPP loan to pay his employees and to pay rent for the premises. With the $100,000, he was able to continue operating at a loss for two years.

Now that it’s 2022, the pandemic is still around but there’s no more lockdown. His restaurant does take-outs and allows some indoor dining, but sales are still way low and he doesn’t have any more

money to continue operating. He decides finally to shut the door and stop operating. But here comes Uncle Sam knocking on his door, asking him to pay back the $100,000. What should he do?

As I said, he can ask for loan forgiveness for all or part of the $100,000 since he actually used the money to pay employees and rent and to keep the business going for two years. Whatever is not forgiven, he can use bankruptcy to discharge because PPP loans are not excepted from discharge.

Seven of my high school classmates passed away in 2021.

They have all gone to meet their creator. I would like to mention their names here: Ricardo A, Victor Y, Jerry L, George C, Jimmy G, Edward N and Ricardo D. Three died of COVID, one slipped and fell in the bathroom, one of heart attack, two of cancer. I pray all of them are in heaven with our Lord enjoying eternity with their loved ones. *** Disclaimer: None of the foregoing is considered legal advice for anyone.

There is absolutely no attorney-client relationship established by reading this article. *** Lawrence Bautista Yang specializes in Bankruptcy, Business, Real Estate and Civil Litigation and has successfully represented more than five thousand clients in California. Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 20274 Carrey Road, Walnut, CA 91789 or 1000 S. Fremont Ave., Mailstop 58, Building A-10 South Suite 10042, Alhambra, CA 91803.

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Reimbursement for community contribution towards a spouse’s education and student loan during marriage Barrister’s Corner Atty. Kenneth UrsUA reyes ONE of the biggest problem of millenials and Gen Z are educational cost and student loan debt. This eats up a large part of a households budget even among married couples.

However, what happens to all the money paid towards one spouse’s education and student loans if the marriage fails and leads to divorce. Well, California Family Code Section 2641(b)(1) provides that upon divorce or legal separation, the community “shall be reimbursed” for its “contributions” to a spouse’s education or training that “substantially enhances” the spouse’s earning capacity. Under Family

Code Section 2641(a), reimbursable community “contributions” means payments made with community or quasi-community property for a spouse’s education or training or for the repayment of a loan incurred therefor, no matter where the parties resided when the payments were made.

Family Code § 2641 reimbursement is not limited to education or training received during marriage. Rather, by its terms, application of the statute is governed solely by whether community funds were used to pay for the education or training.

Thus, educational costs and loans paid with community funds are within the ambit of § 2641 reimbursement even if the education occurred before marriage. Marriage of Weiner, supra, 105 CA4th at 239-240, 129 CR2d at 291; In Marriage of Mullonkal & Kodiyamplakkil (2020) 51 CA5th 604, 607-608, 265 CR3d 285, 288, the court held that the community is entitled to reim-

Maximizing recovery in personal injury cases DEAR Attorney Tan, I was driving home and was at a complete stop when another driver rear ended my car. I was not feeling well after the accident, as my back seemed very tight and stiff. I took some days off from work. After a week, I contacted the other driver’s insurance to report the claim. The insurance adjuster for the other driver said they would fix my car, and offered me $500.00 for my injuries. Is that enough? I do not know where to go from here. –K.K. Dear K.K., The first step is to make sure that any injuries that you have suffered in the accident are examined and treated. You can recover treatment costs since they are considered “economic damages” that you suffered due to the accident. You can also recover for time away from work as “economic damages,” even if you used paid time off or sick leave.

The term “economic damages” means “objectively verifiable monetary losses including medical expenses, loss of earnings, burial costs, loss of use of property, costs of repair or replacement, costs of obtaining substitute domestic services, loss of employment and loss of business or employment opportunities.”

Civil Code Section 1431.2(b)(1).

A person’s claim for economic damages apart from medical expenses are often overlooked and not pursued by persons who settle their accident cases on their own, or with the assistance of inexperienced

Atty. dArricK tAn counsel.

Loss of earnings are often a significant part of an injured person’s claim for economic damages.

Damages are recoverable for both past and future lost earnings. To recover for past lost earnings, a person must prove the amount of income or earnings that he/she has lost to date. To recover damages for future earnings, a person must prove the amount of income or earnings that he/she will be reasonably certain to lose in the future as a result of the injury.

CACI No. 3903C. How are past lost earnings proven? Medical records, which show the doctor authorizing a release from work or giving instructions to restrict work activities, can support the time taken off from work due to the injury. For those self-employed, medical providers typically do not provide a release from work; however, medical records should record work restrictions placed by the medical provider.

After showing that the time off was justified, the next step is to value the lost earnings. A letter from a person’s employer that outlines the amount of time that one has lost as a result of his/her injury, the loss of benefits, and the rate of pay during the time

of loss is evidence of the value of one’s loss of earnings claim.

Other supporting documents include pay stubs, time cards, and tax returns. The monetary value of sick leave and vacation time that are used due to the injury are also recoverable. For those self-employed, earnings history as reflected by tax returns and profit and loss statements can help prove the value of lost earnings. Similar supporting documentation must be presented for future lost earnings.

Apart from economic damages, you can recover “general damages,” which are damages for the pain, suffering, and inconvenience due to the accident.

If you were suffered injury in an auto accident or someone’s premises, please contact our office to discuss your case. To maximize monetary recovery, it is important to have the assistance of an experienced attorney in presenting your personal injury claim. *** Darrick V. Tan, Esq. is admitted to practice law in California and Nevada.

Mr. Tan is a graduate of UCLA and Southwestern University School of Law. He is a member of the Consumers Attorney Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) and American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). He is a former member of the Board of Governors of the Philippine American Bar Association (PABA). LAW OFFICES OF DARRICK V. TAN, 3580 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 900, Los Angeles, CA 90010. Tel: 323-639-0277. Email: info@dtanlaw.com.

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When bankruptcy may be the best solution

I AM often asked the following questions: When does filing bankruptcy make sense? How much should I owe in order to justify a bankruptcy filing and have that on my credit record?

My answer to these questions is always the same: Whether or not bankruptcy is advisable for your situation will depend on your specific circumstances, the types of debts that you owe and your intended purpose in filing. People come to see me for bankruptcy advice for different reasons. Below are 3 of the most common: 1. Credit card debts are out of control and bankruptcy is the only way out: Lots of times, for whatever reason, credit card debts have simply gone out of control and the person sitting across my desk is severely distressed and confused, not knowing what to do.

Credit cards can come in handy in times of financial emergencies or for convenience.

But they can also be terribly abused and misused. For example, some people use their credit cards as if they were spending their own money, not realizing that the money actually belongs to the bank and it is not theirs.

This is the Las Vegas mentality that betting casino chips doesn’t feel like betting cash so it’s easier to use credit cards when buying things rather than withdrawing cash from your bank and using cash for your purchases.

On the other hand, I realize that other people simply don’t have a choice but to resort to using credit cards strictly for survival because income is always short and they never have enough money to pay their bills every month. To make ends meet, a lot of people are tempted to use their credit cards to pay for monthly living expenses hoping to be able to pay it back “once they get caught up” on other bills. The problem is that this day never comes and debts continue to pile up.

2. To stop creditors from taking or attaching assetsOnce a creditor resorts to forced collection action and obtains a judgment against you over an unpaid debt, the creditor can levy on your bank accounts, garnish your wages or place a lien on your assets. If you are late in paying your mortgage, you may lose your property in (Advertising Supplement) foreclosure. Your car can be

bursement where spouse paid off student loans for education she attained before marriage with funds from her salary earned during marriage.

In Mullonkal & Kodiyamplakkil, the trial court erroneously held § 2641 did not apply because, among other things, the student spouse (Wife) repaid her premarital education with her own earnings during the marriage, and the nonstudent spouse (Husband) failed to contribute to Wife’s education/loan repayments and family expenses. “[B] ut nothing in [§ 2641] contemplates denying reimbursement to the community where the student spouse pays for her own education or where the nonstudent spouse did not somehow earn an entitlement to an equal share of the community. Indeed, the statute refers to community contributions to education, and makes no reference to the source of the community contribution.”

Marriage of Mullonkal & Kodiyamplakkil, supra, 51 CA5th at 615616, 265 CR3d at 294. At a minimum, reimbursable community expenditures include amounts paid for the student spouse’s tuition, fees, books, supplies and transportation. Fam.C. § 2641, Law Rev. Comm’n Comment, 23 Cal. L.Rev. Comm’n Reports 1 (1993) Beyond this, however, community expenditures are a reimbursable “contribution” only if directly related to the educational experience. Ordinary living expenses that would have been incurred regardless of whether one spouse was attending school such as rent, food and clothing, health care and entertainment, are not reimbursable under § 2641. Marriage of Watt (1989) 214 CA3d 340, 354, 262 CR 783, 791-792. *** Please note that this article is not legal advice and is not intended as legal advice.

The article is intended to provide only general, non-specific legal information.

This article is not intended to cover all the issues related to the topic discussed.

The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you. This article does create any attorney client relationship between you and the Law Offices of Kenneth U. Reyes, APLC This article is not a solicitation. *** Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes is a Certified Family Law Specialist. He was President of the Philippine American Bar Association. He is a member of both the Family law section and Immigration law section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He is a graduate of Southwestern University Law School in Los Angeles and California State University, San Bernardino School of Business Administration. He has extensive CPA experience prior to law practice. LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, APLC. is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 747, Los Angeles, CA, 90010.

Tel. (213) 388-1611 or e-mail kenneth@ kenreyeslaw.com or visit our website at Kenreyeslaw.com.

Legal Advice

Minding Your Finances Atty. rAymond BULAon repossessed if you are behind in your monthly payments and the car can be sold at an auction, after which time you may be liable for a deficiency. I am often perplexed as to why a lot of people who already know that they may be facing one of the above still wait until the last minute before they do anything about their situation.

If appropriate for your situation, bankruptcy can immediately stop collection action against you and/ or your property

lifetime: It is possible that you owe so much on your credit cards that it will take more than one lifetime to pay off what you owe. Some people seem to think that as long as they are able to make the minimum payments on their credit cards, they must be doing “OK”. One day they decide to look at their credit card statements more closely and come to the sick realization that they still owe the same amount that they did 3 to 6 years ago. Like clockwork, they’ve paid their bills on time and have worked long hours just to preserve their credit standing. Finally, when reality hits them in the face, they realize that they have become a slave to their creditors for life and they start to feel trapped in their situation.

Filing bankruptcy, of course, is a serious decision that must never be taken lightly. You should weigh the advantages versus the disadvantages.

I see a lot of cases where a person is actually better off filing bankruptcy now and then just start rebuilding credit after they get a fresh financial start.

Since a lot of people in debt already have a less-thanperfect credit rating anyway, from a lender’s standpoint, they would rather see a bankruptcy on a credit report and no debts instead of seeing huge amounts of unpaid debts, collection accounts, lawsuits and judgments. If your bankruptcy is 3 years old, you can still qualify to buy a home with some reestablished credit if all other credit characteristics are appropriate. Filing bankruptcy is a beginning, not the end.

If you are considering bankruptcy but are confused about your options, I would be more than glad to evaluate your situation, free of charge. Call our office at Toll-Free 1-866-4777772 to schedule a free attorney consultation. Due to pandemic safety concerns, I am offering free consultations BY PHONE to anyone who needs help in dealing with their debt problems. *** None of the information herein is intended to give legal advice for any specific situation. Atty. Ray J. Bulaon has successfully helped over 6,000 clients in getting out of debt. For a free attorney evaluation of your situation, please call RJB Law Offices at TOLL FREE 1-866-477-7772.

“Filing bankruptcy, of course, is a serious decision that must never be taken lightly. You should weigh the advantages versus the disadvantages. I see a lot of cases where a person is actually better off filing bankruptcy now and then just start rebuilding credit after they get a fresh financial start. Since a lot of people in debt already have a less-than-perfect credit rating anyway, from a lender’s standpoint, they would rather see a bankruptcy on a credit report and no debts instead of seeing huge amounts of unpaid debts, collection accounts, lawsuits and judgments.” and you can save yourself the humiliation of being served a wage garnishment order by creditors at your place of employment. Keep your financial affairs private by acting immediately before things get ugly. If you are facing foreclosure, do not listen to advice from people (friends or relatives) who think they understand the legal aspects of your situation. They may mean well and are willing to help but nothing takes the place of a legal professional who can recommend possible options.

3. Minimum payments are being made on credit cards but the outrageous interest rates being charged by the credit card companies guarantee that your debts will never be paid off- at least not in this

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