MARCH 19-22, 2022 Volume 32 - No. 22 • 2 Sections – 18 Pages
DATELINE
USA
FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
Elderly Filipina assaulted in New York recovering well, says consul general THE 67-year-old Filipino woman who was punched and kicked over 125 times by a male assailant in New York has been released from the hospital and is recovering well, Philippine Consul General Elmer Cato said. “Na-release na sa hospital yung ating kababayan at kausap namin yung kanyang anak at sinabi sa amin na OK naman yung mother niya, she’s recovering well. Nakakakain na raw (She was already discharged from hospital and we were able to talk to her child who said that she’s recovering well. She is now able to eat),” Cato said in a Teleradyo interview. “Although nagpapahinga na, hindi pa sila ready na makiharap pa sa amin at this point (Although she is already resting, her family is still not ready to face us at this point),” he added. Cato said the Philippine Consulate General in New York has offered to extend assistance to the victim, who is a dual citizen and hails from the Ilocos region.
New survey: LA County AAPI residents fear racial attacks by AJPress
THE Asian American and Pacific Islander community in Los Angeles County holds deep fears of racial attacks, according to a new survey released by the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State LA and the California Community Foundation.
Nearly a quarter of the 1,500 AAPI residents who were surveyed reported being a victim of a physical or verbal attack because of their race or ethnicity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two-thirds said they are worried about being a victim of a hate crime, and 80% said they believe anti-Asian racism has been a serious problem during the pandemic. Half of the
Media watchdog raises alarm on attacks vs journos as polls near by Kristine Joy
Philstar.com
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County safer at work program saves LA businesses millions
IN Los Angeles County, programs that have already saved small businesses millions during the COVID-19 pandemic are looking for ways to expand their outreach into underserved communities. Safer At Work Los Angeles (saferatwork. la), working with partners such as PPE Unite, have provided basic support, such as communication assets for business store fronts, personal protective equipment for employees, test kits, vaccinations, and in-language information, that have helped businesses meet the challenges of the pandemic, stay open and protect workers and the public At a press briefing organized by the county’s Safer At Work LA program and Ethnic Media Services on March 16, Kelly LoBianco, county Economic and Workforce Development director, was joined by three small business owners and Jay Tsao and Tova Mac, themselves small business proprietors and, in late 2020, co-founders of the nonprofit PPE Unite. They noted the ongoing need for business support.
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survey respondents said they have experienced racial discrimination in public spaces. The survey comes a year after the killing of six Asian women in Atlanta, Georgia, and following a marked rise in anti-Asian hate incidents across the U.S. since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey u PAGE A2
BACK TO SCHOOL. A school personnel checks students’ temperature at the gate before letting them into Pambuan Elementary School in Gapan City in Nueva Ecija on Friday (March 18, 2022). Students have been told by the school administrators to follow safety health protocols every time they are on school premises. PNA photo by Oliver Marquez
Patag
MANILA — A media watchdog raised alarm on increasing attacks on members of the Philippine press as the 2022 national elections come near. Center for Freedom and Responsibility Executive Director Melinda Quintos De Jesus told ANC’s Rundown on Thursday, March 17 that the interaction between the media and the government, as well as with candidates, stem from what was experienced in the last six years where the Duterte administration has “always been hostile unless you are friendly media.” “That level of hostility will provoke more incidents as we move nearer elections. That level, the starting level when the gun says ‘go it’s the campaign,’ if you have a level of hostility already shown,” she added. De Jesus noted that the National Task Force to End Local Communist Task Force has not stopped redtagging journalist, which in turn would make people identify them as their enemies.
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First of its kind, a new digital bank caters to the financial needs of growing Filipino American population in US by Donnabelle
AJPress
aravelo
FILIPINO Americans can now sign up for the first-ever digital bank built with their cross-border financial responsibilities in mind. BayaniPay has tied up with Californiabased East West Bank to launch a pioneering neobank that will cater to the banking needs of more than 4 million Filipinos based in the United States.
A neobank, also referred to as a challenger bank, is a financial technology firm that partners with a traditional bank to provide federally insured banking services. Launched on March 16, BayaniPay’s neobank services will include the Easy Digital Checking Account powered by East West Bank, a Visa Debit Card, and zero-fee, faster remittances to the Philippines. Powered by East West Bank, the largest BayaniPay announced a partnership with East West Bank to bring the first-ever Filipino publicly traded bank headquartered in American neobank to market, offering a digital checking account, a co-branded Visa debit card u PAGE A2 and a lineup of financial services, like zero-fee remittances to the Philippines.
Pres. Duterte: Philippines should maintain Marcos Jr. claims ‘fake news involved’ neutrality amid Russian invasion of Ukraine in ill-gotten wealth, estate tax cases by daniza
Fernandez Inquirer.net
MANILA — The Philippines should maintain its neutrality amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated on Thursday, March 17. “Other countries, Europe will die if Russia wreaks havoc. So we better — we better maintain our neutrality. Let’s avoid meddling in it so that we won’t get involved,” Duterte said in Visayan language during the inauguration of the New Leyte Provincial Government President Rodrigo Duterte
Malacañang file photo
by neil
arwin Mercado Inquirer.net
MANILA — Despite amply verified pieces of evidence, as well as numerous court convictions and decisions, regarding the illegally acquired assets of the Marcos family, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Wednesday, March 16 claimed that “there’s a lot of fake news involved there.” But the Marcos scion and namesake of the former dictator did not specify which detail about their ill-gotten wealth Bongbong Marcos Jr. Inquirer.net file photo u PAGE A5
and estate tax cases are “fake” during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum. “There’s a lot of fake news involved there, let’s leave it to the lawyers to discuss it because the so-called facts that they quote are not facts at all,” he said. “They are just presumptions, they are not familiar with the cases or they choose not to be familiar with the case so, it’s in the courts. In my case whatever the court orders me to do, I will do,” he added.
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