033118 - Los Angeles Weekend Edition

March 31-April 3, 2018 Volume 28 - No. 27 • 4 Sections – 30 Pages

DATELINE

USA

FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

LA leaders unveil new Skid Row health center

‘No evidence to link human rights groups to drug syndicates’

New health center vows to provide a wide range of health services for the city’s growing homeless population

THOUGH the city of Los Angeles has gone through several administrations that have tried to tackle the rampant homelessness problem, the recently passed Proposition HHH is vowing to take that fight more seriously than in the past.

Prop HHH, a wide-ranging homeless initiative that looks to reduce homelessness in a city where it thrives, has funded several housing projects designed to keep more people off the streets.

But the homelessness problem is twofold: providing more housing but also expanding health resources for the homeless and underserved.

On Wednesday, March 28, the city’s leaders formally unveiled the Joshua House Health Center, which promises quality health care

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by CHRISTINA

MENDEZ

Philstar.com

Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) Philstar.com photo

Sec. Delfin Lorenzana

MANILA — Law enforcement agencies admitted on Tuesday, March 27 that there is no evidence to back the claims of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. that some human rights groups have become unwitting tools of drug syndicates to discredit the administration’s war on drugs.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) spokesman Derrick Arnold Carreon and Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman John Bulalacao said that they are still validating the reports.

“We have none right now. But as what has been mentioned by PDEA, we continue to verify these reports,” Bulalacao said.

Human rights groups have accused the Duterte administration of committing human rights violations in the con-

duct of the anti-drug campaign where thousands of addicts and drug pushers have been killed.

Bulalacao and Carreon were summoned to attend a press briefing in Malacañang yesterday to update the public on developments in the anti-drug campaign of the administration.

“But seeing the trend of how they attack the anti-drug campaign, I guess we can only surmise that it might be unwit-

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Philstar.com photo

Fil-Am group denies PH monitoring Chinese drills in Jinggoy Estrada’s speaking stint claim the South China Sea

by DANA

SIOSON AJPress

US Pinoys for Good Governance denied the claim of former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada before the Sandiganbayan that he was invited as a speaker in one of the group’s gatherings.

Estrada has been allowed to travel to the United States after the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division on Monday granted in open court his motion despite a pending plunder case in connection with the multibillion pork barrel fund scam.

In his motion filed on March 16, Estrada

THE Philippines is monitoring the reported combat drills conducted by China in the South China Sea. This, according to Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, following a recent Reuters report that said Beijing was holding exercises in a large “show of force” off Hainan Island in the South China Sea. “Of course. Our Navy and Air Force are

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PEACE TALKS. President Rodrigo Duterte discusses matters with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chairman Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim, Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) Chair Ghadzali Jaafar and MILF Peace Panel Chair Mohagher Iqbal during a meeting in Davao City on Tuesday, March 27.

Malacañang photo by Ace Morandante

Palace reiterates Duterte not eyeing term extension

by DANA

SIOSON AJPress

Filipino nationals named in this year’s Forbes’ “30 under 30 Asia” list are Youtube Vlogger Bretman “Bretman Rock” Sacayanan, Waves for Water (W4W) Country Director Carlo Delantar, Thinking Machines Founder Stephanie Sy, chef Miko Aspiras and artist Archie Oclos.

Philstar.com photos

PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte has no plans to extend his term beyond 2022, Malacañang reiterated on Tuesday, March 27.

In a statement, Palace spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. stressed that Duterte will still observe the term limits under the current 1987 Constitution, as well as the ban on re-election, should the push for a federal form of government succeeded.

Rather than extending his term, Roque claimed anew that Duterte prefers to step down ahead of the expiration of his tenure.

“The president has expressed that he has no intention of staying a minute longer than what the term of the president provides under our Constitution,” Roque said in a statement.

“The president has even stated that he would step down from the presidency earlier should the Philippines shift to a federal system of government as early as

2020,” he added.

The Palace official issued the statement a day after Consultative committee head Reynato Puno said that Duterte cannot run again for presidency even if a new federal charter will allow a president to serve for two terms.

During a news briefing on Monday, March 26, Puno explained that Duterte was elected under 1987 Constitution, making him bound by its provisions.

“As of now, the prohibitions

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Palace spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. Inquirer.net photo

5 Filipinos recognized on 2018 Tagle to clergy: Evangelize, don’t spread ‘fake news’ Forbes’ ‘30 under 30 Asia’ list

by AJPRESS THIS year, five Filipinos were featured in Forbes’ “30 under 30 Asia,” which recognizes young entrepreneurs, innovators, and disruptors of industries across the region.

One Philippine-based entrepreneur was also recognized in the list.

With a theme of “Disruption and Innovation,” the list featured 300 young men and women across ten

categories who are “re-inventing their industries and driving change across this diverse region.”

Filipino nationals named in this year’s list were pastry chef Miko Aspiras, artist Archie Oclos, Thinking Machines Founder Stephanie Sy, Youtube Vlogger Bretman “Bretman Rock” Sacayanan, and Waves for Water (W4W) Country Director Carlo Delantar.

The Arts category featured 29year-old Aspiras, and Oclos, 28.

Aspiras, who used to be a com-

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MANILA Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle has called on the clergy to focus on their “common goal” of evangelization and by doing so, put a stop to “fake news.”

“Evangelization means sharing good news. Everyday we share good news. When our children graduate, it is good news. When a relative calls, it is good news. A call, a text or an email by a relative is good news. And even when our child fails, we call on relatives, not to celebrate failure but to let them know that no matter what, he remains our child,” Tagle said in his homily at the Chrism Mass

on Maundy Thursday, March 29 that celebrated “the year of the clergy and of consecrated men and women.”

“Evangelization is a fact of daily life, we always communicate with good news. We cannot contain it. Good news begs to be shared. And good news begs for hearers of the good news, especially if it is the news of God’s infinite love, salvation, forgiveness, liberation, who would not want to share it? Who would not want to hear it? But how would it be shared if people are not called and sent?” Tagle asked before an audience that included Apostolic Nuncio Gabriele

Giordano Caccia, former Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, and Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo at the Manila Cathedral.

“We are all consecrated to Christ and if in the Gospel, Jesus Christ was anointed by the Holy Spirit to bring good news to the poor and bringing good news to the poor also includes proclaiming liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, freedom to prisoners, that’s good news.

And Jesus wants us to share in his mission and in a special way we [who are]ordained have the official ministry of the word, pro- Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle

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Photo courtesy of CBCP

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From the Front Page

‘No evidence to link human rights...

PAGE A1 t ting to the human rights groups that they are being capitalized or maybe just leveraged by the groups,” Carreon said.

The PDEA is coordinating closely with the PNP, National Bureau of Investigation and the other intelligence agencies to check on the reports.

Carreon revealed that the government is now facing many obstacles in the drug campaign and that the campaign itself is being attacked, not the deaths arising from such operations.

He cited the possibility that some drug lords are riding on the criticisms hurled by the human rights groups to ruin the Presi-

dent’s drug war.

In response to the human rights groups, Roque is unfazed by criticisms over his claim that the groups have become unwitting tools of drug syndicates.

“We stand by the statement we made on the possibility that some non-governmental organizations, instead of assisting the government fulfill its human rights obligations, have become unwitting tools of drug lords,” Roque said.

Local and international rights groups had denounced the recent pronouncements of Roque and Cayetano, who accused them of being in cahoots with drug lords.

Phelim Kine, deputy director of Human Rights Watch Asia Division, called the allegations as the “latest salvo” of the government to dodge international outrage against the brutal war on drugs.

Kine said such claims are just harassment to discredit the already beleaguered Philippine human-rights activists.

PLANE TURNOVER. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (6th from right), Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koji Haneda (5th from left) along with key officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Japan’s Ministry of Defense lead the turnover of three TC-90 patrol aircraft to the Philippine Navy in Sangley Point, Cavite on Monday, March 26.

PNA photo by Joey Razon

PH monitoring Chinese drills...

ing their warships much more their aircraft carriers in disputed waters,” the Defense chief PAGE A1 t Asked if the Chinese activ- added.

Satellite images obtained by [monitoring]… Para alam natin ity should be a cause for alarm, kung ano ang mga ginagawa nila Lorenza replied: “I don’t think Reuters showed at least 40 ships and submarines flanking China’s (So that we know what they’re we should [be alarmed].” doing),” Lorenzana told report“We don’t believe the Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning this u PAGE A4 ers on Wednesday, March 28. will act provocatively by bring- week. The photos were supposedly taken on Monday, March 26.

The activity was apparently part of what China earlier announced as routine exercises.

In a Global Times article last Sunday, March 26, military expert Song Zhongping revealed that China will conduct combat exercises in the South China Sea every month “unlike in previous years.”

According to the report, the monthly drills are aimed to test the navy’s combat readiness.

“The 2018 drills will be routine and will be held every month, unlike in previous years,” Song was quoted saying in China’s staterun newspaper.

“The South China Sea and East China Sea will be primary battlegrounds. The PLA [People’s Liberation Army] is committed to be battle-ready through simulated combat training,” Song added.

Wang Xiaopeng, a maritime border expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, clarified that the Chinese exercises “do not target any specific country.”

“The drills do not target any specific country but they are focusing on enhancing China’s capability to safeguard the country’s sovereignty,” Wang told Global Times. n

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LA leaders unveil new Skid Row...

PAGE A1 t that is geographically accessible to a vast majority of the city’s homeless community.

Funded primarily through a Prop HHH award in the first round of funding, the clinic will simultaneously expand health care while providing a pathway for housing for those who are experiencing homelessness.

“The Joshua House Health Center will provide state-of-theart, comprehensive medical care to 200 people a day. The goal is access to health, access to homes, access to a better life and access to a better community. Let’s bring everyone in!” LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said at a press conference on Wednesday at the center’s location.

Local faith leaders also came to the unveiling to bless the grounds. Los Angeles Christian Health Centers owns and will operate the Joshua House Health Clinic, which will replace an existing 100-year structure that has operated as a crack house.

The new three-story clinic will be a part of a larger multi-project development — which will include a 55-unit apartment area for homeless Angelenos — that will be developed by Skid Row Housing Trust.

“We are proud of this very special project that we hope will help transform the way health care and housing services are offered to people who are homeless and underserved,” said President and CEO of LACHC Lisa Abdishoo, M.D. “It’s significant that LACHC is able to expand in this way to do more to reach people who are homeless and have complex needs.

Abdishoo said that the Joshua House Health Center — which is located in Skid Row on 7th Street and Wall Street — will provide a wide range of medical, dental, mental health and substance abuse services for the area’s homeless population.

According to a statement provided by the Skid Row Housing

Trust, the new space will serve an additional 1,200 patients within the first year and is projected to serve up to 7,000 annually.

The clinic will include 18 medical exam rooms, six consultation rooms, eight dental chairs, nine mental health rooms and 13 social work and care coordination offices.

There will also be a large multipurpose room for fitness classes and health education as well as a meditation room and a chaplain’s office.

For people who are homeless, the average life expectancy is 30 years less than those who do not experience homelessness, and many homeless people develop life-threatening, preventable diseases. The city hopes that this new clinic will provide care for those who didn’t have access existing public resources.

“It’s about damn time,” a homeless man who asked to be called T.J. shared with the Asian Journal on Wednesday. “For years we’ve been without a lot of the things that should be necessities for everyone. It’s the wild west out here, man [and] we have our own form of politics out here. Other people see us and act like they’re scared, but it’s dangerous for us, too.”

T.J., 45, has battled alcoholism and drug abuse which he what he said caused him to become homeless for the past seven years. He came from a lower-middle class upbringing but various “relationships and lifestyle changes” led him to become what he cheekily calls “certifiably homeless.” He has tried to seek out resources for homeless veterans but nothing thus far has been effective in him kicking his addiction and getting him a permanent residence.

“When you’re seeing us from a car or from a situation where you never — where you think you’ll never be homeless, it’s different.

When you’re actually here, it’s a different world. People judge, but they don’t know,” T.J. remarked.

When asked if he thinks the new health clinic means change

FROM THE FRONT PAGE

for the homeless community on Skid Row, he laughed and said, “I sure hope so. The city has been trying to do something about us for years to result in absolutely zero change. There’s all this hooha about new laws that are supposed to get us off these streets, but honestly, a lot of us aren’t holding our breath. But I’m an optimist so hopefully, this does something. That’s an achievement in my book.”

Homeless initiatives in CA As previously reported by the Asian Journal, the state of California has kickstarted a new effort to combat homelessness across the state.

In the last few years, homelessness has surged across the state.

According to 2017 data from the state, California had 135,000 homeless people (the most of any state), which measures to about a quarter of the nation’s homeless population. Although there was a 15 percent decrease in the homeless population, the state saw a 2.1 percent increase from 2015.

Los Angeles is home to about a quarter of the state’s entire homeless population. The LA Homeless Services Authority found that in 2017, the LA County had more than 57,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night, which is a 23 percent increase from 2016. More than 4,800 of those individuals are military veterans and more than 8,500 of those individuals are in families.

Eleven California mayors — including LA Mayor Eric Garcetti — have proposed legislation that asks for $1.5 billion from the state to allocate to homeless services which include housing and health care.

“Cities are first responders in this crisis, and we are leveraging every possible resource to get people off the street and into homes. But we need help,” Garcetti said in a statement. This bill would provide emergency bridge housing and services to help people with their most urgent needs, so that they can begin rebuilding their lives with the dignity that everyone deserves.” (Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)

Palace reiterates Duterte not eyeing...

PAGE A1 t

and term limits under the 1987 Constitution would still be binding,” he said.

Puno also pointed out that no need for Duterte to extend his term as the “transition period will not go beyond 2022.”

“There will be no holdover provision. By the time we have

already shifted to a federal form, a new president will be voted,” he added.

He went on to say, “If you look at the transitory provisions of our different constitutions, it did not take an indefinite length of time to be able to go to the regular government.”

The revision of the 1987 Con-

stitution and the shift from a unitary to a federal form of government were among the top priorities of the Duterte administration.

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez previously floated the idea of a possible extension of Duterte’s term if the country becomes a federal state. ■

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • MARCH 31-APRIL 3, 2018

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VISITA IGLESIA. Devotees flock to the Manila Cathedral on Maundy Thursday, March 29 as part of Visita Iglesia, which is a Catholic tradition that requires the visitation of seven churches either on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday. The Manila Cathedral is one of the seven churches in Intramuros that will stage activities during the Holy Week to promote faith-based tourism.

PNA photo by Jess Escaros Jr.

Fil-Am group denies Jinggoy’s...

PAGE A1 t said that he was invited by USPGG to be a guest speaker to talk about extrajudicial killings, Dengvaxia fiasco and proposed shift to federalism in its annual general membership meeting to be held in Sterling Heights, Michigan on May 20, 2018.

He even attached in his motion an invitation letter signed by William Dechavez, identified as the president.

“This news is erroneous. USPGG Willie Dechavez did not invite Jinggoy Estrada to speak in Michigan under USPGG nor is any program being planned by USPGG Michigan since Willie Dechavez is on vacation in the Philippines,” the group advocating good government said in a statement.

USPGG explained that a certain Tony Antonio asked Dechavez to invite Estrada but Dechavez “said it could only be done in his personal capacity, not as chair of UPSPGG Michigan because he needs consultation with his group in Michigan.”

In a text message to reporters, Estrada lawyer Alexis AbastillasSuarez stood by the authenticity of the invitation letter that the former senator supposedly received from Chavez.

“Basta (Still) we received an invite and we are honoring it.

Whatever misunderstanding they have is already beyond us,”

Former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada

Suarez said.

USPGG is an organization of Filipinos based in the US. It is chaired by philanthropist Loida Nicolas-Lewis, who has been accused by the administration of conspiring with the International Criminal Court to indict President Rodrigo Duterte for crimes against humanity.

Duterte threatened to release a transcript of a supposed wiretapped phone conversation involving Lewis regarding the ICC’s preliminary examination into the government’s brutal war on drugs.

The Fil-Am community leader

Philstar.com photo

strongly denied Duterte’s claim.

Aside from his supposed speaking engagement, Estrada said he would also have a medical consultation for his recurring shoulder pains at Stanford Hospital.

He would be accompanied by his wife Precy and their children Janella, Jolo, Julian and Jill during the trip.

The anti-graft court allowed Estrada to post bail in 2017 after being detained for more than three years at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City.

(Gaea Katreena Cabico/Philstar. com)

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PH destinations promoted in Times Square, NYC subways Facebook makes privacy changes amidst Cambridge Analytica criticism

by MoMar

G. Visaya

AJPress

by rae

ann Varona

AJPress

AMIDST criticism sparked by the Cambridge Analytica scandal that was revealed roughly two weeks ago, facebook announced a number of privacy changes it was making to ease concerns over how it handled its users’ personal information.

These changes will be the first since facebook founder and chief

Inquirer.net photo

executive officer Mark Zuckerberg last week publicly pledged to do better with its users’ data.

On Wednesday, March 28, facebook announced that it would be rolling out in the coming weeks, a redesign of its privacy and security control tools to make finding and editing personal information on their platform easier.

“Last week showed how much more work we need to do to enforce our policies and help people understand how facebook works and the choices they have over their data,” said facebook chief privacy officer Erin Egan and deputy general counsel Ashlie Beringer in a statement.

“We’ve heard loud and clear that privacy settings and other important tools are too hard to find and that we must do more to keep people informed,” they added.

While privacy control features were before located across 20 separate areas on the social media platform, the new changes will bring the already existing features all to one single place.

The changes will include a new Privacy Shortcuts menu that would provide a “clearer, more visual, and easy-to-find” experience, and an “Access Your Information” tool where users will be more easily able to delete anything from their profiles or timelines they no longer want on the platform.

“It’s also our responsibility to tell you how we collect and use your data in language that’s detailed, but also easy to understand,” the statement added.

The company said that in the next coming weeks, it would also be proposing updates to their terms of service that will include the company’s commitments to its users, and their data policy.

“These updates are about transparency — not about gaining new rights to collect, use, or share data,” it said.

The security redesign began last year, but was accelerated after the Cambridge Analytica scandal became known. The firm was found to have improperly harvested information of around 50 million facebook users without permission, using the data for political ad targeting. facebook also said it would be shutting down their Partner Categories product, which enabled

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nEW YORK – An advertising campaign promoting the Philippines as a major tourism destination is in full swing with posters of picturesque locations plastered on various new York City subway cars along with ads playing on a large electronic billboard in Times Square.

The subway campaign began on the first week of March and will reportedly run for about 16 weeks, showing digital images of famous and upcoming travel sites such as Bantayan Island in Cebu, Samal Island in Davao, El nido in Palawan and Chocolate Hills in Bohol.

This week, various digital display panels on bus stops across the city will also feature photos and videos of these destinations.

“Times Square is the crossroads for everyone coming to new York, coming from all over the world, so tourists from all over, along with locals, will get to see this,” said Consul General Tess Dizon-De Vega.

Tourism Attaché Susan del Mundo made the announcement about the campaign weeks ago during the launching of the 2018 Ambassadors Tour. Local

The Department of Tourism’s ad campaign is in underway in New York City with posters in various NYC subways and a couple of big, digital billboards in Times Square showcasing various Philippine destinations.

Photo courtesy of Hazel Gendrano

residents and visitors have been posting photos of said posters on social media platforms like facebook and Instagram.

The posters carry the tagline

#ItsMorefunInThePhilippines and the PH Department of Tourism’s USA website www.philippinetourismusa.com as well as the hashtag #ExplorePH. n

Calif. bill targets profiteering in addiction treatment, dialysis industries

by Chad Terhune Californiahealthline.org

A CALIfORnIA lawmaker is seeking to rein in addiction treatment centers and dialysis providers accused of profiteering off vulnerable patients by collecting millions of dollars in inflated medical claims.

Supporters of the proposed legislation, scheduled for a key Senate hearing next month, say some providers, industry middlemen and charities with ties to providers are signing up patients for health insurance and paying the premiums only to line their own pockets.

They say these arrangements drive up insurance costs industrywide.

“Providers have a right to make a profit, but certainly not when those profit motives can compromise the health and well-being of patients and raise premiums for other Californians,” state Sen. Connie Leyva (D-Chino), the chief sponsor of the bill, said in a statement.

A major insurer, Blue Shield of California, and a powerful labor group, the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIUUHW), are also supporting the measure, Senate Bill 1156.

Premium assistance programs, in which providers and other outsiders step in to cover premiums for patients who cannot afford them, have drawn the ire of health insurers since the Affordable Care Act rolled out in 2014.

The health law made it easier for outside parties to quickly enroll patients who need lengthy or expensive treatment, because the law prevented insurers from denying applicants with preexisting conditions. Insurers say it opened the door to more fraudulent or unjustified billing, which has mostly occurred on individual policies purchased in the state insurance marketplaces set up under the ACA. The opioid crisis has further inflamed the problem. There are widespread reports of patient brokers and unscrupulous treatment centers enrolling patients in private plans and even entering phony information to make sure they are deemed eligible. The patient might actually be eligible for government-funded programs such as Medicaid or Medicare, but commercial plans typically pay more.

Within weeks, the insurer is billed tens of thousands of dollars, which

may be shared among the parties in the scheme.

Meanwhile, critics say, an addicted patient may receive subpar care and relapse, causing the insurer to pay still more.

Treatment providers and other opponents of the California bill accuse insurers of exaggerating the problem. They also warn against impeding consumers’ ability to receive help from charities and other legitimate groups when so many households struggle to pay medical bills.

Representatives of the addiction treatment industry acknowledge that cases of fraud and abuse exist in patient referrals, billing and payment of premiums. But they don’t think that this state proposal would be as effective as stronger enforcement of federal anti-kickback laws that target patient-steering and conflicts of interest.

Stampp Corbin, president of the Addiction Treatment Advocacy Coalition, a nonprofit group in Los Angeles that represents California’s for-profit treatment centers, said the bigger problem is that insurers improperly withhold payments for drug treatment or vastly underpay for services. He said that makes rehab centers less likely to accept new patients at a time when demand is skyrocketing.

“This bill is just a band-aid,” Corbin said. “It’s not addressing any of the issues created by health plan underpayments or lack of payment.”

The American Kidney fund, which has come under fire for its premium assistance program, has said anecdotal reports of patients being steered into private coverage are overblown.

Last year, the nonprofit group, which receives funding from drugmakers and dialysis providers, said it helped more than 3,800 dialysis patients in California pay their health insurance premiums.

Roughly 35 percent of those patients had employer plans and 15 percent were on individual policies, but about half were on Medicare or supplemental Medigap plans, which also can require premiums.

In a statement, the kidney group blasted the California bill, saying it “seeks to limit those patients’ access to lifesaving financial assistance and is nothing more than a thinly-veiled attempt by large health insurance companies to kick kidney patients off their insur-

ance plans.”

Under the legislation, thirdparty groups would have to certify that patients are not eligible for Medicare, Medicaid or federal subsidies on an individual policy.

They also would have to disclose to state insurance regulators in advance that they intend to pay a patient’s premiums.

The bill would require third parties to pay premiums for the full plan year and not stop after treatment has been rendered.

If the outside party fails to fulfill the law’s provisions, the health plan could pay for services at the prevailing Medicare rate, which would presumably be lower than the commercial reimbursement.

The Senate Health committee is scheduled to take up the bill at an April 18 hearing.

The insurance industry’s main lobbying group, America’s Health Insurance Plans, said there’s a role for legitimate charities to assist consumers. But the trade group said stricter rules are needed to address conflicts of interest.

Blue Shield of California, based in San francisco, estimated that it paid out $64 million in claims from January 2014 to June 2016 on policies involving third-party premium payments.

In 2016, the Obama administration issued rules barring dialysis facilities from making premium payments for health plans in the individual market without disclosure to the insurer and confirmation from the health plan that third-party payments would be accepted. But a federal judge in Texas blocked the regulations from going into effect.

It’s unclear whether the Trump administration will issue new rules, leaving state leaders to grapple with the issue for now.

One of the main supporters of the California bill, SEIU-UHW, has been sharply critical of the dialysis industry, singling out what it says are outsized profits. next week, SEIU said it plans to file more than 600,000 petition signatures with state officials in hopes of putting a measure on the november ballot to limit the revenue collected by dialysis companies to 15 percent above the cost of patient care.

This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, which publishes California Healthline, a service of the California Health Care Foundation. n

‘No evidence to link human rights...

PAGE A2 t Human Rights groups hit Duterte Human rights groups have denounced President Duterte’s bloody war on drugs in which thousands of people have been killed, either by police or by shadowy, unidentified gunmen.

Duterte, who says he must be tough to protect the people from the scourge of drugs, has criticized rights groups, saying they were “trivializing” his campaign and unjustly blaming the authorities for the bloodshed.

Police say they have killed more than 4,200 drug suspects who were violently resisting arrest since the launch of the crackdown, which Duterte has vowed to pursue until he steps down in June 2022.

Several thousand more people have been killed by unidentified gunmen.

Police suspect many were victims of gang wars, though activists believe vigilantes supporting the government campaign were responsible for many of the killings.

Brad Adams, Asia director of

Human Rights Watch (HRW), criticized Roque’s statement and the earlier comment from Cayetano, as “shockingly dangerous and shameful.”

“Are they trying to have death squads target human rights activists?” Adams asked in a statement.

Duterte said on March 14 the Philippines would pull out of the International Criminal Court (ICC) more than a month after court prosecutors opened a preliminary inquiry into his drug war.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI) denounced the government’s attacks on independent institutions and individuals that defend human rights.

AI-Philippines vice chairman Romeo Cabarde Jr. said the attacks on democratic institutions undermine democracy.

AI called on the government to stop the wave of dangerous attacks on human rights defenders and international institutions, reminding it to protect human rights defenders and guarantee that they may carry out their

work freely without any imminent danger from reprisals.

AI’s global human rights report, launched this week in Baguio City, covering 159 countries and territories, highlighted extrajudicial executions, freedom of expression, human rights defenders and internal armed conflict as pressing human rights issues in the Philippines.

Opposition Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay yesterday corrected President Duterte on the latter’s claim that the Rome Statute creating the ICC needed to be published in the Official Gazette for it to be effective in the country.

He said the requirement of publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation applies to laws passed by Congress and signed by the President, and not to international treaties or covenants.

He said international instruments have their own provisions on when they would come into effect, and ratifying countries have prior knowledge of such provisions. – Emmanuel Tupas, Jess Diaz, Rhodina Villanueva, Reuters n

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Int’l names De Lima among Southeast Asia’s women to watch

by Audrey

MorAllo Philstar.com

MANILA — Detained Sen. Leila De Lima is among Southeast Asia’s women to watch, an Asia-Pacific magazine says.

According to The Diplomat magazine, De Lima’s refusal to stay quiet despite being incarcerated is an important message that there was a “robust resistance” determined to make the Philippines safe despite the massive popularity of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“She has continued her fight against the Duterte administration from behind bars and inspired progressive Filipinos and international human rights activists alike, including Pope Francis,” Erin Cook of the Tokyo-based The Diplomat wrote.

The Palace has been quick to counter criticism of De Lima’s detention, stressing she is in detention on drug charges and not her principles.

“Her refusal to stay quiet is an important message often ob-

chair of a Senate panel holding hearings on the killings.

“In a particularly vicious and misogynistic series of attacks, de Lima was accused by Duterte and his supporters of being engaged in sexual affairs and importing drugs and arms into the country,” Cook said in her article.

Phelime Kine, deputy director of the Asian Division of Human Rights Watch, described the recognition as well deserved.

Early this month, De Lima was also named as among the power women in Southeast Asia for being the “flag-bearer” for human rights in the Philippines — a cause that the country’s top diplomat and the president’s spokesperson have tried to link to drug lords and the illegal narcotics trade.

De Lima was also included in the list of Foreign Policy’s 2016 Leading Global Thinkers and of Amnesty International’s Women Human Rights Defenders for 2017.

Also included on The Diplomat’s list were Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been widely criticized for her government’s tepid response to the Rohingya gelization. Evangelization, com- crisis in Myanmar, ousted formunicating the truth, of God’s mer Thai premier Yingluck Shilove, especially to the poor hap- nawatra, Indonesian Minister pens in a covenant relationship, of Maritime Affairs and Fishers not in a context where some see Susi Pudjiastuti and Malaysian people as objects to be manipu- longtime activist Maria Chin lated for one’s purposes. Evan- Abdullah. n gelization challenges us, go back to covenant relationship. And in a covenant relationship, the good news, the good news, is simply, expressed, received and understood,” said Tagle.

Tagle also said that, to evangelize, “we need silence” in order “to listen.”

“The silence of someone attentive to God who speaks for what we will proclaim if we have not heard from God. It also requires attentiveness to the human condition – attentiveness to the poor, to the captives, to the blind, to the prisoners, those who are shackled, those who cannot breathe. We need to silently listen to them, and listening to their stories, we are reduced to further silence,” said Tagle.

“You are silent. But then you are also silent when you see pure love. And you cannot believe whether this love is for real. And then in silence you absorb, you listen to God, evangelizing you, through the poor and then you can speak a word of comfort, a word of liberation, a word of hope. But first, you listen.”

Lastly, Tagle said evangelization must have “integrity.”

Tagle said that the good news “was not just said, not just, heard, but it is to be fulfilled.”

He said that this has always been the challenge to the clergy.

“It is easy to speak but do we live it? It is easy to speak but do we act on it. The good news is not just to be proclaimed in words, in most instances, it is better proclaimed in life, in deeds. That is integrity,” said Tagle.

“Evangelization is about good news, not fake news,” said Tagle.

“Let us put a stop to fake news. We are not called and consecrated to bring fake news, only good news, especially through the integrity of our lives,” said Tagle.

“Let me close this saying: Open your eyes, open your ears, listen, listen,” he said. (Alec Naldo & Mia Macatiag/ManilaTimes.net) scured that while Duterte continues to enjoy high polling and support in the country, there is a robust resistance determined to make the Philippines safe,” Cook said.

De Lima is currently detained in Camp Crame, the headquarters of the Philippine National Police on drug-related charges.

She is accused of abetting the trade of illegal drugs in the National Bilibid Prison during her time as Justice secretary in the previous Aquino administration and using narcotics money to fund her successful senatorial candidacy.

The senator and her supporters claim that the cases filed against her are trumped up and are meant to intimidate and silence her as she has been a thorn in the side of Duterte and his illegal drugs crackdown.

De Lima has led probes into alleged extrajudicial killings under Duterte during his time as Davao City mayor and now that he is the Philippine leader. Prior to her arrest, she was ousted as

Tagle to clergy: Evangelize...

PAGE A1 t claiming the word, evangelization, communicating good news, a reminder to all of us especially to all of us ordained,” said Tagle, adding that this year’s pastoral theme centers on the clergy and religious “as a servant leader of the new evangelization.”

“Again evangelization is our common goal but let me focus on evangelization,” said Tagle, as he also announced preparations for 2021, which marks the 500th anniversary of the coming of Christianity to the Philippines.

Tagle said that the challenge of evangelization for the clergy and the religious in the age of modern communication is being able to determine whether first, the Gospel was being spread in the context of a “covenant,” as he warned against the “manipulation” of the message.

“Today, we have text. We have email. We have Instagram, Facebook, Viber. We have so many means of communication, but are we communicating? Has the cellphone made the communication between husband and wife better? Do you understand yourself more deeply? Has the relationship between parents and children become more profound and loving? Is there more peace in the world because of email, because the leaders of this world can pass information easily? Is there more peace? Is there more understanding?”

“Some people say there is even a breakdown in communication.

Why? Because communication has been reduced to strategies, and sadly some of the strategies manipulate the hearer rather than communicate the truth,” Tagle said in English and Filipino.

“But when it is the Gospel, the Lord has anointed me, the Holy Spirit has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, do we manipulate? Or do we communicate?

True communication happens in the context of covenant (tipanan).

Manipulation thrives in the context of disrespect. That’s why fake news proliferates,” said Tagle.

“I can deliberately deceive people because I have no covenant relationship with them, I do not care. I only want to manipulate the truth so that I may get what I want. That is not evan-

Facebook makes privacy...

PAGE A4 t

third-party data providers to offer their targeting directly on the platform.

“While this is common industry practice, we believe this step, winding down over the next six months, will help improve people’s privacy on Facebook,” the company said on Wednesday.

Facebook also announced that it would be temporarily preventing new apps from joining its platform. This, after it said last week that developers would be given limited access to user data.

The Menlo Park based social networking company has already seen a number of negative effects, including a loss of nearly $80 billion in its market value since the data scandal broke out on March 17.

Many users began abandoning the platform in a #DeleteFacebook movement. Companies like Sonos, Pep Boys, and SpaceX and Tesla — whose owner Elon Musk said the network gave him “the willies” — also called it quits.

In an interview last week with The New York Times, Zuckerberg acknowledged his company’s responsibility in protecting data and said, “Whenever there’s an issue where someone’s data gets passed to someone who the rules

of the system shouldn’t have allowed it to, that’s rightfully a big issue and deserves to be a big uproar.”

Facebook has been under a lot of pressure both in the U.S. and in Europe where a new privacy law slated to take effect in May poses even more challenges for the company.

Zuckerberg has reportedly agreed to testify before at least one of three congressional committees probing the Cambridge Analytica controversy in the U.S., that being the House Energy and Commerce Committee next month.

Facebook’s chief product officer Chris Cox is expected to appear before U.K. lawmakers next month in regards to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

When speaking with CNN last week, Zuckerberg who initially seemed to be wary of speaking to congress, said he’d be happy to do so “if it’s the right thing to do.”

“What we try to do is send the person at Facebook who will have the most knowledge,” said Zuckerberg. “If that’s me, then I am happy to go.”

He also apologized for what happened and called the event a “major breach of trust.”

“We have a basic responsibility to protect people’s data,” he added. n

HYBRID CARABAO. Scientists at the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC) have developed a “three-in-one” carabao that is adaptable to hot and humid weather, resilient to climate change and profitable for farmers. The first four of this breed, called Philippine Dairy Carabao, were introduced on Tuesday, March 27, when the PCC celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Inquirer,net photo by Anselmo Roque

Awarding of Congressional Gold Medals to mark 76th Death March anniversary SAN FRANCISCO – The public is invited to the commemoration of the 76th Anniversary of the Bataan Death March, Saturday, April 7, 2018, at 9 a.m. at the San Francisco National Cemetery at the Presidio (1 Lincoln Drive, San Francisco, CA). The event is free and open to the public.

Bataan Legacy Historical Soci-

ety, the Presidio Trust, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration and the Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project are hosting the event.

Seventy-six years ago, approximately 75,000 Filipino and American troops of the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East were forced to sur-

render to the Imperial Japanese Army after fighting in the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines for 99 days with no air support or reinforcement.

Most of the men suffered from disease and starvation and were forced to march to their prison camp which was located over 60

u PAGE A6

A march 31-april 3, 2018 • la WEEKEND aSiaN JOUrNal

Dateline USa

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Fil-Am girl among the 17 killed in Parkland, Florida massacre

by Marivir

r. Montebon Inquirer.net

MAKING HISTORY. Phil Younghusband (10) battles for the ball against Asrorov Siyovush (2) during the Philippines vs Tajikistan match in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup 2019 qualifiers on Tuesday, March 26, at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium in Manila.

The Philippine Azkals made history, securing entry into the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, with a dramatic 2-1 over against Tajikistan.

ManilaTimes.net photo by Rene Dilan

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going to study at the University of Florida in the fall. Carmen had flown to Germany in 2017 to check out its universities.

“She was accepted in many universities but said she was going to settle for the University of Florida so I can visit her,” said the proud grandmother who, like typical immigrant elders, have influenced American born children to imbibe Filipino traditions. Carmen, said her mother April, was also considering the University of Washington.

The middle child of April and Philip Schentrup, she loved pansit and eggroll, as well as older brother Bobby and younger sister Evelyn. The three were raised in a disciplined Filipino way where home works and house Fil-Am Carmen Schentrup was among the chores were sacred duties to be fatalities at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. fulfilled. n

NEW YORK CITY – Carmen Marie Schentrup would have graduated at the top of her class in May this year. She was a consistent A student at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida until that bloody day of February 14, 2018 when she died from four gun shots that pierced through her body and head. Carmen was in her AP psychology class, the last class for that day, when tragedy struck. She was a national Merit Scholar finalist who planned to become a doctor.

Her grandmother, Florenda “Linda” Rosal Nicoloff, a Filipino residing in Melbourne, Florida, recounted how she was heartbroken when her daughter, Carmen’s mother April, told her about the Parkland shooting. On that day, Linda and her husband were celebrating their 34th wedding anniversary.

“My daughter April went to Carmen’s school immediately after hearing the incident. The parents waited for 12 hours in a nearby designated area from the school premises to finally find out about what happened. It was total chaos and my daughter was distraught,” she said in a telephone interview with OSM!. April Schentrup works as a school principal near Carmen’s school.

Rosal-Nicoloff is a native of Zambales and came to the U.S. in 1976. She said that two days prior to the shooting, Carmen had hap- Grandma Florenda with Carmen and older brother Bobby and younger sister Evelyn. pily called to tell her that she was Contributed photos

PH gov’t welcomes US duty-free entry scheme re-authorization THE Philippine government, through the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC, welcomed the reauthorization of the United States Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) of the scheme that allows duty-free entry of more than 5,000 products to America.

Philippine Ambasador to the U.S. Jose Manuel Romualdez said the Philippines has enjoyed preferential duty-free entry to the U.S. through the GSP program.

GSP exports account for 18 percent of Philippine exports to the U.S., valued at an estimated USD1.59 billion.

In his report to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Romualdez said he emphasized

the importance of this program to Philippine exporters and micro, small and medium enterprises.

“It has been and will remain an important component of the development cooperation framework of the Philippines and the United States,” he said in a statement issued on Tuesday, March 27.

“We thank the U.S. Congress and the Trump Administration for the renewal of this triple-win program for developing countries, U.S. businesses and American consumers,” he added.

“We also thank other GSP beneficiaries, industry associations and U.S. importers who joined us in advocating for the renewal of GSP.”

The scheme, instituted in 1974 and renewed periodically, provides duty-free access to thousands of eligible products for beneficiary developing countries, such as the Philippines.

It expired in December 2017 and was reauthorized March this year after it was included in the Omnibus Spending Bill signed into law last March 23 by President Trump.

The renewal authorizes the GSP until Dec. 31, 2020 and covers a total 5,057 products or tariff lines or roughly 47.7 percent of the 10,600 total U.S. tariff lines.

Effective July 1 last year, a total of 23 travel goods articles were added to the program. (Joyce Ann L. Rocamora/PNA)

5 Filipinos recognized on 2018 Forbes’...

PAGE A1 t

mis chef at the Shangri-La Manila, has founded his own food group called Tasteless. He also co-owns seven restaurant concepts in the country.

Oclos, meanwhile, is an artist who has painted murals criticizing the Philippine government’s drug war. Describing him as a “firm believer that art can inspire social change,” Forbes said Oclos “keeps his technique simple, often opting for industrial paint and heavy brushstrokes, so viewers could focus on the subjects and message.

Under the Finance and Venture category, Forbes featured 29year-old Sy, founder of Thinking Machines, which aims to make artificial intelligence systems work for humans.

She is currently working with the Philippine government in solving traffic congestion using data from Waze, the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation app.

Sacayanan, on the other hand, was featured in the Media, Marketing, and Advertising category.

More popularly known as Bretman Rock, the 19-year-old social media sensation was also featured in Time Magazine’s 30 Most Influential Teens in 2017.

“The beauty vlogger is known not only for makeup tutorials, but also his often humorous views on life,” Forbes said.

Meanwhile, Delantar is listed under the Social Entrepreneur category. The 26-year-old is the country director of the non-profit group Waves for Water, which

helps provide clean water to communities.

“After helping the NGO with relief efforts in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013, Carlo Delantar saw potential for the W4W model to benefit water-insecure communities in his native Philippines in the long term, becoming W4W’s Country Director there,” Forbes said.

Forbes also recognized Philippine-based entrepreneur Patrick Lynch, an Irish native and cofounder of financial tech startup, First Circle.

First Circle is a financial technology company providing finance to small to medium enterprises who find it difficult to secure capital and has loaned millions of dollars to businesses in the Philippines. n

Awarding of Congressional Gold Medals...

PAGE A5 t miles away under extreme tropical conditions with no provisions for food, water, shelter or medicine.

Those who could no longer go on were beaten, bayoneted, shot and some were even beheaded. Thousands died during this march, which became infamously known as the Bataan Death March.

The outdoor program will start at 9 a.m. with a procession by JROTC Cadets from San Francisco high schools led by the Filipino American Law Enforcement Officers Association Color Guards and followed by the 191st U.S. Army Band and the Pacific Division/84th Training Command Rifle Detail.

A wreath laying ceremony will take place simultaneously with a 21-gun rifle salute by the Pacific Division/84th Training Command

Rifle Detail.

At 10:30 a.m., an indoor program will take place at the Golden Gate Club at the Presidio (135 Fisher Loop, San Francisco) to award bronze replicas of the Congressional Gold Medal to the remaining Filipino WWII veterans and to the families of deceased veterans. In view of the space limitations, this event is by invitation only.

The medals will be awarded by serving and retired U.S. Army Generals led by Maj. General (Ret.) Eldon Regua a member of the California Governor’s Military Council, Maj. General Garrett Yee (Keynote Speaker), Director of Networks, Services, and Strategy, Office of the Army Chief Information Officer, and Brig.

General Windsor Buzza, Deputy Commanding General of the 84th

Filipino WWII veterans after lobbying in Washington, DC.

Training Command.

Bataan Legacy Historical Society worked successfully with the California Department of Education to include WWII in the Philippines in the Grade 11 U.S. history curriculum framework. It commissioned several Bay Area high school history teachers to create sample lesson plans that are consistent with California Common Core Standards and which are now available for free through its website.

It has presented the lesson plans in conferences starting last year and this year; these will be presented during the Association of Asian American Studies Conference in San Francisco on March 31 and the Organization of American Historians Conference in Sacramento on April 12. n

Inquirer.net photo

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LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • mARch 31-ApRIL 3, 2018

Dateline PhiliPPines

A

PET prepares for VP ballot recount Ombudsman blocks Napoles bid for jail transfer by aJPress The Presidential electoral Tribunal (PeT) is ready for next week’s revision of votes on former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s electoral protest against Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo.

The Supreme Court (SC), sitting

as PeT, is set to start its manual recount on around 1,400 ballot boxes from Camarines Sur—one of the three pilot provinces cited

by Marcos in his protest—on Monday, April 2.

An ocular inspection was conducted on Tuesday, March 27, at the SC-Court of Appeals gymnasium, where the revision of ballots will be held.

Supreme Court (SC) Security Division chief Joery Gayanan conducts an ocular inspection of the ballot boxes for the recount of the recent vice-presidential votes set on April 2, 2018 at the sidelines of a press briefing at the SC Gymnasium in Manila on Tuesday, March 27. The SC will sit as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) during the recount filed by Ferdinand Marcos Jr. against Maria Leonor Robredo.

PNA photo by Jess Escaros Jr.

NPA a ‘failure’ – Lorenzana

by Demsey

Reyes ManilaTimes.net

The communist New People’s Army (NPA) has failed for the past five decades to overthrow the government because of its “irrelevant” cause and “bankrupt” ideology, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Thursday, March 29.

In a statement on the NPA’s 49th anniversary, Lorenzana slammed the communist armed wing anew by calling its existence as “futile, delusional and vicious,” as well as a “bane” to the country’s peace, security and national development.

“As with previous years, the rebels are again expected to show off their so-called ‘force’ by carrying out a string of celebratory attacks, atrocities and criminal acts to hide their dwindling number and degraded strength,” the Cabinet official said.

“For the past 49 years, you have failed to overthrow the duly constituted government and replace the ideals of democracy with your brand of communism, despite your

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana Philstar.com photo

relatively stronger force and mass base support,” Lorenzana added.

The NPA was founded in 1969, less than a year after the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) was founded by Jose Maria “Joma” Sison on December 26, 1968.

Sison met with Bernabe Buscayno, a former activist who had commanded an armed group during the communist-led uprising in the 1950s known as the huk Rebellion.

Buscayno became the first com-

u PAGE A11

According to Lawyer Jose Lemuel Arenas, member of the tribunal’s Adhoc committee, the PeT is currently housing ballot boxes from Camarines Sur, while the remaining ballot boxes from Iloilo and Negros Oriental—the two other pilot provinces—are currently with the Commission on

u PAGE A9

by elizabeth

maRcelo Philstar.com

MANILA — Prosecutors from the Office of the Ombudsman are contesting the bid of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet LimNapoles to be transferred from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) detention facility

to a safe house of the Department of Justice (DOJ), saying her request reflects her “misplaced and twisted sense of entitlement.”

Napoles, through her lawyers, recently filed a motion before the Sandiganbayan First, Third and Fifth Divisions seeking her transfer from BJMP custody to the DOJ under its witness protection pro-

gram (WPP).

The motion came after Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II confirmed to the media that Napoles was provisionally admitted to the WPP so she could shed light on the multibillion-peso pork barrel fund scam.

“It is a lamentable truth that too

u PAGE A10

A8 MARCH 31-APRIL 3, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

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OPINION

Stopping ‘tokhang for ransom’

FEATURES

IN August last year, a couple filed a complaint against five policemen in Laguna for detaining them under the guise of a drug bust and then extorting P215,000 in exchange for their release. Last week the Philippine National Police dismissed the five for grave misconduct.

The five – Police Officers 3 Troyluss Ambrocius Yideso and Warren Ryan Carpena, PO2 John Alicbusan and Police Officers 1 Glecerio Cruzen and Clayson Benabese – are in the custody of the Laguna provincial police. The finding of administrative guilt should speed up the judicial resolution of the criminal charges they still face for robbery-extortion.

Adjudication of the criminal case must be speeded up so that there will be less temptation for other crooked cops to use the war on drugs for personal profit. The five cops’ modus operandi has been called tokhang for ransom. Other anti-narcotics cops have been accused of using the same MO even before Oplan Tokhang was launched. Drugs are planted as evidence on innocent victims, who are then asked to cough out money so they are spared from arrest and criminal indictment. Or else real drug dealers are apprehended, detained

and then allowed to buy their way to freedom.

The good news is that the five cops, who were assigned in Sta. Rosa, Laguna before they detained Rommel dela Cruz and his wife Cristy on trumpedup drug charges, have been dismissed from the PNP and are facing trial for their crime. There are several other cases that must be resolved quickly, among them the kidnapping, robbery-extortion and brutal execution of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo by members of the main police anti-drug team outside the unit’s office right inside PNP headquarters at Camp Crame.

There are cops who believe they have been given blanket authority to do whatever they want in battling the illegal drug trade. The war cannot be won as long as this belief persists. Punishing extortionists and other abusive cops is the best way to dispel that belief. (Philstar.com)

Editorial

Philstar.com photo

Fil-Am teen among the 17 killed in the Parkland, Florida mass shooting

The Fil-Am Perspective GEL SANTOS-RELOS BALITANG AMERICA has confirmed that one of the kids who died when a 19-year-old man opened fire using an AR-15 war weapon in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Valentine’s Day was of Filipino descent.

Her name was Carmen Schentrup, a beautiful and intelligent senior high school student whose Filipina lola, Florenda

Rosal Nicoloff, was reportedly a native of Zambales, Philippines.

Carmen’s mom April was born at the Subic Bay Airforce Base.

In an exclusive report on The Filipino Channel’s daily newscast “Balitang America” (BA), Carmen’s brother Robert Schentrup spoke via Skype to BA producer Jon Caña about the tragedy that took the life of his sister, who would have turned 17 a week after the shooting.

“For literally 12 hours we just didn’t know. I found out through a phone call from my dad and once I picked up the

phone and heard him crying, I knew the answer. That was hard that night. I didn’t sleep at all,” Robert said.

Robert described Carmen as a caring person with a sense of humor. She was a smart and dedicated young lady who was looking forward to a bright future until her life was cut short on that fateful day of February 14. Carmen was accepted into the University of Florida’s honors program. Her dream was to become a medical scientist.

The Schentrup family channeled the deep pain and grief of losing Carmen in the mass

shooting to an advocacy for stricter gun control laws. On March 24, they all went to Washington D.C. to join the “March For Our Lives” event, along with almost a million other young students, families and supporters.

“It’s something that affects not only our family but so many other families as well,” Robert told BA’s Jon Caña. “In America, gun violence happens every day and 96 people die from it every single day. And that’s something that needs to change.”

Carmen’s bereaved family is now working with non-profit

organization Everytown for Gun Safety, a survivor network for those affected by gun violence that lobbies in Washington D.C. for stricter gun control legislation.

Robert, who studies at the University of Central Florida, also told BA that he is also joining the Brady Campaign, with the goal of registering more student voters who will elect more public officials who support gun control in November’s midterm elections.

“While there’s this big push for that to happen I want to make sure I’m doing my part

to further that and make sure that something comes out of this, ” says the brother who wishes to honor Carmen’s life and legacy so that no other families will have to mourn the loss of their loved ones to gun violence.

Carmen, may you rest in God’s eternal love and peace. *** Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https:// www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos

Boni Alvarez: A Filipino-American playwright’s insights on culture, identity & creative process of “Bloodletting”

Rhizomes

PROSY ABARQUEZDELACRUZ, J.D. “Who are you? Who am I? You are the truth teller. When you die to your old self, you enter into a new realm, physically feel your body, the drama of its fall, the healing of past traumas, including falling into the darkness, then, you begin to see light…”

– Joey Lianza, an award-winning theater director in Leyte, Philippines.

JOEY Lianza must have had seen it all, the result of Mother Nature’s bloodletting – floating bodies from the second floor of his apartment during Typhoon Haiyan, a cyclone that devastated his home province, from howling 145mph winds that resulted in 6,300 deaths in 2013.

What was remarkable about him as a theater director is he utilized his skills of play acting to help process “out with the trauma” amongst children who lost their family members, using hand puppets, and making the commitment of two weekends to be trained by psychotherapists, along with his teacher-colleagues, who made it their mission towards a collective healing. From that pain, he chose to emerge from the darkness, though he might describe it with such specificity, and became even more creative by training college students to act in different plays he staged in Leyte, garnering regional, national and international awards of recognition from UNICEF, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, and other cultural bodies.

By doing so, he exhibited the “the individualism of his personal commitment,” which is described by Charles Taylor’s “Sources of The Self,” “to make this central human moral power is to open the way to an outlook which makes commitment crucial.”

We are presented with a choice: “to live a life with an ethic

of a whole will,” he said, or “as against the more lax and minimal rules demanded by society at large.” Awed by the rainbow that appears after a rain, and allowing oneself of feeling that rainbow, Lianza continues, “it gives new life.”

Boni Alvarez is equally adept at using the family dynamics of quarrels amongst siblings to ask the question – who is the aswang (witches) who seems to suck out the good energies in the room? Their parallel messages of choosing a higher self versus a wicked self interestingly speak to darkness, one in the form of trauma from witnessing a calamity; while in “Bloodletting” (a play Alvarez wrote and directed

by Jon Lawrence Rivera will be staged as part of Center Theater Group’s Block Party 2018, March 29 through April 8, 2018) is about a brother and a sister losing their father.

“As they arrive in [Palawan] Island, Farrah (Ocenar) and Bosley (Alvarez) to scatter their father’s ashes, a typhoon hits and they are forced to seek shelter in a café. While in the café, the owner (Isaac) and his granddaughter (Yatco) reveal tales about witches,” according to Jason Martin, head of publicity of Center Theater Group.

The shrill and elevated pitches of dialogue exchanges between a brother and a sister reveal their resentment, and at times, repressed anger and even judgment, to which the audience could relate, as their own family dynamics played out. It made this writer recall Philippine theater and its use of “allegory, indirection, allusion, metaphor; mime, shadow play, religious dramatization, folk drama, game, verbal joust – to explore the concentric circles of personal, communal, and national suffering and concerns,” as Doreen Fernandez noted in Essays on Philippine Theater.

The creative process of writ-

ing a play Alvarez granted an exclusive interview with the Asian Journal revealing his insights about the human condition, his motivations in writing the play and the layers of personal creative expressions he had to go through, to achieve this completed piece of artwork, a play.

The characters are composites of what he heard from folks, “gossips, nothing confirmed,” he said, underscoring that the play is a product of his imagination, and after, rigorously subjected to a collaborative process of revision.

After writing, it would be gathering friends to read out loud, then more readings, a workshop to see if the characters work and allowing the collective to critique.

“At first, Jenri (the café owner) was a much younger character, a father, in the first draft, then, he became a grandpa, an older presence, more rooted in the traditions,” Alvarez shared.

“How do you distinguish the witches in the community,” I asked, to which he said, “they tend to be spinsters, childless, and come from a lot of siblings.

They tend to be stand-offish, want to be by themselves, isolated, secretive, reclusive, don’t speak very much and tend to listen.”

This play is set in the province of Palawan, where as recently as the end of January 2018, we (my husband Enrique and I) were fortunate to tour the island with a friend, DNG, who lives in the area. That evening, we passed through an unusual stretch of roads, and he shared that many stories abound of disappearances in this area. It felt eerie and that feeling was aggravated by unlit homes, quite early in the evening, while in contrast, homes past that road had lights.

“Aswang (witches) is not just bad. They are part of nature. Look at the animal kingdom, there are predators who are meant to prey

Center Theatre Group’s second annual Block Party will remount Playwrights’ Arena’s “Bloodletting” at the Kirk Douglas Theatre from March 29 through April 8, 2018. Photo shows (from L-R): Myra Cris Ocenar, Boni B. Alvarez, Alberto Isaac, Playwrights’ Arena Artistic Director Jon Lawrence Rivera and Anne Yatco.

Photo by Luke Fontana

on others. They exist for a reason, for population control. Half, I made up, half were handed to us. We cannot differentiate them from us. When you look at their eyes, they are not always casting spells. This is about a brother/sister, about sibling rivalry, sometimes the parents define that relationship by how they raise them, how that one sibling was preferred – it will have an impact for how we can be monstrous to another. They know you the best, they know how the parents treated you and they can adopt the treatment of parents as well,“ Alvarez continued.

He then described how aswangs are within us, a euphemism for “our dark selves, when a two-year-old throws a tantrum and becomes this monster, throwing a fit, of course, that child does not know how to express himself and has no powers of reasoning, but people throwing fits, they are well into their

adulthood, they know better, but they are unconsciously mean.”

Are these habits, I asked?

“Habits of behavior, “ he said. I complimented him on his daring and guts to move the dialogue to its unexpected endings, at times, making us fall down the cliffs. He articulated that his plays are not meant to be tragic or sad — they are sadly realistic. Perhaps he is describing a more complete realism in his plays, that a complex tragic life is really a series of losses and at the end, logically, it cannot become a happy ending, which would make the play an incomplete realism to some extent. But, one can choose a different ending, always, as even God pauses and allows man to exercise his free will, an ability to choose.

Courage to create In “Ruby, Tragically Rotund,” another play he wrote, with a successful run at the Los Angeles Theater, he revealed that “the

ending was so shocking and too much of a departure from what is expected by the audience, that some felt I misled the audience.

In writing about a fat person, I am writing about the façade of a fat, jolly person, a false veneer often to hide the feelings of that fat person; it was a tragedy all along, that when you put on center stage, it is about various stages of being disrobed.” It felt like peeling an onion, and one cries while removing the skin, mustering some courage to dissect this ingredient.

I asked about his courage in creating “Bloodletting.” He said, “I don’t think of myself as courageous — I always just worry that the audience finds my work interesting, and I would rather they hate my play than find it mediocre. I tell stories I feel compelled to write about. It comes from the Pinoy culture, the American dream in various forms, market-

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LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • mARch 31-ApRIL 3, 2018

A

Boni Alvarez: A Filipino-American playwright’s... Duterte to issue EO if Congress fails to pass BBL PAGE A8 t

ed in a different fashion. Everyone in the Philippines has a relative who has moved to the U.S. and they know how difficult life can be, even with testimonies of people pursuing dreams, some may not get the dreams, still they come to the U.S., and they keep pursuing the dream. Like for instance today, I don’t know when I can do laundry and I have to do the interview – [I know] that not a lot of writers get this opportunity.”

“How do you push past doubts?” he was asked at a forum in Historic Filipinotown, to which he responded, “I am inspired by an idea, a concept, a creative spark, then, the usual doubts creep in. I just have to trust that the initial creative spark will find an audience which will find it appealing.”

In another interview, he elaborated on what he meant: “In ‘Fixed,’ I was exploring what do we consider honorable gay in the gay community? I don’t know what it is, I searched for it, as I want it to be less divided. People of color writers always write in relation to white characters.

‘Fixed’ did not do that, instead, I wrote about the sub-culture that people don’t know about. As Filipino gays, there are more overt lady boys (men wearing men’s shirt but tied at the waist) than male gay boys. It is an interesting blend of masculinity and feminity. well-groomed and with make-up. That slot was missing to me so I wrote about lady boys who run the massage parlor. One thinks she is trans – will she consider it? People want the labels at the expense of identity.”

Power of creative self-expression I was interested in how he perceives our use of the power of creative self-expression. Alvarez boldly said, “I feel we restrict ourselves. In the same way, we may complain – a mainstream theater is not diverse in its offerings, I think that certain theaters which are meant to serve Asian Americans or the gay population can also be non-diverse in their offerings. We all need to step out of the ghetto mentality by believing that your voice is worthy of a wider audience. Trust that creative spark that made you create the piece in the first place. It can be so basic, say food, you are going to a potluck, bring what you think would appeal to a lot and you would not bring dinuguan, as it has intestines, tripe, but Latinos have menudo and Blacks have chittlings, there is a commonality there. The more specific a story you are telling with your culture, that story is the one that will appeal more universally.”

“What would you like to tell our folks?“ I asked.

Alvarez is concerned about emerging artists: “Support those who are coming up. At the end, we want more than one Apl. de.ap that is universally accepted as an artist, we must support so and so, as it is hard to be Asian Americans, as we are so diverse, so many viewpoints, and with not one single story that unifies us. So I am always trying to support five to six young folks that I meet and I tell them to keep me posted. There are new people coming up every day and they need our support.”

With that, I highly recommend you watch “Bloodletting,” written by a smart, brilliant, funny, playwright Boni Alvarez; directed by a smart, effective Jon Lawrence Rivera, another Fil-Am; and a cast of Filipino-Americans and set in Palawan, Philippines. I dare say it is an authentic Filipino-American play, but with a universal appeal to non-Filipino audiences and dialogue is in English.

Both these theater folks, Lianza and Alvarez, residing in Leyte and Los Angeles, display a very high personal commitment to their chosen field of artistry, theater and operate with ethics of will to tell their truth and in doing so, help in healing communities.

Let us support Bloodletting at Kirk Douglas Theater, to be shown for 11 days and just maybe, we may find the answers to lingering issues about family relationships or even decide to undertake our own journeys towards wholesomeness.

by Ralph

VillanueVa ManilaTimes.net

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte promised to issue an executive order to ensure the passage of an “inclusive” Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), Presidential Peace Adviser Jesus Dureza has said.

Dureza made the statement after Duterte’s meeting with leaders of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) at Matina Enclaves in Davao late Tuesday, March 27.

“The president said he would assist even to the extent of relaying to both chambers of Congress his determination to help push for the passage of the BBL that is compliant with the Comprehensive Agreement of the Bangsamoro and as close as possible to the new draft law submitted by the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC),” Dureza said in a statement.

The Comprehensive Agreement of the Bangsamoro is the *** final peace deal between the govProsy Abarquez-Delacruz, J.D. writes a weekly ernment and the MILF, signed column for Asian Journal, called “Rhizomes.” in 2014. But the government’s She has been writing for AJ Press for 10 promise of wider autonomy to years. She also contributes to Balikbayan Magazine. Her training and experiences are in science, food technology, law and community volunteerism for 4 decades. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of the Philippines, a law degree from Whittier College School of Law in California and a certificate on 21st Century Leadership from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She has been a participant in NVM Writing Workshops taught by Prof. Peter Bacho for 4 years and Prof. Russell Leong.

She has travelled to France, Holland, Belgium, Japan, Costa Rica, Mexico and over 22 national parks in the US, in her pursuit of love for nature and the arts.

President Rodrigo Duterte discusses matters with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Chairman Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim, Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) Chair Ghadzali Jaafar and MILF Peace Panel Chair Mohagher Iqbal during a meeting in Davao City

Muslim Mindanao needs congressional approval, through the passage of the BBL. “In the event this (BBL) does not take place in Congress, he said he would go to the extent of even exercising his residual powers through administrative directives to fulfill this commitment,” Dureza added.

According to Dureza, Duterte stressed in the meeting his

“continuing and consistent desire and commitment” to install an enhanced government structure and governance in Muslim Mindanao.

This is because Duterte firmly believes that the passage of the BBL will “hopefully solve the root causes of the Moro rebellion and address the historical injustice suffered by the Bangsamoro

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PET prepares for VP ballot...

PAGE A7 t

Elections (Comelec).

The next week’s recount is set to start from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. with 15-minute breaks and an hour lunch break—from Monday to Friday.

There would be a total of 50 revision committees to work on the initial recount. Each revision committee is assigned one ballot box.

“There’s a revision report per box, the objections and claims are on a per form per box basis so it’s easier to track,” Arenas said.

Each revision committee is composed of the PET-hired head revisor, and one revisor each

from the camps of Marcos and Robredo.

They will record objections, claims, and other notes which will be transmitted to the PET. The PET will review a total of 5,418 ballot boxes. The revision will be off-limits to media.

In his poll protest, Marcos accused Robredo of benefiting from “massive electoral fraud, anomalies and irregularities” during the vice presidential election in 2016.

Marcos filed three causes of action in his protest. In his first cause of action, which was already junked, the former senator asked to declare all the

certificates of canvass used to proclaim Robredo’s victory as “authentic.”

In his second cause of action, the former senator asked for the manual recount of votes in 22 provinces and five cities. PET, however, decided to hold an initial recount of three pilot provinces first before deciding whether the revision on other provinces should be pursued or not.

Marcos, in his third cause of action, sought the nullification of vice presidential votes in Lanao del Sur, Basilan, and Maguindanao due to alleged occurrence of “traditional” modes of cheating. n

FILIPINO SENIOR FESTIVAL / SENIOR CENTER PROGRAM Senior Center Invite you to Our

Thursday April 5, 2018 Will take place: #905 E. Colorado Blvd., Glendale CA 91205 FREE Breakfast and Lunch Entertainment, Bingo, Arts and Crafts and much more From 9am to 1pm

Transportation is FREE

Please call Gyna or Antonio

to reserve your seat before Monday April 2 at

323-459-9071 or 1-800-571-9994

A10 march 31-april 3, 2018 • la WEEKEND aSiaN JOUrNal

Dateline PhiliPPines

http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797

Ombudsman blocks Napoles bid for jail transfer Well-wishers flock to president’s PAGE A7 t

many individuals are possessed by a misplaced and twisted sense of entitlement, prompting them to make requests and demands for treatment uniquely suited for their self-indulgent needs and perceived stature,” the prosecutors said in their opposition paper, filed with the three divisions of the Sandiganbayan.

“Accused Janet Lim-Napoles is of such ilk. Perched on her selfperceived pedestal, and believing that she is head and shoulder

above the rest of the nameless and faceless detention prisoners, she now implores the honorable court, via the instant motion, to treat her differently,” they added.

Aguirre said the affidavit of Napoles, dubbed as the “queen” of the pork scam, is still undergoing assessment by his office, thus she could be under provisional WPP coverage.

Napoles is detained at the BJMP Female Dormitory at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig for plunder cases as co-accused of former

senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Juan Ponce Enrile and Jinggoy Estrada in connection with the alleged misuse of millions of pesos worth of their Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel.

In its opposition paper, the prosecution said Napoles’ motion is “misplaced, if not outright preposterous,” as she has yet to qualify for regular admission to the WPP. “It must be stressed that the privileges provided under the WPP, including the privilege to have a secure housing facility, are accorded only to witnesses whose acceptance to the WPP is considered regular,” the prosecution said.

The prosecution also stressed that Napoles is among the accused in the pork scam cases pending with the Sandiganbayan, thus the court has sole legal jurisdiction over her despite her possible admission to the WPP. “The prosecution never entertained and does not entertain the idea of utilizing her as its witness.

Hence, the probability of her being discharged as a state witness under Section 17, Rule 119, the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure in this case is nil,” it added.

The prosecution said Napoles’ motion for transfer of custody must also be denied as the court had earlier ruled that there is strong evidence against her to warrant her continued detention.

“Now, it should be stressed that the honorable court already denied accused Napoles’ application for bail... Indeed, to remove her from the confines of her detention and to transfer the custody over her to the WPP would virtually accord her the liberties of a free man,” the prosecution said.

In a manifestation filed last week, Napoles, through her lawyer Stephen David, claimed that she was experiencing threats and harassment in her current place of detention.

Napoles submitted to the court an incident report signed by a BJMP jail warden, detailing the supposed ransacking of her personal belongings by a greyhound team in October last year.

“Anent the supposed threats and intimidation against her, it is suffice to state that no one can really fully guarantee the safety of another, whether inside or outside a jail... But such fear of possible physical harm, unfounded at that, is not a valid and compelling reason to transfer accused Napoles to the custody of the WPP,” the prosecution said. n

FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS Madaba, Mt. Nebo, Petra, Aqaba, Jordan

(Tiberias, Ceasarea, Haifa, Meggido,Magdala, Nazareth, Cana, Mt Carmel, Capernaum, Mt. Beatitude, Jericho, Bethany, Mt.Tabor, Mount Zion, Mt. of Olives, Old & New Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Qumran, Masada Dead Sea, Allen by Bridge, Madaba, Mt Nebo Petra, Aqaba Jordan)

OCTOBER 18 to NOVEMBER 1, 2018 SPIRITUAL CHAPLAIN: REV. ANTONIO FLORES Oct. 18, 2018( Thursday) Day 1 – MNL HKG, TEL AVIV, ISRAEL Oct. 25, 2018 (Thursday) Day 8 - Jerusalem Trans-Atlantic flight from LAX to Ben Gurion International Airport, Tel Aviv, Mass at the Holy Eucharist Church of St Peter in Gallicantu “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us...” (John 1:14) Israel. (Meals served in-flight) We will walk to view the Dome of the Rock from the outside, and visit the Oct. 18, 2018 (Friday) Day 1 – Arrive at Ben Gurion Airport, Tel Aviv/ Western Wall, ( Wailing Wall ) the only part of the Herodian Temple still Tiberias standing and the most sacred place in the world for Jews. Then, we will Arrival from Manila still Oct. 18,2018 late in the evening. After we clear drive to Mt. Zion, to visit the Upper Room, revered as the site of the Last Immigration and Customs, will be met by our driver for transfer to tiberias . Supper, then survey the Dormition Abbey, and the Church of St. Peter in enjoy the panoramic view of the Mediterranean. We will spend our first night Gallicantu, the site where Peter denied Jesus three times. After the day’s in Tiberias. Dinner and overnight (D). Gai Beach Hotel (Oct. 19, 2018) Holy tour, we will return to our hotel for dinner and overnight. Jerusalem (B, D) Eucharist Notre Dame Vatican Hotel Oct. 20, 2018 (Saturday) Day 3 - Tiberias/ Meggido/ Nazareth/ Cana / Oct. 26, 2018 (Friday) Day 9 - Mount of Olives/Gethsemane/Bethlehem/ Mt Tabor Jerusalem (New City)/Ein Karem We will have short stop in Meggido and the Plains of Armageddon, known in Mass at the Church of Nativity Hebrew as Meggido, a giant fortress and City built by King Solomon. In the New “O mountain of God, receive me, a mother, with my child.” (Protoevangelium Testament book of Revelation, it is referred as the sites of the “final battle”. of James 22:3) From there, we will continue our drive into Nazareth, where we will have Mass We will arrive at the Mount of Olives, to enjoy another view of Jerusalem, in the Church of the Annunciation, the Cave of the Annunciation and visit the Chapel of Ascension, Pater Noster Church and the Dominus visit Joseph’s Workshop and Then we will move on to Cana of Galilee, where Flevit (“God wept”) sanctuary. Next, we’ll walk the Palm Sunday Road to the Our Lord performed His first miracle: changing water into wine at the wedding Garden of Gethsemane, and visit the Rock of Agony and the Church of feast. We will invite couples to Bless their marriage vows, Continue to Mount all Nations. In the afternoon, we’ll drive to Bethlehem, a city whose name is Tabor, site of Jesus Transfiguration Afterward, we will head to Tiberias. Dinner recognized around the world. After celebrating Mass at the Church of Nativity, and overnight in Tiberias. (B/D).Gai Beach Hotel. we will see the Manger; visit the Church of St. Catherine, the Grotto of St. Oct. 21, 2018 (Sunday) Day 4 - Tiberias/Mount Beatitude/ Multiplication / Primacy/ Capernum/Boat Ride “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Early AM departures to Mt. Beatitude Drive up to Mount Beatitudes, visit the site of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus preached to the people. Eucharistic Celebration. Enjoy a scenic boat ride across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, home of Our Lord during his ministry.

After visiting the Synagogue where he taught, proceed to Tabgha, the site of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Then to the Church Primacy of St Peters.

Overnight Magdala ( BB, D)

Jerome and the Shepherds’ Fields. Then we will return to Jerusalem (New City), to view the Temple Model to see how it looked during the time of Jesus.

Here, we will gain a better understanding between the old and new cities of Jerusalem. Up next is a trip to Ein Karem, birthplace of St. John the Baptist, to see the Visitation Church, where Mary proclaimed her famous “Magnificat”.

We will end our day by returning to our Hotel. (B/D).

Oct. 23, 2018 (Tuesday) DAY 6 - Jordan Valley/Jericho/Bethany/ Jerusalem Mass at the Church of St. Lazarus MAGDALA, Israel – 2009 Discoveries from a new archaeological dig are creating excitement in the area where Jesus began his ministry. The village is called Magdala (Migdal in Hebrew), and it’s the home of Mary Magdalene.”She lived here and she met Jesus here and she continued with Him. Yes, it’s that place The most important discovery in Magdala has been a synagogue dating back to the time of Jesus. According to archaeologists, it’s the first one discovered in the Galilee.

famous mosaic map of the Holy Land. Then we will drive down to Aqaba.

Overnight in Aqaba (B/D). Movenpick Resort & Residence.

Oct. 27, 2018 (Saturday) Day 10 - Jerusalem/ Dead Sea/ Qumran/ Masada Mass at the Church of all Nations After breakfast, we will celebrate mass at the Church of all Nations and then we will drive to Dead Sea, the lowest spot on earth. Visit Qumran; see the Oct. 22, 2018 (Monday) Day 5 - Magdala Full day retreat , Focus will Include programs based on the historical caves where the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered. Continue to Masada, visit Herod’s fortress and the Jew’s last stronghold against the Roman. Return to and Religious value of the Magdala sites Jerusalem for dinner and Overnight (B, D) More info coming up as we get closer to the dates MAGDALA, Israel – 2009 Discoveries from a new archaeological dig are Oct. 28, 2018 (Sunday) Day11 - Jerusalem/Allenby Bridge/Madaba/ creating excitement in the area where Jesus began his ministry. The village is Jordan/Mt. Nebo/ Aqaba called Magdala (Migdal in Hebrew), and it’s the home of Mary Magdalene.”She Mass at Mount Nebo lived here and she met Jesus here and she continued with Him. Yes, it’s On this day, we head to Allenby Bridge and cross into Jordan. We will go to that place The most important discovery in Magdala has been a synagogue the Baptismal Site at Bethany, which Pope John Paul II visited in 2000. dating back to the time of Jesus. According to archaeologists, it’s the first one Then, it’s on to Mount Nebo, where Moses viewed the Promised Land. Our discovered in the Galilee. next stop will be the Church of St. George in Madaba, which hosts the

Oct. 24, 2018 ( Wednesday) Day 7 - Jerusalem (Old City)/Via Dolorosa/ Mount Zion Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher “And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha.” (John 19:17) We will enter the Old City of Jerusalem and will follow the Via Dolorosa (Way of the Cross) and say the Station of the Cross to the holiest shrine in Christendom, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, visit Golgotha and the Tomb of Our Lord. After mass, we return to the hotel for breakfast. After breakfast, we will enter the Old City, sing a hymn in the Church of St. Anne and view the Pool of Bethesda. Then we will visit the Chapel of Flagellation, Lithostratos (where the soldiers played the Game of Kings) and the Arch of the “Ecce Homo”.

Dinner/Overnight Notre Dame Vatican hotel

Oct 29, 2018 (Monday) Day 12 - Aqaba/Petra Mass at Stella Maris Church – Aqaba After breakfast, we will journey through the Siq, until we get our first glimpse of the Khazneh (Treasury). Then will we walk down to visit the Temple and view the many caves all around the Theater. At the end of the tour, we will drive back to Aqaba for overnight and dinner (B/D). Movenpick Resort & Residence Oct. 30, 2018 (Tuesday) Day 13 - Aqaba/ Jerusalem We Cross the Jordanian Border to return to Jerusalem. Dinner/Overnight Oct. 31, 2018 (Wednesday) Day 14 - Jerusalem /Yad Vashem Museum/ TLV/ LAX After breakfast, we will visit the Yad Vashem Museum,is Israel’s official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the dead; honoring Jews who fought against their Nazi oppressors and Gentiles who selflessly aided Jews in need; and researching the phenomenon of the Holocaust in particular and genocide in general, with the aim of avoiding such events in the future. After the Western Wall, Yad Vashem is the second-most-visited Israeli tourist site. Return to the hotel for lunch and relaxation in preparation for our return flight back to the USA after early dinner will be transferred to the airport for flight Oct 31, 2018 8:45 PM departure from TLV End of Our Memorable Pilgrimage to Jesus Home Land!!!

home for his 73rd birthday

by AllAn

nAwAl Inquirer.net

DAVAO CITY – Well-wishers flocked to President Rodrigo Duterte’s house here on Wednesday, March 28 as the chief executive celebrated his 73rd birthday The president’s visitors started coming in as early as 4 a.m. and they included members of the People’s RevGov for Real Democracy Alliance.

The group’s members serenaded Duterte at around 4 a.m. at his house here, where he and partner Cielito “Honeylet” Avanceña and daughter, Veronica, nicknamed Kitty, live.

Duterte’s children by his former wife, Elizabeth Zimmerman, were also expected to visit the President.

As early as Tuesday, resigned Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte were among those who came early to greet his father.

Paolo wrote on his Facebook account that “I’ll remain your son”

President Rodrigo Duterte blows the candles on a birthday cake presented to him by members of the Philippine Military Academy Class if 2018. It was not clear when the photo was taken but it was shared by his special assistant, Christopher Go, on his Facebook page on Tuesday, March 27.

even with “the anger and happiness between us.”

“I listen to all your rants against me, I accepted, I understood them,” Paolo said.

He said it was not easy for the president to be “father to your most behaved child.”

Paolo then apologized to the

President Rodrigo Duterte in his casual housewear with his grandchildren (from left): Stingray (Sara’s son), Yair (Sebastian’s son), Sharky (Sara’s daughter), Stonefish (Sara’s youngest son), and Paolo’s children, Uno and Sabina. Photos courtesy of Davao city Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio

president.

“Please forgive me for the times that I contributed to the growth of your white hairs,” Paolo wrote.

“I hope that time will come you’d be proud of me. I know that I would never attain what you have achieved in your lifetime, but I can assure you that I will do my best to make you proud. Me and my siblings would strive hard so you won’t lose face because of us.”

“Thank you very much for all the help you’ve extended to me and my family. Thank you very much for the so much patience. It’s really you,” he said, adding “Happy Birthday Pa. I love you!!!”

Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio‘s message to the President was very short.

“Happy Birthday Digong,” she wrote on Facebook, adding that she wished her father “good health.” “(P)aaarrteeey!” she added. n

Duterte to issue EO if Congress fails...

PAGE A9 t

over generations,” Dureza said.

Duterte also stressed the “inclusive” character of the BBL, where all tribes and sectors, including the non-Muslims, will benefit.

Dureza said that during the meeting, Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo committed to support the BTC-drafted version, which House Speaker and Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez principally authored.

Arroyo also withdrew her authorship of her original bill to expedite the approval of the new version, according to Dureza.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, chair-

man of the Senate sub-committee for BBL, also said the Senate would act on the bill when Congress resumes sessions.

According to Dureza, the Tuesday meeting was upon the request of the MILF leaders.

It was also part of an arrangement wherein there would be periodic and regular meetings of both sides amid efforts for the eventual passage of the BBL in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Dureza also said the “timely” meeting also dispelled speculations, following the recent visit of Duterte in Jolo, Sulu where he told the Tausugs that he would

meet with Moro leaders to discuss the reported opposition of some Bangsamoro leaders in Sulu, Basilan, and Tawi-tawi to the BTC-crafted BBL. Duterte and Dureza were joined by Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Secretary Adelino Sitoy and Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go. They met with MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim, MILF vice chairman Ghazali Jaafar, and MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal.

Duterte earlier said that he wanted the BBL passed by the end of the year. n

Marian Pilgrimage France, Spain & Portugal September 8 to September 21, 2018 Spiritual Director: rev. John Duy nguyen Still one of the great pilgrimages shrines in the world, visited by thousands of pilgrim’s. Arrive in Lourdes in the late afternoon, orientation to the shrines and spends some time in the sanctuary.

Dinner & overnight.

Sept. 9, 2018 - (Sunday) Day 2 - Paris (CDG) Arrived Paris CDG, Then after we clear immigration and collect our (BB, D) Luggage,. you will proceed to your hotel and have mass and dinner.

Sept. 15, 2018 - (Saturday) Day 8 - Lourdes Overnight in Paris. (D) You will have early morning bath at the healing water of Lourdes.

Then return to the hotel for breakfast. There after attend Holy Mass Sept. 10, 2018 - (Monday) Day 3 - Paris Paris is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, also at the Grotto. continue the day with a walking tour of the shrines and known as the City of Light. Full day touring with local guide, including places associated with the life of St. Bernadette. Spend some time visit of the Eiffel tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, Basilica of Sacre meditating on the passion of our Lord through more than life size Coeur, The chapel of the Miraculous Medal in Rue de Bac is the site exotic way of the sacrament and prayers. Afternoon will be free time of Marian Apparitions and contain the reliquaries of St. Catherine for private devotion. Dinner/overnight (BB, D) Laboure and St. Louise De Marillac. The shrine of St. Vincent the Paul is within walking distance, a few blocks from Rue De Bac, visit Sept. 16, 2018 - (Sunday) Day 9 - Lourdes / Zaragoza the chapel which houses the relic of St. Vincent the Paul. Overnight After Breakfast, you’ll continue your drive towards Zaragoza, Spain. Visit the shrines of Our Lady of Pillar, the 2nd most popular in Paris (BB/D) pilgrimages sites in Spain. See the Magnificent altar in the Basilica, built on site where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the apostles Sept. 11, 2018 - (Tuesday) Day 4 - Paris/Lisieux After breakfast, Full day in Lisieux, home of St Therese, who at age St. James, before her assumption into heaven. Dinner/overnight 15, entered the convent and became Carmelite nun, she took the Zaragoza (BB, D) religious name of St Therese of the child Jesus and the Holy face. The spirituality of her little ways was not about extraordinary things, but Sept. 17, 2018 - (Monday) Day 10 - Zaragoza / Salamanca rather about doing simple things of life well and with extraordinary After breakfast you will embark on a trip to Salamanca. You will have love. She believed and taught that “Everything is Grace”, God’s face a short stop and panoramic tour of Avila. Upon arrival in Salamanca, and presence could be experienced in every person and situation of you will visit the Old Cathedral and tour the city. Dinner /overnight our lives, if we just attend with love and expectancy. She died at the Salamanca (BB, D) age of 24 believing that her life was really the beginning for God, promising to spend her heaven doing good on earth, her promised” Sept. 18, 2019 - (Tuesday) Day 11 - Salamanca / Fatima shower of Roses” began and have become a torrent in the church After Breakfast, you will spend the first half of the day touring ever since. Return to Paris, Dinner in a restaurant near the hotel. Salamanca. You will visit the new cathedral with a short stop at Plaza Mayor for lunch. After lunch you will continue to Fatima, the Overnight in Lisieux (BB, D) famous Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima. Upon arrival you will have a Sept. 12, 2018 - (Wednesday) Day 5 - Lisieux / Nevers / Paray- short orientation tour of the Sanctuary. Attend the nightly Candlelight procession at the Shrine. Dinner and Overnight Fatima (BB, D) Le-Monial After Breakfast, Continue your drive to the picturesque Loire valley to Nevers, visit the convent of St. Gillard, where St. Bernadette’s Sept. 19, 2018 - (Wednesday) Day 12 - Fatima incorrupt body miraculously preserved since her death in 1879. Breakfast, then Visit the Museum dedicated to the Blessed Virgin At the conclusion of the eighteen apparitions of the Virgin Mary Mary followed by Mass at the Apparitions chapel, Full day Guided in Lourdes, St. Bernadette lived for 12 years as a member of the tours includes the Shrines ground, visit of the tombs of Francisco congregation of the sisters of charity of Nevers. St Gildard convent and Jacinta in the Basilica, In Aljustrel and Valinhos, you see the is her final resting place. After she was blessed with the apparitions two homes of the shepherds, site of Our Lady’s fourth apparitions. of the Virgin Mary in Lourdes, St. Bernadette retired in Nevers. She Stop at the Parish church where the seers were baptized, and the received her religious habit in 1866. Continue to Paray-Le-Monial for cemetery where Francisco and Jacinta were once buried. You will do the station of the Cross. We encourage everyone to spend some time Dinner & Overnight (BB, D) in the Blessed Sacrament, which is open every day. Dinner/overnight Fátima. (BB, D) Sept. 13, 2018 - (Thursday) Day 6 - Paray-Le-Monial After Breakfast, you will tour Paray-Le-Monial. Your first stop is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and here you will celebrate Holy Sept. 20, 2018 - (Thursday) Day 13 - Fatima / Lisbon Eucharist. Then you will tour and admire the Romanesque basilica After breakfast ,you will proceed to Lisbon with stops at Santarem and see the Chapel of Apparitions. After the Basilica, you will proceed to visit the church of the Holy Miracle containing the Glorious to the Monastere e la Visitation. Visit the reliquary of Saint Margaret 13th century Eucharistic Miracle of Santarem .Then you will do a Mary of Alocoque at the Chapel of Visitation. Still to see and visit after panoramic city tour of Lisbon, with a visit to the Basilica of St Anthony lunch is the Park of the Chaplain and the Chapel of St. Colombiere. de Padua, St Jeronimo’s Monastery and the famous Belem Tower.

Dinner/Overnight Lisbon (BB, D) Dinner & Overnight (BB, D) Sept. 8, 2018 - (Saturday) Day 1 USA/PARIS Transatlantic flight from USA to Paris (CDG )Meals serve on board.

Sept. 14, 2018 - (Friday) Day 7 - Paray-Le-Monial / Lourdes Sept. 21, 2018 - (Friday) - Early AM transfer to Lisbon After breakfast you will continue your pilgrimage to Lourdes. Lourdes, Airport for flight home to USA celebrating 160 Years of apparitions of Blessed Virgin to Bernadette. Full of wonderful memories of Our Pilgrimage

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Dateline PhiliPPines

SC favors Lucio Tan in PAL labor dispute

by Jomar

Canlas ManilaTimes.net

THE Supreme Court (SC) has reversed itself and sided with business tycoon Lucio Tan in a long-standing labor dispute with cabin crew of flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL).

In a resolution dated March 20, 2018, the Supreme Court en banc ruled to grant the second motion for reconsideration filed by PAL, declaring that the Tan-led airline was not guilty of illegal dismissal when it retrenched 1,400 striking flight attendants in 1998, because it complied with the rules on quitclaims.

The ruling also meant that PAL does not have to pay P3 billion in damages to members of the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (Fasap) who joined the crippling airline strike two decades ago.

The magistrates voted 7-2. Five justices inhibited.

The decision was penned by Justice Lucas Bersamin, with Justices Diosdado Peralta, Samuel Martires, Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, Noel Tijam and Alexander Gesmundo concurring.

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The dissenters were Justices Marvic Leonen and Andres Reyes Jr. Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno did not join the voting as she was on indefinite leave because of the impeachment charges against her.

The five justices who recused because of previous relationships with parties to the case were Antonio Carpio, Presbitero Velasco Jr., Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, Mariano del Castillo and Francis Jardeleza.

The court en banc took cognizance of the case despite a final ruling of a division of the tribunal. The en banc had discovered that a wrong division ruled on the case.

Quit claims upheld The court en banc argued that PAL was able to comply with the requirements for the release and quitclaim agreement that was signed by the retrenched employees.

PAL’s cabin crew, the ruling stated, was fully aware of the conditions set forth in the agreement like the fixed amount of compensation and benefits.

“There is no question that the employees who had occupied the

NPA a ‘failure’...

mander of the communist armed group.

‘Lay down your arms’ Lorenzana lambasted Sison indirectly in his statement as he renewed his call to the NPA members to surrender to the military.

“As a fellow Filipino, I am calling on all CPP-NPA members to lay down your arms and re-join society. Do not continue to be blinded by the propaganda of your selfish leaders who live in luxury, away in a foreign land, with their families and loved ones by their side at your expense and at our people’s expense, especially those from vulnerable communities,” the Defense chief said.

“Your cause has become irrelevant and your ideology, bankrupt…What makes you now think that you can succeed even in the next 50 years given your dwindling number, degraded capability and lack of people’s support?” he asked.

On March 18, a guerilla front of the NPA based in the Northeastern Mindanao declared a unilateral ceasefire for the Lenten season, through its spokesman, “Ka Oto.” The move was questioned by

the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), saying it was “unusual” and another “ploy” to catch government troops off-guard.

Lorenzana agreed with the AFP. “The purported declaration of a unilateral ceasefire by the CPPNPA for the observance of Lenten season is obviously a trick to convince the government to resume the peace talks, but its purpose is actually to deceive our ground forces,” he stressed.

“The CPP-NPA is afraid since their number is decreasing following the massive surrender of their members to renew their lives,” Lorenzana added.

Lorenzana then launched tirades against the NPA’s celebration of its founding, as well as the group’s intensified or “celebratory” attacks.

“The real question here for the NPA is what they really are celebrating on their anniversary? You (NPA) have done nothing good except for killing, extort from businesses and burn equipment of those who refuse to give their payments. You are the real reason why we are unprogressive [as a country],” he said.

position of flight crew knew and understood the English language.

Hence, they fully comprehended the terms used in the release and quitclaim they signed,” the court said.

“Indeed, not all quitclaims are per se invalid or against public policy. A quitclaim is invalid or contrary to public policy only: (1) where there is clear proof that the waiver was wrangled from an unsuspecting or gullible person; or (2) where the terms of settlement are unconscionable on their face.

Based on these standards, we uphold the release and quitclaims signed by the retrenched employees herein,” it pointed out.

The ponencia of then Justice Arturo Brion that caused the elevation of the case to the en banc junked the motion for reconsideration filed by Fasap on October 17, 2011, and ruled that the recall of the September 7, 2011 resolution was legally correct because of the procedural lapse.

In the original ruling, dated July 22, 2008, the Supreme Court ordered the reinstatement with full back wages, of 1,400 flight attendants retrenched by PAL at the height of a strike. n “To the remaining members of the NPA, it is high time for you to return to mainstream society. Let go of the violence and deceptive ideologies that you are all fighting for. Think of the welfare of your family, and of the nation,” Lorenzana added.

The Defense chief earlier said he was opposed to the resumption of peace talks, following the resolution filed by 61 lawmakers at the House of Representatives, urging President Rodrigo Duterte to reopen peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front (NDF), the CPP’s political arm.

Duterte signed a declaration in December last year, officially terminating the peace talks with the communists, months after the attack on the Presidential Security Group convoy in Arakan, North Cotabato.

On Thursday, the NPA said different units across the country gave their “red salutes” in observance of group’s anniversary.

Ka Samuel Guerrero, spokesman of NPA Sorsogon or the Celso Minguez Command, said the NPA managed to thrive over the past years despite “attacks” from the “U.S.-Duterte regime” and its “Oplan Kapayapaan,” an anticommunist drive of the AFP under President Rodrigo Duterte. n

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • mARch 31-ApRIL 3, 2018

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A12 march 31-april 3, 2018 • la WEEKEND aSiaN JOUrNal

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LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • MARch 31-ApRIL 3, 2018

SHOWBIZ&STYLE

B

Journal Balladeer Bert Nievera, ‘Johnny Mathis’ Mike de Leon reunites with Charo Santos of Manila, dies at 81 in Las Vegas

by Christina

alpad ManilaTimes.net

PoPUlar 1960s music icon roberto Jose “Bert” dela Cruz Nievera, father of the Philippine’s “Concert king” martin Nievera, passed way on Tuesday, march 27, in las Vegas, Nevada. He was 81. martin announced his father’s death by honoring the latter in his instagram post.

Uploading a photo of his dad giving him a haircut as a gradeschooler, martin wrote, “#robertinParadise i can’t believe you’re gone. life will never be the same again,” with the image bearing the message, “You gave me life, you gave me dreams, you gave me a haircut!’ i will never forget you Dad! i love you!” reports said the senior Nievera succumbed to multi-organ failure caused by sepsis at the Southern Hills Hospital and medical Center in las Vegas. martin and his twin sister Vicky flew to the US while Nievera was still in hospital, stay-

Filmmaker mike de leon had an instant reunion with Charo Santos-Concio, the lead actress of his 1976 film, “itim,” at a recent screening of his latest movie, “Citizen Jake,” at the UP Cine adarna. “it was great, of course,” De leon told the Inquirer about the encounter. “We will probably get to talk and catch up soon.” apart from “itim,” which was the debut movie of the duo, they also collaborated on two other classics from the Second Golden age of Philippine cinema: “kakabakaba ka Ba?” (1980) and “kisapmata” (1981). in the meantime, De leon, who seems reinvigorated by the rave reviews for his comeback movie after a 19-year hiatus, might go back behind the camera sooner than expected. “i am working on a couple of ideas now,” he related. “‘Citizen Jake’ shouldn’t be the end of my career as a film director, i now realize. But there’s my health Bert Nievera performs with son Martin Nievera.

Contributed photo by Bert Eljera to consider. We’ll see if and when this film gets a wider via instagram Tuesday night, release.” (Bayani San Diego Jr.) ing with him to the very end. in august 2017, martin re- posting, “To daddy Bert Nievera, vealed that his father suffered a my second dad, may you rest in brain seizure, causing temporary peace. So saddened to hear this memory loss and severe weight news. Thank you for all the beautiful memories.” loss. martin’s eldest son robin “He’s better now—he’s remembering [things]but he’s very rounded up the family’s tributes thin,” martin said in previous for his grandfather, posting on social media. “To the one that interviews. martin’s ex-wife Pops Fer- started it all. The one that keeps nandez also expressed her grief PAGE B2

Paulo Avelino on toughest scenes in movie ‘Goyo’ by iza iglesias ManilaTimes.net

exPeCT more from Paulo avelino in the coming months with a slew of projects the aBS-CBN actor has been working on. most anticipated among them, of course, is the biopic “Goyo: ang Batang Heneral” where he portrays the revered national hero Gregorio del Pilar.

While excited for the public to see this historical epic, avelino admits he feels tremendous pressure given the surprise success of its prequel, “Heneral luna,” which box office garnered P250 million in 2015. “of course there is pressure from Heneral luna so we know

there are many people waiting to see Goyo. But our main goal here really is just to make a quality film,” avelino shared with members of media during his launch as endorser of Berroca effervescent drink. according to the 29-year-old actor, they are finished shooting the period movie which took them seven months.

“Matagal-tagal din namin ginawa ang ‘Goyo.’ We’ve 60 shooting days to be exact. This is aside from the days we needed to rehearse with the horses on how to jump and all that,” he added. in February, the film’s producer TBa Studios (Tuko Film Productions, Buchi Boy entertainment,

Paulo Avelino tells the story of revered Philippine national hero Gregorio del Pilar.

Photo courtesy of Buchi Boy Entertainment

and artikulo Uno Productions) gave a sneak peek into Goyo—a two-minuter showing avelino in an underwater scene. The actor confirmed it was the hardest to PAGE B2

Charo Santos-Concio (left) and Mike de Leon at UP Cine Adarna.

Inquirer.net photo

Features

B March 31-april 3, 2018 • la WEEKEND aSiaN JOUrNal

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Pulse the Heart of Vice Ganda in America ‘Ready Player One’ offers a wild thrill ride charged by abounding 1980s nostalgia and winning characters of color

Another surprise is at stake for patrons and followers of Pechanga resort Casino in temecula, California, on the nearing scintillating performance at Pechanga Summit come May 13 at 6pm by the famous visiting artist Vice Ganda, popularly-known as a comedian, tV host, singer and actor in the Philippines.

Pechanga resort Casino is wellknown for hosting the best and the brightest Filipino entertainers and performers such as Megastar Sharon Cuneta, the singer/actress and tony Award Winner Lea Salonga, popular singing group 4 Voices 1 Journey, winner of “Star Power Search 2011” Angeline Quintos, international actress and top endorser Anne Curtis, and Pop Star Princess Sarah Geronimo - who all gave wholesome entertainment to the delight of the crowd.

Before becoming well-known as Vice Ganda, he is commonly called ‘totoy’ (young boy). the youngest of five, ‘tutoy’ or Jose Marie Borja Viceral in real life grew up on the streets of Sta. Cruz, Manila. At first glance, he is like any other young boy in their neighborhood, playing basketball was tagged as “the unkabogable and fond of checking on women. Vice Ganda” when he became But for ‘tutoy’ he found out since regular in the shows as a result of the start that he was not so fond backing from his followers. the fashion icon and endorser, of women.

It became an inspiration for Vice proved his success on screen ‘tutoy’ the early demise of his in his strings of movies that really father and the fact that his mother became a hit-- the reason he was had to go abroad and work for branded as “the phenomenal boxthe family. he was branded as office star. “he was the first ever “Vice” by his close friend, a sweet Gay superstar in Asia.” the wide version of his surname “Viceral.” array of songs he interpreted and he studied Political Science in Far recorded also became a hit like eastern University where he also his album “Lakas tama” under had an inclination as he became Vicor Music.

Let’s follow Vice Ganda in his popular while playing basketball.

It was in 1999 when Vice Ganda fun-filled, exciting performance entered the field of stand-up com- on May 13 at the Pechanga Sumedy that started as a casual fun mit. Make it a habit to witness and in a comedy bar where his talent watch surprising live performancwas discovered. From here, Vice es in the only one entertainment began his career as a comedian in hub in temecula, California-- the Punchline and the Library. Com- Pechanga resort & Casino. You edy bar owner ricardo Castaneda may purchase tickets ranging coined the name Vice Ganda or from $118, $98, $88, $78, $68 “Beautiful Vice,” --- the name that and $58 from the Pechanga Box led him to further his career and office, 888-810-8871 or online became popular even in cinema at www.Pechanga.com.

Pechanga Summit was added while gaining avid followers.

As he loved his newfound to Pechanga resort Casino as a destiny, Vice Ganda continued to part of the property’s $285 million rise to stardom and he penetrated resort expansion. the Pechanga the television through tele-series, Band of Luiseño Indians broke sitcoms and variety shows. his ground on the two-year project in biggest break was when Vice December 2015 that will conclude Ganda, in 2009 became an official in December 2017. entertainers, member of the television giant concerts, live sporting events, or any ABS-CBn it became a top- trade 1shows, Broadthinkwhere - AJ Ad_March2018_107_Layout 3/27/18weddings, 5:07 PM Page 1 rated noontime variety show. he large group will now have a

by Klarize

Medenilla AJPress

40,000-square foot area to book.

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age gracefully

Make a Date With These Oatmeal Cookies!

Yields 30 Cookies

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Blend flours, baking soda, salt and cardamom in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, blend butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into dry and blend together with a spoon. Mix in oats and dates until combined. Drop rounded Tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet and bake 8–10 minutes until cookies are golden.

Transfer to cooling racks and cool completely.

(L-R) Olivia Cooke, Win Morisaki, Lena Waithe and Philip Zhao in “Ready Player One,” which opens in theaters everywhere this week.

Photo credit Jaap Buitendijk provided by Warner Brothers

sovereignty and choice.

But the 1980s references aren’t just peppered into the story as with the nostalgic symphony provided in Guardians of the Galaxy, wherein the hero’s mission statement is to honor the memory of his beloved mother and his childhood. In “ready Player one,” the 1980s nostalgia — which employs homages to Star Wars, Back to the Future, the Atari gaming system, acts as a prominent plot device that is, at its best, charming and sentimental and, at its worst, contrived and tedious. the juxtaposition between futuristic technology and supernatural themes 1980s nostalgia is very much a la mode as evidence with the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise, the netflix series “Stranger things” and edgar Wright’s 2017 film “Baby Driver.”

Spielberg, who is a maestro at family-friendly action flicks, attempts to cater to an audience

hungry for the 1980s, but the efforts were banal and lacked ingenuity and nuance.

Where the film shines is with its casting of Waithe, Morisaki and Zhao who deserved far more screen time and background and were far more compelling than the two white leads, who were the appearance of a sweet but forced love story arc, but lacked the depth to drive the film on their own.

Lena Waithe, whose star-ometer has skyrocketed over the past year as independent media’s sweetheart, made her blockbuster debut in “ready Player one” and completes the task with energy and charm that, at many times, steals the spotlight. ready Player one also brought forth 27-year-old Burmese-Japanese film and music star Win Morisaki and 14-year-old Chinese-American actor Philip Zhao, who were shortchanged with the amount of screen time and character depth they got but who were among the few outstanding delights of the film.

In conclusion, ready Player one isn’t a perfect narrative and, at times, feels overly saccharine.

But there’s plenty of flashy action sequences and action role models for younger viewers to revel in and more than enough cultural emblems from reagan era to give parents a trip down memory lane. “ready Player one” is rated PG-13 and is currently out in theaters everywhere.

Balladeer Bert Nievera, ‘Johnny Mathis’ of...

½ cup whole wheat pastry flour ¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour 1 tsp. baking soda ½ tsp. salt ¼ tsp. cardamom ½ cup unsalted butter, softened 1 cup light brown sugar, packed ¼ cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats 1-½ cup chopped, pitted Medjool dates

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singing even though he ‘forgot the stupid words.’ thank you for the memories, Lolo. I love you and I will miss you.”

‘Johnny Mathis of the Philippines’ Born october 17, 1936, Bert nievera would join singing competitions as a way to set foot into show business. he got his big break when he won iconic tV show “Student Canteen’s” search

for the “Johnny Mathis of the Philippines.”

From there, nievera enjoyed a constant influx of gigs, making him one of the top balladeers of the country in the ‘70s and early ‘80s via his albums “nievera,” “Sumasainyo, Bert nievera,” and “nievera remembers.” he duly earned the title, “timeless Balladeer” in Philippine music, following a series of successful concerts.

In the ‘80s, nievera gave way to his equally talented son Martin, who to this day is regarded as the Concert King of the Philippines. the senior nievera was also part of the hawaii-based vocal group Society of Seven, which performed in various parts of the United States. nievera settled in Las Vegas following a failed business deal in Manila.

Paulo Avelino on toughest scenes in...

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© 2018 by FoodTrients.com

Nothing tastes better than classic oatmeal cookies but these sweet treats have less butter and sugar than regular recipes because of the natural sweetness dates add. Dates are full of fiber and these dried fruits also offer B vitamins, potassium and iron. Try using whole wheat flour in addition to traditional all-purpose for a boost of fiber and nutrients while maintaining a soft texture. By adding oats to your cookies, you again boost the fiber content and add to the texture of the final product.

These cookies have vanilla and cardamom to compliment the sweet dates and chewy oats. Enjoy these lightened-up cookies today!

Wade (Tye Sheridan) enters the Oasis through virtual reality goggles.

Photo credit Jaap Buitendijk provided by Warner Brothers

(L-R) Sho (Philip Zhao), Aech (Lena Waithe), Parzival (Tye Sheridan), the Curator, Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) and Daito (Win Morisaki) as characters in the Oasis.

Photo credit Warner Bros. Pictures

Oatmeal Date Cookies

BY GRACE O

the latest blockbuster to hit theaters this weekend is “ready Player one,” Steven Spielberg’s ambitious rendering of ernest Cline’s 2011 science fiction dystopian novel of the same name. the film takes place in 2045 in the virtual reality universe called the oasis, a virtual reality universe that has the physical vastness of Skyrim and the simulated verisimilitude of the Sims.

Created by enigmatic, Willy Wonka-esque tech genius James halliday (Mark rylance), the oasis is a fantasy world where the world is your oyster, users don virtual avatars that they can create to their desire: You can be anyone or anything you want to be in this world “full of things that people love.”

But the real world setting is in Columbus, ohio, which, like the rest of the world, has turned into a dirty, chaotic, dystopian world with a hackneyed “rich get richer and everyone else suffers” reality.

Before he dies, halliday leaves a hidden digital relic — or in game-speak, an easter egg — in the oasis that will inherit halliday’s fortune and take control of the oasis. Soon after he dies, the scramble to find the easter egg turns into an intense pursuit in which users must sift through different riddles and obstacles that involve factoids about halliday’s personal life as well as popular culture references from the 1980s, which we find out was halliday’s salad days. the film centers on Columbus-native Wade Watts (tye Sheridan), a teenage outcast who spends all of his time in the as the avatar he calls Parzival — named after the hero of Arthurian england who went on an epic mission for the holy Grail. he enlists the help of manic pixie dream girl Samantha (olivia Cooke), a.k.a.

Art3mis in the oasis, who provides the obvious love interest for Wade, an arc that feels forced.

But these two can’t make it on their own and three other gamers are enlisted: helen, a.k.a. the gentle giant Aech (Lena Waithe), samurai Daito (Win Morisaki) and ninja Shoto (Philip Zhao). together, our ragtag band of heroes sifts through 1980s reference after 1980s reference to try to be the first ones to the easter egg, including a particularly harrowing obstacle in the overlook hotel from the 1980 horror classic “the Shining.” their main objective is to get to the prize before the film’s central antagonist Serrento (Ben Mendelsohn), a cliched depiction of evil corporate tyranny, turns the oasis from a liberating Garden of eden into a hadean netherworld devoid of

GRACE O is the creator of FoodTrients®, a unique program for optimizing wellness and longevity. She is the author of two award-winning cookbooks — The Age Gracefully Cookbook and The Age Beautifully Cookbook, which recently won Gourmand’s ‘Best in the World’ Award for Innovation. She is a fusion chef with a mission to deliver delicious recipes built on a foundation of anti-aging science and her 20 years in the healthcare industry.

Visit FoodTrients.com to learn more. Email us at info@FoodTrients.com

shoot in the entire movie.

“Mahirap gawin dahil kailangan mong lumubog sa ilalim ng tubig at mag-panic. But I love being in the water; without moving I can hold my breath like a minute and 30 seconds to two minutes.

“But when you have to act that you’re panicking it’s different—it’s harder but that’s what was required for the scene so you have to do it,” he explained.

“Another challenge for us was shooting in different locations.

We basically all shoot around Luzon—Ilocos, tarlac, Zambales, Batangas, Bulacan. Sometimes we had to go up in the mountains, which was tricky because only 4×4 off road cars can make the trip.

And then there were times it rained when we got there, so mahirap at magulo.”

Avelino further shared how he had to do a lot of reading and research to give justice to his role, under the guidance of Jerrold tarog, the same director behind heneral Luna.

“I had a lot of questions, so Direk Jerrold gave me a lot of reading materials—entire books photocopied for me!”

Asked how soon the public can meet Goyo, Avelino replied, “For now wala pang sinasabi kung kailan ipapalabas but I think it’s coming out by the end of this year.”

Besides Goyo, Avelino is also busy with the teleserye “Asintado,” as well as shooting the movie “Kasal” with Bea Alonzo and Derek ramsay.

“We’re about to finish the film.

I think it’s coming out either late this quarter or early next quarter. the film shows a very modern

relationship, laging with complications pero ito medyo iniba lang nila ng konti. Linagyan nila ng konting twists para mag-adapt sa time natin ngayon and also para maiba,” Avelino imparted.

With so much on his plate right now, Avelino considers staying healthy his top priority in order to fulfill all his commitments in his truly thriving career.

“Like many of us today, I have a very active lifestyle. For me, every day is a big day, with varied commitments aside from very demanding production schedules for tV shows and movies that I treat as a blessing. Despite being busy, I keep healthy by continuing my passion for riding motorbikes; I also work out every week. For sure I have enough energy to keep a healthy balance of work and “me” time,” Avelino ended.

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Make Green Island Seafood Restaurant your go to spot for fresh and healthy Chinese food If authentic Chinese eats and fresh seafood are something you crave, then Green Island Seafood Restaurant is the place to be.

Since opening three years ago, Green Island Seafood Restaurant has been serving the Chino Hills and surrounding areas with a healthy and fresh fare inspired by the authentic flavors of South China. All their food is free of MSG, and their seafood — from ocean to table — is always fresh and never frozen.

With a menu consisting of 140 different dishes, Green Island Seafood Restaurant allows customers to explore a variety of authentic Chinese cooking from their warm congees, meat, vegetables, and seafood. Owner and manager Getty deems their food as being, “very light and very healthy, keeping to the original taste”.

Order from their popular seafood menu which features fresh razor clams, tilapia, Hong Kong style crabs, shrimp and more — all cooked on your table, ensuring freshness. Customers especially love their live lobsters and Alaska King Crabs which come at market price.

Other customer favorites include their fried chicken wings, spicy house special filet mignon, crispy noodles, and spring rolls. for dessert, choose from their menu of authentic Chinese sweets like their Sweet Sesame Peanut Mochi Ball, or Mashed Taro Paste with Gingko Nut dessert, among others.

Located next to Costco Wholesale, CVS, American Tire, and just five minutes away from The Shoppes at Chino Hills, Green Island Seafood Restaurant makes relaxing and enjoying a nice meal after shopping and running errands easy with their clean and modern interior, comfortable seats, and large flat screen TV. Not to mention, their lunch specials have remained the same great price since the restaurant’s opening.

Seafood specials rotate weekly and their chef — who has 35 years of experience — makes sure to update the menu monthly, introducing customers to new and exciting Chinese dishes each time.

Seating 132 people, the spacious and elegant establishment also makes a perfect venue

A rollercoaster ride that included retrogression of priority dates, aging out, and the father succumbing to cancer just before visa issuance on this Sunday’s CITIZEN PINOY! In July 2007, Raffy’s mother adjusted status in the U.S., hoping to immediately bring her husband and son, Raffy (left) to the U.S. from the Philippines. However, her priority date retrogressed (moved backwards) and the wait stretched for years.

Several setbacks occurred, including further retrogression of the priority dates, Raffy aging out, and Raffy’s father being diagnosed with cancer.

Unfortunately he passed away in the Philippines without seeing his American dream come true.

Raffy’s mother then retained the Law Offices of Michael Gurfinkel, who took over the case from two previous attorneys, who were not taking active steps to move the case forward. Watch how leading U.S. immigration attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel was able to convince the Embassy to reconsider Raffy’s denial, showing he qualified under the Child Status Protection Act, on an encore episode of CITIZEN PINOY – on Sunday at 6:15 pm (PST) on TFC.

Gabbi Garcia loves her flat chest, stretch marks despite bashers’ body shaming

by Cody

Cepeda Inquirer.net

for gatherings whether they be birthdays, company parties, anniversaries, graduation celebrations, and so on. Parties of 10 or more can make use of their private VIP room that can host

up to 18 people and is complete with a media system for entertainment including karaoke. Those wanting a larger venue can even take advantage of the whole restaurant.

Green Island Seafood Restaurant has been raved online as being one of the best Chinese restaurants in the area. Most recently, both Getty and the restaurant received certificates of recognition presented by the California Legislature Assemblyman of the 55th district for their leadership and dedicated service in their business community.

With their fresh ingredients and authentic flavors, Green Island Seafood Restaurant is sure to become your go-to spot for a healthy and unpretentious Chinese food experience.

Green Island Seafood Restaurant is located at 13161 Peyton Dr, Ste B, Chino Hills, CA 91709 and is open everyday except Wednesday from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. for more information or to make reservations, call them at (909) 591 - 1899.

(Advertising Supplement)

Is reconciliation possible for Marian Rivera and Heart Evangelista?

THe rivalry between top Kapuso actresses Marian Rivera and Heart evangelista is said to date back in 2011, at the set of their movie “Temptation Island.”

When Heart reportedly expressed excitement for the possibility of having a project with Marian’s then boyfriend (now husband) Dingdong Dantes, Marian allegedly threatened to have Heart trolled by fan clubs.

On their way back to Manila from the shoot, the two have allegedly sorted things out. But when they got to the airport, Heart’s mom reportedly came with security personnel to her daughter’s rescue, and then demanded Marian to stay away from Heart.

Through the years, the stars have had cat fights fueled by their fans’ comparisons — ranging from their magazine covers, to their sexy calendars, to their similar-looking Dolce & Gabbana shirts that made fans argue “Who wore it better?” fast-forward to 2018, the rivalry between the two has been refreshed following Dingdong’s possible participation in the 2019 elections. “If Dingdong wins as congressman or senator, what will Marian and Heart do if they bump into each other at the State of the Nation Address (SONA) red carpet?” some reports ask.

During the recent opening of Longchamp’s new boutique in Rustan’s Makati, Philstar. com asked Heart on what she feels about Marian now and this

Heart Evangelista and Marian Rivera Photos from Instagram/@iamhearte and Instagram/@marianrivera

is what she said.

“I don’t have anything to do with that,” Heart first said.

What if she and Marian see each other at the senate, in which Heart’s husband Sen. francis escudero is a member?

“I have no comment. But for me, I’m pretty traumatized with what she did to me before, so I’d rather not have anything to do with them,” Heart explained.

A few days after the interview with Heart, Marian was asked

by Philstar.com on what she thinks about Heart and Karylle, Dindong’s ex. This is how the

actress responded in an interview following her launch as Mega Prime ambassador.

“Wala naman kaming problemang dalawa and we are okay. Kasi hindi naman kami magplaplastikan kung magkita kami,” Marian said of Karylle.

“Past is past, my God, it’s been 11 years!”

When asked about Heart, Marian said: “Since Day 1 din, wala akong problema sa kanya, to be honest. At wala kayong narining sa’kin anything about her. Hindi ko lang alam sa kanya ha.” (Philstar.com)

fOR actress-singer-model Gabbi Garcia, living in the spotlight is a double-edged sword that comes with constant scrutiny and misplaced hatred. Being in the public eye puts pressure like no other on celebrities to strive for the unattainable: perfect bodies and perfect lives. The multihyphenate Garcia, however, is not having any of it.

In a powerful message made on Instagram yesterday, Garcia told her fans once and for all that despite her flaws, she does not see anything wrong with her body. “Whenever I post swimsuit photos, people would always bully me for my body,” wrote Garcia as she posted a picture of her in a one-piece swimsuit.

“Well, guess what!! Yes, I have no boobs, I’m flat chested + I have my own fair share of stretch marks. And I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

“If your definition of being ‘sexy’ doesn’t fit with my body type, well then sorry, but I LOVe MY BODY.” Garcia also encouraged her followers, telling them no person should ever be subjected to bullying just for their body. She also reminded them that they are all beautiful on their own.

“Nobody deserves to be bullied just because of your body,” added Garcia. “We are all beautiful in our own way! #NoToBodyShaming #LoveYourBody.”

The 19-year-old Garcia’s post comes as a commendable force to her almost two million-strong followers, most of whom are young teenaged girls who look up to her. And when it comes to teenage girls, battling with insecurities and low self-esteem is almost a universal concept.

There is always a story of a young woman being shamed and bullied for being too fat, too ugly, too short, too tall, or just

Gabbi Garcia Photo from Instagram @_gabbigarcia

being too much of everything — saddled with impossible expectations that usually lead to self-harm, depression or eating disorders. And to Garcia’s young followers, her admirable and empowering message can make their dealings with life perhaps at least a little bit easier.

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The 2nd Children Art Contest hosted

by H Mart & Woori Broadcasting

Pablo Kaestli: Curly French boy takes on the Los Angeles fashion scene

Warm spring day, hopes and dreams painted by our children on a fun family event H MART and Woori Broadcasting is hosting The Children Art Contest celebrating National Family Month. This second annual art contest in California is held on May 5th, 2018 at Whittier Narrows Recreation Area – The Meadows Area D, (Address: 750 S. Santa Anita Avenue South El Monte, CA 91733) from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Drawing theme is to be announced during the event. Registration and award winners are categorized in 3 groups, Pre K~ Kindergarten, 1st~5th Grade, and 6th~8th Grade. California winners are awarded with $5,500 worth of scholarships as well as trophies and award certificates, totaling 69 winners; Grand Prize $1,000/1 winner, 1st Prize (1 winner/group), 2nd Prize (2 winners/group), 3rd Prize (3 winners/group), Happy Prize (50 winners/group).

Participants can register for this event at any California H Mart store’s Customer Service Desk during the application period, March 30th~April 30th. Fee of $20 is immediately exchanged for $20 H Mart Gift Certificate.

Applicants are encouraged to register during the application period since registration is unavailable on the day of the event.

Variety of events are ready for all guests to enjoy. Hands-on events for children such as face painting, balloon art, and bubble plays are awaiting, as well as recreation and games for all members in the family can enjoy.

Free food tasting events and goody bags will make this event

even more abundant, sponsored

by Haioreum, Hello Home, Nong Shim, Samyang, and other major food & houseware companies.

H Mart sent a message saying, “last year’s successful Art Contest in California brings another year for children and adolescents to broaden their sense of creativity

and gain artistic education. We ask for everyone’s participation and attention as this event is full of family activities that would make great memories.”

H Mart Customer Service can be reached for more information on this event (TEL. 877-4277386).

(Advertising Supplement)

By Monet

Lu

THERE’S no looking back for this 6’2” model with gorgeous curly locks as he embarks on his journey to the fashion world of ‘La La Land.’ Lucky for me, I got an exclusive before he conquers this side of the town.

I met Pablo Kaestli through a common friend and renowned photographer, Filbert Kung.

Needless to say, the Montrealborn-and-raised kid has potential to make it big. He has the looks (bone structure, posture and very noticeable curly hair) plus the attitude it takes to be a supermodel.

So what’s a columnist and fashion enthusiast got to do but share the pleasure of knowing the ‘next big thing.’

First off, tell us how you were “discovered” and how your modeling career all started?

I was scouted a couple of times in Montreal and one day, while getting home from work doing a 16-hour shift, somebody looked at me and asked me if I ever considered modeling. Then two years later, I’ve decided to cut bridges with Montreal and try my shot in Los Angeles. I’ve recently signed with Next Models LA and couldn’t be happier!

Was modeling something you always wanted to do, or did it just kind of happened?

I wanted to see the world and be able to pay for it at first, so modeling seems like a real opportunity to achieve that. Now I see it the full potential of this career and I really want to see where it will lead me.

What has been your favorite shoot / campaign / work to date?

I have to say that I love working as a model in general, but my best shoots are for editorial usually, where I can use my creativity to conceptualize a creative project.

The photoshoot I did in Malibu/ Bel Air is one of my favorite so far and got published by Podium Magazine Latin America.

How would you describe your personal style, where do you pull your inspiration from?

I like very simple. Playing with black and white suits me well; this look is ageless and always fashionable. Thought to be completely honest, I spend most of my day

Health@Heart PhiliP S. Chua, MD, FaCS, FPCS Why do cardiac surgeons stop the heart during surgery?

The conventional technique in coronary bypass surgery includes, among other elaborate procedures, arresting the heart in order for the surgeon to have a quiet (non-beating) and “bloodless” field to do the delicate stitching connection on the tiny (size of a round toothpick) arteries on the surface of the heart. The patient is protected with a heart-lung machine (Pump) that provides circulation and oxygenation while the heart is not beating.

After the completion of the coronary bypass, normal heart beat resumes. With additional hands-on specialized training, the cardiac surgeon is able to do coronary bypass on a beating heart, amazingly as it may sound. The procedure is called OPCAB (OffPump Coronary Artery Bypass), a minimally invasive technique that does not require the use of the Pump and the coronary bypass is performed on a beating heart. At the Cebu Cardiovascular Center of Cebu Doctors’ Hospital, we have found this technique since 1998 to be most advantageous for appropriately selected heart patients, who recover faster and go home sooner.

What causes diarrhea in babies?

There are various possible causes of diarrhea in infants, but most common cause is viral intestinal infection due to enteroviruses. Other causes are bacteria (salmonella, shigella, E. coli, campylobacter), food or milk allergy, food poisoning (contaminated food, shellfish, mushrooms) parasites (ascaris, giardia), from side effect of antibiotics they are taking, and Rotavirus infection (the worst). There are no effective drugs for viral intestinal infection.

Over-the-counter drugs for diarrhea can be dangerous for infants and younger children. These medications usually worsen the intestinal injury by transferring valuable fluid and salt (sodium) out of the circulating blood stream into intestinal walls, leading to swelling of the intestines.

This fluid “escape” (transfer) dehydrates the baby even when the diarrhea appears to have stopped.

Dehydration is very dangerous in infants and young children. Dehy-

in athletic clothes because I am always ready to go to the gym.

Do you get to travel a lot for your work?

If so what’s your favorite city that you have visited? I travel sometimes but I really prefer living somewhere for a while to really understand the city you live in. That’s why I am getting familiar with Los Angeles since I am based here. For the best cities I ever seen, I have to say Paris since France has a particular place in my heart because I was born there and spend most of my childhood over there.

Sometimes the modeling industry gets a bad rap with the jealousy and egos encountered between other models and agencies. Was this true for you? Have you managed to tough it out and make good friends?

There is a lot of drama. In Montreal, I had such a bad experience with the modeling world in general, but I really don’t pay attention to negativity anymore. I wish everyone the best and I am so focused on building myself that all that noise really doesn’t bother me anymore.

Is modeling an easy job or more strenuous than people realize?

(How so) At the start, you feel a lot of pressure when there is nothing to be afraid. If somebody want to shoot with you, they just want you as true to yourself as possible. All you have to do is adapt to directions and be confident.

Do you have any hidden talents?

I box pretty well and I am a good swimmer. I am trying to develop myself on a lot of secret

abilities so I can answer those question better :) Lol! Favorite movie?

Tough question. I have to say “The Untouchables,” “The Artist” and “Schindler’s list.”

Five things you can’t live without?

The gym, my kitchen, coffee, Netflix and Books Give us five facts about you people may not know.

I am super competitive, I read a lot, I am still working to be an athlete someday, I work a lot on my acting and I never eat sweats.

If you weren’t modeling what would you see yourself doing?

I would probably still study Business in Montreal.

Cats or dogs? Do you have any pets?

Dogs! I have a dog that still lives in Montreal with my family. It’s in my projects to bring her here because I am missing Loulou so much!

Good luck Pablo! I have no doubt that you’re going to make a name for yourself. Stay driven and fun as you are now and you’ll go places, and of course, keep your feet on the ground and enjoy the ride! *** Monet Lu is a Marikina-born, award-winning celebrity beauty stylist with his own chain of Monet Salon salons across Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada. Ultimately, Monet is known as an all-around artiste who produces sold-out fashion and awards shows as well as unforgettable marketing campaigns. Monet is also the founder of the revolutionary allnatural beauty products such as Enlighten, your solution to discoloration . To contact Monet, please visit www.monetsalon.com or email him at monetsalon@aol.com

‘Stop the heart?’ dration can kill within matter of hours. Oral fluid replacement for mild diarrhea, and intravenous fluid infusion for more severe ones are the treatment of choice, and each works wonders. When diarrhea occurs, seek medical consultation the same day. A delay may jeopardize the life of your child.

Why do lungs collapse?

Pneumothorax (medical term for collapsed lungs) literally means “air (pneumo) inside the chest cavity (thorax),” causing the lungs to collapse. Normally, the spongy lungs inside the chest are like inflated balloons inside a sealed airtight cavity. There is no air inside the chest cavity; the air is inside the balloons (lungs) only, which our body uses for oxygenation and removal of carbon dioxide (air exchange during breathing). As a matter of fact, there is a vacuum (negative pressure) inside the chest, which is one factor that keeps the lungs inflated. The outer surfaces of the lungs all around are hugging the inside wall of the chest cavity, smack against the chest wall, with no space between them but a vacuum. Any opening in the chest wall or laceration of the lungs (like stab wound or gunshot wound) will make the negative pressure inside the chest (vacuum) rapidly suck in air from the environment, which is positive (higher) pressure, into the chest cavity. Since the chest is a fixed, unyielding, cavity, surrounded by ribs all around, the air that is suck in accumulates and fills up the chest, putting pressure, squeezing and crowding out the soft and spongy lungs, causing them to collapse.

The treatment is inserting a chest tube to suck OUT the air inside the chest and allow the lungs to expand and function properly.

Do steroid inhalers help prevent asthmatic attacks?

In combination with steroid pills, yes, inhalers with steroids cut down asthmatic attacks by 50 percent, according to Brian H. Rowe, M.D., lead researcher of the University of Alberta in Edmonton in an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Those who presented to the Emergency Rooms and sent home only on steroid pills had more relapses, compared to those discharged on steroid pills and nasal inhaler with steroids.

Do herbal medications increase the risk of surgery?

Herbal drugs like Gingko, ginseng, or garlic can cause increased risk of excessive bleeding

and other complications among patients undergoing surgery, according to an article from the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago published in the Journal of the American Medication Association. These medications, taken by about 12 percent of Americans, interact with drugs prescribed for surgery, increasing the potency of anesthetic agents, and preventing normal clotting of blood. St. John’s Wort increases metabolism, Ephedra causes irregular heartbeat, ginseng can aggravate low blood sugar level, kava and valerian exaggerates the effects of anesthetic agents, and Echinacea makes the patient prone to poor wound healing and infection. It is most important for patients to tell their surgeons what medications, herbal or proprietary, they are taking, because many of these may have to be stopped weeks before surgery to prevent complications. To begin with, the fundamental question is: Are any of these herbal medications really as safe, beneficial and effective as they are claimed to be? The US-FDA, the Philippine BFAD, and the international medical community, are still waiting for scientific proofs on the efficacy, value and safety of these, and dozens of other, herbal medications on the market. The final verdict is not out yet.

What gadget can prevent sudden cardiac death?

A medical device that can prevent sudden death among heart patients is called AICD (automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillator). It is a small titanium shelled unit (about 2 x 3 x 1 inches), larger than a heart pacemaker, which is implanted under the skin in the left or right upper chest. This unit has a computerized component that senses the heart rhythm round the clock. When serious or fatal heart rhythm disturbance occurs, this AICD rapidly (within seconds) cardioverts (shocks) the heart back to normal sinus (normal) rhythm and thus prevent sudden cardiac arrest. AICD was the unit recently implanted in U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who did well and was discharged from the hospital the same day after the implant.

What causes milk intolerance?

Some people (many Asians) have intolerance to milk, to any food made with milk, and other dairy products. This is caused by lactase deficiency. Lactase is an PAGE B5

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Kaju Soft Tofu in Buena Park offers fresh, authentic Korean comfort food perfect for the winter

Bea Alonzo and Gerald Anderson

ABS-CBN photo

Gerald Anderson on relationship with Bea Alonzo: ‘It’s steady’

IF it were up to Gerald Anderson, he would want to take rumored girlfriend Bea Alonzo home with him to General Santos City.

The actor opened up about his recent trip to his hometown, as his mother expressed he missed him so much. This he told talk show host Boy Abunda in a recent “Tonight with Boy Abunda� episode.

Anderson revealed that her mother wished to give him a feast, complete with lechon. It also led him to the idea of giving everyone a block screening of his new movie “My Perfect You� starring Pia Wurtzbach.

When Abunda asked the actor how much of his hometown is still with him, he replied “Umiikot ako kung saan ako tumatambay dati, yung katapat ko kung saan ako na-discover ni Joross (Gamboa)‌â€? (I roam around where I used to hang out, right in front where Joross discovered me.)

Gamboa has been his friend even before they both entered show business.

But when Alonzo was brought up in the conversation, the actor admitted that he has not yet taken her to his province. He said: “Natatakot ako sa nanay niya kasi di ba medyo hotspot yung GenSan?�

(I’m afraid of her mom, because isn’t GenSan a bit of a hotspot?)

Would he take her there, given the chance? On this question, his reply was, “Oo naman, gusto ko ma-expose siya sa ganun. Gusto ko makita niya yung provincial life, kung paano kami sa probinsya, ‘yung ganun ka-simple‌ kung saan ako galing,â€? (Of course, I want her to be exposed to that. I want her to see the provincial life, how we live in the province, how simple it is‌ where I came from.)

Anderson proudly said that Alonzo has seen the movie last week. In fact, he shared that she text-messaged him, praising the movie.

While Anderson still shows affection towards Alonzo, the two made headlines recently after Alonzo unfollowed him and Wurtzbach on Instagram. She also deleted previous posts of photos of them together, including the poster for “My Perfect You� which she promoted. The actress’ hair stylist also posted a quote about infidelity, which led to fans pointing their fingers at Anderson.

In a separate interview with ABS-CBN Europe, Gerald was asked, “How’s your love life?� To which he simply replied, “Ayos naman, steady naman. (It’s okay.

It’s steady.)� (Katrina Hallare/Inquirer.net)

WITHIN the last few years, Korean food has become a hit in the United States, and it’s not very surprising to see why. It’s just so good. There is no other way to put it!

Given the rise of Korean food in the U.S., the options have exponentially expanded, giving food lovers their choices of restaurants serving bulgogi (grilled beef), galbi (marinated short ribs) and bibimbap (mixed rice with meat and sauteed vegetables) to name a few Korean food staples.

So the question remains: where can I get the best, most authentic Korean food?

Well, if you’re in Northern Orange County, look no further than Kaju Soft Tofu in Buena Park, which serves up one of the tastiest and diverse menus of all Korean food establishments in the area.

Owned by the Park family, Kaju Soft Tofu reigns supreme when it comes to consistent flavors. The owners make it a point to serve up

the freshest ingredients and have never deviated from their soft tofu soup recipe, which has been a staple in the business since first opening up their Garden Grove location two decades ago.

The tofu soup — which is a wonderful option to fight the chilly weather — is offered in seven spicy levels (white, mild, medium, spicy, very spicy, very very spicy and triple spicy), ensuring that your soup is tailored to your preference.

Kaju also offers a wide range of tofu soups, including classics like galbi tofu soup, assorted tofu soup (clam, oyster, shrimp and beef) and seafood tofu soup (clam, oyster and shrimp). Vegetarians may also indulge in Kaju’s flavorful tofu soups with the mushroom tofu soup (shiitake and enoki mushrooms), wild sesame seed tofu soup (mushrooms and ground perilla seed) and the vegetable tofu soup (carrots, corn, peas, green beans and enoki mushroom).

Mushroom Tofu Soup and Spicy Pork Bulgogi Galbi - BBQ Beef Short Ribs

Each tofu dish is topped with green onions and served with fresh rice (or multigrain rice) and a perfect ratio of soup to tofu.

One of the standouts from Kaju, though, isn’t the delicious tofu soups. The beef short rib soup is a rich, full-bodied broth with glass noodles, vegetables and, of course, beef short ribs.

Filipino customers familiar with sinigang will feel at home with Seafood Tofu Soup and Beef Bulgogi Kaju’s beef short rib soup.

Per the Korean restaurant tradition, a variety of side dishes are served fresh, including cucumbers, bean sprouts, potatoes, anchovies and, of course, kimchi.

Kaju Soft Tofu doesn’t just specialize in terrific food, but also great customer service. The staff — many of which are members of the Park family! — are friendly, eager to help and ready to give suggestions. One thing is certain of your visit to Kaju Soft Tofu: you will be treated wonderfully.

Kaju Soft Tofu’s Buena Park Kaju Bibimbap location is available via delivery through GrubHub. Bring in this issue of the Asian Journal for a sweet discount on your next meal at Kaju!

Kaju Soft Tofu is located at 7232 Orangethorpe Ave. Buena Park, CA 90621 and they’re open 7 days a week from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Garden Grove location is located at 8895 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove, CA 92844 and it is open 7 days a week from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

(Advertising Supplement)

Mushroom Bibimbap

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‘Stop the heart?’

PAGE B4 enzyme normally present in our digestive system. People who, from infancy to adult life, have been drinking milk, or consuming dairy products regularly, produce adequate amount of lactase in their digestive system to help digest these foods. Those who did not develop the habit of drinking milk or eating dairy products from early on have diminished or insufficient lactase enzyme, and therefore, unable to digest lactose (complex sugars in dairy foods).

When they start drinking milk or eating dairy products later in life, these individuals are unable to digest the lactose in their digestive tract, which results in abdominal discomfort, gas, cramps, sensation of bloating, and even diarrhea. Today, there are lactase pills (one of them called Lactaid, with 9000 FCC

Lactase units) available in drug stores. These pills are heavensent for countless individuals, who would otherwise not enjoy milk, ice cream, milk shakes, pizzas, cakes and other desserts, creamy soups, sauces, and other dairy products. If you think you have lactose intolerance, consult your physician about lactase dietary supplement. *** Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indiana and chairman of cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2010 at Cebu Doctors University Hospital, where he holds the title of Physician Emeritus in Surgery, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. He is the chairman of the Filipino United Network – USA, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian foundation in the United States.

Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com

s ,OS !NGELES -$7+ s ,AS 6EGAS s /RANGE #OUNTY )NLAND %MPIRE s 3AN &RANCISCO s .EW 9ORK .EW *ERSEY

-AY -AY -AY -AY -AY

#!,, LOS ANGELES 1210 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA 91204 Tel: (818) 502.0651 Fax: (818) 502.0858

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LAS VEGAS 2770 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 200 Las Vegas, NV 89109 Tel: (702) 792.6678 Fax: (702) 792.6879

NEW YORK / NEW JERSEY 2500 Plaza 5, Harborside Financial Center, Jersey City, NJ 07311 Tel: (212) 655.5426

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LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • MARCH 31 - APRIL 3, 2018

COMMUNITY CREDIT CARD JOURNAL

Your Immigration Solution ERIC R. WELSH AND NANCY MILLER WHEN President Trump gave his State of the Union speech in January, he warned about the threat of “chain migration,” claiming (incorrectly) that “a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited number of distant relatives.” He proposed “fixing” this “problem” by limiting sponsorships to spouses and children. In effect, President Trump proposed eviscerating American family-based immigration in the supposed interest of preventing terrorists from immigrating to the U.S. In truth, the dangers of “chain migration” are more myth than reality. America’s family-based immigration process is inherently limited, with procedural hurdles that mitigate most of the dangers that anti-immigrant fear-mongers profess. The real danger, however, is that America’s immigration laws are not sacred; they are subject to the whims and wills of politicians (and the people who elect them).

If lawmakers (or their constituents) believe in the false dangers that anti-immigrant hardliners disseminate, or if Congress simply seeks a compromise to appease hardliners, Trump could get his way, and certain familybased categories could be lost.

Family unification is a fundamental right, and one of the bedrock principles of U.S. immigration law. America has historically defended the right of a citizen or a permanent resident to bring certain close family members to the U.S. The process requires filing a petition with the Department of Homeland Security to classify a relative for immigration purposes.

If the petition is approved, the relative needs to wait for a visa to become available. Once available, the relative can apply for a green card.

The right to file a petition for a family member is not absolute. Only certain persons can

The myth of “chain migration” and the reality of family unity file petitions for certain relatives.

A U.S. citizen can file a petition for a spouse, parent, child, or sibling. A permanent resident (green card holder) can file a petition for a spouse or an unmarried child. Neither can file a petition for a grandparent, an aunt or uncle, a niece or nephew, or a cousin. Derivatives of the beneficiary family member (spouses and children) can apply for visas when they are available, but if children age out (i.e., turn 21) before the visa is ready, they may not be able to join.

Once a petition is approved, the beneficiary family member needs to wait for a visa to become available. The wait time for visa availability can range from months to decades. For example, a petition filed today from a U.S. citizen on behalf of a brother in the Philippines would result in a visa available in about 25 years.

When the visa is available, the family member needs to apply for a visa, submit to rigorous background and security screening, and overcome any grounds of inadmissibility (bars to immigrating). Simply filing a petition and getting that petition approved is not enough—it is only the beginning of a long road to immigrating.

So, with wait times in some categories exceeding 10-20 years, and with the procedural hurdles and other barriers in place, is filing a petition even worth it? There are at least three reasons to consider filing a petition now: First, you’ve got to start somewhere, and the earlier the better. The sooner the petition is filed, the sooner the visa will be available. Years will pass, and for some, family sponsorship is the only means to immigrate.

Additionally, not every familybased petition will take 25 years to ripen into a visa. Severe backlogs tend to occur in the categories for siblings and married sons and daughters, with backlogs tending to be worse in Mexico, India, the Philippines,

and China. Immediate relatives (spouses, children, and parents of U.S. citizens) are not subject to backlogs, regardless of the country of origin.

Second, the petition could be the basis for some other benefit aside from the visa. For example, petitions filed before April 30, 2001 can, in some instances, “grandfather” an intending immigrant, allowing the immigrant to apply for a green card in the U.S. when she would not otherwise have been eligible. There may be something like “grandfathering” in the future that would benefit a person who has a petition filed now.

Finally, with so much talk about the “dangers” of “chain migration,” there is a real concern that Congress could pass a law that would abolish certain family-based categories, like siblings or married children. Anyone who can file a petition for a relative should file the petition, before they lose the right to do so.

If you are a U.S. citizen or a permanent resident with foreign family members, consider talking to an immigration lawyer to learn more about the familybased immigration process.

Family unity is a core national value, and families make communities stronger. We are a nation of immigrants, strong because we are diverse. We should not turn our backs on our history and our values. *** Reeves Miller Zhang & Diza is one of the oldest, largest and most experienced immigration firms in the United States with offices in Pasadena, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Manila and China.

Telephone: (800) 795-8009 E-mail: immigration@rreeves.com website: www.rreeves.com *** The analysis and suggestions offered in this column do not create a lawyer-client relationship and are not a substitute for the personalized representation that is essential to every case.

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C2 MARCH 31 - APRIL 3, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

Minding Your Finances atty. RayMond Bulaon BEING in debt can be pretty depressing. I understand how you feel.

When you’re drowning in debt, you may feel that your situation is hopeful and you have no motivation to even plan for your future. Your self-esteem may be shot. You may be experiencing anger, depression, guilt, or a combination of all three. You may even consider yourself a failure, perhaps feeling angry with yourself for certain decisions you have made in the past that led to your present situation.

A lot of people in your shoes feel the same way, but I’m here to tell you that like most things in life, whatever you’re going through is most likely only temporary and will soon pass. How can I possibly say this? Well, did you know that as I write this article, millions of honest, hardworking people just like yourself are having problems paying their debts? As a matter of fact, there are more than 1 million personal bankruptcy filings in the United States every year as a result of being in debt.

Do you think these people file bankruptcy simply because

Community Journal

Bankruptcy: Why blaming yourself will not help they do not want to take personal responsibility for their debts? Far from it! It is an established fact that most people who file bankruptcy do so as a result of circumstances beyond their control. Study after study has shown that some of the most common reasons why people file for bankruptcy -unemployment, sickness, disability, death in the family- are events which are beyond our control. It is not always your fault. So quit blaming yourself because doing so will not get you anywhere.

So if you’ve found yourself in a situation where bankruptcy is the only way out, don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s not as bad as you think. Like most people, you will survive bankruptcy, get on with your life and do just fine. Wallowing in self-pity and feeling sorry for yourself will not help your situation one bit. As a matter of fact, having such negative feelings may impact your ability to make intelligent decisions in the midst of problem-solving.

Instead, be proud of the fact that you have affirmatively taken action to change your life for the better instead of remaining stuck where you are. Can you imagine where a lot of people would be right now if we didn’t have bankruptcy laws in this country

that help deserving individuals get out of debt legally when they are no longer able to help themselves?

As a bankruptcy attorney, I am perplexed as to why some people wait until the last minute to do something about their debt problems when they could have taken action sooner to stop things from getting worse. If you haven’t taken the time to find out what your legal rights are, it’s important to do that, the sooner the better. Soon, after you realize that things may not actually be as bad as they first seemed when you didn’t know any better, you’ll look back to this moment and thank yourself that you took the first step.

As you consider the possible benefits of bankruptcy protection, you might like to call us for a free consultation at Toll-Free 1-866-477-7772. We have offices in Glendale, Cerritos and Valencia. *** None of the information herein is intended to give legal advice for any specific situation. Atty. Ray Bulaon has successfully helped thousands of clients in getting out of debt. For a free attorney evaluation of your situation, please call Ray Bulaon Law Offices at TOLL FREE 1 (866) 477-7772.

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Is the IRS Appeals Office independent?

IF you lose an IRS audit, you have two choices: pay or appeal.

Your decision depends on how you feel about the fairness of the auditor, amount of assessment, cost of defense, and extending or ending your misery with the IRS. • What is the role of Appeals?

• Are Appeals Officers independent?

• Do they side with auditor?

The role of Appeals is to make an independent review of a tax dispute and to consider positions taken by both the taxpayer and the IRS. It strives to resolve tax disputes in a fair way and to remain impartial to both parties.

From my personal experience of dealing with Appeals for decades, it really is independent.

Trust me.

They must be independent.

It is most essential to their very existence. It is critical to accomplish their mission. To resolve disputes effectively, Appeals must show itself to be objective,

white,” Appeals Officers view issues in “shades of gray.” While Tax auditors may be locked in to Tips certain position, appeals officers are more open-minder. They are seasoned veterans. They understand life. Try Appeals if you lose your next audit. victoR sy, *** cPa, MBa Victor Santos Sy graduated Cum Laude from UE with a BBA and from Indiana State impartial, and neutral - both in University with an MBA. Vic worked with fact and appearance. If taxpay- SyCip, Gorres, Velayo (SGV - Andersen ers perceive they will not get a Consulting) and Ernst & Young before fair hearing in Appeals, they’ll establishing Sy Accountancy Corporation litigate their case in Tax Court in Pasadena, California. which would increase the cost *** and burden to both the taxpayer and the Federal Government.

He has 50 years of experience in Appeals does not take sides in defending taxpayers audited by the IRS, a dispute – not for you, not for the FTB, EDD, BOE and other governmental IRS. It offers an objective point of agencies. He is publishing a book on his view of your case. It resolves dis- expertise - “HOW TO AVOID OR SURVIVE agreements on a basis that is fair IRS AUDITS.” Our readers may inquire and impartial to both the Govern- about the book or email tax questions at ment and the taxpayer. vicsy@live.com.

While most IRS auditors tend to look at matters in “black or (Advertising Supplement)

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The Prophetic Voice ReveRend Rodel G. BalaGtas FOR my Easter message, I’d like to re-echo the words of Archbishop Socrates Villegas: “If you want to truly make a good Holy Week, love much. Love more.

Give to the poor. Visit the jail.

Visit hospital wards. This pilgrimage to the poor adds to the holiness of our times.”

I’d add that these corporal works of mercy — these means of holiness — should continue on throughout Easter and the rest of the year.

Personally, Archbishop Villegas’ words led me to re-think my observance of Holy Week.

Barrister’s Corner atty. Kenneth uRsua Reyes California law on the nature of spouses’ rights and obligations with respect to management and control of community property has evolved over the last thirty years from less stringent “good faith” standards to heightened “confidential duty” and “fiduciary duty’ standards.

Under current law, the duties owed between spouses in transactions between themselves are the same highest duties owed by parties to a fiduciary relationship.

The heightened standard with regard to transactions between spouses is codified in Family Code Sec. 721(b). The section provides that “in transactions between themselves, a husband and wife are subject to the general rules governing fiduciary relationships which control the actions of persons occupying confidential relations with each other. This confidential relationship imposes a duty of the highest good faith and fair dealing on each spouse, and neither shall take any unfair advantage of the other.”

Incidental to this fiduciary relationship is a rebuttable presumption of undue influence when one spouse obtains an advantage over the other in a community property trans-

Rising from our tombs so that others may live

So, last Holy Tuesday, instead of spending some time of prayer and spiritual reading, I decided to visit someone who is in great need of encouragement — a fellow priest. I took him out to lunch and listened to his troubles, fears, and frustration. I wanted him to know my concern and my prayers for him.

I felt good after my visit and lunch with this fellow priest. I knew that I did something gracious to him that he won’t forget.

I may not have granted him an instant solution to his problems, but I know that he felt my compassion and care. I helped him a bit rise from his tomb of loneliness and uncertainty.

I’d like to do more of this kind of work of mercy as I celebrate

Easter. Instead of dwelling on my concerns and observing prayer exercises, I hope to get out of my own “tombs” and be a source of life to somebody. Consequently, I know that any acts of kindness I show to others will inspire me in Christian and priestly life.

I hope that you do the same way.

Many times, it’s in helping someone and in making a difference in his or her life that causes us to rise from our tombs of depression, loneliness, or confusion. It is in dying to ourselves that we come to life. It is in giving that we receive and find meaning in life.

Our Lord, Jesus Christ, demonstrated this act of giving of oneself so that others may have a life. He suffered and died on the

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The presumption of “undue influence” in transactions between spouses during the marriage action--i.e. when one spouse improves his/her position, obtains a favorable opportunity, or otherwise gains, benefits or profits in a community property transaction to the exclusion of the other. Marriage of Haines (1995) 33 CA4th 277, 297, 39 CR2d 673, 686. This presumption arises in connection with any interspousal property transaction in which one spouse obtained an advantage over the other. It is important to note that the presumption arises even if the transaction at issue did not result from fraud, deceit or coercion. Marriage of Mathews (2005) 133 CA4th 624, 629-630, 35 CR3d 1, 4.

The spouse favored by such a transaction has the burden of rebutting the presumption of undue influence. To rebut the presumption, he/she must show that the other spouse entered into the transaction freely and voluntarily, with full knowledge of all the facts, and with a complete understanding of its effect. Marriage of Delaney (2003) 111 CA4th 991, 996-997, 4 CR3d 378, 382. If the spouse who benefited from the transaction fails to demonstrate the foregoing, the transaction may be ignored.

A classic example of this situation is when a husband executes a quitclaim deed in favor of his wife as her separate property. Generally that fully executed Quit Claim would have the effect of changing the character of the property from community to his wife’s separate property based on another presumption called “presumption of title” under evidence code section 662 and the under a the theory of “transmutation” pursuant to family code section 852., Evidence Code Section 662 presumption of title states that “the owner of the legal title to property is presumed to be the owner of the full beneficial title. This presumption may be rebutted only by clear and convincing proof.

However, because of the presumption of undue influence under family code section 721(b), the wife has the burden to overcome the presumption in order to effect a change in the character of the property from community to separate. If the wife does not meet the burden, then the court can set aside the quit claim deed based on a presumption that such transfer was made with undue influence.

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Women & minority employees continue fight for pay equality INGRID Avendano, Roxana Lopez, and Ana Medina are female Latina software engineers employed by Uber, a multi-billion dollar company that provides on-demand transportation and food delivery services globally. The engineers sued Uber, on behalf on themselves and all aggrieved employees in California, accusing Uber of violating California’s Equal Pay Act for failing to provide equal compensation for work requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility.

The employees alleged that Uber maintains uniform employment, compensation, performance review, and promotion policies throughout the State of California. As a result of Uber’s policies and practices, female engineers and engineers of color (i.e., Latino, African-American, or American Indian) receive less compensation and are promoted less frequently than their male and white or AsianAmerican counterparts.

According to the complaint, Uber uses a “stack ranking” system for evaluating employee performance, which requires supervisors to rank employees from worst to best. The employees claimed that this was not truly based on an employee’s performance but on subjective and arbitrary factors. More troublingly, the “stack ranking” system was implemented in a way that discriminated against the plaintiffs.

Female employees and employees of color are said to be systematically undervalued compared to male and white or Asian American peers because the former receive lower rankings despite equal or better performance. This

Debt Relief

Atty. LAwrence yAng

The client is 50 years old and divorced. She owns her residence by herself. Ex-husband quitclaimed the house to her in the divorce and she agreed to buy him off payable when able. She has two children who live with her, so her homestead exemption is $100,000. The problem is that her equity in the house is more than $100K. Her equity is $140,000. Because of this circumstance, although client would really benefit from a Chapter 7 wipeout of the entire $120,000 of credit cards, I cannot recommend a Chapter 7 for her. In Chapter 7, even if it’s true that she does not have to pay a single cent of the $120,000 of credit card debt, there is a huge risk that she may end up losing her house to the Chapter 7 trustee.

What would happen in Chapter 7 is that the trustee may exercise his power to sell her house and give her the homestead exemption of $100,000 in cash and use the $40,000 to pay her creditors, and the balance of $80K owed would be discharged by the bankruptcy court? But let’s face it; nobody wants to lose the house to pay credit cards, so Chapter 7 would not make sense.

But how will client handle the $120,000 of credit cards?

Her minimum payments of $120,000 are at least $3,600 a month. I guess her ex-husband paid the minimum before the divorce. Since her household income has been greatly reduced after the divorce with the loss of ex-husband’s income, it’s really difficult for her to pay $3,600 a month to keep $120,000 of credit cards current, considering her gross monthly income is $5,000 as a registered nurse with one job.

If she had two jobs, the net income from one job would be used entirely to keep the $120,000 current. Now, that doesn’t make sense either,

Protecting Employee & Consumer Rights Atty. c. Joe SAyAS, Jr. resulted in lower performance review scores, which in turn resulted in lower pay and fewer promotions among female employees and employees of color. Thus, Uber paid female engineers and engineers of color received less compensation (salaries, bonuses, other cash compensations, stocks, options, etc.), benefits, and other wages.

Additionally, the employees alleged that Uber sets initial compensation for aggrieved employees based on their past salary history. This practice disadvantages women, who are generally paid 18% less than men in the same occupation in the marketplace. It also disadvantages people of color, who are generally paid significantly less than whites in the same occupation in the marketplace.

California law prohibits an employer from paying any of its employees at wage rates less than the rates paid to employees of the opposite sex for substantially similar work, and performed under similar working conditions. “Substantially similar work” may mean the employees may have different titles or work at different sites but their work are essentially the same. In other words, the lower paid employee does not have to prove that the higher paid employee of the opposite sex has exactly the same job as she (or he) does. If differences in wages exist, the difference must be legally justified based

on one or more of the following factors: a) A seniority system b) A merit system c) A system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production d) A bona fide factor other than sex, such as education, training, or experience.

Discriminated employees will be entitled to monetary damages, including the right to recover attorneys’ fees and costs. They also may ask that the discriminatory practices are stopped.

Rather than continue with litigation, the parties agreed to settle the case, with Uber agreeing to pay $10 million to a class of 420 engineers who identified as women or people of color. As part of the settlement, Uber has agreed to improve its performance and compensation systems to prevent discrimination. It also agreed to provide a reports on its efforts to promote diversity in the workplace. *** 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 or our Facebook page Joe Sayas Law. [C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is an experienced trial attorney who has 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 the recipient of PABA’s Community Champion Award for 2016.]

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*** Disclaimer: The foregoing is an expression of opinion and is not meant to be legal advice to any reader.

There is no attorney-client relationship established by this article with the reader. If you want to discuss your situation, you have to set an appointment to consult with the attorney. The first general consultation is free. *** 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 1000 S. Fremont Ave, Mailstop 58, Building A-1 Suite 1125, Alhambra, CA 91803 or at 20274 Carrey Road, Walnut, CA 91789.

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The presumption of “undue influence”...

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Each spouse’s fiduciary obligations toward the other spouse under Family Code Sec. 721(b) continue after separation in anticipation of dissolution, nullity or legal separation until the date of distribution of the community asset or liability in question. Family Code Sec. 2102(a) and (b). Accordingly, if you have made an interspousal transaction benefiting your spouse during the marriage such as executing a quit claim and you are contemplating filing a divorce, it is advised that you consult with an expe-

rienced attorney to determine you and the Law Offices of Kenneth what avenues of relief you may U. Reyes, P.C. This article is not a take to set aside the transac- solicitation. tion. *** Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes is a *** Certified Family Law Specialist. He was Please note that this article is not President of the Philippine American legal advice and is not intended as Bar Association. He is a member of both legal advice. The article is intended the Family law section and Immigration to provide only general, non-specific law section of the Los Angeles County legal information. This article is Bar Association. He has extensive CPA not intended to cover all the issues experience prior to law practice. LAW related to the topic discussed. The OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, P.C. is specific facts that apply to your located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 747, matter may make the outcome Los Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 388different than would be anticipated 1611 or e-mail kureyeslaw@gmail.com or by you. This article does create any visit our website at Kenreyeslaw.com. attorney client relationship between (Advertising Supplement)

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K-1 Fiancé(e) visa: Getting your significant other to the United States SEVERAL options exist for a US citizen to bring his/her foreign-national fiancé(e) to the United States. One popular option is to marry the fiancé(e) in the country in which he/ she resides, and file an I-130 immigrant petition, with the fiancé(e) to undergo consular processing for an immigrant visa when the I-130 petition is approved. However, this option often is not advisable in that the US-citizen petitioner would have to learn and comply with complicated, countryspecific marriage license requirements, or legal barriers to marriage may exist to the UScitizen petitioner in the foreign country (as in the case of the Philippines, which in some circumstances will not recognize a foreign divorce judgment). In such cases, the best way to get your fiancé(e) to the US is via a K-1 Fiance(e) visa.

The K-1 Fiancé(e) visa allows a fiancé(e) to enter the US for 90 days to allow marriage to take place. By having the marriage take place in the US, couples are able to bypass the foreign country’s license requirements and/or other impediments to marriage imposed by a foreign law.

To be eligible for the K-1 Fiancé(e) visa petition, the following are required: 1) the petitioner must be a US Citizen, 2) the petitioner must have an intent to marry the fiancé(e) within 90 days of his/her arrival in the US, 3) the petitioner

Legal Advice Atty. DArrick tAn and fiancé(e) must have the ability to marry (i.e. any previous marriages were terminated by divorce or death), and 4) the petitioner and fiancé(e) must have physically met each other within 2 years of filing the K-1 Fiancé(e) visa petition (certain exceptions apply to this fourth requirement).

Minor unmarried children of the fiancé(e) may also come to the US under a K-2 visa classification.

Upon arrival in the US, the fiancé(e) can immediately apply for authorization to work in the US. He/she does not have to wait until marriage to apply for work authorization. The work authorization issued to the fiancé(e) is valid for 90 days after entry. This provides the fiancé(e) the ability to immediately seek lawful employment.

Once married, the spouse of the US citizen can file an I-485 application for adjustment of status (from K-1 to permanent resident), and remain in the US while the application is pending.

At the same time the I-485 application is filed, the fiancé(e) may apply for an extended work authorization. Upon approval of the I-485 application, the fiancé(e)

is granted a conditional green card that is valid for 2 years, after which he/she can apply to remove the conditions on the green card.

The K-1 Fiance(e) status automatically expires after 90 days.

If marriage with the US Citizen who petitioned the fiancé(e) does not occur within that time, the fiancé(e) begins to accrue unlawful presence. Also, the fiancé(e) will be precluded from adjusting to permanent resident status in the US if he/ she marries another US citizen (however, he/she may be able to become a permanent resident through consular processing with a provisional waiver).

If you are a US Citizen who is planning to marry your foreign national fiancé(e), or you are someone who arrived under a K-1 Fiance(e) visa whose marriage did not take place, it is recommended you consult with an experienced attorney. *** 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 and is a former member of the Board of Governors of the Philipp ine American Bar Association. *** LAW OFFICES OF DARRICK V. TAN, 3580 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 900, Los Angeles, CA 90010. Tel: (323) 6390277. Email: info@dtanlaw.com.

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Rising from our tombs so that others...

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cross to save us from our sins and share with us the promise of eternal life. His death becomes a seed of hope for the whole world and all his followers. His Cross became the mark of true humanity and servanthood.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle conveyed this foundational principle during his Palm Sunday Homily this year. He said: “The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ hold a fundamental debtor houses in bankruptcy. place in the lives of most Filipino No matter how you look at it, Catholics. It is central, not as an even with a $700 plan pay- abstract belief, but rather a mement, Chapter 13 gives the dium of experience and tradition debtor the rare opportunity of that provides continuity in life, paying only a portion, in this a structure in the community, case only 1/3 of her credit card and principled purpose for exisdebt of $120,000. All plan payments are applied to principal and there is no interest in Chapter 13. As long as the client pays all plan payments, the court will wipe out the unpaid 2/3 or $80,000 of credit card debt. So in client’s case, Chapter 13 reorganization will allow her to keep her house even if it has $40,000 of non-exempt equity since her total equity in the house is $140,000, pay only 1/3 of her credit card debt of $120,000, and discharge $80,000 of unpaid credit cards.

Of course, if her equity in the house was only $100,000, then she would just file for Chapter 7 and wipe out the entire $120,000 credit cards because there would be no risk of losing her house since the entire $100,000 of equity is exempt under 704.730.

If you need debt relief, call our office to set an appointment and I will analyze your case personally.

Client files Chapter 13 to handle $120K credit card debt does it?

In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy reorganization, considering that she owns a house with $40,000 of non-exempt equity, she would have to pay at least $700 a month for 60 months.

After making 60 payments of $700 each, or $42,000, the bankruptcy court will discharge the entire balance of the unpaid $120,000. So, in Chapter 13, the client will pay 1/3 of the $120,000 of credit cards, while the court will discharge or wipe out 2/3 or $80,000 of the $120,000 credit cards. After paying $40,000 in the Chapter 13 plan for 60 months, the client will owe zero. Compare this reorganization under Chapter 13 to her current situation: She needs to pay $3,600 minimum a month to keep $120,000 current. This means that in 12 months she would have paid $43,000, and in 24 months, she would have paid $86,000, in 36 months she would have paid $129,000, in 48 months she would have paid $172,000, and lastly, in 60 months, she would have paid $215,000.

So, in Chapter 13, she only pays $40,000 and after 60 months, $80,000 is wiped out by the court, so after 60 months, and paying $40K, the client will owe nothing. If she continues with her current situation, she would pay $215,000 in 60 months, and how much would she still owe? She would still owe the very same $120,000!

She would have paid $215,000 and still owe the same balance of $120,000! This is why you should pay down credit card debt to zero every month, or get rid of the entire balance with a bankruptcy discharge, either 7 or 13, whichever applies to you, unless you are perfectly happy being the milking cow of credit cards.

In Chapter 13, the client will not assume any risk of losing her house. Unlike Chapter 7 trustees, Chapter 13 trustees do not have the power to sell

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • MARCH 31 - APRIL 3, 2018

tence.”

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, also expressed this concreteness of living a Christian life to our young people in his Palm Sunday Homily by urging them to raise their voices in the face of corrupt and silent leaders. “You have it in you to shout,” even if “we older people and leaders, very often corrupt, keep quiet,” he said.

Fundamentally and ultimately, Easter is about being a source of life and hope to people around us and in the world in concrete ways. It’s not merely a confession and a profession of our belief in the Resurrection of Christ.

It’s putting this faith in action so that others may know that our faith is not mere lips service but

a revolution of love, kindness, compassion, and service so that others may live!

Happy Easter to all! *** From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1991-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.

C4 MARCH 31 - APRIL 3, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

C

alendar of Events

across

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America

ADVERTISE YOUR EVENTS! PRE-EVENT AND POST EVENT GO DEEPER. GO WIDER. LET THE WORLD KNOW. CALL ASIAN JOURNAL: (818) 502-0651 DISPLAY AD SIZES AT SPECIAL RATES FOR NON-PROFIT GROUPS APRIL 4

FACCGLA hosts networking mixer in Culver City, CA Join the networking mixer of the Filipino-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Los Angeles (FACCGLA) at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 4 and meet high caliber individuals and company attendees that include professionals, executives, business owners, investors, lenders, entrepreneurs and startups from a diverse range of industries. Appetizers included.

Venue is 5446 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City, CA 90230. Free parking at 2nd level. For more info, please visit www.faccgla.org.

A P R I L 1 1 -1 3

Advancing Justice Conference in Washington, DC Advancing Justice Conference in Washington, DC The Advancing Justice Conference is the signature event in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community focusing on civil rights and social justice happening on April 11-13, This three-day, bi-annual convening is hosted by Asian Americans Advancing Justice. It provides a unique forum to learn from issue area experts and community leaders, discuss common challenges and opportunities, share best practices, and find more effective ways to work collaboratively. This year, community leaders from across the U.S. will come together in Washington, D.C. at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. To register, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2018advancing-justice-conference-april-11-13-registration-39652865789.

APRIL 14

SALIDA: Simbolo at Kultura in Queens, NY AFTA presents its latest fundraising event - “SALIDA: Simbolo at Kultura” – a cultural dinner show featuring the internationally recognized dance troupe from the Philippines, the Leyte Dance Theater, which will kick off their USA TOUR 2018 in NYC. The event is on April 14, 2018, 3:00 pm at the Rock Church in Woodside, Queens. “Salida” aims to raise funds and awareness to support the flagship projects of the Association of Fil-am Teachers of America, Inc. (AFTA) with their partners: The Rock Churches Worldwide and the Leyte Biliran & Samar Federation. Proceeds of this fundraiser will finance AFTA’s projects in the Philippines like Adopt a School (Marawi City, Biliran and Albay, Adopt a Scholar, and Balikturo). For Sponsorship opportunities, contact Roxanne at 347-932-6631 or Nitz at 862-368-1706 or any AFTA officer/board member.

Philippine Medical Association of Southern CA to hold inaugural ball in Anaheim, CA The Philippine Medical Association of Southern California (PMASC) and its auxiliary will be holding its biennial inaugural ball on Saturday, April 14 at the Anaheim Marriott (700 W Convention Way, Anaheim, CA). This grand occasion will be attended by several Filipino physicians and its guests to raise funds for humanitarian purposes, specifically its outreach ■ programs including medical missions to the Philippines and Southern California. The association has been conducting such purposes for 46 years since its founding in 1971. For more information and tickets, please contact Dr. Emma Arella at (661) 794-3322, Dr. Ellen Abejuela at (909) 859-4865 or PMASC Executive Office at (562) 572-2481.

APRIL 30

East West Players’ 52nd Visionary Awards & Silent Auction in Los Angeles East West Players celebrates its 52nd Anniversary at the Annual Visionary Awards Dinner & Silent Auction. The Visionary Awards laud the achievements of individuals who have raised the visibility of the Asian Pacific American (APA) community through their craft. Proceeds from the gala will benefit East West Players’ educational and artistic programs. It will be held at the Hilton Universal City (555 Universal Hollywood Drive, Universal City, CA 91608) on Monday, April 30. At 5:30 p.m., VIP Reception*, silent auction, and registration begin. Dinner and awards show begin at 7:00 p.m. For more information, please visit: http://www.eastwestplayers.org/ news/east-west-players-52nd-anniversary-visionary-awards-dinner-and-silent-auction/.

M AY 3 -1 2

34th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival The 34th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival will be presented May 3 - May 12, 2018 at select cinemas in the Los Angeles area. A key highlight of the annual Asian Pacific American Heritage Month activities, the Festival is produced by Visual Communications, the nation’s premier Asian Pacific American media arts center, and enjoys broad support from cinema artists and audiences alike. Since 1983, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival has presented over 4,000 films, videos, and digital mediaworks by Asian international and Asian Pacific American artists, and additionally features seminars and panels, in-person guest appearances, and filmmaker awards. The Film Festival continues to be the largest festival of its kind in Southern California and is the premier showcase for the best and brightest of Asian Pacific American and international cinema. To learn about Visual Communications, visit www. vconline.org.

M AY 1 8

The Asian American Group to celebrate first annual Asian Culture Day in Las Vegas On Friday, May 18, the Asian American Group (AAG) will celebrate the first annual Asian Culture Day. The event will be held at the Conference Center of Las Vegas (6590 Bermuda Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89119), and will start at 6 p.m. There will be a variety of Asian dishes and cultural performances at the celebration.

The primary goal of the Asian Culture Day celebration is to invite and unite the Asian nations of the world, and to educate and share their respective cultures in order to achieve greater understanding and fellowship between nations. The annual Asian Culture Day was established by Senate Bill 175, which proclaims every 18th of May as Asian Culture Day in the state of Nevada. The bill was introduced and authored by State Senator Scott Hammond, and was signed into law by Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval last year. The bill gives recognition to the Asians and Asian-Americans who were instrumental in the settlement and early development of the State of Nevada; the culture and traditions shared by Asians and AsianAmericans; and the Asian and Asian-American communities that continue to make important contributions to the cultural, religious, political, and business environment. To purchase tickets visit https://www.asianamericangroup.org/saac-2/.

M AY 26

FACCGLA’s bowling tournament The Filipino-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Los Angeles (FACCGLA) will host a bowling tournament on Saturday, May 26 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Winnetka Bowling Lanes (20122 Vanowen St, Winnetka, CA 91306). Open to both members and non-members, in teams of four or we can assign you a team. Slots are limited. To register your team, please call FACC-GLA Secretary Ms. Connie Mapue (323) 337-7714 or FACC-GLA boardmember Ms. Doreen Remo (310) 428-7200. For more information and online payment, please visit www. faccgla.org.

If you have an upcoming event and would like us to post it, please email us the details at info@asianjournalinc.com or calendar@asianjournalinc.com

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People and Events

Grand Park’s “Our LA Voices: Spring Arts Festival” to celebrate city’s vibrant arts community

LOS ANGELES — Grand Park will celebrate LA artists from April 27-29 at the first annual Grand Park’s Our L.A. Voices: Spring Arts Festival, a public arts exhibition that will gather diverse and powerful talent from around Los Angeles County and showcase the region’s artistic excellence. A tent-pole event that will spotlight Grand Park’s ongoing commitment to L.A.’s creative communities, Grand Park’s Our LA Voices: Spring Arts Festival, will be a free “best of LA” performing and visual arts event representing the County’s many voices and perspectives.

The weekend-long celebration

will feature outdoor theatrical and dance performances, storytelling, youth performances, live art and a public marketplace with nearly 30 artists creating and/or selling their work on-site.

With family-friendly programming, it will create an opportunity for Angelenos to experience the diverse richness of the County’s arts community. Highlights from the festival line-up include The Fountain Theatre’s production of Citizen, a provocative meditation on race that fuses prose, poetry, movement, music and visual images; Antics Dance Theatre’s Sneaker Suites, featuring dancers, live spoken word

poetry and short films; Grand Park’s PROUD Stories, a series of spoken word and storytelling performances from the LGBTQ community ; and the Jardin deLArte 2018, a public marketplace showcasing L.A.-based visual artists and crafts people in partnership with Self Help Graphics and DTLA Proud; and two stages featuring DJs and local artists including Garth Trinidad, DJ Tendaji Lathan and Shiva.For more information about Grand Park’s Our LA Voices: Spring Arts Festival, and updates about additional performances, visit grandparkla. org/event/ourlavoices2018

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LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • MARCH 31 - APRIL 3, 2018

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People and Events

Univ. of the Philippines University of Santo Tomas Medical Alumni Association of Alumni Association Southern California hosts 13th biennial inaugural ball Greater Los Angeles hosts bowling barkadahan in Glendale, CA

Happening on Saturday, April 7 is Bowling Barkadahan at Jewel City Bowl (135 S Glendale Ave, Glendale, CA 91205). Registration is at 3 p.m., games begin at 4 p.m.

Join the fun networking activity through bowling that raises funds for the scholarship project of the University of the Philippines Alumni Association Greater Los Angeles

(UPAAGLA). Players get two free games, free shoe rental, two slices of pizza, salad and unlimited soda. Form a fourperson team ($160 total fee) to bowl with community leaders, business owners, members of organizations and associations, UP alumni, and friends.

For more information, call 1(800) 611-5705 or visit www. upaagla.org.

THE stars aligned and the moon was shining brighter as the UST Medical Alumni Association of Southern California (USTMAASC) celebrated its 24th anniversary and 13th biennial inaugural ball last March 17, 2018 at the Marriott Long Beach.

Alumni graduates from UST Medicine, prominent community leaders, physicians belonging to various Philippine medical universities, friends and family members cheered as the new board of officers for 2018-2019, headed by its new president, Dr.

Marilou Dichoso, were inducted. Jubilarians from the years 1958 to 1993 were recognized and given souvenir medals to commemorate the occasion. A video showing USTMAASC’s major charity project, “Hospital on Wheels,” was presented during the gala. There was fun galore with music provided by the Hill Tops band. The keynote speaker of the event was Philippine Deputy Consul General, Ambrosio Brian Enciso.

USTMAASC is a professional and 501C3 nonprofit organization made up of graduates

Pinay CEO Joy Murao keynotes LA Paralegal Association Tech Expo

From left: Joy Murao, CEO of Practice Aligned Resources, LLC, and Richard Ito, regional manager of the U.S. Department of Justice, receive their certificates of appreciation and gifts for being the keynote speakers at the LAPA Tech Expo in downtown Los Angeles.

Envision this: A sumptuously decorated ballroom, where there are over 20 legal service providers showcasing their wares and specialties, where abundant mouthwatering appetizers like succulent sliders and juicy empanadas were served, and where knowledgeable leaders in the legal tech industry shared their insights to the delight of the audience.

On Wednesday, March 7, over 100 people attended the Los Angeles Paralegal Association’s (LAPA) technology exposition, LAPA Tech Expo, at the beautiful Centennial Ballroom of the Los Angeles Athletic Club in downtown Los Angeles. The purpose of the expo was for attendees to network, meet with technology-focused legal service providers, and learn about current and future trends of technology within the legal industry.

One of the keynote speakers, Joy Murao, a FilipinaAmerican, is the founder and CEO of Practice Aligned Resources, LLC, a company that provides e-Discovery services and training to the legal community. Murao spoke to the attendees regarding details on how law firms can utilize technology and stay competitive in an ever-changing environment. Murao is a prolific leader in the litigation support industry.

“Her keynote address is important since it empha-

sized how technology is becoming more integrated in today’s legal landscape,” stated LAPA Executive Vice President Bobby Rimas.

Murao, a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, is a highly sought-after speaker on legal technology, e-Discovery, and legal project management. Murao spent most of her career at Latham and Watkins, Paul Hastings and O’Melveny & Myers building, structuring, and supporting top-notch global practice support teams.

Her career culminated in the transition from employee to entrepreneur with the creation of Practice Aligned Resources. She has dedicated her career to implementing new strategies, technologies and services in various practice areas for some of the largest firms and corporate clients in the world. Murao is an active teacher and mentor in the legal community. She is the Regional Director (Southwest) for Women in eDiscovery and an instructor of UCLA Extension’s Paralegal Training Program.

Also speaking at the LAPA Tech Expo was Richard Ito, regional manager of the U.S. Department of Justice regarding technology history and trends within the legal industry.

“Due to the success of LAPA Tech Expo, LAPA plans to have this event on an annual basis and will again invite Ms. Joy Murao as a keynote speaker,” said Rimas.

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of the UST Faculty of Medicine and Surgery.

Through the years, the Association has fostered loyalty of the medical alumni residing in SoCal to its Alma Mater by supporting and financing numerous educational and building projects. USTMAASC has conducted medical missions in the Philippines to provide much needed free medical consultations and supplies to the impoverished. The Fil-Am community salutes the new board of officers as they carry on the legacy of all those who have led before them. ■

C6 MARCH 31 - APRIL 3, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

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MARKETPLACE SHOWROOM

& Can my relative petition

Immigration Corner Atty. MichAel Gurfinkel, eSQ Dear attorney Gurfinkel: My aunt owns a care home, and wants to petition me as a caregiver. However, I was told that employers cannot petition relatives for green cards through labor certification or PerM. Is that true? Or is it possible for relatives to petition other relatives for employment-based green card?

Very truly yours, MJ Dear MJ: There is nothing wrong or illegal about relatives petitioning other relatives through an employer-sponsored green card, as long as the job is real and all the other requirements are met.

The websites of both the Department of Labor (DOL) and USCIS confirm that relatives can legally petition family members for employment-based green cards. In fact, on my TFC show, Citizen Pinoy, I featured a case where a sister petitioned her younger brother as her office manager. Not only was the green card approved, but he is now a U.S. citizen!

According to DOL, family relationship includes, “any relationship established by blood, marriage, or adoption, even if distant. For example, cousins of all degrees, aunts, uncles, grandparents and grandchildren are included. It also includes relationships established through marriage, such as in-laws and step-families. . .” Therefore, on the forms where it asks “is there a familial relationship between the foreign worker and the own-

me for an employmentbased green card? ers...,” you would merely check the “yes” box.

Also, the employer “must be able to demonstrate the existence of a bona fide job opportunity, i.e. the job is available to U.S. workers.” However, this is a requirement in any PERM case, whether the employer and employee are related or not. DOL further confirms, “A familial relationship between the alien and the employer does not establish the lack of a bona fide job opportunity per se,” meaning a family relationship does not automatically disqualify the case. It’s just DOL wants to make sure it is a legitimate, bona fide job opportunity at which the alien will eventually work, rather than it being a “job of convenience”.

The USCIS also confirms the legitimacy and legality of relatives petitioning family members through labor certification, based on affidavit of support requirements. Ordinarily, only family-based petitions require an affidavit of support. No affidavit of support is usually required for employment based petitions.

However, in an employment setting, if a relative owns at least 5% of the company, an affidavit of support is required. So, if it were “illegal,” why would USCIS allow such a petition, but just require an affidavit of support?

And people have a lot of misunderstandings about employmentbased petitions: The employer does not need to be a Fortune 500 company. Even small businesses can petition workers if they have the “ability

to pay,” meaning they can afford to pay the wage.

The job does not need to be college level. Even a caregiver or housekeeper can qualify for a green card through an employer’s petition. And the waiting time (or priority date) is the same whether the job is unskilled, skilled, or college level.

If a Filipino has a business in the U.S. with a legitimate job opening, and a relative with education or experience for that job, they may want to consider sponsoring that relative to fill the job position, whether the relative is in the U.S. or back home in the Philippines. But you should consult with an attorney, who can evaluate the case, to determine if the requirements are met, and the relative has a chance. *** Michael J. Gurfinkel is licensed, and an active member of the State Bar of California and New York. All immigration services are provided by, or under the supervision of, an active member of the State Bar of California.

Each case is different. The information contained herein including testimonials, “Success Stories,” endorsements and reenactments) is of a general nature, and is not intended to apply to any particular case, and does not constitute a prediction, warranty, guarantee or legal advice regarding the outcome of your legal matter. No attorneyclient relationship is, or shall be, established with any reader.

WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.com Call Toll free to schedule a consultation for anywhere in the US: (866)—GURFINKEL Four offices to serve you: LOS ANGELES · SAN FRANCISCO · NEW YORK · PHILIPPINES (Advertising Supplement)

Business Quote of the Week “Capital isn’t so important in business. Experience isn’t so important.

You can get both these things. What is important is ideas. If you have ideas, you have the main asset you need, and there isn’t any limit to what you can do with your business and your life.”

- Harvey Firestone, founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • MARCH 31-ApRIL 3, 2018

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Marketplace

Business group proposes phased Boracay rehab

by Ian

nIcolas cIgaral Philstar.com

MANILA — The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday, March 28 urged the government to conduct a three-phased rehabilitation of the world-famous Boracay to minimize unduly impact on the island’s economy.

The PCCI, which represents about 35,000 members, made the call amid the potential six-month shutdown of Boracay for clean-up, after President Rodrigo Duterte called the Philippines’ top tourist draw a “cesspool.”

“While shutting down the island for at least six months appears to be the most practical option to urgently solve its current issues, we believe that it will create unnecessary disruption in many legitimate and law abiding micro and small businesses and job losses for thousands of local residents of Boracay,” the PCCI said in a statement.

EVA brings Hello Kitty Jet into three-flight/day LA schedule

Kitty, Sanrio friends join hands to invite travel fun & new friendships

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which represents about 35,000 members, made the call amid the potential six-month shutdown of Boracay for clean-up, after President Rodrigo Duterte called the Philippines’ top tourist draw a “cesspool.”

File photo

The business group suggested what it called a “win-win” solution, whereby three major access points to Boracay will be closed down one at a time “to gradually restore the island in phases.”

“We trust that the various concerned government agencies

have done a thorough economic and social impact assessment of not just the immediate but also the medium and long-term effects of closing the island, and that they will share their findings with the affected stakeholders,” the PCCI said.

PayPal bullish on Philippines business by louella

D. DesIDerIo Philstar.com

MANILA — Digital payments provider PayPal plans to grow its business in the Philippines amid positive outlook on the freelance market.

“The signals and signs are all positive, not just macro (environment), but also what Filipino freelancers are telling us,” said Abhinav Kumar, PayPal head of strategic partnerships for Southeast Asia.

Kumar said PayPal is upbeat about its prospects in the country as Filipino freelancers are the most optimistic based on the PayPal Global Freelancer Insights Report which covered 22 markets.

The Philippine results are based on a survey of over 500 freelancers and those looking to become freelancers.

The report showed the country is a very optimistic freelancer market as 86 percent of freelancers anticipate future growth on their businesses.

Amid opportunities offered by digital platforms, the freelance economy continues to grow, and is expected to advance further by 2020 with almost one in five workers to be freelancers or contract workers.

The trend is even more prominent in the Philippines with a

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • MARCH 31-ApRIL 3, 2018 D

Kumar said PayPal is upbeat about its prospects in the country as Filipino freelancers are the most optimistic based on the PayPal Global Freelancer Insights Report which covered 22 markets.

growing millennial population attracted to the flexible working hours and the ability to be their own boss.

Companies are also seeing the benefits of outsourcing certain functions to freelancers to be more cost efficient.

According to the study, data entry or internet research (34 percent), virtual assistance (13 percent), and customer service (eight percent) are just some of the many types of work freelancers are often engaged in.

While the freelance market is expected to grow in the country, freelancers face uncertainties such as having irregular income and not being paid by commissioners.

At least half of the freelancers said they have experienced not being paid for their work and

services.

“The Philippines freelancer market is a growing segment and is poised for further upsurge, with more Filipinos looking to getting freelance work from overseas. In order to complete the transaction and receive payment, a payment platform that has the same farreaching abilities as the nature of the gig economy is needed.

This means having a single payment option to customers that transcends international borders and accepts multiple currencies,” Kumar said.

The survey revealed PayPal is currently the most popular platform for freelancers in the Philippines with 86 percent using such to receive payments from overseas and 93 percent of those using an invoicing service using PayPal.

LOS ANGELES – EVA Air is adding its popular Hello Kitty Hand-in-Hand Jet into its Los Angeles schedule on Tuesday, March 27. It is using the specially painted plane on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday for three of the 21 nonstop flights it operates between Los Angeles and Taipei, Taiwan every week. Travelers can learn more about EVA and its Hello Kitty and Sanrio Family jets at http:// www.evakitty.com/en/index.html and book flights through travel agents, the airline’s reservations hotline or at www.evaair.com.

From nose to tail of the colorful Boeing 777-300ER, Hello Kitty and Sanrio friends of different colors, shapes and sizes join hands and invite travel fun and friendships. Among the 19 Sanrio Family characters linking hands with Hello Kitty and Dear Daniel are My Melody, Kuromi, Little Twin Stars, Cinnamoroll, Pompom Purin and Bad Badtz-Maru.

EVA BR005 departs Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at 11:55 am (11:55) and gets into Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) at 5:05 pm (17:05) the next day. Return flight BR006 leaves TPE at 10:10 am (10:10) and arrives in LAX at 6:50 am (6:50).

The specially painted Boeing 777300ER is comfortably configured into three distinct cabins, Royal Laurel Class business, Premium Economy and Economy. Flight time from LAX to TPE is 14 hrs. and 10 mins. From TPE to LAX, it’s 11 hrs. and 40 mins.

The fun of flying aboard EVA’s Hello Kitty and Sanrio Family Jets begins at airport check-in with specially designed boarding passes and baggage stickers.

Onboard, the cabin crews wear light-green Hello Kitty Jet aprons and passengers use service items

decorated with the irresistible characters. Service items include Hello Kitty headrest covers, pillows, tissue, hand cream, handwashing liquid, napkins, paper cups, utensils and snacks, all refreshed quarterly. EVA also offers Hello Kitty and Sanrio Family duty-free items through the EVA Sky Shop online and inflight.

EVA flies seven of the specially painted aircraft on routes within Asia, in addition to its long-haul service to Chicago and Los Angeles. Its other Hello Kitty planes are the Shining Star, Joyful Dream, Celebration Flight and Friendship Bows. Its Sanrio Family aircraft are the gudetama Comfort Flight and Bad Badtz-Maru Travel Fun planes.

EVA launched the Hello Kitty Hand-in-Hand Jet on the Los Angeles - Taipei route in September 2013 and rerouted it to fly Taipei – Paris in October 2014.

EVA Air EVA Air, a Star Alliance member

and one of only 10 Skytrax-rated 5-Star airlines worldwide, was established in 1989 as Taiwan’s first privately owned international airline. It is part of the respected Evergreen Group and a sister company to global container-shipping leader Evergreen Line. It flies a fleet of more than 70 Boeing and Airbus aircraft to more than 60 international destinations throughout Asia, Oceania, Europe and North America where gateways are Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver.

With just one easy stop in Taipei, travelers from North America can connect onward to every major city in Asia, including 17 destinations in China. Travelers can learn more about EVA’s Hello Kitty and Sanrio Family Jets, along with routes they serve, at http://www.evakitty. com/en/index.html and book, buy and reserve seats on all flights at www.evaair.com.

(Advertising Supplement)

Grab expects PCC to approve Uber deal by reIcelene Joy IgnacIo ManilaTimes.net

GRAB is confident that the Philippine Competititon Commission (PCC) will clear its acquisition of rival Uber’s operations in the country.

“Grab is already taking the initiative to reach out the PCC. We will have a meeting with them…next week,” Grab Philippines spokesper-

son Leo Gonzales told reporters.

“We believe that PCC will conduct a review of the transaction that just happened. We are open to working on them with that,” Gonzales said.

Earlier, the PCC said that Grab’s acquisition of Uber’s Southeast Asian businesses was not a done deal. Grab has yet to formally notify the competition body of the deal.

Grab Philippines Country Head

Brian Cu claimed that the acquisition would mean reduced waiting time for Filipino commuters..

He noted that around 20,000 to 24,000 Uber drivers in the Philippines were expected to shift to Grab.

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board official Aileen Lizada said the agency would be closely looking at Grab’s fares.

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EMPLOYMENT

EMPLOYMENT

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EMPLOYMENT

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Marketplace

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Gokongwei buying Rustan grocery chain

by DorIs

Dumlao-abaDIlla Inquirer.net

GokonGwei-led Robinsons Retail Holdings inc. (RRHi) has expanded its retailing empire with the P18-billion deal to acquire grocery chain operator Rustan Supercenters.

Rustans Supercenters operates food retail brands “Marketplace

by Rustan’s”, “Rustan’s Supermarket”, “Shopwise Hypermarket”, “Shopwise express” and “wellcome”.

The respective boards of RRHi and Mulgrave Corp. B.V (MCBV) approved the acquisition by RRHi of MCBV’s 100-percent stake in Rustan Supercenters through a share-swap deal, RRHi disclosed to the Philippine Stock exchange on Friday, March 23.

RRHi, led by its president Robina Gokongwei-Pe, will pay for the shares of Rustan Supercenters using its own stocks as currency.

This means that London-listed

nies. MCBV previously acquired Rustan Supercenters from the Tantoco family, which has since then focused on speciality retailer SSi Group.

Certain members of the Gokongwei family intend to sell some of their shares which will result in the Gokongweis effectively owning 51 percent of the expanded capital of RRHi. After the completion of the secondary sale tranche, Dairy Farm, through MCBV, will own 18.25 percent of RRHi. “Leveraging the combined strengths of RRHi and RSCi will lead to benefits to customers in terms of even better service, quality and value,” the disclosure Robina Gokongwei-Pe Inquirer.net photo said.

This transaction is intended to Dairy Farm will become a partner be completed once the necessary of the Gokongwei group in the approvals are obtained from the food retail business. shareholders of RRHi, the PhilipMCBV is a wholly-owned mem- pine Competition Commission ber of Dairy Farm international and the Securities and exchange Holdings Ltd. group of compa- Commission.

Change has come: Filipinos debate two sides of new coins

by JelIne

malasIG Philstar.com

MAniLA — Change has come for Filipinos in the form of new coin designs released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). But the change has been hard to swallow for many Filipinos who feel the new designs were too similar with each other making them hard to tell apart. when the BSP first announced the new design of the five-peso coin in December of 2017, the public quickly aired their concerns that it might be confused with the current one-peso coin.

The recent release of the new designs of ten-peso, one-peso, 25-centavo, and one-centavo coins prompted Filipinos to debate on the two sides of the new coin designs.

Josef Mari olaybal, a University of the Philippines, Diliman, graduate of Fine Arts major in Visual Communication, proposed alternative coin designs that are easy to tell apart from each other.

Television comedienne ethel Booba poked fun at the new coins saying that the new coins might even be mistaken for arcade tokens.

Dr. Paolo Acosta, an eR resident physician and coin collector, posted on Facebook a lengthy defence of

EMPLOYMENT

Ritz-Carlton hotel set to open in PH next year

by IrIs

Gonzales Philstar.com

MAniLA — The world famous Ritz-Carlton hotel brand is coming to the Philippines as early as next year as part of Resorts world Manila’s aggressive hotel expansion, an official said last week. “next year, we will be rebranding The Maxim’s into Ritz Carlton,” Resorts world chief operating officer Stephen Reilly said during the recent Asean gaming summit.

Reillly’s announcement confirms an earlier Star report that tycoon Andrew Tan’s group will bring the finest luxury hotel brand into the country.

The Star earlier reported that Tan would rebrand the existing Maxims Hotel, an all suite accomThe recent release of the new designs of ten-peso, one-peso, 25-centavo, and one-centavo modation at Resorts world Manila and redevelop it into Ritz-Carlton coins prompted Filipinos to debate on the two sides of the new coin designs.

Philstar.com photo by Miguel De Guzman Manila.

Reilly said the time is ripe to “Durability comes into mind. the BSP’s redesign for multiple reasons including security from There are other metals that can bring in new brands in the country be (tenchnically) used to mint our especially famous brands because counterfeiters.

“The BSP is mandated to safe- coins. But most cheap metals are Filipinos love brands. “in the Philippine market, peoguard the integrity of our currency friable and cannot withstand the against possible counterfeiters. The daily abuse a coin faces on its day ple love brands,” Reilly said durlonger one country maintains the to day venture. The BSP addresses same set of currencies, the easier this issue by using a denser metal, not know why people immediately it gets to be copied and perfected this case, Steel and coats its with assumed that the upcoming coins by counterfeiters. To prevent such nickel to protect it from rusting,” are of the same size. Aside from the from happening, mints redesign he said.

1 and 5 centavo coins, bigger deAcosta answered complaints of nominations will have differences currency features ranging from mere alterations up to a total re- the public about the similar designs in diameter to help differentiate it of the coins by saying BSP employs from one another,” he said. vamp of the currency,” he said.

Acost also detailed the impor- different tactile cues.

“Second and personally the best, “The most common tactile fea- the eDGeS were designed to have tance and cost of the metal used to ture are the differences in size. i do similar characteristics of Braille mint coins.

Swiss hotelier Cesar Ritz, known as the king of hoteliers and hotelier to kings, founded the Hotel Ritz in Paris and Ritz Hotel in London in the late 1800s.

Later on, businessman Albert keller established the Ritz-Carlton investing Co. which bought and franchised the Ritz name in the United States.

At present, the Ritz-Carlton is owned by Marriot international, which is also among the global hotel brands in Tan’s newport City.

Marriott international is also on track to opening 16 new resorts in Asia-Pacific across seven brands in 10 countries.

At present, Marriot currently has 130 upper-upscale and luxury resorts in the Asia-Pacific region in countries including China, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand.

The new hotels range from tranquil resorts such as the beachfront weligama Bay Marriott Resort & Spa, which is the company’s first hotel in Sri Lanka, to The RitzCarlton Haikou, which presents travelers with a new experience as Ritz-Carlton’s first golf resort in China, Marriot said.

which is utilized by running your nail along the edges and from there, determine the denomination,” Acosta added.

Following the many complaints from Filipinos, BSP has appealed to the public to give the coins a chance.

They said they would hold “extensive public information cam-

paigns” to provide additional information regarding the new coins. “it is hoped that as the coins are released into circulation, the public would be more accustomed to their use and become familiar with their distinct elements which proudly showcase Filipino heroes and native flora,” BSP said in a statement.

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ing a panel discussing the bright prospects at the 100-hectare entertainment City, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.’s Las Vegas-style gaming hub.

Travellers international Hotels Group inc., the developer and operator of the Resorts world brand in the Philippines, is set to open its westside City Resorts world complex at the entertainment City in 2021. in all, Reilly said Resorts world is bringing in a lot of new luxury hotel brands in the country including Hilton, Sheraton and Savoy.

The group is also introducing homegrown brands in westside City such as the 529-room kingsford Hotel and the 685-room Grand westside Hotel.

But industry sources said that of all the brands, the market is looking forward to the opening of Ritz-Carlton in Manila, which they said is a testament of the country’s improving demographics and economic status.

“A country cannot be considered first world without a RitzCarlton,” said one source.

The Ritz-Carlton brand has a long and rich history behind it.

D MARCH 31-ApRil 3, 2018 • lA WEEKEND ASiAN JOURNAl

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