040418 - Los Angeles Midweek Edition

April 4-6, 2018 Volume 28 - No. 28 • 3 Sections - 20 Pages

US gov’t: Corruption in PH continues to hamper trade

by AJPRESS THE issue of corruption in the Philippines continues to obstruct the trade and investment relations between Manila and Washington, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).

In its 2018 National Trade Estimate Report of Foreign Trade Barriers, the USTR pointed out that corruption is a “pervasive” and “longstanding” problem in the Philippines.

“National and local government agencies, particularly Bureau of Customs (BOC), are beset with various corruption issues,” the USTR said.

Just like in its 2017 report, the USTR also mentioned anew that both foreign and domestic investors have expressed concern about the “propensity of Philippine courts and regulators to stray beyond matters of legal interpretation into policymaking, as well as the lack of transparency in judicial and regulatory processes.”

Investors, likewise, have raised concerns about “courts being influenced by bribery and improperly issuing temporary restraining orders to impede legitimate commerce.”

Data from the USTR showed that U.S. goods exports to the Philippines in 2017 were $8.5

DATELINE USA

billion, making Manila Washington’s 31st largest goods export market in 2017; while imports from the Philippines were $11.6 billion.

On the other hand, U.S. exports of services to the Philippines were an estimated $2.6 billion in 2016, while imports were $6.1 billion.

The U.S. goods and services trade with the Philippines totaled an estimated $27.0 billion in 2016.

Other barriers Concerning technical barriers to trade, the U.S. continues to press the Philippines to remove “unjustified requirements” that

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‘DACA is dead,’ says Trump ahead of policy change announcement

by RAE

EPA threatens California’s right to set its own fuel economy standards

THE Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed plans on Monday, April 2 to loosen the nation’s current standards for fuel economy which they consider “too high.”

If allowed to take effect, the Obama administration regulations would have required car manufacturers to double the average fuel economy of new cars and trucks to a minimum of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, a goal which EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said doesn’t “comport with reality.”

Part of the administration’s efforts to

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FBI investigating Apollo Quiboloy’s Hawaii church for ‘aggressive fundraising’, human trafficking Quiboloy’s lawyer denies the allegations of human trafficking

The FBI is conducting an investigation into the Hawaii chapter of Filipino televangelist Apollo Quiboloy’s church on accusations of “aggressive fundraising” and possible human trafficking.

As first reported by Hawaii News Now, the investigation is centered around Felina Salinas, the business manager of the Waipahu chapter of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) of which Quiboloy is head.

On February 13, Salinas was arrested by federal authorities after U.S. Customs and Border Enforcement found $350,000 in cash and military-grade rifles on a private plane at the Honolulu airport that was to leave for

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ANN VARONA AJPress

young immigrants known as “Dreamers.”

“DACA is dead because the THE program that protects Democrats did not care or act, the roughly 700,000 young im- and now everyone wants to get migrants brought to the United onto the DACA bandwagon,” States illegally as children was tweeted Trump on Monday, declared “dead” by President blaming Democrats for the situDonald Trump on Monday, April ation.

2.

“No longer works. Must build His comment was among a Wall and secure our borders with series of tweets that raised new proper Border legislation. Demquestions on what would be- ocrats want No Border, hence Photo from Twitter/@WhiteHouse come of the said undocumented drugs and crime!” the president

FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

Trump admin to revoke Obama-era vehicle pollution standards, sparks outrage from CA leaders

WHEN HARD WORK PAYS OFF. President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his speech during the ceremonial distribution of the Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) to the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries at the Sultan Kudarat Sports and Cultural Center in the Municipality of Isulan, Sultan Kudarat on Monday, April 2. In his speech, Duterte congratulated the farmers saying that they “rightfully deserve” the lands “as hardworking Filipinos.” He encouraged the farmers to continue their duties of tilling the fields and bringing food on the table of every Filipino.

Malacañang photos by Ace Morandante

Pres. Donald Trump

added.

At the annual White House Easter Egg Roll later that Monday, the president continued to point his finger saying “they had this great opportunity, and Democrats have really let them down.”

“It’s a shame,” he added. “Now people are taking advantage of DACA. It should have never happened.”

Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) responded

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INDICATORS OF FRAUD, MARCOS CAMP CLAIMS PH seen to prosper as ‘upper middle-income’ country by 2019 Wet ballots, no logs

on 1st day of recount

by DANA

SIOSON AJPress

THE Philippines can become an upper middle-income country by 2019, according to the state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Citing the country’s sustained robust growth, NEDA said the Philippines is poised to reach the upper middleincome status earlier than the initial target of 2022.

“The strong economic growth performance of the country in 2017 enabled us to achieve gross national income (GNI) per capita growth rate of 4.8 percent, higher than the target of 4.5 percent,” NEDA said in its Socioeconomic Report 2017 launched Tuesday,

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by JOMAR

CANLAS ManilaTimes.net

WET and distorted ballots were found inside a ballot box on the first day of the recount or revision of ballots in connection with the electoral protest filed by former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. against Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo.

Ballots in four ballot boxes NEDA Undersecretary of Policy and Planning Rosemarie Edillon Inquirer.net photo were wet and one had a puncture, while 38 out of 40 opened ballot boxes from Bato Camarines Sur, had missing audit logs, the Marcos camp said.

Marcos claimed this was an indication the election documents

Duterte wants Bangsamoro Basic Law passed within 2018

by EDITH

REGALADO Philstar.com

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is racing against time to get the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) passed this year, which he had promised to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“The MILF is in a hurry.

I am working hard to meet the deadline for lasting peace. The burden of the deadline has been placed on us. It has to be this year because yon ang usapan (that’s our agreement),” the president said during the distribution of certificates

of land ownership to farmer-beneficiaries in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.

The President said this week he would meet with Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and other officials to ensure that the proposed BBL will be passed before the end of the year.

“I will tell Koko (Pimentel) and Bebot (Alvarez) that it is a commitment to the MILF. We have to honor such commitment,” the president said.

He said he would also visit and talk to Moro National

had been tampered with and compromised.

“It’s just the start, and already 38 out of 40 ballot boxes opened were without audit logs. They don’t know where they are. That means someone opened the ballot boxes, got the audit logs and closed them again,” Marcos told reporters.

The audit log or logbook records the time of opening of precincts, the time of transmittal of results from vote-counting machines and the times the voting started and ended.

Marcos said the missing audit

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Liberation Front chair Nur Misuari on the matter.

“Let us talk. Let us not fight,” he said.

MILF vice chair for political affairs Ghazali Jaafar earlier told The Star the President assured them of the yearend deadline during a meeting at the Manila Enclaves Residences guesthouse.

“We discussed the BBL and the President assured us of the passage of the BBL in its proper time and that is before the end of the year,” Former Senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. and his sister Imee, the governor of Ilocos Jaafar said.

Norte, are surrounded by supporters after attending the first day of the recount of votes at

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the Supreme Court.

ManilaTimes.net photo

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From the Front Page

‘DACA is dead,’ says Trump ahead of...

PAGE A1 on Twitter and said that it was Trump who was at fault.

The Trump administration ended the Obama-era Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program last September, giving Congress a now passed March 5 deadline to find a solution for the Dreamers. Court rulings have allowed the program to temporarily remain, but no new applications have been or can be accepted.

Durbin said, “The President is blaming everyone under the sun, but he only has to look in the mirror to find the person who turned down six different bipartisan DACA deals from Congress - a few that included funding for his useless wall.”

Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) echoed Durbin and wrote on Twitter, “He walked away - not Democrats.”

On Twitter last month on the March 5 deadline, Trump called Democrats out saying, “the Democrats are nowhere to be found

on DACA. Gave them 6 months, they just don’t care.”

The tweet continued, “Where are they? We are ready to make a deal!”

The Trump administration said last month that it would extend DACA for two-and-a-halfyears in exchange for $25 billion border wall funding which Democrats did not agree to.

Democrats gave a counteroffer of funding for the wall in exchange for giving the approximately 1.8 million Dreamers a path to citizenship, which Trump’s administration refused.

Policy plans to address backlogs, quotas White House officials added to the anti-immigration theme and said Monday that the Trump administration has begun a new legislative push on immigration.

“DHS is working on another legislative package, obviously we’ve been talking about this for many months now, including when we sent the immigration priorities over to Congress back

in October that would basically close these loopholes so we can have a lawful immigration system and save a lot of lives on both sides of the border,” said one official.

The proposals include changing laws to make applying or being granted asylum more difficult, allowing longer detainment of families waiting for their immigration decisions through a change in “catch and release” policies, and removing protections for unaccompanied minors arriving illegally in the U.S. so they can be deported or be turned back at the border more quickly.

“If you oppose those fixes, as Democrats do, you’re basically saying you want endless numbers of new waves of illegal immigrants,” said the official.

Hours after the White House statement, Trump tweeted Monday, “As ridiculous as it sounds, the laws of our country do not easily allow us to send those

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AMBASSADORS VISIT MARAWI. Tarlac Heritage Foundation co-founder Dr. Isa Suntay (right) briefs Singapore Ambassador Kok Li Peng, Sri Lanka Ambassador Aruni Ranaraja, India Ambassador Jaideep Mazumdar, Vietnam Ambassador Ly Quoc Tuan, Pakistan Ambassador Aman Rashid, Thailand Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission Urawadee Sriphiromya, Laos Ambassador Phoxay Khaykhamphithoune and Russian Ambassador Igor-Khovaev, who personally visited the immediate shelters of the internally displaced people at the Bahay Pag-Asa Phase 2 in Barangay Mipaga, Marawi City.

PNA photo by Avito Dalan

US gov’t: Corruption in PH continues...

PAGE A1 treat frozen meat differently from fresh meat The report further said that U.S. continues to ensure that the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA)’s requirements for importers “to obtain a sanitary and phytosanitary permit prior to shipment of any agricultural product and to transmit the permit to the exporter” will not hamper trade.

In terms of intellectual prop-

erty rights protection, the report stated that U.S. rights holders have expressed concerns about the “continued availability of pirated and counterfeit goods in the Philippines, slow investigation of IPR related cases by the Department of Justice, and judicial inexperience in handling IPR enforcement cases, both civil and criminal.”

The USTR also discussed barriers to digital trade, particularly internet services.

“The Philippines requires government agencies to procure cloud computing services from the Government Cloud (GovCloud), a cloud infrastructure set up by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT),” the report read.

Such restrictions, according to USTR, “could prevent Philippine government agencies from accessing best-in-class cloud services.” n

Wet ballots, no logs on 1st day...

PAGE A1 logs reinforced suspicion over the conduct of the elections given the recent revelations of Sen. Vicente Sotto 3rd that transmissions of votes took place before election day based on some audit logs given to him.

The Supreme Court, sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), had ordered the recount at the fifth floor of the SupremeCourt of Appeals Building on Padre Faura Street in Manila.

Marcos needs to overcome Robredo’s lead of 263,473 votes and has identified three pilot provinces for the recount: Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental.

He is contesting the results in some 39,000 precincts from 30 provinces and cities all over the country.

Wet ballots Marcos also pointed to “wet ballots” and wondered why they were still wet if the ballot boxes had been sealed since the May 2016 elections.

PET rules state that wet ballots may still be revised if they are still readable. Otherwise the tribunal will refer to the ballot images for the revision of votes.

“Some ballots were punctured and some are made wet and this shows that the Marcos protest has a real and clear basis of election fraud,” Marcos counsel George Erwin Garcia told the The Manila Times.

Forty revision committees have been formed to do the recount. Marcos acknowledged that it might take more than three months to finish the recount in the three pilot provinces.

The son and namesake of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos went to the Supreme Court early in the morning, along with wife Liza and sister Imee Marcos, the Ilocos Norte governor.

They were mobbed by cheering supporters.

Caused by a storm?

For the camp of Robredo, the wet ballots were normal and nothing to worry about.

Robredo lawyer Romulo Macalintal said the ballot box could have been exposed to a storm in Bato, Camarines Sur. Macalintal also said the punctured ballot box found at the start of the recount could have been damaged after being thrown around by handlers in the PET warehouse.

As for the missing audit logs, the precinct boards of election inspectors might have simply forgotten to stuff them inside the ballot boxes, he said.

“Those incidents have always been happening and it won’t affect the election results because under the automated elections, we have the ballot images as reference,” Macalintal said, referring to the copies of the ballot scanned by the vote-counting machines.

“The ballot images can be ordered printed by the PET. That is the beauty of an automated election,” he added.

Macalintal argued that audit logs and other technical defects such as cracks and holes in ballot boxes cannot be the basis of poll fraud claims.

“You cannot obtain the total vote for the candidates by going back to audit logs because the ballot is the best evidence.

These technical defects are not a determining factor on the genuine accuracy of the votes,” he said.

“Besides, his people were there during the retrieval of ballot boxes. He should have asked his people first why these things happened in the first place,” he added.

Palace welcomes recount Malacañang on Monday, April 2, welcomed the start of the recount of votes in the 2016 vicepresidential race.

In a news briefing, Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the recount would settle the “long-festering” poll dispute between Robredo and Marcos.

The Duterte administration will leave the recount up to the judiciary, he said.

“This is a judicial matter, this is before the presidential electoral tribunal already so we leave it to the co-equal branch to handle that,” Guevarra said. n

Duterte wants Bangsamoro Basic Law...

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The president said he does not think that a joint venture with the MILF and the MNLF such as the BBL could go wrong.

Duterte stressed that there is only one thing that he would want implemented to make sure

that there would be no discord, especially on the issue of no establishment of separate army or police units for the proposed Bangsamoro area.

“I told the MILF that there will be only one army or police for the entire country,” the presi-

dent said.

The Senate, on the other hand, vowed to take up the proposed BBL when it resumes session on May 15.

The proposed BBL is reportedly a priority in the Senate. (With Alexis Romero)

FBI investigating Apollo Quiboloy’s Hawaii church...

PAGE A1

the Philippines.

According to a complaint filed by a special agent of the United States Dept. of Homeland Security, Salinas lacked to declare that they were transporting thousands of “neatly bundled” $100 bills in black socks.

Quiboloy, along with six other people including Salinas, was temporarily detained while Salinas was charged with attempted smuggling. According to legal experts, the allegations have opened up discussion on whether human trafficking was involved.

According to an official report, complainant Kristina Angeles said she came to Hawaii from the Philippines on a religious visa when Salinas made her raise funds and sell “manapua and Krispy Kreme” donuts for hours “rain or shine.”

“We’ve been slapped or yelled at,” Angeles wrote in a police statement. “The last time, I received punches over my arms and legs.”

Salinas was previously arrested in 2015 for an alleged assault on a fellow church member who said

she was forced to raise funds for the church, Hawaii News Now said.

Hawaii attorney Clare Hanusz told Hawaii News Now that that church member’s allegations indicated “some of the classic signs of human trafficking and people who come under religious worker visas before have sometimes been connected with human trafficking.”

Angeles also wrote that while at a church compound in the Philippines, the church forced her to shave her head and wear an “orange t-shirt.”

Children’s Joy, the church’s foundation, was also accused of “aggressive fundraising” as well as misrepresentation. Many of the church’s younger members were often forced to sell baked goods at a local Costco to raise funds for the church.

On Tuesday, Quiboloy’s lawyer Israelito Torreon denied that the church was involved in human trafficking and that the pastor’s legal team had not received notification of the FBI investigation.

He also proposed that an outside party pushed that claim to take

down the church.

“That is shocking,” Torreon told ABS-CBN on Tuesday, April 3. “Somebody must be orchestrating all of these. I hope that person will be enlightened by the Lord Almighty to stop this because that’s really not true.

The congregation of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy is a religious congregation. It is not engaged in human trafficking.”

Quiboloy — who has called himself the Appointed Son of God and has said his self-proclaimed immaculately conceived birth resembled that of Jesus Christ — began his religious leadership in Davao City in 1985. In the last 33 years, he has garnered a cult-like following and now claims that he has 6 million “followers” around the world.

Quiboloy has remained a close friend of President Rodrigo Duterte since the latter was the mayor of Davao. Duterte said that Quiboloy has gifted Duterte expensive gifts throughout their friendship, including three properties in and around Davao City.

(Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)

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Google honors Balagtas with ‘doodle’ of epic poem

by Catherine

Modesto ManilaTimes.net

SEIZED FIREARMS. President Rodrigo R. Duterte leads the inspection of the firearms seized from the New People’s Army on the sidelines of his attendance to the ceremonial distribution of the Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) to agrarian reform beneficiaries at the Sultan Kudarat Sports and Cultural Center in the municipality of Isulan, Sultan Kudarat on Monday, April 2. Joining the President are 6th Infantry Division Commander Major General Arnel dela Vega, Sultan Kudarat First District Representative Suharto Mangudadatu, and Special Assistant to the President Christopher Lawrence Go. Malacañang photo by Simeon Celi Jr.

PH seen to prosper as ‘upper middle-income’...

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April 3.

In 2017, the Philippine economy grew by 6.7 percent—among the fastest in Asia.

“This would make it possible for us to reach the upper middleincome country standard definition of just below $4,000 income per capita by end-2019,” NEDA added.

World Bank classifies countries with a GNI per capita between $4,036 and $12,475 as upper middle-income economies. Lower middle-income economies, meanwhile, are those with a GNI per capita between $1,026 and $4,035.

The Philippines is currently classified as a lower middle-income country. As of 2016, the

country’s income per capita stood at about $3,500.

In a press conference, NEDA Undersecretary of Policy and Planning Rosemarie Edillon noted that the government’s massive “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program “will really propel our economic growth rate even faster and we’ll reach that upper middle-income status.”

Under “Build, Build, Build” program, the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte is rolling out P8 trillion-worth of road networks and other infrastructures to enhance the mobility in different parts of the country.

Through massive public investments in infrastructure and social services over the medium

term, the government hopes to transform the country into an upper middle-income economy by the end of Duterte’s term in 2022.

“Actually, the target for the PDP (Philippine Development Plan) is that we will be an upper middle-income country by 2022.

But we think we will get to that status much, much earlier,” Edillon said.

She continued: “We also looked at the performance of the economy last year, where our gross national income increased by 6.5 percent—that’s really a very high growth path. And if I’m not mistaken, the threshold for the upper middle-income country is $4,100. So I think we will breach that as early as next year.” n

INTERNET giant Google on Monday, April 2, celebrated the 230th birthday of Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar with a doodle of his literary masterpiece “Florante at Laura.”

An epic poem that symbolizes Baltazar’s own life journey, “Florante at Laura” was written in dodecasyllabic quatrains, which means it has 12 syllables per line, four lines per stanza, according to Google.

The choice of language for “Florante at Laura” was “a bold and unusual choice, since at the time most writings were in Spanish,” it said.

In honor of Baltazar, Google altered its logo to show his famous epic poem, which he wrote while in prison for supposedly ordering a servant girl’s head to be shaved.

Aside from “Florante at Laura,” Baltazar also wrote three-to-fourpart comedies such as “Orosmán at Zafira,” “Don Nuño at Selinda,” “Clara Belmorem,” and a one-part short play entitled “La India Elegante y

Artwork on search engine Google depicts scenes from Francisco Baltazar’s epic poem ‘Florante at Laura.’

el Negrito Amante.”

Baltazar learned to write poetry from José de la Cruz (Huseng Sisiw), one of the famous poets of Tondo.

In 1835, Baltazar met María Asunción Rivera, who eventually became the muse or inspiration of his future works.

Twelve years later, Baltazar married Juana Tiambeng, with whom he had 11 children. Only four of them survived to adulthood.

Baltazar was the son of a blacksmith. He studied Canon Law, Philosophy, Latin and the classics at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran and Colegio de San Jose.

Baltazar was born on April 2,

1788 in barrio Panginay, in the town of Bigaa, (now Balagtas in his honor) Bulacan. He died on February 20, 1862 at the age of 74.

Baltazar’s gift of gab and poetry gave birth to “Balagtasan,” a form of debate in extemporaneous verse.

President Rodrigo Duterte declared April 2 as a special nonworking day in the province of Bulacan.

Baltazar’s birthday serves as the opening of the month of April as Buwan ng Panitikang Filipino or Philippine Literature Month, under the auspices of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino or the Filipino Language Commission. n

‘DACA is dead,’ says Trump ahead of...

PAGE A2 crossing our Southern Border back where they come from.

The tweet continued, “A whole big wasted procedure must take place. Mexico & Canada have tough immigration laws, whereas ours are an Obama joke. ACT CONGRESS”

According to the New York Times, a senior administration official said the asylum changes were meant in part to address a backlog of hundreds of thousands of immigration court cases, which often result in undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. while waiting for their case to process.

More than 617,500 cases were backlogged in 2017 which is almost double the amount from 2009. Average wait times often range from one to five years depending on the state, with immigrants many times having to represent themselves.

The Justice Department told immigration judges Monday that it would impose new quotas on how quickly cases are closed starting October 1. Judges will have to complete 700 cases per year — the average being only 678 in the last five years.

While immigration judges are part of the Executive branch, they are supposed to have full independence.

Those critical of the proposed quota system say that creating numerical targets would create an even messier system.

Dana Leigh Marks, an immigration judge and union spokesman of the National Immigration Judges Association described the metric standards as “completely, utterly contrary to judicial independence.”

“We believe assessing quality is fine, not quantity,” said Marks.

Many times, undocumented immigrants come to the U.S. in seek of asylum or refugee status, and risk facing violence or murder upon returning to their home countries.

She once said in a PBS Newshour coverage of immigration courts that they were in essence, “processing death penalty cases in a traffic court setting.”

Judge A. Ashley Tabaddor, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges said that it would make an “appealable” issue and legal challenges a possibility, reported The Washington Post.

She said,” “It could call into question the integrity and impartiality of the court if a judge’s decision is influenced by factors outside the facts of the case, or if motions are denied out of a judge’s concern about keeping his or her job.”

“We don’t know of any other court whose judges are subject to individual quotas and deadlines as part of performance reviews and evaluations,” she added.

Easter Sunday immigration tweets The Monday remarks came after Trump took to Twitter early Easter Sunday expressing his stance on immigration and DACA. “Border Patrol Agents are not

allowed to properly do their job at the Border because of ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws like Catch & Release. Getting more dangerous. ‘Caravans’ coming.

Republicans must go to Nuclear Option to pass tough laws NOW. NO MORE DACA DEAL!,” read one tweet that raised awareness on his latest stance on DACA..

“Caravans” refer to a group of around 1,500 people — primarily from Honduras — reportedly heading towards the border together as a way to ensure better protection from the often dangerous route.

The caravan is organized by the U.S.-based immigration advocacy group called Pueblo Sin Fronteras, or People Without Borders in English. How many actually plan to reach the U.S. or seek asylum is unclear.

Trump suggested on Twitter that the caravan travelers would attempt to benefit from DACA. He said, “These big flows of people are all trying to take advantage of DACA. They want in on the act!”

But aside from the fact that DACA is not taking applications, the program required applicants prove they had been living in the U.S. since 2007.

Expressing frustration with what he called “ridiculous liberal (Democrat) laws”, Trump put blame on a “catch and release” policy which refers to the approach of allowing migrants remain free until an immigration judge hears their asylum requests.

In another Tweet that criticized Mexico for not blocking people coming in through their southern border, Trump also mentioned the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which he called a “cash cow” for Mexico.

“Mexico is doing very little, if not NOTHING, at stopping people from flowing into Mexico through their Southern Border, and then into the U.S. They laugh at our dumb immigration laws. They must stop the big drug and people flows, or I will stop their cash cow, NAFTA. NEED WALL!” NAFTA is the world’s largest free trade agreement and is a treaty between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Trump has before called NAFTA the “worst trade deal in history”, and has blamed it for the Rust Belt’s loss of jobs in manufacturing.

Luis Videgaray Caso, foreign secretary of Mexico, responded to Trump’s tweets and said: “Every day Mexico and the U.S. work together on migration throughout the region. Facts clearly reflect this. An inaccurate news reports should not serve to question this strong cooperation. Upholding human dignity and rights is not at odds with the rule of law. Happy Easter.” n

EPA threatens California’s right...

PAGE A1

weakening the nation’s fuel economy regulations includes a push for automakers to manufacture more cars and SUVs which that relies on clean energy over fossil fuels.

“The Obama Administration’s determination was wrong,” said Pruitt in a statement released on Monday.

Generally, fuel economy standards are meant to ascertain the air quality to signal policymakers to establish climate initiatives to mitigate any signs of pollution.

The EPA specifically took aim at the state of California and called to revoke the state’s ability to implement stricter standards for fuel emissions than the rest of the country, a provision

allowed under the federal Clean Air Act. “Cooperative federalism doesn’t mean that one state can dictate standards for the rest of the country,” Pruitt said.

This could prove to be an uphill battle for California, a state known for its commuter lifestyle and concerns over the environmental repercussions of its swelling fuel emissions.

Gov. Jerry Brown, who has not been shy in his disfavor for the Trump administration and its policies, condemned the EPA’s decision.

“Watch out for this belated April Fools’ Day trick. This cynical and meretricious abuse of power will poison our air and PAGE A7

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Dateline PhiliPPines

Supreme Court orders PNP: Submit report on drug war

by Edu

Punay Philstar.com

MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday,, April 3, affirmed a decision it issued in December ordering the Philippine National Police (PNP) to submit data on the almost 4,000 documented killings related to the administration’s war on drugs.

In session in Baguio City, the SC magistrates denied an appeal filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) in January.

The high tribunal directed the PNP to comply with the order by submitting the required report within 15 days from receipt of notice.

After hearing the petitions of rights groups Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) and Center for International Law (CenterLaw) during oral arguments in November and December, the SC ordered the PNP to submit the data on drug-related killings.

The OSG, which represents the PNP in the case, filed an appeal last week, saying the order was irrelevant to the question on the constitutionality of the PNP’s Memorandum Circular 16-2016 or the “Oplan Double Barrel” and its implementing rules as provided under the MC 2017-112 or the “Masa Masid” project of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

The high court did not agree with the OSG. Solicitor General Jose Calida sought the dismissal of the petitions filed in October last year, calling it a “disingenuous move to destabilize the Duterte administration and sow anarchy.”

Calida said that if granted, the petitions seeking to stop the implementation of the PNP and DILG circulars could be detrimental to the government and pose grave threats to the country.

The SC has yet to resolve the consolidated petitions.

The FLAG, a known rights group during the martial law era of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, is representing two victims of extrajudicial killings – Ryan Dave Almora and Rex Ap-

The high tribunal directed the PNP to comply with the order by submitting the required report within 15 days from receipt of notice.

Philstar.com photo

pari – and a survivor named Jefferson Soriano.

In its petition, the group led by De La Salle University law dean Jose Manuel Diokno sought a writ of amparo and temporary protection order, prohibiting police officers from getting near the residences or workplaces of the families of the petitioners.

Meanwhile, CenterLaw represents the families of 35 alleged drug suspects killed in police anti-narcotics operations over the past year and other residents of San Andres Bukid district in Manila.

Monitoring panel revival sought The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has urged the government to revive a multi-sectoral body tasked to monitor the status of the Philippines’ human rights obligations to the international community.

In a communication submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) last month, the CHR said it has called on the Duterte administration to reconvene the Universal Periodic Review Tripartite Monitoring Body (UPR TMB), which tracks the status of recommendations accepted by the Philippines during the review of its human rights situation.

Formed in 2013 with the assistance of the UN Development Program, the UPR TMB is convened by the Presidential Human Rights Committee together with

the CHR and other civil society partners.

Its primary purpose is to track the progress and assess the implementation of all UPR recommendations accepted by the Philippine government.

It is also tasked to identify the baseline action points, indicators and best practices within the scope of each UPR. The revival of the monitoring body, which last convened during the Aquino administration, was among the recommendations made by the CHR to the Philippine government after its third UPR last week.

De Lima hits Pimentel Sen. Leila de Lima criticized Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III for treating members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) like “ignoramuses” when it asked the Senate to act in solidarity with her.

De Lima expressed disappointment at how Pimentel and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo responded to the resolution issued by the IPU. The IPU urged the Senate to take a firm stand in favor of De Lima’s participation in its sessions.

Pimentel said it was unfortunate the IPU lacked understanding of the Philippine Constitution and that the organization, which is composed of legislators from all over the world, should respect the sovereignty of the PAGE A7

SIGN FOR PEACE. Army chief Lt. General Rolando Bautista (5th from left) and Tarlac Heritage Foundation Inc. co-founder Dr. Isa Suntay (3rd from left at the back) pose at the Hardin ng Lunas with Singapore Ambassador Kok Li Peng, Sri Lanka Ambassador Aruni Ranaraja, India Ambassador Jaideep Mazumdar, Vietnam Ambassador Ly Quoc Tuan, Pakistan Ambassador Aman Rashid, Thailand Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission Urawadee Sriphiromya and Laos Ambassador Phoxay Khaykhamphithoune during their visit to Bahay Pag-Asa Phase 2 in Barangay Mipaga, Marawi City. The project is their donation for the displaced people of Marawi.

PNA photo by Avito Dalan

Kuwait ban stays despite death sentence on maid’s killers

by CathErinE

ValEntE ManilaTimes.net

THE deployment ban of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Kuwait “still holds,” Malacañang said on Monday, April 2, despite the Gulf state’s death sentence on two suspects in the murder of Filipino worker Joanna Demafelis.

Speaking to reporters, Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the death sentence was not the sole condition to lift the deployment ban to Kuwait.

Manila, he said, wanted an agreement protecting the rights of Filipino domestic workers.

“The total ban on sending OFWs to Kuwait is still on. But of course, an agreement, a memorandum of understanding is being formulated and hopefully, the state parties will come to terms as to how our OFWs in Kuwait, as well as in other Middle Eastern countries will be protected. So basically, that will be a solution to this ban,” Guevarra said during a news conference.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd, in a statement, said the death sentence on Demafelis’ employers indicated sincerity on the part of Kuwait, but added he was not ready to recommend to the President the lifting of the

total ban on the deployment of workers to the Gulf state.

“If ever…a partial lifting may be considered for skilled workers but only after the formal agreement with Kuwait on the protection of Filipino workers is signed,” Bello’s statement read.

“President Duterte has set two requirements before the deployment ban is lifted. One is the signing of a memorandum of agreement that will give added protection to Filipino workers in Kuwait and second, for the Kuwaiti government to render justice for the death of household service worker Joanna Demafelis,” Bello said.

News out of Kuwait on Sunday said Demafelis’ employers, Lebanese Nader Essam Assaf and his Syrian wife Mona Hassoun, were tried in absentia by a Kuwaiti court and sentenced with death by hanging.

The two were nabbed separately in February. Assef is in Lebanese custody, while Hassoun is detained in Syria.

The decision came two months since an enraged President Rodrigo Duterte issued a deployment ban following the death of Demafelis, whose body was found in a freezer in Kuwait earlier this year.

Labor Undersecretary Jacinto Paras said the Philippine government would continue to pressure Kuwait to extradite or find other ways to get hold of the suspects.

No leftovers The Philippines is set to sign an agreement with Kuwait to protect Filipino workers in that country.

Among the provisions Duterte wanted added to the deal were: adequate sleeping hours, nutritious meals and not just leftovers, rest on holidays, and the right to keep their passports.

Other provisions include workers being allowed to keep cellphones, the prohibition of transfer of workers from one employer to another without their consent or clearance from overseas labor offices, banning employers with records of worker abuse from hiring workers, and a $400 minimum wage.

In 2016, about 105,000 OFWs were deployed to Kuwait, 57,061 of which were household service workers. Skilled workers made up the balance of 105,000. There are some 270,000 OFWs in Kuwait, about 150,000 of which are household workers.

Too early to claim legal victory Senate President Aquilino PiPAGE A7

A6 APRIL 4-6, 2018 • LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL

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OPINION

Beyond a shadow of a doubt

FEATURES

“WET ballots” and “audit logs” are becoming household phrases as the manual recount of votes in the vice presidential race in 2016 gets underway. The camp of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., which sought the recount, is claiming fraud in the race that saw him losing by a narrow margin of 219,127 votes to Leni Robredo.

The fraud allegations are expected from any candidate seeking a vote recount. Robredo, who ran under the Liberal Party, has denied winning the nation’s highest post through cheating.

On the first day of the recount, Marcos questioned the wet ballots and missing audit logs from 38 out of 40 ballot boxes from Bato town in Robredo’s home province of Camarines Sur, as discovered by revisers involved in the recount.

Yesterday, four revisers of the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, quit for still unspecified reasons. The camps of both Robredo and Marcos expressed concern over the resignations, particularly in the possible delay that might result.

With Marcos contesting the results in only three pilot provinces, the recount is expected to be completed quickly. Obviously, the most important requirement in the recount is credibility. This is the

first manual review of votes since the restoration of democracy in 1986, and its outcome will have a major impact on political stability.

While Marcos was the running mate of the late senator Miriam DefensorSantiago, he and his family are known to be close to President Duterte. In several public engagements, the President has cited Marcos’ eldest sister Imee as one of a handful of individuals who supported his bid for the nation’s top post in 2016.

Robredo, on the other hand, belongs to the ruling party in the previous administration, toward which the President has shown undisguised disdain. The Vice President was eased out of the Cabinet and there are no indications that she would be recruited again. This is a politically charged recount, especially because the only son and namesake of the late dictator is directly involved. The outcome of the recount must not be tainted by any shadow of a doubt.

(Philstar.com)

Editorial

Philstar.com photo

Our hope for the two Koreas in a confederation

PeaceMaker FORMER SPEAKER JOSE C. DE VENECIA, JR. A FAST-MOVING initiative for peace and hopefully, the beginnings of rapprochement, is underway in the Korean Peninsula between the two separated Koreas, North and South.

We hope it is to be followed by a larger three-way Summit with the U.S., most likely in April or May between the two Korean leaders, potential Nobel Peace Prize winners, President Moon Jae-In of the South and Kim Jong-Un of the North, with President Donald Trump.

The objective is to establish the main agenda and hopefully achieve the difficult but long-desired result — the beginnings of peace on both sides of the Demilitarized Zone, along the 38th Parallel which partitions Korea at the waist — for the peoples of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) of the North, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) in the South.

Over the years, since we first travelled to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital in 1990, as a younger congressman, as then Acting Chairman of the

Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Representatives, our visit and talks with North Korea’s founding President Kim Il-Sung immediately resulted in a return visit to Manila by then North Korean Vice Premier Kim Dahl Hyun, and the rapid establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and North Korea (DPRK), with the active support of the late President Corazon Aquino and the late Foreign Secretary Raul Manglapus.

In the last two years, as Chairman of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), now with some 350 ruling, opposition and independent parties as members, we had since moved from Manila to Seoul the headquarters of ICAPP, which we founded in Manila in 2000, in the hope that we could help bridge the gap between the two Koreas by helping promote the feasibility of establishing the Korean Confederation for the Two Koreas, ideally working with the North’s sole political organization, the Korean Workers Party.

We envisioned that South and North would keep their independent countries separate but in peace and join in a loose Confederation, normally trading

and doing business, engage in cross-trade and tourism, developing their agriculture, industries, fisheries, highways, airways and railways system, and connect from Pusan in the deep south, (gateway to Japan), all the way to the North, in a TransSiberia Railway leading to Russia and to Europe.

This is of course possible and probable if there is common will, with the support of the U.S., China, Russia and Japan, with ASEAN, the European Union, and U.N. providing guidance and active support.

It is not fair to ask North Korea now to give up its nuclear weapons because it will not, but the relations between the Two Koreas can and should develop normally, if they start preparing for it now.

In previous speeches in the region and in previous news columns we had pointed out: “We believe that the lingering conflict and potentially dangerous flashpoint in the Korean Peninsula with North Korea, now nuclear-armed and continuously testing improved nuclear weaponry, and perhaps even the potential of missiles launched from submarines, could be resolved peacefully through diplomacy, cooperation

and bilateral and/or multilateral dialogue. No matter how most difficult, it must be constantly tried and pursued, and we claim its eventual success, for the sake of the two Koreas, Asia, and the world.

“We urge the revival of the long-postponed Six-Party talks among the U.S., Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, and North Korea, and even better, the sustained direct talks between North and South that would directly contribute to enhancing political stability and security not only in the Korean Peninsula but in the Asia Pacific region, but most importantly lead to unite the two Koreas, forswear war, and together build a strong, united prosperous, eventually first-world nation for the Korean peoples in the second or third decade of the 21st Century.

“Perhaps, the successful dynamics of North Korea’s nuclear development could be channelled to economic mobilization.”

“And the Six-Nation Talks (long-suspended) could have a business-focused auxiliary to develop economic joint-ventures for deployment in the Korean north.

We also noted that in a speech at the former East German city

of Dresden in 2014, the former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, now unfortunately in prison, said: “Just as the German people secured freedom, prosperity and peace by tearing down the Berlin Wall, we too must tear down barriers in our march towards a new future on the Korean Peninsula.”

At the time we also said: “We agree that for our peoples, the age of ideological conflict is over. All our countries now need to move beyond containment and confrontation toward cooperation and collective prosperity. Indeed, there is no other option.”

We had much earlier pointed these out to our two close friends in Seoul: our ICAPP CoChairman and former SecretaryGeneral Chung Eui-yong and current ICAPP Secretary-General Park Robyug, former South Korean Ambassador to Russia.

Of course our capable Co-Chairman Chung is now on leave from ICAPP, has been appointed South Korea’s National Security Adviser, who a few weeks ago flew to Pyongyang, successfully conferred with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and went on non-stop to brief President Trump in Washington, Chinese President XI Jinping in Beijing,

and Japanese National Security Adviser Shotaro Yachi.

Now to secure the deal with North Korea (DPRK): the key is to forge initially a respectable Confederation between North and South, no harm to the South, which is far bigger, already industrialized and wealthy, and for the North, to begin to build its economy, industries, agriculture and trade, and a common North-South railway extending all the way to Pusan in the south, to Russia and onwards to Europe.

In earlier days, atomic powers like Kazakhstan, which is almost as large as Western Europe, also voluntarily demilitarized and gave up its nuclear weapons and today leads in Eurasia.

Indeed North Korea could leverage and give-up its nuclear weapons in exchange for largescale cash and economic assistance and rapidly build up its economy and be equal in status as sovereigns with South Korea.

In a Confederation, North and South would be co-equal sovereign nations, with some centralizing connectivity, and in the fullness of time, could decide to unite as one nation-state like the two Germanies and the two Vietnams. ■

We build casinos, not tech and innovation hubs

Opinion

CIVIL society, if such a thing really exists in the country, should try to measure the floor space allotted to serious research and MARLEN RONQUILLO development (R&D) work in the government agencies and public research universities. Then measure the space allotted for casinos and other forms of organized and officially sanctioned gambling in the urban areas and the tourist zones.

The result would make the citizen who loves the country weep.

For he/she will come face to face with the grim reality. There is more space for casinos and officially sanctioned gambling than for serious research and development work.

If we add the space occupied by cockpits, online gambling joints, the minor casinos and other gambling sites, the total space occupied by gambling would reduce the floor area devoted to R&D to a minor blip in the Philippine universe.

The lover of the country will realize that the dream of attaining First World status is just an official scam, parroted through generations via official public statements and national aspirations, but never actually pursued and funded.

Why is the goal of attaining First World status an official scam?

What are the numbers?

Singapore, the first in the ASEAN region to attain true First World status, allocates 2.1 percent of its GDP to research and development.

Per one million residents, the number of scientists and researchers is more than 7,200. It is no wonder that when we speak of cuttingedge developments in a knowledge society, the ASEAN’s pride is Singapore.

What about us, what is our place in this very critical area? I will use a Tagalog word – kulelat. The Philippines is the ASEAN laggard in research and development.

Over the years, the national allocation to R&D has never breached the embarrassing 0.14 percent of GDP. To us, a 1 percent R&D budget has been a dream on the scale of Mt. Everest, a goal never scaled.

On the number of serious researchers per one million residents, Silicon Valley venture capitalist Dado Banatao, the chair of Phildev, admitted in an interview that the Philippines is not a country for serious STEM people.

We have more lawyers than high-quality scientists and engineers involved in world-class research and development work. We don’t even have the expertise to survey the riches of our own Benham Rise.

The Global Competitiveness Report for 2017-2018 tells the same story. We are eighth in ASEAN, behind Vietnam and Brunei Darussalam. It is the only country that slid in the regional ranking, eighth from its previous rank of sixth.

Where are we in the ranking of “smart cities“ – the cities most prepared for today and the future? The answer?

Nowhere. We are in the usual place down, along with the usual suspects, cities with traffic gridlocks, pollution and political chaos.

The IESE, the graduate school of business of the University of Navarra, regularly ranks “smart cities” across the globe and Metro Manila has always been on the low-rank category.

A country that pays little attention to R&D work usually drags down the reputation of its university system and the Philippines is not an exception. The latest QS Global World Ranking placed the UP System at number 367, which is a major demotion from its place in the global university ranking two decades ago. In the old days, UP was always in the Top 25 Asian universities.

Ateneo, La Salle and UST were ranked, but they were so deep down in the global rankings that they were barely noticed. Ateneo was in the 551-600 bracket. La Salle was in the 701-750 bracket while UST was on the 801-1000 list.

The other prestigious survey, the World University Rankings, placed UP only in the 601-800 bracket, a harsher verdict. It was the only Philippine university ranked by the WUR. So, what is the solution offered to reverse this laggard status? Is it allotting 2 percent of Philippine GDP to research and development?

Is it the frenzied and ambitious development of technology and innovation hubs? Is it the massive funding of our public research universities? Is it a springtime — funding-wise — for the DOST. The answer? More casinos.

The Macau Galaxy Entertainment, a giant operator of casinos in that haven for casinos, has teamed up with a local group, the Leisure and Resorts World Corp., to build a giant casino in, of all places, Boracay. After Mr. Duterte condemned Boracay as a “cesspool,“ and after the local authorities and the DENR have teamed up to sup-

Inquirer.net photo

posedly rid the place of illegal hotels and other structures, beaming executives of Galaxy Entertainment signed a deal with PAGCOR to build a giant casino at Boracay.

After the supposed cleaning and cleansing process, a casino.

Wow. After the giant casino project in Boracay was green-lighted, we can only wonder about what the priorities of government are. Filipinoowned establishments are torn down to give way to a casino owned by a foreign gambling entity. What kind of priorities enter into the decision-making process?

A marine research center would have been ideal there. On second thought, however, a research center would have been an anomaly in a country hooked on gambling, not on the promotion of the knowledge economy. (ManilaTimes.net)

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

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LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL • ApRIL 4-6, 2018

A

EPA threatens California’s right...

PAGE A4

EASTER FUN. Children dressed in costumes join an Easter egg hunt during DInos in the Mall exhibition at the SM Mall in Rosario, Cavite, on Sunday, April 1.

ManilaTimes.net photo by Bob Dungo

SC denies Napoles’ ‘unmeritorious’ bid for bail

by Kristine Joy

Philstar.com

Patag

MANILA — The Supreme Court has denied alleged pork barrel mastermind Janet Napoles’ petition for bail, as it ruled that the Sandiganbayan decision junking her earlier petition has basis.

Napoles filed a motion for reconsideration to overturn the SC’s decision dated Nov. 7, 2017, where the high court affirmed the Sandiganbayan’s dismissal of her petition for bail.

The SC, in a decision dated Feb. 6, 2018 and belatedly released to media, said that Napoles’ argument in her appeal is “unmeritorious.”

The SC, in Nov. 2017, said that the anti-graft court did not commit grave abuse of discretion when it denied Napoles’ application for bail.

In her motion for reconsideration, Napoles cited the SC decision on the plunder case of Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (Pampanga), former president. The high court granted Arroyo’s demurrer to evidence, which prayed for the dismissal of the case against her.

A demurrer to evidence challenges the sufficiency of evidence to prosecute the accused.

Arroyo said that the prosecution failed to identify the main plunderer in the case.

The SC, in resolving Napoles’ appeal, said that the jurisprudence cannot be applied to her case as the demurrer to evidence can be used during trial, and not on hearing for petition for bail.

“The resolution of this issue does not involve an inquiry as to whether there was proof beyond reasonable doubt that Napoles,

or her co-accused as the case may be, was the main plunderer for whose benefit the ill-gotten wealth was amassed or accumulated,” the high court held.

“It was sufficient that the denial of her bail application was based on evidence establishing a great presumption of guilt on the part of Napoles,” the SC added.

The decision was penned by Associate Justice Andres Reyes Jr. and was concurred with by 10 justices.

The SC ruling was dated three weeks before Napoles’ provisional inclusion in the Department of Justice’s witness protection program. She is expected to testify on the ongoing DOJ probe into the Priority Development Assis- PAGE A5 tance Fund program during the Philippines.

De Lima said the IPU has its administration of President Beown process in investigating the nigno Aquino III. n oppression and persecution of legislators by their own governments.

She said Pimentel should know kapatid namin, pero ang bayad- this very well, noting he has dibayad na ganyan, wala po sa rectly dealt with IPU officials and amin ‘yan (We don’t need that. representatives with regard to What we want is justice for our her case.

De Lima noted how Pimentel sister. Compensation amounts to even attended the IPU assembly nothing for us),” Jojet said.

In an earlier interview over ra- in St. Petersburg where the interdio station dzBB, Jojet said his national organization adopted its family was relieved after Bello human rights committee report confirmed the death sentence on and recommendations on her case.

Joanna’s killers.

“SP Pimentel cannot see IPU’s “Unti-unti nababawasan po iyong bigat ng dinadala ng mga point on this because he no lonmagulang ko at tsaka ng mga ger cares about the workings of kapatid ko rin po (Little by lit- democracy and the importance tle the heaviness borne by my of a genuine opposition in govparents and siblings is being ernments the world over,” she said. eased),” Jojet said. n

Kuwait ban stays despite death sentence...

PAGE A5

mentel III said the death sentence handed down by a Kuwaiti court to the couple linked to Demafelis’ death should serve as a venue for the Philippines to “mend ties” with Kuwait.

Senators Nancy Binay, Panfilo Lacson, Grace Poe, and Joel Villanueva however said it was too early to claim victory in Demafelis case.

Lacson said that the conviction in absentia of Demafelis’ employers “may appear like a pyrrhic victory for Joanna’s family and the Filipino people until the execution of the sentence is finally

carried out.”

Villanueva said: “We sincerely hope that this would not just be a paper victory.”

No to blood money The Demafelis family said it would not accept any blood money from their sister’s employers.

In an interview over GMA News, Jojet Demafelis, the eldest of the nine Demafelis siblings, said they were seeking justice, which does not come with a price tag.

“Hindi po namin kailangan ang ganoon. Ang kailangan po namin ay hustisya po para sa

jeopardize the health of all Americans,” Brown said in a statement released Monday.

Last year when the EPA announced that it would take a one-year review at the current standards for gas emissions, Brown penned a letter to Pruitt in which he warned not to “put the interests of big oil ahead of clean air and politics ahead of science.”

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group that tracks the effects lobbying in public policy, Pruitt’s top political donors include Devon Energy, Koch Industries, Alliance Coal and Exxon Mobil, all top players in the oil industry who have fought against climate change initiatives.

Impact in LA Los Angeles, a commuter city best known for its unyielding traffic and pollution problems, would be affected greatly. Because of the state’s own CAFE regulations, local and state lawmakers were able to gauge overall fuel emissions, which allowed them to create laws and programs to stymie the effects of vehicle emissions on the air quality.

“In a city where the car is king, nobody knows better than Angelenos the importance of more efficient vehicles to keep our air clean,” LA Mayor Eric Garcetti

said in a statement released on Monday. “Thanks to the federal auto standards established by President Obama, we have seen tremendous progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in Los Angeles. Today’s decision by the Trump administration takes our city and country backward in the movement away from fossil fuels.”

Garcetti also announced on Monday that he is leading an alliance of U.S. mayors in denouncing the EPA’s plan. As a co-founder of Climate Mayors — a coalition of more than 400 U.S. mayors committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to support climate change policy — Garcetti has actively made motor sustainability a major citywide initiative.

To adhere to state standards to reduce fuel emissions, the city of LA has established strict electric vehicle procurement policies, requiring that at every year at least half of all new municipal vehicles must be electric.

LA is also the founding signatory to the C40 Clean Bus Declaration and the Fossil Fuel Free Street Declaration which promises to procure emission-free buses by 2025 with the plan to have “a 100 percent zero emissions bus fleet by 2030,” according to a statement.

Since Trump was elected, his administration has been criti-

cized for its efforts to roll back climate change initiatives established by the Obama administration. Last year, he received pushback for withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, a United Nation framework in which all agreeing countries plans and regularly reports its own contributions to mitigate global warming.

Pruitt under fire for use of taxpayer dollars However, the new standards may take some time to come into effect as Pruitt’s post is in jeopardy amid several corruption scandals over finances.

Among the ballooning scandals, Pruitt reportedly rented a luxury townhouse co-owned by the wife of a top gas industry lobbyist, a major ethical concern given his position at the EPA, according to a recent ABC News report.

“I don’t know how you survive this one, and if he has to go, it’s because he never should have been there in the first place,” former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on ABC on Sunday.

Pruitt — who was previously the attorney general of Oklahoma — is also under scrutiny for reportedly using taxpayer dollars for $2,000 first-class flights to his home state and often stays at luxury hotels, according to a report from The Washington Post.

(Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)

Supreme Court orders PNP: Submit...

‘No harassment’ Malacañang denied that human rights advocates in the country are being harassed days after the administration raised the possibility of the groups being used by drug rings to derail the war on illegal drugs.

London-based Amnesty International (AI) has urged the Philippine government to stop what it described as harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders and to take back its claim that the rights groups have links with illegal drug syndicates.

The group said the allegation was the latest dangerous attempt by the government to target human rights defenders and delegitimize their work.

AI said such statements place the safety of those that criticize the government in peril.

Refuting AI’s claims, Senior Deputy Executive Secretary

Menardo Guevarra said rights groups in the Philippines are not experiencing intimidation and harassment.

“There’s no such harassment nor intimidation of human rights defenders. We don’t know what they’re talking about,” Guevarra said in a text message to The Star.

At least 4,000 people have died since President Duterte launched his brutal war on illegal drugs in 2016.

Duterte has been hurling tirades at critics of the anti-drug campaign, accusing them of defending drug offenders while ignoring the plight of people whose lives were destroyed by narcotics.

He has also threatened to have the rights advocates shot. Palace officials said the President’s remarks should be taken seriously but not literally. n

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DTI seeks P1B more for financing program

by ANNA LEAH

E. GONZALES ManilaTimes.net

THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is asking for P1 billion for its Pondo sa Pagbabago at Pag-asesnso (P3) program to help entrepreneurs have better access to financing.

Zenaida Maglaya, Trade undersecretary for the Regional Operations Group, told The Manila Times the amount would be added to the P2 billion the program already has.

“We are asking that [amount], so that…we will have P3 billion.

Our repayment now is close to 100 percent, so we are seeing that the money will flow black,” she said.

Funding is coursed through the Small Business Corp. (SBC), which will accredit partner in-

stitutions, including cooperatives and associations, to serve as conduit for P3 funds.

Once borrowers are identified, collecting repayments is expected to be efficient.

“Eventually our target is to have P1 billion [for every]region, because that is what President [Rodrigo] Duterte wants,” Maglaya said.

P3 aims to provide micro, small, and medium enterprises better financial acess and reduce their borrowing costs.

It prioritizes the country’s 30 poorest provinces.

Seen as stabilizing the supply and cost of commodities in public markets, the program also encourages small entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and offers job and income opportunities. ■

PCC says Grab-Uber deal will create a ‘virtual monopoly’

ANZ sees peso weakening to 53.50 this year, 54 next year

by LAWRENCE

Philstar file photo

AGCAOILI

Philstar.com

ANZ Research sees the peso weakening further to 53.50 to $1 this year and to 54 to $1 next year as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has yet to switch to tightening mode amid rising inflation.

In its latest Asia economic outlook for the second quarter, ANZ said the weakness of the local currency would emanate from the widening current account (CA) deficit.

The external position of the Philippines has

STEPHEN C. CANIVEL Inquirer.net

WITH Uber expected to fold under its rival ride-hailing firm next week, the antitrust body urged both companies to wait for a review before completing the deal that would give Grab a “virtual monopoly” in the market.

In a statement, the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) said that it was considering a

review of the deal regardless if the transaction falls under the current notification rules for mergers and acquisitions (M&As).

This developed days after Grab said it would acquire Uber’s operations in Southeast Asia, calling it the largest acquisition by a Southeast Asian Internet company.

The Uber app, which has provided an alternative to

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by LAWRENCE

AGCAOILI Philstar.com

IN an in-depth report, the debt watcher said the upward pressures on inflation due to the impact of the new tax reform law are transitory in nature and is expected to ease next year.

“We believe that overheating risks in the Philippines are not yet material. Our view is based on expectations that current infla-

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

ficient portfolio inflows, though a rise in net foreign direct investment flows has helped take some pressure off,” the investment bank said.

Latest data from the BSP showed the country booked a record FDI inflow of $10 billion last year from the previous all-time high of $8 billion in 2016.

ANZ Research noted the BSP’s Monetary Board has been reluctant to raise interest rates amid rising inflation, due primarily to the first round effects of the implementation

u PAGE B5

Philippine economy in no risk of overheating – Moody’s

Inquirer file photo

by ROY

been weakening due to the ballooning trade and CA deficit caused by strong imports, particularly of capital equipment and raw materials to support the expanding economy.

The Philippines booked a CA shortfall of $2.5 billion or 0.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) from a small deficit of $100 million in 2016. In 2013, it registered a CA surplus equivalent to 4.2 percent of GDP. “Unlike India and Indonesia, which run current account deficits but have strong foreign portfolio inflows to fund them, the Philippines has not been able to attract suf-

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!!!

tionary pressures are in part due to transitory factors, infrastructure investment and favorable demographics will lift potential growth to meet rapid demand growth and the external position will remain roughly balanced,” Moody’s said.

President Duterte signed Republic Act 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) last Dec. 19 slashing personal income tax rates, but raising excise taxes on fuel products, motor vehicles

Philstar file photo

and sweetened beverages.

The first package of the comprehensive tax reform program was implemented at the start

u PAGE B2

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

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

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 cur-

BUSINESS NEWS

Client files Chapter 13 to handle $120K credit cards

rent. Now, that doesn’t make sense either, 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 debtor houses in bankruptcy. No matter how you look at it, even with a $700 plan payment, Chapter 13 gives the debtor the rare opportunity of paying only a portion, in this case only 1/3 of her credit card debt 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.

*** 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.

The presumption of “undue influence” in transactions between spouses during the marriage 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 transaction--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,

Barrister’s Corner ATTY. KENNETH URSUA REYES 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.

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

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PCC says Grab-Uber deal will create...

PAGE B1 t

Filipinos suffering from worsening public transportation services, will no longer be functional starting on April 9.

“PCC recognizes that the exit of Uber in the Philippines will put its rival Grab in virtual monopoly in the ride-sharing market until the new players come into operation,” the antitrust body said.

PCC, which reviews business deals and sees which ones are anti-competitive, said that its officials were scheduled to meet with Grab and Uber representatives on Monday. It was not clear if the statement preceded or followed their meeting.

The acquisition would likely have a “far reaching impact on the riding public and the transportation services,” according to PCC. In light of this, the

competition watchdog said it is looking into the deal “with the end view of potentially reviewing it for competition concerns.”

During the review, PCC would evaluate how certain factors would play out after the acquisition. These factors include price increases, quality of ride-sharing services, and the likelihood of having other transport network companies (TNCs) compete in the market.

PCC said the review could happen in two ways – through both parties submitting the deal for review if certain requirements are met and through PCC opening a review on its own, even if the notification requirements for M&As were not met.

Notifiable transactions are M&As that meet a certain threshold in terms of value and assets.

A notification is required when

both standards are met – one of the companies in the deal is worth more than P5 billion and the aggregate value of the assets of the acquired company exceeds P2 billion.

Both ride hailing firms could not act on the deal without PCC approval, assuming that the transaction is notifiable.

As of press time, PCC said that it does not know yet the terms and conditions of the deal.

But even if it was not notifiable, “Grab and Uber are urged to allow a voluntary review to take its course before consummating to minimize the need to unscramble the deal if found to have anticompetition concerns,” PCC said.

Nevertheless, PCC called the consultation with the TNC representatives as a “sign” of willingness to comply to the Philippine Competition Act. ■

LA MIDWEEK ASIAN JOURNAL • APRIL 4-6, 2018

Calendar 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.

APRIL 7

University of the Philippines Alumni Association 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 four-person 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.

A P R I L 1 1 -1 3

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-andsilent-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/.

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 City of Carson leaders head UCC of San Fernando Valley Gov’t Affairs pass motions excursion to Delano, CA

Filipino Community Hall

Filipino Hall

Agbayani Village-Delano Group

CARSON Mayor Albert Robles and Councilmember Elito Santarina led a trip to Delano, California on Saturday, March 17. Participants were city staff organizing the Annual Cesar Chavez Day and Larry Itliong Day events in Carson, as well as community leaders and volunteers who help organize said events each year.

Several city commissioners and union representatives were also present. Sites visited included the Filipino Community Hall,

Forty Acres/Agbayani Village, Larry Itliong’s grave site, and Cesar Chavez National Monument/National Chavez Center.

Chavez’s grandson, also named Cesar Chavez, spoke to participants when they visited Forty Acres. Speakers at the Filipino Community Hall were Roger Gadiano and Alex Edillor of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) - Delano. On Tuesday, April 3, the city council passed and officially approved

DUARTE and Bradbury will honor the Earth with a variety of joint community volunteer projects starting at 9:00 am on Saturday, April 21 at the Duarte Teen Center. This year’s Earth Day celebration, sponsored by the City of Duarte, the City of Bradbury, Burrtec Waste Industries, Southern California Edison, and the Volunteer Center of the San Gabriel Valley will include the planting of drought tolerant plants, cleaning Duarte parks, beautifying green spaces in Bradbury and trash pickup in retail parking lots along Huntington Drive.

Some 70 volunteers includ-

ing 50 teens from the Duarte Area Resource Team (D.A.R.T), Cardinals Helping Youth Live Life (CHYLL), are expected to participate in the day’s activities along with staff from Duarte and Bradbury. A continental breakfast and guest speaker will kick off Earth Day activities at 9 a.m.

Mayors of both City’s will also be on hand to officially welcome and thank the volunteers. The day will conclude with lunch, and participation in arts and crafts, and other educational activities.

For more information, or to volunteer, please call Iliana Garcia at (626) 357-7931, ext. 267. ■

Duarte and Bradbury honor the environment during joint Earth Day volunteer project

‘Malayo man narating, pusong UPSE pa rin!’

First grand reunion of the UP School of Economics CALLING all alumni of the UP School of Economics (UPSE)!

Join us in the first ever UPSE reunion in the USA this summer 2018. Malayo Man Narating, Pusong UPSE pa rin!

When: July 6, 2018 (Friday) to July 7, 2018 (Saturday) Activities: • July 6, 2018 - Early reception dinner at Ocean One Bar and Grille followed by a Party Bus Tour along the Las Vegas Strip (complete with wine/beer/cocktails, Kodakan and music).

• July 7, 2018 - Dinner/Reunion at Stoney’s Rockin’ Country Cost: $ 115.00/person paid before May 1, 2018 ($130.00 after May 1), which will cover the Party Bus Tour (including all drinks and gratuity) on July 6, reunion buffet dinner and celebration on July 7, a reunion t-shirt, event videography/photography

and memorabilia, incidentals.

Cost WILL NOT COVER the Friday optional reception dinner, other meals, hotel and airfare/local transportation.

Alumni may opt to stay at Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas with room rate at $ 159 per night + $35 resort fee per night + 13 percent Las Vegas tax.

Please email or call UPSE’s contact person below to confirm your interest and attendance.

Contact person: Jay Ortega (562) 676-7735 (UPSE Batch ’83) or e-mail: upselasvegasreunion@ gmail.com ■

ANZ sees peso weakening...

PAGE B1 t

of Republic Act 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law last January.

As a result, inflation kicked up to 3.9 percent in February, using the base year 2012, from 3.4 percent in January, bringing the average inflation to 3.7 percent in the first two months of the year. The BSP has set an inflation target of two to four percent between 2018 and 2020.

Based on its latest assessment, the central bank now expects inflation to average 3.9 instead of 3.8 percent, and 3.5 percent for 2019.

ANZ Research said the current pace of growth in domestic demand implies a further worsening of the current account and higher inflation. It expects inflation to accelerate to 4.1 percent this year before easing to 3.4 percent next year.

“Even though the central bank has refrained from hiking the policy rate, bond yields have risen, reflecting investors’ concerns over inflation. At the same time, policymakers remain comfortable with a weaker currency,” it

added.

Despite rising inflation, the BSP has maintained an accommodative stance to support the growing economy over the past three years. It last raised benchmark rates by 25 basis points in September 2014.

“Policymakers remain comfortable with a weaker currency, and have shown reluctance to increase interest rates in order to slow down domestic demand.

Hence, we expect the peso to weaken further on the back of continued deterioration in the current account. We forecast the peso to end 2018 at 53.50,” ANZ said.

The peso is the worst performing currency in the region, depreciating by about four percent to hit a fresh 11-year low and hovering in the 52 to $1 level.

BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said the central bank has had focus and discipline in avoiding unnecessary overreactions, resulting in long-term stability of prices, expectations, and credibility since shifting to the inflation targeting framework in 2002. ■

SHERMAN Oaks, CA - The United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley and Region Government Affairs Committee passed motions on several issues at their meeting on Monday, March 19.

Prop 69 and SB 1 In 2017, the California State Legislature passed the SB-1, which created or increased a series of transportation-related taxes and fees. The revenue was intended to be used to fund road maintenance, rehabilitation, and related transportation projects.

The California State Legislature has previously raised revenue for road maintenance and rehabilitation; however, the funds have not always been spent for their originally intended purpose. They have either been allocated to the general fund and spent on a range of programs, or “borrowed against” to fund non-road related initiatives.

Prop 69 seeks to protect the revenue collected under SB-1, by adding an amendment to the California State Constitution requiring the funds be spent for their originally intended purpose.

There are still ways the funds could be diverted to other projects, but Prop 69 is designed to make Agbayani-walk with Roger that more difficult, and to require a specific action on behalf of the State Legislature to do so.

The counterargument to Prop 69 is that, because there are still mechanisms by which the money can be diverted, the proposition offers no real reform.

Further, it was argued that SB-1 itself was an unnecessary revenue measure, and that the State Government could meet road repair funding requirements through existing revenue sources, given a more responsible approach to overall spending.

Following presentations from representatives for and against Prop 69 and SB-1, the Government Agbayani-Chavez Cert Affairs Committee made and passed two motions: • A motion to oppose Prop 69 passed Larry Itliong Day as a paid city • A motion to support the repeal of SB-1 holiday. (Photos courtesy of the passed City of Carson) ■

Courtesy photo of www.unitedchambers.org

Ballot Initiative: Limits on charges for Dialysis Services - OPPOSED The Government Affairs Committee was briefed on an upcoming initiative that would limit what dialysis providers are allowed to charge for their services. Proponents for the initiative are currently collecting signatures for the initiative, which is expected to receive a formal number in June, and to appear on the November ballot.

The initiative would place a cap on what dialysis centers are allowed to charge patients (and their insurance companies) for their services. It would also prohibit centers for charging for several services that are relevant to the business and client services operations of a dialysis center, but not directly related to the medical procedure, itself.

The Government Affairs Committee heard a presentation from the Patients & Caregivers to Protect Dialysis Patients, who oppose the initiative. A proponent for the initiative did not attend the meeting.

Following the presentation and discussion, the committee unanimously passed a motion opposing the initiative to limit charges for dialysis services.

The United Chambers of the San Fernando Valley and Region is a coalition of 32 business organizations including 18 Member Chambers, representing over 21,000 businesses that provide over 387,000 jobs. United Chambers deals with Valley-wide, County-wide and Regional issues and promotes the San Fernando Valley’s overall welfare, progress and economic prosperity. ■

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cover story The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - April 4, 2018

Rachelle aRizmendi:

On serving the city of Sierra Madre and the need for future Fil-Am leaders by

LocAted in the foothills of the San Gabriel Valley and east of Pasadena, california sits Sierra Madre, which gives off a small town atmosphere reminiscent of somewhere in the middle of the country. the city’s main street is quaint and charming with local restaurants and shops and residents tend to know each other on a first name basis.

With a population of a little over 11,000, Sierra Madre is comprised primarily of caucasians (82 percent), Hispanics (15 percent) and Asians (8 percent), according to the 2010 U.S. census. At the helm of the city is Filipina-American Rachelle Pastor Arizmendi, who has held the post for the past year and has served on the city council since 2014. With her position, she joined a handful of Fil-Ams in Southern california elected into local offices.

Arizmendi and her husband Fili first moved to Sierra Madre 2006 in search of a place they could “grow old and retire in” Los Angeles county. Years later, Arizmendi decided to give back to her city of residence and ensure that the quality of life could be maintained there.

In addition to her mayoral leadership, she is the vice president and chief executive officer of the Pacific Asian consortium in employment (PAce), a nonprofit community development organization based in LA that serves over 40,000 people annually in the areas of job training and employment, business development and early childhood education, among others.

Ahead of the general municipal election in Sierra Madre on tuesday, April 10, Arizmendi sat down with the Asian Journal to talk about why she is running again for the city council and her advice for Fil-Ams seeking to hold public office in the future.

AJ: How long have you lived in Sierra Madre and what made you choose the city?

RA: I’ve lived there for 12 years, but by Sierra Madre standards, that’s like you’re still new in town. People don’t live there for decades, they live there for generations so a lot of our residents have been there for two or three generations.

My husband and I have lived in several places in LA county when we’re dating and even got engaged so I’ve probably lived in

Christina M. Oriel / AJPress

Fil-Am Rachelle Arizmendi was appointed mayor of Sierra Madre, California in April 2017.

eight to nine places in LA county…With all that moving around, we just wanted to settle down and so we looked for a place that potentially we could grow old and retire in. I wanted to look for three things: the first thing is a bagel shop I could walk to on a Sunday. I wanted a place I could walk my dog late at night if I had to. We don’t have children; we have a dog. the third thing I wanted is a place where people still said ‘hello’ to each other and I will confess that we looked at claremont. I really like claremont too but it was so far and when we found Sierra Madre, it was just such a small town feel.

AJ: What made you run for the city council in 2014?

RA: A lot of people ask if that’s always been my goal and aspiration in life. the short answer is no. When I was younger, I was class president. So a lot of my classmates will say, “I’m not surprised that you’re on city council.” When I moved [to Sierra Madre], because we didn’t know anyone, I wanted to see how I could get involved. I saw that there was an opening on the community Services commission. I thought that was a nice fit because that’s part of what drew me to Sierra Madre — the community services — and that’s a lot of stuff that I’ve done in my entire life so I joined.

I had participated on that commission for five years and at one point there was an open city council seat and someone had asked, “Are you interested in it?”

Arizmendi delivered the State of the City address to Sierra Madre residents on Saturday, March 24.

Arizmendi with Rep. Judy Chu and veterans during a community event.

that’s not what I want[ed] to do, but after a while, I decided there were a lot of things going on in the community where people wanted to change things. they wanted to build a lot of big developments in the city and as I just shared with you, that’s exactly the opposite of what we’re looking for there.

So for me, it was being able to have a say in ensuring that we kept and preserved the qualities of Sierra Madre and just protect that village-like character in it.

For me it was about maintaining that quality of life and the quality of feel of Sierra Madre.

AJ: What’s a typical day like for you?

RA: I wake up to work out first. I think that’s important because in terms of taking care of your physical self, I do work out and make sure I eat pretty relatively well. I’m a dietitian by education so I try and make sure that part of me stays in health.

But I actually have a spin bike at home and I start my emails right when I have a cup of coffee and water next to me on the bike. I start answering emails so a lot of what I do could overlap with city work, and it could be with PAce work. I serve on quite a few boards and so it’s answering those emails too.

I go to PAce and I am usually there by 8 a.m. A lot of the work is focused on community development work, early education, job training development, business development, and affordable housing — an array of services. Now I’ve been there for two years in the position of vice president and prior to that it was a different position. So I’m still on a steep learning curve but it’s been a lot of fun and extremely rewarding but usually by the afternoon, it’s city work so whether there’s a commission that I am a liaison for, I’m going into city hall to have meetings there. our official meetings are only twice a month but there are so many other meetings that you have in between.

With campaign season, it’s almost like having a third job so on the weekends I’m still walking door to door. even though I’m the mayor at this point you’d think that I would just take it for granted and say, “Yeah, this is going to be really easy to walk into in this position.” But I still think it’s extremely important to make sure we’re touching voters and we’re talking to folks and understanding what the needs are and making sure that they still know you and that your face is not just a face when you’re

running for election but it’s a face that they can reach out and talk to.

AJ: With the upcoming election, what do you want voters to know about what you have accomplished in the past year as mayor of Sierra Madre?

RA: I just delivered our State of the city…on Saturday [March 24]…where I was able to highlight and share in terms of the accomplishments over the last year. We brought in a new city manager last year, and I think that with the leadership of our current council, we’ve been able to do quite a bit. We tripled our investment in water infrastructure in the past year, given that our city’s so old and the infrastructure and pipes were like 80-90 years old and some of them were just obsolete.

We used to have a partial volunteer fire department, which is nice that you have volunteers who participate. But times have changed and even though we did that 80 years ago, it doesn’t necessarily work now so we professionalized our fire department…to ensure that we really keep a safe community and that we have paid professionals that are on duty. our police department was not fully staffed…but now we are a fully staffed department. And we’ve been able to really reduce our expenditures and increase our general fund. So all good stuff and I’m really proud of that work.

But at the same time, there’s still so much that has to be done. We’re still at a high percentage of our water loss.

We need to maintain our water infrastructure, maintain our public safety, and ensure that as we are moving forward we can still balance our own budget knowing that we still have these unfunded liabilities that still need to be paid for pension.

AJ: When you’re going door to door, what are some of the concerns that residents have besides water and public safety?

RA: Right now we have a measure that’s on the ballot, Measure d, and it’s about repealing this utilities rule tax altogether. that’s probably the biggest issue because not to get all nerdy about numbers but most of our budget comes from property taxes.

In Sierra Madre…cute as our downtown is, it actually only generates 2 to 3 percent of our general revenue and the rest of it, which is 24 percent, comes from this utility rate. Nobody likes taxes but this measure is

saying we’re going to take it all away. So that it will be $2.6 million out of our general fund, which is actually a huge chunk of a small city like Sierra Madre.

When you have your general fund, this equates 20-26 percent of our total budget. this is what people are really interested in [because] we can’t do without this utility users tax, but there are others that are just like, ”I don’t care if we don’t have any services here, I just don’t want to pay the taxes,” which is a very small percentage of people.

Basic issues like water — people ask, “How come my water rates are so high?” and talking about how the drought came into play, how we had penalties when you’ve overused your water, how were trying to restructure that so it’s not hitting residents too hard in terms of penalties.

And then I wouldn’t say thirdly like it’s an order, but a top hot topic issue for voters is that they simply want to stay safe. they see what’s going on in other communities and there is a reason people move to Sierra Madre. But a lot of it is themed around the idea of being in a safe place and people want to continue to have that with their families and being able to take this generations on like other families have been able to do.

AJ: Even if there isn’t a large Fil-Am community in Sierra Madre, what do you want Fil-Ams in greater Southern California to know about you?

RA: one thing about this position and being the first Filipino elected in Sierra Madre — though it was never a platform of mine saying that I could the first Filipino here — is the responsibilities that come along with it. I want to continue being a role model of sorts for those who wish to enter, whether it be in public service or an elected official capacity, because the fact of the matter is with Filipinos being the largest group in california and yet, we have little to no representation at all levels

of government. It’s actually quite disheartening and the fact that we have very few Filipina women in those positions, so I’m hoping that it’s encouraging to those who are interested. there’s such a small percentage of [Filipinos] there. It’s really not about the representation of Filipinos in Sierra Madre that I hope to represent, it is a bigger picture of how important it is for Filipinos to have a voice in all levels of government. And it doesn’t even have to be in that official capacity whether it’s leadership in their own communities. But as large as we are as a group, we definitely need to have more of a voice, more seats at the table when decisions are made and that we are looked upon from the larger society as a group that needs to be reckoned with.

AJ: What’s your advice for Fil-Ams who want to get into government or public office in the future?

RA: I think a lot of it is just being active in different civic events [where] you are getting to know who your elected officials are and finding those mentors. I talked to a lot of API [Asian Pacific Islander] leadership emerging groups… It would be nice if we had a Filipino one but this is usually in general and what we encourage them to do is just reach out and sit down with people in positions.

I’ve sat down with a few people where they just pick my brain and ask what are the things they can get started with. I tell them to be part of a commission or be an intern for different elected officials or agencies…and see if that’s an area of interest of yours and then make those connections. A lot of it is staying in touch with people, not just when you need something, but being able to offer help when need be and again building those relationships with others.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

In addition to her mayoral duties, Arizmendi is the vice president and COO 9; the Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment (PACE).

features 3

Filipino celebrities encourage others to #SpeakUp

by Bayani

san Diego Inquirer.net

JR.

WHEN the Inquirer ran a series of articles on sexual misconduct in Philippine show business last week, U.S.-based producerhost G tĂśngi was among the first celebrities to post and comment on the stories on Facebook.

It was not just the usual random post, though; it turned out to be a heartfelt and revelatory confession, as well.

She thanked the stories’ main interviewees, Kat Alano and Hans Montenegro, for sharing their experiences with the public. “It is courageous,� G wrote, “and much-needed at a time in our society when we should support people brave enough to speak out and condemn these predators.�

She has “nothing but mad love and respect� for Hans and Kat. G admitted: “I wish I too had the courage to tell my #Metoo story. By sharing your story [with readers, it] makes me feel that one day too, I can come to terms with my internal struggles.�

Inquirer Entertainment later reached out to G, who then recounted some details of her abuse.

G TĂśngi

“I was molested by a Filipino director in a workshop environment when I was in my teens,â€? she recalled. “I have never revealed this before, yet I feel it’s important to come forward. In due time, I may have the courage to reveal who that person is‌but it has been a source of a lot of conflict and struggles. So perhaps, in due time.â€?

Sad incident She explained that that sad incident was “one of the reasons why I left show biz.�

Away from the glitzy world

of show, however, she met her husband with whom she had two children. to top it off, she graduated with honors from the University of California in Los Angeles, with a degree in Communications and a double minor in Film and theater, in 2011.

G, who is now the communications director for tanduay rum in the United States, asserted that she had no regrets about leaving her old life behind. “I had to have faith that there is something beyond show business. Sometimes, the bubble of the biz is not real life. You are so isolated from real issues that affect real people.�

G feels strongly about “speaking up� about this advocacy, about the importance of keeping this “uncomfortable but extremely relevant conversation� going.

In the same vein, the Inquirer Foundation, tony Moly and Gabriela have joined forces to launch the #SpeakUp campaign.

Connie Kalagayan, executive director of the Inquirer Foundation, pointed out that the campaign seeks to “initiate a dialogue in the hopes of reducing the stigma and prejudice surrounding� cases of abuse, harassment Continued on Page 4

How Hayden Kho found his way

by Deni

Rose BeRnaRDo Philstar.com

AS Christians worldwide celebrate Easter, the resurrection and redemptive story of Jesus Christ, celebrity cosmetic doctor Dr. Hayden Kho Jr. shares how he turned his life around after a sex scandal with celebrities that eventually led to the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009.

In a recent interview, Kho shared how he found redemption and how others could do the same for their lives.

According to Kho, whenever he was asked how he changed, he had been very careful on what to say. “It was a scary question, because we’re ashamed of it,� he admitted.

He explained that his search for identity led him to imagine he was a Casanova. “the reason I was who I was before and was doing what I did before is because I didn’t know who I am.�

After the scandal, he rebuilt himself by going on an “Eat, Pray, Love� kind of soul searching, such as spending a month with the

The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - April 4, 2018

The 2nd Children Art Contest hosted

by H Mart & Woori Broadcasting

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. 877-427-7386).

(Advertising Supplement)

Hayden Kho with wife Dr. Vicki Belo, and their daughter Scarlet Snow. Photo from Instagram/@dochayden

monks.

While on a sabbatical, he discovered that to be able to change for the better, he should not change his feeling, but his being. “Now that there is so many fake news, why do we try to look for truth for a better life elsewhere, when Jesus has already said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life?’,� Kho pointed out.

Apart from finding his identity as a Christian, Kho has been able to sustain his transformation into a loving husband to Dr.

Vicki Belo-Kho and as a father to Scarlet Snow by remembering the following: • Be humble and remember that everything you have is not yours, but God’s. • You can’t keep on living for self-fulfillment. • Look in between the way of God and the way of the world, and look at the world through the way of God. A successful transformation story, according to him, is about a person who practices spirituality, faith, worship, and humility.

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4

features The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - April 4, 2018

Filipino celebrities encourage others to...

From Page 2 and violence against women, men and children.

The campaign has gathered 36 advocates, including several celebrities, to help raise awareness for a noteworthy cause.

Be free Activist-actress Mae Paner, one of the advocates, told the

Inquirer: “While i understand the difficulty to speak up, may the comfort of knowing that people care for you (and what you’re going through) empower you. Your narrative is ours, as well. Allow us to hold your hand through this challenge, and together, let us be free.”

Another advocate, actress

Say Alonzo, agreed: “We should support each other…We should let survivors know that no matter what they share with us, we will not judge them.”

Advocate and broadcast journalist Ces Drilon noted: “i understand why it takes long for some women to come out. it’s not easy…i encourage them to speak up…when they’re ready.”

Actress-activist and advocate Monique Wilson remarked: “According to the United Nations, one in every three women would be raped and beaten in a lifetime.

We have to stand in solidarity with each other…we have to understand our rights and be unafraid to speak up. Remember that violence is sustained because it lives in the dark…it lives in an invisible state.”

Actress-advocate iza Calzado related: “We are one. We are connected. Your pain is also our pain. We are one with you in this fight.” iza acknowledged that her being a celebrity affords her the opportunity to “have a louder voice.” “i hope i can use this platform to help women heal.”

Cesar Montano set to lure Hollywood celebs to work in PH

by MJ

Marfori ManilaTimes.net

ThERE is a huge possibility that hollywood and local showbiz will be more connected in the coming years. That is, if actor and Tourism Promotions Board chief executive office Cesar Montano becomes successful in his mission to bring in an A-list hollywood superstar Cesar Montano with Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo (sixth from left) and the honorees of Cine Turismo Awards.

Cesar Montano

to join him in a period movie, which of course promotes the country as a gem of a destination. he already surprised the press with a snippet of Sultan Kudarat: “The Unconquered hero” at the launch of Cine Turismo Awards, his comeback in the directorial chair and which has started shooting as well.

Cesar naturally made sure to showcase breathtaking sights of the Philippine islands.

“We just started filming and we still have a very long way to go, but what i showed was the direction of the movie and hopefully suportahan talaga ito so that we’ll have enough budget to finish it. The goal is to produce these kinds of movie ManilaTimes.net photo every year and with a foreign

actor,” said the Tourism official and movie director. “if we want to showcase the Philippines, we want to show the how world how the islands look like in this manner.”

Of course, casting a foreign actor means requiring a foreign budget as well, and Cesar says he is hard at work on it. he also said that if schedule permits, he has asked Bea Alonzo to star in the movie.

“Maganda si Bea at Pilipinang Pilipina.”

Moreover, since he is finally in good terms with Diego Loyzaga—his son by actress Teresa Loyzaga—he may just invite him be part of the movie too so they can squeeze in some father and son bonding.

99 Ranch Market 2018 Mother’s Day kids’ drawing contest: My favorite family memory AS a long-time tradition and in celebration of Mother’s Day, 99 Ranch Market’s Southern California, Nevada, and Texas regions proudly present, once again, the Mother’s Day Kids’ Drawing Contest. We invite you to join us and share love to all the moms and families. The 2018 contest theme is “My Favorite Family Memory.”

Maybe it is that Lunar New Year Eve dinner, or shopping together, or even cleaning the house together with your family! We hope all the little budding artists out there could pick up your paint brushes and celebrate this special day with us. We would like to give special thanks to our sponsors Tawa Charitable Foundation, Universal Studios hollywood, Fotile, indomie, Yeo’s and Unistar for sponsoring the contest.

ELiGiBiLiTY: Contestants will be divided into groups based on age as of April 28th, 2018.

Group A: Ages 4-8, Group B: Ages 9-12 ENTRY PERiOD: Entry begins on March 30th, 2018 and ends on April 28th, 2018. Limit one entry per entrant.

REGiONS: This Contest is available for residents of Southern California, Nevada, and Texas only.

REGiSTRATiON FORM: Application forms can be obtained from any participating 99 Ranch Market stores in Southern California, Nevada and Texas between March 30th, 2018 and April 28th, 2018. Entry forms must be signed by entrant’s parent(s)/ guardian(s) and submitted with the artwork (with application form attached on the back side and lower right corner) on or before April 28, 2018 to any participating 99 Ranch Market stores.

Upon submission, each entrant will receive a small gift. Limited quantity, while supplies last.

ARTWORK: Artwork must be drawn on the given 12”x18” drawing paper. Artwork with different size will not be accepted.

All submitted artworks are considered the property of 99 Ranch Market and are not returnable.

PRiZES: Many good prizes await, please support and participate!

(Group A: Ages 4-8 / Group B: Ages 9-12) Tawa Charitable Foundation Award (3 winners per group): Each winner will be awarded a Trophy of Excellence, a $300 check from Tawa Charitable Foundation, and 4 Universal Studios hollywood one-day tickets.

Grand Prize (5 winners per group): Each winner will be

awarded a Trophy of Excellence, a 99 Ranch Market $100 gift card, and 4 Universal Studios hollywood one-day tickets.

First Prize (10 winners per group): Each winner will be awarded a Trophy of Excellence, a 99 Ranch Market $50 gift card, and 2 Universal Studios hollywood one-day tickets.

Outstanding Prize (33 winners per group): Each winner will be awarded a Trophy of Excellence and a 99 Ranch Market $25 gift card.

JUDGES: All entries will

be judged by a panel of artists invited by 99 Ranch Market.

RATiNG: Creativity 50% / Skill 25% / Subject Relevance 25%.

NOTiFiCATiON: A winner list will be posted in all participating 99 Ranch Market stores on or before May 12th, 2018. Winners will also be notified by postal mail and/or E-mail on or before May 12th, 2018.

Please see stores or official website: 99ranch.com for more contest details. Thank you for shopping with 99 Ranch Market.

(Advertising Supplement)

Madrid Fusion Manila is no more

by Margaux

Salcedo Inquirer.net

is spending so much money promoting other cultures.

True? On one hand, they are WiTh all the confusion and missing the point and beauty speculation on whether or not Madrid Fusion Manila 2018 will of Madrid Fusion’s being held in Manila. On the other hand, push through, i had lunch with this is a valid sentiment that has actor Cesar Montano to get a resonated and in fact echoed in categorical answer. the past three events.

You read that right—not The importance of Madrid Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo, Fusion Manila but Tourism and Promotions As high brow and condeBoard head Cesar Montano scending as it might appear because the gargantuan task to be, Madrid Fusion Manila of handling this gargantuan gastronomic event has fallen on played a great role in three things: (1) Putting the Philiphis lap. pines on the world map of So is it pushing through? culinary players; (2) putting a RIP, Madrid Fusion Manila According to Montano him- handful—it may just be one self, the answer is a no. Madrid hand but it’s full—of Filipino Fusion Manila 2018 is no longer chefs on the map; and (3) inspiring aspiring chefs by having pushing through.

For a while, people thought their idols talk here.

Madrid Fusion Manila this could not be the case because the government is bound made so much noise that it was impossible for the world to by a contract. Recall that then former President Benigno Aqui- ignore. Suddenly, heads turned no iii looked on as then Tourism to Manila, wondering why Spain chose Manila over Asian Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. culinary giants. signed the memorandum of Finally, aspiring young chefs agreement with the Spanish and hoteliers get so excited organizers of Madrid Fusion, Foro de Debate, S.L. and Arum when they see big names come Estrategias internacionalizacion to Manila.

Not to mention the op(Arum). Spain’s Secretary of State for Trade and president of portunities for business that the trade section of the event instituto Español de Comercio Exterior (iCEX) Jaime Garcia Le- presents. The Kitchen Bookgaz was likewise present at the store, the online bookstore of Rajiv Daswani, was able to have signing in 2014 in Spain. The an instant book signing with contract that was secured was for a period of five years. So we Jordi Roca at the Madrid Fusion event that would otherwise thought, no breakups, for better or for worse, for richer or for have cost an arm and a leg.

Slow Food Philippines and the poorer, till 2019.

The present administration, Department of Agriculture are it seemed, did not really appre- able to present indigenous Filipino ingredients to internaciate the project. The reason, tional purveyors, traders and Montano says: Many are of the connoisseurs. We in the Philipimpression the government

pines are also exposed to the fine delicacies of Spain while learning about our joint heritage through jamon, brandies, paella, etc.

Some insiders have gasped at the budget of Madrid Fusion.

A big budget is a good thing if handled well; it is not a waste of money at all because the investment will return. if we can build, build, build infrastructure, we should be able to build, build, build on our culinary strengths as well.

Buhay Carinderia in its place, there will be a project called Buhay Carinderia. Montano is excited about this collaboration with Linda Legaspi of Marylindbert international. it is an advocacy program redefining the karinderya (eatery) as something “innovative, dynamic and relatable.”

Legaspi started the Karinderya Fiesta in 2011 and has been holding such events since.

But this time, with the help of the government, the Buhay Carinderia will be four to five times bigger than an event in SMX (the home of Madrid Fusion Manila), she says. The big launch is on April 11.

The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - April 4, 2018

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The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - April 4, 2018

island pacific fpfc