042518 - Los Angeles Midweek Edition

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April 25-27, 2018 Volume 28 - No. 34 • 3 Sections - 20 Pages

PH gov’t vows to sustain country’s economic growth by AJPRESS MALACAÑANG on Monday, April 23, vowed to support the country’s economic growth by solid macroeconomic fundamentals and sustained investments in infrastructure and social services. Palace Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. made the remark as he welcome two recent studies projecting the Philippine

DATELINE

economy to grow by at least 6.8 percent for the first quarter of 2018. In a report released over the weekend, Moody’s Analytics said the Philippine economy is currently in a “sweet spot.” “The Philippine economy likely grew 6.8 percent yearon-year in the first quarter,” it said in a report. “The economy is in somewhat of a sweet spot. Consumer spending is rising at a healthy pace

USA

FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

thanks to steady inflows of overseas worker remittances and a firm labor market.” It also noted that the country’s “investment has been robust and is likely to remains strong as the government boosts infrastructure development,” while “the upswing in external demand is lifting exports.” “With these factors and favorable demographics, the

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REACHING AGREEMENT. President Rodrigo Duterte discusses matters with Ambassador of Kuwait to the Philippines Musaed Saleh Ahmad Althwaikh during a meeting at the Presidential Guest House in Davao City on Tuesday, April 23. Joining the president are Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, Labor and Employment Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu and Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. Malacañang photo by Joey Dalumpines

Marcos to PET: Statements on poll recount ‘observation’ by DANA

SIOSON AJPress

Kevin de León sounds off on senatorial campaign, championing diversity, progressive values in California KEVIN de León thinks it’s time for a regime change in the Senate. Sitting in the bustling campaign office in a high rise in Koreatown (the nucleus of de León’s Senate District 24), de León, the current California Senate President Senate President pro Tempore pro Tempore, and Emeritus Kevin de León (D-Los his team are gearing Angeles) Photo courtesy of Kevin de León

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BlueLA, a carsharing program that gives drivers access to a car for as low as $1 a month.

A new electric car sharing service launches in LA and is the largest of its kind in the US

FORMER Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. told the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) that his press statements on the ongoing recount of votes in the 2016 vice presidential race were mere “observations.” Marcos claimed that he “did not make any comment or disclosure pertaining to the revision proceedings that may be construed as prejudging the Former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

SC rules foreign divorce valid in PH by DANA

SIOSON AJPress

THE Philippines now recognizes a divorce obtained by a Filipino citizen against a foreign spouse outside the country, according to the Supreme Court (SC). In a landmark ruling on Tuesday, April 24, the SC ruled “that a foreign divorce secured by a Filipino against a foreign spouse is also considered valid in the Philippines, even if it is the Filipino spouse who files for divorce abroad.” According to SC spokesperson Theodore Te, ten justices upheld the CA ruling, while three dissented: Associate Justices Mariano Del Castillo, Estela Perlas-Bernabe, and Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa. Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza,

meanwhile, took no part in the decision as he was solicitor-general when the case was brought to the SC. Te said the SC based its ruling on Article 26 (2) of the Family Code, which provides that “where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall likewise have the capacity to remarry under Philippine law.” The SC was acting on the case of Marelyn Tanedo Manalo, who was married in the Philippines to Japanese national Minoru Yoshino. The Japanese court granted her motion for divorce on Dec. 6, 2011. The Dagupan City Regional Trial Court,

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Activist from Mindanao detained for 28 hours in US airport by RAE

ANN VARONA AJPress

A HUMAN rights group has called on Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday, April 23 to file a diplomatic complaint against the Trump administration after a young Filipino activist was detained in the U.S. for 28 hours last week and sent back to the Philippines. Jerome Aba, a 25-year-old peace advocate from Mindanao, Philippines, was allegedly subject to “Guantanamo-style torture” after being denied entry to the U.S. at the San Francisco International Airport for what Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials said was a “technical glitch” with his visa. Aba had been given a 10-year multiple visa by the U.S. Embassy in Manila. “Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Cayetano harps on national sovereignty whenever international actors criticize the Philippine government on its human rights record. If Cayetano meant an ounce of truth in his pronouncements that the country should

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano Malacañang photo

fully exercise its rights as a sovereign nation, he should uphold the rights of a Filipino citizen who suffered Guantanamo-style torture, among other violations, under the U.S. government,” said Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay in a statement Sunday, April 22. “We challenge him [Cayetano] to file a diplomatic protest against the Trump administration for the cruel and inhuman acts of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection against Filipino Moro human rights activist Jerome Succor Aba,” she added.

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‘Tirades vs Sereno not an attack on SC’ by CATHERINE

S. VALENTE ManilaTimes.net

Inaugural hub locations include Historic Filipinotown

IN Los Angeles, cars continue to be the preferred method of travel for many of the county’s 10 million residents. This is true even as investments go into expanding the city’s transit network. Having a car often means independence, more freedom, and a lot of saved time. Yet many Angelenos do not have affordable ac-

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Inquirer.net photo

Cayetano pressed to file diplomatic protest against US for detainment and alleged torture of PH activist

Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno

ManilaTimes.net photo

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte was not attacking the judiciary when he called for the immediate removal of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Malacañang said. In a television interview, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the impeachment case and quo warranto petition seeking Sereno’s removal were anchored on her failure to fully declare her wealth. “This is not about the presi-

dent attacking the institution. It’s about the chief justice herself admitting to violating an existing law which will have an impact on the integrity of the court itself,” Roque said during an interview with the ABS-CBN News Channel. “If there is a threat to the independence of the court, the integrity of the court, it is the chief justice herself,” he added. Roque made the remarks after lawyers’ groups called on the United Nations (UN) to take urgent action on Duterte’s alleged intrusion into judicial matters.

A report, initiated by members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, National Union of People’s Lawyers, Free Legal Assistance Group and other lawyers’ groups, was reportedly submitted to Diego Garcia Sayan, the UN special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers. The lawyers reportedly argued that the president’s tirades against Sereno were part of attacks on judicial independence. Sereno is facing two efforts seeking her ouster from office: an impeachment complaint in

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