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APRIL 29 - MAY 5, 2022 Serving San Diego Since 1987 • 14 Pages
T h e F i l i p i n o –A m e r i c A n c o m m u n i T y n e w s pA p e r
Also published in LOS ANGELES • ORANGE COUNTY/INLAND EMPIRE • NORTHERN CALIFORNIA • NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY • LAS VEGAS
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PH wraps up WTTC Global Summit, Saudi Arabia to host the next one DOT focuses on ‘regenerative tourism’
by MoMar
G. Visaya
AJPress
THE president and chief executive officer of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) praised and thanked the Philippines for successfully hosting the three-day summit in Manila. “I’m not often stumped for words, but I am now. Wow! What an amazing summit. We really have rediscovered travel,” Simpson said at the closing
ceremony of the summit, which gathered leaders of the tourism industries across the world. Simpson, who considered the “extraordinary Philippine welcome” as her personal highlight of the two-day summit, added that its success was a “testament that the country’s tourism industry is well on its feet.” Department of Tourism (DOT) Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat pulled all the stops to make sure that the country’s first-ever hosting of the global summit
Fil-Am teen killed in car crash in Riverside County
by AJPress
A FILIPINO American family is mourning the loss of their 17-year-old daughter who died in a car crash on Easter Sunday in Riverside County. Sharmaine Legaspi was killed in a car crash around 10:50 p.m. on Sunday, April 17 when she reportedly lost control of the sedan she was driving and hit a light pole on Murrieta Hot Springs Road, according to the Murrieta Police Department. Legaspi was pronounced dead at the scene. A 19-year-old passenger was taken to the
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THE California Joint Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) Legislative Caucus will celebrate May as Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) Heritage Month and recognize distinguished AAPI leaders through this year’s “Excellence Awards.” The honorees range come from advocacy, health, civil rights, business, arts and entertainment, and more fields. “It has been two years since the start of the pandemic and the AAPI community continues to face anti-Asian hate, while dealing with
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US House passes bill to study new Asian Pacific Heritage museum
Sharmaine Legaspi
California Joint AAPI Legislative Caucus to celebrate APIA Heritage Month, honor leaders
would be memorable as she took pride in setting an example of how to open safely and showcase “how beautiful the country is.” It was also the first major in-person conference attended by more than 1,200 delegates, 600 of whom were from more than 50 countries. According to the DOT, there were over 10,000 virtual registrations during the various events of the WTTC held at the Marriot Hotel in Resorts World Manila.
ABSENTEE VOTING. Registered voters participating in absentee voting cast their votes at FENII Building, Intramuros, Manila on Thursday, April 28. The three days of absentee voting from April 27-29 are for personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and other government agencies including members of media who are on duty on May 9 (election day). PNA photo by Rico H. Borja
PLANS to create a national Asian Pacific American museum in Washington, D.C. have moved to the next step as the U.S. House of Representatives this week passed a bill to form a commission to study the issue. The bill approved unanimously by the House on Tuesday, April 26 would create a new commission to consider the development a new National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture. The measure will head to the Senate for voting. The group would be responsible for studying the costs of building a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture and if it will be part of the Smithsonian Institution. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) called it a “joy” to see the legislation advance in Congress, noting the contributions Asians and Pacific Islanders have made
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Duterte to skip US-ASEAN meet in May out of respect for successor MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte will be sitting out the meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden and with other leaders of Southeast Asia scheduled next month because the Philippines would have elected a new president by then. Washington, through the US-ASEAN Special Summit, will be hosting state leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on May 12 and 13. “Pangit na tignan kung magpunta ako
duon alam ko na may bagong presidente na (It won’t look good if I go and there is already a new president-elect) and besides, if there is a working conference, there might be some agreements or commitments that will be made there,” Duterte said in his weekly address. The Philippines will be holding its national and local elections on May 9 and the presidential inauguration will be held
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KAPIHAN AT PCGSF. Consul General Neil Frank Ferrer (3rd from left) talks to Filipino American media members about the overseas absentee voting process, ballot counting and other concerns by community groups at the Social Hall in the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco. AJPress photo by Joseph L. Peralta
Kerwin Espinosa recants drug trade Final president, VP PCGSF assures overseas voters debates canceled that ballots will get to them accusations vs Sen. Leila de Lima ahead of May 9 polls
by tetch
torres-tuPas Inquirer.net
by Dona
Z. PaZZibuGan, Jeannette i. anDraDe, MelVin Gascon
MANILA — Self-confessed drug trader Kerwin Espinosa has taken back his allegations that connected Senator Leila De Lima in the business of illegal drugs inside the New Bilibid Prison. His retraction was contained in a counteraffidavit submitted before the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday, April 28. “Any statement he made against the Senator are false and was the result of pressure, coercion, intimidation, and serious threats to his life and family members from the police who instructed him to implicate the Senator into the illegal drug trade,” the counter-affidavit states. “For this, undersigned apologizes to Senator De Lima,” adds the legal document signed by Espinosa.
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Inquirer.net
MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has canceled the last round of presidential and vice presidential debates this weekend due to the unavailability of the candidates just days before the May 9 polls. The supposed town hall debates rescheduled on April 30 and May 1 will instead be replaced with pre-taped, hourlong interviews of the candidates to be aired from May 2 to 6, the Comelec announced on Monday, April 25. The poll body was forced to cancel the final presidential and vice presidential debates originally set on April 23 and 24 after its partner organizer, Impact Hub Manila, was Drug personality Kerwin Espinosa
Inquirer file photo
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by JosePh
l. Peralta
AJPress
CONSUL General Neil Frank Ferrer revealed that the United States Postal Service (USPS) has indicated that completed overseas ballots mailed to their office in San Francisco, California will be delivered to them, even as some overseas groups expressed concern about a supposed insufficient return postage included in the ballot packet. This was cleared in a morning tete-a-tete (kapihan) with some members of the Filipino American media at the 5th floor social hall in the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco on Thursday, April 21.
The amount in question that has been making the rounds within community groups, $0.20, was not due to an error by the Consulate, according to ConGen Ferrer, as they had coordinated with the USPS regarding the postage needed to mail back the completed voting packet to its offices by overseas voters within their jurisdiction. “The postage is sufficient. If they want to add postage to the packet, they may do so. But they do not need to,” ConGen Ferrer said. “The USPS has assured us that we will get the packets. Should there be any missing postage, we will be the one charged by the post office for it.”
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