051223 - New York & New Jersey Edition

DATELINE USA

Are we out of the woods with COVID?

OMICRON variants are killing 200-300 people a day but population immunity in the U.S. is higher and more stable than a year ago.

The Chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco says the number of new COVID-19 cases is decreasing, wastewater infectiousness is relatively low and hospitalizations are going down.

“The state of COVID, at least as far as I can tell, feels reasonably mild compared to what we’ve seen in the past 3 years, and remarkably stable,” says Dr. Robert

Dismiss 4 top cops linked to drugs, Bongbong Marcos asked

by dexter Cabalza Inquirer.net

“I KNOW it’s a bitter pill to swallow. This will be a painful situation at first, but for me this will lead to a better and renewed police

force that is united in fighting illegal drugs.”

The National Police Commission (Napolcom) has asked President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to accept the resignations of two generals and two colonels for their involvement in illegal drugs.

Marcos to raise ‘common concerns’ in Asean Summit in Indonesia

by Kristina Maralit and Catherine Valente ManilaTimes.net

The recommendation followed the investigation of 953 officials of the Philippine National Police who filed their courtesy resignations last January as part of government efforts to cleanse the police force

THE reaffirmation of Manila’s ties with Washington during President Marcos’ visit to the United States last week sends a “stronger message” to China that the Philippines has “powerful friends” it could count on, a maritime law expert said at a government briefing on Monday, May 8.

“Of course, China will be concerned because they will see that we are not just a small country, but a country with many

PRESIDENT Marcos is expected to raise “common concerns’ with other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) when they meet during the 42nd Summit in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia.

In a pre-departure speech on Tuesday, May 9, Marcos said the Asean leaders are expected to “exchange

views on pressing issues of common concerns such as developments in the South China Sea, the situation in Myanmar, and major power rivalry among others.” While there, Marcos said he will be pushing for the country’s interests in the region through “regional and multilateral

by xaVe GreGorio Philstar.com

MANILA — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. acknowledged that “abuses” did happen during the course of the “war on drugs” waged by his predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Marcos said Thursday, May 4 in Washington that these abuses happened because of the Duterte administration’s focus on law enforcement in combating illegal drugs, which the incumbent president said has been taken “as far as we can.”

DOH says COVID-19 pandemic not yet over after global health emergency lifting

by Gaea Katreena CabiCo Philstar.com

MANILA — The public should not be complacent as the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet over, the Department of Health said Tuesday, May 9 following the move of the World Health Organization to end the global emergency status for the coronavirus crisis.

Last week, the WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the COVID-19 pandemic, which killed

UNITED. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. join hands with fellow heads of state at the opening of the 42nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Indonesia on Wednesday, May 10. Chaired by President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, the 42nd ASEAN Summit bears the theme, ‘ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth,’ where ASEAN Leaders will touch on issues in maintaining internal peace in Southeast Asia amid rising geopolitical issues in the IndoPacific region while strengthening the regional bloc in becoming a fast-growing, inclusive and sustainable economic region.

Malacañáng photo

President’s trip to US shows PH has ‘powerful friends’ – expert

Marcos: ‘There were abuses’ in Duterte’s ‘drug war’

NEW SEA ASSETS Two Fast Attack Interdiction Craft platforms of the Philippine Navy are christened during a ceremony at Naval Station Pascual Ledesma in Cavite City on Monday, May 8. These new patrol assets from Israel—BRP Gener Tinangag (PG 903) and BRP Domingo Deluana (PG 905 —were named after Philippine Marines Corps heroes. Inquirer.net photo by Richard A. Reyes

Scenes in the streets of Marikina City during the rush hour on February 9, 2023. Philstar.com

photo by Walter Bollozos

DOH says COVID-19...

millions of people and wreaked economic and social havoc, no longer constitutes a “public health emergency of international concern.” PHEIC is the WHO’s highest level of alert.

The threat, however, remains.

“Even though the WHO has already lifted the PHEIC status, they didn’t say the pandemic is already over,” Health officerin-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing.

“We want to remind everyone that even though the PHEIC has been lifted, we cannot be complacent at this point. We still need to be vigilant,” she added.

For Marcos’ approval

The Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases, which the DOH chairs, met on Monday, May 8 to discuss the impacts of the WHO declaration and the policies that will be affected.

Vergeire did not disclose the task force’s recommendations, but said these will be submitted to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. next week for his consideration and approval.

“For now, all policies based on the president’s executive orders and other IATF resolutions shall still be in effect until otherwise repealed,” she said.

The WHO first declared PHEIC over the crisis on Jan. 30, 2020, and classified it a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte on March 8, 2020 declared a state of public health emergency due to COVID-19, allowing national and local government agencies to implement urgent and critical measures to contain the spread of the virus, and mitigate its effects to the community. This declaration is yet to be lifted.

“We are going to align whatever existing policies there are if the public health emergency is lifted,” Vergeire said.

In anticipation of the possible lifting of the country’s public health emergency over COVID-19, vaccine manufacturers are being encouraged to apply for certificate of product registration as the Food and Drug Administration will no longer be able to issue emergency use authorization for jabs, the health official said.

A CPR is issued by the FDA to manufacturers to distribute, market or sell their products to the public.

Increase in cases

COVID-19 cases in the Philippines are on the rise, with the DOH reporting 9,465 infections in the past week. There were 12,161 active COVID-19 cases as of Monday.

“Although we have seen an increase in COVID-19 cases, this does not translate to an increase in hospital admissions, severe and critical cases remain low, and many of the cases are mild,” Vergeire said.

According to Vergeire, 96% of these cases were either mild, asymptomatic or moderate, and the country’s healthcare utilization rate remains at low risk.

The Philippines has confirmed over 4.1 million COVID-19 infections, with more than 66,000 deaths, since the pandemic began in early 2020. n

Dismiss 4 top cops linked to drugs, Bongbong...

of the “deeply entrenched” illegal drug problem.

Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos, who sits as ex officio chair of Napolcom, declined to disclose the names of the four officials pending the official transmittal from Malacañang of the President’s action as well as the conclusion “in two to three weeks” of the precharge investigation to determine the criminal and administrative cases to be filed against them.

Abalos added that the police officers were not yet informed of their fate.

During his visit to Washington last week, Mr. Marcos had said that he already accepted the resignation of the two police brigadier generals, as he acknowledged that some government personnel committed abuses during the previous administration’s bloody war on drugs.

While the president did not mention the fate of the two colonels, Abalos said they issued a resolution on Monday, May 8 to proceed with the precharge investigation against them.

“Napolcom will recommend to the president that he accept these two colonels’ courtesy resignations as well, without prejudice to their administrative liability,” Abalos said during a press conference attended by five members of Napolcom at the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) head office in Quezon City on Monday.

The penalties for these grave offenses are dismissal from service, forfeiture of benefits, and perpetual disqualification from any public office.

Criminal cases, meanwhile, would be handled by the Deputy Ombudsman for

and Other Law Enforcement Offices.

Newly installed PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr., an ex officio commissioner of Napolcom, said that the four were under floating status in the Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit and “are not holding any key positions.”

Napolcom vice chair Alberto Bernardo confirmed that all four officials had been previously assigned at the Drug Enforcement Group (DEG), the PNP’s main antidrug unit.

917 cleared Napolcom’s decision essentially adopted all the recommendations of a fivemember advisory group, headed by former PNP chief Rodolfo Azurin Jr., constituted to review the profiles of the police officers who submitted their courtesy resignations.

It also followed the recommendation of the independent panel that the courtesy resignations of 917 officials be rejected by the president, effectively clearing them of any involvement in illegal drugs.

Meanwhile, for the 32

commanders heading drug enforcement units (DEUs)— from the station level up to the national headquarters— may now be dismissed from service for failing to investigate their personnel who might be involved in illegal drugs.

Acorda said he had implemented a “stricter” background check among all current and incoming antinarcotics police officers as an offshoot of the controversy involving PNP officials in illegal drug trading and recycling.

remaining generals and colonels, the DILG chief noted that “more investigations are necessary… because it will be a difficult situation if an innocent officer will be wrongly implicated.”

“Rest assured that the Napolcom will carry out its sworn duty to supervise and strengthen our police force,” Abalos pointed out, with the commission’s recommendation to the president finally putting a “proper and clean” ending to one of the government’s biggest internal cleansing of the police force.

Acorda said the PNP respected Napolcom’s decision on the fate of some of its personnel, and assured the 228,000-member police force that the current internal cleansing would be for the good of the organization.

“I know it’s a bitter pill to swallow. This will be a painful situation at first, but for me this will lead to a better and renewed police force that is united in fighting illegal drugs,” Abalos added.

Stricter vetting

Aside from the purge of the police force of scalawags,

“The anti-illegal drug campaign shall be done by ensuring the proper vetting of DEG and DEU personnel to make sure that only those who have successfully undergone an honest vetting process will be assigned to anti-illegal drug units,” he told reporters at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

According to PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo, background checks would no longer be just verbal reports but would be done in writing, with field commanders ordered to officially sign background checks.

“This is to ensure that should problems arise later on, we will hold them accountable for why they recruited antidrug personnel with information linking them to illegal drugs,” she said. “Gone are the days that our background investigations are not given equal importance [in vetting DEU personnel].”

Should records show that a field commander has approved the recommendation and transfer of assignment of any DEU officer within his direct command, then he or she “will be definitely liable… under the doctrine of command responsibility.” n

Marcos to raise ‘common concerns’ in Asean Summit...

PAGE 1

cooperation,” among them issues related to the South China Sea.

During the last Asean summit, the president pushed for the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea based on international law, which he said should be an example of how states manage their differences.

China, the Philippines, and other Asean-member states have

overlapping claims in the South China Sea.

In a 2016 arbitral ruling, the Haguebased Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that Beijing’s nine-dash line, a demarcation that covers almost 80 percent of the South China Sea, is illegal.

Beijing has since ignored the ruling as it continued to beef up its presence in the contested territories.

At the same time, Marcos said his

participation in the biennial meet will “serve to promote and protect the interest of our country, including our continued efforts towards economic growth, attaining food and energy security security, promoting trade and investment, combatting transnational crimes such as the trafficking in persons, and protecting migrant workers in crisis situation among others.”

FESTIVE. Umbrellas, along with entangled wires, hang above Antonio Rivera Street in Barangay 234, Tondo, Manila on Tuesday, May 9. The village is preparing for its fiesta on the third Sunday of the month (May 21). PNA photo by Yancy Lim

Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos, Jr., gestures as he updates media on the findings of the five-man advisory body tasked to review and evaluate the courtesy resignations of Philipine National Police (PNP) high-ranking officials during a news briefing at the DILG headquarters in Quezon City on Monday, May 8, 2023. Abalos revealed that two police generals and two police colonels will face grave misconduct and grave neglect of duty cases. Inquirer photo by Grig C. Montegrande Military

Are we out of the woods...

Wachter.

Wachter briefed reporters on an Ethnic Media Services conference call last week.

He said the biggest surprise about new variants driving the pandemic in the last 18 months has been the relative lack of surprises.

“We are still on the same Greek letter that we were since December 2020,” Wachter said, referring to the Omicron variant whose name derives from the Greek alphabet.

Since March, the World Health Organization has been monitoring the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16, aka “Arcturus.”

The variant has a higher transmissibility than previous ones but doesn’t appear to be more dangerous. The new strain accounts for about 10% of COVID-19 cases worldwide.

People who get it tend to have a fever and some get pink eye. Both symptoms don’t last very long.

“The last year or so really feels like new variants are a little scary and then they turn out not to be that big a

deal. And so I think, if past is prologue, that’s likely to be what happens with this newest variant,” Wachter says.

Staying safe even as COVID-19 restrictions fade

Dr. William Schaffner, Professor and Chair, Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, says that while Covid can still be deadly, the risk of severe infection has diminished.

Dr. William Schaffner, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center still wears a mask in crowded places, as does Wachter.

“Many of our population have experienced COVID. Many people have been vaccinated, and of course many people have experienced both, and so our level of protection is very high, and these Omicron variants seem to be spreading, producing milder disease,” Schaffner says.

“The therapies, the testing, the treatments that

Marcos: ‘There were

abuses’ in...

we’ve gotten used to all work about as well as they have for the last 18 months. In some ways the biggest changes are political and sociological. It’s clear that any rules and restrictions are pretty much gone,” Wachter says.

Americans have largely stopped wearing masks or hung them on their car mirrors just in case they may need them.

Schaffner says we need to keep our guard up. Older and immunocompromised people, as well as the unvaccinated, are the COVID patients who end up in the hospital. Vulnerable people need to get vaccinated, boosted, and wear masks.

PAGE 1 administration, however, has sent communications with the ICC including appeals against decisions it deems unfavorable to the Philippines and requests to suspend and scrap its investigation altogether.

“What had happened in the previous administration is that we focused very much on enforcement. And because of that, it could be said there were abuses by certain elements of the government that has caused some concern in many quarters about the human rights situation in the Philippines,” Marcos said at a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Domestic processes on ‘drug war’ cases

While this is the farthest that Marcos has come in acknowledging the reported abuses in Duterte’s “war on drugs,” his administration still refuses to cooperate with the International Criminal Court that is investigating crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the anti-drug campaign.

But that was until Marcos said in March that the country is “disengaging” with the international tribunal.

No submissions from the Philippine government have come forth since then, but the Department of Foreign Affairs, in a letter to the Senate justice committee, cited Marcos’ statement as basis for not sending out invites to ICC probers on behalf of the panel.

stronger and wealthier and more influential.”

“But instead of going after everyone, we have tried to identify the key areas that we have to tackle, the key areas that we have to attend to so that we can see a diminution of the activity of the drug syndicates,” Marcos said.

He said this includes a purge among the top brass of the police force who were asked by the government to submit courtesy resignations and be subject to investigations on their links to the illegal drug trade, which has so far led to the dismissal of two police generals and two police colonels.

New strategy

“It turns out that the quality of the mask and the fit is important,” says Schaffner. The N-95 mask fits securely around your nose and chin. In the early days of the pandemic they were hard to find and controversy about wearing masks created a lot of confusion. Masks are no longer mandated except in hospitals and other places powerful friends. And, hopefully, because of that, they might think a bit that we cannot just be cast aside, especially when it comes to the West Philippine Sea,” lawyer Jay Batongbacal said at the Laging Handa public briefing.

The Marcos

Marcos said in the forum that illegal drugs continue to be “the source of much criminality” in the Philippines, remarking that “syndicates have grown

President’s trip to US shows...

PAGE 1

Acero-class patrol gunboats built by Israel Shipyards Ltd.

Apart from this, Marcos also stressed the need for rehabilitation of people who use drugs and a “reeducation” campaign aimed to steer the youth away from drug use. n PAGE

He was referring to the two of three stages of the modernization or capability upgrade program of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Yet China is still “expected” to continue testing the Philippines’ resolve in defending its maritime claims, said Batongbacal, director of the University of the PhilippinesInstitute of Maritime Affairs and the Law of the Sea.

“But because the message has become stronger that we have powerful friends, maybe they will change a little in their attitude and position when it comes to us,” he said.

“They will see that they should not ignore us, they should really treat us seriously when it comes [to the West Philippine Sea],” he added.

According to Batongbacal, the Philippines is now “catching up” on key areas in its security and defense, including its approval of more sites for U.S. forces in line with Manila’s Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with Washington.

He hoped that “China will see that it really has to change its policies and let [Filipino fishermen] peacefully fish in our own waters. That’s very important for us which is why it is good that we got assurances because we can really stand [up] to our [sovereign]… and legal rights there [in] the West Philippine Sea.”

Senate support

Meanwhile, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri has committed legislative support to procure “more ships and more planes” for the Philippine Navy as part of the military’s modernization program, amid renewed tensions with China in the West Philippine Sea.

“We commit to pursue Horizon 2 and Horizon 3 projects,” Zubiri said at the christening on Monday of two brand-new

“All the 24 senators are 101 percent committed to support the modernization of the Navy, particularly for more ships, more planes. We’re looking at antisubmarine planes… and warships, larger base ships for the West Philippine Sea,” the Senate leader said. “We’re ready to fund this.”

Zubiri said he had scheduled a meeting with Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman next week to discuss several issues, including the procurement plans for the Horizon 2 and 3 projects to be included in the national budget.

He also said the senators would ask the help of the Israeli government to supply the Philippines with armaments and missile systems. “What good is a brand-new boat without weapons? We are pushing for more budget for surface-to-air missiles, surfaceto-ship missiles and other armaments that can be utilized by our Navy assets.”

‘Bully’ vessel

Zubiri paid tribute to the Navy’s “selfless service to the country, … especially in these times of brewing conflict in our seas.”

He also recalled an incident last year when a “foreign nation” forcibly seized a rocket debris, apparently from China, being towed by the Navy off Pag-asa (Thitu) Island. “I was aghast and I told myself this must be exposed to the world… to show the bravery of the men and women of our Navy. They were just on a rubber boat going up against a foreign vessel, which was a bully,” he said.

He said he had taken up with the president the proposed submarine programs for a more capable Navy. The Philippines is currently looking at offers from France, South Korea and Spain to fulfill the Navy’s

Features OpiniOn Not yet over

THE World Health Organization has announced that COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency, but stressed that the pandemic is not yet over. This announcement could prove to be as confusing as the WHO’s declaration of COVID as a public health emergency of international concern or PHEIC on Jan. 20, 2020.

The PHEIC is supposed to be the highest alert level that the WHO can declare, but the term and the acronym were gobbledygook for many governments, which waited for a clear pronouncement about a pandemic. This came only on March 11, over a month after the Philippines recorded its first two COVID-19 patients. These were tourists from the Chinese city of Wuhan, Ground Zero of the disease, with the man becoming the first COVID-19 fatality outside China and the first in the Philippines. Days later, the Duterte administration placed Metro Manila, and then the entire Luzon, under strict lockdown. No one wants to return to those lockdowns, meant to prevent the spread of the lethal virus at a time when there was still no vaccine in sight, but which put the economy on the path to its worst recession since World War II.

Editorial

continued masking in public places. While the InterAgency Task Force has said there is no need to restore mask mandates, it still bears noting that confirmed COVID cases and positivity rates have been steadily rising in the past weeks amid the detection of highly transmissible strains of the Omicron variant.

While Omicron has produced mostly mild symptoms especially among the vaccinated and boosted, it can still lead to infections that are serious enough to require hospitalization. It can still lead to death. Health experts have warned of waning immunity from vaccines and previous infection.

Today there is a debate even over

From May 1 to 7, daily COVID cases nationwide surged to an average of 1,352 –112 percent higher than the 637 daily cases recorded from April 24 to 30, according to the Department of Health. In the first week

of May, the DOH recorded 9,465 cases – the highest since November last year. As of May 7, the country had 410 severe and critical cases, with 346 occupying beds in intensive care units. Another 3,766 were in regular hospital beds. Nine COVID deaths were recorded in the first week of May, along with 50 additional and severe critical cases. Health officials previously said masking

and other minimum health protocols such as hand and respiratory hygiene are minor sacrifices in avoiding a disease that can still cause hospitalization and its attendant expenses, debilitation through long COVID and even death. The WHO has said the pandemic is not over. The past three years have shown that it’s better to be safe than sorry. (Philstar.com)

A decade later: PBBM visit revitalized PH-US relations

THE last time a sitting Philippine president visited Washington, D.C. was more than a decade ago. Being fortunate to be in the front seat as the Philippine Ambassador to

the United States, we were all extremely pleased that the visit of President Marcos Jr. was highly successful on behalf of the country and our national interest. Neither the President nor anyone of us are expecting accolades for the visit’s success; everyone who participated in this event simply believed in just how important the relationship is

between the Philippines and the United States.

The four-day official visit was highlighted by the bilateral meeting between President Marcos Jr. and President Joe Biden at the Oval Office, which turned out to be fruitful and cordial.

It was only natural that both leaders recognized the importance of such a meeting in revitalizing the

alliance between our two nations, and the need for the relationship to evolve as we face “the challenges of this new century,” in the words of President Biden as he echoed the statement made by President Marcos during their first face-toface meeting in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in September last

year. With remarkable candor, the U.S. president said he “can’t think of any better partner to have” than the Philippines.

The bilateral meeting at the Oval Office was followed by an expanded meeting at the White House Cabinet Room with key U.S. Cabinet secretaries and our own Cabinet secretaries led by Foreign Affairs Secretary

Ricky Manalo, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual, Defense OIC Charlie Galvez and ICT Secretary Ivan Uy. Clearly, there was a lot of enthusiasm on both sides, underscoring the multifaceted nature of Philippines-U.S. relations. The result of such meetings is the expectation

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Babe’s Eye View

BaBe Romualdez

Dateline PhiliPPines

Bigger PH-US air combat exercises later this year

by John Eric MEndoza Inquirer.net

PAMPANGA — More air force personnel from the Philippines and the United States will join the second iteration of the Cope Thunder war games, which recently resumed after more than three decades, the Philippine Air Force (PAF) said on Tuesday, May 9.

PAF spokesperson Col. Maria Consuelo Castillo said this is due to the nature of the exercise, which will focus on the deployment of more troops all over the country, including areas in Visayas and Mindanao.

“For the second iteration of Cope Thunder 23-2, the focus of that will be large force deployment,” Castillo said in a chance interview here at Clark Air Base, where the first iteration of military exercise dubbed as “Cope Thunder” is ongoing.

“They plan to simulate the movement of aircraft because here they take off from Clark, they land in Clark. This time around, in a large force deployment, they’re going to simulate a large fleet to another area. So they’re going probably, fly to Luzon and go to Visayas,” she also said.

Gov’t debt soars to record P13.8T

bureau said.

by niña Myka PaulinE arcEo ManilaTimes.net

Castillo said that it is likely that more than 1,000 Filipino and American troops will take part in the coming exercises.

Unlike the first iteration where fighter jets have been primarily employed, the second iteration of the drills will mainly use cargo aircraft, according to Castillo.

“Besides the fighter aircraft, there will be an involvement of our other support aircraft like cargo aircraft because we would need to simulate the movement of a large fleet and together with all of the support equipment and support personnel, so we would need a cargo aircraft,” she added.

The first iteration of Cope Thunder, joined by 225 American troops and 330 personnel from the PAF, began on May 1 and will run until May 12.

Cope Thunder started in the Philippines in 1976 and went on until 1990.

The exercises were discontinued after the U.S. military left Clark Field and Subic Bay in 1991 due to damage from the Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption in June that year and also after the Philippine Senate voted against extending the lease on U.S. military facilities in the country. n

CONTINUED borrowings and an anemic peso pushed the national government’s debt to a new high of P13.86 trillion in March, the Bureau of the Treasury said on Monday, May 8.

In that month alone, P104.15 billion was added to the total outstanding debt. This is 0.8 percent higher than the previous month’s P13.75 trillion, owing to the “net issuance of domestic and external debt,” the bureau said.

As of end-March, local borrowings were at 68.7 percent and external debt at 31.3 percent.

The domestic debt surged to P9.51 trillion, P71.00 billion or 0.8 percent higher than the end-February’s P9.44 trillion.

“In March, the P72.87 billion net issuance

of domestic securities outweighed the P1.87 billion effect of local currency appreciation against the US dollar on onshore foreign currency denominated securities,” the Treasury said.

From the end of December 2022, domestic debt rose by 3.3 percent, or P304.78 billion.

External debt ballooned to P4.34 trillion, P33.15 billion more than the P4.31 trillion in the previous month.

The Treasury attributed the drop in external debts to “the P84.26 billion net availment of foreign loans and P18.53 billion impact of third-currency adjustments against the US dollar.”

“These more than offset the P69.64 billion effect of local currency appreciation against the U.S. dollar,” the

Compared to the end of December 2022, external debt went up by 3.2 percent or P133.27 billion.

Guaranteed obligations, meanwhile, shrank by P3.07 billion month over month to P384.12 billion.

The drop was attributed to the net repayment of domestic and external guarantees amounting to P0.01 billion and P1.52 billion, respectively.

“The net appreciation of the peso relative to the U.S. dollar further trimmed P2.99 billion,” the Treasury said.

“These were tempered by the net appreciation of third-currency denominated guarantees against the U.S. dollar amounting to P1.45 billion,” it added.

Guaranteed debt was down by 3.7 percent or P14.93 billion from December 2022.

Are we out of the woods... Marcos to raise ‘common concerns’ in...

where the risk of infection remains high and it remains high for certain people.

“The other early mantra – that it’s really about protecting others and not you – it’s also wrong. It is about protecting others, but it certainly protects you, too.

It’s probabilistic. It lowers the chance of getting infected,” Schaffner says.

“If we’re not masking… I would say condoms prevent babies, masks prevent infectious disease. You’ll hear a lot of arguments about wearing both of them. But that doesn’t mean they don’t work,” says Dr. Ben Neuman, Chief Virologist of the Global Health Research Complex at Texas A&M University.

Arcturus variant likely not a game changer

Neuman said the Arcturus variant is different enough from the current vaccine strains that it has the potential to evade them because “it’s about as different from Omicron as Omicron was different from Delta and so just like we saw the Omicron wave come through, there is at least the potential for that.”

Wachter doesn’t think the new variant will be a game-changer though. For one thing, enough people have immunity now so the possibility of a super-spreader event is unlikely.

“The vaccine and the booster still work reasonably well in about the same way that we have thought for the last 18 months or so.” Paxil still works reasonably well, your home test still works reasonably well,

Wachter says.

“The risk of getting very sick is probably not any different now than it will be in 3 years… so we all have to come up with strategies that allow us to live our lives as fully as we can while mitigating the risks in a way that’s practical and sustainable. And that’s different than two years ago, when we were all trying to get through it,” he says.

Wachter and Schaffner told reporters that they get boosted regularly. They are waiting for new vaccines that will be available in a few months for flu, COVID-19, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).

Long COVID

Dr. Robert Wachter, Professor and Chair, Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, discusses what medical professionals and researchers have learned about long covid and what they’re still working to understand.

For people who get re-infected, the danger of long COVID increases, especially for women. Wachter’s wife, a former reporter who now writes books, has long COVID and she is learning to live with it.

“A year ago she was not disabled in any way in terms of getting through her days. Certainly, many people have it worse than she does,” Wachter says. “But most days at about one or two in the afternoon, she will text me and say I’m hitting a wall. I need to take a nap. She never had to do that before.”

A little bit of brain fog is making her “a little less good than she was” but it’s a consolation to know what’s causing it, he says. (By Peter White/Ethnic Media Services)

It is the second visit of the president to Indonesia, which was his first foreign trip after winning the elections on May 9, 2022. His first visit was in July last year on the invitation of Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

The president is also slated to participate in the 15th Brunei DarussalamIndonesia-MalaysiaPhilippines East Asean Growth Area, as well as meet with officials of Timor Leste, joining the summit for the first time as an observer, to discuss their prospective membership in the regional bloc.

The Asean leaders will likely adopt a roadmap for Timor Leste’s full membership in the regional bloc after it applied during the 40th and 41st Asean Summits in 2022.

“In these meetings, we will have the opportunity to highlight the importance of strengthening cooperation in the BIMP-EAGA subregion to sustain a striving economy,” he stated.

“And as the theme of this

Asean summit is clearly manifesting, it is once again towards economic growth and to recognize that Asean and Southeast Asia have been the partners that the other parts of the world... look to Southeast Asia as the growth center for global economy. And that is why it is very important that we go and continue to discuss amongst other Asean leaders on how we can maximize and find that extra energy, that synergy from our working together,” he added.

Other meetings the president is expected to attend are the Asean InterParliamentary assembly, the Asean Business Advisory Council, Asean Youth, and the High-Level Task Force on the Asean Community Post 2025 Vision.

“I look forward to our productive engagements, to our always productive engagements with our Asean partners,” Marcos said.

“This is a continuation of the process that we had begun deriving from the idea and the principle

and the concept of Asean Centrality in the face of the challenges that we have to answer,” he added.

This is the 13th international trip of Marcos since becoming leader barely a year ago, having just wrapped up his official working visit to the United States and witnessing the coronation of King Charles 3rd in London last week.

The aircraft carrying the president and his delegation left Villamor Airbase in Pasay City past 1 p.m.

The opening ceremony of the 42nd Asean Summit was scheduled on Wednesday, May 10.

The Asean Summit is the highest policy-making body in the Southeast Asian region, comprising the heads of state or governments of memberstates.

It is held twice a year and serves as a venue for discussion and policy deliberations on various developments and global issues affecting the Southeast Asian region and beyond. n

President’s trip to US shows PH has...

requirements for two dieselelectric submarines, he said.

In November last year, the Department of National Defense briefed lawmakers that it needed almost P300 billion to fund the backlog in the military’s modernization program.

Pacquiao loses case vs Paradigm, ordered to pay $5.1M

by Dino Maragay Philstar.com

MANILA – Manny Pacquiao has been ordered by a U.S. jury to pay $5.1 million (approximately P282 million) to Paradigm Sports Management (PSM) as the civil lawsuit filed by the latter against the former reached its conclusion.

In a report by Los Angeles-based journalist Steve Angeles of ABS-CBN

News, PSM won its lawsuit against Pacquiao with a 9-3 jury verdict, entitling them to monetary damages from the Filipino boxing icon.

The lawsuit stemmed from PSM’s claim that Pacquiao committed a breach of contract when he concealed his preexisting agreement with another promotional company, TGB Promotions, which hindered PSM’s efforts in arranging a fight

The military failed to meet its Horizon 2 target acquisitions between 2018 and 2022. It entered the third stage or Horizon 3 this year, which should be ideally completed by 2028.

‘Credible defense posture’

Zubiri said his colleagues were “willing to make adjustments… to push for our advocacy for a more modern Navy,” in case the modernization projects would not be accommodated in the budget.

10

“We really need a minimum credible defense posture. This means we need to have equipment that can credibly defend our sovereignty not only in the West Philippine Sea but also due to internal factors,” he said.

Zubiri said the Senate was also hoping to pass the proposed Philippine Defense Industry Development Act “in a year’s time,” to give “preferential contracts” to companies in the defense sector that were willing to build plants

for manufacturing arms, aircraft and vessels.

Such a contract was required in the P10billion acquisition of nine Shaldag Mk. V fast-attack interdiction craft from Israel Shipyards.

Up to three Acero-class

boats are expected to be built in the Philippines also as part of the contract, after the company upgraded the shipbuilding center at the naval base in Cavite City.

(By Frances Mangosing, Jerome Aning/ Inquirer.net) n

STRONGER TIES. President Marcos and U.S. President Joe Biden reaffirm the alliance between the Philippines and the United States during their meeting at the White House in Washington on May 1. Malacañang photo

Manny Pacquiao Steve Marcus / Getty Images North America / AFP

of a lot more economic activities between our two countries, underscored by President Biden’s announcement that he will be sending a first-of-its-kind, high-powered trade delegation with perhaps 100 or 200 top American companies to the Philippines, to be headed by U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Secretary Raimondo is very enthusiastic at the prospect of visiting the Philippines and exploring investment opportunities in several sectors that include renewable energy, infrastructure and mineral processing.

SWS: 51% of families feel poor

by Lawrence agcaoiLi Philstar.com

MANILA — Fifty-one percent of Filipino families consider themselves poor, according to a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The nationwide survey conducted among 1,200 adults from March 26 to 29 revealed that 51 percent of Filipino families rate themselves as “mahirap” or poor.

Thirty-one percent rated themselves as “borderline” by placing themselves in a horizontal line dividing poor and not poor, while 19 percent rated themselves as “hindi mahirap” or not poor.

“This is similar to (the survey conducted in) December 2022, when poor families were at 51 percent, borderline families at 31 percent and not poor families at 19 percent,” SWS said.

It noted that the estimated number of self-rated poor families was at 14 million last March, rising from the 12.9 million in December last year.

from 58 percent to 65 percent in the Visayas. However, it fell in Balance Luzon from 49 percent to 43 percent while it was statistically steady in Mindanao, moving from 59 percent to 62 percent,” the polling agency said.

Borderline respondents did not statistically change in Metro Manila from 29 percent to 26 percent, in balance Luzon from 30 percent to 32 percent and in Mindanao from 30 percent to 33 percent, but fell in the Visayas from 34 percent to 26 percent.

Filipinos who considered themselves not poor rose in balance Luzon from 20 percent to 25 percent, but fell in Metro Manila from 39 percent to 33 percent and in Mindanao from 11 percent to six percent. It did not change in the Visayas at nine percent.

The minimum monthly budget that self-rated poor families said they need for home expenses to not consider themselves poor has remained sluggish for several years despite considerable inflation.

belt-tightening,” SWS said. The average poor families lack about half of what they need to not consider themselves poor.

Of the families who rated themselves poor, 6.5 percent are considered “newly poor” as they were not poor one to four years ago.

Another 6.7 percent were non-poor five or more years ago, and 37.9 percent were considered “always poor.”

Of the estimated 14 million self-rated families in the March survey, 1.8 million were newly poor, 1.8 million were usually poor and 10.4 million were always poor, according to SWS.

The same survey also found that based on the type of food they eat, 39 percent of Filipino families rated themselves as “foodpoor,” 35 percent rated themselves as “borderline food-poor” and 26 percent rated themselves as “not food-poor.”

President Marcos Jr. and the First Lady were invited by the White House to be their guests at the Blair House but the president politely declined, opting instead to stay at a nearby hotel. Nonetheless, the White House graciously allowed us to use the historic landmark residence for meetings and events during the entire stay of the president and his delegation. The Blair House, or more popularly known as the President’s Guest House, is a complex made up of four separate homes, among them a property that was constructed in 1824 and named after its second owner, Francis Preston Blair, who was a journalist. Blair House has been described as “the world’s most exclusive and luxurious hotel” because it is where many heads of state have stayed like Queen Elizabeth, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, among many others.

Following the meeting with the Filipino community was the dinner at the Blair House with Philippine Cabinet officials, State Secretary Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, NSA Director Jake Sullivan, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson, Dr. Kurt Campbell of the National Security Council and American and Filipino businessmen that included Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Enrique Razon, Sabin Aboitiz, among several others.

It was the perfect setting for President Marcos Jr. to have an informal but substantive conversation with Secretary Blinken. I sat down with Secretary Austin and our good friend, Senator Bob Menendez, chairman of the U.S. Senate foreign relations committee.

The ceremonial activities and subsequent meetings of the president were equally substantial and significant. Needless to say, the full military honors he received –with a 21-gun salute and the playing of the Philippine and U.S. national anthems – at the Pentagon before the bilateral meeting with Secretary Austin was very impressive. I have to admit that even after seeing such events countless of times, I still get goosebumps. The visit to Arlington Cemetery was an especially touching ceremony where the president laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Capping the official activities of the president during his four-day visit to Washington was the policy speech he delivered at the ASEAN Leadership Forum of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a prominent think-tank which he described as “one of the world’s foremost policy institutions on national security and foreign policy issues.”

In his very well received speech, President Marcos Jr. spelled out how he sees the relationship between the Philippines and the U.S. to be like in the next five to 10 years at the very least, underscoring the need to evolve the alliance and “make it more responsive to present and emerging challenges” because “national security is no longer about territorial defense. Economic security is national security.”

He was very specific on issues of vital importance regarding the economic aspect of the relationship, making a case for “forging closer economic ties because creating prosperity and realizing human potential will not only make the Philippines a more reliable partner for the United States” – but will also strengthen both countries’ democracies.

Being in the front seat, I can confidently say that this was an extremely successful and fruitful visit of the president – not to bask in the glory for himself but for our country. (Philstar.com)

* * *

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.

* * * babeseyeview@gmail.com

Gov’t debt soars to record...

PAGE 6

“Self-rated poor rose in Metro Manila from 32 percent to 40 percent, and

Compared to December 2022, the percentage of foodpoor families rose from 34 percent, while borderline food-poor families hardly moved from 38 percent and not food-poor families barely changed from 28 percent. n

Pacquiao loses case vs...

“This indicates that poor families have been lowering their living standards, i.e., for him.

The $5.1 million amount that Pacquiao has been ordered to pay PSM reportedly includes $1.8 million in damages and the $3.3 million advance PSM gave to the boxing legend.

Pacquiao entered into an agreement with PSM, which has in its stable Conor McGregor, with an initial plan to arrange a lucrative fight with the UFC star. The bout, however, did not materialize.

Instead, the eight-division world champion ended up signing a different deal to face

Errol Spence Jr., who was then replaced by Yordenis Ugas due to injury. Pacquiao lost to Ugas in 2021 in what turned out to be his last pro fight.

In the trial, Pacquiao’s defense attorney Bruce Cleeland claimed PSM failed to live up to their commitments to the boxing star. But PSM countered by questioning Pacquiao’s credibility.

Pacquiao has not fought professionally since losing to Ugas, but instead figured in an exhibition fight with Korean video blogger DK Yoo in December last year. n

China Banking Corp. chief economist Domini Velasquez said that “slow and offsetting growth rates in revenues and expenditures have kept deficit, and consequently resulting debt, in check.”

“However, to be prudent, the government should fasttrack revenue-generating measures to aptly finance planned expenditures, particularly its infrastructure program, without resorting to a large accumulation of debt,” Velasquez said.

He said measures that the government could consider include “administrative efforts, digitization among

revenue agencies, and planned revenue-enhancing legislation such as PIFITA, tax on single-use plastic, digital tax, revision of the motor vehicle users charge, and sweetened beverage tax.”

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the debt figures reflect the need for the government to finance the relatively wider budget deficits in recent months.

Ricafort also cited reasons such as high inflation and interest rates that added to the government’s debt servicing costs, and still relatively weaker peso

exchange rate against the US dollar that increased the peso equivalent of the national government’s outstanding debts.

He said “a new record high for the outstanding national government in peso terms is still possible, in view of the upcoming US dollar-denominated or eurodenominated retail bond issuance in May 2023.”

On the other hand, the debt could still rise, noting the government borrowings are “frontloaded again at the early part of 2023 to finance the budget deficit, starting with the scheduled foreign borrowings in 1H (first half of) 2023,” he said. n

CITATION TICKET. A staff member of the Davao City Transport and Traffic Management Office issues a citation ticket to a public utility vehicle driver along the busy CM Recto Street on Tuesday, May 9. Earlier, the office warned that it has a system to trace drivers who fail to pay their traffic violation penalty. PNA photo by Robinson Niñal Jr.

COMMUNITY JOURNAL

A success story for crewmen: Overstayed crew member obtains immigrant visa in Manila through Obama-era provisional waiver regulation, on Citizen Pinoy this Sunday

JULIE came to the U.S. as a crew member in 2004 and overstayed, leaving her eight-year-old daughter, Jolina, back in the Philippines. The years of separation broke Julie’s heart, but she believed her sacrifice would help build a better future for her daughter.

Julie had been watching “Citizen Pinoy” and she knew that the “Attorney-of-Last-

Hope” Michael J. Gurfinkel might be able to help her. She had been consulting with him in January 2008, August 2013, and January 2016 before the priority date on her mother’s petition became current. A change in the law that Julie had been praying for happened when then President Obama issued the Provisional Waiver

Celebrity single moms who took charge of their lives, became better versions of themselves

By HannaH Mallorca Inquirer.net

PUT your hands up for these celebrity single moms. Like regular moms, they know

firsthand that being a mom is a thankless job. But being a single mother, and who also selflessly took the role of a father to their children, is an entirely different ball game.

Shining through this situation and coming out stronger to become better versions of themselves make them a hero in their own right.

As we celebrate Mother’s Day on May 14, let’s take a look at some of the celebrities who empower single moms with their own life hacks to keep going for their families, while building a life for themselves.

Janella Salvador

A staunch defender of women empowerment and independence, Janella Salvador revealed in September 2022 that she fiercely fought to remain a single mom, with a firm belief that she is capable enough of raising her two-year-old son Jude on her own.

“Being a single mom — talagang nilalaban ko ‘yon. At the end of the day, alam kong kaya ko naman siya. As much as I love the people around me who are always there to help me, I always want to know na kaya kong gawin. I can rely on myself na hindi ko kailangang humingi ng tulong sa iba.”

As a passionate supporter of women empowerment, the “Darna” star stated that she hopes that balancing her

CREW MEMBER WHO OVERSTAYED GETS VISA. “Attorney-of-Last-Hope” Michael J. Gurfinkel (right) helped a crew member who overstayed get a visa on an encore success story of “Citizen Pinoy” this Sunday. When Julie completed her contract as a crew member in 2004, she planned on returning to the Philippines to her eight-year-old daughter. However, she unknowingly overstayed while visiting family, and then could not leave due to the 10-year ban. She consulted with Atty. Gurfinkel on several occasions, until President Obama created the Provisional Waiver program. This was an answer to Julie’s prayer, as she was to return to Manila for her immigrant visa on an approved provisional waiver, and immediately return to the U.S. as a green card holder. Watch this success story on an encore episode of “Citizen Pinoy” on Sunday, May 14 at 6:30 PM PT (9:30 PM ET) through select Cable/Satellite providers, right after TV Patrol Linggo. (Advertising Supplement)

Janella Salvador and LJ Reyes with their children

Photos from Instagram/@superjanella, @lj_reyes

Kris Aquino with her sons Josh and Bimby Photo from Instagram/@krisaquino

On belonging, attitude

prescription that effectively enables each of us to cope with the sometimes unfriendly and harsh environment and social order.

PhiliP S. Chua, MD, FaCS, FPCS

YOU and I, and the 8 billion people around the world, are social animals. Our two-legged and fourlegged friends are also “social” creatures. Like us humans, these animals also value, long for, and enjoy companionship. The loners among them usually do not survive long. Most obviously, social life, a sense of belonging, a comfortable feeling of security in numbers, a natural mental sense of community, are essential to health, mental and otherwise.

That social nature starts the day we are born, in the arms of our mother, nurtured in the crib, and developed into a complete positive mental state through interactions with both our parents, siblings, grandparents, and friends. All these enable us to develop lasting relationships and a rewarding mental health, which affects and influences all other lives we touch. Human beings’ capacity to live a stable and happy life and our survival as a species heavily depend on our culture, education, social skills, attitude, and social behavior.

The history of man on earth shows that cavemen started forming small groups, literally for security and for survival against the harsh and unforgiving environment, and vicious attacks from animals preying on them. That dependency on each other is still very evident even today, in this modern, technologically advanced society of ours. Indeed, no man is an island, and a loner is, comparatively, at a much graver risk of illhealth and attrition.

A sense of belonging keeps us, humans, connected with our fellowmen, within our own circle, our community, conferring upon our being the reward of acceptance, a gratifying inner satisfaction that we are “in,” and “one of them,” akin to being a member of a club or a fraternity/sorority or a party.

This sense of belonging is fundamental for our emotional and physical well-being, a powerful

Attitude

Our social skills, which are vital to our acceptance as a member of a group or community, are developed or impeded by our attitude, which, like social prowess, also significantly impacts our life and our health. Both are pre-requisites to health, happiness, and inner peace in each of us human beings. A good attitude compliments and boosts our social skills and acceptability to “belong.”

Here are some quotes of wisdom I have come across which are inspiring philosophical parachutes in life for those who, like many of us, sometimes find themselves falling towards the pit of discouragement and despair:

• Anthony J. D’Angelo, in The College Blue Book, said, “Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.”

• To quote Oscar Wilde, “If you don’t get everything you want, think of the things you don’t get that you don’t want.”

• Voltaire expressed it beautifully when he stated, “Life is like a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.”

• An ancient Persian saying puts a great perspective on our daily aches and pains in life – “I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.”

• And as some of us may curse some bad days we encounter and wish they never came, Cavett Robert offers these poignant words: “If you don’t think every day is a good day, just try missing one.”

Indeed, every day is a good day, although others are better, and others not as good. But each day is a gift. Not waking up to another day is a deadly waste, but not appreciating another day as we open our eyes each morning in our journey through life is a tragedy.

How each of us greets the day depends greatly on our attitude. Indeed, attitude impacts our health, our life, and our everyday happiness and success. A person with a chip on his shoulder, with a negative attitude

or pessimistic view of life, will obviously be miserable most of the time. And the opposite is true, as Annette Goodheart brilliantly points out: “Just because you’re miserable doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy life.”

Happiness is basically an attitude. Gaining inner peace is an attitude. We have that God-given power to feel what we want to feel. And we can even psyche ourselves.

In a world where global peace is still a dream, a world beset with an economic crisis, with terrorism, with greed and corruption, with energy, food and water shortage, global warming and its devastating side-effects on typhoons, earthquakes and flooding, good social skills and attitude, in the midst of all these disasters, are the best weapons against helplessness, despair and depression. They, indeed, impact our health and life.

With all these complex problems confronting us, we often find ourselves in the gutter of hopelessness, wherefrom, Oscar Wilde suggests, we can look up at the heavens and “see the stars.” Indeed, a positive attitude, a happy outlook in life, especially these days, can help us tremendously in conquering our fears, insecurities, and dilemmas. Without total surrender, when we sometimes lose or fail, we should remind ourselves to get up and fight even harder. After all, “defeat is not bitter unless you swallow it,” as Joe Clark states. To this, I will add my own: “No one can succeed in life who does not have the courage to fail”; and, “The greatest risk in life is in not taking any risk at all.”

Someone said, “You cannot adjust the direction of the wind, but you can adjust your sails.” Very true, indeed. Simple words of wisdom that could make our day, if not our life.

But, of course, we should not simply leave everything to God. We must do our share. He promises to help those who help themselves.

As I live my life each day, I remind myself of an ancient proverb that says, “To everyone is given the key to heaven; the same key opens the gates to hell.” It’s indeed a matter of personal choice.

And that choice inevitably depends on our attitude in

Claudine says she dreams of working with Judy Ann in a film

By HannaH Mallorca Inquirer.net

CLAUDINE Barretto has expressed her desire to work with Judy Ann Santos in a film as she admitted that it has always been on her bucket list.

Barretto made the confession during an interview with Boy Abunda during an episode of the show “Fast Talk With Boy Abunda” on Friday, May 5, saying that they’ve always been good friends behind the scenes. The topic was brought up after Abunda asked the actress if she wanted to work with Santos in a film in the future.

“Ohmigod, [working with Judy Ann Santos], that’s one of my bucket list,” she began. “Judy Ann and I, people think that we don’t get along or we never [get] along. But the truth is that, you know, even noong debut niya, right after, I remember that it was a Sunday and everything was closed, the after-party was in my condominium.”

The seasoned actress shared that she and Santos have been through a lot together during the height of their careers, describing their relationship as something of a “boyfriend and girlfriend” because of the circumstances at the time.

“Ang dami naming pinagdaanan ni Judy Ann. During that time, para kaming mag boyfriend-girlfriend ni Judy Ann. Bawal kami makita sa labas kasi ayaw ni Tito Alfie [Lorenzo] kasi dapat daw à la Nora [Aunor]-Vilma [Santos],” Barretto said, as she noted the supposed

Photos screengrabed from YouTube/GMA Network, Instagram/@officialjuday rivalry between Nora Aunor and Vilma Santos back then. Meanwhile, Lorenzo was Santos’ former manager who passed away in August 2017.

(Judy Ann and I have been through a lot together. During that time, Judy Ann and I were like boyfriend and girlfriend. We’re not allowed to be seen together because Tito Alfie Lorenzo didn’t want to. We were supposed to be like Nora Aunor and Vilma Santos.)

During the interview, the “Milan” star also thanked Santos for standing by her during the “lowest point” of her life.

“I would never forget what Judy Ann did for me, that is why she is who she is. That is why Judy Ann Santos is Judy Ann Santos. At my lowest point, when I also transferred from channel 2 to channel 7, and they said in one of her interviews, they said she was the teleserye queen. She said, ‘No. Claudine and I share this title,’” she said.

“I will never forget that until the day I die. And that

A success story...

PAGE 11

regulation in 2016, enabling Julie to avoid the 10-year bar if she left the U.S. for her visa.

When her mother’s petition became current, she was able to file for and get her provisional waiver approved. Despite several hurdles, including the delays due to the pandemic, the embassy interview was finally set.

our dream is to be able to do a movie together. I will forever be grateful to Judy Ann Santos. And queens support queens,” she further explained.

The veteran actress also revealed in the interview that she made a promise to her estranged husband Raymart Santiago that she has no plans of marrying again.

“I think I already gave my promise to my ex-husband and I think that’s enough. I mean, I have my children — I have four. Parang that alone takes so much of my time, my energy, my strength so I will focus on that,” she said.

Barretto is one of the most prolific actresses in local showbiz from the 1990s to 2000s, where her first major role was in the TV series “Ang TV.”

Among her most popular films and teleseryes to date include “Milan,” “Dubai,” “Sukob,” “Kailangan Kita,” “Got 2 Believe,” “Marina,” and “Sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan,” among many others. n

2022 without being charged with fraud or requiring a fraud waiver. She was also able to bring her now 26-year-old daughter, Jolina, to the U.S. with her under the Child Status Protection Act.

13

Although the U.S. Embassy gave her a challenging time with multiple interviews and additional requirements, Julie was still able to get her visa issued in September

Watch this success story on an encore episode of “Citizen Pinoy” on Sunday, May 14 at 6:30 PM PT (9:30 PM ET) through select Cable/Satellite providers, right after TV Patrol Linggo. Citizen Pinoy is also available on iWantTFC. Viewers may download the free app.

(Advertising Supplement)

Claudine Barretto, Judy Ann Santos

Leading U.S. Immigration Attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel (right) was able to get a visa for his client, Julie (left) and her daughter, on a brand-new episode of Citizen Pinoy.

Celebrity single moms who took charge of their...

duties as a singer-actress and mother can empower other women to be capable of doing anything they want.

“‘Yung thinking na [mothers are only meant to stay at home] ay sobrang (so) outdated na because honestly, women can do anything they want. And they should be able to do anything they want,” she said. “I believe we are capable and nothing is stopping us, we can make our own money if we want to. And there’s so many single moms out there who I look up to, and I believe that single mothers are so strong.”

LJ Reyes

In August 2021, LJ Reyes made the life-changing decision to move to New York in the U.S. to become a single mother to Aki and Summer, leaving behind a blossoming career. And while it’s tough to raise her children on her own, she makes it a point for them to feel her love in “every sense of the word.”

“Wala naman handbook for parents. Wala naman iisang tamang paraan kung paano maging magulang. There could be a lot of things that [are] uncertain and not ideal, but one thing remains certain and true — that LOVE would hold you altogether,” she said on Instagram.

Following her controversial split from Paolo Contis, Reyes proved that moving forward from pain is a process, but it’s something that made her stronger as she forged ahead for her family.

Jodi Sta. Maria

Between acting and being mom to teenage son Thirdy, there’s something about Jodi Sta. Maria that seems so effortless in pulling off her duties without a hitch, even if it takes a lot of mental and emotional strength to do so.

Sta. Maria, in previous interviews, made it clear that her top priority is her son at all times. This was evident during her appearance at a brand launch event, where she expressed her excitement about her son learning how to figure out life on his own.

In fact, her son is top of her mind even when it comes to matters of the heart, as she is mindful about how it can affect her son. This is why the actress has rarely been linked to anybody even though she has long separated from estranged husband Pampi Lacson in 2011.

Kris Aquino

Kris Aquino may be all things, but you cannot find a more devoted mother. Before her multiple autoimmune diseases took away her good health, she was the lady boss who was never afraid to lead

the life she wanted. And though her health could be better, she remains to be an inspiration for other single mothers who are passionate about becoming the best version of themselves for their children.

Aquino has always been vocal about her love for her sons, 27-year-old Joshua and 16-year-old Bimb. Her colorful love life aside, her kids constantly assured her that she doesn’t have to be perfect to be “loved.” “My sons show me everyday — I don’t have to be perfect in order for me to be LOVED,” she said in a now-deleted Instagram post in April 2018.

Pokwang

Pokwang appeared to be bracing for a legal battle against her former partner Lee O’Brian, and some people criticized her for being crude. But what some might be forgetting was that she was fighting for the rights of her daughter Malia, who the American actor fathered.

The actress-comedienne earlier revealed that O’Brian became “displeased” after finding out that they are going to have a child together, but this did not stop her from proceeding with her pregnancy. It has always been her mantra — her children comes first. And now that the two have separated, she realized more and more that fighting for her children was the right thing to do.

Even prior to her relationship with O’Brian, Pokwang was never one shirk away from her duties, even if it meant working as an OFW. Ever hardworking, the allaround mother also serves as a real estate agent for a Bataan property and is an owner of several food products, on top of her full showbiz career.

Denise Laurel

Being a well-known K-pop fan, it’s easy to conclude that Denise Laurel is having

McCoy earns praises for learning to be ‘unpredictable’

By Kristofer Purnell Philstar.com

the time of her life solo. But many seem to forget that she is also raising her 12-year-old son Alejando on her own.

This granddaughter of former Vice President Salvador Laurel shared that she had her son at the age of 24 from a previous relationship with an ItalianAmerican, but she doesn’t regret being a dedicated mother to her child.

“You can do whatever you want to do. Lahat ng mga sinasabi ng mga tao, hindi ‘yun importante. Ang importante ay ‘yung anak mo, and Diyos, and pamilya mo, and that you work hard,” she said at a “Magandang Buhay” interview in 2016.

Sunshine Cruz

It’s been years since Sunshine Cruz’s marriage with Cesar Montano fell apart, but her life is proof that she can guide her daughters Angelina, Samantha, and Chesca to the life that they deserve.

The seasoned actress admitted in a Philippine Daily Inquirer interview in March 2018 that she had “very little money and self-esteem,” but she didn’t regret leaving her abusive relationship with Montano although they have already patched things up at the present.

Despite her hardships, Cruz said she finds joy in learning that her daughters have grown up into happy and kind-hearted people. “There’s nothing like feeling fulfilled when I see them growing up happy and kindhearted; and that they are excelling in school. It’s like all of my hard work is paying off,” she was quoted as saying.

Angel Aquino

Undoubtedly one of the most beautiful faces in local showbiz, Aquino seems to have life figured out despite being a mother to her daughters. Iana and

ACTOR,

and writer Coco

director,

Martin

commended his “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” co-star McCoy de Leon for growing as an actor and tapping into more “unpredictable” territory.

At the media conference for the show held last May 4 at the Luxent Hotel, Coco acknowledged that McCoy — who plays David, the younger brother of Coco’s Tanggol — was a good actor.

“Siyempre sa bawat character na ginagawa mo,

ayaw mong predictable ng character sa artista,” said Coco, using McCoy as an example because of his “cute, mabait” roles in the past and his “ability to carry a love story.”

Coco compared the unpredictability of a story to that of characterization, so that both can become new experiences for viewers.

In response, McCoy confirmed the changes that Coco asked him to make and expressed his gratitude for allowing him to try new things. n

life. Some people believe their fate is predestined, and that they can’t do anything about it. Others, inspired by good attitude and a positive social frame of mind, design, create, and charter their own destiny.

Finally, I strongly believe that leaving this world after this life is not a tragedy. Dying without significance, without making a difference, without leaving behind a good legacy, certainly is.

* * *

The main objective of this column is to educate and inspire people live a healthier lifestyle to prevent illnesses and disabilities and achieve a happier and more productive life. Any diagnosis, recommendation or treatment in our article are general medical information and not intended to be applicable or appropriate for anyone. This column is not a substitute for your physician, who knows your condition well and who is your best ally when it comes to your health.

* * *

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff. * * *

Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, Health Advocate, newspaper columnist, and Chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian foundation in the United States. He was a recipient of the Indiana Sagamore of the Wabash Award in 1995. Other Sagamore past awardees include President Harry Truman, President George HW Bush, Muhammad Ali, and Astronaut Gus Grissom (Wikipedia). Websites: FUN8888.com, Today.SPSAtoday.com, and philipSchua.com; Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com.

Denise Laurel with her son Alejandro Photo from Instagram/@d_laurel

Sunshine Cruz was showered with heartwarming messages on her 42nd birthday

Photo from Instagram/@sunshinecruz718

Pokwang with her daughters Mae and Malia Photos from Instagram/@itspokwang27, @maesubong

Composite image of Coco Martin and McCoy de Leon Philstar.com photos

Fil Am- owned small businesses thrive as street fairs make a comeback in New York City

by MoMar G. Visaya / AJPress

These events, which feature food, music, and other forms of entertainment, were often held in public spaces like parks and plazas and provided an opportunity for new arrivals to connect with their fellow countrymen and share their traditions with the wider community.

Augelyn Francisco and her partner Joey Payumo recognized this and began hosting mini-street fairs outside their Kabisera Café in the Lower East Side. They gathered other small FilAmowned businesses and staged these pop-up markets.

Through the years, their numbers grew. Today, as a group called Philippines Fest, they can occupy an entire city block as a part of the larger street fairs in the city. Among the OG members of the collective are VJ Navarro of So Sarap, Daniel Corpuz and Hatzumomo founder Paulo Manaid.

“There is a big world out there and they are waiting to know about Filipino food,” Francisco told the Asian Journal. “It is a proud moment to see all the Philippine flags out here on Sixth Avenue representing different kinds of small businesses.”

Street fairs have been a fixture of New York City’s cultural landscape for over a century, providing a platform for local businesses and artists to showcase their goods and talents to the public.

These events, which typically take place on

weekends during the warmer months, have become an integral part of the city’s social fabric, drawing crowds from all over the five boroughs and beyond.

This is what makes it a good platform for these up-and-coming small businesses to be exposed to a wider market and this is why vendors such as Michael Williams of Salamat Cookies do not mind the travel from Indianapolis to NYC.

Salamat Cookies, founded by Michael Williams, a second-generation Filipino American from Indianapolis, Indiana, has become a

sensation, shipping to 49 out of the 50 states, five countries, and delivering over 150,000 cookies.

“Filipino Americans have been overlooked for far too long, and it’s an honor to be a part of the movement that celebrates and elevates our culture,” Williams told us.

“We eat with our eyes first, and the vibrant colors of our cookies often catch people’s attention and draw them in to try new flavors.”

Celebrating Philippine culture through its cookies, the business started during the pandemic when Michael, who lost his job as

a photographer, decided to learn how to bake cookies as a father who wanted to bring cookies to his son’s soccer practice. The venture started as a way to give cookies away as thank-yous and evolved into a business when someone asked if they could buy them. The name “Salamat” means thank you, reflecting the company’s origins.

As a Filipino American, Michael did not know what Filipino flavors tasted like, but his business now introduces Filipino flavors and culture through his cookies. The cookies have distinct flavors and colors, such as the vibrant purple from the ube, a purple yam, or green from the pandan leaves.

Salamat Cookies’ bestselling cookies include Space Jam, a cookie that is out of this world, and Salted Brown Butter Ube, a cookie that combines the rich flavor of brown butter with sea salt and the ube.

The success of Salamat Cookies and Patok By Rach reflects the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of people who turned adversity into opportunity. The pandemic has brought out the best in business-minded individuals like Michael, who, with his mother, started a cookie business that celebrates Filipino culture and flavors.

THEhistory of street fairs in New York City can be traced back to the early 20th century when immigrant communities began organizing outdoor festivals to celebrate their cultural heritage.

Oohlam NYC sells Homestyle Filipino Food

Augelyn Francisco of Kabisera, one of the founders of Philippines Fest AJPress Photos by Momar G. Visaya

Hanna Abada of Patok by Rach shares that they bring at least ten lechon bellies in every street fair they join and most of the time, they get easily sold out.

Daniel Corpuz showcases his chocolate creations at Philippines Fest

Michael Williams of Salamat Cookies is happy to share Filipino flavors like panda and ube in their cookies.

Hanna Abada and Rachel Saberon started

Fil Am-owned small businesses...

Patok By Rach towards the end of 2020. Rachel has just finished culinary school and the pandemic was in full swing so it was tough all around. She developed the menu and began testing recipes which have become their bestsellers such as the rice balls, sisig and lechon belly.

They pivoted and began joining street fairs and popups. Today, they’re also at Smorgasburg, Uptown Night Market, and Brooklyn Night Market, among others.

“When we started, we told ourselves that all we want to do is to showcase Filipino food and put Filipino food out there,” Abada said. “Other Asian cuisines like Japanese, Chinese, Thai, they’re all over New York. But Filipino food. they’re isolated in one spot. So it was one of our goals to have Filipino food put on the map for New York City.”

Fattened Caf, a small FilAm-owned business from St. Louis City in Missouri helmed by the husbandand-wife team of Darren and Charlene Lopez-Young sell Filipino barbecue in a brewery in St. Louis and their sausages are now in 80 grocery stores throughout Missouri and Southern Illinois.

Lopez-Young and Isabel Bakunawa were at the Philippines Fest a few weeks ago, joining a host of other small FilAm-owned businesses.

“We make it easy for people to make Filipino barbecue at home so that we normalize Filipino food culture and every household throughout the United States,” Lopez said. “Our Filipino barbecue sauce kind of mimics the banana ketchup, but we make it with real bananas. So we make it easy for people to want to base their meats with it, dip

their meats in it and not just stick to the nostalgic dishes that we know.”

They also wanted their refrigerated delivery van to look like a Filipino jeepney so they had it painted and branded like a jeep and it has ‘Cubao Philippines’ emblazoned in honor of their families being from Cubao, Quezon City.

“We drove 16 hours from St. Louis to be here. We just really love the Filipino community and want to be around more Filipinos,” she shared.

The Young couple started Fattened Caf back in 2018 selling 60 plates in various farmers’ markets.

“And then right before the pandemic we were able to sell 300 plates in two hours so we knew there was something that people in St. Louis were looking for and Filipino barbecue was leaving its mark in a town that was all about barbecue, right? Like when you think about St. Louis or the Midwest, you think of barbecue, so people have embraced Filipino barbecue over there and enjoy it and love it.” Lopez added.

They were able to weather the pandemic by creating and selling their line of Filipino sausages through a small window outside a local brewery. The sausages

were fully cooked, making them incredibly convenient for customers who could simply fry them up in a matter of minutes without having to boil them.

Word of their delicious sausages spread and soon enough, a grocery store approached them about carrying their product. They are now stocked in several grocery stores throughout Missouri and Southern Illinois.

“These are good and everyone can identify with longganisa like we all grew up with longganisa,” she shared proudly. “It’s so good and more people need to know about it so our goal is to be in more mainstream grocery stores.”

They also released their own “Sawsawan” line of sauces, marinades, and dips, complementing the distinct flavors of the sausages they sell.

Among the other vendors who participated were Washington DC-based Sari Kusina by chef-partner Paolo Dungca, Ooohlam; Gabi’s Goods, Logan and Co.’s Kalamansi Stand; Mansi, Hatzumomo’s Natibo ATBP, among others.

NYC’s cultural calendar

Street fairs are a vital part of the city’s cultural calendar, providing a platform for emerging artists and entrepreneurs to showcase their work, and attracting tourists from around the world.

On a regular day, these street fairs generate about 10,000 to 12,000 visitors and tourists. From the Feast of San Gennaro in Little Italy to the Smorgasburg’s multiple locations, each neighborhood has its signature event, reflecting the diverse cultural tapestry of New York City.

This early, Augee and her team have planned a calendar for the next few months –Park Slope on May 24, Ube Festival at Smorgasburg on June 10, and Times Square/ Eighth Avenue on July 9. There are also plans to bring Philippines Fest to Virginia, Atlanta and Los Angeles.

These street fairs remain an important part of New York City’s cultural heritage, offering a unique opportunity for residents and visitors alike to experience the rich diversity and creativity that makes the city so special and it is something that Philippines Fest organizers are more than happy to take part of. n

Celebrity single moms...

PAGE 13

Thea. But that is not the case as she championed the need for women to take care of themselves for their “families’ sake.”

“We would like Filipino women to live good-quality lives for their families’ sake and, more importantly, for themselves,” she said during a Philippine Daily Inquirer interview in March 2015.

Ruffa Gutierrez

Cutting back on finances is one of the most difficult things that Ruffa Gutierrez had to do as a single mother, but she firmly believes in putting the needs of her daughters Lorin and Venice first.

“Kailangan talaga mag sacrifice para sa pag-aaral ng mga anak natin, sa future ng mga anak natin, especially ako, I’m a single working mom. Andami ko nang kinut na mga shopping, andami kong kinut na mga trips, kailangan minsan local trips nalang tayo, hindi lagi tayo nasa abroad. Kasi habang tumatanda sila, lalong tumataas ang tuition,” she said in a “Magandang Buhay” interview in July 2019.

The actress’ sacrifices have been worth it, as her daughters see her as a “role model” who came out stronger after setting herself free from her ex-husband Yilmaz Bektas’ abuse and starting afresh.

“She’s really my role model. I really admire her strength. She doesn’t hide things from me and Venice. Alam ko naman kung ano yung pinagdaanan niya before but every day, she’s still the happiest, most bubbly, most enthusiastic person I know,” Lorin said.

Jennica Garcia

Sometimes, it’s the little things that matter for single mothers and for Jennica Garcia, such as buying an air conditioner and water heater for her daughters Athena and Alexis. And while she could have just easily asked this of her mom, seasoned actress Jean Garcia, the young actress chose to do it her way — through sacrifice and hard work.

The mama-of-two recently made headlines as she expressed her pride for Athena who can do household chores such as cooking food and doing the dishes on her own. And while it seems that the actress have been through so much, it’s her love for her kids that give her the strength to survive life in her own terms.

“Nanay is getting emotional because I’m heading to the mall tonight to buy aircon and a water heater for our bathroom. Pagpahingain na natin yung electric fan, 10 months na tayong lapot gumigising. Hindi na rin ako ulit mag-iinit ng tubig para isalin sa balde pangligo niyo ‘pag malamig ang panahon. Anytime gusto niyo maligo, GO! Nanay got this kids! Buhat ko kayo lagi,” she said. n

Ruffa Gutierrez with her daughters Lorin Bektas (middle) and Venice Bektas

Photo from Instagram/@iloveruffag

Angel Aquino with her daughters. Screengrab from YouTube/@ABSCBN Entertainment

One of the longest lines at the Philippines Fest belonged to So Sarap NYC which showcases mostly Filipino street food favorites. At the street fair, they introduced grilled balut served with chili garlic, currently among the trendiest animist viral street food all over the Philippines. AJPress Photos by Momar G. Visaya

Charlene Lopez-Young and Isabel Bakunawa drove from St. Louis, Missouri to NYC to sell and promote their products - longganisa and various kinds of Filipino sauces, marinades and dips.