060320 - Southern California Midweek Edition

June 3-5, 2020 Volume 30 - No. 43 • 2 Sections - 14 Pages

Why they protest: Filipinos express support for Black Lives Matter, call for structural police reform

by KLARIZE

MEDENILLA AJPress

THE protest started out peacefully.

Gathered on a breezy Saturday morning on May 30, tens of thousands of individuals far and wide gathered at Pan Pacific Park on the westside of Los Angeles for a Black Lives Matter rally. Standing 6-feet apart and donning face masks and wielding signs, the rally was meant to be a more muted yet equally as powerfully influential as the demonstration the previous night in Downtown LA. Filipino American filmmaker Jon Jon Augustavo was among the first of thousands who arrived at the demonstration and, like others, noticed an extraordinary sense of community and harmony as the speakers took turns at the podium and spoke from the heart about the need for systemic change in law enforcement across the country.

“I’m from Seattle and that’s my heart, but [this protest] was the first time in 10 years that I was proud to call Los Angeles my home,” Augustavo told the Asian Journal.

The rally brought forth speakers who voiced frustration with the pattern of police brutality

DATELINE

that have plagued cities across the United States and called for two specific courses of action: defund the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and hold police officers who kill unarmed individuals accountable.

Godfrey Plata, former public school teacher and organizer and current California State Assembly candidate, also attended the protest and described the first half of it as peaceful and going forth as planned. After the gathering at the part, the organizers of the demonstration led the group to a march down toward West 3rd Street and right toward South Fairfax Avenue.

“As more and more people joined in, it became more difficult to, you know, stay 6 feet apart, but people were really respectful and everyone I saw was wearing a mask,” Plata told the Asian Journal.

Plata described residents of the affluent Fairfax District honking their horns and pumping their fists in support of the protest, which was planned to end at the Beverly Center. But when he made it to Third and Fairfax, Plata said the march stopped.

He found out that police had divided the march at the intersection, but organizers tried to curve A 5-year-old Filipina American hangs up a handmade sign in support of Black Lives Matter, a movement that advocates against violence and systemic racism towards the Black community. The sign joined

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several messages left at the Silver Lake Reservoir in Los Angeles as protests were organized throughout the city.

Photos courtesy of Abigail Zelenski

Sotto says anti-terror bill ’good as passed’

USA

by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

Refunds available for annual summer tour to the Philippines

Senate President Vicente Sotto III

U.S.-based travelers who were slated to join this year’s Very Important Pinoy Tour to various Philippine destinations may receive a refund, the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles announced on Monday, June 1.

The annual tour — formerly called the Ambassador’s Tour — brings Filipinos from across the U.S. back to the Philippines, and was set to take place from July 19 to 26, 2020 with tours in Manila, Iloilo and Boracay. However, due to travel restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, it has since been canceled.

In an announcement, the Consulate General said the “refund will be done in the order of when said deposits/payments have been received” and that participants will “individually receive a notification regarding the refund procedures.”

Participants also have the option to put their deposits or payments towards next year’s tour.

Led by the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Department of Tourism and Rajah Tours, the VIP Tour is an eight-day trip, featuring cultural, gastronomic, and adventure-filled experiences the country has to offer. (AJPress)

THE Philippines has suspended the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement with the U.S. “in light of political and other developments” in the region, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. announced on social media.

According to a diplomatic note that Locsin posted on his Twitter account, “the suspension shall start on even date and shall continue for six months” that the Philippines can extend for another six months.

The countdown to the termination of the agreement, as communicated to the U.S. in February, will continue after that.

“I issued this diplomatic note to the U.S. ambassador. It has been received by Washington and well at that. The Note is self-explanatory and does not require comment except from me. The abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement has been suspended upon the president’s instruction,” Locsin said.

The Philippines formally informed the U.S. on February 11 that it is ending the

Inquirer.net photo

PHILIPPINE Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday, June 2, said that the proposed anti-terrorism law is “as good as passed,” after President Rodrigo Duterte certified the bill as urgent.

“It’s as good as passed. It will just need my signature if it comes back to us after ratifica-

tion then I will transmit to the president,” he said.

Duterte on Monday, June 1 said the immediate passage of House Bill No. 6875 ,which amends the Human Security Act of 2007, aims to “address the urgent need to strengthen the law on anti-terrorism in order to inadequately and effectively contain the menace of terrorist acts for the preservation of national security and

the promotion of general welfare.”

Once the anti-terror bill becomes law, any person who shall threaten to commit terrorism and those who will propose any terroristic acts or incite others to commit terrorism shall suffer the penalty of 12 years in prison.

Sotto also defended to the proposed bill’s defense, telling

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Termination of Visiting Forces Filipinos abroad infected Agreement with US on hold with COVID-19 reach over 5,200

by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

THE Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, June 2, reported 12 new cases of the novel coronavirus among overseas Filipinos, bringing the total number of infected individuals to 5,230.

It also recorded five new deaths from the Middle East, raising the death toll to 347.

“With only a few countries across three major geographical regions reporting on the Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. status of our people abroad toPhilstar.com photo day, the DFA confirms 12 new VFA. Termination would have been effective cases bringing the total number of Filipinos afflicted by CO180 days from receipt of the notice.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to VID-19 at 5,230,” the agency scrap the VFA came amid the administra- said.

“The total number of Filipition’s shift to strengthening ties with nonnos who have recovered from u PAGE A4 the disease is 2,166 with new

recoveries in Asia and the Pacific and Middle East. While [the] total number of fatalities is at 347 with 5 new deaths recorded in [the] Middle East as well,” it added.

Overall by region, Europe — which comprises 16 countries with PH Foreign Service coverage — has recorded 821 Filipino cases, including 472 undergoing treatment, 259 recoveries and 90 deaths.

The Middle East and Africa, covering 12 countries, has reported 3,258 cases; of which, 1,835 are undergoing treatment, 105 deaths and 1,318 recoveries.

The Asia Pacific region, which spans across 12 countries, has 495 cases, with 134 under treatment, 359 recoveries, and two deaths.

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From the Front Page Sotto says anti-terror bill ’good...

Hundreds of individuals gathered at Pan Pacific Park in Los Angeles on Saturday, May 30 as part of nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis days prior.

Photo courtesy of Godfrey Plata

Why they protest: Filipinos express...

PAGE A1 the march around the police blockade to continue on. That’s when police began firing rubber bullets.

The protest itself was peaceful.

And then the cops came.

Following days of civil unrest across the country, Los Angeles was one of several major cities across the world to hold rallies and marches that brought together thousands of people protesting the pattern of police brutality and murders of unarmed Black individuals.

The protests were sparked by the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by a white police officer in Minnesota on May 25 in which the police officer knelt on Floyd’s neck while apprehending him for allegedly paying with a counterfeit $20 bill at a corner market.

A video, which has now gone viral, shows the officer forcing Floyd down despite Floyd’s screaming, “I can’t breathe” multiple times. The video documents the moment Floyd’s neck breaks and dies.

The murder follows a string of other murders of Black individuals — Breonna Taylor on March 13, who was gunned down in her home and Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed by two white civilians while jogging — this year. Most recently, in Louisville, Kentucky, a black business owner named David McAtee was fatally shot by police officers during a protest on Monday, June 1.

But the core of the protest was much more than these recent incidents.

Since the infamous Rodney King beating in 1992, Los Angeles has become the poster city for unlawful aggression by law

enforcement toward individuals, especially Black Americans.

The legacy of that murder lies in the ensuing riots from the Black community who were frustrated at the unmitigated violence inflicted on an unarmed man in their neighborhood.

Augustavo saw firsthand when things started to unravel on Saturday, and saw what people on social media have described as provoking the commotion among the protesters.

“My adrenaline was all over the place. I don’t think I normally would have walked up to a police officer holding a shotgun and taken a picture,” said Augustavo, who posted a moving collection of 10 photos from that day to his Instagram.

He added, “In my normal work, I’m not gonna walk up to a cop while his cop car’s running behind him, but I just was like in the moment and thought we need to document these things because no one, at least people who are part of my life, believed it happened the way the media is telling you.”

According to Augustavo, a blockade of police officers started pushing people and eventually began firing rubber bullets at nonviolent protesters. Video clips of these incidents widely spread throughout social media; credentialed journalists covering the protest were also among those who were hit. White protesters began standing in front of Black protesters to protect them from the bullets as the demonstration mounted into non-lethal, albeit brute force against protesters.

Mainstream media coverage of the event placed most focus on the destruction on the scene, but

what protesters like Augustavo saw was clear agitation from the police units toward an otherwise orderly march.

“You know, we have people on our side yelling aggressive things, but they’re not physically doing anything, so it was like, ‘We’re not hurting anyone, so what are you protecting?” he said.

Things spiraled further out of control when police cars were being lit up and people began vandalizing nearby storefronts and public spaces. (It is unclear whether or not these vandalizers were part of the original protest; those who were a part of the original protest said they were not as the protest’s organizers stressed the importance of maintaining a peaceful demonstration.)

The culmination of the events that transpired in Fairfax mirrored the hundreds of protests across the country that began peacefully but escalated as soon as law enforcement got involved, like in Philadelphia, where peaceful protesters on an expressway were boxed in by police units, who were seen throwing tear gas on the protesters.

“I’m not surprised that things escalated when police began to use force,” said Plata, who has participated in many peaceful demonstrations that have gone awry in the past.

Across the U.S., thousands have been arrested, citywide curfews have been put in place, the National Guard has been deployed, and the core rallying cry of the protest is now getting lost amid the widespread coverage focusing on the mayhem and vandalism, harkening back to the Rodney King shooting, all of PAGE A4

PAGE A1 critics to read it first before reacting.

“Terrorists or their supporters are the only ones [should] be afraid of the bill,” he added.

Senator Panfilo Lacson also assured that there are âenough safeguards surrounding the measure.

“The concerns being raised by the progressive and leftist groups as well as human rights advocates have been adequately addressed during the Committee on National Defense and Security public hearings, as well as the debates and interpellations in plenary,” he said.

“Enough safeguards are in place. The critics — some of whom had been extended the opportunity to help craft the bill — should read first the bill itself to see for themselves what I am saying,” Lacson added.

Meanwhile, Malacañang in-

sisted that there are no “draconian provisions” in the bill.

“All of those provisions are based on laws of other countries that are effective in fighting terrorists,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in Filipino.

He also pointed out that the country’s Human Security Act of 2007, also known as Republic Act (R.A) 9372, is the most lenient out of all the anti-terrorism laws in among countries.

“We have three volume books published by Cambridge comparing the anti-terrorism laws of countries around the world and one of the most lenient laws is the Philippines’ Human Security Act,” Roque said.

Reject new law, public urged A group of rights lawyers exvpressed opposition to the proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill “as antithetical to human rights and democracy in the Philippines.”

The Concerned Lawyers for Civil Liberties (CLCL) urged the public to reject the “unconstitutional” proposed legislation.

Led by former senatorial candidate, and staunch critic of the current administration Chel Diokno, CLCL said said the bill contains unconstitutional provisions that also “weaken protections against abuse and misuse.”

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), for its part, slammed the bill as it would “erode human rights and institutionalize impunity.”

The bill essentially seeks to toughen up the nation’s antiterrorism policies. Its Senate version, approved last February 2020, was adopted by the House committees on public order and safety, and defense and security—just as the Philippines was gearing into shifting to general community quarantine while COVID-19 infections continue to rise. n

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Why they protest: Filipinos express...

PAGE A3 which most people remember the riots more than anything else.

Intercultural solidarity and fighting anti-blackness in the Filipino community Bringing the focus back to the core matter in hand — police brutality and the ways in which systemic racism against the Black community feeds into the violation of due process — is a key objective of this current wave of protests.

The violence, vandalism and looting of small businesses, which many people have suggested were instigated by folks outside of the Black Lives Matter movement, have taken up more broadcast and print space among media platforms, but what gets lost in sensationalistic reportage is the core focus of the movement itself.

The emergence of digitally-native social justice campaigns like Black Lives Matter — founded in 2013 after the murder of 17year-old Trayvon Martin — have expanded the network and possibilities of intercultural solidarity for movements that are primarily dedicated to one cultural group in particular.

Shortly after, when the 2014 shooting of the unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, a new wave of protest erupted across the country, catalyzing social media campaigns and a newfound era of wokeness began to take shape, especially among younger Americans.

But the root of anti-blackness within the Filipino community runs deep and can be traced to periods of colonialism that have cultivated internalized colorism and classicism that attributes whiteness — in appearance and in demeanor — as superior.

Concepts like racism and discrimination are learned things, and it’s universally experienced among Filipinos that from a young age, we are taught a false dichotomy of white versus black; we’re often taught that having darker skin is undesirable, that black neighborhoods are always dangerous and other warnings that are rooted in internalized colorism.

Twenty-four-year old Filipina American middle school teacher Lauren Mendoza shared that, growing up, other Filipinos have instilled those same messages within her, messages that have upheld the model minority myth.

“It doesn’t make sense in a way that I would excuse it, but I think that a lot of [Filipinos] also really internalized the model minority myth, that Asians are better than other people of color because of these examples of success we’re seeing with a lot of Asian groups in America,” Mendoza shared in an interview with the Asian Journal.

Mendoza didn’t attend the protest on Saturday, but as a science teacher at the Southeast Middle School where the student body is largely black and brown, she is keenly aware of the ways in which institutions put black and brown individuals at a disadvantage.

“As an Asian American it’s important to think about both how my experiences as a person of color can help me think about how race plays a really important factor in educating other people of color, and also how, because I’m not a black or brown person, I can see through parts of my privilege that may be blind to ways that I could be preventing my students from having an equitable educational experience,” she said.

Understanding that Filipinos and Asian Americans do hold a relative degree of privilege in America — even during a pandemic in which anti-Asian sentiments continue to run rampant — is a tough pill to swallow given the history of Filipinos and Asians in the United States.

But that, too, also presents a conundrum. The recent PBS docuseries Asian Americans details the complicated history of anti-Asian sentiments and legislation in the United States from the Chinese Exclusion Act to the exploitation of Filipino farmworkers. The history of unbridled racism against Asians is extensive, yet what emerged from the latter end of the 20th century was a boom in Asian American “success,” feeding into the model minority myth.

“I think it’s really important to understand how much we subscribe to white supremacy and how white supremacy is not just the supremacy of white as in skin color, but it’s also supremacy in a form of life that has been built to lift up whiteness,” Plata said.

The United States, a country that began based on a protest and speaking truth to power, was a nation literally built on slave

labor and exploitation of Black folks as well as non-Black people of color. What emerged from centuries of exploitation was a concept of America as a searchlight towards economic stability based on rugged individualism.

“When you immigrate here, the hope is survival and you learn the rules of what survival means, which is that in order to gain economic access, you follow the rules of the game as they’ve been painted for you,” Plata, who immigrated to the United States from the Philippines as a young boy, shared.

Asian immigrants, especially Filipinos, often follow or seek to follow this paradigm of social and economic mobility, this concept of the American Dream. But Plata explained that by participating in this game and ignoring the systemic shortcomings that put other communities at a disadvantage, we inadvertently bolster the institutional pillars of anti-blackness.

“As immigrants we are constantly eating up this myth that has been created for us, and that’s how we participate in antiblackness,” he added.

Understanding the ways in which Asian Americans, especially Filipinos, participate in a system that upholds systemic discrimination is one of the first steps of standing in solidarity with the Black community.

The farce of assimilation in America among Asians has either unintentionally or intentionally upheld the model minority myth, a perceived white-adjacency cultivated among the Asian American community, Plata explained.

For Filipino immigrants, the stakes are high when they migrate to the U.S. because the desire to prove oneself to those in the motherland that they can make it in America amplifies, and the thirst to follow the path that had been laid out for them, a path that instills a degree of latent antiblackness among those who follow.

Given the historical treatment of Asians in America, it seems antithetical to be silent on other communities’ experiences with racism and discrimination.

But the vastness of the Asian American community, which contributes to the diversity of experiences and ideas, creates distance within the community

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Philippine Consulate in New York boards up amidst looting in the city, sets new protocols when it reopens

by MoMar

G. Visaya

AJPress

ThE Philippine Consulate General in New York — just as it was preparing to reopen — shuttered and boarded up its glass windows on Monday, June 1 as New York braced for more widespread looting and violent protests.

“In light of reports of looting and break-ins in the vicinity of the Philippine Center, and as a precautionary measure to add protection to the facility and enhance the safety of our on-duty personnel, we decided to shutter and board-up the glass windows and doors of the Center until the situation calms down,” Consul Arman Talbo, who also acts as manager of the Philippine Center, told the Asian Journal. “We urge our kababayans to monitor the news in their area and to take necessary safety measures.”

The consulate was informed last week that there have been break-ins around the area even before the first looting in the city happened. Some of the protests escalated into looting on Sunday as dozens of stores from Soho to midtown were vandalized and display windows smashed.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has extended the curfew in the city and will now continue through Sunday, from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. The curfew first went to effect at 11:00 p.m. on Monday but it failed to curb the rampant looting in the city, which has scheduled to begin reopening next Monday, June 8.

The Philippine Embassy in Washington, DC has also issued an advisory for Filipinos to exercise increased caution and vigilance amidst the spark of protest actions across the United States following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

“Filipinos are strongly advised to adhere to curfews and other security measures imposed by local authorities: avoid areas of unrest and be aware of their surroundings and any crowd buildups that may lead to disturbances,” the advisory read.

And because these protests are happening during this global pandemic, the embassy is also urging Filipinos to abide by existing medical advisories on social distancing and wearing of face masks.

New Normal Consul General Claro S. Cristobal led a press conference last Friday to announce the new system that has been set up when the consulate gets to reopen.

In a livestreamed ConGen Media hour, Cristobal said that there would be significant changes in the way that the consulate will conduct its operations.

“We want to reassure our kababayans that we are taking the changes seriously. We take great care of the well -being of the people who visit us and those who work here,” Cristobal said.

There will be a limited number of services will be offered, and this includes those that require personal appearance. Appointments are absolutely necessary as no walk-ins will be allowed.

“Appointments will be required for the following services: urgent passport applications, travel documents, overseas voter registration and social security,” Consul Ricarte Abejuela explained. “If the schedule is followed strictly, clients will be in and out of the premises in 15 minutes.”

Dual citizenship application is suspended until further notice.

On the first two weeks of opening, the consulate will be open only for three days a week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) from10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

“This [system] is perfect for social distancing. It is so efficient, democratic and transparent. Just follow the procedures,” Cristobal said. “That’s why there will be no walk-ins.” he added that 48 hours before the reopening, the appointment system online will be activated and that they will announce it on the consulate’s website and social media platforms.

The first step is to go on PCGNY’s website at www.pcgny. org and schedule an appointment. The consulate is using the Qless Appointment System. For passport applicants, download and complete the passport application.

The consulate officials are urging visitors to prepare and bring all the requirements needed, along with a self-addressed, stamped, USPS prepaid envelope (with tracking number) and cash or money order payable to “Philippine Consulate General in New York”.

Provision of a mobile number is crucial, since text messages will be sent: a confirmation text upon registration, a reminder text sent 24 hours prior to the appointment and some text messages during the day of the appointment, including the approximate wait time.

On the day of the appointment, dedicated staff members will be available to check if clients have an appointment. Their temperature will then be checked and allowed entry to the lobby 15 minutes before their scheduled appointment. A face mask is required to enter the consulate premises.

“We will definitely check the requirements. If despite all the reminders, nakalimutan talaga, they have to register again,” Consul Abejuela remarked. n

Filipinos abroad infected with COVID-19...

PAGE A1 The Americas — covering six countries like the United States — have 656 reported cases, with 276 undergoing treatment, 230 recoveries, and 150 deaths.

“Based on the latest figures,

[the] Middle East and Europe still have the highest number of recorded Filipinos infected with COVID-19,” the DFA noted.

“Asia and the Pacific has [the] fewest number of cases and highest in recoveries followed

by Europe, while the Americas still has the highest number of fatalities followed by [the] Middle East,” it added.

Meanwhile, the Philippines has recorded 18,997 COVID-19 cases, with 966 fatalities and 4,063 recoveries. n

Termination of Visiting Forces Agreement...

PAGE A1 traditional partners like China and Russia and tension over concerns that the U.S. raised over the human rights situation in the Philippines, which the government said was interference with domestic issues.

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in February that the move to terminate the agreement was unfortunate. The militaries of the Philippines and the U.S. had around 300 military engagements planned in 2020, although these have been cancelled by Duterte’s decision on the VFA as well as by the COVID-19 pan-

demic.

“I do think it would be a move in the wrong direction as — as we both bilaterally with the Philippines and collectively with a number of other partners and allies in the region are trying to say to the Chinese, ‘You must obey the international rules of order.

You must obey, you know, abide by international norms’,” he said then.

The termination of the VFA, analysts said, could also scrap the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement that allowed American troops to use some Philippine military facilities.

The U.S. Embassy in Manila said in February that Washington will remain committed to the friendship between the two countries.

“This is a serious step with significant implications for the U.S.-Philippines alliance. We will carefully consider how best to move forward to advance our shared interests,” the U.S. Embassy said then.

U.S. President Donald Trump said then of Duterte’s cancellation of the VFA: “If they would like to do that, that’s fine. We’ll save a lot of money.” (Philstar. com)

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Ruling on cyber libel case vs Rappler’s Ressa out on June 15

by Kristine Joy

Philstar.com

Patag

MANILA — A Manila court is set to issue its ruling on the government’s cyber libel case against Rappler CEO Maria Ressa on June 15.

Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 Presiding Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa set the promulgation on the morning of June 15, after more than two months of delay.

The ruling was originally set to be promulgated on April 3, but was postponed as courts drastically reduced operations to restrict movement and minimize risk of COVID-19 transmission.

The original date of promulgation means the presiding judge would issue the ruling eight months since the trial started in July 2019.

Ressa’s co-accused in the case is Reynaldo Santos, a former Rappler researcher.

The case The case emanated from a complaint filed by businessman Wilfredo Keng assailing an article the online news site first published in May 2012 or four months before the cybercrime law was instituted.

But the Department of Justice cited the “multiple publication

Rappler CEO Maria Ressa inside the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) office in Manila on last February 14, 2019.

Philstar.com photo by Krizjohn Rosales

rule”—noting that the story was updated on Feb. 19, 2014—and indicted Rappler, Ressa and Santos on cyber libel charges.

Ressa and Santos, however, argued that there was no substantial change made in the article when it was updated in 2014, but the court said that their argument is “evidentiary in nature which the defense should prove during trial.”

Agents of the National Bureau of Investigation served the warrant of arrest on Ressa at the Rappler office on February 13, 2019.

Her camp tried to post bail at

a night court, but failed to do so.

Ressa spent a night in NBI detention and posted a bail bond of P100,000 before the Manila court the following day.

Ressa and Rappler are embroiled in a string of legal suits, which includes tax evasion charges.

In October 2019, the Pasig Regional Trial Court ordered a re-investigation into charges of violations of the Securities and Regulations Code against Rappler’s board. The court also suspended proceedings on AntiDummy charges filed against them. n

PH secures $4.8-B loans for pandemic response

by Mayvelin

u. caraBallo ManilaTimes.net

THE Department of Finance (DoF)has secured $4.85 billion in financing packages from multilateral lenders and commercial markets as of mid-May this year to boost the government’s budget for the COVID-19 pandemic response.

The amount was sourced from loans extended by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank, and the government’s issue of US dollar-denominated global bonds last month.

Of the total, $1.7 billion came from the ADB, $500 million from the World Bank while $2.35 billion was raised from the dualtranche issuance of the Philippines’ global bonds, which fetched coupon rates of 2.45

percent for the 10-year and 2.95 percent for the 25-year, the lowest for a Philippine dollar bond in both tenors.

The DoF said the World Bank also accelerated its disbursement of the $200-million additional financing for the Social Welfare Development and Reform Project II to the Philippines, bringing the total amount for budgetary support financing sourced by the government from foreign loans for the Covid-19 response to $4.75 billion.

The Philippines signed a $100million loan with the World Bank on April 28 for the government’s Covid-19 Emergency Response Project that aims to strengthen the country’s capacity to prevent, detect and respond to the threat posed by the pandemic and boost its national systems

for public health preparedness.

The Finance department also said it raised an additional $8 million in grant financing from the ADB to support two projects implemented by the Department of Health and other government agencies dealing with the Covid19 emergency.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd earlier highlighted that President Rodrigo Duterte’s “saving-for-a-rainyday” approach to economic management has gained for the country the trust and confidence of the world’s most respected credit rating agencies and development partners,” such as the ADB, World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, “allowing us to borrow money at lower interest rates and longer repayment periods.” n

Flight from Wuhan carried cargo, not passengers – BI by rudy santos evelyn Macairan Philstar.com

MANILA — The flight from Wuhan City in China’s Hubei province that arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Saturday did not transport any passengers but only cargo, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) clarified on Sunday, May 31.

The BI appealed to the public to stop spreading fake news about Chinese passengers arriving in the country amid travel restrictions due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente made the appeal after a viral photo on Facebook

showed that Chinese arrived at the airport.

The post, which was uploaded by a political page, garnered thousands of shares on Facebook.

“Some people want to put malice in regular activities at the NAIA. So we ask the public to stop spreading false information,” Morente said.

Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said the Royal Air flight from Wuhan did not carry passengers.

Acting BI spokesman Melvin Mabulac said it was a cargo flight, with only crew personnel on board.

Wuhan was the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in China and was placed under lockdown for two months.

Morente reiterated that cargo flights are not banned under guidelines from the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

“Flights from all over the world continue to operate at the NAIA, but with strict restrictions on the entry and exit of people,” he said.

Under current travel restrictions, only Filipinos, their spouses and children, accredited foreign government and international organization officials as well as crew of foreign airlines are allowed to enter the country.

“International travel restrictions remain in areas under GCQ (general community quarantine),” Morente said. n

Boracay swimming ban lifted MANILA — The municipal government of Malay in Aklan has allowed swimming in Boracay, but only for local residents.

Acting Mayor Frolibar Bautista yesterday lifted the ban on swimming, but required residents to have their body temperature checked and register at the lifeguard stations.

Swimmers were required to observe social distancing and use their own gear such as goggles and snorkels.

Malay shifted to modified gen-

eral community quarantine after the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases identified it as a low-risk area for coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.

In Cebu, priests and personnel of the Basilica del Santo Niño Convent were placed on quarantine after it was reported that some of them showed symptoms of COVID-19.

The suspected cases were discovered on May 25, prompting the city health department

to subject the personnel and the priests to swab tests.

Cebu Augustinian prior provincial Fr. Andres Rivera Jr. gave the assurance that the situation is being managed properly.

Meanwhile, seven undocumented Filipinos from Sabah, Malaysia were intercepted and placed on quarantine on Turtle Island in Tawi-Tawi on Sunday.

The Filipinos were spotted on board a motorized boat that docked in Barangay Poblacion at around 8:30 p.m. (Philstar.com)

PAGE A4

successful social media campaigns against anti-Asian racism, which urged people to stand in solidarity for the more than 1,500 Asians who have been victims of harassment, bullying and, in some cases, violence.

In short, those campaigns were seeking empathy for the community and non-Asian allies to stand up for them. In turn, in a world based on equity, it would be incongruous to stay silent amid another community’s call for solidarity and action.

Mendoza said that for many Filipinos, it may be difficult to empathize with the Black community and the cause that Black Lives Matter was built on because it’s not happening to them,

directly.

“Supporting the black community and Black Lives Matter means supporting anti-racism in our country,” Mendoza said. “If we don’t live in a world where black people aren’t protected, the next day it could be another group facing similar forms of oppression.”

She brought up the popular analogy of Nazi Germany and the fact that one third of the population, Nazis, was persecuting another third of the population, Jews, while the other third stood idly by, watching the genocide in real time.

“It’s important that we as Filipinos and Asians not be the one third of people who are just watching,” she said. n

Why they protest: Filipinos express... which makes the idea of coming together as one difficult.

“As Asian Americans we’re so separated because culturally we’re just so different and we’re put under this umbrella and we don’t really have this camaraderie that I feel like Latinos and Black people have,” Augustavo shared.

“But it’s really complicated with Asian Americans because we want so badly to be part of the conversation, but I don’t feel like we don’t really put the effort to put ourselves there.”

Augustavo thinks that many Asian Americans “pick and choose conveniently when we want to be involved” in social justice. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has catalyzed many

MANIC MONDAY. Commuters wait for public utility vehicles at the Marikina-Infanta Highway in Antipolo City, Rizal on Monday, June 1. Mass transportation, except for jeepneys, resumed operations at a limited capacity under a more relaxed general community quarantine in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.

PNA photo by Joey Razon

UN agencies call for closure of drug detention centers amid COVID-19 pandemic

by Bella

Perez-ruBio Philstar.com

SEVERAL United Nations (UN) entities on Monday urged member states in Asia and the Pacific to “permanently close compulsory drug detention and rehabilitation centers” in order to curb the spread of COVID-19.

“Among the groups particularly at risk of contracting the virus are people in compulsory drug detention and rehabilitation centers. They are often comprised of people who are suspected of using drugs or being dependent on drugs, people who have engaged in sex work, or children who have been victims of sexual exploitation,” UN agencies said in a joint statement.

Also highlighted in the statement were other vulnerabilities faced by detainees due to “sub-standard living conditions” which include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and tuberculosis.

In addition to overcrowding and other hurdles to maintaining physical distancing in prisons, the UN said “forced labor, lack of ad-

equate nutrition, physical and sexual violence, and denial or comparatively lower access to and quality of healthcare services” were other factors contributing to the higher vulnerability of detainees.

Overcrowding in jails Bureau of Jail and Management Penology (BJMP) spokesman Xavier Solda earlier in May said that 136, 881 prisoners are in the agency’s custody.

Chief Inspector Solda added, however, that BJMP’s 476 custodial facilities can only accommodate up to 30,000 inmates.

These figures reveal an overcrowding by over 100,000 detainees.

Figures released by the BJMP also reveal that 70.58% of inmates in its facilities, 96,620 detainees, are facing drug charges.

This percentage is in large part due to the crackdown on illegal drugs launched by President Rodrigo Duterte when he took office in 2016.

The BJMP recently reported 517 confirmed COVID-19 cases in 10 of its facilities. The agency

also reported 703 suspected and 86 probable cases in 10 of its facilities.

At least 161 convicts from the New Bilibid Prison and Correctional Institution for Women also tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Bureau of Corrections.

22,000 detainees released since lockdown Court Administrator Midas Marquez last week said that the Philippine judiciary has released 22,000 detainees through videoconferencing since the novel coronavirus-induced lockdown was enforced.

The inmates were released “either through bail or recognizance, or after serving the minimum imposable penalty for the crime they were charged,” SC said.

The tribunal has issued several guidelines to help overcrowded decongest prisons and detention facilities in the country where social distancing is impossible.

Marquez said that the release of these detainees “eliminated the risk of further spread of COVID-19 infection to the inmates inside the jail facilities.” n

A June 3-5, 2020 • SoCal ASIAn JOuRnAL

OpiniOn & Features

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Preparing to dine in GUIDELINES were released over the weekend by the Department of Trade and Industry for dine-in service in restaurants and fast-food chains. The DTI guidelines, issued on the eve of Metro Manila’s transition to general community quarantine, were approved yesterday by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infection Diseases or IATF. The only question is when dine-in services can resume. The IATF has approved the reopening of barbershops and salons by June 7, although facials, manicure-pedicure and massage services remain prohibited. Dining in involves less direct physical contact than hairdressing, but food-handling hygiene is a concern.

Industry players estimate that up to 490,000 Filipinos are employed in 16,300 dine-in restaurants nationwide. The players say they expect half of the establishments to permanently close shop as a result of pandemic restrictions, particularly physical distancing requirements that on average can cut the number of patrons by half at any given time. Such restrictions are seen to persist for months in the absence of a vaccine or cure for COVID-19.

Even fast-food chains that have survived the

pandemic through take-outs, drivethrough operations and deliveries are feeling the strain of reduced earnings due to the prohibition on dining in.

Now, with dine-in establishments in certain countries serving as models, the DTI has recommended the guidelines for reopening. These include the use of suitable dividers to promote physical distancing as well as the use of singleuse menus per table or other ways of taking food orders without promoting the transmission of pathogens. Buffets and self-serve areas will remain banned.

Health protocols that have become part of the pandemic normal will be required: temperature checks for all, well-equipped sanitation stations for hand washing and disinfection, and possibly footbaths at entrances.

Reviving the dining industry could not only save jobs but also provide employment to the tens of thousands of overseas Filipino workers who have been forced to return home after losing their jobs amid the pandemic. For years, the food service industry has been one of the biggest employers of OFWs. In hotels, on cruise ships and commer- working in kitchens. If they lose their jobs and cial liners around the planet, there are Filipinos return home, they can be absorbed by the local

Editorial

Philstar.com photo

food service industry. But first the industry must reopen and thrive again. (Philstar.com)

Dear Filipinos in America, are we complicit in fanning the flame of racism and police brutality in America?

The Fil-Am Perspective Gel SAntoS-reloS MGA KABABAYAN, we have seen the gruesome video and pictures recounting how Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on African American George Floyd’s neck last week while Floyd pleaded with him, saying he couldn’t breathe.

Multiple videos reveal the white police officer knelt on the 42-year-old black man for eight minutes and 46 seconds in total and two minutes and 53 seconds after Floyd was unresponsive, according to CNN. Police issued a statement earlier this week that they were responding to an alleged forgery that they got Monday evening and that “Floyd “physically resisted officers,” the network reported.

Contrary to police statement, surveillance video from outside Minneapolis restaurant Dragon Wok reveals that Floyd did NOT resist arrest before Chauvin knelt on his neck.

According to an independent autopsy report ordered by Floyd’s family, Floyd died of “asphyxiation from sustained pressure” when his neck and back were compressed by Minneapolis police officers during his arrest last week. The pressure cut off blood flow to his brain, that autopsy determined.

But Minneapolis’ medical examiner’s office, in its report also released Monday, said that the cause of death is “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression.” Cardiopulmonary arrest means Floyd’s heart failed. CNN reported that the medical examiner made no mention of asphyxiation.

“Many Americans are being killed by the police — more than

1,000 per year,” the New York Times reported. “So does a pandemic that’s disproportionately killing African-Americans. And so do the angry, racialized politics that President Trump encourages.”

For these reasons,”the anger is different this time,” the Times reported. And so peaceful protests erupted in different cities in the United States, and even in different countries where people fight against racism and police brutality in solidarity with the American people.

BUT for many people, even among us Filipinos, who are watching news reports showcasing the looting, property damage, lawlessness, violence, and chaos that ensued and even during protests, the focus has shifted away from what the protesters have peacefully been fighting against.

Read the comments on social media posted by yourself or your family and friends, and you will see how many Filipinos in America think the protestors and the looters are one and the same.

Their comments have now been denouncing the looting and the violence, understandably so, but without differentiating between the protesters and the looters.

Many of us have once again echoed the usual undertone that the black people are to blame for the looting, that the police are, after all, justified to be suspicious of them and their actions without according them the due process that the Constitution mandates to be given to all people. They lose sight of the message the peaceful protests are demanding for: police accountability and how racism factors in the criminal justice system in the United States.

Did you know that many of the chaos we are watching and hearing about in the news are initiated and perpetrated by non-black people?

It is very important to read this report by Forbes: “But some of this anger has

been misguided, as individuals whose connection to the protests, communities, or reasons for joining the cause seem dubious. In some cases, non-Black protestors have moved peaceful gatherings into violence, even when Black voices strongly advocated otherwise.”

“Take this video for instance, of a Black woman, Courtney Nichole, trying to stop two nonBlack women from graffiting a Starbucks in Los Angeles with “Black Lives Matter.” They essentially “whitesplained” their justification — to which she responded, ”they don’t show your face when they show that, they show ours… do not let them come into your peaceful protest and make it something that its not. That man could not breathe on the street. It is not about them… If you are tagging on behalf of Black Lives Matter, ask someone Black.”

“Across the country, it’s been widely reported that white supremacist and alt-right groups have taken advantage of protests for their own purposes. In Minnesota, city officials — after witnessing both in-person instigations and reviewing social media footage shared by attendees — extended a city-wide curfew on residents to help verify who the late-night looters are and where they’re coming from.”

“The fact that we’ve seen so many of them in so many places now makes us believe that this is part of that pattern that shows that this is in fact an organised activity and not some random act of rage” says Minnesota corrections department commissioner John Harrington. As one white activist experienced in solidarity actions noted, “Some of the folks are white and not following black leadership, the others are actively there to disrupt Black leadership” — both groups are dangerous, and distract from the true purpose of the protests.”

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump tweeted, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

Hate unmasked in America Commentary

AnnA AlmendrAlA “YOU are the most selfish f— ing people on the planet.”

I jerked my head to the left, where I saw a neighbor glaring at us from his driveway while unloading groceries from his trunk.

“Where’s your f—ing mask?” he said. “Unbelievable.”

My jaw dropped. I had just walked three blocks home with my toddler and my dad in our leafy, mostly empty Los Angeles neighborhood because my kid had thrown a tantrum in the car.

And we had forgotten our masks. Four days earlier, Mayor Eric Garcetti had ordered protec-

tive face coverings anytime we left home, not just when we entered essential businesses.

I pointed out my house to the neighbor to explain how close we were, just a few doors down from him. He cut me off.

“I don’t give a f– where you live, and I don’t give a f– what your reason is.”

Then my dad jumped in. “Sorry, sir, we forgot our masks. I’m sorry, sir.”

Still, the man didn’t soften.

“You should be sorry. And you should make her be sorry, too,” he gestured toward me. After a few more agonizing seconds, he dismissed us Our neighbor’s mask, by the way? It was off his face, hanging loosely around his neck. All the better to shout at us.As a health care reporter, I had covered America’s evolution on masks as the coronavirus spread across the globe. Back in Janu-

ary, I wrote an article about why Chinese immigrants insisted on wearing surgical and construction masks in the U.S., even though it went against official health recommendations at the time. In February, I wrote about Asian families in California clashing with schools over whether their children should be allowed to wear masks in class.

At that time, Asian people wearing masks were targets for verbal and physical abuse. Attackers saw masks on Asian faces as signs of disease and invasion; people were punched and kicked, harassed on public transit, bullied at school and worse.

Now, of course, masks are the norm. And they’ve become more than just personal protection; they are symbols of courtesy and scientific buy-in. They have, to some extent, also become political signifiers. In a new poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation,

On Monday, June 1, he declared himself the “president of law and order” and in a brief statement delivered from the Rose Garden of the White House, he “ordered governors and mayors to establish “an overwhelming law enforcement presence” until the protests have been quelled, and he threatened to send in the U.S. military to “quickly solve the problem for them.”

Trump made no mention of the reason why people were protesting, no mention about police brutality and racism, and no differentiation between the peaceful protests and the violent looting. His threats against protesters in general are in violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

He claimed he supports peaceful protests but his action and true intention betray what he professed. At the time he was speaking “police also fired rubber bullets at protesters gathered peacefully on the edge of Lafayette Square directly in front of the White House. After his speech and with the square cleared, the president walked across the street for a photo-op in front of the the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church, where he held up a Bible,” Politico reported.

Trump has a history of discriminating against black people as a businessman, demonizing yet abusing immigrants of color for money, treating refugees inhumanely, obsessing over the legitimacy of the first Black president and erasing his legacy.

Trump has also blamed the extreme left group “ANTIFA” (Antifascist) for the violence and designated the group a terrorist organization, while defending

the Alt-Right, the far right, white nationalist movement based in the United States, the Ku Klux Klan and other neo-Nazis, calling them “fine people” in their defense.

You would recall the “Unite the Right” rally that sparked the violence in Charlottesville in August of 2017 featured several leading names in the white-nationalist alt-right movement, and also attracted people displaying Nazi symbols.

As the Atlantic reported, “they walked down the street, the white-nationalist protesters chanted “blood and soil,” the English translation of a Nazi slogan. One of the men seen marching with the fascist group American Vanguard, James A. Fields, is charged with deliberately ramming a car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old counter-protester Heather Heyer.”

MGA KABABAYAN, where are we in this fight? We felt how it was to be discriminated against when Trump labeled undocumented immigrants as “stealing U.S. jobs, criminals, rapists, drug peddlers” and some Filipinos were even told to “Go home!” by white people who would not know who among the nonwhite are actually documented and undocumented.

Filipino Americans have also become targets of “excessive use of force” by police officers over the years, as The Filipino Channel’s daily newscast “Balitang America” has been reporting for more than a decade.

We felt how Asians were discriminated against with the COVID-19 pandemic when Trump labeled it as “Chinese virus.”

Some kababayans who “look Chinese” had been subject of harassment and blame.

Have we ever been bold and unambiguous in our support for black people in America who had been discriminated against and profiled for centuries, even after we elected the first African American president in Barrack

Obama?

Or have we assimilated and acculturated to the white culture, echo what they say and how they define “American”, so we can delude ourselves into thinking that they will accept us as they do caucasian looking people despite the color of our skin?

Is this why some of us refuse to call out President Trump?

Is this why some of us pretend all is well in America, thinking that saying otherwise makes us “walang utang na loob” (ungrateful), unless the target of criticism is a black president?

Let me share an excerpt from an article written by Asian American Larry Lin, born and raised in San Jose, California. He serves as a pastor at The Village Church Hampden in Baltimore, MD. He has a BS from Cornell University and a MDiv from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary: “While the white officer was pinning down Floyd’s neck with his knee, an Asian officer was standing by in silence, and even at times preventing protestors from intervening.

“To me, it was the perfect representation of Asian American complicity in racism.

“I acknowledge that there have been Asian Americans throughout history who have fought alongside their African American neighbors against racism. However, they have been far outnumbered by Asian Americans who have chosen to be ignorant at best or complicit at worst in their racism.”

FILIPINOS in America, have we been complicit in fanning the flame of racism and police brutality in America? ***

70% of Democrats said they wear a protective mask “every time” they leave their house, versus 37% of Republicans.

(Kaiser Health News, which produces California Healthline, is an editorially independent program of KFF.) After our verbal beatdown, my dad and I walked home stonefaced, and then retreated to our separate rooms to nurse our wounds.

I have no idea if the neighbor’s comments had a racist undertone. But it felt like the times in my childhood, first in New Zealand, then in a Bay Area suburb, when I had seen my Philippines-born parents, stunned and silent, get dressed down or humiliated by angry, callous white people. Now it was my 3-yearold daughter’s turn to see me dumbstruck. As I began telling my husband the story, I started crying so hard that I got a headache.

After my tears came reflection,

and an attempt at empathy.

My neighbor was obviously scared. He was older, and potentially more medically vulnerable.

His trunk had been packed with overstuffed shopping bags ― probably enough food for weeks, to avoid leaving his house.

He had just come from the grocery store, an enclosed space full of things and people that could potentially infect him. I understand the stress that comes with shopping during the pandemic.

Like many of us, my neighbor could be struggling with how to live in mortal fear of the coronavirus. And for him, at least that morning, that struggle got the better of him.

Later that day, I wrote the neighbor a card introducing ourselves. I apologized for making him feel unsafe and acknowledged that he was right about the masks. But I also said he had unfairly used us as a target for his fear and frustration, and I told him I was shocked and sad-

dened he would treat a neighbor with so much hate. I haven’t heard back from him.

My dad spent the rest of that morning praying that the man didn’t get the coronavirus — lest he blame us and all Asians, forever.

Since that day, no one in my family has left the house without a mask on their face, and I’m anxious to train my daughter to wear one, although she resists it the way she has refused hats and headbands in the past.

We can’t stop noticing that most other exercisers and dogwalkers in our neighborhood ― all white ― fly past us without them. They don’t seem to worry about getting caught on the wrong side of whatever America happens to believe about masks on any given day. But my family can’t risk it.

This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at gelrelos@icloud.com, or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel. Santos.Relos.

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

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Despite minor damages, Fil-Am restaurants stand in solidarity with protesters in LA County by

Christina M. Oriel / AJPress

EARLY morning on Tuesday, June 2, Mary Jane Rempola received a call from an employee that the front glass door of Bagnet in Panorama City had been shattered amidst the unrest unfolding across Southern California.

Rempola opened the small Filipino restaurant in a plaza along Roscoe Boulevard in February, but has since been struggling to attract customers following Los Angeles County’s issuance of safer-at-home measures.

Tuesday morning was another setback for her. “It’s a bit sad, but it’s just the door,� she told the Asian Journal, adding that nothing appeared to be stolen from the restaurant.

In less than five hours, a GoFundMe page started by Rempola’s daughter Nicole exceeded its $1,000 goal to help repair the damage. “My mom took a hard hit financially because of the pandemic. After this happened, my mom sounded so defeated so I wanted to reach out to our family and friends mainly to help us out because they all know

my mom. She’s the sweetest woman and she’ll give until she has no more,� Nicole Rempola told the Asian Journal. “I think we raised and met our goals so quickly because they know the kind of woman she is and they wanted to take this opportunity to give back to her.�

Despite the property damage, the Rempola family expressed its support for the Black Lives Matter movement and the peaceful protests.

Nearby, the windows and door at Valerio’s Bakery along Woodman Avenue were also broken into.

As the county continues to have daily 6 p.m. curfews this week, other business owners like Barb Batiste are taking extra safety measures to protect their brick-andmortar locations, even if doing so is another expense.

Batiste boarded up Big Boi and B Sweet along the usually bustling Sawtelle Boulevard in West LA with the help of friends. Since the pandemic, both shops have seen a decline in sales and have needed accommodaFilipino restaurant Bagnet in Panorama City, California was broken into sometime before Tuesday A volunteer cleans up graffiti at Wanderlust Creamery’s Third Street location in LA. Photo courtesy of Nicole Rempola Continued on Page 2 morning, June 3.

AJPress photo by Christina M. Oriel

cover story

The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - June 3, 2020

Despite minor damages…

From Page 1 tions to pay rent at a later date.

Batiste is slated to reopen Big Boi on Wednesday for lunch service, however, another consideration is the availability of ingredients from suppliers which have also closed temporarily.

“I want to reopen for lunch as it’ll help bring in some sales, especially since it’s the time of the month when rent is due again, and help staff get in some hours.

I support the movement and the right to protest and I want to be loud about it as I feel the pain of everything that’s happening,” Batiste told the Asian Journal. “But I just cannot support the criminal acts and looting. It becomes no longer about the message.”

Miles away in Downtown Los Angeles, protests began late last week among dozens organized in major cities across the county in response to George Floyd, a black man, being killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis on Monday, May 26.

After closing early on Friday night, Petite Peso’s front left window was shattered.

Executive chef Ria Barbosa wrote in an Instagram post, “Our window can be replaced. George Floyd can’t. #blacklivesmatter.”

The restaurant reopened the next day with limited hours, but decided to suspend operations until this Wednesday to avoid local police and National Guard presence and to keep employees safe. On top of the boarded-up windows and door, the team left written messages: “Justice 4 Big Floyd” and “We are a POC owned business.”

“Saturday night, we didn’t want to take any risks from what we saw the night prior so we boarded up all our windows with plywood and brought all our valuables with us, POS, electronics, neon sign, etc. We thought things would possibly cool down on Sunday and Monday but [on Tuesday] the team didn’t feel the vibe of DTLA was right for business or safe for our employees,” Tiffany Tanaka, head of marketing for Peso Hospitality, told the Asian Journal in an email.

Wanderlust Creamery’s co-founder and creative partner Adrienne Borlongan was preparing its four stores to be reopened for regular service on Saturday, May 30 when messages flooded saying that their bright blue storefront along Third Street in LA’s Fair-

Filipino restaurant Big Boi along Sawtelle Boulevard in West LA boarded up its windows as a precautionary measure

teers came back to help clean up the building as well as surrounding stores. One individual went to Home Depot to buy the matching paint color and offered to paint over the graffiti, Borlongan said.

Over the weekend and early this week, Wanderlust Creamery closed all its locations in solidarity and to abide by the county’s curfew.

In addition to dealing with the physical side of the business, Borlongan acknowledged the significance of communicating as a brand and minorityRomeo Garcia in front of Romeo Chocolates in Long Beach Photo courtesy of Romeo Garcia owned small business, which boasts over 71,800 followers fax District was in the backon Instagram.

George Floyd!” ground of news coverage.

“I also think that it’s “No matter what is said Outside of it, hundreds of about the social progress important to note that most protesters had marched from small businesses struggle with this country has made so far, Pan Pacific Park and made crafting what to say publicly there’s no denying there’s an their way along the main thor- unspoken white superiority without getting backlash or oughfare of the district which that still exits in American having their message being is dotted with many retail and culture. Let me be clear: the dissected as disingenuous. restaurant businesses.

Even more challenging is findchallenges most minorities, “That’s when we realized ing the time to carefully craft including Fil-Ams, face in there were bigger things godealing with this are nowhere a statement with everything ing on than the city reopennear the gravity of what Black going at a moment’s notice…Some people are so quick to jump on a business if they haven’t taken a public stance by now. I think the last thing the world needs right now is more judgment,” she said.

Downtown Long Beach was the site of another big protest on Sunday.

Bebot Filipino Soul Food along 4th Street was far from the main demonstration, but owner AC Boral covered the windows and barricaded its doors as a precautionary measure.

The restaurant came out unscathed.

Boral said that he’ll continue feeding front line health care working. We knew it was an issue ers and low-income families Americans are faced with,” very close to home for a lot Borlongan said. “But we share in the community as he has of our staff and we wanted to a common problem, and so been since the pandemic allow them the opportunity to the burden and work needed began but implored fellow Filparticipate,” Borlongan told Ams to support black-owned to solve it is also one that the Asian Journal. businesses and to reflect on needs to be shared. It’s our That particular location of responsibility to dismantle ev- the systemic issues prompting the ice cream shop had still the protests. erything that allows systemic been under construction but “It’s important for us as racism against black lives to had brown paper covering its exist, including the anti-black- community leaders, not just windows from the inside with ness in our own culture.” business owners, to support the notes: “Sorry, we don’t Black Lives Matter because Protesters spray-painted serve racists,” “This is a POC- “No Justice, No Peace” on this is our entire community owned business, we stand and it does affect us,” Boral the shop’s exterior walls but with you!” and “Say his name, in the following days, voluntold the Asian Journal. “At

“But we share a common problem, and so the burden and work needed to solve it is also one that needs to be shared. It’s our responsibility to dismantle everything that allows systemic racism against black lives to exist, including the antiblackness in our own culture.”

Michelle fears for husband, daughter amid violence in US

By Cha Lino

the end of the day for me, it comes down to our values…and the values that the restaurant stands for: to care for humanity and to take care of everyone. Black Lives Matter supports that.”

Romeo Garcia was among those peacefully marching as an ally and to denounce police brutality on Sunday.

However, by nightfall, many small businesses in the area were set on fire, damaged or vandalized, Garcia wrote in a Facebook post.

Romeo Chocolates, his chocolate and wine bar along Pine Avenue, was also affected. However, the next day, he

and volunteers patched and covered the shop’s windows in addition to cleaning the streets and repairing other nearby stores.

“My heart goes out to small businesses recovering from the damage. Thank you to the volunteers and neighbors who kept watch of our block last night, even making a human barricade at storefront broken doors to prevent further theft. Today, people donated food, water, and greeted one another as we all cleaned up our neighborhoods. It was a beautiful sight,” Garcia wrote on Monday.

Pia admits relationship with Jeremy Jauncey

By Jan

MiLo Severo Philstar.com

Inquirer.net

ACTRESS Michelle Madrigal condemned the violence against African Americans in the United States by joining the Black Lives Matter protest online.

Madrigal, who is married to African American Troy Woolfolk, expressed fear for her husband and their daughter Anika via Instagram on Monday, June 1.

The actress is currently living in Austin, Texas with her family and is a certified prenatal and postnatal specialist.

“It’s a scary thing to think that my daughter could experience hate because of her race and skin color,” she said.

“I am fearful to know that every time my husband leaves our home he could get pulled over by a ‘bad cop’ pin him down to the ground and get shot for being a black man,” Madrigal added.

“I will never fully understand it… but I stand with you,” she said. “I see you. I hear you. I feel for you.”

The actress is a part of the growing number of local and international celebrities who are showing their solidarity against racism and police brutality. The series of online and physical protests began after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died while in police custody last May 25.

Floyd was knelt on by a white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, until he was no longer responsive.

Petite Peso in DTLA experienced a broken window and closed for a few days amid protests.

Photos courtesy of Ria Barbosa/Instagram

MISS Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach and businessman Jeremy Jauncey confirmed that they are dating.

In an exclusive interview with Tatler Philippines, the couple admitted that they have been exclusively dating for months.

The two are also on the cover of the magazine for this June issue.

Pia admitted that she felt the spark when she first met Jeremy, CEO of Beautiful Destinations, a multi-platform travel content brand acknowledged

by GQ magazine.

“There was definitely an immediate spark. We couldn’t stop talking. I found him to be such a warm person and I like that he was always smiling,” Pia said.

Pia and Jeremy also said that Pia Wurtzbach and Jeremy Jauncey on the cover of the latest Philippine Tatler issue.

Photo from Instagram/@piawurtzbach Continued on Page 3

Darna ‘grounded’ temporarily Michelle Madrigal with her husband Troy Woolfolk and their daughter.

Photo from Instagram/@mitch_madrigal

Madrigal shared her sentiments by sharing a photo of two hands joining together, one with a dark skin color and the other lighter. She included the statement “Black Lives Matter” in a separate photo and shared a picture of her with her husband’s family in the U.S. While some rallies have taken a violent turn, Madri-

gal stressed that “violence is never the solution,” but she did agree that the suffering of the black community must end.

The “Star Circle Quest” finalist tied the knot with Woolfolk in April 2019 in Texas. The couple got engaged in 2017 when Madrigal was pregnant with their daughter.

By riCky Lo Philstar.com

“DING, ang bato!”

It might take several months before Jane de Leon, the millennial Darna, will order her little brother to produce the magic stone posthaste so she can fly to pursue her self-imposed mission to serve humanity. You see, the shoot for the nth remake of the Mars Ravelo-created Pinoy superheroine has been temporar-

ily put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thus “grounding” Darna.

Played by almost a dozen actresses between the first, Rosa del Rosario, and the last, Marian Rivera, the classic flying woman is celebrating her 70th anniversary this year since she took off from the komiks pages and landed on the silver screen. Since Jane was announced as the “winner” of the long-drawn search for the new Darna, there has

been a noisy debate which actress is the “best and prettiest” Darna. You are welcome to place your bet. (Playing Jane’s leading man is Paulo Avelino. No word yet who is playing Ding.)

Anyway, the reboot (produced by Star Cinema) has actually been shooting at a set in San Juan City, directed

by Jerrold Tarog who took over from Erik Matti. Jane has trained (in martial arts, Continued on Page 3

Filipino celebrities react to ‘Anti-Terror’ Bill

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The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - June 3, 2020

By Jan

Milo SeveRo Philstar.com

CELEBRITIES aired their reactions over the Anti-Terror Act of 2020, a bill certified as urgent by President Rodrigo Duterte.

The bill states that any person who shall threaten to commit terrorism shall receive a penalty of 12 years in prison.

The same goes for anyone who proposes said acts and incites others, and any person who voluntarily and knowingly join any organization, association, or group that may be seen as terrorism.

Many fear that the bill may also restrict citizens from calling out corruption and silence the people the government swore to protect, and among them are celebrities.

“Megastar” Sharon Cuneta’s daughter Frankie Pangilinan said the bill is an infringement upon the people’s most basic human rights.

“Even tweeting any thoughts against the government can, and likely will, be considered an ‘act of terrorism’ under this bill. it’s an infringement upon our most basic human rights. #JunkTerrorBill,” she said.

IV of Spades former member and now solo artist Unique Salonga said: “Activism is not terrorism!#JunkTerrorBill.”

Performer Jess Connelly said a simple tweet with her opinion on injustices will allow the government to call her a terrorist.

“So pretty much something like tweeting MY opinion on factual injustices could allow the government to call me a terrorist & lock me up #JunkTerrorBillNOW” she said.

Musician Kiana Valenciano posted on Twitter that this is not the time to be neutral.

Karla Estrada and her boyfriend Jam Ignacio Photo from Instagram/@karlaestrada1121

K Brosas

Philstar.com photo

Solenn Heussaff

GMA photo

By Ryan

aRcadio Inquirer.net

KARLA Estrada and her nonshowbiz boyfriend Jam Ignacio celebrated their first anniversary with a romantic dinner yesterday, June 1.

“My heart [tells] me that true love really exists! This is a year worth celebrating!” the actressTV host said on her Instagram page on the same day.

She also showed a sweet card from Ignacio that said, “I

Janine Gutierrez

“The world is bleeding. help out in whatever way you can. if you can’t leave home, share those posts, make those online donations, educate yourself. open your mind and open your eyes to the injustice. it’s 2020. no more excuses. this is not the time to be neutral,” she said.

Kapuso actresses Solenn Heussaff and Janine Gutierrez shared a link urging their followers to sign a petition.

“JUNK THE ANTI-TER-

GMA photo

RORISM BILL AND UPHOLD HUMAN RIGHTS! - Sign the petition!” they both wrote on their separate Twitter accounts.

Kapamilya comedienne K Brosas questioned the urgency of the bill in her Twitter account.

“Urgent?? Parang May mas dapat pong mauna kesa jan.. haaaay... Disappointed faceDisappointed faceDisappointed face #JunkTerrorBill,” she said.

Pia admits relationship...

From Page 2 it took a while for them to date exclusively because Pia had just come out of a relationship so Jeremy gave her time.

“She sets the parameters and I happily accepted. It was a chance to show that I was serious about her and that I

Karla marks 1st anniversary with BF: ‘A year worth celebrating’

want to be a gentleman about it, which was very important to me,” shared the 34-year-old professional traveler who was born in Venezuela and raised in Scotland.

“We wanted to make sure we set a good foundation for our relationship before we came

out in the open. I’ve made a mistake of sharing too much too soon before, and I wanted to make sure I did it right this time,” Pia added.

Pia’s last relationship was with racer Marlon Stockinger.

They had a three-year relationship from 2016 to 2019.

believe everything happens for a reason because it led me to you. I [l]ove [y]ou.”

Aside from the card, the couple enjoyed their candle-lit dinner surrounded by sunflower arrangements. The atmosphere was made even more intimate with candles on the floor that formed a heart shape.

“Happy [first] anniversary, love,” Estrada said “Looking forward to 800 more years with you. I love you.”

Estrada first confirmed their

relationship on the morning TV show “Magandang Buhay” last November after she was interrogated by her co-hosts Melai Cantiveros and Jolina Magdangal.

I can say that this is my happiest,” Estrada said at the time.

Prior to dating Ignacio, Estrada’s last long-term relationship was with her former boyfriend Mark Yatco. They began dating back in 2017 but appear to have parted ways early last year.

Darna ‘grounded’ temporarily...

From Page 2 etc.) after she was tapped as replacement for Liza Soberano who backed out due to an injury she sustained during the shoot for the Kapamilya series Bagani and had to undergo treatment in the U.S. According to a Funfare source, one-fourth (25 percent) of the shoot is done and the remaining 75 percent to be shot “when the situation returns to normal.” Showing of the movie will probably be moved to next year when, hopefully, a COVID-19 vaccine shall have been created and people won’t be paranoid about going back to movie houses.

Asked about the situation, direk Jerrold told Funfare, “No official word from the producers yet but planning and discussions are ongoing.” (Funfare texted Star Cinema head Olive Lamasan for comment but, as usual,

On lockdown, Jane de Leon, the millennial Darna, continues to train even while busy preparing/ packing relief goods. Inset: Darna leading man Paulo Avelino. No word yet who is playing Ding, holder of the ‘magic stone.

Photo from Instagram/@imhanedeleon

she “cannot be reached.” In the vernacular, hindi na siya ma-reached/maabot.” Maybe she’s also, uhm, “grounded.”)

Meanwhile, Jane continues to train even as she’s busy packing and distributing relief goods.

Aiko proud of weight loss despite bashers: ‘Asan ang edited dyan?’

entertainment The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - June 3, 2020

By Cha lino Inquirer.net

Protect yourself from COVID-19: Stop smoking and vaping now

DOCTORS like me and many other health professionals are working to treat sick patients for the COVID-19 virus. The best ways for you to help are to stay home, wash your hands, and not smoke or vape.

Here are three good reasons why you should stop smoking and vaping now: 1. Smoking doubles your risk of developing respiratory infections.

• In one study,1 391 healthy volunteers had 1 of 5 respiratory viruses, including a coronavirus, dropped in a liquid into their noses. The volunteers who smoked were twice as likely as those who did not smoke to develop an infection. Smoking is known to weaken the immune system and the body’s ability to fight infections.2 2. Smoking doubles your risk of getting sicker from COVID-19.

• In a review of 5 studies published to date,3 smoking is most likely associated with getting sicker with COVID-19.

In the largest study of 1099

people with COVID-19,4 people who smoke were 2.4 times more likely to get really sick (e.g. admitted to an intensive care unit, needing mechanical ventilation, dying) compared to those who did not smoke.

Smoking can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and other health problems that may contribute to serious illness.2 Stopping smoking still helps your health if you have COPD or heart disease.5 3. Vaping can also harm lung health.

• Growing evidence suggests that the aerosol from vaping devices can harm lungs at the cellular and organ levels and worsen the body’s ability to fight respiratory infections.6 The recent outbreak of e-cigarette, or vapingassociated product lung injury, predominantly affecting young people, is still a major public health concern.7 You can get free help to stop smoking and vaping! The California Smokers’ Helpline is here for you.

Counselors will help you devel-

op your own personal quit plan by phone or chat. Text and app programs are available too. It is great to work through the stress and anxiety with caring professionals during these times about how to stop. The counselors can also talk with you about medications like nicotine patches, gums, or lozenges that are over-the-counter and help manage cravings.

You may be eligible for special offers that send free nicotine patches to your home.

Keep a smoke-free home to protect others as well.

Secondhand smoke worsens lung health for nonsmokers, especially children.2 If you are a nonsmoker, contact the Helpline to find out how to help someone you love quit smoking or vaping.

Being smoke and tobaccofree is as important as washing your hands and covering your cough for your health and the health of your family and our community. (by Elisa Tong, MD, MS Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis)

AIKO Melendez hit back at bashers who claimed that her photos were edited to make her look slimmer.

Melendez revealed the “pain and sacrifices” she had to go through to achieve her current figure. The actress flaunted her curves by donning a strapless red dress with a plunging neckline, as seen on her Instagram post last Saturday, May 30.

Melendez declared that she was happy and that she had been maintaining her figure after a procedure with plastic surgeon Dr. Eric Yapjuangco. She said she followed a low-calorie diet, going as low as 500 calories in her first month, and is also taking a weight loss supplement.

“Asan ang edit dyan (Where is the edited part here)?” she asked. “I really don’t understand anymore why some people can’t be happy, when someone’s just achieved her goal.”

The actress also appealed to the public to “give me a break” and explained that she was “too old” for editing her pictures.

“Nung mataba ako sabi nyo mukha akong nanay now naman inedit ko,” she said.

“Hindi ba pwedeng? I worked hard for it? Hindi ba pwedeng [I] have gone through pain and sacrifices just to achieve my weight now?”

(When I was fat, you said I looked like a mom. Now [that I’m slimmer], I edited it. Can’t it be that I worked hard for it?

Can’t it be that I have gone through pain and sacrifices just to achieve my weight

Aiko Melendez

now?)

“This is my body! [I am] accountable to myself and no one else,” she stressed.

“I am posting to inspire people who are struggling with their weight. That there

Photo from Instagram/@aikomelendez

is (sic) ways and hope for all of them,” she said.

After nine years of being a Kapamilya, Melendez left TV network ABS-CBN for its rival GMA-7 in March 2019.net on Facebook

BB hurt over family’s indifference to death threat

By GeorGe

Vail Kabristante ManilaTimes.net

ROBIN Padilla should get a break from bashers who disagree with his views on the ABS-CBN franchise renewal but only to jump into another one. Currently, he is facing a formidable family issue involving Bb Gandanghari, his older transgender sibling.

The latter days in April saw BB (formerly Rustom Padilla) sharing on social media how she feels neglected by his family, most especially Robin. This was following a local news report that BB was found dead in her rented apartment in Los Angeles, California.

For many years now, BB has been living all alone in the U.S. in pursuit of her long-cherished dream to penetrate Hollywood as an actress. It was the U.S. government which granted her legal use of the name BB Gandanghari alongside her gender listed as female.

BB, 52, was the subject of a hoax reported on April 25 about her death, particularly on GMA’s “24 Oras.”

While the false report frightened BB, it was — according to her — her family’s apparent nonchalant reaction which all the more concerned, if not agitated, her.

“No one even bothered to check if there’s truth to it,” was the gist of BB’s emotion-

BB Gandanghari

al outpouring.

It wasn’t until she sounded this aloud that Robin came forward to say, “Huwag ka nang magtampo, mahal ka namin.”

As if to prove his point, Robin made it known that there had been more pressing family problems he had to attend to. These included Robin’s hospital confinement for his back injury as well as their mother Eva’s slipping accident which had her confined, too.

BB, however, would buy neither of those, claiming that if she were really family

Photo from Instagram/@gandangharibb

to them, she deserved to be notified about the goings on in the clan as they happen.

For all it’s worth, BB’s social media piece provided a shocking peek into some unknown truths — Robin’s not wanting her to succeed in U.S.; and Mommy Eva’s favoritism toward Padilla brothers Robin, Royette and Rommel except then-Rustom; among others.

This no longer makes us wonder why BB went off to foreign soil to chase a dream she thought her family would support her in achieving and would be happy about.

Apl’s comments for KC fuel romantic links anew

By Jan

Milo seVero Philstar.com

BLACK Eyed Peas member Apl.de.ap couldn’t help but comment on the Instagram Live cooking session of rumored girlfriend KC Concepcion and actress Judy Ann Santos.

KC asked Judy Ann’s help to teach her to cook seafood curry, a known specialty of the veteran actress.

The international artist, who has been romantically linked to KC, was seen in the comments section of the live video.

“Chef KC get it,” Apl wrote.

The daughter of “Megastar” Sharon Cuneta also said in the live video that there are things she misses in her kitchen such as tenderizer.

Apl again commented on the video with “I’m gonna send you a tenderizer.”

It can be recalled that KC and Apl reportedly started officially dating on December 2019. They were also seen together in an exclusive club

Apl.de.ap with KC Concepcion

in Los Angeles, California last October.

“Started the week quite right with this awesome guy (who makes Monday feel like Friday!),” KC captioned their photo on Instagram.

Apl, back in 2009, admitted that he had a crush on KC. It was January 2011 when they first met here in the Philippines.

ABS-CBN photo

In an interview with Apl in April 2013, he admitted that he courted KC but later stopped because KC had a boyfriend that time. KC’s last reported relationship was with French filmmaker-businesman Pierre Emmanuelle Plassart.

KC and Apl have not yet confirmed reports about their rumored relationship.

K-1 visa: Fiance visa to marry US citizen

Barrister’s Corner Atty. Kenneth UrsUA reyes IN previous editions of this article, the process of obtaining permanent residence through marriage was explored. Discussion of that procedure began with the supposition that the couple was married, and continued with the various steps to ultimately gain permanent residence. In many cases, however, a problem exists in even getting to the point at which a couple is married.

Often, a foreign national is in his/her home country and, for one reason or another, the U.S. citizen cannot travel to that country to marry him/ her. A solution in such a scenario can be found with the K-1 Fiance(e) Visa.

A K-1 visa allows a foreign national to come to the United States to marry a United States citizen. The K-1 visa is valid for ninety (90) days after entry to the United States, during which time the marriage must take place. Once the foreign national is issued a K-1 visa, any of his/her unmarried children under the age of 21 may be issued K-1 visas. Upon arrival in the United States, the foreign national may immediately apply for permission to work. A two-step process is involved to obtain a K-1 visa.

First, the United States citizen (the petitioner) must file Petition for Alien Fiance(e) along with supporting documents with the USCIS. Through the filed petition and documents, the petitioner must demonstrate three things. To begin, it must be shown that the foreign national has a bona fide intent to marry within ninety (90) days after arrival. This is often accomplished by producing evidence that a mar-

riage is going to take place— i.e. wedding announcements, catering contracts, etc. In addition, it must be shown that both parties are unmarried and of legal age. Birth certificates, and if one has been previously married, evidence that the prior marriage has been legally terminated are usually satisfactory to accomplish this. Finally, evidence must be provided to show that the parties have physically met each other within the past two (2) years.

The petitioner may submit photos of the couple, plane tickets, hotel receipts, etc. as proof that the couple has met. Exceptions to this third requirement apply in certain

by a particular consulate. If all requirements are met, visa issuance will follow. After arrival in the United States and marriage, the foreign national may thereafter begin the process to obtain permanent residence.

The fiance may also bring any children below the age of 21 years old as derivative beneficiary as a K-2 visa. This is another advantage of the fiance visa route. It is not necessary to prove that the marriage to the US Citizen Petitioner occurred prior to the immigrant’s children turning 18 years of age. The K-2 derivative can still adjust to greencard after the K-1 fiance marries the US Citizen even if the marriage occurs after the K-2 derivative reaches the age of 18 as long as they are under 21 years of age.

A K-1 visa allows a foreign national to come to the United States to marry a United States citizen. The K-1 visa is valid for ninety (90) days after entry to the United States, during which time the marriage must take place.

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circumstances that cannot be explored here due to space limitations of this article. The USCIS may also schedule an interview of the petitioner wherein inquiry will be made on the foregoing issues.

Once approved, notice is sent to the petitioner and the file is forwarded to the appropriate consulate abroad.

Second, after the petition is approved, the foreign national can apply for a K-1 visa in his/ her home country.

An interview is scheduled where the foreign national must provide certain documents for issuance of the visa.

An affidavit of support from the petitioner, proving that the foreign national will not be relying on public assistance upon arrival, in addition to originals of documents mentioned hereinabove, must be presented. Other documents may also be requested

*** Please note that this article is not legal advice and is not intended as legal advice. The article is intended to provide only general, nonspecific legal information. This article is not intended to cover all the issues related to the topic discussed.

The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you. This article does create any attorney client relationship between you and the Law Offices of Kenneth U. Reyes, APLC This article is not a solicitation. *** Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes is a Certified Family Law Specialist. He was President of the Philippine American Bar Association. He is a member of both the Family law section and Immigration law section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He is a graduate of Southwestern University Law School in Los Angeles and California State University, San Bernardino School of Business Administration. He has extensive CPA experience prior to law practice. LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, APLC. is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 747, Los Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 388-1611 or e-mail kenneth@kenreyeslaw.com or visit our website at Kenreyeslaw.com (Advertising Supplement)

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The Asian Jour nal MDWK MAGAZINE - June 3, 2020

Bea finds new hobby in painting amid quarantine

by Ian

BIong Inquirer.net

DURING the quarantine, actress Bea Alonzo has discovered a new hobby in the form of painting — something she never really thought of doing before.

Alonzo took to Instagram last Saturday, May 30, to share with fans that as she has not been acting for a while, she found painting to be a good outlet for her creativity.

“Trying different things in this unprecedented time. Never even thought of painting before, (don’t judge! I just started and not claiming to be good at it!),” she said.

“But I realized, arts and plants go very well together.

It’s like reading a book, you are taken to another world, a world where you are the only one allowed to enter. It’s an escape,” Alonzo added.

Alonzo’s post was accompanied by snippets of her painting an image of a plant, as she is surrounded by her real-life inspirations and other pieces of artwork depicting faces.

“Since I haven’t been acting for quite some time now

because of the pandemic, I thought, I should find an outlet for my creativity. It’s nice. It makes my heart happy,” she said.

Amid the current health

Bea Alonzo Photo from Instagram/@beaalonzo

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crisis, Alonzo has also been helping out by creating and donating face shields to frontliners, as well as teach followers how to make face shields themselves.

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