061720 - Southern California Midweek Edition

June 17-19, 2020 Volume 30 - No. 47 • 2 Sections - 14 Pages

USA

DATELINE Philippine Consulate in LA resumes consular services FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

THE Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles resumed consular services this week with new health and safety guidelines.

The consulate is only enforcing appointment or mail-based services for the time being and will reduce its hours to 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The public is required to wear a mask when entering the building.

The consulate office covers Southern California, Southern Nevada and Arizona.

In speaking about the resumption of PCG’s services, Consul General Adelio Angelito S. Cruz said, “We appeal to our kababayan community to understand that the COVID19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we deliver frontline services. Beginning on the 17th of June 2020, there will be fewer appointment slots to ensure fewer people at the Community Hall. Aside from

LA County surpasses 75,000 COVID-19 cases as economy continues to reopen

by AJPRESS AS California proceeds with its stages of reopening, Los Angeles County remains the hardest-hit area in the state as it surpassed the 75,000 mark of confirmed coronavirus cases on Tuesday, June 17.

County officials announced 1,337 additional cases

of COVID-19 and 33 new deaths, bringing the total to 75,084 positive cases and 2,959 deaths.

This comes as the county has allowed the reopening of various industries in recent weeks, including hair salons, restaurants and places of worship. Most recently, most recently, gyms and fitness facilities, museums, and music, film and television produc-

tion opened their doors once again.

The latest deaths include 24 individuals over the age of 65, 20 of whom had underlying health conditions, and eight people between the ages of 41 and 65 years old who all had underlying health conditions. One person was between the ages of 18 and

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Experts: If you have relatives in a nursing home during pandemic, get them out SAN FRANCISCO — The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the plight of U.S. seniors, who have been disproportionately infected and killed by the disease.

Eight out of 10 COVID deaths in the U.S. are seniors, aged 65 or older, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control.

Up to 70 percent of COVID hospitalizations are of people aged 85 and older.

The molecular impacts of COVID infections also increase the risk of depression and vulnerability to other illnesses for elderly people.

And though only .06 percent of the U.S. population lives in nursing homes, more than 43,000 deaths and 210,000 infections have occurred in long-term care facilities, accounting for about 40 percent of all COVIDrelated deaths.

“If you can take your family members home right now, that would be the best thing you could do,” said Dr. Charlene Harrington, a gerontologist and professor of nursing at the University of California, San Francisco, at a June 12 briefing organized by Ethnic Media Services.

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Rapper CEO and Executive Editor Maria Ressa spoke on a panel on the first night of Los Angeles’ Press Freedom Week on last September 16, 2019.

AJPress photo by Christina M. Oriel

Palace: Ressa, Santos can seek probation to avoid jail time

by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

MALACAÑANG on Tuesday, June 16, said Rappler executive editor and chief executive officer Maria ResDINE-IN, PLEASE. Customers observe physical distancing while eating at a fast food chain along Timog Avenue, Quezon City on Tuesday, June 16. The sa, and writer Reynaldo Santos Jr. can apply for probagovernment has allowed the resumption of dine-in services but only up to 30 percent capacity, subject to health protocols in areas under the general tion over their cyber libel conviction to avoid jail time. community quarantine starting June 15.

PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler

DOJ to submit review of Nanay Fedelina, human trafficking anti-terrorism bill to Duterte survivor kept by Filipino

by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra Inquirer.net photo

PHILIPPINE Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Tuesday, June 16, said the Department of Justice (DOJ) is on track to submit its report on the anti-terrorism bill to the Office of the President, after it has finished reviewing the proposed measure.

“As scheduled, we finished our brainstorming session yesterday (Monday), examining and inter-relating with one another each and every section of the enrolled anti-terrorism bill,” he said.

“We are drafting our comments today and will send our internal communication to the Office of the President tomorrow (Wednesday, June 17),” he added.

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FilAm Arts town hall illuminates patterns of racism, colorism within Filipino community

by KLARIZE

MEDENILLA AJPress

“WE need to start a conversation.”

For the past few weeks, this has been the party line among Filipino Americans who recognize the deeply rooted racism embedded into the community. Now, they’re having that conversation.

On Saturday, June 13, FilAm Arts hosted a “FilipinX For Black Lives” livestream on Facebook, during which prominent Filipino American writers, journalists, academics and artists started the uphill climb of undoing the complicated ways that the Filipino community either intentionally

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or unconsciously contributes to anti-blackness in flagrant and discreet ways.

Just like the current COVID-19 pandemic, the current upheaval related to reexamining the priorities and purpose of law enforcement in the United States is demarcated by phases. The first phase happened roughly in the immediate aftermath of the unlawful killing of George Floyd

by Minneapolis police officers, an event that shocked the nation and world and catalyzed a global movement to end police brutality.

In a matter of weeks, the movement blossomed from protesting police brutality to tackling the

historic patterns of anti-black racism across public-facing entities and other ethnic communities.

Within the last few days, notable black deaths in California that have been reported as lynchings — Malcolm Harsch, 38, who was found hanging in Victorville and Robert Fuller, 24, in Palmdale — have surfaced, signaling further urgency to address and undo the many, many ways black individuals are persecuted.

Over the course of two hours, panelists discussed a wide range of topics ranging from the effects of colonialism to contemporary microaggressions “Making sure Filipinos educate other Filipinos and under-

stand that this task of undoing antiblackness doesn’t rest solely and squarely on the shoulders of African Americans,” Janet Stickman, professor and spoken word artist, said in the opening of the livestream that spanned two hours.

Rather than cower defensively and sidestep the opportunity to right wrongs, it is imperative that Filipino Americans take a hard look at how we react to anti-black racism and the ensuing outcry: do we justify the myth that racism is nonexistent, or do we validate the experiences of black Americans?

Or, the worst-case scenario, do we knowingly act as a buoy to an-

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family for 4 generations in Southern California, dies at 83

by CHRISTINA

M. ORIEL

AJPress

FEDELINA Lugasan, a former domestic worker who spent 65 years enslaved by a Filipino family, died on Thursday, June 11 in Long Beach, California. She was 83.

Fondly known as Nanay Fedelina, Lugasan was hospitalized earlier in the week for respiratory problems associated with COVID19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to the Pilipino Workers Center (PWC).

PWC, the Historic Filipinotownbased workers’ rights organization, was vital in helping Lugasan adjust to her life of freedom after she was rescued from her employer in 2018. For the past two years, she had been living at a skilled nursing facility in Long Beach.

“As she transitioned into a new life of freedom, Nanay Fedelina has truly helped us understand what it means to be resilient. She did not wallow in what she had been denied, but instead took delight in the chance to experience new adventures like having her first-ever birthday party celebration! In the two years that we have known her, she has transformed from a victim of abuse to an em-

Fedelina Lugasan, 1936-2020 AJPress photo by Noel Ty

powered survivor leader — a symbol of hope to the oppressed and an inspiration to many,” the organization said in a statement.

Originally from Leyte, Philippines, Lugasan had worked since she was 16 years old as a domestic helper for four generations of Benedicta Cox’s family, first in Manila, before they brought her to the United States in 1980 where they settled in Northridge, a city north of Los Angeles.

During her time with the Cox

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A June 17-19, 2020 • SoCal ASIAn JOuRnAL

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

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

SoCal ASIAN JOURNAL • JUNe 17-19, 2020

A

From the Front Page

LA County surpasses 75,000...

PAGE A1 40 years old.

Of those who have died, race and ethnicity information is available for 99% of cases, including 17% of whom were of Asian descent.

Based on the current data, 1,288 people are currently hospitalized — 31% of whom are in the ICU and 25% are on ventilators.

During a press conference on Monday, June 15, Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the state Health and Human Services, said that several counties continue to show a concerning uptick in

cases. These counties include Los Angeles, Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, San Joaquin and Tulare.

Statewide, a total of 153,560 cases and 5,121 fatalities have been reported, as of press time.

The next phase of reopenings includes nail salons, and tattoo and massage parlors starting Friday, June 19 in counties approved by state health officials.

State guidance for nail salons includes workers wearing face shields and googles, recommendations to put partitions between workers and customers, and throwing away supplies like nail

files and buffers after each use.

“Local health officials should decide when the sectors covered by the guidance can resume operations following their review of local epidemiological data including cases per 100,000 populations, rate of test positivity, and local preparedness to support a health care surge, vulnerable populations, contact tracing and testing,” read a news release issued by the state Department of Public Health.

However, LA County officials have not announced when such services will be allowed to proceed yet. n

Palace: Ressa, Santos can seek probation to...

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“I caution Maria Ressa and Mr. Santos. Their penalty is subject to probation. Walang kulong ‘yan (there’s no prison time there). If they want, they can just apply for probation and they can be scot free,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque told CNN Philippines’ “The Source.”

“But when they appeal and they lose their appeal, then they have to serve time because that is what happened to Alex Adonis,” he added, referring to Davaobased broadcaster Alexander Adonis who was imprisoned in 2007 after being convicted of libel for reading on air a tabloid article about then-House Speaker Prospero Nograles’ alleged extramarital encounter.

Ressa and Santos were found guilty of violating Section 4(c)(4) of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, or cyber libel, sentencing them to the indeterminate penalty of imprisonment ranging from six months and one day as a minimum to up to six years, according to the sentence handed down by Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa.

According to Rappler, the court allowed bail under the same bond. It also ordered Ressa and Santos to pay complainant Wilfredo Keng P200,000 in moral damages and another P200,000 (a total of $7,900) in exemplary damages.

Keng in 2017 filed cyber libel charges against the two for nam-

ing him in an article as the owner of a sports utility vehicle (SUV) used by the late Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was then facing impeachment in 2012.

Meanwhile, the court found Rappler Inc. to have no corporate liability in the case.

“A news organization who claims to adhere to accuracy, fairness and balance in terms of reporting, would have retracted, or at the very least issued a clarificatory article if there have been some indications of falsity to its previous article... This clearly shows actual malice,” the court’s decision read. “[T]he court is mandated to decide solely on the basis of the evidence presented by the parties and to apply the law. No more, no less,” it added. “The Courts are tasked to strike a balance between the enforcement of one’s right to speak his mind and the protection of another’s right against defamation of his honor and reputation without regard to the stature of the personalities involved.”

Roque noted that Theodore Te, the legal counsel of Ressa and Santos, failed to present any evidence to disprove malice.

“I read the decision and I was surprised there was no defense evidence offered to prove the absence of malice,” he said.

According to him, the complainant does not have to prove there was actual malice as the law presumes that there was, and it is the burden of the defense to

overcome this presumption.

“They only presented two witnesses and there was really no witness who took the stand to say that they went out of their way to verify their facts. They accused a private individual of being a criminal. They should have at least gotten public records to indicate that he was in fact a criminal,” Roque pointed out.

Ressa to continue fighting Ressa, considered a vocal critic of the Duterte administration, said the verdict was as she expected.

“It is a blow to us. But it is also not unexpected,” she said in a press conference following the verdict.

“I appeal to you, the journalists in this room, the Filipinos who are listening, to protect your rights. We are meant to be a cautionary tale. We are meant to make you afraid. But don’t be afraid. Because if you don’t use your rights, you will lose them,” she added.

Ressa, who was among four journalists named Time magazine Person of the Year in 2018, also vowed to continue fighting.

“Freedom of the press is the foundation of every single right you have as a Filipino citizen. If we can’t hold power to account, we can’t do anything,” she said.

“Are we going to lose freedom of the press? Will it be death by a thousand cuts, or are we going to hold the line so that we protect the rights that are enshrined

BIKE TO WORK. Cyclists stop at the red traffic light at the corner of Edsa and Quezon Avenue in Quezon City on Monday, June 15. The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) have started to put up a designated bicycle lane at the major thoroughfare as more workers travel through bicycles due to limited public transportation.

PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler

DOJ to submit review of anti-terrorism bill...

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President Rodrigo Duterte earlier gave the DOJ until June 17 to submit its report on the controversial bill.

“I am confident that the President will wait for and consider not only the comments of the DOJ but also those of other government agencies whose comments were requested by the Office of the Executive Secretary,” Guevarra said.

He also said that the communication is classified as highly confidential, so there is no guarantee the review would be accessible to the public.

“We’ll leave it to the Office of the Executive Secretary to decide if they would publicly disclose the basis of whatever action the president would take on the bill,” Guevarra added.

Malacañang, for its part, said Duterte “is inclined” to sign the proposed amendments on the country’s anti-terrorism bill.

“He [Duterte] spoke and rhetorically, he said he was waiting for Senator [Panfilo] Lacson to finish his commas and his periods, but that was rhetorical because of course the road bill is PAGE A4 now on his desk. Let’s just say

that he is taking a final look at it and I think he is inclined to sign it,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.

He added that Duterte is now awaiting for the DOJ’s input on the proposed bill.

The anti-terrorism bill, which seeks to strengthen the Human Security Act of 2007, grants any law enforcer the capacity to arrest and detain without warrant “a person suspected of committing any of the acts” punishable under the measure for 14 calendar days, extendable by 10 days. The suspected “terrorist” can also be placed under surveillance for 60 days, extendable by up to 30 more days, by the police or the military.

Acts punishable under the bill include: • Engaging in acts intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to any person, or endangers a person’s life; • Engaging in acts intended to cause extensive damage or destruction to a government or public facility, public place, or private property; • Engaging in acts intended to cause extensive interference with, damage, or destruction to

critical infrastructure; • Developing, manufacturing, possessing, acquiring, transporting, supplying or using weapons; and • Releasing of dangerous substances, or causing fire, floods or explosions.

Any person who will propose, incite, conspire, participate in the planning, training, preparation, and facilitation of a terrorist act; as well as those who will provide material support to terrorists, and recruit members in a terrorist organization will also be penalized by life imprisonment without the benefit of parole.

Meanwhile, anyone who will threaten to commit terrorism, and those who will propose any terroristic acts or incite others to commit terrorism will suffer imprisonment of 12 years.

This also goes for anyone who will voluntarily and knowingly join any organization, association or group of persons knowing that such is a terrorist organization.

Duterte has 30 days to act on the legislation or else the bill will lapse into law 30 days after receipt. n

A June 17-19, 2020 • SoCal ASIAn JOuRnAL

Dateline USa

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

FilAm Arts town hall illuminates patterns...

Ambassador Romualdez shakes hands with Nanay Fedelina, an 83-year-old woman who was granted freedom in 2018 after being trafficked and abused by a Filipino family for 65 years, during a meeting at the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 15, 2019. She was joined by Consul Genral Adelio Cruz, Pilipino Workers Center operations manager Malou Villacisneros and Executive Director Aquilina Soriano Versoza.

Photo courtesy of Benjamin Garcia-Ascue/Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles

Nanay Fedelina, human trafficking survivor...

PAGE A1

family, Lugasan did not receive any days off and was not paid for her work, which included household chores and taking care of the children and then grandchildren, as previously reported by the Asian Journal.

Lugasan’s passport, birth certificate, and other important documents were taken away from her, and she was subjected to physical and verbal abuse through the years. She also slept on the floor at the house, according to previous reports.

When Cox was hospitalized, Lugasan kept a close watch and stayed by her bedside. Lugasan barely slept or ate for several days, leading her vomiting and collapsing. A nurse at the hospital alerted law enforcement, which resulted in the FBI searching Cox’s residence and the eventual rescue of Lugasan in 2018.

The FBI alerted the Philippine Consulate General in LA, the Asian Pacific Islander Human Trafficking Task Force, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, and PWC about Lugasan’s case.

PWC had estimated that through her decades of work, Lugasan’s back wages come to about $1.6 million, using California’s minimum wage at the time she began employment with the Cox family in 1980.

Despite the working conditions over the decades, Lugasan forgave her employer. Cox was

Fedelina Lugasan (2nd from right) reunited with family members (L-R), her granddaughter Chrystine Abcede, older sister Leonila Cinco and niece Luz Alabado, at the Pilipino Workers Center in early March after they secured visas to come to the United States.

AJPress photo by Noel Ty

For the first time, Lugasan celebrated her birthday last July 2019 when she turned 83 years old with members of the Pilipino Workers Center and the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles.

Photo courtesy of Pilipino Workers Center

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put on house arrest in 2019, sentenced to probation for five years and ordered to pay $101,119.98 in restitution. Cox died about six months into the arrest.

As Lugasan relished in her newfound freedom, she also became an advocate for anti-human trafficking efforts and lent her voice to the plight of modern day slavery.

Last fall, Lugasan met Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez and expressed her desire to return to her hometown and see if her siblings or other relatives were still alive.

Because she was under a T visa for victims of human trafficking, Lugasan was unable to go back to the Philippines. However, the Philippine Consulate and Embassy helped expedite the process of securing a U.S. visa for her older sister Leonila Cinco, who is the only surviving sibling.

Cinco, together with her daughter Luz Albado and granddaughter Chrystine Abcede, arrived in Los Angeles at the beginning of March. The family spent 10 days sightseeing and making up for lost time with Lugasan before â&#x20AC;&#x153;She epitomized the hardworking Filipino who sought greener pastures abroad, but was victimized by cruel and heartless people. I console myself with the fact that in the end, even for a fleeting moment, she obtained justice, happiness and and freedom from her employers paving the way to reconnect with her loved ones even for two short weeks,â&#x20AC;?

Philippine Consul General Adelio Cruz told the Asian Journal.

Lugasan was the center of a documentary by The Filipino Channelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s newscast Balitang America, entitled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Kept: Six Decades of Servitude,â&#x20AC;? which won a Northern California Emmy in the human interest category on Sunday, June 7.

Steve Angeles, the writer and producer of the documentary, told the Asian Journal that in the process of capturing Lugasanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story, he noticed how â&#x20AC;&#x153;she went from a frail, timid, woman, who showed the telltale signs of human trafficking, into a healthy, strong advocate speaking out against human trafficking as she shared her stories.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the end, Keptâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main mission is to shed light and put a face on human trafficking. We are all blessed that she was alive, and open enough to share her story for the greater good. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a heartbreaking, but often too common topic that we do news about.

While Nanay is physically gone, her stories and advocacies will live on,â&#x20AC;? Angeles said.

Memorial details for Lugasan have yet to be announced. n

PAGE A1 tiblackness?

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and immigration advocate Jose Antonio Vargas acknowledged the psychological and emotional difficulties in coming to terms with community-wide patterns of antiblackness and colorism, pontificating on the overvalue the community gives to the superficial. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We can talk about what makes us proud about our culture and our people, but declaring that black lives matter in a culture that idolizes white skin requires selfexamination,â&#x20AC;? Vargas explained, calling for a community-wide devaluing of entertainers, Miss Universe contestants and materialism that, instead, uplifts Filipino academics, intellectuals and activists.

The root of anti-blackness within the Filipino community isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t centered around an exact moment in history. Rather, it manifested slowly from the colonial periods when imperialists would stir up colorist attitudes about dark skin and fair skin, according to Dada Docot, an assistant professor of anthropology at Purdue University.

Docot added that these attitudes carried over to intercultural relations within the U.S. Navy in which â&#x20AC;&#x153;Filipinos and black people were pitted against each other in a system that was racist to both groups in the first place.â&#x20AC;? Docot shared that in 1932, the head of investment training of the U.S. Navy fomented anti-black sentiments by claiming that Filipino sailors were cleaner and more well-behaved than their black counterparts. According to Docot, this instilled a subconscious desire for approval from and alignment with white Americans, a seed that sowed the model minority myth.

For children who have both Filipino and black ancestry, these issues present a critical quandary. Within the Filipino community are a significant number of Filipinos who identify as black; one in five Filipino Americans identify as multiracial, according to the United States Census Bureau. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to think through the ways we can incorporate a more diversified [news] feed and how we consume our news,â&#x20AC;? said Stephanie Chrispin, a half Filipina and half Haitian organizer and communications manager.

Crispin recognized the emotional toil itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s taking on non-black folks to re-examine their behaviors, acknowledging that â&#x20AC;&#x153;being anti-racistâ&#x20AC;? and being newly awoken to the horrors of racism â&#x20AC;&#x153;may be exhausting, but for many of us, this is stuff weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been doing our whole lives.â&#x20AC;?

And, again, that starts with reinforcing healthier news and media consumption and expanding the communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s knowledge and awareness of black issues and advocacy. Because Crispin said, it may be exhausting to shine a light on the communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inter-

Filipino American community leaders from all over the world gathered on Saturday, June 13 for a comprehensive conversation on anti-blackness and solidarity.

cultural short-comings, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a cakewalk compared to the real traumas black Americans have faced since the arrival of the first African slaves in 1619.

Vanessa Carr, a civic engagement organizer of LEAD Filipino who is half black and half Filipina, mentioned that â&#x20AC;&#x153;it is incredibly encouragingâ&#x20AC;? to see the Black Lives Matter movement and issues related to it are now topics being discussed across the Filipino community.

Like many other half Filipino and half Black Americans, Carr recounted the microaggressions she faced because of her mixedrace heritage, especially from other Filipinos who reinforced colorist attitudes regarding her skin tone and hair. And even though she credits her parents as encouraging her to embrace both parts of her heritage, the remarks made a lasting impression. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a weird thing to grow up because my parents never discouraged me from loving both sides of myself, but you know there were those in the community whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d make comments that they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t realize would stick to you and hurt you,â&#x20AC;? Carr shared.

Solidarity beyond police brutality Although this is a moment of awakening for the microaggressions and horrors that black folks face, Stickman reminded Filipinos to recognize the accomplishments of black Americans, whose impact on American culture and politics is profound.

The ultimate goal of Filipinos for Black Lives goes beyond rectifying systemic bias and discrimination. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s about recognizing anti-blackness within the Filipino American community, how it contributes to anti-blackness in general and to foster a community that recognizes that black lives matter outside of highly publicized extrajudicial killings. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Please, please donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait until

black people die before you pay attention to our value,â&#x20AC;? Stickman added. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In addition to educating ourselves about the injustice experienced by African Americans over the centuries, it is also important to make sure that we learn and teach about the accomplishments, the contributions, the triumphs, the innovations of black people over centuries as well.â&#x20AC;?

Black culture has been instrumental to Filipino culture, especially. Hip-hop, rap, soul, R&B, rock & roll and other musical genres that have roots in the black community continue to inspire kids of the Filipino diaspora. Moreover, the love of balladeers and the insurmountable value that Filipinos place on singing acumen largely comes from legendary black voices like Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin.

Professional black athletes, especially those in the NBA, are held up as idols the world over â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Kobe Bryantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prolific influence on Filipinos across the world alone speaks volumes of black influence â&#x20AC;&#x201D; while contemporary gay and drag culture owes its prosperity to the black queer community and the ballroom scene of the 1980s.

Squaring the inextricable impact black culture has made on Filipino culture with the racist tendencies of our less informed community members is a predicament, a kind of collective cognitive dissonance between idolizing and gaining influence from prominent black athletes, artists and celebrities while simultaneously remaining quiet over (or trying to justify) the extrajudicial killings of unarmed black civilians.

In an extended spoken-word sequence, Filipina American DJ and rapper Kuttin Kandi reminded Filipinos â&#x20AC;&#x201D; who engage u PAGE A5

with new policies by states which grant nursing homes immunity from COVID-related lawsuits. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s definitely been negligence involved in many cases,â&#x20AC;? she said, citing inadequate staff and poor infection control.

Dr. Fernando Torres-Gil, director of the Center for Policy Research on Aging at the University of California, Los Angeles Luskin School of Public Affairs, said many hospitals had intentionally discriminated against elderly people in the initial stages of the pandemic, doling out scarce resources such as ventilators to younger people who had longer life expectancies. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Those who were older, those who have various types of disabilities were put at the back of the line, a clear example of ageism,â&#x20AC;? he said.

Torres-Gil, who serves on California Governor Gavin Newsomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Master Plan for Aging advisory committee, said the group has been working to develop new care standards to ensure there is no discrimination based on age and disability.

The committee is also working on proposals that would allocate resources to services that enable elderly people to remain in their homes, rather than living in nursing homes. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m hoping that the silver lining in all this is that the nation will begin to understand that we really need a dramatic expansion of home and community based long-term care and hopefully to educate younger populations that they too will be old someday, and they too will face a variety of physical limitations and disabilities,â&#x20AC;? said Torres-Gil. Dr. Farida Sohrabji, Regents Professor and Interim Head, Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, Texas A&M College of Medicine, discussed the molecular impacts of a COVID infection on depression and an increased vulnerability to other illnesses.

People in nursing homes have been forced to self isolate, she said, noting that several studies have linked social isolation as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, including heart attacks and strokes.

Social isolation also increases the symptoms of autoimmune diseases, said Sohrabji, a neuroscientist whose area of interest is womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health and strokes. It also increases the level of cortisol, a stress hormone.

Cytokines, proteins meant to help resolve the virus, actually work in a â&#x20AC;&#x153;slash and burnâ&#x20AC;? manner, killing off other things besides virus-affected cells, said Sohrabji.

The COVID virus enters the body via the nose, which is somewhat exposed to the brain. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So the virus can actually end up in the brain, especially in a particular portion called the olfactory system, which is very, very strongly implicated with depression,â&#x20AC;? said Sohrabji.

Like Harrington, Sohrabji also suggested taking elderly people out of situations where they are socially isolated. If they must remain there, she recommended engaging with them over platforms such as Zoom.

Erika Hartman, chief program officer at the Downtown Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Center in Los Angeles, said elderly homeless women have been hit hard by the COVID 19 pandemic.

In recent months, there has been a 20 percent increase in the number of elderly homeless people, she said. The situation is especially acute for older women of color, who are experiencing poverty rates that are almost double that of white women.

A womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life expectancy dramatically drops once she becomes un-sheltered, Harman noted. Women live on average to age 83; homeless women live on average to age 48, while homeless men live to 51. (Sunita Sohrabji/Ethnic Media Services)

Experts: If you have relatives in a nursing...

PAGE A1 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nursing homes have really been the center of the pandemic,â&#x20AC;? said Dr. Tung Nguyen, a professor of internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

More than 20 percent of nursing homes reported they have less than a one week supply of personal protective equipment due to delays in delivery of supplies promised by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Nguyen, who also serves as the director of the Asian American Research Center on Health.

Though women disproportionately make up the majority of the population at nursing homes, older men overall have the greater proportion of deaths from COVID. For example, seniors in the U.S. between the ages of 65 and 74 had a COVID death ratio of 75 deaths for every 100,000 males, and 39 deaths for every 100,000 females, according to a study by Global Health 5050.

Over the past 20 years, there has been declining quality of care at nursing homes, 70 percent of which are for-profit facilities, said Harrington. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Before the virus hit, three-fourths of all the nursing homes in the U.S. had inadequate registered nurse staffing levels, and 63 percent had infection control violations.

So then when the virus hit, it definitely has spread like wildfire through nursing homes,â&#x20AC;? she said.

There has been inadequate testing of staff and residents at nursing homes, said Harrington, noting that almost half of those infected with COVID are asymptomatic. Staff are largely lowwage workers who lack health insurance and sick pay, and thus are reluctant to stay home if they become ill. Many work more than one job, thus the virus can spread to many facilities.

Harrington said she disagreed

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Dateline USa

SoCal ASIAN JOURNAL • JUNe 17-19, 2020

A

Philippine Consulate in LA resumes...

PAGE A1

FACE-TO-FACE ENROLMENT. Parents wait in front of the gate of Quezon City High School along Scout Ybardolaza St. in Quezon City on Monday, June 15. The Department of Education (DepEd) has allowed the conduct of “physical” enrolment in schools starting next week subject to health protocols such as wearing of face masks and safe physical distancing measures.

PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler

Palace: Ressa, Santos can seek probation to...

PAGE A3 in our constitution?” she added.

“We’re at the precipice. If we fall over we’re no longer a democracy.”

Meanwhile, Amal Clooney, her lawyer, said the verdict was “an affront to the rule of law, a stark warning to the press, and a blow to democracy in the Philippines,” The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Philippine authorities to not contest Ressa and Santos’ appeals and recommended that the cyber libel law be reformed “to ensure that members of the press do not face jail time for their work,” the organization said in a statement.

“We call on the Philippine authorities not to contest Maria

Ressa and Reynaldo Santos’ appeals and to stop their campaign of legal harassment against Rappler and other independent media outlets,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “The criminal prosecution of journalists for their work has no place in a country that purports to be a democracy.”

Malacañang, in response, dismissed Ressa’s claims as “without basis.”

“Wala pong basehan iyan (That has no basis), she is barking at the wrong tree. Sinuportahan po ni presidente si Alexander Adonis noong siya ay nagpunta sa UN Human Rights Committee. Ano pa po ang kinakailangang ebidensiya na isa sa pinakamalakas na sup-

porter ng freedom of expression at freedom of the press ay ang presidente (The president supported Alexander Adonis when he went to the UNCHR. What other evidence do you need to prove that the president is the biggest supporter of freedom of expression and freedom of the press)?” Roque said.

“Hindi po Presidente ang nasa likod sa panunupil diumano ng kalayaan nang malayang pananalita at pamamahayag. Iyan po ay desisyon ng ating Korte Suprema sa panahon pa ni Presidente Noynoy Aquino (The president is not behind efforts to curtail free speech and free press. That is the decision of the Supreme Court during the term of President Noynoy Aquino),” Roque added. n

FilAm Arts town hall illuminates patterns...

PAGE A3 in these universal avenues, especially hip-hop and rap, paved by black creatives and athletes — of the historical significance of the genre that goes beyond certain aesthetics.

“We are merely guests, invited to contribute to hip hop culture, which means we have a responsibility to do justice by hop-hop as was created during a time of oppression upon black and brown youth of the South Bronx,” the DJ preached, adding that affirmation of black lives and the identity intersections therein is the only way forward.

“It means that for those of in hip-hop, we must be pro-black and co-conspirators to black liberation movements as well as the anti-homophobic, antitransphobic, anti-queerphobic, anti-ableist, anti-fatphobic,” she continued. “This is about the movement for black lives, this is about how we leave love for ourselves and one another with a righteous rage alongside our black siblings, for their freedom and for our collective liberation.”

Reversing racist tendencies is an uphill battle that requires the whole of the community’s effort, each panelist explained. Once

we have recognized what antiblackness looks like, then we can move forward by keeping each other in check and calling out relatives and friends when they exhibit anti-black behaviors and attitudes. And, through that, we can stand confidently in solidarity with the black community.

“At this historic moment, what does it look like and feel like in some way to engage those parts of our culture? What are each of us with our own privileges willing to risk? How uncomfortable are we willing to get?” Vargas posed. n

this, we have shortened the time we stay at the office to protect the health and safety of both the public and our personnel.”

Cruz added that the consulate will no longer accept walk-ins “regardless of circumstance.

The services available by appointment are passport and travel document issuance, dual citizenship, consular notarization, and SSS services. Meanwhile, the services by mail are reports of birth, marriage and death, consular mortuary certificate.

The Consulate said that visas for foreign nationals and overseas voting registration have not resumed, as of press time.

To further minimize physical contact, the Consulate is encouraging the public to bring their own pens, exact change (cash, cashier’s check or money order) and photocopies of documentary requirements to minimize time spent inside the community hall.

Appointments can be made on Philippine Consul General Adelio Cruz dons a mask and face shield at the Consulate office in the website www.philippinecon- Los Angeles ahead of its reopening. sulatela.org. (AJPress) Photo courtesy of Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles

A June 17-19, 2020 • SoCal ASIAn JOuRnAL

OpiniOn & Features

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Stranded by the pandemic

THE unprecedented community quarantines have given the government an indelible lesson: if you want to keep people off the streets or drastically curb human mobility, stop mass transportation.

Unfortunately for the majority of Filipinos with no private cars, the restriction also means being stranded and unable to go home. In the early days of the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon, many opted to walk from Metro Manila to neighboring provinces, even if it meant sleeping on the road for several days while dodging arrest for breaching ECQ rules.

Many more, however, were stuck, mostly in Metro Manila, with no place to stay. With their meager funds soon depleted, they had to beg for food. Even those who were offered transportation to return home were advised by the local government units in their hometowns to stay away, for fear that the returning residents might be carriers of killer pathogens. Their ranks swelled so much that a phrase was coined to describe them: locally stranded individuals, or LSIs. Michelle Silvertino became the face of the LSIs. Intent on returning to her four children in Bicol, the 33-year-old left her job as a housemaid in

Antipolo, Rizal and stayed for five days in a footbridge in Pasay as she hoped to get a bus ride to Calabanga in Camarines Sur. She died of a respiratory affliction on June 5.

How many other Silvertinos are still out there?

While overseas Filipino workers displaced by the pandemic are getting all the help from government to return to the Philippines, LSIs have been left to fend for themselves as they wait for flights, bus or ship rides back to their hometowns. Many have been forced to live in the streets and resort to begging.

The LSIs have families waiting for them back home. A number of them are hoping to find work or livelihood opportunities outside Metro Manila amid the pandemic. They deserve assistance from the government. Proper coordination among LGUs and the Department of Social Welfare and Development could prevent more tragedies like the one that befell Michelle Silvertino. (Philstar. com)

Editorial

Philstar.com photo

Maria Ressa found guilty of cyber libel: A dangerous precedent not only for journalists but for everyone online?

The Fil-Am Perspective Gel SantoS-ReloS THE name of veteran journalist and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa evokes both pride and fury among Filipinos in the world, depending on which lens they are wearing as they look at what’s happening in the Philippines, especially during the presidency of Rodrigo Duterte.

Maria Ressa is a multi-awarded Filipino American journalist and author who co-founded the online news organization Rappler and became its chief executive officer.

Ressa was born to Filipino parents in Manila and relocated at the age of 10 with her parents who relocated to Toms River, New Jersey. She graduated cum laude at Princeton University and was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study political theater at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

I first knew about Maria when she co-founded independent production company Probe in 1987, along with Cheche Lazaro, my former professor and chairman of the Department of Broadcast Communication of the University of the Philippines’ College of Mass Communication, where I graduated and worked as an instructor before I became active in the broadcasting industry in Manila.

Maria also served as CNN’s bureau chief in Manila until 1995, and eventually ran the network’s Jakarta bureau from 1995 to 2005, where she specialized in investigating terrorist networks.

I personally worked with Maria when I was already anchoring the news for ABS-CBN’s The Filipino Channel’s daily newscast “Balitang America.” She was director of ABS-CBN News from 2004-2010 and was replaced by my colleague Ging Reyes, former News Bureau Chief of ABS-CBN’s North America Bureau when Maria decided not to renew her contract.

Maria Ressa established the online news site Rappler in 2012. Rappler is a pioneering online news portal in the Philippines and has received numerous local and international awards. Maria and Rappler’s most recent and notable awards were: - November 2017, Ressa, as the CEO of news organization Rappler : 2017 Democracy Award by the National Democratic Institute to three organizations at its annual Democracy Award Dinner in Washington, D.C., entitled “Disinformation vs.

Democracy: Fighting for Facts” - June 2018: Ressa was the recipient of the World Association of Newspapers’s Golden Pen of Freedom Award for her work with Rappler - December 2018: Ressa was included in Time’s Person of the Year 2018, as one of “The Guardians”, a collection of journalists from around the world combating the “War on Truth”. Ressa is the second Filipino to receive the title after former President Corazon Aquino in 1986.

- April 2019: Ressa was included in Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World

- May 2019: Ressa won the Columbia Journalism Award from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, the school’s highest honor, “for the depth and quality of her work, as well as her courage and persistence in the field.”

- June 2019 : Ressa received the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s Tribute honour, which recognizes a journalist who has made an impact on the international stage - October 2019: Ressa was named in the list of BBC 100 Women ALL OF THESE achievements and awards did not earn the trust and respect of President Rodrigo Duterte’s allies and supporters.

On social media, they are furious about Ressa, called her fake news queen and said she deserves to be in jail along with another Duterte critic, Senator Laila de Lima. They would always post as “proof” Ressa mistakenly stating in an interview with ABC News Australia that ABS-CBN has 11 million employees who will suffer as a result of the shutdown of the network [instead of 11 thousand]. Maria later apologized for this error.

For them, the guilty verdict handed down by Manila court Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montessa on the cyber libel case against Ressa, and former Rappler reporter Rappler Reynaldo Santos Jr. is a reason to celebrate, especially after this verdict followed the shutdown of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation just a few weeks ago.

Is the Philippines really independent?

Street Talk GReG B. MacaBenta ON June 12, 1998, Filipinos the world over commemorated the first centennial of Philippine independence, based on the establishment of the Philippine Republic by Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo on June 12, 1898 from the balcony of his home in Kawit, Cavite.

To generate proper observance in America of the centennial, I accepted a pro bono appointment as deputy executive director for the US of the Philippine Centennial Commission.

My dear friend, the late Louie Morales, was executive director and former Vice President Salvador “Doy” Laurel was chairman.

Both were appointed by President Fidel V. Ramos.

Some folks questioned the historical accuracy of the event.

They pointed out that the Kawit declaration of independence was never recognized by the United States, which had assumed sovereignty over the Philippines by virtue of the Treaty of Paris,

signed with Spain on December 10, 1898. According to them, Philippine independence was granted by the U.S. on July 4, 1946.

Of course, the counter to that was Republic Act 4166, passed during the tenure of President Diosdado Macapagal, which officially recognized Aguinaldo’s Kawit declaration on June 12, 1898 as Araw ng Kalayaan – making this year’s observance the 122nd.

However, to avoid any arguments, in the AT&T advertising campaign that I created for the event, I referred to it as the First Centennial of the Declaration of Philippine Independence. I also used the term Araw ng Kasarinlan, which is the more faithful Tagalog equivalent of Independence Day – Araw ng Kalayaan literally means Freedom Day. At any rate, to this day, “Philippine independence” continues to be a favorite topic among nationalists and intellectuals, as well as hair-splitters and corner store philosophers. It is debated on the basis of chronology and terminology, “economic independence” and “military selfsufficiency,” and such esoteric issues as “freedom from hunger” and “freedom from fear.”

Indeed, listening to all the arguments, defining “Philippine independence” can be elusive, just as is the more proper date of its observance. The joke is that who wins the argument often depends on who buys the drinks.

I think it will help to set all the issues in historical context.

Just as the U.S. did not recognize the Kawit declaration of independence, Aguinaldo and his fellow revolutionaries also refused to recognize the validity of the Treaty of Paris and American sovereignty.

They believed they had a good reason for this.

On August 23, 1896, Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan launched the Philippine revolution against Spain. By 1897, Aguinaldo and his forces had begun to wear down the Spaniards. Spain also had its hands full with the Cuban struggle for independence, which started in February 1895.

In July 1897, sensing a weakening of the enemy, Aguinaldo declared the Philippine Republic of Biak-na-Bato, framed a Constitution, and issued several demands to the Spanish government, among them, the expulsion of the friars and return of the

For Duterte, his allies and supporters, this decision is justice at work, and a vindication for all the critical reporting of both Rappler and ABS-CBN of President Duterte, especially when it comes to his war on drugs and his alliance with the Chinese government. The Duterte adminstration, and especially the president himself, had been very vocal against both news organizations [plus Philippine Inquirer], and had made multiple efforts to threaten their closure both judicially and extra-judicially.

For those in the Duterte camp, such relentless critical reporting is fake news and politically motivated, and not an exercise of the free and independent press’ sacred obligation to hold the country’s public officials accountable, especially the President, whose position has been accorded by the Constitution power and public trust that when abused, may again subject the Filipino people to the oppression and tyranny of the Marcos dictatorship.

The Duterte administration has called the public to respect the court’s decision and maintained that Duterte “has never been behind any effort to curtail press freedom in the country.”

They contended that this was a case filed by a private citizen who was aggrieved by Rappler and the president does not have a hand on it.

But according to an October 2019 report by Rappler, “Duterte gives Wilfredo Keng’s daughter a government post...Patricia C. Keng is appointed member of

the Philippine Commission on Women by President Rodrigo Duterte, who claimed he did not know her father, the businessman who filed a cyber libel case against Rappler.”

“In an email to Rappler on Tuesday, October 8, PCW confirmed that the ‘Patricia Anne C. Keng’ named PCW member is the same Patricia Keng who ran as a nominee of the Wow Pilipinas party list in the May 2019 elections. This Patricia Keng is the daughter of Wilfredo Keng, as he said in a September 18 affidavit.”

Cyber libel case vs Rappler As ABS-CBN News online reported, Rappler CEO Maria Ressa was on Monday, June 15 found guilty of cyber libel over a 2012 article that linked a businessman to alleged illegal activities. In a report before the guilty verdict, Ressa said in jest, “Essentially, if we do lose the case, it would be because someone in Rappler fixed a typo.”

The article in question was published on May 29, 2012 — less than four months BEFORE Republic Act No. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act was signed into law on September 12, 2012 by former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino.

In indicting Ressa, Santos and Rappler in February 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) admitted the 2012 article is not covered by the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, which punishes cyber libel with a heavier penalty.

However, the DOJ argued that when the 2012 article was “re-

published” in February 2014, it became subject to the new Cybercrime law with the correction of the typographical error: from “evaTion” to “evaSion.”

To understand this cyber libel case, let me share with you how ABS-CBN explained and reported just before the verdict came out: Malice is an essential element of libel.

The general rule under the Revised Penal Code is that “Every defamatory imputation is presumed to be malicious, even if it be true, if no good intention and justifiable motive for making it is shown.”

But it provides for 2 exceptions: a private communication in the performance of a legal, moral or social duty; and a fair and true report, in good faith, without any comments or remarks.

The defense said the article was a “fair and true report without any additional personal defamatory statements” and that they merely quoted an intelligence report and a report from the Philippine Star.

But the prosecution said the intelligence report cited was “unconfirmed” and Mr. Keng was not asked about his supposed involvement in murder, human trafficking, sale of illegal drugs or illegal smuggling.

They also took issue with the statement: “The document also said Keng was involved in a murder case for which he was ‘never jailed.’ It could be referring to the death of Manila Councilor

friar lands to the Filipinos, representation for the Philippines in the Spanish Cortes, freedom of the press and of religion and equality before the law.

Feeling the pressure, the Spanish authorities signed the Pact of Biak-na-Bato on December 15, 1897, by which Spain committed to allow the Filipinos self-rule in 3 years, on condition of a cessation of hostilities, exile in Hong Kong for Aguinaldo and the other leaders of the revolution, and payment to them of P800,00 Mexican pesos. But neither party trusted each other. Aguinaldo was not yet done with the revolution, while Spain only gave a partial payment to the revolutionaries and did not seem inclined to pay the balance.

Meanwhile America had begun to ask itself why the Europeans appeared to have a monopoly on imperialism. Coining the phrase “Manifest Destiny” – meaning that God wanted it to impart its beneficence across the American continent – America mounted an aggressive expansion, in the process taking over large chunks of Mexico.

The U.S. then cast a covetous eye on the Spanish colonies, particularly nearby Puerto Rico and Cuba. Finding a justification for initiating the Spanish-American War (with the mysterious explo-

sion of the USS Maine, docked in Havana), the U.S. dispatched Commodore George Dewey to attack the Spanish armada in Manila on May 1, 1898.

Believing that the U.S. was on their side (he had returned to the Philippines from Hong Kong on board a U.S. warship), Aguinaldo and his forces declared Philippine independence a little over a month later, on June 12, 1898.

But the Americans had other plans. Obsessed with their manifest destiny, America signed the Treaty of Paris with Spain on December 10, 1898, paying the latter $20 million to assume colonial control of the Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Guam.

The Philippines thus became a colony of the United States.

Having fought Spain, the Filipinos found themselves fighting the United States in what the U.S. characterized as a “Philippine insurrection” and what Filipino historians refer to as the Philippine-American War. Of course, history is invariably written from the point-of-view of the victors.

Even Aguinaldo had to acknowledge American dominance. On April 1, 1901, he swore allegiance to the United States.

America turned out to be a benign colonizer. It established

a civil government, appointed Filipinos to high office, including Cayetano Arellano as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, sent Filipino pensionados to the U.S., and set up an American-style educational system with American teachers (known as the Thomasites, because they came over on board the USS Thomas).

Then in 1935, the U.S. established the Philippine Commonwealth. Filipinos trooped to the polls to elect Manuel L. Quezon as President and Sergio Osmeña as Vice President. Members of the National Assembly, a unicameral Legislature, were also elected at the time. This was supposed to be in preparation for granting independence to the Philippines.

But that plan was aborted by the Japanese occupation of the Philippines. Thus, it was not until after the Japanese had been defeated that the U.S. turned its attention to the matter of an independent Philippines.

On July 4, 1946, coinciding with America’s own independence day, the U.S. granted independence to the Philippines.

But this had several strings attached, such as retention of US military bases and parity rights for US citizens and corporations over the country’s natural

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A

Metro Manila to remain under GCQ until June 30 Maria Ressa found guilty of cyber libel...

by Ritchel

Mendiola

AJPress

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has decided to extend the general community quarantine on Metro Manila until June 30, according to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.

Aside from Metro Manila, several areas in Luzon including Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Santiago City in Cagayan Valley (Region 2); Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Tarlac, Olongapo City in Central Luzon (Regoin 3); Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon, or the entire Calabarzon Region (Region 4-A), and Occidental Mindoro in Mimaropa (Region 4-B) will remain under GCQ. In Central Visayas, Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Mandaue City, and Lau-

Lapu City will likewise be under GCQ. Meanwhile, Davao City and Zamboanga City are the areas in Mindanao that will be under GCQ. Cebu City, on the other hand, have been placed back under enhanced community quarantine.

“The increasing number of new cases and widespread community transmission in majority of barangays in the city, as well as consistent case doubling time of less than seven days and significant increase in critical care utilization against critical care capacity were the reasons cited why Cebu City reverted back to ECQ,” Roque said.

“The rest of the country remains under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) until June 30, 2020,” he added.

Roque also said that Metro Manila barely met the requirements to remain under GCQ. “If I were to be candid, Metro Manila barely made the cut and that’s why we remain under GCQ. We’re looking at a seven day doubling case rate, meaning it would take seven days before cases of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) double and [NCR] barely made it to seven days,” he said.

“One thing going for Manila is we have about 30 percent critical care utilization rate, which means we still have about 70 percent capacity in Metro Manila, which explains why the decision was to remain in GCQ,” he added.

Currently, there are 26,781 COVID-19 cases nationwide, including 6,552 recoveries and 1,103 deaths. n

Preliminary probe into Pimentel’s quarantine breach reset anew

by KRistine Joy

Philstar.com

Patag

MANILA — The preliminary investigation into the complaint against Sen. Koko Pimentel for breaching quarantine protocols set on Thursday has again been pushed back to a still undetermined later date.

Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento told reporters on Tuesday that the preliminary probe has been reset. “We ordered complainant to comply with procedural requirements, such as submission of original complaints and attachments,” he added.

Private lawyer Rico Quicho filed his complaint against Pimentel on April 6 via electronic mail. This was during enhanced community quarantine protocols were enforced in Luzon.

In a Facebook post, Quicho said his letter-complaint detailed “clear facts and circumstances that establish his direct violation of Republic Act 11332 and its implementing rules and other [Department of Health] regulations.”

The initial hearing of the preliminary investigation into Quicho’s complaint was tentatively set on May 20. But since Metro Manila continued to be under modi-

Sen. Koko Pimentel

Philstar.com photo

fied ECQ on the said date, it was pushed back to June 18.

Malcontento said that if Quico would not comply with “procedural requirements,” the prosecution will deem the complaint submitted for resolution even without Pimentel’s counter-affidavit.

“If he (Quicho) will not comply, no need to counter because the respondent is entitled to get all evidence against him,” Malcontento said.

“The prosecutor can decide based on what is available,” he added.

PAGE A6

Chika Go in 2002 where Keng had been identified as a mastermind.” The last sentence, they said, is a comment and not a fair and true report.

The prosecution also said Rappler did not take down the story and did not publish a new story based on Keng’s evidence.

The defense said an article was drafted but due to an editorial decision, the subsequent article was not published. They also said Keng’s side was published in the published article.

The judge convicted Ressa and Santos but not Rappler. They could face between six months and six years in prison and must also pay almost $8,000 in damages, the court ruled. After handing down the guilty verdict, Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa said “freedom of the press could not be used as a “shield”.

As Reuters reported, “the court ruling said Rappler showed “actual malice” for not publishing at least a clarification after Keng complained.

Ressa and Santos will remain on bail they previously posted and have been given 15 days to consider their next move, according to their counsel, former Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te, in the ABS-CBN News report.

“Obviously legal steps forward would include questioning the decision and the appropriate proceeding. We still have to meet, we’ll have to go over the decision carefully,” he said.

Rappler issued a statement after the verdict:

The order was mailed to the complainant last week, the prosecutor general said. He was given ten days to comply within receipt of order.

Should Quicho comply with DOJ order and submit a physical copy of the complaint and pieces of evidence, then Pimentel will be given time to refute the allegations.

“Definitely he (Pimentel) will be given a period to answer. It will be through submission of affidavits and evidence only. No need for face to face hearings,” Malcontento also said.

Pimentel’s quarantine breach The Makati Medical Center previously admonished Pimentel for PAGE A6 breaking its containment protocol when he brought his then-preg- resources, among other onerous nant wife to the hospital while he conditions. An article by Alan was waiting for the results of his Berlow in the Los Angeles Times COVID-19 test, which turned out described the event as “The Independence Day That Wasn’t.” to be positive.

Filipino nationalists eventuPimentel has since apologized for breaking the hospital’s con- ally persuaded President Diosdado Macapagal to designate tainment protocols.

MMC said they “noted” Pimen- June 12, 1898 as Philippine Independence Day, by virtue of tel’s apology.

The NBI also said in April that Republic Act 4166. July 4th has they are conducting a fact-find- since been nominally observed ing investigation into Pimentel, as Philippine-American Friendbut has yet to release an update ship Day. But it would take more decades on this. n

This decision is historic. It was handed down during a pandemic, with community quarantine restrictions still in place.

It is the first verdict on one of the many court cases lodged against Rappler since President Rodrigo Duterte became president in 2016. It comes just 3 days after the country commemorated its 122nd year of independence. And it convicts a journalist, Maria Ressa – among TIME Magazine’s 2018 Person the Year awardees – and a former researcher-writer Rey Santos Jr over a case built on flimsy ground: a corrected typographical error.

They used it as basis to make an incredible claim about “republication” of an article that was, in truth, published before the cybercrime law was enacted.

This creative reinterpretation and twisting of the law became grounds to prosecute this case, filed 5 long years after the publication of a story about the late former chief justice Renato Corona and his ties to businessman Wilfredo Keng.

Today’s verdict sets a dangerous precedent not only for journalists but for everyone online.

It weakens the ability of journalists to hold power to account as the one-year prescription period of libel is extended to 12 years.

Even before the cybercrime law took effect, Filipino journalists and press freedom advocates had been pushing for the decriminalization of libel. This ruling, coupled with the cybercrime law, has made the space for a free press, free speech, and free

expression even tighter and narrower.

The decision today marks not the rule of law, but the rule of law twisted to suit the interests of those in power who connive to satisfy their mutually beneficial personal and political agenda. Today marks diminished freedom and more threats to democratic rights supposedly guaranteed by the Philippine Constitution, especially in the context of a looming anti-terrorism law.

We call on our media colleagues, our community, and other advocates of a free and independent press to be vigilant and vocal now more than ever.

This is not just about Maria or Rey or Rappler. This is about fundamental rights of every citizen who refuses to be intimidated by the powerful who do wrong and whom they dare criticize and expose.

Journalists are not exempt from the law. We are law-abiding citizens too. Despite the rage in our hearts, we will follow the judicial process and elevate the case to the Court of Appeals and, if need be, to the Supreme Court. #CourageOn #DefendPressFreedom #HoldTheLine *** 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.

Is the Philippines really... before the other strings, such as the presence of the U.S. military bases, could be untied. Even now, the Philippines is said to be attached to America, in the economic and military context. This prompted author Leon Wolff to call the Philippines, America’s Little Brown Brother in his book of the same title.

Does that make Philippine independence “not genuine”?

Like the proverbial fellow who is “a legend in his own mind,” is Philippine independence only in our mind?

But then, in a world dominated by the global powers, including an emerging China, how are we to characterize the smaller countries in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia that depend on the giants? And what about Israel? Are these countries also not independent?

That is obviously another topic for hair-splitters and corner store philosophers to argue over. Of course, whoever buys the drinks wins. * * * (gregmacabenta@hotmail.com)

A June 17-19, 2020 • SoCal ASIAn JOuRnAL

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

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How Fil-Am moms approach current events, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;the talkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; with their half-black kids by

Christina M. Oriel / AJPress

AS protests continue across the United States for a third straight week, families are finding themselves having uncomfortable, yet crucial conversations about race, injustice and police brutality.

For many multicultural Filipino American families, these discussions are not new, but the latest events have renewed the national discourse and awareness around the systemic issues that disproportionately affect black Americans.

In her book â&#x20AC;&#x153;Raising Multicultural Children: Tools for Nurturing Identity in a Racialized World,â&#x20AC;? Farzana Nayani, a Filipina-Pakistani diversity, equity and inclusion specialist, made an argument for normalizing multiraciality and talking about race in a positive, nonstigmatized manner.

However, she recommended approaching the conversations holistically and with historical context to prevent children from gathering stereotypes or incomplete depictions of race from external influences. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Conversations about race without talking about systemic inequity present an incomplete picture of reality and can do harm because they can leave children unprepared when facing challenges or new awareness to

societal issues. It is important to teach our children and others around us how generations of systemic oppression and current unconscious bias, negative stereotyping, and explicit discrimination can and do happen due to race,â&#x20AC;?

Nayaniâ&#x20AC;Żwrote.

For Jennifer Taylor, a mother of two daughters ages 22 and 19 and one 17-yearold son in Arcadia, California, the self-education on raising a biracial family began as early as when she was pregnant with her first child to anticipate future questions and curiosity about being both Filipino and black. Through the years, she and her husband have been candid and truthful about American societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s treatment towards black Americans. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have been reading books on interracial and multicultural parenting since I was pregnant with my first child so I knew that the conversation about colorism and their mixed identity had to happen at a young age,â&#x20AC;? Taylor told the Asian Journal. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My husband and I have always been open in conversations and not sheltering the kids from the harsh reality of anti-blackness.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no need to candy coat hate.â&#x20AC;?

One particular book Taylor Continued on Page 2

Jennifer Taylor (second from right) with her children Gregory, 17, Savannah, 22, and Jillian, 19, and husband Rod Contributed photos Monica Alvarez-Mitchell (center) with her family (L-R) daughters Lydia, 21, and Abigail, 14, husband DeRohn, and sons Bryan, 15, and DeRohn Jr., 20.

Maria Hendy (right) with her husband Stuart and their daughter Harmony, and adopted sons, James and Matthew.

Jennifer Fontanilla with her son CJ, age 9.

entertainment

T h e A s ian Jour nal MDW K M A G A Z I NE - J une 17, 2 0 2 0

Stella Abrera, the first Fil-Am principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre, retires after 24-year career

By Christina

M. Oriel

AJPress

Stella Abrera, the first Filipino American principal dancer of the American Ballet Theatre, has retired after 24 years with the classical ballet company.

Under coronavirus-free circumstances, 42-year-old Abrera’s farewell performance would have been the title role of “Giselle” at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York on June 13.

“I always thought my heart would break on this day, and it’s true that it does ache, but I see now that it’s because my heart is so full—it’s bursting with love and gratitude for everyone who has made this twisty, exhilarating, colorful journey I’ve been on, one of which dreams are made,” Abrera wrote in an Instagram post on Monday, June 15. “ABT will forever be in my heart—thank you and farewell.”

Her last performance with the company was “Giselle” at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in February.

Abrera was named artistic director for Kaatsbaan, a cultural park for dance in Tivoli, New York, earlier this year.

“As the artistic director of Kaatsbaan, I began a summer coaching and training initiative for young professional dancers in the ranks of apprentice to year five corps de ballet.

This demographic is kind of a waiting area. They’re paying their dues. I offer two weeks for a small group to work on the pas de deux and solos that they don’t really get to work on during their season. I ask them to choose one dream role, like Juliet or Odette/Odile, and then I also ask them to pick a solo that’s within the realm of their next possible step, such as the Swan Lake pas de trois,” she told Dance Magazine in a recent interview.

The youngest of five children, Abrera and her family moved from the Philippines

Stella Abrera

to South Pasadena, California when she was 4 years old. A year later, she took her first ballet class and has been dancing ever since.

The family moved often because of her father’s work as a civil engineer, which also brought them to San Diego and Sydney, Australia.

She began her studies with Philip and Charles Fuller and Cynthia Young at Le Studio in Pasadena and continued it at the West Coast Ballet Theatre in San Diego when they moved there. She also spent three years studying the Royal Academy of Dancing method with Joan and Monica Halliday at the Halliday Dance Centre in Sydney.

In 1996 at the age of 17, she joined the ABT as a member of the corps de ballet after being an apprentice for a few months. Five years later, she was promoted as a soloist.

“I am so lucky. I had this dream to be a ballerina when I was a little girl and I grew up and became one. Not everyone has that luck, timing wise, but I

Hailee Steinfeld stars as Emily Dickinson in Apple TV+’s “Dickinson.”

Photo from Instagram/@stellaabreradetsky

worked hard and I am grateful,” Abrera said in 2016, as reported by the Asian Journal.

The Fil-Am dancer suffered a crippling back injury in 2010 that threatened to end her blossoming career and sidelined her for 18 months. She returned to the stage and got injured again before recovering and taking the stage six months later.

Abrera debuted in the title role of “Giselle” in 2015 after she filled in for an injured dancer. She then made history when she ascended to a principal dancer role soon after, becoming the first person of Filipino descent to reach the elite ballet company’s highest rank.

“To be honest, it’s mostly the feeling of responsibility, to help inspire the next generation of dancers not only Filipinos but all of them. It warms my heart to see these young Filipina dancers on social media saying that I inspire them.

That’s very heartwarming, and it’s a responsibility that I am happy to take on,” she previously told the Asian Journal.

Photo courtesy of Apple

Actress Hailee Steinfeld’s show ’Dickinson’ wins Peabody Award By ritChel

MenDiOla AJPress

THE Apple TV+ original series “Dickinson,” starring 23-year-old Hailee Steinfeld, recently garnered a Peabody Award for Entertainment.

The series, of which Steinfeld also serves as executive producer, is a historical comedy-drama that revisits the world of famous American poet Emily Dickinson. It also explores the poet’s romantic feelings for best friend Sue Gilbert (Ella Hunt).

“I am so proud to be part of a show that is about such an important woman in history who was way ahead of her time,” Steinfeld said in her acceptance speech, which was posted on her Twitter account on Wednesday, June 10.

She continued, “I’m even more proud to be part of a show that is about fighting for what you believe is right, a show that is about seeing and being seen and understood, and a show that is about seeing everyone as equal.”

The series debuted in November 2019 and was immediately renewed for a second season to be released

later this year.

“Creator Alena Smith lovingly and playfully embraces anachronism, bringing a contemporary sense, sensibility, and soundtrack to 19th-century New England and the world of poet Emily Dickinson. Hailee Steinfeld offers a standout performance in a show that excels at being fun while crackling with energy and wild originality,” praised the Peabody Awards.

Steinfeld stressed the importance of shedding a light on marginalized stories and to fight for equality.

“I believe we must continue to shine a light and celebrate the stories of those who are marginalized and oppressed because by doing so we’re forced to think critically about how far we’ve come but how far we still have to go,” she said, adding, “Their stories matter and it’s so important that we continue to shine a light on these stories and fight for equality.”

“Dickinson” is one of the 10 shows recognized by the award-giving body, beating out almost 1,300 entries from television, radio, podcasts, and other forms of digital media.

“The Peabody Awards has named 30 programs as the most compelling and empowering stories released in broadcasting and digital media during 2019…The Peabody 30 are the best of nearly 1,300 entries submitted from television, radio/podcasts, and the web across the genres of entertainment, news, documentary, children’s and public service programming,” said Peabody Executive Director Jeffrey P. Jones in a statement.

He added, “This year’s winners are a vibrant collective of inspiring, innovative, and powerful stories. True to the spirit and legacy of Peabody, our winners are also distinguished by the presence and resilience of many emerging and diverse voices.”

Steinfeld, who was nominated for an Oscar at the age of 14 for her performance in “True Grit” (2010), traces her Filipino heritage back to her maternal grandfather, Ricardo Domasin, who was half-Filipino.

Aside from her acting career, Steinfeld is a multiplatinum recording artist and released an EP entitled “Half Written Story” in May.

Christopher on mom’s passing, dealing with COVID-19, cancer in family

By Deni rOse M. afiniDaD-BernarDO Philstar.com

AWARD-winning actor Christopher de Leon reflected on experiencing both novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and cancer in the family.

During today’s online teleconference for his ABSCBN drama series “Love Thy Woman,” the COVID-19 survivor shared to Philstar.com how he is coping from the passing of his mom, post-war actress Lilia Dizon, who died of lung cancer complications Monday at 92 years old.

“We were ready for this,” he said.

“She had this lingering cancer several years already.

But she’s already 90 years old so bonus, bonus na ‘yan para sa amin. And now she is in heaven with our Lord God.” Lilia’s only son also explained to the press what he learned from the lockdown.

“I’ll start with my mom.

Cancer is deadlier than what we’re hearing right now. What we’re hearing is more fear than anything else. Of course, this too will pass. I’m more on relying on ‘Ano ba tayo, what we will be, what this taught us in this trying times. Will we be better after this?’”

According to him, the lockdown and his COVID-19 experience made him a better person.

“I’ve been more patient, more loving than anything else. Nicer to situations.

There’s nothing to fear but fear itself. Malalagpasan natin lahat ito. I should be better after this.”

Most importantly, his experiences during the quarantine taught him to love God and his family more as he now uses his time at home in joining online Bible studies and listening to inspirational talks from priests and pastors on Continued on Page 3 Christopher de Leon

ABS-CBN photo

How Fil-Am moms approach...

From Page 1 found helpful to read to her children is “I’m Chocolate, You’re Vanilla: Raising Healthy Black and Biracial Children in a Race Conscious World” by Marguerite Wright. Reaching out to friends and family members who are black has also helped through the years and inspired her and her daughters to start Swirls for Girls, a non-profit organization for multicultural girls and their caregivers in the Los Angeles area.

Monica Alvarez-Mitchell, a mother of four between the ages of 22 to 14 in the New York area, said the awareness of race began around the age of five when her eldest son was in school and a classmate called him black. Experts say the start of schooling is around the time when children begin to ask questions about the differences they perceive in others.

“My son didn’t know that he was black because his skin was light. So it became important that we explained why he was being called black. My son was confused about skin color versus culture,” AlvarezMitchell told the Asian Journal. “We had to explain that cultures define identity and that being black and Filipino was pretty special because we had two cultures to call our own. Despite what anyone says or how they say it, be proud because we were not only equal but in some ways even luckier than others.”

Jennifer Fontanilla, a mom in La Palma, California, similarly said that at the age of 4, her son began asking why his father has a darker skin tone.

Other conversations have come along the way as her son, who is now 9 years old, is more becoming more perceptive of the world around him.

“I had to explain that there are different cultures and races and that that is ok and a beautiful thing because ‘we created you.’ Every stage is different and each conversation is started because of a new encounter of information,” she told the Asian Journal.

While history classes at school cover certain historical moments like slavery, segregation and the civil rights movement, Fontanilla has sought other venues for teaching her son about black history, such as going to museums and watching movies.

“Of course this needs to be appropriate. I remember my son watched ‘Hidden Figures’ with me and it gave him the perspective of how black women were treated in the workplace. What’s important for him to note is how white people mistreated these people based upon the color of their skin and see how life back then included using separate bathrooms and drinking fountains,” she said.

An added layer for black families is “the talk” about what to do and not do when confronted by a police officer.

Taylor said she and her husband spoke to their children when they were preteens about how to manage if they are stopped.

“I don’t remember the exact words, but I do remember that it made me sad and mad enough to secretly excuse myself from the dinner table and cry alone in the bathroom.

I never had those talks as a young Filipina girl. I do know what it feels like to be thought of and treated inhumanely,” Taylor said.

For Alvarez-Mitchell, it was brought up following the death of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old black unarmed teenager who was shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida in 2012. Martin’s death and the acquittal of his murderer subsequently ignited the Black Lives Matter global movement.

Her children were told to be aware of their surroundings, to not be out and about alone, and to stay calm and not escalate a situation if someone is trying to harm them. When her older kids got their driver’s licenses, the conversations shifted to what to do if they get pulled over, which included tips like keeping hands visible and to not fight back with the cops.

“These were very no-nonsense conversations. We simply had to tell them that this is the reality they have to deal with. I remember that they asked questions about what if the cops did this or that,” Alvarez-Mitchell said. “We had to tell them the truth: that a cop can do whatever to them, they simply must take it.

Even if the cop does anything wrong, the only focus is to get away from the cops [and out] of the situation alive.”

Following the more recent deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, families are balancing the collective emotions in the household as well as how they can stand in solidarity and use their voices.

It’s important that parents create a space for their kids to process the events, especially as graphic images and videos are played out online and on the news — including the videos of Arbery and Floyd which have been widely shared.

As children often receive cues from their parents, Fontanilla made it a point to remain calm when reacting to current events and passing the information to her son in terms he could grasp. It also initiated part of “the talk” between the two of them.

“I had to explain that the events are not just stemming from one incident but rather a culmination of what has been happening for centuries. I had to explain about how we are to treat and respect different cultures and that not all cops are bad. If he hears anything that is hurtful, he needs to remember that those are lies and not the truth. I reminded him that it will hurt and I saw that it made him sad as the tears welled up in his eyes. I started introducing the idea to him that he needs to be aware that as a black person, there are things that he needs to take extra precautions on because of his skin color,” Fontanilla said.

Maria Hendy, a mother in Burbank, California, said that while there were no explicit discussions about racism and discrimination through the years, her 19-year-old daughter Harmony is participating in protests and engages in discussions at home about what she sees in the media.

“Now that she is 19 and these protests are going on, she is listening and she has the understanding of the situation. We will watch the news together and she will listen to what her dad will say. She has several friends that are walking [in] the protests and she will tell us that there are some incidents on the protests that are not being shown on TV,” Hendy told the Asian Journal.

As Taylor’s children are

now young adults, they are processing and reacting to the events differently in their own ways, but she and her husband reiterate that they are “strong, smart and resilient.”

“We are having raw conversations about the injustice of being black. One of my kids is angry that her non-black friends and family did not know how much pain black people are in and what has led up to this point. Another one of my kids feels that nothing is going to change and has resigned to life being unfair,” Taylor said. “We are still in the middle of the storm so it is hard to say how we will come out with this. But we are giving our kids the room to express their emotions and individually letting them approach the issue with whatever they feel is best for them.”

While the whirlwind of emotions is valid, AlvarezMitchell’s family is trying to be proactive and see a glimmer of hope in the protests and calls for change.

“We have a myriad of emotions from sad to angry to frustrated to helpless at times. But we accept that this is our reality. So now [we] are trying to focus our efforts on how to create change. We are focused on protesting, educating our social circles of the black American reality and changing the narratives we are seeing from certain media outlets. We are also trying to keep some level of hope through it all,” she said.

On social media, many Fil-Ams have expressed the tough discussions they’ve been having with older relatives about anti-blackness, colorism, colonial mentality and internalized racism.

For biracial Fil-Ams, they have shared encountering microaggressions or ignorant remarks from other Filipinos or even extended family members about the color of their skin or their appearance.

“There are ignorant people who do not understand the damaging effects that are said, and that can come from people you would least expect it to come from. In the Filipino culture, one of the saddest things I have experienced is that there is no tact. Statements are said almost with no regard, [like] ‘You’re taba!’ or ‘Sobrang itim mo!’ The part that is sad is that in our culture, we’re taught to respect our elders. So this makes it difficult when we want to defend what is right, but then that can come off disrespectful when you’re trying to make your point and correct what is wrong,” Fontanilla said.

Alvarez-Mitchell emphasized that their children have the right to respond and express how certain comments have made them feel but to be respectful in the delivery.

It can also be a teaching moment for both parties.

“Stay patient. Family is important. So try to forgive ignorance and focus on love and respect for your family member. Even when you are pushed by them, stay calm,” she said. “When family gets too much to bear, express your feelings. Be firm about how you see things. Never let a family member’s misguided beliefs go without stating your differing point of view. Your voice matters. But remember that you won’t always change their opinion or vice versa.

Just ensure your family does not minimize your opinion or voice.”

U.S. Bank accepting Paycheck Protection Program applications from customers and non-customers through June 19

Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Flexibility Act eases requirements for loan forgiveness WITH funding still available through the Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), U.S. Bank remains committed to helping all customers, as well as non-customers in the 26 states in which the bank has a retail presence, through the application process and will continue to accept applications through June 19.

The deadline will help U.S. Bank bankers and applicants to work through the documentation collection phase prior to June 30, the last day to receive SBA loan approval and qualify for support through the program. Completion of an application by June 19 is not a guarantee of funding.

While the SBA PPP first opened to applicants more than two months ago as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, recent action from Congress and the administration to pass the PPP Flexibility Act has made significant changes to both the origination and forgiveness processes to provide greater

relief for small business owners. These changes include: Extended covered period The Act lengthened the time that businesses have to incur costs to 24 weeks, so they may have more expenses eligible for forgiveness.

More flexibility on covered expenses The new rules require only 60 percent of the forgiveness amount to be used for payroll, while the rest can be used for non-payroll costs such as mortgage interest, rent and utilities.

Extended maturity date and payment deferral period New loans will have a 5-year term. In addition, borrowers will not have to start making payments until the SBA has completed its review of the borrower’s application for loan forgiveness. If the borrower does not apply for loan forgiveness within 10 months after the end of the covered period, payments must begin at that time.

Adjusted requirements for employment levels Additional time for re-

turning to pre-COVID levels of employment and exemptions for some businesses who had to reduce employment levels due to certain regulations.

For a more detail on the changes, applicants are encouraged to visit the SBA PPP site or read the complete joint statement from SBA and the U.S. Department of the Treasury regarding the PPP Flexibility Act. To date, U.S. Bank has secured funding approval for close to 91,000 applicants, totaling more than $7 billion and with the potential to impact more than 840,000 workers across all 50 states and the District of Columbia who are feeling the effects of the economic impact of COVID-19. More than 85% of loans provided by U.S. Bank were for less than $100,000.

To learn more about the program and to access the digital application process please visit usbank.com/PPP. For more information on how U.S. Bank is helping customers impacted by COVID19 visit usbank.com/covid-19.

entertainment T h e As ian Jou r n al MDWK MAGAZ IN E - Ju n e 1 7 , 2 0 2 0

KC confirms having ‘happy’ love life

By Jan

Milo Severo Philstar.com

ACTRESS KC Concepcion opened up about having a “happy” love life.

In an interview with Toni Gonzaga for “I Feel U” last Sunday, June 14, KC said she’s now looking for a serious relationship now that she’s getting older.

“Okay naman ako. May mga kausap ako and thank you Lord na kinikilig ako,” she said.

“Kasi siyempre ang hanap natin ngayon, ‘yung medyo mas deeper. Hindi na ‘yung for play, play. Sasabihin ko sa inyo kapag dumating ‘yun,” she added.

In her interview with Tim Yap recently, KC described her ideal man.

“Somebody that is established, somebody that is respected, somebody that has values that resonate with me, somebody who actually

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Gil on undergoing quarter-life crisis By ricky lo Philstar.com

TURNING 25 in August, Gil Cuerva told Funfare in an exclusive interview that he felt like he’s running out of time.

“I have started experiencing a quarter-life crisis,” he confessed as he reflected on his life while locked down.

It seems much too petty to ascribe it to “parting blues” after he cut the long hair that became an integral part of his identity since time immemorial for his role as a PDEA agent in the just-concluded GMA TV series Beautiful Justice.

Let’s see what is causing the “crisis” in the following candid Q&A. Did you have any second thoughts about cutting your hair?

“I didn’t hesitate that much when it came to having my haircut because I understood that it was needed for the role I was portraying. That being said, I did miss having long hair, and I felt that it gave me a unique look.

But at the end of the day, work comes first, and I will do what is required of me.”

How was the adjustment from “long” to “short”?

“I still find myself putting a hair tie on my wrist a few weeks after getting my hair cut, but eventually, I got used to not needing a hair tie. I also realized shortly after having my haircut that short hair is actually harder to maintain than long hair. When I had long hair, I would usually only account for occasional hair treatments and a trim every few months.

“Now that I have short hair, in order to maintain the look (especially during tapings for a teleserye wherein my hair/ look needs to be the same for continuity) that I have I need to have my hair trimmed about one to two times a month, and I still need to use hair products to style my hair which actually ends up damaging my hair anyways.

I’d say my hair was healthier when it was longer.”

How has life been during this lockdown?

“Recently, I started experiencing a quarter-life crisis of some sort. I’m turning 25 in August, and I feel like I’m running out of time. In the midst of this whole COVID-19 situation, I began to reflect and ponder about my future, not only in the industry, but also about how I could sustain myself, how I could earn enough income to provide for myself and, hopefully, for a family of my own.

KC Concepcion Photo from Instagram/@itskcconcepcion

‘I’m trying to find small ways to improve myself, day by day. I just want to be a better person. I know that I am not perfect but I want to be better today than I was yesterday,’ Gil said.

GMA photo

“Maybe 25 might still be young for a lot of people, but I can’t help but feel like a lot of time was lost and that I could have done more with the years I had in my life. I entered showbiz at an awkward time...I was a 21-year-old model, in the middle of my college studies when the opportunity to enter the industry presented itself. I took the chance, but the opportunity cost me a college degree. I had to put my studies on hold to do showbiz full-time.”

Any regrets about joining showbiz?

“I don’t think so, but after seeing the majority of my friends and batchmates graduate and march on stage to get their diplomas, I can’t help but feel like I missed out on something, especially now that I’m turning 25 without a college degree. In the middle of a pandemic, in a country that is experiencing so many problems with the economy. I always end up asking myself — if one day GMA or any network decides to not give me work, if one day no producer or director wants to get me, if one day all the brands that I work will no longer renew my contract, what do I do then?

What fallback do I have? How do I start over, and get another job if I don’t have a college degree?”

I guess many people get the same feeling of uncertainty.

“This whole situation has made me realize and value the importance of education, because now in a time where a lot of people are losing their jobs, my options are definitely

limited. And between me and someone graduating from Ateneo/UP/La Salle, who has a higher chance of getting work outside showbiz? That is what I have reflected about my life during this pandemic: Every choice you make has its corresponding trade-off and you have to value the opportunities that are given to you, especially education.”

Being a sociable person, don’t you feel like being “imprisoned” by this lockdown?

“To be honest, I’m more of an ambivert, and there are also times that I enjoy being at home. I do miss my friends, and I’m certainly at the point in my life where I’m open to meeting new people, but I’m also someone who likes being comfortable at home in my own bed. And more importantly, I understand that it’s truly necessary for me to stay at home, and as a result, I definitely don’t feel trapped or imprisoned by staying at home.”

Have you been keeping yourself physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually sound while home-quarantined?

“I try to get in a few workouts done in a week, maybe around two to four days.

Working out also puts me in a good mood so it helps me become both physically and emotionally healthy. Mentally, I just try to stay focused, I try to find ways to work my brain (my brain needs to work out, too!) by reading articles online or by studying something that will get my brain more active.

“Having my dog, Pepper, Continued on Page 4

Christopher on mom’s passing...

From Page 2 YouTube.

“You try to fix the problems of your loved ones but of course, ‘di mo naman talaga magagawa ‘yung ganu’n. In times of crises like this, you have to balance yourself and your loved ones.”

Christopher will be resum-

ing taping for “Love Thy Woman,” directed by Jerry Lopez Sineneng, Andoy Ranay, and Jojo Saguin and produced

by Dreamscape Entertainment.

The drama series is one of the three ABS-CBN scripted dramas that have resumed production under strict safety and quarantine protocols, along

with “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano” and “A Soldier’s Heart.”

The series also spawned the digital talk show “Love Thy Chika” on OKS or oks.abs-cbn. com, where Ruffa Gutierrez chats with Christopher and their other co-stars in quarantine. “Love Thy Chika” streams every Sunday at noon.

cares and shows that and is able to express that. I want to be able to be of value to the people that are in my life,” she said.

KC is now romantically linked to international music star and “The Voice Philippines” coach Apl.de.ap.

Recently, Apl l was seen

in the comments section of the live video of KC and Judy Ann Santos.

It can be recalled that KC and Apl reportedly started officially dating last December. They were also seen together in an exclusive club in Los Angeles, California last October.

entertainment Arci, JM undergo Air Force reservists training

T h e A s ian Jour nal MDW K M A G A Z I NE - J une 17, 2 0 2 0

By Iza IglesIas ManilaTimes.net

MORE and more celebrities are going beyond charity work in expressing their love for country. After Gerald Anderson and Matteo Guidicelli trained as reservists for the Philippine Army, and Dingdong Dantes and Rocco Nacino for the Philippine Navy, Kapamilya stars Arci Muñoz and JM De Guzman volunteered for the Philippine Air Force.

Over the weekend, both shared behind-the-scene clips of their Basic Citizen Military Training on Instagram. Wearing army camo uniforms while learning how to shoot a handguns, their training session meaningfully took place on the celebration of Philippine Independence Day. Muñoz, who happens to be the first female celebrity of her generation to join the Philippine Air Force, wrote on her Instagram account, “Maligayang Araw ng Kasarinlan mahal kong Pilipinas!

Ngayon araw din ang aking unang pisikal na pagsasanay bilang kaunaunahang Babae sa aking henerasyon at propesyon na sumasailalim sa #philippineairforce reservist BCMT- Basic Citizen Military Training.”

The 31-year-old actress also encouraged other women to enlist in the army.

“Hinihikayat ko po ang aking mga kapwa kababaihan na mag enlist. Marami pong salamat sa aking Philippine Air Force family. Asahan nyo po ang aking buong pusong dedikasyon at serbisyo. #happyindependenceday #paf #military #pilipinashukbonghimpapawid,” she added.

Meanwhile, De Guzman – who began his reservist training ahead of Muñoz by applying for the program back in March 2020 – likewise wrote his social media account, “Marksmanship training course (BCMT) Air Force Reservist training. #happyindependenceday.”

Arci Muñoz is the first female celebrity of her generation to join the Philippine Air Force training.

Photo from Instagram/@ramonathornes

Juan Karlos bemoans ‘unhealthy competition’ in Philippine music industry

By Ian

BIong Inquirer.net

SINGER-songwriter Juan Karlos Labajo lamented the “unhealthy competition” in the local music scene, saying artists seem to have forgotten the “true essence of music.”

Comically “quoting” a cockroach, the 19-year-old artist took to Instagram yesterday, June 15, to share his thoughts on fellow musicians and the industry in general.

“Too much unhealthy competition going in our local music industry. Sobrang pataasan at unahan (There is too much competition) to the point where they seem to forget the true essence of music,” he said.

“Imagine if we all helped each other? Imagine our huge potential,” Labajo stressed.

“What if we all stop being selfish for once? What if we all choose to set our musical and artistic differences aside and love each other?”

“Glorious musical orgy!

I can imagine what we can create as a whole…’ — Ang

Juan Karlos Labajo

mga huling salita ng ipis bago siya napaslang (the last words of a cockroach before it was killed),” he added.

Labajo, frontman of rock band Juan Karlos, recently disproved death rumors that have been circulating online earlier this month.

Photo from Instagram/@karloslabajo

On the onset of the pandemic-induced quarantine, Juan Karlos was able to release its first-ever studio album titled “Diwa“. Prior to the release, the rock band collaborated with rap star Gloc-9 for the song “Sampaguita“, which is also a part of the said album.

Gil on undergoing quarter-life...

From Page 3 by my side is also good for my mental health. Having a little ball of fluff that gives you lots of joy and happiness does indeed improve your mental health.

Everyone should try it.”

This is the best time to soulsearch, to assess one’s life, for looking back, isn’t it?

“Looking back, the best way I can describe my career is that JM De Guzman — who already applied for the program back in March 2020 — joins Muñoz in the Basic it has been filled with a lot of Citizen Military Training.

Photo from Instagram/@1migueldeguzman tough lessons that school did not prepare me for. Sometimes, Aguas, Elmo Magalona, and Before this wave of what we learn in school doesn’t Yves Flores who completed celebrities enlisting with the prepare you fully for the life the three-day Soldiers Skills military, previous volunteers lessons you experience when Orientation Training and include Richard Gomez and you face the real world and start were each given the rank of Christopher de Leon who are working. I myself have made Private in the Army Reserve both Navy reservists with the mistakes, not only showbiz-reCorps; and “Descendants rank of Chief Petty Officer; lated, but even related to my of the Sun” cast Jon Lucas, Vilma Santos-Recto, a compersonal life. So when you make Prince Clemente, Ian Ignacio, a mistake or fall down, trying to missioned reservist, with rank Paul Salas and Lucho Ayala of Lieutenant Colonel under get up can prove to be quite the who all underwent Marksthe Philippine Air Force; “A task that school didn’t prepare manship Training in Army Soldier’s Heart” cast memyou for. I’ve had to learn a lot Reserve Command. bers Jerome Ponce, Nash

of things the hard way - especially in showbiz. Experience is the best teacher, and I guess the only way to learn is to get through it.”

How do you envision the “new normal”?

“I’m not quite sure what the ‘new normal’ would be like. I guess it could be inferred that intimate scenes may be cut or not shot for the meantime. I’m hoping though that the virus subsides eventually and that a vaccine is made available so that we wouldn’t have to keep up with the ‘new normal’ for too long. Physical contact is also a part of acting, and I’m sure the viewers would appreciate it more if we were all free to move around and not have much restrictions with physical contact.

“That being said, we still do not have a vaccine, and the number of cases here in the country is increasing, not

decreasing, so we must play on the side of caution and if that means there won’t be physical or intimate scenes, then so be it.”

So what would the “new normal” Gil Cuerva be like?

“Hopefully, a mentally healthier, physically bigger and, more importantly, an emotionally happier Gil Cuerva emerges out of this whole COVID situation.

I’m trying to find small ways to improve myself, day by day. I just want to be a better person. I’m not perfect, but I want to be better today than I was yesterday.”

Come to think of it, aren’t you thinking of growing your hair back?

“I guess so. No hair requirements so far. I have no current projects that require me to keep my hair short. I think I’ll grow it back again, I do miss the long hair. But if a director or producer asks me to cut it for a role, I’d cut it again.”

4 ways filing for divorce can benefit your immigration case Barrister’s Corner Atty. Kenneth UrsUA reyes COUPLES get divorced for various reasons. California is a no fault state. The reasons why a couple is getting divorced are often irrelevant to the issues of the family law case. Divorce is often a difficult and negative experience for most families. However, getting divorce may have some unintended benefits in the immigration law arena. Four situations in which filing for divorce can be beneficial to your immigration case are as follows: 1. Married Sons and Daughters of US Citizens If you were petitioned for legal permanent residence by your US Citizen parent as a married son or daughter 21 years old or over, you are classified in immigration law under family sponsored third preference (F3) which usually carries a long wait time. The wait time for Filipinos for example is currently 22 years. The priority date is normally the date the petition was initially filed by your US Citizen parents. If you get divorced, you revert back to single status and your category automatically becomes reclassified to first preference (F1) where the waiting time is substantially shorter. For example, for Filipinos the wait time under F1 category is 10 years shorter than F3 category.

This means if your parents filed your immigration petition 12 years ago, then you can adjust to a green card now instead of waiting another 10 years.

2. Married Sons and Daughters of Legal Permanent Residents If your parents are legal permanent residents, getting divorced will convert you back single status making you eligible to be petitioned by your legal permanent resident parents under the family based second preference (F2b) category if you are 21 years old or older or under the family based second

EMPLOYMENT

preference A (F2a) if you are under 21 years of age.

For those who married after they were petitioned by their LPR parents (F2A and F2B), the petition is automatically revoked under operation of law the moment you get married and cannot be reclaimed by a divorce. In theory, it can be argued that filing a subsequent petition after your divorce under the same category inherits the previous petition’s priority date under 9 FAM 42.43 N10 and 8 CFR 204.2(h), Part 205. However, success of such argument is not clear since the old petition was automatically revoked the moment you married. The best thing that can be done in this situation is to have your LPR parent repetition you as an F2A or F2b even if you are unable to reclaim the previous petition’s priority date.

3. Conditional Legal Permanent Residents in failed Marriages For those who obtained their legal permanent residence status through marriage based petition by their US Citizen spouse of less than 2 years marriage, the legal permanent residence status conferred is usually a “conditional legal permanent residence” valid only for 2 years. The couple would need to sign and file a joint petition to remove this condition prior to the expiration of the 2 years or the conditional legal permanent resident spouse would fall out of status.

The problem arises when the marriage is in trouble.

Often it becomes difficult to obtain the cooperation of the US Citizen spouse specially when the couple has separated. US Citizen spouse often refuse to sign the I-751 for or appear at the I-751 interview if one is set by the USCIS. Filing for divorce would terminate the marriage and allow you to file a “waiver” of the joint petition to remove the conditional LPR status based on entering into the marriage in good faith.

Terminating the marriage by filing a divorce is a requirement in order to file the “waiver.” It is important to time this correctly as soon as the marriage starts falling apart because by

terminating the marriage early on, you might be able to file the waiver before the expiration of your 2 year conditional LPR thus allowing you to extend your LPR status in 1 year increments until a final decision is made in your case.

4. Married Aliens in NonImmigrant Visas and those without Status For those who enter the US as a non-immigrant and are separated from their spouse but still married, filing a divorce would open up opportunities in case they meet a new significant other who is a US Citizen and who can petition them as an immediate relative. This is usually the fastest of process in obtaining legal permanent residence. In countries such as the Philippines where there is no divorce, many people come to the US to start a new life after they have been separated from their old spouse (often still married to them). Even if the alien over stays their status as a visitor, the alien can still adjust to that of a legal permanent residence if petitioned by a US Citizen spouse. If the alien was never inspected, the alien can still adjust to legal permanent residence if they are grandfathered under INA 245(i) and there are no special restrictions on their status. To be grandfathered under INA 245(i), the alien must have been a beneficiary of a legal permanent residence petition filed no later than April 30, 2001.

Finally, a common concern of divorcing immigrants is “What happens if my spouse refuses to sign the divorce papers?” The truth is you do not need your spouse’s signature to obtain a divorce in California. You only need to provide your spouse notice that you filed a divorce by personally serving your spouse the divorce petition and summons.

In countries that are members of the Hague Convention, special procedures need to be followed to effect service. So yes it is possible to divorce your spouse even if your spouse is in a country that does not recognize divorce among its citizens such as the Philippines.

For some immigrants, filing for divorce opens up opportunities

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entertainment Liza apologizes to fans for cancelling TV show

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we all came to an agreement that it might be for the best to not continue with the show anymore,” she added.

“That, along with many other factors are the reasons why MIWY will no longer continue. I’m sorry we won’t be able to give our audience the ending they deserve. Thank you and looking forward to our next adventure,” she ended.

It was on June 4 when Soberano’s manager Ogie Diaz first broke the news about the show’s cancellation. Make It With You only premiered in January and was the highly anticipated comeback of the real-life loveteam on TV. “Sa mga nagtatanong kumbakit hindi nakasama ang ‘Make It With You’ sa magbabalik sa telebisyon ngayong June... Ikinalulungkot ko pong

ibalita sa inyo bilang manager ng isa sa bida (si Liza Soberano) na hindi na po ito mapapanood pa,” Diaz posted on his Facebook account.

“Alam na po ito ng lahat ng cast, lalo na ng LizQuen.

Alam kong nabitin kayo sa love story nina Billy at Gabo, kaya hintayin na lamang po ang pagbabalik ng loveteam sa isa pang bagong teleserye.

Salamat po, mga Kapamilya!,” he added.

ABS-CBN earlier announced that starting June 13, viewers can once again watch a number of their programs via the Kapamilya Channel on cable and satellite TV. These are “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano,” “Love Thy Woman,” “A Soldier’s Heart,” and the live noontime show “It’s Showtime.”

In a series of tweets, the Make It With you director Theodore Boborol also expressed regret over the turn of events.

“Believe me. It was also difficult for everyone,” he wrote.

“ABS-CBN was already badly hit by the pandemic, and then suffered a double blow when its renewal was not granted. Decisions had to be made and we respect and understand why it ought to be done,” he added.

He also explained that the returning Kapamilya series had already taped episodes before the COVID-19 crisis.

“The returning dramas have multiple episodes already in the can even before the pandemic hit. Let us just support the shows that will continue airing and the new shows that will be launched,” Boborol ended.

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)

By Iza IglesIas ManilaTimes.net

AFTER fans of the ABSCBN drama series “Make It With You” noticed that their favorite teleserye was missing from the list of programs the network announced would return to air soon, lead star Liza Soberano has confirmed that her erstwhile project with boyfriend Enrique Gil has indeed been cancelled.

On Instagram, the 22-yearold actress wrote a lengthy message to explain why they chose to discontinue, while thanking the cast and crew and the show’s televiewers for their support.

“To all the solid followers of our show, thank you so much for embarking on the journey of Billie and Gabo. It breaks my heart to confirm that we will no longer be coming back to air,” Soberano began.

Among the reasons she cited for the cancellation were the hesitation of some cast members to return to work as well as her weak immune system.

“I know a lot of you are upset and looking for answers and the only explanation I can give you is genuine fear of the virus. When we were asked to resume taping on June 13, many of us had hesitations,” she continued.

“Considering that the COVID-19 situation here in the Philippines is far from contained, there are many risks in place for me (and everyone involved) given my history of having a weak immune system.

I consulted my family, my managers, and the team and in this land of milk and honey. *** Please note that this article is not legal advice and is not intended as legal advice.

The article is intended to provide only general, non-specific legal information.

This article is not intended to cover all the issues related to the topic discussed. The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you. This article does

Liza Soberano Photo from Instagram/@lizasoberano

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