Romualdez: US to pay cost of Afghan...

The ambassador said the United States intended to take in around 50,000 Afghan refugees.

Under the plan, the Americans will process the Afghans’ special immigration visa to enter the United States during their stay in the Philippines.

Romualdez said the processing will be done by the U.S. Embassy personnel or the U.S. Department of State.

“They’re the ones who’ve issued a visa or special immigration visa to Afghan citizens whose lives are in danger,” he said.

He added that the U.S. government made the request to admit the Afghans into the country in October last year.

During U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ visit in November, President Marcos confirmed that the Philippine government received the proposal.

Lack of transparency

Romualdez welcomed a Senate inquiry into the plan, which was first disclosed by Sen. Imee Marcos, who questioned the lack of transparency on the part of the administration in making the American request public.

She said the two sides were already finalizing a memorandum of agreement to bring in the refugees.

"I’m extremely pleased that Senator Imee has called for an inquiry precisely to bring out all the concerns that we have,” said Romualdez, who is a cousin of the Marcos siblings.

“We may be all related, but we’re doing our jobs. I’m here in Washington, D.C., sending the request. The president received the request, and now, Sen. Imee is doing her job to make sure that this will not affect our national security,” he said. 

Judge inhibits from De Lima’s last...

“The undersigned presiding judge will exercise his discretion and will recuse himself from further hearing this case not because the allegations are true, but because it is his avowed duty as a member of the Bench to promote confidence in the judicial system,” he added.

Due to Buenaventura’s inhibition, the records of the illegal drugs case will be transmitted to the executive judge for re-raffle to the other branches of the court for the continuation of the proceedings.

‘Impartial judge’

Buenaventura said the fact that lawyer Emmanuel was not sufficient to prove that he “acted with malice, bad faith, and partiality” in conducting proceedings and in denying the bail petition of De Lima and her co-accused.

The judge denied last week the application for bail by De Lima, Sanchez, Bucayu, Dayan and the former senator’s alleged bagman, Jose Adrian Dera, as he ruled that the evidence of their guilt was strong.

According to the presiding judge, it was beyond his personal knowledge that his brother acted as a former counsel of Dayan who assisted him in the execution of his affidavit that he has now recanted.

He also said it was beyond his personal knowledge that his brother supposedly served as the legal adviser of Umali.

Buenaventura maintained that “he has conducted himself with the cold impartiality of an impartial judge, and no one had swayed his judgment and

Community leaders call for justice, safety measures...

hour later.

According to the report, Lentz allegedly punched and slammed Quindara to the ground before fleeing the scene. The video captured Lentz reportedly yelling racial slurs at Quindara, telling the Filipino man that he would “be on a ventilator” and “die.” conduct in adjudicating the instant case.”

He, however, said he “recognizes the fact that his every action, no matter how judiciously made, is vulnerable to charges of bias and partiality.”

The former lawmaker won in her first case when she challenged the sufficiency of prosecution evidence against her.

She won her second case on the ground of reasonable doubt — this was after the star prosecution witness recanted his testimony against her and admitted that he was pressured to make false allegations.

But the Department of Justice has already asked the separate Muntinlupa court to reconsider its ruling that cleared De Lima. 

"He walked away and started talking. ‘You should speak English. You should speak English.

You Japanese,’” Quindara said, according to an interview with KTNV.

Quindara sustained bruises to his face, a black eye and deep cuts on his head.

“Physically, you could recover from that but if you keep thinking about what happened, that is the thing that hurt me most,” Quindara added.

The attack comes at a time when there is an alarming surge in hate crimes against Asian Americans nationally, and as Nevada’s Filipino American population is growing rapidly.

There was a disturbing 167% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes during the first year of the pandemic alone, according to the FBI.

Fil-Am leaders in Las Vegas are now calling on authorities and other government officials to bring justice to Quindara’s case as well as to prevent other incidents against the community.

“When Filipino Americans heard about this brutal attack, we took it very personally, because the first thought we had was ‘That could have been my dad’,” said Jacque de Joya, president of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA) – Nevada. “In the Filipino American community, we’re very family-oriented, and we revere our elders. So we felt like our own father had been attacked – it hit us right in our hearts.”

De Joya continued to call for justice for Quindara as he is “in imminent danger of being attacked again.”

"We also need officials to prioritize the safety of all Nevadans against hate crimes. All of us must come together across racial lines to increase understanding, education and compassion, and take real steps to end these terrible acts of violence. We are calling for action from our justice system and local government officials, as justice delayed is justice denied. NaFFAA Nevada is in solidarity with the rest of the Filipino American organizations and other organizations in our state,” she said.

Gloria Caoile, co-founder of NaFFAA, said that, Filipino Americans "are essential to the life of our city and state, but right now the Filipino American community is being treated as if we don’t count and don’t matter. I was a union leader for decades, and in the labor movement we have a saying, ‘An injury to one is an injury to all.’ This issue is about making sure that every Nevadan has safety and respect, starting with Mr. Quindara.”

Grace Vergara-Mactal, executive director of Nevada’s largest health care and public service union, SEIU Local 1107,” said, “What politicians need to realize is that their rhetoric has real-world consequences and causes real pain — both physical and emotional.

"We will not accept being targeted or victimized, and as an anti-racist organization, we will not stand on the sidelines. Along with our community partners, we will redouble our fight for justice and safety for all,” Vergara-Mactal added. According to reports, Quindara is in the process of filing a restraining order against Lentz, who is scheduled to be back in court on July 3. (AJPress)