Volume 18 - No. 17 • 2 Sections – 16 Pages
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Volume 18 - No. 26 • 2 Sections – 16 Pages
T H E F I L I P I N O A M E R I CA N C O M M U N I T Y N E WS PA P E R
We’ve got you covered from Hollywood to Broadway...and Online!
J U LY 1 2 - 1 8 , 2 0 1 9
1799 Old Bayshore Hwy, Suite 136, Burlingame, CA 94010 • Tel: (650) 689-5160 • Fax: (650) 239-9253 • www.asianjournal.com
USA
DATELINE Trump administration gets new legal team as fight over citizenship question on 2020 Census continues FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
PRESIDENT Donald Trump’s efforts to include a contentious citizenship question in the upcoming 2020 Census continues as the Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed on Monday, July 8 that a new legal team would now be overseeing the census-related cases. DOJ Spokesperson Kerri Kupec announced the transition on Sunday, July 7, but did not give a reason for the change. “Since these cases began, the lawyers representing the United States in these cases have given countless hours to defending the Commerce Department and have consistently demonstrated the highest professionalism, integrity, and skill inside and outside the courtroom,” said Kupec. “The Attorney General appreciates that service, thanks them for their work on these im-
u PAGE A2
Fil-Am former Virginian delegate gets 2.5 years for defrauding federal govt Celebrated state delegate Ron Villanueva sentenced to prison FORMER Virginia delegate and Virginia Beach councilman Ron Villanueva was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison on Tuesday, July 2 on multiple charges of fraud against the federal government. Earlier this year, the Filipino American Republican pleaded guilty to a list of charges including “falsifying records and helping oth-
Panelo hits back at Amnesty Int’l: Don’t parrot bogus drug war info by
DARYYL JOHN ESGUERRA Inquirer.net
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo on Wednesday, July 10, urged Amnesty International to stop peddling “bogus information” on the Duterte administration’s war on drugs. In a statement, Panelo hit the London-based group for insisting that the drug war has claimed the lives of 27,000 drug personalities. The Palace official was reacting to Butch Olano, Amnesty Philippines section director, who asked him to do his homework first by reading the group’s report on the drug war before making any statement. Olano said the figures cited in the report came
MENDIOLA AJ Press
DELISTED martial law victims and their relatives on Tuesday, July 9, confronted American lawyer Robert Swift about why they were taken off the official list of people to be awarded compensation after winning the Hawaii class action suit that resulted in a nearly $2-billion award for some 6,000 martial law victims. “We were one of the first to join the Hawaii lawsuit in 1986, but why were we delisted? There are a lot of us from Region 3 who were delisted. Our husbands are still missing. Until now we have no justice. There were a lot of true victims who were denied,” said Helena Jimenez in Filipino during a forum at the UP (University of the Philippines) Law Center. According to her, she only received compensation once, through Republic Act No.
u PAGE A2
PEACE MEETING. President Rodrigo Duterte gives a warm welcome to Moro National Liberation Front Founding Chairman Nur Misuari prior to the start of their meeting at the Malacañang Palace on Tuesday, July 9. Duterte earlier announced that he proposed creating a negotiating peace panel for the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) to attain peace in Mindanao Malacañang photo by King Rodriguez
to the Philippines securing a seat by acclamation in the 40-member International Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Executive Council, which is under the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for the period 2019-2021. The Philippines withdrew from the ICC on March 17, a year after the Philippines formally submitted its letter of withdrawal from the Rome Statute — the founding treaty of the ICC — after a preliminary examination into the alleged crimes against humanity of President Rodrigo Duterte and his men was launched by the
tribunal’s chief prosecutor. The court, however, can still investigate alleged crimes against humanity in relation to the president’s anti-drug campaign. According to ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, the court retains its jurisdiction over crimes committed in the context of the war on drugs even after its withdrawal from the Rome Statute. Earlier this year, Malacañang said ICC investigators would be barred from entering the country if they insist on probing the alleged extrajudicial killings tied to Duterte’s war against illegal drugs. ■
angalang town, Leyte province. “They’re making me the bait. What do you think Filipinos are, earthworms?” he added. Duterte urged the U.S. to fire the first shot, adding that the Philippines would be right behind them because of the U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty. “Now I say, you bring your planes, your boats to South China Sea. Fire the first shot and we’ll be behind you. Let’s do this and see who’s going down,” he said. “We have an RP-U.S. pact, so let us honor it. Do you want trouble? Okay, let’s do it,” he continued.
According to the president, the Palawan province would be the first to be hit if war broke out over the South China Sea as it is facing the waterway. “Now he wants us to tickle China and when this blows up — Palawan will be blown up and sacrificed because they’re all there now because it’s facing the South China Sea. I am not about to order my soldiers to go to the mouths of hell to die unarmed. I cannot do that,” he said. Duterte also slammed his critics, specifically calling out former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert
Duterte dares US to declare was vs China by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA AJ Press
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday, July 5, dared the United States to declare war against China following criticisms he received over his handling of the maritime dispute between Manila and Beijing. “We can never win a war with China. But I hope that China would not overdo things also because there is always America pushing us, egging us,” he said in his speech at the opening of Chen Yi Agventures Rice Processing Center (CYA-RPC) in Al-
who “foisted the lie” but were “mercilessly repudiated by the electorate in the polls.” “Their mask of righteousness has been ripped apart,” he said. “Amnesty International cannot parrot the bogus information it gets from the anti-Duterte forces and gets away with it. It cannot recklessly throw accusations without them showing credible proof of their authenticity,” Panelo stressed. The Palace official further asked the human rights group to “cite facts and figures on the names of the alleged 27,000 extrajudicial deaths.” “Otherwise, their failure will only validate the grotesque falsity of their claim and lace it with condemnable malice,” he said. ■
by RITCHEL
Locsin calls ICC a fairytale endeavor FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Tuesday, July 9, justified the Philippines’ exit from the International Criminal Court (ICC), likening it to a fairy tale endeavor. “Better we stick to real science instead of fairy tale endeavors like the ICC which like the Queen in Alice in Wonderland cries out, ‘First the judgment, then the trial.’ Why I got us out. I will keep doing that,” he posted on Twitter. His statement was in response
from the government itself, particularly the Philippine National Police (PNP). Claiming that he had “surely done his homework,” Panelo said the group’s drug war death toll of 27,000 is “one big lie” and is a part of the false narrative against the anti-narcotics campaign supposedly peddled by the President’s critics. “This is one big lie and part of the false advocacies widely peddled by the President’s critics and detractors, considering that those who have been neutralized in the anti-illegal drug campaign are less than a fifth of this bloated figure,” Panelo said. He then pointed to opposition candidates in the recently concluded midterm elections as the ones
Delisted martial law victims, kin confront lawyer
u PAGE A2
by AJPRESS
Also published in LOS ANGELES, LAS VEGAS, NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY
u PAGE A2
DOT: 3.4-M tourists visited PH January-May 2019 by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA AJ Press
A TOTAL of 3,489,270 tourists were recorded to have visited the Philippines for the first five months of 2019, according to the Department of Tourism (DOT). Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said the numbers — which mark a 9.76 percent increase from the same period last year — are very encouraging. “The numbers are very encouraging. From 3,178,984 tourists recorded from January to May in 2018, we are already close to breaching the 3.5 million mark this year. This only shows that the preservation of our environment can go hand in hand with economic gains,” she said in a statement. The month of May saw a 15.62 percent growth in tourist arrivals, increasing from 537,743 last year to 621,719 this year. It is the highest month-per-month growth rate this year to date. Korea continues its reign as the country’s number one source market with 788,530 January to May arrivals, chalking up an 11.76 percent growth rate comprising 22.6 percent of the total arrivals. Following close behind is China, with 733,769 arrivals for a 30.96 percent increase and a
Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat
Photo courtesy by pna.gov.ph
21.03 percent market share. The United States ranks third with 472,469 arrivals, while Japan places fourth with 281,988. Taiwan also saw a double digit growth at 27.24 percent or 128,986 arrivals.
Other countries included in the top ten markets are Australia with 123,851; Canada with 114,605; the United Kingdom with 92,914; Singapore with 64,951; and Malaysia with 64,951. ■