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JULY 23-29, 2020 Volume 31 - No. 29 • 12 Pages

T H E F I L I P I N O –A M E R I C A N C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R

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FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

SWS: Most Filipinos still worry about getting COVID-19 by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

A MAJORITY of Filipinos in the Philippines are still worried about being infected with COVID-19, according to a survey released on Thursday, July 23. The latest survey by the Social Weather Stations

(SWS) showed that 85% of Filipinos were worried that anyone in their immediate family might get COVID-19. Of the total percentage, 67% were “worried a great deal,” 18% were “somewhat worried,” while 8% “worried a little.” The remaining 7% said they were “not worried”

Young Filipino US soldier found dead near Texas Army base

by AJPRESS

Third death of soldier near base within past month

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Trump signs memorandum excluding undocumented immigrants from census count Legal and civil rights organizations condemn Trump for blocking ‘undocumented immigrants from fair representation’ UNITED States President Donald Trump on Tuesday, July 21 signed a memorandum that would exclude undocumented immigrants from census counts in what is the administration’s latest attempt to alter the way that populations are tallied and progress its stringent immigration plan. “I have accordingly determined that respect for the law and protection of the integrity of the democratic process warrant the exclusion of [undocumented immigrants] from the apportionment base, to the extent feasible and to the maximum extent of the President’s discretion under the law,” the order read. The timing of Trump’s memo is crucial. Congressional district lines will be redrawn in 2021 and what hangs in the balance is whether or not undocumented immigrants would be included in population counts in those districts. Also, the president’s memo arrives as the 2020 U.S. Census — which began in January — is still underway with about 62.2% nationwide participation so far, according to the Census Bureau’s website. Much like his proposal to include a citizenship question on the census survey, the memorandum, if enforced, would shift the balance of power in the House of Representa-

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48 Fil-Am elected officials, leaders endorse Biden for president

Private Mejhor Morta was discovered dead on July 17 near Fort Hood Army base. Photo courtesy of U.S. Army

A YOUNG Filipino U.S. soldier was found dead last week near the Fort Hood Army base in Texas, marking the third soldier death in the area within the past month. Private Mejhor Morta, 26, was found unresponsive on July 17 in the vicinity of Stillhouse Lake, about 20 miles from the base, officials said on Tuesday, July 21. “The Black Knight family is truly heartbroken by the tragic loss of Private Mejhor Morta,” said Lt. Col. Neil Armstrong, commander of 1st Bn. 5th Cav. Regt. “I would like to send my heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and loved ones.” He added, “My thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time. Private Morta was a great Trooper and his loss is felt

about contracting the disease. “This hardly changed from the 87% worried (73% worried a great deal, 14% somewhat worried), 7% worried a little, and 7% not worried about catching the virus in May 2020,” the SWS said in its report.

HEALTH RISK. Two garbage collectors on top of a hauler truck are seen not wearing face masks as they pass along the Langit Road, Bagong Silang-Kanan, Caloocan City on Wednesday, July 22. Health authorities are always reminding the public on the importance of washing hands and wearing personal protective equipment including masks for front-liners to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019. PNA photo by Ben Briones

FORTY-EIGHT Filipino American elected officials and leaders are among the over 250 Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) who have publicly thrown their support behind former Vice President Joe Biden. The Fil-Ams include elected officials, California Assemblymembers Rob Bonta and Todd Gloria; Artesia Councilmember Melissa Ramoso; Peter Urscheler, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania mayor; and Hawaii state Senators Donovan Dela Cruz and Lorraine Inouye. Other high-profile names include actors Lou Diamond Philipps, Tia Carrere and Mark Dacascos. Overall, the group consists of AAPI elected officials, community leaders, small business owners, activists and artists around the country. “2020 is truly the most critical election of our lifetimes because the choice before us — and the consequences of our choices — could not be more stark. We need to elect a president who will bring leadership back to Washington, who can help re-center our nation’s moral

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Philippine government suspends non-essential outbound travel anew by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

MALACAÑANG on Thursday, July 23, announced that the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management for Emerging Infectious Diseases has once again suspended non-essential outbound air travel of Filipinos. According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, only one travel and health insurance company agreed to cover rebooking and accommodation expenses should a traveler contract the novel coronavirus. “Isa sa mga kondisyon doon ay ang pagkakaroon ng travel at health insurance to cover rebooking and accommodation expenses if stranded at hospitalization kung sakaling

may infection (One of the conditions was to have travel and health insurance to cover rebooking and accommodation expenses if stranded and hospitalization in case there’s an infection),”Roque said in a virtual Palace briefing. “Ang malungkot na balita po, iisang insurance company lamang sa Pilipinas ang pumayag ng ganitong travel and health insurance kaya sinuspendi muna ng IATF ang non-essential outbound travel (The sad news is that only one insurance company in the Philippines agreed to this travel and health insurance that’s why the IATF suspended nonessential outbound travel),” he added.

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OPLAN SITA. Members of the Quezon City Police District in Kamuning Station 10 check the driver’s license of motorists passing along Scout Ybardollaza Street in Quezon City on Tuesday, July 21. “Oplan Sita” aims to enhance crime prevention by beefing up police visibility in the city. PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler

Over 400 Princeton alumni call for US government to help Ressa by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

Rappler co-founder and chief executive officer Maria Ressa Photo from Twitter/@mariaressa

OVER 400 Princeton University alumni on Tuesday, July 21, took out a full-page ad in the Washington Post calling on the United States government to convince Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration to drop all charges against Rappler, its cofounder Maria Ressa and former staffer Reynaldo Santos Jr. The letter, signed by a number of journalists, multiple former public servants, and two sitting members of Congress, also expressed its support for Ressa, who graduated from the university in 1986. “As graduates, teachers and staff members of Princeton University, a

community that counts the author of the First Amendment among its members, we are proud to stand in solidarity with journalist and alumna Maria Ressa,” it read. “In the Philippines, her home country, President Rodrigo Duterte has labeled Maria a criminal. We see her as the opposite: an exemplar of the right of free speech that Princetonian James Madison, Class of 1771, wrote into the U.S. Constitution,” the letter added. The signatories also noted that Ressa, for the past four years, has “fearlessly” withstood a campaign of online and legal harassment blatantly aimed at journalists and stifling any criticism of the Philippine government’s authority. “Authoritarians throughout the ages routinely attack the press as the enemy,

a strategy calculated to avoid accountability and undermine democracy,” the letter further read. “Our Princetonian education instilled in us an understanding that a government is only accountable to its people when journalists are free to report on its activities without retaliation. That is why we denounce these politically motivated charges against Maria and her colleagues,” it added. The letter stressed that Ressa is a Filipina and an American citizen. “She is standing up for the most American of values: the right to speak truth to power,” it noted. “Presidents throughout the history of the United States have used their leverage against authoritarian governments

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Trump signs memorandum excluding... PAGE A1 tives which is dictated by states’ population count. The first census in the U.S. was administered in 1790, and since then, U.S. citizens and noncitizens have always been included in the country’s official population surveys. The Constitution specifies that all “persons� residing in the country should be included in the decennial count to determine

the number of representatives states get in the House. (The 14th Amendment went on to specify that the “whole number of persons in each state� should be counted, doing away with the classification of slaves as “threefifths� of a free person.) Like Trump’s past efforts to manifest his immigration agenda, the president’s memo will likely be challenged in court. The American Civil Liberties Union

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(ACLU) has continued to challenge Trump’s immigration proposals, and in response to Tuesday’s memorandum, the ACLU once again pledged to take legal action. And like the federal court’s decision on the citizenship question, the courts will determine that Tuesday’s directive will be found unconstitutional, hopes Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “[Trump’s] latest attempt to weaponize the census for an attack on immigrant communities will be found unconstitutional. We’ll see him in court, and win, again,� Ho said. Along with the ACLU, other groups that have previously taken legal action against the Trump administration signaled that they are once again preparing to file a suit against Tuesday’s memorandum. Mirroring the ACLU’s sentiments, the civil rights and legal organization Asian Americans Advancing Justice condemned the president’s memo, saying that it is an attempt by the administration to sabotage “each of our communities to be under-resourced and underrepresented for the next decade.� “We will not be moved by the president’s attempts to silence people in our country,� Advancing Justice said in a statement. “This is the latest in a series of attempts to politicize the census and use it as a weapon in his anti-immigrant agenda. It is a move straight out of the white supremacists’ playbook that has every discriminatory practice to restrict the rights of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian American people.� Advancing Justice also reminded those who haven’t taken the census survey — which comprises nine simple questions about those living in each household — to fill out and submit their form, which can be done online. “Even in the face of racism, we will not be silenced. To individuals in our communities, do not be deterred. Everyone should be counted in the census,� they said. “Asian Americans Advancing Justice will continue to push for a fair and accurate count of all individuals in this country. We vow to fight this unconstitutional attack.� (Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)

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EARNING A LIVING. Karen Miranda, 34, a former overseas Filipino worker from ParaĂąaque City who lost her job due to the pandemic, sells health and safety items under a footbridge in Cubao, Quezon City on Monday, July 20. Karen, a solo parent with two children, prepares and starts to sell gloves, face masks, sanitizers, and other items before dawn and earns an average of P300 daily. PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler

SWS: Most Filipinos still worry... PAGE A1 “Compared to past SWS surveys, worry about catching the COVID-19 is greater than worries about catching previous viruses such as Ebola, Swine Flu, Bird Flu, and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),� it added. The pollster noted that Metro Manila recorded the highest number of Filipinos worried about catching the virus at 92%, followed by Balance Luzon at 87%, Visayas at 85%, and Min-

danao at 77%. “Compared to May 2020, worry about catching the virus stayed at 92% in Metro Manila, while it rose slightly from 85% in Balance Luzon,� SWS said. “However, it declined from 91% in the Visayas, and from 85% in Mindanao,� it added. The survey also found that worry about catching COVID-19 rose among those aged 18 to 24, up from 84% to 88%. It also revealed that college graduates worry the most at

89%, followed by junior high school graduates at 86%, elementary graduates at 80%, and non-elementary graduates at 79%. The SWS survey, conducted from July 3 to 6 among 1,555 respondents, used mobile phone and computer-assisted interviewing. It had sampling error margins of Âą2% for national percentages, Âą6% for Metro Manila, Âą5% for Balance Luzon, Âą5% for the Visayas, and Âą5% for Mindanao. n

48 Fil-Am elected officials, leaders endorse... PAGE A1 compass, heal our nation’s soul, and bring us back to the path towards justice, equality, and integrity,� it said in a statement. The endorsement comes as Asian Americans are the fastest-growing segment, making up close to 5% of all eligible voters this year. Chinese, Filipino and Indian Americans comprise the top three groups in the U.S. Asian electorate, according to a recent report from Pew Research Center. California, New York, Texas, New Jersey and Hawaii are among the states with the largest share of Asian American eligible voters, it added. In a 2018 Asian American Voter Survey released by APIAVote and AAPI Data, 46% of total Asian Americans surveyed said they were not contacted by the Democratic Party, while 56% said they received no communication from the Republican Party. The same survey found that 22% of Filipinos surveyed said they had a “very favorable� impression of Trump, while 38% said “very unfavorable.� Meanwhile, 32% of Filipinos said they had a “somewhat favorable� impression of the Democratic Party and 28% said “somewhat favorable� of the Republican Party.Though AAPI voters have been often overlooked by the major political parties, the bloc may continue to show influence in key races and districts, especially in battleground states like Nevada, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida and Arizona. The Trump campaign in May launched “Asian Americans for Trump,� co-chaired by Fil-Am Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and Arizona State Treasurer Kimberly Yee. The advisory board includes six individuals of Filipino descent in various leadership positions. The full list of Fil-Ams support-

ing Biden include: AAPI Caucus Leadership: Dan Santos, Clark County (NV) Democratic Party AAPI Caucus Chair; Cora Quisumbing-King, New Hampshire Democratic Party AAPI Caucus Co-Chair; Joshua Ang Price, Arkansas Democratic Party AAPI Caucus Chair; Melissa Ramoso, California Democratic Party AAPI Caucus Chair; and Angelito Tenorio, Democratic AAPI Caucus of Wisconsin (Ad Hoc) Co-Chair State elected officials: Sen. Regine Biscoe Lee, Guam Legislature; Del. Kriselda Valderrama, Maryland General Assembly; Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz, Hawai’i Senate; Sen. Gil Keith-Agaran, Hawai’i Senate; Sen. Lorraine Inouye, Hawai’i Senate; Rep. Della Bellati, Hawai’i House of Representatives; Rep. Romy Cachola, Hawai’i House of Representatives; Assemblymember Rob Bonta, California State Assembly; and Assemblymember Todd Gloria, California State Assembly Local elected officials: Brandon Elefante, Honolulu City Councilmember; Joey Manahan, Honolulu City Councilmember; and Peter Urscheler, Phoenixville, PA Mayor Former elected leaders: Ben Cayetano, Former Governor of Hawai’i and Velma Veloria, Former Washington State Representative Appointed officials (past and present): Jason Tengco, Former Deputy Director for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and Mike Ancheta Nisperos Jr., Chair of Vallejo Civil Service Commission Policy leaders & advocates: Maria Lourdes Tiglao, Truman National Security Project DC Chapter Director and Nelson Garcia, President of the Washington Intergovernmental Professional Group National community leaders:

Fritz Friedman, Co-Founder of Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment; Irene B. Bueno, Board Member at Asian American Action Fund; and Irene Natividad, Co-Chair for Endorsement at Asian American Action Fund State & local political leaders: Gerald G. Gubatan, Past President of the Pilipino American Los Angeles Democrats; Mary Grace Barrios, Past President of the Pilipino American Los Angeles Democrats; Brickwood Galuteria, Former Chair of the Hawai’i Democratic Party; Constantino “Coco� Alinsug, Massachusetts Democratic Party State Committee Member; Bertran D Palacios, Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands Central Executive Committee Member; Shawna Indalecio, Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands Central Executive Committee Member; and Sophia Perez, Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands National Delegate Community leaders: Loren Nadres, Board Member at Asian American Action Fund; Teodora Gaite Schipper, Past President of the Filipino American Association of Pittsburgh Inc; and Brad Baldia,Co-Chair of Pennsylvania AAPIs for Biden Candidates for office: Marvin Lim, Candidate for Georgia General Assembly Arts & media: Lou Diamond Phillips, Actor and Director; Mark Dacascos, Actor; and Tia Carrere, Actress and Singer Activist & advocates: Joselito Laudencia, California; Loreto Quevedo Dimaandal, California; Erin Pangilinan, California; Patricio N. Abinales, Hawai’i; Alberto Manalo, New Hampshire; Frances A. Castro, Northern Marianas Islands; Maria Tenorio Camacho, Northern Marianas Islands; and Ditas Valenzuela, Northern Marianas Islands. n

Young Filipino US soldier found dead near Texas... PAGE A1 by every member within our formation.� Morta lived in Pensacola, Florida before joining the Army in September 2019 where he served as a Bradley Fighting Vehicle mechanic. Since May, Morta was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. Morta also received three awards — the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the National Defense Service medal, and the Army Service Ribbon. A Facebook page appearing to belong to Morta says that he is from Davao City, Philippines. “I reached out to his sister today and they are currently in the Philippines,� Hunter Proffitt, a friend of Morta, told 25 News. “He literally came over here, he joined the U.S. Army to help move his family over here. He wanted to move his family. He wanted to make a better life for himself and then we find out that this happens.� Morta’s body was found in the

man-made lake by fishermen sometime after midnight last Friday, NPR reported. The sheriff’s department said the fishermen were in a boat near the base of the lake’s dam. Justice of Peace Garland Potvin ordered an autopsy that had a preliminary result showing the cause of death being “consistent with a drowning,� the sheriff’s department added. The medical examiner’s office in Dallas, Texas was performing a full autopsy report. Morta’s death marks the third time in a month that a soldier was found dead near the Fort Hood area. Officials said Tuesday that the incident was currently under investigation by the Bell County Sheriff’s Department. On June 21, skeletal remains were found in a field in Killeen, Texas, about three miles from the base. The remains were identified to have belonged to 24-year-old soldier Pvt. Gregory Scott Morales, also known as Gregory Wedel, who was missing since August 2019. On July 1, the body of Fort

Hood soldier Pfc. Vanessa Guillen was found dismembered about 20 miles east of the base, after she had been reported missing since April. Another soldier, Aaron Robinson, was a suspect in the case and killed himself as police came to arrest him. Robinson’s girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to tamper with evidence. Following the death of Wedel and Guillen and before Morta’s, State Senator Carol Alvarado who represents Texas Senate District 6 said that the events could not be “ignored or overlooked.� “Ft. Hood is broken and it calls into question the competency of their leadership. As such, an independent and thorough investigation into the leadership at Ft. Hood is well within reason,� said Alvarado, adding that her office has been working with Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia’s office in a coordinated investigation effort. There is no indication that the deaths of Morales, Guillen, and Morta are connected as of press time. (Rae Ann Varona/AJPress)

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Jollibee’s expansion in the US continues, opens Fil-Am nurse who documented love for second Jersey City store amid the pandemic Disney on Instagram dies from COVID-19 by MOMar

G. Visaya

AJPress

JOLLIBEE opened the doors of its second store in Jersey City last week, more than a month after the inauguration of its Edison store, in the midst of the pandemic that has been slowing global economic growth. The new stores are part of the brand’s plans to grow to 150 stores in the U.S. by 2023. Jollibee Edison and Jollibee Journal Square are the 53rd and 54th stores to open across North America. Traditional favorites and the chain’s signature dishes like Chickenjoy, spaghetti and peach mango pie are now available for call-in and pickup. For now, the store is also open for takeout from 8:00 a.m to 10:00 p.m. “We have a simplified menu for now. Next week, we will offer palabok, family pack of burger steak, and eventually, breakfast meals which would be perfect for PATH commuters,� area manager Merle Caleon, a 32-year veteran of Jollibee, told the Asian Journal. She handles the eight stores in Virginia Beach, Florida, New Jersey and New York. Caleon shared that the store was supposed to open last January but delays hampered the opening and then the lockdown happened last March when New York and New Jersey became the epicenter of the pandemic. They continued to work on both stores and when they got the final clearance from Port Authority, they opened Journal Square last week starting with a simple store bless-

ing with the team. Because of the current situation, the opening was devoid of fanfare, a stark contrast to the grand opening festivities people are used to seeing. Jollibee’s opening of its Woodside store in Queens in February 2009 and Manhattan in October 2018 were both packed and crowded with long lines outside even before the doors were flung open. No amount of snow or heavy rain could have prevented the horde of diners from falling in line to witness these events. The Filipino fast-food chain’s first store in New Jersey opened in Jersey City’s Greenville neighborhood in 2012. The newest store is on the plaza level of Journal Square, a major transit hub in the state where commuters take the PATH train or bus to New York or Newark. Management has assured that the store’s employees know and practice safety precautions to ensure safety for them and their customers. There are designated marks on the floor for social distancing and hand sanitizers are available for employees and customers. There are also plexiglass barriers on the counters and employees are required to wash their hands every 15 minutes, according to store manager Rose Francisco. She is proud to be a part of a company that is helping provide jobs for people. “The store’s opening has provided jobs for many residents and opened up opportunities despite

by Christina

Fan favorites like Chickenjoy, Jollibee’s worldfamous fried chicken; Filipino-style Jolly spaghetti, U.S.-exclusive chicken sandwich and Peach Mango pie are all available. They also announced that palabok and breakfast meals will be available starting this week. AJPress photo by Momar G. Visaya

the pandemic,� she said. Around 55 people are currently employed in this location with Filipinos comprising about 60% of the total. Among them is Janishin Que, who is just thankful that she can work again. “Medyo matagal na walang work, ngayon makakatulong na uli sa pagbayad ng rent (It was kind of a long time without work, now I can help again with paying rent),� she said. In the U.S., Jollibee is now in the states of Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Washington, and Virginia, and in Manitoba, Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada. n

Philippine government suspends non-essential...

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Roque said that non-essential outbound travel will be suspended until more insurance companies are willing to provide coverage. “Ipadadala po natin ang communication sa Insurance Commission para sila na po ang humingi sa mga insurance companies na kinakailangan magbigay ng ganitong insurance coverage (We will send the communication to the Insurance Commission so that they will ask insurance companies to give this type of insurance cover-

age),� he said. Earlier, the IATF lifted the ban on non-essential outbound travel imposed last March provided that traveling individuals would submit confirmed roundtrip tickets for those traveling on tourist visas, travel and health insurance, proof of allowed entry by the destination country, and a declaration acknowledging the risk of the travel. Roque, however, assured that passengers with confirmed bookings as of July 20 will be allowed to travel outside the country.

He likewise said that the IATF approved the essential outbound travel of Filipinos but passengers would be subject to certain conditions like executing a Bureau of Immigration (BI) declaration acknowledging the risks involved in traveling, including the risk of delay in their return trip, to be provided for at the check-in counters by the airlines. The spokesman added that passengers should follow the guidelines of the National Task Force (NTF) for overseas Filipinos upon their return. n

person and White House press secretary; John Bellinger, former legal counsel to the National Security Council; Ben Taub, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist; and Jon Ort, Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Princetonian. Ressa and Santos on June 15 were convicted of cyber libel by a Manila court. Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa found them guilty of violating Section 4(c)(4) of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, or cyber libel, and sentenced them to the indeterminate penalty of imprisonment ranging from six months and one day as a minimum to up to six years.

The court allowed bail under the same bond. It also ordered Ressa and Santos to pay private 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 naming 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. He filed a second cyber libel complaint against Ressa for her Feb. 15, 2019 tweet wherein she attached screenshots of a 2002 Philstar.com article entitled “Influential businessman eyed in excouncilor’s slay.� n

Over 400 Princeton alumni call for US...

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that violate the rights of U.S. citizens abroad; the current administration should do the same. To do otherwise would only diminish Americaâ₏™s role as a leader of the democratic world,â€?Â? it added. The letter also urged U.S. lawmakers to reexamine the hundreds of millions of dollars the Philippines receives each year in U.S. military aid. “Why should U.S. taxpayers underwrite a government that is so egregiously violating our values?â€? the signatories asked. Among the signatories in the letter are George P. Shultz, former secretary of State; Mike McCurry, former State Department spokes-

M. Oriel

AJPress

THIS past spring, Joshua Obra and his younger sister Jasmine moved to Anaheim, California to be closer to Disneyland. The siblings considered the theme park their “second home,� as they would visit at least once a week since getting annual passes five years ago. As a family, the Obras experienced the six Disneylands around the world and went on three out of the four Disney Cruise lines. “That was our specialty in the family. When the pandemic started, Josh wanted to go on a Disney Cruise because it was so cheap,� Jasmine, 21, told the Asian Journal. Joshua, 29, expressed his love for all things Disney online by sharing photos of park attractions and characters on his Instagram under the moniker, @DisneylandPanda. “Magic is Happening again!� he wrote in a June 10 post, telling his over 25,000 followers the news that Disneyland and Downtown Disney would reopen soon. Less than a month later, Joshua died on July 6 after a 26-day battle with COVID-19. In early June, both siblings felt sick, with Joshua experiencing a fever and other symptoms related to COVID-19. They got tested and quarantined at home together as they waited six days until the results came back positive. “When he gets sick, it’s really hard for him to get better. My parents couldn’t come help because they’re over the age of 60 so I was the one who took care of him,� Jasmine recounted. “It was one of the longest weeks of my life, just checking on him every hour and monitoring his temperature and blood pressure.� A week after testing positive, Jasmine drove her brother to the emergency room as his condition worsened. That was the last time she saw him. Six days into his hospital stay, Joshua was put on a ventilator and moved to the ICU, where he spent nearly three weeks until his passing. The day he died, Jasmine went to take another test as her symptoms subsided. Though she was not directly informed yet, she received a text from a cousin: “I’m going to miss him so much.� Her parents came over, wearing masks, to tell her the news. “I was obviously devastated,� Jasmine said. “The first thing I asked was, ‘What happened?’ because it was all so fast and we weren’t expecting it. For me, all the updates I was getting were like, his vitals are stable. Then he died that Monday.� By day, Joshua was the nursing supervisor at Intercommunity Care Center in Long Beach, a skilled nursing facility that specializes in the treatment of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. The Southern California native’s passion for serving others drew him to the field early on as he became a licensed vocational

Joshua Obra, 29, died on July 6 from complications related to COVID-19 after 26 days in the hospital. A registered nurse by day, Obra documented his love for the Disneyverse on Instagram under the name, @DisneylandPanda. Photos courtesy of Jasmine Obra

Obra (right) is survived by his parents Onofre and Cynthia and younger sister Jasmine. The family has visited all six Disneylands around the world and went on three out of the four Disney Cruise lines.

nurse right after high school and then earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2016. He got the job at the Long Beach facility last fall and his sister worked alongside him as a nursing student. In the Disneyverse, Joshua connected most with Baymax, a health care robot from “Big Hero 6.� “Baymax is a health care companion and that was Joshua. He was fluffy. He even had the little mannerisms like Baymax and would wobble around or fist bump with friends. Every time we watched that, that was always the character he related to,� Jasmine said. Despite their eight-year age difference, the Obra siblings were inseparable and hardly went to the theme park without the other. “The obsession with Disney happened together after we got our annual passes,� Jasmine recalled. With an eye for detail, Joshua approached each visit to the park equipped with his DSLR camera and a mission to document its allure. “[What] he always had to do was take a picture of something. He would find the most beautiful angles of Disneyland to share the Disney magic with everyone and everything that the park has,� Jasmine said. Joshua contributed his photos of the park and various events as an ABC7 eyewitness over the years. The local station remembered him on Instagram as a “sweet and kind man, and a talented photographer.� “The weekend shutterbug says he’s inspired by his fellow photographers, and lives by this motto: the shots you take today are the memories of tomorrow,�

it wrote. Though Jasmine couldn’t physically be with her parents to mourn, the tributes and messages about Joshua and his online persona have provided some comfort. On the DisneylandPanda account, individuals commented how they enjoyed viewing Disneyland through his perspective and how he would always respond if they had questions about the theme park or needed suggestions. “There have been times we’d be at the park and someone would ask him for a picture and say, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re Disneyland Panda!’ He didn’t know he was that popular. He was so humble,â€? Jasmine said. “We were able to find the Disney community and now, we share the same friends who have become part of our extended family.â€? Joshua left behind a trove of photos and a supportive online community. Jasmine promises to honor him by keeping the popular Instagram account active and continuing to pursue her health care career. Going five months into the pandemic, Jasmine said she “gets really heatedâ€? about seeing people defying orders and not practicing social distancing. “I’m obviously going to feel strongly about this because I lost my brother,â€? she said. “It’s not some joke. We have to work together in order to [get through] the pandemic by following regulations and doing our part‌because health care workers are out there saving lives and it puts their lives at risk.â€? Joshua is also survived by his parents Onofre and Cynthia Obra, who both immigrated from the Philippines. n

Department of Building & Fire Prevention

Department of Building & Fire Prevention

Department of Building & Fire Prevention

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A4

http://www.asianjournal.com • (702) 792-6678

JULY 23-29, 2020 • LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL

OPINION

Deaths in the NBP

FEATURES

WON’T controversies ever end at the national penitentiary? Armored vehicles and Special Action Force commandos have been fielded to curb illegal activities including drug trafficking operations of inmates in the New Bilibid Prisons. The rot in the NBP and its supervising agency the Bureau of Corrections, however, has often involved their own personnel. BuCor officials and prison guards have been linked to rackets such as the grant of luxurious amenities and prolonged stays in private hospitals to moneyed inmates. Before the pandemic, there was the scandal over the early release of inmates based on good conduct time allowance. Amid the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the Department of Justice is looking into suspicions that the public health crisis might have opened opportunities for illegal activities in the corrections system. The DOJ has initiated a probe into the deaths of 21 inmates allegedly due to COVID-19, with 24 others suspected to have succumbed to the coronavirus. Apart from checking the health conditions in the country’s main prison facility, the DOJ is looking into the intriguing detail that nine of the fatalities were high-value inmates linked to drug trafficking

operated from the NBP. The most well known, Jaybee Sebastian, was a star witness in the case that put Sen. Leila de Lima behind bars without bail. Because they were classified as COVID cases, the remains of Sebastian and those of the other fatalities were immediately cremated, according to BuCor officials. So it is now nearly impossible to determine the cause of death – unless someone emerges to contradict the story. With bodies supposedly reduced to ashes, it may even be difficult to determine if the prisoners are actually dead or, as even some lawmakers are speculating, whether they were simply allowed to walk to freedom. Apart from the DOJ, the Senate is set to conduct a probe into this latest controversy. Will such a probe ferret out the truth? Considering the circumstances, senators face a daunting challenge. (Philstar.com)

Editorial

The Fil-Am Perspective GEL SANTOS-RELOS RES IPSA LOQUITUR. The thing speaks for itself. I remember learning a lot about legal terms in Latin on the legal talk, public service and drama radio program on DZMM with the late Philippine Senator Rene Cayetano, the good father of House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano. The “Compañero ng Bayan”, as I fondly called him, would give pro-bono legal advice to my radio listeners, sharing my objective to make ordinary Filipino people more aware of their rights and obligations as provided for by the law. The Filipino people rewarded the elder Cayetano by catapulting him to the Philippine Senate in 1998. Res Ipsa Loquitur. The thing speaks for itself. I believe the late Compañero will agree with me that this legal term is very much applicable to the online forum live-streamed on Facebook and shared on various social media platforms. After killing the ABS-CBN franchise on July 10, a Zoom video call shows that Dutere’s minions are now strategizing on ways to seize the assets of and take over ABS-CBN. As InterAksyon reported, and as viewed by Filipinos all over the world on social media, “Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta (Sagip Party-list), Deputy Speaker Jesus Crispin Remulla (Cavite, 7th District), Rep. Michael “Mike” Defensor (Anakalusugan Party-list) and Rep. Yedda Romualdez (Tingog Sinirangan Party-list) talked about the different ways that ABS-CBN’s properties could be used and acquired, including seizing the broadcast giant’s sprawling headquarters in Quezon City.” Cognizant of the fact that

‘Res Ipsa Loquitur’: After killing ABS-CBN franchise, video call reveals Duterte’s minions now strategize to take over network and seize its assets an overwhelming majority of Filipinos surveyed (75 percent) said Congress should have renewed the franchise of ABS-CBN, this “leaking” of such sensitive (or should I say insensitive) zoom meeting was purposely done by Defensor. The Partylist Anakalusgan representative, who appeared to be more obsessed about killing the franchise of ABS-CBN than to help kill COVID-19 as he has sworn to do, hosted the informal meeting and made the streaming public on his official Facebook page. The report said Defensor contended that “the online discussion was meant to “explain” the franchise committee’s technical working group’s recommendation on rejecting ABS-CBN’s application, which was eventually upheld by the House panel.” President Rodrigo Duterte — whose vow was: “ Ikaw, ABSCBN, ang inyong franchise, mag-end next year. If you are expecting na ma-renew Yan, I’m sorry. You’re out” — must be very happy with his minions in Congress. After all, he has repeatedly threatened to shutdown the network for not airing some of his campaign ads [regional ads, because of shorter time allocation, per ABS-CBN President Carlo Katigbak] during the 2016 Presidential elections with Speaker Cayetano as his running mate, and not issuing the campaign the refund for unaired materials. After all, he has made public again and again with expletives you wouldn’t want your children to hear from their president, his rage against ABS-CBN’s critical reporting of him and especially of his war on drugs, his hatred for ABSCBN management, especially

HAVING been born in Mandaluyong, and knowing the history of American influence in my country of birth, I have always felt an affinity and a deep appreciation to the United States for the opportunities given to me and my family. The success we had during the presidency of Ronald Reagan helped make me a die-hard Republican. It was a party that believed in rewarding hard work, maintaining a strong posture against world communism, and providing

also penalized the network for issues which were non-issue in their treatment of other franchise applicants like GMA-7. On February 24, Duterte’s former aide turned Senator Bong Go was quoted in a Rappler article, saying the president was “hurt” as ABS-CBN chose to air “black propaganda” instead of “legitimate” ads paid for by the Duterte campaign. “Kung masama ka sa Pangulo, mas maging masama siya sa ‘yo (If you are mean to the president, he will be meaner to you),” he says. RES IPSA LOQUITUR. The thing speaks for itself. The politics of vendetta and cronyism and political dynasty in the Philippines. Condoned and perpetuated not only by the three supposedly independent and coequal branches of government, but by many Filipinos who are loyal Duterte supporters. Mrs. Chita Lopez-Taylor, the mother of Gabby Lopez and widow of the late Geny Lopez, the one who built ABS-CBN, shared with me a statement from a priest which she allowed me to share in my column. I can only imagine what Tita Chita is going through right now, after having experienced how the Marcos dictatorship imprisoned her husband, sequestered ABS-CBN when martial law was declared in 1972, all because of a vendetta for the network’s reporting. The Lopezes were only able to take back the broadcast headquarters in 1986 when Marcos was deposed by People Power. Here is the statement: WE ARE BACK TO THE STREETS I was here in these same streets with a throng of discontented crowd last February 24-25, 1986. That was 34 years ago when I was still a young seminarian. Today, I am back

with the same arms in protest. Deja vu! Despite the COVID-19 scare, people are out again - from Makati, from Luneta, from Quezon City - raising their fist, honking their horns, shouting, creating any kind of noise. I can again feel what I felt during the days of People Power - the emotion, the disgust, the anger, the dedication, the commitment, the youthful faces. Why are they risking their lives when the virus is just lurking in the air? Because something is wrong, terribly wrong. There was even a young lady who brought out her body and sat by the side window of her car with tears falling on her cheeks as she raised her arm in silence. She was not born yet in 1986. But I saw in her eyes the same anger, the same cry, the same “No” that emerges out of the depths of our humanness when our moral fiber is violated. We say “this is wrong” and we raise our fist in protest. I am here for some of my ABSCBN friends - Inday Espina-Varona, Eli Sepe, Ilsa Reyes, Paul Catada, and several others. But I am also here in the name of thousands of people whom I do not know, their camera men, drivers, waitresses in restaurants, production assistants, technicians of transmitters, tindera ng sari-sari store sa kanto ng Esguerra at Panay, people we do not see on camera, who will go home to their families in the following weeks with nothing, not knowing how to start again. Only because of the personal vendetta of the king by the Pasig river, legitimated by the rude dramatics of his cohorts in Congress. We do not need to be lawyers to see that something is wrong in those hypocritical charades in high places. How many times in this

country shall we see the law being weaponized to kill the poor. No, he has not destroyed the oligarchs in this country; he has killed the poor! I have joined small picket lines of 20-30 workers in some factories or displaced lumad since I was a student. Today, we are talking of 11,000 workers and many others without a future. They and the many victims of this government deserve our support. It is time to stand up, to rise and make our voices be heard. In the face of evil, silence is yes to the status quo. Neutrality is to be complicit with the powers that be. I write my name below to show that I am fully responsible for what I write here; it is necessary especially now that the Terror Law is in effect. Because I also raise my fist in protest of this dangerous and unjust law. I also cry in protest for the extrajudicial killings which I see at close range and their wailing widows and orphans. And I say No to all the values proliferated by this government that is against the basic human sensibilities that my poor parents, my best teachers and my dedicated guides have taught me in my life. Fr. Daniel Franklin E. Pilario, C.M. St. Vincent School of Theology Adamson University danielfranklinpilario@yahoo. com 07.19.2020. *** 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.

I’m a Filipino American Republican, but I’m voting for Biden

Commentary

NELSON GARCIA

Chairman Emeritus Gabby Lopez, for failing to air his campaign ads. After all, Duterte himself said “Yun namang ABS-CBN binaboy ako. Pero sinabi ko kapag ako nanalo, bubuwagin ko ang oligarchy ng Pilipinas.” He also said, “’Yung kaibigan kong tumutulong, ‘pag yumaman ka nang yumaman, mas maligaya ako (My friends who are helpful, if you get richer and richer, I will be happy).” After all, it was Duterte himself, amid his threats, who urged ABS-CBN to sell the network to a new owner. Some have speculated that the president’s friend Dennis Uy, who donated P30 million to Duterte’s campaign, will acquire the Lopez-owned network, as Rappler reported. Amid his doublespeak and quoting verses from the Bible, Speaker Cayetano never had a single hearing about the franchise renewal even before the pandemic, and waited for the franchise to expire, despite numerous petitions waiting to be heard as early as 2014. After all, the rule of law mandates that franchise renewal applicants should be accorded a fair hearing before any decision is made. Furthermore, contrary to the treatment given to other applicants, ABS-CBN was not allowed to operate while the decision was pending. Worse, the dishonorable minions who voted to kill the franchise did not take into consideration the testimonies given by the officials of the Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Bureau of Internal Revenue, National Telecommunications commission, that ABS-CBN had no violations of the provisions of its franchise as alleged by detractors in the court of public opinion. They

opportunities with the least amount of burdensome regulations. In my youth, I formed the first College Republican chapter at the University of California, Riverside. I then served on the California College Republican state board alongside current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. I was a California delegate to the 1992 Republican National Convention in Houston, and proceeded to work on various campaigns. After graduation, I landed a job as a legislative staff member with three Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Still, I knew from the very beginning that support for

Donald Trump was going to be impossible, due to his obvious inexperience for the job, but also because of his character flaws — his narcissism, his misogyny, and his racism. Since the moment he stepped on that escalator at Trump Tower in New York to declare his candidacy in 2015, I knew that the United States of America was in real danger. His initial attacks on Mexicans as bringing drugs, as bringing crime, as being rapists, were tell-tale signs of where we were headed as a people upon his election as president of the United States. From Charlottesville, to the Muslim-ban, to Tweeting “white power” videos, culmi-

nating in his racist labeling of the coronavirus as the “kung flu,” his presidency showed how much in the gutter the office has become. If this was not enough, we now have over 2.8 million Americans infected with COVID-19, over 140,000 Americans dead, 42.7 million Americans newly unemployed, and an 11.1% American unemployment rate, as among his greatest “accomplishments.” It is with this in mind that I urge my fellow Filipino American Republicans to join me in endorsing and supporting Joe Biden as our next president. Joe has real solutions that can begin to address the very difficult challenges we Filipino

Americans face in these terrible times. Joe has a plan outlined in his website that addresses the scourge of the COVID-19 epidemic, impacting Filipino Americans where they work, as essential workers, in health care, and as small business owners. Joe has a plan outlined that will tackle the difficult issues of immigration and education. And Joe even has ideas laid-out that affect us as a Catholic community. Finally, Joe has a plan that will restore America’s leadership in the world…where the world looks to as a true beacon of hope, respect, human rights, and democracy. Joe Biden says we are in a fight for the soul of our nation. We need Joe

Biden! ••• Since 2009, Nelson Garcia served as the founder and current President of the Washington Intergovernmental Professional Group, LLC (WIPG), a non-partisan professional networking organization dedicated to working closely with Congress and the diplomatic community in Washington, DC. He served in government relations for the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA), the Intelligent Transportation Society of America (2003-2008); and the Alliance of American Insurers (2000-2003). He also served in the legislative staff of California Republican Representatives Gary Miller and Ken Calvert, and served four terms as President of the Congressional Legislative Staff Association.

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

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LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • JULy 23-29, 2020

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july 23-29, 2020 • lAS VEGAS ASIAN jOuRNAl

http://www.asianjournal.com • (702) 792-6678

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LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • JULy 23-29, 2020

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Journal The untold story of Spanky Rigor seen through the lens of his nephew, Fil-Am author Albert Samaha by

MoMar G. Visaya / AJPress

MOST Filipinos know VST & Company, and while V & T (brothers Vic and Tito Sotto) continue to bask in the limelight, S as in Spanky Rigor, decided to leave fame and fortune in the homeland for a more peaceful life in California. For almost 30 years now, Spanky has worked at the San Francisco International Airport as a baggage handler. Sometimes, people would recognize him and would ask for a selfie. No surprise since VST & Company in their heyday pioneered 70’s disco sound was often referred to as “the Bee Gees of the Philippines.” Over the past few weeks, a video feature on Pop-Up Magazine became viral, furiously shared on social media by diehards of Manila Sound and even occasional fans. Now, even younger people know more about one of the founders behind monster hits that continue to be played in every Filipino gathering that involves line dancing. The idea about the feature came from Albert Samaha, an investigative reporter at BuzzFeed who was fascinated by the backstory. It was a personal project: Spanky Rigor is Albert’s uncle. “When I was young I knew he’d been in a well-known band called VST & Company, but had no sense of how famous he was,” Samaha shared. “I never thought to dig into that past — which now feels a bit shameful.” His elders would take about it and make passing references to Spanky’s time in the band, but as a kid, Samaha assumed “they were hyping it up the way my mom hyped up my report cards or science project.” So he kind of knew his uncle was famous, but didn’t realize how famous, especially back in

the day when VST was a household name in the Philippines. It wasn’t until Samaha was in his 20s, when he mentioned his uncle to a Filipino friend, fellow writer Matt Ortile, who used to be his colleague at BuzzFeed. They were just talking about Philippines stuff and family stuff when it came up. “My friend’s eyes went wide: ‘Spanky Rigor is your uncle?!’ And he explained to me how he knew all about VST, and that his parents listened to them all the time, and that he still listened to them too,” Samaha recalled. As someone who is into investigative journalism, Samaha did more research after that. PAGE B2

Spanky Rigor was one of the founding members of VST & Company, one of the pioneering ‘70s disco bands and popularly known as “the Bee Gees of the Philippines.” He has worked as a baggage handler at San Francisco International Airport for almost 30 years, since he immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines. Archive images courtesy of VST & Company

Features

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Kelsey Merritt back in Sports Illustrated The untold story of Spanky Rigor seen... Swimsuit issue for another year PAGE B1

By Ritchel

Mendiola AJPress

Filipina american model Kelsey Merritt is once again featured in the 2020 issue of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit. The 23-year-old model took to instagram to express her excitement. “Soooo excited for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit to come out on newsstands July 21st!” she wrote under a photo from her shoot in Dominican Republic. Merritt, who was born and raised in pampanga, philippines, was part of the magazine’s “rookie class” last year. She previously hailed Sports Illustrated Swimsuit as “a powerful and iconic brand that celebrates women of all color, size, age, and ethnicity.” “Whenever i see them do something groundbreaking that no one else has done before, i am in awe that i get to call this brand my family,” she shared. “They continue to shatter ceilings for inclusivity. i am so proud and honored at the same time to be amongst the company of strong, confident women that encourage everyone to be their true authentic self,” she added. Merritt made history as the first Filipina to walk on the Victoria’s Secret fashion show runway Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit in 2018.

Disney teams up with Fil-Am best-selling author Melissa de la Cruz for new studio The global entertainment giant previously won production rights to the author’s romantic comedy “29 Dates” By KlaRize

Medenilla AJPress

MEliSSa de la Cruz, the New York Times best-selling author known for her “Blue Bloods” series, has partnered up with Disney publishing Worldwide to develop original content that will be featured across the company’s multiple platforms, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Melissa de la Cruz Studio will work and collaborate with new voices, as well as established authors, for content creation and development. The emphasis will be on creating original stories and uplifting writers of color, women writers and others from historically disenfranchised groups, a step in the global entertainment giant’s long-term efforts to embrace diversity. The news doesn’t come as much of a surprise considering Hyperion Books, a subsidiary of the Disney publishing Group, has published many of de la Cruz’s works in the past, including the “Blue Bloods” series, “Witches of East End” and “The Beauchamp Family.” “Disney publishing has been home for many of my novels throughout the years and i am so thankful to continue the collaboration,” de la Cruz said in a statement. “i am beyond thrilled to forge a new journey with the team, full of even more incredible opportunities, nestled within The Walt Disney Company powerhouse. it is a dream come true.” The 48-year-old Filipina american author is best known for her work in the young adult genre:

Acclaimed author Melissa de la Cruz will now have her own studio with Disney Publishing Worldwide.

“Blue Bloods,” a series of novels about vampires published in 2006; “The Ring and the Crown,” a historical fantasy epic; and “29 Dates,” a romantic comedy about a Korean exchange student, which is currently being developed into a feature-length film for streaming service Disney+. De la Cruz’s “isle of the lost” series provided the basis for the wildly popular Disney Channel original movie “Descendants.” Currently, de la Cruz is also working on a novelization of the Disney+ television series “High School Musical: The Musical:

The Series.” “as an author within the Disney publishing Worldwide family, we have seen firsthand how Melissa de la Cruz cultivates a story and develops content for multiple platforms and media,” said Emily Meehan, Disney Hyperion & new intellectual property vice president and long-time editorial publisher of de la Cruz’s work. “Her strong creative vision will inspire the next generation of best sellers and content creators for entertainment beyond the pages of a book,” Meehan said.

SB19 in new high at top 3 of Billboard Social 50, after BTS and EXO by niña

Guno Inquirer.net

p-pOp group SB19 marked a new high in the Billboard Social 50 as it landed the third spot on the chart, just after K-pop superstar groups BTS and EXO. Billboard announced the weekly Social 50 top 10 on Tuesday, July 21. The chart has been continuously dominated by K-

pop groups. SB19 thanked fans for its. Km” all-time high ranking on Twitter yesterday, July 22: “We’re still in awe as we climbed up at #3 on Billboard Social50!” “Maraming maraming salamat sa lahat ng sumusuporta sa aming grupo. Tagumpay ito ng a’Tin at ng ating bansa. Mabuhay ang musikang pilipino!” (Thank you very much to all

Filipino boyband SB-19 continues to climb the international charts.

those supporting our group. This is the success of a’Tin [SB19 fans] and of our country. long live the Filipino music!) The Social 50 chart ranks musical artists based on their online popularity by tracking their activity on social media platforms. SB19, composed of Sejun, Josh, Stell, Ken and Justin, is set to release an album on July 31.

Photo from Facebook/SB19Official

This was around the time he began to grow more interested in his family’s own history, not just for Spanky but all his elders. in hindsight, he thinks part of this newfound curiosity might have had to do with the fact that he had reached the age where his mom and her siblings had been when they migrated to the United States, and their journey no longer felt so distant. “i found myself wondering whether i would’ve [taken] the same path they had, which of course only led me to dig deeper into the reasons they took the paths they did. in fact, if i remember correctly, the reason i mentioned Spanky to my friend at that party was because i was working on an essay exploring my family’s immigration story and had planned a trip to the philippines to report on it,” he said. Sometime in late 2016, Samaha began to become really curious about his family’s history in the US and was asking all these questions. From why they came here to what they left behind, and how his elders feel about all that now. He wanted to report this history, and who knows, maybe write a book about it. He knew then it would have to be a longterm thing. He was then still finishing up his first book, “never Ran, never Will” and knew only scant details about his family’s history. He knew even fewer details about the historical forces that led to their family’s migration. The planned trip to the philippines happened and he wrote an essay about his mom’s support for Duterte in 2017. later that year, anita Badejo, a producer at pop-Up and a former colleague, reached out to ask if Samaha had any stories he wanted to pitch for their show. He pitched a couple of ideas and both got rejected, but from those early brainstorming discussions came the idea that resulted in the final product which was released a couple of weeks ago. So the project began earnestly and Samaha knew he was up for a challenge: asking his elders the hard questions about their past decisions and he was worried about unearthing memories that may have been painful or, at least, difficult. “But my Uncle Spanky, auntie Ging, and the other relatives i interviewed were generous with their experiences and memories, and really understood the value of that reflection, especially for those of us in the next generation who knew only the world we were born into,” he shared. He then realized that the biggest challenges ended up being more about how to do their stories justice — what lessons, insights, and conclusions to draw, how their experiences fit into the arc of history. That part took a lot of reading and thinking. “and even now, my understanding of those stories continues to evolve. i don’t think that’ll ever change, but you have to tell the stories when you can, which means deadlines and final drafts,” he explained. “So putting together the pieces, weaving in the historical context, arranging the timeline, picking what details to include or leave out, all building toward some kind of wider meaning, that was probably the central challenge.” Samaha learned some of the biggest life lessons from his uncle, and for that he is grateful. “He taught me the power optimism and warmth can have on others. Before i knew anything about his rockstar days, i’d admired him as an eternally joyous and steady presence, a champion of the underdog, always first to put an arm around anyone who seemed down,” he shared. “He has always struck me as a person at peace, and his enthusiasm for the granular moments of life made a big impression on me growing up.” as he looked back at the past, Samaha thinks that one of the reasons he underestimated his uncle’s celebrity status is that” he always seemed to live in the present: he eats slowly, listens closely, and sees the best in people.” Next Chapter Samaha is now working on his next book “Concepcion,” the bigger project he anticipated when he decided to focus on his family’s decision to migrate to the U.S. This one gets more personal. “at the core, i wanted to better understand how my family ended up in the States. Over my decade or so as a professional writer, i’ve mostly chronicled the stories of others,” he said. He tended to avoid writing anything about himself because there is so much else to write about. But the older he got, and the more stories he heard

Albert Samaha works as an investigative reporter at BuzzFeed News. He is working on his next book called “Concepcion.” He wrote his first book, “Never Ran, Never Will,” because he wanted to cultivate some understanding of what football’s place in American society is, will be, and should be. Photo courtesy of Albert Samaha

from his elders, and the more he researched, the more he got drawn to the idea of reporting on his family’s experience. “it’s the story i know best, and though it’s only one thread in the tapestry of the immigrant or american experience, the more threads we can record, study, and reflect on, the more understanding we’ll have of why the world works the way it does,” he quipped. Concepcion is his mom’s family name, and it’s the name that links the main characters in the story: from his grandparents and uncles, aunties to his cousins. “it wasn’t my first idea, or second, or third… i burned through a list of possibilities. “Over the Bridge,” which i think might end up as a chapter title. “Don’t Forget Those Who Fell During the nighttime,” which is from a Jose Rizal quote that i may use elsewhere in the book,” he shared. For a while, in lieu of a title, Samaha used the name of his favorite VST song, Rock Baby Rock, as a sort of code name for the book project. When he started writing the proposal, he thought the title would be, simply, “The Concepcions” but when he told his agent, he had the brilliant idea to simplify it further. “That the name also alludes to birth and origins made it feel fitting for the story of people starting fresh in a new place,” he said. Journey to BuzzFeed Samaha currently works as an investigative reporter at BuzzFeed, something he calls his dream job, one that he is in because he was able to catch some lucky breaks early on in his career. “i get to chase stories that interest me, i have editors i trust, and i’m provided the sort of resources that make the job easier, from reporting trips to database subscriptions,” he shared. “i graduated college at a time when newspapers were shutting down and magazines were shrinking, so the precarity of working in journalism is always in the front of my mind.” His first three jobs were at alternative-weeklies, in St. louis, San Francisco, and new York, where they hire young writers and ask them to fill the paper. He was writing eight or nine features a year while learning how to be a local reporter from editors who had been in journalism longer than he’d been alive. “When i was at the Village Voice in new York, my main beat was criminal justice, and right around the time BuzzFeed news was expanding its operation, the Ferguson uprising happened and suddenly criminal justice became the central issue of the moment, and when BuzzFeed went out looking for someone to cover the topic, i had relevant clips to show them and a bit of experience,” he said. Pursuing Stories with Impact Samaha’s reporting has freed a man from prison, got a police chief fired, and changed laws in six states. “You always hope at the outset that a story can have an impact, but it so rarely happens, so you never expect it. When it does happen, it feels good, obviously, but also like a relief, because it can be disheartening to devote weeks to revealing a problem that doesn’t get fixed,” he shared.

He explained that the 2018 story that changed the laws did so because it caught a wave of public outrage, and a lot of people called (or tweeted at) their congressional representatives. The case at the center of it had made headlines, but the laws that allowed officers to abuse people in their custody were little known: the officers in this case claimed that they’d had consensual sex with a woman they’d pulled over, and in new York state they were allowed to use this defense because the law didn’t automatically classify sex in custody as rape. “i found that dozens of officers had been acquitted through this defense, and after many hours of reading through all 50 state legal codes, i discovered that this loophole existed in 35 states,” he recalled. His 2015 story that led to the police chief getting terminated investigated a narcotics unit in Mississippi that targeted college-age students for minor possession, then pressured them to serve as confidential informants. The officers exaggerated the charges they faced, and discouraged them from speaking with a lawyer or calling their parents. These kids then had to wear a wire and help out on a certain number of drug busts, which usually targeted their friends. “One student recorded his interaction with the unit’s chief and sent it to me, confirming many of the details i’d gathered in my reporting and providing indisputable evidence of the unit’s troubling tactics. The unit’s chief resigned the same day the story was published, under pressure from local officials,” he said. Personal Journey When Samaha last visited the philippines in april 2017, he went with his mom, for an essay he wrote about Duterte later. His mom grew up in Manila, though her parents are from northern Mindanao. His dad is from Beirut and currently lives there. They met on an airplane. His mom was a flight attendant, his dad a passenger. “They separated when i was young. i lived with my mom in California, but saw my dad at least once a year, and much more often in recent years. i grew up around my mom’s side, so culturally i felt full Filipinx growing up,” he said. His mother has seven siblings and most live in the States. Samaha was born in Vallejo, went to Kindergarten in Manila, first through third grade in San Francisco, fourth grade in San Mateo, then middle school and high school in Sacramento. “i went to six different schools from Kindergarten to 8th grade, and having to keep adapting to those new environments and being constantly presented with the unfamiliar certainly shaped who i am today in ways i’m still untangling,” he said. He considers sports as his gateway into writing. He grew up reading the sports section of the newspaper and Sports illustrated magazine, and by high school, he knew he enjoyed writing and wanted to keep doing it. This love for writing to a backseat when he checked if he could become a professional football player. He played in his first two years of college, then quit to focus on journalism, something that he enjoys doing to this day.

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Health@Heart PhiliP S. Chua, MD, FaCS, FPCS DEXAMETHASONE for COVID-19 New studies (2,100 patients in the UK) reported in the New England Journal of Medicine have shown that the steroid dexamethasone (6 mg once daily for up to 10 days) given to serious COVID-19 patients on a ventilator almost doubled the survival rate (41% versus 29% for those not given the steroid) among these patients. Those on oxygen (no ventilator) also benefited. Dexamethasone given to those with less severe COVID-19 did not show any benefit. Update on COVID-19 stats: Globally, 14,980,328 cases, deaths - 616,098, almost 9 million recovered; USA, 3,994,998 cases, deaths – 144,900; Brazil, 2,129,888 cases, deaths - 80,693; India, 1,195,920 cases, deaths - 28,990; Philippines, 72,800 cases, deaths - 1,958; Colombia - 204,200 cases, deaths - 6,989. New cases in one day: Globally - 204,017; USA - 62,035, (Florida, the highest, 10,347); India - 39,610, next to USA; Brazil - 21,750; Philippines - 1,981. The Vatican City had 12 cases, all recovered, no deaths. Only Antarctica, southernmost continent on earth, site of South Pole (size: 5,483 million miles, population, seasonal - 1,000 to 5000) has no COVID-19 cases as of today. Night owls – early bird A scientific research in Brazil revealed that those who sleep late at night are three times prone to develop symptoms of depression compared to individuals who go to bed early each night, even if the total number of sleeping hours are the same in both groups. Staying up late obviously is not healthy. Antioxidants in spices A teaspoon of cinnamon has as much antioxidant as half a cup of blueberries! Cinnamon is, of course, versatile, being used in baking, in coffee, syrups, icecream, gums, etc. And the other spices that are antioxidant-rich include oregano, curry powder, red pepper, ginger, thyme and rosemary. They are, indeed, also the spices of life. Immunity enhancer Vitamin D, when taken regu-

Features

Medical news, tips larly, will strengthen the immune system against colds, reports a study from Harvard. Those with lowest Vitamin D level were found to be about 36% more prone to upper respiratory tract infection. And those with asthma, whose Vitamin D level is low, are 6 times more likely to get sick. Vitamin D aids in the production of cathelicidin, a protein that kills viruses. Vitamin D has also been found to help lower the risk of developing colon cancer, and 2000 IU has been found to be safe. The other is Vitamin C, ascorbic acid as found in citrus fruits. Exercises that aid sleep Some people want to exercise before going to bed to help improve their sleep. Two of the best are gentle yoga and tai chi. They induce sleep and a more restful night. Although some people are not bothered by caffeine, for most of us, it is best not to drink coffee before bedtime. Somehow, tea seems to be soothing for most people. Watching the television immediately before going to bed could cause so much excitement and impaired sleep, especially among children. Eating every 3 hours Scientifically speaking, the more stable the blood sugar level is in a person’s body, the healthier it is. The conventional practice of eating 2 to 3 times a day works well for most, but eating every 3 hours, which will maintain the blood sugar level in a more even keel is healthier during the day when we are most active, so long as the total amount of calories does not exceed the total 24-hour caloric requirement of the person. Ginkgo biloba not helpful For years, everyone thought ginkgo biloba would help improve memory and prevent Alzheimer’s or dementia. New studies contradict such widespread impression. A study where subjects took Ginkgo biloba for six years did not improve the memory, and neither did it stop the onset of dementia. Ginkgo meds are expensive. Spend your budget for Ginkgo on your children and grandchildren, instead; they will provide you with wonderful memories better than the GB can. The same with Prevagen and almost all supplements on the market today. What they surely improve is the wealth of the manufac-

turer and vendors of the useless, and potentially harmful supplement and herbals. Caveat emptor! Buyers beware! Brain exercise Just like our muscles need exercise to maintain good health, our brain also benefits from mental exercise. Science has shown that individuals who habitually and regularly engage in challenging mental endeavors reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s or dementia. Reading, doing crossword puzzles, watching intelligent games on television, etc. are good exercises for the brain. What’s even more interesting is that various studies have shown that those who indulge in multiple hobbies develop the healthiest mind. Red wine is better Is white wine as good as red wine when your health is concerned? A glass or two of white wine among persons who enjoy them with meals is healthy. But studies have shown that red wine is better, especially Pinot Noir, which has the highest level of resveratrol (antioxidant polypehnols from the skin of the Pinot Noir grape), which is cardio-protective. White wine is not made from skin of grapes, and confers more limited benefit compared to red wine. The final deadly clot When someone develops a sudden heart attack, it usually means that the coronary (heart) artery, which has been narrowed by cholesterol plaques over the years, is totally plugged by a clot with lightning speed. The heart muscles are instantly deprived of blood, which carries oxygen supply, and the muscles go into spasm causing severe, vice-like, chest pains. These individuals, especially when they smoke or eat a lot of saturated fat (red meat, egg yolk, dairy products), have blood consistency that is thicker than normal, which tends to clot more easily. The narrowed artery is a frequent target of these clots, leading to heart attack, or stroke (blockage of artery to the brain). Taking a tablet of aspirin when one develops chest pain is a popular strategy while waiting for transport to the emergency room. Make sure you consult your physician before you start taking aspirin. Fish oil is no fish tale The benefits of ingesting fish oil (by eating fish, or taking fish

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • JULy 23-29, 2020

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WGU to offer $800,000 in ‘Back to School’ scholarships for adults Online, competency-based university will award 400 new students nationally with scholarships LAS VEGAS — Western Governors University (WGU) will award $800,000 nationally in scholarships to busy adults who would like to earn a college degree on a schedule that fits their lives. The “Back to School” Scholarships is WGU’s largest scholarship offering to date. Since 2015 there have been 31 such scholarships awarded in Nevada. The scholarship is valued at up to $2,500 per student and is open to new students in any of the more than 60 bachelor’s and master’s degree programs offered at WGU, including programs in business, information technology, education, and health professions. New students can now apply for the scholarship through September 20, 2020. The scholarships will be ap-

plied at the rate of $625 per four-month term, renewable for up to four terms. Multiple scholarships will be awarded through a competitive program. Scholarships will be granted based on a candidate’s academic record, financial need, readiness for online study, current competency, and other considerations. “This scholarship changed my life,” said Amanda Ogle, a recent WGU scholarship recipient. “It allowed me to get my teaching degree, and inspire my children, current students, and future students to follow their dreams, persevere, and experience the success that comes from determination.” Designed to meet the needs of 21st century students, WGU’s competency-based education allows students to take advantage

of their knowledge and experience to move quickly through material they already know, so they can focus on what they still need to learn. Students complete their programs by studying with schedules that fit their lives, advancing as soon as they demonstrate mastery of the subject matter. WGU faculty members work one-on-one with students as mentors, offering guidance, support, and individualized instruction. While WGU’s degree programs are rigorous and challenging, competencybased learning makes it possible for students to accelerate their progress, saving both time and money. To learn more about WGU’s “Back to School” Scholarships or to apply, visit www.wgu.edu.

Vice Ganda slams report he got rejected by TV5 for asking for P3-M talent fee by Ian

BIong Inquirer.net

COMEDIAN Jose Marie Viceral, more popularly known as Vice Ganda, slammed a report that TV5 had rejected his camp’s offer to transfer to the network for an extremely high talent fee. Vice Ganda took to his Instagram Stories on Tuesday, July 21, to label as fake news a July 20 report by website Pinoytrend. net, which claimed that he was asking for P3 million monthly salary from the broadcasting network. “Mga ULUL! Mga bulaang ULUL!!! (Fools! You absolute fools!) #PekFakeNews,” Vice Ganda screamed on a screenshot of the said report, which bore the headline “Ang Mahal! TV5 reportedly rejects Vice Ganda after the comedian’s camp asks 3-M pesos talent fee.” The said article cited a report from tabloid Abante Tonite on July 12 about the rejection of Vice Ganda’s possible transfer to TV5, while it got the exact amount from a July 19 report by another tabloid, Pang-Masa (via Philstar. PAGE B4 com), which cited rumors that

Vice Ganda

the comedian was asking for P3 million per month for a once-aweek show. Articles from the website Pinoytrend.net were previously labeled fake and misleading by independent media group and

Photo from Instagram/@praybeytbenjamin

fact-checker Vera Files. Following the rejection of ABSCBN’s franchise renewal bid, Vice Ganda decided to launch his own network that will air shows through its official website, www. viceganda.com.ph.

EntErtainmEnt

B july 23-29, 2020 • lAS VEGAS ASIAN jOuRNAl

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Bea, Alden drop sweet photos of new love team Alice to tell all about her Robinsons Galleria ‘taong ahas’ story By Jan

Milo Severo Philstar.com

KAPUSO star Alden Richards and Kapamilya actress Bea Alonzo released the muchawaited first look of their love team, fondly called by fans as “BeaDen.” In separate Instagram posts last Monday, July 20, Alden and Bea posted their “kilig” photos together to promote their first commercial together for a haircare brand. “Our Head and Shoulders TVC dropped today!” Bea said. “Yun oh!” Alden commented on Bea’s post, soliciting over 1,500 likes. Alden also posted another photo of him and Bea in a staring contest. “Sino kayang mananalo sa staring contest na to?” Alden captioned the post. “@aldenrichards02 me!!” Bea commented, drawing over 2,000 likes. Both artists used the hashtag “#NoItchuationsWithMyBae.” “Welcome both to the family Bea #ProudTito,” model-entrepreneur Nico Bolzico commented. “Bagay kayo Ms. Bea!” a fan exclaimed. “(Mag-)guest ka po sa Bawal Judgemental please!” suggested another fan. “Love the chemistry,” added another. “Welcome to Kapuso network Bea,” said another Internet user. “Kayo na lang po please!” cried another. Many fans called Bea and Alden “Tisay” and “Tisoy,” as well as “Basha” and “Ethan,” their iconic characters from separate blockbusters “One More Chance” and “Hello, Love, Goodbye.” Last February, before the lockdowns imposed due to coronavirus pandemic, the two were seen together in an airport in

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By ratziel

San Juan Philstar.com

Alden Richard with Bea Alonzo

Thailand. Recently, Bea made headlines when she revealed that some people were trying to buy her fan social media accounts. Fellow Kapamilya star Angel Locsin also bared that she also received a message from an administrator of her fan page that someone was trying to buy her fan page account. In her Instagram story on Tuesday, July 21, Angel posted a screenshot of the conversation about the buy-out attempt. “After reading Bea’s post na may bumibili ng mga accounts… eto rin ang nabasa ko. Sabi nga ni Bea, you be the judge. What’s happening?” Angel captioned the post. Bea recently revealed that her

ACTRESS Alice Dixson is set to reveal her personal experience involving the infamous “taong ahas” urban legend that has long plagued the fitting rooms of Robinsons Galleria. The myth that has spawned countless variations revolves around a serpent monster that preys on women, devouring those it likes through a trap door on the floor of the said mall’s fitting rooms. “Mahal kong kababayans... hindi ko gustong buhayin ang chismis; that is the farthest from my intention. Nais ko lng linawin ang mga naganap sa Robinson’s Galleria nun dalaga pa ako,” Alice announced on social media earlier this week. The 50-year-old said that she would tell all in an upcoming YouTube vlog narrating the events from her early adulthood. “I made promise to a dear friend - I said I would tell my side of the story this year at dahil 30 Photo from Instagram/@aldenrichards02 year anniversary na this month, fan page accounts received of- it is NOW time. Yes, 3 decades fers for a buy-out. “Had to post this. Woke up to these messages from my supporters. I wonder why these people would offer to buy these accounts all of a sudden? For what?” Bea wrote on her Instagram story. by Jan Milo Severo “Also heard that diff fan Philstar.com groups of diff ABS-CBN artists KAPAMILYA actress Jessy received the same offer today. Mendiola revealed that her boyYou be the judge,” she added. In another post, Bea posted friend Luis Manzano is organiza screenshot that a fan page of ing a job fair for retrenched her and Ian Veneracion also re- ABS-CBN employees. In her Instagram story last ceived offers. “Like abscbn my BeaIan pre- Tuesday, July 21, she posted a cious acc is not for sale po. photo of Luis talking with his Para lang to sa mga loves ko @ friends on the phone for the job beaalonzo and papa ih,” the fan fair. “This man has been working page captioned the post. the phone for the past three days. Meron siyang ginawang job fair group kasama ang iba niyang mga kaibigan para mailipat at makatulong sa ibang kapamilya Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a employees na nawalan ng trabaCardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in ho,” Jessy wrote in the caption. Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, “Alam ko na hindi ko na dapat Nevada, is an international medical ito i-post. Pero sobrang proud lecturer/author, a Health Advocate, ako sa’yo, love. You’ve been putand Chairman of the Filipino United ting others first before yourself,” Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian she added. foundation in the United States. Websites: Jessy said Luis is monitoring philipSchua.com and FUN8888.com; what’s happening with the netEmail: scalpelpen@gmail.com. work and his reaction when he

mo nung nahatulan ng denial ang franchise renewal ‘paano yung staff ko?’ (meaning paano daw yung staff niya sa mga shows niya)” Jessy said. According to Jessy, although her boyfriend was silent about the issue, he is working for the employees’ benefit. “Sinasabi ng iba tahimik ka lang daw sa kasagsagan ng nangyayari. Ang hindi nila alam… gumagalaw ka na pala para sa mga nawalan ng trabaho,” she said. “Hindi man lahat matutulungan mo, ang importante ginagawa mo lahat abot sa makakaya mo. Sobrang buti ng puso mo. Sobrang thankful namin sayo. Maraming salamat @luckymanzano. Mahal na mahal ka namin,” she added. Luis Manzano ABS-CBN photo Jessy’s statement came after first learned that the network Luis’ former girlfriend Angel will shutdown was to think of Locsin urged her co-celebrities to speak out for the network during his staff. “Ang pinakaunang reaksyon a rally last Saturday, July 18.

FOR SALE

dent, nutrient. Their resultant combined effects are what benefit those who eat fish or take fish oil supplement. We cannot alter our genes, but we can live a healthy lifestyle. Let’s take full control of our health. The power is in our hands. And within our grasp. * * *

SERVICES

SERVICES

na. And I’ve never said a word or explained my side.” In a preview Alice posted on Instagram, she is seen revisiting the site of where her yet-to-be-

Photo from Instagram/@alicedixson

told experience transpired. “I am revisiting where it all happened so ikekwento ko po sa inyo lahat ng detalye ng naganap noong araw na iyun.”

Luis shown organizing job fair for retrenched ABS-CBN staff

Medical news, tips

oil capsules as an alternative) have been medically proven beyond doubt. Fish is loaded with nutrients, like omega-3 fatty acids, selenium, vitamin D, and protein. And all these ingredients are interactive and play an important in health as a whole, and not as individual, indepen-

Alice Dixson

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Sam in defense of girlfriend Catriona LDR works well for Uge and Danilo by Ricky Lo Philstar.com

BREAKING his long silence, the usually unflappable Sam Milby has just unburdened on his Instagram how hurtful the nasty rumors and socmed posts are against his girlfriend Catriona Gray that are being spread by an evil mind (nay, “minds”). “Silence doesn’t imply guilt,” wrote Sam, “and that does not mean that there is truth to any of these false stories and fake news that people are creating to fill in the blanks,” adding with a stern reminder, “the wrongful accusations and defamatory lies are dangerous.” Among the ugly things being circulated against the 2018 Miss Universe is a “topless” photo edited from Catriona’s Bench pictorial. “It’s a digitally altered photo that gives a false impression of nudity,” declared Catriona’s lawyer, film producer Joji Alonso, warning that she would take legal action against whoever is (or “are”) behind it. “We are coordinating with the authorities and will hold accountable whoever is behind this and including those involved in its manufacture and publication. We already have one suspect and, with the help of the NBI, we are tracing others who have even put up fake social media accounts to spread bad things about Catriona. If, as rumored, tabloid or any publication will print those fake photos, we will also take legal action against them.” The socmed bashing against the sweethearts started after Sam admitted last May, coinciding with his 36th birthday, that he and Catriona are going steady. Some of the posts were calculated to “tarnish” Sam’s personal life. More than defending himself, Sam stands behind and beside Catriona. “I cannot simply stand by and allow other people to take control of a narrative that is not theirs to tell. I will be here for her and I will do everything in my power to protect her.” Since Sam admitted his relationship with Catriona, they have avoided being photographed together. One very rare time was three weeks ago when Sam accompanied Catriona to a farm in Batangas to appear as a special guest in chemist Pinky Tobiano’s online show (which will resume streaming on Cornerstone Entertainment YouTube Channel same time, 2 p.m., Thursday next week). “They are two great people and dear friends who have something beautiful developing,” Pinky told Funfare. (She provided this corner her photo with the sweethearts who gave Pinky their permission.) “Let us allow them to be happy. As it is, the world has so many problems already and let us plant seeds of positivity around us, and allow people to grow in love.” Both with Cornerstone, Sam and Catriona have just recorded an acoustic remake of the 2018 song We’re in This Together, released recently on several music

Catriona Gray and Sam Milby performed together in their music video “We’re in This Together.” Photos from Instagram/@cornerstone

platforms, hoping to raise P1M for Young Focus Philippines (YFP’s) Quality Education For All campaign to benefit students struggling against the pandemic. “Special thanks to my love Sam Milby, my Young Focus Philippines family and my Cornerstone Entertainment family,” said Catriona. (YFP is her favorite advocacy which she mentioned during the 2018 Miss Universe pageant. She has been helping raise funds for the construction of a school building in a depressed area in Tondo, Manila.) Catriona has also done for Star Music (a label of ABS-CBN Music) her rendition of the KZ Tandingan song Raise Our Flag flipsided by Kritiko. The former was the “soundtrack” of her Miss U journey. “The message is still one that needs to be heard,” noted Catriona. “But now it applies to all of us...in raising our voice and raising our flag for what we stand for. Actually, the meaning of the song has evolved just as I have. I hope other people will see this meaning, too.” (The song can be found in the Cornerstone digital music platform.) Meanwhile, Sam granted Funfare permission to print his Instagram post in full. Here it is: I cannot simply stand by and allow other people to take control of a narrative that is not theirs to tell. Cat and I have chosen to keep our relationship mostly private. It was only until recently that we made an exception to lend our voices to charitable causes. But that does not mean that there is truth to any of these false stories and fake news that people are creating to fill in the blanks. In fact, these wrongful accusations and defamatory lies are dangerous. One’s silence doesn’t imply guilt. It has been our initial choice not to dignify nor respond to all

Piolo and Iñigo: Like father, like son by Rito

P. AsiLo Inquirer.net

WHAT has Iñigo Pascual learned from his famous father, heartthrob Piolo Pascual? “He doesn’t treat work as just another ‘raket,’” Piolo said at a recent press con when asked the aforementioned question. “From the start, my son has always treated his job seriously.” The actor stressed the importance of imparting financial wisdom to young people these days. “Iba kasi ang priority ng mga kabataan ngayon,” he noted. “But that’s one of the things I admire about my son. He never spends more than what he earns, kahit alam n’yang artista ang tatay nya. Kahit alam n’ya na pwede naman kahit may konting luho, he doesn’t splurge and never takes advantage. “That’s why he saves because he doesn’t want to be financially dependent on me. He knows the value of being stable financially—that’s where his drive comes

Iñigo Pascual with dad Piolo

from. He wants to have something for himself that he can use when he needs it.” Piolo also revealed that Iñigo, who’s turning 23 in September, has already saved quite a lot. “He lives alone. He may only be 22, but he’s practical in terms of his spending habits. Nakikita ko talaga how my son values the work given to him. He doesn’t waste his money on things he doesn’t need. “And it’s good to know that the things that I’ve been practicing as he was growing up, he now practices as well. I always remind him that all material things are temporary. So, it’s important to work hard and save up, so that when something like this [pandemic] happens, you know you’ll be OK because you’re stable. “Napaka-reliable ni Iñigo when it comes to handling his finances and he uses them to help out people. He lives by example. That’s one of the reasons why he works hard … so he can also be a blessing to others.”

Photo from Instagram/@inigopascual

these baseless claims. Cat is one of the kindest souls I’ve ever known. She is always putting other people first, thinking of how to use her voice and talent to help other people in need. Her grace, dignity and strength even in the midst of all these false accusations make me admire and love her even more. I will always be here for her and I will do everything in my power to protect her.

HAD the lockdown not been imposed last March, Eugene “Uge” Domingo and her Italian boyfriend Danilo Bottoni would have gone back to Italy. But Uge is happy just the same. “Thank God, we’ve been together in the Philippines since the start of the year,” Uge confessed to Funfare. “Because of the pandemic, all flights and plans were cancelled. Every day, we both thank God for this gift of being together. Every second counts.” How do she and Danilo deal with the pluses and minuses of LDR? “Many would say that having a Long Distance Relationship is a challenge. Yes, I can say that it is very true because you would always want to be physically near your partner. But if you are creative enough in expressing your love and are faithful to each other, then the longing will be more bearable. Anyway, the right time will come for togetherness. Danilo and I had been in LDR for three years before we both finally decided last year that it is time to be together both in the Philippines and in Italy. Basta together!” How do they keep, well, the fire burning, especially when they are miles apart? “For the LDR times, we never miss to share everything that happens every day. Thank God for the hi-tech gadgets and wifi! Communication and openness are always the key. Whether apart or together, do not lose the interest to share EVERYTHING with your partner. Do everything together... laugh, cry, be scared, be strong, be honest, be present...except for

some moments when you want to surprise him with a gift or simply a kiss.” It helps that they have many things in common. “Every day is a colorful day even if we are not doing anything. We both like to cook! And we love to eat! We have managed to combine Italian and Filipino cuisine by cooking Adobo Aglio Olio. I cook the adobo first, of course, then we mix it with his super-sarap authentic Aglio Olio. Buono talaga! Sarap!” Isn’t there any cultural differences and, if there are, how do they cope with them? “Danilo always says most of us are not used to saying NO, we always say YES or we say, ‘puwede.’ And the funniest for him is the way we use the word siguro which means ‘maybe’ for us. But siguro is ‘sicuro’ which means ‘certain’.” We can go back and trace this back to our Spanish history, siguro...” It is an advantage that they fell in love at this stage in their lives — you know, been there, done that. Revealed Uge, “Danilo appeared literally in front of me at the time when I was already a bit exhausted from my showbiz routine. Also at the time when I was almost giving up on finding a partner. I was not even looking or trying to be attractive. But I remember during those times, I would always pray to God — please take care of my heart. Love is beautiful when you lift everything up to His Will and His Time.” Is marriage in the radar?

“Of course,” said Uge. “But, again, everything in God’s perfect time. Now, this one is ‘sicuro’.” Replays of Uge’s show Celebrity Bluff are aired on GMA Saturday nights and what she misses most are the tapings for Dear Uge, her other GMA show on Sunday afternoons that presents different stories with different guests. “The stories are beautiful and the actors give their best always,” noted Uge. “The collaboration and the harmony on the set to deliver a good episode is the one I miss most. We are taping fresh episodes soon.” Starting in August, the show (airing at 2:30 p.m. after All-Out Sundays) will air interesting stories like a couple about to separate and has no choice but to start together in the house for the quarantine period. They rekindle their love because somehow the “past” returns. It must be wonderful if Uge agrees to feature her and Danilo’s love story, ‘no! (Philstar.com)

B july 23-29, 2020 • lAS VEGAS ASIAN jOuRNAl

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