080520 - Southern California Midweek Edition

August 5-7, 2020 Volume 30 - No.58 • 2 Sections - 14 Pages

USA

DATELINE USCIS to increase fee to apply for naturalization by $500 FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

The cost to become a naturalized United States citizen will increase by over $500, effective October 2, according to a rule change recently published in the Federal Register.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will raise the application fee to become a naturalized citizen from $640 to $1,170, the final rule on Friday, July 31 said.

The changes, which also update the fees for immigration applications like H-1B visas, come after a review from the agency that said the current fees “do not recover the cost of providing adjudication and naturalization services.”

“USCIS is required to examine incoming and outgoing expenditures and make adjustments based on that analysis,” said Joseph Edlow, USCIS deputy director for policy. “These overdue adjustments in fees are necessary to efficiently and fairly administer our nation’s lawful immigration system, secure the homeland and protect Americans.”

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How the COVID-19 response worsened the state of public education Education experts and leaders discuss the drawbacks of the U.S. response to COVID-19 and how best to provide for underserved students PUBLIC education advocates for years have been promoting the reality that the future of the United States hinges on today’s kids receiving quality and affordable education.

But when the COVID-19 pandemic is here to stay with no signs of subsiding in the foreseeable future, the state of public education is in emergency levels of paltry funding, resources and aid for disadvantaged and lower-income students.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and San Diego Unified District (SDUD) — the two largest school districts in California — both announced last month that it would start out the 2020-2021 school year online to safeguard students, teachers and school staff from the escalating COVID-19

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10 overseas Filipinos test positive for COVID-19

by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

TEN overseas Filipinos have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of infected individuals to 9,607, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported on Tuesday, August 4.

“On day one of modified ECQ in Manila and other parts of Luzon, the total number of confirmed CO-

VID-19 cases among Filipinos abroad passes the 9,600 mark with 10 new confirmed cases in Asia and the Pacific and Europe,” it said.

The agency also recorded 28 new recoveries in Asia, raising the official tally of recovered Filipinos abroad to 5,681.

Meanwhile, the death toll remained at 693 as no new fatalities were registered by the DFA through its Foreign Service Posts.

Overall by region, Europe — which comprises 18 countries — has recorded 1,116 Filipino cases, including 512 undergoing treatment, 509 recoveries and 95 deaths.

The Middle East and Africa, covering 27 countries, has reported 6,795 cases; of which, 2,327 are undergoing treatment, 417 deaths and 4,051 recoveries.

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New AFP chief wants anti-terror law to regulate social media

by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

NEWLY-APPOINTED Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay wants to regulate social media use through the recently signed Anti-Terrorism Law. According to him, terrorists are reportedly using social media to radicalize and recruit younger Newly-appointed Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. members.

Gilbert Gapay Philstar.com photo “We’ll be providing some inputs on countering violent extremism and likewise, maybe regulating, even regulating social media because this is the platform now being used by terrorists to radicalize, to recruit and even plan terrorist acts,” Gapay said Monday, August 3.

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CHECKPOINTS ARE BACK. Motorcycle riders line up for inspection at a checkpoint along Marcos Highway at the boundary of Marikina City and Cainta, Rizal on Tuesday, August 4. The government has allowed motorcycle back riding for essential workers and authorized persons outside of residence (APOR) subject to certain rules in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal which reverted to the modified enhanced community quarantine.

PNA photo by Joey O. Razon

Filipino-Mexican teen among 9 service members killed in training accident off California coast

by CHRISTINA

M. ORIEL

AJPress

SINCE childhood, Bryan Juan-Carlos Baltierra had set his sights on a military career and enlisted a month after graduating from high school.

On Wednesday, July 29, the 18-year-old private first class marked his one-year anniversary of being sworn into the United States Marine Corps.

A day later, he was one of nine service members killed when an amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) sank off the coast of San Clemente Island during a routine training exercise, considered one of the deadliest sea President Rodrigo Duterte talks to the people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency incidents for the Marines in recent years.

Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Malago “He has always dreamed of joining the military since Clubhouse in Malacañang on Tuesday, August 2.

Malacañang photo by King Rodriguez he was a little boy,” his mother Evelyn Baltierra said in Bryan Juan-Carlos Baltierra, a Private First Class (PFC) United States Marine, was among an email to the Asian Journal. “He was able to achieve nine service members who died during a his dream and become a proud Marine for our country.” training exercise on Thursday, July 30.

Photo courtesy of the Baltierra family

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Google celebrates Fil-Am Olympic diver Vicki Draves

by AJPRESS FILIPINA American Victoria “Vicki” Manalo-Draves was honored with a Google Doodle on Monday, August 3, on the 72nd anniversary of her winning moment at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London.

Draves bagged gold medals for both the 10-meter platform and 3-meter springboard diving events, making her the first Asian American woman to win a medal at the world’s bigVicki Draves was honored with a Google Doodle on Monday, August 3, the same day in 1948 gest sporting event and the first when she became the first Asian American woman to win an Olympic medal.

Photo courtesy of Google woman to win gold in both div-

ing events.

She also made history as the first Asian American to win a gold medal.

Google’s homepage on Monday, August 3, showed a Doodle of Draves wearing her gold medals. Behind her was another image of a woman diving into a pool containing letters that spelled the name of the search site. ”Victoria Draves was born Victoria Taylor Manalo in the South of Market district of San Francisco on December 31, 1924.

Growing up, she and her fam-

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Palace: PH economy will not be able to withstand ‘prolonged’ MECQ

by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

THE Philippine economy will not be able to withstand a prolonged modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in Mega Manila, Malacañang said on Tuesday, August 4.

“Tatapatin ko po kayo, hindi na po kaya ng ekonomiya ang mas matagalan pang lockdown (I will be blunt, the economy cannot withstand a longer lockdown),” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque told reporters.

The statement came following suggestions to extend the MECQ until the end of the month.

Roque stressed that placing

Mega Manila under MECQ was a “compromise” to the demand of healthcare workers for a timeout.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday, August 2, shifted Metro Manila back to MECQ after approving the Cabinet’s recommendation to return to a more stringent lockdown in response to the medical community’s plea.

Medical frontliners addressed the president in an open letter, stressing that the country’s healthcare system is overwhelmed.

“Dear President Duterte, healthcare workers are united in sounding off a distress signal

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A August 5-7, 2020 • soCal AsIAN JOuRNAL

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

Palace: PH economy will not be...

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to the nation that our healthcare system has been overwhelmed,” the letter read.

“We are waging a losing battle against COVID-19, and we need to draw up a consolidated, definitive plan of action,” it added.

The letter was signed by 80 medical associations representing 80,000 doctors and a million nurses. It was then read by Philippine Medical Association (PMA) president Dr. Jose Santiago during an online press conference headed by the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) on Saturday, August 1.

“We propose that the ECQ be used as a timeout to refine our pandemic control strategies addressing the following urgent conditions or problems: hospital workforce efficiency; failure of contact tracing and quarantine; transportation safety; workplace safety; public compliance with self-protection; social amelioration,” Santiago read.

The quarantine classification

took effect today and will be in place until August 18.

Under this quarantine status, strict home quarantine will be observed in all households.

There will be no public transport, domestic flights, and mass gatherings. There will also be limited transporting services for essential goods and services.

DILG condemns ‘shoot to kill’ post of QC exec The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) frowned upon the proposal of a local city official to use the “shoot to kill” approach in dealing with violators of quarantine protocols.

According to DILG spokesperson, Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya, Task Force Disiplina head Councilor Rannie Ludovica’s suggestion was “improper and illegal.”

“We advise him to desist from issuing similar statements in the future,” he said.

“While we strongly believe that discipline is one of the preventive measures to stop the

From the Front Page

transmission of the (novel coronavirus), this must be enforced within the bounds of the law and the DILG will not tolerate any possible abuse of authority on the part of law enforcement agencies or enforcement units of local government units,” he added.

Ludovica, in his viral post, wrote: “Mula bukas, shoot to kill na ang lalabag sa (Starting tomorrow, shoot to kill for all violators of) MECQ.” Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, for her part, condemned his statement.

“Ang pahayag ng pinuno ng Task Force Disiplina na si Konsehal Rannie Ludovica ay aming kinokondena, ito ay mali, inappropriate and irresponsible (We condemn the remark of Task Force Disiplina head Councilor Rannie Ludovica, this is wrong, inappropriate and irresponsible),” she said Tuesday.

However, she maintained that Ludovica’s statement “was nothing more but to express his frustrations.” n

BIKE TO WORK. Bikers traverse Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City on Monday, August 3. More people are expected to use bikes beginning last August 4, when Metro Manila and four neighboring provinces — Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal—returned to more stringent modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in response to the medical community’s call for “timeout” amid the rising coronavirus disease 2019 infections in the country.

PNA photo by Joey O. Razon

10 overseas Filipinos test...

PAGE A1 The Asia Pacific region, which spans across 19 countries, has 934 cases, with 254 under treatment, 674 recoveries, and six deaths.

The Americas — covering seven countries like the United States — have 762 reported cases, with 140 undergoing treatment, 447 recoveries, and 175 deaths.

“As we continue to battle against this pandemic, the DFA rallies the Filipinos here and abroad to cooperate and responsibly adhere to precautionary measures of the local health authorities of the respective countries in which they reside,” said the DFA. “Foreign Service Posts will use appropriate BIDA Solusyon sa COVID-19 campaign materi-

als for our Filipino community as well,” it added.

In the Philippines, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has jumped to 112,593 today after the Department of Health recorded 6,352 new infections — the highest single-day increase in the country so far. The death toll is at 2,115, while the tally of recoveries has risen to 66,049. n

New AFP chief wants anti-terror law to regulate...

PAGE A1 “That’s why we need to have specific provisions in the IRR (implementing rules and regulations) pertaining to regulating the use of social media,” he added.

The AFP chief vowed that they would capitalize the anti-terror law to stop terrorism while suspected terrorists are still at the planning stage.

“We will capitalize on this very, very good anti-terror law.

It is comprehensive, it is proactive and it is geared to prevent the occurrence of terroristic acts. So pinaplano pa lang nila, dapat masa-stop na natin (we should be able to stop them as they are still planning),” Gapay said.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana noted that the controversial law’s IRR is still a work in progress.

“I believe all of us will be pro-

vided a draft of the IRR, look at it, so that we can place our input there. It’s still a work in progress. We have 90 days since the signing of the law to come up with the IRR. So, we still have the time to carefully study what we will do with the IRR,” he said.

Palace: Terror law cannot be used to regulate social media Malacañang, on the other hand, said the anti-terror law cannot regulate the usage of social media.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque pointed out that the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 has no provision that would allow the regulation of social media use.

“Unang-una po, opinyon po iyan ni General Gapay. Dahil binasa ko naman po ang Anti-Terror Law wala pong probisyon doon na magagamit laban sa social media (First of all, that is

General Gapay’s opinion. I have the Anti-Terror Law, there is no provision there on social media),” he said Tuesday, August 4.

“Ang mayroon po diyan iyong ating cybercrimes law ‘no. May probisyon po diyan, pero subject po iyan sa authority na ibibigay ng ating hukuman (What’s there is the cyber crimes law. There is a provision for that but that is subject to the authority given by the court),” he added.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon likewise branded Gapay’s proposal as “illegal” and “unconstitutional.”

“That will go beyond the real intent of the law and, therefore, it is illegal and unconstitutional,” he said.

“Freedom of speech is a sacred and inviolable right of every human being. The Constitution guarantees freedom of speech,” the senator added. n

USCIS to increase fee to apply for...

PAGE A1 The current fees leave the agency, which is funded by fees, underfunded by nearly $1 billion annually, it argued.

There will also be a $50 charge for seeking asylum. Other countries that impose a fee for this are Iran, Fiji and Australia.

“A $50 fee is in line with the fees charged by these other nations,” the USCIS said.

Community organizations like Asian Americans Advancing Justice are urging immigrants eligible for citizenship

to naturalize before the new measures take effect in October. They also argue that the fee increase will prevent many from applying to become citizens.

“This rule change will deeply hurt the low-income immigrants and vulnerable communities of color we serve at a time when those very communities are hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Christine Chen, project director for Advancing JusticeLA, said in a statement.

Together with the New Amer-

icans Campaign, the organization provides low-cost, or free, legal guidance to eligible Americans through the naturalization application process. Information can be obtained through the hotline at (888) 349-9695 for English or (885) 300-2552 in Tagalog.

This final rule is effective Oct. 2, 2020. Any application, petition, or request postmarked on or after this date must include payment of the new, correct fees established by this final rule, the USCIS said. (AJPress)

Google celebrates Fil-Am Olympic diver...

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ily often hopped on the trolley to the enormous Fleishhacker Pool to swim and watch the divers. When she was a teenager, a member of a local swim team asked if she wanted to learn to dive, and she eagerly accepted, springboarding her into the sport she went on to champion,” Google wrote on its official Doodle blog.

“After thousands of dives to perfect her form and three consecutive U.S. National Diving Championship platform titles, Draves earned a spot at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. She dominated the games one faithful leap at a time and made history as the first woman to take home the gold in both the platform and springboard events,” it added.

Google also noted that the Olympic diver’s story included her overcoming unimaginable challenges.

“Since the Pearl Harbor attacks, discrimination against Asians was fierce. She wasn’t allowed in the swanky pools and clubs around the San Francisco Bay Area. It didn’t matter that Vicki was half Filipino (not Japanese) and a contender for the Olympic Team. If she were allowed to practice in public pools, they would often drain the pool after she finished training,” an

Vicki Draves

essay written by Draves’ family said.

“She was also told that in order for her to compete, she would have to use her maiden name, Taylor,” it added.

After the Olympics, Draves turned professional and competed internationally.

In 1969, she was inducted to the International Swimming Hall of Fame. In 2005, Gavin Newsom, then mayor of San Francisco, dedicated the site of Vicki’s, and her twin sister Connie’s, elementary school as the Victoria Manalo Draves

Photo courtesy of the Draves family

Park.

The Olympic diver passed in 2010 due to pancreatic cancer.

She was 85 years old.

“Thank you, Vicki Draves, for inspiring people everywhere to aim high and take the plunge!”

Google said.

The search engine on Friday, July 31 honored another Pinay, Pacita Abad, an artist and activist who became the first woman to receive the Philippines’ prestigious Ten Outstanding Young Men award from the Junior Chamber International in Manila. n

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Dateline USa

PRE-MECQ RUSH. Residents shop for vegetables beside the Powerline Market in Barangay 176, Bagong Silang-Kanan, Caloocan City on Monday, August 3. People rushed to grocery stores and public markets to buy food and essential items ahead of the return of Metro Manila and neighboring provinces to the stricter modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from August 4 to 18 to stem the steep rise in COVID-19 infections.

PNA photo by Ben Briones

Filipino-Mexican teen among 9 service members...

PAGE A1 The Filipino-Mexican teen from Corona, California graduated from Centennial High School last year and joined the Marines at the age of 17.

He was a rifleman with Bravo Company, Battalion Landing Team (BLT) 1/4 of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) at the time of his death.

Baltierra earned several awards, including the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Armed Forces Service Medal, according to the I Marine Expeditionary Force.

His family last saw him on July 12 when they drove him back to Camp Pendleton — where Baltierra was stationed as part of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit — after spending the weekend together, his mother said. He regularly kept in touch through the family group chat or by documenting on Snapchat, she added.

Around 5:45 p.m. on July 30, 15 Marines and one sailor were inside the AAV when it “rapidly sank” with all of them on board, according to a report by the Marine Corps Times.

Eight Marines were rescued, though one died and two were

transported to Scripps Memorial Hospital under critical condition, a release from the Marine Corps said. One of the hospitalized members was upgraded to stable condition, the 15th MEU said in a Twitter post.

The body of Lance Cpl. Guillermo S. Perez, a 20-year-old from New Braunfels, Texas, was recovered. After a 40-hour search that ended on Sunday, the other eight, including Baltierra, were presumed dead, the unit said in another release.

“Our family received the pronouncement of his death during an in-home visit by military personnel on Saturday, August 1st at 12 p.m.,” Baltierra’s eldest sister Natalie wrote in a Facebook post.

The identities of the other missing service members are: Lance Cpl. Marco A. Barranco, 21, of Montebello, Calif., a rifleman; Pfc. Evan A. Bath, 19, of Oak Creek, Wis., a rifleman; U.S. Navy Hospitalman Christopher Gnem, 22, of Stockton, Calif., a hospital corpsman; Pfc. Jack Ryan Ostrovsky, 21, of Bend, Ore., a rifleman; Cpl. Wesley A. Rodd, 23, of Harris, Texas, a rifleman; Lance Cpl. Chase D. Sweetwood, 19, of Portland, Ore., a rifleman; Cpl. Cesar A.

Villanueva, 21, of Riverside, Calif., a rifleman.

Baltierra — who would have celebrated his 19th birthday on September 18 — is survived by his parents Carlos and Evelyn, and sisters, Natalie, Emily and Sara.

“My dear Bryan, my one and only son, was a wonderful man who radiated positivity and expressed his wonderful smile to all he met. He cared very much for his family and friends,” Evelyn added in the email to the Asian Journal. “Whether it was paintballing, going to concerts, or dining at his favorite restaurants, he enjoyed doing all these activities with loved ones. Bryan truly enjoyed the company of others. There were always lots of smiles and laughs with whomever he was with.”

The Baltierras over the weekend held a drive-by memorial service outside of their home, inviting people to light a candle and share memories of the fallen Marine.

A GoFundMe campaign has been started to help the family cover funeral expenses. It has reached 50% of its goal with over $10,000 contributed, as of this writing. n

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A August 5-7, 2020 • soCal AsIAN JOuRNAL

Dateline USa

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How the COVID-19 response worsened the...

PAGE A1 situation in California, as previously reported in the Asian Journal.

In the 17th installment of its “Tracking the Pandemic” press briefing series, Ethnic Media Services on Friday, July 31 held a briefing on the ways in which the U.S.’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have both highlighted and amplified disparities within K-12 public education.

Since March, most schools across the United States have utilized the distance learning model in which classes are held 100% online. Class times would be held over various forms of video chat like Zoom, which meant that teachers had to find creative ways to best replicate the classroom experience remotely.

But what this model doesn’t take into account are the existing imbalances in education that put already vulnerable students at a major disadvantage: lack of technology accessibility, the reliance on school counseling and child care and the fact that for many students school is a necessary respite from an uncared-for homelife.

“The pandemic has exposed the great inequities in our society,” Pedro Noguera, the dean of USC’s Rossier School of Education said on Friday’s briefing.

“Millions of kids in the United States and in many other countries cannot participate in any learning at all because they don’t have access to the internet in their homes or because they don’t have computers to use for [distance] learning.”

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2020 there are at least 11 million youth who don’t have access to computers or the internet. (This doesn’t include multi-children households where one device is shared among children.)

In July, the Trump administration began pressuring school districts to reopen in the fall, citing the benefits that children receive from a classroom education over the distance learning model.

But neither Education Secretary Betsy DeVos nor President Donald Trump offered specific guidelines for local communities on how to responsibly reopen and ensure students and staff are safe, leaving teachers and schools “left on their own to figure out how to make this work,” Noguera said.

What’s more is that teacher unions across the U.S., including the United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA), have announced that they will strike if teachers are forced to work while the COVID-19 virus is still causing high positivity and death rates. Countries like Israel have seen major increases in positive cases after reopening schools where other countries like New Zealand and Canada have successfully mitigated the disease to allow safe reopenings of schools.

“The real question for the

LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY (LACMTA) REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL LACMTA will receive proposals for PS70644 - Nextrip Bus and Rail Arrival Information System Upgrade at the 9th Floor Receptionist Desk, Vendor/Contract Management Department, One Gateway Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

A virtual Pre-Proposal conference will be held on Thursday, August 6, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. Details on how to view the Pre-Proposal are contained in the solicitation. This project is a Small Business Enterprise (SBE) SetAside contract. To participate in this RFP, proposers must be SBE certified with LACMTA prior to proposal due date. For information on the Set-Aside Program, visit: https://business. metro.net/VendorPortal/faces/ home1/certifications.

All proposals must be received on or before 2:00 p.m.

Pacific Time on Monday, August 31, 2020 at the address listed above, sent to the attention of Ana Rodriguez. Proposals received later than the above date and time will be rejected and returned to the proposer unopened.

For a copy of the Proposal/ Bid specification visit our Solicitation Page on our Vendor Portal at https://business.metro.net or for further information email Ana Rodriguez at rodrigueza8@ metro.net.

8/5/20 CNS-3385099# ASIAN JOURNAL (L.A.)

United States is when will leadership emerge that can provide the guidance that schools need on how to manage instruction appropriately and safely reopen schools in a manner that does not place lives at risk?”

Noguera offered.

Among the popular alternatives to distance learning include hybrid learning that serves as an midway solution between distance learning and in-class learning. Under the hybrid model, students and teachers would hold class outside and one half of the class would meet every other day while the other half would meet on the days in between.

But this model has downsides including the concern over adult staff contracting the virus and the doubled workload teachers would have after teaching each class.

Despite DeVos’s earlier argument that the risk of transmission is low among school-aged children, a new study from the CDC shows that transmission among school-aged children may be stronger than previously thought.

The CDC released a report on Friday that confirmed that more than 250 people — mostly children — tested positive for the COVID-19 virus after attending a sleep-away camp in Georgia where masks weren’t mandated.

The summer camp, held in June, had an attendance of 597 Georgians and of the 344 test results that were made public, 260 were positive, roughly 76%, providing evidence that children may pose an “important role” in disease transmission.

Available knowledge of COVID-19 shows that children are the least likely to succumb to the most severe effects of the virus, but that doesn’t slow the transmission. A child could pass the virus onto an adult who may be more susceptible to the virus’s more harmful impact.

Mirroring the concerns of many public education experts, Noguera acknowledged that most school districts were not prepared for the pandemic and failed to provide adequate guidance to teachers on “how to use the technology and how to deliver meaningful instruction to kids.”

Deepening digital divide The potholed distribution of the internet and technology, known as the digital divide, had been a cause for concern for many families and equal education advocates for years.

Last week, the leaders of the country’s most influential tech firms testified before Congress and one of the points raised was how these companies, which have accumulated huge profits during the pandemic, would provide technological resources for communities negatively affected by the digital divide.

On Thursday, July 30, Amazon announced that the company doubled its net revenue from $2.6 billion in 2019 to $5.2 billion, the latter figure accounting for the months of April, May and June alone. Apple also announced gross revenues of nearly $58 billion with $11 million in revenue for the company. “[Founder and chief of Amazon] Jeff Bezos is raking in incredible profits for his business,” Noguera said, also referencing Facebook, Google and Apple as companies that could provide for communities struggling with computer and internet access.

“They have a moral responsibility to bridge the digital divide, but they don’t act. They should be held accountable by Congress to invest in access to the internet. It is a basic right at this point in our history,” Noguera added.

With many schools starting the new academic year in the next few weeks, help from the private sector may be too late, leaving school districts like LAUSD to quickly provide screens and internet hotspots to their students. However, for students in rural areas like the Central Valley, which is home to a majority Latino and student of color community, the problem becomes a racial issue.

In other words, families of color are going to be more heavily impacted by the decisions made on when and how schools will safely reopen, noted Shaun Harper, executive director of USC’s Race and Equity Center.

These major tech companies were among the vast majority of American corporations that pledged to spend billions of dollars to address structural racism following the high-profile killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by law enforcement.

“Many of those tech companies made those announcements about the money that

they were putting up without fully knowing how they were going to spend those dollars,” Harper noted. “That is a lever that could easily be pulled.”

Community enrichment, which includes providing more resources and funding to schools in lower-income areas, is among the priorities that the Black Lives Matter movement has been pushing for; but, since the beginning of the summer when the uproar began again over systemic racism, these communication and tech companies have yet to deliver.

Although the private sector has not provided a viable solution for the millions of families struggling to maintain a safe and effective learning environment for their kids, some lawmakers and education leaders have put forth their own proposals.

Executive Director Dan Domenech of the School Superintendents Association shared that his organization has asked Congress for $200 billion to bridge the digital divide to ensure that students have computers and access to the internet. Senate Republicans have also proposed a $70 billion aid package to school districts while Democrats proposed a similar package at $175 billion.

“The solution here is to get the federal government to put up the money,” Domenech said, adding that school districts shouldn’t wait for the private sector to lend a hand.

In California, the State Legislature has two measures currently on the docket that require communications companies to provide high-speed internet for all residents. Eddie Valero of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors said that many residents in the Central Valley (and in other rural areas of the state) rely on antiquated DSL networks that are incompatible with video chat software like Zoom (the most used choice for distance learning).

“These bills are game-changers for education,” Valero remarked, noting that these two bills would upgrade infrastructure to provide fiber broadband to under-served areas. “We have reached a pivotal moment in real time where we need to re-envision what school looks like for the future. We can no longer look back or stay stagnant.”

But the proven mental and emotional downsides of the distance learning model among younger children — lower energy, increased agitation, lack of socialization — won’t be fixed with increased access to technology.

The dilemma between reopening schools so kids can return to some semblance of a normal academic environment and ensuring the risk of viral transmission stays low is possibly the most difficult decision amid this crisis.

In addition to getting an education, many of these vulnerable students rely on schools for food, guidance counseling and much needed socialization among other kids. With stayat-home orders and campuses remaining closed for the time being, the options become slim for these kids to receive other necessities from school.

“We do need to find ways for people who are most severely affected by this pandemic and those who already had special needs before the pandemic to receive the services they need,” said Mary Helen ImmordinoYang, professor of education, psychology and neuroscience at the Brain and Creativity Institute and Rossier School of Education at USC. Immordino-Yang noted that for people, especially young children, to be able to excel in school, all other areas of their lives must be attended to effectively; in other words, if a child’s emotional well-being is low, less energy will be spent on schoolwork.

Parents of children who are struggling mentally during this pandemic do play a key role here, Immordino-Yang added.

To keep kids motivated, parents should foster a learning environment where kids could “connect their disciplinary learning to” personal projects, helping out the community and other ways to empower them to make a change.

In other words, parents and guardians should encourage kids to utilize critical thinking in ways that aren’t directly related to their school work because “it teaches young people that learning is powerful and what you know how to do empowers you to make a change in the world, rather than sort of waiting to do things that feel irrelevant and don’t feel like they’re connected to the situation we’re all in now,” she added. (Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)

FINANCIAL ASSITANCE. Residents of Bacoor, Cavite queue up to get the second tranche of the subsidy for low-income households under the government’s social amelioration program (SAP) on Tuesday, August 4. The SAP is given to those whose livelihoods have been severely affected by the enhanced community quarantine amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

PNA photo by Avito C. Dala

57 deaths, 1,901 new COVID-19 cases confirmed in LA County

FIFTY-SEVEN new deaths and 1,901 new cases of COVID19 have been confirmed by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on Friday, August 7.

The State has determined under reporting of COVID-19 cases due to technology issues with the electronic laboratory system (ELR).

Public Health learned of new issues with the State ELR feed on an emergency call convened by the State last night. This issue has undercounted the County’s positive cases and affects the number of COVID-19 cases reported each day and our contact tracing efforts. However, there should not be delays in patients being notified of lab results, as laboratories continue to report tests results directly to providers and hospitals.

The department has implemented an independent strategy to obtain accurate data and a team from the department is now working urgently to reach out to at least 81 labs to obtain all COVID-19 test results from July 26 to the present to determine the accurate positive case count in Los Angeles County for the time period in question. Public Health is also implementing a system for all labs to report positive test results to the department immediately so that moving forward the department can have an accurate case count and be assured that contact tracing efforts are not delayed.

Public Health has noted issues with the State electronic lab reporting system for about two weeks. Once the data reporting issues are fixed, the number of cases is expected to increase.

Data sources that track other key indicators, including hospitalizations, are not impacted by this reporting issue. Public Health is reporting 1,757 confirmed cases currently hospitalized and 31% of these people are confirmed cases in the ICU. The number of hospitalizations has been lower in recent days and this is not due to any known

reporting issues. Daily hospitalizations were over 2,000 patients last week.

To date, Public Health has identified 195,614 positive cases of COVID-19 across all areas of L.A. County, and a total of 4,758 deaths. Upon further investigation, 75 cases reported earlier were not L.A. County residents.

Of the 57 new deaths, 19 people that passed away (excluding Long Beach and Pasadena) were over the age of 80, 21 people who died were between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, 12 people who died were between the ages of 50 and 64 years old, three people who died was between the ages of 30 and 49 years old and one person who died was between the ages of 18 and 29 years old. Forty-eight people had underlying health conditions including 16 people over the age of 80 years old, 19 people between the ages of 65 and 79 years old, 10 people between the ages of 50 and 64 years old, two people between the ages of 30 and 49 years old, and one person between the ages of 18 and 29 years old. One death was reported by the City of Long Beach.

Ninety-two percent of the people who died from COVID19 had underlying health conditions. Of those who died, information about race and ethnicity is available for 4,453 people (99 percent of the cases reported by Public Health); 49% of deaths occurred among Latino/Latinx residents, 24% among White residents, 15% among Asian residents, 11% among African American/Black residents, less than 1% among Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander residents and 1% among residents identifying with other races. Upon further investigation, 33 cases and one death reported earlier were not LA County residents.

Testing results are available for over 1,818,000 individuals with 10% of all people testing positive.

“We send our deepest sympathies and prayers to our neighbors who have lost loved ones

to COVID-19,” said Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd, Director of Public Health. “While the missing data is troubling and hinders efforts to monitor and reduce the spread of COVID-19, data sources that track other key indicators, including hospitalizations, are not affected by this reporting issue. Hospitalization data for Los Angeles County still shows a decrease, and we continue to be cautiously optimistic that our efforts over the past few weeks may be starting to slow the spread.”

Given the current delays, the department urges any person with a positive lab result to call 1-833-540-0473 to connect with a public health specialist who can provide information about services and support.

Adequate testing and case investigations are critical tools to contain spread, but in order to slow the spread of COVID-19 everyone needs to comply with the directives already in place.

Everyone has to wear a face covering, avoid gathering with people you don’t live with, stay home as much as possible, and practice hand hygiene.

All events and gatherings, unless specifically allowed by Health Officer Orders remain prohibited. When people gather with people outside of their household it increases the risk of COVID-19 spread. The more individuals interact with others at a gathering and the longer that interaction lasts, the higher the risk of those individuals becoming infected with COVID19.

Businesses must implement the required infection control protocols and report any COVID-19 outbreaks to Public Health as directed in Health Officer Orders.

The Reopening Protocols, COVID-19 Surveillance Interactive Dashboard, Roadmap to Recovery, Recovery Dashboard, and additional things you can do to protect yourself, your family and your community are on the Public Health website, www.publichealth.lacounty.gov. (AJPress)

Philippines secures $6-B COVID-19 aid from UN, largest since Yolanda

by Ian

nIcolas cIgaral Philstar.com

THE United Nations (UN) and its humanitarian partners on Tuesday launched a P6-billion “COVID-19 Response Plan” for the Philippines, the largest ever extended since the onslaught of supertyphoon Yolanda in 2013.

The response plan, drafted April 3 and continuously being revised, with the last revision made August, will assist 5.4 million poorest households residing in congested urban areas where the coronavirus can quickly spread, Gustavo Gonzalez, UN coordinator in the Philippines, said in a statement. Women and girls will be prioritized.

The aid will be coursed through the government to fund response programs against the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. To date, 23% of the funds were already “mobilized,” meaning money were already allocated or disbursed.

“The pandemic is challenging the capacity of response of any single country in the world. Our role is to make best use of our global knowledge and resources to join government’s efforts to contribute to the safety and wellbeing of the Filipino people,” Gonzalez said.

Specific programs to be funded by the aid were not specified but according to the UN, projects that address the “most immediate challenges” in health, food security, water, sanitation and risk communication will be financed.

A fully-armed police officer patrols a residential area in Barangay Mauway in Mandaluyong City as the barangay is places under “total lockdown” from May 11-13, 2020. Philstar.com

The assistance will be extended until the end of the year but may be longer “as needs resulting from the pandemic change,” Gonzalez said.

Over in Quezon City, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque in a briefing Tuesday cited government efforts to raise funding for what appears to be a longer pandemic fight.

While the UN assistance is not a loan and will not be paid, the UN itself adds to a growing list of foreign creditors including the World Bank that extended funding to the country’s pandemic response.

The latest aid from the UN is apart from possible assistance the Philippines is qualified to under the multilateral agency’s $10.3 billion COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan, a collaboration among UN agen-

cies and partners to assist vulnerable countries face the wrath of COVID-19 outbreak.

The UN’s announcement came the same day lockdown measures were tightened anew in Metro Manila — an urban sprawl of 16 cities and a municipality — and nearby provinces Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Bulacan after healthcare workers requested a breather from a resurgence in COVID-19 cases since movement restrictions were relaxed in June.

“As we work together to support government efforts to contain the virus against the demand to restore the economy, the UN and humanitarian partners will continue to seize opportunities to build greater resiliency, equity and inclusivity, in short, to build forward better,” Gonzalez said. n

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Duterte bans Philippines from joining naval exercises in South China Sea

by Patricia Lourdes Philstar.com

Viray

MANILA — The Philippines will no longer be participating in joint maritime exercises in the South China Sea with other countries, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Monday, August 3.

According to Lorenzana, President Rodrigo Duterte issued this directive to reduce tension in the contested waterway.

“President Rodrigo Duterte has a standing order to us, to me, that we should not involve ourselves in naval exercises in the South China Sea except our national waters, the 12 mile distance from our shores,” Lorenzana said at an online press briefing.

Just last month, the United States declared that it would treat China’s pursuit of resources in the South China Sea as illegal. Beijing rejected this, claiming that the accusation was “unjustified.”

The US, along with allies such as Australia, has been recently conducting joint maritime exercises in the South China Sea following its latest policy on the maritime disputes.

“If one country’s action is considered as belligerent, another tension will normally rise, so I hope that all the parties in this exercise will have, will work on their ac-

tions there, to exercise prudence and carefulness so that there will be no miscalculations that could further increase the tension,” the defense chief said.

Duterte: I am ‘inutil’ In his penultimate State of the Nation Address last week, Duterte admitted that he is “useless” on the West Philippine Sea issue as China has “possession” of the area. The West Philippine Sea is the portion of the South China Sea which is within Philippine exclusive economic zone.

The president, once again, insisted that asserting the Philippines’ sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea would entail going to war with China.

“China is claiming it, we are claiming it. China has the arms.

We do not have it. So, it’s simple as that,” Duterte said.

Instead of supposedly going to war, Duterte said the issue should be treated “with a diplomatic endeavor.”

“They (China) are in possession of the property, so what we can do? We have to go to war and I cannot afford it. Maybe some president can but we cannot. Inutil ako d’yan,” the president said.

This, despite the Philippines’ July 2016 arbitral win that invalidated China’s historic nine-dash line claim over the South China

Sea. Beijing continues reject the ruling while Manila, under the Duterte administration, refuses to invoke the award.

Naval powers in West Philippine Sea In response to Duterte’s remarks, retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said the president should not say that China is in possession of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea because this is not the case.

“China does not possess Philippine EEZ which is beyond the 12-nautical mile territorial seas of disputed islands or high-tide geologic features,” Carpio said in a statement.

Carpio, part of the Philippine delegation in the South China Sea arbitration, stressed that naval power like the US, the UK, France, Australia, Japan and Canada regularly sail in the West Philippine Sea, proving that Beijing is not in possession of the area.

He also pointed out that Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia are asserting their sovereign rights to their maritime zones against China’s claims without going to war.

“A country does not need to go to war to assert its sovereign rights. There are lawful and peaceful means of asserting sovereign rights,” Carpio earlier said. n

University.

He became a staple of Philippine broadcasting as a host and a disc jockey for stations such as the Manila Broadcasting-owned DZRH and the ABSCBN-owned stations DZAQ and DZXL. He hosted popular advice shows such as “Napakasakit, Kuya Eddie,” “Dear Kuya Eddie,” as well as “Kahapon Lamang” on DZBB. He also hosted the noontime television show “Student Canteen” alongside Leila Benitez and Pepe Pimentel.

Ilarde also had a colorful political career, first running as a

councilor in Pasay City, then becoming a district representative for the province of Rizal.

His run for the Senate in 1971 was marked with the bombing of the campaign of the Liberal Party rally at Plaza Miranda, where he was one of those gravely injured. He won as senator that year, but his term was cut short due to the declaration of Martial Law. He later allied himself with President Ferdinand Marcos and ran as an assemblyman under the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan. He served from 1978 to 1984.

His remains were cremated. n

Broadcaster, former senator Eddie Ilarde, 85 by red

Mendoza ManilaTimes.net

BROADCASTER and former Senator Edgardo “Eddie” Ilarde died on Tuesday, August 4, 21 days shy of his 86th birthday on August 25.

Popularly known as ‘Kuya Eddie’, Ilarde died at 11:40 a.m. in his residence in Makati City.

The cause of death was not determined but his relatives told radio DZBB that he did not die of COVID-19.

Ilarde started from humble beginnings, working as a newspaper boy and as a bootblack before earning his journalism degree from the Far Eastern

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OPiniOn

Medical workers’ ‘timeout’ sounds like blackmail, triggers Duterte rant THIS time, President Rodrigo Duterte had a good reason to deliver a rant in lieu of a measured speech or public statement.

On Sunday, the country’s healthcare workers (HCWs), who man the frontlines in the national struggle against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, provided the provocation in a way that left the President with no choice but to employ his familiar and instinctive shock-and-awe rhetoric.

It all started when some medical groups, claiming to represent all medical frontliners in the coronavirus fight, publicly pleaded over the weekend for a “timeout” in the ongoing battle, suggesting a two-week return of Metro Manila to an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) regime.

They were doubtless impelled to do so by growing talk that the country’s health system has been overwhelmed and that some hospitals could no longer service new patients and hospitalizations, triggered by the recent spike in Covid cases.

At first glance, the request seemed reasonable enough. The nation has long known of the heavy burden that health workers have had to carry amid the pandemic, including exposing themselves to health hazards. As things have played out during the crisis, sadly, a good number of our brave health workers, unfortunately, contracted the disease; some with fatal results.

As the issue was presented to the nation and the public, however, the timeout request did not look benign. It looked more like a demand or an ultimatum. Or, even worse, a kind of blackmail.

Under the circumstances, a misunderstanding seemed unavoidable.

At first, with no consultation with the far larger constituency in National Capital Region (NCR),

the government agreed to place it under the modified ECQ (MECQ) scheme from August 4 to 18.

MECQ is much stricter than the general community quarantine (GCQ), and it will be applied to the NCR and the provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite and Rizal starting today.

At the late-night Sunday briefing, Duterte started out expressing sympathy for the health workers, acknowledging that they were “bone-weary” after several months of battling the infectious the respiratory illness.

As he went on talking, however, his tone began to change, and the message became harsh.

He told the healthcare workers that they could have “written a letter” or asked for an audience, instead of issuing a public statement.

“There is no need for you…1,000 of you, telling us what to do publicly. You could have just written us a letter. Lahat naman ng sinasabi ninyo sinusunod namin (We always follow whatever you say),” he said at the televised meeting in Malacañang, which was convened to discuss the HCWs’ appeal.

He then said the health workers’ action was trying to “demean” the government.

“You treat it as if you are about ready to stop work. Huwag naman ganon kasi kawawa ang mga kababayan. Sino ang aasahan namin (do not be like that because our countrymen will be pitiful.

Who are going to depend on)? I am sure that is not in your heart…I would like to tell you na ang iyong gobyerno ay hindi nag-iiwan ng mga trabahante (that your government does not leave workers behind). We are doing everything possible to alleviate the situation, to assist our healthcare workers,” he continued.

FeatURes

Editorial

ManilaTimes.net photo

With his voice rising, he added, “Pero huwag kayo magsigaw-sigaw rebolusyon (But do not shout revolution)… Go ahead, try it. Sirain natin, patayin natin lahat ng mga may (Let uskill everyone who has) Covid. Is that what you want?” “ I dare you to do it,” the President said.

“But bear in mind na kayo mismo ipa-take over ko…tingnan ko kung ano ang lagay ninyo (that I will personally have you take over…we will see how you will do). We are not incompetents here because we are not doctors… You should do the soul-searching. Kayo ang makatulong sana at wala kayong ginagawa, puro magreklamo (You re the

ones who are supposed to help, but you are not doing anything except complain),” he went on.

“Do not try to demean government. You are not actually criticizing. You demean my government, your own government,” he said.

Duterte once again disclosed that a lack of funds has been holding back the government’s coronavirus response, even after the country’s debt has hit a record P9.05 trillion because of borrowings to address the pandemic.

As with all rants, the message was tattered by repetition and laced with warnings. (ManilaTimes.net)

‘We’re doing very well’: Trump continues to sugarcoat widespread infection, economy reopening as COVID-19 death toll tops 158K in US

The Fil-Am Perspective GEL SANTOS-RELOS COVID-19 in the United States has killed over 158,000 and has infected more than 4.8 million, claiming the lives of at least 1,000 Americans each day in a widespread outbreak throughout the nation, from the densely populated cities to the rural areas.

These are real people who died because of the coronavirus pandemic, with real families who have been bereaved and with lives disrupted and dreams shattered.

Worldwide, the number of coronavirus pandemic confirmed cases has exceeded 18.2 million, with a death toll of more than 692,000 — making the United States the hotspot of infection, accounting for 28% of all deaths around the world.

How could this happen to the most powerful and wealthiest nation in the world, which used to be the leader that the global community looked up to for scientific facts, treatment and the prevention of diseases?

How could other developed countries successfully flattened the curve to the point of bringing down the death toll to almost zero while the United States continues with an uptick in infection and death statistics? Where did we go wrong?

Crucial to the success of other developed countries in defeating this invisible enemy are two important factors: Strong factbased decisive and proactive leadership of public officials and the cooperation and compliance of the people.

Case study: Italy defeats COVID-19 Let us take Italy as an example. It was the epicenter of the pandemic in the first quarter of the year after it overtook China.

What did Italy do?

In January, the Italian government confirmed the country’s first cases of the disease in two Chinese tourists visiting. And after two deaths were reported in the Lombardy region, it was put on total lockdown in February, which was shortly expanded to cover the entire country when more cases and deaths were reported in other regions.

Italy was the first nation to implement a national quarantine in

the war against the coronavirus pandemic. The Italian national government heeded the call of local government officials, trade unions, and other institutions asked for a generalized shutdown of the Italian production system.

In March, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced a further enlargement of the lockdown by shutting down all non-necessary businesses and industries. All commercial and retail businesses except those providing essential services, like grocery stores, food stores, and pharmacies, were closed down.

The goal was to limit mobility and halt the spread of the virus.

Checkpoints were implemented and sanctions were imposed against violators. The Italians cooperated and complied with the orders. Google published a series of mobility reports in April using aggregated data to show the trend of how busy some categories of places were.

Comparing to a baseline data obtained for January and February, the data for Italy in April showed a 94% drop for retail and recreation places, an 85% drop for grocery shops and pharmacies, a 90% drop for parks and beaches, an 87% drop for public transit hubs, a 63% drop for workplaces, and a 24% rise for residential places.”

The lockdown went past the initial April 3 deadline and just started to open responsibly in phases beginning in May. Italy’s lockdown showed the importance of acting decisively. The first regions that imposed it recovered faster and the exponential increase of cases stopped.

The New York Times Rome bureau chief Jason Horowitz referred to “the expanded lockdown as “sacrificing the Italian economy in the short term to save it from the ravages of the virus in the long term”.

Fast forward to end of July — from overburdened hospitals and doctors put in the position to prioritize saving people with better chances of surviving than the older ones as in all disasters man-made or natural given limited resources and urgency in time, Italy’s hospitals are now basically empty of COVID-19 patients, with daily deaths nearly zero.

The number of new daily cases has plummeted to “one of the lowest in Europe and the world,” said Giovanni Rezza, director of the infective illness department at the National Institute of Health told the New York Times.

“We have been very prudent,” she added but they remain vigilant.

According to the Times, “[Italy’s] government has been guided by scientific and technical committees. Local doctors, hospitals and health officials collect more than 20 indicators on the virus daily and send them to regional authorities, who then forward them to the National Institute of Health.”

Truly a community effort among the government, the people, and different institutions.

Where did the US go wrong?

But what do we do when United States President Donald Trump denies and defies what science says, goes against all the advice of scientists and health officials, and urges people by his misleading rhetoric and example to do the same? How can we have a concerted effort toward defeating the virus and emerge victorious like Italy?

As the United States breaks records in the number of confirmed cases, Dr. Fauci, Dr. Brix, and other health officials continue to advise people to stay at home and warn against the opening of businesses, schools, retail, houses of worship and other places where people gather without social distancing.

They also continue to push for more wide-scale testing and contact tracing and mandating the use of masks. With the new information we are learning about COVID-19, they argue that the spikes we are seeing are coming from asymptomatic people who did not even know they are carrying and transmitting the virus around.

Dr. Birx also warned that the pandemic has entered “a new phase,” different from what it was in March and April, and has become more widespread, contradicting the president’s position as he pushes for schools and more states to open.

In response, Trump called her “pathetic, and said in a press briefing on Monday, August 3, just when our death toll topped

155,000: “I think we’re doing very well. I told Dr. Birx I think we’re doing very well. She was at my office a little while ago.

She’s a person I have a lot of respect for. I think Nancy Pelosi has treated her very badly — very, very badly. Very nasty.”

And as more states are reversing on their re-openings because of the uptick in covid cases, and despite some public health experts calling for areas of the country to enter a hard lockdown to destroy coronavirus, Trump again tried to bend the truth arguing against proven facts. He said: “Lockdowns do not prevent infection in the future. They just don’t. It comes back — many times, it comes back.”

This is misinformation coming from the president himself! Lockdowns work! “Stay-at-home” orders work. Testings work. Contact tracing works. Quarantine works. Social distancing work.

Hygiene works.

Lockdown helps isolate those who are infected to prevent them from spreading the virus.

Testing and contact tracing help us identify who these people are, who had contact with them when they were infected by the virus, who should be isolated. Quarantine helps identify and isolate potential virus carriers. Lockdowns prevent further spread of the virus until it is stamped out.

Italy won the war against the virus, as did New Zealand, Taiwan, Vietnam, South Africa and even, China. Other nations are flattening the curve. These nations took early, quick, and decisive action that included nationwide lockdowns, testing, contact tracing, social distancing, mandating people to wear masks.

Another important factor is for the people to work together toward one goal, one objective: Defeat the virus! The leader of a country plays a very important role in unifying its people but it has to start with that objective, overriding any personal, political and financial interest.

The Trump problem The United States already gave up its head start in the war against COVID-19 when Trump willfully and intentionally chose to ignore the warnings from our own intelligence agencies, the

World Health Organization, and the prescience and foreknowledge we should have learned from other countries’ experience.

Instead, Trump chose to cover-up the threat of the pandemic, and worse, even told the American people that it was a “hoax” fabricated by the Democrats who just want to kick him out of office.

And so the United States lost a lot of valuable and unredeemable time that could have otherwise been used to equip the American people with knowledge about this invisible enemy and how the government was strategizing to win this war.

We could have used this lead time to manufacture more PPEs (personal protective equipment) to protect not only our frontlines but every American as a protection against the virus.

We could have used these critical months beginning in January to produce more test kits for more wide-scale testing all over the country, equip our hospitals with more ICU beds and medical equipment in anticipation of the worst-case scenario in this war against the virus.

But NO. Trump chose to berate and denigrate the scientists, health officials, state leaders, Democrats and even manufacturers who were willing to help.

Trump called them “alarmists” engaging in fear-mongering and instead tactically lied to the American people that the United States got the virus under control, that this was just like the common flu that would go away by springtime, and that it would just miraculously disappear like magic.

When the World Health Organization declared the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on March 11, Trump reluctantly acknowledged the pandemic and created a Coronavirus Task Force, conducting daily briefing with the country’s top epidemiologist Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, and Dr. Deborah Brix, along with other health officials. During this time, state governors started implementing shelter-in-place and “stay-at-home” safety measures like California and New York,

among others.

We would think there was an epiphany and Trump would defer to scientists and health officials on matters relating to a field he is ignorant about, but NO! He would continue undermining the safety measures like social distancing, wearing of masks, and would even encourage Republican state officials and Americans to protest against social distancing and demand to re-open the states. \Worse, he even pushed the use of the anti-malaria drug Hydroxychloroquine, and lied to the American people that this drug is a game changer cure that has already been approved by the Federal Drug Administration for COVID-19, only to be fact-checked by Dr. Fauci and the agency itself. Trump would flaunt anecdotal evidence but numerous testings following scientific protocol have disputed his claims, and warned against fatal side effects for out of hospital setting use of this drug that does not work to treat the infection.

We had hoped that Trump would realize the magnitude of the problem we are in and for once, do the right thing for the safety and well being of the American people. Unfortunately, from the beginning of this war against the virus, Trump governed with a tunnel vision that made him focus more on his ratings and the economic numbers, and became obsessed with fighting and defeating his political enemies more than the COVID-19. His end goal was to win his re-election bid at ALL costs.

“Walang maloloko ang manloloko kung walang nagpapaloko. Hoy! Gising! mga kababayan kong Pilipino sa America.”

Let us do our share in defeating this virus. Make an informed conscientious decision. It will save our lives and the lives of others. *** Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at gelrelos@icloud.com, or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel. Santos.Relos.

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

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The sparkling rise of Sanzo: How a Fil-Am millennial is disrupting the beverage industry by

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MoMar G. Visaya / AJPress

Filipino American has been silently but efficiently disrupting the heavily evolving and saturated market of carbonated beverages, and in this specific case: sparkling water.

Meet Sandro Roco, the 31year-old founder of NYC-based company called Sanzo.

The global pandemic has thrown a huge curveball to everyone, derailing business plans all over and forcing some small businesses to close shop. “The biggest thing I’d say is that the pandemic, unfortunately, caused much of our wholesale business to shut down. However, we were able to quickly shift resources to our online store, which had already been up and running.

This has allowed us to grow the total business tremendously,�

Roco told the Asian Journal.

For the past few months, he has been working hard to adjust to the situation and to pivot accordingly. Earlier this year, he already had about 185 retail partners in New York, about 30 in Los Angeles and 10 in Chicago.

Last week, he announced that they have begun to roll out to the first of 50 Whole Foods stores in the New York tri-state area, covering Western Connecticut to South New Jersey.

Quite fitting for a product that was launched exactly a year ago. “Now, more of the focus is

To celebrate his first anniversary earlier this month, Sandro Roco posted this photo on Sanzo’s Instagram and thanked the people and companies who have supported him.

He ended his message with “From the basement of my parents’ house and the bottom of my heart, thank you. - Sandro.�

Sanzo founder Sandro Roco

on what the retail landscape looks like in a ‘new normal’ world. We don’t know all the answers yet, but we do know that it will involve a mixture of online and offline selling,� he said.

Before the pandemic, we had a chance to sit down with Roco at one of the trendy cafes in New York’s Koreatown, which serves his drinks. We talked about how the sparkling water

market is big and growing and how he is celebrating fruits and flavors through his products.

This stretch of restaurants and bars on 32nd Street is also where the idea of his own sparkling water came about. It

happened with a visit to an H Mart, an Asian grocery a few doors down from the cafe. “If you walk into that H Mart, the first thing you’d see is a huge beverage shelf. Half of it has this iconic modern ‘American better for you’ products.

A little down the middle is the Asian section,� he shared.

He wondered why there were little to none when he looked for Asian flavors. Sure, there were iconic and legacy brands, imported sodas and juices from across the region but most were too sweet for his taste. “When you look at the ingredient panels of some of these products, you can see that it’s all sugars, concentrates, preservatives,� Roco said. “I think in general, we are now more discerning about these things.�

Since sparkling water is all the rage, he thought about using real fruit with no added sugar.

He thought about the comforting calamansi drink he had been drinking since childhood. In the instances, he had the citrus as a beverage, it was hot and almost medicinal. He wanted to celebrate calamansi more.

Continued on Page 2

Sanzo’s original flavors: calamansi, mango and lychee.

Photos courtesy of Instagram/@drinksanzo

Sandro Roco enjoying some dimsum paired with his sparkling water brand, Sanzo.� His company is growing despite the curveball brought about by the global pandemic. “You have to be consistently leveling up and learning because in six months, there’s going to be something new to tackle,� he told the Asian Journal.

Amy Schumer shares Emmy nomination for cooking show with Filipino nanny

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T h e A s ian Jour nal MDW K M A G A Z I NE - Augus t 5, 2 0 2 0

By niñA

v. Guno

Inquirer.net

NEFFCON-IE Census Champions

Photo courtesy of Joey Ebue

As Filipinos in the US, let us be counted and make a difference!

FILIPINOS/Filipino-Americans/Pilipinx make up the largest Asian population (33%) in the Inland Empire, numbering close to 118,000 as of Census 2010.

Based on the 2017 Pew Research “Filipinos and in the U.S. Fact Sheet,” Filipinos living in the counties of Riverside and San Bernardino are estimated to be over 200,000 by 2020.

Half of this number will be native-born and the other half will be immigrants (naturalized citizens and permanent residents). Currently, significant Filipino communities are found in eight cities of the Inland Empire, but a larger number are spread out to more than 40 other cities across 26,000 square miles in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

For Census 2020 Filipinos are considered HTC (hard-tocount). With 30% of Filipino immigrants considering themselves lacking in English proficiency and an additional 20% who are 65 years and older, fear, anxiety and lack of confidence in the second language have created strong reluctance to participate in Census 2020. In addition, more than 55% of Filipinos are married, many are dual earners and commuters with little time left to devote for family members; hence the census questionnaire is not on the list that completes the day.

Parents inadvertently forget to count every family member living in the same household — children, grandparents,

aunties, uncles, cousins, and other relatives and friends; and fear of arrest and deportation among the undocumented Filipinos together with the 7% who are unemployed and the 8% who are living in poverty are also contributing factors.

NEFFCON-IE calls on all Filipinos. “Huwag matakot!”

(Have no fear!) CENSUS 2020 QUESTIONNAIRE WILL NOT ASK for your Citizenship/Immigration Status, Social Security Number, Use of Public Benefits, Criminal Background/Convictions, Bank/Payment Information, as well as information on Employment/Income/Wealth.

Know that confidentiality of your information is protected under Title 12 of the U. S. Code.

KNOW THAT EVERY FILIPINO MUST BE COUNTED. COMPLETING CENSUS 2020 IS PARTICIPATING IN PLANNING THE GEOGRAPHICAL, SOCIAL, and ECONOMIC FUTURE OF OUR COMMUNITIES FOR THE NEXT 10 YEARS. For every person counted at least $1,000 worth of services from the federal government can be provided every year to support public schools, hospitals and health clinics, Children’s Health Insurance, affordable housing, public highways and roads, Medicaid/Medicare and much more. Also political representation can be more appropriately apportioned, both at the National and State legislatures, to be the voice for different communities.

With our Filipino faith and “Bayanihan” spirit – we must

encourage and assist each other to support our community. Together, let us be faithful citizens by completing CENSUS 2020: • ONLINE by going directly to https://my2020census.gov (available 24/7 through September 30, 2020; • TELEPHONE by calling either 844-330-2020 (English) or 844-478-2020 (Tagalog); or • US POSTAL MAIL by completing and mailing the enclosed self-address CENSUS 2020 form they received to: U. S. Census Bureau, National Processing Center, 100 Logistics Avenue, Jeffersonville, IN 47144 (Contributed by Nicole Dumaguindin, Bobby Halili and Naida Castro / NEFFCON-IE) The National Ecumenical Forum for Filipino Concerns in the Inland Empire (NEFFCON-IE) is an organization comprising of people of faith who believe in the dynamic presence and integration of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans in the US Church and society.

This is demonstrated by a deep, and liberating solidarity relationship between the Filipinos, the Filipino-Americans and people of different cultures and the progressive organizations and people in the Philippines in their struggle for justice, peace, human rights, and integrity of creation. This vision is inspired by the Love of God and Service to the People, where faith is seen as a river of life that nurtures legitimate struggles and inter-human relationships.

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The sparkling rise of Sanzo: How a...

From Page 1 “The very first thought that came to mind when I was playing with the idea was calamansi.

It’s the best possible version of a citrus fruit. It has the beautiful tart elements of a lime, but unlike a lime that just stays tart, it rounds up a little bit of sweetness in it,” he said. “I love the taste of calamansi so I looked for the right taste or version of a calamansi juice or calamansi ade for me. That’s how it came to be.”

And as such, Sanzo’s original flavor was born.

He had to look at specialty farms in Florida or California for his supply of calamansi but ended up importing purée straight from the Philippines.

Next up was mango.

He initially started with Philippine mangoes, then transitioned to Indian Alphonso mangoes. He said he personally felt the difference and that the Alphonso mango just had a deeper flavor to it when mixed with sparkling water.

Lychee became the third flavor, completing a trifecta of robust and unadulterated flavors, minus any sugar substitutes or sweeteners.

“I thought it was the best way to celebrate and highlight each of the fruits’ elegance.

When you douse something with sugar, that overpowers the flavor,” he said.

Business venture Roco launched Sanzo in July 2019. A piece of trivia, the brand is a portmanteau of his given names: Alessandro and Lorenzo.

Before this, he went into early beta testing. His initial products were in bottles but his goal was to get into cans, but it was a bigger dollar investment so he wanted to do get it right.

He had the same original flavors: calamansi, lychee and mango. Then, he upgraded the sourcing of the purees, manufacturing quality and made some tweaks in the packaging and on the labels.

A year in and despite the current situation, he saw the growth and it was better than expected.

“I self-funded the whole operation up to last December so I only just recently started

AFTER comedienne Amy Schumer received an Emmy nomination, she made sure to include her Filipino nanny, Jane, in the acclaim.

Food Network show “Amy Schumer Learns to Cook” got the Emmy nod last Wednesday, July 29. It features Schumer and her husband, chef Chris Fischer, cooking and making cocktails while in quarantine.

To mark the achievement, Schumer posted a selfie of her and Jane on Instagram and said, “We got got nominated for an Emmy today (Chris too. But mostly us).”

Jane takes care of the couple’s baby boy, Gene, whom they welcomed in May 2019.

While Gene’s asleep, the couple and Jane work on the show, with Jane filming them from a handheld camera.

Schumer has shown love to

Comedienne Amy Schumer with her Filipina nanny Jane

Jane on Instagram, saying in a post in January as they wore skincare face masks: “This is our nanny who makes it possible for me to work and know that our baby is happy and healthy. I love her very much and we also

Photo from Instagram/@amyschumer

both want to have nice skin.”

The show’s first season has four episodes, and it seems Jane will have to continue her camera work as it has been renewed for a second season last June.

Catriona asking P10-M, public apology vs Bulgar for fake nude photo By jAn

Milo Severo Philstar.com

MISS Universe 2018 Catriona Gray demanded P10 million and a public apology from a tabloid after publishing her nude photo, which her camp later on dismissed as fake.

The Filipino-Australian beauty queen said the tabloid Bulgar caused “immeasurable” damage to her reputation by publishing an article with the fabricated nude photo.

A Pep report showed the demand letter titled, “Libelous Online Post and Tabloid Article With Attached Explicit Photo,” from the beauty queen’s legal counsel Joji Alonso. The letter said the tabloid maliciously capitalized on the issue surrounding Catriona’s former boyfriend Clint Bondad by publishing the the fake photo.

“After ng bantang pasabog ni Clint... NUDE PHOTOS NI CATRIONA, KALAT NA! OMG!!!” the tabloid wrote in their headline.

“It appears that Bulgar, being aware of the trending issue of Clint Bondad’s Instagram posts and thereafter having obtained a copy of an explicit altered photo from an

Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray arrived at the NBI headquarters in Manila last July 31 to file a case against the uploader of her fake nude photo.

Philstar.com photo by Krizjohn Rosales

unidentified source, purposely uploaded the subject photo in its online platform and subsequently published it in its tabloid, without verifying its sources,” the demand letter read.

“The caption further made a baseless and malicious claim, that the subject photo is indeed our client — despite evident uncertainty as to its legitimacy,” it added.

The demand letter named Bulgar Facebook administrator John Doe and entertainment editor Janice Navida and writer Melba Llanera as

the possible culprits behind the fake photo.

“Clearly, the upload of subject photo with the libelous caption has gravely besmirched and caused discredit to our client in the minds of the general public, taking into account biases and moral prejudices, the consequences of which produced irreparable harm and injury to our client,” the demand letter said.

Recently, Catriona sought the help of National Bureau of Investigation against those spreading her alleged topless photo online.

Ces after the ABS-CBN shutdown

By Dolly

Anne CArvAjAl

Inquirer.net

CES Drilon and I fondly call each other “VS” (V sister) because our friendship blossomed when we were part of the award-winning play, “The Vagina Monologues.” Aside from being a friend, I am her fan, as well. I will miss her perky presence on free TV. After the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN was unduly denied, Ces lost her job in the network, which was her home since 1989. The veteran broadcast journalist’s shows and newscasts through the years included “Usapang Business,” “Pipol,” “I Survived,” “The World Tonight” (as business anchor), “Insider,” “Business Nightly,” “Pointblank,” “Get Real,” “The Rundown” and “Bandila.”

Despite the loss, Cess is not one who would sulk and wallow. She always looks at life straight in the eye and is dressed for the part. After surviving an abduction, the Sanzo founder Sandro Roco with his dad, Angel Roco outside Whole Foods in Hudson Yards. wonder woman in her can Photos courtesy of Instagram/@drinksanzo survive anything.

It’s not the end for my ever fine. While we’re doing well taking outside investor money. fab VS. It’s just a pause before at Momofuku, Grace Street or That’s of note because a lot of another fresh start. Take a Kabisera, we’re also selling at brands come to market and bow for a job well done—and they raise a lot of money before By Chloe, this very trendy vegan fast-casual chain, or Charlie well-dressed, at that! C’est la they launch so they can afford “Zest” de Ces. Street, an Australian hip coffee bigger blowouts and within Here’s my chat with Ces: chain,” he said. “I was always a couple of months, they can What was the highlight of hopeful that the product would be in 500 or 1,000 stores,” he be good enough to sell in these your stint in ABS-CBN? explained.

The highlight was being places.”

Roco has always hoped to Now, he has reached a point a field reporter, being able rally the Asian American comto visit the far reaches of the where the company is growing munity behind the product, despite the challenges brought country, covering conflict, tryfrom restaurateurs to owners ing to make sense of the root about by the current world and operators and coffee shops situation. He hopes to continue causes of what ails the counlike Grace Street and Kabisera. to grow with it, learning and un- try, scoring scoops and exHe said he wanted to take clusives, and meeting people learning lessons along the way. more of a bootstrap, methodifrom the corridors of power to “Launching a product is cal approach but even then, he hard but now that we’re begin- the most downtrodden. has been surprised as to how What’s the most imporning to grow, I realized that it is quickly people have gotten it. tant lesson you learned duralso hard to scale. You have to “What got me even more ing your ABS-CBN days? be constantly leveling up and excited is that we’ve been It has always been this: A learning because, in six months, able to crossover into the setback can be turned into there’s going to be something “mainstream”, I hate using that an opportunity, that losses new to tackle,” he said. word but for these purposes,

the threats to press freedom.

I had long been wanting to speak out aside from my posts on Twitter and since I am about to become a free agent, I thought it was the right time, because I could speak freely without affecting ABS-CBN. I was so anxious about it though because there would be no turning back. I knew that it was a major step I was about to make. I woke up at 4 a.m. that day and the following day. My dateline was so high.

What’s your personal mantra as you face the new normal?

Embrace the unknown Ces Drilon ABS-CBN photo and uncertainty. Stand firm on your principles. Pivot and may lead to far better things. adapt. Resilience is the name I have mourned the loss of of the game. many shows, which were caWhat’s next on your reer setbacks at the time. agenda?

My first show “Usapang Last year, I got into e-comBusiness” was canceled bemerce with my own line of cause of the Asian financial computer eyewear. Serendipicrisis. I was heartbroken, but then I had a new show “Pipol” tously, it has become an essential in these times of being to replace it. When “The hyper online. So I plan to foWorld Tonight” ended on cus more on it. I also want to Channel 2, I was very fearful continue telling stories, even about the future. if I no longer am on ABS-CBN. Then, I did the talk show The digital world beckons.

“Pointblank” on ANC and I was fortunate to have left the business show “Business “Bandila” in 2017 to go into Nightly.” I lost my bid to be the digital realm. I was able to an anchor of “TV Patrol.” But say goodbye properly, somethen I got a management thing denied of my cohosts. I position and a stint to build also plan to go into farming, a website, ANCX, which I am which was really the plan. It very proud of. just got sidetracked because What was your most I was tasked to oversee the memorable interview? lifestyle shows of ABS-CBN The most memorable News: “Rated K,” “Matanginterview was one that didn’t lawin” and “Sports U.” happen. I was supposed to What’s your secret for aginterview the purported new ing gracefully? leader of the Abu Sayyaf, I just take after my mom!

Radulan Sahiron, but was It’s in the genes. But I think a abducted instead, together with my team. It was the most lot of it comes with laughing a difficult experience of my life. lot and being true to yourself.

What makes your relaI thought I was going to die. tionship with Ricky (CaranTell us a bit about your dang) work?

“SONAgkaisa” rally experiWe aren’t married—that’s ence.

I wanted to speak about Continued on Page 3

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The A sia n J o ur na l M D W K M A G A ZI N E - A u g u s t 5 , 2 0 2 0

Richard Guiterrez

Photo from Instagram/@richardgutz

Richard raves about Coco’s multitasking skills, mental focus

By Alex

BrosAs Inquirer.net

ACTOR Richard Gutierrez had a ringside view of Coco Martin’s working style as he forayed into the world of “Ang Probinsiyano”.

“Bilib ako sa energy niya kasi siya rin ang nagdidirek ng mga eksena, at the same time ay alam niya ang mga lines ng mga tao pati blocking. So, for me nabilib ako sa kanya doon.

Grabe ‘yung mental focus niya,” Gutierrez said in a conference via Zoom on Monday, Aug. 3.

(I am impressed with his energy because he is the one directing the scenes. At the same time he knows people’s lines including blocking. I was so impressed with that.)

Martin left a lasting impression on Gutierrez who will play the third wheel in the CardoAlyana romance angle of the series.

“Hindi ko makakalimutan

‘yung sinabi sa akin ni Coco na dito sa ‘Ang Probinsiyano’ ay teamwork tayo. Kaya nagwowork ang ‘Probinsiyano’ kasi teamwork and story-based talaga lahat. Kumbaga, naka-focus sa story, hindi sa isang tao lang o sa isang character lang,” Gutierrez explained. “Na-appreciate ko ‘yun kay Coco na winelcome niya ako ng ganoon.”

(I cannot forget what Coco told me that here in “Ang Probinsiyano” there is teamwork. The show works because of teamwork and it is really story-based. The focus is on the story, not on one person or one character only. I appreciated Coco for welcoming me that way.)

Gutierrez is also very thankful over his inclusion in the series.

“Actually, si Coco nga, nag-usap na kami before sa Star Magic ball. Sabi nga niya ay gusto niya akong makatrabaho.

Ganoon din ako, gusto ko rin

siyang makatrabaho. ‘Kapag nabigyan tayo ng opportunity ay gusto sana kitang i-guest sa “Ang Probinsiyano”.’ Sabi ko, ‘Game, anytime. Just let me know kung kailan.’ And then, finally nga ay dumating ‘yung offer,” Gutierrez recalled.

(Coco and I were actually talking during the Star Magic Ball. He told me that he wanted to work with me. It’s the same thing with me, I also wanted to work with him. “If we could be given an opportunity, I would like to guest you in ‘Ang Probinsiyano’,”[he said]. I said, “Game. Just let me know when.” And then finally the offer came.)

Gutierrez describes his character Angelo as “very complex” due to a good backstory with Pressman’s character. “[I loved that part with the] flashbacks,” he said. “[The role is] very challenging but at the same time I’m excited to portray it.”

Ces after the ABS-CBN shutdown...

From Page 2 why it works (laughs)! Seriously, I think it comes from a deep respect for each other and knowing when to give in.

As a fashionista, what are some of your rules of style?

The clothes you wear are

an expression of yourself.

They reflect your personality.

So the rule is not to be afraid to break the rules.

If your life story would be written as a news item, what will the headline be?

“Madonna of the news-

room” (as my colleague and close friend KC Constantino called me), I like that.

But more than reinvention, it’s more about exploring my many facets and not being stuck with just one aspect of myself.

community

Postscript

T h e A s ian Jour nal MDW K M A G A Z I NE - Augus t 5, 2 0 2 0

Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond Monette AdevA MAglAyA THE world seems to be at a standstill these days. Blame it on the pandemic. But now it has become apparent that the pandemic crisis is being stretched by powers-that-be to a full-blown political “scamdemic” using fudged numbers and false science for some kind of sinister agenda.

The restrictions on life, living and making a living are NO longer about public health. It has now morphed to the extreme and ugly exercise of political control over the lives of people just yearning to be free so that they can simply go about living normal, unencumbered, productive lives.

But take heart. This too, shall pass. God is in heaven.

All is right with the world. And gardening brings this truth out in the open ever more clearly.

You can’t do much of what you used to do, at least for the time being. But no one is stopping you from growing and caring for your garden, no matter how small it is. Somehow, you have to get your creative juices flowing even during adverse conditions.

It’s a mental health regimen.

For some, it could be knitting, sewing or blogging to earn some bucks. But for a number of people, it is gardening.

For city dwellers housed in apartment buildings, your garden can be a grouping of a few flowering plants or green foliage in terra cotta or plastic pots in a corner of your balcony or porch. It may be a few square feet of sun-soaked or shady piece of land in the front or back yard of your house. How about checking out if you have community gardens you can tend. Or if you are one of the lucky ones, you may have lots of space, an acreage or a whole front yard or backyard as your canvass to afford you the luxury of creating your own lush Eden of fruits, vegetables and flow-

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How does your garden grow?

YOU must have heard some unusual expressions from the old folks and may have wondered about their meanings and origins. The list below lifted from our Pinoy ’55 chat group on Viber as prepared by brod Ernie Salas sheds some light on them.

1. “Tapos na ang boksing!”

Meaning: It is finished. It is these tiny yellow and white doomed and it’s done. butterflies that flit and float Origin: During the Japanese about. I stifle a giggle when Occupation, “tapos na ang tiny shimmering green humboksing” was a favorite expresmingbirds hover close to my sion of teenagers. Boxing was a face when I sit very still, arms sport promoted by Americans in tucked in and pretend to be a the 1920s. So, for pro-Japanese Venus de Milo statue. elements, the expression meant It’s a dirty business, this that America was finished and gardening bit. But when you that Gen. Douglas MacArthur see the results of the work of would never return to the Philipyour gnarled hands, somepines. But those who continued how, you get a small sense to believe in America’s promof satisfaction. I know that ise used the phrase to denote in time, all the flowers that that Japan would ultimately be bloomed, all the seeds that defeated. took root and grew splendidly 2. “Mabilis pa sa alas under my care, all the plants kwatro.”

I propagated from cuttings Meaning: To leave in a mad and gave away and yes, all the rush. beauty that I thought I helped Origin: At Plaza Lawton Mother Nature bring about (now Liwasang Bonifacio) at will eventually fade away, die the southern foot of Puente and become mulch. The colors Colgante (now Quezon Bridge) I nurtured will fade and evenonce stood the imposing Insular tually turn brown. Sigh. But Ice and Cold Storage Plant with that’s the way of all life. Quiet its 10-floor chimney. Designed acceptance comes. I know life by Edgar Bourne, it was built will go on with or without my in 1902 and operated by San help.

Miguel Brewery.

At the moment, I enjoy It had a siren that sounded time well spent. I relish the off loudly three times in a day joy of small accomplishments. to indicate the start of work at 7 Being out in the sun for a few a.m., lunch break at 12 noon, and hours gives one Vitamin D-3 dismissal of workers at 4 p.m. At which they say is effective tothe day’s last siren signal, Insular gether with Vitamin C and the workers would head for the exit mineral zinc, which altogether gates, where they fell in line to give us protection against the log out. There was so much anvirus. Inhale the oxygen plants ticipation for the dismissal time give off while they take the that workers rushed to be at the carbon dioxide we exhale. head of the line – faster than the And please, no masks.

4 p.m. siren.

I come suited for it. I wear 3. “Agua de Pataranta.” a fancy wide brimmed hat to Meaning: Euphemism for protect my skin and my eyes hard liquor. from the sun, long sleeved Origin: Medicinal waters sold cotton shirt and loose denim by boticas and pharmacists in jeans; I put on gloves and put- the ’20s and ’30s carried Spanter around in my old, sturdy, ish brand names. For example, comfy Made in the USA rubBotica Boie on the Escolta listed ber Sloggers on my feet. I in its stock water-based remhave the paraphernalia for cut- edies like Agua Fenicada (phenol ting, pruning, staking, wiring. water) Agua de Botot (a mouth I have pots and shards. Yes, rinse), Agua Boricada (boric acid Continued on Page 5 solution for the eyes) and Agua

de Carabaña (mineral water).

A drinking man’s bottle was disguised as medicine too – Agua de Pataranta – liquor strong enough to addle his brains and put him in a confused stupor, or “taranta.”

When Botica Boie folded up, the famous soda fountain moved to the Round Table restaurant at Manila Doctor’s and, much later, to the Floating Restaurant at Makati Medical.

4. “Noong bata pa si Sabel.”

Meaning: A descriptor for something that has been in existence or in practice a long time ago.

Origin: This expression pays tribute to Queen Isabella II of Spain, who reigned from 1833 to 1868. “Noong bata pa si Sabel” literally means “when Isabel was but a child,” hence when the world was younger.

Queen Isabel’s reign was rocked by internal palace intrigues, influence-peddling, and conspiracies, which ended with her exile and abdication. Isabel’s profile appeared on local 1860’s coins. The late National Artist Alejandro R. Roces contends that Isabel’s enemies referred to her as “la perra” (the bitch), hence the coins that bore her profile became known as “perra” or “pera,” a term used today for all forms of money.

Her bronze statue has been moved from Liwasang Bonifacio (erstwhile Lawton), her space taken over by the Great Plebian, to the front of Puerta Isabel II in Intramuros near the Bureau of Immigration.

5. “Hanggang Pier.”

Meaning: To be left behind with an unkept promise.

Origin: The assignment of American military personnel in Clark Field, Subic Bay and Sangley Point since the 1900s spawned a “good time” industry in the adjoining R&R (rest and recreation) liberty towns that included food, drinks, dancing, and damsels!

Through the ’30s-’60s, relationships developed between GIs on furlough and local girls, many of them from the bars and cabarets. Some affairs were for real, but many others ended at the departure area when the ships had to sail out – hence “hanggang pier”. The expression has come to refer to a per-

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“But take heart. This too, shall pass.

God is in heaven. All is right with the world.” ers to enjoy and share with others.

For this is where it comes down to. We need to create for ourselves a refuge in our garden to teach us lessons about patience, hard work, the cycle of the seasons and perhaps, most importantly, about life itself and its seasons, cycles and abundant blessings.

Some gardeners prefer the quiet solitude of potting and repotting plants and getting their hands and fingernails soiled in the process. It’s a welcome timeout from all the junk and the hype the media and the internet spew nonstop to shape a concerted narrative or an agenda. In the self-imposed quiet, they can hear themselves think, clearing the cobwebs of their minds while they pull out the weeds, prune unwieldy branches and leaves, deadhead spent blooms and spindly twigs, sculpture their topiaries, fertilize the soil, spray pests away or the simple joy of giving plants a soaking shower on a summer’s day.

Some, like me, prefer to listen to Glenn Miller’s bouncy “In the Mood” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo” or music from the 1920’s and 30”s wafting from my phone tucked in my grubby jeans’ back pocket. Somehow music gets me going even when the sun beats down on me until I am all sweaty and thirsty. The bees, wasps and hornets come buzzing and begin attacking me while staking their territory they think I am encroaching. I defend myself against these pesky winged creatures with the water spray from the garden hose shooing them away but ultimately losing the battle and retreating to duck and take cover. Then there are

Federico d.

PAscuAl Jr

Tracing roots of odd Pinoy expressions

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son’s not keeping his promise, as experienced by a Pinay left behind by a ‘Kano, often with a FilAm child, at the pier.

6. “Natutulog sa pansitan.”

Meaning: Failure to grab an opportunity because of laziness or negligence.

Origin: Pansit-pansitan (Shiny bush, Peperomia pellucida Linn) is a common herb that grows abundantly in cool, damp places, carpeting nooks and yards with its soft, fleshy leaves.

Workers in the field often took a respite from the harsh sun by napping on a patch of pansitpansitan — hence, “natutulog sa pansitan.” It may have happened that a few took their naps too long, and thus sleeping on the job resulting in unfinished work and lost opportunities.

7. “Lutong Makaw.”

Meaning: A decision or deal that has been rigged; a pre-arranged victory or success.

Origin: In the “peacetime” of the ’30s, “makaw” (derived from Macau, now a special administrative region of China that used to be a Portuguese colony) was an unofficial generic term used

by Manilans for a Chinese immigrant, especially a cook. Their culinary creations were called “lutong makaw” or cooked Macau-style.

Macau Chinese chefs were noted for their pre-arranging their ingredients in advance, even before a dish was ordered.

A trademark dish was “pansit makaw,” always a bestseller along with pancit canton.

Macau’s gaming history dates back to more than three centuries, earning the title “Monte Carlo of the Orient” and now “Vegas of China.” In 1930, “Hou Heng Company” won the monopoly concession for operating casino games.

Game-fixing was one of the hazards of the business, including “cooking” (i.e. tampering with) the outcome of the game even before it is played -- hence “lutong makaw.”

(There are more items in this compilation, but we’ve run out of space. To read the rest, please go to: https://tinyurl. com/yahkcvnf) ***

Nota Bene: All Postscripts are archived a t m a n i l a m a i l .c o m . Fo l l o w a u t h o r on Twitter as @FDPascual. Feedback can be emailed to fdp333@yahoo.com

Barrister’s Corner Atty. Kenneth UrsUA reyes

Family law issues during the COVID-19 pandemic

orders at a moment when emoat Home Order” on Custody tions run high and the Courts Orders are closed for most hearings.

The stay at home order Most families have roles to THE COVID-19 Pandemic issued by both the City of Los play for each member of the has changed our lives almost Angeles and later the State of household such as the parents overnight. Not only has it California has stirred a lot of getting up and going to work or confusion among divorced parchanged our lives in terms of the child being in school. When our daily routine, jobs, lifestyle, ents who share custody of their these roles are radically changed children. Stay at home orders but also our relationship with in a time that we’re all feeling our family members under the have required California resiincredibly stretched emotionally dents to remain at home, except Stay at Home orders in place in major cities such as Los Angeles, creates major stress on famiif they need to go out for essenDivorce caused by Financial lies. As a result of this stress, tial needs such as for groceries, and Emotional Stress medication or health care China is a few months appointments. People ahead of the US in terms can’t go into work unless “Stay at home orders have of the impact of this they are in certain essenpandemic on families. required California residents tial jobs. The stay-home Statistics show that the restrict travel for to remain at home, except if orders number of couples filunapproved purposes. ing for divorce in China a result, divorced parthey need to go out for essential As is reportedly way up after ents didn’t know if they long periods of COVID were allowed to travel to needs such as for groceries, 19-related confinement. bring their children back medication or health care This gives us a glimpse of and forth to the other the months to come after during visitaappointments. People can’t go parent the stay at home order tion schedules. There is has been lifted. into work unless they are in confusion about whether The rapid spread the stay-at-home order certain essential jobs.” of the corona virus has trumped the custody destabilized every houseorder or whether the hold particularly those of court order trumped the marriages may fracture and parents. The closure of schools stay-at-home order. may result to divorce because and child-care facilities has Custody and visitation the coronavirus crisis is causing created challenges for scores orders are not affected by stay many families to experience job at home orders or other order of parents who must figure out loss from the massive layoffs how to keep their children safe restricting movement issued by caused by the shutdown of the while continuing to work from a governmental entity that arises home. The current situation has economy. Financial stress is from the COVID-19 pandemic. always one of the big stressors posed significant challenge to The stay at home order does that lead to divorce. Parents are not change the existing parparents with existing custody trying to figure out how they can ent-child custody orders that orders. Many parents are atsupport an entire family. tempting to renegotiate the may be in place. Just the fear Effect of COVID-19 “Stay terms of the existing custody of pandemic is not enough to

How does your...

From Page 4 I do the whole nine yards although my garden is tiny and insignificant. In time, I won’t be able to do this any more.

It’s a lot of physical, grunt work best left to the capable.

Finding a gardener I can hire who can do what I direct with my forefinger is on the menu when the time comes.

I have a collection of gardening books which I enjoy leafing through. These books make me dream. I am tempted to put as an item on my Bucket List, a visit to Monet’s garden in Giverny in France from which the impressionist painter got some of his inspiration. I have seen the Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge a few times long before the pandemic shut it down. I would like to see other gardens too, Renoir’s, Cezanne’s, the Busch Gardens one day when normalcy reigns once again.

I depend on low maintenance succulents and ferns for all year greenery and do a few forays to the local nursery to see what can work colorwise in a tiny patch of earth with limited sunlight on a northwest orientation. I long to grow roses but I can’t have them so I just enjoy my neigh-

bors’ gardens facing south with full sunlight for more than 8 hours. They have those old pedigreed magnificent roses that give off their aroma unabashedly. My elderly neighbor, Fred, now long gone, used to give me cut purple roses from his backyard. He said they have been growing for more than 40 years. The scent of those roses was just glorious.

Tend your garden specially these days. It is your postage stamp version of nature at your fingertips. In some curious way, gardening gives you spiritual dividends you never thought you’ll get, like perspective, balance and equanimity. It’s a big word —equanimity— but all it means is a state of being that gives you composure, even-temperedness and the mental calmness needed during these difficult times.

Some in the political arena subscribe to their nefarious mantra of never letting a crisis go to waste.

I say instead, “Never let a downtime go to waste.” ***

Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To send comments, e-mail monette.maglaya@ asianjournalinc.com

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warrant keeping a child from seeing the other parent. If there is an actual threat of harm to the child, the Los Angeles Superior Court is available for ex parte emergency RFO to address these issues. However, parents should attempt to work together first to come up with some kind of temporary agreement that works for both the parents and for the kids that accommodates the problems caused by the pandemic and modify temporarily the existing custody orders as a solution to the current environment. For example, if exercising the father’s alternate weekend visitation exposes the child to other members of the father’s new household, perhaps the parents can temporarily agree to a virtual visitations such as zoom video conferencing, face time, and other apps available that allows the father to see the child and interact the child without exposing the child to the risk of contagion. The Los Angeles Superior Court has been continuing most hearings except for emergency hearings.

It would serve the parties best to co-parent and work out a temporary custody agreement which can be turned into a temporary court order.

Domestic Violence during Stay at Home Order Many domestic violence victims live with their abusers and are now being forced to isolate with their abusers.

Victims may have also lost their

source of income and are having a harder time connecting with their support systems such as the victim’s family. Leaving their situation is much more difficult during the pandemic.

COVID-19 stay at home order in Los Angeles means victims might be stuck with their abusers. Victims might also be losing their job and income.

For the most vulnerable people in the community, stay at home order is the same as putting them in a cage with a dangerous creature. Even though there may be an increase in domestic violence during this period, neither law enforcement nor the family courts may hear about the domestic violence and abuse because it is usually the community that reports these incidents when children go to school, when people see their friends, when people are in a situation where other people see what’s going on. Now, teachers, childcare providers and, friends are physically cut off from the people and children they normally are in contact with daily.

In addition, seeing businesses shuttered and paychecks halted has put intense pressure and hardship on a growing number of people and families who are becoming increasingly depressed. Many are self-medicating at home with drugs and alcohol. Add to that scenario the school closures and children and spouses sheltering together at home

can create an extremely hostile, even dangerous, environment for many families. It is therefore important for victims to call the police or avail of the Family Courts by filing an application for a restraining order and a kick out order against the perpetrator. The Los Angeles Superior Court is available during this pandemic to issue such emergency orders to protect the victims of domestic violence. *** Please note that this article is not legal advice and is not intended as legal advice. The article is intended to provide only general, non-specific legal information. This article is not intended to cover all the issues related to the topic discussed. The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you.

This article does create any attorney client relationship between you and the Law Offices of Kenneth U. Reyes, APLC. This article is not a solicitation. *** Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes is a Certified Family Law Specialist. He was President of the Philippine American Bar Association. He is a member of both the Family law section and Immigration law section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He is a graduate of Southwestern University Law School in Los Angeles and California State University, San Bernardino School of Business Administration.

He has extensive CPA experience prior to law practice. LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, APLC is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 747, Los Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 3881611 or e-mail kenneth@kenreyeslaw.com.

Visit our website at Kenneth@kenreyeslaw. com.

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