080819 - Las Vegas Edition

LAS VEGAS

We’ve got you covered from Hollywood to Broadway... and Online!

AUGUST 8-14, 2019 Volume 30 - No. 32 • 16 Pages

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

2770 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 200 Las Vegas, NV 89109 Tel: (702) 792-6678 • Fax: (702) 792-6879

Also published in LOS ANGELES, ORANGE COUNTY/INLAND EMPIRE, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, NEW YORK/NEW JERSEY

USA

DATELINE Cesar Sayoc, Fil-Am who mailed pipe bombs, sentenced to 20 years in prison FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

THE Filipino American man who pled guilty in March for mailing inoperative pipe bombs to high-profile Democrat leaders and public figures was sentenced on Monday, August 5, to 20 years in prison and five years of supervised release.

In reading the sentence, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff concluded that Cesar Sayoc, 57, made a “conscious choice” to design bombs that would not explode.

“He hated his victims, he wished them no good,” said U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff.

“But he was not so lost as to wish them dead, at least not by his own hand.”

Sayoc was charged with 65 felony counts from four sets of charges after he mailed 16 explosive packages to 13 political targets including former President Barack Obama, former Vice President President Joe Biden, and

u PAGE 5

Popular boba chain settles on alleged sexual harassment of young Filipina employees Lawsuit alleges manager of two franchises targeted Filipina employees between the ages of 17 and 23

IN late July, the popular boba and restaurant chain Tapioca Express settled a sexual harassment lawsuit with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on allegations that a franchise owner harassed young Filipina employees.

Per the settlement, Tapioca Express is to pay $102,500.

The lawsuit alleges that the owner of two Tapioca Express stores in Chula Vista and National City “intentionally” took “advantage of time alone with” young Filipina employees between the ages of 17 and 23 to make “repeated and unwanted comments of a sexual nature and physical contact,” according to the EEOC. “We commend the young women for coming forward to shine a light on the harassment to which they were subjected,” Chris-

u PAGE 5

PH Supreme Court lifts TRO on Mamasapano trial vs Aquino

by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

THE PHILIPPINE Supreme Court on Wednesday, August 7, has lifted the temporary restraining order on the Mamasapano trial, paving the way for the Sandiganbayan to rule on the plea of Ombudsman

Samuel Martires to withdraw the criminal charges filed by his predecessor Conchita Carpio Morales against former President Benigno Aquino III. “For those asking and upon verification with the Chief Justice, I would like to confirm that the Supreme Court has lifted the TRO on the Mamasapano trial before the Sandiganbayan,” SC spokesman

Brian Keith Hosaka said in a text message.

Aquino, as well as former Philippine National Police chief Alan Purisima, and former PNP-SAF director Getulio Napeñas, Jr., are all facing graft and usurpation charges filed in 2017 before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the Jan. 25, 2015 Ma-

u PAGE 2

Duterte prays: Spare PH from ISIS attacks

by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, August 5, admitted that he has been praying to God to spare the Philippines from possible attacks by the Islamic State (ISIS).

According to him, the thought of the extremist group harming the country makes him nervous. He said he is afraid that a lot of Filipino will lose their lives if ISIS enters the Philippines.

“Meron po akong ISIS at ito yung nagbibigay sa akin ng kaba talaga. I am not a person easily swayed itong mga dito, but… nakikita naman niyo, nababasa naman ninyo — CNN, you go to YouTube, wherever you are — makita ninyo ngayon (I’m still thinking about ISIS and that makes me nervous. I am not a person who is easily swayed but you see what’s happening on CNN or on YouTube, wherever you are),” said Duterte in a speech in Malacañang Monday evening.

“Ang tinatakutan ko yung (What I’m scared of is)… just like Iraq, Syria na maraming inosenteng taong nadadali (where a lot of innocent people died). Talagang ako’y nagdarasal, I’m praying, I really pray, talagang lu-

u PAGE 2

YOUNG CHAMPIONS. President Rodrigo Duterte applauds the athletes of the Shoshinkan Intl. Phils. who paid a courtesy call on the president at the Malacañang Palace on Tuesday, August 6. The karate team emerged overall champion in the Formosa Cup held recently in Taiwan.

Malacañang photo by Karl Norman Alonzo

DOH declares national dengue epidemic

by AJPRESS THE Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday, August 6, declared a national dengue epidemic amid the rising cases of the mosquito-borne disease that has so far claimed at least 622 lives since January throughout the Philippines.

According to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, the declaration was needed to speed up response.

“It is important that a national epidemic be declared in these areas to identify where a localized response is needed and to enable the local government units to use their quick response fund to address

the epidemic situation,” he said during a press conference at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) in Camp Aguinaldo.

The announcement came following the national dengue alert that DOH issued three weeks ago.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, as chair of the NDRRMC, said he has issued a memorandum circular urging all agencies of NDRRMC “to support the nationwide dengue epidemic response.”

“Lahat nung mga member ng NDRRMC na agencies (All member agencies of the NDRRMC) will now support the efforts of the DOH to stop this epidemic, eliminate

u PAGE 3

Advocates respond to USCIS plan to cut parole for family of Filipino WWII vets

by CHRISTINA

M. ORIEL

AJPress

FILIPINO American veteran organizations are decrying the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announcement to terminate the pathway that reunited Filipino World War II veterans with their families.

USCIS on Friday, August 2 said that it plans to cease the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole program in line with President Donald Trump’s 2017 executive order on border security and immigration enforcement that called for determining parole on a “caseby-case basis.”

Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, File photo from June 9, 2016 shows Filipino World War II veteran Rudy Panaglima speaking about the parole program for veterans like him, as Senators Tim Kaine and Mazie Hirono look national chairman of the Filipino on. Under the Filipino World War II Veterans Parole program, Panaglima’s two adult children Veterans Recognition and Educawere able to come to the United States.

Photo courtesy of FilVetREP tion Project, said the pronounce-

ment is an “egregious act of injustice and discrimination.”

“This is another broken promise against our veterans. It is senseless and totally unacceptable to terminate a program that would have allowed children to rejoin their parents,” Taguba said.

“It is patently arbitrary and unjust to target aging and ailing veterans who only have a few years to live.”

The administration said it will stop the categorical process and determine per case if the parole has “urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit” consistent with the Immigration and Nationality Act. “In a time where the Trump administration often questions the patriotism of others, we ques-

&$// 12: Ȑ Ȑ

u PAGE 2

Former Vice President Joe Biden, who is running for president, makes a campaign stop at a Chinese restaurant in Las Vegas on Saturday, August 3. AJPress photo by Robert Macabagdal

Biden is latest 2020 presidential hopeful to court Vegas AAPIs

Former VP stresses power of AAPIs, calls for gun control after El Paso shooting

by KLARIZE

MEDENILLA AJPress

LAS VEGAS — While on his campaign tour through Las Vegas, on Saturday, August 3, former Vice President and 2020 candidate Joseph R. Biden met with members of the Las Vegas Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community at Harbor Palace Seafood Restaurant to share his campaign plans and promises.

Before Biden addressed the crowd of Las Vegas’ AAPI community leaders, U.S. Congresswoman Dina Titus (D-Las Vegas) delivered remarks on the former vice president, and among Biden’s achievements, she noted that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 brought forth two key benefits for the AAPI community: the Veterans Equity Compensation Fund for Filipino World War II veter-

u PAGE 3

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

August 8-14, 2019 • LAs VEgAs AsIAN JOuRNAL

PH Supreme Court lifts...

PAGE 1 masapano incident which resulted in the death of 60 individuals, including 44 members of the Special Action Force (SAF).

Relatives and family members of the SAF commandos, collectively known as SAF44, filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking that Aquino be charged with reckless imprudence result-

ing in homicide instead.

Homicide carries a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment, while graft carries 15 years and usurpation, four years and two months.

In June, Martires moved to withdraw the graft and usurpation charges against Aquino, saying the charges filed by Morales had been denounced as “weak.�

From The FronT Page

Sandiganbayan Associate Justice Alex Quiroz in July said the anti-graft court will have to wait for the SC to lift the TRO before it could act on the Ombudsman’s motion.

In February 2018, the SC’s First Division issued the TRO against the Ombudsman and the Sandiganbayan, just before Aquino, Purisima and Napeùas were set to be arraigned. n

Duterte prays: Spare PH...

PAGE 1 muluhod ako sa Diyos na (I really kneel in front of God) to spare us the kind of brutality and cruelty in our country because it will really be bloody. Bloody as it can ever be,� he added.

However, Duterte assured that he will not go down without fighting. “Ayaw kong mag-umpisa.

Ayaw ko naman sa panahon ko na gagawin mo sa akin ‘yan. Do it some other time pero ‘wag sa akin. Hindi talaga ako papayag at hindi ako magpalugi (I don’t want to start it. I don’t want it to happen within my term because I will not allow it and I will not go down without a fight),� he stated.

Threats of Islamic State militants began when local terror group Maute pledged allegiance to ISIS and laid siege to Marawi City. The attack led Duterte to declare Martial law in Mindanao on May 23, 2017.

Over the weekend, a supposed leaked alert memo issued to intelligence units in Northern Luzon ordered intelligence units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)-Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM) to confirm a report on a “Crusader City� in their area of operation that are “being targeted for terror attack.�

A crusader city, according to the memo, is a term used by ISIS to describe a “target area� to fuel a supposed war between Muslims and Christians.

The AFP, for its part, clarified Monday that there were no verified terror attacks in cities in Northern Luzon. It added that the memo was authentic but it contained raw information. n

BATANES QUAKE DAMAGE. Aerial photo shows the temporary shelters and area damaged by the earthquake that hit Batanes last Saturday (July 27, 2019). President Rodrigo R. Duterte conducted an aerial survey of the affected areas and held a situation briefing with members of his Cabinet and local government officials at the Basco Airport on Sunday, July 28, to discuss disaster response measures in the aftermath of the earthquake.

MalacaĂąang photo

Advocates respond to USCIS plan to cut parole for...

PAGE 1 tion where is that patriotism now for our veterans? When America needed them, our Filipino World War II veterans fought and sacrificed‌Parole authority is provided when there is significant public benefit or an urgent humanitarian reason. The public benefit of our WWII Filipino veterans was met in their service to the country nearly 80 years ago,� Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, an organization that advocated for the parole program, said in a statement following Friday’s announcement.

The Filipino World War II Veterans Parole program, which was rolled out in 2016 under thenPresident Barack Obama, expedited the process for certain family members of the veterans — who are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents — to come to the country.

While waiting for their immigrant visas to be issued, these relatives could provide immediate support and care for the aging veterans, given that visa wait times for Filipino American families can exceed 20 years.

As of June 21, 301 Filipinos have received travel documents under the parole program since 2016 and 75 cases are still pending adjudication as of March 31, USCIS spokesperson Maria Elena Upson told the Asian Journal in an

email.

Among the program’s beneficiaries is 89-year-old Rudy Panaglima of Arlington, Virginia, whose two adult children were able to come to the U.S. from the Philippines in 2018 to care for him and his late wife before she passed away. “We served under the American flag, and yet we continue to be treated as if our sacrifices don’t matter,� Panaglima said, recalling the 1946 Rescission Act that denied Filipino war veterans benefits. “Who are we that the president should think less of us?�

Justice for Filipino American Veterans national coordinator Art Garcia said the Filipino American community “can never forget this transgression� and should consider policies like this during the upcoming election cycle.

While the phase-out of the program is not yet final, families who have benefited will be covered until it expires in June 2021, “unless otherwise terminated,� USCIS said.

The agency also suggested that it may allow a 90-day transition period for beneficiaries who have not adjusted their status after the parole expires.

Some immigration lawyers are suggesting that families in the meantime look for alternatives for lawfully staying in the country. “Those beneficiaries of the program should proactively seek

other avenues of lawful presence, including through more general parole programs, and other nonimmigrant status until their priority date becomes current, at which point they can seek adjustment of status through their veteran family member’s petition. They should also explore other family and employment-based avenues to obtain permanent residence,� Darrick Tan, an attorney in Los Angeles who has advised several cases on the parole program, told the Asian Journal.

USCIS’ announcement on Friday also affects the Haitian Family Reunification Parole program.

Estimates show that there are currently less than 6,000 Filipino World War II veterans still living in the United States.

In recent years, there have been multiple efforts to honor the remaining veterans, including the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Act in 2009, which rewarded a one-time lump sum payment to these veterans and their families. Before leaving office, Obama also signed a measure that awarded them with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor given by Congress.

The Filipino Veterans Family Reunification Act was introduced in both the House and Senate this past May to expedite the visa process for children of Filipino World War II veterans. n

FOOTSTEPs OF ST. ANTHONY mary CLARET 6HSW WR ĹĄ Spiritual Director: REV BILL CAO

6DLQW $QWKRQ\ &ODUHW \ &ODUÂŁ ZDV ERUQ LQ 6DOOHQW %DUFHORQD 6SDLQ RQ 'HFHPEHU +H ZDV WKH ˉ IWK RI HOHYHQ FKLOGUHQ RI -RKQ &ODUHW DQG -RVHSKLQH &ODUÂŁ +H ZDV EDSWL]HG RQ &KULVWPDV 'D\ 7KH ȢVSLULWXDO IDWKHU RI &XEDČŁ ZDV D PLVVLRQDU\ UHOLJLRXV IRXQGHU VRFLDO UH IRUPHU TXHHQČ V FKDSODLQ ZULWHU DQG SXEOLVKHU DUFKELVKRS DQG UHIXJHH +H ZDV D 6SDQLDUG ZKRVH ZRUN WRRN KLP WR WKH &DQDU\ ,VODQGV &XED 0DGULG DQG 3DULV DQG WR WKH )LUVW 9DWLFDQ &RXQFLO +H PDGH WKUHH VHSDUDWH SLOJULPDJHV WR 2XU /DG\ RI WKH 3LOODU SDWURQHVV RI 6SDLQ WR WKH 9LUJLQ RI 0RQWVHUUDW SDWURQHVV RI &DWDORQLD DQG WR 2XU /DG\ RI )XVVLPDQ\D QHDU KLV KRPH YLOODJH +LV IRRWVWHSV ZHUH OHIW LPSULQWHG RQ DOO WKH URDGV 7KH FDWKHGUDOV RI 6ROVRQD Sept 7, 2019 (Sat) Day 1 - LAX – Barcelona, Spain 7UDQVDWODQWLF ËŠ LJKW IURP /$; WR %DUFHORQD 6SDLQ 0HDOV VHUYH RQ ERDUG Sept 8, 2019 (Sun) Day 2 Barcelona, Spain 8SRQ DUULYDO LQ %DUFHORQD &OHDU ,PPLJUDWLRQ WKHQ FROOHFW RXU OXJJDJH LQ WKH EDJJDJH FODLP DUHD 2XWVLGH DUULYDO ZKHUH \RX ZLOO EH JUHHWHG E\ \RXU WRXU JXLGH DQG RU GULYHU LI HDUOLHU ZH FDQ GR VLJKWVHH LQJ EHIRUH JRLQJ WR WKH KRWHO LI ODWH DUULYDO ZLOO SURFHHG WR WKH KRWHO 8SRQ DUULYDO \RX ZLOO FKHFN LQ DQG KDYH IUHH WLPH WR UHVW DQG UHIUHVK RU H[ SORUH 7KLV HYHQLQJ \RX ZLOO HQMR\ D ZHOFRPH GLQQHU Sept 9, 2019 (Mon) Day 3 Barcelona, Spain )ROORZLQJ WKH )RRWVWHS RI 6W $QWKRQ\ 0DULD &ODUHW ,QVLGH YLVLW RI WKH IDQWDVWLF 6DJUDGD )DPÂŻOLD FKXUFK 7KH PRVW SRSXODU DWWUDFWLRQV LQ %DUFHORQD DWWUDFWLQJ QHDUO\ PLOOLRQ YLVLWRUV HDFK \HDU &RQVWUXFWLRQ EHJDQ LQ DQG FRQWLQXHV WKURXJK WRGD\ PDNLQJ LW WKH ODUJHVW XQˉ Q LVKHG &DWKROLF &KXUFK LQ WKH ZRUOG *DXGL WRRN RYHU DV DU FKLWHFW WKH IROORZLQJ \HDU DQG ZRUNHG RQ LW XQWLO KLV GHDWK LQ 7KHQ ZH ZLOO GHSDUW WR ZDUGV 0RQWVHUUDW :H ZLOO YLV LW WKH VDQFWXDU\ RI 0RQWVHUUDW DQG H[SORUH WKH PRQDVWLF FHQ WHU RI &DWDORQLD 7KH VDQFWXDU\ KDV EHHQ WKH FHQWHU RI SLOJULP DJH IRU DOPRVW \HDUV IRU WKRVH ZKR ZDQWHG WR VHH WKH IDPRXV 9LUJLQ RI 0RQWVHUUDW 2XU /DG\ RI 0RQWVHUUDW RU WKH 9LUJLQ RI 0RQWVHUUDW &DWDODQ 0DUH GH 'ÂŤX GH 0RQWVHUUDW LV D 0DULDQ WLWOH DVVRFLDWHG ZLWK YHQHUDWHG VWDWXH RI WKH 0D GRQQD DQG &KLOG YHQHUDWHG DW WKH 6DQWD 0DULD GH 0RQWVHUUDW PRQDVWHU\ RQ WKH 0RQWVHUUDW

0RXQWDLQ LQ &DWDORQLD 6SDLQ 6KH LV WKH 3DWURQ 6DLQW RI &DW DORQLD :LOO DWWHQG 9HVSHUWLQH +RO\ 6HUYLFH 2YHUQLJKW 'LQQHU 0RQWVHUUDW Sept 10, 2019 (Tues) Day 4 Montserrat/ Zaragoza, Spain :H ZLOO YLVLW 6DOOHQW SODFH RI ELUWK RI 6W $QWKRQ\ DQG &DVD GČ (VSLULWXDOLWDW &ODUHW &ODUHWLDQ +RXVH RI 6SLULWXDOLW\

6W $QWKRQ\ XVHG WR ORYH JRLQJ RQ D SLOJULPDJH DQG KH HYHQ HQFRXUDJHG SHRSOH WR GR LW +H XVHG WR JR RQ 3LOJULPDJH WR 2XU /DG\ RI 3LOODU :H ZLOO DOVR YLVLW WKRVH SLOJULP VLWHV KH XVHG WR YLVLW GXULQJ KLV WLPH :H ZLOO GHSDUW WRZDUGV =DUD

JR]D =DUDJR]D LV WKH FDSLWDO RI QRUWKHDVWHUQ 6SDLQČ V $UDJRQ UHJLRQ 2YHUORRNLQJ WKH (EUR 5LYHU LQ WKH FLW\ FHQWHU LV ED URTXH 1XHVWUD 6HÂłRUD GHO 3LODU %DVLOLFD D IDPRXV SLOJULPDJH VLWH ZLWK D VKULQH WR WKH 9LUJLQ 0DU\ DQG PXOWLSOH GRPHV :H ZLOO YLVLW WKH VKULQHV RI 2XU /DG\ RI 3LOODU 6SDQLVK 1XHVWUD 6HÂłRUD GHO 3LODU LV WKH QDPH JLYHQ WR WKH %OHVV HG 9LUJLQ 0DU\ DVVRFLDWHG ZLWK WKH FODLP RI 0DULDQ DSSDULWLRQ WR DSRVWOHV 6W -DPHV EHIRUH KHU DVVXPSWLRQ LQWR KHDYHQ 'LQQHU DQG RYHUQLJKW +RWHO LQ =DUDJR]D Sept 11, 2019 (Wed)

Day 5 - Zaragoza/Madrid, Spain,Lisbon Fatima, Portugal :H ZLOO KDYH D YHU\ HDUO\ EUHDNIDVW $P $P ZLOO GHSDUW =DUDJR]D WRZDUGV 0DGULG 6SDLQČ V FHQWUDO FDSLWDO LV D FLW\ RI HOHJDQW ERXOHYDUGV DQG H[SDQVLYH PDQLFXUHG SDUNV VXFK DV WKH %XHQ 5HWLUR LQFOXGLQJ WKH 5R\DO 3DODFH DQG 3OD]D 0D\RU ,WČ V UHQRZQHG IRU LWV ULFK UHSRVLWRULHV RI (XUR SHDQ DUW LQFOXGLQJ WKH 3UD GR 0XVHXPČ V ZRUNV E\ *R\D 9HOÂŁ]TXH] DQG RWKHU 6SDQLVK PDVWHUV :H ZLOO YLVLW WKH $OPXGHQD &DWKHGUDO WKH VHDW RI 5RPDQ &DWKROLF $UFKGLRFHVH RI 0D GULG )O\ WR /LVERQ 7UDQVIHU %\ &RDFK WR )DWLPD 3RUWXJDO $W WHQG FDQGOH OLJKW SURFHVVLRQ DIWHU GLQQHU 2YHUQLJKW GLQ QHU )DWLPD +RWHO (VWUHOD Sept 12, 2019 (Thurs) Day 6 Fatima, Portugal $IWHU EUHDNIDVW YLVLW WKH 0XVH XP GHGLFDWHG WR WKH %OHVVHG 9LUJLQ RI )DWLPD )XOO GD\ *XLG HG WRXUV LQ $OMXVWUHO DQG 9D OLQKRV \RX VHH WKH WZR KRPHV RI WKH VKHSKHUGV VLWH RI 2XU /DG\Č V IRXUWK DSSDULWLRQV 6WRS DW WKH 3DULVK FKXUFK ZKHUH WKH VHHUV ZHUH EDSWL]HG DQG WKH FHPHWHU\ ZKHUH )UDQFLVFR DQG -DFLQWD ZHUH RQFH EXULHG /XQFK %UHDN DIWHU ZLOO GR WKH VWDWLRQ RI WKH FURVV 5HVW RI WKH DIWHUQRRQ IUHH IRU SULYDWH GHYRWLRQ $WWHQG &DQGOHOLJKW SURFHVVLRQ DIWHU GLQQHU 'LQ QHU RYHUQLJKW +RWHO (VWUHOD GH )DWLPD Sept 13, 2019 (Fri) Day 7 Fatima )XOO GD\ *XLGHG WRXUV RI WKH 6KULQHV JURXQG YLVLW WKH %DVLO LFD RI +RO\ 5RVDU\ WRPEV RI 6W )UDQFLVFR DQG 6W -DFLQWD LQ WKH %DVLOLFD DQG DOVR /XFLD ZKHUH KHU UHPDLQ LV EXULHG +RO\ (XFKDULVW FHOHEUDWLRQ $S SDULWLRQ &KDSHO RIˉ FLDWHG E\

*HURQD 7DUUDJRQD /HULGD %DUFHORQD DQG WKH FKXUFKHV RI RWKHU FLWLHV )XQ )DFWV +H ZDV DOVR DQ DXWKRU WKDW SXEOLVKHG VHYHUDO &DWKROLF ERRNV +LV PDMRU VKULQH LV ORFDWHG LQ 9LF %DUFHORQD 7KH OLEUDU\ KH IRXQGHG WKH /OLEUHULD &ODUHW LV RQH RI WKH JUHDWHVW UHOLJLRXV OLEUDULHV OR FDWHG LQ %DUFHORQD 7KH +4 RI KLV UHOLJLRXV RUGHU FDQ EH IRXQG LQ 5RPH +H GLHG LQ )RQWIURLGH )UDQFH

)U %LOO &DR $IWHU 'LQQHU DWWHQG &DQGOH /LJKW SURFHVVLRQ 'LQ QHU RYHUQLJKW +RWHO (VWUHOD GH )DWLPD Sept 14, 2019 (Sat) Day 8 Fatima, Porto, Santiago de Campostela :H VD\ *RRGE\H WR 2XU /DG\ RI )DWLPD :H WKDQN KHU IRU KHU LQYLWDWLRQ WR YLVLW KHU VKULQHV DW )DWLPD &RQWLQXH WR 3RUWR QG ODUJHVW FLW\ LQ 3RUWXJDO NQRZQ IRU LWV UHYHUHG ZLQH QDPH 3RUW &RQWLQXH WR 6DQ WLDJR GH &DPSRVWHOD NQRZQ LQ (QJOLVK DV WKH :D\ RI 6DLQW -DPHV DPRQJ RWKHU QDPHV LV D QHWZRUN RI SLOJULPVČ ZD\V RU SLOJULPDJHV OHDGLQJ WR WKH VKULQH RI WKH DSRVWOH 6DLQW -DPHV WKH *UHDW LQ WKH &DWKH GUDO RI 6DQWLDJR GH &RPSRVWH OD LQ *DOLFLD LQ QRUWKZHVWHUQ 6SDLQ ZKHUH WUDGLWLRQ KDV LW WKDW WKH UHPDLQV RI WKH VDLQW DUH EXULHG 0DQ\ IROORZ LWV URXWHV DV D IRUP RI VSLULWXDO SDWK RU UHWUHDW IRU WKHLU VSLUL WXDO JURZWK 'HSHQGLQJ RQ RXU WLPH RI DUULYDO ZH ZLOO YLVLW WKH 0DJQLˉ FHQW &DWKHGUDO RI 6DQ WLDJR GH &DPSRVWHOD :H ZLOO NQRZ PRUH DERXW 6W -DPHV RI 6DQWLDJR GH &DPSRVWH OD 'LQQHU 2 Y H U Q L J K W +RWHO *UDQ /RV $EHWRV %% '

Sept 15, 2019 (Sun) Day 9 Santiago de Campostela )XOO GD\ 6DQWLDJR $WWHQG QRRQ +RO\ 0DVV DW WKH &D WKHGUDO RI 6W -DPHV 6HH PRUH

SODFHV LQ 6DQWLDJR GH &DPSRV WHOD 'LQQHU RYHUQLJKW *UDQ +RWHO /RV $EHWRV Sept 16, 2019 (Mon) Day 10 - Santiago De Campostela / Madrid / Las Palmas 7UDQVIHU WR WKH DLUSRUW IRU WKH $P ËŠ LJKW WR 0DGULG ,% WKHQ ,% WR /DV 3DO PDV WR ([SORUH WKH SODFHV 9LV LWHG E\ 6W $QWKRQ\ ZKHUH KH GLG KLV SUHDFKLQJ +HDOLQJ DQG FRQYHUVLRQ RI WKH SHR SOH LQ WKH ,VODQG Sept 17, 2019 (Tues) Day 11 Canary Island & R Q W L Q X H I R O O R Z L Q J WKH )RRW VWHS RI 6W $QWKRQ\ &ODUHW 'LQQHU RYHU QLJKW /DV 3DOPDV Sept 18, 2019 (Wed) - Day 12 6:40 Am departure from Las Palmas /Madrid / Paris ,Q 3DULV WR FRQWLQXH WKH )RRW VWHSV RI 6W $QWKRQ\ &ODUHW $IWHUQRRQ YLVLW RI 6DFUH FRHXU XVLQJ IXQLFXODU LI WLPH SHUPLW ZLOO JLYH WLPH IRU VKRSSLQJ 'LQQHU RYHUQLJKW 3DULV Sept 19, 2019 (Thur) Day 13 Paris,France 9LVLW (LIIHO WRZHU XS WR QG ËŠ RRU FRQWLQXH WR 5XH 'H %DF &HOHEUDWH +RO\ (XFKDULVW DW WKH 0LUDFXORXV 0HGDO 6HH WKH XQFRUUXSW ERG\ RI 6W /RX LVH 0HUULODF DQG 67 &DWKHULQH /DERXUH 9LVLW 6W 9LQFHQW WKH 3DXO &KXUFK QRW WRR IDU IURP 0LUDFXORXV 0HGDO 9LVLW 1R

WUH 'DPH &DWKHGUDO YLVLW 7KH 6DLQWH &KDSHOOH WKH ˉ QHVW UR\ DO FKDSHO WR EH EXLOW LQ )UDQFH DQG IHDWXUHV D WUXO\ H[FHSWLRQ DO FROOHFWLRQ RI VWDLQHG JODVV ,W ZDV EXLOW WR KRXVH WKH UHOLFV RI 3DVVLRQ RI &KULVW ([SORUH SODFHV ZKHUH 6W $QWKRQ\ &ODU HW YLVLWHG DQG VWD\HG 'LQQHU RYHUQLJKW 3DULV Sept 20, 2019 (Fri) Day 14 Paris, France 9LVLW &KDUWUHV &DWKHGUDO DOVR NQRZQ DV WKH &DWKHGUDO RI 2XU /DG\ RI &KDUWUHV )UHQFK &DWKGUDOH 1RWUH 'DPH GH &KDUWUHV LV D 5RPDQ &DWKR OLF FKXUFK LQ &KDUWUHV )UDQFH DERXW NP PLOHV VRXWK ZHVW RI 3DULV 0RVWO\ FRQ VWUXFWHG EHWZHHQ DQG LW VWDQGV DW WKH VLWH RI DW OHDVW ˉ YH FDWKHGUDOV WKDW KDYH RFFXSLHG WKH VLWH VLQFH &KDU WUHV EHFDPH D ELVKRSULF LQ WKH WK FHQWXU\ ,W LV LQ WKH *RWKLF DQG 5R PDQHVTXH VW\OHV ,W LV GHVLJQDW HG D :RUOG + H U L W D J H 6LWH E\ 8 1 ( 6 & 2 Z K L F K calls it ȢWKH KLJK SRLQW RI )UHQFK *RWKLF DUW :LOO GR UHVW RI WKH SURJUDP IUHH WLPH IRU VKRSSLQJ EHIRUH KHDGLQJ WR RXU +RWHO 'LQQHU RYHUQLJKW 3DULV Sept 21, 2019 (Sat) Day 15 Paris , France , Madrid/ USA (QG RI RXU ZRQGHUIXO 3LOJULP DJH +RSH HYHU\ERG\ NQRZV PRUH DERXW RQH RI WKH *UHDW HVW 6DLQWV IURP 6SDLQ

Please call QTS Tour and Travel NOW at

1 (714) 288-0800 or (714) 761-6280 1095 N Main St. Suite O, Orange, CA 92867

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

Dateline USa

Biden is latest 2020 presidential hopeful to...

PAGE 1 ans and the “first-time funding” for AAPI health clinics.

“We owe him a debt of gratitude for that,” Titus said, introducing Biden to the applauding crowd.

Biden then met and shook hands with some of the attendees — which included some Nevada lawmakers — cheekily introducing himself as “Jill Biden’s husband.” Before discussing his campaign, Biden acknowledged the Walmart terrorist attack in El Paso, Texas that happened hours before.

“Before we begin, a somber note I apologize, but it can’t go without saying what just happened,” Biden told the crowd.

“We don’t know much of the details right now but I can say with conviction: enough is enough is enough and it’s been enough for the past five years.”

The attack had been lodged by a single shooter who used a semiautomatic firearm to murder 20 people. Biden called for tighter federal gun laws including universal background checks for the sale of firearms. (In the 1990s as senator of Delaware Biden championed bills that prevented the manufacture and sales of certain assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, but they were not renewed after 10 years.)

“This is a sickness. This is well beyond anything we should be tolerating and the fact is we can beat the National Rifle Association (NRA), we can beat the gun manufacturers because I did it.

There are answers to this, we can do this. One of my priorities as your president will be on Day 1 to go after [the NRA]. We’ve beat them before and we can beat them again.”

Going into his relationship with the AAPI community, Biden said, “In a sense I was raised politically by” renowned AAPI U.S. senators from Hawaii Daniel Inouye and the late Spark Matsunaga and he “learned early on the fact that what was going in the AAPI community we ignored for much, much too long.”

“The AAPI community has made enormous contributions to America, and the fact that you are the fastest growing group in this state and other parts of the country is really consequential,” the former vice president remarked, noting the resourcefulness of Asian immigrants who started businesses from the ground up.

Immigrants, Biden said, are the foundation of the United States,

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • AUGUSt 8-14, 2019

US nuclear-powered warship stops in Manila after patrolling South China Sea

by Patricia Lourdes

noting the similarities between ancestors’ decision to leave everything they knew in Ireland to move to the U.S. and families from Central America who are doing the same thing today.

“Folks, you’re the reason why we’re who we are. It is not a joke, it’s the god’s honest truth.

What makes us the most unique country in the world is that we constantly remake ourselves, and that’s what we’re in the process of doing, making sure that the Asian American and Pacific Islander community is fully integrated into everything we do,” Biden said, who brought up the Obama administration’s efforts to compensate the more than 200,000 Filipino veterans who fought in World War II and their families.

Biden also brought up the plight of recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and he noted that the Asian immigrant experience should not be left out of the national conversation on immigration reform.

“Most people think only about Latino immigrants when we talk about DREAMers and DACA, but the fact of the matter is that DACA offered opportunities to thousands AAPI DREAMers as well,” Biden said. “We need to fix our immigration system but we can’t leave behind certain communities living in constant fear. It’s not who we are.”

Leveraging his experience as vice president under President Barack Obama, Biden noted that he wants to restore the U.S. as a model of diplomacy and a country that works to strengthen alliances with other nations. He also made a case for diversity within the systems of power in the U.S. government, reminding the crowd of the volume of AAPI offi-

Viray

the chance to deepen ties with Pacific region.

The U.S. Navy aircraft carour critical ally, while enjoying the culture and beauty of this rier and the two guided-missile ONE of the U.S. Navy’s nu- wonderful country,” Thomas cruisers last visited the Philipclear-powered “supercarrier” said. pines in June 2018 as part of its docked in Manila on WednesThe Ronald Reagan Carrier routine patrol in the Pacific. day, August 7, after sailing Strike group, composed of USS Nuclear-powered USS Ronald through the South China Sea. Ronald Reagan, USS Chancel- Reagan is carrying about 70 suNimitz class aircraft carrier lorsville and USS Antietam are personic F/A-18 jets, spy planes USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), forward-deployed to the U.S. and helicopters as it patrols the along with Ticonderoga class 7th Fleet operating in the Indo- South China Sea. n guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam (CG 54) and USS Chancellorsville (CG 52) arrived in the Philippines for a brief port call.

U.S. Navy and Philippine Navy personnel will take part in sporting events, senior leadership exchanges, community relations and cultural events while the visiting ships are in the country.

“This visit is a great representation of our strong friendship, partnership and alliance with the Philippines, as well as a testament to our joint commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” U.S. Ambassador Sung Kim said in a statement.

Rear Adm. Karl Thomas, commander of U.S. Task Force 70, said the port call reflects the decades-old relationship between In this Aug. 6, 2019 photo, distinguished visitors observe as an F/A-18E Super Hornet from Strike the Philippines and the U.S. Fighter Squadron (VFA) 195 launches from the flight deck of the U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed “Visiting the Philippines is aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) during a tour. Maj. Gen. Erickson Gloria, Deputy always incredible and I’m glad Chief of Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines, and Toby Purisima, the Philippines’ Assistant that the officers and sailors of Secretary of Civil Defense, were among notable visitors to the ship.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Janweb B. Lagazo Carrier Strike Group 5 will have Philstar.com

Biden addressing the crowd of Las Vegas’ AAPI community leaders.

AJPress photo by Robert Macabagdal

cials appointed under the Obama administration.

“We have great responsibilities and our country and administration should look like our people.

It should look like who we are.

We had more AAPI judges than all other administrations combined [and] more women than all other administrations. When you look at our administration, it looked like America and that’s critically important, especially at a time when this president is so engaging in such vile conduct in the way he talks about people,” Biden said, citing President Donald Trump’s controversial remarks on the black, Latino and Muslim communities.

Similar to the rest of the pool of Democrats looking to unseat Trump in 2020, Biden condemned the sitting president’s language, referencing Trump’s declaration that there were some “very fine people” at the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia two years ago as well as the policies and proposals that PAGE 1 limit the scope of opportunity for this epidemic,” he said.

Lorenzana also explained minorities.

“It’s not a question of whether that a national emergency or we want to win or whether we state of calamity had not been can win. We have to win,” Biden declared due to the disease said. “We can begin to become only affecting select areas.

“May mga areas na malaki, the country we thought we were mas malaki ang tama, may mga and working our way towards.”

After months of “will he or maliliit (There are areas that won’t he” whispers among po- are worse affected, others not litical pundits, Biden officially so much). It’s up to the provannounced he was running for inces [and] towns to declare president on April 25, and since their own state of calamity,” he then, he’s held a steady lead in said.

Duque noted that 146,062 the polls.

As of Tuesday, August 6, Biden dengue cases were recorded has a comfortable lead according nationwide from Jan. 1 to July to two polls: a poll from Quinnip- 20 — a figure that is twice the iac puts Biden 11 points ahead of recorded cases (73,818) during Sen. Bernie Sanders, and a poll the same period last year.

Based on a DOH dengue from Politico/Morning Consult puts the former vice president 14 surveillance report, Western Visayas had the most number points ahead of Sanders. n

DOH declares national dengue... of cases at 23,330, followed by Calabarzon with 16,515. Zamboanga Peninsula reported 12,317 cases; Northern Mindanao, 11,455; and SOCCSKSARGEN, 11,083 cases.

Meanwhile, the seven regions that have exceeded the epidemic threshold are Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula and Northern Mindanao.

Ilocos, Central Visayas and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, on the other hand, are the regions that have exceeded the alert threshold.

A risk A group of doctors, scientists and health professionals on Thursday, Aug. 1, urged the government to lift the ban on

Dengvaxia vaccine due to the surge in dengue cases.

Dengvaxia was banned in 2017 after Sanofi Pasteur, its manufacturer, disclosed that the vaccine could cause severe dengue in patients with no prior exposure to the virus.

Duque, for his part, pointed out that Dengvaxia was not cost-effective at P1,000 per dose.

“It is not recommended for mass vaccination because there is no reliable test that would establish prior dengue infection. If there is, this particular test cross-reacts with several other viruses,” the health secretary said.

“Who knows that severe dengue reaction will not occur in a particular individual? So there’s a risk,” he added. n

August 8-14, 2019 • LAs VEgAs AsIAN JOuRNAL

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

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

Dateline USa

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • AUGUSt 8-14, 2019

Palace slams New York Times editorial vs Duterte

by Ritchel

Mendiola AJPress

MAlACAñANG on Saturday, August 3, slammed the New York Times (NYT) for spreading “false information” about the Duterte administration.

In the NYT’s editorial entitled “In the fight to save the planet, its defenders are being killed,” the publication cited a survey by rights group Global Witness that named the Philippines as the most dangerous country for land and environmental activists.

According to presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo, the editorial was “not surprising” since the newspaper “has been dishing out false information and untruthful narratives on the Philippine situation” under President Rodrigo Duterte’s leadership.

“The American publication has not exerted the research reROBBERS NABBED. National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief, Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar (2nd from left) and Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Director, Brig Gen. Joselito Esquivel (right), present four suspects arrested for robbing a condominium unit along Mother quired of responsive journalism.

Ignacia Avenue in Barangay South Triangle, Quezon City, in a press briefing at the QCPD headquarters in Camp Karingal on Monday, August Neither did it conduct an in-depth 5. The suspects took some P13 million worth of cash and signature brand items.

PNA photo by Joey O. Razon

Second round of Dem debates signal emergence of progressive policy Sanders, Warren defend Medicare for All and other highlights from the second Democratic debate

by KlaRize

Medenilla AJPress

IF the first round of debates in June were an introduction to the candidates running for the 2020 Democratic nomination, the second round of Democratic debates this week in Detroit was a cementing of those candidates’ stances and policies.

On Wednesday, July 30 and Thursday, July 31 the 20 candidates who qualified were split in half and randomly assorted in the two-night affair in Detroit where there was a clear ideological split among progressives, moderates and those who toe the line between those two credos.

Over the course of the twonight affair, health care was the name on everyone’s lips as candidates got into the nitty-gritty of the Democratic conversation around the affordability and accessibility of public health care.

Both Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren argued for the progressive stance of imposing a Medicare For All plan, a universal public health care model that would eliminate rising premiums and deductibles in favor of funding the program through increased taxes on the 1%. “let’s be clear what this debate is about. Nobody can defend the dysfunctionality of the current system,” Sanders explained. “What we are taking on is the fact that over the last 20 years the drug companies and the insurance companies have spent $4.5 billion of your health insurance money on lobbying and campaign contributions.”

Moderate Democrats like former governor of Colorado John Hickenlooper and former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland agreed that the idea of Medicare For All is too “extreme.”

“It comes down to that question of Americans being used to being able to make choices, to have the right to make a decision,” Hickenlooper said, reinforcing the moderates’ argument that Americans should choose whether or not to opt for Medicare, and if “it expands, the quality improves [and] the cost comes down eventually you could get [to Medicare For All], but it would be an evolution, not a revolution.”

But Warren argued that that approach fosters a convoluted insurance system that forces “people to have to fight to try to get the health care coverage that their doctors and nurses say that they need.”

On the second night, Vice President Joe Biden made a case for the idea that the solution to the nation’s health care woes is to maintain and expand Obamacare.

“My response is Obamacare is working,” Biden said. “The way

to build this, and get to it immediately is to build on Obamacare.

Take back all the things that Trump took away, provide a public option, meaning every single person would be able to buy into that option if they didn’t like their employer plan.”

On the topic of immigration, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Julián Castro detailed pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants “who haven’t committed a serious crime” as well as instituting a “21st century Marshall Plan with Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala so that we can get to the root of this challenge so people can find safety and opportunity at home instead of having to come to the United States.”

Protestors in the audience of the second debate night interrupted Biden’s remarks on his immigration plans, yelling out “3 million deported,” referencing the number of undocumented immigrants deported under President Barack Obama. Biden defended himself, assuring that the deportation rate would “absolutely not” increase if he’s elected.

Candidates poured over the current situation at the border and the “broken immigration system” that has resulted in “inhumane” detention centers riddled with abuse and neglect. But entrepreneur Andrew Yang, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, made a case of uplifting the success stories of immigrants rather than using tragedy as a political approach.

“I’m the son of immigrants myself. My father immigrated here as a graduate student and generated over 65 U.S. patents for G.E. and IBM. I think that’s a pretty good deal for the United States.

That’s the immigration story we need to be telling,” Yang said.

“We can’t always be focusing on some of...the distressed stories.

And if you go to a factory here in Michigan, you will not find wallto-wall immigrants; you will find wall-to-wall robots and machines.

Immigrants are being scapegoated for issues they have nothing to do with in our economy.”

Candidates from both nights had their fair share of quips and one-liners that made the rounds on social media, like when Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio interrupted Sanders’ listing out the benefits of Medicare For All, telling the senator, “You don’t know that, Bernie” to which Sanders replied, “I do know it, I wrote the damn bill!”

On the second night, Sen. Kamala Harris of California and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii — one of two AAPI candidates on the stage along with Yang — sparred on the issue of criminal justice reform and the issue

of police brutality Throughout the campaign, Harris has emphasized her criminal justice background as California’s attorney general and as a district attorney of San Francisco, arguing that her efforts “became a national model for the work that needs to be done.”

“Senator Harris says she’s proud of her record as a prosecutor and that she’ll be a prosecutor president. But I’m deeply concerned about this record.

There are too many examples to cite but she put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations and then laughed about it when she was ever asked if she ever smoked marijuana,” Gabbard said, garnering applause from the audience.

As expected, both the Republican Party and President Trump himself downplayed the candidates’ policies and attacks on the Trump administration, warning of the dangers of the expansion of progressive ideals of the Democratic field.

“Proving that nothing is impossible, Democrats moved even further to the left tonight,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “As the Democrat field narrows, our country will continue to thrive under President Trump’s winning agenda of rising wages, new jobs, and a booming economy. Not a single Democrat candidate can compete with President Trump’s record, and the American people are ready to re-elect him in 2020 to keep up this great American comeback.”

“No original thoughts for Democrats. Plenty of socialist stupidity — eliminating private insurance, decriminalizing border crossings, higher taxes, getting rid of fossil fuels. Goodbye Pennsylvania. Goodbye auto industry.

Goodbye Midwest. Another win for President Trump,” Kayleigh McEnany, National Press Secretary for the Trump re-election campaign, wrote in a statement.

The next Democratic debate will be held in Houston, Texas on September 12. The Democratic National Committee has imposed a polling and donor threshold that candidates must meet in order to participate in the next debate: they must be polling at least 2% in four national DNC-approved polls and at least 130,000 unique donors stemming from at least 400 donors in 20 or more states.

The deadline to achieve these qualifications is August 28; and, so far, the only candidates to have met this threshold are Biden, Harris, Sanders, Warren, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. n

Popular boba chain settles on alleged sexual...

PAGE 1 topher Green, director of the EEOC office in San Diego, told the Times of San Diego. “Their strength may give courage to other young people or those in the Asian American and Pacific Islander community who may be suffering harassment or discrimination in the workplace to come forward as well.

The EEOC added that the alleged harassment led to some employees to quit their jobs.

The EEOC did not disclose how many employees were harassed, but according to a statement from Tapioca Express sent to Asian Journal, the EEOC lawsuit “involved two employees.”

In the statement sent to the Asian Journal, Tapioca Express denied the allegations

and maintained that it operates “in a non-discriminatory fashion,” saying that “we would never tolerate the harassment [of our] team members.”

“While we vehemently [deny] the EEOC’s allegations — including that it would ever discriminate based on an employee’s sex — the organization has moved far beyond those issues, and it made no sense to litigate the case through trial, especially considering that the cost of resolving this matter was far less than the cost of going forward through trial and would allow us to avoid wasting unnecessary resources which are better directed towards our members and our mission,” Tapioca Express wrote.

Along with monetary relief

to the victims, Tapioca Express has also agreed to hire “an external monitor” to evaluate the company’s sexual harassment policies and procedures so they are in compliance with EEOC regulations. All employees will also undergo anti-sexual harassment training.

“Harassment remains a persistent problem in the workplace, which must be addressed top-down in any company,” Anna Park, regional attorney for the EEOC’s los Angeles office, said in a statement. “We are encouraged by the steps Tapioca Express has taken to resolve this matter and the measures it has put in place to prevent workplace harassment and discrimination.” (Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)

independent study on such a delicate subject-matter,” he said in a statement.

“The NYT has the reckless habit of relying mainly on false facts regarding this administration’s campaign against illegal drugs and the causes of murders occurring in the land areas of the country, peddled by the communist rebels and their supporting left-leaning organizations, as well as the political opposition,” Panelo added.

The spokesman pointed out that communists were to blame for the high number of land defenders’ killings, not the government.

“Global Witness made it appear that it is the government which is to blame for the situation, while failing or omitting to factor the local communist movement and armed conflicts as critical components thereof,” Panelo said.

“It has not considered the fact

that many of our local authorities, security forces and even tribal leaders died protecting land rights against communist insurgents who want to control these areas. Necessarily, the president had to undertake measures to maintain peace and order in the affected localities,” he added.

Panelo also defended Duterte after the NYT editorial called him “brutal.”

“The president is not brutal.

He does not allow any law enforcer to use savage methods in enforcing the law. Anyone who goes against police protocols in effecting arrest and complying with court orders are prosecuted administratively and criminally,” Panelo said.

“The president is very strict in enforcing the law. No friendship, alliances or blood relationship temper nor impede this enforcement. No one is spared from the harsh application of the law,” he added. n

Cesar Sayoc, Fil-Am who mailed pipe bombs...

PAGE 1 current 2020 presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris.

On Monday, Sayoc apologized and told the court, “I am beyond so very sorry for what I did.”

“Now that I am a sober man, I know I was a very sick man. I should have listened to my mother, the love of my life. She told me to get help,” he added.

Other targets of the mailed explosives included public figures like actor Robert Deniro and billionaire George Soros, as well as the CNN offices in Atlanta and New York. A list of over 100 names were also found in Sayoc’s van, which was covered in political images and stickers of Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.

In pleading guilty in March, Sayoc said that while the devices were “intended to look like pipe bombs,” he had no intention for them to detonate, but was aware of the possibility that they could.

“I wish more than anything I could turn back time and take back what I did,” he said on Monday. “With all my heart and soul, I feel the pain and suffering of these victims and I will be apologizing to them for the rest of my life.”

Seeking to get Sayoc a minimum sentence of 121 months or 10 years, Sayoc’s defense attorneys in the weeks leading up to his sentencing, pointed to a troubled childhood, mental illness, and steroid abuse.

In a 39-page sentencing memo, Sayoc’s attorneys said that a “series of traumatic events” including abandonment by his father and sexual abuse by his Catholic school teacher as a child, pushed Sayoc “further and further into the margins of society” before finding a “sense of ommunity” among ardent Trump supporters.

Assistant Federal Defender Ian Marcus Amelkin again on Monday highlighted Sayoc’s mental health and steroid use as having played a part in Sayoc’s actions and political radicalization.

“We believe that the president’s rhetoric contributed to Mr. Sayoc’s actions in this offense,” said Amelkin.

He said, “It is impossible to separate the political climate and his mental illness when it comes to the slow boil.”

Prosecutors on the other hand, sought a life sentence and highlighted that in addition to planning and mailing the IEDs, real and highly dangerous components were used in making them.

They also pointed to Sayoc’s previous run-ins with the law, including a 2002 conviction for making bomb threats, as justification for seeking a life sentence.

On Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Kim said that Sayoc’s plan was to “deter and chill political activity” and that Sayoc “set out to terrorise people.”

“Politics cannot justify a terror-

Cesar Sayoc Jr. Photo courtesy of the Broward County Sheriff

ist attack,” she added.

Though not agreeing to a life sentence, Rakoff described the defense team’s focus on Trump’s and his supporters’ influence as a “sideshow.”

‘What counts is what he did, and what he intended at the time that he did it,” said Rakoff, further describing Sayoc’s actions as “by any measure, horrendous.”

The decision to sentence Sayoc to 20 years as “no more” and “no less” than what he deserved,” said Rakoff.

“While none of the devices exploded, at the very least, they were intended to strike fear and terror into the minds of their victims and to intimidate those victims (mostly prominent political figures) from exercising their freedom,” wrote Rakoff in his opinion. (Rae Ann Varona/AJPress)

6

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

AUGUST 8-14, 2019 • LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL

OPINION

Living in the dark

MEN have gone to the moon and people can enjoy face time with loved ones almost anywhere in the world, any time, thanks to electronic gadgets. Yet in the Philippines, an estimated two million families, or about 13 million people, are still living without electricity, according to the head of the party-list coalition in the House of Representatives.

Rep. Mikee Romero of 1-Pacman said 19,000 barangays still have not been covered by the government’s rural electrification program. That’s over a tenth of the population still relying on kerosene, wood or paper for lighting purposes.

Apart from lighting, what can people not have or do in the absence of electricity? Obviously, nighttime activities are limited with inadequate lighting, and productivity is retarded. In a wired world, access is acutely limited for people without electricity. People in remote areas cannot enjoy television and the full benefits of the Infor-

Editorial

FEATURES

mation Age. Battery chargers for cell phones and computers need electricity. In some remote villages, people must travel to the town center just to charge their

cell phones.

The electrification program is supposed to be supervised by the National Electrification Administration. Romero wants to expand the authority of the NEA to discipline rural electric cooperatives that are inefficient or fail to live up to their commitments in rural electrification.

Apart from electrification, the government must also ramp up efforts to provide safe water and sanitation facilities in rural areas. If communities are too remote for electrification, they usually also lack modern water networks and sanitation facilities including toilets. Residents in such areas rely on deep wells, but the safety of groundwater is un- the illnesses attributed to contaminated drinking reliable. Periodic outbreaks of diseases including water. cholera have been reported in recent years, with Safe water and electricity are among the basic

Philstar.com photo

human needs in the modern world. Any anti-poverty program must give priority to meeting these needs. (Philstar.com)

Facts reveal how Trump’s hateful rhetoric and Congress’ inaction have led to recent mass shootings The Fil-Am Perspective GEL SANTOS-RELOS PUT YOURSELF in the shoes of the men and women who have just lost their son, daughter, mother, father, spouse, or best friend to the bullets coming from these senseless mass shooting in America. As of August 5, which is just the 217th day of 2019, there have been 255 mass shootings in the United States, which means there is an average of more than one mass shooting a day.

A mass shooting, as defined by the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive (GVA), refers to “any incident in which at least four people were shot, excluding the shooter.”

Almost all of these mass shootings have one thing in common — the shooters use assault weapons that were made to be used by soldiers in war zones, not by civilians!

As CBS News reported, just in the past eight days, more than 100 people have been shot, including the most recent shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas with 22 people killed, and at least 24 wounded.

In less than 24 hours, nine people were killed and 27 were injured in a historic district of Dayton, Ohio.

Commentary

YEN MAKABENTA IT is striking that the U.S. State Department punctiliously avoided using the word “concerning” in expressing its view of President Duterte’s war on illegal drugs, and what it has achieved so far.

In a report that got the top headline in the Manila Times, one U.S. State Department official sought to relay to Philippine authorities his government’s concern about the drug campaign.

The official involved is Mr. Jortgan Andrews, deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

Andrews told reporters in a teleconference that the United States will continue to keep a critical eye on President Rodrigo Duterte’s supposedly infamous war on drugs.

“We will continue to raise our concern,” Andrews said.

Further, he said the U.S. “remains committed to human rights,” which are continuously linked to the anti-illegal drugs campaign of the Philippine President.

“Essentially, I know programs in the Philippines focus on drug prevention and treatment services and justice reform, professional development, law enforcement,” he added.

The U.S. official recognized the

According to the data tracked by the GVA, “there have been a total of 33,237 total shooting incidents, resulting in 8,796 gun deaths and 17,480 injuries in America in 2019 as of August 5 alone.

“These 2019 numbers could top the record of 2016, which recorded 382 mass shootings.

The GVA reported that “the past two years came close, with 346 mass shootings in 2017 and 240 in 2018.”

Even before President Donald Trump was sworn in, the United States was already notorious for being obsessed with guns, more than any other country in the world.

According to a November 7, 2017 New York Times report, “no other country has more than 46 million guns or 18 mass shooters than the United States.

According to a 2015 study by Prof. Adam Lankford at the University of Alabama, “Americans comprise 4.4 percent of the global population but own 42 percent of the world’s guns.”

The Times further reported that according to the study — from 1966 to 2012, 31 percent of the gunmen in mass shootings worldwide were American.

The University of Alabama study found that worldwide, “a country’s rate of gun ownership correlated with the odds it would experience mass shooting,” and this relationship held when Prof.

Lankford excluded the United

States, which would reveal that mass shootings “could NOT be explained by some other factors particular to the United States. It remained true when he controlled for homicides, which would suggest “mass shootings were better explained by a society’s access to guns than by its baseline level of violence.”

We would think a progressive and information-driven rich industrialized nation like the United States would address this issue head-on, just like how other nations have acted decisively to put an end to this tragedy. But not in the United States, thanks but no thanks to the powerful lobbyist National Rifle Association (NRA).

The NRA has been heavily investing in lawmakers and the executive office by channeling most of their powerful dirty money to the election campaigns of members of the Republican Party and President Donald Trump. This is why no stricter gun control laws have been passed even despite the string of mass shootings in the United States, offering only “thoughts and prayers.”

The last time the U.S. federal government enacted a law to limit gun ownership was 25 years ago — the Federal Assault Weapons Ban. It was written to be effective only for 10 years, the law banned the manufacture, sale and possession of some military-style assault weapons, including AR-15. However, the law reduced the num-

ber of mass shootings during the decade it was in effect, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery published in January 2019.

When that law expired in 2004, several attempts had been made to bring back the law. Following the Sandy Hook mass shooting in 2013, President Barack Obama pushed to renew the ban, only to be blocked by the Republican-led Senate.

Obama initiated his own measure to ban the mentally ill from purchasing a gun following the San Bernardino shootings in 2015. This Obama-era regulation required the Social Security Administration to submit records of mentally disabled people to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, the FBI database used to determine whether someone can buy a firearm under the 1993 Brady Bill.

As reported by USA Today, this rule would have applied to about 75,000 people who were “adjudicated as a mental defective” and who had applied for Social Security benefits, and had a mechanism to notify those affected so they could appeal.

HOWEVER, when Trump became president, this regulation was among the very first pieces of the Obama legacy that he overturned. On February 28, 2017, Trump killed this regulation that would have tightened gun background checks to help prevent the

mentally ill from buying a gun.

When the Democrats won back the House, they passed a sweeping gun control legislation in February 2019. While there were a few Republicans who joined the House Democrats, the Republican-controlled Senate NEVER debated nor acted on this new legislation.

Now Trump blames violent video games, violent television programs, the media, and past administrations for the recent mass shootings. Reading from a teleprompter, Trump denounced hate, racism, violence, and would be visiting El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.

EL PASO said it would be better if Trump would not come because they blame the president for the tragedy, especially as the victims of the mass shooting were Hispanic, intentionally targeted by the killer.

Trump ran his presidential campaign on scare tactics and hateful rhetoric demonizing people of color, Muslims, undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers. The policies he has pushed as president have just further escalated this attack — by blaming these people who quite do not look like the “white Americans” for the crimes, social and economic problems of the United States. Trump would call this an “invasion,” “infestation” of America by criminals, murderers and rapists.

In his rallies, he has encour-

aged chants among the audience shouting “send her back” about four duly elected congresswomen of color who are critical of him, even if three of them were born in the United States and one is a naturalized American who came in as a refugee.

In Florida, he was firing up his base on how to solve the problems with these undocumented immigrants and somebody in the audience shouted “shoot them”, and he LAUGHED and said, “Only in the Panhandle can you get away with that.”

THE FACT: The rise of violence in the United States has been perpetrated not by people of color nor Muslims after 9/11. These strings of violence have been committed by domestic terrorists— the white nationalists and supremacists who have been emboldened since Trump campaigned and got elected as president. Trump would not even accept this problem despite facts substantiated by hard data, whether here in the United States nor in other parts of the world.

ENOUGH OF THESE SENSELESS MASS SHOOTINGS! Fellow Americans, speak out and speak up and compel our leaders to ACT. Now! *** Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFilAmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook. com/Gel.Santos.Relos

US State Department daunted to use ‘concerning’ on PH drug war country’s focus on the strengthening of the rule of law, but with “respect to human rights.”

Andrews disclosed that he and his Philippine government counterparts had discussed various topics, including the combating of illegal drugs.

Additionally, he said, they talked about criminal justice engagement, criminal law reform, reform on investigation and prosecution method, criminal justice program and enhancement of legal aid services for “Filipino citizens to have more access to justice.”

The Manila Times headlined this story as: “U.S. State Department official: Duterte drug war cause for concern.”

I was fascinated by this report because the State Department went into so much trouble and verbiage to avoid using the adjective “concerning” in describing the Philippine drug war, whereas officials and people nowadays employ “concerning” with total abandon.

The effect of the official’s punctiliousness was to suggest that the U.S. is not really troubled or alarmed by the drug campaign.

Is it possible that the U.S. State Department, unlike its boss, Donald Trump, is punctilious in observing strictly the rules and traditions of English usage?

I personally do not use “concerning” to denote the sense of “troubling,” “unsettling” or “alarming,” even though I have a virtual license to use English as

I see fit. It does not look right to me.

The Grammarist online provides an enlightening and expert guide on the use of “concerning.”

It reads: “The use of concerning as an adjective, meaning of concern, has been decried by writers and usage authorities for being grating, for being nonstandard, and for sounding like a made-up word.

But these complaints are not grounds for saying concerning is incorrect or is not a real word. The complaint about “concerning” having a grating sound is subjective; we can’t block a word from the language just because some people dislike its sound. The complaint about it being nonstandard is a few decades behind the times.

And all words are invented, so the complaint about concerning sounding ‘made up’ doesn’t really say anything.

“There are countless precedents for the formation of the participial adjective concerning from the verb concern, among them several synonyms of concerning that are similarly formed.

For example, no one questions upsetting, disturbing, distressing, or alarming. If we accept these words, we should accept that concerning is a legitimate word, even if we don’t like it.

“Also, while it’s true that concerning has grown in prevalence over the last few decades, the word is not new. The OED (Oxford English Dictionary) lists examples

of concerning used this way from as far back as the 17th century, and additional examples are easily found in Google searches of historical texts. We’ve found no explanation of its recent increase, but our guess is that synonyms like alarming and troubling are sometimes too extreme to accurately replace concerning, which has perhaps become gentler in modern usage.

One complaint against concerning does stand up: The word is also a preposition meaning in reference to or regarding, and the adjectival concerning can cause confusion when readers or listeners initially interpret it as the preposition. For instance, if you hear someone say, ‘His email was concerning,’ you might at first expect something to come after concerning. This complaint isn’t a rock-solid case, though, as many words in English have multiple functions, but it’s a good reason for those inclined against the word to continue avoiding it.”

By email, I received from a reader timely information on the climate change debate. It consisted of a report on how a scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the US has switched sides from climate alarmist to climate-change denialism.

Headlined, “More evidence man-made ‘climate change’ is hype,” the report read: “A former NOAA scientist with more than 50 years’ experience

in weather and climate research reports censoring evidence at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has now crossed to the other side and become a climate-change denier.

“There is a darker — much darker — reason behind those who push man-made climate change.

“Censoring evidence, ‘fiddling’ with data and silencing skeptics were part of life at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, according to Rex Fleming, a former NOAA scientist who no longer believes carbon dioxide is causing catastrophic climate change.

“Rex Fleming admitted that while he worked for NOAA, he attributed global warming to carbon dioxide despite ‘having doubts.’ “‘Eventually I just read enough to realize it’s a totally wrong direction,’ he said in a podcast interview July 25 with British journalist James Delingpole. “‘And so, in the past 10 years, I’d say, I’ve been on the other side.’

His conversion, however, has shut him out of academic journals, despite his Ph.D. in atmospheric science.

“The author of The Rise and Fall of the Carbon Dioxide Theory of Climate Change, Fleming told Delingpole he had to travel to Europe to have his 2018 paper on climate change peer-reviewed and published. “‘The ‘deniers’ have so much

evidence,’ he said, while the global-warming believers ‘bring nothing to the table of scientific proof.’ “‘All they have is hearsay. All they have is media coverage. All they have is government people saying it’s true,’ said Fleming. “‘He said more scientists would abandon the theory, but they are in ‘this groove of getting funds for huge, bigger computer systems to run these massive climate models.’ “‘And they want their salaries to increase. They don’t want to change,’ he said, describing it as ‘a wonderful gravy train.’

“Fleming agreed with Delingpole that carbon dioxide levels historically have risen due to warm temperatures rather than the other way around. “‘Past climates have been warm and cold and warm and cold with no changes in carbon dioxide,’ he said. ‘How can that be a cause when there’s no correlation?’

“Fleming said that one of the reasons proponents of the theory of man-caused climate change target the fossil fuel industry is to push socialism. “‘They’re using a calamity as a measure to get people’s attention,’ he said. ‘So, the climate is a good one to use. Because the media and scientists have wrongly, without any proof, assumed this is the problem.’

“Fleming has more than 50 years of experience as a scientist and manager in weather and climate research, noted Climate Depot.” (ManilaTimes.net)

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.

ADVERTISING AND ADVERTORIAL POLICIES ROGER LAGMAY ORIEL Publisher & Chairman of the Board

CORA MACABAGDAL-ORIEL President Main Office: 1210 S. Brand Blvd Glendale, CA 91204 Tels: (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797 Fax: (818) 502-0858 • (213) 481-0854 e-mail: info@asianjournalinc.com http://www.asianjournal.com

Manila Office: 2/F D&E Fort Palm Springs Cond.

30th St., Cor. 1st Ave., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig Tel.: (632) 856-4921 • 856-0397 • Fax: (632) 856-1661

Northern California: 1799 Old Bayshore Hwy, Suite 136 Burlingame, CA 94010 Tel.: (650) 689-5160 • Fax: (650) 239-9253

New York office: 133-30 32nd Ave., Flushing, NY 11354 Tel.: (212) 655-5426 • Fax (213) 481-0854

Las Vegas Sales Office: 2770 S. Maryland Pkwy., Suite 200 Las Vegas, Nevada 89109 Tel.: (702) 792-6678 • Fax: (702) 792-6879

New Jersey office: 2500 Plaza 5, Harborside Financial Center, Jersey City, NJ 07311 Tel: (212)655-5426 • Fax: (818)502-0858

ELIZABETH HILARIO SISON Chief Financial Officer ROBERT MACABAGDAL Vice President & General Manager Las Vegas Asian Journal MOMAR G. VISAYA Executive Editor German P. Palabyab Advertising and Business Development Director

Asian Journal Publitions, Inc. (“AJPI”) reserves the right to refuse to publish, in its sole and absolute discretion, any advertising and advertorial material submitted for publition by client. (“Client’s Material”) Submission of an advertisement or advertorial to an AJPI sales representative does not constitute a commitment by AJPI to publish a Client’s Material. AJPI has the option to correctly classify any Client’s Material and to delete objectionable words or phrases.

Client represents and warrants that a Client’s Material does not and will not contain any language or material which is libelous, slanderous or defamatory or invades any rights of privacy or publicity; does not and will not violate or infringe upon, or give rise to any adverse claim with respect to any common law or other right whatsoever (including, without limitation, any copyright, trademark, service mark or contract right) of any person or entity, or violate any other applible law; and is not the subject of any litigation or claim that might give rise to any litigation.

Publition of a Client’s Material does not constitute an agreement to continue publition.

Client agrees and covenants to indemnify AJPI and its officers against any and all loss, liability, damage, expenses, cost, charges, claims, actions, uses of action, recoveries, judgments, penalties, including outside attorneys’ fees (individually and collectively “Claims”) which AJPI may suffer by reason of (1) Client’s breach of any of the representations, warranties and agreements herein or (2) any Claims by any third party relating in any way to Client’s Material.

AJPI will not be liable for failure to publish any Client’s Material as requested or for more than one incorrect insertion of a Client’s Material. In the event of an error, or omission in printing or publition of a Client’s Material, AJPI shall be limited to an adjustment for the space occupied by the error, with maximum liability being ncellation of the cost of the first incorrect advertisement or republition of the correct advertisement.

Under no circumstances shall Asian Publitions, Inc. be liable for consequential damages of any kind.

ASIAN JOURNAL PUBLITIONS, INC. publishes the Los Angeles Asian Journal, published twice a week; the Orange County and Inland Empire Asian Journal, Northern lifornia Asian Journal, Las Vegas Asian Journal and the New York / New Jersey Asian Journal which are published once a week and distributed to Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange Counties, Northern lifornia, Las Vegas and New York and New Jersey respectively.

Articles published in this paper do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the publisher. Letters to the Editor are welcome. Letters must contain complete name and return address. The materials, however, are subject to editing and revisions.

Contributions and advertising deadlines are every Mondays and Thursdays. For advertising rates and other informations, please ll the L.A. office at (213) 250-9797 or the Las Vegas Sales Office at (702) 792-6678 or send us an email at info@asianjournalinc.com

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • AUGUSt 8-14, 2019

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

D ateline PhiliPPines DOJ gathering info on 8chan, site used by Texas gunman THE Department of Justice is collating information on “8chan,” the online messaging board where posts of violent extremists can be found, believed to be operating in the Philippines.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said on Wednesday, August 7 that the DOJ is “gathering more info before we decide if this is something for the [National Bureau of Investigation] to look into.”

Following the mass shooting in El Paso, Texas over the weekend, 8chan creator Fredrick Brennan called for the shutdown of the site which has become a breeding ground for violence, the New York Times reported.

The gunman in the El Paso shooting reportedly posted an announcement on the messag-

ing board that was directed to his “brothers” where he criticized the “Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

The Bureau of Immigration, for its part, said it is looking into the records of foreign nationals connected to the website.

“We are interested in verifying the records of these foreign nationals allegedly working in the Philippines,” Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said.

The NBI and BI are agencies under the DOJ. The Philippine National Police, for its part, said it tapped its AntiCybercrime Group to monitor the said website.

Brennan founded 8chan in 2013, as an alternative to 4chan after it implemented policies to deter gamers from posting personal

information and plan attacks.

According to an April 2016 report from news site Splinter, U.S. Army veteran Jim Watkins first came into the picture when 8chan kept on going offline due to exceeded bandwidth limits or its offensive content.

Watkins was then already residing in Manila where he owns a pig farm outside the city. He offered assistance to Brennan.

In October 2014, Brennan accepted the offer of Watkins and moved to the Philippines to work with the army veteran.

Watkins has been running 8chan from the Philippines since 2015 when Brennan gave him control over the site. (Kristine Joy Patag with reports from Patricia Lourdes Viray/Philstar.com)

Court junks 30-year-old civil case filed against Marcoses, several others

by Reina

TolenTino ManilaTimes.net

THE Sandiganbayan Second Division threw out a 30-year-old civil case filed against the late president Ferdinand Marcos, former first lady Imelda Marcos, and other individuals.

Aside from the Marcoses, the anti-graft court in a 67-page decision also dismissed the case filed against Rafael Sison, Placido Mapa Jr., Don Ferry, Jose Tengco Jr., Ramon Monzon, Generosa Olazo, Cynthia Cheong, Ma. Luisa Nograles, Leopoldo Vergara, Jose Africa, and Rodolfo Arambulo.

“Plaintiff miserably failed to adduce evidence to hold defendants

Ferdinand E. Marcos and Imelda R. Marcos liable under any of the causes of action set out in the Amended Complaint,” the court said in part.

“There is total lack of evidence to prove that: (1) defendants Ferdinand E. Marcos and Imelda R. Marcos participated in extending loan accommodation to Aklan Bulk Carriers, Inc., Fuga Bulk Carriers, Inc., Coron Bulk Carriers, Inc., and Ecija Bulk Carriers, Inc.; (2) they appropriated for their own benefit and unjust enrichment, income and revenues derived from the operations of RPN-9, IBC-13 and BBC-2; (3) allowed defendants to hold and launder purloined funds for and in their behalf prior to remittance and

credit to their overseas or foreign accounts; and (4) participated in the establishment of the California Overseas Bank,” it said.

“It saddens this Court that it took more than thirty (30) years before this case is submitted for decision and yet, the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence to sustain any of the causes of action against the remaining defendants,” it said in part.

The Republic of the Philippines, represented by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), filed the case in 1987 against several individuals, including the above-mentioned individuals.

Some of them were later dropped from the case. n

Palace: No deployment ban on OFWs to HK yet

by CaTheRine

ValenTe ManilaTimes.net

MALACAñANG on Tuesday, August 6, said the government was still studying a possible ban on the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Hong Kong, in light of political unrest in China’s Special Administrative Region.

The statement came after Hong Kong authorities arrested a Filipino who happened to pass by protesters while wearing a black shirt, which was associated with the resistance movement calling for pro-democratic reforms.

Speaking to reporters, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd was closely monitoring and evaluating the situation in Hong Kong to determine if a temporary ban on labor deployment was

warranted.

“Sabi ni Secretary Bello minomonitor nila. Ang protocol nila ngayon (Secretary Bello said he was monitoring it. Their protocol for now) is they are asking the Filipinos there to avoid there those places, kung saan merong (where there are) protests, marches, para hindi sila madamay. Eh may nadamay na ngang isa (so that they will not be involved. There’s already one who got involved),” Panelo told reporters.

“Wala naman, walang deployment ban. Pinag-aaralan niya raw, ‘yan ang sabi niya (There’s no deployment ban for now. He’s still studying it, that’s what he [Bello] said),” he added.

There are more than 400,000 documented Filipino workers in Hong Kong, according to the Labor department.

The Department of Foreign

Affairs earlier issued alert levels to evaluate threats in certain locations.

The Hong Kong protests have been ongoing for five straight days and nine consecutive weeks since the government shelved a controversial bill that would have allowed extraditing Hong Kong fugitives to China.

This, however, spurred more violent demonstrations, calling out the autonomous region’s “dysfunctional” government.

The Philippine consulate in Hong Kong shuttered its operations on Monday afternoon as the strike hobbled the city.

An advisory from the consulate said all passport appointments and other transactions scheduled for Monday would be accommodated any time during business hours on Tuesday and in the following days. n

Rebuilding Marawi shelters 50% on target

by Jaime PilaPil ManilaTmes.net

THE National Housing Authority (NHA) on Tuesday, August 6, announced it was 50 percent on target of achieving its goal of building temporary shelters for the families displaced by the five-month-long urban siege launched by Maute group on May 23, 2017.

NHA Project Management Head Roderick Ibañez said of the total target of 4,852 temporary shelters, about 1,500 had been awarded already, while the remaining ones are still under construction.

“We are confident that by December this year, we will be able to build all the 4,852 temporary houses. In Salungag area, some 1,500 houses were already awarded,” Ibanez told a news forum.

He said in Boganga Village, another 1,500 houses are about to be finished and would be awarded this September. About 1,000 shelters are being constructed in Dulay Village and Rorogagus Village.

Ibanez said some 2,000 permanent houses were about to be built and are expected to be finished

by May 2020. This project will be handled by San Miguel Corp.

Foundation.

Another permanent housing is a condo-type structure now being built in Papandayan Village, about a kilometer away from downtown Marawi City.

Some 500 permanent houses in Dulay Village are expected to be finished by April 2020.

He clarified that NHA’s task, as outlined by the Bangon Marawi Task Force, was to build temporary and permanent shelters,

aside from managing debris, including clearing of explosives.

“We cleared at least 52 percent of bombs. Of the 6,435 structures, some 1,852 have been demolished. We are clearing the remaining ones,” Ibanez said.

He said once the clearing is done and a go-signal for the return of residents had been issued, former occupants of demolished structure may rebuild their buildings at their own expense with no government subsidy.

NHA Head for Operations Victor Balba said monetary help from the government to displaced Marawi residents is possible, but it needs congressional approval.

Ibanez said of the more than 70,000 displaced individuals, many had left Marawi and had started their lives somewhere else in Metro Manila or in cities in Mindanao near their relatives. n

Sotto: Stop invoking Jesus in death penalty debates MANILA — Senate President Tito Sotto appealed to his fellow senators to avoid invoking the name of Jesus Christ in debates on the proposed reimposition of the death penalty in the country.

The Senate leader made this statement after a heated debate between Sen. Manny Pacquiao and Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon in the death penalty.

“I wonder what would’ve happened to the Christian world and redemption of (Pontius) Pilate crucified Barabbas instead? KIt Tatad and I debated on that already in 1993,” Sotto said in a statement on Wednesday, August 7.

Sotto noted that while the Bible is a good source of insights, “trying to chance the story of redemption is not fairish.”

Pacquiao delivered a privilege speech on Tuesday, where he said that he subscribes to what the Bible says about submission to governing authorities.

“I can cite Bible verses to support my stand, but let me make this very clear: The focus of our debate on the reimposition of death penalty should be on the

Senate President VIcente Sotto III

basis of its constitutionality,” Pacquiao said in his privilege speech.

Drilon was the first to interpelate the boxing icon-turned-senator following the latter’s privilege speech, pointing out that capital punishment would be imposed by judges and justices that can be “fallible” and “can commit mistakes.”

Pacquiao agreed to Drilon’s statement, adding that the “most importnat thing is we have to trust our authority, which is the government.”

Drilon then brought up Jesus

Philstar.com photo

Christ into the conversation, noting that he was a “victim of wrongful execution.”

To which Pacquiao answered, “Jesus sacrificed himself to save the lives of the people.”

“Are you saying the execution of Jesus Christ was a correct execution?” Drilon asked Pacquiao.

Sotto then interfered, coming to the defense of Pacquiao.

“Perhaps what the gentleman means is that the redemption would not have been possible if Jesus did not die on the cross,” Sotto said. (Patricia Lourdes Viray/Philstar.com)

ASPIRING PUBLIC SERVANTS. Examinees locate their room assignment before taking the Career Service Examination-Pen and Paper Test at San Francisco High School in Bago Bantay, Quezon City on Sunday, August 4. According to CSC, a total of 276,819 examinees nationwide will take the CSE-PPT this month.

PNA photo by Joey O. Razon

Medialdea files another libel complaint vs Tulfo

by John

VeRa CRuz ManilaTimes.net

EXECUTIVE Secretary Salvador Medialdea filed another libel complaint against Special Envoy for Public Diplomacy to China Ramon Tulfo on Tuesday, August 6, at the Manila Prosecutor’s Office.

The complaint was for two counts of libel and cyberlibel in connection with the publication of two columns in The Manila Times.

The paper’s president and several editors were also impleaded as respondents.

The libel complaint arose from Tulfo’s July 20 column entitled, “There goes Cayetano as House speaker, also Medialdea” and “You will have your karma, Bingbong Medialdea,” that came out on July 23.

In the first column, Tulfo hinted that Medialdea issued a memorandum circular on the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee Foundation without the knowledge of President Rodrigo Duterte.

In the second column, Tulfo decried the filing of a libel complaint against him by the executive secretary.

Medialdea himself filed the complaint on Tuesday.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea leaves the Manila Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday after filing a libel case against Times Columnist and Special Envoy to China Ramon Tulfo.

ManilaTimes.net photo by DJ Diosina

In July, the Palace official filed a libel complaint against Tulfo, The Manila Times President and Chief Executive Officer Dante Francis Ang 2nd, Chief Operating Officer Blanca Mercado, Publisher-Editor Nerilyn Tenorio, Executive Editor Arnold Belleza, News Editor Leena Chua and National Editor Lynette Luna in connection with the column, “The law of karma and Trillanes” that was published on May 28, 2019.

In the column, Tulfo claimed that Medialdea was the “benefactor” of Philippine Charity Sweep-

stakes Office Board member Sandra Cam. The Times’ officers and editors had sought the dismissal of the complaint, saying it was “nothing but harassment.”

“Not only were the respondents wrongfully impleaded, but also the accusation of libel was made without any legal or factual basis.

The questioned article was published without malice it being a fair commentary against a public figure on matters concerning public interest,” they said in their affidavit. n

:8IG< ;@<D 8KK<EK@FE @DD@>I8K@FE C8NP<IJ C<>8C @DD@>I8K@FE `j X 9@> @JJL< k_\j\ [Xpj% D8EP `e fli Zfddle`kp E<<; pfli j\im`Z\j% K_\i\ Xi\ k_fljXe[j n_f dXp nXek kf \og\[`k\ k_\`i i\j`[\eZp fi glijl\ ]lcc Z`k`q\ej_`g Ylk [feËk befn _fn kf Y\^`e Xe[ n_\i\ kf ^f%

JK8E; FLK =IFD K?< G8:B% 8J@8E AFLIE8CËJ GIF=<JJ@FE8C J<IM@:<J ;@I<:KFIP# n`cc efn Y\ ilee`e^ n\\bcp# \m\ip K_lij[Xp f] CXj M\^Xj <[`k`fe%

8AËj GJ; ZXe _\cg PFL i\XZ_ flk kf k_\d X]]fi[XYcp Xe[ \]]\Zk`m\cp%

:8CC PFLI 8::FLEK D8E8><I .') .0)$--./ 8jb XYflk fli GIFDFK@FE8C @EKIF;L:KFIP G8:B8>< GI@:@E> n_`Z_ ilej pfli X[ n\\bcp ]fi dXo`dld \ogfjli\ Xk kilcp X]]fi[XYc\ iXk\j%

Fli gi`ek \[`k`fej ile `e kXe[\d n`k_ 8AËj Gi`ek <[`k`fe Fec`e\% Fec`e\1 _kkg1&&`jjll%Zfd&Xj`XeaflieXc[`^`kXc\[`k`fe

August 8-14, 2019 • LAs VEgAs AsIAN JOuRNAL

Dateline PhiliPPines ROAD CLEARING. Senator Francis Tolentino (left), chairman of Senate Committee on Local Government, reminds local government units to take a more people-oriented approach in their clearing operations of public roads, during the Senate hearing on Tuesday, August 6. In attendance are Senator Imee Marcos, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno (right), and representatives from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), and Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan

‘Endo’ bill still Palace priority to III and Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri met with Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and MANILA — The security of ten- other Cabinet officials for a preure (SOT) bill, vetoed by President Legislative Executive Development Duterte due to provisions seen as Advisory Council meet to prevent disadvantageous to employers, is the vetoing of key measures.

Also present during the meeting still a priority of the administration, Malacañang stressed on Monday, were Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senate Minority August 5.

Presidential Legislative Liaison Leader Franklin Drilon, Sen. Sonny Office (PLLO) chief Adelino Sitoy Angara, chairman of the finance said the priority measures not committee; Sen. Christopher Go, enacted during the previous Con- Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, gress, including the SOT, would Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte, House Majority Leader be refiled.

Asked to react to senators’ claim Martin Romualdez, House Minorthat the SOT bill, which seeks to ity Leader Bienvenido Abante and ban illegal contractualization or Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, “endo,” was not included in the chairman of the appropriations Palace priority list, Sitoy replied: committee “Hopefully, we will be able to “No, this time the priority bill will be refiled. But with some eliminate the issues on bills being vetoed. As manifested by the changes.” majority leader (Zubiri) during the “It’s our priority,” he added.

Senate President Vicente Sot- meeting, we were there to clear the

by Alexis

RomeRo Philstar.com

air, also. So it was an organizational meeting,” Sotto told reporters.

“We have ironed out details to avoid veto,” Sitoy added in a phone interview.

“Same priorities. The remaining priorities in the past, in the 17th Congress and then we will refile,” he added.

Aside from the SOT bill, other priority measures are the coco levy bill, the proposed National Land Use Act and the revival of the mandatory Reserve Officers Training Corps, Sitoy said.

Interestingly, the federalism bill, one of the campaign promises of Duterte, was not included in the list of priorities.

“Nothing, no mention,” Sitoy said when asked if the federalism bill is among the priority measures.

He said he does not know why the measure was excluded from the list. n

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

Pay P2-B fine, SC orders MWSS, Maynilad, Manila Water by louise

mAuReen simeon, evelyn mAcAiRAn Philstar.com

MANILA — The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday, August 6, imposed massive fines on the government’s Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and private water concessionaires Maynilad and Manila Water for noncompliance with the Clean Water Act. Voting 14-0, the SC ordered MWSS and Maynilad to pay P921,464,184, with Manila Water and MWSS ordered to pay the same amount.

“Maynilad shall be jointly and severally liable with the MWSS for a total amount of P921,464,184 covering the period May 7, 2009 to date of promulgation,” SC spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said.

“Manila Water Company Inc. shall be jointly and severally liable with MWSS for the same amount and period,” he added.

MWSS, Maynilad and Manila Water were supposed to provide wastewater treatment facilities and to connect sewage lines in all establishments, including households, to an available sewerage system within five years after ef-

fectivity of the law in 2004.

Hosaka explained the fine covers the period of May 7, 2009, five years after the Clean Water Act was enacted, up to on Tuesday when the decision was promulgated.

The SC ordered the MWSS and the two water concessionaires to pay within 15 days from receipt of the decision.

The high court clarified that even if the petitioners complied with the decision to pay the fine within 15 days, they would still be fined the initial amount of P322,102 per day subject to further 10 percent increase every two years as provided under Section 28 of the Clean Water Act, until full compliance with Section 8 of the law.

MWSS chief regulator Patrick Ty said he has no idea on the decision of alleged violation of the Clean Water Act of the two companies.

“I have not heard about it. I have yet to receive a copy of the decision so I really don’t know,” Ty said.

“It is actually my first time to hear about such imposition of penalty,” he added.

Ty, however, maintained the water shortage in the last few

months could not possibly be the cause as the Clean Water Act is more on the sewerage system.

“I think it’s totally different.

We would have to study the legal basis once we receive a copy,” he said.

Both concessionaires Manila Water and Maynilad have yet to issue statements.

The SC affirmed the ruling of the Court of Appeals (CA) finding MWSS, Maynilad and Manila Water in violation Section 8 of the Clean Water Act. Maynilad and Manila Water separately sought to appeal the CA decision with the secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and with MWSS before the Pollution Adjudication Board.

The SC consolidated the petitions and affirmed the decision of the CA allowing DENR in 2009 to impose a fine on MWSS, Maynilad and Manila Water for failure to comply with Republic Act 9275.

The DENR imposed on MWSS and the two water concessionaires a P29.4-million fine for the period May 7 to Sept. 30, 2009 and P200,000 per day thereafter for failure to fulfill their obligations under RA 9275. n

Don’t count Cha-cha out — Romualdez by edu

PunAy Philstar.com

MANILA — President Duterte may appear to have dropped moves to amend the 1987 Constitution as part his legislative agenda, but Charter change re-

House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez yeserday said the proposed Cha-cha is not yet dead despite its not being listed among priority measures mentioned by Duterte in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22.

Philstar.com photo

mains a priority in the House of Representatives.

House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said on Tuesday, August 6, the proposed Cha-cha is not yet dead despite its not being listed among priority measures mentioned by Duterte in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22.

“I would never say it’s dead. It still is a priority (of the House), but maybe not a top priority at the moment,” Romualdez told journalists at a press conference.

Romualdez, an advocate of Cha-cha, expressed belief that although the President has not

Former Agriculture secretary Emmanuel Piñol

certified the measure as urgent in the 18th Congress, “anything could change.”

“If you want to change the Charter, you should start sooner,” he said.

During the SONA, Duterte did not mention his earlier initiative to rewrite the Constitution and install a federal form of government.

In an interview with Palace reporters after the speech, the President said it was not the proper time to be discuss the matter.

Duterte said it was “good but there are certain things that you have to be very clear of.” n

Inquirer.net photo

Duterte appoints Piñol as MinDA chair by cAtheRine

vAlente ManilaTimes.net

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has appointed former Agriculture secretary Emmanuel Piñol as chairman of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), Malacañang said on Tuesday, August 6.

Duterte appointed Piñol on Monday, August 5, the same day that his successor, William Dar, took his oath as acting secretary of the Department of Agriculture (DA).

Piñol will serve as MinDA chairman, a Cabinet position, for six years.

He had offered to resign and be transferred to MinDA following reports that Duterte wanted him to lead the agency.

Last month, the President said in a television interview that he wanted Piñol to be his point man in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), as there was “nobody on my side talking to the BARMM to make necessary arrangements for this entity to grow and their needs.”

Duterte said Piñol’s transfer to MinDA had the approval of Bangsamoro leaders, who expressed earlier apprehension as Piñol previously opposed the struggle of the Bangsamoro people.

In a Facebook post, Piñol said he was supposed to take his oath on Monday, but asked for a “short vacation, which my tired body has

been craving for.”

“My new task will still be mainly agriculture and the economic growth of Mindanao with special focus on the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,” he said.

“It will also include handling the country’s membership in the BIMP-EAGA (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines-East Asean Growth Area),” Piñol added.

He also apologized to farmers and fisherfolk for his shortcomings during his stint as Agriculture chief.

“As announced by Sen. [Christopher Lawrence] ‘Bong’ Go, my differences with the economic managers on very critical issues, especially the rice liberalization, have made my stay at the DA untenable,” Piñol said.

“I thank everybody who supported me and I offer my apologies to the farmers and fishermen, who may not have been served well enough. Pasensya na po sa mga pagkukulang ko (Sorry for my shortcomings),” he added.

The former DA chief also thanked the officials and workers of the department for helping him “transform the department and shedding off its image of a corrupt government agency.”

“In this new assignment, I will work just as hard as when I was secretary of Agriculture,” he said.

A former governor of North Cotabato, Piñol is a longtime friend of Duterte. n

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL â&#x20AC;¢ AUGUSt 8-14, 2019

(702) 792-6678 â&#x20AC;¢ http://www.asianjournal.com

60 COUNTRIES. OVER 100 CITIES WORLDWIDE. THATâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S INTERNATIONAL.

,1 3$571(56+,3 :,7+ 7+( '(3$570(17 2) )25(,*1 $))$,56 2) 7+( 3+,/,33,1(6 %$/,.%$<$1 0$*$=,1( ,6 12: ',675,%87(' $7 /2&$/ $1' )25(,*1 3+,/,33,1( (0%$66,(6 &2168/$7(6 2)),&(6 $1' 28732676 72 &203/(0(17 285 (;,67,1* ',675,%87,21 &+$11(/6 68&+ $6 %22.6725(6 +27(/ $1' 5(6257 52206 +263,7$/6 %$1.6 &/,1,&6 5(67$85$176 6+236 75$9(/ $*(1&,(6 (9(176 $1' 68%6&5,37,216

^chiV\gVb#Xdb$Vh^Vc_djgcVa

[VXZWdd`#Xdb$6h^Vc?djgcVaEjWa^XVi^dch

l l l# W V a ^ ` W V n V c b V \ V o ^ c Z # X d b

il^iiZg#Xdb$Vh^Vc_djgcVaXdb

10

August 8-14, 2019 • LAs VEgAs AsIAN JOuRNAL

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

VEGAS&STYLE

Journal Anne still sexy to the core Filipino food documentary ‘Ulam’ now on Hulu by tessa

MauRicio-aRRioLa ManilaTimes.net

SHE may bring on the laughs as her sweet self-deprecating self on TV’s hit daily noontime program “It’s Showtime;” leave mouths wide open when she braves the most diva-esque songs with simultaneous acrobatics high above The Big Dome; or charmingly inspire women to look their best with her OOTDs on Instagram and makeup tutorials on YouTube. But no matter how A-list celebrity Anne Curtis refreshes, regales and rouses the public with her upbeat, energetic and lovable personality, she remains to be a most sensual actress at her core.

Anne, who started in showbiz in her tweens, says so herself, now busy promoting her return to the sexy drama genre via Viva Films’ “Just a Stranger” opposite lucky newcomer Marco Gumabao.

It can be recalled that after years and years of doing teen flicks and shows in a mix of leads and supporting roles, followed by romcoms and ensemble movies in the late ‘90s through the first decade of the 2000s, it was her steamy love triangle with Derek Ramsay and Cristine Reyes in “No Other Woman” (2011) that first won for Anne a set of Best Actress trophies and triggered her ensuing box office success.

“As you know I did three movies last year that were all different from one another,” the 34-year-old A-lister recalled—the love story talkie “Sid and Aya,” hard action “Buy Bust” and thriller “Aurora” all in 2018.

Certainly fulfilled and satisfied to have explored her versatility in these well-received acting forays — both by critics and the public — Anne has no qualms in acknowledging that it is still in a daringly and emotionally charged role where her artistic chops are sharpest and most effective.

“That’s why I said when Just A Stranger’s trailer was about to come out that I’m very excited with this movie because it marks my return

The actress has no qualms in acknowledging that it is still in a daringly and emotionally charged role where her artistic chops are sharpest and most effective.

Photo courtesy of Viva Films

to my core in [the] sexy drama [genre],” she explained. “But of course, it isn’t just the sexiness of the movie that appeals to me but just like my past movies [in the genre] it’s the script and the riveting story that made me want to do this again.”

Written and directed by Jason Paul Laxamana (“The Day After Valentine’s,” “100 Tula Para Kay Stella”), Just A Stranger revolves around the story of a married woman who finds herself who is drawn into an illicit affair with much younger man despite her better judgement Mae Pimentel (Anne) is in her mid-30s. Though stricken with Fibromyalgia [a disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue and sleep, memory and mood issues], she is not wanting in material things and can often go trips to relax and keep her symptoms at bay. Her husband Phil (Edu Manzano), a businessman, doesn’t seem to mind her travels since he has very little time for her.

Vacationing in the flamboyant city of Lisbon, Portugal, the lady of leisure meets Jericho “Jekjek” Esguerra (Marco), a 19-year-old privileged son of a Philippine ambassador. He is oozing with sex appeal and a charming personality, but lacking in maturity. He meets Mae just as his parents are on

his case to be more responsible, and even as he has a girlfriend, so begins their May-December love affair.

Anne who has never done a movie as an older woman in a relationship — whether illicit or not — says she has long thought such a plot would challenge her. And as a true woman of the times — open, inclusive and therefore far from judgemental — she believes that May-December affairs, the reasons why they do happen, is another reality for movies to tell, not necessarily for everyone to accept but for society to somehow understand such relationships.

“In fact, my husband is actually younger than me,” Anne laughed, her eyes twinkling. “I’m 34 and Erwan [Heussaff] is 32. But as they say, in love, age doesn’t matter kasi hindi mo naman matuturuan ang puso, so I can definitely see these relationships happening.”

Likewise, with the trailer more than hinting on the steamy scenes Anne and Marco had to do, director Laxamana clarified that the movie has no intentions of romanticizing illicit affairs.

“This drama will delve deeper into the personal stories of the characters to show the reasons behind their actions,” the young filmmaker emphasized.

Going back to Anne, The T-Zone asked if she felt a little awkward doing this sexy romance now that she is a happily married woman, and the half of an ever progressive couple candidly replied, “Erwan is very open about my work; he isn’t strict or anything like that. But yes, out of respect, I had him read the script so he knows what I have to do, and he found it so beautifully written too and as always was very supportive all the way.”

One thing Erwan shouldn’t be expected to do though is to attend the premiere night.

“He gets so awkward when the intimate scenes come up and he knows everyone’s looking at him even in the dark, so I think he’s going to skip that,” Anne ended with a chuckle.

by chRistina

M. oRieL

AJPress

NEED something to add to your Hulu queue? The streaming platform has just added “Ulam: Main Dish,” the first feature Filipino food documentary on its roster.

With Filipino cuisine’s popularity in the U.S. over the past few years, this distribution announcement is another testament to that.

“Ulam” (Tagalog for main dish) by Filipina-American filmmaker Alexandra Cuerdo looks at the rise of the Filipino food movement in Los Angeles and New York City.

“As one of the first Filipino films available on the global streaming platform, we are proud to represent Filipino American stories around the world,” Cuerdo told the Asian Journal following the release.

Through a series of interviews and shots of mouth-watering dishes, we meet Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa of Purple Yam and Nicole Ponseca and Miguel Trinidad of Maharlika and Jeepney in NY. In LA, there are chefs Andre Guerrero (The Oinkster, Maximiliano), Johneric Concordia and Christine Araquel-Concordia of The Park’s Finest, Alvin Cailan (Eggslut, Amboy, Unit 120 & the Usual in NY), Ricebar’s Charles Olalia (now Ma’am Sir), and brothers Chase and Chad Valencia of LASA. “At the end of the day, if we can get anyone who watches this film to try one of these restaurants, that’s the goal,” Cuerdo told the Asian Journal in a 2017 interview.

“We’re really trying to promote our culture through food.”

In addition to the culinary craft,

the chefs talk about the struggles of making it in the industry, as well as the historical and cultural context of Filipino cuisine in the United States.

The documentary first debuted in May 2017 at the Million Dollar Theater as part of the LA Food Bowl, the LATimes’ month-long food festival. The screening was followed by a panel of chefs, moderated by the late Jonathan Gold. In the last two years, viewers across the country have been able to watch the film through screening events. Cuerdo said a

premiere for the documentary in the Philippines is slated soon.

While getting “Ulam” on Hulu is a stride in itself, Cuerdo previously hinted that it could lead to a series of profiles on more Fil-Am chefs across the country.

“By no means did we want it to be a manual, an A to Z. This is just a taste of what’s to come, so we would love to do part two.

We would love to profile many of the other amazing Filipino chefs and we’re looking forward to the future,” Cuerdo told the Asian Journal.

Why does Nadine keep on dancing?

by Ricky Lo Philstar.com

Shot in Bantayan Island, Cebu and Seoul, “Indak” is the story about Vin (Sam) who invites Jen, a simple island girl (Nadine), to join Indak Pinas, a dance group, after her dance video goes viral. The crew is going to compete in the World Championships in Seoul, so Jen’s presence will be of big help.

In Manila, Vin helps out Jen in improving her dancing beat, as well as in adjusting to the metro lifestyle. The two are not only in their groove but also slowly fell for each other. With the rest of the

crew, they must work together to churn out the best performance of their lives even if sudden financial dilemmas and past issues get in their way.

Touted as “The hottest dance movie of the year,” with G Force and Teacher Georcelle as choreographer, Indak features great soundtracks like “Sumayaw sa Indak” (by Nadine featuring Po Balbuena and Shehyee), “Ikot-Ikot” (Sam’s soulful version) and “Hindi Tayo Puwede” (Janine Teñoso’s heart-wrenching version).

NADINE Lustre has a good reason to be dancing. Her career (including movies without her perennial leading man, boyfriend James Reid) is going great, that’s why, Indak, the title of her new movie perfectly describes her present state of being — you know, mapapa-indak ka sa tuwa.

It’s Nadine’s second “solo” movie (read: minus James), with Sam Concepcion as leading man.

The first was “Ulan” with Carlo Aquino.

“Like incest,” laughed Nadine.

That’s how she said she felt doing a love scene with Sam in “Indak.” It’s because, explained Nadine, she, James and Sam are such good friends that they are like brothers and sister. Being professionals, Nadine and Sam beautifully acquitted themselves in the love scenes despite the initial awkwardness. For sure, James doesn’t mind.

Touted as a musical-romancedrama written and directed by Paul Alexie Basinillo, Indak bears close watching because it’s Nadine’s first movie after winning not just one but two Best Actress awards (for “Never Not Love You”) from the FAMAS and the Gawad Urian, validating her as a serious actress to watch.

Having done two movies this year, Nadine has to beg off from “Miracle in Cell No. 7,” Viva’s entry in the 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) with Aga Muhlach as lead actor, saying that she’s a bit “burned out.” She’s replaced by After pocketing two Best Actress awards, Nadine Lustre shifts gears and dances up a storm in “Indak” Bela Padilla. with a new leading man in Sam Concepcion.

Photo courtesy of Viva Films

Bea: I’m moving forward; Joshua: Masaya na ‘ko PUBLIC knowledge has it that Bea Alonzo and Joshua Garcia both came from failed relationships only days apart just a month ago: Bea with Gerald Anderson; Joshua with Julia Barretto. Also, these breakups appeared to be one-sided with them caught by surprise.

Allow Vignettes to timeline the events which led to these separations.

It was on the night of July 21 when Bea posted a cryptic message on her Instagram account: “You cannot make a mistake twice, the second time is a choice…enough!”

It was at the same time when a certain Kath, apparently a fan of the actress, posted a picture of Julia and Gerald (albeit from separate angles) taken at Rayver Cruz’s 30th birthday party the night before. Kath accused Gerald of cheating on Bea, and the netizens in the comment section below could only agree.

Meanwhile, for his part, Joshua

Bea Alonzo Photo from Instagram/@beaalonzo

curtly posted: “I’m mute.”

Theoretically, it could anywhere be between July 21 and July 23 when Gerald reportedly did receive a call from Dennis Padilla, Julia’s father, asking about their real score knowing that Bea was the actor’s girlfriend.

In some news reports, Gerald confirmed that he and Bea broke

up third week of July contrary to the latter’s claim that, “Hindi kami nag-break. He just stopped talking to me.”

Joshua, on the other hand, stood his ground that he and Julia indeed headed to splitsville on July 28 but declined to state the reason. The actor wasn’t also allowed to go into specifics during the mediacon of “The Killer Bride,” his upcoming teleserye on ABS-CBN. A seemingly unscathed Bea faced the entertainment media during ABS-CBN’s cast presentation of her new show opposite Richard Gutierrez. Speaking on general terms, Bea thanked her friends for helping her keep her wits about her as well as the network-instilled sense of professionalism regardless of the situation.

Both gaining public sympathy, Bea and Joshua have their mother station to back them up. While this cannot be individually said of Julia and Gerald. (ManilaTimes.net)

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

Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond MONETTE ADEVA MAGLAYA I SQUIRM within when family, friends and acquaintances introduce me as a journalist. I am not. It is not a badge I am proud to wear. I consider myself just a wordsmith at some journeyman level, still struggling to earn being called a writer one day.

I like things that last — thoughts and things that have a longer shelf life that anyone in any generation can come back to again and again to find inspiration or gain deeper understanding over the course of one’s lifetime. Christ’s parables and Aesop’s fables have eternal shelf life. Neither wrote their stories.

Their stories resonated through time and some scribe, unknown wordsmiths and storytellers heard them, knew these were eternal truths and thankfully for us, put stylus to papyrus.

Words are powerful. They have the potential to build or destroy. They can shine a light or they can obscure truth by a turn of the phrase. Journalists are just human beings after all, whose personal experiences, biases and motivations create the filters through which they see things. It’s called point of view (POV).

In politics, depending on their persuasion and more frequently these days, depending on which side their bread is buttered, journalists spout off agenda-driven opinion pieces intended to influence others on print and these days, mostly on the internet.

Like the food we ingest to keep us physically healthy, we ought to be just as discriminating with what we choose to read.

Our mental, psychological and emotional well-being depends on it.

If someone pays journalists to thrust a predetermined idea or policy to gain traction for obfuscating the truth to gain money or power, then they may be rightly called political shills or hacks.

Health@Heart PHILIP S. CHUA, MD, FACS, FPCS ONE of the best ways to lose weight is to eat a piece or two of fruit with meals. Women who ate a piece of pear or apple have been shown in a study to shed more extra pounds than those who ate the same controlled-calorie meal without eating fruits.

The high-fiber fruits obviously satisfy the hunger sooner, leading to lower total calorie intake.

Heavier people are more prone to illness and recovery from a medical condition or surgery also takes longer among them.

Eating a lot of fruits, which are loaded with vitamin C may also lower one’s risk of heart disease, as much as 28 percent. Fresh fruits and fruit juices are better sources of vitamin C than pills.

Diabetics should adjust the calories from these in accordance with their physician/nutritionist. *** Listening to a relaxation tape, is a more economical way to reduce stress and improve sleep.

It also has been found to be as effective the more expensive therapeutic massage or other pricier gimmicks. *** To have a more restful sleep, write down all the things you have to do the following morning. Doing so reduces the anxiety and stress from the “memory space” in your brain because you eliminate the worry that you might forget some of the things you have to do when you wake up. This way, you have peace of mind while you sleep. *** Having a lot of good friends and taking time to enjoy their company is good for health and mental well-being. Medical studies among hypertensives (high blood pressure patients) have shown that those with the fewest friends in their immediate social circle had the highest blood pressure readings. Properly caring for your overall health can make your physiologic age 16 years younger than your chronologic age. *** Soft drinks of any kind is toxic to our body, especially to children’s and teenagers. Whether it is cola or uncola, regular or diet or zero-cal, flavored or not, all pop beverages increase the risk for metabolic syndrome. More and more people and family are giving up soft drinks and drinking filtered water instead, and this is definitely healthier. *** Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is an in-

COMMUNITY JOURNAL

Calling a spade a spade “ Speak the truth, but leave immediatelt after” — Slovenian Proverb They use their craft to entice others to their way of thinking by pretending to endorse an idea in which they have a hidden vested interest. “Presstitute” is a new term that the public has coined to describe this vile specie of journalists.

Many journalists, particularly in politics these days, have become quite skilled in the art of obfuscation. It is the malicious practice of hiding the intended meaning of what they really mean to say by deliberately crafting a confusing message.

Like legalese and political correctness, obfuscation is a deliberately muddled and muddied way of writing that is essentially intended to cloak the truth and spew lies. It’s also called the spin.

Thankfully, more and more people in society these days have become savvy at detecting which ones can be trusted and which ones they can ignore. Some people call it bulls__t detection skill.

Many have become wise and are openly decrying the detrimental effects of the scourge of political correctness.

Political correctness has been revealed as a leftist, liberal technique that distorts what is true by ascribing labels and public ridicule to shame people into a way of thinking and behaving.

It has been used successfully to call evil good and good, evil. But God will not be mocked.

Truth, like sunlight, is the best disinfectant against the rot that is caused by political correctness. The time has come for truth to finally come out swinging with an ax. It starts by calling a spade a spade.

A friend emailed me the prayer below. I had to do some fact checking with some websites that do the digging about the veracity of email content that does the rounds in the internet.

After all, the internet is rife with rumors half-truths and outright lies. It is always good policy to verify and dig deeper.

This prayer of repentance has gone viral and despite its longevity in the internet, refuses to die a natural death. My guess is that the prayer resonates with many good, stout-hearted people in the country. The truth, as they said, will make us free.

This prayer is probably worth amplifying and passing to others during a time when political correctness marginalizes the truth.

American society has been conditioned by popular culture to play nice to the extent that we are afraid to confront what must be addressed. Calling a spade a spade is risky in a time when we have strayed as far away as we could from the core values that held this country for more than 2 centuries.

On January 23, 1996, in Topeka, Kansas, Pastor Joe Wright of the Central Christian Church in Wichita led a prayer in the Kansas House that stirred controversy and continues to stir a hornet’s nest to this day. It’s a prayer that made legislators, particularly those of the liberal persuasion, very uncomfortable.

Are you curious as to why a simple prayer can rile some lawmakers and make them uncomfortable and in some cases, angry and unhinged? Are you curious as to why a simple prayer can be so controversial?

Here it is in its entirety. Judge for yourself.

A PRAYER FOR OUR NATION Heavenly Father, We come before You today to ask Your Forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance.

We know Your Word says, ‘’Woe to those who call evil good,’’ but that’s exactly what we have

Vital health capsules flammatory protein that has been linked to aging and disease, and found elevated in the blood of persons with unmanaged chronic stress. One of the best ways to manage stress and also improve the immune system is to take daily long unhurried walks, listen to soothing music and good jokes, do some regular dancing, and spend time with family and friends. *** Laughter is the best medicine. So they say. And they are right. Medical literature is replete with information to show that tickling your funny bone really boosts your immune system. Various data show that those who indulge in cheerful or amusing pastime have higher levels of immunity. This translates to increased resistance to colds, infections and other diseases.

Positive emotions like laughter has been shown to control the roller coaster or spikes in blood sugar level after meals. Those diabetics who watched funny shows during dinner, compared to those who listened to lectures during dinner, showed lower blood sugar levels. Preventing spikes in the level of blood sugar minimizes complications from diabetes. *** Monounsaturated fats, such as olive oil, and high-fiber whole grains have been found to help prevent diabetes or help control blood sugar levels among diabetics. So, dipping a slice of whole-grain bread into a little olive oil, is a healthy way to start a meal, especially among those with diabetes. But make sure you obtain the advice of your attending physician on this and other health matters.

Diet high in fiber and folate, coupled with regular exercise, has also been found to lower among men the blood level of homocysteine, a marker substance for heart disease. Among women, similar diet and exercise reduce homocysteine level but the greater impact on this substance appears to be from minimizing coffee and alcoholic beverages. *** Is too late for seniors to benefit from exercise? The answer is no, it’s never too late to exercise. Studies have impressively shown that even among those who were 65 and over, who lived a sedentary life, before starting a regimented exercise program, reduced the risk of cancer by 51 percent and of heart disease by 36 percent. Regular exercises also make individuals feeling and looking 6 years younger.

Indeed, it is never too late to

do good things. Consult your physician before you indulge in exercises after decades of “hibernation” on the couch, holding a TV remote control and munching on junk foods. By the way, it is not too late either to quit smoking (at any stage) and to start eating the right diet. *** And talking about eating right, Dr. Fe del Mundo, internationally renowned oediatrician, scientist and medical leader, who was still practicing Pediatrics at age 92 (not a typo) at the children’s hospital named in her honor, located at 11 Banawe Street, Quezon City, Philippines, gave us the following advice, her formula for longevity: “Leave the table a little less full, a little hungry, and you will live longer.” Recent studies have corroborated and scientifically validated her “theory.” One good strategy in maintaining a good weight is drinking a tall glass of water before each meal, and by staying away from rice, bread, cake, and carbohydrates in general. Our health destiny is, to a signifi cant degree, in our hands. *** Organic produce is farmed without the use pesticides or other artificial aids, and raised in the natural way. It is healthier compared to the conventionally raised crops. The same thing with eggs, chicken, pork and beef, and other meats. The more we stay away from hazardous chemicals, even when we do gardening or home cleaning, the safer for us. Our kitchen, bathrooms, and garage are stocked with dozens of dangerous cleansing chemicals of various types. Deodorizers and home or car perfumed aerosols are dangerous too. For cleansing sinks, countertops, and other surfaces at home, it is safer to use a solution mixture of 500 cc water, 60 cc white vinegar, 30 alcohol, and 15 cc (1 tbsp) dishwashing soap. It is not only safer but very inexpensive compared to chemical cleaners on the market. And you can make this cleansing solution yourself at home. *** Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indiana and chairman of cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2010 at Cebu Doctors University Hospital, where he holds the title of Physician Emeritus in Surgery, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. He is the chairman of the Filipino United Network – USA, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian foundation in the United States. Email: scalpelpen@ gmail.com

done.

We have lost our Spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values.

We confess that; we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism.

We have worshipped other gods and called it multiculturalism.

We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • AUGUST 8-14, 2019 We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.

We have abused power and called it political savvy.

We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the timehonored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, O God, and know

Calendar of Events across

11

our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of this state and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state of Kansas. Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your Will.

I ask in the name of your Son, The Living Savior, Jesus Christ. *** Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To send comments, e-mail monette. maglaya@asianjournalinc.com

America

ADVERTISE YOUR EVENTS! PRE-EVENT AND POST EVENT GO DEEPER. GO WIDER. LET THE WORLD KNOW. CALL ASIAN JOURNAL: (818) 502-0651 DISPLAY AD SIZES AT SPECIAL RATES FOR NON-PROFIT GROUPS AU G U ST 9 -1 0

Tagalog classes in Los Angeles This Filipino Language & Culture Pilot class is hosted by Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) and is organized by the Filipino Language Movement led by Ms. Ivy Daulo. This is the only community-based Filipino language & culture ADULT program in the City of Los Angeles in collaboration with the Filipino Language Movement. This is a 5-session program that starts July 13 to August 10, 2019. (*Schedule is subject to change based on the number of enrollees). Come and bring your entire family and learn Tagalog together! Student benefits include certificate of completion, handouts / workbook provided, learn with other peers (adults and youth are not mixed); family learning opportunity; taught by university Filipino language instructor and lifetime member of Council for Teaching Filipino; practical language learning tips & application each week Limited slots! Hurry and register now! Prices are for all 5 sessions: Individual Adult: $150 each for 5 sessions; bring a [artner: $250 for 5 sessions ($125 each adult); parent + child: $200 for 5 sessions ($150/parent + $50/child). We urge everyone to do the whole program so you can learn more but if it’s not possible to attend all 5 Saturdays, you can choose the dates you want to join us. $30 / session for adults or $10 / session for children.

Payment methods: Cash, Check (payable to: SIPA), Venmo (SIPALA) and Credit/Debit Cards are accepted. Send check payments to: SIPA at 3200 W. Temple St. Los Angeles, CA 90026.

Please register by emailing Fidji Victoriano (fidji@sipacares.org) if paying outside of Eventbrite.

SIPA is located 3200 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026. Limited free parking on surface lots along Robinson St. and Dillon St. Street parking is also available around the area. Please see posted signs for details.

AU G U ST 9

SIPA’s Filipino Summer Program in LA Happening from August 5-9, Search to Involve Pilipino Americans’ (SIPA) Filipino Summer Program is a fun, week-long experience that enriches, educates, and engages youth about the Filipino Culture! Youth will get to learn more about Filipino food, language, dance, arts, and music! Children ages 6-13 are able to participate, while older youth can volunteer. The program will be held at SIPA (3200 W. Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026) from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. Drop-offs and pick-ups are at the SIPA parking lot at Dillion St. and Temple St. Each day is $30 for the first child. Every additional child will be $3 less a day (e.g., the second child will be $27/day, the third child would cost $24/day, and so on). If your family cannot fully afford the cost of SIPA’s Filipino Summer Program, the FEE CAN BE LOWERED depending on the financial situation. Families can pay by cash, credit/debit card (2.75% fee), Venmo (1% fee), or check!If interested, contact Maria Carmel Valendez by phone at 213-382-1819 ext. 107 or email at mvalendez@esipa.org.

AU G U ST 1 5 -1 8

NaFFAA’s National Empowerment Conference in Carson, CA Registration is now open for NaFFAA’s 2019 National Empowerment Conference in Carson, CA on August 15 to 18. The NEC is the premier gathering of community leaders uniting to engage in dialogue about issues affecting over four million Filipinos across the United States, while building a clear and unified vision of community empowerment for 2020 and beyond.

Register before April 30 to qualify for discounted Early Bird registration prices for the full conference pass (3-day pass + gala ticket) which are $80 for students; $180 for NaFFAA members; and $200 for regular. For more information on the 2019 National Empowerment Conference, visit naffaa.org/2019nec, or email us at nec@naffaa.org.

AU G U ST 1 7-1 8 A N D 1 9 -3 0

Liliw Association of East Coast USA Celebrates 30th Anniversary The Liliw Association of East Coast USA is calling on their fellow Liliweños to join the organization as it celebrates its 30th Anniversary with a number of events. On August 17, Saturday, a welcome picnic will happen at the Ross Dock Picnic Area of the Palisades Interstate Park in Fort Lee, New Jersey from 12 noon to 7:00 pm. The following day, Sunday, August 18 is the anniversary lunch from 12 noon to 4:30 pm at Waterside Restaurant (7800 River Road in North Bergen, NJ). From August 19 to 30 is an optional East Coast Sightseeing Bus Tour. Send an email to Liliw Association of East Coast USA President Teresita Guina at tessguina3@gmail.com or call her at (201) 913-7800.

AU G U ST 3 1

Ramon Magsaysay Cubao High School reunion in Las Vegas The Ramon Magsaysay Cubao High School (RMCHS) International will hold its fifth biennial reunion and we are calling all graduates or former students to come out and join up at the “2019 RMCHS International Reunion (Several Paths … One Reunion)” on Saturday, August 31, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. at Gold Coast Hotel and Casino (4000 W. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89103).

For reservations or information, please contact the following: Rommel B. Fajardo (Batch ’78) at (301) 655-4469 or e-mail: rommelbf@gmail.com or Lamberto Glory (Batch ’74) at (210) 542-7575 or e-mail: threeglories@msn.com. You may also visit the RMCHS 2019 International Reunion Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1302890069812234.

SEPTEMBER 7

UPAAGLA Grand Gala in Los Angeles The University of the Philippines Alumni Association of Greater Los Angeles (UPAAGLA) celebrates its 20th anniversary on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 5 p.m. at the LA Grand Hotel (333 S. Figuera St, Los Angeles, CA). With the theme “Taking U.P. To The Future” the event will have Distinguished U.P. Alumni Guests including Philippine Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo, Philippine Consul General Adelio Angelito S. Cruz and current University of the Philippines President Danilo L. Concepcion.

All U.P. Alumni are invited and encouraged to attend. To RSVP and for Gala details, visit https://upaagla2019gala.eventbrite.com.

Early Bird pricing is $85 until July 15, Regular pricing is $100. Sponsor packages are still available to get better pricing plus perks, please inquire by contacting upaagla.sponsor@gmail.com. Special Booking rate at the LA Grand Hotel for Sept 7 is available for $189/night at https://bit.ly/310GWWY. To inquire about UPAAGLA, please send email to upaagla.prez@gmail.com

S E P T E M B E R 22

‘Friends…Unplugged,’ a benefit concert in Los Angeles The Philippine Disaster Relief Organization (PeDRO), in partnership with the ABS-CBN Foundation International, presents ‘Friends…Unplugged,’ a benefit concert in Los Angeles on Sunday, September 22 at 3 p.m. at the Aratani Theater (244 S. San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012).

Artists included Becca Godinez, Morris Albert, Odette Quesada, Ner De Leon and Kevin Click. Additional artists to be announced. Tickets are $65 for lower orchestra, $45 for upper orchestra and $35 for Balcony.

If you have an upcoming event and would like us to post it, please email us the details at info@asianjournalinc.com or calendar@asianjournalinc.com

12

EntErtainmEnt

August 8-14, 2019 • LAs VEgAs AsIAN JOuRNAL

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

Treasure all things at Harvest Festival Lea won’t be part of new ‘Mulan’ The traditions continues this year at the World Market Center, Pavilion 1

Harvest Festival is pleased to announce that its Las vegas location transition continues as it moves from last year’s Pavilion 2, to Pavilion 1 this year, while their permanent home starting in 2020 is now under construction at the fabulous new - World Market Center (WMC) Convention Center, adjacent to the parking structure the Las vegas Harvest Festival Original art and Craft show will be on september 6- 8, 2019, ready to again impress all attendees with new vendors, exciting entertainment and important community service efforts! treasures of the arts at Harvest Festival - Original art & Craft show, the best way to stay in the art and Craft scene! enjoy sensational one-stop shopping in the convenience of air conditioned indoors and easy parking. take your time enjoying the scents and tastes of so many wonderful foods, plus the added element of great family entertainment! Harvest Festival is like the Pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow! treasures of the Heart at Harvest Festival! experience a wonderful shopping experience that includes over 24,000 perfect gift items to choose from at Las vegas’ largest and most prestigious gift purchasing event! every year Harvest Festival artisans pride themselves by featuring not only their traditional items, but also new items at this first art and craft show of the season. treasure chests of gift ideas! treasures of time, get away from your busy schedule and enjoy a fun and relaxing get-a-way for world of extremely talented crafters selling their one-of-a-kind american hand-made products.

You can meet and buy direct from america’s top artisans featuring highest quality hand-made arts and crafts while also enjoying all day entertainment and satisfying your hunger with tasty foods for your soul.treasure aLL tHINGs “Harvest Festival” as the show is a celebration of creativity and fun, as well many artists demonstrate the making of their crafts. experts in their crafts will offer traditional and contemporary items for sale, including such items as woodcarvings, jewelry, ceramics and pottery, hand-painted clothing, leather wear, fiber art, hand blown

EMPLOYMENT

glassware, wooden toys, original oil and watercolor paintings; metal stone and wood sculpture; lithographs, seasonal wreaths, hand-turned furniture and candles; and much much more! the artisans are chosen through a strict process based on the quality and uniqueness of their work. see fabulous “Demonstration artists” who will show you how they create their handiwork right in their exhibit Booth! treasure the fantastic tastes and aromas! You’ll feast on really tasty treats as you stroll the gift filled aisles of Harvest Festival, and your senses will be filled by the tastes and aromas of wonderful foods and drink! sample and buy delicious food gifts such as homemade fudge, chocolate sauces, garlic and chili spices, dips, pumpkin rolls, salsa’s, jams, jellies, and many more delights to tempt your palate! the aromatic and soothing scents of specialty bath salts and soaps, fragrances, and more, all american handmade and crafted… these all await you at the Harvest Festival - Original art & Craft show! treasure the FUN! and get ready to enjoy great entertainment, fun for the whole family with special kids activities too! sit down and relax in a stress free environment while enjoying fabulous stage entertainment at the “Food Court stage!” enjoy “elias Caress – Magician”, On-stage Winner of magician awards and competitions. elias has an excellent stage show that everyone will love! amazing magic, thrilling stunts, hilarious jokes, and a lot of audience participation. also enjoy “stereo

by MJ

Marfori ManilaTimes.net

Lea also candidly talked about her viral guesting mishap at “sky News UK,” where she was introduced as the wrong guest, anna Hughes, which she took ever so lightly.

Laughing heartily, Lea said, “I know right? But I think it was a confluence of factors that made that happen. My thing was just, well — it went viral and hopefully people would be more interested in my tour so it was a blessing.”

Clearly, work never stops for Lea salonga, which she considers a blessing at this stage in life, because its proof her talent is still where it was decades ago. and so over the weekend, Lea returned to her stint as one of the most favored judges in “the voice Kids Philippines” on aBs-CBN. Updated with the bashing that other reality talent searches have been getting lately — practically the entire panel of “Idol Philippines” save for regine velasquez — Lea empathized with James reid, Moira

FresH from her highly successful UK concert tour, our very own Lea salonga regaled us in an intimate afternoon serenade over succulent steak at Wolfgang’s steakhouse in resorts World Manila.

Lea was at her usual peak — vocally and energy-wise — happy to be back home and excited to promote her latest concert at the Newport Performing arts theatre on august 30 and 31.

Dubbed “the Perfect ten,” the world class performances will round up rWM’s month-long first decade anniversary celebrations. at the luncheon, Lea performed her Disney classic “reflection” Chickens” are California’s premier from the movie “Mulan,” which she americana group seamlessly said she won’t part of the live action blending Country, Bluegrass, Folk, remake in 2020. and Gospel (and sometimes Clas“It’s going to be a whole different sic rock and r&B) into their own creative process and it’s nice that unique and distinct sound! as you it’s not going to be a musical,” she shop and explore all the things to explained why. see at Harvest Festival you’ll also be entertained and amused by the “strolling entertainment” of “the Hyjinx Duo” and “W.C. Willy by ricky Lo – stilt Cowboy!”

Philstar.com Harvest Festival Original art & Craft show also offers $ 2.00 NO secrets and no lies.

OFF General admission for those those are the general rules in attendees who bring a can of food, how sherilyn reyes is raising a milbaby food, or formula, or paper lennial son, specifically ryle sanproducts. all donations go di- tiago (nicknamed Pao) who is in the rectly to “safeNest”, a non-profit roller-coaster world of showbiz as agency that provides temporary a member of It’s showtime’s “kilig’ assistance for family members en- ambassador known as Hashtags. during a domestic crisis. safeNPao is sherilyn’s son from a est will also be offering a very previous marriage (to Junjun sanconvenient ParCeL CHeCK to tiago of the showbiz santiago clan). assist everyone with easy shop- Her husband, Chris tan, has a ping and selling Harvest Festival son, Lorenz, also from a previous bags to make your experience at marriage. together, they have a the show more convenient all the daughter, eia. while contributing to safeNest’s “early on, I made them realize “Invest in the Nest” sustainability that keeping secrets or telling lies fund. would get them into bigger trouble treasure the Kids! and just and that family would always be for the children; there are a lot of after their best interests,” said special things to do in the Kids sherilyn who, being in showbiz Zone including the herself, understands the demands “Make it and take it area”, of the profession. featuring an assortment of ac“Pao is very open to us,” added tivities such as the “Craft Buffet” sherilyn who is not a stage mother hosted by Macaroni Kid; rIse, unlike some showbiz parents. where kids will be making fun safe “Chris and I are his sounding board.

ID Bracelets, also with creative I am his shock absorber. When he Coloring Crafts for all ages, and needs to rant, he knows that his dad CalPortland’s environmentally and I are always ready to listen.” family friendly maze of activities. sherilyn described Pao as a very In addition, DIsCOverY Chil- obedient son. dren’s Museum will be featuring “When it comes to raising our Free activities such as making children, Chris and I are very old scented apple ornaments, color- school. We raise our children to ful Fall tree sculptures, and jovial be achievers. We always remind jack-o-lanterns!

Pao, ‘Now that you have made a

little name for yourself and you are doing well, a balanced life is more important.’ as I said, he’s open to us so we kind of breezed through his teenage life. It was easy to guide him though, of course, di maiiwasan ang mga mistakes, mga flaws.” sherilyn said that she’s a very cool mom. “they always bully me,” she laughed. “they can tell me anything without having to worry if I will get mad. I try my best to understand them and acknowledge their thoughts and feelings before giving them my two-cents worth.

I’m not strict. Dad talaga nila ang disciplinarian and spoiler at the same time.” since the rule of the house is “no secrets, no lies,” sherilyn and Chris are likewise open with their “pasts.”

When it comes to girls, sherilyn doesn’t meddle and only tells Pao to take his time and get to know the girl better before committing himself.

“But I do check the girl’s background before I give my opinion.

I’m happy when the girl’s parents are strict and she obeys her parents. If the girl is medyo liberated, hindi ko naman dina-judge. Pao is serious when he’s in a relationship. as much as possible, mas okey sa akin if Pao finds a partner outside of showbiz. I’ve been through all

FOR RENT

SERVICES

Lea Salonga

ABS-CBN photo

and vice Ganda. accused of choosing looks over actual singing talents in Idol, Lea pointed out they were coming from their place of experience in the industry. “they were chosen for a reason — from what they learned in the industry. In the end look who won naman? they chose the right winner.”

Sherilyn on raising a millennial son

SERVICES

Sherilyn Reyes with son Paolo Santiago

that when I was young and I always remind Pao about what happened, you know…” asked if Pao is close to his santiago side, sherilyn said, “I think only Pao can answer that. Basta kami, we always tell him na magbigay ng respect kapag nagkikita sila ng kahit sino sa kabilang side.”

(Pao was relatively young when his parents separated. the marriage was annulled.)

Chris and Pao are close.

“Chris never regarded Pao as a stepson,” assured sherilyn, in the same way that she treats Chris’ son Lorenz as her own. “the topic was taboo among us and it came out only when Pao joined showbiz.

I remember he told me that he couldn’t cry during one of his workshops di siya makaiyak. But when he was asked to think of someone he loves na dying, he pictured Chris and talagang naiyak daw siya ng sobra.”

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

Features

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • AUGUSt 8-14, 2019

13

3 Fil-Am books for end-of-summer reading

By Christina M. Oriel / AJPress IT’S quite an electrifying time for the Filipino American literary landscape as in the first eight months of this year alone, we have come across and devoured several books across genres — whether young adult fiction or cooking.

Our editorial team has written about titles, such as poetry collection “Loves You” by Sarah Gambito, Grace Talusan’s memoir “The Body Papers,” Malaka Gharib’s graphic novel “I Was Their American Dream,” James Beard Foundation’s Outstanding Pastry Chef semifinalist Margarita Manzke’s cookbook “Baking at République,” and traveling chef Yana Gilbuena’s “No Forks Given.”

Other books we’re excited about this year include “Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self Delusion” (August), a book of essays on contemporary digital culture

by New Yorker staff writer Jia Tolentino, and “Lalani of the Distant Sea” (September), an epic fantasy inspired by Filipino folklore by 2018 Newbery Medal Winner Erin Entrada Kelly.

With summer almost ending, these following three books by FilAm authors are enthralling reads whether you need something to read poolside or during a long car ride.

“Patron Saints of Nothing” by Randy Ribay Since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016, his tough, unfiltered rhetoric and crackdown on illegal drugs have made international headlines.

For the Filipino diaspora — particularly the second and third generations growing up in the United States — this has opened up debates as to whether they

have a right to an opinion on the current administration or to take action if they don’t even live in the Philippines and do not experience the day-to-day realities.

In “Patron Saints of Nothing” (Kokila), Filipino American teenager Jay Reguero faces these questions of identity after his cousin Jun is killed as part of the drug war. From the get-go, the young adult novel tackles death and the ways we learn how to process grief, or even avoid it. The character of Jay is refreshingly sensitive and vulnerable and is trying to make sense of his place in the world.

“That’s the foundation of the rest his character — if you’re sensitive and thinking about things carefully and deeply, then you’re going to have to process things about your identity, about what you think about your family. Because if you’re stoic and that stereotypical idea of a male is repressing emotions, then you don’t think about those things carefully,” Ribay, a high school teacher in the Bay Area, told the Asian Journal.

Though Jay lost touch with Jun after years of letters, his curiosity won’t stop him from uncovering the truth of the matter. The book avoids being a ‘savior’ story wherein Jay’s purpose is to go to the Philippines and save the day with a solution to the drug war.

“I didn’t go into the story intending for Jay to lead some massive protest and be in the streets and at the end of the day, the laws are changed,” Ribay said. “That’s not the role we Filipino Americans need to play. We certainly have a right to voice our opinions and to advocate but we’re doing that in support of the Filipinos in the Philippines living with that reality.”

Beyond the current political climate in the Philippines, Ribay — who is half Filipino and half white and has certain similarities to Jay’s character — hopes the book opens up conversations of feeling out of place and having that dual identity of being Filipino and American.

“Why Karen Carpenter Matters” by Karen Tongson Five decades later, Karen Carpenter — lead singer and drummer of The Carpenters — continues to be an icon around the world, including the unlikely place of the Philippines. Why the ‘70s songstress’ influence persists to-

day is the premise of “Why Karen Carpenter Matters” (University of Texas Press) by Karen Tongson, a University of Southern California professor and culture writer.

With other biographies on Karen Carpenter available, “Why Karen Carpenter Matters” doesn’t disclose any new information per se, but rather offers a part memoir, part biography that shows how her life has impacted someone like Tongson.

Tongson — the daughter of two Filipino musicians who named her after the Carpenters frontwoman — draws parallels between her upbringing and that of Karen Carpenter, be it their Southern California upbringing or explorations of self-identity. In a chapter called “Queer Horizon,” for example, Karen Carpenter’s struggles with anorexia and physical presentation are explored. “One of the new revelations in the biography I’ve written is really to consider her anorexia in relation to some kind of discomfort with her gender presentation. That’s kind of a queer read,” the author told the Asian Journal.

Through this, Tongson reflects on how coming into her own identity had affected the dynamic with her mother and opened up questions about her gender. (“I merely wanted freedom from the discomforts and constraints of femininity, not being able to move around, take up space, pee anywhere you want, and speak above a whisper,” she writes on p. 86.)

Overall, the book is a quick read at 130 pages; there’s nostalgia and empathy you feel and you can’t help but play some of The Carpenters’ greatest hits in the background. Though Karen Carpenter left the world too soon, her music and legacy will continue

to carry on across future generations, regardless of background or race.

“The thing that Filipinos are both praised and derided for is our capacity to imitate people’s voices and to perform covers and to be the paradoxically the best imitators of American popular music.

I want us to see that is not at all a weakness, but a strength that is a skill and ability. It’s not about the fact that we are just subjected to the post-colonial adoration of American pop culture...we’re not worshipping Karen Carpenter, but she in many respects belongs to us and has become Filipino through the way that we’ve listened to her, sung her music, the way that she’s become a part of our canon and karaoke books,” Tongson told the Asian Journal.

“Somewhere in the Middle”

by Deborah Francisco Douglas Deborah Francisco Douglas grew up not fully knowing her Filipina side, but an opportunity to learn about it was some sort of fate when she was assigned to the Philippines as a Peace Corps volunteer. What started as a series of blog posts and journal entries, “Somewhere in the Middle” (Peaceful Mountain Press) is Douglas’ debut memoir about her three years living in the country and the lessons of self-discovery along the way.

“I am content with being in the middle, and I have also accepted the various names that people use to describe me. Whether mestiza, half Filipino, mix-mix, halo-halo, FilAm, or Filipino American, I am not defined by just a name. I am the only one who can define me, and I will continue doing so for the rest of my life, floating PAGE 14

Randy Ribay, a high school teacher in the Bay Area, released “Patron Saints of Nothing” in June.

Karen Tongson, a professor at the University of Southern California, explores her ties to ‘70s icon Karen Carpenter in “Why Karen Carpenter Matters.”

Deborah Francisco Douglas’ time as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines is documented in her debut novel, “Somewhere in the Middle.”

14

August 8-14, 2019 • LAs VEgAs AsIAN JOuRNAL

Features

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

John Ablaza: From nature and culture to couture

The internationally known Filipino designer takes stage via ‘Nature & Nurture’ fashion show in October WHEN one’s sense of style and fashion is innate, it wouldn’t be hard to transition to different mediums. For international fashion designer John Ablaza, having a degree in horticulture from De La Salle Araneta University did not stop with just growing plants, but rather became the door into something bigger.

In 1982, Ablaza transitioned to interior decoration when he landed a job in Taipei, Taiwan, as a florist and decorator of Asiaworld Plaza Hotel, owned by Filipino tycoon Tan Yu. However, the call to fashion NBC4 meteorologist Shanna Mendiola and Andres Pruna receive their Emmy for a two-part report on “Plastic and Our Oceans” on Saturday, was hard to resist and so in July 27 at the 71st Los Angeles Area Emmys.

1987, the ever-artistic Ablaza flew back to the Philippines and launched his career in fashion design. From there on until the 90s, he presented shows both local and international. His creations have been featured in print sue and gets more people talking such as Mod Magazine, Women’s,

by Christina M. Oriel about how we can work together AJPress Woman’s Home Journal, Women to make a change,” Mendiola told Today, Miscellaneous Magazine A FILIPINA American meteo- the Asian Journal in an email. and other countless glossy magarologist took home an Emmy at Mendiola has been the mornzines. the 71st Los Angeles Area Em- ing meteorologist since March In 1994, he once again worked mys for her coverage on plastic 2017 and joined NBC in 2014, out the country as an in-house in the ocean. which has given her opportunidesigner of Ahla Al Wasayef, a Shanna Mendiola — the me- ties to fill in for Al Roker on the couture shop patronized by the teorologist for NBC4 Southern “Today” show and other national royal families of Bahrain.

California’s weekday morning broadcasts. She also worked for Coming back to his counnewscast “Today in LA” — re- TV stations in Denver, San Frantry in 1998, Ablaza was given ceived the Environment News cisco, and Oregon. the task to do the replica of Story award for a two-part report She previously told the Asian Jose Rizal’s personal belongings, on “Plastic and Our Oceans.” She Journal that she was inspired to as part of a traveling museum won alongside Andres Fernando become a meteorologist at the age project by the National Centennial Pruna, who served as the cam- of 12 during a ‘take your daughCommission. The exhibit traveled eraman, editor, and producer for ter to work day” event, where she throughout the Philippines and the report. heard a news anchor speak. to several cities in the United The report investigates why “I’m overwhelmed with gratiStates and Europe. He was duly 88% of the world’s oceans have tude and honored beyond words credited by the National Historiplastic debris and why the prob- to receive this award,” Mendiola cal Commission of the Philippines lem is escalating. The special said. “There are very few women for all his work and effort in the series came about as a “respon- and women of color as a whole in exhibit. sibility to raise awareness for en- the broadcast meteorology field, In 2004, he decided to branch vironmental issues that affect our and to be Filipino American and out by taking a different avenue planet” outside of her day-to-day win this Emmy — it’s a win for in the fashion industry. Ablaza meteorology forecasts. the community and hopefully inthen started designing bags and “Sadly, you don’t have to spiration for many to follow!” accessories, which he exported to go very far to find trash on our This marks Mendiola’s second France, Spain, Greece, Maldives, washing up on Southern Cali- Emmy, but first solo win. She Aruba, Bahamas, Bermuda and fornia beaches, or even see it was part of the NBC4 weather the U.S. in the water….Cities are mak- team that won an Emmy in 2016 After a five-year residency in ing small changes like banning for its El Nino coverage.

Canada and the U.S., he returned plastic straws and bags, but it’s The awards were held at the NBC4 “Today in LA” meteorologist Shanna to the Philippines in 2010. During not enough. I hope the story my Television Academy’s Saban Mendiola holds her Emmy for Environment his time in North America, Ablaza producer and photographer An- Media Center in North Holly- News Story on Saturday, July 27 at the 71st participated in trade shows in Los dres Pruna and I put together wood, California on Saturday, Los Angeles Area Emmys.

Angeles and Las Vegas to market educates the public about the is- July 27.

Contributed photos his products. He additionally undertook interior designing high end homes in New York, Rhode Island, Los Angeles, Toronto and Ottawa.

Deeply inspired by models who made an indelible mark in Philippine fashion, he also authored Ramp Diva: Filipina. The 300page coffee table book chronicled the lives of top Filipina models

Fil-Am meteorologist wins Emmy for ocean pollution coverage

over a period of five decades.

Since 2011, Ablaza has been showcasing his work in a series of fashion gala called “John Ablaza Couture and Culture.” It has been presented in the U.S., including Phoenix, Arizona, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Toronto and Harare, Zimbabwe.

He also launched “Le Petite Couture,” a collection of miniature couture gowns, all handmade and mounted on a 23-inch mannequin. It was displayed in a curated exhibit at the Amar Estate in New York last May 2017 during his 30th year in the fashion industry. That same year, the Philippine Consulate General in New York also invited him to showcase “Le Petite Couture” as part of the 119th Philippine Independence celebration.

“Nature & Nurture” To showcase his most recent work, One Global Management Company Inc. — in cooperation with the Asian Journal Publications Inc., Balikbayan Magazine, Magic V Inc., Pageantry Global

Inc., Miss Balikbayan International, miss Balikbayan USA, One Global Talent, Music Arts Events, Travel, Trade & Consumer, Lombard By The Bay and Premier Asia Pacific Real Estate and Development — is proud to present “John Ablaza, Nature & Nuture” on Friday, October 25, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Scientology of the Valley Auditorium, 11455 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601.

In “Nature & Nurture,” Ablaza incorporates natural and organic materials, sourced from all over the Philippines and Africa. He now promotes sustainable fashion to show his concern and love for Mother Nature. Ablaza hopes to focus on his advocacy to mentor up and coming designers and artisans in the Philippines and different parts of the world.

For additional information on “John Ablaza, Nature & Nurture,” please call Priscilla Marte at (626) 484-0807 and/or Trini Foliente at (818) 455-2132, or e-mail info@ oneglobalmanagement.com.

Enchong awaits confirmation of Guinness record for largest swim lesson ACTOR-athlete Enchong Dee, who recently participated in an attempt to break the Guinness world record for what could be the largest swimming lesson in a single venue, said he was seriously considering “getting into the business of education.”

For a day in June, Enchong taught basic swimming and water safety to an estimated 1,800 kids under his advocacy campaign called #HandogPalangoyNiEnchong at the Aqua Planet in Pampanga. The campaign aims to give free lessons to indigent children, as well as to those afflicted with autism.

“These days, I’m more interested in empowering people.

There are a lot of things going on in our country, and I often want to say things to make people reflect. But I thought, instead of just talking, I might as well do something about it,” he told the Inquirer. “I never liked people in government who talk a lot, but don’t do anything.”

Enchong was once part of the national swimming team and even competed in the SEA Games and Asian Games in 2006. He has been teaching kids to swim since 2015.

He clarified that the recent swimming event “was not my personal initiative. The Lozada swimming school had been generous to me. I’m so happy because

Enchong Dee

it was a day when the little kids shone,” he recalled. “We hope for a drown-free Philippines. It’s so ironic that the entire country is surrounded by bodies of water and yet most Filipinos are afraid to swim.”

Enchong added: “Every time there’s a new casualty during typhoons, it’s always a child. I can’t accept that. If I can slowly teach kids what basic water safety is, I’ll do it … for free.”

The latest record posted by Guinness on its website of the largest swimming lesson in a single venue was at the Sun-NFun Lagoon in Naples, Florida

3 Fil-Am books for...

PAGE 13 in and out of my cultural identities in the same way the clouds floated through the valley below my mountains upon mountains,” Douglas writes.

Douglas leaves no detail behind as she sets the scene of each chapter during her time in the mountain province of Baguio — down to the items tricycle passengers carry with them (e.g. live chickens) to street vendors with taho containers to the route she would run daily.

There are funny anecdotes

of trying to set boundaries with neighbors and locals who are as curious to learn about Douglas as she is to learn about her Filipino side (and the shameless questions that come with that of ‘what are you?’ Do you have a boyfriend?’), peppered with travelogues of adventures in other destinations of the archipelago country. But there is also the mental toll that living in a new country can take on one individual and whether we truly belong as Filipino Americans in the physical sense either in the

Photo from Instagram/@mr_enchongdee

in the United States on June 2014. It was attended by 1,308 participants. The site has yet to proclaim Enchong’s event as record-breaker.

Enchong also pointed out that he has been passionately promoting his advocacy, not because he plans to run for public office in the future.

“I pray that I don’t have to, because I feel that I am able to reach out to more people just by being an actor,” he declared, but when push comes to shove, Enchong said he would “first ask for divine intervention.” (Marinel Cruz/Inquirer.net)

Philippines or the U.S. “At the end of the day, we can’t overlook that Filipino Americans are very diverse. There are people who are very familiar with Filipino culture and are very immersed in it but there are other people on the other side of the spectrum who know nothing about it, yet have a desire to learn,” Douglas told the Asian Journal.

Email us at editor@asianjournalinc.com to share your reading list and other books by Filipino and Fil-Am authors to check out this year.

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

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • AUGUSt 8-14, 2019

15

16

August 8-14, 2019 • LAs VEgAs AsIAN JOuRNAL

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