083119 - Los Angeles Weekend Edition

AUGUST 31-SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 Volume 29 - No. 68 • 4 Sections – 30 Pages

DATELINE

USA

FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

Some children born overseas to American parents will no longer be considered US citizens

Earlier court ruling ordered state to divert funds from 2012 lawsuit

South China Sea dispute not up for discussion during Duterte, Xi meet China ‘sorry’ for Recto Bank incident, 6 agreements signed During the much-anticipated meeting on Thursday, August 29, where Duterte was expected to take a tougher stance on China, he reportedly asserted that the 2016 Hague ruling in favor of the Philippines was “final, binding and not subject to appeal.”

However, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that Xi “reiterated his government’s position of not recog-

by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

nizing the arbitral ruling as well as not budging from its position.”

Instead of discussing the issue, Duterte and Xi instead came to a consensus to form committees that will focus on oil exploration.

“The goal is to proceed with service contracts that the Philippines has already issued and get the ball rolling,” Manila’s envoy to Beijing Chito Sta. Ro-

mana told Bloomberg.

The envoy suggested that there would be a “moderately good chance” for a definitive deal by November.

The Chinese president called for both countries to “put aside disputes, eliminate external interference” over the disputed area and “make greater strides in the joint development of offshore oil u PAGE A2

The Philippines and China signed six agreements during the bilateral meeting between President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, CERTAIN children born outside of the Unit- however, missing was a resolution on ed States will no longer be automatically U.S. the ongoing West Philippine Sea (South citizens due to a new policy issued by the U.S. China Sea) territorial dispute.

Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Wednesday, August 28.

The original rollout of the new rule confused many, prompting USCIS to issue a clarification regarding to whom this rule applies.

The rule would affect three categories of individuals: children of non-U.S. citizens adopted by the non-citizen U.S. government employees or service members, children of nonU.S. citizen government employees or service

by RITCHEL MENDIOLA members, and children of U.S. citizens who AJPress don’t meet residency requirements.

The main takeaway from the new policy A BILL seeking to raise the age for the crime of statuchange involves a differentiation between tory rape against minors from 12 to 16 in a bid to prou PAGE A5 vide stronger protection for children has been filed in the Philippine House of Representatives on Thursday, August 29.

House Bill (HB) 4160 metes a penalty of life imprisonment for statutory rape against minors who are under 16 years old, regardless of the sexual orientation of the offenders or the victims, according to Tingog Partylist Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez, chairperson of the House committee on the welfare of children.

“If this measure is passed into law, any adult who has TWO men were charged on Thursday, August 29 for the murder of Filipino American sexual intercourse with a minor below 16 years old is MUCH-AWAITED TALK. President Rodrigo Duterte is accompanied by People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping inside the Diaoyutai State Malacañang photo by Robinson Niñal u PAGE A2 Guesthouse in Beijing prior to their bilateral meeting on Thursday, August 29, 2019. firefighter in West Covina, California who was reported missing last week.

Prosecutors said that Elijah Thomas Rouse, 18, of La Verne and Shaun Cardarelli, 37 of San Gabriel were both charged with the killing of 28-year-old John Brian Mananghaya Aguila, and alleged that they killed Aguila with a knife while robbing him.

Investigators are still working to determine

by ALEXIS ROMERO Asked if that would mean rejecting if a burned body found at the scene of a brush Philstar.com China’s call to ban online gambling, the fire in Upland last Friday morning was that of BEIJING – China cannot impose its envoy replied: “No, that’s not rejecting.

Aguila. position on online gambling on the Phil- It’s explaining the difference.”

Family members of Aguila reported him China has asked the Philippines to ippines, Manila’s top diplomat here said missing after he was last seen leaving his girlon Thursday, August 29, noting that a ban online gambling, saying it fuels friend’s home on Thursday, August 22 in La sweeping ban on offshore gaming could crimes like money laundering. It has Puente. drastically affect the Philippine econo- also expressed concern over the supWorking as a part-time firefighter with the posed “modern day slavery” being exmy.

Bureau of Land Management, Aguila failed to “They can’t dictate on us. Those are perienced by Chinese nationals working report to work and never came home — consovereign decisions... That is where we in Philippine offshore gaming operation duct his family said “very uncharacteristic of stand,” Ambassador Jose Santiago Sta. (POGO) hubs. him,” according to Rudy Lopez, Public InforThe workers are confined at certain mation Officer of the West Covina Police De- REAFFIRMING TIES. President Rodrigo Duterte and People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping Romana said at a press briefing here. discuss matters during the bilateral meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Thursday, “He (Duterte) will say it’s legal in the places and are subjected to extortion, partment.

August 29.

Malacañang photo by Robinson Niñal Philippines.” u PAGE A3 u PAGE A3

Philippine House bill raises statutory age of rape from 12 to 16

Two men charged with murder of missing Fil-Am West Covina firefighter

‘China can’t dictate online gambling ban on the Philippines’

Duterte declares 4 new PH tourist destination sites 8 PH companies among

by NESTOR

CORRALES Inquirer.net

The Nuestra Señora de la Asuncion in Santa Maria in Ilocos Sur Photo courtesy of Vigan Tourism

MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte has signed new laws that declare four sites in the Philippines as new tourist destinations.

Duterte signed Republic Act No. 11406 declaring Mount Bulaylay in Cuyapo Nueva Ecija as a tourist destination.

The President also signed Republic Act No. 11407 making the Candon City Ecotourism Zone in Ilocos Sur as a tourist destination.

He also declared the Santiago Cove in Santiago, Ilocos Sur as a tourist destination through Republic Act No. 11408.

Republic Act No. 11409 also made in Santa Maria in Ilocos Sur a tourist destinations.

The new laws were all signed in August 22 but copies of the law were released to the media only on Thursday, August 29.

Under the new laws, the Department of Tourism, in coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways and other concerned government agencies, should “prepare a tourism development plan involving the construction, installation and maintenance of such appropriate facilities and infrastructure that will improve the overall feature” of the areas, to ensure “the accessibility and security of tourists.” u PAGE A2

Forbes’‘Best Over a Billion’

by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

EIGHT Philippine companies secured spots on Forbes Asia magazine’s inaugural “Best Over a Billion (BOB)” list, which highlights the 200 top-performing listed companies across the AsiaPacific region with revenues of more than $1 billion.

“The goal is to find the region’s best-run companies that are doing well on not just one metric but across many of them. The result is a list that represents the best of Asia-Pacific’s big companies,” said Forbes Asia.

The local firms included in the 2019 roster are: Ayala Corporation, Cosco Capital, GT Capital Holdings, JG Summit Holdings, Jollibee Foods Corporation, Megaworld Corporation, San Miguel Food and Beverage, and SM Investments Corporation.

Candidates for the BOB list were picked from a universe of 3,200 listed firms across the region and evaluated based on various metrics such as their average five-year sales, operating income growth, return on capital and projected growth over the next one to two years. u PAGE A2

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From the Front Page

South China Sea dispute not up for...

PAGE A1 t and gas” in the region,” according to a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

China has asserted the “ninedash line” to mark their rights to the sea, while some parts are also claimed by Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam. The 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling dismissed China’s claims and ruled in favor of the

Philippines.

“Both President Duterte and President Xi agreed that while their variant positions will have to remain, their differences however need not derail nor diminish the amity between the two countries,” Panelo added They agreed “to manage the South China Sea issue, and to continue to dialogue peacefully in resolving the conflict.”

One significant outcome of the visit, however, was the recognition and apology for the June Recto Bank incident during which a Chinese vessel collided with a fishing boat carrying 22 Filipino fishermen, leaving them behind until they were rescued by a Vietnamese boat.

“The shipowner of the Chinese fishing boat involved, through our association, would like to express his sincere apology to the Filipino fishermen,” read a letter on behalf of the unnamed Chinese shipowner released to the public.

The Philippine president “expressed appreciation of China’s readiness to provide compensation to our fishermen who almost lost their lives,” Panelo said.

The Philippines and China were able to sign six items during the meeting.

“To be sure, there have been challenges. Yet we are living up

u PAGE A5

8 PH companies among Forbes’...

MOU SIGNING. Officials of Grab Philippines, led by country chief, Brian Cu (second from left), show the memorandum of understanding with Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat (center) at Casa Blanca, Intramuros, Manila on Wednesday, August 28. The Department of Tourism and Grab Philippines have inked a partnership to promote national tourism, which includes steps to make Intramuros more accessible to tourists. Also in photo (second from right) is Laguna Rep. Sol Aragones.

PNA photo by Gil Calinga

Philippine House bill raises statutory age...

PAGE A1 t guilty of rape. Even if the minor has given his or her consent to the sexual act, it is still rape,” Romualdez told reporters.

“The sexual orientation of the offender is of no importance.

Men and women, even members of the LGBT community, may be charged with statutory rape. No one is above the law,” she added.

Statutory rape, in common law jurisdictions, is non-forcible sexual activity wherein one of the individuals is below the age of consent or the age required to legally consent to the act.

Current laws in the country provide that sexual intercourse with children below 12 years old is illegal and tantamount to rape; meanwhile, sexual activity with a person below 18 years of age may constitute child abuse and exploitation.

Citing a 2015 report from the

PAGE A1 t “The Best Over A Billion list provides an incredible insight into which are Asia’s best-run big companies. Nearly two-thirds of the companies on this list are controlled by or connected to families or individuals who have appeared on Forbes Asia’s rich lists,” Justin Doebele, editor at Forbes Asia, said.

Among the eight companies, the most valuable was SM Investments Corp., the Philippines’ biggest conglomerate with market-leading positions in retailing, property development and banking with a market capitalization of $22.8 billion.

This is followed by San Miguel Food and Beverage with $11.86 billion and Ayala Corp. with $11.17 billion.

JG Summit, led by the Gokongwei family, has a market capitalization of $9.04 billion while Jollibee, with its goal to become one of the most valuable restaurant operators in the world, has $4.83 billion.

Megaworld and GT Capital are valued at $3.76 billion and $3.74 billion, respectively; meanwhile, Cosco Capital was valued at $942 million. n Mount Bulaylay

United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Romualdez pointed out that the Philippines was not compliant with the international average involving other countries.

“The establishment of a minimum age of sexual consent is a critical component in shielding minors from sexual violence. Minors who are below 16 years old are still considered without power to resist to give their genuine and fully informed consent to any sexual activity,” she said.

Additionally, HB 4160 redefined the crimes of qualified seduction, simple seduction, forcible abduction, and consented abduction in relation to minors as victims.

Under the bill, qualified seduction is now “seduction of a minor 16 years and under 18 years of age, committed by any person in public authority, priest or religious engaged in legitimate religious vocation or calling, do-

mestic, guardian, teacher or any person who, in any capacity, shall be entrusted with the education or custody of the minor seduced” with a penalty of prison correctional in its medium and maximum periods.

Simple seduction is “seduction of a minor of good reputation 16 years but under 18 years of age, committed by means of deceit,” which is punishable by arresto mayor that ranges from a day to half a year.

Forcible abduction is “abduction of any person against his or her will and with lewd designs,” which is punishable by reclusion temporal.

Consented abduction is “abduction of a minor 16 years and under 18 years of age, carried out with his or her consent and with lewd designs,” which shall be punished by the penalty of prison in its minimum and medium periods. n

Duterte declares 4 new PH tourist...

PNA photo

PAGE A1 t The new laws said “the development plan shall ensure the preservation and conservation of the historic significance of the area.”

The Tourism Secretary, the laws said, should include in the National Tourism Development Plan the tourism development plans for the said areas.

Funding for the implementation of the new law should be included in the annual General Appropriations Act and from internally generated funds of the Department of Tourism. n

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A

California requires suicide prevention phone number on student IDs

by Mark

kreidler California Healthline

California Governor Gavin Newsom (left) and state Assemblymember Miguel Santiago visit East Los Angeles College on Thursday, August 29 to talk about the expansion of the California College Promise program, which now provides free tuition for two years for first-time, full-time students.

California to provide two years of community college tuition-free

by AJPress CALIFORNIA this week announced that it will join other states in providing the first two years of community college tuition-free for first-time, full-time students.

This move comes after Governor Gavin Newsom proposed that the state budget cover students by expanding the California College Promise program, which had provided one year free of tuition.

The 2019-2020 state budget includes $42.6 million to support a second year of free tuition for approximately 33,000 students.

“This is real help for students trying to improve their lives and build their future,” said Newsom in a statement. “No one can argue with the fact that the full cost of attending institutions of higher learning is still far too high – both in California and across the country. But by offering two years of community college tuition-free, California is taking a meaningful step toward chipping away at the cost of higher learning for students and their families.”

The state’s community college system is the largest of its kind in the country, serving roughly a quarter of community college

students in the country — that’s around 2.1 million students across 115 colleges and 78 educational centers.

The state budget makes historic investments in areas that impact the student experience at community colleges, including $9 million for college students who are homeless or experiencing housing insecurity and $5 million to support veteran resource centers at community colleges. Additionally, a one-time increase of $4.75 million will support workforce development programs at some community colleges.

On Thursday, August 29, Newsom visited East Los Angeles College to talk about the program, and heard from students who have benefitted from free tuition.

He was joined by Assemblymember Miguel Santiago who was the original author of Assembly Bill No. 19, which proposed the tuition coverage for two years.

“We know the cost barriers to earning a degree are driving California students and families into debt, and deepening income inequality across the country” said Santiago. “That’s why we’ve taken decisive action to make our community colleges tuition-free for two years; giving our students

Two men charged with murder of...

PAGE A1 t

A day after Aguila was last seen, investigators were able to locate Aguila’s white 2017 Honda Civic at an impound in the city of San Dimas. Video surveillance revealed a male walking away from the car, but investigators determined that it was not Aguila.

Upon searching the car’s trunk, investigators found gloves and clothing with enough blood to suggest that someone was hurt.

Fingerprints found inside the car eventually led investigators to Rouse’s apartment in La Verne early Tuesday morning. There, SWAT members served a search warrant and found enough evidence to arrest both Rouse and Cardarelli.

An autopsy has not yet been conducted on the burned body found in Upland, but investigators said that there was enough evidence found at the apartment to connect the fire to Aguila’s disappearance.

“The checking of the location revealed some information that led us to believe that the incident that we’re investigating is connected to the body that was found

The slain 28-year-old John Aguila, a firefighter from West Covina, California Photo courtesy of West Covina Police Department

burned in the city of Upland,” said Lopez.

Bail for Rouse and Cardarelli is currently set at $1 million each.

If convicted as charged, both face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to the LA County District Attorney’s Office. Whether capital punishment should be sought will be decided at a later date. (Rae Ann Varona/ AJPress)

‘China can’t dictate online...

PAGE A1 t physical abuse and torture, China claimed.

He said President Duterte was ready to discuss the Philippines’ position on online gambling with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

The two leaders were scheduled to meet here Thursday night.

Sta. Romana said the Philippines cannot take drastic measure against POGOs given their impact on the economy.

“For me, I think the key is for the President to be ready to explain, you know. And it will have an economic impact on us. So if we are to do it, we want a soft landing,” Sta. Romana said.

“We don’t want a drastic, you know, impact that will adversely affect our economy. As a matter of fact, we are already trying it.

We’re trying to regulate, to tighten the screws, so to speak, and to monitor,” he added.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Anti-Money Laundering Council are now looking into the effect of offshore gaming operations in the economy.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue has also been directed to ensure that POGOs are paying the right taxes.

“All of these are meant to keep it within bounds. And then with the Chinese now taking their po-

sition, it’s possible to (impact) business. We will now have to downsize to an appropriate level that will be supported by the market that is available,” he added.

Online gaming operators in the Philippines employ about 130,000 Chinese nationals.

“So there are some leakages that we are trying to plug and hopefully to tax them, to regulate them, and to bring it to a reasonable level because the increase was just too much, you know, and it was concern early on for us,” Sta. Romana said.

Despite Manila’s and Beijing’s opposite stance on online gaming, Sta. Romana said the two countries can cooperate in certain areas including law enforcement.

The ambassador said Filipino police officials met with Chinese authorities two weeks ago to discuss cooperation in cracking down on criminals targeting Chinese nationals in the Philippines.

Some of the criminals are into online gambling while others are Filipino gun-for-hire syndicates.

“So both are interested to crack down on this. So that’s an area of commonality. Well, the difference is that in China gambling whether online, offline, whatever, is illegal. In the Philippines, it is legal,” Sta. Romana said. n

the freedom to pursue higher education, without the pressure to take on debt they can’t afford. This is a down payment on our children’s future, and I’m grateful to Governor Newsom for his leadership on this issue.”

To qualify, students must submit either a FAFSA or CA DREAM Act application, and cannot already receive fee waivers. They must also be first-time, full-time college students.

Along with California, 11 other states have put forth statewide promise programs. n

DENISE Herrmann was only a few months into her new job as principal of a Palo Alto, Calif., high school in fall 2014 when a student took his own life.

By the next day, Herrmann said, she and some of her colleagues at Henry M. Gunn High School were in conversations with experts from nearby Stanford University about how to cope with student suicides and their aftermath.

She knew her school was not alone. “This was a community issue,” she said.

The death of the Gunn High School junior was one of four student suicides in Palo Alto during the 2014-15 school year — the second such suicide cluster in the community’s recent history.

By the beginning of the following school year, the Palo Alto Unified School District had implemented a new policy: It put suicide prevention contact information on student IDs. A California law that has greeted students returning to school statewide over the past few weeks bears a striking resemblance to that Palo Alto policy from four years ago. Beginning with the 2019-20 school year, all IDs for California students in grades seven through 12, and in college, must bear the telephone number of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. That number is 800273-TALK (8255).

“I am extremely proud that this strategy has gone statewide,” said

Herrmann, who is now superintendent of the Roseville Joint Union High School District near Sacramento.

The new student ID law marks a statewide response to what educators, administrators and students themselves know is a growing need.

The numbers support that idea — and they are as jarring as they are clarifying.

Suicide was the second-leading cause of death in the United States among people ages 10 to 24 in 2017, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The suicide rate among teenagers has risen dramatically over the past two decades, according to data from the CDC. In a 2017 survey, more than 17% of responding high school students said they had seriously considered suicide, while nearly 14% said they’d made a plan to do it, and more than 7% said they’d actually attempted it.

The new law, SB-972, also permits school districts to include on IDs both the Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741) and contact information for campus police or a local suicide prevention hotline.

The law applies to public and private institutions alike.

The idea behind the law is to give students a clear understanding that immediate help is readily available. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a network of local crisis centers, provides free and confidential support on a 24/7 basis.

“We are definitely taking steps toward being better,” said Noah Bernabe, 16, a junior at Oakmont High School in Roseville, Calif. “It makes sense to do this.”

Most of the available research, including a comprehensive study from 2014, suggests that talking openly about suicide may reduce the risk of suicidal thoughts.

“Fifteen years ago, we would have never thought of having something like this on an ID card,” said Gil Ogden, director of student services for the Turlock Unified School District in California’s Central Valley. “This can be a real lifesaver to our kids.”

The Turlock district’s entire faculty and staff are now trained in the QPR (“question, persuade and refer”) method of suicide prevention. Still, Ogden said he noticed a few comments of concern from parents on social media when the new school IDs were handed out with the suicide prevention line number prominently featured.

“Initially, a few people were saying that they didn’t understand why this was happening,” Ogden said. “Once it was explained, and the need for it, we’ve had no issues at all. The people we’ve spoken to have said they appreciate it.”

People who have worked in school districts for many years have had to grapple with a changed reality that goes well beyond academics. “For us, education is not just teaching the content anymore. We’re also

u PAGE A5

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15-year-old Fil-Am leukemia Indigenous Filipino scripts now patient celebrates 5 years of survival available on Google keyboard

A yOUNG Filipina American leukemia patient returned to the hospital where she received a stem cell transplant, but this time it was to celebrate five years of survival.

Myla Cunanan, 15, celebrated the fifth anniversary of her lifesaving stem cell transplant at the University of California, San Francisco’s Mission Bay Campus.

Five years ago, Cunanan received the gift of life using her father’s cells on August 15, 2014 after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at 10 years old.

After a worldwide search, a compatible donor could not be found, so her father donated stem cells despite being a 50% match. “For my daughter, it was unusual and fortunate that the stem cell donation from her father worked,� said Leyna Cunanan, Myla’s mother. “Finding a compatible stem cell donor is ethnically based. Myla’s father was a 50% match and that was risky and not ideal. We had no choice, as Myla’s illness took a turn for the worse and there were no compatible Filipinos on the Be The MatchŽ national registry or globally.�

Cunanan’s “re-birth� day — marking the anniversary of when a patient had a stem cell transplant — was also hosted by the Asian American Donor Program, a nonprofit organization that is calling on more Asian American, especially Filipino, donors. “Generally, a 50% match is not ideal as the patient’s body rejects the transplanted stem cells,� said Carol Gillespie, the AADP execu-

by Janvic

Mateo Philstar.com

FOUR indigenous Filipino writing systems are now available for users of Google’s virtual keyboard for Android users.

The technology company announced yesterday the inclusion of indigenous scripts Baybayin, Buhid, Tagbanwa (Aborlan) and Hanunuo in Gboard for Android, a virtual keyboard app developed

by Google. “We are committed to helping preserve the country’s local languages and scripts through relevant technology. Adding more Filipino languages and scripts on helpful products such as Translate and Gboard is one of the many ways we show this commitment,� said Google Philippines marketing head Gabby Roxas. “To keep our indigenous languages alive, it is important that we try to continue using them. Today, where typing on our smartphones is a common behavior, making more native scripts available on Gboard will play a vital role in helping preserve them,� he added.

With the introduction of the Philippine scripts in Gboard, the company said it is now easier for 15-year-old Myla Cunanan celebrates her “re-birth� day, marking five years since her stem cell transplant. She was surrounded by her family as well as staff from the University of California, users to discover and try writing in some of the country’s ethnic San Francisco’s Mission Bay Campus and the Asian American Donor Program. writing systems. tive director. “For most patients, While a patient waits for a match, Gboard is an app developed by a committed 10/10 matching do- their health deteriorates.�

Google to enhance the keyboard Finding a compatible stem cell of messaging apps and devices. nor must be identified to have a successful transplant. Without a match poses problems for the It enables users to search and 10/10 match, they may have to growing number of ethnic indi- send information right from their wait for months or years in order viduals in the U.S. and globally, keyboard through a dedicated to have a life-saving transplant. especially those of mixed ethnic Google search feature. backgrounds.

Aside from the four indigeAsian Pacific Islander patients nous Filipino scripts, the virtual have a 41 percent likelihood of finding a matched adult donor on the Be The MatchŽ national registry, as compared to a 77 percent likelihood for white patients. “I encourage Filipinos and everyone to register as a stem cell donor,� Leyna Cunanan emphaTHE Department of Foreign sized. “Be the one to save a life.�

Affairs (DFA), through PhilipToday, Cunanan is homeschooled and enjoys cooking pine Ambassador to Mexico Filipino food for her family and Demetrio Tuazon, is preparing for the repatriation of the making crafts.

To register as a potential stem remains of two Filipinos who cell donor: text MyLA to 61474 were among the 28 people (inior register online at https://join. tial reports placed deaths at 26) killed in a fire that razed a bar in bethematch.org/myla.

Donors must be 18 to 44 years Mexico this week. “The embassy is now in touch Photo shows Myla Cunanan in 2014 following her stem cell transplant using her father’s cells old and meet general health rewith authorities and the Filiafter being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia at 10 years old. quirements. n

The technology company announced yesterday the inclusion of indigenous scripts Baybayin, Buhid, Tagbanwa (Aborlan) and Hanunuo in Gboard for Android, a virtual keyboard app developed by Google.

Philstar.com photo

keyboard also supports 19 languages from the Philippines.

These include Tagalog, Central Bikol, Koronadal Blaan, Rinconada Bikol, Chavacano, Cebuano, Capiznon, Cuyonon, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Itawit, Kankanaey, Kinaray-a, Maguindanao, Maranao, Pangasinan, Kapampangan, Tausug and Waray.

Cebuano in Word Lens Aside from the four indigenous scripts in Gboard, the technology company said it has also introduced Cebuano in its Word Lens, a feature within Google Translate that gives an instant camera translation.

The feature works by letting users hold their phones in front of a sign written in an unfamiliar language and instantly see the translation through an overlay in the screen.

Google said Cebuano is among the 88 source languages that can now be instantly translated into

more than 100 languages.

Word Lens also supports Tagalog, with company officials saying they intend to include more Philippine languages in the feature. “This update is helpful for tourists to communicate with the locals better and understand Cebu’s culture more. Users who are familiar with Cebuano can still use the tool to learn other languages as well,� added the company.

It noted that 175 of the 185 officially listed languages of the Philippines are indigenous, citing Ethnologue: Language of the World, an annual reference on global languages. Experts fear that at least 11 languages would soon vanish.

Google announced the inclusion of new Philippine languages and scripts in its products for the celebration of the National Language Month or Buwan ng Wika. n

DFA prepares repatriation of Filipino seafarers’ remains after Mexico bar fire pino seafarers’ manning agency for the repatriation of their remains,� the DFA said in a statement on Friday.

The DFA also extended its condolences to the families of the unidentified fatalities and would provide further assistance to their families.

A gang allegedly set fire to the Caballo Blanco (White Horse) on the Port of Coatzacoalcos, Vera-

cruz, on August 27.

Initial investigation showed that the suspects locked the doors and emergency exits and then doused the strip club with gasoline before setting it on fire.

Veracruz State Gov. Cuitlahuac Garcia in a statement on social media said that the attack was a result of a dispute between rival gangs in the area. (Bernadette Tamayo/ManilaTimes.net)

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Some children born overseas to American parents... Nonito Donaire: No room for errors vs Naoya Inoue

PAGE A1 t what it means to hold residency in the u.S. versus physically living on u.S. soil.

Previously under the Immigration and nationality Act (InA), all children born to u.S. service members and other government employees were officially recognized as “residing in the united States” and, in turn, were automatically granted u.S. citizenship.

“If you’re not born on u.S. soil — and military bases aren’t considered u.S. soil — if you’re not born on u.S. soil, you can get citizenship through your parents,” a uSCIS official told Task & Purpose. “But the parent has to be a u.S. citizen when you’re born. Otherwise they can’t transmit anything to you.”

“If you are a permanent resident and you have a child, there’s no u.S. citizenship transmission that you can do to the child on the day of their birth,” the official

added.” You can’t transmit what you don’t have.”

This new rule would affect wide swaths of children born overseas to service members and government employees, many of whom are of Asian descent and were born in military bases around Asia.

Though this rule does narrow the ways in which these affected children gain u.S. citizenship, it doesn’t outright make them ineligible. now those children who are affected must acquire u.S. citizenship through other legal channels.

But Wednesday’s announcement joins a long string of controversial immigration policies announced under the Trump administration, which has proposed slashing legal immigration programs like family-based petitioning.

Senator Tammy Duckworth — who is half-Thai through her

mother and half-white through her late Army veteran father — issued a letter to the uSCIS condemning the “confusing, cynical, unnecessary and unfair” policy.

“The bottom line is that this offensive policy update will harm members of the u.S. Armed Forces, military families and civil servants who serve our nation abroad. Americans who choose to serve our country deserve respect and the possibility that their child may be denied citizenship under Section 322 of the InA is insulting,” Duckworth wrote. “What purpose does this new policy serve other than sending the deeply offensive message that certain children bom to Americans serving their nation abroad are somehow “lesser” individuals and unworthy of automatic citizenship?”

The rule goes into effect on Oct. 29, 2019. (Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)

South China Sea dispute not up...

PAGE A2 t

to our commitment to define our ties as a Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation,” Duterte said. “The channels for dialogue fully opened, agreements signed and projects underway, there is a clear path of partnership and convergence.”

The agreements signed were: • Memorandum of understanding (MOu) on Higher Education Cooperation between the Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines and China’s Ministry of Education; • MOu on Science and Technology Cooperation between the Department of Science and Technology of the Philippines and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology; • Cooperative Arrangement between the Bureau of Customs, Department of Finance of the Philippines and China’s General Administration of Customs, as well as the implementation of the Intergovernmental Agreement Regarding Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters; • Implementation Contract on Project of China-Aid Container Inspection Equipment between the Bureau of Customs of the Philippines and China’s Ministry of Commerce; • Exchange of notes on Cooperation Procedure for the Availment and utilization of Concessional Loan under a Renminbi-denominated Loan Facility between the

The 36-year-old Donaire is the much more experienced fighter and has fought stiffer competition FOuR-DIvISIOn world cham- but the Filipino star has himself pion nonito Donaire sees no room as the underdog against Inoue, for error in his title unification who is 10 years younger.

Inoue’s youth presents a diffight against undefeated Japanese naoya Inoue in the World Boxing ferent challenge for Donaire, Super Series bantamweight final who is determined to show that on november 7 at Saitama Super the glaring age disparity is just a number.

Arena in Saitama, Japan.

“I feel very motivated and inDonaire is wary of the caliber of an opponent he will be up against credibly excited to jump into a in Inoue, who has 16 knockouts in fight with naoya Inoue in Japan, which is a beautiful country that his 18 wins.

“We are both gifted fighters with speed and power and intelligence. The one who commits the first mistake in the ring, he will lose. I can tell you that this fight could be long like a game of chess,” Donaire said in a story on boxingscene.com.

by Mark

GionGco Inquirer.net

California requires suicide...

PAGE A3 t like a second set of eyes to watch out for these kids and keep them safe,” said Doug Ginn, a 30-year educator and founding member of Oakmont High School’s Health Careers Academy.

Bernabe, one of Ginn’s students, said that in an era of heavy social media use students can find it nearly impossible to avoid comparisons to others — often in the semi-public setting of their cellphones. If they find themselves “worried about being perfect or meeting expectations sometimes set up by parents, perhaps teachers,” a spiral leading to suicidal thoughts — and action — can occur rapidly, President Rodrigo Duterte has met iconic Chinese actor and martial artist Jackie Chan during the president’s recent visit to China. In a series of photos courtesy of Senator Bong Go, Duterte he said.

The state’s new student ID can be seen receiving an autographed book and Panda stuffed toys with a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) seal from the action star, who is also UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador law is just one piece of a puzzle, The “Rush Hour” and “Shanghai Noon” star also posed with Duterte and Go, sporting the and many schools have added president’s trademark fist gesture.

Photo courtesy of Senator Bong Go other pieces of their own. In the Department of Finance of the nila to Legazpi City to six hours sprawling Roseville district that Philippines and China Interna- from 13 hours, and is expected to Herrmann now leads, each of the eight high school campuses tional Development Cooperation be completed in 2022.

The signing of the loan agree- features a Wellness Center that Agency; and • Preferential Buyer’s Credit ment was also witnessed by Phil- includes clinical counselors and Loan Agreement of Project Man- ippine Finance Secretary Carlos social workers.

“We’ve seen the statistics, and agement Consultancy of the Phil- Dominguez III and Export-Import ippine national Railways (PnR) Bank of China vice President Xie we know that these issues know no boundaries of race, class, ethSouth Long Haul Project between Ping.

According to Malacañang, part nicity,” Herrmann said. “These the Department of Finance and of the purpose of Duterte’s Chi- are community concerns — and Export-Import Bank of China.

The PnR South Long Haul na trip is to “fast-track” existing the schools are often the most Project, for one, is a 639-kilome- big-ticket Chinese projects in the outward-facing components of the community.” ter railway project aiming to con- country.

This KHN story first published This marked the president’s nect Metro Manila, Calabarzon, and Bicol, and will be funded by a fifth trip to China since taking of- on California Healthline, a serP175.3-billion loan. It will report- fice in 2016, and eighth meeting vice of the California Health Care Foundation. n edly reduce travel time from Ma- with Xi. n

has educated me spiritually,” said Donaire (45-5, 40 KOs).

“It gives me joy and satisfaction because I can fight in Japan.

There is a huge sense of wonder to see if I can deal with a great fighter like naoya Inoue, who will force me to bring out all of my qualities as a boxer. I know that naoya Inoue is the favorite due to his youth. But, I have a lot of determination to reverse the odds, and for that, I will fully dedicate myself to the maximum level with my physical preparations.” n

A August 31-september 3, 2019 • LA WeeKeND AsIAN JOurNAL

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D ateline PhiliPPines Congressman says expanded good conduct law was Senate idea by aJPress ONe of the congressmen who authored the Philippines’ controversial good conduct time allowance (GCTA) said the expanded time allowance for convicts was the Senate’s idea.

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who is among the authors of the bill, said that the House’s proposal was supposed to be limited.

“Our proposal was limited to counting preventive detention or imprisonment as part of an offender’s sentence if he is convicted.

The bill on expanded GCTA came from senators,” he said, referring to House Bill 417 and Senate Bill 3064 — both of which were introduced in the 15th Congress and consolidated to become Republic Act 10592 signed on May 29, 2013 by then president Benigno Aquino III. According to Rodriguez, he is in

favor of the longer good behavior allowance despite it not being part of their bill. He pointed out that “our justice system should be reformative, not retributive.”

“But those convicted of heinous crimes such as murder and rape, like Sanchez, the recidivists, escapees, and those who commit additional crimes while in prison, should not be qualified for GCTA. In fact, the law says so,” he said.

Rodriguez also noted that the victims of such convicts and society in general would be exposed to danger if these offenders were allowed to walk out of prison early.

“All the authorities have to do is to strictly enforce the law, especially the disqualifications for good conduct time allowance,” he said.

The Bill 417, entitled “An Act giving offenders the fullest benefit of preventive imprisonment, amending for the purpose Article

29 of Act No. 3815, as amended, otherwise known as the Revised Penal Code,” was co-authored by then Aurora congressman and now Sen. Juan edgardo Angara, Marlyn Aggabas of Pangasinan, Victor Francisco Ortega of La Union, eduardo Gullas of Cebu, and Giorgidi Aggabao of Isabela.

Under the bill, it states that “recidivists, habitual delinquents and persons charged with heinous crimes are excluded from the coverage.”

Senate Bill 3064 was contained in Committee Report No. 82. It was submitted on Nov. 17, 2011 by the committee on justice and human rights, and the committee on constitutional amendments, revision of codes and laws. eight similar measures on counting the period of detention as part of a prison term and expansion of GCTA as provided in the Revised Penal Code were con-

u PAGE A7

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BUDGET BRIEFING. Budget department acting Secretary Wendel Avisado (right) speaks during the Development Budget Coordination Committee briefing on the 2020 National Expenditure Program, before the Senate Committee on Finance on Thursday, August 29. Next to him is Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia.

PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan

Duterte pushes for revival of family planning gang pinipilit ko sa aking siyudad (and me who pushed for it in my city),” he added.

During Ramos’ term, he emPReSIDeNT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, August 27, reiterat- phasized reproductive health and ed his support for family planning human rights as a policy frameand pushed for the program’s re- work for the implementation of family planning programs. vival in the next three years.

Meanwhile, Duterte gave away “Ang isang kulang na lang natin actually na how to get it birth control pills and urged started and you know get it roll- job-seeking mothers to undergo ing beginning at least in the next ligation when he was mayor of three years, ‘yang ibalik ninyo Davao City.

The president also urged ev‘yung family planning (One thing we lack is actually how to get it eryone to not depend on religion started and you know get it roll- when it comes to family planning ing beginning at least in the next methods.

“Do not place too much imthree years. Let’s bring back family planning),” he said in a speech portance about religion. Tutok during the 31st anniversary of the ka lang sa Diyos (Focus on God).

Comprehensive Agrarian Reform When you are in a moral quandary, do not go to your religion. It Program (CARP).

“I know of only two guys, pres- cannot help you. Maniwala kayo idents, who did it and it was [for- (Believe me),” Duterte said.

“At 74 years old, I’m telling mer President Fidel] Ramos who was a Protestant and ako na tala- you. You go direct to your God

and pray and ask for guidance, especially in matters of — ‘yang kasalanan ‘yang mag-family planning (that family planning is a sin),” he added.

On the other hand, Duterte ruled out the possibility of abortion being legalized in the country, saying he will not allow it.

“Of course, abortion is out of the question. I will not allow it,” he said, before proceeding to slam Iceland for allowing abortion for up to six months of the pregnancy.

Duterte criticized the country for worrying more about the drug pushers who he said cause “social dysfunction” while allowing the “slaughter” of unborn babies, referring to Iceland’s push for a United Nations probe into the human rights situation in the Philippines.

“Iceland allows the slaughter of the fetus inside the womb of the mother up to six months.

They worry more of the drug lords at itong mga who are pushing drugs, killing our citizens, and creating a social dysfunction in almost all,” he said.

“Tapos tinuturuan ako kung ano ang gawin ko (And then they are dictating me what to do). I am sorry for you. That’s why you are condemned there in the ice forever. I hope you will freeze in time,” he added.

Recently, Iceland passed a law allowing the termination of a pregnancy up to 22 weeks for any reason.

“Just imagine. Six months. You allow an innocent human being already thriving and living inside President Duterte has pushed for the revitalized implementation of the family planning program the mother’s body and… just pull in the next three years.

Inquirer.net photo it,” Duterte said. n

by Ritchel

MendiolA AJPress

Manila mayors confident of meeting deadline to clear roads

by Rosette

Adel

Philstar.com

MANILA— With less than a month left before their clearing operations deadline, some local government units claimed that they are 90% done with clearing major roads and thoroughfares.

Some of them, on the other hand, claimed they are halfway done.

The Department of Interior and Local Government last month gave local chief executives 60 days to make an inventory of their road networks and ordered them to reclaim public roads used for “private ends” by clearing them of unnecessary obstructions.

The Metro Manila Development Authority and other concerned agencies are helping with the move.

This order was issued through DILG’s Memorandum Circular No. 2019-121.

The memorandum was prompted by President Rodrigo Duterte, who in his fourth State of the Nation Address, made the same directive. It was issued a week after the SONA. It appears, however, that Duterte also gave the same order during his SONA in 2017.

The MMDA, led by chair Danilo

Lim and the agency’s Sidewalk Clearing Operations Group, has also been conducting clearing operations as early as 2016.

They removed illegal vendors from the sidewalks but these vendors, however, returned to the sidewalks eventually.

First-term Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto earlier lamented that the city government itself built structures on public roads.

He made the statement after the city government and the MMDA removed city-built obstructions.

In a clearing operation in Caloocan City, third-term Mayor Oscar Malapitan himself led the destruction of a barangay hall bearing his and his son’s name.

It is not clear whether the barangay hall was built during his administration.

The DILG’s order intensified Duterte’s tall order and the firsttime mayors in Metro Manila are leading the conduct of clearing operations.

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso already began clearing known shopping areas and busy streets to decongest traffic in the Philippine capital even prior to the release of the DILG memorandum.

This year’s intensified opera-

tions also seek to curb the traffic woes in the country and seek to reclaim the public roads which can be used as parking facilities, alternate routes and parks, among others.

In a press release, Taguig City said it has improved the city’s Vehicle Pedestrian and Mobility Plan to emphasize first-term Mayor Lino Cayetano’s input on making a safe city.

“We just intensified our clearing operations and we are continuing to work with the community so we can move to the next phase of our mobility operation,” he said in the release.

Aside from the clearing operations, Taguig has opened Mabuhay Lanes to ease traffic and is studying opening subdivisions to vehicles during rush hours.

The local leaders were initially given 45 days but Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte sought to revert the deadline to 60 days so cities will have ample time to meet the deadline.

The local chief executives, who are also members of the Metro Manila Council, are confident that they can accomplish the clearance of roads in the next 30 days. They said they are on track in the clearing operations. n

Google PH told: Remove fake YouTube videos real and what’s fake. This is long overdue,” she said.

Based on the research by New SeN. Leila de Lima has asked Mandala, an academic blog, YouGoogle Philippines to take down Tube contributed significantly in fake videos populating YouTube, the disinformation campaign in which allegedly became a plat- the Philippines, especially in the form for spreading lies and mis- recent May 2019 midterm elecleading content. tions, as it provided space for De Lima, currently detained “alternative news” channels to for drug-related charges, said proliferate.

Google Philippines should take The detained senator said she a decisive action to ensure the was intimately familiar with the veracity of the videos before it issue because she had been a could be shared. constant target of fake news on “Google Philippines should the said platform because of her take this concern seriously and opposition to the current adminstart the crackdown on fake vid- istration. eos, including deep fake videos, “I should know. evil men and on YouTube to free the public women who are behind the fake from any confusion about what’s news stories and videos against

by JAvieR isMAel ManilaTimes.net

me have long been resorting to YouTube, among other social media platforms, to discredit me and make me appear bad in the public’s eyes,” she said.

The lady senator said she believes that Google Philippines would be more responsible in finding ways that could regulate, if not stop, the circulation and distribution of fake videos on YouTube.

“The people behind these dubious accounts and channels should also be held accountable for their actions. Media literacy and fact-checking platforms would not suffice unless technology giants like Google contribute in fighting disinformation,” she said. n

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LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • AUgUSt 31-SEptEmbER 3, 2019

A

Graft charges filed vs PhilHealth executives DOT to comply with COA order on undocumented P503-M in expenses

by Divina Joy

Dela ManilaTimes.net

Cruz

Former malacañang spokesman Harry roque on Thursday, August 29, filed graft and corruption charges against former and current top executives of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) before the office of the ombudsman.

According to roque, he filed the complaint, in his own capacity as a private citizen, as a PhilHealth member and as principal author of the Universal Health Care Act to seek criminal accountability of top officials, who according to him were the real mafia in PhilHealth.

“Ito po ay unang kaso lamang.

Lahat po ng totoong mafia d’yan sa PhilHealth, kakasuhan namin (This is only the first case. We will file charges against all true members of the mafia in PhilHealth),” roque said, adding that he was planning to file other cases against the PhilHealth executives.

The complaint was based on an unlawful “reversing and modifying” and “obstruction of the execution” of a Court of Appeals’ decision to suspend a hospital in Cebu that led to a loss of at least P90 million in benefit claims from PhilHealth.

Charges of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, usurpation of judicial functions, grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, grave abuse of discretion, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service were filed against former acting president and chief executive officer roy Ferrer; former Board of Directors members

ruperto Aleroza, eddie Dorotan, Joan Cristine reina Liban Lareza, Hildegardes Dineros and Anthony Leachon; current Board members Celestina ma. Jude de la Serna and roberto Salvador Jr.; Charade mercado Grande; Board Corporate Secretary Jonathan mangaoang; officer in Charge Board Corporate Secretary Lora mangasar; and the Perpetual Succour Hospital of Cebu Inc. (PSHCI).

In the complaint, roque stated that the Court of Appeals had issued a final and executory decision on April 19, 2018, finding PSHCI guilty of the offense of extending Period of Confinement. It imposed a penalty of three months suspension and a fine of P10,000. on Jan. 10, 2019, however, the PhilHealth Board granted the motion of reconsideration, removing the penalty of suspension from Jan. 21, 2019 to April 20, 2019 and increased the penalty fine to a maximum amount of P100,000, with restitution of all benefits unnecessarily paid

by Philhealth. roque, in the complaint, estimated that PhilHealth incurred an average of at least P90 million in unnecessarily paying PSHCI benefit claims over the threemonth suspension.

He sought the preventive suspension of the sitting Board members of PhilHealth; criminal prosecution of respondents for graft and usurpation of judicial functions; liability for grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty and grave abuse of discretion; and dismissal from the service, cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits and

perpetual disqualification from public office of the respondents. roque said he would be filing five more cases, including another similar charge involving the hospital Perpetual Help of Jesus, “fake receipts” of the Philippine overseas employment Administration to overseas Filipino workers and unremitted payments of two multinational corporations.

He added that the filing of charges was aimed at holding top executives responsible, not just small employees who were only following orders from their superiors. roque expressed dismay over an allegedly flawed case that PhilHealth’s legal department filed against Wellmed Dialysis Center. “either they in the legal department were incompetent or they had intended to file a sloppy complaint. I think the motive for filing a wrong complaint against Wellmed was that PhilHealth did not want to have anything to do with whistleblowers… I think the dark forces in PhilHealth want to remove protection for the PhilHealth whistleblowers to discourage them to talk against Wellmed,” roque said.

In June this year, the Department of Justice approved the filing of charges against Wellmed owner Bryan Sy, and Wellmed personnel Liezel Aileen de Leon and edwin roberto.

The department said the three conspired to collect payments from PhilHealth for medical services for kidney patients who were already dead.

De Leon and roberto have since turned into whistleblowers. n

Congressman says expanded good...

PAGE A6 solidated by the Senate version.

Then senators manuel Villar Jr., Francis escudero and miriam Defensor Santiago were the authors of the eight measures.

Among those who signed report No. 82 were the authors’ colleagues Loren Legarda, Antonio Trillanes IV, Franklin Drilon, ramon revilla Jr., Sergio osmeña III, Francis Pangilinan, Aquilino Pimentel III, Ferdinand marcos Jr., Panfilo Lacson, manuel Lapid, Alan Peter Cayetano, the late Joker Arroyo and edgardo Angara, Jinggoy estrada, Teofisto Guingona III and Vicente Sotto III. The Senate version, which had

the same title “An Act amending Articles 29, 94, 97, 98, and 99 of Act No. 3815, as amended, otherwise known as the revised Penal Code,” became the basis of rA 10592.

It is under Bill 3064 and the law that senators expanded the GCTA. “They were so generous in giving all kinds of good conduct allowances. If all those GCTAs are given, a convict may end up walking out of prison a few days after walking in,” an unnamed congressman told The Philippine Star.

He urged the senators to review the expanded GCTA law, noting that under the present law, a con-

vict is entitled to 20 days of deduction from his sentence if he shows good behavior during the first two years of imprisonment.

“This means that he should be in prison for only 10-11 days each month. From the 11th year onwards, he is allowed 30 days in GCTA, which translates to no prison service or just one day in prison,” he said.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Thursday also create a committee to review the guidelines of the time allowances, after a joint department order directing a 10-day suspension of the GCTA. n

documents.

In a statement, the DoT said Tourism Secretary Bernadette mANILA — The Department romulo-Puyat already instructed of Tourism (DoT) on Thursday, the department’s officials to preAugust 29, gave assurance it pare the documents and comply would review recent findings of with the CoA requirement.

It said Puyat “maintains that the the Commission on Audit (CoA) flagging P503.7 million in dis- agency remains committed to the bursements made by the depart- administration’s policy of transment in 2018 without supporting parency and accountability.”

by Krissy

aguilar Inquirer.net

The CoA report said P484.1 million of the undocumented expenses were made by the department’s central office. regional DoT offices in Central Luzon and Caraga regions also have disbursements not covered by documents. The Central Luzon office spent P6.8 million while the Caraga office spent P4.6 million. n

The ‘designated survivor’: How does it work in real life? by gaea

Katreena Philstar.com

CabiCo

mANILA — “Designated survivor” may not just be a show on Netflix or a practice of the United States government should the bills filed in both chambers of Congress become law.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson and rep.

Precious Castelo (Quezon City) filed Senate Bill 982 and House Bill 4062, respectively, which seek to allow the president to delegate a successor from his Cabinet officials ahead of an event

that brings the major players of the government together.

This usually happens whenever the chief executive delivers the annual State of the Nation Address.

Under the 1987 Constitution, the vice president is next in the line of succession in case of the president dying or becoming incapacitated. The vice president will be followed by the Senate president and the House speaker.

But there is no constitutional provision if all successors die or

become permanently disabled.

Both bills proposed that the “designated survivor” would become the new president if the top four government officials die or become permanently disabled to lead the country.

“I noticed during SoNA, everybody is there practically. The president, vice president, Senate president, House speaker are present. So knock on wood, for example, there’s an extremist or terrorist who will bomb Batasan and everyone dies, we won’t

u PAGE A9

A8 AUGUST 31-SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

OPINION

National social emergency

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

FEATURES

WHEN an impoverished 15-year-old girl gets pregnant, she usually drops out of school, and the disruption in her education can be long-term. The next two or three years are devoted to caring for the baby – unless a second one comes along, and a third…

Such cases, including the repeat pregnancies during the teenage years, are becoming increasingly common nationwide, with even girls as young as 10 getting pregnant, according to population experts. The number of teenage pregnancies has reached such worrisome proportions that President Duterte recently called a multi-agency summit on the problem and declared it a “national social emergency.”

Data gathered by the Commission on Population showed that an average of 196,409 Filipinos aged 15 to 19 years get pregnant each year.

That’s about 24 babies born every hour to teenage mothers, or 500 a day, according to Popcom.

In 2017, about 2,000 of the pregnancies involved girls aged 10 to 14 years.

The social and public health issue has worried even economic planners. The National Economic and Development Authority estimates that lifetime earnings lost by women due to early childbearing can range from P24 billion to a staggering P42 billion.

The number of teenage pregnancies dipped by one percent from 2013 to 2017, according to Popcom. It’s not clear if this had anything to do with a more aggressive push by the Duterte administration for the responsible parenthood and reproductive health law, despite a restraining order issued by the Supreme Court on contraceptives.

The RH efforts, however, are clearly not enough. With the declaration of a national social emergency, the effort will involve not just Popcom and the Department of Health but also the Department of Education and local government units down to the barangays.

Popcom records show that the highest cases of unwanted teenage pregnancies occur among poor households. Often, both mother and child suffer from the consequences, with fewer economic opportunities and weaker health. The implementation of the seven-year-old RH law has been delayed enough. This national emergency deserves the urgent response that is accorded other emergency cases. (Philstar.com)

Editorial

Philstar.com photo

Americans overwhelmingly support stricter gun control laws to avoid more mass shootings — and the youth are doing what Republicans won’t do

The Fil-Am Perspective GEL SANTOS-RELOS ENOUGH of gun violence and mass shootings in America!

This is the overwhelming sentiment of Americans as revealed in a new Quinnipiac Poll conducted on August 21-26, 2019.

After the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio — added to the already troubling strings of massacre using guns in the United States —Americans have spoken out loud and clear.

The Quinnipiac Poll asked these questions: Q: Do you support or oppose stricter gun laws in the United States?

A: Support: 60 percent Republican support: 30 percent Democrats support: 89 percent Independents support: 61 percent Q: Do you support or oppose requiring background checks for all gun buyers?

A: Support: 93 percent Republican support: 89 per-

cent Democrats support: 97 percent Independents support: 94 percent Q: Do you support or oppose a nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons?

A: 60 percent support THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS have been the response of Republican lawmakers in Congress through decades, who had been blocking attempts by Democrats to enact sensible legislation to end the senseless deaths due to gun violence in the country.

Thoughts and prayers until the heat and opposition against gun violence cool down, a dirty tactic they have used to manipulate the American people.

In fact, a bipartisan comprehensive gun bill has been passed by the Democrat-led House, but Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell would not even debate nor vote on it on the floor. McConnell refused to do so because he said he would not subject a bill to a vote that President Donald

Trump would not support and sign into law.

Ayaw kumilos ng matatanda para matigil na ang mass shooting at gun violence, hayaan nating mamuno ang mga kabataan. Ito ang proposal nila sa kanilang “Peace Plan”: This plan is spearheaded by students and survivors of the mass shooting in February 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. They hope this “Peace Plan” will be considered by President Trump as well as his Democratic presidential rivals.

These young people also aim at making this plan serve as a catalyst for a surge of youth voters in the 2020 presidential elections.

“I think similarly to a lot of the country, I’m in a lot of pain right now,” lamented David Hogg, 19, a co-founder of March for Our Lives and a survivor of the shooting on February 2018.

“You see these shootings on TV every day and very little happening around it. It’s painful to watch. And I think it’s

been really hard for me and many of the other students and people that we work with to find hope in this time.”

The youth group March for Our Lives has channeled their grief, frustration and anger to working hard toward a solution to gun violence, focusing on voter registration and outreach across the United States over the past year and a half, building a national infrastructure with more than 100 chapters centered on grass-roots organizing. They hope to turn that into droves of voters at the polls next year.

As the Washington Post reported: “The Peace Plan would create a national licensing and gun registry, long a nonstarter with gun rights advocates; ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines; implement a mandatory gun buyback program; and install a “national director of gun violence prevention” who would report directly to the president and coordinate the federal response to what advocates call a national public health emergency.”

“It would dramatically increase restrictions around owning guns in ways sure to spark fierce blowback, including raising the age to 21 from 18 for those who want to buy guns. It calls for a ‘multi-step’ gun licensing system, overseen by a federal agency, that would include in-person interviews and a 10-day wait before gun purchases are approved. The license would be renewed annually.”

“In the vein of the Green New Deal, the Peace Plan takes a holistic approach to gun violence by also calling for automatic voter registration when those eligible turn 18, along with the creation of a ‘Safety Corps,’ which the authors compare to a Peace Corps for gun violence prevention. The plan also proposes communitybased solutions like mental health services, as well as programs to address and prevent suicide, domestic violence and urban violence.”

VOTE OUT people running for office who would not support it. They do not work for the

interest of the American people but are paid puppets of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the powerful lobby group who have invested millions of dollars in the campaigns of these Republicans now seating the White House and Congress.

These supposed public servants are the NRA’s co-conspirators in spreading misinformation about proposed gun laws that are already working in other industrialized countries in preventing gun violence. They manipulate the American people by instilling fear that their Second Amendment rights will be violated and that their guns will be taken away from them!

USE THE POWER OF YOUR VOTE! The United States is a government of the people, by the people, for the people. *** 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.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https:// www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos

Rapist-murderer’s near-release, a huge argument for capital punishment

Commentary

RIGOBERTO D. TIGLAO THE silver lining in the dark cloud that was the near-release of the rapist-murderer, former Calauan mayor Antonio Sanchez, is that the episode is a huge argument for the restoration of the death penalty.

How much more heinous can a crime be than that of Sanchez — a powerful and rich jueteng lord — who for a night’s entertainment raped the 19-year-old Eileen Sarmenta, then had his bodyguards also violate her, and ordered them to shoot her dead — in her face, as it turned out. His bodyguards followed Sanchez’s sadistic ethos, and tortured Sarmenta’s companion, Allan Gomez, before shooting him in the head.

A civilized society must have such a gruesome crime be punished with the severest form of penalty, depriving the perpetrator of his life. Sanchez’s release was under a law passed during former president Benigno Aquino 3rd’s administration, and apparently — to be frank, I’m not sure — would have occurred if not for the public outrage over it.

But how many rapists, murderers, rapist-murderers have been or

would be released under that law, without us knowing about it, or just because their crimes weren’t as high-profile as the rape and killing of a University of the Philippines Los Baños student and the murder of another. How many such rapists and murderers committed their crimes, thinking that at worse they’d just serve time, and not lose their life?

Not just because of my Catholic and Jesuit indoctrination but more importantly my wonder over the miracle of the phenomenon of life, I have been staunchly opposed to capital punishment. I believed that no social construct as the State has the right to decide whether a human being is to live or die, to methodically and deliberately snuff out his life as a punishment for a heinous crime.

But then, I have realized that such an argument, in essence is metaphysical — i.e., an abstraction that may or may not be based on reality. How can we make such an important decision such as the necessity or not of capital punishment based on metaphysics? (Its ideological cousin is liberalism — that the rights of an individual are infinitely more important than the need for a society to survive.)

This is the reason why Christianity — a religious system steeped in metaphysics — is so against

capital punishment. It was in fact the Catholic Church which pressured the Arroyo administration in 2006 to ban capital punishment in our country. The Church of course was so opportunistic, demanding the repeal in exchange for its support during those years when the Arroyo administration was besieged.

If you have bothered to read on this issue, there is no incontestable evidence for or against the death penalty — whether it is a deterrent or not, for instance.

Your choice rests almost entirely on whether you believe in the metaphysical claim that a human being’s life is “sacred” and transcends the needs of the society, without which, however, it could not have grown.

Imagine a small group of people, a tiny tribe in a harsh jungle full of enemies, a nomadic group by necessity in order to find new areas of fruit-bearing trees and easy-to-capture game. One of them turns out to be so anti-social, even psychotic, as to kill another member of the tribe.

Does that tribe have to debate that that criminal’s life is so sacred that he cannot be executed for his crime — even just to make it easier for the tribe to survive in that harsh jungle full of enemies?

Nations are in essence glorified

Antonio Sanchez, former mayor of Calauan, Laguna province, who is serving nine 40-year terms at the New Bilibid Prison, changed from prison garb to civvies on Thursday, Aug. 22, 2019. Maybe he was expecting to be freed anytime soon.

Inquirer.net photo by Grig Montegrande

tribes, albeit with sophisticated artifacts of civilization. The primordial task of a tribe or nation is to survive, internally by having strict laws that ensure order, and by having a deterrent against the members of the tribe killing each other.

Economic and societal growth, including military and police forces, would increase a society’s strength that there could be a consensus that capital punishment is

unnecessary for its survival and as a deterrent. We certainly haven’t reached that state, and I believe that Sanchez was so powerful and rich that he probably would have bribed his way out of jail after just 27 years there, apparently in comfort.

This is the reason why most advanced countries, especially those in Europe, ban the death penalty, while those only recently developed —China, Russia, Singapore

— or are still struggling to get out of its Third World status — us, Pakistan, India — continue to have the death penalty.

This is also the reason why Christianity is against the death penalty, while Islam and Hinduism aren’t. Christianity had become the religion of Western countries, which have become developed economies. Islam has been the religion of mostly still-undeveloped nations. (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.

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A

Prosecutors junk motion questioning OSG authority in sedition preliminary probe

by Kristine Joy

Philstar.com

UP BIKE SHARE. Nestor Michael Tiglao (left), UP Bike Share Project founder and CEO of Adapsense Technologies, says the UP Bike Share is their contribution in preserving the Earth during the launching of the Intelligent Electric Transportation Network (IntEleT) at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City on Friday, August 30. Tiglao said the UP Bike Share currently operates a 3rd generation bike sharing system within the UP campus in Quezon City.

PNA photo by Rico H. Borja

The ‘designated survivor’: How does it work...

PAGE A7 have a successor,” Lacson said.

Lacson’s proposed legislation also suggests including the most senior senator and the representative based on the length of service in their respective chambers, and a Cabinet member chosen by the president in the line of succession.

Inspired by fiction, US policy In an interview Thursday, Lacson said he was “sort of” inspired by the political thriller drama “Designated Survivor.”

In the show, U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Tom Kirkman, played by Kiefer Sutherland, became the most powerful man in the country after the U.S. Capitol building is blown up during the State of the Union address.

Kirkman is the “designated survivor”—the Cabinet member who sits out of a major event that brings U.S. leaders together—in case of a catastrophic attack.

But Kirkman’s character is a real one within the U.S. government. The real-life “designated survivor” waits in a secret and secure location during big events—when all of the individuals in the line of succession are in the audience.

The “designated survivor”

would be the one official to maintain continuity of the government if tragedy strikes.

The U.S. Senate has a list of real-life “designated survivors” of every State of the Union address.

Cold War-era practice According to a Washington Post report, the concept first arose during the Cold War amid fears the Soviet Union could wipe out the U.S. government with a nuclear attack when all of the country’s leaders were gathered in one place such as the State of the Union or an inauguration.

“But since the terrorist attacks 15 years ago, the role has become much more serious. Cabinet members selected in recent years did not return calls asking about the experience, or they answered with a stern ‘no comment.’ Turns out, it’s a security breach to discuss any detail,” the Washington Post article said.

The United States president and his staff choose the “designated survivor.” Like the chief executive, the “designated survivor” must be at least 35 years old and a natural-born citizen.

The “designated survivor” gets presidential-level security from the U.S. Secret Service and is brought to an undisclosed fa-

cility outside of Washington.

This policy is governed by the Presidential Succession Act, which aims to create a sequence of succession in case of the president dying or becoming incapacitated. The sequence goes: vice president, then House speaker, then Senate president pro tempore, then secretaries of state, treasury, defense, the attorney general, and the secretaries of the interior, agriculture, commerce, labor, health, human services, housing and urban development, transportation, energy, education, veterans affairs and homeland security.

Continuity of government During and after the Cold War, countries developed their own continuity of government plans to allow or minimize confusion and disorder due to a power vacuum in case of a catastrophic event such as a nuclear attack.

Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Republic of Ireland, Israel, Norway and Sweden built bunkers to house government officials, members of royal families or military personnel and even civilians in case of nuclear or military attacks.

France and the United Kingdom have their own hardened command centers. n

Patag

MANILA — State prosecutors junked respondents’ challenge to the authority of the Office of Solicitor General to represent the police as respondents in the sedition complaint against key opposition figures.

The panel of state prosecutors ruled that it has no authority to “disqualify the OSG” from the preliminary investigation of the complaint.

They, however, stressed that the denial of the respondents’ motion is “without prejudice to respondents’ recourse, when they so desire, to bring such issue before the proper forum.”

Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Olivia Torrevillas, Assistant State Prosecutor Gino Paolo Santos and Assistant State Prosecutors Michael John Humarang signed the order.

Urbano doctrine The camps of Sen. Leila de Lima, Otso Diretso bets Chel Diokno, Erin Tañada and Gary Alejano and former Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te moved for the disqualification of the OSG during the ongoing preliminary investigation at the DOJ. They raised that Supreme Court jurisprudence dictates that “the Office of the Solicitor General cannot appear in preliminary investigations.”

Citing Urbano v Chavez, FLAG said the SC stressed that the OSG can only participate in criminal cases once it reached the appellate courts.

“It is the office of the city, provincial or state prosecutor, as the case may be, and not the Office of the Solicitor General, which attends to the investigation and the prosecution of criminal cases in the first instance,” the SC said in the 1990 ruling.

The panel said that while it is aware of the Urbano doctrine, it noted that the case involved the OSG representing a respondent during the preliminary probe, which is why the panel “cannot equate in the alleged disqualification of the OSG to represent CIDG in this preliminary investigation.”

The panel also stressed that its principal task “is to determine the existence of probable cause that the crimes charged in the complaint were committed and that respondents are probably guilty thereof.”

Solicitor General Jose Calida

“The panel deems it prudent not to make any determination as to the qualification or authority of the OSG to represent complainant CIDG as the issue remains particularly contentious,” the order read.

“In this view, the panel holds that it is not within its powers to disqualify OSG from representing CIDS in these proceedings,” it added.

Robredo denies ever meeting Advincula On Thursday afternoon, Vice President Leni Robredo went to the Department of Justice to file and subscribe to her counter-affidavit where she told the panel that she never met with Peter Joemel Advincula, the PNP’s respondent and witness in the complaint.

“To make it clear, I have never met Mr. Advincula. The first time I saw Mr. Advincula was in the news coverage of the press con-

Philstar.com photo

ference held at the office of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines on May 6, 2019,” she said.

Advincula, who twice claimed to be “Bikoy” in the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” videos, accused Robredo and several others associated with the opposition of scheming to oust President Duterte.

The vice president said she was not in the supposed meeting that happened at the Ateneo de Manila University last March 4, as she was attending events at the City of Bocaue and Municipality of Bustos, Bulacan Province on the said day.

“Aside from this bare and perjurious allegation of my purported presence in an alleged meeting on March 4, 2019 which again, is impossible, there is no other allegation of any act on my part in furtherance of the alleged crimes charged,” she added. n

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PNP files kidnapping raps vs Trillanes, 3 others

by Kristine Joy

Philstar.com

Patag

MANILA — The Philippine National Police has filed kidnapping with serious illegal detention complaint against former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and three others.

The PNP-CIDG accused Trillanes of violating Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code over the alleged kidnapping of Guillermina Lalic Barrido, also known as Guillerma Arcillas.

Others named as respondents are Fr. Albert Alejo, lawyer Jude Sabio, a certain “Sister Ling” of the “Convent of Cannussian Sisters” in Makati City and other unidentified persons.

The order named in the CIDG complaint does not exist although there is a Canossian Daughters of Charity convent in Paco, Manila.

The complaint stemmed from Barrido’s signed affidavit where she claimed that in December 2016, she was brought to a room in the “Convent of Cannussian Sisters” and was not allowed to leave.

Barrido said she was later transferred to a convent in Quezon City. She claimed she was accompanied by Alejo, Sister Ling and a certain Olivia, who is supposedly a member of the staff of Vice President Leni Robredo.

She said that Trillanes had repeatedly called her, telling her she cannot leave unless she signs the affidavit.

“It is clear from the foregoing that herein respondents feloni-

ously, maliciously and intentionally put the complainant under detention for 14 days in order to force her to do something against her will,” the PNP-CIDG said.

Trillanes: A clear case of harrasment In a statement, Trillanes slammed the PNP’s complaint as a clear case of “harrassment and persecution of Duterte against his critics.”

The former senator said he never met Barrido, but he has information that the woman earlier volunteered to testify against the president.

“Ang impormasyon ko dyan ay isa syang nagboluntaryong mag testigo laban daw kay Duterte pero butas butas ang kwento at nanghihingi diumano ng pera kapalit ng kanyang salaysay kaya hindi tinanggap bilang testigo. Tapos ng hindi nabigyan ng pera, bumaliktad (The information I received was that she was supposedly a voluntary witness against Duterte but her story has many holes, and she allegedly asked for money in exchange for her testimony, so she was rejected as a witness.

Then, when she wasn’t given money, she switched sides),” he added.

Bribery claim vs Trillanes This is not the first time that Barrido hurled accusations against Trillanes, a vocal critic of President Rodrigo Duterte.

In 2017, Barrido sought assistance from then Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, claiming that she received death

threats from Trillanes’ camp.

She also claimed that the former senator’s camp offered her P1 million to implicate President Rodrigo Duterte in the killings carried out by the Davao Death Squad, and to support testimonies of Edgar Matobato and Arthur Lascañas.

Sabio served as legal counsel of Matobato, man who has testified in the Senate that he was part of a hit squad that operated on Duterte’s orders.

Sabio and Trillanes are among the parties that called the International Criminal Court’s attention to alleged extrajudicial killings in the country under the Duterte administration.

Trillanes denied Barrido’s allegations and called her a “planted witness.”

Students of the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City hold a protest after walking out of their classes to condemn what they Bikoy, sedition complaint Philstar.com photo by Michael Varcas PNP-CIDG’s kidnapping com- see as creeping militarization and crackdown on activism and academic freedom. plaint came after they filed sedition raps against Trillanes, Robredo and other known opposition personalities.

Central to the PNP’s complaint is the testimony of Peter Joemel Advincula, who claimed MANILA — The protection all individuals concerned and organizations—may it be politito be “Bikoy” of the “Ang Totoof civil and political liberties of must be observed in all circum- cal or not—and have the agency ong Narcolist” video series. to come and go as they please Advincula accused Trillanes students and faculty members stances.”

The entry of police and mili- according to their best interest,” and 30 others as the persons must be observed at all times behind the anonymous video se- amid the increased presence of tary personnel in schools to De Guia said.

She added: “If there are any ries linking the Dutertes to the military and security forces in- counter alleged leftist recruitment raised strong concerns side educational institutions, the academic or legal consequence drug trade, a supposed scheme Commission on Human Rights from both the academic and stemming from this kind of into tarnish Duterte’s reputation. civil society, who described the volvement, grievance mechaThe PNP said that Barrido’s said.

“Although it is the police and government’s move as a crack- nisms for students and parties affidavit “which was executed earlier than the complaint of military’s mandate to maintain down against activism and aca- involved should be in place.”

But for the Armed Forces of [Advincula] has an impression peace and security, the commis- demic freedom.

Last week, students and facsion upholds that safety policies the Philippines, the proposal to of similar modus operandi to inwithin school campuses must be ulty of the University of the send soldiers to school will not cite sedition.” n in close coordination and con- Philippines community staged lead to militarization and curtail sultation with the university ad- a walkout in different campuses academic freedom. ministrators,” CHR spokesper- nationwide. In 1982, UP and the “There is no curtailment of son Jacqueline De Guia said in a Department of National Defense academic freedom because we signed an agreement that cops do not intend to and will not statement on Friday, August 30. revisions designed to better She added: “It should be in and soldiers are prohibited from intervene in the determination measure “urban resilience” or accordance with the law and entering any UP campus with- of what subjects to be taught, the ability of cities to absorb and other agreements between se- out authorization from UP ad- who will tech and how it will be bounce back from shocks. curity forces and academic in- ministration. taught,” Brig. Gen Edgard AreIt noted that the concept has stitutions. These measures must “Students have the right to valo, AFP spokesperson, said in had an increasing influence on guarantee the utmost protection organize and involve themselves a statement Sunday. (Philstar. thinking in urban safety over the of civil and political liberties of freely and voluntarily in various com) last decade, especially as policymakers worry about the implications of climate change.

“Urban management will play a fundamental role in defining

by Liza guerrero naKPiL the quality of life of most human Philstar.com beings in the coming years. A key element of this will be the MANILA — The “Holy Grail” of ability of cities to provide securiPhilippine maps, the Murillo Vety for their residents, businesses larde Map of 1734, has surfaced and visitors,” it added. at León Gallery as an important The results, it noted, highlighthighlight of its Magnificent Seped the importance of addressing tember Auction on Sept. 14. basic requirements in each of The map is certainly the counthe pillars. (Philstar.com) try’s most famous as a result of the submission of one other copy to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on the matter of Panatag or Scarborough Shoal, shown as “Panacot” on the map.

The seminal work “Philippine Cartography 1320 – 1899,” recently edited by Dr. Carlos Madrid, declared how this landmark map “became the iconic representation of the historical position of the Philippine republic, thus imbuing the map with inordinate importance and international relevance.”

Furthermore, Dr. Madrid emphasized, “the court clearly affirmed that historical cartography The Murillo Velarde Map of 1734, showing Panatag or Panacot shoal (encircled in red by The evidences a connection between Star), is seen as the highlight of León Gallery’s September auction.

Contributed photo Scarborough Shoal and the Philthe center point and four com- They illustrate the various inhabippine mainland.”

Jaime Ponce de Leon, director pass roses at the cardinal points itants of these islands, country of León Gallery, said that he had of the hidden circle formed by life, exotic animals such as bats, been in pursuit of the Murillo Ve- intersecting rhumb lines. Two crocodiles and snakes, as well as larde Map of 1734 from “a very tracks for the Manila Galleon are the plans of Zamboanga, Cavite, distinguished private collector” shown, one around the north of Guam and Old Manila.

The map and these panels for several years. It was only this Luzon and the other through the year, however, that the owner fi- San Bernardino Strait, as well as were engraved on eight copper nally decided to share it with the the routes taken by Ferdinand plates. They were captured by collecting world and send it to a Magellan and for trading with the English when they occupied China.”

Manila from 1762 to 1764 and new home.

The entire work was engraved taken to England supposedly as The Murillo Velarde Map is historically important not only and printed by Nicolas de la Cruz war booty where they were debecause it influenced several Bagay, who was responsible posited at the Admiralty. These generations of the world’s map- for producing some two dozen precious plates are now nowhere makers but also provided an books for the Jesuits in the Phil- to be found, and have been theoimportant record of the Philip- ippines. Other illustrations were rized “to have been rubbed down pines, its seas and moreover, the intricately drawn by Francisco and re-used” in the 19th century people of our country. It was also Suarez. Both he and De la Cruz to make other maps.

Complete original copies, inthe culmination of two centuries Bagay signed and described cluding the vignettes, are thereof map-making and was the most themselves as “Indio Tagalog.”

Moreover, it is “not only the fore exceedingly rare and are to accurate till then and long after.

According to the “Mapping map’s size, accuracy, detail and be found in the most important the Philippine Seas” catalogue, aesthetics but also its twelve ex- repositories, including the Naproduced by the Philippine Map quisite engravings to be found tional Library of Spain, the National Library of France, the LiCollectors Society, the map on its two side panels.”

It is these vignettes or ‘tarj- brary of Congress in Washington “shows coasts, towns and interior topography, and is also a etones’ that make the complete and, now, in a handful of private sea chart with a stylized sun as Murillo map a marvel to behold. collections in the Philippines. n

CHR: Safety policies in schools must guarantee protection of civil, political liberties

Manila ranks 43rd of 60 in Safe Cities Index MANILA — While still lagging behind other major cities worldwide, Manila has improved its ranking in the 2019 Safe Cities Index released by the Londonbased Economist Intelligence Unit.

Manila ranked 43rd overall out of the 60 cities included in the report, up from 55th in the last index released in 2017.

The report measures the safety of cities by looking at 57 indicators grouped into four pillars: digital, health, infrastructure and personal security.

Per pillar, Manila ranked 45th on digital security; 48th on health security; 46th in infrastructure security; and 40th in personal security.

For the third time, Tokyo, Ja-

pan was ranked as the safest city among the 60 included in the report.

It was followed by Singapore, Osaka (Japan), Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Sydney (Australia).

Completing the top 10 are Toronto (Canada), Washington D.C. (United States), Copenhagen (Denmark), Seoul (South Korea) and Melbourne (Australia).

At the bottom are Bogota (Colombia), New Delhi (India), Jakarta (Indonesia), Casablanca (Morroco), Cairo (Egypt), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Karachi (Pakistan), Yangon (Myanmar), Caracas (Venezuela) and Lagos (Nigeria).

According to the report, the 2019 Index introduced major

Holy grail of Philippine maps surfaces at auction

Groups buck ‘no homework’ bills

by Jan

arciLLa ManilaTimes.net

THE Federation of Associations of Private Schools and Administrators (Fapsa), ACT Party-list and Teachers’ Dignified Coalition (TDC) on Wednesday, August 28, opposed the proposed “no homework policy,” which was endorsed by Education Secretary Leonor Briones.

ACT party-list Rep. France Castro said the giving of homework is part of academic freedom and teaching strategy of teachers.

“Noong teacher ako, hindi naman ako madalas magbigay ng homework pero need ito para mapalalim or as a remedial/ enhancement ng knowledge

(When I was a teacher, I did not assign too many homework but it is needed to deepen and enhance the knowledge of a student),” Castro said in a text message.

TDC, meanwhile, said the issue does not need legislation and should be settled by the Department of Education (DepEd).

“It seems that the legislature assumes the tasks and functions of DepEd and its teachers — curtailing our right to academic freedom,” it said.

The group said homework might also strengthen the bond between students and their parents.

Meanwhile, Fapsa President Eleazardo Kasilag said the use of gadgets, malling and playing

of computer games should be banned instead because these distract students.

Sorsogon First District Rep. Evelina Escudero filed a bill on Monday that seeks to eliminate homework as a class requirement.

Under the measure, teachers are barred from assigning homework to students from kindergarten to grade 12.

Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas filed a similar bill but his measure seeks to ban homework on weekends.

On Wednesday, Vargas apologized for the “accidental insertion” of a P50,000 fine against teachers who will violate his proposed “No Homework on Weekends” bill. n

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SHOWBIZ&STYLE Journal

Filipina American actress lands recurring role on soap opera ‘The Young and the Restless’

by AJPress

A FILIPINA American actress is now a recurring guest star on CBS’ “The Young and Restless,” one of the longest-running soap operas.

R&B singer Jules Aurora comes to the series as Indio, a social media influencer.

“My character…isn’t too far off from my actual life,” Aurora told the Asian Journal. “It was amazing to work on set with so many seasoned actors. I fell in love with it and there R&B singer and actress Jules Aurora poses in front of CBS Studios in Los Angeles after taping an episode of “The Young will definitely be more to and the Restless,” in which she will be a recurring guest star come in all avenues of my career.” named Indio.

The Filipina American talent starred in East West Players’ “Mamma Mia!” which “awakened a love for acting.”

“The Young and the Restless,” which first aired in 1973, is set in a fictionalized version of Genoa City, Wisconsin. It continues to be the the highest-rated daytime drama on American television.

“This role has opened up a new door within the realm of TV and film and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be making progress and learning new things,” Aurora added.

Lovi on her new love life: ‘I am happy’ BY the time you read this column, Lovi Poe will already be in Canada. She was sent there

by GMA Pinoy TV to grace two events — the “Fiesta Filipino” in Calgary Olympic Plaza in Calgary on Saturday and “Food Trip 2019” at Tyndall Park Community Center in Winnipeg on Sunday. She will perform in shows and of course mingle with Filipinos living in those parts of The Great White North.

A week ago, Lovi said she was given an orientation on what to do and what to expect at both events.

It isn’t her first time to Canada but she considers this trip very special.

“It’s something deeper for me now when I travel and perform for our fellow Filipinos out of the country,” she started on a serious tone. “Maybe it’s because I just lived in another country for some months so I know how it is PAGE B4

Love Poe

Photo from Instagram/@lovipoe

Aurora recently performed the national anthem in front of a crowd of 37,000 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California during the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team match against Ireland.

A Southern California native, Aurora is best known for her appearances on FOX’s “American Idol: Season 10,” as a Hollywood week finalist, and “The X Factor: Season 3,” as a finalist in the Top 50 girls. She has released an R&B EP project entitled “Worth It.”

Jules Aurora as Indio in “The Young and the Restless”

B

B August 31 - september 3, 2019 • LA WeeKeND AsIAN JOurNAL

EntErtainmEnt

Philippine Chamber Singers LA make transcendental history in Dream Orchestra’s first International Choral Festival Rhizomes

Prosy AbArquezDelAcruz, J.D. “THERE exist realities that pervade the entire universe either through the vast reaches of unimaginable light-years of space or the vast journeys of unimaginable eons of time. There exist presences that allow us an intimacy with God. Theologians and philosophers have long spoken of these values, presences, and realities. These are the “transcendentals”: the true, the good and the beautiful. How can a finite human creature experience or even speak of the infinite God? How can the finite human creature name the nameless, perceive the imperceptible, make visible the invisible? In the past, theologians have answered these questions through the transcendentals. Because God is truth, goodness, even beauty itself, an experience of truth, goodness, or beauty is also an experience of intimacy with God. Because we depend on God for our very existence, we also depend on our experience of truth, goodness, and beauty for our very lives. Irenaeus, the great theologian of the second century, exquisitely phrased it: “The glory of the Lord is the living human being and the human being lives for the vision of God.” – Alejandro R. Garcia-Rivera, A Wounded Innocence: Sketches for a Theology of Art, 2003.

Little did Charles Lane (tenor of LA Master Chorale and cantor for the Archdiocese of Our Lady of Angels) know that his casual referral for the Philippine Chamber Singers - Los Angeles (PCS-LA) to participate in the Dream Orchestra’s first International Choral Festival would be a historical confluence with a formidable musical force of the past?

The festival was held on Saturday, August 24 at Herbert Zipper Hall in Colburn School of Music in downtown Los Angeles and the musical force, in particular, is Herbert Zipper, a Jew who settled in the Philippines.

Zipper fled the holocaust, secured a visa through his parents’

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

Celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival at Pechanga Resort Casino Win a share of $130,000

JOIN us at Pechanga Resort Casino in celebrating the MidAutumn Festival with our exciting $130,000 Harvest Moon Drawings on Friday, September 13 & 27. There will be 60 winners of EasyPlay and one grand prize of a new 2019 Mercedes each drawing day, come play and win a share of total $130,000.

Pechanga Club members can earn entries to the drawing by playing slots and table games from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Multiple entries can be earned depending on your membership/tier level: Red Card members can earn up to 8x entries; Platinum Card members can earn up to 5x entries; Gold Card members can earn up to 3x entries, and Silver Card members can earn 1x entry. On each drawing night, 20 winners of $250 EasyPlay will be announced at 6 p.m., 20 winners of $500 EasyPlay will be announced at 7 p.m., 20 winners of $750 will be announced at 8 p.m., while one grand prize Groups of chamber singers perform at the Colbourn School in Los Angeles as part of the Dream winner will be drawn at 9p.m. to Orchestra’s first International Choral Festival. drive away in a 2019 Mercedes Benz. Play more to win multiple times. Winners will be posted throughout the casino floor.

In addition, on Monday, September 9th, 16th, 23th and 30th, starting from 1pm to 9pm, Pechanga Club members can swipe their Club card at the Kiosk located in the promotion area to participate in the “Lucky Lanterns” promotion for a chance to win up to $1,000 in EasyPlay. For more information, please call 1-877-711-2946 or visit Pechanga.com.

All of us at Pechanga Resort Philippine Chamber Singers — LA were one of two Filipino American chamber groups during & Casino wish everyone a Hapthe festival on Saturday, August 24.

Photos by Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz, J.D. py Mid-Autumn Festival!

Cast Your Vote Daily for efforts, and became a conductor hectare Holocaust Memorial Park Pechanga in the 10Best Readin Rishon Le Zion, Israel.

“At the of the Manila Symphony Orchestra.

Unlike the United States and other Open Doors monument in Israel, ers’ Choice Award Pechanga Resort Casino, as countries that refused to resettle are written words of President the Jewish refugees fleeing the Manuel Quezon: ‘It is my hope the largest and most expansive holocaust, then-President Manuel and, indeed, my expectation that gaming resort in the United Quezon warmly welcomed Zipper, the people of the Philippines will States, has been nominated by along with thousands of Jewish have in the future every reason to gaming experts of USA Today families. Quezon would have wel- be glad that when the time of need for the “Best Casino Outside comed up to 10,000, but the inva- came, their country was willing Las Vegas” and the “Best Casion of the Japanese forces, which to extend a hand of welcome,’” sino Hotel” category of its curaccording to a post by Matthew rent readers’ poll this year. started World War II, happened.

The voting period ends MonThis open-door policy became John Ignacio, a former student at day, September 9 at 9 a.m. the subject of a documentary and the Colburn School.

The Los Angeles Times’ Patricia Pacific Time. Just last year, a monument honoring the PhilipPechanga’s Umi Sushi & Oyster PAGE B3 pines and Pres. Quezon at the 65Bar received second place in the “2018 Best Casino Restaurant” poll. In the same year, Pechanga also came in third for the “Best Casino Hotel” category and fourth for the “Best Casino Outside Las Vegas” category.

Readers are asked to vote for their favorites in each category and may do so once per day.

Please visit www.pechanga.com/ vote or click on the links below to vote for Pechanga: Best Casino Outside Las Vegas: https://www.10best.com/awards/ travel/best-casino-outside-of-lasvegas-2019/pechanga-resort-ca-

sino-temecula-calif/ Best Casino Hotel: https:// www.10best.com/awards/ travel/best-casino-hotel-2019/ pechanga-resort-casino-temecula-calif/ (Advertising Supplement)

Kapuso Network’s prime and most sought-after stars Derrick Monasterio, Bea Binene, Yasmien Kurdi, Gabbi Garcia, and Gil Cuerva, will headline the newest drama-action series “Beautiful Justice.”

GMA photo

Derrick, Gil show grit on new action-packed show

IT was an action-packed day for the male stars of “Beautiful Justice” when The Times visited them on the set. Male leads Derrick Monasterio and Gil Cuerva were busy as they separately rehearsed for their respective fight routines. On the main set, Carlos Agassi was getting beaten by members a syndicate he’s pursuing. Gabby Eigenmann, Will Devaughn and Victor Neri were on standby for their turn on the set.

Clearly, action is the order of the day for “Beautiful Justice.”

The routines are definitely taxing but the actors agree they’re enjoying all of it.

“This is one genre I’ve been dreaming of doing,” shared Derrick. “I’ve done action scenes in my previous shows but nothing like this one. Seryosong action ito and we’re really doing everything para mapaganda ng husto yung mga eksena.”

Right after his take, excitement was also all over Carlos’ face.

“It’s every guy’s dream to do scenes like this. It’s every young boy’s dream to be an action star.

I thank GMA for giving me this project. Sobrang sarap gumawa

ng action. Right after the take, I rushed to the monitor to review the scene that we did. I can say that I’m satisfied,” he said, definitely on a high from the stunts.

For Gil, on the other hand, “Beautiful Justice” is huge opportunity to grow as an actor.

“Action is new for me and trying it out for the first time, I’m enjoying it immensely. Beforehand I asked myself kung kaya ko ba nga ba mag-action but I also saw it as a challenge. I know that in order to be a well-rounded actor, one should really experience doing all kinds of projects and scenes. And to tell you the truth, sobrang na-e-enjoy ko yung fight routines.”

As for being the antagonist in the story, Will is bound to have endless encounters with PDEA agents who are after him in this riveting story about drug trade.

“I’m a drug lord here and I actually like the role. At least, it’s far from the goody-goody ones I always play. I get to have fight scenes with the group of Carlos and Gabby who belong to PDEA. Ang daming suntukan at barilan and I enjoy them all. Kasama ako dito but I can’t wait to see my action scenes on TV.”

In his past soaps, Gabby has always done drama and was once even a transgender in “Contessa.” But in “Beautiful Justice,” he plays the role of a PDEA agent who is very devoted to his task even if it means putting his own life in danger.

“Diyan papasok ang action and I’m so happy I’ve been given this project. I thought hanggang movies lang ako pwedeng mag-action but in ‘Beautiful Justice,’ action star ako and I enjoy it! Every one of us in the cast is really having fun,” he acknowledged.

But mind you, it isn’t just the male actors who’ll be deep into action for this new prime time series. The women also went into training for fist and gun fights as Gabbi Garcia, Bea Binene and Yasmien Kurdi become hunters of drug syndicates too. They’ll be up against the group of Bing Loyzaga and Valeen Montenegro who are actually the big fish in the trade.

“Our viewers are in for a treat.

Sobrang realistic ‘yung story namin at ‘yung mga eksena. All of us did our training para magandang tingnan sa screen yung action scenes sa show,” said Gabbi.

(ManilaTimes.net)

(818) 502-0651 â&#x20AC;˘ (213) 250-9797 â&#x20AC;˘ http://www.asianjournal.com

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL â&#x20AC;˘ AUgUSt 31 - SEptEmbER 3, 2019

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99 Ranch kicks off Moon Festival with mooncake specials A JOURNEY THAT FELT LIKE GOING â&#x20AC;&#x153;TO HELL AND BACKâ&#x20AC;? REACHES A HAPPY CONCLUSION WITH ATTY. MICHAEL GURFINKELâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HELP. Roselyn (center) married her U.S. citizen husband and acquired her green card. Unfortunately, their love did not last forever, and Roselyn left her abusive husband. Unknowingly, she became involved in felony forgery â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a crime that made her subject to deportation.

When she applied for citizenship, it was denied because of this past crime. After hiring three other attorneys and consulting with Atty. Gurfinkel at least four times, Roselyn decided to finally retain leading U.S. Immigration Attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel. Watch this success story on how Roselyn retained her green card, terminated her deportation, and paved the way for her naturalization in an encore episode of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Citizen Pinoyâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201C; on Sunday at 6:15 p.m. (PST) on TFC. (Advertising Supplement)

Philippine Chamber Singers LA make...

PAGE B2 Ward Biederman on Jan. 27, 1991 described Zipper as the conductor who formed a secret orchestra in a Nazi concentration camp: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Zipper survived Dachau and a subsequent stay in Buchenwald. He was released from the Nazisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;protective custodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in 1939 after his father, living in Paris, secured him an exit visa to go to Uruguay. Zipper was one of the lucky ones, able to slip out of the Nazisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; grasp before the war on the Jews escalated into the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;final solution.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; He came out of the camp a changed man. In such hellholes, he said, people are stripped to their essential selves. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I found where one can find the human gold â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and, of course, the opposite of it.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; He said he also came to appreciate the humanizing power of the arts. In the years that followed, Zipper organized other remarkable concerts in remarkable places.

Pulling together the shattered Manila Symphony Orchestra in 1945, its maestro celebrated the Allied liberation of Manila and the fall of the Third Reich with a performance of Beethovenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Eroicaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in the bombed-out shell of Santa Cruz Cathedral. Gen. Douglas MacArthurâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wife sat in the front row.â&#x20AC;?

Historical confluence of 1939 to 2019: Jewish Refugees to Gua-

temalan Refugees Aside from that historical confluence, the context of this international choral festival mimics the United Statesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; refusal then of Jewish refugees in 1939, as in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2019, wherein the 45th president has refused the entry of refugees from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.

Nicholas Kristof, an opinion columnist for the New York Times, described Guatemala as: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Food doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t grow here anymore, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why I would send my son north,â&#x20AC;? as Ana Jorge Jorge, a mother of two, told him in June 2019.

For the eveningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concert, the convergences of these refugeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; realities became the back-stories when PCS-LAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Artistic Director and Co-Founder Gelo Francisco led his group to spontaneously sing â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dahil Sa Iyo (Because of You)â&#x20AC;? in front of the large portrait of Zipper, one of the co-founders of Colburn School of Music, after the festival.

PCS-LA sang â&#x20AC;&#x153;Dahil Sa Iyoâ&#x20AC;? to welcome The Learners Chorus, a 45-member chorus, founded in 1979 by former members of the Hong Kong Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Union Choir, ranging in ages of 21 to 70 years old. Their repertoire included commissioned works by distinguished Hong Kong com-

posers.

History has a way of creating webs of confluence, in that this international choral festival happened while nearly two million Hong Kong residents, in the 13th week, have gathered to protest the extradition bill pending in their legislature.

Spontaneously, other choral groups joined PCS-LA to have a treasured photo in front of Zipper, a force who stood for freedom for music to exist both in Dachau and Manila.

Dream Orchestraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first International Choir Festival I was so inspired that two Filipino American choral groups were part of this inaugural festival: PCSLA and Inspirare, led by Melvir Ausente.

Bravos were heard at the end of PCS-LAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s two songs, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Anakâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Delgado Basil Valdez Medley.â&#x20AC;?

Truly exceptional! Enrique De La Cruz, my husband, described their performances as having distinct vocal textures.

Lisa Ulanday sang â&#x20AC;&#x153;Anakâ&#x20AC;? quite well, though I still remember her first solo at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, moving me and quite a few more to tears. That eveningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s performance was pitch-perfect, PAGE B4

99 Ranch Market San Gabriel store hosted the 2019 Moon Festival mooncake introduction event on Saturday, August 24, featuring an array of mooncakes for sale.

There was also a cooking show demonstrated by the culinary sauce brand Lee Kum Kee and a tea show demonstrated by a local cultural instructor. 99 Ranch Market has entered its 35 year anniversary, the brand will continue to provide high-quality products and services to all our customers.

Currently, there are multiple anniversary celebrations at the grocery branches around the nation. The special Moon Festival sales kicked off on Friday, August 30 in Southern California stores.

The ancient Chinese holiday celebrates the family reunion and season of harvest. 99 Ranch Market proudly presents the various kinds of delicious mooncake products as our way of sharing our goodwill and joy with all our customers. Whether you like the traditional mooncakes with red bean, lotus seed, mix nuts, or egg yolk pastes or the trendy ones like ice cream mochi, lava yolk, purple yam, you can find them all at your local 99 Ranch.

I-Mei is the leading mooncake brand from Taiwan; its products like Egg Yolk Gift Set, Oriental green bean cake, and Taiwan Scenery Mooncake Gift Set are very popular amongst our customers. The egg yolk mooncake comes with either Date or Walnut paste. It demonstrates the perfect combination of every ingredient: the golden crispy puff pastry shell, the savory taste of the egg yolk and the sweet taste of date or walnut. The green bean cake may look plain from the outside

AJPress photos

but the inner paste is full of flavor! Take one bite and feel the green bean paste melt on the tip of your tongue. It makes a great afternoon-tea snack.

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to bring a mooncake gift set when you visit your friends and families during this holiday season. Brands like Lily and TTJ both introduced the gift set with the name of CHI XING BAN YUE, meaning seven stars surrounding the moon. You probably have guessed right already that there are 8 pieces of mooncakes of different flavors in the very nicely presented gift box. The whole gift set is priced less than $40, what a great price!

If you are looking for a smaller set, you can also check out Lilyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Egg Yolk with Lotus Seeds gift set, TTJâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jing Chiu gift set, and more.

In recent years, the Lava Custard Paste mooncake has been successfully taking all the headlines of the mooncake introductions: when you cut it open, the golden egg yolk just flows down from the middle. Lava is a vivid

description of that fluid egg yolk paste. 99 Ranch Market not only carries the most popular Maxim Lava Custard mooncake but also offers more budget-friendly selections, like TTJ Lava Purple Yam and Lily Lava Durian flavors. If you are a mooncake fan, make sure to visit your local 99 Ranch Market today for great selections and great prices.

(Advertising Supplement)

Juicing Is a Perfect Blend for Immune Health

By Grace O

0\ KXVEDQG GULQNV IUXLW DQG YHJHWDEOH MXLFHV Ă&#x20AC; UVW thing in the morning, before he eats any solid food. He feels this is a good and gentle way to get his digestive system started on a daily basis. The blender or juicer does all the chewing for him so that his body can quickly begin absorbing all the nutrients from the produce. I insist on using organic fruits and vegetables for his juices and make sure everything is washed carefully before itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blended up. $ VXSHU VWURQJ EOHQGHU SUHVHUYHV WKH Ă&#x20AC; EHU IURP WKH fruits and vegetables, whereas a juicer separates out PRVW RI WKH Ă&#x20AC; EHU IURP ZKDWHYHU SURGXFH LV WKURZQ into it. Of course, a juicer is easier to use because it requires no peeling or coring or seeding of the ingredients. To make juices in my juicer, I remove seeds, peels, and rinds (from limes or watermelon), and cores (from apples and pears). So a bit of prep work is necessary. But then I press the â&#x20AC;&#x153;whole juiceâ&#x20AC;? button and the blender slowly ramps up its VSHHG XQWLO HYHU\WKLQJ LV OLTXHĂ&#x20AC; HG DQG VPRRWK LQ under a minute.

Juicing and blending is very popular with raw food fans. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s much easier to consume raw foods when

theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re whipped into smoothies or tamed into a juice. Plus, salads can get tiring after a while.

I develop juice and smoothie recipes around the FoodTrients philosophy (see more recipes on )RRG7ULHQWV FRP IRFXVLQJ Ă&#x20AC; UVW RQ WKH EHQHĂ&#x20AC; WV I want and then choosing those ingredients that will deliver them. I also keep in mind that many vitamins (A, D, E, K, and the carotenoids) need fat in order to be absorbed.

My Immunity Booster smoothie has yogurt, which has probiotics that keep the good bacteria in your LQWHVWLQHV Ă RXULVKLQJ 7KLV LV LPSRUWDQW EHFDXVH WKH intestinal tract is a main component of your bodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s immune system. Strawberries are very high in vitamin C, a known immunity booster. Limes also have vitamin C and the acid from their juice helps WKH VWRPDFK EUHDN GRZQ IRRG &HUWDLQ Ă DYDQRLGV LQ limes help detox the body and act as anti-bacterial agents. In some countries limes are used as a natural antibiotic. The carrot juice (or orange juice) provides beta-carotene which also helps boost immunity. If your strawberries arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t particularly sweet, add a teaspoon or two of honeyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;another of natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s antimicrobial wonders.

Immunity Boosting Blend Serves 2 Drinks Ingredients 1 cup yogurt 1 cup strawberries, hulls removed ž cup carrot juice (can substitute orange juice) juice from 1 lime 1-2 teaspoons honey (optional) Instruction Place all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth, about 30 seconds.

ABOUT GRACE O

GRACE O is the creator of FoodTrients, a unique program for optimizing wellness and longevity. She is the author of two award-winning cookbooks â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The Age Gracefully Cookbook and The Age Beautifully Cookbook, which recently won Gourmandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Best in the Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Award for Innovation. She is a fusion chef with a mission to deliver delicious recipes built on a foundation of anti-aging science and her 20 years in the healthcare industry.

Visit FoodTrients.com to learn more. Email us at info@FoodTrients.com

B4 AUGUST 31 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

Lovi on her new love life: ‘I am...

PAGE B1 to feel na na-mi-miss ang bansa natin and to feel very homesick.

So ngayon, mas nalalaman ko na siguro ang pinanggagalingan nila, that’s why when I perform for our kababayan or hanging out with them, ramdam ko kung ano nasa puso nila.”

It was early 2019 when Lovi left the Philippines for the US. It was a decision she made and prepared for months earlier. She wanted to take a vacation from showbiz

for at least half a year and live a life that is normal even for just a little while.

Was she burned-out? Maybe, but she refuses to acknowledge that feeling. What she felt was that her body was aching for a break and her mind wanted to take it easy. Her whole being was simply feeling tired.

“I just took a break from work and it was a much needed vacation. I thank GMA, of course, for giving me the opportunity to

reinvigorate my soul as an artist and as a person. I really wanted to give myself some time to take a break and rest, and also at the same time, study my craft.”

That six-month vacation indeed taught Lovi a lot. She learned to cook, do her laundry and drive for herself.

“I stayed at my sister’s [Sen. Grace Poe] house in San Francisco. She even lent me her car kaya may nagamit ako going around for errands. Then I also stayed in LA at West Hollywood. I really enjoyed everything. It was like an extended ‘me time.’ It was such an unforgettable experience.”

It was also in LA where Lovi found the new man who would make her happy.

When Showbuzz asked her for the record if she indeed fell in love on vacation, she let laughed and said, “Siyempre.”

Her eyes twinkling, she added, “Oo…and I’m happy. Happy naman ako on that aspect. Except for now na LDR [long distance relationship] kami. I mean let’s see how it goes kung ano man. I’m just very happy where I am now.”

Now that Lovi is back, she is just as happy to see her friends again. She admits she has missed them terribly. “Now that I’m back, it’s just nice to see these beautiful people again. It’s time for catching up with people I’m working with and it’s nice also to meet ‘yung mga bago kong makakatrabaho.”

Coming home for Lovi definitely means going back to work. She is now doing two movies, one with Regal Entertainment and another with Viva Films.

“I’m currently shooting ‘The Annulment’ with Joem Bascon.

It’s about a couple na may pinagdadaanan. And my other movie is with Viva and kasama ko naman si Marco Gumabao and Tony Labrusca. It’s called ‘In Between Goodbyes.’ It’s a story about letting go,” Lovi enthused.

TV-wise, Lovi is grateful for the success of her GMA Network series that are now being shown in different countries.

“The news has reached me na sobrang hit daw yung mga soaps ko na pinapalabas sa countries like Kenya, Vietnam, Myanmar and Malaysia. Imagine, may mga Kapuso tayo in those countries. I just hope I will be given a chance in the future to visit these places so I can personally meet them and thank them for their support,” Lovi expressed with a smile. (ManilaTimes.net)

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

The ‘write’ stuff for column writing MOONLIGHTING

by MYLAH DE

LEON

WHAT does it take to be a columnist, a weakness for words?

Every writer scrounges for inspiration in different places. I poached from current events and embellished to suit my plot. I felt no shame in raiding the headlines, as it is necessary. I’ve been taught that when attempting contemporary satire, sharp-eyed humor relies on topical reference point.

The pressure is wicked. Sometimes, when it threatens my sanity, I wish I listened to my mother and did something practical by becoming a doctor, lawyer or a teacher.

Unlike the novelist, poet, or playwright; columnists are not performing center ring, and must be content in their self-imposed role of second-class citizens in the world of literati. In that undisciplined existence, a columnist is licensed to be cheeky by drawing to so many strands of inconsistencies in human behavior, by getting away with a fair amount of authority.

It is its personal intimacy, a chatter with pen in hand, in an urban conversational manner. The writer seems to speak directly into your

ear, confiding, everything from wisdom to gossip in the usual seesaw of modesty and egotism; universality and touching eccentricity.

It deals lightly and harmoniously (even struggling for honesty) with personal experiences, opinions, prejudices…all having to do with the varied aspects of life.

Others say column writing is the most profound work of the intellect in the face of life. In spite of this, it is notoriously flexible and adaptable. For prose to move anywhere, in all the directions, it is open to digression and the promiscuousness of the mind.

It is fragmentary and random, as the writer gives you her spontaneous thoughts and lets you know, in addition to how she gets to the point. Through the seashell soul of intimacy, candor and irony, taking a stand on just about everything — from tragedies (which ennobles a man) to comedies (which cuts a man down to his size) — even rich speculations about a man’s sexuality, morals or lack of it. She draws out parts through similes, metaphors, hyperboles, and exaggeration in fleshing out ideas. As it says, what is at issue and then stops where it feels itself complete, not where nothing is left to see.

What joy it is indeed to write without playing the pedantic schoolmaster, void of all learning crammed out of books. Just a decent person looking at you or me, or anyone else of what she thought about life with mock

solemnity. You can take a stand on just about everything from political, to cultural, to personal life in a blend of reportage, getting away with what borders on autobiographical. You’d want to strangle that columnist who does his craft with glee.

Column writing represents a mode of living. It parts a way for the self to function with relative freshness in this uncertain world.

It doesn’t make excessive claims or compulsive sprinkling citations to get a free ride or other men’s brain.

In a field where objectivity is a kin to the Holy Grail, newspaper columnists are free to express opinion. Unfettered by the need to be objective or fair, columnists can be scathing in their criticism, unabashed in their praise funny or poignant, arrogant or intensely personal.

Political columnist George Will said, what distinguishes a valuable columnist is “an ability to see what everybody sees, but not in quite the way that everybody sees it.”

And according to Virginia Wolfe, all columns are addressed to the common reader she has defined as “that somewhat fussy figure who may or may not exist but has been solicited and inviled to partake.”

And now gentle readers, how to give an old saw a new twist as I cobble a column. *** E-mail Mylah at moonlightingmdl@aol.com.

The Beautiful Life Celebration returns this year Now accepting nominations for awardees

BY MONET

LU

NOMINATIONS are now open!

Join us in celebrating the contributions and achievements of Filipinos who help make the Filipino American community a place for beauty, passion and dedication.

The Beautiful Life Celebration is an awarding event in honor of our Kababayans who have displayed unparalleled outlook in life. It is held annually to commemorate honorable individuals and organizations that make up the beautiful Fil-Am community.

It also promotes cultural heritage and a love for “Pinay Beauty” by recognizing the beautiful Filipinas of all ages, hence the announcement of the 2019 10 Most Beautiful Fil-Ams (for Filipinas ages 16-26) and The Queen of Queens (ages 30 and above).

“Every Juan” (and Juanita) deserves to be celebrated. You may nominate individuals, businesses, and couples whose achievements and contributions in the community are worth recognizing.

It could be a friend, colleague, client, employee or employer

who deserves to be celebrated!

Consider nominating individuals or organizations whose accomplishments have yet to be publicly acknowledged. We have recognized hundreds of individuals who have excelled in their field, whether professionally, personally or both.

Recognitions include (but are not limited to) the following: “Most Distinguished Entrepreneurs,” “Most Distinguished Man/Woman in the field of (insert industry here),” “Most Distinguished Couples,” “Man of the Year,” “Woman of the Year,” and “Mother of the Year.”

We are not a pageant but we celebrate those individuals like queens.

Pageants empower and represent the beauty of a Filipina. The Beautiful Life Celebration Awards Gala celebrates beauty in ALL forms and ages. Every Filipina can be nominated for being one of the 10 Most Beautiful Fil-Ams, which is open for women ages 16-26; and of course the grand coronation of Queen of Queens, wherein each woman (ages 30 and above) will be crowned as Queen-International, Queen-Asia, Queen-Globe, Queen- World and Queen-Universe. Nominate now!

Now in its 31st year, the event has awarded celebrities namely Melanie Marquez, Aga Mulach, Dawn Zulueta, Gretchen Baretto, Lorna Tolentino, Sheryll

Cruz, Christopher de Leon, Hilda Koronel, Janine Tugonon, and Matt Ranillo III, among others.

Filipino-owned businesses such as Rustans have supported this event, as well as fashion designers, namely Louie Mamenggo, Randy Ortiz, Renee Salud and Fanny Serrano.

This year, the stage is ready for Mayor Isko Moreno and Mayor Richard Gomez to receive their awards as “Men of Distinction in the field of Public Service.” Also, the organization has invited “Star for all Seasons,” Vilma SantosRecto to receive a “Lifetime of Achievement” award.

All awardees will be honored at a Red and Black Awards Gala on Saturday, November 23 at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello, California.

For more information and to nominate awardees, contact Monet Lu at (213) 216 -4923 or email thebeautifullifecelebration@gmail.com. *** Monet Lu is a Marikina-born, award-winning celebrity beauty stylist with his own chain of Monet Salon salons across Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada. Ultimately, Monet is known as an all-around artiste who produces sold-out fashion and awards shows as well as unforgettable marketing campaigns. Monet is also the founder of the revolutionary allnatural beauty products such as Enlighten, your solution to discoloration . To contact Monet, please visit www.monetsalon.com or email him at monetsalon@aol.com.

Philippine Chamber Singers LA make...

PAGE B3 technically well done, and with half-measured emotional expression. Ulanday described it as without tears while her first rendition had tears.

I wrote my notes about PCSLA: multiplicity of voices is quite distinct; the layering of different tonal patterns was heard and each voice was a choral force.

I was so proud of how they sang with great expressions and pitch-perfect voices in harmony.

I have followed them for several years now but tonight, they were so at ease in singing and became front liners to many choirs that joined forces in singing, “You are a Blessing.”

Francisco attributed that to the group trust that the members have and who honored their vocal placement in the choral group.

Inspirare is a new choral group that sang “Cantate Domino,” “Alleluia” and “Jubilate Deo.” The audience could not wait to applaud them as they ended singing Cantate Domino. They too were evolving to be a good group.

Patrick Blackwell who sang a negro spiritual, “Every time I feel the Spirit,” had a commanding presence. He is a very tall man with such a beautiful voice that filled the four corners of this performing hall.

What a great performance!

One of the best groups for me was Episcopal Chorale Society led by Dr. Chas Cheatham, whose group’s tenors and sopranos are quite adept at singing negro spirituals that their voices carried forth to the corners of the hall, with such a vibrant and loud resonance of harmony and confidence. They sang “Every Praise” and when the soloist and the choral group sang “Come to Jesus,” the crowd sponta-

neously joined in the clapping.

“Total Praise” was compelling as well that the crowd ecstatically shouted bravos for the uplifting experience. You can sense they have been singing for some time now as some of their elder members walked onstage using a cane and a walker.

The Learners Chorus came from Hong Kong led by Apollo Wong, Music Director and Conductor and Kevin Cheng, Assistant Conductor. They had an extended repertoire, about 30 minutes for a 2 1/2-hour festival. They came solidly prepared to sing “Kyrie,” “Gloria,” “Credo,” “ Sanctus,” and “Agnus Dei.” KAMA Women’s Choir sang beautifully “This is My Father’s World,” and the crowd enjoyed their song, “People are more beautiful than Flower,” as they seemed upbeat. Their tonal volumes were louder and though a few members had visible swollen wrists and fingers, such that one can just imagine their pain, they all sang with gusto. These are elderly women, some with silver hair, and if you close your eyes for a moment, their voices projected well as the young voices half their age.

Kudos to the Chong-Hyun Song, Artistic Director.

As to the opening number, “Arirang Fantasy,” led by Daniel Suk, Artistic Director and Conductor, he explained that this piece was popularized when the New York Philharmonic orchestra played this piece in Pyongyang. This folk song must have been heard around the world by now. The 50+ young members sounded like one in harmony and as I glanced at the young ones onstage, I can’t help but feel nostalgic, remembering my daughter as one of the cellists at

LA Legal Philharmonic, which had their concert across the street at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Who would have thought that Zipper arriving in Manila in 1939 would reach out to us in 2019, via his portrait in Colburn? Perhaps it’s to remind us that because of the open-door policy of President Quezon, he survived to become one those who established a Colburn Music Fund, where on this August night, nearly half a thousand musicians were welcomed at the music school to perform in this first International Choir Festival?

Who would have thought that beautiful gospel and Praise to God music would connect us from the 20th to the 21st centuries, to remind us that it was music which liberated many folks from the ravages of the Holocaust and to further invite us to keep coming to Jesus.

When we perceive what is true, what is beautiful and what is good, we are intimate with God’s vision for humanity, as we see God’s creations with our eyes and we are not blind to humanity’s sufferings. An open door to music was a beautiful experience for us all that night! *** Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz, J.D. writes a weekly column for Asian Journal, called “Rhizomes.”

She has been writing for AJ Press for 10 years.

She also contributes to Balikbayan Magazine.

Her training and experiences are in science, food technology, law and community volunteerism for 4 decades. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of the Philippines, a law degree from Whittier College School of Law in California and a certificate on 21st Century Leadership from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She has been a participant in NVM Writing Workshops taught by Prof. Peter Bacho for 4 years and Prof. Russell Leong. She has travelled to France, Holland, Belgium, Japan, Costa Rica, Mexico and over 22 national parks in the US, in her pursuit of love for nature and the arts.

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COMMUNITY Journal

Filipino bishop installs first Filipino pastor at Incarnation in Glendale

Auxiliary Bishop Alex Aclan, of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Regional Bishop of the San Fernando Pastoral Region, formally installed Fr. Rodel as pastor of Incarnation Catholic Church on Saturday, August 17.

Photo courtesy of Incarnation Catholic Church

GLENDALE, Calif. – The Christian community of Incarnation Catholic Church formally received their new pastor, Rev. Rodel “Odey” Balagtas D.Min., on Saturday, August 17.

Fr. Rodel is 12th in the line of pastors and administrators of the parish (since 1927), also taking the helm as the first Filipino pastor of Incarnation.

More than a thousand worshipers filled the church when Auxiliary Bishop Alex Aclan, of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Regional Bishop of the San Fernando Pastoral Region, for-

mally installed Fr. Rodel as pastor of Incarnation. The Mass was celebrated with beautiful readings from the Bible, partaking of the Eucharist, inspiring prayers and music, the enthusiastic participation of the People of God, concelebrating priests, and his former students of the seminary from all over the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

After Bishop Aclan declared: “My dear friends, because I am aware of your pastoral needs, and am confident of Father Rodel’s qualifications of the office of Pastor, I now entrust to him the

Pastorate of Incarnation Parish,” a thunderous applause reverberated throughout the church and at the Patio where a loudspeaker was available for those who could not get into the church.

Fr. Rodel Balagtas came to the Incarnation Catholic Community from St. John’s Seminary where, for the past five years, he had served as Director of Pastoral Formation, Vice Rector, and Assistant Professor in the field of Ministerial Studies. Before that, he served as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles for 12 years. n

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • AUGUST 31 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

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Minding Your Finances Atty. RAymond BulAon ARE you constantly worried about your finances because of debts that you can no longer afford to pay? If you are in more debt that you can repay, you may be overwhelmed and don’t know what to do.

If you’ve tried to solve your debt problems on your own but nothing has worked up to this point, the prospect of filing bankruptcy may sound appealing. But perhaps you either don’t know enough about how bankruptcy works or have heard so many bad things about it that you don’t really know if it’s the right solution for you.

How can you tell whether bankruptcy is appropriate for your situation?

Generally speaking, the answer has to do with your ability to pay (or the lack thereof), your income, expenses, assets and the amount of your debt. You also need to look at the types of debt you have. For example, while most debts are dischargeable in bankruptcy, there are certain types of debts which are not.

For example, student loans, back child support and most taxes cannot be wiped out in bankruptcy.

The Prophetic Voice ReVeRend Rodel G. BAlAGtAS THIS past week, 330 of us priests of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, along with Archbishop Jose Gomez and his auxiliary bishops, were in La Quinta for a four-day convocation. The twofold goal of this gathering was to strengthen our fraternity as priests and to renew our priesthood.

The conference was successful.

It allowed us to share our joys and hopes and our struggles and challenges through table conversations and testimonies of some of our brother priests. It also inspired us because we realized that we’re not alone in the ministry.

First, we have parishioners who energized us with their faith and their love for the Church and their priests.

Second, we have one another as brother-priests in the ministry

Thinking of filing bankruptcy?

5 questions to ask yourself Here are a few helpful questions to ask yourself to help assess whether bankruptcy may be a good idea: The answers to these questions will not conclusively determine that you are a good candidate for bankruptcy but it is a good starting point.

Here they are: (1) Are you struggling to pay even the minimum payments on your credit cards and so end up paying late each time?

(2) Have you started borrowing money just to be able to cover your basic living expenses such as rent or mortgage, food, gas, etc? (3) Have you lost track of how much you owe? (4) Are bill collectors calling you because you have accounts in collection? (5) Have creditors taken legal action against you (or are threatening to do so) such as filing a lawsuit, obtaining a judgment and threatening to garnish your wages or levy your bank account?

If you said “yes” to any or most of the above, you could be in a “financial danger zone” and may need to take action as soon as possible before your financial problems get worse. It may be time to face your financial reality instead of simply hoping that somehow things will just magically change.

The truth is that unlike other problems in life, debt problems

usually don’t go away on their ownunless you take action. Perhaps you’ve been ignoring your pile of bills and the collection calls. But you can only do this for so long. Sooner or later, you will need to face your creditors and the consequences of your inaction.

Regardless of the cause of your present financial difficulties, what you need is a game plan to get out of debt before it cripples you. The past is no longer of any consequence unless you let it. And if you act quickly to turn things around, you will realize later that this decision often gives you more options in the long run.

If you need some straight talk about bankruptcy and get all your questions answered, I will give you a free initial consultation so we can talk about your situation. Just call 866-477-7772 and schedule an appointment. I have offices in Glendale, Cerritos and Valencia. *** None of the information herein is intended to give legal advice for any specific situation. Atty. Ray Bulaon has successfully helped thousands of clients in getting out of debt. For a free attorney evaluation of your situation, please call Ray Bulaon Law Offices at TOLL FREE 1 (866) 477-7772.

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Warren Buffett’s investing style

Tax & Stock Tips VictoR Sy, cPA, mBA

WARREN Buffett, the world’s greatest investor, loves value stocks – stocks that are trading below their intrinsic value. He uses investing tenets which are categorized in the areas of business, management, financial measures and value.

Value Buffett seeks a company’s intrinsic (built in, inherent) value.

He projects future earnings and

that is rational, one that reinvests or returns money to shareholders in the form of dividends.

Finances Buffett looks at Return on Equity (ROE), low leverage, high margins, and the company’s ability to generate cash flow. This is how he had made money as the greatest investor of all time. *** Victor Santos Sy graduated Cum Laude from UE with a BBA and from Indiana State University with an MBA. Vic worked with SyCip, Gorres, Velayo (SGV - Andersen Consulting) and Ernst & Young before establishing Sy Accountancy Corporation in Pasadena, California.

Modifying down child and spousal support obligation after a divorce

Barrister’s Corner Atty. Kenneth uRSuA ReyeS

DIVORCED parties are sometimes ordered to pay child support and spousal support in the divorce judgment. The support orders are generally based on the parties’ financial situation and custody arrangements at the time of the settlement or trial.

However, what if your income decreases after the divorce or what if your spouse’s income increases after the divorce due to a promotion or a better paying job? Do you have the right to modify your support obligation?

If your income has gone down substantially from the time that nothing. Anne Osdieck wrote the the child or spousal support defollowing prayer to speak about termination, you may be able to our “nothingness” without the file a modification of your suplove of God transpiring in our re- port obligation. Losing a job or lationships. having less income constitutes a Humilis, “lowly” material change of circumstancLiterally, “on the ground.” es that would allow the court to From Latin humus, “earth.” modify down your support obliWe emerge from the earth. gations.

And back to it we go.

Child support in California is With nothing when we come based on guideline formula. One and nothing to carry with us as of the factors that is considered we leave. in the guideline formula is your Nothing but love. gross income. Usually the court When we have nothing but your would look at several months or love, even an average of the last 12 we have it all, everything. months income. If your averLord, give us that one thing that age income has decreased, you is necessary. may be able to modify your child May we be humble to accept our poverty in spirit—that we cannot do our work without the power Tapat Sa of God’s love and one another!

Batas *** Fr. Rodel “Odey” Balagtas is the pastor of Incarnation Church in Glendale, California.

The power of being and working together for Christ!

during this critical period of the Church, which Fr. Ronald Rolheiser referred to as the “best time to be a priest.”

Indeed, the gathering made us profoundly appreciates the love and support of the People of God. We thank God for their unwavering faith and love for the Church.

In this critical period of the Church, we realized that we need the gifts and service of our people to strengthen our relationship as a family and a church community.

It’s the same thought that I told my parishioners during my installation as their pastor. I said to them that I have no reasons to fail, to worry, and to fear. It’s because I have a talented and dedicated staff and parishioners. I also have the encouragement and wisdom of Christ and the intercession of Mary and all the saints.

It takes humility to keep this attitude—to understand that without the power of Christ, we are

discounts them back to the present. He looks for companies with a wide economic moat - something that gives a company a clear advantage over others and protects it against competition. Moat minimizes or even eliminates risk from competition. Think Amazon.

Business Buffett adamantly restricts himself to businesses that he can understand and analyze. He considers this deep understanding of the operating business to be a prerequisite for a viable forecast of future business performance.

Management Buffett looks for management

Atty. RheA SAmSon

BAGO maaprubahan ang nonimmigrant visa ng isang dayuhan sa U.S. Embassy, kailangan munang magkaroon ng determinasyon ang U.S. consular officer kung ang aplikante ay may balak na manatili ng permanente sa U.S. Sa ilalim ng Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), mayroong pagpapalagay na lahat ng dayuhang pumupunta sa U.S. ay mga intending immigrants o gustong makakuha ng green card.

Ang dayuhang aplikante para sa nonimmigrant visa ay kailangang magpakita ng nonimmigrant intent sa pamamagitan ng ebidensya na: (1) siya ay may paninirahan sa kanyang bansa; (2) wala siyang balak na iwanan ang paninirahang ito; at (3) siya ay may balak na umalis ng U.S. bago matapos ang kanyang period of authorized stay. Dahil dito, kapag ang dayuhan na nakapasok na ng U.S. ay nag-apply ng change of status o adjustment of status, nagkakaroon ng isyu kung mayroon siyang “preconceived intent” at siya ay nagsinungaling noong siya ay binigyan ng visa o noong pumasok siya sa U.S. Sa guidance ng US Department of State (DOS) sa kanilang mga opisyal, mayroong “90day rule” para tulungan ang consular officers sa kanilang pagsusuri kung ang dayuhan ay mayroong willful misrepresentation o pagsininungaling tungkol sa kanyang tunay na balak kung ang dayuhan ay lumabag sa kanyang immigration status o kung ang kanyang mga aksyon at mga aktibidad ay inconsistent sa kanyang mga sinabi sa interbyu para sa nonimmigrant visa or sa kanyang mga sinabi noong kaharap siya ng immigration officer sa port-of-entry. Ang DOS 90-day rule ay lumilikha ng presumption ng willful misrepresentation kung ang dayuhan ay gumagawa ng mga sumusunod na aksyon sa loob ng 90 araw ng kanyang pagpasok sa U.S.: (1) ang pagtrabaho habang nasa B1 business visitor status o B2 visitor for pleasure status; (2) ang pag-enroll sa programa o kurso sa paaralan habang nasa B1/B2 status; (3) ang pagpapakasal ng isang B1/B2 dayuhan sa U.S. citizen (USC) o lawful permanent resident (LPR) at pagkuha ng paninirahan sa U.S., kagaya ng pagpirma sa long-term lease o mortgage, bills at bank account sa pangalan ng dayuhan at pagkuha ng local driver’s license; at (4) mga aksyon o aktibidad kung

support to a lower amount. Bear in mind that there are other factors that come in the equation such as the amount of actual timeshare you spend with your child and the income of the other parent. If the other parent’s income has gone down, this may adversely affect your child support obligation.

Spousal support may also be modified unless you stipulated in a divorce judgment that it is non modifiable. However, spousal support are usually calculated differently than guideline. The court will look at other factors in deciding whether to modify this.

Those factors are listed in family code section 4320.

If you are unemployed, the other party may be expected to try to impute income on you.

However in light of the recent cases in California, they would have to prove that you had the ability and the opportunity to obtain employment.

If your income has gone down or your spouse’s income has increased as a result of a new job, a promotion, or you got laid off or hours cut, it may be possible to modify both your child support and spousal support obligation. Without modifying the order, the current order will continue to be in effect and the same amount will accrue regardless of whether your income de-

clined or your spouse income increased. It is important to file a post judgment request for order to modify support as soon as your financial situation changes. *** Please note that this article is not legal advice and is not intended as legal advice.

The article is intended to provide only general, non-specific legal information.

This article is not intended to cover all the issues related to the topic discussed.

The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by you. This article does create any attorney client relationship between you and the Law Offices of Kenneth U. Reyes, P.C. This article is not a solicitation. *** Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes is a Certified Family Law Specialist. He was President of the Philippine American Bar Association. He is a member of both the Family law section and Immigration law section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He is a graduate of Southwestern University Law School in Los Angeles and California State University, San Bernardino School of Business Administration. He has extensive CPA experience prior to law practice. LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, P.C. is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 747, Los Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 388-1611 or e-mail “mailto:kenneth@kenreyeslaw. com” kenneth@kenreyeslaw.com or visit our website at Kenreyeslaw.com (Advertising Supplement)

State Dept.’s 90-day rule

saan ang change of status o adjustment of status ay kinakailangan, katulad ng pagpunta bilang F1 student ngunit ang dayuhan ay nagtatrabaho din ng walang work authorization.

Ang presumption ng willful misrepresentation ay maaaring matanggihan ng dayuhan sa pagpakita ng ebidensiya na nagbago ang mga pangyayari kaya siya ay magbago ng kanyang orihinal na mga plano. Dahil sa mga pangyayaring ito, ang dayuhan ay nag-apply ng change of nonimmigrant status o adjustment of status. Kung nakalipas na ang 90 araw noong nagkaroon ng paglabag sa nonimmigrant status, walang automatic presumption ng willful misrepresentation.

Subalit, ang consular officer ay maaari pa ring mag-revoke ng visa o ang USCIS ay maaaring mag-deny ng change of status

or whose conduct is inconsistent with representations made to the consular officer at the time of visa application or to the immigration officer at the port-of-entry. The DOS 90-day rule creates a presumption of willful misrepresentation if an alien engages in the following conduct within 90 days of admission to the U.S.: (1) engaging in unauthorized employment on B1/B2 status; (2) enrolling in a course of study, if such study is not authorized for that nonimmigrant classification, such as study under B1/B2 status; (3) a nonimmigrant in B status marrying a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident and taking up residence in the U.S., such as signing a long-term lease or mortgage, bills and bank accounts in the alien’s name or obtaining a local driver’s license; (4) undertaking any other activity for which a change of status or adjustment of status would be required, without the benefit of such change or adjustment, such as coming under F1 student visa but also engaging in work without the benefit of work authorization.

The presumption of willful misrepresentation may be rebutted by the alien with evidence showing changed circumstances that compelled the alien to alter his original plans and thus apply for change of nonimmigrant status.

If an alien violates or engages in conduct inconsistent with his nonimmigrant status more than 90 days after admission to the US, no automatic presumption of willful misrepresentation arises.

However, consular officers may still seek to revoke the visa or the USCIS may deny the change of status application if there is reasonable belief that the alien misrepresented the purpose of his travel at the time of visa application or at the time of admission. *** ATTY. RHEA SAMSON is a Partner at LINDAIN & SAMSON LAW FIRM. Atty.

Lindain and Atty. Samson are both licensed to practice law in California and in the Philippines. Both Attorneys were also professors. LINDAIN & SAMSON LAW FIRM aims to provide excellent and efficient legal representation to clients, and support clients in achieving their goals and dreams.

As professors, Atty. Lindain and Atty. Samson wish to educate the younger generation, as it is through education and continuous study that one can achieve success and serve others.

Please visit our office: LINDAIN & SAMSON LAW FIRM 3580 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1710, Los Angeles, CA 90010 Call or text us: (213) 381.5710 Email us: attorneys@lindainsamsonlaw. com.

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“Before an alien’s nonimmigrant visa is approved, a U.S. consular officer must first determine whether the alien seeks to enter the U.S. permanently.” application kung may makatwirang paniniwala na ang dayuhan ay nagsinungaling tungkol sa kanyang layunin sa pagpunta sa US sa kanyang visa interview o sa kanyang pagpasok sa U.S. *** Before an alien’s nonimmigrant visa is approved, a U.S. consular officer must first determine whether the alien seeks to enter the U.S. permanently. This is because under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), there is a presumption that all persons seeking entry to the U.S. are intending immigrants.

Hence, the nonimmigrant visa applicant has to prove nonimmigrant intent by establishing that the applicant (1) has a residence abroad; (2) has no intention of abandoning his residence; (3) intends to depart the U.S. before expiration of the authorized stay given to him. Thus, when nonimmigrants who enter the U.S. apply for change of status or adjustment of status, there is an issue on whether or not the alien had a “preconceived intent” at the time the visa was granted or at the time of admission or entry in the U.S. Under U.S. Department of State (DOS) guidance to its officers, there is a “90-day rule” to assist consular officers in evaluating willful misrepresentation in cases involving an applicant who violated his immigration status

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LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • AUGUST 31 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

Accommodating employees with mental disability KIMBERLEE Gutierrez worked as a patient registration clerk for Dignity Health for 9 years. Kimberlee had a history of mental disability, which worsened when she was violently attacked by an exboyfriend. She took a medical leave of absence for her disability. When she returned to work, she claimed that she faced discrimination. When she tried to report the discrimination, she faced retaliation. Kimberlee was eventually terminated from her position.

She filed a lawsuit against her former employer, Dignity Health, claiming disability discrimination, failure to prevent discrimination, and retaliation.

The employer claimed that it did not discriminate or retaliate against Kimberlee. The employer argued that Kimberlee was disciplined and eventually terminated her because of her insubordination and violation of the employer’s cell phone use policies.

California law defines two categories of disability: mental disability and physical disability. A physical disability is any physiological disease, disorder, condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss that affects the body and limits a major life activity. When a condition limits a major life activity, it means that the achievement of the major life activity is difficult. Working at a job is considered a major life activity.

A mental disability is any mental or psychological disorder or condition, such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, or specific learning disabilities, which limits a major life activity.

An employee who has depression, post-traumatic stress

Protecting Employee & Consumer Rights ATTY. C. JOE SAYAS, JR. disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, and personality disorders, or other mental health condition, is protected against discrimination and harassment at work because of their condition. They have a legal right to get reasonable accommodation that can help them perform and keep their job.

This guideline is provided by the Equal Employment and Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

It is illegal for an employer to discriminate against an employee simply because they have a mental health condition. This includes firing or demoting or forcing the employee to take leave.

An employer does not have to hire or keep people in jobs they can’t perform, or employ people who pose a “direct threat” to safety (a significant risk of substantial harm to self or others).

But an employer must not rely on myths or stereotypes about a mental health condition when deciding whether the employee can perform a job or whether they pose a safety risk. The employer must have objective evidence that the specific employee cannot perform their job duties, or that they would create a significant safety risk, even with a reasonable accommodation If an employee’s mental health condition affects their job performance, the employee has a right to a reasonable accommodation that would help them do their job.

A reasonable accommodation is a change in the way things are normally done at work. A few examples of possible accommoda-

tions include altered break and work schedules (e.g., scheduling work around medical appointments), quiet office space or devices that create a quiet work environment, changes in supervisory methods (e.g., written instructions from a supervisor who usually does not provide them), changes in shift assignments, and permission to work from home. A discussion between the employee and medical provider or employer may result in different ways of accommodation.

An employee is entitled to reasonable accommodation for any mental health condition that would, if left untreated, “substantially limit” their ability to concentrate, interact with others, communicate, eat, sleep, care for themselves, regulate their thoughts or emotions, or do any other “major life activity.” An employee does not need to actually stop treatment to get the accommodation.

Kimberlee’s case went to trial. As the Daily Journal reported, the jury returned a verdict for the employee in the amount of $646,651, which included $471,651 in damages and $175,000 in punitive damages. *** The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic. All inquiries are confidential and at no-cost.

You can contact the office at (818) 2910088 or visit www.joesayaslaw.com” www.joesayaslaw.com. [C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. is an experienced trial attorney who has successfully recovered wages and other monetary damages for thousands of employees and consumers.

He was named Top Labor & Employment Attorney in California by the Daily Journal, consistently selected as Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, and is a Presidential Awardee for Outstanding Filipino Overseas in 2018.]

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People and Events

Fr. Erno Diaz to celebrate 50th Anniversary Mass in NY

Joining New York Cardinal Dolan at St. Patrick’s Cathedral this past May were (from left): Father John Kraljic, Father Arthur Welton, Father Peter Madori, Bishop Dominick Lagonegro, Father Paul LeBlanc, Father Patrick Keenan, Father Erno Diaz and Father Edmundo Gomez.

Photo by Chris Sheridan

St Paul Alumnae USA with Father Erno Diaz at Pando Manipon Exhibit Opening at the Philippine Center in New York City. L-R: Paulinians Lette Dayao, Nenette Ballon Sklasko, Sylvia Lavadia Javier, Fr. Erno, Patsy Santiago Schultz, Mayette de Pero, Lourdes Ysit Velasco and Marilyn Abalos.

Photo by Chris Sheridan

ALL are invited on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 5:30 p.m. at the Church of the Epiphany Church at 373 Second Avenue and 22nd Street in New York City to join Father Erno and friends to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his ordination.

Father Erno Diaz, who retired in 2015, was coordinator of the Filipino Apostolate in the archdiocese, 1995-2009, and was founding director of San Lorenzo Chapel in Manhattan.

He served as administrator of Guardian Angel, Manhattan, 2014-2015; temporary administrator of St. Margaret Mary, Staten Island, 2010-2014; and parochial vicar of St. Peter’s Manhattan, 2000-2001; St. Gregory the Great, Manhattan, 1999-2000; Epiphany, Manhattan, 1996-1999; St. Joseph’s, Yorkville, Manhattan, 19781982; and Assumption, Tuckahoe, 1978. Ordained in his native Philippines, he was in-

cardinated into the archdiocese in 1998.

Fr. Erno has been the special pastor de facto of Paulinians and St. Paul. Please RSVP at spmausa@gmail.com.

Paulinians are also invited to meet with Ms. Monette Ocampo Martinez and Sherry Lara Alingo of St Paul Manila Alumni Office and Association on Monday, October 14. No host dinner in Manhattan from 6 to 8 p.m.

Details to follow. ■

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Permanent residence for crewmen DEAR Attorney Tan, I entered the US in 1998 as a crewman. I have recently married a US citizen and would like to get a green card. However, I have heard that since I entered as a crewman, I cannot adjust my status to a permanent resident.

Is this true? --Lost on Land Dear Lost on Land, Under INA Section 245(c)(1), a person who enters the US as a “crewman” is generally barred from adjusting his status to permanent residence. However, analysis of this issue must begin with determining whether you are actually a “crewman,” who is barred from adjustment.

A “crewman” is defined as a person “serving…in a capacity required for normal operation and service on board a vessel, … or aircraft, who intends to land temporarily and solely in pursuit of his calling as a crewman and to depart from the United States with the vessel or aircraft on which he arrived or some other vessel or aircraft.” INA Section 101(a)(15(D).

A “crewman” under this definition is assigned a “D” visa classification, but is often issued a dual C-1 transit/ D crewman visa. Because of this, a common misperception exists that a C-1 visa classification is designated for crewmen, and that a person who entered the US under a C-1 classification is by definition a “crewman,” therefore barred from adjusting his status to permanent resident.

Debt Relief

ATTY. LAWRENCE YANG MANY people who need debt relief are afraid to file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 because they fear that life after bankruptcy will be difficult. The fear is that bankruptcy will prevent them from getting new credit cards, buying a car, buying a house.

Some even believe that they won’t be able to freely travel in and out of the country after bankruptcy. Or, the bankruptcy may affect their immigration status.

All of these fears are baseless.

The fact is that life after bankruptcy is great! Whether or not you believe that life is great after bankruptcy doesn’t change the

Legal Advice ATTY. DARRICK TAN However, it is important to keep in mind that if a person entered on a C-1 transit visa, he may not be a “crewman” and may be eligible to adjust status. Further, the facts of a particular case regardless of letter classification of one’s visa upon entry may also be considered. If you entered on a C-1 transit visa, or under circumstances that do not fit the definition of a “crewman,” you may be eligible to adjust status.

If you are considered a “crewman” under the above definition, you can still file for adjustment of status to permanent residence and get a green card in the US if you are covered by INA Section 245(i).

To be covered under INA Section 245(i), one must be the beneficiary of a visa petition or labor certification filed on or before April 30, 2001. If the petition was filed between January 14, 1998 and April 30, 2001, physical presence in the US on December 21, 2000 is also required.

If you are not covered under INA Section 245(i), and are considered a “crewman” under the above definition, you would need to obtain your immigrant visa at

a foreign consular post. Traditionally, persons who were unlawfully present in the US for more than 1 year, and who had to obtain their immigrant visa at an overseas US consulate were subject to an unlawful presence bar from returning to the US for 10 years. That person would be able to seek a waiver of the unlawful presence bar after leaving the US, but if denied, he would be left outside of the US, and away from his family for 10 years. However, under the Provisional Waiver program, you can apply for and get a decision on the waiver of the unlawful presence bar without leaving the US. If the waiver is approved, you can leave the US with some assurance that you will obtain your immigrant visa at the US consulate post and quickly return.

Spouses and minor children of US citizens are eligible for provisional waiver relief. *** Darrick V. Tan, Esq. is admitted to practice law in California and Nevada. Mr. Tan is a graduate of UCLA and Southwestern University School of Law. He is a member of the Consumers Attorney Association of Los Angeles and is a former member of the Board of Governors of the Philipp ine American Bar Association. *** LAW OFFICES OF DARRICK V. TAN, 3580 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 900, Los Angeles, CA 90010. Tel: (323) 639-0277.

Email: info@dtanlaw.com.

(Advertising Supplement)

How is life after bankruptcy? fact that it is great.

If I were to tell you that Hawaii is beautiful, that it’s like paradise, but you have not been there, it’s going to be hard for you to believe that Hawaii is indeed a beautiful place.

First, bankruptcy is confidential. Nobody knows about it unless you tell everybody about it.

In most bankruptcy cases, the debtor keeps everything that he owns because he is able to exempt them under applicable bankruptcy law. Most debtors keep their houses, cars, furniture, retirement accounts, and everything else that they own when they file for bankruptcy.

There is no sign on your door that says you filed for bankruptcy.

Second, many successful people have filed for bankruptcy to

obtain a fresh start in life without accumulated debt. For instance, Walt Disney filed for Chapter 7 twice before his Disney empire became a global success; Star Wars Edge of the Galaxy, anyone? Milton Hershey filed for Chapter 7 before he became the biggest Chocolate business in the world; Reese’s Pieces, anyone? President Trump’s businesses filed for bankruptcy four times in the 90s. Yet, he has been president of the United States of America since 2016.

Third, the sole purpose of bankruptcy is to give the debtor a fresh start in life without the burden of accumulated debt and to make the debtor productive again. Just imagine having $50,000 of credit card debt. You need $1,500 a month to keep

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C4 AUGUST 31 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

Calendar of Events across

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 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.

Fil-Am authors hold book talks in San Pedro, CA Three new new books will be launched by Philippine Expressions Bookshop on Saturday, August 31. 2019 from 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. The bookshop is located at The Arcade, a vintage 1928 Art Deco building which is on 479 West Sixth St., Suite 105, Historic Arts District, San Pedro, CA 90731. Talks by three Filipino American authors of diverse backgrounds but all rooted in their cultural heritage will be given by Wilmo Orejola, MD. who wrote “An Basaynon: A History of Basey Samar and its People”; Abraham Gabriel Pagtama who wrote “Based on True Events: Watsonville Riots” and Reno Ursal, author of “Enlightenment: The Bathala Series.” This is a free program and sales from the authors’ books support her literacy programs in the Philippines. If unable to attend but would like to order books, email: info@philippinebookshop.com or call (310) 514-9139 or (310) 548-8148.

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.

AAPI Democratic Presidential Forum in Orange County, CA AAPI Progressive Action, in partnership with Asian Americans Rising Action Fund, will host the AAPI Community Action Summit at the Westin South Coast Plaza in Orange County, CA on Saturday, September 7 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. At the AAPI Community Action Summit, leaders and advocates from across the country will gather to showcase our emerging movement, which is based on the belief that we are stronger when we work together with common purpose to serve our communities. Each session will feature new ideas, new capacities and new leaders who are building a movement that celebrates our diversity and binds us all together as Americans. It will be held at The Westin South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa (686 Anton Boulevard, Costa Mesa, CA 92626). In the evening, there will be the AAPI Summer Soiree at the Center Club in Costa Mesa. Come meet and mingle with top influencers and enjoy a night filled with good food, great company and fantastic entertainment. Registered attendees of the AAPI Community Action Summit may purchase a limited number of discounted tickets at $100 per person as a participating “Community Partner.”

SEPTEMBER 8

Philippines Cultural Day in Pasadena, CA The USC Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, CA is hosting a Philippines Cultural Day on Sunday, September 8 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Enjoy performances, artmaking activities, a chef conversation, and storytime for kids. Free admission all day! This event will present a collaboration of performing artists from Malaya Filipino American Dance Arts, Pakaraguian Kulintang Ensemble, and Rocksteady Rondalla. Other partners include Bone Kettle Restaurant, Barnsdall Arts, and the Philippine Expressions Bookshop. The USC Pacific Asia Museum is located at 46 N Los Robles Ave, Pasadena, California 91101

S E P T E M B E R 22

Virgen de los Remedios procession and mass in Los Angeles Filipinos, Latinos, Marian groups, civic organizations and devotees will join in an afternoon procession during the annual pilgrimage to Mary on Sunday, September 22, 2019 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles. This year’s celebration includes special prayers for the Catholic Church in the Philippines that the clergy and faithful be always courageous instruments of God’s truth, love and peace. Archbishop Romulo Valles, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has asked Filipinos to pray in solidarity for four Catholic bishops, three priests and a religious brother among others who have been filed with charges of inciting sedition, libel and obstruction of justice by Philippine authorities. Newly appointed Filipino auxiliary bishop Alejandro Aclan of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will preside in the solemn concelebrated Mass. Catholic columnist, Rev. Rodel Balagtas will deliver the homily, as he leads his kabalens from Minalin who are hosting this event. The highlight of the festivities is the reenactment of canonical coronation of Virgen de los Remedios bestowed by Pope Pius XII in 1956. The procession and mass begins at 2:30 p.m.

‘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.

S E P T E M B E R 28

75th Anniversary of Leyte fundraiser gala in Carson, CA The Erasto R. Batongmalaque Foundation will be holding a fundraising gala on Saturday, September 28 at the Carson Community Center leading up to the 75th anniversary of the Leyte landing on Oct. 20. The foundation is dedicated to servicing the ongoing needs of surviving veterans of World War II as well as other veterans of recent conflicts. This will lead into two other events on Oct. 12 and Oct. 20. The ticket is at $75 payable to the E.R.B. Foundation. Call Julie at (310) 835-8365 or (424) 257-2504 for more information.

Feast of San Lorenzo Ruiz in Chatsworth, CA The Archdiocese of Los Angeles Filipino Ministry invites you to the San Fernando Region celebration of the feast day of the first Filipino Saint, San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila. This festive occasion will take place on Saturday, September 28, 2019 at St. John Eudes Church, 9901 Mason St., Chatsworth, CA 91311. Procession will start at 10:30 a.m. Eucharistic celebration will immediately follow at 11:00 a.m. with Rev. Joel Henson, director of Ongoing Formation of Clergy, Archdiocese of Los Angeles as the main celebrant. Reception, fellowship and program to follow immediately after the mass. For further inquiries, please contact Patty Santiago (818)472-4288, Dominic Mendoza (818) 687-4890 or Mia Macalino (818) 517-4300.

O C TO B E R 5

Asian American Drug Abuse Program to host annual benefit in Los Back by popular demand, the legendary Kalapana and special guest Michael Paulo will be performing once again at the Asian American Drug Abuse Program (AADAP)’s annual benefit on Saturday, October 5. Kalapana emerged as one of the most popular bands on the Hawaiian music scene in the 70s, producing a steady stream of hits. Their 1975 debut album was hailed as one of the best of the mid-70s Hawaiian renaissance. Tracks like “Naturally,” “Nightbird,” “The Hurt,” “You Make It Hard,” and “When the Morning Comes” became household tunes and still enjoy frequent play on contemporary Hawaiian radio. Musical trends have come and gone, but Kalapana’s many hits have remained Island classics. This promises to be an unforgettable experience, as it pays tribute to the late Malani Bilyeu, founding member and Hoku Awardwinning artist. Performing as Kalapana will be: DJ Pratt (lead guitar, vocals), Gaylord Holomalia (keyboards, vocals), Kenji Sano (bass, vocals); accompanied by: Todd Yukumoto (saxophone & flute), Garin Poliahu (drums) and John Valentine (vocals, guitar); and special guest Michael Paulo (saxophone). Aratani Theatre is located at 244 S. San Pedro Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. The program will begin at 6 p.m. with a VIP reception, followed by the concert at 7 p.m. and a dessert reception and meet-and-greet at 9 p.m. For more information, please visit www. showtime-AADAP.org.

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

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College dormitory safety: A lesson in preventable hazards

Awareness and education are key to electrical safety on and off campus

by PAUL

NUTTER

IT might not be up there with calculus, algebra and economics for students, but college dormitory safety should be in a class by itself.

With millions of students already at or heading to universities across the country over the next month and September being College Fire Safety Month, Southern California Edison urges students to do their homework to stay safe from electrical shocks, injuries and fires at housing on and off campus.

Fire departments respond to nearly 11 fires in student housing a day, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. That included 85 fatal fires from January 2000 to May 2015. The fires result in an annual average of 35 injuries and $14 million in property damage. They occur most often evenings or weekends in September and October.

“College can be the experience of a lifetime,” said Andrew Martinez, vice president of Safety, Security and Business Resiliency for SCE. “That experience can be enjoyed more safely when students’ appliances, electronics and gadgets are not used improperly or left unsupervised.”

Important safety tips for students • Never leave cooking unattended. This is especially crucial

since cooking is a leading cause of fires in student housing. Keep your eyes on your cooking, cook only where allowed and keep your cooking area clean and away from combustibles like loose papers and notebooks.

• Never overload electrical outlets and extension cords. This applies more than ever today with the proliferation of electronics for school, work and play. And this applies especially to older dormitories with inadequate wiring to handle the electronics overload. In addition to checking the school’s rules before using electronics in dormitories, students should plug only one high-wattage appliance into an outlet, that appliance should never be plugged into an

extension cord and extension cords — when used — should be strictly temporary.

• Never use burning candles because they are a significant fire hazard. Use flameless candles instead since they provide the same effect as burning candles — down to the scent in many cases — and, most importantly, are not a fire hazard.

• Celebrating students should never release metallic balloons because of the fire, safety and outage threat they pose when they get into power lines and electrical equipment. Students should always stay at least 10 feet away from overhead power lines.

• Never use electronics with frayed or worn cords because of the shock and fire hazards presented by them and use only laboratory-certified appliances and electronics, like those carrying the trusted UL label.

• Never disable smoke detectors. In fact, every room should have one, they should be tested monthly and their batteries should be changed at least every six months.

• Have evacuation and emergency preparedness plans, especially for earthquakes. On campus, learn your building’s evacuation routes and, if you live off campus, have an evacuation plan with two ways out of every room. ■

How is life after bankruptcy?

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them current. That’s $18,000 a year, $36,000 year two, and $90,000 by year five. In other words, the debtor would have paid out $90,000 in five years to keep $50,000 of credit cards current, but guess what? He still owes the same $50,000 in year five after paying in $90,000 to keep them current. The debtors in this situation are like hamsters in a wheel. They keep on working and running in the wheel but don’t go anywhere because they are no longer productive. Bankruptcy allows them to wipe out the $50,000, start fresh without the $50,000, so they can be productive people again.

In this example, the debtor will save $1,500 a month, and in five years will save $90,000. With these savings, he can buy stocks or invest in real estate. Buy a house. Invest his money wisely.

Then the $90,000 will keep on growing until it becomes $1.0M! Then debtor becomes a millionaire! And if the debtor is as smart as Walt Disney and Milton Hershey, he can become a billionaire!

No kidding. This is true.

Fourth, rebuilding credit score is fast and easy after bankruptcy!

As soon as you get the discharge order, and want to buy a Camry, for instance. Just walk into any Toyota dealership but make sure you bring your discharge order because they will ask for a copy of it. Let’s say you got your discharge order today. Bring it to any Toyota dealership tomorrow and they will finance the purchase

of your car of choice. Of course, your interest rate will be higher than normal. But if you wait a year or two after your discharge to buy the car, your interest will be much lower. The point is, you can re-establish credit very fast as soon as you get your discharge. In three years, you can buy a house.

Many lenders will provide you with a mortgage to buy a house in year three 3. In six months from discharge, you will be getting new credit cards preapproved sent to you in the mail. Yes, you will get new credit cards, no problem.

Some banks specialize in giving people who have filed bankruptcy new credit cards because they can’t file another bankruptcy for another eight years. There’s a reason for everything under the sun, right? There’s a time to be born, a time to die, a time to sow and a time to harvest (Ecclesiastes 3:1-11).

Fifth, there’s no restriction on setting up new businesses after bankruptcy. Neither is there any restriction on traveling in and out of the United States. Debtors who file for bankruptcy can freely set up new businesses like Walt Disney and Milton Hershey after bankruptcy. It’s a fresh start in life without accumulated debt.

Let’s say you file for Chapter 7 today and you have to travel to Greenland next week to assure Greenlanders that they don’t have to sell themselves to the United States. Can you do that?

Sure you can.

Sixth, bankruptcy does not affect your immigration status in

any way, shape or form. To get your green card, if your income is not enough, you need a sponsor with enough income to qualify you for permanent residency.

If you have enough income and don’t need a sponsor, the fact that you filed for bankruptcy doesn’t affect your qualification for permanent residency.

Bankruptcy law prohibits the Federal government from discriminating against someone who has filed for bankruptcy. I have many clients in the process of getting green cards or citizenship in the last 30 years.

None of them have been affected negatively by their bankruptcy filing. They are all permanent residents or naturalized citizens now. This fear that bankruptcy will affect immigration status is purely psychological and has no basis in fact or law.

So take it from the lives of Walt Disney and Milton Hershey, life after bankruptcy is great, beautiful and productive! Indeed life after bankruptcy is prosperous and abundant! From Chapter 7, Walt Disney and Milton Hershey became, billionaires with global businesses, literally true! *** Lawrence Bautista Yang specializes in bankruptcy, business, real estate and civil litigation and has successfully represented more than five thousand clients in California. Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 1000 S. Fremont Ave, Mailstop 58, Building A-1 Suite 1125, Alhambra, CA 91803.

(Advertising Supplement

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MARKETPLACE SHOWROOM

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Date of marriage on illegitimate child’s birth ‘CITIRA, easing foreign ownership crucial to FDI recovery’ certificate should not harm single parent’s petition DEAR Atty. Gurfinkel: I was petitioned as “single” by my immigrant (green card) parent in 2008. The priority date is now current, and I am getting paperwork and forms from the NVC to fill out.

I have a live-in partner, and we had a child together. Although we never married, we put a date of marriage on our child’s birth certificate, because we wanted to save our child from shame and embarrassment of being illegitimate when he would go to school.

I’ve been getting advice from relatives and friends to not disclose my child on the immigration forms, because the date of marriage on my child’s birth certificate will mess up my case. Therefore, I should simply tell the Embassy I have no children.

Is it true that it will mess up my case to declare my child because of the date of marriage on his birth certificate, since I’m being petitioned as single? Should I get a late-registered birth certificate from Recto Street, showing no date of marriage?

Very truly yours, VR Dear VR: I have heard this rumor many times (that a date of marriage on an illegitimate child’s birth certificate will mess up the parent’s

Immigration Corner ATTY. MICHAEL GURFINKEL, ESQ case). That is NOT true! Having an illegitimate child, even with a date of marriage on their birth certificate, should not affect the single parent’s eligibility for a green card.

The real problem is when a person who is being petitioned as single, is actually (secretly)

only that, but their child could be included under the petition if the child is still under 21 (or CSPA eligible). What is necessary is to prove you truly are single, and the date of marriage was made up.

My office has encountered many cases like that, where the family’s impulse was to process the case without declaring the child. In fact, not declaring the child could actually mess up the case: • It would require you to lie, by signing papers stating you have “no children.”

• Later on, if you try to petition the child, the USCIS or Embassy may look back at your file and wonder how it was that when you immigrated you had “no children”, and then later, you have a grown child, who was obviously born before you immigrated.

• When you apply for U.S. citizenship, there are also questions about children.

How are you going to fill that out? Continue to lie and say you have no children? Then after you become a citizen, and try to petition the child, your lie will be uncovered that you claimed you had no children.

• Most important, by declaring the child and demonstrating you were truly single, you would able to bring the child with you.

If you are under petition as single, but have an illegitimate child PAGE D2

“ It is the fact or existence of the marriage that makes the parent ineligible for the visa, not the existence of children.” married. In that case, they would NOT be eligible for a visa as “single” whether they have children or not, or whether their child’s birth certificate has a date of marriage or not. It is the fact or existence of the marriage that makes the parent ineligible for the visa, not the existence of children.

Even if a single parent has a date of marriage on their child’s birth certificate, the parent could still be eligible for their visa. Not

Business Quote of the Week “If it really was a no-brainer to make it on your own in business, there’d be millions of no-brained, harebrained, and otherwise dubiously brained individuals quitting their day jobs and hanging out their own shingles. Nobody would be left to round out the workforce and execute the business plan.”

— Bill Rancic, entrepreneur

Net FDI inflows plunged 85 percent in May, the lowest in more than three years, amid external headwinds as emerging markets remain affected by the U.S.-China trade war.

Philstar.com file photo

by CZERIZA

VALENCIA Philstar.com

THE immediate passage of the CITIRA (Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act) bill and the further easing of restrictions on foreign investments will enable FDI to recover after the record slowdown in May, economic managers and bank economists said Tuesday,

August 27.

Net FDI inflows plunged 85 percent in May, the lowest in more than three years, amid external headwinds as emerging markets remain affected by the U.S.-China trade war.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported that net FDI inflows amounted to $242 million in May or $1.38 billion lower than the $1.62 billion recorded

in the same month last year, the lowest since the $238 million recorded in June 2016.

Last Tuesday’s economic forum hosted by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines, central bank governor Benjamin Diokno said investors were also largely on a waitand-see stance in the first half of an election year.

PAGE D2

enue program for 2020.

The amount is lower by 4.27 percent than the P195.45 billion original revenue estimate for the CTRP, based on the Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing document of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

Sought for comment, Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua said the decline in expected revenue is likely due to the passage of a watered down alcohol and electronic cigarette excise tax bill in the House of Representatives recently.

“Maybe it’s because the House passed a lower alcohol

excise tax bill, which we use as latest data,” Chua said in a text message.

The House of Representatives last Aug. 20 approved on third and final reading House Bill 1026, which seeks to increase the excise taxes on alcohol and e-cigarette products.

However, Chua said the rates in the bill are lower than the proposed rates of the DOF and the Department of Health (DOH). As a result, the projected revenue from the measure reached only P17 billion, half the expected P33.5 billion from the original DOF-DOH proposal.

PAGE D2

‘Tax reform to yield P187 B more revenues in 2020’

by MARY

GRACE Philstar.com

PADIN

THE government is expected to generate P187.1 billion in additional revenues next year from the implementation of various tax reform measures, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Thursday, August 29.

During a presentation before the Senate finance committee, Finance Undersecretary and chief economist Gil Beltran said the Duterte administration’s Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) is estimated to contribute P187.1 billion to the government’s P3.54 trillion rev-

D AUGUST 31 - SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

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Philippines, Ireland start tax talks Logistics in PH highest in Asean by mary

GracE Philstar.com

Padin

THE Philippines and Ireland have commenced negotiations for a proposed bilateral agreement, which aims to prevent double taxation against individuals or companies covered by both jurisdictions, according to the Department of Finance (DOF).

In a statement, Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko said the first round of talks was held recently in Manila, covering discussions on how the two governments could avoid imposing taxes on the same income or capital gains.

Tionko said a working draft for a double taxation agreement is already being studied by the two governments.

“The negotiation was conducted in a friendly atmosphere with mutual understanding, which allowed the two delegations to examine all of the articles under discussion,” Tionko said.

“While there are other provisions that need to be considered by the Philippines, like permanent establishment and entitlement to benefits, the provisions on persons covered, the taxes to be covered, provisions on residents and immovable property, and business profits, among oth-

Factao ManilaTimes.net

In a statement, Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko said the first round of talks was held recently in Manila, covering discussions on how the two governments could avoid imposing taxes on the same income or capital gains.

Philstar.com file photo

ers, have already been mutually agreed upon,” she said.

Under a double taxation agreement, individuals that are residents of one country, but are receiving income in another contracting state, or vice versa, can avoid being taxed twice for the same income, property or investment.

It provides tax relief, in the form of exemptions or preferential tax rates, to avoid double taxation.

The DOF said such agreement prevents tax evasion and encourages foreign trade and investments between countries.

According to Tionko, both delegations are set to meet again to

further deliberate on items that have not yet been agreed upon during the initial round of talks.

“Further, both delegations undertook to review outstanding items with their respective authorities. Once completed, arrangements will be made regarding the second round of negotiation to take place at a mutually agreed place and date,” she said.

Tionko, who heads the Revenue Operations Group (ROG) of the DOF, led the Philippine side during the negotiations, while Anne Margaret Gormley, director for the Tax Treaties Branch, Office of the Revenue Commissioners of Ireland, led the Irish delegation. n

‘Tax reform to yield P187 B more revenues’...

PAGE D1 t According to Beltran, P153.8 billion of the total revenue estimate for CTRP is seen to come from the Tax Reform for Acceleration And Inclusion (TRAIN) Act. Another P15.7 billion would be sourced from Republic Act 11346, which will raise the excise tax on regular cigarette packs starting Jan. 1 next year.

He said an estimated P17.8 billion is also seen to be collect-

ed from the pending alcohol and e-cigarette bill.

“Package 2 and 4, which make tax incentives and corporate income, passive income, and financial intermediary taxes simpler, fairer, more efficient and regionally competitive, are revenue neutral,” the DOF official said.

According to Beltran, the CTRP would ensure a reliable revenue source that would support economic growth by bank-

rolling the government’s social and infrastructure programs, while securing financial stability in the long-term.

“The executive branch will continue to be engaged with the legislature in passing the remaining tax reform packages that will generate additional revenue streams for government to fund social amelioration programs,” Beltran said during the hearing. n

Date of marriage on illegitimate child’s...

PAGE D1 t with a date of marriage on the birth certificate, I would recommend that you consult with an attorney, who can evaluate your case and straighten things out so you would not be committing fraud and possibly be able to bring your child with you. *** Michael J. Gurfinkel has been an attorney for over 35 years and is licensed,

pines’ ranking in terms of Customs was 85th place; infrastructure, 67th spot; international shipment THE Philippines remains the 37th place; logistics quality and most expensive in terms of logis- competence, 69th place; tracking tics costs compared to its South- and tracing, 57th; and timeliness, 100th. east Asian neighbors.

To be able to cope up with the “Logistics costs in the Philippines took up 27.16 percent of the challenges such as scalability overtotal sales of companies, making head cost productivity, there must the country the most expensive be decentralization, outsourcing, compared to regional peers,” said automation, and systems integraMarflin Chu of Transportify Philip- tion.

He explained that the inventory pines.

He said our neighboring coun- was placed closer to the customtry, Indonesia reported 21.4 per- ers so that companies can make cent; Vietnam had 16.3 percent, quick decisions once there will be shift, based on local market condiwhile Thailand, 11.11 percent.

Based on the 2018 performance tions and distribution needs that in global logistics rankings, Philip- were strictly unique to the warepines landed 60th place among house.

“Cutting-edge logistics techthe 160 countries. The Philipby GEnvi

and an active member of the State Bars of California and New York. All immigration services are provided by, or under the supervision of, an active member of the State Bar of California. Each case is different and results may depend on the facts of the particular case. The information and opinions contained herein (including testimonials, “Success Stories”, endorsements and re-enactments) are of a general nature, and are not intended to apply to any particular case, and do not constitute a prediction,

warranty, guarantee or legal advice regarding the outcome of your legal matter. No attorney-client relationship is, or shall be, established with any reader.

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nology developed by 3PLs helps businesses drive supply chain efficiency, cost savings, and visibility,” he said.

He added that the logistics automation features gives control over freight management, freight costs, and risk, by using Automation rules engine, which is based on optimized plans and routing guides.

“Companies can either buy off the-shelf software, have a bespoke solution developed to meet their exact needs or have all of their already existing and used systems integrated into one,” he said.

Chu said the benefits of on demand logistics include the overhead expenses becoming variable and it eliminates staffing overhead. n

Monitor chicken imports, DA told

by EirEEnE JairEE

GomEz

ManilaTimes.net

THE Department of Agriculture (DA) should establish a monitoring system for chicken imports to aid local raisers from tough competition amid excessive importation, the United Broilers and Raisers Associationn (UBRA) said on Monday, August 26.

During its recent meeting with Agriculture Secretary William Dar and officials from the Philippine

Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc, UBRA urged the DA to put in place a system for data monitoring of Customs Bonded Warehouse (CBW) of chicken imports.

The group said the continued deluge of chicken imports has adversely affected small producers.

In 2018, chicken imports peaked at a record 310 million kilos.

Local chicken raisers have been suffering from the influx of imported chicken and plummeting farmgate prices of the commod-

ity.

UBRA President Bong Inciong earlier told The Manila Times that no “timely data” were made available to stakeholders of the poultry industry which could present understanding of the overall supply and consumption in the country.

The absence of such, he said, has made the local poultry producers suffer from supply glut.

“In the past, DA has shown no institutional commitment to adPAGE D3

‘CITIRA, easing foreign ownership...

PAGE D1 t They also remain cautious as they await the final version and eventual passage of the CITIRA bill that essentially reduces corporate income tax and rationalizes the provision of tax incentives to be more performance-based and time-bound.

“Foreign investors are always on wait and see. This is an election year. Another is because of the CITIRA bill. They are waiting for the final version of that bill.

Once we get that approved, I’m sure foreign investments will come in here. They will figure out the profitability. Incentives don’t matter. Incentives come and go,” said Diokno.

Jun Neri, lead economist of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), said the sooner the bill is passed into law, the sooner the uncertainty on FDIs will be lifted.

“The CITIRA bill is very crucial. The problem with being left

in the dark about what the final incentives or absence of incentives will look like is difficult for investors to be able decide whether to stay or leave,” he said.

“Because they don’t know if they will be taxed less or taxed more. So the sooner this bill is passed into law, I think the less uncertainty about investments in the Philippines will be and it will also be better for the tax efforts of the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue),” he added.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said other than the prevailing uncertainties in taxation, the Philippine economy remains more closed compared with its Asian neighbors like Vietnam and China where almost all sectors of the economy have been opened up to foreign investment.

“As far as FDI is concerned, we really need to just open up the economy. There are too

many restrictions,” he said.

“This protectionism of the Philippine economy, this closeness, is a carry over from the 40s and 50s setting. So up to now we still have this mindset and our legislators still have not really outgrown this mindset,” he added.

ING economist Nicholas Mapa said that with the prevailing uncertainties in the business environment, businesses that are already rooted in the country remain optimistic, preferring to reinvest their earnings in the country rather than remitting to their home countries.

“I guess you have half and half, companies that are already here, deciding to stay and keeping their money, but for new players, I guess it’s still wait and see,” he added.

He noted that the government is already taking steps to improve the ease of doing business and infrastructure inadequacy. n

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AMLC, BSP ordered to scrutinize Pogo industry

Government infrastructure projects need 24/7 work mode — Pernia

Inquirer.net file photo by daxim

L. Lucas

Inquirer.net

THE country’s chief financial regulator wants the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to thoroughly examine the activities of online gaming firms operating in the country to allow policymakers to decide on a future course of action in response to criticism against the booming industry.

Speaking in a media forum on Tuesday, August 27, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said he had asked the AMLC—which he also chairs in an ex-official capacity—to come up with a report on Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) in light of the Chinese government’s request for local authorities to clamp down on illegal online games of

chance.

Diokno said he was particularly interested to get a fuller picture of the impact that Pogos were having on the local economy especially on the real estate sector since a substantial amount of new high-rise office and residential spaces was being taken up by the gaming industry.

The BSP chief did not flag money laundering as a specific concern for his order on a study of the Pogo industry, saying instead that his primary concern was the stability of the local financial system.

“This study will be for the guidance of the Monetary Board,” he said, adding that of particular interest to policymakers was the vacuum that the industry would create if its activities were suddenly stopped, according to the

Chinese government’s wishes.

There are an estimated 138,000 Chinese nationals working in the 58 local online gaming service providers licensed by the state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. An additional 40,000 workers from China are believed to be working in unlicensed operations, which are the subject of an ongoing crackdown by authorities.

The Pogo industry recently came to an agreement with tax authorities for its employees to pay incomes taxes to the Bureau of Internal Revenue, estimated by the Department of Finance to reach P2 billion a month.

For his part, Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said he wanted to see Pogo firms locate outside Metro Manila to lessen congestion in the country’s capital. n

Monitor chicken imports, DA...

PAGE D2 t dress unfair trade and smuggling.

They can’t even present data on customs bonded importation,” Inciong said in a statement on Monday.

“It is so obvious that there’s irresponsibility on the part of the government. When you say customs bonded warehouse, you’re supposed to [use imports for manufacturing input] and re-export, but DA has no data showing what is being re-exported,” he added.

Although 30 percent of these CBW imports are allowed to be distributed to local markets such as supermarkets and wet markets,

such volume has to be paid with tariffs, Incong pointed out, noting that there is no record available that could show the paid tariffs.

“Here is where we find it hard to look up to government. They have a mandate to develop local industries. How can you develop your industry if you don’t have data, how can you manage?” he said.

Inciong feared that if importation of chicken would not be monitored, and massive importation would continue, poultry growers would be pushed to quit raising chickens.

Data monitoring of imports, he said, will be pivotal in helping raise

small poultry raisers’ income amid global trade liberalization.

“The mindset of government is more imports, more local players will be forced to be competitive.

But the government is the one that’s not competitive because it doesn’t provide the sector the amount of subsidy other governments provide their agri sector,” said Inciong.

Chicken imports consistently increased from 135 million kilos in 2012, 141 million kilos in 2013; 177 million kilos in 2014; 198 million kilos in 2015; 232 million kilos in 2016; 244 million kilos in 2017; and 310 million kilos in 2018. n

The economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace of 5.5 percent in the second quarter of the year, bringing the average growth in the first semester to 5.5 percent.

Philstar.com photo by Miguel de Guzman by czeriza

VaLencia Philstar.com

bling efforts” in public spending would provide a much-needed boost to the economy in the secTHE National Economic and ond semester.

Development Authority (NEDA) The economy grew at a slowyesterday stressed the need to er-than-expected pace of 5.5 continue the round-the-clock percent in the second quarter of construction of government the year, bringing the average projects to catch up on spending growth in the first semester to for infrastructure after encoun- 5.5 percent. tering a budget delay this year.

The weaker growth in the secDuring the economic forum ond quarter was attributed to the hosted by the Economic Jour- continued effect of the delay in nalists Association of the Phil- the passage of the 2019 national ippines on Tuesday, August 27, budget as well as the election Socioeconomic Planning Secre- ban on spending on governtary Ernesto Pernia said “redou- ment projects implemented by

the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Thus, the economy has to grow by an average of 6.4 percent in the second half to reach the low end of the full-year growth target of six percent to seven percent in 2019.

“This will require redoubling our efforts in public spending, in pushing infrastructure projects on 24/7 work mode,” said Pernia.

“The problem of course in the second semester is it tends to be more wet than the first semester PAGE D5

BIR’s next target: Airbnbs Potential new source of revenue, official says

by Ben

O. de Vera Inquirer.net

AS more travelers and even those who go on “staycation” now book their accommodations online through Airbnb, the taxman is looking into tighter monitoring of tax compliance of Airbnb property owners.

While the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) still has no initiative specifically targeting Airbnb owners’ tax payments, Deputy Commissioner Marissa O. Cabreros said in an interview last week that it was a potential new source of additional revenue for the

country’s biggest tax-collection agency.

Cabreros noted that Airbnb rentals might indeed be cheaper than the rates of traditional accommodation facilities as some of them might not be paying the correct taxes.

“It’s part of those ‘think-outsidethe-box’ initiative of our RDOs [revenue district offices]—look for new sources of revenue, that’s one of them. However, as to how and whether they are successful in doing it, how many have they found leasing [through Airbnb], I don’t have data,” she said.

Cabreros said former Revenue

Commissioner Kim S. JacintoHenares had already issued regulations on online businesses saying “they are required to register.”

So it’s a matter of strict policing and enforcement activity for the BIR,” she added.

However, Cabreros admitted that going after Airbnbs might be a challenge.

For one, Airbnb had yet to require formal business registration from their leasing partners and advertisers, Cabreros noted.

“On Airbnb, you can lease your personal property. In that aspect, PAGE D5

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Winemakers decry ‘excessive’ proposed tax hike

by Daphne

Galvez Inquirer.net

WINE companies expressed opposition to the proposed tax hike on alcohol products, saying it was “excessive” that it would eventually kill the local industry.

In the Senate ways and means committee hearing, president of Calabria Company Limited Christopher Quimbo pointed out that the House of Representatives’ version of the bill is somewhat unreasonable.

He said that his company, which sells the wine brand Novellino, currently pays P37.9 per liter and in the House version, the tax on wine products is increased to up to P97.5 per liter.

Quimbo said that with the proposal, the government is poised to collect three times the income the company earns.

“The solution here is to increase our price, but if we increase our price to substantially to recover the tax increase, we’ll cease to exist,” Quimbo said.

“Because we don’t make wines

for the richest Filipinos, we make wines for the masses and our products are price-sensitive,” he added.

He further noted that his company paid P72.5 million in taxes in 2018, which is already 90 percent of what the government has collected for wine.

“If you triple that taxation, it’s pretty much looks like that it is penalizing a company that is taxcompliant and Filipino… You’re actually penalizing a company that was born in this country, that is local, that is made for the Filipino people,” he said.

For his part, Pablo Garcia Morera of the Espa-Fil Import and Export Corporation said the wine industry covers only over one percent of the market share in the Philippines.

He said the proposed tax hike “seems quite excessive” to impose on the small category in the wine industry.

“All of this seems very unsustainable which might kill the market itself, it actually prevents the market from growing, for

Inquirer.net file photo

other people to actually try,” Morera said.

Finance Undersecretary Karl Chua said the House passed a “slightly more complicated” tax system on alcohol products.

However, he said that the Department of Finance (DOF) is open to a simpler system and to increase the indexation of taxes from four percent to 10 percent.

“We are open to keeping our simpler system if that will be okay with the wine industry,” the DOF official said.

The government is pushing for higher taxes on alcohol products to fund the implementation of the universal health care law. n

BIR’s next target: Airbnbs...

PAGE D3 t it’s difficult to monitor all of the advertisements there and check if they had declared income tax,” she said.

“So we only have estimation— we could impute that [Airbnb rentals] income. But as to actual [incomes], these are things that are a challenge to tax administration,” Cabreros said, adding that this could mean the BIR needed to research if registered properties were being leased online.

It also doesn’t help that some Airbnb unit owners hire third parties to manage their bookings—making it difficult to track down the taxpayer responsible to pay the income and leasing taxes due. n

Inquirer.net file photo

Government infrastructure projects...

PAGE D3 t which was the time when there was not much construction activity due to the suspension of construction projects by Comelec as well as the late enactment of the 2019 budget,” he added.

The 2019 national budget was passed into law only in mid-April as lawmakers locked horns over supposed last-minute insertions.

Economic managers sought an

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exemption for big-ticket projects of national significance from the election spending ban to prevent delays in execution and to minimize slowdown in economic growth.

The Comelec, however, was not able to respond to the petition for exemption in time for the start of the ban.

The government spending delay was reflected in the slowdown

of government consumption spending to 5.6 percent in the second quarter from 6.1 percent in the first quarter and six percent in the second quarter of 2018.

Public construction declined by 27.2 percent for the second consecutive quarter.

Government consumption contributed 0.9 percentage points to the headline GDP growth rate in the second quarter. n

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Play your next mahjong game on this automatic table The ancient Chinese game of mahjong is one of the beloved pastimes for many Filipinos — whether back home in the Philippines or abroad. Here in Southern California, many family gatherings will have four guests surrounding a mahjong table as the party goes on; some parties will even feature multiple tables at once. But, it’s not uncommon for mahjong to be leisurely played on any other day among friends and family.

While the tiles are an essential component to the game, the table used to play is equally as important. For those in the market for a table or looking to upgrade theirs, Fortune River Group in Walnut, California is the exclusive and official American distributor of “Treyo” automatic mahjong table.

The Treyo line has been manufacturing since the 1980s and has been a table of choice for commercial casinos and recreational players alike for the “ultra-quiet, error-free shuffling and space saving innovations,” Joe Wang of Fortune River Group explained.

“The key features of ‘Treyo’ automatic

mahjong tables include the utilization of user-centric design, environmentally responsible materials, state of the art technology and time proven performance,” he added.

At Fortune River Group, through its website, www.mahjongshopping.com, there are several table to choose from to fit decor, b udget and needs.

One in particular is the automatic mahjong table, bearing a smart automatic foldable design with individual drawers and motion sensors, which will ensure that there is no cheating among players!

The best part is that all the tables are available at the warehouse so there are no long waits, and they will even offer full service delivery and in-home installation.

FOR RENT

SCHOOL

For the sizable Filipino American community in Southern California, Fortune River Group hopes to be the source of quality mahjong tables that will provide long-term entertainment for families for years to come.

“We are now expanding the market to the Filipino community, and would like to provide them with our best quality products. Mahjong is great mind-stimulating game that keeps the brain active, and not to mention it’s also fun to play,” Wang said.

For more information, please visit http:// www.mahjongshopping.com or for a demo at the showroom, visit Fortune River Group at 20311 Valley Blvd. Suite #I, Walnut, CA 91789.

Tel: (909)699-6868.

(Advertising Supplement)

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