090818 - Los Angeles Weekend Edition

SEPTEMBER 8-11, 2018 Volume 28 - No. 71 • 4 Sections – 30 Pages

USA

DATELINE LA County launches new tracking technology to help find missing people with autism, Alzheimer’s

Malacañang still pushing for Trillanes’ arrest Senator seeks Supreme Court reprieve

FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

LA Found is a new initiative aimed to quickly locate individuals with cognitive impairments who wander and go missing

by NATHALIE

ROBLES

Roque explained that Trillanes was at fault since the latter failed PRESIDENTIAL spokesperson to follow the standard requireHarry Roque Jr. on Thursday, ments for an amnesty grant. The September 6, said that Malaca- spokesperson said that due to ñang still stands by its resolve the former naval officer’s nonto imprison Senator Antonio compliance, the grant would no Trillanes IV, following the presi- longer take effect.

“Because he (Trillanes) did not dential proclamation that revokes Senator Antonio Trillanes IV shows an application form for amnesty at a comply with the requirements the senator’s amnesty grant. news briefing outside the senator’s office at the Senate in Pasay City on “We are after accountability,” for amnesty, that means there Thursday, September 6, 2018. His lawyers are poised to file at the Supreme Roque stated as reported by The was no amnesty. So we are not Court a temporary restraining order for his arrest. revoking anything. What we are Inquirer.net photo by Grig C. Montegrande Philippine Star.

AJPress

saying is it did not take effect so Trillanes has to return to jail,” Roque said.

He told the public that everyone should be held accountable for the mistakes they have done, no matter what their rank or position might be.

“Regardless of who you are, even if you are in power, even if you are well-known, if you committed a wrongdoing, there will u PAGE A2

Duterte to create department to improve doing businesses in PH

LOS ANGELES County officials and health organizations on Wednesday, Sept. 5 launched a new initiative to help locate those with autism, Alzheimer’s disease or dementia who may have wandered off and gone missing.

The initiative, LA Found, was spearheaded

by LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who established the “Bringing our loved ones home”

by AJPRESS task force after her election in November 2016.

PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday, The program is partnership involving the LA County Sheriff’s Department (LASD), LA County September 6 announce the creation of a department Workforce Development Aging and Community that would ease up the business process in the country Services (WDACS) and non-profit organization for foreign investors.

In his speech at a business forum in Amman, Jordan, Project Lifesaver.

Duterte disclosed the apparent corruption experienced u PAGE A5 in the country, however, vowed to provide a convenient procedure for those who plan to do business in the Philippines.

“There is one thing I would like to guarantee you.

Maybe you have heard some other time about the Philippines being corrupt,” the president said. “Yes, most of them in the past. But I tell you now. I give you this solemn commitment that if you are there, it will be business with ease.”

IN the last three days of the dramatic first He ensured foreign investors that they will no lon- Hidilyn Diaz (right) and Margielyn Didal show off their gold medals before attending a Senate hearing on Thursday, Sept. 6. Diaz and Didal, week of hearings for Brett Kavanaugh, Presi- ger encounter delays or hassles when applying and along with the other athletes who bagged medals in the Asian Games, shared their insights during the hearing on the budget of the Philippine dent Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, no ManilaTimes.net photo by DJ Diosina u PAGE A6 Sports Commission. other Senate Judiciary Committee members pressed as hard as Sens. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-NJ).

In another bitter showdown over White House documents between Kavanaugh and

by CATHERINE TALAVERA Democratic leaders, Booker on Thursday, Sept.

Philstar.com 6 released emails that reference Kavanaugh’s views on racial profiling and Roe v. Wade MANILA, Philippines — The country’s headline inby NESTOR CORRALES (which legalized abortion) from his time as a flation hit a nine-year high in August, spiking by 6.4 Inquirer.net White House official under George W. Bush. percent year-on-year and registering higher annual “I understand the penalty comes with potenAMMAN — President inflation across a majority of regions, data from the tial ousting from the Senate,” Booker — who Rodrigo Duterte blamed Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed Tuesday, made it clear on the first day that he would the tariffs slapped by Sept. 4 vote no on Kavanaugh — noted on Thursday.

U.S. President DonThe August figure is higher than the 2.6 percent “I openly invite and accept the consequences ald Trump on certain registered in the same month last year and the 5.7 of my team releasing that email right now. global products for the percent inflation in July. Core inflation was up 4.8 perThis is about the closest I’ll probably ever have rising prices of goods cent. in my life to an ‘I am Spartacus’ moment.” in the Philippines, in a This brings year-to-date headline inflation to 4.8 Many Republicans denounced Booker’s rare jab at the American percent. actions and accused him of “grandstanding” Inflation in the National Capital Region (NCR) went U.S. President Donald Trump sits beside Philippine leader that he described President Rodrigo Duterte during the ASEAN gala dinner u PAGE A5 u PAGE A2 on November 12, 2017. u PAGE A2 Malacañang photo

SCOTUS hearings become Sens. Harris Booker vs. Kavanaugh

Inflation surges to 6.4%, highest in 9 years Duterte blames Trump-

imposed tariffs for PH inflation

Villar rises to second richest in PH, next to Henry Sy

by NATHALIE

ROBLES

AJPress

REAL estate tycoon and former politician Manuel “Manny” Villar is now the Philippines’ second richest man after his wealth tripled due to the boom in the construction business that benefited the country’s known magnates.

The 68-year-old former senator rose to the ranks with a net worth of $5 billion, a significant leap from the $1.7 billion from the previous year. He is also known for his leading integrated property developments that include Star Malls, Vista Land and Lifescapes.

Property acquisitions boosted Villar to the top as Vista Land registered a 17 percent growth in net Retail magnate Henry Sy of the SM Investments Corp., one of the Philippines’ largest conglomerates, has remained the income to P5.2 billion. Aside from Philippines’ richest man for eleven years in a row.

Philstar.com/Graphics by RP Ocampo the said businesses, Forbes report-

ed that shares in the Villar groupled memorial park developer Golden Bria Holdings Inc. leaped a staggering 1,300 percent in the first quarter.

Forbes magazine released its 2018 ranking of the country’s 50 wealthiest people on Wednesday, September 5. It featured Henry Sy of the SM Investments Corporation in the top position for 11 years in a row with a net worth of $18.3 billion as reported by The Philippine Star.

The 93-year-old Sy managed to increase to $18.3 billion as of September 2018 from $18 billion through his various business ventures that include SMIC, the holding company of the SM Group, in retail, property and banking.

John Gokongwei Jr., who was formerly in second place, dropped

to $4.4 billion as of September 2018 from $5.5 billion at the endAugust last year. JG Summit Holdings, Cebu Pacific and Universal Robino were among the Gokongwei owned ventures.

Former chairman of the Ayala Group Jaime Zobel de Ayala is now at fourth with a net worth of $4 billion. The Ayala Group comprises of banking, real estate, hotels, telecommunications and education as reported by The Manila Times.

Rounding out this year’s top five richest Filipinos is Enrique Razon Jr. with $3.9 billion. He is the chairman of the International Container Terminal Services and owns Bloomberry Resorts Co. which operates the Solaire Casino and Resort.

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A September 8-11, 2018 • LA WeeKeND ASIAN JOUrNAL

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

From the Front Page

Malacañang still pushing for...

PAGE A1 t be a time that you will be made accountable. I think that is happening to Sen. Trillanes,” Roque stated.

Roque denied all claims that this move was done to silence Duterte’s critics. He said that there is no truth to the allegations that the administration is oppressing those who differ in

political affiliations.

“What political oppression are they talking about? He is relentless in criticizing the president and his family. He is proof that democracy is functioning in the Philippines. That’s nonsense,” Roque said.

Trillanes revealed two important documents to prove of his amnesty application — one is

the list of applicants for amnesty dated January 5, 2011 and the other, a blank application form for amnesty under Proclamation 75 dated November 24, 2010.

He also showed a letter from former Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin addressed to former President Benigno Aquino III approving the recommendation of the Department of National Defense (DND) ad hoc committee for amnesty. Gazmin confirmed on Thursday that Trillanes, along with the other amnesty grantees, went through the process.

The Magdalo mutineer said that the military and defense establishment had given him documents to prove his completion of amnesty requirements. Roque then defended that the case would still hold up in court despite those proofs of completion.

“He’s gone to court. The government can defend its position in court,” the spokesperson ensured.

Trillanes camp seeks SC for help Trillanes’ legal counsel Reynaldo Robles, along with former lawmaker and Magdalo mutineer Ashley Acedillo, filed a certiorari and prohibition. They also sought a temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction before the Supreme Court on Thursday.

The 33-page petition stated that Duterte’s camp attempted to arrest “when there is, in fact, no valid warrant, no lawful cause and no pending case against petitioner justifying such arrest.”

Those named in the said petition were Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, Justice Secretary Guevarra, military chief Carlito Galvez Jr., as reported by The Manila Times.

The senator’s camp also attended mass the same day officiated by Fathers Flavie Villanueva, Manuel Gatchalian and Robert Reyes at the Senate. Vice President Leni Robredo showed up in the middle of the mass as she had a speaking engagement nearby.

“This is clear harassment. The reason is clear why it is being done to him. And we strongly oppose this use of power to harass those who do not share their opinion,” Robredo said. n

INCREASING PRICES. A woman prepares to pay in front of a stall inside the Kamuning Market in Quezon City on Friday, September 07. Senators from the majority and minority blocs on Thursday, September 6, urged Malacanang to implement measures to counter the increasing prices of basic commodities as inflation climbed to a nine-year high of 6.4 percent August.

Photo by Ruy L. Martinez

Inflation surges to 6.4%, highest...

PAGE A1 t up by 7 percent in August, compared to the 3.3 percent hike in the same period last year. This is also higher than the 6.5 percent increase last month.

The PSA reported that annual inflation in Areas Outside NCR (AONCR) grew at 6.2 percent, compared to the 2.4 percent last year and the 5.5 percent last month.

“Fourteen regions recorded higher annual inflation in August compared with their previous month’s annual rates. Among the regions in AONCR, the highest annual mark-up of 9.0 percent was observed in Region 5 (Bicol), while the lowest annual rate of 3.6 percent remained in Region 3 (Central Luzon),” the PSA said.

Other regions with higher annual inflation are Region 1, Ilocos (6.8 percent); Region 2, Cagayan Valley (7.1 percent); Region 4A, Calabarzon (6.1 percent) and Region 4-B, Mimaropa (4.5 percent); Region 6, Western Visayas (7.4 percent); Region 8, Eastern Visayas (6.1 percent); Region 9, Zamboanga peninsula (6.4 percent); Region 10, Northern Mindanao (6.1 percent); Region 11, Davao Region (7.1 percent); Region 12, Soccsksargen (7.9 percent); Region 13, Caraga (4.8 percent); Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (8.1 percent).

Duterte blames Trump-imposed...

PAGE A1 t as his close friend.

“Inflation is dahil ‘yan kay Trump, dahil ‘yan sa tariff (is because of Trump, because of that tarrif),” Duterte said in a speech before the Filipino community here on Friday night, Sept. 7. Duterte is currently in Jordan for an official visit.

“I am not aplologizing. There is really inflation and we are trying to control it,” he added.

He said he defers to his economic managers to find ways to mitigate the effects of soaring inflation, which hit over a nine-year high rate of 6.4 percent in August. n In contrast, inflation in Region 7 (Central Visayas) saw slower growth at 6.3 percent from last year’s 6.5 percent, while inflation in the Cordillera Administrative Region remained unchanged at 4.1 percent.

Meanwhile, the PSA reported that the increase in the headline inflation at the national level was driven by the annual increase in a number of commodity groups, led by alcoholic beverages and tobacco, which spiked at 21.6 percent.

This was followed by food and non-alcoholic beverages with an 8.5 percent growth; furnishing, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house, 3.5 percent; health and restaurant and miscellaneous goods and services, 4.0 percent; and recreation and culture, 2.4 percent.

Economic management But Malacañang assured the public yesterday that the government is doing its best to address the rising inflation.

Amid the rising cost of basic commodities, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. urged the public to be more understanding as the economic managers are working double time to address inflation.

“The administration is taking steps to address the challenges, particularly rising prices, faced

by Filipino families,” he said.

“The president’s economic team continues to monitor inflation with vigilance as government takes action to assist the poor while keeping the macro-economy stable,” Roque said.

For its part, the inter-agency

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DATELINE USA

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • SEPTEMBER 8-11, 2018

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Congressional candidate Kenneth Mejia on going Green and growing up Fil-Am Mejia joins incumbent Gomez on ballot for California’s 34th Congressional District

by RAE

ANN VARONA AJPress

THE U.S. midterm elections are about two months away and California’s 34th Congressional District is looking to choose between a familiar incumbent and a new face in the upcoming November 6 election.

On one end is current Rep. Jimmy Gomez of the Democratic Party who has represented the district in the House since 2017 and is working towards re-election in the Democratic majority area. Before his election, Gomez served four and a half years in the California State Assembly.

On the other end is Fil-Am Kenneth Mejia, a relatively new face, representing the Green Party — a party he decided to move to after running as a Democratic write-in candidate in 2016.

For the 27 year old, politics wasn’t something he saw himself getting involved in. After graduating college early at the age of 20 with a Bachelors of Science in Accounting, Mejia initially started on the path of finance with a job at the accounting firm Ernst & Young. He got his Certified Public Accountant license at 22, and three years later, Mejia found himself making six-figures.

Yet the finance life took a back seat when he, like many other young Americans, were inspired by 2016 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders to get involved in the political process.

Mejia shared with the Asian Journal his thoughts on politics, why he was drawn to represent the Green Party, his goals for California’s 34th District, and how growing up a Fil-Am has helped shape him.

Asian Journal (AJ): Why the switch to the Green Party?

Kenneth Mejia (KM): I chose the Green Party because I wanted to be part of a political party that represented the working class, minorities, people of color, immigrant communities, and low income folks. I was a Democrat my whole life before I was Green, and sort of after the 2016 election between Bernie and Hillary, I felt that the Democratic party was trying so hard to not fight for working class issues. It was evident on what they were doing to Bernie. Bernie was fighting for things like single payer healthcare which would’ve guaranteed healthcare for all, tuition free public college, and things like taxing Wall Street. These are all things that make sense and are normal in other countries. The Democratic Party kept on fighting back against that. Those were sort of the issues that were important to me, and our community, and that’s sort of why I chose the Green Party. And the biggest reason is that we don’t take any corporate money. So we’re all volunteer based and we’re funded by the people.

AJ: You mention Bernie Sanders a lot when discussing

Xyza Cruz Bacani

Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) is considering to revise its inflation assumptions for this year, following the higher-than-expected inflation footprint last August, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said yesterday.

The DBCC, which is composed of the DBM, Department of Finance (DOF), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), will meet after their scheduled Philippine economic roadshow in London later this month.

“We’ll convene the DBCC to see if there’s a need to reflect the new developments,” Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said in an interview.

According to Diokno, members of the DBCC will discuss the latest developments in the economy and study possible revisions to the council’s projections on inflation this year, which is currently at 4.0 to 4.5 percent.

“We’ll revise the inflation target, of course, upward. We don’t know yet. The one who proposes that is usually BSP,” Diokno said.

Diokno said the inflation re-

Paul V. Rivera

Bacani has been named on several “30 under 30” lists from Forbes and photography organizations as well as a position as one of the BBC’s 100 women of the World 2015. The Nueva Vizcaya native has also exhibited her work worldwide and received awards for her excellence in photography as well as her backstory that provided inspiration for her to tell the stories of oppressed migrant workers and trafficking victims around the world.

“Leadership is doing what is right, even when there is no one looking,” Bacani said in the press release. “Leadership encourages us to dream, to maximize our potential, and to prove that all dreams are valid.”

Jam Acuzar A dedicated patron of the arts and savvy business woman, Acuzar, 28, is the founder and director of Bellas Artes Projects (BAP), a non-profit foundation in the Philippines that curates interactive contemporary art exhibitions in Manila and Bataan.

When she was 18 years old, she moved to Paris to study at the American University campus there, and although she spoke no French, she immersed herself in the worlds of fashion and art and worked for prestigious companies like Conde Nast International and Sotheby’s.

Acuzar was inspired to become a curator of the arts because of her father’s project, Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar, which restores Spanish colonial structures. In 2013, she established BAP as an artist residency programme in 2013 to give Filipino artists a platform to showcase their creativity.

In five years, the organization has expanded to focus on artist residencies and workshops and has also partnered up with art institutions like Museum of Contemporary Art and Design

and other galleries and artists around the globe.

As a leader in the Philippine arts world, Acuzar told the Philippine Tatler that she is proud of Filipino culture because “we have such a great multi layered and complex culture. I can’t wait to discover more and help create other cultural interdisciplinary links with the incredible content we have in the Philippines.”

Paul V. Rivera As co-founder and CEO of the technology start-up company Kalibrr, the 29-year-old entrepreneur worked for Google before a friend propositioned him to co-found a call center with him in the Philippines.

After he left Google in 2007, Rivera started his own business processing outsourcing (BPO) company called Open Access BPO which served startups in Silicon Valley like Mint.com. He grew Open Access into a 300employee company, but then realized another world problem that needed to be addressed: help find people jobs and help companies find the best talent.

In that need, he co-founded Kalibrr, which strategically provides talent acquisition solutions to the top 1,000 companies in the Philippines and Indonesia with a focus to solve recruitment and underemployment problems; Rivera plans to expand Kalibrr to other countries like India in the future.

“My vision is to create a LinkedIn for emerging markets and help people get their first jobs,” Rivera told YourStory in 2013.

“We want to grow fast in the Philippines, then set up base in India, and then going into other fast emerging markets where there is an acute need for freshers. We want to become a twosided platform where job seekers come to train themselves, and companies come to hire the best talent.” ■

Meet the three Pinoys named on the 2018 “Asia 21 Young Leaders” list

by KLARIZE

MEDENILLA AJPress

Kenneth Mejia AJPress photo by Rae Ann Varona

your view on politics — he ran for president as a Democrat but returned to being Independant.

Can you expand on how he’s influenced you?

KM: So he’s an Independant and he was actually one of the people who came out as Democratic Socialist. That word is scary to a lot of people, but if you were to get away from the identity of names, and sort of look at the issues he was fighting for, it made sense. The reason why voter turnout is so low is because politicians are corrupt, and when people saw Bernie, especially

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Inflation surges to 6.4%, highest...

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Jam Acuzar

sults in August should serve as a “wake-up call” for policymakers to pass the rice tariffication bill.

The secretary also continued to express optimism that inflation would taper off in the last quarter of the year and go back within the two to four percent target of the government.

The BSP said in a statement that the higher-than-expected inflation outturn for August could be attributed to the impact of supply-side factors owing to recent weather disturbances and the continued uncertainty in rice supply.

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THREE young Filipino professionals were selected for the 2018 class of the Asia Society “Asia 21 Young Leaders Program,” joining other young Asian Pacific Islander (API) leaders for the 13th Annual Young Leaders Summit in Manila this November.

The program brings together leading figures in government, business, the arts, media and activism under the age of 40 to establish concrete solutions to global and local problems.

The Asia Society group will be a part of a global network of 900 professionals from 40 different nations that will convene in Manila to collaborate and strategize meaningful ways to make a positive impact on a number of issues.

“These young change-makers are already reshaping the most dynamic region on earth,” Asia Society President and CEO Josette Sheeran said in a press release. “They are a remarkable and truly diverse group --- and Asia 21 provides a platform for these young leaders as they tackle the most vexing challenges in the region, one connection at a time.”

Xyza Cruz Bacani The 31-year-old Filipina street and documentary photographer has been featured in the New York Times, Lens Blog and CNN for her work on migrants workers rights and forced labor and human trafficking from the perspective of individual stories.

Her mission to document such underreported human rights stories was borne from 10 years as a domestic worker in Hong Kong.

Born in She saw first-hand the injustices and abuses migrant workers face around the world and, through her photography, shed light on these issues to the world.

A September 8-11, 2018 • LA WeeKeND ASIAN JOUrNAL

Inflation surges to 6.4%, highest...

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“Moreover, energy and transport prices have contributed to the uptick in inflation,” the Bsp added. the Bsp also said it continues to monitor the outlook for inflation, along with the public’s inflation expectations and evidence of second-round effects, all of which would be considered closely in the assessment of the monetary policy stance at the september Monetary Board policy meeting. “the Bsp reaffirms its strong

commitment and readiness to take all necessary policy actions to address the threat of high inflation and deliver on its primary mandate of price stability,” it said. the Bsp added that it supports the implementation of government coordinated non-monetary measures to address the supplyside nature of current inflation pressures.

Meanwhile, the NeDA said the higher than expected inflation for August calls for a committed ef-

Dateline USa

fort from agencies in the agriculture sector to boost output and introduce policy reform needed to bring down prices of agricultural products. “the government, particularly the Department of Agriculture, must act quickly and fervently with sound judgment to ease the increasing prices of agricultural commodities, which are the main drivers of inflation,” socioeconomic planning secretary ernesto pernia said. price adjustments on food and non-alcoholic beverages were higher than the 2.9 percent inflation from a year ago and the 7.1 percent in July.

“While the government’s economic team expected inflation to peak in the third quarter before tapering off towards the latter part of the year, inflation in August is largely beyond the median market forecast. that is why we remain steadfast in putting forward measures that will address prices, especially for food,” pernia said.

Damage to agriculture brought about by the southwest monsoon and typhoon Karding in Ilocos, Cagayan and Cordillera regions amounted to p33.5 million, thus taking a toll on the prices of agricultural commodities. “the rehabilitation of the disaster-stricken agriculture areas must be highly prioritized,” pernia said. the NeDA also emphasized the need to boost the country’s rice production as palay production growth slowed down to 1.68 percent from 12.06 percent during the first half of last year.

In addition, the country’s total rice stocks inventory of the National Food Authority further declined to 1.9 million metric tons as of Aug. 10. this was around 15 percent lower than the levels in the previous month. pernia also cited the weak performance of the fisheries sector, with output of fisheries and other products falling by 2.14 percent and 0.44 percent in the first half of this year. this was mainly caused by reduced trips of fishermen, fish kill and destruction of fish cages, aside from weather disturbances. the socioeconomic planning secretary reiterated the passage of the amendments to republic Act 8178 or the Agricultural tariffication Act, which is a crucial step in reforming the agriculture sector over the medium and long term. n

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Fil-Am students go viral for sneaking fake poster into McDonalds

by Rae

ann VaRona AJPress

A poster featuring two Filipino-Americans enjoying a McDonald’s meal has gone viral for a reason that has many internet users laughing.

Hanging on the wall of a local McDonald’s in texas, the poster — as legitimate as it looks — was not provided by the billion dollar fast food chain, but by 21year-old Fil-Am Jevh Maravilla who decided to pull off a genius prank of creating his own poster and hanging it up on the eatery’s wall.

“I noticed there was a blank wall at McDonald’s so I decided to make this fake poster of me and my friend,” wrote Maravilla in a viral tweet that has been retweeted over 250,000 times and liked over one million times as of Friday, september 7.

“It’s now been 51 days since I hung it up,” revealed Maravilla in his Monday, september 3 tweet. the University of Houston student said that the need for diversity and representation of Asians in the media was the main inspiration for his stunt.

“If you haven’t noticed, there isn’t a lot of Asians represented in media,” Maravilla said in a Youtube video titled, “How to Become McDonalds poster Models.”

“And hopefully one day I could see someone like me on the big screen,” he added, alongside another photoshopped photo of himself on the movie poster of the latest blockbuster hit “Crazy rich Asians.” the idea came in mid-July when Maravilla and his also FilAm friend Christian toledo were eating snack wraps at a McDonalds in pearland, texas. Upon noticing the lack of Asians in

Fil-Ams Jevh Maravilla and Christian Toledo came up with the idea of hanging up a poster of them eating inside a McDonalds location in Pearland, Texas.

Photo courtesy of Twitter/@Jevholution

the restaurant’s posters, the two thought it would be a great opportunity to add some new wall art.

In his Youtube video, Maravilla explained the process of taking the photo in front of their local neighborhood event center, editing the photo and having it printed at office Depot, coincidentally finding a McDonald’s polo shirt at a thrift store for $7, pairing the shirt with a tie and badge with a title of “regional Interior Coordinator”, and finally hanging the photo up. the video has garnered over 900,000 views on Youtube as of Friday, september 7. to BuzzFeed, Maravilla said, “I feel so thankful. I didn’t know how much of a difference I can make in people’s eyes. even one tweet can change the

world.”

He added that while his parents weren’t too pleased about it at first, they finally came around.

“After the whole mission was completed, they couldn’t help but laugh. they even took a picture with my poster without me knowing they went,” said Maravilla.

And as the big question of how long until the photo comes down remains, it seems like the poster may not be coming off anytime soon.

“We take pride in highlighting diversity in every aspect of our restaurants,” the local McDonald’s owner Mariselle Quijano told CNN. “We applaud these students’ creativity and hope to see them in our restaurants again soon.” n

Villar rises to second richest in PH...

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According to Forbes, the 2018 list came from the information about the individuals, stock exchanges, analysts, private databases, government agencies and other sources while the net worths were based on stock prices and exchange rates as of August 24, 2018.

Among the other business-

men in the top 10 were Jollibee Food Chairman tony tan Caktiong ($3.85 billion net worth), Lt Group founder and Chairman Lucio tan ($3.7 billion), san Miguel Corp. president and Vice Chairman ramon Ang ($2.85 billion), Gt Capital Holdings Chairman George ty ($2.75 billion) and Alliance Global Chairman Andrew tan

($2.6 billion).

Coincidentally, the latest Forbes list was released a day after philippine statistics Agency (psA) reported a nine-year high of 6.4 percent inflation in August this year. Inflation is said to be hitting the people below the poverty line the hardest due to the increase in prices of goods and services. n

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Dateline USa

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • SEptEmbER 8-11, 2018

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Congressional candidate Kenneth Mejia...

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L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn announces the initiative alongside officials of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, the L.A. County Workforce Development Aging and Community Services and Project Lifesaver.

AJPress photos Klarize Medenilla

LA County launches new tracking technology...

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“If you have cared for someone with dementia or autism, you know the fear of what might happen if you turn your back for just one minute,” Hahn said at a press conference at the LASD’s helipad on Wednesday.

The initiative uses bracelets that can be tracked via radio frequencies from the LASD. A new office within the department of WDACS was also created to handle missing persons under the program and send out countywide responses when someone goes missing.

“Our LASD mission is to be the eyes and ears in the sky and on the ground,” said LA County Sheriff Jim McDonnell. “This technology literally enables lost loved ones to communicate their location to us and enable us to do all we can as first responders to bring peace and comfort for families to get back together again.”

A family member or caregiver of someone suffering from any of these cognitive conditions may apply for a bracelet, and if approved, may purchase a bracelet for $325 through an associate non-profit organization Project Lifesaver, which supplied the location technology for the initiative.

When a loved one or patient goes missing, family members or caregivers can call 9-1-1 and let the operator know that the missing person was wearing a Project Lifesaver bracelet, and then the police station will inform the Sheriff’s Department’s Men-

tal Evaluation Team to dispatch a rescue team to help locate the missing individual, explained Sgt. Kevin Tiwari.

The bracelet’s radio frequencies will signal a transmitter via electronic signal that can locate anyone wearing a bracelet within a one-mile radius of the transmitter from the ground and three to five miles from a helicopter.

People with these cognitive conditions are susceptible to wandering off, and it’s a common problem.

The Alzheimer’s Association says that 60 percent of people with dementia will wander off, and pediatrics experts say that half of all children with autism will do so, too. LA County has more than 177,000 residents suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Glendale was the first municipality to use the technology in 2015. The Glendale Police Department reported a 100 percent success rate in locating 15 individuals. LA Found was conceived after the disappearance of Nancy Paulikas, a computer engineer from Manhattan Beach, who went missing in October 2016 after a visit to the LA County Museum of Art and is still missing.

“I’ve had patients with dementia, and of course they’re a lot older and because of their condition, many have wandered outside of the house. Luckily I haven’t had anyone go missing for more than an hour, but God forbid if that ever happened. It’s a good thing, this new initiative. So many pa-

The bracelet will have its own code that can be inputted to the transmitter after a person goes missing to help the police department quickly locate that person.

SCOTUS hearings become Sens...

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ahead of Booker’s possible 2020 run for the presidency In an email Kavanaugh wrote in 2003, he expressed uncertainty about the legal strength of Roe, writing, “I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe v.

Wade as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level since [the] Court can always overrule its precedent and three current Justices on the Court would do so.”

Harris pressed then Kavanaugh on his views on Roe — and whether or not he would honor the Trump administration’s mission to overturn it.

But the nominee has refused to concretely answer specific questions by simply expressing that he understands the impact of Roe and acknowledging that the ruling is “settled law.” (It is well within the power of the Supreme Court to unsettle laws if they choose.)

Harris, who has also been rumored to run for the presidency in 2020, argued that Roe, and rulings that have affirmed it, gave autonomy to women over their reproductive systems and allowed them to maintain their privacy from the government for their health choices.

Kavanaugh also controversially referred to some birth control as “abortion-inducing drugs.”

After a fruitless back and forth between Harris and Kavanaugh, Harris asked, “Can you think of any laws that give the government the power to make decisions about the male body?”

After a long pause, Kavanaugh said he’s “not aware” of any laws that dictate decisions about “the male body.”

Late on Wednesday’s hearing, Harris also pressed the nominee over whether he has discussed the Mueller investigation with anyone, including individuals at Kasowitz Benson Torres, the firm founded by Marc Kasowitz, Trump’s personal lawyer.

Throughout the week, Demo-

crats have been inquiring Kavanaugh about whether or not he supports Trump’s earlier claim that, if he were found guilty of wrongdoing in the investigation over Russian collusion during the 2016 presidential election, he would be immune to indictment as a sitting president.

Kavanaugh said that while he’s discussed the investigation “with other judges I know,” he said that he was uncertain he knows everyone who worked at that specific law firm.

“I’m not remembering, but I’m happy to be refreshed or if you want to tell me who you’re thinking of,” Kavanaugh told the California senator.

Harris retorted, “You’ve been speaking for almost eight hours to this committee about all sorts of things you remember. How can you not remember whether or not you had a conversation about Robert Mueller or his investigation with anyone at that law firm?”

Kavanaugh asked Harris if there was a specific person to whom she was referring, and then Harris fired back, “I think you are thinking of someone, and you don’t want to tell us.”

In July, Trump nominated his second Supreme Court choice, Kavanaugh, a U.S. Circuit Court judge, to replace Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy who announced his retirement in June.

After four days of hearings so far on Kavanaugh, the 53-yearold is poised to be confirmed by a conservative-leaning Congress before the midterm elections, despite heavy and persistent questioning from Democrats.

Democrats have been arguing to delay the hearings and the vote because of the last-minute release of 42,000 White House documents that were made available the night before the first day of proceedings. The documents are records from Kavanaugh’s time in the White House under George W. Bush. n

tients go missing and it’s a huge problem if they run into any dangerous situations,” Esther Pak, a Korean-American caregiver based in the San Gabriel Valley who treats seniors with dementia and Alzheimer’s, told the Asian Journal.

“I hope this new program will help bring back people a lot faster because you never know what [patients] can run into while they’re wandering around, whether that’s walking into traffic, drowning or other problems,” Pak added.

To apply for a bracelet or to learn more, information is available on www.lafound.com. Leasing opportunities are also available, but there is a waiting list to request a free bracelet, and you can call 1-833-569-7651 to be placed the waiting list. (Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)

a lot of youth, they got involved with the political process — the largest voter turnout was millennial when he ran.

Whether it was healthcare for all because people are getting bankrupt over medical bills, or education because there are people who can’t go to school, or single moms who can’t get healthcare or a head start for their babies — he talked about these issues that really affected the working class people, immigrants, and minorities. He went after root causes like corruption in politics.

Us as millennials and as people throughout the country, whether Republican or Democrat, know its corrupt. And that’s why some are so fed up with politics.

When I saw someone like Bernie, I thought finally there was actually someone that cared and that’s sort of why I got more involved politically.

AJ: What are some of your biggest goals for District 34, should you be elected?

KM: Housing. In LA, a lot of people are spending the majority of their income to rent. We’d love to fight and push for more funding, quality public housing.

Right now, private development has taken over LA and people are getting displaced because these new apartments are market rate — $2000 for a one bedroom and we want quality public housing where essentially, state or federal government, helps build these homes because right now developers are making lots of money and the government subsidizes them and another big one we’d fight for is rent control. And it’s

not just here in LA, but nationally, people are getting priced out at 20% rent increases, 30% increases.

Homelessness is very big and we have over 55,000 people in LA County. We want to push for is more funding for permanent support of housing, like more shelters, but specifically for people’s basic needs. For example, women would have their own shelter, domestic abuse victims, or women with children. We just want to make sure that everyone has a place to sleep because we believe housing is a human right.

We also want to provide services for mental health or drug related problems.

Another big one is for health care. One out of every five people don’t have health insurance in LA District 34, and many more people are underinsured. Single payer health care is the policy that we’d fight for, where essentially we’d get rid of the health insurance companies because they make a ton of profit. For example for me, I pay $80 to $90 a month for health insurance, and I still ended up paying close to $2000 to get this cyst off my arm.

My friend from Canada paid zero and got it removed in five minutes. I think many people can relate that these health care bills.

Going to the doctor, or having an emergency — it’s very risky and people go bankrupt.

AJ: Also on the ballot running for re-election for the California District 34 is incumbent Jimmy Gomez of the Democratic Party. What are the big differences between you two?

KM: So many differences. On

paper, he appears progressive.

He votes the right way majority of the time, but number one, he takes a lot of corporate money.

Some of his biggest donors are Goldman Sachs, the NFL, Naviance — the largest student debt collector — so if you’ve got student loans, you’re probably getting hassled by these people.

Amgen, Big Pharma, Pfizer, Blue Shield, UnitedHealth Group, Verizon, Comcast, T-Mobile, Boeing. Basically the list goes on and a lot of people don’t know that. So number one, we don’t take any corporate money.

Number two, we can push harder and fight for these real progressive issues he’s isn’t pushing like canceling student debt, for example. Right now, it’s the second largest behind mortgages.

We can also fight for things like rank choice voting which would essentially give people a more democratic option when the have election where you essentially don’t pick one candidate to vote for. You rank your candidates as one, two, three.

So you’d pick me as number one, then Jimmy Gomez as number two, and then if anything, the Republican as number three. So if I don’t win as your first pick, it will then go to Jimmy. Right now, there are people that are scared to vote for a third party.

We’re also fighting for things like rent control. We’re using our privilege and our power.

We’d talk to our city and state officials if we were to get elected, to push for things like rent control. And these are some of the

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Duterte to create department to improve... LA opens first temporary homeless shelter PAGE A1 t

establishing their ventures in the Philippines. He guaranteed the creation of a specific department that would process their investments.

“As a matter fact, you do not have to travel from one place to another to get a permit or clearance or whatever, I will create a department just to receive your application. We will do the processing,” Duterte added.

He addressed the concerns of many regarding the country’s corrupt reputation and assured them they they will profit, should they decide to establish businesses in the Philippines.

“I will guarantee you the return of profit. There will be no corruption. And if you ask anything, even a toothpick, I will guarantee you, you can have my audience any time of the day or night,” Duterte promised.

The president explained how he would go about the technicalities of the said department. He also promoted industries such as mining, agriculture and fisheries.

“If everything is in order, there’s no need for you to fol-

low it up. We will advise you that your papers have been approved and that you can start your business. And there will be a roadmap there, it’s a map where you can, it’s color-coded. See whether it’s good for mining here, it’s good for agriculture, fishing,” Duterte discussed.

The leader boasted the Filipinos’ skill and capabilities, emphasizing how his countrymen fare better than the colonizers that controlled the country way back.

“And we have many talents.

We have an excess of talents. But Filipinos are really brighter than the colonials. I don’t have to name them but they were colonials just the same. And maybe they can come here (to) learn from you or we can also help learn and then pass it to the young people of Jordanian,” Duterte stated.

The tough-talking leader went on to mention how he “operates” in the Philippines.

“And I can call the guy in front of you. But if I shoot him, you just walk away. Leave me with the police to talk about these things,” he promised.

The Philippine president was

LOS ANGELES — Taking a step forward in the City’s fight to end homelessness, Mayor Eric Garcetti and Councilmember José Huizar were joined by City Council President Herb J. Wesson, Councilmembers Mike Bonin and Marqueece Harris-Dawson, LAHSA Executive Director Peter Lynn, service providers, and outreach workers on Wednesday, Sept. 5 at the official opening of the first “A Bridge Home” temporary bridge housing site.

Located near the El Pueblo Historical Monument, the housing located at 711 N. Alameda St. is the first of a series of projects planned for construction across Los Angeles to bring homeless President Rodrigo Duterte is welcomed by officials from the Hashemite Kingdom of people indoors. To date, dozens Jordan upon his arrival at the Queen Alia of sites across the city are being International Airport in Amman, Jordan explored by the City Council.

A Bridge Home sites will offer on Wednesday, Sept. 5. On Thursday, the Philippine president vowed to create a immediate beds, showers, mental new department focused on processing health services, restrooms, stordocuments for investors to make it easier for age facilities, and pet accommodathem to do business in the country. tions, as well as around-the-clock, Malacañang photo by King Rodriguez on-site care for Angelenos who in Jordan this week for a state are sleeping on the street now and visit, during which nine business awaiting supportive housing or deals totalling $64.7 million were other long-term care. The initiasigned between Philippine and tive is a critical piece of the L.A. region’s overall efforts to build a Jordanian private firms. n comprehensive system to bring homeless Angelenos indoors.

“We are here to help people in desperate need get themselves on a bridge that goes in one direction — toward housing and healing,” OVER 17 YEARS said Garcetti. “Angelenos have freed up more resources than ever before to help our homeless neighbors recover from the trauma and poverty that forces them onto the streets. Today, we have one message for the men and women who will soon move into this facility: Welcome home.”

This site will be occupied by people from existing, high-density encampments in the immediate surrounding area. New residents of the site were identified through Darrick V. Tan, Esq. unprecedented outreach efforts by specialized teams who walked Licensed in California for the streets of the El Pueblo neighover 17 years borhood every day for the previLicensed in Nevada for ous three months — to identify over 12 years* homeless Angelenos already livUCLA, Bachelor of Arts, Political Science with Cum Laude honors ing in the community, and prepare them to move indoors.

Southwestern University Law “In Council District 14, we have School, Juris Doctor and will continue to work with our Admitted to U.S. District Court, Central District of California partners on creative solutions to Member, American Immigration end the despair of homelessness,” Lawyers Association said Huizar, co-author of MeaMember, Consumers Attorney sure HHH, and a leading voice Association of Los Angeles on the City Council in addressing Former Member, Board of Governors, Philippine American homelessness. “Given that we are blocks from Skid Row, the largBar Association est homeless encampment in the *Inactive nation, it is fitting that the City’s first Bridge Home site be located in Downtown. Let hopelessness end here for these residents, and let’s open our City’s collective arms and share that hope with the thousands more who will follow.”

The site at El Pueblo is run by The People Concern, a social services agency that has operated in and around the Downtown LA area

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LA Mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday, Sept. 4 was joined by councilmembers and outreach workers for the opening of the city’s first temporary bridge housing shelter located near the El Pueblo Historical Monument in Downtown.

The city’s first “A Bridge Home” temporary housing site.

Photos courtesy of the Office of Mayor Garcetti

for more than 50 years. The facility is furnished with on-site mental healthcare, substance abuse support, connections to permanent housing, career services, and 24/7 security, and staffed by case managers from The People Concern at all times. It will stand for three years — enough time for the City to build supportive housing for the Angelenos living in it.

“A Bridge Home is the community working together to bring services to those who need it most and empower individuals to rebuild their lives,” said John Maceri, CEO of The People Concern.

After the new bridge housing opens its doors next week, and the first 45 residents move in, City Sanitation teams will work to restore spaces previously occupied by encampments into clean and accessible public passageways.

The site was designed pro bono by M. Arthur Gensler Jr. & Associates, and includes a community garden, a pet relief area, offices for meetings with case managers, and an outdoor community space where meals will be served three times a day.

“As architects it was important for us, as part of the Downtown community, to step up and help make this crucial project become a reality,” said Rob Jernigan, CoRegional Managing Principal at Gensler. “We’re all affected by homelessness and as Angelenos we are proud to play a small role in helping our fellow citizens battling this issue.”

In total, the mayor’s budget includes more than $450 million

in supportive housing, bridge housing, services, and facilities to help homeless Angelenos find their way under a roof and off the streets. That represents a 147 percent increase over last year.

The mayor also fought for — and won — funding from the State’s budget surplus to help cities across California find, build, and expand housing for their homeless populations. Thanks to that effort, Los Angeles County alone will receive $166 million from the State to bring our unhoused neighbors indoors.

In April, Garcetti and the City Council declared an emergency shelter crisis and took advantage of a new state law that enables cities to construct bridge housing — faster than ever before — on any land owned or leased by the city.

Garcetti signed an executive directive in May requiring city departments to fast-track temporary shelter projects from application to construction, allowing those that meet legal and environmental standards to open their doors in as little as 32 weeks. The city will guide these projects from start to finish.

With Garcetti’s support, Huizar is pushing forward with a plan to identify other emergency locations in Downtown LA to house approximately 2,000 unsheltered Skid Row residents in City-owned buildings or available private properties — such as the old Children’s Museum located at the Civic Center near City Hall, and a private lot on Paloma Street, in partnership with LA County. (AJPress)

Congressional candidate Kenneth Mejia...

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things that he’s not fighting for.

Thirdly, we can go after both parties — Democrats and Republicans. I think nowadays, people are so against politics because it’s always Democrats or Republicans and they end up leaving the people behind. We can actually go after both parties who take money from these special interests. We can keep it focused and that’s kind of what he’s not doing.

We can say he’s very progressive because he co sponsored single payer healthcare H.R.676, but how can you cosponsor a progressive bill like single payer but behind the scenes take money from health insurance companies and Big Pharma? We noticed he only cosponsors and fights for it when he campaigns.

When he was actually elected, he never outspokenly fought for single payer health care as a human right. This is just the show that politicians do. They show that they care but they don’t.

AJ: What was it like growing up Filipino American, and how do you think your experience plays into what you’re doing now?

KM: My mom is from Pangasinan and my dad is from Baguio.

Just like many immigrant families and Filipino parents, they left it all to provide a better life for people like me and my siblings.

My parents got divorced when I was seven, so it was mainly my mom who was the one who physically raised me. She worked as an RN during the night shift, but as a Filipino family, we also had my grandma and my aunt living in a small townhouse.

My mom cherished education.

So that’s what I did. Seeing her work very hard, seeing her put me through school, drive me, come out to my games whenever she can, it made me realize that hard work is what sort of drives us Filipinos.

And her coming from a Catholic background, and I’m a Catholic, she always told us to be thankful to God and to be compassionate.

That’s sort of why I’m sort of grounded in compassion — because of my mom always taught me to be nice to others.

I’m also grounded in hard work because of her struggle to raise four kids by herself and that’s influenced who I am and it’s akin to what our campaign is modeled after. Being Filipino, we work very hard and we’re sort of making a name for ourselves.

AJ: What are the challenges that come with being a third party, especially in a district that is a majority Democrat?

KM: Its very hard. I think if we ran Democrat, we’d get way more votes just because of the name. This district is a majority Democrat district, so when people go to vote — and we spoke to people at the polls — they already had their sample ballots for Democrat and they didn’t even know who he [Gomez] was. Not a lot of people know us. We’re only 2,000 here in Los Angeles, but I think the way we overcome it is though a grassroots surge of volunteers getting involved in the political process. It’s helping us big time. We have over 100 volunteers helping, whether it’s knocking on doors, haring our posts on social media, or making calls. And we do a lot of guerilla campaigns on streets so people can see who we are.

We also do a lot of social media.

We do our best, they best way we can with whatever we have.

It was able to get us here to beat out the other candidate, but it’s definitely a challenge and that’s sort of why our goal is to get people to know us. Once they know who we are and what we’re fighting for, and who our opponent is and who he’s taking money from, and how he’s part of a corrupt establishment, they ended up voting for us at the polls. These are people we spoke to right before they voted and they changed their vote for us. So I think that’s our goal — to get these people to know who we are. And in order to do

that, we want to recruit about 1,000 people to help us here on the ground.

We’re also more confident because now it’s one on one. We’re getting more attention and we’ll be in people’s faces more and we’re hoping to get more donations to help us with operations that we’re going to do and we feel good. We’re going to work as hard as we can to get out and knock on as many doors. We’ve knocked on thousands and thousands of doors, and now letting people know that they have an option.

When people find out who he is and who he’s taking money from, and what he’s not doing and what he’s not fighting for, a majority of the time, they agree with us. And many of them are excited that there’s actually a third party and a young candidate. It’s going to be hard, but we feel good about it because every time we go out there, more people know who the Green is.

AJ: What do you think is needed in the political system right now?

KM: People need to be energized to know that change can come but only if they get involved. Because right now, if you don’t get involved, whether its organizing or you’re getting involved in politics, people will make decisions for you and the status quo continues.

Our representatives need to really encourage people, but in order to really encourage them, they need to fight for working class issues. Healthcare, benefits, education, housing... If our politicians are not fighting for these human necessities, then people won’t’ get involved.

We need a working class sort of struggle to happen where workers all over the place unite minorities, low income folks, tenants, and involve and fight for their power. I think just reinvigorating the real issues is what needs to happen in the political system.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. n

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A

Dateline PHousehiliPPines OKs bill seeking more protection for female workers

PH bags $60M in investment pledges from Jordanian firms

by Catherine

S. Valente

ManilaTimes.net

THE Philippines bagged at least $60 million worth of investment pledges from Jordanian companies during President Rodrigo Duterte’s historic visit to the Hashemite Kingdom.

Filipino and Jordanian businessmen signed nine business agreements and intent letters during a forum with Duterte at the Intercontinental Hotel in Amman on Thursday, September 6.

The deals, signed before the president, are expected to generate 432 jobs in the various fields such as information technology, software and mobile development, manufacturing, digital cross-border remittances and genomic testing.

The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Jordanian Chamber of Industry signed the two memoranda of understanding on promotion, strengthening, and expansion of trade, economic, scientific, technological cooperation; and on establishment of linkages between businesses and industrial sectors to facilitate cooperation

and joint ventures among members and to increase bilateral trade volume between the two countries.

The letters of intent, meanwhile, were submitted by Nafith International, which aims to explore opportunities on logistics planning and operations and locate its regional office in the Philippines; Universal Labs Ltd., which is planning to explore opportunities in manufacturing and set up a production facility for Dead Sea products for export; Arabia Cell, which is eyeing opportunities in mobile-related services and solutions, information technology, software and mobile development; Dinarak, which is planning to invest $2 million on digital cross-border remittances from Jordan to the Philippines; and Reprogene, which is eyeing investments on genomic testing services for hospitals and clinics.

Mobile Z Nation, which is planning to invest $200,000 in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector related to health care and insurance; and Galaxy Organization, which is interested in investing

on technology, robotics, ICT development, cyber crime, artificial intelligent, green-energy and e-education, also submitted their letters of intent.

In his speech during the forum, Duterte gave a “solemn commitment” to Jordanian investors of ease in doing business in the Philippines.

The president also guaranteed return on investment and that there would be no corruption.

“There is one thing which I would like to guarantee you.

Maybe you’ve heard some other time about the Philippines being corrupt. Yes, most of them in the past,” Duterte said.

“But I tell you know, I give you the solemn commitment that if you go there, it will be business with ease. And as a matter of fact, you do not have to travel from one place to another to get a permit or clearance wherever,” he added.

The president then revealed that he would create a department just to process the application of foreign entrepreneurs who want to do business in the Philippines. n

Leni Robredo to Duterte admin: ‘Fight inflation, not opposition’

by JanViC

mateo Philstar.com

highest in nine years, is a confirmation that the prices of basic commodities like rice continue to increase without effective government intervention.

“Expending political capital for divisive moves like revoking the validity of the amnesty provided to Senator (Antonio) Trillanes at a time when the quality of life of our people is at stake comes at the expense of addressing the issues that truly matter to the Filipino,” she said.

“Our previous call to this administration to do what needs to be done to ease the difficulties that ordinary Filipinos have to face has become even more urgent,” she added.

Instead of shutting down those who point out its inefficiencies, Robredo expressed hope that “The Filipino people who suffer the brunt of such rising prices are not served by further the administration could rise to politicking. What our people need is a government that truly works for the public interest the challenge of putting forward and does not waste its power and resources on pursuing personal and petty concerns,” Vice coherent solutions to bring down focus on addressing rising inflation, according to Vice President MANILA, Philippines — In- Leni Robredo.

Robredo said the 6.4 percent stead of attacking the opposition, the Duterte administration should inflation rate for August, the

President Leni Robredo said.

Philstar.com file photo

u PAGE A10

by Jerome

aning Inquirer.net

The House of Representatives on Wednesday, Sept. 7 approved on third and final reading a bill which seeks to expand prohibited discriminatory acts against women.

Voting 197-0 without abstentions, the lower chamber approved House Bill No. 6760, which would amend the Labor Code of the Philippines by further strengthening several of its provisions to give more protection to women employees in the workplace.

The bill, principally authored by former Diwa party-list Rep. Emmeline Aglipay-Villar, declares as discriminatory any company action or policy that favors a male employee over a female employee with respect to dismissal of personnel or the application of any retrenchment policy of the employer solely on account of their sex.

Favoring a male employee over a female employee with respect to promotion, assignment, training opportunities, study and scholarship grants solely on account of her sex is also prohibited by the bill.

Fine or imprisonment Under the measure, it shall be unlawful for any employer to deny any woman the employment benefits provided under the laws by reason of her sex.

In addition to other penalties as may be provided by law, the proposal imposes a fine of P50,000 to P200,000 or imprisonment of three months to three years, or both, at the discretion of the court to any employer found guilty of committing any of the prohibited acts.

The institution of any criminal action shall not bar the aggrieved employee from filing an action for money claims.

Any foreigner found guilty shall be immediately deported upon completion of service of sentence.

Penalty of officers On the other hand, any employee or person who willfully abets or aids in the commission of the prohibited acts or who causes the commission of any such acts by another would be liable in the same manner as the employer.

For offenses committed by a

corporation, trust, partnership, firm, association or entity, the penalty shall be imposed upon the guilty officer or officers.

Other authors of the bill include Speaker Gloria MacapagalArroyo, Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr., and Representatives Strike Revilla of Cavite, Estrellita Suansing of Nueva Ecija, Horacio Suansing Jr. of Sultan Kuda-

rat, Randolph Ting of Cagayan, Mark Go of Baguio City, Makmod Mending Jr. and Amihilda Sangcopan of Amin party list, Vicente Veloso of Leyte, Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. of Camarines Sur, Gus Tambunting of Parañaque City, Raul del Mar of Cebu City, Ron Salo of Kabayan party list, and Virgilio Lacson of Manila Teachers party list. n

A8 SEPTEMBER 8-11, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

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OPINION

Time for Supreme Court to rule on Trillanes issue

FEATURES

AT some point, whether the Duterte administration or Sen. Antonio Trillanes 4th likes it or not, it will be necessary for the Supreme Court to step into the raging amnesty controversy and render its opinion on the issue now roiling the nation.

There will be no light or calming of the waters until the high court speaks.

The controversy was ignited by President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to issue Proclamation 572, which specifically revokes “the Department of National Defense ad hoc committee resolution no. 2 dated January 31, 2011, insofar as it granted amnesty to former LTSG Antonio Trillanes IV.” The effect of the proclamation was electric.

Trillanes was predictably apoplectic; he immediately delivered a privilege speech at the Senate in his defense. Many of his Senate colleagues, especially those in the opposition, assailed the presidential proclamation as unconstitutional and designed to silence the opposition.

President Duterte gave three primary reasons for revoking the Defense department’s decision: 1) Trillanes did not file an official application form for amnesty with the Defense department as directed by the Aquino amnesty proclamation.

2) Trillanes never expressed his guilt for the crimes that were committed on the occasion of the Oakwood mutiny and the Peninsula Manila siege.

To the contrary, he stated on record that, “they were not admitting guilt to the mutiny and coup d’etat charges lodged against them in the civil and military courts.”

3) Despite Trillanes’ failure to apply for amnesty

and refusal to admit his guilt, his name was included among those granted amnesty pursuant to DND ad hoc committee resolution 2 approved by former Secretary of National Defense Voltaire Gazmin.

The president has ordered the Department of Justice and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to pursue all criminal and administrative cases against Trillanes in relation to the Oakwood and Manila Peninsula incidents. In addition, the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have been ordered to employ all lawful means to apprehend Trillanes so that he can be recommitted to the detention facility where he had been incarcerated.

Trillanes has tried to present as proof of his amnesty application media coverage of his purported filing of an amnesty application. Does this qualify as legal proof in the absence of the document on the official record files?

There is much debate in public whether President Duterte has the authority to revoke the amnesty proclamation issued by former President Benigno S. Aquino 3rd on Nov. 24, 2010, which granted amnesty to Trillanes and his co-conspirators.

We are also mindful that Aquino’s amnesty proclamation sought to negate the actions of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to prosecute in civil and military court members of the military who

Editorial

Philstar.com photo

openly tried to topple her government.

If, as some contend, President Aquino’s amnesty proclamation is sacrosanct and beyond revision by another president, how do we then reconcile this with the fact that the Aquino proclamation itself trivialized the crime of rebellion against another President of the Republic?

There are no easy answers to these questions,

even though some people are always ready to offer an opinion.

These questions cannot be resolved by the public alone, without the intervention of a higher authority. The Supreme Court needs to step in and speak to the people to settle the legality of the issues involved in this controversy. (ManilaTimes. net)

His loyalty to party ended where loyalty to country began

Street Talk GREG B. MACABENTA IN death Sen. John McCain was honored by colleagues whom he disagreed with, even fought with and who considered him a disloyal maverick during his long tenure as a politician.

Former Vice-President Joe Biden summed up the attitude of the usually partisan personalities who crossed John McCain’s life before brain cancer took it at age 81.

Speaking at McCain’s internment in his home state of Arizona, Biden, opened up by declaring, “I am a Democrat…and I loved John McCain.”

Special guests at the final rites for McCain were former President Barack Obama who trounced the senator, as Republican party standard bearer, in the 2008 presidential elections; former President George W. Bush, who defeated McCain in the 2000 presidential primary and whose campaign even resorted to such dirty tricks as spreading the baseless rumor that McCain had fathered a black child; and former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.

Absent was President Donald Trump. He was not invited to McCain’s final rites.

Trump’s absence was obvious at the various ceremonies honoring McCain. That included the one where he lay in state at the Capitol rotunda, a distinction reserved for the most outstanding and exemplary personages in the United States, such as Abraham Lincoln.

McCain was only the 31st person to be honored with an official internment at the Capitol rotunda.

Interestingly, this honor was decided on by the leaders of the Republican-controlled Senate and House of Representatives. The same leaders who were sorely disappointed with McCain when he cast the nay vote that doomed President Donald Trump’s and the GOP’s vow to repeal the controversial Democrat-passed Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare).

In truth, if Trump had his way, the Capitol rotunda honors would have been denied McCain, just as Trump balked at flying the U.S. flag at half-mast during the entire period of McCain’s internment. It was only because of the uproar caused by Trump’s petty antagonism against a political critic (including a protest by members of the American Legion), that Trump relented and issued an executive order allowing due honors to be accorded to the late senator.

The final days of McCain aboveground must have virtually buried

Trump in shame, as the entire country ignored the president of the United States while paying tribute to someone he considered an enemy.

But political enmity was set aside during McCain’s internment. For one shining moment, America’s political leaders cast aside partisanship and extolled the maverick senator who valued loyalty to country over and above loyalty to his political party.

With one voice, they conceded that McCain was a genuine hero and patriot. But what set him off in comparison to Trump was that McCain was also a person of grace and nobility, rather than pettiness, a trait that Trump has, unfortunately, shrouded himself with.

During the blistering contest against Obama, one McCain supporter at a political rally had very unkind words to say about the African-American candidate that bordered on racism. McCain stopped the supporter and contradicted her, pointing out that Obama was a decent and respectable person and not the kind being portrayed.

In contrast, throughout the campaign to choose the Republican standard bearer, the presidential contest itself against Hillary Clinton, and throughout Trump’s brief tenure as president, he has been the epitome of boorishness,

pettiness, racism, self-delusion and falsehood, playing to the basest attitudes of his supporters.

On the other hand, McCain never played to his base, often disappointing his party mates and refusing to toe the party line.

As a congressman and six-term senator, McCain earned the moniker of “maverick” because he often bucked the Republican position on issues, and often reached over to the opposition Democrats to work on critical legislative initiatives. He worked with the late Senator Edward Kennedy on comprehensive immigration reform, voted against tax cuts for the rich (which Trump forced through in the name of tax reform), campaigned against dependency on fossil fuel, warned against global warming, and advocated campaign finance reform.

While he was a known supporter and admirer of President Ronald Reagan, McCain, as a rookie congressman, spoke vigorously against Reagan’s plan to send US marines to Lebanon.

The slaughter of hundreds of U.S. and allied soldiers in a terrorist attack on a Marine camp in Beirut proved McCain right, but it was a pyrrhic validation of his principled stand.

For sure, McCain was not infallible. He was known to make poor judgments, such as choosing Alaska Governor Sarah Palin

as his running mate in the 2008 presidential campaign. Palin was a drag on the campaign and confirmed people’s negative perceptions of her afterwards.

But McCain stood by his convictions, even if it wouldn’t have made sense to the less principled.

As a soldier and a prisoner-ofwar in Vietnam, he endured five and a half years of torture and solitary confinement – and yet when he was offered an opportunity to be released, he declined because of the unwritten rule among POWs of first-in-first-out, meaning that those who had been confined ahead of McCain deserved to be released ahead of him, too.

Trump disdained McCain. The feeling was obviously mutual. McCain refused to endorse Trump, the official Republican standard bearer in 2016, sunk Trump’s pet campaign vow to repeal Obamacare, and characterized Trump’s summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin as “one of the most disgraceful performances of an American president.”

McCain was also the anti-thesis of Trump in other ways. McCain, whose father and paternal grandfather were both admirals, volunteered for active duty with the U.S. Navy at 17. He flew fighter jets, was shot down over Vietnam and was a POW for five and a half years.

On the other hand, Trump avoided being drafted into the military and avoided being sent to Vietnam five times by claiming a bone spur in his feet at one point and claiming college education four other times.

A ridiculous comment by Trump about McCain was that the latter was not a hero because he was captured. According to Trump, heroes were not supposed to be taken prisoners. This prompted pundits to comment that Trump’s “heroism” was by sparing the U.S. armed forces of his cowardice.

McCain’s passing may have been a sobering hiatus for professional politicians. And the soaring rhetoric that the speakers spoke during the internment ceremonies may have given Americans reason to hope that the divisiveness that has marked the Trump presidency can be healed.

But it’s too early to tell. Politicians have this magical talent for putting on a noble mask when occasion demands, and especially during funerals.

As a Tagalog pundit puts it, “Bihisan mo raw ang matsing ay matsing pa rin.” (You may dress up a monkey but it is still a monkey).

The likes of Senator John McCain will be missed. (gregmacabenta@hotmail. com)

The “red” stories of martyrs’ sacrifice of one’s life so others might live

Rhizomes

PROSY ABARQUEZDELACRUZ, J.D. “Yes, Martial Law is now over.

The cruel tyrant had died. But there were other perpetrators during this gruesome era, and many of them are still around today. Now, they use their ill-gotten wealth to attempt to rewrite history and boldly proclaim to the present generation, who were not even born during the dictatorship years, that Martial Law is good for our country. We, who were arrested, tortured, and left to rot in prison, continue to “rebel” against these people who dare to rewrite and revise our history of struggle against the evil tyranny of “OneMan Rule.” Let the “Wall of Remembrance” be our altar where the names of our martyrs and heroes are forever enshrined as a reminder that we who have survived this cruel and dark portion of our history will rise up once again and tell (write) our stories: 1. Stories of

defiance and struggle in the face of tyranny, 2. Stories of determination and courage under torture and physical degradation, 3. Stories of indigenous peoples rising up to defend their ancestral lands with their lives and 4. Stories of martyrdom and the sacrifice of one’s life so that others might live.

Nunca Mas! These are the stories that uplift the human spirit, because we believe that our brothers and sisters did not die in vain.”

– Manuel C. Lahoz, “Of Tyrants and Martyrs: A Political Memoir,” published by The University of the Philippines Press, Diliman, Quezon City, 2017.

I HAVE read several books on “One-Man Rule”: Raissa Robles’ “Marcos Martial Law: Never Again”; Susan F. Quimpo and Nathan Gilbert Quimpo’s “Subversive Lives”; Primitivo Mijares’ “Conjugal Dictatorship”; Monina Allaret Mercado’s “People Power: The Philippine Revolution of 1986” and Ninotchka Rosca’s “A State of War,” a captivating novel which I could not put down for three consecutive nights.

I am reading Manuel C. Lahoz’s “Of Tyrants and Martyrs” and am still rereading chapters, as I believe it is one of the best books on the “One-Man Rule” of Ferdinand Marcos. It explains in layers how life decisions were made, how one gets arbitrarily arrested, even without any apparent crimes or wrongs done.

It presents an insider’s view of what happened to the high school principal, to the deacon, to the band leader, to the nun, to the priest saying the mass then assassinated, to the oppressed farmers and workers, to the indigenous tribespeople who defended their tribal lands from being denuded and defiled by the construction of the Chico Dam. Lahoz’s book is to be relished and savored, as if God is near you, as Lahoz’s loving and literary soul is etched in every page of this political memoir. He has eyes that observe every minute detail of each person he met.

As a reflective person, he is acutely aware and conscious of what his life’s purpose is, writing,

Over 50 attendees gathered in West Covina, California for the launch of Manuel C. Lahoz’s “Of Tyrants and Martyrs: A Political Memoir.”

Photo by Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz

“gradually, as in a self-revelation, it dawned on me that there was more to being a priest than just a minister of the sacraments. I had taken the first steps towards the ministry of sevice, which was more than just offering the sacraments to the people, when I made a commitment to be with and be

part of the poor and the oppressed in their struggle for justice. I would follow this ministry of service for many years to come.”

One of the best books on “One Man Rule” Nestor Castro, Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs at UP Diliman, affirms the writings of

Lahoz, and also attested to how, he too was imprisoned at Camp Dangwa, Benguet in 1983 and chose to block the details from his memory.

I also found convergence in my assessment, after reading Francisco Lara’s, Ph.D., “Le Politique

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OpiniOn & Features

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan King Abdullah bin Al-Hussein engage in a discussion during a meeting at the Al Husseinieh Palace in Amman on September 6, 2018.

Presidential Photo

The “red” stories of martyrs’ sacrifice of...

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Du Ventre” mirroring my notes, yet his eloquent words are much more beautiful: “each chapter has a section where simple tasks and the local knowledge of the poor is shared to the reader—such as, how do you repair a section of a destroyed rice terrace (with brains rather than brawn); or cook molasses to sweeten a rice cake (with the right heat and the best rice); or take a dump [referred to in the U.S. as #2] in the forest, with native pigs surrounding you (with sticks and stones), or walk through a hanging bridge without trembling in fear (by looking ahead and not below).” This is where Lahoz’s sense of humor is vividly on display, particularly in how to take a dump.

The book is a firsthand account of what happened to the martyrs and even verified by newspaper accounts, Bantayog ng mga Bayani’s account, and other authors.

It satisfies the known standard of “believe the assertion, but also verify,” and in one instance, the author even provides three different accounts of what happened to Santiago Arce: laying out the PC Commander’s version of Mr. Arce’s death, the Judge’s Inquest, and the People’s Reaction to the PC Commander’s Version of Arce’s escape.

The reader equipped with critical thinking skills can discern the details around the Arce’s escape, advanced by the PC Commander, as his use of a gun as improbable and the judge’s inquest more credible and believable – given a

simple examination of the gun barrel that was shiny and without bullet residues, confirming that Mr. Arce did not use a gun, as falsely asserted by the military.

It also contains details of Arce’s longest funeral in Abra with twenty priests concelebrating the mass and a funeral procession of about a kilometer long, four abreast, making a long procession of Abrenians walking 0.62 miles.

Why did Arce merit a hero’s funeral?

Santiago Arce was Little Flower High School’s principal, who was also an ordained church deacon, a bandleader who led the best marching band in Abra, and helped provide seminars to the farmers.

He describes in vivid details what it is like to have fish caught from the streams and banana blossoms gathered from the forests and then to enjoy eating the charred grilled fish with steaming aromatic rice cooked in bamboo tubes, with cooked banana blossom; half-cooked rice wrapped in woven palm leaves dunked into boiling syrup. He even details the livelihood of folks, and how sugar cane is grown in sandy loam soil, then, harvested and milled into cane juice then molasses, and how lumber is gathered from cut trees, and how at the peak of deforestation – about 50,000 logs await in the river, to be milled and turned into paper. He even describes how a carabao was slaughtered.

The book‘s details allow us a glimpse into that period where fear predominates first until conviction

makes one stand up and others as well, “the members of the FFF (Federation of Free Farmers) attended the funeral procession in big numbers, unafraid of the presence of the military spies.”

It makes us recall the longest procession accorded Lean Alejandro who was reportedly assassinated by Marcos’ military and over 50,000 people lined up the streets to show their sympathy but also their protest to the “One Man Rule.”

Lahoz wrote about the assassination of Ama Macli-ing Dulag, who spoke of the land being one with their tribes, “If the land could speak, it would speak for us. It would say like us, the years have forged the bond of life that ties us together. It was our labor that made the land she is. It was her yielding that gave us life. We and the land are one!”

“Dulag was murdered for speaking out,” Lahoz wrote. “Dulag’s death was planned from the very beginning when he championed the rights of Kalinga and Bontoc peoples against the Chico Dam, a pet project of Marcos with $160 million funding from the World Bank. The proposed Chico Dam was envisioned to provide nearly 2,000 megawatts of hydroelectric power. It would irrigate 65,000 hectares and keep industries and manufacturing companies in Manila running. On the other hand, it would submerge three towns in Mountain Province and five in Kalinga. Nearly 100,000 hectares of ancestral lands, rice fields, farms,

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LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • SEptEmbER 8-11, 2018

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A10 September 8-11, 2018 • LA WeeKeND ASIAN JOUrNAL

Dateline PhiliPPines

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Martial law not effective in combating PH Navy probes grounding of flagship in West PH Sea terrorism in Mindanao — US Dept. of State

by Frances

Mangosing Inquirer.net

by DJ

Yap

Inquirer.net

WASHINGTON DC— The imposition of martial law may be making places like Mindanao in the Philippines more vulnerable to terrorism and creating safe havens for extremists, a U.S. Department of State official told visiting journalists here on Wednesday, Sept. 5.

Irfan Saeed, director of the Office of Countering Violent Extremism under the State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Terrorism, said a community approach, rather than a military approach, might be a better tool at a time when Islamic State fighters were turning to Southeast Asia as a refuge for their activities.

Asked by the Inquirer if martial

Irfan Saeed, director of the Office of Countering Violent Extremism under the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Terrorism.

Inquirer.net photo by DJ Yap

law was effective in combating terrorism in Mindanao, he said: “No. That is the short answer.”

“The response to terrorism and our efforts in countering violent extremism cannot be an excuse for an overly aggressive law enforcement approach,” he said during a briefing for the 2018 East-West Center’s Seminar for Senior Journalists.

“We’ve learned very clearly that this suppression of basic human rights, of civil liberties of the things that are required of countries under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, if you violate those basic human rights and liberties, you’re actually bringing a greater ability to recruit people to violent extremism,” Saeed said.

“We have seen the suppression of basic human rights as a potential driver of terrorism,” he added.

He said the Philippines, especially Mindanao, was at a pivotal point considering the risks it faced from ISIS recruits.

“The Philippines is a very important place… as we start to look at the next iteration of ISIS and terrorist spiders,” he said.

Saeed said the more appropriate approach would be to make communities more aware of their responsibility to deny terrorists safe havens, especially in areas with no military response, such as Southeast Asia, Pakistan, and the Balkans.

“Because when you have a government only responsible for

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A SPECIAL investigation committee from the Philippine Navy will try to determine what caused its flagship BRP Gregorio del Pilar (FF-15) to run aground in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) last week.

The warship was on routine patrol last August 29 when it ran aground in the vicinity of HasaHasa Shoal (Half Moon Shoal), 60 nautical miles from Rizal, Palawan. No one was hurt from the incident but the ship’s propellers were damaged.

BRP del Pilar was re-floated last Monday, six days after it ran aground, and was later towed by two commercial tugboats to Subic Bay. It arrived on Friday morning.

The warship has not been dry docked since 2015 and it is scheduled to undergo repair and maintenance this year, said Navy spokesperson Cdr. Jonathan Zata.

“The incident has somewhat advanced its schedule of repair and maintenance,” he added.

Zata said the Philippine Navy will shoulder the repair costs for the warship, but he acknowledged that they have a logistics agreement with the U.S. for the tech-

PH Navy flagship BRP Gregorio del Pilar (FF-15) runs aground near Hasa Hasa Shoal (Half Moon Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) on Wednesday, Aug. 29.

Contributed photo

nical support for the former U.S. vessel.

BRP del Pilar, one of the three ex-U.S. Coast Guard cutters acquired by the Navy during the Aquino administration, is the lead ship of her class.

The commanding officer of the warship will also be relieved from his position as part of the standard operating procedure of the investigation.

Commo. Toribio Adaci Jr., the concurrent commander of the Fleet Marine Ready Force, will lead the investigation of the grounding incident.

“It is composed of key officers of the PN and is backed by technical staff and experts to enable a more thorough and in-depth inquiry,” Zata said.

The expected length of the investigation is not determined but “it will be done expeditiously but with due regard to thoroughness and due diligence.“ “The priority of the Navy is to determine the actual cause/s of the incident and ensure that appropriate actions are undertaken in order to avoid similar incidents to occur in the future,” Zata said.

DFA assisting Filipino tourists affected by Japan quake

MANILA, Philippines — A group of 40 Filipino tourists have reached out to the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo to ask for assistance following a magnitude 6.7 earthquake that struck Japan on Thursday.

This would be the second group of Filipino tourists that the Department of Foreign Affairs is assisting.

The first group was a 26member tour group who were initially trapped at their hotel in Sapporo when the earthquake struck.

The second group was in Sapporo when the incident occurred. The Philippine Embassy said all members are safe.

Both groups are being assisted in rebooking their flights back to the Philippines, the DFA said in a statement.

According to Ambassador Jose Laurel, the Chitose Airport in Hokkaido will be reopened while Shinkansen train services resumed on Friday, Sept. 7.

The Philippine Embassy is ready to extend assistance to affected Filipinos, Laurel said.

“Filipinos affected by the earthquake who may require assistance may contact the Embassy at: +8180 4928 7979.

Next of kin in the Philippines may contact the Office of Migrant Workers Affairs at (+632) 834-4996 and oumwa@dfa.gov. ph during office hours and DFA Action Center +632 834-3333 or 834-4997 after office hours,” the DFA said.

Death toll has risen to 18 following a landslide that buried houses after the powerful quake.

Around 1.6 million households in the sparsely populated northern island of Hokkaido were still without power after the quake damaged a thermal plant supplying electricity to the region.

Japan sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” where many of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded.

In June, a deadly tremor rocked the Osaka region, killing five people and injuring over 350.

On March 11, 2011, a devastating 9.0-magnitude quake struck under the Pacific Ocean, and the resulting tsunami caused widespread damage and claimed thousands of lives. (By Patricia Lourdes Viray/ Philstar. com with Associated Press)

Leni Robredo to Duterte admin: ‘Fight inflation...

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prices.

“The Filipino people who suffer the brunt of such rising prices are not served by further politicking. What our people need is a government that truly works for the public interest and does not waste its power and resources on pursuing personal and petty concerns,” she said.

The vice president reiterated her appeal to the administration to consider her proposed measures aimed at addressing the rising prices of basic commodities.

Her proposals include the stabilization of the country’s rice supply through the installation of competent and trustworthy leadership at the National Food Authority and reversing the excise tax on fuel and any further impositions.

Robredo also called for a reassessment of the unconditional cash transfers for those affected by the tax reform program, and ensuring that all qualified beneficiaries get assistance at the soonest possible time.

“Those who are affected most by rising prices deserve that these measures should have been in place from the very start,” she said.

We ask the government to stop dismissing inflation as a sign of a growing economy. Economic growth is meaningless if it does not redound to the uplifting of the lives of the poorest segment of our society,” she added.

The vice president said hunger and poverty which are exacerbated by rising prices remain the country’s most serious concerns and that the government should address these at the soonest possible time.

“We cannot simply ignore the fact that our fellow Filipinos are suffering, especially the poor, as the highest increases were observed in food and beverages that comprise the biggest share of a family’s household budget,” she said.

“Glib talk can no longer be used to dismiss the cries of our people, who yearn for assurance, compassion and effective action from the people they have entrusted to be their leaders,” the vice president added.

Nothing was done Senators also urged the administration to immediately address the surging prices.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the people – especially in the National Capital Region – are already reeling from the effects of the 6.4 percent inflation rate recorded in August.

Drilon said he had expected President Duterte to issue an executive order imposing zero tariff on imported fish, corn, vegetables and feed wheat while Congress was on a one week break

ing from runaway inflation. last month.

“This problem has to be taken “We did adjourn in the expectation that the economic manag- in all its seriousness as the escaers will come up with a new tariff lation in food prices is already structure to lower the prices, at exorbitant. The question is where least remove the effects of the is the ceiling when it comes to intariff rates on the prices. But flation? Are we moving towards nothing happened. hyperinflation?”

Apparently, the adjustment of Self-inflicted the tariff rates is not a policy that Another resident economist is adopted to address inflation,” in the House of Representatives, Drilon said.

Joey Salceda of Albay, said the Sen. Nancy Binay said the highest price hike in nine years government must focus now on “is already self-inflicted largely the economy and “identify the because we did little or nothkey drivers and the range of in- ing.” ternal and external factors that He said the high inflation continue to have a material im- “would reverse gains in poverty pact on the increase in prices, reduction and hunger mitigation and how to arrest the nearly gal- since the main culprit is food inloping speed.” flation, which surged by 8.5 per Sen. Joel Villanueva said the cent.” economic managers are clearly “We can no longer blame not on top of the situation based market opportunists-profiteers on the latest inflation figures. and rice hoarders. The only no “We cannot wait for prices table measure we implemented to get further out of control. The in response was the 50 bps (basis economic managers do not seem points) increase in policy rates of to be serious in dealing with the the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Piliproblem,” Villanueva said. pinas),” he said.

“So now, we are consider With high inflation, working the option of joining our ers are expected to clamor for a colleagues in reversing the fuel wage increase. excise tax to at least temper this Leftist and opposition conrunaway price surge. We also re- gressmen said Duterte is more iterate our consistent call to lib- preoccupied with harassing his eralize the entry of cheaper rice political enemies instead of atand to lower VAT to address this tending to the nation’s economic inflation debacle,” he added. problems.

Minority congressmen, for “Everyone is fair game under their part, are urging President this tyrannical regime. Duterte Duterte to replace his economic is trying to deflect his economic managers for their failure to con- woes by hitting the opposition hard. High time that we revive trol inflation.

“The president should change people power,” Rep. Tom Villathe members of his economic rin of Akbayan said. team and those in charge of rice Teodoro Baguilat Jr. of Ifugao supply and food security for inef- said the administration should ficiency. They are not capable to tackle runaway inflation “instead do what they are tasked to do,” of devoting its energies on findminority leader and Quezon Rep. ing dubious jurisprudence and concocting strategies to arrest Danilo Suarez said.

When asked who he was refer- critics and stifle opposition.”

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zaring to, Suarez named Secretaries Carlos Dominguez of finance, rate put the blame for high inBenjamin Diokno of budget, Er- flation “squarely on President nesto Pernia of economic plan- Duterte and his economic manning and Ramon Lopez of trade agers.”

“With the impending pasand industry.

Deputy minority leader and sage of TRAIN 2, we are in for Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza said an even worse situation. People Dominguez should be blamed for have not yet recovered from sufferings caused by TRAIN-1 and rising consumer prices.

“The culprit is TRAIN 1,” he now comes TRAIN-2, which will said, referring to the first pack- make life even harder for them,” age of the administration’s Tax he said.

Kilusang Magbubukid ng Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion program pushed vigor- Pilipinas (KMP) chairman Antonio Flores said the country’s ously by Dominguez.

“We have seen the spikes in economic managers should try prices due to TRAIN-1, and now living on the minimum wage he is pushing again for TRAIN-2. “and let’s see if they would surThis will worsen the situation for vive.” The daily minimum wage the entire country,” Atienza said. is P512.

Rep. Michael Romero of 1 He said monitoring inflation Pacman, who is an economist, in their air- conditioned offices urged the government to “do will not give Duterte’s economic drastic measures now to counter managers a feel of the real sufinflation or we might risk being ferings of the public. (With Marcompared to Venezuela.” The vin Sy, Ding Cervantes, Mayen South American country is reel- Jaymalin)

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International, local airlines fined for uncoordinated‘Xiamen’flights The “red” stories of martyrs’ sacrifice of...

by Rudy

SantoS Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines — The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) will fine local and international airlines P5,000 per passenger for making uncoordinated flights to speed up transport of stranded passengers a day after a Xiamen Air plane overshot the runway of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last Aug. 16.

MIAA general manager Ed Monreal said some 37 uncoordinated flights were made out of the 78 local and foreign jets that landed at the NAIA right after the runway was cleared.

He said that the 37 uncoordinated international flights resulted in further congestion at the airport that was shut down for days by the crippled Xiamen Air Boeing 737 jet that skidded and led to the closure of the runway.

Monreal said the erring airline firms would pay a fine of P5,000 for each passenger of the planes that made uncoordinated flights.

These uncoordinated flights caused further congestion of the runway and ramp controllers at the NAIA Terminal 1 had difficulty relocating the various planes – some aircraft were forced to park at the remote parking bay and even at the taxiway of the runway, Monreal said.

The airlines that made the uncoordinated flights included two flights of Asiana Airlines, China Eastern with one fight, China Southern with two flights, Etihad Airlines with two flights, Eva Air with one flight, Gulf Air with one, Japan Airlines, two;

Jeju Airlines, two; Korean Airlines, one; Kuwait Airways, one; Malaysian Airlines, two; Qantas Airlines, one; Air Brunei, one; Xiamen Air, four; Philippine Airlines, three; Hongkong Airlines, two; Air China, two; Oman Air, one; Qatar Airways, one; Thai Airways, one.

Four other uncoordinated flights are being verified to identify the airlines involved.

Concerned airline officials said that some aircraft were diverted to Clark and Cebu, so when the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) lifted the first Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) they flew to NAIA from Clark and Cebu.

There were 78 international flights that landed at NAIA when the CAAP lifted its first NOTAM but 37 of the flights were uncoordinated.

MIAA personnel had a hard time removing the disabled Xiamen Air jet that skidded on the main runway 06-24 of the airport on Aug. 16, paralyzing airport operations for almost two days that brought confusion and inconvenience for thousands of stranded passengers.

CAAP said authorities would demand a P33-million fine from Xiamen Air for shutting down the airport.

Officials said CAAP had complied with and acquired a complete set of tools and machines to remove disabled aircraft based on the requirement of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), but MIAA personnel does not have a highly telescopic heavy-lift crane to lift the Xiamen jet.

Authorities were forced to rent a heavy-lift crane that took

a long time to transport to the runway and lift the ill-fated Boeing 737 jet.

Monreal said the NAIA really needs an alternative runway for bigger international flights to prevent the shutdown of the airport once there is an accident in one runway.

“We will be spending billions of pesos to create a space for NAIA, especially in creating another parallel runway,” said Monreal.

He said one extreme measure is to expropriate houses and lots in Merville Subdivision that are adjacent to the NAIA and create space for the construction of another runway parallel to the main runway 06-24.

CAAP said that they are expediting the release of the official transcription of the black box and data recorder of Xiamen Air flight MF 8667 that skidded off the runway.

New runway at Clark Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) officials have proposed construction of a new secondary parallel runway at Clark to accommodate emergency flights in case the NAIA is closed.

“Clark needs a new secondary parallel runway positioned to allow simultaneous takeoffs and landings to easily decongest the overcrowded NAIA pending the construction of proposed airports either in Bulacan or in Cavite,” Alexander Cauguiran, CIAC president, said on Thursday after the House committee on transportation held a public hearing on the Xiamen Air incident at NIAA that affected close to 200,000 passengers. (With Artemio Dumlao)

Martial law not effective in combating...

PAGE A10 t

denying those safe havens, you have the possibility of an overly aggressive approach, and that, as we know, does not work,” he said.

Mindanao has been under martial law since mid-2017 in the aftermath of the May 2017 siege of Marawi City by militants.

Congress later approved two extensions of military rule and the suspension of the writ of the privilege of habeas corpus in the region.

However, violent attacks still happened in Mindanao in recent months despite the declaration of martial law.

In late August, terrorists set off homemade bombs that killed at least two persons and injured dozens of others in Isulan town, Sultan Kudarat. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a U.S. intelligence group.

On July 31, at least 10 people were killed and several others wounded when a van exploded outside a checkpoint in the Island city of Lamitan in Basilan.

Saeed also observed an alarming trend involving ISISinspired foreign fighters.

Instead of returning to their home countries upon radicalization, “we’re starting to see

people return to third countries where they feel like they can have safe havens,” he said.

“And unfortunately, places across Southeast Asia, but in particular the Philippines— we know the attack in Marawi — this is where we are starting to have some very clear concerns about safe havens,” Saeed said.

The seminar organized by the Honolulu-based East-West Center is an annual fellowship for journalists in the U.S. and countries with substantial Muslim populations, who go on a threeweek tour of U.S., Asia, and Africa to study the role of religion in the public sphere. n

PAGE A8 t

forests, hunting grounds, water sources, natural orchards, burial grounds, and pastoral lands would be submerged and lost forever.

Some 250,000 Bontocs and Kalingas would be directly relocated.”

He meticulously footnoted who orally shared and related the stories to him, including itemizing the list of 11 donors, priests and nuns, who contributed P7,000 each for the Grand Bodong in the Cordilleras.

He wrote about the cultural workers and “the Kalinga women proceeded to approach the bulldozer from the north, the Igorot warriors with their gongs beaten in crescendo, defiantly encircled the engineers like hunters entrapping their prey. With engine roaring, the bulldozer operator continued to do his work approaching the Igorot women coming from the south side. With barely about fifteen meters away, the moving giant machine and the dancing Igorot women were on collision course. The spectators started to cry in alarm. Suddenly, the Igorot women stopped, went down on their knees, ripped their blouses open and bared their breasts, with heads tilted upward to the heavens and arms outstretched as if trying to grab a piece of the sky.“ “They cried as one in a loud voice, ‘Dagami daytoy, pumanawkayo (This is our land, leave us alone)!’

The operator stepped on the brakes and stopped the giant earth-moving machine with barely five meters to spare.”

Read more on this chapter as “President Marcos decided to unleash the military powers to confront and crush the united opposition of the Bontocs and Kalingas led by their brave and charismatic leader Ama Macli-ing Dulag. The massive use of military in suppressing the population did not go unnoticed by the leaders of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).”

“It was a silent retreat, but it did not detract from the fact that the Bontocs and Kalingas had accomplished something rare in a third world country, the [World] bank’s withdrawal in the face of popular resistance,“ economist Walden Bello had said.

With such robust capacity of observation and memory recall, the blood pouring out of the carabao’s jugular vein in his neck, makes for a visual sensory metaphor for how the women and men were arrested, tortured in prison and how women were raped wantonly by a gang of military men, leaving red

blood stains all over the place.

Lahoz describes these incidents of torture with precision and specificity, yet with such respect for the women and the reader as to spare us the gory details of the criminal acts, and leaving us to imagine the atrocity, while describing the details after the gory incident. We came to know the various methods of torture, including the use of flat iron to sear the soles of the prisoners, the grabbing of hair until they are torn off one’s scalp with brute force.

Many good deeds are equally described, including soldiers who give a hand to the tortured prisoners, or how Abra farmers were supported by construction of irrigation systems funded by the Catholic Lenten Fund of Germany, enabling the farmers to have two croppings a year.

You could sense the tedious verification that the book went through, as he writes about ordinary people in these chapters and then, through a series of circumstances and the decisions they made, we sense how noble they are, through the words that Manny used in writing this book, not flamboyantly, but precise enough for a person to appreciate how a pregnant woman was helped by movement allies to give birth to her child and even a lesson on how to make spaghetti by her host only to cook it using sardines with canned tomato sauce, and a separate red sauce for Manny.

It was a gift from her heart to Manny, appreciating how she and her child were sheltered from harm. What is the big deal, as the book asks? Spaghetti is not something you can simply buy at the country store in that period; imagine eating this at a remote village where one has to walk by foot for miles to reach the highway.

So, one is left wondering? How did she make the spaghetti? The woman thought of keeping the spaghetti noodles she got from her host family and kept it with her for months, on the mere chance she would see Manny and thank him for what he did for her.

Who was Manny Lahoz’s muse?

Even before coming to the U.S., he had already written half of this book. But when he got to Chicago, he encountered writer’s bloc. It was an imagined conversation with Padre Zacarias Agatep (who was assassinated) that got the words to flow again. The outpourings of events were so fast for his slow hands to capture, that at some point, his handwriting was

labored.

Who was Fr. Agatep? He entered the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary in Vigan and was ordained a priest in 1965, then was assigned to a small parish of Banayoyo, Ilocos Sur. When he heard a presentation by the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF), Lahoz writes, “he asked the permission of his bishop to become a full-time chaplain and organizer for FFF. Like Paul of Tarsus, who found Christ on the road to Damascus, Zacarias followed Dean Montemayor on the road to Mamatid, Laguna, to study the gospel according to Montemayor.”

Imagine fulfilling your dream to be an author at 76 years old?

He wrote this first book, dedicating it “to Mia, Karl and Angela… that you may learn what really happened during the martial law years.”

In the United States, he held book launches in Minnesota, Chicago, New York, Oakland, West Covina and Carson. In one book launch, a disabled young student in a wheelchair remarked, “Can you give us some hope? I am hearing mostly borrowed understanding from my parents.” It piqued with such intensity that I responded, “You are looking for hope – the fact that he survived the trauma and not allow the trauma to sink him into depression is hope. The fact that he is doing book launches at age 76 and caring enough that the true accounts of these martyrs are shared is hope.

“Also, you can have your primary understanding, not relying on your parents’ borrowed understanding by reading the book fully, by interviewing known martial law survivors and discern for yourself why there is hope in standing up for what is right, why there is hope in standing up for the truth, why there is hope in relying on true accounts, and not the opinionated false claims that it is fake news.” *** 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.

A12 September 8-11, 2018 • LA WeeKeND ASIAN JOUrNAL

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SHOWBIZ&STYLE

B

Journal PH dance group Junior New System wows in ‘America’s Got Talent’ semi-finals

by Cody

Cepeda Inquirer.net

Ricafort takes a bow

AJPress photos by Momar G. Visaya

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS ON BROADWAY

Catherine Ricafort rocks as Karen, the Computer in her eighth Broadway show

by MoMar

G. Visaya

AJPress

CATHERINE Ricafort won the Gypsy Robe (which has been renamed Legacy Robe) last year when she was with Miss Saigon because she had the most Broadway shows under her belt. She added Miss Saigon memorabilia into the sleeve and passed it on to the next show that would open.

This year, the triple threat performer joined her eighth Broadway show: Spongebob Squarepants.

An Industrial and Systems engineering graduate from the University of Southern California (USC), this is the closest that Ricafort has gone as far as mixing her two major interests in life, education and entertainment.

Ricafort plays the role of Karen, the computer. She is the contravida, the villain, but she is likeable and funny.

“This role is particularly exciting because it is a character that many people have known and

grown up with watching the TV show all these years so it is a challenge to honor that original character and also make it my own,” she shared.

“It is great to be a villainess.

I’ve never been the villain before.

I am scheming with evil plans and trying to make things go wrong.

This is one of my favorite roles I’ve played on Broadway so far,” she added.

Ricafort made her Broadway debut in 2011 with Mamma Mia and for anyone who is counting, she has also appeared on Honeymoon in Vegas (as the scene stealing island girl who sings Friki Friki), Cinderella, Allegiance, Disaster!, Holiday Inn, the new Irving Berlin Musical and Miss Saigon .

Like in her previous shows, Ricafort instantly bonded with her fellow cast members. They share their particular love for Spongebob and it shows in each of their dressing rooms.

“I was blown away,” Ricafort PAGE B2

FILIPINO dance group Junior New System recently wowed the judges and audience of “America’s Got Talent” in their semi-finals performance, which saw the dancers break out to an explosive number in high heels.

Their dance video, which was shared on YouTube by the official account of “America’s Got Talent” and “Talent Recap” last Sept. 4, is still trending as of this writing. No doubt the all-male dance group left their viewers with an unforgettable performance.

In the video, the dancers opened their performance with Britney Spears’ “Work B*tch.”

The dancers appeared on stage

Filipino dance group Junior New System poses with judge Simon Cowell after their semi-finals performance on “America’s Got Talent.”

Photo courtesy of Facebook/Junior New System

wearing red athletic jerseys, black shorts and red high heels, breaking out into intense gymnastic tumbles, flips and somersaults.

Their performance was noth-

ing short of brilliant, with judge Mel B calling it their best one yet.

“This has to be by far 100 percent your best performance ever!”

PAGE B3

From ‘Miss Granny’ to ‘Miss Grand International’: Xian Lim returns as pageant host

by Jan

Milo seVero Philstar.com

Catherine Ricafort

MANILA, Philippines — Singer-actor Xian Lim announced on his Instagram account that he will be returning as host for beauty pageant Miss Grand International to be held in Myanmar on October 25.

“Excited to announce that I’ll be hosting Miss Grand International 2018,” he said in the post.

Last year, he hosted the same pageant with Miss Grand International 2016 first runner-up Nicole Cordoves.

Lim has also debuted his first film as a director for “Tabon,” a

Xian Lim (center) with fellow “Celebrity Car Wars” contender Diego Loyzaga at History Channel’s recent History Con in Manila.

Photo by EC Toledo IV / Philstar.com

film how a man’s belief in reality is tested when suspects are accused of a crime they believe to

not have committed. The film is among the 10 full-length finalists PAGE B3

B SEPTEMBER 8-11, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

EntErtainmEnt

Daniel Padilla: Being role model is a responsibility told Kathryn that he needed to go to the toilet. He and Kathryn were guests on “The Anne Show,” ThaiHE is the hottest young man land’s popular talk show. It was in showbiz today and I’m always broadcast via Facebook Live. He proud to say that he remains true knew that the cameras were off to his core. He remains true to but it escaped his mind that his his goodness while being imper- lapel mic was still on.

“I forgot that it was also on Fafect — which is okay. Who am I talking about? He’s none other cebook Live,” he laughed. “So than Daniel Padilla who returned when the cameras were turned off, may ‘kwinento’ lang ako on the hot seat of “Tonight With Boy Abunda” kay Kathryn (laughs). Yes, it’s TMI (too much information). We (TWBA) a few nights back.

Daniel is back on the big screen always talk like that, ever since, and this time, he’s taking on a so sakto ‘yung Live, there’s no more mature role but still with choice. I mean, they heard straight perennial screen partner Kathryn from my mouth and I didn’t find Bernardo in the Star Cinema- anything wrong with it. It’s a produced “The Hows of Us.” And private conversation that went from being longtime partners, public.”

What he intentionally made the two admitted they’ve been in a relationship for five years now. public was the real score between But that is getting ahead of the him and Kathryn. The revelation happened at the media gathering story.

It is certain that many are curi- announcing the showing of movie ous what does it feel like to be as with DJ telling loud and clear that famous as Daniel, also known as he and Kathryn are going steady DJ to you and me. How does DJ for five years now.

“It was a perfect time and I live and breathe with it?

“S’yempre sa mundong ito, decided to tell about it because it’s bumibitaw pa din ako,” the actor tiring to make alibis every time. I said with all sincerity. “I mean, bu- just wish no one will dig deeper mibitaw ako at alam ko na may into it. Let’s leave it at that, just totoong mundo pa rin. ‘Pag umu- give a little space.”

Get to know more about DJ uwi ako, tapos na ‘yung pagiging isa kong artista. Well, knowing through his answers in the special in this industry, especially when segment Hows of Love. Read on.

Hows of Love question No. you are big, you are surrounded by everyone as if you are like a 1: Are you also planning your king. They are all for you and I future with your partner?

“We daydream. Sometimes, we think you should not be eaten up by that (situation). You may be the think about our future.”

Hows of Love question No. 2: king (in their eyes) but when this is all over, are you still the king? Do you actually go on specific You are not and so I don’t want to like how many children do you want? What kind of wedding? be stuck in that (idea).”

“I couldn’t talk about it. I DJ believes being a role model is part of an actor’s responsibility. couldn’t open about children; Given his stature, many are look- I’m shy to share about my dream ing up to him. Therefore, he has wedding or dream house. Mine is to be careful with his actions “but a beach wedding that is very chill you should also be true to yourself where everyone is barefoot.”

Hows of Love question No. and I think the enjoyable part is you have to (learn how to) bal- 3: Kapag pagod ka na iiwan mo ance. For me, it builds character ba siya?

“I got tired so many times but I because if you are too plain, they’ll did not leave her. We were in the get bored.”

What happened during a break middle of a fight and came to a in an interview he did in Bangkok, point of questioning (each other) for example, had got a lot of peo- if you still want this or not? Pero ple talking about him. It wasn’t babalik din ako sa tanong na sino intentional, he said. He, too, was ba itong tao na ‘to sa akin?”

Hows of Love question No. surprised when he found out that everything he said was caught 4: Ano ang dapat gawin kapag napagod ka na sa isang reon Facebook Live.

A of DJ went after hePM lasyon?

AJvideo Ad 116_Layout 1 viral 9/6/18 5:01 Page 1

by Boy

ABundA Philstar.com

“The Hows of Us” star Daniel Padilla says you have to be careful with your actions.

Philstar.com file photo

“First, you ask yourself what’s the reason of you getting tired in a relationship? I think whatever the reason should be fixed. You and your partner should talk about it. You gonna make it exciting every time. Both of you should do something because I and Kathryn always have company all the time and once the two of us are left alone, it’s exciting and it’s gonna be an adventure for us so mas lalo ko s’yang naa-appreciate ‘pag kaming dalawa lang. Mas lalo ko s’yang nararamdaman kasi minsan parang ma-sho-shock ka na lang at mapapatingin ka na lang oh my god, aalagaan ako nito.”

In times when you’re feeling tired of the relationship, have you and Kathryn thought you have to take a break from each other?

“Yeah, nagkaroon kami pero mabilis lang din kasi hindi rin namin kaya.”

Hows of Love question No. 5: What if you’re no longer happy with the things you are dreaming of?

“You should find out why you’re not happy anymore so I think you go back to (the factor) contentment. Baka masyado kang maraming hinihiling. It’s not that way. You have to reach the point of contentment and if that happens, you will be very genuinely happy.”

What would you choose, pangarap o pag-ibig?

“Pag-ibig. I am always for love.

age gracefully

Buffalo Sliders Yields 8–10 Sliders

BY GRACE O

Americans love hamburgers. In this country many people eat burgers every day. We all know that fastfood chains make overly processed, greasy versions that don’t do us any good. But burgers don’t have to be unhealthy. By choosing good meat, adding some extra nutrients, and topping with plenty of healthy veggies, burgers can be downright healthful.

I often choose buffalo meat for my burgers because buffalo are almost always raised on grass. Grass-fed meat (whether buffalo, steer, or lamb) is higher in the good omega-3 fatty acids, lower in the bad omega-6 fatty acids, and leaner overall. You can use any grass-fed meat or even ground turkey (organic if possible) for My Buffalo Sliders recipe, which I created for my new cookbook, The AGE BEAUTIFULLY Cookbook, which is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Because I like to work nutrient-dense ingredients into my recipes whenever possible, I decided to add cranberries to the ground meat. This idea dates back to Native Americans, who ate patties of pemmican: dried buffalo meat stuck together with dried cranberries. These early power bars accompanied the Indian hunters on long trips away from camp.

Dark red fruits—such as cranberries and cherries— really complement red meat. Plus, cranberries are very high in antioxidants. I knew that if I left the dried cranberries whole, they might make the patties fall apart, so I ground them up. If you grind them by themselves they will form a sticky mass, so I ground them together with flaxseed meal and breadcrumbs. They help low-fat meats stay tender while cooking over high heat.

Goat-cheese spread ¼ cup goat cheese 1 tsp. minced parsley ½ tsp. roasted garlic ½ tsp. fresh thyme ½ tsp. fresh dill

1. Pulse the cranberries, flaxseed meal, and breadcrumbs in a food processor or blender for 1–2 minutes or until you have a coarse meal.

2. Combine with the meat, egg, salt, garlic, and vinegar. Shape into 8–10 patties, about 3 inches each.

3. Spray each patty with the olive oil spray and grill over medium heat (or broil under high heat) for at least 4 minutes. Flip the burgers and cook another 4–5 minutes or until they are no longer pink in the middle.

4. While the meat is cooking, mix the goat-cheese spread ingredients and set aside.

5. Place the patties on the buns. Top them with the cheese spread (or whole-grain mustard) and pickles (if using).

© 2018 by FoodTrients.com

Buffalo Sliders Take a Shot at Burgers

Ingredients ½ cup dried, sweetened cranberries ½ cup flaxseed meal ½ cup whole-wheat (or regular) breadcrumbs 1 lb. ground buffalo (bison) meat 1 egg (organic, free-range or Omega-3 enriched) 1 tsp. salt or salt substitute 1 tsp. crushed garlic 2 tsp. red wine vinegar Olive oil spray as needed 8-10 whole-grain slider buns or rolls Pickles, as garnish (optional)

GRACE O is the creator of FoodTrients®, a unique program for optimizing wellness and longevity. She is the author of two award-winning cookbooks — The Age Gracefully Cookbook and The Age Beautifully Cookbook, which recently won Gourmand’s ‘Best in the World’ 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

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Spongebob Squarepants on...

PAGE B1 said. “There’s Spongebob stuff everywhere. People clearly love the whole essence of Spongebob, we have pictures of him, standee dolls, an inflatable pineapple.

The cast keeps it fun on stage and off.”

The show has a strong and passionate fan base from across the globe and they share their love for the characters by sending their fan art to the cast, and it is one of the things that Ricafort said she’d miss once the show ends its run in a couple of weeks.

“I’ve never been in a show where we got so much hand drawn fan art,” an amused Ricafort told us. “Kids from across the world mailing in their drawings of us and our characters and I feel so touched that our show touches children this way.”

Doing the show eight days a week and performing for different sets of fans made Ricafort realize that Spongebob is a unique show that is loved by everyone from children to their grandparents.

She relishes in the fun and laughter in the theater, saying that making people laugh, gives her that feeling that is so energizing.

Through her role as Karen, she was able to do comedy again, something that she effortlessly did with Honeymoon in Vegas in 2015. She also loves dabbling in villain roles, which she loves to do again onstage.

Her character as Karen gets to do a lot of acting, delivering funny lines and saying a lot of evil things but she looks forward to doing more singing in the future.

“Next time I’d like to do something that’s more singing heavy role. I’ve done a lot of dancing on Broadway and on this show, a lot of acting,” she shared. “This is one of the biggest parts I’ve had on Broadway so I am excited to see where it takes me next.”

Prior to Spongebob, Ricafort went to a software engineering boot camp and armed with an engineering degree, she went back to school to enhance her computer science skills, keeping that option open.

After eight musicals on Broadway, she has amassed experience that when she is asked for advice by aspiring thespians, she has a ready response.

“I have lots of advice but my biggest tip is that you want to really embrace who you are. Once people start auditioning in New York, they get intimidated and

Catherine Ricafort with her friends from Aladdin (from left) Paige Williams, Telly Leung and Nathan Lucrezio

Catherine Ricafort in front of the Palace Theater on Broadway

Loyal fans of the show sent the cast fan art, which they display in their respective dressing rooms. Here are some of Karen, The Computer art work that Catherine received.

SpongeBob SquarePants is running on Broadway until September 16.

they try to exactly fit what they think the role, the show is asking for,” she remarked.

“I have found that just by being me, I am really letting that shine through the material because there are hundreds of other people reading the same exact material you are reading.

That’s how you can be unique and stand out.”

Her other tip? You have to be extremely versatile as possible.

Musical theater asks you to do a lot of things.

At Spongebob, there are characters who are not only singing, dancing and acting, they’re tap dancing and skateboarding, they’re flying through the air, acting like a computer.

“You have to be very game. I try to get a lot of different skills and I

show all of that plus my personality and it always seems to work out well in the end,” she said.

And that’s the genius thing about Spongebob, according to her.

The musical has somehow lifted a beloved two dimensional cartoon into a three dimensional human story about community coming together.

“Our cast is one of the most diverse casts that you will see.

I am proud that the role I am playing has nothing to do with what I look like but it’s just how you can act,” Ricafort said. “I am proud to be representing Filipinos here in Spongebob because it is one of the highly desired to see shows on Broadway and we have people from all over the world seeing it.”

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B3

PH dance group Junior...

ABUSED AND ACCUSED WOMAN GETS THE ULTIMATE REDEMPTION IN HER GREEN CARD ON AN ENCORE EPISODE OF “CITIZEN PINOY.�

Imagine being broken on the inside by your husband’s constant verbal abuse and then getting a signed confession from him saying that yours was never a real marriage. That’s the hellish nightmare that Evelyn (center) suffered from her former husband. That same confession jeopardized the petition by her current spouse, Glenn (left), for her. Leading U.S. immigration attorney Michael J. GurďŹ nkel (right) proved the allegations wrong and eventually delivered Evelyn’s ultimate redemption in the form of her green card on an encore episode of “Citizen Pinoyâ€? — on Sunday at 6:15 p.m. (PST) on TFC.

Tom Rodriguez defends Lovi Poe, tells fan to stop bashing artists: ‘We are just doing our jobs’

by CODY

CEPEDA Inquirer.net

KAPUSO star Tom Rodriguez seems to be the kind of man who can pass as a tita’s choice boy or the type who’d receive the double thumbs up from a girl’s parents.

The gentleman Rodriguez recently came to the defense of fellow actress and co-star Lovi Poe, when a certain fan refused to watch Rodriguez on television because he was paired with Poe and not his girlfriend, Carla Abellana. Rodriguez shared back in 2015 that he was turned off by “people who judge, bully and belittle� others, so it was no surprise when he defended Poe and told the fan not to resort to hurting other people.

Rodriguez shared on Instagram on Wednesday, Sept. 5, some scenes from “Dear Uge,� the first ever comedy anthology in the country. In some of the pictures, he can be seen acting in scenes with Poe. In his post, Rodriguez praised Poe and called her a prime actress. He, too, shared that he had a blast working with Poe again. “Kasal nga ba o bawi? Aban-

Actor Tom Rodriguez posted on his Instagram some scenes from “Dear Uge,â€? the ďŹ rst ever comedy anthology in the country. In some photos, he can be seen acting in scenes with Lovi Poe. Photo courtesy of Tom Rodriguez’s Instagram

gan ngayong linggo na po pagkatapos ng SPS! Panoorin po ang ‘Dear Uge’ kasama ang ating primera aktresang si @lovipoe !!!

Woot! Had a blast working with this one again.�

Rodriguez’s post received much support from his fans.

However, one netizen aired her dislike for Poe. “Ayaw [ko] yan [si] Lovi halata [siya] may gusto kay Tom,� wrote a certain Joy (@macapagaljoy). “Kung si Carla pa ipinartner kay Tom papanoorin [ko] pero

[si] Lovi wag na lang!�

Rodriguez immediately replied to the netizen and came to Poe’s defense, calling for the netizen to “refrain from flaming or bashing other artists.� “We are all friends and are all just doing our jobs,� said Rodriguez.

He said he understands that many fans want him and girlfriend Carla Abellana to be paired up and that he misses working with her. However, Rodriguez maintained that there’s a way of

Vicki Belo, Hayden Kho meet Henry Cavill, Dakota Fanning in Venice

by KATE

MATRIANO Inquirer.net

MEETING a foreign celebrity one is a fan of can be a dream come true for some people.

Lucky couple Vicki Belo and Hayden Kho had the opportunity to meet their celebrity idols Henry Cavill and Dakota Fanning, respectively, during a star-studded event in Venice, Italy.

Belo and Kho attended the 75th gala dinner for the Mostra Venice (2018 Venice Film Festival) hosted by Swiss luxury watch and clock manufacturer Jaeger-LeCoultre today.

Since they were also celebrating their first wedding anniversary and were unable to take prenuptial photos, the couple decided to take post-nuptial photos instead.

Belo exuded royalty in her smoke blue sweetheart neckline dress which she paired with gold strappy heels. Kho, on the other hand, looked dapper in a forest green suit which he partnered with a maroon long-sleeve button-down shirt.

Belo shared on her Instagram Stories that they got caught for beating the red light by the local police on their way to Venetian

Vicki Belo with actor Henry Cavill (left) and Hayden Kho with Dakota Fanning, both at the 75th gala dinner for the Mostra Venice.

Photo courtesy of Instagram/@dochayden

Arsenal.

Nonetheless, they were able to make it in time for the event.

The couple made it a point to have their pictures taken with Jaeger-LeCoultre master watchmaker and inventor Christian Laurent.

Of course, when they saw their favorite celebrities in the same event, Belo and Kho did not waste the golden opportunity to take photos with them. “Posing with #superman , Henry Cavill and my superman,� wrote Belo in an Instagram photo of herself, Cavill and Kho.

Kho shared a photo of his wife and Cavill on his Instagram Stories. “My wife’s kryptonite is Superman [face with cold sweat emoji],� he said.

Since his wife had her turn taking a photo with Cavill, Kho also took the opportunity to pose with Fanning.

Aside from Cavill and Fanning, the two had the chance to have a photo with “Captain America: Civil Warâ€? actor Daniel BrĂźhl.

The celebrity doctors sure had a grand time getting starstruck.

From ‘Miss Granny’ to...

PAGE B1 that will compete for the 2019 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.

Despite his many showbiz commitments, Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) games where he is a basketball player, and participation as Philippine representative to History Channel’s “Celebrity Car Wars,�

Xian said he always has time for rumored girlfriend Kim Chiu. “Siyempre. ‘Pag gusto may paraan. There is always time of a lot of things,� Xian told Philstar. com during a recent History Con event held in World Trade Center.

Although he is a car enthusiast, Xian admitted that his knowledge in cars is limited and this is the first time he joined a

competition with cars involved. “Walang akong preparation.

It is more of, I ask, sabi ko ‘Ano ba pwede nating gawin kasi sabi ko ‘di naman ako masyadong magaling d’yan.’ Sabi nila: ‘No, just come as yourself. Just be yourself. So dire-diretso na siya,� he said.

Xian represents the Philippines with actor Diego Loyzaga, but they are not partners in the contest. Xian, nonetheless, said he is proud to carry the Philippine flag in the competition. “I feel proud and I just want them to see this show because there are people from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, so you get to see how different personalities and countries collide,� he said.

Apart from “Celebrity Car Wars,� Xian is busy suiting up

for his basketball team, Mandaluyong El Tigre. “Para sa akin, malaking pasasalamat lang talaga sa coaching staff dahil for me, tinanggap nila ko ng buong puso eh. They are very patient sa akin. I found my passion here.�

He also looks forward to meet his friend Gerald Anderson in the hard court since Gerald is part of MPBL’s Marikina Shoemakers.

Xian is also doing a movie after starring with Sarah Geronimo and James Reid in “Miss Granny.� “Masaya sila katrabaho. Nung una ‘di ko alam kung san ako lulugar, pero nung tumagal naman, masaya sila kasama eh, masaya sila kakwentuhan. Si James cool siya eh. Si Sarah sobrang kalog,� he said.

PAGE B1 commended Mel B after Junior New System’s performance.

The hard-to-please Simon Cowell, too, agreed with Mel B’s sentiments. “I’m with Mel, that’s what we call a semifinal performance,� Cowell told the group.

Meanwhile, judge Heidi Klum was in awe and told Junior New System that she has seen nothing quite like their performance. “I mean please someone call the bomb squad because this was explosive. You guys are absolutely insane, you create so many wild moments so many times I sit here I go, ‘Wow, wow,’� gushed Klum. “I’ve never seen this before, wow.�

Howie Mandel, on the other hand, called the group’s performance “spectacular.�

He said, “How exciting is it when you see what listening to me does for you? I said start with the heels you started with the heels.

Even before we saw you, it was spectacular‌�

Despite their explosive performance, however, Junior New System failed to secure a spot in the finals. However, the group remains positive and ever grateful for all the support they’ve received in their journey, especially from their fellow Filipinos. They, too, promised that this was not the end, but only a beginning of their

next chapter. “THANK YOU, AMERICA! We’re so grateful to be part of the America’s Got Talent from the Audition up to Semi-Finals. We’re so overwhelmed for the love and support you’ve given to us. We will continue to inspire people (especially youth) to just continue dreaming and always believe in the beauty of their dreams. Just always put passion and determination in order to achieve your goals,� they wrote.

supporting them without resorting to hurting others. “There must be a way to advocate for that without purposefully hurting other people that are just doing work. #trabaholangpo #goodvibeslang,� Rodriguez wrote.

Rodriguez worked with Poe in the past for the movie “The Significant Other,� which opened last February. Rodriguez spoke highly of Poe, sharing that she is one of his favorite people and that he enjoys working with her.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez and Abellana have been together since 2015 and things are definitely serious between the two. Early this year, Rodriguez shared that he hopes they get married soon.

Abellana, meanwhile, said back in 2015 that Rodriguez was “husband material.� “He is a family man. He cares about his parents, loves children and has excessive energy for children,� Abellana said then. “He will do everything to provide for his family.�

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The group also addressed their kababayans (fellow Filipinos), sharing how it was an honor to represent the homeland abroad. “To our Kababayans!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR UNENDING SUPPORT SINCE DAY ONE. It’s such an honor to represent our homeland in an international competition,� they said. “We will always carry our flag high and show to the world what’s PINOY TALENT is all about.�

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B SEPTEMBER 8-11, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

Health@Heart

Lacto A: Friendly bacteria

organisms, thus protecting the individual.

Are there other friendly bacteria in the body?

PhiliP S. Chua, Yes. Actually there are sevMD, FaCS, FPCS eral trillion friendly bacteria What is Lacobacillus acido- (over 400 species) in the human gastrointestinal tract. Literally, philus?

L. acidophilus is the most we carry about four pounds (1.8 popularly used probiotic or kilos) of microbacteria in our “friendly bacteria.” They live guts. A healthy predominance of in the intestines and vagina the good bacteria over the bad and prevent the entrance and bacteria spells well-being for proliferation of disease-causing the person. If the bad or patho-

genic bacteria “outnumber” the friendly ones, ill health occurs.

How does L. acidophilus do it?

There are a variety of mechanisms through which L. acidophilus accomplish its good job. Example: the breakdown of food by this probiotic results in the production of lactic acid, hydrogen peroxide and a few other by-products that create a hostile environment for the bad bacteria. Lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose (milk sugar) into simple sugars, for proper digestion and absorption, is produced by L. acidophilus too. Those with lactose intolerance or lactase deficiency may be helped by L. acidophilus.

Who develops lactase deficiency?

While it is possible that some people could be born with lactase deficiency state, most of those with lactose intolerance (lactase deficiency) develop the condition secondary to lifestyle.

People who, during childhood, do not drink milk or do not eat dairy products regularly, acquire lactase deficiency. Lack of this enzyme prevents milk and dairy products (cheese, ice cream, even beans) from being digested and absorbed and properly. This leads to what is known as lactose intolerance, where the milk sugar (lactose) is not effectively broken down to simple sugars, a process needed for proper digestion.

How prevalent is lactase deficiency?

To some degree or another lactase deficiency is found in 75 percent of adults worldwide.

Among Chinese, it is 100 percent. Twenty five percent of the U.S. population has some degree of lactose intolerance. About 90 percent of Asian-Americans, 80 percent of Afro-Americans, 53 percent of Mexican-Americans, about 80 percent of NativeAmericans (American Indians), and 15 percent of Caucasians suffer from lactose intolerance of varying degrees. The incidence for southern Italians and Ashkenari Jews, 70 percent. A high prevalence is also reported among the majority of Meditarranean Arabs. Exception includes northwest Europeans, where the incidence is below said to be 20 percent. It has been postulated that those with lactose-intolerance also have a

http://www.asianjournal.com • (818) 502-0651 • (213) 250-9797 higher risk of stroke, colon cancer, hypertension, osteoporosis.

Whether decreased calcium intake (as a result of lactase deficiency) is a predisposing factor in the development of these diseases is still not known.

What are the symptoms of lactose intolerance?

Diarrhea and abdominal discomfort/distention, nausea, bloating, passing a lot of flatus, intestinal cramps following ingestion of lactose-containing food items, like ice cream, cheese, even salad or beans.

Children who have lactase deficiency will fail to gain weight.

The symptoms of lactose intolerance could be mild to severe, depending on the degree of lactase deficiency.

Are there pills for those with lactose intolerance?

Yes. One popular brand in the U.S. is Lactaid, an overthe-counter medication that has really been effective for those individuals with lactase deficiency. Taking this pill allows them to drink milk and eat dairy products in moderation.

For children, pretreated milk (where commercially prepared lactase has been used to predigest the lactose) are available, labeled as lactose-free milk. For infants, strict glucose-galactosefree diet is a must, and where fructose becomes the main carbohydrate. For those people on lactose-free diet because they have lactose intolerance, calcium supplementation is highly recommended. Some of the non-diary sources of calcium include green leafy vegetables, fish (especially salmon, tuna and sardines, where the bones are soft and edible), Brussels sprouts, tofu, and broccoli.

What are the claims about Lactobacillus?

The major claims include the assertions that L. acidophilus lowers cholesterol, boosts the immune system, maintains a healthy flora in the digestive tract, and that it prevents cancer. While there are some probably positive preliminary studies on the first three claims, the last one has yet to be proven.

Currently there is no scientific support for the claim that L.

By Monet

Lu

THIS week I would like to pay tribute to our dear friend Dion. He was a well-known entertainer, a fashionista, and a friend, not just to me but to a lot of people in the community.

We are all in awe and sadden by his untimely death. With this, I would like to share a heartwarming letter of Bong Prada Lim to Dion. We all feel the sadness of losing a friend and may God bless you always.

I have known Dindo Santos for more than two decades. It was one evening at a Filipino entertainment bar restaurant in Orange County — he was vibrant, full of energy, and had a huge smile and loud laugh. He would crack jokes and made fun of others and also himself for the sake of getting through the night entertaining the people who were all stressed out from work.

My name is Bong Prada Lim and he said he knew. “I am Dion like Celine,” he said. I smiled. He wore a powder blue Versace suit. That very night he told me, “you’re my idol. I love your style and your beautiful designer clothes. Such a fashionista.” Again, I smiled.

We hit it off. Out of this grew a friendship that transcended whatever differences we had or later developed because above all, we understood the same thing because we were “sisters.” We did have a lot of family fights. As we progressed, we learned more and that life can be cruel, painful and blinding so it’s hard to see anything else.

Yes, Dion like we all fondly call him, was indeed an entertainer. He belted out the Michael Buble songs and who could forget the tandem with Joseph Gelito, and his way of saying “ applause.”

Little did he know, I idolized him for he had talent. He could sing and had an awesome voice, especially when he sang my fave song, Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.”

We embraced that life is beautiful. We shared so many beautiful memories. We laughed and we cried — so many thoughts, heartaches, and secrets. I can only shed tears now.

I can wipe my tears but I can feel more the pain of Mommy Lilia Santos. The sorrow of a mother losing her child. Mommy, no amount of words can wipe away those tears but for your consolation, Dion’s mission on earth is done and he is

acidophilus prevents cancer, or that it is safe to take this substance regularly.

Is it effective for bacterial vaginal infection, diarrhea?

L. acidophilus, when taken by mouth (like yogurt) or as a vaginal douche, tablet or suppository, has been proven effective in treating vaginal infections caused by bacteria. For chronic or recurrent diarrhea, this “friendly bacteria” may be of some help but further clinical studies are needed to determine the safe and effective dosage.

How about for other illnesses?

L. acidophilus has also been tried in dozens of other conditions, like Acne, AIDS, cancer, canker sores, constipation, cardiovascular illnesses, Cohn’s disease, heartburn, hives, indigestion, infections, stomach ulcers, ulcerative colitis, urinary tract infection, thrush, asthma, and many others. The studies done on some of them were flawed and scientifically not significant and worthless. There is no medically validated study to date that proves L. acidophilus is effective in any of those conditions listed above, or any other illnesses, except for the bacterial vaginal infection and some form of diarrheas.

Is L. acidophilus safe?

As aptly reported by Natural Standard in cooperation with Harvard Medical School, “there is limited scientific evidence about the safety and effectiveness of L. acidophilus in humans”. Interactions with other drugs or herbs have not been adequately studied. Some people with weak immune system may be at risk of acquiring serious infections when taking L. acidophilus. The naturally occurring lactobacillus acidophilus in our intestines is a friendly bacteria, but the commercially manufactured and sold preparations are the ones that need further clinical evaluation in humans before it is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Before taking any lactobacillus preparation, consult with your physician.

Is eating yogurt safe?

Yes, safer and healthier than

taking L. acidophilus, or eating ice cream, cakes or drinking pop beverages (the cola and non-cola drinks) that are full of sugars, loaded with carbohydrate that leads to weight gain fast. Yogurt, also spelled yogourt or yoghurt, is a semi-solid fermented milk product which originated in Bulgaria centuries ago. In the U.S. the starter culture for the production of most yogurt is a symbiotic blend of Streptococcus salivaris subsp. thermophilus (ST) and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. Bulgaricus (LB). This produces the best, most stable and safest combination. Eating yogurt daily has been proven for centuries to be safe and healthy. Since yogurt contains the enzyme lactase, it is easily tolerated by lactose intolerant people. Other food items easier to tolerate are cheeses (swiss, cheddar, Colby).

However, with the commercially prepared lactobacillus “potions for a host of diseases,” more scientific studies need to be done to prove its effectiveness, the proper dosage, interaction with other medications, side-effects on the brain, liver, kidneys and other organs, complications, and, most especially, the safety of the therapeutic use of the available preparations of L. acidophilus. For use in some forms of diarrhea and urinary tract or vaginal infections L. acidophilus appears to be effective, and harmless as an occasional beverage, but let’s wait for the final verdict from the scientific community. Dieters around the globe consume yogurt with passion. It also comes in various flavors today. *** Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indiana and chairman of cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2010 at Cebu Doctors University Hospital, where he holds the title of Physician Emeritus in Surgery, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. He is the chairman of the Filipino United Network – USA, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian foundation in the United States. For more data, visit philipSchua.com; Email: scalpelpen@gmail. com

The memories of Dion Santos from Bong-Prada Lim

Dion Santos and Bong Prada Lim

with Daddy now. I am sure he is welcomed in heaven with open arms and a symphony of angels in chorus as he also awaits all of us one day for eternal happiness.

Dennis and Dale, your Kuya Dion is gone. Forgive him for the times he was not around you, when he was with friends more. Forgive him for he was stubborn. I know how you constantly reminded him of his heart condition. He had a big heart. He wanted to fit everyone inside. He tried to be generous, caring and loving .

Dion has touched many lives. Seriously, only a person who has so much love to give could replace and fall in love with a new boyfriend immediately. Funny as it may sound but no one can surpass the countless men in his life. He had more loves than Elizabeth Taylor or Madonna combined.

Countless friends and even foes will miss you — your fashionable sense and style and your Facebook and Instagram shout outs and postings. Surely, each will shed tears and condole. All have different stories to say. It was how you lived your life and not your death.

As I bid farewell to you my dearest friend and sister, I end by saying, “fabulous applause.”

I love you. Till we meet again.

Bong Prada Lim *** Monet Lu is a Marikina-born, awardwinning 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 all-natural beauty products such as Enlighten, your solution to discoloration . To contact Monet, please visit www.monetsalon.com or email him at monetsalon@aol.com

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

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • SEPTEMBER 8-11, 2018

B

Pilgrimage to Some of ITALY’s Highlights and Miracles of the Eucharist 6SLULWXDO 'LUHFWRU 5(9 -2(/ %8*$6 ĹĄ 1RYHPEHU WR 1RYHPEHU 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 0RQ Ĺ&#x; 86$ 520( 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 7XHV Ĺ&#x; 5RPH Upon our arrival in Rome, our Tour Escort will welcome us to Italy. Rome is the heart, home and the spiritual capital of over one billion Catholics all over the world. After a short panoramic orientation of this Eternal City to us Roman Catholics, we will have our dinner and overnight rest at this great ancient City.

DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN ROME (BB,D) 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY :HG Ĺ&#x; 5RPH 3DSDO $XGLHQFH 5RPH This morning before we continue with our tour, we will have a Papal Audience.

Then after, we will visit the famous Coliseum and see the Forum, the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon, one of the best preserved ancient monuments in the world. Celebrate the Holy Eucharist at St Peter Basilica St Joseph Chapel .Short stop in Trevi Fountain, before heading to our Hotel. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN ROME (BB,D)

'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 7KXUV Ĺ&#x; 5RPH %DVLOLFDV We will visit the Vatican Museum this morning and the Sistine Chapel to admire the awesome masterpieces of Michaelangelo, and even ancient Greek and Roman artists. the largest church in Roman Catholicism, St. Peter’s Basilica. Holy Eucharist at ST Mary Major, Followed by visit of the Basilica. We continue to visit the rest of the major Basilicas within the walls of Rome, and St. John Lateran, St Paul Outside the Wall. We will also pray at the Scala Santa or the Holy Stairs. St. Helena transported the steps from Jerusalem; the same steps that Christ ascended to receive Pilate’s unjust condemnation.

DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN ROME (BB,D) 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY )UL

Ĺ&#x; 5RPH 6DQ *LRYDQQL 5RWRQGR 2018 is the 100th Anniversary of the stigmatization of St Pio. Church Will have Monthly Pastoral Program of Activities for the whole year. San Giovanni Rotondo, the home of St Padre Pio of Pietrelcina from 28 July, 1916 until his death on 23 September, 1968. Enjoy the drive going to San Giovanni, after we check in our Hotel. vWe visit the Shrines of St Padre Pio of Pietralcina as well as the places associated with him, such as the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace that contains his tomb. Here, we spend some time meditating, see his room, his confessional box and the cruciďŹ x that gave him his supernatural Crucifying stigmata, Celebrate Holy Eucharist (Hotel Gran Paradiso) DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN San Giovanni Rotondo (BB,D) 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 6DW Ĺ&#x; 6$1 *,29$11, 52721'2 This Morning we visit the new and Modern Basilica of St Padre Pio, See his uncorrupt body. Celebrate Holy Eucharist Spend some time meditating in this awesome Basilica. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO (Hotel Gran Paradiso)

'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 6XQ Ĺ&#x; 6DQ *LRYDQQL 5RWRQGR /DQFLDQR /RUHWR MASS AND BREAKFAST. We arrive at Lanciano, famous for the Miracle of the Eucharist. Near the Piazza Plebiscito, the Miracle is inside the Sanctuary of the Eucharistic Miracle. The miracle took place during the 8th century when a Basiline monk doubted the Real Presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. He found himself holding the host that had changed into Real Flesh and the Wine on the altar had changed into Real Blood. We continue our pilgrimage to the great Marian shrine of Loreto to see the famous sacred home of the most Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Since 1294 the holy home has been located inside the Basilica of Loreto. Celebrate Holy Eucharist in Lanciano. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN Assisi.

'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 0RQ Ĺ&#x; /RUHWR $VVLVL Today we explore the hilltop birthplace of St Francis of Assisi. In the Crypt of St Francis Basilica lies the tomb of one of the most humble and beloved Saints of all times, St. Francis of Assisi, Holy Eucharist at the Crypt of St. Francis See the Basilica of St Clare, with her incorrupt body, and the little Church of St. Damiano and its CruciďŹ x from which Jesus spoke to Francis about his mission in 1206: “Go, Francis, and rebuild my house, which as you see is falling into ruin.â€? We visit the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, located in the lower plains of Assisi, and the place where the miracle of the Eucharist of Assisi took place in 1240. The small Church of the Porziuncola is inside the Basilica itself. Pope Honorius III granted a plenary indulgence for those entering this humble Church on August 1st and 2nd every year, with Confession, reception of the Eucharist and no attachment to venial sins. (BB,D) 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 7XHV Ĺ&#x; $VVLVL 6LHQD )ORUHQFH We will spend half day in Siena. Begin in the old town center with a visit to the Basilica of San Domenico. Built in the 13th century, it is a treasure chest of the Renaissance art and dedicated to St Catherine of Siena. You will learn about the city’s history while admiring it’s cathedrals, Museum, and libraries .Also you will admire the famous piazza del Campo, one of Europe’s great medieval squares. Continue to Florence. (BB,D) We start with a guided walking tour of Florence, this fascinating city with its Piazza, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistery of St. John the Baptist.

Rest of the day free (BB,D) 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY :HG Ĺ&#x; )ORUHQFH 5RPH Leave Florence around 2PM Arrived Rome almost dinner time (BB.D) 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 7KXUV Ĺ&#x; 5RPH 86$ End of our wonderful Pilgrimage

Please call QTS Tour and Travel NOW at 1 (714) 288-0800 or (714) 761-6280 1095 N Main St. Suite O, Orange, CA 92867

QTS Tours & Travel: The gateway to your getaway The story of how QTS Tours & Travel came about is quite interesting, to say the least.

It all started when a nurse named Lourdes “Lulu� Alo was approached by her uncle with a favor: Organize a pilgrimage to Europe for him and some close friends. The trip she arranged not only went off without a hitch, but everyone who went had a great time.

Soon, she began to realize that this could one day become her main venture and by 1991, Quantum Travel Service was open for business.

Lulu has since organized numerous pilgrimages every year to many religious sites in Europe - from France and Spain to Poland and Hungary - both well-known and off-thebeaten path.

Thanks to her nursing background, she still organizes tours and pilgrimages for nursing continuing education classes.

Today, the company has evolved even further. Now

known as QTS Tours & Travel, the advent of the Internet has further expanded the company’s clientele nationwide.

In fact, about 30 percent of QTS Tours & Travel’s cruise customers live on the East Coast - Lulu has arranged tours and pilgrimages originating from locations like Chicago, Illinois and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

QTS Tours & Travel has even been invited by the Italian Government Tourist Board on several occasions, to recognize the company’s efforts in promoting tourism to their country.

From the travel company’s office in Orange, California, Lulu oversees the managerial aspects of the business. She is both Certified Travel Counselors, bound by a professional Code of Conduct and Ethics.

Their mission statement, simply put, is “To give the best possible service and to do business based on honesty and knowledge.�

Lulu even go the extra mile to ensure that their customers get the best service possible, by occasionally joining pilgrimages and tours themselves. Their firsthand experiences have taught them a lot about levels of service provided, efficient scheduling, and several other “intangibles� which can make a tour or pilgrimage more enjoyable!

QTS Tours & Travel strives to provide the best service possible, and they work with their customers with that goal in mind.

Upcoming pilgrimages include one in Italy from Nov. 12-23, 2018 and Jordan from June 10-23, 2019, among others.

QTS Tours & Travel is located at 1095 N. Main St Suite 0, Orange, CA 92867. For further information, please call (714)288-0800

B SEPTEMBER 8-11, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

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

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COMMUNITY JOURNAL

Your Immigration Solution

Filing a fiancé(e) petition

marriages have been legally terminated through divorce, death or annulment.

In addition, the U.S. citizen petitioner and his or her fiancé(e) must have met, in person, at DEVIN M. CONNOLLY least once in the two-year peIT is nearly a universal dream riod preceding the filing of the to be happily married. To be petition. There are exceptions with the person that you consid- to this requirement if an in-perer to be your soul mate, the per- son meeting would violate strict son with whom you can share and long-established customs of life’s joys and happy moments. either party’s foreign culture or Though this dream is not limited social practice, or if the in-perto U.S. citizens, what is limited son meeting requirement would to U.S. citizens is the ability to result in extreme hardship to file a petition for their fiancé(e) the U.S. citizen petitioner. The to join them in the U.S. This mere inconvenience to have to ability is extremely important travel to a foreign country, or to because, as anybody who has take time off from work or purbeen in a long-distance relationship can tell you, telephone calls and text messages are just not the same as seeing your significant other on a daily basis.

It is commonly known that both U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents (green card holders) can petition for their spouses to join them in the U.S. But if there is not a legal marriage between the parties, then green card holders are unable to petition their significant other. And no, neither the dura- chase an expensive airline ticket tion of the relationship nor the will not qualify you for an excepstrength of the commitment are tion to the in-person meeting rerelevant. Only U.S. citizens may quirement.

After the USCIS approves file petitions for a fiancé(e)! This petition is filed with the U.S. Cit- the petition, the foreign naizenship and Immigration Ser- tional must then apply for their vice (USCIS). Once approved, fiancé(e) visa. In addition to their it may lead to the issuance of application and the required a fiancé(e) visa, commonly re- supporting documents, they will be required to appear for a perferred to as a K-1 visa.

There are several require- sonal interview at the U.S. Emments that must be met by the bassy in their home country. At U.S. citizen petitioner and his this interview they will be quesor her fiancé(e). The U.S. citi- tioned extensively by a Consular zen petitioner and his or her Officer who must be convinced fiancé(e) must intend to marry that the relationship is not one within 90 days of the foreign that has been entered into solely national’s entry to the U.S. This to obtain immigration benefits. intention must be sincere; it is The Consular Officer will also not permissible for a person to want to see physical evidence enter the U.S. simply to decide of the true, actual relationship. whether they actually want to The inability to submit sufficient marry their petitioner. There proof or correctly answer quesalso must not be any legal im- tions may lead the Consular Ofpediments to marriage. This ficer to deny the application for requires that any and all prior a fiancé(e) visa if they believe

that the application was being submitted solely as a way of entering the U.S. Following the foreign national’s entry into the U.S., they must marry their petitioner within 90 days of entry. It does not matter if this marriage is before many friends and family members or a small civil ceremony, so long as it occurs within 90 days of entry to the U.S. After this timely marriage, the foreign national may then proceed to file an application for a green card. Yes, that entails more applications, more documents, and likely a second interview, but the process should hopefully be more enjoyable since now you are able to go through it while living in the same house as your beloved spouse.

Finally, a fiancé(e) of a U.S. citizen may also be eligible to bring their children with them to the U.S. The children will only be allowed to enter the U.S. if they are unmarried and under 21years-old.

Immigrating to the U.S. with a fiancé(e) visa can be complex. There are some unique aspects to K-1 visas about which many people are unfortunately not aware. Be sure to consult with an experienced and knowledgeable immigration attorney so that you can be reunited with your significant other as soon as possible.

“At this interview they will be questioned extensively by a Consular Officer who must be convinced that the relationship is not one that has been entered into solely to obtain immigration benefits.”

*** REEVES IMMIGRATION LAW GROUP is one of the oldest, largest and most experienced immigration fi rms in the United States with offi ces in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Manila and China.

For more Information please call (800) 795- 8009 or visit www.rreeves.com.

Telephone: (800) 795-8009 E-mail: immigration@rreeves.com Website: www.rreeves.com. *** The analysis and suggestions offered in this column do not create a lawyer-client relationship and are not a substitute for the personalized representation that is essential to every case.

(Advertising Supplement)

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • SEPTEMBER 8-11, 2018

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C SEPTEMBER 8-11, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

Minding Your Finances Atty. RAymond BulAon ARE you sick and tired of being in debt and having bad credit? Do you want to start over but simply don’t know where to begin? Is filing bankruptcy an option for you or are other options available?

These days, you are constantly bombarded with advertising from companies and other professionals offering you their “solution”. But how do you know who to trust and if you are doing the right thing?

I find that a lot of people are mostly concerned about the effects of bankruptcy on their credit more than anything else. Most are under the mistaken belief that once they file for bankruptcy, their credit is ruined forever and that they will never be able to buy a house or obtain credit again. Of course, this is simply not true. Let me explain.

Yes, bankruptcy is reported on your credit record for 7-10 years depending on the type of bankruptcy you are filing but a lot of people quickly bounce back from bankruptcy in as little as 23 years.

Community Journal

Here’s how you can get out of debt safely and legally I also find that most people who are in debt trouble already have bad credit anyway and filing bankruptcy, if anything, can only help them rebuild their credit in the long run. Yes, in most cases that I see, bankruptcy can actually improve credit by allowing the person a chance to start over after wiping out debts.

I see a lot of people on a regular basis who are scammed by debt settlement companies. These are the companies that you see on TV, on the internet or hear about on the radio. I say “scammed” because a lot of these people didn’t really understand what they are getting into when they sign up for their services.

Oftentimes, these companies tell people that bankruptcy is the ‘worst mistake’ that they can make and that by enrolling in their debt management or settlement program, they will be able to help you get out of debt without filing for bankruptcy.

First of all, what they often don’t mention is the fact that you have no legal protection while you are on their program. That’s right. Creditors can still report your delinquency month after month to the credit bureaus.

You can also get sued anytime

by your creditors. And once they get a judgment against you, of course, your creditors can garnish your wages, file a judgment lien against your property and levy your bank accounts.

Secondly, when you make those monthly payments to a debt settlement company, you money doesn’t just go directly to your creditors. After collecting their fees ()which they often don’t clearly explain), the debt settlement company simply puts aside your monthly payments until they have enough to settle with your creditors one by one.

Do you really believe that creditors are willing to wait several years to get paid? No. That is why they often sue and once that happens, you have a big problem in your hands. What about the money that you already paid the debt settlement company? Good luck trying to get any of that money back once they have it.

So if you are in debt and your credit has suffered as a result, it may be better for you to just file bankruptcy now and simply prolonging your problems Rebuilding your credit after bankruptcy is not as hard as you think and this is often a better strategy than

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Does shrinking IRS budget reduce your chance of being audited?

YES, shrinking budget reduces your chance of getting grilled by the IRS. • The main reason for the decline: IRS budget and staff levels are down.

• Tax collectors are blaming the massive drop off on budget cuts.

• IRS staff shrunk by 20,000 over the past 8 years, despite increase in numbers of returns filed.

• This is an unsustainable situation for the agency that brings in 90 percent of the nation’s revenue.

• This will worsen with additional cuts proposed in the Administration’s 2019 budget.

• Financial crime flourish in the age of internet, international financial crimes, and virtual currency.

• IRS number of personnel is unable to keep up.

• IRS is too swamped to audit you.

Tax Tips victoR sy, cPA, mBA

Here are more interesting developments: • The IRS is living on $1 billion less than 10 years ago, down from $12 billion to $11 billion.

• The number of agents declined by one-third from 23,000 in 2010 to 15,000 today.

• We have the same number of special agents — around 2,200 — as we did 50 years ago.

• The agency has been trimmed back, even as the numbers of filers have grown.

• Americans filed 150 million individual returns in the last fiscal year, the most ever.

• Even as the number of returns grew, the number of audits dropped 40 percent from 2010 to 2017.

So, How Does Shrinking Budget Affect You? • Well, it’s less likely that IRS will come after you.

• Your odds of not getting audited gets lower every year. *** 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. *** He has 50 years of experience in defending taxpayers audited by the IRS, FTB, EDD, BOE and other governmental agencies.

He is publishing a book on his expertise - “HOW TO AVOID OR SURVIVE IRS AUDITS.” Our readers may inquire about the book or email tax questions at vicsy@live.com.

(Advertising Supplement)

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

The Prophetic Voice ReveRend Rodel G. BAlAGtAs THIS Sunday’s Gospel presents Jesus’s miraculous healing of a deaf man (Mark 7:31-37) .

As Jesus took the deaf man off by himself away from the crowd, he put his fingers into the man ’s eyes, spat on the ground and touched his tongue.

Then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and he said, “Ephphatha! — that is, “Be opened!”

Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.

This dramatic healing amazed everyone in the crowd. “He has done all things well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute speak,” they said.

Posting on his Facebook page, Fr. Gregorio “Goyo” Hidalgo, the associate pastor of St. Rose of Lima in Sylmar, CA, appropriates this healing of the deaf man to today’s crisis in the Catholic Church with these words: “I can’t help but think that our Church needs a big “Ephphatha” so that those who are silent can speak and those who are deaf can hear.

Barrister’s Corner Atty. Kenneth uRsuA Reyes IN a divorce proceeding, people sometimes have a misconception that the only assets or properties that have to disclose assets and properties situated in California. Even worst, sometimes parties even think that since an asset or property is situated in a different country or state, that property is not community property and not subject to division in California family court. One has to understand the general community property presumption in California.

Property acquired before marriage is the acquiring spouse’s separate property, as is property obtained during marriage that can be traced to a premarital acquisition. Family.Code. § 770(a).

Rents, issues and profits” of separate property are separate property. All property acquired

Ephphatha! be opened!

Jesus is going to need a big spitting this time to make the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

I presume that Fr. Goyo is referring to our prophetic responsibility to speak up against the child sexual abuse scandals by some members of the Catholic clergy that destroyed the lives of thousands of children and young people and has deeply hurt the moral integrity of the Church.

He may also be talking about the need for people, not only in the Catholic Church but also in other segments and institutions of our society, to come out courageously and report any sexual abuses and harassment.

Fr. Goyo’s words may indicate the need to make our bishops and the pope give a full account of the failure of the church in protecting young people from such tragedies. All members of the church should continue to demand from church leaders the destruction of the culture of cover-up and hiding of sex abuse cases under the rug.

On the other hand, Fr. Goyo may also be asking priests, bishops, and lay leaders to keep parishioners, the media, and the civil authorities updated on the programs and systems that U.S. dioceses have developed and established to safeguard the chil-

dren and young people from further abuses.

For example, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has taken the lead in putting up procedures, policies, and programs to protect our children and youth since 2002. In its report last week to all parishes, entitled “A Brief Overview of Archdiocesan Programs and Actions for the Protection of Children and Young People,” the archdiocese, now under the leadership of Archbishop Jose Gomez, outlines the steps and actions that the church has done for reporting and investigating suspected abuse by clergy and for removing offenders from ministry. The report also delineates the extensive programs of education and background checks to make sure that children are safe.

Foremost of the policies that the Archdiocese has initiated and developed since the leadership of Cardinal Roger M. Mahony is the “zero tolerance” policy “to ensure that future allegations would be reported to authorities and that anyone found to have committed abuse — whether a [bishop], priest, deacon, religious or layperson — would be held accountable and permanently removed from ministry in the archdiocese.”

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Disclosure and characterization of overseas assets in divorce

during marriage and before separation, other than by gift or inheritance, is presumptively community property. Family Code §§ 760, 771(a), 772; Marriage of Bonds (2000) 24 C4th 1, 12, 99 CR2d 252, 258; Marriage of Lehman (1998) 18 C4th 169, 177, 74 CR2d 825, 828.

Pursuant to Family.Code. § 760, community personal or real property is consistently defined no matter where situated. Family Code §760 defines “Community property” as “Except as otherwise provided by statute, all property, real or personal, wherever situated, acquired by a married person during the marriage while domiciled in this state is community property.”

As such, out-of-state community property is community property for all purposes, including intraspousal management and control fiduciary obligations. It does not matter if the property is located in another state or another country.

For the same reason, the parties to a divorce case is required to disclose all property, separate and community, including those outside the state. During the marriage, the parties’ fiduciary duties require full and accurate disclosure of true and full information affecting community property transactions. FamilyCode. §§ 721(b), 1100(e). In addition, disclosure duties arise upon separation in anticipation of dissolution, nullity or legal separation. The post-separation disclosure duties extend to all assets and liabilities in which either party has or may have an interest or obligation, regardless of community or separate property characterization, and to current earnings, accumulations and expenses. These duties “arise without reference to any wrongdoing.” Family.Code. §§ 721(b), 2100(c), 2102(a)(1); Marriage of Feldman (2007) 153 CA4th

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Community Journal

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • SEPTEMBER 8-11, 2018

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Are you paying your employer’s Reinstatement for surviving beneficiaries of an I-130 petition filed by a deceased relative costs of doing business?

(Your rights to reimbursements may be significant)

Q: AS part of my work, I travel to clients using my own car and I pay for gas. I also make several business-related calls on my personal cell phone, although since I have an unlimited plan, I do not really incur additional expenses. Should my employer still reimburse me when I use my car and cell phone at work?

A: Under California law, an employer shall reimburse an employee for all necessary expenditures incurred in direct consequence of the discharge of the employee’s duties. This is to prevent employers from passing their operating expenses to employees. If your travel expenses and cell phone use were necessary for you to be able to do your job, then you are entitled to reimbursement.

Other expenses reimbursable to employees include: (1) transportation, mileage, parking, and other travel expenses; (2) purchasing, laundering or repairing uniforms required by the employer; (3) purchasing supplies, tools, materials, or equipment; (4) “supper money” for when an employee is requested to work during the evening; (5) hotel expenses; (6) cell phone use related to work (7) deductions to wages for costs that should have been paid by the employer, such as fuel or insurance Does an employer have to reimburse an employee for work-related use of a personal cell phone even if the employee did not incur an extra expense

Protecting Employee & Consumer Rights Atty. C. Joe SAyAS, Jr. because of this use? Yes, reimbursement is always required.

When employees must use their personal cell phones for workrelated calls, then they are incurring an expense. Whether the employees have cell phone plans with unlimited minutes or limited minutes, the reimbursement owed is a reasonable percentage of their cell phone bills. To prove employer liability for reimbursement, the employees need only show that they were required to use their personal cell phones to make work-related calls.

Is the employer allowed to fulfill its reimbursement obligation by paying employees increased wages instead of separately reimbursing them for their actual expenses? An employer may fulfill its legal reimbursement obligation by paying employees enhanced compensation in the form of increases in base salary or increases in commission rates, or both. However, there must be a means or method to apportion the enhanced compensation to distinguish what amount is being paid for labor performed and what amount is reimbursement for business expenses.

Wages and expense reimbursement are not the same thing. An employee should be vigilant in ensuring that the employer provides some method

or formula to identify which of the combined amount is intended as wages or as expense reimbursement. Wages are taxable and subject to deductions. Reimbursements are not, and should be fully paid to the employee.

Workers misclassified as independent contractors are often charged unlawfully for these business expenses. Our law firm helped hundreds of truck drivers misclassified as independent contractors who were charged for the fuel and insurance premiums on the companies’ trucks that they were driving. After 3 years of litigation, the federal court favorably ruled that our drivers were employees. The companies eventually agreed to settle the case and pay $11.04 million, and reclassify the drivers as employees. In addition to receiving back wages, drivers now get health insurance and pension benefits from their employers. *** The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic.

All inquiries are confidential and at nocost. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit www.joesayaslaw.com or our Facebook page Joe Sayas Law. [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 the recipient of PABA’s Community Champion Award for 2016.]

(Advertising Supplement)

Single mom seeks Chapter 7 relief from $60K credit cards

THE client is 50 and got divorced 10 years ago. Her ex-husband decided that working was not good for him so he just disappeared.

They had one daughter that client has taken cared of since the divorce. The daughter is about to graduate from college and will be working soon. The daughter, also a single mom, has a daughter who is two years old.

The mother and daughter are helping each other out, like the former taking care of her daughter and granddaughter with her monthly income, which nets her $5,000 a month. Their rent is $1,200 a month. The daughter has college expenses of about $1,000 a month up to June of 2017.

There are also babysitting expenses of $500 a month for granddaughter. The daughter also has about $20,000 of her own credit cards, which she pays for herself from her part time job.

In other words, the client pays for all expenses of her household, which consists of her daughter and granddaughter.

At the end of the month, the client has to produce $1,800 to make minimum payments on $60K of credit cards. It’s pretty difficult to budget a payment of $1,800 for credit cards, when daughter’s college expenses are $1,000 a month plus $500 of babysitting expenses.

The decision to wipe out $60,000 of credit cards is easily made, thus saving the household $1,800 a month immediately.

The daughter expects to work as a certified nursing assistant and maybe gross $3,000 a month.

She will take over payments for the babysitter and will pay half of the rent as soon as she starts working. The mom’s credit score will become perfect again at 750 in about five years, increasing yearly from the date of Chapter 7 filing.

She will get new credit cards within six months of discharge.

I suggest that she takes those cards but pay them in full at the end of the month just so she can build up her credit score faster without carrying new debt. The client has an old 2000 Corolla.

I suggest that she trades that in before we file the case for a newer car, perhaps a 2016 model so she doesn’t have to worry about car repairs for the next few years. One credit card company has filed a lawsuit to

Debt Relief

Atty. LAwrenCe yAng collect $8,000. Let’s face it, how long can you fork over $1,800 a month to keep credit cards current when you have a daughter and granddaughter to take care of? $1,800 is more than client’s rent of $1,200.

So I am happy that client qualifies for a Chapter 7 wipe out of her $60,000 of credit cards. Her family really needs relief from those debts!

Business owner seeks to discharge $40K credit cards The second client is 55. She owns an e-commerce business that sells through Amazon. I was surprised that the rent she pays to Amazon to stock and ship her merchandise is “expensive” to say the least.

The client used her credit cards to stock up on merchandise that is resold through Amazon. She sells nearly half a million dollars a year but turning a profit appears to be a problem because the small margin that she makes goes to pay Amazon for rent on the Amazon website.

With the rent that she pays to be included on the Amazon website, the client has not made any profit for the last two years. She has been losing $1,600 a month.

She covers the loss with credit cards. So she now owes $40,000, which paid for the loss in 2015 and 2016.

She got married two years ago. Her spouse owned their residence before they got married. So, even if the residence has a large equity, it mostly belongs exclusively to the non-filing spouse. There is no problem exempting the house even if the equity is large. The client decides to file Chapter 7 to get rid of the $40,000 credit cards.

Maybe her business could start turning a profit if her supplier lowers their pricing. This is what she will work on at the same time that she seeks Chapter 7 relief.

She gets to keep the business even if she files for Chapter 7 relief.

Young debtor seeks to discharge $50K credit cards The third client is only 38 years old and married. The cou-

ple has a 4-year-old son. He plans to file Chapter 7 to discharge $50,000 of credit cards which he is having a hard time paying. He makes $2,000 a month gross as a certified nursing assistant. He wants to get rid of all his credit card debt.

The wife, who does not need to file Chapter 7, has a bunch of student loans with a current balance of $75,000 and $10,000 of her own cards. The husband and wife have a de facto split on household expenses and debts. He pays for his own debts. She pays her own debts. He pays a portion of the utilities. She pays the entire rent of $1,800. He pays for one car.

She pays for two cars.

The wife grosses $10,000 a month as a medical professional.

So, their household income is $12,000 a month, or $144,000 a year. Can the client get a Chapter 7 discharge of his $50,000 of credit card debt even if their household income is $144,000 a year?

Based on analysis of relevant bankruptcy law, the client should be able to get a Chapter 7 discharge even if the household income is $144,000 a year. Under the worse situation, if there is opposition from the U.S. Trustee, there is a small chance that client may have to convert to Chapter 13 where he will have to pay a portion of the $50,000 over 60 months.

Let’s just say that, if non-filing wife’s expenses are adequately documented, client should be able to qualify for a Chapter 7 discharge. This is what I call a borderline case. You can file it as a Chapter 7 since the means test will not show a presumption of abuse, and if there is no viable opposition, it should go through as Chapter 7.

If your debt burden is too much to handle, come see me regarding Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 reorganization. It’s better to do it earlier than later. *** 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 or at 20274 Carrey Road, Walnut, CA 91789.

(Advertising Supplement)

Here’s how you can get out of debt...

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not paying your bills and letting your credit continue to get worse every single month with no end in sight.

If you’ve been struggling with debt for a while now and nothing has changed, when are you going to get so sick and tired of your debt problems to finally do something about it?

I can help you decide if bank-

ruptcy is the right solution for your situation. If it’s not, I will be the first to tell you. If that’s the case, I can help you explore other options that may be available to you.

For a free attorney consultation regarding how you can get out of debt with or without filing for bankruptcy, call Toll-Free 1866-477-7772 to schedule an appointment. I have offices in Glen-

dale, Valencia and Cerritos. *** 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.

(Advertising Supplement)

DEAR Attorney Tan, My US Citizen mother filed an I-130 immigrant petition on my behalf, which has a priority date in February 2000 and which has been approved. She filed the I130 petition after I came to the US in 1999 as a tourist from the Philippines. Since my arrival, I have lived in the US and have been out of status.

Since I was petitioned as an unmarried adult daughter, I was advised that I had to wait several years to get a green card. Recently, my mother passed away. Can I still get a green card through my mother’s petition? -H.P. Dear H.P., When your mother passed away, the I-130 that was approved on your behalf was revoked by operation of law pursuant to 8 CFR Section 205.1.

However, depending on the facts of a particular case, all is not lost. You may be eligible to get a green card pursuant to INA Section 204(L).

Under INA Section 204(L), relief from an automatic revocation of an I-130 petition is available to certain surviving relatives. Surviving relatives who are eligible to seek 204(L) relief include a 1) principal or derivative beneficiary of an I130 petition that was filed by a deceased permanent resident or U.S. Citizen, and 2) derivative beneficiary of an I-130 petition that was filed by a permanent resident or U.S. Citizen where the principal beneficiary has died. Section 204(L) relief is also available to derivative beneficiaries in I-140 employment-based petitions where the principal beneficiary has died.

Another requirement for

Legal Advice Atty. DArriCk tAn Section 204(L) relief is that the person seeking relief must have “residence” in the U.S. What is meant by “residence?” It is your primary home or principal actual dwelling place. At least one ben-

”In your case, it appears you are eligible to obtain a green card. You are a principal beneficiary of an I-130 petition filed by your US citizen mother.” eficiary must have resided in the U.S. when the petitioning relative died, and must continue to reside in the U.S. when seeking Section 204(L) relief. It is worth noting that all beneficiaries of a petition can benefit from Section 204(L) relief as long as at least one of the beneficiaries meets the residence requirement. Further, although “residence” is required, Section 204(L) does not require actual physical presence in the U.S. when the relative died.

In your case, it appears that you are eligible to obtain a green card. You are a principal beneficiary of an I-130 petition filed by your U.S. Citizen mother. Further, you appear to meet the residence requirement in that you have been in the U.S. since your

arrival in 1999—you resided in the U.S. when your mother passed away, and currently reside in the U.S. A check of the USCIS visa bulletin indicates the priority date for the I-130 petition filed by your mother on your behalf is current, so you can file an I-485 adjustment of status application, requesting reinstatement of the I-130 petition filed by your mother pursuant to Section 204(L).

As a sidenote, Section 204(L) relief is also available if one’s relative died while the I-130 was pending, not only after the I-130 petition was approved.

Section 204(L) relief therefore is broader than Humanitarian Reinstatement of a petition under 8 CFR Section 205.1, which can only be requested by the principal beneficiary when the petitioner him/herself has died, and after approval of an I-130.

Relief under Section 204(L) is discretionary, and can be denied if factors in support of relief are not presented properly.

It is accordingly recommended that you seek the assistance of an experienced attorney. *** 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) 6390277. Email: info@dtanlaw.com.

(Advertising Supplement)

Disclosure and characterization of overseas...

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93 CA4th 1334,0 1342–1344, 113 CR2d 849, 854–855. Parties to a divorce case has a duty to provide full and accurate disclosure of all assets and debts including those in other states and other countries. Failure to disclose could result to certain legal consequences to the non-disclosing parties including sanctions and attorney’s fees. If you are contemplating a divorce and you own assets and properties outside the state or country, its best

to retain the representation of an experience family law attorney. *** 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 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 (Advertising Supplement)

C4 SEPTEMBER 8-11, 2018 • 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 S E P T E M B E R 4 -27

SIPA hosts 8-session Entrepreneur Training Program (ETP) in Los Angeles The Entrepreneur Training Program (ETP) is an 8-session skills building training program designed for startup entrepreneurs covering the A to Z of starting and running a successful business. This is open to all! If you want to start your own business and don’t know where to start or how to start, this program was made FOR YOU! Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to learn from the experts and from business owners themselves on how to build the business of your dreams! Program details: One time fee of $100 covers food and beverage and training materials for all 8 sessions; 5 FREE slots are available for College/University students and low income families; FREE Parking on site. Parking lot is accessed on Robinson St.; Includes FREE one-on-one business counseling with SIPA’s counselor, Fidji Victoriano; and you will receive a Completion Certificate at the end of the program. The eight sessions will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the whole month of September 2018: September 4, 6, 11, 13, 18, 20, 25 and 27 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Program will be held at the SIPA Multipurpose room at 3200 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 (through Robinson St. entrance). For any questions or to register in person, please contact Fidji Victoriano at (424) 235-5011 or e-mail at fvictoriano@esipa.org. This program is brought by Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) in collaboration with the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce Hollywood (FACCHO) and the support of Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program (APISBP) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

SEPTEMBER 8

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

People and Events

St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy dedicates new athletic stadium

ST. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy (PMA), a college preparatory coeducational institution of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, will host the blessing, naming, and dedication ceremony of the new Athletic Stadium which includes an all-weather turf football/soccer field and rubberized track on Wednesday October 3 at 6 p.m. at the school facility located at 7851 Gardendale Street, Downey, CA 90242.

The 17-acre Downey school that was once previously home to the co-ed Pius X High School from 1953-95, and was the site of the all-girls St. Matthias High School from 1995-2013, broke ground on numerous projects last summer (2017) as part of an $8 million campus master facility plan made possible through the support and funding of the John H. & Cynthia Lee Smet Foundation, Shea Properties and Shea Family Charities.

The Stadium and field will be blessed by newly ordained Regional Bishop Marc Trudeau of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, San Pedro Pastoral Region. The school and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles will honor the Smet and Shea families by naming the new stadium “Shea Field at Smet Family Stadium” in recognition of the contributions made by both families who support many Catholic schools and Catholic education initiatives throughout

Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Greater LA hosts photoshop training “Adobe Photoshop Training” on Saturday, September 8 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. is a crash course for beginners to intermediate hosted by the Filipino-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Los Angeles (FACC-GLA). It will be held at BFG Boardroom (5121 Van Nuys Blvd), with instructor Peter Galace. Call to reserve your seat ($100) with Angelo Varsobia (818) 6469453 or Mary Trinidad at (661) 713-0014. Participants should bring their own computers, download a free version of Photoshop (https://bit.ly/2NYPbLW), and bring one USB thumb drive.

S E P T E M B E R 1 3 -1 9

Golden Jubilee Anniversary celebration for MVGFC ’68 in Las Vegas Vegas CLECSN (now MVGFC) class of ’68 in Cabanatuan City, Philippines will have its golden jubilee anniversary celebration in Las Vegas, Nevada from Thursday, Sept. 13 to Wednesday, Sept. 19. For more information, please contact Eddie C. Talusan at (415) 583-1300 or Cindy Frando Reyes at (949) 705 - 9324.

SEPTEMBER 15

Penafrancia Fiesta event in San Leandro, California In honor of the feast of Our Lady of Penafrañcia, a day of celebration will be held on Saturday, September 15 in San Leandro, California. It will begin at 9 a.m. with a 9th day rosary and novena prayer, followed by the Holy Mass at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church (2500 Bermuda Ave., San Leandro, CA 94577). At 11:30 a.m., the land & fluvial processions will happen from the church to Marina Park Lagoon. From 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., there will be a picnic, entertainment, games and vigil mass at Marina Park (14001 Monarch Bay Dr., San Leandro, CA 94577).

SEPTEMBER 16

Los Angeles Skyline Lions Club holds masquerade ball The Los Angeles Skyline Lions Club (District 4-L3) cordially invites guests to join the masquerade ball to celebrate its 15th anniversary of continued support to local and global communities, alongside the annual fall harvest festival and installation of new club officers. Please join the fun celebration on Sunday, September 16 at the Signature Banquet Hall, 11130 Balboa Blvd., Granada Hills, CA. Doors open at 4 p.m. For any inquiries, you may call PDG Sol “Sunshine” Santiago at (213) 500-1927. See you all there and be ready to unmask your night!

S E P T E M B E R 22

Celebration of the Feast of San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila in Lake Balboa, CA Come celebrate with us! The Archdiocese of Los Angeles Filipino Ministry San Fernando Region invites all to the 10th regional celebration of the feast of San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila on Saturday, Sept. 22 at St. Bridget of Sweden Church (7100 Whitaker Ave and Gault, Lake Balboa, CA 91406). It starts with a procession at 4:00 pm. and mass at 5:00 p.m. The Principal Celebrant is Rev. Fr. Albert Avenido, Moderator & Chaplain, Filipino Pastoral Ministry- Archdiocese for Los Angeles. A reception and program follows right after mass at the School Parish . For a schedule of the nine-day novena masses prior to the event, please call Patty Santiago at (818) 472-4288 or Alex Quadra (818-624-4684 or a.e.quadra@att.net).

Sto. Tomas Batangas Association of Southern California to celebrate 36th anniversary The Sto. Tomas Batangas Association of Southern California will celebrate its 36th anniversary & coronation Night on Saturday, September 22 at the Los Serranos Country Club (15656 Yorba Ave. Chino Hills, CA 91709). Music will be provided by The Midnight Motion Band.

For attendance, please call Willie Manacsa at (818) 400-7391, Offie Villanueva at (626) 9608407), Mylee Moncada at (818) 322-9429, Rosalie Nasu at (909)631-9356 or Rosie Sancianco at (951)898-7628.

S E P T E M B E R 26

United Architects of the Philippines - Southern California chapter hosts UAP president in Monterey Park, CA The United Architects of the Philippines - Southern California Chapter, Inc. (UAPSOCAL) a chartered member by the UAP, the only accredited architectural professional organization recognized by Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) of the Philippines, will host the national president of UAP who will be in Los Angeles in connection with the induction of the incoming chapter officers and new members on Wednesday, September 26 from 7 to 11 p.m. at Monterey Hill Steak Restaurant (3700 W. Ramona Blvd., Monterey Park, CA 9175). Interested UAP corporate members, Filipino-American architects, designers, and allied professionals are welcome to attend the event and join the prestigious organization. For more information please contact Jun Joaquin at (323) 675-5042 / (323) 907-3050 or email at uapsocalchapter@ gmail.com.

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

PAGE C2 t

the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

The facilities are also used by numerous local youth and community sports programs including the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO).

The former Pius X High School produced notable football athletes such as 2014 College Football Hall of Famer Darrin Nelson ‘77 (who played with the Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers) and Lamont Hollinquest ’88 who played with the Washington Redskins and Green Bay Packers.

Last year the school relaunched its football program after having been in hiatus for 25 years. Just one year later, the new PMA Warriors will play their first Homecoming game on the new “Shea Field at Smet Family Stadium” on Friday October 5th against Stellar Prep under the

leadership of Head Coach Todd Butler.

The school recently blessed the newly renovated baseball/softball field which was part of the first phase of projects in the Campus master facility plan. Other projects included: enhancements to the landscaping in front of the school including a new LED electronic marquee sign; the renovation of a campus residence which will be utilized by Loyola Marymount University’s, Partners in Los Angeles Catholic Education (PLACE) Corps program.

As enrollment continues to increase and more families search for alternative option in education for their teenagers, these projects will continue the transformation that began in 2013 when the school was established as St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy. ■

Ephphatha! Be opened!

The archdiocese has instituted the Office of Victim’s Assistance Ministry so that victim-survivors would have an advocate in the Archdiocese. It also established the Clergy Misconduct Oversight Board (CMOB), which constitutes primarily of lay people who examine the investigations of reported misconduct by clergy that is carried out by retired FBI agents retained by the Archdiocese and recommends an appropriate course of action.

The Archdiocese has also instituted abuse prevention and reporting programs for adults and minors and fingerprinting and background checks for employees and volunteers at parishes

and schools.

The Brief Overview of the Archdiocesan Programs and Actions to Protect Children and Young People states: ”These programs and policies do not take away the real harm that was done and the trust that has been broken in the Church. However, they are a testament to the commitment of the people of Los Angeles, the majority of whom are lay Catholics who have worked for almost three decades to implement and carry out these programs...” Included in the aims of these programs is healing support for victim-survivors and their families.

May the Church’s efforts to advocate for justice and healing among victims of child sex abuse

and her concrete actions to prevent any more abuse bring back integrity to the Catholic Church.

May they make “the deaf hear and the dumb speak.” Amen. *** From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (19912001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.

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Adeva-Galano Boda de Oro Third in three generations

by Monette

A. MAglAyA

BODA de Oro is Spanish for Golden Wedding Anniversary. It is a landmark event in a married couple’s life worthy of a meaningful celebration. To have a marriage last 50 years or more is in a class of achievement all by itself — more so these days.

Marriage, as a sacred institution and a pact between a man and a woman, is in grave danger relentlessly assaulted by the twisted values of popular culture. But for the time being, a milestone such as this deserves some mention.

The Adeva-Galano couple’s golden wedding anniversary celebration would be the third of three consecutive generations to experience a Boda de Oro, on Olga Adeva’s side of the union.

On June 29, 2018, 50 years ago to the day when Olga L. Adeva and Ricardo I, Galano exchanged “I Do’s” in 1968,the couple renewed their marital vows at the Villa Maria Cristina Brando Chapel on the outskirts of Rome in Italy.

Two of their 3 sons were there, Ricardo “Tek” Galano and his wife, Rochelle and son, Raymond for the landmark event in their family life. All five who live in the Philippines flew in to Rome and synchronized their arrival to meet up with four guests, 3 of Olga’s sisters and a brother–in-law, all from the US: husband and wife, Emil and Rhodora Posey from Alabama , Evelyn A. Jovellana and Monette A. Maglaya from Glendale, California. Of course, they were there not only for the wedding renewal rite but also for some shopping and touristy blitzkrieg side trips to Padre Pio, San Antonio de Padova (Padua), Pompeii, Lanciano, the Amalfi Coast and the usual stops: the Vatican, Venezia (Venice) and Firenze (Florence) hot spots in Italy. For 7 of the group, there was the added small taste of Eastern Europe such as Krakow, Auschwitz and Wadowice in Poland via Frankfurt and Budapest in Hungary via Slovakia.

Fifty-seven years ago on December 09, 1961, the Adeva clan had the “Boda de Oro in Mindoro” — their first taste of such an event not realizing then how rare it was. Many still remember when, as young tykes living in

Manila, they sailed by boat from Batangas pier to Oriental Mindoro to celebrate their grandparents, Vicente Adeva and Aniceta Fortunato’s 50th wedding renewal rites in the tiny, rustic town of Naujan.

Thirty-three years later on May 07, 1994, the eldest son of Vicente and Aniceta and Olga’s parents, Manuel Adeva and his wife, Natividad Laguio, celebrated their own grand golden wedding anniversary with all of their 8 children, their spouses and many grandchildren in attendance at Glendale, California’s Holy Family Church. They were joined by180 friends and family at the church rites and at the reception held at the Red Lion in Glendale, now the Hilton. It was a surprise event pulled off by stealth planning for the prior two years by their children as a gift to their parents who had met and married during World War II and had to forego many niceties at the time including a formal wedding rite.

That was nearly a quarter century ago. This time around, it was an altogether different tack for the third set of Boda celebrants.

Ric and Olga wanted something simple, leaner yet memorable.

The heat was on and they prayed over it fervently.

Faced with the prospect of spending an awful amount of time and logistics for months to pull off a traditional renewal of vows, Ricardo came across a friend who suggested staying at the villa during their trip to Italy in 2015. They checked it out, liked what they saw at the villa run by nuns and the idea to hold it there was born.

The friend who suggested the place was a woman who had experienced a miracle of healing in her life due to the documented intercession of a saint of modern times, then undergoing the rigid process of canonization.

The newly minted saint was the foundress of a religious order, Saint Maria Cristina Brando.

The kind nuns of the villa headed by Mother Superior, Sor Pia, pulled out all the stops to make the day truly blessed.

They arranged every detail of both the mass and the reception with quiet, efficiency: singing as the choir during the renewal rite, cooking delicious Italian entrees, inviting the Argentin-

Sor Pia drove the group of 9 in her van navigating Rome traffic like a pro bringing them to little known secret holy places in Rome, such as the small church where Saint Paul was jailed and beheaded centuries ago. It is said that springs of water gushed forth from the ground where St. Paul’s head bounced three times.

A special audience with Pope Francis was one of the highlights of the trip. Pope Francis beamed and smiled as the Vicar of Christ shook hands with the faithful who had come from all over the world. There were jubilant, rhythmic shouts of “Papa Francesco!”

ian priest, Father Dom Federico who officiated the mass and with Sor Pia’s direct hotline with the Vatican, Ric and Olga received a document signed by Pope Francis memorializing their golden day. Sor Pia even secured ringside seats for a Papal audience and brought the group to little known miraculous sites in Rome.

Sor Pia, in her generosity, even dug up from her vault of sacred possessions, many precious gifts that she bestowed on the couple and their guests. All of the nuns put out the welcome mat for the party of 9 making them feel right at home with daily holy mass spoken in Italian right at the villa. Sister Irene and Sister Emma were often the point persons and acted as interpreters.

Just like in the past two previous generations decades ago, Ric and Olga’s Boda de Oro in Rome turned out to be a day as golden and happy as it was divine. It remains to be seen whether any of the current fourth generation of millenials can pull off a redux a Left to right: Sisters Irene, Emma, Ausilia, Ursula, Germana and Igina who have come collectively from the Philippines, Indonesia and quarter century down the line. Colombia. Sor Pia (back to camera) hails from Napoli, Italy and Father Dom Federico who officiated the mass and the renewal rites is from Here’s hoping and praying. A Argentina. common denominator in all three sets of golden couples is a deep and abiding faith in God and in each other.

They say that when everything falls into place, the phenomenon is called Serendipity. The truth is—it is simply a loving God at work in people’s lives.

Rhodora and Emil Posey flew in from Alabama as special guests to join the Boda de Oro.

California residents, Evelyn Jovellana and Monette Maglaya and Alabama residents, Rhodora and Emil Posey were family members from the US who came as witnesses of the simple renewal of marriage vows. Left to right: Olga’s sisters, Evelyn and Rhodora, Ric & Olga and another sister, Monette.

SKYTRAX announced the winners of 2018 World Airline Awards in London on Tuesday, 17 July, 2018. EVA Air takes the top spot in “World’s Best Airport Services”

Boda de Oro #3: On June 29, 2018, Olga L. Adeva and Ricardo I. Galano renewed their marriage vows marking 50 years of married life with 2 of their 3 sons, Ricardo “Tek” Galano and his wife, Rochelle, and Raymond at the Villa Maria Cristina Brando Chapel on the outskirts of Rome in Italy.

C SEPTEMBER 8-11, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

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LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • SEPTEMBER 8-11, 2018

MARKETPLACE SHOWROOM

&

The Philippine Consulate will not report you to DHS

Immigration Corner ATTY. MICHAEL GURFINKEL, ESQ WHEN applying for almost all USCIS benefits, the USCIS usually requires a person to have a valid, unexpired passport. This is especially true in connection with adjustment of status or obtaining various non-immigrant visas.

There are also many situations where a person is required to have a government-issued photo identification, such as when they travel on an airplane, etc. Usually, a person would present a driver’s license. But if they are out of status, they may not be able to apply for one. Therefore, a Philippine passport would constitute an acceptable government-issued photo identification.

There are many Filipinos in the U.S. who are out of status, and their existing Philippine passport has already expired. Others may have entered the U.S. on a photo-substituted passport, under a different name, and are now applying for U.S. immigration benefits in their own name.

They would need to apply for a new Philippine passport, but are afraid the Philippine consulate will report them to DHS. This is simply untrue, false, and the Philippine consulate would NOT report them to DHS! I recently had the opportunity to meet Adelio Angelito S. Cruz, the Consul General of the Philip-

“Naturally, they would need to prove their true identity, to make make sure they’re not again applying for a Philippine passport in another person’s name.” pine Consulate in Los Angeles, California, to discuss passport issuance to Filipinos who are out of status or entered the U.S. under an assumed name. He confirmed the Philippine Consulate does not and will not report Filipinos to DHS when they apply for Philippine passports, whether they are out of status or entered under an assumed name. (This is a standard practice or policy for most countries’ consulates to protect the interests of their nationals/citizens living abroad.)

In the case of renewing an expired passport, the Philippine Consulate’s website would list the various requirements and documents needed, which would, of course, include their old, expired passport.

• If the expired passport does not have a microchip, the person would also need to provide their birth certificate from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA, which was formerly called NSO).

• If the person was married in the Philippines, and wants a new passport in their married name, they would need their marriage contract from the PSA. • If the person married in the U.S., they may report the marriage to the consulate, to have

a passport issued in their new, married name.

• If the passport is lost, it is likely the Philippine government would still have the records of its issuance.

If a person entered the U.S. under an assumed name, and never had a passport issued in their real name, it would be considered as though they were applying for a Philippine passport for the “first time.” Naturally, they would need to prove their true identity, to make sure they’re not again applying for a Philippine passport in another person’s name. This would include their PSA birth certificate and other possible photo identification under their true name, such as old school cards, etc. And the Con Gen cautions these people not to lie and say they “lost” their old passport, when they never had a Philippine passport in their own name. This is because the consulate will check their records and see that no passport was ever issued in the person’s own name, which would now affect the person’s credibility with the Consulate, as they were caught in another lie.

But the point being is the Philippine Consulate is here to PAGE D3

Business Quote of the Week

“The only thing worse than starting something and failing…is not starting something.”

—Seth Godin, author, entrepreneur, and blogger

D1

Peso weakens to 12-year low

BSP to weigh response as inflation also surged to highest in more than nine years

by DAXIM

L. LUCAS

Inquirer.net

A MONTH after implementing its biggest rate hike in a decade to fight rising prices, the central bank on Wednesday, September 5 reverted to its stance of highlighting the role of “food supply shocks”—factors it says are beyond its control—in pushing the August inflation rate to a nineyear high of 6.4 percent.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. also urged government policy makers to use “more decisive On the foreign exchange front, the peso this week breached its 12-year low, hitting 53.56 to the File photo by Inquirer.net nonmonetary measures” to fully dollar. address inflation that were root- P53.55 threshold that was set in vious day. ed in “cost-push factors,” and July 2006. But the local currenIn contrast to his previous rice supply in particular. cy ended the trading session at statements, Espenilla adopted a The central bank chief added P53.55 to the dollar. less hawkish tone when reacting that strong domestic demand The weakness also prompted to the latest inflation rate, which was also “making it too conve- financial institutions to sell the hit Metro Manila consumers esnient for producers and traders peso, with the central bank be- pecially hard with an annual rate to pass on higher costs and pos- lieved to be intervening to sta- of 7 percent. sibly more to consumers.”

Where the BSP chief had earbilize the currency’s volatility.

On the foreign exchange front, A total of $1.38 billion changed lier viewed “decisive action” to the peso on Wednesday breached hands on the foreign exchange fight inflation, Wednesday’s anits 12-year low, hitting 53.56 to market on Wednesday, in con- nouncement by the government the dollar. This exceeded the trast to only $440 million the prePAGE D2

10-year high: Employment rate up to 94.6% in July

by BEN

O. DE VERA Inquirer.net

MORE Filipinos gained jobs in July as the employment rate inched up to a 10-year high of 94.6 percent, the government reported on Wednesday.

The Philippine Statistics Authority’s July 2018 Labor Force Survey showed that the rate of employed among those in the labor force, composed of those 15 years old and above, increased from 94.4 percent a year ago.

In a statement, the state planning agency National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the higher jobs rate last July translated into net generated employment of about 488,000, bringing the total employment to 40.7 million to date.

“An average of 1.17 million additional employment has been

The Philippines’ National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said the higher jobs rate last July translated into net generated employment of about 488,000, bringing the total employment to 40.7 million to date.

File photo by Inquirer.net

created so far in the first three rounds of the Labor Force Survey [this year]. And this puts the government on track in meeting its target of 900,000 to 1.1 million employment generation for 2018,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and NEDA chief Ernesto M. Pernia said in a statement.

“With remarkable improvements, the government should

not let up on its efforts to continually improve the employment situation in the country,” Pernia added.

Separately, Budget Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno told reporters that the ambitious “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program is expected to create more employment opportunities moving forward.

“In the employment figure last April, we created something like 600,000 plus jobs and a big chunk of that is construction workers. With our ‘Build, Build, Build’ going full blast, we’re going to create a lot of jobs,” Diokno noted.

“So that’s good—people will be more tolerant of rising prices if they have jobs rather than being jobless,” Diokno added.

Also on Wednesday, the govPAGE D3

D SEPTEMBER 8-11, 2018 • LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL

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Philippines, Indonesia tie for 2nd place Megaworld to build JP Morgan tower in ASEAN factory growth rankings

by Ian

nIcholas cIgaral Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ manufacturing activity registered a “quicker” pace of growth in August, sharing the second place with Indonesia while factory growth in Southeast Asia regained some momentum in the middle of the third quarter, according to monthly tracking done by IHS Markit for Nikkei, Inc. The Philippines chalked up a “modest increase” of 51.9 Purchasing Managers Index, or PMI. The reading was the same as Indonesia’s PMI and was not enough to dethrone Vietnam, which posted a “solid” growth of 53.7.

The PMI provides a quick overview of the national performance in the manufacturing sector by tracking variables such as sales, employment, inventories and prices.

Nonetheless, the Philippines’ factory growth in August was above Southeast Asia’s headline PMI of 51, an improvement from July’s 50.4 that hovered above the 50-point line separating expansion from contraction.

“Manufacturing conditions across ASEAN improved at a faster pace in August, with growth in output and new orders both gaining momentum. Employment growth was also stronger,” said Bernard Aw, principal economist at IHS Markit.

“However, the overall upturn was not as broad-based as in previous months,” Aw added.

Behind the Philippines and Indonesia was Malaysia, which posted a “modest” increase of 51.2.

Meanwhile, Thailand landed in the fifth spot after registering a “marginal” decrease of 49.9, followed by Singapore’s 48.5, a “modest” dip.

Myanmar, which suffered a “solid” contraction of 46.4 in August, settled at the bottom of the ranking of seven select Southeast Asian countries, signaling a decline in the health of the country’s manufacturing sector.

“ASEAN manufacturers continued to struggle with increased cost burdens, particularly countries with a weaker exchange rate against the dollar, such as Myanmar, Indonesia and the Philippines,” IHS Markit’s Aw

MEGAWORLD Corp. has bagged a deal to build in Fort Bonifacio an “iconic” 25-story office tower for the global shared services operations of American banking giant JP Morgan Chase.

The build-to-suit building will have about 70,000 square meters of leasable space, Megaworld said in a statement on Tuesday, Sept. 4.

JP Morgan’s new business process outsourcing hub is expected to be completed in 2021 and ready for full operations by 2022.

“Megaworld is proud to build the new home of JPMorgan Chase in Fort Bonifacio as it consolidates its existing Metro Manila operations under one roof—all in a state-of-the-art, prime and green office tower The Philippines’ factory growth in August was above Southeast Asia’s average of 51, an right at the heart of the boomimprovement from July’s 50.4 that hovered above the 50-point line separating expansion from contraction.

File photo by Philstar.com ing Uptown Bonifacio. This multibillion-peso deal with a single company is the biggest in the country’s office leasing industry,” Megaworld Senior Vice President Jericho Go said.

“Manila continues to be a major strategic hub for JPMorgan Chase. Through this landmark development, we are able to consolidate our presence to one location, so enabling us to bring our Manila-based employees together, facilitating increased collaboration while also demonstrating our commitment to providing them with various career opportunities within the firm,” said Raoul Teh, chief executive officer for JP Morgan’s Philippine Global Service Center.

Megaworld chairman and CEO Andrew Tan (third from left) shakes hands with JPMorgan Chase Bank’s Philippine Global Service Center CEO Raoul Teh after closing a landmark deal to build a 25-story office tower in Uptown Bonifacio. Joining them during the contract signing for the new country headquarters of JPMorgan Chase Bank were (from left) Jericho Go, SVP, Megaworld; Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso, COO, Megaworld; Alfonso Nepomuceno, Asia-Pacific head of Global Real Estate, JPMorgan Chase; and Sandeep Mulajkar, chief administrative officer, Philippine Global Service Center, JPMorgan Chase.

File photo by Philstar.com

“We are excited to be part of this new development that sets new benchmarks for sustainability and reaffirms our global efforts to maintaining exceptional working environments with only the best-in-class infrastructure and facilities for our employees,” said Jun Nepomuceno, Asia Pacific head of JP Morgan’s global real estate team.

The new office tower will rise along 38th Street corner 9th Avenue in Uptown Bonifacio, a few meters away from the future Uptown Transport Hub beside Kalayaan Avenue, the proposed Skytrain monorail system that connects Taguig’s Fort Bonifacio to Makati, as well as the future Kalayaan Station of the Mega Manila Subway and the

Fort Bonifacio Bus Rapid Transit System.

Designed by UK-based awardwinning architectural firm Broadway Malyan, the building features “highly efficient” office floors and “innovative” technology in building design. The property has applied for green building certification under LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

Megaworld is a leading developer of office space in the country, with a leasable office portfolio of about 1.2 million square meters to date. It has completed 54 office towers in key growth areas in Metro Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, Laguna and Davao. (By Doris Dumlao-Abadilla / Inquirer.net) n

Peso weakens to 12-year low...

said.

“All these challenges raise questions over whether the

PAGE D1 of the latest consumer price index merited closer examination from monetary planners to determine if a further round of interest rate hikes— which have the side effect of dampening economic growth — was warranted.

“The BSP will be looking more closely at the latest data to reassess the medium-term inflation path,” Espenilla said. “We also need to consider external developments and U.S. Fed actions to the extent these exert undue pressure on the peso. Under the circumstances, we will weigh the need for further monetary policy Infographic by Philstar.com action.”

The central bank chief noted growth pickup in August is sustainable in coming months,” Aw that high crude oil prices in the international market continued added. n to impact transport and power

prices locally. At the same time, the peso, along with other currencies, was being adversely affected by emerging market uncertainties and a strong U.S. dollar, he said, explaining that these factors tended to further aggravate cost-push pressures.

The Monetary Board will convene on Sept. 27 to evaluate recommendations on further antiinflation actions, if necessary.

Nonetheless, the record-high August inflation number might prompt the central bank to further raise its interest rates “aggressively,” BDO Unibank chief strategist Jonathan Ravelas said in an online tweet.

This was echoed by Bank of the Philippine Islands lead economist Jun Neri, who said the central bank might have to raise

rates again later this month “to temper inflationary expectations.”

Last month, the BSP implemented a 50 basis point rate hike, following two successive 25 basis point increases in two previous months. These belated adjustments came after months of assertions by the central bank leadership that inflation would correct itself without monetary intervention by early 2019.

At present, the central bank’s key overnight borrowing rate — on which borrowing and lending rates in the financial system are based — stands at 4 percent.

“It is most critical at this point to restore inflation back to the target range soonest and securely anchor inflationary expectations,” Espenilla said. n

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SMC hopes to hit P1 trillion revenues by 2019 PH business sentiment at weakest since early 2010, BSP survey finds

by IrIs

Gonzales Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines — San Miguel Corp. hopes to be able to reach P1 trillion in revenue as early as next year, ahead of the 2020 target, tycoon Ramon Ang said.

Ang, SMC vice chairman, president and COO, said the company could reach the P1 trillion target in 2019, a year ahead of schedule with the growing economy steadily pushing demand for SMC products and after it successfully added the 300megawatt (MW) Masinloc power facility to its portfolio.

“The P1 trillion mark, I hope next year we meet it. It’s possible especially with Masinloc,” Ang said.

He said the conglomerate has been hitching a ride on the growing economy which has been pushing all the business segments of SMC — from food, beverage, power, fuel and oil to infrastructure.

“The economy is doing well,” Ang said.

Last year, SMC won the bidding for AES Philippines’ assets, including its coal power facility in Masinloc, Zambales, for nearly $2 billion, making it one of the biggest corporate deals in the country.

SMC Global Power Holdings, SMC’s power arm, acquired both AES’ 51 percent stake and Thailand-based Electricity Generating PCL’s 49 percent stake in the

by DaxIm

Ang, SMC vice chairman, president and COO, said the company could reach the P1 trillion target in 2019, a year ahead of schedule with the growing economy steadily pushing demand for SMC products and after it successfully added the 300-megawatt (MW) Masinloc power facility to its portfolio.

File photo by Philstar.com

630 MW facility for $1.9 billion, bolstering its installed capacity to more than 3,000 MW. Thus, with power sales from Masinloc — which has two 300MW units and a third one being constructed and targeted for completion by mid-2019 — Ang said SMC’s P1 trillion mark would be easier to achieve ahead of schedule.

The rosy prospects of San Miguel Food & Beverage Inc., the conglomerate’s newly consolidated consumer giant, are also unparalleled and unlike no other food company in the country, Ang said.

“The combined income of food, beer and Ginebra is P30 billion a year. No other food company in the Philippines has a net income like that,” Ang said.

Last year, SMC grew its net sales to P826 billion, up 21 percent from a year ago, while net income rose 11 percent to P54.7 billion on the back of higher contributions from subsidiary Petron Corp.’s Philippines, Malaysia, and petrochemicals operations, along with the strong performance of its food and beverage businesses.

In the first half, net income grew to P27.6 billion from P26 billion a year ago.

Net sales grew to P499 billion, up 27 percent from P393.4 billion.

SMC, once just a beer producer, now has businesses across a wide variety of industries such as food and beverage, liquor, petroleum, power and infrastructure. n

10-year high: Employment rate up...

PAGE D1 ernment reported that inflation or the rate of increase in prices of basic good reached an over nine-year high of 6.4 percent.

“So everything’s fine; we’re in a better place than before. So let’s not rock the boat,” Diokno said.

NEDA said the services sector added over 1.1 million jobs. Industry, including manufacturing, created 172,000 new employment.

“The shares of industry and manufacturing to total employment of 19.4 percent and 9 percent, respectively, are the highest in a decade. This is consistent with the strong expansion plans of manufacturing firms as a result of a more positive employment outlook for the period,”

l. lucas

Inquirer.net

NEDA said.

However, underemployment increased to 17.2 percent in July from 16.3 percent a year ago, equivalent to about seven million workers.

In July last year, the number of underemployed Filipinos was a lower 6.5 million.

The PSA defines the underemployed as “employed persons who express the desire to have additional hours of work in their present job, or to have an additional job, or to have a new job with longer working hours.”

“In order to meet our employment targets, the government should provide an environment that is conducive to creating more and better jobs. It should prioritize policies and programs that address the issues of unutilized youth, unemployed youth,

underemployment, and vulnerable workers,” Pernia said.

“Poor low-skilled workers must be provided access to education and skills development programs that will provide lifelong learning opportunities, and that will respond to the changing needs of the labor market, especially in the context of disruptive technologies,” Pernia added.

As such, the NEDA chief pushed for reforms in labor laws, including “unemployment insurance as an additional safety net and an important complement to labor market flexibility.”

“We need to keep the labor market agile such that more workers and employers can take better advantage of growth opportunities, while still looking after our workers’ welfare,” according to Pernia. n

CITING its latest business expectations survey, the central bank said the number of optimists declined but continued to be greater than the number of pessimists during the quarter.

The confidence index is computed as the percentage of firms that answered in the affirmative less the percentage of firms that answered in the negative with respect to their views on a given indicator.

“Respondents attributed their weaker sentiment during the third quarter to increasing prices of basic commodities in the global market, augmented by the effects of the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law on prices of domestic goods,” the BSP said.

It added that businessmen were also put off by rising overhead costs and lack of supply of raw materials, and seasonal factors such as interruption of business activities and lower crop production during the rainy season, slack in consumer demand as households prioritized enrollment expenses, as well as the suspension of commercial fishing in Davao Gulf from June to August.

The situation was also aggravated by the weakening peso, and stiffer competition.

“The sentiment of businesses in the Philippines mirrored the less buoyant business outlook in Canada, Chile, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea and the US but was in contrast to the more bullish views of those in Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Greece, Hungary and Mexico,” the BSP said.

File photo by Inquirer.net

For the quarter ahead (Q4 2018), business outlook turned more upbeat as the confidence index rose to 42.6 percent from 40.4 percent in the previous quarter’s survey results.

“This suggests that growth may be sustained in the last quarter of 2018,” the BSP said.

Respondents’ more positive outlook for the fourth quarter 2018 was due to expectations of an uptick in consumer demand during the holiday and harvest seasons and the continued increase in orders and projects.

Sentiment toward the fourth quarter was also buoyed by the expansion of businesses and new

product lines; the continued rollout of government infrastructure and other development projects; and more favorable weather conditions for agricultural products; as well as the opening of high seas/fishing operations in October.

“The positive outlook was likewise driven by respondents’ expectations of more favorable macroeconomic conditions in the country for the next quarter (particularly robust economic growth), sustained foreign investment inflows and the steady stream of overseas Filipinos’ remittances,” the central bank said. n

The Philippine Consulate will not...

PAGE D1 help Filipinos abroad, including assisting them in renewing or obtaining their Philippine passports. And most important, the Philippine Consulate does not report Filipinos to DHS when those Filipinos apply for passports, whether they are out of status, or entered under an assumed name. *** Michael J. Gurfinkel has been an attorney

for over 35 years and is licensed, and an active member of the State Bar 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. The information contained herein including testimonials, “Success Stories,” endorsements and re-enactments) is of a general nature, and is not intended to apply to any particular case, and does 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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Suspension of TRAIN urged amid ‘choking’ economy

Experts are urging lawmakers to suspend the first package of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) amid reports of inflation reaching a nine-year high of 6.4 percent from 2.6 percent from last year.

File photo by Philstar.com

by Catherine

talavera Philstar.com

MANILA, Philippines — As skyrocketing consumer prices threaten to “choke” and eventually stall the economy, experts are urging legislators to suspend the first package of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law and review its impact on consumer prices before moving to the second package of the program.

“I hope they consider the impact of these recent inflation numbers,” economist Emmanuel Leyco said in an episode of “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s One News Wednesday evening.

“So when they start considering are we going to continue to implement TRAIN 2 or TRAIN 1, the excise tax, I think we have to put a human take on who is being affected and how they are being affected by inflation and how it will be exacerbated if we adopt TRAIN 2,” Leyco added.

On Wednesday, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that headline inflation in August reached a nine-year high of 6.4 percent from 2.6 percent the year before.

Economic managers have attributed the rise to the growth of food inflation, as price adjustments for food and non-alcoholic beverages jumped to 8.5 percent from 2.9 percent a year ago.

Leyco explained that this has greatly affected poor house-

EMPLOYMENT

holds who on average spend 60 percent to 70 percent of their household budgets on food, compared to the rich who only spend about 20 percent of their budget on food.

“I think our legislators will have to think of the cases of the poor people who are already going hungry without TRAIN 2,” Leyco said.

He added that what legislators can do now is suspend the implementation of TRAIN 1, which raised excise taxes on fuel, motor vehicles and sweetened beverages.

“Even suspend all TRAIN 1 program altogether and not even think of TRAIN 2 until we are able take hold of our economic (situation),” Leyco said.

Economist JC Punongbayan echoed Leyco’s sentiments.

“Before moving on to TRAIN 2, I think we have to hold our horses and actually go back to TRAIN 1 and evaluate it first,” Punongbayan said.

Meanwhile, Leyco debunked claims that the country’s higher inflation indicates the people have more money to spend.

“If you look at underemployment statistics, it means people are making less. That means they’re earning less. They have less money,” Leyco said.

Based on data from the PSA, unemployment rate in July dropped to 5.4 percent from 5.6 percent in the same month last year. However, underemployment rate remains high as

it jumped to 17.2 percent or an estimated 7.0 million workers from 16.3 percent or 6.5 million workers in the same period last year.

“I think that’s an economist way of deviating from the real issue. In textbooks we can argue that way, but in reality when we are looking at the numbers, underemployment is going up… what does that mean? People are making less so it cannot be used as an indicator that people are making more money,” Leyco explained.

Hunger looms With Filipinos earning less and consumer prices continuously rising, Leyco said widespread hunger is looming in regions where inflation is highest.

“If you consider ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), where more than 50 percent of the population is living in poverty, inflation rate of 8.1 percent would mean that some people are already skipping meals, going hungry,” he pointed out.

August inflation figures show that annual inflation in Areas Outside NCR (AONCR) grew at 6.2 percent, compared to 2.4 percent last year and 5.5 percent last month.

Leyco also said the government’s economic team should do something about the sluggish export industry and the threat of artificial intelligence (AI) on business process outsourcing (BPO). n

FOR RENT

LA WEEKEND ASIAN JOURNAL • SEPTEMBER 8-11, 2018 D

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Park Place proudly presents six new home collections: Camden by CalAtlantic Homes – A Lennar Company, Coventry by Christopher Homes, Meadowood by Taylor Morrison, Seville

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Extending from approximately 1,800 to 3,086 square feet, this dynamic range of residential designs offers three to five bedrooms and two-and-one-half to four baths plus spacious two- or three-car garages, making them ideal for growing or multigenerational families. Prices begin in the mid $400,000s.

Park Place is located within the greater community of Ontario Ranch, which will span over 8,000 acres and is planned to offer modern amenities and abundant recreation, including an expansive park and trail system.

Proposed plans include retail and business spaces, along with nearly 1,000 acres dedicated to

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public open space, parks and schools.

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If traveling on the 60 freeway, exit on Archibald Avenue and head south. Proceed on Archibald Avenue for approximately 3.25 miles and turn left at Merrill Avenue. Continue for approximately 0.25 miles and The Parkhouse sales center will be on the left.

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