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SEPTEMBER 12-18, 2019 Volume 30 - No. 37 • 16 Pages

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

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

‘No chance’ for UN probe into Philippines’ drug war MANILA — The Philippines’ top diplomat would not allow the United Nations (UN) to come into the country and investigate alleged human rights violations linked to the war on drugs.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said he will not be giving the UN a chance to do so.

“No – I don’t want them coming here and then saying that everything they have been saying, but have not proved, is true ‘because we saw it,’” Locsin said in an interview with ANC’s “Headstart” Wednesday.

In June, 11 independent human rights experts called on the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to launch a prove into alleged human rights violations in the Philippines.

The 11 independent experts noted a “staggering number of unlawful deaths” in

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Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.

DATELINE

REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP. President Rodrigo Duterte and Republic of Singapore President Halimah Yacob give their joint press statement following their successful expanded bilateral meeting at the Malacañan Palace during the latter’s state visit to the Philippines on Monday, September 9. Duterte expressed his interest on deepening defense and security ties with Singapore by strengthening the defense dialogues and training exchanges between the two countries’ military and special forces.

Malacañang photo by Toto Lozano

USA

Marcos hits Robredo camp for claiming victory amid poll protest

by NEIL

FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA

Criminal investigation is underway over deadly Santa Cruz Island boat fire that killed 34, including Fil-Am family The Labor Day tragedy becomes one of California’s worst maritime disasters AFTER the tragic Labor Day fire on the diving vessel Conception that claimed 34 victims, a joint investigation conducted by federal and state authorities has gone underway, a law enforcement source said on Monday, Sept. 9.

Initial reporting from the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press said that the Dept. of Justice; the Coast Guard; the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office are leading the investivation. The crimi-

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Immigrants rights orgs, advocates join forces to fight Trump’s public charge rule The controversial rule change that could affect to take effect Oct. 15 NEXT month, the Trump administration’s changes to the public charge rule will take effect but not before immigrant rights’ groups have a chance to challenge it.

In August, the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) finalized the changes made to the federal public charge rule, a test immigration officials use on immigrants to determine whether or not government programs will be incoming immigrants’ sole source of financial, nutritional and shelter support.

If a legal immigrant uses benefits like Medicaid, housing assistance and/or food stamps for more than 12 months of a 36-month period, they may be deemed a “public charge,” which could threaten their chances at getting a green card or lawful permanent resident status.

The rule is not retroactive, meaning that if an immigrant used these programs in the past, that won’t factor into any future public charge test to which they may be subjected.

Ken Cuccinelli, acting director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services

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Former Senator Bongbong Marcos and Vice President Leni Robredo

Inquirer.net photos

ARWIN MERCADO Inquirer.net

MANILA – Former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos on Tuesday, September 10, hit the camp of Vice President Leni Robredo for claiming early victory in the electoral protest he filed after the 2016 vice presidential race.

“We are appalled once more by the brazenness of Mrs. Robredo and her Liberal Party in claiming victory in my still ongoing election protest just as the tribunal announced that no action has been taken by the court

Duterte ready to ‘ignore’ arbitral ruling for joint exploration with China

by PATRICIA LOURDES Philstar.com

VIRAY

MANILA — After raising the South China Sea arbitral ruling with Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Rodrigo Duterte said he is willing to set it aside for economic gain.

Duterte said his Chinese counterpart has agreed to a 60-40 sharing scheme as long as the Philippines would set aside its claim in the South China Sea. “Set aside your claim. Then allow everybody connected with the Chinese companies,” Duterte told reporters on Tuesday, September 10.

on the Caguioa report,” Marcos said in a statement.

Marcos’ issued the statement after Associate Justice Benjamin Caguioa submitted to the Supreme Court, which sits as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), his report on the result of the pilot recount from three pilot provinces that Marcos cited in his electoral protest.

“Clearly, there has been a concerted effort to intimidate and coerce the Tribunal with their underhanded mind conditioning tactics,” Marcos said.

Lawyer Brian Keith Hosaka,

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“They want to explore and if there is something sabi nila (they said), ‘We would be gracious enough to give you 60%.’ 40 lang ang kanila (to them). That is the promise of Xi Jinping,” he added.

Asked if the supposed agreement with Xi would cover areas within Philippine exclusive economic zone, Duterte argued that these are already included in the arbitral ruling.

“Kasi ‘yang (because that) exclusive economic zone is part of the arbitral ruling which we will ignore to come up with an Inmates of the Quezon City Jail watch a band performance by fellow inmates on last December economic activity,” Duterte said.

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25, 2018.

ManilaTimes.net photo by Ruy Martinez

De Lima, Roxas asked Palace: Duterte to certify antidiscrimination, not SOGIE, bill as urgent to explain GCTA rules

by RITCHEL

MENDIOLA AJPress

MALACAÑANG on Wednesday, September 11, clarified that President Rodrigo Duterte will certify as urgent the proposed law against discrimination, not the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression (SOGIE) bill.

On Tuesday, September 10, Duterte said he will certify as urgent the SOGIE bill, which seeks to shield the LGBT community Philippine members and supporters of the LGBT community take part in a against hate and prejudice.

“Yes, whatever would make the gay pride march calling for equal rights in Manila last June 29.

Philstar.com photo

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by MICHAEL

PUNONGBAYAN Philstar.com

MANILA — The Office of the Ombudsman wants detained Sen. Leila de Lima and former senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas to explain why the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law that they helped prepare as Cabinet officials of the previous administration qualified convicts of heinous crimes for early release.

Ombudsman Samuel Martires, in separate letters dated Sept. 6, gave De Lima and Roxas three

days upon receipt of notice to respond.

De Lima and Roxas were secretaries of justice and the interior and local government, respectively, during the Aquino administration. The GCTA law, contained in Republic Act 10592, was passed in 2013 and the IRR was approved in March 2014.

In his letter, Martires explained that the anti-graft body is conducting “a fact-finding investigation on alleged irregularities in the implementation of Republic Act 10592 by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).”

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september 12-18, 2019 • LAs VeGAs AsIAN JOUrNAL

Criminal investigation is underway...

PAGE 1 nal probe follows a search of the company that owns the 75-foot vessel, Truth Aquatics, on Sunday, September 8.

“No criminal charges have been filed at this time,” a source close to the investigation told Reuters on Monday.

According to the Times, the investigation will center around the possible safety measures that could have either prevented the

fire or mitigated the scope of the tragedy.

Early reports of the investigation found that among those safety deficiencies included the lack of a “roaming night watchman,” which is required in the event of any dangers while at sea.

Authorities have suggested that smoke inhalation was “likely” the cause of death for the 34 victims.

The Santa Barbara Coroner’s Office decided to forgo the tradition-

From The FronT Page al autopsies and instead ordered DNA analysis to identify the bodies.

On Monday, September 2, the boat was anchored about 20 yards away from Santa Cruz Island caught fire at around 3:15 a.m., according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department.

Including the ship’s crew, there were 39 people on board at the time of the fire.

Emergency services responded to the scene quickly with firefighters battling the blaze as the ship sank 64 feet, officials reported.

Five crew members of the Conception were able to escape the destruction by jumping overboard after which a nearby boat rescued them; one of the escapees suffered a broken leg.

But the tragedy claimed the lives of 34 people in what is now considered one of the worst maritime disasters in California history As previously reported in the Asian Journal, Filipino American Michael Quitasol, 63, was on the boat with his wife Fernisa Sison, 57, and Quitasol’s three daughters from a previous marriage: Evanmichel, 37; Nicole, 31 and Angela Rose, 28. The family of five had been celebrating Quitasol’s 63rd birthday on the boat.

As the massive investigation continues to progress, the FBI is seeking help from anyone who may have information. Those who may have information are urged to call (800) CALL-FBI. (Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)

Duterte ready to ‘ignore’...

PAGE 1 In July 2016, the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of the Philippines, invalidating China’s historic rights within the so-called ninedash line in the South China Sea. More than three years since the landmark award was issued, Beijing still refuses to acknowledge the ruling.

Duterte said Xi refused to “budge” when he raised the arbitral ruling during their meeting in Beijing last month.

“You know, China is there.

He holds the property under the claim of ownership. ‘Yan ang sagot niya. It is ours, we will not budge,” Duterte said. n

MONDAY TRAFFIC. Vehicles including motorcycles crowd the southbound lane of Epifanio Delos Santos Ave. (EDSA) in Quezon City on Monday, September 9. According to a 2017 Japanese government-funded study, the resulting gridlock in Metro Manila costs about USD67 million daily in lost productivity.

PNA photo by Joey O. Razon

‘No chance’ for UN probe...

PAGE 1

the conduct of the Philippines’ war on drugs.

“We are extremely concerned over the high number of killings which are being carried out across the country in an apparent climate of officials, institutional impunity,” the experts said in a joint statement.

DFA: Call ‘made in bad faith’ The Department of Foreign Affairs rejected this call of the UN special rapporteurs, claiming that it was “made in bad faith.”

The DFA said the call for an independent probe into human rights violations in the Philippines was made by partis “who want to undermine dometic process and spread disinformation.”

“This action indicates the refusal of these parties to engage in true dialogue,” the DFA said in a statement.

The UN Human Rights Council, on the other hand, had adopted a resolution mandating a “comprehensive” review of the

Philippines’ drug war.

A total of 18 out of 47 member-states voted in favor of the Iceland-led resolution calling on the Philippines “to take all necessary measures to prevent extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, to carry out impartial investigations and to hold perpetrators accountable in accordance with international norms and standards on due process and the rule of law.”

(Patricia Lourdes Viray/Philstar. com)

Palace: Duterte to certify anti-discrimination...

PAGE 1 mechanisms, what would make them happy,” he answered when asked about the bill.

However, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, in a text message, clarified that Duterte was not talking about the SOGIE bill.

“He was referring to an antidiscrimination bill, not SOGIE bill much like the anti-discrimination ordinance existing in Davao passed when he was still the mayor there,” he said.

Panelo also reiterated this clarification during an interview with

CNN Philippines.

“He said, ‘I have that, we have that in Davao.’ He was really specifically referring to that antidiscrimination law in Davao,” he said.

A measure seeking to ban “all forms” of discrimination in the country has been filed by Sen. Sonny Angara.

“Siguro mas maganda iyon, kung (perhaps that is better, if there is a) broader audience. Otherwise baka may problema ka sa (you may have a problem with) class legislation,” Panelo said.

“Basta ayaw niya ng (he dis-

likes) discrimination, iyon ang (V ) very clear. He’s outraged by any form of discrimination, against any particular class or person,” he added.

The SOGIE bill has been tackled by senators after the temporary detention of a transgender woman who attempted to use the female toilet at a Quezon City mall last month.

Several conservative groups, on the other hand, are opposed to the measure. They cited Biblical doctrine and alleged that the bill would be discriminatory against sectors outside the LGBT. n

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OUTSTANDING FILIPINOS. Senators led by Senate President Vicente Sotto III (center), pose with the awardees of the 2019 Metrobank Foundation Outstanding Filipinos on Monday, September 9.

PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan

De Lima, Roxas asked to explain...

PAGE 1

On Monday, the ombudsman ordered the preventive suspension of 27 BuCor officials. It announced the suspension of three more officials yesterday.

Malacañang said it is confident the investigation being undertaken by the ombudsman would ferret out the truth.

“The expectation is we want the truth on the matter in the Bureau to come out so that heads will roll,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said at a press briefing.

“Apparently, they found probable cause, hence the suspension of 27 officials of that office,” he added.

Martires noted the GCTA law amended the Revised Penal Code to allow shortened prison terms for convicts by crediting the period of their preventive imprisonment in the counting of the number of years of sentence.

He said the law however provided specific exceptions for “recidivists” or for those who “have been convicted previously twice or more times of any crime,” and for those who “failed to surrender voluntarily upon being summoned for execution of sentence,” as well as for “habitual delinquents, escapees and persons charged with heinous crimes.” The IRR, however, does not contain provision disqualifying convicts of heinous crimes.

“In this regard, this Office requests the submission, within three days from receipt hereof, of a written explanation/clarification on why the foregoing provision in the IRR does not contain the same disqualifications as

enumerated in the last paragraph of Article 29 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended by Section 1 of RA 10592,” Martires said.

The three ordered suspended yesterday were Frederic Anthony Santos, BuCor legal division chief; Maria Fe Marquez, superintendent of the Correctional Institute for Women; and Correctional Officer III Joel Nalva.

The ombudsman said they have to vacate their posts as their continued stay “may prejudice the cases filed against them.”

Martires directed Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra to immediately implement the preventive suspension orders and submit proof of compliance within five days.

Task for BuCor OIC In response, Guevarra said BuCor officer-in-charge deputy director general for security and operations Melvin Ramon Buenafe would take charge of serving the notices of preventive suspension.

“The DOJ, through its oversight committee, will direct the BuCor OIC to serve the notices of preventive suspension and implement these immediately,” Guevarra said.

“We will confer with the OIC and find ways to continue normal operations with the least disruption,” he added.

The Office of the Ombudsman earlier issued similar suspension orders against 27 prison officials, saying “the evidence in the form of testimonies of witnesses and public documents showing the anomalous release of prisoners convicted of heinous crimes/offenses, appear to be strong.”

Ordered suspended without pay on Monday were Ramoncito Roque, BuCor documents and record section chief; Ma. Belinda Bansil, Corrections Senior Inspector; Benjamin Barrios, supervisor, Board of Discipline, Maximum Security Camp; Gerardo Padilla, chief, New Bilibid Prison Superintendent; Francisco Abunales, NBP, Superintendent; Celso Bravo, OIC, Directorate for Security and Operations; Melencio Faustino, regional superintendent, Davao Prison and Penal Farm; Cherry Caliston, chief, Documents Division, DPPF; Ruelito Pulmano, Inmate Documents and Processing Section; and Emerita Aguilar, chief, Reformation and Rehabilitation Office; Raymund Peneyra, chief overseer, Maximum Security Compound; Jomar Coria, NBP South Reformation coordinator for Education and Training, Maximum Security Compound; Roy Vivo, COG, Maximum Security Compound; Wilfredo Bayona, Deputy Superintendent, NBP South Maximum Security Compound; John Edward Basi, assistant chief, Reformation and Rehabilitation Office, Maximum Security Compound, NBP; Abel Dr. Ciruela, Commander of the Guard – Management, Screening and Evaluation Committee, Maximum Security Compound; Roger Boncales, Directorate for Security and Operations - NBP North; Eduardo Cabuhat, OIC Training and Education Office; and Dr. Lourdes Razon, Medical and Dental Office.

Mary Lou Arbatin, chief, Behavior Mod. Office; Susana OrtePAGE 5

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • SEptEmbER 12-18, 2019

september 12-18, 2019 • LAs VeGAs AsIAN JOUrNAL

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LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • SEptEmbER 12-18, 2019

US: Chinese political, economic ties eroding sovereignty of nations

HANDS OFF OUR CHILDREN. Parents take to the streets of Manila their fight against the supposed recruitment of minors by leftist groups on Tuesday, September 10. The parents marched to the Department of Justice to hear the proceedings of the case they filed against key militant leaders and some lawmakers.

PNA photo by Gil Calinga

THE political and economic leverage that China has on several nations has virtually begun to “erode” their sovereignty, the United States defense secretary said.

During his trip to the IndoPacific region, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he saw how China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative is manifesting itself throughout the region.

“The more dependent a country becomes on Chinese investment and trade, the more susceptible they are to coercion and retribution when they act outside of Beijing’s wishes,” the Pentagon chief recently said at London’s Royal United Services Institute.

The Belt and Road Initiative is a global development strategy

adopted by the Chinese government involving infrastructure development and investments in 152 countries and international organizations in several continents.

The BRI, seen as the center of China’s economic diplomacy, includes helping countries build infrastructure and facilities.

Esper also warned of the Chinese economic power and Russian aggression and their threats to global security. “(We) cannot stand idly by while authoritarian nations attempt to reshape the global security environment to their favor at the expense of others,” Esper said.

He said this influence ultimately trickles down to the security arena, and leads countries

to make sub-optimal defense decisions in fear of upsetting the Chinese Communist Party and being punished through economic measures or political backlash.

The defense chief added that China has stolen technology to push forward military gains.

Indeed, every Chinese company has the potential to be an accomplice in Beijing’s statesponsored theft of other nations’ military and civilian technology,” he added.

Esper said Chinese companies also pose a risk to the secure and resilient telecommunications infrastructure on which U.S. allies and partners depend for interoperability, intelligence sharing and mobilization. (Philstar.com)

Wisconsin teacher accused of enslaving Filipina Immigrants rights orgs, advocates join forces to... mother and son after bringing them to US

by Rae

ann VaRona AJPress

A HIGH school teacher from Milwaukee, Wisconsin has been accused of human trafficking and sexual assault after he allegedly forced a Filipina woman and her son into servitude after promising them a better life in the United States.

Christian Mothershead, 46, made his initial court appearance on Tuesday, September 3. He faces two counts of human trafficking, and one count of seconddegree sexual assault — both felonies.

According to the criminal complaint filed in the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, the Filipina mother met Mothershead on an online dating website in the summer of 2017.

About a month later, Mothershead visited her in the Philippines for three weeks and promised to marry her, enroll her son in school, take care of her family, and pick her up at the airport with roses if she moved to the U.S.

By November 2018, the Filipina mother and her son arrived

in the U.S. but were greeted instead with cleaning supplies and were instructed to clean Mothershead’s home if they wanted to eat.

The complaint described the home as having “piled up garbage and blackened food sitting out” upon arrival.

The complaint also said that the Filipina told investigators that Mothershead sexually assaulted her that same night.

Mothershead continued to force them to clean and threatened to take away food and water, or send them back to the Philippines if they did not, according to the complaint. They were also banned from watching TV and were told that they should “always be cleaning.”

On one occasion for Thanksgiving, Mothershead allegedly made the mother and son sit on a couch and watch as he and his own son ate an “elaborate meal” the Filipina and her son cooked for everyone.

The reason Mothershead gave was because “Thanksgiving is for Americans.”

When the Filipina’s son — who the complaint said was

forced to sleep on mattress with no sheets or blankets — got sick, Mothershead refused to let him see a doctor.

By December 2018, the Filipina mother eventually notified police while Mothershead was at work, and she and her son were taken to a shelter.

Milwaukee Public Schools, which employed Mothershead as a Mandarin Chinese teacher at one of its public high schools, has put Mothershead on unpaid leave as the investigation continues.

Mothershead faces $300,000 in fines and a maximum of 90 years in prison if convicted as charged. He is currently out on bail.

Mothershead’s attorney told reporters in a press conference that his client was “in shock” and “angry that these charges have been made against him.”

“There is not a shred of evidence in any of it. And he feels that he’s been victimized at his point by her,” the attorney said.

“I did none of these things,” Mothershead told local Milwaukee news channel WTMJ. “They’re all lies.” n

Marcos hits Robredo camp for claiming...

PAGE 1 the high court’s public information chief, clarified that the Tribunal “has not taken any action yet on the said report.”

Marcos said he has also yet to receive any formal notice or decision from the PET regarding the issue.

“We assure the Tribunal of our commitment to abide by the

subjudice rule as what we have always done,” the former senator said.

Romulo Macalintal, legal counsel for Robredo, said the report would determine the next step of the protest.

“Kung walang makitang pagbabago o substantial recovery, talagan idi-dismiss ng Korte Suprema ang kanilang protesta.

Pero kung may makita naman na mayroong substantial recovery, itutuloy ang protesta,” Macalintal explained.

As early as July, Robredo’s camp prodded the PET to resolve the election protest, claiming that “the result of the revision, recount and re-appreciation of the ballots clearly confirm the victory of protestee Robredo.” n

De Lima, Roxas asked to explain...

PAGE 3

ga, OIC, Prison Industry Office, Maximum Security Compound; Anthony Omega, OIC, Sports and Recreation Office, Maximum Security Compound; Antonio Calumpit, OIC, Overseer, Maximum Security Compound; Roberto Rabo, Superintendent, NBP; Jones Lanuza, Deputy Superintendent for Reformation, NBP; Victor de Monteverde, chief, Alternative Learning System, Maximum Security Compound; and Veronica Buño, Custodial Officer, NBP. Medical perks Aside from the likelihood of their getting released first under GCTA, high-profile prisoners – including drug lords – can pay as much as P2 million for the privilege to stay at the state penitentiary hospital even if they’re not sick, Sens. Panfilo Lacson and Christopher Go said in separate interviews yesterday.

They said they received information that several high-profile convicts have sought confinement at the NBP Hospital or at the medical ward of Building 14, which is supposedly the mostguarded facility in the state penitentiary.

Lacson said the issue would be taken up at tomorrow’s hearing of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee on BuCor irregularities. DOJ’s Guevarra said he has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the matter.

“So we have to get the records on who are those perennially admitted in the hospital and for how long, and what is really the diagnosis of their illness,” Lacson told reporters.

He said the committee will summon NBP doctors who allegedly issue certifications for inmates’ admission to hospital even if not sick, in exchange for money.

“The reported range is from P20,000 to P2 million for admission and the stay, board and lodging is P30,000 a day,” Lacson said.

“You’re practically free, you’re resting. In the hospital, the environment is different, you’re not

too restricted,” he added.

Lacson on Monday told the committee that a raid was conducted in Building 14 last month and at least four mobile phones were recovered.

Go, who visited the NBP on Monday, also received similar reports and lamented that ailing prisoners were the ones not getting any medical attention.

He said a convict told him that at least eight drug convicts in Building 14 had been confined at the facility’s Medical Ward 3 at the medical annex building.

“There’s about eight of them.

The illegal drug trade continues in NBP with the hospital as the new venue for transactions,” Go told reporters. Go declined to identify the eight drug convicts, but said one of them was a pastor.

Former BuCor chief and now Sen. Ronaldo dela Rosa admitted he had received reports of rich inmates bribing prison doctors for hospital passes. He headed the bureau from April to October last year.

Dela Rosa mentioned convicted carjacker Raymond Dominguez and drug convict Amin Boratong as among those he ordered removed from the NBP hospital and returned to Building 14.

He however said he was not able to find direct evidence of the convicts making drug transactions.

Dela Rosa said he was willing to be shot if he is proven to be involved in any corruption while at BuCor. ‘Raw reports’ In a related development, DOJ Undersecretary Mark Perete said “raw reports” may have been the basis of the DILG for its statement that “several” convicts released under GCTA may have already left the country.

He said they are seeking clarification from DILG Secretary Eduardo Año regarding his statement that many of the released convicts are now abroad. The President has given the convicts wrongfully released 15 days to surrender or until Sept. 15.

“The Department has sought

confirmation from DILG of reports that some prematurely released PDLs (persons deprived of liberty) have left the country.

We understand that the DILG is in the course of verifying such raw reports,” said Perete.

“Our understanding is that the DILG made the statement based on reports that reached them.

However, counterchecking of the real identities of the individuals can only be done by the Bureau of Immigration (BI),” he said.

The BI, the agency that holds the records of departures, is still in the process of checking its database to see if any of the 1,914 released convicts have really left the country. “We hope to finish counterchecking really soon,” he said.

Meanwhile, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde yesterday defended the Special Action Force (SAF) from criticisms that it has not prevented the rampant smuggling of contraband to the NBP in Muntinlupa City.

Albayalde said SAF troopers deployed at the NBP should not be blamed for the smuggling of mobile phones, illegal drugs and other illicit items to the facility.

“They have no personal interaction with the prisoners. SAF is there to guard, so let’s not blame them for this,” he said at a briefing at Camp Crame. He stressed that SAF personnel at the NBP are rotated every three to six months to keep them from fraternizing with the prisoners.

“There’s no chance they’ll be friends with those inside,” he said in Filipino.

Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) president Arsenio Evangelista lamented during a Senate hearing on GCTA last Monday that smuggling of contraband at the NBP persists despite stricter security.

SAF has been in charge of security around the NBP since 2016.

BuCor guards provide security within NBP premises. (With reports from Paolo Romero, Alexis Romero, Emmanuel Tupas, Evelyn Macairan/Philstar.com)

PAGE 1 (USCIS), reasoned that the rule change is designed to encourage “self-sufficiency” among immigrants and favor “hard-working” individuals and families.

“Throughout our history, selfreliance has been a core principle in America. The virtues of perseverance, hard work, and self-sufficiency laid the foundation of our nation and have defined generations of immigrants seeking opportunity in the United States,” Cuccinelli said in a White House press conference on Aug. 12.

The Trump administration’s rules are set to take effect on Oct. 15, 2019, but pushback from legal and civil rights organizations, statewide government officials and immigration rights activists -- who say that the rule “penalizes” immigrants for using government benefits -- could change the course.

Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the DHS and the USCIS for the public charge rule changes.

Last week, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a preliminary injunction to get a judge to move forward with the suit, asking for an Oct. 3 hearing.

“This change would dramatically change and reshape our nation’s legal immgiration system and basically institutes a wealth test into our immigration system that’s grounded in racial animus,” Connie Choi, campaign field manager for the National Immigrant

Law Center’s (NILC) Protecting Immigrant Families campaign, told ethnic media outlets in a teleconference on Thursday, September 5.

“Only a family of four making $64,000 a year will deemed fully safe from this rule and an estimated 26,000 families and individuals will suffer the consequences, especially those within black, Asian American and Pacific Islander, Arab, Muslim, South Asian and Latinx communities,” Choi added.

Referencing the Trump administration’s strict immigration proposals as a whole, U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) said that “the public charge rule is a part of this assault” on immigrant communities.

“It puts a price tag on entering America [and] it’ll make it harder for immigrants to try to make it in this country which means more hunger and more sickness,” Chu said, adding that even before the rule has been officially applied, “it has already inspired fear in jeopardizing [immigrants’] citizenship status.”

In addition to instilling fear among immigrants seeking green cards and visas, the rule change could also affect the U.S. economy. There are 35 million legal immigrants in the U.S., according to Pew Research Center, and about 10 million utilize public benefits.

A 2018 report from the nonpartisan Fiscal Policy Institute found that the economy could suffer a

$33.8 billion loss if 35% of immigrants who use public benefits left those programs.

“Immigrants are a net benefit to our economy and our society,” Thu Quach, director of Asian Health Services, said. “This change is wrong and humane and we are fighting this in the courts, in Congress, on the streets and at the polls in 2020.”

However, the controversial rule change has sparked confusion and concern among immigrants over whether or not they are affected.

Legal and civil rights leaders advise speaking with an immigration lawyer before going on or off any public benefit programs because the rule “does not apply to all immigrant communities.”

Community leaders advise undocumented immigrants who may be affected by the rule change to seek legal assistance before going on or off any public benefit programs.

“Above all please don’t panic, and before you do anything, speak to a community-based immigration attorney,” Amanda Lugg, director of Public Health Services in New York, advised immigrants who may be impacted. “The rule is not yet in effect and may not apply to you. And remember, it only applies to the applicant themself, not to family members, and actually it’s a very small group of people who are impacted directly.” (Klarize Medenilla/AJPress)

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SEPTEMBER 12-18, 2019 • LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL

OPINION

Relieve Faeldon of his ‘yoke’

FEATURES

PRESIDENT RODRIGO Duterte’s swift sacking of Nicanor Faeldon as Bureau of Corrections chief was widely applauded.

The applause, however, died down as the president just as quickly picked up his fallen friend, describing Faeldon as a good man.

The president has said that he would not tolerate even “a whiff” of corruption in his administration. In vouching for his loyal friend, he has cited the collection of billions in taxes from cigarette firm Mighty Corp. when Faeldon headed the Bureau of Customs. Faeldon had to be moved out of the BOC, however, amid a scandal involving the release of large shabu shipments through Customs.

Faeldon’s integrity as Bureau of Corrections chief has yet to be established as the Senate continues its inquiry today into what is emerging as a systematic collection of payoffs by BuCor officials for the early release of prisoners based on Good Conduct Time Allowance, especially after the Supreme Court ruled last June that the GCTA law must be applied retroactively. The President himself had hinted that corruption was possible in the release of about 2,000 prisoners under the GCTA, including heinous crime offenders such as the rapist-killers of the Chiong sisters.

While the president is free to express his opin-

ion about his appointees, his statement has fueled speculation that he is again preparing to recycle Faeldon to yet another position in government.

This would be unfortunate for his avowed campaign for good governance. Senators are still trying to determine if there was money involved in the aborted release of former Calauan mayor Antonio Sanchez. Even if Faeldon is eventually cleared of suspicions of graft, his competence for public service is under question.

This is evident in the joke that has spread following his sacking. He should be recycled to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, according to the joke, because when he was BOC chief, large shipments of shabu disappeared; at BuCor, about 2,000 inmates also disappeared from prisons; so as MMDA chief, he might make EDSA traffic disappear.

After being fired from yet another government post, Faeldon claimed he felt relieved of a heavy burden and he could now sleep soundly. The President should not burden his friend further with the yoke of public service. It’s time to put Faeldon out to pasture. (Philstar.com)

Editorial

The Fil-Am Perspective GEL SANTOS-RELOS STUDENTS of today’s generation are so well trained and proficient in a lot of high-tech skills like computer and internet use, camera techniques, music mixing, editing, online publishing and social media distribution — skills that the older generation is just coming to terms and even struggling with.

However, we notice that there seems to be a deficiency in the skills of the youth when it comes to the very skills we were taught by our parents and our teachers early in life from grade school to high school. These are skills that we need in our day to day life like cooking, mending our clothes, washing and ironing clothes, doing repairs in the house, putting air in our tires, and troubleshooting power tripping and outages, etc.

This came to my mind after I came across an article online about the Colegio Montecastelo of Spain published by Racfheed on Facebook.

Commentary

YEN MAKABENTA I REMEMBER the year 1989 well because it was a time of tumult in the Philippines and the world.

At the time, I was serving as editor in chief and associate publisher of the daily newspaper Philippine Daily Globe.

The work kept me awake all day to follow what was happening in the country and the world.

In 1989, the tumult behind the Iron Curtain burst out in earnest; it would culminate in the color revolutions in all of Eastern Europe and in the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1990. The collapse of communism meant also the end of the Cold War. In the movies, James Bond suddenly became old.

In December 1989, then-Col. Gringo Honasan staged his nearly successful coup against the government of President Corazon Aquino, which plunged the Philippines for a time into darkness and confusion.

In 1989, the United Nations (UN) quietly detonated its forecast that planet Earth had only 10 years to go before it imploded on account of global warming. In doing so, the world body rained down grim tidings on a hapless humanity, even forecasting the

Philstar.com photo

Home economics, house repairs and child care: Schools should bring back survival skill classes for ALL students This school offers home economics specifically for boys, teaching them what we learned in “H.E.” during our grade school and high school years — the basics of cooking, sewing, ironing, house cleaning, etc.

The school also teaches the boys those skills that are typically taught to boys like the basics of carpentry, masonry, plumbing, and electrician skills.

This school in Spain wants to stop gender inequality by teaching boys the basics of doing household chores, pointing to how women have always been expected to cook, wash the dishes, do the laundry, take care of the children, while also working full time or part-time job for the family.

Many husbands (not all), especially in the Philippines, would be seen having happy hour with a chilled bottle of beer while watching TV when they come home from work. Both the husbands and the wives are tired from their jobs, but the women are expected to do all the chores as the husband enjoys “me time,” and then

expects the wife to please him in bed at night.

For many families, it seems the explanation for this is that the husbands do not know how to cook, iron the clothes, clean the house, or bathe the babies, because these are chores women have been trained to do. But more than this is the stigma that they will look like “under the saya” or emasculated if they do the chores typically done by the wives. But they contend that they are the ones the wives run to to do house repairs, gardening and changing bulbs.

This delegation is great — men and women having the division of labor and doing chores they are more adept with. However, times are changing. We now have both the husband and the wife taking full-time jobs. There are times when it is the wife who gets a better job opportunity than the husband, but somebody has to stay at home to take care of the kids and do household chores. The man of the house has to step in and do the household chores while the woman helps in providing for the

family. This is what marriage and partnership are all about.

Now what this school in Spain is doing is breaking down the walls of stereotypes institutionally, and this helps the collective psyche of the boys who will grow up to be the men of the house to feel no shame in doing household chores and taking care of the children. It even teaches the lesson to the fathers of these children, no matter how belatedly. After all, it is never too late to learn something good, right?

Many of my followers on Facebook who are in their 40s and older would comment that they remember having these classes when they were still in grade school and high school. Unfortunately, with the cost-cutting because of less budget now being appropriated to education, these subjects — home economics, vocational, music and arts — are the first to go. And with both the husband and wife working, who will really have the time to train the kids consistently and relentlessly in these life skills?

THEREFORE, I hope our

schools will bring these skills back to the curriculum as mandatory subjects. I propose to take this initiative several notches higher.

I think these life skills — household chores, taking care of the babies, basic carpentry, plumbing, electrician skills, changing flat tires, among others, should be taught to ALL students, boys and girls learning together.

Teaching girls skills typically identified with boys will empower them, giving them the confidence that they do not need a knight in shining armor to solve problems in the house, and will not fall prey to unscrupulous repairmen who would charge hefty service fees for a simple job because they think the women know nothing about the issue that needs repairs anyway.

I would like to include financial literacy to the “home economics” aspect of the learning. All students should be taught about budgeting money, how to balance checks, how to live within your means, how to save money, how to invest money, the pros and cons of using credit cards,

and different kinds of loans.

These skills, I believe, will help shape more responsible and independent adults in the future.

They will be more self-reliant, frugal, and will discover the joy of mending, repairing, making things work instead of dumping tattered clothes, appliances and furniture that can still be repaired.

These skills will create better dynamics between couples, siblings, roommates because they all can share in the responsibilities of making and keeping a home.

And as each generation stands on the shoulders of the previous generations, we can expect to have better, happier and more productive homes and families in the future.

Now isn’t this something worth investing in? *** Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFilAmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook. com/Gel.Santos.Relos

UN should account for doomsday forecast 30 years ago

disappearance of entire countries. This report forced me to sit up at my desk: The Philippines could be one of the countries that would be drowned by the rising sea levels.

It is now exactly 30 years since that eventful year. Mercifully, mankind and planet Earth are still alive and kicking. Communism is banished. And the Philippines is much better than the sick man everyone used to speak of in patronizing tones.

On September 23, the UN will convene its umpteenth Climate Action Summit in New York City to dramatize the urgency of combating climate change and averting climate apocalypse.

Before UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says one more word about the UN’s climate forecast, I believe the world should present him a bill for all the wrong predictions about the climate that the UN made 30 years ago and continues to foist on the world. It is time for a reckoning.

UN prediction of global disaster in 1989 To show what the UN must account for, l am reprinting here the report of the Associated Press on the UN’s forecast of global disaster in 1989.

The report, written by Peter James Spielmann, was issued on June 30, 1989, with the headline, “UN predicts global disaster.”

This is what Spielmann wrote:

“A senior UN environmental official says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed by the year 2000.

“Coastal flooding and crop failures would create an exodus of eco- refugees, threatening political chaos, said Noel Brown, director of the New York office of the UN Environment Program, or UNEP. “He said governments have a 10-year window of opportunity to solve the greenhouse effect before it goes beyond human control.

“As the warming melts polar icecaps, ocean levels will rise by up to three feet, enough to cover the Maldives and other flat island nations, Brown told the Associated Press in an interview.

“Coastal regions will be inundated; one-sixth of Bangladesh could be flooded, displacing a fourth of its 90 million people.

A fifth of Egypt’s arable land in the Nile Delta would be flooded, cutting off its food supply, according to a joint UNEP and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study.

“Ecological refugees will become a major concern, and what’s worse is you may find that people can move to drier ground, but the soils and the natural resources may not support life. Africa doesn’t have to worry about land, but would you want to live in the Sahara?’ he

said.

“UNEP estimates it would cost the United States at least $100 billion to protect its east coast alone.

“Shifting climate patterns would bring back 1930s Dust Bowl conditions to Canadian and U.S. wheat lands, while the Soviet Union could reap bumper crops if it adapts its agriculture in time, according to a study

by UNEP and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.

“Excess carbon dioxide is pouring into the atmosphere because of humanity’s use of fossil fuels and burning of rain forests, the study says. The atmosphere is retaining more heat than it radiates, much like a greenhouse.

“The most conservative scientific estimate that the Earth’s temperature will rise 1 to 7 degrees Celsius in the next 30 years, said Brown.

“The difference may seem slight, he said, but the planet is only 9 degrees warmer now than during the 8,000-year Ice Age that ended 10,000 years ago.

“Brown said if the warming trend continues, ‘the question is will we be able to reverse the process in time? We say that within the next 10 years, given the present loads that the atmosphere has to bear, we have an opportunity to start the stabilizing process.’

“He said even the most conservative scientists ‘already

tell us there’s nothing we can do now to stop a … change’ of about 3 degrees. “‘Anything beyond that, and we have to start thinking about the significant rise of the sea levels … we can expect more ferocious storms, hurricanes, wind shear, dust erosion.’

“He said there is time to act, but there is no time to waste.

“UNEP is working toward forming a scientific plan of action by the end of 1990, and the adoption of a global climate treaty by 1992. In May, delegates from 103 nations met in Nairobi, Kenya — where UNEP is based — and decided to open negotiations on the treaty next year.

“Nations will be asked to reduce the use of fossil fuels, cut the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases such as methane and fluorocarbons, and preserve the rain forests.”

This would lead eventually to the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Accord.

Mother of doomsday scenarios I am not alone in monitoring what the UN has been doing during the past three decades in pursuit of its climate agenda.

Other climate skeptics, including top climate scientists, and major writers have been doing the same. They have published statements rejecting the UN’s climate change reports and its climate agenda. I have continu-

ously written on their articles over the last two years to keep readers posted on the debate between the climate alarmists and climate skeptics.

One skeptic, Daniel Hunter, came up with the idea of demanding from the UN an accounting for its wrong predictions and fear mongering. He wrote the following comment on Fox News this week: “Global warming is the mother of all doomsday scenarios. It blew away other environmental issues like candles on a cake….

“Thirty years ago this week, the United Nations issued a global warming report that I distinctly remember. It predicted worldwide disaster… “[H]ere we are 30 years later, and I look back at that 1989 report, I think only this: What happened?

“The predictions in the report were not just a bit ‘off’ — like my calculations in my high school math class, my understanding of Shakespeare, or my failed attempt to high jump. The UN report was flat-out wrong. It was 100 percent, complete opposite, 180-degree wrong.

“Can I get an explanation, please? “[The] UN has a 30-year track record of being wrong on this issue, so I take its reports on climate change and ‘we have 12 years left’ with a grain of salt the size of the Maldives.” (ManilaTimes.net)

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

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Dateline PhiliPPines

Dengue cases hit 250,000; more than 1,000 dead

expected given that the mosquitoborne disease peaks during the “ber” months.

MANILA — Much is still to be That’s why, Domingo pointed desired from the efforts of local out, health authorities needed governments to stop the dengue more cooperation from local ofepidemic as the number of cases ficials. has risen to nearly 250,000 nation“If a community is aggressive wide with more than 1,000 dead, and active [in fighting dengue], it’s over a third them children. control of the spread of the disease Health Undersecretary Rolando is more efficient,” he said.

Enrique Domingo appealed to loAmong all regions, Western Vical officials on Tuesday, September sayas still has the most number of 10, to do “a little more” to prevent dengue cases with 42,694 and 186 the spread of the mosquito-borne deaths. Other regions that reportdisease, especially after the total ed a high prevalence of dengue cases breached 240,000, the highwere: Calabarzon (35,136 cases, er of the year-end estimates of the 112 deaths), Northern Mindanao Department of Health (DOH).

(18,799 cases, 69 deaths), Zam“What we need is [for the effort] boanga Peninsula (17,529 cases, to go down to the barangay level.

93 deaths) and Eastern Visayas It also needs to be done daily. We (17,107 cases, 52 deaths). understand that sometimes it may Child fatalities be tiring but the threat of dengue Children aged 5 to 9 accounted is continuous. We ask for a little for nearly a quarter of all reported more effort because as we can cases and 39 percent of all resee there are still a lot of cases,” corded deaths.

Domingo told reporters.

The DOH said dengue afflicted The DOH recommends insecchildren 4 and under (16 percent ticide fogging in areas where a of all cases), those aged 10 to 14 rise in the number of cases has (20 percent) and teens 15 to 19 been recorded for two consecu(15 percent).

The Philippines has the highest dengue case fatality rate in Southeast Asia of 0.4 percent.

According to Domingo, parents should suspect dengue if their child has fever accompanied by headache, pain behind the eyes or muscle and joint pain for at least two days.

He said the health department had not received any report that there was a shortage of supplies, including blood and intravenous fluid, due to the epidemic.

To avoid overcrowding, patients should be assessed at designated hydration areas in clinics and hospitals to determine whether they should be confined. Only those with severe dengue are to be hosA Cebu City Medical Center nurse checks on a dengue patient in this file photo. Inquirer.net photo pitalized, Domingo said. n

by Jovic

Yee Inquirer.net

tive weeks.

Cleanliness still key Domingo reminded the public that one of the most effective ways to control the spread of the disease is by ensuring cleanliness in communities so that the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which carries the dengue virus, would not be able to breed.

The DOH’s Epidemiology Bureau (DOH-EB) reported that as of Aug. 24, there were already 249,332 dengue cases across the country, or a 109-percent increase from last year. It said 1,021 people had died.

From Aug. 18 to 24 alone, the DOH saw 13,192 new cases, which is 60 percent higher than in the same period last year.

DOH data show that the eightmonth total dengue cases this year is the highest recorded since 2012. In the last seven years, fullyear cases ranged from a little more than 113,000 to more than 220,000.

Peaks during ‘ber’ months Domingo said this meant that the epidemic wasn’t under control yet and that more cases were to be

MaNgosiNg Inquirer.net

MANILA — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has entered into an agreement that would allow the country’s third major telecommunications player, which is partly backed by state-owned China Telecom, to build its communication facilities in military camps and installations.

Dito Telecommunity, formerly known as Mislatel, is a consortium led by Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy, which includes Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Udenna Corp. and China Telecom.

Uy is also known for his close ties with President Rodrigo Duterte.

AFP and Dito Telecommunity, led by Maj. Gen. Adrian Sanchez, deputy chief of staff for communications, electronics and information systems (CEIS), and Atty.

Adel Tamano, chief administrative officer of Dito, signed a memorandum of agreement on Wednesday at the General Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo.

Under the agreement, AFP

will determine specific locations where Dito can build its communication sites “without undermining the operations of affected units.”

Also part of the deal is for Dito to provide the equipment and labor, as well as the payment of taxes, permits, licenses, and other charges.

“Payment will be made by providing CEIS equipment, upgrade, services, and training to the AFP equivalent to the monetary value of the lease subject to inflation,” the AFP said.

It also includes a guarantee from Dito that “the devices, equipment, and/or structures installed at the site provided by the AFP shall not be used to obtain classified information.”

‘Security is paramount’ While 40 percent of the consortium is owned by China Telecom, Tamano said that Dito is a Filipino company.

He also allayed fears that the country’s cyber and national security would be compromised.

“As a Filipino company, cybersecurity in terms of national security, we will always keep this paramount and we will never allow and country to violate our national

African swine fever reaches the Philippines Health officials assure public that pork meat still safe for consumption by ritchel

MeNdiola AJPress

THE Department of Agriculture on Monday, September 9, confirmed that the African swine fever was the cause of death of pigs in some parts of the Philippines, but quickly reassured that pork in the country remains safe for human consumption.

According to Agriculture chief William Dar, 14 out of the 20 blood samples of dead pigs from some areas in Rizal tested positive for ASF virus based on tests conducted in the United Kingdom.

“Out of the 20 blood samples, 14 are positive with African swine fever,” Dar said in a press briefing.

“We continue to monitor, even beyond the 10-kilometer radius.

So far, so good. No incidents,” he added.

ASF, a highly contagious viral disease among domestic and wild pigs, has no cure and no vaccine.

The Philippine Star reported that mortality rates of ASF are as high as 100 percent.

The virus can be transmitted through direct contact with infected pigs, ingestion of contaminated materials such as food waste, feed or garbage, or contaminated fomites or biological vectors. Infected hogs may experience high fever, depression, loss of appetite, redness of ears, abdomen, and legs, vomiting, and diarrhea that may lead

PH agriculture chief William Dar

to death.

The DA stressed that, while ASF is confirmed to have reached the country, the Philippines is not in an epidemic stage.

Dar also said that as long as the hogs passed through the proper process of slaughtering and preparation as approved by the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS), pork is safe to eat.

“The public should not fear eating pork,” he said.

Dar, along with other agriculture and health officials, as well as hog stakeholders, and members of the private sector had a boodle fight of different pork dishes for breakfast at the DA headquarters in Quezon City to prove pork and processed pork meat were safe for human consumption.

“We hope the public will un-

Palace: Duterte really needs emergency powers

by Nestor

corrales Inquirer.net

MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte really needs emergency powers, Malacañang said on Tuesday, September 10, as Metro Manila continues to suffer from monstrous traffic jams.

“The president wants to solve that,” Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said, referring to the everyday traffic gridlock in the metro. “[H]e really needs emergency powers,” Panelo added.

Duterte earlier said he needed emergency powers to have funds for projects that would solve traffic in Metro Manila, particularly on Edsa.

But the president seemed to be fed up with trying to solve the traffic congestion in Metro Manila, saying that without him having emergency powers: “Let Edsa rot there.”

“Well, I think the position of the President remains. From the very start, he wanted an emergency and cybersecurity,” he said.

Some government officials power to solve the traffic mess,” and analysts have earlier raised Panelo said.

But Duterte’s spokesman said concerns over the Chinese stake in the consortium, amid Beijing’s the President “will not go down use of cyber surveillance in other his knees and plead” asking Congress to grant emergency countries.

Tamano explained that in the telecommunication business, one of the most critical parts is “site acquisition,” which makes the partnership with AFP important.

“One of the most tedious part is getting 26 to 30 permits in license in order to put up a tower. With the AFP, that is very much simplified,” he said.

AFP chief Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr. said they have similar arrangements with the country’s two telecommunication companies, Globe and Smart.

“This partnership gives Mislatel (Dito) a fair chance to compete with the other networks,” he said.

The telco company aims to cover 84 percent of the Philippine population in the next five years.

Tamano said they are also partnering with other government agencies for the rollout, which is slated by late 2020. n

PH military to allow Chinesebacked 3rd telco to build in camps

by FraNces

EARLY CHRISTMAS SHOPPING. Shoppers check out Christmas decorations on sale at the Dapitan Arcade in Quezon City on Tuesday, September 10. The Philippines is one of the countries that have the longest Christmas celebration in the world, starting as early as September until the first week of January.

PNA photo by Rico H. Borja

ManilaTimes.net photo

derstand, as we have shown today during the boodle fight, it is safe [to eat pork],” Dar said.

The Department of Health, for its part, gave assurance that ASF does not pose any risk on human health, reiterating that as long as meat was “thoroughly” cooked, it is safe.

“We want to allay the fears of the public by saying that, as long as pork is bought from reliable sources and it is cooked thoroughly, pork is safe to eat,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo also said there is no reason to be avlarmed.

“I think there is no need to worry considering the DA secretary has not cautioned us not to avoid or not to eat, or to avoid,” Panelo said. n

powers.

“They should know what the President needs, in order to solve the problems of the country, specifically with respect to this matter,” Panelo said, Air ambulance?

Following the report that patients die in ambulances while on the way to the hospital due to traffic, Panelo suggested the use of choppers for faster transportation of patients on emergency cases. “[P]erhaps they can use choppers for an emergency flight,” he said.

Asked if the government has enough choppers, he said: “Well, we can always utilize the AFP with respect to choppers.”

“I think the Secretary of Health, as well as the Secretary of DND (Department of National Defense) should be coordinating with respect to that,” he said.

When asked if his proposal was pertaining to an air ambulance, Panelo said: “No, not air ambulance. It’s like carrying the patient.

In an ambulance, swero lang. Siniswero lang naman ‘yun papunta sa hospital. If your problem is traffic, and you cannot reach the hospital, then maybe a chopper can do that within minutes.”

The Palace official suggested that Department of Health should consider having choppers “in relation to public service.”

“Perhaps, they should include that in the next budget where they can ask the help of other agencies that can buy that choppers to be converted into an ambulance chopper,” he said.

Aside from the use of choppers, Panelo even suggested that ambulance drivers “should be creative.”

“They should look for roads that are not traffic-laden,” he said.

The worsening situation where patients die on the road due to traffic should be seen by lawmakers in granting the president emergency powers. “[B]ecause of that, then with more reason that the members of the Senate consider the grant of emergency powers, given that particular situation wherein even patients are dying because the ambulance carrying them could not reach the hospital on time,” he said.

With the worsening traffic in the country, Panelo said everybody should have discipline motorists, policemen, traffic enforcers.

“Everybody should cooperate,” he said. n

september 12-18, 2019 • LAs VeGAs AsIAN JOUrNAL

Dateline PhiliPPines

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4th Chiong convict also freed, but set to yield by evelyn

macairan Philstar.com

Soldiers survey the damaged buildings in Marawi City on May 23, 2019.

ManilaTimes.net photo by Gerard Seguia

Reconstruction of Marawi roads start

by William

Depasupil ManilaTimes.net

THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has started the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the 18.9-kilometer transcendental roads in Marawi City in Lanao del Sur. Undersecretary Emil Sadain of the DPWH’s Unified Project Management Office disclosed over the weekend that work on the project had started, with three groups of contractors working simultaneously to complete it on time.

“It’s all systems go for the rehabilitation of Marawi roads, with essential heavy equipment working on multi-site preparatory

works,” Sadain said.

The projects are funded by the Japanese government through its official development assistance (ODA).

Sadain said 18.9 kilometers of the project only covers the first stage, which is divided into three packages at 9.42 kilometers, 5.45 kilometers and 4.11 kilometers.

The contract for road-paving for the first stage was estimated to take about two months for detailed design preparation and 21 months for construction.

The second and third phases are expected to be finished in 14 months.

The project’s first stage will cost P970. Financing for the second

stage of the project is included in the P14-billion loan signed on June 18, 2019 under the Road Network Development Project in Conflict-Affected Areas in Mindanao. The loan will be from Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Sadain said the loan from the Asian Development Bank would fund civil works for the third stage of the transcendental road project with a total length of 24 kilometers targeted to commence in 2020.

He added that the construction of a new Grand Mosque in Marawi, costing about P245 million, might also be funded through ODA. n

PNP asks Interpol to tag Sison with ‘red notice’ THE Philippine National Police (PNP) confirmed on Tuesday, September 10, that it had asked the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to issue a “red notice” that may pave the way for the return of Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison because of his criminal case.

PNP Chief Oscar Albayalde said they were now coordinating with the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC) for the request.

PCTC is the Interpol National Central Bureau (NCB) in the Philippines.

Based on the Interpol website, a “red notice” is “a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.”

However, the system is voluntary as all nations have no legal obligation to arrest a person with red notice.

Sison and his wife have been in exile in Utrecht, Netherlands for thirty years.

Meanwhile, Albayalde appealed to the Netherlands to revoke the asylum status of Sison.

“Yung (the) asylum can always be revoked, yan nga ang hinihingi natin sa (that’s what we’re asking from) Netherlands na yung mga taong ito ay (that these people are) involved in murder at (and) heinous crime [and] they’re not considered persecuted politically,” Albayalde told the reporters.

“So once na mawala yun (that’s out) he can be arrested there,” Albayalde added.

Sison and 30 others were is-

sued a warrant of arrest by the Regional Trial Court Branch 32 without bail for the mass grave in Inopacan, Leyte in 2006.

The bones recovered allegedly belonged to the victims targeted by the New People’s Army (NPA) in the 1980s.

Also issued warrants were Luis Jalandoni, senior adviser of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), one named Rodolfo Salas alias “Ka Bilog”, an ex-chairman of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) who was previously nabbed in 1986 but was granted six years later by former president Fidel Ramos.

Others with standing warrants are consultants Prudencio Calubid, Sarmiento Eduardo, and Leo Velasco. (Darwin Pesco/ManilaTimes.net)

been serving his sentence in Spain.

130 surrenderees The Philippine National Police (PNP) said that 130 heinous crime convicts granted freedom under the GCTA law have surrendered so far.

PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said those who surrendered included 49 rape convicts, 41 convicted of murder and 13 for robbery with homicide.

Banac appealed to the other convicts who remain at large to surrender and not wait for the last day of the President’s grace period on Sept. 18.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año earlier said they have received a report that several of those convicts are already abroad.

However, the PNP is not discounting the possibility there are convicts who have left the country as the release orders date back to 2014.

Police authorities will coordinate with the International Police (Interpol) if some of the freed inmates have slipped out of the country.

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) would deploy tracker teams to go after convicts released through GCTA when the 15-day period for them to surrender lapses next week.

NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said he and his five district directors are sorting out the list of 2,000 released prisoners to trace their residences in Metro Manila to make the job of tracker teams easy after the deadline lapses.

“What we have is the initial list

so far, and this is what we are currently working on to facilitate the compliance on President Duterte’s order to have them all accounted for,” said Eleazar.

Police said the convicts who recently yielded to authorities in Metro Manila included Joseph Collo, a rape convict released from the NBP in Muntinlupa City through GCTA on June 6, 2018, who surrendered to the Pasig City police.

Collo, 51, of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur surrendered to Pasig police chief Col. Moises Villaceran.

Collo, who currently resides in Barangay Malinao, Pasig, was convicted of rape in October 2012 and sentenced to 10 years in jail.

He is now undergoing documentation and will be transferred to BuCor officials.

Five other convicts released through GCTA have yielded to police in Caloocan and Valenzuela City over the weekend.

Ernesto Roque, 54; Elimar Belda, 54; and Gomer Mendoza, 54, surrendered to the Caloocan police while Joel Maliwat, 50; and Rolando dela Cruz, 62, yielded to the Valenzuela police Six other convicts who were released due to the GCTA law have surrendered to authorities in Central Luzon last week.

Col. Rhoderick Armamento, Region 3 police deputy director for operations, identified them as Victorio Pletado, 53, of General Tinio, Nueva Ecija; Cirilo Payumo and Edwin Alejo, both of Plaridel, Bulacan; Angel Mosquite, 59, of Inhobol, Masinloc, Zambales; Nathaniel John Chavez, 30, of Doña Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan and Joel dela Cruz of Camiling, Tarlac. n

MANILA — An official of the Department of Justice confirmed that the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) released last Aug. 16 a fourth convict in the rape-slay of sisters Marijoy and Jacqueline Chiong in Cebu City, but the freed man is expected to surrender this week.

Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete confirmed that James Anthony Uy was released from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa by virtue of the expanded Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) law or Republic Act 10592.

Perete said Uy is expected to surrender any time this week along with Josman Aznar, also convicted for the rape and killing of the Chiong sisters and released through GCTA. “Just confirmed that he (Uy) was also released, but that he will also surrender with Aznar,” said Perete.

Two other convicts in the Chiong case, Ariel Balansag and Albert Caño, have already surrendered to authorities after briefly gaining freedom through good conduct.

President Duterte gave all the 1,914 persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) or those convicted of heinous crimes, who were released because of GCTA since the law’s enactment in 2013, to surrender within 15 days.

The Chiong sisters were raped and killed on July 16, 1997 in Cebu.

In May 1999, a regional trial court in Cebu convicted and sentenced to life in prison the seven accused in the rape and killing of the Chiong sisters: Balansag, Caño, Aznar, Uy, Francisco Juan Larrañaga, James Andrew Uy, and Rowen Adlawan. They were found guilty of the complex crime of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with homicide and rape; and simple kidnapping and serious illegal detention.

The Uy brothers were reportedly minors during the commission of the crime.

When the case was elevated to the Supreme Court (SC), the magistrates raised their punishment to lethal injection. But when the death penalty was abolished, they were sentenced to reclusion perpetua or 40 years in prison.

Larrañaga, a great grandson of Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete confirmed that James Anthony Uy was released from former president Sergio Osmeña the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa by virtue of the expanded Good Conduct Time Philstar.com photo Sr., being a Spanish citizen has Allowance (GCTA) law or Republic Act 10592.

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september 12-18, 2019 • LAs VeGAs AsIAN JOUrNAL

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VEGAS&STYLE

Journal Nadine bares what aspect of her Friendship leads to love for Enrique appearance gives her insecurities

by Bot

Glorioso Philstar.com

by AllAn

MANY say that friendship is the best foundation for a relationship.

Enrique Gil couldn’t agree more when he revealed that he and girlfriend Liza Soberano started out as good friends.

“Yeah, we were just in a barkada level at first,” he recalled. “I mean, our relationship started out from us being friends and for some reason, it became more than that.”

Their romance has been smooth-sailing for years now with both Enrique and Liza expressing their love for each other without fail. It can be recalled how the 26-year-old actor visited Liza in the U.S. after she underwent

policArpio

Inquirer.net

IF there’s one project Nadine Lustre would consider the “most challenging” in her career, it would be the movie “Never Not Love You.” But it wasn’t so much about the difficulty of the role she had to portray as it was about the mental and emotional space she was in prior to the shooting.

The cameras began to roll in January 2018—only three months after the death of her younger brother.

She wasn’t ready.

“It was the most challenging movie for me because of what was happening that time. I was lost, so depressed. I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to work. I didn’t even want to see my friends,” Nadine told the Inquirer, shortly after a shoot for the face care brand Pond’s campaign, #SeeWhatHappens, which seeks to help women overcome hesitations and self-doubt.

“I wanted to just stay at home and grieve. I was down,” the 25year-old actress recalled.

But Nadine knew that, at one point, she would have to will herself back on her feet.

“I had to get back up eventually and move forward—even though every step I took hurt,” she said.

“Thankfully, I was able to get through it.”

“Never Not Love You” saw Nadine turning in one of her career’s finest performances yet, earning approval from critics.

In a span of three months— from April to June this year—she was named best actress by three critics-based award-giving bodies: the Young Critics Circle, Urian, and Famas.

“I’m thankful to all the people who stuck with me and supported me. At the end of the day, it’s up to you to decide if you want to move on,” Nadine said.

While all the trying experiences she has had in her career and personal life toughened her up, it doesn’t mean that she’s impervious to insecurities and feelings of inadequacy.

“In terms of appearance, I do have my share of insecurities—I

Nadine Lustre

wish I were taller!” Nadine said, laughing. “But you know, at the end of the day, you just have to accept those things. Be happy and thankful. And work with what you’ve got.”

Nadine is the kind of person who’s always bent on “beating my high score.”

But it can be a double-edged sword: It’s a good thing because the perfectionist in her pushes her to do her best; and a bad thing because she tends to be too hard on herself when she fails to do her best.

“I get upset when I feel I didn’t push myself enough during a scene. I get disappointed when I don’t achieve something I want,” she said. “I get upset when I get a creative block—when I can’t write, paint or dance.”

As if the standards she has set for herself weren’t exacting enough, she also used to feel compelled to meet the standards other people set for her.

“All these comments, bashing on social media … people who want me to fit their mold. It (2015, while doing ‘On the Wings of Love’) was a time when I felt lost; I was questioning myself a lot,” she said. “But I soon realized that

Photo from Instagram/@nadine

I should stop listening to these [negative things] people say about me and just be myself.”

“I used to be afraid to confide in my loved ones about my problems or the things that make me sad, because I always wanted to put on a brave face,” she said.

It was her boyfriend, James Reid, who changed that tendency.

“He taught me to open up whenever I have issues, big or small.

He tells me that you can’t just hold onto these things because they will just pile up and do you harm,” she said.

At the moment, the actress is enjoying a well-earned break, focusing on the little things she had been putting off for the longest time. “I’m having fun, just chilling at home and not worrying too much. I’m doing errands, managing my finances,” Nadine said.

Has she thought about rewarding herself after all her achieveEnrique Gil Photo from Instagram/@enrique17 ments this year?

“All the blessings I have been getting are the rewards themselves. But really, I’m happy with good food. After a hard day’s work, I eat at my favorite restaurants—it’s that simple,” Nadine said.

by nikA

roque ManilaTimes.net

Lito Legaspi

Inquirer.net photo

holding their patriarch’s wake at Loyola Memorial Funeral Homes in Marikina City and had yet to release a statement on details of interment.

‘Datu’ Baron explains return to rehab

by JAn

Milo severo Philstar.com

ACTOR Baron Geisler has denied rumors that he will be returning to a rehabilitation center, but admitted that he visited there for spiritual guidance.

In an interview with the media after his conferment for being a “Datu” by the royal family of King Raja Mohammadmamay Hasan Adurajak and Queen Maria Makiling Helen Fatima Nasaria Panolino Abdujarak, Baron admitted that he was depressed lately.

“Wala akong comment d’on. I guess siguro ‘yung mga detractors,” Baron said on what made him depressed.

Last week, reports said the actor was allegedly set to return to rehab for treatment of severe alcoholism, but Baron denied this.

“But I got depressed for a while because ‘pag napapanood ng tao ‘yung role kong Bungo. Siyempre coming from rehab, very spiritual, my thoughts were really pure kaya medyo naguluhan ako. And then my fiance, she flies back and forth sa Cebu. There are times na

Actor Baron Geisler being conferred the ‘datu’ status by the king and queen of Sulu.

Philstar.com photo by Jan Milo Severo

the oldest in the group but it feels weird sometimes since ako din ‘yung pasimuno sa mga kalokohan, hahaha.”

Enrique also loves playing “harmless” pranks on his closest non-showbiz pals. “You can see on videos what I do to them while they’re sleeping because my house has somewhat become their house that every time I go home, they’re already there and we would all stay in one room. They sleep in my bedroom so they’re like a part of my family,” he said, referring to his childhood friends who live in the same village where he resides which is located in the south of the metro.

“I’ve been with them since we were kids; we grew up together so you could just imagine the kind of bond that we have. They’re like my second family. My best friend lives in the house next to us.”

Asked about the three things that would make friendship work, the Star Magic talent replied, “Trust, honesty and having each other’s back no matter what.

Just like a mother who loves her child whatever mistake he/she commits, I’m like that as a friend — na kahit anong gawin, mahal ko pa rin.”

Meanwhile, Enrique shared that he and Liza are not supposed to attend the ABS-CBN Ball on Sept. 14 “because we’re supposed to be flying out to shoot for something (initially denying that it’s for their upcoming teleserye). But at the last minute, we got a call that we must be there so we will attend the ball and then fly out the following day,” said Enrique, who will wear a Randy Ortiz suit.

He, too, assured fans during the Greenwich event held at Market!

Market! that a new teleserye that he is starring in with Liza will air soon. Taping is set to begin this month with Enrique visibly hesitant about telling that some scenes will be shot in Europe.

“Certainly, it will air by next year and we will fly out to, basta (laughs). It will be super exciting.”

How KC balances ‘Ang Probinsyano’ with life as tech executive

Lito Legaspi passes away at 77 side contemporaries Gina Pareno and Eddie Garcia among others.

To date, the actor has more VETERAN film and television than 120 film and TV credits to actor Lito Legaspi passed away his name as well as numerous due to cardiac arrest on the morn- accolades including a Gawad ing of September 8. He was 77 Urian Award for Best Supporting Actor for the 1977 musical years old.

According to reports, he was drama “Sinong Kapiling? Sinong was rushed to Cardinal Santos Kasiping?”

Legaspi also portrayed former Memorial Medical Center in San Juan City two days previously mayor and now President Rodrigo complaining of chest pains. He Duterte in the 1992 film “Pugoy died just ahead of 78th birthday Hostage: Davao.”

Legaspi’s was most recently on September 10.

Legaspi started in showbiz in seen on GMA Network’s afternoon 1959 via a comedy caper titled soap “My Special Tatay” and ABS“Ipinagbili Kami ng Aming Tatay” CBN’s “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano.”

Legaspi is survived by sons with no less than Comedy King Zoren, Brandon, and Kier Legaspi Dolphy in the lead.

Legaspi rose to fame when he who followed his footsteps in was introduced by Sampaguita acting.

As of this writing, the family is Pictures as a matinee idol along-

surgery for her injured finger. In a video, the actor was seen holding a bouquet of flowers for his girlfriend.

The story of their friendship was brought up when Enrique started answering questions about friends in line with Greenwich’s celebration of the Friendship Month with its Barkada Box Awards. Enrique is the latest addition to the growing Greenwich barkada that includes Yassi Pressman and Robi Domingo.

“I’m the fun guy in the barkada,” he began. “I’m more of the makulit in the group pero ako rin ‘yung kuya who always checks on everyone na ‘O, kamusta ka na?’ ‘Kumain ka na ba?’ And I am the kuya because I think I’m

two weeks mag-isa ako, so nadepress ako. That’s the reason,” he added.

The “Ang Probinsyano” actor said he went to the rehabilitation center for him to be grounded again because he was overwhelmed to become a celebrity again.

“Regarding sa rehab, I went there and asked for spiritual guidance sa kanila, so it’s for me just to be grounded. Kasi I’m beginning to be artista again and siyempre nawala ako sa limelight for three years. Nakakaoverwhelm siya kasi kilala ka nanaman ng tao, so what I did was inunahan ko na, just to ground myself at hindi lumaki ang ulo ko and also be closer to God kasi mapakatindi talaga ng demonyo eh,” Baron said.

“May kasabihan nga, ‘Ang tunay na matapang ay ‘yung gumagawa o pumupunta sa matuwid, ‘yung nag-oobey at hindi ‘yung gumagawa ng kasamaan.

Kasi napakadali eh, napakadaling uminom, napakadaling tumingin sa babae, napakadaling makipagaway, makipagsuntukan, so I’m being away from the bad and for me, whenever I am depressed or inaatake ako ng bad elements, I have a spiritual family to go to.

So we pray, may structure,” he shared.

by seph

AsonG Philstar.com

AFTER being away from the television scene for a long time, American DJ, host and actor KC Montero is now a mainstay in long-time running show “Ang Probinsyano.”

His character, Lance, forms part of a drug triumvirate alongside Jacob (Marc Abaya) and Migz (Kean Cipriano), an added excitement to which the producers of the show are hoping to further deepen the story.

The gun-toting trio is set to become an instrument for revenge

by John Arcilla’s Renato Hipolito.

It’s fitting to see KC play the role of a devil’s advocate against his partners, being the odd one out as he is more soft-spoken than the two, and obviously the only foreign-blooded in the bunch.

“While this isn’t exactly my first time being the villain, it still is a challenge for me––fortunately a challenge I am very much willing to take. I had my first villain role in the action film ‘Maria’ last March, and I can’t get enough of the adrenaline,” KC said about his role as Lance.

His stint on the ABS-CBN hit show is not the only thing keeping KC busy nowadays. When he’s not playing the role of a villain, he’s energizing mornings as a DJ in “Good Times” on Magic

89.9, alongside the always “controversial” TV and social media personality, Mo Twister.

And yet when he’s not busy about all these other things, he’s wearing the hat of a startup innovator--something really new to the KC Montero we all grew up to know.

“I’ve always wanted to be in the tech space, and it’s something that keeps me up at night and motivated at the same time., knowing that I am part of a growing industry and being able to make a difference in terms of pushing our media landscape to the next level,” according to KC. Montero is the Vice President for Marketing of Kumu, the allFilipino live streaming app and content platform that is also one of the fast-rising tech startups in the country, where just like KC himself, users can generate compelling live content. Think about a normal online platform like Instagram, but transformative and more interactive.

“It’s not so much about balance as it is about bringing key elements from one role to another,” said KC on how he’s doing all these things at once. “The only difference is the medium, but the craft of content creation is present in all of the hats I’m wearing. It just takes creativity, passion, and, of course, a dash of tenacity to be able to keep up with my multifac-

KC Montero Photo from Instagram/@kcmontero

eted lifestyle.”

When asked about his startup experience, KC said, “It’s been a hell of a ride working with such a dynamic team. We have tech geniuses, marketing superstars, and inventive livestreamers––indeed a diverse set of talents. Working with them feels more like a learning experience than a regular day job. The energy is unbelievable.”

Montero is among the many local celebrities who have decided to branch out to something they may not have been familiar and comfortable with at the beginning, but all it took was determination and passion to do something bigger outside the comforts of showbiz; proving once again that our local talents are really more than just pretty faces.

Toni, Vicki, Hayden fly to Harvard University by ryAn

ArcAdio Inquirer.net

DR. Vicki Belo and Dr. Hayden Kho jetted off to the United States with Toni Gonzaga, who has announced that she will be studying at Harvard University. Kho, who is yet to announce the full nature of joining the trip, stated that it is for attending “a special course.”

Gonzaga will be taking classes in the said university together with TV writer Garlic Garcia, as seen in Gonzaga’s Instagram Stories on Sunday, September 8.

On the 16-hour flight to the U.S., Gonzaga and Garcia took Toni Gonzaga with Dr. Vicki Belo and Dr. Hayden Kho Photo from Instagram/@celestinegonzaga the time to finish their required readings while the rest of their his own plane seat, as seen in gram post today, September 9. company were asleep. Gonzaga’s Garcia’s Instagram Stories.

“Can you guess what university “We’re here in Cambridge to this is?” husband, director Paul Soriano, and their son Seve also accompa- attend a special course at the Gonzaga, as per her post on university where @victoria_belo Instagram Stories, was set to start nied the actress on her trip.

Kho was also hard at work, learned all about lasers some 30 her classes in Harvard University “studying” with “laser focus” in years ago,” he said in his Insta- on Monday, September 9.

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

Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond MONETTE ADEVA MAGLAYA (Part 2of 2) (Continued from the previous week…)

There were happy times too and she chose to dwell on them.

Elaine imagined herself to be like a film editor retaining the reels of fun and laughter they had during the early years of their family life.

She smiles broadly recalling their wedding, two normal childbirths, flying kites in the open space and on the beaches when the children were growing and just countless fun times they shared and recorded in fading photographs and video clips.

And like the editor of her life, she chose to gloss over and edit out the ugly parts and leave them on the cutting room floor, swept in a bin and zapped away from memory. Poof. Gone. Forgiven and Forgotten.

This is just how I cope and how I choose to remember my life and times, Elaine thought.

Some couples are described as two peas in a pod. Elaine and Neil were more like two Mexican jumping beans trapped in a pod.

She often gritted her teeth and bit back a retort when things got heated. She didn’t want the children to hear. She turned to prayer, first as an escape valve, and later as a real comfort and eventually, a deep, unfailing source of peace and strength.

With a solid faith in God ‘s mercy and love, peace did come to their home. A deep-seated respect for each other quietly slipped in during their mature and last few years together. Elaine placed everything in the backburner when she took care of Neil as he languished. She felt his pain and for his part, Neil began to see her

Health@Heart PHILIP S. CHUA, MD, FACS, FPCS OBSTRUCTIVE Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a condition where the individual stops breathing for a prolonged period while asleep, much longer than the usual five seconds or so pauses between breaths. The person wakes up gasping for breath because of lack of oxygen. These episodes could happen a hundred times or more during the night, leading to low oxygen supply to vitals organs.

And this condition occurs every time the person sleeps, day or night. While many are snorers, not all persons who snore have sleep apnea. Only a sleep study could clinch the definitive diagnosis.

Prevalence of OSA OSA is more common than recognized because many are not aware that such a condition exists, and a significant number do not seek medical attention or refuse a Sleep Study, and still others reject CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) treatment as an uncomfortable and “sleep disturbing” therapy, after the diagnosis is confirmed.

About 3 to 7 percent of men and 2 to 5 percent of women have sleep apnea, with more than 100 million suffering from OSA around the world, even among those younger than 40.

The gold standard While there are gadgets on the market claiming to be “treatments” for sleep apnea, which are ALL unscientific and ineffective since they are not addressing the pathology (collapsing soft tissues in the throat blocking the airway), only CPAP is the evidence-based, gold standard, effective medical therapy for sleep apnea. The others are just a waste of money and provide a false sense of security, which delays the institution of the proper treatment, CPAP, which has almost 100 percent effectiveness (some individuals are noncompliant).

Since persons with undiagnosed, untreated, or improperly treated sleep apnea have increased risk for the development of cardiovascular (heart attack, stroke and metabolic illnesses (diabetes, thyroid disease, etc.), Alzheimer’s, and even cancer; it is prudent to seek medical attention and undergo a sleep study without delay if you do not get a restful sleep, a snorer or not, and feel tired and sleepy during the day, lack of concentration, napping while watching the TV, or even while driving, or simply feeling lousy as the day goes on.

While recent studies (4-year evaluation of 2,700 patients from 80 medical centers around the world) from the Flinders University and The George Institute for Global Health, published in The New England Journal of Medicine states that CPAP “does not reduce the recurrent strokes and heart attacks,” they show that CPAP tremendously improves the

COMMUNITY JOURNAL

LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • SEPTEMBER 12-18, 2019

Once upon a time series...

alendar of Events C Meet Elaine, the rock across America “…Elaine and Neil were more like two Mexican jumping beans trapped in a pod. ...”

in a different light.

Theirs was not an all-consuming love affair, which she sometimes thought was the stuff of Hollyweird garbage anyway, but they managed to work out their differences over time. As they mellowed, they became patient and kinder with each other. Eventually, love did come to dwell in their hearts. A sense of overwhelming peace washed over them in the few remaining years left.

During the critical times, Elaine learned to tough it out. She stood her ground to keep her family together. And yet, she understood the frailty of unions which crack and fall apart at the merest hint of trouble.

Elaine decided early on that she would be the glue to hold her family together — no matter what. The only thing that would break her resolve would be if there was another woman involved.

Thankfully, there wasn’t. More than anything, it was personality differences that threatened their marriage.

Their two children turned out right and became upstanding, caring young adults of strong faith. For Elaine, it was all worth the struggle of keeping their family whole.

Two years into her grief, Elaine thought she was finally done with all her struggles. She expected a season of calm. But fate had other plans. Life wasn’t done with her yet and another curve ball was headed her way.

Elaine’s younger sister, Joyce and her husband, Jerry, died suddenly, within months of each other, her brother-in-law in a

motor accident and her dear sister, in a rare, aggressive form of cancer that left two teen-agers — a girl and a boy — to fend for themselves.

Elaine had a huge heart and she took the youngsters under her wing and helped them heal after the tragic loss of their parents.

She helped them finish school and get onto meaningful career tracks. She became their mother and the two orphans realized just how great Aunt Elaine was. They called her Mom. Instead of two children, now she had four who loved her dearly.

As she looked back at her life, Elaine marveled at how she had managed it all. She realized she was never alone during her seasons of struggle over darkness.

There was always something guiding her and protecting her – a bright light that shone in her heart and is reflected in her being.

God and His angels have been with her every nanosecond of her valiant. little life. Of this, Elaine is certain.

Elaine didn’t accrue material things for herself. In fact, she gave them away as fast as she could.

Yet the one thing she did have is a family cobbled together by nothing more than steadfast love, kindness and a deep, unyielding faith in the goodness of God. Elaine knew she was going to be just fine no matter what.

She would be leaving a small yet beautiful legacy. *** Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To send comments, e-mail monette. maglaya@asianjournalinc.com

CPAP: Benefits and risks

“While there are gadgets on the market claiming to be ‘treatments’ for sleep apnea, which are ALL unscientific and ineffective since they are not addressing the pathology (collapsing soft tissues in the throat blocking the airway), only CPAP is the evidence-based, gold standard, effective medical therapy for sleep apnea.” quality of life, mood, and attitude among those with sleep apnea.

Also, since apnea (breath-holding) leads to oxygen deficit for the heart, brain, liver, kidneys, etc., during sleep, the use of CPAP normalizes the oxygen level for the person, which is healthy, and it tempers the progression of any illnesses. The researchers also found that “CPAP treatment produced a 20% improvement in severe depression, a two-thirds reduction in severe sleepiness, and 20% less days lost from work.”

Individuals who have sleep apnea but otherwise healthy, will markedly reduce their chances of developing common major illnesses (high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and even cancer) with CPAP therapy.

CPAP machine cleaners If not cleaned properly, the CPAP machine, water chamber, tubing, and masks could harbor bacteria, molds, fungus, virus, which could lead to dangerous sinus, lung and stomach infection. Cleaning the mask, tubing, and water chamber with lukewarm water and dishwashing soap, sometimes diluted vinegar everyday could do the job, but a simpler, less tedious, and more efficient method is the use of CPAP cleaning devices. There are basically two types: one that uses ozone and the other uses ultraviolet lamp, for sterilization to kill 99+ percent of bacteria, viruses, molds and fungi, within 30 minutes of exposure. The popular ones are SoClean2, which uses ozone, and the Lumin and SterileTote UV light CPAP cleaner. The portable ozone generators are smaller than a can of soft drink and are about 8-10 times cheaper, ideal for travel.

Ozone: harmful or safe Ozone, also called activated oxygen, is formed when another atom of oxygen is added to regular oxygen (O2) with two molecules of oxygen, which is normally in the air we breathe.

Normal oxygen level is harmless, unless in excess. But when another atom of oxygen is added to the O2, it becomes supercharged O3, which can rapidly oxidize and destroy other molecules, including bacteria, viruses, fungi and mold and odors, the reason ozone is used in CPAP cleaner devices.

There are several layers of ozone that surround earth, and naturally created by lightning storms and by the sun’s ultraviolet rays. The smell we sense immediately after a storm or rain is ozone. Ozone as a cleaning agent has been found to be more effective than chlorine and bleaches as cleans-

ing/sterilizing agents in water filtration systems, air purifiers, hospitals, restaurants, hotels, doctors/dental offices. Handled properly, ozone is reportedly safe.

After a 30-minute ozone treatment by the CPAP cleaning device, at least two hours of “airing” is needed to dissipate the residual ozone smell on the mask, tubing, CPAP machine before using. The half-life of ozone is about half an hour. After it does its job, it disappears within an hour. When it dissipates, it releases an oxygen molecule and is transformed back into oxygen. Ozone at its original concentration right after being generated by the machine is irritating to the eyes, nose, throat, and dangerous to inhale. Ozone is very powerful but does not last long. After two hours and longer, the CPAP is ready to use.

UV light CPAP cleaner As alluded to earlier the other type of CPAP cleaner uses ultraviolet light for sterilization, like the Lumin and SterileTote, UV light germicidal irradiation (UVGI) uses short-wavelength ultraviolet (UVC) light to kill all microorganisms by destroying their nucleic acids and disrupting their DNA, destroying their bonds and disabling them to perform vital cellular function.

This type used for sterilization of CPAP and accessories are safe to human. Other items that could be sterilized in these units are cellphones, toothbrushes, baby pacifier, jewelries, combs, scissors, nail cutters, medical instruments, etc. Lumnin and SoClean CPAP cleaner system cost around $300$350. SterileTote is about $48.

The portable travel-size ozone CPAP cleaners, between $50 to $150. For more details, consult my friend, Dr. Google. Be sure to do a due diligence and talk to your physician or pulmonologist if you plan to purchase a CPAP machine and CPAP cleaner, after your Sleep Study confirms you have OSA. Nature is overflowing with good clean oxygen. It is our obligation to the future generations to make sure that, like us today, they too would be able to enjoy every breath of fresh air. *** Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indiana and chairman of cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2010 at Cebu Doctors University Hospital, where he holds the title of Physician Emeritus in Surgery, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. He is the chairman of the Filipino United Network – USA, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian foundation in the United States. Email: scalpelpen@ gmail.com

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

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

Artists included Becca Godinez, Morris Albert, Odette Quesada, Ner De Leon and Kevin Click.

Additional artists to be announced. Tickets are $65 for lower orchestra, $45 for upper orchestra and $35 for Balcony.

S E P T E M B E R 28

75th Anniversary of Leyte fundraiser gala in Carson, CA The Erasto R. Batongmalaque Foundation will be holding a fundraising gala on Saturday, September 28 at the Carson Community Center leading up to the 75th anniversary of the Leyte landing on Oct. 20. The foundation is dedicated to servicing the ongoing needs of surviving veterans of World War II as well as other veterans of recent conflicts. This will lead into two other events on Oct. 12 and Oct. 20. The ticket is at $75 payable to the E.R.B. Foundation. Call Julie at (310) 8358365 or (424) 257-2504 for more information.

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

O C TO B E R 5

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

Filipino American History Month celebration in Carson, CA The City of Carson, California will be holding its annual Filipino American History Month celebration on Saturday, October 5 from 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. It will be at the Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald Community Center (801 E. Carson St. Carson, CA 90745). For more information, please call (310) 830-9991.

O C TO B E R 1 9

West Ranch High School presents the Wildcat Classic in Valencia, CA West Ranch High School is proud to present the 11th annual Wildcat Classic, a daylong display of musical artistry on Saturday, October 19. More than 20 high school bands from the Santa Clarita Valley and around the region will gather for the Southern California School Band and Orchestra (SCSBOA) Marching Band Competition. The Wildcat Classic will take place at Valencia High School’s football stadium, located at 27801 Dickason Dr. in Valencia. Tickets are $12; parking is free. Each high school band will compete by division followed by an astounding showcase performance of the three-time state champion West Ranch Band and Colorguard. The day-long event culminates in an awards ceremony with trophies presented in each division as decided by a panel of SCSBOA judges. The performance schedule will be announced prior to the event. Vendors will be on site with plenty of delectable food and drink options as well as gifts and apparel for the music enthusiast. For additional information, please contact West Ranch Music Director Jason Marshall at 661-222-1220 x 646 or jmarshall@hartdistrict.org or visit www.westranchmusic.com.

O C TO B E R 2 0

75th anniversary of Leyte landing in Carson, CA The 75th anniversary of the Leyte Landing will be observed on Sunday, October 20 at the International Sculpture Garden at the Carson Civic Center from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. the main program will start at 10 a.m. where the veterans present will be honored by the guest speakers and the community. There will be music and entertainment, food trucks, vendors and booths. This program is part of the annual Filipino-American History Month in October. For more information, please contact Dr. Jenny Batongmalaque, executive director of the Erasto R. Batongmalaque Foundation, at drjennyb.md@gmail.com or visit www.erbfoundation.com.

Filipino Priests Association of Los Angeles fundraising “Pista Sa Nayon” is a fundraising event sponsored by the Filipino Priests Association of Los Angeles on Sunday, October 20 at the Glendale Civic Auditorium (1401 N. Verdugo Rd., Glendale, CA 91208) at 5 p.m. The highlight of the event will include but are not limited to: Honor the 2nd Filipino Bishop in USA, Most Reverend Alex Aclan, as well as recognize Filipino priests who have dedicated many years of service to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The priests will serve food and entertain guests with songs and dances. Tickets are at $50.00 per person. Sponsorships are available. Proceeds will benefit priests attending the 4th Assembly of National Association of Priests -USA in New Jersey on October 26-30, 2020, for continuing faith formation so that they may become effective ministers of evangelization. For more information, please contact Ging Mangaliman at (213) 453-2595, Patty Santiago at (818) 472-4288, or Rhomie Ramirez at (818) 618-6515.

O C TO B E R 26

Larry Itliong Day Celebration in Carson, CA The City of Carson, California will hold a Larry Itliong Day Celebration on Saturday, October 26 from 8 a.m. – 12 p.m. In 1966, Filipino Larry Itliong and Cesar Chavez formed the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, which later became the United Farm Workers of America, one of the greatest unions in the history of the nation. Larry Itliong Day will be at Veterans Park (22400 Moneta Ave. Carson, CA 90745). For more information, please call (310) 830-9991.

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

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september 12-18, 2019 • LAs VeGAs AsIAN JOUrNAL

EntErtainmEnt

Kathryn on Daniel and Alden: They’re so different, but I love them both

by AllAn

PolicArPio Inquirer.net

CHANGE can be scary, Kathryn Bernardo admitted, but necessary in life for “us to learn and grow as a person.”

And career-wise, there’s perhaps no change bigger for the ABS-CBN star than doing a movie without her boyfriend, Daniel Padilla, as her leading man.

“It was my first team-up with another partner, a movie without DJ,” she said of doing the box-office hit “Hello, Love, Goodbye,” in which she was paired with GMA 7’s Alden Richards. “It was a struggle. Before saying yes to the project, I had to consider everyone, including my fans, because I didn’t want them to feel like I left them hanging.”

“I was scared to fail and meet everyone’s expectations,” Kathryn told reporters at a recent forum hosted by the face care brand Pond’s for its female empowerment campaign “#SeeWhatHappens.”

But the 23-year-old star prom-

Kathryn Bernardo Photo from Instagram/@bernardokath

ised herself that 2019 would be a year of growth. So, despite her hesitation, she took that “big step” and ventured out of her comfort zone. It paid off: “Hello” is now the highest-grossing Filipino film.

“I’m proud of myself for everything that’s happening right now.

Had I said no to this opportunity, it probably would have been the biggest regret of my life,” she

surmised.

Asked to compare the difference of working with Daniel and Alden, she said: “Alden is different when he’s doing comedy and drama. DJ is also different.

Sobrang malayo sila, but I love them both.”

The open-ended conclusion of “Hello” sparked speculations that there will be a sequel. Are there talks already?

“There are lots of possibilities, but it’s too early to tell if there will be a part two, or if they would allow us. There are no talks yet—that’s going to be a long process,” she pointed out. “But let’s see.”

Meanwhile, Kathryn said she’s excited to attend the coming Filipiniana-themed ABS-CBN ball, where she will wear a Michael Cinco creation. Daniel will be her date, of course. But will she be inviting Alden over?

“He told me that he would like to go. I’m just not sure if he will be allowed,” she related. “But if ever, he will be very much welcome.”

Love, forgiveness and acceptance anchors ‘Pamilya Ko’ “PAMILYA Ko,” ABS-CBN’s newest primetime series, will touch the hearts of viewers as it tackles the issues that modern Filipino families face — from infidelity, tragedy, to sibling rivalry — and the forces that bind them together — forgiveness, acceptance, and love.

Beginning this week, viewers can follow the story of Chico (JM De Guzman), his parents Fernan (Joey Marquez) and Luzviminda (Sylvia Sanchez), and the rest of the Mabunga siblings — Beri (Kiko Estrada), Apol (Kid Yambao), Persi (Jairus Aquino), Peachy (Maris Racal), Lemon (Kira Balinger), Cherry (Mutya Orquia), and Pongky (Raikko Mateo) — as they navigate the complex issues that arise even among the most loving families.

Chico may be the responsible and dependable first born, but an old family tragedy actually forces his parents to send him to live with his grandparents for almost all his life. Despite feeling alienated from his own family, Chico still makes an effort to build a connection with his parents and his siblings.

But just when everything starts to fall into place, a huge revelation will shake their whole family:

EMPLOYMENT

ABS-CBN photo

their father Fernan has an ongoing affair. Chaos will take over the Mabungas and ultimately test Chico’s strength in keeping his family together.

Amid all the challenges, Chico will have his best friend Betty (Arci Muñoz) by his side supporting him along the way.

Asked what this new family drama will bring to the abundant mix of television offerings, lead star Sylvia Sanchez answered, “I think makakatulong ito especially d’un sa may maraming anak.

Makikita nila dito kung anong

klase yung pagdadaanan ng pamilya. Pero makikita din nila na ‘pag may problema, basta sama-sama, makakayanan.”

“Makakakuha sila ng aral sa amin dito. Kasi lahat kami ng creative at ng cast, isa lang ang gusto namin — ang makapagbigay ng magandang ehemplo, halimbawa sa mga kapwa Pilipino,” Sanchez added.

Under the direction of Raymund Ocampo, also part of the powerhouse cast of “Pamilya Ko” are Irma Adlawan and Alyssa Muhlach. (ManilaTimes.net)

EMPLOYMENT

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What’s next for Maymay?

by izA iglesiAs ManilaTimes.net

MAYMAY Entrata’s career continuously blooms these days.

Right after winning “Pinoy Big Brother: Lucky 7” in 2017, she fulfilled her ambition of becoming an actress starring in major roles for TV shows such as “La Luna Sangre,” “Wansapanataym’s Ikaw Ang Ghosto Ko” and “Hiwaga ng Kambat,” and movies like “Loving in Tandem,” “Da One That Ghost Away,” “Fantastica,” and most recently, in the blockbuster hit “Hello, Love, Goodbye” as Kathryn Bernardo’s cousin, Mary Dale.

On September 3, “Hello, Love, Goodbye” was officially declared as the highest grossing Filipino film of all time. ABS-CBN’s movie arm, Star Cinema, announced during the film’s thanksgiving party that the Kathryn Bernardo-Alden Richards romantic drama has chalked up a worldwide gross of P880,603,490.

Directed by Cathy Garcia Molina, the film beat another Bernardo starrer, “The Hows of Us,” in the box office race. “The Hows of Us” also raked in a global gross receipts of over P800 million.

On her part, Entrata has dedicated the success of their movie to her mother who is working in Japan as an overseas Filipino worker (OFW) for more than 20 years.

“Gusto ko lang din po i-share na naging fulfilment ko po ay yung nakita ko yung nanay ko dahil 20 years na siyang OFW at sinabi niya sa akin na ‘sobrang na-appreciate ko yung movie ninyo kasi bilang OFW mas marami nang nakakaintindi na tao kung ano yung totoong nangyayari na sakripisyo at paghihirap ng mga OFW.’ Kaya maraming salamat po,” Entrata told members of the press after her event for Modess Move Camp last week.

She also had to thank their director for guiding her despite being a newbie in the cast. The 22-year-old also enthused that she has earned a new family because of the film.

“Grabe. Kagabi po kung nakita at narinig ninyo yung mga speech namin during the thanksgiving party, nag-iyakan kami lahat ng cast ng ‘Hello, Love, Goodbye’ lalo na sila Kathryn at Kuya Alden kasi na-touch talaga sila sa mainit na pagsuporta ng mga tao. Nagpapasalamat din ako lalo na kay direk Cathy. Isa sa mga iniidolo kong director si direk Cathy, kahit hindi naging matagal

ang shooting ko doon pero yung disiplina bilang isang aktor at aktres ay hangga’t maari na may oras pa ako noon ay talagang nakikinig ako. Salamat, direk,” Entrata said.

“Yung movie po kasi hindi lang maganda yung kuwento, kung hindi yung samahan na nabuo namin saka yung journey na meron kami, yung experience. Yun yung isa sa mga pinakamagandang experience ever na hindi ko makakalimutan. Kaya siguro naging matatag yung pagsasamahan namin,” she continued.

On to the next one Because of her hard work, she along with her onscreen partner, Edward Barbers, treated herself to a much-deserved travel to Japan.

“Nagbakasyon po ako sa Japan, kasama ko po yung nanay ko. Masaya ako kasama ko din si Dodong, nakapag-relax kami. Nagpapahealthy kami for our upcoming concert,” Entrata enthused.

According to Entrata, their “MayWard” tandmen is currently preparing for their upcoming concert dubbed “M.E. and U” on September 27 at the New Frontier Theater. This was a year after she also held her very first solo concert “The Dream Maymay In Concert” on February 2018 which led to a nationwide tour titled, “The Dream Tour” which started in April last year.

Meanwhile, it was during their stay in Japan when Entrata thought of doing vlogs on YouTube just like some of the actresses before her. She has uploaded their mukbang (binge eating) date with Barbers. As of this writing, she has garnered more than 260,000 subscribers in less than a week and a million views for her first video.

“Yung YouTube channel ko po hindi ko in-expect na ganun ang mangyayari. Pero kasi mahigit isang taon ko siyang iniisip gawin.

Kasi ako po, nanonood lang ako ng mga vlogs pero hindi ko inisip na magagawa. Marami kasing nagsasabi. Iniisip ko lang kung paano siya gawin baka kasi mawala ako sa sarili ko. Kausap ko lang sarili ko. So nag-try ako, nagpatulong ako kay Dong. Tapos nag-advice din si Ms. Alex Gonzaga and Ms. Kim Chiu na dapat kung ano yung personality mo, yun ang ipapakita mo. Di mo naman kailangan na maging maarte ka o kailangan mong maging perfect sa kanila,” she said.

ABS-CBN Ball, New York Fashion Week On the other hand, the young

FOR RENT

Maymay Entrata Photo from Instagram/@maymay

star has opened up about her plans for the upcoming ABS-CBN Ball which will happen on September 14 at Shangri-La at the Fort.

The theme this year is “Modern Filipiniana” and just like the past years, Entrata will arrive with her loveteam Edward Barbers.

“Di ko pa po puwedeng sabihin ano ang preparations. Pero excited ako sa inspiration ng susuotin ko, pero hindi ko pa puwedeng sabihin. Ang designer ko ay si Ms. Furne One pa rin. Siya rin po ang designer ko last year. Gusto ko rin magpasalamat kasi Ms. Furne One kasi imposible na siya yung maging designer ko ulit kasi may sakit siya. Pero pinush niya pa rin.

Kaya ayun, sobrang thankful ako sa kanya,” she noted.

It will be remembered that Entrata was the fashion muse of the celebrated designer, whose Amato Couture Fashion Show was presented during the Arab Fashion Week in November 2018.

In relation to that, during the press conference for the 20th anniversary of Knowledge Channel, which launched her as one of the hosts of the show “Puno ng Buhay,” Entrata opened up that she recently auditioned for the New York Fashion Week.

“Nag-audition po ako sa New York Fashion Week,” she said during an interview with ABS-CBN. According to her, she had a live audition for the prestigious occasion as a muse for Furne One. She shared though that it is still not sure if she will be accepted to walk the New York Fashion Week runways.

“Hindi po biro kasi yun, so hindi ko pa po talaga alam kung sakaling matutuloy po yun. Kung tanggap ako, e, di tanggap. Pero alamin po natin,” she ended.

Features

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LAS VEGAS ASIAN JOURNAL • SEptEmbER 12-18, 2019

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‘Rice. Noodles. Yum.’: A myriad of flavors from the Philippines and beyond

By Malou liwanag-Bledsoe / AJPress TWO staple ingredients not only in Filipino cuisine but in Asian dishes as well are rice and noodles. This comes as no surprise because the Philippines have been a melting pot of different cultures from Southeast Asia.

This is why Filipino American first-time author (who also manages the blogsite, Manila Spoon) Abigail Sotto-Raines is so excited to share to everyone her favorite

Moo Sarong

dishes via her book “Rice. Noodles. Yum.: Everyone’s Favorite Southeast Asian Dishes.”

Born and raised in the Philippines, Abigail often spent her days with her grandmother cooking traditional Filipino meals in which rice and noodles provided the base for so many delicious and interesting flavor combinations.

Later on, she traveled extensively in Southeast Asia where she discovered the wealth of rice and noodle -based dishes.

Currently residing in Hamden, Connecticut with her husband Mark and two kids (William and Sophie), Abby is a lawyer turned stay-at-home mom. However, her love for cooking did not begin naturally.

“Truth is, I had to learn to cook out of necessity,” she wrote in her blog, Manila Spoon. “As anyone familiar with the Philippines would know, when you grow up with a maid, oftentimes you never learn the wonderful art of cook-

Sa Po Gai Fan Food photos courtesy of Adrian Schwalbe of YC Media.

Mee Kati

ing. Back then, I always knew that when dinner’s on, the food would be ready at the table, often prepared by anyone in the house but me. I did dabble a bit on cooking after college but never really pursued it passionately.”

It was when she got married and settled in the United States that she had to learn how to cook.

Starting with basic recipes, Abigail eventually became comfortable in the kitchen through trial and error. She started Manila Spoon to document her adventures in cooking and to share her collection of recipes which her family

Suman con Chocolate (Steamed Glutinous Rice Cakes with Chocolate Sauce) Suman is a tube-shaped rice cake made with glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk, wrapped in either palm, banana or bamboo leaves, then steamed. It is always a great choice for breakfast as it can be paired with a variety of options: plain sugar, coconut jam, with fruits and, of course, a big favorite—homemade chocolate sauce. This breakfast treat is almost always paired with coffee or hot chocolate.

Serves 8 (16 rice cakes) 2 cups (400 g) sticky or glutinous white rice 1 (13.5-oz [400-ml]) can coconut cream plus enough water to make it to 2½ cups (600 ml) ½ cup (100 g) white sugar 1¼ tsp (8 g) salt, divided 16 (9-inch [27-cm]) softened banana leaves for wrapping 2 cups (480 ml) heavy or double cream 6 tbsp (42 g) cocoa powder ½ cup (100 g) brown sugar Soak the rice in water overnight or for at least 3 hours. Rinse the rice well. Drain. Place the rice and coconut cream diluted with water in a wok or deep pan. Bring the mixture to a boil. Adjust the heat to low and simmer, stirring

occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes or until the rice is tender and the liquid has nearly dried up. Add the sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt and continue to cook until the sugar is fully dissolved and the rice begins to pull away from the edges of the pan when stirred.

Remove from the heat and allow the rice to cool.

Defrost the banana leaves, if frozen. Clean the banana leaves by wiping off the white residue with a damp cloth or paper towel.

Pass each leaf through a flame or place it on the stovetop to heat it up until it turns dark green. This will help prevent the banana leaf from tearing as you roll it up.

Scoop about ¼ cup (45 g) of the rice near the edge of the

banana leaves. Flatten it to elongate to about 5 inches (15 cm) in length. Roll until you reach the other end. Twist the edges then tie each end with a twine or a thin strip of banana leaf. Repeat until there’s no more rice left.

Place the rice parcels in a steamer tray or basket. Steam the rice parcels over rapidly boiling water for 30 minutes. Make sure that the water doesn’t touch the steamer basket.

To make the sauce, place the heavy cream, cocoa powder, brown sugar and ¼ teaspoon of salt in a saucepan over medium heat and stir to combine. Simmer for 5 to 8 minutes or until the sauce is thickened and coats the PAGE 14

have tried and enjoyed through the years.

After six years of blogging, she released just last June, “Rice.

Noodles. Yum.” containing 75 (yes, 75!) authentic rice and noodle dishes from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines.

Apart from popular Asian dishes like pad thai from Thailand and serabi from Indonesia; she included fusions and recipes with a twist like an Asian-Italian spaghetti and meatballs made of

The author, Abigail Sotto-Raines with her husband William and children William and Sophie.

Photo from ManilaSpoon.com

rice noodles and curried beef gravy, and Suman Con Chocolate (Steamed Glutinous Rice Cakes with Chocolate Sauce).

There are more easy-to-follow recipes inside the cookbook that readers will surely enjoy cooking.

“Rice. Noodles. Yum.: Everyone’s Favorite Southeast Asian Dishes” is available on Amazon (www.amazon.com), Barnes & Noble, Book-A-Million and IndieBound (www.indiebound.org).

Visit Abigail’s blog at www. manilaspoon.com.

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september 12-18, 2019 • LAs VeGAs AsIAN JOUrNAL

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FRESH FACE AT THE US OPEN

Filipina Alex Eala makes her US Open Juniors debut

By MoMar

G. Visaya

AJPress

AlExANdrA Eala, the 14year-old teen tennis star from the Philippines, made an impressive US Open Juniors Championship debut on Monday, dismissing her Australian opponent in straight sets with a commanding 6-1, 6-0 score.

Eala made it to the main draw of Juniors Girls Singles as one of the eight qualifiers who had to win two times at the Cary leeds Tennis Center in the Bronx, before moving to the main site at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens to be among 64 teens running after the title.

“This win is definitely a stepping stone to where I want to be in the future, which is to play pro, obviously, so I’m going to be working hard and practice more to achieve that goal,” Eala told

the Asian Journal after the match.

“I knew it was going to be hard today, all the matches are going to be hard, so hopefully I’d perform well in the next few matches.”

She won over the top seed in the qualifying matches and made it through both without dropping a set.

“It’s the same every match. I get out, give my best and try to get the best results I can,” she shared.

Getting into the US Open Juniors main draw for juniors is a dream-come true for Eala.

“It is a very prestigious tournament, high level and under-18 and I worked very hard to accomplish this so I am definitely going to make the most out of this,” she added.

Notching her first win at the Open was quite an experience for her and she credits her training regimen where she gets to give it all. She trains every day except

Sunday, which is her rest day.

“It gets mentally and physically tiring so I think that helps me grow as a person and as an athlete,” she said.

Her coach daniel Gomez da Costa and her dad Mike Eala were both at the sidelines watching the match.

“She was very calm comparing with the situation that she has to face. At only 14 years old, she shows very good behavior and attitude,” Gomez said. “She played with good intensity and she served really well.”

The following day, she and her doubles partner and fellow rafa Nadal Academy (rNA) scholar Elvina Kalieva, came from behind and aced a straight sets win, 7-5, 6-1.

Rafa Nadal Academy Alex won a tournament in France in 2018 and scouts from the rNA in Nadal’s hometown of Manacor, on the island of Mallorca, Spain approached them and discussed about Eala training with them. She ended up getting a full scholarship there.

The Academy is a high performance tennis center, the former training ground of Nadal himself.

Nadal and his team opened it in 2016 and created a unique training system based on the experience he has acquired through the years competing in the ATP circuit. The international tennis academy combines tennis and education so that the students and aspiring athletes can continue to build their tennis

careers without sacrificing their academic studies.

“At the international school, we are going to help them make that transition to the best universities possible and prepare them for life,” Nadal told reuters in a 2017 interview.

“It is a great opportunity to train there because they provide really good training there. I have improved a lot since I went there.

You get a lot of exposure and it’s very professional,” she said.

Because of rain delays, their match which was supposed to be played in the afternoon, began around 6:30 pm and rafael Nadal was set to play his round 4 match against Marin Cilic at Arthur Ashe Stadium around 7:00 pm.

After she won and finished interviews, photos and some autograph signing, her coach called her and showed two tickets to Nadal’s box. They rushed to Ashe just in time for the third set, and witnessed Nadal win in four. The proud dad posted a photo on social media of Alex on the box with her coach and Nadal’s parents and the coaches led by Carlos Moya.

“I’m so happy that she came to the Nadal Academy and we look forward to achieving bigger things,” Coach Gomez said.

“She’s too young and we need to keep working hard, but of course, she has the chance, the possibilities, specially because she’s very humble, a hard worker and very good discipline.”

After her stint here in New

Alex Eala, the teen tennis sensation from the Philippines, made her US Open debut this week and reached the second round of both singles and doubles competitions.

AJPress photos by Troi Santos

York, she will go back to Mallorca because she just received another year of scholarship in the academy.

At rNA, she goes through a rigorous training regimen. A typical day would have her waking up at 7:00 am, have breakfast and train at around 8:00 am, followed by fitness. Around noon, she goes to school at the American International School inside rNA until late in the afternoon. That’s a total of about four hours of training every single day.

Alex is all praises for Nadal, her idol and fellow leftie.

“I love the way he plays. He is very strong mentally,” she said about the 8-time major singles winner.

For the women’s side, she idolizes Simona Halep for her aggressiveness and the way she plays.

Tennis and Growing Up “Alex started playing tennis because her older brother Miko, plays tennis,” Mike said. “She was just two years old then and she was already on court, at first just watching her kuya. later on, she told us she also wanted to compete.”

He added that their grandfather, Bobby Maniego, father of his wife rizza, was actually instrumental in getting his kids into tennis.

They were small kids when they started.

At the age of 8, Alex made her international debut at the little Mo competition in dallas, where she eventually took home the trophy. little Mo is named after Maureen Connolly, who in 1953 became the first woman to win a tennis Grand Slam.

Both Eala siblings now train at the Nadal Academy.

As parents, Mike and his wife supported their children’s dreams.

Which is why he said watching Alex notch her first US Open was such a pleasure for him to witness.

“The fulfillment of being able to get here in itself, is already something big for us, and to be able to win the qualifying matches, get here and win her first match, is a

better and more satisfying result,” he said. “This is the best way to experience the US Open!”

Atty. Antonio Cablitas, president of the Philippine Tennis Association, is happy to see a young Filipina teen making it on the global stage, particularly in one of the grand slam tournaments.

“We’re focused on looking at young talents not just in the Philippines but also around the world, the future of Philippine tennis and Alex is a prime example of that,” he said as we chatted outside the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Cablitas credits Alex’s talent and determination for her to be on this stage despite her very young age.

“But of course we need to credit the parents, Mike and rizza. Their support has been immense and they play a big role here,” Cablitas added.

Dealing with Losses On Wednesday, Sept. 4, Eala’s dreams of getting deeper into both the Junior Girls Singles and doubles competitions came to a screeching halt as she lost in straight sets to her Thai opponent, Mai Nirundorn in the morning and fell, 6-3, 6-3 with her doubles partner Kalieva to their French opponents.

“We were super happy with the win on Monday but we knew it’s going to be a long road,” Alex’s dad Mike said. “We will learn from this experience and use it to make her stronger.”

Her coach said that Alex had a good singles match, it was just that the Thai opponent was playing really well, too.

After losing the first set, 7-5, Eala won the next three games at 3-0. Nirundorn stepped it up and came from behind to win the next six games, the set and the match.

“I’m proud of what I achieved here at the US Open and I am gonna come back stronger next time,” Eala told us outside Court 5, after they lost their doubles match. “I’ll take what I’ve learned here and I will work harder in maintaining my intensity during matches.”

‘Rice. Noodles. Yum.’: A myriad...

PAGE 13 back of a spoon. Set aside.

When the rice parcels are done, peel the banana leaf cover from each cake then serve the rice cakes warm or at room temperature drizzled with the chocolate sauce. Suman may also be threaded in skewers and dipped in the sauce.

Carioca

(Fried Sticky Rice Balls with Coconut Caramel Sauce) Sweet memories are made of these! during my elementary-school years, these were my favorite merienda or afterschool snack. They are so deliciously comforting—loaded with coconut flavor and smothered in a coconut caramel sauce. These crispy rice balls are so tasty that even my little boy, who doesn’t like coconut at all, totally loves these!

Serves 6 (24 balls) 2½ cups (315 g) sticky or glutinous rice flour 2½ cups (250 g) shredded sweetened coconut 1¼ cups (300 ml) coconut milk 2 cups (480 ml) cooking oil for deep-frying, or more as needed 1 (13.5-oz [400-ml]) can coconut cream ½ cup plus 3 tbsp (120 g) brown sugar ½ tsp salt In a bowl, mix the sticky rice flour, sweetened shredded coconut and coconut milk until a dough forms. Scoop out about a tablespoon (15 g) of dough and shape into a ball. repeat until all the dough is used up. A cookie dough scooper is helpful for this.

Heat the cooking oil in a saucepan over medium heat to about 350°F (175°C). To test if the oil is hot, dip a skewer into it. When bubbles form around the skewer, the oil is ready. Fry the dough balls in batches for 4 to 5 minutes or until lightly browned all over.

Scoop onto a strainer lined with paper towels to remove any excess oil. repeat until all the balls are cooked. Set aside.

In a saucepan, stir together the coconut cream, sugar and salt.

Bring to a boil over medium heat.

When it starts to boil, lower the heat slightly, stir and cook for 5 to 8 minutes or until the mixture has thickened. dip the balls into the sauce, or to avoid sticky fingers, thread about four balls onto a wooden skewer and pour the caramel sauce over. Serve individually or on skewers.

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