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Duterte blames Trump for PH inflation, while DATELINE USA locals and leaders point back at TRAIN law California to run on 100% FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
clean electricity by 2045
Gov. Brown signs new bill that aims to combat damaging effects of climate change GOVERNOR Jerry Brown signed two measures on Monday, Sept. 10 aiming to convert California to 100 percent renewable energy and “carbon neutrality” by 2045, securing the state’s reputation as a national and global leader in clean energy and environmental innovation. SB 100 seeks to meet the state’s clean energy goals and ensuring carbon emissions are low by expanding green electricity sources like wind and solar. Brown also signed an executive order pushing the state to decrease the state’s net output of greenhouse gasses — of which the largest source is cars and PAGE A3
Filipino family charged with numerous violations at adult and child care facilities
DURING his speech in front of the Filipino community in Jordan last Friday, September 7, President Rodrigo Duterte blamed U.S. President Donald Trump as the cause of the current inflation in the Philippines in light of the ongoing U.S.-China trade war. Trump recently declared he was considering tariffs on an additional $267 billion in Chinese goods. “The inflation (that is happening in the country now) is because of Trump,” Duterte stated, as reported by The Manila Times. “When he raised the tariff and banned other items, things got messy.” In defense of the president, presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said almost the same words in his DZRH interview, on Tuesday, September 10.
“The truth is, the economy was a mess because of the trade war between U.S. and China, and we cannot deny that. Before that, everything was smoothsailing and going according to plan, until the war happened to obstruct it. They say that when the giants clash, small countries like the Philippines become as affected. That’s what the president is trying to say.” The TRAIN law inclusion The president said that he’s not apologizing, and that there really is inflation in the Philippines. According to him, the government is already in action to solve it, meaning he’s letting the economic managers to handle the problem. He added, “I’m no better than the rest of them
(economic managers). They’re (in fact) brighter than I am.” Filipino consumers have felt the impact of inflation, with the drastic increase in prices of goods/ services including fuel, public transport fare, and food necessities such as rice, vegetables, fish and meat. The head of Save the Nation movement Antonio “Butch” Valdes said in his interview with The Manila Times, that the implemented TRAIN law is a factor in the problem. He said, “I think the president is being misled by his economic advisers on the reason for inflationary price increases. We had warned before that the TRAIN law, which increases indirect PAGE A2
Makati court defers DOJ motion amid Trillanes arrest by AJPRESS
Most of victims were Filipino, said Attorney General Becerra THE Filipino owners of six Bay Area adult and child day care facilities were charged last week for numerous violations including human trafficking, wage theft, possession of illegal weapons, and rape. A total of 59 charges were filed Friday, September 7, against four members of the Gamos family — Joshua, 42; Noel, 40; Gerlen, 38; and Carlina Gamos, 67 — who while operating their four adult care facilities and two child care facilities in the Bay Area, employed and exploited mostly Filipino immigrants.
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Senator Antonio Trillanes IV
File photo by Philstar.com
THE Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 150 on Monday, September 10 scheduled a hearing later this week, declining the omnibus motion of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue an arrest warrant against Senator Antonio Trillanes IV without litigation. The hearing has been slated for Friday, September 14, at 9 a.m. PAGE A3
THE PRESIDENT’S MEN. President Rodrigo R. Duterte strikes his signature pose with the members of his cabinet following the dialogue with Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo in Malacañang Palace on Tuesday, September 11. Malacañang photo by Toto Lozano
US National Security Adviser: ICC is ‘already dead to us’ Go claims corruption allegations as “politically motivated” International Criminal Court says it will continue work ‘undeterred’ by RAE
ANN VARONA AJPress
THE International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday, September 11 said that it will continue to do its work “undeterred,” after the United States criticized the court’s legitimacy. “The ICC, as a court of law, will continue to do its work undeterred, in accordance with those principles and the overarching idea of the rule of law,” the Hague-based court said in a statement. The statement came a day after U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton on Monday, September 10, took aim at the Hague-based court by denounc-
ing its authority, and threatening sanctions on it if it were to proceed with investigations of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Bolton’s speech came ahead of an expected announcement by an ICC judge regarding a request to open up investigations of alleged war crimes, such as torture and illegal imprisonment, committed by the CIA and U.S. forces in Afghanistan since May 2003. The court received an alarming 1.17 million allegations of war crimes from Afghans earlier this year from three-months worth of collected material. Bolton at a speech to a conservative group on Monday said that the ICC “unacceptably threatens
American sovereignty and the U.S. national security interests.” He added, “The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court.” “We will not cooperate with the ICC,” said Bolton, adding that “for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us.” He also said that the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington was ordered to close, a move being seen as the Trump administration’s latest step in pressuring Palestinian leaders to comply with a Middle East peace plan. The ICC responded to Bolt’s PAGE A2
SPECIAL Assistant to the President (SAP) Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Monday, September 10, denied the corruption allegations against him amid the involvement of the family-owned CLTG Builders and Alfrego Builders in the government’s public work projects. Go said that the said criticisms hurled against him were “politically motivated attacks” considering that there are groups clamoring for him to pursue a senatorial position. “Did I have any involvement in these? Did I touch anything? None,” Go said as reported by The Manila Times. The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) reported that the CLTG Builders owned by Deciderio, the presidential
Duterte discusses national issues during a‘tête-à-tête’ with Panelo by AJPRESS PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, September 11, addressed the country with varied matters of national importance during a “tête-à-tête” with Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo in Malacañang.
Initially, the president called for a press conference at 3 p.m. without disclosing the scope of his speech. However, an hour before the said media affair, Presidential Communications Group Undersecretary Feducia Mia Reyes-Lucas said Duterte’s press conference would no longer push through. Palace officials told the media that the PAGE A4
‘TÊTE-À-TÊTE’ WITH THE PRESIDENT. Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo sits down with President Rodrigo Duterte in a televised interview in Malacañang Palace on Tuesday, September 11. The president discussed previous issues with Panelo including the rice crisis, amnesty and the supposed destabilization plot, among others. PNA photos
assistant’s father won a total of P1.85 billion in government contracts from 2007 to 2017, not including the joint venture projects with Alfrego, which was owned by his half-brother Alfredo. Go insisted that the said businesses went through the proper process of bidding. He said that he never interfered with the decision of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) let alone influenced them to choose the family business. “Being related to me does not disqualify them to bid. These projects are publicly bidded anyway. I never intervened nor influenced the DPWH on how they bid or award these projects. My office does not control DPWH, to begin with,” he said. He said that he never once con-
versed with the engineers in the said institution. “Ni hindi nga ako nakikiusap sa mga engineer, ‘Ito pondohan mo’ (I don’t even talk to engineers and say, ‘Fund this’),” the secretary said. “Si DBM (Department of Budget and Management), ni minsan hindi ko sinabihan na lagyan mo ang Davao City para makapabor doon (Not once have I told DBM to allot money for Davao City),” Go added. He also said that should there be proof that he engaged in corruption, he will immediately quit his cabinet position. “Once you are able to prove that I spoke with anyone — secretary, regional directors, DBM — everyone who is connected in PAGE A2
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Go claims corruption allegations as... Filipino family charged with numerous... PAGE A1 your research, if I ever did, I will resign. I will resign immediately,” Go promised. Go clarified that the family’s construction business predates his birth. He said that he could have easily talked his way to the president but because of “delicadeza” he chose not to. “For 15 years, I prevented my family from entering [the Davao] City Hall. I told them, “If you en-
ter City Hall, I will leave [it],” Go said. Senator Antonio Trillanes IV filed on Wednesday, September 12, a resolution urging the Senate civil service committee to look into the above-mentioned accusations and identify a possible conflict of interest. “Whereas, CLTG Builders caught the attention of PCIJ’s research because it failed to complete all of its joint-venture proj-
ects within the original deadline. CLTG also has a B license which means that it could not carry out a big-ticket project without having a partner,” Trillanes said as reported by The Philippine Star. Go was among the top senatoriables in a survey by PDP-LABAN along with Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III. However, he denied any plans of running for the Senate. (AJPress) ■
PAGE A1 taxes, will impact negatively to the consumer. It’s tantamount to increasing the VAT (value added tax).” He also suggested that Duterte should announce a State of Emergency rather than blaming others. He said, “In light of present inflationary pressures caused by the TRAIN law, I strongly suggest that the president consider declaring State of Emergency on the power sector, address
the scandalously high cost of electricity causing the most debilitating burden on the Filipino population, and review the disastrous effects of privatizing public utilities, which now threatens national security.” Valdes explained that the additional tariffs imposed on our exports affects more U.S. consumers than Filipinos. That being said, countries affected by the economic policy shifts are China, Canada and Mexico. It is quite impossible for the Philippines to
be included in the fiasco. In addition to why Trump isn’t to blame, Carlos Manapat, head of the Department of Economics at the University of Sto. Tomas, said that the impact of tariff is limited to steel and iron, which is very far from the impact of inflation. Inflation escalated in August to 6.4 percent, the highest since 2009 under then president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, which climbed to 6.6 percent. (AJPress) ■
Duterte blames Trump for inflation...
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PAGE A1 At a news conference Friday, September 7, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said that it was the workers who “helped bring this case to light.” “It is the workers who are the greatest victims of Rainbow Bright and its operations. Most of the workers are Filipino immigrants,” he added. Of the charges, 26 were for grand theft of wages and labor, totalling to around $8.5 million, according to Becerra. Eight of the charges were for human trafficking and violence, and three were for rape. Noel and Joshua Gamos were also accused of offering female employees gifts in exchange for sex acts. According to the complaint, the alleged abuse happened between 2008 and 2017. The charges are a result of a yearlong investigation by the attorney general’s Office Tax Recovery and Criminal Enforcement (TRaCE) Task Force, and involving the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office; the U.S. Department of Labor; the California Department of Industrial Relations; the California Department of Social Services; and law enforcement departments in Pacifica, South San Francisco, and Daly City. “While the employees were providing by all accounts loving care, they were doing so under egregious circumstances,” said Becerra.
Filipino family members Carlina Gamos, 67; Gerlen Gamos, 38; Joshua Gamos, 42; and Noel Gamos, 40 who operated Bay Area adult and child day care facilities have been arrested and charged with several counts of human trafficking and other labor-related offenses, the California Attorney General’s office announced on Friday, September 7. Photos courtesy of the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office
The complaint said that employees at the Rainbow Bright facilities were promised a room to sleep in and food while working as live-in caregivers. They were also told that they would receive a monthly salary between $1,000 and $1,200 for eight hour work days, five days a week. Instead, the employees were forced to work nearly 24 hours a day while employed at the defendant’s Rainbow Bright Daycare facilities, according to the complaint. Employees were also forced to sleep on floors and garages, and were locked outside in the rain when the owners were not home. They were also threatened to be turned over to U.S. immigration officials, and had their passports confiscated by the Rainbow Bright executives. “No worker in the United States should live in fear or be subjected to violence, abuse or exploitation at the
hands of their employer,” said Becerra. “The charges against the Gamos family members are despicable. We must not turn a blind eye to abusive labor practices. Report it, and we will investigate and prosecute.” Fourteen illegal assault weapons were also seized by agents serving the arrest warrants. Three of the assault weapons were “ghost gun” rifles, meaning they did not have serial numbers, according to a statement released by Becerra’s office. Ghost guns allow for bypassing registration regulations and background checks. “What’s most painful as we discuss this is is this is happening in neighborhoods,” said Becerra. “This could be happening in your backyard, in your neighborhood, with people you believe are living a regular life and being cared for.” (Rae Ann Varona/AJPress) ■
US National Security Adviser: ICC is...
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PAGE A1 remarks by saying that the court was “an independent and impartial judicial institution” that was created to “ensure accountability for crimes that shock the conscience of humanity.” “The court’s jurisdiction is subject to the primary jurisdiction of states themselves to investigate and prosecute allegations of those crimes and bring justice to the affected communities,” the statement said. “It is only when the states concerned fail to do so at all or genuinely that the ICC will exercise jurisdiction.” “The ICC, as a court of law, will continue to do its work undeterred, in accordance with those principles and the overarching idea of the rule of law,” the court vowed.
France on Tuesday backed the ICC in saying that the court should be able to operate without hindrance. “France, with its European partners, supports the International Criminal Court, both in its budgetary contribution and in its cooperation with it,” Agnes von der Muhll, the foreign ministry spokeswoman, said in a statement. “The court must be able to act and exercise its prerogatives without hindrance, independently and impartially, within the legal framework defined by the Rome Statute,” the statement said. ‘Court of last resort’ Established in 2002, the ICC is described as a court of last resort intended to take on cases from nations unable or unwilling
to carry out investigations and prosecute perpetrators. With 123 state parties recognizing its jurisdiction, it has before been at the end of criticism with the latest coming from countries like Myanmar and the Philippines, both of which are undergoing criticism for human rights violations. On Friday, September 7, Myanmar’s government said that it “resolutely rejects” an ICC ruling that claimed jurisdiction over alleged deportations of Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh in a crisis described by the United Nations as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing.” Myanmar President Win Myint described the ICC ruling as “the result of faulty procedure.” The
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Makati court defers DOJ motion amid... PAGE A1 “The court is not persuaded with the argument of the prosecution that its omnibus motion should not be set for hearing and should be acted by this court exparte,” the order stated. Presiding Judge Elmo Alameda signed the order that explained that the issuance of an arrest warrant and travel ban without any hearing would compromise the right of the accused to due process. Clerk of Court Diosfa Valencia clarified that the RTC must respect the petition of the accused opposition senator before the high court, as reported by The Philippine Star. “The court has to observe judicial courtesy because there is a pending motion filed by Sen. Trillanes before the Supreme Court,” Valencia explained. She also noted that they will await the decision of the SC on whether to pursue any court proceedings. “If the Supreme Court ruled that there would be no proceedings at all before lower courts, then we will abide,” Valencia noted. The same court held the trial on the rebellion case filed against the Magdalo mutineer in relation to the siege at The Peninsula Hotel in Makati City in 2007. Trillanes responded the same day and said that President Rodrigo Duterte plans on tricking him. He promised that he would not fall into the trap that Duterte
has in store. “Probably, they’re trying to trick me into that trap but I won’t fall for that,” Trillanes told reporters. The staunch critic claimed that Duterte has “deniability” even though the president promised to wait for the court’s decision regarding the revocation of the amnesty granted by Aquino. Trillanes alleged that the leader frequently lies to the public when cornered regarding matters of national importance. The senator also dismissed allegations that he was planning to oust the president and that he is recruiting rebels in the military. He also said that his sources in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have a standing warrant of arrest for him. The senator has not left his office for a week now since the proclamation came out. IBP and church stands by Trillanes The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) led by National President Abdiel Dan Elijah Fajardo said that Proclamation 572 is unconstitutional. “Arresting and incarcerating Senator Trillanes for offenses dismissed by amnesty runs roughshod over the constitutional guarantee against double jeopardy that no person shall be held to answer twice for the same criminal offense,” the IBP board of governors said. The institution with 50,000 members explained that the
cases filed against the senator were no longer valid due to the amnesty grant. “It is also a matter of public record that the criminal cases for which Senator Trillanes stood trial have been dismissed with finality by our courts precisely on the basis of amnesty,” the IBP explained. The IBP also urged the courts “to resist collateral attacks against its judgments and creeping incursions on its independence,” “An independent and impartial judiciary remains the most powerful bastion that protects our cherished constitutional rights against excesses of political power,” it added. Caloocan Bishop Emeritus Deogracias Iñiguez Jr. also encouraged the Catholic congregation to pray and stand for the truth amid the abuses in the Duterte administration. “Neutrality is wickedness. To be Christian is to stand for and speak the truth,” Iñiguez said. Iñiguez backed Trillanes and criticized Duterte’s “attempt to strike a final death blow to dissent, democracy and to our nation’s moral fiber.” “Before us today is our Red Sea, made by the blood of the innocents and Lady Liberty. If we are made in the image and likeness of God, then we must inspire courage among each other, and with faith hold out our staff and part this sea of wickedness,” he said. n
California to run on 100% clean... PAGE A1 trucks — to zero by 2045. “There’s no understating the importance of this measure,” Brown said before signing the two bills. “SB 100 is sending a message to California and to the world that we’re going to meet the Paris [climate] agreement, and we’re going to continue to transition our economy to zerocarbon emissions and to have the resiliency and the sustainability that science tells us we must achieve.” Environmentalist groups and Democratic lawmakers applauded Brown’s approval of bills for establishing a climate change plan that revolutionizes the state’s impact on the environment for generations to come. “California has taken a bold step to address climate change and preserve our planet for future generations,” Fil-Am Assemblymember and Chair of the California Asian Pacific Islander (API) Legislative Caucus Rob Bonta said in a statement. “All 12 [API] Legislative Caucus members are proud to support this critical bill because it’s the right thing to do for ourselves and for our children and our children’s children.” According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the emission of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, traps heat closer to Earth. So as carbon levels increase, so does the planet’s overall temperature. But as human innovation ac-
celerated at the start of the Industrial Revolution in the 1700s, humans have been increasing the amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at an exponential rate. Carbon dioxide represents nearly 84 percent of all greenhouse gases emitted through human activity via burning fossil fuels for electricity and transportation. NASA reported that the levels of carbon dioxide surpassed 400 parts per million (ppm) in 2013; before the Industrial Revolution, the levels were at 270 ppm and by the 1960s, 313 ppm. NASA warns that if lawmakers don’t implement measures to drop the carbon levels to 350 ppm, and humans exhaust the planet’s natural resources, the effects of climate change will persist. Brown signed the measures days before hosting The Global Climate Action Summit, a meeting of 5,000 world leaders on climate change including government officials, business leaders and environmentalists in San Francisco. The highly anticipated summit and the approval of SB 100 come at the heels of President Donald Trump’s controversial decision last year to withdraw the United States’ involvement from the 2015 Paris climate accord, an agreement among nations to take action to prevent the globe’s temperature from increasing more than 2 degrees Celsius over levels before the Industrial
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FAILED IMPEACHMENT. Northern Samar First District Rep. Raul Daza (middle) in a huddle with Albay First District Rep. Edcel Lagman (right) and Akbayan Party-list Rep. Tom Villarin (left) during the deliberation on the consolidated complaints for impeachment against seven Associate Justices of the Supreme Court filed by Reps. Lagman, Teddy Brawner Baguilat Jr., and Gary Alejano, on Tuesday, September 11 at the Speaker Nograles Hall, Batasan Pambansa Complex in Quezon City. PNA photo by Joey Razon
US National Security Adviser: ICC is... PAGE A2 ruling, he said, was of “dubious legal merit.” Late last month, the Philippine government downplayed the potential impact of a new complaint filed with the ICC that called for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s indictment over alleged extrajudicial killings carried out since taking office. Philippine presidential spokes-
person Harry Roque described the new complaint as being “doomed” because the Philippines earlier this year announced its withdrawal from the ICC. Having joined the court in 2011 and thus becoming a signatory to the Rome Statute, the Philippines gave court prosecutors jurisdiction over alleged crimes done during its membership. ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda
announced in February that she would open up preliminary examinations into the government’s “war on drugs” campaign. In March, Duterte unilaterally withdrew from the Philippines from the tribunal, a move he said was “effective immediately.” Yet, the treaty states that withdrawals become effective a year after a country gives notice to the United Nations secretary-general. n
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PAGE A3 Revolution. “The Republican Party under Trump, and even before, is committed to deny and fight any effort to prevent the catastrophic horror of climate change,� Brown added. “First they deny it, then they doubted it, then they revile others who are trying to do something. Others being all the countries of the world. Earlier this year, the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Scott Pruitt furthered the Trump administration’s reversal of Obama-era environmental measures by imposing federal limits to states’ goals over carbon emission limits. On the national front, climate change has been a largely partisan topic with Democrats pushing to implement measures to lessen the human impact on the environment with Republicans hesitant to take action. Despite the Republican Party’s heated history with climate
change, and whether or not it believes it is scientifically-proven, moderate Republicans this year have been slowly rethinking the party’s stance on the issue. In July, Republican Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida introduced a carbon tax measure for companies and use those funds toward an infrastructure program. The measure was condemned by House Republicans who called the tax “detrimental� to the economy. (Klarize Medenilla/AJPress) n
Duterte discusses national issues...
WASTE PRODUCTS. Saying that they share the same goals for the community and environment, Senator Cynthia A. Villar, chair of the Senate agriculture and food committee, commends the Council members and residents of Barangay Holy Spirit for their efforts to make worthy producfs from wastes. She says that with everybody’s collaborated efforts for effective waste management to effectively achieve our zero-waste goal. Senate photo
Presidential photo by Toto Lozano
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PAGE A1 Palace officials told the media that the president will instead answer questions solely from his legal counsel. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. cleared out the official activities that were to transpire that afternoon, as reported by Inquirer. “Lilinawin ko lang po, matutuloy po ‘yung pina-planong tĂŞtĂŞa-tĂŞtĂŞ ni Presidente at ni Presidential Legal Counsel Panelo. Ang format po pala ay it will be a close-in event with PTV-4 and RTVM, but I believe that PCOO had previously asked for the questions of the media. So your questions will be asked for you by Presidential Legal Counsel Panelo (I would just like to clarify, the tĂŞtĂŞ-a-tĂŞtĂŞ of the president and Presidential Legal Counsel Panelo will still continue. The format will be a close-in event with PTV4 and RVTM),â€? Roque said. Duterte explained the government’s plans on a hodgepodge of issues, including the situation in Mindanao, inflation, the war on drugs, EDSA traffic, telecommunication players and the revocation of Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s amnesty. The leader said that there is a
significant decline in the crime rate ever since the southern region was put under a martial law rule. “It has lessened the criminality at large. The only way to confirm that is to conduct a survey. Maybe they can conduct an interview,� Duterte said. Amid the complaints of price surges in the country, as reflected from the recent inflation rate data released by the Philippine Statistics Agency (PSA), Duterte assured the public that the economic managers are on top of it and that instances like this can be deemed as normal. “Shortages [are] always there. The economic life is not always a bed of roses,� Duterte said. The tough-talking leader did not spare the uniformed personnel when Panelo asked him regarding the war on drugs that his administration has adamantly focused on. He warned all the police officials that they might meet their doom if they continue with the drug trade. “Meron ditong mga pulis na nasa droga talaga. Kapag andiyan ka sa droga ikaw ang mauuna (There are police here involved in drugs, if you are in-
volved in drugs, you are first to die),� Duterte warned. Duterte assured the public that he will fulfill the promises he made during his campaign. “I am trying to govern the way I promised. Sinabi ko sa inyo na I will fight corruption. Wala akong pinatawad dito (I told you I will fight corruption. I never forgave anybody about this),� Duterte said. He denied any accusations that he is involved with corruption. He even noted that his salary would go straight to the Land Bank of the Philippines and that he would not receive any extra. “Sinabi ko sa inyo na di ako makialam sa transaksyon sa gobyerno. It begins and ends with the cabinet member. Wala akong extra perks. Nagtatrabaho lang po ako (I told you that I will never interfere with the government transactions. I don’t have extra perks. I am just doing my job),� Duterte noted. He added, “Nagpatay ako nang maraming kriminal, alangan naman pulis ko o sundalo ko ang mamatay (I ordered to kill many criminals, it’s better than having my police and soldiers killed).� n
Xyza Cruz Bacani
Jam Acuzar
Paul V. Rivera
time.� Xyza Cruz Bacani The 31-year-old Filipina street and documentary photographer has been featured in the New York Times, Lens Blog and CNN for her work on migrants workers rights and forced labor and human trafficking from the perspective of individual stories. Her mission to document such underreported human rights stories was borne from 10 years as a domestic worker in Hong Kong. Born in She saw first-hand the injustices and abuses migrant workers face around the world and, through her photography, shed light on these issues to the world. Bacani has been named on several “30 under 30� lists from Forbes and photography organizations as well as a position as one of the BBC’s 100 women of the World 2015. The Nueva Vizcaya native has also exhibited her work worldwide and received awards for her excellence in photography as well as her backstory that provided inspiration for her to tell the stories of oppressed migrant workers and trafficking victims around the world. “Leadership is doing what is right, even when there is no one
looking,� Bacani said in the press release. “Leadership encourages us to dream, to maximize our potential, and to prove that all dreams are valid.� Jam Acuzar A dedicated patron of the arts and savvy business woman, Acuzar, 28, is the founder and director of Bellas Artes Projects (BAP), a non-profit foundation in the Philippines that curates interactive contemporary art exhibitions in Manila and Bataan. When she was 18 years old, she moved to Paris to study at the American University campus there, and although she spoke no French, she immersed herself in the worlds of fashion and art and worked for prestigious companies like Conde Nast International and Sotheby’s. Acuzar was inspired to become a curator of the arts because of her father’s project, Las Casas Filipinas De Acuzar, which restores Spanish colonial structures. In 2013, she established BAP as an artist residency programme in 2013 to give Filipino artists a platform to showcase their creativity. In five years, the organization has expanded to focus on artist PAGE A5
Meet the three Pinoys named on the 2018 “Asia 21 Young Leaders� list
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THREE young Filipino professionals were selected for the 2018 class of the Asia Society “Asia 21 Young Leaders Program,� joining other young Asian Pacific Islander (API) leaders for the 13th Annual Young Leaders Summit in Manila this November. The program brings together leading figures in government, business, the arts, media and activism under the age of 40 to establish concrete solutions to global and local problems. The Asia Society group will be a part of a global network of 900 professionals from 40 different nations that will convene in Manila to collaborate and strategize meaningful ways to make a positive impact on a number of issues. “These young change-makers are already reshaping the most dynamic region on earth,� Asia Society President and CEO Josette Sheeran said in a press release. “They are a remarkable and truly diverse group --- and Asia 21 provides a platform for these young leaders as they tackle the most vexing challenges in the region, one connection at a
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Meet the three Pinoys named on...
PAGE A4 residencies and workshops and has also partnered up with art institutions like Museum of Contemporary Art and Design and other galleries and artists around the globe. As a leader in the Philippine arts world, Acuzar told the Philippine Tatler that she is proud of Filipino culture because “we have such a great multi layered and complex culture. I can’t wait to discover more and help create other cultural interdisciplinary links with the incredible content we have in the Philippines.” Paul V. Rivera As co-founder and CEO of the technology start-up company
Kalibrr, the 29-year-old entrepreneur worked for Google before a friend propositioned him to cofound a call center with him in the Philippines. After he left Google in 2007, Rivera started his own business processing outsourcing (BPO) company called Open Access BPO which served startups in Silicon Valley like Mint.com. He grew Open Access into a 300employee company, but then realized another world problem that needed to be addressed: help find people jobs and help companies find the best talent. In that need, he co-founded Kalibrr, which strategically provides talent acquisition solutions
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to the top 1,000 companies in the Philippines and Indonesia with a focus to solve recruitment and underemployment problems; Rivera plans to expand Kalibrr to other countries like India in the future. “My vision is to create a LinkedIn for emerging markets and help people get their first jobs,” Rivera told YourStory in 2013. “We want to grow fast in the Philippines, then set up base in India, and then going into other fast emerging markets where there is an acute need for freshers. We want to become a two-sided platform where job seekers come to train themselves, and companies come to hire the best talent.” ■
Nietes vs Palicte fight ends in questionable split draw
NO TO BULLYING. Children check the entries to the Anti-Bullying Poster and Slogan Exhibit at the lobby of the Infant Jesus Academy in Antipolo City, Rizal on Saturday, September 8. The school observed Anti-Bullying Week on September 3-7. PNA photo by Joey O. Razon
THE older and smaller Donnie ‘Ahas’ Nietes used his boxing craftiness to break down Aston Palicte who was on survival mode in the last round during their World Boxing Organization (WBO) championship fight on Saturday, September 8, at The Forum in Inglewood, California on ‘Superfly 3’ televised on HBO. However the scores of the judges told a different story as Robert Hoyle had it 116 to 112 for Palicte while Daniel Sandoval had it 118 to 110 for Nietes. The third judge Max de Luca saw it 114-114 draw to end up with neither Filipino boxer get to hold the WBO world super flyweight crown. Philboxing had it 117 to 111 for Nietes. HBO unofficial judge Harold Lederman also had it 117 to 111 for Nietes. Palicte (24-2-1, 20KOs) used his longer reach and power punches to try to impose his
‘Philippines with most activists killed outside Americas’ by ARTEMIO
DUMLAO Philstar.com
Photos by Jhay Otamias
will on the smaller Nietes (41-15, 23KOs) but the wily veteran used subtle moves to continuously land clean shots against Palicte. Compubox numbers had Nietes ahead on the punch stats. Nietes landed 194 of 523 total punches (37 percent) while
Palicte connected on 124 of 830 total punches (15 percent). The WBO broadcast panel of Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman and Andre Ward saw Nietes clearly won the fight commenting that “it was really a bad decision” against Nietes. (Dong Secuya/Philboxing.com)
THE Philippines was tagged by Ireland-based human rights group Front Line Defenders (FLD) with having the highest number of killings of activists along with Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. In its 2017 report titled “Stop the Killings” released this week, the FLD said the six countries accounted for more than 80 percent of killings of human rights defenders. The report said at least 60 activists were killed in the Philippines last year. Extrajudicial killings remain the top threat facing human
rights defenders in the country, according to the report. The FLD, which probes attacks on activists in six countries, documented more than 1,000 killings since 2014. The group said at least 474 human rights activists were slain during the Arroyo presidency from 2001 to 2010 and 139 during the term of former president Benigno Aquino III from 2010 to 2016. The FLD also reported that 300 rights activists were killed in 27 countries in 2017. The fatalities were defenders of the environment and indigenous people’s rights, especially in remote areas with little access to protection, documentation, reporting and
justice. Only 12 percent of murders were resolved with the arrest of the suspects, according to the FLD. “In these countries where death tolls increased, corruption and collusion between states and businesses have resulted in a political system designed to keep the elites on top and the disenfranchised silent,” said Jim Loughran, head of the FLD’s Human Rights Defenders project. “For decades, the governments of Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the Philippines have been using the same excuses to justify their inactions – terrorism, organized crime and drug gangs,” he added. ■
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Administration destabilizing itself – LP senators by Paolo
roMero Philstar
MANILA — The Duterte administration is the one destabilizing itself by its failure to stem the rising prices of basic commodities and ensure a stable supply of rice while flouting the rule of law, Sen. Francis Pangilinan said Tuesday, September 11. “The opposition does not have to do anything. On its own, either by its incompetence or corruption, the government is doing a good job of destabilizing itself,” he declared. Pangilinan, Liberal Party president, described Duterte’s accusation of the opposition causing destabilization as “downright false” and “ridiculous,” adding that his party is committed to adhering to constitutional processes in pushing for its advocacies and does not believe that ousting the country’s leaders would address urgent problems. “We already ousted presidents twice. If that was the solution to our problems, we should be a first world country by now,” he pointed out. The lawmaker stressed that all Malacañang has to do to address the current inflation woes is to listen to its own allies who, like the opposition, are calling for the resignation of officials of the Department of Agriculture and the National Food Authority for causing the rice crisis. He added that instead of throwing baseless accusations at
Philstar.com photo
LP and the opposition, the government should listen to the cry of the people and focus on rising prices of goods and lack of jobs that would sufficiently provide for the average Filipino family. Vice President Leni Robredo also debunked Duterte’s accusation that the LP, which she chairs, is part of an alleged plot to oust him. “We have no connection with the Communist Party of the Philippines, we don’t have any kind of conversation with them. We know the role of the CPP in our society—they exist independently of any political party. We have different beliefs,” Robredo said. Duterte’s accusations came after LP officials, including Robredo, expressed their support for Trillanes, whose amnesty was nullified by the President through Proclamation 572 signed on Aug. 31. Robredo maintained the revo-
cation of Trillanes’ amnesty “is clearly an attempt to silence the opposition.” “For me, whoever is the victim of abuse of power, we are one with him,” said Robredo who visited Trillanes last Thursday, September 6 at the Senate, where he has been staying after the proclamation was issued. The president in a speech in Davao on Saturday, September 8 said a supposed oust Duterte movement “will go into a high gear” next month. Robredo lamented that the LP had been the usual whipping boy of the administration to deflect the blame for its “incompetencies.” “It’s like blaming U.S. President Donald Trump for the weakening economy. The Liberal Party is always the one to blame for all the shortcomings of this administration. I think this is not right,” she said. n
GIFT FROM CHINA. Senate President Vicente Sotto III (2nd from left) receives a token from Ji Bingxuan (left), Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), People’s Republic of China, during a courtesy call at the Senate, Monday, September 10. Senate photo by Joseph Vidal
House panel junks impeach raps vs De Castro, other SC justices for lack of substance by Gaea
Katreena Philstar.com
CabiCo
MANILA — The House of Representatives justice committee on Tuesday, September 11 shot down the consolidated impeachment complaints filed against Chief Justice Teresita de Castro and six other Supreme Court jus-
tices. This, after the panel chaired by Rep. Doy Leachon (Oriental Mindoro) found that the impeachment complaints against the seven high court justices who voted to oust Maria Lourdes Sereno via quo warranto were insufficient in substance. A total of 23 lawmakers in the justice committee voted that the consolidated complaints against the seven justices lack substance. Only Ramon Rocamora (Siquijor) voted that the complaint was sufficient in substance. Last week, the committee voted that the complaints were sufficient in form. Opposition lawmakers Reps. Edcel Lagman (Albay), Gary Alejano (Magdalo party-list) and Teddy Baguilat Jr. (Ifugao) accused De Castro, Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta, Lucas Bersamin, Francis Jardeleza, Noel Tijam, Andres Reyes Jr. and Alexander Gesmundo of committing culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust. “As justices of the high court, they are fully aware that impeachment is the only mode provided
in the Constitution to oust impeachable officials like the chief justice,” Lagman said. Rep. Jess Manalo (ANGKLA party-list) said that lawmakers are “not in the position to judge and impeach people for deciding what they considered is right.” Reps. Henry Oaminal (Misamis Occidental) and Ron Salo (Kabayan party-list) said the justices only performed their constitutional duty. Rep. Rodante Marcoleta (SAGIP party-list), for his part, criticized the complainants for their supposed “opinionated, selective recital of facts.” In his rebuttal, Lagman stressed that they are not asking the Supreme Court to reverse its decision to remove Sereno via quo warranto. He, however, insisted that the May 11 ruling was “malicious, capricious and conspiratorial.” He also urged the members of the justice panel to “reclaim the power of the House of Representatives, which has been arrogated by the Supreme Court” when they ruled to oust Sereno through quo warranto.n
Russia offers joint project for AK rifles factory in Philippines by MiChael
PunonGbayan Pia lee-braGo Philstar.com
MANILA — As bilateral ties become warmer, Russia believes it is time for the Philippines to “diversify” defense and other forms of cooperation with other countries, without damaging its traditional alliances. As part of a blossoming “partnership,” Russia is proposing, among others, a joint project with the Philippines for the production of assault rifles, including Kalashnikovs, in this country. “Last year… we proposed organizing a joint production facility here, to jointly produce Russian assault rifles,” Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev told “The Chiefs” recently on Cignal TV’s One News channel. Khovaev, however, said there has been no response so far from the Philippine government. He stressed that Russia’s proffered hand of partnership has no “hidden agenda” or political strings attached. “Russia has experience of supplying arms and military weapons to Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, so it’s time to be open-minded. It’s time to diversify. Diversify cooperation with no damage to your traditionally close relationship with the some other allies,” Khovaev said, The Kalashnikov range of assault rifles includes the AK-47 – Avtomat Kalasknikov or Ka-
lashnikov’s Automatic Rifle, arguably the most widely used of its kind in the world. Developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov, the AK47 was first used by Soviet forces in 1949. Kalashnikov also produces shotguns, rifles, pistols and ammunition. Asked about the status of his proposal, Khovaev replied, “I hope it’s still under consideration.” The proposal is likely to be blocked by the United States, with which the Philippines has a defense alliance. Last month, during a visit to Manila, Randall Schriver, U.S. assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs, cautioned Manila against buying military hardware from U.S. rival Russia. Schriver issued the statement as Philippine defense officials were reportedly considering the acquisition of a submarine from Russia. President Duterte slammed Schriver’s statement, saying, “Is that the way you treat an ally?… You want us to stay with you for all time? Who are you to warn us?” Reacting to Schriver’s warning, Khovaev emphasized that the US and other traditional allies of the Philippines should not interfere in the bilateral cooperation between Manila and Moscow and the choices made by the two countries, including defense cooperation and acquisition of arms and weapons. n
PH to have 3rd telco in December – Duterte
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, September 11, said the Philippines would have its third major telecommunications player in December, as he vowed to select the offer of the bidder with the “best track record.” Duterte made the statement as he expressed frustration over the delays in the government’s selection of the country’s third major telecommunications player. “Late, early November, pag wala pa (if there’s no decision yet), I’ll take over. Ilagay ko iyan sa Office of the President. And I will invite all the businessmen and I will decide in front of them kung sino (who it will be),” Duterte said during a televised interview with Chief Presidential
Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo. “I will resolve it by late October or early November. By Christmas, alam na ng mga tao kung sino na ang (the people will know the) third player,” he added. Last month, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) said it aims to finish the selection process before the end of the year. This was after missing its initial target of making an announcement before Duterte’s State of the Nation Address in July as the terms of reference for the selection process has yet to be finalized. Duterte, who said he would place the selection process un-
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ASEAN police alarmed by Philippines war on drugs by CECILE
SUERTE Philstar.com
FELIPE
MANILA — Some members of the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations Police (ASEANAPOL) expressed apprehension that international drug cartels displaced by the massive crackdown in the Philippines might relocate to neighboring countries to continue operations. Director General Oscar Albayalde, Philippine National Police chief, said there was wide recognition by ASEANAPOL members of the anti-drug campaign being waged by the PNP since President Duterte assumed office in 2016. Albayalde, who led the PNP delegation to the three-day 38th ASEANAPOL Conference hosted by the Royal Brunei Police Force in Bandar Seri Begawan, noted that the apprehensions were raised during the conference. He reported that there had been no industrial-scale manufacturing of amphetamine-based illegal drugs in the Philippines recently and attributed this to the hardline stance of the Philip-
pine government against illegal drugs. The PNP’s ASEANAPOL counterparts, he added, are all committed to continuing cooperation on regional and domestic security issues that were high on the agenda of the conference. Also discussed during the conference were crimes involving intellectual property rights infringement; fraudulent travel documents; cybercrime; commercial crimes like money laundering, bank offenses and credit card fraud; maritime and crossborder crime; wildlife crime; trafficking in persons; arms smuggling; illicit drug trafficking and terrorism. The group also tackled the continuing cooperation for the ASEAN police forensic science network, mutual assistance on criminal matters and the database system. Although ASEANAPOL members were concerned about illegal drugs, Albayalde said terrorism remains a major concern among ASEAN countries. “Terrorism remains on top of the security concerns of national police forces in the ASEAN and
we share with them the same energy and will to respond forcefully to this global problem,” Albayalde added. The PNP delegation also presented the Philippines’ country paper on terrorism, wherein the PNP recognized the significant contribution of international initiatives and cooperation in addressing terrorism. Against the backdrop of the five-month siege of Marawi City in 2017, Albayalde said the PNP recognized the close coordination between the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia through the police attachés that helped in the identification, accounting and neutralization of foreign terrorist fighters who took part in the siege and are still staying in southern Philippines. “Since the start of 2018, no cross-border incident has taken place as a result of existing mechanisms of cooperation between Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia in relation to safeguarding our maritime tri-boundary through joint and coordinated patrols in the Sulu, North Sulawesi and Celebes Seas,” the police chief added. ■
House gives final approval to TRAIN 2 bill by DELON
PORCALLA Philstar.com
MANILA — Voting 187-14 with three abstentions, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading Tuesday, September 11 the second phase of the controversial Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law despite skyrocketing prices of practically all commodities. House Bill 8083, which was renamed Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High-quality Opportunities (TRABAHO) bill, is the second package of the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program that aims to generate funds for the government’s Build, Build, Build project. The seven-man Makabayan militant bloc and the so-called “Magnificent 7” have vigorously opposed the measure, which is being pushed by the economic managers of President Duterte as the administration embarks on an ambitious and massive infrastructure program. Among those who abstained were Reps. Manuel Zubiri, Arnolfo Teves and Teddy Baguilat. The 14 who voted “no” were Reps. Miro Quimbo, Carlos Isa-
gani Zarate, Tom Villarin, Edcel Lagman, Sarah Jane Elago, Ariel Casilao, Arlene Brosas, Gabriel Bordado, Jose Christopher Belmonte, Jorge Banal, Lito Atienza, France Castro, Raul Daza and Gary Alejano. The priority measure seeks to encourage investments by bringing down the corporate income tax rate from 30 percent to 20 percent, and modernize investment tax incentives to enhance fairness, improve competitiveness, plug tax leakages and attain fiscal sustainability. Authored by Quirino Rep. Dakila Cua, chairman of the House committee on ways and means, the bill also aims to ensure that the grant of fiscal incentives helps bring in the greatest benefits, such as higher and more dispersed investments, more jobs and better technology. Cua and Nueva Ecija Rep. Estrellita Suansing sponsored the measure at the House plenary. The bill seeks to reduce the current 30 percent corporate income tax rate with the following timetable: 28 percent in 2021; 26 percent in 2023; 24 percent in 2025; 22 percent in 2027; 20 percent in 2029. It also proposes to grant fiscal
incentives to registered activities of exporters and industries listed in the Strategic Investments Priority Plan. It provides subsidies through school and housing vouchers and allocates funding for universal health care. Cua said the TRABAHO bill is a product of six hearings of his committee, one technical working group and numerous meetings with private sector participation. He assured the public that the proposal will not impose additional tax on consumer goods. “The objective of the TRABAHO bill is to create more jobs and opportunities for our country through encouragement of the private sector to invest and grow their businesses here,” the House official assured. Cua likewise maintained that lowering the corporate income tax will provide a big relief to the country’s small and medium enterprises that comprise about 95 percent of all corporate taxpayers in the country. Cua said the country’s 30-percent corporate income tax is too high compared with those of the Philippines’ neighbors in Asia, like the 20-percent rate of Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam and the 17-percent rate of Singapore. ■
MOU ON FEDERALISM ADVOCACY. Special Assistant to Senator Francis Escudero (from left) Jonathan E. Malaya; Eduardo M. Año, OIC-Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG); Philippine Councilors League National President Luis “Chavit” Singson; and PCL National Chairman Danny Dayanghirang show the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Federalism Advocacy Partnership between Philippine Councilors League (PCL) and DILG held at DILG-Napolcom Center Building, EDSA cor. Quezon Ave. Quezon City on Tuesday, September 11. PNA photo by Jess M. Escaros Jr.
PH to have 3rd telco in December...
PAGE A6 der the Office of the President if he was forced to take, elaborated on how he would make the decision on the third telco player. “Give me your position papers. I’ll read it, give me about 30 minutes then I’ll come back and tell them. I will decide. ‘Yun na at ibi-
gay na ‘yung linya (That’s it and the line will be given),” he said. Duterte earlier called for the entry of a new telco player in a bid to improve the service being provided by current players. PLDT and Globe Telecom continue to dominate the industry after San Miguel Corp sold its
telecommunications assets to the two firms in May 2016. The third player must secure a congressional franchise and be able to spend at least P500 billion over five years, said Eliseo Rio, DICT officer-in-charge. (Catherine Valente/ManilaTimes. net) ■
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OPINION
Everything but the TRAIN
FEATURES
WITH inflation hitting a nine-year high, the peso falling to a record low and share prices tumbling, which factors are being blamed by the administration? Malacañang points to strong demand — an explanation that also psyches the people to even higher prices ahead with the start of the Christmas season. Meanwhile, President Duterte, returning to the country from visits to Israel and Jordan, blamed the tariffs imposed by his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump amid a trade war with China. Washington has been silent on the statement of President Duterte. But his own finance chief had earlier said the Philippines was “sort of insulated” from the impact of the U.S.-China trade war. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. also attributed the inflation surge to “food supply shocks” as the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that food and nonalcoholic beverages accounted for the largest component of the inflation rate hike. Economic managers have blamed everything except the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion, which slapped a hefty excise tax on fuel, raising transport and electricity costs. The fuel tax under TRAIN was compounded by rising
world crude prices and the weakening peso. Instead of considering suggestions from lawmakers and even other economists from outside the government to suspend at least certain provisions of the TRAIN law, however, the government is pushing Congress to pass the second phase of tax reforms or TRAIN 2, now with the new acronym TRABAHO or jobs, for Tax Reform for Attracting Better and High Quality Opportunities. The government has been warned about possible business shutdowns and consequent job losses due to TRABAHO, but so far, the administration is standing firm not just on TRAIN 2 but also on not touching a single provision of the first phase of TRAIN. Filipino consumers are being run over by the inflation train. This is more destabilizing than any political maneuvering, real or imagined, against the government. (Philstar.com)
Editorial
Philstar.com photo
Admiral John McCain and the unprecedented PH Dollar Remittance Program PeaceMaker FORMER SPEAKER JOSE C. DE VENECIA, JR. (Part 1 of 3)
WE were out of town on speaking engagements and attending meetings in the Middle East, South Asia, and last week in Seoul when the bemedalled and popular U.S. Senator John McCain, although unable to make it twice to the U.S. presidency, passed away from cancer, and was the object of unprecedented week-long ceremonies in Washington, D.C. fit for a genuine national hero. His plane was shot down over Hanoi at the height of the Vietnam War and languished in prison for some five years, refusing to be freed, on account of his being the son of U.S. military commander while other American prisoners would remain in Hanoi. Once we briefly met him with a handshake in the U.S. Senate with other U.S. Senators and we promised to call on him next time and purposely to lobby for Filipino Veterans Claims pending legislation in the U.S. Congress and to inform him of our close friendship with his late father, Admiral John
Commentary
RIGOBERTO TIGLAO IN their wishful but deluded thinking that the inflation spike and the Trillanes brouhaha will be bringing down President Duterte soon, the Yellows can’t even pick a slogan that won’t hint at their lunacy. Melito Salazar, a Board of Investments vice chairman during the Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos administrations, very surprisingly titled his column “The end is near.” There he claimed that the Duterte administration was now in “economic and political chaos” that marks the end of any regime. Vicente Romano 3rd, President Noynoy Aquino’s fivemonth tourism undersecretary who nearly got the country to plagiarize the Poland tourism slogan (and even logo), echoed Salazar’s take: “You know the end is near when… the economy is in a free fall. Prices of commodities are hitting the roof, beyond the reach of the
McCain, Commander of the U.S Pacific Fleet, with headquarters in Honolulu, and his mother, now the 105-year-old Roberta. His father played an important role in the historic dollar remittance and official conversion program which we designed, initiated and pushed up to completion, and which killed the dollar black market and dramatically helped enlarge the Philippine foreign exchange reserves to what it is today at roughly 80 billion U.S. dollars, along with more dollars earned by Philippine exports. (After his retirement, Admiral McCain briefly joined the Board of our public company, Landoil and its subsidiary Philippine-Singapore Ports Corporation). We were a 31-year-old minister and economic counselor in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) during the Vietnam War. In Saigon, we, the small team of diplomats and staff, were receiving from the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs our monthly salaries in dollardenominated checks, which invariably were exchanged at the black market for local Vietnamese currency to pay for our monthly housing rental and costs of living in Vietnam. It was well known throughout Asia and in most capitals worldwide, that the black markets in foreign exchange were
rampant. At home at the time, the official peso-dollar exchange rate was at two pesos to one dollar but the black market was almost double and continued to deteriorate, and was everywhere, from the Escolta, then Manila’s main shopping area, to Subic Naval Base in Zambales, Clark Air Base in Pampanga, Sangley Point Naval Station in Cavite, Baguio which housed the U.S.managed Camp John Hay, and Camp Wallace, in coastal San Fernando, La Union, also under U.S. operation. At the time, if our memory serves us right, the total Philippine foreign exchange (dollar) reserves was hovering in the vicinity of $400-million, less than a billion, a miniscule, compared to our approximate foreign exchange reserves today of some $80-billion, including our intake from largely overseas labor remittances of some $25-billion to $30-billion a year. From our diplomatic post in Saigon, we boldly proposed to the home government in 1966-67 that to throttle and eventually wipe out the black market in foreign exchange in the Philippines and elsewhere, and to dramatically and rapidly enlarge Philippine dollar reserves, that all U.S. military expenditures in the Philippines be officially exchanged
at the Philippine Central bank at the official rate, to cover all U.S. expenditures in operating Clark, Subic, Sangley Point, Camp John Hay, Wallace Field, the peso requirements of the U.S. Embassy in Manila and other U.S. consulates and offices in the country. Appealing to the Americans to support our plan, we turned Saigon into our operating center from where we flew to U.S. military bases across Southeast Asia and the Pacific, in between trips to Manila. For a number of these journeys, from Wake Island to Guam to Okinawa, we were permitted occasional rides in U.S. transport planes by Admiral John S. McCain Jr., father of the late Senator John McCain, and son of Admiral John Sidney McCain Sr., who commanded the Fast Carrier Task Force during the critical amphibious operations in the Pacific Theater in 1944-45 that led to the U.S. victory over Japan. We developed a close bond with the Admiral McCain Jr., then commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific Command based in Hawaii that had operational control of U.S. military bases in the Philippines. Once, while we were in Hawaii, we had a revealing conversation with the Admiral at the U.S. Navy headquarters at Pearl Harbor. The Admiral ex-
pressed the deep anguish he had felt every day as he made combat decisions while his son was being held as a prisoner of war in the Hanoi Hilton. We remembered the senior McCain worrying that his command decisions could cause harm to his son. He told us how difficult it was to separate his duties as a commander and his feelings as a father. The Admiral was worried that every attack on the enemy that he approved would cause his son to be mistreated or even executed in retaliation. In hindsight, his concerns were justified. The Admiral’s son, the late Senator John McCain, suffered torture in North Vietnam. He was captured after his plane was shot down on October 26, 1967, and not released until March 14, 1973, when he was flown to Clark Air Base in the Philippines for medical care. This paternal purgatory lasted for five years. Admiral McCain became Pacific Commander in July 1968 and stayed in the post until 1972. From Guam and Wake Island to Hawaii and Okinawa, we, as chairman of the Presidential Committee on Dollar Remittances, flew across the Pacific to drum up support for the dollar remittance proposal, and occasionally Admiral McCain would let us fly on U.S. military
aircraft for these trips. Sometimes we would go island-hopping to the Filipino communities in the U.S. bases with our team, co-chairman Labor Undersecretary Raoul Inocentes, Central Bank Foreign Exchange Director Alfredo Antiporda, and Philippine National Bank (PNB) officials Isidro Villanos and Pastor Alvarado, who were under PNB President Roberto Benedicto. Without the generous and essential support from the Admiral at this key stage of development of the dollar-remittance program, the eventual success it enjoyed would not have occurred. To this day, the Philippines owes a debt of gratitude to Admiral McCain, as do we. Thus did the dollar-remittance program go into motion with little fanfare, and with the splendid results the like of which we had not anticipated. A new social phenomenon had arrived as well. The overseas job market was beginning its rapid expansion by then, led by some of the brightest, most skilled, and ablest Filipinos, who left to work abroad with lucrative work contracts. This was a wholly new phenomenon – the mass export of skilled labor, the nation’s greatest resource – and its benefits were enormous. (To be continued next week)
Yellows like lunatics now shrieking: ‘The end is near’ poor. And nobody seems in charge on how to contain the problem.” That “the-end-is-near” line of course is an old, old line used in so many caricatures of religious nuts wearing sack cloth shouting (with placards even): “Repent, the end is near.” So, it is befitting that these Yellows should be using this cliché. Either he is a closet Yellow cultist, or a political opportunist with a lousy sense of timing (or just dull-witted analyst), but Senator Ralph Recto in the opening prayer of the Senate session the other day — for chrissake, in a prayer! — also portrayed the country as already in economic collapse, saying that “food is scarce, their prices high” and that “inflation is robbing our people of the full value of their wages.” Inflation is indeed high at 6.4 percent year on year in August. That means prices went up 6.4 percent from August 2017 to August 2018, not as some Yellows are stupidly claiming, that prices went up from July 2018 to August 2018. That means
your P100 in August last year can buy only P94 worth of goods in August 2018. There were unique factors that pushed up the rate in August. Mainly three: the uptick in global oil prices which — in our very market-oriented oil industry — had to be reflected in higher prices for fuel (and therefore transport); the fact that June to August is the lean season in agricultural production, with harvests, especially for rice, still to come in two months’ time; and production and distribution disruptions due to typhoons. The National Food Authority in its programming apparently didn’t take into account the Duterte administration’s clampdown on rice smuggling, which was rampant during the past administration, which explains the low inflation rates at that time. Take it from a business and economic journalist these past many years. The 6.4 percent August inflation is a spike, and will go away. More importantly, the country has been through worse bouts of inflation in the
past 40 years, and our institutions, mainly the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, whose main job precisely involves this, have learned to contain inflation, quickly and easily. In 2008, the worst global recession after the 1929 Great Depression hit the planet, translating into a 12.4 percent inflation rate in September that year. By the end of the year though, this was contained — to the credit of President Gloria Arroyo’s P330-billion Economic Resiliency Plan —so that the whole-year rate was at 8.3 percent, with the momentum price deflation continuing into the next three years. There were similar such spikes in 2001, 1994, 1998, and 1971 — the latter even a perfect storm of sorts as there was both an economic crisis (triggered by OPEC’s oil embargo) and a political crisis (Plaza Miranda bombing, a violent national election, mass unrest. Would you believe, the inflation rate in 1971 was 21 percent and in 1974, 41 percent, yet Marcos continued to consolidate his one-man rule
throughout that decade? The worst surge of inflation was in 1984 when it hit 63 percent in September that year. This was another politico-economic storm. The worldwide debt crisis broke out in 1981, we defaulted on our loans in 1983 that imports nearly ground to a halt, and then there was political volatility after Ninoy Aquino’s assassination in 1983. Guess what, the Marcos government still managed to bring the rate down to 12 percent in September 1985 and 6 percent at the end of 1985. Amid the January snap elections, the daily anti-Marcos demonstrations, rumors of a coup, the inflation rate was just 4 percent in January 1986, right before the February 1986 revolt. (Which belies the notion that an economic crisis triggered EDSA.) Guys, we’re not Venezuela, which is situated in a continent that for some reason has been so prone to hyper-inflation since before World War 2. The 1983 and 2008 global debt crises have so strengthened our
financial and monetary system that this very easily responds to moves to contain inflation. It’s a characteristic mark of the Yellows to have very limited phraseology (or erudition) that they use only tired clichés as this recent “The end is near,” “Never Again” (the Jewish cry against the Holocaust), and of course “Daang Matuwid“(“Straight Path,” a reference to Islam). In her exertions to claim that the military will go to the aid of Trillanes, a Rappler writer who’s in a time warp in the 1980s, thinking that she is still covering Gringo Honasan and his dashing comrades in the Cory regime (and not the megalomaniacTrillanes) titled her piece, “Don’t mess with the military.” She’s forgotten that that cliché had evolved into a comedic line, after the boxoffice comedy movie, “Don’t Mess with the Zohar,” where Adam Sandler played the hilarious anti-hero. So appropriate to use that line. Trillanes is more hilarious now than Sandler. (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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Foreign investments jump 42% in first half of 2018 by Jess
Diaz Philstar.com
FOREIGN direct investments (FDI) continued to flow into the country on the back of strong macroconomic fundamentals and growth prospects, rising by more than 42 percent to $5.75 billion in the first half from $4.04 billion a year ago, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The inflows from January to June already accounted for more than half of the full-year FDI inflow target of $9.2 billion set by the BSP. “The continued inflows of FDI indicate investor confidence in the Philippine economy on the back of strong macroeconomic fundamentals and growth prospects,” the central bank said. “Our solid macroeconomic fundamentals and growth prospects are attested to by continued favorable investor sentiment. Foreign direct investments continue to grow. Sovereign credit ratings remain favorable,” BSP Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said earlier. In particular, Espenilla said the
File photo by Philstar.com
FDI-to-gross domestic product ratio improved to 3.2 percent in 2017 from 1.6 percent in 2005. “Notwithstanding global and domestic challenges, the Philippine economy has cemented its resilience and has built buffers over the years,” he added. Net equity capital investments amounted to $1.58 billion in the first half, almost eight times the $201 million recorded in the same period last year. Equity placements by investors from Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Japan, and the U.S. amounted to $1.75 billion from January to June, more than three times the $508 million recorded
in the same period last year, while withdrawals fell by 47 percent to $163 million from $307 million. The inflows went to manufacturing, financial, and insurance; real estate; arts, entertainment, and recreation; as well as electricity, gas, steam, and airconditioning supply activities. Meanwhile, reinvestment of earnings remained steady at $420 million, while investments in debt instruments increased by 9.6 percent to $3.75 billion from $3.42 billion. For June alone, the BSP said FDI inflows rose by 9.2 percent to $831 million from $761 million in the same month last year. “This was largely on account of non-residents’ net equity capital investments of $184 million during the month, which was a turnaround from the $67 million net withdrawals in June 2017,” it said. The BSP traced the improvement in net equity capital investments to the 83.6 percent expansion in gross placements of equity capital to $208 million, which more than offset withdrawals of $24 million. n
Peso fall prompts BSP to act vs speculators by Daxim
L. Lucas Inquirer.nett
THE peso again fell to its lowest level in almost 13 years in intraday trading on Friday, September 7, but recovered to end stronger on the back of what bankers described as Central Bank intervention in the foreign exchange market. The local currency sank to as low as P53.975 to the dollar in afternoon trading, but closed at P53.73:$1, stronger than the P53.80 level of the previous day. Trading volume was heavy with $956.9 million changing hands during the day. As this developed, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said regulators will take “all actions necessary” against “speculative activity by market participants” who have pushed the currency down in recent weeks. The BSP also unveiled a dollar hedging mechanism introduced during the 1997 East Asian fi-
nancial crisis in a bid to cushion the peso’s precipitous drop. The mechanism was used heavily during the financial markets turmoil in the lead up to former President Joseph Estrada’s resignation in 2001. No rush Espenilla said the Currency Risk Protection Program (CRPP) would be made available to eligible corporations with foreign exchange obligations based on more liberalized rules. With this scheme, regulators hope that big corporations with future dollar needs will not rush to buy them early, thus aggravating the peso’s weakness. The CRPP is a nondeliverable forward hedging facility which is aimed at alleviating demand pressures in the foreign exchange spot market from borrowers seeking to hedge their future foreign exchange exposures. Under the facility, parties agree that, on maturity of the forward contract, only the net
difference between the contracted forward rate and the spot rate shall be settled in pesos. The BSP will make the CRPP available to eligible borrowers through the commercial banks. Record inflation Espenilla said the BSP would take “strong immediate action using the full range of instruments in its toolkit” to respond to emerging threats of inflation and inflation expectations. The regulators’ move to buttress the peso is also meant to address the country’s recordhigh inflation rate of 6.4 percent in August, as a weak currency pushes up the cost of imported goods, including petroleum. “The follow-through actions will also address the other threats (resulting in) higher inflation, such as excessive exchange rate volatility not consistent with underlying macroeconomic fundamentals, to ensure that inflation returns to its 2 to 4 percent target over the policy horizon,” Espenilla said. n
DIVING, MORE FUN IN PH. Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat (2nd from right) and Undersecretary Benito Bengzon Jr. (3rd from right) visit the photo gallery of the Diving Resort Travel Show 2018 at the SM Megamall Megatrade Hall, Mandaluyong City on Saturday, September 8. The Department of Tourism is currently marketing the Philippines as an ideal diving hub in Asia. PNA photo by Gil Calinga
A10 SEPTEMBER 14-20, 2018
• NORCAL ASIAN JOURNAL
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SF The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - September 14, 2018
Friday, September 14, 2018
SF
cover story The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - September 14, 2018
“Padayon”: Celebrating Parangal Dance Company’s 10th year A tribute to a decade of aspiring to inspire
by Malou liwanag-Bledsoe
WITH its continued mission to promote the Filipino heritage through their performance and presence in the Filipino-American community, Parangal Dance Company has come a long way, a decade, in fact. Today, the San Francisco-based Philippine folk dance company is celebrating a decade of “aspiring to inspire” with its tribute show, “Padayon” on October 6, Saturday at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center in San Francisco. Parangal Founder Eric Solano shared that the context of “Padayon” is “to move
Parangal Group
/ AJPress
forward and to persist,” adding that the concept of their 10th anniversary show is to create awareness about the plight of indigenous people in the Philippines. For him, it is imperative that they continue to share the teachings of culture bearers that have taught us their culture and traditions. “The concept is to create awareness on the richness and beauty of various indigenous groups in the Philippines and most importantly, their plight as well and perseverance,” he said.
This year’s program content is inspired by dances, attire and music of culture bearers such as the Bawer family from Lubuagan, Kalinga and Papa Cirilo Sapi Bawer’s cultural revolution; Bai Bibyoon Ligkayan Bigkay, woman warrior of Talaingod Manobo; and other lumad indigenous groups who continue to fight against their displacement and evacuation from their ancestral domain. They also want the public to be aware of the attacks and harassment of leaders and elders due to their resistance against those who plunder the environment, as well as the siege in Lanao del Sur, wherein the Maranao people are still recovering from more than a year later. All of these inspirations and messages will be integrated into Parangal’s performances in Padayon and Solano promises new things to share to the audience. “There are quite several new dances and pieces we have prepared for Padayon and we can’t wait for the audience to see what we’ve worked on this past three years and decade combined,” he said and added, “The audience can expect to be inspired to know about an-
cient traditions, learn about the lumad plight through art, and in one way or another reach out to the indigenous communities to help. “As a result of this, we will be presenting inspired traditions through dance and music of Kalinga, Ta’u Sug, Maguindanao, Meranao, Manobo, and Panay Bukidon to name a few. “ In preparation for Padayon, Solano and other members of the group began a series of cultural immersion in the Philippines since 2015, covering Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Apart from the challenges of traveling to remote areas where indigenous communities thrive, Solano shared that one hurdle that the group has constantly going through is funding. He is, however, thankful to all those who have continuously support Parangal and is optimistic about the group’s future. “I’m very thankful for our performing artists for their creative ideas and behind the scenes work on fundraising and working on grant applications so we can sustain our work and also pay for our dance studio, storage, and production expenses,” he said.
Photos by Gerry Gatchalian
Parangal Maguindanao
Parangal Group
Photo by This is It Photography
Parangal was founded in 2008 under the direction of Solano. Today, the group boasts about 60 active members and has performed not only in the United States and Philippines, but to other countries as well. However, international recognition is not the group’s greatest achievement according to Solano. For him, it is being able to share the message of solidarity. “ Advocacy and solidarity with indigenous groups in Philippines and being able to share that,” said Solano. “I believe it is the advocacy that we have with the indigenous groups is one of ways we engage and sustain new members and new dances/pieces we work on almost yearly to continue to know about our roots, discover Philippines and its wealth people. “ Parangal Dance Company’s
10th anniversary show, “Padayon” will be onstage on Saturday, October 6, at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center, 2850 19th Avenue, San Francisco with two shows at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. For tickets log on to https://www. eventbrite.com/e/parangaldance-company-presents-padayon-gala-tickets-4790796601 6?aff=efbeventtix. If you cannot attend, please consider donating at www.gofundme.com/parangal-101010. For more information on Parangal Dance Company: www.parangal.org. *Cover photos: Culture bearers Faisal Monal (Maguindanao), Bai Bibyoon Ligkayan Bigkay (Talaingod Manobo), Sitti Obeso (Ta’u Sug), and Jenny Bawer Young (Kalinga) courtesy of Eric Solano. Other photos by Gerry Gatchalian and This is It Photography.
Parangal Ta’u Sug
Culture Bearer Regina Villanueva Panay, Bukidnon
Culture Bearers Federico Caballero (National Living Treasure), Lucia Caballero, Leopoldo Caballero, Romulo Caballero, Rolando Caballero, and Rodolfo Caballero at Panay, Bukidnon
Parangal Group
Meranao
Photo by William Lee
Culture Bearer Abdul Jabar D
Parangal Kalinga
Fil-Am Hannahlei Cabanilla wins Kelsey Merritt becomes first Fil-Am to in Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ walk Increased diversity in the fashion world welcomes by ritchel
Mendiola
inclusion of Asian models
AJPress
SEASON 15 of the Fox reality competition ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ finally came to a close on Monday, September 10, naming Hannahlei Cabanilla as the winner. Hailing from Anaheim Hills, Cabanilla is an 18-year old FilipinaAmerican contemporary dancer who began dancing at the age of 2 and trained at the Orange County Performing Arts Academy. According to Mercury News, she bested three other finalists: Jensen Arnold, a 20-year-old Latin ballroom specialist from Provo, Utah; Genessy Castillo, an 18-yearold contemporary dancer from Jamaica, N.Y.; and Slavik Pustovoytov, a 19-year-old hip-hop specialist from Poltova, Ukraine. “This is, without a doubt, the best experience of my life,” Cabanilla said. “I am beyond thankful for every moment I’ve had on (the show), and I know that it is something I will never forget. I’m happy to say that this experience is just the beginning,” she added. Cabanilla had been considered to be among the front-runners early on in the season, as reported by Mercury News. She received countless of praises from the judges and never experienced the threat of elimination whenever weekly results were announced. Judge Nigel Lythgoe, who previously dubbed Cabanilla as this season’s “warrior princess”
by Klarize
Medenilla AJPress
— making fellow judge Vannessa Hudgens proud to be a Filipina, said Cabanilla wasn’t just strong, “she was a great performer, and not just at one style but across the board.” Judge Mary Murphy, meanwhile, described Cabanilla as “one of the most technically sound dancers that we’ve had on the show.” “On top of that, what I think is the key factor, is she has this amazing spirit and light inside of her; it comes out of her in spades through her eyes,” she added. For her encore performance, Cabanilla and ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ All-Star Marko Germar recreated their contemporary routine to “Welcome Home.” Cabanilla said the reason she chose that performance was because “[it] felt really genuine.” “It felt like I wasn’t even danc-
IN the world of modeling, walking in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is a coveted dream, a rite of passage for young models everywhere. This year, Filipina-American model Kelsey Merritt gets to live that dream as the first Filipina to be in the show, confirming the news on Friday, Sept. 7 in an elated post on Photos from Instagram/@hannahleidazle Instagram. “We did it, Philippines! ing,” she said. What an honor it is to be For winning the season, the first Filipino to walk in Cabanilla received the $250,000 the Victoria’s Secret Fashion prize in cash. According to The Show 2018!!! Ahhhhhh I can’t OCR, she plans on using the money believe this! Thank you soooo to take her parents on a Greek much,” Merritt, 21, said in an getaway since “they’ve supported emotional post thanking her me through this whole experience fans and management. and throughout my whole dance The freckle-faced model career.” joins a group of the world’s “I just owe it to them for helptop models to showcase the ing to make my dreams come true,” brand’s latest collections. she explained. Branded “Victoria’s Secret Cabanilla will also be featured Angels,” the young ladies on the cover of Dance Spirit maga- wear extravagant angel wings zine and is set to appear in a guest in the televised fashion show role on Fox’s upcoming live musical which typically airs at the end of “Rent” in 2019. of the year. “It’s starting to feel real that my Merritt has been a brand dreams are coming true,” Cabanilla spokeswoman for the top linsaid. “It’s just amazing ‘cause I still gerie brand since May of this look up to the people on ‘So You year, appearing in the compaThink You Can Dance’ and now I’m ny’s campaigns. She has also one of them.”
Model Kelsey Merritt announced last week on Instagram that she will be the first Filipina to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Photo from Instagram/@KelseyMerritt
worked with Maybelline Philippines, Kashieca and Palmolive and is managed by Wilhelmina Models in London and New York along other international modeling agencies. Before becoming a fulltime model, Merritt studied communication at Ateneo de Manila University and graduated in 2017. Throughout university, she also juggled modeling in New York, saying in May, “People often ask me how I managed to do it, and all I say is that as long as you have your priorities straight
and manage your time well, then it really can be done.” Asian invasion in the fashion industry Amid the overwhelming success of two Asian-driven films — “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Searching” — studios and casting directors are realizing the marketability of Asian representation and diversity. Diversity is also seeping into to the fashion world, an industry that has famously imposed strict limitations on Continued on Page SF7
Trump’s deportation machine turns towards legal immigrants avenues for pursuing post-conviction relief where none previously existed. The elimination of a conviction might mean becoming eligible for U.S. citizenship, or at least eliminating the possibility of deportation. This important change is the ATTY. BEN LOVEMAN addition of a new penal code IT has been a predictsection allowing the right to ably scary time for undocucontest and potentially vacate mented immigrants in the a conviction at any time based United States ever since on a prejudicial error affecting President Donald Trump was the defendant’s right to underelected. What was not gener- stand and consider the immially foreseen though was how gration consequences before President Trump’s deportation entering a guilty plea. Former force would target long-time law only allowed challenges lawful permanent residents while a person remained in (green card holders) and even custody and thus severely citizens of the United States. restricted the ability to bring Because of this most recent such challenges, especially development, those with even since many people only learn decades old criminal records of the severe immigration conor old immigration violations sequences of their conviction should find a reputable imeither directly after completing migration attorney to see if their sentence or many years proactive action can be taken after the fact. to ensure their status is not at Criminal convictions for jeopardy. offenses may have major The new enforcement immigration consequences. efforts include the use of crimi- Convictions for offenses such nal databases and increased as drug possession or sale, immigration enforcement theft, shoplifting, or assault personnel to locate persons can lead to permanent bars with old criminal histories or to U.S. citizenship, permanent possible immigration violations resident status, or relief from that might make them subject deportation. For instance, to deportation from the United the Immigration and NationalStates. Recent news reports ity Act states that a person from across the country have who has been convicted of an revealed that all immigrants, “aggravated felony” is forincluding veterans of the U.S. ever barred from becoming a armed forces, are potential naturalized U.S. citizen or from targets for deportation. being granted Cancellation of These new enforcement Removal for Permanent Resimeasures are unlikely to stop dents. An “aggravated felony” in the near future. Thankfully, conviction also subjects a there are steps that people person in the United States to can take to ensure their safety deportation proceedings, with aside from simply staying out little defense from removal. of trouble and keeping a low Despite the severe improfile. People who fear that migration consequences that they may be ineligible for U.S. result from these type of citizenship, or even deported, convictions, many people, indue to an old criminal conviccluding many criminal defense tion should immediately conattorneys and judges, are often sult an immigration attorney. unaware of the consequences. A knowledgeable attorney The result is that people enter will be able to determine the guilty pleas to an offense true impact of the conviction that they may think is minor and to see if there might be a (whether to avoid exposure post-conviction remedy to reto more serious charges, to move or reduce the conviction save the cost or time of fightbefore they are confronted by ing the charges, etc.), only to immigration officials. Similarly, later tragically learn that they people with old immigration are forever barred from U.S. violations can also be proactive citizenship, are subject to beand have an expert evaluate ing deported, or other harsh the seriousness of any potenimmigration consequences. tial or perceived violation and The fact that even relatively determine if a remedy exists. minor offense can cause a There was a major change person to be deported, likely recently in the penal code in means that there many lawful California that opened new permanent residents in the
Your Immigration Solution
Inquirer.net photo
Lea Salonga, Eva Noblezada to star in musical film ‘Yellow Rose’ by RITCHEL
MENDIOLA
AJPress
TWO ‘Miss Saigon’ alumni are set to appear in a movie musical together. Eva Noblezada is headlining her first feature film, Yellow Rose, alongside Lea Salonga. The film is directed by Diane Paragas and tells the story of a 17-year old FilipinoAmerican girl from Texas who secretly dreams of becoming a country music star. She has to fend for herself, however, when her mother is arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). She runs away and is forced to embark on a journey to follow her dreams or face deportation with her mother back to the Philippines. “So grateful to be part of this amazing film,” Noblezada said in a Twitter post. Salonga, who is set to play the part of Rose’s aunt, tweet-
ed: “This is actually happening! (To be totally honest, Eva does most, if not all the heavy lifting. I’m just happy to be a small part of this effort!)” According to Variety, the cast also includes country music artist Dale Watson, who portrays an underground country singer, along with Liam Booth , Gustavo Gomez (“Animal Kingdom”), Libby Villari (“Boyhood”), and Princess Punzalan. “With the increased demand for diverse Asian American stories in Hollywood, I can’t think of a better time to develop this film,” Paragas told U.S. theater magazine Playbill. “‘Yellow Rose’ has been in development for over 15 years, and we’ve selected an incredibly talented cast to help tell this story,” she added. Paragas is producing along with Cecilia Mejia, Orian Williams (“Shadow of the Continued on Page SF8
U.S. who are subject to deportation proceedings without them even knowing it. These people ae therefore at risk of having their lives destroyed if the government elects to use its vast resources to single them out for punishment. If you or a loved one are possibly one of these people at risk, you should immediately consult with an immigration attorney. They can determine how serious the conviction actually is from an immigration perspective and determine if any proactive steps can be taken to remove the threat before immigration officials come knocking. The same can be said for those with old immigration violations. The time to address these problems is before a real problem develops. ***
entertainment SF3 The memories of Dion Santos from Bong-Prada Lim
The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - September 14, 2018
BY MONET
LU
THIS week I would like to pay tribute to our dear friend Dion. He was a well-known entertainer, a fashionista, and a friend, not just to me but to a lot of people in the community. We are all in awe and sadden by his untimely death. With this, I would like to share a heartwarming letter of Bong Prada Lim to Dion. We all feel the sadness of losing a friend and may God bless you always. I have known Dindo Santos for more than two decades. It was one evening at a Filipino Reeves Miller Zhang & Diza is one of entertainment bar restaurant the oldest, largest and most experienced in Orange County — he was viimmigration firms in the United States with brant, full of energy, and had a offices in Pasadena, San Francisco, Las huge smile and loud laugh. He would crack jokes and made Vegas, Manila and China. fun of others and also himself Telephone: (800) 795-8009 for the sake of getting through E-mail: immigration@rreeves.com the night entertaining the website: www.rreeves.com people who were all stressed *** The analysis and suggestions offered in this out from work. My name is Bong Prada column do not create a lawyer-client relationship and are not a substitute for the personalized Lim and he said he knew. “I am Dion like Celine,” he said. representation that is essential to every case. (Advertising Supplement) I smiled. He wore a powder
blue Versace suit. That very night he told me, “you’re my idol. I love your style and your beautiful designer clothes. Such a fashionista.” Again, I smiled. We hit it off. Out of this grew a friendship that transcended whatever differences we had or later developed because above all, we understood the same thing because we were “sisters.” We
did have a lot of family fights. As we progressed, we learned more and that life can be cruel, painful and blinding so it’s hard to see anything else. Yes, Dion like we all fondly call him, was indeed an entertainer. He belted out the Michael Buble songs and who could forget the tandem with Joseph Gelito, and his way of Continued on Page SF7
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celebrityworld The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - September 14, 2018
celebrity world
Philippines’ Zara Carbonell wins first-ever Miss Tourism Worldwide title
By Ferdie Villar THE Philippines has once again made a mark in the international pageant circuit when the country’s candidate, Zara Carbonell, won the inaugural edition of Miss Tourism World held in Indonesia last Sunday, September 9. The Miss Tourism Worldwide pageant aims to promote tourism and cultural exchange among nations. Actor Cris Villanueva, Zara’s father, excitedly announced on Facebook about his daughter’s win. “We won, Philippines won!!! My daughter won!!! Congratulations to Miss Philippines Tourism Worldwide for winning Miss Tourism Worldwide in Batam Indonesia!!! Congratulations and I love you Zara,” he said. Through her Instagram account, Zara shared what she felt after winning the pageant. “It’s 6 am and I’m watching the sunrise from a hotel suite in a beautiful underrated city and right at this very moment, I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be,” she said. “They say that your biggest wins come right after rock bottom and that right there is your silver lining. Those who know me well know all that I’ve had to lose and learn to get here and all the times I was ready to walk away from this dream and believed that maybe I just wasn’t cut out for it.” “I’ve learned that if you give the universe enough freedom to decide when and how it manifests what you ask for, it shows up in the most unexpected ways. Things do make better sense in hindsight, thankful for all the setbacks, failures, and people who told me I’m better
off not trying - you made me stronger. Grateful for all those who never left my corner even when I’d forgotten to believe in myself,” she added. Zara’s court included Thailand (1st runner-up), South Africa (2nd runner-up), France (3rd runner-up), and Siberia (4th runner-up). Another crown indeed for the Philippines! Congratulations Zara! *** So is actor Dingdong Dantes planning to run in next year’s elections or not? After accidentally confirming about her husband’s political plans, actress Marian Rivera is now deflecting questions about it. Although the actress did not specify what seat Dingdong is running for, news came out this week about the Liberal Party’s senatorial line up which included the actor, as well as other from the entertainment industry such as singer Leah Navarro, former APO Hiking Society member Jim Paredes and actress Agot Isidro. During the press conference for GMA 7’s show in California entitled “Kapusong Pinoy: Paskuhan at Kantawanan sa Anaheim,” Marian was asked again about Dingdong’s plan to enter politics. However, the actress was very vague in her answers. “’Yung reaction? Siguro yung asawa ko na lang ang sasagot sa bawat questions tungkol sa pulitika,” she said in an interview with PEP.ph. “Isa lang ang masasabi ko, ang tao, walang masamang hangad lalo na kung ikabubuti ng kapwa.” Dingdong’s involvement in politics has been minimal at
best. In 2014, he was appointed and sworn-in by then President Benigno Aquino III as Commissioner-At-Large of the National Youth Commission. Two years later he decided to resign from his position to give way for his endorsement for Grace Poe as president and Leni Robredo as vice president in the 2016 national elections.
Miss Philippines Zara Carbonell won the first-ever Miss Tourism Worldwide title last Sunday, September 9, in Indonesia. (Photo from Instagram @zaracarbonell)
Photo shows Miss Zara Carbonell being crowned as the first-ever Miss Tourism Worldwide title last Sunday, September 9, in Indonesia. She is the daughter of actor Cris Villanueva. (Photo from Instagram @zaracarbonell)
Actor Tonton Gutierrez has returned to his acting career in the newest teleserye on GMA Pinoy TV, “Ika-5 Utos.”
Daly City businessman Lambert Paniza and his family were among the Filipinos who watched the latest fight of boxing champion Manny Pacquiao against Matthysse in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Shown in photo are (L-R) Lambert Paniza, Gilvin Paniza, boxing champ Manny Pacquiao, Reigil Paniza and Dorie Paniza.
Gloria Diaz, actress and first Filipina to win the Miss Universe crown, once again showed her impeccable acting and comedic skills in an episode of “Dear Uge,” on GMA Pinoy TV.
Beautiful actress Carmen Soriano has returned to showbiz in the teleserye, “My Very Special Tatay.”
Immigrant Living: 101 and Beyond Monette AdevA MAglAyA WHAT is your greatest fear? Some say that for most men, the greatest of fears are the fear of death, fear of failure and fear of public speaking. I know of someone who is deathly afraid of dogs, completely convinced that dogs are out to bite her. Telling her that her fear is baseless only drives her into raging fits. There is another I know who cannot abide the polka dot print design on anything she sees. There are a number of people who are afraid of riding boats and planes and just the thought of being in either one makes them nauseous. Weird huh? But who is to say that their fear is not valid as yours. There are perhaps as many kinds of fears as there are people on earth but the one that many people admit to is the fear of speaking before crowds. Psychology can dig up all the reasons for such fears deeply entrenched in the human psyche. But whatever the reason is, there is a time during one’s life that confronting that fear that paralyzes you from fully functioning and realizing your full potential on earth needs to be addressed. It is time for a face-off. If you are so inclined to add this to your bucket list, try mustering enough courage to
Actress Marian Rivera recently deflected questions about her husband Dingdong Dantes’ political plans and possible candidacy in next year’s national elections.
The Bucket List
Face the Fear of Public Speaking 13th of a Series
“… Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear — not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain face this one fear that you think is worth conquering. People admit that having them speak in front of a crowd is like facing a firing squad. They would rather melt away than speak up. Experts say that there are baby steps that can be taken to conquer this. The one thing that characterizes people who speak in public at a drop of a hat is confidence— lots of it— that it practically oozes out of their pores. It is doubtful they started out with that level of confidence right off the bat. Most professional public speakers probably had to start being afraid themselves until they had a winning judo match with that gnawing fear in their gut. Mastery comes with taking baby steps, learning consistently from those that went before and were great, engaging speakers. Choose a role model and emulate what works. First off, one must dive deep into the sea of available information and cull out nuggets of wisdom on wide ranging areas to know what to speak of. In short, read up and never stop learning. Otherwise, one would
simply be winging it with disjointed thoughts and flawed delivery. It sounds cheesy but there may be some truth to the advice — fake it until you make it. In the beginning, that is probably how it works until repetitive practice over time builds that precious confidence and the chutzpah to speak unrehearsed and extemporaneously in public. Sometimes, the words come out so smoothly that you know without a doubt there is a higher spirit that flows in a particular speaker. Perhaps, the same is true of any other fear that you decide to have a face--off with. The greatest battle is with yourself when you finally decide you have had it living with the fear that threatens to eat you up and finally doing something about it. One day, you might even surprise yourself on how far you have gone with that ounce of courage you mustered early on in order to gain mastery of a particular kind of fear. *** Nota Bene: Monette Adeva Maglaya is SVP of Asian Journal Publications, Inc. To send comments, e-mail monette. maglaya@asianjournalinc.com
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The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - September 14, 2018
You cannot have “assumed name” fingerprints
various databases to check for any criminal history, previous denials, etc. In your case, it is likely you were fingerprinted when you applied for your visitor’s visa in your real name, and again when Atty. MichAel you applied under an assumed Gurfinkel, eSQ name. You were once again fingerprinted years later in conDEAR Atty. Gurfinkel: nection with your immigrant visa In 2004, I applied for a under your daughter’s petition. visitor’s visa but was denied. Although you applied for a The next year, I secured an “asvisitor’s visa under an assumed sumed name” passport, which name, your fingerprints don’t was a Philippine passport with change, and every person’s my picture but someone else’s THE UPS AND DOWNS, AND THE BITTERSWEET ENDING OF A SPECIAL CASE ABOUT A SPECIAL SON WHO HAD AUTISM ON THIS SUNDAY’S “CITIZEN PINOY”! When fingerprints are unique to that name. I tried my luck again unNorma immigrated to the U.S., she had to leave behind their autistic son, Michael because he aged out. The separation broke her heart. Norma and husband person. der the assumed name, but the Joy (left) went to three other attorneys who were unable to deliver results, until they decided to retain leading U.S. immigration attorney Michael J. Gurfinkel, Therefore, when the EmEmbassy caught the fraud and who was finally able to bring Michael to the U.S., to be reunited with his parents. Watch the heartfelt journey of Michael and his family that led to a pleasant bassy ran a fingerprint check in again denied my visitor’s visa. reunion, but with a painful ending, on an encore episode of “Citizen Pinoy” – on Sunday at 6:15 p.m. (PST) on TFC. (Advertising Supplement) connection with your immigrant But I did not give them my real visa, the fingerprints they took name at that time. during your two previous visiMy U.S. citizen daughter tor’s visa applications popped recently petitioned me, and I up, including the assumed name was very careful not to list my natural order of things, and strategy in dealing with his you used. Now, it is likely your assumed name on any of the present ecologic dilemma. Man the environmental insults that paperwork, even where it asked immigrant visa will be refused urbanization brings with it in cannot afford to lose this one, for other names used. Recently, for fraud. PhiliP S. chuA, his only sanctuary in the galaxy. general. These changes in the If a person commits fraud, the Embassy sent an email, MD, fAcS, fPcS landscape of nature have afAnd what’s happening is scary. asking for NBI clearance for me they would need to file a fraud fected the health and atmosHistorically, the earth’s cliwaiver, that will demonstrate under the assumed name, and OUR planet would be at an phere of our planet, causing its an explanation as to why I used mate has gone through various how an immigrant or citizen imminent grave risk of being “body” to have a temperature changes, from ice age to prospouse or parent (not child) that name when I applied for a destroyed, if Global Warming, that is rising like a fever from longed periods of heat waves. would suffer “extreme hardvisitor visa in 2005. more appropriately termed an “infection,” and at an alarmThe factors involved include ship” if the person is not forHow did they ever discover Climate Change, continues ingly faster rate than what it the alteration in the Earth’s orgiven for their fraud. If a person my fraud or use of an assumed unabated. Although controshould be. And all this because name, when I did not disclose bit, the degree of energy from has no spouse or parent who versial and like the multitudes the sun, and volcanic eruptions. of what we, its intelligent is a citizen or immigrant (called my real name at that time, and of problems threatening the inhabitants, have done to the The latter part of the 18th “qualifying relative”), they candidn’t disclose the assumed world, this major one is caused one and only “life-sustaining century ushered in the human not apply for a fraud waiver. In name in connection with my by its intelligent inhabitant, man factor: the industrial revolution home” we know in the galaxy. daughter’s petition? What’s go- your case, if you have a spouse himself, and his careless and ir- which has contributed to more The burning of fossil or parent who is a citizen or iming to happen now? responsible behavior, especially massive environmental pollufuels, such as coals and oil, Very truly yours, migrant, you may be eligible to in the last two hundred some and deforestation the past tion. NT apply for a fraud waiver. years. Human beings are not two centuries have led to the The human factor includes But the important point for Dear NT: new to self-abuse, self-destruc- the carcinogenic fumes from “greenhouse effect,” where the people to remember is that they What some people forget tion, and to irreverence to his toxic gasses in the atmosphere is that when a person applies cigarettes, carbon monoxide/ are ordinarily fingerprinted each environment, in spite of their has significantly increased to dioxide from engine emissions, time they apply for any kind of for a non-immigrant or immieducation, culture, and massive chemical contamination from the point of trapping heat, grant visa, such as a tourist visa, immigration benefit, including: data in this age of exploding like in a glass panel enclosure the household agents (soaps, student visa, working visa, green visa at the U.S. Embassy; iminformational technology and of a greenhouse, causing the bleaches, tile and toilet cleanmigration benefits in the U.S. by card, etc., the person is fingermind-boggling advances in sci- ers, etc.) we use daily, facearth’s temperature to climb USCIS (such as work authorizaprinted at the Embassy. Those ence and medicine. more rapidly than ever before tory polluting our atmosphere tions, adjustment, etc.); by CBP fingerprint records are saved Man’s self-abuse and rape in its history. The resultant and dumping of toxic waste when crossing the border or and stored in the Embassy’s of his environment are almost man-induced depletion of the products into the our rivers entering the U.S. at an airport; data base. If a person applies certain to doom the world he ozone layer (nature’s protective for another visa at a future date, old asylum cases, etc. In fact, and lakes, deforestation and lives in, unless he listens to “umbrella” shielding us from destruction of our greeneries, USCIS has now established they are again fingerprinted. Mother Nature and promptly the harmful variety of sun rays) invasion of the original habitats a “deportation/denaturalizaThe U.S. government then starts to take a wise proactive of animals and disturbing the Continued on Page SF6 runs their fingerprints through tion squad” to go after people
Immigration Corner
Health@Heart
Saving our planet
who may have been caught at the border and sent home but reentered the U.S. under a different name and were able to get a green card or even U.S. citizenship under that different name. Tens of thousands of old fingerprints from the 90’s have now been inputted into the government’s computer database, and they are comparing those old fingerprints to new fingerprints. If they find a match between fingerprints of a person who had been caught with fraud, convicted of a crime, or other violations, they may go after that person to either strip them of their green card or citizenship If you have multiple identities which may raise issues about eligibility for immigration benefits, you should seek the advice of an attorney, who can evaluate your situation and determine the best course of action or possible remedies. *** Michael J. Gurfinkel has been an attorney for over 35 years and is licensed, and an active member of the State Bars of California and New York. All immigration services are provided by, or under the supervision of, an active member of the State Bar of California. Each case is different and results may depend on the facts of the particular case. The information and opinions contained herein (including testimonials, “Success Stories”, endorsements and re-enactments) are of a general nature, and are not intended to apply to any particular case, and do not constitute a prediction, warranty, guarantee or legal advice regarding the outcome of your legal matter. No attorney-client relationship is, or shall be, established with any reader. WEBSITE: www.gurfinkel.com Follow us on Facebook.com/GurfinkelLaw and Twitter @GurfinkelLaw Call Toll free to schedule a consultation for anywhere in the US: 1-866-487-3465 (866) – GURFINKEL Four offices to serve you: LOS ANGELES ∙ SAN FRANCISCO ∙ NEW YORK ∙ PHILIPPINES (Advertising Supplement)
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Catriona Gray slays New York Fashion Week 2018
California divorce Frequently Asked Questions
The CTV Files Atty. LiLLi B. BAcuLi
I just moved to California last month, and I’d like to file for divorce. Can I file now? by Jan Milo Severo To file for divorce in the State Philstar.com of California, the person filing (called the “Petitioner”) must BEFORE setting foot in the first meet the jurisdictional grandest pageant in the unirequirements: (i) residence in verse, Miss Universe Philippines the state of California from the 2018 Catriona Gray gave the past 6 months; and (ii) resiworld a glimpse of her winning dence in the county where that walk as she slays the runway person is filing (e.g., San Diego for designer Sherri Hill at the County) for the past 3 months. recent New York Fashion Week. Residence – put simply, where Clad in an elegant peach the Petitioner lives – also dedress then later a yellow one, termines which courthouse the Catriona walked confidently on Petition for Divorce should be the runway with fellow models, filed. including Miss USA 2018 Sarah “What if my husband/wife Rose Summers. does not want to sign the On her Instagram account, divorce?” or “My husband/ the Philippines’ Miss Universe MissUniversePhilippines2018CatrionaGrayattheSherriHillfashionshow. wife does not want to sign 2018 representative posted a PhotosfromInstagram/@SherriHill the divorce papers, what can photo of her walking on the I do.” - I couldn’t believe it, ako ba? to support! Mahal ko kayo sorunway, saying that she could California is a no-fault Bakit ako?,” she wrote. braaaa #CatrionaForSherriHill,” not believe she was chosen by divorce state. A party filing “Thank you @sherrihill for she added. Sherri Hill. for divorce does not need the the amazing opportunity and Catriona will be represent“My first NYFW. When I consent of the other in order for seeing something in me! ing the country in the upcoming got the call back in Manila I to file a Petition for Dissolution And thank you everyone back Miss Universe 2018 to be held was incredulous, to be flown (Divorce) or, in some instances, later this year in Thailand. to NYC to work with @sherrihill home who stayed up to 5am
Saving our planet...
eruptions, tsunamis, typhoons, and hurricanes, and evident weather changes not enough From Page SF5 global average temperatures on hints for us? If man does not do anything record have all occurred within is likewise a great health hazabout this climate change soon, the past 15 years, with the ard, a most plausible contribthe resultant impact of this glowarmest two years being 1998 uting factor in the alarmingly bal warming, according to exand 2005.” This indisputably increasing rate of the various perts, will lead to the following means the human factor has cancers killing people in the “harbingers”: diseases spreadcaused this dreadful and scary world today. ing more easily, spring arriving phenomenon. Although greenhouse gasearlier, coral reef bleaching ocIndeed, as guests in this ses, at safe levels, are essential curring, plant and animal range Planet we call home, we, for life as we know it to keep shifts and population changes humans, have not been ecolour planet comfortably warm, taking place, downpours, heavy ogy-conscious enough and abnormally high levels are far environmentally friendly at all to snow falls and giant tidal waves too dangerous for our Planet. Mother Earth. This has resulted and flooding, droughts and fires At the present, man’s abuse of happening often. in the gradual deterioration of his environment has adversely While government initiaour ecosystem. affected many aspects of our tives by all nations around the What are the signs of a life, including our means of subglobe are vital to the remedial widespread and long-term sistence, agriculture and aquasolution to this potentially catatrend toward global warming? culture, to mention a couple. strophic dilemma that could Data from the National Oce- The manifestations include make our world uninhabitable unusually warmer weather and anic & Atmospheric Adminisand wipe out civilization as heat waves; glacier melting; tration and NASA “show that we know it, our individual and Arctic and Antarctic warming; the earth’s average surface concerted community disciand, ocean warming, rising temperature has increased by pline, behavioral modifications sea level, and coastal floodabout 1.2 to 1.4 degrees Fahrand proactive lifestyle changes enheit since 1900…the warmest ing. Aren’t the various volcanic
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could immensely help and positively impact on how much longer we can keep Planet Earth a safe place to live in. Hopefully, our space exploration is successful soon enough in finding for another friendly planet man could colonize. The ball is in our court. Our fate is in our hands. We better get started. *** Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus in Northwest Indianwa and chairman of cardiac surgery from 1997 to 2010 at Cebu Doctors University Hospital, where he holds the title of Physician Emeritus in Surgery, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the Philippine College of Surgeons, and the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. He is the chairman of the Filipino United Network – USA, a 501(c)(3) humanitarian foundation in the United States. For more data, visit philipSchua.com; comments questions: scalpelpen@gmail.com. (AdvertisingSupplement)
to get a judgment of divorce. What is “Service of Process?” Can I just mail the divorce papers to my exspouse? Service of Process is a crucial procedural step in the divorce proceedings, because the law reserves for the exspouse (called the “Respondent”) the right to respond and appear in court, if s/he wants to. In proceeding in an action for divorce, there are procedural requirements dictated by law that must be followed to ensure that the other party has notice of the action (that is, that s/he is being brought to court for an action of divorce) and that s/he is given time to respond. However, there is no requirement for the other party to respond. There is no requirement that s/he sign any document at all. All that needs to happen is that s/he is properly served with process according to the rules. Note that “proper service” is defined in the Family Code and must be followed, and the validity of any Judgment for Divorce rests on the proper service of the Respondent. “What? I have to share my retirement earnings? This is mine, I worked hard for it!” California is a community property state and so once you get married, all property acquired during marriage is community property. Separate property are “all property acquired before marriage; all gifts, bequests, devise, or descents. All property acquired or exchanged with traceable separate property; and all property acquired after separation.” However, if anything out of the community property is used towards separate property, the community might have a claim on part(s) of separate property. “I don’t want to pay spousal support.” Whether you like it or not, spousal support will be ordered if the other party makes a request, and the court deems
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that the circumstances call for it. Some of the factors that the Court will look at to determine whether there is basis for support, and if so, in what amount, are – length of marriage, age of parties, if there are minor children in the marriage, income of both parties. “Why do I need an attorney?” You don’t need an attorney. There is no requirement that you must have an attorney. However, in cases involving issues such as domestic violence, custody disputes, child support, spousal support, and division of community property assets it would be wise to seek advice from a licensed and experienced attorney so as not to waste your time and money, not to mention the court’s time and resources, especially when you have to keep going back to court because of incomplete or missing documents that could have been addressed from the very beginning by a competent and knowledgeable attorney. Not all divorce cases are the same. It is important to be properly informed about your rights and responsibilities under California law in divorce proceedings. The wrong advice or information can and will hurt you, and waste your time and money. Consult a licensed and experienced family law attorney to help you navigate through your divorce. *** Atty. Lilli Berbano Baculi is an associate attorney with Chua Tinsay & Vega, A Professional Legal Corporation (CTV) - a full service law firm with offices in San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento and Philippines. The information presented in this article is for general information only and is not, nor intended to be, formal legal advice nor the formation of an attorney-client relationship. Call or e-mail CTV for an in-person or phone consultation to discuss your particular situation and/ or how their services may be retained at (619) 955-6277; (415) 495-8088; (916) 449-3923; lbaculi@ctvattys. com; www.chuatinsayvega.com.
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Paulo Avelino is the captain of his ship by Raymond
ang
The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - September 14, 2018
Philstar.com
PAULO Avelino didn’t wake up this morning. He’s on time for this shoot but he never made it to his morning guesting, for the Karen Davila show “Headstart.” “I feel bad,” he says, sheepishly. “Di talaga ako nagising eh.” It was supposed to be a joint interview with Jerrold Tarog, his director on the much-awaited historical epic “Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral.” Tarog eventually did the interview by himself and Paulo is palpably ashamed. And then, like one of the romantic leads he’s played onscreen, he asks for Karen Davila’s address — Paulo Avelino says sorry with flowers. It’s four weeks into promo for “Goyo,” the big-budget sequel to “Heneral Luna,” the 2015 historical biopic on General Antonio Luna that against all odds became a blockbuster, and the 30-year-old actor is literally too tired to get out of bed. During press rounds for “Goyo,” he made it known to entertainment press that he’s looking to take a break. I read him a PEP.ph headline: “Will Paulo Avelino do a John Lloyd Cruz?” He laughs. “Grabe, ginawa nang term ang ‘mag John Lloyd’… He deserves it [to take a break].” What kind of break is Paulo talking about? “Di naman to stay away from showbiz but to take a break, explore some other things,” he says. “I have a love for the industry so I can’t leave it totally. I’m just [hoping for] a more relaxed pace of doing work. I’ve always wanted to explore content creation online so maybe I’ll have time to look into that too. There are a lot of ideas that I want to do and I can’t see them happening while I’m working like this. [If I can take a break,] maybe I might start doing some of them.” Before any of that though, he’s got a film to promote. A day after this shoot, “Goyo” opens nationwide after a three-year wait, as perhaps the most anticipated local film in recent memory, with
community SF Kelsey Merritt becomes first Fil-Am...
The Philippine historical epic Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral, directed by Jerrold Tarog and starring Paulo Avelino, is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Philstar.com photo by Jake Verzosa
as much build-up and advance buzz as an Avengers movie. E.A. Rocha of TBA Studios — which along with Artikulo Uno Productions and Globe Studios, are behind the film — has been quoted as saying that “Goyo” cost “about three times [more than “Heneral Luna”], including marketing.” “Luna” reportedly cost P80 million and at about P240 million, many are calling “Goyo” the most expensive Filipino film of all time. It’s funny that Paulo Avelino ended up here, as the face of the biggest Filipino film of all time. In a way, he’s actively avoided the paths that lead to moments like this. Most of the movie roles he takes are risks: When he’s playing a romantic lead, he does it in a messy, alcohol-driven indie like “I’m Drunk, I Love You”. When he goes big studio, he’ll play a bisexual caught in a love triangle in a tonally-risky film like “Kasal”. Last year, as it started to become clear that he’s one of the leading actors of his generation, he took a supporting role to music and theater veterans in “Ang Larawan” — not neccessarily moves that turn you into the biggest star. “I understand that some artists are being treated as brands for the endorsements or for the money, to tackle a certain market,” he says. “Sakin, I want to be all-around — if you need me for support on this thing, I’ll do it as long as it’s interesting… What’s there to be scared of? We’re actors here. If you’re
safely picking your roles for something that’s going to lead you to more stardom, I think it’s — I have nothing against it — but respected actors aren’t really the biggest stars.” Paulo Avelino is in a moment where success within the system — on teleseryes like 2015’s “Bridges of Love”, on numerous endorsements, as a perennial Twitter meme as the Philippine Internet’s boyrfriend— has given him the opportunity to lend whatever star power he has to films he thinks the country needs. “I’m lucky they ask me to audition for these types of films,” he says. ”I’m so inspired to make the films because I have a lot of hope for our country. ‘Yun siguro eh. You always see hope for your country to be better so why not? The best way to move forward is to learn from our mistakes. These films show what we did wrong in the past… We should remember ourselves as a nation, where we started, where we came from, to have a better understanding of why we’re where we are now.” He believes in the power of cinema, how great art can tell us something about ourselves. “Once we better understand [ourselves], once we contemplate and self-reflect as a nation, makikita natin ‘yung mga mali… Hopefully we can fix it for the next generations.” “I was looking for a certain introspective quality because ‘Goyo’ operated at a quieter tone,” Jerrold Tarog Continued on Page SF8
From Page SF2 the body types, skin tones and ethnicities represented on catwalks, magazine spreads and brand campaigns. In the same weekend Merritt announced her casting for the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, Chinese-New Zealander fashion designer Claudia Li premiered an all Asian cast of models for her New York Fashion Week showcase on Sunday, Sept. 9 According to Li, the casting of 35 Asian models was intentional because it was her fashion house’s first official runway show. She told Refinery29 that the Spring/Summer 2019 collection “is all about memories of how I grew up
in New Zealand as an Asian woman.” Of the 35 models, three were Filipina models — Irka Canseco of Cebu City, Charlene Almarvez of Laguna and Charmie Pfeffer — joined the all-Asian cast in a spectacular show of the diversity that exists beyond the unvaried pool of mainstream models frequently strutting the catwalks. Li hopes that her historic demonstration shifts the fashion industry from a body-exclusive world into one that embraces diversity and champions a wider definition of beauty and fashion. “I want them to have their own personalities,” Li said of her choice to show a wide
range of Asian bodies. “I feel like this collection is really connecting that with who I am, who they are, and who Asian women are. We have so many differences to show.” On representation, Li believes that merely casting Asian women isn’t enough and that casting directors in the fashion industry should take an intersectional approach to its recruitment of women of color. Li added: “It would be great if people can start casting Asian women not just because they’re Asian. Diversity is within each race and country, and I would like to see more of that represented.”
The memories of Dion...
From Page SF3
saying “ applause.” Little did he know, I idolized him for he had talent. He could sing and had an awesome voice, especially when he sang my fave song, Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World.” We embraced that life is beautiful. We shared so many beautiful memories. We laughed and we cried — so many thoughts, heartaches, and secrets. I can only shed tears now. I can wipe my tears but I can feel more the pain of Mommy Lilia Santos. The sorrow of a mother losing her child. Mommy, no amount of words can wipe away those tears but for your consolation, Dion’s mission on earth is done and he is with Daddy now. I am sure he is welcomed in heaven with open arms and a symphony of angels in chorus as he also awaits all of us one day for eternal happiness. Dennis and Dale, your Kuya Dion is gone. Forgive him for the times he was not around you, when he was with
Dion Santos and Bong Prada Lim
friends more. Forgive him for he was stubborn. I know how you constantly reminded him of his heart condition. He had a big heart. He wanted to fit everyone inside. He tried to be generous, caring and loving . Dion has touched many lives. Seriously, only a person who has so much love to give could replace and fall in love with a new boyfriend immediately. Funny as it may sound but no one can sur-
pass the countless men in his life. He had more loves than Elizabeth Taylor or Madonna combined. Countless friends and even foes will miss you — your fashionable sense and style and your Facebook and Instagram shout outs and postings. Surely, each will shed tears and condole. All have different stories to say. It was how you lived your life and not your death. As I bid farewell to you my dearest friend and sister, I end by saying, “fabulous applause.” I love you. Till we meet again. Bong Prada Lim *** Monet Lu is a Marikina-born, awardwinning celebrity beauty stylist with his own chain of Monet Salon salons across Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada. Ultimately, Monet is known as an all-around artiste who produces sold-out fashion and awards shows as well as unforgettable marketing campaigns. Monet is also the founder of the revolutionary all-natural beauty products such as Enlighten, your solution to discoloration . To contact Monet, please visit www.monetsalon.com or email him at monetsalon@aol.com
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The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - September 14, 2018
Paulo Avelino is the captain of his... From Page SF7 says. “Paulo had that, as evidenced in his performance in [Tarog’s 2013 film] “Sana Dati.” The poise and looks are easy to find on any popular actor but I wanted uncertainty, particularly expressed through the eyes, which Paulo is always good at. All of this is in service of breaking down the idea of a national hero, of showing instead a young ordinary man, burdened with responsibility and suddenly aware of his mortality.” He prepared studiously for the role, attending talks by the historian Ambeth Ocampo in Ayala Museum, reading books like Nick Joaquin’s “A Question of Heroes” and Teodoro Kalaw’s “Gregorio H. Del Pilar,” upon the recommendation of Tarog. “The materials I read were probably more than I needed to know for the film but I also wanted to know more about our history,” he says. “To see what happened, the different accounts, the hearsays — you get to have your biases of what really happened and what you believe.” Paulo Avelino was 23 when he received the offer to do the 2011 Cinemalaya film “Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa”. “When I first got the script, to be honest, I didn’t understand it,” he says. “It was just so deep,” Paulo says, “mostly poems or songs.” He didn’t quite understand it but he decided to accept it. And that willingness also came into play with last year’s “Ang Larawan”. Already one of showbiz’s most in-demand leading men, he gladly took on a supporting role because he knew that the material — written by two National Artists — was bigger than him. “Not only did Paulo tell us he was interested [when we asked], he said he was willing to audition for the role,” Girlie Rodis, one of the film’s producers, says. “He was willing to work with a vocal coach to put the
extra time to learn the material. He was busy, his schedule was not the easiest but he came to rehearsals and put in as much time as he could… During the actual shoot, he would go from teleserye taping — which would end sometimes at 4 a.m. — then sleep in his car while his driver drove to our shoot. He was always congenial. At shoots, he would find a corner in our cramp green room to set up his folding chair and he would steal power naps in between takes. At one shoot, he even made coffee from his personal coffee press for whoever wanted it.” At the end, in a gesture that showed full support for the fledging production — an independently-produced period musical is always an uphill climb — he told them to waive his talent fee, in exchange for “Ang Larawan’s” titular painting. “He is one of those rare breed of actors who appreciates material and not just fame and fortune,” Rodis says. “We were newbies in producing film but he understood what we were trying to accomplish long before we won any accolades.” Here’s something not many people know about Paulo Avelino: in the last few years, he’s increasingly become involved in the films he does. It started in 2013, for Yapan’s “Debosyon.” “It was just willingness [on my part] to help the project, some aspects of it.Tapos nagulat ako they decided to put me as a producer.” Later, he was a producer on the hit indie “I’m Drunk I Love You,” and on “Goyo,” he’s credited as an executive producer. “It’s more about projects I believe in, not necessarily starring in,” he says. “It just so happens that you come across a script, you read it, you decide you want to be involved more in it…. Ang galing ng mga filmmakers natin. I’m lucky to work with them.”
“Paulo is usually quiet on the set,” Tarog says. “But when he has ideas, he expresses them and we get to discuss and explore. He asks questions most of the time then dedicates himself to executing the vision. He is credited as executive producer but our relationship is mostly on the level of directoractor, collaborator and friends. He wasn’t my boss in the same way I wasn’t his.” After “Goyo,” Paulo Avelino is jumping straight into “The General’s Daughter,” a new ABS-CBN teleserye co-starring Angel Locsin that he’s already started working on. He also has a project with Gian Abraham, the young filmmaker behind the award-winning indie “Dagitab,” on the table. (“Actually I’m just waiting on the script,” he says, laughing. “Sige, write it para ma-pressure siya.”) Reports say Paulo Avelino wants a break — and jumping from set to set, with endorsement shoots, guestings, and interviews in between, you can’t really blame him. But this morning, in the eye of a promo blitz, he seems to have managed to become the calm center. He’s carrying the burden of P240 million worth of expectations on his shoulders but it feels like neither success nor failure, a blockbuster or disappointment, will shake him. “I’m just doing what I want to do,” he says. “Maybe it’s also why I’m relaxed — I have goals that I want to achieve in life but I’m in no hurry to achieve them or chase them. Who knows, I could get them now or it could happen when I’m 50 or 60? I don’t want to be pressured with all that stuff. I want to live in the moment.” “During my teens and early 20s, there were so many insecurities — you value people’s opinion too much that you forget who you are and what your core is.” Tandaan mo kung sino ka. “I just learned to let go and not give a f**k.”
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Lea Salonga, Eva...
From Page SF3 Vampire”), Rey Cuerdo and coproducer Jeremiah Abraham, as reported by Variety. “Yellow Rose” is supported by New York based Asian CineVision, the Cinematrografo International Film Festival (ABS-CBN Global), and was awarded the Ravenal Foundation Feature
Film Grant earlier this year by the New York Women in Film & Television. Salonga was the first Asian woman to win a Tony Award in 1991 for her role as Kim in the original ‘Miss Saigon.’ She also played the roles of Éponine and Fantine in the musical “Les Misérables” on Broadway, and
Calendar of Events across
provided the singing voices of two official Disney Princesses: Jasmine in “Aladdin” (1992) and Fa Mulan in “Mulan” (1998). Noblezada played Kim in the 2014 West End and 2017 Broadway revivals of “Miss Saigon,” which earned her a Tony award nomination last year.
America
ADVERTISE YOUR EVENTS! PRE-EVENT AND POST EVENT GO DEEPER. GO WIDER. LET THE WORLD KNOW. CALL ASIAN JOURNAL: (818) 502-0651 DISPLAY AD SIZES AT SPECIAL RATES FOR NON-PROFIT GROUPS S E P T E M B E R 4 -27
SIPA hosts 8-session Entrepreneur Training Program (ETP) in Los Angeles The Entrepreneur Training Program (ETP) is an 8-session skills building training program designed for startup entrepreneurs covering the A to Z of starting and running a successful business. This is open to all! If you want to start your own business and don’t know where to start or how to start, this program was made FOR YOU! Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to learn from the experts and from business owners themselves on how to build the business of your dreams! Program details: One time fee of $100 covers food and beverage and training materials for all 8 sessions; 5 FREE slots are available for College/University students and low income families; FREE Parking on site. Parking lot is accessed on Robinson St.; Includes FREE one-on-one business counseling with SIPA’s counselor, Fidji Victoriano; and you will receive a Completion Certificate at the end of the program. The eight sessions will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the whole month of September 2018: September 4, 6, 11, 13, 18, 20, 25 and 27 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Program will be held at the SIPA Multipurpose room at 3200 West Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026 (through Robinson St. entrance). For any questions or to register in person, please contact Fidji Victoriano at (424) 235-5011 or e-mail at fvictoriano@esipa.org. This program is brought by Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) in collaboration with the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce Hollywood (FACCHO) and the support of Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program (APISBP) and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
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Golden Jubilee Anniversary celebration for MVGFC ’68 in Las Vegas CLECSN (now MVGFC) class of ’68 in Cabanatuan City, Philippines will have its golden jubilee anniversary celebration in Las Vegas, Nevada from Thursday, Sept. 13 to Wednesday, Sept. 19. For more information, please contact Eddie C. Talusan at (415) 583-1300 or Cindy Frando Reyes at (949) 705 - 9324.
SEPTEMBER 15
Penafrancia Fiesta event in San Leandro, California In honor of the feast of Our Lady of Penafrañcia, a day of celebration will be held on Saturday, September 15 in San Leandro, California. It will begin at 9 a.m. with a 9th day rosary and novena prayer, followed by the Holy Mass at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church (2500 Bermuda Ave., San Leandro, CA 94577). At 11:30 a.m., the land & fluvial processions will happen from the church to Marina Park Lagoon. From 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., there will be a picnic, entertainment, games and vigil mass at Marina Park (14001 Monarch Bay Dr., San Leandro, CA 94577).
SEPTEMBER 16
Los Angeles Skyline Lions Club holds masquerade ball The Los Angeles Skyline Lions Club (District 4-L3) cordially invites guests to join the masquerade ball to celebrate its 15th anniversary of continued support to local and global communities, alongside the annual fall harvest festival and installation of new club officers. Please join the fun celebration on Sunday, September 16 at the Signature Banquet Hall, 11130 Balboa Blvd., Granada Hills, CA. Doors open at 4 p.m. For any inquiries, you may call PDG Sol “Sunshine” Santiago at (213) 500-1927. See you all there and be ready to unmask your night!
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Sto. Tomas Batangas Association of Southern California to celebrate 36th anniversary The Sto. Tomas Batangas Association of Southern California will celebrate its 36th anniversary & coronation Night on Saturday, September 22 at the Los Serranos Country Club (15656 Yorba Ave. Chino Hills, CA 91709). Music will be provided by The Midnight Motion Band. For attendance, please call Willie Manacsa at (818) 400-7391, Offie Villanueva at (626) 960-8407), Mylee Moncada at (818) 322-9429, Rosalie Nasu at (909)631-9356 or Rosie Sancianco at (951) 898-7628.
Celebration of the Feast of San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila in Lake Balboa, CA Come celebrate with us! The Archdiocese of Los Angeles Filipino Ministry San Fernando Region invites all to the 10th regional celebration of the feast of San Lorenzo Ruiz de Manila on Saturday, Sept. 22 at St. Bridget of Sweden Church (7100 Whitaker Ave and Gault, Lake Balboa, CA 91406). It starts with a procession at 4:00 p.m. and mass at 5:00 p.m. The Principal Celebrant is Rev. Fr. Albert Avenido, Moderator & Chaplain, Filipino Pastoral Ministry-Archdiocese for Los Angeles. A reception and program follows right after mass at the School Parish. For a schedule of the nine-day novena masses prior to the event, please contact Patty Santiago at (818) 472-4288 or Alex Quadra at 818-624-4684 or a.e.quadra@att.net.
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Tau Alpha Grand Reunion in Las Vegas Tau Alphans everywhere, join D’Argos Adventure in Las Vegas on September 23-26, 2018. Experience O’le Las Vegas, the Birthplace of the Mob. Most of the four-day event will be held at the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino on Fremont St. The “Meet & Greet” á la Western style, will be on Sunday, September 23; followed by a Family Picnic on Monday, September 24 at the Madeira Canyon Park in Henderson; a subsequent Nightcap in the Golden Nugget on the evening of September 24; D’Fabulous 50s Nostalgia Dinner-Dance will be in the Golden Nugget and the Gala Dinner/Fraternity Ball will be on Wednesday, September 26 at the Golden Nugget, Bel Air Rooms. There will be a privately hosted Bon Voyage Brunch on September 27. Tau Alpha is the 3rd oldest fraternity in the University of the Philippines. Chartered in 1932 as the College of Engineering Fraternity. Contact Art F. Jorge, chairman of the 2018 Tau Alpha Grand Reunion, at artnmyr@yahoo.com.
S E P T E M B E R 29
PBRC 30th Anniversary in South San Francisco, CA The Pilipino Bayanihan Resource Center (PBRC) will celebrate its 30th Anniversary on September 29, 2018 at the Holiday Inn along South Airport Blvd. in South San Francisco, CA starting at 6pm. According to PBRC president Ray Satorre, the event will recognize the organization’s outstanding volunteers, as well as honor Perla Gange Ibarrientos and Monica Abello for their continuous service to the PBRC. Both Ibarrientos and Abello were among the founders of the organization about 30 years ago. Money raised from the event will enable the nonprofit organization to continue their projects, including legal immigration clinics, Tai Chi classes for seniors, senior cultural dance, Eskabo (Filipino martial arts) classes for youngsters and adults, Tagalog classes, and the PBRC outreach project fo Daly City Public Library children and their parents (parol-making or bamboo lanterns). For more information about the 30th Anniversary celebration of the PBRC, call (650) 992-9110 or send email to pbrc333@sbcglobal.net.
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
people & events
Edgar Yunsay Vidal
The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - September 14, 2018
PH appoints new honorary consul in Jamaica
June 26, 1965 September 6, 2018 We regret to inform you of the passing of our beloved edgar Yunsay Vidal on thursday, September 6. Viewing/visitation will be at cypress Lawn Funeral Home, 1370 el camino real, colma 94014 on Saturday and Sunday, September 15-16, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. there will be a funeral mass at Holy angels catholic Parish church at 107 San Pedro rd., colma on monday, September 17 at 10 a.m., followed by the burial at cypress Lawn. For more information call (650) 550-8808 or visit www. cypresslawncom.
PH Consulate in San Francisco: Appointment system for dual citizenship applicants aS enshrined in the constitution of the republic of the Philippines in its preamble, that all “promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessing of independence and democracyâ€? as Filipino citizens, and as contained in republic act 9225 otherwise known as an act making the citizenship of Philippine citizens who acquire Foreign citizenship Permanent, in the oath of allegiance of applicants acquiring dual citizenship: â€œâ€ŚI hereby declare that I recognize and accept the supreme authority of the Philippines and will maintain true faith and allegiance theretoâ€? and to ensure that dignity, respect and solemnity are accorded the oath taking ceremony of dual citizenship applicants, the following procedures shall take effect beginning September 3, 2018, monday concerning dual citizenship applications: 1. all applicants for Dual
SF
citizenship must do so onLY BY aPPoIntment. only those with aPPoIntmentS will be attended to; 2. those who wish to apply for an appointment may secure one through www.sparkconnectempower.com or www. philippinessanfrancisco.org; 3. appointment slots will open beginning august 15, 2018 for the rest of the calendar year 2018; 4. two (2) appointment slots per hour will be accepted from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day except weekends and declared Philippine and U.S. holidays; 5. Securing an appointment does not mean approval of Dual citizenship application. For procedures and list of documentary requirements, please visit the following link: https://sparkconnectempower. com/consular-services/dualcitizenship. Failure to present the necessary documents may result in the rejection of the application; 6. except for out-of-State
(northern california) applicants, aLL dual citizenship applicants upon successful completion of all documentation and procedures, will be required to return to the consulate on thursday the week after their application for their oath taking ceremony at 8:45 a.m. to finalize their applications. to ensure that respect and dignity are accorded this solemn ceremony, all applicants are highly encouraged to wear the proper attire for their oath taking. those wearing shorts, sandals, slippers and other inappropriate clothing risk not being allowed to take the oath of allegiance; 7. out-of-State applicants will be allowed to take their oath at the end of business hours on the same day as the filing and processing of their applications, after submitting all required documentation. For any questions or concerns, please email info@ philippinessanfrancisco.org or sanfrancisco.pcg@dfa.gov.ph.
WaSHInGton, D.c. – the Philippine embassy in Washington, D.c. is pleased to announce the appointment of ms. Peta-Kaye evania chin as the Philippines’ Honorary consul to Jamaica effective September 3, 2018. a lawyer by profession, ms. chin is the daughter of previous Honorary consul General of the Philippines to Jamaica, mr. everoy Hugo chin. “We are looking forward to further expanding the Philippines’ relations with Jamaica through the appointment of ms. chin. We are confident that her background and experience with the Filipino community will convey stronger ties with our kababayans and their
families living and working in Jamaica,� ambassador romualdez said in a statement. there are nearly 200 Filipino nationals in Jamaica, which is the fourth largest island country in the caribbean. With a population of 2.9 million, Jamaica is the third largest english speaking country in the americas next to the United States and canada. Below are the address and contact details of Honorary
consul chin’s office: address: 104 constant Spring road, Kingston 8, St. andrew, Jamaica e-mail address: lawwayattorney@gmail.com telephone number: (876) 384-3981
New California law helps underserved LGBT elders SAGE applauds the state’s efforts to amend its laws to be more inclusive of LGBT elders
Sacramento — california Governor Jerry Brown signed into law on Friday, august 24, legislation to ensure that LGBt older people have equal access to vital government aging services and programming such as meals on Wheels and senior centers. the bill, introduced by assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, amends state law implementing the federal older americans act and the older californians act to add LGBt elders to the list of those older people who have the greatest social needs as a result of cultural and social isolation. “We commend Governor Brown and the state of california for taking this important step forward on behalf of LGBt older people,� said SaGe ceo michael adams. “LGBt elders
experience high rates of social isolation and poverty as well as thin support networks, and they heavily rely on home and community-based services in their later years. Just like all other older people, we must ensure they have access to welcoming services in their communities. We hope that congress follows california’s lead when it reauthorizes the older americans act in 2019.� the new california law follows on the heels of similar legislation adopted in massachusetts this July and indicates a trend of states seeking to address the unique needs of LGBt older people through policy changes such as “greatest social need� designations. SaGe is the country’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improv-
ing the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBt) older people. Founded in 1978 and headquartered in new York city, SaGe is a national organization that offers supportive services and consumer resources to LGBt older people and their caregivers. SaGe also advocates for public policy changes that address the needs of LGBt elders, provides education and technical assistance for aging providers and LGBt community organizations through its national resource center on LGBt aging, and cultural competency training through SaGecare. With staff located across the country, SaGe also coordinates SaGenet, a growing network of affiliates in the United States. Learn more at sageusa.org.
Pilgrimage to Some of ITALY’s Highlights and Miracles of the Eucharist 6SLULWXDO'LUHFWRU5(9-2(/%8*$6ĹĄ1RYHPEHUWR1RYHPEHU 'D\Ĺ&#x;1RY 0RQ Ĺ&#x;86$520( 'D\Ĺ&#x;1RY 7XHV Ĺ&#x;5RPH Upon our arrival in Rome, our Tour Escort will welcome us to Italy. Rome is the heart, home and the spiritual capital of over one billion Catholics all over the world. After a short panoramic orientation of this Eternal City to us Roman Catholics, we will have our dinner and overnight rest at this great ancient City. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN ROME (BB,D) 'D\Ĺ&#x;1RY :HG Ĺ&#x;5RPH3DSDO$XGLHQFH5RPH This morning before we continue with our tour, we will have a Papal Audience. Then after, we will visit the famous Coliseum and see the Forum, the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon, one of the best preserved ancient monuments in the world. Celebrate the Holy Eucharist at St Peter Basilica St Joseph Chapel .Short stop in Trevi Fountain, before heading to our Hotel. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN ROME (BB,D)
'D\Ĺ&#x;1RY 7KXUV Ĺ&#x;5RPH%DVLOLFDV We will visit the Vatican Museum this morning and the Sistine Chapel to admire the awesome masterpieces of Michaelangelo, and even ancient Greek and Roman artists. the largest church in Roman Catholicism, St. Peter’s Basilica. Holy Eucharist at ST Mary Major, Followed by visit of the Basilica. We continue to visit the rest of the major Basilicas within the walls of Rome, and St. John Lateran, St Paul Outside the Wall. We will also pray at the Scala Santa or the Holy Stairs. St. Helena transported the steps from Jerusalem; the same steps that Christ ascended to receive Pilate’s unjust condemnation. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN ROME (BB,D) 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY )UL Ĺ&#x; 5RPH 6DQ *LRYDQQL 5RWRQGR 2018 is the 100th Anniversary of the stigmatization of St Pio. Church Will have Monthly Pastoral Program of Activities for the whole year. San Giovanni Rotondo, the home of St Padre Pio of Pietrelcina from 28 July, 1916 until his death on 23 September, 1968. Enjoy the drive going to San Giovanni, after we check in our Hotel. vWe visit the Shrines of St Padre Pio of Pietralcina as well as the places associated with him, such as the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace that contains his tomb. Here, we spend some time meditating, see his room, his confessional box and the cruciďŹ x that gave him his supernatural Crucifying stigmata, Celebrate Holy Eucharist (Hotel Gran Paradiso) DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN San Giovanni Rotondo (BB,D) 'D\Ĺ&#x;1RY 6DW Ĺ&#x;6$1*,29$11,52721'2 This Morning we visit the new and Modern Basilica of St Padre Pio, See his uncorrupt body. Celebrate Holy Eucharist Spend some time meditating in this awesome Basilica. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO (Hotel Gran Paradiso)
'D\Ĺ&#x;1RY 6XQ Ĺ&#x;6DQ*LRYDQQL5RWRQGR/DQFLDQR/RUHWR MASS AND BREAKFAST. We arrive at Lanciano, famous for the Miracle of the Eucharist. Near the Piazza Plebiscito, the Miracle is inside the Sanctuary of the Eucharistic Miracle. The miracle took place during the 8th century when a Basiline monk doubted the Real Presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. He found himself holding the host that had changed into Real Flesh and the Wine on the altar had changed into Real Blood. We continue our pilgrimage to the great Marian shrine of Loreto to see the famous sacred home of the most Holy Family, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Since 1294 the holy home has been located inside the Basilica of Loreto. Celebrate Holy Eucharist in Lanciano. DINNER AND OVERNIGHT IN Assisi. 'D\Ĺ&#x; 1RY 0RQ Ĺ&#x;/RUHWR$VVLVL Today we explore the hilltop birthplace of St Francis of Assisi. In the Crypt of St Francis Basilica lies the tomb of one of the most humble and beloved Saints of all times, St. Francis of Assisi, Holy Eucharist at the Crypt of St. Francis See the Basilica of St Clare, with her incorrupt body, and the little Church of St. Damiano and its CruciďŹ x from which Jesus spoke to Francis about his mission in 1206: “Go, Francis, and rebuild my house, which as you see is falling into ruin.â€? We visit the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, located in the lower plains of Assisi, and the place where the miracle of the Eucharist of Assisi took place in 1240. The small Church of the Porziuncola is inside the Basilica itself. Pope Honorius III granted a plenary indulgence for those entering this humble Church on August 1st and 2nd every year, with Confession, reception of the Eucharist and no attachment to venial sins. (BB,D) 'D\ Ĺ&#x; 1RY 7XHV Ĺ&#x; $VVLVL 6LHQD )ORUHQFH We will spend half day in Siena. Begin in the old town center with a visit to the Basilica of San Domenico. Built in the 13th century, it is a treasure chest of the Renaissance art and dedicated to St Catherine of Siena. You will learn about the city’s history while admiring it’s cathedrals, Museum, and libraries .Also you will admire the famous piazza del Campo, one of Europe’s great medieval squares. Continue to Florence. (BB,D) We start with a guided walking tour of Florence, this fascinating city with its Piazza, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Giotto’s Bell Tower, the Baptistery of St. John the Baptist. Rest of the day free (BB,D) 'D\Ĺ&#x;1RY :HG Ĺ&#x;)ORUHQFH5RPH Leave Florence around 2PM Arrived Rome almost dinner time (BB.D) 'D\Ĺ&#x;1RY 7KXUV Ĺ&#x;5RPH86$ End of our wonderful Pilgrimage
Please call QTS Tour and Travel NOW at 1 (714) 288-0800 or (714) 761-6280 1095 N Main St. Suite O, Orange, CA 92867
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The Asian Jour nal SF MAGAZINE - September 14, 2018
